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

http://ojaivalleynews.blogspot.com/2008/02/county-settles-lawsuit-with-jones.html
that's one way to pay the mortgage...

MUSIC LOVERS Please note:

This Friday Night at SoHo in Santa Barbara:

The PRETZEL LOGIC BAND- A Steely Dan Revue
9PM $10 cover

1221 State Street
Santa Barbara, CA
805.962.7776

If you are a Dan Fan, you won't believe your ears
If you are not yet a Dan Fan, you will become one

11 piece band from LA
If they don't make you come, I mean scream for more, I'll refund you the $10 cover

www.steelydantribute.com

Pete: "I'm just saying the music industry isn't the same now. Steely Dan would never have a chance."

Ben: "Maybe that's because Steely Dan gargles my balls."

I will be available in January 2009, am willing to relocate.

RESUME
GEORGE W. BUSH SS# on file
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20520

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

Law Enforcement:
I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the
influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's
license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost" and
is not available.

Military:
I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a
drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas
Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam.

College:
I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE:

I ran for U.S. Congress and lost.

I began my career in the oil business in Midland Texas, in 1975. I bought
an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas. The company went
bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took
land; using taxpayer money.

With the help of my father and our friends in the oil industry (including
Enron CEO Ken Lay), I was elected governor of Texas.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS:

I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making
Texas the most polluted state in the Union. During my tenure, Houston
replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America.

I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in
borrowed money.

I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American
history.

With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father's
appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President of the United States;
and that, after losing by over 500,000 votes.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT:

I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal
record.

I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one
billion dollars per week.

I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.

I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history.

I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month
period.

I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S.
stock market. In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost
their jobs and that trend continues.

I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any
administration in U.S. history. My "poorest millionaire", Condoleezza Rice,
has a Chevron oil tanker named after her.

I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President.

I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most
corporate campaign donations.

My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends,
Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S.
history, Enron.

My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure
my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision.

I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation
or prosecution. More time and money was spent investigating the Monica
Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest
corporate rip-offs in history. I presided over the biggest energy crisis in
U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil
industry was revealed.

I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.

I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded
government contracts.

I appointed more convicted criminals to my administration than any President
in U.S. history.

I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the
history of the United States Government.

I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history.

I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove
the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.

I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law.

I refused to allow inspector's access to U.S. "prisoners of war" detainees
and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.

I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election
inspectors (during the 2002 US election)

I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President
since the advent of television.

I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period.
After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst
security failure in U.S. history.

I garnered the most sympathy ever for the U.S. after the World Trade Center
attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in
the world; the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.

I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously
protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for
protests against any person in the history of mankind.

I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, preemptive
attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against
the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. Citizens and the world
community.

I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty
benefits for active duty troops and their families in wartime.

In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking
Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends.

I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%)
view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.

I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a WMD.

I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden to
justice.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES:

All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's
library, sealed and unavailable for public view.

All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt
companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended
regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for
public review. I specified that my sealed documents will not be available
for 50 years.
PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERY VOTER YOU KNOW!

Real quick, anyone there? I'm writing my monthly fitness column and this month I decided to tackle workouts for the brain. What do you do, besides reading blogs, to stay mentally fit?

Lisa Snider

Hi Lisa,
Not sure what you have in mind, but we yogis make a point to get our head below the level of the heart several minutes a day to increase circulation to the brain. My head always feels clearer after I stand on my head, hang upside down, or stretch in Downward Facing Dog (a half inverted pose)or an easy, supported inverted pose like Supported Legs Up the Wall Pose.

The other main thing for my mental heath is get enough sleep and get outside and move in the fresh air.

Here's a link to
"Brain Workouts" that I happened to see on a website I write for. The model for this article is the same yoga teacher (in her 70's) that often appears in the yoga photos I've posted here.

http://eldr.com/packages/work-out-your-brain

our current culture indicates the brain is a vestigial organ.

Very Funny!

Vestigial structures have been noticed since ancient times, and the reason for their existence has long been speculated upon.

One of my yoga teachers used to tell us that our little toe was a vestigial
part of the body since it is all but atrophied. Most little toes these days have very little life force running through them. It is the furthest thing from the mind...

FR: Exactly! Where did that come from, may I ask? I haven't seen it before; I hope to see it spread around the entire country!

From today's Ojai Valley News reporting on the City Council meeting this week.

"Earlier, during the public comment period, Dawn Clifton, a newcomer to Ojai, wanted to know if the city could do something about the lady riding her bike through Ojai “basically nude.”

“I have a 14-year-old son raging with hormones and a daughter to whom I don’t want to explain that that is not appropriate behavior. I don’t want to be embarrassed that I moved to Ojai to raise my kids,” she said.

Kersnar explained that doing anything would raise a number of legal issues.

“As I understand there has been no behavior that contradicts existing laws,” he said. “Restricting anything else would be a restriction of freedom of expression.”

Nonetheless he promised to look into it."

Does that 14-year-old son raging with hormones have access to the internet? Or does he wait outside Ojai Coffee Roasters hoping to catch a glimpse of the iPod-wearing Pastie Skater?

Too bad Dawn did not read the back of Ojai's Visitor magazine before moving here. There's a nice little write up on Jen. Seems as though she has been embraced by the author as the prime example of what makes Ojai a unique, liberated and free thinking town.

On the one hand, I can feel for this parent - we live in such a Puritanical society, the thought of a nude creature in our public midst must be overwhelmingly distressful to some.

Alas, all I can hope is that she is infinitely more concerned with all of the outrageously violent video games her 14 year old son and his friends are most likely playing and all the other “culturally” acceptable forms of violent and mean-spirited entertainment, communication and behavior that TRULY degrades and desensitizes the human soul. All that is often ok with some, but the human body in its natural form is something to be ashamed of, tittered at and repulsed by. How messed up is that?

Gosh, I don't want to be embarrassed that I moved to Ojai to raise my kids by having to explain the backwards-assed, intolerant and un-American attitudes of repressive reactionaries like Dawn Clifton. I moved to Ojai to get away from those people, and I was here first!

You know, we are surrounded by communities where Ms. Clifton can live among backwards-assed, intolerant reactionaries. Is it too much to ask, if she wants to come here, to try a little tolerance?

Instead of complaining to authorities, why doesn't Ms. Clifton talk with the person who so offends her. She might learn something, and even more, if she takes that approach she will not only set a much better example for how to deal in this society, but she will undoubtedly be better able to "explain" to her daughter what is going on.

From having a little experience with teenagers, I think Ms. Clifton is going ot find she is in for some tough times as a parent. Her kids quite likely understand that without talking to the offending person, their mom doesn't know of what she condemns. Ms. Clifton doesn't know it, but she is giving her kids a lesson in empty authority, an authority that condemns without even trying to understand.

One day, her kids will probably talk to Earth Friend Jen, and think even less of their mom.

Me thinks Ms. Clifton might like Simi Valley a little more that Ojai.

To follow on to comment #14, we can only hope Ms. Clifton;s kids get what she doesn't.

Unfortunately, just as likely, she is teaching her kids that its right to fear and condemn what you don't know. We know what that gets us - we're living with it.

So much for the "moral high ground"

How horrified must Clifton's kids be to see their mom quoted here and in the paper! Right, don't explain things to your daughter that make you uncomfortable, which I'm sure will keep her form experimenting with drugs and unprotected sex.

How nice it is to live in Ojai and experience all its eclectic nature. I do recall a while back some boys on skateboards (without shirts) who had little pasties on their nipples. Though they were probably trying to make fun of Jen, I thought it was pretty creative and funny. She probably laughed too.

Wondering why your gasoline costs so much?

http://www.energybulletin.net/13199.html

Didj, where is that article again on Jen? I flipped through the Visitors Guide and could find anything.

Lisa, it was on the last page. I was not observant enough to check which issue. I will ask Jen for the details the next time I run into her.

The article I think you are looking for is on page 48 of the Fall 2007 Ojai Visitor's Guide:

"Naked truth about Ojai's signature distinction"

(I imagine the sight of Jen has revitalized many Ojai senior citizens, including the author of the article, Mel Bloom)

Ah, Mel Bloom, so that would have been a fictionalized interview?

The "Naked truth" story tells how "Every illustrious and significant city or town on our planet is possessed of an inimitible signature..." (like the Empire State Building, Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal, etc., )and how Jen is "the symbol that most identifies Ojai."

It's a very flattering article, all true, as far as I can tell. Mel is no prude! But he doesn't actually interview Jen.

I happened to save that issue because it has a beautiful article about The Equine Sanctuary on Boardman Road. National Geographic did a video segment and four-page feature in their November 2007 issue on this Ojai horse rescue place. But so far as I know, National Geographic not yet discovered Jen.

It might be on-line at OjaiValleynews.com, click Visitor's Guide.

I think it would be great to have an actual interview with Jen. If anyone knows how/where to find her, I'd love to have her on Radio Ojai.

Oh please.
Jen is "the symbol that most identifies Ojai."?

Ojai is one of the most prudish, least truly open places I have ever lived.

Jen is an anomaly in an Ojai culture that is largely self-absorbed and somewhat out of touch.

I'm generalizing like crazy.

El.A., before you get on your high horse, read the whole article!

I'd love to know what you think after you read the whole thing!

Suze- yeah my whorse is kinda hi

is the article online?
not sure i can find a fall 07 ojai visitor's guide

"Ojai is one of the most prudish, least truly open places I have ever lived."????
Sure, cowboy.Where ya been livin, Drop City?
Get some friggen perspective.

Heh. Had to google Drop City for myself...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop_City

I've been lucky.
I've called Berlin, New York City, Ann Arbor in the late 60s, and Berkeley/Oakland since 1970 my homes.
Southern Central California has great weather, but currently no true soul.
Is that perspective enough for you, or were you born in Peoria?

Old Anomina,

Having a bad day are we? I suggest you go for a walk and find something to be grateful for.

Peoria, Illinois? I was shipped there a few winters ago to teach yoga and peddle books... I think the concept of vegetarian was foreign to my hostess. She took me to a steak house for dinner.

This brings to mind a story I still find amusing. I was back in Nashville on business in 2000. After five days away from the west coast, I was craving Mexican food. I found a restaurant off the lobby of a hotel. I opened the large glossy tri-fold menu, and in the center section was a small section of "Vegetarian Entrees". The top selection was "vegetable fajitas with your choice of chicken or steak."

My friend moved to Ohio and sometimes when she requests a restaurant's vegetarian choices, she will typically get asked, "Sure, honey, would you like chicken or fish?"

Let me understand.
The soul of Ojai is defined because more people know what vegetarianism is here than in Peoria or Nashville?

But Ant Eater you are partially right.
I have been cooped up all day at home.
And it might be that way for a few more days

No! No!! No!!!

That all started in jest because you asked, "were you born in Peoria?"

The soul of Ojai goes much, much deeper than any one thing...but we get a little taste when we pause at the end of the day to gaze once more at the majestic Topa Topas bathed in a pink glow...

Maybe you need to fly from Oak View to high up in the East End...up Thacher, down Mc Andrew, up Reeves to Meditation Mount...or do a Vision Quest and walk up Denison Grade...

Vision Quest?
hmmmm...
the last time i did one i was in the middle of texas on some guys ranch who had a 3/4 size replica of stonehenge and my judgment got so impaired that i ate 2 bags of cheetos and a snickers ice cream bar at the end of a 3 day fast.

OK OK I just found the soul of this place.
It's at Ojai Pizza Company on a Monday night sitting in front of a Mediterranean Pizza (veggie of course)

Very funny!

(I pray my editor is not checking the Ojai Post to see if I am procrastinating. I am on deadline)

Actually Suze- that was a complete and utter lie.
I just stole something from someone's blog.
But it was so funny I couldn't help myself

I can't help but laugh!