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November 8, 2021

Oroville City Council Masturbates For 58 Minutes

The City Council of Oroville, California, has approved a resolution declaring Oroville to be a "Constitutional Republic City." What does that mean? Who the fuck knows? We'll have to go to the sources to try to discover what they think they are saying.

Discussion of this item begins at 41:16 in the YouTube video of the council meeting.

Here is the essence of the resolution, after all the whereases:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED by the Oroville City Council that the City of Oroville is declared to be a Constitutional Republic City.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Oroville City Council that any executive orders issued by the State of California or by the United States federal government that are overreaching or clearly violate our constitutionally protected rights will not be enforced by the City of Oroville against its citizens.

Nothing in the resolution attempts to define a "Constitutional Republic City." You can download the full agenda packet here. The resolution starts on page 231.

After the first public comment (which was in opposition to the resolution) the Mayor decided to ignore the Brown Act and engage in conversation with the commenter to explain what a "Constitutional Republic City" is:

I'm gonna give a little bit of clarification on that. A republic is actually what the country is under and we live under laws. A republic lives under laws and the people and the representatives will make the decisions for the communities. Actually, a democratic government when the representatives only 51% can do exactly what you're saying. They can make up laws if they want to, so we are living under a "constitution republic."

The mayor must have failed his civics class, if he took one. Here is the definition of "republic": "a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law."

The definition of "democracy": "government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system."

The essential difference between the two is that under democracy you could have direct rule by the people (as in a New England town meeting), while in a republic a select body rules. In California we have a blend. Most of the time the state acts as a republic, but citizen initiatives are direct democracy.

The public commenters, both for and against, seem to think the essence of being a "Constitutional Republic City" has something to do with wearing masks or not, or it might mean upholding the California and U.S. Constitutions. It does NOT somehow require the City of Oroville to come up with a constitution. Maybe they want to keep their constitution unwritten, like the U.K.

The mayor dipped into his well of ignorance a second time to explain that when an emergency is declared that means one person is being placed in charge. He may be thinking of martial law. Usually, declaring an emergency is simply a way to allow governments to get access to emergency funds. No dictatorship involved.

One intelligent commenter pointed out that the city code already includes a requirement to uphold the constitutions of both the U.S. and California, so everything this resolution purports to do (if it purports to do anything) is already done.

One city council member said this is the first time he's seen "common sense" in a resolution. He also said that the human immune system is the best thing you've got going on. I assume that means no medications, no doctor visits of any sort, no dentistry, no eyeglasses. Break a leg? Walk it off!

Another city council member who obviously passed her high school civics class with flying colors pointed out that the final statement of the resolution [quoted above] attempts to give the city council the authority to decide the constitutionality of every state and federal executive order and this exceeds the powers given to the Oroville city council by its charter. She explains that our constitutional system has already placed that power in the hands of the judicial branch.

One city council member seemed to think that if the resolution were passed the city would lose all state and federal funding! She wanted a statement added to the resolution that the city might become bankrupt.

The city's attorney explained the resolution does not include anything to authorize staff to "do anything or take any action." Any future decision(s) by the council to obey or not obey future mandates from the federal or state governments would require additional action by the city council. It's a policy statement only. The resolution by itself could not result in the loss of any funding.

One city council member who supported the resolution also acknowledged it had no teeth. He said the public needs to realize the resolution changes nothing.

The motion to approve included the removal of the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth whereas (the ones that mention Gavin Newsom).

It's interesting that during the vote the mayor permitted on-microphone discussions between council members on how they should vote. It took more than two minutes for the voting to be complete. The result was 6-1.

The Oroville city council spent 58 minutes discussing and approving a resolution that does absolutely nothing. It's hard to imagine an effective city council that has that much time to waste.

Filed under California | permalink | November 8, 2021 at 11:04 AM | Comments (1)

November 6, 2021

DHS Spa Restaurant Racks Up More Health Violations

From the Press-Enterprise.

The restaurant at Desert Hot Springs Spa, at 10805 Palm Dr. in Desert Hot Springs, which was closed Oct. 19 because of a rodent infestation and for failing an inspection while on probation, remains closed. An inspector visited Oct. 28 and Nov. 4 at the request of the restaurant operator, who thought all violations had been resolved, according to a health department spokesperson. While the restaurant got A grades on both visits, there is still a rodent infestation — and now there’s also a cockroach infestation, the spokesperson said. On Nov. 4, the inspector saw rodent droppings on food container lids throughout a storage area and five nymph roaches on the floor at the cook line.

Filed under Desert Hot Springs,Health | permalink | November 6, 2021 at 09:08 AM | Comments (0)

November 2, 2021

QAnon Believers Gather In Dallas To Await The Return Of Their Prophet: JFK, Jr.

"Scores" of them have gathered near Dealey Plaza to await the QAnon Easter. The naive will laugh at them, thinking that if JFK, Jr. were to reappear he would do so in the waters off of Martha's Vineyard, not in Dallas. But wiser QAnon heads will tell you that JFK, his father, never died and has been hiding in plain sight in the Grassy Knoll Assisted Living Center.

Filed under Nutjobs | permalink | November 2, 2021 at 05:52 PM | Comments (0)

Vaccination Deadline Passes For NYC Employees

Yesterday (November 1) was the deadline in New York City for city employees to be vaccinated for COVID. The Police Benevolent Association said this would mean as many as 10,000 police officers would be taken out of service, but in reality that number was 34. Just plain 34, not 34,000, not 10,000. Thirty-four police officers were put on unpaid leave. Service levels remain normal. The full article:

Only 34 police officers defy New York’s vaccine mandate after union threatened 10,000 would quit

‘There is literally no effect on service at this point,’ says New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea

Nathan Place
New York

New York City’s vaccine mandate for municipal workers has taken effect, and just 34 police officers have refused it – a far cry from the 10,000 threatened by the NYPD’s union.

Under the mandate announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio, all city municipal employees – including police, firefighters, and other civil servants – must either get vaccinated for Covid-19 or be put on unpaid leave.

Hundreds of city workers protested the mandate, and the New York Police Department’s largest union, the Police Benevolent Association, claimed it would take thousands of cops off the streets.

“As of Thursday morning,” the PBA warned last week, “there were approximately 10,000 unvaccinated, uniformed NYPD members – which equals the staffing of dozens of patrol precincts – who will be barred from reporting for duty on Monday, Nov 1, unless they have applied for a religious or medical exemption.”

The union’s president, Patrick Lynch, particularly slammed Police Commissioner Dermot Shea for going along with the plan.

“Commissioner Shea and his team should have told the Mayor that this mandate and his arbitrary Friday deadline were going to throw NYPD operations into chaos,” Mr Lynch said on Thursday.

On Monday, however, that chaos failed to materialise. Less than three dozen NYPD officers were put on unpaid leave, and the department reported no interruption in service.

“Members of the police department responded to this [vaccine mandate], they came to work as they always do, and there is literally no effect on service at this point,” Mr Shea said on Monday.

Meanwhile, vaccination rates jumped. Since 20 October, when the mandate was announced, the proportion of NYPD employees who’d received at least one shot rose from 70 to 84 per cent, according to CNN. In the New York Fire Department, that number increased from 58 to 77 per cent, and in the Department of Sanitation it leapt from 62 to 83 per cent.

But while few workers were suspended over the mandate, a high number of them did call out sick. On Monday, 2,300 city firefighters stayed home from work, citing health reasons. On a normal day, less than 1,000 do so, according to FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro.

"Since the mandate was issued, our medical leave spiked up and we know that," Mr Nigro said on Monday. “The majority of them are unvaccinated. This is completely unacceptable.”

Mayor de Blasio said anyone faking sick to avoid getting vaccinated would be held accountable.

“When a city employee fakes it and puts other people’s lives in danger, that’s a serious thing and there are going to be consequences for that,” the mayor said.

Filed under Health,Public Safety | permalink | November 2, 2021 at 05:41 PM | Comments (0)

Critical Race Theory Explained

| permalink | November 2, 2021 at 05:25 PM | Comments (0)

Fall River, Mass., Visits Palm Springs

While waiting for the George Zander Candlelight Vigil & March to get started last night in Palm Springs, the PromoHomoTV reporter comes across a couple visiting from Fall River, Massachusetts, who acknowledge that "Fall River is not like it is here [in Palm Springs]."

Filed under Coachella Valley,Gay Issues | permalink | November 2, 2021 at 07:34 AM | Comments (0)

Breast Milk vs COVID

Mothers extending the period of breastfeeding and feeding breast milk to older children in order to pass on COVID antibodies to them.

Filed under Health | permalink | November 2, 2021 at 06:27 AM | Comments (0)

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