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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 December 11, 2015 17 Comments
Investigations are continuing into the terrorist couple, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, who slaughtered 14 coworkers in San Bernardino and were planning to kill the first responders with explosives. The quest for clues has led to a local lake:
An FBI dive team was searching a lake Thursday near the site of the terror attack in San Bernardino, California -- a spot where investigators were told the shooters spent time. The FBI would not discuss the specific evidence it was looking for, but said it was seeking "anything that had to do" with the shooting. ....The investigators appear to be combing an area near the shallow edge of the lake. The water is so murky that divers cannot actually see through it, so they are largely feeling their way through.
Investigators had received indications through leads that at some point they came to this park, though they didn't specify exactly what was being sought when reporters queried them.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 09, 2015 7 Comments
After the San Bernardino terror attack, California Governor Jerry Brown stopped by the city on his way out the the UN Climate Conference that is continuing this week. Brown, a leading advocate of creating climate change policies that have chilled the economy of the Golden State, was invited to speak. The reception was...unexpected.
Gov. Jerry Brown, at the conclusion of a speech here Tuesday, was heckled by a group of protesters opposed to carbon offset programs they said could hurt indigenous people. Brown, accompanied by several South American governors at a 19th century mansion in Paris, had finished brief remarks urging further efforts to counteract climate change when protesters started yelling, “No REDD.” The acronym is used by The Governors’ Climate and Forest Task Force, of which California is a part, to describe programs to promote reduced emissions from deforestation and land use. California officials have considered ways to link the state’s cap-and-trade program, in which polluters pay to offset carbon emissions, to tropical rainforests in Chiapas, Mexico and Acre, Brazil. Outside the venue, Tom Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network said that such a system could prevent indigenous people from working on their land.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 07, 2015 5 Comments
As San Bernardino families mourned the loss of their loved ones during a terror attack, funeral services were being conducted for an American student killed during the recent Paris massacre:
Funeral services [were] held Friday for Nohemi Gonzalez, the 23-year-old Cal State Long Beach student who was killed in terrorist attacks that killed 129 people in Paris Nov. 13. Gonzalez, of El Monte, died while eating with friends at a popular bistro in Paris called La Belle Equipe. A senior majoring in industrial design, she was one of 17 CSULB students attending Strate College of Design in Paris as part of a semester abroad program. She died in the coordinated attacks that erupted at the cafe, a soccer stadium and, most notably, at the Bataclan theater where a Palm Desert-based band was performing.
The loss of such a young woman, filled with talent and life, is horrific. So, too, is the loss of the 14 Californians at the hands of a couple they had befriended.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 05, 2015 8 Comments
A little over a week ago, President Obama was making the case that the most significant security threat was climate change and asserting that ISIS posed no credible threat to the US homeland. In the wake of the San Bernardino massacre of 14 Americans on the homeland, it is clear that the presidential fantasies and the national realities are quite different. The FBI has formally declared the incident is being investigated as an act of terrorism:
"The San Bernardino, California, mass shooting is now being investigated as "an act of terrorism," FBI official David Bowdich said Friday. Bowdich said the FBI "uncovered evidence ... of extreme planning."

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 03, 2015 37 Comments
We reported on the San Bernardino mass shooting yesterday, during which 14 people were slaughtered and 17 others wounded while attending a holiday party. San Bernardino is about 90 miles north of where I live, and the first I heard about the incident was when a series of Facebook emails were sent inquiring if I was alright. I was on my way to my consulting firm, and once there, I discovered a colleague was listening to police scanners. When the reports being broadcast indicated that IED's had been found, we both said the same thing: Terrorism. This is life in the "new normal". While President Obama was patting climate change activists for their powerful rebuke to ISIS, Syed Rizwan Farook, and his wife Tashfeen Malik apparenlty were organizing an attack involving automatic weapons and tactical military gear. But officials won't speculate about a motive:
San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said investigators had not determined a motive for the shooting, in which 17 people were wounded. But an official at the FBI, which is working with local agencies, said he could not rule out terrorism as a motive.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 03, 2015 7 Comments
The US Congress just gave Americans an early Christmas gift: It voted to block new EPA rules regarding coal plants!
Congress voted to block EPA carbon rules for power plants Tuesday, dealing a symbolic blow to President Barack Obama's climate change agenda just as he returns from a landmark summit in Paris. While the move will not stop the regulations at the heart of Obama's pledge to drastically cut U.S. emissions, Republicans hope they can show other world leaders that the president's successor may be unwilling to follow through on that commitment. “We want the world to know that there is disagreement with the president on this issue," said Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), who chairs the House Energy and Power Subcommittee and helped lead the push. The House adopted two Senate-passed resolutions blocking EPA rules that apply to new and existing power plants, but the White House has already promised that Obama will veto them. The president returns to Washington Tuesday evening after attending the first two days of the United Nations negotiations in Paris aimed at producing a new global agreement to limit carbon emissions and help poor countries cope with the effects of climate change.
And while Congress may not have the votes to overcome a veto, its confirms the enormity of the failure of Obama and his plans related to the ongoing UN Climate Conference.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 01, 2015 14 Comments
President Obama continued his "Apology Tour" during the Paris UN Climate Conference, by demeaning our nation once again:
Obama sang from the same hymnal on Monday, telling an assembly of world leaders that a future of environmental devastation 'is one that we have the power to change right here right now but only if we rise to this moment,' according to a White House press pool report. 'I've come here personally as the leader of the world's largest economy and the second largest emitter to say that the United States of America … embraces its responsibility to do something about it.
After deriding American productivity and lifestyle choices, he headed out with the other big government elites to a"three-Michelin-starred temple of gastronomie in the Marais neighborhood" for a...working dinner!

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 29, 2015 7 Comments
Despite the Paris massacre earlier this month, the United Nations Climate Change Conference scheduled for that city is going on as planned, despite the significant security concerns given the number of world leaders participating. But the climate change leaders don't want everyone to participate, and environmental justice warriors have been placed under house arrest:
Public demonstrations are banned in France under the state of emergency that was declared after the Paris terrorist attacks two week ago, in which 130 people were killed. Green groups have described the move as "an abuse of power" but the French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the activists were suspected of planning violent protests.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 27, 2015 4 Comments
Another head-of-state has joined French President François Hollande in declaring war on ISIS. Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi and his Interior Ministry issued a series of statements following an attack on the presidential motorcade:
NPR's Leila Fadel reports that a spokesman for Tunisia's Interior Ministry said at least 11 people were killed in the attack and 17 others were wounded. The state of emergency will last for 30 days and an overnight curfew is also in place until tomorrow morning local time. ...In March, militants opened fire on tourists inside the Bardo Museum, killing 24 people. And in June, a lone gunman killed more than three dozen tourists at a beach resort. The country also imposed a state of emergency after that attack, which was lifted last month, the Associated Press reports. The news service adds that Tunisia's president has declared "war" against terrorism and urged international cooperation in fighting it.
More via LipTV:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 25, 2015 24 Comments
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul feels the nation is less safe today than ever before in recent memory. His concerns were validated by the most recent vapid statements from our Commander-in-Chief.  Speaking alongside French President François Hollande at a joint news conference, President Obama stated that next week’s climate change summit in Paris would be a “powerful rebuke” to terrorists.
“Next week, I will be joining President Hollande and world leaders in Paris for the global climate conference,” Obama said during his prepared remarks, which focused mostly on the efforts to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). “What a powerful rebuke to the terrorists it will be, when the world stands as one and shows that we will not be deterred from building a better future for our children,” he added.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 23, 2015 6 Comments
This week California's State Treasurer Johnny Chiang announced that the Golden State's finances are completely tarnished:
State Treasurer John Chiang unveiled a new open data website today, providing important details about $1.5 trillion in debt issued by state and local government entities as part of his ongoing efforts to promote transparency in government. The site, debtwatch.treasurer.ca.gov, makes it easier for taxpayers to track proposed and issued debt, cost of issuance, and bond and tax election results. “The state and its local governments have borrowed more than $1.5 trillion from Wall Street over the past three decades to build roads, schools, and other critical public works,” said Chiang. “Bonds are not free money and, indeed, obligate the public to repay them through higher taxes and fees. DebtWatch aspires to empower Californians to hold government accountable for its borrowing decisions.”
Meanwhile, our state's Chief Executive seems to have added to that debt, after requesting a state deparment complete a gas and oil survey of his property at taxpayer expense.
Gov. Jerry Brown last year directed state oil and gas regulators to research, map and report back on any mining and oil drilling history and "potential for future oil and gas activity" at the Brown family's private land in Northern California, state records show.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 21, 2015 11 Comments
After Congressman Paul Ryan became Speaker of the House, we remarked that he "may surprise us." I must admit, the surprises have exceeded my skepticism, especially after the House defied a veto threat by the President and overwhelmingly passed legislation to suspend Obama's program to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next year. And Ryan shed not one tear doing so, either. It appears that this newly found political courage is infectious. The Senate is now making a move to defund some climate change inanity, to the tune of $3 billion dollars.
Republicans are taking aim at a new “Green Climate Fund,” as they look to weaken President Obama’s hand in global climate talks later this month. The pot of money, a $3 billion climate change pledge the president’s administration made last year, is something officials hope to bring to the negotiating table at United Nations summit in Paris.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 19, 2015 21 Comments
It was only two short months ago that Pope Francis was touring this country and promoting his climate change encyclical, having made this issue a key one in his papacy. In the wake of the Paris attacks, his priorities seem to have been shifted. Unfortunately, he blames the weapon sellers instead of the weapons users for the start of a "world war" in his most recent homily.
Pope Francis has denounced arms traffickers who are fueling what he calls the piecemeal “world war” raging around the globe, saying they are “damned” delinquents interested only in making money. Francis delivered one of the most pained homilies of his pontificate Thursday during morning Mass in the Vatican hotel chapel. He didn’t mention the Paris attacks by name, but referred to little wars being fought around the globe. ...He continued: “Those who make war are damned, they’re delinquents. War can be ‘justified’ for many reasons. But when the whole world is at war, as it is today … there is no justification. And God weeps.”

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 18, 2015 7 Comments
We recently reported that San Francisco’s “sanctuary sheriff” lost his re-election bid, defeated in large part because of the release of an illegal immigrant accused of killing Kate Steinle while she walking on the city waterfront with her father. This defeat has helped fuel the launch of an initiative so that California voters can eliminate sanctuary cities in this state:
A California group has launched a ballot initiative to eliminate sanctuary cities, hoping to take power away from state and local lawmakers who have banned their police and sheriff’s deputies from cooperating with federal deportation authorities. “This should be a warning sign to elected officials in other sanctuary cities that the majority are opposed to their refusing to cooperate with federal authorities,” said Ted Hilton, the man behind the new ballot initiative. ...Mr. Hilton’s ballot initiative would effectively overturn the Trust Act, requiring police to notify federal authorities every time they encounter an illegal immigrant. Federal agents could still refuse to deport them, but the state would have done its part. State and local authorities would also be required to comply with federal agents’ requests to be notified when an immigrant wanted by ICE is to be released, and to honor “detainer” requests asking that immigrants be held for pickup.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 16, 2015 10 Comments
French jets struck ISIS targets in Syria this Sunday night, destroying a jihadi training camp and a munitions dump in the city of Raqqa, where Iraqi sources say the Paris attacks were planned.
Twelve aircraft including 10 fighter jets dropped a total of 20 bombs in the biggest air strikes since France extended its bombing campaign against the extremist group to Syria in September, a Defence Ministry statement said. The jets launched from sites in Jordan and the Persian Gulf, in co-ordination with U.S. forces. Meanwhile, as police announced seven arrests and hunted for more members of the sleeper cell that carried out the Paris attacks, French officials revealed to The Associated Press that several key suspects had been stopped and released by police after the attack.
A review of social media records shows there were warnings that terror cells were about to launch a major attack on the iconic city.
ISIS claims of responsibility for Friday’s Paris massacre are being reviewed by US intelligence analysts Sunday morning, with a focus on the English-language version, which is delivered in American-accented English, Fox News has been told. It is now clear the plot included a rollout of ISIS propaganda, which was prepared in advance, including threats directed toward the Russian people, Rome, London and Washington DC. Separately, Fox News has learned that four credible, ISIS-linked social media accounts began sharing messages 72 hours before the Paris attack, including images of weapons, the Eiffel tower, as well as blessings for the attackers’ mission. A military intelligence source says the social media traffic is now seen as evidence the three teams had gone operational. The translations include “God bless you in your mission” and “Support the deployment,” as well as a reference to our “sister,” suggesting an operative, or member of the support team was a woman.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 16, 2015 9 Comments
Brave souls who watched the CBS Democratic Party debate Saturday night were treated to a serious-minded, sober event in which the moderators asked fairly challenging questions. The responses were unsurprising, and should not change the direction of the primary in a significant way. However, the Republican Party will find a great deal of fodder for the presidential battle ahead. There were a few highlights lowlights that I think are worth featuring. When asked, I have always asserted that "black swan" events, or, those events that are not readily anticipated and make a significant impact, will be key in the 2016 outcome. The Paris attacks were the first of these "black swans".

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 14, 2015 24 Comments
Only a few short days ago, Secretary of State John Kerry reasserted the administration's position that climate change was an increasing national security risk.
Speaking at the Ted Constant Convocation Center at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Kerry said he's made addressing climate change a priority of U.S. foreign policy. "The reason I made climate change a priority," Kerry said, "is not simply because climate change is bad for the environment. It's because by fueling extreme weather events undermining our military readiness, exacerbating conflicts around the world, climate change is a threat to the security of the United States and, indeed, to the security and civility of countries everywhere."
Furthermore, the Secretary of the Army offered "developing effective energy solutions" as a key priority. In the wake of the Paris terror attacks, these attitudes must now be deemed completely ludicrous.
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