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The senseless scourge of rhino poaching continues to grow, with poaching levels at 15-year highs. Part of the reason according to WWF is rising demand in Asia, where the horn is used in traditional Chinese medicine, but Mongabay points out an undoubted contributing factor. Rhino horn is now worth more than gold... 
(Hat-tip Matthew McDermottA kilogram of rhino horn now goes for $60,000 on the black market, whereas that much gold is currently worth a bit over $40,600. That's $1610 an ounce for the rhino horn. Back in July, WWF reported that from 2000-2005, about three rhinos were killed per month in Africa as a whole, with that figure rising to 12 per month in Zimbabwe and South Africa. At least in the case of Zimbabwe, an utter lack of law enforcement, not helped by virtually no funding for rangers to protect rhinos, and weak penalties for poachers who are caught doesn't help the situation. In fact, 25% of Zimbabwe's rhinos have be killed just in the past three years, as evidence mounts that poachers are linking up with international crime syndicates to sell the horn. Poaching in Asia isn't much better, with at least ten rhinos being killed in India and seven in Nepal since the start of 2009. There are only five remaining rhino species left in the world and, according to the UCN, three are classified as critically endangered (Javan, Sumatran, and black rhino), the white rhino is listed as 'near threatened', while the Indian rhino is 'vulnerable'. Learn more (and get involved) here.Tags: africa, animals, crime, endangered species, extinction, greed, india, loathsome people, poaching, wildlife
From: Chicago
Mood:  Damned, Dirty Apes
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Black-tailed prairie dogs are currently being considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act because they have declined by more than 95% from their historic numbers. So why would the EPA even consider approving two deadly new poisons to help speed their decline? Because EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is either an incompetent technocrat, or she's got a special nod/wink relationship with the cattle ranching lobby (à la Ken Salazar at Interior). Or both.  Rozol and Kaput-D, the two anti-coagulant poisons that the EPA just approved to kill prairie dogs in ten states across America, cause the animals to slowly bleed to death. These poisons also set off a chain reaction of secondary poisoning that kill other imperiled animals tied directly to prairie dogs on the food chain, including black-footed ferrets, swift foxes, badgers, golden and bald eagles, burrowing owls and ferruginous hawks (among others). Please join me in urging Jackson and the EPA to ban these poisons once and for all: http://action.defenders.org/saveprairiedogsP.S. Please pass this forward in your LJ, Facebook, MySpace and/or Twitter. A copy of your petition letter may also be sent directly to Jackson at jackson.lisa@epa.gov. TIA. Tags: animals, environment, epa, friends, greed, thank you, wildlife
From: Chicago
Mood:  Disappointed. Again.
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The wholesale slaughter of the gray wolf is now back in full swing, thanks to Obama's decision to continue Bush's irresponsible environmental policies... 
(Hat-tip Chris in Paris)What a disappointment and waste of years of recovery efforts by the federal government. After being on the endangered species list for years (and with wolf populations slowly coming back), it's all gone, quicker than you can say "special interest." At least Obama can wrap up those critical rancher votes which he covets so much, eh? Melanie Stein, a Sierra Club spokeswoman, said that the wolf populations "are just on the cusp of recovery and that we are almost there." But she says the hunts represent "a step backward and away from recovery" of the wolf populations.
Defenders of Wildlife, one of several groups urging the court to stop the hunt, detailed the ecological role of the wolves on its web site.
"In what is known as the cascade effect, wolves are exerting influence over a multitude of species within the park's ecosystem. Elk, wary of the reintroduced top predator, have altered their grazing behavior... With less grazing pressure from elk, streambed vegetation such as willow and aspen is regenerating after decades of overbrowsing. As the trees are restored, they create better habitat for native birds and fish, beaver and other species..." More good reading on the topic — from a former Montana hunting guide, no less — right here. Tags: animals, barack obama, disgrace, dumb americans, endangered species, environment, greed, hunting, wildlife, wolves
From: Chicago
Mood:  Pyew
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Sure, a couple ingredients clean your hair, but the rest are a veritable toxic dump on your head (and in the environment)...  There are two types of ingredients in shampoo. One type cleans your hair. The other type strokes your emotions. I'm holding a bottle of Pantene Pro V, one of the world's most popular shampoos. Of the 22 ingredients in this bottle of shampoo, three clean hair. The rest are in the bottle not for the hair, but for the psychology of the person using the shampoo. At least two-thirds of this bottle, by volume, was put there just to make me feel good. The world spends around $230 billion on beauty products every year. Of this figure, $40 billion go to shampoo purchases. North Americans blow almost $11 billion on shampoo and conditioner each year. So most soap manufacturers aren't willing to rely on a product that merely works. The bigger job is convincing the consumer that their soap is adding value to the consumer's life. So shampoo bottles include an extra concoctions aimed at convincing the man or woman in the shower that the soap is more "luxurious" or "effective." Because beautiful hair doesn't just happen... ( Lather, rinse... )Tags: dumb americans, environment, greed, pollution, toxic waste
From: Chicago
Mood:  WTF?
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"(A)n apocalyptic documentary that is as beautiful as it is damning..."The film's official web site (chock full of interesting information and helpful resources, including screening dates and locations) can be found here. And yeah, I'm definitely taking my kids with me, as this issue will affect their generation far more than my own. Tags: fish populations crash, fishing, food, greed, marine life, oceans, overfishing, overpopulation, youtube
From: Chicago
Mood: Pessimistic
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Preface to the cartoon below: I had lunch with a right-wing business associate of mine today, and the topic of conversation turned to providing Americans with a single-payer health care option (which, needless to say, he vigorously opposes). He told me - with a straight face - that every, single person in the United States (including "those god-damned aliens") already has "guaranteed health care." "What do you call an emergency room?" he asked. *fume* As tempted as I was to dump my steaming-hot bowl of matzah ball soup directly into his lap (and/or slap the shit out of his fat, ugly mug), I held my composure and tried to (calmly) explain that - for the 40+ million people in this country unable to afford health insurance - there are really only two choices in cases of serious disease or injury: A) complete financial ruin, or B) death. He chuckled. He fuckin' chuckled.Then, just to prove what a complete asshole he - and his ilk - really are, he tried to stick me with the lunch tab, despite the fact that he was the one that invited me to lunch in the first place. These people are subhuman. I hate them with every inch of my being. And I'm ashamed of myself for doing business with them. All that being said, I give you this:  Tags: dumb americans, greed, hate, health care, loathsome people, political cartoons, poverty, republicans
From: Chicago
Mood: Pigs
Now Playing: 'Jailbreak' - Thin Lizzy
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Fans of the critically endangered right whale had plenty to celebrate this Mother's Day, as the sea-moms gave birth to a record 39 calves over the Spring...  The New England Aquarium reports that the birth surge breaks the old record of 31, and shows much improvement from 2000, when only one calf was born. Each birthing season is critically important because right whales number fewer than 400, and are among the most endangered species of marine life in the world. Having a calf is no easy task for the 50-foot-long whales, who give birth off the Florida and Georgia coasts. The moms travel nearly 1,000 miles down the East Coast to warmer waters for their babies, who weigh roughly 2,400 pounds at birth. And the moms can lose up to 30,000 pounds in the first year they are nursing. And because females do not become sexually mature until ten years of age (and give birth to a single calf after a yearlong pregnancy), populations grow slowly. Right whales were named by whalers who identified them as the "right" whale to kill on a hunt, highly valued for their plentiful oil and baleen, which were used for corsets, buggy whips, and other contrivances. Because of their thick blubber, right whales also float accommodatingly after they have been killed. Populations of these whales were hunted to the brink of extinction during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The species was finally granted full, international protection in 1949, but despite almost 60 years of protection, recovery has been questionable. Only in the past 15 years is there evidence of a population recovery in the Southern Hemisphere, and it is still not known if the species will survive at all in the Northern Hemisphere. Although not presently hunted, current conservation problems include collisions with ships, conflicts with fishing activities, pollution, habitat destruction and oil drilling. Tags: ecology, environment, extinction, greed, hunting, marine life, whales, whaling
From: Chicago
Mood:  Uncertain
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Take that, you rotten, blood-soaked bastards.P.S. (Speaking of votes): Thank you to all the terrific people on my FL that are helping Brandy's mom win a much-needed/well-deserved dream trip with your ballots. We've already moved her up four spots in less than one day (with two short days of voting yet to go), and — while it's still an uphill battle — I'm feeling pretty good about her chances right now, thanks to folks like you (who've never let me down when it comes to "passing it forward"). If you haven't yet had a chance to vote (or would like to vote again ☺), please take just a moment to do so. It's fast, free and you won't be put on a mailing list. Best part: You'll be helping a genuinely wonderful lady celebrate a very special Mother's Day. Tags: environment, friends, greed, loathsome people, marine life, seal hunt, seal slaughter, thank you
From: Chicago
Mood:  Torch Their Dens
Now Playing: 'Step By Step' - The Crests
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Try explaining this one to your kids someday... According to a scientific analysis by the WWF, overfishing will wipe out the breeding population of Atlantic bluefin tuna — one of the ocean's largest and fastest predators — in three years unless catches are dramatically reduced. 
(Hat-tip Ben Harding)As European fishing fleets embark on the two-month Mediterranean fishing season today, WWF said its analysis shows the remaining bluefin tuna that spawn (those aged four years and older) will have disappeared by 2012 at current rates. "For years people have been asking when the collapse of this fishery will happen, and now we have the answer," said Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean. The bluefin, which can weigh over half a ton and accelerate faster than a sports car, are a favorite of sushi lovers. Demand from Japan has triggered an explosion in the size of the Mediterranean fleet over the past decade and many of those boats use illegal spotter planes to track the warm-blooded tuna. "Mediterranean (Atlantic) bluefin tuna is collapsing as we speak and yet the fishery will kick off again for business as usual. It is absurd and inexcusable to open a fishing season when stocks of the target species are collapsing," added Tudela.  Several environmental groups, along with he U.S. government have condemned an agreement signed in November by EU-dominated nations setting bluefin quotas 47% higher than recommended, called it "a disaster" and "a disgrace." Illegal fishing is also rife for the bluefin, the dried, dark red meat of which once fed Roman armies on the march. Growing numbers of restaurants and retailers including Carrefour's Italian supermarkets are boycotting it. WWF says its data shows the average size of mature tunas are down more than 50% since the 1990s, and that this has had a disproportionately high impact since bigger fish produced many more offspring, adding that the bluefin can only be saved by a complete halt to fishing in May and June as the fish rush through the Straits of Gibraltar to spawn in the Mediterranean. Yeah, like that's gonna happen... Damn, dirty apes.Tags: bluefin tuna extinction, ecological disaster, fish populations crash, greed, marine life, nature bats last, overfishing, poaching
From: Chicago
Mood:  Shame
Now Playing: 'Sad To Know You're Leaving' - Gregory Isaacs
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In just a short time, one of the rarest sharks in the world went from swimming in Philippine waters to simmering in coconut milk...  The 13-foot-long megamouth shark ( Megachasma pelagios), captured by mackerel fishermen off the city of Donsol, was only the 41st such specimen ever found, according to WWF-Philippines. The fisherman brought the creature — which died while struggling in the fishermen's net — to local project manager Elson Aca of WWF, an international conservation nonprofit. Aca immediately identified it as a megamouth shark and encouraged the fishers not to eat it. But the draw of the delicacy was too great: The 1,102-pound shark was butchered for a shark-meat dish called kinuout."It is essential that we continue working with the government and local community on the sustainable management of Donsol's fisheries resources for the benefit of whale sharks, megamouth sharks, and the local community," Lee said. The megamouth shark species, discovered in 1976 off Oahu, Hawaii, was so bizarre that scientists had to create a new family and genus to classify it. With its giant mouth but tiny teeth, megamouth, like the whale shark, is a filter feeder that preys on tiny animals and appears to be no danger to humans. The shark is so rare that the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the megamouth species as "data deficient." Tags: endangered species, environment, extinction, fishing, greed, marine life, sharks
From: Chicago
Mood: Damned, Dirty Apes
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The Russian government has announced a complete ban on hunting “whitecoat” harp seal pups — the first step in an agreement to end the killing of all baby seals in Russia after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin condemned the practice as a "bloody business."  Rules allowing a six-week window for hunters to target pups after their coats start turning from snow white to gray will be amended to protect all harp seals less than a year old, according Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev, adding that Russia's harp seal population has dropped by a third in the past decade as thawing Arctic ice shrinks their breeding grounds and hunting takes its toll. Said Professor Aleksey Yablokov of Russian Academy of Science: "This is a real biological catastrophe. At the current rate, in a few years the seal could become a rarity in the White Sea." "This is a bloody business that should have been banned long ago," Putin told ministers at a meeting last month, the state-run paper Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported. In the White Sea breeding grounds, pups are born at the end of February and beginning of March and spend about three weeks on the ice before they take to the water. Hunters traditionally club the pups to death before they're two weeks old to avoid damaging their snow-white coats, which are used in the fur industry. The skinned remains of the pup corpses are usually dumped into the sea or simply left to rot on the ice. Putin acknowledged the importance of the hunting industry in the region and said that he would require the government to compensate incomes of the White Sea people in connection with the ban on hunting. "This is one of their means of existence. Therefore, simply banning is inadequate. A system of support measures must be worked out to secure employment and income of those who live and work there," said Putin. News of the agreement is sure to infuriate Norwegian sealing interests (the same bastards that burn unsold seal pelts to keep market prices in check) who were prepared to subsidize 80% of the Russian hunt in the hope of propping up the industry which is in a worldwide free fall. European opposition to commercial sealing has already resulted in national bans on all seal products in Belgium, Slovenia and The Netherlands, and the European Commission has adopted a proposal to ban the trade in seal products altogether. Note to Canada & Norway: Tick-tock, motherfuckers.P.S. Still lots of work to do, and you can lend a hand. Tags: animal cruelty, animals, environment, greed, hunting, marine life, sea shepherd, seal hunt
From: Chicago
Mood: Never Give Up
Now Playing: 'Closing Time' - Leonard Cohen
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Yet another chicken, coming home to roost (hat-tip ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) papananook)...  You know the fish aren't jumpin' when the very people who make their living reeling in chinook salmon are proposing a ban on ocean fishing for a second straight year. That is exactly what happened Monday at the annual Pacific Fishery Management Council meetings in Seattle, where the gory details of the catastrophic decline of California's salmon has become woefully apparent. Fishing-industry representatives on a council advisory panel looked at the dismal state of the fall run of Sacramento River salmon and proposed closing the 2009 ocean salmon fishing season, except, perhaps, for a bit of recreational fishing near the Oregon border. "It is pretty simple in California," said Peter Dygert, a fishery biologist for the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's fisheries service. "Both the recreational and commercial trollers on the advisory panel have proposed no fishing. “This is grim news for the state of California,” Don Hansen, chairman of the council, said in a statement. “We won’t be able to talk about this without using the word ‘disaster.’” ( The rest of the story... )Tags: ecology, environment, extinction, fishing, greed, marine life, overfishing
From: Chicago
Mood: Damned, Dirty Apes
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Poachers on the hunt for ivory have stepped up their use of poison arrows and spears to kill elephants in southern Kenya, according to conservationists who say the techniques are harder to trace than gun attacks... 
(Hat-tip National Geographic)The surge is part of a nationwide increase in attacks on the animals, according to a report issued earlier this month by the Amboseli Trust for Elephants. Since the start of 2008, 19 elephants have been killed and another 25 wounded by spears, arrows, and bullets in the Amboseli region near Mount Kilimanjaro, the report says. Of those killed, ten animals had had their tusks removed—the first time in many years that ivory has been taken from Amboseli elephants. In the last six weeks, poachers have also killed five elephants in the nearby Tsavo National Park region. Some were felled by gunfire, others by poisoned arrows. Conservation groups fear that the rise in poaching is a result of a UN decision to allow the first ivory auction in a decade in 2008, an event that yielded more than a million U.S. dollars from Chinese and Japanese bidders. "Since the one-off ivory sales from southern Africa countries late last year, we have noted an unprecedented rise of elephant poaching incidents in Tsavo," Jonathan Kirui, Tsavo National Park's assistant director, said in a statement released Monday. "Our security team is on full alert and is going full force to ensure that the poachers are deterred." Officials with the Amboseli trust think poachers are using a poison made from acocanthera shrubs, which are common in Kenya. The plant's toxin is frighteningly effective and there is no antidote, the report says. "When you shoot an elephant—that loud bang—people will hear it," said Patrick Omondi, head of species conservation at the Kenya Wildlife Service. "You shoot this elephant with a poisoned arrow, then they follow the elephant until it dies, and then they pluck out the ivory," Omondi said. "It's a soft way of killing." In 2008 the Kenya Wildlife Service reported 98 elephants killed for their ivory, double the 2007 figure, Omondi said. Officials link the rise in attacks to demand from Chinese workers constructing a road near Amboseli National Park and to lucrative trade across the border into Tanzania. In a recent interview with a local East African newspaper, Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Bo denied the smuggling allegations. Tags: africa, crime, elephants, environment, extinction, greed, poaching, wildlife
From: Chicago
Mood: Disgruntled
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Y'see this cute li'l fella here?  That's a Worcester's Buttonquail ( Turnix worcesteri), native exclusively to the island of Luzon in the Phillipines, and thought to be extinct since about 1902 or so. So scientifically extinct, in fact, that - until this photograph was published - he and his kind were previously identifiable to modern wildlife biologists only by drawings based on (long-gone) museum specimens. Pretty amazing discovery, am I right? So, where do you think this picture was taken, hm? At a Filipino poultry market, just before he was sold and eaten. *headdesk*P.S. Leading environmental scientists say they have concrete evidence that the planet is undergoing the largest mass extinction in 65 million years, due largely in part to human overpopulation, pollution, habitat loss and global warming. One of them, Professor Norman Myers, says the Earth is experiencing its "Sixth Extinction," and predicts that up to five million species will be lost this century. Says Myers: "We are well into the opening phase of a mass extinction of species. There are about 10 million species on earth. If we carry on as we are, we could lose half of all those 10 million species." In 1993, world-renowned Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson estimated that our planet was losing 30,000 species per year... approximately three species per hour. And that was 16 years ago. Tags: animals, ecology, environment, extinction, greed, jesus fucking christ, science
From: Chicago
Mood: Bring Me A Plague
Now Playing: 'God's Gonna Cut You Down' - Johnny Cash
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...and burn their black hearts out —  Humane Society International's Rebecca Aldworth writes: I have just returned from the shores of Hay Island, Nova Scotia, where the annual hunt for grey seals was scheduled to start. There, instead of bearing witness to sealers beating defenseless seal pups to death with wooden bats, I stood amidst a spectacular nursery, alive with protective, nurturing mothers and their babies.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the government of Nova Scotia announced last week that they were authorizing another grey seal kill. But yesterday, seal processing plants told seal hunters that they would not buy the skins of the baby grey seals, and the sealers stayed home [...] buyers are now unwilling to purchase grey seal pelts because global markets are evaporating. With the pending ban on seal product trade in the European Union... this is the beginning of the end of the commercial seal slaughter. [...]
The grey seal pups are likely safe for now, but in just a few weeks, the true target of the world's largest commercial slaughter of marine mammals — the harp seals — will be killed by the hundreds of thousands... Still, just as with the grey seals, there is hope for the harp seals. Not only is the demand for seal products drying up; the boycott of Canadian seafood products is costing the Canadian seafood industry far more than the seal hunt brings in... Sadly, this is just the beginning of the commercial seal hunting season in Canada... The boycott of Canadian seafood is making an impact. To date, over 3,500 restaurants and grocery stores have joined the Humane Society's Protect Seals campaign, including Whole Foods Markets, Ted's Montana Grill, Legal Sea Foods, Publix Supermarkets, Trader Joe's, Oceanaire Seafood Room, Earth Fare, WinCo Foods and Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Cafes. Canadian fur officials are also blaming the European Union's proposed ban on a poor showing for Nunavut seal skins so far this year. None of the 10,000 Nunavut seal pelts that went up for auction this month had sold at the first auction of this year at Fur Harvesters Auction Inc.'s auction house in North Bay, Ontario. "The entire collection remains unsold," said Fur Harvesters Auction CEO Mark Downey, adding that the auction house will have to slash prices on the seal skins. "We're looking at probably a 50% price reduction to get the thing started again," he said. Learn more (and get involved) here and here.Tags: animal cruelty, ecology, environment, greed, hunting, marine life, seal hunt
From: Chicago
Mood: Break Their Backs
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As a high school basketball player, Sarah Palin was dubbed "Sarah Barracuda," a nickname that was revived on the campaign trail last year, when she served as John McCain's (albeit inept) enforcer. Now the "Barracuda" is picking a fight with one of the biggest mammals in the sea... 
(Hat-tip Blue Marble)In mid-January, the state of Alaska announced plans to mount a legal challenge to the listing of the Cook Inlet beluga whale under the Endangered Species Act. (Placing the belugas on the endangered list requires a review of federally funded or permitted activities that could affect the health of the whales, the establishment of a recovery plan, and the designation of " critical habitat.") This marks the second time in a year that Palin's administration has squared off with the federal government over an ESA listing. Over the summer, her administration sued Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne after his agency conferred threatened status on the polar bear. In 1994, there were some 650 belugas living off the coast of Anchorage, but their numbers were nearly halved by 1997. This sharp decline was largely attributed to overharvesting by Native hunters, and by 2005 this already small whale population reached an all-time low of 278, by one government estimate. Presently, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimate the number of Cook Inlet belugas at 375. In 2000, the whales were protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, but government scientists eventually concluded that this wasn't enough. "In spite of protections already in place, Cook Inlet beluga whales are not recovering,” James Balsiger, the acting assistant administrator for the NOAA’s Fisheries Service, said in October, announcing that the whales had received endangered species protection. Palin begs to differ. Her administration argues that that the belugas are faring just fine under the protections in place, and the population is even beginning to show signs of recovering. For this reason, the state of Alaska contends that additional regulation is unnecessary. “The State of Alaska has worked cooperatively with the federal government to protect and conserve beluga whales in Cook Inlet,” Palin said last week. “This listing decision didn’t take those efforts into account as required by law.” At the heart of Palin's objections are concerns that additional safeguards will interfere with oil and gas development, among other lucrative projects. “I am especially concerned that an unnecessary federal listing and designation of critical habitat would do serious long-term damage to the vibrant economy of the Cook Inlet area,” Palin said in 2007. Similar fears led Palin's administration to launch a legal challenge in August to the listing of polar bears as a threatened species. (And it was no surprise when a host of business groups, including the American Petroleum Institute, followed her lead. The cases have have been consolidated, and the litigation is ongoing.) Objecting to ESA protections on economic grounds is one thing, but Palin's team has in the past sought to cast doubt on the science underlying the listings. Fighting back against efforts to list the polar bear, for instance, her administration cited the work of global warming skeptics, one of whom acknowledged receiving funding from the American Petroleum Institute and ExxonMobil for his work. In this latest legal challenge, Palin's administration has attacked the accuracy of beluga population estimates, citing the "questionable use of computer population modeling." And it has challenged "the contention that the belugas in Cook Inlet are a separate and distinct population from other belugas." Meanwhile, the state's claim that Cook Inlet beluga's are recovering is at odds with the judgments of federal scientists, whose "systematic surveys," according to the whale's ESA listing, "indicate this population is not recovering." In September, the Center for Biological Diversity, which waged a decade long fight to win protection for the Cook Inlet beluga and petitioned to secure ESA safeguards for the polar bear, awarded Palin with its " 2008 Rubber Dodo Award" — given annually to those the organization deems a threat to imperiled plants and animals. “Governor Palin has waged a deceptive, dangerous, and costly battle against the polar bear,” said the organization's executive director, Kieran Suckling, at the time. “Her position on global warming is so extreme, she makes Dick Cheney look like an Al Gore devotee.” He added: “Palin’s insistence that Arctic melting is ‘uncertain’ is like someone debating the theory of gravity as they plunge off a cliff. It’s hopeless, reckless, and extremely cynical.” Her latest ESA attack has drawn more sharp words from the group, and other conservation organizations, which are watching Palin's next moves closely. Brendan Cummings, the Center for Biological Diversity's oceans program director, says he expects Palin to go forward with her suit in March, once the clock runs out on the 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue filed by her administration. "We will move to intervene in the court case to defend the listing rule," he says. "As a purely legal matter, and as a question of sound science, Palin’s challenges (both beluga and polar bear) have no merit. But we have to treat any lawsuit as a serious threat." Cummings accuses Palin of being "willing to sacrifice endangered whales on the alter of oil company profits.” The Barracuda, he contends, "must be suffering from an Ahab complex." Tags: ecology, environment, extinction, gop lizard queens, greed, marine life, oil, republican scum, whales
From: Chicago
Mood: Cunt
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(Hat-tip Chris Kelly)"Evil must be defeated!" — John McCain 8/16/08"Enough is enough! We're going to put an end to greed!" — John McCain 9/17/08It's inspiring to know that John McCain has a plan to end greed. I just hope it doesn't distract him from his mission to defeat evil. Either way, it has to kick the shit out of whatever Barack Obama's got on the docket, with his empty words and pie-in-the-sky promises. America's choice is clear. Barack Obama, a messianic egomaniac who thinks he's, like, our savior or something, or John McCain, who will defeat evil and put an end to greed. John McCain will not only take on special interests and Washington insiders, he'll fundamentally alter human nature. And without raising taxes, either. He'll lead us to a sort of martial nirvana where all other emotions are replaced with patriotism, and turn the United States into a shining, selfless, bipartisan cross between heaven and Sparta. Or maybe he's just a desperate shell of a man, babbling glorp. Now, you might think "I'll end greed" would be the most mortifying thing John McCain could say at one sitting. You'd be wrong. At Wednesday's town hall — his first with Sarah Palin — he topped himself with this explanation of her credentials: "She has been commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard. Fact. On September 11 a contingent of the Guard deployed to Iraq and her son happened to be one of them so I think she understands national security challenges." Which is fine, except the governor of Alaska doesn't command the National Guard in combat overseas. And Track Palin isn't in the National Guard. He's in the Army. P.S. Nice goin' on this one too, Crusty. Yeesh. Tags: '08 elections, gop meltdown, greed, john mccain, spain
From: Chicago
Mood: Mildly Annoyed
Now Playing: Kitchen remodeling
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...There are only 1,500 left in India's reserves and jungles —
down from 3,600 six years ago and 100,000 a century ago."
(Hat-tip Raw Story)The fishermen were hauling in the first net of the morning when the tiger pounced. Kumaresh Mondal managed to run a few steps before the 450-pound beast knocked him down with a leap, tore into his throat, and dragged his limp body into the dense mangrove forest. "I tried to chase the tiger, but I couldn't find any path," said Monoranjan Mondal, another of the four men fishing that day in March. "There were no tracks, no broken branches. ... He just took him away." The Sundarbans, a tangle of unforgiving islands at the mouth of the Ganges River, are home to perhaps the world's largest population of wild tigers — as well as millions of the poorest people in India and Bangladesh. Despite decades of attempts to keep the tigers at bay, they still kill about two dozen people every year. Now, experts fear environmental changes and shrinking land could lead to more tiger-human conflicts, with disastrous results for both... ( Read the rest )Please Help Save the Bengal TigerTags: animals, ecological disaster, environment, extinction, greed, habitat loss, india, poaching, poverty
From: Chicago
Mood: Damned, Dirty Apes
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Hat-tip Tom DoggettWhile Republicans, the U.S. oil industry and other assorted asshats piss and moan about more access to federal lands to (presumably) reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, American-based companies are shipping record amounts of gasoline and diesel fuel to other countries.No, really.A record 1.6 million barrels a day in U.S. refined petroleum products were exported during the first four months of this year, up 33% from 1.2 million barrels a day over the same period in 2007. Shipments this February topped 1.8 million barrels a day for the first time during any month, according to final numbers from the Energy Department. The 1.6 million barrels a day represents 9% of total U.S. refining capacity of 17.6 million barrels a day. However, with refiners operating at 85 percent of capacity during the January-April period, the shipments represented a much a larger share of total U.S. oil products produced. The exports were also equal to half the 3.2 million barrels of gasoline, diesel fuel and other petroleum products the United States imported each day over the four-month period. The surge in exports appears to *ahem* contradict pleas from Big Oil and the Bush administration for Congress to open more offshore waters and Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. "We can help alleviate shortages by drilling for oil and gas in our own country," Bush told reporters last month. "We have got the opportunity to find more crude oil here at home..." ( Read the rest. Ugh. )Tags: bush cronies, dumb americans, energy, exports, gas prices, greed, hypocrisy, oil drilling
From: Chicago
Mood: Pyew
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Hat-tip Vincent FerteySoldiers overthrew Mauritania's first democratically-elected president in a coup today and announced a military junta was taking charge of the northwest African state. Soldiers seized President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi at his palace after he sacked senior army officers during a political crisis in the country, which straddled black and Arab Africa. A "State Council" led by one of the sacked officers, Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, said Abdallahi was now a "former president" and annulled his previous decree sacking Abdelaziz and the heads of the army and Gendarmerie. The communique, described as the council's "Statement No. 1," was broadcast by Gulf-based Arabic television stations. Abdallahi won Mauritania's first free, fair elections since independence in 1960 last year, taking over from a military government which ousted President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya in a bloodless 2005 coup. Abdelaziz was also instrumental in Taya's overthrow, the last successful coup in Africa, and was No. 2 in the junta. The president's daughter, Amal Mint Cheikh Abdallahi, said the presidential guard came to the residence and took away her father at around 0920 GMT. "We are being kept in the house, forbidden to leave. There are guards posted in the kitchen, the bedrooms, even the showers. The phones have been cut," she said. The prime minister and interior minister had also been arrested, and the country's main airport was closed while soldiers on jeeps with heavy guns stood guard outside government buildings. Police reportedly fired tear gas at a crowd of 50 supporters of Abdallahi in the capital city of Nouakchott. "We are against the military and we are deeply against this coup. We support Sidi to the death," said one of the protesters. The international community, which had widely welcomed last year's democratic elections, broadly condemned today's coup. The Arab League voiced "deep concern," the African Union demanded the return of "constitutional legality" and West African regional heavyweight Nigeria said it would not recognize a government that came to power through unconstitutional means. The United States and United Nations called for a (*yawn*) "return to constitutional rule," while EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel demanded Abdallahi be restored to power, saying the coup could "put into question our policy of cooperation with Mauritania." Abdallahi dismissed his government in May after criticism over its response to soaring food prices and to a series of attacks by al Qaeda's north African arm. A new government resigned last month in the face of a proposed no-confidence vote, and a replacement cabinet lacked the support of the opposition Union of Forces for Progress (UFP) and Islamist Tawassoul parties included in the previous team. Mauritania, formerly a French colony, is rich in iron ore, copper and gold, and both oil and mining investments have been on the rise recently. Companies such as First Quantum, ArcelorMittal and Industries Qatar all have mining and other projects there. Malaysia's Petronas also runs an offshore crude project there, and French oil giant Total is actively prospecting. Tags: africa, corruption, dictator of the month, greed, islam, military, mining, oil
From: Chicago
Mood: Cynical
Now Playing: 'Another One Bites The Dust' - Queen
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(Hat-tip Anchorage Daily News)State wildlife biologists killed 14 wolf pups as part of a predator control program to help bolster the caribou herd on the Alaska Peninsula. The 4- to 5-week-old pups were caught at two den sites as biologists were shooting adult wolves from a helicopter near Cold Bay, about 600 miles southwest of Anchorage. Biologists shot and killed 14 adult wolves, including the mothers of the pups, bringing the total slaughter to 28. “As we got on the calving grounds, we took adults and in the course of taking adults we found there were pups,” said Doug Larsen, director of the state Division of Wildlife Conservation by phone from Juneau. “The issue then was do we leave the pups to fend for themselves and starve or do we dispatch them... our feeling was that it was most humane to dispatch them.” Each pup was shot in the head. Larsen justified the pup killings as part of a plan to halt a “precipitous decline” in the Southern Alaska Peninsula Caribou herd, which has declined from an estimated 4,100 animals to only 600 in the past six years. “Nobody likes to go out and kill critters, particularly when they’re young of the year,” Larsen said. “But when you have a specific objective and that’s the way to achieve that objective, sometimes you have to do things that you don’t like.” The department won the approval of the Alaska Board of Game to shoot wolves from a helicopter on the herd’s spring calving grounds in March. While there was no specific talk about killing pups, Larsen said “there was never any intent to do anything out of sorts with what the board was expecting.” The dens were on state land, just outside the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. Had the dens been on federal land, “we wouldn’t have been in position to go in there,” Larsen added. The state issued a press release about the removal of wolves on June 27th, but it made no mention of killing pups, only that “wolves from three packs were shot from a helicopter by Alaska Department of Fish and Game staff.” Omitting the pup killings “wasn’t an attempt to hide anything, by any means,” Larsen said. Longtime Alaska wolf biologist Gordon Haber, who is often critical of the department’s wolf control programs, brought the pup killings to the attention of the media through his Web site, alaskawolves.org, and said that the department purposely didn’t publicize the pup killings because they feared public backlash. “They understood how strongly most people would react at the thought of state employees helicoptering to a couple of natal dens and, after killing the adult wolves, grabbing 14 frightened young pups and one-by-one blowing their brains out with a pistol,” wrote Haber in his blog. This marked the first time Department of Fish and Game personnel have actively participated in a state predator control program in 15 years. Prior to the action taken on the southern Alaska Peninsula, the state’s predator control plan included an army of private pilot/gunner teams shooting wolves from the air or ground in five different parts of the state, including three Interior regions, to help boost caribou and moose populations. Almost 800 wolves have been killed in the last four years. On August 26th, Alaskan voters will have the opportunity to pass a ballot measure banning the practice of airborne culling of free-ranging wolves, grizzly bears and wolverines. You can learn more (and lend a hand) here. Tags: animals, environment, greed, hunting, wolves
From: Chicago
Mood:  Bastards
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 • As of yesterday, US Airways stopped serving free soft drinks on all domestic flights. A warm can of soda will now cost you $2.00, and a warm beer'll set you back $7.00 (formally $5.00). • Delta Airlines has also announced they are doubling the fee for a second checked bag, from $25.00 to $50.00. • More than 900 American Airlines flight attendants have been forced chosen to accept early retirement or temporary leaves of absence to avoid involuntary layoffs. • Northwest Airlines is canning 2,500 of its frontline and management personnel. • United Airlines has laid off at least 385 workers in Illinois, Florida and elsewhere. How much would you like to wager that the CEOs of all these carriers take home a nice, fat Christmas bonus check this year? Seeya never, assholes.ObPeeve: The attendant on my last United flight, pressing me four god-damned times to buy one of his crummy little snack boxes for five bucks. Fucking whore. Tags: bush legacy, economy, gas prices, greed, rip-off report
From: Chicago
Mood: Hitchhiking to Texas
Now Playing: 'Sam Hall' - Johnny Cash
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(Hat-tip Raw Story)Orangutan populations continue to plummet on the only two islands where they still live in the wild, and they could become the first great ape species to go extinct if urgent action isn't taken, a new study says. The declines in Indonesia and Malaysia since 2004 are mostly because of illegal logging and the expansion of palm oil plantations, Serge Wich, a scientist at the Great Ape Trust, whose survey found the orangutan population on Indonesia's Sumatra island dropped almost 14% in thee last 4 years alone. It also concluded that the populations on Borneo island, which is shared by Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, have fallen by 10 percent. In their study, Wich and his 15 colleagues said the declines in Borneo were occurring at an "alarming rate" but that they were most concerned about Sumatra, where the numbers show the population is in "rapid decline." "Unless extraordinary efforts are made soon, it could become the first great ape species to go extinct," researchers wrote. The number of orangutans on Sumatra has fallen from 7,500 to 6,600 while the number on Borneo has fallen from 54,000 to around 49,600, according to the survey on the endangered apes, which appears in this month's science journal Oryx. "It's disappointing that there are still declines even though there have been quite a lot of conservation efforts over the past 30 years," Wich said. Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's top two palm oil producers, have aggressively pushed to expand plantations amid a rising demand for biofuels which are considered cleaner burning and cheaper than petrol. Michelle Desilets, founding director of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, praised the study for offering the first comprehensive look at the species population. "What matters is that the rate of decline is increasing, and unless something is done, the wild orangutan is on a quick spiral towards extinction, whether in two years, five years or 10 years," Desilets said. In their paper, the researchers recommended that law enforcement be boosted to help reduce the hunting of orangutans for food and trade. Environmental awareness at the local level must also be increased. "It is essential that funding for environmental services reaches the local level and that there is strong law enforcement," the study says. "Developing a mechanism to ensure these occur is the challenge for the conservation of the orangutans." The study is the latest in a long line of research that has predicted the orangutans demise. In May, the Center for Orangutan Protection said just 20,000 of the endangered primates remain in the tropical jungle of Central Kalimantan on Borneo island, down from 31,300 in 2004. Based on that estimate, it concluded orangutans there could be extinct by 2011. Learn more here.Tags: animals, ecology, environment, extinction, greed, logging
From: Chicago
Mood: Discouraged
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...but you probably won't have a pill-popping, plagiarizing, collagen-embalmed beer heiress to support you. 
Rising Prices Hammer Seniors on Fixed Incomes
By Lynn O'Shaughnessy Long before workers at the San Diego Food Bank began distributing cardboard food cartons from the back of a truck on a recent day, elderly men and women, many needing walkers and metal canes, formed a line in a church parking lot. The free food amounts to a lifeline for these seniors, who have seen inflation wring much of the value out of their fixed incomes. For these retirees, the prices of essentials — notably, gas and food — have galloped beyond reach. Perhaps most of all, they're straining under the weight of crushing medical costs. Nearly all Americans have felt the sting of inflation in recent months. But when you're retired and your sole means of support is a fixed amount that arrives each month — from Social Security and, for the lucky ones, a pension — the pain is especially severe. Until recently, many retirees had assumed they had enough income to retire on. That was before gas and food prices began racing out of control... ( Read it & weep... )Y'know, in some cultures, the elderly are looked upon as treasures — living vessels of knowledge, experience and wisdom — and treated with respect, dignity and — most of all — care. All too often here in the U.S., they're treated as nothing more than used-up trash... pushed aside, neglected and/or completely ignored. I am blessed to have both of my grandmothers still alive today... one 101 years young, the other 96. I hope they'll both live to see the day when the Dems not only re-take the White House, but solidify a super majority in the House and Senate... At least they'll know the generations ahead of them are back on the path that FDR blazed for our society. http://www.StopMcCain08.comTags: bush legacy, economy, greed, john mccain, poverty, social security
From: Chicago
Mood: Disappointed
Now Playing: 'Old Man' - Neil Young
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See if you can spot the tragically flawed logic in this latest Bush boondoggle: 
(Hat-tip Chris in Paris) Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is giving oil companies permission to harass and potentially harm them in the pursuit of oil and natural gas. The Fish and Wildlife Service issued regulations this week providing legal protection to seven oil companies planning to search for oil and gas off the northwestern coast of Alaska if "small numbers" of polar bears and/or Pacific walruses are "incidentally harmed" by their activities over the next five years. About 2,000 of the 25,000 polar bears in the Arctic live in and around the Chukchi Sea, where the government in February auctioned off oil leases to ConocoPhillips Co., Shell Oil Co. and five other companies for $2.6 billion. Over objections from environmentalists and members of Congress, the sale occurred before the bear was classified as threatened in May. Polar bears are naturally curious creatures and sensitive to changes in their environment. Vibrations, noises, unusual scents and the presence of industrial equipment can disrupt their quest for prey and their efforts to raise their young in snow dens. However, the Fish and Wildlife Service said oil and gas exploration will have a negligible effect on the bears' population. "The oil and gas industry in operating under the kind of rules they have operated under for 15 years has not been a threat to the species," H. Dale Hall, the Fish and Wildlife Service's director, told The Associated Press on Friday. "It was the ice melting and the habitat going away that was a threat to the species over everything else." The agency made no secret that oil and gas operations would continue in polar bear territory when it announced May 14 that melting sea ice threatened the creature's survival. But Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne assured the public that the bear population would not be harmed: "Polar bears are already protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which has more stringent protections for polar bears than the Endangered Species Act does," Kempthorne said. Environmentalists already suing the agency over its determination that the bear’s threatened status cannot be used to regulate global warming gases said Kempthorne’s earlier assurances were misleading. "Now, three weeks later, Interior issues a rule under the act that we view as a blank check to harass the polar bear in the Chukchi Sea," said Brendan Cummings, oceans program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. He added that his group believes the new regulations are illegal. Exploring in the Chukchi Sea’s 29.7 million acres will require as many as five drill ships, one or two icebreakers, a barge, a tug and two helicopter flights per day, according to the government. Oil companies will also be making hundred of miles of ice roads and trails along the coastline. "We are poorly equipped to address those risks and challenges," said Steven Amstrup, one of the foremost experts on polar bears and a scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Alaska Science Center. "To assess what the impacts are going to be, we should know more about the bears." Last year, the Marine Mammal Oversight Commission, an independent government oversight agency, also told the Fish and Wildlife Service it lacked the information to conclude that exploration will not affect the bear population. The seven companies will be required to map out the locations of polar bear dens, train their employees about the bears’ habits and take other measures to minimize clashes with them. In exchange, the companies are legally protected if their operations unintentionally harm the bears. Any bear deaths would still warrant an investigation and could result in penalty under the law. "These rules are essentially an insurance policy," said Marilyn Crockett, executive director of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, an industry group that in 2005 requested the new regulation. "They say if you conduct your operations in accordance to the requirement in this rule, you will not be held liable for the take of the bears." Tags: bush legacy, climate change, ecological disaster, energy, environment, global warming, greed, oil, polar bears
From: Chicago
Mood: The Right To Arm Bears
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...in the disastrous Bush/Cheney legacy: 
(Hat-tip Leonard Doyle)The North Atlantic right whale, one of the most endangered mammals on the planet, is in danger of extinction largely because the Bush administration has, so far, refused to impose measures to protect the creatures from being hit by ships near busy U.S. ports. Plans for a speed limit on shipping during the whales’ migration season are bogged down in bureaucracy, which environmentalists say Cheney’s office is orchestrating. For more than a year, the White House has refused to implement the proposed 10-knot (11.5mph) speed limit, which scientists say will help prevent ships from hitting the slow-moving whales as they migrate up the East coast of America. “The Bush administration is blocking legislation, delaying regulations and disabling enforcement efforts to protect the right whale,” said Vicki Cornish, of the Ocean Conservancy. Only 350 or so right whales remain in existence. The North Atlantic species, which grows to more than 60ft long, is black with distinctive white markings on its back. It was hunted to the brink of extinction for its oil and baleen in the 19th-century whaling boom. Hunting was finally banned in 1935, when only 400 or so whales remained. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration now believes the entire species could be pushed to extinction by the death of a single pregnant female.Between 2002 and 2006, 17 right whales - six of them adult females - were hit by ships and died. Since then, several calves have been killed by ships or becoming entangled in fishing gear. Most of the females migrate along the Atlantic coast, from the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia to Cape Cod and nursing grounds off Florida. Mothers do not feed while calving but must produce thousands of gallons of milk to feed their calves. The exhausted slow-moving whales are especially vulnerable on their return north.  To prevent more right whale deaths, the U.S. Fisheries Service wants to impose speed limits on ships within 30 miles of various ports. Under U.S. law, the government should by now have implemented new regulations forcing ships to slow to less than 10 knots when migrating whales are spotted at certain times of the year. But pressure from shipping companies and the State of Georgia, which argues that the measure would cause "economic hardship," have led the Bush administration to try to run down the clock on the new regulations. The US Navy also objects to the speed limit and even whale-watching companies oppose it, saying it would prevent them from getting swiftly offshore to where whales are gathered. Pleasure boat owners also object because an 800-berth marina is being built near one of the whales’ main calving areas off Georgia. The most vocal objections have come from the World Shipping Council, made up mostly of European and Asian shipping lines. It claims there is insufficient proof that reducing a ship’s speed will prevent it from hitting a whale. The Georgia Ports Authority said it was unfair to blame shipping for whale deaths when “at best, it may be responsible for less than [half] of collisions”. But Ms Cornish argued: “What they are saying is, the faster the ships go, the sooner they are in and out of the way. So why not have speeding cars in front of a school, so they are in and out of the way before they hit a child?” The White House is supposed to review proposed law changes within 90 days but, in the case of the whale “ship strike” rule, it has taken more than a year to act. A spokeswoman could not explain the delay, other than to say that it was a case of “due diligence.” Learn more (and lend a helping hand) here.Tags: bush cronies, bush legacy, dick cheney, disgrace, environment, extinction, greed, marine life, whales
From: Chicago
Mood: Assholes
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"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of
the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name
of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of
darkness... and I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and
furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my
brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my
vengeance upon thee." - Jules, Pulp FictionTwo bits of encouraging news from the eco-front... 
(Hat-tip National Geographic)
Japan Blames Protestors for Reduced Whale Hunt
Chisaki Watanabe, Associated PressViolent clashes with animal rights groups combined with fewer whale sightings forced Japan's whaling fleet to head home from Antarctic waters with only 55% of its hunting target, the Japanese government said today. Starting tomorrow, whalers are to return with 551 minke whales — far less than the original plan to kill up to 935 minkes and 50 fin whales. Anti-whaling activists had chased whaling ships for much of this season's hunt, blocking their paths and pelting boats with containers of rancid butter, slightly injuring several crew members... ( Read more )
(Hat-tip The Independent)
EU to Call for Ban on Canadian Seal Imports
Peter Popham, The IndependentThe European Union is considering trade sanctions against Canada in what would be the most significant challenge yet to the country's annual seal cull. Stavros Dimas, the EU's commissioner for the environment, has said he would soon be making proposals just as the Canadian government sets this year's quota of 275,000 young harp seals to be shot or cudgelled with sharpened clubs, then skinned for their pelts (a high proportion of which pass through European ports on their way to customers in Russia and China). Dimas would be putting forward suggestions, "based on how we see the ban being implemented", said a spokeswoman yesterday. "The commissioner is very concerned at the inhumane way that baby seals are killed," said a spokeswoman for Mr. Dimas. "Last year, we sent a team of experts to observe the cull who were shunned by the sealers and not allowed on the boats. What the team saw did not alleviate the commissioner's worries..." ( Read more )"The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that
few stood against many, and before this battle was over, even
a god-king can bleed..." - King Leonidas, 300 Never Give Up.Tags: animals, ecology, environment, fuck japan, greed, marine life, sea shepherd, seal hunt, seal slaughter, seals, whales, whaling
From: Chicago
Mood: Determined
Now Playing: 'Warriors' - Thin Lizzy
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Update on Sea Shepherd's phenomenal " Operation Migaloo" anti-whaling campaign (hat-tip iptv_tech): 
SSCS founder Captain Paul Watson displays the bullet
that allegedly struck him during a violent confrontation
with the outlaw whaling ship Nisshin MaruAs Japan's illegal commerical whaling season draws to a close, its fiercest opponent, Captain Paul Watson, claims to have been shot in the chest when a clash between his vessel, the Steve Irwin and the Japanese whaler Nisshin Maru turned violent earlier this month. Watson, who escaped serious injury in the incident, said that the Kevlar vest he was wearing may well have saved his life. Japanese authorities denied that the whalers fired any gunshots, and said that they had simply thrown sound-emitting "warning balls" (AKA "thunder flash" grenades) at the Irwin after activists hurled bottles of butyric acid, bags of white powder and an "unidentified white liquid" at them. "We challenge them to go to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and let them examine the bullet," said Glenn Inwood, spokesman for Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research. "The media is being fooled by a clever con-artist who bought a Kevlar jacket, shot it at close range and took it with him to the Antarctic just to pull it from his bag of public relations tricks at the right time." A veteran anti-whaling campaigner and founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS), Watson said that he felt a "thud" in his chest during the showdown, and later found a bullet lodged in his protective vest. According to witnesses, the bullet struck just above Watson's heart and mangled a metal anti-poaching badge on his sweater underneath. SSCS volunteer Dr. David Page was videotaped prying the bullet from the vest. In response to Inwood's accusations of a P.R. stunt, Watson said he would cooperate fully with any AFP investigation, including turning over the bullet and the vest for examination. Two SSCS crew members were also injured during the clash, including Ashley Dunn, 35, who suffered a hip injury while trying to get out of the way of the grenades, and Ralph Lowe, 33, whose back was injured when one of the grenade exploded behind him. The Japanese fleet has been sailing Antarctica's Southern Ocean since November with the goal of killing 935 minke and 50 fin whales as part of its annual “scientific program.” This year, the outlaw fleet has faced unprecedented resistance, not only in the form of international censure (which ultimately forced Japan to halt its plan to kill 50 humpback whales), but also tireless harassment by Watson and his all-volunteer crew. Japan blames SSCS "sabotage" for cutting their expected whale harvest by almost half. According to Kyodo News Service, Japanese officials glumly predict that this year's kill will number only 500-600, due in large part to a mid-season suspension of operations caused by direct SSCS interference. As the "scientific" operation is partly financed by revenues from the sale of the whales' meat, the shortage is expected to deal a significant financial blow to the whalers as well. Now, with less than two weeks left in the season (and after successfully saving an estimated 500 whales from the Japanese harpoons), the Steve Irwin is ending this year's campaign due to lack of fuel. "We have no alternative but to retreat... We have just enough fuel to make it back to port," Watson said in a statement on the SSCS website. "We've done everything we can do down here for this season, and it has been an enormous success..." Watson added that — with the support of donors from around the globe — he hopes to acquire a second vessel in time for the next whaling season so he and his crew can more closely shadow (and confront) the whalers without breaking off the pursuit to refuel. Yet, as one protest season ends for Watson and his crew, another one is just beginning. "As our ship returns to Melbourne, we are satisfied knowing we have saved so many lives, and feel remorse for the ones we couldn't," said Watson. "Now we prepare for our Seal Defense Campaign, and hope that our efforts for the whales have not been in vain." You can help Watson gear up for next year's campaign by donating whatever you can afford... and spreading the word. Tags: environment, extinction, fuck japan, greed, marine life, overfishing, paul watson, sea shepherd, whales, whaling
From: Chicago
Mood:  Same Time Next Year
Now Playing: 'Sky High' - Jigsaw
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(Hat-tip Dave Lindorff )While Clinton and Obama tussle over integrity, experience and readiness... while the McCain camp brays about patriotism, toughness and traditional values... there's an ever-growing list of global catastrophes on the near horizon, all of which are simply being ignored. To name but a few: Famine: According to the U.N., there is a global food shortage quickly approaching, spurred on by the declining availability of water, the erosion and urbanization of cropland and the substitution of ethanol-producing crops for food crops. By this time next year, we could start to see mass starvation in Asia, Africa and elsewhere on an unprecedented scale, with no grain stocks in reserve to relieve the crisis. Collapse of the U.S. Dollar: With the world's reserve currency plunging and the U.S. trade deficit soaring (leaving the Federal Reserve with no ability to stem the fall), it's only a matter of time before the US becomes a broken economy, unable to fund its deficits any longer. Already, shop owners in New York are accepting Euros and Canadian dollars for goods, seeing those bills as a better store of value than the Greenback. The OPEC nations, for sure, will not be far behind; Iran has already set in motion plans to accept only payment in Euros for her oil. Loss of Arctic Ice Sheet: It is increasingly apparent that it's only a matter of time before the Arctic Ocean will be ice-free in the summer. Greenland is losing its huge cap of ice, too, at an accelerating rate far beyond the outer limit imagined by U.N. scientists only last year. At present, we could be looking at sea rises measured in meters in a matter of a few, short years instead of decades as previously projected. There is also growing evidence that the Western Antarctic Ice Shelf is melting at an increasing rate, adding to the already-enormous risk. Fishery Collapse: Fish stocks in most of the world's key fisheries (a primary source of protein for much of the world) are nearing total collapse, and the habitats - thanks to the scouring of sea bottoms by giant industrial fishing fleets - are being destroyed forever. Add to that the acidification of the oceans (thanks to airborne and river-borne pollutants) - a process which is destroying the plankton at the bottom of the oceanic food chain - and we have another major food crisis on our hands... not to mention the loss of the world's primary carbon sink. Climate Disruptions: The oceans are warming, with a concomitant risk of ever-worse El Nino phenomena in the Pacific, and the slowing/shrinking of the Gulf Stream (and other ocean currents) critical to the global weather patterns upon which the world's current population centers depend. This doesn't just mean more severe storms along America's coasts. It means growing drought across the nation's midsection, a loss of snowpack in the Rockies (critical to irrigation in the western U.S.), and catastrophic droughts in Africa, Asia, South Asia, South America, Spain and southern Europe. Mass Extinctions: It's not just polar bears and black rhinos. Everything from songbirds to whales, from sea otters to penguins, from the whole class of amphibians to honeybees, are facing extinction. In fact, there are predictions from knowledgeable, cool-headed ecologists that, in short order, we could see the mass extinction of perhaps half the species on the planet - a tragic and dangerous event only seen several times in the half-billion years of life on Earth. Resource Wars/Mass Migrations: The U.S., obsessed with controlling events in the world through its use of military power, has been run into a corner. The American military is now stymied in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and is at this point incapable of responding to yet another military crisis. Yet the world - for all the above reasons - is heading full-speed towards an era of global resource wars, as overcrowded, developing countries full of starving people begin to press outward to claim lands with needed water, soil and other resources. Desperate migrants will also predictably be fleeing to safer havens, the U.S. included... and no mere border fence is going to stop this inexorable flow of humanity. There are responses which might be taken to confront (or at least prepare for) each of these crises, but they will require innovative and inspirational leadership of a kind not seen in American politics in generations. They will require, too, a massive shift in thinking on the part of the American people, who will have to shed their parochial isolationist and triumphalist mindset, and begin to see themselves as part of global humanity (instead of a blessed breed above it). Yet astonishingly (and depressingly), not one of the candidates - Democrat or Republican - is addressing any of these critical issues, or even attempting to speak to American voters about the potential catastrophes that lie ahead. Equally astonishingly - given that we are about to hand our children and grandchildren a devastated planet and a grim, violent future - nobody seems to be demanding that they address these issues. That being the case, what is the likelihood that our next government - Democrat or Republican - will take any kind of action on any of them? Tags: '08 elections, climate change, disaster, dumb americans, economy, environment, extinction, global warming, greed, no end in sight, overfishing, politics, starvation
From: Chicago
Mood: Frustrated
Now Playing: 'Snowblind' - Black Sabbath
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(Hat-tip mcjoan)Just when you thought they couldn’t get any more despicable - Sioux Manufacturing Corporation of Fort Totten, North Dakota has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit saying it repeatedly shortchanged the armor in up to 2.2 million helmets for the U.S. military, including those for the first troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan... Ah, but it gets even better - Twelve days before the settlement with the Justice Department was announced, the company was given a new contract of up to $74 million to make more armor for helmets to replace the old ones, which were made from the late 1980s to last year. Bottom line: The Defense Department knew that Sioux Manufacturing provided defective armor, and in fact sued them for it. They knew that the kevlar used in the helmets did not meet "critical" minimum standards. But while that very lawsuit was in process, they ordered more armor from the same company... with your tax money. Brandon Friedman at VetVoice has more here. P.S. 3,949 American troops have died in Iraq so far. I wonder how many of those men and women died wearing helmets the Pentagon knew were defective. Tags: bush cronies, cost of war, dead u.s. troops, greed, iraq, military stupidity, support our troops, taxpayer money
From: Chicago
Mood: Screwed
Now Playing: 'I Get A Kick Out Of You' - Bobby Short
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Amused
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