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| (Kid needs to cheer down) |
Two-Headed Pig In China Saved From Slaughterhouse(The Inquisitor - click here): A two-headed pig in China has been saved from the slaughterhouse, though may still face a tough fight for life. The newborn piglet, which was born in a village in Jiujiang, east China’s Jiangxi province, has a pair of snouts, two ears and a shared eye.
Sadly, the chances of survival aren’t looking terribly strong for this little oinker – after inspection by a local vet, it was decided the two-headed pig would do well to make it through to adulthood. However, the owners have agreed not to slaughter the rare animal.
The condition that causes such mutations is known as axial bifurcation, or polycephaly. It can occur in animals or humans, and is what happens when an embryo begins to split into twins, only for the process to be interrupted in its early stages. This is how conjoined twins are formed.
(Mod: I guess if you have a two headed pig you'd need two apples to serve it properly. Perhaps there is an apple shortage in China? ... I read a book where the author claimed to be a Siamese twin, but that he and his brother were born in the same body. They look like one person, share all of the same body parts, but are really two different people with clearly defined personalities. I didn't believe a word of it, though I guess it could be seen as a novel solution to loneliness.)
Application period opens for vacant Pasadena school board seat (Pasadena Star News -click here - article joined in progress): A group of Sierra Madre residents will be watching the application process closely, having voiced concerns about back-room deals during the appointment process. The resident group initially lobbied for a special election, but backed off that idea last month after learning the election cost could reach more than $1 million. Even after the appointment, the group could try to force a special election by gathering a petition with signatures from 1.5 percent of voters.
"The entire process I believe needs to be transparent and open to the public," Sierra Madre resident Halcyon Koerber told the board Tuesday.
Some names have already emerged as possible candidates. Chris Chahinian, a former PUSD Districting Task Force member and chairman of the Armenian Community Coalition, said last month he would consider applying for an appointment. Sierra Madre resident Tony Brandenburg, who has often criticized the current school board, said he would "probably" apply for the seat.
(Mod: Personally I find the speculation about a back room-room deal here to be ridiculous since the PUSD's Board of Ed doesn't even have a front-room. What else could it be? Chris "Chinny Chin" Chahinian should be disallowed from throwing his golf cap into the ring because of his involvement with the Districting Task Force. As we can see by today's almost entirely white make-up of the Board of Education, this was obviously the work of some sort of a secret Klan organization ... It is good to see Tony Brandenburg getting some ink. While I don't think those uptight white people on the BOE will choose Tony, this will be a good platform for him to discuss autism, discrimination and other important issues.)
Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten attacks hate mobs celebrating Baroness Thatcher's death as 'loathsome' and calls for respect(Daily Mail -click here): Former Sex Pistol John Lydon says those now celebrating Margaret Thatcher's death are 'loathsome'. Lydon, famously known as Johnny Rotten when he was the singer in Punk icons The Sex Pistols back in the 1970s as Maggie was rising to power, added: 'I'm not going to dance on her grave.' He said: 'I was her enemy in her life but I will not be her enemy in her death.'
John spoke about Baroness Thatcher's death when he arrived at Sydney's domestic airport on Wednesday from Brisbane ahead of his band Public Image Limited's performance in the city that night.
But as to whether he would be watching any TV coverage of Baroness Thatcher's funeral, he said: 'I might have something better to do.' He added: 'Her politics were really dreadful and derisive and caused a great many issues for me when I was young, for all of us trying to go through that. 'But that doesn't mean I am gonna dance on her grave, as they say. I'm not that kind of person.
'I was her enemy in her life but I will not be her enemy in her death. I am not a coward.' He added: 'My entire life, socially, was all around the Maggie era. 'That was the great challenge as a Sex Pistol was how to deal with Margaret Thatcher. 'I think we did rather good.'
He also denied she was having a Diana-style funeral. 'She's not. It's a Conservative send off. Do you think they'll be parading me through the streets of London? 'I'm more likely to be dragged along from the back of a wagon.'
(Mod: Good old Johnny. It warms my heart that he's still out there making a nuisance of himself and annoying all those damn hippies. Worrying about what people think really is an oxymoron you know, and Johnny lives that.)
Bugging out - Tenants say Caltrans ignores vermin complaints and imposes late fees meant to ‘depopulate’ 710 Corridor(Pasadena Weekly - click here): After being criticized for plans to build a tunnel to connect the Long Beach (710) and Foothill (210) freeways, as well as a failure to effectively manage more than 500 properties seized through eminent domain nearly five decades ago to make way for what back then was planned as an overland link of the two roads, Caltrans is once again under fire.
Only this time, critics are the tenants of some of those homes, which are now rental properties, who claim the state transportation agency is being hostile toward renters who complain about such things as insect infestation and being charged late fees, even when those payments are made on time.
Today, with the overland connection plan all but dead, and the tunnel project far from approved, one legislator has introduced a bill to get Caltrans out of the real estate business altogether by declaring the so-called 710 Corridor properties surplus. Senate Bill 416, authored by Sen. Carol Liu, D-Glendale, would allow the agency to sell the properties at fair market value.
In August, an independent audit took Caltrans to task for its shoddy management of the properties, and recommended that they be taken over and sold by a joint power authority formed between the cities of Pasadena, South Pasadena and Los Angeles.
There is just one problem: The Roberti Bill. Authored in the 1980s by former Senate President Pro Tem David Roberti, the bill gives people living in homes for two or more years, and are low- to moderate-income, the chance to buy the property below market value, but for no less than what Caltrans paid for it. And if a person has lived in a Caltrans home for five or more years and their household income does not exceed 150 percent of the county’s median income, they would be offered the house “at an affordable price.” Former owners who are still living there would get a chance to buy at fair market value, but if they are living there and happen to also be low-income, they too could qualify for an affordable rate.
With the value of those homes now totaling more than $500 million, it’s easy to see why Caltrans would want longtime tenants to get out now.
“Caltrans is going to tenants and telling them they have accumulated a number of late rental fees,” said Joe Cano, a resident of El Sereno and an organizer with the group No on 710, who also said Caltrans refuses to provide proof that rents are being paid late. Caltrans also has ignored complaints about the decrepit conditions of some of the aging properties, some of which are run down and infested with bugs and rats.
(Mod: Caltrans and Metro, what a blessing they are to us all. Is it any wonder that the folks pushing the 710 Tunnel are mean as a rattlesnake slumlords as well?)
Is Walmart Signaling the End of China’s Global Dominance? (Wall Street Cheat Sheet - click here): Sourcing products from Chinese factories has always been a cost-saving tactic of American companies like Walmart (NYSE:WMT), the largest U.S. retailer. However, as wages, energy costs and overseas demand continue to increase, Walmart is looking to domestic for products to stock its stores.
Walmart will spend $50 billion in the coming decade in an attempt to tap into an American supplier market where fewer disruptions in production occur and energy prices remain low. The company’s willingness to look within suggests the shipping and related costs are weighing on Walmart’s profit margin.
As Duncan Mac Naughton, the company’s chief merchandising and marketing officer, told Time recently, “When we buy overseas, we may buy more than we need to fill the container.” In fact, the overall cost of bringing the item to its store shelves isn’t always attractive to Walmart. The tales of Walmart muscling manufacturers into selling goods cheap — so the savings will make it to consumers — have been told on numerous occasions, yet Walmart will need to change its image in that department to pull off another go at its “Made in America” campaign (they’ve taken to calling it “Made Here”).
(Mod: This is good news for us locally. If Wal*Mart is going to stop importing slave labor products from Asia, then I guess we won't have to build the 710 Tunnel, right? Buy American, stop the tunnel!)
Former Sierra Madre Mayor Among 16 Women Honored by Rep. Judy Chu(Sierra Madre Patch - click here): A longtime Sierra Madre resident was among a group of 16 distinguished women from the 27th Congressional District honored by Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27) during her fourth annual Women of Distinction Awards at Huntington Library this past weekend.
The April 6 event honored female entrepreneurs, volunteers, civil servants and a female Olympian, all from the San Gabriel Valley, including former mayor and clean energy community leader Enid Joffe of Sierra Madre.
The honorees represent the 16 cities in the 27th Congressional District -- each chosen from nominations submitted by members of their communities.
“No words can describe the contributions that all sixteen of these amazing women have made to our community in the San Gabriel Valley and to the world at large,” said Rep. Chu.
(Mod: Why is it always the same people that give and receive awards? They must all belong to a club for the chronically unfulfilled ... In case you are not aware, there is considerable buzz on the blogosphere lately that our Congresswoman, Judy Chu, is a former member of the Communist Workers Party. Which, if true, would be about the only remotely interesting thing about her. Click here for some of that rhythm.)
OK. That's quite enough of this for today.
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