I Heard that Bush and Cheney Were Starting To Mellow Out: But this?

Dubya and Cheney are caught red-handed sampling a government grow in an undisclosed location. Cheney, who has been practically invisible in recent months is preparing to launch a new line of Texas Grown Medical Marijuana for Ex-Feds. Duyba's ranch in the Lone Star State is going to be the location for their new green industry.

Rumors are that Dubya's been passing around the product of his first crop to friends and family. Cheney, who has been tending the crops in recent months, has been telling friends that Dubya's Red Hair Sinsemilla is the kind!

Democrats set to overturn any last minute regulations by Bush

      Plans to push through new environmental regulations favorable to big business in the waning days of the Bush Administration began as early as last May. That’s when White House Chief of Staff, Joshua Bolton, urged agency heads to finalize energy and environmental regulations before November 1st.

                                                                                                              
      However, it turns out there is an answer to sneaky tricks like this. The White House planners forgot one small detail, a little known law called the Congressional Review Act of 1996 (CRA).

        This law states that any regulation finalized within 60 days of congressional adjournment - Oct. 3, in this case - is considered be legally finalized on Jan.15. The new Congress has sixty days to review it and can reverse it with a joint resolution, according to Politico, a national online magazine.

        Just think what this means. Any regulation finalized in the last half-year of the Bush administration can be wiped out with a simple party-line vote in the Democrat-controlled Congress. I’m amazed that the Republicans didn’t remember this law, as they originally introduced it.

        The CRA was used in 2001 to overturn a Clinton administration rule that set new requirements for ergonomic spaces. The Bush administration apparently did forget it as they make their last attempts to pander to the big corporations that put Bush in office.

       A senior aide on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, chaired by Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), acknowledged that CRA is an option that the committee is exploring.

       The committee has two targets. One is a rule to allow federal agencies to determine whether their policies threaten endangered species, without requiring the approval of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

        The other is a regulation opening land in the West to oil shale development and mountaintop removal. A White House spokesman, Carlton Carroll, recently told the press,  “We are not rushing regulations through at the last minute. We are simply continuing our responsibility of governing until the end of the president’s term.”

         There’s no doubt in my mind that most Americans consider this administration’s energy and environment policies toxic, and this attempt to sneak through some final putrid policies is typical of the administration’s entire eight years.

          Even though the CRA can’t be filibustered, legislative lifting is generally more difficult than executive action. “There’s a lot that the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action, and I think we’ll see the president do that,” said John Podesta, a member of Obama’s transition team, to Fox News Sunday.

           Jerry Brito, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and an expert on “midnight (or last minute) regulations,” told the press that he would advise Obama to package all of the regulations into one bundle that could be voted up or down.

           Brito reasoned that the new president could “limit special pleading” by lumping the pet projects together. There’s no doubt the environmental lobby would be happy with this move. Sierra Club’s lobbyist, Dave Hamilton, told “Politico” in a recent interview, that his organization supports any attempt to derail the Bush rules.

         Rick Melberth, director of regulatory policy at OMB Watch, a liberal regulatory watchdog group, said “If these rules are overturned, the benefits for the environment are potentially significant.”

          “If Obama is able to overturn a sizeable number of Bush’s midnight regulations, he would be the first president in recent memory to succeed at such an effort,” Brito said.

          Clinton managed to repeal 9 percent of President George H.W. Bush’s regulations and amend 48 percent of them. The rest remained in place. President George W. Bush managed to repeal only 3 percent of Clinton’s regulations and amend 15 percent, according to Brito.

           Karen Harbert, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, told the press, “Congress has an historic opportunity to adopt a bipartisan practical energy policy that would strengthen the security of the United States and its citizens.”

          As It Stands, anything that overturns any Bush policy or regulation gives me hope for this country’s future.

The wild winds relent but So Cal is still burning in three areas

Southern California firefighters are getting a break from the 70 mph winds that have tormented them for four days. Over 800 homes have been destroyed. About 20,000 people have had to evacuate their homes. Some are getting a chance to return home today to see if their homes are still standing. The Los Angeles Times examines the devastation.  

Among the counties affected is San Bernardino, where my sister lives. She hasn't had to evacuate yet but has been watching the fires down below her. Her house is in the foothills. For the full story Click Here.

Civil marriage vs Civil Unions: Some Differences

To clear up what some are saying about civil unions and civil marriage, here are some of the really important differences. This whole issue has become our civil rights issue of the new millennium and all myths regarding it need to be exposed.

Portability - Marriages are respected state to state for all purposes, but questions remain about how civil unions will be treated in other states. They need to be recognized nationally.

Ending a Civil Union - If you are married, you can get divorced in any state in which you are a resident. But if states continue to disrespect civil unions, there is no other way to end the relationship other than by establishing residency in Vermont and filing for a divorce there.

Federal Benefits - According to a 1997 GAO report, civil marriage brings with it 1,049 legal protections and responsibilities from the federal government, including the right to take leave from work to care for a family member, the right to sponsor a spouse for immigration purposes, and Social Security survivor benefits that can make the difference between old age in poverty and old age in security. Civil Unions bring none of these critical legal protections.

Taxes & Public Benefits for the Family - Because the federal government does not respect Civil unions, a couple with a civil union will be in a kind of limbo with regard to government functions performed by both state and federal governments, such as taxation, pension protections, provision of insurance for families, and means-tested programs like Medicaid. Even when states try to provide legal protections, they may be foreclosed from doing so in joint federal/state programs.

Filling out forms -Every day, we fill out forms that ask us whether we are married or single. People joined with Civil Unions should be able to identify themselves as a single family unit, but misrepresenting oneself on official documents can be considered fraud and carries potential serious criminal penalties.

Separate & Unequal - Second-Class Status - Even if there were no substantive differences in the way the law treated marriages and civil unions, the fact that a civil union remains a separate status just for gay people represents real and powerful inequality.

We've been down this road before in this country and should not kid ourselves that this is an issue of equality for all Americans. We've come a long way, but will never achieve total equality until the institution of marriage applies to EVERYONE with No exceptions.

As an old hippie that believes in love and peace, I would feel so much better about this country if gays and lesbians were given equal marriage rights with the rest of the population.

There are differences between a civil union & marriage

It seems to me there are a lot of ignorant people out there who think that marriage and civil unions are basically the same thing. They're not! A civil union deprives couples hundreds of things that a marriage gets. I think everyone should read This Link to understand just how unfair the law is right now.

Will Republican Meltdown Open the Doors for 3rd Party Growth?

There's no doubt that the Republican brand has been tarnished and it's party is in disarray. What does the future hold for the GOP. Is the elephant going to be a symbol of the past? What does the disintegration of the Republican Party mean to the rest of the minority parties? In todays Times-Standard, AS IT STANDS takes a look at these questions and urges equal media access to the rest of the political parties in this country. CLICK HERE to read today's column.

Sylmar fire burns 2,600 acres; 10,000 residents ordered to evacuate

The Santa Barbara fires along the coastal foothills was bad enough, but now the fires have spread with wind gusts of 70 mph ripping through Northern San Fernando Valley overnight and into this morning. The fire managed to leap across the 210 and 5 freeways causing more damage and confusion.

With the hear expected to be in the 90's today, firefighters are in for a grueling battle.

There's no doubt this has been a bad year for fires in California.

For the whole story Click Here.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin Rejected by other Republican Governors!

While reading two of my favorite blogs, Political Animal and Think Progress, I ran across some interesting news regarding Gov. Sarah Palin today.

It seems the Republican Governor's Association was holding a meeting and elected it's new leadership team and guess who wasn't picked? That's right. Gov. Sarah Palin. Imagine that?

The funny thing is that there are only 21 Republican Governors left in the country, and 19 of them attended the meeting, which was held in Miami. There's eight leadership posts. So she had a 42% chance of being picked and nobody wanted the hockey mom from Alaska.

Rumor has it that the governors weren't real happy with Palin's news conference yesterday and this was a great way of sending her a message! The cat's out-of-the-bag. She was a desperate political pick that gave new meaning to dumb and inexperienced.

My column AS IT STANDS this Sunday talks about the Republican Meltdown and where they are going next. I also make an argument for third party candidates getting more media exposure in the future. I did suggest that if the Republican Party did split in two, she might be the head of the new party - The Righteous Republicans!

See this Sunday's Times-Standard's  AS IT STANDS and let me know what you think.

Fires rage in Santa Barbara County: State of Emergency Declared

Firefighters pour water on the remains of the Physics Building at Westmont College.

Santa Barbara Fire Department crews fights to put out flames at a home on Coyote Drive in Montecito.

    

       

The charred remains of the house and car above are contrasted with the firefighter battling the

blaze on the right.

Over 2,500 acres of coastal foothills have been engulfed by fast-moving flames stroked by the Santa Ana and sundowner winds, but they are reportedly calming down today. Over 100 homes have been destroyed and there are thousands of people who have had to flee the area.

 

I don't care what bears do in the woods - but people can't crap there!

There's forests in Europe where people have to be careful when nature's urge to defecate comes upon them, if they don't want to get fined. Anybody ever been to Toiletten (Toilet?) benutzen! Or, does the sign mean, "No shitting." 

                                   

This strikes me as odd, but if they don't want crap littering the forests, then that's the way it is. But what about the animals?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It almost looks like the figure is skiing and someone forgot to draw the skis. Yea...maybe that's what it is. What do you think?