Save The Animals!

Kill the planet. That appears to be exactly what is happening as incresed populations of animals like deer, geese and raccoons increase dramatically in suburban settings. The waste they producs has become a major contributer to water pollution.

Does a bear leave its waste in the woods?

Of course. So do geese, deer, muskrats, raccoons and other wild animals. And now, such states as Virginia and Maryland have determined that this plays a significant role in water pollution.

Scientists have run high-tech tests on harmful bacteria in local rivers and streams and found that many of the germs — and in the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, a majority of them– come from wildlife dung. The strange proposition that nature is apparently polluting itself has created a serious conundrum for government officials charged with cleaning up the rivers.

Part of the problem lies with the unnaturally high populations of deer, geese and raccoons living in modern suburbs and depositing their waste there. But officials say it would be nearly impossible, and wildly unpopular, to kill or relocate enough animals to make a dent in even that segment of the pollution.

That leaves scientists and environmentalists struggling with a more fundamental question: How clean should we expect nature to be? In certain cases, they say, the water standards themselves might be flawed, if they appear to forbid something as natural as wild animals leaving their dung in the woods.

"You need to go back and say, 'Maybe the standards aren't exactly right' if wildlife are causing the problem," said Thomas Henry, an Environmental Protection Agency official who works on water pollution in the mid-Atlantic.

….

In the Potomac and the Anacostia, for instance, more than half of the bacteria in the streams came from wild creatures. EPA documents show that similar problems were found in Maryland, where wildlife were more of a problem than humans and livestock combined in the Magothy River, and in Northern Virginia tributaries such as Accotink Creek, where geese were responsible for 24 percent of bacteria, as opposed to 20 percent attributable to people.

This was almost too funny. It must be the day for animal irony! So what to do about a situation like this? My guess is that at some point sanity will have to prevail and the standards will have to be altered. But there may well come a time when we are going to have to deal with severe overpopulations of some animals by killing them. Because nature has its own way of dealing with overpopulations. It is called starvation and disease. When populations get too high, nature will step in. Then we may be forced to act out of self protection.

Dealing With Terrorist Squirrels

Here's something that Drudge linked about squirrels in a California park attacking people, including children (H/T Santay in comments). Normally, this kind of thing would set me off on yet another "animal uprising" item, which people seem to enjoy and are fun to go rambling off onto. However, this article struck a different note for me. First, the gist of the story:

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — An aggressive squirrel pounced on a 4-year-old boy in an attack last week in Cuesta Park in Mountain View, Calif.

The attack happened as the boy's mother unwrapped a muffin during a picnic.

The boy had to get rabies shot after the attack. He is still getting the shots.

The attack is not the first one reported at the park.

Mountain View Community Services Director David Muela said that as many as six people have been bitten or scratched by squirrels since May, and that the attacks have become more ferocious in the last month.

In response to attacks, the city of Mountain View has announced it plans to start trapping and killing the aggressive tree squirrels.

Over the next three weeks, park workers will set tube-like traps in the trees of Cuesta Park and euthanize captured squirrels "in a humane way," said David Muela, Mountain View's community services director.

Ironically, efforts to curb the behavior may have exacerbated the squirrels' aggressive tendencies, Muela said.

This summer, the city installed new trash receptacles featuring metal tops with a latch that makes it nearly impossible for an animal to rummage through the can in search of food. Increased park ranger patrols and flier distributions cautioning against feeding the animals might have further cut the squirrels' food supply, prompting them to act more assertively in their quest for food.

What struck me here is that these squirrels are becoming increasingly aggressive against park visitors as a direct result of efforts to curb their behavior. Anyone notice certain similarities to events in other parts of the world involving human terrorism? A stretch, you say? Really? Look at the responses to the program to trap and kill the dangerous animals:

Wildlife advocates also oppose the unusual measure of killing the animals and said it won't solve the problem.

"The squirrels will be back," South Bay wildlife rehabilitator Norma Campbell said. "For every one you take out, two more will come in. It could be a never-ending project that isn't going to accomplish anything."

Officials said the increasingly brazen behavior stems from years of being fed by park visitors.

The state Department of Fish and Game recommends against relocating habituated squirrels, he said, because their fear of humans has diminished and the problem is likely to remain. Instead, the department recommends the animals be put to sleep, Muela said.

Muela said the city couldn't afford to wait and see if the squirrels' aggressive behavior goes away eventually, because of the threat posed to public health and safety.

Emphasizing his concern for the welfare of park visitors, Muela said, "We will need the public's cooperation on this, because as long as they continue to feed the squirrels it will exacerbate the problem."

Oddly, here is the entire debate on terrorism and how to deal with it in a microcosm involving squirrels in a California park. Almost identical arguments being used on both sides of the issue. How very odd.

UPDATE: Okay, so I didn't make this into an animal uprising story. But that doesn't mean others haven't! StikNstein has all the details. Including a quote from the Council of American Rodent Relationships (CARR).

Kangaroo Invasion Of Europe Continues

The last report was from Ireland, now it's France. More krazed killer kangaroos on the loose. This time they say the beasts escaped from a "children's reform center".

LYON, France (AFP) - Two kangaroos escaped from a children's reform centre in France were seen bounding off in their newfound freedom near the eastern city of Lyon.

Around 20 officers and firemen and two sniffer dogs were tracking the bouncy marsupials, native to Australia, and driving them slowly back to their enclosure police said Friday.

An officer was standing by with a tranquiliser dart in case the animals — which can use their powerful hind legs as weapons — became dangerous.

Do you realize the implications here? These killers were being kept in a prison. The authorities are downplaying this. These are krazed kriminal killer kangaroos. Why, they are probably known assassins. Maybe it's time to do a sequel to The Day of the Jackal. The day of the Kangaroo……

Technical Difficulties

David Ignatius, writing in the Washington Post, says that Iran is encountering a number of technical difficulties in their uranium enrichment facility and that their progress is slower than many feared.

Western analysts had expected that the Iranians would move quickly to expand the enrichment effort to meet their near-term goal of having six cascades of 164 centrifuges each, or a total of nearly 1,000 centrifuges. The danger here was technological mastery rather than raw output of uranium. Even with 3,000 centrifuges operating, intelligence analysts estimate that it would take two to three years to produce enough highly enriched uranium for one bomb. Iran's eventual goal is a massive array of more than 50,000 centrifuges at Natanz.

But problems surfaced this summer. The Aug. 31 IAEA report, marked "Restricted Distribution," noted that since June, Iran had been feeding uranium into a small 20-centrifuge test cascade "for short periods of time," and that it had conducted various tests in June, July and August of the initial 164-centrifuge cascade. "The installation of a second 164-machine cascade is proceeding," the report noted, but it added that Iran planned to test the second cascade in September without injecting uranium.

What happened to slow the expected pace? IAEA analysts have told U.S. and European officials that it appears the centrifuges are overheating when uranium gas is injected. "The Iranians are unable to control higher temperatures, and after a short period they must stop because of higher temperatures. So far they haven't been able to solve this," says one Western intelligence official who has been briefed on the IAEA findings. In addition, this official said, some centrifuges "are simply crashing — 10 or so have broken down and must be replaced."

Ignatius argues that this means the West has more time to try diplomacy. Let's assume that the information in the unpublished report is completely accurate. It should be pointed out that the report is detailing past failures. The Iranians may well have figured out the problems literally yesterday. It is, at best, wishful thinking to assume this gives us more time in the future. What this tells us is why the Iranians have been dragging their feet up until now.

Frankly, after Ahmadinejad's statements yesterday, there is little doubt that the Iranian government has no intention of stopping this program unless the West stands together and faces them down. The time to do that is running out whether or not the Iranians are having technical difficulties.

Students Prove Smarter Than Professor

Some students at the University of New Hampshire are proving they are smarter than one of the professors who is supposed to be teaching them. Or the university administration for that matter. They are gathering signatures on a petition asking for the removal of 9/11 denialist psychology professor William Woodward.

DURHAM, N.H. — A small group of students has started a petition to remove a University of New Hampshire professor who believes that Bush administration officials planned the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks or knew about them and allowed them to happen.

"Basically, we watch professors to just ensure they're doing their job … they're not biased in the classroom and are not teaching what they are not supposed to teach," said Bill Hunt, chairman of the newly formed and unrecognized organization Students for Academic Integrity.

The group has set its sights on psychology professor William Woodward for "pushing his personal agenda on … students."

The members have been gathering signatures for more than a week. Hunt did not say how many students have signed.

"There are some students who strongly support me and shake my hand and thank me for doing this," said Hunt. "Other people are in utter disbelief that (we) want this man fired."

Hunt said the Students for Academic Integrity are considering bringing audio and videotape recorders to class to prove their case.

"I've heard from several students that (Woodward is) indoctrinating them," he said. "He claims that he wants everyone to have an opinion. The fact is, he doesn't."

Woodward, a tenured professor, belongs to Scholars for 9/11 Truth, whose members question the official story about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and contend that the U.S. government either had knowledge of the attacks or had a role in them.

Gov. John Lynch called Woodward's beliefs "completely crazy and offensive" and asked the trustees to investigate.

The administration apparently did investigate and didn't do anything about the situation. Hence the petition drive. As I have repeated pointed out, this is not a freedom of speech or academic freedom issue. This is a straight employment issue. To the extent the professor teaches his beliefs instead of the subject he is paid to teach, he is effectively stealing that time from the students and his employers. Would there be any doubt of that if he were teaching his religious beliefs? Or talking about auto repairs instead of psychology? His absurd 9/11 beliefs are not what he is paid to teach.

The only way his beliefs would be relevant is if he were using them as an example of how otherwise intelligent people can be stupid enough to fall into idiotic and dangerous beliefs. Abnormal psychology, then.

House Passes (Insert Misnomer Here) Bill

The House of Representatives has passed what the media continues to call a "warrantless wiretap" bill. It is not, of course. What the House passed is a bill allowing specific telephone calls to be listened to under specific circumstances. For example if you were to call a known of suspected terrorist outside of the US. Or if said known or suspected terrorist was to call you from outside the US.

That's all.

There are significant provisions for Congressional oversight. There are significant protections for Americans with no ties to terrorists. Yet the fight was fierce.

"The Democrats' irrational opposition to strong national security policies that help keep our nation secure should be of great concern to the American people," Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a statement after the bill passed 232-191.

"To always have reasons why you just can't vote 'yes,' I think speaks volumes when it comes to which party is better able and more willing to take on the terrorists and defeat them," Boehner said.

Democrats shot back that the war on terrorism shouldn't be fought at the expense of civil and human rights. The bill approved by the House, they argued, gives the president too much power and leaves the law vulnerable to being overturned by a court.

"It is ceding the president's argument that Congress doesn't matter in this area," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., that give legal status under certain conditions to Bush's warrantless wiretapping of calls and e-mails between people on U.S. soil making calls or sending e-mails and those in other countries.

Under the measure, the president would be authorized to conduct such wiretaps if he:

• Notifies the House and Senate intelligence committees and congressional leaders.

• Believes an attack is imminent and later explains the reason and names the individuals and groups involved.

• Renews his certification every 90 days.

We'll have to see what the Senate does here, but it appears unlikely this will get through before November.

Frist Wins Big - America Wins Bigger

Bill Frist ramrodded the "fence only" immigration bill through a cloture vote and it carried by 71-28. The fence only bill will be passed tomorrow with no way for opponents to kill it. There will be additional fence on the Mexican border.

While our borders are still inexcusably porous, we’ve made a great deal of progress in the last two years. With the passage of Defense and Homeland Security appropriations bills, we will have added 3,736 new Border Patrol agents … 9,150 new detention beds … and 1,373 detention personnel. We’ve more than quadrupled spending on border and immigration enforcement … increasing funding from $4 billion prior to 9/11 to over $16 billion today. We’ve seen apprehensions at the border increase by 45%. We’ve ended catch-and-release.

And, just moments ago, the Senate invoked cloture on the Secure Fence Act of 2006 by a vote of 71-28. Tomorrow the Senate will pass this legislation and send it to the President’s desk for his signature.

By requiring the construction of at least 700 miles of two-layered reinforced fencing along our southwest border and by mandating the use of cameras, ground sensors, UAVs and other forms of hi-tech surveillance, this legislation will help us gain control over every inch of our borders. The Homeland Security appropriations bill authorizes $1.8 billion in funding … so construction will proceed as quickly as possible. As the fence is erected, more funding in future budgets will be required, but I’m confident that the 71 Senators who proved themselves serious about border security today will support continued funding.

Nicely done. We have both increased security on the border and a way to handle terrorist detainees in one day. A significant day.

NOW We Know Why The Llama Got It

Earlier today we reported on the vicious gangland style murder of the llama found in Oakland, California. We knew it was the work of the dreaded animal mafia because the body was found with its legs tied together. Oddly enough, we have now found that the murder was probably a hit ordered by people trying to cover up a scandal involving alpacas. That's right, it's a sordid tale of alpaca paternity.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - A judge dismissed a lawsuit filed over the paternity of a baby alpaca, but the ruling might not mark the end of the barnyard soap opera. Cathy Crosson sued in Monroe Circuit Court to get the owners of an Illinois breeding farm to disclose which of its male alpacas sired the year-old offspring of her prized female, Peruvian Lily of the Incas.

She accused Likada Farms, of Wayne, Ill., of improperly breeding Peruvian Lily and then refusing to identify the offspring's father. Without the male's name, Crosson said she cannot register or sell the young alpaca.

But Monroe Circuit Judge E. Michael Hoff said this week that Crosson's case was filed in the wrong venue. He said the out-of-state farm does not do enough Indiana business for the suit to be valid in Monroe County.

That's right, our sources (who talked freely, if somewhat intelligibly, once we plied them with tequila) inform us that the llama was actually the father of the offspring of Peruvian Lily of the Incas. The breeding farm couldn't let that dirty little secret get out, so the llama got whacked.

Senate Passes Detainee Bill 65-34

The Senate has passed the bill governing detention and questioning of terrorists. The bill could reach the president for signature by tomorrow.

The 65-34 vote means the bill could reach the president's desk by week's end. The House passed nearly identical legislation on Wednesday and was expected to approve the Senate bill on Friday, sending it on to the White House.

The bill would create military commissions to prosecute terrorism suspects. It also would prohibit blatant abuses of detainees but grant the president flexibility to decide what interrogation techniques are legally permissible.

The White House and its supporters have called the measure crucial in the anti-terror fight, but some Democrats said it left the door open to abuse, violating the U.S. Constitution in the name of protecting Americans.

The uproar over this will, of course, continue.

UPDATE: NYT coverage, but it appears to be the same AP story.

UPDATE: Others: Political Pit Bull, Barone Blog, Decision '08, Volokh, Instapundit (READ THIS ONE), Powerline, Strata-Sphere,

I had to break this out. AJ Strata says this is an unmitigated disaster for the Democrats:

The ability to separate Iraq from the war on terror was critical to the dems succeeding, but they violated their own rule here. The Bill that is now passed passing in the Senate (65-34) as I write this (and run out the door) is one directed ONLY at terrorists. Americans are not effected by this bill. We will not see any of our rights impacted (unless one of us decides to join our enemy). So the idea this threatens us and not terrorists is laughable. But everytime this Bill is brought up the Dems are going to say we need to be out of Iraq - where we have killed 4,000 terrorists according to Al Qaeda. The Dems are going to say we need to back away, but not to worry, we opposed being too harsh on them if they come here and try and kill Americans.

The Dems will now have ads placed against them rightfully claiming they hesitated to call our enemies our enemies. They will have ads saying the Dems could not muster the will to aggressively question people attempting to kill us in suicide attacks (like someone on a suicide attack run cares about the Geneva Conventions??). The Dems will now face ads where they want Americans to pay for lawyering up the terrorists (”Bin Laden, you have a right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you”).

You really have to read the rest to see what is and is not acceptable to some politicians. Who's rights matter and who's do not. It is NOT pretty. AJ may well be right here.

More Imaginary Woodpeckers!

Actually, it's just another report on the same expedition where the searchers swear they saw the Ivory Billed Woodpeckers - honest - but never got a picture. But it finally gave our experts a handle on why they are failing to get that elusive photographic proof.

"The bird just flew over my head; I was in my kayak and it was just above me, going away," said Geoffrey Hill of Auburn University, whose team spied the bird in the flooded forests along the Choctawhatchee River in May 2005.

Hill said he was within 30 feet of the woodpecker at that sighting, but failed to get a photograph, a key piece of evidence to document the bird's comeback.

"It's a hard bird to get a photograph of," Hill said by telephone late on Wednesday. "My excuse, and we are making excuses because we had a chance last year to get a picture, is that we had insufficient personnel and insufficient equipment. We could have gotten lucky. It didn't happen."

….

John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, who has led the search for the woodpecker in Arkansas, hailed the Florida find as strong evidence.

"It's tantalizing, it's suggestive, it's not conclusive, but in the aggregate, evidence is strong that the bird is there," Fitzpatrick said in a telephone interview.

He was sympathetic to Hill's problems in getting a photograph, and acknowledged widespread doubts about the bird's existence.

"I've been accused of being a Bigfoot searcher," Fitzpatrick said, referring to the mythical beast of American folklore. "I just believe that it is a very important priority for us to search all of the places where this bird may be hanging on, and once and for all find out where they still exist, if they do."

That gave us the information we needed! We unleashed (literally) the photo experts from Magic 8-Ball Ornithology Consultants and Country Fried Chicken, Inc. armed with the knowledge Fitzpatrick supplied. Because the reason they couldn't get a picture was because they were going about it all wrong! Instead of looking for an Ivory Billed Woodpecker they should have been looking for a Sasquatch!

Damn, we're good. Excuse us, won't you? We have to go put Frank back on his leash.

US Freezes Military Aid To Thailand

The United States government has suspended about $24 million in military aid to the government of Thailand as a result of the military coup there.

The United States has imposed sanctions against Thailand in response to the military coup which ousted civilian Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The move involves cutting off $24m (£12.8m) in military assistance, according to the US state department.

The US has urged the ruling generals to call elections as soon as possible.

Last week's coup has been widely welcomed in Thailand, but it has been condemned by most Western governments as a step backwards.

State department spokesman Sean McCormack said the aid cut involved military education and training, peacekeeping operations and counter-terrorism.

Funding for humanitarian purposes would however continue, he said.

The US is sending a message here that it disapproves of the coup. I suspect aid will be promptly restored once proper elections take place.

The Greatest People In American History

Blogger version at least. John Hawkins at Right Wing News asked 225 bloggers to pick who they considered to be the greatest Americans in history. I was one of the bloggers asked to participate. He has the list of Americans and the list of bloggers who helped choose the list.

25) Alexander Graham Bell (7)
23) Thomas Paine (8)
23) Frederick Douglass (8)
22) George W. Bush (9)
18) Wright Brothers (10)
18) Mark Twain (10)
18) Harry Truman (10)
18) Bill Gates (10)
17) Dwight D. Eisenhower (12)
15) George Patton (13)
15) Albert Einstein (13)
12) Teddy Roosevelt (14)
12) Franklin D. Roosevelt (14)
12) Ulysses S. Grant (14)
11) Alexander Hamilton (15)
10) Henry Ford (16)
9) John Adams (17)
Thomas Edison (21)
7) James Madison (22)
6) Thomas Jefferson (29)
5) Martin Luther King Jr. (30)
4) Ben Franklin (32)
3) George Washington (35)
2) Abraham Lincoln (37)
1) Ronald Reagan (39)

He's also got the honorable mentions listed.

UN Report Hints Al Qaeda Is Losing

Not that I am a big supporter of the UN in general, but taken together with the tape from the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq noted earlier, this report hints that al Qaeda is hurting.

As an indication of the close relationship between al-Qaida and the Taliban, the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against the two groups said "new explosive devices are now used in Afghanistan within a month of their first appearing in Iraq."

"And while the Taliban have not been found fighting outside Afghanistan/Pakistan, there have been reports of them training in both Iraq and Somalia," the committee's terrorism experts said.

By contrast, it said, al-Qaida is not only operating in Iraq but there have been many attacks elsewhere that have promoted al-Qaida objectives, "even if mounted by unconnected groups or individuals with narrowed sectarian or political aims."

The new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq purportedly said in an audio message posted online Thursday that more than 4,000 foreign militants have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 — the first apparent acknowledgment from the insurgents about their losses.

….

On the down side for al-Qaida, the report noted that several intelligence and security agencies said fewer foreign fighters have been killed or captured in Iraq in the last few months, "suggesting that the flow has slackened." On returning home, they noted that some fighters had expressed dissatisfaction that they were asked to kill fellow Muslims rather than foreign soldiers and that the only role for them was to be suicide bombers.

"As Iraq continues to slide towards civil war, al-Qaida may paradoxically see more losses than gains," it said.

"It has gained by continuing to play a central role in the fighting and in encouraging the growth of sectarian violence; and Iraq has provided many recruits and an excellent training ground," the report said.

But it said "the prominent role of al-Qaida may diminish as the violence escalates between communities, and distinctions blur between sectarian attacks on markets and places of worship, or purely criminal kidnapping and protection rackets on the one hand, and the fight against Iraqi and non-Iraqi forces on the other."

An interesting thing about that last paragraph: effectively that means that the "insurgency" is degenerating into criminal activity rather than war. That may actually be a hopeful sign in the long run. The fact that al Qaeda is alienating would-be jihadis is also a good thing for the long term.

Could You Play A Few Bars?

Only if you want to be behind bars.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A burglar who broke into a house in the Dutch town of Tiel on Wednesday night could not resist playing the piano he found there after ransacking the living room, police said on Thursday.

Unfortunately for the 20-year-old thief, his music woke the owner of the house, who called the police.

I wonder if he knows Jailhouse Rock?

Data Point

Political polls should always be treated with a grain of salt. In general, it is better to watch the trends in these things over a period of time rather than treat each one as particularly meaningful revelation. That said there is an interesting trend in the Connecticut Senate race: Ned Lamont appears to be losing steam and is not closing the gap with Joe Lieberman.

HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) - Sen. Joe Lieberman has a 10-point advantage over Democrat Ned Lamont among likely Connecticut voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.

Lieberman, a three-term Democrat running as an independent after losing the party nomination in a primary, is favored by 49 percent to 39 percent over Lamont in the three-way race. Republican Alan Schlesinger trails with 5 percent.

The race has tightened slightly since an Aug. 17 poll that showed Lieberman leading 53 percent to 41 percent.

"Ned Lamont has lost momentum," said poll director Douglas Schwartz said. "He's gained only two points in six weeks. He's going to have to do something different in the next six weeks or … Lieberman stays in for another six years."

Even worse news for Lamont is in the breakdown of numbers:

The Quinnipiac poll showed that Lieberman has higher favorability ratings among likely voters, 51 percent to Lamont's 31 percent. While Lamont has slightly higher favorability numbers among Democrats (47 percent to 43 percent), Lieberman far outdistances his challenger among likely Republican and unaffiliated voters. Seventy percent of Republicans view Lieberman favorably compared to 12 percent for Lamont, and 48 percent of independent voters view Lieberman favorably compared to 30 percent for Lamont.

Again, this is all not particularly meaningful as a single data point. But one thing is for sure. If Lamont loses and if the Democrats fail to take either house, the netroots will be effectively broken. Because you can absolutely bet the farm that their all out assault on a reliable Democrat and subsequent waste of resources WILL be blamed for the loss. I've been writing about this particular race for a long time now and have always warned this was a horrible strategic move.