Mission Viejo Buzz - 12/25/10

The Buzz

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970).

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Are recyclable bags – such as those “free” bags distributed by Mission Viejo city hall at taxpayer expense – better than plastic bags? Information released by the Center for Consumer Freedom on Dec. 21 appeared in newspapers to alert consumers to potential dangers of reusable shopping bags. Bags produced in China are the most likely to contain high levels of lead, heavy metals and bacteria. Mission Viejo city hall jumped into the crusade against plastic bags by “giving away” bags made in China and emblazoned with the city staff’s iron tree. CCF Senior Research Analyst J. Justin Wilson said, “Politicians often respond to activist-driven junk science by demonizing, banning or taxing products without giving any thought to what people will use instead. Now recent research demonstrates that some of these bags contain lead and can be a breeding ground for bacteria. In the end, the new alternative can end up being worse than its replacement.” Wilson added: “When you tax soda, people drink non-soda beverages which can contain more calories. When you restrict salt levels in prepared foods, people over-salt the bland result. When butter was demonized in the ’90s, food companies switched to transfats like margarine as a healthier alternative. And when you ban and tax disposable shopping bags, people use Chinese-manufactured reusable bags that contain excessive levels of lead and bacteria. The only way to avoid these unintended consequences is to let consumers, rather than regulators or lawmakers, decide for themselves.”

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Forwarded by J.S.: “Here is a You Tube video about the history of our Star Spangled Banner. I am sure this is not taught in school. I don't remember the anthem explained as this, http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Iwa-lSVqA1M&vq=medium

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From OC Supervisor Shawn Nelson’s Dec. 22 newsletter: “At its December 14 meeting the Board of Supervisors approved an agreement with The Children and Families Commission to recruit and hire an Executive Director for the End Homelessness 2020 Commission, and pay half the cost for that person. The vote was 4-1 with Supervisor Nelson dissenting. The proposal was a clear contradiction of the original solicitation of funds approved by the Board on September 28, that clearly established that funding for the executive director position was to be a ‘public/private partnership’ and not 100% publicly funded. Furthermore, the staffing by an outside agency of a commission that reports to the Board of Supervisors is an untenable abdication of Board responsibility and accountability.”

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Can’t we all just get along? Apparently not. When assessing the city’s warring factions, one person said Mission Viejo’s battles are “between two groups of Republicans who don’t like each other.” The part about not liking each other is accurate, but this leaves out a primary combatant, the city staff. As a parallel example, the nation attempted to reform Congress in the November General Election, but Washington has spent the past six weeks defying the message. Mission Viejo’s city staff has much the same attitude toward citizens’ reform efforts. City hall has attracted a third warring faction of trough-feeders and senior citizens who get in line for “free” food, “free” trinkets, “free” gift certificates and other taxpayer-provided giveaways. In return, the group serves city hall as a battering ram against residents who ask for accountability from the city council majority. The trough feeders bark on command from the public microphone against anyone who disagrees with the council majority or its protective circle of city staffers.

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Forwarded by ACT for America: “Is America Islamophobic?” Jeff Jacoby writes, “When that provocative question appeared on the cover of Time magazine in August, the accompanying story strained to imply, on the basis of some anecdotal evidence, that the answer might be yes. The FBI's latest compendium of U.S. hate-crimes data suggests far more plausibly that the answer is no. … In fact, as Time pointed out, while there may be the occasional confrontation over a Muslim construction project, ‘there are now 1,900 mosques in the U.S., up from about 1,200 in 2001.’ … In 2009, according to data gathered from more than 14,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide, there were 1,376 hate crimes motivated by religious bias. Of those, just 9.3 percent -- fewer than 1 in 10 -- were committed against Muslims. By contrast, 70.1 percent were committed against Jews, 6.9 percent were aimed at Catholics or Protestants, and 8.6 percent targeted other religions. Hate crimes driven by anti-Muslim bigotry were outnumbered nearly 8 to 1 by anti-Semitic crimes.

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From Tea Party Patriot Lawrene: A tale of two states. In California, Governor Elect Jerry Brown is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out, bites Brown and attacks his dog. Brown starts to intervene but reflects upon the movie "Bambi," then realizes he should stop; the coyote is only doing what's natural. Brown calls Animal Control. Animal Control captures the coyote and bills the state $200 for testing it for diseases and $500 for relocating it. Brown calls a veterinarian. The vet collects the dead dog and bills the state $200 for testing it for disease. Brown goes to a hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for disease from the coyote and for getting his bite wound bandaged. The running trail is shut down for 6 months while Fish & Game conducts their $100,000 survey to make sure the area is free of dangerous animals. Brown next spends $150,000 in state funds, implementing a "Coyote Awareness" program for residents of the area. The State Legislature spends $2 million to study how to better treat rabies and how to permanently eradicate the disease throughout the world. Brown’s security agent is fired for not somehow stopping the attack and for letting Brown attempt to intervene. Additional cost to California: $75,000 to hire and train a new security agent with additional special training re: The Nature of Coyotes. PETA protests the coyote's relocation and files suit against the state. In Arizona: the Governor of Arizona is jogging, with her dog, along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks her dog. The Arizona governor shoots the coyote with her state-issued pistol and keeps jogging. She has spent $0.50 on a .45 ACP hollow-point cartridge. Arizona buzzards eat the dead coyote. And that, my friends, is why California is broke!