California is poised to become the first state in the nation to ban restaurants and other food facilities from using trans fats, which are known to increase the risk of heart disease, under a bill approved by the state Legislature Monday and sent to the governor.

The measure, passed with a bare majority, comes two weeks after a similar ban in New York City became fully effective. California doctor and consumer groups support the law, while restaurant groups have offered a lukewarm response. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not taken a position, a spokesman said.

Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia (Los Angeles County), who wrote AB97, said the measure is intended to promote the health of Californians.

"When it comes to heart disease and diabetes, communities of color are leading the way," Mendoza said. "I figured that the use of trans fats in our restaurants is a leading contributor to that."

Mendoza's bill would require restaurants, hospitals and facilities with food-preparation areas to remove oils, shortenings and margarines with trans fats by Jan. 1, 2010, except for use in deep frying for dough and batter. Bakers would be given an extra year to figure out how to make goods free of partial hydrogenation. - See Legislature approves bill banning trans fats for the full report.

Prop 98 summary

Bars state and local governments from condemning or damaging private property for private uses. Prohibits rent control and similar measures. Prohibits deference to government in property rights cases. Defines “just compensation.” Requires an award of attorneys fees and costs if a property owner obtains a judgment for more than the amount offered by the government. Requires government to offer to original owner of condemned property the right to repurchase property at condemned price when property is put to substantially different use than was publicly stated. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Increased costs to many governments due to the measure’s restrictions. The fiscal effect on most governments probably would not be significant.

According to the California Legislative Analyst's Office >

This measure amends the State Constitution to (1) constrain state and local governments’ authority to take private property and (2) phase out rent control. The measure also might constrain government's authority to implement certain other programs and laws, such as mandatory inclusionary housing programs and tenant relocation benefits. The measure's provisions apply to all governmental agencies.

The measure prohibits government from taking ownership of property to transfer it to a private party—such as a person, business, or nonprofit organization. In addition, government could not take property to use it for (1) a purpose substantially similar to how the private owner used it (such as public operation of a water or electricity delivery system formerly owned by a private company) or (2) the purpose of consuming its natural resources (such as its oil or minerals). These restrictions on government's authority to take property also would apply to cases when government transfers the right to use or occupy property (but does not take ownership of it). None of these restrictions would apply, however, if government was addressing a public nuisance or criminal activity or as part of a state of emergency declared by the Governor. Under the measure, government could continue to take property for facilities that it would own and use, such as new schools, roads, parks, and public facilities. Government could not take property for one purpose, however, and then use it for a different purpose unless it offered to sell the property back to its previous owner.

The measure generally prohibits government from limiting the price property owners may charge others to purchase, occupy, or use their land or buildings. This provision would affect local rent control measures. Specifically, government could not enact new rent control measures, and any rent control measure enacted after January 1, 2007 would end. Other rent control measures (those enacted before January 1, 2007) would be phased out on a unit-by-unit basis after an apartment unit or mobile home park space is vacated. Once a tenant left an apartment or mobile home space, property owners could charge market rate rents, and that apartment unit or mobile home space would not be subject to rent control again.

The use of eminent domain has been abused over and over again by state and local government officials and needs to be brought to an end. This measure will go a long way in bringing about that end.

Rent control was needed at one time but is now causing more harm than good and also has to be phased out.

I urge a yes vote on Ca. Prop 98.

David G. Hallstrom, Sr.

State and federal officials on Monday said they were investigating the death of thousands of game fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta after a federal agency drained the water around a protected island during a levee repair.
Masses of fish could be seen floating in shallow water on Prospect Island, a 1,253-acre plot next to Sacramento's Deep Water Ship Channel that is administered by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

The bureau on Monday halted drainage of the remaining water behind the levee and started removing the fish carcasses, spokesman Jeff McCracken said. He said the agency would begin adding oxygen to the water in hopes of saving some of the remaining fish.

"When we realized how many fish were there, we quit pumping," he said. "By then, we certainly, apparently, had passed the point of causing some fish loss."

The bureau had no estimate on the number of fish killed. Bob McDarif, owner of Cliff's Marina near the delta town of Freeport, estimated the number in the tens of thousands.

"It's like a disaster out there," he said.

The California Department of Fish and Game launched its own investigation Monday, focusing on how and why the fish died.

Although the fish deaths were on federal land, the striped bass, salmon, carp, bluegill and other game fish are considered public trust assets for the state. The results will be sent to state Attorney General Jerry Brown.

The levee under repair is around - See California levee repair blamed for killing thousands of game fish for the full report.

We lost our homes in the wildfires of 2003 in Lake Arrowhead. It was a time that we just didn't think we would ever get over. So to see homes burning once again in Lake Arrowhead and San Diego was a déjà vu.

At the time, it was heart wrenching to see everything we had go up in smoke. There was nothing left in the ashes, absolutely nothing, except for a jar of pennies my son was saving but we couldn't tell that they were pennies, as they had all melted into one big heap of copper.

From where all the houses had burned, it looked like a nuclear war had come through. The fire randomly picked and chose which homes to take. Three hundred homes in our neighborhood had burned to the ground yet one house across the street made it completely unscathed, and a few yards up the road a lone wooden playhouse had been spared.

We lost everything. Our thirteen year old family cat, Baby Ruth, perished in the fire. All of our physical memories like photos of ancestors, my great grandma's rocking chair, a violin that had been played by my husband's great great grandfather; all of it gone. Yet in spite of all the destruction, we felt very thankful. Our family was intact.

We lived next door to my parents who had a cute little mother-in-law house. Our daughter could walk to Grandma's every day with it being only twenty yards away. Our homes were deep in the woods of Cedar Glen and even deeper in the stands of trees that were dying from the bark beetle. The unforgiving pest, which had already ravaged forests from Colorado to Alaska, beetle had been attacking Lake Arrowhead and its surrounding communities for years. The result of its ravenous consumption was millions of trees standing like matchsticks ready to fuel a fire unlike anyone could have ever imagined.

In mid October 2003, Lee and I were scheduled for a number of lectures in the Midwest. We decided to take my mom and our then four year old daughter with us to the Colorado dates. Dad and our three teenagers stayed at home.

On our way back from Colorado, our teenage daughter reached us by cell telling us there was a fire up on the mountain. She was concerned. From the tightness in her voice, we knew this was real. The "Big One" everyone on the mountain had feared for so long had arrived.

Lake Arrowhead and the surrounding mountain communities had just two escape routes, and they were inadequate in the best of circumstances. Lee called some colleagues at the newspaper and some friends we knew at the fire department. They related the seriousness of the situation. There were fires everywhere, and some were threatening Big Bear and Cedar Glen. Evacuation was still voluntary, but the firefighters said it would be wise to get out now. We called our kids and Dad and told them to meet us at the bottom of the mountain at a local hotel for the night. No one expected the houses to burn. We assumed we'd be back in our house within a few days. We left food out for Baby Ruth since she was nowhere to be seen, and we commenced our waiting out the fire.

One of the problems when there is a fire is that there are rarely accurate news reports. One report will swear that all the local businesses are totally wiped out, and then moments later another reporter on another channel will be standing right in front of them depicting them as perfectly fine. We didn't get accurate news. The only news that was real was of true videos capturing neighborhoods that burned. We actually saw our homes burning on the television news. We knew at that moment that we were officially without a home.

It took over a week for the fire to be extinguished before we were able to return home. When you lose your home to fire, there is something inside of you that insists you have to see the remains.

When we turned onto our block, we couldn't even tell where one block ended and the next one began. The fire had taken our roads, our cars, and our animals. It had eaten everything and left nothing. The ashes were still warm after a week. It was a moonscape.

While we were there, a woman approached, asking if this had been our home. We nodded but just couldn't speak. She said she owned a rental in Lake Arrowhead and wondered if we would like to live there until we figured out what we were going to do. Amazing. An angel (and many more angels) would come to our aid that day. When we arrived at the rental home, someone we didn't even know had already gone from neighborhood to neighborhood asking if they would be willing to clean out their garages and give us anything we might need. That evening a huge moving van pulled up full of new everything: clothes, dishes, bedding, beds, more than we could have ever needed. Phone calls came from people with gift cards to grocery stores and clothing stores. It was truly incredible, the kindness that was offered us.

FEMA was a gem. Right after the fire they met us at a restaurant parking lot to fill out all the paperwork required to put money in our hands as soon as possible. We expected maybe a week's worth of rent, or maybe some grocery money, but FEMA set us up with funds for everything we lost and additional living money for six months. Again, the kindness and the help was overwhelming.

It can be hard to look at the bright side when something like a fire uproots one's life, but by concentrating on all the good and kindness offered from strangers, and by concentrating on what you do have and what you can rebuild, will reduce some of the sting.

A house is just a thing, possessions are replaceable, and our memories are something we brought with us and we can keep. The wildfires could never steal those from us.

Four years later we have seen firsthand that even out of the darkest time, or impossible situation, that good can still peek through and take the day. We had always wanted to live in Oregon and the 2003 fire gave us the freedom to do that. We are so grateful for our lives and especially grateful for all the people who helped us through such a trying experience.

To those of you who may have lost a home in the wildfires in California, life will get better. It may be hard to believe or understand right now, but in a few years you will see and appreciate the fact that you have made it through. You will appreciate your family all the more and will always hold a special place in your heart for the kindness exhibited by all the volunteers who helped you through this trying time. And one day, when you return to look at the place where your house once stood, in addition to the new signs of life and regrowth sprouting from the ground, you will have the memories that will keep you in good stead. Life always regenerates itself.

By: Beth McCain
Beth McCain is a published author and writer in self improvement as well as humor genres. Beth and her husband, Lee, are instructors and lecturers in applying the Law of Attraction, or better known as the Secret, in your life to attain what you desire. Please visit: http://www.bethandleemccain.com.

Private intelligence company Strategic Forecasting, Inc. (STRATFOR) recently published an article describing what it sees as the imminent end of the leftist domination of Europe. Specifically, the article says, "...2007 will see the end of the left as a leading force on the Continent."

In its analysis, STRATFOR states that a slow shift to the political right in Europe extends beyond Germany, France and the United Kingdom, and includes Poland, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria, the result of elections that have seen moderate and conservative parties making substantial gains.

While I agree with STRATFOR that a noticeable shift to the right is occurring in European politics, I break with their analysis on the future of the European Union. In the article, STRATFOR states that "A right-leaning Europe could be united under one leader, particularly since the states are brought closer together by common problems such as immigration and economic reform." Despite common security concerns and increasingly intertwined economic interests, European nations have thus far been unwilling to sacrifice traditionally sovereign powers and rights to the EU. The French think of themselves first as French and second as European. Likewise with the British, who place primacy on their status as citizens of Great Britain above their association with Europeans on the Continent. Nationalist ideals have been, and will continue to be, a significant contributor to the rejection of the proposed European Union Constitution.

In an interesting twist to the article, STRATFOR speculates that a united Europe has only two viable contenders for its leadership: Germany and the United States. Germany has indeed replaced France as the leading power in Europe, and Chancellor Angela Merkel is certainly capable of pushing hard for a strengthened European Union that could challenge the United States as a global power. If the sovereignty concerns of the 27 EU member states could somehow be overcome, and that is a long shot at best, then Germany could emerge as the most dominant nation in the EU.

But the United States? While America does have significant "reach and influence," as STRATFOR says, on the Continent, the idea of a unified Europe somehow led by the United States is inconceivable for a very simple, almost blatantly obvious, reason: the level of anti-American sentiment that exists on the Continent. The publics of most European nations adamantly oppose our actions in Iraq and many Europeans are resentful of our status as the world's lone superpower. We are seen by many as bullies who seek to impose our standards and values on everyone else, and further interference in European affairs is not likely to be appreciated or tolerated.

The most positive aspect of the article is the recognition that conservatism in Europe is making significant strides. Europe is buckling under the pressure created by the leftist policies that have dominated the Continent for the last couple of decades. The immigration problems of European countries require immediate attention and the social welfare systems in place throughout Europe cannot be maintained, especially with dwindling numbers of workers and declining birth rates. The populations of European nations are responding to the growing crises on the Continent by turning to moderate and conservative candidates who will push their countries in the right direction. This bodes well for the United States, which is likely to benefit from improved relations that will facilitate solutions to the common economic and security concerns that threaten both America and the nations of Europe. The challenge will be for the United States to work with our European allies to advance conservative agendas while taking great care not to intrude too much into their internal affairs.

By: Greg Reeson
http://reeson.townhall.com
Greg Reeson is a Senior Writer for The New Media Journal and a Featured Author for The Veterans' Voice. He also regularly contributes to GOPUSA and The Land of the Free.