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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 May 04, 2016 18 Comments
In the wake of Bernie Sanders' shock win in Indiana, and now substantially narrowed GOP field, the center of the Democratic Party's political universe is now California. Since there is currently a mere two point poll gap between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, every vote in this state is critical. So, both Clintons will be in California for various events over the next few weeks. Yesterday, I read that the former President would be in San Diego's Balboa Park Club for a speech. So I donned by Star Wars t-shirt (May the Fourth be with you) and attempted to blend in with Clinton fans for a on-scene report.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 04, 2016 11 Comments
When the primary season started, there were 18 Republican candidates and 3 Democratic hopefuls. In a twist of irony of roller-coaster-sized proportions, the Republicans have their presumptive nominee while the Democrats are still engaging in an intense ballot battle. The fight for the nomination continues with Senator Bernie Sanders' upset win in Indiana.
Bernie Sanders triumphed over Hillary Clinton in Indiana’s open primary Tuesday, boosting the grassroots candidate’s argument that the party’s superdelegates should flip their support to him in July’s Democratic convention. Sanders spoke to thousands of supporters in Louisville, Ky., before Indiana’s results were in. He called for an end to closed primaries and criticized Clinton for her ties to Wall Street and paid speeches to Goldman Sachs — a sign the heated rhetoric on the Democratic side shows no signs of cooling down.
This win is critical, because Hillary cannot quite create the narrative that Donald Trump now can about being the likely nominee. That is, unless she relies on those superdelegates.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 04, 2016 23 Comments
In 2008, the only war that presidential candidate Obama embraced was the one on the American coal industry.
So, if somebody wants to build a coal plant, they can — it’s just that it will bankrupt them, because they are going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.
It appears this is the sole successful Obama campaign, too. And Obama's victory has been even more spectacular than he could have anticipated. Instead of killing of new coal companies, the "green house gas" regulations and the move to natural gas has led the Chapter 11 filings by major and well-established American coal producers.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 03, 2016 6 Comments
The untimely death of music icon Prince underscores the importance of never taking a day for granted. The cause of his demise at the relatively young age of 57 is still the source of much speculation. Reports indicate that hip injuries sustained during his dynamic performances led to an addiction to pain killers, which he was preparing to address.
The 57-year-old “Purple Rain” singer knew he was hooked on Percocet before his death, possibly of an overdose, last week — so he entered an out-patient treatment program, the Minneapolis station KSTP 5 Eyewitness News reported. The superstar attended the unnamed rehab center to move away from using medication prescribed for his severe hip pain, according to the station.He scored the opioid pills from multiple doctors, including “a personal friend,” TMZ reported.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 01, 2016 79 Comments
I love my husband, but he is one of the "doom-and-gloomers" who insists Hillary Clinton will win in November, and in a landslide if the GOP candidate is Donald Trump. This post is my response to him, and all the other naysayers and pessimists out there I see in social media. There are a myriad of reasons any Republican candidate can win in the end. In light of recent developments in California, however, I would like to focus why Donald Trump specifically can achieve a glorious victory over Hillary Clinton this fall. I promise to prepare another, similar post if the summer conventions generate an alternative electoral battle combination. My case will begin with some remarks my hairstylist made this week, during my regular hair-coloring session.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 29, 2016 48 Comments
Anti-Trump protesters surrounded rally sites, waved Mexican flags, and ventured to prevent Trump supporters from seeing The Donald speak. The term "protesters" being used to describe these thuggish demonstrators is an inaccurate, weak description. They harassed and intimidated Trump's supports who were attempting to hear the candidate speak at two separate California events.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 29, 2016 20 Comments
Star Trek enthusiasts are just about the most passionate among the many entertainment industry fandoms. Because there hasn't been any new television episodes recently (though a new CBS production is slated to begin filming soon), and the latest movies have been less than satisfying for many series buffs, veteran entrepreneur Alec Peters raised $101,000 on Kickstarter to produce Prelude to Axanar. This short film would then inspire more contributions for a larger production, as an offshoot of the Star Trek: New Voyages fan-based series.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 28, 2016 4 Comments
Unwinding after a day of regulatory analysis and political opining, I often read true crime novels. A compelling one I just started is In He Killed Them All by Fox News Channel host Jeanine Pirro. Pirro's book engagingly and brilliantly details her experiences trying to bring suspected murderer Robert Durst to justice for the deaths of his first wife Kathleen (Kathie) McCormack Durst, Morris Black, and his longtime friend Susan Berman. The title of the book stems from the dramatic conclusion of the popular 2015 HBO series that centered around these cases, The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. During the last episode, after being confronted with some damning evidence in the form of letters, Durst headed to the bathroom to regain his composure.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 26, 2016 9 Comments
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have done neither, lacking the power to stem the flow of essentially unimpeded immigration into the U.S. by unaccompanied minors. Judicial Watch recently reviewed the records generated by that agency during the past few years, and the findings were truly sickening.
A government official warned employees deploying for the influx of illegal immigrant minors about health and safety risks because the new arrivals would have tuberculosis and some were young adults—not children—like the Obama administration proclaimed, according to records obtained by Judicial Watch. “We might as well plan on many of the kids having [Tuberculosis] TB,” states a June 26, 2014 guidance e-mail from a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) environmental health scientist, Alaric C. Denton, as the agency prepared to handle the crisis.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 24, 2016 4 Comments
One of the perks of being a Legal Insurrection author is that sometimes someone will buy you a beer because they like the work we do here. I had a Belgian Ale yesterday afternoon with Jim Ash, a local entrepreneur and computer tech professional who is challenging a long-term Congresswoman for her seat in U.S. Congressional District 53. Jim Ash is running alongside 2 other hopefuls (Democrat Nicholas Walpert and Republican James Veltmeyer) and the currently serving representative, Susan Davis, in the June 7th primary. Because of the quirkiness of the California voting system, the two top vote-getters will go onto the November election. [caption id="attachment_169237" align="alignnone" width="452"]Congressional candidate Jim Ash and his wife, Carrie. Congressional candidate Jim Ash and his wife, Carrie.[/caption] Ash is intending to follow a citizen-oriented route to Washington D.C., which includes a lot of social media and neighborhood events to get his name and ideas before the public.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 23, 2016 8 Comments
Kemberlee just reported that country’s largest health insurer will stop participating in some Obamacare markets and that 12 of 23 state exchanges have closed. Covered California, touted as the most successful state exchange, is now experiencing a significant technical glitch that is jeopardizing the health of pregnant women and their unborn children. Due to a computer error, pregnant women are dropped from their Covered California coverage when they report their condition, and are transferred automatically to Medi-Cal (which is not taken by many doctors).

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 22, 2016 5 Comments
Regular Legal Insurrection readers may recall that prior to signing the new state minimum wage law, California Governor Jerry Brown was heckled at the Paris Climate Conference. Brown was challenged by a group of protesters opposed to carbon offset programs they said could hurt indigenous people. However, his enthusiasm for imposing draconian rules limiting carbon dioxide emissions has remained quite vigorous.
“This is one skirmish, but I’ll tell you, it’s increasing the intensity of my commitment to do everything I can to make sure we reduce oil consumption in California,” he said. “My zeal has been intensified to a maximum degree, and nothing, nothing is going to stop this state from pushing forward on our low-carbon fuel standard and our cap-and-trade and our ZEV [zero-emission vehicle] mandate.”
Brown's zeal was such that about a year ago he issued an executive order setting a goal for greenhouse gas emissions to be 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. The California Governor's mandate was short on specifics about how his new goal will be achieved, and relied on currently undeveloped or uninvented technology to ultimately achieve the goal.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 20, 2016 17 Comments
Kemberlee Kaye just described a deliciously alleged hoax involving a Social Justice Warrior, a cake, and now the legal department of the Whole Foods chain of stores. However, this particular story leaves a bitter aftertaste. Because our "Schools of Journalism" no longer produce real reporters pursuing solid news leads and doing basic research, but propagate progressive activists dependent on iPhones and filled with a toxic blend of moral  superiority and outrage, the concoction was set to be spread courtesy of KVUE-TV in Austin. This is how the initial report on the cake began:
Austin-based grocer Whole Foods Market is being sued after an openly gay pastor alleged a cake he ordered from the flagship store on North Lamar Boulevard contained a gay slur.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 19, 2016 28 Comments
If one Supreme Court Justice gets her way, there will be a religious test for the next SCOTUS nominee....as well as the standard abortion litmus test! Not happy with the proposed nominee offered by President Obama, Sonia Sotomayor offered her faith-based suggestions:
Justice Sonia Sotomayor says the Supreme Court needs more diversity, amid the politically charged debate about filling a vacancy on the high court. "I … think there is a disadvantage from having (five) Catholics, three Jews, everyone from an Ivy League school," Sotomayor, the court's first Latina justice, said Friday at Brooklyn Law School. However, she did not mention by name Judge Merrick Garland, a white male with a Harvard Law School degree whom President Obama recently nominated to fill the vacancy of Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative voice on the court. Scalia died unexpectedly in January.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 18, 2016 35 Comments
The Environment and Public Works Committee has been gathering testimony from a wide range of witnesses (industry experts, military official, and faith leaders) to discuss the Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan. Because the Senators obviously wanted listed to many different perspectives, those invited to offer input included Alex Epstein, author of A Moral Case for Fossil Fuels and President of Center for Industrial Progress, as well as Father Robert Sirico (a Catholic priest and President of the free-market supporting Acton Institute).
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