If you haven’t heard about the sex offender problem that Garden Grove is experiencing, go here. I’ll wait for you.

Let me just begin by stating, I don’t like sex offenders. As a mother, they give me the heebie-jeebies. And even though I can dig down, way down, into my humanity and realize that most sex offenders were themselves abused sexually, it still doesn’t mean I want them anywhere near me or my family.

And neither, apparently, does anyone else.

Which is totally understandable.

But, after they have served their sentences, we as a society have no choice but to let them back in. Technically, they have paid their debt, and as long as they follow the guidelines set by law enforcement, can we really force them out of anywhere we’re not comfortable having them? And, to give a little credit, these are the offenders that are following the rules of reporting their place of residence. Some of them do not do that, and drift off to who-knows-where without anyone knowing their past.

Perhaps it is because we know that among sex offenders, there is a high rate of recidivism. Without some major, major rehabilitative efforts, which even then may not work, they commit again. As for the high concentration of them in a couple of motels, I would rather them be concentrated in one area that I can be sure to avoid rather than spread out over a wider distance.

Short of having some kind of sex offender colony which is walled off from the rest of the world, all we can do is gain as much knowledge as we can to their whereabouts and take care of ourselves and our families as best we can.

Of celebrity stalkers, that is.

LA isn’t the only one who can claim to be home of the unbalanced fan.

Apparently, a resident of Huntington Beach attempted to run over Jesse James near his home in Sunset Beach. Go here to read more details.

But isn’t Sunset Beach gated? Am I wrong about that? I wonder how she got in.

I recently read an article about six local schools that are going to receive funding to update their dilapidated swimming pools. It was not a compelling read to say the least. However, there was one component of the piece that did make me nervously chuckle:

Apparently, some parents of students that attend Fountain Valley High School “claim the water in one of the pools is causing their children to lose body hair and is turning some children’s hair silver and gray.”

I am not sure what bewilders me more? The fact that they actually believe the water in the pool is critically unsafe or that they are still letting their offspring go for a dip in the allegedly toxic waters. Either way I’d say these parents are fundamentally dim-witted.

Seems like if they really believed their accusation about the pool, they’d find a new swim team for their child to join. Of course, these are probably the same people who feed their kids things like partially hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup even though those particular ingredients are known to lead morbid obesity, diabetes and heart disease. So you know, if you put it in perspective it all makes sense.

At some point, someone saw the sidewalk outside the Claim Jumper in Santa Ana was being set, and they decided to immortalize their favorite rock guitarist. Perhaps they should have run a spell check. Click to embiggen.
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A couple of weeks ago when my son was on Spring Break, I decided to combine a trip to the Costa Mesa Farmer’s Market with one to Centennial Farms, which is just steps away. Both of them are held on the OC Fairgrounds, and both are free, so I rejoiced in the prospect of a day’s activiites that were low on cash output.

For some reason, I thought I had remembered seeing the Costa Mesa Farmers Market billed as one of the largest and oldest in OC. If that is the case, they are in big trouble. There were hardly any stands, possibly twenty max. Only a few actually sold fresh fruits and veggies. There were things ilke peanuts and tamales and cookies, which I wasn’t really looking for. To say I was underwhelmed is an understatement.

Then we walked over to Centennial Farms, which is free to the public from 1pm to 4pm. You can go here to get more information. My son had a great time petting the cows, sheep, pigs, and goats. We chose to stay away from the llamas, who looked a bit cranky. There are also a lot of plants, fruits and vegetables to be looked at, and it was nice to be able to show my son the food he eats in its natural state. The sensory experience of being able to touch the carrot stems and artichoke leaves was great for my son.

So, if you have kids, I heartily recommend Centennial Farms, but don’t plan on making a trip to the Farmer’s Market unless you are already going to be there.

Tonight is the start of the second round of the NHL Playoffs and the Ducks will battle Vancouver.

Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle placed a bet with Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan, If Anaheim wins Mayor Sullivan will wear an Anaheim Ducks jersey and will fly an Anaheim Ducks flag in front of Vancouver City Hall (That’s a picture I would love to see).

Mayor Sullivan also placed a bet with Mayor Pringle, If Vancouver wins then Anaheim City Hall will have to fly a Canucks flag and Mayor Pringle will have to wear a Canucks jersey during a City Council meeting.

I would love to see the looks on the faces of those in Vancouver when the Anaheim Ducks flag is hoisted in front of Vancouver City Hall.

All right, I want to do a completely unscientific and thoroughly pointless poll.

What are your five favorite places to eat?

I want a Mexican, an American, an Italian, a “special occasion,” and the last two are freebies.

A lot of people forget that good old Cypress is in Orange County, with it being so close to the LA County line, but there it is, hanging out next to Cerritos.

Raise your hand if you knew that the Los Alamitos Race Course is actually located in the city of Cypress.

Cypress was originally known as “Waterville” due to the artisan wells located within its boundaries. Where are they now?

The official City of Cypress website proclaims that “The first Californians were as scantily clad as contemporary dwellers of summertime Southern California.” Good to know guys, good to know.

Around the 1890’s sorghum was a big commodity produced in Cypress.

Apparently the name of “Cypress” was adopted because of the Cypress trees planted around the city as windbreaks to protect it from the fierce sandstorms that would arise.

John Stamos and Tiger Woods are famous people who grew up in Cypress.

All I could find for their city slogan was “Progress.” While I admire its brevity, it lacks pizazz.

News stories don’t need much more than this to get me to read them: “Evel Knievel Baptized at Crystal Cathedral” – it’s got motorcycle daredevils and Robert Schuller – what more do you need?

The AP story talks about Evel’s appearance on Schuller’s “Hour of Power”, his saying he’s been a sinner his whole life, and his denial that he’s just now finding God because he’s close to dying. No story (or post by me) would be complete without exposing a little bit of the “Is that how a Christian would act?” element:

Schuller said he has long admired Knievel for what the minster calls his “possibility thinking” in attempting motorcycle jumps that seemed impossible, but he had kept his distance because Knievel’s private life was non-Christian.

I’m sure Jesus never approached anyone either until they were saved…even if they tried to jump the Grand Canyon. More from the Hour of Power here.

Heads up San Juan Capistrano, Big Brother will continue to watch you! Actually, he’ll be watching you more than ever. On Tuesday, the city council narrowly approved the upgrade of existing red-light cameras (to digital) as well as to study two additional cameras at different intersections.

This is a big deal for SJC, as it looks like the city issued at least 4000 camera citations in 2003 alone. Upgrading the technology behind the scenes could only enhance the revenue potential for those cameras.

Riddle me this? If turning right on a red without stopping costs x amount of dollars on a standard officer-issued traffic violation, then why does turning right on a red without stopping costs x plus 300.00 on a standard red-light camera violation? Seriously, if it’s not about the money (which it is) then why is there such a high premium on these tickets?.

As you may have guessed, I don’t really approve of red-light cameras because they seem to be all about generating income for poor city governments (that means you Garden Grove) and less about safety. In fact, I think the veil of safety that red-light cameras operate under is so thin it’s almost transparent. I wish city governments would call it what it is and stop trying to operate these cameras under the guise of a public service.