text:
Herschell Gordon Lewis's Annual Best and Worst Catalog and Ecommerce Copy
Herschell Gordon Lewis
I love this job.
What I don't like is the increasing difficulty in making choices.
Printed catalogs seem to be a threatened species. The fittest do survive and, in fact, thrive. Many others thrive as online catalogs. So that "Save these, toss those" reaction we once had when catalogs appeared only in the mailbox is no longer quite so automatic. Oh, well, that's the price of progress—and if we deny progress, we'll wind up as parts of history too.
Point is, this subjective project of picking the best and worst of catalog copy is both controversial and inexact, based on a single scrutiny of the issue on hand or online at that specific date.
The 5 Best
No. 1: Heartland America
If you get a chance to see this catalog, you'll understand why I chose it for the top five. But remember, we're evaluating copy here, not art direction.
From an art director's point of view, Heartland America is no award-winner, with four to six items on each page and illustrations that depict rather than excite.
But from a selling point of view, it's a catalog worth studying by a lot of competitors whose attention to art direction and dismissal of selling copy has them wondering why they can't increase their share of market.
Just about every copy block, from heading to body copy, is benefit-laden. Similar to Solutions (in the list of catalogs that almost made it), readers flip through the catalog, stopping constantly to consider buying something they had no intention of considering before being seized and shaken by copy that made them want what they had never even thought about before.
No.2: Crutchfield and crutchfield.com
It's been a while since I ordered anything from Crutchfield. One reason is that the catalog is aimed at a higher level of electronic technical know-how than I can claim.
But that's exactly why the catalog is in the top five. It's superbly targeted, so much so that most of the (lengthy) descriptions are bylined. For example, a two-page spread has a 72-point bold heading, "Is bigger better?" followed by a 24-point subhead, "Choosing towers or a bookshelf/subwoofer combo for your room." Then comes a byline ("By David Bar") and a description that carefully balances sales pitch against practical specifics.
Cross-references to the website are logical and sometimes necessary because, occasionally, the printed price is crossed out and followed by, "Price Alert: see our website or call for up-to-the-minute prices." I don't like that because, even on this level, the technique has to damage response. But then I'm not privy to Crutchfield's ongoing bottom line.
Web copy is in the same admirable expert-to-expert conversational tone as the catalog copy.
No. 3: PyramidCollection.com
I'd better start this analysis with assurances that I'm not a prospect for the feminine styles romanticized here as "Myth, Magick, Fantasy & Romance." I am an admirer of the catalog's word choices, however, and that applies to the printed version too.
There are a plethora of items on the homepage, including a string of five dresses waiting for a click. The names given to these dresses, priced from $59.95 to $89.95: "Smoke and Ivory Dress," "Sherbet Punch Dress," L'Amour-de-Paris Dress," "Sea Spirit Dress" and "Crochet Lace Dress."
The rationale behind the Sherbet Punch Dress:
Sweet Treat. Refreshing as sherbet! This warm-weather maxi keeps you cool and comfortable with its jersey-knit top and crinkly, light cotton skirt—tie-dyed in all the colors of the soda shoppe (even a little caramel!). Lined. 100% cotton. Hand washable.
Then we have "Online Exclusives—Don't miss this special selection of items not featured in our mailorder catalog." ("Mailorder" as one word is theirs, not mine.) A click brings up a bunch of non-fashion items ranging from boldly unique to bizarrely puzzling, crystal balls to books of incantations and spells. The whole effect is both offbeat and charming. These days, we seldom see far-out imagination such as this.
No. 4: Territory Ahead
Checking samples of copy isn't easy here, because as I write this I'm looking at two solidly different printed catalogs, each dated with the same month. Also, matching descriptions in territoryahead.com are slightly different, just enough to tell a visitor he or she is online and not at the mailbox.
Whichever version you inspect, you'll find example after example of bright copy that sells aggressively without being overtly aggressive. That's professionalism in copywriting.
An example, for a product not normally expected to reflect such finesse, is a carryall bag called the Hemingway Duffle. Here are the first few lines of a description that engagingly proposes superiority:
A worthy bag to carry such a heavy name, the adventure-ready Hemingway Duffle is handcrafted of 18 oz. washed canvas and vegetable-tanned bridle leather. While lesser bags go 50-75 steps on the factory line, this one takes an average of 139 steps – for additional rivets, reinforced corners, and meticulous stitchwork. It'll outlast your next car …
No. 5: FootSmart and footsmart.com
I had at first planned to list this catalog in the "These came close" category. Then I realized that just about every heading in this dense, 92-page catalog (with multiple items on each page) states a benefit unique to the individual shoe. Body copy follows through with brightness and clarity. That's polished, professional copywriting.
The online catalog is as easy to navigate as any I've seen lately, and it includes easy blowups for closer inspections and enough specifics to satisfy even the fussiest prospects.
An example of headings from just one page of the printed catalog:
Flattering flats with a little give and a lot of "ahh"
Hush Puppies comfort lets you slip in and out with ease
Cradle your feet in s-t-r-e-t-c-h from Arcopédico of Portugal
NEW! A gentle fit & revolutionary stretch
(We'll forgive the ampersand in that last one, probably chosen to assure copy fitting on a single line.)
7 that came close
Allergy Buyers Club is a catalog I normally wouldn't even know exists. From its title you can sense the specialized nature of its content. What you can't sense without flipping through the pages is the conversational tone and the emphasis on benefits rather than the products bestowing those benefits. And the benefits are almost always skewed toward allergy sufferers.
4imprint.com is a catalog of custom-imprinted business gifts and novelties. The printed version is rather more sprightly than we'd expect from a catalog that necessarily depends on quick skimming. But the online version is even more of a grabber, with products organized for easy choices and concise selling copy that never goes over the top.
The Great Courses raises a question: Who'd believe that a catalog of college course lectures on audiotapes could be so motivational that the descriptions alone would generate a sale? I'm guessing you would. Words aren't cheap in this catalog. Some descriptions run for two full pages of eight-point type. But the difference between what might appear in a typical college-issued catalog and this one aimed at the "pop" market is a rare combination of clarity and useful information.
Time for Me is a catalog that reinforces my belief in serendipity—finding what you aren't looking for. Only by accident was I exposed to it, because it's aimed solidly at the other gender. This catalog will never win an art director's award, but for a combination of authenticity and clarity, it's tops. What grabs me is the wording of product headings: They simplify and sell, and that's hypercompetitive in today's marketplace. Can anyone question headings such as …
See the return of tighter skin
Slimming T-shirt hides your trouble spots
Lift your derriere and tone your thighs without exercise!
If some headings hadn't lapsed into clichés or used loser words such as "available," this catalog might have made it to the top five. Maybe next year?
The Company Store and thecompanystore.com is one I'm including even though the cover of the print catalog and the home page of the online catalog were considerably less than stimulating. Once beyond those obstacles, copy is solidly superior.
How would you have described in a small space a pedestrian item such as a shag rug? This catalog calls it "Chunky Loop Rug" and combines quick benefit and uniqueness. The complete description in the printed version:
Decadence returns afoot with our lush, plush rug, an updated take on the iconic style shag. Pure wool is looped for extraordinary depth and softness. Latex-cotton backing. Rug grip recommended, see page 78. Spot clean. Imported.
A plus is the name given to each of four illustrated rug colors: Wild Dove, Cinnamon Stick, Insignia Blue and Pumice Stone.
Solutions and solutions.com really should be included in the Five Best, but I'm trapped in arithmetic. The product descriptions in both media are such "grabbers" that I can see at least a half dozen items I wouldn't ever have thought of as "solutions" to problems I didn't even know I had, prior to reading the descriptions here. Now I feel guilty, so to ease my guilt this marketer had better send me some freebies.
Bounty Hunter is a catalog of wines. If the wines represented all the great vineyards of the world, this catalog would be in anyone's top five. Nope. They're Napa Valley wines and, oenophile that I am, I'd never heard of most of them. Oddly, a segment covering hard liquor does include imports.
That doesn't affect the quality of the witty and breezy copy. I invite the catalog to keep me on its list, because next year we may do this again.
The 5 worst
Enough happy talk. Let's take a look at some catalogs that might have had more octane in their copy. Remember, however, the words that don't apply: Abysmal. Unprofessional. Wrong. Schlocky. All five of these catalogs are professionally put together. They just aren't (in my opinion) quite on the level of the winners.
No. 1: Smithandnoble.com
Is this a terrible online catalog? No.
Is this an easy-to-navigate online catalog? No.
Oh, sure, online versions of just about any catalog have a cross to bear: We can't flip through the pages. That's generic to the medium.
This one, though, throws up an immediate roadblock, forbidding us to move past the homepage by superimposing a big banner headed, "Free in-home design consulting" tied to "Enter your zip code below to check for free in-home design consulting services in your area." That isn't catalog-like and suggests only that somebody is going to show up at my front door to sell me who-knows-what.
This marketer's printed catalog also offers in-home consulting, but the pitch is on the back cover, after we've had an opportunity to take a look at what we might want to discuss.
No. 2: Improvements
A strange catalog: Some of the copy is first-rate. But some, even on adjacent pages, barely qualifies as copy. The Spartan nature of almost non-descriptions may be the result of cramming multiple items onto a single page. After all, how much can a cataloger say about 16 disparate "outdoor dining" pieces on one page (page 15 in the catalog I skimmed)? But it's a competitive world, and clerks can't match up against salespeople. Even four to six words could unleash dormant motivators. An example:
Rectangular Table + 6 Stacking Arm Chairs (Save $80) $649.93 ($50)
I assume that last $50 is the shipping charge—just a guess. The catalog obviously is aimed at preconditioned disciples.
No. 3: Pottery Barn
I'm uneasy listing this well-known and highly reputable cataloger here. The company has a successful history spanning more than 60 years, and I've been a happy customer at its retail stores. Copy in the current catalog, though, is uninspired. Would this, the total description of a $1,999 sofa, stimulate you to head over to the web?
HAMPTON COLLECTION IN IVORY WASHED LINEN/COTTON
Visit potterybarn.com for details and over 75 fabrics and colors. Grade "C" Fabric (shown). Sofa 96 x 40 x 35 h.
No. 4: Sundancecatalog.com
I'm mounting a slow attack here, based on the difficulty a visitor has when trying to slosh through the online presentation. One problem I encountered was coming upon a different item or page or whatever, each time I reached for this catalog. As of this writing, my entry brought up the "Anika Lightweight Kantha Quilt," selling for $245 to $295. The description:
Our hand-stitched quilt is overdyed in a rich, rosy hue shadowed by an ikat-inspired print reversing to a warm espresso brown accented by a running kantha stitch. Cotton. Imported. Queen, 96″L x 92″W; king, 96″L x 102″W.
The illustration looks like a towel hung on a bar. So altogether, I have to classify this online catalog as one aimed at disciples, excluding us worldly browsers.
No. 5: http://www.otctools.com/products/catalog
I admit, candidly and cheerfully, that including this catalog here may be unfair, because it's a specialty catalog that may not need to subscribe to "readability" and "grabber" tenets. Well, maybe, but the first note under "download" is the need for Adobe Acrobat. Yes, most of us have that, but the wording of the warning is a turnoff.
Once you're inside, after a hefty download, the first page is a photo of devices on a tabletop with this legend: Productivity Solutions … Forged from 100 years of Relentless Innovation.
Then, scroll down and down and down, and … .
Oh, well. Chalk up this opinion to the notion that a b-to-b catalog has to seize and shake from the first image.
Some parting words of wisdom
Want to be competitive in the Internet Era? Then don't think in seller terms—what it is. Instead, think in sellee terms—what it will do for me. This is no time for a catalog copywriter to show off his or her huge vocabulary or personality. We either tell a reader or web visitor, "You should have this, and here's why," or we're uncompetitive.
Yep. It's as simple as that.
Herschell Gordon Lewis (herschellgordonlewis.com) is the principal of Lewis Enterprises, Pompano Beach, Florida, and author of 32 books.
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The Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (RHRA) oversees the safety and wellbeing of over 60,000 seniors living in almost 750 retirement homes across Ontario. During the past few months, in my role as Registrar, I have met with Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) across the province to better understand some of the emerging issues related to transitions between hospitals and retirement homes.
Health care professionals have long known that coordination is key to ensuring safe transitions of patients as they move back and forth between care settings when their health needs change. And I am truly impressed by the unwavering commitment I see, across Ontario's health system, to work together in ways that benefit patients and enable safe, successful transitions.
Retirement homes are becoming an increasingly important part in the care of continuum. As the sector regulator, the RHRA is committed to helping both hospitals and homes support effective transitions. Most recently, we have been proactively communicating information about transitional care and retirement homes that is intended to help all system partners understand each other's accountabilities, responsibilities and underlying interests.
I want to share some of those key facts. For example, you may not know that under their legal obligations as "landlords," retirement homes must allow residents to return home from hospital. At the same time, retirement homes can only provide care services they are legally permitted to deliver, and only then with appropriately trained staff and certain care standards in place.
Collaboration between the patient and his or her family or substitute decision maker, the hospital, the LHIN and the retirement home on an updated patient assessment and plan of care will also help ensure the retirement home is truly able to meet the person's current assessed care needs: either through services already provided by the home and outlined in the lease agreement, or availability of purchased services through an external provider or provided by the LHIN. In addition, if an individual's assessment indicates he or she may be eligible for long-term care, the retirement home must provide information about applying to a long-term care (LTC) home.
Incidentally, each retirement home in Ontario chooses which of 13 care services it makes available to all of its residents. Care services that are provided to the individual and the costs must be listed in the residential agreement. Hospital discharge planners can easily find out more about which retirement homes are licensed and the services they offer: information readily available on the Public Register at www.rhra.ca. Only licensed retirement homes are covered under the Retirement Homes Act.
One issue being looked at by RHRA and Ontario's retirement homes is the need for short-term resident agreements for transitional care. This would protect residents from out-of-pocket costs for terminating their lease agreements early / or paying for retirement home care services and accommodation once they are eligible and waiting for a LTC bed (which is subsidized).
Ongoing, the RHRA is also meeting with government and other stakeholders to explore potential new options for retirement homes, for instance as places in the continuum of care patients might go for transitional stays.
More information on transitioning from hospital and the community to a retirement home is available on the RHRA website. RHRA will also continue to actively seek new opportunities to provide information, resources and guidance to support all stakeholders as they collaborate to make transitions safer between all care settings.
Bonnie Rose is President and CEO of the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority, which protects the rights and wellbeing of seniors living in Ontario's retirement homes.
Next articleTwo weeks left to nominate your Nursing Hero!


We have lots of studies which show the potential benefits of localism, but not many that can prove it really does makes a difference. A centralised state by definition does not produce lots of examples we can draw on for evidence. To try and remedy this, I started looking at international indices of good governance to see if I could draw a link between national policy performance and devolution. The good news is that such a link does seem to exist.
I took the Bertelsmann Sustainable Government Indicators 2011, which I think is the best cross-national comparison of developed countries. The indicators include a status index which combines quantitative data and qualitative expert judgements to assess a country's overall performance. It does this by capturing the quality of a nation's democracy (eg how effective are the rule of law and the electoral process?) and by judging policy effectiveness in 15 areas grouped under the themes of economy, resources, social affairs and security.
With a little help from Penny Osborne's team of analysts at Northamptonshire County Council, I explored whether there was any relationship between these indicators and the extent to which states devolve power and responsibility below the national level (as measured by the OECD's Government at a Glance). I could do this for the 30 countries covered by both datasets.
So here's the chart – this correlates the sub-national share of taxation (ie how much of national income is raised by state and local government) – with Bertelsmann's policy effectiveness scores. It shows that those countries with greater fiscal devolution also tend to have higher policy performance. For the statisticians among you, this gives us a statistically significant (p = 0.014) moderate correlation (multiple R = 0.44, R square = 0.2).
Of course, a chart like this raises as many questions as it answers.
It might be that fiscal decentralisation plays a role in driving better policy performance, but it could also be the other way round. Successful societies might find it easier to devolve. For example, it could be argued that the last thing a country like Greece needs is greater devolution of revenue raising powers, whereas highly successful societies such as those in Scandinavia have stronger democratic and legal institutions which obviate the need for central oversight of local actors.
Even if fiscal devolution does lead to better outcomes, we need to understand the mechanisms that make this work. Economics suggests that it may be to do with the fact that locally accountable bodies are more likely to keep taxation low and to allocate spending to the most cost-effective social interventions, rather than spending to a centrally-set template that may not optimal for a particular area.
We'll be exploring the data more over the coming months.


text:
Mama White Snake by W!LD RICE
TheatreWorks
Family by The Second Breakfast Company
6 local plays and productions to catch before the year ends
Take your pick of festive shows and independent stagings
arts, things to do
By Amanda Chai | Nov 05, 2018
| Nov 05, 2018
The year may be coming to an end but the theatre companies are nowhere near done. Whether it's a festive pantomime you're after or a site-specific immersive piece you want, come support our local independent theatre companies at their last hurrahs of the season.
The Reunification of The Two Koreas (Through Nov 11)
Originally a French piece by playmaker Joel Pommerat, The Reunification of The Two Koreas gets its English language world premiere right here in Singapore—thanks to veteran theatre company TheatreWorks. Less about actual Korean politics and more of matters of the heart, the French script, translated into English for the first time, comprises a patchwork of multiple short scenes exploring human relationships. One woman wants a divorce; another has no memory of her husband and their children; and even more unrelated, a prostitute haggles her services with a client. Will they each find peace in the end? Directed by Jacques Vincey from the Centre Dramatique National de Tours in France, the play boasts a cast of bigwigs including Janice Koh, Karen Tan, Timothy Nga, and Ebi Shankara. Come catch the exclusive production, before it goes on to tour in Paris after its Singapore run. Tickets from $48.
Where: 72-13 Home of TheatreWorks, 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road
Private Parts (Through Nov 18)
When it first premiered in 1992, Private Parts by seasoned playwright Michael Chiang was lauded for being ahead of its time. The comedy revolving around a popular TV host who meets three transsexual characters at a sex change clinic dared to broach what was then a taboo topic—and handled it with both humor and sensitivity. 14 years after its last professional restaging, the sensational play is back, as the inaugural production of Chiang's new theatre company Play Things. The reboot sees Beatrice Chia-Richmond directing, and a cast littered with familiar names: Chua Enlai, Shane Mardjuki, Zee Wong and Jo Tan, to start. The script may remain largely not-updated—a deliberate move on Chiang's part—but the relatable jokes and riffs on the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (now MediaCorp) prove just as effective; while its serious moments reflecting on local laws are nothing but timely. Has anything really changed since the '90s? Tickets from $43.
Where: Drama Centre Theatre, National Library Singapore
The Old Woman and the Ox (Nov 15-17)
The young theatre-makers of The Second Breakfast Company (2BCo) are staging an all-new Singaporean script, by 20-year-old playwright Isaiah Christopher Lee. Selected over 40 submissions in an open call held last year, The Old Woman and the Ox explores themes of fear, guilt, loss and love, through protagonist Aileen's emotional journey disentangling traumatic events from her past. Set against the absurdist backdrop of a crumbling house, the narrative is inspired by Lee's mother and grandmother, and seeks to blur the lines between surrealism and reality. 2BCo has previously debuted entirely new works of two other young playwrights—Lemmings and The Wedding Pig—as well as a restaging of Goh Poh Seng's canonical The Moon Is Less Bright. This next show will involve new stage elements like shadow puppetry for a more sensorial experience, and conclude their main season for the year. If you're in the market for fresh blood, make a date. Tickets at $35.
Where: Gateway Theatre Black Box, 3615 Jalan Bukit Merah
Marie and The Nutcracker (Nov 15-Jan 6)
Remember how the toys all came to life in the story of The Nutcracker? Now you too can play a part in the magical Christmastime tale, as immersive theatre company Andsoforth brings the classic story to life in their latest theatrical feast. Journey through four rooms in a secret location with The Nutcracker himself, defeat the Mouse King, and reap your sweet rewards in the Kingdom of Sweets at the end. Not just pure theatre, the show includes a four-course meal inspired by cuisines from Nuremburg and the original story by German author E. T. A. Hoffman. You'll play the role of the toys that come to life, so come dressed appropriately. Tickets from $98.
Where: A secret location revealed to all guests 24 hours before the show
A $ingapore Carol (Nov 23-Dec 15)
Mark your calendar and shake out your piggy bank; Wild Rice's annual Christmas pantomime that you've been saving up for is back. This year, they're localizing the hallmark Christmas tale A Christmas Carol, for a uniquely Singaporean take on miserly men and ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. Instead of Scrooge, cosy up with S.K. Loo—multi-millionaire app developer with a penthouse view, but no real friends or family to share it with. 'Singapore Boy' Hossan Leong directs an all-star cast comprising Siti Khalijah Zainal, Candice de Rozario and 'Broadway Beng' Sebastian Tan. Going by what we've seen from Wild Rice time after time, it's sure to be another rousing performance. Tickets from $50.
Where: Victoria Theatre
BITTEN: return to our roots (Nov 24-Dec 2)
Come experience Kampong Bugis like you never have before, in an immersive, site-specific theatrical journey through the historic neighbourhood. BITTEN: return to our roots is part documentary theatre, part dance, brought together by director Thong Pei Qin and choreographer Dr. Nidya Shanthini Manokara. The show—which will bring audiences around sites including the Sri Manmatha Karuneshvarar Temple, a mysterious banyan tree at Kallang Riverside Park, and even Camp Kilo—features previously unknown stories of past residents and workers in Kampong Bugis. It's your chance to uncover memoires and histories of the community that once lived there, told through a mix of verbatim theatre, Indian bharata natyam, and contemporary dance. As for the quirky name—'Bitten' was inspired by the two creators' shared experience of dengue fever, and their subsequent curiosity to discover the various connections that bind people, beyond just blood relations. Never say our arts scene isn't creative. Tickets at $35.
Where: Kampong Bugis
Filmmaker Nicole Midori Woodford on the female psyche and tackling issues through cinema
Catch her short film at New Waves: Through Her Eyes
Bazzi talks childhood inspirations, collabs and his upcoming show at The Star Theatre
Take some notes on confidence from the popstar himself

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


They say that far, far away, there is an immense sea. Little Bubú has only heard legends about him.
They say that, beyond the sea, is the land dreamed by many. His father left there, in search of a better life.
Now Bubú has to flee from his village, escape from the war. To cross a desert much more inhabited than expected, in search of its objective: to cross the sea, to reach beyond.
Peregrinos, a co-production of Voilà Producciones and El Pavón Teatro Kamikaze, is a family show full of emotion that combines cinema and theater.


I wonder -- and I know this question is of little interest to many -- but I wonder how Hirschfeld defined "child."
I believe the criminal code at the time set an age of 14. And the writings of Hubert Kennedy seem to suggest that there was a flourishing culture of pederasty (i.e. men with teens) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Germany, and that pederasts or TBLs played a big role in the early homosexual rights movement, as reported by David Thorstad and John Lauritsen.
I wonder if any of this registers in Hirschfeld 's writings. He seems to have approached the subject from a "gender inversion" point of view -- how did he view the other elements of the homosexual community?


Christmas is the Season when families gather together. Celebrate at Twangale Park a memorable Christmas. Twangale will treat your colleagues, friends and family with deliciously authentic meals served buffet-style. Cash bar available.
Tickets are K400 for aduIts and children 13 years and above. K200 for children aged 4 -12 and no charge for children under 4 years.


text:
FA Playbook
How to retire early – very early
Published Sat, Oct 13 2018 11:11 AM EDT Updated Tue, Oct 16 2018 12:02 PM EDT
Annie Nova@AnnieReporter
Retiring in your 60s and 70s can seem a challenge to pull off.
But some people are parting from their careers in their 30s and 40s.
A few early retirees break down how they did it.
VIDEO1:1901:19
How to retire at 30
Fixed Income Strategies
Retiring comfortably in yours 60s or 70s can seem a high-wire act, so how are some people pulling it off without a wrinkle in their face?
The FIRE (financial independence, retire early) movement is growing, with more and more people parting from their careers in their 30s and 40s. CNBC spoke to some of these young retirees to figure out how they did it.
"I think it should be possible for everyone," said Karsten Jeske, who retired this year at 44. "It's conceptually extremely simple to do."
People should keep in mind the risks of forfeiting a paycheck, said Nick Foulks, a lead advisor at Great Waters Financial in Minneapolis.
"People are living longer, and our dollars today have to last longer than they ever have before," Foulks said. Particularity young retirees might find a lackluster Social Security check waiting for them, since the monthly amount you receive is based on an average of your working years.
Joel is part of the FIRE community, and retired at 34.
Source: Joel
Joel Jonathan, retired at 34
Space Coast, Florida
Joel Jonathan was 29 when he decided he was done with work.
"I was longing for the ability to have time to take long walks, work on my personal fitness, cook a nice meal, without always being at work in a cubicle," he said. (He requested CNBC only use his first and middle names, as he was disclosing so many financial details.)
Joel was working 60 hours a week as an engineer when he began his journey to financial independence. He and his wife, Alexis, each made around $80,000 a year. They reduced their overhead until they were socking away 80 percent of their income, including money in their 401(k) plans and heath saving accounts. He invested in low-cost, total market index funds.
How did they actually save so much?
They moved in with his wife's parents for a while and rented out their house. They downgraded from two cars to one, and carpooled to their jobs.
"[My wife] works about three miles from my old work location, so I dropped her off at work and then continued on to mine," he said.
Additionally, they almost never ate out.
Here's a chart of his budget.
They lowered their Internet speed, and found they didn't notice a difference.
"We were paying more money for no reason," he said. His wife cancelled her gym membership, but soon regretted it. "After a few months, she was like, 'I want to go back to my spin class,'" he said. So, she did.
"To us, it's an experiment in going out of our comfort zone," he said.
After five years, at 34, he was able to leave his job. He now spends his days blogging about his financial journey, and working on a book about FIRE. He also writes music.
"None of it needs to produce any profit," he said. "I can just enjoy [life] and work at my own pace."
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His wife still works, though he said he's trying to get her to quit and join FIRE with him. For now, he uses her health insurance but when she retires they'll switch to an Affordable Care Act subsidy.
They don't have children, but they did include a line item in their budget for college costs one day.
"If we decide not to have kids, then that just becomes extra safety margin for ourselves," he said.
His directions to FIRE: Save at least half of your income, until your savings are 25 times your annual expenses. He said this should take 10 to 15 years for most people.
Make sure those savings are invested in low-cost, passive total stock market funds. Quit your job (only if you're ready) and then withdraw 4 percent of your portfolio per year, forever.
Karsten Jeske retired this year at 44. This is with him, his wife and daughter in Amsterdam.
Source: Karsten Jeske
Karsten Jeske, retired at 44
Karsten Jeske said his path toward early retirement began in 2008, when the Great Recession taught him that there is no absolute financial stability.
The former economist at the Federal Reserve says that he's part of fatFIRE, those who can afford to retire with more frills. For a decade, he saved 50 percent of his salary, which was in the mid-six figures.
(FatFIRE is the the pursuit of financial independence and/or early retirement on at least an upper-middle class lifestyle.)
"People say, 'You work in finance. You must have some special sauce,'" he said. "No, I didn't. I just invested in broad-based U.S. and international equity index funds."
He said most people will probably not be able to retire early by putting their money in savings accounts or a certificate of deposit.
"Most people I know did this with equities," he said.
Even though he was lucky to have a high salary, he said people who earn far less should be able to retire early, too.
"With $60,000 a year, you could live on $25,000, and you're saving more than half," he said.
I think it should be possible for everyone.
Karsten Jeske
He said every dollar you don't spend helps you in two ways: "You put it in your savings so your nest egg grows faster, but also every dollar you don't spend conditions you to consume less so your retirement budget is lower."
He plans to live off around $80,000 a year in retirement. He has a 529 college savings plan set up for his 5-year-old daughter, Kati. He's considering joining a health insurance ministry, in which members pay for each other's medical expenses as they come up each month.
So far, his retirement has been spent travelling the world with his wife, Kristal, and daughter.
"I don't think I'll get bored," he said, of the decades to come. "Even travelling now is like a full-time job."
And if there's a recession? Jeske said he isn't worried.
"We'd just scale back from fatFIRE to FIRE and live in peace," he said.
Tanja Hester and Mark Bunge in Taiwan
Source: Tanja Hester
Tanja Hester, retired at 38
North Lake Tahoe, California
When Tanja Hester retired she was 38, and her husband, Mark Bunge, was 41.
She says people should save for early retirement and traditional retirement in different accounts.
Most regular retirement accounts come with required minimum distribution rules around when you can withdraw from them anyway. But also, Hester said, if you have all of your money in one account, it's more risky.
"We know if we mess up, and spend too much money in our early years, we're not going to jeopardize our older years," Hester said.
She and her husband call their early retirement "phase one," and their later retirement "phase two."
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They also have different expectations for their different retirements, young and old. Now, they don't mind sleeping in tents and cheap motels. But, she said, "We might not want to rough it when we're 70."
It took them six years to reach early retirement. They both were earning six figures as political consultants, and saved 70 percent of their net income. They maxed out their 401(k) plans and they paid off their mortgage and bought a rental property.
"The absolute biggest thing that helped us was banking every raise and not letting our lifestyle inflate," Hester said.
She also recommends automating your savings and investing.
"We looked at what we had in checking and it didn't look like very much, and so that's what we felt like we had to spend," she said.
Hester feels that not everyone can retire early.
"It's about looking at what is possible," she said. "If you apply these principles and just translate that into a secure retirement, you're already ahead of the majority of people."
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Twilight of the Revolution
Rock Is Dead
Vancouver Old—New
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Mint Records Mandatory Holiday Function and Awards Show 2018
I was thrilled to make it out to part of local stalwarts Mint Records' 2018 Christmas shindig. Here's the visual evidence.
Marisa Holmes
I had the pleasure of meeting photo-based artist Marisa Holmes recently, to make photos to accompany a review of her show at Artspeak. As far as I can tell, the review has yet to be published. I think the portraits can stand on their own though.
Jazz & Resurrection at Wheel of Time Gallery
Wheel of Time Gallery occupies a suburban house that's become the temporary home of an art collective. As they say on Facebook: "The house is soon at one point in the future to be demolished, as will the other houses on the street. // Cycles // "The Wheel of Time…
"Rock Is Dead" in Spaces, Places and Traces: Culture Crawl Preview Exhibit
I'm thrilled to be participating in the Eastside Culture Crawl November 15-18, 2018 Even more so to have a couple of my images from Rock Is Dead showcased at the Firehall Arts Centre as part of the juried Space, Places and Traces exhibition. The opening reception is from 6-8PM on…
Softieshan
DJ Softieshan is already making (sound) waves on the local music scene, and her recent mixtapes suggest this is just the beginning.
KC Wei + Wrong Wave No. 6
According to Elijah Teed in Discorder Magazine, KC Wei "has become a mainstay of Vancouver's independent art and music communities over the past four years. From numerous bands (Late Spring, hazy, Kamikaze Nurse), to performance and experimental art/music projects (art rock?, Kingsgate Mall Happenings), to her own music…
Keiji Haino
Keiji Haino is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter whose work has included rock, free improvisation, noise music, percussion, psychedelic music, minimalism and drone music. He has been active since the 1970s and continues to record regularly and in new styles; one of his most well-known and longstanding projects is the…
Cave Goblin
It's not often I'm invited to photograph a podcast, so Cave Goblin Network's Douglas Vandelay was an unexpected treat. Given the Network's evocative name, we had a lot of fun squeezing Doug into claustrophic alcoves deep underneath the 100-year-old bank building in East Village that houses my studio.
George Rahi
George Rahi is a composer, performer, and installation artist exploring new hybrids between the acoustic, electronic, mechanical, and sculptural realms. He's done a diverse array of projects, including performances, installations, and works for radio & theatre for the Canadian Music Centre, Western Front, Vancouver New Music, SPEKTRUM (Berlin), VIVO Media…
Kitty and the Rooster
Kitty & The Rooster is a rock n' roll duo from Vancouver, BC featuring Jodie Ponto banging on the cocktail kit and East Van guitar legend Noah Walker On September 22, 2018 they celebrated the release of their debut album One Gig Hard Drive with a show at the Anza…
Vancouver percussionist Ben Brown has played in a variety of projects over the last few years. I photographed Ben to promote his upcoming performances with choreographer and improv dancer Katie Duck in Vancouver in September 2018. Check out more coverage in Discorder Magazine.
Hexistential Festival ii
The second edition of this annual festival of experimental music in Vancouver, Canada, touched down August 24 and 25 at Red Gate Revue Stage.
Cheryl Olvera
Composer / singer Cheryl Olvera stopped by the loft recently for some headshots to promote her upcoming Vancouver Fringe musical score and other soon-to-be-announced projects for the next season.
CURRENT - Women in Electronic Music Symposium
From a recent session with the organizers of CURRENT, a multidisciplinary, intersectional, music and electronic art symposium working with women and non-binary artists in Vancouver, BC and beyond. For more coverage, see Discorder Magazine's profile.
The Castagnes at Stylus Records
The Castagne's are a Montreal-based "glam punk trash pop" band comprised of brother-sister duo Phillip and Marjorlaine Labelle. Playing Stylus Records, a literal epicentre of Vancouver's underground music scene, their energetic set almost brought the roof down.
Wallgrin
The art-pop project led by composer, vocalist and violinist Tegan Wahlgren, appropriately named Wallgrin, creates "a contemporary soundtrack for ancient mythologies" Check out their new release, Bird / Alien, on your favourite streaming services today. And be sure to go see them live in your town: their album release show…
Red Gate Arts Society
Recently this vital hub for artists, musicians, and creators of all kinds was renovicted from their East Hastings home by a local yoga pants tycoon (who markets to all women, as long as they're skinny) Before this happened, I was honored to have the opportunity to document how the space…
Red Haven Album Release w/ Kitty and the Rooster
Local favourites Red Haven released their jazz and soul infused new album Funhouse Mirror recently, and I was there for their party at Fox Cabaret with local garage rock couple Kitty and the Rooster (check out their oh-so-Vancouver single, "Pay A Million Dollars To Live Like You're Poor" 😅) Check…
Merzbow (Presented by Quiet City)
One of my favourite (and arguably the genre's most influential) noise artist, Merzbow, played the Red Gate Revue recently, presented by the excellent Quiet City series of Deep Listening concerts in Vancouver. He was accompanied by Balázs Pándi on percussion. While Merzbow and Pándi definitely brought the noise, supporting performances…
Juxtaposition 2 at The Avant Garden
The Avant Garden is a performance space embedded in Vancouver's Chinatown and regularly features emerging musicians and visual artists. I was there for Juxtaposition 2 on May 4, 2018.
Bitch Tapes Mixtape III Release
The Bitch Tapes Mixtape is a bi-annual cassette featuring womxn-identifying artists from the Pacific Northwest. All proceeds from tape sales and our release show go to the Downtown Eastside Women's Shelter. The mixtape was born out of an initiative to help womxn support, meet and collaborate with each other These…
Juxtaposition Vol. II: Art Exhibition
The Avant-Garden hosted another fun night of art and music, May 4, showcasing work by Vancouver and Victoria artists in addition to music from: -Stefan Johnson! smooth + sensual https://m.soundcloud.com/stefanjohnson/u-i-prod-tuxedodiamond-ZYLITE live ambient sethttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=chE-rvGf0Mw-Andrew Mulat (old skool hip-hop) https://m.soundcloud.com/andrew-mulat
Jo Passed
Jo Passed dropped by the loft for a shoot recently It was great getting to know everyone in this Vancouver band a bit better: it seems they're all involved in so many other cool and interesting projects, including BB, KW Studios, and What The Fuck Are They Doing?. Check out…
U.S. Girls played The Biltmore Cabaret a few days ago. Live, they're more of a dance party, drawing the set mostly from their amazing new album, 'In A Poem Unlimited' – highly recommended! Check out more coverage in Discorder Magazine.
Jody Glenham, James Green, and David Simard at WISE Hall
Throwback to a mellow show last month at WISE Hall Vancouver: 1. Jody Glenham and the Dreamers;2. James Green; and3. David Simard.For more coverage, check out Discorder Magazine.


Some of the industry's best lift truck operators, employers and training organisations came together on 15th September to see two more Grand Finalists selected in the day three heats of the RTITB International Forklift Operator of the Year.
At the end of the day, Emily White of System Training was announced as the overall winner of the heat by John Clements, Business Development Manager & Counterbalance Product Manager for UniCarriers. With the next best score, Matthew Vassallo of Hasbro was declared as runner-up. Both contestants will move forward to the Grand Final of the competition in early 2017.
Held at the International Materials Handling Exhibition (IMHX) at the NEC, Birmingham, the ten competitors in heat three had beaten hundreds of applicants from three continents in order to win the chance to compete. Partnered by McCue and UniCarriers, the competition is now in its fourth cycle, with this year's event marking RTITB's first international competition.
During the heats, each competitor was required to complete four assessments – two practical tests (sponsored by DOLAV, Racking & Storage Solutions and Pyroban), a test of the forklift drivers knowledge (sponsored by Transaid), and successful completion of a pre-use inspection (sponsored by TruckLOG). RTITB judges – Nick Welch, Simon Richards, Simon Docherty and Matt Orin – carefully observed and marked the 10 forklift operators, with the driver with the lowest total score being declared the winner.
The last round of heats take place on Friday 16th September where two winners will once again qualify for the next stage of the competition. In addition, following this final heat, RTITB will announce which two operators who did not earn a place in their individual heat, but have the next best scores, have also earned a place in the Grand Final.
The competition, which this year is proudly supported by B & B Attachments, FSDF, UKWA, BACA Workwear & Safety, has been devised by RTITB to acknowledge the hard work and dedication placed by safe and efficient operators throughout the industry, and instil the message of safety to employers across a wide range of industries. One of the most crucial aspects of the four assessments completed by competitors in the heats is the pre-use inspection, and RTITB hope that the competition will help to raise awareness of this vital daily check.
According to the Health & Safety Executive, over 18% of workplace incidents occur as a result of mechanical failure which could be avoided through completion of a pre-use inspection. Furthermore, a pre-use inspection will help to reduce the cost of ownership and contact penalties, increase truck uptime, improve battery life and, most importantly, help to prevent incidents and injuries.
The competition will continue throughout the duration of the IMHX event, ending on Friday 16th September. For further information on the competition, click here or follow on Twitter (@opofyear) or Facebook – RTITB Operator of the Year Competition. Visit stand 9A40 to watch the heats in action.


There's nothing quite like relaxing on a beautiful swing after a long day. The Ivory Home Antebellum Swing is truly one of a kind that will leave you in awe. This beautiful swing comes painted with all of the hardware that you will need to set it up in no time at all.
Hanging Kit Included ($200 Value): 2" nominal diameter rope included in the kit along with the needed mounting hardware.
*Cushion is not included at this time, but will available for purchase soon.
**At this time, shipping is only available to the Contiguous United States (Lower 48). Please contact us if you need international shipping.
***Swing installation guidelines are included, but Ivory Home strongly recommends, for your safety, that a professional install your swing. By purchasing this swing, you are agreeing that Ivory Home Design, LLC is not responsible or liable for the installation of your swing.
****All sales are final. Please review our return policy for additional details.


1 + 2 Y's ruffle shirt, Peachoo + Krejberg embroidered sheer dress / 3 Y's ruffle shirt & wide leg pant, Peachoo + Krejberg embroidered sheer dress, Marsell boots, Lady Dior bag (stylist's) / 4 A.F. Vandervorst wrap dress, Peachoo + Krejberg sheer cropped pant / 5 + 6 Peachoo + Krejberg sequinned dress / 7 Ann Demeulemeester shirt dress / 9 Comme des Garcons hat (stylist's), Tsumori Chisato crochet coat, Y's wide leg pant, Marsell boots / 10 + 11 A.F. Vandervorst dress, Vivienne Westwood Gold bustier jacket.
All clothing available from DILETTANTE (unless stated otherwise).
'The Other Box' was originally an analogy that Tristan and myself created to describe the sector in which we and many of our friends fit in to. Dressing slightly off kilter in a city like Perth often draws uncomfortable stares and judgemental whispers; an all-round sense of distaste from the mass public. We are all firm believers of individuality, that everyone deserves the freedom to express themselves without judgement from others. This shoot is an ode to all those in 'The Other Box'.
A big thank you to Dilettante for allowing us to borrow their beautiful stock.


text:
News | Policy › Advocacy
Environmental charities under the spotlight for advocacy
Tuesday, 10th December 2019 at 8:35 am
Maggie Coggan
Greenpeace says political advocacy is a vital part of a charity's purpose
Tuesday, 10th December 2019
FREE SOCIAL
Political advocacy is an essential task for charities and is something that must be protected, Greenpeace says, in the wake of comments made by a federal senator calling for the charity to be stripped of its DGR status.
The Courier Mail reported on Sunday that Senator James Mcgrath had asked the Assistant Minister for Charities Zed Seselja to review why Greenpeace held DGR status, which allows donations to be tax-deductible.
Pro Bono News contacted Senator McGrath's office for comment but did not receive a response before deadline.
Jamie Hanson, head of campaigns at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, told Pro Bono News that Greenpeace supporters expected the organisation to contribute to Australian political debate, and it was proud to do so.
He pointed to the high court ruling late last year that struck down a bill that tried to limit the amount third-party groups, including charities, could spend on election campaigns.
"The High Court of Australia has recognised that political advocacy – like giving nature a voice – is an essential task of charitable organisations and an essential component of Australian democracy," Hanson said.
"This is the latest in a series of attempts by the Coalition to silence social justice and environmental advocates."
The shadow assistant minister for charities, Andrew Leigh, also hit back at McGrath's alleged comments, and said it yet again proved the Morrison government wanted to shut down any criticism of its environment policies.
"Australians trust charities, but the Morrison government wants to silence dissenting voices," Leigh said.
"They're happy for charities to plant trees, but not to discuss deforestation. They're happy for charities to promote recycling, but not to ask why Australia's carbon emissions keep rising."
Pro Bono News asked Seslja if he had been approached by McGrath to investigate Greenpeace.
Seselja told Pro Bono News the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission is allowed to investigate charities where legitimate concerns are raised.
"I would expect all organisations who are subsidised by the taxpayer to act in line with their obligations and in line with the expectations of the public," Seselja said.
The Courier Mail also reported that Seselja "hinted that the charity sector was facing a significant overhaul next year".
He said this was in regards to the government's response to the ACNC Review, which was currently under consideration.
"The ACNC Review looks into the legislative regime that governs the charities sector for the first time since its introduction," he said.
Maggie Coggan | Journalist | @MaggieCoggan
Maggie Coggan is a journalist at Pro Bono News covering the social sector.
Tweets by @ProBonoNews
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Tags : Greenpeace, Hands Off Our Charities, James McGrath, Political Advocacy, Zed Seselja,
Government ordered to respond to fundraising inquiry
Luke Michael
Thursday, 28th November 2019 at 4:12 pm
Government response to ACNC review 'coming soon'
Tuesday, 3rd September 2019 at 8:10 am
Charity leaders slam continued inaction on fundraising reform
Friday, 30th August 2019 at 5:14 pm
How your workplace can be energy-efficient
David Ritter
Thursday, 27th June 2019 at 8:27 am
How are Aussie charities helping in the bushfire crisis?
Tuesday, 7th January 2020 at 3:21 pm
What impact will the bushfire crisis have on homelessness?
Wednesday, 15th January 2020 at 4:28 pm
NDIS not yet in tune with the needs of participants
Monday, 20th January 2020 at 4:46 pm
The rise (and scepticism) of Facebook fundraisers
Thursday, 16th January 2020 at 8:49 am
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PARTIAL UPDATE: Who's Running in the 3/3 Primary!
Greg Diamond
– December 8, 2019Posted in: Fresh Juice, March 2020 primary election
Former Supervisor and State Senator Janet Nguyen, shown here in happier times, has crashed the AD-72 party!
The big news is that (1) Janet Nguyen is in (the 72nd AD race), (2) Jordan Brandman filed on the last possible day for is out (of the 4th District BOE race) because he's EVER SO CLEVER (for example, assuring himself that that no one will notice that this ensures that charter-school-loving Tim Shaw will win), (3) pretty much everyone I was getting palpitations about not making it onto the ballot by the end of the last day (like you, Josh Newman!) made it by the time Saturday's afternoon's revised ballot came out, (4) Tom Daly does have a Republican opponent in AD-69, and (5) filing in the judicial race to replace Judge Clayton Biggs, which I was told by a wake-up call early Thursday morning would NOT be extended, does appear to have been extended until 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
This means that the piece I wrote about that was unnecessary and incorrect (as well as making me late for work), and someone can still file to run against Tony Ferrentino — who I have not been able to research as to whether he was an ADA involved in the evidence scandal and other misdeeds in the Criminal Division of the DA's office and the Sheriff's office, or someone not in a position to know about it, or someone who bravely stood up against it.
UPDATE: No one ran against Ferrentino, so congratulations to the Judge-Elect.
(I honestly do not know which it is, but I do know that it would be damned irresponsible not to ask!)
Let's go to the final scores:
UPDATED THROUGH 12/22!
It's that time of the quadrennium again: not only are people about to lock themselves into running for federal and state offices, but also into running to run for the elected seats on the parties' Central Committees (OC's main ones being the DPOC and the recently rechristened RPOC.) We'll focus only on the former today. [Note that the San Bernardino Registrar of Voters page seems to have taken a turn for the worse, so I don't know if there are any additional candidates from Chino Hills in CA-39, SD-29, or AD-55 — but generally there aren't, and if there are they aren't likely to be competitive.]
Katie Porter, Cottie Petrie-Norris, and Thu-Ha Nguyen lookin' good for March 3!
Before getting down to business: if you're a good progressive Dem who can stand up to the political establishment, you already have a lot of good people to vote for [IN THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE RACES – Vern.] Without naming them, here's my count to help you decide whether to run yourself, with the deadline to turn in signatures at the Registrar's office in Santa Ana being this Friday at 5:00:
For those unfamiliar with our procedures here, we color-code day-to-day changes to help people keep track of new developments. Monday's new developments are posted in red, Tuesday's are in amber, Wednesday's are in green, Thursday's are in blue, and Friday's are in purple. (This, while appearing on Sunday, is filling the role of Friday.) I think that late filings when eligible incumbents don't run are in magenta, with the Secretary of State's final additions in brown, but there aren't many of those so it's won't be too confusing.)
CONGRESS!
Democratic incumbent (and dark horse Vice-Presidential nominee) Linda Sanchez has one competitor for this seat, a Democratic Whitter resident named Michael Tolar. This will be extremely unexciting!
Linda has filed in Los Angeles, so she's on the ballot. A Republican and a Democrat have taken out papers in LA, but neither has filed. So unless anyone wants to close it off, she'll probably face one or more write-in candidates in March and whoever finishes second to her faces her in November.
Any resident in the state of California can file a write-in campaign to run against her. It will not likely matter. We may not cover this one much.
FINAL: Gil Cisneros and Young Kim are joined by Chino NPP Steve Cox in what (in November will be) a 1-on-1 rematch. Cox is from out of the district, unless he is in Chino Hills, but that won't be his biggest difficulty.
(earlier)
Young Kim is running for Congress again — and Gil Cisneros, the incumbent, has finally taken out papers. If you appreciate his running you can give him a little money to thank him for trying to hold a difficult seat.
Young Kim is already on the ballot. Gil has his papers, but still hasn't filed them. (In DC, I'd guess.) He needs to submit his ballot designation worksheet — this should not be hard for an incumbent! — and he hasn't filed the nomination papers that were issued (which is not the path most candidates for Congress take.) He also hasn't filed a candidate statement — which was giving me flashbacks to Joe Dunn's failure to do so in his race against Lou Correa based on some crackpot theory his adviser had — but then I realized that Gil doesn't actually need a candidate statement in March, as he'll make the runoff regardless. Let Young Kim spent all of her money on one in each of the three counties! And if the March results aren't good for him, he can blame that on the omitted statement, a defect that he'll fix by June. However, if he doesn't file by Friday after all, I've figured out at least one person who could file next week, run here, and beat Young Kim — and it's not one of the names I have crossed out below. Stay tuned.
Gil seems to have done everything necessary to get onto the ballot, though he's not listed as such. Steve Cox, an NPP, filed in LA and has filed a candidate statement here in OC. Gil did finally file a candidate statement in OC.
Finale: Democratic incumbent Katie Porter will face SIX! [6!] Republicans — four serious (Mayor of Mission Viejo) Greg Raths, "Deputy Attorney General" Peggy Huang, Laguna Hills Mayor Don Sedgwick, and OCBOE member Lisa Sparks , as well as Christopher Gonzales and Rhonda Furin.
Katie Porter — who by my calculations is the best Vice-Presidential candidate for either Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren — is running for re-election here. Two other Democrats in the race, Aditya Pai and Mark Schuk, took out papers but didn't file.
Porter will be fighting against six [6] [SIX!] Republicans for the seat: Greg Raths, Peggy Huang, Don Sedgwick, Lisa Sparks, Christopher Gonzales, and Rhonda Furin. You can read their titles (and the questionable nature of Huang's — which one call to the State Attorney General's office should resolve) below — as well as my suggestion that the Democrats run a second viable-seeming Democrat to close off the race in March and save the money that would otherwise be spent to elect Katie for other races. Perhaps AD-68 is too contentious for that. Bad move, regardless.
OLD STUFF: Any of three Republicans could give her a good fight, though: "Retired Marine Colonel" (and Mayor of Mission Viejo) Greg Raths, "Deputy Attorney General" Peggy Huang, Laguna Hills Mayor Don Sedgwick. A fourth, OCBOE member Lisa Sparks could as well — but she hasn't yet qualified. I doubted here that Raths's original ballot designation of "Decorated Combat Marine" was permissible, unless he is currently making money from being decorated in combat — and whether he was clued in here or elsewhere, Raths apparently agreed. I was shocked to see Huang listed as a Deputy Attorney General (at least within California, under AG Xavier Becerra.) All I can say is that I searched the AG's website just now and could not find any reference to a Peggy, or to any Huang as a Deputy AG. I'll try again, but if she but that on there under oath and it's wrong, well….
Two other Republicans, Christopher Gonzales and Rhonda Furin, probably could not give Katie a good fight, but while they are on the ballot they won't likely make it to November.
WED. UPDATE: Huang, Raths , Pai, and Gonzalez are on the ballot. Sedgwick and Furin are almost on the ballot. Sparks paid her fee and then nothing; Schuck hasn't even done that. You know who isn't on the ballot? Katie Porter, who has paid her fee and done nothing else. I know that she's been busy in DC, and I presume that she'll be back here on Friday, but there's just no excuse for leaving this until this late. If Katie locks herself out of the race, we need two and only two serious Democrats running, who,against four or five Republicans can probably lock the GOP out of the race. (Someone would need to find out whether Pai can run a viable campaign.)
THURS. UPDATE: Katie still hasn't completed her filing, so unless she does so by Friday at 5 she is barred from the race. In that event filing extends until next Wednesday at 5 (and will surely attract some Democrats.) But that would be immensely weird. For Democrats not to have two strong candidates on the ballot against four strong Republicans — so that the party wins the election in March — is nuts. If Katie's NOT on the ballot and they don't do it, it's doubly nuts.
The race here is between two Democrats: incumbent Lou Correa and newcomer Pablo Mendiolea, who has been picking up a lot of support among the reform sectors of the party. Pablo's first task is to get by one Republican, James Waters, and two NPP candidates: Will Johnson and Ed Rushman. Pablo has a decent shot at making the runoff against Correa, who — lest we forget — was censured by the Democratic Party last year for endorsing the Republican candidates for Sheriff and District Attorney. Pablo does not have a candidate statement — while Waters and Rushman do — but should have a lot of nice endorsements from the Democratic wing of … you know.
OLD STUFF: WED. UPDATE: God give me strength. Lou Correa isn't yet on the ballot, which is fine with me, but Democrat Pablo Mendiolea hasn't made any moves towards getting his name on. Anyone who knows whether he's going through with his challenge, let me know. In fact, NO ONE is on this race's ballot yet, although Waters, Johnson, and Rushman are close. (UPDATE TO UPDATE: Pablo says that he will be filing today or tomorrow. He seems to want people to donate to his campaign, so there you go!)
THURS. UPDATE: Lou is now on the ballot. Pablo filed a bunch of papers today, but will have to tie the ribbon on the box tomorrow. From the looks of his filing status, he's trying to figure out how much of a candidate statement he can afford. An e-statement is not too pricey, and will get picked up by the newspapers, but it's nice to be in the booklet sent out to voters. Nice, but in this situation not absolutely essential. If you want to make Pablo's decision easier, he has a campaign website and you can figure out how to reach him with a big check! Republican Waters and NPP Rushman have now both qualified for the ballot as well.)
Worthy incumbent Alan Lowenthal is from the Los Angeles half of this district. (He's not listed as being on the OC ballot, but as I recall he automatically is.) A second Dem, Peter Mathews, is also running, as is a third, Jalen Dupree McLeod, AND a fourth, Julian Soto. (Soto is listed as being from Lake Elsinore, which is not in LA County, so his filing may be challenged.) So are three OC Republicans: John Briscoe, Sou Moua, and Amy Phan West. That's a lot of people.
OLD STUFF: WED. UPDATE: Moua is on the vallot, Briscoe is on the verge, and I'm going to presume that Lowenthal is ok on the LA side, though I hope he buys a candidate statement here in OC. West and Mathews look moribund for now.
THURS. UPDATE: Lowenthal, Mathews, and Democrat Jalen Dupree McLeod, are all on the ballor from Los Angeles; Republicans Moua and Phan West are both on the ballot through OC;
Incumbent Harley Rouda will face five challengers, none of them a Democrat. Richard Mata is an American Independent; the four Republicans are Michelle Steel, Brian Burley, Christopher Engels, James Brian Griffin, and John Thomas Schuesler. All have normal candidate statements except for Griffin and Mata, who have e-statements. Rouda will make the runoff; as the only woman, Steel could hardly ask for a better draw among the competitors.
OLD STUFF: Incumbent Harley Rouda has filed for reelection in a race against fellow Democrat Gary Sanchez, the AIP's Richard Mata and seven Republicans, the headliner among whom is Michelle Steel. Also from the GOP: Brian Burley, Christopher Engels, James Brian Griffin, Tami Le Murillo, Shastina Sandman, and John Thomas Schuesler. Hey, if they can split the vote far enough to put Steel behind Sanchez or Mata for the second ticket to the general election, more power to them!
WED. UPDATE: Harley is on the ballot, along with Steel. Griffin, and Schuesler. If the latter two were Steel's equal it would be worth running a second Democrat to lock Republicans out of the race — but they aren't. Mata has almost made it, Burley is closing in, Engels has done almost nothing, and Murillo, Sanchez, and Sandman have done literally nothing at the ROV since they filed.
THURS. UPDATE: Still Democrat Rouda against Republicans Steel, Griffin, Schuesler, and now American Independent Mata. Harley's definite for November and Steel very likely.
Not-as-bad-as-expected Democratic incumbent Mike Levin is facing a challenge from, so far, only Republican Brian Maryott. Someone named Nadia Smalley seems to be in the process of filing in San Diego.
OLD STUFF: WED. UPDATE: Levin and Maryott are both on the ballot. I don't feel like looking up San Diego.
THURS. UPDATE: See Wednesday update.
LEGISLATURE!
Should-be incumbent Josh Newman is joined on the ballot by fellow Dem Joseph Cho. Usurper incumbent Ling-Ling Chang is not only not currently listed on the OC ballot, she is also not currently listed on the LA ballot as well! (My current guess is that Ling-Ling filed late in the day in LA and that LA, unlike OC, has not yet update its final candidate listing. If Ling-Ling's really out and not replaced by a Republican, this becomes a major story.) Cho has a candidate statement and Josh does not, but Josh has a bear suit, a blimp, cutout figures, top-flight endorsements, and gobs of good will. Making Cho pay that much more for his own statement might just be a good move.
OLD STUFF: Serial liar Ling-Ling Chang, who took over Josh Newman's seat in Carl DeMaio's recall, has not yet filed for re-election, but probably will not yet paid her fees. If she doesn't complete filing, filing the seat opens for three more workdays. Newman has already filed and paid his fees — and will do far better in an election with a full (and active) electorate than in a paltry populated recall election. Joseph Cho was one of two Democrats (there may have been more) who ran to replace Newman in the recall, thus helping to confuse things enough for it to pass, and he is on everyone's shit list and just doesn't know it yet. If he scores in more than double-figures it will be a shame. (The other such Democrat, Stanton's Kevin Carr, is now a Republican.) A fourth candidate — George Shen, of the City of Industry — has also taken out papers in LA.
WED. UPDATE: Newman is not yet on the ballot. Cho has paid his fees but hasn't done anything else. Chang has … done absolutely nothing. (Maybe she remembered that she's a serial liar.) Newman had better hope that someone else does file against him so he doesn't have to face some weird write-in.
THURS. UPDATE: Newman may be making up his mind about a candidate statement. Not having one means that Chang and Cho, who both filed in LA on Wednesday, have to pay more for their statements. I presume that Josh will be finishing his filing tomorrow.
Incumbent Republican John Moorlach will be joined on the ballot by Katrina Foley and Dave Min, who are described below. Even if Moorlach gets 50% in the primary, one of the other two still makes it to the runoff, with its even more Democratic-leaning turnout.
OLD STUFF: John Moorlach, Vern's humorous libertarian buddy, is running for reelection. Democrats have a nasty race evolving between former Katie Porter nemesis Dave Min and former (probably continuing, but I haven't been following Costa Mesa's City Council) Sandy Genis nemesis Katrina Foley. I'll give Min the chance to answer the accusations made against him that led me to call for no endorsement at the CDP convention last year, when now-disgraced then-Chair Eric Bauman pretended not to hear me, and I'll give Foley the chance to rebut my complaints that she drove Genis away from the Democrat-dominated majority coalition. I'll probably ask Moorlach whether we really need two Republican State Senators with beachfront districts. (On the other hand, we only have one Democratic State Senator on the State's Eastern Border.)
WED. UPDATE: Moorlach's just about on the ballot. Min has paid his fees and not done anything else. Foley has … not even paid her fees. WTF? Why are so many people who we know are running waiting until the last day to file their papers? Why are these people trying to kill me?
THURS. UPDATE: Moorlach is now on the ballot. Foley and Min are both not quite, though I can't actually figure out what Foley is missing. No one is filing a candidate statement so far, which is sort of interesting.
ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 55
The uppermost of OC's seven Assembly Districts, it's only tri-county one, is represented by Republican Phillip Chen, who will be challenged by Walnut Mayor Andrew Rodriguez, a Democrat. Michelle Hamilton — a DPOC member appointed to replace me on that august body — also filed in LA on the last day. All I can say is that if Hamilton resides in OC (as would have had to be the case if she got a DPOC appointment), then as I understand it she had to file in OC rather than LA, so she may not be on the ballot for long. (Contact a lawyer before you do something this clever, folks.)
OLD STUFF: WED. UPDATE: Chen is on the ballot. I believe that Rodriguez is on the ballot in LA County — or at least will be.
THURS. UPDATE: Incumbent Phillip Chen is on the ballot from OC. Andrew Rodriguez is on the ballot in LA, They're joined by Margaret Hamilton (who I believe is a Democrat) in OC, who paid her fees Thursday but has not filed all of her papers.
Incumbent Sharon Quirk-Silva is up against Cynthia Thacker. Neither of them bought a candidate statement, which was the right move, but favors the better-known incumbent. I don't recall whether Sharon has ever won a primary, though she's only lost once in November, but she should win this one.
OLD NEWS: Incumbent Democrat Sharon Quirk-Silva's only opponent on the board right now is a fellow Democrat, Param Brar. Presumably, she'll have a Republican opponent next fall, and — given the large Democratic turnout expected for President in this suburban district — she will presumably win. [Update 12/2: As things stand, that Republican will be Republican will be Cynthia Thacker, and Sharon will still win.]
WED. UPDATE: Sharon is on the ballot. Brar as done nothing. Thacker has paid her fee, filed one form — and done nothing more.
THURS. UPDATE: Sharon is on the ballot. Thacker is not as yet, though she looks to be on course. Brar does not appear likely to file.
Fox, Yu, Fields, and Choi have all made the ballot: Yu on Friday and Fields and Choi in Saturday's overtime. Interestingly, Fox was the only one not to file a candidate statement.
OLD STUFF: This one sets up two Democrats against two Republicans, with one officeholder and one non-officeholder in each party. The officeholders are Republican incumbent (and former Irvine Mayor) Steven Choi and current Democratic Irvine Councilwoman Melissa Fox. The newcomers are Republican Benjamin Yu and Democrat Eugene Fields.
WED. UPDATE: Melissa Fox is on the ballot. Choi is almost on. Yu is maybe a step behind. Fields has paid his fees and filed nothing.
THURS. UPDATE: Only Fox is on the ballot, but incumbent Choi seems certain to finish. Yu filed a bunch on Tuesday and Fields did so on Wednesday, but neither are as yet qualified.
This is the most liberal Assembly District in Orange County, currently held by the most conservative Democratic Assembly member in the state, Tom Daly. Like Lou Correa in the overlapping Congressional seat, he was also censured by the DPOC last year. One Republican, Jon Paul White, is also in the race. I expect these numbers to grow, at least on the blue side.
But … they did not. Daly has the perfect situation — only one opponent, an unknown Republican without even a ballot designation — which means that not even a Democratic write-in candidate can make the runoff and possibly dislodge him. Is White a Daly plant? Either way, well-played, Daly.
WED. UPDATE: Daly has paid his fee and filed nothing. Same for White. Chavez has done nothing.
THURS. UPDATE: Incumbent Daly has done almost everything he needs to qualify. The second Democrat, Chavez, has still done nothing. White, the Republican, has paid his fee but not filed anything else. Daly could be the only one to have filed tomorrow afternoon.
Here there is news! This was looking like famously corrupt Republican incumbent Tyler Diep against Democratic Garden Grove City Council Member "Diedre" Thu-Ha Nguyen. That was going to be interesting enough. Now even more famously corrupt former Supervisor and State Senator Janet Nguyen has swooped in at the last moment to enter the race as well. Nice secret-keeping there! She's there either (1) to beat Diep outright or (2) to ensure that the other female Nguyen doesn't make the runoff, so that Diep will win. (Anyone who bets on the latter should ask for huge odds.) If there's a Diep-Janet runoff, this publication will either (1) try not to think about the race at all or (2) try to ensure that each Republican has to spend as much money as possible — while perhaps taking steps to see if one or both of them can be caught committing voter fraud. (And anyone who bets on the former should ask for huge odds.)
OLD NEWS: This is where famously corrupt Republican Tyler Diep beat Josh Lowenthal last cycle. Democrat "Diedre" Thu-Ha Nguyen, currently on the Garden Grove City Council, is running this year, as is Democrat Bijan Mohseni. No idea here whether Josh will run again this year, for this or something else.
WED. UPDATE: Diep and Nguyen are on the ballot. Mohseni has paid the fee, but filed nothing and might as well keep it that way.
THURS. UPDATE: This looks like it will be Tyler Diep against Diedre Nguyen. Can't wait! Take notes on the atrocities so that we can get them to the DA and FPPC!
Brough and Rhinehart will have a rematch, joined by Duncan, Daies, and Sachs. With two Mayors in the race against the (disgraced, but still incumbent) Brough, there is a real possibility that two Republicans make the runoff here.
OLD NEWS: Republican and accused serial sexual assault perpetrator Bill Brough is seeking reelection to the southernmost Assembly District, despite his party trying to cut him loose. Other Republicans on the ballot are Laguna Niguel Mayor Laurie Davies, Melanie Eustace and Mission Viejo Councilman Ed Sachs. Democrats Chris Duncan, Jeffrey Kitchen, and 2018 runoff nominee Scott Rhinehart, along with NPP Richard Jackson, round out the field for now.
WED. UPDATE: Brough, Rhinehart, and Davies are on the ballot. Sachs is so close to being on the ballot — and has been for a week now — that I can't figure out what the hold-up is. Kitchen, Eustace, and Jackson have disappeared. Duncan paid his fee and then disappeared. Maybe some of them will reappear.
THURS. UPDATE: Looks like Republicans Brough, Davies, and (as of Thursday) Sachs are on the ballot along with Rhinehart.
Both Republican challengers ultimately got onto the ballot against Cottie. So long as she gets 33.4% in the primary, she's on to the runoff. She has no candidate statement, so she seems pretty confident about that.
OLD NEWS: Democratic incumbent Cottie Petrie-Norris has already qualified for the ballot, while Republicans Diane Dixon and Kelly Ernby are in process. Finally, a race that looks somewhat normal!
WED. UPDATE: Petrie-Norris is on the ballot. Dixon and Ernby have both paid their fee and filed no other paperwork since.
THURS. UPDATE: It looks like this will be just Cottie vs. Ernby.
Office #4, replacing Judge Carlton Biggs, is the only one who has a contender — but (despite what I was told in an early Thursday morning wake-up call) the race is reopened for anyone who files by Wednesday at 5;00. The sole current candidate is ADA Tony Ferrentino, who has lived through some interesting times under Tony Rackauckas's leadership. UPDATE: And as noted above, no one filed against Ferrentino, so he's in.
OLD STUFF: It seems like every year some Superior Judge gets challenged for one of two reasons: either simple bad luck or they've done something to deserve it. It looked like Judge Sherry Honer was going to face bad luck this year, but her opponent withdrew. Judge Sandy Leal is being challenged by Robert Keenan, and offhand I have no idea why. None of the names I saw on this year's list set me off.
10/3: There's an ADA named Tony Ferrentino running for the spot now held by Judge Carlton Biggs, who has not taken out papers. Anyone who has information about ADA Ferrentino, please let us know! Is he a Racky type? So far as I know, Judge Biggs is alive and eligible to run for re-election, so if he's retiring this seat will reopen for three workdays after Friday.
WED. UPDATE: Nothing has happened with Judges except that Judge Honer has filled out a candidate statement and paid a fee, etc.. which looks like it will probably be unnecessary.
THURS. UPDATE: Carlton Biggs is not running for Office 4, despite being eligible, so this one will remain open until Wednesday at 5 — and if no one challenged Ferrentino than he walks into judicial robes without a scratch.
OCBOE
Incumbent Beckie Gomez has two opponents this year: Jim Palmer and Steve Rocco. Given that she's the incumbent and it's a "plurality wins" race, Rocco's being in this race actually helps her, because he's not taking away votes from the incumbent.
OLD STUFF: WED. UPDATE: Palmer is on the ballot. Rocco has done most of what he'd needed to do to get on the ballot. Gomez only picked up her papers over the past couple of days. What's wrong with this picture?
THURS. UPDATE: Rocco and Palmer are both on the ballot. Incumbent Gomez looks like she has done everything she needs to do to get on. If she doesn't make it, then it reopens and one hopes that someone good will run instead, though not as much as one hopes that she does make it!
Disgusting incumbent Ken L. Williams is challenged by Democrat Andy Thorburn. I suspect that even Republicans would like to get rid of Williams as much as Democrats want to elect Thorburn — that is, a lot.
WED. UPDATE: Williams is on the ballot. Thorburn is almost on the ballot. Harrington has not filed anything.
THURS. UPDATE: Williams and Thorburn are both on the ballot. Harrington looks unlikely to join them.
This race will apparently come down to La Habra's Tim Shaw against Fullerton's Paulette Chaffee. Vicki Calhoun is currently listed on the ballot, though Vern has reported that she has withdrawn, and Chaffee might want to go to court to see if she can be removed — because her votes are not coming from Shaw.
OLD STUFF: Reasonable Fullerton Republican Dr. Jack Bedell is retiring from this seat. One Republican is running, former La Habra Mayor Tim Shaw, and three Democrats will fight it out: perennial candidate Vicki Calhoun, Paulette Chaffee (whose husband beat out Shaw for the Supervisor position), and Jordan Brandman, who failed to get the DPOC endorsement last week. As I mentioned, this is a plurality wins position, so with this field Shaw probably has it in the bag. That's one switch on the Board to supporting charter schools, but the expected switch in District 3 will counter that.
WED. UPDATE: Shaw and Chaffee are both on the ballot. Calhoun looks like she's filed everything that the others have, so should soon join them. Brandman has had papers issued, but has filed only one optional paper — but all of his activity occurred yesterday, so he's probably in.
THURS. UPDATE: Republican Shaw will share the ballot with Paulettte Chaffee, at a minimum. Vicky Calhoun has also qualified, but Vern reports that she's dropping out due to very sad family circumstances. The fourth person to take out papers in Jordan Brandman, who was issued papers on Wednesday. If Vicki is out, then I think he might try it; if not, I suspect that he'll run for something else. (I'll tell Vern my guess.)
Nothing has changed here: all four of the non-Rocco candidates will be on the ballot.
OLD STUFF: As it stands, Republican incumbent Andrew Do will face Democrats Sergio Contreras, Miguel Pulido, Kim Bernice Nguyen, and Steve Rocco. As bad of a Supervisor and Do is, and as Rocco would be, Pulido would be even worse. We'll see whether Contreras or Nguyen is better able to put up a fight. One problem I have — and maybe Vern can verify or falsify this — is that Kim Nguyen is the same Kim Nguyen as we covered at the time of Garden Grove Districting, in which event she's Lou Correa's catspaw. If so, nerts to that!
WED. UPDATE: Do and Pulido — does that strike anyone else as sounding like "Gog and Magog"? — are both on the ballot. Contreras still needs to file his ballot designation and candidate statement. Nguyen is lacking only the candidate statement. Rocco shows no sign of entering this race.
THURS. UPDATE: Do, Pulido, and Nguyen are all on the ballot. Contreras looks like he will make it, and thank heaven for that.
It will be Ashleigh Aitken vs. incumbent Don Wagner, which should be quite a nice fight.
OLD NEWS: This is the District that Don Wagner ran to because he apparently wasn't enjoying life in the minority in Sacramento. He's the incumbent and, if you didn't know, a Republican. The question is which Democratic woman is going to run against him: Ashleigh Aitken or (once again) Loretta Sanchez.
VERN NOTE: IT'S ASHLEIGH, LORETTA DROPPED OUT!
GREG NOTE: SO TELL ASHLEIGH TO FREAKIN' FILE ALREADY!
Both have taken out papers but haven't yet filed a thing. As I recall, if Wagner (or the sole women running against him) gets a majority in the primary, it's over.
Ashleigh and Wagner are both in; Loretta, as suggested above, is out. Barring a write-in campaign or a tie, this will be decided in March.
CENTRAL COMMITTEE DELEGATES
You can skip down to the blue part for now. I'll first write only about Democrats, and the section on them will become much more developed later, probably in its own piece. It will include which Republicans to avoid:
OLD STUFF: After that we have only the Party County Committee delegate positions left. That's a whole different kettle of fish, which we'll get to tomorrow or so. I may first post something, though, explaining where we need more lefty reformers to run!
The only other person new on the boards today besides Gil and Ms. Thacker is Karina Onofre, who is running for a RPOC seat from the 69th AD. I think that Democrats were unnecessarily mean to her, so I wish her luck in trying to get her old/new party to be more tolerant — or dare I dream, even supportive? — of Latinos. That would be a noble cause.
The real question for Friday — I can't recall whether these go into extensions, but let's presume that they don't [UPDATE: CONFIRMED THAT THEY DON'T!] — is whether there are already six viable people worth voting for. So that's all I'm going to focus on. I'm looking only at Democratic races for now.
AD-55: I don't know some of the candidates (though I will!), but I think that there's room for 1 or maybe 2 more, but we could make do with this present lineup. Only 5 of the 9 have qualified; some of the others had better get on it! Lourdes Cruz, I'm looking at you!
AD-65: Don't join this race Friday unless you're spectacular. 10 of 13 have qualified. I count at least 9 here that are worthwhile — though Marisol Ramirez hasn't yet qualified, so get on with that! — and 2-3 that are much to be avoided. We'll look at cross-endorsements and slates as a means of whittling it down.
AD-68: No need to add your name; there are at least 9 good ones here and several others to avoid. 11 of the 21 have qualified. I see 4-6 of those 11 are good. If Nathaniel Fernandez Epstein qualifies, that will pretty much settle things. Lots of bad names on this list too, though.
AD-69: 21 people have taken out papers. Only 2 — 2! — have qualified! (I don't know anything about the those two: Thai Viet Phan and Ariana Arestegui,)
AD-72: Only 6 of 13 here have qualified. At least have of them are decent, but … Victor, Oscar, Karen — what's up?
AD-73: 9 of 12 have qualified, and only 4-1/2 of them are good. The others are very bad. Let me be blunt: if you live in AS-73 and you are an activist favoring Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren, at least 3 of you need to get into this race!
AD-74: 9 of 20 have qualified. At least 6 of them are good, and Iyad and Samila haven't yet qualified. So some good people are going to have to be alternates — if at least four of the good ones are elected!
(By the way: the word "good" in this section does not speak to candidates' moral character or other similar qualities. It just means "good" for this position, if you want to reform the Democratic Party locally, statewide, and even beyond.)
Tags: 2020 primary election
About Greg Diamond
Somewhat verbose attorney, semi-retired due to disability, residing in northwest Brea. Occasionally runs for office against bad people who would otherwise go unopposed. Got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012; Josh Newman then won the seat in 2016. In 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002; Todd Spitzer then won that seat in 2018. Every time he's run against some rotten incumbent, the *next* person to challenge them wins! He's OK with that. Deposed as Northern Vice Chair of DPOC in April 2014 (in violation of Roberts Rules) when his anti-corruption and pro-consumer work in Anaheim infuriated the Building Trades and Teamsters in spring 2014, who then worked with the lawless and power-mad DPOC Chair to eliminate his internal oversight. Expelled from DPOC in October 2018 (in violation of Roberts Rules) for having endorsed Spitzer over Rackauckas -- which needed to be done. None of his pre-putsch writings ever spoke for the Democratic Party at the local, county, state, national, or galactic level, nor do they now. One of his daughters co-owns a business offering campaign treasurer services to Democratic candidates and the odd independent. He is very proud of her. He doesn't directly profit from her work and it doesn't affect his coverage. (He does not always favor her clients, though she might hesitate to take one that he truly hated.) He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.)
Ed Lopez
Posted December 9, 2019 at 2:37 PM
Vicki Calhoun has re-entered the race for OC Board of Education, District 4.
Posted December 9, 2019 at 11:19 PM
I'm glad that her parents are feeling better, but this pretty much ensures a win for Tim Shaw. Yes, Paulette could withdraw, and yes, Vicki could perhaps amass the amount of money she'd need to beat Shaw, but I don't see either happening.
Oh well — may the best woman win!
As Jack Bedell is still eligible to run for re-election for his OCBOE seat, filing is open until today — and an informed source tells me that Jordan Brandman will file for the position.
As Tim Shaw already has a virtual lock on this with him or without him — and as Chaffee will outspend him — I'll be glad to see Jordan adding another loss to his political resume. (Remember: plurality wins — no runoff in these races — so the dreaded "would you support Jordan or Shaw in the runoff?" question doesn't arise.) It seems to me that this is just another chance for him to raise money to later transfer to another campaign account: Let's see whose dumb enough to play that game.
Ron & Anna Winship
*Dr. D., thank you so much for your prodigious work in this matter. As always a wonderful job. We do have a cautionary tale however: The average median household income in Orange County is $78K. The upper 5% make $200-$467K a year. Basically, it is going to take almost 4 times as many $1000 dollar donations from the under $78K group to balance off the $4000 dollar campaign contributions from the upper 5% and various PACS, Lobbying Groups and Individuals. The challenge will be to get the vote out which will attempt to counter balance Republican (Voter Fraud), Hit pieces, Social Media Attacks and endless fraudulent information by mail. Our opinion is: Throw everything out and do your own research!
*By the way, the House Impeachment vote today was wonderful. It shows that the Dems have the courage to do something! That is important….right or wrong!
Vern Nelson
Posted December 22, 2019 at 10:59 AM
I read these updates. So Janet is running for assembly, not supervisor (as a pajarita named Michele mistakenly told me.) Janet against Tyler will be great! (In March at least)
I couldn't tell exactly what you meant in the bolded part of this:
"She's there either (1) to beat Diep outright or (2) to ensure that the other female Nguyen doesn't make the runoff, so that Diep will win. (Anyone who bets on the latter should ask for huge odds.) "
But yeah she would be there to beat Diep outright. They are from the two main Viet cliques that have been feuding for over a decade – the "Trannies" (disciples of Van Tran whose most powerful member now is Tyler) and the "Jannies" (disciples of Janet herself.) This is the genesis of the current Westminster Recall-geddon. I'll bet the Democrat will make the cut for November, and am at a loss to who is worse, Janet or Tyler.
Speaking of Tyler, he made a surprise appearance at a recent Anaheim Council meeting to back up the Building Trades on a Community Workforce Agreement. Wait – the guy who's played a hardnosed doctrinaire righwing conservative since his days writing as "Tomahawk" on Cunningham's Red County 15 years ago is now a friend of the working stiff? Why, yes, and knowing that would turn some heads he gave a big "change of heart" speech in Anaheim, on how he's come to see how important workers rights bla bla bla….
I wasn't all that surprised at Tyler's "transformation" as he's been a KLEPTOCRAT rather than a CONSERVATIVE for MANY years – fighting for Poseidon, 405 toll lanes, and more – the same things the Building Trades fight for.
And yes it's official about "Tomahawk". 10, 15 years ago he used to deny that was him. But as he walked by leaving Anaheim chambers I stood off to the side and said "Hey TOMAHAWK!" and he looked around startled and laughed. Then he admitted "Yeah that was me, that's why I don't blog any more, it's a bad idea to leave a written record." Or something like that.
Posted December 22, 2019 at 12:08 PM
My point was that, with Tyler a sure bet to finish in the top two, Janet could either be running to beat him or to prevent any Democrat from getting into the runoff (after which, if she chose to take a dive — perhaps for proper compensation — she could allow him to win without effort.) My point was that while that latter scenario was a logical possibility, the odds against it were highly highly high.
Okay, then we agree. I'm not as conversant in betting language as you are.
You bet.
This photo-illustration of Janet (from the Pedroza days here, by the way) reminds me of the cover of the Talking Head's album Remain in Light — which was pretty cool when I thought that their song "Swamp," with its "hi, hi hi hi hi-hi" refrain was on that album. Sadly for the following premise, that one comes from their following studio album, Speaking in Tongues.
Of course that makes sense when I remember that their first four albums each came out during one year of the Carter Administration and that song — the Devil's take on the Reagan Administration's first-term arms policy, though it's even more timely today — came out in 1983:
Michelle Steel voted to build a county wide homeless tent city on TOXIC land right by Huntington Beach Central Park.
Out of all the possibilities in all of Orange County — that is where she chose to build a homeless camp. That was her perception of a smart idea and a palatable solution to all.
Michelle Steel is also one of the OC Supervisors who sat on a pile of money allocated to mitigate the homelessness crisis and did absolutely NOTHING but watch as the tragedy ballooned into epic proportions,
The usual hypocritical suspects in Huntington Beach will look like even bigger absolute fools if they throw any support Michelle Steel's way. It would go against everything that they have protested since the "Navigation Center" purchase debacle.
But it would not be surprising. They have for at least the last 5 years or so voted against their own interests. Just to vote party politics (when that doesn't even matter locally).
They so proudly took credit for unseating die hard opponents of Poseidon and HDD and replacing them with developer friendly chamber puppets like Posey, Barbara, Brenden etc. Who will never, ever vote to protect Huntington Beach's shore and what precious little open space remains.
Some personal agenda driven nostalgia peddling loud mouths shook some single use plastic freedom bags in their face, made it all partisan politics and got them to vote for exactly the wrong people to support their professed vision of what the city should protect and what it should become.
Particularly ironic is the never ending complaints about the arrogance and rudeness of current council members on the dais. Their refusal to pay attention or listen to the citizens who come to speak…Sounds so familiar…So, so familiar…
That irony is up there with their complaints about local residents not speaking up or getting publicly involved in city council meetings. You mean, like, for example — the CHILDREN you all mocked when they came to express their opinion a few years back? The oldest of whom should be right around voting age now. Or maybe it's their parents you relentlessly disparaged that you think should come lend their voice to your fight?
The really sad thing is that they held similar views to you. But it was so much more fun to do a political party pile on and bully, post stupid memes and say really hurtful things then to be respectful and appreciative of their involvement. Now some of those same hateful bullies have the audacity to post lengthy, "How can we get more people involved? Tirades. Detailing how they are "tired of the same people doing all the participating".
What a F*#cking joke.
Are you that clueless? They WERE involved. And you called them names. Made comments about their appearance. Their families. Their personal lives. You made fun of parents and their CHILDREN. Just for attending a city council meeting and speaking their mind. But now…Now you wonder…Why aren't more people participating? How do we get them to join our fight? Can anyone really lack that much self awareness? It's hard to believe anyone could be that stupid…Truly.
You played right into the hands of all the outside interests. All the crony baloney. You got played SO HARD and you would still rather play trivial tribal games and be divided while you hand over the keys to the sea side kingdom. It's sad.
But you have exactly the elected officials you wanted. And the ones that you deserve.
That was sure a blast from the past (2014-15) … Epting … HB Community Forum … and PLASTIC BAGS.
O Plastic Bag! O Freedom's flighty Phantasm,
The very Phlegm of Liberty's rattling Cough!
I see thee wafting o'er my cherish'd Shores,
Jerk'd left and right on the capricious Breeze,
And lo my Patriot Heart with Fervor swells.
O Bag! The sullen Libtard may decry thee,
Envirothugs may wail, I still sport Wood;
Yes I caress mine uncloth'd Chest with thee
And cast thee to the wild untether'd wind –
A Dagger to Agenda 21!
Ye Plastic Bags! Ye mighty Multitude –
Thou and thy Kind, amphibious and bold!
Gull, Turtle, Fish shall love Thee as I do,
And at long last the Earth shall find Repose,
Ensconced in billowing folds of Plastic Bags!


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A practical perspective on Florida's Evidence Code from a trial lawyer's point of view.
Florida Evidence and Procedure seeks to help simplify and explain the Florida Evidence Code in practical terms. It will assist the trial lawyer in getting a case ready for trial, and getting evidence in at trial. Florida Evidence and Procedure will help plan and try a clean and effective case, with the best results for clients.
Gleaned from the authors' 45 years of trying cases, Florida Evidence and Procedure is a valuable tool in the trial lawyer's tool chest.