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WILL POWER REPORT: RED LIGHT SCAMS AND PRIVATE POLICE PLATES


Nothing but the truth!
By Will Power

 

January 15, 2011 (San Diegoi)--In California, a program to keep criminals from learning home addresses of policemen has morphed into a bureaucratic boondoggle that allows California Public Service Workers to avoid freeway tolls, red-light tickets, and bridge tolls.


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ON THE SILVER SCREEN: SEEING "ANOTHER YEAR" IS TIME WELL-SPENT

By Brian Lafferty

 

January 15, 2011 (San Diego) – Another Year is about how people move in and out of our lives, such as how my two sisters and their families from out of town visit once or twice a year. With each visit, I see they have made all sorts of progress in their lives. They have kids, the kids grow up, and each year everyone gets a little smarter and wiser.    

 


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ADVICE FROM THE PURPLE MOUNTAIN SAGE: THE IN-BREATHING TIME OF YEAR

 

By Sharon Courmousis, Sacred Rocks Reserve

 

January 14, 2012 (Boulevard)--The natural rhythms of nature and our own physical systems help us understand about cycles. Last month we worked on completion. The completion of 2010 and shedding the old skin, the sadness of loss, the pain of outcomes not desired. It is now the New Year and time to look forward to the fresh and clean. It is time to bring in new information into our lives and re-generate plans for the coming twelve months.


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ON THE SILVER SCREEN: DIRECTOR JAVIER FUENTES-LEON MAKES WAVES WITH ROMANTIC "UNDERTOW"

 

By Brian Lafferty

 

January 11, 2011 (San Diego) – After seeing Undertow, Peru’s submission to the Academy for Best Foreign Language Film, I wondered if director Javier Fuentes-Leon had seen the 1947 classic The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (who would direct All About Eve three years later) it starred Gene Tierney as a widow who falls in love with the spirit of a crusty sea captain played by Rex Harrison haunting her seaside cottage.

 


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ON THE SILVER SCREEN: "BLUE VALENTINE" MOVIE BOASTS SUBTLE, YET STRONG PERFORMANCES

By Brian Lafferty

 

January 7, 2011 (San Diego) – Looking at a few of Blue Valentine’s negative reviews (as of today, the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer stands at 91% with only nine “rotten” reviews against eighty-six positive) I find the film’s unfavorable comparisons to the directorial work of the late John Cassavetes a recurring observation.

 

Granted, the movie isn’t the first to explore a marriage’s disintegration. Cassavetes’ Faces and Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road come to mind. However, I believe this criticism is unfair to Blue Valentine. I don’t mind if a movie doesn’t have an original plot as long as it has unique and strong characters. This movie is populated with two of them.

 


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PEARLS: STEM CELL TRANSPLANTS CAN REPAIR HEART DAMAGE


A $115 million dollar stem cell research center is being built in San Diego

 

By Charlavan Hart
 

January 4, 2010 (San Diego--A heart patient's own skin cells soon could be used to repair damaged cardiac tissue thanks to pioneering stem cell research of the University of Houston's newest biomedical scientist, Robert Schwartz.


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MARKETING MATTERS: QUALIFYING YOUR EXHIBIT VISITORS

 

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR MARKETING SUCCESS

 

By Rama Beerfas

 

January 1, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – We’ve identified the three components of a successful trade show marketing plan:


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ON THE SILVER SCREEN: HOLIDAYS BRING A MIXED BAG OF MOVIES

 

Reviews:  True Grit, Tangled, The Fighter, and I Love  You Phillip Morris

By Brian Lafferty

 

December 30, 2010 (San Diego)—Today’s column is going to be different. Normally I post one movie review at a time. Today I will have several shorter reviews in this one post.  Before I post them I would like to explain what has happened the last two months that have made for less reviews than normal.

 

 


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WILL POWER REPORT: THE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS


Nothing but the Truth!

 

By Will Power

 

December 25, 2010 (San Diego)--When I was a child, the entire month of November was the prelude to Christmas. I'd start seeing Christmas cartoons and get more and more excited until the Big Day! I would try as best I could to get something my parents could afford and usually it worked, though sometimes gifts were years off in age-appropriateness.

The older I got, the less I needed to buy things.


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WILL POWER REPORT: PAYING FOR BABY


Nothing but the Truth!

By Will Power


December 16, 2010 (San Diego)--While thousands of illegal immigrant mothers wade the Rio Grande in January to see their children become US citizens, US health insurance companies are refusing to cover the birth of legitimate US citizens because it may cost too much.


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WILL POWER REPORT: PRIVATE FREEWAYS

Nothing but the Truth!
By Will Power
December 14, 2010 (San Diego)--Necons, who have made the 21st Century the Age of Unbridled Greed, have a new plan. Not happy with a monopoly on electricity, gasoline, and natural gas, the new Conservatives want to privatize the LA Freeway system, to keep those damned poor people on the surface streets, while they cruise in Lexus Lanes.


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PURPLE MOUNTAIN SAGE: A NEW KIND OF CHRISTMAS


Thoughts on giving, plus egg nog recipes for your holiday season


By Sharon Courmousis, Sacred Rocks Reserve

 

December 15, 2010 (Boulevard)--The presents are wrapped and the little dears are tucked up tight. All the games and toys and electronics advertised on TV – wrapped up under the tree. Oh, wait, that was last year, or the one before. This Christmas everyone seems to be downsizing IF they are lucky enough to even have a home, and a job, and something extra. So the question is HOW do you make this a wonderful Christmas if the day itself is not really about the quantity of gifts?


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ON THE SILVER SCREEN: TINY BUDGET, LIMITED RESOURCES NO PROBLEM FOR INDIE "TINY FURNITURE"

By Brian Lafferty

 

December 11, 2010 (San Diego)--While watching Tiny Furniture, which opened yesterday at the Ken Cinema, I was somewhat captivated and never bored. It accomplishes its goals and captures without fail the feeling it wants to convey.

 


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PEARLS: DON'T DO IT THIS WAY

By Charlavan Baker Hart

 

December 7, 2010 (El Cajon)--I thought if you didn’t see very well you go to the eye doctor and have yourself checked. I was braced for learning I had a cataract forming and would need an operation.


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MARKETING MATTERS: THE PRE-TRADE SHOW PLAN

 TIPS AND TRICKS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS AND GROWTH

 

 

By Rama Beerfas

 

December 1, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – We’ve identified the three components of a successful trade show marketing plan:

• Have a system in place for attracting potential customers to the exhibit.
• Qualify those people who visited the booth.
• Follow up with those visitors who left contact information.
 

The fact is that exhibiting successfully at a trade show means developing good pre-show plan to ensure that the people with whom you would most like to make contact know you will be there and have a reason to come visit your booth.


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ADVICE FROM THE PURPLE MOUNTAIN SAGE: CELEBRATIONS


By Sharon Courmousis, Sacred Rocks Reserve

Increase your enjoyment of living

November 30, 2010 (Boulevard)--This is the time of year when we turn our eyes toward celebration. The thesaurus also calls celebration by the words commemoration, festivity, party, gala, observance, and remembrance. Unless a person is a true hermit, it is hard to celebrate by oneself. Some folks have few or far flung families. Some folks feel alone. Others create their own families, their own circle of friends that are like family.


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LEFT HOOK: CORPORATOCRACY

 


By Walter Davis

November 29, 2010 (San Diego) --According to a recent CNN report, the number of billionaires in this world had nearly tripled since 2000. With Americans losing their homes in record numbers and the Seventh Fleet headed to waters off the coast of Korea, catastrophe is in the air. Our gridlocked government is unable to respond effectively to the needs of Americans.

 


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MARKETING MATTERS: THE #1 REASON BUSINESSES DON'T BENEFIT FROM EXHIBITING AT TRADE SHOWS

 

Tips and Tricks for Business Success and Growth

By Rama Beerfas

 

November 1, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – It’s a sad, sad story and one that I have heard many times: A company spends anywhere from a few hundred dollars for a local tabletop show to tens of thousands of dollars for a national trade show and ends up with little or nothing to show for it – not even a breakeven on expenses.


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ON THE SILVER SCREEN: MAKE TRACKS FOR "UNSTOPPABLE"

By Brian Lafferty

 

November 12, 2010 (San Diego)--Tony Scott’s last movie, The Taking of Pelham 123, had exciting action and suspense on an immobile subway train hijacked by John Travolta with Denzel Washington trying to stop him. In Unstoppable, we get equally exciting action and suspense on a runaway train loaded with toxic chemicals with Denzel Washington trying to prevent it from careening towards a populated town.

 


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ON THE SILVER SCREEN: YOU'LL BE SURE TO GET YOUR MONEY'S WORTH - AND MORE - BY SEEING SMALL, INDEPENDENT "THE FREEBIE"

By Brian Lafferty

 

November 12, 2010 (San Diego) – The Freebie has a simple story, and it runs only seventy-eight minutes, but director Katie Aselton has crafted a movie that is more than mere premise. In addition to having two likeable characters and dialogue that is real, honest and rich, the movie also kept me guessing until the very end.

 


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WILL POWER REPORT: BLESSINGS OF OLD AGE

 

Nothing but the Truth!

By Will Power

 

November 16, 2010 (San Diego)--I am officially a geezer on Thanksgiving. So I thought it would be a good idea to think of how being old is a good thing. So here goes! I am thankful:


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CRAFTING WITH MARY: YOU WON'T BE "BORED" WITH THESE EASY—TO-MAKE BOARD GIFTS

By Mary Genser
 

November 14, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Hand-made boards provide easy, inexpensive, and customizable ways to brighten up the holiday season for those on your gift-giving list. Whether you need gifts to give—or you’re simply a little bored—get some little boards and have fun!


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MEDIA WATCH: CRITICS OF COMCAST-NBC MERGER EXPECT WIDESPREAD CONSUMER FRUSTRATION IF MERGER IS APPROVED


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ON THE SILVER SCREEN: BY HOOKER, BY CROOK, CAUSES OF FORMER GOVERNOR SPITZER'S RISE AND DOWNFALL CHRONICLED IN "CLIENT 9"

 

By Brian Lafferty

November 12, 2010 (San Diego) – At the beginning of Client 9, Eliot Spitzer describes his rise and downfall as a classic Greek story archetype. You have the hero who overcomes all odds and becomes successful. Then he makes a fatal mistake that brings his downfall. What makes this story fascinating is that it isn’t fiction.

 


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DOLLAR-WISE DIVAS: YOU EARNED IT-- TAKE ADVANTAGE OF VETERAN’S DAY FREEBIES!

 

“We can’t all be heroes. Some of us have to stand on the curb and clap as they go by.” --Will Rogers

 

 By Nancy and Dawn Clement

November 5, 2010 (San Diego) - Today’s column is dedicated to our military in East County, and to active duty military and veterans worldwide--especially Dollar-wise Divas’ good friend Katie R. who is serving in Kabul, Afghanistan. Thank you for your service to our country. 


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THE DOG BLOG: HOLIDAY NUTRITION TIPS FOR YOU AND YOUR DOG

 


By Dawn Celapino

 

November 11, 2010 (San Diego's East County)--'Tis the season for cakes, cookies, pies and a lot of food! The average person gains between 7 - 10 pounds from now until the end of the year. Along with the parties, dinners and social events comes the end of daylight savings time. People tend to get more sedate and eat more. Not a good combination!

 


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ON THE SILVER SCREEN: EXPECT SOLID SOPHISTICATED HUMOR FROM "DUE DATE"

By Brian Lafferty

 

November 7, 2010 (San Diego) – Due Date feels like an in-between job for Todd Phillips. His previous film, last year’s The Hangover, is one of the funniest comedies I’ve ever seen and that is not something I say lightly. The sequel is set to release next year. Due Date doesn’t have anywhere near the number of laughs as The Hangover, which I don’t fault; that movie achieved a seemingly impossible feat in which every single gag was not only funny but downright hilarious. But Due Date has enough laughs for me to recommend it.

 


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ON THE SILVER SCREEN: "GAME" HAS RIVETING SECOND HALF BUT FIRST HALF IS TOO "FAIR" IN RETELLING OF PLAME AFFAIR

By Brian Lafferty

 

November 6, 2010 (San Diego)--I remember following the Valerie Plame scandal. I was astonished when I heard a CIA operative’s name was leaked to the press. I was mad when I learned of the motive and whom it allegedly came from. I was happy when Scooter Libby was convicted. Soon I was beyond outraged when George W. Bush commuted Libby’s sentence. When Bush left office, I could not be any more relieved when he refused to pardon him.

 


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WILL POWER REPORT: GOP WINS, FED RELEASES MONEY

Nothing but the Truth!
 

By Will Power

 

November 4, 2010 (San Diego)--For those of you that do not think the banking industry makes up the Fourth branch of government- ponder this. The day after the GOP won the house, the Fed announces $600 billion in new loans to banks.


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ON THE SILVER SCREEN: IN "ENTER THE VOID" DIRECTOR GASPAR NOE'S BOLD USE OF CAMERA, IMAGERY BREATHES LIFE IN PSYCHEDELIC TALE ABOUT DEATH

By Brian Lafferty

 

WARNING: If you have epilepsy or are prone to seizures, do not see this film, as it contains frequent strobe effects.

 

October 30, 2010 (San Diego)--After seeing Enter the Void, it became clear to me that the newest film by Gaspar Noe is shaping up to be a very divisive movie. It is not for those even remotely squeamish. People either love it or hate it. I went to the screening with three to five other critics and they thought they had seen one of, if not the, worst movies of the year. I felt I saw one of the year’s best.

 


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