Ebenezer Scrooge could have used a better PR agent; the poor, dear misunderstood gentleman. Scrooge’s problem was bad publicity, the cynical media. However, I admire the poor sap, and not just because he is so darn cute. You’ve heard all the stories. Scrooge was the guy who (allegedly) messed with good old Bob Cratchit’s Christmas. And don’t even start on Tiny Tim. Bah, humbug. People…
(“Pink slime journalism” is alive and not so well in North County San Diego. From pink slimy publications like the Valley Center Roadrunner/Escondido Something to the Vista Press to the Rancho Santa Fe Review to the Coast News to the Village News, beware what you read and see when it comes to online media presentations.) In late October 2022 – two weeks before Election Day…
I have no intention of quitting Twitter, the social media site that I’ve dutifully scrolled through nearly every day since I joined in 2009. I intend to stick around and watch this train wreck happen. The sight of Elon Musk getting his comeuppance will be at least as entertaining as the dozen or so accounts the algorithm masters in Twitterland have decided to send my…
Once improved, desalination could be a better drought solution for California than water reuse or more sustainable groundwater management. If the climate crisis is coming, the water crisis is already here. As rice fields were fallowed in California, Lake Mead water levels almost sunk so lowthat Hoover Dam could no longer generate power, and life-threatening toxic dust blew off the dried-up Salton Sea. Thirty percent…
Fifteen years ago this week the Witch Creek Fire devastated Escondido, Rancho Santa Fe and North County San Diego. This is part of my first-hand coverage done as editor of the Rancho Santa Fe Record. I won the California Newspaper Publishers Association’s first place prize for local news coverage for this, and the other 26 stories, numerous photos, and overall coverage I produced during, and…
Having a ghost in your house doesn’t necessarily mean pictures fly off the wall at you and the dog cowers and growls at the top of the basement stairs. Spirits are everywhere, and they come in a variety of shapes, sizes and intentions Hollywood has led people to believe that ghosts are not only real but vicious things that rip flesh and possess children to…
The Legislature has created commissions to redraw county supervisor districts in five counties after every census. However, unlike the state redistricting commission, these local bodies are stacked in favor of a county’s dominant political party. California once had a history of epic political and legal battles over redrawing legislative and congressional districts after each decennial census. The Legislature, dominated then as now by Democrats, would…
If you live in Orange or San Diego County, hopefully you’re aware that San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) has been turned into a nuclear waste dump for the foreseeable future. If you live on planet earth, you’re wise to be tracking domestic and foreign moves to increase reliance on nuclear energy. The United States ushered in the atomic age in 1945 by dropping a…
SURVEILLANCE PELICANA BY DAN WEISMAN The entire book appears at this link with chapters added after appearing online: Chapters 1-10: https://www.escondidograpevine.com/surveillance-pelicana-full-book-chapters-added-as-they-appear-online/. Chapters 11-20: https://www.escondidograpevine.com/surveillance-pelicana-part-ii-chapters-11-to-20-chapters-added-as-they-appear-online/ Chapters 21-30: https://www.escondidograpevine.com/surveillance-pelicana-part-iii-chapters-21-to-30-chapters-added-as-they-appear-online/ CHAPTER TWO Following the Saints playoff loss, Tyger and his friend Armor’s Tungsten attend an open-mike poetry night at the Blue Bayou club on Tchopitoulas Street. CHAPTER 2 “Night of the Living Poets” “SURVEILLANCE PELICANA” Chapter…
SURVEILLANCE PELICANA BY DAN WEISMAN The entire book appears at this link with chapters added after appearing online: Chapters 1-10: https://www.escondidograpevine.com/surveillance-pelicana-full-book-chapters-added-as-they-appear-online/. Chapters 11-20: https://www.escondidograpevine.com/surveillance-pelicana-part-ii-chapters-11-to-20-chapters-added-as-they-appear-online/ Chapters 21-30: https://www.escondidograpevine.com/surveillance-pelicana-part-iii-chapters-21-to-30-chapters-added-as-they-appear-online/ CHAPTER THREE Poetry night continues at the Blue Bayou. Events take an unpropitious turn towards ugliness due to a convergence of circumstances attributable to karmic order. Mona Mona and her friend Roger initiate a riot resulting in…