Logging the Tongass, Again

The Tongass National Forest, the largest temperate rainforest in North America, has been the target of exploiters for decades.  Under the current profit-mad regime it once again has put in the crosshairs of loggers once again.  Under a proposed rule published by the US Forest Service, the Tongass would be exempted from the roadless rule which prohibits road building in inventoried, untouched forest.  9.2 million acres of roadless forest would be open to logging including 165,000 acres of old growth.  Road building is the first step toward degrading natural habitat.  The Tongass provides critical habitat for brown bear, salmon, and Sitka black tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis).  Since 2001 the Roadless Rule has protected untouched forest from logging exploitation in the United States.  The rule is a regulation, not statutory.  Attempts have been made to codify the rule into statutory law (S.1311/H.R.2491), but given the deadlocked imposed by reactionary handmaidens of industry in the Senate the codification has stalled in committee.

The Service has opted for the most industry friendly option out of six--complete exemption for the Tongass--contained in the draft environmental impact statement accompanying the proposed rule change. The change was required by the exploiter-in-chief the Mad King. President Clinton imposed protections on half of the forest shortly before leaving office.  In 2016 the Forest Service was prepared to lay the issue of logging the Tongass to rest by phasing out old growth logging within a decade and designating more than 5.7 million acres as wilderness.  The roadless rule still allows some development projects to go ahead.  In the Tongass roadless area the Forest Service has approved some 55 development projects.  Developers complain that the rule imposes a regulatory approval process that is expensive, time consuming, and sometimes arbitrary. 

The current regime has reignited the struggle, at the request of Alaskan representatives in Congress. According to one former regime insider, forest policy has "become an obsession of his".  Yet another dangerous obsession, which is ignorant of the fact that 40% of west coast salmon spawn in the Tongass, and old growth forest is needed to keep spawning creeks in habitable condition. The salmon fishing industry is worth an estimated $986 million annually. The forest is also proving popular with ecotourists who want to experience pristine environments that are increasingly rare [photo courtesy Forest Service].  Public comments on the rule change may be submitted here. 

Laos Loses Its Tigers

the last of its breed, credit WCS

Scientists reviewing camera trap data from Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area conclude that the native tiger species, Panthera tigris corbetti

disappeared from its last sanctuary by 2014 joining the leopard which went extinct in Laos a decade earlier. The last tiger probably succumbed to the snare epidemic plaguing the forest, or perhaps the last one was killed by poachers supplying the ignorant medicine trade. Either way its end was not peaceful or painless.  Laos joins Cambodia and Vietnam, an area bigger than Texas, as countries that have failed to protect their native felines.  These countries now have "empty forests" bereft of the ecosystems top predator and much of their edible herbivores and birds.

the last leopard in 2003

The Nam forest was a top priority for conservationists who considered the remaining tiger population there to be critical since many other areas in Southeast Asia had already lost their large feline populations.  Money was directed at jump starting efforts to protect them.  In 2003 conservationists estimated there were seven tigers in the protected zone, but by 2013 only two were found on camera trap data.  No tiger has been spotted since.  Researchers conducted repeated surveys between 2013 and 2017 with no results.  Scientists lay the blame for these magnificent creatures demise on the proliferation of snares set in the 'protected' forest.  Another protected zone, Nakai-Nam Thuem National Biodiversity Conservation Area, was thought to have contained a few tigers and leopards, but recent camera data indicates that forest is now empty.

Despite all the attention and money, two major and beautiful predators are gone from Laos. What happened?  Snares are most often set for bush meat--pigs and deer--but cats are especially susceptible to lethal injury by snares. They roam a large territory foraging for the same prey species as man.  Even though snares may be removed from a park, those set on its boundaries still claim victims in a split second.  Research published in Biological Conservation found that rangers removed 200,000 from five protected areas in just five years, including the Nam-Et Phou Louey.  While the influx of conservation money helped reduced the number of poachers using guns, snares are more difficult to locate and operate indiscriminately. Compounding the problem is the fact that Laos has no professional park ranger corps. The money, while significant, was too little, too late. Knowledgeable conservationists say snares were not common in the forest prior to this century.  Hunters changed tactics and employed gear provided by Chinese and Vietnamese traders.

The park is still an important biodiversity sanctuary. The rare and spectacular clouded leopard still lives there. Ungulates such as the vulnerable guar have increased, and there is a new top predator, the dhole (Cuon alpinus), or wild dog, listed as endangered by IUCN.  Conservationists will have to turn the efforts to save the Indochinese tiger to Myanmar and Thailand.  If conservationists are successful, perhaps one day the tiger and leopard will return to the empty forest.

'Toontime: The "Lynching" Hits Paydirt

credit: Bill Day
BC Idonwanna sez: Me no like burnt toast!

More: Finally seeing the light after another top level witness refused to honor a subpoena from the Intelligence Committee, the House Democrats will take a vote to "affirm" the impeachment inquiry which it has conducted for the past several months. Repugnants have vowed to vote against ratification en masse. The vote will also set out rules for public hearings, due process rights, and handling evidence. So far the majority of depositions have been behind closed doors, an optic not favorable to the investigating committees.  The change in tactics comes after a federal district court judge agreed (below) with majority leaders that a formal vote was not necessary, but the Department of Barr said it would appeal that decision.  Valuable time has been lost in contesting procedural objections by Repugnants reduced to complaining about process and not the Mad King's "high crimes and misdemeanors". Setting out the ground rules, especially when three committees are involved, in a clear, public manner is a good idea, and for which US Person has repeatedly advised.  With so much damaging evidence coming forward, now is not the time for timid politicos to muddy the message.

US Person predicts that a vote by Senate Repugnants to protect an obviously guilty extortioner-in-chief on partisan grounds will not sit well with voters in 2020.  Just ask the yahoos at the World Series in Washington, DC who chanted, "Lock him up!" More bad news for the Orange King: a top NSC official identified by ambassador William Taylor, Tim Morrison, witnessed the infamous September 25th telephone call to Ukraine's president in which Il Douche attempted to extort political dirt on Joe Biden in exchange for releasing life-saving military aid.  Morrison, through his attorney, said he will honor the House subpoena to testify on Thursday, despite directions from the chief executive to defy legal process.

Breaking: {25.10.19}A federal judge ruled that the Impeachment is de juris, therefore investigating House committees are entitled to review grand jury evidence behind the Mueller investigation. Defenders of King Orange claim the impeachment is a sham because no formal vote was held by the House to begin an inquiry as it did in the Clinton and Nixon impeachments.  The ruling by chief  judge Beryl A. Howell of the DC federal district court destroys that specious process argument.   A floor vote to begin an impeachment inquiry is NOT required by the Constitution or the House's own procedural rules.  With the additional evidence now available to support Robert Mueller's conclusion that Il Douche obstructed his investigation, an obstruction article will most likely be included in the final bill of impeachment along with extortion, violation of the oath of office, illegal campaign finance violations, and violation of the "phony" foreign and domestic emolument clauses of the Constitution.

The Repugnants wanted QPQ? They got more than they wanted in the form of sworn testimony from career ambassador William Taylor, who tied the Malignant One directly to an extortion of Ukraine for a damaging political smear of Joe Biden in return for release of military aid it needs to fight the Russians and their militias on their eastern border.  What congressional investigators did not get is the paper trail from OMB showing that its director and now acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney withheld, on direct instructions from Il Douche, the military aid appropriated by Congress until Ukraine's government committed publicly to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.  Obviously Mulvaney is now fearful of self-incrimination and refused to respond to a subpoena for his testimony and supporting documentation.  Congressional committees will treat the refusal as a negative inference of his complicity in his boss' criminal conspiracy to influence the 2020 election.  The regime feebly attempted to justify the hold up of vital aid as a fight against corruption.  But the WaPo has reported that millions in anti-corruption aid to Ukraine was cut from the annual foreign aid budget requests to Congress.

The point that cannot be lost in the avalanche of damaging disclosures concerning the rogue Ukraine policy conducted by goomba Rudy 'Ghoully' and others (e.g. Sondland, Perry) is that the emotionally unstable occupant of the Very White House did the same thing in 2016 when he solicited Russian interference in an election through intermediaries.  Arguably, that interference materially aided his election to the high public office he now disgraces.  After a counter-espionage investigation was begun by the FBI, the fake mobster made repeated attempts to obstruct the investigation including firing the FBI director, James Comey. The only reason Special Counsel Robert Mueller did not indict Trumpillini for that crime is the "phony" DOJ policy memo which says a sitting president cannot be indicted.  This Watergate inspired doctrine has been rejected by the federal district court in Manhattan (now on appeal to the 2nd Circuit)* considering state subpoenas for the Orange King's tax returns as inconsistent with the separation of powers doctrine fundamental to the US system of government.  Consequently, obstruction of the Mueller investigation should be included in any bill of impeachment to come out of the House. US Person says: Look Nancy, the evidence of obstruction is already there without McGann's testimony, so use it.  The Republic's survival depends upon it!

credit: Christopher Weyant

*There, Trumpillini's lawyers made the ridiculous argument that a sitting president is absolutely immune from legal process. One only has to look at history to see that the argument's only merit is to delay an impeachment trial in the Senate. The Orange King boasted about getting away with shooting someone on 5th Avenue, about which a Circuit court judge had the audacity to ask his lawyers if the state would be powerless in that event. Imagine the judge's incredulity when His Yugeness' mouthpiece answered in the affirmative!  In 1804 Arron Burr, Vice President of the United States, actually shot and killed Alexander Hamilton on the New Jersey Palisades in a duel. New Jersey promptly indicted him for murder. New York did too, but realizing the mistake since the killing took place in New Jersey, re-indicted him for the misdemeanor of issuing an invitation to duel in New York. Burr fled south to St. Simons' Island, Georgia to wait out the aftermath.  Neither indictment resulted in his conviction. Repugnants are notoriously fond of historic precedent when it suits their political ends.

COTW: The Recession to Come

Look at these charts which explain what to expect in the coming recession:

Clearly seen here is the close relationship between modern economic recessions and the federal funds actions of the private Federal Reserve.  It uses a steep reduction in the federal funds rate (blue) as a means of jump starting economic activity to pull it out of recession (red).  In fact up until now, short term rate reduction is the only recession fighting tool the Fed has.  What is different now is that it is no longer has room to drop the rate to near zero since it has been in that status from 2008 until 2016. (right end of chart).  The bank has lost two thirds of its interest rate margin compared to previous recessions (left end of the chart).  On average the bank has reduced the federal funds rate by 7.25% for each previous recession.  Now it is down to only 26% of the interest rate spread used to stimulate the economy in recession.   No investor or bank is going to stand for negative interest rates. Who in their right mind would want to pay a debtor to borrow their capital?

So what ammunition will the Fed use to shoot down the next recession?  The answer in one word is: an experiment.  No one knows for sure if this experiment will work.  One thing for sure is that it will enrich the already rich: bond traders and insiders who know now what is coming.  The private central bank's first step would be a massive market intervention in the form of more fiat money printing, euphemistically know as QE, or qualitative easing. That massive expansion of the money supply will be piled on the existing outstanding balance of the Fed's asset sheet exploded to ward off Depression 2.0 in 2008. Here is that chart:

charts: D. Amerman

The Fed intends to use the trillions of new money it prints to drive up long and medium term bond prices, and since yields are inversely related to price, drive down bond interest rates (yields) to new lows to make up for the lack of firepower in short term bond rates.  Of course using the free money to jack up bond prices will make traders and investors even more filthy rich, especially if they know what is coming--and they do.  This chart shows that to be the case:

Dan Amerman writing at Market Oracle.uk.com says, "The plan is known and investing for the execution of that plan is enormously popular among sophisticated institutional investors, even while most of the millions of average individual investors seem to have no idea of what is happening....they understand neither the gifts nor the risks that will be coming with this new grand experiment, but instead continue to invest for a world that is long gone."  So, what else is new?

Google Breaks the Quantum Barrier

credit: Google

In a landmark technological achievement, compared by some to the Wright Bros. first powered flight, Google announced today that it achieved "quantum supremacy" using its prototype quantum computer to perform a calculation that would have taken conventional high speed computers 10,000 years to perform in just 3 minutes, 20 seconds.  The company published a paper on its quantum research in the prestigious science journal, Nature.  Scientists have been working toward the possibility of quantum computing since the 1980s, hoping to employ the quantum state of simultaneity for computing purposes.  Conventional computers use digital states of 1 and 0 or bits to perform high speed calculations.  Quantum computers can use quantum mechanical states of both 1 and 0 at the same time, called a qubit.  In order to do this, parts of the computer are frozen to 460 degrees below zero.

The prototype machine is not yet practical, costing millions to build, but researchers are hopeful that like other digital tools it can eventually migrate out of the lab and into useful applications.  Venture capitalists are hopeful too, having invested $450 million into quantum startups.  Both China and the United States consider quantum computing to be a national security priority and have launched billion dollar efforts to fund research.   Quantum computing capability poses severe challenges to successful encryption of data used to protect national and commercial secrets.  IBM disputes Google's claim that the calculation performed by Quantum 1 could not be done on a conventional supercomputer in a reasonable length of time.  It says the performed calculation could run on a conventional computer in two and half days.  Other scientists dismissed the quantum performance as too esoteric to be useful.  But the feat is a start to making quantum computing a commercial reality.

Creature Feature: The Pigs Dig It!

Think pigs are dirty, crude creatures with an overrated intelligence?  Then you have to watch this video of some critically endangered Philippine pigs named Visayan Warty pigs (Sus cebifrons) using a tool to dig! Previous to this recorded behavior in a Paris zoo, only primates and some birds were thought to be intelligent enough to use a tool in foraging for food.  A study published in Mammalian Biology last month, details how a family of Visayan pigs at the Ménagerie, Jardin de Plants use pieces of tree bark in their nest building activities.  Priscillia the pig also uses it to dig for edibles as this video proves.   The behavior is thought to be learned, and Priscilla is the only one adept enough to use it effectively as a digging tool, but her daughters Beatrice and Antonia mimic her behavior with varying results.  The male, Billie, is slower to catch on. (So what else is new?)

Priscilla and Billie were born in captivity in 2007 and 2008, their offspring were born in 2012.  The menagerie is part of a network of European zoos that breeds the pigs.  In 2015 there were about 1300 Visayan warty pigs in captivity. The species is under dire threat of extinction in its home islands.  Hunting for meat and skins has exterminated the species on four Visayan islands. The remaining population is limited to Panay and Negros.

COTW: The Boom Busts

This chart from Bloomberg shows a decline in the amount of shale oil output in the US.  A corresponding decline is seen in the number of operating drilling rigs, dropping a total of 20% since November.  Costs of shale drilling are high with a low recovery rate of about 5-10%.  With the international price of oil stuck in the $50/barrel range and a high debt load, operators are feeling squeezed and investors are wanting more return.   Inevitable consolidation will occur and an emphasis placed on enhanced recovery techniques and more efficient supply chains.  Considering the damage the shale boom has done to the environment, perhaps an end to boom is a blessing in disguise.

'Toontime: The Angry Child President

Wackydoodle sez: Grandma Pelosi is pointin' her finger again!

Acting Chief of Staff (emphasis on acting) made a complete ass out of himself before a press conference this week. Let US, the Omaha Hack, explain: quid pro quo is a Latin phrase meaning for this "quid", I will give you that "quo". In sum, it is an exchange of value. Exchanging national goals, "quid", for foreign goals, "quo", is perfectly fine, for example in a treaty negotiation where one side gives up its nuclear program in return for troop withdrawal from a bordering nation.

Mulvaney naively pulled his pin: "Its done all the time" in foreign affairs. What his boss, who tossed him at the press, refuses to understand because "Article Two" is: it is not OK is to accomplish Mr. Putin's goals in return for your own thing of value--foreign help smearing your domestic political opponent. Yet another example of the irate child rampaging over the Very White House where, "all roads lead to Putin". In fact, it is very illegal.

US Person once again wants to point out that mere solicitation of foreign interference in an election is a criminal offense.  But CMM talking heads seem obsessed with QPQ possibly because they enjoy appearing erudite using Latin.  Mulvaney's statement, which he later tried to retract, is another admission against interest that the impeachers will use to establish Donald the Kid's consistent intent since being sworn in to use the office without corners for personal gain. If only Bob Hope and Bing Crosby were still alive, the subject could make another hilarious road picture.  Betcha you cannot say quid pro quo three times fast!

BC Idonwanna sez: Donald the Kid need intervention, STAT!

Sage Grouse Feel the Heat

More: Mentioned in the post about the Gunnison sage grouse below is he regime's proposal to dismantle the conservation plan for the Greater sage grouse. (Centrocercus urophasianus)  That proposal to roll back land use restrictions across 9 million acres of the bird's prime habitat has been blocked by a federal judge, who granted an injunction against the BLM substantially reducing protections for the sage hen. Until a court decides the legality of the regulatory amendments wanted by the regime, the previous restrictions remain in effect.  Those rules apply to approximately 51 million acres of federally owned grouse habitat in the West.

The grouse has lost 50% of its former range to oil and gas exploration, invasive grass species, and wildfires. Their population has plummeted to just 10% of  pre-settlement numbers.  It was only because conservationists, industry and ranchers agreed to compromise management plans for 10 states that the bird was not listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The Service called the agreement, "an unprecedented conservation partnership". Disregarding what was agreed to, the regime leased to oil companies ten times the high priority grouse habitat per month than the previous government.  One sale included acreage that was entirely within sage grouse habitat.

In granting the injunction, Judge Winmill wrote, “The record shows that the 2019 Plan Amendments were designed to open up more land to oil, gas, and mineral extraction as soon as possible. That was the expressed intent of the Trump Administration and then-Secretary Ryan Zinke."  If conservationists prevail in overturning the plans to reduce protections for the endangered bird, then leases granted under the modifications will be invalidated, and BLM forced to consider leasing outside sage grouse habitat.

(10.10.19}The Gunnison Valley is a beautiful, high-altitude basin in the Colorado Rockies surrounded by fourteen thousand foot peaks, and the home of the Gunnison sage grouse (Centrocercus minimus). The impact of global climate warming is all too obvious in the valley. Several years of drought have reduced the number of flowers produced by forbes such as sagebrush. The coldest winter in decades in 2018-19 lingered well into May, causing some hens to abandon their nests or lower their eggs' temperature beyond survival. Fewer flowers mean fewer insects and grouse chicks eat nothing else in their first few weeks of life.  Consequently, the number of hatchlings has plummeted.

Despite concerted conservation efforts, the bird's population is at the lowest level since 1996.  Habitat loss and climatic extremes has pushed the grouse closer to the edge of extinction in the wild.  Populations have decreased 60% in the last four years and are expected to get worse.  This species has fared slightly better in the western habitat wars than its larger relative.  The common sage grouse has served a sort of proxy for oil exploitation fights in the West. It was not listed as endangered in 2015 because of a compromise conservation plan that the current regime is dismantling.  The Gunnison grouse is listed as "threatened".  Some conservationists want an endangered listing since it would bring more federal scrutiny, but Colorado wildlife officials think the current mix of state and local protections are just as good.  Now, state officials do the population counts, relocations, and habitat improvement.  Local people are involved in planting sagebrush and removing invasive cheatgrass.

Like other birds who perform a dancing display at a lek, their behavior patterns are considered inflexible, and since it is confined to a small geographic area, it also has an extreme lack of genetic diversity.  These factors make the Gunnison grouse susceptible to a downward extinction spiral.

Creature Feature: Bison Return to Badlands

Their hooves have not touched the earth of the Dakota Badlands since 1877.  Thanks to the supporters of WWF, like US Person, the magnificent beasts and symbols of the West are back. They now have 22,553 additional acres to roam.  Badlands National Park has the second largest heard in the nation (~1200) after Yellowstone, which is becoming overcrowded and is in need of expansion.  The release is a beginning of an epic revitalization of the heartland on which 30 million buffalo once trod. Contributors raised $750,000 to build 43 miles of new fence that extends bison habitat in the park from 57,640 acres to 80,193 acres. We can do no less than restore 1 million of these animals, which man once needlessly slaughtered to near extinction, back into the wild.  Help us do that by donating to WWF's Northern Great Plains program.

More Wolf Pups In Oregon

US Fish & Wildlife Service tells us that at least four pups were born to Oregon's Indigo wolf pack this year.  The agency has collared one of the pups, now about six months old [photo courtesy USFW]  Oregon adopted a new management plan in June for grey wolves that fell short in protecting wolves in eastern Oregon where they are most abundant and not under federal protection.  Grey wolves eastern Oregon are still listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, but the regime has issued a proposal to strip federal protection for grey wolves.  An estimated 137 wolves live in 16 packs in Oregon.

To the north, Governor Jay Inslee wrote a letter to Washington state wildlife officials demanding "new methods to better support coexistence...."  State officials have been killing wolves at a rapid rate.  Four wolves in one pack were killed this summer hours before a court hearing was decide their fate.  The Governor referred to lethal actions taken in the Kettle Mountain Range where wolves are concentrated in northeastern Washington that have "resulted in public concern and outrage".  There are an estimated 126 wolves living in Washington.  Oregon's governor has yet to make a public statement concerning wolf protection in her state. 

Meanwhile back in New Jersey: 94 black bears including mothers and cubs were killed on opening day of the hunting season.

COTW: More Installed Solar

What do you do with a landfill that gets filled?  A more common problem than you may think, but Maryland has shown US a responsible and efficient solution.  A former landfill in Fort Washington, MD has been transformed into the state's first large-scale, community solar farm.  Under a state run program, local community members are able to buy a share of energy produced by a solar array.  Participants get a credit on their electric bill every month for their share of the energy produced by the array. Under the program, which runs through 2020, nearly 196 megawatts of installed solar capacity will be allocated to a number of community solar farms in the state.

Head of the Neighborhood Sun company told NPR the former landfill was a perfect place for a large scale solar installation because it could not be practically used for another purpose.  Large scale arrays are land intensive, and one of the criticism of this abundant source of green energy.  Solar installation declined last year, partly due to an increase in cost in raw materials like aluminum and steel caused by increased tariffs on imported commodities.

 ITC: investment tax credit

Democratic 'Debate' Takeaways

US Person has these observations on last night's performance:

1. You cannot fairly call these media assemblies "debates" until the number of participants is reduced to a manageable size.  There is very little time for leading candidates to exchange ideas despite the three hours allotted.  While Tulsi is photogenic, I would rather hear Bernie and Elizabeth spend air time explaining how Medicare for All is NOT going to require 'Merica to sell the Pentagon.  You need an extra-wide camera lens just to fit everybody into one shot!  The picture above is a suggested solution to this problem.
2. Bernie Sanders did well for a guy that just survived a heart attack. It seemed to US that he did not get a fair share of attention from the moderators.  He jokingly accused them of "taking it easy" on him.  When he did get a chance to speak, he came across forcefully and more articulately than Joe Biden who is two years younger than him.  He scored a point against Biden for "getting things done", like the Iraq War, NAFTA and bankruptcy 'reform' for finance companies.
3. Elizabeth Warren was treated as the front runner by the other candidates and got a little testy when she was peppered with criticisms and questions. She refused to answer Kamala Harris's request to join her in asking Twitter to remove the Malignant One's account on grounds of corporate responsibility.  Warren has only lately come around to people financing her campaign, after the original Sanders showed her the way, again.  She repeatedly dodged questions on Medicare for All.
4. Mayor Pete Buttigieg is the obvious champion of the younger Democratic faithful.  He repeatedly chided the older Democrats for talking about progressive issues, but accomplishing very little.  That criticism is somewhat unfair given a totally uncooperative majority in the Senate for most of his lifetime.  A counterpoint against the Mayor from Gary:  Gary, Indiana was recently voted on-line "the most miserable city" in 'Merica.  
5. Of the second-tier candidates, Julian Castro was the most impressive, scoring points on the problem of gun violence, which includes police involved murders in his opinion, and immigration policy, asking how absurd is it is for a president of the United States to be putting innocent children in jail at the border, but allowing ISIS fighters to escape detention in Syria.  Answer, very, but then we are dealing with a sociopathic narcissist occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
6. All candidates now agree that Il Douche should be impeached by the House of Representatives--finally!  Although Gabbard still sounds a little dubious on the issue.  And the corporate media is still avoiding the elephant in the room: climate change

In sum, fewer people--more substance.  Go, Bern!

Famous Elephant Park to Expand

One of the saddest tragedies of many to afflict Earth in the Sixth Great Extinction is the massacre of elephants on the African continent by man.  Hunted relentlessly since the 19th century, the great herds that once roamed the entire continent have been reduced to just 400,000 in fragmented pockets of habitat.  Big, older males are always in man's gunsights because they carry the biggest prize: ivory tusks that can weigh up to 100 lbs each or more.  It is estimated that fewer than 30 of these "big tuskers" remain in the wild.

Eight of them live in South Africa's Tembe Elephant Park, just south of the Mozambique border. They represent a priceless gene pool of large elephants in a herd of just 200 individuals [photo credit, D. Whalley]. But the 74,000 acre park is running out of room for the big animals, so rangers have had to put the females on birth control since 2007. Alarmingly generations of African elephants are becoming tuskless, an evolutionary response to the unending slaughter of big tuskers in their prime breeding age. Tembe has recently received good news on October 8th when the Tembe Tusker Foundation announced it would fund expansion of the park.  Established in 1980s, the park is owned and run by local Tembe people and hugely popular with foreign tourists.  Tribal king, Mabhudu Tembe, told guests at a premier screening of a documentary film that parcels adjacent to the park have been identified which would allow the addition of up to 64,000 acres.  More space means the Tembe elephants can be allowed to breed again.

Tembe Elephant Park enjoys wide community support and is a testament to the pride the Tembe people have in preserving their natural heritage.  There have been only  about five poaching incidents in the past 30 years. It is the area's largest private employer, and the Park conducts community education programs and free safari tours for Tembe people, so the can also experience the Park first-hand and come to treasure their sanctuary.  Staff salaries inject $260,000 a year into the local economy, one of the most impoverished in South Africa.

In the film about Tembe elephants, Mahamba, a beloved ranger who died in 2017, visits the bones of Isilo, Zulu for "King of kings".  Isilo thankfully died of old age. His tusks weighed an estimated 65 and 60 kgs, but his ivory was taken before the carcass was located by park personnel.  This is the only way man should harvest elephant tusks--after their true owner has no use for them any longer.

'Toontime: L'État C'est Moi

Latest:The pundits agree: the Orange King's barricades are crumbling. Normally timid civil servants are starting to come forward with devastating new details about Il Douche's covert pressure campaign against Ukraine to provide him with political ammunition against Joe Biden, his perceived opponent in the 2020 election. Apparently Russian expert Fiona Hill opened the flood gates in her closed-door testimony yesterday. She provided names and details about rogue Trump lawyer Rudy 'Ghouly''s extensive campaign to smear Joe and his son with allegations connected to the Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings for which Hunter Biden served as a highly paid director. The allegations of Biden wrongdoing have largely been debunked in the media.

A shift in the political winds towards impeachment on Capitol Hill is apparent. As suggested here numerous times by US Person when impeachment was a word that could not be spoken, the Democrats are finally considering a formal vote on the impeachment inquiry, to remove the regime's often stated objection to compliance with discovery requests. Historic precedent is that a formal vote should be taken. Democrats are highly sensitive to the effects such a vote would have on swing district incumbents. In US Person's opinion, the party could afford to lose a few seats in defense of the Constitution. Voting against an inquiry is also problematic at this point, considering the mounting crimes committed by the Malignant One*. An average of credible opinion polls now indicate a majority of 'Mericans support impeachment.

More: {12.10.19}The WaPo reported yesterday that at least four National Security Council officials knew in advance of the Orange King's intention to extort the President of Ukraine. They were concerned enough about his illegal request for campaign assistance that they raised the issue with a Very White House lawyer before and after the September 25th call. When then National Security advisor John Bolton found out about the Malignant One's blatant attempt to secure dirt on Joe Biden and his son, he reportedly "went ballistic" and scrambled to find a transcript of the 9:00am call that had already been 'locked down' in an ultra-secret server. As officials attempted to report the incident to their superiors, they contacted National Security Counsel legal advisor John Eisenberg.  Accounts conflict on whether Eisenberg took any action concerning the alarming information he received.  But this new information is certainly consistent with the established fact that the Very White House was aware of the incident before being contacted by the CIA's  General Counsel weeks before a whistle-blower complaint was made.

Those involved in sounding alarms “were not a swamp, not a deep state,” said a former senior official. Rather, they were White House officials “who got concerned about this because this is not the way they want to see the government run.”  As some pundits have pointed out, it is clear that the CIA whistleblower has some institutional support among the intelligence community and on Capitol Hill, but whether the unrest amounts to a "palace coup" as Trumpians would have you think is certainly not accurate. No one at PNG thinks the Democrats are without sin (Hunter Biden never held public office, and Joe Biden never threatened to withhold federal aid for his own benefit).  To leave the Malignant One in control of the Executive Branch would be the death knell of what remains of democracy in 'Merica. So US Person says: Let the great impeachment begin!

credit: K. Siers, Charlotte Observer

Update{11.10.19}A federal three judge appeals panel ruled that Il Douche's accountants must turn over his tax returns in a major defeat for the Orange King. Mazars USA must turnover eight years of financial records sought by the House investigating committees.  It took the appeals judges sixty-six pages to explain why the regime's legal argument that the congressional subpoena had no relation to a legitimate legislative purpose had no merit.  The regime, in accordance with its stonewall policy of resistance, will appeal the ruling to the full US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, or the US Supreme Court.  Tellingly, the appeals panel voted along partisan lines with two Democrat appointed judges in the majority for enforcing the subpoena.  It is an open question in Washington whether the conservative majority of the Supreme Court will vote to defend the Malignant One from congressional oversight and impeachment.

The panel majority did not address the question of whether the House needed to invoke its impeachment powers to make its discovery demands legitimate since the case was decided solely on its executive oversight responsibilities.  Chairman Cummings of the House Oversight Committee hailed the decision saying, "Today’s ruling is a fundamental and resounding victory for congressional oversight, our constitutional system of checks and balances and the rule of law...”  US Person continues to think that as a matter of jurisprudence, and even though the House is following its own adopted rules in declaring an impeachment inquiry is underway, the full House should take the extra step and hold a formal vote endorsing Speaker Pelosi's decision.  The political risks of doing so are minimal since a majority of 'Mericans now support impeachment.  Only eight Democrat representatives have not publicly declared support for an impeachment inquiry.

The ruling comes one day after Deutsche Bank told a federal court in New York that it no longer has Il Douche's tax returns in its possession.  The admission surprised former bank officials cooperating with House investigations into alleged financial fraud by Trump and his organization. Normally, financial records including tax returns are required to support loan applications.  The bank collected his records in 2011 when it became his lender of last resort after a string of bankruptcies cost other financial firms significant losses.  Deutsche Bankt relied on the submitted information when it approved loans for Trump's Doral golf course and a Chicago skyscraper in 2012.  By the time Trump was sworn into office he owed Deutsche Bank an estimated $300 million, making it his largest creditor.

{11.10.19}This week, Il Douche drew his legal guns, as predicted by US Person {28.09.29, Just the Facts, Ma'm} and turned the Very White House into the Alamo. He told Congress through his mouthpiece that he and his administration  would not cooperate with the impeachment inquiry under any circumstances. The letter, written by White House counsel Pat Cipollone, was widely criticized by legal scholars as being puerile and a strange hybrid of absurd legal argument (citing George III as precedent, no less) and political polemic. The letter is concllusive proof of another impeachable offense: obstruction of Congress.  Nixon tried the same tactic and lost.  US Person has noted before that impeachment is a political process wrapped in legalisms.  So Repugnants should take note, 'Merican have woken up to the 'yuge' con of Don Veto Trumpilliini: a majority now support impeachment and removal from office.

Smilin' Jack once told us in "A Few Good Men", 'Mericans "Can't handle the truth..."  Well, US is going to give it to you anyway: Donald Trump is mobbed up with the Russians. This 'wise guy' got financing for his failing businesses from them via Deutsche Bank, his casinos laundered money for them, Russian agents got him elected in 2016, and illegal Russian money is now flowing into his 2020 campaign.  You can bet your life that the cappo di tutti capi, Vladimir Vladimirovitch Putin, has the goods on Il Douche. Which explains why he put the arm on the Ukrainians to dig up 'dirt' on the Bidens, and threw the only effective US ally in Syria under the Turkish bus. Remember, you read it at PNG first.

credit: Jen Sorensen

Wackydoodle sez: He told me he was callin' "Dialing for Dollars" 

*Take for example, 18 U.S. Code § 872: “Extortion by officers or employees of the United States".: “Whoever, being an officer, or employee of the United States or any department or agency thereof, or representing himself to be or assuming to act as such, under color or pretense of office or employment commits or attempts an act of extortion, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.” Ukrainians are in fear of being overrun by Russian tanks. US Person thinks that qualifies.

California Bans Real Fur

near San Jose, CA

Once again leading the nation, California has banned fur products. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill this weekend. The ban goes into effect in 2023.  Of course animal rights activists hailed the new law.  He also signed a bill that bans most animals from performing in circuses, following New Jersey and Hawaii that have similar laws.  The ban is not absolute.  It exempts fur worn for religious or tribal purposes, used fur products, and does not apply to deer, goat, sheep or cattle hides, or stuffed animals (trophies). The law provides for fines for each fur product sold up to $1000 for repeated violations.  Opposed by the fur industry, it claimed the law was an "attack on choice" and the product of a "radical vegan agenda" using a fur ban as the first step.  Fashion designers, Versace, Gucci, and Armani have already announced they are done with real fur. Sliding further down the slippery slope of veganism, Gov. Newsom also signed a law that prohibits the trapping or killing of bobcats (Lynx rufus), adding them to the list of protected species in the state.

COTW: Student Debt Rising

Senator Sanders, bless his heart, wants to forgive student debt and make public higher education free, and here are some of the reasons why in this chart from The Economist:

Student debt has more than tripled in the time period shown and is still going up.  One in five students attending private, for profit schools will default on their loans, wrecking their all-important credit rating, within 3 years.  Those students attending public institutions and graduate with a degree are much less likely to default. So the next time you ask yourself why doesn't Bernie appear more on the CMM, it is because he talks about issues that media elites do not care about, but that are vitally important to working people of all varieties.<10 able="" are="" employment.="" obtain="" p="" since="" they="" to="">

Night Lights Harm Pollination

A two decades ago, there was little scientific interest in the effects of artificial lighting on the wild.  Scientist who noticed the phenomenon of night glow were mostly astronomers that complained about lights interfering with their observations of the night sky.  If you live in an urban zone, you may not remember the last time you saw the Milky Way arched across heavens.  Seeing the stars in a truly dark sky such as in the Australian Outback is a revelation of the non-biblical kind.  The effect of artificial night lights in now receiving increased study, and the news for animals and plants is not good.

Much of the planet's surface is lit at night and the surface area affected is growing at about 6% a year.  Studies show that artificial lighting at night disrupts natural behavior of animals and insects.  From migrating birds thrown off course and turtle hatchlings diverted from the sea to insects uselessly fluttering around a llight bulb until they drop dead from exhaustion human's penchant for lighting up the night is posing an increasingly serious threat to biodiversity.  A third of bee and butterfly species are in decline, beset by disease, toxic pesticides and climate change.

Plants are also affected by night lights.  Much pollination goes on at night by bats, moths, beetles and other insects; almost nothing was known about night pollination until a Swiss researcher, Eva Knop, began studying the affect of artificial lighting on night pollination.  Insects account for 88% of plant pollination and 39% of crop pollination worth an estimated $361 billion in the US, so its an important question to answer.  Ms Knop and her colleagues installed artificial illumination over half of the fourteen Swiss meadows in her study.  For two consecutive summers when the meadows were in bloom they walked the fields at night collecting any pollinating insects they could find. The study, published in Nature, provided the first clear evidence that artificial lighting deters pollinating insects, thus harming the plants that depend on them to reproduce.  One plant, cabbage thistle, which is usually heavily visited by nocturnal pollinators produced 13% less fruit in lighted fields compared to dark ones in the study.  Fortunately cabbage thistles are visted by day time pollinators and can self pollinate too, but the these paths are not enough to make up for decreased night pollination by animals and lead to less genetic
diversity.

It unlikely humans will give up their need for night illumination, but it can be used more sensitively.  Use of motion detectors for some optional lighting will illuminate walls of light that repeal some insects such as moths.  Spacing street lights farther apart will also help, as would using longer wave length lighting.  LEDs are replacing other street lighting because of their efficiency, but the blue wavelengths emitted are particularly attractive to insects. Changing the lights color will do less harm.

'Toontime: The Unraveling

credit: Kevin Siers

Update: A second whistle blower from the 'deep state' has emerged.  This staffer from the National Security Council reportedly has first-hand knowledge of the now infamous call to Ukraine's President by the Malignant One to ask "a favor" in return for release of previously appropriated military aid. He corroborates the first whistle blower's complaint.  The second whistle blower has contacted the Inspector General for the Intelligence Community, but has yet to file a formal complaint.

It is worth repeating that a "quid pro quo" is not necessary for a criminal violation of federal election laws, merely a "solicitation" is enough. Don Veto's statements to the Ukrainian president is beyond that legal standard, and could even be reasonably construed as attempted extortion. The first complaint mentions six people with first-hand knowledge of the conversation with President Zelensky as well as a verbatim transcript created as SOP by the Situation Room staff. The reconstruction of the call released by the White House is not complete.  It is now very likely that Trump will be impeached by the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.  Hold the vote formalizing the inquiry Ms. Nancy, you have the votes, and the regime will be deprived of another argument in court for not responding to Congress' subpoenas.

On another front, and potentially more damaging, is the news that an enormous cache of financial documents from Deutsche Bank relating to Donald Trump's business dealings has been turned over to the FBI.  According to the NYT on Tuesday, a son of William Broeksmit, a senior risk executive of the bank, found a trove of bank records--including minutes of board meetings, spreadsheets, and financial plans --in his father's email account.  His father died of suicide in 2014.  The son met House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff at a party. Val Broeksmit reportedly demanded money for sharing the documents with his committee, but was refused. Schiff subsequently subpoenaed Broeksmit for the documents. Shortly thereafter Broeksmit turned them over to the FBI.


{05.10.19} We know that Don Veto, but apparently the rubes thought you would grow out of it while shouldering the burdens of the nation's highest office.  Instead, you only continue to demonstrate your unfitness for it's heavy fiduciary responsibilities.  Your criminal behavior began well before occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, however--your dad set you to military school in an effort to set you straight.  The Houdini-like escape from the Mueller investigation only heightened your narcissistic sense of invulnerability, but the Ukrainian shakedown ("Do us a favor..."; "Potus really wants the deliverable") one day after Mueller testified to Congress about your 2016 collaboration with Russia to illegally influence an election will prove your demise*.  Apparently, you have been relieved of "the humiliating chimera of conscience", but ignoring congressional subpoenas is not going to save you.  If not removed from office because of craven sycophants like Moscow Mitch in the Senate, you will nevertheless be forced to ask for re-election with a red letter "I" imprinted on your forehead in shame and disgrace. History will remember you as the only the third president to bear that distinction, as well as its most corrupt.

credit: Daryl Cagle

*Any bill of impeachment should include, at least, the obstruction of justice charge investigated by Mueller.  Mueller found ample evidence of Don Veto's attempted obstruction of his investigation; the only reason he did not indict him on that charge is because of the Office of Legal Council's unsound policy of not indicting a sitting president.  That policy has no application to an impeachment. The investigative work is already done, and the evidence supporting the charge of record.

Logging Roads Allow Poachers to Penetrate Remote Forests

logging track, photo credits WCS

A study published in July reports that poachers are using logging roads to access remote areas of rain forest prey on endangered species central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). The study published in Frontiers in Forest and Global Change looked at intact forest located in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park and an adjacent sustainable logging area in Democratic Republic of Congo, to assess the impact of human activity on the species' habitat. The comparison showed little effect on the number of individuals in the undisturbed and logged areas, but changes in plant ecology altered the apes foraging behaviors. Previously studies have shown that gorillas are more able to adapt to disturbed landscapes than chimpanzees because they have a more varied diet, and they are not as territorial as chimps. One change the researchers noted in chimpanzee behavior is that they build their sleeping nests closer to the ground in logged areas.

Central Africa's once vast, pristine rain forests were protected by their remoteness, but that has changed perhaps forever. Roads cleared for logging now snake through the farthest reaches of dense rain forest. Estimates are that Central Africa has lost a tenth of its undisturbed forest landscapes, and the length of roads in the Congo Basin has increased two and half times since 2003. With the roads have come greedy humans exploiting natural resources including poachers illegally killing forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) for their ivory. Between 2002 and 2011 researchers observed a 62% drop in the population of of their cousins, savanna elephants.

forest elephants dig for minerals, courtesy USF&W

The park, which is part of a UNESCO world heritage site that stretches across Cameroon, Central African Republic and DRC, and its natural inhabitants face other threats. In 2018 the Congo government invited oil companies to explore a block of land that overlaps park boundaries. The French company, Total, holds the Koli sector concession, which overlaps, but also contains valuable peat lands in the Cuvette Basin. French researchers have been advising Total Foundation, the company's non-profit arm to pivot towards forest conservation and renovation. They’ve proposed that Total could leave undeveloped the Koli and Mokelé-Mbembé blocks as a way of locking in carbon. According to the company's own information, it plans to invest $100 million a year starting in 2020 for the “preservation of forests, mangroves and degraded lands. Reports from conservationists say the government continues to urge Total to explore for oil reserves.  Congo's economy is heavily dependent on resource extraction.

David Morgan, a conservationist with Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo and lead author of the study said oil exploration does not fit with Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park's world heritage status. Still, the park is one of the best protected and funded in central Africa and conservationists want to keep it that way, but the research shows it is vulnerable to the scourge of poaching. Moran added, "You can’t let places like this become open to poachers. We have to do all we can to protect [against] that.”

Robert Reich Talks to Bernie Sanders During Office Hours

Former Labor secretary Robert Reich talks to Senator Sanders about the current constitutional crisis precipitated by the Malignant Orange One, and the reasons for hope.

Impeachment 4.0

Two words: INHERENT CONTEMPT.  If it was good enough for our forebearsers*, it should be good enough for Trump's goombas.  Secretary Pompeo is just the beginning of the regimes non-cooperation--there is no 'limited hangout' in the Trump Zone, only a resort to the mattresses. Other tips: don't give up a shotgun for a pea-shooter against a raging bull elephan by ignoring the damning contents of the Mueller Report (Can 1,000 former federal prosecutors be wrong?), and clean out the Capitol Hill jail. From there it is a short route to the Supreme Court.  The future of the Republic depends upon YOU...

*The last time the power was invoked was in 1935 by the Senate. When the inherent contempt power is invoked, the House or Senate directs the Sergeant-at-Arms to bring the individual before the bar of Congress to be tried.  If found guilty of contempt, the witness may be incarcerated until he or she complies with the order in question or until the expiration of the current session of Congress.

Sanders Rings the Bell

As the corporate mass media (CMM) continues to largely ignore socialist Bernie Sanders for President, and media polls predict his campaign's early demise, the curmudgeonly senator from Vermont forges ahead to a showdown with Joe Biden, or Elizabeth Warren at the convention.  Bernard has raised $25.3 million in the third quarter from small donors exclusively (average just $18 each), a feat of political support matched by no other candidate!

Bernie has responded to his deep grass-roots popularity with ground breaking policy positions.  US Person is utterly amazed that the corporate press seems to be more concerned with were he buys his suits (Khol's) than our society's widening social equity gap.  The top 0.1 now control about a fifth of the nation’s wealth. Senator Sander's latest proposal is a far reaching wealth tax, more aggressive than the wealth tax proposed by Ms. Warren.  His tax would start out at 1 percent on net worth from $32 million to $50 million, and it would top out at 8 percent on net worth over $10 billion. Bernie makes no bones about the existence of a plutocracy in the United States. “There’s no question to my mind that the United States is moving toward an oligarchy,” Mr. Sanders said. “This is an issue that has to be addressed, and this wealth tax begins to do that.”  He has often said he does not think billionaires should exist in our society. Recent figures from the US Census Bureau reveal that income inequality has reached its highest level since the government began tracking the data in 1967. A professor of law and politics at Yale University commented, “We are living in the second Gilded Age.”  The idea of taxing the wealthy is popular with 'Mericans who have seen Il Douche give away $1.5 trillion in tax revenue to the already rich, on the discredited grounds that such leniency stimulates economic growth that "floats all boats".  Despite his munificence, the US economy is slowing down causing the Fed to create more low interest money.

Sander's tax plan would raise $4.35 trillion over a decade.  It also includes mandatory audits of all billionaires and establishing a "national wealth registry".  One criticism of a wealth tax is the difficulty of detecting cheating and its enforcement. The plan has the goals of reducing the share of the national wealth that is scooped up by the richest 1%, and of paying for new social programs like universal child care and low-come housing.  His tax plan would hardly leave billionaires destitute.  For example if his plan had been in effect since 1982, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, would be worth $43 billion today instead of the obscene $160 billion Forbes estimates he is worth now.