…. but, but what about the Sand Smelts?  All’s fair in rules and regulations until those rules, regulations and laws circle back to impact the rule making advocates. 

(Via Washington Post) Drought or no drought, Steve Yuhas resents the idea that it is somehow shameful to be a water hog. If you can pay for it, he argues, you should get your water.

People “should not be forced to live on property with brown lawns, golf on brown courses or apologize for wanting their gardens to be beautiful,” Yuhas fumed recently on social media. “We pay significant property taxes based on where we live,” he added in an interview. “And, no, we’re not all equal when it comes to water.”

Yuhas lives in the ultra-wealthy enclave of Rancho Santa Fe, a bucolic Southern California hamlet of ranches, gated communities and country clubs that guzzles five times more water per capita than the statewide average. In April, after Gov. Jerry Brown (D) called for a 25 percent reduction in water use, consumption in Rancho Santa Fe went up by 9 percent. (more…)

WASHINGTON DC – The Obama administration is expected to announce an agreement with Cuba in early July to reopen embassies and restore diplomatic relations severed more than five decades ago, U.S. sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The two sides hope to conclude the deal by the first week of next month, clearing the way for Secretary of State John Kerry to visit Havana soon afterwards for a flag-raising ceremony to upgrade the U.S. Interests Section to a full-scale embassy, the sources said. (more…)

Marilyn Mosby files some additional statements in response to defense requests for substantiation of “probable cause”.

However, the oddly worded response -obviously intentionally obtuse- does not provide much additional detail as to how she can derive legal charges against the Baltimore Six.

To the contrary, if you are following the ongoing construct of her claims, based on her prior sunlight avoidance tactics, you can find additional support for a reasonable belief the ME report is not supporting Mosby’s public assertions. From the Baltimore Sun:

[…] The office of State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby filed the documents in response to motions by the officers’ defense attorneys requesting more information on her reasons for filing the charges.

Gray died in April after suffering a severe spinal cord injury in police custody, according to police and prosecutors. But how he was injured remains unclear. His autopsy results have not been made public.

(more…)

Drops mic:

Recap HERE

TAA or “Trade Adjustment Assistance” was a legislative package attached to the “fast track” portion of legislation for President Obama’s Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement Authority.

In essence, TAA was a provision to provide financial assistance for any displaced U.S. workers who were negatively affected by any trade agreement. TAA was attached to the Senate’s bill for “fast track trade authority” which lowers the threshold for Senatorial Consent on any Obama trade deal. TAA was basically attached to, packaged with, TPA to get more support the fast track measure.

However, TAA failed to pass (126-yea, 302-nay):

WASHINGTON […] Only 40 Democrats backed TAA while 144 voted against it. On the GOP side, 158 Republicans voted “no” while 86 Republicans voted “yes.”

The vote against TAA is a humiliating defeat for Obama, who had spent weeks lobbying House Democrats to support his trade agenda in the face of overwhelming opposition from liberal groups and organized labor.

(more…)

A remarkable twist in the story of the biggest data breach in U.S. history. The Office of Personnel and Management (OPM) previously said they discovered the breach when it had “undertaken an aggressive effort to update its cybersecurity posture”.

However, that “update” claim is somewhat disingenuous. The hack was actually discovered by a cyber software company as it was running a product demo on the system. The company discovered embedded malware that existed inside the OPM for over a year…

WASHINGTON DC – As officials of the Obama administration announced that millions of sensitive records associated with current and past federal employees and contractors had been exposed by a long-running infiltration of the networks and systems of the Office of Personnel Management on June 4, they claimed the breach had been found during a government effort to correct problems with OPM’s security.

An OPM statement on the attack said that the agency discovered the breach as it had “undertaken an aggressive effort to update its cybersecurity posture.” And a DHS spokesperson told Ars that “interagency partners” were helping the OPM improve its network monitoring “through which OPM detected new malicious activity affecting its information technology systems and data in April 2015.” (more…)

Hat Tip Nettles – Wow. It appears the Dallas area might actually have an investigative journalist willing to expose the sexploitation of minors.  That’s really the bigger picture behind the McKinney “Craig Ranch” pool fiasco.

#mckinneypoolparty promoters were set to have another event. Here's a preview of my @CBSDFW 6pm story. #makeitclap pic.twitter.com/D8MotoedIM

— Mireya Villarreal (@ABCMireya) June 11, 2015

UPDATE 7:30pm EST – Here is the filed report:

(more…)

“Never let a crisis go to waste” – RE: McKinney, Texas

Forget the reality of McKinney Texas, and more specifically the private Craig Ranch subdivision, being culturally and racially very diverse; the media insist on selling a narrative of an all white subdivision refusing entry for the poor underserved black youth who are merely wanting to enjoy a swimming pool…. So now is a good time for the administration to take advantage of the false narrative with an ideological message:

WASHINGTON DC – The Obama administration is moving forward with regulations designed to help diversify America’s wealthier neighborhoods, drawing fire from critics who decry the proposal as executive overreach in search of an “unrealistic utopia.”

A final Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rule due out this month is aimed at ending decades of deep-rooted segregation around the country.

The regulations would use grant money as an incentive for communities to build affordable housing in more affluent areas while also taking steps to upgrade poorer areas with better schools, parks, libraries, grocery stores and transportation routes as part of a gentrification of those communities. (more…)

The key part of this vote is to remove the possibility for trade defeats in the Senate.  If Fast Track authority is passed/granted then a simple majority of 51 votes will be all that is required to approve President Obama’s trade deal.  

Mitch McConnell has essentially granted President Obama new powers not enumerated in the constitution.  John Boehner is about to do the same thing in the House of Representatives.  Paul Ryan has cemented his cross-over to the dark side of Chamber of Commerce Republicans led by CoC head Tom Donohue…..

(Via Washington Examiner) The House will vote Friday on legislation to give President Obama “fast track” authority to secure trade deals.

Republican leaders announced plans for the vote in a closed-door meeting with their rank and file, who are divided over whether to support the legislation.

The vote is likely to be close. With just two days until the vote, GOP leaders continue to negotiate with members to win their approval for the bill. (more…)

[scribd id=268096755 key=key-FwN9zcW5U8k2cqwLT4X7 mode=scroll]