Roadside Crosses

ON THE HOME FRONT

GO TEAM!

I'm happy to say that after this weekend's game the Older Boy's team is 4-0! Go, Jayhawks! Now, parents: listen to me. Your youngsters should give up baseball and football for soccer, which is the safest and healthiest team sport there is. (See The Chilton Report of April 12 for my comments about sports injuries among children. And by the way, make sure you call it "soccer," not "football," the way the foreigners do. When in America, do as Americans!)

A PATRIOT

Yesterday the Younger Boy knocked the socks off the audience in his day camp recital by singing " America the Beautiful." All by himself! Makes a dad swell up with pride.

SUGGESTIONS, ANYONE?

We're coming up on our nineteenth a

WE'RE GOING GLOBAL!

Am pleased to report that The Report has been getting raves from around the world. It's been selected as one of the lead blogs in a new RSS feed (we'll call it "Really Simple Syndication") that will link thousands of other blogs, websites and bulletin boards throughout the world. Kudos to you, my readers, for making The Report as popular as it is.

WELCOME HOME

Heard some news that made me smile. Those of you who've followed The Report may remember glowing comments over the years about this humble reporter's dear friend Donald Hawken-we were pioneers in this crazy computer world so many years ago I don't like to think about it. Donald escaped the Peninsula for greener pastures in San Diego. But I'm delighted to say that he's come to his senses and is returning, along with his bride, Lily, and his two wonderful children. Welcome home, Donald!

HEROES

Hats off to the brave firefighters of Monterey County… Pat and I happened to be downtown on Alvarado last Tuesday when calls for help rang out and smoke sprouted from a construction site. Flames blocked the exit…with two construction workers trapped on the upper floors. Within minutes two dozen firemen and-women were on the scene and a fire truck had stretched its ladder to the roof. The men were plucked from harm's way, and the flames were extinguished. No injuries, minimal damage.

In most of our lives bravery involves little more than arguing politics or, at the most physical, snorkeling at fancy resorts or mountain biking.

How rarely are we called on to exhibit true courage-the way the men and women of Monterey County Fire and Rescue do every single day, without a moment's hesitation or complaint.

Bravo to you all!

Accompanying this posting was a dramatic photo of a fire truck in downtown Monterey.

"Typical of blogs," Boling said. "Personal information, gossip. People like to read that."

Dance also clicked on a link called " Monterey."

She was taken to a page that extolled "Our Home: The Beautiful and Historic Monterey Peninsula," featuring artistic photos of the shoreline and boats near Ca

Another link led them to maps of the area, including one that depicted her town: Pacific Grove.

Boling said, "This is all gingerbread. Let's look at the content of the blog…that's where we'll find the clues." He frowned. "Do you call them 'clues'? Or 'evidence'?"

"You can call 'em broccoli if it helps us find the perp."

"Let's see what the veggies reveal." He gave her another URL.

http://www.thechiltonreport.com/html/june26.html

This was the crux of the blog: Chilton's mini-essays.

Boling explained, "Chilton's the 'OP,' the original poster. Which, if you're interested, is derived from 'OG,' Original Gangsta, for the leaders of gangs, like Bloods and Crips. Anyway, he uploads his commentary and then leaves it there for people to respond to. They agree or disagree. Sometimes they go off on tangents."

The original comment by Chilton, Dance noticed, remained at the top, and below were the replies. Mostly people replied directly to the blogger's comment, but sometimes they responded to other posters.

"Each separate article and all the related posts are called a 'thread,' " Boling explained. "Sometimes the threads can go on for months or years."

Dance began skimming. Under the clever heading "HypoCHRISTcy," Chilton attacked the very man Dance had just seen at the hospital, the Reverend Fisk, and the Life First movement. Fisk, it seemed, had once said that murdering abortion doctors was justified. Chilton wrote that he was adamantly against abortion, but condemned Fisk for the statement. Two of Fisk's defenders, CrimsoninChrist and LukeB1734, viciously attacked Chilton. The former said the blogger himself should be crucified. With the reference to the color in his name, Dance wondered if CrimsoninChrist was the minister's large, redheaded bodyguard she'd seen earlier at the hospital protest.

The "Power to the People" thread was an exposé about a California state representative-Brandon Klevinger, who was head of the Nuclear Facilities Pla

In "Desalinate…and Devastate" the blogger took on a plan to build a desalination plant near the Carmel River. The comment included a personal attack on the man behind the project, Arnold Brubaker, painted by Chilton as an interloper from Scottsdale, Arizona, a man with a sketchy past and possible underworld co

Two of the postings represented the citizens' two positions on the desalination issue.

Reply to Chilton, posted by Lyndon Strickland.

I have to say you've opened my eyes on this issue. Had no idea that somebody's ramrodding this through. I reviewed the filed proposal at the County Pla

Reply to Chilton, posted by Howard Skelton.

Do you know that America will run out of freshwater by 2023? And 97 percent of the earth's water is salt water. Only an idiot would not take advantage of that. We need desalination for our survival, if we're to continue to maintain our position as the most productive and efficient country in the world.

In the " Yellow Brick Road " thread Chilton talked about a project by the state Department of Transportation-Caltrans. A new highway was being built from Highway 1 through Salinas and on to Hollister, through farm country. Chilton was questioning the lightning speed with which the project had been approved, as well as the meandering route, which would benefit some farmers far more than others. He hinted at payoffs.

Chilton's social conservative side shone through in "Just Say No," a thread condemning a proposal for increased sex education in middle schools. (Chilton called for abstinence.) A similar message could be found in "Caught in the Act…NOT," about a married state court judge caught leaving a motel with a young clerk, half his age. Chilton was incensed at the recent development that the judge had received a wrist slap from the judicial ethics committee. He felt the man should have been removed from the bench and disbarred.