Altering facts to fit your reality

MoonHowler

This page is being updated.

Thank you for your interest in this topic. We are currently updating our website to reflect EPA’s priorities under the leadership of President Trump and Administrator Pruitt. If you’re looking for an archived version of this page, you can find it on the January 19 snapshot.

(the above is from the EPA website)

Washingtonpost.com:

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday evening that its website would be “undergoing changes” to better represent the new direction the agency is taking, triggering the removal of several agency websites containing detailed climate data and scientific information.

One of the websites that appeared to be gone had been cited to challenge statements made by the EPA’s new administrator, Scott Pruitt. Another provided detailed information on the previous administration’s Clean Power Plan, including fact sheets about greenhouse gas emissions on the state and local levels and how different demographic groups were affected by such emissions.

The changes came less than 24 hours before thousands of protesters were set to march in Washington and around the country in support of political action to push back against the Trump administration’s rollbacks of former president Barack Obama’s climate policies.

Read More

Alt-DOT-Universe

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

ATLANTA — Among the tens of thousands of people who took part in the National Rifle Association convention here, women were an obvious minority.

The thing that seemed to unite them was an overwhelming enthusiasm for President Trump.

“Look at what he’s putting his family through for us,” said Anne Jansen, an artist selling jewelry handcrafted out of bullet casings and shotgun shells.

“It’s for us. Right? He’s doing nothing but things for us. . . . To the resistance, it’s like, follow him. Take a chance. Follow him. He’s your leader. Are you an idiot?”

Jansen had never voted for president before supporting Trump in November. At 53, the self-proclaimed bohemian from Quincy, Ill., had only cast a ballot once before in her life, when she wrote in Mickey Mouse for president.

Read More

An Oscar for Kris Nohe

MoonHowler

Kris Nohe caught some flak on The Sheriff of Nottingham blog for her humorous video of Corey Stewart.   Actually, the fray Mrs. Nohe joined was a ****storm  with a boatload of derision and criticism.  Kris is not a woman who is going to stand down when she knows she is right.

She figured the Sheriff felt a little left out so she made him his very own video.

It looks like there is a new sheriff in town.

Kris, you go girl!  You rule!

 

Denial can be a savagely dangerous

MoonHowler

Neil deGrasse Tyson says that this video might just be the most important thing he has ever said.  That’s quite a statement considering his long, illustrious career as an American astrophysicist.

Often people aren’t comfortable with science and new ideas.  Some folks are still denying many components of evolution.  Parents are still attempting to dictate what is taught in science class across the nation.

Read More

Kudos to Ed Gillespie

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

As a tea-party-sponsored debate just outside Richmond wound down, and following some predictable clashes over cutting taxes, the question became whether front-runner Ed Gillespie doesn’t like Trump enough, or whether brash challenger Corey Stewart loves him too much.

Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors and a onetime Virginia leader of the Trump campaign, accused Gillespie of being insufficiently committed to the president. He cited Gillespie’s reluctance to support Trump last fall after a 2005 video was unearthed in which Trump was recorded making lewd remarks about women on the set of the TV show “Access Hollywood.”

“In the wake of the ‘Access Hollywood’ scandal,” Stewart said, “Ed was among the first Republicans in the country to kick him when he was down. . . . You refused to be anywhere near Donald Trump and refused to be on his leadership committee.”

Read More

Capt. George Harris: Song of the South?? Faux-Patriotism for the South

MoonHowler

Guest opinion from our friend, Capt. George Harris:

A couple of days ago I picked up a copy of The Prince William Times and found a front page article about PWC’s “Mini-Trump”, Corey Stewart.  I found it most interesting that Stewart, a carpetbagger from Minnesota, ranted on about “our Virginia heritage”.  The worst kind of carpetbagging.  And he wraps himself in a flag that he declares is the flag of the Confederacy.  Another attempt at faux-patriotism  for the South.  This is the first flag of the Confederacy and there were two others.  This is the “Stars and Bars” that served as the national flag of the Confederacy.

This flag (below) was the Battle Flag of General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia-it was NEVER the national flag of the Confederacy.  However, it was incorporated into two subsequent Confederate national flags.  It’s continued use by white racists only serves to fan the flames of racism that that continue to burn more than 150 years after the end of a war that nearly destroyed the “perfect union” our founders so desperately sought when they signed the Declaration of Independence long ago on a hot, muggy day in Philadelphia.

I have seen the Facebook video mentioned in the article. Stewart is pulling out all the stops to show that he is a “True son of the South” when he is anything but.  He is so bad that even Trump fired him.  When are the citizens of Prince William County going to wake up and fire him?  And hopefully the citizens of the Commonwealth will see through this carpetbagger and not elect him to our state’s highest office.

George S. Harris

Captain, US. Navy (Retired)

Manassas, VA

 

Bill O’Reilly: Big buck rewards for wrong-doing

MoonHowler

 

New York Times:

Bill O’Reilly is leaving Fox News with a payout of up to $25 million, the equivalent of one year of his salary, two people briefed on the matter said Thursday.

For 21st Century Fox, the network’s parent company, payouts related to sexual harassment allegations at Fox News now total more than $85 million. The vast majority of that — up to $65 million in exit packages — is being paid to the men who were ousted from the network because of the harassment allegations.

Mr. O’Reilly, 67, was forced out of the network on Wednesday following the disclosure of a series of sexual harassment allegations against him and an internal investigation that unearthed more women with complaints about his behavior.

His ouster was a stunning departure for 21st Century Fox, which long stood by Mr. O’Reilly even as allegations and settlements started to add up. Mr. O’Reilly, who started at Fox News in 1996, was considered the network’s top asset. His nightly program, “The O’Reilly Factor,’’ generated high ratings and pulled in hundreds of millions in advertising revenues.

But pressure mounted on the company to take action after a New York Times investigation found that Mr. O’Reilly and the company had reached settlements with five women who had complained about sexual harassment or other inappropriate behavior by him. The agreements totaled about $13 million, the majority paid by him.

Read More

New Clerk of the Court: Jacquelin Smith

MoonHowler

inside nova.com:

Jackie Smith has won the special election in the race for clerk of the Prince William Circuit Court.

Smith, a Democrat, was squaring off with Del. Jackson Miller, R-50th District, for the chance to serve the remainder of the late Michele McQuigg’s eight-year term as clerk.

With 100 percent of the vote in and more than 25,000 votes counted in Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park, Smith won the election by more than 2,000 votes.

Percentage of precincts reporting: 100 percent.

Congratulations to democratic candidate, Jacquelin Smith.  Just looking at the election returns at the State Board of Elections website, she made some pretty great strides in some fairly consistent Republican precincts.  Could it be that the times they are a’changing?

Voter turn out was extremely low, yet she beat her opponent, Delegate Jackson Miller handily, securing over 50% of the votes.

I expect some Republicans will say they voted for the Democrat just to keep Jackson in the House of Delegates.  I say bull-doodle to that notion.  Clerk of the Court would be a nice gig for Jackson.  He would only have to run for office every 8 years and he would be able to build up some sweet VRS time and have a cushy retirement check eventually.

I do believe that the Clerk of the Court position would be free of politics.  I believe Ms. Smith will see to it that happens.

 

“You Lie!” –The chickens return home….

MoonHowler


Washingtonpost.com:

The original moment came during President Barack Obama’s speech to Congress in 2009 as he was talking about health-care reform.

“There are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false,” he said at the time. “The reforms — the reforms I am proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.”

“You lie!” someone yelled.

That someone was South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson — and now, eight years later, an indignant crowd at a town hall has returned the sentiment.

The Republican was speaking about Obamacare on Monday in Graniteville, near Augusta, when the crowd started chanting: “You lie! You lie! You lie!”

Read More

Supervisor Lawson denies gender pay inequality

MoonHowler

Thanks to the Prince William Muckraker blog for bringing this matter to light. First of all, what would it have cost the county to recognize Gender Pay Inequality Day? Absolutely nothing.

Nice speech, Ms. Lawson, nice speech.  Gag!  I am embarrassed for the supervisor.  I graduated from college when there was darn little open to me other than education.  Shame on you then, Ms. Lawson, for not trying to improve the pay for the educators in Prince William County.  Your voting record points to trying to keep education labeled one of those low paying jobs.

Ms. Lawson’s logic is flawed and defies most statistical information.  Women make less, on average, than men do.  There are a multitude of reasons why.  In fact, many reasons go back to the fact that yes, women get pregnant.  That’s the reason that until the 70’s, women were pretty much relegated to the steno pool.  Companies didn’t want to invest in their training because women got married and had babies.  We have come a long way since those “Mad Men” days but there is still a ways to go.

Read More