Scott Pruitt moves to repeal Barack Obama’s EPA regulations
Back when he was running for President Barack Obama promised to put the coal industry out of business. But still the coal miners unions and their members supported him only to turn against him after the draconian regulations were put in place. I guess they just assumed he would not make good on this campaign promise, but he did.
Today Scott Pruitt announced the EPA will begin to repeal the Clean Power Plan’s environmental regulations on the coal industry. He will sign the rule beginning the repeal of these regulations tomorrow.
Here is more:
Last week I purposely stayed away from politicizing the Las Vegas shooting because I find it distasteful to say the least to use such a tragedy to promote a political ideology. I found what I saw on social media from both sides of the isle to be downright disgusting and distasteful. The one exception I made was in regards to a CBS executive who said she had no sympathy for the victims because they were most likely Republicans. That is just sick and could not be ignored…
Naturally both sides dug in and began to use this horrible event to either defend or attack the second amendment, showing no sympathy for the victims or their families. Hillary Clinton came out almost immediately and called for a ban on “silencers” even though there is no such thing. There are noise “suppressors” but unlike the way they are portrayed in Hollywood movies they do no silence weapons. This was an emotional argue not based in fact.
There was also a call for a ban on “bump stocks” even though most people had never heard of a bump stock before the shooting. Another emotional response, bump stocks are more of a novelty item than anything else.
I would also say that most of the people who are calling for a ban on all semi-automatic weapons do not realize this would ban nearly every single weapon sold today, with the exception of revolvers and pump and bolt action shot guns and rifles, or maybe they do…
I still find it distasteful to write about but now the debate is in full swing and I find it too hard to ignore at this point so here we go.
Dianne Feinstein appeared on Face the Nation earlier today and she admitted that there were no gun control laws which could have been passed which would have stopped the Las Vegas shooter. Here is more:
“No,” Feinstein responded. “He passed background checks registering for handguns and other weapons on multiple occasions.”
But yet she is still an advocate for gun control so one has to ask why. Is it because she feels the need to pass something, even if the something amounts to nothing so she can feel good about what she has done, or is it because the gun control debate is really about people control?
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Sunday, October 8th open thread: ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’
Here is the open thread for Sunday, October 8th. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.
I apologize for not being around much last week. I refused to get sucked into the politics of the Las Vegas shooting so there was not much else to write about, but still we discussed 5 stories. Did you miss any of them? If so there is an easy way to make sure it does not happen again. I understand that all of you are busy and cannot always find the time to check the blog for updates so why not subscribe to America’s Watchtower and receive email updates whenever I write a new post? That is the easiest way to follow the blog to ensure you never miss another post.
In addition to subscribing you can also follow America’s Watchtower on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the links on the right. But you will get more than that for I often post links to articles probably will not be writing about so it is a great way to keep up with what is happening.
The Twitter widget in the sidebar is fully interactive. This widget updates my tweets in real time and allows you to respond to or retweet my tweets right from the blog. It also allows you to tweet me right from America’s Watchtower.
The rock world lost another one when Tom Petty passed away suddenly at the age of 66. To be honest I was never a huge Tom Petty fan but he did have some good tunes. I was never a big Beatles fan either but I do like “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” so here is Tom Petty and others performing that tune live in 2004. Prince comes in about halfway through it and does what he did best before delivering the ultimate “mic drop” at the end. Enjoy:
frui diem
Harvey Weinstein believes a ‘right wing conspiracy’ is behind the reports of his misogyny
Hollywood has been quite vocal in attacking Donald Trump for his alleged misogyny however has been quite silent about one of their own, Harvey Weinstein’s, reported abuse of women which spans decades. (Of course this is not surprising because Hollywood still defends Roman Polanski for raping children because, as Whoopi Goldberg put it, it wasn’t “rape-rape.”)
The New York Times article alleges that many of the women reported meeting Weinstein at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills where he would make inappropriate advances towards them.
He is said to have exploited his power as one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, one who could make stars of actresses like Jennifer Lawrence in ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ or Catherine Zeta-Jones in ‘Chicago, to try and take advantage of them.
And there is much more. For his part Harvey Weinstein, who we are now learning, has settled out of court with at least eight different women, has admitted wrong doing and has apologized:
The Obamacare contraception mandate has faced legal challenges ever since its inception but today Donald Trump issued an Executive Order which basically overturns the mandate. Here is more:
The Trump administration issued new rules Friday to make it easier for employers to refuse to provide insurance coverage for certain birth control methods if they claim to have moral objections to contraception.
The new rules allow any employer or insurer to stop covering contraceptive services if they have religious beliefs or moral convictions against covering birth control.
However it is unclear to me how much of an effect this is actually going to have. This is what Health and Human Services officials had to say:
“these rules will not affect over 99.9% of the 165 million women in the United States.”
If this is true nothing has really changed but pro-life groups are happy because now insurance companies will not have to cover the “Plan B” pills:
abortion opponents hailed the new rules. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List said “moral objectors” like her group will “no longer have to pay for life-ending drugs that are antithetical to their mission and for which we have argued there is certainly no ‘compelling state interest.’”
Lawsuits are already being prepared:
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey almost immediately announced plans to sue the Trump administration over the move. The National Women’s Law Center also said it would sue to block the rules, which CEO Fatima Goss Graves said showed “callous disregard for women’s rights, health and autonomy.”
It is only a matter of time before a judge blocks these new rules pending the outcome of the lawsuits but the Supreme Court has already ruled employers do not have to offer insurance policies which cover “Plan B-like” drugs:
The Supreme Court decided in 2014 that the Affordable Care Act couldn’t require employers to offer insurance coverage for certain birth control methods they equate with abortion. The decision applied only to private corporations such as the family-owned companies — including retailer Hobby Lobby — that challenged the law. Women working for those companies would be able to get morning-after pills and IUDs from other sources, such as the government or private insurers.
On a side-note, if we could get back to governing through the Congress instead of by Executive Order…that would be great.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
As you know, Equifax recently admitted a cyber-security breech which compromised the personal information of nearly 1.5 million Americans:
Equifax disclosed a cybersecurity breach in September that potentially compromised the personal information, including Social Security numbers, of more than 145 million Americans — data that security experts have described as the crown jewels for identity thieves. The company is one of three major credit reporting bureaus whose data determine whether consumers qualify for mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and other financial commitments.
The company has subsequently taken criticism for issuing confusing instructions to consumers, which contained language that appeared aimed at limiting customers’ ability to sue, as well as tweeting out a link to a fake website instead of its own security site. The Justice Department later opened a criminal investigationinto three Equifax executives who sold almost $1.8 million of their company stock before the breach was publicly disclosed, Bloomberg has reported.
Now it is being reported here that the IRS has awarded Equifax a multi-million dollar no-bid anti-fraud contract. Here is more:
The IRS will pay Equifax $7.25 million to verify taxpayer identities and help prevent fraud under a no-bid contract issued last week, even as lawmakers lash the embattled company about a massive security breach that exposed personal information of as many as 145.5 million Americans.
A contract award for Equifax’s data services was posted to the Federal Business Opportunities database Sept. 30 — the final day of the fiscal year. The credit agency will “verify taxpayer identity” and “assist in ongoing identity verification and validations” at the IRS, according to the award.
The notice describes the contract as a “sole source order,” meaning Equifax is the only company deemed capable of providing the service. It says the order was issued to prevent a lapse in identity checks while officials resolve a dispute over a separate contract.
What is the worst that can happen? You cannot make this stuff up…
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
The Democrats have done a masterful job at misrepresenting what Donald Trump did when he announced he was ending the DACA program in six months. Democrats claimed this meant that deportations would start immediately and dreamers would be separated from their families by the heartless white nationalist in the White House. In reality he gave the Congress time to make the DACA program permanent as he signaled shortly thereafter.
Now it is being reported in this story that the Trump administration is opening up the door to not only grant the dreamers amnesty but to also provide them with a pathway to citizenship. Here is more:
CBS fires executive for tweeting she doesn’t have sympathy for Vegas victims because country music fans are ‘often Republicans’
What bothers me the most in the aftermath of a horrific event such as what happened in Las Vegas last night, besides of course the senseless loss of life, is how quickly people pick sides and set up the defense of their political positions while seemingly forgetting that people died and others are suffering. They are putting their own beliefs first and in doing so are minimizing what actually happened–even if they think they are doing the opposite, and neither side is innocent.
You cannot go on Facebook today and not see what I am talking about. Sure, there are many people posting their condolences but many others are more interested in making this a political issue before all of the facts are in. I find this mindset to be disturbing, they are making the shooting about themselves and their ideology.
I did not intend to write anything about this story tonight for fear of falling into the same trap, and I still hesitate to do so, however a CBS executive posted something on Twitter which was so disgusting that I cannot ignore it.
Sunday, October 1st open thread: ‘Yertle the Turtle’
Here is the open thread for Sunday, October 1st. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.
Last week we discussed 8 stories, did you miss any of them? If so there is an easy way to make sure it does not happen again. I understand that all of you are busy and cannot always find the time to check the blog for updates so why not subscribe to America’s Watchtower and receive email updates whenever I write a new post? That is the easiest way to follow the blog to ensure you never miss another post.
In addition to subscribing you can also follow America’s Watchtower on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the links on the right. But you will get more than that for I often post links to articles probably will not be writing about so it is a great way to keep up with what is happening.
The Twitter widget in the sidebar is fully interactive. This widget updates my tweets in real time and allows you to respond to or retweet my tweets right from the blog. It also allows you to tweet me right from America’s Watchtower.
Way back in the day before they sold out, began to take themselves too seriously, and started thinking of themselves as “artists” the Red Hot Chili Peppers were a decent band. Here they are performing “Yertle the Turtle” live in 1999. This song takes its lyrics from the Dr. Seuss book of the same name so this video is dedicated to the Cambridge, Massachusetts school librarian, Liz Phipps Soeiro, who rejected Melania Trump’s gift of ten Dr. Seuss books just the other day.
frui diem
The story of the Massachusetts librarian who rejected Melania Trump’s Dr. Seuss book gift takes a new turn
The story has gone viral: Melania Trump picked one school in each state and sent them some Dr. Seuss books as a gift to promote reading. The librarian of the school which was chosen in Massachusetts rejected the gift and sent the First Lady a scathing letter claiming the district was rich and did not need the gift. But she did not stop there. Liz Phipps Soeiro went on to say the books are full of ” racist mockery,” and his drawings replete with “minstrel characteristics,” making the kids’ books emblematic of “systemic racism and oppression in education and literature.”
It did not take the internet long to point out the fact Michelle Obama held Cat in the Hat reading events in the White House featuring children dressed up as the Cat in the Hat:
This was clearly motivated by politics and by a deep seated and visceral hate of the President and nothing else, but Liz Phipps Soeiro’s hypocrisy did not stop there because this picture of her from two years ago surfaced today:
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