'Irresponsible and Outrageous': Trump DOE Redefines 'High-Level' Nuclear Waste to 'Low-Level' to Cut Corners on Disposal Costs

ECOWATCH.COM|BY ECOWATCH

The Department of Energy (DOE) plans to observe a new interpretation of which nuclear waste qualifies as "high-level waste," which must be disposed of deep underground to avoid contaminating the surrounding environment. Under the new standards, radioactive materials at three nuclear sites will be cl...

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  Thanks to new Trump administration restrictions, it's now almost impossible to visit Cuba

  Jun 4, 2019
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    Florida Department of Education might 'name names' of the almost 200 districts without armed guards

    Jun 6, 2019
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  •  AND THUS INVITE A SHOOTER TO ATTEND ONE OF THOSE SCHOOLS

Florida Rep. Mike Hill is violating the constitution by blocking everyone who disagrees with him on Twitter

Posted By Colin Wolf on Fri, Jun 7, 2019 

• Me and you and everyone we know, apparently.

Florida Rep. Mike Hill, a Confederate statue-loving Republican lawmaker who recently mustered up arguably the worst apology imaginable after he was caught laughing at the concept of murdering gay people, is apparently not taking online criticism very well.

Besides never passing a single bill into law, Hill has also been busy the last few weeks blocking everyone in existence on Twitter, notably critics, members of the media, his colleagues in the Florida House and even a Pulse survivor.

Two days ago, Hill blocked Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat who has been calling for his resignation and is also openly gay. “He mad at me,” tweeted Smith after learning he was blocked.

He mad at me. pic.twitter.com/LyIn04X5X5

— Rep. Carlos G Smith (@CarlosGSmith) June 6, 2019

Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the mass shooting at the gay night club Pulse, also learned he was blocked after questioning how Hill would explain his actions to the Pulse community. “When I asked him how he’d explain his comments to the Pulse community, who’ve suffered the violence he giggled about, he blocked me too,” said Wolf in the same thread.

So far, Hill has also blocked Equality Florida, state Rep. Anna Eskamani, state Sen. Annette Taddeo, Miami New Times reporter Jerry Iannelli, Florida filmmaker Billy Corben, me (and I should mention that I’ve literally never tweeted at Hill) and probably anyone else who isn’t a Russian bot or the host of a QAnon web show. 

Can I can live my life without seeing him retweet bigoted garbage on my timeline? Yes. But not only does getting blocked on Twitter make it harder for Hill’s colleagues and members of the media to monitor his actions, like when he suggests we replace the term "LGBTQ" with a question mark to "cover the whole thing," it’s actually unconstitutional.

Last year, a federal judge in New York sided with plaintiffs who were blocked by President Donald Trump’s @realdonaldtrump Twitter account, calling it a “designated public forum.” “The suppression of critical commentary regarding elected officials is the quintessential form of viewpoint discrimination against which the First Amendment guards,” wrote the judge.

Obviously the plaintiffs in the case, which included members of the media, as well as the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, agreed with the ruling. “The First Amendment prohibits government officials from suppressing speech on the basis of viewpoint,” said Katie Fallow, a senior staff attorney at the institute. “The court’s application of that principle here should guide all of the public officials who are communicating with their constituents through social media.”

This includes Hill, who coincidentally sits on the House Public Integrity & Ethics Committee.

Elected officials can try to argue that their Twitter account is personal or that they’re just weeding out the trolls, but by preemptively blocking critics, they’re suppressing the right to petition to redress grievances. Also important: Taking criticism is part of the job, not just for elected officials but for members of the media too. The only difference is my account is not subject to First Amendment restrictions based on someone else's viewpoints, but Hill’s most definitely is.

To check if you, too, are blocked by Mike Hill, visit his Twitter page. 

Florida Sen. Rick Scott doesn't seem to care if Trump's citizenship census question royally screws his own state

Posted By Colin Wolf on Thu, Jun 6, 2019 

• screengrab via Fox News on YouTube

Rather than have an accurate count of everyone that lives in his state, which is the whole point of a census, junior Sen. Rick Scott is now arguing that the Trump Administration’s controversial citizenship question should be included in the next census, a move that just about every expert says would result in less congressional representation and less federal funding to Florida.

The former Florida governor made this unfathomably dumb remark while speaking to Fox News host Dana Perino, when he was asked to respond to a recent op-ed by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Sen. René García. In the op-ed, the two former Republicans lawmakers argue that Trump’s plan to include the citizenship question would undoubtedly result in undocumented immigrants not participating in the 2020 national census, which of course, would then cost Florida congressional seats and a massive loss of funding for programs like Medicare and food stamps.

“‘The state of Florida stands to lose out on millions of dollars in federal funding and as many as two additional congressional seats if the census question on citizenship moves forward and depresses response rates,'” said host Dana Perino, quoting from the op-ed. “Even an additional 1% undercount could greatly jeopardize the purse strings and power of the nation’s third most populous state.”

Scott responds by saying he’s totally fine with that. 


“That’s how we ought to be deciding how many additional congressmen and women Florida gets, it ought to be based on citizenship,” said Scott. “I understand their issue, we lose out some federal funding, but the truth is we should allocate the dollars based on citizenship. We should allocate congressmen and women based on citizenship, so it ought to be on the [census].”

Florida is expected to have 21.6 million residents counted on the 2020 census. However, right now it’s estimated that 900,000 of those residents are currently undocumented immigrants, and as many experts have pointed out, if they don’t participate in the census, the state will lose at least one congressional seat.

Rep. Val Demings, a Democrat from Orlando, recently told the Orlando Sentinel that this is the whole point.

“The administration is trying to suppress the power, funding, and political representation of states like Florida and transfer that power and money to more Republican areas in the center of the country,” said Demings. “An unbiased Supreme Court would reject it.”

A legal challenge to the citizenship question is currently awaiting a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Hillsborough schools take final steps to implement Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act

Posted By Ray Roa on Thu, Jun 6, 2019 

Photo by Monivette Cordeiro

The Hillsborough County School Board has taken the final step in implementing the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act.

On Tuesday, the board unanimously voted to adopt a threat assessment teams policy, which helps administrators, teachers and students know what to do if there are any students who may be a threat to others or even themselves.

The end goal of the teams is to get the student help before anyone is harmed.

District spokesperson Tanya Arja told WTSP that the district already had procedures in place, but the vote now makes threat assessment teams part of official policy. Hillsborough schools Supervisor of Clinical Care Michael Kelleher told BN9 that help could come in the form of “mental health support, behavioral modifications or disciplinary actions, depending on the situation.”

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act also requires at least one “Safe School Officer” at every school, but Hillsborough (and Pinellas) schools have already said armed teachers will not be part of the solution.

There will also be increased surveillance of data from public social media, the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Law Enforcement, the Department of Juvenile Justice and local law enforcement. Under the bill, the Florida Department of Education’s (DOE) Office of Safe Schools is supposed to work with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to create a "centralized integrated data repository and data analytics resources."

Improved mental health access has been lauded by some, but the ACLU says that such efforts must also “be supported to ensure full funding and commitment.” The nonprofit added that students’ privacy rights must be prioritized so that those struggling with mental health issues are not villanzied. Other concerns include increased youth arrests and the disparate treatment of minorities like youth of color, LGBTQ+ youth and youth with disabilities, who the organization says are more likely to be arrested.

Kelleher added that the threat assessment policy is not a crystal ball, but a proactive measure.

"We're really trying to hit this early on,” he said, “to hit the threat early on, to notice the threat early, to intervene early." 

Blogs

New poll says a majority of Florida voters support hiking state's minimum wage to $15

By Xander Peters  Jun 7, 2019  

Blogs

This May in Florida was so appallingly hot that it broke state records

By Colin Wolf  Jun 7, 2019  2:15 pm

TWO LITTLE WORDS: CLIMATE EMERGENCY!!!!!!

SAD BUT SHOWS THE CONSCIOUSNESS, EMPATHY, AND SELF AWARENESS OF COGNITION THEY SHARE WITH US

Blogs

Super sad video shows grieving mother dolphin carrying her dead calf in Florida coastal waters

By Kyla Fields  Jun 6, 2019  8:52 am

Kirsten Gillibrand cuts loose in a gay bar in Iowa, sipping a shot and ...

 June 8, 2019 by Brett T. ... Gillibrand and Eric Swalwell, both members of the 0 percent club, are in a race to run the most embarrassing campaign. .... Journalism: Daily Beast reports Trump brothers skipped out on bar tab, except they didn't ... Tags: dancegay bariowaKirsten Gillibrand Pride Monthshot ...

The Democrats have given us so many cringe-worthy moments during this campaign season, but if you ask us, Kirsten Gillibrand and Eric Swalwell, both members of the 0 percent club, are in a race to run the most embarrassing campaign. Swalwell, who is a white man and apologizes sincerely for it, showed off his tender side by shooting a campaign video while changing a diaper, but now we have Gillibrand “dancing” in a gay bar while modeling some LGBT wear from her campaign store. Yes, she’s sticking with that stupid “Brave” campaign theme.

We’re trying to think of an equally cringe-worthy moment from Hillary Clinton’s campaign and having a tough time — maybe one of her speeches to an African-American audience where she suddenly lapsed into black English vernacular? The hot sauce in her purse?

Watch in horror as we did as this “young mom” gets her groove on.

Kirsten Gillibrand relaxes after working a gay bar in Iowa pic.twitter.com/JYiU3c0Oc9

— 2020 behind the scenes (@Behind2020) June 8, 2019

A Lake County couple's rural paradise went bad when a corporate medical marijuana farm moved in next door

click to enlarge

Photo by Rob Bartlett
Ted and Vickie Miller at home in Eustis

The noise started on an early morning in February, as Ted and Vickie Miller were sound asleep and snoring in the confines of their farm-style home off County Road 44A in Eustis. It sounded like an engine cranking up at first. Ted sat up in bed, confused and panicked, with that feeling of going from unconscious to incensed in a matter of seconds. "What are you doing?" Vickie asked him.

"I think somebody's stealing my tractor," Ted told her, leaping from between the sheets to grab one of his rifles and run outside to the back porch.

The backyard, however, was dark. Ted's equipment was undisturbed. But the noise hadn't stopped.


"What the hell?" Ted wondered aloud, as he peered into the dark, dense woods behind their five-acre plot of land, where they've lived for 29 years. He could smell the skunk-like aroma of cannabis wafting through the air.

That's when it struck him: The noise – the low-hum buzzing, like a gasoline-powered generator humming around the corner, like the sound of a jet engine that's idling on a taxiway – was coming from the weed farm next door.

That was four months ago. The noise hasn't stopped since.

The smell of cannabis coming from the facility is something they can deal with, the Millers say. Though they lean socially conservative in most respects and claim they're not recreational marijuana users, Ted and Vickie acknowledge the importance of the state's medical marijuana program for patients who need it. They also claim to have had no problem with the previous owners of the cannabis cultivation facility next door, the Treadwell Nursery, which used open-air greenhouses and fans – which aren't noisy – and was owned by family members.

That changed when California-based company MedMen bought the Treadwell Nursery in September. The company revamped the facility with massive climate-controlled Dutch-style greenhouses that reduce humidity levels and produce a higher-quality, healthier product. And when MedMen cranked up the dehumidifiers on that morning in February, that's when the trouble started.

It's not just the noise, either, the Millers say. Bright lights from the facility shine onto the front of their property and onto some of their neighbors' properties. Freight truck traffic on what used to be a quiet country road has increased significantly in recent months, which the Millers say worries their neighbors with children who ride the school bus.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE