California cannot exist without the "Mountain Messenger." It is a historic building with a glorious past and dedicated future.

The Mountain Messenger recaptured by Carl Butz (click here). 

Enjoy a newspaper (click here) that traces its origins to the California Gold Rush and visit the historic building where it has been published since the 1850s. With roots dating to 1853, the Mountain Messenger continues that tradition by covering today’s news in this gold rush town. Whether covering Sierra County government, local events, or even the local sheriff’s blotter, Editor/Curmudgeon Don Russell and his staff provide a uniquely local slant on the community.

Purported to be California’s oldest weekly publication, the Mountain Messenger is published weekly in Downieville and is Sierra County’s only legal publication. The Mountain Messenger dates to 1853 and began publication as the Gibsonville Trumpet in the former mining camp of Gibsonville, Sierra County. The paper was sold in 1855 and moved to La Porte, then in Sierra County and renamed The Mountain Messenger. In 1864 the paper moved to Downieville where it has been continuously published since....

Former Governor Bill Weld received 1 delegate from the Republican New Hampshire Primary.

He would have been 211 years old today.

The last number of USA troops impacted with brain injury due to concussive force of Iranian missile strike is 109.

February 11, 2020

By Ryan Pickrell

President Donald Trump on Monday (click here) doubled down on his assertion that the injuries suffered by US troops during an Iranian missile attack on US forces are "not very serious.

Retaliating for the death of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani at the hands of the US military, Iran fired over a dozen ballistic missiles at US and coalition forces in Iraq in early January. In the immediate aftermath, the president announced that "no Americans were harmed" and moved to de-escalate tensions.

Since then, the number of US troops diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injuries has steadily risen to 109, the Pentagon said on Monday.

Symptoms of a TBI can be slow to manifest and sometimes harder to detect than other injuries. The Department of Defense has offered this as an explanation for initial misreporting on injuries....

Traumatic Brain Injury in Professional Football: An Evidence Based Perspective (click here)

So in professional football TBI is an issue, but, when it comes to professional USA soldiers it is not that serious.

Now Trump and his attorney general doesn't care at all if their corruption is completely transparent.

Kidnapping a therapy dog is a rather serious crime. Companion Animal theft is a crime.

January 25, 2019

By Jessica Kwong

President Donald Trump's (click here) former adviser Roger Stone, who was arrested Friday morning following an indictment by special counsel Robert Mueller, allegedly told radio personality Randy Credico he would take away his therapy dog if he cooperated with the Russian probe.

According to Mueller's indictment, Stone, who faces charges of obstruction, witness tampering and making false statements, made the threats to Credico by email around April 9, 2018. Person 2 refers to Credico, who was allegedly an intermediary between Stone and WikiLeaks, which released a trove of hacked emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign during the 2016 presidential election.

"You are a rat. A stoolie," Stone allegedly wrote to Credico. "You backstab your friends-run your mouth my lawyers are dying Rip you to shreds."

Stone also wrote that he would "take that dog away from you."

Credico's therapy dog is a white Coton de Tulear called Bianca.

On or around the same day, Stone wrote: "I am so ready. Let's get it on. Prepare to die [expletive]."...

Any threat, actual kidnapping or worse of a therapy dog should be far more severe than the law renders as justice for a household pet.

A therapy dog relates to the mental health and/or emotional stability of a human being. That is far different than a pet. A therapy dog allows otherwise disable people to conduct their business as usual. The law allows for the importance of therapy animals and in that lies an understanding of the depth of meaning to the dog's life as well. 

February 23, 2018
By Ceylan Pumphrey, Esq.

There are some states that specifically address the theft of an animal. (click here) In these states, the charges and penalties are usually provided in the statute. For example, Michigan has a statute specifically making it illegal to steal or confine a licensed dog. The penalty for conviction under this statute is imprisonment in county jail for 60 to 90 days and/or a fine of $50 to $100.

In states where animal theft is not specifically addressed, stealing an animal is usually encompassed within the state's theft or larceny laws. In these states, the penalties and sentencing for theft are usually determined based on the value of the property that has been stolen. And while pet owners don't like it, pets are considered personal property under the law. Previous convictions can also play a factor when determining the penalties for stealing an animal.

If you've been arrested for stealing an animal, it's a good idea to contact a local criminal defense attorney who can explain the laws of your state and the possible penalties for being convicted of pet theft....

That said, the Trump administration is out of control. There is nothing good or decent about this administration and now it is obvious.

February 12, 2020
By Quint Forgey

A key witness in Roger Stone's trial (click here) is defending the quartet of prosecutors who withdrew from the federal case against the controversial Republican operative, accusing President Donald Trump of targeting the attorneys with a "vile smear job."

"As the son of a man who spent 10 years in prison, I have consistantly [sic] opposed incarceration," Randy Credico, a longtime Stone associate and colorful New York radio host, tweeted on Wednesday.

"That being said, Trump's vile smear job on the 4 DC prosecutors were appalling and ominous," he added. "In my experience, I found them to be professional, moral, ethical and non partisan.

Credico's social media post came after the Justice Department on Tuesday backed off a prior sentencing proposal for Stone, a longtime informal political adviser to Trump. The president had been critical of prosecutors' initial recommendation, which called for Stone to serve a prison term of seven to nine years....

THE TAMPERING by the attorney general Bill Barr and Impeached President Donald John Trump of Stone's sentencing extends past the understanding that of special treatment because he is Trump's life long buddy. It goes to the very center of justice in the USA. High profile cases frequently become a focus of how justice is rendered in this country and Roger Stone belongs in prison.

I find Mr. Credico's reaction more than interesting. I think it reflects the way citizens in the USA think about the scales of justice. I think he is typical of Americans familiar with the brevity of the law and rather than justice, injustice.

These actions by Barr and Trump mark a new low for the GOP when I thought they couldn't go any lower than the Impeachment Trial.

I hope Mr. Credico will continue to speak about the way justice is administered in the USA. What is occupy with US Attorney office in the country is just wrong. There is no MAYBE, it is just wrong.

He won't do it.

Even with Putin insisting to extend the New START, Trump won't do it. He hates the black man that negotiated it, signed it and saw it come into effect. I strongly suggest Russia and the USA draw up a New START II and move forward while there is still a year until the end of New START.

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) (click here) was signed April 8, 2010, in Prague by the United States and Russia and entered into force on Feb. 5, 2011. New START replaced the 1991 START I treaty, which expired December 2009, and superseded the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT), which terminated when New START entered into force....

February 10, 2020

...The New Start treaty, (click here) which limits the United States and Russia each to 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads and 700 delivery vehicles, is set to expire Feb. 5, 2021. A five-year extension procedure was included in the treaty, and President Vladimir Putin of Russia has urged the United States to begin talks to implement it. Unfortunately, the Trump administration seems to be in no hurry. An extension is in the interest of both sides: The treaty provides for intrusive verification and ensures stability in nuclear arsenals.

If New Start lapses, both countries will be free to deploy more nuclear warheads and build new generations of weapons and delivery systems. While both have been steadily modernizing nuclear forces in asynchronous cycles, they were adhering to New Start limits. All bets are off without it. Russia has lately boasted of new programs such as a hypersonic glide vehicle, and the United States has confirmed deployment of a new, low-yield nuclear warhead, the W76-2, on a submarine-based ballistic missile. These developments are but a hint of what will come with unrestrained nuclear competition....

February 7, 2020
By Cecilia Yap and Jeff Kearns

President Rodrigo Duterte (click here) plans to order the termination of a longstanding military pact with the U.S., the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported, though the U.S. State Department reiterated that relations between the nations remain strong.

The Inquirer report, citing presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo, follows Duterte’s threat in January to end the agreement after Washington canceled a visa for a senator who used to lead his drug war.

Such a move could upend the decades-long alliance as Beijing continues its rise as a military power from the contested waters of the South China Sea to nations across Asia. The threat hasn’t been officially confirmed by the government. The U.S. has been seeking to reassure allies in Southeast Asia of its commitment to the region....

...The U.S. alliance with the Philippines is its oldest in the region and remains as important as ever, the official said, without directly addressing the Inquirer report....

October 7, 2019
By Richard Javad Heydarian 

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (click here) was given the red carpet treatment during a recently concluded five-day visit to Russia, underscoring the two sides’ budding economic and strategic ties.

While counterterrorism, defense and trade all featured prominently on the diplomatic agenda, discussions of possible Russian energy exploration in the South China Sea sent a strong signal to China, while mooted big arms deals aimed a shot across the US’s bow.

By forging closer ties with Russia, Duterte is seeking to recalibrate the Philippines’ diplomacy vis-à-vis China, a maritime rival and threat, and America, a long-time treaty ally which has nonetheless sharply criticized his government’s human rights record....

Since when are deaths not deaths? Duterte claims his death squads are making legitimate progress on drug dealers. Drug dealers? The death penalty is not issued for drug dealers in any First World Country, unless they committed murder. Even "El Chappo" received a life sentence, but, in the Phillipines under Deterte, drug ANYTHING is killed by death squads.

June 10, 2019
By Nick Aspinwall

The body of an alleged drug dealer lies on the ground after he was killed by an unidentified assailant in Manila on March 23, 2018.

Early in the morning of March 30, (click here) Philippine security forces set out to execute dozens of search warrants in the remote towns of Canlaon, Manjuyod, and Santa Catalina on the country’s southern Negros Island. Within hours, the operation had left 14 farmers dead. The Philippine National Police says the “Negros 14,” as they are now known, were communist rebels killed after refusing arrest and firing at police officers. Filipino and international rights groups refute this claim. A fact-finding report by a Philippines rights coalition, based on witness interviews, says that police forced family members to stand outside of their homes before entering and killing their targets, planting firearms as they departed in order to claim they faced armed foes.

The chilling report conjures images of the Philippine drug war, known as Oplan Tokhang—“tokhang” translates to “knock and plead.” Drug war tactics, which the country’s human rights commission says could be responsible for as many as 27,000 extrajudicial killings, have become the foundation of President Rodrigo Duterte’s developing counterinsurgency strategy—and rights groups allege its range of targets is growing to include an expanding list of those whom Duterte and his allies consider their enemies....

There needs to be global sanctions against Duterte and his henchmen.

Trump has third world leadership capacity.

Trump wants to slash spending on Medicaid and food stamps to pay for his border wall. I am glad there is a US House that can draw up a reasonable budget.

February 9, 2020
By Caitlin Emma and Jennifer Scholtes

President Donald Trump‘s budget (click here) request on Monday will pitch billions of dollars in cuts to non-defense spending despite a budget deal he already negotiated with Congress, in addition to seeking major savings by targeting the federal safety net, a senior administration official told POLITICO on Sunday.

Trump also will ask Congress for a slight spending increase for the Pentagon as he releases his $4.8 trillion budget blueprint for the upcoming fiscal year....

February 10, 2020
By Jessie Yeung

..."To date, (click here) no one has tested positive for novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) among the 195 in quarantine. Two individuals with symptoms were retested and also found to be negative, and have since recovered," said Public Health Officer Cameron Kaiser, in a statement from the Riverside County Public Health Department....

None of the State Department employees can be accused of spreading the virus.

...The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has listed 398 people under investigation for the novel coronavirus in 37 states, according to an update posted to the agency's website on Monday. Of them, 12 have tested positive, 318 negative and 68 are still pending...

It is long overdue in getting the passengers off the cruise ship. The air is unfiltered and the chances of it spreading are considerable. However, they should be tested as they exit the ship into New Jersey. Precautions have to be maintained and the testing on the ship may have been inadequate. It is wrong to continue to allow them to stay on the ship. The ship itself will have to be decontaminated, especially sources of food and water.

...After being delayed when four passengers became ill, The Anthem of the Seas will take off today at 3 p.m. ET, according to Royal Caribbean. The ship was docked in New Jersey while the family of four and other passengers were tested for the coronavirus....


This is Hong Kong construction? Like, what?

"As the pipeline that transfers feces is connected to the air pipe, it is very likely for the virus in the feces to be transmitted through the air fan into the toilet," Professor Yuen said. 

Hong Kong basically has three sewage treatment plants. (click here)

Two of the latest four coronavirus infections in the UK are healthcare workers, and British authorities are now “working urgently to identify all patients and other healthcare workers who may have come into close contact” with them, Public Health England Medical Director, Yvonne Doyle, said in a statement.

The UK has a real problem if the health workers involved were not exclusively taking care of patients with the virus.

February 10, 2020
By Keith Bradsher

President Xi Jinping of China, center, inspecting a Beijing neighborhood on Monday, in a photo released by the state news agency Xinhua.

Credit...
...More than two week (click here)
after China locked down a major city to stop a dangerous viral outbreak, one of the world’s largest economies remains largely idle. Much of the country was supposed to have reopened by now, but its empty streets, quiet factories and legions of inactive workers suggest that weeks or months could pass before this vital motor of global growth is humming again....

...New figures show the authorities still have a long way to go before the outbreak can be tamed. On Monday, the authorities reported the most deaths from the new coronavirus in a single day, raising the death toll by 97 to 908....

It is extremely sad to see China go through this, but, it is serious. The United Nations needs to consider developing a method to get humanitarian aid to the people. Methods of clean water and food are very important. The idea China can sustain itself without assistance is a bit unrealistic. While other countries contain the virus, China has to maintain its' people. A weak body is a weak immune system and could act as a facilitator to the virus.

China is still an emerging economy and while that is all very interesting it is also a communist country that takes the people seriously. They won't be putting profits before survival, nor should they.

"Good Night, Moon"

The Full

15.4 day old moon

99.5 percent full 

...February's full moon (click here) is called the full snow moon, named by Native Americans in honor of February's oft-heavy snow, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac....

The Climate Crisis is personally felt and as consumer Americans have tried in every way to eliminate GHG (GreenHouse Gas) pollution from everyday life. Americans need to be commended for keeping their oars in the water to make strides without government taking on the responsibility. It is time for the federal government to take on the Climate Crisis and end emissions of GHGs. 

Wall Street takes their cues from the government. These companies are huge and ungainly. We witnessed "The London Whale" (click here) to know exactly the extent companies are out of control. That is just one example.

If the USA federal government stated every company in the country has to exhibit ZERO GHG emissions by 2030, it would get done. The federal government can easily achieve that goal and provide financial incentives to do so, in the way of tax credits should companies ever pay taxes after Trump's trillions of dollar giveaway.

Companies will obey federal law. Additionally, companies have to be fined hefty fines and not just a slap on the wrist that is already figured into operating expenses. The laws of the USA are supposed to mean something and by increasing fines companies will pay attention to the brevity of the law. The CEOs should be jailed or put in prison for DELIBERATE disobedience in environmental laws.

Besides demanding companies pay attention to their contribution of GHGs, they have to maintain SAFETY at all times.

Remember the gas leak in Massachusetts (click here)? It wasn't the only one.

March 7, 2018

Exxon Mobil Corp’s XTO Energy unit (click here) said on Wednesday it plugged a blown out natural gas well in rural southeast Ohio that had been leaking for nearly three weeks.

The Feb. 15 blowout in Belmont County had spewed millions of cubic feet of gas into the air, triggering evacuations of nearby residences and raising concerns among environmental groups about health and environmental impacts.

Exposure to low levels of natural gas is not harmful to human health, according to the National Institutes of Health, but extremely high levels can cause loss of consciousness or death by displacing oxygen.

“We would like to press for a full accounting of the damage,” said Melanie Houston, director of climate programs for the Ohio Environmental Council, an environmental advocacy group.

XTO spokeswoman Karen Matusic said the company could not immediately say how much gas leaked from the well, which was about to be put into production after being drilled and fracked.

The petroleum industry is the most dangerous and deadly form of energy on Earth. People have died because of the use of methane as a utility and countless homes have been burned to the ground as well of the decades where oil was king. The era of the petroleum industry is over. There can be no more wells or pipelines that endanger water supplies of oil or gas.

Solar energy (click here) what is so hard about this?

ExpertPower Alpha 2400 Lithium Portable Solar Generator (click here)

Power Redefined: The Alpha2400 is featured a 2400Wh capacity (3.7V/648648mAh) battery storage for a long-time running which makes it the most powerful and portable in-class solar generator-- strong enough to run mini-fridges, TVs, microwaves, blenders, CPAP, washing machines and all other heavy-duty electronics under 1000W.

Plug and play: This generator provides portable, on-demand power to more than 8 devices simultaneously just by pushing of a button. Meanwhile, an intuitive LED screen streamlines data with battery capacity, input power, output power, and even condition to make sure you're informed and prepared for any situation.

Renewable Energy: The generator is equipped with a built-in MPPT solar charger controller able to handle solar panels up to 500W so you can make the most out of the massive 2400W lithium battery while on the road or for emergency back-up needed.

Green Power Solution: It has an impressive 1000W pure sine wave inverter installed, producing continuously 1000W power by 2*AC outlet, 4*USB, 1*Type-C and 1* 12V DC Outputs, which provide the same clean and consistent energy you would receive from outlets at home, and still protect all your sensitive devices without the noise or fumes of typical gas generators.

Complete Protection BMS: An intelligent on-board battery management system (BMS) will ensure you're universally protected against over-voltage, low-voltage, overload, and short circuits while simultaneously regulating temperature and charging/discharging. With the consumer in mind, the Alpha 2400 is fully tested and certified to FCC And CE standards.

We are there.

Got that?

Stop thinking green energy is an enemy and impossible to use.

The future is here.

It is at Amazon.

Get with it !!!!!

The bee everyone in America understands pollinates their gardens and flowers is now endangered. How did we get here?

This is a frame (click here) from the film, "Ghost in the Making," (click here) showing Clap Bolt with the now endangered rusty-patched bumble bee.

US Fish and Wildlife:

In September 2016, (click here) the Service listed 7 species of yellow-faced bees as endangered. These were the first bees in the United States listed under the ESA. However, they are only found in Hawaii and they are not bumble bees. The rusty patched bumble bee is the first bee listed in the Continental United States (all states outside of Hawaii) and it is the first bumble bee listed....

February 6, 2020
By Bob Berwyn

Type "bumblebees" into Google (click here) and one of the first results is a University of Minnesota webpage describing how the furry, flying pollinators have "special adaptations for colder weather including their long, thick hair, and are more commonly found in colder climates."

That's a good clue that they will face challenges in a warming world, and new research by scientists at the University of Ottawa suggests that extreme heat waves have already driven some local North American and European bumblebee populations to the edge of extinction. 

Measurements of bumblebee species over time "provide evidence of rapid and widespread declines across Europe and North America," the authors of the study wrote. More frequent extreme heat waves with temperatures higher than bees can tolerate help explain the "widespread bumblebee decline," they added....

..."Bumblebees are disappearing from areas eight times as fast as they are recolonizing others," he said. "They are the best pollinators in wild landscapes and really important for crops like tomatoes, squash and berries."

The results of the paper are surprisingly robust, given the lack of basic information in North America about bumblebee distribution and abundance, said University of Maryland biologist David Inouye, who has studied bumblebees at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, Colorado. He was not involved in the new study, but some of his research is cited by the authors.

"There is still very little, if anything, known about how most of the 4,000 native bee species in the USA are doing," Inouye said. A new federal monitoring effort could help improve the situation, he added.

The new study analyzed more than half a million bumblebee observations of 66 species in Europe and North America from two time periods; 1901 to 1974 and 2000 to 2014. The researchers mapped where the bees are now compared to where they used to be historically, and matched those records with changes in temperature and precipitation....

The 20 Countries that emitted the most CO2 in 2016 (click here)

1. China - 9056.8MT (Metric Megatons) 

2. United States of America - 4833.1 MT

3. India - 2076.8MT

4. Russian Federation - 1438.6MT

Of the four top ranking polluters of CO2 the USA is the ONLY First World country.

I take issue with US Senator Bernie Sanders when it comes to what countries are most responsible for CO2 emissions. The USA as of 2016 was still number two and only preceded by China, still considered an emerging economy.

When, not if, the USA achieves zero greenhouse gas emissions, it will end 16% of CO2 emissions and below the USA is ranked 4th among the top 4 methane emission countries.

Methane emissions (kt (kiloton) of CO2 equivalent) - Country Ranking

Rank	Country	Value
1	China	1,752,290.00
2	India	636,395.80
3	Russia	545,818.60
4	United States	499,809.30

From the World Bank, the USA is still a high polluter and must stem these emissions.

In 2017, (click here) the United States emitted 6.5 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases (CO2e). Carbon dioxide accounted for the largest percentage of greenhouse gases (82%), followed by methane (10%), nitrous oxide (6%), and other greenhouse gases (3%).

In realizing volume alone is not the complete understanding of the greenhouse gas emissions, ALL greenhouse gases have to come under control and end.

The Rose Breasted Grosbeak can be a delicate species.

July 9, 2012

Operation Nest Mirror (click here)

Even for birds, things sometimes don’t go as planned.  In fact, we’ve found that for Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks, life often doesn’t follow its intended course.  None of the Grosbeak nests we’ve found have lasted until the chicks fledged, and many were “popped” (eaten) or abandoned before the eggs even had a chance to hatch.   After six failures, but before we resigned ourselves to the apparent curse of the Pheucticus, we did a little research.  Friesen, Cadman, and MacKay found that only 46% of the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak nests they kept tabs on made it to completion, i. e. 54% of their nests did not yield any fledglings (1999).  Compared to our 0% success rate, 46% was looking pretty good.  However, Dungay, Woods, and Nichols reported a success rate of only 32% (2001).  Consultation of the Birds of North America account revealed that our Grosbeaks’ low success rate may also be a consequence of the fragmented nature of the available habitat.  Despite their preference for fringe habitats, Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks also tend to have a lower nesting success rate in more fragmented habitats....

All About Birds:(click here)

Could be vulnerable to loss of habitat, but current numbers apparently stable.

Two males share the record for the oldest Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Both birds were at least 12 years, 11 months old when recaptured and released during bnding operations. One was banded in 1972 in Vermont and found in the same state in 1984. The other was banded in Maryland in 1976, and recaptured in 1987 in the same state.

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks breed in moist deciduous forests, deciduous-coniferous forests, thickets, and semiopen habitats across the northeastern United States, ranging into southeastern and central Canada. They gravitate toward second-growth woods, suburban areas, parks, gardens, and orchards, as well as shrubby forest edges next to streams, ponds, marshes, roads, or pastures. During migration, grosbeaks stop in a wide variety of habitats including primary and secondary forest, wet and dry forest, shrub thickets, pine woods, shrubby dune ridges, scrub, urban areas, and wetlands. They spend the winter in forests and semiopen habitats in Central and South America, often in middle elevations and highlands (up to about 11,000 feet in Colombia).

Males sing to establish territories and attract females. When a female approaches, the male rebuffs her for a day or two before accepting her as a mate. Once mated, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks appear to be monogamous. A breeding pair will tolerate migrant males in their territory if the intruder is silent. Otherwise, territorial males ward off male intruders by spreading their tails, flicking their wings, raising their crown feathers, and often chasing the intruder away. Males respond strongly to recordings of Rose-breasted Grosbeak songs and Black-headed Grosbeak songs, but they attack mounted specimens of their own species 5 times more often than they attack specimens of the other species. Females drive off other females that approach their mate. Both male and female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks share incubation, brooding, and feeding duties at the nest. Nest predators include Blue Jays and Common Grackles—which breeding grosbeaks will mob noisily and aggressively near the nest—along with red and gray squirrels. Adult grosbeaks are hunted by predators such as Cooper’s Hawks and Sharp-shinned Hawks. During migration and winter Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are found individually, in pairs, or in loose flocks, sometimes with other species.

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are common forest birds but their populations experienced a slow decline from 1966 to 2015, resulting in a cumulative loss of about 35% during that time, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population of 4.1 million, with 46% spending some part of the year in the U.S., 21% in Mexico, and 54% breeding in Canada. The species rates an 11 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score. Rose-breasted Grosbeak is not on the 2016 State of North America's Birds' Watch List. These birds nest in saplings, so their numbers could be dropping as forests start to mature over the eastern United States. Because they look and sound pretty, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are commonly trapped for sale as cage birds in their wintering range, and this has an unknown impact on their population.

India needs to join international bird organizations and take up legislation to protect birds.

Audubon International (click here)

February 9, 2020
By Ankita G. Menon

Last year’s extended monsoon (click here) and the delay in arrival of winter have hit the migration pattern of winter birds in the wetlands of Thane this season.

Climate changes and construction activities in Thane, have driven away birds such as waders, flycatchers and eagles from the city early this year, said bird lovers in the city.

The recent figures published on www.ebird.org, a website which keeps the statistics of birds provided by bird-watchers worldwide, show that 2,700 birds of 135 species were spotted within Thane this winter.

The number is dismal compared to 3,855 of 147 species that were spotted in February 2019.

Since December, migratory birds start arriving in the city from extremely cold places across the world and leave after March.

In November 2019, a total of 2754 birds were spotted during the bird count conducted by Enviro-Vigil, which regularly conducts such events in Thane.

Avinash Bhagat, an avid bird watcher and expert with Enviro-Vigil, said, “On an average from 2013 to 2019, we spotted around 252 species of birds in the city. However, in the past two bird counts in 2019, there has been a drop in the number of bird species. While February saw 147 species of birds, it dropped to 142 species by November. The most recent count of this month published on eBird shows presence of 135 species in Thane.”...

The other New York State indicator species is the "Rose Breasted Grosbeak."

But, where is the red breast? Exactly. When viewing the bird, in this case a male, from the back it will never give away it's identity. However, the back's plumage is rather unique and gives great indication as to what the bird looks like from the front.

The

On this blog and in my testimony to the USA EPA regarding CO2 emissions it was stated one of the consequences of the climate crisis will be severe rainfall. In the newspapers of the time, it was reported there would be high levels of rain to any area and showed a person or child running through the ran or up stairs from a subway with an umbrella. Considering the degree severe rainfall is occurring, it was sadly understated.

February 8, 2020
By Donald Orr

In this Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020, photo, Chantel Fuller watches as water floods her home in Thorn Hollow outside of Adams, Ore. Fuller's husband was involved in a rescue attempt that left him and three others stranded in the home as water from the Umatilla River rose around them Thursday evening, and were rescued by helicopter.

Residents in northeastern Umatilla County (click here) and parts of the Umatilla Indian Reservation that have been hit by major floodwaters are being urged to evacuate.

In a statement released late Friday night, the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office said county residents are advised to assess their resources and determine whether they are able to shelter in place for several weeks.

According to the evacuation notice from the UCSO, people should act fast.

“You are advised to LEAVE IMMEDIATELY! Gather any belonging and make efforts to protect your home. If you stay, emergency services may not be available to assist you further,” the statement reads.

Rescue crews will be on the ground and in the air by helicopter Saturday to attempt to make contact with residents. Officials said this will be the last evacuation notice residents will receive.

“Today’s priority is search and rescue, trying to get out to those areas that are cut off. [I]f they’re able to shelter in place for several weeks they’re welcome to stay, but we’re really encouraging people to evacuate,” said Kevin Jeffries with the Oregon Office of Emergency Management....