The Tiniest Fossil Hunters

Ants are amazing.  They have enormous strength for their size and are immensely social creatures that build complex structures.  But did you know that harvest ants (Pogonomyrmex spp.) are the world's tiniest fossil hunters?  Harvest ants actually collect micro fossils to add to their nest mounds.  This unique characteristic is so well known that paleontologists recognize their mounds as good places to search for small fossils that might be overlooked. The mounds can last for decades, so the amount of fossils collected by the industrious insects is considerable.  Most people consider them pests since they have ravenous appetites for vegetation. Land surround their nests are picked clean for thirty feet away. [photo credit: Nat Geo]

They use small pebbles and gravel about the size of beads to fortify the entrance to their underground homes.  For some unknown reasons they have a predilection for small fossils and artifacts. When researchers at the Gullota Ranch in Nebraska studied nineteen harvester ant mounds, they found an astonishing  6,000 micro-fossils of ancient mammals.  These include small teeth and bone fragments from rodents, bats, primates and rabbit precursors that were living at the end of the Eocene Epoch, some 34 million years ago   These minute remnants allow scientists to piece together the decent and development of species through time. Over 80 mammalian taxa were recognized in the ants' extensive collection, including ten new species and four new genera.  Without the ants' peculiar collecting behavior these records of ancient life might have been missed altogether.

The bonanza of tiny fossil collections by these insects has been known since at least 1896 when paleontologist John Bell Hatcher advised collectors to frequent anthills, as "they will almost always yield a goodly number of mammal teeth".  Their behavior has become folk-lore, but not extensively studied.  In one 2007 study, the ants were found to collect small chips from stones, possible the debris from tool making by humans.  Ants will go to great lengths to find suitable material for their mounds--up to 157 feet away, or the human equivalent of seven miles.  [unidentified bat jaw fragment, credit C. Boyd]

The land was much different at the beginning of the Oligocene.  Instead of dry plains, the landscape was wetter and more forested, and the weather much more humid.  The fossils probably represent small mammals eaten by predictors and left behind in their scat to be fossilized and collected by harvester ants.  They only collect specimens of a certain size, so they cannot be considered fossil curators.  But when walking the landscape looking for fossils, it pays to keep an eye out for ant mounds. Mr. Gulotta, himself an avid fossil hunter, donated the micro-fossils to science.

TWIT: When the Plates Hit the Wall

credit: E. Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune

This week's surprise witness before the January 6th Committee was not really a surprise, but the testimony of the college intern-assistant to former chief of staff, Mark Meadows made headlines. The Committee had previously announced it would recess until July, but that turned out not to be accurate, as they scheduled today's hearing on short notice.  Someone on the staff has a sensitivity for the CMM news cycle: with Congress in recess, the investigation panel was sure to have ample media attention.

Cassidy Hutchinson has previously testified four times in private, but the public revelation of what she said about inside the White House during the attempted coup is illuminating. The true character of the would-be King of 'Merica is revealed: an arrogant bully with a volcanic temper. US Person does not have to remind his readers that hearsay is permissible evidence in a proceeding like a congressional investigation--it is not a court of law. But those complicit in the coup attempt--that includes at least six Congress members--should take cold comfort in that fact, or show up and testify in person. (Mark and Mike are you reading this?) 

Ms. Hutchinson told Liz Cheney that after seeing an AP news report on television that there was no credible evidence of vote fraud in the election, Herr Trumpillini threw his lunch plate at the dinning room wall.  Apparently this is not the first time he has taken his rage out on the White House dinnerware according to the former intern.  When the Secret Service agent driving his limousine refused to take Trump to the Capitol to be with his violent supporters, Trump attempted to take the wheel from the back seat, shouting at the driver,  "I am the f---ing President".  The Secret Service denies this happened.  Of course the agents in the presidential SUV should appear and testify under oath that this incident did not occur.  

Besides taking the wraps off his appallingly unstable personality, Ms Hutchinson also testified that the White House staff and Trumpillini knew the January 6th rally had a significant potential for violent protest since some participants were armed. Anthony Ornato, deputy to Mark Meadows, told the President  that people arriving on the Ellipse were carrying weapons including guns, knives, spears and bear spray.  When Mark Meadows was told that the mob was in danger of overrunning the Capitol Police, Hutchinson testified he had almost no reaction.  When White House Counsel, Pat Cipollone stormed into Meadow's office to demand something be done to call off the rioters, Meadows replied, "He doesn't want to do anything, Pat".  Trump even wanted the metal detectors at his Ellipse rally perimeter removed, so his extremist minions could carry their weapons to the Capitol since they "are not after me".

What Hutchinson's explosive testimony demonstrates more than anything, is testimony from the eyewitnesses interacting directly with the deranged former guy is necessary.  Mark Meadows has already disobeyed a subpoena to appear and give testimony.  The Committee should subpoena him again, and former VP Mike Pence, and those congress members implicated in the coup plotting*.  Has the public gone so numb that they do not care about continuing democracy in America?  US Person lived through Watergate--this autogolpe is much more egregious than that. Nixon only tried to use the government to take down his enemies, not take down the entire federal government.  Shown to be criminal by disposition, Trump is totally unfit to hold high public office.  Do you need more reason to move your department, Mr. Garland?

*Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), and Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.). Only Boebert, Gosar and Cawthorn did not ask the coup instigator for a pardon.

BC Idonwanna sez:  Submitted for your approval.... 

TWIT: Donny's Bogus Electors

Wackydoodle sez:  He sent in the clowns!

As part of the sprawling coup plan that spread to all three branches of government, the House Select Committee on Tuesday presented evidence of Herr Trumpillini's direct involvement in a scheme to present alternative slates of electors to Congress.  He was part of a pressure campaign against state legislators and officials to present alternative slates of sympathetic electors so they could be forwarded for consideration by Congress. 

The scheme began shortly after the election when a kraken lawyer, Cleta Mitchell sent an email to Rudy Giuliani suggesting the idea.  Her suggestion was joined by Kenneth Chesebro another lawyer on the Trump roster.  By Thanksgiving all were on board including the former president.  It is clear the scheme attempted to take advantage of the arcane provisions of the Electoral Count Act, which was intended to prevent a election being decided by the House of Representatives as it was in 1876 after a prolonged constitutional crisis.  At one point Trump got on the phone with John Eastman and Ronna McDaniel, the RNC chairwoman, to emphasize the importance of these bogus electors.  At the time there were significant doubts about the legality of the effort. Even Giuliani told a meeting of Arizona legislators,“We’ve got lots of theories, we just don’t have the evidence.”  Trump and his allies attempted to coerce officials in seven swing states.  Pennsylvania's House Speaker had to ask the Trump lawyers to stop their daily calls to his office because they were inappropriate.

Despite the well-founded misgivings, the plan had supporters in Congress. Senator  Ron Johnson (R-WI) was wiling to hand Mike Pence a bogus list of electors in the House of Representatives during his ceremonial vote count.  He has denied he had anything to do with presenting fake electors to the Vice President.  Not so with former DOJ lawyer Jeffery Clark, who was Trump's surprising pick to be Acting Attorney General.  Clark's most salient qualification--he was a civil lawyer in environment section of DOJ backed by GOP Congressman Scott Perry--was his willingness to send a letter to Georgia election officials alleging the election in Georgia was corrupted by fraud.  Trump did not care if that was true--he knew it was NOT.  Whatl he wanted was an official statement to that effect; he and his congressional supporters 'would take care of the rest'.  Clark's northern Virginia home was raided in the early hours of Thursday morning by FBI agents with a search warrant, presumably to seize evidence related to the bogus electors scheme.  When disposed by the Select Committee's investigators, Clark took the Fifth over a hundred times.

The Committee will take a hiatus to gather and review more evidence. Hopefully they will find the courage to summon Mike Pence, the crucial cog in Trump's diabolical plan to stay in power.  The country needs to hear from him.  The Committee plans to reconvene in July.

Iraq Gazelles Dying

In a country already devoted by years of war, the elegant Rhim gazelles in the Sawa Reserve are dropping dead from hunger.  Climate change has intensified drought to the point that nothing grows. In a little over month the population of gazelles had plunged from 148 to 87.  IUCN has classified them as endangered,  Outside of Iraq they are found in Libya, Egypt and Algeria, but according to conservation organization they are unlikely to number more than a few hundred.

The reserve is not able to supply emergency forage because it is out of funds.  The government is crippled by urgent needs, corruption and financial crisis.  At three other reserves further north, the populations have fallen by 25 percent.  Sawa was established in 2007 near the southern city of Samawah.   Summer has just begun by temperatures have already exceeded 50℃.  Lakes and rivers are drying up.  These gazelles are desert adapted animals, but even they succumb to the extreme conditions.  Desertification affects 39% of Iraq.  The president sent 100 million dinars to the reserve (($68,000) but its not enough.  The gazelles simply lie prostrate, panting under the merciless sun until they expire. [photo credit; AFP]

Unique Polar Bears in Greenland

A genetically distinct population of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) has been documented living in southeastern Greenland.  Their access to sea ice is limited, which may account for their genetic difference.  The survive on the freshwater of the Greenland ice sheet,.  The lead author of a Science journal article said  indigenous people know if the bears, but the population had not been studied before.

They are still able to catch and consume seals on the sea ice between February and late May, after that they hunt the coastline using ice that has broken away land. The glacial ice makes the area a small refuge from the effects of climate change, which is rapidly causing sea ice to melt rapidly or not form at all. The glaciers that make a home for these bears exists elsewhere, such as in Svalbard and other inlets of the Greenland coast, but the combination of geological factors and abundant glaciers make this southeastern Greenland a redoubt for polar bears.  They provide an example of how polar bears may persist when sea ice has largely vanished.  Southeast Greenland's sea ice now resembles the conditions predicted for much of the Arctic by late this century.

Researchers collected thirty years of historic data from eastern Greenland with seven years of data from the remote and rugged southeastern region.  They also consulted with subsistence hunters, and tacked bears from the air.  They found the bears trekking over mountainous terrain to reach fjords filled with glacial ice.  Of the twenty-seven bears tracked by the study half of them floated down the coast for one hundred and twenty miles before hopping off their iceberg and returning home by land.  Scientist say while the newly documented habitat provides some hope for polar bear survival, it his too limited to support a large population of bears.  Glacial bear females are smaller than other females and have fewer cubs. a condition that may be related the rugged terrain and long searches for mates. These bears are so distinct that researchers have proposed this population to be the 20th polar bear subspecies. [glacial bear and cubs, credit: K. Laidre]

Polar bears are taking matters into their own paws as they spend increasing amounts of time on shore. As they move south in search of food, they meet the grizzlies that are moving north due a warming climate. Thus the number of polar bear and grizzly bear hybrids are increasing.  The first documented hybrid was shot in 2006.  DNA testing confirmed it was a "prizzly" bear--a hybrid.  The two species only diverged genetically 600,000 years ago, so they are able to produce viable offspring, which are also fertile. A 2017 study confirmed eight hybrid bears produced by a single polar bear mother and two male grizzlies.  It remains to be seen if these hybrids are able to adapt successfully to a rapidly warming environment,  Polar bear populations are expected to decline by 30% in the next thirty years.

Lion Tamarins of Brazil III

The golden-headed lion tamarin, Leontopithecus chrysomelas, has managed to adapt to humans more successfully than its relatives. Because they live  around humans, the way they are conserved and studied has changed.  They reproduce well in the cabrucas--cocoa plantations which are planted in the shade of natural forest. They eat and use a variety of trees and vegetation. It was once thought their conservation status could be adjusted to "threatened" instead of "endangered". New data shows that may not be advisable. In the past decade their numbers were thought to be between 15,000 and 20,000. Recent preliminary data indicates that number has fallen. The species has become extinct in a number of areas in its native Bahia and Minas Gerais states.

When forest fragments become too small, the phenomenon of border effect appears where the forest is exposed to weather and drys out. The resources used by the monkeys disappear and so do they.  Researchers estimate that a tamarin need  a minimum of one hundred acres on intact forest to survive, but this is not enough for a group to survive long term.Local people have become interested in the monkeys' plight. The Bahamian Lion Tamarin Conservation Initiative was begun to help the species caught between protected areas and private land. One of the programs goals is to speed the registration of private land, which aids conservation efforts. Participation of local landowners is essential if the golden-headed, also known as the Bahamian--tamarin is to be effectively conserved. It is a program the values the land and the cultural tradition of cocoa farming. The Bahamian is the state's symbol as the Golden is Rio de Janeiro's. Cabruqueiros--cocoa farmers--are rightly proud of such a beautiful species living along side them in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil.

Music Weekend: Traffic!

This another of US Person's favorite early 70s progressive rock group. The mono version sounds like the band is at the bottom of a barrel,  but Mono was still a thing then. This is the stereo remastered version that does justice to the excellent lead guitar riffs and a throbbing drum line.  

The band that was formed in 1967 at Birmingham, England included Steve Winwood, who was the lead singer for the Spenser Davis Group at age 14 ("Gimme Some Lovin'"), and Dave Mason, an underated solo performer who wrote the classic hit "Feeling All Right" covered famously by Joe Cocker and Three Dog Night. The Traffic broke up when Winwood and Mason left the band. But the band reformed in 1970 and then released its most successful album, John Barleycorn Must Die reaching number 5 in the USA. The title song is a traditional about the barley harvest NOT a dipsomaniac. Imagine the things you can learn from listening to rock music! The fourfounding members were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. As an added bonus here is Dave on the hit TV music show, Midnight Special. The seventies were definitely cool.  

And US could not resist this clip where Mason sings his classic with members of the Doobie Bros and Mick Fleetwood! The talent just drips as they jam:

'Toontime: the Untouchables.

credit: de Adder, Washington Post
Wackydoodle axes:  Can lil' Donny swim?

This week's public hearing of the J6 Committee focused on the pressure campaign against Vice President Mike Pence to coerce him into rejecting Electoral College votes from swing states during the joint congressional session on January 6th. Pence previously was notable for his craven acquiesence towards his boss, but decided at the last moment to stand up for democracy in a heated phone call with Herr Trumpillini the morning of January 6th. The would-be dictator called his VP "a wimp" for refusing to participate in his autogolpe he and his cast of crazies had cooked up. John Eastman, the former clerk of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and law professor, was the primary author and advocate of the illegal seven point plan to overthrow the duly elected government of the USA. 

Eastman was in the room when Vice President Gore ceremoniously counted electoral votes in the 2000 election when there were legitimate objections to the vote count from Florida. Eastman himself admitted in a conversation with Mike Pense's legal adviser, Greg Jacobs, that his idea to get Pence to reject votes was unconstitutional. Jacob told him his plan violated the Electoral Count Act, which Eastman disparaged. Most telling of his state of mind is his e-mail to fixer Rudy Giuliani saying that he should be put on the "pardon list". Both Eastman and the former president knew that their efforts to overturn the election were illegal. Trumpillini was repeatedly told his claims of vote fraud were baseless, and that the Vice President did not have the power to single-handedly overrule the results. The advisors of illegality included the plan's author, John Eastman.  He took the Fifth one hundred times during his deposition by investigators of the House Select Committee.  While Pence was fleeing a violent mob at the Capitol, evading them by a mere forty feet, Trumpillini issued a tweet criticizing Pence for his "lack of courage" that further incited the insurrectionists who had erected a gallows on Capitol Hill.  Would they have actually used it or was this only psychodrama?  You decide.

Perhaps the biggest bombshell among many is the request for testimony from Virginia Thomas, a right-wing activist and wife of reactionary Justice Clarence Thomas. She was in contact with Mark Meadows and John Eastman about the coup. She wrote to the then Chief of Staff to "unleash the Kraken", referring to a team of volunteer conservative lawyers that included the incredible Sidney Powell. She lobbied twenty-nine state legislators in Arizona to support an alternative slate of electors, and communicated with Congress members sympathetic to the cause. John Eastman suggested at one point that Clarence Thomas might vote to hear an election fraud case if it came to the Court. On what information he based that opinion is open to question. Thomas was the only Jutice to vote agianst Trump in his attempt to block release of documents to the House investigators. More revelations are to come. In the meanwhile™, why is not eyewitness Mike Pence summoned to testify?  After all President Trump did it, and it is a crime*.

credit: M. Ramirez, Las Vegas Review-Journal
BC Idonwanna sez:  Just the facts, ma'am!

*18 U.S.C. § 371—Conspiracy to Defraud the United States | JM | Department of Justice; 18 U.S. Code § 1505 - Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute

Lion Tamarins of Brazil II

The black tamarin,Leontopithecus chrysopygus, also a native of the Atlantic Forest in São Paulo was lost and forgotten to science until it was reported in a 1905 journal article. The primate was first described in 1823. Another six decades would pass before it was sighted again. Primatologist Alvaro Aguirre came upon two stuffed carcasses in a Rio shop that specialized in two other tamarins, the golden and golden-headed. Soon after their rediscovery, the government gave permission to send seven individuals to the Tijuca Biological Bank, which marked the beginning of their captive management. [photo credit: L. Candisani]

As the state grew, more electricity was needed so hydroelectric dams were built in the middle of black tamarin habitat. Fortunately, the head of the electric company had a scientific sensibility and set up a working group to prevent eradiction of the species by development. The efforts of company advisors and conservationists resulted in the establishment of the Moro Do Diabo park in 1986. Eighty percent of the black tamarin population lives in the park, with another 20% scattered in forest fragments. The park population is estiamted at 1200 individuals.

The conservation goal is to connect fragments and establish viable populations outside of Moro Do Diabo, for example in the Tiete River basin where black tamarins once lived. Estimates are that 600-700 black lion tamarins live in 19 forest fragments in the region. Conservationists hope to gain genetic diversity among isolated groups by relocating them or connecting their forest fragment with others by biological corridors.

The black-faced tamarin was once thought to be a color variation of L. chrysopygus, but genetic studies in 1999 and 2008 dispelled this idea.  Also known as the coastal tamarin, Leontopithecus caissara, it lives in the state of Parana.  Although its home is the largest stretch of uninterrupted Atlantic Forest, the primate was left stranded by the construction of a canal to connect inland São Paulo to coastal ports.  It divided the black faced tamarin population between those stranded on what is now an island and the mainland.  Not much is known about this species, especially why the population has remained small when it occupies such a large area of untouched forest.  The last population estimate in 2002 was 392 still living in the wild.  Researchers want to capture a few individuals to place tracking collars on them and determine if the contracted yellow fever. [photo credit: L. Sipinski] Their habitat situation is more favorable than their cousins despite being on the coast and separated by a waterway they cannot cross.  

There are no captive black-faced tamarins, so intervention on the scale of the golden tamarin is not possible.  Without a reserve population a natural disaster such as an epidemic or hurricane could wipe them out.  Because of this danger, a decision was made in 2021 to establish a captive population for further study and conservation of the species.  Next: Golden-headed lions between cocoa plantations.

Brazil Working to Protect Lion Tamarins I

Brazil's spectacularly handsome golden lion tamarin, Leontopithecus rosalia, is hanging on in the remanent patches of the once extensive Atlantic Forest. The golden is just one of four species of lion tamarins: the black, the golden headed and the black headed are also residents of the forest that is rapidly disappearing. Preserving the forest dwelling tamarins is a fight to preserve what is left of this important biome. [photo credit: M. Isensee]

The golden is the best known to science, first documented by a member of Magellan's 1519 expedition. Darwin also took an interest in the brightly colored primate. Knowledge of their existence led inevitably to their exploitation by man. Hunting, trafficking and habitat destruction has reduced their range along the Atlantic coast of Rio de Janerio state. Now they live in forest fragments in the Rio Joao river basin between towns in the area. One of the first population counts in 1969 totaled 600 tamarins. By 1977 that number was reduced to between 100 and 200 individuals living in the wild. An alarm was sounded by primatologists concerned for their extinction.

In the fifty years since then, golden tamarins have rebounded due to concerted conservation efforts, including captive breeding, and the creation of several protected reserves. These efforts have also helped preserve forest tracts, but they are fragmented. An assessment of the tamarins conservation status in 2005 concluded that for tamarins to survive one hundred years into the future, there needs to be at least 2,000 tamarins living across 62,000 acres of connected forest by 2025. Brazil now has that many tamarins and forest hectares, but the problem is connecting these habitats. As exclusive forest dwellers, tamarins will not cross pastures to reach another forested area. When lion tamarins reach about 2 years old they are expelled from their troop to fend for themselves, and find a corner of the forest to call their own. Their territory is about 125 acres, which they defend vigorously against outsiders. An expelled lion tamarin may find himself at the edge of a forest fragment with nowhere to go except down where he is very vulneralble to predation.

The laregest block of intact Atlantic forest is the twenty thousand hectare tract in União Biological Reserve and the Aldeia Velha area of Silva Jardim municipality. The forest is bounded by a major freeway leading into the city of Rio de Janero. Fortunately a wildlife crossing was built, which helps in the dire situation. When BR101 was widened, a lengthy legal struggled ensured over the required mitigation structures: ten treetop passage ways, fifteen underground tunnels and one vegetation covered viaduct. In 2020 the planted bridge was inaugurated. Tamarins will not be able to use it effectively until the planted trees are big enough for them to use. Not a perfect solution, but a viable start to connecting the forest.

Habitat fragmentation is not the only threat to lion tamarins. In 2017 yellow fever broke out, killing a third of their population, about 1200 hundred individuals. In the Poco das Antas reserve only 33 of the 380 tamarins that lived there survived the disease. The solution was obvious: innoculate both humans and primates. The human yellow fever vaccine has been available for eighty years. But a primate version was not available in 2017, until it was developed by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil's leading biomedical reserch institute and tested on captive golden-headed tamarins Vaccination of golden lion tamarins began in November 2020 with the goal of vaccinating 400 tamarins by the end 2022. So far, 200 hundred have gotten their shot. The golden lion tarmarin is the first non-human species in the world to be vaccinated against yellow fever. Next post: the return of the black tamarin.

TWIT: STOP THE VOTE!

This gets sicker the more evidence becomes public.  The J6 Committee conducted its second public hearing today with more effluvia from the twisted mind of Herr Trumpillini reaching the surface.  Witnesses testified that he was aware of the phenomenon of the "red mirage", a voting pattern present in recent national elections where Democrats tend to vote early and absentee more than Republicans.  Those votes are usually not counted first as are Election Day ballots.  When early returns showed Trump ahead of Biden, he demanded that voting be stopped!  Yes, that is right, he was willing to do anything and everything to manipulate the result so he could stay in his temporary home on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  The only advisor he wanted to listen to on Election night was a drunk Rudy Giuliani who backed him up.

LOOK, it is painfully obvious that Trump's severe personality disorder, malignant narcissism, prevented him from accepting the reality of his loss on Election night. William Barr testified that in the days after the loss, his boss became "detached from reality."Barr also said that in the weeks after the election, he repeatedly told Mr. Trump “how crazy some of these [fraud] allegations were.”

But in the weeks thereafter,  the BIG LIE took on a life of its own and is serving his political ends to this day.  Reportedly he and his minions have raised $250 million peddling his delusion--the harmful effects on democracy be damned.  The money went into a slush fund set up by Trump, to be dispersed to his allies and friends--the "BIG CON" to go with the BIG LIE

Before he was ambushed by assassins in Dallas, John Kennedy planned to deliver this warning,

“...voices preaching doctrines wholly unrelated to reality,”[could] handicap this country’s security....We cannot expect that everyone, to use the phrase of a decade ago, will ‘talk sense to the American people.’ But we can hope that fewer people will listen to nonsense.”

Kennedy still leads his people from heaven on the right path.  God save the Republic from men who "lust for power".

credit: J. Darcy, Cleveland.com
BC Idonwanna sez:  But you are a crook!

TWIT: Checked Out

credit: N. Listes
Wackydoodle sez: Too far to walk!

The first day of public hearings yesterday removed all reasonable doubt that the insurrection was planned in advance and that Herr Donald Trumpillini would use it as a latch ditch attempt to overthrow the election results. His fake elector scheme, cooked up by John Eastman*, did not work in swing states, and he could not convince the Georgia Secretary of State to find him some more votes. VP Pence was not cooperating with his autogolpe, so he turned to his last, desperate gambit--a violent riot to stop the vote count at the Capitol led by the extremist sturmtruppen, Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. He was apparently willing to see his vice-president lynched by the mob. "Maybe our supporters have the right idea", a more condemning utterance he could not make.

The desperate despot was told repeatedly that there were no hidden ballots, rigged voting machines or support for his fraud claims. Nevertheless Trump refused to accept defeat. William Barr told him several times his fraud claims were bullish--t. His daughter Ivanka believed the AG.  What was his comment about that incongruity? His daughter was "checked out" of the election, and did not understand how elections work in America. That is one hundred and eighty degrees away from the truth. But then he is used to getting his way despite the truth. He may be able to finesse a New York City development deal, but not a presidential election, at least not yet.

US Person hopes, for the sake of what remains of democracy in the USA, that MAGA voters will watch the proceedings and change their minds about Donald J. Trump, the most corrupt president in the history of this country. After all, he told you so. So why in hell is Merritt Garland not indicting him now? 

credit: Margulies

* Federal District Court Judge David O. Carter ordered Eastman, Trump's latter day G. Gordon Liddy, to turn over more documents to the House Select Committee on Tuesday.  Several of these documents relate to meetings held between plotters in early December to plan for alternative slates of state electors that would favor Trump. The December 9th meeting agenda included a member of Congress to discuss challenging the election results in the House of Representatives. Eastman also submitted memos concerning the plan to presidential staff members, and contacted sympathetic legislators in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Judge Carter conceded in his order that Trump's pressure campaign to stop the count reached every tier of federal and state elected officials.  "...President Trump's plan to stop the count was not only established by early December, it was the ultimate goal that the legal team was working to protect from that point forward,"he wrote.

Rare Nursery for Manta Rays Confirmed

Scientists have confirmed through research that a rare sanctuary for juvenile reef rays (Mobula Alfredi) is located in Wayag Lagoon [photo below] in Papua New Guinea's (Indonesia) isolated Raja Ampat archipelago. Observations from 2013 to 2021 show young rays congregate in the shallow, sheltered lagoon without adults and do not leave for months.  Rays are already protected under Indonesian law, but authorities are beginning to revise how the lagoon is managed to prevent human disturbance of the juveniles.  Raja Ampat clear, calm waters and diverse marine life draw divers from all over the world,

Confirmation of nurseries are rare to science.  There must be evidence that juveniles frequent the site and stay there for extended periods of time, and that the site is repeatedly used in the same manner according to a 2007 study on juvenile sharks.  Four nurseries are thought to exist in the archipelago, making Raja Ampat a key resource for manta ray reproduction along with Komodo National Park.  The team's research lead by New Zealand researcher from the University of Aukland was published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. [photo credit: U. Aukland]. It may be that ocean manta rays, Mobula birostris, use New Zealand waters for a nursery, possibly in Hauraki Gulf.  But more research on this possibility needs to be done before a nursery site is confirmed,    

Manta rays are graceful and intelligent creatures that have an extremely streamlined body plan that allows them to literally fly through the water. ;Until recently, they have also been mysterious animals. Science has begun to study them in earnest, learning more abut their lives and habits. Oceanic mantas are endangered and reef mantas are vulnerable.  More knowledge of their ecology will help prevent their extinction in the wild. Lead researcher, Edy Setyawan told interviewers,“In the manta nursery zone, tourists and visitors will still be allowed to view and interact with the manta rays under a strict code of conduct, but no fishing is allowed,” says Setyawan. “Other regulations being formulated include limiting boat speeds to a maximum of five knots within the lagoon and stipulating specific areas where visiting yachts and boats can moor without disturbing the juvenile rays.”  Raja Ampat is a protected marine reserve, but unfortunately rays are targeted for their gill plates, which are used in Chinese folk medicine.

Ukraine in Charts II

On the theme of Ukrainian resources, PNG has a chart that is explanatory of the current situation in Europe.  Ukraine is geographically a European country (second largest after eastern Russia), and increasingly from a political perspective too.  President Zelensky has asked to join the EU since his country was attacked by the Russian Federation.  This increasing western orientation is one of the complaints Putin has about his slavic neighbor that used to be part of the Soviet Union.  Ukraine has large gas deposits that could eventually replace the EU's dependence on Russian oil and gas with European technological assistance. Crimea is dependent on water supplies controlled by Ukraine.

Unfortunately, the EU has been unable to see its way clear to embargoing Russian oil and gas, primarily because of Hungary's objections to a complete ban.  The EU executive was forced to exempt Hungary's pipeline to Russia on which it relies for oil supply from new sanctions on Russian oil.  It has yet to act on a natural gas embargo that is a much more difficult supply to curtail since Russia supplies 41% of Europe's natural gas resource.  A wholesale embargo would be much more effective weapon than a handful of mobile missile launchers the west is currently willing to supply.

COTW: Ukraine in Charts I

Putin's War on Ukraine has lasted over a 100 days, with no pid end in sight. After loosing his bid to take Kyiv, his war aims have shifted to taking the Donbas region. Russian separatists have been fighting the Kyiv government for almost a decade in this industrialized region. These forces, supported by Russia, occupied about 17% of the nation's land area; now, the Russians control about 75% of the region, or together with Crimea and the southeastern coastal strip, a fifth of Ukraine. Negotiating an end to the fighting under these circumstances is a difficult proposition for both sides. Fighting in Donbas is now a war of attrition with both sides taking serious casualties, although the higher number is believed to be on the Russian side. The Biden Administration recently acceded to Ukraine's request for HMARS, a mid-range battlefield missile, it believes could help it push the Russians out of the country. But no single weapon system will win this war.

So why is Putin willing to risk thousands of Russian lives and debilitating international sanctions to take over the Donbas completely? Aside from the obvious propaganda claims of "de-nazification"*, wars are often fought over resources. Ukraine is rich in resources, notably natural gas, coal, and iron ore. Rich and extensive farmland supplies the international grain market. According to the US Department of Agriculture, Ukraine is the world's fifth largest exporter of wheat, fourth largest of corn, and first in sunflower oil and meal. It also produces in significant amounts sugar beets and potatoes. Disruption of Ukraine's wheat harvest threatens to produce famine in Africa. Besides untapped gas reserves estimated to be among the largest in Europe, (26th in the world) the country is criss-crossed by transnational gas pipelines. Even though not a member of NATO, Ukraine is the fourth largest recipient of US military aide. US Person always made sure he occupied Ukraine when he played the board game of "Risk". This informative chart shows the story:

*Ukraine has a history of extremist right-wing parties, including national-socialists. Ukrainians fielded a volunteer Waffen SS division in 1943 called the First Galician that fought the Red Army.  Fast forward to today's Azov Battalion made up of neo-nazis.  After a bitter and protracted siege of the Azvostal Steel plant in Mariupol, surviving members of the Battalion were forced to give up. Prisoners were directed to undress, exposing their nazi tattoos--swastikas, black suns, and SS numbers 14 and 88. A celebrated name in Ukrainian history is Stepan Bandera who lead a faction of the ONU, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, An ultra-natioinalist party that had sympathies for, and collaborated with Nazi Germany. Bandera's followers made up two of the most famous battalions, Roland and Nachtigall, that were trained by the Abwehr prior to Germany's invasion of Russia. Roman Shukhevych, Nachtigall's deputy commander, participated in the execution of Ukrainian Jews.

Bandera spent most of his adult life underground or in prison. In 1956 he was murdered by a KGB agent. Today he is an iconic freedom-fighter hero of the right. So Putin's claims of nazi taint are not wholly imaginary, but they are wildly exaggerated. For example, Putin has accused the Ukrainian government of genocide.  The ultra-right's presence in modern Ukrainian politics is complex. Svoboda, the modern far-right party, did not make the 2% electoral threshold in the most recent election, but according to knowledgeable observers it possesses resources and support outsized from its electoral popularity. They point to its successful effort to block the Minsk Protocol--intended to end the Donbas fighting-- in parliament. Nationalists stage a violent 2015 protest against the decision to pass the Protocol in which four policeman was killed by a hurled grenade. No one was prosecuted for the incident.  In 2019  Azov Battalion veterans occupied the village of Zolote in Luhansk despite President Zelensky's intent to withdraw and begin implementation of the Minsk Protocol.

TWIT: Another Indictment for Contempt

Peter Navarro, former trade advisor and coup plotter, was indicted for criminal contempt of Congress this week.  That makes only 2 out of 4 of those plotters referred to DOJ for prosecution.  Steve Bannon goes to trial shortly, but Mark Meadows, former chief of staff, who was a nexus of the plot escaped prosecution by appearing to cooperate with the House Select Committee. Former deputy chief of staff, Dan Scavino, a relatively minor player, also avoided prosecution. Although he never appeared to testify, Meadows did turn over 9,000 text messages that reveal a timeline of events before and during the riot on Capitol Hill that threatened the lives of Congress members and police.  His legal tactic was intended to provide just enough information to make prosecution for willful defiance of the Committee difficult. When asked by reporters to comment on DOJ's nolo prosequi, his attorney said,“The result speaks for itself.”

Navarro appeared in court on Friday, still defiant, to answer two charges of criminal contempt, one for refusing to testify and another for refusing to produced documents wanted by the Committee. He was subpoenaed in February. If convicted he could be fined up to $100,000 and one year of detention for each count. His refusal to cooperate with the investigation was blatant as was Steve Bannon's.  Chairman Thompson wrote to Navarro, "And because you have already discussed these issues and other relevant issues in your recently published book....we look forward to discussing them with you, too."

The former aide disclosed to reporters that he has received another grand jury subpoena in the DOJ's investigation of the insurrection, a sign that the reluctant law enforcement agency has finally turned its attention to the principle coup plotters.  If that investigation is conducted with integrity, it will lead only to one man: Herr Donald "the Boss" Trumpillini.

Cur at the helm?

COTW: Pandemic Rising

This chart from the NYT shows the COVID-19 pandemic is not going away soon. Hospitalizations and deaths are both rising:

About 100,000 cases are reported each day in the US, but many cases go unreported.  The country has the highest number of deaths in the world, recently surpassing the 1 million mark--more than those who died in the great flu pandemic of 1918-20 when the world was without effective vaccines.  At first New York City was hit hardest, accounting for 20% of the deaths in the first wave of infection although it accounts for only 3% of the population.  The virus soon spread to the rest of the nation reaching its peak in the winter of 2020-21.  

The US has been notable for the inability to convince its citizens to get vaccinated.  About a third of the nation is unvaccinated and seventy percent have not received a booster shot.  Compare that to Canada where only 17% of the population are unvaccinated and 46% have not had a booster dose.  Half of COVID-19 deaths in the US occurred after vaccines were widely available. During the latest Omicron wave, the country lost more citizens to the disease at a rate higher than Germany, France, UK, or Canada.  Just another example of American exceptionalism.

Connecticut Police Investigate Bear Killing

It is illegal to kill bears in Connecticut except in cases of self-defense.  A popular local black bear named Bobbi Bear was killed in a Thursday incident near Newtown that involved an off-duty police officer.  Authorities would not provide details of the killing. Bobbi was a mother with two cubs. Her cubs are now orphans, but have been allowed to roam freely in their home range. There have been requests to send the cubs to a rehab center, but so far wildlife officials think it is better for them to live naturally with some human monitoring.The black bear had her own Facebook page where locals would post information and photos.  Bobbi was photographed in 2020 lounging in a backyard hammock.  A town selectman is working with state wildlife officials to obtain a permit for a wildlife specialist to care for the orphans.  

In other wildlife news, an Escondido zoo intervened to save the life of a young giraffe resident. Caretakers noticed that a new born giraffe's front legs were hyperextended due to a defect in one of her knee joints which are more like wrist joints in humans. Without a brace of some kind Msituni would not be able to survive in her enclosure with other giraffes.  Ordinary medical braces would not do since she weighed about 100 pounds and stood 70" tall.  Zoo officials called in a human prosthetics maker who never worked with animals before. A custom, carbon-fibre orthotic was created, decorated with giraffe spots, in eight days.  After wearing the custom molded device for only ten days, the joint problem corrected itself. Msituni was in hospital from the day she was born for 39 days. She was slowly reintroduced to her herd, but her mother did not accept her back. Fortunately for Msituni she was adopted by another elder female, and she now runs with the other giraffes at the park. [photo credit: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP]

Congolese Authorities Seize 2 Tons of Ivory

Law Enforcement officals in the Democratic Republic of Congo seized two metric tons of ivory from a stash in a Lubumbashi house on May 14th. The city is a hub for the illegal trade in elephant ivory. The seizure represents an estimated 150 slaughtered elephants. It is the largest in recent years, worth about $6 million on the illegal market. They arrested three people believed to be connected to a trafficking ring responsible for smuggling 20 metric tons in just the last five years.

    
Poaching has been reduced but is far from eliminated. At the height of the poaching crisis, 80 elephants a day were being killed for their tusks to supply demand from Asia, mostly coming from China. The slowing of the slaughter is though to be due to increased and more effective law enforcement against transnational criminal organizations. The raid was led by DRC top conservation enforcement organization, the ICCN. Between 2015 and 2019 DRC confiscated 20 metric tons, a significant improvement in enforcement over the period 2000-2014 when poaching was rampant. Ivory poaching is lucrative, generating $23 billion in revenue a year, says Bloomberg. Officials expect to increase the amount of illegal ivory confiscated in future operations. Meanwhile, elephant populations continue to decline in Southern Africa.  The savanna elephant is endangered says IUCN, while the forest elephant is on the critical list. [credit: Matchbox Media Collective]

The tusks were smuggled into DRC from Zambia which borders to the south. The cartels may be slowed down, but the trade will continue as long as their is money to be made. They operate as multi-national businesses and account for losses due to law enforcement activities. Failure to obtain convictions in cross-boarder investigations also hamper enforcement. Recently two Vietnamese traffickers arrested in Kampala, Uganda with 3.3 metric tons of ivory skipped bail and evaded prosecution. Arrests rarely capture of those at the top of the criminal networks, who benefit the most. The three suspected traffickers from the Lubumbashi raid are due to appear in court this week.