I thought this was an interesting map.

The pink is the Bureau of Indian Affairs. There are two locations of Native American land.

The yellow is Bureau of Land Management. That is in southeast Oregon where the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge exist. The wildlife refugee does not exist through the entire region that is yellow. The map immediately below shows Oregon and the Malheur National Wildlife Refugee. So, it hardly takes up that entire region of the state.

The maroon color doesn't matter because there is none on the map.

The blue is Department of Defense. There only seems to be one along the northern border near the Columbia River.

The orange is US Fish and Wildlife. There are two areas within that same area where the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is, too.

The green is for the US Forest Service. That has a significant presence in the state of Oregon, but, the old growth forests in Western part of the Oregon. It is not all the western region either.

The U.S. Forest Service is a quasi-decentralized agency that delegates control to regional and district managers who carry out USFS policies to allow for flexibility and response to local needs. The 155 National Forests, which cover 8.5% of the country, are each broken into several ranger districts. There are more than 600 ranger districts with staffs ranging from 10-100. District rangers and other personnel manage lands for recreational uses such as camping and hiking. They also patrol wilderness areas, regulate grazing, and maintain vegetation and wildlife habitats. District rangers also provide support for the Office of the Forest Supervisor, which coordinates activities between districts, allocates budgets and provides technical support. Forest supervisors oversee the forests themselves, which typically cover a number of districts. There are nine regional offices, each run by a regional forester whose office is supported by forest supervisors and coordinates activities between national forests and Washington.

Mailing Address:

USDA FS, FOIA Service Center 1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Mail Stop:  1143
Washington, DC 20250-1143

FEDEX / UPS ADDRESS:

USDA Forest Service FOIA Service Center
201 14TH ST SW
MAILSTOP 1143
Washington, DC 20250-1143

Kindly remember the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is does not involve the US Forest Service. But, every time there is a mention of the Northwest USA there are always people complaining about the US Forest Service. This wildlife reserve is nothing more than wetlands.

The gray color is the National Park Service (click here). In Oregon the primary National Park interest is Crater Lake National Park. There are some national trails such as Lewis and Clark that occur in Oregon. There are points of interest along those trails.

Meaning of "Ad Hoc" is for the particular end or case at hand without consideration of wider application.

Ad hoc is a word that originally comes from Latin and means “for this” or "for this situation." In current American English it is used to describe something that has been formed or used for a special and immediate purpose, without previous planning.
Ad hoc can be used as an adjective or an adverb. It is used more often as an adjective.

Ad hoc Group on Article 13 (AG13) A subsidiary body (committee) created by COP-1 to explore how to help governments overcome difficulties experienced in meeting their commitments under the Climate Change Convention (1995-1998).

This is my wish list. An Ad Hoc committee to over see the Adaptation, the Adaptation Committee and the Adaptation Funding. To the best of my knowledge the Millennium Assessment did not have such oversight, but, should have.

Ad hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate (AGBM) (click here)
A subsidiary body created by COP-1 to conduct the talks that led to the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol. The AGBM concluded its work on 30 November 1997.

Ad hoc Working Group on further commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) (click here)
The AWG-KP was established in 2005 by Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in Montreal to consider further commitments of industrialized countries under the Kyoto Protocol for the period beyond 2012. More information here.

Ad hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) (click here)
The AWG-LCA was established in Bali in 2007 to conduct negotiations on a strengthened international deal on climate change.

Ad hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) (click here)
The ADP is a subsidiary body established at COP 17 in Durban in 2011 to develop a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention applicable to all Parties. The ADP is to complete its work by 2015 in order to adopt this protocol, legal instrument or agreed outcome with legal force at the twenty-first session of the COP and for it to come into effect from 2020.

These past Ad Hoc Committees were interesting, but, probably didn't get all it's work done. It is included in the definitions so they appear again in the agreement. I hope  there will be consistency across the broad spectrum of global Adjustments.

There are far more countries involved this time so I would expect better outcomes. But, once again, there needs to be scientists on the Ad Hoc Committees. Scientists an squeeze every nickel out of Adjustment Funds. They have a lot of practice using their own budgets and/or their department budgets.

One thing to note at this time is that countries are bringing their own commitments, too. There are no assignments this time as compared to past efforts. The meetings every five years will review the efforts that have worked, others that have been neutral in their outcomes and those that are harmful. That concept is very important. There are 196 countries meeting every five years. There are dearly few that have not offered up their plans for improving emissions.

As time goes by I would expect every country to continue to modify their plans enough to bring a reduction in greenhouse gases to keep them no more than 1.5 percent and under 2.0 percent. Each five years there should be more participation, more expertise and more movement to global emission goals.

Before getting too far off course with what is transpiring in Oregon, let's get our moral compass set straight.

The Malheur Natural Wildlife Reserve is in southeast Oregon. It isn't northwest Oregon where all the Old Growth Forests exist. This is southeast Oregon and this wildlife reserve doesn't have land available for ranching or construction. It is primarily wetlands.

It is 293.4 square miles in size. Rhode Island is 1045 square miles of land area. The wildlife reserve is a nice piece of land, about the size of a quarter of Rhode Island.

This past year the BLM had open sessions for the public to register their observations, opinions and wishes for the future of western Oregon (click here). There was plenty of participation by many groups and private industry. That is an example of what goes on in the USA when the BLM is managing land. There are reviews of any federal program and how that is working by the BLM. I am not sure when there was a comprehensive review of the land at the reserve, but, Fort Collins Science Center out of Colorado does conduct regular reviews of a bird population of Willow Flycatcher. This is not an endangered species, so don't go into some tree hugging scenario. That is NOT what this is.

The reason Fort Collins keeps track of the Willow Flycatcher (click here) is because it catches flies. Why is that important? Because what eats flies in a wetlands? Every fisherman/woman knows this answer. Along rivers that are majority within wild lands without any impact by human activity what is there of interest to tourism?

Fish. Fish are carnivorous. They eat flies. The Willow Flycather is a very hardy bird with extensive ranges. If there was any drop off of Willow Flycather population the BLM or in this case USGS would suspect a problem with the rivers. If there was a problem with the birds, it would be due to a fall off of flies in and around the rivers. It would be suspect of an ecosystem collapse that would be very suspicious. It would have an impact on tourism because the two rivers in the Reserve are nearly pristine and a great place for fishermen and women if they care to.

One more time, these are wetlands. There isn't anything other than tourism that can be conducted on these lands, so what is the problem? Cows? Ranchlands. Only if people want to regularly pull their cows out of the mud.

But, that is the BLM's job, as well as US Fish and Wildlife and USGS. This is what they do and they do it for us. They maintain vigilance of our lands. It is an important job. Those jobs require significant education and in the case of the federal government, plenty of experience. 

I will say this, sometimes when it comes to leases for oil and gas there are oversights that should not occur. That is probably just as true for lands that are logged. The BLM is not perfect. But, the BLM also relies on private groups to understand the problems and register those problems with the agency. That information is passed along to Cabinet Secretaries that don't always value the words of conservationists or environmentalists. But, as a rule the 'evil doers' are not within the agency. The agencies do get their marching orders from others.

The agency jobs of the federal government pay well and have good benefits. There is a good retention rate with US agencies. That is probably true of most state agencies as well. The employees usually like to stay out of trouble with the public. I'll leave it there. But, be reassured the agencies are not responsible for the compete decision making process. The agencies gather information, do studies and maintain records. There are protocols such as "The Five Year Review" of the EPA that are written into law. The federal agencies do a lot of good work, regardless of how politics paints them.

This is the land of the Reserve.

A view of the Steens Mountains from the Buena Vista Overlook located in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

The Donner and Blitzen River (click here) is commonly referred to as the Blitzen. The river rises on the lower slopes near Steens Mountain at an elevation of about 6500 feet. It is located in the high desert region of eastern  Oregon and drains the southern portion of the Harney Basin including the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The river terminates into Matheur Lake.

The Donner and Blitzen Rivers were named by American soldiers of German origin. The soldiers crossed the river and there was "thunder and lightning." There are regular episodes of 'dry lighting' along the river depending on the time of year. In the German language, "Donner and Blitzen" means respectively "thunder and lightning (flash)."

How much tourism for the Reserve?

August 27, 2015
A study (click here) of the economic impact of ecotourism and the demographics of ecotourists was conducted at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon, from June 1993 - May 1994. The study focused on birding ecotourism because that is the primary user group that visits Malheur. A total of 481 questionnaires were completed from a total of about 39,750 annual birding ecotourists. Birders who visit Malheur tended to be middle aged 30s - 40s, well educated 85.4 had attended some college, had incomes that were well above the national family average, and women and men are about equally represented. A majority did not fish or hunt. Visitors came from 28 states, 3 foreign countries, and 30 counties in Oregon. Forty-five percent of visitors were from out of state and 88 (percent) stayed more than one day in the area. Visitors averaged 3.4 days in the area. The average amount spent on their entire trips to and from Malheur averaged about 300 and totaled 12,282,750. The economic impact on the local communities was estimated to be nearly 3.02 million in that year.

That is something to pay attention to. The woman in the diner talked about 'the mills closing.' There might reason for that if there were ever mills in the southeast corner of Oregon.

Adaptation Adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities.

I think this is fairly straight forward. It is a word that has expectations. Let's look at Ethiopia. Historically, Ethiopia was a lush land of all kinds of natural systems. As a matter of fact some of that still remains and is naturally coffee bean forests. Ethiopia is the only place on Earth were Coffea Arabica still occurs naturally.

But, because of the shift in climate and land use that never benefited the people, Ethiopia's land is basically hostile to life. It is estimated even the natural coffee forests will be gone in about two and half decades. That assessment was before this:

January 6, 2016

By Whitney McFerron, Isis Almeida and William Davison

Tekle Birhan (click here) clutched her malnourished infant son as she waited to get a food supplement and treatment at an Ethiopian health clinic in early December. It was their third trip in as many months to the facility, located about an hour’s walk from her family farm that has seen almost no rain since July.
The worst drought in 50 years is eroding harvests of everything from corn to sorghum across Ethiopia, compounding a food shortage for a country where 30 percent of the population subsists on less than $1.25 a day. Already sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest wheat consumer, Ethiopia will need $1.1 billion to buy food for more than 18 million people this year, according to a report by the government and humanitarian partners including the United Nations....

In this case, Ethiopia needs a plan to return it's biome. The entire ecosystem is disrupted and is in a downward spiral. It is one of those negative feedback loops. The people no longer have opportunity to even carry out subsistence farming. The land is not tillable. To ADAPT Ethiopia for beneficial opportunities to bring back benevolence to the country it needs enormous funding. There has to be a hydrological study to begin with to determine where the water is, how climate effects it, where are weather patterns and last but not least, "Where best to we put the dams?

It was only a year or so ago there were floods in Ethiopia. Now, while drought is present, Ethiopia still falls into a climate circumstance that brings rain. If there were dams to capture that water and use it to mitigate the drought, the land would bloom again. Once there was return of plant growth, the land would begin to produce it's own water vapor. When that happens rain can return locally with ever increasing growth with each season.

That is Adaptation. It is seeking out where the climate has caused a deterioration of biomes and reverse that trend.

Adaptation Committee (AC)
The Adaptation Committee was established by the Conference of the Parties as part of the Cancun Agreements (click here) to promote the implementation of enhanced action on adaptation in a coherent manner under the Convention, inter alia, through various functions.

That is obvious. It is one thing to be a scientist and see the future as it needs to be and it is something quite different to gain the cooperation of governments. It is always hoped governments will value sustainability in the way it best benefits the land and people.

Adaptation Fund
The Adaptation Fund was established to finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable and are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The Fund is to be financed with a share of proceeds from clean development mechanism (CDM) (click here) project activities and receive funds from other sources. It is operated by the Adaptation Fund Board (ckick here).
I am quite sure people in The West look at the organizational element of reversing climate change and are extremely skeptical to provide funding. I can understand that. I feel the same way. I wish there was more involvement by donor countries with those receiving the funds. The Adaptation Fund Board should have members of the IPCC engaged as well. There has to be a link between the science and the funding to carry out the science. I don't believe that exists right now and it should.

All the Adaptations need across Earth will be carried out by engineers, but, not without the help and insight of scientists. So why leave the scientists out of any of the plans to move forward. Put scientists in the middle of the plans' funding and make them a supervisor to return function to land. There are highly qualified scientists with excellent reputations considered to be trustworthy that can turn the corner on this.

Once the Adaptations become reality, the land and the poeple will take care of the rest.

Greg Walden, the Republican in the House of Representatives for the people where Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Area exists in Oregon.

What Greg Walden doesn't speak to is the economic benefit of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Area of Oregon.

He defends the Hammonds as people who set backfires. Nice excuse. It doesn't cost a thing to be educated in Oregon for a fire fighter.

DPSST's Fire Certification Section (click here) is responsible for maintaining state fire certification standards set by the Fire Policy Committee and Board on Public Safety Standards and Training, in alignment with National Fire Protection Association standards. This section of DPSST provides formal recognition to members of the Oregon fire service who voluntarily demonstrate required levels of competency. The Fire Certification Section also works, through a network of district liaison officers, to ensure Oregon's local fire department and district training programs meet accreditation requirements.

There are formal requirements for a reason. There is supervision for a reason. Equating arsonists with virtue of setting a backfire is hardly what I would call respecting the law and citizens' safety.

US Rep. Greg Walden wants to complain about the fires. The nice lady in the diner complained about the fires. Both attribute the fires to mismanagement. Excuse me? There was a rancher and his son that were charged with, found guilty of and is now in prison for ARSON.

Arson is a crime. No public land management office or program accounts for arson as a real option for responsible land management.

Perhaps now that the arsonists are behind bars the fires might even stop.

That is amazing to me. How can any US Representative stand on the floor of the USA Congress with sympathy for arsonists while defaming any land management and fire fighter program? Wow. Rep. Walden feeds the myth. He does so votes. That nice lady in the diner will vote for him and believe he is besieged in the Congress with tree huggers.

...DPSST conducts public safety training (click here) throughout Oregon and at the central academy in Salem; certifies qualified officers at various levels from basic through executive; certifies qualified instructors; and inspects and accredits training programs throughout the state based on standards established by the Public Safety Standards and Training Board.... 

"Open Secrets" on Rep. Greg Walden's donations (click here).

Activities implemented jointly (AIJ) Activities carried out under the Convention to mitigate climate change through partnerships between an investor from a developed country and a counterpart in a host country under a pilot phase that ended in the year 2000. The purpose was to involve private-sector money in the transfer of technology and know-how. See also Joint Implementation

This is a new term that clears up all past language. The language needed a braking point whereby the IPCC could identify the past from the present.

There was a lot going on around the turn of the century. In 2001, the IPCC submitted their third comprehensive report (click here).

There was also a Millenium Ecosystem Assessment implemented in 2000 (click here).

...This report synthesizes the take-home messages of the MA (Millennium Assessment) for the business community throughout the industrial and developing world. It begins by highlighting key MA findings with particular relevance for businesses large and small. The report then provides an interpretation of the significance of these findings for business and industry, including a checklist of questions designed to help tailor the general findings of the MA to a particular business....

The word synthesizes is a very big word in these reports. (click here) The link here is from the Fourth IPCC report. I think the year is 2006. It is anticipated the assessment is completed every five years.

Synthesize, synthesizes or in the acronym SYN is where everything comes together to make it work for the people, the environment, governments and the business community. Up to now, the most powerful entity in all this is the business community. One would think, huh? But, this is a global community of varying degrees of democracy and citizen's rights.

There have been problems with the power of the business community. The business community in 2000 was definitely defined by Wall Street.

It isn't about jobs. Much of the global community works at very low pay rates.

It isn't about property rights or taking away land from business opportunities. Many of the countries don't really have personal property rights. They do have national preserves, but, that serves tourism. Those lands are very important for the people of a country. There are plenty of lands available for development for Wall Street.

The problems revolve around the PRACTICES of international companies and their willingness to take advantage of Third World countries. I think we all know what that is about. It is called corruption and it is global. It definitely effects the resolutions to successfully stem the ever increasing threats of the climate crisis.

But, kindly note, the international community, be it the Millennium Assessment, the IPCC or the United Nations in it's multiple capacities has always and in every possible way included the business communities of any country in the SYN.

There is not a scientist alive today that doesn't value quality of life. It is not unusual for a scientist to have good relationships with towns people and/or native tribes. If one talks to a scientist about the place on Earth they carry out their assessments one would be delighted to hear the details they can provide regarding the community.

One of the most popular scientists that demonstrated their relationships with local people is Dian Fossey (click here). While she fought with tribes hired to poach gorillas, she also had very good relationships with the people working for her in her compound.

Additionally, the poaching is a hindrance to tourism. Frequently, people will love the wild lands in the country because of the income they receive from tourism.

Poaching is by and large the worst forms of corruption, next to industrial pollution. But, corruption goes all the way to the top of most government interior departments, including the USA.

These are the complaints.

Yes, these are the Bundy's from Arizona that offered an armed militia as their answer to payment of grazing leases. Leases are leases, the USA has all kinds of leases and they are an income to the USA treasury.

January 9, 2016
By Robert Anglen

Ryan Bundy, one of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy's sons, is involved in the armed takeover of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. 

God, patriotism and militia support (click here) led him to Oregon wildlife refuge standoff against the federal government, he said....

...What drove the Arizona business owner to think he could defend a family he'd never met in a small ranching community on a windswept range he'd never visited was a mixture of religion, patriotism and anti-government fervor. In videos posted on YouTube and other social-media sites this month, he would explain that he was there because American values and a Western way of life were under threat.
God told him the cause was righteous, Bundy said. And militia members told him they would back him up....

According to the reporting in this You Tube video by RT, the local citizen working in the diner stated, there were reasons to be upset with the federal government, but, did not approve of the methods.

I found the local sheriff more than kind and willing to listen. That is the strength of the situation. I really believe the Sheriff is interested in what the local citizens have to say, with or without the Bundys.

Definitions. Some are self explanatory. Some are not self expanatory and it is easier to add understanding while examining the defintions.

 I think it is necessary to work through the definitions before reading the 2015 Summit agreement. The list is not very long. It doesn't matter to me how long this might take during an election year. This is important and paramount to life on Earth.

I will include current events within this progression of information. I will also enter a few concepts that will provide a more realistic understanding of greenhouse gases and the state of play.

This week I will address the gross misinformation of the militia in Oregon. The reasons for their actions are based in ignorance of the facts and resultant economics.

Assigned amount unit (AAU) A Kyoto Protocol unit equal to 1 metric tonne of CO2 equivalent. Each Annex I Party issues AAUs up to the level of its assigned amount, established pursuant to Article 3, paragraphs 7 and 8, of the Kyoto Protocol (click here). Assigned amount units may be exchanged through emissions trading.

The main focus of this definition is the "1 metric tonne (tonne is another word for metric ton or 1000 kilograms or 2200 pounds - grammatically tonne is a more widely recognized scientific measurement (click here)) of CO2."

CO2 is the primary focus of the climate summit simply because it has been 86 percent of all the greenhouse gases in Earth's troposphere where infrared is produced causing the warming. That is not double talk, that is real. CO2 has been 86% of the greenhouse gases of concern.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂), by definition, has an (GWP - Global Warming Potential) AAU (AAU is a new acronym and better defines the global warming potential) of 1 regardless of the time period used, because it is the gas being used as the reference.

Methane (CH₄) is estimated to have an AAU of 28-36 over 100 years.

Those two compounds, CO2 and CH4, are often comparisons used when discussing greenhouse gases.

The picture to the left are the gases that scientists are most concerned with when it comes to Earth's stable atmospheres.

Easily noted are HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons - click here). These are the gases that destroy ozone in the upper atmosphere. Ozone protects us from the sun's harmful rays. They are not greenhouse gases exactly, but, they are ozone depleting substances.

PFCs are perfluorocarbons. These are also fluorinated gases artificially produced. The fluorinated gases in Earth's atmosphere today have no natural source. The fluorinated gases are all generated as by products to human activity. PFCs are often considered to be "immortal gases," because they stay in Earth's atmosphere for so long.

The fluorinated gases of which there are four types are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).  They get lumped in with better known greenhouse gases because they have high AAUs. As an example SF6 has an AAU of 22,800. Yes, that is correct. Twenty-two thousand, eight hundred Assigned Amount Units. These fluorinated gases are produced and are not natural. They have high AAUs and pose a very big danger to Earth, because, they last in Earth's atmosphere for a very long time; far longer than the traditional greenhouse gases. It is vital to monitor the fluorinated gases and the ozone as well.

I'll get into all this later.

Scientists have set carbon dioxide as number 1 in defining of what a greenhouse gas it and is not. CO2's role with Earth's climate is a thermal unit. The degree CO2 insulates Earth is a thermal component to the infrared radiation of Earth. That infrared is not up for negotiation. Earth's has it's own physics in this galaxy and gratefully it doesn't change WITHOUT being acted on as in human activity. That is a good thing. CO2 is a very, very stable compound. In that is the overwhelming safety for life on Earth. We can all count on Earth being a friendly planet because of it's very stable climate producing greenhouse gases.

In referring to the Kyoto Protocol the Annex I Parties are listed on this webpage (click here). The Annex I of the 2015 Summit is very different. There are many more countries taking place in the summit. I am sure the parties list will be in the agreement while we work through the agreement.

Abatement
Refers to reducing the degree or intensity of greenhouse-gas emissions.

There are all kinds of use of the word abatement in language and it is used correctly in the definition of greenhouse gas emissions.

Accession
An act whereby a State becomes a Party to a treaty already negotiated and signed by other States; has the same legal effect as ratification.

Here again the 2015 Climate Summit Agreement clarifies it's language. Accession is the formal acceptance of the agreement.

I find it interesting the definitions are basically clarifying any misuse of words as in the past. There is no misuse of words and it follows the lines of good science. Definitions are clear, concise, understood diplomatically and applicable without confusion to the many languages at this summit.

It's Saturday Night


The Oregon occupation of public lands is wrong. It is against the law and their facts are not educated. The militia states they are acting on behalf of the people of the region. The people have a false dialogue regarding logging. 


Ah, the good 'ole days. Hard working men, tiger tooth saws, mule teams to the river and floating logs to the ports for transport. That doesn't exist anymore. Today, there are far fewer men, they are nearly as hard working and there are logging roads instead of floating trees.

As a matter of fact, the logging industry of the 1980s is gone, but, not because of forest mismanagement.

"Trees" by twenty one pilots (click here for official website)

 

I know
Where you stand
Silent
In the trees
And that's
Where I am
Silent
In the trees

 

Why won't you speak?
Where I happen to be
Silent
In the trees
Standing cowardly

 

I can feel your breath
I can feel my death
I want to know you
I want to see
I want to say
Hello
Hello
Hello
Hello

I know
 

Where you stand
Silent
In the trees
And that's
Where I am
Silent
In the trees

 

Why won't you speak?
Where I happen to be
Silent
In the trees
Standing cowardly

 

I can feel your breath
I can feel my death
I want to know you
I want to see
I want to say Hello
Hello
Hello
Hello

Not funny. USA Navy has the right to shoot down incoming missiles regardless the country.

The USA Navy is not shackled by the Commander and Chief to respond to incoming missiles or any other hostile actions. There is a fine line between defense or retaliation. Every USA military unit or ship is completely within their power to defend themselves.

Make no mistake. Every USA asset deployed at home or abroad can defend itself. Iran hasn't seen that side of the USA Navy. They have seen the disarming of Libya. There were some attempts by terrorists to completely disable the USA Navy with the damage to the USS Cole, however, the middle east should not take the USA Navy for granted when playing with it's 'safe travel' through the region in international and/or allied waters.

January 10, 2016
By Will Dunham

The U.S. Navy (click here) released black-and-white video on Saturday it said was taken by an American helicopter showing an Iranian Revolutionary Guards vessel firing unguided rockets on Dec. 26 near warships including the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran on Dec. 31 denied that its Revolutionary Guards vessels had launched the rockets as the United States claimed, with a Revolutionary Guards spokesman saying the "false" accusation was "akin to psychological warfare."

The U.S. Navy said the infrared radar footage showed an Iranian "fast inshore attack craft" launching several rockets on Dec. 26 "in close proximity" to the Truman, the guided missile destroyer USS Bulkeley, the French naval frigate FS Provence and commercial ships in the busy waterway.

The dispute underscored the ongoing tensions between the United States and Iran despite last year's international agreement to curb Iran's nuclear program....

I would not fire across a USA Navy ship. I would expect USA aircraft to be aloft from here forward while traversing waters where this level of threat (be it accident or intended) has been demonstrated. The 23 minutes of notification to Iranian missile launch was not a mistake. It is all brinkmanship at the same time North Korea has a questionable nuclear exercise that came with no notice.

Most of the so called facts Americans believe about guns are actually myths.

There needs to be a blog entitled "The Stolen Gun." 

The NRA and gun rights groups make a very big deal about the fact criminals can get guns. According to these groups, the criminals are able to buy stolen guns or steal them.

So, where are all these legally owned guns that are now stolen? Because, my understanding is that Americans own guns for self-protection. An example is; if there is a home invasion the guns in the house will protect those asleep prior to the front door being broken down. So, if these guns are so vital to the safety of Americans where do they come from? 

I would think anyone owning a gun would treat it like a driver's license and carry it with them all the time or keep it in a wallet so it doesn't get lost over night while asleep. I want to know how these guns are being stolen, because, according to the gun rights groups that doesn't happen; what happens is gun carrying Americans are having their lives saved, due to their concealed carry permit.

"How criminals get guns" (click here)

by Dan Noyes

Ask a cop on the beat how criminals get guns and you're likely to hear this hard boiled response: "They steal them." But this street wisdom is wrong, according to one frustrated Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agent who is tired of battling this popular misconception. An expert on crime gun patterns, ATF agent Jay Wachtel says that most guns used in crimes are not stolen out of private gun owners' homes and cars. "Stolen guns account for only about 10% to 15% of guns used in crimes," Wachtel said. Because when they want guns they want them immediately the wait is usually too long for a weapon to be stolen and find its way to a criminal....

...Wachtel says one of the most common ways criminals get guns is through straw purchase sales. A straw purchase occurs when someone who may not legally acquire a firearm, or who wants to do so anonymously, has a companion buy it on their behalf....

Monarch butterflies and oyamel trees are intricately linked.

...But after trekking (click here) across an entire continent for an answer, it was a team led by Canadian zoologists led by Fred Urquhart that final tracked the resting place of the butterflies as they made their migratory journeys south....

What has been discovered over decades is the importance of an evergreen tree, the oyamel fir tree.

21 December 2015
By Janet Marinelli

For as long as anyone can remember, (click here) monarch butterflies have arrived in Mexico's Trans-Volcanic Belt in late October, when the locals begin to celebrate Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Families fill their homes with marigolds, eat skull-shaped sweets and place candles on graves to guide the souls of departed loved ones home. According to
traditional belief, the brilliant orange butterflies are the spirits of ancestors returning to earth to visit....

The oyamel fir forests of Mexico (click here) are remnants of boreal forests that advanced south with periods of glaciation. When the glaciers retreated, they were left as high elevation survivors, existing as isolated islands at 2400-3600 meters (7,800 – 11,700 feet). Several hundred million Monarch Butterflies spend the winter clinging to Oyamel Fir trees on a cluster of these mountaintops of the Transverse Neo-Volcanic Mountain range of Central Mexico. Waxy pine and oyamel needles shelter the monarchs, protecting them from moisture. When the butterflies become wet and temperatures drop to below freezing, millions of butterflies perish....

Butterfly watching is as widely popular as bird watching. There is an economic component to these events in nature. The great thing about butterflies is they don't bite or peck.

Species name: Danaus plexippus

The other great part about being either a bird or butterfly watcher is an information book never gets old. Species are species and don't require updates.

"Handbook for Butterfly Watchers" (click here)
June 26, 1992
 By Robert Michael Pyle

Some people fish and some people hunt, but, there is no difference between sports involving nature; it's interesting, peaceful and fun. Bird and Butterfly watchers are different than fishers and hunters in that their accomplishment is a LIST of observed species.

To many, making a list is something one does when doing grocery shopping or striving to be a successful Santa; but, lists are very prestigious filled with respect and status. It is the same status as any other trophy.

Robert Michael Pyle on Facebook (click here)

 








Butterflies and moths are pollinators, too.

Thousands of people (click here) travel abroad each year looking for butterflies and moths. Eco-tours bring valuable income to many European countries and developing countries around the world (e.g. the valley of the butterflies in Rhodes and the Monarch roost in Mexico).

Every butterfly and moth has developed its own suite of chemicals to deter predators and parasites, find a mate, and overcome the chemical defences of its host plant. Each of these chemicals has a potential value and could be exploited economically.  For example, powerful antibiotics have been found in the Meadow Brown, one of our commonest and most widespread species.

We celebrate the Monarch Butterfly today, but, it's popular status protects so many more species. 

Wikipedia (click here) put together a rather interesting migration map.

There is no excuse for the lack of content in the Republican response to the State of the Union.

The speech is released early to the press so they understand the content. The Republicans are just lazy and want to take the opportunity to play politics and promise more obstruction of governance.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016 (click here)

Mayor Jim Kenney doesn't want to provide the status of a soldier for Allah to a common criminal with a STOLEN gun.

I think the Mayor is correct. There is the idea 'out there' somehow any jerk can dress in a white robe and pretend they have a real reason to kill for Allah. I think the Mayor has a very interesting response to this ATTEMPTED MURDER. To call a killer a person acting on behalf of God is simply wrong. God of any religion is not a common criminal acting out.

There is a sincere criminal element in all this so called religious movement for a caliphate. The men in Syria are criminals and there were criminals long before they escaped to Syria from Iraq. They are the men that carried out human rights abuses for Saddam. That criminal element is carried through in all it's actions. These men claiming to be acting to uphold the integrity of God are common criminals or in the case of the Ba'athists, international criminals. 

What are people thinking? Innocent people are being sucked into plans of criminals to pretend to be sent on a godly purpose to a caliphate. That is insane. They are Daesh, not some vernacular of a holy caliphate.

It must be a real trip to find oneself with a criminal record that is somehow transformed into a 'special status' with Allah. The Mayor is correct; there are criminals dressed up in robes and stating they have a real case as a soldier for God. That is nonsense and is equivalent to a Halloween costume. 

When watching the video it is nothing but a small miracle the officer was able to leave the petrol car and actually chase and wound the shooter. He is an amazing man. I am sure he'll be receiving metals once he is recuperated.  Perhaps he has insight regarding his circumstances in those SECONDS that allowed him to live through it. I think all officers need bullet proof vests and bullet proof glass in their cruisers.

There was a time in the USA when police patrolled together. That should be a mandate in these years of violence and uncertainty.

A country is grateful for officers like him. He didn't put his life first. Not at all. He put his responsibility to the city of people he swore to protect. He was more worried about the people that might still be attacked by a criminal with a stolen gun and found the will to chase the lousy SOB.

STOLEN GUN. So, it would appear there are so many guns on the street in the USA there are plenty to be stolen as well. Who did he steal it from, the local drug dealer?

January 8, 2016
By West Philadelphia (WPVI) 

...Mayor Jim Kenney (click here) said the shooting had nothing to do with "being a Muslim or the Islamic faith."

Officials also say the gun used in the crime, a 9mm Glock 17, had been stolen from a police officer's home in 2013, but it's not clear how it ended up in Archer's hand. That officer had been disciplined, Ross said.

The shooting happened 11:40 p.m. on Thursday.

...Police say the suspect fired a total of 13 shots, three of which hit Hartnett in the arm.

Despite being seriously wounded, Hartnett got out of his car, chased the suspect and returned fire, wounding his attacker in the buttocks, police said. Other officers chased Archer and apprehended him.

Ross called it "absolutely amazing" that Harnett survived. "It's nothing short of miraculous and we're thankful for that," he said....

El Chapo needs to be extradicted to the USA for trial.

 I congratulate the government of Mexico in it's dedication to protect the people. El Chapo is responsible for a drug cartel that has killed thousands of innocent people in Mexico.

...But on Friday, (click here) nearly six months after his escape, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the Mexican drug lord known as El Chapo, was captured again after a fierce gun battle near the coast in his home state, Sinaloa, Mexican officials said. “Mission accomplished: We have him,” President Enrique Peña Nieto announced.

The arrest ended one of the most extensive manhunts undertaken by the government, involving every law enforcement agency in the country and help from the United States.... 

...The government said late Friday that it had been watching a home in Los Mochis for more than a month when law enforcement officers finally saw movement on Thursday. Officials said that during the ensuing raid, Mr. Guzmán managed to slip away through the sewers, and then he surfaced, stole a car and was apprehended. The authorities took him to a hotel to wait for backup.

The capture of the drug lord concludes a deeply embarrassing chapter for the government of Mr. Peña Nieto, which has been waylaid by a series of security and corruption scandals that reached their low point with Mr. Guzmán’s daring escape....

...With operations that span much of Mexico, his organization has specialized in smuggling tons of drugs into the United States through vast networks of tunnels deep beneath the border. His success has made him among the richest drug dealers in history: Forbes magazine estimated his net worth at close to $1 billion....

He might HAVE BEEN worth $1 billion US, but, Mexico has the right to confiscate every dollar of that money. It is blood money. Thousands of Mexicans have died due to the viciousness of the drug cartel, that money is not his and it never was.

I find it insulting and disgusting that Forbes even reports his worth. What has Forbes become a secret admirer of organized crime? 

Political pressure by the gun lobby supports right wing extremist groups.

If the militias in the USA were proven to be criminals, the gun lobby would not have a reason to sell military style weapons. The struggle to remove dangerous guns from USA streets would be over. Right? The only reason the organized militias exist is because of some odd belief the USA government is going to take away their guns and enter into some sort of dictatorship.

The militia groups and the NRA and other gun lobby organizations are silent partners in gun violence in the USA.

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Rep. Keith Ellison, Democrat of Minnesota, signed a letter last year asking President Obama to reopen the extremism office at the Department of Homeland Security.

January 9, 2016
By Ron Nixon

...Although the F.B.I. (click here) has primary responsibility for countering terrorism, the D.H.S. conducts analysis and intelligence gathering, and tries to spot troubling trends.

Representative Keith Ellison, Democrat of Minnesota, who last year signed a letter with 15 lawmakers asking President Obama to reopen the extremism office at homeland security and update the 2009 report, agreed with Mr. Johnson.

Mr. Ellison said the killing of nine people at a black church in Charleston, S.C., by Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old accused shooter who said he planned to “start a race war,” along with the current standoff in Oregon, show why the government needs to scrutinize the growth of antigovernment groups.

“The Department of Homeland Security needs to deal with Muslim extremists, but don’t ignore every other kind of threat,” Mr. Ellison said.

Citing data from a 2013 report produced by the United States Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center, Mr. Ellison noted that, “Right-wing extremists have launched an average of 330 attacks a year and killed about 250 people between 2002 and 2011. These are dangerous people.”...

The right wing extremists tried desperately to put "The Southern Poverty Law Center" out of business. It does invaluable work and no different than Planned Parenthood it is targeted for right wing political agendas.

What happens when militias overwhelm the National Guard?

January 4, 2016

In its annual count of militias,  (click here) released today, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) identified 276 militia groups – up from 202 in 2014, a 37 percent increase.

The number represents a renewal of growth after several years of declines. The movement grew explosively after President Obama was elected, from 42 groups in 2008 to a peak of 334 in 2011 before declining in recent years....

In addition to the militias, there are 784 active hate groups that see a confluence between prison and home.

February 10, 2014
By Keith Coffman

A neo-Nazi parolee murdered Colorado's prison chief (click here) last year after forcing a pizza delivery man whom he kidnapped and later killed to record a message denouncing the prison system, federal prosecutors said in a court filing released on Monday.
The disclosure is the first time authorities have publicly stated that ex-convict Evan Spencer Ebel killed the head of the Colorado Department of Corrections, Tom Clements, and 27-year-old pizza delivery driver Nathan Leon.
Previously, investigators stopped short of calling Ebel the trigger man in the two murders, saying only that the weapon used to kill the two men matched the handgun Ebel used when he was killed in shootout with Texas police days after the murders.
The existence of the audiotape surfaced in the case of Stevie Vigil, a Denver-area woman who pleaded guilty to buying a 9mm handgun for Ebel, an ex-convict who skipped out on his parole days before the murders in March.
Clements, 58, was gunned down at his home in Monument, Colorado, about 45 miles south of Denver.
"Ebel rang the doorbell and shot and killed Clements when he answered the door," prosecutors said....

Ebel should never had possessed a gun, but, there was another party involved sympathetic to his reasons and assisted in breaking the law. The same was true of Adam Lanza in Sandy Hook. Background checks would not have stopped those murders. If the guns aren't on the shelf they can't be purchased by people willing to circumvent the law for an expression of love.

As much as right wing gun groups such as the NRA exist, they are making up reasons to keep  gun sales high. The NRA assaults the sovereign rights of the USA and backs sales regardless of the outcome of that weapons on the streets of the USA.

No list of those with mental health illnesses will prevent anyone to supply them with weapons. There is only one way to end this level of violence in the USA and that is to limit the dangerous guns from our country. It worked before, it will work again.