COTW: Russia's Imperialism in Charts

These historical maps help explain Putin's attitude towards Ukraine as an independent, western leaning state.  In may see a perversion of history to US, but look at this map from 1945:

The orange strip on Russia's western flank are territories it acquired after WWII. Ukraine as a country cannot be found on the map. The nascent Ukraine was crushed by the Bolsheviks, and Stalin gave the Crimea to Ukraine in 1954. Ukraine was one of the founding "socialist republics" of the Soviet Union. Going back in time farther, you will find Kyiv or Kiev was the capital (c. 882CE) of the ancient Viking kingdom of Rus (c. 862CE), the historic antecedent of today's Russia, Belorussia and Ukraine. The first Russian Tsar in history, Ivan the Terrible, was a descendent of the Viking king Rurik who founded a dynasty that lasted 700 years. It is a tangled relationship, indeed. and Putin's own words reveals how he thinks of Ukraine:

Ukraine is not just a neighboring country for us. It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space. Since time immemorial, the people living in the south-west of what has historically been Russian land have called themselves Russians.

This map of the ancient kingdom backs up his propaganda assertion of one people, one nation:

11th Century Kievan Rus territories after the death 
of Yaroslov the Wise, 1054CE

Thus, Putin's seemingly bizarre claim that Russia "created" Ukraine. The pink countries in the map above were European communist satellites that were allied with the USSR--the "Warsaw Pact" of the Cold War era. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990-91, these satellite countries declared their independence. Ukraine SSR declared its independence from the Union in August, 1991, see map below from just prior to the collapse.

None of this revisionist history--even the fact that Ukrainians served in Hitler's Waffen SS--justifies the blatant aggression by Putin, but it does explain his peculiar thinking and sense of grievance, eerily similar to an American politician and Putin fan, who shall remain nameless and who tried to deny Ukraine $400 million in military aid.  What Putin's new war in Europe demonstrates is the need to reach a political settlement for long-term European security, which must involve demilitarization of a region separating NATO from Russia's considerable military forces on the Northern European Plain.  It also demonstrates how nuclear weapons hobble the range of responses the West can select in support of Ukraine' sovereignty.  

Without direct military intervention from the West  to preserve its independence--Putin has already threatened to use nuclear retaliation--Ukraine will probably have to reach an accommodation with Russia as a militarily non-aligned nation despite news reports of heroic resistance against the invaders. Russia, under Putin at least, is not willing to become another Spain. It has amassed two hundred thousand well-equipped soldiers on Ukraine's borders.   See this interesting YouTube video that graphically explains the geopolitics involved in Russia's decision to invade Ukraine.  You guessed it--oil and gas, and the vast revenues the resource generates, is a powerful motivating factor.

'Toontime: This week in Trump

credit: N. Anderson, Counterpoint
Wackydoodle sez:  Y'al charge more for math!

The new Manhattan DA gave Herr Trumpillini a "get out of jail" card this week by expressing his doubts about the validity of a criminal prosecution of his criminal enterprise for financial fraud. The negative response from DA Alvin Bragg, who replaced Cyrus Vance, caused the two principle prosecutors to submit their resignations. Admittedly, they were unable to flip any of the company's personnel and cooperate. The investigation continues, but the departure of Dunne and Pomerantz have put the future of the investigation of Trump's fraudulent property valuation in doubt. A lawyer representing Trump said that "In my mind the case is over". The state's Attorney General's investigations civil and criminal continue. Bragg has named a successor to lead the case. The Trumps are seeking an appeal of a decision by a New York Superior Court judge that Trump and his daughter must give testimony in the civil case, but they have managed thus far to avoid the self-incrimination trap set by simultaneous civil and criminal prosecutions.  

Pundits have suggested that even if the Justice Department finds its lost balls and prosecutes Herr Trumpillini, proud supporter of the aggressor Putin, for his coup attempt, it would be practically impossible to incarcerate him for his crimes. He is attended, as all former presidents are, by a Secret Service detail. Putting Trump in prison naked could place him at risk for his safety. The USA has not had to face this conumdrum in its history. US Person thinks justice would be served with a form of house arrest, fines, and confiscation of his passport. As long as the felon who attempted to overthrow the elected government of the Untied States is put out of bounds from public office, democracy is safe for now. 

credit: S. Sack, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Starving Manatees in Florida Rehab

The state of Florida is making an effort to save starving manatees whose food is imperiled by polluted waterways.  Across the US there are about eighty manatees in wildlife centers receiving treatment and food according to figures released by the Florida Department of Wildlife and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.  The state has provided about $1.2 million to fund treatment at 13 locations in the US.   The sea grass on which they normally feed is disappearing along the Florida coast, a result of pollution from power plants, agricultural runoff and urban wastewater discharges.

Last year, an estimated 1100 manatees died of starvation. This year 326 have died through last week.  Feeding of manatees on surplus lettuce continues at Florida Power & Light in Brevard County.  Manatee often congregate in waters warmed by power plant discharges in the winter.  More than 63,000 lbs of lettuce has been feed, supplied through donations to the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida.  There are now an estimated 8,800 manatees in Florida waters, up from 2,000 in the 1990s.  Their decline in numbers was a major reason for them being listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Although wildlife officials see the feeding program as a small victory, the problem of manatee starvation will not end with the arrival of warmer weather.  Water pollution is still a major problem, and some of the animals need extensive treatment before being returned to the wild.  Officials have asked the public to report any manatees that are injured, orphaned, or in distress so they can be brought to a rehabilitation center.

California's "War on Breakfast"

That's what Senator Grassley (IA-R) called California's progressive animal welfare statute, Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals Act. Proposition 12 passed with 63% public support. It would prevent Iowa massive pork industry from selling their products to Californians who make up a significant 15% of the US food market. The pork industry launched a legal campaign to prevent the law's implementation, so it is headed to a final hearing in the California Supreme Court. What is this war about? Basically it is about giving mother sows and their piglets enough room to stand up and stretch their limbs without touching their enclosure or each other..That space has been fixed at 24 square feet. Sounds innocuous enough, right? Not for the industrialized pig industry, which inhumanely confines these intelligent animals to pens not much larger than the sow herself. These cages are called gestation crates, which are metal cages designed to confine a sow while she is forcibly artificially inseminated through multiple pregnancies. It is a scene out of a Nazi-inspired nighmare. An official at the American Humane Society remarked, “Can you imagine the pain, suffering and fear when you can’t turn around for four years? Pigs are social, smart creatures. If you did this to a dog, you’d be arrested in every state.” [photo credit: PETA]

According to Grassley's written opinion in the Des Moines Register, relieving animals of this sordid suffering constitutes a "war on breakfast"--total, unadulterated hypocrisy. To continue selling their product in California, Iowa pig farmers will have to alter their business practices by confining fewer pigs and altering exisitng animal housing, which undeniably will impact their bottom lines. So what this so-called war is really about is profit, as so many things are in 'Merica.  Proposition 12 will impact large, corporate operations the most.  They keep the most pigs and in large numbers.  According to one report the largest 10 hog businesses keep half of the country's sows. During the pandemic, these companies made record profits, probably because a lot more people had time to eat breakfast.  The California law is not about putting family farmers out of business.  It is about ensuring corporate operations provide a minimum of humane conditions for the animals that produce their profits margins.  Consolidation in agriculture has forced small farmer out, not enlightened animal welfare legislation.

'Toontime: This Week in Trump

credit: P. Molina, Counterpoint
BJ Idonwanna sez:  Smell that smell, the smell of it surrounds you!

One newspaper, the Guardian, counts the active law suits against Herr Trumpillini at 19!  You know you are in trouble when your own accounting firm fires you. Mazars USA issued a statement saying that the financial disclosure documents they prepared for Trump cannot be relied upon--something critics and journalists investigating the Trump house of fraud knew a long time ago.  Mazars decided to cut him loose in order to protect itself from liability, civil and criminal. The firm is now cooperating with the New York Attorney General.  In its civil suit against the Trump Organization, the judge ordered Donald and his daughter to give testimony in depositions, something he has been trying to avoid for months.  His attorney told the court that it would be impossible to pick a jury in a criminal case against his client if he takes the 5th, which is very likely.  Basically the judge told him that was his client's problem, not his. The state AG is also participating in the Manhattan District Attorney criminal prosecution of the Trump Org. More damaging discovery is at hand  since a DC judge has ruled the civil suits arising from inciting the insurrection may go ahead as he has no immunity as a private citizen.  Trumpillini's house of fraud is slowing collapsing.

Tbe J6 Committee issued six more subpoenas to people involved in the fake elector gambit that was part of the "Green Bay Sweep" conspiracy to overthrow the legitimate government of the United States. The extent of the efforts to reverse the 2020 election results becomes something like the "vast right-wing conspiracy" Hilary Clinton said was after her husband. Repugnants in and out of the White House, and members of Congress are apparently involved. According to the NYT those summonsed were Michael A. Roman and Michael Brown, who served as the director and the deputy director of Election Day operations for Trump’s campaign; Laura Cox, the former chairwoman of Michigan’s Republican Party; Mark Finchem, an Arizona state legislator; Douglas Mastriano, a Pennsylvania state senator; and Kelli Ward chairperson of the Arizona Republican Party. In letters to Roman and Brown, the Committee wrote,“It appears that you helped direct the Trump campaign staffers participating in this effort.”  

Recently, the Committee has come into possession of two memos from unknown lawyers and Trump sycophants dated just two weeks after the election that form the basis for the strategy of buying time and installing Trump electors before the official counting of Electoral College votes on January 6th in a joint session of Congress. The conspirators corruptly ignored the fact that the states certified their electors on December 14th. Fortunately for the survival of democracy, Mike Pence, who presided over the session and was seen as a key player in the scheme, refused to participate. US Person asked Senator Bernie Sanders why the Justice Department has failed to act to protect what remains of American democracy.  It is appropriate to quote from the US Criminal Code Section 2383:

Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.  [See also, XIV Amendment, Section 3.]

Herr Trumpillini committed the most serious political crime an American politician can commit, and he did it in plain sight of millions, not just on Fifth Avenue. Yet he and his co-conspirators have yet to face criminal charges thirteen months later. What explains this absurd situation?  Is it because Washington elites only pay lip service to the rule of law?  Real consequences are only for the little people--like those bigoted, delusional, or stupid enough to have followed his command to "fight like hell" on January 6th, a day that will also live in infamy.

Where Mother Earth Puts her Carbon

This chart visualizes the where the natural world stores carbon.  It shows the importance of sub-tropical and tropical forests as a carbon vault, around 30%. If we loose these forests, as is happening in the Amazon Basin because of inappropriate government policy, we will not be able to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere.  Our planet will literally become uninhabitable in time.  That should concern you unless you are a billionaire and can afford a ticket to Mars or wherever.

USA Plays Major Role in Illegal Tiger Trade

Americans were surprised to find out that the US has more tigers in captivity than there are in remaining in the wild.  The country has an estimated 5,000 captive tigers, while only 3900 are estimated to survive in the wild.  A recent study has also revealed another exceptional fact about the USA; the country accounts for half the world's illegal tiger trade in the period 2003 to 2012 based on an analysis of seizure records kept by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.  The study was published in the journal Conservation Science and Practice. {photo credit: WWF]

An ineffective patch-work of state and federal laws is not enough to protect the world's tiger population.  Conservationists are calling for the passage of the Big Cat Public Safety Act that would improve conditions for captive tigers in the US and improve our nation's credibility on tiger conservation issues. According to the data compiled by researchers, there were 292 seizures in the period 2003-2012, significantly higher than previously reported and about half of the 624 seizures reported worldwide,  Tigers account for roughly an alarming two-thirds of confiscated produccts.  The US may be penalized by the fact that it is one of the few countries that has a robust reporting system of wildlife seizures and public access to records.

The worldwide demand for tiger parts as traditional medicines is unabated.  In the US tiger products may be seized by customs and law enforcement personnel without proof of criminal activity under a 1998 law governing labeling of tiger and rhino produccts.  Educational campaigns have also reduced the volume of illegal trade in tiger parts, but it still occurs.  The main threat to tiger survival comes from Asia and its thriving underground trade. 

Wolves Given a Break

A federal judge in Oakland, CA has ruled that grey wolves in much of the USA must be restored to federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. Judge Jeffery White said that the US Fish & Wildlife Service had failed to show that wolf populations could be sustained in the Midwest and portions of the West without federal protection. Unfortunately his ruling does not apply to wolves in the Northern Rockies where they face severe persecution once again under so-called state management. The former guy stripped wolves of their protection in the waning days of his regime.  Conservation organization promptly sued to reestablish their status under law.  Wolf recovery after centuries of persecution by settlers, farmers, ranchers and hunters is widely viewed as a conservation success story.

The ruling will most immediately affect the Great Lakes region where relaxed hunting regulation led to the slaughter of over 218 wolves over four days in Wisconsin, reminiscent of the bounty hunting that occurred in the 1930s. President of the Farm Bureau said the ruling re-establishing grey wolves to protected status was "extremely disappointing". None of the Great Lakes states with wolf populations had scheduled additional hunting seasons prior to the ruling, but a local politician from the Upper Peninsula took umbrage at the ruling coming from "some judge thousands of miles away" but still in the same country.  Michigan officials want some finality on the wolves' status before attempting to regulate their management given the history of legal challenges to their delisting. [photo courtesy National Park Service]

The wolves living in the Northern Rockies will have to wait for the USFWS to finish its review of grey wolf recovery.  Interior Secretary Deb Haaland ordered the review after Idaho and Montana issued rules intended to drastically reduce the number of wolves in their states.  This year in Montana, a record number of wolves were killed after they wandered outside the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park where they were first re-established in 1995. The Secretary wrote in an editorial that,“Recent laws passed in some Western states undermine state wildlife managers by promoting precipitous reductions in wolf populations, such as removing bag limits, baiting, snaring, night hunting and pursuit by dogs — the same kind of practices that nearly wiped out wolves during the last century,” Wolves once roamed the entire US before European settlement. Today they occupy a fraction of the historic range. A remanent population in the Great Lakes has expanded to an estimated 4,400, and an estimated 2,000 wolves occupy six states in the Northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest as result of recovery efforts.

COTW: Drought and Heat, Welcome to Climate Change

People living in California are enjoying some unseasonably warm weather, but there is a nagging doubt about what the summer will bring. LAX broke a record of 89 degrees on Saturday. The Bengals were certainly be sweating profusely--it is snowing in Cincinnati.  Temperatures in Inglewood will be in the 80s for kickoff.  Here are two charts that indicate what is in store for those living in the southwest:

As you can see California is experiencing drought, again.  The next chart shows drought conditions prevailing over much of easter and central Oregon too.  Wildfires may again be prevelant in the west.

No More War in Europe

Once again, the jingoists in the CMM are drooling over the prospects of another disastrous war.  This time, Eastern Europe is the prospective battlefield.  An invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces massed along its entire border will kill thousands of civilians.  Midst  the war hysteria, NATO governments have issued warnings for its citizens and diplomats to flee.  How committed is the West and its military alliance to a diplomatic solution?  Here is good indicator: the US is sending B-52s to the UK, and the 82nd Airborne to Poland. The pundits cannot wait to cheerlead another conflict because war is good for business.

US Person is not a Putin apologist.  The former KGB spy is a ruthless autocrat with imperialist tendencies. Nevertheless, he is open to reason and diplomacy, and from the Russian point of view, he has some legitimate security concerns.  NATO has expanded eastward to Russia's borders after the fall of the Soviet Union, contrary to George HW Bush's assurances that the US was not interested in NATO expansion.  US Secretary of State James Baker III famously told Gorbachev,“not one inch east-ward”. Today, NATO is  thirty countries up from the founding 12. Most of the newer members share borders with Russia.  Consequently, the Russians believe they were deceived by western leaders. Then, under Clinton, the US advocated a putsch against Ukraine's pro-Russian president and favored eventual Ukrainian NATO membership. Nevertheless, Russia did agree to a European security arrangement at Helsinki, and a de-escalation of the separatist dispute in the Donbas at Minsk. Ukraine has little chance of becoming a NATO member any time soon. Its government is too corrupt and authoritarian for some member states. All members of the alliance must agree to a new member being admitted. But that apparently is not good enough for Putin, who views NATO as an offensive military formation. NATO is already in Poland and the Baltic. Ukraine is a country too close for Russian comfort.

Each side has its red lines. Russia will not give up the Crimea, which is majority ethnic Russian, historically Russian territory, and strategically important. The West will not categorically rule out Ukraine becoming a full-fledged member of its military alliance. There is plenty to talk about in between. For example, reinstating the intermediate nuclear forces (INF) treaty that the US dropped out of in 2019, and creating a de-militarized buffer zone between Europe proper and Russia. To create frenzy over troop movements within Russia's own borders is as if Mexico complained about US sending the 82nd Airborne to our southern border. Putin is making an obvious point--Ukraine cannot withstand a full-fledged Russian military assault--everyone knows that. The US, so far, is unwilling to risk a nuclear war with Russia by sending US troops to defend Ukrainian sovereignty. It is time to put the sabres away, and start talking seriously.

'Toontime: Stonewalling the Coup

credit: M. Ramirez, Las Vegas Review

US Person is never surprised by the depth of denial and outright arrogance of the people who did Trump's bidding in his desperate attempt to steal the 2020 election. Authoritarians seem especially adept with the trick US Person calls the 180 degree deflection. An example: the slogan "stop the steal" bellowed by the insurrectionists at the Capitol is completely false when applied to Democrats, but completely true if you applied it to Repugnants. It was only the Loser in Chief who was trying to steal the election. His TV attorney, Rudy Giuliani, even put pressure on local election officials to turn over allegedly fraudulent voting machines to his supporters.  He tore up and flushed White House documents, some of them classified, that he had removed to Mar-a-Lago, illegally. The National Archives found them pieced together with tape when they were returned by the deranged former guy.  People have been criminally prosecuted for less, just ask former lawyer, Sandy Berger.  See Presidential Records Act of 1978.  Somebody should wake the Attorney General, or has the entire coup attempt become jjust another DC political clusterf--k?  If DOJ will not act, we should ask the Soup Police to save democracy!

This week, former trade advisor, Peter Navarro, refused to cooperate with the House Select Committee, which promptly issued him a subpoena to testify. He is claiming executive privilege when he has already revealed much of the material the Committee wants to hear about in his tattletale book.  Ever hear of waiver, Mr. Navarro? Navarro has already wrote that he, "spent a lot of time lining up over 100 congressmen, including some senators. It [the Green Bay Sweep] started out perfectly." He was responsible for authoring a playbook on alleged election fraud with subtitles like, “The Immaculate Deception, “The Art of the Steal,” and, “Yes, President Trump Won.” He told the Committee to talk to Trump's lawyers about his testifying. That ploy is not going to work. Undoubtably he will be cited for contempt of Congress after calling the Committee, "domestic terrorists"--more 180 degree bull. Contempt apparently knows no bounds of propriety with Mr. Navarro. He was given until February 23rd to comply with legal process. Meanwhile, other former White House staffers like Sarah Mathews and Kayleigh McEnany are cooperating with congressional investigators.  Over 500 interviews have been conducted so far.  Drip, drip, drip goes the truth.

credit: M. Wuerker, Politico

Rare Nevada Flower Complicates Lithium Project

credit: Center for Biological Diversity

The US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed critical habitat for Tiehm's buckwheat, an endangered wildflower that lives in only one known place in Nevada.  The high desert ridge near the California line also happens to be the place an Australian company, Ioneer USA Corp. has chosen to site its lithium mine. The rare earth mineral plays a large role in electric vehicle batteries, which are a key part of the administration's plans to fight climate change. The company said the proposed designation was expected and does not impact their plans. The company noted that mining is allowed within designated critical habitat if approved by the Service and BLM.

Demand for lithium is expected to double by 2025. Most of it comes from Australia and South America.  China also has large deposits. The plant is scheduled to be officially declared endangered in September in alignment with a court order. That designation triggers a regulatory obligation to consult with the USFWS before any development that could impact the plant's survival is undertaken.  Fewer than 30,000 plants are thought to exist on ten acres near Tonopah, Nevada. The proposed critical habitat designation is about 910 acres, enough to provide a buffer zone and allow access by pollinators. Conservationists wanted a buffer three times larger. "Ioneeer's plan to coexist with the plant includes transplantation and planting more plants with seeds harvested from greenhouses. nservationists are skeptical that the plan will work. "[The company's]plans to destroy much of the plant’s habitat and establish it somewhere else are highly unlikely to comport with a critical habitat designation, since the rule recognizes that these areas are essential for the species,” said Patrick Donnelly, the Center for Biological Diversity’s Nevada director. The agency said soil studies show a "unique envelope of soil conditions" on which the plant thrives, that do not exist elsewhere.

Work Begins on Hanford Waste Site

historic Hanford High School

Only a half a century has passed since Hanford produced weapons-grade plutonium for the US war effort; nevertheless, work has finally begun on cleaning up the underground storage tanks that hold millons of gallons of highly radioactive waste. The US Energy Department made the announcement that processing of cesium had begun last week. The system cost $130 million. Once the waste is treated it will be sent to another plant on site that will convert it to glass like beads for long term storage. The half life of Cs135 is a mind altering 2.3 million years. As US Person has pointed out, nuclear waste never really goes away, it just morphs into another format. The isolation plant has been under construction since 2002 and is scheduled to start working next year. The cesium removal and isolation system is similar to one operated at Savannah River, South Carolina, which also produced plutonium. 

Hanford has about 56 million gallons of highly radioactive waste temporarily stored in 177 underground tanks that are nearing the end of their useful life. The waste is the result of five decades of operation producing weapons grade plutonium for the US arsenal. The price tag for this arsenal has been astronomical. The complete clean up of Handford will cost somewhere around $300 billion to $640 billion, but no one really knows the eventual cost. The 580 acre site abuts the Columbia River and there is concern that leaking tanks will allow radioactive contamination to reach the river. The DOE is spending about $2.5 billion a year on cleaning contaminated buildings, soil, and groundwater as well as the waste removal and processing. Annual budgets will have to be increased substantailly to allow complete remediation of the national sacrifice zone by 2078.  Meanwhile. Hanford broke an all-time temperature high for the state of Washington on June 29, 2021 of 120 ℉. 

Staten Island Deer Catch Omicron

Staten Island's resident white-tailed deer population, about 1600 strong,  have been infected by Omicron according to researchers who conducted a study of the animals.  Nasal swabs were taken from seven deer in December.  Symptoms are apparently mild.  The study is the first to confirm the Omicron variant in a wild animal population according to the lead scientist from Penn State University.  The result has caused concern the deer could become a reservoir of the SARS CoV-2 virus where it could further mutate and re-infect humans with more serious effect.  One of the affected deer had antibodies from a previous COVID-19 infection, indicating that, like humans, can experience breakthrough infections.  There is no word on whether the animals will be vaccinated; vaccines for veterinary use have been developed. [photo credit: AP]

Deer reached New York's most rural borough by swimming from New Jersey, no mean feat.  Finding the island commodious they began to multiply as animals do.  They have caused problems for the island's motorists and gardeners.  Borough officials engaged a contractor to perform vasectomies on the bucks as a means of population control.  Their numbers have been reduced by 21% since 2017. 

Weekend Music: The Midnight Hour

US Person got his first exposure to "soul", otherwise know as R&B, at NCO clubs in Europe where he walloped pots, shaved spuds, and made pizzas in the kitchen. The sounds coming from the ballroom were powerfully rhythmic for a 13 year old. Here is a performer I particularly remember as much for the brass section blaring out the refrains as the singer-songwriter:

Iceland Will End Whaling

Good news for whales in the Atlantic Ocean:  Iceland has announce it will end commercial whaling in
2024 due to lack of demand. Good on you Icelanders! The fishery minister, a member of the Left-Green party, wrote in an Icelandic newspaper, "there are few justification to authorize the whale hunt beyond 2024. The annual quota for 2019-23 is set at 209 fin whales and 217 minke whales, but two of the licensed commercial hunters have suspended operations. Only one minke whale has been killed in the last three years. The hunt has become too expensive as an inshore no-fishing zone has been extended farther out, requiring harpooners to go farther out to sea. Food safety regulations made it more difficult for the country to export whale products.  The last full season was in 2018, after the country resumed whaling in contravention of the 1986 international moratorium in 2006.  Only Japan and Norway remain as the planet's last whaling nations.  [photo credit: Sea Shepherds]

'Toontime: We Have the Tapes!

credit: D. Wahmond

Nixon had his Rosemary Woods to delete 18 minutes of the White House voice recordings. We may never know what was said in that interval, but it might have been the smoking gun.  Trumpillini's telephone to Georgia's Secretary of State demanding that he find another 11,780 votes so he could be declared the winner of the state was recorded by that state official.  So was his call to the Secretary of State's chief investigator in which he fraudulently attempted to alter the outcome of the state's presidential election.  This gun is not only smoking, it is still warm!  There can be little doubt after this week's reporting that Individual One had corrupt intent to defeat and delay the federal election process utilizing a hair-brained scheme to create chaos by alleging non-existent voting fraud and thereby insert his electors into Congress' vote counting.  This is what the NYT wrote about two campaign memos it has obtained: "[they] were used by Mr. Trump’s top lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, and others like John Eastman as they developed a strategy intended to exploit ambiguities in the Electoral Count Act", according to a person familiar with the matter. The Times goes on, "The memos were initially meant to address Mr. Trump’s challenge to the outcome in Wisconsin, but they ultimately became part of a broader conversation by members of Mr. Trump’s legal team as the president looked toward Jan. 6 and began to exert pressure on Mr. Pence to hold up certification of the Electoral College count." It is relevant to note that these memo were sent to Wisconsin two weeks before the Wisconsin vote was even certified by the state governor,  and a week after the deadline for requesting a recount.  Their methodology is clear: throw a monkeywrench into the machinery and see what breaks.  

Trumpillini was directly involved in efforts to seize voting machines--he asked three different federal agencies, Justice, Defense, and Homeland Security to do his bidding, all of which refused--and in the of filing false certificates by supporters posing as duly appointed Electoral College delegates.  As one veteran Watergate prosecutor put it, the "totality of the circumstances" undeniably demonstrate his corrupt intent to overthrow the duly elected government of the United States.  This narcissistic sociopath is a clear and present danger to democracy, and should never be allowed to hold public office again.

Dear reader, have you now realized why US Person labels the GOP "repugnant"?  This development should be enough explanation and justification: the RNC has declared the January 6th Insurrection, "legitimate public discourse" and censured two party members serving on the House Select Committee.   The GOP has become a obstructionist gang of cranks undermining democracy, NOT a legitimate political party.

credit: J. Ohman, Sacramento Bee
Wackydoodle sez:  He thought it was a hotel!

Another Year of the Tiger

Another year of the tiger has rolled around according to the Chinese lunar calendar. There is good news to report since the last year of the tiger in 2010 when range countries agreed to double their tiger populations by 2022. The results are uneven accross Asian rainge states, but strides are being made in four countries with the largest populations: India, Bhutan, Nepal and Russia. WWF tells US of twelve ways countries are responding to the challenge of increasing tiger numbers in twelve years:

• Countries are increasing connectivity of protected areas to allow tigers to roam naturally in search of prey and mates. Russia has seen its tiger population triple in the Land of the Leopard National Park located in the nation's Far East;
• Involving local human populations in tiger conservation is an important way of protecting the species at risk.  Nepals Khata Corridor has expanded from 248 acres to 9,390 acres as a result of local communtiy efforts.  This functional corridor allows tigers to move between Nepal and India
• WWF is working with governments to break the illegal trade in tiger parts.  An international black market demands cooperative law enforcement.  There has been an increase in regional cooperation leading to more political support for tiger conservation efforts.
• Expanding tiger habitat has led to sightings of tigers in new areas.  Nepal has recorded tigers at altitudes never before seen, expanding its habitat by 124 miles.
• In India, tiger reserves sometimes loose their indigenous tiger population as human activity encroaches or prey leaves the area.  Conservation officers have engaged in relocation activity in Rajaji Tiger Reserve, where breeding has not occurred since 2006.  As of January 2021 two adult tigers have been relocated from Corbett Tiger Reserve to Rajaji. More relocation are planned, since some tiger reserves are confronting an over-population problem
• Supporting the effort of rangers assigned to protect tigers helps.  Bhutan's Royal Manas NP has doubled its tiger numbers through improved ranger patrolling using a portable app called SMART which allows rangers to access a wildlife database and adapt their patrolling to the locations of greatest threat.
• Human-tiger conflict is increasing in the world's most populated regions. Pilibhit Tiger Reserve has community response teams that get involved in conflict situations by educating the public, understanding tiger behavior, and identifying tiger prints. They support local officials who respond to tiger conflict situations. This type of intervention can save lives--tiger and human.
• Thailand has lost many of its tigers, but is making an effort to restore prey species such as muntjac, sambar deer, and gaur in an important step towards tiger recovery.
• In Southeast Asia, snaring is extensively used as a away to catch food.  Snare also catch tigers, which leads to fatal results. Malaysia's tiger population continues to decline due to habit loss and snaring. Patrol teams in the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex have reduced active snares by 94%
• India registered 50 tiger reserves in 2020.  It has sixty percent of the world's population of tigers and   almost 1.4 billion people.  Within a year 14 of the reserves met sustainable conservation standards set by the CATS program (Conservation Assured Tiger Standards)
• The tiny country of Bhutan, partnering with WWF has set about obtaining sustainable financing for its network of protected areas including tiger corridors and high biodiverse conservation areas.  An amazing 51% of the nation in a protected status under the Bhutan for Life program.

This September, tiger range states will meet again to assess their progress, and hopefully, renew their commitment to saving the magnificent wild tiger.  Green Kudos go out to all!