Our Man In Congress Really Knows How-To-Highjack A Holiday

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We have a lot to be thankful for as we spend time with friends and family this week. Our nation is the greatest in the world and the one most blessed with liberty. We should never forget this. Nor should we take our freedoms for granted. Although I would like everyone to enjoy a Thanksgiving feast largely free from the concerns of Washington, I want to take this opportunity to point out that federal overreach even extends to the holiday table. While basic food regulations may keep us safe and sound, our government clearly goes overboard. Here is just a small sampling of ridiculous regulations on some of your favorite Thanksgiving foods: • On the nutritional labelling of a “non-discrete bulk product” (i.e., a whole turkey):“…the serving size shall be the amount in household measure that most closely approximates the Reference Amount for the product category and may be the amount of the bulk product represented as the main ingredient plus proportioned minor ingredients used to make the Reference Amount for the combined product determined in §381.412 (c)” (Code of Federal Regulations, Title 9 Part 381.409).How lucid! • On the classification of “good” canned cranberry sauce:“1.) Jellied or strained: The gel is tender to slightly firm and there may be evidence of a reasonable separation of free liquid. 2.) Whole: The skin particles and the semi-jellied portions are reasonably tender and the fruit, seed, and skin particles are dispersed reasonably uniformly throughout the product.” (USDA Grading Guidelines)This really doesn’t sound all that appetizing…. • On the definition of a “fairly well shaped” potato:“1.)Fairly well shapedmeans that the appearance of the individual potato or the general appearance of the potatoes in the container is not materially injured by pointed, dumbbell-shaped or otherwise ill-formed potatoes.” (Code of Federal Regulations Title 7 Part 51.1580)In other words, not necessarily the belle of the ball, but hardly an ugly stepsister. • On label verification of canned green bean size:“….If a term designating diameter is used, it shall be supported by an exact graphic representation of the cross section of the bean pod or by a statement of the maximum diameter in common or decimal fractions of an inch and, operationally, by the millimeter equivalent stated parenthetically. The diameter of a whole, cut, diagonal cut, or short cut is determined by measuring the thickest portion of the pod at the shorter diameter of the bean perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.” (Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 Part 155.120)Let me get out the measuring tape…. Do we really need all this regulatory gobbledygook? How many bureaucrats were needed just to write such extensive regulations and descriptions? All food for thought. Stay tuned for more festive Freedom Friday posts as the holiday season continues. In the meantime, I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving!

Washington, DC 1626 Longworth HOB Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-2635 District Office 2509 S Power Rd, Suite 204 Mesa, AZ 85209 Phone: (480) 699-8239

How About A Fannie-Teaser? + Freddie Too

Affordable Housing Finance

Fannie, Freddie to Re-Enter LIHTC Market

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are being permitted to re-enter the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) market, it was announced Nov. 16. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), has allowed Fannie and Freddie to invest in the credits on a limited basis, reports Donna Kimura of MFE sister brand Affordable Housing Finance.
[The FHFA] cited several factors for its decision, including furthering the enterprises’ mission to support affordable housing and ensuring that they could provide “a countercyclical role in the LIHTC market in the future if needed.”
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were two of the nation’s largest LIHTC investors, representing an estimated 35% to 40% of the market, before being placed into conservatorship by FHFA in 2008.

Read more > 

Raising Capital: Just Don't Get Stung in The Hive of Crowd-Funding

HIVE The Beehive is buzzing here in Mesa, one way or another This Could Be the Future of Raising Capital Eve Picker, founder of Small Change, discusses the benefits of crowdfunding. By Jennifer Castenson What makes an investment attractive? An investor's goal most likely is to capture a profit, but what else? What about improving community or impacting the future? Here in Mesa we need to ask the same questions . . . Re: 2 new proposals for 'conceptual renderings' and 'pretty pictures on two pieces of property along the line of the Valley Metro Light Rail extension into the Central Business District here in The New Urban DTMesa . . . Is this the "Salvation Train" we are waiting for? Here's one in the historic district on the south side of Main Street between Center and MacDonald where mostly two-story legacy buildings with façades have shaped the streetscape for generations. Some are scheduled for removal or improvement. Here in the image to the right is a way-out-of-scale and way-out-of-proportion rendering that throws the balance of old and new way outta whack with a planned 15-story tower. Here's another one not in the historic district with a 7-story tower and 350 Sq Ft  'micro-apartments' to be built over a three-story parking garage behind Mesa Municipal Court. It also includes over 25,000 Sq Ft of commercial/office space and 14 row or 'townhouses' on Pomeroy Street. It's called The GRID Project by 3W Management LLC. The city is throwing $3,000,000 to lure a developer and/or investors to the parcel on the SWC of Main/Mesa Drive, with a 'pretty picture' of something called Gateway Park. 1. What makes an investment attractive? 2. An investor's goal most likely is to capture a profit, but what else? 3. What about improving community or impacting the future? ________________________________________________________________ Certain regulations and codes have made it hard for banks and other lenders to offer money to projects that aren’t the norm. As such, innovation can be stifled by the ability to obtain capital. But now, with the advent of technology, projects that previously couldn’t be funded because of bank limitations can now be extended to and supported by the broader community. Eve Picker, founder of the crowdfunding platform Small Change, saw a way to use security regulations to match developers to investors. Here, she talks about how she harnesses the power of social media and email to source investors that are permitted to participate in funding new projects. . .  This method of raising capital is still in the early adopter phase. Few people have been introduced to it and those who have are still questioning the risk. Once it gains momentum, Picker says the “crowd” will realize that it’s a meaningful way to be involved in the community. “There is a palpable need for people to be engaged in the community that they live in,” Picker says. “This is a tool for them not only to be involved but also to get some financial gain.”

See the video and go to original source > http://www.multifamilyexecutive.comPicker is leading a conversation at HIVE 2017, scheduled Dec. 6 and 7 in Los Angeles, on how to disrupt the system of raising capital to support further innovation in housing.
Register now to attend.
 

WTF? The FCC v Net Neutrality

Ever notice how your MesaZona blogger tries to get a point across, sometimes juxtaposing an image with an article from an original source?

That is oftentimes the case when we all get distracted by what used-to-be-called "yellow journalism" or sensational grubbing to baser instincts like the current explosion in sex scandals erupting in politics, hacking gone-wild grabbing all your data whether you know it or not, while we miss or don't pay attention to what's going on in game-changing serious infringements of what we use and share for basic ways we communicate using the internet and the "Internet of Things".

The issue = Net Neutrality. December 14, 2017 is the date.

 

The date for what you might ask? Here's Tech Crunch's take on Net Neutrality:

FCC releases final draft of ‘Restoring Internet Freedom,’ which would not do that

Posted 20 hours ago by Devin Coldewey 

 

The FCC yesterday announced a December 14 vote on “Restoring Internet Freedom,” an order that, far from restoring freedom to the internet, which is already free, would allow it to be restricted in new and harmful ways. Actually, when you think of it as restoring internet freedom to ISPs and cable companies, it makes a lot more sense. At any rate the Commission has released the text of the order ahead of the vote, as promised.
It was just put out half an hour ago and it’s about 200 pages long, so it’ll take some time for me and others to sift through it and find out what kind of changes have been made since the draft circulated in late summer. . .
Although an FCC representative yesterday said that “we addressed all the serious comments,” that can’t quite be true, . . "
Link >  https://techcrunch.com
The Verge headlined this morning with this:

The US net neutrality fight affects the whole world

by Vlad Savov@vladsavov Nov 23, 2017, 8:24am EST

This is serious

"The United States is a nation quarreling with itself right now. Most of the country’s population wants to keep the internet an equitable and free place, embracing net neutrality rules as a necessary guardian against corporate overreach. But the current political administration seems hellbent on dismantling net neutrality and handing internet service providers the freedom to mold, shape, manipulate, and price internet access in whatever fashion they like. The downsides to this regulatory repeal are too numerous and appalling to list, but you don’t have to agree that it’s a bad idea to see something else important about it: whatever the American authorities do with respect to the internet will have major repercussions for the rest of the world as well. . . "

an unregulated US internet would feed directly into a push to instill the same legal environment elsewhere.

Is this really what we want the internet to become?

A place full of ignoble economic incentives driving companies to engage in ethically dubious anticompetitive behavior?
Internet service providers are doing pretty well in the US even with the currently extant net neutrality laws, which exist mostly to curb those companies’ worst impulses.
Why should we distort and disfigure the economics of internet access — something so essential to modern life that countries now treat it as a legal right — just to appease companies that face no threat of going out of business?

The global influence of the United States, and of American online companies, also means that repealing net neutrality within the country’s borders would pose an existential threat to net neutrality around the world.

 

 



Mesa City Council Study Session Mon 20 Nov 2017

A whopping 11 views
QUESTION: Does anyone know or taken the time to access and read tonight's Study Session Agenda?   Citizens here in Mesa - with a population of over 485,000 - just don't seem to care and are not involved or engaged in city government. . . Why is that??
Allotted time: 4:30 - 5:45
Actual time: 22:42
What happened?
Councilmember "Glove-Son" ???? Chris Glover is excused. Giles immediately skips to Item P on the agenda without going over previous items
City Manager Chris Brady is ready.

Mesa City Council Meeting Mon 20 Nov 2017

Cute mascot award, huh?
Allotted time: 5:45 - 7:00
Running time: 26:22             What happened?????????????????????????????????????

Meeting Agenda:

File #:

17-1247

Type:

Resolution

Status:

Agenda Ready

In control:

City Council

On agenda:

11/20/2017

Title:

Approving and authorizing the City Manager to enter into a Development Agreement, Ground and Air Lease, and License Agreement with 3W Management, LLC, for the development of commercial, residential and public improvements on City-owned property generally located at the southwest corner of Main Street and South Pomeroy and 34 South Pomeroy, and granting option rights to allow for the sale of certain City-owned real property and air-rights that are part of the development. (District 4)

Attachments:

1. Presentation, 2. Council Report and Exhibits, 3. Resolution, 4. Exhibit A to the Resolution, 5. Exhibit B to the Resolution, 6. Development Agreement, 7. Groundl and Air Lease, 8. License Agreement

Green Day - 2000 Light Years Away

Published on Nov 21, 2017

Views: 47,159

Taking you on a trip down memory lane with this video of 2000 Light Years Away