4x4Wire

The season of political posturing is reaching new lows.  Consider this proposed California legislation (AB 48) that would ban the sale of tools because they MIGHT be used to alter the capacity of an ammo magazine.  It is silly; but, considering Assemblyman Skinner is from the ultra-liberal Berkeley area, to him and his constituents, it is perfectly rational.

Text from AB 48, submitted by Skinner (D-Berkeley), proposes to ban the sale of any device that is capable of converting an ammunition feeding device into a large-capacity magazine.

Yet again California state officials are found to be hiding money while continuing to plead they need more from the taxpayers of the state.  This time, the till is controlled by CalFire and the hidden money was controlled by the California District Attorneys Association.

Let me see if I can get this straight ---

Money is collected by the state from private property owners to cover the costs of fighting fires.

The state turns to a non-government entity (California District Attorneys Association) to manage the money.

This arrangement went on for more than seven years.

The EPA has identified carbon as a pollutant and a "carbon credit" market has been designed to fund efforts to reduce carbon pollution. California, known for chronic budget shortfalls, was the first state to jump into the carbon market.  Lawmakers and environmentalists envisioned billions of income to plug chronic budget gaps and fund special programs fighting climate change.

As noted in the article from the Sacramento Bee, initial projections of income are falling short.

Like the "derivatives market", the "carbon credit market" is fiction.  The implosion of derivatives resulted in economic chaos.  With auction income falling short of projections, is this another economic calamity in the making?

--Sacramento Bee article--

State environmental leaders this week hailed California's first auction of carbon emissions credits a huge success.

ANOTHER MASSIVE NATIONAL MONUMENT PUSHED IN UTAH!

Greetings Utah BRC members and supporters...

Given the news of this week, we felt a need to update our update. We hate to inundate your inbox like this, but the threat is real, and you need to know about it.  

Situation:
For whatever reason (November election, perhaps?) the Washington, DC.., Wilderness Lobby has twisted their proverbial throttle to "WIDE OPEN."

From Montana, we learn the Wilderness lobbyists feel "emboldened by election results" and are pushing the incredulously named "Forest Jobs and Recreation Act." That's Montana Senator Jon Tester's pitch to add an additional 600,000 acres to Montana's already impressive 3.5 million plus acres of Wilderness.  

And in California, our friends at the American Lands Rights Association recently sent an action alert noting plans for yet another new National Park are in overdrive. Ditto for Wilderness efforts in Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Truckhaven off-road area used by off-roaders since 1950’s will again be open for world class events

BAKERSFIELD, CA (September 07, 2007) In January of 2007 the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Desert Protective Council (DPC) filed a lawsuit claiming that the California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) purchased the Truckhaven property without completing the environmental reviews required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). As a result, the special permits required to use the property for events were suspended. An agreement has been reached by the parties involved that will allow State Parks to issue event permits in this area as long as the appropriate environmental reviews are completed.