Blue Insanity: Cap&Trade Racist, DNC’s Crazy Survey, CA Budget Madness

Dear Readers:  Scanning the web today, I had an eco-update to my “Environmentalists Gone Wild” post of yesterday.  It seems that California activists are saying CALIFORNIA’S CAP AND TRADE IS RACIST!!!  Cool.

A coalition of environmental justice and civil rights activists has filed a complaint alleging that cap-and-trade provisions in California’s pioneering program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions discriminate against people of color.

Eco-activists vs race-baiters. I have just 2 words:

I wonder if Capt. Capitalism will consider this fight “well-rounded”. BUTT I digress.

Speaking of insanity, DNC-head Debbie Wasserman Schultz sent a survey to us Democrats. The odor of desperation so potent it managed to waft through the computer screen. Here is a sample of the questions asked: I suspect that the DNC will be none too happy with my response.

Also:

• Professor Jacobson seems particularly thrilled about another demographic breaking away from the blue fold.
• Lonely Conservative reports on a poll in which Obama is losing 25% of the black vote. INSANE!

The Democrats in Sacramento are also madly working to manipulate a series of spot-bills that will help making passing tax increases on us minions much easier. From Cal WatchDog: NEW: ‘Big three’ budget talks behind closed doors

Earlier in the year I reported about the 80 spot bills — empty bills awaiting bill language — which were moved from the legislative budget committees to the Assembly and Senate floors.

The now includes Proposition 25, majority vote by the Legislature to pass a budget; and Proposition 26, requiring a supermajority vote to pass fees and taxes by the Legislature. So the majority Democrats are making major policy changes and potential tax increases by dropping either in trailer-bill language.

By using the spot bills, and now budget-trailer bills, the majority party is avoiding the usual and legal committee process, and the public will never hear the policy and financial debate surrounding the bills.

This means legislators are not always given have a chance to weigh in on and debate the bills.

The tactic raises serious questions about the questionable lengths the majority party will go to jam through legislation without the historically and legal processes.

How can such insanity be dealt with? Per Alinksy Rule 5 — some mocking is in order. Fellow SLOBs Beers with Demo and Charles Caesar, and Conservative Mom Friend Zilla, have been leading the way with the newest Twitter-blitzkrieg: #characterstospare, mocking Obama’s lame insult of the Romney campaign.

              I LOVE US!!!

KT Cat has a series on European Insanity — that is, their debt crisis. His pieces on what is going on over across the pond are essential reading, as this is likely to really impact us hard. For example, in a bat-shit crazy-ass move, new French President Hollande just LOWERED the retirement to 60. I guess because German workers are just aces about working to 80 to support them.

Quick — call the civility police — I just used the words ass and shit.

To conclude, a little tune called “Blue Insanity”.

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Environmentalists Gone Wild!

Dear Readers: As an environmental health and safety professional, I am often comforting clients confused by compliance issues — who are trying to do the right thing, but the arcane language and regulatory quirks make it difficult to know what the right thing is.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants to help comfort the regulated, too. So, it seems they hired 2 new agents — Smith and Wesson. From Fox News: Man visited by armed EPA agents not satisfied with answers, wants agency changes

The North Carolina man visited by armed EPA agents after sending an email to a controversial agency official says he’s not satisfied with the explanations about what he considers an excessive response and that he wants changes to agency policies and procedures.
….
The incident unfolded after Keller sent an email April 27 to the EPA to try to reach Al Armendariz — a regional administrator who was under fire for a YouTube video post days earlier in which he said his enforcement strategy was to “crucify” executives from big oil and gas companies.

The letter to an EPA external affairs director read “Do you have Mr. Armendariz’s contact information so we can say hello? – Regards- Larry Keller.”

Keller said he was just asking as a taxpayer and denies being part of the Tea Party, though he acknowledges supporting the movement’s calls to defund the agency in part because it has outreached its intended mission.

“We are a customer of them,” he said.

Makes me wonder what the EPA officials asked of him, that he denied being a member of the Tea Party.

Meanwhile, in California, our eco-activists are just as dangerous, but in entirely different way. From Cal Wactchdog: NEW: Restoring the San Joaquin River for non-endangered red herring. It seems a fiscally responsible congressman doesn’t want to waste millions of dollars on introducing salmon into a river that isn’t ready for them. The key point of the article:

Thus far, $70 million has been spent on San Joaquin River restoration mainly on environmental studies with nothing to show for it. No physical improvements have been made to bring about restored salmon runs in the San Joaquin River. That’s $70 million that might as well have been flushed down the proverbial toilet to run to the sea.

This is one reason why California has spent $18.7 billion on five water bonds (Propositions 12, 13, 40, 50 and 84) since 2000 and has no added water to show for it. Instead, the bond monies have gone for open space acquisitions, greenscaping and environmental studies around upscale residential enclaves.

Another concern can be added, regarding those poor salmon — Radioactivity caused from the creation of Windfarms!

California’s deserts and mountains are rapidly being blanketed by wind farms with huge turning propellers that spin large magnetic coils to produce electricity. Rare Earth Elements are an essential ingredient needed to manufacture these magnets. REEs, such as Neodymium, Samarium, Gadolinium and Dysprosium, are in limited supply. Which brings into question both of Mr. Gore’s “renewability” and “sustainability” marketing claims.

California was the world’s largest producer of REEs until 2002, when the huge Mountain Pass open pit mine was closed after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined that 600,000 gallons of highly radioactive mining wastewater had been spilled onto the surrounding desert between 1984 and 1998. The water contained highly concentrated amounts of radium, which has a half-life of 1600 years, and thorium, which has a half-life of 14 billion years.

Today, 95 percent of all REEs are mined and processed in remote Western China. Once shrouded in secrecy by China’s autocratic leadership, the environmental dangers of unregulated REE mining have caused so much damage it is now an acknowledged national concern. According to Wang Caifeng, China’s Deputy director-general of the Materials Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, producing one ton of REEs creates 2,000 tons of mine tailings. It is also estimated that, within Baotou, where China’s primary rare earth production occurs, REE enterprises produce approximately 2.5 billion gallons of highly polluted wastewater per year and most of that waste water is “discharged without being effectively treated, which not only contaminates potable water for daily living, but also contaminates the surrounding water environment and irrigated farmlands.”

Frankly, I long for the return to reliance on more traditional forms of energy, but it seems the wait may be in vain: In oil-producing Texas, the tasty treat for roadrunners is being used as an excuse by eco-activists to shut down petroleum exploration.

I don’t know if the entire country is an idiotocracy, but certainly a case can be made that the bureaucrats who have taken over our environmental management have established one.  So our newly graduated teens may not be special, but they are thirsty, radioactive, and targeted.  Sweet!!!

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EPA’s Crucifixion Chief Falls on Sword while “Green” Companies Pollute!!!!

Dear Readers: I had a lovely chat with LaDona Harvey this afternoon, as she was covering the case of the EPA Region VI administrator, Al Armendariz, who stated he “crucified” businesses as part of his regulatory compliance practices (Update – check out the conversation by clicking HERE — I on on about minute 20:00). She and Slash were amused by my compare-&-contrast of Rome to the EPA. Happily, I was able to report to her that Armendariz has fallen on his sword (courtesy of Bryan Preston/Pajamas Media).

The Obama administration’s top environmental official in the oil-rich South and Southwest region has resigned after Republicans targeted him over remarks made two years ago when he used the word “crucify” to describe his approach to enforcement. In a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson sent Sunday, Al Armendariz says he regrets his words and stresses that they do not reflect his work as administrator of the five-state region including Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

A review of Armendariz’ record shows a resume weak in practical science and business experience, blended with close connections to extreme leftist environmental activists! Perfect choice for Team Obama’s supervision of the energy-rich states!!!

One down, so many more to go (e.g., Holder’s Answer to ‘Fast and Furious’ Records Requests: Blank Pages)!!!! Now, this is a Roman approach involving elite, arrogant, power-mad bureaucrats that I can get behind. But, I digress.

Keeping the environmental focus, Lonely Conservative notes that the Obama-blessed green energy corporation that was going to usher in an era clean energy has left behind a bunch of hazardous waste (in addition to the enormous debt that we taxpayers are going to cover): The Fremont Fire Department’s Jay Swardenski oversees the cleanup. He said some materials, such as cadmium , are toxic, and hard to dispose of. “They don’t degrade at all, so we want to make sure we don’t allow these materials to get into the environment,” he said.

Jammie Wearing Fools has more here.

And if the “Curse of the Eco-Tryant” news wasn’t enough, comes data from a recent study that shows that Large Windfarms Cause Global Warming. Even though the application of global-warming prevention policies are toxic, both Professor Jacobson and I find the irony highly entertaining. Based on a scientific analysis of the data, I predict that Obama’s “Green Energy Campaign” is going to be as successful as his new “Forward” marketing strategy.

A perfect trifecta of complete environmental failure!!!

Tomorrow, I will focus on a trifecta of California failure (unions and their platinum pensions, regulations, and Brown).  As Mark Meckler notes, Big Government is Killing California.  Meanwhile, enjoy this YouTube clip of the “Death of Anthony and Cleopatra” from the iconic Elizabeth Taylor Cleopatra.

As an aside, one of the primary health and safety rules I teach is read the label. Political Junkie Mom has an opinion of idiots who fail to do so, forcing others to pay for their stupidity.

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Rome’s Bureaucrats Better than the EPA’s at Increasing Prosperity!

Dear Readers:  Being an environmental health and safety professional, I am often called to assist companies preparing for agency inspections.  It is a very stressful time, as my clients strive to come into full compliance with arcane requirements and regulatory minutia that seems to have no bearing on science or common sense.  However, all of my clients work hard to create the healthiest environment and safest work place possible.  So, the Goddess of Flaming Capitalism is in a rage today over the tactless, soulless, vile words of an EPA bureaucrat:  Exciting new EPA enforcement method revealed: Single out a few offenders and crucify them

(Via Weasel Zippers and the Foundry) A video surfaced on Wednesday showing a regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency comparing his agency’s philosophy with respect to regulation of oil and gas companies to brutal tactics employed by the ancient Roman army to intimidate its foes into submission.

EPA’s “philosophy of enforcement,” said EPA’s Region VI Administrator Al Armendariz, is “kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean: they’d go into little Turkish towns somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they’d run into, and they’d crucify them.”

“That town was really easy to manage for the next few years,” Armendariz added.

I invite you to go to fellow SLOB Word Warrior for the video clip featuring this buffoon. UPDATE: HOT AIR recovers the video that the EPA seemingly wanted to have disappear. Yes, the EPA is covered in shame!!!!

I would have to strongly disagree with Armendariz on comparing post-crucifixion results. For you see, the Roman legions often restructured civic management so that there was even more prosperity (e.g. Roman Egypt was extremely productive, as can be attested to by the “Valley of the Golden Mummies” that were the burials of regular merchants and farmers). The Romans brought in a quasi-meritocracy, in which a slave could eventually become free and wealthy (e.g., Gaius Julius Zoilus, the freed slave of Julius Caesar who founded the affluent and cultured city of Aphrodisias). The Romans helped unify their world via language and culture. Hell, they even allowed children to work on farms!!!

There is no way in hell any of Rome’s post-takeover accomplishments resembles those of the Obama Administration’s. And to compare Rome’s bureaucratic efficiencies with those of of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Labor, Transportation Security Agency (or most other government entities outside of our military) is incomprehensible. And, as a bonus, we now have cultural/race division galore. Instead of meritocracy, Team Obama imposes rampant crony capitalism.

Also, comare PAX ROMANA with POX OBAMA, with the legacy of the Arab Spring and all the other foreign policy chestnuts we will be dealing with for many years!!!

Check out the “If I wanted America to Fail” video via Lipstick Underground for more instances of ineptitude and incompetence that differentiates  the success trajectory of Rome versus the full-of-fail approach of Team Obama/Big Government Minions.

As another example to refute the Armendariz assertion, while Romans had problems dealing with their barbarian invasions, at least they didn’t sue the Governors of provinces that decided to stem the flow of invaders. SoCal Tax Revolt Coalition’s Dawn Wildman had a chance to opine today about the Supreme Court’s hearing on Arizona’s SB 1070:

San Diegans on high court’s take on Ariz. immigration law

This goes to a question of states’ rights, including whether a state has the right to maintain and keep its citizens safe and secure its borders.

We knew Justice Antonin Scalia may be on board for at least most of the law and even justices Clarence Thomas and John Roberts. With Justice Elena Kagan recusing herself, as she should, we could see a divided court at 4-4. I hope this isn’t the case.

The justices seemed worried about the effect of SB 1070 on the Fourth Amendment. They showed real due diligence when it comes to making sure the Constitution is followed in its totality and not just the parts one group or another would like to see supported. I was impressed with how Paul Clement (representing Arizona) handled the questions.

One of the most stunning and interesting aspects of the questioning revealed that the federal government does not seem to be enforcing current laws for dealing with illegal immigration. We are cautiously optimistic that Arizona’s law will remain and other states will then secure their borders.

I will admit that Obama has a certain celebrity complex, like Emperor Nero or Caligula. And Israel was a pain in Rome’s posterior, like it seems to be for Obama. But, I digress with these meaningless similarities.

At least the Roman senators had the decency to offer straight-up bribes for votes. Charles Caesar is following the story of a Spanish firm that is poised to be put in charge of this country’s electronic voting: Scytl… a [Spanish] company which purchased SOE and now will process U.S. election results overseas. From the Scytl About page and confirmed here…Prior to joining Scytl, Mr. Valles was Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of GlobalNet, a NASDAQ publicly-traded telecommunications company headquartered in Chicago. A quick look at Obama donors from KPMG hits the jackpot. Four pages of Obama donors is definitive of Senior Manager Pere Valles’ team. Anyone who has worked in a consulting company can attest to the “birds of a feather” associations. While not a direct connection to Barack Obama, this is circumstantial evidence.

And while the Romans were game to eat nearly any living thing, including dormice in honey and brown bear, there is no evidence that Fido was on the menu.

VS

As the data plainly indicate, Rome knew how to create wealth. And, despite the fact that Roman soldiers had little qualms about inflicting pain, I would also argue they showed more compassion during their crucifixions than the EPA does during theirs.

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CA Congressional Office: ““The environment is much more important than jobs”

Dear Readers: A friend of the Shrine decided to give a call to the office of Karen Bass, freshman congresswoman from the blue CA-33/West LA County area. He notes:

On her internet site, she has a video of the “Faces of the unemployed”. She is the cause of much of the unemployment in California stemming way back to the formaldehyde issue I faced and thousands of others in this state as well as the diesel rule under the guise of the California Air Resources Board. I called her office in Washington and told her people that I would like to be on that video and her actions as Speaker of the House in California was in the most part responsible for my demise financially. In the words of her spokesman: “The environment is much more important than jobs”.

I wanted to take the time to introduce Californians to Karen Bass. Her biography should raise red flags to Californians who expect their representatives to focus on job creation — especially as Gallup reports that the real unemployment rate is over 9% and the “underemployment” rate is close to 20% (mindful that the Great Depression rates were 25% at their height).

• She is the leader of the California African-Americans for Obama.
• Bass served as a California Co-chair of Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.
• As a member of the California Assembly, she Bass served as the chair of the Select Committee on Foster Care and as vice chair of the Legislative Black Caucus.
• When Speaker Fabian Nunez was termed out of the California Assembly (she served in the 47th CA Assembly District and was Majority Whip), she was voted in as Speaker.  Subsequently, she stated: “The Republicans were essentially threatened and terrorized against voting for revenue. Now [some] are facing recalls. They operate under a terrorist threat: ‘You vote for revenue and your career is over.’ I don’t know why we allow that kind of terrorism to exist. I guess it’s about free speech, but it’s extremely unfair.”

During her time in the California Assembly, I don’t see any record of service on teams involving budget or small business expansion.  I see no evidence of any thing resembling serious interest in “job creation” beyond platitudes and YouTube videos.  Let’s take a look at her current record as Congresswoman, shall we:

Karen Bass – Open Congress:

• 8 Sponsored Bills (Ranks of 440) 0 Made Into Law (Ranks of 440)
• 196 Co-Sponsored Bills (Ranks of 440) 6 Made Into Law (Ranks of 440)
• Her most recent sponsored bills deal with: Child Abuse program (reworking regulations so that the Federal Government has more power than the state); aTask Force for assessing Human Trafficking (as if we didn’t all realize it is a hideous problem without spending more tax dollars); And a commission to “accelerate the end of breast cancer” (I am curious how, precisely, a commission is going to speed-up the research related to the cure of any cancer; such organizations are notorious for slowing things down).

Let’s see how she did during actual votes on other congressional bills.  Did she support the Keystone Pipeline which would have created several thousand American jobs and eventually lessened the cost of gas for her constituents?  Did she vote for a freeze in congressional pay? Did she support California citizens in the nearby Central Valley crying for water?  See for yourself.

Plainly, Bass serves Obama and promotes victim-oriented politics.  If you want real solutions to the job crisis, there will be none coming from her office.  I sure hope the people of her district, with the above-average 11% unemployment rate, get informed and realize what a bill of goods they are being sold.

Furthermore, it seems neither jobs nor the environment are important to Bass.  Her sole focus: The re-election of Obama.  There seems to be a lot of that going around.

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A few news and notes that caught the attention of the Goddess of Capitalism:

Cupcake ATMs On The Way : Sprinkles, a gourmet cupcake chain with 10 locations nationally, is set to open its first 24-hour cupcake vending machine on March 9 at its original store in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Hat-tip: WIBW

• TWITCHY?  Legal Insurrection is doing Twitchy, as am I. It is Michelle Malkin’s new site, which is a compendium and analysis of Tweets.
• The Transfiguration and the Christian victory of the Muslims during the 1456 Siege of Belgrade.
• HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY.
• Special Series: Bankruptcy Didn’t Make the Sky Fall In Orange County

SLOB STORIES

• WC Varones: The Compleat Student Loan Scam Primer
• Lipstick Underground: KONY 2012 – LET THE DONATOR BEWARE.  Note – read this piece, as it seems that the complete story is not actually found in the now-popular glossy video.
• Left Coast Rebel:  Obama’s Harvard “Diversity” Video in which he honors a race-baiting professor whose policies he well and truly adopted.
• KT CAT: A Little Bit More On Benton Harbor
• Beers with Demo: Video clip of the day (Obama’s Twin Deficits)

Mark Meckler posts this: Incumbents Fear Citizen Backlash – Victory for Campaign for Primary Accountability

Finally, B-Daddy has this: Math Strikes San Diego Unified

Why the SDUSD assumed that they would have the money for these pay raises in the future is unknown to me. Much of the district’s funding comes from the California state government. The state’s finances are not improving. Given our high rates of taxation of all kinds, I am sure that California will lag any national recovery.

The unions are resisting any concessions, of course, and seem willing to put their heads in the sand and let the layoffs roll on. Meanwhile Scott Barnett of the SDUSD considers the nuclear option, if only to get the unions to bargain in their own best interests…

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Tea Party WINS: Locally, State-wide, Nationally, and INTERNATIONALLY!

Dear Readers: My last post featured mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio, who initiated a sensible and well-developed SAN DIEGO PENSION REFORM Ballot measure in an attempt to stave off fiscal disaster for the city.

Therefore, I was delighted to hear LaDona Harvey report that, despite a union-backed attempted to remove the measure from the June election, a judge has ruled that the properly filed petition to place the roadmap in front of the voters can go forward. Details can be found here: Judge: Pension Reform Initiative Will Stay On June Ballot.

I don’t expect the union elites to just let this go, however: They will cheat, manipulate, and prevaricate to protect their power and perks.

Speaking of unions, let’s now feature a win for parents against the enormous behemoth that is the education bureaucracy! Mark Meckler reports on a new law:

Parent Trigger Laws Force Education Reform on Underperforming Schools

This is from the website, ParentRevolution.org: “What is the California Parent Trigger?

The California Parent Trigger is an historic new law that gives parents in California the right to organize and demand a real change at their child’s failing school. Under the Parent Trigger, parents at persistently low-performing schools can organize and transform their school based on what’s good for children, not adults. If they are able to gather 51% of parent signature at their school their district must implement one of four turnaround models (including in-district reforms such as staff changes and out-of-district reforms such as charter conversion).”

In other news, I am delighted to see some serious citizen-pushback against eco-activists. For example, KFMB-CBS-8 News tried to generate some faux outrage against the California Fish and Game President, who legally bagged himself a fairly sizable cougar. I was delighted to see so many comments supportive of the hunter’s legal right to hunt. I will also point out that mountain lions are becoming habituated to humans, and some of these powerful animals are stalking us as prey. Frankly, I like being at the pinnacle of the food-chain, and I am not inclined to let eco-activists persuade me otherwise. For a reminder that this threat is real, here are some news clips:

Mountain lion reported near schools
SAN DIEGO – Two schools and a Boys and Girls Club were locked down Monday after a mountain lion sighting was called into authorities, deputies said. The mountain lion was seen on Winecreek Road in 4S Ranch just before 1 p.m. causing Oak Valley Middle School and Stone Ranch Elementary School to keep students inside, according to the San Diego Sheriffs Department.

Big Bend mountain lion attacks boy, 6

A 6-year-old boy was attacked by a mountain lion while walking near the lodge at Chisos Basin in Big Bend National Park with his family Sunday night. The boy suffered non-life-threatening injuries — scrapes and puncture wounds to his face, according to park officials. His father was able to fight off the cat by stabbing it with a pocket knife.

I am second to no-one (well, perhaps KT) in my love of felines. But I personally want cougar hunts re-established in California. We need these animals to relearn their fear of us. They aren’t pets: They are high-end predators.I do not want any child sacrificed on the altar of eco-activism.

I am also bone-tired of reasonable fuel-policy being scuttled based on the theology of man-made global warming. It seems that the citizens of California got a break, as the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the U.S. House of Representatives authorized the Secretary of Interior to resume oil and gas leasing off the Santa Barbara/Ventura and Santa Maria coasts beginning no later than July 1, 2014. Hopefully, with a new Senate and new President in elected this November, this may actually reopening would re-employ Californians.

In related news, Shrine friend Roger Cohen is, again, featured in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece: Concerned Scientists Reply on Global Warming

In summary, science progresses by testing predictions against real world data obtained from direct observations and rigorous experiments. The stakes in the global-warming debate are much too high to ignore this observational evidence and declare the science settled. Though there are many more scientists who are extremely well qualified and have reached the same conclusions we have, we stress again that science is not a democratic exercise and our conclusions must be based on observational evidence.

The computer-model predictions of alarming global warming have seriously exaggerated the warming by CO2 and have underestimated other causes. Since CO2 is not a pollutant but a substantial benefit to agriculture, and since its warming potential has been greatly exaggerated, it is time for the world to rethink its frenzied pursuit of decarbonization at any cost.

This publication is especially timely, especially in light of recently uncovered Man-Made Global Warming Fraud. Blog-father Instapundit summarizes the latest installment of scientific quackery related to this — Global Warming Fanatic Blames Victims for His Abuse (Click Here for Glenn’s list of related links).

Finally, there are reports of a Worldwide Tea Party being planned (rumor has it April 14th). Caesar Charles has a report and a video featuring citizen activists working for fiscal sanity, smaller government, and personal liberty around the world.

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SLOB highlights!

• WC Varones: Devaluation is like the weather
• Left Coast Rebel: Rick Santorum Unveiled
• Beers with Demo:  Your Tax Dollars at Work
• B-Daddy:  Concerns over China

Two last notes:

1) I am sick of being viewed as a mobile pleasure vehicle by both of our national parties. I AM TOTALLY UNCONCERNED ABOUT NOT HAVING ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTIVES for a wide variety of reasons. See my list of concerns ABOVE! Lipstick Underground hits it out of the park with this piece: Quit Making Me Root for Romney.As the Final Four are gearing up for yet another debate, let’s hope they have balls enough to return the dialog to where it belongs: TRUE CRONY CAPITALISM and CORRUPTION, JOBS, NATIONAL SECURITY, AND SENSIBLE BUDGET POLICY.

I will be ranting more about this shortly.

2) After venting, I now direct you to Word Warrior for a little humor: NEW TERMS FOR AMERICAN WORKPLACE. A sample —

BLAMESTORMING: Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.

SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.

ASSMOSIS: The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.

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CA X-Mas: 3 Occupoopers, 2 Mountain Lions, and a San Diego Petition Drive

Dear Readers: Between the Young Prince’s 10th Birthday Party, my profit-center activities, and Horemheb’s engagement in Santa Barbara, I have hit the stress level I normally feel Dec. 23rd. So, yesterday, I decided to engage in a little light reading. There were some real chestnuts to be roasted!

The Occupoopers decided their little Civic Center drama needed a larger stage. So, they took their show on the road to the West Coast Ports in an attempt to stifle capitalism. Beers with Demos has a report with pictures:

#OccupyFail – the Longshoreman continued to transport goods to consumers (especially those evil, gas-guzzling, greenhouse-gas producing, demon trucks for red-neck Tea Party types).

Lipstick Underground had a running blog on the whole event yesterday, with additional news about Occupy Oakland and Occupy Portland.

UPDATE 2: Livestream has been down for a while. Occupy Wall Street tweeted that their equipment has been confiscated by the police. I can only assume that is why the San Diego feed is down. Alternative SDO livestream is also not working. Weather may be a factor. OSD Twitter and FB pages aren’t being updated with much intel. Looks like Oakland and Portland Ports have been shut down (not surprisingly)…but there are indications that police plan to move into Oakland protest en-mass. Sounds like Long Beach/Los Angeles remain mostly open. No word from any of the Hawaiian ports. No word from inland blockade actions.

UPDATE 3: Occupy San Diego twitter feed announcing that the blockade will continue tomorrow…big surprise.

Readers of my blog will recall that I presciently predicted that San Diego would experience more shark sitings and attacks, because the sharks are attracted to the seal lions that are now allowed to frolic in beaches close to those used by people. Now, we have to worry about another predator. Based in the recommendation of Glenn Reynolds/Instapundit, I purchased and read “Beast in the Garden” (shop at Glenn’s site for all your X-Mas needs). In a nutshell, because of eco-fantasies, rules have been created that have allowed big cats to get habituated to humans; these predators are now viewing us as prey animals.

One week after finishing this book, I came across this news story: Mountain lion sighting in San Diego County closes two schools

Two schools in northern San Diego County were on lockdown for more than an hour Monday after a mountain lion was spotted prowling in the area.

Students at an elementary school and middle school in the Rancho Bernardo area were kept inside while state Department of Fish and Game employees and sheriff’s deputies combed nearby canyons. A Sheriff”s Department helicopter aided in the search.

Unless Californians actually vote to permit some level of sensible Mountain Lion hunting, future stories are likely to end with a person being killed and eaten. This would real sour up someone’s holiday.

Speaking of California votes, SoCal Tax Revolt Coalition/San Diego Tea Party Patriots has been busy. Dawn Wildman, one of our co-founders, has helped organize a “Stop the Dream Act” petition drive. The details:

Day: Wednesday, Dec. 14th.
Time: 3-7 pm.

San Diego – Walmart
3382 Murphy Canyon Rd (off I-15 at Aero Dr.)
San Diego, CA 92123
Come sign the petition and meet Assemblymen Brain Jones, and Tim Donnelly.

Carlsbad – Westfield Mall
East Parking Lot
2525 El Camino Real (just south of Hwy. 78)
Carlsbad, CA

AB 131, the so-called “Dream Act”, would give thousands of illegal aliens state grant money to attend California colleges and would cost California taxpayers an estimated $65 million per year at a time when the state is drowning in debt. The referendum to repeal AB 131 has bi-partisan support statewide and aims to kill this nightmare legislation before it takes effect in January 2013 by putting on the ballot in November 2012. It simply is not fair to penalize U.S. citizens and legal immigrants by subsidizing students who are in the country illegally. I sure like voters — legal voters.

In keeping with the spirit of the season:

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“Some people wanted champagne and caviar when they should have had beer and hot dogs”

Dear Readers: I hope the Thanksgiving break was a festive one. Like some of my other favorite pundits, I wanted to take today to draw your attention to some news and posts that may have passed by quickly while we were all on a tryptophan high.

It seems that President Vacation and First Lady Fiesta were snacking and gaming while a good portion of the world went into the crapper. This news and image comes via Tammy Bruce: The Absent President: The World Burns, Obama Plays

Via Tammy Bruce

One key element that I wanted to highlight from Tammy’s synopsis: FEDS WARN UNEMPLOYMENT RATE COULD DOUBLE GREAT DEPRESSION!!!!

I warned last week that a recession and higher unemployment were about to hit the U.S. economy. On Tuesday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis cut their estimate of growth in the third quarter ending September from 2.5% to 2%. Then on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve rocked financial markets by forcing America’s 31 largest U.S. banks to “stress test” balance sheets to determine their capability to withstand an 8% drop in the economy; which would cause home prices to plunge by 21%, and unemployment rate to jump to 13%.

I highlighted the key sentence. I suspect that the 8% drop test stems from the impending collapse of the Euro, and the fact China’s expanding markets are so closely tied to Europe. The potential impact on the American economy and its banks is the reason I think corruptocrat Barney Frank is not seeking re-election — a rat fleeing a sinking ship.

From: http://astuteblogger.blogspot.com/

Before you get too happy, Smitty of the Other McCain reminds everyone who will be taking over as senior Dem on the Banking Committee.

I had a chat with Professor Athena this morning, as I think the media and the Obama Administration are working in tandem to divert our attention as the the dire nature of this situation. Professor Athena assured me that US Banks were better capitalized and not heavily invested in the Euro. However, we both suspect that Europe will suck the rest of the world into a a whirlpool of fiscal chaos.

From: The Cotton Boll Conspiracy

Another item that caught my eye this weekend was local. It seems our band of blithering fiscal idiots, known as Occupy San Diego, thinks the most sensible approach to promoting their message is terrorizing women and children. Lipstick Underground has this report, which includes video, on this group invading a Wal-Mart on Black Friday.

What better way to recruit the downtrodden of the 99% than by ruining their best chance to purchase affordable shoes, toys, appliances and clothing…at least that’s what the wing-nuts over at Occupy San Diego think. They filled 75 carts full of product, blocked the check-out aisles, chanted about the evils of low-priced shopping, and left their mess for the shoppers to weave through and employees to clean up. T…

And, as a mother, what horrifies me most, is how they boxed in families during the stunt. One mother with a stroller, a small boy and a baby in her arms, has no where to go. If that was me, I would have been angry and terrified. One wrong move by anyone in that crowd and things would have turned dangerous in a flash.

It’s so bad, even tender-hearted B-Daddy has given up on the Occupoopers.

A beloved friend of the Shrine sent this Wall Street Journal piece detailing more shenanigans related to Climate-Gate:

Last week, 5,000 files of private email correspondence among several of the world’s top climate scientists were anonymously leaked onto the Internet. Like the first “climategate” leak of 2009, the latest release shows top scientists in the field fudging data, conspiring to bully and silence opponents, and displaying far less certainty about the reliability of anthropogenic global warming theory in private than they ever admit in public.

Fellow SLOB Charles Caesar prepped a graphic that sums it nicely:

Hat-Tip: Doo Doo Economics

I wanted to give a shout-out to Beers with Demo today, whose blog mysteriously disappeared this weekend. We suspect hacking. This has sent a chill throughout our pundit pack, and we are making plans to address potential leftist tactics to silence us during the 2012 election cycle.

My title today comes from a quote from President Dwight D. Eisenhower. I suspect the Obama’s would amend it thusly: “Some people deserve champagne and caviar, others beer and hot dogs. We deserve it all.”

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FIRE on CARB: Update on Tea Party Hero, UCLA’s Jim Enstrom!

Dear Readers: As Horemheb is enjoying “FUNemployment” under Obama’s economy of hope-for-change, I have been focused on building my consulting/technical writing business. So, I have had neither the time or energy to opine as often before, especially in light of the disheartening news that our elite representatives don’t seem to be adopting the proper Tea Party tone regarding the economy. However, I just got some news that lightened my heart, and I had to share with you.

CALIFORNIA HERO, DR. JAMES ENSTROM

FIRE IS BACKING CARB WHISTLEBLOWER DR. JIM ENSTROM, AND HAS MANAGED TO EXTEND IS CONTRACT THAT WAS UNDER THREAT UNTIL APRIL 4. FIRE is the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. It has always been one of my personal favorite organizations, and I am thrilled it is supporting Dr. Enstrom. The full details on FIRE’s case can be found by clicking HERE.

CLICK HERE for a link to an exceptional video:

In 2005 Enstrom authored an extensive study that found no relationship between diesel particulates and premature deaths. He says his study, as well as other evidence that agrees with it, have been ignored by an agency bent on passing ever more stringent regulations regardless of their effect on California’s economy.

Enstrom blew the whistle on CARB for, among other things, failing to publicize that the lead author of the study that was used to justify the new regulations falsified his education history (he purchased his PhD from an online diploma mill).

But UCLA didn’t come to Enstrom’s defense. In fact, officials informed him that, after 34 years at the university, he was out of a job.

“The environmental regulation machine in powerful in California,” says Adam Kissel of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which is defending Enstrom in the fight to keep his job. “When Dr. Enstrom went up against that machine he was retaliated against.”

Even better news comes via Hot Air today: CA legislators threaten hearings if UCLA fires CARB whistleblower:

Enstrom will meet with University of California chancellor Gene Block on Monday to start the appeal of his dismissal, but that may not be the last word. According to FIRE, which has come to Enstrom’s defense, twelve members of the state Assembly have warned Block that they will hold public hearings into the UC system’s handling of academic freedom if Enstrom’s termination is not rescinded.

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT UCLA’S BLOCK AND CHIME IN WITH YOUR PERSONAL SUPPORT OF DR. ENSTROM.

Just a reminder: SoCal Tax Revolt Coalition has been of the forefront of supporting Dr. Enstrom. To review our early work, please check out my piece detailing CARB’s nefariousness in August, 2009: <a href="https://templeofmut.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/california-eco-bureaucrats%E

“None of this is real,” said the then acting California Air Resources Board (CARB) Scientific Review Panel (SRP) Chairman John Froines during a 1998 Scientific Review Board Meeting. During the discussions, panel chose to rely on bad data to craft regulations now killing small businesses throughout the state. The comment referred to the data being considered as the basis for developing rules that controlled levels of particulate matter from diesel exhaust. Though the numbers were unreal, the unintended consequences of CARB rule enforcement based on voodoo science is very real.2%80%99-voodoo-science-kills-jobs/”>California Eco-Bureaucrats’ Voodoo Science Kills Jobs

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Speaking of Heroes, check out a few from Japan on my faith blog: Japan’s Heroes, Guardian Angels, and Blessed Virgin of Akita. It has links to donation sites specifically recommended by the former Honorary Counsel General of Japan.

W.C. Varones also has a great take on Dr. Enstrom’s situation.

Beers with Demos has a great review of the news this week.

B-daddy cover’s CA’s own Darryl Issa’s request for Freedom of Information Act items being igonored fully by this administration.

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California Climate Law RUNS OUT OF GAS!

Dear Readers: Regular visitors to the Shrine followed the efforts of California’s Tea Party groups (including the Southern California Tax Revolt Coalition) to promote Proposition 23 in November’s General Election. Proposition 23 would have delayed the implementation of California’s version of Cap&Trade (aka AB-32 – Global Warming Solutions Act). Sadly, it went down to defeat (and, even more sadly, it seems our opponents think it hurt Texas oil companies more that it will hurt California’s citizens). However, there was a proposed ruling issued yesterday that gives our team good hope that the impact of the economy-crushing AB-32 will be nullified:

Calif. cap-trade plan dealt blow by S.F. judge, by Wyatt Buchanan

The California Air Resources Board violated state environmental law in 2008 when it adopted a comprehensive plan to reduce greenhouse gases and again last year when it passed cap-and-trade regulations, a San Francisco Superior Court judge has ruled in a tentative decision.

….In his decision, Superior Court Judge Ernest Goldsmith ruled that the air board approved the larger plan to implement AB32 prior to completing the required environmental review, and that the board failed to adequately consider alternatives to cap and trade.

Superior Court Judge Ernest Goldsmith determine that the air board approved the blarge-scale implementation plans for AB32 without properly conducting an environmental review or considering alternatives to Cap and trade.

Hat-tip: http://www.prisonplanet.com

I must note that the plaintiffs are not exactly Tea Party types: The plaintiffs, who include “the Association of Irritated Residents”, initially backed AB32 and were opponents of Proposition 23. It seems these plaintiffs have problems with the ethics of how the Global Warming Solutions Act would be implemented.

Welcome to the Tea Party, my friends. You all may want to check out this website, to get a full scope of the eco-tyrants that YOUR ideology has inflicted on the rest of California’s wealth producers.

Anthony Watts of Watts Up with That (a great website mingling science, culture, and commentary) had an assessment of the Proposition 23 battle that should be reviewed by ALL CALIFORNIANS in light of the proposed ruling: A money quote is: And while we are on the subject of money, I want to say that money has turned the Prop 23 issue into a veritable circus here. TV radio and web is being carpet bombed with anti prop 23 ads. It’s so bad that some other political candidates are complaining they can’t buy ad space on radio and TV.

One of the main anti-Prop 23 contributors was Hollywood’s James Cameron (he of the Titanic fame), who will never have to worry about making payroll for a small business nor making a decent salary for his family. Never forget the Ruling Class includes entertainment elites!

The rest of Watt’s analysis is essential Tea Party reading (click HERE to do so).

While I am not thrilled at who brought to lawsuit, the fact is I am delighted with the outcome. I will keep an eye on this situation closely. It seems like CARB isn’t the only rogue agency we need to worry about, either. They are all around is, it seems.

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