'Toontime: Quid Pro Crow

credit: Wolverton

BC Idonwanna sez: NOT  more powerful than iron horse!

As the House Democrats prepare to move into the next and probably final phase of their impeachment inquiry, they will inform the public what it means to commit "high crimes and misdemeanors" deserving removal from high public office.  The evidence against #45 is already clear and convincing; #45 knew about the whistle-blower complaint before he released the military aid to Ukraine. Investigators have decided to move quickly rather than wait for the legal delaying tactics of the regime to play out in court.  The America public now has the chance to consider the gravity of the current occupant's abuse of power and violation of his oath to defend the Constitution against "all enemies foreign, and domestic".  His obstruction of justice, obstruction of Congress, violation of his oath of office, abuse of power and bribery of a foreign government to influence another election constitute more than just impeachable offenses, but a fundamental betrayal of this nation's system of governance.

When he is brought before the bar of the Senate, it would not be an overstatement to say that republican government is in the balance. #45 is a dangerous tyrant in the becoming; his unprincipled trouble making has further eroded the credibility of our political institutions.  If he survives in office after a partisan nullification of the Articles of Impeachment, there is a forum of last resort in which to save representative government: the American people voting in a free and fair election conducted without the interference of foreign powers. This is a fitting culmination to the process of removing a president who has little regard for the rule of law, and desires to replace it with the rule of one man above the law.  When asked by an onlooker at the Philadelphia convention what kind of government would there be in the former colonies, Dr. Franklin answered, "A republic, madam, if you can keep it." No more prescient words were spoken by a founding father. History has now found US.

credit: Kevin Siers, Charlotte Observer
Wackydoodle sez: Y'al left out Lil Kim!

Climate Change Kills 200 Elephants in Zimbabwe

The UN environmental agency gives the planet another dire warning: the Earth's human inhabitants will have to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 7% annually for the next decade if we are to avoid catastrophic climate change.  The probability of such a dramatic cutback in emissions seems unlikely from the point in history.

The signs of deadly changes in weather are all around us.  The latest tragic indicator is the death of over 200 elephants in the severe drought that has gripped Zimbabwe.  The drought is so bad that wildlife officials have resorted to moving animals out of the drought zone in Hwange National Park and Mana Pools to save their lives.  Residents of a village near Hwange rescued a calf that had fallen into a well in its disparate search for water.  They managed to extract the baby, but a leg was apparently broken in the accident.  The calf fled back into the wild.  An adult elephant collapsed near the village.  Villagers feed the elephant until it was strong enough to walk.  Zimbabwe has one of the largest elephant concentrations in Africa, home to 85,000, but its protected natural areas can only support 55,000.  Grazing lands have been severely depleted.  Animal advocates have been donating bales of hay.  Park officials are appealing for pumping equipment to provide water.

Drought conditions have left 5 million Zimbabweans, nearly one-third of its total human population without enough food until the next harvest.  If it fails, starvation looms ahead.  As desperate animals leave the park to find water and food in nearby communities, human conflicts are increasing.  About 200 people have died in reported human-wildlife conflicts in the last five years.

COTW: "Everyone Was In the Loop"

Update: A federal judge rejected the regime's spuriousclaim that executive branch officials are completely immune to legal process and order former White House Counsel Don McGahn to testify before the House impeachment committees. McGahn defied a duly issued subpoena to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on the theory that executive branch officials cannot be required to talk about their official duties before Congress under the separation of powers doctrine. Judge Jackson rejected that argument in a 120 page opinion writing, the “claim to unreviewable absolute testimonial immunity on separation-of-powers grounds — essentially, that the Constitution’s scheme countenances unassailable executive branch authority — is baseless, and as such, cannot be sustained.” The Barr Department is certain to appeal the ruling and ask for a stay of subpoena enforcement following a pattern of legal delaying tactics intended to impede the impeachment process.

Even if McGahn is required to appear before Congress by the Supreme Court, he could then claim his personal interactions with Don Veto are protected by executive privilege, making it unlikely his testimony could be compelled in time to be included in the mass of evidence supporting a bill of particulars against the Orange King.  The legal question of absolute executive branch immunity is an open one, with no controlling precedent extant.  Eleven years ago another lower court federal judge ruled in agreement with Judge Jackson that an official had to respond to a subpoena and appear even if the official intends to claim executive privilege at the hearing.

credit: John Cole

{22.11.2019}Besides his unequivocal statement that there was an express condition on Ukraine receiving its previously approved military aid--an exchange for their public commitment to investigate the Bidens--Ambassador Sondland's testimony this week laid the basis for a conspiracy article of impeachment. There was an agreement to illegally extort a bribe in the form of political ammunition against a domestic political opponent among his top officials, among them:  Pense, Pompeo, Mulvaney, and his personal lawyer, Rudy 'Ghouly' Giuliani.  The conspiracy was furthered by overt acts such as meeting with Ukrainian officials to inform them of the hold on the aid, pressure to conduct an investigation of the gas holding company, Burisma where Hunter Biden sat on the board, and the directive to OMB to suspend the aid payment.  The Democrats investigating Don Veto's corruption of American foreign policy are probably correct to be limiting the focus of their investigation to just the boss, but that does not make these other bad actors any less culpable. Their accountability is best left to another time and forum. In doing so, US Person thinks that articles of impeachment could be drafted by the House Judiciary Committee by year's end.

The Judiciary Committee should not be in too much of a hurry, though.  It must weigh each potential article from the standpoint of both evidentiary sustainability and political gravity. The Mueller investigation, especially the evidence collected to support volume II, should not be ignored.  Special Counsel Robert Mueller apparently believed the evidence gathered by his office supported a legal conclusion that the Orange King obstructed investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.  Including Mueller's evidence in an obstruction of justice article would show that Trump's abuse of presidential power extends over his three years in public office. His corrupt activity threatens not only national security interests and foreign policy, but also the domestic administration of impartial justice. 

The advice to Chairman Nadler is especially cogent if his committee is successful in obtaining testimony from Don McGahn, former White House Counsel.  McGahn was often quoted as a source of evidence of King Orange's attempts to fire the Special Prosecutor.  Currently his refusal to obey a committee subpoena to testify is under review by a federal court. A decision on his case is expected on Monday. Also under court review is the Committee's request for grand jury testimony underlying the Mueller Report. Depending on whether there will be protracted appeals, it may then be appropriate for additional public hearings before the Judiciary Committee on obstruction before final articles are presented to the entire House for a vote.  In any event, the full scope and extent of Il Douche's corrupt abuse of power should be exposed to the public*. Making voting for Il Douche's presumed acquittal in the Senate as politically expensive as possible will only help the Democrats as the 2020 election looms closer.

credit:David Fitzsimmons
Wackydoodle sez:Hush that turkey up!

*To that end, a citizen advocacy group, American Oversight, successfully sued the State Department under the Freedom of Information Act for documents related to the suppressed Ukraine military aid. A federal judge ordered the department to turn over the documents late Friday. The first one hundred pages of released records of telecommunications between Secretary Mike Pompeo and King Orange's flying monkey, former New York mayor Giuliani, show he was pressuring the Ukraine government to investigate the Bidens at the direction of the 'king'.  More disclosures are expected.  The fact that a citizens' group was able to obtain the documentation when the Congress could not, demonstrates conclusively that there is no legitimate legal reason for the State Department to be withholding all documents requested of it by the congressional impeachment inquiry. To do so, constitutes a clear case of obstruction of Congress by the regime at the direction of Don Veto.

Liberty Canyon Wildlife Overpass is a Realtiy

US Person has posted previously about the need for cougars to cross the road in Southern California to maintain a healthy population in the mountains surrounding LA. {08.12.18}A wildlife crossing overpass of the 101 Freeway may finally be a reality thanks to the tireless efforts of cougar advocates. Funded mostly by private money, the Angora Hills overpass will allow cougars to access habitat without risking their lives and colliding with some 300,000 cars a day that will pass beneath. Cougars will be able to have dates without being frustrated by traffic. The crossing sets a precedent since it is the largest overpass dedicated to wildlife in the US. The $87 million dollar bridge entered its final design stage this summer. Construction is scheduled for completion in 2023. Construction will take place mostly at night, so as to minimize traffic impacts.

P-22, the male cat who has become famous for living in a Hollywood park, will probably not use the overpass since his territory is cut off by human settlement, but he has become the "poster boy" for the project. [photo] Officials say naming rights may be auctioned off to a human Hollywood star who makes a significant contribution to the project.  So far about $13.5 million has been raised.  Public funds will pay for 20% of the project.  Public support for overpass has been nearly unanimous, unusual for a transportation project. The crossing will be landscaped so as to blend both sides of the protected topography, and buffer crossing animals from traffic noise and lights.  The project architect is working with wildlife biologists to harmonize the structure with Nature.

Wildlife crossings are common in Europe and Canada, but only one other crossing occurs in California.  The first, near Temecula, CA opened last October without fanfare, but is smaller than the one in Liberty Canyon, now very aptly named.

COTW: She Said, He Said

Breaking: Gordon Sondland the Trump gumba who essentially bought his ambassadorship with a million dollar donation to Don Veto's campaign dropped the dime on his boss today in testimony before the House Intelligence Committee. Faced with contrary testimony from multiple witnesses who had knowledge of the extortion conspiracy against Ukraine, Sondland answered the sixty-four thousand dollar question with a "yes": there was a "quid pro quo" and everyone was in the corrupt loop, including the V.P. The impeachment case against #45 can be considered closed. Only a partisan vote in the Senate, which risks the senators' own political future, can save the occupant of the Very White House from being the first US president to be removed from office for impeachable offenses. Yes, Il Douche, you may finally get a chance to make history!  Chairman Schiff asked his own pregnant question at the end of a long day of testimony: if America does not stand for the Constitution, what does it stand for?  You tell me.

{15.11.19} In a private Saturday deposition, a US budget bureaucrat detailed how the military aid was held up on presidential orders. This evidence is a significant addition to the mass of evidence piling up against King Orange. A congressman on the House Oversight Committee said Mark Sandy's testimony will help trace how the money that was appropriated by Congress to help Ukraine fight the Russians on their eastern border was stopped by the 'King' to extort political dirt on Joe Biden. This evidence has been a concerning chink in the wall of "high crimes" being erected by House Democrats. All other agencies in the Executive branch with jurisdiction had signed off on the aid, except OMB, a highly politicized bureau.

The hold was announced to State Department officials in a video conference ion July 18th by, "a senior OMB official".  A legal document with Sandy’s signature directed a freeze of the security funds, according to testimony from Defense Department official Laura Cooper.  Democrats want to know how the hold was implemented and the persons involved. Previous testimony, not first hand, indicates the order came directly from acting White House Chief of Staff Mulvaney, who was instructed by King Orange to issue thje directive. Once again, the witness was instructed by the White House not to appear pursuant to subpoena.

credit: Steve Sack, Star Tribune

The racist cult that used to be the GOP is sticking with their criminally inclined leader, which is the norm for authoritarian personality cults.  No matter what the evidence, they will defend a man who has no idea what it means to function in a republican government as chief executive. His business modus operandi and personality disorder are what put him in these dire straits, not a Democrat coup.

The evidence did matter in the case of Roger Stone, the political provocateur who acted as a go-between the Trump campaign and Wikkileaks.  He was convicted on all seven felony counts including lying to investigators, witness tampering, and obstructing Congress today.  A piece of significant evidence that came out during his trial is the testimony of Rick Gates, former deputy campaign manager who said he overheard Trumpillini telling Stone that there would be more Wikkileaks information coming out, In his written statement to the Special Counsel Don Veto "did not recall" ever talking to Roger Stone about Wikkileaks, nor was he aware that any of his campaign officials talked to Stone about Wikkileaks. Gates told the jury  Stone requested in June 2016 Jared Kushner’s contact information so he could “debrief” Trump's son-in-law about Wikileaks. Stone also detailed a July strategy meeting to go over a Wikileaks response plan with campaign director Paul Manafort and senior aides Jason Miller and Stephen Miller.

credit: Dana Summers

Former Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch testified to the House Intelligence Committee today, but her evidence was largely tangential, related to her ouster from her post at the insistence of unofficial envoy Rudy 'Ghouly'.  So far, Democrats are hard pressed to present direct evidence of Trumpillini's obsession with political smear tactics--the so called 'drug deal'--due to the regime's complete stonewall and legal filibuster of the House investigation.  Hearsay is admissible in these proceedings, but the fine legal distinction may be completely lost on the public.

One firework worth noting is that while the Ambassador was testifying, King Orange live tweeted his contempt for her abilities--“Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad...”  Chairman Schiff promptly paused her testimony to read out his tweet, and accuse Don Veto of witness intimidation.  While technically that may not be accurate, Il Douche's thuggish tweet certainly changed the atmosphere of the hearing, putting always Trumpists on the defensive.

*David Holmes, a political counselor stationed in Kiev, said in his opening statement at a closed hearing today that he overheard King Orange  loudly ask Sondland in a cell phone call at a Kiev restaurant if President Zelensky had agreed to investigating the Bidens.  After Sondland got off the phone call, he commented that the President does "not give a shit about Ukraine" but only the "big stuff", which Sondland explained as Trump's quest for dirt on a political opponent. Two other American officials were present during the call, including Suriya Jayanti.

Silent Forests Are Like a Cancer

Think wildlife conservation is a dilettantish luxury affordable only by urbanized nabobs?  Think again, Sherlock!  A new study in the prestigious journal, Nature, finds that Asian rainforest which traps millions of tons of carbon depends on fruit eating fauna to disperse seeds. The complete loss of these species results in the region's carbon storage capacity dropping by up to 3%.  Saving these creatures in the age of anthropomorphic warming may save your life, but wildlife is being decimated by snaring for bushmeat, poaching, and habitat fragmentation.

seed eating hornbill thretened by illegal poaching

The published study focused on a plot in  Khao Yai National Park, two and half hours from the Bangkok megalopolis where nearly on-third of the tree species depend on frugivores. [photo credit: W. Chathorn] Primates, especially gibbons, play an important role in diversify juvenile trees says the lead author, Wirong Chanthorn, professor of plant ecology at Kasetsart University, Bangkok.  Researchers found that by removing tree species dependent on seed dispersal by frugivores in a 74 acre study plot, the amount of carbon storage declined by has much as 3% when all such tree species were removed.  Previous similar studies in America and Africa have reached consistent results, with the Asian study showing declines in carbon storage similar to South America.  Because of the regions burgeoning human population, slash an burn subsistence agriculture, logging, and intense commercial plantation clearance, Asia forest biodiversity and  storage capacity are in the most immediate danger of collapse.

A 2016 study found that 113 species are threatened by hunting in Southeast Asia for the usual reasons: bushmeat, traditional medicine, and body parts.  Anti-poaching and logging patrols have increased, but are still far behind extractors. Rosewood can bring $50,000 per cubic meter and is in high demand for upscale furniture in China.  Elephant ivory is worth upwards of $1500 per pound and a mature tiger can cost as much as $50,000.  Such monetary figures often make conservation merely conversation.  Experts say the billions the illegal trade in wildlife and lumber must be tracked down, confiscated and diverted to biodiversity recovery.  Snares pose the biggest threat to forest wildlife.  In five years rangers removed 200,000 snares in five protect areas, a fraction of the number plaguing Asian forests. 

One expert said, wildlife is the blood of the forest, which most people realize are the Earth's lungs, but "a forest without wildlife is like a lung with cancer."  It is for reasons like this one that the Roman Catholic Church is considering adding ecocide or "ecological sin" to its official teachings or catechism.  In a recent speech, Pope Francis said, ‘ecocide’ covers “the massive contamination of air, land and water resources, the large-scale destruction of flora and fauna and any action capable of producing an ecological disaster or destroying an ecosystem.”  He also told Latin American bishops gathered at a conference that the Amazon Basin needs to be protected from mining and deforestation, adding that the world's poor are, "threatened by predatory models of development" in areas of rich natural resources such as the Amazon rainforest.

Booming Psychoactive Drug Trade Threatens Jaguars

As if vanishing habitat and hunting are not enough existential threats to the jaguar's survival in the wild, a booming tourism trade to experience the psychoactive native drug, ayahuasca, is stimulating trade in jaguar parts which charlatans sell as enhancements to that experience.  America's largest feline, Panthera onca has lost half its historic range and 25% of its population in the last three generations earning a listing by the IUCN as nearly threatened.

The Chinese already demand jaguar fangs, but during a recent tour of Peruvian cities associated with ayahuasca tourism by researchers, jaguar skins, paws, stuffed heads, and fangs were found for sale in the markets. [photo credit: A. Braczakowski] These body parts are sold as trinkets to people under the pretense that they somehow enhance the ayahuasca experience. Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew made from the ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and chakruna leaves (Psychotria viridis).  Traditionally the brew is an element of native shamanic rituals, but has become popular for recreational use in recent decades.

Researchers stress that range country governments need to closely monitor the ayahuasca tourism industry for the sale of jaguar body parts.  Peru has an anti-trafficking law, but enforcement is lax and inconsistent.  Another enforcement tool could be tourist education about the importance of live jaguars to the forest ecosystem.  If informed about the plight of the jaguar, and wildlife in general, they may be loath to purchase products made from dead cats. Legitimate shamans stress the importance of the jaguar as a powerful spiritual totem, and its vital role in maintaining natural balance in the wild.  Those offering a "ayahuasca experience" to visitors could be leaders in protecting the animal they allegedly revere by deterring tourists from using body parts.

credit: S.Winter/ NatGeo

COTW: The Corroborated Whistleblower Complaint

Latest: AP reports that a second State Department official overheard a presidential phone call from gumba Gordon Sondland that was revealed by Ambassador Taylor in his televised testimony, yesterday. Taylor referred to his aide David Holmes, who has been summoned by the House Intelligence Committee.  The second witness to overhear the conversation is Suriya Jayantia, a career staffer based in Kiev.  She no doubt will also be called to testify, adding more evidence of Trumpillini's personal attempt to extort an investigation of Joe Biden from Ukraine in return for release of appropriated military aid.  The aid was eventually released, but only after OMB's withholding, directed by the Orange King, was discovered by senators.*

Current and former U.S. officials say Sondland’s use of a cellphone in a public place in Ukraine to speak with anyone in the U.S. government back home about sensitive matters, let alone the president, would be a significant breach of communications security. Fiona Hill, who served as the senior director for Russia at the National Security Council, said in a private hearing she found it [Sondland's lack of compliance with security protocol] deeply concerning and asked for someone from the Intelligence Bureau to “sit down with him and explain that this was a counterintelligence risk.” As usual, when Don Veto was asked about Sondland's communication, he could "not recall" the phone call that closely ties him to the Ukraine bribery scheme, "not even a little bit".  Perhaps his memory should be refreshed in public?  As Nancy put it succinctly, "If the president has something that is exculpatory--Mr. President, that means if you have anything that shows your innocence--then he should make that known. That’s part of the inquiry. And so far we haven’t seen that. But we welcome it.”  So does the nation.

{12/11/2019} For those political junkies out there getting ready to binge watch the public impeachment proceedings in the House, NPR has posted a useful version of the complaint [right] that moved the needle on the Hill.  The whistleblower's letter of August 12 is annotated with testimony that corroborates its contents.  NPR says, "...[this] annotation shows, most of the complaint has been corroborated during closed-door depositions of administration officials, through public statements and from a rough transcript of the call itself, released by the White House".  Repugnants will attempt to discredit the source of the complaint, and also attempt to divert attention to the former Vice President and his son's activities in Ukraine.  These arguments have already been refuted, so the last line of defense will be that the President's extortion attempt is not impeachable; clearly an argument NOT related to reality since the word "bribery" appears in the Constitution as an impeachable offense.  An even more despicable display of partisanship is their demand that the whistleblower's identity be publicly divulged by calling him to testify even though his anonymity is protected under federal law.

*Gordon Sondland, Trump’s ambassador to the European Union who was also immersed in the bribery scheme, tried to explain to Taylor, "that President Trump is a businessman. When a businessman is about to sign a check to someone who owes him something, the businessman asks that person to pay up before signing the check.”  The only problem with that mentalityt is that Trumpillini was not closing a mid-town real estate deal, but denying help to a nation state ally against a common aggressor. Besides that crucial contextual difference, what did the Ukrainians owe Trumpillini?  Defense Department official Laura Cooper testified that the Orange King directed the freeze without informing Congress, a violation of legal requirements. Ukrainians were being killed and wounded while Trumpillini used national security as a bargaining chip.  Apparently the aid was finally released after two months when Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, threatened to block $5 billion in Pentagon spending for 2020 if the aid wasn't given to Ukraine, and after the House began an impeachment investigation.

New South Wales Burns

Seventy-seven bushfires at last count are consuming large areas of New South Wales and Queensland along the coast.  About 100 homes have been destroyed and three people are dead, but the fire toll will go higher.  The metropolis of Sydney, not usually threatened by bush fires, has been issued a 'catastrophic' fire danger warning. The fires are larger and earlier in the season than before.  The question on people's mind is: what role has global warming played in this disaster? The question cannot be answered with a simple direct cause and effect relationship, but climate conditions that favor fire outbreak have been increasing. The chart shows the increase in extreme fire conditions over time.

Widespread drought has affected much of eastern Australia, the continent's most populated area.  Above-average temperatures now occur most years and 2019 had the fifth-driest start to the year on record, and the driest since 1970. January-to-August rainfall totaled 50 percent below average, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. In some places, drier-than-average weather dates back to 2017. Australia recorded its hottest month in January 2019.  High winds the week are expected to spread fires currently burning out of control.  Climate scientists have been warning for years that global climate change will exacerbate natural disasters including the frequency and intensity of wild fires.  A warmer climate dries out natural vegetation, making easier to burn.

Australian politicians have been downplaying any connection between the current conflagration [photo: Getty Images] and global warming including the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, who has advocated for the Australian coal industry, one of the world's largest.  The deputy prime minister blamed “raving inner-city lunatics” for linking the fires to climate change on national radio.  But the the scientific evidence shows clear links between trends in Australian climate, fire danger over time, and the likelihood of an escalation in fire risk in years to come.

"Toontime: To Russia With Love

credit: Kevin Siers, Charlotte Observer

This week Ambassador Sondland changed his story after giving his sworn deposition in which his account of the Ukraine exchange differed from other sworn accounts given by Ambassador William Taylor, Lt.Col. Vindmin, and George Kent¹. Faced with possible perjury charges, Sondland flipped his story in an addendum where he stated his ''recollection was refreshed", and that an investigation of the Bidens was a necessary condition for the release of approved military aid to Ukraine.  This confirmation by a Trump loyalist of a criminal conspiracy to withhold aid for political favors is actually continuation of a pattern of criminal behavior by Trump's gang that began months before the 2016 campaign. Paul Manafort, former campaign chair now convicted felon, was doing business with pro-Russia Ukrainians who had connections to the Kremlin, and knew of Russian efforts to influence US foreign policy by supporting Trump's bid for the presidency.

Candidate Trump was willing to accept Russian help, and Manafort knew this. (Trump Jr. to Russians at their Trump Tower meeting: “If it’s what you say I love it.”) That is why no one at a senior level in the campaign came forward to report Russian espionage activity to US authorities. (Trump to Stephanopolis: “I don't think in my whole life I've ever called the FBI. In my whole life....Give me a break.")   That is also why a false narrative that Ukraine was behind stealing the DNC emails was created for a cover story. There was no QPQ at that point because Il Douche was only a candidate, so all he could offer was illegal encouragement to Russian operatives working to influence the election.  (Trump to Russia: "I hope you able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing!") Once he was in power, and emboldened by the suppressed Mueller report, he attempted to extort foreign help to smear his putative 2020 political opponent. He created through his flying monkey, Rudy 'Ghouly', a shadow foreign policy to pressure Ukraine's government into investigating the Bidens.  The Ukrainians got the message: no investigation, no aid.²

So as much as Repugnant defenders want to minimize Trumpillini's betrayal of his oath and the Republic to a single phone call, his confessed extortion was merely a culmination of criminal conspiracy that began before his election to office three years ago.  The Trumpillini's gang in the Department of Barr nearly succeeded in burying the two year probe by a professional federal law enforcement officer, but the whole story will out as a consistent picture of deceit, disruption, collusion with a foreign power, and obstruction emerges from the public impeachment inquiry. At least that is what US Person hopes for the sake of the Republic because the adults have apparently left the room.  Public hearings begin Wednesday.

credit: Ed Wexler

1. George Kent, a State Department official present during the infamous July 25th phone call, tied Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney to placing a hold on Ukraine's military aid at the direction of the Orange King. Mulvaney defied his congressional subpoena for testimony today, allowing the House impeachment inquiry to draw a negative inference of Mulvaney's participation in the extortion scheme.
2.This scenario is consistent with the facts now known, but it is also consistent with the way Don Veto took care of business in the mob-infested waters of 1980's New York construction industry.  According to the WaPo, "Throughout his early career, Trump routinely gave large campaign contributions to politicians who held sway over his projects, and he worked with mob-controlled companies and unions to build them".  In other words he played both sides of the legit fence. In 1985 he circumvented campaign finance laws to enable giving $150,000 to local candidates for office.  He did big business with S&A Concrete, a company owned by Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno, boss of the Genovese crime family, and Paul Castellano, boss of the Gambino family.  He was by no means alone cooperating in the pervasive corruption, but he certainly leveraged it for all it was worth, just as he has done with the office of President.

Condors Come Back

Critics of the conservation movement often complain that its a waste of time and effort to save species threatened with extinction--after all, extinction has been going on for millennia.  It falls on closed minds to reply that extinctions are increasing at an unnatural rate because of man and his exploitation of the planet.  The California condor's (Gymnogyps californianus) story is a successful one that proves conservation of a species does make a difference and can alter its fate.  The bird was reduced to just 27 wild individuals when an intensive campaign of captive breeding began in 1987. 

Once common to the entire west coast of North America, the vulture huddled on the edge of extinction in the central California mountains.  By the 1990's the Fish & Wildlife Service released its first captive bred birds into a sanctuary north of Santa Barbara.  Their release did not guarantee their survival; these birds suffered from the same plague as their extinct forebearers--lead shot.  The scavengers would eat carcasses of animals shot by farmers, ranchers and hunters and die from lead poisoning.  Since the release program began in 1992, 40% of the recorded birds have died by consuming lead. On July 1st, the state finally outlawed lead shot.  The conservation effort has not been inexpensive; an estimated $2 million is spent each year on the conservation of condors.  We have been rewarded for the investment as these majestic fliers, with wingspans of up to ten feet, are now gracing the Californian skies again.

Despite the setbacks, condors have reached a new milestone in their recovery.  In the Ventana mountains the condor population is now over 100 with some 276 living in the wild southwestern US.  The central California population has increased by 10% in just one year, aided by abundant food and new chicks coming out of the breeding program.  The condor is very close to reaching its recovery goal set by the USF&W in 1996 of 150 in California and 150 in Arizona and Utah, with 15 nesting pairs in each region.  When the species reaches that goal, there will be an effort to 'downlist' the bird from endangered to threatened.  Just another example of how the Endangered Species Act works to protect wildlife from an early exit.

Another Environmental Retreat

The regime, in its ongoing effort to dismantle environmental protection laws painfully established over the last decade, will announce a reduction of regulations limiting the amount of heavy metals that are allowed to leach from ash dumps created by coal power plants.  The new rules will relax requirements and completely exempt a significant number of plants from all regulation.The rules being overturned were passed during the previous administration after a containment pond in Tennessee burst, spilling more than 1.1 billion gallons of coal-ash slurry into nearby rivers and destroyed homes. In 2014 82,000 gallons spilled from a ruptured coal ash slurry pipe into North Carolina's Dan River.  Duke Energy, [photo] owner of the closed fossil fuel plant, paid a $6 million fine for violating clean water laws.  Industry supporters claim the regulations passed in the wake of these disasters were an "overreaction", and motivated by a desire to close fossil fuel facilities.

Environmental organizations say the proposed rollback is dangerous and a huge step backwards.  EPA says 1.1 million 'Mericans live within three miles of a coal plant. The 2015 rules set deadlines for plant owners to invest in modern waste treatment facilities to keep toxins out of local water sources, set minimum standards for storage structures, and monitor water quality.  However, they did not designate coal ash as a "hazardous substance", which it clearly is.  The old rules would have increased plant operating costs, but better protect public health from heavy metal exposure.  Heavy metals like lead, arsenic, selenium and mercury are very toxic and carcinogenic.  Around the nation there about 1,300 coal ash, the waste from burning coal, storage sites. About 130 tons are created each year.  A study by environmental groups, found 90 percent of the 265 coal plants required to test their groundwater near coal ash dumps discovered unsafe levels of at least one contaminant.   The old were rules were to go into effect in 2018, but were delayed until 2020 by industry hack, Scott Pruitt, who was forced to resign as EPA administrator for ethics violations.

COTW: Cognitive Disonance @ VWH

This weeks COTW is a billboard of insanity:

The above chart based on the latest computer models of rising sea levels due to global warming shows the number of coastal cities in danger of inundation by the middle of this century. By 2050 land that is home to 300 million around the globe will be covered in water by annual flooding. Frightening, but not as frightening as this next chart:

In a study of Il Douche's on-line screed since his inauguration, the newspaper of record determined that the Malignant One attacks in more than half of his tweets (11.000+).  The on-line social media platform has become his personal propaganda organ, one that is almost totally devoid of reality.  He has promoted conspiracies more than 1700 times. 

'Toontime: Next stop, Impeachment Town!

credit: Joe Heller
BC Idonwanna sez:  Untiil new polls come out...

Ms. Nancy finally pulled the string on King Orange this week.  In a historic vote that was only two short of a unanimous Democrat caucus, the full House voted to endorse the impeachment inquiry announced by the Speaker. Only one recovering Repugnant voted to for the resolution.  Notably, the vote came only after polls show the people are on board, and an Army lieutenant colonel* serving at the NSC substantiated the whistle blower's complaint in detail under oath.  Pressure from the left wing of the caucus to hold an impeahment inquiry had been building for months.  Way to hang, Ms. Nancy!

Repugnants will increasingly find it a kind of 'dry-drunk' defending the would-be mobster occupying the Very White House, as the Democrats deposit the mounting evidence against him in public.  His supporters have had to resort to a rather weak defensive line--"Yeah, yeah, but the wrongdoing is not severe enough to warrant removal".  Even this sociopathic narcissist is not depraved enough to shoot somebody on 5th Avenue in broad daylight, but he did confess to committing extortion while in office, which is a federal felony.  The de minimus line of argument demonstrates why it is so important to throw the entire litany of impeachable offenses at the raging elephant, including the obstruction of the Special Counsel's investigation, and not just depend on the contents of his now infamous "do us a favor" phone call to President Zelensky.  The Orange King is already in Missip' telling the rubes that "impeachment is an affront to you".  Clearly the only affront to the nation is his betrayal of his oath, and a willingness to exchange national security for kompromat from a foreign leader. (Mississippi's state flag has the confederate battle flag in its upper left quadrant, which says a lot about the state.)  The train may stop in the Senate on partisan grounds, but it is definitely headed to impeachment town in the House as predicted by yours truly, US Person.

credit: Christopher Weyant
Wackyddodle sez:  Brought to you by the Deep State: who ya' gonna' call?

*The optics of Col. Vindmin in his dress blues with a chest full of medals coming it to testify under oath in defiance of a regime order to boycott the hearings was made to order.  Just how low Repugnants are will to go to prop up their crumbling political hegemony was demonstrated when they accused Vindmin, a Ukranian Jew whose family fled to the US when he was three years old, of having 'divided loyalties'. The right wing tropes never change, they just get more outrageous.  Reactionaries were saying the same thing about JFK because he was a Roman Catholic 'papist'.