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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 January 11, 2017 41 Comments
Now that Barack Obama's farewell speech is over, and there is less that 10 days until the inauguration, speculation is beginning about the actions that Donald Trump will take in his first 100 days in office. Doubtless, immigration will be on the top of his task list. Alan Gomez, immigration reporter for USA Today, notes that Trump will have broad presidential powers in dealing with "sanctuary cities".
Trump will be armed with a range of powerful options, including federal lawsuits and the power to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in grants that states and cities rely on.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 10, 2017 42 Comments
Those of you concerned about Barack Obama's future once he leaves the White House in less than two weeks can now rest easy. Apparently, he has decided to start a second career as a climate scientist! The soon-to-be-former President of the United States had a policy paper that just published in Science (hat tip Willis Eschenbach posting in Watts Up With That).

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 09, 2017 33 Comments
California politicos are going all-in when it comes to squandering taxpayer dollars for social justice causes! Last week it was reported that California has arranged for the completion of expensive sex-reassignment surgery so that a man serving a life sentence for murder has been transformed into a woman, and is now on her way to a woman's prison to complete the full sentence.
California prison officials agreed in August 2015 to pay for the surgery for Shiloh Heavenly Quine, who was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery for ransom and has no possibility of parole.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 09, 2017 15 Comments
Details continue to come out about the Fort Lauderdale airport shooter, Esteban Santiago, who appears to have had a history of mental health problems and was under psychiatric care. Slowly, information has also come out about the victims of that horrific attack, which killed five and wounded eight. While not all victim information has been released, it appears at least four couples have been separated by death. Two of the victims were an Ohio couple heading for their 51st wedding anniversary.
Tragedy struck an Ohio family when Shirley Timmons was slain and her husband critically injured during the airport attack. The couple had flown to Fort Lauderdale on Friday to join the rest of their family for a cruise, WILE-FM (http://bit.ly/2iODNWI) reported.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 06, 2017 50 Comments
Legal Insurrection has often chronicled the unintended consequences of minimum wage hikes across the country, from worker struggles in Seattle, automation replacing service personnel, the closing of a popular eatery in New York, and the loss of jobs at UC Berkeley. Now, in my home town of San Diego, diners are being served-up a surprise along with their bills as a result of voters approving a minimum wage hike in last June: A dining surcharge.
Girding for the second minimum wage hike in six months and the fourth in 2-½ years, many of San Diego’s full-service restaurants are introducing for the first time an average surcharge of 3 percent of the meal’s cost to help cover increased labor expenses that some operators say amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single year. ...Hoping to preserve what restaurateurs insist are already thin profit

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 05, 2017 22 Comments
California has a massive housing crisis, pension troubles, and an escalating crime rates. So, what do the state's leaders decide to do? Hire one of the most controversial figures in the Obama Administration to engage in legal battles against the Trump Administration.
Bracing for an adversarial relationship with President-elect Donald Trump , the California Legislature has selected former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. to serve as outside counsel to advise the state’s legal strategy against the incoming administration. The unusual arrangement will give Holder, leading a team of attorneys from the firm Covington & Burling, a broad portfolio covering potential conflicts between California and the federal government. Former Los Angeles Rep. Howard Berman, a Democrat who is now a senior advisor to the firm, will also be part of the effort.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 04, 2017 50 Comments
Shortly after Donald Trump won November's presidential election, Mary Chastain reported that a white motorist in Chicago had his car hijacked while being taunted by a  black mob that mocked and assaulted him, while shouting anti-Trump language. Those arrested for the hijacking were between 17 and 26 in age. Despite the clear shouting of anti-Trump slogans and racial nature of the assault, the media tried to downplay the incident. Now, another group of young Chicago thugs are under arrest for a racist and anti-Trump assault.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 04, 2017 19 Comments
As I noted in my review of Rogue One, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the film was the digital return of Peter Cushing in the role of Grand Moff Tarkin, despite his 1994 death. In the wake of Carrie Fisher's sudden death, speculation is that this technique could allow the character of Princess Leia to continue despite the loss of the talented actress.
It’s impossible to predict how big a role Leia might have in the final film of Star Wars’ triple trilogy, Episode IX, which is due for release in mid-2019. There could also be spin-off stories, a la “Rogue One,” that will continue even after Episode IX’s release. If filmmakers were contemplating a role for Fisher in any of those movies, they’re facing a huge hole in their scripts. And one option to fill it could be the strategy that was used in “Rogue One”: creating computer-generated, motion-capture characters.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 04, 2017 39 Comments
During the election cycle, the Clinton Foundation and its funding were a significant issue: After the election, reports were that the donations and the speaking fees were drying up. Perhaps that is why The New York Posts now notes that former President Bill Clinton is offering to match contributions to the foundation in an email plea?

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 01, 2017 43 Comments
I thought safety pins were the most ludicrous symbol of political protesting ever used. However, that stupidity has been completely surpassed by the Pussy-Hat. Let me give you a little background on the latest social justice buffoonery. As savvy Legal Insurrection readers may be aware, a "Million Women March" is being planned in conjunction with Donald Trump's presidential inauguration festivities. It has wisely been rebranded "Women's March on Washington" (as I suspect the final count will be slightly shy of 1,000,000 participants).

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 31, 2016 3 Comments
As the Christmas season concludes, and I look back on 2016, I have one thought: It's good that Halloween is my favorite holiday, as I seem to like scary things. It sure has come in handy when covering this year's cornucopia of news drama. I was delighted to see my post, Hillary Clinton’s Vulgarity Makes Trump Look Like Shakespeare, made the Top 10 List of Most Viewed Posts of 2016. Looking back, these are the other 5 posts that I was happy to be able to share with Legal Insurrection readers.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 30, 2016 23 Comments
A report in the Washington Examiner featuring a new law about to go into effect in California is causing quite a stir. Contributor Travis Allen reports that starting Sunday, prostitution by minors will be legal in the Golden State.
SB 1322 bars law enforcement from arresting sex workers who are under the age of 18 for soliciting or engaging in prostitution, or loitering with the intent to do so. So teenage girls (and boys) in California will soon be free to have sex in exchange for money without fear of arrest or prosecution.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 29, 2016 8 Comments
Legal Insurrection fans probably despair of California, given the inanity of our politicians and the desire of some of our citizens to leave the Union. However, I would like to share a touching story of patriotism that may redeem our state, slightly. Videographer Tom Baldwin reports that Amador Varsity Football, from a small California town outside Sacramento called Sutter Creek, had a game against Lincoln High in San Francisco. However, the friends and family of the visiting team noticed something was amiss prior to kickoff.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 29, 2016 3 Comments
As Kemberlee Kaye so eloquently demonstrated in her post, This Christmas, few relationships are as defining as one between a mother a child. Apparently the loss of her child yesterday was more than legendary actress Debbie Reynolds could bear. She passed away of a stroke, less than 48 hours after her daughter Carrie Fisher died from a heart attack.
Debbie Reynolds -- who rose to stardom in "Singin' in the Rain" and quickly became a staple among Hollywood royalty -- died Wednesday as a result of a stroke, TMZ has learned ... just one day after her daughter Carrie Fisher passed away ... this according to her son Todd.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 27, 2016 7 Comments
I have a sad update to the post on Rogue One that published yesterday. Carrie Fisher, our American Princess of Science Fiction, passed away this morning after suffering a heart attack on Friday.
Carrie Fisher, who rose to fame as Princess Leia in the "Star Wars" films and later endured drug addiction before going on to tell her story as a best-selling author, died on Tuesday aged 60, her family said. ...The daughter of actor Debbie Reynolds and the late singer Eddie Fisher had been returning from England where she was shooting the third season of the British sitcom "Catastrophe."

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 27, 2016 14 Comments
While progressives decry fossil fuel use as the source of our climate change woes, Mother Nature may be presenting us a more serious, immediate and real threat. Most Americans are familiar with our supervolcano in Yellowstone. However, there is one in Italy that shows signs of potential activity.
A massive supervolcano under the city of Naples, Italy, is showing signs of life again, prompting concern among some scientists. The Campi Flegrei, Italian for "burning fields," that make up the vocano's crater, or caldera, have been full of boiling mud, steam, and even smaller volcanoes for centuries. The people of ancient Rome believed the area to be the home of the Roman god of fire and volcanoes, Vulcan. Today, the fields are a popular tourist destination. But the caldera has been showing signs of an explosive awakening since 2012, and a new study indicates that a destructive eruption of the volcano could be coming soon.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 27, 2016 13 Comments
California's notorious progressive pixie, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, is exiting Congress with the dignity we have come to expect from this Golden State representative. Apparently oblivious to the constant press attention, fake and otherwise, that President Donald Trump has been accorded since taking his ride down the escalator at Trump Tower in the summer of 2015, Boxer demands that the mainstream media hold him accountable once he enters the Oval Office.
Going forward, I intend to remain very involved in the issues we face, and like all your readers, I will rely on the work you do every single day. As we march into uncharted territory with a new president-elect who has never held elected office — and who at times has threatened the media — the role of the free press is more important than ever.
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