Seven States Just Sued The EPA For Failing To Update Standards For Wood-Burning Furnaces

Seven States Just Sued The EPA For Failing To Update Standards For Wood-Burning Furnaces | ThinkProgress:
Seven states and the group Earthjustice have filed two related lawsuits against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to update emissions standards for wood-burning boilers.
It’s an often overlooked environmental concern. 
The boilers resemble outhouses with chimneys, and are used to heat water that’s piped into a home’s radiator system.
Along with furnaces and other wood-burning sources, they emit soot — a potentially dangerous pollutant that falls under the under the regulatory authority of the Clean Air Act’s New Source Performance Standards.

Ted Cruz Just Released a Detailed Report That the Obama Administration Will Not Like One Bit | TheBlaze.com

Ted Cruz Just Released a Detailed Report That the Obama Administration Will Not Like One Bit | TheBlaze.com:
"Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Wednesday released a detailed list of “lawless” actions taken by President Barack Obama on issues like Obamacare, national security and free speech.
The report, titled “The Legal Limit Report No. 4: The Obama Administration’s Abuse of Power,” accused Obama of displaying a “persistent pattern of lawlessness” and a “willingness to disregard the written law.”

EPA Employees Not Fired For Watching Porn, Stealing Money

EPA Employees Not Fired For Watching Porn, Stealing Money | The Federalist Papers:
(correction-incorrect photo of Renee Page has been removed)
The Environmental Protection Agency has not been firing employees for watching pornography and falsifying federal documents, according to California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa.
“How much pornography would it take for an EPA employee to lose his job?” Issa asked EPA officials, including the agency’s second-in-command, testifying before the House Oversight Committee.
Issa chairs the committee.

“This individual spent four consecutive hours on a site called ‘sadism is beautiful,’” Issa pressed the EPA employees. “You are running an organization from which no one can get fired.”

Issa was pressing EPA officials to answer his question on whether or not falsifying documents is a crime. It is a crime, but Issa wanted an answer from the panelists.

The EPA officials testifying before the House Oversight Committee struggled to answer Issa’s questions about agency employees falsifying federal documents by saying they are working while they were not.

An EPA employee has been viewing pornography while at work, and has even received performance awards for his time at the agency. The employee was even watching porn when inspector general agents visited his office. The employee had 7,000 porn files on his computer and had been watching porn for two to six hours per day since 2010. This employee still works at the EPA.

Another EPA employee was actually selling jewelry and weight loss pills out of her office. Renee Page is the director of the the agency’s Office of Administration, but that didn’t stop her from using her from selling her own products during business hours using her government email account, according to the OIG.

Page also hired 17 of her family members and friends as paid interns. She also paid her daughter — who also works at the EPA — from her agency’s budget account. 
But instead of being punished, Page received a prestigious Presidential Rank Award in 2010, for which she got $35,000 in cash.

The Ethanol Disaster

The Ethanol Disaster - Reason.com:
Last November, when the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) proposed moderating years of escalating mandates by reducing the amount of ethanol that must be mixed into gasoline, a top ethanol lobbyist seemed perplexed.
"We're all just sort of scratching our heads here today and wondering why this administration is telling us to burn less of a clean-burning American fuel," Bob Dineen, head of the Renewable Fuels Association, told The New York Times.
Here are a few possible reasons why: 
America's ethanol requirement destroys the environment, damages car engines, increases gas prices, and contributes to the starvation of the global poor. 
It's an unmitigated disaster on nearly every level.
Start with the environment.
After all, when the renewable fuel standard (RFS), which since 2005 has set forth a minimum annual volume of renewable fuels nationwide, was first set, one of the primary arguments for mandating ethanol use was that it was a greener, more environmentally friendly source of fuel that released fewer greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
This turns out to be complete hogwash.
Researchers have known for years that, when the entire production process is taken into account, most supposedly green biofuels actually emit more greenhouse gasses than traditional fuels.

Federal Gov’t Issues Warning to State That Wants to Opt Out of Common Core | TheBlaze.com

Federal Gov’t Issues Warning to State That Wants to Opt Out of Common Core | TheBlaze.com:
"The letter from the U.S. Education Department demonstrates “just how weak the phrases ‘state-led’ and ‘voluntary’ became when used to describe Common Core,” wrote Brittany Corona, a domestic policy researcher at the Heritage Foundation."

Florida man demands right to wed computer

Florida man demands right to wed computer - Telegraph:
Man sues for the right to marry his porn-laden Macbook, arguing that if gays are allowed to marry then so should other sexual minorities
Chris Sevier argues that if gays should be allowed to marry, then so should other sexual minorities
Chris Sevier, a man from Florida, believes he should be allowed to wed his Macbook.
Mr Sevier argues that if gays should be allowed to marry, then so should other sexual minorities.
Mr Sevier states he has fallen in love with a pornography laden computer.
“Over time, I began preferring sex with my computer over sex with real women,” he told a court in Florida.
This appears to be not a passing holiday romance, but a lifelong commitment.

Confirmed: Many of Obamacare's 'Eight Million Enrollments' are Duplicates

Confirmed: Many of Obamacare's 'Eight Million Enrollments' are Duplicates - Guy Benson:

"We've been throwing cold water on the administration's so-called exchange "enrollment" figures for months, and for good reason:

They're incomplete to the point of deception.

The Washington Post reported back in November that official tabulations were including anyone who's "selected a plan," which is the equivalent of placing an item in a virtual shopping cart online, regardless of whether the check-out and payment steps ever took place. "

Happening in every government. Even where you live-------Double-Dip Waste

Double-Dip Waste | MyGovCost | Government Cost Calculator:

Taxpayers prone to wonder why government is so wasteful should take a hard look at government-employee pensions in general and the practice of double-dipping in particular. 

As this report notes, Bill Carnahan, head of the Southern California Public Power Authority, took both his full-time salary and his pension at the same time, and he did so for more than a decade.

.....Pensions are actually for retirement. Nobody should be able to work full time and draw their full salary and pension at the same time. 

CalPERS is right to want the money back, but since it took more than a decade to expose the double-dipping, accountability and transparency are obviously lacking. Likewise, pensions are not a means to bulk up an already fat compensation package. 

.....To reduce the cost of government, legislators need to make pension reform a top priority. Double-dipping should be one of their primary targets.

Dems Looking to Bust Budget Caps… Again | TheBlaze.com

Dems Looking to Bust Budget Caps… Again | TheBlaze.com:
"But Murray’s filing calls for $1.160 trillion in discretionary spending, $19 billion more than the level called for in the budget filed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). Aides said Ryan’s filing reflects the true spending baseline for 2015 under the Murray-Ryan agreement, and that Murray’s new plan is higher.
“I’m disappointed that Senate Democrats have chosen to make yet another end-run around the Murray-Ryan spending limits in an effort to spend $19 billion more this year than we agreed to,” Sessions said in a statement on Tuesday. “While House Budget Chairman Ryan filed spending enforcement numbers at the same level as the CBO baseline, Senate Budget Chairman Murray did not."

Not Milk?--------State Plans To Ban Whole Milk For Children?

State Plans To Ban Whole Milk For Children? | Off The Grid News

A new bill in Connecticut would ban day cares from serving whole and 2 percent milk to children in their care.

The bill, called An Act Concerning Nutrition Standards for Child Care Settings, wants to set unprecedented standards for what supporters say would fight childhood obesity. It was proposed by a trio of Democrat state lawmakers.

“No child day care center, group day care home or family day care home shall provide milk with a milk fat content greater than one per cent to any child two years of age or older under the care of such facility unless milk with a higher milk fat content is medically required for an individual child, as documented by such child’s medical provider,” the bill states.

The same bill also proposes:

• Giving whole or 2 percent milk only to children who have a medical need.
• No artificial sweeteners or juice for children under 8 months.
• No more than six ounces of juice per day for older kids.
• Only 100 percent juice to be given to children.

China destroying high pay jobs. Again!-----------Solution To Airport's Bird Problem -- Trained Monkeys

Solution To Airport's Bird Problem -- Trained Monkeys - AVweb flash Article:
 "Workers have been hired in the past to knock down the nests, but it's a slow and costly process.
In the last two months, two trained monkeys have destroyed about 180 nests.
The monkeys' scent adheres to the trees, so the birds don't return, officials said.
Compared with traditional ways of dispersing birds, the new method is eco-friendly and has a minimal effect on the birds,"

Fact Checking the White House's Bogus Climate Assessment

Fact Checking the White House's Bogus Climate Assessment:

NCA Quote: “Precipitation patterns are changing”Reality: Precipitation patterns were never constant.  Creating a crisis from the normal allows climate catastrophists to point to every abnormal bit of wet or dry as being “consistent with models” that predict one horrible outcome or another.

NCA Quote: “sea level is rising”Reality: Yes sea level is rising, which it has done since the end of the last ice age.  But the frequent claims and predictions of accelerating sea-level rise are not borne out in the data.  In fact sea-level rise has slowed recently.  One main-stream climatologist says this variation “makes the 21st century of sea level rise projections seem like unjustified arm waving.”

NCA Quote: “the frequency and intensity of some extreme weather events are increasing”Reality: The latest report on the science from The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and analysis provided by the adminstration’s own National Climatic Data Center conclude that there isn’t a case for extreme weather increases – no significant trends for floods, droughts, hurricanes or tornadoes.

NCA Quote: “In Arctic Alaska, the summer sea ice that once protected the coasts has receded”Reality: Global warming is supposedly global.  Global sea ice (Arctic and Antarctic) is above average and, for this time of year, it is at its highest level in 30 years, which is the third-highest on record.The authors apparently do not think anybody is checking their statements or they couldn’t possibly think they would get away with this one:

NCA Quote: “It is notable that as these data records have grown longer and climate models have become more comprehensive, earlier predictions have largely been confirmed.”Reality: The past 15 years have seen the climate model predictions stray farther and farther from actual temperatures (here and here).  Last year, prominent climatologist, Hans von Storch, said, “If things continue as they have been, in five years, at the latest, we will need to acknowledge that something is fundamentally wrong with our climate models.”  Maybe Professor von Storch needs four more years to be sure the models are wrong, but there are no grounds on which the models can be declared “confirmed.”  Instead, the predictions are getting worse and worse.

Government to Test ‘Identity Ecosystem’ in Two States: ‘Sound scary? It is’ | TheBlaze.com

Government to Test ‘Identity Ecosystem’ in Two States: ‘Sound scary? It is’ | TheBlaze.com:
"An online program the White House is calling an “Identity Ecosystem” will be introduced in two states next month.
The concept involves a secure online ID that Americans could use to verify their identity across multiple websites, starting with local government services.

“Sound convenient? It is. Sound scary? It is,”

10 Maps That Explain the 2014 Midterms

10 Maps That Explain the 2014 Midterms - Kyle Kondik - POLITICO Magazine:

How Much Has College Tuition Increased In Your State (A Lot), And Why

How Much Has College Tuition Increased In Your State (A Lot), And Why | Zero Hedge:
"It is common knowledge that in the hierarchy of bubbles, not even the stock market comes close to the student loan bubble. 

If it isn't, one glance at the chart below which shows the exponential surge in Federal student debt starting just after the great financial crisis, should put the problem in its context.

And while we have previously reported that a shocking amount of the loan proceeds are used to fund anything but tuition payments, a major portion of the funding does manage to find itself to its intended recipient: paying the college tuition bill.

Which means that with student debt being so easily accessible anyone can use (and abuse), it gives colleges ample room to hike tuition as much as they see fit: after all students are merely a pass-through vehicle (even if one which for the most part represents non-dischargeable "collateral") designed to get funding from point A, the Federal Government to point B, the college treasury account."

History for May 8

History for May 8 - On-This-Day.com

Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the Second World War (May 8-9, UN)

No Socks Day

Birth anniversary of Harry S Truman, 33^rd president of the US (1884-1972).

Happy Birthday! Melissa Gilbert, Don Rickles, Toni Tennille

1541 - Hernando de Soto reached the Mississippi River. He called it Rio de Espiritu Santo. 


1794 - Antoine Lavoisier was executed by guillotine. He was the French chemist that discovered oxygen. 


1794 - The United States Post Office was established. 


1846 - The first major battle of the Mexican War was fought. The battle occurred in Palo Alto, TX. 


1847 - The rubber tire was patented by Robert W. Thompson. 


1879 - George Selden applied for the first automobile patent. 


1886 - Pharmacist Dr. John Styth Pemberton invented what would later be called "Coca-Cola." 


1943 - The Germans suppressed a revolt by Polish Jews and destroyed the Warsaw Ghetto. 


1956 - Alfred E. Neuman appeared on the cover of "Mad Magazine" for the first time. 


1958 - U.S. President Eisenhower ordered the National Guard out of Little Rock as Ernest Green became the first black to graduate from an Arkansas public school. 


1959 - Mike and Marian Ilitch founded "Little Caesars Pizza Treat". 


1985 - "New Coke" was released to the public on the 99th anniversary of Coca-Cola. 

White House Official Accused of Trying to Hide Communications | TheBlaze.com

White House Official Accused of Trying to Hide Communications | TheBlaze.com:
"The Competitive Enterprise Institute has sued the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to produce the work-related emails of its director, John Holdren, that were sent from a private email account and thus hidden from the Freedom of Information Act and archiving laws."

‘I’m Not Ready to Have Children’: Activist Films Her Own Abortion to Show Women It Can Be a ‘Positive’ Experience | Video | TheBlaze.com

‘I’m Not Ready to Have Children’: Activist Films Her Own Abortion to Show Women It Can Be a ‘Positive’ Experience | Video | TheBlaze.com:
"A 25-year-old abortion counselor from New Jersey recently revealed she got pregnant, but she just wasn’t ready to have children. She saw a “positive” solution in abortion.
Not only did Emily Letts go through with the abortion, she also filmed the procedure to ”show women that there is such thing as a positive abortion story.”

“I found out I am pregnant,” Letts says in the video uploaded on YouTube. “I’m not ready to have children.”"

Indiana Faces Government Consequences for Exiting Common Core

Indiana Faces Government Consequences for Exiting Common Core:
"Indiana’s work to remove Hoosiers from Common Core has paved the way for other states looking to exit the national standards boondoggle. And if state autonomy is something other states cherish, it’s a path they should follow. Because the letters issued to Indiana (and several other states) show just how weak the phrases “state-led” and “voluntary” became when used to describe Common Core."

GOP Lawmakers Say They’re Furious After Discovering What Was ‘Hidden’ Inside Budget They Voted For | TheBlaze.com

GOP Lawmakers Say They’re Furious After Discovering What Was ‘Hidden’ Inside Budget They Voted For | TheBlaze.com:
"That’s the lesson GOP lawmakers in New York reportedly learned after they voted in favor of a proposed state budget that includes millions of dollars in funding for the state’s hastily-passed gun control law known as the SAFE Act.
Hidden in the budget is a provision that permits the reappropriation of $28 million to fund a gun database and $3.2 million in new funding for SAFE Act “staff,” the New York Post reports."

Maybe he's French?-----Obama Biographer: 'The World Seems to Disappoint Him'

Obama Biographer: 'The World Seems to Disappoint Him' | The Weekly Standard:
""And that's what's frustrating to me sometimes about Obama is that the world seems to disappoint him," he continued to laughter from others on the TV set.
"Republicans disappoint him, Bashar al-Assad disappoints him, Putin as well.
And the fighting spirit sometimes is lacking in the performative aspects of the presidency.""

Watch What Happens When One Parent Speaks Out at a School Board Meeting About a Controversial Book Assigned to His Daughter | Video | TheBlaze.com

Watch What Happens When One Parent Speaks Out at a School Board Meeting About a Controversial Book Assigned to His Daughter | Video | TheBlaze.com:
“You are going to arrest me because I violated the two-minute rule?” the father said. “I guess you are going to have to arrest me.”
Moments later, Baer was escorted outside and placed in handcuffs. According to WMUR-TV, he was charged with disorderly conduct because he did not immediately leave when asked by an officer."

What could possibly go wrong?-------'Chinese police to help patrol Paris streets'

'Chinese police to help patrol Paris streets' - Yahoo News Singapore:
"Chinese police will help patrol tourist destinations in Paris this summer after a rise in muggings and attacks on Chinese tourists, a source in France's interior ministry said Tuesday.
More than one million Chinese visitors come to France every year and there have been concerns over a number of muggings and attacks against them.
In March last year, a group of 23 Chinese visitors were robbed in a restaurant shortly after they landed at Paris's Charles De Gaulle airport.
The ministry source said the Chinese police would help their French counterparts in Paris tourist spots but declined to give numbers.
The number of Chinese visitors to France is expected to be given a boost this year because of events linked to the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Paris and Beijing."

Not as dangerous as Iraq or Afghanistan......Well, that's a relief!--------World Cup security compared with Iraq, Afghanistan

World Cup security compared with Iraq, Afghanistan - Yahoo News
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Brazilian Sports Aldo Rebelo admitted Tuesday the World Cup faced "serious" security problems -- but said the country would not be as dangerous as warzones like Iraq or Afghanistan.

"We all have our tragedies and challenges, serious problems relating to security," said Rebelo as he embarked upon a hyperbolic offensive to defend Brazil, racing to be ready to host the Cup from June 12.

"I think Brazil is far less exposed to this kind of religious and nationalistic violence," which has affected countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, Rebelo said in a Rio address.