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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.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on September 05, 2017 15 Comments
This year, California has faced the possibility of a dam break catastrophe and wildfires have hit our state hard. Furthermore, our state makes an attractive target for an increasingly belligerent North Korea. But apparently nothing is as urgent for our legislators to address than transgender issues.
California lawmakers are in the middle of discussing a new bill that would introduce a third gender option to California IDs.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on September 05, 2017 40 Comments
There are days that I feel that I am living in the Twilight Zone. Then, I remember I live in California, the place where the state capital OK's a plan to give $1.5 million to gang members so they won't kill.
Following a fatal shooting last weekend in a city park, the Sacramento city council unanimously approved a controversial program called Advance Peace in an effort to address a recent spike in violence.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on September 03, 2017 4 Comments
The Houston area is filled with heavy industry, including numerous chemical manufacturing and processing plants. In the wake of flooding from the rains of Hurricane Harvey, one of the plants in Crosby (about 25 miles from the city) burned when trailers holding highly unstable chemicals used in the production of plastics and paint exploded, burning the flood-damaged plant. While initial fire was quenched, the containers are continuing to rupture and ignite, and responders have had to fight a series of release incidents at this facility.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on September 01, 2017 8 Comments
Of all California's national-level politicians, I consider Senator Dianne Feinstein the cream-of-the-crop. Since our crops now include marijuana, you can gauge the quality level for yourself. For example, her reply about President Donald Trump to a constituent's ill-conceived question was as sane and diplomatic as one could reasonably achieve in San Fransisco.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on August 31, 2017 24 Comments
Despite predictions of economic doom and gloom in the wake of Donald Trump's presidential election win, things are actually looking quite sunny. A revised estimate showed gross domestic product had climbed at an annualized rate of 3 per cent, showing more growth than the professionals projected. Part of the reason for this new trajectory is President Trump's war on excessive regulation. For instance, in response to the impact of Hurricane Harvey on the region's fuel industry, Environmental Protection Agency is temporarily suspending some rules about gasoline production in an effort to minimize shortages around the southeast.
States from Maryland to Texas can sell winter-grade gasoline held in storage now, even though normally that type of fuel wouldn’t become available until fall, according to a federal waiver issued Wednesday. Refineries that continue to operate can also start churning out winter-grade gasoline, which emits more pollution than summer-grade gasoline when combusted in engines.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on August 30, 2017 25 Comments
It is scary how quickly media eco-activists have unleashed torrents of climate change pseudo-science on the American public since Hurricane Harvey hit. There are many articles now making the rounds on social media asserting that this deadly storm proves "climate change is real". Perhaps the most dramatic comes from the Godfather of Climate Change, Dr. Michael Mann, who penned the following analysis -- It's a fact: climate change made Hurricane Harvey more deadly:
Harvey was almost certainly more intense than it would have been in the absence of human-caused warming, which means stronger winds, more wind damage and a larger storm surge.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on August 29, 2017 10 Comments
The feds have had a very busy few months. The Justice Department has been rounding up MS-13 gang members. The EPA has been cracking down on climate change insanity. Now, the Food and Drug Administration has acted to seize smallpox vaccine given to cancer patients during an unapproved and potentially dangerous treatment program from a San Diego stem cell company.
Five vials of the vaccine were seized from StemImmune by the U.S. Marshals Service on behalf of the FDA. The vials, one partially used and four intact, originally contained 100 doses each of vaccine.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on August 27, 2017 12 Comments
If there was ever a more perfect synchronicity to the publication of a book and the news cycle, I would be hard pressed to think of one better than the release of Dinesh D'Souza's latest: The Big Lie - Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left. Germany's Adolph Hitler created the phrase, “the big lie,” to describe a lie so vast that “the great masses of the people” will fall for precisely because they can fathom that it isn't true. In The Big Lie, D’Souza shows that the Democratic Left has orchestrated a campaign to paint President Trump, Republicans, conservatives...essentially anyone who doesn't agree with them... as Nazis. This smear is used to cover up its own dirty brand of fascist tactics. The current spate of charges against President Donald Trump and his supporters is today's "Big Lie".

Posted by Leslie Eastman on August 27, 2017 43 Comments
When the statues began being pulled down in the wake of the Charlottesville demonstration, many of us joked that films and songs featuring the Civil War would be next. The jokes have morphed into a chilling reality. The Orpheum Theater in Memphis has pulled the iconic American film Gone with the Wind from summer movie series after receiving complaints it was not racially sensitive.
The Orpheum Theatre Group decided not to include the 1939 movie about a plantation in the Civil War-era South in its 2018 Summer Movie Series after feedback from patrons following the last screening Aug. 11.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on August 26, 2017 17 Comments
Legal Insurrection colleague Kemberlee Kaye noted that one would be hard pressed to name the dumbest thing to happen last week in the name of inclusivity and tolerance. However, I think it would be a safe bet that the actions of a California Catholic school would pose fierce competition for that title.
A California Catholic school is facing a backlash from parents after officials took down some religious statues -- including one of Mary and baby Jesus -- over concerns that they were “alienating” prospective students. The head of the San Domenico School in San Anselmo said parents of some prospective students who visited the campus – which was founded in 1850 and serves 671 students grades K-12 -- expressed concern about the religious figures, according to the Marin Independent Journal.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on August 26, 2017 24 Comments
The forces of social justice self-righteousness have claimed another victim, as an ancient Egyptian-themed fraternity party was sacrificed on the altar of "cultural appropriation".
The University of Michigan branch of Delta Sigma Phi recently deleted their Welcome Week party that was Ancient Egyptian themed due to backlash from the student body. The party asked students to “honor our Egyptian roots and join us on the night of September 1st to celebrate our newly built pyramid” and “come to Delta Sig as a mummy, Cleopatra or King Tut it doesn’t matter to us.”

Posted by Leslie Eastman on August 26, 2017 9 Comments
After backing down from its recent threats against Guam, North Korea has just launched its way back into the news cycle.  Initial reports indicated that one or more of the tests failed; however, a revised report from our military indicates that none of the tests failed.

North Korea fired three short-range missiles on Saturday -- all successful -- despite earlier reports suggesting failure, according to the U.S. military.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectiles fired from the North's eastern coast flew about 155 miles. It said South Korea and U.S. militaries were analyzing the launch and didn't immediately provide more details.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on August 25, 2017 41 Comments
Progressives and #NeverTrumpers across the nation shriek that President Donald Trump should stop tweeting. In fact, former undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson wants to crowdfund enough money to buy Twitter so she can close President Donald Trump's account. However, someone should really tell California Senator Kamala Harris to take a break from Twitter herself. For instance, her latest legal opinion of Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio possibly receiving a pardon from President Trump is a little thin on logic and reason.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on August 24, 2017 29 Comments
The dramatic resignation of the Obama-era holdovers from President Trump's administration continue, as a UC Berkeley professor who was the science envoy for the State Department officially gave his notice.
A prominent UC Berkeley energy professor resigned his post with the U.S. State Department on Wednesday in response to President Donald Trump’s “attacks on the core values” of the country. “Your actions to date have, sadly, harmed the quality of life in the United States, our standing abroad, and the sustainability of the planet,” wrote Professor Daniel Kammen in his resignation letter to Trump on Wednesday.
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