Newspaper reading

I certainly take issue with one letter to the editor in this morning's Chronicle which reads as follows:
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I am more than sad at the prospect of losing The Chronicle. Reading the paper each morning is much more than reading the paper. I bring my wife coffee and The Chron in bed each morning. We excitedly point out to each other articles to read. What guy doesn't take the sports section to the john with him? Try all or any of that with a laptop. Well, who the hell wants to stay in the john long enough to read a newspaper? That's ridiculous to say the least. We subscribe to three newspapers and read them all every day. I am dismayed by the number of young people who think they are seeing the news on the Jon Stewart show. Hang in there, Chron staffers; we are with you.
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As for reading the newspaper on-line, that is now my choice as there are no wrinkles, no tears, no ink to come off onto my hands and if delivered at home, no worry about a soggy newspaper when it rains. A friend of mine who does subscribe was probably amazed to see me reading the news on the computer even though I had brought his copy of the newspaper indoors for him. Also, while on the computer I can reader most any newspaper from around the world. Why limited myself to just the hometown paper?
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I too, however, am sad at losing any newspaper no matter what format it takes. It is one of the signs of the times that so much content is either given away or stolen and the San Francisco Chronicle is not the only publication in trouble.

Craigslist should not allow free want ads. Monster.com and CareerBuilders.com should charge for using their websites. They, too, are part of the problem as they drain away content and money from brick and mortar businesses already hard hit by the recession.

I guess one could say we are in a difficult period of transition and some businesses will go under for failure to adopt a new business model.

Banking mess

The other night Donald Trump was on the Letterman show and he mentioned that one of the biggest problems now is that the banks are not lending money. They went from one extreme (nearly unregulated credit) to the other and are now just sitting on the cash and until the money starts flowing again, our recession will continue. Interestingly, my financial adviser at Ameriprise Financial said the very same thing to me a few weeks ago. It is a credit problem now being created by the banks. Maybe we should have done things differently. We just gave billions to the same guys who are one of the major sources of our current financial problems.

Black & Blue Cross Dental PPO

Boy am I pissed at Blue Cross!!! I need an extraction and while a cumbersome and messy bridge is possible, a post implant is the best way to go but they won't pay for it. As it stands, if I proceed with the extraction I am faced with about $4,000 bills just for that. I will know tomorrow what portion of THAT will be covered and those fees do not even include the dental surgeon's fees. Does anyone out there know what this weeks numbers will be in the lottery? LOL

Mess in Sacramento

I really think we need to recall Gov. Schwarzenegger and the entire legislature as they have not done their job. They argue, they blame each other, and no one seems willing to compromise on anything. They all think they are right and everyone else is wrong. This State of California won't last the year at the present rate.

Rebublican s.o.b.'s

I am tired of the Republicans in Congress and in the California State Legislature complaining about stimulus packages and what the Democrats are doing or aren't doing. They say we need to cut waste and I agree with that but why the hell aren't they doing it. Stop sniveling Republicans and get your collective asses in gear and do what you think is right. Stop playing the blame game.

Reminder

It is often stated that places the public uses are filthy. A recent Chronicle letter writer's indictment of BART is a case in point. The filth does not originate with BART officials. It is caused by passengers who do not understand that the responsibility is theirs. No other species trashes this planet like we humans.

Snack Time

OK, is it milk and cookies or something else and cookies? LOL