Don't Turn On The Lights!

Some 2,000 stadium lights have been installed along the US-Mexican border in an effort to stamp out illegal immigration.  These bright lights may light up a football stadium, but the boarder is an ecologically sensitive zone with many species inhabiting it.  Turning on those lights will have costly and even deadly effects on endangered species according to the Center for Biological Diversity.  The group documented placement of floodlights in some of the most iconic ecosystems in the Southwest: Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, and the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge. [see map]. Customs and Boarder Protection has already blown apart national monuments and desecrated Native American heritage sites to make way for the ridiculous boarder wall.

Apparently the CPB has not made a final decision to use the lights already installed. According to the
agency's statements, they are looking at ways to minimize the need for lighting.  For now they are off.  The desert night sky is a wonder in itself, and would be obliterated by the high intensity illumination,  One camera alone documented 1100 instances of wildlife crossing the San Pedro River corridor in a three year period.  The visitors included badgers, bobcats, javelina, pumas, raccoons, skunk and deer.  Sixteen endangered species would be adversely impacted.  The borderlands are also home to a myriad of insect species including bees in the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge.  Insects are the primary food for the lesser long-nosed bat living in Organ Pipe and Cabeza Prieta.  Losing smaller prey species will have a cascading effect on larger mammals such as jaguars who make occasional forays across the border from Mexico.  Artificial lighting makes demonstrated changes in prey species behavior.

Lighting up the boarder might please MAGAists, who are obsessed with immigrants invading their space, but it would add ecological insult to injury already done by the wall of shame.

TWIT: "Bring In Some Cokes™, Please"

Update: UK's The Independent is reporting that federal prosecutors are prepared to issue a superseding indictment stacking up 30 to 45 new charges beyond those already including in the Mar-a-lago Papers case. Indictments of other actors in his seditious "gang" are also being prepared according to the report, including disgraced former New York mayor and federal US Attorney Rudy Guiliani. The decision to charge additional crimes is said to be dependent on how judge Aileen Cannon conducts Trumpilini's trial in Florida. She has been accused of bias for the defendant after her egregious rulings were overturned by the conservative Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.  Superseding indictments would give the DOJ an opportunity to convene a trail in a federal district other than deep-red Southern Florida.The potential new charges would be based on evidence not previously made public and include recorded incriminating statements made by the defendant. 

Rudy Guliani is emitting signs of willingness to cooperate with federal prosecutors. He was interviewed by DOJ under a "proffer" agreement, in which anything he said in the interview cannot be used against him later in a criminal prosecution. Usually, but not always, proffer agreements precede a cooperating witness deal in which use immunity is granted. The Independent learned that Guliani's proffer concerned the weeks between Election Day and January 6th when Trumpilini fought to remain in power despite legitimately loosing the 2020 election. Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff, is also reported to be cooperating with DOJ under a written agreement.  

"I'm a legitimate person", whined the twice impeached, twice indicted defendant to reporters this week.  That's what they all say, Don.  Even Dick complained, "I am not a crook!"

{27.06.2023} That's what the deranged Trumpilini said at the end of an  audio tape of him showing classified information to unauthorized persons to the accompanied by laughter at his Bedminister, New Jersey golf club. The tape is conclusive evidence of his criminal intent to withhold classified documents and disseminate them in violation of the Espionage Act. It is also an example of the preferential treatment being accorded the defendant in the Mar-a-Lago Papers case. Not only does he have the benefit of a biased judge presiding in a nest of MAGAists, but disseminating classified information is a separate offense from unlawful retention under Section 798(a) of the Act*; a crime not charged in Florida.  US Person pointed out in a previous post that he could be indicted in New Jersey for this offense, if he were being treated like any other defendant. The physical evidence and witnesses to the crime are undeniably available. So why the lack of action by Jack Smith?  Inquiring minds want to know.  

There are, however, encouraging new developments in the January 6th Insurrection probe.  The two Nevada fake electors who are state party officials were given limited immunity to testify before the grand jury. They testified last week. According to CNN which broke the immunity story, they testified about former Nevada attorney general Adam Laxalt and an attorney who worked on the Trump campaign in Nevada. Both appeared on television to tout false claims of election fraud made by Trump's campaign. In one email obtained by Smith’s team, top adviser Jason Miller told an executive at the firm that produced Trump’s campaign ads: “The campaign’s own legal team and data experts cannot verify the b– s— being beamed down from the mothership,” Other documents recovered by subpoena show campaign officials in contact with Nevada election officials raising concerns about voting processes.

credit: D. Horsey, Seattle Times
BC Idonwanna: A legend in his own mind!

*(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified information—(1) concerning the nature, preparation, or use of any code, cipher, or cryptographic system of the United States or any foreign government; or(2) concerning the design, construction, use, maintenance, or repair of any device, apparatus, or appliance used or prepared or planned for use by the United States or any foreign government for cryptographic or communication intelligence purposes; or(3) concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States or any foreign government; or(4) obtained by the processes of communication intelligence from the communications of any foreign government, knowing the same to have been obtained by such processes—Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

(b) As used in subsection (a) of this section—The term "classified information" means information which, at the time of a violation of this section, is, for reasons of national security, specifically designated by a United States Government Agency for limited or restricted dissemination or distribution; [italics added]

More Alien Stuff

According to the Public.com website numerous intelligence sources have come forward to corroborate whistleblower Neil Grusch's core allegations that government agencies are in possession of material from alien vehicles. {09.06.2023} According to these sources the US has 12 or more alien spacecraft in its possession.  Programs to reverse engineer this technology have been underway for years, but kept secret from Congress.  Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, Christopher Mellon, recently wrote at Politico that he knows of more than four witnesses who know about a secret program to analyze and exploit extra-terrestrial craft.  The Pentagon continues to deny the existence of extra-terrestrial vehicles through its All Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). The Pentagon's Inspector General has launched an investigation into the military's handling of UFOs.  A government white paper on the subject of UFO's is due next month.  Reportedly it does not rule out extra-terrestrial actors.

Grusch has been prohibited from sharing any information in public by the military. It should be noted he has actually seen or touched extra-terrestrial material. He has however, provided evidence of his shocking claims to the Inspector General for the Intelligence Community.  One of the grounds for his whistleblower complaint is that the Pentagon is withholding information from AARO. Senate Intelligence Vice-Chair, Marco Rubio, told The Hill that several highly placed individuals within the government have come forward to share UFO related claims, "beyond the realm of what [the Committee] has dealt with before".  

The Senate Intelligence Committee adopted a bipartisan provision to the Intelligence budget authorization prohibiting spending on efforts to retrieve or reverse-engineer any "exotic" materials.  The bill also instructs those with any information of these activities to disclose them. and grants immunity if reports are made within six months. These extraordinary provisions in an appropriation bill add credibility to Grusch's allegations.  Importantly, the bill has a "sense of Congress" provision that states, "any illegally hidden craft of “non-earth” or “exotic” origin must be brought out of the shadows for broader scientific and industrial analysis".  We want to believe!

Georgia Repugnant Wants to Stop Marine Speed Limit

Congressman named Buddy Carter from Georgia want to stop NOAA from imposing more expansive speed limits along the eastern seaboard to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales. The whales migrate up and down the coast between their birthing and feeding grounds.  Vessel collisions along with entanglement are a major cause of whale mortalities. NOAA wants vessels longer than 35 feet to slow to 10 knots when right whales are in the area.  These whales swim close to the surface making them vulnerable to collisions.  Carter maintains the new rules would impair business interests on the coast. He claims that Repugnants "care about whales too", but not at the expense of commerce, which is typical of anthropocentric, cynical capitalists.

An expert testified at a recent House subcommittee hearing that the loss of even one whale due to human causes puts the species at risk of extinction. Democratic Senators from four states asked NOAA to address right whale deaths. Many whale corpses washing ashore show signs of vessel collisions, such as deep parallel wounds caused by propeller blades. A NOAA spokesperson, said that as of March 2023, 30 whale deaths have been recorded on the Atlantic Coast since Dec. 1. They were 21 humpback whales; three sperm whales; three minke whales; two North Atlantic right whales and one sei whale. The area of the North Atlantic off Georgia is a critical habitat for right whales since they give birth there. 

The Senators told the press,“Without action, the [North Atlantic right whale] will likely go extinct. If we do not act, other whale species may face the same fate.”Carter's objection to the slow down is typical of the cynical anthropocentric, capitalist concern with profit over the life of fellow creatures. Scientists estimate that there are fewer than seventy breeding females remaining. These females are producing fewer calves, inevitably leading to the species extinction. [see chart below courtesy NOAA]

Repairing the Endangered Species Act

More: Damage to the Endangered Species Act is not done just by Repugnants. As reported by Jeffery St. Clair at Counterpoint.com, Montana Democrats met with an Endangered Species review panel during the Obama administration to urge the delisting of gray wolves in the Yellowstone region. They told the panel that delisting the wolf would be a crucial factor in close Senate and gubernatorial races. Three scientists on the panel were removed for being "pro-wolf".  Politics, not science, once again prevailed in the decision to de-list the wolves. In the two years since then the Park's population was reduced by 12% by hunters waiting outside Park boundaries to kill wolves. Sometimes these modern day assassins used GPS telemetry from wolf collars to track the stealthy animals to their deaths. When Obama took office there were 146 wolves in Yellowstone Park; today that number has fallen to 70. Five hundred wolves have been killed in the last two years in the wolf-hating state of Idaho. This irrational, cruel slaughter must stop.  It is time to again extend federal protection to grey wolves in the Northern Rockies to save them from the crazies.

One of the perennial goals of the right-wing is repeal of the Endangered Species Act; barring that passing laws that cripple its proven effectiveness. The Biden Administration is moving to reverse rollbacks instituted during the Trump Regime. It has proposed re-introducing the 4(d) rule that extends protection for endangered species to those listed as threatened, and eliminating language that requires economic considerations in determining a species status under the Act. A third proposed rule streamlines agency consultation process for major federal actions that impact a protected animal.  Conservationists applaud the proposals, noting that determinations to protect a species should be made on science, not profit.   The reversals reflect the on-going commitment to conserving America's wildlife said the director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Repugnants have repeatedly used the Congressional Review Act to take aim at environmental protection laws. Recently a proposed redefinition of "critical habitat" passed the Senate. Biden stated he will veto the measure if it reaches him. Also proposed was removing the long-eared bat [photo] from the endangered list. Plecotus auritis is one of twelve bat species infected by white-nose fungus that is killing millions of bats in North America.

TWIT: Closing In

Breaking:  Mike Roman director of Election Day operations for Trumpillini is reported to be discussing cooperating with DOJ in its January 6th grand jury investigation.  If true, this development may provide evidence of the "missing link" of Trump's direct participation in the fake elector conspiracy.  Lights out  for the Ochre Menace!  Smith has moved for a continuance until December 7th.

{23.06.2023}Jack Smith has laid most of his evidentiary cards on the table in the Mar-a-Lago Papers case.  He turned over evidence to defense lawyers including grand jury testimony, audio recordings of the defendant, and interviews of  witnesses who will testify against the Don at trial, now scheduled for August 14th. That date will undoubtably change as defense attorneys attempt to obtain security clearances and make anticipated pre-trial motions.  Some observers characterize the release beyond that required by law as "a show of strength".

The January 6th investigation is proceeding. A high-level campaign official was called before the Washington DC grand jury on Thursday, presentably to testify about the fake elector scheme. Gary Michael Brown, former Election Day operations deputy director was involved in the scheme to submit fraudulent electors to Congress according to the Congressional Select Committee investigating January 6th. That committee wrote he “helped manage the Trump campaign staffers participating in this effort.”  Two of those fraudulent electors testified to the grand jury on the same day the Don pleaded not guilty to obstruction and Espionage Act violations in Miami. Nevada state GOP chair Michael McDonald and the state party's deputy chair Jim DeGraffenreid were also summoned to appear before the grand jury, a week after political advisor Steve Bannon appeared pursuant to subpoena. From these developments, US Person ;infers that the investigation is reaching the level of the ringleader, making his indictment for the conspiracy to obstruct a congressional proceeding more likely.

At ground level, insurrectionist Daniel Rodriguez was sentenced to 12 1/2 years for his role in the insurrection on Wednesday, one of 476 guilty pleas so far.  He was videotaped tasing a Capitol Hill police officer in the neck.  He pleaded guilty to four counts including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. At his sentencing hearing he shouted the BIG LIE to the audience, "Trump won!", as he was led away to serve his sentence.  His leader remains at large. The officer who was assaulted told the judge he thinks it is time for DOJ to move forward and indict Trump for the insurrection.

credit: M. Ramirez

Presidential Cult

The Washington Post is reporting what US Person knew all along: that Don Trumpilini was the head of a mafia-like conspiracy to steal the 2020 election and destroy representative government.  Despite the  accumulating evidence of his central role, timid Merritt Garland refused to investigate the former guy for more than fifteen months, until the political fallout became too adverse for him to continue to pay him deference. 

His reasons were apparently fear of appearing to be partisan, and avoiding criticism previously leveled at DOJ for investigating Russian election interference and Hilary Clinton's private email server.  In the weeks prior to January 6th, Trump minions boasted about submitting fake electors in his behalf, but the FBI did nothing.  Even when the department finally got into action fifteen months later, agents were instructed not to use the T word.  Nor was he identified as a focus of the investigation. Prosecutors chaffed at giving him a pass, while bringing the foot soldiers to trial.

The Amerikanischer Fūhrer [see below] is certainly now the focus of Jack Smith's prosecution and investigation, but a year has been lost to dubious inaction and the time when he will be protected from prosecution by DOJ's own misguided policy is rapidly approaching.  If Merrick's failure to do his duty as the chief law enforcement officer of the nation results in defendant Trump escaping accountability for his autogolpe, the failure of the Republic will be on his shoulders.

COTW: Hot Enough?

One of the predicted outcomes of global warming is increased and larger wildfires. This chart shows the undeniable correlation. A published study in the on-line journal PNAS concludes that burned areas in California have increased by 172% in climate model simulations during the period 1971 to 2021.  The increase is even greater, 320%, for the period 1996-2021.  Recent heavy rains may help reduce this fire season, but further increases in burned area are expected by the researchers. The ten largest wildfires in California's history have occurred in the last twenty years. 

Not all wildfire increases can be attributed to climate change.  Aging electrical infrastructure has proved to be responsible for some major fires in California and Oregon.  The Camp fire, which wiped out the town of Paradise, was started by faulty transmission lines. The electrical utility PG&E pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter. The giant utility still operates in California; another example of "too big to fail".  Since 2015, an audit report concludes, that six of the twenty most destructive fires were caused by faulty electrical infrastructure.

Ukraine Has a Tactical Problem

US Person has stayed largely quiet about the counter-offensive by Ukraine as requested, but a tactical gap in their operations is just too obvious to ignore.  It can be summed up in one question: where is their close air support? Ground forces are making some incremental gains against an enemy that is learning from its prior mistakes and is entrenched against most axis of advance. Ukraine cannot expect to advance rapidly unless they have close air support to oppose a formidable Russian combination of artillery, attack helicopters, and mines. Attack 'copters like the K-52 Alligator, [photo credit: Getty Images] familiar to western observers by its counter-rotating twin rotors, are focusing on taking out Ukrainian engineering vehicles needed to clear a path for armor through the mine fields. Ukraine cannot afford to loose too many of these vehicles.  And apparently it cannot oppose the Russian aircraft due to a shortage of short-range air defense systems (SHORAD).  The Russian helicopters are firing from long range, putting them out of reach of MANPADs (Stinger: 4800m).  Bunched up behind the mine clearing operations, Ukraine's armor and infantry is vulnerable to artillery barrages.  This tactical situation explains what is going on around Tokmak where the counter-offensive has slowed down.

Armchair generals are a dime a click nowadays. So US Person feels he can make a suggestion. He is aware that Ukrainian Air Force assets are limited, but the need for front-line combat air patrols is become more and more critical to success. In the absence of mobile SHORAD systems such as the infamous BUK-M1 (SA-11)* that was used to shoot down Malaysian Airliner Flt 17, fearless hot-sticks need to jump into their MiGs [left photo credit:AP] and fly near the front to be vectored to targets called in by ground forces under attack or by front-line tactical radar and drone operators. Suppressing Russian air attacks and artillery using long-range missiles and glide bombs would be the goal. Granted, aging Fulcrums have notable disadvantages, but should be able to easily defeat attack helicopters. Neither side has significant air superiority, but the Russians seem more willing to risk aircraft and pilots because they have more of both. This gives them a tactical advantage on the battlefield.

The situation around Velyka Novosilka is nevertheless promising for Ukraine. They need to advance just 10 more miles to reach Staromlynivka; easy to say when you are not suffering under an artillery barrage. Ground forces would be behind most of Russian fortified defense lines, which are relatively thin in this area, just south of the town. A path to Mariupol, which US Person suggested should be a goal of the offensive, would then be open for Ukrainian maneuver across flat farm fields north of Nadine village. The east-west rail line could be cut either at Polohy or Zachativka. Reaching the sea at Mariupol or Berdyansk would doom Russian forces in the southeast since their supply lines would be cut off, and Crimea would be in range of missile attack. At some point Ukraine will need to interdict the Black Sea feet to prevent resupply by ship and to eliminate cruise missile attacks on its cities. Thank you for your attention and now, back to our regularly scheduled war. Slava Ukraini!

*Finland, now a member of NATO, reportedly has some of these SA-11 systems in storage. The US could offer to replace these with Patriot or HAWK-21 systems, if Finland gifted them to Ukraine.

Silly Seal Season in New Zealand

The government of New Zealand issued its official notice of seal season when adolecent seals wander away from their beach nurseries and explore inland.  Kiwis can expect to find the young marine mammals in unusual places--golf courses, backyard pools, roads and even living room couches.  The inexperienced adolescents are typical for young mammals who often get into mischief and mishaps. [photo].  Winter is cold in NZ, so the furry pups love to sunbath in any warm spot they find like the middle of a tarmac road in the sunshine.  The public has been warned not to interfere with animals, but to call wildlife officials who can remove the stranded animal safely if necessary.  Marine mammals can become confused in spring when mating begins.  A group of college students unintentionally summoned a huge male seal lion by blowing on a conch shell from their beach cottage!

Some disoriented seal pups have ended up 90kms from the coast.  It is a good sign that seal encounters are becoming more common because populations are increasing and reclaiming their historic range.  Seals were almost driven to extinction by sealing ships between the 1790's and 1940's.  Larger sea lions are rarer, but their numbers are also increasing.  Both seals and sea lions are protected in NZ, so enjoy from a safe distance!

TWIT: Toast?

More: Contrary to Dear Leader's non-stop, often delusional propaganda, he does not own the government records he illegally shipped to South Florida. In law and fact, his control over "his boxes" ceased when he left the White House in a huff. These records were not personal diaries to which he is vntitled as in the erroneously cited Clinton "Socks" case. Venue is a somewhat flexible concept. Since the crime of unauthorized retention began in DC, Jack Smith could probably have won a venue dispute if he filed UNITED STATES v. TRUMP et al in DC. But he chose the West Palm Beach division of the Southern District in order to advert a prolonged constitutional appeal process all the way to the Supremes. Trump cannot dispute venue when the indictment was filed in his own backyard where the documents were finally recovered. Smith opted for Florida knowing there was the chance that Cannon would be assigned the case. 

Now, he is confronted with a inexperienced judge who has exhibited favoritism towards the defendant. Sure, the Eleventh Circuit did not outright call Judge Cannon biased in its overruling decisions, but the panels made it clear she abused her discretion in the defendant's favor. US Person continues to maintain that the legal standard for recusal has been met--her impartiality can be reasonably questioned given her prior blatantly erroneous rulings for the defendant.  Regardless of the alleged odds--15 to one, seven to one--in the "random" assignment process, the Southern District chief judge can remove her merely for administrative reasons since she is assigned to a district two hours away from West Palm Beach.

{14.06.23}If the Miami arraignment process is an indication of how tilted our justice system is towards the rich and powerful, then the system is blatantly out of balance.  A man who owns his own Boeing 757 jet liner, is charged with multiple felonies in two jurisdictions, and has authoritarian friends around the world was not considered "a flight risk" by the DOJ and was released on his own recognizance? Damn, the guy attempted the first autogolpe in US history using a playbook right out of Mein Kampf!  Compare his lenient treatment to that accorded Reality Leigh Winner or Jack Teixeira, the young air national guardsman from Massachusetts.   Both were incarcerated immediately after arrest for  violating the Espionage Act.  In Winner's case, she received a five year sentence for a single violation of the espionage law.  The Ochre Menace racked up 37 including obstruction.  At least they could have asked him to surrender his passport, which would not prevent him from campaigning for president. He did just that after leaving Miami with a stop in Little Cuba to greet rabid Cuban-American supporters. After all, campaigning is his only defense. 

credit: Bennett, Chattanooga Free Press

It appears DOJ is willing to stick with Aileen Cannon as presiding judge for now despite 28 USC Sec. 455. (a federal judge must recuse herself if her impartiality can reasonably be questioned).  A magistrate presided over his brief arraignment on Thursday.  Perhaps Jack Smith thinks his case is so strong even Judge Cannon cannot mess it up, but she can certainly delay it significantly, as she tried to do with the special master fiasco.  The Southern District has a reputation for a prompt docket.  Perhaps pressure from her colleagues will prevent any significant slow motion. Public access to the trial via TV would also help insure a fair proceeding. (Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia)  Biased or ignorant rulings on motions or evidence can always be appealed to the Eleventh Circuit, but time of the essence. The presidential election in 2024 could moot the entire prosecution. Time will tell. But for a prosecutor very sensitive to optics, having an obviously biased, inexperienced judge preside over a historic trial without objection is not easily justified. And don't try to convince US Person her assignment was random; that canard just makes it look even more crooked.  Southern Florida is a hotbed of MAGAists. Any wonder why 'Mericans have lost faith in the justice system?  There certainly are two Americas, one for the rich and one for everybody else.

credit: M. Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
BC Idonwanna sez:  Or lawyers!

Isle Royale National Park Wolves Recovering

Once threatened with extinction from inbreeding, gray wolves in Isle Royale NP in Michigan's Lake Superior.  The number of wolves dropped to just two before federal officials decided to airlift mainland wolves to the island chain in 2018. The wolf population is now thriving, having established balance to the moose population that was itself threatened due to overgrazing of balsam fir trees, its winter food.  [photo courtesy National Park Service]

Scientists report that the wolf population is now 31.  The wolves are forming three packs with others wandering alone or in small groups. The moose population is now 967, down from about 2,000 in 2019.  Ecologists think that the decline in moose numbers will result in a healthier herd.  Although the relocation effort is considered a success, some wilderness advocates consider the intervention to be ill-advised, calling the new wolf population, "artificial".  Scientists think that the first moose swam to Isle Royale at the turn of the 20th century.  Wolves did not arrive until the 1940s, crossing the winter ice from either Ontario, Canada or Minnesota.  The populations of prey and predator fluctuated over the years due to environmental conditions, but inbreeding among the wolves finally led to a collapse between 2011 and 2018.  Some experts think they should have been allowed to die out.  Other species that have a similar relationship such as the Canadian lynx and woodland caribou could have taken their place. However,  loss of ecological balance on the islands contributed to the decline of forest health.  Balsam fir still suffers from over browsing.

Climate change may cause a return of the inbreeding problem, since ice bridges on Lake Superior occur less frequently now, and the nearest mainland to the archipelago is 20 miles away.  A strong moose might make the swim [photo], but a wolf would have difficulty reaching land as its thick fir becomes waterlogged.  Recent opinion on the matter leans towards human introduction in the early 1900's to create a private hunting ground.  The Washington Harbor Cub, a group of wealthy businessmen, owned buildings on the island as well as access.  Genetic studies show island moose to be related to moose from northwest Minnesota near the Manitoba boarder.  Climate change means that wildlife managers will have to import wolves every decade or so.  Wolves only live five years in the wild on average.  None of the wolves originally translocated from Minnesota, Ontario and Michigan remain alive, but are thought to have produced at least seven litters.

The moose population drop of 28% in one year is the largest ever seen in the park.  But officials are not concerned.  Necropsies show that starvation is still the biggest cause of death, and the moose population has plummeted in the past to 400 or 500 and bounced back. Warming climate, spruce budworm, and tick infestations will remain as challenges to a healthy ecosystem.  Michigan Tech biologist, Rolf Peterson told AP, “The old hands-off approach to managing national parks, figuring everything will turn out OK, is probably not sufficient. Our footprint is all over the entire globe.”  So we must tread with care.

TWIT: Trump Headed for Reckoning

credit: Darkow, Missouri Columbian

Latest:  While Jack Smith scored one for the rule of law by indicting Trumpillini,  his action was somewhat diminished by the assignment of Aileen Cannon as the initial judge for the case.  Cannon was harshly rebuffed by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals twice for her unduly favorable rulings for the former guy; she was appointed to the federal bench by Trump.  However, her assignment may be an artifact of clerical processing that will not last beyond the arraignment on Tuesday.  

The true bill was handed down by a grand jury sitting in Miami, so the clerk of the Miami Division of the Southern District docketed it.  Since Cannon had prior involvement in the case, the clerk may have checked the assignment box for Judge Cannon.  However, Cannon's bench is in the Fort Pierce Division, three hours away. There are fifteen federal judges some in senior status in the Miami Division, several with more experience that Cannon.  Random? US Person thinks not so much!  (6.7% chance) knowledgable court observers in Miami say that because of her prior exhibited bias ("former president entitled to deference under the law"!) if not her distance from the trial venue, she will recuse herself without a motion being made by DOJ to do so. But MAGA supporters have no shame!  If her self-recusal is not forthcoming pursuant to binding 11th Circuit precedent, the government should move recusal with an immediate appeal to the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta.  Chief Judge Pryor was on the appeals panel that overruled Cannon's appointment of a special (delay) master.  The appearance of impropriety in this case is too obvious to ignore even for Floridians.

More: The DOJ has unsealed the indictment against Defendant Trump. It reveals that Waltine Nauta, a valet at Mar-a-Lago who moved boxes of documents at Trump' direction, participated in the conspiracy to obstruct justice. It alleges that Trump suggested his attorney Evan Corcoran hide or destroy documents subpoenaed by the government.  He also is alleged to have shown a classified map to a representative of his political super-PAC, an unauthorized person. Taylor Budowich, former communications director, and now a PAC official testified before the Florida grand jury.  If proven this dissemination of classified material is a serious breach of national security. The forty-nine page indictment alleges 31 counts of willful retention of national defense documents. National defense documents wrongfully retained by him included details of the defense and weapons capabilities of US and foreign governments, US nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities to military attack for the US and its allies, and plans for possible retaliation. Trump stored boxes containing classified documents in a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, a desk drawer, his bedroom, and a storage room. The ballroom alone played host to 50 public events.  

Breaking: Donald J. Trump, former US President, has been indicted on seven charges including willfully retaining national defense records, making false statements to US officials, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. A federal grand jury sitting in Miami handed down the unprecedented true bill. He is scheduled to surrender in federal district court in Miami on Tuesday.  In twist of irony the MAGA judge who was admonished by the Eleventh Circuit for allowing Trump too much leniency, Aileen Cannon, will preside over his arraignment.  Historia scriptum est.

{08/06/2023} The UK's Independent newspaper reports that prosecutors are ready to indict the Orange Menace for obstruction and Espionage Act charges, and that former chief of staff Mark Meadows, who burned documents in his office fireplace and sought a presidential pardon,  has cut a limited immunity deal for his testimony. Whether his evidence relates to the Mar-a-Lago Papers or January 6th Insurrection, or both is not known now. Under Section 793 of the Espionage Act it is illegal to gather, transmit, or loose national defense information even if in lawful possession of the material. Charging under this section removes the issue of declassification from a possible defense theory. An offense under this section is punishable by up to ten years in prison*.  A former White House official has testified that the former president was aware of declassification procedures, having participated in the proper procedure for declassifying a congressional memo in 2018.

Trumpilini has been informed by prosecutors that he is a target of their Washington, DC grand jury investigation. Grand jurors may vote today on an indictment, but their vote could be delayed by the collection of more evidence in the case. A separate grand jury in Miami, Florida is also hearing evidence, possibly on grounds that venue for the obstruction offense relates to a certification transmitted to government officials at Mar-a-Lago. The certification stated that no more classified records were in Trump's possession at the resort. Subsequently, 103 classified records were found pursuant to a search warrant executed by the FBI on August 8th of last year.  The National Archives first requested Trump return government records in May 2021.

*Subsection (f) states: Whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any document, ....(1) through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, or to be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, or (2) having knowledge that the same has been illegally removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of its trust, or lost, or stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, and fails to make prompt report of such loss, theft, abstraction, or destruction to his superior officer—Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

Subsection (e) states:  Whoever, having unauthorized possession of [national defense information] willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it--Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years or both.

When reality strikes.....

We Are Not Alone, Officially

You thought the indictment of Individual One was a brain buster! Read this: A former intelligence official and whistleblower has turned over classified material to Congress and the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) about deeply covert programs that possess "exotic" materials recovered from alien craft. Other intelligence officials, both active and former, have corroborated portions of this claim.  This story was first reported in Debrief. David Charles Grusch, 36, a former USAF major serving in intelligence agencies including the National Reconnaissance Office, has claimed whistleblower status, alleging he was retaliated against for his confidential disclosures.  He was assigned to the the task force officially investigating UAPs from 2019-2022 as a GS-15 civil service employee.

Close followers of the history of UFO sightings, now acknowledged as UAPs (submersible unidentified anomolous craft are included) by the intelligence community, know that since the famous Roswell, NM encounter in 1947, allegations of alien material and even corpses spirited away from the crash sight and sent to Wright-Paterson AFB for analysis have been repeatedly made. This bombshell revelation by a high-ranking intelligence insider seems to add validity to those claims. Grusch says recoveries up to and including entire vehicles have been made for decades.  

Grusch's shocking disclosures represent a growing effort to reveal what the government really knows about UFOs/UAPs after a decades long campaign of disinformation conducted primarily by the USAF (see Project Blue Book). There is an element of distrust involved between civilian leaders and the Pentagon establishment. But some insiders are now willing to take the risk of coming forward for the first time with knowledge of these recovery programs given new protections provided by Congress in the latest appropriations bill. A provision of that bill states that any person with relevant UAP information can inform Congress without retaliation, regardless of any previous non-disclosure agreements. An official with the National Air and Space Intelligence Center at Wright-Paterson told interviewers, “The non-human intelligence phenomenon is real. We are not alone. Retrievals of this kind are not limited to the United States. This is a global phenomenon, and yet a global solution continues to elude us.” According to this USAF intelligence officer, a vast array of advanced, sensitive sensors have been used to observe and identify extra-terrestrial performance of these "anomalous" machines.

Grusch told Congress that during the Cold War there was a competition between adversaries to identify and exploit crash or landing sites for materials that could be reversed engineered to gain "asymmetric national defense advantages".  He also says that the program to recover extra-terrestrial material is on-going.  He called the effort an "eighty year arms race". Information he has provided has been corroborated by current recovery program members.  Grusch left the government in April, 2023, but remains well-supported by his colleagues.  ICIG has found his whistleblower complaint to be "credible and urgent", and has forwarded it to the Director of National Intelligence, and the Senate and House Intelligence Committees.

As a result of his disclosures to Congress, Grusch allegedly suffered months of illegal retaliation beginning in 2021. He asked that details of these reprisals be withheld to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation.  Mulder, you were right all along!

Does Finland Have A Solution?

Onkalo in foreground, nuclear power station behind

The builder of the world's first operational geologic deep storage of high-level radioactive waste thinks so.  Posiva, in conjunction with the state energy company,  is nearing the operational date of its facility at Olkiluto on the Baltic Coast.  A repository has been mined in the bedrock at 430 meters below the surface where spent nuclear fuel rods will be encased in copper-iron canisters sheathed in water-absorbing  bentonite.  Once storage wells are filled the connecting tunnels will be backed filled with more bentonite and sealed with concrete.  Is this overkill designed to satisfy nervous Finns?  Hardly, when one considers that plutonium has a half life of 19,000 years, requiring at least 100,000 years to decay to safe levels of radioactivity.  Currently, since the atomic energy era began the world has about 400,000 metric tons of HLW. Most of that is stored in either water pools or dry canisters above ground. These are temporary storage facilities, and particularly vulnerable to catastrophic failures such as earthquakes or terrorist attacks.  What to do with waste that is potentially deadly and remains so for thousands of years has alway been the Achilles heel of the nuclear power industry.  Reprocessing spent fuel remains prohibitively expensive.

The United States attempted to build its own deep geologic storage facility at Yucca Mountain, NV but it never stored a kilo of waste.The project fell victim to geologic and political problems.  The site was subject to water infiltration through its volcanic tuff and seismic faulting (e.g. Bow Ridge fault). Nevadans led by their Senator Harry Reid were not happy being chosen as the site of the nation's only civilian radioactive waste facility, so the NIMBY syndrome set in. The US stores its transuranic waste from weapons production at a facility in New Mexico The Finnish bedrock was chosen for low water permeability. The bedrock also has a lack of faulting that could impact the storage shafts. Once the facility is filled the galleries will be closed in and the surface restored to Nature, around 2120.

Finland seems to have gone to greater lengths studying the geologic stability of its chosen site,  conducting bore hole studies since the 1980s. Posiva is using both geology and materials technology to secure storage of the used fuel rods, and a system of independent barriers to accidental release. Tests have been carried out using canisters containing heating elements and sensors to simulate and detect heat caused by radioactive decay. The tests are a condition of its operating permit.  A factory for encapsulating the rods is built next to the Onkalo repository entrance. Remote controlled transporters will be used to place the containers in their receptacle.  The storage bores are scheduled to begin receiving canisters by the mid 2020s. Onkalo will be the world's first operating radioactive storage facility; construction began in 2004 when other advanced countries including Switzerland, which is farther along than most, were still in the planning stages.  An animation produced by Posiva explaining the facility's features appears below

Acceptance of the facility is high among Finns, but that does not mean the project is without critics. Trust in technology, regulations, and regulators is traditionally high in Finland. The local counsel gave their approval by a vote of 20 to 7 in 2000. While the planning for Onkalo is comprehensive, critics point to possible corrosion of the copper containers. The Swedish Environmental Court found that it could not be definitively proved that copper containers will maintain structural integrity for required 100,000 years. Nevertheless, the Swedish government approved the permit for a storage facility using this technology to be built at Forsmark Critics say the decision to build Onkalo was a foregone conclusion with too few environmental scientists sitting on evaluating committees,--NOT the result of honest scientific debate. The human responsibility for radioactive waste is for all practical purposes, eternal.

Ukraine Dam Breach

A breach of the Kakhovka dam was always a possibility given its strategic location and function as a conduit for water short Crimea.  Under control by Russia the dam is thought to have mined it months ago. Both sides have shelled the installation. On Tuesday it was blown up, both sides blame the other for the attack. The thirty meter dam across the Dnieper is about 44 miles east of Kherson supplies water and electricity to a wide swath of southern Ukraine and the Crimea. Its reservoir retained a quantity of river water about he same volume as the Great Salt Lake.  The reservoir also supplies cooling water to the endangered Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power station.  That power plant is partially shut down, with only one out of five reactors operating using cooling water stored on site. [graphic credit: Reuters]

Breach of the dam is an ecological disaster that will take decades to ameliorate.  An estimated four days will pass for the reservoir to reach and equilibrium. Massive flooding has occurred along the downstream banks above Kherson causing the evacuation of about 38,000 people. Flood waters have destroyed structures and threaten to dislodge mines. The consequences for wildlife will be severe. An expert at Kings College, London said that upstream wetlands will dry out and the rapid flow of fresh water into the Black Sea could damage fisheries and aquatic life in the northwest portion of the sea.

The dam also served as a bridge to the approaches to the Crimean Peninsula. Severing the land bridge poses a significant challenge to the Ukrainian military. During the Second World War, Soviet troops found the crossing extremely difficult under German guns. Ukraine's forces have reportedly established a crossing at the village of Oleshky.

TWIT: The Smoking Gun

credit: Chappatte, Boston Globe

Update:  On Monday, Defendant Trump's attorneys met with DOJ officials, including Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, in Washington DC, but not with Attorney General Garland as requested by them.  Observers see the meeting as a final opportunity for his lawyers to argue against an indictment in the Mar-a-Lago Papers case.  It is unlikely to have succeeded since the government's evidence is strong, and the offenses grievous.  US Person thinks multiple charges are possible ranging from obstruction of justice, Presidential Records Act violations, and violation of the Espionage Act. The indictment could be handed down as early as this week making him the only former president in history to face federal  criminal charges.  Equity demands he stand before the bar.

{02.06.2023} Trumpilini shares something in common with Dick Nixon.  Both were brought down by the 'smoking gun' evidence of their own voice recordings.  Both men allowed their own inflated sense of self-importance to create damning evidence of their criminality.  In Nixon's case it was the White House taping system he had installed.  In Trumpilini's case it was an aide whom he wanted to tape conversations that dealt with book projects.  In both cases they were tripped up by their oversized ego.

In the recording publicly revealed, Trump can be heard admitting he had a classified document in his possession after leaving the White House in July 2021.  He also admitted the record concerned a planned US attack on Iran that he could not share because it was still classified. The taped conversation took place at his Bedminister, New Jersey golf club.  This tape recording blows up his defenses of lack of specific intent ("willful and knowing") to violate classification laws, or his claimed 'telepathic' declassification power.  He knew he had a classified document that he should not have had after leaving office, and acknowledged his limited ability to declassify it.  Nevertheless he later told a CNN reporter, he has the "absolute right to do whatever I want with them."  Reports are that the document the Ochre Menace discusses on tape is not among those recovered by the FBI under warrant or returned by the defendant.  Prosecutors have asked for the record and any material related to it.

What more does Jack Smith want to bring an indictment in the Mar-a-Lago Papers case?  Perhaps only this: an opportunity to examine whether Trumpilini's motive for illegally hoarding government documents was a pecuniary one.  Smith apparently will not consider his case complete until the unnecessary question of motive is answered--or not. His subpoena to the Trump Org seeks information about business dealings with several countries including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates going back to 2017.   Additional charges under the Espionage Act beyond obstruction of justice should be forthcoming if there is evidence Individual One showed the national defense documents to unauthorized persons ("dissemination", which includes describing document contents) to assist his business dealings. 

credit: M. Lukovitch, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
BC Idonwanna axes,  Maybe, 'Prisoner #45'?

India's Cheetahs Face Difficult Existence

Regular readers of PNG may remember a post about India relocating African cheetahs to the subcontinent.  Cheetahs once roamed India, but have been absent for at least seventy years due to hunting and habitat loss. {08.06.2021}  The translocation of the initial eight cats was criticized as ill-advised by some experts who considered India to have insufficient wild habitat.  More criticism has been leveled at the decision now that three adult cheetahs have died out of twenty relocated to Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh.  Kuno is relatively small compared to the cheetah's need for wide open spaces similar to the east African savannas and bush veld of Southern Africa.  Cheetahs normally require thousands of square miles for habitat.  Critics said the initial release attended by Prime Minister Modi was a "publicity stunt"

Reuters: one of the relocated cats

The plan was to bring 50 cheetahs from Africa, but in a Supreme Court hearing recently the judges told the government that Kuno was unfit habitat for so many cheetahs. They called upon the government to "rise above politics" and release some of the cheetahs to Rajasthan, where the opposition party is in power. The three adult cheetahs that died were still confined in an enclosure to acclimatize them to their new surroundings.   Only three of the twenty have been released into the park.  Scientists leading the relocation project replied that some deaths are to be expected and that four cubs have been born in India since the cheetahs' arrival. Three of those cubs died in a heat wave when temperatures hit 47℃ at Kuno. Vets intervened to save the weak and dehydrated kittens, but to no avail; the fourth cub is in critical care.   Wildlife experts say that there is not enough expertise to handle the relocations, and that the effort is a "vanity project" harmful to the felines.  Only eight to ten cheetahs can successfully survive in Kuno according to critics.  A government official said a taskforce is investigating other locations in which to release the remaining cats. Let's hope no more cheetahs die due to bureaucracy.