Tag Archives: Watermelonism

EU to ban high-energy hair dryers, smartphones and kettles

Posted on by

“The power of hairdryers could be reduced by as much as 30 per cent in order to be more eco-friendly, a draft study commissioned by Brussels suggests, threatening many of the models favoured by hairdressers and consumers for speedy blow-dries.  Günther Oettinger, the German EU energy commissioner, said that legislation preventing consumers from buying high-wattage appliances was necessary to fight climate change.  Mark Coray, former president of the National Hairdressers’ Federation, said curbing the power of hairdryers would simply mean blow-drying took longer.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/11061538/EU-to-ban-high-energy-hair-dryers-smartphones-and-kettles.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

9 NYC Stores Fined for Propping Air-Conditioned Doors Open [2010]

Posted on by

“Nine stores in Manhattan and the Bronx have been hit with $200 fines for leaving their doors open on hot days in the hope that the escaping cool air will lure sweaty customers. They are the first fined as part of a new law passed in 2008.  Last year, only warnings were given out. Fines start at $200, and go up to $400 for any further infractions. The legislation states that any business larger than 4,000 square feet or part of a chain with five or more stores in the city must keep doors closed when using an air-conditioning system.  A digital thermometer read a refreshing 79 degrees 10 feet away from a Zara’s on 17th Street and Fifth Avenue, despite it being a muggy 97 degrees two blocks away.”

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/9-stores-fined-for-propping-doors-open/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Go Directly to Jail: The Criminalization of Almost Everything [2010]

Posted on by

“The more we criminalize conduct that voters dislike, the more we put people who never intended any wrongdoing into the quicksand of criminal prosecution.  With legions of prosecutors who are more interested in making names for themselves than in doing justice, Americans are living in an increasingly dangerous country.  ‘At one time,’ lawyer Gene Healy writes, ‘the common law doctrines of mens rea (‘guilty mind’) and actus reus (‘guilty act’) cabined the reach of criminal sanctions, but those protections have eroded dramatically over the past 50 years. Today it’s possible to send a person to prison without showing criminal intent or even a culpable act…'”

http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/go-directly-to-jail-the-criminalization-of-almost-everything

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Dry California Fights Illegal Use of Water for Cannabis

Posted on by

“Amid the state’s crippling drought, many communities are fighting the growers’ use of water.  Environmentally minded marijuana growers say that illegal operators and water guzzlers are giving them a bad reputation.  Because there are countywide restrictions on the number of marijuana plants even legitimate growers may keep, Mr. Chaitanya said, they have an incentive to make those plants as robust as possible — and that means using more water. Mr. Chaitanya suggested that the problem was exacerbated by confusing regulations.  Sheriff Allman of Mendocino County was skeptical of this. ‘That sounds like logic they’ve made up after smoking a joint,’ he observed.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/07/us/dry-california-fights-illegal-use-of-water-for-cannabis.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

California’s Cap-and-Trade Revolt: Poor Face ‘Hidden’ Gas Tax

Posted on by

“Large manufacturers and power plants must now either purchase permits or cut their emissions to comply with a state-mandated cap, which over time will be ratcheted down. Transportation fuel suppliers will also have to pony up for permits.   Assembly Democrats fear that applying cap and trade to fuels ‘will cause an immediate jump in prices at the pump.’ While estimates vary, ‘an increase of about fifteen cents per gallon is likely and a much larger jump is possible.’  Green regulations are intended to raise the cost of gas to encourage people to drive less or buy electric cars.  As the Assembly Democrats point out, cap and trade is ‘hurting the most vulnerable members of our communities.'”

http://online.wsj.com/articles/californias-cap-and-trade-revolt-1403908359

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Another California man fined for brown grass during water restrictions

Posted on by

“‘I got a warning that says to provide adequate maintenance to (my) lawn or garden by watering, mowing or re-seeding,’ Martin Padilla said.  ‘I got everything done — nothing else to complain about except for watering the grass because the grass is not completely green,’ Padilla said.  But Padilla was still fined, and learned he owes more than $420.  Padilla said he is stuck between a rock and a hard place.  ‘To make that lawn green, I need to use a lot of water, but the water company says if we don’t cut water usage by 20 percent, (we) get a $500 ticket,’ Padilla told KCRA 3. ‘But I’m paying a $429 ticket for not using enough water, so what should I do?'”

http://www.kcra.com/news/stockton-man-fined-for-brown-grass/27255796

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

A Fish Story

Posted on by

“What do the former employees of Enron and I have in common? According to the Department of Justice, we’re both guilty of the same crime. They spent their nights purging documents in order to hide massive financial fraud. I was accused of disposing of several purportedly undersized red grouper into the Florida surf from which I caught them.  Nearly three years later, the federal government charged me with the destruction of evidence—yes, fish—to impede a federal investigation. I was subsequently arrested at my home. I have been blacklisted by boat owners who fear federal investigations similar to mine. I am now unable to make a living doing what I love to do.”

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/04/a-fish-story-106010.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Comply with California water-saving rules, get fined for brown lawn

Posted on by

“On the same day the state approved mandatory outdoor watering restrictions with the threat of $500 fines, the Southern California couple received a letter from their city threatening a $500 penalty for not watering their brown lawn.  It’s brown because of their conservation, which, besides a twice-a-week lawn watering regimen, includes shorter showers and larger loads of laundry.  They’re encouraged by the state’s new drought-busting, public service slogan: Brown is the new green.  The city of Glendora sees it differently.  Residents are caught in the middle of conflicting government messages as the need for conservation clashes with the need to preserve attractive neighborhoods.”

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/19/california-couple-faces-fine-for-brown-lawn-after-complying-with-water-saving/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

California Drains Reservoirs in the Middle of a Drought [May 2014]

Posted on by

“Last month the Bureau of Reclamation drained Folsom and other reservoirs on the American and Stanislaus rivers of more than 70,000 acre feet of water—enough to meet the annual needs of a city of half a million people—for the comfort and convenience of fish.  Government officials who are entrusted with the careful management of our water squandered it in less than three weeks to nudge baby salmon toward the Pacific Ocean (to which they swim anyway) and to keep the river at just the right temperature for the fish by flushing the colder water stored in the reservoirs.  While some of the water can be recaptured downstream, most is lost to the ocean.”

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304547704579565622649474370

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

California introduces $500 fines for wasting water

Posted on by

“Though Gov. Jerry Brown had urged a voluntary 20% reduction in water use, figures released last month indicated a drop of only 5% statewide for the year. But the State Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday updated the monthly survey from water districts to show that consumption had increased 1% in May compared with a year ago.  Based on the initial figures, the board last week proposed banning watering lawns, washing cars or sidewalks and running fountains, with violators facing fines up to $500 a day. On Tuesday evening, the board adopted those measures. Police will have the authority to ticket water-wasters.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/15/california-water-use-drought/12682299/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet