COTW: The Omicron Surge

The Omicron varient of SARS-CoV-2 virus is now the dominant strain in the US. Althought less virulent than Delta, it is more contagious and new cases of infections are rising throughout the US. The death toll is also rising andCOVID-19 is now considered to be the third leading cause of death in the US. This chart shows the trend in infections.  Scientist expect that COVID-19 will become endemic eventually, akin to the flu or common cold but only after the organism has adapted to its host immune system for several years.

Is a virus alive? Not according to NASA's definition of life. Viruses reproduce, a key function of life, but only by hijacking the systems of a eukaryrote. It has neither nucleus or organelles to perform internal metabolism. It does adapt to its environment as we have unfortunately seen happen during the pandemic.The truth is that viruses lie in a gray zone of the tree of life, and may be the first extraterrestrial organisms discovered by man. Cuidado!

Creature Feature: Whose been Sleeping in My Tree?

Residents of Bruin Drive in  Chesapeake, VA were asking that question when a mother black bear and her three cubs settled down to a winter's nap in a neighborhood tree.  This Virginia Pilot/AP photo is very cute so US Person could not resist posting it here:

Fortunately for the bear family, police and wildlife officers summoned to the scene reacted in a controlled manner to their presence in the Silverwood neighborhood, an upscale area of large homes and spacious lawns with many large trees. They blocked off streets and asked nearby neighbors to stay indoors until the bears left the scene on their own. First reports of bears on the block came in at 2am.  Police stayed busy throughout the day keeping peepers away. Cameras with long lenses proliferated, and TV crews arrive to record the event. By 7pm the bears were still there, but only one wildlife official remained on the scene. The plan was to give the bears quiet time to wake up and move on, and it worked. The visit by the four bears will be remembered for a long time by people living on Bruin Drive.

Edward O. Wilson: More Than Just Ants

The ground breaking biologist, E.O. Wilson has died at the age of 92.  A Harvard professor for forty-six years, he was responsible in large part for founding the field of sociobiology. His seminal work in the field, Sociobiology: A New Synthesis was widely acclaimed and later condemned when he extended his theories of natural selection based on social behavior to humans. Dr. Wilson argued that our species had a propensity to behave in certain ways and form certain social structures. He called that propensity human nature. Wilson graduated and achieved his master's degree at the University of Alabama before going to Harvard for his PhD work. He began his studies with ants before branching into evolutionary biology and ecology. His book, “The Theory of Island Biogeography,” published in 1967, is considered one of the most influential published works of ecology and “a founding principle of conservation biology.”

Wilson began investigating the larger question of how animal behavior evolved. He came to the startling conclusion that the theory of natural selection could not explain why some ants behave the way they do. Ants are extremely cooperative to the extent that daughter ants become sterile to increase the chances of their queen's offspring surviving. By becoming less reproductively competitive these daughter ants could pass down more genes they share to future generartions. This concept originated with a British researcher, William Hamilton, and was labeled "inclusive fitness". Wilson became a convinced advocate. After publishing Sociobiology in 1975, Wilson declared, “The organism is only DNA’s way of making more DNA,” Some critics of his work said he was attempting to resurrect discredited ideas of biological determinism that gave way to eugenics and eventually the Nazi program of genocide.

Despite the controversies, animal behaviorists have largely adapted his ideas to their studies. Researches have identified thousands of genes in the human genome that affect behavior that they share with other species. Attempts to create a "unified theory" of animal behavior based on evolution have not proven successful, however. He eventually came to reject the notion of "inclusive fitness" in a 2010 paper. Later in life he turned his focus on biological diversity and the problem of mass extinction. He traveled to Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique to study the park's resurgence of biodiversity after being ravaged to near extermination in a long-running civil war. He called for a world of Gorongosas in which half the Earth's surface needed to be left wild in order to avoid a calamitous dystopia in his 2016 book, “Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life,”. Scientists are now studying which ecosystems to save first in a careful rescue plan. A colleague remarked, “We’re taking Ed’s idea and running with it. It’s that simple.”

 Happy Holidays from PNG !

COTW: Manchin's Hypocrisy

The dark lord of hypocrisy, aka "Mr. President" Joe Manchin, rear-ended Joe Biden on MurdochVision over the weekend, saying he was a "No" on 3B after months of negotiations with progressives in Congress. They must feel like they have been mugged, having voted for the bipartisan hard infrastructure bill without a guarantee from him that he would support social spending.  The fact is that his constituents would benefit enormously from 3B.  The per capita income in West Virginia is a paltry $26,480, with 15.8% of the population living below the federal poverty level says the 2020 Census. Under 3B a West Virginia family with two kids would save nearly $10,000 per year on health and child care. The Treasury Department delivered payments last week benefitting three hundred and five thousand children in West Virginia. Statewide, ninety-three per cent of children are eligible for this tax credit, tied for the highest rate in the country. Analysts estimate that, if the program is allowed to expire, at the end of the month, fifty thousand children there will be in danger of falling into poverty. The average payment per family: four hundred and forty-six dollars a month. 

But these embarrassing facts do not concern a rich, conservative coal baron who drives a Maserati. The only "mentality of entitlement" that Manchin should consider in policy deliberations is his own.  One budget that does concern him is defense spending. He voted for the recent ADA bill that exceeded the administration's request by $25 billion. This chart shows the insane imbalance between expenditures for the unaccountable war machine and those proposed for a tattered social safety net:

It is time for working people in West Virginia to assert themselves and tell Manchin they want him to vote for 3B.  Seventeen economic Nobel laureates are not wrong when they say it will not make inflation worse. Even Goldman Sachs says the bill would be good for the economy going forward.  The bank slashed its 1Q economic projections for 2022 on news that the Judas Senator blocked Build Back Better this year. His favored policy analyst, Penn-Wharton, says the inflationary effect over time is minimal.  In other words his rationale for opposition is "bullshit".  

Conservationists Sue Federal Wildlife Service

The killer group inside the Department of Agriculture, Federal Wildlife Service, has been sued by conservationists as it seeks to resume killing predators on federal land in Nevada. [photo]  The program to kill predators to "benefit agribusiness" as been in place since 1931 and costs taxpayers millions every year.  The federal suit was filed in Reno by WildEarth Guardians and the Western Watersheds Project on Monday.  The suit says the agency's environmental review of resuming aerial slaughter of predators, mostly coyotes which are the most numerous, has not considered the recent development of science regarding the role of predators in an ecosystem.  The suit says the agency's management practices are "antiquated". Each year some 1.3 native species are killed across the United States.

After a suit by Wilderness Guardians in 2012, the agency agreed to stop predator removal in federal wilderness areas in 2016. In its updated 2020 environmental assessment, the agency made a new claim that predator removal would benefit sage grouse, and endangered species. Conservations say that is an improper use of the Animal Damage Control Act since the assessment fails to establish that coyotes and ravens, which eat chicks and eggs, are depressing sage grouse numbers. Loss of habitat due to livestock grazing is a major contributor to the decline of the sage grouse. Analarming report from the United States Geological Survey shows that sage-grouse populations have declined 80 percent since 1965. Conservations also claim that the agency is sanctioning an impossible commercial purpose on wilderness lands, while failing to consider non lethal management techniques to prevent serious harm to livestock. Nevada still allows coyote killing constests. The assessment deficiencies affect 9700 sq. miles of federal lands.

'Toontime: What Did He Know, and When Did He Know It?

credit: M. Wuerker
 Wackydoodle sez: It's his incredible hair that gives him strength!

That is the question Senator Howard Baker (R-TN) famously asked during the Watergate investigation half a century ago. We are in the same place now with Select Committee investigating the coup attempt on January 6, 2021. The Committee has heard testimony from over 300 witnesses, amassed thousands of documents, and is preparing to hold hearings in January. This time around, Liz Cheney(R-WY)  plays Howard Baker, with Der Leader as "Tricky Dick".  

Despite stonewalling from major security risks at the behest of Herr Trumpillini, the Committee has already made public the outlines of the coup. The assault on the Capitol was planned and financed in advance in part by right-wing extremists like the Proud Bois and Oath Keepers, probably with the help of Steve Bannon and Roger Stone. It is clear their efforts were supported by the White House, which fact is corroborated by the former Chief of Staff's text messages and a power point presentation. It is only a matter of time before evidence surfaces tying the former guy himself directly to the putsch. He considered every option, including using the miitary, to discredit the election and block certification. He asked state officials to intervene in the counting process on the grounds of unsubstantiated fraud. He sent an angry mob in motion to the Capitol to give "weak Republicans the pride and boldness" to stop certification. Now that all may be revealed, will Trump get down on his knees and pray at Mar-a-Lago? US Person says stay tuned.

Creature Feature: Andean cat

The rarest cat of the Americas was captured on video by a researcher Bernardo Segura. Surprisingly this male Andean cat Leopardus jacobita,it was not found in the deepest rainforest or at the top of the Andes, but on the outskirts of Santiago, Chile. So close to the city that Segura can see its cliff side habitat from his apartment balcony, which make it very convenient for him to gather more information about the species. Fewer than 1400 remain in five segmented populations along the mountainous spine of South America.

Previously thought to inhabit only the highest slopes, this population livng so close to a city of 8 million may be attracted by the plentiful mountain vizcachas, a relative of the chinchilla, living in the rocky terrain. So far Segura has identified three individuals regularly using the track where his video trap is setup. His work along with other conservationists will help preserve what was once a little known species, overlooked by scientists because of it rareity. They are threatened by habitat loss and climate change. Chile has endured a decade-long drought with rainfall 30-70% less than the preivous 1,000 years based on computer modeling.

'Toontime: Rope-a-Dope Works in DC

credit: P. Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune
Wackydoodle sez:  He also claims DO's and temporary insanity!

More:  The Select Committee voted today, 9-0, to refer Mark Meadows to the Justice Department for contempt of Congress.  The move came after Meadows, former chief of White House staff and South Carolina congressman, engaged in dilatory tactics, and more evidence of his involvement in the coup attempt became clear.The Committee is in possession of messages from inside the Capital asking Meadows to get the former guy to call off the riot taking place. Meadows coordinated with rally planners who brought thousands of protestors, some of whom were armed to Washington DC.  The NYT reports,At one point, an organizer of the rally turned to Mr. Meadows for help, telling him that things “have gotten crazy and I desperately need some direction. Please.” His response to the plea is unknown at this point in the investigation. Another message from Meadows indicates his support for the coup plan outlined by attorney Eastman:“Yes,” he wrote in one message about appointing a slate of pro-Trump electors and refusing to certify Mr. Biden’s victory. “Have a team on it.” His criminal referral now goes to the House Rules Committee and a floor vote in the House. It is expected that he will be formally referred to the DOJ for prosecution.

Update: {10.12.21}The Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that Trump's claims of executive privilege are invalid and that the Select Committee may access his records from the National Archives. The ruling was emphatic and destroyed any argument that the Committee does not have a valid legislative purpose for issuing subpoenas.  Plotters have been hiding behind this bogus assertion for months, obstructing the Insurrection investigation. Trump's lawyers will certainly appeal to the Supreme Court, and a stay is in place until that Court denies certiorari or hears the case. In the latter circumstances the Committee will not obtain the White House records it needs until well into next year. Tick, tock goes the clock.

Mark Meadows rope-a-dope tactics continue to produce delays, despite Select Committee members telling the media they will not stand for dilatory tactics by subpoened witnesses. Meadow's attorney announced this week that his client's "cooperation" with the Insurrection investigation will cease before it substantially started because the Committee has subpoenaed third parties for communication records of White House aides including Meadows.  Apparently, Meadows is concerned that those records may incriminate him and his former boss in the federal criminal offense of seditious conspiracy. Meadows and other senior Trump administration figures routinely used private mobile phones and email accounts in violation of federal record-keeping laws.  

The Committee should give up on any hope of getting Meadows to flip on Herr Trumpillini, if that was the rationale for its lenient response to his charade. Nota bene: Meadow's subpoena duces tecum was issued on September 23rd!  His PR campaign has only one objective: further delay of the Committee's proceedings in accordance with his leader's instructions. Meadows continues to insist on non-existent executive privilege. The current administration has repeatedly waived any assertion of that privilege, which is controlled by the sitting president not a former occupant. In a letter sent to Meadow's attorney last month, White House deputy counsel Jonathan Su informed him that President Biden would not be asserting any privileges or immunities over anything requested by the committee. Prosecution of Meadows for contempt of Congress will put a conclusive end to the plotters' bogus claims by forcing judicial review of the issue probably all the way to the Supreme Court.

It appears from a letter issued by Chairman Thompson to Meadow's attorney that the Select Committee is moving forward on filing contempt charges against him.  In his letter Rep. Thompson referred to several communications already provided by Meadows in which he discussed plans for the J6 Insurrection. In one text message Meadows told a GOP Congress member that he "loved" the idea of overturning the election results and in another he discussed plans for "a direct and collateral attack" on the election. Clearly, any possible claim of privilege has been waived as to those communications.  The clock is ticking, Mr. Chairman...

credit: K. Siers;
BC Idonwanna sez: Careful, its poisonous!

COTW: Red Covid

This chart reveals the close correlation between ideology and COVID-19 vaccinations in the US.  Thanks to the previous occupant's demagoguery, what should be a matter of science and public health has become a divisive political issue:

US Person can only conclude that the MAGAs are willing to die for Der Leader.  Total US COVID-19 DEATHS: 101,000,000 (estimate based on CDC provisional statistics)

Florida Feeds Manatees

Normally feeding wild animals is out of bounds but Florida manatees, Trichechus manatus,  are starving to death due to man-made pollution, so wildlife officials have determined to begin feeding the marine mammals. They normally eat sea grasses and other marine plants. A pilot program at a Cape Canaveral power plant has the green light to begin this week. Manatees gather in the Indian Lagoon waters near the plant, warmed by power plant discharges. The officials plan to feed lettuce, cabbage and other greens delivered via a conveyor belt. The public has been warned not to undertake feeding the beloved mammals on their own, which is illegal.  

manatee swims in Stranahan River; AP

Manatees struggle to live successfully next to man. The slow-movving creatures are constantly struck by boats resulting in numerous fatalities every year. Pollution that prevents the growth of sea grasses and recent cold winters in Florida have also taken a significant toll. A record 1,017 have died as of November 17 according to the state. Their numbers have rebounded in recent years, but starvation threatens to reverse that trend. Saving the manatee is also saving the environment as toxic algae blooms that block sunlight also affect other sea creatures.  Artificial feeding is considered to be a temporary, emergency measure to save the mammals from a man-made problem.

COTW: Can You Spare a Trillion?

This pie says it all.How plutocrats like Joe Manchin have the gall to complain about a $2 trillion much need social infrastructure bill can only occurr in the Swamp were they give out kudos for hypocrisy.

credit: Our World in Data

This chart is from 2014, so the glaring imbalance is even worse now.  In 2014 the US spent $581 billion, more than the nine countries in the chart that include allies. The House just passed a $776 billion annual defense budget, $25 billion more than the administration asked.  

White Rhinos Arrive In Rawanda

Threatened by humans hunting for ivory, southern white rhinos, Ceratotherium simum, have come to Rwanda. A South African game park translocated by air thirty of the species to Akagera National Park to establish a new range state. White rhinos are near threatened by constant poaching so transporting them halfway across the continent to a region less plagued by poachers makes conservation sense. Such a long trip under sedation is very stressful for large animals.  There were long delays to the flight and a six hour truck ride to the park before being released to an enclosure for acclimatization.  Communities along the route greeted the rhinos and their rescuers with a positive welcome [photo credit: African Parks]

White rhinos have a population of about 18,000 spread over five southern African countries. Their close relatives, the northern white rhino C. s. cotton subspecies survives in only two individuals, a mother and daughter living under constant guard in Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. The nineteen males and eleven females will reestablish a rhino population in Akagera after the park was nearly destroyed in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The African Parks organization helped reestablish the park.  It reports that not a single high-value animal has been poached in eleven years.  The park has become a refuge for many re-located animals including lions and black rhinos. Akagera has a variety of habitats and is very secure according to the park's manager, Ladis Ndahiriwe.  One of the conservationists involved in the transcontinental relocation project says the rhinos are doing well in the new (old) home, calmly moving together and foraging.  A dedicated team of rhino rangers will monitor their progress.  Community support is high and very important for these rhinos continued success in Akagera.  

Wolf Pack Poisoned in Oregon

The state police is seeking information from the public concerning a probable mass poisoning of the Catherine wolf pack in Eastern Oregon.  It has taken public officials almost one year to appeal to the public for information, which gives an indication of how committed the state is to wolf recovery in Oregon and the need for restoring federal protections under the Endangered Species Act.   A collared wolf was found by ODFW on February 9, 2021, who reported it to the Oregon State Police.  Troopers responded to the location and found five more dead wolves, all known members of the Catherine Wolf Pack.  A dead magpie was also found.  On March 11, 2021 ODFW personnel found a dead female wolf, a skunk, and a magpie.  The female was a member of the Keating pack. All of the deceased animals were located in Union County. [map above]

Samples were submitted to the USFWS forensic lab in Ashland, OR. In April 2021, the USFWS submitted their examination reports finding poisoning as the cause of death for all six wolves, the skunk, and two magpies. Lab results also confirmed the presence a poisonous substance.  Two more collared wolves in Union County were also found dead from poisoning in April, an adult male from the Five Points pack and a young female from the Clark Creek pack.  A necropsy on the female showed that her poisoning was related to the extermination of the Catherine pack. Obviously there are wolf haters at work in Eastern Oregon, which is plagued by a right-wing extremist movement. 

The state police have apparently exhausted their leads in the case after additional investigation. They ask that anyone with information contact them through their OSP tip line:1-800-452-7888.  A $26,000 cash reward posted by conservation groups may be available. What this tragic and inhumane slaughter shows is that the state's wolf management program, tilted toward livestock interests from its inception, is simply inadequate to protect wolves from humans with a culturally embedded grudge.  Re-listing the grey wolf is needed now before they are all killed, again. [Oregon wolf pups; credit: Oregon Wild]

'Toontime: This Week in Trump

credit: S. Nease

Latest: Late Friday, Clark informed the Committee he would not be appearing at his deposition due to a heath problem. The chairman postponed his appearance until December 16th. According to a record made by the Committee chief counsel at Clark's previous appearance where he walked out at midday, Clark would have been asked about White House involvement in drafting the letter to be sent to Georgia state officials requesting an investigation of fraud allegations. Apparently metadata associated with that draft indicates a source within the White House communications office. 

Update: John Eastman, author of the memo that erroneously concluded the VP has the power to intervene in an election vote count, announced he will also plead the Fifth in a letter to Select Committee Chair Benny Thompson.

Update: More significant developments took place in the J6 Insurrection investigation by the House Select Committee this week.  The Committee finally voted unanimously to hold former DOJ attorney Kenneth Clark in contempt of Congress for failing to comply completely with his October 13th subpoena for testimony and production of documents.  He held the Committee off for months with dilatory tactics.  He will nevertheless be given another opportunity this weekend to fully answer questions put to him.  Most tellingly is that his attorney wrote the chairman that his client intends to invoke the Fifth Amendment at the hearing.  Nothing to hide? Not much! Clark advocated involving the Department of Justice in delaying the certification of Electoral College votes, and drafted a letter to Georgia state officials asking that they investigate claims of fraudulent voting. It is a crime for an administrative official to attempt to influence the outcome of a federal election, 18 USC 595. Because of his intentionto invoke his privilege against self-incrimination, the House Rules Committee will hold a House floor vote to refer Clark to his former employer, DOJ, for criminal indictment in abeyance until after he testifies to the Select Committee this weekend.

Former Trump loyalist and chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has also played the delay game with the Committee.  He has "engaged" the Committee in negotiations through his attorneys without complying with his subpoena. At one point he claimed he could not comply because of Trump's misplaced attempt to invoke executive privilege.  His attorneys announced after Steve Bannon was indicted for contempt, that he will testify. Whether he will actually cooperate in the investigation remains to be seen.  It is apparent that the Committee would like to have an insider cooperate so as to expose to the fullest possible extent the plotting that occurred.  A complete picture would certainly expose the involvement of the former president in seditious conspiracy.  Any criminal accountability for Individual One would require an insider to testify against him.  Is Mark Meadows that man?  Certainly his position as White House chief of staff puts him in a position to provide the granular detail.  The leniency shown Meadows so far indicates he may be approachable. Two other former White House officials, Kash Patel and Dan Scavino have yet to comply with Committee subpoenas.  Nevertheless Herr Trumpillini's cover up appears to be unraveling.

The House investigation has definitely taken a more serious turn.  Even Committee co-chair Liz Cheney warned that any communications with the former chief executive will be under oath, and he will be held accountable for every false statement he makes, which is a serious problem for a sociopathic liar. Ms. Cheney also announced public hearings will take place early next year detailing "in vivid color" the events that culminated in the violent attack on the Capitol on January 6th. Cheney was stripped of her GOP party leadership role after she refused to stop criticizing the ex-president for spreading the false conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was rigged against him.

credit: J. Pett
Wackdoodle axes: Can I sell you a used copy of Mein Kampf?

Portugal Creates Largest Atlantic Sanctuary

The regional government of Portugal's Madeira Islands in the North Atlantic expanded a marine reserve around the Selvagens Islands [map] between the Madeira and Canary Islands. The reserve covers 1035 square miles protecting all species from extraction.  Conservation organizations, including National Geographic, who did the research backing the designation say the region in a vital passageway for migrating fish and mammals while the islands' coastal areas provide critical nursery habitat. Only eight percent of the ocean is currently protected. Portugal's new sanctuary is the largest in the North Atlantic. The regional government president issued a statement in which he expressed hope that the designation would inspire others to "take similar measures to preserve our oceans." Green Kudos!to Madeira. 

In other ocean related news closer to home, a Canadian company has given up on a liquified natural gas terminal to be located at Coos Bay, Oregon after failing to receive  necessary state permits.  The project was opposed by locals for nearly two decades.  In 2019 protestors invaded the governor's office until they were hauled away by state police.  FERC and the city counsel of Coos Bay approved the project, but the state's Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Lands refused to grant necessary permits to Pembina Pipeline Corp. of Calgary, Alberta.  Federal authorities agreed with the state permitting agencies this year noting Oregon had not waived its certification authority under the Clean Water Act and Coastal Zone Management Act.

NOAA asked that mariners voluntarily slow down in a zone south of Long Island after endangered North Atlantic right whales were detected in the area by acoustic sensors on November 20th.  Only 350 of the whales remain in the wild.  NOAA told mariners to refrain from crossing the area or slow down to protect the whales from entanglement and collisions.

The waters near Huntington Beach, CA opened to fishing on Tuesday after a burst pipeline spewed thousands of gallons of crude oil into the ocean in early October.  The fishing and beach closures covered 650 square miles of coastal waters and 65 miles of coastline.  The closures affected economic activity in the popular seafront community. Fish in spill areas can ingest crude, making them toxic to humans who eat them. Fortunately the spill was smaller than initially feared, and much of the contamination was broken up at sea, sparring sensitive wetlands on shore.  Amplify Energy, owner of the distribution pipeline, has been sued for damages.  Investigation of the cause of the leak is underway, but the US Coast Guard has said it was likely caused by a ship's anchor.