Friday fracking video

Friday fracking video

Friday fracking video

Friday fracking video

Friday fracking video

Obsessed with Roy: Francis de Luca files complaint about ACP permits

The revelation came to him as he was throwing darts at a Cooper poster:

A challenge filed Tuesday against Governor Roy Cooper’s Department of Environmental Quality alleges that the four permits issued by the state for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline “did not meet proper procedure resulting in harm to water quality.”

The petition was filed by Francis DeLuca, former head of the conservative Civitas Institute, and contests permits and approvals recently issued by DEQ to the ACP project, including the federal Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification which is the primary approval required for the project to move forward. The petition also challenges the sedimentation control permit and storm water permits in Nash and Cumberland counties.

You know, when the GOP took over the General Assembly back in 2011, one of the first things they did was go on a “listening tour” to determine just how dissatisfied developers and industry people were over DENR’s permitting process. And of course, they were able to find numerous complainers, who told “horror” stories about having to wait 12-18 months to get their permits approved. Ironically, the GOP’s “solution” was to cut funding for DENR (later DEQ) by 40%, and bury the remaining regulators in paperwork like economic impact assessments. But setting that aside for the moment, my point is that Civitas and JLF have been moaning about over-regulation by environmental officials for years, complaining about how those delays stifle growth and prosperity and such. But now Fran de Luca is upset because the permits were granted too quickly? There’s a word for that, it’s called “Hypocrisy.” Here are excerpts of a letter JLF signed off on just a few years ago:

Thursday News: Zero tolerance

DEMOCRATIC REP DUANE HALL ASKED TO RESIGN AFTER SEXUAL HARASSMENT ALLEGATIONS: Top Democratic leaders, including Gov. Roy Cooper, called for state Rep. Duane Hall, D-Wake, to resign Wednesday after a left-leaning news site reported sexual harassment allegations against him. NC Policy Watch said it had five sources, one of whom the website named, describing “persistent sexual innuendo from the three-term legislator and, in some cases, repeated, unwanted sexual overtures.” The site quotes Jessie White, described as a top campaign official for several Democratic legislative candidates, as saying Hall commented on her looks and weight. After she mentioned some relationship troubles to Hall at a bar in 2016 he whispered in her ear, “If you give me two hours, you’ll forget about all those other guys,” the article states. “We must create a culture where harassment of any kind is unacceptable,” Cooper said.
http://www.wral.com/calls-for-local-rep-duane-hall-to-resign-after-sexual-harassment-allegations/173…

Anonymous UNC faculty group G17 forces Folt to call for removal of Silent Sam

One way or another, that dude is history:

Updated at 10: 37 p.m: An anonymous group of 17 UNC faculty members announced on their Twitter account it received notice from the chancellor’s office that Chancellor Carol Folt will ask Gov. Roy Cooper to petition the N.C. Historical Commission to relocate Silent Sam.

The tweet said the governor will be asked to immediately petition on the groups that recent events suggest the monument must be moved to be preserved. The group said it will stand down but will “re-engage if the chancellor fails to follow through on her promise.”

Of course the right-wing nutters are howling at the moon, calling for an investigation to determine who these professors are and get them fired and/or arrested. But the truth is, the UNC administration has brought this on themselves by farting around and hoping the problem would magically solve itself. As far as hurting the reputation of the school, it’s the statue and not the controversy that has done that. Silent Sam should have been removed a long time ago, but after Julian Carr’s speech was widely published, in which he bragged about whipping a female slave until her dress was in bloody tatters, it should have been a no-brainer. G17 isn’t a “splinter” movement emanating from just one school, it has members from across the campus:

Wednesday News: They went to Jared

KUSHNER’S CONTACTS WITH FOREIGN OFFICIALS PROMPTS SECURITY CLEARANCE DOWNGRADE: Officials in at least four countries have privately discussed ways they can manipulate Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, by taking advantage of his complex business arrangements, financial difficulties and lack of foreign policy experience, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports on the matter. Kushner’s interim security clearance was downgraded last week from the top-secret to the secret level, which should restrict the regular access he has had to highly-classified information, according to administration officials. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has asked people about the protocols Kushner used when he set up conversations with foreign leaders, according to a former U.S. official.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article202473529.html

Tuesday News: Stopped clock version

SUPERINTENDENT MARK JOHNSON OPPOSES ARMING TEACHERS IN CLASSROOMS: North Carolina’s schools chief is opposed to arming teachers in classrooms, an idea President Donald Trump and some legislators in North Carolina and other states have suggested following the shootings at a Florida high school that killed 17 people. Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson said Monday he supports the General Assembly increasing money to hire more law enforcement officers in the schools. But Johnson says in a release teachers should not be asked to take on the “massive responsibility” of having firearms in the classroom. He says he’s been working to reduce burdens on teachers. A North Carolina House committee has been formed to evaluate school safety and how it can be improved. Johnson says firearms on school grounds should be in the hands of trained, uniformed law-enforcement professionals.
http://www.wral.com/north-carolina-schools-chief-opposed-to-arming-teachers/17375397/