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I see that you won first place in the Reader's Blog Contest. You did good--now keep it going! There is nothing so perfect that it cannot be improved upon, and in the case of writing anything (be it poem or blog thread), you need to simply do one thing--WRITE! Again, congrats on your prize, and let's have some more from you! --LPR— July 3, 2010 10:09 p.m.
D-Day: The Beginning Of The End Of "Festung Europa."
Thank you, Webmaster! --LPR— July 3, 2010 9:16 p.m.
D-Day: The Beginning Of The End Of "Festung Europa."
This was an earlier thread that I pulled bacxk to re-edit and re-write. It was orginally on-line on June 5th of this year. Enjoy! --LPR— June 30, 2010 7:47 a.m.
May New Home Sales Plunge; West Worst. Wall Street Stunned
True, SP. However, before he bought the Del Mar property, he and his wife had a beachfront place in Solana Beach. And he bought both using DONDI company funds, rather thasn out of his own bank account. In fact, all of his real-estate deals (plus the streetwalkers he hired from both San Diego and Dallas) were paid out of the DONDI funds, not Dixon's personal funds. Just "business as usual" in the Egotistical Eighties. --LPR— June 29, 2010 12:38 p.m.
One Ugly Thirst
The first part of this thread reminded me of the song/video by Ministry--"Just One Fix." Only this was an alcohol self-detox, not heroin. Either way, it is best not to eat before witnessing such a event. Watch the video, and you'll figure it out, baby! Oh, a couple of other points: 1) A .357 Magnum cartridge is usually fired from a revolver (the only semi-auto I know of that fires the .357 Mag is the Desert Eagle). The cartridges are located in a cylinder. You unload said weapon from the cylinder, not the barrel. 2) If this is supposed to be funny--I'm not laughing one iota. Sorry to say this, but drunks, tweeks, and other substance users/abusers are about as "funny" as standing up in church in the middle of a sermon and telling the pastor that both he and God can "Suck It!" You know that you have hit bottom when you blew your rent-and-grocery money on your four best friends: Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, Ron Rico, and Captain Morgan. You really know you hit bottom when your actions mandate "12-step meeting" attendance as part of your probation, and the meeting president has to sign off that your were there for the entire group. Having lived with a wife that was battling substance abuse (I even went to her meetings with her for emotional support), there are only two outcomes here that I can see. Clean up your act...and start living --OR-- Face the unholy trio of: Incarceration, Institutionalization, and Internment After Death. Up to you, Bubba! --LPR— June 28, 2010 10:46 p.m.
May New Home Sales Plunge; West Worst. Wall Street Stunned
That's because most swordsmen didn't live long enough to become poets. They died as they lived--in a flash of the blade. A book that I can recommend: "Inside Job"--A book that detail what happened after President Reagan signed the Garn-St.Germaine Act that "de-regged" the Savings and Loan industry. Though it's out-of-print now (the publisher is McGrawHill), your local library just might have a copy in their "used book lot/book store"). There's a San Diego connection in it as well (Don Dixon of DONDI Corp). Garn-St.Germaine was the harbinger of the mess we are in today, and a very good reason why deregulation can spell the death knell of a whole industry (when FDIC took over FSLIC, it was "party over" for the S&L Industry). "Those who wear rapiers are often afraid of goose quills!" (Author unknown to me...perhaps known to you kind folks?) --LPR— June 28, 2010 10:15 p.m.
Paean to Jerry Dominelli
Just skimming through the comments as I'm eating dinner. Here are a few points to ponder regarding computer technology from yesterday and today: 1)To me, Apple Computers (and still are) just not my bag. For what you pay for the latest Mac, you can do so much better with a Windows-OSed machine, finance-wise. 2)When I was in college, the world of PCs was just starting to be explored. I remember the "five sisters (Apple, Texas Instruments, TRS, Commodore, Atari) of personal computing" at the time. The group support was great--because the products were not too good (TRS-80="Trash-80"). My first time on a "PC" was on an Apple IIE. The college only had one (the rest of the 'puters were on a time-sharing HP mainframe with dumb terminals). In fact, all of my IT-courses (between 1982-1985) were on college-supplied Apple products...and I loathed every minute of time on them. 3) My first experience with GUI-based OS'es was not Mackintosh, but GEOS (Graphics Environment Operating System), written for the Commodore 64C. Once I tried it...I was hooked on GUI! Of course, my Commodore turned into the "Commode 64C," mainly because the keyboard and power supplies were POS-squared. But it gave me a taste for Windows...when I could afford it. 4)To me, Apple is a techie-cult, run by the "all-seeing prophet" Steven Jobs. The products are overpriced for their capabilities, yet their advertising implies that if you do not have the "latest-and-greatest" fruit from the "Apple Tree," you are nothing. If given a chance to buy into Apple through stock...no thanks. I've always said "If it's not Big Blue, it's not a computer, but an overgrown video game system." I've never regretted my decision. --LPR— June 28, 2010 9:52 p.m.
Former Dentist Who Battled IRS Found Guilty of Tax Fraud
Just like I always say--money does not confer brains, especially if you are going to try to pull a fast one on Uncle Sam. Our dentist-in-question should have heeded the fates of Al Capone and Leona Helmsley. Their best-laid schemes ended up with them laid up in the Federal Crossbars Hotel for a few years. Better to stick a crowbar in your wallet and pay your share than it is to flip the bird at the IRS--and get stuck into durance vile for your pains. Sooner or later, Uncle Sam gets his share! --LPR— June 28, 2010 8:49 p.m.
Michael....
If you wish to know the territory, Grasca...then why not do as we did and start your own blog on this site? I checked "the blog roster" to see if you had a blog on this site. I see that you do not...pity. So, why not join us, and see if you truly have the tools, talent, desire, and drive to be successful at blogging? After all, if you do it right, it's actually lots of fun! It also can be very educational as well--some of the threads can teach little kids how to cuss! And as for my "literary ambitions?" I've got one manuscript in pre-submission form, plus I'm working on two others. My "career" in writing includes over seventy poems published in various journals (and a few in local newsletters), plus being on this site since August 2008 (with one second-place finish for July of 2009). I do hope to see my manuscripts become published books...as do most writers. Will I make tons of cash? Hardly--at least for the first five tomes. But there is something more rewarding to writing a book than the filthy green stuff...getting your point across to as many people as possible. And as for Msjlee: A motto I live by when it comes to writing is "Illigitimus Non Carborundum!" Don't let the ba****** grind you down! That's how newbies get driven out of writing. Just put your gearshift into maximum overdrive and Keep On Trucking Away at your keyboard. Be blessed! --LPR— June 27, 2010 8:05 p.m.
Michael....
Grasca: Any writer with the financial savvy Our Creator gave us knows that publishing via vanity press is a losing propsition in the extreme. First, you have to pony up the money to the publisher...a lot of money! Fees between $10,000-20,000(US) are not unheard of for a "manuscript" about 300-400pp in length. Second: What do you get for your investment? The Cloth-covered shaft in the back! First off, most bookstores will not stock anything published by a vanity press. The VPs may send out the catalogues--but more often than not, they end up round-filed upon receipt. Second-Two: The quality of the finished product is, shall we say, unsalable. From the binding, to the quality of the paper and print...the tome-in-question is below commercial standard. Another reason why bookstores will not stock VP-produced tomes. Third-Return On Investment. You pay big bucks to the VP to get that book published, hoping to recoup your investment (or even make a profit) in royalty checks. Nope. A truism about using the VP route is that you will not break even financially. More often than not--your losses might drive you out of writing altogether. Most of the VP "sales" come directly from the VP-in-question's catalouge...and if your typical bookstore won't stock VP-produced books? Need I say more? The reason that Vanity Presses (Vantage Books is the biggest one.) make plenty of cash is that they take most any manuscript sent to them, then milk the author-in-question out of thousands of dollars up front for sub-standard-and-unsalable work. Oh, did I mention that these companies prefer the term "Subsidy Publishing" rather than Vanity Press now? New name, same game...and it's the author who puts their trust in such houses of the unholy that gets played for all they are worth. That is why the Better Business Bureau has never had a Vanity Press as a member...for very long, anyway. Know this: A legit publisher is supposed to pay YOU--not the other way around--to publish your book. Better to get an agent or go it alone than use a Vanity Press. After all, the rejection slips you get make for great barbecue tinder! --LPR— June 27, 2010 12:30 p.m.