Representative Dana Rohrabacher needs to resign his position.

His inflammatory position in Pakistan has made him completely ineffective in foreign affairs.  This is the second time his position and presence is untenable. He did this to himself. He has been so offensive he is no longer trusted.

Fury in Pakistan After US Congressman Suggests that a Province leave (click here)

by Declan Walsh 

Published: February 21, 2012

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — An inflammatory call by an American congressman for the secession of Pakistan’s largest province has sparked uproar in the country, injecting fresh complications into stalled efforts to restart diplomatic relations between Washington and Islamabad.
The furor stems from a nonbinding resolution introduced Friday by Representative Dana Rohrabacher, Republican of California, which stated that the people of Baluchistan, a sprawling western province racked by a seven-year-old separatist insurgency, should "Have the right to self-determination and to their own sovereign country."...


A separatist state within Pakistan will not resolve the problem.  The ISI needs to be resigned in and a stronger government within the country of Pakistan has to be established. The recent ruling by the Supreme Court in Pakistan is hope there is a stronger central government developing under  the current President.  Rep. Rohrabacher is looking for a reason to extend the war in Afghanistan into a war in Pakistan as well. He has not taken proper measures to secure meaningful intervention.


Why I support Baluchistan (click here)

By Dana Rohrabacher, Published: April 6

Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican, represents California's 46th District in the U.S. House

There has been quite a stir since I introduced a resolution this year calling for recognition of the right to self-determination by the people of Baluchistan. I drafted the measure after a Feb. 8 hearing by the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on oversight and investigations that exposed horrific violations of human rights by Pakistan security forces in Baluchistan. The U.S. State Department, Amnesty International and other human rights groups have verified and denounced the extrajudicial killings, kidnappings, disappearances, illegal detention and torture being used by Pakistani authorities to suppress Baluch aspirations to control their own affairs....

He not only is he inflaming the circumstances where we have military deployed, he is inflaming the circumstances with Iran. The diplomacy with Iran does not need any more instability as Israel is currently optimistic in Iran moving away from further escalation of their nuclear program.

Washington, Mar 21 -

Today, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) (click here) sent a letter to the President of Radio Free Asia (RFA) requesting they begin “reporting on, and broadcasting to, the Baluchi population in the Baluchi language, especially those who live in Pakistan and Iran.”  The Government of Pakistan has brutally repressed Baluchi nationalism and denied the Baluchi people their right to self-determination.

“The central Government of Pakistan, despite the billions of dollars in aid that the US government has provided, has not acted in good faith with America, targets Americans for murder and has purposefully moved closer to their main ally, Communist China,” stated Rohrabacher in the letter.


“While the government and intelligence services in Pakistan act against the interests of the United States, I believe America can find common ground with the people of South Asia. The Baluchi people would be very receptive to RFA broadcasts in their own language and the increased exposure to accurate and objective news would no doubt be to our and their great benefit.”

Rep. Rohrabacher, with Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)  and Rep. Steve King (R-IA), introduced H. Con. Res. 104 on February 17^th, which expresses the sense of Congress that the people of Baluchistan have the right to self-determination and to their own sovereign country.

On February 16^th, Rep. Rohrabacher submitted H.R. 4069 to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Shakeel Afridi, the doctor currently jailed by Pakistan for aiding the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden. In May 2011,  Rep. Rohrabacher introduced H.R. 1790 to defund all US assistance to Pakistan.

Rep. Rohrabacher is Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

I think the reason why Rep. Rohrabacher is out of line is more than obvious.  He is war mongering. There is no other words for it, I don't blame Karzai for declining him access to Afghanistan. Karzai has to live in the neighborhood after Rohrabacher leaves.

H.CON.RES.104 -- Expressing the sense (click here) of Congress that the people of Baluchistan, currently divided between Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan, have the right to self-determination and to their own sovereign... (Introduced in House - IH)

No one is happy about the jailing of Shakell Afridi, but, he has absolutely nothing to do with Baluchistan and to include him in a Congressional 'wish list' is only putting his life in more peril and not less. This act of aggression by Rohrabacher is outrageous and careless. Shakell Afridi is alive and in prison where the State Department can continue to advocate for his release. It isn't as though Secretary Clinton has not been successful in finding a method of release of others jailed. She is most qualified to advocate for Shakell Afridi. Placing Shakell Afridi in the same legislative maneuver with Baluchistan is to confuse the issue and make it more difficult to argue with the purpose of the bill. Rohrabacher needs to resign his position as Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of theHouse International Relations Committee.

Voted NO on supporting democratic institutions in Pakistan. (click here)

Rep. Rohrabacher was way out of line calling President Karzai a primadonna.  Way out of line!

It is one thing to take interest in human rights violations and instability in Pakistan, but, to act aggressively threatening with a House Bill where NATO troops are deployed is completely irresponsible. Leadership both in Pakistan and Afghanistan hang in the balance. Pakistan is a nuclear country and any compromise of the leadership of the current President or any threat of escalating tensions between the USA and Pakistan or attempting to focus an aggressive tone toward movement within Pakistan is completely outrageous and overreaching of authority.

Published: April 23, 2012 Updated: 4:54 p.m.

Afghans deny entry to O.C. congressman (click here)

MARTIN WISCKOL / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

...Rohrabacher is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, chairs the committee's oversight panel, and has launched a House investigation into corruption in the Afghan government and into Karzai himself.

Additionally, Rohrabacher – along with Rep.Loretta Sanchez, D-Santa Ana – met in January with Afghan opposition leaders – including those from the Northern Alliance. The group issued a joint policy statement calling for an overhaul of the Afghan government.  Rohrabacher was stopped in Dubai on Friday as part of a congressional delegation on its way to Kabul....

Representative Rohrabacher is seeking to cause more instability in an area under water two years ago. Pakistan was overwhelmed by those floods, communities were cut off, infrastructure was devastated, there is no surprise there are human rights abuses. We know anarchy dominates when catastrophe strikes and this is no different. Rebuilding infrastructure should return the men to work and bring an economy to the region if it is possible at all. Increasing tensions in the area will accomplish nothing!


WTO Approves Waiver for Pakistan Flood Recovery (click here)

Posted Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 at 12:50 pm

The World Trade Organization has approved a European Union waiver on duties for 75 Pakistani products in a plan aimed at helping Pakistan recover from devastating floods in 2010.

The waiver, announced Wednesday, affects many of Pakistan's most important export products, including textiles. It covers 27 percent of Pakistan's exports to the EU.

Competing textile exporters such as Bangladesh originally opposed the plan. But they dropped their objections after the European Union agreed to use tariff rate quotas on 20 products.

The WTO's General Council must ratify the waiver before it takes effect.

In 2010, massive floods in Pakistan killed 1,700 people, affected 20 million others and submerged one-fifth of the country....

April 28, 2012
0230:00z
UNISYS Enhanced Infrared Satellite of Western Canada (click here for 12 hour loop)


It is a wind tunnel.  It reminds me of a giant roll cloud.  From middle of USA north through east Alberta and west Saskatchewan. Regina has the highest winds but not the lowest temperatures.  Lloydminster and Coronation, Alberta, Canada have the lowest temperatures at zero Celcius.  Winds in Coronation are 20 km NNW, but, in Lloydminster the winds are 12 km NNE.  


Coronation and Lloydminster are less than 100 miles apart and the winds are blowing opposite directions. Both heading north, but, one east and one west. 

Add caption

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
ESE 52 gust 67 km/h

(ESE 32.3 mph/ Gust 41.6 mph)

April 28, 2012

0130:00z

UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite of North and West Hemisphere (click here for 12 hour loop)

"Congratulations, Mr. Moore."

"Very Happy for You!"

Directors Michael Moore, (click here) Mike Newell and Jim Sheridan and actresses Susan Sarandon,Whoopi Goldberg and Dakota Fanning are among the 39 filmmakers, authors and industry professionals taking part in the six juries that will judge films at the Tribeca Film Festival, which runs April 18-29 in New York City.

We know now our intelligence regarding Osama bin Laden was good.

President Bush seemed to decide 'the risk' of 'missing the mark' was too much risk.


Democrats aren't as politically calculating as the Republicans.  The party is not interested in being politically driven, it is interested in governing. Republicans treat governing as an option if it works to their advantage politically.


When I listen to this news conference answer to a legitimate answer, I hear a President resigned to excuses and justification. He completely justifies his position on bin Laden. He sees broader picture, one that is focused on 'terror.' It is a matter of what he stated to the country long before this. He didn't ask the nation to believe in the war because it was necessary to address 'terror,' he stated the nation wanted bin Laden dead or alive.


Personally, Bush was more interested in reducing the political risk than the continued war in Iraq while abandoning Afghanistan. 


We know where Osama bin Laden was and he was practically living in the Palace basement of Pakistan. It is that reality which undoes all the justification of Bush at this moment. The USA was supporting a regime in Pakistan protecting bin Laden. The USA was spending millions and millions to Pakistan while they were 'providing comfort to the enemy.' 


George W. Bush was afraid of damaging any politics while turning his back on his own directives. Pakistan was giving comfort to the enemy and to that end he should have acted against Osama bin Laden regardless of the political cost. I am confident the USA military was up to it. They certainly were when finally asked.

It takes guts as a President to 'put it on the line.' It was Operation Eagle Claw into Iran and it failed.

The attempt by President Carter to remove USA citizens from Iran when they were held as hostages.  


It wasn't bad enough the Iranian situation took the USA by surprise, but, to have hostages in our own embassy was astounding. I don't know what happened to the intelligence, except to say The West was confident in the leadership of the Shah.  At the time, the Middle East was mostly settled and it was before al Qaeda was a problem.  But, that said, when President Carter attempted a rescue and it failed it cost him dearly politically.

Europe is still a drag on the USA economy.

A comparison of the Adjusted Net National Income (annual percentage growth) of the USA and Europe proves it. (click here)


In 2005 Europe was at 7.23% and in 2007 at 12.22%, but, by 2009 it had tumbled drastically to -8.35%.  That was negative -8.35%.  That was a loss of 15.58% in two years.  It is going to take awhile for Europe to improve.  But, austerity is its worst enemy.


In that graph, the USA economy is far stronger than Europe's economy.  The graph at the link above shows far less swings of highs and lows in the USA economy as compared to that of the Europeans.  Europe is in a bubble and bust economy.  We are setting up an economy of SUSTAINABILITY while weaning the 'bubble and bust' trends that cause all the damage.  We are building our economy to withstand the future with far less escalations and troughs.  It isn't easy, but, like stated in the beginning 'steady as it goes.'  Growth is difficult when rebounding is swallowed up by hidden troughs.


This is not pure growth, it is growth in the face of losses.  We are doing well.

April 27 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks and U.S. index futures rose (click here) as earnings at companies from Amazon.com Inc. to France's Vinci SA beat analysts' estimates, overshadowing lower- than-forecast growth in the American economy. The euro climbed versus the dollar. Treasuries were little changed.

Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index expiring in June rose 0.3 percent at 9:14 a.m. in New York and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index was up 0.8 percent. The euro strengthened 0.3 percent to $1.3263. The yield on the 10-year Italian bond rose two basis points, paring an increase of as much as 13 basis points after a debt auction. Spanish bonds fell as the nation lost its A rating at S&P.

Amazon.com posted earnings-per-share that quadrupled the average analyst estimate, joining about three quarters of S&P 500 companies to exceed forecasts about halfway through the reporting season. The Commerce Department reported the U.S. economy grew at a 2.2 percent annual rate, below the 3 percent pace at the end of last year and the 2.5 percent median forecast of economists. The report showed a smaller contribution from inventories overshadowed higher consumer spending.
"The economy is not gangbusters, but the chance of a recession is dimming," Michael Mullaney, who helps manage $9.5 billion as chief investment officer at Fiduciary Trust in Boston, said in a telephone interview. "We're encouraged by the earnings surprises. We're not happy with today's GDP data, but it shows domestic spending being on track."...


There will be no double dip recession and that is saying something!  We are DOING IT!

Recalls are under attack by Snyder's GOP.

Rachel Maddow found the basis of the 14 font demand and it has conflict of interest, but, the GOP double downed on it.  It is an assault on freedom.

"Michigan Rising" (click here)

There is something profoundly "W"rong in Michigan. The Synder Administration is bordering on a coup of the democracy that elected him. First he removes democracy from city after city after city, he forces farmers to cull their livestock and now pure unadulterated corruption. I believe in change for the better in the USA, but, this?  This isn't even democracy at work.

Michigan Board of State Canvassers voted by a vote of 2 to 2 NOT to validate the petitions to repeal Public Act 4 — Michigan’s Emergency Manager law. By doing so they threw out the signatures of nearly a quarter million Michigan citizens.
The measure was defeated on a required font size.  Instead of delaying the vote to allow compliance the GOP threw our a quarter million of Michigan citizen's signatures.

...However, the petitions (click here) passed around by the group did not have the required font size on them. The law says font size must be 14 point on such petitions handed to legislatures, regardless of type style.

"None of this would have occured today had they approved the petition with our staff in advance like almost everyone else does," said Norman Shinkle the Vice Chair of the Board of Canvassers. "The petition was defective."

Stand Up For Democracy said the petitions do not violate any font size rules and that they substantially adhere to the law.

The president for the NAACP Wendel Anthony said, "We want the people to be impressed. It's not over. This is but a particular battle, the war is still being waged."

Supporters plan to ask for an expedited appeal with the state appeals court.

In the end the Michigan Supreme Court will most likely make the final decision on if this will be on the November ballot.

Reductions in military spending is a good thing.

FA-18 air fighters prepare to take off on the U.S. carrier George Washington in the Pacific near Minamidaito Island in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, during a joint drill with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. (2010 File)


If defense spending cuts weren't occurring it would be more difficult to achieve these long standing goals.


Aircraft carriers need a dock and fuel not a military base.


Why would any country believe diplomacy for peace was real with a dominant military presence by the country calling for peace? For too long the USA's theory was overwhelming power would bring about stability in the international theater. That wasn't even necessary during WWII. Why would it be necessary afterward? Having a huge military presence in the world has gotten us into wars that were unnecessary. We rose to the threat in the USA when WWII visited our borders.


Peril Harbor was a lesson we learned too well, but, so did the rest of the world. Japan still obverses the lessons of that war. When do we start believing peace initiatives that provide better quality of life for a nation's citizens, over and above military power lead to peace? Overwhelming power isn't the way it works. Not anymore. When the USA, ie: Bush/Cheney, flexes muscle other nations react to meet the challenge. It robs their citizens of monies for war instead of quality of life. Military strength is good, but, preventing war is better.


I have no doubt the USA military is more benevolent than any other nation realizes. But, if a presence is undermining sincere peace initiatives, then the military is not achieving its goals either. We cannot risk unnecessary wars anymore. We need to concentrate on trusting outcomes to diplomacy.


The right political wing of the USA likes to point to Chamberlin and Hitler as a weakness. They never ask what was Chamberlin's choice otherwise? Europe was unable to stand the tide of Hitler without the USA. Chamberlin had no sincere choices, if nothing else he extended the timeline to war. He knew Europe alone could not contain Hilter, yet alone stop him. Hitler knew that, too.


This is a good thing from lessons well learned since WWII.


Friday's announcement (click here) by the United States and Japan that 9,000 U.S. Marines will be transferred from a base on the Japanese island of Okinawa is being hailed as a major diplomatic accomplishment. But there are also concerns the actual transfer will be fraught with numerous complications.

The revised realignment plan, agreed to by Japan and the United States, is seen as both a compromise and a work still in progress.

It calls for moving nearly half of the 19,000 U.S. Marines off Okinawa. Up to 5,000 are to be re-deployed to the Pacific island of Guam and 4,000 moved to either Hawaii or rotated in and out of Australia....

Published on Apr 25, 2012

More than just a flip flopper, he is "The Master's Voice."

Romney shifts his stance on student loans

WASHINGTON — The Great Pivot is underway.

After sternly telling a high school senior during the primary that he shouldn’t expect government help with student debt, Mitt Romney informed reporters on Monday that he sides with President Barack Obama on a key aspect of the issue.

“I fully support the effort to extend the low interest rate on student loans . . . in part because of the extraordinarily poor conditions in the job market,” Romney said.

The position would seem to put Romney at odds with congressional Republicans – perhaps the first clear sign of Romney’s long-expected effort to separate himself from the unpopular House GOP....

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/04/27/2122899/romney-shifts-his-stance-on-student.html#storylink=cpy

"Yes, Master." We have seen this before and we don't it back.

Taking the issues to the people has been a long standing method to focusing the politically driven in Washington to act.  This is about what is best for the students in our country.  In 2007 the majority Democrats had to make concessions to a Republican President so it wouldn't be vetoed.  I am please the President took up the issue before it got out of control.

The Republicans are politically driven in their leadership. It is obvious. They take a stand on everything. Speaker Boner's knee jerk reaction to Romney's statement is evidence to the fact.

Student Loan Interest Rate Vote (click here)

10:33 pm April 26, 2012, by Jamie Dupree

The House on Friday will vote on a bill from Republicans that would insure interest rates for student loans don't jump suddenly in July. How we got here is a very interesting peek into the politics of 2012.

One week ago, the White House announced that President Obama would go on a two day, three state trip to call for action in Congress on a bill that would prevent a doubling of interest rates for student loans....

One innocent Secret Service is a credit to his dedication.

...Despite the employee’s denials, (click here) agency officials did not believe him. The hotel kept records of which guests had had women in their rooms and required the women to leave copies of their identification cards at the front desk before going to a room.

As the employee was preparing to leave the country with the others who had had women in their rooms, the agency officials determined that he had been wrongly accused.

According to a senior American official, the agency uncovered evidence from the hotel that on the night before, an unknown man who took a woman back to the hotel had given the employee’s room number at the front desk when a copy of the woman’s identification card was made.

The agency told the employee that he would remain in the country and be part of the team protecting President Obama.

Meanwhile, the Secret Service has begun to change its policies after the scandal. The agency plans to bar employees from drinking alcohol beginning 10 hours before their shift, the senior American official said. The previous cutoff was six hours....

I thought bin Laden was dead?

More repressive government by the GOP in the House.  This is a bill that panders to Wall Street, it includes invasion of privacy by CEOs gathering information about customers.


We put up with privacy invasion by the phone companies, but, at what point does the USA protect citizens again?  Never?  Forever, CONSUMERS are suppose to have their lives open to Wall Street for marketing purposes?  That also interprets to selling marketing information for political gain as well.  Is there any wonder the GOP House passed this?


The Senate has another cyber security bill, but, are running to pass it.  I would think at this point in time if the national security required chronic protection from its own citizens, they would return to PAPER and files and microfilm and leave the rest of us alone!


26 April 2012 Last updated at 19:52 ET
The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (Cispa), (click here) would allow the government to access web users' private data on suspicion of a cyber threat.
It would also allow easier information-sharing between security agencies and private web firms.
Advocacy groups claim that it is aimed at file-sharers rather than hackers.
They also raised concerns about the transparency of the act.
In a statement on Wednesday, the White House said Mr Obama would veto the act if it reached his desk....

There is great hope for a stable democracy in Paksitan, today.

Supporters of Pakistans prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani (centre) shower him with rose petals as he arrives at the supreme court in Islamabad. Photograph: Faisal Mahmood/Reuters


Keeping politics out of the court is huge change in the landscape in Pakistan.  I congratulate the Prime Minister on his victory today.


The charges against President Zadari are false.  Everytime a PPP takes the Presidency, the opposition causes decent and division in Pakistan by finding some charge to assign their leaders.  


And prison is always the remedy.  The Former Prime Minister Bhutto's father died in prison due to political leanings.


Today is a good day for Pakistan.  Let's hope it continues.

JON BOONE in Islamabad

PAKISTAN’S PRIME (click here) minister yesterday served a token jail sentence of a few seconds after the supreme court convicted him of the “wilful flouting” of its orders.

The latest twist in a tortuous drama is likely to create further problems for Pakistan’s unpopular government as it gears up for re-election. But it is unlikely to immediately unseat Yousaf Raza Gilani.

The long-running contempt case against him stems from the prime minister’s refusal to accept a supreme court order demanding he write a request to Swiss prosecutors to reopen a dormant money-laundering investigation into Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari....

Could Andrei Lugovoi be innocent?

18:16 25/04/2012

MOSCOW, April 25 (RIA Novosti)

State Duma Deputy Andrei Lugovoi, (click here) the former KGB officer accused by the British authorities in the fatal poisoning of another ex-KGB man, Alexander Litvinenko, has passed a polygraph test administered in Moscow by British experts.

“The British specialists were in Moscow and I worked with them for several hours, after which they concluded that I was not guilty,” Lugovoi said on Wednesday.

British prosecutors have sought the extradition of Lugovoi over the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who moved to London and died in a London hospital in 2006 after being poisoned with radioactive polonium-210.

Lugovoi invited journalists to examine a copy of the test documents....

Assad is retaliating against Syrians after contact with U.N. monitors.

Al-Assad won't stop. He is a minority ethnicity in Syria so that may be driving him somewhat. He is a member of the Alwite sect, a branch of the Shia religion. The Alwite sect is based primarily in Syria.
Syria is a country of about 20 million people.  I think Assad is driven by the fact his ethnic religion is a sincere minority in Syria, holds power over Sunnis, has a history geological right to Syria and its leadership. If he steps down he will be surrendering his identity and the future of what he views his ethnic domination.
Syrian ethnicity is constituted with 90.3% Arabs with minority groups of Kurds, Armenians, Turcomans, and Assyrians making up the remaining 9.7 percent of the population. Sectarian differences occur with Sunni Muslims (about 74 percent), Alawites (a Shi'ite subsect), Druze (a Middle-Eastern sect with a doctrine combining different Islamic, Jewish, and Christian elements), and other Muslim sects (about 16 percent). The Christian population in Syria (about 10 percent), and Jews number only a few thousand.
Former Secretary Annan wants 300 monitors. It would perhaps help, but, the approach has to be as much strategic to separate the people from the Syrian military as possible. In other words, the Syrian military has to leave the area where the monitors are and have been. The towns and cities will have to be left with local authority to maintain order as a method to have Assad's forces stand down. I think we are looking at instilling a police state enforced from internal organization other than Assad's forces. If a foreign power enters Syria there will be full blown war as Assad is just that desperate regarding his own 'kingdom.' Empowering local authorities to sustain their own peace while the Syria military rolls back into their official bases is a way to stopping this disaster in leadership. 
The Syrian military will have to be displaced into their own military bases by internal law enforcement structure organized at the local level. Basically, law enforcement that won't kill their own citizens. I think Assad is fanatical and there is nothing that will end that so long as his military remains in control by him. I would think there should be an ethnic mix in the Syrian military that might be harnessed through its generals to end the violence. The UN is walking on egg shells.
Syrian protesters gather around U.N. monitors during the monitors' visit to Duma, near Damascus.(Associated Press / April 23, 2012)
By Los Angeles Times Staff

April 25, 2012, 12:01 a.m.

BEIRUT — The presence of United Nations-backed monitors (click here) in Syria is providing only brief respites from violence and in some cases may be making the situation worse, a spokesman for U.N. and Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan said Tuesday.

Annan spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said the small advance team of monitors is facing great difficulty in stemming the fighting between forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and opposition groups.

"When they leave, the exchanges start again," Fawzi told U.N. Television in Geneva, referring to the monitors. "We have credible reports that … these people who approach the observers may be approached by security forces or Syrian army and harassed or arrested or even worse, perhaps killed."

Annan, meanwhile, reportedly told the U.N. Security Council that the situation in Syria was bleak and called for the deployment of the full 300-member monitor force authorized by the council to verify what is happening there. The monitors are part of a peace plan set up to end the fighting in Syria....

A former circus elephant kills

My personal opinion regarding the rescue of elephants is they should never be a 'lone elephant.' I sincerely believe elephants thrive best in a social environment.


There was a Korean elephant noted to sooth their own lonely experience by vocalizing sounds it heard during the day. Some of the sounds involved the name of its handler.


In the wild elephants literally use a very low frequency among each other to consolidate their existence as a herd. I strongly believe elephants are hard wired to be social with strong attachments. They aren't inherently violent, but, they will rise to the occasion if a feeling of threat. I believe it is a mistake to keep a solitary elephant in any circumstance. 

4:00 AM Wednesday Dec 23, 2009

After 28 years (click here) in the rigours of the circus industry, Jumbo the elephant is enjoying her first Christmas as a pachyderm of leisure.

She moved to Franklin Zoo and Wildlife Sanctuary at Tuakau three weeks ago, after finishing her career with a year-long stint at Weber Bros' Loritz Circus.

Sanctuary director and veterinarian Dr Helen Schofield said the 36-year-old settled very quickly into her new surroundings and was happy in her large enclosure.

"Jumbo is intelligent and fun loving, and gains more confidence in her surroundings and in her team of carers each day."...

Vet crushed to death by elephant (click here)

5:42 PM Wednesday Apr 25, 2012

A veterinarian has been crushed to death by an elephant at Franklin Zoo south of Auckland, according to reports.

The zoo is home to just one elephant, a former circus elephant called Mila, One News reported.

TV3 reported that the elephant sat on the keeper then, acting protectively, would not let anyone else enter the enclosure to help the woman.

Police said they were called to the incident between the elephant and its female keeper at the zoo shortly after 4.30pm.

No further information would be available until next-of-kin had been notified and the matter had been referred to the coroner.

A fire communications spokesperson said they had limited information, but confirmed the brigade were asked to attend the Franklin Zoo in Ridge Road to assist where a person had been attacked by an elephant....

Named "Iceberg," the first adult albino Orca found in the wild seas of Russia.

'Iceberg' ... The fin of an albino killer whale travelling in a pod of 13 orcas near Bering island in the Commander islands in Russia. Photo: AFP/Far East Russia Orca Project

Ian Sample

April 25, 2012 - 3:57PM

Scientists have glimpsed (click here) a pure white adult orca, or killer whale, while on a research expedition off the far eastern coast of Russia.

The sighting in waters off the Kamchatka peninsula is believed to be the first time such a whale has been seen in the wild.

Researchers said the marine mammal, which they nicknamed Iceberg, was swimming with its mother and siblings and appeared to be fully accepted by its 12-strong family.

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White whales are not unheard of, but only young white orcas are thought to have been recorded by marine conservationists before.

The whale was seen by scientists on a research cruise co-led by Erich Hoyt of the Far East Russia orca project....