Happy headlines! Wow. We just had to pass this along. A story in the Los Angeles Times was headlined “Some Rays of Sunshine for the Economy.” The Hallelujah Chorus would sound appropriate right here. But, wait. Not so fast. In the Business Section of the Times, read this headline: “Shoppers Still Don’t Open Their Wallets.”

But, another goody-goody headline: “Obama Welcomes New Lending.” Yeah!!! Our favorite headline puts big oil in its place a little bit. The story headline says “Chevron Earnings to be Lower”. High time. They quit charging us $4 a gallon for gas. That’s no secret.

Hard to keep up with public officials and their secrets. In Los Angeles, the District Attorney has cracked down on elected officials for conducting public business in secret. In the Eastern Sierra, citizens tell us from time to time that they get the feeling issues that should be hashed out publicly are, instead, handled in private.

Officials begin to feel uncomfortable about public debate, and they feel they will lose control of issues. Maybe so, but they’re not supposed to have control anyway. The people are the base of control. We in the Bureaucrat Beat newsroom wish that our local officials would think carefully all the time and say to themselves, “Now, can this topic go public or does it really have to be private talk?”

One of our listeners took exception to the reporting on TaxDayTeaParty.com. He said this movement comes from the far right, designed as an attack on our President. Very possibly so. Our point – Bush and company got us into this mess regardless of who’s doing what now. The mess leaves the door open for all kinds of political shenanigans. We like to talk about them.

We’ll go back to a much earlier point made by the Bureaucrat Beat newsroom staff – we defy labels. We know this irritates some. We are registered Independents, if you need some label, and we reserve the right to criticize every political party and elected leader.

As for the far right – we have found that extremes of any position cause trouble, but they may have some corner of truth to consider. If you must label us, why not call us “intellectual outcasts”. We like to stand on the outside and look in.

We think maybe Prince Charles of the UK likes to stand outside and gaze at the unthinkable. The recent NewScientist magazine says that Prince Charles talks to plants.

James Rudoni of the Royal Horticultural Society is conducting a study into whether the human voice can affect tomato plants. Rudoni quotes Prince Charles who said, “It is very important to talk to plants and they respond.” Keep that in mind as you plant this spring or water that house plant that’s looking a bit weak.

Here’s a piece of bureaucracy that belongs in outer space. Seems that in the International Space Station various bureaucracies want to charge money for the use of toilets and gym equipment. Good grief!

Gennady Padalka, tagged as the next International Space Station commander, said that “it’s politicians and bureaucrats who can’t reach agreement, not us cosmonauts and astronauts.” Red tape threads into outer space.

We ventured into Hooligans at Independence the other night for a tasty pizza, and what did we find but the monthly meeting of the local Republican Committee. Thad Taylor said that the members discussed the May 19th election proposals. “We rejected all of the proposals,” said Taylor. The rejection stems from the belief that the proposals will do virtually nothing to help the disastrous financial condition of California. “These proposals don’t accomplish our objective,” said Taylor. “which is good government that we can afford.”

Sacramento, said Taylor represents a “flawed model.” We certainly don’t need more of that. Borrowing on future lottery proceeds and ripping off money from programs, said the Republicans, doesn’t cut it. They want real reform. We couldn’t agree more with that statement. Sadly, our local schools feel that they will sustain more cuts if these measures don’t pass.

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.