Author Archive: Doug Knowles

Portland Man who threw flare into cop car during May 1 protests gets 5 years?

A 23-year-old man who threw burning flares into a Portland police cruiser and the downtown Target store during May 1 protests that overran downtown Portland admitted guilt Monday and will be sentenced to five years in prison.

A local TV station aired live footage of Damion Zachary Feller hurling a flare through a shattered picture window at Target, prompting employees to run with fire extinguishers to put out a burning section of carpet. TV and cellphone cameras also caught Feller throwing a flare through the shattered window of a battered police SUV parked across the street from Target, at Southwest 10th Avenue and Morrison.

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The Bunkerville Prosecution Panic Attack

Late night filings by the Bunkerville Prosecution team has shown there will be a repeat performance of an Unconstitutional trial taking place beginning October 10th in Las Vegas.

As in the previous two trials, of which the jury acquitted the defendants of the majority of charges, the prosecution has filed a last minute 26-page motion to exclude any type of defense these men might attempt.

The prosecution has motioned to force the defense, from the beginning of jury selection, into opening/closing arguments, and including all direct and cross examination of witnesses, to NOT bring up anything they deem to not have any foundation in the law, including Self defense.

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Navajo tribe says ready to sue Trump over changes to Utah monument

The Navajo Nation will sue the Trump administration if it tries to reduce the size of the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, its top lawyer told Reuters on Thursday, ahead of the release of a broad government review of such sites across the country.

President Donald Trump had ordered the Interior Department to examine whether 27 national monuments designated by past presidents could be reduced or rescinded to make way for oil and gas drilling and other economic development.

The results have not been announced, but a leak of the review obtained by the Washington Post shows the Interior Department will recommend shrinking some sites, including Bears Ears, a 1.35-million-acre wilderness that the Navajo and other tribes consider sacred.

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Secretary Zinke Announces $94.3 Million to States for Parks and Outdoor Recreation through Land and Water Conservation Fund

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke today announced that $94.3 million will be distributed for outdoor recreation and conservation projects to the 50 states, U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which is funded through offshore oil and gas leasing. These funds are awarded through federal matching grants that leverage public and private investment in America’s state and local public parks.

“The Land and Water Conservation Fund state grant program has been a resounding success that makes physical investments in our communities,” Secretary Zinke said. “From Detroit, Michigan, to Lake Tahoe, California, the program benefits citizens across the nation by helping state and local governments make infrastructure investments in urban, suburban, and rural parks. By advancing the Administration’s offshore energy goals, we will be able to generate more revenue for the fund to improve conservation and recreation opportunities for generations to come.”

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Lawsuit challenges BLM’s oil leases, including Nye County

The Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit this week challenging the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s June sale of oil and gas leases in parts of Nevada, including Nye County.

On June 14, the BLM offered nearly 200,000 acres of public lands in Nevada’s Battle Mountain district for fossil fuel development, including fracking. Among the affected areas are Big Smoky and Railroad valleys in Nye County, Diamond Valley in Eureka County and the Diamond, Fish Creek and Sulphur Creek mountain ranges.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in the federal court district of Nevada in Reno, alleges the BLM failed to consider the potential consequences of oil drilling in the area, from contamination of critical desert water sources to increased seismic activity and emission of climate-altering greenhouse gases.

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Thomas Mitchell: Zinke recommendation to reduce Gold Butte Monument size met with usual blather

by Thomas Mitchel September 20, 2017 Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s memo to President Trump recommending an unspecified reduction in size of several recently created national monuments — including the 300,000-acre Gold Butte National Monument in Clark County — has sent the usual suspects into apoplexy. Democrat Rep. Ruben Kihuen, whose district includes Gold Butte, screeched, “The latest leaks from this administration show that once again Secretary Zinke is ignoring the will of Nevadans by recommending that the size of Gold Butte National Monument be reduced. This decision will not only be detrimental to Nevada’s economy and shared cultural heritage, but it is […]

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Senators to reintroduce bipartisan criminal justice bill

The bill, originally introduced in 2015, would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug offenses and armed career criminals while increasing mandatory minimums for other offenses such as domestic violence.
 
“While the political landscape in Washington has changed, the same problems presented by the current sentencing regime remain,” Grassley said in a statement.
 
Durbin, noting senators have been working on the issue for five years, called it the “best chance in a generation to right the wrongs of a badly broken system.”
 
“We believe this legislation would pass the Senate with a strong bipartisan vote — it’s time to get this done,” he said.

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Property rights attorney to lead BLM

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Budd-Falen’s appointment to head up BLM is the stark contrast between her background and that of Obama’s BLM Director, Neil Kornze. While Budd-Falen has decades of broad experience in law, natural resources policy, and Western property rights, Neil Kornze’s primary experience was as a political staffer for then-United States Senator, Harry Reid. Budd-Falen’s appointment, the firings and reassignments of thousands of Interior employees, Zinke’s monuments revisions, and new emphasis on responsible development of public lands, all signal a serious change of direction for the Bureau of Land Management

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To Agree or Disagree Respectfully. Why is it so Difficult in Todays World?

Our country was founded over 200 years ago after enough colonists agreed that the rule by the King of England no longer made sense for the colonies.  They did not agree on every aspect of the how and the why, but they all agreed that it must change.  The biggest aspect of agreement and disagreement in the birth of our Nation was the right of each human to agree and disagree.  There foremost ideal that drove the creation of our constitution, can be said to be creating a government that could stand for and thrive while maintaining this and other freedoms.

This turned out to be a humongous task and goal. First and foremost the procedure and processes for dealing with disagreement had to be agreed upon. There will always be different beliefs and ideals.  However, most of all they understood that in order to have peace while preserving everyone’s ability to exercise their Freedoms, they must have a process and rules for dealing with Disagreement or conflicts of personal Freedoms between all people. This is where the concept of Liberty was created and defined. Liberty, for the sake of our constitution, would be the definition of civility and common agreement on how to deal with Freedoms in all situations, including when there is disagreement.

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Shrink at least 4 national monuments and modify a half-dozen others, Zinke tells Trump

WASHINGTON – Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has recommended that President Trump modify 10 nationalmonuments created by his immediate predecessors, including shrinking the boundaries of at least four western sites,according to a copy of the report obtained by the Washington Post.

The memorandum, which the White House has refused to releasesince Zinke submitted it late last month, does not specify exactreductions for the four protected areas Zinke would have Trumpnarrow – Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante,Nevada’s Gold Butte, and Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou – or thetwo marine national monuments – the Pacific Remote Islands andRose Atoll – for which he raised the same prospect. The two Utah sites encompass a total of more than 3.2 million acres, part of the reason they have aroused such intense emotions since their designation.

The secretary’s set of recommendations also would change theway all 10 targeted monuments are managed. It emphasizes theneed to adjust the proclamations to address concerns of localofficials or affected industries, saying the administration shouldpermit “traditional uses” now restricted within the monuments’ boundaries, such as grazing, logging, coal mining andcommercial fishing.

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White House hits back at Oregon’s senators over appeals court nomination

In the ongoing dispute between the state’s two U.S. senators and the Trump administration, the White House counsel accuses the lawmakers of failing to consider the administration’s pick for a judicial vacancy on a federal appellate court.

The White House last week nominated Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Bounds, a young, politically conservative federal prosecutor, for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats, want U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez, a Republican, for the vacancy.

Wyden and Merkley have vowed to block Bounds’ nomination, saying that he wasn’t vetted through their bipartisan judicial selection committee.

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Other FBI agents at scene of LaVoy Finicum shooting testified before grand jury

Other members of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team involved in the stop of refuge occupation spokesman Robert “LaVoy” Finicum testified before a federal grand jury that returned an indictment against their colleague, Agent W. Joseph Astarita. 

Prosecutors have asked the court for permission to share transcripts of the agents’ testimony with a nationally recognized ballistics and trajectory expert who they may call as a witness at trial.

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Gary Hunt was by court order ,ordered to remove all “prohibited material” related to Informants working under cover for the Feds.

Gary Hunt was by court order ,ordered to remove all “prohibited material” related to Informants working under cover for the Feds. This would be the Burns Oregon Event. A national News Station aired material of this very nature to millions without any sort of action to date. Gary Is Patriot reporter that works out of his home. For the last 30 plus years. He has no team of lawyers like the MSM stations do so of course Gary was a soft easy target. As a result what you will find at http://outpost-of-freedom.com/blog/?page_id=1702 Articles that have lost all information that has been redacted. I guess what we could expect now Is yet more statues to fall , then mass book burning , I am sure will follow. Much like all supporting documentation that was Ordered by the court to be destroyed. Below the quote, In red text was written By Gary Hunt.

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Secretary Zinke signs Secretarial Order to Support Sportsmen & Enhance Wildlife Conservation

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke signed Secretarial Order 3356, which will support and expand hunting and fishing, enhance conservation stewardship, improve wildlife management, and increase outdoor recreation opportunities for all Americans. Secretarial Order 3356 is an extension of Secretarial Order 3347, issued on Zinke’s first day, March 2, 2017. That order identified a slate of actions for the restoration of the American sportsmen conservation ethic, which was established by President Theodore Roosevelt.

The new order comes days after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a survey that found there are 2.2 million fewer hunters in America now than in 2011. The order seeks to improve wildlife management and conservation, increase access to public lands for hunting, shooting, and fishing, and puts a new and a greater emphasis on recruiting and retaining new sportsmen conservationists, with a focus on engaging youths, veterans, minorities, and other communities that traditionally have low participation in outdoor recreation activities.

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Ranchers urge permanent repeal of ‘Death Tax’

On September 8, the National Cattlemen and Beef Association (NCBA) issued a statement of support for President Trump’s tax reform proposals. Not surprisingly, the association, comprised largely of ranchers with small to medium private operations, is focusing ‘heavily on the death tax.’ Landowners, farmers and ranchers, are often property rich but cash poor, and the estate inheritance tax, known popularly as the ‘death tax’ is daunting to those who want to keep their land and ranching assets in the family. The NCBA statement says:

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to enact truly comprehensive tax reform, and we can’t afford to let this opportunity pass or to get it wrong,” said NCBA President and Nebraska cattleman Craig Uden. “Family ranchers and farmers deserve a full and permanent repeal of the onerous death tax, which charges them in cash on the often-inflated appraised value of their property and equipment. This campaign will shine a spotlight on the stories of real ranchers who have had to deal with this issue, and it will also highlight current tax provisions that we need to maintain, such as stepped-up basis, cash accounting, and deducibility of interest payments.”

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Editorial: A day worthy of celebrating: Constitution Day

This Sunday, Sept. 17, marks the anniversary of one of the most propitious days in the history of this country. On that day in 1787, the representatives at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia signed the Constitution. It was ratified by the states and went into effect on March 4, 1789.

You remember the Constitution don’t you?

That’s the document that says the president “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed …” Not waive, delay or ignore parts of laws the president doesn’t like, such as immigration laws, which the Constitution says: “The Congress shall have Power To … establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization …”

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IFF presses Zinke for help in Bunkerville standoff trial

The Idaho Freedom Foundation, in partnership with the Nevada Policy Research Institute, pressed U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to weigh in on the Bunkerville standoff trial situation.

Here’s a copy of IFF and NPRI’s letter to Zinke:

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APNewsBreak: Its Official! US agent Dan Love out at BLM after Burning Man probe

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal agent who had been scrutinized for his handling of rare evidence as well as behavior at the counterculture Burning Man festival is no longer an employee of the Bureau of Land Management, authorities said Friday.

Daniel Love, who played a command role in federal agents’ 2014 standoff with Nevada rancher and states’ rights figure Cliven Bundy, no longer works for the agency, spokeswoman Megan Crandall told the Associated Press.

She did not answer questions about the timing or circumstances of his departure, citing federal privacy laws.

A lawyer for Love, Lisa Kleine, did not immediately return messages seeking comment. There was no answer at a publicly listed phone number for him.

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Idaho lawmakers to Sessions: Drop it already

Republican Idaho representative Dorothy Moon and more than one-third of the other legislators in her state sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions encouraging him to drop the charges against two Idaho men being charged in association with the April 2014 “Bundy standoff, to establish a fair bail for one, and to give one a “time served” sentence.

Eric Parker and O. Scott Drexler, both from Idaho, have been tried twice in US District Court under Judge Gloria Navarro. Both trials resulted in a hung jury, and the men were both acquitted of most charges in the second trial.

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Welcome to the Bundy administration

Stone, however, is far from the only friend of the Bundy family in the Trump administration. In 2014, as Bundy’s followers were pointing rifles at law enforcement officers from the Bureau of Land Management, the future president himself told Sean Hannity, “I like him, I like his spirit, his spunk and the people that are so loyal,” adding that Cliven Bundy “ought to go out and cut a great deal.”

Now Cliven Bundy’s own lawyer could be headed for a plum job in the Trump administration — overseeing the very agency she and her former client have spent a lifetime trying to undermine. Attorney Karen Budd-Falen is rumored to be at the top of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s list to run the Bureau of Land Management.

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Thomas Mitchell Editorial: Learn from the mistakes of the past, not erase them

This paroxysm of efforts to eradicate all monuments and place names that memorialize historic leaders of the Confederacy serves as merely a distraction from real problems, wasting time and money that could be devoted to worthy endeavors.

The latest target of this futile campaign appears to be the name of Jeff Davis Peak in Great Basin National Park.

According to the park’s website, the monicker was first attached to what is now Wheeler Peak, the tallest point in the park and the second tallest in Nevada. It was given that name by Lt. Col. Edward Steptoe of U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers in 1855 while Jefferson Davis served as secretary of the War Department, a half dozen years before the Civil War began.

After the Civil War, during which Davis served as president of the Confederacy, an Army mapping expedition headed by Lt. George Montague Wheeler, named the peak for Wheeler and the Jeff Davis tag was shifted to a shorter nearby peak.

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Hyperloop One Claims First Successful Test, Pulls Two ‘G’s In Nevada Desert

Hyperloop One says it has successfully sent a vehicle inspired by Elon Musk’s near-supersonic transit concept down its ‘DevLoop’ test track using magnetic levitation for the first time.

The company claims this amounts to “the world’s first full systems Hyperloop test in a vacuum environment,” via a release sent to reporters Wednesday.

The test saw a sled coast down a track for just over 5 seconds, reaching 70 miles per hour and a level of acceleration that falls somewhere between a Bugatti and an amusement park ride. It doesn’t look like much, but the company says they’ve achieved their phase one target goal and the next phase will target speeds of 250 mph.

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Wild horse adoption event to feature Utah’s own Cedar Mountain and Sulphur horses

DELTA — The Bureau of Land Management and the Delta Wild Horse and Burro Facility will host an open house adoption Sept. 23 featuring wild horses gathered from the Cedar Mountain and Sulphur herd management areas in western Utah.

Approximately 180 horses, featuring Cedar Mountain weanlings and Sulphur yearling horses, will be available for adoption from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“I encourage anyone that is interested in adopting a beautifully colored weanling to come visit the facility,” Heath Weber, Delta Wild Horse and Burro Facility manager, said. “This is one of the nicest bunch of young horses we’ve had at the facility in a long time.”

Facility gates will open at 9 a.m., with viewing until 10 a.m. Competitive bidding will begin at 10 a.m. All remaining animals will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at 11 a.m. For qualified adopters, the adoption fee begins at $125, then Adopt-a-Buddy for $25.

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House votes to curb asset seizures

The House voted Tuesday to curb the law enforcement practice of seizing cash and property from people who are suspected of illegal activity but who have not necessarily been charged.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers pushed an amendment to a government-spending package for 2018 that would prohibit the Trump administration from using funds to remove restrictions on the use of asset forfeiture. The practice allows law enforcement to seize cash and property and keep at least part of the proceeds.

Opposition to relaxing asset-forfeiture limits produced a strange-bedfellows effort by members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and liberal progressives. Sponsors of the amendment included Reps. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Don Beyer (D-Va.).

Their amendment would specifically restrict the use of what’s known as “adoptive forfeiture,” which allows the federal government to take assets seized by local authorities.

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