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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 February 19, 2017 22 Comments
In my day job, I have a variety of clients requiring assistance with complex environmental health and safety regulations.  One of these organizations is part of a federal agency that is about to feel the full force of President Trump's pen and phone. Many of the employees in that office are quite upset about the impending change in government policies. A standard practice in federal government offices and military sites is to have an official portrait of the President of the United States (sometimes paired with one of the Vice President). An early step in the process of transition was the removal of the Obama/Biden portraits from installations and institutions.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 19, 2017 28 Comments
Repairs at California's Oroville Dam, center of an last weekend's emergency evacuation order, continue as the water levels in the lake steadily decline and the set flow rate is decreased.
[The Department of Water Resources] is reducing releases for two reasons. First, it needs lower water flows so it can get work crews stationed on the diversion pool, the stream directly beneath the spillway that leads into the Feather River. The pool has gotten clogged with debris from the giant crater that was discovered on the spillway Feb. 7, backing up water to the dam’s hydroelectric plant. That’s made it impossible to operate the power plant, which is capable of releasing water at 14,000 cfs.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 17, 2017 8 Comments
As the water levels at the Oroville Dam continue to shrink, Californians under the initial evacuation order are streaming back their homes. Now, officials are attempting to restore normal operations ahead of more rains.
Feeling confident they’ve created sufficient empty space in Lake Oroville for the time being, state Department of Water Resources officials said they reduced spillway outflows so they could address another looming challenge: restarting the dam’s hydroelectric plant, which can release additional water when operational. The plant was shut down last week after concrete and other debris from the spillway accumulated at the bottom of the dam, backing up water to the front door of the hydro facility. DWR Acting Director Bill Croyle said the water level in the reservoir has receded enough since Sunday that it’s safe to reduce the spillway releases to allow crews to clear debris from the Feather River below the dam.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 16, 2017 27 Comments
This may be the beginning of the end of one of the most business-crushing entities in the nation. President Donald Trump is poised to introduce a series of executive actions aimed at scaling back Obama-era climate change initiatives.
The president intends to sign the actions during a visit to the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters to swear in Scott Pruitt as head of the agency, Inside EPA reported Tuesday, citing an administration source. The timing of the event has not been determined because the full Senate has not yet confirmed Pruitt.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 12, 2017 75 Comments
Governor Jerry Brown recently spoke out against President Trump for his NASA-space focus and climate skepticism while asserting California’s independence. The state's legislatures have vowed to create a "Sanctuary State."  A day after Trump's presidential victory, both state houses issued a joint letter that began, "Today, we woke up feeling like strangers in a foreign land, because yesterday Americans expressed their views on a pluralistic and democratic society that are clearly inconsistent with the values of the people of California."

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 12, 2017 14 Comments
South Korean officials indicate that North Korea just test-fired a ballistic missile, the first such test by the rogue nation since Donald Trump was inaugurated.
"The South Korean government and the international community are working together to take punitive actions appropriate for this launch," acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn said. Trump, when asked by reporters about the missile launch, declined to comment. A White House spokesman said Trump was briefed on the launch.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 11, 2017 32 Comments
President Trump's "shock and awe" approach continues with a massive crackdown on illegal aliens in Southern California.
Federal immigration officials say 160 people were arrested across the Southland over the past week during a crackdown targeting “criminal aliens, illegal re-entrants and immigration fugitives.” The arrests took place in six counties during what U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials described as a “five-day targeted enforcement operation” that began Monday and wrapped up around noon Friday.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 11, 2017 26 Comments
I recently blogged that a whistleblower revealed startling evidence that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency rushed to release a widely-cited paper that exaggerated global warming and was timed to influence the Paris Agreement on climate change. Despite the clear evidence of science fraud, big government bureaucrats are still promoting climate change policy. In fact, a group of long-time Republicans who have held high-level government positions are now promoting a "carbon tax" to address changes in global weather patterns.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 08, 2017 2 Comments
Legal Insurrection readers may recall my previous review of Don Surber's Trump the Press. Surber, a recovering journalist with over 30 years of experience, consolidated his many blog posts on the woefully inaccurate punditry concerning Donald Trump’s campaign for his first book. The second, Trump the Establishment, features his analysis of the presidential campaign that led to Trump's stunning defeat of Hillary Clinton.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 07, 2017 7 Comments
Kemberlee Kaye blogged about the petition to stop the inevitable Donald Trump animatronic figure from speaking. Terry Lee Ebert Mendozza, the Trump-supporter who is a founding member of The Trumpettes USA, and who I featured in a post for Inauguration week, she lives in Florida and resents the pressuring of the Walt Disney World into silencing the President's speech (albeit in robotic form).

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 07, 2017 21 Comments
It is hard to say who the biggest winner was Sunday night. The overtime, comeback victory of the Patriots and its famous quarterback Tom Brady would likely top everyone's list. However, in the wake of an entertaining, well-executed performance devoid of blatant politicization, Lady Gaga is probably giving the Patriots a run for their money. Her sales exploded the day after Super Bowl Sunday.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 05, 2017 15 Comments
The UK Daily Mail just published startling evidence that the world’s leading source of climate data rushed to release a widely-cited paper that exaggerated global warming and was timed to influence the Paris Agreement on climate change.
A high-level whistleblower has told this newspaper that America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) breached its own rules on scientific integrity when it published the sensational but flawed report, aimed at making the maximum possible impact on world leaders including Barack Obama and David Cameron at the UN climate conference in Paris in 2015.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 05, 2017 16 Comments
Milo Yiannopoulos isn't the only conservative who needed a security escort from a public event in California this week. So did one of our state's Congressmen:
Congressman Tom McClintock, a Republican from California, on Saturday faced a rowdy crowd at a packed town hall meeting in Northern California, and had to be escorted by police as protesters followed him shouting "Shame on you!"

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 04, 2017 17 Comments
The political sailing has not been smooth for many of President Trump's nominees, and the process of approving Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency is no exception. After being a target of one of the many Democratic Senate committee boycotts, Pruit cleared the log-jam:
Senate Republicans pressed forward on Thursday with the confirmation of President Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, suspending the Environment and Public Works Committee’s rules to approve the cabinet pick despite a Democratic boycott.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 03, 2017 25 Comments
The smoke is clearing from the violent demonstration at University of California - Berkeley, and reports of attacks on conservative students who were planning to hear Breitbart editor Yiannopoulos are finding their way into social media. For example, the pepper-spraying on a young woman wearing a Make Bitcoin Great Again cap.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 02, 2017 40 Comments
I can forgive Legal Insurrection fans who think that Californians have lost their collective minds. 1) We have a group openly promoting secession and a state government that approved a #CalExit petition effort. 2) A senior politician seriously suggested the state withhold transfer of funds to the federal government. 3) Our representatives are mulling over a third gender option for identity documentation. Furthermore, in response to President Trump’s move to end sanctuary cities, our government officials are working to declare California a “Sanctuary State”.
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