Thanks A Lot, Timmy!

Another current Washington lie that needs repeated exposure: Timmy Geithner and his boss saved the American economy. Every time US Person hears that one being repeated by the CMM, it makes him want to gag. When the banksters came to town in 2007 with bombs of financial kryptonite strapped to their chests demanding money, Washington bent over and asked "how much?". TARP was the biggest giveaway to Wall Street in history. The government lent the banks and their reckless executives trillions of dollars at vastly discounted rates. To claim that the government has made money on these transactions is quite simply more lying. Every $100 the Treasury spent bailing out Wall Street, it got back assests worth on average $66. Even people who "can't do the math" realize these transfers of wealth amount to a massive subsidy of $78 billion on the top ten TARP transactions. This figure was calculated by the Congressional Oversight Panel in its February 6, 2009 report. The banks used the windfall to grow bigger and more difficult to regulate: J.P.Morgan took over Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual; Bank of America took over Merrill Lynch and Countrywide.

To add insult to injury, a government audit released Monday found that firms receiving TARP money paid their executives excessive amounts of compensation. The Special Inspector General's office wrote executives of bailed out firms, "continue to rake in Treasury-approved multimillion dollar pay packages that often exceed guidelines" established by the TARP program. Treasury signed off on 18 pay raises for executives at General Motors Co., Ally Financial Inc. and American International Group (AIG). By the end of 2012 the government owned about 19% of GM. Two of GM's European top executives got pay raises despite the fact that division has lost more than $16 billion over the last 13 years. US Person wants to know, what "fresh talent with critical skill sets" do these executives possess? Also, can he get a job with GM? Obamados has nominated a former Citibank executive to replace Geithner at Treasury. His former bank received more government assistance than any other company, $476.2 billion

We can't know for sure what would have happened if we had political leaders with their conjones still intact who stood up to the financial terrorists threatening to blow up the world's financial system. We can only look at history. Argentina really did experience a financial meltdown in 2001. For three months its economy plunged. Banks shut and people could not get their money out. But two years later Argentina made up all the ground lost in the crisis. Then, there is the "miracle" of Iceland. Iceland told its banksters to take a walk and protected its citizenry from their cupidity. Pundits derided Iceland's audacity, predicting doom in the bond market. But four years later Iceland is thriving again. How was this accomplished, asked President Olafur Ragnar Grimson at the recent Davos bacchanal. He answered his own question, "We didn't follow the traditional, prevailing orthodoxies of the last 30 years in the Western world...We let the banks fail." Like the Good Book says more simply, "Ye cannot follow both God and Mammon." So keep watching those banksters, Mr. President, until they appear in your office with new, larger bombs of economic terror.

COTW: Frogs Killed by Agricultural Chemicals

@ 0.1,1.0,10 x label rate; credit: Brühl et al

A new study published in Scientific Reports found commonly used agricultural chemicals kill frogs when used at recommended dosages. Scientists associated with the University of Koblenz-Landau tested seven commonly used pesticides on European common frogs (Rana temporaria) and found all of them were potentially lethal to frogs. Two fungicides, "Headline" and "Captan Omya" were particularly lethal [chart], killing all of the test subjects at recommended application levels. Amphibians of all types, especially frogs, are in decline world wide . One third of the world's amphibians are currently threatened by extinction. Scientists believe 130 amphibians have gone extinct in the last thirty years. The study warns that continuous use of agricultural chemicals for more than a century could be partly responsible for vanishing amphibians.  Habitat loss, climate change and disease pose the largest threats to their survival.  Terrestrial exposure to chemicals has a more dramatic effect on frogs compared to aquatic exposure when frogs are in their tadpole stage. "Headline", the brand name for pyraclostrobin, killed all test subjects in one hour at its labeled dosage, but all the chemicals killed at mortality rates from 20% to 100%. Pyraclostrobin is used on 90 different crops around the world.  Chemical giant BASF refused to accept the test results calling the study a "laboratory worst case scenario". Lead scientist Carsten A. Brühl said there is good evidence that frogs are in fields where chemicals are applied and sometimes applied multiple times. Up to 50% of a breeding population could be directly exposed to lethal chemicals. Depending on interception rates by plants is misleading. Even when dosages were cut by 90% 3 of the 7 chemicals were still lethal to frogs. The scientist encouraged BASF to provide researchers with interception rates in order to identify toxic risk to amphibians. Amphibians are distinct from mammals and birds because their skin is permeable allowing them to breath underwater, so chemical testing protocols for birds and mammals is not applicable. Recently European chemical testing procedures have been criticized as too simplistic. Testing on amphibians is not currently required by EU regulations.

"Davy Crockett" Barge Owner Fined

credit: Steven Lane/The Columbian

Regular readers of PNG--and there are a few of you out there--will recall the derelict barge named Davy Crockett [photo] that spilled oily pollution into the Columbia River in 2011. {"Davy Crockett"} The wheels of justice have ground on since then. The owner of the barge, Bret A. Simpson, pleaded guilty in July to two criminal violations of the Clean Water Act. Failing to report the discharge of oil is a felony offense. The spill from the partially demolished vessel caused a 295 day clean-up operation that cost taxpayers $22 million in federal money and $680,000 in state funds. Simpson is in the scrap metal business and purchased the barge, a converted liberty ship, in June 2010. He did not remove the thousands of gallons of diesel and fuel oil aboard before illegal salvaging operations began in December 2010. No one at his company, Principle Metals LLC, notified authorities when the hulk began to leak pollutants. An oil slick on the river was finally noticed and reported to authorities. The cracked vessel leaked for at least 40 days before an 850 foot cofferdam was put in place. The State of Washington is imposing a fine of $405,000 on Simpson who is awaiting sentencing in federal court on his plea agreement. An ecology department staffer told reporters the state also intends to bill Simpson for the $680,000 it spent on the clean up. Because Simpson has a record of illegally burying 30 drums of waste oil, antifreeze and spent solvent on his property, prosecutors are asking for a sentence of 13 months. Sentencing is set for March 11th in Tacoma. One positive development from the case is that it spurred the formation of a task force to survey the river for other derelict vessels. The survey located 50 potentially hazardous vessels on the lower Columbia and Willamette Rivers.

Nebraska Approves New XL Pipeline Route

The Nebraska governor approved a new route for the XL pipeline that avoids the Sand Hills region on January 22nd. He transmitted the state approval to the President and Secretary of State. Environmentalists point out the pipeline still crosses the Ogallala Aquifer, a water source for millions of midwesterners. Governor Heineman's action was not unexpected despite the fact he opposed the first route submitted by TransCanada. He cited his state's environmental impact findings that emphasize economic benefits to the state while expecting "minimal environmental impacts in Nebraska".  Largely rural Nebraska is expecting $16.5 million in tax revenue from the sale of materials and up to $13 million in local property tax revenue. Conservatives rabidly support constructing the pipeline despite the severe implications for increasing greenhouse gas emissions and the possibility of toxic spills contaminating underground water sources and valuable soils. Opponents also think the economic justifications for the project are misleading or incorrect. Nebraska activists plan a cold vigil at the governor's mansion on January 29th to protest his decision. A leader of the Nebraska protestors said the governor's decision was, "a shame when a politician these days can't cross party lines even to stand up for our water and family farmers and ranchers." Expected start date for the pipeline is early 2015--just ask Ralph Nader.

Gunnison Sage Grouse Proposed for Listing

US Fish & Wildlife Service has proposed the listing of the Gunnison Sage Grouse (Centrocercus minimus) as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act on January 15th.  As much as 1.7 million acres of western grass lands could be designated its critical habitat. Conservationists first proposed listing the iconic bird in 2000. It is one of the most endangered birds in North America due to habitat loss; over 90% of its habitat has been lost. Grasslands and deserts are the most degraded habitats in the nation according to a 2009 Department of Interior status report.  In 2010 the Service determined that listing the grouse was warranted but precluded by higher priority actions. Some critics believed the agency backed down from listing it then because of opposition from western agricultural and business interests. The Service entered into an agreement with conservationists to schedule a final decision on listing by October 2013.  The proposal fulfills that agreement.

The Gunnison sage grouse is recognized as separate species from the Greater sage grouse since 2000. Its historic range included the brush and desert lands of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. Now it is restricted to eight small populations in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah. Only about 4000 breeding pairs remain. Protection for the bird will also aid elk, deer and antelope as they struggle to survive increasingly fragmented ranges contaminated with pollutants and invasive plant species. The human population of Gunnison County, Colorado, home to more than 80% of Gunnison sage-grouse is predicted to more than double by 2050. Cattle grazing is a major source of habitat degredation. Outright trampling of nests by cattle has been documented and the presence of livestock usually causes sage grouse to abandon their leks, or breeding grounds.

Navy Ship Stuck on Pristine Philippine Reef

It is bad enough reefs are dying all over the world due to multiple human causes; the US Navy, whose environmental record is questionable, grounds one of its minesweepers on Tubbataha Reef National Park [photo]. Fortunately for the marine creatures living there, a Malaysian tug, Vos Apollo, was able to take the USS Guardian's fuel off without spilling it. However, the 68 meter ship remains grounded and its steel haul is pulverizing the delicate coral structures beneath it. Monsoon winds are making it difficult to float the ship and it is taking water.  The ship is too damaged to tow off. Hundreds of meters of the once pristine reef have been flattened according to the WWF/Philipines. 7th Fleet Vice-Admiral Scott Swift apologized for the damage and said his agency takes environmental protection seriously. The usual post hoc investigation will look at digitized charts of the area which misplaced the location of Tubbataha Reef. WWF says additional measures should be taken to protect one of the jewels of the Coral Triangle. Sanctions that could be imposed for violating the Tubbataha Reef National Park Act including the non-payment of conservation fees. Greepeace's ship the Rainbow Warrior also ran aground on the reef in 2005. About 1000 square feet of the reef was damaged for which the environmental organization paid a $7000 fine. A representative of the Philippine government said it would seek compensation for the damage to the world-class reef from the United States.

Tubbahtaha National Marine Park is one of the world's largest marine ecosystems. It hosts some 600 species of fish, 360 species of coral as well as 14 species of dolphins and whales. Endangered sea birds and marine turtles use the North Atoll as breeding grounds. The park includes a spectacular 100m wall and covers 100,000 hectares of intact coral atoll reef with 90% of all coral species in the islands. Isolated in the middle of the Sulu Sea, UNESCO recognizes its unique ecological value as one of the Philippines oldest ecological systems to survive intact to the present day. The Philippines established it as that nation's first marine protected area in 1988, and it was named a World Heritage site in 1993. The park is under the management of the Philippines' Department of National Defense.

'Toontime: Send in the Clowns

[credit: David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Star]

Shocked, shocked we say, that Bouncy would dare to lip sych our nation's anthem! But like everything else in Washington, her performance was staged in advanced. The spectacle was paid for by affluent donors and corporations  who will expect a quid pro quo irregardless of the noble sentiments expressed by the Obamados in his inauguration speech. Fewer people watched this one on television than his first, perhaps indicating they are not expecting much from such an artful dodger. US Person thinks the only change on display was the First Lady's new bangs as once again the Senate failed to fundamentally reform the filibuster.  It will still take a supermajority of sixty senators to pass legislation if the minority objects:

[credit: Christopher Weyant, The Hill]
Wackydoodle sez:  Looky there, its the Egg Man!