TWIT: Pushy at Arlington

US Person knows that at the start of a long weekend probably the last new you want to read is This Week in Trump (TWIT).  But he is, according to his numerous detractors, Hanshakaiteki na and un-American to boot. And no, he is not from Hawaii!  So bear with this post because he promises to keep it short.

Special Prosecutor Jack Smith filed a new indictment against the Ochre Menace in the federal election interference case.  He presented the edited document to a new grand jury.  It contains the same four charges but allegations that could be interpreted as "official acts" were removed. For example it eliminates communications with the DOJ in his attempt to enlist the department's support for false allegations of election fraud.  Communications with DOJ officials relating to the attempt are also gone including those with Jeffery Clark, who is no longer named as a co-conspirator.  He wanted to send an official DOJ letter to state election officials saying the department had "identified significant concerns" about the election process in their states.  However, a bunch of allegations against Trumpilini, categorized as  "unofficial acts",  remain.  Judge Chutkin will have to sort through those in an anticipated evidentiary hearing.

Whether Smith gets an evidentiary hearing on those allegations before the election remains problematic.  His team and defense attornies are scheduled to meet with Judge Chutkin next week. The defense  goal is to delay any hearings until after the election. By the way, Don the ConOn  is no longer referred to as the 45th President of the United States in the indictment, but rather as a candidate for that office.  Smith also filed a brief with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta arguing that pocket Judge Cannon's dismissal of the Mar-a-lago Papers case on grounds of unconstitutional appointment of him ignored decades of precedent, was novel, and without merit. (a polite way of saying trash)  Oh my, how the mighty have fallen!

On the election front a big stink was created when an Arlington Cemetery official attempted to prevent Trumpilini from recording his visit.  A campaign aide pushed this person out of the way.  It is illegal to use the National Cemetery for political campaigning.  He is not about using churches or cemeteries as backdrops for electioneering.

As US Person predicted VP Kamala Harris is backing off her previous campaign positions in order to protect her right flank. In what was a policy-free campaign until recently, she announced some progressive tax reforms that include increasing the tax rate on corporations and the wealthy, taxing unrealized capital gains, and subsidies for the working class.  Of course her wealthy backers began to immediately push back on these ideas, desirous of maintaining their borrow, spend and die tax avoidance strategy.  Whether these proposals survive to an administration's policy objectives is difficult to say.  She has already reversed positions on fracking and single-payer health care.  But as she told an interviewer, "my values have not changed". We will see, Ms. Harris.

credit: Horsey, Seattle Times
BC Idonwanna sez: But no bone spurs!

Klamath Dams Breached

The last two cofferdams on the Klamath River have been breached by workers, allowing the river to run free for the first time in a century.  Excavator removed boulders and earth used to divert the river while two dams, Iron Gate and Copco No.1 were demolished as part of a project to restore the river and its native salmon run, once the third largest on the West Coast.  The fish have suffered tremendously during that time, and tribes have seen their salmon catch dwindle to nothing.  A Yurok tribe member and attorney for the tribe cried as she watched the river regain its course. Tribes fought for decades for dam removal. The federal government approved the project in 2022.  The $500 million restoration It is funded by the ratepayers of Pacific Corp. and taxpayers. [photo: tribal leader at the site of Cohelo Falls on the Columbia River]

Pacific Corp built the four Klamath dams between 1918 and 1962 to generate electricity, but they now only account for less than 2% of the company's energy generation. They exerted a heavy cost on salmon-- disrupting their migration upstream to spawn and degrading water quality. Wildlife authorities resorted to fishing bans in order to protect the remaining fish whose numbers dwindled dramatically. There are two smaller dams still on the river upstream equipped with fish ladders   It may be some time before the fish repopulate the entire river, and fishing can return to normal. Fishing did not return to Washington's Elwha River for ten years after its dams was removed.  The head of the NGO created to oversee the removal, told AP,“I don’t know if anybody knows with any certainty what it means for the return of fish,” he said. “It’ll take some time. You can’t undo 100 years’ worth of damage and impacts to a river system overnight.”

Klamath dams' removal is part of a national movement to restore riverine habitat where feasible. As of February 2,000 dams have been removed in the US, the majority of those in the last 25 years. Salmon are culturally and spiritually significant to northwest tribes as well as being an important food source.  Not only the fish have suffered, but natives too.  The US recognized for the first time in June that dam building devastated Native Americans by inundating their homes and decimating salmon runs. All done in the name of developing the dominate culture's infrastructure. The Biden Administration announced a plan to spend $1 billion restoring salmon runs before they are extinguished. The plan stops short of advocating dam removal on the Snake River, which conservationists and federal fisheries experts say is necessary to restore the Columbia River Basin salmon populations.  The goal of removing the Snake River dams has been condemned by Repugnant lawmakers in Washington.

Swedish Slaughter

More than 150 brown bears have been killed in the secon day of Sweden's annual bear humt. The government issued 486 licenses equivalent to about 20% of the remaining population. This slaughter was exceed last year by a cull of 722 bears last year. Incredibly, police accompanied hunters in anticipationof protests. Hunters said they felt a sense of foreboding in the recent past. police officers have been patrolling the forests and using drones to deter possible disruption of the hunts. Ecologists think that too many bears are being killed to insure a vialbe population of about 1400 bears according to the government. Currently there are an estimated 2400, down from a peak of 3300 in 2008. Bears were hunted to near extinction in Sweden a century ago.

Over the past two years, Sweden has killed hundreds of wolves, lynx and bears. The largest wolf hunt in modern times in 2023 aimed at reducing the already small population of 460 by 75. Environmental groups in Norway asked its neighbor to turn down license applications in some border areas over concern the hunt would reduce brown bear numbers in their country. Swedish authorities ignored the requests. Modern hunting techniques, often using dogs, are more lethal than in the past Sweden licened 201lynx hunters last year, double the number in previous years. There are only 1,400 of the felines spread across the country Lynx and wolves pose no threat to humans, neither do brown bears unless provoked.  Hunting them is about trophies and thrills. Conservationists have warned that the lynx population in Europe could collapse unless immediate efforts are made to protect the animals. Tests on the remaining cats in France show that their genetic diversity is so low they will become locally extinct within the next 30 years without intervention. [Swedish lynx, credit Alamy]

Bears are a "strictly protected species" under EU law, which prohibits deliberate hunting or killing. This prohibition apparently falls in deaf ears in the Swedish government, which may be experiencing EU fatigue similar to that which struck the UK almost a decade ago. Thanks to these environmental protection laws populations of large mammals have rebounded in Europe to some extent. Now, European governments seem ready to relax these restrictions. Romania announed a cull of 500 brown bears this year, and Germany is relaxing the rules on wolf hunting.  It seems Europe is not ready to be re-wilded.

Mosquito Borne Diseases Plaguing US

Mosquito borne viruses are spreading across the nation.  West Nile virus in now present in thirty three states according to the Center for Disease Control with 195 reported cases of infection with Texas having the most cases.  But a rare disease has now been detected: Eastern Equine Encephalitis, which killed an elderly man in New Hampshire.  About 33% of patients who contract triple E die.  Even Dr. Fauci, former US Public Health official, contracted West Nile. Public warnings are going out about the dangers of mosquito-borne diseases and localities are taking steps to control the insects.

Anopheles gambiae

Eastern Equine Encephalitis does not cause symptoms in most people.  But some can develop brain swelling and fever leading to death in about 33% of cases.  There have been three cases so far this year, one each in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts compared to 38 in 2019, the worst year for outbreaks. The virus typically spreads in certain swamps, including red maple and white cedar swamps in Massachusetts.  Several towns in the state--Plymouth and Oxford among them-- have been put on high alert for the disease spread. Plymouth has temporarily closed its city parks There have been 115 cases in Massachusetts since 1938 when the disease was first detected. There were seven fatalities in the 2019-20 outbreak. [graphic credit: L. Harper]

About 2 in 10 people develop symptoms from West Nile virus infections. About one in ten die from severe cases that include encephalitis. West Nile was first report in New York in 1999, and has gradually spread across the country. Other mosquito borne diseases, once confined to the tropics, are making an appearance in the US including malaria and dengue fever. Malaria infected nearly 250 million people globally in 2022 and killed more than 600,000, mostly children. About 2,600 cases of domestically acquired dengue have been reported this year. ;Many experts credit global warming for the increased disease outbreaks.

TWIIT: Don Under Glass

What no TWIT this week? Is the sky falling?  No, but the truth is--at PNG the policy is the truth all the time--that there are no significant developments to report. Another truth is that Don the Con's plan to freeze the criminal prosecutions against him with political hoopla is working like a charm.  Three out of four cases are stalled at the appellate level and the NY fraud case may also be postponed for voting. It is as if the criminal justice system has abrogated its duty to dispense justice and is sitting back to let the people decide his fate in an election. Talk about third-world! One side gives us half-ass platitudes, the other weird gripes,  reflexive projection, and a lot of lies. Even the conservative National Review said the quiet part out laid, calling Trumpilini a "weak, unpopular, undisciplined candidate running at the head of a weak, minority electoral coalition". The other inconvenient truth is that he is running to stay out of jail.  So you choose.

The big story this week is RFK Jr. ending his Quixotic independent campaign, and giving his support to the demagogue, who apparently has promised him consideration for a big job in his administration. In Kennedy's announcement he complained about "media control" that ended his bid. Perhaps it was the story about his brain worm, or the dead bear cub he wanted to eat. Whatever, it is a sad ending to a sad story, as one of Kennedys lamented. But understandable, given what the formerly powerful political dynasty has been through over the years. Kennedy's endorsement will buy Trumpilini little additional support outside of his delusional base.

credit: Ohman

Botswanna Diamond Is Huge

the watery luster of real diamond 

This raw diamond is the second largest ever found. Weighing 2,492 carats--about a pound--it is the largest diamond found in Southern Africa since 1905.  It is second in size to the famous Cullinan diamond (3,106 cts) cuts of which make up the British Crown Jewels. The largest gemstone from the Cullinan is set in the scepter of Edward Vll, the "Star of Africa".  Lucara, the company that owns the mine, found it using new X-ray technology.  A true fruit of Mother Earth, conditions have to just right for a diamond of this size to nearly reach the surface by volcanic eruption.  Lucara has set records before. In 2015 it found a 1,109 carat diamond and  in 2019 discovered a 1,758 cts black diamond. [photo credit: Lucara Diamond] Since commissioning its X-ray circuit in 2015 at Karowe, a total of 12 diamonds in excess of 300 carats, with two weighing more than a 1000 cts have been unearthed. Half of these were turned into gemstones as of 2019, generating over a hundred fifty million for the company.

The valuation of the latest spectacular crystal is not yet determined--some of that will depend on internal structure and clarity. A diamond of this unusual size is sure to be worth hundreds of millions, but not as much as the gemstones into which it will probably be cut.

Synthetic diamonds have made a significant impact on the diamond mining industry.  The supply of lab produced diamonds has increased ten times since 2018.  Diamond mining accounts for 80% of Botswana's exports. Lucara is undeterred by the synthetic competition, however.  William Lamb, CEO, told reporters, "We believe we can eclipse the Cullinan" Nothing beats the real thing!

UK Rivers in Poor Health

Citizen testing of rivers in the UK this summer found 75% of them in poor ecological health due to pollution from agricultural runoff and sewage.  Hertfordshire and Cambridge has the worst water quality with 91% and 89% respectively showing unacceptable levels of contamination. Northumberland and Gwent had the least. When the Tories took power in 2010 a quarter of England's were judged to be in good ecological health, by 2022 not a single one is healthy according to an annual report by the Rivers Trust. under British law, driven by EU clean water standards, all rivers are supposed to attain a "good" water quality standard by 2027. That goal was reduced to 75% by Parliament before the election.  Even that goal will be impossible to meet as the recently concluded Paris Olympics demonstrated vividly. France spent more than a billion dollars cleaning the Seine, but the river still contained unhealthy levels of E. coli after a rainstorm making swimming unhealthy. It was a Conservative government under Jonh Majors that privatized the water industry 30 years ago. According to the UK Guardian the industry prioritized shareholder value over public health and the environment. Sounds familiar to US Person, but then he is bad for business.

credit: Evening Standard

The last time full water quality assessments were conducted in 2019, no river met the chemical standards for good health.  High levels of nutrients--primarily nitrates and phosphates-- cause algae blooms and reduce dissolved oxygen and increase bacteria.  These conditions lead to fish and plant death. Citizen testing this summer focused on these two measures since they are commonly found in run-off and untreated sewage. The volunteers collected more than 1300 data sets. With reduced government water quality testing, their effort contribute to a clearer, if not dire state, of Great Britain' rivers. Their data has been passed on to the Environment Agency.

The Thames begins in the southern Cotswolds at Trewsbury Mead near Kemble. Tory country.   The river is fed by limestone aquifers and free running streams of pure water. The river flows 215 miles  to the North Sea--not long by global standards, but of hugely historic and cultural importantance. But by the time it reaches Fairford just four miles from its source it is polluted by sewage discharge into the Coln River, a tributary.  Sewage reaches the river through overflows during heavy rains and crumbling piping due to neglect. 

The increasing amount of sewage discharges caused the Environmental Agency to launch a criminal investigation in 2021, which found widespread and serious non-compliance with water quality regulations. In 2021 Southern Water was fined a record £90 million for dumping untreated sewage into the sea off Kent and Hampshire for six years to avoid upgrades and maintenance on infrastructure. Water companies are allowed to self-report their effluent discharges.  It was the worst environmental crime in the twenty-five history of the Environment Agency.  Currently there is no requirement to remove pathogens like E. coli or microplastics from treated sewage.  The Twickenham water works, the only one to publish volumes, released 3.5bn liters of raw sewage into the Thames in 2020, or the equivalent of 1400 Olympic pools.

So you want more deregulation? Go swim in it.

Petroperu in Trouble

In more ways in one.  The national company is in massive debt having spent  $6.5 billion on a new refinery.  The government has bailed out the company three times with injections of cash, the lat one amounted to $1.3 billion.  Its financial statement from 2023 showed losses of $822 million.  The companies dire straits have raised concern it might collapse and be unable to perform its pollution clean up requirements.

bags of contaminated soil remain undisposed

To say Petroperu is not a good corporate citizen is an understatement. it has been hit with 154 fines from the state's energy regulator, and 61 times with administrative measures from the environment ministry. Since 2020 the company has been responsible for 191 recorded oil spills in the Amazon, second to Pluspetrol, another state company that has 394 spills to its discredit.  The government is loath to impose severe penalties on its petrochemical companies, which own millions in assets and make a significant contribution to the nation's economy. The companies often prefer to ignore or pay fines because it is cheaper than remediation costs. [photo credit: O. Bisa Tirko[

So the Amazon continues to be polluted by oil exploration.  Remediations sites are left untended or half completed. Indigenous people say the smell of oil is pervasive, and if you poke a stick into the ground the Earth exudes oil waste. Lot 192, formerly Lot 1AB, is a good example of the situation.  One of the oldest sites of production and the greatest number of spills in the.country After 54 years of production the cost of cleaning up the mess is estimated at $5.5 million.  Now owned by Petroperu the lot changed hands four times without any of the predecessors in interest taking steps to remediate the contamination.  Now, the company may not be able to pay the enormous cost, if if it wanted to.

TWIT: The Stylish Rantings of a Mad Man

credit: A. Zyglis

Get used to it, folks: a weekly ranting from the boy-king.  Unless Judge Merchan can summoned enough moxy to detain a former el presidente from campaigning for re-election. Emotionally unstable US Person thinks home detention in his Manhattan Trump Tower penthouse would be suitable. SEntencing is no sure thing at this pint since Team Trump has asked for another delay based on the MAGA Court's gift of presidential immunity.

The latest utterance on campaign is about windmills and dead birds! The thing about his rants is that if you did deep enough you can find a grain of fact.✓ Yes, wind turbines kill a lot of birds each year, an estimated 350,000. Do you think Don the Con really cares about again deaths? ;The answer is obvious: no. What he cares about are his fossil fuel friends underwriting his get out of jail card. He was not joking when he asked them for a billion dollar contribution.  The CMM is complicit in his assault on democracy because it chooses to ignore his obvious psychopathology in the interests of preserving the quadrennial poltical horse race that generates headlines, and therefore, dollars. Ask yourself why the CMM does not make an issue of his personality disorder the same way the did Biden's age.  Fair and balanced ?  This country's politics  needs at least two things: public financing of federal office campaigns and a viable third party.

On to the more factual material: this week, Tina Peters, the Mesa County, Colorado election clerk was found guilty by a jury of official misconduct for allowing a Trump minion to access the electronic vote counting equipment.  She used the credentials of a co-worker to allow pillow-guy Mike Lindell's associate to make a copy of a hard drive and observe a software update. She was convicted of identity theft, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, and one count of criminal impersonation. She is the first state election official to be convicted for a role in Trumpilini's election rigging scheme. Peters is scheduled to be sentenced October 3rd. She has not given up on the Big Lie, however. In a post after the verdict, Peters accused Colorado-based Dominion Voting Systems, which made her county’s election system, as well as lawyers for state election officials, of stealing votes.

credit M. Ramirez

✓In 2019, Inside Climate News reported that the Trump administration, best known for expediting fossil fuel production in tandem with deregulating the industry, is slowing down the start of productionon the Massachusetts’ offshore wind project. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), under Donald Trump’s Executive Order 13807, wanted to really dig down deep on their new expanded review of the Vineyard Wind project.

COTW:Grizzlies Rising

 US Person"s detractors say "he is bad for business" probably because he is an international advocate for wildlife conservation and environmental protection. For example he has long advocated expansion of the nation's first national park. One good reason for this is the increase in grizzly bears and bison that live in the region.  An estimated 2,000 now live in the Norther Rockies , roaming well beyond the beyond both Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks' boundaries.  A few have even wandered into downtown Cody, Wyoming. 50,000 bears lived in the West into the mid-1800s Bear advocates say we can learn to co-exist with the apex predator, often weighing over 500 lbs, as it makes a return to its former range. [see chart]

Even with their return, there have been relatively few human fatalities.  Since 1992 there have been at least 165 recorded injuries to humans, including ten fatalities.  According to experts, grizzlies go out of their way to avoid people.  Yellowstone Park averages just one attack per year--its lowest on record per capita--thanks to educational efforts, bear-proof garbage bins and bear spray.  That does not mean that grizzlies can be a pain.  They break into cars and buildings in their relentless search for food, while taking down cows, sheep, and pet dogs.  Calls to resume hunting to control them have increased.  Hunting seasons established in Wyoming and Idaho were overturned by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, but Montana and Wyoming are again petitioning to remove them from the Endangered Species list.  The Fish & Wildlife Service has said it is reviewing their status in the lower48 with a decision to be made in January. The biggest conflicts occur in areas newly reclaimed by the bears that are now filled with humans.  The intelligent beasts have figured out that humans and their habitations are a good source of edibles.

Electric fences have gone up in the Bighorn Basin, a hot spot for bears. Fence now surrounds the Cody municipal landfill and apple orchards.  Sweet cornfields are next. A local ranchers told the Wall Street Journal that he has lost about 2% of his newborn calfs to the predators.  Still visitors are thrilled to see the bears at close range, an experience made possible by federal protection.

Pantanal Under Threat

The Pantanal in Paraguay, Brazil and Bolivia is the largest wetland on Earth and a Noah's Ark of biodiversity. Its 42 million acres harbors at least 380 species of fish, 580 types of birds, over 2000 different plants. It is also the refuge for endangered and vulnerable species like the jaguar, giant river otters and hyacinth macaws. This natural wonderland could disappear if developers get their way with a project to dredge the Paraguay River, the wetland's main tributary into an industrial shipping channel for the transportation of crops. New ports would be built and the waterway' meanders straightened would cause irreparable damage to the wetland and the wildlife that depend on it. It is already suffering from extensive fires caused by prolonged droughts.

Construction materials are already arriving in villages along the planned route according to communal fishers and roads built leading to the new port facilities. The Paraguay-Paraan Hidrovia Industrial Waterway project has haunted the Pantanal for decades. It suffered critical technical evaluations of its original proposal, but the project did not die. The Andean Development Corporation funded new studies with nearly a million dollars. The new studies call for even more dredging and rock removal to insure passage of barges through 23 critical river passes. he ambitious project spanning five countries in the La Plata Basin has the support of the Inter-American Development Bank. A new strategy is also being employed to circumvent the objections of civil and conservation organizaions: piecemeal development. Last year the Brazilian government allotted $14 million for dredging, clearing of vegetation and adapting the navigable channel's signage, and two preliminary permits for two new port facilities.

The "kingdom of water", as it is sometimes called consists of more than 1200 rivers and streams that flood the plain in the wet season. Dredging will destroy this vital seasonal pattern by separating the river from its natural flood plain. Scientists now know that wetlands are vital to storing carbon, while only covering 5-8% of the Earth's surface, they store up to 30% of terrestrial carbon. The ribeirinhos,indigenous people of the river think the project will go ahead despite objections, and a new Brazilian president widely viewed as an advocate for nature and indigenous people. “Society does not want to hear us because then they can create whatever they want – dams, waterways, ports,” says one ribeirinha who has lived on the river all her life. "But I want the world to know that we are here–and that I will stay and fight for my life and for the Pantanal.” That is a fight that can give meaning to life.

Monkey Pox Outbreak in Africa Spreads Concern

More: Australian officials are warning that the monkey pox virus could migrate to Australia via Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean.  The isolated island is home for migratory seabirds due to return there in the southern spring. H5N1 was confirmed in wester Antarctica in February. It killed an estimated 30,000 sea lions. The environment minister expressed concern that the virus could have devastating impact on endangered species.  Australia has some 2,,224  listed as endangered species.  Currently Australia is the only continent in the world unaffected by the virus

{8.13.2024}The African Center for Disease Control has announced its first health emergency as a strain of the monkey pox virus--a less virulent form of the smallpox virus--has spread rapidly across Central Africa.  The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency over the weekend.  At least 120 confirmed case have been detected outside of Africa where it does not usually occur.  Scientists are worried that mpox, the disease caused by the virus, could reach epidemic proportions soon since it is appearing in densely populated areas.  Bukavu, a city of one million in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has seen a surge of cases.

Evidence indicates that the current strain is more virulent than the one (Clad II) that started the global mpox outbreak in 2022 that has infected more than 95,000 people and killed 180.  Clad I has caused small outbreaks in rural Central Africa for decades, but has been identified in the current outbreak in South Kivu. It is spread through contact, including sexual activity.  Children are particularly vulnerable to the disease; two-thirds of the infections in DRC are in children under 15 African countries have already reported more mpox cases in 2024 than in all of 2023--17,500 compared to 15,000.  Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and Rawanda have all reported their first ever mpox infections [photo credit: WHO]

Mpox,  like the related disease smallpox,  creates painful, fluid-filled skin lesions, and in severe cases cause death.  Treatments and vaccine for mpox that exist in affluent countries are almost non-existent in Africa. Africa CDC is in negotiations with Bavarian Nordic, a company that produces a mpox vaccine, for 200,000 doses, but an estimated 10 million are needed to stop the disease's spread.  The effectiveness of the vaccine agains Clad I is not clear, but something is better than nothing given the dire circumstances in Central Africa. Epidemiologists hope that the WHO declaration of a global emergency will not lead to stockpiling by wealth countries, which occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

TWIT: Weirdness on the Trail

credit: J. Ohman
BJ Idonwanna sez: Only in "Merica!

The word describes the state of the campaign for President.  The CMM is hardly mentioning the fact that the Repugnant candidate is a convicted felon facing sentencing in New York next month. His campaign calls the situation "suspended reality".

Reality is catching up with Don the Con, however.  Arizona's Attorney General announced this week that co-conspirator Jenna Ellis, a former legal advisor, will turn state's evidence. She pled guilty in Georgia to aiding and abetting fraudulent statements in the same nationwide scheme to steal the election from Joe Biden. Iin return for her plea she was sentenced to five years probation. She has agreed to cooperate with the Arizona investigation of the fake elector scheme in which 18 people have been charged including Ellis. Prosecutors say Ellis made false claims of widespread election fraud in the state and with six others, encouraged the Arizona Legislature to change the outcome of the election, and encouraged then-Vice President Mike Pence to accept Arizona’s fake elector vote. Charges against her will be dropped as part of the deal. She has been barred from practicing law in Colorado for three years

According to reports the grand jury in Arizona wanted to also charge the ring leader, but prosecutors did not accept the jury's recommendation on grounds of similarity to the pre-existing federal case. He remains an unindicted co-conspirator. In DC Judge Chutkin has resumed jurisdiction of the federal case against Trumpilini after the corrupt MAGA Supreme Court attempted to give him a pass. She has instructed the parties to brief her on proceeding.  Many legal observers, including arrogant US Person, think an evidentiary hearing will be held before the November election to sort out "official acts" for which he has been granted immunity. Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin have also filed charges in relation to the fraudulent conspiracy to make Trumpillini the first 'merican dictator. But progress in courts has been excruciating slow thanks to a phalanx of expensive defense lawyers and almost unlimited funds. Equal justice under law?  Not so much. So, it's up to Smilin' Kamala Harris to debate the criminal on national TV in September.

Weird!

Sea Turtles My Receive Congressional Aid

Sea turtles are endangered around the globe, but they may receive  much needed support from Congress.  A bipartisan bill,  the Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act is on the cusp of passage,  The bill would create a permanent grant program to assist organizations rescuing turtles. Sea turtles are federally protected, but costs of rescue and rehabilitation are significant.  They face a number of threats caused by human activity from entanglement in discarded fishing gear and plastic waste to cold stunning events caused by global climate change. Eight members of the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network spent $5 million a year over the last two years caring for more than 2,000 rescued turtles.  You can view the journey to release made by rescued turtles here. 

credit: AP

Strandings have increased dramatically in New England mostly due to unusually cold sea water that stuns the reptiles who are unable to control their internal body temperature like mammals do.  The $33 million program will fill the gap in sea turtle conservation.  Less than 50 sea turtles were found stranded on Cape Cod in 2000, but that number accelerated to 800 in 2022.  Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) told reporters that without the additional support the six species of sea turtles in US waters face extinction.  Both the Senate and House versions of the bill have bipartisan support and have reached the floor of both legislative bodies for a vote on passage.  Show your support for this important conservation legislation by contacting your congressional representatives here.

Animal Apocalypse Now

There is a devastating pandemic taking place this getting little attention outside of the scientific community.  Avian bird flu caused by the deadly H5N1 virus is now being passed mammal to mammal from pole to pole.  A joint study by the University of California Davis  School of Veterinary Medicine and Argentina's National Institute of Agricultural Technology has found clear mamma, to mammal transmission of the virus that is causing mass fatalities among bird and marine mammal populations.  There is mounting concern that the adaptive virus could jump to other species including humans.

The current H5N1 virus began causing disease among birds on a global scale in 2020 during the human

photo credit: V. Falabella

COVID pandemic.  It killed tens of thousands of seabirds in Europe before moving to South Africa. It entered the US and Canada in 2022 killing poultry and  wild birds before reaching South America in late 2022.  By August 2023 the virus was found in sea lions at the tip of South America, Tierra Del Fuego.  It moved swiftly north leaving a trail of death. [see chart]. Nearly all elephant sea pups (96%) in the fall 2023 breeding season at Peninsula Valdez, a major stronghold for the species died from H5N1.  [photo: dead elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) in Punta Delgada Argentina}

The highly adaptable virus has since split into two clades or genetic versions, one that infects marine mammals, while the other infects avian species. So far the virus has infected 485 bird species and 48 animal species.   The tragic truth is that the current panzootic is human caused.  A relatively mild form of wild avian flu mutated to infect domestic poultry where it spread rapidly among industrial-scale poultry farms.  The Delmarva Peninsula is a good example of farm-wetland overlap. It is the site of a $4.4 billion polutry industry that raised 600 million chickens in 2023, but also a stopover for migrating birds along North America's Atlantic Flyway.  Migratory wild birds are a highly efficient vector for the virus.  Now, the virus has been detected spreading to cows with 178 dairy herds infected. 

H5N1 did not breach isolated Antartica until February as far as science can determine.  The scale of the infection there is not entirely known, but anecdotal reports are grim. On the nearby Falkland Islands, 10,000 black-browed albatrosses died together with large scale breeding failures I 2023. Skuas are hardy scavengers that are hardly ever seen dying in large numbers. But a Beak Island nesting colony of 150 lost at least 50 adults to the disease. In the Arctic the first walruses have died of avian flu, which is especially concerning since they congregate in large haul-outs.

The disease has flared for four years with no end in sight.  Immunity may develop, but that will take a significant amount of time, while millions die. Man can help save endangered animals by immunizing his poultry against virus.  That is an expensive proposition, but much less than losing entire livestock herds or even thousands of humans.

The Ant Doctors

Scientists studying carpenter ants in Florida Camponotus floridanus have made an astonishing discovery. Ants amputate wounded limbs to save the life of their colony mates. They discrimiate between wounds in the lower leg and the those in the upper leg (femur), which require amputation while cleaning the wounds on the lower leg (tibia). These operation are remarkably successful with a 90% survival rate. Wound cleaning has a survival rate of only 75% Ants undergoing amputation of one of their six legs resume normal activities in the nest. This level of discrete medical intervention was previously only seen in humans. 

The new study was published in Current Biology. Researchers think that the behavior may be an evolutionary response to the fact that this species of ant lacks metaplueral glands which secrete antimicrobial chemicals. The behavior is innate or instinctional with no evidence of learning. Researchers conducted experiments in the laboratory to distinguish wound treatment depending on location of the injury. Under X-ray the femur and tibia differ significantly in structure. The femur contains much more muscle mass, which is critical to circulating hemolymph--ant blood. The tibia contains a larger hemolymph channel that allows for much faster spread of pathogens. [photo credit:B. Zijlsta]

Ants play an important role in an ecosystem. They eat other insects, are themselves prey for higher animals, and they recycle nutrients into the soil. Camponotus floridanus make their nests in dead wood. The species is unusually agressive, another adaptation to their normal shaded woodland environment where they are both predator and prey. They can live in disturbed areas close to human habitation, but are not considered a threat to structures since they do not bore holes but prefer existing cavities. Ants also have complex social behaviors as demonstrated by the "ant doctors".

TWIT: Old One-Eighty

credit: Bennett, Chattanooga Free Press
BC Idonwanna sez: USA, USA !!!

Stupid Don the Con exhibited is inherent racism again this week, and his Party's lack of vision for America. US Person, aka the Fraudulent Marxist, does not count the dystopian, bourbon nightmare Project 2025 as a progressive vision. Their only vision is for a return to the 1950's when white supremacy was secure.  Ochre Menace is taking a lot of flack for disparaging Kamala Harris' racial background at a campaign appearance with black journalists. Like many American's of mixed racial heritage, she perhaps identified with both of her parent's heritage a different times in her life. US Person knows he has. Trumpillini and his white cult is all about lying, personal insults, and perceived victimization. Talk about "rude"! Ask E. Jean Carrol if Donny is not rudeness personified; his schtick is getting stale. His only response to a historic prisoner exchange with Russia that required the co-operation of our European allies, was to criticize the negotiators as an "embarrassment to our country". Spoiler alert!

On her part, Kamala is running as a centrist much like Barack Obama did. Not unusual for a Democrat who traditionally run towards the center.  She has retreated from her previous positions on issues.  As a candidate in 2016 she backed Medicare for All, and banning oil and gas fracking,  She is, however, supporting her President's policy on term limits for the Supreme Court, a proposal long overdue. The proposed term is 18 years with a President picking a new Justice every 2 years. Under this scheme both Thomas and Alito would be up for replacement first. How allowing inferior federal district and appellate judges  to continue serving life terms is difficult to reconcile. US Person would like to have the Court expanded to 11, which would alter the balance of power to 6-5 in favor of the conservatives with the possibility of a swing votes forming a majority.  There is nothing sacred or constitutional about a nine member Supreme Court, which was set by statue in 1869. The Court has had as many as ten members. (1863).

Ten days into the campaign, VP Harris has yet to detail her own policy agenda. Inquiring minds want to know! We expect more from progressive Democrats.

credit: de Adder
BC Idonwanna sez, Blowhard strikes again!