Friday, December 28, 2012

CM PRESS # 85

PACS LINKED TO TRASH HAULER SUPPORTED LOCAL CAMPAIGNS

Yup, the Costa Mesa Sanitary District is named in the above linked OC Register article.

And, nope, the PACs  mentioned didn't support Jim Fitzpatrick--he's the guy who wants contracts to be put out for competitive bids.

Be sure to read the article all the way down to see who got the support.
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The next thing you know, someone will be trying to drive this guy away.





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CROW UPDATE:  WATCH THIS SHORT VIDEO OF A CROW USING THREE TOOLS TO GET TO FOOD

And to think, some people use slingshots to shoot at Crows. Tsk, tsk, tsk.



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GOLDEN DAWN PROGRAM

Greeks want their country back.
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FRENCH GOVERNMENT CUTS IMMIGRANT WELFARE 83%

The French are getting tired of the crime and other problems being caused in their land by third world immigrants.
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TOM EGAN SHOOTING AT CROWS WITH A SLINGSHOT 

As you will see in the above linked Daily Pilot column written by Tom Egan; Egan admits to using a dangerous weapon*--a slingshot--within Costa Mesa city limits against crows.

TUMMY?
Tummy?
After his column, many readers then respond negatively to Egan's abuse of crows with two readers even suggesting that Egan may be mentally ill.
 Egan is then defended by Geoff West, who in his post uses a photo of himself that looks at least 65 years old--from when West was a child (Oh, how cute!).  Here are more current photos of West.

A Crow
One might suggest that the photo of West as a child  goes along with West's image of himself, as further evidenced by the fact that he has used goo goo talk about his "tummy," in at least one other post.  Tummy?  How many men refer to their stomach as a tummy?

Egan's property backs right up to the Westside bluffs, so the crows  are more than likely coming in from the wild open area and nature preserve that is all along the bluffs.

Hey, where is Chris McEvoy on this crow harassment business? Isn't McEvoy for keeping that area open and natural? Trying to scare away the wild life that naturally lives there is not very good for the environment.
Chris McEvoy

Egan then whines that his tree has now died, and one commenter suggests that it may have died because Egan chased away the crows that might have been eating the beetles that may have been eating Egan's tree.

Some wags might even ask if  Egan violated the following Costa Mesa Municipal code section:

It is hereby declared unlawful for any person, other than a peace officer acting in his official line of duty, to shoot, fire or discharge, or for any person to cause or permit to be shot, fired or discharged within the corporate limits of the city, any rifle, shotgun, pistol, revolver or other firearm, or any air gun, air pistol or air rifle, or any other weapon which emits a projectile as a result of pressure exerted at the breech, except when it may be necessary to do so to protect life or property, or to destroy or kill any predatory or dangerous animal, unless said person shall have first obtained permission in writing to do so from the chief of police

Egan may now try to argue that he was protecting his property from the crows, but in his column he says he was shooting at them because they were making noise.  That's not the same thing as protecting one's property. Furthermore, American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) are protected by law, as you will read below.

Did Egan violate this federal law?

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (MBTA), codified at 16 U.S.C. §§ 703712 (although §709 is omitted), is a United States federal law, at first enacted in 1916 in order to implement the convention for the protection of migratory birds between the United States and Great Britain (acting on behalf of Canada[1]). The statute makes it unlawful to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill or sell birds listed therein ("migratory birds"). The statute does not discriminate between live or dead birds and also grants full protection to any bird parts including feathers, eggs and nests. Over 800 species are currently on the list. [Including American crows--Corvus brachyrhynchos]

Egan also suggests that the crows weren't hurt by his shooting at them with his slingshot, because he says the projectiles just bounced right off the crows.  So, he admits that he hit them with the projectiles.  He also admits that the crows fled after being shot. That would indicate that the crows didn't think being shot at was something to be ignored. One commenter even wonders if Egan first tested having BBs shot at him to see if they hurt.

Also, Egan admits that after a few shooting sessions the crows would leave just at the sight of Egan with the slingshot in his hand.  This speaks to the intelligence of the crows, and as you may know, crows are one of the most intelligent of birds, and the American crow is actually a tool user.

*Dangerous Weapon






Any object, such as a gun, knife, sword, crossbow, or slingshot, that is intrinsically capable of causing serious bodily harm to another person. The definition becomes important in cases where criminal laws attach particular consequences to crimes performed with a dangerous weapon.


HERE'S a video of a crow demonstrating more intelligence than some humans have as it solves a problem by using a tool.

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HOW DO YOU PREVENT CROOKED ELECTED OFFICIALS FROM TAKING MONEY UNDER THE TABLE WHEN THEY GIVE LUCRATIVE CONTRACTS TO THEIR FRIENDS?


Maybe we'll get an answer to that question this year in Costa Mesa.

We have four sets of elected officials in Costa Mesa:

The City Council--5 elected members. 


The Costa Mesa Sanitary District--5 elected members. 

The Mesa Consolidated Water District--5 elected members.

The Newport Mesa Unified School District--7 elected members.

That's 22 elected officials.

--One thing to look for is whether or not contracts are open to competitive bidding or not.

--And, if they are open to competitive bidding, do the requests for bids have requirements that seem to be tailored specifically so that only one firm or one person can completely meet those requirements--almost as though that firm or that person actually wrote the requirements in the requests for bids?

--Do the requests for bids have clauses in them that say the lowest bidder may not actually get the job and that the political body may choose a higher bidder based on subjective and vague things such as value or other factors?

--Does one firm, one individual, or one family have hidden interests in several firms that always seem to get contracts for goods and services?  In other words, corruption busters need to follow trails, connect dots and pierce the corporate veils that we sometimes see.

Folks, how hard do you think it is to push an envelope full of cash across the table to an elected official who has a vote on awarding lucrative contracts?
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