Bill Benica says "Talk Is Cheap!"

Tune In! 1340am Weekday Afternoons 3 to 5pm

2007-08-14T18:47:00.000-07:00

Howdy again, friends and neighbors from KYNS, my newest station and member of our Friends and Neighbor Network. Havin' fun and will post some more later! --Bill

I've Sure Missed Me !!

2006-07-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

First things second. Went to Carmel the other day and unfortunately the great bakery on Ocean Ave. up by the park has changed hands and sucks. That leaves Solvang for good cinnamon cow pies. The cheese shop in Carmel Plaza remains the best, and now takes orders over the internet.
Okey Dokey now the first thing. The internet show is waiting for the marketing people to get off their keisters and get the damn thing done. I'm ready!! We've changed the time from1-3pm because it made more sense.

Even though it's not actually operating yet, you can go to slotalkischeap.com and check out the logo. If you click on a sponsor with a website it will go their site. The top part will be banner advertising.

Here's a hoot! Google in your own name on Google and see what happens. I have some weirdness in there and then Google assumes you meant to type in Benicia, so consequently there are hundreds of entries. Do it when you're really , really, bored.

Here's wishing everybody a happy 4th of July and Happy Trails!

I'd Procrastinate But Who Has The Time?

2006-04-04T15:54:00.000-07:00

Alright, already. So it's taken ALOT longer than I thought to get this internet thing going and there's a good reason. Let me say however that it is happening. The final logo design and colors were decided today. You know, it really isn't that big a deal to do it but if you've crashed and burned twice in the past with broadcasting deals that went up in very expensive smoke, it tends to make you very cautious.

Immigration is really big in the news but being a non-English speaking greatgrandson of a bilge bum from Germania I choose not to bring attention to myself by getting carried away about it. I figure if you can make it over the fence into the U.S., then you can make it back over to Mexico, and just for the sport of it, unleash a pack of a thousand pitbulls across the border with the scent of Vincente Fox's ass strong in their nostrils. I call this deformed reform immigration. The dogs call it chewey.

What a world class leader! I don't give a damn about my people but I think you should! We'll put that inscription over the San Ysidro border crossing as an inspiration to make the last 100 yard sprint more compelling.

...later 'Gator and happy trails of tears. Bill

I'm Just Pokin' Fun So Get A Grip!!!

2006-03-02T18:28:00.000-08:00

I had a whole different opening sentence to this blog but after my wife saw it she moved in with her mother.

It's her fault....I wasn't going to see Brokeback Mountain, but she made me take her to the Palm Theater to see this beautiful love story and by golly it was beautiful. Like the dude in "Hunt for Red October" said in his dying breath,"I always wanted to see Montana!"

Well, Montana looks pretty spectacular and so does Wyoming but this movie never answered the why(?) in Whyoming. I personally liked the sheep.

World Wide Willy (internet streaming) is still a work in progress BUT is definitely going to be a reality in the nearish future. I've decided not to kill myself to get it done but to get it done. The studio, equipment (board, mics, etc.) and computers are ready to rock. The website is taking form. The legal crap is driving me nuts but we're getting there.

I think you're going to like it...a bunch of us hard-working souls do and when the time is right you'll know who they are and why we had to slow up some, but soon, like they sang in the movie, "Round 'em up, herd 'em out, shove it in.......RAWHIDE!!!!!!!!" Crappy Trails!

From The Wife Of A Friend Who Served Three Tours In VietNam

2006-02-08T15:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Policy Maker; Dear America

We have the clarity of hindsight, and yet the path is ambiguous. To say it seemed like a good idea at the time is not meant to trivialize those who died, but rather to justify a nation's actions in sending their youth to the jungles of Vietnam.

Those lucky enough to return, albeit missing limbs, innocence, youth, or peace, in desperate need of healing, returned to a hostile country. Their country shunned and despised them. In Vietnam, the enemy they fought was hidden and unseen. Upon return, our war-weary veterans became the enemy; our welcoming committees fraught with verbal and physical abuse forced them into hiding.

Thirty and some odd years later, when health issues compel them out of hiding, we find new methods of punishing them. We refuse them money for benefits, question their integrity, and disrespect their presence once again.

Truly we believed our involvement in Vietnam to be a good idea--a necessary evil. We believed in the red threat, it was palatable, not some mad ramblings of a wayward senate committee, drunk on their own power.

To a tiny Asian nation, war weary from hundreds of years of takeovers, with a myriad of other problems, the least of which were food, shelter, medical care and corrupt governments, our youth were answers to their most heartfelt of prayers.

Our brave men and women did the best they could with the knowledge they had at that time. They were American citizens who volunteered or were sent, not asked, by their government to serve--to help keep their mothers, fathers, sisters, wives and lovers free from the threat of communism.

For if it wasn't stopped in the tiny, vulnerable countries, it would be that much more of a giant to wrestle if it came to our shores or the shores of our allies, was the belief of three sitting presidents, their cabinets and their senates. To say that the war was mismanaged seems too obvious.

It was, from beginning to end. To lay blame at any one entity's feet is a waste of time. It was a war--not a conflict (people died - that makes it a war) that could have and should have had different results.

It was a war some say was not ours to fight; many vets feel once committed to the fight, the military was hampered in and not allowed to win the fight. It was a war we should learn many lessons from. But it is not acceptable now, any more than it was then, to blame the warriors who fought so bravely and gave of themselves so selflessly, while powerful generals and men in Washington mismanaged a concept, a war and a country.

And yet, that is what our government does to the Vietnam Vet every time disability claims are denied, health issues not addressed, or money is not spent on Veteran Affairs.

Instead of ticker tape parades, job offers and the same respect and benefits previously afforded veterans received, the Vietnam Vet was greeted with verbal abuse, rotten fruit bombardments and threats. They quickly learned to hide their service, hide their trauma, hide the uniform their fathers and grandfathers wore so proudly--deny the past few years of their lives as though they'd never happened and try to move on.

Some were incapable of doing that. Some were crippled and turned to a nation that turned its back on them. These are the parents and grandparents of the next generation of warriors, which could explain the decline in patriotic young people proudly volunteering for military service and the opportunity to serve their country in Iraq.

The war in Iraq reminds the Vietnam veteran of the futility of committing our young people to another foreign country with questionable involvement issues, placing them in harm's way where once again there is no clear front line.

All the while, debating the merits of such a commitment, while removing the decisions and strategies of fighting a war out of military hands. Fighting a war without hurting anyone is Vietnam all over again.

Iraq forces them to remember a year or more of their lives spent without control, in fear, where killing was the cunning enemy's job, sometimes using women, children and their old people as human grenades. Our vets learned to trust no one, there or here, concentrating their energies instead on simply staying alive the best they could. And wondered then, and now, if anybody really cared about them or what they did for their country. Many did not leave the war in a jungle thousands of miles away, it continues to live in them every single day.

They would like nothing more than to close their eyes at night and not see blood, death and fear. PTSD is a very real part of a lot of Veterans' lives. It is not a ploy to fleece America of millions of dollars; it is the Vietnam Veterans personal hell.

Vietnam comes back to all who were there in very real physical health issues, too. Agent Orange left its calling card not only in the forests of Vietnam, but in the breasts, colons and reproductive systems of our citizens.

And now diminishing benefits rewards the veterans. When is enough punishment? America sent them there, believing it to be a good idea at the time. America signed them up for a year or more of trying to stay alive. America is responsible for their night terrors, their flashbacks, their cancers.

We can't change our mind, now, America. We can't ignore them and hope they'll go away--they already gave us that grace when they first returned to an inhospitable homeland. They need you. They've done the best they can for the past thirty years, living with Vietnam every single day of their lives, every single day of their family's lives. They're tired.

America needs to pick up their weary load. We need to look them in the eye and tell them we appreciate them. That their service, their lost limbs, innocence and youth were not in vain. They are not baby killers to be shunned and disrespected, masking America's misjudgment, her responsibility with a melee of blame and hate targeted at the Vietnam vet.

We cannot give them back all that was lost in the heat and monsoons of a jungle in a hostile land. We can't right the wrongs of a government who callously sent its future to a war that had no happy ending; that would justify the insanity. But we can step up and be the men and women they were.

If the country's bank statement needs balancing, don't use veteran benefits as a solution. You punish not only the Vietnam Vet, but also any man or women who proudly served their country in war or peace. Odd, but budgetary cuts never affect the upper echelon, only the helpless, those who can't fight back--like children, seniors and the forgotten and unappreciated war heroes.

It was like that in the 1960's and '70's, too. When their names and numbers were called. And odder still, is the mentality of a government who sends their citizens to war, then denies or decreases the returned veteran's benefits. It is the unwritten contract between country and warrior that needs to be honored.

The Vietnam Veterans, nurses, entertainers and volunteers who went to fight or support America in any way they could, often defying their peers, need you now. They need your thanks, your support, your respect and your determination to right the wrong that was done to them for far too long.

Do not cut money or services to them, or question their disabilities. That is a disgraceful and dishonorable thank you for their service to their country. They are not getting rich on America's back. I have yet to meet or read about the Vietnam Vet who is receiving benefits in their Beverly Hills mansion's mailbox.

They took on your mistakes, covered your backs for long enough. It's your turn to tell them, "Hey, thanks, I've got your back, now."

Why are we so willing to give money and aide to other countries that ask us, yet deny our own of the same? As a country, we need to make peace with the Vietnam era. Take it out of the closet, shake out the wrinkles of age and neglect, shine the light on reality and truth and make good to our own.

Make us a family again. Only then can we move on as a nation--as one. Only then will we make informed, strong decisions regarding the future of our young people and their involvement in the worldwide family of mankind.

And only then will future generations gain back their patriotism. When they can witness first hand how their country cares for those who care for her. It is a lesson in respect. It is the first step in not repeating the grievous mistakes that were made. Help the Vietnam Vet negotiate a cease-fire within themselves and within their country.

Fund generously Veteran benefits.

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WHAT COULD I POSSIBLY ADD!!?? THANKS SUE, and thank you for taking the time to read it, even if you can't remotely understand it. --Bill

2006-01-29T17:59:00.000-08:00

I could PROBABLY actually "Do It" by Feb 1, but have decided to wait a month to get more of my ducks in a row! "Talk is Cheap" WILL be on the internet just as soon as I find some ducks and teach them how to form up in a row. Actually we really are just about ready....The studio eqipment is in, the web page is ready, but I am learning at this stage in life to be a little more patient with myself and my projects because I belong to AARP for Christ's sake!!! I'm supposed to start driving 35 in a 50mph zone, not look behind me when I back up, and confuse the brake and accelerator at precisely critical times. These are the reasons I'm not renewing my AARP membership plus the $5 can buy me two bottles of "Two Buck Chuck" and two bags of peanuts.
I have no idea why I am sticking up for his Councilness Allen Settle, but I feel the $6,000 the FPPC decided to stick up him is foolish. Allen owns the piece of rental property on the corner of Madonna and Oceanaire. Interestingly, what is supposed to go on that end, according to the Marketplace plan, is housing. Settle voted 3x on the Prado Road interchange and they decided that was a conflict of interest. What fascinates me is why does anyone imagine putting a shopping center near your property where two others already exist, will increase it's value!?? If you think so, there's lots of land about to be developed near the airport and I'd latch onto one of those turkeys the moment it flies by! Allen Settle put it this way...In a small town if he were to vote on an improvement project that would repave Madonna Rd. would that be a conflict of interest also? By the way, do you see an interchange at Prado Rd.? Then the point is moot. I'm gonna scoot. Happy Trails and I'll keep you posted on world-wide Radio Willy.

TRY DOING THIS YOURSELF!!!!!

2006-01-10T18:59:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Dave C. for getting on the internet with Clear Channel. Talk is Cheap should be on the internet and podcasting hopefully by 2/1 but maybe a little later. We've (undisclosed marketing and engineering and computery folk) been working on this for for almost six months. The friends and neighbors network will be at a totally seperate time from my KXTY 11-12 program, and have no actual connection to it. I'll be able to say "pissed off" like some others do, but I won't, because being a 30 year radio vet when you had to have a license and everything, I don't say things like that (on the air) and won't on the internet. I'll be doing the program from a home studio, and this should be a hoot, what with barking dogs, flushing toilets and.....Wait a sec....Maybe it's flushing dogs and barking toilets! Either way, it ain't been cheap but hopefully worth it for ALL concerned. We agreed to disagree with SLO Roasted's new owners (Norm Galloway's kids) on the direction the company should take with marketing, so we (LEFT?!?!) went our seperate ways at the end of Oct. We haven't had weekends off in 11 years and it's really very pleasant. Well back to the grindstone and work, work, work, like there's no tomorrow, because so often in broadcasting on the central coast, THERE ISN'T ! Happy trails.

BEEN AWHILE

2005-12-19T16:51:00.000-08:00

Why is "been" spelled "B*E*E*N"? What's wrong with BIN with 2 meanings? Why don't birds have a cutoff valve in their rectums so when they take off and fold their legs up they wouldn't be able to do doo dew on yew? I'm going to spell things how they sound frum now on cuz this other stuff is for the birds, unequipped I'm afrade with no cutoff valves. I'm goeen to name it Billbonics. Last time we talked it was concerneeng Iraq. Less than haf the citizens of this cuntry vote for the President and nobody is trying to blo us up. Over there, LOTS of dudes are tring to blo THEM up and 70% of the peepil voted to form a democrasee the other day. So much for our falure to secure the blessings of libertee for themselves and their posteritee. Evrything izn't bad butt how cood we posiblee no that when the meedea only reports the bad stuf!? Ernee Dalideeo shoor is a hoot with his latest end- around....He won't plant taters, he won't plant cottin, but them that picks 'em is soon forgotin, but old man Ernee he just keeps rollin along. Speeking of the sooor in Los Osos let's, not. Beesides, I'm tyred of Billbonics already! It' back to spellcheck and a wish for a very merry Christmas to all, God bless us everyone. B

Then There's This!

2005-12-05T18:16:00.000-08:00

Subject: The Wrong Army

http://www.wtv-zone.com/Mary/THEWRONGARMY.HTML

Thanks for writing!!

2005-11-12T22:37:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all of you that have responded to my blogs and I certainly agree that somewhere in a continued discourse an answer must lie to what we see going on today. Alot of personal things have kept me away for awhile and I apologize but I will compose my thoughts, compose my blog and we'll get back to it. Even though it's a day late, a very special thanks to ALL of our veterans for their service, and the hope that someday we can all stop hoping for peace asI have learned to stop hoping that soon I'll be able to fart quarters...Just ain't gonna happen 'till humankind is long gone and the world gets returned to the cockroaches. Then the cycle of the biggest roach kicking the smallest roach's ass will begin anew. HAPPY TRAILS!!

All Jihad, No NVA

2005-10-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

(My reprinted response to Dawn Legg's 9/30/05 post.)

Hi Dawn,
I was one of those terrified Americans in combat in 1968 and what you say about the horror of war is very true. In the middle of the cold war, with the communists of the Soviet Union AND China backing the North Vitnamese and vowing to take over the world, the fear of such a possibility was greater than the horror and death.

That the war was fought in such a ridiculous fashion, much like what we see in Iraq, has to do with strategic thinking and planning AND responsible execution.

There is however, Dawn, one HUGE difference between what happened in Vietnam and what subsequently took place since the deaths of 1 to 2 million at the hands of Pol Pot and other communists.

Not a single NVA (North Vietnamese Army soldier) seized the American embassy in Iran in 1979. Not a single NVA was involved in the deaths of 63 people at the US Embassy compound in Beruit in 1983 nor the deaths of 241 Marines six months later.

No NVA in '85 in Madrid, none in August at Rhein-Main Air Force base where 22 were killed. It wasn't an NVA on the Achille Lauro that pushed Abe Klinghoffer over the side in a wheelchair. No NVA were involved in the Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie that killed 259.

It goes on and on to our embassies in Africa with a death toll of 224, to the World Trade Center (first time). There was the USS Cole, then came the beaut, as the World Trade Center towers collapsed, the Pentagon was also attacked and the passengers dove their plane into a field in Pa.

About 4,000 were killed altogether and not a single NVA was involved. Sine then ther's been Madrid, London, and most recently Bali. This Jihad has NO discernable end and if you do not kill the terrorists they will most certainly try and kill you or those you love...GUARANTEED!

So, I don't know what "THE ANSWER" is but I know it isn't capitulation because there is no such thing under these circumstances. No NVA this time kiddo, just people who will deliberately kill anyone including themselves.

What to do????

Bill Benica, Gunners Mate 3/c USN
Boat Captain T-111-10 RivDiv 111
Task Force 117, Dong Tam, Vietnam

Bureaucrats And Water Quality

2005-10-07T19:14:00.000-07:00

(Name) the answer is YES. For twenty years PG&E operated Diablo Canyon with a cooling cove. Prior to the plant being built it was explained that the sealife inside the cove would be different from what was outside the cove because of the temperature difference.

18 years later the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) says to PG&E, "ya know, that water in that cove is warmer than the water outside the cove!" NO SHIT!!!!! So they make PG&E forfeit how many THOUSANDS of acres as punishment and in the process unwittingly launch the political career of Sam Blakeslee.

Now I don't care much for PG&E, I think they're allowed to pass along far too many costs to ratepayers and not stock holders. I don't give a shit one way or the other about Sam Blakeslee's politics. I DO understand everything you've told me about the CSD etc., but what do you bet he goes after some individuals just to prove his point?!

Now, after paying off a bond for the last ten years to improve the SLO poop plant, Roger has decided to tighten his ppm(s) on a few items and we get to see our rates go up (again). I think the guy has way too much power.

When the coastal commission tells a guy in Cambria he can't build a house the size he wants because it might offend a few kayakers, then I say it's time to get Mr. Briggs on THAT board also. He's perfect for the job. Our bureaucrats have gone looney kid. REALLY looney.

Have a nice weekend Love ya, B.

(This is part of a back and forth conversation with a friend regarding the power of the RWQB.)

RADIOwesitoitselftokeeptrying

2005-09-28T17:56:00.000-07:00

David from Oceano "Gateway to the Melodrama" has sure waded in on the state of radio as he perceives it today. Some good, alot bad and most just not anything really. What is so amazing is that radio was in it's modern (post Kingfish) glory in the 60's and 70's with Charlie Tuna, the Real Don Steel, Johnny Magnus, Bruce Morrow, Jerry Blavit, Dave Hull, Johnny Magnus, Shadoe Stevens,etc,etc,etc. Those cover just some of the bicoastal biggies. Z-93 in Atlanta that eventually spawned Rick Dees, a host of southern "pot rockers" (not named after the drug but the potentiometer[volume control]). The midwest had dozens and produced the likes of Dick and Bert. Point is, when music radio decided they could still make decent money voice tracking some underpaid schmutz in SLO and sending it all over the country, well what did you think you'd get? First came cable music channels, then Napster, then satellites, the internet and the biggest influence this industry has seen since FM and that's the i-pod and it's knock offs. Local radio, ALL stations and ALL formats needs to wake up. Clear Channel is selling off some of their properties. Infinity (#2) is doing likewise and they have some good sized stations in some bigger markets. If you have nothing to offer, market share comes with zeroes. I think we'll see a brighter tomorrow, although it was 92 today in SLO so I could be wrong.

I HAVE ONCE AGAIN ANSWERED THE CALL

2005-09-21T18:22:00.000-07:00

D. Broadwater asked me to throw this in with me blogaroonies so I says "Sure mate, I'm not pullin' and tashin' birds as I got me wife and Mum ta thinks about!" Here's what he has to say:

Central Coast News Mission - Talk Is Cheap

Please consider posting this message on your website. It includes new information which places this conflict in a historical context of the CCSD's attempts to steal others' water rights, now escalating to attacking citizens' Constitutional rights.
Thank You,
David Broadwater

Our Constitutional Rights are under Attack - Right Here and Right Now.
Please take a few moments to do something about it (before 9-22-05).
This is close to home, with County-wide ramifications, at least.
Please Stand Up for Pam Heatherington and Eric Greening. They've stood for us.

A local governmental agency, with a history of trying to steal its neighbors' water rights (*), is expanding and escalating its attacks to one on all citizens' rights to speak, assemble and petition for redress of grievances.
This presents US with THREE pressing QUESTIONS:
Should we allow the Cambria CSD to set a precedent that it's OK for any agency to subject citizens to months of threats to subpoena them as political retribution for exercising those rights?
Should we allow any governmental agency to single out two people (this time it's Pam Heatherington and Eric Greening) for this type of litigative extortion simply because they're well-known advocates and effective organizers?
Should we silently acquiesce in the face of this frontal assault on our liberties?
If your answer is "yes", don't bother reading the rest of this message.

If your answer is "NO", please take the time to tell the Cambria CSD to:
1. Drop its plans to subpoena Pam Heatherington and Eric Greening, and
2. Divulge its expenditures of rate-payer money in this and related water-tank litigation.
Email, phone or fax the CCSD prior to its next meeting (9-22-05):
Email: All five CCSD Board members and its lawyer (board@cambriacsd.org, amontandon@cambriacsd.org) **
Phone: (805) 927-6223, Fax: (805) 927-5584
Attend the next CCSD mtg. on Thursday, 9-22-05, and speak out against this extraordinary intrusion into all citizens' rights to speak, assemble and petition the government without the threat of political/litigative retribution. (Mtg. begins at 6:00 and Public Comment is at end of mtg.)
** CCSD: President (Greg Sanders), Vice President (Don Villeneuve), Directors (Peter Chaldecott, Joan Cobin, Ilan Funke-Bilu), Legal Counsel (Arther Montandon).

For more background information, go to www.uprootbush04.com. Those who've received our emails titled "Pam's & Eric's Shoes - Threat to Your Rights" (9-1-05) & "Attack on Our Rights - Converge on Cambria August 25th" (8-17-05) will find additional information there.

* THIEVES & THUGS
Stealing Water Rights:
On 1-16-03, the CCSD tried to steal neighbors' rights to water in the San Simeon and Van Gordon Creek watersheds by filing a lawsuit against more than 100 local farmers and ranchers. After the "Drop the Lawsuit Committee" collected more than 1,000 signatures on a petition asking the CCSD back off, and Cambria area farmers and ranchers drove horses, tractors and trailers down Main Street on March 27th, drawing more than 100 local landowners to their rally, the CCSD voted that day to drop its lawsuit after spending more than $1 million on the litigation. (Capital Press, Agriculture Weekly, 4/4/2003)

For years, the CCSD has been sucking neighbor Clyde Warren's well in the San Simeon Creek watershed dry. The State Water Resources Control Board has repeatedly ruled that his water rights are superior to those of the CCSD, that the CCSD is the cause of his water problems, and has ordered the CCSD to fix them. On 9-9-04 and 1-11-05, the CCSD fought against Warren's right to drill for his own water in appeals to the SLO Co. Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. The CCSD argued against the County's permission for Warren to grade a site for a well, saying it would dry up the creek. The CCSD lost both appeals in unanimous votes of the Commissioners and Supervisors (P.C. & BofS mtg. minutes).

Attacking Constitutional Rights:
On 6-3-05, a CCSD-hired lawyer revealed the CCSD's plans to subpoena Pam Heatherington and Eric Greening, who had opposed a site plan for Cambria's new water tanks before the SLO Co. Planning Comm. and Calif. Coastal Comm. That lawyer stated, "that the District wanted to take the depositions of two other individuals: Pam Heatherington and Eric Greening." (SLO Co. Superior Court Declaration of Calif. Deputy Attorney General, 6-24-05). At its monthly meetings in July and August, the CCSD refused to admit to having these plans, stating repeatedly (in July), "We're not targeting" Pam & Eric.
Although the CCSD lost its water-tank litigation against SLO Co. and the Calif. Coastal Comm. in SLO Co. Superior Court on 12-17-04, it's refused to drop its lawsuits - even though it received approval for the project from the SLO Co. Planning Comm. on 2-10-05 and the Coastal Comm. on 6-9-04. By keeping the litigation alive on appeal, the CCSD is using the judicial process as a vehicle to exact political retribution on Pam Heatherington and Eric Greening.
When four people objected to this abuse of power at the CCSD's July meeting, they were repeatedly subjected to rude interruptions, blatant badgering and rank ridicule. When eight folks spoke out against the CCSD's subpoena plans for Pam and Eric at its August meeting, the CCSD refused to respond, thus continuing its courtroom maneuvers under a cloak of public denial.

Corrupting Democracy:
Lurking in the not-so-distant background are enormous "developer" interests (profit potentials), perhaps no better manifested and personified than by the occupancy of the CCSD Presidency by a Partner in the huge legal/lobbying combine Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott. CCSD President, Greg Sanders, works out of the NGK&E office in Irvine, Calif. "He represents telecommunications companies, real estate development companies and real estate investors throughout California on various matters..." and specializes in "Land Use, Environmental, Real Property & Water" & "Land Use, Environmental and Real Estate Development". In these areas of practice, NGK&E works to "overcome the raft of legal, environmental and political obstacles that stand in the way of development... " and "the countless legal, environmental and political barriers to development.", while NGK&E declares that it "has a national reputation for the successful defense of large infrastructure and development projects against environmental challenges.".
NGK&E is rated as one of "California's Major Real Estate Law Firms" by the California Real Estate Journal (April 2005), and boasts it "has more than 135 attorneys and lobbyists in California" and "four former state legislators and five lobbyists" in its stable, so that it's "one of the largest full-service litigation practices in California " and "a premier player in California land use, environmental and water law.". NGK&E states they are "repeatedly retained to represent developers and industries in matters ranging from common transactions and environmental matters to complex dispute litigation.", and that its expertise includes "land use entitlement and real estate development, transactional real estate, eminent domain and inverse condemnation, environmental laws and regulations... and water law to all litigation that might arise." and "Water Use; Coastal Development; and Utility Development.". (NGK&E website: www.nossaman.com)
Thus, while CCSD President Greg Sanders works for NGK&E in his real job in the private sector, he furthers the firm's objectives in his public sector role as the CCSD President. Could there be a more clear exposition of political corruption and conflict of interest than that exhibited by this arrangement?

It's clear that Pam and Eric have confronted an enemy willing to use whatever means necessary to intimidate, harass and silence those who speak and organize in defense of the law and the land.
Will you help us make clear that this will not be tolerated in SLO County?
Please write the CCSD now, and attend on 9-22-05 if you can. We need your help. You need your help! Who's next if we don't stop this?
Thanks,
Pam Heatherington, Susan Harvey, Maria Lorca, Doug Buckmaster, Dennis Kish, David Broadwater

Bill adds;
In conclusion you can pronounce it either Cambria or Cambria, or as Captain NitWit, Art Beale used to call it-Cambria! See you at Pinederado and HAPPY TRAILS!

SELFBLOGELLATION

2005-09-20T17:55:00.000-07:00

I made up this word for the simple reason that unlike many of those in the BLOG WRITERS HALL OF FAME, I'm a pecking and hunting and hunting and pecking, spell checking, liver wrecking, blog crashing, word thrashing, good looking son of a gun. Meanwhile, back in SLO, it is my belief that out of the ashes of the ciggie butts on California Blvd. shortly after the Mardi Gras mayhem of yesteryear, the Mardi Gras committee will once again storm the downtown bastille with beads and boobs just a swaying in the wind. This, of course, will be in support of our fellow citizens of New Orleans (brothers and sisters sounded a little out there from your honkey thoughtmeister!) I am unsure whether the city found for or against having an anti-tata ordinance during the rest of the year but I hope they left it alone because brazen bosom baring on Higuera St. should be just as protected by the first amendment as lap dancing county supervisors when the meeting runneth over. I've had my say, and as George Orwell wrote in "1984" this thought for both Winston and Julia, and now I plagerize it for you and me, "We will meet in the place where there is no darkness"....Denny's, open 24-7, 365 days of the year! HO HO HO and HAPPY TRAILS ! !

Good Night Ollie!

2005-09-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday night around 10pm and I'm pooped. I spent the day trying to avoid the new Costco members with the HUGE fargin' packs of paper towels and butt wipe blocking their rear view mirrors! I've used Costco toliet paper and the Chumash used to call it analflora, which roughly translated means birchbark. I have some stuff we'll get to, and GOD willing, with the generous permisssion of the 9th circuit court of appeals, we will. 'Till we will, happy trails!

With the help of our friends and Sponsors

WHERE IS THE "DELETE" BRAIN BUTTON !

2005-09-12T18:44:00.000-07:00

Ya know all that crap yer brain has stored up over all the years!? I went to an Eagles concert in Bakersfield over the weekend and all I could hear over and over and over and over was John Ashcroft singing "Where Eagles Soar!" I tried to drowned it out with booze and beer, but NOTHING was working and then when I woke up, my mouth tasted like an eagle had built a nest in there and raised four, maybe five hatchlings in my throat. I hate Bakersfield! Happy Trails and such.

Katrina, Amsterdam Hooker Turns Homewrecker!

2005-09-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

Here is the overview on the damage caused by Katrina...There is no overview! When it gets THIS big and a bunch of little news organizations, even big ones, scurry about with their snippets of info you might as well turn on Comedy Central because at least they know they don't know.

Alot of people were surprised that I didn't call for the shooting of all looters. I would have, but lost my voice PLUS I came up with a bettter idea! I'm not talking about the guy coming out of Piggley Wiggley carrying something to eat, I'm talking about the guy with six pairs of Nikes and a plasma tv. Shoot The Loot! That's right, shoot a hole through that tv and see how long the looting lasts. (Probably just as long, the damn tv isn't going to work for weeks anyway).

Debbie called in and said it best, "The problem in New Orleans started all the way back when they built the very first house below sea level!" Didn't work for Atlantis, didn't work for the Big Easy, a rap singer who now just goes by Easy. When Mardi Gras comes imagine the "floats."

Was pre-empted by the Dodgers the other day so went up the coast to Monterey/Carmel. Prettiest day I've ever enjoyed in Monterey and Pacific Grove where I always make sure I have a full tank of gas when going to Lover's Point.

Carmel, if you can believe it is moving MORE upscale. Gone are affordable anythings, a tuna sandwhich went for $11.00, and now the likes of Tifffany's is moving in with armed guards and everything! I thought I was at the American Nazi Headqurters in Duarte, where they at least have affordable sauerbratten.

However, the best damn cheese shop anywhere is still to be found on N. Ocean Ave where my wife and I buy little bites of the world's finest cheeses. We even stopped at the Spreckle's Saloon on the way but that's a story for another day. Sleep well and as always, HAPPY TRAILS!

As If I Had Anything To Do With This!

2005-08-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

D. Broadwater wanted me to pass along the Cambria CSD broohaha so I am. Acceptance is real important to me, which is why I so miss Jefffery Dahmer because I KNOW he liked the cut of my jib.......... Thinly sliced on a french roll!

submitted by: David Broadwater, Atascadero

Cambria CSD vs Citizen Standoff Escalates

(Cambria, 8-25-05) For the second consecutive month, the Cambria Community Services District (CCSD) was confronted with growing citizen demands to drop its plans to subpoena two critics of a site-plan for its water-tank project.

On Thursday, August 25th, nine people spoke at the CCSD's monthly meeting about how its plans to depose Pam Heatherington and Eric Greening have a chilling effect on democracy, and pose a threat to all citizens' rights to speak, assemble and petition the government. The CCSD's actions were also characterized as a political vendetta and waste of rate-payer and tax-payer money.

At its July meeting, four people spoke opposing the CCSD's plans. Despite the presentation of incontrovertible evidence that the CCSD has plans to subpoena these two individuals, the CCSD continues to refuse to admit to that.

While the CCSD strenuously denied they're targeting Ms. Heatherington and Mr. Greening at its July meeting, at this meeting they simply listened and said nothing. (The evidence of their plans is in the court file on its own lawsuits over the water-tank project, specifically the SLO County Superior Court Declaration of the Deputy California Attorney General involved in the case. That document records a CCSD attorney saying on June 3rd "the District wanted to take the depositions of... Pam Heatherington and Eric Greening.")

The CCSD's behavior at this August meeting differed markedly from that exhibited during its last meeting. Unlike in July, the CCSD did not rudely interrupt, belligerently badger or crassly ridicule those who spoke, or compare its pursuit of these two people to the "government... investigating a terrorist."

Yet, its silence and refusal to act on the matter makes it plain that the CCSD intends to continue wielding the threatened subpoenas on Ms. Heatherington and Mr. Greening.

Just as it is silent about the existence of its plans, the CCSD is also silent about its motives in seeking these subpoenas. The CCSD counsel, Art Montandon, however, did offer a conspiracy theory about the revelation of the District's subpoena plans.

In recent letters he sent to the individuals asking the CCSD to drop those plans, he wrote that "the source is probably someone from the Coastal Commission staff," conveniently neglecting to mention the court filing of their own lawsuits documenting them. He wrote that this unnamed staff person "is using Eric and Pam as a pawn."

Those acquainted with Ms. Heatherington and Mr. Greening, however, find it exceedingly difficult to believe that either would be anyone's "pawn." The District has yet to offer any plausible justification for its behavior.

In comments delivered to the CCSD on Thursday asking that they immediately drop these plans, they were warned of the legal and political jeopardy they may find themselves in if they elect to continue on their current path. Whether the CCSD will change course remains to be seen.

As If I Actually Know Something!!

2005-08-25T15:56:00.000-07:00

Just took the three-dayer Carnival cruise to Ensenada. Second time on Carnival, 5th cruise altogether.

They now have a new policy where they take 15% out automatically for tips for everybody that works on the damn ship and for all drinks, sodas, etc. What a difference in the attitude of the crew. They've already been tipped so why give a rats.

Cruise To A Sunken Ship

That's what I felt like and you know what they say about rats and sinking ships. Speaking of sinking ships, we took a tour to the new Fox Studios up by Rosarita Beach where they filmed the "Titanic". They still had a few nick-knacks from the movie but because they had to destroy the ship to make the movie, you began to ask yourself what the heck you were thinking when you went on this fiasco.

I'll say this about Mexico--in the paper the other day--half of all the Mexican adults they surveyed said the'd like to live in the U.S. The other half have already slipped across the border which made the margin of error somewhere between 50 and 100%.

The Welcome Home Security Check

Getting off the ship sucks because you wait forever, then you now get to go through the all new Homeland Security security where families of little children have to pull down their diapers so some expert can put a periscope up their ass and see if Osama Bin Laden has folded himself up into the size of a cigar and inserted hisownself in that there infantile rectum. Meanwhile while all these booze cruisers who have been carded, searched and researched a half dozen times going and coming from Mexico get questioned--AGAIN, 5,000 illegals are crossing the border every night with nary a wink. Makes you feel damn important!

About Guadalupe and their new slogan "Gateway to the Dunes". Why don't they just be honest about it and say what all of us gringos have always thought?

"Guadalupe, Gateway to the Far Western Tavern!" There I've said it so now you don't have to.
ADIOS and HAPPY TRAILS! --Bill

"Talk is Cheap" is brought to you in part, by:
Idler's Appliances, Wild Birds Unlimited,
Mike's Shoes, Gus's Grocery and the
Sea Venture Resort and Restaurant.

We Give Thanks

2005-08-08T00:32:00.000-07:00

A special thanks to Molly and Greg Pirello of the 1865, Richard Jess, The SLO Vocal Arts Ensemble, Pastor Doug Caroll, Chaplain Bill Houston, and the wonderful men and women of the former ArkII reastaurant on Monterey St. for their tremendous generosity in helping us raise almost $600 towards our Cayucos Lost at Sea Memorial.

Additionally, our thanks go to the Morro Bay Fisherman's Association for their extraordinary contribution of $500. I will be telling you more about it in the future, but I really had to say thanks alot! The people of the central coast are as generous as any there could ever be anywhere else.

Last thought for today is to always read the other folks blogaroonies on this site 'cause these are some writing folks. As soon as I can find an appropriate ditty to plagiarize I'll be your guy!!! "Happy Trails"

"Talk is Cheap" is brought to you in part, by:
The Flying Dutchman Restaurant,
Ray's Own Brand sausages and jerkys,
Farm Supply Company, Karen Scott, Audiology and Chrys Barnes, Mortgage Broker

Just Horsing Around

2005-08-08T00:16:00.000-07:00

Went to the Mid State Fair Rodeo for the first time last night. Observations: I've been bullied alot worse growing up in NJ than those calves were, besides it gives them something to do until they grow up and we eat 'em.

Horses are amazingly weird. They start out free spirited and wild and as soon as they're broken (somebody sits on them) they just stand around the rest of their lives unless a cowboy uses them for cowboying or whatever.

Went to the Palm theatere and saw the Penguin movie which should have been titiled "Being a Penguin really Sucks!" Of course, filming penguins might even suck worse.

Until then, "May all your trails be happy ones and don’t believe everything you hear because Talk IS Cheap! "Happy Trails!"

"Talk is Cheap" is brought to you in part, by:
San Luis Diagnostic Center, 1865 Restaurant,
Charter Communications, Pacific Coast Kitchen and Bath, and SLO Roasted Coffee.

With A Little Help From Our Sponsors

2005-07-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

Hello, reader, and thank you for stopping by this blogpage today. My radio show and marketing adventures would not be possible without the support of these fine sponsors. Try their great products, or visit their location soon. Thank you!

"Talk Is Cheap" airs on the Friends and Neighbors network, daily Monday through Friday at 11am on 99.7 FM, KXTY:

San Luis Diagnostic Center
Country Oaks Care Center
1865 Restaurant
Charter Communications
Pacific Coast Kitchen and Bath
Flying Dutchmen Restaurant
SLO Roasted Coffee
Corner View Restaurant
Ray’s Own Brand sausages, jerkys, spices and stuff
Farm Supply Company
Coastal Computers
Karen Scott, Audiology
Spencer’s Fresh Markets
R. Michael Wright, Farmers Ins.
Santa Barbara Stone
Mat’s Brake and Alignment
Forden’s
Idler’s Appliances
Gus’s Grocery
Wild Birds Unlimited
Mike’s Shoes
Sea Venture Resort and Restaurant
Café Roma
Chrys Barnes, Mortgage Broker

An added feature you just don’t get with most radio programs is the following exciting and fun-filled adventure opportunities! My wife Nancy does the marketing for SLO Roasted Coffee and our schedule for August demos is:

8-26 & 8-27 - Ralph’s downtown Santa Barbara
8-28 - Albertson’s Arroyo Grande

In the days ahead, we’ll be getting into the nature of "Talk is Cheap" and other unnatural subjects but until then, "May all your trails be happy ones and don’t believe everything you hear because "Talk IS Cheap!"

HAPPY TRAILS! --Bill