CM PRESS # 369

MARINE FIGHTING VEHICLE LIKELY TO BE CANCELLED
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We wrote about this before and said it doesn't give the Marines the best bang for the buck and should be cancelled. The weakness of this vehicle results from it being an ocean landing vehicle.

A redesign to remove the ocean landing capability,while adding more armor and armaments along with a higher land speed, might save the project. But, we don't think anyone is thinking along these lines.
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MUQTADA AL-SADR RETURNS TO IRAQ
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We predicted long ago that by removing Saddam Hussein from power, that the U.S. was inadvertently paving the way for Iraq to become an Islamic republic similar to Iran.

To know if things are moving in our predicted direction, watch to see if Al-Sadr is promoted to Ayatollah. If he gets that title, our prediction is closer to becoming a reality.
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WANT A CHUCKLE?

Go to the DAILY PILOT story [HERE] about Steve Mensinger being appointed to the City Council last night and read some of the comments.  You'll see "MENSINGER" spelled different ways.  Also, you'll see one of McEvoy's supporters even spelling McEvoy's name wrong as she whines that the Council didn't listen to the voters.

Actually, the Council did listen.  I was there.  I saw all the Councilmembers looking right at each speaker and I didn't see any ear plugs in the Councilmembers ears. They couldn't help but listen to what in some cases were really stupid, rambling comments from people who probably shouldn't be encouraged to vote at all.
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IT SHOULD BE AN INTERESTING TIME IN COSTA MESA POLITICS

With the selection of Steve Mensinger to take Katrina Foley's seat on the City Council, the die is cast for a very interesting and hopefully a productive new era for the Council and for Costa Mesa.

Hints were given about what we'll be seeing and hearing in the coming months by a few terse comments from three of the Councilmembers.

Jim Righeimer said that the city is in a financial mess and it needs to be fixed.

Wendy Leece  got angry and scolded Righeimer for saying that. Then,  Leece said that Costa Mesa is not in a financial mess. Huh?  Someone asked us if Leece is completely bonkers or just stupid. We referred that person to John Moorlach's satement that Leece is not qualified to be a Councilmember.

Leece also refused to vote for Mensinger and voted for Chris McEvoy. 

Often, when it is clear that someone other than your fav is going to win, politicians will withdraw their earlier vote and vote for the winner so the record shows a unanimous vote. This also sends a signal that the politician will work with the winner and doesn't have any sour grapes.  Leece didn't do this and as a result she looks petty and small.

Mensinger indicated that he's for smaller government.

And, speaking of McEvoy.  He and his supporters don't seem to understand how things work.  Many of these supporters told the Council that McEvoy should get the nod because he came in third and got lots of votes even though he didn't spend any money on his campaign.

Righeimer corrected that "re-writing of history" by saying that eight different unions had pumped a couple of hundred thousand dollars into the campaign in trying to elect McEvoy.

Even with that information, which one would think McEvoy would understand, McEvoy said that he'll win election the next time he runs.

Actually, we doubt that. As we mentioned above, McEvoy only got as many votes as he got because of the unions having no other real choice in their attempt to seat a puppet and defeat Righeimer.

If  McEvoy runs next time, the field is going to be much different and the unions (if they have not been completely decimated) will have a more viable candidate or candidates to push as their puppet(s).

And in a larger sense, and if our instincts are correct, Costa Mesa is going to be very different in two years in many ways.

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Those are our opinions.  Thanks for reading them.