February 27, 2012

We should regulate so the market serves max utility to the People

at minimum risk to the Planet. Humans are guests.

Futures in theory and principal are fine and stabilizing to markets.

In practice, futures are an insider and technocratic game that bleeds wealth and income upword from the People and local communities by the nature of the structure and ethic.

February 27, 2012

WOW CJ Ralph went way overboard in support of the accused in the T-S

When news spread Thursday that a pair of respected Eureka biologists were arrested for their alleged roles in an elaborate embezzlement scheme, the reaction was stunned disbelief.

Many in the biology community contacted on Friday -- before information contained in the search warrant affidavits outlining the investigation was reported in the Times-Standard -- declined to comment for this story, saying they didn't want to get involved and preferred to let the legal process run its course.

All, however, said the two men's reputations are beyond reproach.

”With all the work they have done over many years -- and Mad River Biologists has set a very high standard for intellectual and financial integrity -- I have no doubt that when this finishes up, they will be found not to have done anything wrong,” said C.J. Ralph, a research scientist with the U.S. Forest Service

http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_20048801

CJ Ralph of Redwood Science Lab is the best avian biologist and most published I have ever met.

For the birders at DU:

I was a cooperator in providing two land bird monitoring sites with the RWSL and CJ between 1991 and 2002. There was a series of plots in the California and Oregon Klamath Basin from 1992 to 2003 when defunded under GWB. I believe they were the most intensely studied sites in the USA. There use to be a web site link at Redwood Science Lab but it seems to be gone. There was one other small private land owner and the rest of sites were either Federal or timber industry. Kim Hollinger was project manager. Mad River Biology may have done some of the sampling under contract but I am not certain. I lived in Corvallis, OR and Redding, CA during this period.

They used constant-effort mist netting, point count, and area search censusing. In the breeding season (May 1 - Aug 15) the stations were sampled every 10 days and during the migration season (Aug 16-Oct 31) every week.

Each plot was essentially a system of trails and 10 small clearing sampling stations marked by rebar in the riparian and adjacent forest habitat. Aside: Several times folks thought the plots were old pot grows and moved in in early Spring before the birders. lol If anyone is familiar with this project, I am referring to the CAMP and LADY plots (this is the edit).

Conclusion: These two stations are among the most productive sites in northwestern California. The juxtaposition of the river riparian forest with agriculture lands seems to provide an optimum mix of habitat for many species of birds. It is likely to be essential for maintaining this diversity of birds, that the present mix of habitats be maintained and or enhanced. If at all possible, an increase in the area of riparian forest would the most positive impact overall, especially the the endangered listed species, the Willow Flycatcher's exceptionally high use.

Note: the 4 paragraphs about are a distillation from a private Ralph and Hollinger report that are public record as part of CA Timber Harvest Plan I filed and logged in 2001.

In 2002 a fire set in the area Karuk World Renewal Ceremony / pichi 'avich dance area jumped the creek and burned black the most avian diverse plot of any of the system of plots established under the project in the Klamath Basin in CA and OR. I had just made a leisurely trip from Redding and down the Salmon River with a gf only to see a mass of USFS, Karuk, and Humboldt Sheriff's vehicles on my property plus a bunch of smoke. They let me drive through (because they knew me) only to meet up with a Karuk DNR employee watching the fire that said it was a "good thing" and then kicked me off my own property after I told him essentially he was an idiot. I went to the Humboldt Deputy and asked the young man be removed. About an hour later the Karuk DNR manager brought the man back and introduced us and had him apologize to me.

Since the end of the Jessie short case and division of the Hoopa Reservation into a Hupa and Yurok Reservations and recognition of the Karuk Tribe there has been amazing improvement in the housing, health, education, employment for the Indian People' s. Alas, there is much croneyism, ugly politics, and I am certain other crimes have been committed with the Tribes even if this crime is dis-proved. TMI.

February 26, 2012

I am acquainted with Raymond and LeValley too.

I just got off the phone with the former Yurok Tribal Chairman. He said they raided Raymond's home and found another $600,000 worth of stolen equipment. Raymond is no where to be found.

I worked for the Yuroks back in 2003, live on the Klamath about 14 miles from the Reservation, and am very familiar with the timber industry and local Tribes (Karuk, Hupa, Yurok).

On at least 10 occasions in 2003, I saw two log trucks go by my place at night with 3 to 5 log loads with no log brands nor trip ticket; same trucking company and haul route as the trucks during the day that had brands and trip tickets off the Yurok Reservation. I reported the apparent log theft to my supervisor (Director of Planning) who told me to mind my own business. She did not like me as I was imposed by above and there was a professional and personality conflict (what is funny is that I googled my great grandfather's last name and up came her ancestory.com and I doubt if there were more than one of an unusual name born in Oakland, CA in 1870 so her kids and husband share my DNA). I ended up being offered and refusing the job (with a raise) as Ex Director of the Tribe's Economic Development Corporation where I would have dealt with her as an equal but refused. It was the most toxic work environment I ever experienced.

Howard told me he would tell current Chairman O'Rourke my observations back in 2003 and we shared a laugh about Peggy.

February 23, 2012

Lord's Resistance Army

From Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord's_Resistance_Army

The Lord's Resistance Army (also Lord's Resistance Movement or Lakwena Part Two) is a militant group with a syncretic Christian extreme religious ideology, known for the extreme atrocities they commit against civilians, including killings, mutilations, and in some accounts even cannibalism.[4]. The group operates in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.[5] The group used to operate mainly in northern Uganda and also in parts of South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the DRC.

The Lord's Resistance Army was formed in 1987 in the Acholi region of Northern Uganda. Initially, the LRA was an outgrowth and continuation of the larger armed resistance movement waged by some of the Acholi people against a central Ugandan government which they felt marginalized them. Over 25 years, the LRA's political goals have become much harder to decipher. In the past decade, the group has spent much of its energy attacking, killing and enslaving unarmed Acholis of its own tribe (including many women and children). It is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself the "spokesperson" of God and a spirit medium, primarily of the Holy Spirit, which the group believes can represent itself in many manifestations.

The group is based on a number of different beliefs including local religious rituals, mysticism, traditional religion, Acholi nationalism and Christianity[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] and claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments and local Acholi tradition.[16][17][18] The LRA is accused of widespread human rights violations, including murder, abduction, mutilation, sexual enslavement of women and children and forcing children to participate in hostilities.[19]

February 20, 2012

Finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest yesterday completing the Millenium Trilogy

Motherless Brooklyn is a great book with a protagonist every bit as unique as Salander but with a warm heart and Tourette's Syndrome.

Lethem's books with the exception of Motherless Brooklyn and Fortress of Solitude are science fiction or include elements of science fiction (including Guns with Occassional Music).

Started Jim Thompson's The Getaway (basis of the movies) last night and a re-read. I like the classic crime noire like Thompson, Chandler, Dashiel Hammett, Westlake ... Also read most of Ann Rule's true crime as a guilty pleasure.

Back in the 1990s after collecting a full set of Jim Thompson novels, I read them all in order one winter. I discovered Thompson when the Black Lizard re-issues started. Vintage has published in trade paperback many titles so Thompson is much more available now. They tend to be short and fast novels.

There is a very good bio on the less well known Jim Thompson called Savage Art.

PS I qualify as a senior citizen. ;o)

from wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Thompson_(writer)

Thompson wrote more than thirty novels, the majority of which were original paperback publications by pulp fiction houses, from the late-1940s through mid-1950s. Despite some positive critical notice, notably by Anthony Boucher in The New York Times, he was little-recognized in his lifetime. Only after death did Thompson's literary stature grow, when in the late 1980s, several novels were re-published in the Black Lizard series of re-discovered crime fiction.

Thompson's writing culminated in a few of his best-regarded works: The Killer Inside Me, Savage Night, A Hell of a Woman and Pop. 1280. In these works, Thompson turned the derided pulp genre into literature and art, featuring unreliable narrators, odd structure, and surrealism.[citation needed] A number of Thompson's books became popular films, including The Getaway and The Grifters.

The writer R.V. Cassill has suggested that of all pulp fiction, Thompson's was the rawest and most harrowing; that neither Dashiell Hammett nor Raymond Chandler nor even Horace McCoy, author of the bleak They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, ever "wrote a book within miles of Thompson".[1] Similarly, in the introduction to Now and on Earth, Stephen King says he most admires Thompson's work because "The guy was over the top. The guy was absolutely over the top. Big Jim didn't know the meaning of the word stop. There are three brave lets inherent in the forgoing: he let himself see everything, he let himself write it down, then he let himself publish it."[2]

Thompson admired Fyodor Dostoyevsky and was nicknamed "Dimestore Dostoevsky" by writer Geoffrey O'Brien. Film director Stephen Frears, who directed an adaptation of Thompson's The Grifters as 1990's The Grifters, also identified elements of Greek tragedy[3] in his themes.

February 13, 2012

Earthquake near me (far north coast of California)

About 45 minutes ago there was a 5.5 mag earth quake 12-13 miles wsw of my house.

I thought the large live oak had leaned over and hit the back of my house at first.

Edit: upgraded to 5.6 mag

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqscanv/FaultMaps/124-41.html

February 10, 2012

"I have been accused of posting pro-DLC stuff (whatever that means). "

Pro-DLC (however defunct) means supporting neo-liberal as opposed to traditional FDR "New Deal" fiscal policies.

Neoliberals also tend to be more pro-intervention in foreign policy than anti-war liberals.

Neoliberal vs FDR liberal is the divide within the Demoratic Party and at DU.

I cannot fathom how any regular at DU would not understand what this "means" by now.

Here are the first two websites (aside from wiki) I found on a DLC neoliberal search. I added the bold for emphasis.

You are welcome.


http://www.democrats.com/new-democrats

Related terms:

•Democratic Leadership Council (DLC)
•centrist

The Democratic Party became a liberal party largely through the "New Deal" policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression. Before FDR, "laissez-faire" or "free-market" policies were the only policies acceptable to America's ruling elites. FDR's New Deal policies used government spending power to create jobs for the masses of unemployed, and used payroll taxes to provide retirement security through Social Security. FDR also created regulatory agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to avoid another financial crisis.

FDR's liberal policies were supported by Democratic and Republican administrations until Ronald Reagan began a conservative counterattack against FDR's policies in 1981. After 8 years of Reaganism, conservative Democrats began embracing the Reaganite assault on liberalism, and called themselves "New Democrats" to distinguish themselves from traditional FDR-inspired liberals. These "New Democrats" drew support from large corporations that wanted a return to "laissez-faire" policies to get out from under regulations.

http://www.socialistalternative.org/publications/election2010/ch4.html

Neo-Liberalism and the Democratic Party

Under the leadership of Bill Clinton, the Democrats created the Democratic Leadership Council to craft a clear neo-liberal doctrine for the Democratic Party that became enshrined as their main policy. Promising to adopt these policies, Bill Clinton won widespread corporate endorsement as the candidate for the Democratic Party in 1992.

The same policies of neo-liberalism are now at the heart of both political parties. Both are committed to profit maximization for the tiny elite that owns the major companies and the places we work. In the present crisis, this capitalist elite is not reinvesting to rebuild the U.S. economy. At present, big business is sitting on $1.5 trillion. It refuses to invest in productive jobs, yet it demands massive cutbacks in Medicaid and other social services.

This takes us to the main problem of our time. Capitalism can't continue to grow the economy. It has choked on the massive debt bubble it has created. It is now turning inward to take back the gains won in the past by workers. In order to become profitable, it is demanding we reduce the share of wealth we as workers get.

The Financial Times of London documented three main trends that are devastating the living standards of working people in the U.S. First is a longer-term decline of U.S. capitalism since 1973. In that time, the annual income growth of the bottom 90% has been flat while the income of the richest 1% has tripled. Second is the fact that this decline has sped up in the last decade. Even during the boom from January 2002 to December 2007, the median U.S. household income fell by $2,000.

February 9, 2012

Organized corporate crime pays in the USA.

Justice for the People is not even on the table but establishing limited liability and immunity for systematic fraud -- illegal in fact or not covered by law -- is the heart of the federal or state solutions regardless of Party.

The result of the savings and loans scandal, financial institutions were broken up, disbanded, and paid fines. Individuals paid fines, went to jail, and were barred for life from the financial industry. Resolution Trust Corporation sorted out the mess and sold viable business back to the private sector.

The People were systematically led like sheep into an economic bubble and fleeced as are the tax payer and other citizens.

February 8, 2012

WikiLeaks Latest Info Drop--Alabama's Drummond Coal Co.

Over the course of four years U.S. Embassy officials sent 15 diplomatic cables to Washington which expressed concern over the company's labor disputes, lax environmental practices and apparent links with paramilitary death squads.


A year ago, a Federal Court in Alabama, U.S., where the mining company is based, began a civil case against Drummond for its alleged paramilitary links. The case is still underway.


The Florida-based law firm of Conrad & Scherer LLP filed the lawsuit on behalf of 252 plaintiffs who are relatives of the 67 victims, including 63 men and four women. Their names are withheld from publication to prevent reprisals against them, said attorney Terry Collingsworth. The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama Western Division by Collingsworth, Conrad & Scherer founding partner William R. Scherer and Garve W. Ivey, Jr. of the Jasper, Alabama-based, Ivey Law Firm.


"The 60-page complaint outlines allegation after allegation of brutality, describing how hundreds of men, women and children were terrorized in their homes, on their way to and from work, and often murdered by AUC paramilitaries acting on behalf of Drummond," said attorney Collingsworth. "These are innocent people being killed in or near their homes or kidnapped to never to return home, their spouses and children being beaten and tied up, and people being pulled off buses and summarily executed on the spot."

more: http://alabamacorruption.blogspot.com/2011/03/wikileaks-latest-info-drop-alabamas.html

In the comments there is a post and link to AG Holder as a private attorney negotiating a settlement for monies Chiquita paid AUC. Baker Botts was later to represent Chiquita in the case.