SAN DIEGO READER ALL DIGITAL. Wow, this one hit home. Ever since I have been in San Diego (1982) I remember the San Diego Reader. My roommate at UCSD turned me on to The Reader. I really enjoyed their Things to Do and Classifieds. I remember later as an adult one of my bandmates and I would meet for lunch and review of The San Diego Reader. We would order a bean and cheese burrito with sour cream and onions (cebolla, no pico) and 3 rolled tacos with guac. Then we would talk about the bands playing in the local clubs and the big concerts coming to town. I’m a 7-11 frequenter and I always see The San Diego Reader stacked up there by the front door. It’s the end of an era! I hope they continue to thrive.
WHO LET THE DOGE OUT? I have very mixed feelings about DOGE. On one hand, I enjoy seeing aggressive spending cuts. This is very rare in Washington DC where the spending and bureaucracy expand like an oil spill. It’s good to see some cleanup. But the end does not justify the means. I am not supportive of the way this is being done. Having Elon Musk as Trump’s wingman to go on his own cutting spending and staff expands executive branch power. This is not a good thing. I am a fan of checks and balances and our Constitutional form of government. An all power executive is great when they represent your team, but your team will not always win. Keep that in mind. But still… even with these DOGE cuts, they are tiny in the whole scheme of things. DOGE cutting “waste, fraud and abuse” only gets you so far. The real work is asking hard questions about government’s role in society. Should entire portions of the federal government be privatized? Only then can you mathematically gather up enough spending cuts to approach a balanced budget. DOGE is dodging the real problem.
JRP LOCAL VS NATIONAL. I enjoy reporting and commenting on local news in my hometown of Poway, particularly since there is very little coverage in the media. There is plenty to discuss. But I notice that there is also very little appetite for local content except amongst a very small group of civic-minded folks. In my last podcast I included 2 segments on local issues and those received several hundred views on YouTube. But when I do a national topic like my recent segment on Trump, Tariffs & Trade, I get 10-20x the views. It makes sense that national issues would get more traction, but it is alarming that local interest is so weak. It’s no wonder that local newspapers, TV stations and radio stations are struggling. I was pleased to hear some Poway folks thanking me for my local news coverage. Meanwhile my local detractors, who claim to support diversity, often block my content. Funky dynamics. I am going to still continue to cover local issues, but not as exclusively as I have in the past. I will mix in more regional and national content. Heck, with Trump in the White House there is plenty to talk about. National, regional and local will all be in the mix of my live stream podcasts. I will continue to break these segments into individual YouTube videos so people can choose the content most interesting to them.
STUDIO CITY IN THE COUNTRY. I have made big progress in my JRP studio move. To review, I moved the podcast studio from our formal living room to one of our empty-nester bedrooms in December. Moving the equipment was one thing, but getting it all dialed is a longer term project. At first the acoustics were horrible. Bare walls, glass door, and a hard ceiling all contributed to the sound reflection and reverb. I didn’t want to be one of “those podcasts” with really amateur level audio. I first installed drapery for about half the room and this made a big difference. Then I added my green screen as an extension of the drapery and that dampened even more echo. Now I have about 40% of the ceiling covered in foam acoustic tiles. Still more work to do, but this all has made a stunning difference visually and audibly. The purple curtain matches the previous studio curtains. Plus the green screen can be moved in and out, thus giving me the ability to do some creative videos with unique backgrounds (social media article, virtual studio, fun location). Now it is starting to really feel like a “studio”. Very cool.
UKRAINE GIRLS REALLY KNOCK ME OUT. Trump is now working with Putin to negotiate this Ukraine War to an end. I get the objective. Ending the war ends the killing. Ending the war ends the hundreds of billions of dollars being sent to Ukraine in cash and weapons. But if the war simply ends, then the bully wins. Russia would then take over even more territory in Ukraine (plus Crimea in 2014). That ain’t right. If I could waive a magic wand, I would replace the military with peaceful trade. But here in reality, America is not fighting this war, Ukraine is. So reducing or ending that funding makes sense. Sadly Trump is not condemning the bully Putin. Instead now he is blaming Ukraine for starting the war with Russia. Pathetic. Disgusting. Fake news.