There were a few stories that came out during my sabbatical that I want to comment on. A news story from today goes along with this theme. The state of California is in a deep financial mess. Just today there was a story that the state was going to start paying with IOU's. There are many reasons for their problem. One thing that doesn't help the state is their consumer protection laws, which allow for frivolous suits to be filed. Before you think I am against consumer protection I am all for it. I am glad that all of these recalls we have seen recently have been taking place. We should be able to eat without worrying that our food is going to make us sick. However, we should not be able to file a lawsuit against....let's say Quaker Oats, complaining that we were lead to believe that the crunchberries in Captain Crunch's Crunchberries were actual berries. Anybody reading this think that crunchberries are an actual fruit? If you will buy that I've got some real estate I want to sell you. I am not kidding about that suit. You can read about it here. The lady claimed she had been eating the cereal for four years when she discovered it was not the health food that she thought. Gee, go figure. I like Captain Crunch. I will occasionally buy a box, but I know this isn't health food. Fortunately a judge ruled that:"In this case . . . while the challenged packaging contains the word "berries" it does so only in conjunction with the descriptive term "crunch." This Court is not aware of, nor has Plaintiff alleged the existence of, any actual fruit referred to as a "crunchberry." Furthermore, the "Crunchberries" depicted on the [box] are round, crunchy, brightly-colored cereal balls, and the [box] clearly states both that the Product contains "sweetened corn & oat cereal" and that the cereal is "enlarged to show texture." Thus, a reasonable consumer would not be deceived into believing that the Product in the instant case contained a fruit that does not exist. . . . So far as this Court has been made aware, there is no such fruit growing in the wild or occurring naturally in any part of the world."
Her attorney appealed this decision but that was rejected also. The judge also noted that her attorney had filed an earlier suit complaining that Froot Loops were not real loops of fruit. California's law needs revised so suits like this aren't wasting the courts time.
This probably did not waste any state money, but the city of Oakland spent three months over the major debate of which member of the city council got the closest parking space to city hall. They even had the city attorney write a five page opinion on the issue. The debate probably would have lasted longer, but a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle wrote about it. Amazingly the next day the dispute was settled by a coin flip.
The comedian Gallagher made this observation years ago. "Living in California is like living in a bowl of granola. What's not nuts and fruits is flakes." I think Gallagher is a very wise man.
Sorry Volly, Jeff was right. It is an Isosceles triangle. By the way, I'll be at work on the fourth. Do I know how to party or what?Today's question is Grade 2/Earth Science.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs in what month?
- A) July
- B) June
- C) August
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