OC Register Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

March 11, 2009May 10, 2009Big Brother

An Update: End Reefer Madness by Legalizing Pot

Marijuana is not a dangerous drug [”Proposed pot law ignites debate,” Opinion, Feb. 23]. Alcohol causes thousands of deaths each year from overdose (alcohol poisoning), while no one in recorded history has ever died from marijuana overdose. It’s physically impossible to smoke or ingest enough marijuana to come anywhere close to a harmful overdose. We have our legal drugs backward. Numerous scientific studies in Canada and Europe have proven that pot is safer than most FDA-approved prescription drugs. Habitual pot smoking doesn’t even significantly increase the risk of cancer. The worst side effect from chronic pot use is chronic laziness. And the studies that claim pot is a “gateway drug” are inherently flawed because the omit alcohol, tobacco and prescription drug abuse.

The argument that legalization will lead to an increase in traffic accidents is also flawed. Of the millions of pot smokers who are currently breaking the law, studies and statistics show that only a small percentage are stupid enough to drive while stoned.

Those like myself who would be inclined to smoke pot once it’s legal, but who currently refrain, are already respectful of the law, and, therefore, would not be likely to drive stoned once it’s legal.

Marijuana was made illegal for two purely political reasons. The first was a back-door agreement that ended alcohol prohibition. The prohibitionists wanted something in return for alcohol’s return to the market; marijuana was the trade off. Second, William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper magnate, wanted to eliminate the hemp-based paper competition for his paper mills.

I hope all intelligent citizens in favor of freedom and fiscal common sense will contact their lawmakers in Sacramento and demand support for AB 390. It’s high time we stop the reefer madness.

David Santucci

OC Register, February 27, 2009

February 16, 2009January 4, 2010Chris Norby

Uber right wing John Lewis endorses Democrat Tom Daly for the BOS

by admin6 Comments

Steven Greenhut confirmed the other day that uber right wing “Republican consultant John Lewis will be supporting (although not working for) Clerk/Recorder Tom Daly in his bid for the 4th district supervisorial seat once Chris Norby is termed out,” according to the Orange Punch Blog. Apparently Lewis “appreciates that Daly was one of the very few people who backed Norby when the entire establishment was behind Cynthia Coad.”Greenhut points out the fact that Daly, who is a prominent Democrat, willl not likely be a better advocate for limited-government than either of the two likely Republican contenders, Fullerton Councilman Sean Nelson (Republican elected official of the year), or Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu.(Click here to read the rest of this article by Art Pedroza)

February 6, 2009January 4, 2010Dick Jones

CHINESE WELCOME YEAR OF THE OX; FULLERTON OBSERVES THE YEAR OF THE OX, TOO

by The Fullerton Harpoon14 Comments

The Chinese calendar has recently ushered in the Year of The Ox, which seems appropriate in Fullerton given the recent clumsy effort by City Council bovine Dick Jones to attack Orange County Register editorial writer Steven Greenhut – for doing his job.

It seems that this prominent statocrat has held a grudge against Greenhut since he helped expose the closed-door public employee pension spike at the end of last summer. And so Jones, with his council colleague Don Bankhead in tow, attended a Chamber of Commerce function in which Register publisher Terry Horne was the guest speaker – and proceeded to publicly attack the Register for the damage done to his sterling reputation by Mr. Greenhut.

Horne, to his credit defended Greenhut’s professionalism and integrity against the odd effort by Jones to defend his own honor – something some Council observers thought he had abandoned after about three months on the Council. Jones is used to getting his own way, and it probably came as something of a shock to him that it’s a lot easier to bully the public from the council dais than it is to push around a newspaper publisher.

Rather than criticize the Register, and by extension Mr. Greenhut, Jones would do well to search his own conscience to find out why he consistently places the welfare of city employees ahead of the taxpayers and citizens of Fullerton.

January 2, 2009January 4, 2010Dick Jones

OC REGISTER SPIKES BALL TOO SOON ON PENSION ISSUE

by admin13 Comments

On Sunday the OC Register recognized Fullerton Councilman Shawn Nelson’s lone stand to protect the Fullerton taxpayer against a proposed employee pension spike plan that was being discussed behind closed doors last summer. Register Editorialist Steve Greenhut commended Nelson for saving Fullerton from an underfunded pension disaster of the sort that is bankrupting California cities like Vallejo. Click here to read article.

Poor Steve! He spoke too soon! This Tuesday the very council that chose behind closed doors to accede to union demands last summer will now conduct a hearing to approve the proposed pension increase.

The vote should be fairly predictable. Union water bearers Dcmocrats Sharon Quirk and Pam Keller plus quasi-Republican Don Bankhead are safe votes for the increase, which is all that is needed for passage. More entertaining will be the action of Mr. Dick Jones, another iffy Republican who previously supported the proposal, at least until the GOP Central Committee got wind of it. Then he changed his tune. Now that he has been re-elected it will be interesting to see if he will keep the promise made in order to keep the Republican endorsement, or if he will once again flip back to his natural inclination of giveaways to public employees at the taxpayers expense.

The issue is Item #14 & 15 on the meeting agenda. The Council will meet at 6:30 Tuesday night at City Hall. Public participation is strongly encouraged by Friends For Fullerton’s Future.

December 18, 2008December 28, 2009OC Register

Barbara Giasone Wins Wurlitzer Prize

by admin10 Comments

Here in Fullerton we have long recognized Barbara Giasone’s special brand of journalism. Now it seems, others have caught on, too:

PHILADELPHIA – The Wurlitzer Press Foundation of Nanty Glo, Pennsylvania announced today that Barbara Giasone of the Fullerton (California) News Tribune has won the prestigious annual Wurlitzer Prize, which recognizes achievement in journalistic vacuity.

Herb Dillman of the Foundation was effusive in his praise for Giasone. “Barbara has established a new level of excellence in the regurgitation of city hall press releases. In her admirable career she has always managed to avoid writing anything with the slightest hint of criticism of officialdom; or anything that snacks of criticism of anything, really.” Giasone was generous to share credit with her employer. “My boss is wonderful,” she said. “Most editors demand that their reporters do things like investigate and report what really happened. Mine has never made me sully my principles with that kind of stuff. I’m really a team player at heart and I don’t want anybody in city hall to look bad. And, of course, all that digging and questioning that some reporters do really takes a lot of energy.”

Fullerton spokesperson, Cynthia Smudge was enthusiastic about the award. “I don’t know what we’d do without Barbara,” she said. “She is always so reliable and never asks any embarrassing questions. She’s a real treasure. Worth her weight in gold. We put out a press release and bang, there it is in the paper – just the way we wrote it. It’s great!” The Prize, a valuable coupon book good at unpermitted downtown Fullerton bars and dance halls, will be mailed to Giasone tomorrow.

Geez, we didn’t know there was a Nanty Glo, Pennsylvania.