Your government in action

If someone, somewhere, is enjoying themselves you can bet your sweet ass that there is someone, somewhere, diligently striving to curtail that activity.

SOURCE

Legislative Push to End California Gold Rush Has Miners Panning Environmental Rules

By Stephen Clark

Published June 01, 2011 | FoxNews.com

Fortune seekers hoping to strike it rich in California's ongoing gold rush may find their dreams dashed by new environmental rules that state lawmakers say are too costly to enforce.

Mining groups that outfit treasure hunters say an economic analysis by the California Department of Fish and Game shows at least $23 million per year is generated from small-scale miners trying their luck at locating gold in river beds.

But California's Legislature is trying to slash funding after learning that new rules devised by regulators to protect fish would cost taxpayers $1.8 million each year for permitting, administration, inspection and enforcement. The state collects only $373,000 in permit fees, creating a deficit that lawmakers say is too costly to overcome.

A draft outline to slash the mining program passed budget subcommittees in both chambers. The full Legislature has to approve it before the cuts are finalized and the independent fortune hunter is denied permitting.

"This is extraordinarily reckless legislation," Mike Dunn, owner of Gold Pan California, a gold mining supply shop, said in a written release.

Dunn says that the end of the small-scale gold mining industry would affect small businesses in at least 14 sectors, including grocery, restaurants, lodging, fuel and hardware. Most of the $23 million or more generated from these economic activities stay in low-income, rural areas where the booty is hiding.

Already, mining companies were suffering under two moratoria -- one legislative and one court-ordered -- against "suction dredge mining" enacted in 2009. Those bans were to be lifted in November after new regulations devised by the state's Fish and Game Department went into effect. The budget cuts would essentially keep the moratorium in place permanently.

Proline, a mining equipment manufacturer, said it sustained a 40 percent loss when the moratoria were first enacted.

"We are very fortunate to have overseas sales to help sustain our business," Jeff Kuykendall said. "But if this legislation passes, my retailers will be forced out of business. The Legislature hasn't even considered how broad the closures will be."

According to a description provided by the Karuk Tribe, which opposes the mining, suction dredges require prospectors to go under water and suck out whatever gold they can find at the bottom of rivers with vacuum hoses. The vacuum hoses suction up gravel and sand from the river bottom, which then passes through a sluice box that traps the heavier gold particles. The rest of the gravel is dumped back into the river.

Environmentalists say the practice destroys fish habitat and cite scientific studies that show dredging can release toxic mercury locked in the riverbed. Supporters strongly dispute that, pointing to a preliminary environmental review released in February by the Fish and Game Department that declared the practice is not "deleterious to fish."

Craig Tucker, a spokesman for the Karuk Tribe, told FoxNews.com that Fish and Game redefined "deleterious" so it could keep issuing permits. Under the government's definition, he said, a whole class of fish would have to be destroyed -- instead of just being harmed in a subtle way -- to be considered problematic.

Mark Stopher, a spokesman for Fish and Game, told FoxNews.com that the definition is based on maintaining population sustainability, just like other activities, including whitewater rafting and bridge maintenance.

"And it's our view that suction dredging can be regulated in a way that we don't have deleterious effect on fish at the population level," he said.

The Karuk Tribe, whose members were trampled by the original Gold Rush of the 1850s, has been leading the campaign against the practice, including filing the lawsuit that led to the court-ordered moratorium in 2009. The tribe cheered the proposed budget cuts.

"California is in the midst of an historic financial crisis. Taxpayers can no longer afford to subsidize this environmentally destructive hobby," said Leaf Hillman, director of the Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources.

But gold mining groups says the state can't afford not to allow mining, even though the California Department of Fish and Game issued fewer than 4,000 permits per year just before the 2009 bans went into effect.

Stopher said whatever the dispute, he's not happy about the prospect of the budget cuts negating the $1.2 million spent on the environmental review.

"Nobody likes to have done their very best for two years to deliver what the court and Legislature told us what to do and have an outcome where you say never mind," he said.
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It can't happen here?

That's right Minks just ask any white South African ex-pat
what happens after you let the Negro socialists take over.
 
i'm sure you can find a dutch redneck from SA to tell you all kinda things you like to hear, huh?
 
Your master the government in action

Either that or a Democrat Congressman talking about a Guaranteed Retirement Account.
 
2minkey said:
i'm sure you can find a dutch redneck from SA to tell you all kinda things you like to hear, huh?
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Rhodesians (Zimbabweans) could likely tell you a few things about Robert Mugabe.

I hear he is a lovely man who dresses very stylishly and gave his people all of the farmland once owned by those evil White farmers; and now the entire country is starving. That, too, is the fault of the evil White people.
 
SOURCE

Three arrested, accused of illegally feeding homeless
Orlando police say they violated a city ordinance restricting the feedings.

Members of Orlando Food Not Bombs were arrested Wednesday when police said they violated a city ordinance by feeding the homeless in Lake Eola Park.

Jessica Cross, 24, Benjamin Markeson, 49, and Jonathan "Keith" McHenry, 54, were arrested at 6:10 p.m. on a charge of violating the ordinance restricting group feedings in public parks. McHenry is a co-founder of the international Food Not Bombs movement, which began in the early 1980s.

The group lost a court battle in April, clearing the way for the city to enforce the ordinance. It requires groups to obtain a permit and limits each group to two permits per year for each park within a 2-mile radius of City Hall.

Arrest papers state that Cross, Markeson and McHenry helped feed 40 people Wednesday night. The ordinance applies to feedings of more than 25 people.

"They intentionally violated the statute," said Lt. Barbara Jones, an Orlando police spokeswoman.

Police waited until everyone was served to make the arrests, said Douglas Coleman, speaking for Orlando Food Not Bombs.

"They basically carted them off to jail for feeding hungry people," said Coleman, who was not present. "For them to regulate a time and place for free speech and to share food, that is unacceptable."

Orlando Food Not Bombs has been feeding the homeless breakfast on Mondays for several years and dinner on Wednesdays for five years.

Police had not enforced the ordinance while the court battle continued. The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta ruled that city rules regulating how often large groups of people can be fed in a park do not violate the Constitution.

The penalty for violating Orlando's ordinance is 60 days in jail, a $500 fine or both.

Arrest documents state that Orlando Food Not Bombs received permits and fed more than 25 homeless people at Lake Eola Park on May 18 and 23. Coleman said the group rejected the permits.

On May 25, Orlando Food Not Bombs illegally fed a large group of homeless people, the police report states. The group on its website called for members to show up that day and defy the city ordinance, according to the report.

Officers said they found a press release on Markeson when they arrested him stating that group members planned to defy the ordinance Wednesday.

Bail was set at $250 for each person arrested. Cross and Markeson were released from jail early

Thursday. McHenry wants to stay in jail and let the legal process take its course, Coleman said.

[email protected] or 407-540-5981

Copyright © 2011, Orlando Sentinel
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jimpeel said:
Rhodesians (Zimbabweans) could likely tell you a few things about Robert Mugabe.

I hear he is a lovely man who dresses very stylishly and gave his people all of the farmland once owned by those evil White farmers; and now the entire country is starving. That, too, is the fault of the evil White people.
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oh really, mugabe is a bad guy? thanks for the wisdom jim. well, at least you still got your angle on white boy oppression.
 
Lucky someone wasn't killed.

This was so egregious it made international news.

Didn't we fight a Revolutionary War over this type of behavior?

SOURCE

A little over the top?: SWAT team launch dawn raid on family home to collect unpaid student loans

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 5:30 PM on 8th June 2011

A father was dragged from his home and handcuffed in front of his children by a SWAT team looking for his estranged wife - to collect her unpaid student loans.

A stunned Kenneth Wright had his front door kicked in by the raiding party at 6 am yesterday before being dragged onto his front porch, handcuffed and led to a police car with his three children.

He says he was then detained for six hours while officers looked for his wife - who no longer lives at the house.

Mr Wright was later told by Stockton police that the order to send in the SWAT team came from The U.S. Department of Education who were looking for his estranged wife to collect defaulted loan payments.

Speaking to ABC News 10, a visibly shaken Mr Wright described what happened when he was woken by a banging on his front door.

He said: 'I look out of my window and I see 15 police officers.

Dressed in his boxer shorts, Mr Wright says he rushed downstairs and was about to open the door when it was kicked open.

An officer then grabbed him by the neck before dragging him out onto the front lawn.

His 3, 7, and 11-year-old children were also removed by officers and put in a waiting police car.

'He had his knee on my back and I had no idea why they were there,' Mr Wright said.

'They put me in handcuffs in that hot patrol car for six hours, traumatising my kids.'

The Department for Education refused to comment on the incident, saying they would not do so until the case was closed.

They did however confirm that their Office of the Inspector General had issued the search warrant.

The office has its own branch of federal agents that carry out search warrants and investigations.

Mr Wright is now trying to get compensation for the destroyed door.

Speaking to ABC, he demonstrated that although the door had been patched up, the handle no longer worked.

He said: 'They busted down my door for this.

'It wasn't even me.

'All I want is an apology for me and my kids and for them to get me a new door.'

He even had words of advice for anyone thinking of skipping paying their college bills.

He added: 'People who have student loans , pay your bills, take care of your credit.

'If you don't belive me, this could be you one morning 6 o'clock.'
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In related news ...

SOURCE

Posted at 3:07 PM ET, 03/11/2010
Education Department buying 27 shotguns
By Valerie Strauss

Why is the Education Department purchasing 27 Remington Brand Model 870 police 12-gauge shotguns (all new, no re-manufactured products, thank you)?

The guns are to replace old firearms used by Education’s Office of Inspector General, which is the law enforcement arm of the department.

Here’s a statement from the office in response to a question about why need 27 shotguns with a 14-inch barrels:

“The Office of Inspector General is the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Department of Education and is responsible for the detection of waste, fraud, abuse, and other criminal activity involving Federal education funds, programs, and operations. As such, OIG operates with full statutory law enforcement authority, which includes conducting search warrants, making arrests, and carrying firearms. The acquisition of these firearms is necessary to replace older and mechanically malfunctioning firearms, and in compliance with Federal procurement requirements. For more information on OIG’s law enforcement authority, please visit their Web site at : www.ed.gov/oig”

You can find, here, a list of reports on fraud cases the office has worked on for the last decade.

I asked department officials for specific examples of when the rifles might be used, but was referred to the above statement. Perhaps agents need some muscle while apprehending folks charged with fraud.

Here's a link to an 11-page document from the Department of Justice with guidelines for the Offices of Inspector Generals within federal government department that have been given law enforcement authority. It provides detail about firearm training is to be carried out and under what circumstances authorized personnel can engage in law enforcement activities.

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