Saturday, June 19, 2010

A Tribute To My Dad

Happy Father's Day to my dad!



"‘Cause I’ve been watching you, dad ain’t that cool?
I’m your buckaroo, I want to be like you.
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are.
By then I’ll be strong as superman
We’ll be just alike, hey, won’t we dad
When I can do everything you do.
‘cause I’ve been watchin’ you."

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

ACEC CA Sponsored Legislation Related to the Crawford Supreme Court "Duty To Defend" Decision - SB 972

****UPDATE****
I met with Ca. Assemblyman Chris Norby's staff at his district office last Friday, June 11, 2010. His staff indicated that SB 972 looked like it would be on the Governor's desk very soon. They didn't see any reason why it would be stalled any further.
****UPDATE****

This showed up in my email this morning. After reading the background on this, I see the need to get this passed as quickly as possible. Read it and pass it along where you can.

###

TAKE ACTION - SUPPORT ACEC LEGISLATION - DUTY TO DEFEND OBLIGATIONS FOR DESIGN PROFESSIONALS Take Action!

ACEC CA Sponsored Legislation Related to the Crawford Supreme Court "Duty To Defend" Decision

ACEC sponsored SB 972 responds to the Supreme Court's ruling in Crawford and an Appeals Court's ruling in UDC. These terrible rulings can force design professionals to pay an indemnitee's attorney fees even when a firm was neither negligent nor in breach of contract. Moreover, in the UDC case the court ruled that the engineering firm had a duty to defend the indemnitee, even though the plaintiff did not even allege that the engineering firm was negligent.

It is literally impossible for a design professional firms to obtain insurance to cover other's attorney fees in these circumstances. These cases force companies to literally "bet the firm" every time a contract signed. That is terrible for business and job growth and frankly is just not right.

SB 972 is important and urgently needed. Already in response to these court rulings, design professional firms are increasingly confronted with onerous and uninsurable indemnity demands in contracts and tenders for the defense of lawsuits not involving allegations of professional negligence. Relief, as envisioned by SB 972, is critical.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION TODAY!! SEND THIS EMAIL TO OTHERS SO THEY CAN TAKE ACTION TOO!!

Thanks,
Mark Smith
ACEC CA Legislative Advocate
916-335-5072


Forbes: The Millionaire Cop Next Door


Forbes blogger Rich Karlgaard wrote a provocative article on police officer pensions.  I'll leave you with his opening thought:
It is said that government workers now make, on average, 30% more than private sector workers. Put that fantasy aside. It far underestimates the real figures. By my calculations, government workers make more than twice as much. Government workers are America's fastest-growing millionaires.
To read the article in it's entirety, click HERE.

Swept Under the Rug at City Hall



Flashy and informative signs have dominated tourist areas and downtowns in an obvious attempt to attract business. So where is Fullerton’s electronic sign inviting commerce? With the sign moratorium being voted on today, we may never see it.


Last month, business owner Naeem Niamat wanted to upgrade the company’s old static sign for an electronic sign that allows the user to customize messages and advertise daily events, sales, and specials. According to one city official and supported by the Planning Commission meeting’s archived video, Fullerton staff tried in vane to derail and deny the new sign from the moment the application hit City Hall. The Planning Commission voted to continue the matter so that staff can define what conditions might be necessary for safe operation of the sign.

So why did the staff, represented by staff planner Christine Hernandez, try to shut this project down before it even went before the Planning Commission? To answer that question, we need only to go back to November 2008 when the Planning Commission adopted Resolution No. PC-08-52 which declared the Commission’s intention to amend Title 15 of the Fullerton Municipal Code. However, in a City Council Agenda package (Agenda Item #21, June 15, 2010) for PRJ10-00556 dated June 12, 2010, Planning Manager Al Zelinka and Community Development Director John Godlewski admit that staff dropped the ball saying, “Due to other staffing priorities, work on the ordinance amendment was not immediately pursued.” What some may claim as transparency, I see as an opaque admission of poor management and staffing oversight.

I am certain this matter would not have come to light if there was anyway for staff to burry it. Perhaps that is why they didn’t invite the applicant or his consultants to meet and discuss concerns. Instead of putting the sign ordinance amendment issue on the Council agenda when the applicant first filed for the permit, staff tried to run roughshod over the business owner figuring he would bow his head and walk out of City Hall as another defeated property owner. But that backfired when the Planning Commission voted down requiring CEQA findings and decided to table the matter pending review of reasonable conditions placed on the permitted use as may be recommended by city staff.

Fast-forward to tonight’s Council meeting and Agenda Item #21. Staff recommends grandfathering Mr. Niamat’s application while implementing an electronic message board sign moratorium on all other applicants until the matter can be fully addressed in with amendments to the Fullerton Municipal Code. What will Council do? I would imagine 3 out of 5 members will roll over and give staff what they have asked for, albeit nearly 2 years too late. How many other tasks have fallen through the cracks of City Hall?

Monday, June 14, 2010

Flag Day 2010

The History Of Flag Day
by Duane Streufert


The Fourth of July was traditionally celebrated as America's birthday, but the idea of an annual day specifically celebrating the Flag is believed to have first originated in 1885. BJ Cigrand, a schoolteacher, arranged for the pupils in the Fredonia, Wisconsin Public School, District 6, to observe June 14 (the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of The Stars and Stripes) as 'Flag Birthday'. In numerous magazines and newspaper articles and public addresses over the following years, Cigrand continued to enthusiastically advocate the observance of June 14 as 'Flag Birthday', or 'Flag Day'.

On June 14, 1889, George Balch, a kindergarten teacher in New York City, planned appropriate ceremonies for the children of his school, and his idea of observing Flag Day was later adopted by the State Board of Education of New York. On June 14, 1891, the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia held a Flag Day celebration, and on June 14 of the following year, the New York Society of the Sons of the Revolution, celebrated Flag Day.

Following the suggestion of Colonel J Granville Leach (at the time historian of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution), the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames of America on April 25, 1893 adopted a resolution requesting the mayor of Philadelphia and all others in authority and all private citizens to display the Flag on June 14th. Leach went on to recommend that thereafter the day be known as 'Flag Day', and on that day, school children be assembled for appropriate exercises, with each child being given a small Flag.

Two weeks later on May 8th, the Board of Managers of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution unanimously endorsed the action of the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames. As a result of the resolution, Dr. Edward Brooks, then Superintendent of Public Schools of Philadelphia, directed that Flag Day exercises be held on June 14, 1893 in Independence Square. School children were assembled, each carrying a small Flag, and patriotic songs were sung and addresses delivered.

In 1894, the governor of New York directed that on June 14 the Flag be displayed on all public buildings. With BJ Cigrand and Leroy Van Horn as the moving spirits, the Illinois organization, known as the American Flag Day Association, was organized for the purpose of promoting the holding of Flag Day exercises. On June 14th, 1894, under the auspices of this association, the first general public school children's celebration of Flag Day in Chicago was held in Douglas, Garfield, Humboldt, Lincoln, and Washington Parks, with more than 300,000 children participating.

Adults, too, participated in patriotic programs. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, delivered a 1914 Flag Day address in which he repeated words he said the flag had spoken to him that morning: "I am what you make me; nothing more. I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself."

Inspired by these three decades of state and local celebrations, Flag Day - the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777 - was officially established by the Proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson on May 30th, 1916. While Flag Day was celebrated in various communities for years after Wilson's proclamation, it was not until August 3rd, 1949, that President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14th of each year as National Flag Day.

Greg Sebourn

The Beauty of a Storm

The Beauty of a Storm
Orange County, Ca.

My Grandma - A Eulogy

LET'S TALK ABOUT 1914 FOR A MOMENT.



FOR STARTERS, GRANDMA WAS BORN TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1914 IN HER FAMILY'S ATWOOD RANCH HOUSE.



IT IS WORTH NOTING THOSE ALSO BORN IN 1914:

JACK LALANNE

JOE DIMAGGIO

DANNY THOMAS



AND WHO DIED IN 1914:

JOHN MUIR, THE FAMOUS NATURALIST FOR WHICH NUMEROUS ROADS, PARKS, HOTELS, AND NATURE RESERVES ARE NAMED.



IT IS ALSO WORTH NOTING THAT IN 1914 WOODROW WILSON SIGNS MOTHER'S DAY PROCLAMATION AND BABE RUTH MAKES HIS MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT WITH THE RED SOX. MOTHER'S DAY AND BASEBALL- TWO OF MY FAVORITES!! (PERHAPS HER NICKNAME "BABE" CAME FROM BABE RUTH???)



GRANDMA WAS BORN INTO A PERIOD OF TIME FILLED WITH TURMOIL. IN JUNE OF 1914 ARCHDUKE FRANZS FERDINAND WAS ASSASSINATED. WITHIN ONE MONTH WORLD WAR I RAGED ACROSS EUROPE. TWO DAYS AFTER HER BIRTH HOWEVER, GERMAN AND BRITISH TROOPS INTERRUPTED WWI TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS. (PERHAPS THEY PAUSE KNOWING THAT A GREAT WOMAN WAS BORNE) WORLD WAR I CONTINUED UNTIL THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES IN 1919.



ALTHOUGH SHE WAS ONLY 5 YEARS OLD, SHE SAW THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS CREATED AND THE 19TH AMENDMENT WAS APPROVED BY THE U.S. CONGRESS GUARANTEEING THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN TO VOTE.



SHE LIVED THROUGH MANY NOTABLE EVENTS. LIKE THE 1933 LONG BEACH EARTHQUAKE OR WHEN ATWOOD FLOODED ALONG WITH MOST OF ORANGE COUNTY IN 1938 AND THE FLOOD-WATERS CLAIMED MORE THAN 50 PEOPLE, 43 OF WHICH WERE FROM ATWOOD! ALL OF THIS DURING A TIME THAT WE READ ABOUT IN SCHOOL AND KNOWN AS "THE GREAT DEPRESSION". SOMEWHERE IN ALL OF THAT SHE FOUND THE LOVE OF HER LIFE, GRANDPA LEO, GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL, GOT MARRIED, AND HAD KIDS!



THEN THERE WAS WORLD WAR II. FROM PEARL HARBOR TO HIROSHIMA, GRANDMA WAS RAISING MY UNCLE BOB AND MOM ARLINE. WITH AIR-RAID SIRENS AND BLACKOUTS SHE WAS A WIFE AND MOTHER. WHAT A TIME TO RAISE CHILDREN! I BET GRANDMA'S PARENTS WERE ABEL TO TELL HER A THING OR TWO ABOUT RAISING KIDS IN WARTIME.



GRANDMA WAS THERE WHEN THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA HELD THEIR 3RD ANNUAL NATIONAL JAMBOREE IN 1953. SHE SAW AIRBASES OPEN IN '42 AND CLOSE IN '99. SHE WATCHED WALTER KNOTT START UP HIS BERRY FARM AND WALT DISNEY TURN ORANGE GROVES AND STRAWBERRY PATCHES INTO DISNEYLAND!



SHE SAW THE HORSE AND CARRIAGE FADE AWAY INTO HISTORY AND SPACE TRAVEL EXPLODE BEFORE HER WITH THE FIRST LUNAR LANDING. JUST IMAGINE HOW MUCH TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED OVER THE LAST 100 YEARS. FROM TUBE RECTIFIERS TO SUPERCONDUCTORS; FROM TRANS-ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLES TO SATELLITE TV.



SHE SAW MORE IN HER 93 YEARS THAN MOST OF US WILL EVER READ ABOUT, LET ALONE LIVE THROUGH!



OF THOSE 93 YEARS IT IS MY HONOR TO HAVE BEEN HER GRANDSON FOR 35 OF THEM. SHE WAS MY MOTHER WHEN MOM HAD TO WORK. SHE WIPED MY NOSE AND PUT FOOD IN MY MOUTH. SHE LET ME PLAY WITH GRANDPA EVEN THOUGH SHE NEEDED HIM TO TAKE HER TO THE STORE. SHE WAS MY GRANDMA AND I WILL MISS HER IMMENSELY.



JUST LOOK AROUND THIS ROOM; SHE DID THIS. SHE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING SO MANY GOOD PEOPLE INTO THIS WORLD AND TOGETHER TODAY. THIS IS HER LEGACY.



A Dedication To My Loving Wife, Stacey. Thank you for all you do for me!

Brad Paisley - I Thought I Loved You Then


I remember trying not to stare the night that I first met you
You had me mesmerized
3 weeks later in the front porch light taking 45 min to kiss you goodnight
I hadn’t told you yet but I thought I loved you then

Chorus
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Like a river meets the sea
Stronger than it’s ever been
We’ve come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then.

I remember taking you back to right where I first met you
You were so surprised
There were people around
But I didn’t care I got down on one knee right there
And once again I thought I loved you then

Chorus
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Like a river meets the sea
Stronger than it’s ever been
We’ve come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then.

I can just see you with a baby on the way
I can just see you when your hair is turning gray
What I can’t see is how I’m ever gonna love you more
But I’ve said that before.

Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Well look back some day at this moment that we’re in
And I'll look at you and say I thought I loved you then
And I thought I loved you then...