CHANGE HAPPENS!

Well, dear readers, this is the final posting of this blog on this particular site. No, no - I'm not hanging it up, just changing addresses. As of today you will find A Bubbling Cauldron at the following link: http://abubblingcauldron.blogspot.com

I've also added a direct link to the new site on my Useful Links page on this site.

This site will remain active for some time. I'm unable to transfer the archives to the new site, so I'll use this one much as you use a rented storage space - as a place to store old stuff, just in case you need it. I've provided a link when you get to the new site so you can navigate back to this one if you want to rummage around through the archives and read nearly sixteen months worth of postings at this location. From time to time I might dredge up an old one and post it on the new site.

I've made the decision to move because this particular site is the result of what I've frequently referred to as a bargain basement web tool. It's got some serious limitations to it, not the least of which is the deteriorating technical support ever since Earthlink, my host, moved those functions to India and The Philippines. The new location, a Blogger site, will allow me to include hot links in the text when appropriate. That will save you regular readers some wear and tear on your mouse fingers as you tried to navigate around on this old site.

Also, the new tool, as you will see, provides an opportunity to directly comment on each posting. Some of you might think you'll have fun with that, but before your heart begins to pound in anticipation of being able to pillory me with a caustic diatribe, be advised that I'm in complete control of what appears on the page. If you write something I don't like it will never reach the page. The same old rules apply - keep it clean and relevant. I always welcome a well-written opposing viewpoint.

So, I hope you will visit the new page and add it to your bookmarks and/or favorites lists. If friends (or enemies) ask how to reach the site, just tell them to visit www.abubblingcauldron.com - that's a lot easier to remember than the actual URL.

Thanks to all of you that have visited this site in the past and endured it's quirks. I know it was tough to read some of the postings through the template graphics. I think the new site will be much more easily viewed, although the content will still be my marginal work product. A new site doesn't necessarily mean shorter posts. One of these days I may find a way to deliver a message briefly... or not.

As always, I appreciate your viewpoints, so let me know what you think once you find your way to the new site.

One of the truly distasteful parts of political campaigns is the depths to which some candidates are willing to stoop to make their point. Such was the case in the campaign flyer sent out by the Mansoor/Leece mob over the weekend.

That particular piece, one of many we've received in our mail box over the past month, lowered the bar considerably as they used doctored photos of their two primary opponents, Bruce Garlich and Mike Scheafer, to make them look like what Byron de Arakal described in his blog as "the second coming of Lenin and Stalin." Please visit Byron's blog, Itchingpost.com, to read his work in it's entirety by going to my Useful Links page and clicking on his blog.

I recently speculated that we would see this campaign deteriorate, so I'm not really surprised at this particular flyer. Actually, I suspect we'll see it or another with the same theme appear at least once more before the election on the 7th.

Some folks speculate that this kind of flyer indicates the Mansoor/Leece ticket is rattled and worried about their chances. I don't think so. I think that, between them, they have almost $100,000 to spend on this campaign and they are doing so like a couple drunken sailors. I think they are very confident, not only about their chances in the election, but in their post-election tour of duty. I think this kind of campaign behavior demonstrates exactly what the residents of Costa Mesa can anticipate with a Mansoor/Leece victory next week - arrogant disregard for civility.

So, dear readers, as November 7th nears you have an interesting decision to make regarding your choices for city council. Do you elect Mansoor and his barnacle and perpetuate the dictatorship we've seen develop over the past two years or do you elect Bruce Garlich and Mike Scheafer and return the governance of this city to adults with no hidden agenda - men who have demonstrated their concern for our city through more than three decades of public service. Sounds like an easy choice to me.