TWIT: The End of Democracy?

Update:  The House Ethics Committee is split evenly between the parties, 6-6. 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 idiot 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.

 

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! 

Cloned Ferret Gives Birth

Two healthy kits are doing well at the Smithsonian Institution's Conservation Biology facility in Port Royal, Virginia.  They were born three weeks ago, This is a world first for a cloned animal, and a major step forward for conservation of species in general. Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes). Antonia was cloned from frozen tissue samples of Willa, another endangered ferret at San Diego's Frozen Zoo. She was born last May with her sister, Noreen [photo] at the National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center in Colorado. Blackfooted ferrets were thought to be extinct by 1981, but later rediscovery started an intensive conservation efforts leading to reintroduction in the wild. For now, mom and the kits will remain in the Conservation Biology Institute for further study. 

Overseas Ballots Challenged in Pennsylvania

Over 4,000 ballots from 14 counties in Pennsylvania have been challenged apprently by Trump supporters using a mass mail-merge program. Under Pennsylvania law only residents of Pennsylvania are allowed to vote in the state's elections. Federal law allows citizens living overseas to vote in federal elections in the last place they lived in the US if they are unsure about returning. In 2020 Pennsylvania counted 26,952 ballots returned from overseas. The ACLU said counties receiving such challenges should quickly reject them as "as both procedurally and substantively deficient.” So far officials in Bucks, Lancaster, Lehigh, York, Cumberland, Dauphin, Beaver, Centre, and Lycoming county have all received challenges. 

An organization named "Election Research Institute" appears to be behind the campaign to disqualify overseas voters. This group is led by a Heather Honey, an activist that lost a federal lawsuit challenging eligibility, which the judge said was based on "phantom fears of foreign malfeasance". The election in Pennsylvania is closely fought with both side challenging ballots technicalities.  For example courts have recently ruled that voters forgetting to write the date on the ballots will not have their votes counted. Voters who do not use the security sleeve to protect their mailed ballots, may provisional ballots on Election Day at the polls.

ODWF Goes Dark on Wolves

Oregon's Department of Fish & Wildlife has announced that it will no longer publish weekly information in emails about lethal wolf removals based on "on feedback from interested partners". Translation from bureaucratise: livestock owners. The information is still accessible if an interested party goes to the website labeled "Livestock Depredation Investigations". Since 2009 the agency has killed 52 wolves   The Lookout Mountain and Black Pines packs suffered the most with six kills each.

According to the agency the minimum number of wolves living in Oregon is 178 in 2023 the latest year for which statistics are available.   Ten wolves from the eastern zone were translocated to Colorado to help re-establish a population in that state.  The management zone west of Hwys 395, 20 and 97 is where the majority of wolves live. [red line]  The eastern zone still enjoys federal protection [blue dotted line on map].  In 2023 the agency authorized the lethal removal of 27 wolves. Seven were poisoned illegally. For updates on the wolf management program in Oregon go https://dfw.state.or.us/wolves/updates.html#

SMRs? Think Again

Small modular reactors (SMRs) were supposed to be the answer to increased demand for electrical generation driven largely by AI.  The idea was to make small reactors on a production line, which allows savings of scale, shorter build times, and reduced regulatory burden.  They could be transported to the site and hooked up in parallel to achieve the desired power output.  NOT!  This chart shows why:

NuScale's SMR is the poster boy, but the same price explosion has occurred in units overseas: China Russia and Argentina. Domestically, NuScale's cost doubled, X-Energy cost estimates have tripled and Hitachi's have at least doubled and possibly tripled. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis says SMRs are "still too risky, too slow, and too expensive".  The study goes on to recommend that utilities, investors, and regulators should not look to SMRs, but to other alternative powers sources as the near term solution to energy transition to a more sustainable mode.  This is because the development pattern emerging is depressingly similar to that of previous designs. The United State's only new, large scale plant, Vogel 3 and 4 in Georgia, began with a per kW cost estimate in the $9,000-10,000 range. Actual cost is $20,027,  and the project took six years longer than estimated to build! Its construction led to the bankruptcy of Westinghouse. China's operating Shinzo Bay 1 experienced a cost increase of 300%. Russia's operating SMRs experienced a 400% increase in cost.  Argentina's CAREM 5 under construction experienced 700% increase as of 2021.  That plant will not begin operation until 2027 according to current plans.  

Question: Why bother with fission if the sun's energy is free? The money would be better spent optimizing the national grid for interruptible power. If private industry will not do this, then the federal government should and take ownership if only for national security reasons.  Interstate power transmission is already regulated by the federal government (FERC).