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Author: Leslie Eastman

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Leslie Eastman

I am an Environmental Health and Safety Professional, as well as a science/technical writer for a variety of news and professional publications. I have been a citizen activist since 2009, and am one of the co-founders of the San Diego-based group, Southern California Tax Revolt Coalition.

A shocking 11-page letter by a former apostolic nuncio (a papal diplomat) to the United States has rocked the Catholic world after it was widely released last week. The testimony offered by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, 77, who served as apostolic nuncio in Washington D.C. from 2011 to 2016, accuses several senior church officials of complicity in covering up allegations of sexual abuse of minors and young men by former Archbishop of Washington D.C., Theodore McCarrick. Viganò also claims that Pope Francis knew about sanctions imposed on then-Cardinal McCarrick by Pope Benedict XVI, chose to ignore those sanctions, and allowed McCaarrick to become a power-player in determining church appointments in this country.

There is a fascinating new analysis showing that despite the American unemployment rate at historically low levels, there has not been a significant drop in food stamp use.
But while the economy has improved dramatically, food-stamp enrollment has not, declining just 17 percent while the unemployment rate fell three times faster — 62 percent. Why the disconnect? Critics say states are milking the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), overstating their needs, while the Trump administration is approving state “work waivers” it doesn’t have to.

The last time we checked on the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the group was at the center of a blue-vs-blue drama after it hired a bikini clad women to hand out non-dairy treats to the crowd at Wimbledon. Feminists were angry, claiming the organization was objectifying women. Now, in response to pressure from PETA, Mondelez International (the parent company of Nabisco), has redesigned the packaging of its Barnum's Animals crackers to "free" them from cages.
PETA, which has been protesting the use of animals in circuses for more than 30 years, wrote a letter to Mondelez in the spring of 2016 calling for a redesign.

Tuesday was a big day for the American court system, as the Paul Manafort trial concluded with verdicts and Trump's personal attorney plead guilty to an assortment of charges that are still being analyzed. While the media focused on the legal drama on the East Coast, a Congressman from the Southern California area and his wife were indicted on campaign finance charges and fraud.

I have been watching events on the Korean Peninsula since the conclusion of the Singapore Summit between President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un, trying to determine what the eventual outcome of that meeting would be. I have come to the conclusion that the two Koreas are like the children in a messy divorce, and are tired of being pawns in a larger political drama between the two "parents". In part, that assessment comes from statements from South Korean officials that they want the U.S. and China to declare a formal end to the Korean War.

Last August, I reviewed conservative pundit and film maker Dinesh D’Souza’s book: The Big Lie – Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left. His latest film is based on The Big Lie as well as his most recent book,  Death of a Nation: Plantation Politics and the Making of the Democratic Party. The result is the recently released movie, "Death of a Nation": Can We Save America a Second Time?".

Last week, I blogged that U.S. Senator Feinstein had a "driver" who turned out to be a Chinese spy who reported back to government officials about local politics. While she endeavored to minimize the impact of this individual to her work, The Daily Caller did some digging and it turns out he was substantially more involved with her office than chauffeuring California's Senior US Senator to events.
All the details of a former, longtime Sen. Dianne Feinstein staffer who’s accused of relaying information to Chinese intelligence services while working for the California Democrat point to Russell Lowe, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation has determined.

Vice President Mike Pence has officially laid out the plan to begin creating a military command dedicated to space, establishing the “Space Force” as the sixth branch of the U.S. military. If everything goes according to this plan, the Space Force would be in place by 2020, making it the first new branch of the military established since the Air Force was formed shortly after World War II.

Should Republican congressional candidate Elizabeth Heng win California's 16th district seat this November, I might suggest she send the social justice brigade in charge of monitoring Facebook videos a big "Thank You." The social media giant's video team blocked one of her ads, but changed their mind once they received backlash.