KOMMONSENTSJANE – DIFF-Winning Documentary Plunges Into a West Texas Water Conflict.

03/01/2025

By Todd Jorgenson | November 1, 2024|11:19 am

ttps://www.dmagazine.com/arts-entertainment/2024/11/diff-winning-documentary-plunges-into-a-west-texas-water-conflict/

Film DIFF-Winning Documentary Plunges Into a West Texas Water Conflic Drawing from personal experience, Fort Worth’s Philip Guitar said producing Water Wars, was both cathartic and illuminating.

By Todd Jorgenson | November 1, 2024|11:19 am

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Dell City might not look like much on the surface, but its mountain-fed aquifers tell another story.Jacob Hamilton

Philip Guitar was brainstorming far and wide for a documentary project for his upstart Fort Worth production company. Then his family reminded him that his best idea was much closer to home.

That led Guitar to Water Wars, a documentary about a battle over precious water rights that he calls a “West Texas Chinatown.” The film recently won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Texas Feature at the Dallas International Film Festival.

It chronicles the political wrangling over irrigation rights to water located beneath ranches in Dell City, about 90 miles east of El Paso, involving landowners, municipal governments, big-money investors, and precious natural resources.

“I had access to this story,” Guitar said. “We had a lot of the data and the connections, and it blossomed from there.”

The contentious battle, which began in the 1990s when the city of El Paso attempted to make a deal with Dell Valley ranchers to pump groundwater, led to the landmark 2007 Texas Supreme Court case Guitar Holdings v. Hudspeth. However, since his family had owned hundreds of acres in the area for multiple generations and emotions still ran high, Guitar needed a neutral voice.

“We were just one group of people who were going through this or leading the charge,” Guitar said. “You’ve got people who you would normally think would get along under most circumstances, but they went to war over this issue.”

So he reached out to Austin filmmaker Mario Mattei (The Gentleman Driver), who stressed the need for even-handed storytelling, and making it more than just a David vs. Goliath tale of fighting government and corporate greed.

“Philip was so down-to-earth and friendly and excited. I got good vibes. Plus, this sounded like a good story. It felt like a really big challenge,” Mattei said. “But I didn’t want to make a family legacy doc. I wanted to dig and find as much opposition as I can.”

The driving force behind the film became the late Laura Lynch, a founding member of the country-music band the Chicks who lived in Dell City and became a prominent voice in the dispute before she died in a car crash in late 2023, when the film was in post-production.

“I would not have this movie without Laura,” Mattei said. “She was really the heart and gave me a whole map. The characters and the town and the dynamics of the relationships — there was so much there.”

The Dell City issue has resolved itself in recent years with regard to compensation, and the tension has eased. Yet Guitar still found the project cathartic.

“We wanted to tell this story from all sides and let viewers decide what you think is right. We wanted it to be told openly and honestly,” Guitar said, “I knew what our position was and knew how we had been mistreated, but I also knew there was another side. It opened my eyes.”

Water Wars will screen this weekend as part of the Lone Star Film Festival in Fort Worth, with Guitar on hand for a Q&A. After that, negotiations are ongoing with potential distributors for a general release.Mattei said reaction at screenings thus far shows the film’s broader issues resonate beyond its corner of West Texas.“We have a court system and a justice system, and we’re living in an era where we feel disillusioned with a lot of our institutions, for good reason. But this was one instance where the courts got it right,” Mattei said. “It’s kind of a cautionary tale, where if you’re a property owner and you have something of value, pay attention.”

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See More:

https://www.dallasobserver.com/arts/texas-documentary-water-wars-exposes-a-towns-legal-fight-for-water-19775553

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KOMMONSENTSJANE – Congress needs to update the Nixon-era law on how the Postal Service operates.

03/01/2025

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/congress-needs-to-update-the-nixon-era-law-on-how-the-postal-service-operates/ar-AA1zYzij

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Congress needs to update the Nixon-era law on how the Postal Service operates

Congress needs to update the Nixon-era law on how the Postal Service operates

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy recently announced his intention to step down after five years on the job. “As you know, I have worked tirelessly to lead the 640,000 men and women of the Postal Service in accomplishing an extraordinary transformation,” he wrote to the agency’s governing board.13 Mistakes Investors With $1 Million Make—and Ways to Avoid Them

DeJoy offered no reason for his departure. He cast a bit of shade at Congress, some of whose members have castigated his performance in hearings. Being postmaster general, he noted, “is a demanding role made more difficult by the devastating condition I found the Postal Service in when I arrived and the almost unceasing resistance to change — without offering any viable solutions — from stakeholders motivated by both parochial and political purposes. The simplest and most obvious ideas and solutions receive illogical and irrational scrutiny.” President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to fold the Postal Service, an independent agency throughout U.S. history, into his second, nonconsecutive administration. Trump would issue an executive order to fire the Postal Service’s governing board and then place the mail agency under the Commerce Department.

Related video: Changes coming to the United States Postal Service in 2025 (WHTM Harrisburg)

WHTM HarrisburgChanges coming to the United States Postal Service in 2025A former logistics executive, DeJoy had a tumultuous term. He arrived at the Postal Service during COVID-19 with the agency running desperately low on cash. DeJoy, a longtime fundraiser for Republicans including Trump, faced a barrage of partisan criticisms. Democrats and leftists peddled the conspiracy theory in 2020 that DeJoy would slow the mail to stop mail-in ballots for future President Joe Biden from being counted, and falsely alleged that he wanted to break the agency so it could be sold off to the private sector.The famously gruff DeJoy waved off all the carping and plunged forth to remake the Postal Service. The centerpiece of his efforts was the Delivering for America plan. This 10-year strategy commenced in 2021 and aims to transform the Postal Service from “an organization in financial and operational crisis to one that is self-sustaining and high performing.”

Cost control is central to the strategy, and DeJoy is trying to achieve that by shuttering and consolidating many mail-sorting facilities and replacing them with larger, state-of-the-art facilities that require less manpower to operate. The plan intends to drive down transportation costs by replacing the USPS’s aging gas-guzzling fleet with new, efficient vehicles that travel fewer miles.

Earlier this month, the Postal Service reported a $144 million profit in its most recent quarter. These results look all the better compared to the same quarter the previous year when the agency lost more than $2 billion.

DeJoy was delighted. “We did more with less this quarter,” he exclaimed during a recent meeting of the USPS’s governing board. “We hired fewer seasonal employees, relied on fewer annexes, flew fewer planes, ran fewer trucks to fewer places, and processed more mail and packages.” He also said the USPS was right-sizing its workforce by offering early retirements to some employees.The Best Walking Sneakers For Women To Wear All Day Without Discomfort.

For all DeJoy’s efforts, he leaves the Postal Service with a future that is very much in doubt.

The agency predicts it will lose $6.9 billion in 2025. That is less than last year’s deficit of $9.6 billion, but it is a staggering sum. Revamping its legacy network is enormously expensive. The agency already has spent $17 billion and it estimates finishing the job will cost another $23 billion. How the agency can pay for these upgrades is anything but clear. The USPS has $9.5 billion in cash and liquid assets and has hit its $15 billion limit for borrowing from the Treasury. The agency has been skipping payments into its pension fund to preserve cash.

DeJoy hopes his successor will continue rolling out the DFA plan, but the Postal Service’s regulator and some of its customers do not believe it will work. The Postal Regulatory Commission recently issued a lengthy analysis that faulted the DFA strategy for faulty business modeling and overly optimistic financial projections and said it might degrade rural delivery service.

Reworking the USPS network also has produced some spectacular mistakes and inefficiencies. Last spring, hundreds of mail trucks idled for hours outside a USPS facility in Georgia and mail delivery slowed to a crawl. “Every time they open a new, large plant,” one mailing industry expert complained to the Washington Examiner, “the area’s service declines dramatically. It has happened in Richmond, Atlanta, and now Indianapolis.” USPS data show its success at delivering mail on time slid last year.

Two other mail industry veterans told the Washington Examiner that the DFA plan was inherently flawed. It has made “massive investment in middle-mile activities like sortation and distribution that the Post Office has not been particularly good at,” observed Michael Plunkett, a former USPS executive and president of the Association for Postal Commerce. The better strategy, they suggest, would have been for the Postal Service to partner with the private sector to outsource more of the shunting and sorting of mail and to invest mostly in making delivery as efficient and dependable as possible.

But even if DeJoy had pursued that strategy, it is not clear whether the USPS could stop running the deficits that have plagued it for two decades. Congress designed the USPS to fund itself by granting it a monopoly over the delivery of letters. Since 2008, however, mail volume has plunged to 112 billion mail pieces per year from 213 billion. First-class mail, the agency’s cash cow, has nearly vanished.

DeJoy hoped to keep the Postal Service afloat by transforming it into a premier parcel delivery company. Moving boxes, however, is not the same as moving mail. It necessitates replacing nearly much of USPS’s infrastructure, from mail carriers’ letter bags to mail-sorting machines and trucks. Becoming a packaging company also means the USPS would have to out-hustle the many private-sector package delivery companies.

TRUMP IS CUTTING SPENDING THROUGH DOGE. HERE’S HOW TO MAKE THOSE CUTS PERMANENT

Regardless of what person or entity succeeds DeJoy, they will need to ask Congress for some help. The Postal Service is governed by a statute written when Richard Nixon was president and demand for mail was booming. Those days are long gone, and legislators need to rethink what the agency should be in the 21st century.

Things that cannot go on forever don’t, and unless something drastic is done soon, the two-century-old Postal Service will run out of cash and shut down, and taxpayers could be left footing a bailout.

Kevin R. Kosar (@kevinrkosar) is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and edits UnderstandingCongress.org.

Following is Congress’ work:

ttps://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/special-message-the-congress-proposing-federal-pay-and-revenue-increases-and-urging-reform

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KOMMONSENTSJANE – House Repeals Biden-Era Methane Tax on Natural Gas in 221-205 Vote.

03/01/2025

ttps://istandforfreedom.com/house-biden-methane-tax/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=main

House Repeals Biden-Era Methane Tax on Natural Gas in 221-205 Vote

Good decision for the American taxpayers/voters. The politicians who voted against it should be voted out of office. They don’t want to help the people get back on their feet.

By Noah Stanton

House Repeals Biden-Era Methane Tax on Natural Gas in 221-205 Vote

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Americans have been feeling the squeeze at the pump and on their utility bills for years. Hardworking families across the country continue to struggle with the economic aftermath of the oe Biden administration’s policies.

Indeed, seniors on fixed incomes have been forced to make difficult choices between heating their homes and buying groceries. And honestly, haven’t we all had enough of watching our paychecks evaporate before our eyes?

In a decisive move that signals a new direction for American energy policy, the House of Representatives voted Wednesday to repeal a Biden administration regulation that imposed a tax on methane emissions from natural gas operators. The vote of 221-205 represents a significant step toward fulfilling Republican promises to lower energy costs for everyday Americans.

Biden’s Energy Crackdown Faces Reversal

The Natural Gas Repeal Act, introduced by Republican Texas Rep. August Pfluger, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, aims to rescind one of the Biden administration’s final regulatory actions. The legislation utilizes the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which gives Congress authority to repeal regulations issued in the final months of a previous administration.

Only seven Democrats supported rolling back the regulation. Meanwhile, Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick joined Democrats in voting to preserve it. No surprise there – when have Democrats ever met a tax they didn’t like?

“People don’t want to do business when you regulate them out of business…. I think Biden’s stated goal was to cancel fossil fuels and try to regulate people out of business,” said Pfluger.

The methane emissions tax would have imposed significant financial burdens on American natural gas producers. These costs would inevitably be passed down to consumers through higher energy prices. I’ve seen firsthand how these regulations crush small energy producers while the political elites lecture us about climate change from their private jets.

The regulation, first proposed in January 2024, represented one of the Biden administration’s last attempts to restrict domestic energy production. The tax would have discouraged investment in American energy infrastructure and made the U.S. more dependent on foreign energy sources. Industry experts warned that it would lead to job losses in energy-producing states.

Fulfilling Promises to American Voters

House Republicans view this vote as delivering on their campaign pledges to reduce energy costs and regulatory burdens.

“In November, the American people overwhelmingly voted for lower energy prices, and today, House Republicans took another step towards fulfilling that mandate,” Pfluger told reporters. “In the latest effort to reverse Biden’s disastrous energy policies, the House passed my bill to nullify the EPA’s rule implementing the ill-conceived natural gas tax.”

Republican North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven has introduced companion legislation in the Senate. A procedural vote is scheduled for Thursday evening, with the measure expected to pass along party lines.

President Donald Trump is poised to sign the repeal into law once it reaches his desk. This action aligns perfectly with his campaign promises to restore American energy dominance and reduce unnecessary regulations that harm economic growth.

Remember when gas prices were reasonable under Trump’s first term? We’re heading back in that direction.

Lower Energy Costs for American Families

The repeal of this regulation represents more than just a policy change. It also directly impacts household budgets across America. When energy companies face fewer regulatory burdens, they can produce more affordable energy for consumers. Anne Bradbury, CEO of the American Exploration & Production Council, emphasized the importance of this action.

“While American oil and gas producers are laser focused on continuing to reduce emissions, it’s critical to undo these punitive implementing rules while we will continue to work with Congress to repeal the underlying statute for the tax that risks driving up energy costs,” she said.

Industry leaders have consistently maintained that they can balance environmental responsibility with affordable energy production without heavy-handed government regulations. American energy companies have already made significant strides in reducing emissions through innovation and technology.

The repeal also sends a clear message that America is recommitting to energy independence. When the United States produces more of its own energy, it becomes less vulnerable to foreign supply disruptions and price manipulation. In the end, it’s time we stopped begging other countries for resources that we have in abundance right here at home.

Key Takeaways:

  • House Republicans fulfilled their promise to voters by repealing Biden’s punitive methane tax on natural gas.
  • The repeal will help lower energy costs for American families struggling with high utility bills.
  • President Trump is expected to sign the legislation, marking a return to American energy dominance.
  • This vote demonstrates that elections have real consequences for kitchen-table issues like energy prices.

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KOMMONSENTSJANE – ‘They have not even tried’: Judge urged to keep injunction on Trump’s ‘unequivocally unconstitutional’ anti-DEI orders – plaintiffs say government repeating failed arguments.

3/01/2025

Supreme Court Justice Roberts needs to step in until cooler heads prevail. Justice is not being served for the voters. Illegal law fare is still being served by this leftie judge.

ttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/they-have-not-even-tried-judge-urged-to-keep-injunction-on-trump-s-unequivocally-unconstitutional-anti-dei-orders-plaintiffs-say-government-repeating-failed-arguments/ar-AA1A0xMx?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=56f1961e61754581b9ac71bc10b373a8&ei=30

Rogue leftie judges still working against the voters.

ttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/they-have-not-even-tried-judge-urged-to-keep-injunction-on-trump-s-unequivocally-unconstitutional-anti-dei-orders-plaintiffs-say-government-repeating-failed-arguments/ar-AA1A0xMx?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=56f1961e61754581b9ac71bc10b373a8&ei=30

President Donald Trump departs after speaking at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025 (Pool via AP).

President Donald Trump departs after speaking at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025 (Pool via AP).

A membership organization that won a nationwide injunction against an executive order targeting “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) initiatives wants a federal judge to stick to his guns.

In late January, President Donald Trump signed executive orders attempting to root out DEI from federal government contracts and barring government contractors with DEI programs of their own. Additionally, Trump directed the U.S. Attorney General to “deter” such “programs or principles” and to consider launching “civil compliance” investigations to effectuate such deterrence.

On Feb. 21, U.S. District Judge Adam B. Abelson, a Joe Biden appointee, issued a preliminary nationwide injunction against each of the three anti-DEI directives, finding they “abridge the freedom of speech” and are “unconstitutionally vague on their face.”

On Feb. 25, the government filed a motion to stay the court’s order pending appeal along with a memorandum arguing the injunction “intrudes on the Executive’s authority to enforce the law.”

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On Thursday, the plaintiffs, led by the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, replied to the government’s motion, saying the defendants “have not identified any errors” in the judge’s opinion or offered “any reason for the court to reverse its position.”

The plaintiffs say precedent in the Maryland federal court system is on their side — citing a case that stands for the proposition that “modification of an existing preliminary injunction is proper only when there has been a change of circumstances between the entry of the injunction and the filing of the motion that would render the continuance of the injunction in its original form inequitable.

Related video: Judge rejects immediately restoring AP’s access to White House (WCSH-TV Portland, ME)

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The plaintiffs also cite controlling precedent in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals — which includes Maryland — which says a party moving to alter an injunction should be expected to provide “some evidence or statistics relevant to the effects of the order was not available at the time the trial judge made his or her decision.”

“Defendants have not identified any such ‘evidence or statistics relevant to the effects of the order;’ they have not even tried to do so,” the reply reads. “This Court balanced the equities and correctly found it necessary to preliminarily enjoin enforcement. Defendants have not identified any basis to suggest the Court of Appeals would find this Court’s decision was an abuse of discretion. This Court’s decision to grant the preliminary injunction was correct when initially entered, remains correct now, and should remain in effect.”Walking on clouds would feel this way - Now 70% Off!

In his order, Abelson said the enjoined provisions violate the Fifth Amendment‘s prohibition on unconstitutionally vague laws and are also in violation of the First Amendment‘s guarantee of free speech.

The government’s latest response offers no new arguments directly addressing those constitutional claims, the plaintiffs note.

“Defendants make little effort to carry their burden here: they do nothing more than point this Court to the arguments raised in their Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion, which this Court already rejected in its comprehensive, thorough, and well-reasoned Memorandum Opinion assessing Plaintiffs’ claims and their likelihood of success on the merits,” the memo in opposition to the motion to stay reads.

In terms of merits arguments, the plaintiffs insist the government has offered nothing new for the court to even consider here.

“Moving parties must make a strong showing that they are likely to succeed on the merits to justify a stay,” the reply argues. “It is not sufficient to make ‘precisely those’ arguments for the stay that failed on the merits of the preliminary injunction.”

The government did, however, offer a new argument in terms of the harm they claim they are likely to suffer should the injunction remain in effect. They say the court’s order “improperly intrudes on intra-executive policy implementation” with federal agencies as well as Trump’s “stated priority of enforcing the anti-discrimination laws consistent with those agencies’ legal authority.” All this, the government claims, goes against the “public interest.”

The plaintiffs rubbish this argument as unpersuasive, at length:

The “core problem” is that the challenged provisions violate “core constitutional protections,” and therefore the preliminary injunction cannot be said to harm Defendants. The challenged provisions manifest this administration’s commitment to restricting, if not silencing, individuals and institutions whose viewpoints do not align with its political beliefs. That is a “blatant” and “egregious” brand of content discrimination that is unequivocally unconstitutional. Nevertheless, Defendants claim injury will befall them if they are not permitted to enforce such patently unconstitutional restrictions. Not so. While the President wields “supervisory and policy responsibilities of utmost discretion and sensitivity,” the President is still bound by “the general provisions of the Constitution.” The Executive’s duty is to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” But this duty does not extend to enforcing laws that are unconstitutional. There can be no improper impediment or injury to the Executive’s authority where the actions exceed its constitutional authority.

“Because Defendants cannot show harm, they attempt to conflate their purported injury with the public interest,” the reply goes on. “Without merit, they imply that enforcement of the unconstitutional provisions is in the public interest. However, ‘it is always in the public interest for unconstitutional laws to be prohibited from future enforcement.’”

And, the plaintiffs say, the court previously rejected the defendants’ efforts to show the public had any interest in the anti-DEI orders.

“Defendants failed to explain how the ‘government’s interest in immediately imposing a new, not-yet promulgated interpretation of what it considers “eradicating discrimination” outweighs the merits of Plaintiffs’ claims and irreparable harm they are suffering’” the reply continues, in a footnote. “Defendants have not even attempted to do so in their motion for a stay.”

The post ‘They have not even tried’: Judge urged to keep injunction on Trump’s ‘unequivocally unconstitutional’ anti-DEI orders, plaintiffs say government repeating ‘failed’ arguments first appeared on Law & Crime.

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