No worries! Persona Non Grata brings you the news worth repeating as well as original commentary about what really matters to the future of Earth and its creatures. US Person will be away from his desk for three weeks, so come back in late November for more high-impact blog at this address.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Friday, October 23, 2015
'Toontime: Benghazi Ad Nauseam
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| credit Steve Sack, Minneapolis Star Tribune Wackydoodle sez: Hillary feels the force! |
They questioned Mrs. Clinton for most of the day and into the night, but made little new inroads into her defense of her performance during the crisis including her assertion that she never personally approved or denied extra security for the compound were the American officials were housed. A 2012 by the government accountability review board sharply criticized the State Department for its "grossly insufficient" security in Benghazi despite upgrade requests from Ambassador Stevens, killed in the attack. The most heated exchange of the day occurred between two Democratic panel members and the Republican chair over their focus on her e-mail exchanges with Sidney Blumenthal, a former aide to her husband and a personal friend.
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| credit: Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune BC idonwanna sez: Coyote only one with brains! |
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Indonesia's Peat Fires Burn Uncontrolled
Indonesia is producing more greenhouse gas from its uncontrolled peat fires than Japan produces in year [chart]. Attempts to control the deliberately set fires to clear land for monoculture have proved feeble to non-existent. Toxic smoke from the carbon-rich peat--a geologic precursor to coal--is choking Southeast Asia. Officials estimate the smoke will last into 2016. New hotspots are erupting faster than meagerly equipped firefighters can put them out. The problem being that peat burns underground and is difficult to reach. Also dry El Niño conditions delaying the wet season are contributing to the problem. Indonesia has asked help from foreign governments. Australia contributed a water bomber aircraft for a week and proposes to lease more. Russia contributed two water bomber aircraft bringing the total number of fixed-wing and helicopters to just twenty-eight.Indonesia has revoked the licenses of Mega Alam Sentosa and Dyera Hutan Sestari the forest ministry told reporters Monday. Four companies were ordered to suspend operations for allegedly causing the fires. Satellites have detected 1,729 fires across Indonesia on Wednesday more than any other single day in two years. Most are feeding on peat lands in South Sumatra, South and Central Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua. Indonesia is covered in a thick haze according to reports. Fire related economic costs are expected to exceed $14bn
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
There's Good News Tonight: Shell Stops Arctic Drilling!
Latest: The Administration took a low political risk to protect the Arctic from oil exploitation by canceling all lease sales for the next two years in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. But the move is little more than PR because this administration will announce it's new five year plan for 2017-2020 which will probably include the Arctic as well as the Atlantic coast from Virginia to Georgia.
{28.09.15} Royal Dutch Shell suspends Arctic drilling indefinitely. The announcement came this early this morning Eastern Time befitting the fact that "money never sleeps". This news is good, but its not because the international oil giant has suddenly decided to listen to Americans who do not want the Arctic despoiled by a catastrophic oil spill almost certain to happen. No friends, the decision is the result of hard econometrics. Shell did not find sufficient indications of gas and oil under its leases to justify the tremendous expense of offshore drilling in Arctic waters prone to some of the harshest climatic conditions on the planet.
Shell joins ExxonMobil in giving up on the Arctic for now. It found oil in Russia's Kara Sea, but geopolitics got in the way of its discovery as sanctions have been imposed on trade with Russia. A half a dozen other companies have already put their plans on ice. Shell's Burger J prospect lies 150 miles from Barrow, Alaska, the closest supply base. It sent 30 vessels in addition to the two large sea-going drilling rigs [photo] to attempt to locate economic quantities of oil and gas during the brief Arctic summer. The logistics alone are hugely expensive, and the company was prevented from simultaneously drilling a second exploratory well nine miles away because of the noise impact on marine mammals. However, Berger J was the best prospect the company had among its Chukchi Sea leases.
Shell will take a large a charge-off on its investment of $3.0 billion, most of which will be tax-deductible. It has already spent $7 billion on exploration in the Alaskan Arctic. Not only does the decision reflect the extreme difficulty of operating in a remote and still harsh climate, but also the huge subsidies oil companies receive from the federal government for exploration. It is not unknown for companies to drill a well they know will not produce just to received the tax benefits of such an operation*. A Shell spokesperson said that "only more exploration will [prove] this basin. But that exploration in not in our immediate future. The whales, walruses and polar bears that still live on the melting sea ice would be thankful for that decision and the many humans that made it possible.
*this scenario actually occurred while US Person was a landman in Getty Oil's Offshore Division in Houston, Texas.
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| The Paddle in Seattle, credit: Getty Images |
Shell joins ExxonMobil in giving up on the Arctic for now. It found oil in Russia's Kara Sea, but geopolitics got in the way of its discovery as sanctions have been imposed on trade with Russia. A half a dozen other companies have already put their plans on ice. Shell's Burger J prospect lies 150 miles from Barrow, Alaska, the closest supply base. It sent 30 vessels in addition to the two large sea-going drilling rigs [photo] to attempt to locate economic quantities of oil and gas during the brief Arctic summer. The logistics alone are hugely expensive, and the company was prevented from simultaneously drilling a second exploratory well nine miles away because of the noise impact on marine mammals. However, Berger J was the best prospect the company had among its Chukchi Sea leases.
Shell will take a large a charge-off on its investment of $3.0 billion, most of which will be tax-deductible. It has already spent $7 billion on exploration in the Alaskan Arctic. Not only does the decision reflect the extreme difficulty of operating in a remote and still harsh climate, but also the huge subsidies oil companies receive from the federal government for exploration. It is not unknown for companies to drill a well they know will not produce just to received the tax benefits of such an operation*. A Shell spokesperson said that "only more exploration will [prove] this basin. But that exploration in not in our immediate future. The whales, walruses and polar bears that still live on the melting sea ice would be thankful for that decision and the many humans that made it possible.
*this scenario actually occurred while US Person was a landman in Getty Oil's Offshore Division in Houston, Texas.
COTW: The Crisis in Iraq
The nation's short attention span has been diverted by football and the recent US war crime in Afghanistan, but the crisis in Iraq deepens anyway. American troops barely disguised as advisors are fighting on the ground to help its inept creation, the Iraqi army, hold on to territory against ISIS. ISIS was able to rise to power in the region by the temporary absence of US military forces and, more importantly, a region this fundamentally divided along religious lines. There are forces at work that want to redraw the colonial-era boundaries imposed on the inhabitants. The region is trending towards something like this:
The iraqbodycount.org database estimates about 150,000 Iraqi civilians have lost their lives in the conflict. Why is the United States government and other foreign powers willing to embroil themselves in a regional civil war they walked away from in December, 2011? The answer is fundamentally simple, control of the globe's fifth largest oil reserves as shown here:
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| credit: Vox.com |
The map shows the lines of underlying sectarian division driving the various regional military forces on the ground. The two regional powers Saudi Arabia which is majority Sunni, and Iran which is majority Shia are funding the conflict in Syria. Right now the situation is what miltary analysts refer to as "fluid" In reality that means civilians are displaced and fleeing the heaviest fighting. This map shows the approximate level of civilian deaths in Iraq up to last year:
The iraqbodycount.org database estimates about 150,000 Iraqi civilians have lost their lives in the conflict. Why is the United States government and other foreign powers willing to embroil themselves in a regional civil war they walked away from in December, 2011? The answer is fundamentally simple, control of the globe's fifth largest oil reserves as shown here:
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| credit: Vox.com |
Friday, October 16, 2015
A Million Stand for Elephants
An unprecedented million and more people helped WWF petitioned the US Fish & Wildlife Service to adopt a proposed rule preventing illegal African elephant ivory from being imported and sold in the US. Several states, notably California, have already passed bans or partial bans. The large number of signers marks the single most successful petition drive in the United States, and the first time ever in the history of the USFWS it can confirm they received more than a million public comments on a rule making.
COTW: The Longest War Just Got Longer
America's fourteen year war in Afghanistan just got longer yesterday when the Obamanator announced that the current troop level of 9800 will remain the same for "most of 2016" and that about 5500 will remain in 2017. He had promised repeatedly to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. But faced with the negative results of US troop evacuation in Iraq, the predominance of ISIS, he reneged on that promise. American advisers apparently do not think Afghan government forces can hang on to their country without prolonged US intervention. This decision comes after the rules of engagement for US forces was deliberately violated when a charity hospital run by Doctors Without Borders was destroyed by a gunship attack in Kunduz. Pentagon officials say the attack was a mistake, but that explanation barely passes plausible deniability. US troops were in possession of the well-known hospitals GPS coordinates at the time an AC-130 gunship orbited overhead incinerating the facility with heavy cannon fire.
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Antarctic Ice Sheets Will Collapse
So says a group of Antarctic researchers if drastic cuts in greenhouse emissions are not achieved. Their study published in the respected journal, Nature, concludes that a global temperature increase of only 5.4℉ (3℃) above the pre-industrial norm will cause ice shelves to melt. These huge floating slabs of ice hold back the even more enormous continental ice sheets which would be loss over the next few centuries. The great melting means that sea levels will rise catastrophically for thousands of year, contributing as much as 9 meters to long term sea rise.
The study by Golledge et al is not all gloom, if humanity acts to save itself. If temperatures remain with 3.6℉ (2℃) the collapse will stabilize and the ice sheets remain mostly intact. To achieve this, the planet as a whole must follow the IPCCs lowest emissions scenario. Under this scenario global emissions will peak around 2020 and decline to zero or below by 2100. Nations attending the Paris climate conference next month have submitted pledges to cut and reduce emissions. But those are not enough according to one analysis. They cause a 2.7℃ warming, not enough to avoid collapse.
In 2014 Eric Rignot working for NASA discovered that the massive west Antarctic ice sheet is already slipping into the ocean. Global sea levels have risen roughly 8 inches over the past century, most of it from natural expansion of warming oceans. But if the ice sheets give way the rise in sea levels will be dramatic because the size of Antarctica's two ice sheets cover an area the size of the United States and Mexico. They are held in place on the continent by buttressing ice shelves. Satellite surveys show the floating shelves are losing 310km² of ice every year. If lost completely, seas would rise 60 meters according to the US National Snow and Ice Data Center. Goodbye New York, New Orleans and Miami.
The study by Golledge et al is not all gloom, if humanity acts to save itself. If temperatures remain with 3.6℉ (2℃) the collapse will stabilize and the ice sheets remain mostly intact. To achieve this, the planet as a whole must follow the IPCCs lowest emissions scenario. Under this scenario global emissions will peak around 2020 and decline to zero or below by 2100. Nations attending the Paris climate conference next month have submitted pledges to cut and reduce emissions. But those are not enough according to one analysis. They cause a 2.7℃ warming, not enough to avoid collapse.
In 2014 Eric Rignot working for NASA discovered that the massive west Antarctic ice sheet is already slipping into the ocean. Global sea levels have risen roughly 8 inches over the past century, most of it from natural expansion of warming oceans. But if the ice sheets give way the rise in sea levels will be dramatic because the size of Antarctica's two ice sheets cover an area the size of the United States and Mexico. They are held in place on the continent by buttressing ice shelves. Satellite surveys show the floating shelves are losing 310km² of ice every year. If lost completely, seas would rise 60 meters according to the US National Snow and Ice Data Center. Goodbye New York, New Orleans and Miami.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
COTW: Lurching Ever Rightward
House GOP members are now farther to the right of the political spectrum as measured by the DW Nominate scale than the House Republican caucus of 1967. There is almost no overlap as shown in this histogram posted at Daily Kos. They are endangering their relevance with political extremists who see any compromise--once considered the art of politics--with the other party as treasonous.
It is a process that began with the 'Newt Gingrich revolution' of 1994 that wiped out conservative southern Democrats who provided a significant ideological overlap between Democrat and Republican. Today there is no overlap, only a gap, between the two parties in the House.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
California Bans Microplastic
Fish, seabirds and other marine life are ingesting it by the tons, threatening their survival. Microplastic beads used in numerous consumer product processes are a little know source of toxic pollution, but California is leading the nation again by banning most uses of the substance. From toothpaste to cleaning scrubs the micro-sized pellets are becoming ubiquitous in the world's seas rinsed down the drain by unconscious consumers. Their micron size often allows micro beads to escape filtration at waste treatment facilities. They attract chemicals to their ionized surfaces such as PCBs and flame retardants. AB 888 was crafted by Assembly Member Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) to avoid the loopholes that exist in other state's regulations of microplastics. California's ban extends to microbeads that are supposedly made of biodegradable plastic, but the industry will have to prove these form of beads are safe for the environment. Two companies, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble were citied as fighting the legislation at every step of the process. Watch this video to learn more about the stuff:
Five Gyres Institute, a leading research group studying the problem of plastic pollution in the oceans discovered as many as 466,000 microplastics per square kilometer in the Great Lakes. The institute estimates 471 million microbeads are dumped into San Francisco Bay every day. These beads are added to facial scrubs, toothpastes and and other personal care products as exfoliants or colorants to the extent f 350,000 beads per product. What is more important is that the effects these artificial additives achieve can be accomplished with natural products such as apricot shells and cocoa beans. To the see what plastics in general are doing to the world's marine environments watch this video from Australian Broadcast Company:
Five Gyres Institute, a leading research group studying the problem of plastic pollution in the oceans discovered as many as 466,000 microplastics per square kilometer in the Great Lakes. The institute estimates 471 million microbeads are dumped into San Francisco Bay every day. These beads are added to facial scrubs, toothpastes and and other personal care products as exfoliants or colorants to the extent f 350,000 beads per product. What is more important is that the effects these artificial additives achieve can be accomplished with natural products such as apricot shells and cocoa beans. To the see what plastics in general are doing to the world's marine environments watch this video from Australian Broadcast Company:
Monday, October 12, 2015
Government By the Rich, For the Rich
This single story explains more about the state of 'Merican democracy than any other: The New York Times found in an investigation that 358 families have donated to the presidential election so far, contributing more than half of all campaign donations. 158 have given more than $250,000 each. These people are overwhelmingly Republican, white, older and male who have made fortunes in energy or finance. Most of these huge donations have been made possible by the erroneous decision in Citizens' United. The case should be renamed Plutocrats United. Just one egregious example from the donor's list is hedge fund billionaire Kenneth C. Griffin, who earns about $68.5 million a month, according to his divorce filing made by his former wife, gave $300,000 to Republican candidates.
Uniformly these plutocrats, who inhabit a geographically small world behind locked gates, support laissez faire capitalism² which they see as responsible for their own success and preserving a system that theoretically allows any Joe Blow to prosper. They donate to right-wing candidates who pledge to cut back regulation, cut taxes and preserve preferential provisions, while shrinking social programs that help the middle class and poor lead decent lives. All of this corporatist agenda is being pushed in the face of increasing support for more social spending, not less. 'Mericans support by two-thirds higher taxes on people earning more than $1 million/year. 60% favor more government intervention to reduce the gap between rich and poor, while 70% favor preserving Social Security and Medicare as they are. One political expert now describes the campaign finance system after Citizens' United as a "countervailing force" to the way the majority wants the country governed. This state of political affairs will come as no surprise to Chief Justice Roberts.
1. map legend: 1. Hildebrand family, $250,000; 2. Nau family, $500,000; 3. Sarofim family, $530,000; 4. Flores family, $250,000; 5. McNair family, $2 million; 6. Ansary family $2 million; 7. Kinder family $2 million; 8. Krohn family $250,000.
2. Charles Koch, multibillionaire backer of the extremist tea party faction, wrote in the 1970's Libertarian Review that business leaders had been "hoodwinked" into accepting regulation being in the public's interest. He advocated the "barest possible obedience" to regulation and told his readers, "Do not cooperate voluntarily, instead resist whenever and to whatever extent you legally can in the name of justice". The record of his petrochemical empire while under his command certainly bears out this radical philosophy. Across its industries the Koch Empire generates an estimated 24 million metric tons of greenhouse gases annually. In March Koch Industries was forced to sign a consent agreement to spend $40 million to bring its Port Arthur refinery into environmental compliance after fouling the city's ground water supplies and air. Koch's business ethics are not any cleaner. The company once pleaded guilty to five felony counts for rigging offshore lease lotteries with frontmen who would turn over any leases they won in the lottery to Koch Industries. His company stole $31 million worth of oil from Native Americans lands by under-reporting the volumes produced. The list of his company's outrages in the name of capitalism goes on and on.
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| Houston's exclusive River Oaks neighborhood¹ |
Uniformly these plutocrats, who inhabit a geographically small world behind locked gates, support laissez faire capitalism² which they see as responsible for their own success and preserving a system that theoretically allows any Joe Blow to prosper. They donate to right-wing candidates who pledge to cut back regulation, cut taxes and preserve preferential provisions, while shrinking social programs that help the middle class and poor lead decent lives. All of this corporatist agenda is being pushed in the face of increasing support for more social spending, not less. 'Mericans support by two-thirds higher taxes on people earning more than $1 million/year. 60% favor more government intervention to reduce the gap between rich and poor, while 70% favor preserving Social Security and Medicare as they are. One political expert now describes the campaign finance system after Citizens' United as a "countervailing force" to the way the majority wants the country governed. This state of political affairs will come as no surprise to Chief Justice Roberts.
1. map legend: 1. Hildebrand family, $250,000; 2. Nau family, $500,000; 3. Sarofim family, $530,000; 4. Flores family, $250,000; 5. McNair family, $2 million; 6. Ansary family $2 million; 7. Kinder family $2 million; 8. Krohn family $250,000.
2. Charles Koch, multibillionaire backer of the extremist tea party faction, wrote in the 1970's Libertarian Review that business leaders had been "hoodwinked" into accepting regulation being in the public's interest. He advocated the "barest possible obedience" to regulation and told his readers, "Do not cooperate voluntarily, instead resist whenever and to whatever extent you legally can in the name of justice". The record of his petrochemical empire while under his command certainly bears out this radical philosophy. Across its industries the Koch Empire generates an estimated 24 million metric tons of greenhouse gases annually. In March Koch Industries was forced to sign a consent agreement to spend $40 million to bring its Port Arthur refinery into environmental compliance after fouling the city's ground water supplies and air. Koch's business ethics are not any cleaner. The company once pleaded guilty to five felony counts for rigging offshore lease lotteries with frontmen who would turn over any leases they won in the lottery to Koch Industries. His company stole $31 million worth of oil from Native Americans lands by under-reporting the volumes produced. The list of his company's outrages in the name of capitalism goes on and on.
Friday, October 09, 2015
Thursday, October 08, 2015
Chile Creates New Marine Sanctuaries
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| pristine sea floor, credit: Nat Geo |
President Bachelet also announced a marine protected area surrounding the island of Rapa Nui or Easter Island. Islanders help design the sanctuary's boundaries covering 243,630 square miles of ocean. They will be able to continue their traditional fishing practices; commercial fishing will be banned. The waters are spawning ground for tuna, shark, marlin and swordfish.
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| plastic debris in Norway, credit: B. Eide |
Wednesday, October 07, 2015
Toontime: When the Wheels Come Off
Update: VW's US executive was told in 2014 that there was "possible non-compliance" with emission standards after a West Virginia University study was published. However, in testimony to Congress he stated it was not until September 3rd this year that Volkswagen told regulators about the testing "defeat device". The scandal affects about half-million cars in the US. Michael Horn also said that the responsible parties will be identified and held accountable. The company announced a massive recall of diesel powered cars to begin in January and completed by the end of 2016. The fix will be approved by the German government. A software update will be sufficient for most cars, but other vehicles will require new fuel injection and catalytic converters. The EA189 engine was used widely in several models with country-specific variations. The effort will be hugely expensive for VW. The new CEO Matthais Müller warned workers in Wolfburg, the company would try to avoid layoffs, but that its entire 86 billion expansion plans were under review. The company will take a charge-off of $7.33 billion to pay for repairs. The damage done to the VW brand is incalculable.
{2.09.15}A corporate brand that stands for reliability and value got a rude shock this week when it was revealed Volkswagen cheated on emissions test to get its popular diesel engine models accepted by regulators. The company's CEO, Martin Winterkorn has already resigned and more resignations by company executives are expected. The cheating is international in scale with as many as 11 million diesel vehicles containing software that allowed the company to evade pollution standards in the United States. An independent investigation by CAFEE, Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emission detected the software "fix" when it was asked to study US models of European diesels under US conditions since these vehicles were emitting 4-7 more pollution than permitted under less stringent European standards. The US Justice Department is now beginning a criminal investigation.
The New York Times reports that VW diesel engine models as well as Audi models made by VW contained programs for detecting when the engine was undergoing emissions testing. The programming turned on all of the vehicles exhaust scrubbing mechanisms to insure a passing score and then turned them off when testing was completed, allowing significantly more pollution to enter the atmosphere than detected. The standard at issue is the NOx, or nitrous oxide emissions that is noticeably more stringent in the US than Europe (0.04g/km compared to 25g/km). Nitrous oxides are responsible for creating smog and depleting the ozone layer.
{2.09.15}A corporate brand that stands for reliability and value got a rude shock this week when it was revealed Volkswagen cheated on emissions test to get its popular diesel engine models accepted by regulators. The company's CEO, Martin Winterkorn has already resigned and more resignations by company executives are expected. The cheating is international in scale with as many as 11 million diesel vehicles containing software that allowed the company to evade pollution standards in the United States. An independent investigation by CAFEE, Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emission detected the software "fix" when it was asked to study US models of European diesels under US conditions since these vehicles were emitting 4-7 more pollution than permitted under less stringent European standards. The US Justice Department is now beginning a criminal investigation.
The New York Times reports that VW diesel engine models as well as Audi models made by VW contained programs for detecting when the engine was undergoing emissions testing. The programming turned on all of the vehicles exhaust scrubbing mechanisms to insure a passing score and then turned them off when testing was completed, allowing significantly more pollution to enter the atmosphere than detected. The standard at issue is the NOx, or nitrous oxide emissions that is noticeably more stringent in the US than Europe (0.04g/km compared to 25g/km). Nitrous oxides are responsible for creating smog and depleting the ozone layer.
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| credit: Jeff Stahler Wackydoodle sez: An' a bad case of dirty oil too! |
COTW: The Increasing Frenzy
It is a testament to the extent of mental illness in this society that it has become more enamored with the grotesque rituals that surround each mass shooting in America than actually formulating political will to do something to reduce the number of guns at large. The emotionally unstable and guns do not mix as US Person has written before {21.07.12, The Joker Comes Down}. The United States is plagued by both. There was no legitimate reason for the Roseburg killer to amass thirteen rifles, many semi-automatic, other than to eventually use them against his fellow human beings. Roseburg is rabid gun country. But no hunter worth the name needs that many weapons to kill an occasional deer or elk for sport. As Pope Francis has said publicly, arms manufacture is a international big business, so the supply will not stop anytime soon. Only the United States has done very little in comparison to other developed nations to keep them out of the hands of the deranged and criminal. The nation hides behind a historical anachronism that has little relevance in modern society while the cash registers keep ringing up gun sales. The frequency of mass shootings is higher in the US than anywhere else in the world and increasing; mass shootings do happen in other countries but only the US has such a permissive culture when it comes to using deadly force. Even when accounting for disparity in population, the US still makes the upper half of the list surpassing China, Canada, Australia, England, France, Germany and Mexico. Finland, Switzerland and Norway have higher rates of mass shootings than the US, but only because each small country suffered a horrific mass slaughter since 2000. In Norway, a gunman killed 67 people in one rampage. Perhaps the easy sentiment so publicly on display and parsing of homicide statistics will finally wear thin and the 'Merican people will say enough is enough.
Tuesday, October 06, 2015
Kunduz War Crime
ISIS is not the only group committing war crimes these days. ISIS toppled its third ancient ruin in Palmyra, a roman arch that stood for 2000 years. But contrary to Obama's often repeated promise to remove US combat troops from Afghanistan by 2014, US advisors are still fighting on the ground against a resilient Tailban. In an effort to retake Kunduz, largely in the hands of insurgents, US advisors called in an airstrike by a Spectre gunship [photo] against a hospital manned by Médicines Sans Frontières, one of the few still operating in the country. The strike killed 22 people including 12 members of staff. Some were burned alive in their beds by the cannon rounds. At first the American military said the hospital was occupied by Taliban firing on US soldiers. That cover story did not live long. An American general testifying before Congress yesterday about the incident called it "a mistake". MSF officials also flatly reject that explanation, saying the hospital was identified by GPS coordinates which were given to all sides. It also had a signal repeater on its roof; everyone in the area knew it was a working hospital. The gunship attack continued for thirty minutes after the hospital was again identified to American and Afghan military officials. A deliberate attack on a hospital would qualify as a war crime under international law. Médicines Sans Frontières is demanding a full, transparent (international) investigation of the incident.The charity organization ran afoul of the Afghan military in July. Afghan special forces raided the hospital when they learned a terrorist operative was being treated there. MSF says no Taliban were on the hospital grounds when the attack occurred; even if a protected facility is being abused by the enemy, a retaliatory attack must be proportional. The AC-130 gunship employed 40 and 120mm automatic cannon rounds to completely destroy the hospital. This latest outrage epitomizes the unqualified failure of the American expedition in Afghanistan, one that could have been predicted at the outset. After killing Osama Bin Laden, the American purpose there was fulfilled and troop withdrawn. In an effort to prop-up a failed state, the United States has only become more deeply embroiled in a region that is historically ungovernable. The pressure for results in the longest war of America's war strew history is immense. Incredibly, Pentagon generals are now calling for a reintroduction of American soldiers to fend off the Taliban. Troop levels are now scheduled to decline to 1000 by 2017. Here is what former President Jimmy Carter said about US foreign policy in the last half of the 20th century, "...it's generally accepted that the most intense warmonger for the last 35 or 40 years has been the United States of America. We're the country in the forefront of almost every war that has started....eager to go to war to resolve differences. We have proven that, as you know, in a number of cases for a long time. When we went into Korea, when we went into Vietnam, when we went in to Iraq both times. I think all those wars were unnecessary."
Monday, October 05, 2015
California Bans All Ivory
California under Governor Jerry Brown has taken decisive action to ban virtually all trade in ivory and rhino horn in the state. The Governor signed AB96 into law on Sunday. Owners can sell ivory and rhino horn up until the deadline of July 1, 2016 After that penalties for violations reach up to $50,000 fine and a year in prison, a felony crime. The legislation was hailed by elephant conservationist working desperately to save the planets remaining pachyderms from the ruthless onslaught of poachers. California was among the world's major consumer markets for ivory. California joins New York and New Jersey as states that have passed a comprehensive trade ban. Washington state may be next as Microsoft founder Paul Allen has funded an initiative to ban ivory, horn and body parts from trade. These bans need to be extended nationwide so the United States can take the lead in eradicating this despicable predation without moral justification. The recent African Elephant Summit in Botswanna issued a statement saying that African elephants may go extinct in the next ten years if draconian measure are not taken to save Earth's most majestic and wise land animal. People who want the elephant to survive can help by touring those dwindling areas of the world that are wild. US Person tells you it will be beautiful experience, and well worth the expense. Safaris pay the bills that keep game parks and their wild inhabitants secure. Kenyan wildlife expert Jonathan Scott says, "if we abandon tourism, we abandon conservation."
Friday, October 02, 2015
US Wastes Seafood
Fishing stocks are plummeting around the globe leaving the seas empty, but the United States wastes around 40-47% of the seafood it harvests annually according to recent calculations. That is enough protein to feed about 10 million men. Researchers published in Global Environmental Change concluded about 2.3 billion pounds of seafood go to waste in the supply change from fishing boat to table between 2009 and 2013. Total annual supply was estimated at 4.7 billion pounds. Consumers throw away the most--51 to 63%--while bycatch counted for 16-32%. The size of the loss concerns the study's authors because of the impact on ecological systems and treating aquatic systems as though they were limitless is detrimental to public health and the environment. They recommend stricter bycatch reduction programs, more consumption of parts not typically eaten, and marketing seafood in smaller packages.
Toontime: The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy Redux
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| credit: Robert Ariail Wackydoodle sez: Y'al never knows when ya need a good ploy! |
Ms. Clinton was apparently warned of the potential problems of using a private server by her staff according to released communications. The former Secretary of State was concerned about a 2011 hacking of Google's Gmail which prompted her switch to a private server in New York. Suspected Chinese hackers tried to steal the passwords for hundreds of Gmail accounts held by senior officials. She discussed her concerns with State Department staff who were not unanimous in supporting her decision to use a private facility, her chief of staff among those recommending caution. So far 403 classified e-mails have been found in the released documents, including three marked "secret".
Thursday, October 01, 2015
Police Homicide, Inc.: More Unlawful Killings
Think US Person is exaggerating the police brutality trend? Just look at this video in which Delaware police kill a man in a wheelchair. The victim ignored or was unable to put his hands up. Someone shouts, "What gun?" in response to police orders. Go to this link to read the latest about the latest police killings in September that totaled 99. The police in this country are becoming the corporatist sweepers of a dystopian future in which their job has become little more than disposing of the mentally ill, the unwanted, or disruptive:
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