California's legislature had a long night on August 31 as just before midnight it rejected a measure brought before it to ban the use of plastic shopping bags.  Part of the conflict involved a heated debate over how much California wants to control people's personal choices.  Already on the books in the state are such laws as forcing the caloric content of food to be displayed prominently and the banning of soft drink vending machines on school grounds.  Part of this proposed plastic bag ban would have included a fee for each bag and would have eventually forced customers to bring their own bags.  What kind of BS is this?  Remember that this is the state that once proposed an additional fee at the pump per gallon to pay for auto insurance.  California already has as many laws controlling its population's actions as most communist countries---one of the many reasons businesses and people are leaving the highly-tarnished "Golden State".