Weekend Music: Little Feat

Thanks Norah, for reminding me! One of US Person's (aka Elf-on-a-Shelf) favorite music shows from the 70s was "Midnight Special".  Little Feat was not a hugely popular band, but it cut some classics like this one from '74 before it was disbanded by guitarist and lead vocalist Lowell George in 1979. He died of a heart attack in Arlington, VA hotel room while on tour. George was an original member of Frank Zappa's group Mothers of Invention. He wrote the folk-rock standard Willin', which was popularized by Linda Ronstadt on her hit album, Heart Like a Wheel. George claimed that the song's reference to drugs got him fired by Zappa. Surviving menbers reformed the group in 1987. The band continues to perform to this day--still Willin':

Syphyilis Found in Ancient American Bones

A debate has raged over the source of syphilis since it was first encountered in Europe in 1494 when the disease ravaged the army of French King Charles VIII returning from campaigns in Italy [image]. That epidemic is regarded as the first historical account. One camp believes it was transported to Europe from the Americas by Christopher Columbus' expedition in 1493. Another camp believes it the disease lurked undetected in Europe before Columbus sailed away.

New DNA evidence may help lay the argument to rest. Ancient human bones from the Americas that predate Columbus contain genomes of bacteria from the syphilis disease family say researchers. Three diseases including syphillis are caused by strains of the bacteria Treponema pallidum While syphilis disease is widespread, the others are restricted to the tropics (yaws and bejel) Molecular paleopathology researchers from Max Plank Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology were able to reconstruct five genomes from a hip bone from Argentina, a lower leg bone from Chile, upper and lower leg bones from Mexico, and a tooth from Peru. Their results were published in the respected journal Nature. They traced back the bacteria genomes to a common ancestor that existed 9,000 years ago. Then, the New World was already widely populated by humans who had not yet interacted with European cultures. While the debate may continue in the light of this new evidence, it does explain a great deal about how the disease originated and spread to other parts of the world.

TWIT: No Immunity For You!

Still More: In one of the remaining criminal cases against the conspirators of the January. 6th Insurrection, the Arizona Attorney General's office  has obtained a large cache of communications by the perpetrators and Trump allies.  They cannot be released yet because the judge overseeing the case gave defense attorney an opportunity to filter extraneous information before it becomes public.  The evidence may contain yet unknown details of the plot to overthrow the democratic transfer of power,  

The Arizona case focuses on the "fake elector" scheme in that state.  Don the Con is not among the defendants, but is a co-conspirator.  Former chief of staff Mark Meadows is a named defendant. Prosecutors obtained the cooperation of one of the Trump electors earlier this year.

More:  The Georgia Appeals Court has effectively ended the RICO case against Don Trumpilini by deciding Thursday that Fani Willis would be removed from the case for improper conduct.  Although it allowed the indictments to stand, it is unlikely that a special prosecutor will be appointed anytime soon  to replace Willis and her office.  Willis' problems began when the defense unearthed a romantic relationship between her and one of her subordinates working on the case,  The appeals court found that situation constituted a substantial conflict of interest.  How that relationship conflicted with her decisions in the RICO can is not clear to US Person, who is allegedly out-of-bounds, but the appearance of impropriety was enough to taint the case according to the court. The Fulton County DA's office has filed a notice of appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court.

Update:  In their desperate effort to defeat the conviction of the their client of 34 felonies in the hush-money case, Trump's lawyers are now alleging juror misconduct.  Justice Merchan has responded to their letter saying the allegation should be investigated, but he cannot rely on hearsay and unsworn allegations in deciding whether the case against Don the Con should be vacated. Manhattan prosecutors argued that Trump’s lawyers were trying to immune the verdict by airing their claims in a letter to the judge rather than a formal motion to dismiss the case. Prosecutors also questioned the defense’s resistance to having Merchan hold a court hearing where their juror misconduct claims could be examined more thoroughly. The defense strategy is to prevent sentencing before his inauguration as the first convicted felon in history to become president of the United States. The attorneys' heavily redacted letter of December 3rd was released to the public Tuesday.

On another front, the House Ethics Committee voted to release the ethics report on Matt Gaetz after the 118th House concludes its business at the end of the year.   

{17.12.2024}  Justice Juan Merchan of New York's Supreme Court issued his ruling on Don the Con's immunity claim on Monday. It was not good news for the Boss. Merchan found that the 34 criminal acts for which he was convicted by a jury occurred before he became president, and communications by White House personnel during his presidency about the illegal payments to 'Stormy' Daniels presented in evidence were not consequential, i.e. harmless error. Don Olde reacted on-line with predictable fury calling Merchan's ruling "psychotic".

The case is still alive for now, but the trial judge has yet to rule on the motion for dismissal in "the interests of justice" because Trump won the election.  His lawyers did not address the required factors for such a dismissal established under New York law in their motion. Their client hardly has "clean hands" to demand such extraordinary equitable relief; calling the trial judge, "corrupt" and "psychotic" is not a good thing. Sentencing is also still pending after Merchan postponed it twice in consideration of political events.  Merchan's rulings will be appealed through the two levels of state judicial review, and if necessary to the US Supreme Court where a MAGA majority awaits. 

Popock agrees!--suspend his sentence, which should include some jail time, pending his return to private life.  Meanwhile™the appeals can go forth. 

credit: M. Ramirez
Wackydoodle sez: He does tricks too!

Jungle Airstrips Hide in Logging Concessions

Mongabay.com in conjunction with Latam and Earth Genome has conducted a survey of Peruvian rain forest in Ucayali Department, Peru. Assisted by AI the survey found 45 clandestine airstrips in the forest.   Nine of these are located in logging concessions and some within native reserves; six are located in the middle of cocoa fields. Analysis of the data shows 67 acres of illicit crops within a 1.2 mile radius of an airstrip. Undoubtably the reason for these airstrips existence is narco-trafficking. Law enforcement officials also found labs associated with landing strips and think that the installations are part of the drug cartels' modus operandi. Some logging concessionaires have reported the installations, but their complaints have been ignored. 

In one case from nine years ago, the concession owned by Ucayali Wood, reported existence of an illegal airstrip to the Peruvian criminal investigation division. Evidence was provided to authorities including pictures of an airplane and the landing strip. Nothing was done about the report.  The company owns a 22,000 acre concession in Atalaya Province, an area ravaged by drug trafficking. Despite being virtual no-man's land, the landscape is littered with evidence of drug manufacturing. Ucayali Wood made repeated complaints through its agent in Atalaya, but a preliminary investigation was not launched until this year. It was shelved after authorities could not identify the perpetrators. The agent told Mongabay he will continue to make reports about illegal cocoa crops and other drug activities so not to lose his license to log which is valid until 2042.

Drug traffickers managed to build these strip during the pandemic years when officials were absent from the remote area. A leader of Ucayali indigneous people told Mongabay interviewers that they no longer report drug trafficking activity because local authorities, "don’t listen to us and can’t be trusted.” Neither the national police anti-narcotics unit (DIRANDRO) or the Ucayali Special Prosecutor's Office are currently investigating the establishment of illegal landing strips in forest concessions.  Often the strips appear on land for which there is no registered owner.They can be destroyed, but that is about all that can be done in the circumstances of official corruption.  All nations have their own problems.

Ocean Temperature Rise Killed 4 Million Birds

An estimated 4 million common murres in Alaska were killed by a marine heat wave.  That number represents about half of the murres' total population. The catastrophe is thought to be the largest die-off of a single animal species in recorded history. About a decade ago  Pacific surface temperatures shot up eleven degrees as a high pressure system stalled over the ocean and circulating currents died down.  They called it the "blob", and it convulsed marine ecosystems.  The blob lasted for three years, and humans began to see evidence of the damage done as carcasses washed up on beaches.  The effect on murres, a black and white seabird that spends most of its life at sea except for breeding, was discussed in a journal article recently published in Science.  What scientists learned about the die-off is that it was a lot worse than estimated, and that the birds have not yet begun to rebound [photo courtesy of US Fish & Wildlife] Previous estimates of the death toll ranged from a half to one million murres. 

The warming ocean temperatures led to a die-off of the birds' main fish prey. Ocean surface temperatures breached records last year and into this year.  Scientist are worried that the high temperatures and its disastrous impacts on marine wildlife may be a harbinger of the future,  Murres are normally resilient to changes in their environment, but impact of prolonged ocean heat seems to have overwhelmed the birds.  A similar type of disastrous population decline occurred when Atlantic cod off of Newfoundland were overfished.  Once thought to be an inexhaustible source of protein, Atlantic cod have failed to recover despite a ban on cod fishing in Newfoundland waters.

COTW: Worth a Thousand Clinical Trials

RFK Jr. is out of bounds when it comes to vaccines--he testified in 2021 that the COVID vaccine was, "the deadly vaccine ever made".  He has endorsed an anti-vaccine lawyer, Aron Siri for a top job in the Department of Health and Human Services.  Mr. Siri has filed a petition to pause administration of 13 vaccines pending double blind clinical trials considered to be the "gold standard" of scientific study.  He also filed a lawsuit in 2022 to revoke the FDA license for the polio vaccine.  Polio was a scourge on this nation until vaccines were developed in 1955 (Salk) and 1960 (Sabin).  Science has decades of records concerning the efficacy and safety of polio vaccines.  To deny children the protection they afford pending a clinical trail which would take years to complete is unethical and stupid. Here is the chart that says it all:

 

TWIT: More Charges

credit: Britt
Wackydoodle sez: Laughing all the way!

The Wisconsin attorney general added ten more felony charges to the indictments of Trump minions for their fake elector rigging in that state. Jim Troupis, campaign lawyer in Wisconsin, Kenneth Chesebro, national campaign advisor and Mike Roman, director of Election Day operations were originally charged with a single felony forgery count. Each of the 11 of the felony charges they face now carries the same maximum penalty of six years in prison and a $10,000 fine. These men conspired to submit a false document to Vice-President Mike Pence that listed the names of 10 Wisconsin Trump supporters as the state's recognized slate of Electors.

According to federal investigators, the fake elector scheme originated in Wisconsin. A majority of these "alternative" electors told investigators that they did not believe their signatures on the elector certificate would be submitted to Congress without a court ruling. Additionally, a majority of the electors said that they did not consent to having their signatures presented as if Trump had won without such a court ruling, The fake elector scheme is central to state racketeering charges brought against Trump and eighteen others in Georgia. Don the Con is fighting the charges on the grounds that the state court has no jurisdiction over him now that he is President-elect under the Constitution's Supremecy Clause

Chesebro was one of four people to plead guilty in the Georgia case in the months following the indictment. He pleaded guilty to one felony charge of conspiracy to commit filing false documents after reaching a deal with Georgia prosecutors. He is now trying to invalidate the plea after the judge in September tossed out the charge to which he had pleaded guilty. The federal Special Prosecutor has abandoned his case against Trump and his co-conspirators based on the Department of Justice policy of not prosecuting a sitting president. FAIL!

Monarch Butterfly Finally Listed

US wildlife officials announced a proposal to list the iconic Monarch butterfly as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act.  The butterfly that migrates from Mexico to Canada and back in four generations has suffered severe population declines due to habitat loss.  Without immediate conservation action the beautiful black and yellow butterfly could disappear from the North American continent before the end of the century. The eastern migration population is estimated to have declined by 80% since the 1980s, while the western population has declined by a shocking 95%.  In their Mexican forest winter habitat the population dropped 22% in just one year, 2021-22 says the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has categorized the species as endangered in 2022.

As expected, climate change is playing a major role in the declines.  Droughts, heat and frosts are killing its major food source, milkweed.  Monarchs also lay their eggs on the plant to insure a food source for their catepillars.  Pollinators like the Monarch are responsible for 75% of the food consumed by humans. [photo credit: Getty Images]

If the proposed rule is finalized after public comment, it will protect nearly 4400 acres in California vital to the western population.  The fate of the rule change is uncertain given the hostility of the incoming regime to conservation efforts.  People can help the insect by planting milkweed in their gardens, even in small areas to provide them with sufficient nectar to make their arduous migrations.  Despite its fragility, the butterfly is remarkably resilient and could recover if given the opportunity by man.

Arctic Becomes Net Carbon Source

For the first time in recorded history, the Arctic has flipped from being a carbon sink to a carbon source. Carbon dioxide and methane locked for millennium in the frozen tundra is being released by record high temperatures and wildfires. NOAA's 2024 Arctic Report Card shows surface temperatures in the Arctic reaching the warmest since 1900 when accurate record keeping began.  

Since 2003 circumpolar wildfires have emitted nearly 400 million tons of carbon, that is two and half times the total emissions of Canada.  Scientists are not sure if the change is permanent, or can be rectified by proper climate action.  The massive boreal forest that surrounds the North Pole still. captures a lot of carbon. 

Along with warmer temperatures, the Arctic is experiencing more rainfall.2024 was a record for rainfall in the Arctic.  Warmer temperatures have disrupted wildlife.  Caribou have decreased in number by 65% over the last two or three decades.  Ice seal populations seem to be holding steady, but are increasingly out of reach of their main predator, polar bears, due to the lack of reliable sea ice they use to hunt seals.  Arctic warming, which joins the Amazon in sending a carbon emission signal is not a good sign according to climate experts, and will have consequences for human communities around the world.

Captured--A Sign of the Times

the widely distributed photo

The assassin that knocked off the CEO of United Health Care was captured in Altoona, Pennsylvania after a tip from a McDonald's worker in response to a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Police found a "ghost gun" similar to that used in the homicide, fake ID used to register at a Manhattan hostel, and a manifesto lambasting the health-care industry in his backpack.  Luigi Mangione, 26,is not your average killer. He comes from a wealthy country-club family, and has an ivy-league education where he studied computer science and engineering.  He was his private high-school (Gilmore in Baltimore) valedictorian. He could have become a CEO himself, managing one of his family's many businesses. Instead, he resorted to violence against the system.

There are circumstances that could explain his decision to kill the head executive of the nation's largest health-care company. Luigi suffered from debilitating back problems that interfered with the normal activities of an otherwise healthy, well-conditioned, young man. His father owns a nursing home. So Luigi he got a close-up view of the broken system of health-care-for-profit in this country. No doubt frustrated and angry by the treatment he and other patients experienced, he chose to seek revenge. The glaringly obvious fact Luigi undoubtably came to realize is that the system is designed to deliver maximum profits to health insurers and pharmaceutical companies. Just on Medicare Part D (drugs) alone, the government is expected to spend $137 billion in 2025. The cost for Medicare Part A and B is increasing with the minimum monthly premium set at $185. Even though Medicare Advantage was intended to save costs, the government spends more on it than original Medicare. By 2030 the federal government will be spending 20% of the national budget on health care. According to a Senate subcommittee study, UnitedHealthcare’s prior authorization denial rate for post-acute care surged from 10.9 percent in 2020, to 16.3 percent in 2021, to 22.7 percent in 2022. The company now plans to use AI to review claims and predict appeals, so the denial rate will continue to go up thereby contributing the profit margin.  Compared to other advanced countries, Americans pay more and get less because of the insurance industry profit motive.

This deplorable situation has led to a lot of anger and frustration across the country. Luigi became an instant folk-hero on-line, which indicates the depth of emotion surrounding health care. In the words of one industry expert, “people hate the health care insurance industry.” Perhaps some of the same popular resentment is responsible for the election of this nation's first criminal President. Luigi told federal investigators, out of respect for their work, that he acted alone. He has also commented on the misalignment of humanity's biology with modern, urban civilization. Now he will have to endure the extreme misalignment of prison life. He is currently fighting extradition to New York, which no longer has the death penalty. Pennsylvania has a death penalty moratorium in place since 2015.

TWIT: MAGA Cometh

 

This is the face of MAGA, and it has an enemies list. Their motto: Treueflicht Uber Alles!.  Two of Trump's loyal minions nominated for high positions have already failed under an avalanche of negative and salacious press stories*. Patel should no doubt be the third.  He publicly stated he wants to shut down the FBI's domestic intelligence operation and the agency's DC headquarters, which he would "turn into a museum of the deep state". The 'Merican electorate will soon find out what happens when you put radical lunatics from hell in charge of federal government.  But perhaps they are too busy paying their rent to care. 

credit: J. Ohman 
BC Idonwanna: He's the Director from Hell!

*Pete Hegseth has been exposed, prior to any formal background check, as a drunken, serial sex abuser. He is also the subject of a credible allegation of rape by a California woman. He paid money to the accuser in 2017 to obtain a NDA. He is alleged to have mismanaged finances when he served at the head of two veterans' organizations that forced him to step down. Hegseth now says he is  "redeemed", and not the same person he was when the incidents occurred. He is Trump's choice to head the largest bureaucracy in the world, the US Department of Defense. When Hegseth appeared on Fox Fake News in March 2016, he said,“It's typical Trump. All bluster. Very little substance, He talks a tough game, but then when pressed on it, he's an armchair tough guy". Which proves debased sycophants like Hegseth will say anything to gain power.

The Land of Make Believe

The most expensive FL real estate listed at $295 million is ripe for flooding as sea levels rise. Gordon Point is a nine acre estate near Naples that borders a white sand beach and lagoon, surrounded on three sides with seawater. Flood experts say it will certainly flood when sea levels continue rising due to climate warming. Gordon Point is advertised as Florida's "most exclusive compound". But the lifestyle of the rich and famous is colliding with the climate crises caused by their antisocial greed. 

According to a private, non-profit, flood risk analysis group the property has a 68% chance of flooding in the next fifteen years and a 95% chance in the next three decades. Zillow lists the chance of the property flooding as "severe" and its exposure to high winds "extreme".  Other than that the estate boasts a private yacht basin, a guest house, another residence, and a sprawling 22,800 sq. ft. mansion fronting the Gulf. The property is owned by the estate of financier John Donahue. [photo credit: Coldwell Banker Realty] 

Natural protections from rising water--sand dunes, mangroves, and marshes--have been dismantled so houses can be built as close as possible to the sea, which is 6 inches higher than it was in the 1990's. Five hurricanes have battered the community of Naples in recent years with the most destructive being Hurricane Ian in 2022. The storms are intensified by a super-heated Gulf of Mexico, and have ripped apart homes and inundated streets. 

Florida already has some of the highest home insurance rates in the nation. Yet despite the grim future, wealthy retirees keep pouring in to get their slice of the good life. The state's back-up insurance program is insolvent according to Gov. Ron DeSantis. His response to insurance companies fleeing his state was to delete mentioning climate change in Florida laws. His legislation also bans offshore wind farms. MAGA's typical response to problems it cannot solve is to deny they exist. Naples natural resources manager told the UK Guardian,“I just roll with it. It's the game we play, I guess." No guessing is needed in the state of Disney and the land of make believe.

Although the mansion and out buildings are built to withstand severe storms, even the ultra-rich are starting to think twice about spending seven figures on insurance and making costly, repeated repairs of storm damage. They may look elsewhere on the southern Atlantic Coast such as South Carolina and Georgia for their Shangri-la. But as one real estate agent put it, "I suspect there are buyers for anything, at all sorts of prices", referring to a banana stuck on a canvas that recently sold as "art" for $6.2 million. Job creation and investment? Not really--tax the wealth!

Wolves Loose Strict Protection in Europe

Great efforts were expended to bring back wolves from the brink of extinction in recent decades.  An estimated 20,000 now roam the continent.  But inivetably the population increase has brought conflict with man as livestock kills have also increased.  One high profile instance of wolf predation occurred when wolf tagged GW950m entered a paddock and killed a pony owned by Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commission President.  In response the Commission lowered the protection for wolves from the highest level, strict protection.  Conservationists have expressed alarm at the action saying it has green lighted wolf extermination again.  Most European experts think that the population is healthy enough to withstand a few culls provided it is done properly.  Latest assessments put five populations at near-threatened and one is considered vulnerable. by the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe (LCIE).  As in the United States, the wolf has become a political symbol of rural anger over environmental regulations affecting their businesses. [credit: Getty Images]

In Switzerland, an attempt to downgrade wolf protection failed in 2022. Earlier this year, Swiss farmers dumped sheep carcasses in front of a government building to demand more action be taken to protect their investment.  The change in EU rules was approved by two-thirds of the Council of Europe.  The change will take effect in three months unless one third of the parties object.  The chair of LCIE commented, that taken alone the rule change is not dangerous, but "when we speak of wolves, there is a lot of irrationality out there." Amen.

Red Flag Warning: Disasterous Flooding Coming

Polar scientists gathered in Australia under the auspices of Australian Antarctic Research Conference have issued a stark warning about sea level rise in the coming decades:“Runaway ice loss causing rapid and catastrophic sea level rise is possible within our lifetimes."

According to the 450 scientists, the climatic services of the Southern Ocean and Antarctica--a carbon sink and air conditioner--have been taken for granted. Climate shifts in the region are dramatic: extreme heat waves exceeding 40℃ have increased instability of key ice shelfs and record low sea ice.  They call for immediate "bending of the carbon curve". Failure to do so will condemn the Earth to unstoppable sea level rise that will impact major coastal cities like Miami, New York, London and Shenzhen. Voluntary agreements to mitigate global temperature rise have largely failed.  Almost 75% of climate pledges are insufficient to reduce green house gas emissions by 50% in 2030 according to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Predictably, the private sector has reneged in its efforts to reduce emissions.In February 2024, three major investment companies stepped back from efforts to limit climate-damaging emissions. JP Morgan Chase’s and State Street’s investment arms have both quit a global investor alliance encouraging companies to avoid emissions. ;The oil industry is committed to ramping up production during the tenure of a US administration that thinks climate warming is a "hoax".

There are basically two ways out of this dilemma: reduce fossil fuel burning drastically, or bail out drowning mega cities down the road.  Based on emission to date, US coastal cities will experience a two foot sea rise between 2020 and 2100.  If global temperature increase is not reversed, an additional 1.5 to 5 feet could occur.  Is this simply scaremongering?  That is what the in-coming deniers would have you believe, so they can continue to line their pockets with profits.

Speaking of profit-making: the UN treaty conference on limiting plastic pollution in Busan South Korea collapsed without an agreement. Participants could not agree on cutting plastic production. Small island nations, the most affected by plastic pollution, refused to accept a watered-down draft proposed for window-dressing. Plastic waste is clogging beaches, polluting soil, air and water. Microplastics are seeping into human organs and breast milk. Many chemicals associated with plastics have been known to cause harm to health. Delegates did agree to meet again.

Weekend Music: Metallica

US Person is not partial to heavy metal, but this rock ballad by Metallica brings him up to speed. Like Zeppelin's, Kashmir, a haunted melody contains lyrics based on personal experience: the repression suffered by an orphan raised in a relative's conservative Evangelical household in which he was Unforgiven:

Earth's Most Mysterious Cat

It has a remarkable reddish-brown coat, small ears, long tail and yellow green eyes that make this endangered small feline distinctive, but it is rarely seen in the wild. Researchers spending their professional lives in the jungle have never seen it. What we know about Borneo's bay cat Catopuma badiais precious little making conservation of the feline difficult. It is so elusive that science does not even know the best ways to study the cat. We know that it is endemic to the island of Borneo and is related to the Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) Science does not know what ecological niche it fills, or the most basic details of its living such what it eats, whether it is aboreal, nocturnal, solitary or how it mates and raises its young. It has been occassionally captured on trail camera videos, so we know it exists.

after Wallace specimen

Alfred Russel Wallace, famed evolutionary biologist second only to Darwin*, found the bay cat and sent a specimen skull and skin back to the UK in 1856. [illustration credit: J. Wolf]] Only five more specimens were collected since then, but after 1928 it vanished, as it often does in the wild, from the scientific record. In 1992 indeginous people trapped a female and kept it for several months. They brought the nearly dead, emaciated cat to the Sarawak Natural History Museum. Its pitiful death proved one thing: the species had not gone extinct as some thought. Panthera NGO is one of the few organizations working on preserving the species. Its director of small cat conservation says that conservationists have recorded it on video only a hundred times. Their elusiveness is aided. by small size, coloration, low population density and extreme speed. Bay cats are faster than the larger clouded leopard, also known for its speed and aboreal agility.  Density statistics are only guesstimates based on camera trap data.

Nevertheless scientists think the species is in decline due to habitat loss,  Bay cats are not found in peat forests or palm oil plantations, so that rules out a large part of the island.  They have been found in secondary forests, which is a bright spot in their struggle to survive next to man and his activities.  But you cannot conserve an animal, if you do not know how it lives and what it needs to survive.  Radio-collaring may be the only answer despite ethical objections.   Larger scale camera trapping may also illuminate the mysterious world of the bay cat, but more funding is required. Panthera raised a lot of money to study bay cats, but failed to capture a single photo from a hundred cameras. [photo credit: Borneo Nature Foundation]

*He independently arrived at the theory of evolution through natural selection. Working on the Malay Pennisula, he is credited with the Wallace line that runs throught the Makassar Strait between Boreno and Sulawesiand the Lombok Strait between Bali and Lombok, a division of Indonesia between the eastern part inhabited by species evolved from Asia and the western part inhabited by species evolved from Australia.

Open Letter to Justice Juan Merchan

Dear Justice Merchan:

You are truly confronted with an unprecedented situation when it concerns sentencing Donald Trump for his 34 felony convictions. Not since Al Capone has the nation been confronted with such a celebrated criminal. But the Mob did not stop his prosecution for tax evasion, lthough it was obvious that Capone was guilty of much more. Donald Trump is unique in American history. A popular demagogue, he has won re-election to the nation's highest public office. At the same time he manipulated an often reluctant criminal process to shield him from accountability for his crimes including attempting to subvert a fair election and the peaceful transfer of power, a process that has occurred in this country for over two hundred years.

You have a duty to the nation and the rule of law to impose sentence on a defendant convicted by a jury of his peers. At the same time you may harbor legitimate deference to a President-elect as part of our Constitutional order of separate powers of government. The Justice Department has moved dismiss both federal criminal prosecutions against him because of its policy to not prosecute a sitting President.

May I suggest that you impose sentence before he takes office on January 20 to make it clear to the nation that no person is above the law. You have the power to suspend that sentence pending his inevitable appeals to higher courts.  That suspension could be long enough to put it beyond his term in office.  Of course his attorneys will argue that he would be placed under a "cloud" impeding his due administration of the law if he were to take office after such sentencing.  But that cloud would be of his own criminal behavior.  The national interest outweighs any personal considerations he may be given because of his status.

Respectfully submitted,

U.S. Person

Music Weekend: USP's Favorite Led Zeppelin

"Kashmir" was released in 1975 on the album Physical Graffiti. It became a concert staple. It still rocks,  Every time it plays on the radio, US turns it up.  Written in 1973 by Robert Plant while on a seeming endless road trip through southern Morocco. The song is not about any geographical place, but an internal journey through time and space:

Oh, father of the four winds, fill my sails

Across the sea of years

With no provision but an open face

Along the straits of fear

TWIT: The End of Democracy?

Even more:  Pam Bondi, the replacement nominee for AG, at least has legal experience as a state attorney general, but she may have accepted a bribe in return for not prosecuting Don the Con for his Trump University seminar scam.  Bondi's political action committee received a $25,000 contribution from the Trump Foundation in 2013 when her office was reviewing complaints against Trump U..  At the time the donation was made both Bondi and Trump denied any donation or link between them.  Tax-exempt foundations (§501c3)s like Trump's are prohibited from making political contributions.  Despite 22 citizens' complaints filed with her office, she did not take any action against Trump, telling reporters she was "unaware of the complaints".  New York's AG in contrast  took legal action leading to Don the Con shutting down the seminar operation.   Trump's foundation paid a $2500 fine for the illegal campaign contribution.

Latest:  Matt Gaetz quits under an avalanche of evidence that he payed for drug-fueled, underaged sex.  CNN uncovered a second instance of a sexual encounter with a minor.  The House was set to vote on releasing the Ethics Committee report Friday.  Gaetz's withdrawal under fire proves Don Olde is not invincible, and his judgement of moral character sorely lacking!  Unqualified defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth is also under a cloud of sexual misbehavior allegations.

Judge Lyman in DC has ordered Rudy Giuliani to show cause on December 12th for violating the consent order stopping him from further defamation of the plaintiffs.  The arrogant former mayor is apparently a glutton for punishment.  He has turned over his jewelry, sports memorabilia, and Mercedes convertible (once owned by Lauren Bacall NOT John Voigt) in partial satisfaction of the $150 million judgement against him.  Disposition of his Florida condo  remains to be decided due to Florida's generous homestead exemption rules.

Update:  The House Ethics Committee is split evenly between the parties, 5-5. Consequently it is no surprise that it deadlocked in a vote to release its ethics report on Matt Gaetz according to Susan Wild, ranking member of the committee. They are scheduled to meet again on December 5th. This does not mean that the Senate will be unable to obtain information relating to Gaetz's activities. A New Congress convenes on January 3rd. Presumably confirmation hearings will begin shortly thereafter.  A Democratic representative has asked for a vote of the whole House on releasing the Ethics Committee report.  Its contents are generally known to the public by now.

Daddy Don Olde on the Senate's constitutional duty to vet nominees:

This is what the Radical Left Lunatics do to people. They dirty them up, they destroy them, and then they spit them out. They are trying that right now with some great American Patriots who are only trying to fix the mess that the Democrats have made of our Country. WE WILL WIN!!! MAGA

What the dangerous autocrat does not understand is that real Patriots support the Constitution, not seek ways to undermine it!  The receipts on Gaetz criminal behavior are in, dooming his nomination for Attorney General.  Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durban (D) has asked the FBI for its investigatory file on  Gaetz. Does this make room for the infamous handmaiden, Aileen Canon, to assume the role?  She is on the short list for the job.

{20.11.2024} Don the Con has nearly completed his total political victory over the US justice system with two latest developments in his state criminal case.  The New York DA has agreed to suspend further proceedings in the fraud case in which Don Olde was convicted of 34 felony counts for filing false financial records. He was scheduled to be sentenced in a few days. The DA wrote Judge Merchan, that it would be unlikely he would be sentenced “until after the end of Defendant’s upcoming presidential term...given the need to balance competing constitutional interests.” But the DA says Trump’s felony conviction should stand. The defense intends to file a motion for dismissal of the convictions entirely because he will be President. In a familiar tactic the defense lawyers want a whole month to file a brief, putting off a decision until after the inauguration.  If that motion succeeds he will have entirely escaped any accountability for his financial crimes. The Georgia Court of Appeals was scheduled to hear oral arguments on the dismissal of Fani Willis as Fulton County DA next month. The latest order to come down cancelled the December 5th hearing "until further notice". It appears that it is becoming less and less likely that the RICO prosecution of Trumpillini and his enablers will ever go to trial.

Federal prosecutions by Special Counsel Jack Smith are also dead in the water as he begins wrapping up the cases and filing a report on the outcomes as required by law. Trumpilini's weaponization of the flawed electoral voting system to defeat his criminal liability is unprecedented in US history, The justice system was clearly unprepared for his asymmetrical assault on the rule of law. Attorney General Merritt Garland bears a large responsibility for this disastrous outcome. His extreme delay in investigating and appointing a special prosecutor allowed the Gang of Trump to successfully delay proceedings until the election, aided by a corrupt Florida federal judge and a MAGA friendly Supreme Court. Of course his decisive victory over the Democrat presidential candidate sealed the deal, causing the legal process to grind to a halt. 

Approval of his disgusting choices for Attorney General, Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of HHS by the Senate, or without the Senate's constitutional consent through recess appointments, will signal the end of American democracy and the beginning of autocracy.  Two of his defense lawyers have been named for the #2 and #3 executive positions at the Department of Justice, practically guaranteeing that agency will be employed for political retribution during his second term of office.

 

US Proposes to List Giraffes as Endangered

Giraffa reticulata

The US Fish and Wildlife proposed listing five species of giraffes as endangered or threatened.  Earth's tallest animal is suffering from loss of habitat and poaching for its uniquely colorful skin.  The United States is a leading destination for illegally taken body parts.  Giraffe numbers have fallen by 40% since the 1980s.  Only an estimated 69,000 are thought to remain alive in the wild.  IUCN listed several species of giraffes as critically endangered in 2018.  The US listing covers three species living in northern Africa and two in eastern Africa. The eastern African species, Masai, and reticulated, will be listed as threatened, as step below endangered.  Conservationists welcomed the action, but said it was long overdue. [photo credit: Giraffe Conservation Foundation]

Trade in giraffe parts will require an international permit and provide funds for conservation efforts.  Data collected on the trade up to 2022 show a wide variety of giraffe parts entering the country from skins and tails to skulls and feet made into jewelry, rugs and trophies.  The agency set a deadline of February 19th for public comment on the proposed listing.  The trophy hunting industry is anticipated to object to the new rules.  The question is how much sway does it have with the incoming US government.  Trump's eldest son is a trophy hunter, and his father's climate policies are seen as a looming disaster for the planet. Send your comments supporting giraffe conservation to the agency here.

Creature Feature: Return of the Fish

The rapidity of Chinook salmon's return to tributaries of the Klamath River once underwater has been surprising. Nature once again proves its resilience, and gives all of us who care about our planet hope for the future.  A Yurok fishery spokesperson talks about their return:

Justice Delayed

The daughter of Malcom X, Ilyasha Shabazz, was just 2 years old when her father was gun downed in New York City's Audubon Ballroom.  She was at the podium on Tuesday announcing her family's lawsuit against the CIA, NYPD, and FBI for wrongful death.  The suit alleges that these agencies knew of the plot to kill Malcom X, but concealed evidence of the plot and did nothing to stop it.  It demands $100 million in damages. Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing the family, told a press conference that law enforcement "conspired to assassinate" the black activist whom he called "one of the thought leaders of the 20th century".  Crump said that the cover-up by these agencies continued for decades, which prevented the family from seeking redress for his murder.

Talmage Hayer, then a member of the Nation of Islam, confessed in court that he was one of the assassins in 1965. A witness to the assassination has testified he heard a police officer who was restraining Hayer ask, "Is he one of us?". Rumors of one what actually occurred at the ballroom have circulated since the murder. Allegations were made that the Nation of Islam leader, Elijah Muhammad,  approved of Malcom X's elimination for splintering the organization.  At the time he was shot down, Malcom X was the leader of the break-away Organization of Afro-American Unity. Two men spent 20 years in jail after being wrongfully convicted of his murder. The City of New York agreed to pay $26 million to settle lawsuits filed on behalf of the wrongfully incarcerated.  A two-year investigation led by the Manhattan district attorney’s office found that prosecutors, the FBI, and the police had withheld key evidence that probably would have led to acquittals if presented to a jury. The wrongful death suit is intended to answer some of the questions surrounding Malcom's murder and bring reparations to his family. 

graffiti at the prison

In another case of delayed justice, three former detainees at the infamous torture facility, Abu Ghraib in Iraq, were awarded $42 million in damages by a federal jury in Alexandria, VA this week. The verdict against CACI Premier Technology, formerly known as Blackwater, was a military contractor at the prison in early 2003. A previous trial in April, 2024 resulted in a hung jury. Abu Ghraib was run by US military police, but the contractor was hired to provide interrogators. They resorted to various forms of physical and mental torture to extract information. After an investigation by the US military, prompted by leaked photographs of naked prisoners in distress, eleven military officers were court-martialed for their involvement. During the trial CACI attempted to lay blame for torture on military police. The prison, officially known as the Central Baghdad Correctional Facility, was closed down in 2014.  Guantanamo Bay, another detention facility is still holds 30 prisoners on the Island of Cuba.

TWIT: The Founders are Watching

credit Ramirez, Las Vegas Review-Journal
BC Idonwanna sez: Sorry guys, apparently, we can't keep it!

Trump's appointments are a lot like him: potential serious ethical and/or criminal problems in their background.  Case in point: Matt Gaetz, nominee for Attorney General.  Gaetz is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for alleged sex trafficking.  The committee was set to release a report on its findings, but Gaetz preempted that public disclosure by resigning from the House after he had been nominated for the top law enforcement job.   Why would he object to releasing the report if he was clean?  Talk about a pregnant question!  The American people have a right to know what is in that report.  Be a patriot and leak it to the press, if necessary!

Half-clever move on Gaetz's part.  The other question is what does the existence of this report have on his confirmation as Attorney General?  Answer: None, if the Boss gets his way in the Senate and makes his appointments without the Senate's constitutional advice and consent during a recess of at least ten days.  The crime Boss may have overplayed his hand with Congress.  John Thune of North Dakota was chosen to be Senate majority leader.  He was not Trumpilini's first choice.  Thune may take a dim view of Dear Leaders attempt to end-run Congress and install his compromised minions (Gabbard, Hegseth) into power.

Meanwhile™ there is some light at the end of this four year tunnel.  The Arizona Attorney General has said she is not dismissing her case against the fake elector conspirators, saying she will not be intimidated.  Although the president-elect is not among those charged, he is labeled Co-conspirator #1 in the indictment, and somee of his senior henchmen like Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Mike Roman and Mark Meadows are charged with crimes.  

Fani Willis won re-election to her position as District Attorney for Fulton County, GA. She has asked the Georgia Appellate Court to reinstate six charges previously dismissed by the trial judge.  The Court of Appeals his set to hear the cause for her removal from the case December 5th.  AG Merritt Garland has said that he will release Jack Smith's final report on both federal prosecutions as required by law.  Smith is now in the process of winding both cases down before the inauguration.  

By the way, Scofflaw Giuliani's lawyer has filed a motion to withdraw from representation on grounds that Giuliani wants to take action that violates the lawyer's ethical duties to the court.  Judge Lyman has discretion to allow the withdrawal or keep his lawyer on the case.

Screw Worm Outbreak Linked to Illegal Cattle Ranching

An outbreak of deadly screw worm flies that carry a parasite (Cochliomyia hominivorax) infecting warm blooded animals in Central America has been linked to illegal cattle ranching. Unregulated movement of livestock through protected areas is accelerating the spread. New world screw worms larvae feed on the live flesh of wounded animals until the host dies,

A joint campaign to eradicate the pest in Mexico and Central America in the 80's and 90's was successful, but experts think it has reappeared in Panama after traveling through the thick jungles of the Darien Gap from South America.  The Gap, which acts as an ecological barrier kept the parasite at bay for thirty years, but in recent years it has been repeatedly traversed by migrants and cattle. 

Costa Rica experienced the outbreak this year.  The flies quickly moved on to Nicaragua, then Guatemala and Honduras.  Researchers at the National Autonomous University of Mexico are tracking the spread.  If the parasite crosses into Mexico, which has a large cattle ranching industry, it could be impossible to stop.  According to the World Conservation Society (WCS) there is a strong correlation between cattle smuggling routes and the fly.  Deforestation and illegal cattle ranching overlaps with known outbreaks. [map]Drug traffickers rely on illegal cattle ranching to launder money.  They mix untreated animals that have grazed in cleared areas with herds of healthy animals.  The hardest hit protected area in Central America is Nicaragua's Bosawals Biosphere Reserve where non-indigenous squatters, known as colonos set up herds on cleared forest.  The animals arrive at slaughterhouses through intermediaries with false ear tags making it impossible to trace the source. Honduras' Patuca National Park and Rio Platano Biosphere have been devastated by deforestation, loosing 13% of its primary forest cover between 2002 and 2020.

Flies also infect domestic animals and pets. It is not possible to know how many wild animals like tapirs, monkeys, sloths, and porcupines suffer from infection.  That number will be great according to vets who have treated wild animals brought into rescue centers.  If the plague reaches Mexico, which has an estimated population of 50,000 untreated cattle, authorities will be forced to act by suppressing the spread with sterile male flies.  Conservationists want the plague stopped at its source by increasing the restrictions on illegal ranching and deforestation.

TWIT: Corruption Triumphs

credit: R. McKee

Latest:  From the hardly surprising department:  Judge Merchan has delayed ruling on the dismissal motion on grounds of immunity until November 19th citing "exceptional circumstances".  You don't sentence a president elect every day especially when the defendant's lawyers are threatening "civil war".  The defense and prosecution submitted a joint letter asking for a postponement,  Sentencing has been postponed numerous times. Each time it is delayed the chances of him serving any sentence decreases.

Update:  Judge Merchan is set to rule on dismissing Trumpilini's this week based on the Supreme Court's immunity ruling.  Dismissing it now will allow the judge to avoid the problematic sentencing of the defendant later this month.  Rudy Giuliani's time to turn over assets to Freeman & Moss is up on the fourteenth.  His lates dodge is that his Joe DiMaggio jersey is locked up in an upstate storage facility to which he has no access.  The jersey could be worth more than $10,000.

More: White people still have enough votes to defeat the "Rainbow Coalition" as demonstrated in the decisive sweep of the nation's electorate.  With defections and/or under performance by minorities as occurred in this election, the white majority can win bigly.  Latinos are noted for their willingness to support authoritarianism; just look at Latin America. Evangelicals have a bad case of homophobia.  Blaming Joe Biden for the Democrats' comprehensive loss is stupid; he was an effective President, but in light of the threat posed by Trump overstayed his welcome.  Boss Pelosi does have one valid point.  Biden's exit was too late in the game.  The truncated coronation of Harris disrespected the people's right to choose; she was the choice of Democratic insiders.  US Person does not doubt Mamala's qualifications far exceed the criminal con-man's but in the end that did not matter; the hoi polloi chose a criminal over a prosecutor.  

Democrats have deserted their home in the Great Society and New Deal.  The Repugnants moved in with their billionaire-funded brand of snake oil. Talk to Bernie Sanders, he knows: “It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party, which has abandoned working-class people, would find that the working-class has abandoned them. While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change.” At 83, Nancy should retire to stock picking, NOT picking presidents. Until the party abandons corporatocracy and offers fundamental social change* that benefits the working and middle classes they will met with the same carnage at the polls.

Operation "Madam President" will have to wait until after the long night of the American Fascist, and perhaps until 2040 when whites become the new minority. This crushing defeat can be understood in terms presented by Isabel Wilkerson, in her book Caste. People did not vote against their interests, they voted for their position in society.  Even poor white people whose antecedents were immigrants can look down on today's undocumented immigrants. Since the founding the states have always been socially conservative.  America's revolution was led by colonial aristocrats, not the hoi palloi. Once independence from the crown was established, "The Democracy" felt cheated as the status quo returned under a new flag.  

{07.11.2024} US voters made history on Tuesday night.  For the first time in history they elected a convicted felon President of the United States.  US Person for one, never thought that would happen, crediting the electorate with better judgement. Apparently he was not the only as a sense of shock pervades the country. If Democrats want to learn from this terrible result, they should look at this cogent fact: twice Democrats ran a woman against Trump, one white centrist and one black progressive.  Both lost the electoral college vote, the only one that counts under our compromised voting system.  Harris did not carry a single swing state out of seven, and she lost the popular vote to boot. But the defendant lost to old Joe Biden in a fair contest.

People ask, what will happen to his criminal prosecutions now he is president-elect? Simply put they will be quashed. The two federal cases are the easiest to dismiss. He will simply order his Attorney General--possibly handmaiden Eileen Cannon--to withdraw the prosecutions for obstructing justice and formetting a coup, if the Department of Justice does not do so on its own accord. It has a rule against prosecuting sitting presidents. He will fire Jack Smith as soon as he gets into office.  

The state cases are not so straight forward for him, but those too will die off. The Georgia case is already on life-support as a Repugnant legislature seeks the removal of the Fulton County DA on appeal. If the case survives that attack, defense attorneys will appeal dismissal on federal supremacy grounds.  If New York judge Juan Merchan has the temerity to sentence the defendant to a jail term, his decision will be appealed while Trump is out on bond all the way to the US Supreme Court where the gang of six wait to set him free in a year or two from now. He will not be held accountable for his crimes; his cynical strategy of using politics to defeat the justice system has worked beyond his fervent dreams. Court granted immunity has put him above the law.

Not that he or his minions have any respect for the law. Law is for little people, not Dear Leader and Friends. Rudy Giuliani showed up at the Trump polling station in West Palm Beach in his vintage Mercedes convertible he was ordered to turn over to the defamation plaintiffs Freeman and Moss. He don't need no stinkin' order, he is a Friend of Trump. Nevertheless Judge Lyman has given him until Monday to comply with his order. The violent insurrectionists of January 6th will be pardoned. The next four years will be filled with outrage and fear. US Person voted for Harris, mostly because he opposes fascist dictatorship in all forms. Yet he had a repeated, uncomfortable memory of Ronald Reagan's landslide victory over Jimmy Carter, another under-appreciated incumbent. 'Merica only has itself to blame for what happens next.

credit: Bennett, Chattanooga Free Press

* Some suggestions: single payer medicare for all; re-regulation of big business especially Wall Street and the fossil fuel industry; equitable taxing of the wealthy; remove the cap on Social Security contributions; effective anti-trust enforcement; doubling the federal minimum wage; elimination of the filibuster in the Senate; elimination of the Electoral College system; legislating repeal of Citizens United and the presidential immunity granted by the MAGA Court; disallow stock buying by Congress persons; price controls on food and energy.  Biden was pro-union and passed some progressive legislation, notably the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.  But that was not enough to convince working people that the Democrat have their back.  They also did a poor job of communicating what they did do on behalf of the rest of US.  The party needs to create and analogous media sphere to counteract non-stop right wing propaganda,

Florida Establishes Right to Hunt & Fish

Florida voters in another example of ignorance passed a ballot initiative that makes hunting and fishing by traditional means a state constitutional right. "Traditional means" include apparently bear hunting with dogs and using inhumane steel jawed traps that inflict horrible injuries on trapped animals. Critics say the proposal was written vaguely on purpose to allow its passage as an uncontroversial conservation measure. Conservationists say it will be used as a vehicle for rolling back environmental protections. Right now black bears are protected in Florida since 1994 except for a single, limited hunting season in 2015.

The Florida state director of the US Humane Society says the law establishes hunting as the preferred method of wildlife management in the state that ignores proven, conflict control measures. The Florida legislature passed a law earlier this year that allows shooting of black bears in self-defense, which opponents say will be abused by residents in rural areas by landowners who simple want to eliminate what they see as a nuisance. "Traditional methods" of hunting and trapping are not defined in the new constitutional provision.

Organized hunts may become more common like the ones used in the 19th century to eliminate some species to the point of near extinction.  The National Rifle Association is behind a number of such "sportsman rights" measures across the country. thanks to the infamous Citizens United decision.  It and similar organizations provided money to flood the airwaves with ads supporting the measures. Florida's Amendment 2 received 67% support, more than the 60% needed for the initiative to become law.

New Delhi Choking on Smog

In a city of 30 million regularly ranked as the most polluted urban area on Earth, residents are choking to death on toxic smog filling the air as smog season begins.  Particulates of PM2.5, the smallest and most dangerous, reached 278 micrograms. That is 18 times the daily maximum advised by the World Health Organization. On the worst days the level can shoot up to 30 times. The city’s toxic air also contains high quantities of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and carbon monoxide. A study by the respected Lancet medical journal attributed 1.67 million premature deaths to air pollution in the world's most populous country in 2019. New Dehli is projected to become the world's most populous by 2030.

Piecemeal government efforts to control air pollution have failed. The firecracker frenzy that accompanied a religious holiday, Diwali, turned Delhi's sky dull gray. Hospital visits increased 20-25 percent with patients complaining of respiratory problems such as dry cough, irritated eyes, and throat irritation. Some exhibit skin rashes. India's Supreme Court recently ruled that clean air is a human right, but political rivalries and bureaucracy bar meaningful pollution reduction.

According to the New York Times, the Trump regime rolled back 30 air pollution regulations during his tenure in office. The New York University School of Law had this to say about his record on environmental protection in a 2019 report:

The Trump Administration has taken historically unprecedented actions to roll back years of environmental progress. From reversing clean car standards... to refusing to regulate methane emissions from landfills and oil and gas operations, the cumulative impacts of the administration's environmental attacks pose grave harm to our environment and people living in every state across America.

VOTE, because your health depends on it!