Morning Music - "Girl with the Fishing Rod"

Lis McHugh:

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Labor Day With Jayne Mansfield up on time and within budget at The Other McCain.

The Lion Has Died

Texted my brother, Ted, a little after 8:30 last night.

Let me back up to 2 PM, when I got a phone call from Ted, who said that Dad's convalescent home had called, and that Dad, 95 year old, had taken a turn for the worst, and suggested that I call and get the story straight for myself. I did, and his nurse said he begun to struggle with breathing. I asked about time, and she estimated 2 days at the longest.

We (and by we, I mean mostly Georgia), began the process of arranging to get to California ASAP, and book a flight from BWI to Sacramento at 7 AM today. We arranged kenneling for Skye, and dropped her off, and I went off to a water board meeting, which ended about 8 PM.

At 8:30, I got the title text, which went on to say Dad had passed away at 5:30 Western time. After consulting with the Ted and Mark, we decided to cancel all our new arrangements, and come back for a service to be held in a couple of weeks. So all the arrangements had to be cancelled.

Dad (right) and his younger brother Joe, 2002

I was going to write an opus about Dad, but I remembered I already had, several years ago for Father's Day: Thanks for the Inspiration, Dad!

My Father is a remarkable man. Much of his history is dim to me; I've heard bits and pieces of it, never hearing it all put together. I'll probably get much of this wrong, but well, here is what I think I know.

He was born in mainland China near Hankow in the late 1920s, one of a brood of seven children of a Lutheran missionary and his wife. They came back to the states in his by the time he was a teenager, although his father went back to China, and when the communists took control of China, he moved to Taiwan, where he stayed until near the day he died.

Dad, Mom, and various distraught grandchildren
(now grown) in 2004

He was in college when World War II broke out, and instead of joining the military, he joined the Merchant Marine. He went to the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York, graduated, and went to serve on the Liberty Ships. His first ships sailed the North Atlantic; he talks of one ship in a convoy being struck and sunk by a single bomb from a single German airplane. He visited many ports, but the only one I know for sure is in Egypt; I have a pair of brass vases he had made from artillery shell cases, chased with copper and silver wire, by a roadside vendor. I also heard that he and friends put a jeep engine in a ships lifeboat, and used it as a runabout. He claims it was scary fast. He must have met my mother during this period, at church I think, back in his home port of Baltimore.

Later, he was moved to ships in the Pacific. I have heard no combat type stories, but he and mother speak of a funny one. Apparently, one day out of boredom, he wrote my mother a letter claiming he had been taken ill by some mysterious tropical ailment, and that his shipmates, out of fear of contagion, had confined him to a lifeboat being towed behind the ship. She took it seriously, and had it published in local paper. Surprisingly, she married him anyway...

Georgia, Mom and Dad in Mexico, 2008

After the war, they were married in Baltimore, and shortly thereafter, crossed the country in a Hudson Terraplane, a 1936 IIRC. Apparently the car was quite troublesome, and barely made it over the Rockies.

They settled in Los Angeles, where dad got into UCLA as a music major. He was, almost from the beginning, continuously involved in being the music director in various churches. All this time I was growing up in L.A, he was the "Minister of Music" at a local Congregational Church (even though he espoused agnosticism at the time). The minister used to occasionally make jokes about converting him.

I was their first child, and was born in 1951, so after this point, the history becomes a little clearer. As early as I can remember, he was a teacher, first a Junior High School, and then at a Senior High. He taught many subjects, but by the time I was aware, he was teaching primarily chorus and music.

Dad and Mom in Alaska, 2012

Besides his teaching he was active in many other areas. He and a few friends formed the first chapter of the teachers union in his district (I still remember the words to Joe Hill by heart), and was the first chapter president. Much the same group started a Credit Union for the teachers.

When I was 6, he bought two houses out of the path of a freeway. One he moved behind our house in Culver City, which he used as a rental. The second, he sawed in half, and had the pieces moved up the San Bernardino Mountains, to some lots in Deer Lodge Park near Lake Arrowhead, where he reassembled them as a vacation house. We had many wonderful trips to that cabin.

At some point, his voice began to give out from overuse, and he switched from teaching chorus to teaching ceramics. He took a summer course in ceramics, and started his first class 6 weeks ahead of his students. In High School, I took ceramics from him (I went to the same school he taught at). He tried to make an objective grading system (or more objective than usual), giving points for number and quality of projects completed, but I gamed the system, and got an "A" for a large number of crappy projects.

Mom and Dad at Mom's 90th birthday party, 2013

He and the same (or at least overlapping) set of people who started the teachers union also started a law school. The story goes that several of them, tired of teaching, decided to become lawyers (not dad). They got into various law schools and decided that they could run one better than what they were experiencing. So they did. They started a non-profit school, the University of West Los Angeles (which exists today), and hired instructors, and became the various officers of the school. Dad became the president, which, as he explained, included such jobs as fixing the toilets. I remember helping paint some of the class rooms the first year in summer, to make ready for the first class. At some point, they got into issues of accreditation, and he and much of the original cast of characters (especially the non-lawyers) were forced out.

The last time the whole family was together
at Pismo Beach in 2016

With much of the same cast of characters, he formed a corporation with 21 other families and bought some land in Oregon, both as investment and as a vacation site, a total of about 2000 acres. He was also President of that corporation for many years. Named Walden III, the land was only recently sold. Again, it provided many wonderful opportunities. Ted and I used it quite a lot when I was a grad student at Oregon State University, and Ted was an undergraduate, and a business owner (gun store, naturally).

He and Mom retired and moved up the coast to Pismo Beach, where they had a lovely house overlooking the Pacific from the cliffs, where they lived for many years. More recently, they sold the beach house, and moved up to Murphys, California near Ted, where they help tend the grandchildren. They live there still.

With Granddaughter Bethany in 2016, after Mom died

UPDATE! As expected, my knowledge/memory was a little fuzzy on some issues. Mom sent me a nice email saying that both she and Dad had read the post, and appreciated it very much, but they had some corrections to make. Dad was born in 1924 (not the late 20's as I said above). OK, it was late, and I was lazy with my math. Dad did not pull the lifeboat prank on her, but rather his mother. The end of the law school adventure was infinitely more complicated than the way I told it. The old guard was not forced into retirement, but stepped to lower positions, and retired on the 25 anniversary of the founding of the school (still a brief version, but close enough). She also reminded me of several other adventures of his, including a bookstore and a furniture/knick/knack store (both economic flops), and an adventure in pier ownership that was a financial winner, but a supreme mess.

In 2017, sitting on the front porch at home

Since that post back in 2011, Mom died in 2016, as chronicled here in To Die in Modesto. For a while, Dad lived at home, with the help of Ted, Ted's children, and a housekeeper/nursemaid. Eventually, however, he fell and broke his hip trying to get to the bathroom one night, and his slow decline became more rapid.

He went to rehab, but his heart really wasn't in it, and he did not work on recovering, and so ended up going through a couple of institutions before the last one, in San Andreas, California. His mind, which had been pretty good up until then, started to slip a lot more. As I once noted, his give a damn was busted.

2018, At the nursing home.

When we were out last year around this time, he wanted to do very little other than sleep; even eating was a chore, and he didn't do much of it. Honestly, the last few months have been just a drain, waiting for the inevitable. A few weeks ago, the home called and suggested getting him into hospice care, and, to be honest, I'm not at all sure we managed to get it done before the end. I rather doubt he would have noticed the difference.

Thanks for everything, Dad!

Linked by the Wombat at The Other McCain in In The Mailbox: 08.30.19 (Evening Edition).

Russiagate Starring Andy McCabe

The possibly pending McCabe indictment is the story du jour. Streiff at Red State, Department Of Justice May Be About To Indict Andrew McCabe And Peter Strzok

McCabe in not being indicted for an unauthorized leak, he’s being indicted for lying about authorizing and he had an immense motive, given the nature of the leak, to lie about his role. Plus, I’m sure that the discussion of his motive has been covered in prosecutorial memoranda on the case and it is damned unlikely the IG’s office would have referred this case for prosecution or that the USA would have proceeded to this stage unless there was a provable case.

What is at stake here is not small, it is really little short of the Department of Justice making a decision on whether the United States has a two-tiered system of justice where FBI officials can casually and callously lie to federal investigators and avoid any downside while a guy like George Papadopoulos gets sent to jail for a transposing the dates of his appointment to the Trump campaign with the date on which the campaign officially announced his position, or worse, be a Michael Flynn an have this particular lying sack of ordure decide that you lied to investigators when investigators had decided just the opposite. It would be hard to imagine that Barr and Rosen don’t know this, plus, I can’t imagine Rosen being all that keen on making a no-prosecution decision knowing what his Twitter timeline would look like the next morning after Trump’s first tweet.

Nothing would make me happier than if the FBI went full “Law and Order” on McCabe and waited until he was on the air in the CNN studio and barged in an handcuffed him on camera.

While former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy takes the more in sorrow than in anger approach in McCabe and Papadopoulos: Two-Tiered Justice. Read the whole thing.

The date of a meeting, that’s all the lie was about.

George Papadopoulos claimed that a meeting he’d had with the mysterious Maltese professor, Josef Mifsud, happened slightly before the green-as-grass 28-year-old was recruited into the Trump campaign. In reality, it was slightly after.

It wasn’t a very important lie. It was of no consequence to the FBI or the special counsel’s investigation. Papadopoulos was such an afterthought that the Bureau did not bother to interview him until late January 2017 — about 10 months after he met Mifsud. By the time Papadopoulos was charged, the Trump–Russia investigation had been ongoing for well over a year — it was already clear that there was no conspiracy.

Yet that didn’t stop Mueller’s staff and Rod Rosenstein, their Justice Department superior, from indicting Papadopoulos on a felony charge. Nor did it stop them from exhorting a federal court to impose a sentence of incarceration. (The judge thought so little of the case, a prison term of 14 days was imposed.)
. . .
I couldn’t help thinking about the hardball treatment of Papadopoulos when, yesterday, CNN announced the hiring of Andrew McCabe as a commentator. McCabe, of course, was the FBI’s deputy director before being fired after the Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, concluded that he made multiple false statements to the FBI — including under oath. McCabe was questioned in connection with his leak of investigative information to the media. The leak may have damaged the FBI’s investigation of the Clinton Foundation (it certainly exposed information the Bureau was trying to keep under wraps).

Sundance at CTH goes straight to the conspiracy theory with Lawfare Expects McCabe Arrest – That Explains Why CNN Hired Him….. But there are real conspiracies and spygate appears to be one.

The Lawfare group are the external influence agents for corrupt politically motivated lawyers working in government. The group fingerprints show up everywhere including among “beach friends” and legal schemes hatched from the premise of their assembly. Lawfare = use the law as a tool in warfare. [Adult Alinsky disciples.]

The Lawfare group is headed by Comey’s friend Benjamin Wittes; and the group give resistance advice to ideologues inside government as well as outside organizations who are resisting (suing) the Trump administration. So when Benjamin Wittes announces to his ideological resistance followers:

…”You should thus expect charges against McCabe to be forthcoming any day. And if such charges don’t happen, that doesn’t mean they weren’t planned but, rather, that some extrinsic event has intervened”… (link)

…readers can assume Lawfare leadership has known about McCabe’s risk position for quite some time. Remember, former FBI chief legal counsel James Baker also works for Lawfare.

It is almost guaranteed Andrew McCabe and his lawyer Michael Bromwich are in daily conversations with their network of friends inside Lawfare. This same ideological network has vast affiliates throughout media. The pending indictment of Andrew McCabe would explain why CNN hired him.

Knowing the DOJ was likely to indict McCabe, CNN could help frame a narrative that serves both their interests. That narrative was already in the New York Times article describing the potential for the indictment.

When McCabe is charged the media narrative will be it’s because he took the job with CNN… Trump/Barr weaponizing the DOJ and trying to kill free speech etc. CNN doesn’t have to defend their action in hiring a known liar, they’ll instead frame McCabe as a victim, a fellow traveler to the larger cause of justice – whose indictment is evidence of how far Trump and Barr will go to destroy their enemies etc.

Hey, at least now we know Andrew McCabe is about to be indicted.

 He also has an interesting notion of how McCabes lies led to the IG finding all the Strzok/Page texts:

Andrew McCabe lied to INSD about leaking to the media when the INSD was investigating leaks to the media. McCabe’s statements contradicted the statements of his assigned DOJ lawer, Lisa Page; who said McCabe instructed and coordinated the leaks to journalist Devlin Barrett of the Wall Street Journal.

When confronted with two sets of competing stories, Lisa Page -vs- Andrew McCabe, it appears the IG-INSD asked Page if she could prove her side of the story. The need to prove her version of events appears to be the impetus for Page revealing her text messaging. Page’s texts proved her story, and proved McCabe was lying.

However, from that text messaging review (June/July 2017), in addition to texts between Page and McCabe, the investigation turned-up discussions between Lisa Page and Peter Strzok.

At American Greatness, Julie Kelly regrets Our Tawdry, Untrustworthy Fourth Estate. Well, don't we all? And one of the tawdry, untrustworthy members of the fourth estate, the WaPoo excuses McCabe in Justice Dept. could be nearing decision on whether to charge Andrew McCabe

It remains unclear whether McCabe will be charged — although the recent meeting shows that the case is alive. Trump supporters probably would be dismayed to see the Justice Department pass on the case, particularly because there were Trump allies who pleaded guilty to lying as part of then-special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe. Charges against McCabe, on the other hand, could spark allegations from the left that he is being retaliated against for authorizing the investigation into Trump.

Both can be true.

Sundance also reports DOJ Stall Succeeds – Comey Memo/Archey Declaration Update – Expect Nothing Until After October 11th… Trump should just declassify them and get them out.

There is a possibility the content of the Comey Memos and/or Archey Declarations may be part of the upcoming IG report on James Comey, and/or the documents may be part of the pending IG report on DOJ/FBI FISA abuse. Key words: “may be“.

If you subscribe to the optimistic perspective the DOJ delay could be related to an intention to release the documents with the IG report(s). However, if you are more cynical, then the DOJ and FBI could be attempting to hide the institutional corruption visible inside the documents. Two possibilities.

Cynicism exists for a reason. At Da Caller, BARR: Lindsey Graham Doesn’t Trust The Courts Who Spied On Trump — But Trusts Them With Gun Control. The other Bob Barr.

Such extreme faith in state judges is misplaced; not because judges are inherently bad or dishonest, but because they are human, just as are presidents and members of Congress. When a judge is asked to place limits on an individual with the goal of preventing future acts of violence or harm committed by that individual, it is only natural for the judge to err on the side of caution. After all, what judge wants to be later blamed for not having taken such anticipatory action, when subsequent harm results (even though judges enjoy essentially absolute immunity for rendering such decisions wrongly).

One should never "trust" the government. It's composed of people, venal, fallible and biased, like you and me.

Morning Music - "No Surprises"

For reasons that may become clear later (or maybe not), I'm doing something a little different for today's morning wake up. On Friday, JD at Broad Oak Magazine posted this: FRIDAY MUSIC: Chloe Feoranzo, 

A long time ago I pointed out that young people today have better musical taste than our 'pop culture' would have us believe. One or two of them featured here -

https://theylaughedatnoah.blogspot.com/2016/05/friday-night-is-music-night-young.html

Chloe Feoranzo is especially talented and deserves a post to herself. Two of the following videos demonstrate why: in the first one below (seen in the previous post) she is half way through her solo when Bob Draga has a quiet word with the rest of the band and then says to her ".... you go girl!" and she does, effortlessly with a mere split second hesitation into a second chorus. That is class; and in Montagne Sainte-Geneviève she displays wonderful technical mastery of a very difficult piece and does it with great style.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloe_Feoranzo

As well as several other videos demonstrating her talents. Compare to the original:



I like Chloe and Post Modern Jukebox's version much better

Linked at nourishing obscurity in This and that.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Labor Day With Jayne Mansfield up on time and within budget at The Other McCain.

Maryland Gets $300k to Save the Sturgeon

Or maybe just try to count them; $300,000 doesn't go as far as it used to. Feds grant nearly $300k to sturgeon research

Nanticoke River Atlantic sturgeon, once thought to have vanished from Maryland waters, are making a comeback — and U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, both D-Md., are here for it.

The senators on Tuesday, Aug. 20, announced $296,071 in federal funding to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to aid in research on the species.

Until Maryland and Delaware biologists’ recent discovery of adult sturgeon in the Nanticoke River and its streams, biologists reported not having seen the region’s sturgeon in 40 years.

 But what did the watermen not tell them?

The Atlantic sturgeon’s significant population decline has been attributed to overfishing and habitat loss. In the late 1800s, the fish were prized for their eggs, which were considered high-quality caviar.

Now, with the species’ reemergence, scientists are dedicated to tracking the fish, as well as helping to replenish and maintain its population.

Funding for the Maryland DNR’s efforts, awarded through the National Ocean and Atmospheric Agency Fisheries’ Species Recovery Grant Program, will help scientists develop new ways to estimate the species’ spawning run size.

NOAA, which is headquartered in Silver Spring, is a scientific agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce that focuses on the conditions of the oceans, major waterways and the atmosphere.

Its Species Recovery Grants Program is a longstanding, successful grant program that supports high-priority recovery actions for listed species. . . 

The rest of the article is mostly a campaign ad for Sens. Cardin and Van Hollen.

I suppose, it can't hurt to try to figure out how many there are, but it might not help either. The population began its recovery without anyone being aware of them.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Labor Day With Jayne Mansfieldup on time and within budget at The Other McCain.

Russiagate: Will McCabe Be Prosecuted?

It's shaping up to be another nice, coolish day here in Slower Maryland. We'll let's get down to business. Andy McCabe is back in the news, as, after his hiring by CNN as an objective commentator, DOJ is Close To A Decision On Charging Andrew McCabe from John Sexton at Hot Air. Kinda makes you wonder what CNN was thinking.

I’d love to see this happen but I’m skeptical and here’s why: This guy just got a job at CNN. Would CNN have hired him if there was an imminent chance he’d be prosecuted? I don’t think so. Seems more likely to me they held off until they were pretty certain this cloud was about to dissipate. Anyway, Fox News is reporting it could happen:

Federal prosecutors appear to be close to a decision on whether to charge former FBI official Andrew McCabe over the circumstances that led to his firing from the bureau last year, Fox News has learned.
A source close to the process said that McCabe has had a “target on his back” because of the Justice Department inspector general findings against him over actions during the Hillary Clinton email investigation, as well as his role in the surveillance warrants against Trump campaign associates during the Russia investigation. McCabe is a former deputy and acting director of the FBI.
The New York Times, which first reported the developments Monday, said McCabe’s lawyers recently met with DOJ attorneys who would handle a prosecution – an indication of a possible indictment.

Rod could pull off the skirt

Much more, of course, by Sundance at CTH,  Bill Barr’s Test – U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu Punts McCabe Indictment Decision Back to Main Justice…

According to reporting today from the New York Times, Washington DC U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu has punted the decision on whether to indict former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe back to Main Justice, via Deputy AG Jeffrey Rosen.

All of our prior research into the DC U.S. Attorney’s office, specifically toward Jessie Liu, has identified her as -essentially- Rod Rosenstein in a skirt. Attorney Liu’s DC office was responsible for not prosecuting the Awan Brothers; and also Liu’s office was responsible for covering up the leaking of the classified FISA application by SSCI Director of Security James Wolfe. Yes, covering it up – there is ZERO DOUBT.

Both cases were clear law-breaking, and both highly politically charged.

Today the Times is reporting on leaks from officials connected to the DC office of Ms. Liu, framing her deference of the McCabe indictment back to Main Justice.

And some snark from Ace, Prosectuors Nearing Decision on Whether to Indict CNN Contributor Andrew McCabe

Calling him "CNN Contributor" is accurate, but I wouldn't have thought of that without Jack Prosobiec reminding me.

He should be prosecuted if for no other reason that lying to the FBI is one of the favorite harassing charges used by the DOJ team in general and the Mueller team specifically. We need to send a message that such behavior is not tolerated within the DOJ while being prosecuted against "regular citizens"  And the trial should be held in Utah, away from anti-Trump DC juries. Give him the same choice Papadopuolos had, plead guilty and get a few weeks in jail, or see yourself bankrupted by attorney's fees.

Also from sundance, DOJ is still fighting to keep the Comey Memo's hidden, Request for Stay – DOJ Stalls For More Time Before Forced Production of Comey Memos… There may be good reasons to keep some of it secret, but at this point the need to understand what the DOJ and FBI were doing in the 2016 election out weighs that need. Especially since they might be concealing the role of the "5 Eyes" "allies" in interfering in our election. Fuck 'em.

Below is an example of the redacted information in the Archey Declarations that Judge Boasberg had previously ruled must be released with the redactions removed. This is what the DOJ and FBI are working to stop, stall and delay from being released to the public:

Jerry Dunleavy, WaEx, Hundreds of pages of emails show Nellie Ohr researched Trump-Russia connections

Newly uncovered FBI documents show how Nellie Ohr fits into the Trump-Russia saga, documents that also paint an increasingly clearer picture of the Clinton-linked opposition research firm Fusion GPS's central role in 2016 and beyond.

Ohr, the wife of high-ranking DOJ official Bruce Ohr and a contractor for Fusion GPS in 2015 and 2016, put together reams of research purporting to show connections between Trump, his associates, his family, and numerous other figures, including those with ties to the Russian government. Bruce passed all of this information along to the FBI, showing the FBI was receiving Fusion GPS-linked information not just through the infamous "dossier" from British ex-spy Christopher Steele, but from the wife of a key DOJ official too.

The new documents, revealed by conservative watchdog Judicial Watch, detail hundreds of pages of emails between Bruce Ohr, Nellie Ohr, and DOJ officials, and show Nellie’s research was delivered by Bruce to investigators after Trump won in 2016. Two large research documents — a “Who’s Who” of alleged Trump-Russia connections and a “Manafort Chronology” — were given to the FBI by Bruce in December 2016.

The greatest mystery to me is why Bruce Ohr is still at DOJ, albeit demoted. Is he giving Horowitz's and Durham's teams everything the need in hopes of getting out with his pension intact? Is he not media savvy enough for a CNN gig?

Da Beast accuses Rudy Giuliani of  Jumping on the Seth Rich Conspiracy Bandwagon. Well, it still is kind of mystery. I doubt we'll ever find out who killed Rich, but now that we you need to be officially exonerated by the DOJ to be clear of suspicion, we can continue to pin it on the Clinton/DNC cabal. My own theory is that it was Elizabeth Jennings, cleaning up loose ends.

And, via the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 08.26.19, the Victory Girls have a great cartoon, that's too big to steal and embed. Obsession: White Supremacy and the Democrat Pivot

Paper Straws Won't Save the World

You can't drink like that without a straw

And even the Atlantic admits it: The Case Against Paper Straws, They’re a single-use, disposable consumer item—a greener option, but not a green one.

The bright, cold, bitter tang. The soft notes of walnut and dirt. The anticipation of the jolt of electricity. The feeling of wet cardboard in my mouth. Nowadays this is what I get when I grab my morning iced coffee in San Francisco, one of several municipalities that have banned plastic straws in recent months. The paper ones are a necessary corrective, the argument goes. They work just fine, while their plastic cousins choke the oceans and extend our dependence on fossil-fuel products.

But as a corrective, they leave much to be desired: Paper straws are a crummy solution to a problem that need not exist in the first place. Plastic straws might be everything terrible about American consumerism, individually wrapped. But paper straws put the lie to the belief that we can consume our way out of the problems created by consumerism.

In the case of plastic straws, those problems include overflowing landfills, dead marine life, and a garbage-clogged ocean. Plastic straws are—for most Americans, though certainly not all—a luxury, not a need. Still, we use an astronomical number of them a year. Their life span is short: Get extracted from a paper sheath, swim around in Diet Pepsi for three minutes, die. And their afterlife is long. Plastic gets entombed in landfills. In the oceans, it suffocates and strangles birds and fish and orcas and turtles, and breaks down into microplastics, pervading the food chain. An estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic enter the world’s waterways each and every year. In our lifetimes, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea.

Replace plastic straws with paper straws, solve some proportion of the problem, right? Yes, if only a tiny share. Straws make up just 0.025 percent of the plastic that finds its way into the ocean each year; the United States, the biggest per capita producer of garbage on Earth, is not even close to the biggest producer of mismanaged plastic waste. On the one hand, straw bans will lead to thousands and thousands of fewer straws in the ocean; on the other hand, straw bans will not change the underlying environmental calculus at all.

Plus, paper straws are still a single-use, disposable consumer item—a greener option, but not a green one. Making a paper straw requires growing a tree, cutting it down, and pulping and pressing it into a tube. Manufacturers then use fossil fuels to ship the straws to stores and cafés. Many paper straws on the market are not even compostable or recyclable, as promised. Metal straws might be better for the environment, if they are used often enough. But restaurants report high rates of theft—meaning they need to restock metal straws regularly. And making them requires environmentally destructive mining and considerable amounts of energy.

It just isn’t easy being green, at least not if you are trying to be green by buying stuff. Products marketed as being earth-friendly are often not that earth-friendly. The compostable fiber bowls you get at places such as Chipotle and Sweetgreen leach toxic “forever” chemicals into the ground and groundwater. Using those shared, dockless scooters produces more emissions than traveling by bus, electric bicycle, regular old bicycle, or moped, or on foot. Reusable grocery bags need to be employed dozens or even thousands of times before they are truly a greener alternative to flimsy plastic. Replacing certain forms of consumption with other, marginally better forms of consumption is not going to save the planet.

Fortunately, the planet doesn't really need saving. But we need saving from people like this.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Labor Day With Jayne Mansfield up on time and within budget at The Other McCain.

Climate Scientist Loses Suit for Failure to Show Work

Dr. Tim Ball wins @MichaelEMann lawsuit – Mann “hides the decline” AGAIN

Readers surely recall that the easily offended Dr. Michael Mann launched a court case for defamation against climate skeptic Dr. Tim Ball of Canada.

In Feburary 2018 there was a complete dismissal in the lawsuit brought against Dr. Ball by Andrew Weaver of Canada, also for “defamation”.

The Weaver defamation case involved an article Ball wrote saying that the IPCC had diverted almost all climate research funding and scientific investigation to anthropogenic global warming (AGW). This meant that there was virtually no advance in the wider understanding of climate and climate change. Ball referenced an interview with Weaver and attempts by a student to arrange a debate. Ball made some comments that were not fully substantiated, so they became the base of the defamation lawsuit.

That case was completely dismissed, you can read more here.

Now in the Mann case, which goes back to 2011, there’s also a complete dismissal. Ball wrote to me less than an hour ago, asking me to announce it here.

He writes:

Hi Anthony
Michael Mann’s case against me was dismissed this morning by the BC Supreme Court and they awarded me [court] costs.
Tim Ball

This is a developing story, I’ll add more as we know more.

The case has gone on an entire nine years.

On that point, this is where readers may wish to refer to the article ‘Fatal Courtroom Act Ruins Michael ‘Hockey Stick’ Mann‘ (July 4, 2017). In it they offered analysis as to Mann’s fatal legal error. As Dr Ball explained at that time:

“Michael Mann moved for an adjournment of the trial scheduled for February 20, 2017. We had little choice because Canadian courts always grant adjournments before a trial in their belief that an out of court settlement is preferable. We agreed to an adjournment with conditions. The major one was that he [Mann] produce all documents including computer codes by February 20th, 2017. He failed to meet the deadline.”

As I explained in the article, Mann (and his crooked lawyer) had shown bad faith, thereby rendering his case liable for dismissal. I urged Tim to pursue that winning tactic and thankfully he did.

Mann filed the suits, including one against journalist Mark Steyn and the National Review, hoping to use Canada's fairly generous defamation laws to silence critics. All along, many people were saying that discovery with going to be the lynch pin of Ball's defense because Mann would be very reluctant to yield his data (and in fact, might have a very tough time putting it all together into a suitable form)

Mann, however, insists that his suit will continue to go forward after appeal.

There have been some wildly untruthful claims about the recent dismissal of libel litigation against Tim Ball circulating on social media. Here is our statement (https://t.co/8tGoBZnE3Y): pic.twitter.com/ySeJcOktX9

— Michael E. Mann (@MichaelEMann) August 23, 2019

Upon appeal, if he doesn't immediately release his data, the court should slap him with further sanctions. "Science" ought not be carried out by litigation.

Chesapeake Bay: The Final Fantasy

Well, it appears that all the states in the Chesapeake Bay Compact put out their plans for the final five years of the Bay Clean Up (call it the Bay Diet, even though that refers more specfically to the nutrient reduction plans). Bolstering the Bay: Va., Md. release more plans to protect the Chesapeake Bay

Virginia and Maryland have released final details of the latest round of plans to protect and tidy the Chesapeake Bay.

Phase Three goals to improve the Bay’s health entail maintaining the agriculture practices from previous phases that will lead to reduced nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment in the bay.

Both sets of strategies, which were released on released Friday, include both states’ goals to achieve these reductions by the year 2025. The documents also take into consideration the effects of climate change and address plans to offset those effects that will be sustainable beyond that year.

Restoration aims include pollution reduction targets for agriculture, natural lands, septic, stormwater and wastewater and also takes into account the challenge of future needs due to both population and livestock growth.

In Maryland, Phase Three plans entail meeting pollution reduction goals through tree planting and streamside forest buffers to prevent pollutants from getting into waterways. There are also oyster reef restoration efforts and plans in both states.

Virginia’s document details 56 initiatives to support ongoing reduction goals, as well as implementation plans for each of the Commonwealth’s five river basins — Potomac River, Eastern Shore, Rappahannock River, York River, and James River — that drain into the bay. 

Delaware's Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control

District of Columbia's Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan for the Chesapeake Bay
District Department of Energy and Environment

Maryland’s Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan to Restore Chesapeake Bay by 2025
Maryland Department of the Environment

Final Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan: New York Chemung and Susquehanna River Basins
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Pennsylvania Phase 3 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Commonwealth of Virginia Chesapeake Bay TMDL Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality

West Virginia's Phase 3 Watershed Implementation Plan for the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load
West Virginia Conservation Agency

I tried to wade into Maryland's plan, but found that my tolerance for word salad has declined in retirement since I no longer get paid to read that kind of stuff, but I did note that Maryland considers its work on nutrient reduction basically complete. My up close and personal observations of the Bay suggest that probably isn't true. But I guess we'll see in five years or so.

Russiagate Miscellaneous Monday

An odd lot of material from the weekend. On the Patrick Byrne matter, Roscoe Davies presents Overstock CEO, Patrick Byrne, who was involved in Spygate resigns. Trading halted on shares. Said he plans on..."disappearing for some time." HRC flu season is in play

. . . Just a bizarre story all the way around.

When this Crossfire OP needed live body Russians to put in place to support the appearance of Russians infiltrating the election what do they do? Brennan calls in foreign assets to make an appearance to give just the appearance of foreign actors, yet no real substance.

Simply for reference here is what Mueller charged Butina with, not that it has to do with any of this Byrne is talking about.

Weissmann and company screwed this girl badly . . . 

From Larwyn's Linx, the QOTD:

CNN Exec 1: But wasn’t this McCabe fired for lying on the record?

CNN Exec 2: Then he’s qualified!

*Then they both dance*

— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) August 25, 2019

From Roger Kimball at AmGreat, Andrew McCabe’s Unjust Deserts. "There really is not enough contempt to go around for these creeps."  McCabe needs jail time.

From sundance at CTH, Carter Page Discusses His CIA and FBI Role With Maria Bartiromo….

It never made sense that U.S. Person Carter Page was an FBI witness from 2013 through to March/May 2016 and yet in October 2016, to achieve a FISA warrant, the FBI called him an agent of a foreign government. [FISA APPLICATION]

It never made sense until we realized the FBI didn’t use Carter Page to gain a FISA warrant (that was an outcropping); the FBI used Carter Page to get the Steele Dossier into official investigative status. What they needed was the Dossier, Page was irrelevant other than he checked all the boxes needed to fabricate the illusion of “an agent of a foreign power.”
. . .
All of this was done just to attach the dossier to a target. The target just needed to fit a profile with enough Russian contacts so the dossier could stick. That target was Carter Page. The FBI and DOJ didn’t care about Carter Page, what they wanted was the dossier.

As soon as they got the Special Counsel appointed, the dossier became the material to start the investigation of Trump… and all the names in the dossier (Manafort, Flynn etc).

Because they always knew there was no material substance to the dossier, the goal of the investigation was to get President Trump to obstruct it/them. All of the provocative action by the special counsel team was intended to provoke President Trump into taking action that could be defined as obstruction.

Jerry Dunleavy, WaEx, Court told of plot by former top Obama lawyer to plant 'credible' article in New York Times to help Ukraine

Rick Gates, the former business partner of Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, has testified that former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig helped spin a report in the media on behalf of the Kremlin-linked Ukrainian government.

The Justice Department’s case against Craig, 74, stems from Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation. It focuses on the public relations work performed for Ukraine by Craig and the law firm he worked for — Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom — throughout 2012.
. . .
Craig is charged with misleading investigators about his role promoting the report at the behest of the Ukrainian government. The "scheme" relates to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which mandates anyone working on behalf of a foreign government register with DOJ.

Gates detailed the plan to “seed” the report with a trusted journalist before it was released, claiming “most of the other reporters would follow the first article.” Gates said the overall plan was a “living breathing document” but “the strategy never changed about seeding the report.”

A panel at Australia's Sky News discusses the New York Times pivot to racism after the Mueller bust. The New York Times admits 'it wants to get Trump'. Nothing really new here, but is sounds better with an Aussie accent, and it good that notice of this is taking place overseas. I'd embed it if I could figure out how.

The Washington Post Hates Dogs

Of course, they do. Dogs make people happy, and happy people generally don't support progressive politics. And Twitchy notices: Washington Post hot take: Now it’s dogs that are bad for the planet

To be fair, the Washington Post isn’t alone in arguing that dogs are bad for the planet. VICE says your dog is ruining the environment. HuffPost reported last fall that your dog is terrible for the environment. Just how bad is your dog for the environment? The Los Angeles Times did some digging and found out.

But WaPo’s take is pretty hot:

The dog is one of the world’s most destructive mammals. Brazil proves it.

High above this Brazilian city, in a jungle blanketing a mountain, the turtles were out, and the scene was hopeful.

Scientists were reintroducing 15 mud-caked tortoises to this urban forest where they had once been plentiful. Children were running around. People were ­oohing and aahing. A stern-looking security guard appeared to briefly smile.

But not government biologist Katyucha Silva. She was thinking about dogs.

What would they do to these turtles? What were they doing to Brazil?

It’s a question more researchers are beginning to ask in a country where there are more dogs than children — and where dogs are quickly becoming the most destructive predator. They’re invading nature preserves and national parks. They’re forming packs, some 15 dogs strong, and are hunting wild prey. They’ve muscled out native predators such as foxes and big cats in nature preserves, outnumbering pumas 25 to 1 and ocelots 85 to 1.

And Coyotes outnumber Pumas in the US. Yes, some predators out number others. Get used to it. Time to reintroduce Wolves, Bears and Pumas to New York City and Washington D.C.

Every year, they become still more plentiful, spreading diseases, disrupting natural environments, goosing scientists who set up elaborate camera systems to photograph wild animals, only to come away with pictures of curious canines.

“It’s a difficult thing for people to hear,” said Isadora Lessa, a Rio de Janeiro biologist who wrote her doctoral dissertation on domestic dogs causing environmental mayhem. “They love dogs too much.”

How the dog became one of the world’s most harmful invasive mammalian predators is as much a global story as a Brazilian one. Over the last century, as the human population exploded, so did the dog population, growing to an estimated 1 billion.

That has been great for people — and even better for dogs — but less so for nature, according to a growing body of academic research implicating canines, particularly the free-roaming ones, in environmental destruction.

“The global impacts of domestic dogs on wildlife are grossly underestimated,” researchers concluded in a 2017 study published in the journal Biological Conservation. The researchers, based in Australia, convicted dogs in the extinction of 11 species and declared them the third-most-damaging mammal, behind only cats and rodents.

Yes, dogs can become a local problem. But they're not killing the planet.

We are days away from

OPINION: If you really cared about the planet, you’d kill yourselves.

— Bridget Phetasy (@BridgetPhetasy) August 24, 2019

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Labor Day With Jayne Mansfield up on time and within budget at The Other McCain.

Reason #6404 that Trump was Elected

Non-citizens made up 64% of ALL federal arrests last year, report finds

Despite making up only seven percent of the U.S. population, non-U.S. citizens accounted for almost two-thirds (64 percent) of all federal arrests last year, according to newly released government numbers. The statistics are part of a report issued Thursday by the Bureau of Justice Statistics titled “Immigration, Citizenship, and the Federal Justice System, 1998-2018.”

“In 1998, 63% of all federal arrests were of U.S. citizens,” the report explains. “In 2018, 64% of all federal arrests were of non-U.S. citizens.” The report explains during the 20-year time frame, arrests of non-citizens “more than tripled” while citizen arrests rose 10 percent.

One of the places where immigrant arrests have risen most sharply is, not surprisingly, the southern U.S. border. There are five federal judicial districts along the border: The Southern District of California, the District of Arizona, the District of New Mexico, the Western District of Texas, and the Southern District of Texas. The percentage of federal arrests in these districts have increased from 33% in 1998 to 65% in 2018. Those districts also saw a quarter (25.1 percent) of federal drug arrests in 2018. And these numbers are only for five federal judicial districts out of the total 94.

Furthermore, as the U.S. has faced a border crisis primarily driven by migration from Central America, the number of Central Americans arrested in the border districts increased from 13,549 in 2017 to 37,590 in 2018. There were 1,171 total federal arrests of Central Americans in 1998.

The report also finds that among prosecutions in U.S. district court, only .3 percent of non-citizens were tried for first-time illegal entry. Of the remaining majority of non-citizen prosecutions, 72 percent were for illegal re-entry, 13 percent were for drug charges, and 4.5 percent were for fraud.

Meanwhile, federal immigration crime arrests almost doubled between 2017 and 2018, from 58,031 to 108,667.

The system is broken. Build the wall.

Some Sunday Russiagate Leftovers

Nothing much really new here. BPR, Ex-Overstock CEO implicates Comey: Just say my name to see former FBI director ‘crap his pants’

“Go stick a television camera on Peter Strzok or James Comey, and just say the name Patrick Bryne. You will see a former director of the FBI crap his pants,” he said unabashedly during an appearance Thursday evening on Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”

According to JD Heyes at NewsTarget, Confirmed: Obama knew about, and was DIRECTING, the “Spygate” coup attempt against Trump from the very beginning. Seems likely. If not, he was derelict in his duty.

Earlier this week during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Andrew McCarthy, attorney and former federal prosecutor who specialized in national security cases, said “counterintelligence operations” which is what Spygate was, at its core, are “done for the president.”

That means, as The Gateway Pundit notes, they are executed specifically to inform the commander-in-chief.

“What I’m saying is not that the president sits there and directs that there be counter-intelligence investigations. What I’m saying is that unlike criminal investigations, counter intelligence investigations are done for the president,” McCarthy said.

“The only reason to do them is for the president with the information he needs to protect the United States from foreign threats. They’re not like criminal investigations in that regard. So, in principle, the information is for the president. And here we know at various junctures we have actual factual information that this investigation was well known to President Obama,” he added.

Hannity asked if the president knew about the investigation from the outset, wouldn’t he have been updated on its progress?

“Sean, if things were working properly the president should have been alerted about it and informed. It was a very important investigation,” McCarthy added.

“If they actually believed what they were telling the court that it was a possibility that Donald Trump was actually a plant of the Kremlin, it would have been derelict on their part not to keep the president informed,” he added.

BREAKING: Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer said "I guarantee the answer is yes" to whether Obama knew Halper & others were deployed to spy on Trump campaign. Fleischer explained that no FBI director would put informants inside a presidential campaign w/o the prez authorizing it

— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) May 24, 2018

Absolute power absolutely corrupts. True Pundit, SEX SCANDAL ROCKS FBI: Top Agents Under Fire For Reported Sexual Affairs with CNN Reporters. Literally in bed with the enemy.

Here is what we know. High-level FBI officials complained to the highest executive offices of the FBI that Strzok and more top agents were engaged in sexual relationships with CNN’s on-air personnel. Those high-ranking sources say top management did not investigate the reports and the relationships continued. And the sexual romps still might continue today.

We need names and faces. And speaking of FBI agents in bed with CNN, Tristan Justice at Da Fed,  CNN Just Paid Off Another Corrupt Deep State Leaker (Andy McCabe) With A TV Contract. And at BPR, CNN loses it over Sanders hire, welcomes disgraced McCabe. Consistency for CNN consists of consistently overlooking the faults of its friends and inventing those of it's enemies.

McCabe was fired for repeatedly lying to federal investigators under penalty of perjury & referred for prosecution by the IG.

Let’s call an 🍎 an 🍎: CNN hired an established liar because he hates Trump. The high horse has been put out to pasture. https://t.co/9z1UcIatom

— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) August 23, 2019

From Larwyn's Linx, the Quote of the Day:

QOTD: “I’m sure it is just a coincidence, but FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok’s wife, Melissa Hodgman, happens to be the Assoc. Director of the SEC Enforcement Division, who happened to be leading the SEC investigation of Peter Byrne’s company [Overstock.com].

So the wife of the FBI agent who was directing Patrick Byrne in the sketchy FBI operation targeting Donald Trump… just happens to open an investigation of Byrne shortly after the corrupt FBI operation containing her husband first hit the headlines in early 2018.

I wonder if the elimination of that SEC investigation was worth, oh, say $1 billion.

Huh, imagine that?

Coincidences.

Small world.” --Sundance

From the Right Scoop,  Here’s the WHOPPING amount the Mueller investigation cost the taxpayers…

BREAKING: The final taxpayer tab for Special Counsel Robert Mueller's (dud) investigation: $31,773,751, according to latest Statement of Expenditures report released by his office

— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) August 23, 2019

Meh, mere rounding error in the federal budget. They made that back on money they confiscated from Manafort allegedly. The real crime was investigating nothing for 2 years and keeping Trump under the gun.

And to what effect? Paul Bedard, WaEx, Support for impeachment at lowest level of 35%: Poll

Linked by EBL in Dinah Washington: September In The Rain, Lana Del Rey, Cape Fear (1962),
 🍹🌀 Hurricane Prepardness 🌀🍹, Madeleine Westerhout:💦Leaky Rule 5💦,  🏎️ Jessi Combs, RIP,  Beth Mynett: 'The Squad' Stole Her Man 🤦🏻‍♀️, Which Movie Is Worst: 'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald' or 'Mortal Engines'? 💩🎥 🤔 and Happy Birthday Sean Connery 🎂🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿.

I Don't Think That Word Means What She Thinks It Means

Autocracy. Taylor Swift: Trump thinks his presidency is an autocracy

Taylor Swift has spoken of her disillusionment with American values in an exclusive interview with the Guardian.

The 29-year-old songwriter said she began feeling conflicted about what the US stood for when “all the dirtiest tricks in the book were used and it worked”. The Pennsylvania-born musician described the atmosphere in her home country as “gaslighting the American public into being like, ‘If you hate the president, you hate America.’”

Of Donald Trump’s presidency, she said: “We’re a democracy – at least, we’re supposed to be – where you’re allowed to disagree, dissent, debate. I really think that he thinks this is an autocracy.” The exclusive interview will be in the Guardian tomorrow.

Swift’s remarks are the latest signs of her political awakening. She did not endorse a candidate in the 2016 presidential election, sowing controversy among her fans – and leading to her unwitting adoption as a figurehead by the US “alt-right”.

 If Trump was such an autocrat, she would be at serious risk of being put in jail, instead of making millions of dollars on sugar pop.

Swift explained that after a period of personal turbulence in 2016, including her mother’s cancer relapse and a high-profile argument with the rapper Kanye West and his wife, Kim Kardashian, she felt unable to be in the public eye: “I was just trying to protect my mental health – not read the news very much, go cast my vote, tell people to vote. I just knew what I could handle and I knew what I couldn’t. I was literally about to break.”

She said her negative public image at the time made her feel “just useless. And maybe even like a hindrance”, adding that she felt “really remorseful for not saying anything”. She confirmed that she would otherwise have endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.

The Guardian met Swift as Tennessee lawmakers were voting to impose a near-total ban on abortion in the state. “Obviously, I’m pro-choice,” Swift said on the matter. “I just can’t believe this is happening.” She pledged to “do everything I can for 2020”.

Shockingly, these public statements came out as she was promoting a new album with an activist slant.

Swift releases her seventh album, Lover, today. Several songs on the record continue her recent activist streak. She rebukes homophobia on You Need to Calm Down and imagines how the public would perceive her if she were male on The Man.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Labor Day With Jayne Mansfield up on time and within budget at The Other McCain.

Plans for Plans to Rebuild James, Barren Islands Announced

Part of what's left of James Island

We knew it was coming; they have to put that mud from Baltimore Harbor somewhere, and they were on the short list. 2 Eroded Islands In Chesapeake Bay To Be Restored With The Help Of Federal, Local Agencies

Two eroded islands in the Chesapeake Bay will be restored with clean sediment.

James and Barren islands off the coast of Dorchester County will be restored with the help of a joint effort with the Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Port Administration (MDOT MPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District.

Looking across Barren Island to the first Bridge to Nowhere

James Island, or what's left of us, is barely visible straight across the Bay from us, while Barren Island is about 10 miles further south on the Eastern Shore.

“In order to support the economic giant that is the Port of Baltimore, we need to continually dredge our shipping channels to accommodate the massive ships that are carrying more cargo than ever before,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “This important dredging project will also help us stem the tide of erosion to preserve James and Barren Islands and protect Dorchester County residents from additional shoreline erosion.”

James Island will get dredged sediment from the Chesapeake channels that lead to the Port of Baltimore, while Barren Island will be getting sediment from nearby slow-draft channels. A total of 2,144 across will be restored.

“This agreement between Maryland and the Corps of Engineers shows how we can work together effectively to benefit the economy and communities and preserve our bay,” Governor Hogan said. “I want to thank the Corps of Engineers, stakeholders, citizens, and everyone who played a role in making this possible.”

The 4-year, $9 million engineering and design phase will begin this year — using 65 percent federal funding and 35 percent of state funding.

Thanks, ya'll! I expect them to make some good fishing structure in the process, the way they have with Poplar Island. I only hope I'm still young enough to take advantage of it.