ojai news at The Ojai Post :: blog, newspaper, events in Ojai, California

spot on, evan. great summary of what's up in Ojai. I hope I can get down to the benefit concert tomorrow evening for Glenn. If not, I am sending my thoughts and prayers.

I am soooo happy to finally see comments posted for the great things in Ojai that it has prompted me to respond although I will be surprised if my comment gets posted as it might be too enthusiastic for some of your readers but I'll give it a shot anyhoo. My year has been started by a constant moaning of many issues but the first was that of unaffordable housing, how to overcome this dillemna? At first I thought I would blog about it but came up with a more pro-active approach, a second job.I tried some of the "local buisness'" owned by transplants but the whole " work exchange" just wasn t gonna cut it .So I followed the gravel trucks to their source and found a great oppurtunity doing manual labor in the gravel buisness. Man is this hard work! My hats off to those who provide for their families doing this under appreciated labor! Not only did this provide good income in which to begin my housing endeavour it also turned my pastey coffeshop complection into a strong working body working in the sun..Next was to get a night job at Jersey Mikes (I tried a local buisness and all positions were filled and the owners lamented that local dollars weren't doing enough to sustain buisness) It seems that a lot of the afffluent liberal money gets spent on yoga clothes and un-enviromentally friendly Croc shoes. I tried my best to find a good pair of work boots and jeans but all I could find were rubber shoes and cotton namaste capri pants. Do men really wear these things? My next task was to "vision quest" my head out of my colon and get rid of my hybrid and buy a bicycle to get me to my jobs. This was smart not only do I not look like a self righteous rube anymore but the exercise has made me more attractive to the opposite sex! I will be starting a family in ojai soon thanks to all of these factors and I encourage all the bloggers to get out there and try it too it feels soooo namastatious to be a home owner now thanks to the lifestyle change! PEACE AND HAIR GREASE,DR SUSIO!P S I hope whoever runs this page has the courtesy to post this for further comment!

Dr. Susio,

I will respond to your fantasy later but for now I have serious business of my own.

___________________

Fellow Citizens:

I just returned from my walk on Shelf and I am on fire, and not just sweating like a pig in this heat at 4PM. A hawk flew over me at low altitude once and then circled back and flew over me again before disappearing over a hill. I think it was the same one that I talked about here on another thread. She may have recognized the hawk feather I wore in my cap. - It's a little long but I'll repeat the story here briefly. On 7/7/07 I inaugurated The Lover Government sponsored by the Red Brown and Blue Party. I was wearing the hawk feather at the time. I had seen this hawk for three straight days. The first day she flew over me and then perched on a telephone pole nearby for about five minutes talking to me about a party going on down below the hill which I later connected to the Red Brown and Blue Party. On the next day she appeared on the top of a large pine tree which is in the valley so I was at eye level with her, again talking away in a particular 4-5-6 sweaking rhythm. I think it was on this day walking home along Gridley not far from where I saw the hawk when I suddenly saw this hawk feather at my feet. It is unusually beautiful. I am told by an Indian student that the feather is a gift and it is rare. I consider it a gift to Ojai, not just to me. He said hawks are considered messengers becauses they rise on thermals to the abode of the Great Spirit. - About this time one morning I hear this hawk in that same voice from my room. I go outside and there she is sitting on a telephone pole in our back yard. She stays there about five minutes and then starts flying circles almost straight overhead. About the third circle I wonder if she's going to do 7 circles to match the date of 7/7/07, and I swear on my grandfather Dennis' grave that she does exactly 7 near perfect circles and heads off to the east. Hey, folk, we're not alone. - Then today this hawk flys right over me at low altitude once and again doubles back and takes off, this time not saying anything. But I got the distinct feeling that she is an activist Indian spirit, and she said she sees what we are doing and is willing to help if we ask. She is fed up with the white man's forked tongue and destructive ways. - When I get to Gridley and Grand, I lie down on the grate like I usually do and all these crows appear. Now I also wear a raven's feather so maybe they recognized that. Ravens are known for wisdom and the message was along those lines. - So then I'm thinking politics and I get these ideas which are that now is the time to strike with this chain issue on the front burner. There is another planning commission meeting coming up on August 1st, and I get this idea that we should get at least 40 people to show up and express their outrage that the city is not working with the Neufeld initiative. This issue blows their cover and can help unseat the 2H's, Hanstadt and Horgan; in other words: "in 2008, it's out the gate." (with them 2) - We could do it right here: develop the talking points, like 1) the city is still suing over Jeff's initiative; 2) it refuses to even give Kenley the courtesy of a formal reply to his offer to help; 3) it has undercut the citizen initiative with a Green Dead Zone surrounded by a Green Money Zone which will kill Ojai, etc. etc. If we had 30 volunteers who would cover just a small part of the city, we could cover the whole city, and get signatures at the same time. A few days ago a citizen said we could do a mailer to the whole city for about 500 bucks. We have to do it soon. Using myself as an example, I could run off a hundred copies of the talking points, and distribute them in the area of North of Grand along Grandview, Sunset and Drown. Now's the chance to do public education. This ordinance shows that the city is for chains and against citizen rights. We can encourage citizens to come to the Aug. 1 meeting and get a taste of how fun and easy is to speak up in public. They could use the talking points and be helped by the experienced ones. - What the city is doing is an outrage. There is no reason why they should not work with Kenley on the Neufeld Initiative and come up with a good solid ordinance, avoid the city causing a special election, and save us the work of gathering another 150 signatures. - Thanks, Tyler, for the reference to the Neufeld Initiative; I will check it soon. - We have the power and the initiative now. We can demand they work with the Neufeld Initiative aka The Citizens Initiative or else face the consequences. If 40 people came to the meeting on August 1st and demanded the planning commission say no to the sick green city initiative and yes to the reasonable Citizen Initiative, it would be the council's Waterloo and Watergate. - Right now I feel the energy; we'll see what I feel like tomorrow. I need to sleep on it but I think now is the time to strike while the iron is hot. - Got to go; someone wants to use this computer. Cheers, Dennis.

No more truth please, I want honesty.

All I want is the initiative anymore. If there is something else devised, I want it put up to a vote by the people so it can't be changed without another vote by the people. I've lost faith in the Council. They still have not given an honest accounting of their stand on the issue. Not one honest comment can be attributed to any of them.(those that are against the initiative).

Oh you can argue some of their statements are true, when commenting on the issue, giving a reason.

But truth and honesty are seldom one and the same. When we hear the general in Iraq lauding bush's surge successes, allot of what he says is true, but not honest. He refuses to comment on any and all of the failures of the surge. It's deception, it's obvious, I'm done with the truth, I'm looking for the honesty.

I find honesty in the initiative

The post above is mine. I did a system restart and haven't initialized all my personal tags.

Dennis, i'd be honored to help. A crowd of crows can sure make some noise. contact me thru my email (-:-)

First, Dr. Susio, it sounds like you are either just playing around, having fun or you are a paid troll out to discredit progressives. If you would identify yourself, I could investigate your claims, like the night shift [?] at Jersey Mikes and riding your bicycle out to the gravel mines and a few other non sequiturs. Rereading my own post, it too sounds fantastic but I know it is based on facts, and I identify myself so people can come and talk to me personally and see if I am a nut case or whatever.

Second, I agree with Dana, if I understand him, that Kenley's Initiative is on solid ground and is honest. I like to call it the Citizen Initiative to distinguish it from the City Initiative. I just read the Citizen Initiative again and I think it is very sound. Sure, it needs some work but that's where a collaborative effort would be most valuable. The City has borrowed heavily from it, and criticizes its supposedly unclear directives. The City Initiative is not honest in my opinion because it and the newly crafted Historic Commercial District (HCD) are designed to compete with and subvert the Citizen Initiative. The city is not being honest about it. I think it is a power thing, and a deep fear of citizens actually taking the initiative. My God, if the citizens themselves are running things, what will the administration do? - Here's a string of dishonesties on the part of the City Cabal, and only a partial one at that: 1) the city claims that it cannot declare Mallory Way a landmark because the property owner has to give his permission first. Wrong. I demolished that falsehood a long time ago but the city still will not protect its historical and economic resource which by state law it is required to do. 2) the city claims that the Top Hat in Ventura is on public land and therefore is not like Frostie which is on private land, and therefore the city cannot help Frostie like Ventura helped Top Hat. Wrong. The Top Hat is on private land just like Frostie. 3) the city surprises everyone by announcing at a council meeting with Jeff Furchtenicht in attendance that it has initiated legal action against Jeff and 50 DOES but it is not a lawsuit. Wrong. It is a lawsuit that continues to this day, even with the ACLU backing Jeff, and with the potential of costing the taxpayers up to a half million dollars in legal fees. 4) At the meeting with the neighbors and Caltrans recently, the city begins by saying that the bridge in question is not in the city and therefore the city cannot stop traffic. Wrong. The bridge is in the city and the city has been asked by Caltrans to issue a permit so that traffic can be rerouted on city streets. By the way, while you're at it, demand that the city not issue that permit. 5) The city says that the Citizen Initiative on chain stores is legally vulnerable and is not desirable. Wrong. The Citizen Initiative is on solid legal ground; there are at least 11 other cities that have such ordinances. The city's hastily concocted ordinance and its Green Zone is the one that is legally vulnerable. As far as not being able to change except with another initiative, if that is true, and I don't take the city's word at face value, isn't that a good thing? It prevents the politicos from suberting the citizens' wishes; and IF the city would cooperate with Kenley, an initiative could be created that would not need to be changed, and so what if it did? it could be changed if necessary by initiative. The city doesn't like it because it takes a little power away from them and gives it to the people which is the way it is supposed to work according to the Constitution. - The city is not to be trusted. I could go on in detail about why this is so but let me just refer you to today's OVN. The city uses the mainstream press regularly for its propaganda. The city manager is quoted. He discredits the Citizen Initiative with the usual scare tactic that it is legally unsound (no sources cited for this outrageous assertion), and that the city's initiative is the best choice. It is simply a ruse based only on the authority of the city which asks for faith in its word. Read what the OVN quotes Kersnar as saying. The words are unintelligible gibberish. I was at the planning commission meeting Wednesday where he went on and on, and I could not make any sense of what he was saying there either. He is pulling a fast one to snow people with obfuscation and the tragedy is that people buy it. The council gives him rave reviews. - The bottom line is that if the city were honest, it would sit down with Kenley and improve the Citizen Initiative and write it into law, and save all of us money and time. The city implicitly acknowledges the value of the Citizen Initiative by borrowing from it. I can't see where the city has done any significant research on its own, despite having hired two new people. It uses plenty of verbiage, like 16 whereas's taken from the General Plan and Kenley, and setting up strawman arguments and false seeming choices. - The only planning commissioner who seemed to have any grasp of the real situation was the new one, Koehler, who hinted that the Green Zone idea was like the Alamo (he's from Texas) where ringing yourself into one small area was indefensible. He also said a city could build a matrix of regulations that would effectively discourage certain developments and protect the city. That is exactly what the Citizen Initiative does. But the city does not want to deal with regulatory restraint, despite the fact that the municipal code is nothing but regulations. Instead, it comes up with this childlike location idea were it bans all formula stores from the HCD. Now that is legally vulnerable! - As I've mentioned in other places, the Green Zone will eventually become a dead zone with one big chain around it. The city is giving the green light to chains. It is actually welcoming them while trying to give the opposite impression. It has made a huge Freudian slip and has blown its cover and true motivation. This HCD is going to be a High Crime District because it is criminal in what it would do to Ojai: siphon money and initiative away from small owner operated businesses and give it to the stockholder class represented by chains. - That is why I am proposing citizens who love Ojai should strike for their rights now while the iron is hot. I think I will go ahead on my own because the apathy when it comes to action is pandemic. I want to drum up support for the August 1st planning commission meeting, and for the August 14th and 28th council meetings. I think I will distribute flyers around my neighborhood, asking citizens to come and speak up for their rights. - The first time, with Jeff's initiatives, the city outright sued him to slapp him down. It backfired because the ACLU came in but the city will still not talk to Jeff or apologize. It continues its folly. What does it care? It gets paid; the taxpayers pay. The second time it could hardly sue again with the ACLU on the scene so what does it do? It tries to undercut Kenley's initiative with one of its own. It refuses to talk to Kenley despite being asked to do so by Kenley. Now that tactic too appears to be backfiring. - I am forming an informal Citzen Initiative Assembly (CIA) right here on this site to be a real Central Intelligence Agency. Let's exercise our intelligence in the service of Ojai right here out in the open (unlike the other CIA). We have nothing to hide. I'm going to post a draft of the letter I intend to distribute in my neighborhood here tomorrow, I think, unless things change. Maybe others will want to follow suit and maybe they won't. Everything is fine and good. I like to go from door to door, and if nobody is home I leave a half or quarter sheet taped to their door with a small piece of painters' masking tape. - I think I'll have more to say on the subject tomorrow. With any luck I'll get some inspiration during the night. As the title of this thread suggests, there are a slew of problems besetting Ojai but they all have this core root of city negligence and malfeasance. We just can't avoid attacking this root cause if we hope to save Ojai. The real problem is political and moral; there is no way around it. Trucks, chains, water and even the war in Iraq can be traced back to local city politics. All politics is local. Think global and act local. I've suggested a number of times that the city say something about national issues like the war but it is always the same response: we can't do anything. Why? Because our bosses wouldn't like us. Guess what? The city administration is supposed to represent us, the ordinary people, not some wealthy, hidden cabal. - Cheers. Look on the bright side. Love, Dennis

Hey, I just noticed your comment, Mike. What a great site. I failed to see an email address but no matter; I'll talk to you and others right here ala the CIA - Citizen Information Assembly just newly formed. I will revisit your interesting site. Do you teach physical or virtual surfing? And what does -:- mean?

Good morning. Another magnificent day here in Southern California. - I wrote a draft for a letter to neighbors about the chain store initiative which I'll post here. I know the style disturbs most people in this sound bite age but I am from the old school, like way back when people wrote by hand on precious scrolls; due to lack of plentiful paper, text was small and run together. Back then only a minority could read and the same is true today except with a little different twist. It's always been the 2 per cent who put their two cents in that run things and really know how to read, as in understand what is going on. Nothing is really changed in that regard. So I'm not really going for a mass audience. What I need to do for myself is see the big picture and the roots of the problem and get it down in some fashion. Anyway, here it is; obviously, it is not going to fit on a quarter sheet or a half sheet. In 12 point it takes a whole page with NO paragraphs. - As for communication among ourselves, I take the "party of one" approach. Each one of us is the whole playing our part. We do what we can do, whatever it is. For most it is raising a family, making a living, etc. I do my part and I report about what I am doing here in this new kind of public forum. Others can do their thing along these lines and report on it. That way we all get to share. We create the commons here in virtual space and sometimes it spills over into real space. There is a nice interplay between the two realms. A direct democracy of sorts. - Here is the draft of what I would distribute to the neighbors, here and maybe in the local press:

"Dear Neighbor, Hi, I'm Dennis Leary. I live at 614 Red Hill Road. I would like to invite you to join with me in speaking up for our citizen rights at the plannng commission meeting on August 1st and the city council meetings on August 14th and 28th. - These meetings all start at 7:30 PM at city hall in council chambers. Any person can speak for three minutes to our elected or appointed representatives. If you have not done this before, there are those of us who can help. - The issue that I am referring to is the limitation of national chain stores in Ojai. They are also called formula retail stores and restaurants. If too many of these chains get into Ojai, they will destroy our small town character and economy. - I urge you to speak to the planning commission and council in support of the Citizen Initiative by Kenley Neufeld who lives on Drown Street. It is a practical and reasonable initiative which does not outlaw chains but limits them from damaging Ojai. - You can also sign this Citizen Initiative to get it on a future ballot. - Here's the basic problem and why we need your help. The city administration does not like citizens taking the initiative to assert their rights. Several months ago, another citizen who lives on Drown Street, Jeff Furchtenicht, submitted a ballot initiative. Instead of processing it as required by law, the city sued Jeff on trumped up allegations, even after the ACLU came to his defense. The case is still going on and may end up causing us, the taxpayers, up to a half million dollars. The city administration and its lawyers will make money regardless but we will end up paying big. - Our neighbor, Kenley Neufeld, has been gathering signatures for a Citizen Initiative that will force the city to do something to protect Ojai from chains. Instead of cooperating with him and creating a good, solid ordinance, it set up a competing initiative to undercut the Citizen Initiative. The city borrowed heavily from the Citizen Initiative except that it cut the heart out of it by reducing it from city wide to a small recently crafted Historic Commercial District (HCD) which would totally ban all chains from a tiny downtown district. this action actually invites natinal chains to build up all around the small historic district. In other words, the city is creating an artificial Green Zone with no new chainstores and giving the green light to chains all around the Green Zone. - Don't fall for this trick. It will destroy the Ojai we love. - To fool the people, the city is pushing false arguments. It says the Citizen Initiative is legally vulnerable. This is false. At least eleven other cities have enacted city wide ordinances limiting national chains. The City Initiative is very legally vulnerable by banning all nation chains from a core district which is prejudicial to chains and local business owners within the Green Zone. The city also alleges that the Citizen Initiative is difficult to adminster because it may make the city look arbitrary and capricious. This is another scare tactic like the legal one. It is false. - The city sets up a false strawman argument against the regulatory approach, forgetting that the municipal code itself is nothing but regulations and it is the planning department's job to administer these regulations. - The city also tries to scare the people by saying the Citizen Initiative can only be changed by another initiative. This is false because it ignores the city's responsibility to work with Kenley in creating a solid initiative that would not have to be changed, and even if it did have to be changed, so what? It could be done. - The real problem for the city is that citizens are asserting their rights to use the initiative process snd that takes power away from the city and puts it where it belongs: with the people. Most of the people of Ojai want to limit big chains in a reasonable way. 70% of business people surveyed by the Chamber of Commerce also want to limit chains city wide. - The Citizen Initiative proposed by Kenley Neufeld is a reasonable approach to saving Ojai from becoming another cookie cutter town. It is completely legal and easily administered. It is backed by the whole history of a legal regulatory approach. Many other towns have city wide ordinances like the Citizen Initiative. - Do not believe the falsehoods the city is leaking through the local press. It is trying to push a Green Zone which will be a disaster for Ojai, worse than the gravel trucks problem. On the chains issue, the citizens have the right idea. Insist that the city work with Kenley Neufeld on the Citizen Initiative. It is good for Ojai. -Check into and decide for yourself. You can get information at OjaiPost.com. Search for chains and initiatives. - The Ojai lifestyle is being threatened by the Ojai city government itself which is simply not honest. The city refuses to talk to Kenley about the Citizen Initiative despite being asked many times with many offers to help. The city sued Jeff and 50 DOES when he tried to help the city by his initiative. The city has given out false information time and time again, attempting to disempower the people. The city made false statements in the cases of Mallory Way, O-Hi Frostie, the Furchtenicht initiative, the Caltrans San Antonio Creek and Ojai Avenue bridge project and now with the Kenley Neufeld Citizen Initiative. - It's time to tell the city administration that We the People are not going to keep quiet anymore about the lack of truth, honesty and justice in local government. - I invite you to do what you can. Come to city hall on August 1st for the planning commission meeting, on August 14 and 28 for the city council meeetings and let them know what you think. - The city is not serving the interests of ordinary people like you and me. They are proving it once again by sabotaging an excellent initiative by one of our neighbors with misinformation, obfuscation and fraudulent starements. - You can reach met at dennis_j_leary@yahoo.com or join in the conversation taking place at OjaiPost.com. I will be happy to answer any questions I can. I love Ojai and I do not want her to be destroyed due to city govenment negligence and malfeasance. --Dennis Leary, 614 Red Hill Road, Ojai."

Dennis, just turn your head 90 degrees and look again (-:-). hint: I am no longer shaving my head...

I turned and turned but still don't get it (-:-). Are those the eyes of a meditator? It's OK just one of those many mysteries you encounter while surfing the bardo. It'll jump out at me when it's ready. :-: This thread is entitled: "Ojai: For and Against". Think I'll do most of my posting on this thread since the title fits me. :-: Ojai is an interesting place, sort of schizophrenic. I'm For and Against Ojai, all right; just depends on your point of view. I got kicked out of a new age church for my "againstness," so I need to work on my "for"ness. Need to reverse that karma here in Ojai. - This morning I polished up the draft of the letter to the neighbors (See above for first draft). Here's my plan. One side of the page is this stream of consciousness style as above, all run together in one block. It has a point, though, if anyone does read it carefully. I fold the paper in two. On one side I have this big stamp which reads: "Follow Your Heart" in flowery script; on the other I hand write in color: "Ojai Love Post." It makes a nice mailer. My plan is to print a few copies about every day and start distributing them in this immediate neighborhood. I could easily reach say one hundred households in a month. And I could mail it if I wanted to. In fact, now that I think about it, if anyone wants to receive a copy of the above, I'll mail it to you. You can contact me at dennis_j_leary@yahoo.com. :-: Now here's another idea. Say we're progressive political activists with more or less the same agenda. Like Mike DiJi above offered to help (and judging from his website, could do a bang up job with a flyer). So what I would say is: do your thing in your neighborhood in your own way, or any neighborhood in the city of Ojai, even if you don't live in the city limits. You can hit just a few homes. It's not that hard and you get to know the neighbors and it's kind of fun and you get to be a political activist and help save Ojai and thereby the world. Now here's the good part. How many households does Ojai have? Maybe 4000. If 40 people would cover 100 households, we'd have the whole city covered with a progressive message, we could reach them every two months or so with whatever. By printing on your home printer just a few at a time, or running off copies at 5 cents per copy, the message can be updated frequently. Or 100 people covering 40 households, whatever. We could build a political machine like Daley did in Chicago. They even had people voting 4 or 5 times but we couldn't get away with that here. We develop our master plan and information updates right here, all for free. :-: Anyway, that's the idea I had. I'll start today with a half dozen hand delivered mailers around this neighborhood. I'll test the system and see if it works. Never know til I try. :-: Well, I've got to go to some other sites; sort of like visting the neighbors virtually in this internet bardo. I'll have to look up "bardo," seems to relate to limboland. :-: Love, Dennis

head at 12:00 to see the didj monkey. top of head at 3:00 or 9:00 to see the bald meditaors/chakra 6 activation (-;-) Keep on flowing, River Dennis.

(-:-)DiDj(-;-)

---

I got back from my walk on Shelf, and while I'm waiting for the barley to cook and the bread to bake, I'll walk my fingers on this shelf. I think I think I get it: sideways the meditator is pretty clear but upright now it looks like hands outstretched with a waist up view. Now I notice that you don't have a dot on the bottom; what is it, a comma? Yes it looks like a comma now that I scrolled up and checked. Well, then it does look more like a human figure, or a monkey as you alluded to. There's all kinds of tricks with these keys like :-:- where I see a wagon from a bird's eye view or a car with :-: I did do what I said I was going to do with the letters to the neighbors, however, not without some initial resistance. I was feeling down after getting off the net and reading about the war and corruption. I thought I would pass out my letters when these thoughts come attacking my head like harpies: "this is silly; it's stupid; it'll never work; people will think you're a fool; you're out of touch with reality, and so on." Well, says I, I could leave it to another day. But then I just decided to do it. I was going on my walk anyway. So I stopped first at the next door neighbors. He's in his garage so I walk up to him. Now he's a retired old crotchedy type. When he first saw me with the feathers in my hat, he said "Hey, did you pull those out of your ass?" just to give you an idea of his demeanor. Today I was dressed in swim suit and hat with the feathers: hawk, raven and flicker. So I hand him the letter and tell him what it's about. It's a folded half sheet. On one side of the outside I wrote in green highlighter: "Ojai Love Post," and on the other side is this big stamp that says: "Follow Your Heart." The neighbor opens it up and sees this block of writing that covers the whole page, you know, my stream of consciousness style like here. He says "You expect me to read all this?" He hands it back to me and says "Just tell me about it." So I tell him about the chains and the meeting on August 1st. He actually says maybe he'll try to make it but I seriously doubt it. :-: No one seems to be home at the next couple houses so I just leave the letters on the step. I sort of chickened out by not ringing the door bell. At the next house I hear these voices coming through the open gagage door. I walk up and a woman steps out from behind a pile of boxes. I hand her the letter and and tell her my name. She turns to her husband behind the boxes who I cannot see. She says "It's Dennis Leary," and he seems to recognize the name. Wow, am I a household word in the neighborhood? She starts in with "How long have you lived in Ojai?" I say "Two years." She says she has lived here 40 years and she doesn't like new people who come to Ojai and try to change things, and especially try to change people." I think I've heard this before and ask "Have I talked to you before?" She says "No, you talked to my neighbor." Then I remember, yes the same mindset but next door. Wow, the neighbors are talking about me. I wonder what she thinks of the feathers in my hat. She says she watches the council meetings on TV, likes Ojai the way it is and likes the council. She takes my letter, folds it in quarters, and says "Thanks for stopping by." She had mentioned something about people having different points of view. She is correct there, but who knows, maybe she or her husband will read the letter, and get a different point of view. :-: I get to the sixth house and a lady comes to the door. She had signed the petition when I was there before. She's relaxed, friendly, intelligent, all the things I want to be so we hit it off, talk a little politics and off I go on my walk. I feel good because I gave out the six letters I said I would. I think I'll call this the 100 houses program. I'll cover 100 households per month. Should be a snap; that's only 3 a day. :-: I just turned off Grand when this car stops and asks where Thatcher School is (the car doesn't ask but the people in the car, husband and wife and obviously new student}. They say they're new in town so I give them general directions, like "It's over that a way," pointing to the northeast. :-: A police car passes and he waves and I return the gesture. I feel safe when I see the cops on my walk which I usually do but when I was sleeping in my car I didn't feel that way. If I'm on the good side of the law then everything is hunky dory. Dylan said to be honest, you have to live outside the law. :-: Get up to Shelf on the Signal side. Inside the gate is private property on either side of the rode and I recall the C.R.E.W. chief telling me yesterday that some property owners asked them not to clear brush on their property. I wish the crew did not clear any brush and mansineta trees but then it's for a good cause. :-: I pass two womem without dogs; one has "Ojai Softball" on her T shirt. My research on Shelf shows that there are only two kinds of people who walk there: those with dogs and those without. I have a problem with pets on moral grounds so I favor those without dogs. :-: I can smell the bread and it's been an hour so must turn it off. I do it the lazy man's way: just mix whole wheat flour, salt and water; coat a little sesame oil on the bottom of the pan and put it in one of these little toaster ovens. :-: Coming down onto Gridley I meet a young woman with strong legs; she smiles and asks if I saw any snakes. I say no but to keep her eyes open. Lost in thought, I've almost stepped on a couple rattlers in the past. One warned me with the rattle which is really loud. I pass another lady on the road, this time with dog. She has a Micky Mouse shirt so I guess she really is a animal lover. I really like animals but not as pets. Pets are really cute and cuddly or mean watchdogs but I have a philosophical objection I guess. :-: Time to eat my barley, leftover chard and carrots, and fresh baked bread for dessert; then to the athletic club for exercise, sauna, swim and shower. Maybe I'll stop at Dr. John's and see what movie he has tonight. Love, Dennis

Dennis, if that post above does not qualify you for a Living Treasure designation, there is no justice in the world.

Nothing like knocking on your neighbors' doors to get a real feel for what a large part of Ojai is about...

Keep it up. The letter is great, its right on, if its too long for people to read during the commercial break maybe they ought to just turn off the damn teevee for a few minutes. They'll have to turn it off for a few minutes if they're going to the August 1 meeting anyway, right? :>)

You know, I saw a write up and a picture in the OVN on this living treasure business, and that is the last thing in the world I would ever accept. I'm Dennis the Menace and no ....ing treasure. [that's fooling treasure] - What's with these squiggles? What's this: :>? Is this some kind of an art form? :-: I've just been reading ICH (Information Clearing House), the best site I know of. I'm really stoked and depressed. I'm getting closer to the heart of darkness and it ain't pretty. No wonder people don't want to be bothered. Damn. What to do? Ojai is such a drop in the bucket. I may have to back off here and concentrate on the national and international scene. Need to focus and not get so scattered. I started this new government and party on 7/7 but I haven't even revisited my own website since then, I've been thinking about Ojai so much. I mean, these chains, they're so tiny compared to the international banksters. Still, they are both chains. :-: Womam, I haven't even taken my walk on Shelf the last two days. Well, part of it is putting the finishing touches on my book. I'm going down to Mailcall now as soon as I get off this blank-blank machine, and run off some pages. :-: Damn, this world is something else. Well, I guess just take one step at a time and everything will be fine. Love, Dennis or Love Dennis because he needs it. I don't even know who he is. Enough already.

I wonder if the editor of this Editor's Journal saw a new editor come into the world yet. I heard yesterday from Dr. John that Glen left this scene, and see it confirmed here. Godus rest his soul. Just checked in before I start my walk on Shelf. :-: On another thread, Tyler asks if it's time for empeachment. Long time past due but the facts speak sadly about how weak our moral fiber has become. All that TV, chemicalized food below and chemtrails above, riding in hunker vehicles, etc. It's all part of the bankster-gangster masterplan. Impeachment would be nice but it's like cutting off one of the multiple hydra heads to have 100 replace it. The real monster is too scary for even Potter heads. What does 8+ million books x $34.99 amount to? Just more circus entertainment to contain the masses while the New Roman Empire advances. No, if Jo K said something about the real Voldemort, that would be scary. For moneyists the magick is in the money. I don't read the books but my son does so I get the gist of it. I have seen some of the movies but I prefer Shakespeare. Is Horcruxes a code for whore-crosses? :-: Are you the Claire Kennedy who lives in the English house next to Mallory Way and picks up the condoms? If so, let me tell you I've picked up those condoms too, and they're closer to the little English manor house than they are to Mallory Way. Interesting. It shows you never know who is listening in on these conversations. Is Victoria another Claire? :-: What a magic world, this innernet and all. :-: I linked to News Corpse; nice looking site. I see where MT links the Constitution and the Corporate Security State. I understand that the Constitution is outdated and binds us to some outdated ideas but I still have a fond feeling for it; it contains some noble ideas; something to build on rather than have the chaos that would follow in the wake of abandoning it. I agree that the banksters orchestrated the Nazis and 911 and that we should forgive and get to the bottom; discuss ethics, love and purpose for the first time in history. And by the way, the voldemort elites could pick up Bin Laden anytime they wanted to; they don't want to because he is part of the terrorist enemy they must have to terrorize the sheeple and extend the empire. Yes, it is that bad. :-: Hear. Hear. I'll do my bit. I posted earlier on my web sites at thelovegovernment.blogstream.com and redbrownandblueparty.blogstream.com I like to give a plug to counter the coming World Government. Sounds fantastic but I plan to co-opt The World Government with The Love Government. I'm invoking the spirit of Hermione for this epic encounter. And I don't charge $34.99. :-: Love, Dennis

here are some links to Dennis' work and thoughts:

The Love Government
The Red, Brown, and Blue Party
Love Government Inauguration video