Trashing the Oceans With Noise

Why does the Navy want to kill dolphins and whales with sonar systems so loud that the noise can travel 300 miles? So it can detect modern diesel-electric submarines like the Song class Chinese attack submarine that surfaced within striking distance of the USS Kitty Hawk on battle maneuvers in the western Pacific. Much to the embarrassment of Pentagon officials the submarine went undetected by the carrier's defensive screen of escort ships, submarines and aircraft. Perhaps the answer to this obvious vulnerability lies not in killing intelligent marine mammals merely trying to survive, but in rethinking our Navy's training and and submarine defense tactics in the face of sophisticated conventional technology. Apparently it takes more than a lot of noise to find an inscrutable Chinese sub.

The NRDC is suing the Navy to get it to use its low and mid-frequency arrays well away from sensitive areas for whales and dolphins such as migration routes and breeding grounds. The environmental advocacy group achieved some success against the LFA system which floods the ocean with sound waves so powerful that they kill whales at close range. A 2003 court decision limited the use of the low frequency sonar, but the Regime has reauthorized deployment. NRDC is planning to go to court again to block its use. Scientists are fairly certain that low frequency sonar is responsible for the documented stranding and deaths of whales from the Bahamas to the Canary Islands to Japan. A California federal district court judge temporarily enjoined the use of mid-frequency sonar off the coast saying it was a "near certainty" that its use along the coast would cause widespread harm to whale populations. The temporary injunction was lifted on appeal, but the case is proceeding on the merits to the full 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Navy wants to deploy mid range frequency sonar along the Carolina Outer Banks as part of a 500 square mile Atlantic Undersea Warfare Range. That is smack in the middle of the endangered right whale migratory route. There are only about 300 of these whales left in the Atlantic. Many have been killed in collisions with ships as they traverse the busy shipping lanes off the northeast United States. Scientists have demonstrated that military sonar's intense noise levels can damage the whales own sonar systems, making them more vulnerable to collisions and even cause them to strand. In 2005 thirty-seven whales of three different species stranded on the beaches of the Outer Banks after Navy sonar exercises. No one expects the Navy to ignore the military capabilities of competing nations. China has 13 Song class submarines, but they also own 60% of our national debt. We hope the Navy will realize that killing endangered whales will not make America safer.

Iran Caught In the Act

According to McClatchy News Service, Iran was caught shipping explosively formed penetrating devices (EFPs) to Afghanistan for Taliban use by a European government, most probably a NATO ally. That government sent a demarche to Iran after four loads were intercepted at the Afghanistan border. When Iran denied making the shipments, it was shown photographs of the projectiles with Iranian factory markings. According to an unnamed Western diplomat the photographs had a major impact. At a press briefing on Thursday in Iraq, a US deputy corps commander said Iran appears to be living up to an informal committment to stop sending such devices to Iraq for use against US soldiers. That statement is in marked contrast to repeated utterances from Darth Dick and his neocon supporters who claimed Iran cannot be trusted to make binding agreements. [graphic credit: Air Force Research Laboratory]

Stop Press: No Immunity for Telecoms

Chris Dodd's campaign says the Judiciary Committee has reported out a FISA reform bill without retroactive immunity for telecommunication companies that cooperated with federal agencies to spy on Americans. This development is a victory for those Senators protecting our right to privacy like Chris Dodd. I am sure the Senator from Connecticut is feeling relieved as the need for a filibuster is getting less likely. Of course admendments will be introduced on the floor to give the Regime and big business what it wants. But gathering sixty votes to give legal immunity to companies that are being sued by civil rights advocates to expose the extent of illegal domestic spying is an uphill political battle.

Le Shorter: Saucer Count 2 to 1

Dennis Kucinich saw one; so did Jimmy Carter. But Ronald Reagan saw two.
www.ufocasebook.com/strangecraftphotos.html [more photos by "Chad"]

An explanation? www.ufocasebook.com/strangecraftupdate.html

The Killing Club

The United States keeps great company these days. Beside propping up military dictatorships all over the world, it joins the Peoples Republic of China and Singapore as a small group of authoritarian countries that impose the death penalty on criminal defendants. There is an initiative pending at the UN to put a global moratorium on the use of the death penalty. The moratorium proposal was introduced by Italy. Prime Minister Romano Prodi was convinced to support the effort after the botched and humiliating execution of Saddam Hussein. Eighty five other countries have joined in the effort including all 27 EU countries. Ninety one percent of executions are carried out by just six countries: China, US, Pakistan, Sudan, Iraq and Iran. The US killed 53 prisoners last year, and opposes the resolution. It claims the moratorium is an infringement of it's sovereignty. If the resolution survives attempts to kill it with amendments, the UN human rights committee will vote on the measure this week. The resolution calls for nations using the death penalty to place a moratorium on its use with the goal of abolishing it, and for countries which have abolished the ultimate penalty, not to reintroduce it.

Gore Goes to Silicon Nirvana, Supporters Go Home

Al Gore, the guru of green, announced Monday that he will be taking a partner's seat at the Menlo Park venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Gore will be responsible for identifying promising green technology startups. The firm plans to spend $600 million on financing them next year. The California grass roots group that was attempting to put Gore's name on the California ballot for President was asked by a Gore staff person to cease it's write in efforts. More than 1000 Californians had volunteered to collect signatures for the February 5th presidential primary. Money certainly talks in politics, but Gore is a multi-millionaire and hardly needs the gig. At this point in his successful life being President must seem a little too confining. At least Kleiner Perkins not an oil company.

Le Shorter: It's a Horse Race

As I thought, Iowans are equally divided within statistically insignificant percentages between the three Democratic front runners. The caucus process is truly a unique American form of democracy where the persuasive abilities of your neighbors count almost as much as those of the various politicians they support. The confession by a Grinnell College sophomore that policy wonk Hillary did not know enough about her competitors' health care proposals to take unscripted questions from the audience will not go down well with the dour farm folks.