Photos -- then and now

          Good evening, 919 Gang. I suspect many people spent a lot of time examining the old photo we ran last night.

          DICK DANIELS writes:

          Michael Grant’s photo of the Currents (a.k.a. Sunday) Department brings back all sorts of memories to talk about. First, though, we need L-R idents, starting with the front row. I know many of them, but there are some who came on board after I left in 1977.
          Anybody up to the task?

          GINA LUBRANO writes:

          Thanks to Michael Grant for that old Currents staff picture. Young faces, yes, but there are at least eight people in that photo who are no longer with us. Each was wonderful and storied in his or her own way, and I thank Mike for bringing back memories. The ones I recognize are Jeannette Branin, Donald Dierks, Ed Hutshing, Beth Mohr, Bill Parry, Elaine Smyth, Mary Lou Temple and Walt Zimmerman.

          PRESTON TUREGANO writes:

          Michael Grant's posting of a photo of Union staffers in front of the UT entrance (circa 1982-83) has prompted me to ask: Does anyone know what became of the giant brass Copley Ring of Truth emblem? I know it was removed after Platinum Equity bought the paper. I wonder if it was sold as scrap metal.

          REBER: Anyone know the answer to that? Some metal prices apparently are high. Two churches in Ramona have been victimized by the theft of some of the copper on air conditioning/heat units housed outside the church. We were told that you can't just replace those parts. The entire unit (several thousand dollars) much be replaced.

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          REBER: Now for some modern photos. Gordon Murray sent these shots of work now under way at the U-T. Removing the Copley colors actually started at least 10 years ago when the hallways were painted a color called silverwing or silvertip. Looked like white to me. Also looked terribly institutional.

New paint in the U-T cafeteria

In the newsroom

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          REBER: I had a message today from Joe Schneider confirming that he is home after being hospitalized by a stroke. Good to hear from you, Joe. Also, I was remiss yesterday in not pointing out that U-T columnist and 919er Logan Jenkins is back in print after a medical absence. Don Sevrens, another 919er, was called back to duty and did a fine job with the North County column in Logan's absence.

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          PRESTON TUREGANO writes:

          On another topic, while some 919ers may have known or realized that Rep. Darrell Issa is the richest member of the House of Representatives, I sure didn't, and I'm sure many other people didn't. I thought that honor may have been held by Virginia Congressman and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, whose wife, Diana, is a Managing Director in a division of Emigrant Bank, a subsidiary of New York Private Bank & Trust Corp., supposedly the largest private bank in the U.S. Happy New Year!

          GINA LUBRANO writes:

          Re: beating Darrell Issa's dead horse:
          It is not at all surprising that Mitch Weinstock, a consummate pro, would admit to being the one who blew the Issa story. When I was ombudsman for the paper (1992-2006), I found the most professional among us were the first to admit mistakes.
          Mitch is one of those pros. Don't lump him in with those reporters or editors who played intricate word games in attempts to dodge corrections. I always listened, of course. And, then did what I had to do.
          Needless to say, on too many occasions, I had to correct myself in print. It was never fun, always embarrassing and very humbling.

          JIMMY THORNTON writes:

          Mitch Weinstock can redeem himself. The Wall Street Journal recently had a series about how members of Congress get rich through insider trading. According to the WSJ, it’s legal for them but not for others (i.e., me). FYI. The stories ran recently.
          It’s easy to be tripped up by your research for a story. On The Dallas News I was a beginning reporter doing a followup on a story that had erroneously claimed bankers would forgive debts of reservists called to duty for a crisis in Europe. The story was written by a pal. And he reported only what he was told. At first, several PR types led me to believe that his story was correct. Then, after making dozens of calls and getting the same line, I talked to a banker who said the lenders would not forgive the debts. He said, instead, lenders would work with families to arrange some way for them to pay off the debts. As many of us know, if you are called to duty in the Army you are paid a low wage, especially if you are an enlisted man or woman. Many of the debtors had civilian jobs that paid well. Not all employers will make up the difference in pay, but some do. I got the straight info only after making that last call. Then confirmed it with other lenders. Sometimes it pays to be lucky. How lucky: A group of bankers marched into the newsroom and were led to the managing editor to complain. ME Jack Krueger met with them, showed them my story, and they were satisfied the News got it right. ACE Bob Miller, who assigned me to the follow-up story, for once smiled in my direction.

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          JOE BROWN writes:

          The former Union women's writer Toby McDaniel mentioned about the "spread eagle" quote was Beverly Beyette, later (and perhaps still) on the staff of the Los Angeles Times.

          REBER: And also a 919 Gang member.

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          KELLY MURPHY writes:

        Re recipes for disaster: At the time of the merger, we shifted from the DEC computer system to SII, and certain critical personal files were transferred from one system to the other. One of my critical personal files was the recipe for Mrs. Murphy’s famous fudge brownie cookies. Shortly after the shift, Dulce Molyneux (Neil Morgan’s secretary) asked me for the recipe. She wanted to have a fun day in the kitchen with her kids. I printed it out and gave it to her. Not a fun day in the kitchen – fudge soup. I showed Mrs. Murphy what I had printed out, and she couldn’t stop laughing. Something was terribly lost in translation from DEC to SII (maybe Dr. Reber can diagnose the problem). I’m guessing fractions turned into whole numbers.

          REBER: This was a problem even before the conversion. Under the DEC system, if you wanted two and one half, you typed 2/4.  Some folks never mastered that, and they would type 21/2, which printed as 21 and one quarter. You can see how that might louse up a recipe.

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          JAMIE RENO writes:

          I was amused and not surprised by Tom Blair’s story of Linda Dudley’s reaction to his column item. It was an overreaction on Linda’s part, obviously, but that was Linda, bless her heart. I agree that she was a sweetheart... most of the time! :) I worked near her during my three years at the Tribune and she and I bonded; we had long talks about all sorts of subjects and got along very well, but I could certainly see her cantankerous side. As most everyone who knew her recalls, she was fiery and could be very defensive. If she felt you wronged her in any way she would get in your face. But I still loved her and I miss her, and I suspect Tom feels the same way.

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          JOE HOLLY writes:

          The U-T reported that an unexpected fog bank came ashore Thursday afternoon causing consternation and tough driving conditions. This is what it looked like about three o'clock from Engineer Road in the Cuyamacas. It's part of a panorama I shot as I was heading back down to San Diego from Julian.

          REBER: Amazing. I've never seen anything like that.

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          DENNIS FOLEY writes:

          The annual Banished Words list is out – and it is AMAZING!
http://tinyurl.com/8yfemws

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          JOE GANDELMAN writes:

          If you give an adult a Wii, do you give a baby a Wii Wii? I've always wondered about that.

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          GENE CIECHANOWSKI forwards:

          Sent this before but it is worth watching again.
http://tinyurl.com/88fgxy8

  

Jack Justus Reber

P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.

The old gang

          Good evening, 919 Gang. We've had some slow nights recently, but the Gang is back with a bang tonight.

          MICHAEL GRANT writes:

          This is a group shot of what was then the feature section (the new "Currents" section, probably) of The Union, taken in front of the building in 1982-83, is my best guess. Many familiar faces, a few whose names don't come to me. My kids just gave this to me today, it having surfaced from material still in their mom's house, where I lived at the time. Great fun to see all those young faces.

          REBER: A treasure. Thanks, Michael.

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          CHERYL CLARK writes:

          Top 12 things Papa Doug could do with the U-T lobby in 2012.
          I'd heard rumors that the new owner wants to turn the spacious lobby Into a restaurant. Okay...interesting idea and we can make that number 12.
          11. TV studio. Handy for reporters who wouldn't have to drive to SDSU for broadcasts. The UT could have its own channel.
          10. Classrooms for teaching the unemployed new job skills.
          9. A locked behavioral health unit. Hospitals all around are closing theirs so this could find a niche.
          8. Vacation hotel for pets. Lord knows we have don't have enough of the really luxury spas our dogs and cats need when we're away. Will the barking be too much of a deadline distraction?
          7. Nightclub. Travelers in mission valley hotels need a posh place to sip a martini and listen to good blues or jazz.
          6. Roller rink.
          5. A library. Collaborate with the Signon/UT.
          4. Internet cafe
          3. A church.
          2. Cooking class studio. Work with Williams Sonoma. The UT staff could eat the experiments.
          1. And this is my favorite and most serious idea.  A full service high-end gym/studio. With Frog's closing, hotels don't have anywhere to send their guests. The YMCA stopped providing free towels and is kind of a cold warehouse. Papa Doug could provide a service that also sends a message about the importance of keeping fit. The little auditorium would be great for yoga and the human resources offices along the Camino excellent for spin classes. I have a name.  The Press Run.
          I'm sure there are others. Thoughts?

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          TOBY McDANIEL writes:

          Terry Rodgers' bit about censorship on the old U-T city desk (i.e., striking the "That's bullshit" quote) makes me wonder how this line made it to print:
          "Every time I find myself spread-eagle on the top of a mountain, I wonder how he talked me into this again."
          That was the lede on a personal account about her and hubby's mountain climbing hobby by a society editor in the 1960s. Don't recall her name. But I do recall grabbing scissors, clipping and forwarding the gem to Playboy magazine's "After Dark" section. It was published. Not only did I get a "credit line," Playboy sent me $50. In the 60s, that was a good pay day.
          --Toby McDaniel, Rochester, Ill. -- retired State Journal-Register (Springfield, Ill.) columnist (shortly before David sold out to cut-throat GateHouse Media).

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          MICHAEL KINSMAN writes:

          Beating Darrell Issa's dead horse ...
          Yes, it was a mighty error that the U-T did not note Darrell Issa's place on "The List of Richer-Than-Thou." But a more important piece of this story is that Mitch Weinstock took full responsibility for the mistake, without attempting to build wiggle room for the error. I can't help thinking about how often I craved editors or reporters at the U-T to say, "Yeah, I blew it."  Unfortunately, those instances were few and far between.  And, then you see Mitch stand up and take the fall, knowing that he deserved it. Kudos to Mitch. Journalism would be better off -- as would the world -- with more people who showed their candor and accountability so courageously.

          NICK CANEPA writes:
          Geeze, Jack. How many people in Mr. Reber's Neighborhood actually had to be told Issa's the richest man in Congress? I'm a sportswriter and knew that. Much ado. There have to be better ways for the bitter ex's to rip our newspaper. Of course, I realize mistakes never were made by any of us prior to the first buyout. I've made my share, and every one has eaten at me. If they don't, you're in the wrong business. But this Issa thing is so trivial.
          Go ahead and pour me another shot of vitriol and Happy New Year.

          REBER: Certainly trivial. If you want to talk about newspaper errors, how about the New York Times sending 8 million people an email offering a discount if they would not cancel subscriptions? The message should have gone to 300. Here's the story:

http://tinyurl.com/7wjrgns
          And speaking of email errors, one morning at the U-T I received a lengthy message from an HR person. Lots of chitchat which struck me as irrelevant to anything we were doing at the paper and then the news that her boy friend had terminated their affair after his wife got wind of it. I called her and said, "Do you realize that message went to every manager at the U-T?" Her response was "Oh shucks," or something similar. She was gone by lunch time.
          Errors at the old U-T? Read on.

          TOM BLAIR writes:

          I wrote this item in one of my 1989 SD Union columns. I thought it was mildly amusing -- and rather harmless. But the repercussions were severe:
          Lillian Vogt figures she'll probably skip the advice with the recipe for Chilled Mexican Soup in the evening Brand X: "Chilies have a very strong essence that can irritate eyes. It is therefore important to wash your hands thoroughly with soup and warm water..."
          Linda Dudley, whom I considered a close friend, was the Tribune food editor at the time. After the item appeared, she never spoke to me again.

          REBER: Linda was a sweetheart. This might be time to repeat a story. At one time Linda was in the habit of delivering a cake each week to the U-T building engineers. It was totally an act of generosity on her part. The engineers were just a bunch of hungry guys, and they had no interaction with Linda except for those cakes. Walking was not Linda's strong suit, and she had to go from the newsroom to the far end of the production building to deliver the cakes. An engineer told this story. Linda had delivered a cake and was not out of earshot when one engineer said, "This cake is really delicious." And another responded, "Yes, but gee whiz, doesn't she know how to make anything but carrot cake?" And that was the last cake delivered to the engineers.

          JOE BROWN writes:

          I laughed at Laurel Scott's reference to the recipe that mistakenly specified "cover with oil" instead of "cover with foil." When my San Diego daughter visited us in Maine last year, we chuckled over directions on a packaged food that ordered "cook until done." How long is that?

          JIMMY THORNTON writes:

          Tried to imagine Dennis Foley’s salty Cornish hen pasties on a stripper: Kinky.

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          JAMIE RENO writes:

          Jack, fyi, my latest ESPN story on the California state cross country & track champion and a Southwestern College scholar who faces deportation - http://es.pn/sdeUXW - only published a little more than 24 hours ago, has struck a nerve nationwide. It’s already generated more than 1,500 comments, and that number keeps growing. More than 200 posts have been deleted by my editors because of obscenities. In my nearly 30 years as a journalist I’ve never written a story that has generated so many hateful responses. Having covered the incendiary issues of immigration and the border for more than two decades, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. But the vitriolic response to this story and this remarkable young woman is off the charts.
          Granted, it’s a controversial issue, and I’m all for protecting our borders. But without completely betraying my objectivity here, I will say that this is an amazing young lady who was brought here by her parents when she was a baby – it wasn’t her choice to come here -- and she has done everything right ever since. A scholar. A state champion athlete who takes a city bus to school and back every day. A passionate volunteer helping seniors and sick children. She loves America, it’s the only place she has ever known (she has no memory of Mexico and no ties there), and she desperately wants to become an American citizen. She is the type of girl anyone would be proud to call daughter, sister or friend. But most respondents are saying, in essence, “no mercy, send her back, to hell with her. Period.” Anyway, I know a lot of 919ers have covered border issues so I thought this one would interest them. Folks, if you have a minute, please share your thoughts on this story on ESPN’s site and/or with me or Jack. Happy New Year everyone.

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          DENNIS CORBRAN writes:

          I've never been good at sports shorthand. Even growing up in a very sports-minded family, I couldn't tell you what the heck a sportscaster is talking about half the time -- it's all Greek to me -- but everyone else seems to be able to watch a football game and announce self-assuredly "It's a blitz!" I got tired of being taken for a complete fool when I'd ask simple questions like "What's a blitz and what did they do that told you it's a blitz?" So at some point around age 9 or 10 I stopped asking and went outside to ride my bike or hike through the woods when the games came on.
          Two college teams played the Holiday Bowl within hearing distance of my house yesterday. I was curious enough to look for more after listening to the bands and watching the jet fighter flyover from my back yard. Cal vs. Texas was all you heard about on TV, radio, print and Web unless they went solely with the nicknames Golden Bears vs. Longhorns. I guess the media think everyone knows which universities those are, but for the rest of us it only narrows it down to two states. Nowhere in any of the reporting I found does it mention which California and Texas universities these are. The closest I heard all week to naming an actual school was someone saying California State, which for me narrowed it down to a little more than 20 campuses statewide (and the wrong campuses at that because it's UC not Cal State.) I guess sports reporting presupposes that anyone bothering to read the sports section already knows (not necessarily true), but these stories are not confined to the Sports section since it's a major event for the city. Determined, I did some Google sleuthing. Even the teams' official websites bury the actual location of the university several links deep. Would it really hurt to mention that bit of information at least once in a week's worth of reporting?  (For others who don't speak fluent college sports, it was University of California at Berkeley, and University of Texas at Austin.)

          REBER: Yeah, sports pages are full of jargon incomprehensible to a lot of folks. I suspect sports fans like it that way. Sports fans know the "code," and they enjoy having all that inside knowledge. But I still wince when I see sentences such as "Joe Blow will miss the game with a knee."

          Nick Canepa: Could one of your friends write a story explaining the terms free agent, unrestricted free agent, franchise player, etc.?

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          JOE GANDELMAN writes:

          Last night I dreamed I was in a closed room for eternity with speakers blaring in the annual publisher's messages of Helen Copley, David Copley and Doug Manchester. I woke up screaming and my hair has turned white (but that's because I ran out of Just for Men). I need to say that these publishers' messages have been a lifeline to me over the years -- filled with phrases I can't get out of my head, crammed with inspiration, so insightful and wise. Much better than what is almost as inspiring: fortune cookie messages.

          JIMMY THORNTON writes:

          Papa Doug’s Christmas message was swell, I tell ya, swell. And Jeff Light’s decision to cut off comments was smart, I tell ya, smart. Anyhow, here’s a really moving Christmas story that involves none other than ME (as in me, myself and I). My son is married to Kaaren Duburguet, who was born in Wales to London parents, although the surname Duburguet is French. Mr. D. traveled extensively in his work with IBM. Officially, they are all British although they have spent most of their days in either Canada or USA, where they finally settled in the hills of Rancho Penasquitos.
          Carol, the mother of Kaaren (never call her Kerrrrrin), is a fabulous chef and sometimes prepares feasts for the rest of us to devour. Except for about an eighth Cherokee (great-grandmother I think), I’m an Irish-American with a fondness for boiled potatoes I carry in me pockets. I digress.
             This story is about the Black Widow Spider that gave joy to us all. I’m sure the readers of the 919 rag are familiar with black widow spiders. Please, bear with me.
          First, a little background: of the twins Kellen and Meryle, it was Meryle, age 7, who wanted a pet tarantula as a Christmas gift from Grandpa (ME). Hmmmm. I asked her mother would it be OK if I got her a tarantula as a pet, you know, in a bird cage or whatever they prefer. Kaaren thought about it and said, “It would be cruel to keep a tarantula in captivity.” Very civilized, I thought. But I’m an Irish grandpa from Texas and it is difficult for me to deny the request of a sweet 7-year-old born in Southern California. (If you have children or grandkids, you can make this item a geography lesson by pointing to all the locations on a map or globe. I’d start with Ireland, then Texas.) So it was with a heavy heart I began my cheerful Christmas shopping at a toy store. Then, as if a star from the east was shining down upon me, there it was: A giant black widow spider toy that, with batteries (not included) you could operate remotely from as far away as 30 meters. I said a brief prayer of thanks, ignored the price tag, and got it for Meryle.
          Then, in what we consumer experts call buyer’s remorse, I had second thoughts about giving a sweet little girl who hugs the stuffed giraffe I gave her last Christmas a giant mechanical black widow spider with fuzzy legs that move like the real thing. Should I return it for a book on cute birds? Then I thought how much fun her father and I would have with the spider, so I kept it, wrapped it, and in the home of her grandparents I presented it to her. She was clutching a stuffed Rudolph with a red nose that lit up when she opened my gift. At first, she merely looked at the spider, then was distracted by other gifts to be ripped open. I prepared the spider for action, then my son Brendon undid what I did so the thing would work. Then, with all the batteries in place, sweet little Meryle tested her giant black widow, about the size of a catcher’s mitt with long legs: Next thing I knew, the spider was under the feet of Granny Carol who was trying to set a table for our feast. She simply stepped around the spider as it scurried across the room under the feet of Grandpa Terry who was attending to the wine. He, too, stepped around it casually. Meryle spent the rest of my visit playing with her new love. And that’s why I label this true story The Black Widow That Saved Christmas, which could become a classic. Meanwhile I recall the scenes of that day and LOL.

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          DAVID FARMER writes:

          We've talked about Walter Winchell because of his trips to San Diego to visit The Union and Del Mar's Race Track. What's hard to realize today is what a genuine power he was in his prime. (Watch Burt Lancaster in "The Sweet Smell of Success" for a hint.) WW could make or break entertainers and other public figures from coast to coast and, possibly, all the ships at sea. (Even when I was about 10 I wondered why foreign ships would be listening to an American gossip columnist's radio show. But anyway.)
          Back in WW's day, there was only a handful of leading gossipists. They included Jimmie Fiddler, Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons. Each was interesting in his/her own right. They became at least as famous as the stars about whom they reported. This contrasts with today's scores of print and online gossip outlets staffed mostly by anonymous snoops and paparazzi.
          Jimmie (cq) Fidler, at his peak around 1950, was said to earn $250,000 a year. I don't remember what the President of the United States was making then, but it had to be a lot less. On the radio, Jimmie interspersed his items with a burst of telegraph key sounds. Like the others, he was slavishly catered to by the stars he treated well and despised by those he criticized.
          Another biggie was Louella Parsons, columnist for the Hearst papers and read by an estimated 20 million people during her reign from the 30s to the 50s. She and William Randolph were a fearsome combination when they decided to blow someone out of the water. Louella was kind to a certain failed actress until the latter morphed into her toughest competitor, a woman named:  Hedda Hopper. She was big in the late 30s through the 1950s, even appearing as herself in "Sunset Boulevard" when Gloria Swanson glided down her staircase to go nuts in front of C.B. DeMille's camera. Hedda was a prominent anti-communist in the 50s, blasting writers and performers who appeared on the notorious Blacklist.
          These columnists reached their peaks due to a confluence of factors: widespread readership of morning and afternoon papers, radio as the most effective mass medium, films as the dominant entertainment form, the need for Depression- and war-stricken Americans to be distracted from their often-grim lives, a naive belief that stars were actually as special as they were depicted. There were only a few nationwide magazines, so what people read, saw and heard was as uniform as it was ever to be.
          But gossip about famous people will never go away. Whole magazines and TV channels are filled with it, and once-estimable networks feature shows about people who are notable only for their ability to eat bugs, make love in front of a camera if asked, or spend fantastic sums on a wedding ceremony that might be repudiated within 60 days, or six.

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          KATE NELSON writes:

          Mike Burge's story of his dreamland fisticuffs with "Papa Doug" in defense of copy editors warmed the heart of this red-pen wielder. Thanks for the late Christmas gift. :)

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          TILT MEYER writes:

          I called Joe Schneider's phone number at the rehab unit, and they said he went home. That's good news. Thanks for the number.
          Also, Tuesday night, there was a preview of a movie, "Miracle" something, and in it they had a man holding a newspaper with the following banner: The San Diego Union.
          So much for useless tidbits, my friends.

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          FRED SIDHU writes:

          I just wanted to comment on Michele Gilchrist and Wii Bowling. I love it! It's a great game. I play on my girlfriend's Wii, and I've come so close to bowling a perfect game, but somehow I always come up a pin short. My high score was 279, but this past week I improved that to 290. Keep bowling Michele.

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          GENE CIECHANOWSKI forwards:

          If you have not seen this, it is worth a look.
http://www.flixxy.com/worlds-fastest-magician.htm

          GENE CIECHANOWSKI forwards:

          French Night Club Act.....Amazing!
/watch_popup?v=5hIc2ODfRxQ
 

Jack Justus Reber

P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.

Recipe for problems

          Good evening, 919 Gang. We're happy to post a job opening that is close to home for many members.

          ANNE KRUEGER writes:

          I wanted to pass on a job posting for public information officer at Southwestern College. With all they've got going on now, that will be a very tough job.
http://tinyurl.com/brqahch

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          DENNIS FOLEY writes:

          Jack, your call out for recipe FUBARs brings to mind my only Food section cover article for The Trib. The estimable Margie Rice allowed me to do a write-up on Cornish pasties, with which I decided to experiment after seeing an article in the monthly Auto Club magazine. I borrowed that recipe and, because I never could do a decent pie crust, made use of the new-fangled Pillsbury frozen crusts, which split neatly in half for the turnovers.
          As fate would have it, Christmas had recently passed and I had received as a gift "Beers of the World."
          Margie and the fotog (Sorry, I can't remember which one) dropped by my Mira Mesa cul-de-sac rental Pardee home to shoot the pasty-making, artfully setting the finished product on a plate, with a line of the colorful beer labels and bottles behind it, framed in a curtained window glowing with sunlight. The shot turned out wonderfully. They then departed.
          I also had planned how to consume the work product and beers -- I invited over Floyd Waite Thomas. We enjoyed a couple of pasties each and split each beer in half. Then we moved on to Jameson's.
          The article appeared a couple of weeks later, with the recipe. A bit after that, I received a phone call at work and a veddy British-sounding man on the line said: "I decided to try your pasties as a surprise for my wife on our anniversary -- and they were terrible!" Click.
          A check of the ingredients list revealed the reason: I had typed 2 tbs of salt sted 2 tsps.
          I wish I could blame the drinking.

          LAUREL SCOTT writes:

          Speaking of recipe errors, this one ran in the Austin American-Statesman in the early '80s. It was a recipe for lasagna, and the last step was "cover with oil and bake for" whatever minutes. The typo was, of course, cover with foil. As I recall it, I spent my Tuesday afternoons in composing during my short tenure proofing every recipe in the Food section after that because I was the only one in features who would admit to being able to cook enough to catch errors like that.
          Here's an unrelated memory of those early days at the Statesman. They decided to rename the features sections with a theme: Good Food, Good Health, Good Life, like that. We copy editors joked that next they were going to name the obits Good Grief.

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          BARBARA MOSS writes:

          Are you kidding me? Jeff Light's quote regarding the publisher's Christmas message: "We turned off the comments on that piece because we didn't like the way it was going." I made a comment about that message and it was quite negative. Why, is there even a section for comments? Why not just indicate, if we like and agree with your comment and have prayed about it, we might print it.

          MICHELE DAVIS writes:

          I have no problem with a publisher writing a message to the subscribers. But every time I see the "Papa Doug" indicated I think of "Papa Doc" of Haiti. It just makes me very uncomfortable.

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          DON BAUDER writes:
          In re the U-T ignoring Darrell Issa's riches: the Washington Post ran a sidebar with the 25 richest people in Congress, with photos of each. Issa was listed as the richest at $448.1 million. The New York Times story, which also ran on page one, was more specific, to wit: " "With millionaire status now the norm, the rarefied air in the Capitol these days these days is $100 million. That lofty level appears to have been surpassed by at least 10 members, led by Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican and former auto alarm magnate who is worth somewhere between $195 million and $700 million. (Because federal law requires lawmakers to disclose their assets only in broad dollar ranges, more precise estimates are impossible.)"
          Then the Times story goes on to mention Issa being under scrutiny "because of the overlap of his Congressional work and outside interests, including extensive investments with Wall Street firms like Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, as well as land holdings in his San Diego district. In one case, he obtained some $800,000 in federal earmarks for a road-widening project running along his commercial property."  (The Times had done a big expose of Issa and his deals earlier. Issa attempted to refute the story partly through the U-T.)
          The Times story also has a chart titled "RICHEST MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN 2010' with Issa listed at the top. As far as I can tell, the U-T did not put its version of the Washington Post story online; I couldn't find it either. But it was read to me over the phone by someone who gets the paper. The Washington Post list of the 25 richest in Congress may have been -- repeat, MAY have been -- in the online version only. I question how the U-T handled this story: Issa was listed as the richest by both the Times and the Post. The U-T ran an abbreviated version of the Post story but neglected to refer to Issa, with information from either from the Times or Post pieces.

          DENNIS CORBRAN writes:

          About the millionaires in Congress whose net worth grew as the average net worth in the U.S. dropped. Issa tops the list.
          "What is clear is that members of Congress are getting richer compared not only with the average American worker, but also with other very rich Americans."
          Economic Downturn Took a Detour at Capitol Hill
http://tinyurl.com/boph37y

          REBER: The link is to the New York Times story, and apparently you have to be a subscriber to read it.

          CAROL SOTTILI writes:

          Issa's net worth was discussed in a photo slideshow sidebar to the main story in The Washington Post. Here is the link:
http://tinyurl.com/csk3rq4
          If that doesn't work, here is the text of the caption:
          "Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) was the richest member of Congress in 2010, with an average net worth of $448,125,017. Issa co-founded Directed Electronics, the country's largest manufacturer of vehicle anti-theft devices."

          MITCH WEINSTOCK writes:

          Ouch. It's terrible when someone points out the obvious and you realize that you missed it. I was responsible for publishing the Washington Post story detailing how members of Congress are growing wealthier as their constituents battle just to hold their own. The angle of the story was that U.S. lawmakers, because of their riches, are losing touch with average citizens and that that may explain some of the dysfunction and disconnect in Washington. However, failing to mention that Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, with a net worth of nearly $500 million is the richest member of Congress was a major omission on my part. Let's be charitable and call it a screw-up. Thanks for pointing out my mistake. I'm embarrassed and hope to do better the next time!

          REBER: I don't see this being a really big deal. The Washington Post story I read was not about who is the richest person in Congress but about the wide disparity between the wealth of people in Congress in general and the people they represent. The sidebar that talked about Issa was a slide show. Now, Mitch, if you can figure a way to fit a photo slide show into a printed paper you will go down in journalism history.

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          MICHAEL BURGE writes:

          I’ve been following the conversation regarding the current U–T’s regime change, and the hard work and long hours the staff members are putting in. I completely understand and sympathize.
          I guess I was taking this conversation more to heart than I realized, because last night I dreamed I was playing cards with none other than Doug Manchester. I’m not sure who else was at the table except for one—J. Harry Jones.
          Anyway, “Papa Doug” began running down copy editors and maligning them for showing up to work just for the treats. (He never met Dave Feldman, but I have no doubt he was talking about Dave’s cake parties.) I kept silent but he wouldn’t shut up, talking about how worthless copy editors were. So I finally spoke up in defense of copy editors and told him how valuable they were and how he obviously didn’t know what he was talking about.
          I regret to say that at that point Doug sucker-punched me, and the two of us wound up rolling around on the floor, until I finally decked him. All in defense of copy editors!
          What happened next I don’t remember, except I was in France.
          So take that, Doug Manchester! Copy editors are, too, important.

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          DAN BERGER writes:

          Re T.J. Simers:
          I was a sports writer for 10 years with AP in L.A. and during that time had numerous close friends/colleagues/competitors at the L.A. Times, with whom I competed for stories. The goal of every AP sportswriter was to get a byline in the L.A. Times sports section, since the Times had some of the best writers-reporters. I look back to such stellar people as Jamie Curran, Dwight Chapin, Jeff Prugh, Mal Florence, Shav Glick, Ross Newhan, Bill Plaschke, Mike Penner and dozens more. And they all looked up to the master of the turned phrase, the keen eye, and the scalpel, Jim Murray.
          Since the blog as an "art form" (ha!) had yet to be conceived, the Simers of this world had no place in a sports section that was world class in every way. Many bloggers (notably in sports) seem to live for the self-congratulatory arrogance that has replaced real reportage.
          Simers is a no-class hack. Tom Cushman's succinct summation of this blowhard non-journalist is all that needs be said.

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          LEW LITTLE writes:

          Bob Elledge, it so happens that Mary Ellen and I also watched Monday night's re-run of the Antiques Roadshow evaluation of a woman's collection of original-art Peanuts strips. We can't quite believe this woman's 11 daily strips and four half-page Sunday originals are worth an estimated $450,000. Alas, my ego wall does not include any originals from Sparky Schulz. Probably my most valuable originals are autographed ones by the late Paul Conrad, Los Angeles Times editorial cartoonist (shared with 919ers a few weeks back), and a 1978 daily GARFIELD strip from Cartoonist Jim Davis. The latter is valuable because it made print during the strip's first year of publication, and it was the first of Jim's long-running sequence of "I hate Mondays!" gags. The first two panels depict GARFIELD leaping high in pursuit of a buzzing fly, followed by "SPLOOSH!" and his now-famous thought balloon emerging from an open toilet bowl.

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          MICHELE GILCHRIST writes:

          Re Rex Salmon and Wii bowling
          I am also a fan of Wii bowling. I have owned the Wii for about two years, and my whole family enjoys the games. No regular bowling night for us, but friends and family frequently gather for a night of Wii fun. Everyone from my youngest niece to my father participates, trying their hand at bowling, baseball and basketball, wake boarding, ski jumping, archery and dancing, all while enduring comments from the peanut gallery. Everyone gets a kick watching my father's grey haired avatar skimming the waves. Bowling is a family favorite, and my personal best is 187, so Rex you definitely have me beat. I usually score between 135 and 150. This Christmas Wipeout took center stage. The game is based on a TV show that features contestants trying to complete an obstacle course, but they usually ending up in the mud or the water. I don't watch the show, but trying to complete the course via the Wii had everyone laughing and yelling out loud.

          REBER: I was introduced to WII Christmas Day when the grandkids showed up with newly acquired gear. I can see how this would be addictive, but I don't see how I'll ever get the kids off of it long enough for me to try.

 

Jack Justus Reber

P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.