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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 March 25, 2017 8 Comments
Last year, I noted that once vanquished diseases were emerging across America, in part because of the steady stream of infected immigrants crossing the border. These included the tuberculosis, the historic killer that once once responsive to the antibiotics our medical professionals prepared. However, the influx of refugees with resistant strains of this pathogen is now threatening the quality of our nation's health.
The rise of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) threatens to derail decades of progress in the fight against the disease, experts warn in a new report published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. TB kills more people worldwide every year than any other infectious disease, including HIV/AIDS. In 2015 alone, researchers estimate TB killed 1.8 million people.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 25, 2017 9 Comments
Earth Hour is being touted as the world’s largest grass roots movement for the environment. On Saturday, from 8:30 - 9:30 pm, special snowflakes will turn off the lights in an effort to "make a difference" for the 11th year in a row. More importantly, it is also time for the very successful counter-event: Human Achievement Hour. Independent-minded lovers of innovation, people, and capitalism have organized to take part in the Competitive Enterprise Institute's annual celebration of progress and really making a difference.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 25, 2017 18 Comments
The last time we checked on the Dakota Access Pipeline, recovery crews were digging through mountains of garbage left by protesters and trying to find families for the dogs abandoned at the Standing Rock site by the evicted eco-activists. President Trump put his pen to work, which moved both the Dakota and Keystone pipelines forward. the US State Department is putting the finishing touches on a permit for Keystone's international structure. Meanwhile, South Dakota and Iowa authorities are investigating the vandalism of the almost operational Dakota Access Pipeline.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 25, 2017 13 Comments
While California's Governor Jerry Brown is in Washington, D.C., asking for the Trump administration for funding to help pay for storm damage repair and train construction, the state's legislators have been busy working against the American President. The border wall is the cornerstone of President Trump's campaign platform. This week, Sacramento politicians proposed a bill that that would divest its pension funds from companies engaged in the building of that wall.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 24, 2017 21 Comments
California Governor Jerry Brown has adopted an interesting approach to requesting fiscal assistance from President Donald Trump. Legal Insurrection readers will recall that our governor formally requested emergency funding for the storm damage that occurred in the state, which included deterioration of the Oroville Dam that led to a public evacuation of the surrounding area. Brown is also struggling to find monies for his legacy project, the California high speed train, after the Trump administration halted a grant slated for its construction. Brown traveled to Washington, D.C.to a address these matters directly with various members of the Trump administration. A sensible approach to take in this sitation might have been to politely focus on areas of agreement with the President.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 21, 2017 11 Comments
While the Trump Administration pours cold water on global warming alarmist policies, eco-activists are questing for a scary new pollutant. The bad news: They found one. The good news: The major contributor of plastic microfibers, the pollutant being studied by researchers, are clothing items most enjoyed by environmental justice warriors.
Plastic fibers from yoga pants and fleece jackets may be polluting the oceans and finding their way into fish, oysters, and other wildlife, researchers say. Clothes made from nylon, polyester and other synthetic materials shed microscopic plastic fibers every time they're washed. The 'microfibers' are then flushed into the waterways and eventually make their way into the sea.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 20, 2017 25 Comments
President Trump directed the Environmental Protection Agency to shelve aggressive vehicle fuel economy targets that have been a foundation for promoting climate change alarmism policies that have hurt the American automotive industry.
Trump revealed his plans during a speech at an automotive testing center near Detroit after discussing the issue during a round-table meeting at the American Center for Mobility with auto company executives and workers. "This is going to be a new era for American jobs and job creation," Trump said at the meeting.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 19, 2017 27 Comments
California has moved one step closer to becoming a sanctuary state, one in which its law enforcement agencies are prevented from cooperating with increasingly busy federal immigration agents.
With minor changes to win over moderates, a polarizing California bill to keep California’s law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal immigration agents cleared a key hurdle Monday and will head to the full Senate for a vote.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 19, 2017 17 Comments
A few, short weeks ago, I reported that President Trump's Secretary of Transportation halted the transfer of millions of dollars in funding for the California bullet train, our governor's legacy project. However, those monies were not the sole source of funding. The main source of ongoing support for the train is the income from the cap-and-trade auctions that California sponsors. It appears as if the all the air (carbon dioxide included) has gone out of the cap-and-trade market:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 17, 2017 15 Comments
The California Senate may have taken "Teacher Appreciation" to a whole, new level. As Legal Insurrection readers are aware, California is one of the most heavily taxed in the nation. However, at least our teachers are poised to get a huge tax break if a proposed measure becomes law.
A Los Angeles state lawmaker has introduced a bill to exempt teachers from paying state income tax after five years in the classroom. Under Senate Bill 807, teachers and other educators would also be allowed a tax deduction for the cost of obtaining a teaching credential.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 15, 2017 8 Comments
Over the course of the last 2 months, the alt-left and their media minions have done nothing but rage against President Donald Trump. As a result, grass-roots leftists are now channeling their anger into verbally assaulting Trump's staff and destroying his property. Additionally, they are posting their atrocious behavior on social media.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 11, 2017 12 Comments
The Environmental Protection Agency's new chief is now on-the-record as declaring that the life-sustaining gas, carbon dioxide, is not responsible for "global warming".
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said Thursday he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming. "I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there's tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 11, 2017 17 Comments
Never let it be said that California's Democratic legislature doesn't work hard on behalf of...its own interests. The latest proposal from Sacramento, Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 10, would make the Golden Sate first in the nation to fully allow 17-year-olds to vote in elections.
"We want to expand the opportunity," said Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), author of the constitutional amendment that would have to be approved by a statewide vote in 2018.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 09, 2017 17 Comments
It is astonishing how much is being revealed about the "Deep State" since Donald Trump was inaugurated less than two months ago. This week, Wikileaks published almost 9,000 documents from the CIA about the agency’s own malware used to hack into anyone’s electronics make it look like the cyber-attack came from Russia. Now, after years of struggling for real justice from the Obama Administration that falsely claimed Tea Party groups were never targeted, citizen activists now have access to nearly 7,000 documents related to the illegal man-handling of their tax status applications by the Internal Revenue Service.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 05, 2017 26 Comments
Some intriguing reports have recently been published, which highlight the nature of unintended consequences that are often associated with environmental protection do-gooderism. We have regaled readers with the complete failure of Obama's green energy programs, including the loss of hundreds of millions of tax-payer dollars when the lights went out on the now infamous Solyndra. Under Obama, solar energy was promoted as the best, most practical solution to preventing the release of green-house gases such as carbon dioxide. A federal report just released by the Environmental Protection Agency shows the production of solar panels has led to a substantial increase in in a compound that is 17,200 more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 04, 2017 68 Comments
The last time we checked in on the construction of California Governor Jerry Brown's legacy project, the high speed train connecting Los Angeles to San Fransisco, it was already already $3.6 billion over budget and seven years behind schedule. In that piece, I a surmised that federal funding to help complete this project could be axed, as several pricey grants were sitting on the desks of administrators now working for President Trump (who has been defied and mocked by numerous California politicos, including our governor). Sure enough, the Secretary of Transportation has halted the transfer of millions of dollars in funding for the bullet train:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 03, 2017 8 Comments
Savvy Legal Insurrection readers may have already noticed the historic stock market levels that ensued after President Trump's address to the Congress. However, I think that only part of this optimism stem's from Trump's well received speech. I suspect another aspect to this optimism is that businesses are beginning to enjoy the regulatory relief from new rules that is the direct result of the President's very busy pen.
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