Friday Toon Roundup 1- Repubs

Ted Rall Toon- The American Way

Mike Luckovich Toon: Detention Bill

Federal judge blocks Calif. low-carbon fuels rule

(12-29) 16:11 PST Fresno, Calif. (AP) --

A federal judge is blocking California from enforcing its first-in-the-nation mandate for cleaner, low-carbon fuels, saying the rules favor biofuels produced in the state.

The lawsuit challenging the regulations was filed in a Fresno federal court last year by the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association and the American Trucking Associations.

The California Air Resources Board adopted the low-carbon fuel standard as part of the state's landmark 2006 global warming law.

U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence O'Neill ruled Thursday that the rules violated a commerce clause by discriminating against crude oil and biofuels producers located outside California.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/12/29/national/a161148S58.DTL

Leaving Animals Out of the Cosmetics Picture

By ABBY ELLIN
Published: December 28, 2011

THE actress Kristin Bauer, of “True Blood” fame, has an annual ritual when she visits her family home in Racine, Wis.: She takes a black marker and scribbles on the sides of specific products and cosmetics, “Tested on animals.”
“It’s so simple for me: we shouldn’t be torturing another living being for mascara when we don’t have to,” said Ms. Bauer, a vegetarian who lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Abri van Straten, two dogs and two cats. “It seems so odd when you think of shaving cream and a bunny, or mascara and a guinea pig. We’re not saving a life.”

As a spokeswoman for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit health organization whose goals include promoting animal-free testing, Ms. Bauer has a mission: to get more people to use makeup and toiletries that have not been tested on rabbits, guinea pigs, mice or rats. And while “cruelty-free” has been a basic mantra of certain earthy lines like Aveda, the Body Shop and Kiss My Face, for decades, it’s increasingly been taken up by new and glamorous proponents.

The models Josie Maran (josiemarancosmetics.com) and Christie Brinkley (christiebrinkleyskincare.com) and the designer Stella McCartney (Care by Stella McCartney) are among those who have started cosmetics lines developed without animal testing.
more

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/fashion/expanding-efforts-to-keep-cosmetics-testing-from-animals.html

China Reveals Its Space Plans Up to 2016

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 29, 2011 at 7:02 AM ET

BEIJING (AP) — China plans to launch space labs and manned ships and prepare to build space stations over the next five years, according to a plan released Thursday that shows the country's space program is gathering momentum.

China has already said its eventual goals are to have a space station and put an astronaut on the moon. It has made methodical progress with its ambitious lunar and human spaceflight programs, but its latest five-year plan beginning next year signals an acceleration.

By the end of 2016, China will launch space laboratories, manned spaceship and ship freighters, and make technological preparations for the construction of space stations, according to the white paper setting out China's space progress and future missions.

China's space program has already made major breakthroughs in a relatively short time, although it lags far behind the United States and Russia in space technology and experience.

more
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/12/29/world/asia/AP-AS-China-Space.html

The trouble with suing Occupy L.A. protesters for $2.35 million

L.A. City Atty. Carmen Trutanich may sue Occupy L.A. for $2.35 million, which includes the cost of 1,400 LAPD officers sent to watch and evict the peaceful protest.

"Freedom isn't free. It ain't even affordable," opines cartoonist Ted Rall in this week's installment.

It may sound like a sketchy -- and improbable! -- idea to sue protesters for the cost of the cops sent to evict and arrest them. But perhaps Trutanich is on to something. Today, it's charging protesters to repair City Hall. Tomorrow, it could be overbilling all Angelenos so that we may repair all of L.A. (and foot the bill for $1.2-million parachutes).

Is this what the future of L.A. looks like?
toon at link
http://opinion.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c7de353ef0168e490c68b970c-600wi

Gay nativity scene vandalized at Claremont church

An unusual nativity display at a Claremont church that portrayed gay couples was vandalized over the weekend in an incident authorities are investigating as a hate crime.

Claremont United Methodist Church has a Christmas tradition of unusual nativity displays, intended to carry a social or political message.

Despite some of the controversial topics, the scenes had never been vandalized or defaced, according to church officials and John Zachary, the artist who created the scenes.

But this year, suspects vandalized a nativity scene that included wooden light boxes with three couples holding hands -- a man and a woman, two women and two men -- under a star of Bethlehem and a sign that said "Christ is Born."

more
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/12/lgbt-nativity-scene-vandalized-claremont.html

A Rare Final Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis

By Robert Z. Pearlman

Space shuttle Atlantis, which only five months ago flew the final mission of NASA's 30-year shuttle program, is now being prepared for its public display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. That means, sadly, that Atlantis is scheduled to be powered down for the very last time this week. Its insides are being shamelessly pulled out to ensure it's safe for exhibit--it's important to lighten the shuttle's weight, since it'll be displayed on a steep angle at Kennedy.

collectSPACE.com had the rare opportunity recently to tour Atlantis and photograph its preparation for display. This is one of the last times anyone will be able to capture Atlantis's glass cockpit all lit up like this--and you're privy to the pictures.

more

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-12/rare-last-look-inside-space-shuttle-atlantis

Luckovich Toon: Tim Tebow's prayer