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Fred Williams

Scripps Investments & Loans 17 percent return didn't last

Googling Phoebe Chongchua is illuminating...I remembered her from KGTV. Looks like many other former "journalists" she now produces pseudo-news. Her LinkedIn profile brags: "Using a feature video story that showcases your business creates a compelling, entertaining, and educational video that your prospective clients will want to watch. It's like watching a story you'd see in an evening newscast but better. Your story is always positive, delivers a powerful message, and reaches beyond even the airwaves of national TV. We tell your story, produce, and broadcast it to the world via the Internet, establishing your company as a leader in the future of advertising but using a highly credible news-style approach." Phoebe is also a realtor whose articles over the years are well archived...worth a read if only for proof that those who completely missed the real estate crash are still somehow cited as real estate experts. Most interesting of all from her LinkedIn profile (and finally relevant to this story) is that she used to sell something a bit odd: **** Vice President Communications Nabers Group Marketing and Advertising industry December 2008 – December 2009 (1 year 1 month) Helping to educate investors about unlimited alternative investments to create greater wealth using a Solo 401(k). Ongoing client of Live Fit Magazine. Producer of content and financial news about the little-known retirement vehicle, the Solo 401(k) for Nabers Group. Co-author of Five Steps to Freedom: How to Cut Your Dependence on Financial Institutions and Escape Financial Slavery. Goal: To bring self-directed investing from an unknown possibility to a widely and successfully used wealth management strategy. Read more at http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20090206_irasolo.h…
— June 18, 2011 3:14 a.m.

Top Gun Screening in Oceanside Took My Breath Away

I arrived at NAS Miramar in time to see some of the filming of Top Gun. Our planes are in some of the scenes, and the petty officer who carries the tray of coffee that ends up in the officer's lap is no other than Wayne Gates, a yeoman in my squadron (VF-211). We got back from deployment aboard the Kitty Hawk, and were told to go to Horton Plaza in uniform to see the film free. It was okay...as long as you didn't know anything about aircraft carriers, fighter squadrons, or NAS Miramar. Riding a motorcycle without a helmet on base? No way! "Buzzing" the tower. Only in the movies. The helicopters landing before the fighter planes? Uh, explain how the chopper goes faster than an F-14, or how you can land planes with a hilo blocking the arresting gear... Worst of all...when the enlisted guys on the flightdeck mob their returning pilot heroes we all started snorting out loud. I remember one squadron-mate, a plane captain, saying "Oh yeah! Happens all the time. Enlisted pukes ain't got nothing better to do on the flight deck than worship the pilots, huh? The jerks who break our planes and then expect us to fix them so they can break them again. I hate them." A few weeks later, I was introduced to a LCDR who had been assigned as a "technical advisor" to the film after he had ejected and hurt his back. He explained that all he did was hang out for months at a posh Los Vegas suite, and every so often he'd be asked a few questions. When I asked about the laughable falsehoods in the movie he only grinned. "There's flying tomcats, and there's making movies. Ain't the same thing, son." Respectfully, (Formerly PN3) Williams
— May 29, 2011 5:06 a.m.

U.S. Jobs Rise Sharply but Unemployment Rate Up

Is there anyone else in this big square world who voluntarily listens to economic lectures? Well, if there are, please try this one: Capitalism Hits the Fan, Richard Wolff (2010) http://fora.tv/2010/03/03/Richard_Wolff_Capitalis… The description of the history of how we've got here is worth listening to. (BTW, for other regular commentors: www.fora.tv, like www.ted.com, is often enlightening. No, I don't endorse or agree with everything someone in a video lecture is saying, I'm linking this lecture because it's relevant to the discussion and a point of view that reflects SOME (no, not all) of what the esteemed Mr. Bauder is saying. If you like, pass it along...if you disagree, please state why. And if Don is willing to listen and comment...I'm willing to read and learn. ;-) Best, Fred
— May 9, 2011 11:46 a.m.

Redemption

Lot's of interesting background about Golding (and others) was well-described by Matt Potter years ago: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2001/may/31/ma… Though she was the daughter of San Diego State president Brage Golding, she and her husband had modest assets. They were soon divorced, and Golding began her political career after striking up a close friendship with political consultant George Gorton, a key advisor to then­San Diego mayor Pete Wilson. With Gorton's assistance, Golding won an appointment to the San Diego City Council in January 1981. Two years later, in February 1983, Golding quit her council job to accept an appointment as a functionary in the administration of Governor George Deukmejian. Her council salary had been $35,000. The new job paid $50,784. She and Silberman were soon considering marriage.
— May 7, 2011 5:07 a.m.

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