If You Want to Save Trees...

A few years ago, I started a campaign to get the Biscayne Times to stop their automatic delivery here.  I asked the then Commission to communicate to the BT that they were welcome to provide the publication, but that they should do so by mailing it to people who want it, or leave a stack of them at a convenient place, so people who want it can easily get it, and those of us who don't won't be bothered.

My campaign failed completely.  The BT shrieked "First Amendment" rights, and the Commission to which I tried to appeal was distinctly hostile to me.

In the meantime, the BT  has, for whatever are its reasons, stopped its concerted effort to trash BP.  They now never mention us at all.  I disagree with Oscar Wilde, when he said it's better to be talked about than not to be talked about.  I'm more in line with the proverbial "mother," who proverbially told us all that "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all."   Also, coincidentally, I bumped into the founder and publisher of the BT at an event somewhere, we had a very nice conversation, and he later told me something to the effect of that I was not a monster at all, as he imagined, and that it had been a pleasure meeting me.  ("Oh," he said with considerable surprise, "you're Fred Jonas?")

In any event, during my campaign a few years ago, I encountered many people who had feelings about receiving the BT.  Some of those people had no more use for the paper than I did, and some liked receiving it.  So a very fair difference of opinion.  (I offered, by the way, personally to deliver the BT to those few people who really wanted it, if they would consent that everyone else, who didn't want it, should not have to be burdened with it.)

One of the people who disagreed with my position about the BT has since from time to time challenged me to do something about the free abbreviated version of the Miami Herald.  The Herald calls this handout "Neighborhood Values," and it contains mostly ads with a little bit of teaser news spots on the cover.  I don't encounter this person often, but she seems to accost me about this every time I see her.  She did not ask me to use her name, although perhaps she wouldn't mind, so I'm being cryptic.

The last time I saw her, while I was out walking, and she was on her bike, she pounced again, this time telling me that it's possible to cancel receipt of the "Neighborhood Values" throw-away, and that I should let people know about this opportunity.  She told me we should be saving trees.

So I'm letting you know.  The "Neighborhood Values" is on newsprint, with flyers inserted, and it's inside a clear plastic bag.  It's thrown onto your lawn probably once a week.  You didn't ask for it, and it doesn't cost you anything.  If you're like me, and the woman who is so angry about it, or at me, you stoop to pick it up, so you can bring it inside to throw it out, unexamined.

If that's your deal, and you'd be just as happy, (or happier!), not to have to bother, you can stop receiving the publication.  You call 305-376-3130 and leave a message (they'll call you back, eventually, to confirm that this is what you want, to confirm your address, and to tell you they're sorry you don't want the "Neighborhood Values" any more), or you can avoid actual people (yuck) by sending an e-mail to heraldvalues@miamiherald.com.