The LuLac Edition #4,116, July 25th, 2019

SENATE REPORT SAYS RUSSIA INTERFERED BIG TIME

The Senate Intelligence Committee has released its long-awaited bipartisan report on election security and Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. It is not pretty!
Among the key findings of the report, the committee writes that "the Russian government directed extensive activity, beginning in at least 2014 and carrying into at least 2017, against U.S. election infrastructure' at the state and local level."
The report is heavily redacted in some areas and stretches 67 pages long. The Senate panel, which has been investigating Russian interference for more than two years, released a summary version of its election security findings in May 2018.
The panel released its redacted report one day after former special counsel Robert Mueller appeared on Capitol Hill to testify about his own 22-month investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible obstruction of justice by President Trump.
The congressional document, which is the product of a bipartisan investigation led by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.), recommended that officials give "renewed attention" to vulnerabilities in voting infrastructure, such as further securing voter registration databases.
My feeling has always been that if the Russians can interfere in an election, at some point they can come after the power grid. And when that happens, maybe Trump fans will see what their support has wrought. (LuLac, The Hill)

REP. CARTWRIGHT INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO ENSURE CLEAN WATER AND AIR

TWO BILLS WOULD CLOSE LOOPHOLES TO MAKE OIL & GAS INDUSTRIES COMPLY WITH HAZARDOUS WASTE PROTECTIONS & STANDARDS

Representative Matt Cartwright (Photo: LuLac archives) 

Rep. Matt Cartwright (PA-08) introduced two pieces of legislation to hold oil and gas industries accountable to national standards for water and air protection.
The first bill, known as the CLEANER Act, will ensure oil and gas companies are responsible for cleaning up and disposing of the hazardous waste that results from their operations. Specifically, the bill would eliminate current exemptions for those industries in the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act, which was enacted four decades ago to keep Americans safe from harmful pollutants. The second piece of legislation, known as the FRESHER Act, will close the loophole for oil and gas companies in the Clean Water Act, and will mandate a study on the effects of stormwater runoff from these industries’ operations.
“Northeastern Pennsylvania is blessed with abundant natural resources, water streams and wildlife, and it’s important that we preserve them for future generations,” Congressman Cartwright said. “These bills will close damaging loopholes in current legislation to ensure dangerous pollutants don’t seep into our waterways and our land.”
The CLEANER Act and the FRESHER Act are part of the broader ‘Frack Pack,’ a group of five environmental bills that also includes:
•the BREATHE Act, introduced by Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY), to prevent toxic air pollution by reversing the exemption of oil and gas exploration and production activities,
•the FRAC Act, introduced by Congresswoman Diana DeGette (CO-01), to reverse exemptions for oil and natural gas industries under the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the SHARED Act, introduced by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, to require testing for water contamination near fracking sites.
The Frack Pack aims to close these loopholes in order to address growing environmental concerns caused by industrial pollution. The legislation package is supported by important environmental organizations, including the National Parks Conservation Association, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, and the Endangered Species Coalition.
For too long, the oil and gas industry has been free to pollute our air and water without being held accountable. The introduction of these bills is a critical step toward protecting our communities from the dangerous effects of fracking,” said Sierra Club Deputy Legislative Director Matthew Gravatt. “The Sierra Club applauds Rep. Cartwright and the cosponsors of these important bills for their leadership in ending the special treatment of corporate polluters.”
“It’s no secret that pollutants from oil and gas operations threatens nearby water supplies, air quality, wildlife habitat and downstream national parks, including Theodore Roosevelt and Canyonlands,” said Natalie Levine, Program Manager for Park Resource Protection at the National Parks Conservation Association. “The legislation introduced by Representatives Cartwright, DeGette and others will end regulatory loopholes for fracking companies that currently threaten clean water supplies and air quality in and around our national parks.”
“The oil and gas industry has benefited from special exemptions from federal regulations for decades,” said Barbara Vasquez, Oil and Gas Committee Chair at the Western Organization of Resource Councils. “Spills and waste from oil and gas production continue to damage our land, air, and water across the West. All we ask is that oil and gas play by the same rules as other American industries, and this legislation helps guide that outcome by closing an outstanding loophole and eliminating dangerous exemptions.

MEDIA MATTERS

WALN TV

BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM

This week's guest will be Dr. Candis Finan, Fiscal Recovery Coordinator for the Scranton School District.
Tune in Sunday morning at 6 on 94.3 The Talker; 6:30 on 1400-The Game, NEPA's Fox .Sports Radio and 106.7 fm; and at 7:30 on 105 The River.

ECTV LIVE

Most of our area's Farmer's Markets are open now and Farmer's Market Week is coming up. Scranton boasts one of the oldest, 80 years. and is one of the only Farmer's Market Co-operatives in the state. Clay LaCoe from the Scranton Market joins ECTV Live hosts Rusty Fender, David DeCosmo, and Program Director Mark Migilorie on the show the week of July 29th to talk about the markets and this year's produce outlook. ECTV Live is seen at Noon, 6, and Midnight daily on Comcast channel 19 and on the electric city television YouTube page.

BUDDY RUMCHEK

Want to hear some great parodies on the news? Tune in to WILK Radio at 6:40 and 8:40 AM on Mondays. As Ralph Cramden used to say, “It’s a laugh riot!”

BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SOCK HOP

SUNDAY NIGHTS!

1969

Our 1969 logo

The Apollo 11 crew splashed down in the South Pacific Ocean at 1650 UTC (5:50 in the morning local time) at a point 235 miles (378 km) south of Johnston Atoll, and was recovered at 1729 by the aircraft carrier USS Hornet. At 1758, five minutes after stepping on to the ship, the three astronauts proceeded from their ship into a "mobile quarantine facility" for 17 days as a precaution against having brought any contamination from the Moon back to Earth. U.S. President Nixon, who was en route to Asia on a state tour of several nations, greeted the astronauts on the Hornet, speaking to them from outside of the window of the "isolation van" and told them "This is the greatest week in the history of the world since the Creation. As a result of what you have done, the world has never been closer together."
Two civilians were already inside the mobile quarantine van when the astronauts arrived, and would live with the astronauts during the 21-day quarantine. A physician, Dr. William Carpentier, performed diagnostic tests to verify that the three men were not infected, while a mechanical engineer, John Hirasaki, examined the lunar orbiter, which had been placed next to the quarantine container.......NASA announced that the next manned mission to the Moon, Apollo 12, would be launched on November 14. Mission commander Charles "Pete" Conrad and lunar module pilot Alan L. Bean were identified as the persons to become the third and fourth, respectively, to walk on the Moon, while Richard F. Gordon would remain in orbit in the command module. All three of the Apollo 12 astronauts were officers in the United States Navy; Conrad and Gordon both had the rank of commanders at the time, while Bean was lieutenant commander. The mission would launch, as scheduled, on November 14, 1969………One week after causing a fatal accident at Chappaquiddick Island, U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy went on television to ask his Massachusetts constituents to give him "your advice and opinion" about whether he should resign his office. The three American television networks interrupted their regular programming to broadcast the 12-minute address nationwide. Earlier in the day, Kennedy had pleaded guilty in the Dukes County, Massachusetts court to leaving the scene of an accident and was given a suspended sentence of two months in jail and one year's probation. Most Massachusetts residents sending letters and telegrams would respond that Kennedy should continue in office, which he would do until his death in 2009. Even the mother of the accident victim told reporters that she hoped that Kennedy would stay in the U.S. Senate…in Pennsylvania the two Republican Senators say that the Kennedy accident was “tragic” and locally in Luzerne County reaction is mixed regarding the incident in the bay State and fifty years ago this week the number one song in LuLac land and America was “My Cherie Amour” by Stevie Wonder.