100 Elephants Found Dead in Zimbabwe

A combination of climate change and El Niño has killed more than 100 elephants in the nation's Hwange National Park.  The Park is home to approximately 45,000 elephants.  The rainy season began weeks later than usual and forecasts are for a hot, dry summer.  Zimbabwe used to reliably experience a rainy season beginning in October.  Lately, the rains have become erratic with more prolonged dry spells. More than two hundred elephants died in 2019 due to a severe drought. Park authorities fear a repeat mass die-off.  Most affected are the old, young and infirm.  An average sized elephant needs about 52 gallons of water a day.  Rangers remove tusks from carcasses to discourage poachers.

A conservation NGO has been pumping 1.5 million liters a day into waterholes from wells it owns in conjunction with th park agency. Hwange, which extends over 5600 square miles is unusual, since it does not have a major river flowing through it, so animals rely on 100 solar-powered wells to provide water.  Elephants provide an ecological service by distributing seeds in their dung, enabling trees to regenerate.  Trees soak up atmospheric carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

Bird Flu is Spreading to the Antarctic

Hundreds of elephant seals have been found dead, apparent victims of the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus. The event is raising concerns among scientists that the virus could spread to the continent's penguin colonies leading to a catastrophic mass die-off. The virus was first found in skua birds in October 2023 on Bird Island, part of UK's territory of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. Antarctic wild life have no natural immunity to the highly contagious, novel virus probably transmitted by migratory birds from South America where it has killed millions of sea birds and mammals. Some seabirds in the UK, where the outbreak was first reported, have shown signs of developing immunity.

So far, eight sites in the Antarctic have confirmed seabird flu deaths. Twenty more sites are pending confirmation. Penguins are particularly susceptible as the gather in close proximity for the breeding season. [photo] Previous outbreaks in Argentina, South Africa and Chile show how susceptible they are to the disease. If mass mortality events among penguins occur, one scientific paper said, "it could be the largest ecological disaster of modern times". No confirmed cases have been detected on the mainland of the southernmost continent, but is expected to arrive in the coming months. Portions of South Georgia are now closed to tourists as part of precautions to deter the spread of the disease. Seabird colonies around the world have suffered losses of 50-60% due to the highly pathogenic virus. Twenty thousand sea lion are estimated to have died in Chile and Peru. [king penguin colony 1982 on Pig Island; photo credit: H. Weimerskirch] 

TWIT: Der Tag

Donald Trumpilini has come closer than any other American in history to realizing "Der Tag", or the day of fascist insurrection in America. This misguided dream was propagated by the German-American Bund, the anti-semitic pro-Nazi organization active in the 1930s. The Bund was lead by Fritz Khun*, a nationalized German immigrant after the Nazi abandoned their propaganda organ, Friends of New Germany. The American version of nazism spread across the country and came to a head at the 1939 rally held at Madison Square Garden in New York. So yes, in a perverted sense Trumpilini's primary victories in Iowa and New Hampshire are historic. He could not have come to a position of national political influence without resonating with a long-standing strain of American politics: white supremacy. Ever since the institution of slavery, this virulence has subsided and reappeared in domestic politics. Trumpilini, like autocrats before him, has tapped into the evil residing below the surface of American life.  

This fact of American politics is why successful prosecution of Trump for his crimes in office is so vital to the future of US democracy. The current electoral process--which is biased in favor of rural states filled with disaffected white voters--allows him to manipulate a large minority of the public who see him as the answer to their problems and even prayers. They are sadly deluded, just as were the Germans of the Weimar Republic in the early 30's. History may not repeat itself, but it certainly rhymes. As Ukraine fights for its existence as an independent, democratic country the country once named the "arsenal of democracy' is at a fundamental crossroads, immobilized by a chauvinist bully. This is America.

credit: S. Stantis, Chicago Tribune

* After serving a prison term for embezzling Bund funds, he was convicted of being an unregisterd foreign agent in 1945, and  deported to a ruined Germany.

What to Do with Hvaldimir?

Hvaldimir is a friendly, intelligent beluga whale that appears to be human trained.  He live free in the coastal waters of Norway, but makes his regular residence the bay of Hammerfest.  He was first spotted by a fisherman near the village of Tufjord wearing a harness.  Reported to Norwegian Fisheries, the agency dispatched an inspector.  The fisherman, Joar Hesten, got into the frigid waters in an exposure suit and eventually freed the then unnamed mammal from his restraint. A few days later the young male followed a boat to Hammerfest.  He charmed locals by retrieving dropped objects and offering his flipper for high-fives. He quickly became a minor celebrity with tourists showing up to interact with the gregarious whale. The Norwegian Broadcast Company organized a poll, and based on the results christened the beluga, "Havaldmir", a portmanteau of hvald, Norwegian for whale and the Russian name, Vladimir. [photo credit: C. Mc Donnell]

Speculation began among marine experts about this mysterious visitor's origins. His harness had what appeared to be a camera mount, and it was stamped with a St. Petersburg equipment company name. The beluga knew how to follow boats closely, as well as wrap ropes around propellers, indicating specialized training.  Experts told media that the beluga probably escaped captivity from the Russian Navy, which is known to be training cetaceans and seals for underwater warfare.  Satellite images from the Okhotsk Sea where he was found show whale pens near a Murmansk naval base.  The US Navy has also trained  marine mammals since the 1960's.

Hvaldimir has delighted human visitors with his engaging personality, but he also represents a cautionary lesson: it is never a good idea to capture and confine self-aware, intelligent, social creatures. Often taken from the wild at birth, these animals loose the ability to fend for themselves, making a return to the wild after years of captivity impossible or extremely traumatic for the animals and their human guardians.  Attempts to rehabilitate captive whales and dolphins are decidedly mixed.  The consensus scientific opinion seems to be that captive cetaceans need a large, protected body of open seawater--such as an inlet, bay or fjord--to be successfully acclimatized to their reintroduction to the wild. Such suitable locations are rare, expensive, and fraught with logistic difficulties,  One orca named Lolita, scheduled to be released by Seaworld last March, died in her 80 ft tank of kidney failure while awaiting the location of a suitable habitat.  Despite this tragedy and numerous others, an estimated 3600 cetaceans still live in confinement around the globe.  France and Canada have banned all future captivity and breeding.

Fortunately for Hvaldimir, he has learned to hunt and catch fish on his own after several experiences with hand-feeding and emaciation.  But his habituation to humans poses danger for him.  He could easily become entangled in fishing gear or injured by boat props.  He made a foray south, all the way to Oslo, Sweden, where there is little to eat in warmer waters and more ship traffic.  Some Norwegians want to shoot him for damaging gear. Belugas can live to a century, far longer than the previous estimate of 50 years. They learn how to be belugas from their elders, communicating with a complex dialectical language we are only beginning to decode.  Robbed of their equivalent of childhood and adolescence, they are captured young or bred in captivity, forced into the military or the entertainment industry, and trained in return for food.  Hvaldimir has also become the center of competing human desires.One devoted advocate wants to make a movie about him, while others see this as unwanted conflict of interest. Several of this person's expert advisors have resigned from her advocacy group, One Whale.

Other advocates, such as Sebastian Strand, want to relocate Hvaldimir to a sanctuary where he can interact with wild belugas. He has followed Hvaldimir for two years, forming a bond with the animal. Sights are set on Svalbard, a remote archipelago in the Arctic.  Experts are not sure this would be a good idea since the resident belugas are a tight-knit group that does not migrate; they might not accept a newcomer who does not speak their language.  Also, the remoteness and extreme weather make successful relocation of Hvaldimir problematic.  Another potential sanctuary much closer to Hammerfest is a 22 acre fjord, but there is a major regulatory hurdle that must be overcome.  Under Norwegian law, a whale cannot be held captive unless it is part of a scientific study or zoo.  The town council has given preliminary approval for environmental studies. Results are encouraging so far, indicating exceptionally clean water.  To secure the fjord, thousands of feet of flexible net must be stretched across the inlet and fixed to the sea floor. The project if approved, will cost millions to complete.

So, what to do with Hvaldimir?  He is living in a treacherous limbo: swimming free in the ocean by still not a truly wild beluga.  His human friends want him to remain free, healthy, and left alone to enjoy a wild existence. That is not an outcome easily accomplished given his capture and exploitation.  He may need to return to captivity for his own welfare, and be de-programed to become a wild beluga once again.

Greenland Melting Faster than Expected

Greenland in summer

A new study published in Nature concludes that Greenland is loosing 20% more of its ice cap than previously thought.  Although the researchers think that this amount is not enough to significantly affect global sea levels, it can have an effect on ocean circulation patterns and heat distribution around the globe. Some scientists think that the flood of freshwater from the ice cap has the potential of disrupting the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, which would have dire consequences for Europe' weather patterns. Evidence for a collapse of AMOC has been building. It was the subject of a warning in Nature in July this year. AMOC is known to be at its weakest in 1600 years, but other scientists are skeptical of a collapse in the 21at century.

Despite the scientific evidence of anthropomorphic climate change, 'Mericans are in an increasing state of denial. A recent AP survey shows they are less convinced that climate change is caused by humans with the percentage agreeing dropping from 60% in 2018 to 49% this year. Psychologists say that when faced with an apparently insoluable problem, people tend to deny its existence.

TWIT: Beating the Clock

credit: R. Matson

Don 'Legit's' strategy of legal delay is working.  The most serious criminal prosecution in DC is stalled awaiting an appeals court decision on his implausible claim of absolute immunity unless first convicted in the Senate.  This defense has no basis in the Constitution or common law, and from a common sense standpoint is absurd, but it is accomplishing the real purpose: moving him closer to the November election.  He already has his party's backing after winning Iowa (he won 7% of the state's registered Repugnants, oh my!), and probably New Hampshire, in the primary process.  Two hundred of his party's legislators have signed an amicus brief supporting his baseless immunity argument.  Don 'Legit' owns the Repugnants, and campaign contributions keep his legal blitz at full tilt.

He knows that winning in November is his best hope of escaping imprisonment for his crimes while in office.  His supporters are willing to pervert the democratic process in order to keep him out of jail. Fully sixty percent of them still claim that Joe Biden stole the 2020 election at this late date. Real social issues of national import have no meaning for these delusional minions. Neither does evidence of crime admissible in court change their minds; most will still vote for him even if he is convicted of a felony out of 91charged by grand juries who have examined the evidence. 

Federal District Court Judge Chutkin has already warned that her March trial date will slip given that Trumpilini will take his appeals all the way to the Supreme Court.  In Georgia, the state's prosecution faces another farce cooked up by co-defendant Mike Roman who claims that DA Willis and her entire office must resign because she is allegedly romantically involved with a Special Prosecutor in the case who is undergoing an uncontested two-year divorce proceeding. That fact does not stop his criminal defense counsel demanding DA Willis be deposed in the divorce proceedings.   Clearly a red herring intended to disrupt the established time table for her RICO prosecution. Calls for her resignation are growing.  In Florida, the Mar-a Lago Papers case is being mangled by an incompetent jurist beholding to Hair Leader for her life-tenure job. Our  judicial system is failing against a chaos agent with significant political leverage and financing.

US Person never thought he would live to see the day American democracy died.  That would be the result if the befuddled*, self-confessed dictator who wants to "go rogue" occupies the room without corners for a second time. 'Mericans will then only have themselves to blame for the misery to be visited upon them. 

*Person, woman, man, camera, TV...whale?

Mind the Gap

This chart comes from the Economic Policy Institute via Lawyers, Guns & Money.com.  It shows the incredible gap in earnings between the top 1% and the rest of US.  Wage growth for the bottom 90% has been less than one percent a year over the last 43 years.  While the top .1% have gained an astounding 344%.  This is just wage or salary income, not counting the massive shift in wealth via stock ownership (the top 10% own 90% of corporate equity). CEOs earned 21 times the typical worker in 1965.  That figure is now 344 times.  Between 1978 and 2022 inflation adjusted pay for CEOs at 350 of the largest publicly owned US firms grew by 1,209%.

The fortunate few and their lackeys in the press and Congress constantly howl about 'wealth redistribution' and 'socialism' when they are in fact the beneficiaries of the largest wealth redistribution since the Gilded Age!

Nine Countries Sign Pact to Protect River Dolphins

One hundred fifty-four river dolphins,Inia geoffrensis ,died in the Amazon's Lake Tefé this last summer duirng an intense drought. Lake water was significantly reduced and what remained reached 40℃, well above their tolerance level. The deaths spurred conservationists into action to protect the decline number of six species of river dolphins. A few days after reports of the deaths reached officials, they met in Bogata, Columbia to consider action. Fourteen range nations were encouraged to sign the Global Declaration for River Dolphins, advanced by Colombia and conservation NGOs. So far nine countries have signed with China, Myanmar and Indonesia expected to also sign.

The declaration commits signatories to implement specific actions to save the acquatic mammal , such as collaborating with local communities, eliminating unsustainable fishing, conducting more research and establishing a network of well-protect riverine environments. WWF told the conference members that climate change is not only affecting river dolphins, but humans too. Many rivers have become impassable at low water, further isolating native communities that depend on rivers for transport, coummunication and sustanence. A state of emergency has been declared in 55 of 62 municipalities in Amazonas State alone. Dolphins are keystone members of an ecosystem since the indicate the health of the ecosystem they inhabit. Since the 1980's river dolphin populations have dropped by 73%. The seventh species of dolphin, the baji (Lipotes vexillifer), which inhabited China's Yangtze River, was declared extinct in 2007.

Efforts around the world to save river dolphins has seen some success. The population of finless porpoise in the Yangtze has increased by 23% according to the latest survey, but only 1,249 remain extant. In Pakistan and India, the Indus River Dolphin population has almost doubled in the past 20 years, but only about 2,000 remain in the wild. Indonesia has deployed signaling devices to prevent dolphins from drowning in fishing nets, while increasing catches for local communities. The signing of the international declaration is a positive step forward to saving these important species. [photo credits: WWF]

Jaguars Moving Closer to US

Two male jaguars are moving closer to the US boarder in a protected boarderland of Sonora, Mexico. Biologists think that within five years a female will join them and provide the first probable opportunity for jaguars re-settling the southwestern United States. The first jaguar was spotted in 2021 in Cuenca Los Ojos. The males, Valerio and Bonito are young, and there is sufficient prey species in the Cajon Bonita watershed. Good luck, guys!

3 Mile Island Kills

Nuclear power boosters never fail to point out that the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island, PA did not kill anyone. That statement, dear readers, is an obsfucation. One that the New York Times continues to indulge when it published an obituary of Dr. Joseph Hendrie, once chairperson of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He was fired by President Jimmy Carter after the accident happened in 1979. The cause was determined by the Department of Energy to be a stuck valve and human error that allowed radioactive gas to be emitted from the plant. A partial meltdown of the reactor core was mostly contained in the reactor building. Although there were no immediate deaths, for thirty-two years the Commission did not issue a new permit for a nuclear power plant in this country.

In fact, the accident did kill some people, and nearby residents suffer to this day with higher incidents of certain cancers. According to a study by a U. North Carolina epidemiologist Steven Wing, higher rates of leukemia and lung cancer occur close to the plant indicating a higher release of radiation that previously admitted. His conclusion diverged sharply from a previous study by Columbia University in 1990. Columbia researchers labeled Wing's conclusions "tendentious and unbalanced". After re-running the same data used by Columbia researchers, he concluded that exposed neighbors suffered two to 10 times as many lung cancer and leukemia cases as those who lived upwind. Shortly before his study was published, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by 2,000 neighbors of Three Mile Island citing a "paucity of evidence" that the meltdown caused their health problems. A book published in 1982, "Killing Our Own" by long-time nuclear power critic Harry Wasserman quotes Dr. Earnest Sternglass, a professor of radiation physics at U. of Pittsburg School of Medicine, that “The Three Mile Island accident will turn out to have produced the largest death toll ever resulting from an industrial accident, with total deaths from all causes likely to reach many thousands over the next 10 to 20 years.” In fact nearby residents of Goldboro, PA who died or were otherwise impacted by the meltdown have quietly been receiving cash settlements as high as $1 million paid by the owner of the plant. An attorney working on the settlements says the Three Mile Island coverup was "one of the biggest cover-ups in history.” In a new documentary about the accident a whisleblower states TMI covered up the gravity of the meltdown and its releases of radioactive isotopes Xenon 133 and Iodine 131. Although Dr. Henrie was bounced from the chairmanship in the accident's aftermath, he stayed on the Commission as one of its five members. He was a nuclear power proponent who said on receiving his appointment that his biggest challenge was, "to keep nuclear power as a viable energy option.” He left the Commission in 1981 to preside over another release of radioactive material at the High Flux Beam Reactor at Brookhaven, NY. That experimental reactor was shutdown in 1997 after leaking radioactive tritium into the groundwater. Residents of Shirley, NY have experienced widespread cancer, which some have attributed to the contamination coming from Brookhaven. Brookhaven National Laboratory is now a high-pollution Superfund site. The Brookhaven accident was not mentioned in the Henrie obituary. Nuclear power boosters make hay with the claim that nuclear power is 'carbon neutral'. That claim completely misses the glaring fact that the nucler fuel cycle--mining, milling and enrichment--is highly carbon intensive. And to top it off, nuclear power plants emit radioactive Carbon 14, as did the Brookhaven High Flux Reactor.

TWIT: S.E.A.L Team 6

Even moronic MAGA types can appreciate the absurdity of the answer to a hypothetical posed by Judge Pan of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Arguing for absolute immunity, Trump's appellate counsel answered in the affirmative the hypothetical: would the President be immune from criminal prosecution if he ordered S.E.A.L Team Six to assassinate his political rival? Clearly absolute criminal immunity cannot be part of our constitutional government. If it were so, "L'etat, c'est moi" would be the motto, not "equality before the law" emblazoned on the Supreme Court's pediment. Rightfully so, all three judges on the panel expressed their skepticism of his argument for immunity from criminal prosecution.  Judge Henderson, appointed to the bench by H.W. Bush, said she found his claim of immunity "paradoxical" to his constitutional oath to faithfully enforce the nation's laws. 

Trump's argument twists the meaning of the impeachment clause*, intended to limit Congress' ability to punish a president to removal from office, not turn the partisan legislative body into a high court of law in violation of the principle of separation of powers contained in Article III and elsewhere. The only reason Trump was not convicted the second time in the Senate was because not enough partisan Repugnants voted with Democrats to convict. A majority of senators thought he was guilty.  Even Senator McConnell thinks a president can be prosecuted for criminal behavior in office without a pre-condition of a Senate conviction.

credit: KAL, The Economist
Wackydoodle sez:  He's a victim too!

*Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

South Korea Bans Dog Meat

Considered a delicacy by older Koreans, legislators outlawed the sale and slaughter of dog meat for human consumption. It was once common after the Korean War when the country was destitute and other meat protein scarce. It was used in a well-known soup dish called "bosintang", literally "soup good for your body". Young people consider the consumption of dog to be appaling. 93% of Koreans say they have no intention of consuming dogs in the future in response to a survey by an animal rights group. President Yoon Suk Yeol and his first lady are pet owners and campaigned for the law's passage.

Under the new law passed by the National Assembly, a person convicted of butchering a dog for consumption would face three years in prison or a $23,000 fine. A person breeding dogs for consumption would be punishable by two years incarceration or a $15,000 fine. The law also offers incentives to farmers and restaurant owners to change jobs. Currently about 520,000 dogs are being raised for consumption in 1600 restaurants nationwide. Millions of dogs are killed each year for consumption in Southeast Asia.

2023: Hotest

NASA tells US that 2023 was the hottest on record since records began in 1880. Meteorological summer in the Northern Hemisphere is June to August and the period was 0.41 degrees warmer than any previous recorded summer and 1.2 C warmer than the average for the period 1951 to 1980.  Exceptional heat swept across much of the world causing extensive wildifires in Canada's boreal forest, heat waves in Europe, South America, Africa and the US, and severe rainfall in Italy, Central Europe and Greece.

The record setting summer continues a long-term warming trend in the data. Both NASA and NOAA have shown that this trend is caused by human greenhouse gas emissions.  The natural phenomenon of El Niño also contributed to the record breaking heat. Scientists expect the biggest El Niño effects to occur in February, March and April of this year. A scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center  responsible for compiling the data said that, "it will get worse if we continue to emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into our atmosphere.”

Norway Votes for Seabed Mining

Norway's parliament voted to allow seabed mining in a 108,000 square mile area of its Atlantic continental shelf and the Svalbard archipelago.  Only a small portion of area falls within the country's exclusive economic zone. [see chart, credit Mongabay.com] The country applied for permission to access the extended continental shelf with the UN in 2009.  The legislative action was expected despite public protests and scientists' warnings of environmental damage to the contrary,  The next step appears to be the sale of licenses by the Norwegian Offshore Directorate, the agency responsible for offshore oil regulation. Norway intends to mine for valuable minerals that play a prominent role in 'green' alternative energy transition.

The government assured that deep sea mining will only go forward if it can be done in a,“sustainable way and with acceptable consequences.”  Mining in the open ocean, beyond national jurisdiction has attracted a lot of attention from companies willing to exploit seabed resources.  Of particular interest is the Clarion-Clipperton Zone where there are nodules dotting the sea floor containing manganese, nickel,  and copper. Critics think that mining will inevitably release toxic heavy metals and noise into the sensitive marine environment.

Exploitation of these resources could endanger biodiversity say conservationists, especially since there is very little scientific data about the deep seabed and the creatures that live there. According to the Institute for Marine Research there is a lack of information for 99% of the proposed mining zone. [see chart]. Nevertheless, Norway could be the first nation to issue a mining license for the sea floor.

Beavers Moving North

In response to a rapidly warming Arctic region, Nature's engineers--beavers--are moving north into previously unoccupied regions of Canada and Alaska.  Previously, beavers made sporadic inroads into the north, but not the migration is on a large scale.  In Alaska alone, the number of beaver ponds in the tundra has doubled in the last twenty years, now numbering about 12,000. [see photo below, credit U. Alaska] More lodges are found dotted along river banks and lakeshores. Computer modeling shows that by 2100 the entire north slope will be colonized by beavers.

The tundra was once too sparse to be good habitat for Castor canadensis but warming temperatures has caused shrub expansion, which provides food and building materials for the industrious rodents.  Running water also extends into shorter winters for longer periods.  The downside of pond creatioin is that it creates more warming with the potential of melting permafrost, releasing methane gases stored underground.  In the Noatak River basin, scientists have found a clear evidentiary link between beaver ponds and methane hotspots using aerial infrared imaging.

Canada's beaver populations have been increasing in the far north, but not as fast as in Alaska.  Surveys conducted with the cooperation of Gwich'in people indicate a doubling in numbers since the 1960s.  Dam building has positive bio-feedback effects too.  Many other species are attracted to wetlands created by beavers forming an oasis of biodiversity.  Residents of Devon, England have been pleasantly surprised by the ability of relocated beavers to keep a wetland green during severe drought that has parched surrounding fields.  

Some human residents are concerned by local flooding that can block routes.  Whether beavers should be again controlled by human predation is a question open to debate as their numbers continue to increase. Researchers, conservationists and natives will gather in February at the annual meeting of the Arctic Beaver Observation Network in Fairbanks to discuss the issues.

TWIT: Article Four, Section Four

More: The Supremes have granted Trumpilini certiorari to hear the Colorado case banning him from that state's primary ballot. Oral arguments are scheduled for February.

In a previous post, TWIT: Fifth Avenue, US Person posed a question of fundamental political importance: Can the people elect a neo-fascist dictator President of the United States under its Constitution?  The question is not just idle speculation; the Trumpians have posed an argument in their defense of Der Leader in the affirmative.  US Person wishes to say: NOT!  

Careful readers should refer to Article IV, Section 4 of their Constitution of the United States, sort of our "little red book" if you will. There you will find the following language; "The United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a Republican Form of Government [emphasis added]. As a thought experiment only, let us say Trumpillini wins a close Electoral College victory in 2024.  That means he may not even have won the popular vote count, a situation that has happened too often in US history (5 times).  There would be states of the Union won by his democratic opponent, Joe Biden.  

Upon his oath of office--"day one"--Don 'Legit' begins firing thousand of civil servants deemed disloyal, replacing them with hand-picked minions; imposes personal loyalty oaths for Executive offices; disbands the FBI; pardons convicted insurrectionists; declares martial law; sends US troops to the southern boarder to enforce immigration laws; and rules by administrative fiat which defies Congress, among other actions he promises to take.  He has already given aid and comfort to insurrectionists as part of his autogolpe against the constitutional transfer of power.  Hardly a republican form of government!  This situation is exactly why the Founders put that little used section into the Constitution--to prevent the rise of autocracy, which in their day was embodied by the British monarchy.  Today, it is embodied by an unscurpulous and manipulative demagogue whose favorite read is apparently Mein Kampf.

Those states voting for the democratic opponent would be deprived of republican government guaranteed them by the charter.  QED, the people cannot validly elect a dictatorship regardless of what the MAGAists claim in their increasingly desperate attempts to rescue Don Legit from long-awaited accountability for his crimes.  Hopefully the Supreme Court "originalists" will take their legal philosophy seriously, and pay attention to all the literal language and historical context of the Constitution.

credit: B. van Leeuwen
Mein Gott, vut Genius! 

Hawaii Hit Hard by Extinctions

Hawaii has lost eight forest bird species according to the US Fish & Wildlife Service, which removed 21 species from the endangered list in 2023 due to absence in the wild. The removal was finalized in November after two years of consideration by specialists.  The loss is tragic, but more importantly represents a moral failure by Nature's custodian, Homo sapiens.  Global warming has shifted weather patterns and reshaped sensitive island ecosystems A biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity told the UK Guardian that the extinction crisis,“is completely overwhelming to the capacity of the human mind to actually know and understand”. [graphic: two of the extinct Hawaiian species, kākāwahie and the Maui nukupuʻu]

Avian malaria is also becoming a severe problem as mosquitos, probably introduced in the early19th century, are breeding prolifically. Because of higher temperatures, the insects are moving to higher elevations leaving forest birds with no room to escape infestation. To combat the disease a coalition of environmental groups are releasing mosquitos with a strain of bacterium that hinders reproduction. Wildfires also present a threat to declining bird populations.  The Lahina wildfire came within 150 feet of a reserve for endangered birds, including the most endangered bird in the United States, the‘akikiki before conservationists put out the fire.

Among the birds gone forever is thep Kauaʻiʻōʻō. a black and yellow bird with a haunting, melodic song. Perhaps the last Kaua'i'ō'ō was recorded ibn 1984 by biologist Jim Jacobi who attracted a male by playing a recording of the bird's flute-like song. Jacobi speculated that he was drawn by the song of another of his species he had not heard in a long time. He was singing for a mate he would never find.  Listen to a lost voice of the forest.

Bolivian Town Declares Sanctuary

In 2021 thirty-four endangered South American condors (Vultur Gryphus) were found dead in the community of Ladera Norte. They were poisoned by a carcass laid out for pumas by local farmers who  blamed pumas for livestock losses. The discovery caused much consternation among residents and worldwide as the pictures circulated on the Inntertube. A national day of mourning was declared. In response the community decided to declare all of its 8,150 acres a reserve for the iconic bird, and an isolated stand of white quebracho trees (Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco) a tree native to the Gran Chaco region. The birds ordinarily do not live near human settlements, but here they live forty minutes away from the city of Tarija. The town of Ladera Norte persisted in the efforts to create a sanctuary for the birds, despite nearby settlements declining to the join the original plan of setting aside 141,000 acres of protected space. 

The town is a small scale agricultural region producing potatoes and fruit. Farmers do not use agricultural chemicals in their food production. The landscape and ecologically sound practices gives the area tourism potential, which the founding document of the reserve states will be promoted for the community's economic benefit. Urban sprawl from Tarija is advancing toward the area resulting in land speculation. The reserve creation puts a barrier against this threat.  [photo credit: Nativa Fondation]

Quebracho and Condor Natural Reserve is in the transition zone between sub-Andean forests and the western Cordillera resulting in a great variety of wild flora including the 141 acre stand of 10,000 white quebracho, the only one remaining in central Bolivia. The tree is listed as vulnerable to exploitation and habitat loss. While the Andean condors can travel 100 miles in a day, its huge range includes the reserve. The reserve also protects fox, taruca deer, puma, collared anteater, jaguarundi and jaguar, among others. It may be relatively small, but the protection provided by the residents of Ladera Norte is a higly symbolic response to a single ecological disaster.  Plans are to expand the protected zone to its original 57,000 hectare size in the future.  Green Kudos to Ladera Norte!