TWIT: The Long Road to Accountability

Defendant Trump waived his right to be arraigned in open court next week and entered a plea of not-guilty in writing.  As expected his attorneys moved to sever his case from those co-conspirators seeking speedy trials.  As of now that is Chesebro and Powell.  Meanwhile, two leaders on the ground of the Insurrection received long prison sentences.  Joseph Biggs was sentenced to 17 years, significantly less than the government's recommendation of 33 years.  Zachery Rehl was sentenced to 15 years for seditious conspiracy. A Proud Boy not convicted of sedition, Dominic Pezzola, but other serious felonies received a ten year sentence. The conspiracy's leader, Don 'Legit' is free on bail awaiting trial in Washington DC and Georgia.

Judge Robert McBurney has ruled that the special grand jury report be made public by Sept. 8th.  The parties have until Sept. 6th to object to the release. Trial proceedings against the defendant will be televised.  This will be some of the most watch reality-TV in the history of the medium.

Rudy Giuliani lost the defamation case brought by the mother and daughter election workers.  The ruling was a default judgment since Rudy 'Coludy' refused to provide discovery materials to the plaintiffs.  Some observers think this may have been a strategic move to prevent incriminating evidence being used in the criminal prosecution against him in Georgia.  Damages will be determined in a later court proceeding.  They could be substantial for a cash-strapped defendant.  His sugar daddy has disappeared beneath the court filings.

Perhaps the most interesting news story this week is the on-going investigation in Arizona concerning the fake elector scheme.  It could result in yet another indictment, the fifth, against the former guy and would-be mafioso.  A team of investigators was assigned in May by Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes.  To date investigation has interviewed witnesses including those who participated in the scheme to present 'alternative' electors to Congress.  An Arizona prosecutor has inquired about evidence collected by Fulton County and the Justice Department. Mayes campaigned during the 2022 midterm election on a pledge to investigate the 22 Republicans who signed certifications claiming they were the legitimate electors from the state in the 2020 presidential election.  Biden was the first Democrat to win the Arizona election in 24 years.  A tax-payer funded state audit of the election by the "Cyber Ninja" consulting firm confirmed Biden won the election.

credit:  K. Siers
BC Idonwanna sez:  You don't have to be a weatherman!

Will the Public Own Maine's Electrical Utility?

That question is on the November ballot for Mainers to decide.  Question 3 would create a consumer-owned statewide electrical utility,  Pine Tree Power, to replace the state's two privately owned utility companies, Central Maine Power and Versant Power.  US Person, Bernie Sanders and the Sierra Club endorse the initiative. Campaigners have repeatedly hit a stone wall in the state legislature, showing once again the vice grip businesses have on state capitols.  Democratic governor Janet Mills vetoed a bill that made it through both houses of the state legislature.

Maine state capitol, Augusta

The ballot initiative end runs politicos that may be beholden to business interests like the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO. which have opposed the proposal. These lobby groups have outspent the proponents by $27 million to $840,000. Senator Sanders told the press in July,“Instead of a private power system that last year sent $187 million in profits out of the country, Mainers can have cheaper, more reliable power--and help fight climate change at the same time.”

Where the Buffalo Roam

This conservation effort by a private non-profit to consolidate a large tract the size of Connecticut of preserved prairie for buffalo and other wildlife habitat is close to what US Person would like to see in the Northern Rocky Mountain region. He would prefer that this patchwork reservation be public land. Private conservation is the next best solution, although future use of the land is open to question in the private scenario. This segment of 60 Minutes shows what American Prairie Reserve is doing to restore the historic landscape in north-central Montana. The organization, through its Wild Skies program, even pays ranchers for photos of wildlife taken by camera traps set on their property:

To see how buffalo are helping preserve southern tall-grass prairie in northeastern Oklahoma watch this PBS video.

Japan Dumps Radioactive Water into Pacific

The event has been coming for years as Tepco, owner of the wrecked Fukushima reactors, is running out of room to store radioactive waste water on site.  On Thursday it began releasing treated waste water into the Pacific Ocean.  Japan was given the green light for the discharge by the UN. Most of the radioactive nucleotides have been removed, but tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen remains.  Millions of gallons of water were used to cool the melting cores and prevent a renewed chain reaction.  China announced an immediate ban on all seafood products from Japan. Last year Japan exported about $600 million worth of aquatic products to China.    The IAEA concluded that the release would have negligible effects on the environment.

The first increment is approximately 7800 cubic meters to take place over 17 days.  The entire discharge is expected to take thirty years. Initial tests of radioactivity shows 63 becquerels per liter; the accepted level for drinking water is 10,000 becquerels per liter according to the WHO.  Fishing groups are still concerned about safety and the future of their industry, however.  Hong Kong and Macau have announced their own food bans starting Thursday.

Oil Industry Sues Over Whale Protections in Gulf

Louisiana, Chevron and the industry trade association, AIP, sued the federal government for restricting the size of the upcoming offshore lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico to protect the remaining 50 Rice whales that cling to survival in the Gulf. An estimated 20% of the population was killed by the 2010 Deep Water Horizon drilling disaster. 

The lease sale is mandated by the compromise Inflation Reduction Act. Industry claims the removal of six million acres from the sale violates the Act. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has also placed restrictions on vessel traffic in whale habitat, including a speed limit of 10 knots. The changes in the lease sale conditions are part of a settlement of a suit brought by conservation organizations in 2020 alleging Trump era environmental regulations to be insufficient. An industry spokesperson called the current lease sale a "lease sale in name only" 

Rice whales are a comparatively new species, once thought to be Bryde's whales. Genetic testing determined the whales to be a unique species, Balaenoptera ricei.  The whale is a highly selective feeder, making it vulnerable to habitat disruption.  About 70% of its diet is the silver rag driftfish, a common schooling species in the Gulf.  Whales expend a lot of energy diving 800 ft to eat their food.  Rice whales are endemic to the Gulf of Mexico and are the most critically endangered whale on the planet.

Thousands of Emperor Penguin Chicks Die

Due to record low sea ice thousands of Emperor penguin chicks are believed dead in four breeding colonies.  Satellite images show the break up of sea ice before chicks were old enough to have grown waterproof feathers.  The research says that the simultaneous breeding failures in the Bellinghausen Sea  is without precedent, but predicted due to rapidly rising sea temperatures in the Antarctic.  According to a scientist with the British Antarctic Survey, emperors which depend on sea ice to breed face a grim future as the planet continues to warm.  The melting is happening at a much faster rate than expected.   Scientist estimate that as many as 7,000-10,000 chicks may have died by drowning or exposure. 

Emperors cannot just move to the next colony site since the region that lost almost all of its sea ice is 1500 kms long. A colony at Rothschild's Island may have been spared since icebergs may have stabilized the ice long enough for the chicks to fledge from their downy coats that keep them warm during the coldest winters on Earth.  Fortunately emperors have not come under pressure from fishing, hunting or habitat loss until now. 

Thirty percent of the known sixty-two colonies have suffered impacts from global warming.  For the past three years the colony at Haley Bay almost no hatching of chicks has taken place.  It was the second largest colony on Antarctica, providing shelter to 15,000 to 24,000 breeding pairs.  This failure is the largest seen in sixty years.  Scientists once again blame global warming for making ice connected to  shore unstable.  Some of the penguins at Haley Bay may have shifted to the colony at Dawson-Lambton.  Haley Bay, one of the coldest places in the continent, was thought to be a refuge from melting sea ice.  By 2100 as many as 90% of colonies may be too small to prevent the species' extinction.

TWIT: The Most Dangerous Man In America

credit: AP

Update: Defendant Chesebro asked for a speedy trial in a motion. DA Fani Willis complied with that request by suggesting October 23rd. That date was accepted by the presiding judge, but it will mean separate trials for the "boss"" who wants a delay until after the election in the hope he may win. At least two defendants (Meadows and Clark) have already filed motions for removal of their case to federal court. Neither is likely to prevail on removal."Menacing" inmate #P01135809 has been booked in Fulton County jail and released on $200,000 bond awaiting trial. Arraignment will occur shortly.

US Person, alleged hot-head and radical suggested back in February 2022 that Don 'Legit' is disqualified from holding office under the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3.  Now that he is out on bail in the Fulton County election interference case--his fourth criminal indictment with a total of 91 felony counts--constitutional scholars are finally coming forward to agree with that proposition. These authorities are from both sides of the ideological divide.  Although the section was drafted with former Confederates in mind, it is applicable on its face to the crisis that currently confronts the nation.  

It is not disputed, except by crazed Trump cultists, that what occurred on January 6th was an insurrection. See, ex rel. White v. Griffin, No. D-101-CV-2022-00473, 2022 WL 4295619 at 29 (N.M. Dist. Ct. Sept. 6, 2022) Participants have been sentenced to long prison terms for violating the federal criminal statutes prohibiting insurrection.  After all the investigations by Congress, the state of Georgia, and the Department of Justice it is clear beyond a reasonable doubt that the former president, at a minimum, aided and abetted the violent storming of the Capitol, which was the greatest danger posed to republican government since the War of 1812 when the British sacked Washington, DC.  It is probable that he will be convicted of one or more felony counts related to the insurrection.  Bipartisan votes of Congress have reached the same conclusion--that Dear Leader was at the center of the conspiracy to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power--something no other President has come close to doing in our history.  "Overblown" said the cultist from Iowa? Hardly.

Accountability for the greatest political crime since the nation's founding must be forthcoming.  Fortunately, our founding charter provides a ready answer to his unprecedented crimes.  No person who has taken an oath to defend the Constitution that has engaged in insurrection, or given aid or comfort to same, is disqualified from holding public office.  Professor Lawrence Tribe of Harvard Law, among others, points out that the provision is properly applied to defendant Trump, it only remains to be enforced against him.

Enforcement of Section 3 properly lies with states' Secretary of State, among other mechanisms*. These public officers also take an oath to defend the Constitution.  They are responsible for determining the eligibility of persons running for  public office in their state, among other election duties.  Failure to enforce the constitutional disqualification of Trumpilini would be a dereliction of their own oaths of office.  Appropriately, there is a role for private citizens in such a process.  They need to petition their Secretary of State to strike Trump's name from their election ballots on constitutional grounds.  If you are concerned that our constitutional republic may be slipping away due to the concerted corruption of those who would destroy representative democracy, write your Secretary of State today before its too late.  Be a true patriot and stand for democracy!

*Quo warranto is an equitable writ in which a plaintiff can challenge a person's right to hold public office or to remove an unqualified individual from office.  In DC quo warranto has been codified in the DC Code Section 16-3501. Both the Attorney General and the US Attorney for the District of Columbia may bring an action to disqualify a person from federal office post election or appointment.  Interestingly, the law provides that if either of these two law enforcement officials refuse to bring an action, an "interested person" may ask the court to bring the action in the name of the United States over the objection of the Justice Department.  Now, that is real democracy! 

credit: Weyant, Boston Globe

Ecuadorians Vote Against Drilling Yasuni Reserve

"oil causes poverty, contamination and death..."

In a significant victory for indigenous people, Ecuadorians voted in a historic referendum to ban oil drilling in the biodiverse Yasuni National Park in the Amazon.  The Park is also home to the Tagaeri and Taromenane peoples, the last tribes living in voluntary isolation from the modern world.  The vote will keep an estimated 726 million barrels of oil in the ground at a time when the climate effects of burning fossil fuels are more apparent than ever. [photo credit: S. Pinchetti]

The vote was not close with a margin of over 20% against drilling "Block 43" on the eastern edge of the Park. Ecuador's national oil company is required to halt production and  dismantle infrastructure within one year.  The result came despite warnings from industry that halting development would severely impact  the cash-strapped nation's economy.  The nation earned $991 million from oil  during the period January to July this year.  Fitch downgraded its bonds below investment grade last week.  Yasunidos is an activist group that struggled for ten years to get a vote on drilling in the reserve.  It gathered more than 750,000 signatures in support of a referendum.  

The country's rainforest has been the scene of ecological disasters caused by oil exploration and production.  The activists have been fighting Chevron for three decades in court.  A US environmental lawyer, Steven Donziger, is under house arrest for his role in championing the rights of indigenous impacted by oil spills.  He succeeded in obtaining a $9.5 billion judgement, the largest ever, against the US company in Ecuadorian courts, but Chevron has fought the case tooth and nail, not paying a cent in damages. Chevron has lobbied to remove his bar licenses and sued him for bribery and fraud.  A US federal judge who heard arguments against the judgment's validity took the extraordinary step of appointing private attorneys to prosecute Donziger for refusing to turn over his electronic devices. He is awaiting trial on criminal contempt charges levied against him by US District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan.

Zelensky's Dream Come True

 Zelensky with Dutch Royal Air Force command

He finally got his wish--F-16s.  The US announced it would approve transfer of its tech by Denmark and Netherlands.  Both NATO countries are replacing their F-16 fleets with the F-35. Netherlands has 42 jets and Denmark 19 at their disposal.  Norway has 57 of the older aircraft, but there is no commitment from it on transferring some of them to Ukraine. The US has about a thousand F-16s still on active duty.  Has Zelensky stopped to think what it will take to effectively deploy these complex fighter-bombers in actual combat?  US Person has his doubts.  

So far only 8 Ukrainian pilots have completed their basic instruction with the aircraft. These will be needed on the ground for training other pilots who mostly do not speak English or French.  But pilots are only the tip of the long logistics tail.  If US deployments are any guide, fifty highly trained personnel are needed to service each jet.  These are usually NCOs with decades of experience. Ukraine does not have any of these. The airframes are vintage from the 70's, so maintenance will be a key requirement. Will it rely on private contractors?  It probably will have to since the current US administration has made "boots on the ground" out of bounds.

F-16s will be honey to the bear.   To protect them on the ground the fighters will have to be dispersed, which will require more logistical personnel. US Person read somewhere that F-16s require longer runways than those needed by MiG-29s. So that means additional time, expense and personnel to upgrade infrastructure. An F-16 costs $27,000 an hour to operate. At that rate Ukraine's defense budget will be strained to cover more essential items like shells, bullets and jet fuel for their Abrams tanks, not to mention expensive ordinance for the aircraft. A US combat brigade cost $67,000 a mile to operate when fuel was cheaper.  Hard choices will have to be made by Ukraine if their fleet of coveted F-16s are not to become display models. War is not only hell, but hellishly expensive.

The fourth generation fighter jet is expensive and complex, but it also uses tactics that are difficult to master, such as aerial refueling. A new Ukrainian pilot may be able to fly after some compressed training, but will she be able to perform complex maneuvers in formation of 4-8 fighters necessary for combined arms operations at the front? [photo] Ukraine's armed forces have yet to master combined arms on the ground despite months of training in NATO countries, and over a year of combat. It has also made questionable use of scarce, expensive resources to attack low-value targets such as rear area training grounds without significant troop concentrations. Air combat adds yet another layer of complexity to a logistical 3D chess game. Where is Spock when you need him?

This is not to say the F-16s, when they finally reach the battlefield, will be useless. They may be able to fly effective sorties in small flights. They could be very effective against Russian ships in the Black Sea using long range anti-ship missiles. The NATO jets are more compatible with supplied munitions--such as anti-radar missiles--than modified MiGs.  US Person, call sign Odd Job, thinks ATACMS or even more deliberate use of the current Air Force would be more effective at this point in Putin's War on Ukraine. Ukrainian pilots are already expert MiG drivers. Slava Ukrainie!

What's Old is New Again

Yes, we all know the hit movie in which the nutty professor creates a time-travel DeLorean.  "Back to the Future" is the latest trend in cargo shipping.  Sails have made a reappearance on a cargo vessel named Pyxis Ocean will be the first vessel to test mechanical sails at sea in a voyage from China to Brazil.  The two sails, erected on an otherwise conventional cargo vessel, stand 123 ft tall and are constructed from the same material as wind turbines.  They were designed in the UK, built in China.  

Skeptics did not see a role for wind energy in shipping five years ago.  Now the industry is waking up to a way to save expensive fuel and about 2.1% of the planet's carbon emissions. The head of BAR Technologies told BBC that by 2025 half of newly built ships will have wind propulsion.  His confidence lies in the fuel savings of 1.5 tons per day.  Four sails on a vessel would save 20 tons of CO₂ per day.  [photo credits: BBC]

Sailing cargo vessels are making a comeback in short voyage and coastal shipping.  A steel hauled schooner, Appolonia [photo below]sails up and down the Hudson River carrying up to 10 tons of cargo to river towns from New York to Hudson, a distance of 250 nautical miles.  Renovated in five years, it has been sailing this route since 2020.  Appolonia ships fifty types of products.  Its biggest loads are maple syrup and chili sauce.  A Dutch captain sails the 130 ft barge De Tukker between the Netherlands and Portugal carrying a mixed load of up to 70 tons and twelve passengers.  The former coaster makes stops in England, France and Spain.  Shipping this way is more expensive, but the ecological costs of grotesquely large container vessels is hidden from most people' view.  The owner of De Tukker wants to build a fleet of sailing cargo vessels, each ten times larger than his current ship, to operate around the European continent offering an emission-free shipping service

Right now there are about 110,000 vessels in the international shipping fleet and new orders for vessels. Only about 100 are recorded as having wind assisted propulsion.  The number of vessels using this technology has doubled over the last twelve months. As a whole ships emit an estimated 837 million tons of carbon dioxide each year.  The industry agreed to reduce its emissions to net zero by 2050, a goal which many critics called "toothless".  Until alternative clean fuels are developed, the wind, which once propelled sailing ships around the world before the infernal combustion engine, is the latest thing on the high seas.

Brazil's Birdlife Paying the Price?

Wind farms need to be where the winds are and in Brazil that is in the Caatinga, a northeast region where 85% of Brazil's operating wind turbines are located. Wind energy generation is relatively new in Brazil with the first farm beginning operation in 2011. Regulation of wind energy projects has been left to individual states. When it was discovered that licenses had been issued by the state of Bahia to a French company, Voltalia, withou an environmental assessment beibg conducted, the federal government stepped in and cancel the licenses. Concern for the endangered Lear's macaw that lives in a refuge nearby the project site motivated conservationists to file suit against the firm. Wind energy generation is big business in Brazil. The country now ranks sixth in the world with almost 10,000 wind turbines in operation.   Installed wind capacity is expected to double by 2028.

The beautiful Araripe manakin, Antilophia bokermanni, was only described by science in 1998. When described it was already critically endangered with extinction. Only 800 are thought to live in the wild. The species now has its own conservation plan. Another French company, Qair Group, wants to build a wind/solar farm complex that overlaps Araripe habitat. Obviously the concern is mortality caused by collision with massive turbine blades. In the United States an estimated 500,000 birds die this way each year.  Unless Brazil's licensing regulation becomes more rigorous and transparent states or companies will be tempted to shortcut the permitting process because wind is now the cheapest source of energy in the country,  That is welcomed news for conservationists, but it should not be at the expense of biodiversity.  The Caatinga is a relatively in tact biome where 26 million people live.  As such it is a living laboratory of coexistence between man and Nature.  It is worth taking extra measures to protect all of its creatures.

Inconvenient Al Tells It Like It Is

The world is suffering the catastrophic effects of climate change--the latest example being the lethal wildfire in Maui, Hawaii. There, fire driven by hurricane force winds incenerated the drought striken landscrape and killed over 110 people so far. Over a thousand are still missing. Al Gore likened the news to a long hike through the Book of Revelations. So why has an informed body politic done so little to reverse this fatal trend? In this TED talk by Al Gore--where he admits to being all hot and bothered--tells us the explanation mostly boils down to greed. Big Oil is using the same bait and switch propaganda used to prolong the cancerous habit of smoking tobacco. The fact that the latest COP conference is hosted by Dubai, a country with an abismal emissons record, says a lot about the captured process and disadvantageous financing of climate projects. Compare the performance by a man who should have been President with the deceitful babbling of the anti-social miscreant currently dominating the news cycle.

TWIT: Big Bavonas In Georgia!

Breaking: A Fulton County grand jury has handed down 10 indictments this evening, presumably against Donald Trump and his co-conspirators for election crimes committed in Georgia.  The identities of those charged and the charges in the indictments are not yet known, but the clerk's office is working to release the indictments to the public later this evening. This is the culmination of a long legal process that began last year when a special grand jury was convened to investigate election interference by Don 'Legit' and his band of crooked lawyers. Stayed tune for developments.  

Update: One of the ten indictments returned by the Georgia grand jury includes 41 counts constituting a RICO (Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization) conspiracy.  The RICO charges are against Donald Trump and eighteen others including Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows. Sydney Powell, whose foundation funded the computer tampering in Coffee County is among those charged. Hack lawyers John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro are also charged. These two were largely responsible for formulating the disingenuous legal theory justifying the coup attempt. A RICO conviction in Georgia carries a mandatory minimum of five years incarceration, which cannot be subject to probation according to DA Willis. Thirteen of the counts apply specifically to defendant Trump.

Don 'Legit' is already sending out fund raising messages based on this fourth criminal indictment in five months. He continues to frame his multiple criminal cases as a wholly partisan effort to keep him out of the White House for a second term, calling it "election interference" in a clinical example of projection. He labelled Fani Willis a "rabid partisan".  The multistate scope of the 97 page true bill is in proportion to the nationwide conspiracy to overthrow the 2020 election led by the former president. The indictment lays out the ways Trump and his co-defendants attempted to subvert the election: by soliciting election Department officials, by soliciting Vice President Mike Pence, by breaching secure voting machines, by falsely certifying electors, and by engaging in a cover-up. DA Willis has given defendants until noon Friday, August 25th to surrender voluntarily to state authorities. Arrest warrants have been issued.

credit: Danziger, The Rutland Herald
BC Idonwanna sez: Poor Rudy 'Coludie', run over by a bus
 and shot on 5th Avenue!

Staromylvinka or Bylat!

US Person previously identified a weak point of Russian defenses south of Staromaiorske, and suggested that Mariupol could be a strategic goal of the counteroffensive. {23.01.2023} Ukraine has been pouring reinforcements into the advance of two marine brigades and the 4th Tank Brigade for the past month. Staromaiorskie was officially recaptured on July 27th, apparently at great cost in casualties and equipment. SlavaUkraini! US Person began to get excited as the advanced continued down the river valley of the tiny Mokri Yalli towards the village of Urozhaine on the opposite bank. Urozhanie was recaptured this week in intense fighting. Ukraine's Air Force dropped JDAMS on Russian positions in the village. Heroyam Slava! The Ukrainians fought off repeated counterattacks after taking it. However, Russians were caught in an indefensible salient forcing them to retreat south, but not after suffering significant casualties. Reports are those fleeing on foot out of the village were cut to pieces by cluster munitions.

The apparent goal is the town of Staromylvinka. It is important because just south of the town is the only Russian fortified defense line in the area. Compare this situation to the Tokmak axis where Ukrainian forces recently recaptured Robotyne. [map] A breakthrough at Staromylvinka will be very significant; Ukrainian forces will then be behind vulnerable static fortifications. Undoubtably there will be mine fields ahead, but in less density than before. It is unlikely Russians have the had the time or manpower to lay dense fields in front of a rapid Ukrainian advance--emphasis on rapid. Staromylvinka is only 65 miles down the T0518 and/or H20 highways to Mariupol. It is half that to the   railway running south along the ridge of high ground, which is the main Russian supply line. If Ukraine's forces reach the port city before General Mud hinders mechanized operations, it will be game over for the Ruskies in Zaporizhia Oblast.  Ukraine can then concentrate on air and ground operations against Crimea.

A successful diversionary operation is taking place on the east bank of the Dnipro where special forces have consolidated and expanded two beachheads, one at Kozahi Laheri and one before Oleshky. Although the operation is relatively small (< batllion), they are significant enough to fix Russian forces in the area and require reinforcements. Ukrainian forces are holding despite intense artilery bombardment. Ukraine enjoys a 3:1 kill ratio in artillery strikes thanks to western precision ordinance and reconnaissance drones, while Russia is increasingly relying on 70-50 year old towed pieces.

Ukraine needs more of these antiaircraft, MIM-23 HAWKS

Wolf Killers At Work Again

A new wolf pack in western Oregon

The federal killer agency, Wildlife Services, exterminated four wolves of the Five Points Pack after complaints of predation by two public land permittees.  The wolves, two adult females, one adult male and one juvenile female were killed in July and August.  This pack numbered 12 in the winter count of January 2023.  Livestock owners must use non-lethal methods to protect their livestock before a lethal  permit is issued.  This aggressive approach to wolf management by the state of Oregon and illegal poaching has kept the state's wolf population from significantly increasing since the management plan was implemented.  The minimum number of wolves in Oregon at the end of 2022 was 178 only an increase of three over the previous year according to the annual report. 

Wolves in Oregon are preying on livestock due to the shortage of natural prey and the abundance of livestock in wolf habitat.  Despite the hardships wolves are slowly spreading in Western Oregon.  Wolves remain federally protected east of the Cascades. (Hwys 97-395)

TWIT: All the King's Men

credit: M. Lukovitch, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
BC Idonwanna sez: Eric says so, too!

This week  a memo from Trump solider Kenneth Chesebro was brought to the public's short-lived attention by the New York Times. The December 6th, 2020 memo lays out the corrupt intent of Team Crazy not just to delay vote counting on January 6th, but to manipulate the vote in such a way as to keep Der Leader in the lead. They needed the votes from the fake electors in six states to be inserted by a cooperative VP, Mike Pence. Chesebro candidly admitted:

I recognize that what I suggest is a bold, controversial strategy, and that there are many reasons why it might not end up being executed on January 6. But as long as it is one possible option, to preserve it as a possibility it is important that the Trump-Pence electors cast their electoral votes on December 14.

Chesebro though that even the conservative Supreme Court would eventually find that the power to count votes lies solely in Congress and not in the President of the Senate. His suggested strategy would at least buy more time for Trump to win some litigation allowing him to stay in power, as in Bush v. Gore. As the plotters lost case after case in the courts, they became more desparate.

Another fact is now clear: Team Crazy endorsed the raising of a mob to assault the Capitol, which could pose a physical threat to anyone, especially Mike Pence whom Don 'Legit' identified by name on the Ellipse, who did not want to go along with the coup plot. Trump was informed that the crowd was armed, yet he told them to march down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol. Chesebro's writing makes it plausibly impossible to deny that Trump was the leader of a bona fide attempt to overthrow the United States government, by force if necessary. That crime is labelled "sedition" in the US criminal code, punishable by up to twenty years in prison.  Just ask Rupert Murdoch.

credit: M. Lukovitch, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Feline Coronavirus Killing Cats

Update:  Veterinarians on Cyprus have begun to distribute COVID pills intended for humans to the island's cat population decimated by feline coronavirus.  The virus causes feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), which is almost always fatal without treatment.  The outbreak of FCoV-23 began in Nicosia in January and spread to the entire island in three to four months.  Although the feline virus is not related to COVID-19 in humans, molnupiravir has proved beneficial to cats diagnosed with FIP.  The particular strain of coronavirus is exceptionally virulent; even in-door only pets are falling ill.  Cyprus has a huge population of feral felines; cat advocates criticized the government's announcement of available medication as a "firework" midst an unspoken policy of population control. Vets on the island estimate that about 8,000 cats have already died. Each pill pack of about 40 pills will cost about 100€.  Scientists from the University of Edinburgh are sequencing the virus genome. 

{07.17.2023} Cyprus, known as "Cat Island", is full of cats with an estimated population of over a million.  The earliest known remains of a domesticated cat were found on the island.  Many of the cats are feral and a deadly disease is infecting them.  Feline Infectious Peritonitis, which is not transmissible to humans, has spread rapidly. Deaths far exceed the officially reported 107.  A cat advocacy group says that since January 300,000 cats have died from the highly infectious feline coronavirus.  Infected cats suffer from fever, abdominal swelling, dehydration, and weakness before succumbing, if left untreated.

Archeological evidence of cats on the island dates back at least 9,500 years ago, to a deliberate burial of a human and cat together. Legend says that Roman empress St. Helena brought cats to the island 1700 years ago to deal with poisonous snakes that infested a local monestary.  That bond between feline and human has remained to this day with feline lovers taking care of the island's burgeoning cat colony.  The Cyprus outbreak is thought to have come from the Levant, but that theory is not yet confirmed.

Two treatments are suggested to contain the spread of the virus. One is molnupiravir, which Cyprus officials say cannot be authorized for veterinary use, and the other is GS-44152, similar to the COVID treatment, remdesivir. It is approved for veterinary use in Britain, but is probibitively expensive at a minimum $3,300 per cat. Molnupiravir only costs $200€ per cat. A black market has sprung up to save beloved animals, pets and strays. Some Cyprians may think the disease is a blessing in disguse since the island has too many cats. Advocates, however, are demanding government action to prevent Cyprus from becoming the island of dead cats.

Amazon Countries Meet in Belem

With the leadership of Brazil President Lula Da Silva Amazonian countries are meeting in Belem to discuss action to halt the slow collapse of the great Amazon Rainforest.  Member nations of the Amazon Cooperation Treat Organization have met only three times before.  Lula told participants that resuming and expanding cooperation has never been more urgent.  The Amazon Basin stretches over an area twice the size of India, two thirds of which lies in Brazil.  Seven countries and one territory (French Guiana) share the remaining third.

All the nations involved have signed the Paris Climate Accords, but action beyond that has been insignificant, meanwhile destruction of the forest has turned it from a carbon sink into a net emitter of carbon dioxide pollution.  Crime is also a problem since remote, forested borders are not routinely enforced with cooperation between states.  Murders in Amazon towns are sometimes double or triple national averages.  Drug traffickers have expanded their operations into land clearance and gold mining.  One conference attendee, Peru, wants to see action on this subject as well as environmental matters.

photo credit: AP

This is Lula's second attempt to form a cooperative around forest protection.  The first one, in 2009 failed.  So far protection commitments have been slow to appear. Only Brazil and Columbia have pledged to stop deforestation by 2050.  Scientists have warned that the forest will reach a tipping point when 20-25% of the forest is destroyed.  The resulting drastic drop in rainfall will turn the forest into sahvanna with immense biodiversity loss.  Indigenous leaders including Raoni Metuktire are also speaking out, with similar predictions of disaster if action is not taken immediately to protect the forest from more exploitation.  Despite previous efforts at cooperation like the 2018 Leticia Pact,  little regional effort has occurred.  

Lulu hopes that the participants will sign the "Belem Declaration" committing themselves to preserving 80% of the forest.  It is a goal that can be reached.  Lula's government has achieved a 42% drop in deforestation during his first seven months in office, created six indigenous territories, and pledged fourteen more.  Other rainforest nations, European countries funding Amazon protection programs have joined numerous indigenous peoples to swell conference attendance to 24,000.  Where there is a will, there is a way.

New National Monument Created

It has a long name: Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Mounment, or Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni in native languages, a million acres containing numerous native cultural heritage sites in Arizona. The region has been the site of uranium mining in the past. Mining has been restricted, but the restrictions are set to expire in 2032. The new designation will make them permanent. This is the fifth monument declaration of Biden's administration. Native Americans consider the site to be sacred. The Uranium Mining Association said the designation was unwarranted, and a Repugnant spokesperson said Biden's administration lack of reason "knows no bounds". The administration said the designation comprises only 1.3% of the nation's known uranium reserves. Mining claims pre-dating 2012 when the moratorium went into effect will be allowed to operate.

The formal announcement is expected to take place Tuesday in Arizona by Biden and is part of a public relations campaign in the west to increase awareness of Biden's climate and environmental actions. Young voters appear to be disastisfied with his administration's performance on climate matters. Arizona also has a large segment of Native American voters. Many conservationists will find it hard to forgive the administration for the approval of the Willow Project in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve earlier this year. Only three US presidents did not use the Antiquities Act to create national monuments: Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush.

A Useful Weapon

For some readers not familiar with military hardware, US Person posts this "Periscope" video of the EA-6B Prowler, a now-retired EW jet that he suggested could be valuable to Ukraine, especially if its command decides to conduct an aviation campaign against Russian ground and naval forces on Crimea. The naval jet proved invaluable against adversaries that possessed robust air defenses like North Vietnam and Bosnia. The Prowler can also be equipped with radar-seeking air to ground missiles. (AGM-88)The aircraft could be more effective than F-16s in the current conflict since Ukraine already possesses effective fighter-bombers (Mig-29, Su-25), but lacks sufficient EW equipment. The Prowler's important role in strike protection is particularly relevant to the current conflict. The last Marine wing of Prowlers left service in 2016. Presumably these are in storage and could be gifted to Ukraine's air arm.

Top Fund Cuts Ties to Dam in Orangutan Habitat

Norway's state pension fund cut ties with China's Power Construction Corporation that is building a hydroelectric dam in the only known habitat of the Tapanuli Orangutan, a critically endangered species.  The $1.6 billion Batang Toru project is part of China's globe-girding Road and Belt Initiative.  Norway's sovereign fund has $1.4 trillion in assets under management owns about 0.03% of the project, a relatively minor interest.  The funds ethics council conducted an investigation of the project and concluded that it endangered the survival of the orangutan.  Scientists have warned that the dam project jeopardizes connections between three subpopulations which in turn would lead to inbreeding and eventual extinction of the entire global population of around 800.  The orangutan is reduced to using just 5% of its historic range. The region affected by the dam is also habitat for the endangered Sumatran tiger.

The dam project is behind schedule due to the pandemic.  At least 17 people have died during construction including two workers caught in a tunnel collapse last year, and 13 people in a landslide in 2021.  Despite the 2021 incident, China Power did not mention them in its environmental and social report for that year.  The company also did not respond to the ethics councils inquiries regarding environmental compliance.

On the other side of the planet, the Cameroon government has again opened part (170,000 acres) of the Ebo Forest to logging despite the presence of endangered gorillas and chimpanzees.  Ebo was opened briefly to logging in 2020, but the national government reversed its decision.  However, local politicians have kept up pressure to reclassify portions of the forest.  In April the Prime Minister reclassified Unit 07-006 and directed the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife to create plans for logging. Opponents of logging say the government has not engaged in consultation with local communities,  In 2022 a private group built a road into the forest without a permit.  The forestry ministry claimed it was not aware of the road building.  Greenpeace Africa is asking the government to revolt the latest permit and to consult with the local Banen people about the future of their ancestral territory.  Watch this video produced by Mongabay.com about the tool using chimps of the Ebo, once slated to be a national park.

TWIT: "Fueled By Lies"

credit: B. Englehart
Wackydoodle sez:  It be better if in he was the FONZ!

Update: Defendant Trump entered a plea of not guilty to federal felony charges related to his coup attempt.  The magistrate required him to stand and enter a plea in his own voice, unlike in Miami federal court.  The magistrate suggested three dates for the next court hearing.  The parties decided on August 28th, indicating a rapid docket in this historic criminal case.

More:Individual Five of the indictment appears to be Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney involved in the interstate fake elector scheme. Individual Sixth's identity was uncertain, appearing to be either Roger Stone or Boris Epshteyn, both political consultants who helped implement the fake elector deception. The New York Times later identified the 6th co-conspirator as Boris Epshteyn based on a match between the description in the indictment and e-mails in the public domain. In one Epshteyn identified attorneys in swing states who could be trusted to aid the fake elector plot in response to Rudy Giuliani's inquiry. Epshteyn is currently working for Don 'Legit' as a top advisor to his legal defense.

Breaking: That's how Special Prosecutor Jack Smith described the events of January 6th. Don 'Legit' Trumpilini has been charged with four federal felonies including a seldom used civil rights crime.  He has was charged with conspiracy to obstruct an official proceedings, conspiracy to defraud the government, attempted obstruction and obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy to deny civil rights*. The indictment also refers to six co-conspirators, not named, A close reading of the indictments allows knowledgeable observers to surmise they are: Rudy Giuliani, Sydney Powell, John Eastman, Jeffery Clark and two others. Former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is conspicuous by his absence from the indictment, whether that is an indication that he is a cooperating witness remains to be seen. The unnamed co-conspirators may be charged later in order to keep the trial of the coup leader from being delayed. Trump is expected to be arraigned Thursday in Washington, DC. Stay tuned as history is made.

*18 USC Sec. 241. Sometimes known as the "Ku Klux Klan Act" the provision has its origins in Reconstruction after the Civil War when night riders cloaked in bedsheets conspired to deprive newly enfranchised black voters of their suffrage.. President Grant used the Act and federal troops to suppress the Klan in the defeated Confederacy. His campaign was largely successful, bu the Klan reemerged at the turn of the last century to again become a feared and influential force in southern politics. That the defendant Trump is charged with this crime somehow fits from a historic perspective.