RSN: Grey Wolf Appears in Iowa for First Time in 89 Years - And Is Shot Dead, Conservatives Praise Antarctic Ice Sheet Melt as Beautiful Expression of Free Market, et al

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Reader Supported News

YOU ARE EVEREST, I MUST CLIMB YOU: This mailing list has everything we need to fund the project a hundred times over, without straining anyone's budget in the slightest. We do not need people to donate more, we need more people to donate. I have failed. I am a bad fundraiser. This is on me. If I can find a way to bring this home to you we will be secure for a decade. This list and the people on it are our Everest. I must make it to the top. / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

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Andy Borowitz | Conservatives Praise Antarctic Ice Sheet Melt as Beautiful Expression of Free Market

Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker
Borowitz writes: "A delegation of conservative members of Congress paid a visit to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet melt today to witness firsthand what one of them called 'the most beautiful expression of the free market I've ever seen.'"
READ MORE

Ken Auletta | Why Jill Abramson Was Fired
Ken Auletta, The New Yorker
Auletta writes: "Abramson discovered that her pay and her pension benefits as both executive editor and, before that, as managing editor were considerably less than the pay and pension benefits of Bill Keller, the male editor whom she replaced in both jobs."
READ MORE

Tom Hayden | Bernie Sanders Could Be the 2016 Democratic Candidate We've All Been Waiting For
Tom Hayden, The Nation
Hayden writes: "Nothing is decided until it is officially decided, of course, and pressures from the Democratic establishment are building quickly against the independent Vermont senator."
READ MORE

Guardian Challenges Lethal Injection Secrecy in Landmark Missouri Lawsuit
Ed Pilkington, Jon Swaine, Guardian UK
Pilkington and Swaine report: "The lawsuit argues that under the first amendment of the US constitution the public has a right of access to know 'the type, quality and source of drugs used by a state to execute an individual in the name of the people'."
READ MORE

The Biggest Fast Food Strike in World History Has Started
Alice Speri, VICE Magazine
Speri reports: "Workers and labor organizers across the globe have united in a campaign that aims to advance workers' specific demands in each country, while also showing solidarity with the US-based push for a $15 hourly wage and workers' right to unionize."
READ MORE

Thousands Flee California 'Fire in the Sky'
Agence France-Press
Excerpt: "Thousands of people fled raging wildfires in southern California which destroyed homes and triggered evacuations at a nuclear power plant, a military base and a Legoland amusement park."
READ MORE

Grey Wolf Appears in Iowa for First Time in 89 Years - And Is Shot Dead
Jeremy Hance, Guardian UK
Hance reports: "Although wolves remain a protected species in Iowa, the hunter was not cited, because he believed the animal to be a coyote and has cooperated with authorities."
READ MORE

Protecting Yellowstone Wolves

Protecting Yellowstone Wolves shared Humane Research Council's photo. 

Indeed.
 

This, that......

Bold Nebraska

"The oil companies have drilled there for 100 years, and now all the easy-to-get-out oil is gone and 'Big Oil' has to resort to riskier methods," Carson resident Glen White told the city council. "They get all the profits. We get all the risks. Their profits, our resources."

 

 

California City Temporarily Bans All New Oil Drilling Over Fracking Concerns

thinkprogress.org

The city of Carson says it needs time to study the effects of using fracking to extract oil.

 

 

 

 

Howling For Wolves

Here is Minnesota's "database" on wolf mortality. For 2 yrs, Howling for Wolves has made formal requests to the DNR for information on all sources of wolf deaths. We received a 6" stack of incident reports. An "Incident Report" is submitted by a DNR conservation officer, filed away, and not analyzed or available for public scrutiny. HFW learned there is no overall tracking of wolf diseases and deaths, and no publicly accessible data on wolf-ivestock conflicts for farmers eith...er. No one tracks when wolves are killed as incidental catches in traps or snare set for other animals.

An important editorial in The Forum this week states: "Legislation to temporarily suspend wolf hunting, trapping and snaring in Minnesota is a rational response to legitimate concerns about the management of the state’s wolf population."

Read: http://bit.ly/1fS9wts

‪#‎SF2256

 

 

 

 

 

Rebuild The Dream's photo.

 

 

Elizabeth Warren is hands down the best person. (Thank you, Young Progressive Voices)

 

 

 

 

Grist.org

The oil and gas behemoth is returning to the Gulf of Mexico to drill, now that we've all forgotten that pesky little Deepwater Horizon thing.

 

BP is gonna drill in the Gulf of Mexico again, because THAT’s worked so well

grist.org

Maybe BP's learned its lesson and will be more careful ... and maybe tomorrow Tina Fey and I will become BFFs.

 

 

 

Keith Olbermann Fan Page shared US Uncut's photo.

 

Share if you agree. Like our page US Uncut and invite your friends to like us too.

 

 

 

EARTHWORKS

Injecting fracking wastewater underground causes earthquakes.

In 2012, California injected 23 billion gallons of waterwater from the oil and gas industry underground.

Anyone else see a problem here? http://shakyground.org

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Reich

In few days the Supreme Court will hand down its decision in “Shaun McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission” – which might use the bizarre logic of the Court's “Citizens United” decision to abandon all limits on what individuals can spend on political campaigns – another huge victory for the Koch brothers. I’m no conspiracy theorist, but it’s interesting that only months after “Citizens United” was decided, the Koch brothers' invite to their twice-yearly political retreat noted that previous guests at such meetings had included Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas (according to the New York Times).

 

 

 

 

Killing for the sake of Killing!

The Sierra Club

"Hunting for food is one thing, and in some cases hunting helps to keep overabundant species like deer in ecological check. But the reason we have too many deer in the US in the first place is simple: the steady decline of big predators like the mountain lion and - you guessed it -the wolf. The fact is that we need wolves in ecosystems. So why a killing contest to rid the land of them?"

An amazing VICE article --> http://sc.org/KillingAWolf

 

How to Kill a Wolf - An Undercover Report from the Idaho Coyote and Wolf Derby | VICE United States

vice.com

I had come to the town of Salmon, Idaho—population 3,000—to enter as a contestant in the first annual Idaho Coyote and Wolf Derby. Over the...

Park Service: Shot killed Isle Royale wolf

Howling For Wolves

Outrage! Necropsy shows Isabelle was shot. After crossing a rare 26 m. ice bridge to the mainland, lone wolf Isabelle was found dead, and an examination shows she died from being shot between the ribs.
‪#‎Nowords‬

Park Service: Shot killed Isle Royale wolf

lansingstatejournal.com

The Isle Royale wolf discovered dead after crossing the ice on Lake Superior last month was apparently shot, the National Park Service announced Friday. Special report: Silence of the wolves

RSN: TransCanada Whistleblower's Evidence Ignored, Keystone XL South Rushed Into Operation, et al

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Reader Supported News

DECISION TIME: WILL YOU SIT BACK, OR BE A PART? How long have you watched RSN Struggle and done Nothing? Many of you have for a long, long time. We have good donors on this list but we also have people that have ridden along for many years and watched as others supported the project. When does it change? / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

Okay, I'll make a donation.

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Robert Parry | Obama Has Stumbled Into a Constitutional Firefight

Robert Parry, Consortium News
Parry writes: "When historians set off to write the story of Barack Obama's administration, they will have to struggle with why the 44th President chose not to hold his predecessor accountable for grave crimes of state and why he failed to take control of his own foreign policy."
READ MORE

White House Withholds Thousands of Documents From Senate CIA Probe, Despite Vows of Help
Jonathan S. Landay, Ali Watkins, Marisa Taylor, McClatchy
Excerpt: "The White House has been withholding for five years more than 9,000 top-secret documents sought by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence for its investigation into the now-defunct CIA detention and interrogation program."
READ MORE

Nick Turse | American Proxy Wars in Africa
Nick Turse, TomDispatch
Turse writes: "Since 9/11, the U.S. military has been making inroads in Africa, building alliances, facilities, and a sophisticated logistics network."
READ MORE

SCOTUS Ruled in Favor of the Nation's Top Corporate Interest Group in 7 of 8 Cases This Term
Ian Millhiser, ThinkProgress
Millhiser reports: "So far this term, the Supreme Court handed down eight cases where the United States Chamber of Commerce filed a brief - and a majority of the justices sided with the Chamber in all but one of these decisions."
READ MORE

5 Reasons Americans Are Getting Fatter: It's Not Just the Food
Martha Rosenberg, AlterNet
Rosenberg reports: "Still there are scientific reasons why Americans are blimping up and they aren't limited to eating too much and exercising too little."
READ MORE

TransCanada Whistleblower's Evidence Ignored, Keystone XL South Rushed Into Operation
ulie Dermansky, EcoWatch
Dermansky reports: "Pipeline safety regulators in North America have done nothing but write warning letters to TransCanada in the two years since former employee Evan Vokes revealed evidence indicating the company had been breaking the rules."
READ MORE

Endangered Mexican Gray Wolf at Heart of Political Battle in Southwest
Laura Paskus, Al Jazeera America
Paskus reports: "As state and federal political administrations have changed over time, support for the program to recover the Mexican gray wolf population has waxed and waned. Southwestern ranchers remain virulently opposed to the predator."
READ MORE

This & that....

Earthjustice

BRILLIANT VIDEO: Mention "wolves" and some people react to it like they would plague-infested vermin: exterminate them at all cost. But this amazing video shows how the reintroduction of wolves literally helped restore an ailing Yellowstone back to life, benefiting everything from beavers to grizzly bears.

It's a dramatic reminder that all creatures--including humans--are linked to each other, and what we do to our natural world, we do to ourselves. You can learn more about the need to protect endangered species here >> http://ow.ly/tQhom

Click SHARE or LIKE if you enjoyed the wolf video! Share your thoughts below.

Charles Rangel's photo.

 

New Ways and Means analysis: Unemployment Insurance expiration to cost economy $3 billion in Jan and Feb. Most importantly, it is costing an arm & a leg for those who are struggling to put food on the table! Tell the Senate to ‪#‎RenewUI

 

 

 

Howling For Wolves

The news out of ID just got worse for wolves. State by state, the viral hate has spread from the West to the Great Lakes. Minnesota has always valued wolves -and is the only state in lower 48 with their original wolf population. Are you tired of seeing brag shots of dead trophy wolves in the news? Get active. Do something.

‪#‎wolfday‬

House lawmakers back $2 million to kill Idaho wolves

kboi2.com

This wolf control fund's proponents argue existing measures by federal trappers and hunters aren't enough to tackle wolves that prey on sheep, cattle and elk herds coveted by hunters.

 

 

 

"You must take sides, neutrality always favors the oppressor!" - Elie Wiesel

 

 

Howling For Wolves

If the best available science isn't driving the USFWS proposal to delist all gray wolves, what is? Excellent Slate.com article explores the nasty politics driving wolf policy.

‪#‎wolves

 

Strange Science and Nasty Politics Threaten Gray Wolves

slate.com

The Endangered Species Act sounds simple on paper. Its goal is to preserve biological diversity, protect critical habitat, and recover threatened species across the country. But nothing is simple when it comes to the...

 

 

 

Greg Palast

BREAKING: UAW appeals outside interference in union representation election for Chattanooga Volkswagen workers
~ via UAW

The UAW filed an appeal with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) today related to the interference by politicians and outside special interest groups in the union representation election held last week at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant.
...
A firestorm of interference from politicians and special interest groups threatening the economic future of the plant occurred just before and during three days of voting in an election supervised by the NLRB. Workers voted narrowly to reject representation, with a slim 44 vote swing. The objections detail a coordinated and widely publicized coercive campaign conducted by politicians and outside organizations to deprive Volkswagen workers of their federally protected right to join a union.

The campaign included publicly-announced and widely disseminated threats by elected officials that state-financed incentives would be withheld if workers exercised their protected right to form a union.

“It’s essentially saying, ‘If you unionize, it’s going to hurt your economy. Why? Because I’m going to make sure it does,’” said Volkswagen worker Lauren Feinauer. “I hope people see it for the underhanded threat that it is.”

The campaign also included threats by U.S. Sen. Bob Corker related to promises of a new product line awarded to the plant if workers voted against UAW representation.

The objections state, “Senator Corker’s conduct was shameful and undertaken with utter disregard for the rights of the citizens of Tennessee and surrounding states that work at Volkswagen. … The clear message of the campaign was that voting for the union would result in stagnation for the Chattanooga plant, with no new product, no job security, and withholding of state support for its expansion.”

“It’s an outrage that politically motivated third parties threatened the economic future of this facility and the opportunity for workers to create a successful operating model that that would grow jobs in Tennessee,” said UAW President Bob King. “It is extraordinary interference in the private decision of workers to have a U.S. senator, a governor and leaders of the state legislature threaten the company with the denial of economic incentives and workers with a loss of product. We’re committed to standing with the Volkswagen workers to ensure that their right to have a fair vote without coercion and interference is protected.”

An affirmative vote for union representation at the Volkswagen plant would have led to the establishment of a works council that would have been the first such model of labor-management relations in the United States.

The NLRB will investigate the election conduct and determine whether there are grounds to set aside the election results and hold a new election for Volkswagen workers.

You can view the appeal here:

http://uaw.org/sites/default/files/UAW_Election_Objection.pdfSee More

 

 

 

 

THIS, THAT......

For the Love of All Animals shared Humane Society for Hamilton County (Indiana)'s photo.

URGENT: Please share this post about our sweet boy, Tucker. He is starting to give up.

Tucker is a 3 year old, pure breed German Shepherd. He was surrendered to us in October because of health issues his owner could no longer afford. Tucker was literally skin and bones suffering from very painful perianal fistulas that were aggravated by his dietary issues. We have invested a great deal of money, time and effort to identify a treatment plan that will give Tucker the chance at a quality life. And we are so relieved to tell you, we do have him on the right path.

A holistic veterinarian and German Shepherd owner herself has helped us identify Tucker's real issue...Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. He has been tested for and does not have EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency). With steroid treatment and other medications along with a special diet, Tucker is gaining weight and processing food properly. But, we have reached a point where Tucker simply must be in a foster home to recover further and gain much needed weight. The stress of living in the kennel 24/7 is fighting against all of our efforts. Tucker is depressed and giving up. His life is at stake.

We are hoping, and praying, that one of you would be willing to open your heart and home to this well-mannered, highly intelligent, neutered boy who knows all of his basic commands including sit, down, shake, roll over, beg and leave it! He is loving and affectionate, he is good with some dogs....but no cats. A meet and greet would be required with your current dogs.

For more information about Tucker and what would be required to foster and care for him, please email Rebecca Stevens at hamiltonhumane@yahoo.com.

Please...if you can help Tucker, don't wait.

Sincerely,
Rebecca Stevens
Executive Director
Humane Society for Hamilton County

Environmental Action

Have you been hearing a lot about green energy at Walmart? Here's a little chart to put them in perspective, compared to other national chains. Info via our friends at Institute for Local Self-Reliance

 

 

 

 

Unsettled Science Behind Proposal to Lift Gray Wolf Protections

A gray wolf in the woods. (photo: file)

Unsettled Science Behind Proposal to Lift Gray Wolf Protections, Panel Says

By Megan Gannon, LiveScience

09 February 14

he drawn-out battle over the fate of gray wolves in the United States continues.

An independent panel of experts said Friday (Feb. 7) there is wide disagreement about some of the science the Fish and Wildlife Service used to make its case for ousting gray wolves from the Endangered Species list. The review could hinder the FWS proposal to lift federal protections for the animals throughout much of the United States.

"It was a very clean process and we got a unanimous result," said Steven Courtney, one of the scientists charged with setting up the independent panel at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. [In Photos: The Fight Over Gray Wolves' Endangered Status]

The panel was not taksed with deciding whether or not the gray wolf should be removed from the Endangered Species list. Rather, they were charged with determining whether the FWS recommendation to do so was supported by the best available science, explained Frank Davis, director of the NCEAS.

The experts' main complaint was that the FWS proposal relied too heavily on a 2012 study (published in the FWS's own journal North American Fauna), which determined wolves that once occupied the eastern part of the country were likely a genetically distinct species (Canis lycaon) from the gray wolves in question (Canis lupis). If this were the case, the FWS would not be responsible for ensuring the gray wolf's recovery in the eastern United States.

But scientists on the panel said the results of the 2012 study are not universally accepted or settled.

 

The group decided that FWS officials "had interpreted the science that they used fairly, but there has been a lot of new science on the question of wolf genetics, and that science needs to be brought into that discussion," Davis told Live Science.

The FWS has now reopened its public comment period on the proposal, which it hopes to make a decision on by the end of the year.

The NCEAS was brought in to lead the independent review of the proposal after the FWS was criticized for meddling with its own peer review panel (i.e., removing scientists who had publicly spoken out against the proposal). The panel's results can be read in full on the FWS website.

Wolves once lived across much of the continental United States, but by the mid-20th century, hunting had nearly driven the creatures to extinction. Conservation efforts and federal protections helped the animals make a comeback, and now there are more than 5,000 gray wolves in the Lower 48.

 

In light of their recovery, wolves were recently stripped of their federal protections in states in the northern Rockies and Great Lakes region, where several state wildlife management agencies have established wolf-hunting seasons.

Some scientists and conservationists have expressed fear that taking gray wolves off the list for the entire United States is premature and would keep them from recolonizing other parts of their former habitat, like Colorado and Utah.

 

Under the FWS proposal, a subspecies population of about 83 Mexican wolves in New Mexico and Arizona would keep their Endangered Species protections.

FROM RSN:

Woody Allen Responds to Dylan Farrow

Woody Allen, The New York Times
Allen writes: "When I first heard Mia Farrow had accused me of child molestation, I found the idea so ludicrous I didn't give it a second thought."
READ MORE

NSA Captures Data on Third of US Calls
Al Jazeera America
Excerpt: "The National Security Agency collects less than 30 percent of calling data from Americans despite the agency's massive daily efforts to sweep up the bulk of U.S. phone records."
READ MORE

Holder: 'Same-Sex Spouses Cannot Be Compelled to Testify Against Each Other'
Pete Yost, Associated Press
Yost reports: "Attorney General Eric Holder is applying a landmark Supreme Court ruling to the Justice Department, announcing Saturday that same-sex spouses cannot be compelled to testify against each other."
READ MORE

Dead End on Silk Road: Internet Crime Kingpin Ross Ulbricht's Big Fall
David Kushner, Rolling Stone
Kushner reports: "On October 1st, 2013, inside the science­-fiction section of the Glen Park library in San Francisco, one of the Internet's most-wanted men sat typing quietly on his laptop."
READ MORE

NATO Protesters Convicted on Non-Terrorism Charges
Al Jazeera America
Excerpt: "A jury on Friday acquitted three NATO summit protesters - the so-called NATO 3 - of breaking Illinois' rarely tested state terrorism law, but did convict them on lesser arson counts."
READ MORE

Former US Analyst Pleads Guilty in Leak to Reporter
David Ingram, Reuters
Ingram reports: "A former U.S. State Department analyst pleaded guilty on Friday to sharing secret information about North Korea with a reporter for Fox News."
READ MORE

Unsettled Science Behind Proposal to Lift Gray Wolf Protections, Panel Says
Megan Gannon, LiveScience
Gannon reports: "An independent panel of experts said Friday (Feb. 7) there is wide disagreement about some of the science the Fish and Wildlife Service used to make its case for ousting gray wolves from the Endangered Species list."
READ MORE

 

 

Those were the days my friends.......

Bold Nebraska

Unbelievable.

(Well, not really for Big Oil.)

Company launches fight to put petcoke back on Detroit’s riverfront

blogs.windsorstar.com

The company which garnered international attention by storing petroleum coke along the Detroit River has applied to again put massive black mounds at the...

Environmental Action shared SumOfUs's photo.

Those were the days my friends..

 

 

Thanks for posting The Other 98%From a recent issue of The New Yorker

 

 

 

 

 

Howling For Wolves

Last week the The Huffington Post asked: is it cool to wear fur again? Joe Namath's display pretty much gives us our answer. But it's the power of celebrity, even in the form of an elderly football star, that is driving the current boom in fur fashion. The furrier that sold Namath his coat says that his "phone is ringing off the hook" (w new customers) since the Super Bowl.

How celebrity culture is fueling the fur boom, record fur prices, and of course the trapping industry...:

http://huff.to/1aY37S6

Photo: Reuters

‪#‎Nofur‬See More

 

 

 

 

 

The Other 98%

3 Cheers for all the folks fighting the dirty Keystone XL pipeline. ‪#‎NoKXL

‬

 

 

 

 

 

This & that .....oxymorons....don't just complain....

Leg hold traps were outlawed in Massachusetts because they're cruel and indiscriminate.
There is simply no excuse.

Howling For Wolves via The Fur-Bearer Defenders

"She's looking at me. I'm looking at her. And thinking what am I going to do here. This is a horrific experience. I can't walk away. I can't leave this creature here suffering...It breaks my heart. It breaks my heart that we can take the life of another creature we share this planet with for something as trivial as a $20 fur or vanity. She's not hurting anyone. She's just living her life." -Ontario nurse who found the wolf caught in snare last week.

From The Fur-Bearer Defenders Full interview on found snared last week. This is trapping. This is the carnage inflicted on our wildlife by the trapping/fur industry.

Please LISTEN! Note: Yes, this is a wolf. It is an Algonquin wolf -a sub-species of the gray wolf native to Ontario. Update: the wolf's leg was amputated and it is recovering -see Fur Bearer's page for updates.

‪#‎trappingistorture‬ ‪#‎wolves‬See More

Episode 118: Special Report | Fur-Bearer Defenders

furbearerdefenders.com

This week, we’re taking a look at a single incident which has captured the eyes of the world: a wolf whose leg was caught and nearly severed by a legal snare in northern Ontario. Paula Tough, a resident in a small town north of Huntsville and bordering Algonquin Park, came across the wolf, who was s...

Howling For Wolves shared Wolf Conservation Center's photo.

 

Anti-wolf legislation passed yesterday by AZ's Committee on Government and the Environment is likely unconstitutional. Paul Bender, a constitutional law profess...or at ASU's law school, points that the proposal "telling Arizonans they can’t face federal prosecution if they kill an endangered wolf is clearly outside the Legislature’s purview... the federal law is supreme and the state has to follow it." More: http://bit.ly/1evn3KPWith only 83 wild lobos remaining in the wild, any bill encouraging more killing of this critically endangered species is unacceptable. Mexican gray wolves offers ways to stop the bills here: http://bit.ly/1e0Z9Ci

Earthjustice

DON'T JUST COMPLAIN - If you're tired of the coal, oil, and gas companies getting their way, this is your chance to speak up! The EPA is asking for public comments on their first-ever carbon pollution standards for new power plants in the US, and you need to tell the EPA you support it! >> http://ow.ly/tfvKf

We only have a few months to get in as many comments as we can, and you can bet that the fossil fuel industry will try to oppose any new pollution rules. We need to show them THEY are not in control - the PEOPLE are!

Click SHARE to get this out to as many people as you can, and remember to take action! >> http://ow.ly/tfvKf

 

Meme GOP

So Bill O'Reilly was two conservative economists, Ben Stein and Wayne Rogers, trying to bully them into trashing Obama. When they totally debunk the whole GOP economic policy O'Reilly simply says "Oh, I don't believe that for a second."

Fair and Balanced and funny as hell!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9lEd1ruz9o

 

350.org shared I Heart Climate Scientists's photo.

Word!

If it sounds too good to be true, it is.