Weekend Music

Stars jam on this classic Orbison hit. Roy's vocal range was unmatched. Note the guitar work by James Burton. This is one reason rock roll will never die.

'Toontime: This Week in Trump

credit: S. Sack;    Wackydoodle axes: Would y'all like a tour?

The House Select Committee has sent out its first round of subpoenas in its investigation of the January 6th Insurrection. The legal demands for documentation include White House communications. In US Person's opinion, the investigators will find that the origins of the attack can be traced back to the White House and perhaps even to Herr Trumpillini himself. It is too early to tell if that will be the case, but if it is, the Department of Justice should prosecute the insurrectionist to the fullest extend of the law. Individual One will run again in 2024, so a conviction for a serious federal crime may be the only way to stop him from destroying what remains of democracy in the United States.

The Committee is interested in finding how the regime sought to put political supporters in strategic positions after the November election was lost, presumably to aid a putsch One of the records request also seeks "documents and communications related to the mental stability of Donald Trump or his fitness for office." Demands went out to the National Archives and Records Administration, the Justice Department, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of the Interior, the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. In its demands to the Pentagon, the committee included all records and communications related to possible attempts by the former guy to remain in office after January 20, 2021, Inauguration Day, specifically naming the Insurrection Act, martial law, or use of military personnel. The committee also wants to know about the permitting process for the rallies on January 5th and 6th from which insurrectionists marched on the Capitol, allegedly at the invitation of the former occupant.

One instance of government foreknowledge of the attack was made public. Politico reported emails showed the Secret Service warned the Capitol police department the day before that their officers could face a violent attack by Trump supporters. The source of the information is not clear at this point because the emails were redacted pursuant to a FOIA request. One of these emails reads:

“Per our Denver Field Office, a concerned citizen reported that [REDACTED] were flying into BWI today to attend tomorrow’s rally and ‘incite violence,’” the email begins. “In addition, the source reports that [REDACTED] previously made threats against President-Elect Biden. The source also reported that [REDACTED] was driving to DC with gear and weapons, to include ballistic helmets, armored gloves and vests, rifles, and suppressors.”

The warning included specifics of the insurrectionists' motivation. They claimed to be protesting election fraud in support of Herr Trumpilini, who publicly peddled the 'Big Lie" for months before and after the election. He told his supporters in DC on January 6th to "fight like hell" to take back their government. This week the select committee indicated that it sent requests to telecommunications and social media companies asking them to preserve communications records related to the attack, including those of members of Congress. The rotten pile begins to stink.

credit:  D. Whamond

More Murder Hornets in Washington

Giant Asian hornets, known as "murder hornets" because of their propensity to destroy bee colonies have been located again in Washington State after the first known nest was destroyed by state agricultural officials last year. The second known colony of the vicious insects was found near Blaine, Washington in a dead alder tree about two miles away from the nest destroyed last October. This latest colony to be eradicated on Wednesday was a quarter mile from the Canadian boarder. This invasive species is thought to arrive here via international commerce.

Agricultural workers wore protective suits while vacuuming up the hornets which are about two inches long and carry a painful sting. Although a single sting is not fatal, repeated stings can kill. The hornets had excavated the interior of the stump to make room for a nine layer comb. About 1500 hornets in various stages of development lived in the nest. State officials said there are likely to be more nests not discovered yet and are relying on public reports to locate them. Some hornets have been tagged with miniature GPS devices to help in the fight to eradicate the pests before they spread. Capturing and eliminating queens seems to be the way forward.

In France, which has struggled with the murder hornet problem for longer than the US (2004), a clever beekeeper came up with a hornet trap to protect his honeybee colonies. In 2016 Brittany beekeeper Denis Jaffré came up with a device with a one-way mechanism like a lobster pot to catch the hornets, made from a wooden wine crate and metal mesh reports the UK's Guardian newspaper. The device has since been replicated using 3D printing in plastic. Jaffre received a French design award for his trap, and orders have been coming in faster than he can keep up. Jaffre is not the only beekeeper in Europe sick of seeing the murderers capture a bee and slice it up into edible pieces with their huge mandibles. He employs six staff and ships to several European countries.[photo credit: Guardian]

COTW: When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

This chart shows an effect of the numerous wildfires burning in the west. Carbon dioxide level and particulates are increasing, setting up a horrendous feedback mechanism for global heating.  In California alone, the Department of Interior estimates that wildfires have released roughly 68 million tons of CO₂ or about 15% of all emissions by the state, the fifth largest economy in the world. Although the exact quantities are difficult to calculate, scientists estimate that globally, wildfires emitted about 8 billion tons of CO2 per year for the past 20 years. In 2017, total global CO2 emissions reached 32.5 billion tons, according to the International Energy Agency.
Besides the obvious consequences of wildfires becoming larger and more frequent, scientists in Idaho have found based on five years of data that dairy cows produce less milk and are more sick when exposed to high levels of wildfire smoke. Preliminary results show higher incidence of disease—especially mastitis, an udder infection—and increased risk of mortality among calves when wildfires elevated the level of fine particulate matter, or PM 2.5, in the air. Researchers also found changes in immune cells and signs of inflammation. Milk production dipped by three pouns of milk per cow, per day, which is a huge amount considering Idaho and California produce 40% of the nation's milk supply.

Weekend Music: A Man of Constant Sorrow

Reportedly the artistes behind George Clooney's satirical rendition of this bluegrass standard (dubbed by Dan Tyminski)in the movie O Brother Were Art Thou? were inspired by this man, Earl Stanley, a bona fide mountain wailer who was a member of the Clinch Mountain Boys and Stanley Brothers. Listen....

The New Bonanza

Further: Electric vehicles are expected to make a significant contribution to reducing carbon pollution in rich countries. About a third of emissions in the US is from combustion driven vehicles. Worldwide about 145 million electric vehicles are expected to be on the road by 2030  EVs are not without their own environmental impact: 12 million tons of lithium ion batteries are also expected to be retired by then.  What to do with the units containing mined minerals like cobalt, nickle and lithium. The immediately obvious answer is to recycle them, if we want to avoid mountains of poisonous electronic waste destined for landfills.  Recycling operations are just beginning to ramp up and will take time to mature. Now vehicle batteries are not designed with recycling in mind, for exmple using welds instead of removable fasteners to connect components, so complex operations are necessary to extract the valuable minerals. Tesla announced that it had started building recycling capabilities at its Gigafactory in Nevada to process waste batteries. In the meantime, another more efficient answer is to make batteries last longer. One answer is theoretically possible--sold-state batteries--but those are still in the laboratory stage.{13.05.21} Lithium-ion batters that can no longer power cars and trucks still have residual capacity, which can be used for storing energy generated by solar panels and wind turbines.  Demonstrations of this capacity are underway.

Enel Group uses 9o expired Nissan Leaf batteries in a energy storage facility in Spain. Powervault in the UK uses expired car batteries as part of a home storage system.  Getting more bang for the buck out of EV batteries also allows replacement of toxic lead-acid batteries. This is a big bonus in tropical countries like Africa where the heat degrades lead-acid batters quickly, requiring more frequently recycling. There are few facilities that can do this safely in the developing world.  Lead is a particularly dangerous neurotoxin, affecting young children's brain development. This is one reason governments require high levels of lead-acid battery recycling and safe disposal of remains. Similar regulation is needed for the new generation of batteries.  The EU proposed changes to its regulations targeting them. It proposes target rates of 70% for battery collection, recovery rates of 95% for cobalt, copper, lead and nickel and 70% for lithium, and mandatory minimum levels of recycled content in new batteries by 2030. Also being considered are digital labels that traces the individual unit's history, reports its condition and remaining capacity, helping vehicle manufacturers direct it for reuse or to recycling facilities.; While all of these developments are being cogitated and priced, do not forget to walk or ride a bike to your destination of choice.

{17.08.21}Remember when the deranged former guy offerred to buy Greenland from Denmark? This story may be what he had in mind. Billionaire boys Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates are headed for the new bonanza in Greenland. A company backed by them, KoBold Metals, signed a joint venture agreement with Bluejay Mining to explore the island for lithium and other rare minerals to be used in electric car manufacture. KoBold will pay $15 million for exploration costs in exchange for a 51% stake in the Disko-Nuussuaq project on Greenland's west coast. As the ice cap rapidly melts, Greenland will be the locus for a rush of exploiters eager to cash in on the rich load of minerals believed to be buried under the ice sheet. KoBold Metals whose private investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a energy fund owned by Microsoft owner Bill Gates, Amazaon owner Jeff Bezos, and Ray Dalio, founder of the world's largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, uses artificial intelligence as an exploration tool. Now that is a buzz! Norway also owns a slice of the action through its state run energy company, Equinor. Bluejay said its geological studies found the area in western Greenland to be similar to Russia's Norilsk region, a main producer of nickel and palladium. Bluejay also said it was delighted to have KoBold as a partner which is at the "pinnacle of technical innovation for new exploration methods, backed by some of the most successful investors in the world." That only proves the adage--you got to have money to make money.

'Toontime: When Will They Ever Learn?

credit: M. Ramirez, Las Vegas Review-Journal; Wackydoodle axes:  Will they serve drinks?

While the Swamp enjoys its usual game of finger pointing after a foreign policy disaster, US Person wants to know how long the Taliban will allow the Kabul airport to operate? They clearly do not want Afghans to leave, taking their skills and treasure with them, yet as long as there is a safe way out, some Afghans will line up to get on board. One lever the US still has over the Taliban is the $7bn in Afghanistan's reserves it hold in its banks. Airports are notoriously easy to cut off because the runways are vulnerable to shelling. The cargo jets (c-17) the US has been using to transport out its nationals and collaborators may be able to take off on bomb damaged strips, but that is a perilous proposition especially when your cargo bay is full of passengers.

The consensus pundits and intelligence officials seem to have reached is that a Taliban victory was inevitable, the only question being how long the government should have held out without direct US military involvement. The former guy negotiated (badly) the withdrawal, a fact conveniently forgotten by professional administration critics; talk is so cheap. Biden is getting blamed for a hasty force extraction. Yes, it could have been planned better, but the government collapsed much more quickly than even the usually overoptimistic CIA expected. Facing a no-win situation, the Afghan national army simply walked away along with its president. Sadly, the same factors--lies, delusions, ignorance, cruelty and greed--that contributed to the Vietnam defeat are present in Afghanistan. The invasion was premised on self-defense from terrorism, so US leaders ignored the Vietnam experience in nation building. Here is the lesson US Person doubts will be taken away from America's twenty-year inhumane attempt to modernize Afghanistan into a liberal democracy: America is not the exceptional nation. Its leaders' messianic obsession with global policing must end, or this nation will destroy itself from within.

credit: N. Anderson

Reinstate him to the locked ward!