Hey, bureaucrats, don’t forget that it irks the public when you get better stuff than they have. Stuff like really rich health insurance, fat salaries, free cars and luxury hotels when you go out of town.

Case in point. We received some stinging complaints about the National Transportation Safety Board folks who stayed at the Westin when they flew into Mammoth Lakes to investigate the Steve Fossett plane crash. How come they stayed in the most expensive hotel in town?

I asked NTSB bureaucrat Terry Williams about that. He said they got a government rate and that they need accommodations that include meeting space availability. Okay. If you insist. Just remember how it looks to the little people when you spend taxpayers’ money.

China has cinched the Most Deadly Food award for the year. Good grief – now it’s a toxic substance in baby formula and milk. A long list of Chinese products – pet food, tooth paste – has hurt people. They need bureaucrats who don’t take bribes to ignore regulations.

fact, California Attorney General Jerry Brown recently filed suit against four makers of baby furniture. Brown alleges that the products emit “excessive amounts of formaldehyde gas.” The Attorney General was quoted as saying that “formaldehyde emissions from cribs and Hey, America has its share of bad behavior, too. Even products that can hurt babies. In changing tables made by the companies exceeded state limits.” Formaldehyde causes cancer and respiratory problems. Maybe the manufacturers’ Mommies failed to take them to the movies where they could have heard Jiminy Cricket say, “Always let your conscience be your guide.”

Speaking of formaldehyde, what about those disgraceful FEMA trailers? You know, the ones that also emit formaldehyde and make the homeless people in New Orleans sick? We happened to meet a man who had traveled to New Orleans. He said the place looks as bad as it did right after Katrina. Vacant neighborhoods. Toxic FEMA trailers. This is the formula for a federal government failure.

What does it say about our government when they give the homeless a trailer that emits as much formaldehyde as an embalmer uses on dead bodies?!? Yikes.

Here’s a story we actually thought was a joke. Now, we’re not laughing. Seems the Meryl Chertoff, wife of Homeland Security Chief, Michael Chertoff, teamed up with the Muppets to teach children how to prepare for terrorist attacks and other disasters. Say, what?!? Shouldn’t Mr. Chertoff (and Mrs. Chertoff for that matter) look into the deep causes of terrorism and plans for disaster response so we can protect our children?

They want the Muppets to teach kids from ages 2 to 5 how to “understand the importance of preparing for an emergency.” Oye Va! Mrs. Chertoff is quoted as saying this about he Muppets: “These are friends the kids know and trust.” Well, that’s for sure.

So, what about the judge who ruled that a law that bans baggy pants is unconstitutional. A Florida case involved a 17 year-old who was kept in jail overnight due to saggy pants that exposed underwear. Seems the town there passed a law against it, but the judge stood on constitutional rights.

Hey, it may not be illegal, but has anybody told the kids who let their pants droop how… pathetic they look?

One more story about children. Seems in Britain, several of the neighborhood councils have hired 8 year old kids to snoop on their neighbors and turn in minor infractions. Things like littering and failure to put trash bins where they belong. The “Junior Streetwatchers”, as they call them, are trained to report graffiti, too.

The Taxpayers Alliance group has the high strikes over this. One of them said, “Councils are using anti-terrorist legislation for the tiniest of things, like the people who put out their trash bins early.” Another called the child snoopers “shocking!”

The Mother Country has problems.

With that, this is Benett Kessler signing off for Bureaucrat Beat where we await your word on our lives in the Eastern Sierra and beyond.

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