Another New Player In Town

LOOK WHAT I FOUND!
While culling through my Google alert referrals this evening I stumbled upon an entry of yet another brand new blog here in Costa Mesa. This thing is entitled "CM OPEN" - you know, like a golf tournament.

DEFENDING MR. U. KNOW-WHO
I clicked on the link, HERE, and found myself staring at two entries - one published September 5th, whining about an old entry on the CM Truth blog. The second, published a couple days ago, was addressed to me, specifically.

WRITING TO FEEL IMPORTANT
Now, I like to get letters, but would never have discovered this one because I didn't know this blog existed. I guess the author(s) of this new one didn't really want me to read it - they just wanted to write it to make themselves feel important. If they wanted me to read it they could have sent me an email or posted it as a comment right here - or simply let me know that they had a message for me on this new blog. But, nope - they just prattled on and on with absolutely no expectation that I would ever read it.

WILL THEY POST MY COMMENT?
I posted a comment on this new blog, not really expecting that it will be published. At least the author(s) provided the ability to comment, unlike the guy they are trying to defend. He doesn't care what others think about what he writes - there's no debate. Here's what I posted on it this evening:

"Well, isn't this a nice surprise! Yet another defender of the author of the CM Press. Or, since there is no identification of the author, perhaps it IS the author of the CM Press! Is that you, Marty? Or maybe a member of your family?

I'll submit this comment, but don't really expect it to be published. Even though you provide a way to do it, I suspect you'll "moderate" it and it won't appear. I've never called his entire family a "den of snakes" - I've never met any of them. Your attempt to paint me as a bully is more than amusing, particularly in light of the fact that your idol, the author of the CM Press, is precisely that. I don't have a gang of any kind, oh anonymous one, much less "name calling bigots". I don't tell anyone else what to write or say. If you're referring to a couple other local blogs which are rightfully critical of the CM Press you're on the wrong track... I don't know those people... yet. I do, in fact, speak my mind when I oppose his position on issues.

You'll have to speak to him about taking things to a personal level, with Katrina Foley, for example. Or any other person who has spoken out in opposition to his warped views. My advice to others who might be critical of him to do so anonymously is sound advice, particularly since he seems determined to stalk and intimidate those who disagree with him.

Incidentally, I just stumbled across this feeble attempt at blogging this evening. I'd never have know you exist except for some unfortunate luck. I find the title of your blog curious.... CM OPEN... open to what? Open mind? I don't think so. Open mouth? Maybe. You imply that more than one of you are authoring this thing... how many does it take?

By the way, folks (assuming there are more than one of you) you're falling behind in your viewing of the CM Truth blog... there's a new "Mike Diamond" video clip that I know you'll love just waiting for you to view. And, I hope you're following the exploits of the newest blogger, CMunimPRESSed. The author of that one should really make you happy. I know I get a smile on my face whenever I read a new entry over there. If you don't have the link, just visit my blog. Welcome to the blogosphere. I hope your juvenile, pathetic posts improve... perhaps your idol can offer some hints..."

DON'T KNOW AND DON'T CARE
I have no clue about the identity(s) of the author(s) of this new blog. And, unlike the guy at the CM Press, I'm not going to attempt to find out who they are, where they live or where they work so I can attempt to intimidate them. They are entitled to their own little bit of the blogosphere. I do find it amusing that someone finds it necessary to leap to the defense of the guy at the CM Press. I can only assume that, whomever they are, they share the same views and values as their idol. That's a very sad commentary, in my view.

NO LINK HERE
No, I'm not going to post a link to it, as I do not link to the CM Press, either. If you want to read it in the future you're just going to have to bookmark it yourself.

CM PRESS ATTACKS WILL CONTINUE
So, in the heat of our local political campaign, the beat goes on. Certainly, we can expect the author of the CM Press to continue his attacks on any candidate he thinks poses a threat to his chosen troika. He will undoubtedly make the denigration of Katrina Foley a constant drum beat for the next 5 weeks, and also snipe at other candidates he thinks might be able to siphon off enough votes to spoil his plan for complete domination of the Costa Mesa City Council.

WE'LL CONTINUE TO WRITE
So, we will continue to read his rants and comment when we feel it is appropriate. If this new group doesn't like it - too bad. I expect they, too, will continue to write to defend him... Bring it on!

A LESSON LEARNED

TROJANS SLAPPED AROUND BY BEAVERS!
Bummer! I just finished watching USC get it's butt whipped by the Oregon State Beavers in a 27-21 game that wasn't really that close. The Beavers dominated the #1 ranked Trojans most of the night. They dammed up USC's offense and their running game chewed away at the vaunted Trojan defense like an aspen forest.

THE TROIKA
However, that game got me thinking about the Costa Mesa City Council race, in which three heavily-favored characters seem to have no way in which they can lose. After all, you've got an incumbent mayor, Eric Bever; a former 12 year councilman and multi-term mayor, Gary Monahan; and uber-politically well-connected carpetbagger, Jim Righeimer competing for a seat on the dais. All of these men expect to receive major backing by the Orange County Republican Party, which has inserted itself in Costa Mesa politics for the past two elections and seems determined to use our city as a bullpen, where wannabes for higher office are plunked down and told to keep their arms warm while waiting for a "real" opportunity to open up. I don't like that very much...

FOLEY...
With the exception of incumbent Katrina Foley, all the other candidates are either complete newbies or also-rans in an earlier election... seems like no contest, doesn't it?

...SHE'S THE BEST
I wouldn't be so sure, though. Foley has been, and continues to be, the brightest of our current council mob and knows how to run a campaign. She has clearly demonstrated over her term on the council and on the Planning Commission that she cares about the city first. She's smart and tireless - managing to effectively juggle her council responsibilities with those of a parent and business owner. She's got a good chance of maintaining her seat.

That leaves two seats for the other three "biggies" to fight over.... maybe.

SNEEN
Of the remaining candidates, Bill Sneen brings lots of energy and leadership experience to the race. He's probably done more since filing his papers to get up to speed on important city issues than any other candidate. He's been a quick study and brings a maturity and business leadership that will be welcome on the dais. He's not a new guy when it comes to public service, having been very actively involved in school issues while his boys were growing up here in town.

REEDY
Lisa Reedy, a long-time community activist and President of the Mesa del Mar Homeowners Association, also brings maturity and business savvy to the race. However, her campaign seems to have gotten off the ground slowly and has a lot of ground to make up in the next 5 weeks.

BUNYAN
Businessman, author, activist and hair stylist Chris Bunyan, who finished last in the last election, has worked hard in the past two years and immersed himself in city committees and environmental issues. He's at the forefront of the move to preserve Banning Ranch from development, plus purports to have creative solutions to a couple other major problems in our city.

MC EVOY
Chris McEvoy, an educator and a true neophyte in local politics, is using a lot of energy to run a low budget campaign and enhance the debate of important issues. His enthusiasm and candor are quite refreshing, but I'm not sure he really thinks he has a chance in this race. Still, he will provoke debate on issues that might otherwise slide by - that's a good thing.

MOSS
Nick Moss, another young fella operating a bare-bones campaign, seems to be keeping a low profile. It's not clear whether he's been studying up on issues or not. I guess we'll find out soon enough when future candidate forums take place.

TRIO SHARES CLOUT AND BUCKS
The three "biggies" are running as a virtual slate - they share many of the same endorsements and will likely raise money from the same sources. Should even two of the three be successful in November that will result in an "improver" Super majority - an unbreakable majority which will allow it to govern without any kind of effective check and balance system in place. It will be a virtual junta.

UNDER-RATED COME OUT VICTORIOUS
Which brings me back to the mauling USC got tonight at the hands of the Beavers - who slapped them around (pun intended) mercilessly all night. The Trojans were overwhelming favorites over the unranked and generally disregarded Beavers. Still, that young team managed to pull off the biggest upset of the college football season.

LEARN FROM THE GAME
I think our newbies should take this event to heart and work harder than they had planned if they actually think they have a chance to win a seat on the dais. It's not impossible. All they have to do is make the voters understand why they are better candidates than the "biggies", and keep pounding away at it.

CONSIDER WHO SUPPORTS THE TROIKA
There are a few people in this town who view the "biggies" as a slam dunk, and crow about it practically every day. One of these people is infamous in these parts for his racist writings and his attempts to intimidate and control previous members of the city council. He recently portrayed the troika as patriots and the others as zombies on his blog and has denigrated them practically every day since the filing deadline. His support for the troika above should be reason enough for voters to pause and contemplate their choices before marking their ballots.

MORE TO COME
We'll talk more about this as the election nears. There are at least three more candidate forums scheduled between now and the election on November 4th - plenty of opportunities for the voters to meet and greet all the candidates and make up their minds.

READ "CM TRUTH" AND "CM UNIM PRESS ED"
In the meantime, I suggest you make it a practice to read two other blogs here in town. CM Truth and CMunimPRESSed both offer insights into local issues and players that will help readers gain some perspective not otherwise available. Links to each are on the right sided of this page.

Fighting Racism In Costa Mesa

SPARING WITH MR. U. KNOW-WHO
Those who have been paying attention for the past few years know that the author of the CM Press and I have gone round and round - even before I started my blog and before he converted his "little newsletter" into one.

THE ODD COUPLE
Our views differ on most issues - so much so that the editors of the Daily Pilot used to get their jollies by publishing our contributions on the same page. It was great fun, particularly since I knew he - a self-proclaimed member of Mensa - considered me far from his equal as a writer and way below his level intellectually. How do I know this? Well, he's said it many times over the years.

JOUSTING WITH THE JERK
For a long time I considered our little jousts kind of playful jabs in the arm - kind of like junior high school. I'm quite sure he never considered our interactions "playful". In fact, I'm not sure that word is in his lexicon.



THE TONE HAS CHANGED
In recent years, particularly since the evolution of our respective blogs and that of the Daily Pilot, where comments may be posted by interested readers, our interaction has gone from playful to serious to down-right scary. The guy at the CM Press, has named himself Mr. U. Know-Who. I've used several names for him - Your Neighbor and The Mouth From Mesa North, for example. He, in turn, has named me Lonely Old Man and, most recently, two-legged maggot. Lately he seems to have gotten frustrated and a whole lot angrier and vicious. Perhaps it's because he can no longer unleash his tirades, fabrications and out-right lies with impunity. We here at the old cauldron watch and speak out when we see him attempt to obfuscate and manipulate.

PETULANT POUTING PREVAILS
Since the Daily Pilot editors decided to require registration for those of us who post comments Mr. U. Know-Who has gone into a sulk. He used to use several fictitious anonymous names to post comments on the same thread, making it look as though his ideas had wide acceptance. Once registration was required he just slithered back into his hole in Mesa North and pouted - poor baby.

"TRUTH" SHALL BE HEARD
Then, of course, there is the arrival of blogger CM Truth, a link to which can be found on this page. This person, who chooses to remain anonymous, has also taken on the CM Press and publishes real facts on the subjects of gangs and graffiti to refute the fabrications published with such gusto on the CM Press. This only adds to his frustration, which is evident in the things he writes. He's REALLY going to love the fact that CM Truth will soon also be published in Spanish!

NEW BLOG - MORE FUN
Now, most recently, there is another new blog in our area which is aimed directly at the blow hard at the CM Press. This new blog, CMunimPRESSed (love the play on the name) seems determined to poke the CM Press in the eye with a stick. And, of course, the Mr. U. Know-Who is livid. There's a link to CMunimPRESSed over on the right.

RETALIATION?
If recent events are any indication, I guess it might not be a good idea to provoke this guy. There is a person who signs his Daily Pilot blog comments as "BKrochman" and recently has aimed some of his comments directly at the author of the CM Press by name. That REALLY ticked him off - so much so that he's begun stalking BKrochman, trying to find out where he works, which organizations he's affiliated with and, apparently, where he lives.

FAMILIAR HARASSMENT
If this kind of intimidation sounds a little familiar to you, it should. Some will recall that almost a year ago I announced that I was backing off any interaction with or about Mr. U. Know-Who because of not very veiled threats he made against me and my family. Calls to the police department were made to document that situation.

A CHANGE OF HEART
Later, I reneged on my plan and began commenting on him again. That lasted a few months before, once again, there was a good reason to withdraw. It was my intention to never comment about him again. Things change...

ATTACKING NEW CANDIDATES
The current City Council campaign has provided him with a new "playground" in which he mercilessly attacks and belittles candidates that do not fit his idea of the perfect person to hold a seat on the dais. He supports three candidates who, I guess, he feels he can exercise influence over as he's done in the past beginning with the chronically inept Chris Steel and proceeding on to Allan Mansoor, Eric Bever and Wendy Leece.

INTIMIDATION CONTINUES
Too much is at stake to let recent late night telephone calls intimidate me into ignoring his malicious lies and half-truths. I cannot simply stand by without commenting while he maligns the Costa Mesa Police Department for what he apparently perceives their half-hearted efforts regarding illegal aliens.

EXPUNGING BROWN SKINS
Over the years I've chronicled what I believed was a systematic campaign to expunge Costa Mesa of every person of brown skin. I've mentioned many times the many events perpetrated by Mr. U. Know-Who toward that end. Almost everything he proposes has an element included to make the Latinos among us uneasy or flat-out frightened. About the only thing he has not yet successfully pulled off is the closure of the Orange Coast College Swap Meet - a venue for low-end commerce and social interaction by many of our Latino neighbors - but he came close. He and Mansoor tried to use the specter of the invading masses from Santa Ana and the impact on our streets to have it shuttered. What a crock! Fortunately, much wiser heads prevailed - for the time being.

FANNING THE FLAMES OF INTOLERANCE
Mr. U. Know-Who has managed to whip up anti-immigrant sentiment to a fever pitch in this town. The foundation of his hatred for anyone not white is obvious is your read his essays published widely on radical right-wing web sites such as the New Nation and others.


A MESSAGE FOR "THE MOUTH"
So, I guess the message this evening is directed squarely at that racist at the CM Press. Mr. U. Know-Who, if you don't like the notoriety you're getting, that's just too bad. You can't have it both ways. Even though you don't permit comments on your blog, you can't expect to stand before the council and pontificate and wave your three pathetic books around without receiving criticism.

BLOGGERS SHOULD PROTECT THEIR IDENTITIES
Mr. U. Know-Who, I suggest to my fellow bloggers mentioned above that they retain their anonymity, because it's clear that once you know the identity of your critics you go after them with a vengeance. I'm not necessarily suggesting that you would attempt to physically harm them or their families, but threats come in many forms. Why else would you be tracking down a resident like some hungry predator? I also suggest that they continue to point out your many faults and the falsehoods you attempt to foist off on the populace to give interested readers the truth - an alternative to your bigoted spin. As they say in junior high school, "See ya, wouldn't want to be ya!"

The Blathering Continues Plus A New Voice

"THE MOUTH" CONTINUES HIS ATTACKS
Well, the blathering continues over at the CM Press, in which the author takes exception with the views of the editors of the Daily Pilot and continues his disparaging tirade against any City Council candidates who are not among his chosen three.

THE PILOT GETS IT RIGHT
The Pilot got it right in their editorials today in which they support the recent council motion - led by Katrina Foley and Linda Dixon - to reject the bogus plan to designate 28 of our 30 parks as "passive" and thus effectively forbid most active recreation our families might choose to participate in at those locations.

TWICE...
They also concur with my view that former Chief John Hensley had it right when he told then-mayor Allan Mansoor and Eric Bever that he disagreed with Mansoor's plan to cross-designate every Costa Mesa cop as an immigration screener. We've discussed this at length before.

FROTHING IN MESA NORTH
So, The Mouth From Mesa North will continue business as usual - openly attacking everyone and everything that disagrees with him.

WELCOME, CMunimPRESSed!
On a much happier note, I'm pleased to welcome a new blogger to the blogosphere. Yesterday a new blog was launched that appears to be a another venue for actual discussion of issues - one that seems willing to accept comments. I've included a link to this new blog - CMunimPRESSed - the thrust of which seems obvious by the clever choice of a name. You will find the link over on the right side of the page.

YET ANOTHER VENUE FOR DEBATE
CMunimPRESSed joins CM TRUTH and this site as a place where discussion can be held on important issues affecting our city. CM TRUTH has had several recent posts that effectively rebut some of the misinformation being foisted off on the populace by The Mouth. The author of that site has indepth, up-close-and-personal knowledge of local gangs and graffiti and has made it a point to counter lies and distortions made on the CM Press in recent months.

THE MORE, THE MERRIER
So, welcome to the new kid on the block. We look forward to yet another voice of reason in the local blogosphere.