California Sues Bush Administration To Save Endangered Species Act

Why is this happening? Can anyone explain this to me why the Bush administration is doing this? Please tell me, someone tell me!

California Sues Bush Administration To Save Endangered Species Act: ”

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California is suing the Bush administration to block last-minute endangered species regulations that are intended to reduce input from federal scientists, state Attorney General Jerry Brown announced Tuesday.

Brown said the president is trying to gut the Endangered Species Act before he leaves office next month.

‘Unfortunately, the Bush administration has had an antipathy to using sound science,’ Brown said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. ‘This is the latest assault as Bush goes out the door. It’s intolerable.’

The lawsuit was filed late Monday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

The Interior Department issued the revised rules this month. They allow federal agencies to issue permits for mining, logging and similar activities without getting a review from federal wildlife biologists if their own research shows the project will not affect plants and animals.

The changes also block agencies from using the Endangered Species Act to consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on ecosystems when reviewing projects such as new roads or coal plants on federal land.

Interior Department spokeswoman Tina Kreisher said the revised rules will continue to protect threatened and endangered species and noted that the law says federal agencies will ensure no listed animals are killed.

The lawsuit also names the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Marine Fisheries Service as defendants.

Brown is asking the court to block the new rules, which could give the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama time to review them.

Obama has said he would work to reverse the changes. Because they take effect before he is sworn in, Obama would have to restart a lengthy rule-making process that could last up to a year.

Three environmental groups also have filed lawsuits challenging the revisions, which they say erode protections for endangered species.

Current rules require biologists in the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to sign off on dams, power plants, timber sales and other projects even when it is determined they are not likely to harm species.

The revised rules will reduce the independent reviews that government scientists have performed for 35 years. The idea is to accelerate a process that developers and other federal agencies have blamed for delays and cost increases.

Between 1998 and 2002, the Fish and Wildlife Service conducted 300,000 consultations for projects proposed for federal land. The National Marine Fisheries Service, which evaluates projects affecting marine species, conducts about 1,300 reviews each year.

California’s lawsuit alleges that the Department of Interior failed to adequately consider public comments critical of the revisions before it finalized the rules.

California is home to 310 plant and animal species listed as endangered or threatened by the federal government, more than any state except Hawaii, according to the complaint.

“

(Via The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com.)

Intuit hopes new version of Quicken leads to summer of love

Why? Why do we (Mac users) put up with this? This is just stupid.

Intuit hopes new version of Quicken leads to summer of love | MacUser | Macworld: “

One of the more impressive demos I saw at last January’s Macworld Expo involved Intuit’s overhaul of Quicken. It’s been a good long while since Intuit last updated its personal finance management app—more than two years as a matter of fact—and the app Intuit demoed at that January 2008 Expo was supposed to end the update drought. It would feature an entirely new look, an Intel-native architecture, many Leopard-inspired features, and a brand new name—Quicken Financial Life for Mac. And it was all slated to appear, Intuit told me at the time, in the fall of 2008.

RELATED SOFTWARE ARTICL”

(Via .)

David Duke helps son of ex-Klan leader in fight for Palm Beach County Republican seat

Interesting.

David Duke helps son of ex-Klan leader in fight for Palm Beach County Republican seat: “

David Duke helps son of ex-Klan leader in fight for Palm Beach County Republican seat

By CHARLES ELMORE
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Monday, December 01, 2008

WEST PALM BEACH — — Derek Black says ‘of course’ he will attend a meeting Wednesday for new members of Palm Beach County’s Republican Executive Committee. Never mind that the party chairman says Black’s ‘white supremacist’ associations are not welcome and he will not be seated.

‘I was elected,’ Black, 19, says.

Brandon Kruse/The Post
enlarge
Don Black, a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, has stepped in to defend the appointment of Derek Black, his son, to the Palm Beach County Executive Committee after local GOP officials sought to bar him from”

(Via .)

Duchess of Carnegie, 96, refuses to leave home

How damn cool is this?

Duchess of Carnegie, 96, refuses to leave home – CNN.com: “

(CNN) — Editta Sherman has celebrated more than half a century’s worth of new years in her palatial studio apartment above New York’s Carnegie Hall. But it’s unlikely the celebrated portrait photographer will be raising her glass there next year.

Editta Sherman has lived above Carnegie Hall for more than 50 years.
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Known “

(Via .)

Hanging out

Other night I was out with a couple of friends. They commented that I don’t post enough, so i am trying to get better about it. Enjoy!

Come on, just fill it out!

Been thinking … yea, I know that is scary

Think I will be trying to put more stuff about me on here. At the very least lighting the mood of things seems like a good idea.

U.S. Geological Survey: Climate Change Faster Than Reported

Mom, you were saying something about Al Gore being upset? Hummmmm………

U.S. Geological Survey: Climate Change Faster Than Reported: “
Estimate Of Coal Sludge Spill Size Doubled

Germany Pioneers Houses Encased In Airtight Shell From Which Little Heat Escapes

Energy Companies In Colorado Trying To Evade Safety Rules

NO TRASH MAN: LA Family Hasn’t Thrown Anything Away For A Year

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Amateurs Trying Genetic Engineering At Home

Laptop Monitor Illuminated By Sunlight Uses 75% Less Power

U.S. Geological Survey: Climate Change Faster Than Reported
stumble digg reddit del.ico.us news trust mixx.com
Los Angeles Times   |  Juliet Eilperin   |   December 26, 2008 11:51 AM

Read More: Arctic Ice Melt, Extreme Weather, Gl”

(Via .)

Police: Woman faked missing baby story to win back ex – CNN.com

Now, minus the fact that it is beyond words to express how sad it is that someone would do something like this. Sadly, this only hurts future claims of a missing child.

Police: Woman faked missing baby story to win back ex – CNN.com: ”

Police: Woman faked missing baby story to win back ex

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Baby was described as having one tooth, mohawk and temporary tattoo
‘Riley Buchness’ was subject of Christmas Day missing child alert
Meagan McCormic, 22, is in custody, accused of filing false report

From Kim Segal
CNN

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) — Meagan McCormic faced television cameras on Christmas Day to plead for the return of her missing 5-month-old son.

McCormic and former boyfriend John Buchness make a public plea on Christmas Day.
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‘I don’t even know if he’s dead or alive,’ she said.

In fact, she knew that the child had never existed, police said.

McCormic was tr”

(Via .)

Bristol Palin’s Future Mother-In-Law’s Drug Arrest: Trooper Says Election Delayed Case

When it rains, it pours. This is really sad!

Bristol Palin’s Future Mother-In-Law’s Drug Arrest: Trooper Says Election Delayed Case: ”

RNC HEAD SLAMS RIVAL OVER ‘BARACK THE MAGIC NEGRO’ SONG

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Bristol Palin’s Future Mother-In-Law’s Drug Arrest: Trooper Says Election Delayed Case
stumble digg reddit del.ico.us news trust mixx.com
Associated Press   |   December 26, 2008 01:11 PM

Read More: Bristol Palin, Bristol Palin Drug Case, Bristol Pa”

(Via .)