Florida School District bans dictionaries and encyclopedias under Florida law

 

As if Florida could not get any stupider, it once again sinks to a new low.  Florida school district of Escambia County, the westernmost county in the panhandle, has removed dictionaries, encyclopedias, and thesauruses from its libraries, concerned that making these books available to students would violate Florida law HB 1069. The law, signed by Ron DeRacist in May 2023, demands the removal of any library book that "depicts or describes sexual content".

They banned dictionaries! 

Dictionaries are some of more than 2800 books banned in Escambia County. Other titles that have been banned include To Kill a Mockingbird, Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl, and Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile.

The school district used a checklist to determine which titles to ban. Escambia County provided a copy of the checklist to the Florida Freedom to Read Project. See below:

Note that there is no requirement to actually READ the book. Just look it up on social media and believe what others are telling you to believe.

Read the full article here:

https://popular.info/p/florida-school-district-removes-dictionaries

8th Circuit Court of Appeals (anti-science, clueless) repeals ban on dangerous pesticide

The Hill reported yesterday that the 8^th Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ban on chlorpyrifos, an insecticide used for protecting crops like broccoli, cauliflower, and fruit trees.  Chlorpyrifos has also been linked to lower IQ in children, impaired working memory, and negative effects on motor development.

The EPA instituted the ban in 2021, after the previous administration refused to when then-EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said further studies were warranted. As if he understood the big words and stuff.  This was after Pruitt had a closed meeting with the manufacturers of chlorpyrifos, in which no other EPA staff were in attendance.  So much for the “transparency” he promised.

 Organizations, including the United Farm Workers, celebrated the ban. However, a Republican senator from North Dakota called the lifting of the ban “a victory for our farmers”.  Clearly, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.  As with Pruitt, it comes down to pure, simple greed.  I’ll bet the good senator is also a “pro-lifer” since it is obvious he doesn’t care about the health of children.

The 2021 ban came after a prior court ruling that gave the EPA just 60 days to find a safe use for chlorpyrifos or ban it completely.  They determined this deadline contributed to a rushed decision that was ultimately “arbitrary and capricious”. 

The 8^th Circuit Court of Appeals said the ruling does not preclude the agency from reinstating the ban in the future, saying, the EPA needs to “give greater consideration to whether there are cases where the pesticide could be used safely”.  Why is it up to the EPA to find out if it can be used safely?

More tRumpism, cronyism, and anti-science in our government, bogging down the pursuit of safety, for the purpose of money.  Two of the judges were appointed by Shrub, Jr. and the third from that previous guy. 

Finding other uses for chlorpyrifos is NOT the job of the agency!  That’s the job of the manufacturers.  The EPA only has to determine if their applications are safe or not.  The manufacturers are the ones who have to go back to the drawing board to find out how their creation can be used safely.  They need to determine how to prevent health problems in children. 

Are the judges of the 8^th Circuit Court of Appeals in the pesticide manufacturer’s pocket, too? 

This is like someone coming up to you and saying, “here’s my pet rattlesnake. YOU have to find out what it’s good for.”

The EPA needs to send this back to the chlorpyrifos manufacturers and charge THEM with finding out safer uses and applications. 

This isn’t my baby, so don’t leave it crying in my arms.

 https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4291117-court-tosses-epa-ban-pesticide/

 https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/568439-epa-bans-use-of-pesticide-linked-to-neurotoxicity-in-children/

 

The Vatican admits Galileo was right all along 359 years later, 1992

October 31, 1992, the Catholic Church, the Vatican and Pope John Paul II finally admitted the church "erred" when it prosecuted Galilei Galileo for heresy, because he promoted the Copernican theory that the Earth revolved around the sun, not the other way around.  

In 1633, Catholic prosecutors argued that the sun revolving around the Earth was explicitly stated in the Bible.  

Exactly which passage says that?  Show your work, guys!

Oklahoma Editorial Board bemoans the resignation of their golden boy

I had wondered how the Oklahoma Editorial Board was taking the news of Pruitt's resignation from TEPA.  Unsurprisingly, they've taken advantage of the opportunity to praise Pruitt and his "impressive" record at the TEPA.  The OEB lauded his efforts to eliminate the Clean Power Plan and redefining the Waters of the United States (WOTUS).  They ignored the fact that all of Pruitt's actions have been challenged in court and nothing has been done policy-wise.  The WOTUS does not declare "large swaths of dry land to be navigable waterways".  During his campaign, The Donald complained that the EPA designated puddles as navigable waterways, which was incorrect, but facts never bothered The Donald.

Or the OEB.

They state that the Paris Climate Agreement set "impossible emission goals" and allowed other countries to "increase greenhouse gas" emissions.  The U.S. is on its way to meet those goals, based on the decline of coal usage and the increase of renewable energy options.

The OEB brags that Pruitt made the Superfund cleanups a priority.  What they don't mention is many of the sites that came off the list was the result of work done during the Obama administration, NOT the Donald's.  And they don't mention how and why other sites came off the list.  Hint: It didn't have anything to do with actual clean-up.

They called Pruitt's numerous scandals as "laughable" but did have to admit that some of those allegations weren't easy to dismiss.

It won't be long before the OEB has their lips pressed firmly against Wheeler's ass.


https://newsok.com/article/5600568/pruitts-resignation-a-chance-to-move-ahead

It is official: Scott Pruitt is no longer EPA Administrator!

The day we've been waiting for, ever since Pruitt was confirmed as head of Trump's EPA seventeen months ago, finally came to pass.  Thursday, July 5, Scott Pruitt resigned from the TEPA and The Donald accepted his resignation via Twitter (of course.)

The Donald promised many times during his campaign to 'drain the swamp' but brought his own brand of sewer rats, bottom feeders and sycophants to Washington.  When he proposed Pruitt to head the EPA, we all knew what was  going on.  The  Donald wanted to dismantle the EPA, something else he was very vocal about during his campaign.  Pruitt had sued the EPA fourteen times as Oklahoma's Attorney General, so it was obvious protecting the environment was not  on his agenda. 

He was confirmed easily and from Day 1 began rolling back protections for the nation's clean water.  Soon it was rolling back or  eliminating controls for clean air, clean soil and clean energy.  Despite all the data provided to show the climate is changing, Pruitt insisted it was a hoax and tried to remove all documents from EPA's website that showed research on climate change and global warming.

However, another battle may have just begun. Andrew Wheeler, EPA deputy administrator, is poised to move into Pruitt's throne and he's about as bad as Pruitt.




https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/07/05/scott-pruitt-removes-his-ethical-swamp-epa-editorials-debates/761701002/

Pruitt touts ‘transparency’ and ‘professionalism’ while practicing neither

Pruitt is doing nothing to hide his corruption, will stoop to any level necessary and spout lies and half-truths to further his own disastrous policies.  And when his lies are so blatant and obvious, the ass-kissers at the Oklahoma Editorial Board fawn over every word he speaks, like a teen-aged girl glued to the radio when her favorite boy band releases a new song.

Pruitt could say the sky is green (he might have already said it), the OEB will jump on that story and say what a great guy he is for finally setting the record straight, after years and years of fake science telling us it is blue.  Last week, in a move that surprised no one except for Trumpsters, Pruitt announced that the TEPA will no longer use “secret science” on which to base regulations.  The OEB says it is “a sound move in line with basic scientific transparency and professionalism”. 

Only the OEB would buy a load of crap like that.  Pruitt has never been transparent during his regime at the TEPA, even going as far to spend over $40,000 on a phone booth so his phone calls could be private.  The NRDC has to sue just to get access to documents that are meant for public consumption.  Doesn’t sound like transparency or professionalism.

There’s no “secret science”. Pruitt is lying.

The OEB quoted Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, and major opponent of science, and climate-change denier, Smith said the EPA had “routinely relied on questionable science based on nonpublic information that could not be reproduced, a basic requirement of the scientific method.”  Smith actually filed suit against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, claiming the all the data supporting global warming, published in Science in 2015 was fake.  After a year of reviewing all the data, the independent firm hired to investigate concluded that the data was real. 

When scientists were at the helm of the EPA (the old ways), they would not base any policy if the scientific data could not be reproduced. 

That’s the basic requirement of the scientific method.

http://newsok.com/ban-on-secret-science-in-epa-regulation-makes-sense/article/5588210

Greed and lies. Now Pruitt adds hate to the EPA's agenda.

From the beginning, everyone knew, and yet nobody was denying it, Scott Pruitt was the absolute worst choice to become Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.  Mainly, it is his track record as Attorney General of Oklahoma that made him uniquely unqualified to sit in that seat:  He sued the EPA several times, seeking regulatory freedom for the oil and gas industries.  Pruitt opposed anything, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Power Act, anything that would allow the oil and gas industries, which donated heavily to his campaign to become their lawyer, free reign to pollute our atmosphere, water and soil. 

His greed has been apparent for a long time, and still, he does nothing to deny it. 

Now he has added another evil, hate, to his greed and lies. 

Last week, twenty eight senators, including Ben Cardin and Chris VanHollen of Maryland, sent a letter to Pruitt urging him not to roll back restrictions on the use of dangerous pesticides by young workers, i.e. youngsters under the age of 18.  According to the Huffington Post, the American Farm Bureau lobbied the TEPA after the EPA under Obama finalized these rules.  They argued that the regulations were too tight, probably because minors tend to work cheaper than adults.  Since immediate family members are exempted from those rules, it is likely the opponents to these rules are wanting to hire young workers who might be migrants who speak little if any English and do not understand their rights. 

This attack on children’s health comes as no surprise for anyone watching Pruitt and the TEPA.  Back in May 2015, Pruitt delayed the ban of chlorpyrifos, an insecticide that exposure to which causes health problems in young children, especially between the ages of 2-3.  Pruitt has moved the decision on the ban back to 2022.  His excuse?  He says there “continue to be considerable areas of uncertainty” and he was “returning to sound science in decision-making rather than predetermined results”.  Pruitt does not give any clarity of what he has determined to be “sound science”.  Accusing an institution like Columbia University of falsifying data and information is just deplorable.  Sound familiar?

Apparently, Pruitt made this decision after a brief meeting with Dow Agro Sciences LLC, the manufacturer of the insecticide.  And still he claims that he doesn’t meet with polluters.  There is no basis for delaying this ban.

When it comes to the health of our children, we should always err on the side of caution and nothing is too safe for our children.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/senators-rebuke-epa-plan-to-let-kids-handle-pesticides-again_us_5aa943f5e4b0f7a689ce9b11

http://alan-scott.blogspot.com/2017/05/our-children-are-doomedpruitts-epa.html

The Top Ten Worst Things The Donald has done his first year

Marc Thiessen, of the Oklahoma Editorial Board, was really scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with the 10 best things The Donald has done in his first year.  He must be trying to appear as a "glass half full" type instead of "head up his ass" type. What’s really disturbing (but not surprising) is some of the ‘best things’ are not good at all, and border on catastrophic.  Look at Thiessen’s list:

10: Enforced President Obama’s line against Syria’s use of chemical weapons.

9: He has taken a surprisingly tough line with Russia.

8: He recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

7: He withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement.  Approved the Keystone XL pipeline and opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for exploration.

6: He got NATO allies to kick in $12 billion toward our collective security.

5: He has virtually eliminated the Islamic State’s physical caliphate.

4. He admitted he was wrong he was wrong on Afghanistan.

3. He enacted historic tax and regulatory reform that has unleashed economic growth.

2. He is installing conservative judges who will preside for decades.

1. He was inaugurated president, not Hillary Clinton.

I came up with my own Top 10 list for the Donald’s first year:

Ten Worst Things:

10.  He tried (and failed) to keep transgendered people from serving in the military.  Coming from a strict non-military background, The Donald has no business to tell someone they cannot serve in the military.

9. Seventeen of our (i.e. United States) intelligence agencies have confirmed that Russia interfered with our election, the base of our democratic society, and The Donald and his cronies were in on it from the beginning.  Instead of investigating Russia, The Donald ordered an investigation of the U.S. voters.

8: He recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.  So four previous presidents said they would and didn’t.  This move, which has been condemned by every single one of our allies, just further alienates us from the rest of the world.

7. He withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, approved the Keystone XL pipeline and opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for exploration.  He has been a denier of climate change forever, although everyone else in the world (the U.S. is the only country that is not participating in the Paris Climate Agreement).  This spells doom for our global environment, endangered species and the health of all Earthlings. 

6. He fired the entire HIV/AIDS Council.  This is a serious blow to anyone, not just the LGBT community, suffering from AIDS.

5. Since his inauguration, he has increasingly tried to demonize ALL Muslims, with his travel bans against countries (with no terrorists), and ignoring countries with terrorists.  He posted the controversial youtube videos showing violence against Muslims.

4. Obama halted the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2015. Not The Donald.

3. He has told more lies, he has taken more vacation, and done less in his first year than any other president.

2. He LOST the popular vote and he got mad.  He cheated by having Russia interfere with the election and gave it to him.  Russia and the KKK all got who they wanted for President.  The majority of Americans did not.

1. He appointed Scott Pruitt, a non-scientist, climate-change denier, global warming denier, as Administrator to the Environmental Protection Agency.  Since Pruitt has been confirmed (by the GOP), he has systematically reversed or delayed every regulation that protects our clean air, clean water and clean soil.  He has removed all the scientists and replaced them with industry representatives, who have no interest in protecting our environment.

There are many other significant achievements that did not make the top 10.

Oklahoma Editorial Board ignores facts to support TEPA Admin Pruitt

Always good for a laugh, the Oklahoma Editorial Board offers up some food for hilarity.  Now they are telling jokes to illustrate their uninformed opinions instead of facts.  That really means they ignore the facts staring them in the face.  Just like The Donald labeling every news story he doesn’t like as “fake news”, the OEB doesn’t like any story that puts their golden boy Pruitt in a bad light.

Just today, they published an opinion on NewsOK.com, and true to their very nature, presented zero facts to illustrate their judgmental position.

Zilch.

Zip.

Nada.

The bug up their ass currently is what they have termed “sue and settle”.  According to the OEB, advocates sue a “bureaucracy to force a change in regulation or enforcement” and the agency settles it without a fight.  They state this was the norm during the Obama administration.  They do present one point of fact saying that “23 economically significant rules resulting from sue and settle were imposed since 2005.”  That means it started with Shrub’s administration, fellas.

The OEB says that Pruitt isn’t willing to negotiate with activists and that’s why environmentalists don’t like Pruitt.

No! This is why we don't like him.

We don’t like Pruitt because he is destroying the rules that keep our water, air and land clean! 

We don’t like him because he is pandering to the oil and gas industry!

We don’t like him because he is stifling research and science!

We don’t like him because he is removing scientists from positions that can only be staffed by scientists!

If Pruitt doesn’t rely on facts, why should the OEB?

http://newsok.com/congress-should-take-on-sue-and-settle/article/5570405

The Donald's end to the "War on Coal" is failing, coming up against reality

The  Los Angeles Times posted a story yesterday about the communities in coal country are realizing The Donald's promises to end the "war on coal" are nothing but empty.  The Donald deluded himself and others into thinking that America's push to have cleaner and renewable sources of energy was an all-out battle to destroy the coal industry.

Whether or not coal country towns like Homer City, Pennsylvania believed The Donald and his campaign promises, they are finding out that that there is no war on coal, people are just, moving toward better options, like wind and natural gas.

Just two months ago, TEPA Administration Scott Pruitt claimed thousands of jobs had been created in coal mining, but reality showed a completely different story.

Read the story here:

The Donald has now declared a war on the environment although he does not see it as such.  But by rolling back protections preventing the pollution of our waters, air and soil, he has.  Although both The Donald and Pruitt deny the climage is changing, there is insurmountable data showing not only climate change, but global warming as well.  There is no data to disprove this, yet they insist on burying their heads in the sand.

Unfortunately, that does not leave places like Homer City with many options.  Read the story here:

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-coal-climate-201710-htmlstory.html 


View the video here:

Our environment is doomed...Pruitt's war on the environment in a nutshell

What he says:	What he does:
Pruitt and the TEPA are seeking to reduce the EPA’s funding by 31.4 and eliminate up to one fifth of the staff.	He is spending $25,000 on a soundproof “privacy booth” in his office.  His round-the-clock security detail has cost $830,000 for his first 3 months on the job, double the amount of his predecessors.  He spent 43 out of 92 days from March – May traveling between Oklahoma and DC.  He spent $36,068.50 to fly on a military jet to and from Cincinnati in June.
Pruitt has accused the Obama administration for failing to protect the environment.	He has tried to ease restrictions on methane releases.  He tried to reject banning a harmful pesticide.  He and the TEPA are trying to eliminate the Waters of the US rule, which is part of the Clean Water Act.  He has repeatedly denied the change in climate despite the mountains of data showing it is real.  Pruitt and The Donald have removed the US from the Paris Climate Agreement.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/scott-pruitt-spending-epa_us_59cc2a95e4b05063fe0ef9b3

Government scientists "leak" a climate change report before Trump can bury it

The New York Times received a draft of a report from government scientists providing data that we're feeling the effects of global warming right now.  The scientists made the draft public in fear that The Donald and his WH staff might try to bury it.

The report states:  “Evidence for a changing climate abounds, from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the oceans,”

This contradicts...nay, it PROVES that The Donald's and Pruitt's "beliefs" do not hold up in the face of cold hard facts.  The current administration has long denied that global warming and climate changes exists.

They don't have proof.  They just don't believe it.  Disputing it does not mean it is wrong, fellas!

The NYT article addresses the authors citing thousands of studies by tens of thousands of scientists have documented climate changes.  I learned of global warming and the greenhouse effect in the late 1970's.

“Many lines of evidence demonstrate that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse (heat-trapping) gases, are primarily responsible for recent observed climate change,” the scientists wrote in their draft.

Pruitt said in March  “No, I would not agree that [carbon dioxide is] a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.”

Again, no proof, just a statement.  

The EPA and 12 other agencies have until August 18 to approve the report, but it's no small stretch of the imagination that Pruitt and The Donald will try to kill it.  Or edit it to leave out the global warming stuff.

Kinda like W. back in 2003,  when he ordered WH officials to edit a similar report by the EPA and deleted all the data on climate change.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/climate-change-report-draft-nyt_us_598907ece4b0a66b8bae1fc6?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=__TheMorningEmail__080817&utm_content=__TheMorningEmail__080817+CID_10ffcfa282b1476041611456cad67004&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=HuffPost&ncid=newsltushpmgnews__TheMorningEmail__080817
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/07/climate/climate-change-drastic-warming-trump.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/19/us/report-by-epa-leaves-out-data-on-climate-change.html

Oklahoman Editorial Board contradicts itself in supporting Pruitt

Once again, the medieval mindset at the Oklahoman Editorial Board, its lips firmly pressed against Scott Pruitt's backside, decries the evils of science in favor of profits for the rich.  In an editorial posted yesterday on Newsok.com, the OEB said citizens should "welcome" the changes at the EPA.  In  a typical narcissistic tone, they call opposition to the change "hysterical" and sending people into shock.  It's bullying tactic to call the opposition names.  And it's  childish.

It accuses the EPA of destroying businesses and ignoring important issues  such as Superfund sites.  True to fashion, the OEB did not offer  any examples of business that were destroyed by the EPA.  Which businesses were they?  Or does the OEB make up numbers like Pruitt. (Has anyone figured out where those 50,000 new jobs are?)

The example they do provide is for the Superfund site, saying the EPA has scandalously ignored this issue.  The EPA hasn't ignored it, fellas!  It's been bogged  down and delayed by bureaucratic red tape and corporations refusing to pay to clean up the messes they have made.  

Also, don't you think global warming and climate change  is a pressing issue, too?  Oh...right.  More of that science-y stuff.

The OEB goes on to say "fringe groups have threatened to file endless lawsuits to block the reforms now underway."  The National Resources Defense Council can hardly be described as a 'fringe group'.  They have filed lawsuits to keep industries from dumping mercury into our water and to keep pesticides from our environment.  

I  don't know about you but I tend to appreciate clean air and clean water.

But the best part of  the article:

Thanks to replacing coal with gas in generation of electricity, Pruitt noted, the United States is “leading the world” in reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

This is credit to President Obama, not Pruitt, who has been pushing hard to roll back regulations on the coal industry, who has been touting all the new jobs in the coal industry. 

No, guys!  You owe the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions  to the man you love to hate!

Read the article here:
http://newsok.com/citizens-should-welcome-epa-changes/article/5558350

Newsok columnist Wingerter sucks up to Pruitt - WTF?

Justin Wingerter's post in Newsok.com today demonstrates a blind, uncompromising loyalty to Scott Pruitt, thinking that all this talk about the EPA administrator is exciting!  But even the first paragraph is enough to make someone seriously ill.  Any one with a brain, at least.  Wingerter sounds like a star-struck teenaged girl facing her teen idol.

Listen to this obsequious drivel:

"Critics and supporters of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt have found common ground in their shared belief that the former Oklahoma attorney general is operating with an efficiency and zeal beyond that of his predecessors."

I have yet to hear any of his critics use the terms 'efficiency' in describing his policies.  'Zeal' maybe, but not in a good way.  His 'zeal' is taking apart the EPA so oil and gas industries can pollute the environment with impunity.  This does not come as a surprise to anyone who has followed the process from becoming The Donald's nominee to somehow (God only knows) getting appointed.


Al Armendariz, a former regional EPA administrator stated: “I'm not aware there's ever been an environmental administrator with an agenda to roll back environmental regulations one after another.”

We've never had a pretender-in-chief so hellbent on destroying the environment.  The Donald put Pruitt there for  the sole purpose of dismantling the EPA.

Back in March, Pruitt denied a ban on chlorpyrifos, after a study from the USDA questioned EPA's methodology and mistaken conclusions that it is unsafe.  According to FactCheck.org, there are some questions about the EPA study, but claims stronger data and conclusions come from the November 2016 report from Columbia  Center for Children's Environmental Health at Columbia University.

How convenient that Wingerter's post left out the citation for the USDA's study.  FactCheck.org, on the other hand, listed 27 references, USDA not included.

It's been clear for a while that Pruitt is hostile  to the EPA while getting on his knees in the oil and gas industries, criticizing the EPA for its policies to protect our air and our water.  Pruitt is out to line  his pockets with the help of oil and gas.

“I'll do it as long as the Lord calls me to and as long as the president wants me to do it,” Pruitt said.

God help us all!

http://newsok.com/scott-pruitt-talks-epa-pesticides-and-future-elections/article/5558202
http://www.factcheck.org/2017/04/the-facts-on-chlorpyrifos/
   (and references therein).

The Oklahoman Editorial Board: Science leads to dark paths!

We can always count on the Neanderthals on the Oklahoman Editorial Board to provide us with a good laugh every now and then.  An opinion published July 20 was titled: “In policy, debates, bowing to “science” can lead down dark paths.”

The opening sentence states that the use of “science” is an intellectually offensive tactic of some activists to stifle debate.  Reading through the opinion, the Oklahoman Editorial Board talks about how the eugenics, or ethnic cleansing, was declared a science by then associate surgeon general Dr. W. C. Rucker of the U.S. Public Health Service.  The article proceeds to demonstrate how this set a precedence for sterilization of inmates in prisons and mental asylum.  It was even perpetuated into the 1970’s when American Indian women were sterilized at an OKC federal facility.

Read this quote from the article:

“It took the Nazi Holocaust to discredit eugenics. Before then, critics were dismissed as backward, anti-science zealots.”

Leave it to the Oklahoma Editorial Board to say the Holocaust was good for something.  As typical, the OEB does not cite any references that one can follow to read more about these subjects.  What did Rucker show as his evidence to support his eugenics?  Did other doctors or scientists support his findings?  The article does not say.  It implies that once Rucker made his declaration, the rest of the country followed like mindless rats seduced to follow the Pied Piper.

Rather than give other examples of “science leading us to the Dark Side”, the OEB latches on to this one thread and doesn’t let go, as if feeling the need to beat it into our brains to make the point.  And all the examples are limited to Oklahoma.

The intro to the second to last paragraph is the most worrisome and chilling, that this board has a voice that is reaching out to the mindless rats:

“Science is one thing.  People’s interpretation of science is something else.”  Then, “policy proposals based on debatable interpretations of science should certainly be debated.” 

Didn’t they warn us at the beginning about debates with science? 

Although never specified in the article, one can read between the lines and see the inference to the present “debate” over global warming.  Never fans of science, Gov. Failing, Pruitt and other Republicans, in Oklahoma and nation-wide deny climate change and global warming vehemently.  They cling to their faith and beliefs and shun the evils of science. 

Scientists can be wrong, which is why we have peer reviews.  Nobody is ‘debating’ the issue of climate change, i.e. no one has presented data to show our climate is NOT changing.  NASA and NOAA have submitted decades of data that have been researched and reviewed by both sides of the debate and have reached one conclusion: Earth is warming up. 

The OEB has a point that one cannot take one person’s word as proof.  Yes, got it.  We went to a dark place then.  But that has changed.  We’re in the 21^st century now, guys.  People are watching each other like Orwellian Big Brothers.  It’s okay to be skeptical but not to be obstinate and suspicious.

http://newsok.com/in-policy-debates-bowing-to-science-can-lead-down-dark-paths/article/5556929

The EPA is no more.

In a move we all saw coming, The Donald has dismissed all remaining scientists from the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy.  No surprise, since naming Scott Pruitt as EPA Administrator, they've done nothing else but deny climate change and global warming, dispute valid scientific research (they don't "believe" in it) and laying off anyone with a brain.

The EPA undergoes change with each administration, but the Democratic presidents tend to put more focus and commitment to science.  During President Obama's administration, OSTP had nine scientists on staff, who dealt with policy issues such as STEM education, biotechnology and crisis response.  The OSTP had over 100 employees in all.

Earth is doomed.  Thanks, GOP.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/science-division-of-white-house-office-now-empty-as-last-staffers-depart/

Rick Perry is as stupid and greedy as Scott Pruitt and The Donald

The Donald's plan to gut the EPA, and roll back any regulation that protects our clean air and clean water is well on its way.  By appointing nay-sayers to the right positions, he can eliminate any and all barriers to his own oil and gas interests.  This was made clear when he appointed Scott Pruitt, a climate change denier with absolutely no experience in science, to head the EPA.  He also appointed ex-governor of Texas Rick Perry (a Bush flunkee) as Energy Secretary.

Like Pruitt, Perry is a global-warming denier and wasted no time in proving his ineptitude and plain ol' stupidness.  He said earlier this week he does not "believe" carbon dioxide from human activities is a main contributor to climate change.  As if he hadn't emphasized his lack of education enough, he went on to blame climate change on the oceans:

According to AP reporter Matthew Daly:

Asked on CNBC's "Squawk Box" whether carbon emissions are primarily responsible for climate change, Perry said no, adding that"most likely the primary control knob is the ocean waters and this environment that we live in."

So the "good ol' boy" train rolls along.  We've known for a while that Pruitt has been on his knees among the oil and gas industries, but now we find out who's been hanging it out for him.  Or maybe Perry's on his knees, too.  Both of them have a reason to poison the environment:  to make more money!  

Just like The Donald!

Perry also said skepticism is a sign of being a "wise, intellectually engaged person."  That might be correct, Perry, but in your case, it's a sign of being a total moron.

http://newsok.com/article/feed/1275120

The Donald's EPA caught illegally rescinding Mercury rule

One of The Donald's first acts after purchasing the White House in January was:

"to “immediately withdraw” final rules sent to the Office of the Federal Register but not yet published in the Federal Register."

Although not yet under Pruitt's despotism, the TEPA (Trump's EPA) rescinded the Mercury Effluent Rule, which had been finalized December 15, 2016.  The EPA is required to give public notice and an opportunity to comment, but did not.

The National Resources Defense Council acted quickly and sued the EPA for acting illegally and potentially putting millions at risk.  Mercury is a neurotoxin and dental offices are the main source of mercury discharges to municipal wastewater treatment plants, since excess amalgam from new cavitgy fillings or old amalgam fillings being replaced are flushed down the drain.   However, coal-fired power plants (quelle surprise!) industrial boilers, and cement plants and mining sites can discharge mercury into the environment.

Mercury is especially dangerous to pregnant women, babies and toddlers.  Even tiny amounts of exposure can disrupt brain function and harm the nervous system.  The Mercury Effluent Rule reduces the annual discharge of mercury by 5.1 tons to publicly owned WWTPs.  And dental offices are in support of this rule.  Mercury is hard to remove from wastewater streams so this is why it is so important to stem the discharge of the metal to the environment.

What part of this does The Donald and Pruitt not understand?

Fortunately, the NRDC was successful and June 9, the EPA restored the rule.


https://www.nrdc.org/experts/mae-wu/factsheet-limiting-mercury-pollution
 https://www.nrdc.org/media/2017/170609-1&s_src=FBNews&utm_source=fb&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=mercury
https://www.nrdc.org/trump-watch/epa-restores-mercury-protection-rule-thanks-nrdc-lawsuit?utm_source=tw&utm_medium=tweet&utm_content=socialmedia
https://www.nrdc.org/trump-watch/epa-illegally-rolls-back-protections-mercury-pollution

Pruitt's EPA to Ohio: F**k you!

The west end of Lake Erie on the Ohio side is experiencing an algae bloom and not for the first time.  In 2014, an outbreak of blooms contaiminated the tap water in Toledo for about 400,000 people.  The algae blankets the surface of the lake with ugly shades of green, which can last most of the summer.  Algae is toxic and is a health threat to people and wildlife.

And it is recurring more often since global temperatures are on the rise.  Algae reached record levels in 2015.  Ohio and Michigan have taken steps to reduce farm fertilizer runoff and municipal sewage overflows that feed the algae, but these measures have not been successful.

Last month, several environmental groups sued the EPA to make a decision and enforce tighter regulations for polluters.  Molly Flanagan, of the Alliance for the Great Lakes said "By any measure, western Lake Erie does not meet the Clean Water Act's standards of fishable, drinkable, and swimmable for significant portions of the year."

Monday, Pruitt's EPA said it would not declare Lake Erie's wasters "impaired".

A search of the EPA's website does not show any mention of the issue, but this shocks no one who has seen the direction the EPA has taken under Pruitt's administration.  Their silence on the matter is deafening.  One cannot imagine Pruitt taking any action against polluters, but it is no stretch of the imagination to think he ignored the science and data behind the studies.


https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/ohio/articles/2017-05-23/epa-rejects-declaring-lake-eries-waters-in-ohio-impaired
http://www.freep.com/story/news/columnists/2017/05/23/lake-erie-algae-ohio-epa/339448001/
http://www.cleveland19.com/story/35497783/epa-wont-declare-lake-eries-waters-in-ohio-impaired-by-toxic-algae
http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/EPA-rejects-declaring-Lake-Erie-s-waters-in-Ohio-11167144.php

Talequah businesses not accepting gov-issued Cherokee Nation IDs

Once again, Oklahoma proves it is a breeding ground of hatred, bigotry and racism.  Businesses in Talequah, Oklahoma are posting signs in windows stating they no longer accept the Cherokee Nation's ID cards.  A sign appeared at EZ Mart, which stated "state-issued identification or driver's licenses".  According to the article on nativenewsonline.net, Buffalo Wild Wings and a local bar, Ned's, are also refusing the Cherokee Nation's ID card.

Cherokee Nation ID cards have been issued since 2012 and are government-issued.  This is nothing more than racism and hatred.

Way to go, Oklahoma.  We can't even go more than a day without becoming a global embarrassment.

http://nativenewsonline.net/currents/local-businesses-cherokee-nations-capital-city-refuse-accept-cherokee-nation-ids/
http://www.cherokee.org/News/Stories/33231