An online magazine for smart people.

December 8, 2008 Issue 1 DissedWeekly.com

RecessionHolidays

A provocative glimpse at those in need , along with tips for having a smart holiday season

Special Debut IssueMonday, December 8, 2008Its a beginning.

All content inside Dissed Weekly is the copyright of the original author.Published by Szabo Media.Publisher:JT szaboFeature Article & Cover Photo by:Erin HaightPoetry by:Lt TShort Stories by:Karyn PolewaczykFilm Review by:Bonnie PrieverDissed Weekly is now accepting high-quality original works for future issueconsideration. Send your materials to dissedsubmit@gmail.com

Thoughts FromThe Publisher

I was driving home from broadcasting ahockey game in Dayton, Ohio recently when,interrupting the bevy of soothing tonescoming from my truck’s speakers, came ashort commercial for the national star namingregistry. “give your loved one a gift that willlast a lifetime” noted the announcer, inferringthat for just $50, naming a star after AuntBertha is both a savvy and unique gift that willnot be forgotten.Boy. That sounds great doesn’t it?Now I must say that since childhood, I havebeen fascinated and passionate about StarTrek. While my elementary school classmatesplayed with their G.I. Joes while wearing theirfavorite faded Jerry Rice jersey on theplayground, I was the kid walking around witha plastic “tricorder” scanning the swings forlife forms.So, about halfway through the star registrycommercial, it hit me: if Gene Roddenberrywas right, and in three-hundred or so yearsfrom now Earth is a member of a federation ofintergalactic planets…will we have an officialdelegate from the “Bertha E. Milldredson”system? Think about it; the commercialsummed itself up by saying that the name ofyour loved one will be recorded in “book form”(oh boy!) with the U.S. Copyright offices.Technically, this means that your old auntcould represent an entire alien civilizationsomeday.Thanks to the commercial, several minutes ofintense pondering had left me drifting out oflane before I finally came back to my senses.By now, my station had resumed its priorprogramming, but the thought of having deadpeoples names as future vacationdestinations struck me, and did it hard.About the time I got back to my apartment, asimilarity struck me with regards to DissedWeekly. Of course, this magazine is notnamed after anyone in particular, yet like theseemingly innocent and novel idea of namingheavenly bodies with surnames, thismagazine had its roots in a small idea thathas, over time, begun to develop intosomething bigger. With any luck, there will bea “Kirk” flying throughout the galaxy sometimein the future, making discoveries and alliesalong the way; and in much the same way(but in a vastly smaller scale) Dissed Weeklybecomes a global resource and iconsometime in the future.Lofty connection I know, but for a Trek dorklike myself, not to mention a last minuteshopper, giving my loved ones immortality foronly $50 isn’t such a bad deal.That’s how I see it. How about you?Send me your thoughts atdissedsubmit@gmail.com