TWIT: The Stench of Corruption Surrounds You

credit: M. Raimerez

It is all but certain that Trumpilini will get his rematch against Biden in 2024.  How a criminal defendant facing 91 felony charges and suffering two impeachments during his term in office speaks volumes about the degraded condition of politics in this nation.  The sins of the past are finally catching up with 'Merika, exacerbated by a demigod who is expert at exploiting mass-edia and legal lacunae in the constitutional system. 

A bright spot in the desolation of another years' end is the fact that two states, Maine and Colorado have decided to throw him off the primary ballots in their jurisdiction. Unfortunately, three states, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Michigan have decided he is not disqualified from office for having led an insurrection agains the central government. Under the filter of the Electoral College--the only one that counts--he is ahead in the horse race since those states control more electoral votes (29 versus 14). However, the verdict is still out in several western states including Nevada and Arizona, both swing states. California, a decidedly blue state, will keep the insurrectionist on its ballot.  The US Supreme Court will decide this issue of disqualification eventually. As the Maine Secretary of State said,  "Trump chose to light a match".  It is the electoral system that is burning brightly this Yuletide.

On the criminal defense front, the Special Counsel's case in DC is on hold while the Supremes decide whether he is immune from criminal prosecution for crimes committed while in office.  Altogether a sorry state of affairs.

TWIT: Blut und Land

A conspiracy is everything ordinary life is not...

Conspirators have a logic and daring beyond our reach.

All conspiracies are a taut story of men who find coherence 

in some criminal act.

                                    Don Delillo--Libra

More:  Conservatives on the Supreme Court refused to grand certiorari to the Special Prosecutor and immediately hear Herr Trumpilini's claim of absolute immunity. Instead they handed the defandant a Christmas gift by opting for an opinion from the Circuit Court of Appeals before deciding the issue--obviously a decision influenced by politics.  Compare United States vs. Nixon. The decision moves the game piece another square towards an election deadline.  ln the meantime, audio recordings of phone calls have surfaced in which the coup mastermind pressures two Repugnant functionaries in Wayne County, Michigan to refuse certifying the election results in that state.  His fingerprints are also over this tangled web of deceit.

Breaking: The decision is sure to be appealed to the United States Supreme Court, but by a 4 to 3 vote the Colorado Supreme Court has declared Trump to be disqualified from holding office of the President of the United States therefore he cannot appear on the primary ballot in that state under the state's election code. The order is is stayed until January 4th giving him time to appeal.

The Colorado Supreme Court specifically found that Trumpilini was an officer of the United States and engaged in insurrection within the meaning of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. That ruling reversed the state district judge who found that he was not an "officer of the United States" under Section 3. even though she found that the former president did engage in insurrection.

More: Herr Trumpilini continues to invoke Hitlerite themes in his campaign speeches. The latest is his use of the concept of dilution of the blood that leads to cultural collapse. This psuedo-scientific rubbish was used in part to justify Nazis' final solution to the Jewish question. Hitler wanted the Aryan race, also a misconception, to be kept pure. Trump is clearly a dangerous crackpot who has captured a good sized portion of the American electorate susceptible to the appeal of nativist, white nationalism. After he was struck from the ballot in Colorado, he issued a message to his supporters saying, "This is how dictatorships are born". This guy is not joking around. He means to seize power in a manner reminiscent of Hitler's party winning election to the Bundestag in1932. Hitler was appointed Chancellor in January, 1933. Once in office, Herr Trumpilini means to stay there by any means necessary including using the military to enforce martial law.

Dictatorships are born by a lack of resistence from democratic forces. Very late in the game, the federal judiciary may be waking up to Trumpilini's nefarious legal maneuverings, and bring him before a jury of his peers before the election, but democracy still faces the hurdle of a conservative Supreme Court willing to put party above nation.  The case of defendant Trump is testing to the limits 'Merica's commitment to democracy.  It raises the fundamental question: do the American people have a right under our Constitution to elect a Neo-fascist dictator?

credit: M. Wuerker, Politico.com
BC Idonwanna sez:  His copy is bookmarked!

Wolves Come Back to Colorado

credit: Denver Post

Five wolves were released in an undisclosed location in Grand County, Colorado in fulfillment of a vote of the people to reintroduce the predators in the state.  Two juvenile males, two juvenile females and an adult male were given their freedom on Monday.  The wolves were given to Colorado by Oregon, which has a growing population despite culling by the state at the behest of livestock owners. The last count was about 178 in 24 known packs. Colorado's wolf management plan calls for the release of fifty wolves over the next three years. One pack that formed naturally in Moffat county was eradicated when it crossed the border into wolf-hating Wyoming. The state has an agreement with New Mexico, Arizona and Utah to recapture and return re-introduced wolves 

The governor said that history was being made with the re-introduction since wolves were eradicated in the state in the 1940's. They were captured from helicopters and shipped to Colorado in crates. The animals were fitted with GPS collars, vaccinated and given a health check before release. Reintroduction of wolves in the West is controversial, and has become mired in the culture wars. For progressives the wolf is a symbol of restoring healthy ecosystems, while conservatives see the wolf and an implacable enemy that must be eliminated.

 

King of the Desert

That honorific belongs to the sand cat (Felis margarita), a small, elusive member of the feline family.  It lives in the hot deserts of Africa, southwest and central Asia, and hunts primarily at night so little is know about the species, until European researchers made a concerted effort to know more about this cat. Fortunately it is not endangered and of least concern on the IUCN's list, but that might change after the latest research is evaluated.

The cat is superbly adapted to the blazing hot sands of the Sahara. It's stripped yellow coat blends in with he dunes and its paws are equipped with thick, black fur between their toes that allow it to travel without leaving paw prints. Drinking water rarely, the small feline relies on the moisture contained in its prey, primarily rodents. Sand cats only weigh about 6 pounds, allowing them to hide under bushes to escape the scorching sun or pursue prey. [photo credit: A. Silwa]. Acute hearing allows it to hear the faint scratchings of burrowing prey and curious scientists up to 600 feet away.

a lesser jerboa, a favorite prey animal

Given their small size and elusive natures, sand cats were not categorized by science until 1858.  Their range is based on rare sightings, scant camera trap recordings, and informed speculation.  Two persistent and resourceful scientists, Alexander Silwa and Gregory Breton,  found three sand cats in southern Morocco, motivating them to apply to the Moroccan government for permission to study the species more systematically.  They overcame early difficulties to track the animals,   repeatedly losing track of collared cats, eventually realizing that the range of their GPS equipment was 12 miles, while the cats' home ranges were huge.  Home ranges for males can extend to over 120 square miles; for females its 100 square miles. They do not appear to be particularly territorial, tolerating others, even aggregating if conditions are right. One piece of data from the research stands out: sand cats are more rare than previously thought. 

The researchers think that IUCN status should be upgraded to "vulnerable" based on what they found in the field.  Their research has provided the most comprehensive morphological and ecological data available on Felis margarita.  As more research is done, science will be better able to assess its population status.  Better GPS equipment for such small subjects will aid in new research.  The more science knows about the "desert king", the more they will know about deserts and how they are changing as the world warms.

The Depravity Continues

Two US citizens have been charged with killing 3600 birds including their nation's protected symbol, the bald eagle, for profit. Parts and feathers were sold on the black market. A Montana grand jury indicted Simon Paul and Travis Branson for illegal traffiking and violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940. The men hunted around the Flathead Indian Reservation using deer meat to entice the birds of prey. The pair made substantial sums of money from their illegal activity according to the indictment. Records show the sold a pair of bald eagle wings, four golden eagle tails and an entire golden eagle. They face up to eleven years in prison and fines of $275,000 each. Their trial is in January. [photo credit: Getty Images]

Eagles have made a recovery from the devastation caused by the indiscriminate use of DDT decades ago.  The pesticide was banned in 1972, after the publication of Rachel Carson's landmark book, Silent Spring.  The birds still face severe dangers in the their environment.  Lead pellets from ammunition and fishing tackle poses a dangerous health risk and often death.  Researchers reported high levels of lead exposure in 46% of eagles sampled in 38 states.  Lead is a neurotoxin that impairs a birds to fly, hunt and reproduce.  In high doses it causes seizures, breathing difficulties and death.  According to an expert, a lead fragment the size of a pin is enough to kill an eagle. Lead ammunition for wildfowl hunting was banned in 1991, but upland bird and big game hunters still use lead in their guns.

TWIT: Fifth Avenue

In an unanticipated move, Jack Smith Special Prosecutor, moved the US Supreme Court to grant certiorari in the Jan 6th case.  It was a wise move to cut off the endless delay tactics employed by Don 'Legit'. Smith asked the court to consider the issues of double jeopardy and immunity from prosecutions for criminal acts committed while in office. The conservative court voted to consider the government's petition. Argument of double jeopardy is unlikely to succeed since an impeachment and Senate trial for much the same criminal activity does not count as 'jeopardy' in the legal sense. The immunity claim is slightly more consequential, but informed pundits think there is at least a five vote majority against the proposition of instilling the divine right of kings in an elected leader of a republic.  See Article I, Section 3, Clause 7 of the US Constitution.*

Not to be outdone, MAGAists like Justice Clarence Thomas countered by granting certiorari on Wednesday in the case of United States v. Fischer. Defendant Fischer, a former police officer, participated in the Capitol attack. He was charged with, among other offenses, obstructing an official proceeding--the counting of electoral votes. There is evidence that Don Trumpilini intended the violent riot to disrupt the counting procedure long enough to convince poltical supporters to reject duly qualified electors and throw the election into the US House of Representatives where his party has a numerical advantage. The Court wants to examine the application of the obstruction statute in Fischer's circumstances. This concern does not bode well for Jack Smith's case against the former President, who is also charged with obstruction. More indications the highest Court has become a partisan political institution.

In New York, the civil fraud case against Don 'Legit" is coming to a close. The defense rested this week without calling the compulsive liar to the stand. Trumpilini ridiculously claimed that he could not testify because of the gag order imposed upon him and re-instated on appeal.The state expects to call only a few rebuttal witnesses.  The only issues before Judge Engoron relate to damage recovery for his persistent fraud. 

credit: A. Telanaes, Washington Post

 * Justice Brent Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee, wrote a law review article as a student attending Yale Law School.  In it he concluded that the framers contemplated the possibility of prosecuting a former president for crimes committed while in office.

COP28 Not Far Enough

Getty Images: Tuvalu

The deal was struck when small island nations, the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, were out of the room.  Nations present including the US, China and the EU, agreed to "transition away from coal, oil and gas.  That language was a step down from "phasing out fossil fuels" which western nations approved.  Still, even the weaker language was a unexpected outcome from a 200 nation conference in oil-rich United Arab Emirates presided over by that nation's CEO of the national oil company, Sultan al-Jaber. He expressed satisfaction with the conference outcome despite push-back from oil nations like Saudi Arabia and Iraq.  US climate envoy, John Kerry, also said the 21 page agreement was a "step forward" in the difficult context of war in Ukraine and Palestine.  Activists were less satisfied with the compromise, calling the agreement "weak" and a "litany of loopholes".

Countries committing to the agreement have just six years to cut carbon emissions by 45%.  Many countries are nowhere near reaching that goal.  A climate scientist at the talks said there may be a lot of back-slapping going on, but "the physics will not care" since the agreement locks in high levels of emissions for years to come.  Temperatures and sea-levels will continue to rise.  The host for the next conference on climate change is gas-rich Azerbaijan. God help us!