Live Blog: New Hapshire Debate

What Senator Sanders did not mention in the last exchange concerning the Wall Street meltdown was that Robert Rubin,  a Wall Street insider, was President Clinton's choice for his Secretary of Treasury.  Rubin brought in other former Wall Street officials to serve in the administration that Ms Clinton is so proud of. Sanders point is that his opponent is too compromised to be an effective leader of a political revolution against the plutocracy..

It's not just where Ms. Clinton gets her financial support.  She actually does represent her "constituency", as a New York senator that happens to be Wall Street.  Ms. Clinton voted for bankruptcy "reform" that made it much more difficult for consumers to obtain Chapter 7  discharge from overwhelming debts.  The banking lobby wanted this legislation and Senator Clinton obliged.

Free college? Single payer health care?  No major tax increases for middle class and working families.  Is it possible?  Sure it is, IF corporations and the rich are denied their exorbitant privileges and the billions wasted every year on so-called "national security" is ended and the money saved diverted to needed social programs. This is why Sanders is calling his grass roots movement a revolution--a revolution in the way Americans think about politics and  their government and refuse to accept the status-quo as inevitable.

Ms. Clinton is right Bernie Sanders rejects neo-conservative foreign policy doctrine that is responsible for the quagmires in Afghanistan and Iran.  It is this policy of American hegemony supported by an bloated, expensive military establishment that needs to be reformed to prevent further foreign entanglements that cannot be won by force.

19:21PST NATO has done more to "move boundaries" in Europe than Russia has.  Russia has responded to what it sees as western provocation in the former Soviet Republics from the Baltic Sea to the Crimea.  Of course as a world power, it has geopolitical goals just like the United States.  The US would gain more from Russia by engaging that nation in mutual security building and peace-making efforts especially in Syria.

19:25PST Bernie is correct in his assessment of the results in Iowa.  Essentially it is a split decision, and a moral victory for a grass-roots campaign expected to fold after the Iowa Caucuses.  Yee-ha!

19:31PST The distinction between Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio is fuzzy at best in the minds of most Americans because they are all establishment political figures.  They can understand the difference however between a social democrat and an evangelical plutocrat or bombastic billionaire snake-oil salesman.

19:36PST Thank you, Madam Secretary.

19:47PST The problem of public health poisoning by toxins goes way beyond the single city of Flint, MI. The epidemic of cancer and cancer related illnesses can in US Person opinion be laid at the feet of lax federal and state enforcement.  Hazardous materials of all types are used everyday in commercial and industrial activities.  Just look at the huge methane gas leak that goes currently unchecked in Southern California. A progressive administration would make vigorous environmental regulation and enforcement a top priority; it would end the false dichotomy between economic activity and environmental protection.

Epilogue: Senator Sander's campaign of "big ideas" is making the plutocrats nervous as evidenced by Goldman Sachs CEO Blankfein's comments after the New Hampshire debate. Well it should since they and other banksters like him are the ones who are stiffing this nation's democratic processes. We spent $26 trillion dollars saving them from their own folly, yet their most prominent member of the club has the audacity to label a grass-roots political campaign a "dangerous moment". If American's want to take back their government and live in a fairer society, then they have to support the only candidate willing to implement fundamental change, not incremental window dressing.  You simply cannot sum up a revolution in a few letters, and real reform goes way beyond gender.

credit: Gary Varvel
Wackydoodle sez: Nothin' like Iowa Humble Pie!

Tru'merica: "Know Nothing" Then and Now

The "Know Nothing Party" never really disappeared from American history, it simply morphed into the Republican Party that formed in 1854. Its characteristic suspicion of and discrimination against later immigrants, especially those of a different race or religion from the so-called "nativists", still resonates with a segment of the native born, white, Protestant public. A partial history in three parts:

Occupy Malheur

credit: Stuart Carlson
Wackydoodle sez:  This ain't no drill!

Latest: Federal law enforcement agents began an action to arrest armed persons associated with the Malheur Wildlife Refuge occupation on the 27th. One man died in the shootout, identified as Levoy Finicum by the occupiers. Another man was injured and taken to a local hospital for treatment. Ammon Bundy, leader of the extremists that took over the headquarters building of the Refuge was arrested on felony charges on the 26th. Five including Ammon and his brother Randy were arrested as they headed into a meeting in nearby John Day. Two others were arrested in Burns and a third in Arizona. The Bundys are sons of Cliven Bundy the Nevada rancher who is a leader in the right-wing extremist militia movement that does not recognize federal land ownership of public domain lands. He has repeatedly refused to pay cattle grazing fees for use of public lands. Local residents have expressed their dissatisfaction with the armed occupation of the Refuge, one of the most important migration stops in the Pacific Flyway.

More: The extremists occupying the Maleur Wildlife Refuge may have been embolden by the federal government's perceived defeat in a standoff with one thousand militia members at Cliven Bundy's Nevada ranch They gathered there in 2014 to prevent federal agents from seizing cattle in a dispute over grazing rights. Confronted by such a large armed force, federal officials backed down, sensitive to the public outcry over the violent siege of the Branch Davidian compound in 1993 that resulted in 80 people dying.  To date no charges have been filed related to the 2014 standoff. The BLM says the family owes $1.1m in grazing fees and penalties Two extremists involved in the Nevada confrontation killed two police officers and one civilian in Las Vegas less than two month later. Cliven Bundy is advising his sons by telephone from Nevada according to Reuters. His son Ammon, claims he is merely following "directions from God."

06.01.16 The Bundy brothers' armed occupation of the headquarters building at Malheur Wildlife Refuge in rural eastern Oregon is the latest chapter in a simmering rural rebellion that goes back a century. In the 1900's the federal government began withdrawing land for water development projects. In the 70's the government protected certain public lands for wildlife, recreation, and other values. The transfers have continued under the current administration, fanning anti-federal sentiment among radical ranchers. The sentencing of the Hammonds under the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act for arson on federal land caused Ammon Bundy, a known extremist, to rally milita members to the Hammonds' cause. But the Hammonds have already told media they planned to turn themselves in to serve the time remaining on their sentences. The Hammonds have disputed grazing rights with the BLM since the 90's when Dwight Hammond and his son were arrested on felony charges for interfering with a reserve officials and a fence-building crew. The charges were later reduced to misdemeanors after the intervention of their Congressman. Malheur officials have a thick file on the Hammonds, who they say repeatedly violate the terms of their grazing permits. In particular, the Hammonds regularly use a cattle trail across reserve land without notice since it is a "historic right of way that has been used since 1871." The occupation of Malheur began on Saturday and about twenty people are there, most of them armed. Ammon appears to have little support from the residents of rural Harney County. In a statement to the press on Monday, Ammon said the occupiers intended to assist the people of Harney County "in claiming their rights".

Scientists Photograph Rare Bush Dog

Scientists using camera traps to count larger mammals in the isthmus of Central America have captured images of the rarely seen bush dog, Speothos venaticus. The canid's small size and nocturnal habits make sightings rare, but conservationists suspect that habitat loss is causing the species to decline in number rapidly. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature estimates bush dogs have declined by about 25% over the last twelve years. It needs large tracts of uninterrupted forest floor where it hunts for rodents and other prey. So far there is no evidence that bush dogs suffer from human predation or persecution, although they may compete for the same prey species. No conservation measures exist for the bush dog and a lack of scientific information about the species' requirements in different biomes hampers development of conservation strategies. A video below gives some basic facts about the cute little jungle dog:

'Toontime: Queen of Spin

credit: Paul Combs, Washington Tribune

Wackydoodle axes: Wanna read ma' resume?

Would 'Mericans really vote for a Trump-Palin ticket?  Mind boggling to contemplate, but a distinct possibility since the reality-TV candidate has endorsed Sarah Palin for a place in his government.  But then, who else is qualified to see Russia from her backyard?

Sea Shepherds To Launch New Campaign

The last time US Person posted about the resumption of commercial whaling by the Japanese, it was not clear what the response from the most active whale defense organization, Sea Shepherds, would be. The legal avenues against Japan's whaling program have been all but shut off. The organization announced on Christmas Eve that the Society's ship, Steve Irwin, wold depart from Fremantle in early January to patrol near Antarctica during the 2016 season. The Society has harassed Japanese whaling operations for the past eleven years, and played a major role in Japan abandoning its 2014-15 commercial whaling season in the Southern Ocean. The ICC ruled the whaling to be a commercial activity posing as scientific research. Since then Japan has revamped the legal justifications for its commercial activity and refused to recognize international jurisdiction over its activities.

a minke mother & calf; credit: UK Guardian

Radical Captain Chakravarty said that the Steve Irwin will, if necessary, directly interfere with whaling by "either putting Steve Irwin in the slipway of the Nissin Maru to stop the transfer of whales or they will be blocking the illegal fishing vessels from deploying their fishing gear." So far the Australian government has limited itself to diplomatic efforts to dissuade Japan from killing whales.  It declared a whale sanctuary in the Southern Ocean within its zone of economic interest, but Japan does not recognize it.  Scientists have characterized the so-called whale research as "producing more sushi than science." Last April a scientific panel of the International Whaling Commission found Japan's new program was not scientifically based, adding that whale research can be conducted through non-lethal means.

Four nations have cautioned both the whalers and the environmentalists saying they oppose commercial whaling but also "condemn any actions at sea that may cause injury or loss of human life".   The United States, Australia, New Zealand and Netherlands said they would respond to unlawful activity in accordance with law, but the US State Department was unwilling to be specific about what steps it might take if an incident takes place.  Australia and New Zealand took Japan to the International Court of Justice which issued a unfavorable finding causing Japan to re-work its claimed exemption from the international ban on commercial whaling.   Jeff Hansen, managing director of Sea Shepherd Australia, said his organization has saved the lives of over 5,000 whales while not causing a serious injury to either side. Hansen asked, "What is the point of the [ICC] ruling if no one is going to enforce it?"  Good question.

On another front, the Society agreed to pay $2.55m to Japanese whalers for breaching a US Ninth Circuit injunction to stay clear of Japanese whaling vessels. The injunction against Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson and anyone interfering with their navigation in the Southern Ocean was issued in 2012, but the group was involved in physical confrontations with the whalers in 2013. The payment puts a possible contempt proceeding behind the group and its senior leadership.

The Evidence Keeps Piling Up

The same series of severe storms that killed 43 across the mid-continent United States warmed the Arctic by 50 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. On December 30th the North Pole experienced a high of around 35, a high temperature meterologists said was"unheard of". There is no permanent weather station at the pole, so scientists rely on weather forecast models to estimate conditions. Since regular Arctic weather records began in 1900, the air temperature above land are now 2 higher than average. NOAA's Arctic Report Card is now in its 10th year. It shows that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as other parts of the planet and fresh water discharges from rivers into the Arctic Ocean are 10% above the decade of 1980-89. The Mississippi River reached a crest that was the second highest ever recorded, five feet below the record set in 1993. In related Arctic news, a Russian tanker ran aground November 28th, 2015 on the southwest coast of Sakhalin Island off Russia's north Pacific Coast. Russian authorities reported the Nadezhda's hull and cargo tanks were damaged, spilling oil onto several kilometers of shoreline near a fishing port. The exact amount of oil spilled was not reported, but clean-up crews removed about 105 cubic meters of contaminated sand.