Misrepresentation of facts has been perfected by the Russians over the years.

If only emails could talk, but, human beings were present when all sorts of decisions were being made. Russians treat emails as if they are law. There are still human beings that make decisions based on facts and not email trails. 

January 10, 2018
By Louise Matsakis

...The emails appear to span (click here) from the end of 2016 to the spring of 2017, and focus on correspondence between antidoping investigators who helped uncover a wide-scale, systematic doping scheme carried out by Russian athletes. It's not clear yet whether the emails are entirely authentic; Russian hacking groups have snuck false information into their leaks before. But the World Anti-Doping Agency Wednesday indirectly acknowledged that the emails were real, but not current.

"The Fancy Bears are a criminal organization which seeks to undermine the work of WADA and its partners," says WADA spokesperson Maggie Durand. "Everything that they have posted today is dated."

The hack appears to be retaliation for kicking the Russia out of 2018 PyeongChang games, at which only a handful of the country's athletes will be allowed to compete....

If Russia didn't conduct itself so suspiciously, it might have a better case. One of these days, Russia will actually act like a sovereign country rather than a subversive unit of global security.

Russia is untrustworthy. Its politics sours it's potential as a burgeoning economy.

4 August 2016
By Owen Gibson

The author of the devastating report (click here) that laid bare lurid details of state-sponsored Russian doping has accused the International Olympic Committee of completely misrepresenting his findings, which were never designed to prove individual doping cases.

Professor Richard McLaren said the IOC, which did not speak to him or his team about their findings before controversially deciding to let Russian athletes compete in Rio subject to certain conditions, have turned his conclusions upside down. Meanwhile, he said, the debate about the issue and the future of the anti-doping system had become “political and hysterical”....

...“I would like to see the debate turn to the contents of the report and the spin that has been put on it that it is all incorrect and allegations. Look at what is there and what the data is and make a decision on that basis and don’t turn it into what it isn’t – a doping results-management investigation of specific athletes. It never was that.”

With the Russians and the IOC essentially claiming that McLaren’s report only amounted to allegations, he reiterated that his findings were proved beyond reasonable doubt and revealed that he had supporting evidence stored in a secret location.

“I have the evidence, I have it secured. I have the evidence backed up by forensic analysis of databases, sample bottles, I have laboratory evidence of some of those samples. It’s true I haven’t revealed,” he said....

The samples were of individual athletes, but, the McLaren report was about the bigger picture and COMPROMISED athletes by their government.

As to Russia; it is ridiculous that Putin's politics hangs in the balance of every aspect of Russian society. Putin's populous Russia is silly and immature as an international power. It has nuclear weapons, but, other than that what does Russia call great about it's accomplishments. Nobels? Olympic metals? Internationally acclaimed cultural icons?

"Just sayin'"

11 January 2018

The pumice raft spread across some 400 sq km of ocean. (click here)

Scientists (click here) have shed new light on a powerful undersea eruption north of New Zealand that proved larger than any on land in the past century.

In a just-published study, researchers have pieced together the 2012 eruption of the seafloor Havre volcano, which lies in the Kermadec Islands, about 1000km off the North Island.
The 2012 blow - the largest deep-ocean eruption of the past century - was revealed when satellite imagery picked up a pumice raft spread across some 400sq km of ocean.

"We knew it was a large-scale eruption, approximately equivalent to the biggest eruption we've seen on land in the 20th century," said the study's lead author, University of Tasmania volcanologist Dr Rebecca Carey....

It is the kind of place I would expect to find pirate treasure. 

A view of the ROV landing on the seafloor at Havre submarine volcano at 900 metres below sea level, in order to retrieve a heat flow monitor. The Remotely Operated Vehicle Jason is about the size of a large 4WD. 

Below is the location of the seismic event recently. The island is considered an ecoregional unit as part of New Zealand. (click here)

A strong and deep earthquake (click here) registered by the USGS as M6.0 hit Kermadec Islands region, New Zealand at 07:03 UTC on June 29, 2017. The agency is reporting a depth of 392.3 km (244 miles).Geoscience Australia is reporting M5.8 (preliminary) at a depth of 448 km (278 miles). GFZ Potsdamis reporting M6.0 at a depth of 424 km (263 miles). 

There have been 5 major earthquakes with and without tsunamis along the Puerto Rican Trench in the past 500 years.

It is a strange place.

...The Puerto Rico Trench, (click here) is located at a boundary between two plates that slide past each other with only a small component of subduction. The trench is less deep where the component of subduction is larger. The unusually deep sea floor is not limited to the trench, but also extends farther south toward Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Trench is also associated with the most negative gravity anomaly on earth, -380 milliGal, which indicates the presence of an active downward force. Finally, a thick limestone platform, which was originally deposited in flat layers near sea level, is now tilted northward at a uniform angle. Its northward edge is at a depth of 4,200 m, and its southern edge can be found on land in Puerto Rico at an elevation of a few hundred meters. Many tectonic models have been proposed to explain this geologically fascinating, tectonically active region; however, none have gained acceptance, and the region remains poorly understood, largely because its underwater location makes it difficult to study....

Reports are there are no casualties.

January 10, 2018

An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 (click here) that struck near remote islands belonging to Honduras on Tuesday was felt across northern Central America, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage.

The quake rattled windows in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, roughly 323 miles to the east, and it was felt at least as far north as the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. No damage was immediately reported.

Rodrigo Anaya Rodriguez was in a hammock inside his house near the popular tourist site of Bacalar Lake, Mexico, near the country’s Caribbean coast, when he felt three tremors.

“It felt like a bulldozer was driving past,” he said. “It didn’t last long but was very violent.”

He ran to his balcony and saw electricity posts and cables swaying....

It is a currency without a sovereign.

Warren Buffet is getting attention recently because he is adding two high level people to Berkshire Hathaway. Warren Buffett wants to secure the future of his long lived company well into the future. When it comes to gambling with Bitcoin, Buffett will have none of it. He is the smartest investor in the financial markets. He doesn't play games. The investments Buffet makes are solid and dependable, not fly by the seat of your pants "bubbles."

January 11, 2018
By James Burton and Phoebe Weston

Legendary investor Warren Buffett (click here) has warned Bitcoin backers face disaster – and suggested the online currency craze will come crashing down.
Bitcoin surged as much as 1,900 per cent last year before moving sharply lower again.
But regulators, bankers and experienced traders have warned it is a toxic bubble that will eventually ruin many people involved, according to the Daily Mail.
Buffett – known as the Sage of Omaha for his incredible moneymaking skills
– said: "In terms of cryptocurrencies, generally, I can say with almost certainty that they will come to a bad ending."...

China knows who its customer is, the American Middle Class.

Will China end the proposed $1.5 billion Trump Deficit? The USA Middle Class should be valued by all of those trading with the USA.

January 10, 2018

China added to bond investors’ jitters (click here) on Wednesday as traders braced for what they feared could be the end of a three-decade bull market.

Senior government officials in Beijing reviewing the nation’s foreign-exchange holdings have recommended slowing or halting purchases of U.S. Treasuries, according to people familiar with the matter. The news comes as global debt markets were already selling off amid signs that central banks are starting to step back after years of bond-buying stimulus. Yields on 10-year Treasuries rose for a fifth day, touching the highest since March....

Sanctuary cities. We need more of them.

January 10, 2018
By Maria Sacchetti
...The order issued late (click here) Tuesday by U.S. District Judge William Alsup says safeguards against deportation must remain in place for the nearly 690,000people in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program while a legal challenge to ending the program proceeds.

It remained unclear Wednesday when the DACA recipients, who were brought to this country illegally as children and are known as “dreamers,” could resume applying for renewals of their work permits as a result of the California ruling, which Alsup said should apply nationwide. Advocates said it would depend on the Department of Homeland Security, which runs the program.

The Trump administration has vowed to challenge Alsup’s ruling.

“They can’t go back and renew today,” said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center. “We expect there to be a lot of confusion in communities about what that means.”...

The undocumented and the Dreamers will never win favor from the Trump administration. It doesn't matter how hard one works, loves the USA, have residential longevity or contribute immensely to the USA economy, the only respite is to find or develop sanctuary cities. For cities that have the leanings of protecting the Dreamers, there is a path.

November 21, 2017

The Trump administration cannot withhold federal money (click here) to punish local governments for their noncompliance with immigration authorities, according to a ruling by a federal judge in California.

In an order announced Monday, Judge William Orrick permanently blocked the policy, issued as one of President Trump's earliest executive orders, ruling it was "unduly coercive" and violated the separation of powers.

"The defunding provision instructs the Attorney General and the Secretary to do something that only Congress has the authority to do – place new conditions on federal funds," he wrote.

The judge had previously issued a temporary injunction blocking the policy, as did a judge in Chicago. "This order plows no new ground," Orrick wrote — although this injunction, unlike the previous ones, is permanent....  

This is a perfect opportunity for conservation and environmental organizations to intercede with potentially threatened species.

Private non-profits that work in this area are excellent in sharing expert information with the public. A campaign to educate the public and provide a platform for volunteers or employees or both can remove the Prairie Dogs to protected land.

This is not a simple solution to greed and hate, but, it is a good solution that can lead to protections of species of all kinds. Groups can even partner with US Fish and Wildlife to bring about an understanding of their expertise and their abilities to respond to carrying out relocation.

"The timescale of climate change and the amount of climate change we're talking about means that we're going to have to move quickly from science to practice," she added.

Above are words of wisdom by Jessica Hellmann, assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. She is stating that while science recorded information to benefit Earth and it's species; the PRACTICE is now changing from knowledge based science to APPLIED knowledge initiatives for protections of life on Earth.

The Climate Crisis is profoundly destroying ecosystems globally, including the USA. Australia is seeing a collapse of it's fisheries. Currently, Green Sea Turtle populations are 90% female. Why? Because the oceans got hot. These are the same oceans that saw the death of coral reefs. Temperature dictates embryo development when incubating. It is a defense mechanism of the species in that more Green Sea Turtle eggs will be laid with such high rates of female turtles.

What concerns scientists about this is the lack of variety of genetic male partners. Eventually, with hotter oceans we could see the end of ocean and fresh water turtles. They are a key species in the food web, both, as a predator and the hunted.

The Climate Crisis is real and it is happening now. Scientists are doing their level best to stem the tide so to speak, but, the task is enormous.

The point is transporting individual members of a species to safe land areas is a reasonable method to prevent genetic variability deterioration leading to extinction. There is every reason to have groups cooperate with USFW for the best outcomes possible. The Prairie Dog is a good example to that end. They are not game animals and it is completely ridiculous to kill them when they can be relocated.

January 9, 2018
By AP

Salt Lake City — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined (click here) to hear an appeal from residents of a small Utah city challenging endangered-species protections for prairie dogs, but the plaintiffs say their case alleging that their community has been overrun by the animals has made a mark as the Trump administration moves to loosen the contested rules.

The lawsuit was a key driver of the new federal plan that would make it easier to remove or kill prairie dogs, lawyers for the residents of the southwestern city of Cedar City said Monday.

Attorney Jonathan Wood said his clients were disappointed the Supreme Court declined to hear the case on Monday, but heartened by the new plan from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service allowing prairie dogs to be killed or removed from private property to public land more frequently.

“That is solely due to the lawsuit and is a far better result for prairie dogs than the decades of conflict generated under heavy-handed federal regulation,” Wood said in an email.

Animal activists, though, say the administration’s proposed rollback of protections for the threatened Utah prairie dogs would be a death warrant for animals when they’re found on private land. They’re considered key to the ecosystem because their burrows turn up the soil and can be used as homes by other animals. They’re also an important food source for predators....

This is the guy destroying Earth. A drop in Earth's oxygen content means NOTHING to him.

In May 2017, (click here) Dan Jorjani was appointed the Principal Deputy Solicitor of the Office of the Solicitor in the Department of the Interior. The Principal Deputy Solicitor in the 2nd highest position in the Office of the Solicitor,  with six deputy solicitors reporting directly to him on the issues of Energy & Mineral Resources, Public Lands, Parks & Wildlife, General Law, and Indiana Affairs and Water Resources. The Office of the Solicitor describes its role as “perform[ing] the legal work for the United States Department of the Interior.”

Daniel Jorjani recieved his undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University, went on to get a Master’s degree from Columbia and his Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School.

In 1999 Jorjani was a corporate associate at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P., a law and lobbying firm. In 1999, the firm received $810,000 from the oil and gas companies, $320,000 from mining companies, $560,000 from steel production companies and $500,000 from electric utilities companies in the following payments: $780,000 (Exxon Mobil), $40,000 (Tyumen Oil), $220,000 (Barrick Gold Corp), $80,000 (Poongsan Corp), $20,000 (Banro American Resources), $560,000 (Pohang Iron & Steel) and $500,000 (PG&E).

In 2001, Dan Jorjani was hired by the Department of the Interior (DOI) to be the Counselor to to the Assistant Secretary of Policy Management and Budget.

Giving a damn about human life and environmental safety is not in Jorjani's job description. He is bought and paid for by corrupt corporate interest. Conscience is not required to be him.

In 2010 and 2011, Dan Jorjani was a “PGM Officer Research” at the Charles Koch Foundation where he was paid $100,500 (Calendar Year of 2011) and $127,045 (Calendar year 2010) for forty hour work weeks and was one of the five highest paid employee at the Charles Koch Foundation. The position he held and the responsibilities he had are difficult to say, it is likely PGM is “Program Management” or a similar title.

The Trump White House and Cabinet is the most corrupt in recent history. And, don't forget, it is backed by the most corrupt Congress overseen by Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan.

These are the people the media needs to address. Give them information so they can protect the land.

January 10, 2018

By Brian McCauley

Taking care of the land comes naturally (click here) to Miami County resident Bob McLean because that’s how he was raised.

Bob, who lives and farms on several acres along 287th Street north of Paola, is continuing a family farming tradition that has spanned generations.

His father, F.I., grew up south of town, and eventually acquired the family’s land north of Paola in 1946. There, F.I. and his wife, Naomi, raised Bob and his brother, John. John still lives on a three-acre tract next to Bob on 287th Street and operates a business south of town.

Bob said his dad practiced good land conservation strategies, such as terracing, and he even won a conservation award many years ago.

Now, it’s Bob’s turn to be honored, as the Miami County Conservation District plans to present him with the Bankers Award during the district’s annual meeting Tuesday night at Paola High School.

Bob, who grows mostly corn, beans and hay on his fields, said he practices minimum tillage, and he also utilizes other conservation strategies such as terracing. Lately, he’s been busy trimming hedge rows along his fields.

“It’s only here once,” Bob said of the land. “When the dirt washes away, it’s gone.”

While news of the award caught Bob off guard, he said he is honored to receive the Bankers Award, and it helps to honor the legacy of his parents, who have passed away.

The media can bring excellent and important information to people armed with skills, ability and insight, but, without the clout they need to impress the people and protect the land.

January 10, 2018
By Andy Eubank

The Annual Conservation Awards Luncheon (click here) yesterday wrapped up the 75th conference of Indiana Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and the final recognition was reserved for the retiring Indiana State Conservationist, Jane Hardisty.

“I want to thank you all for all of your support, putting up with my pushy ways as I’ve been told, my pushy style, my commonsense style, my fun way of doing things, and my love of the land, and most of all the love of you people, she told those attending the luncheon. “It’s been my honor to be your State Conservationist. Thank you very, very much.”

In 2010 Hardisty spearheaded the Soil Health movement. Through her leadership the movement is stronger than ever today and has put Indiana on the map as a conservation leader in the U.S.

“As you know, the bar has been set pretty high for Indiana, so I am really counting on you all to keep carrying that soil health banner.”

Jamie Scott, President of the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts told HAT one of Hardisty’s best accomplishments has been to simply get more out of the people who are a part of the conservation world....

Trump's White House and Republican Congress are out to destroy morality.

Don't be so naive to think an article to bring awareness to stupidity is going to work with influencing this White House and Congress.

To begin, Trump doesn't have a pet in the White House and Trump never owned one. Trump has broken a 150 year old TRADITION (click here) in the White House, the "First Dog" or in the case of the Clinton's, "First Cat."

The media has to stop pretending that the INFORMATION provided in articles as the one below from the "LA Times," will ever effect the Trump Administration. Ain't going to happen.

Donald Trump is the greediest SOB on Earth, only second to Scrooge. When people file bankruptcy they usually learn from their mistakes and move forward to deal honestly and forthrightly. That is morality. Learning from one mistakes to never make them again is a moral value. Trump has no such values. Trump USES laws like bankruptcy laws to increase wealth. He has no morality. 

Trump is a greed merchant. He wants your money for his own, which included subcontractors on his buildings. There is no moral fiber to this President nor his Cabinet nor his majority Republican Congress. They are seething with hatred for Americans and they want to end every government program that benefits them.

Trump, like most Republicans, wants a strong military to conquer lands and not simply for national security. This administration and Congress have to be the most untrustworthy in American history.

The article is interesting, but, the focus will never be realized by Trump, his cronies, his cabinet or the Republican Congress. The country is at extreme risk by greedy White men.

December 27, 2017
Host: Neal King

Noel King talks to Larry Lieberman (click here) of the organization Charity Navigator, who explains why the increase to the standard deduction could cause a drop in charitable giving....

I think it is prudent for all environmental and conservation organizations to scrutinize the new tax policy for any deliberate penalties to non-profits. They need to establish a base of support past any TAX DEDUCTIBLE contributions.

January 10, 2018
By Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Jeff Orlowski

The Trump administration (click here) announced last week that it would open 90% of our coastal waters to oil and gas drilling. It declared last month that it would shrink or eliminate several national monuments — both terrestrial and marine. Last year, it rolled back safety requirements that prevent spills like the Deepwater Horizon, and it stated it would reconsider protections of national marine sanctuaries. The reigning principle here, to the extent that there is one, is to put short-term economic gains first, way ahead of the environment.

Apparently lost on the administration are two simple facts: If we want to keep fishing, we need places where there is no fishing. If we want to maintain coastal tourism economies, we need places without drilling.  

This is not about hugging whales and waxing sentimental about coral reefs. We need to use the ocean — food security and jobs depend on it. But we must be careful not to use it up. And right now, despite its vastness, we are indeed in danger of using it up.

Think of the ocean as a trust fund. If you want to rely on that fund for the rest of your days, you can only use the interest. For millenniums, humans lived off the interest of the earth’s abundant natural resources. But in the last century, we’ve been rapidly, dramatically depleting the principal. We are also hurting our interest rate — destroying nature’s ability to heal itself....

Personal solar and wind. It is the only way an American will receive relief from the greed Trump signed in the tax bill.

Trump's rhetoric stated Americans would be receiving relief and have more disposable income. I don't think that is going to happen anywhere in the USA. The drive for greed is deep seated and growing. There will be no relief for the Poor or Middle Class in the USA.

January 9, 2018

By Jack Money

A split Corporation Commission (click here) decided Tuesday morning it won't require utilities to immediately cut their customers' bills after getting a significant cut in their corporate tax rates through the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017.

The act, approved by Congress and President Donald Trump, cut tax rates for utility providers such as Public Service Co. of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Gas & Electric and others from 35 percent to 21 percent.

Oklahoma's attorney general prepared orders for the commission to consider on Tuesday that would have required five of the state's largest utilities to immediately cut their rates to compensate their customers for increased annual profits the companies will enjoy as a result of the cut.

The amounts, which varied by company, were calculated by considering how the corporate tax change would have impacted financial data the companies had filed with the commission as part of recent rate cases.

They ranged from amounts as large as $52 million for OG&E to less than $1 million for CenterPoint Energy and Arkansas Oklahoma Gas.