A south-side Des Moines city councilman who wants tougher regulations on mobile food vendors and roadside flea markets is upset that activists have attacked the plan as racist.

The council on Monday delayed the second of three required votes on Councilman Brian Meyer's measure. The initial vote won unanimous approval, but it faced none of the racially charged criticism that surfaced at Monday's council meeting.

"They've said, 'This is Jim Crow,' or 'You are picking on Latinos.' That is offensive to me," Meyer said Tuesday. Jim Crow laws mandated "separate but equal" status for blacks, mostly in Southern states before the 1960s.

Chamber of Commerce celebrates Pacifica's finest

Celebrating the best of Pacifica businesses and community members who have volunteered extensively, the Pacifica Chamber of Commerce held its annual awards ceremony during a gala banquet in the Bounty Room at the Lighthouse Hotel Thursday Jan. 24.

Neil Sofia, the 2007 Chamber board president passed the gavel to incoming president Mildred Owen, who happily began her tenure.

"It's an unusual honor for an arts person to be named as president," Owen said. "My goal is to bring more businesses into the Chamber and to grow. We don't need any negativity. I want to draw in the people who feel alienated and out of the loop."

Helen James earned the Fuchsia Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Gail Benton Shoemaker, who introduced James, told the .

MS: teens pirate less often if aware of laws

Most teenagers pirate music, software, or videos only because they are unaware of the law, Microsoft claims through the results of a new study published today. The Zune maker observes that nearly half of younger teens, or 49 percent, are not aware of copyright laws online, while less than 10 percent feel they know the laws well. This knowledge has a major impact on whether or not they consider bootleg downloads worthy of punishment, Microsoft claims: while 57 percent said illegal downloading demanded punishment, this number climbed dramatically to 82 percent when they were more clearly aware of the laws.

Clarity over the law became less ambiguous when compared to physical theft, the study reportedly shows. While only 48 percent of the teens studied thought illegal downloads merited punishment, that figure jumped to 90 percent when discussing punishment for a stolen bicycle.

A note to liberals about economics

Its economy declined from one of the strongest in Africa to one of the world's weakest after nationalization of industry and redistribution of private land.Then there is Ireland. Ireland's heavy industries, due to poor planning and international problems, almost disappeared by the early 1980s.Agriculture was constrained by production quotas. There was mass unemployment and the national debt had doubled, mostly due to welfare programs and subsidies.This changed in the mid 1990s when Ireland began to institute free market economics and lower taxes. Ireland is now ranked, by some measures, as the second wealthiest per capita country in the world.Then there is China. The socialist policies of Mao almost destroyed one of the most long-lasting societies on the planet. Since China opened up its economy with free markets, they have achieved the second highest GNP in the world, and unless they return to socialism, they will catch up to, and perhaps, even pass the United States.We could even conduct experiments in which one country is given all the resources except economic freedom and the other country gets almost no resources, but is given a more free market.

The Two Man Gentlemen Heavy Petting

(PR) The Two Man Gentlemen Band will release their third album, 'Heavy Petting,' just in time for Valentine's Day. Comprising two finely dressed young men, Andy Bean on banjo and The Councilman on bass, this NYC duo plays high-energy tunes in a hot jazz, Tin Pan Alley, vaudevillian swing style.

'Heavy Petting' is an album about love. But this isn't your typical record of ballads and gentle lyrics. The Gentlemen expertly relate love to topics like The Depression, Prohibition, even their favorite sport, badminton. Sings Andy Bean on the toe-tapping "They Can't Prohibit Love," "That firewater in the moonshine dug a hole right through my liver/ But your lovin' makes every single one of my organs quiver." You will come across a few naughty innuendos, but never fear, The Gentlemen utter nary an indecent word.

Mike Breunling's Blog

However, I was born in a Catholic family and baptized as well. But I do not know what my beliefs are yet. I belive and I have my questions. Any way, I had one more wierd question I guess you could put it... how do you know where to point on the green screen when you are on the air?Thanks again,Amanda Langage-17

Thanks Amanda...sorry if my response to you was somewhat confusing...But in a nutshell, here is my opinion on the issue:Since the beginning of the earth and its atmosphere, there is evidence that the climate (or averaged weather conditions) has always fluctuated over various time periods, both up (warmer conditions) and down (cooler conditions). Currently, it appears we are in a period of slow warming. The question is whether human activities (specifically the burning of fossil fuels, including coal and petroleum products) will lead to a warming that will be irreversible.

Kevin Robinson 'Subaru Most Outstanding Athlete' of ESPN X Games 13 ...

CHERRY HILL, N.J., Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- In a ceremony today at Stocker Subaru in State College, Penn., Subaru representatives handed Kevin Robinson the keys to his 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX. The award was bestowed on Robinson by ESPN to go along with his title of "Subaru Most Outstanding Athlete of the Games" for his gold and bronze medal performance in bicycle motocross -- otherwise known as "BMX" -- at ESPN X Games 13 this past August.

"Kevin is an amazing athlete and it was great to see him take delivery of his new Subaru Impreza WRX," said Lee Grodsky, regional marketing manager, Subaru of America, Inc.