TWIT: No Immunity For You!

Update:  In their desperate effort to defeat the conviction of the their client of 34 felonies in the hush-money case, Trump's lawyers are now alleging juror misconduct.  Justice Merchan has responded to the letter saying the allegation must be investigated, but he cannot rely on hearsay and unsworn allegations in deciding whether the case against Don the Con should be invalidated.  The defense strategy is to prevent sentencing before his inauguration as the first convicted felon in history to become president of the United States.  The attorneys' heavily redacted letter of December 3rd was released to the public Tuesday.

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

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

Popock agrees--suspend his sentence pending his return to private life, meanwhile the appeals can go forth.

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

Ocean Temperature Rise Killed 4 Million Birds

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

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

COTW: Worth a Thousand Clinical Trials

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

 

TWIT: More Charges

credit: Britt
Wackydoodle sez: Laughing all the way!

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

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

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

Monarch Butterfly Finally Listed

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

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

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

Arctic Becomes Net Carbon Source

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

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

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

Captured--A Sign of the Times

the widely distributed photo

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

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

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

TWIT: MAGA Cometh

 

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

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

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

The Land of Make Believe

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

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

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

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

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

Wolves Loose Strict Protection in Europe

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

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

Red Flag Warning: Disasterous Flooding Coming

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

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

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

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

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