Federal Judge Says EPA Overstepped Legal Authority On Water

Well, hey, the EPA already thinks that CO2, a trace gas necessary for life is a pollutant, why not deem water a pollutant?

(Fox News) Virginia officials scored a key victory Thursday in their battle with the Environmental Protection Agency over what EPA critics describe as a land takeover.

U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady in Alexandria ruled late Thursday that the EPA exceeded its authority by attempting to regulate stormwater runoff into a Fairfax County creek as a pollutant. O’Grady sided with the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which challenged EPA’s stormwater restrictions

“Stormwater runoff is not a pollutant, so EPA is not authorized to regulate it,” O’Grady said.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says the ruling could ultimately save Virginia taxpayers more than $300 million.

The lunatics at the EPA had deemed, and argued in court, that water was a pollutant if there was “too much of it”. Seriously. And that all this water was daring to *gasp* change the landscape of creeks and rivers, because before it rained creeks and rivers never ever changed. And this could have caused home and business owners their property, or at least seen it heavily regulated.

Read: Federal Judge Says EPA Overstepped Legal Authority On Water »

  AddThis Feed Button

If All You See…

…is a wasteland created because Someone (else) refused to give up their fossil fueled travel, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Daley Gator, with a post on squeamish leftists hating cops with guns.

Pic suggested by Gumball Brains.

Read: If All You See… »

  AddThis Feed Button

We’re Saved! Concord Bans Planet Killing Water Bottles

I heard this one on the news yesterday or Wednesday, but, had completely forgotten about it during my morning news perusal. Fortunately, Tom Nelson is there to point the way

(Globe and Mail) Concord, Mass., has banned the sale of single-serving plastic water bottles, the Boston Herald reports. The bylaw, posted on the Town of Concord’s website, states: “It shall be unlawful to sell non-sparkling, unflavored drinking water in single-serving polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles of 1 litre (34 ounces) or less in the Town of Concord on or after Jan. 1, 2013.”

Violators face up to a $50 (U.S.) fine, with Concord’s Health Division responsible for enforcing the ban.

It’s not like someone could simply go to another town, say Maynard or Bedford, to purchase the evil water bottles. Or, that drinks like Pepsi, Coke, Ginger Ale, orange soda, tea, etc, come in….plastic bottles (I often reuse soda or tea bottles by putting water in them).

Interestingly, Henry David Thoreau wrote Civil Disobedience (free on Kindle) after being jailed in Concord for refusing to pay taxes which he felt were meant to show allegiance to The Government (it was also about his disgust over slavery and the Mexican-American war). It was much about resisting to unjust laws, not just attempting to change them through the political process.

Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.”

Planet killing bottle of water.

Read: We’re Saved! Concord Bans Planet Killing Water Bottles »

  AddThis Feed Button

House To Vote On Partial Sandy Relief Bill Friday

Most in the Legacy Media are referring to this as some sort of capitulation from John Boehner, instead of an understanding that the Senate porked up the Sandy bill

(US News) Cowing to bipartisan pressure, House Speaker John Boehner is bringing to the House floor Friday a measure to help fund recovery efforts for Hurricane Sandy, the superstorm that wreaked havoc in the Northeast, particularly ravaging New York and New Jersey.

Boehner had sought to delay passage of the $60 billion Senate-passed bill, which some in his party say is larded with unnecessary spending. But the speaker was pilloried by members of his own caucus—including a particularly scathing speech by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie Wednesday—and promised to bring the spending measure to the floor in two steps: a vote Friday on a $9 billion infusion of cash to the National Flood Insurance Program and a vote January 15 on the remaining $51 billion proposal.

Christie and Peter King (R-NY) need to look within themselves, but, like many supposed fiscal conservatives, they abandon principles when they themselves want the money. Either of them could have said “pull the pork, give us a clean bill.” One NY politician took a principled stand. Too bad Christie and King didn’t.

Let’s look at a bit of that pork

The pork-barrel feast includes more than $8 million to buy cars and equipment for the Homeland Security and Justice departments. It also includes a whopping $150 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to dole out to fisheries in Alaska and $2 million for the Smithsonian Institution to repair museum roofs in DC.

An eye-popping $13 billion would go to “mitigation” projects to prepare for future storms.

Other big-ticket items in the bill include $207 million for the VA Manhattan Medical Center; $41 million to fix up eight military bases along the storm’s path, including Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; $4 million for repairs at Kennedy Space Center in Florida; $3.3 million for the Plum Island Animal Disease Center and $1.1 million to repair national cemeteries.

And

  • $58.8 million for forest restoration on private land.
  • $197 million “to… protect coastal ecosystems and habitat impacted by Hurricane Sandy.”
  • $10.78 billion for public transportation, most of which is allocated to future construction and improvements, not disaster relief.
  • $17 billion for wasteful Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), a program that has become notorious for its use as a backdoor earmark program.

And

  • $199 million in tax breaks for rum makers.
  • $188 million for upgrading, not repairing, Amtrak rail lines.
  • $57 million for tracking debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami.
  • $20 million for a national “water priorities” study.

So, almost half the bill is stuffed full of lard, which, yes, does have something to do with the effects of Sandy, but not in the NY/NJ area. Many of the projects were meant for Republican votes

Why, you might ask, would the Senate be packing billions of taxpayer dollars for these areas of the country that are nowhere near the devastation brought about by superstorm Sandy into a bill designed to bring relief to those suffering from the storm that ripped the northeastern part of the nation?

The answer can be found in a quick review of the states that are set to benefit from the Senate’s extra-special benevolence—states including Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana.

The Senate bill was buying off Republicans, who voted for the bill. Now, it’s up to Boehner to strip the bill for the January 15th vote.

Read: House To Vote On Partial Sandy Relief Bill Friday »

  AddThis Feed Button

Surprise! FTC Drops Google Anti-Trust Case

I’m wondering if Liberals and Occupiers will protest against what appears to be yet another Big Company involved in a pay for play scheme to avoid punishment? Anyhow, there are two big stories over at Politico about how Google beat the feds, the first linked by Drudge, more about the nuts and bolts of the deal, and the other

(Politico) Google escaped from a nearly two-year federal antitrust probe with only a few scratches by proving that the best defense is a good offense.

Instead of ignoring Washington — as rival Microsoft did before its costly monopolization trial in the 1990s — Google spent about $25 million in lobbying, made an effort to cozy up to the Obama administration and hired influential Republicans and former regulators. The company even consulted with the late Robert Bork and The Heritage Foundation and met with senators like John Kerry to make its case. In other words, these traditional outsiders worked the system from the inside.

It was all an old-school play for a company that long rejected the notion of lobbying in Washington. In February 2012, the company snapped up former Rep. Susan Molinari, a Republican insider, to lead its Washington team. She proved to be the political complement to Schmidt, who during the investigation donated for a second time to the Obama administration and much later appeared with top aide Jim Messina at the president’s reelection headquarters. The company grabbed headlines when it hired up Suzanne Michel, one of the FTC’s top patent experts, much earlier in the agency’s investigation.

What they really do not delve into is

  • Google contributed $736,554 to Obama’s 2012 re-election (only $30k to Romney)
  • Donated $128,517 to Obama’s first coronation, er, inauguration
  • Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt donated $25k to the inauguration
  • CEO Larry Page gave $25k to inauguration
  • Senior VP David Drummond gave $25k
  • Others in the senior management team donated smaller sums
  • Larry Page was involved with multiple big money fundraisers for Obama during the 2012 cycle

Must be nice.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

Read: Surprise! FTC Drops Google Anti-Trust Case »

  AddThis Feed Button

Obligatory Al Jazeera Buys Al Gore’s Current TV

Too be honest, I wasn’t going to really bother until I ran across this NY Times piece

Al Jazeera on Wednesday announced a deal to take over Current TV, the low-rated cable channel that was founded by Al Gore, a former vice president, and his business partners seven years ago. Al Jazeera plans to shut Current and start an English-language channel, which will be available in more than 40 million homes, with newscasts emanating from both New York and Doha, Qatar.

Gore stands to make about 100 million dollars. Current TV employees stand to join unemployment lines.

For Al Jazeera, which is financed by the government of Qatar, the acquisition is a coming of age moment. A decade ago, Al Jazeera’s flagship Arabic-language channel was reviled by American politicians for showing videotapes from Al Qaeda members and sympathizers. Now the news operation is buying an American channel, having convinced Mr. Gore and the other owners of Current that it has the journalistic muscle and the money to compete head-to-head with CNN and other news channels in the United States.

The entire wealth of Qatar is built on oil. It’s “carbon footprint” is 55.4 tons per person per year. Only the US Virgin Islands and Gibraltar have higher footprints world wide. So, not only has Gore sold out to Islamic terrorist sympathizers, protectors, and enablers, he has sold out to the Evil Fossil Fuel Industry.

So, next time some Warmist starts yammering on about how great Gore is when it comes to “Climate change”, remember who he sold out to.

Al Jazeera did not disclose the purchase price, but people with direct knowledge of the deal pegged it at around $500 million, indicating a $100 million payout for Mr. Gore, who owned 20 percent of Current. Mr. Gore and his partners were eager to complete the deal by Dec. 31, lest it be subject to higher tax rates that took effect on Jan. 1, according to several people who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. But the deal was not signed until Wednesday.

Oh, and he’s a hypocrite on taxes, too.

Read: Obligatory Al Jazeera Buys Al Gore’s Current TV »

  AddThis Feed Button

If All You See…

…is a field that would be perfect for a wind farm (as long as it is not visible to themselves), you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is This ain’t Hell…., with a post on a hand wringing liberal.

Read: If All You See… »

  AddThis Feed Button

Say Goodbye To 75 Watt Incandescent Bulbs

In this case, we can actually Blame Bush for signing the stupid legislation

(Fox Salt Lake) The incandescent light bulbs that have been in homes for decades are being phased out in favor of higher-efficiency bulbs, and the older bulbs took another big step towards obscurity this week.

Last year 100-watt incandescent light bulbs disappeared. This year, it’s 75-watt. Next year, 60- and 40-watt bulbs will get the ax.

That doesn’t mean it’s illegal to use the older incandescent bulbs. They’re still around, but not being manufactured anymore.

They aren’t technically banned, but, in order to meet the strict guidelines, incandescents would necessarily be much more expensive. But, hey, we’re keeping the world from boiling or something.

Read: Say Goodbye To 75 Watt Incandescent Bulbs »

  AddThis Feed Button

Unhinged Liberal Calls For New Agenda On Guns, Proposes Violence Against Gun Owners

In Atlas Shrugged (a book I have yet to read and a movie I have yet to watch), character Henry Reardon states “If you think you have the right to use force against me, bring guns.” Here’s a liberal who seems to want to use force

(The Blaze) In an opinion column published in the Des Moines Register on Dec. 29, columnist Donald Kaul is uncensored in his disdain for the Second Amendment and anyone who values their right to bear arms. In his column, he calls for a full repeal of the Second Amendment, advocates for violence against Republican leaders “until they see the light on gun control” and declares the National Rifle Association a terrorist organization.

The piece, titled “Kaul: Nation needs a new agenda on guns,” seems to have been inspired in part by the tragic shooting in Newtown, Conn. where shooter Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, killing 20 children and six adults. Lanza also killed his mother before he began his shooting spree at the school.

From that column

The thing missing from the debate so far is anger — anger that we live in a society where something like the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre can happen and our main concern is not offending the NRA’s sensibilities.

That’s obscene. Here, then, is my “madder-than-hell-and-I’m-not-going-to-take-it-anymore” program for ending gun violence in America:

• Repeal the Second Amendment, the part about guns anyway. It’s badly written, confusing and more trouble than it’s worth. It offers an absolute right to gun ownership, but it puts it in the context of the need for a “well-regulated militia.” We don’t make our militia bring their own guns to battles. And surely the Founders couldn’t have envisioned weapons like those used in the Newtown shooting when they guaranteed gun rights. Owning a gun should be a privilege, not a right.

• Declare the NRA a terrorist organization and make membership illegal. Hey! We did it to the Communist Party, and the NRA has led to the deaths of more of us than American Commies ever did. (I would also raze the organization’s headquarters, clear the rubble and salt the earth, but that’s optional.) Make ownership of unlicensed assault rifles a felony. If some people refused to give up their guns, that “prying the guns from their cold, dead hands” thing works for me.

• Then I would tie Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, our esteemed Republican leaders, to the back of a Chevy pickup truck and drag them around a parking lot until they saw the light on gun control.

And if that didn’t work, I’d adopt radical measures. None of that is going to happen, of course. But I’ll bet gun sales will rise.

Well, if Liberals like Raul want to repeal the 2nd, first they should try reading it and understanding it, because it is all about guns and Right of The People to own one, not just for home defense, not just for hunting and sport shooting, but as protection against the government. Pre-Revolution the British colonial government attempted to take all guns away from the Colonists. And said militias did generally bring their own guns to the fight.

Scratch that, the first thing liberals should do is give up their own guns and make sure all their body guards are disarmed. All of them, from useless idiot Democrat supporters to limo liberals like Michael Moore and Hollywood celebs to elected officials all the way up to Obama. Walk the talk.

If memory serves, Communists around the world killed almost 150,000,000 people. American communists were working hand in hand with the Soviet Union, attempting to undermine the United States.

And then Raul proposes murder and vicious punishment against gun owners and Republicans. Typical liberal, reverting back to their violent roots, which always seethes underneath their veneer of peacefulness.

Read: Unhinged Liberal Calls For New Agenda On Guns, Proposes Violence Against Gun Owners »

  AddThis Feed Button

Priorities: Obama Used Autopen To Sign “Fiscal Cliff” Legislations

Roughly since mid-November (NMP) Obama has been Cranking up the pressure on passing “fiscal cliff” legislation. He’s been excoriating Republicans. He made dire predictions. He came out to make statements and Blame Republicans. Of course, he himself created a situation whereby the deal was done after the last minute. Nor did he excoriate Harry Reid for refusing to allow a vote on Obama’s fiscal cliff plan. But, we were told how super duper massively important this legislation was. So, how did he sign it? The Washington Post tells us in a story that is web-only

The hard-fought legislation that allowed the United States to avoid the “fiscal cliff” was signed into law on Wednesday by autopen, the White House said, less than a day after being approved in a contentious vote in the House of Representatives.

President Obama, who interrupted a family vacation here to oversee the cliff negotiations in Washington, returned to Hawaii on an overnight flight that arrived early Wednesday. He spent the day working out a local gym, golfing and dining with first lady Michelle Obama and some friends at a favorite Hono­lulu restaurant, Alan Wong’s.

In between, Obama reviewed a copy of the cliff legislation, titled the “American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012,” and directed that the original — still in Washington — be signed by autopen.

It tells you where Obama’s priorities lay in that he couldn’t wait to receive a copy of the legislation and sign it in Washington. Nor could he be bothered to even read it on the long taxpayer funded flight back to Hawaii. Nor even read it first thing in the morning. No, he waited till he fooled around while on vacation, and could not be bothered to actually sign the legislation.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

Read: Priorities: Obama Used Autopen To Sign “Fiscal Cliff” Legislations »

  AddThis Feed Button

Bad Behavior has blocked 6902 access attempts in the last 7 days.

Performance Optimization WordPress Plugins by W3 EDGE