When I left the Los Angeles Times three weeks ago, I received an e-mail from a friend who said I'd be twice as happy and make twice as much money within six months.

I'm already twice as happy. It's difficult to put into words what it's like working at a newspaper you love knowing that it's in steep decline and there's nothing you can do to stop it. You can't really measure what that does to your psyche until you remove yourself from the newsroom.

Though I haven't seen cent one, my friend's money prediction also appears to be on target. I'm putting together several business partnerships (including an exciting one with former Daily Pilot publisher Tom Johnson), working nearly full-time on my wife's business (Greer's OC -- please sign up for the "FREE Daily Dose of OC" that gives readers the latest in Orange County fashion, dining and trends), and getting my book ("Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America -- and Found Unexpected Peace") ready for its February launch.

So I need to stop blogging at Lobdell's OC -- at least for now. This gig doesn't pay, but is highly addicting. A bad combination for someone needing to put money in the bank for his family of six. Thanks for reading, and I'll be in touch. If you're dying to read something by me, you'll still be blogging about religion at www.williamlobdell.com.

Disclaimer: I LOVE the National Enquirer. It follows its editorial mission better than almost any of U.S. publication, and its investigative reporters are underrated. I read it with a boulder of salt, but read it I do (I make my wife buy it for me).

I've been following the Orange County Register more closely in recent weeks, and I'm beginning to wonder: is the Register trying to take over the National Enquirer niche in Orange County? Among the Enquirer-esque stories published Wednesday:

Is there a $100,000 penny in your couch cushions?

OC beauties junkies gobble up battery-powered mascara

Mother gives birth on lawn ... her own

Homeless patient spent hospital money on crack

It's a gas: Human waste being turned into car fuel

There was a remarkable article in the New York Times Magazine last weekend, featuring Fountain Valley's effort -- both technologically and psychologically -- to turn sewage water into drinking water.

The Los Angeles Times had a nice story on Pastor Rick Warren and Saturday's appearance of presidential candidates Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest.

I've become a big fan of Warren over the years. Despite being the Billy Graham of his generation, Warren has avoided the pitfalls of fame and fortune. He now gives 90% of his income away, he's purposefully stayed clear of any a whiff of a scandal (he handles none of the church's money, he turned down chances for a television show, and he won't be alone in a room -- or even an elevator -- with a woman who is not his wife).

He's also grown over the years and has more fully embraced the message of Jesus by, among other things, leading the way for evangelicals to get involved in the fight against AIDS in Africa. Prior to Warren's involvement, the Christian Right had been shamefully silent on the issue.

All that said, I'm guessing Saturday's "debate" will be disappointing to most Americans. The format is the problem. Warren, a friend of both candidates, will introduce McCain and Obama, and then interview them separate. If candidates on "Meet the Press" get thrown fastballs and curves by the moderator, McCain and Obama will get a series of slow, juicy pitches right down the middle of the plate that they will hit over the fence. The presidential hopefuls will look, ah, presidential, but viewers will leave unsatisfied by the powder-puff format.

Too bad. Warren would have been the perfect person to referee an exciting, provocative, unscripted, free form AND civilized exchange between the two candidates. That's what voters want to see. Not a job interview. Not a stilted debate with time limits and manufactured sound bites. Just two hopefuls, sitting around the table, passionately detailing their vision for America and pointing out the weakness in their opponent's argument.

John O'Laughlin, one of Sam Zell's geniuses who is "redefining" newspapers, sent a memo out Tuesday to employees at Times Community News, the community news division of the Los Angeles Times. Tell Zell blogged about it.

This could prove to be the final nail in the coffin of the Newport Beach/Costa Mesa Daily Pilot, once one of the best daily community newspapers in the country. (This is a very personal issue for me because I worked as editor of the Pilot for 10 years, helping resurrect it from near-bankruptcy into a top-flight local paper, editorially and financially).

First, Zell's boys drove off Publisher Tom Johnson, the finest newspaper executive and advertising salesman I've known in 25 years in the business. Then Ron Katzman, the Pilot's best salesperson (by far), announced Tuesday he's leaving the Pilot because his "brother" (Tom Johnson) had been forced out. (Katzman will be working at Greer's OC, a new media company run by my wife -- she knows how to take advantage of an opportunity.) Finally, O'Laughlin's memo arrives in everyone's in-boxes, leaving the demoralized staff comatose. Great work, John! Take the rest of the week off!

OK, let's parse this memo -- designed, I guess, to inspire the troops.

Dear TCN Colleague
(John never bothered to visit the Pilot's headquarters until the day Tom Johnson left, the markings of a loyal "colleague.")

As we embark on a new era at TCN,
(The dark ages?)

our future success will be grounded in our ability to collaborate and consolidate where needed,
(I know it sounds stupid, but we need to centralize our community newspapers so one size fits all. This means more layoffs and other exciting innovations. If the LONG BEACH Press-Telegram can be run out of the South Bay, we have the brainpower to do something similar; I know this type of arrangement has never been done before but we're going to shift the paradigm! Soon, we'll be able to centralize all operations in India -- imagine the mind-blowing cost savings.)

scrutinize all policy and procedure that limit growth,
(Sam loves this shit so I just threw this in. Sam also loves the word "shit.")

and relentless focus on reinventing our daily process.
(Sam loves this shit, too, so I just threw it in.)

To get started, I want to briefly share the following updates:
(The following is bad news in case you're not demoralized enough. But there's an upside. If everyone bails out of TCN, we're talking HUGE profit margins!)

1. Content- All editorial functions need to be reviewed across all of TCN.
(There will be blood.)

While reporters and their beats are local, copy editing and design can be, to varying degrees, optimized across the whole empire. Tony Dodero and Danette Goulet will jointly determine how all TCN editorial resources can be optimized across the entire organization.
(We'll have a centralized operation, with the few reporters we have left staying in their communities -- for now. This strategy has been successful in many markets, including ... ah ... uh .... never mind.)

2. Advertising - Scott Pompe is working with Hector Cabral and Lisa Cosenza on sales force management. The new structure will be performance based and will focus on selling across the entire spectrum of TCN products; LAT MARCOM under Anna Magzanyan and Mike Kechichian is aggressively working on improvements in collateral, cross-media packages, promo opps, etc.
(This is going to work FOR SURE because local advertisers in Newport Beach REALLY need to reach Times Community News readers in Glendale and Burbank. Customers will FOR SURE drive 60 miles to patronize a local merchant.)

3. Special Sections - Under Lana Johnson's leadership, the excellent content that has served OC so well will now be applied to all of TCN. In addition, coordinated planning w/LAT Custom Publishing / Annastasia Stafford's team will be paramount and processes/calendar reviewed and established.
(Despite Sam Zell's initial words, we HATE local autonomy. We like the business model of the Soviet Union -- centralization works; I learned that in business school!)

4. Web - Under Tony Dodero, this function will now service all of TCN including site maintenance, redesigns, site launch and expansion
(Again, WE DON'T WANT LOCAL PAPERS TO HAVE LOCAL CONTROL. This goes against my MBA-trained mind.)

5. Adv Opns – These functions will be migrating to LATMG over the next two periods, this function will be optimized within the context of the larger LATMG organization
(You probably don't know what "Adv Opns" is -- it's a term I learned in business school! And you probably don't know what this sentence means -- good!)

Over the next few weeks, Gordon, Scott and I will be asking a LOT of questions,
(You might as well bend over right now)

including exploration of options for GM/Publisher role(s),
(This seems to be an unnecessary expense when you have ME!)

all with the goal to better assess structure to increase revenue and readership. What is certain is that managing TCN as a whole we will be better able to serve our communities, revitalize our existing products and launch new dramatic new initiatives while enhancing opportunities for all.
(Did you see what I did? I combined the crap Sam Zell loves -- "dramatic new initiatives" -- with my MBA-speak -- "to better assess structure" and "enhancing opportunities for all" -- and the Soviet Union model of centralization. It's PURE brilliance! I just hope the new publisher of The Times doesn't catch on to what I'm doing.)

Thanks for your continued commitment to our readers and advertisers.
(That you're still thinking about your readers and advertisers is amazing considering everything I've done.)

Best, JTO
(JTO -- that was my frat nickname at Notre Dame! Don't you just love it?!)

As usual, there's tons of competition for the Orange County Register's most saintly reader of the day. But I've selected three finalists who left their tender and loving comments on the paper's website about a story of a drive-by shooting in Santa Ana. The runners-up:

jrmmx88 wrote:

I think one of my 10th grade teachers in Maryland in '78 summed up the Latin-American Hispanic mindset perfectly when she said (on more than one occasion) that the males all want to prove they how macho they are, and the females all want to show how fertile they are. I wondered why she was telling us that back then, but now I think I know.

annoyedinoc wrote:

In Lieu of a 'Clock Chime' or 'Church Bell' ringing or sounding, Staba-ana has chosen to use sounds familiar with the residents. Gun shots, screams, Push-cart Ice cream bells and La'Banda are now standard sounds used to alert residents where 'Clock Chimes' or 'Church Bells' are used in other Modern communities or societys.

And now for the winner -- a sensitive soul who calls herself "bestocmom":

bestocmom wrote:

I'm telling you. Fence them in and let themselves kill eachother off.

I've received some nice early praise for my memoir, "Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America -- and Found Unexpected Peace." Here are some of the highlights:

"This is the most intellectually honest and emotionally courageous book I have ever read, and it's a page turner from cover to cover. The new atheist community will embrace it, of course, but I think all Christians owe it to themselves to read the spiritual journey of this once devout evangelical born-again Christian whose penetrating insights into the soul of that religion--and all religions--will test the faith of even the most faithful, not because of cogent counter arguments to Christian apologetics, but because Lobdell is willing to go where few religious believers can. To find out where that place is you must read this book."

--Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, monthly columnist for Scientific American, author of "How We Believe," "Why Darwin Matters," and "The Mind of the Market"

“William Lobdell has written a heart/mind/soul-wrenching spiritual autobiography. He has been inspired by followers of Jesus who have served their Lord with integrity. But he has also been devastated by observing, up-close, the ugly, sinful underbelly of a critical, self-serving, institutional and individual religion. This is a must-read filled with warnings and wake-up calls to those of us in leadership positions. I respect Bill for his honest reporting of his odyssey to this point and pray that someday there may be a future book, just as honest, with a grace-filled conclusion.”

The Rev. John Huffman, chairman of the board, Christianity Today

“William Lobdell really and truly wanted to believe. When he came to realize that wanting and believing are two sides of the same coin, he decided to take the risk of basing morality on the modesty of human reason and solidarity instead of on the self-defeating arrogance of faith. Now he feels much better, and so will you when you read this honest and decent account of his – forgive the expression – evolution.”

Christopher Hitchens, author of "God is Not Great"

“As the senior astor of a church for the last 12 years, I wholeheartedly believe that every Christian who wants to equip themselves to do the Great Commission, and not just talk about the Great Commission, better think through the passionate and detailed account of William Lobdell’s de-conversion. The book did not harm my faith in the Lord Jesus, it just demonstrated that the emperor has no clothes--and that I am one of the emperors.”

Barry Minkow, senior pastor of Community Bible Church in San Diego