The Other Shoe Finally Drops

The evidence linking Herr Trumpillini directly to the conspirators at the Willard Hotel 'war room' has
finally surfaced, confirming what US Person knew all along--he was into the conspiracy up to his neck.  The only significant development that remains is his indictment for conspiracy to commit sediition by a very reluctant Department of Justice.  The UK's Guardian newspaper reports based on multiple sources he made several phone calls to the main characters--Gulliani, Bannon, and Eastman--plotting to overthrow the government of the United States on the night of January 5th.  He talked to lawyers and non-lawyers separately, so as not to violate any attorney-client privilege that may have been applicable.

In his calls he complained about the lack of cooperation from Vice President Mike Pence and discussed ways to delay certification of the Electoral College vote the next day in Congress.  Trumpillini was reportedly furious at his VP for refusing to participate in the coup, calling Pence "arrogant" in a phone call with Bannon.  He also sought suggestions from the conspirators on ways to delay to the certification in order to allow states controlled by GOP governments to send in alternative Trump electors.  The fallback position agreed upon was to pressure GOP congress members to raise enough objections to the certification without Pence to force an adjournment of the joint session . Guilliani followed through on this idea by calling at least one GOP senator, Tommy Tuberville later that evening asking him to object to certification of ten states' votes until the next day, January 7th. 

Apparently, Der Leader was delighted to see his 30,000 supporters storming the Capital on January 6th in search of the electoral ballots, according to Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse (R).  The demagogue incited the rioters by telling them to march down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol and "fight like hell" to save their democracy.  In reality he was using the mob for his own perfidious attempt to stay in power.  The fact that he wanted to find ways to stop certification by any means possible accounts for why he did practically nothing to call off his mob despite the violence taking place on Capitol Hill.

What the corporate media is missing about this astounding series of events is that they have no historical precedent in American history.  No president has ever attempted to prevent the peaceful transition of power.  Domestic pundits tend to dismiss Trumpillini's putsch as a "clown car" or "dumpster fire" full of ridiculous men separated from reality by their sense of impunity. Foreign observers call the January 6th Insurrection what it is, a coup attempt to overthrow the legitimately elected Untied States government.  The fact that it had little chance of succeeding is totally irrelevant to its historic social significance.  

Perhaps the closest historical parallel is from Red October, 1917, when the mob, stirred into revolt by Lenin and the Bolsheviks, stormed the Winter Palace to remove Kerensky's provisional government and install Lenin in power.  Instead of incendiary rhetoric from rabble rousers and sidewalk pamphleteers, the modern mob ferments in the echo chamber of cyberspace, unexpectedly erupting into reality. The most disturbing aspect of the January 6th coup is the complicity of the GOP, which has failed to distance itself from the rioters and their leader.  Some of its members may have even aided and abetted them. Refusing to participate in governance, the GOP has become the party of the Mob.  Belittling the American version of the coup d'état does nothing to remedy the defects Individual One wished to exploit for his own aggrandizement.  He is a demonstrably dangerous man, antithetical to democracy.

COTW: World Vaccination Rates

This map shows the problem the world faces suppressing the SARS CoV-2 virus, which is showing amazing resiliency and adaptability despite the unprecedented rapid development of several effective vaccines.  The African continent is conspicuous because of its low vaccination rates (7%), and high levels of immune-compromised individuals.  As one researcher said, the virus is "relentlessly opportunistic" in its fight to survive and spread.  Omicron originated in a a human population that is under-vaccinated and has many members with HIV infections.  Thus, it had time to adapt and mutate extensively, thereby increasing the probability of successfully infecting individuals, and increase transmissibility.  Omicron has 30 or more mutations of its spike protein, which it uses to attach itself to human cells that then replicate its DNA.  

The chart demonstrates a simple, yet difficult fact: without high levels of vaccination worldwide, the coronavirus will continue to adapt, multiply and infect humans even in countries with high vaccination compliance because evolution works.

Weekend Music

The American response to the British Invasion of the 60's was led by super bands stacked with musical and composing talent like CS&N, Steely Dan, Chicago, and the Eagles. The Eagles, founded 1971 in Los Angeles, were the most successful band of the seventies with 5 number one singles and six number one albums. As with a lot of the music of the era, their ballads were indebted to country-western music. This song is from their Desperado album, and though not as popular as the title song, its outlaw inspired lyrics, backed by excellent vocal harmony and guitar riffs, have meaning today.

'Toontime: Rittenhouse, Killer Intern

credit: Ohman, Sacremento Bee

It is enough to make you want to quit the legal profession.  Three things wrong with the Rittenhouse trial: 1) the judge was clearly biased in favor of the defendant (besides berating the district attorney on camera, he tossed out the misdemeanor illegal gun charge on a technicality; 2) the prosecution made a strategic mistake by charging Rittenhouse with first degree murder; 3) the self-defense privilege as understood in the common law is outmoded given the reality of widespread gun culture in the US. Only one of the three Rittenhouse "victims" was armed with a gun. (Gage Grosskreutz, who survived). Rittenhouse's homicides were not all excusable since he deliberately placed himself in a situation where resorting to deadly force was a foreseeable result--why else cross state lines armed with a war weapon he was not legally entitled to purchase? (an older friend purchased it for him)  In other words, he went looking for trouble, locked and loaded. He found it in Kenosha, WI.

Consider the Wild Turkey

Can this be a turkey? It looks more like a peacock than a turkey. Audubon tells US that is indeed a species of turkey, the ocellated turkey, Meleagris ocellata, native to the Yucatan, Belize and Guatemala. This tropical version is closely related to our own Meleagris gallopavo, which many of you will be consuming in a highly modified, commercial version. The wild turkey has sufferred from the well-known impacts of human development and over-hunting, losing habitat and numbers seemingly on the road to extinction. 

However, humans in the northeast have come to the rescue of what was once a candidate for our national bird. Contrary to popular myth it was not on the table at the first Thanksgiving in Patuxet where most likely waterfowl were served with vegetables, seafood and venison. Ben Franklin did not advocate for the turkey as the national bird, but was against naming the bald eagle the national icon. He wrote to his daughter that he found the eagle to be a, “Bird of bad moral Character” whereas the turkey was a “much more respectable Bird… a Bird of Courage.” John James Audubon also had a positive opinion of the turkey. It does has many admirable qualities. Although most often found on the ground, the heavy bird can fly sixty miles an hour. Turkeys have excellent diurnal vision beyond 20/20, can see in color, and have a 270 degree range of vision. Turkeys are intelligent birds, using their excellent camoflage colors to evade predators, but will attack when cornered or startled. They have been known to play with other woodland herbivores and forage together.  If a tom turkey was to have a name, he would be a Gary.

Just fifty years ago, turkeys in the northeast were almost exterminated.  An estimated ten million turkeys once inhabited the woodlands from Maine to Florida, stretching west to the Rockies.  Deforestation took place rapidly after European colonization, especially in the northeast.  Cutting down the forests robbed the noble bird of his home and food sources.  Those that survived the onslaught were killed by avid hunters.  By 1850,  New England's turkeys were gone.  Attempts to introduce domestic turkeys into the wild during the thirties failed because the birds were unable to survive in the wild. Then in the sixties, biologists thought of trapping wild turkeys still living in upstate New York and relocating them to New England. Massachusetts captured 37 wild birds in the Adirondacks and brought them to the Berkshires.  Other states followed its lead.  With humans moved into cities, the extirpation of large predators like cougars and wolves, and the return of former agricultural land to woodland, turkeys rebounded being resourceful and resilient animals. Today in Massachusetts, turkeys number 25,000; Vermont has 45,000; New Hampshire has 40,000 and Maine counts almost 60,000 birds.  The reintroduction of the turkey in the northeast is a conservation success story.  Residents are proud to see the birds foraging on their lawns, driveways and college campuses.  The fact that the number of human-turkey conflicts are now rising is proof of their resurgence

credit: JJ Audubon

The turkey story in other parts of the country is not so bright.  In the southeast, once considered a turkey stronghold, populations have tumbled in the past ten years.  Biologists have noted a steep drop in the quantity of poults--chicks--which may indicate a decline in the quality of their habitat.  Fifteen states formed a consortium to study the decline.  Biologists and wildlife managers know that throughout the south, wild habitat is in decline.  The south's human population grew significantly between 2000 and 2010--faster than any other section of the country.  Adding to the problem of habitat loss is a shift in forest land ownership to large forest "management" trusts focused on profit, not land management.  Between 2000 and 2005, 18 million acres of southern commercial forests were sold.  Companies that practiced beneficial habitat management created nesting and brooding cover for turkeys.  Despite regional declines, the wild population of turkeys nationwide appears stable at around seven million birds.  Conservation organizations like the National Wild Turkey Federation are turning their attention from reintroduction efforts to larger scale conservation projects that are intended to restore habitat for turkeys and other species that benefit from early succession habitat. May we always have wild turkeys gobbling in our woodlands. Happy Thanksgiving from PNG

Wildfires Killed Twenty Percent of Giant Trees

Sequoia trees, Sequoiadendron giganteum, are among the largest organisms on Earth, but only native to about seventy groves scattered along the western flank of the Sierra Nevada mountains.  They are known for their fire resistance; the trees need low intensity fires to clear away vegetation and heat their cones to release seeds. The last two years of wildfires, unprecedented in their intensity, killed 7,500 to 10,400 of the giants.  These trees are irreplaceable in many lifetimes. Some, like the General Sherman tree are thousands of years old. Last year's Castle and SQF Complex fires took firefighters by surprise, and burned from August into January.  This year officials took extra precautions to protect giants like General Sherman.  They wrapped trunks in foil blankets.  A fire retardant gel was sprayed on canopies. Water sprinklers moistened trunks and ground, and flammable matter raked away from the trees. [photo credit: AP]

Only the most famous and iconic trees received special treatment; more isolated groves were not so lucky. The greatest damage was done in Redwood Mountain Grove in Kings Canyon National Park were winds whipped the blaze into a towering inferno.  So fierce was the burning, firefighters could do nothing to save the second largest grove of sequoias.  The Red Hill grove was also hit hard. The Starvation Complex of groves in Sequoia National Park was largely destroyed.  sLast year the Waterfall Tree, one of the world's largest tree was lost to fire. Flames burned in 27 groves, encouraged by severe drought conditions and a build up of flamable debris on the forest floor.  For the first time park officials are considering planting seedlings to preserve the species.  Hundred of years will past before planted seedlings become giant trees.

COTW: Here Comes the Sun

In this graphic, the US is dwarfed by China's installed solar power capacity of 254+ MW.  The global south is noticeable for its lack of solar power development except for Australia, which leads in the per capita capacity rankings. Germany's capacity is more than twice that of any other European country.

'Toontime: Who Needs the First Amendment?

credit: J. Ohman, Sacremento Bee

Apparently not former national security advisor, Michael Flynn. The extreme craziness of the MAGA right was on display again in the confirmation hearing of Biden's pick for Comptroller of the Currency, Sauie Omarova.

Opposition to her nomination is building because her academic writings on banking have concerned conservatives. Repugnants are not conversant with theoretical subjects, so Joe Kennedy of Louisiana resorted to something more familiar: red baiting. His performance during questioning of the candidate was straight out of Joe McCarthy's playbook.

Omarova happens to be a naturalized citizen from Kazakhstan. Membership in the Young Communists League (Kosmosol) was practically mandatory for college-bound students growing up in the Soviet Union. Omarova was no exception. Her family left the Soviet Union after Stalin had persecuted members of her family. Kennedy was told by the Democratic chair his line of questioning concerning her Kosmosol membership was irrelevant, Kennedy had the gall to gripe, "I don’t know whether to call her ‘Professor’ or ‘Comrade.'" Omarova calmly told her inquisitors she was proud to be an American, and that she is not a Marxist. Call her smarter than you, Senator. Have you no shame?

Biden Backslides on Oil Leasing

Just days after the United States tried to reclaim climate change leadership at COP 26, with its front man John Kerry claiming the conference a "success", the Department of Interior conducted the largest oil and gas lease sale in history. Eighty million acres of the Gulf of Mexico's OCS, an area of the size of Florida, were put on the auction block. Exxon led bidders with bids on just 1.7 million acres. The industry stocked up on leases during the friendly regime of Herr Trumpillini. Companies have 14 million acres in their inventories, enough to keep them busy for the next ten years at current rates of production. Biden put a temporary hold on lease sales when he came into office. States relying on oil and gas exploration filed suit to enjoin the temporary moratorium and succeeded in obtaining an injuction against the pause in leasing. The administration agreed to resume sales while it appeals the lower court ruling. Conservationists argue that the administration could have done more to halt or restrict lease sales. Industry spokespersons say the law requires the Interior Department to conduct a leasing program. [Chevron deepwater platform, credit: Getty Images]

Industry flacks are quick to claim that Biden's attempt to restrict offshore drilling is a cause of soaring oil prices, but they ignore the fact il prices are global, set in part by foreign actors like OPEC. It will take years for the leases auctioned Wednesday to produce oil, if at all. The lease sale has the potntial of releasing 723 million metric tons of COMAGA types are quick to claim that Biden's attempt to restrict offshore drilling is a cause of soaring oil prices, but they ignore the fact il prices are global, set in part by foreign actors like OPEC. It will take years for the leases auctioned Wednesday to produce oil, if at all. This lease sale has the potntial of releasing 723 million metric tons of CO₂ Hardly a headline an administration that wants to leverage the owrld into reducing fossil fuel use wants. Meanwhile, the industry keeps its greenwashing propaganda campaign going and spending millions on Washington lobbyists. ($55.6 millioin this year). The twnety-nine legislators that denounced the Biden drilling pause received $13.4 million from the industry over their terms in office. "Yada, yada, yada, climate change".

COTW: Inflation, Just In Time

This chart shows the inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI);

Currently inflation is "raging" along a 5.6%  The FED, custodian of national inflation fighting, insists this figure is transitory as it is primarily a result of supply bottlenecks after the passage of the coronavirus pandemic that closed down nearly everything.  This explanation does not stop conservatives from using the inflation boogyman to flagellate Joe Biden and his historic social spending agenda. Plutocrats, including Joe Manchin, want nothing more than to stop legislation that includes tax hikes for the wealthy, expanded social programs, and funding for climate change measures. To them the "3B" plan is a socialist nightmare worthy of legislative sabotage.

Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary and Berkeley economist, thinks the inflation going now is not classic wage-price inflation or caused by 'free money' give aways by the federal government, but an example of the power of oligopolies.  US Person agrees; the timing of the inflation scarecrow's arrival could not be more fortuitous. The US has excess productive capacity; we are still 7 million jobs short of the employment level before the pandemic began. Cities have oodles of vacant office and commercial space.  Contrary to the double digit inflationary conditions of the 1970s, companies can outsource for additional capacity.  Unions are reduced and cannot dictate wage increases that lead to higher demand. If anything, consumer demand has been undercut by the pandemic and a historic wealth gap that is larger than any other in this nation's history since the 1920's. The fact is that the wealthy spend only a small percentage of their income on consumption. The rest of us spend almost all of our money, which is why we are called "consumers". The pandemic has made the rich richer just as it did after the Black Death pandemic of the 14th Century.  This difference in spending behavior creates an imbalance between output and production in our consumer driven economy. The government has attempted to close this gap by providing near zero interest money and stimulus checks. But this situation cannot last as the government incurs more and more debt to close the gap.

Marriner Eccles, a FED chairman in the thirties explained the Great Depression as a failure of buying power. As more wealth was concentrated at the top income levels, the little guys in the game could only stay in by borrowing more, using a game of poker as an analogy:

“A giant suction pump had by 1929-1930 drawn into a few hands an increasing portion of currently produced wealth. As in a poker game where the chips were concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, the other fellows could stay in the game only by borrowing. When their credit ran out, the game stopped.”

The other force in the inflation game is the power to control prices by huge corporations able to dominate the market with their goods and services. The federal government has largely ceased to enforce anti-trust law since the 1980's, allowing big companies to engage in anti-competitive practices. Reich points to one conglomerate, Procter & Gamble, as an example of an oligopoly. P&G raised prices on a wide variety of its popular consumer products despite making huge profits. For the quarter ending in September, it reported a profit margin of 24.7%! P&G along with Kimberly-Clark controls the disposable diaper market. These two companies coordiante their prices and production. Kimberley-Clark announced its price rises at about the same time as Proctor & Gamble did--NOT a coincidence.

Other examples of anti-competitive practices abound in the US economy. Pesico and Coca-Cola, which manufacture a number of well known food products, both raised their prices based on claims of increases in manufacturing and distribution costs. Were these increases necessary to maitain profit margins? Hardly--Pesico reported $3bn in profits through September. Coca-Cola increased it profit margin to 28.9%. The same power to ratchet prices exists in the energy markets. Prices for energy have skyrockted, just before the winter heating season. Five banks control credit in the US. Only one company makes commercial aircraft in the US since the Boeing-McDonald Douglas merger. Three giant companies control broadband: AT&T, Verizon and Comcast. A handful of companies control drug prices: Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck. The three companies who control 90% of the world's insulin supply—Eli Lilly, Sanofi, and Novo Nordisk—have worked in tandem to systematically raise prices. Corporate concentration is the enemy of market competition. And when you have thousands of lobbyists at your disposal, your will be done on Capitol Hill. Inflation is an enemy of the people--but is it also a weapon in the hands of the plutocracy to fend off policies intended to level the game? Think about that.

Drilling Around Chaco Canyon Prohibited

The Department of Interior has decided to prohibit new oil and gas leasing within ten miles of the famed indeginous cultural site [photo credit: Getty Images] of Chaco Canyon for two years. Officials will consider a proposal to withdraw federal land in the area from development for a twenty year period. Conservation groups and tribal members have pressured the Department to take administrative action to protect the site which holds cultural significance for native peoples in the southwest. Secretary Deb Haaland is the first native American to hold cabinet rank and is a member of the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico. 

The World Heritage site is considered to be the center of a major civilization built in alignment with the seasonal movements of the sun and moon. The ruins are dotted with circular rooms, called kivas, cut into the floor of the canyon. These are believed to have been used in religious ceremonies. UNESCO recognized its, “monumental public and ceremonial buildings and its distinctive architecture – it has an ancient urban ceremonial centre that is unlike anything constructed before or since”.The buildings of Chaco were abandoned about 1200AD by the ancestral Puebloans.

the great house at Chaco

For years the San Juan basin was known to be seeping natural gas, but the play heated up when a previously unexploitable oil shale layer was opened by fracking and directional drilling in 2013. Development interest has been high since then. The local BLM office admits that interest exceeds anything they projected in their plans. Archeologists are worried that in the rush to extract natural resoureces, sites of significant value will be lost. The National Congress of American Indians called for a moratorium on more drilling throughout the Chaco region. The preivous adminsitration aggressively sought to open up more federal land, including protected areas such as wildlife refuges and national monuments, to development as part of its "energy independence" policy,  Visitors to the site can hear oil pump jacks working less than a mile away.

The BLM, which manages the land around Chaco Cultural National Historic Park will gather environmental data and public comment for the next two years concerning the proposed withdrawal.   More archeologically and culturally significant sites are thought to exist around the Chaco ruins. Protecting Chaco from oil development has been an on-going battle for decades. Secretary Haaland supported withdrawal when she was a member of the House of Representatives. Withdrawal is complicated by the checker-board of land ownership surrounding the Park. Most of the land is owned by the Navajo Nation or individual Navajo allottees. The Nation is seeking a smaller withdrawal zone to protect the financial interests of individual tribal members. Navajo leaders say they ready to work with the Biden administration on the proposal to permanently protect Chaco from development.

A Coup By the Numbers

Perhaps befuddled 'Mericans do not care if they loose their democratic government but some of US still do. So, here at PNG we follow the unfolding of the J6 Insurrection investigation with patriotic interest. And there is a bombshell to report, if you can spare the bandwidth for a microsecond. Readers of PNG know of the meretricious Eastman Memo, a sort of coup by the numbers instruction sheet authored by former Supreme Court clerk and Trump sycophant, John Eastman. Now, a second memo has surfaced in which a Trump campaign lawyer, Jenna Ellis, [photo: Getty Images] detailed how to disenfranchise millions of Americans in one easy putsch of which A. Hitler would have been proud. Apparently, her memo was convincing enough for chief of staff Mark Meadows to email it to VP Pence's top aide. 

In it Ellis describes how VP Pence should reject the returns of six swing state Electoral College votes on unsubstantiated grounds of fraud, and direct the legislatures of those states to send back by January 15th alternate slates of Electors. When the deadline passed without those altered votes, the election would devolve  to the House of Representatives, just as it did in the contested election of 1876, where the state delegations would vote for the next President.  Repugnants enjoy a one state margin, thus insuring Herr Trumpilini would be declared the winner contrary to the expressed will of the people in the popular vote.

Meadows transmitted Ellis' memo on December 31st. It was followed by a Trump staff memo, which incorrectly claimed Thomas Jefferson had used his position as Vice President in a similar way in 1801. Trump told his mob on the Ellipse, "Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us, and if he doesn't, that will be a sad day for our country."  His comments were obviously directed at Pence inside the House chamber where he was preparing to certify the election results. Trump had called Pence on the morning of January 6th saying, “You can be a patriot or you can be a pussy,” Pence's participation was crucial to the coup plan unfolding in Congress. The mob's role was to intimidate Congress into allowing valid votes to be rejected by the Vice President. Think of them as the soundtrack to this theater of the grotesque. 

Treachery that does not succeed is still treachery. The sad fact that the corporate media refuses to call a spade a spade does not make the coup plotters' actions any less reprehensible. Tragically, the plot to kill democracy in America had fellow travelers all the way down the political ladder to GOP state legislators and local election officials who consciously cast doubts on their own voting mechanisms they approved before the 2020 election. The GOP has revealed itself as a craven cult of spineless opportunists willing to sell their souls and betray their country to remain in power.

Hayes (R) v. Tilden (D): the Electoral College in 1876

Endangered Snow Leopards Die of COVID-19

a wild snow leopard

Captive snow leopards living in a children's zoo in Lincoln, NE have died of COVID-19.  How the endangered felines contracted the disease is not reported, but undoubtably came from close contact with infected humans.  The zoo began treating their infections last month along with two tigers. The tigers apparently recovered, the leopards did not. Ranney, Everest and Makalu will be missed by staff and zoo goers. The zoo remains open, while staff take precautions against spreading. Zoos across the nation have battled infections among their captives. Prominent Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha has detected the corona virus in two tigers. Spokespersons say the symptoms are mild and they expect the tigers to fully recover.;that is specially made for animals has been authorized for experimental use on a case-by-case basis by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Snow leopards and tigers belong in one place: the wild. [photo: WWF]

Have You Seen This Man?

Breaking:A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia has indicted Stephen Bannon on two charges of contempt of Congress for failure to appear for a deposition and to produce documents pursuant to subpoena issued by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th Insurrection. God Save the Republic!

Update: A federal appeals court has delayed releasing the regime records held by the National Archives until November 30.Without doubt, the danger man will appeal any decision upholding release to the Supreme Court. Former chief of staff Mark Meadows failed to appear for his deposition today after receiving an extension of time for his deposition from October 7th. The subpoena was issued September 23rd. It is difficult to understand the Committee's acquiescence in the delaying tactics consistently employed by the coup conspirators. Meadows was a former representative for North Carolina's 11th District.  Professional courtesy is costly when democracy is at stake.

{11.11.21} Where is the top cop when you need him? Merrick Garland absence in the investigation of the J6 Insurrection is becoming more noticeable by the day. More subpoenas are being issued by the Select Committee--bringing the total to thirty-five--but they are not going to be worth a wooden nickel if his DOJ does not prosecute Steve Bannon who flatly defied legal process. His criminal referral for contempt seems to be lanquishing in bureaucratic limbo. If Garland continues to sit on his thumbs, the Committee should consider dusting off its own enforcement method, inherent contempt.

This power has not been used in decades, but it does exist. It process allows the Congress to send its Sergeant at Arms to arrest and incarcerate the scofflaw after a hearing until there is compliance. This inherent power was largely used before criminal contempt statutes came into existence (1857). The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that this power is implied by the constitutional authority of Congress to legislate, and the institution's power of self-preservation. The seminal case of McGrain v. Daugherty arose from a Senate investigation into the alleged failure of the Attorney General to prosecute federal antitrust violations associated with the Teapot Dome Scandal.

The Court has outlined the limits of that authority in later cases, saying no act is punishable for contempt “unless it is of a nature to obstruct the performance of the duties of the legislature” thus connecting it directly to the power to legislate, not law enforcement, which is the duty of the executive and judiciary. MacCracken. The court found in MacCracken that the House had no inherent contempt authority when it attempted to investigate a private bankruptcy in which the US was a creditor, that was a judicial, not legislative matter in the Court's opinion. Bannon was involved in an attempt to obstruct legislators in the performance of their official duties, i.e., counting electoral votes. He contemptuously refused to cooperate and thereby obstruct the investigation of this grave matter by a duly constituted committee of the House. Clearly the House's contempt citation is within the delineated limits of implied or inherent contempt. The power to hold a congressional witness in contempt has not been used since the 1930's, but has been referred to since in an effort to obtain compliance. Sam Irving, chairman of the Select Committee investigating Watergate, invoked the inherent contempt power several times to encourage compliance with that committee’s requests for information during its investigation of the Nixon Administration's campaign activities.

The latest subpoenas have been issued to members of Trump's inner White House staff: Stephen Miller, former senior advisor; Keith Kellogg, former national security advisor to Mike Pence; Johnny McEntee, former personnel director and others including Nicholas Luna, a bodyguard who was in the Oval when Trump pressured Pence to refuse to certify the election. Miller has already made public statements that he will not comply with his subpoena. Participants in the coup conspiracy led by Trump, will continue to use litigation as a delaying tactic until the expiration of the current Congress. Winning cases is irrelevant; Trump lost his latest effort to block release of documents on grounds of executive privilege from the National Archives. Mark Meadows also expressed his unwillingness to cooperate until the Supreme Court rules on Trump's bogus executive priviege claims. If Bannon is not indicted, witnesses will have every motivation to consider compliance optional.

Since Garland, who is a conservative, continues to hide under a rock or IRS v, Chadha, take your pick, the Select Committee must use every power it possesses to obtain relevant evidence to preserve the Republic and itself. That evidence will reveal the malignant actor behind the mindless minions who attacked the seat of government to disrupt the Electoral College vote count. We are here because of the antiquated Electoral College system that the conspirators intended to game. ("Send in the Kraken!") A legitimate legislative purpose could be the replacement of this obsolete, vulnerable system with a national popular vote. States would be responsible for certifying their vote count and Congress would be reduced to a merely ministerial role of announcing the result.

'Toontime: Climatic Hoax

credit: Weyant, Boston Globe

Activist Greta Thornberg labeled COP 26 a failure. US Person would have to agree with her since no major agreements were reached to significantly reduce global warming immediately. In fact in the waning days of the conference, a potential agreement to completely divest the planet of coal burning, the delegates retreated from that language. Current commitments to reduce fossil fuel use will result in a global temperature rise of 2.4C experts say, well beyond the Paris Accord goal of limiting the rise to 1.5C  Heating has already reached 1.1C; a forty-five percent reduction in emissions must occur by 2030 for the planet to within that limit. One positive development: the draft conference document contains a provision for countries to reconvene next year instead of 2026 to update their nationally determined commitments (NDCs).  So, after two weeks of largely verbal posturing, the delegations will fire up their private jets that spew tons of  hydrocarbons into the upper atmosphere and go home. The rest of us will just have to put up with the droughts, wildfires, storms and rising sea levels.

credit: B. Day;
 Wackydoodle sez:  Elon has a seat he would like to sell you.

Feds Drop Plan to Shrink Red Wolf Habitat

The rare red wolf (Canis lupus rufus) got some good news when federal wildlife officials announced they will drop plans to reduce the amount of protected habitat for the species. Perhaps as few as ten members of the subspecies exist in a five county area in eastern North Carolina, its only known home in the world.  A 2018 proposal would have limited the wolf's protected space to just two counties,  giving landowners more opportunity to kill strays.

The agency also said in its statement that it has the authority to release more captive bred wolves into the wild in accordance with a federal judge's ruling that the agency had to resume releasing wolves, a practice it had largely halted.  The agency said it would also continue to work with "stakeholders" to find ways of more "effective coexistence" with the wolf. Red wolves once occupied much of the eastern United States, but were driven to near extinction by the usual human factors.  They were reintroduced to North Carolina in 1987.  There is a captive population of about 200.

Protection Proposed for Alligator Snapping Turtle

US Fish & Wildlife Service has proposed placing the alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) on the ESA's threatened species list. (likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future)  The IUCN considers the species vulnerable to extinction in the wild.  Although the turtle is protected in range states, except in Louisiana where one turtle a day may be taken, and Mississippi where one adult per year may be killed. It has yet to recover from human exploitation and habitat loss.  It was prized as the main ingredient in turtle soup. Turtle consumption peaked in the 1970's,  At one point in Georgia, four tons of alligator snapping turtle was harvested from the Flint River each day. [adult male; photo credit: AP]

Snappers are well armored, fierce predators. Males can grow up to 250 lbs and their jaws can snap bones. An estimated 360,000 live in the wild, but that number could dwindle to 5% if steps to protect it and its habitat is not protected.  Primarily a freshwater reptile that lives on the bottom under logs or overhanging banks, it inhabits rivers and connected bodies that drain into the Gulf of Mexico.  It once inhabited states as far north as Kansas and Indiana.  The turtles are long-lived, but reproduce slowly.  They are not sexually mature until eleven or twelve years of age, taking an average of 31 years, which accounts for their inability to recover quickly from human exploitation. A breeding female lays an average clutch of 27 eggs. Nest predation is a major contributor to young turtle mortality. This reproduction profile means that adult turtles must have a high survival rate (>98%) to sustain a stable population.

According to the Service, there is an illegal international trade in the species. Hatchlings can be sold for $100 each. The number of turtles exported in 2005 was 23,780.  The IUCN reports that most shipments from 2005 to 2018 were small turtles destined for Hong Kong and China.  There are captive breeding efforts ongoing in the United States.  Tishomingo Fish Hatchery in Oklahoma has been raising young turtles since 2002 to increase their chances of survival in wild. Then it released them in areas where the population has been lost or declining.  Breeding, reintroduction and monitoring of turtles also occurred in Illinois and Louisiana in 2014-16.  Released turtles include those confiscated by law enforcement.  The proposed listing is open for public comment.

Building Back Without the Rich Contributing

Now that Biden has a win on his desk, progressives must turn their attention to passing the reconciliation bill, which will be a much harder trick.  Corporate Democrats supposedly pledged their support of the social programs bill to progressive caucus leaders in the House.  There will undoubtably be more reduction of the almost $2 trillion bill in the Senate to get the holdouts on board.  The new tax provisions of the legislation are probably the most objectionable to plutocratic senators.  But look at these charts:

Average tax rates on the wealthy have dropped by about thirty percent since 1960 while the rest of us have to pay the same average rate of around 25%.  As result of this preferential tax treatment, the top 10% earners share of household wealth has ballooned:

The Sky High Price of Nuclear Energy

The Vogtle generating units being built in Georgia, two of the last major units to be built in the US, has reached a new milestone.  The cost of construction is now pegged at twice the original estimate at $28.5 billion.  The jump in costs is blamed on contractors failing to adhere to schedule. The price increase has triggered a mechanism requiring Georgia Power to pay a greater share of the financial burden. Georgia Power owns 45.7% of the units under construction. Georgia utility regulation was changed to allow cost overruns to be paid by consumer rate increases.  Units 1 & 2, completed in 1987 and 89, cost $8.87 billion to complete.  Their original cost estimate was $660 million. [photo credit: Augusta Chronicle/AP]

Critics of the nuclear power industry said the skyrocketing construction costs were predictable even if "outrageous".  The $28.5 billion figure does not even include the $3.68 billion Westinghouse had to refund the owners when it went bankrupt in March, 2017 due to loses from nuclear plant construction. When the new units were approved by the Georgia utilities commission in 2012, electric generation was to begin in 2016.  Operation dates have been pushed back to Q3 2022 and Q2 2024. Southern Company, managing co-owner has been criticized for setting an unrealistic schedule for such a complex project.  Southern has pointed a finger at contractors who it says performed "substandard" work that required correction.  

Georgia Power is disputing the opinion of co-owners that the price threshold has been reached for increased contributions. Georgia Public Service Commission approved a $224 million rate increase to pay for construction costs on Unit 3, or a 3% increase for residential customers.  Georgia Power's customers have already paid $3.5 billion in Vogtle-related borrowing costs.  Too cheap to meter?  Only if you are a plutocrat.

Another Day, Another Oil Spill

Latest: Progress in cleaning Huntington Beach is being made by crews as the amount of crude oil and slimed vegetation decreases each day. So far, they have collected half a million pounds of tar balls, oil contaminated sand, seaweed, and driftwood. Tarred animals have not been found in a week. One third of the beach is nearing final clean up approval, although it was opened to the public soon after the spill. It may take several more weeks for opening of fisheries, as the testing for trace amounts of hydrocarbon is underway. The pipeline, believed to have been ruptured by a ship's anchor, leaked for twenty-four hours before being shut down. Fortunately for wildlife and nearby nature preserves, the spill was not has bad as been feared by environmentalists.  Much of the oil was dispersed by wind and currents before it washed ashore.

Update: {06/11/21}The news from Huntington Beach is getting worse, unsurprisingly. Despite efforts to contain the spill which is now estimated at 144,000 gallons of crude, the toxic sludge has leaked into a restored salt water marsh that is a refuge for ninety species of water birds. For the second time in its short history Talbert Marsh is slicked with oil. Created in 1989 it is one of a few wild habitats along this stretch of Southern California coastline. Ninety percent of California's wetlands have been lost to development. Conservationists cobbled together $750,000 in state and federal money to create the 25 acre wetland sandwiched between the ocean and upscale homes. Talbert is connected to Magnolia Marsh and Brookhurst Marsh and all three are now polluted.  Cleaning such a sensitive ecosystem will be a huge task.  Fortunately, the spill has missed the largestt salt water marsh in the region, Bolsa Chica, as winds and currents carry the oil slick south.

In 1990 the tanker American Trader ran aground off Huntington Beach, spilling 416,000 gallons of crude oil.  Some of that oil contaminated plants in Talbert Marsh that had only been planted a year before. It took fifteen years for the marsh to recover. The situation is a little better this time as a quick response has prevented an even more severe contamination, and there is a wildlife center to care for birds and other species contaminated with crude.  Amplify Energy Inc's leaking pipe has a thirteen inch gash in it and is displace more than a hundred feet from its original location according to the US Coast Guard.  These facts indicate to US Person that something, perhaps an anchor from one of the container ships waiting to get into harbor, struck the pipe and dragged it along the seabed. 

{04/10/21}Huntington Beach, CA, known as "Surf City" is being smeared by the oil industry again..  Its famous beaches are awash with globs of sticky crude oil from a burst oil pipeline connect to offshore oil platforms.  Residents noticed an oil sheen on the waters Friday evening, but it was not until Saturday afternoon that the pipeline owner Amplify Energy Corporation shut down operations.  An estimated 126,000 gallon have been spilled so far.  The company said it evacuated the 17 mile long undersea pipeline to prevent further spills. Production from the platforms on the OCS have stopped.  The oil will continue to wash ashore and affect nearby communities, including exclusive Newport Beach for weeks.The Repugnant congressperson for Orange County has asked for federal aid to clean up the spill.

As usual wildlife has taken the brunt of the toxic spill. The area is home to threatened species including the humpback whale, snowy plovers and least tern. Oiled birds cannot care for their feathers and marine mammals have trouble breathing in the toxic fumes released by the crude. Dead fish an birds have been found, but so far only a few survivors have been treated by veterinarians. Crews have dieployed booms and skimmers attempting to prevent the oil from polluting the Bolsa Chica ecological reserve. [photo credit: UK Independent] Beaches are now closed. Residents question the value of production platforms producing marginal amounts of oil so close to a recreational and natural area of significant value. Conservationist have pushed for automatic detection systems that could shut down a pipeline if it springs a leak, but industry operators have resisted that requirement as too expensive.

The last large spill at Huntington occurred three decades ago when an oil tanker ran over its anchor in 1990, spilling over 417,000 gallons of crude oil. In 2015 a ruptured pipe sent 143,000 gallon ashore at Refugio Beach, north of Santa Barbara.  Typically the subsidiary company that owned the platforms and connecting pipeline, Beta Operating Co., had a history of federal regulatory violations with 125 violations in the last 11 years. Beta feild was owned by Memorial Production Partners until 2017 when the parent company filed for reorganization under Chapter 11. It emerged several months later as Amplify Energy, which is still heavily in debt. The Beta oil field has been owned by at least seven different corporations since it was discovered by Royal Dutch Shell in 1976, records show. The corporate predecessor of Amplify bought the operation in 2012.

'Toontime: This Week in Trump

credit: Horsey, Seattle Times;
Wackydoodle sez: He works better in the dark!

Update:  Jeffery Clark refused to answer questions before the J6 Committee today. He hid behind the former guy's lawsuit defending his refusal to hand over records based on non-existent executive privilege.  That case is headed to the Supreme Court. Through his attorney, Clark claimed he had nothing to do with the storming of the Capitol. He showed up for a morning session with the Committee, "out of a sign of respect for the House of Representatives" his attorney wrote in a letter.  He did not return in the afternoon. It is now clear that the conspirators will rely on a conservative majority of the Supreme Court to run interference for them against potential criminal liability for their attempted coup. Committee chairman Thompson said the Select Committee will discuss Clark's failure to testify at a Friday meeting.  He told reporters that a criminal contempt referral is "on the table".

The investigation of the J6 Insurrection is proceeding apace.  The Select Committee is set to depose Jeffery Clark, the former Assistant AG and a major proponent of the Big Lie plan to overthrow the duly elected government of the United States. It boggles the mind to even write that sentence, but in Trumpworld any outrage is possible. The committee chair, Bennie Thompson, has signed off on twenty more subpoenas. So far they have taken statements from 150 witnesses.

Herr Trumpillini faces more legal trouble as the Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has convened a second grand jury to consider his criminality.  This jury will focus on his penchant for fraudulently inflating asset values to obtain loans. He also apparently reported low figures on assets to avoid taxes. The pregnant question is: if the Committee finds corroborated evidence of his direct involvement in the planning of the Capitol attack, will he be prosecuted for his crime of seditious conspiracy?  He would be the first former president to be prosecuted for crimes committed while in office. Attorney General Garland has failed to impress. Stayed tuned.

credit: B. Bramhall, New York Daily News;
BC Idonawanna sez: He was dreaming of the Sinema Girl.

The Nuclear Rift at Glasgow

The Glasgow Climate Conference has exposed the rift between advocates who see nuclear power as a partial solution to climate change and those who see it as a very long term and expensive waste disposal problem. A look at how two developed countries handle radioactive wastes from nuclear operations may help answer this quandary. The USA built several nuclear reactors at Hanford, Washington to produce weapons grade plutonium for use in atomic bombs. Now that the Cold War is officially over, clean up of the Hanford site is proving to be extremely expensive and time consuming. Eight reactors are now idle. Six have been cocooned in steel and concrete and two remain to be entombed. The ninth reactor was clean and converted to a historic landmark as part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. Ten thousand tourists visit the old B reactor every year. Plutonium from Hanford B was used in the Trinity Test of the first atomic weapon in New Mexico. Hanford plutonium was also used in the Nagasaki atomic attack.

entombed reactors DR and D

Cocooning is the same technique used by the Russians to enclose the radioactive ruins at Chernobyl, Ukraine. The shelter are intended to last about 75 years, or long enough for radioactivity to dissipate to levels low enough for the reactors to be dismantled and buried on the reservation. Compared to other radioactive clean-up costs associated with nuclear fission, the cocoons are relatively cheap: about $10 million each. So far, cleaning the Hanford site to acceptable levels of radioactivity has cost about $2.5 billion a year since it began in the late 1980s. The steel and concrete enclosures are 58 feet meters) long, 151 feet (46 meters) wide and 123 feet (37.5 meters) high. The last sarchpogus entombing Reactor K West is expected to be completed by 2026.

Disposing of the obsolete reactors is a relative bright spot in the Hanford cleaning story. The process has been plagued by technical difficulties, lack of funding, contractor turnover, and law suits over the environmental impact of the site since it sits close to the Columbia River and the town of Kirkland, Washington. Of pressing concern are the 177 buried tanks holding thousands of gallons of contaminated waste water. They are corroding, and if they begin to leak, the contamination will certainly enter the groundwater and eventually the Columbia River. It will take decades and billions of dollars to secure the tanks or remove them altogether. An estimate for the cleaning of a site the size of Rhode Island is $660 billion No one knows if future generations will be willing to foot the bill. Safe, permanent radioactive waste disposal is the unsolved problem and usually unmentioned cost of nuclear power. As one watchdog director said, “It’s rather grim. It’s multigenerational,” Cleaning Hanford, "will cost more than anyone thought possible,”

Nuclear advocates argue that nuclear power is cleaner than most other power production methods and major accidents are exceedingly rare. So nuclear power respresents the best chance of combating anthropomorphic clinate change, they argue. When accidents do occur as in the United States, Japan and Ukraine, they are catastrophic, long lasting and cost huge sums to amerliorate. France has amassed decades of nuclear power operation without a major catastrophe. The EU is debating whether to label nuclear power "green" thus making it eligible for economic subsidies. Germany has answered the question in the negative, as it dismantles its nuclear energy industry.

France is the polar opposite. No other country is depended on nuclear power as much as France. That country has adopted methods of buring or recycling radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. Storage units hold about 90% of the country's low to medium radioactive waste materials. For highly radioactive wastes--mostly fuel rods--it is preparing underground storage near the village of Bure (pop.82) in northeastern France. The radioactive waste agency, Andra, has been building the facility for the past twenty years, and if approved by the government, the tunnels carved from the clay and granite 500 meters below the surface could hold 94,000 tons of the most radioactive waste since nuclear operations began in France forty years ago. Andra's geologic isolation is intended to be the permanent answer to a problem that still has not been resolved by nuclear operators, including the United States which abandoned its deep storage solution at Yucca Mountain, Utah. Geologic faults were discovered that compromised that facility's safety. France intends to spend $29 billion on its underground storage project, but that is only part of the extreme cost of safely operating nuclear power. For now, like the US, France stores its waste in pools next to operating reactors.

Environmental organizations like Greenpeace accuse the French of covering up or exporting radioactive waste disposa problems to eastern Europe. Because of the urgency of the climate change crisis, some policy makers have embraced nuclear power as a solution, or dropped their opposition to relying on nuclear reactors. The later category includes John Kerry, the US envoy for climate matters. Nuclear experts say that people are coming to the stark realization that nuclear power is less scary than climate change consequences. Anti-nuclear activist say deep geologic storage is not a leak proof solution for the thousands of years in which nuclear decay takes place. Meanwhile the waste, buried or not is not going away.

Four Latin Countries Create New Marine Reserve

Four Latin-American countries have agreed to create a massive new protected corridor by joining their marine reserves in the Pacific. The Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor covers 200,000 square miles of ocean that is critical to migratory routes of sea turtles, whales, sharks and rays.  Panama, Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica said Tuesday the new protected marine environment represents the "new language of global conservation" in which nations join together to enact public policy for conservation of the natural world.

Ecuador expanded the Galapagos marine reserve by 60,000 square kilometers to include a no-take zone of 30,000 square kilometers to the northeast of the island archipelago.  Columbia told leaders at the COP16 conference it would expand its existing 120,000 square kilometers of protected zone by 120 more. Panama quadrupled the size of its Cordillera de Coiba protected area.  The joint initiative is response to the UK's 30x30 campaign in which the goal is to protect thirty percent of the Earth's ocean by 2030.  Just 3 percent now lies within a highly protected zone.  Guillermo Lasso, president of Ecuador,  said the action comes after months of meetings with fisherman large and small, so he does not expect protests to occur since the creation is a "consensual decision" Ecuador has one of the largest fishing fleet in the Pacific. GREEN KUDOS to Panama, Columbia, Costa Rica and Ecuador!    

Lynx Protections to Remain

Conservationists reached a deal with federal wildlife officials to keep legal protections for the Canadian lynx (Lynx canadensis) in place.  The previous regime attempted to remove protection under the Endangered Species Act when the time for considering the effects of climate change on a species was shorted from 2100 to 2050 in 2018.  The settlement was approved by a federal judge in Montana on Monday. Called the ghost of the forest, the elusive feline is a snow specialist with several cold weather adaptations.  There are no reliable estimates of its population size.  Their protected status has disrupted the plans of loggers and road builders in western states, leading to efforts to de-list the species.  Lynx are found in Colorado and Maine with some occurring in Montana, Idaho, Minnesota and Washington state.

A new recovery plan is due in 2024 under the terms of the settlement approved by Judge Molloy sitting in Missoula, Montana.  A previous estimate (2016) concluded that the lynx would disappear from some areas based upon the effects of climate change on snow pack at higher elevations.  The same conclusion was reached for another snow specialist, the wolverine.  But the agency said it is no longer seeking protections for the wolverine since it thinks enough snow will remain for the animals to den and reproduce.  A lawsuit to reverse that wishful thinking is pending.

Extreme Heat Exposure Tripled

A study published in the Proceedings of the  National Academy of Sciences journal found that exposure to dangerously high temperatures in cities tripled between 1983 and 2016.  This product of climate change poses a serious public health risk to urban dwellers.  In 2003, 70,000 people died from an extreme heat wave in Europe.  Fifteen thousand died in France alone; Paris tallied the most excess deaths.

The Earth is nearing the safe limits of climate change say many climatologists.  Urgent action is needed now to avoid even worse consequences of anthropomorphic heating.  This chart shows the alarming increase in person-days of extreme heat at the city level:

The decade beginning in 2011 is the hottest on record. Average global temperatures peaked in 2016, 2019, and 2020.  The planet has already experience a 1.8°F increase in average global temperature since the 1950s.  According to researchers, the number of people exposed to extreme heat could swell ten fold in the next decade driven by increased urbanization in developing regions and an increase in global temperatures. Note the red areas concentrated in India and west Africa in the chart above.  More than half the world's 7.7 billion population is packed into cities that figure is expected to increase to 68% by 2050.  The most significant gains are expected in China, India and Nigeria, Africa's most populated country.  Dense urban metropolises, bereft of cooling vegetation and immersed in heat emitting vehicles, concrete buildings and pavements are heat sinks that further elevate ambient air temperatures. Most at risk of death from heat exposure are the poor and elderly who are unable to escape the heat. 

COTW: Climate Change in Charts

The attendees at the Glasgow climate conference have a huge problem: reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that has been accumulating since the Industrial Revolution of the mid 18th century.  Fossil fuel companies knew by the mid 1970's that global combustion of their fuels would have an adverse impact on global climate. Now countries that have benefited from that unrestricted power source are asking developing countries to forego that same source to help reduce emissions.  It is a Gordian knot of economics, social equity and technology. The prospects of a global solution are slim: India pledged to be "net zero" by 2070, twenty years later than the announced COP 26 goal. As the future king of England pointed out, the Glasgow conference may be the last, best chance to save the Earth.  

China currently emits the most green house gases, but because the USA industrialized earlier, this chart shows it with the biggest share of global carbon dioxide emitted since 175, equivalent to Europe and Russia combined. Nevertheless, the US leads the world in the amount of emissions per capita by a wide margin, reflecting its energy intensive culture:

If emissions are measured in terms of fuel type, coal is clearly the largest source of emissions followed by oil and gas.  Clearly, a significant contribution to reducing emissions can be made if the subsidies provided the fossil fuel industry by developed nations are eliminated and switched to alternative means of energy production.