Horrendous Suffering Uncovered on British Farm

An undercover film crew has exposed horrendous animal abuse on a Devon pig farm.  The revelations have prompted demands for legal action against the owners, WJ Watkins & Son.   Pigs condemned to filthy cramped conditions resorted to canibalism of corpses to stave off starvation.  In one clip a screaming pig was trampled on an bitten by others, and apparently died in view of the crew from Glass Wall Films.  The farmer was aware of the filming on Cross Farm, Holsworthy in October.  He refused to comment to the press, but referred them to the industry's lobby group, National Pig Association (NPA).

The Farm was investigated by Animal Equity, an animal welfare group in 2017. It found unsanitary, cramped, and barren concrete pens confining an estimated 12,000 pigs. Improvements were promised.  Glass Wall decided to visit farms where improvements were committed.  It was shocked to find that conditions had actually gotten worse.  Video were made of carbon dioxide asphyxiation, used to slaughter animals.  England has some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world, and its people are known for their love of animals.  To know such barbaric conditions existing on a Denvon farm shocks the conscience.  An NPA spokesman claimed parts of the film are not authentic and do not portray actual operations at the farm, which has been found compliant with all relevant requirements.  Tell that to the pigs!

Originalism When It Suits You

Historians filed an amicus brief in the recent Colorado disqualification case reaching the Supremes.  The Court found only Congress can disqualify a candidate for federal office. The historians, reviewing the history of the passage of Section 3 clearly disagree. Allan Lichtman at American University who signed the brief told interviewers their brief,“decisively proved not a single one of the thousands of ex-Confederates who were disqualified under section three of the 14th amendment were disqualified under an act of Congress. They were automatically disqualified, as Jefferson Davis himself recognized in his trial and the two judges in the trial agreed.”

Because Section 3 has been so rarely at issue, this fundamental misconstruction of the Constitution is likely to stand for a century unless Congress passes legislation enforcing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.  

Allowing individual states to control access to their voting ballots, which they already do when it comes to age and residency, would not have created an unmanageable patchwork of disqualifications.  The first state disqualification case to reach the Supreme Court would decide the matter, at it did with the Colorado case; Maine and Illinois promptly fell in line with Supreme Court's decision.   This is not the first time the MAGA court has perverted the historical record. They did something similar in District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the Court construed the right to bear arms as an individual right not a right of a state to raise an armed militia, a position not supported by the historical record. 

The MAGA majority will get another crack at derailing Trump's prosecution for the insurrection in a case styled United States v. Fisher, set for argument before the immunity case.  There the defendant argues that the statute (§1512) prohibiting obstruction of an official government proceeding is limited to the impairment of evidence.  If the Court decides he is correct, despite the clear legislative history to the contrary, the decision would moot the criminal obstruction counts in the indictment against Trump.

Besides speeding up decisions that favor Trump's candidacy and slowing down those that do not, this Court seems only to pay lip service to so-called "originalism" in its interpretations of the Constitution, invoking the doctrine when it gets them to the result they want. The Roberts Court will go down in history as one of the most corrupt in the nation's history.

TWIT: Cheeseburger in Paradise

credit: A. Zyglis, Buffalo News
BC Idonwanna sez: Apré moi, le deluge!

Don 'Legit' posted an appeal bond of $91 million in the E. Jean Carrol defamation case at the last minute, allowing him to appeal the verdict without paying her a dime.  US Person had little doubt he would be able to come up with the money.  The bond was provided by the Chubb Group of Companies. 

Readers may remember the infamous "Steele Dossier", the source of salacious allegations that Trumpilini cavorted with prostitutes while on business in Moscow. Trump sued Orbis Business Intelligence, founded by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele. His case was thrown out of court by a British judge as being "bound to fail" because it was filed outside the six year statute of limitations.   He was ordered to pay all court costs and legal fees incurred by Orbis amounting to an initial £300,000.

Other developments in the prosecution of the most dangerous man in 'Merica are also not favorable. Kenneth Chesebro, former Trump attorney, agreed to a plea deal in the Georgia election interference case, but his testimony may be discredited by new evidence revealed as part of the settlement of a Wisconsin civil suit brought against fake electors.  Chesebro maintains that the Trump electors were a legal strategy in the event a court found that their claims of election fraud were valid. But emails and text communications show the scheme was much more intentional and planned.   Chesebro began communicating with Wisconsin MAGA campaign lawyer Jim Troupis as early as November 8th, 2020 to create a fraudulent scheme claiming Trump won the Electoral College vote in Wisconsin and submitting an alternate slate of electors. “Having the electors send in alternate slates of votes on Dec. 14 can pay huge dividends even if there is no litigation pending on Jan. 6,” Chesebro said in an email.  Chesebro asked Troupis in a text to send his detailed December 6th memo on the idea to the White House.  Troupis was then in touch with Rudy Guliani and Boris Epshteyn, senior Trump aides.  Troupis spoke to Congressman Ron Johnson a full month before January 6th about the plan to submit fake electors.  A Johnson aide spoke to Mike Pence's legislative director Chris Hodgson, telling him that they had the lists for Michigan and Wisconsin.  Hodgson told him, "do not give that to him [Pence]". Keneth Chesebro texted Troupis on January 8th, two days after the insurrection, saying that the events opened more avenues for legal opinions favorable to Trump.

The new evidence confirms Chesebro always intended to sow confusion about the outcome of the electoral vote in order to throw the election into the US House of Representatives where there is a majority of Repugnant state delegations.  By now it is beyond deniability that MAGA operatives, with the approval of the deranged nascent dictator, wanted to exploit the weaknesses of the Electoral College system.  To prevent another autogolpe in the future,  the President should be elected by a binding popular vote and the College discarded as obsolete.

Alan Weisselberg, who is a witness in the business records criminal fraud case in Manhattan, has plead guilty to two felony counts of perjury.  Former CFO Weisselberg has already served time for tax evasion related to Trump Org.  He lied in the NY Attorney General civil fraud case about the size of Don Legit's apartment in Trump Tower, a major asset on his financial statements, and about his lack of knowledge of the process in which fraudulent documents were created.  His perjury conviction increases the chances of Trump being convicted of business records fraud. The judge in Trump's criminal prosecution, Juan Merchan, is the same one who sentenced Weisselberg for tax evasion.   At seventy-nine, he cannot afford to stop another bullet on behalf of the Boss.

Bad Air Will Increase

A new report by a climate NGO says that air pollution has increased in the US for the first time in 8 years primarily due to wildfires offsetting gains in reductions in human caused pollution achieved by the Clean Air Act.  Vast swaths of the continental US will have unhealthy air by 2054.  Now one in four Americans are exposed to unhealthy air and that is expected to grow by 50% in the next few decades.

An example of what is occurring is the Canadian wildfires of June 2023 that turned the skies of northeastern America orange and caused exposure to the worst day of polluted air since 2006.  The smoke carried tiny particulate matter called PM2.5 (microns) that can lodge deep inside a person's lungs and cross the brain-blood barrier. Prolonged exposure can cause Parkinson's Disease and dementia, as well as respiratory illness.  There is no safe exposure level to PM 2.5.  Although wildfire smoke is not counted against air quality goals by the EPA, wildfire smoke accounts for a third of all particulate matter pollution.

The number and intensity of wildfires are expected to increase as the planet warms up and vegetation drys out.  Disadvantaged populations in urban centers will be affected most since they do not have the means to ameliorate the effects of air pollution by moving or filtering in-door air.  Black children are five times more likely to suffer asthma than white children.  Outdoor workers will also be affected more.

Miami's Seaquarium is Unfit For Animals

Several members of the theme park's staff have quit in protest of the conditions in which animals are held captive,  In their resignation letter they cited managements dismissal of staff concerns for animal welfare and keeping the park understaffed.  Public pressure is mounting for Dade County, which owns the site to terminate Dolphin Company's lease, after USDA issued citations for animal welfare violations,.  The company is also behind on rent payments.  In February the park lost its certification from the American Humane Society.  Its county lease requires this certification be maintained.  If the county proceeds with evicting the Dolphin Company for non-payment and lease violations Seaworld would be over.

Not a moment too soon. Readers may recall the tragic story of orca  Lolita  held in North America's  smallest tank that died last year. One veterinary staff person who resigned told management that, "These animals deserve better than this and it breaks my heart every night knowing there’s not even a fight in any of you to TRY!” Seaworld is over seventy years old, one of the first ocean aquariums to be established. in the USA.  Seaworld is loosing money and management is cutting corners on animal health care. It has been sued ten times in the last two years for debts. [credit: AP]

USDA inspectors have visited the park multiple times and have found unhealthy conditions.  For example, a young dolphin with pieces of plastic and a large chunk of concrete in its digestive tract, and another with multiple bilateral rib fractures.  An animal welfare group flew a drone over the site and discovered a manatee named Romeo swimming in circles in a small, filthy tank.  The video was exposed on the Internet prompting the US Fish & Wildlife Service to remove the sixty-seven year old captive to a sanctuary.  A bottlenose dolphin named Sundance died in December after USDA inspectors raised concerns about his health.  They found four other animals in need of urgent care on their return visit in January.  So far the Dolphin Company has been able to dodge eviction and animals confiscation by taking what one animal advocate organization called "superficial" remedial action.  For the sake of the animals held captive, it is time to take effective action and close Seaworld for good and all.

TWIT: The Craven Court Freezes Trump Prosecution

Update: No surprise here!  The MAGA court ruled today that Colorado must put the Ochre Menace back on the ballot since 14th Amendment Section 3 must be enforced by Congress alone.  The prospect of that happening is statistically zero. The majority relied on the language in Section 5 stating that Congress shall have the authority to enforce the provisions of the Amendment;  three liberal justices concurred in the result.  Notably the Court did not disturb the finding by the Colorado Supreme Court that Don Legit is an insurrectionist.  

What some learned observers see is an issue that the DC Appeals did not address in their opinion.   The Court may want to provide guidance to lower courts on the distinction between former and current presidents, and official and unofficial acts when it comes to immunity from criminal prosecution.  Potentially, the Court could find that a former president is not entitled to immunity for either type of act.  And that a president, either current or former, can be prosecuted for criminal acts considered unofficial, such as interference in an electoral vote count for which a president has no official role under the Constitution. Such a conclusion, handed down with alacrity after April 22nd, would send the case back to Judge Chutkin for trial, which could be accomplished before the November election.  There is light at the end of the tunnel, but it is faint.

{29.02.24}Exposing the majority's tilt towards MAGA, the Supremes agreed to hear Dear Leader's claim of immunity from criminal prosecution and kept the stay of the trial court proceedings in place. The Court scheduled April 22nd for oral arguments.  The decision required at least four votes in favor.  The DC Court of Appeals has ruled unanimously against his claim. Many Court watchers expected the Court to let that opinion stand given its "masterful" treatment of the law. Jack Smith, Special Prosecutor, said in his brief that accepting Trump's radical immunity claim, "would upend understandings about presidential accountability that have prevailed throughout history while undermining democracy and the rule of law", especially in a case where a president sought to subvert the democratic transfer of power by disenfranchising millions of voters. 

Delineating the contours of alleged presidential criminal immunity is a complicated question and unnecessary to decide this case. No one in their right mind thinks a president of a republic has the right to foment his own coup. What is clear is that this Court has no interest in expediting its process to obtain a jury verdict before the vote.  Thus the American people will be deprived of an answer to this critical question: is Trump guilty of subverting our democracy? The Court said that it wanted to consider whether there is criminal immunity for "official acts" of a former president, leaving open the possibility that Trump's subversion of the democratic process falls outside the perimeter of "official acts".  But the Court's formulation of such a broad question for review is disturbing.  Of course, Trumpilini claims that every thing he did or did not do while in office was an official act.  Parsing which acts could reasonably be described as official would be time consuming to say the least.

Their decision has de facto allowed Trumpilini to win his years' long campaign to run any prosecution for wrong doing in office head-on into the election of 2024. After winning Michigan's primary easily, he is on course to the Repugnant Party nomination.  Any trial occurring during the presidential election campaign is unlikely. Even the New York criminal prosecution for election fraud scheduled to begin in March will be tied up in interlocutory appeals of a gag order request by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg to protect witnesses and court personnel. The granting of a Supreme Court appeal in the federal insurrection case exposes the deplorable extent to which politics plays a significant role in the US justice system, and how helpless it is when opposed by a legal tactician and "professional litigant" with funds.  His campaign claims of being smeared in a political "witch hunt" may now proceed uncontradicted by a jury verdict based on facts.   Pundits make fun of his in-court legal representation, but his attorneys have effectively hog-tied multiple efforts to hold him legally accountable for his actions before the November election. 

On a positive note in Georgia, defense counsel failed to provide any evidence that DA Willis benefited from the prosecution of the Ochre Menace despite grilling witnesses about when her affair with Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade began. Wade's divorce attorney had a conspicuous lack of memory on the stand about this question. Apparently the defense was attempting to show Willis lied under oath, allegedly disqualifying her for an appearance of impropriety. Willis and Wade both testified their sexual liaison did not begin until after Wade began working in her office.  Regardless, there was no showing she benefited financially from hiring Wade, and therefore no conflict of interest.  Nota bene: Judge McAfee faces a retention vote in November.

In New York, Trump counsel filed for emergency relief from the $454 million dollar judgment handed down by Justice Engoron.  Trumpilini is apparently unable to raise the necessary 120% appeal bond on his own, but a state appeals justice did allow him to find loans in New York pending a hearing by the full appeals panel.  Several non-bank lenders may be willing to help the "King of Debt" including billionaire political contributors. Once again, 'Tiny' is playing for time.  He may have access to $4 billion in new money in March if he is allowed by other stockholders to sell or hypothecate 78 million shares in his Truth Social internet platform.  He has thirty days from the date of judgement entry (02/23/2024) to raise the bond money, otherwise execution on the judgments may begin.

credit: A. Telnaes, Washington Post 
Wackydoodle sez, But we want to hear about Fani's love life!

Festus' Tragic End

Festus, the humpback whale, was a regular visitor for forty-four years to the southeast Alaska coast.  He was recognizable to humans by the black and white marking on his fluke. One day in 2016 he was found floating dead in Glacier Bay. Whale scientists determined that his cause of death was most likely starvation. A new paper by the Royal Society Open Science says that during an extreme heat event in the Northeast Pacific, when water temperatures rose 3-6℃ during 2014-16, an estimated 7,000 humpbacks disappeared during the period 2013-21. Populations had been increasing prior to that. The whales were removed from the Endangered Species list. Scientists think that the decline was a "mass mortality event" due to the lack of food. Phytoplankton, at the bottom of the marine food chain, cannot proliferate in warm water that has knock-on effects up to humpbacks despite their being flexible feeders. A similar high mortality event is affecting gray whales, which scientists think is due to the reduction in the size of a seabed crustacean that the whale consumes in the Bering Strait due to warmer ocean temperatures in the Arctic. [skinny whale on right; photo credit: UK Guardian]

Research in Antartica has shown that humpbacks breed less successfully when there is not enough food. It also results in 'skinny whales' that are more susceptible to disease. During the heat wave, fewer females showed up in the Au'au Channel between Maui and Lanai, a known breeding ground. Only three calves made the annual migration to Alaska, and they to went missing. To estimate the number of whales in the North Pacific, study authors used an extensive data base of identification information called "Happywhale" that is extremely accurate and can be described as a Facebook for whales since it uses similar algorithms for identifying individuals. One researcher told interviewers that, "Healthy oceans make healthy whales and vice versa.”