A study from a New Mexico professor claims that activity at the border affects nearby vegetation. The professor who authored the study is warning against increasing border enforcement for fear of damaging the environment in the immediate area.
New Mexico Tech professor Haoying Wang set out to analyze the changes in vegetation along the U.S.-Mexico border and determine whether or not such changes could be attributed to climate change or illegal immigration.
By using NASA images and data from the Department of Agriculture, Wang found that “both illegal and legal activities have statistically significant impacts on the border region,” but that border patrol agents and the enforcement of the border have a much larger impact on the environment than actual completed illegal crossings. His findings suggest that if increased by 10 percent, illegal border crossings would cause a 13 percent decrease of vegetation in the immediate area, while a 20 percent increase in Border Patrol agents would damage vegetation by 135 percent.
Wang suggests that this difference hinges on factors such as the fact that Border Patrol uses heavy machinery while illegal immigrants’ actions of creating unauthorized roads are less invasive. He does not address the inherent differing impacts of an increase in staffers remaining on the border for an extended period of time as opposed to an increase in immigrants momentarily passing through.
“Typically, you have people hiding out in areas along the border for a few days or weeks,” Wang told The Albuquerque Journal.
“They leave campfires … that can be harmful. They are leaving trash. They are also leaving trails where there hadn’t been trails before. Border Patrol agents are also creating trails with their heavy equipment.”
The professor concludes that it “can be challenging to manage both the natural resources and border security effectively” and says that his findings “should be able to shed some light on finding a solution that could integrate the stewardship of the natural environment and a secure border.” Such a solution, Wang says, “can only become effective in the context of binational economic integration.”
Wang is reportedly in collaboration with the National Park Service about solutions. While he admits that a decrease in illegal border crossings would help the situation, he says an increase in border enforcement and security would likely result in more of the same detrimental effects. He has stated that a border wall would also cause harm to the environment.
In a statement to Campus Reform, Wang called his study “non-partisan.”
“In general, for any policy, while it intends to bring social welfare improvement we have to concern about any unintended consequences it may leave behind as well. For a fixed border barrier, most of the existing studies have shown that it could have a significant impact on wildlife. A lot of species have their habitats spanning across the border and free movement can be important to their reproduction and livelihood,” he added.
Video Captures Awkward Moment Macron & Johnson Plead With Rouhani To Meet With Trump
On the sideline of the UN General Assembly in New York Tuesday evening, prior to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani’s main address on Wednesday, this surprise and somewhat awkward scene unfolded:
“You need to be on the side of the swimming pool and jump at the same time,” urged Boris Johnson after Macron implored Rouhani not to lose the opportunity to meet with Trump while in New York.
Rouhani merely laughed vigorously as the British prime minister literally pretended to leap off the edge of a pool.
Macron to Rouhani: If you leave the country without meeting with President Trump, honestly it would be a loss of opportunity.pic.twitter.com/yDfV2aQbOm
French President Macron had begun the brief exchange in the middle of a crowded hallway, saying to the Iranian president’s translator:
“If he leaves the country without meeting with president Turmp, honestly this is a lost opportunity…”
…[Rouhani laughing boisterously]
“Because it will not come back in a few months except… And President Trump will not go to Tehran.”
That’s where Johnson chimed in, “You need to be on the side of the swimming pool & jump at the same time.” The British prime minister urged this while physically positioning himself for a “jump”.
“I agree,” Macron seconded.
Rouhani was unmoved, apparently, in what made for a comical scene of where things actually stand (with Iran’s ‘counter-pressure campaign’ over and against US threats and pressures remaining in high gear).
The vigor evident in Rouhani’s laugh certainly gave the impression he’s not worried. Or perhaps in the confusion of translation, he thought to two European leaders were putting on a skit for him, given Johnson’s comical jump off the side of an imagined swimming pool.
Johnson: You need to be on the side of the swimming pool & jump at the same time.
Narrator: Little did Boris know that Rouhani cannot swim. The comment brought back a flood of memories of being bullied by classmates. Crestfallen, Hassan walked away.https://t.co/mWShpKXNem#Iran
In his UN Assembly speech which followed, Rouhani wasted no time in slamming US military power and hegemony as ultimately fueling “the flames of war, bloodshed, aggression, occupation and religious and sectarian fanaticism and extremism” in the region.
“The security of our region shall be provided when American troops pull out,” Rouhani said, concluding that, “Security shall not be supplied with American weapons and intervention.”
Addressing the recent attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities, which Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for, but which western powers led by the United States blamed Iran for, Rouhani said, “The security of Saudi Arabia shall be guaranteed with the termination of aggression to Yemen, rather than by inviting foreigners,” he said.
Rouhani’s full UN address with English audio translation:
He also accused the US of “merciless economic terrorism” against his country, after prior statements affirming that any new talks with Washington remain off the table unless it drops sanctions.
Instead, the White House has only added to them. On Wednesday the US Treasury announced new sanctions on Chinese shipping companies and individuals who allegedly violated sanctions on Iran, blacklisting the China Concord Petroleum Co. Ltd., and two units of a major Chinese shipping company, Cosco Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Co. Ltd. and Cosco Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Seaman and Ship Management Co. Ltd., according to the WSJ.
In a Twitter discussion on Sept. 24, ex-Bitcoin Core developer Peter Todd led the criticism, which followed claims from Google it had achieved “quantum supremacy.”
In a paper seen by the Financial Times, the tech giant said it had created a computer that solved an equation which would otherwise take 10,000 years in just 3 minutes 20 seconds.
“To our knowledge, this experiment marks the first computation that can only be performed on a quantum processor,” the publication quoted the paper as saying.
Quantum computing has previously formed an area of contention for cryptocurrency proponents. In 2017, for example, experts dispelled myths that such machines could undermine the security of the Bitcoin blockchain.
“Nowhere near breaking cryptography”
Similarly, Todd now concluded that financial impediments to Google’s latest creation alone would keep Bitcoin free from potential trouble.
“It means nothing because Google’s quantum breakthrough is for a primitive type of quantum computing that is nowhere near breaking cryptography,” he wrote about the new achievement.
He added:
“We still don’t even know if it’s possible to scale quantum computers; quite possible that adding qbits will have an exponential cost.”
Earlier this month, details emerged that the United States’ National Security Agency, or NSA, was attempting to research and create quantum-resistant cryptography.
“Fully Engulfed In Flames”: Truck Hauling Tesla Vehicles Spontaneously Combusts On I-80
A truck that was hauling Tesla vehicles down I-80 caught fire on Tuesday night and forced the Nevada Highway Patrol to close the freeway to eastbound traffic, according to the Elko Daily Free Press.
The incident was called into the Highway Patrol at about 9:10PM local time on Tuesday night and the truck’s cargo of Tesla vehicles was reportedly “fully engulfed in flames”.
The Nevada Highway Patrol released the following image of the truck:
After closing the freeway Tuesday night, work on cleaning up debris continued into Wednesday morning.
Four separate authorities responded to the fire, including the Eureka Sheriff’s Office, the Carlin Fire Department, the Elko County Fire Protection District and the City of Elko and Lee Engine Company.
As more information on the truck fire becomes available, we will update this story.
Recall, back in June we reported that Tesla had admitted a Model S that spontaneously combusted in a Shanghai parking garage was caused by a “single battery module malfunction.”
Tesla said then that it didn’t find a “systematic flaw” after its investigation into the car’s battery, software and manufacturing data (other than the car catching fire, unprovoked, randomly?)
Previously, Tesla had disputed the findings of a preliminary investigation that concluded that the fire was caused by a short circuit in the battery.
“I am altering the deal, pray I don’t alter it any further.”
– Darth Vader, “The Empire Strikes Back”
You know I think there are no coincidences in politics. Everything happens on a particular schedule. So when I see a day as crazy as today I have to ask the question, “Why this, why now?”
Look at the headlines and you’ll see what I’m talking about. All of these things happened since I woke up at 7:30am Monday morning in Florida:
The British Supreme Court just arrogated unprecedented power to itself by inserting itself into any dispute between the Government and Parliament. This upends more than 300 years of constitutional process.
The Democrats have announced they will pursue impeachment charges against President Trump because an unverified, hearsay whistleblower made a complaint about a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski. Impeachment odds soared overnight as someone was tipped off about the Democrats’ plan.
Bitcoin’s hashrate mysteriously flash-crashed more than 40% presaging a massive $1500 drop in price.
Donald Trump delivered a blistering critique of socialism at the United Nations General Assembly. Too bad he’s nearly as bad as the ones he’s fighting on the far left.
Europe’s Trio of Faded Glory — The UK, France and Germany — joined in the chorus of unverified condemnation of Iran in the attack on the Saudi oil field on the 14th.
The Federal Reserve continues to bail out banks to the tune of $65 to $75 billion per day through overnight repo operations that no one can give us an explanation as to why they’re needed.
This feels to me like a multi-level coup against those that dare stand athwart the global power structure. Both British and American leadership institutions are under sincere attack with these moves.
The not-so-subtle message is, “We own you. We are in control and always will be.” Your champions will be harassed until they are completely neutered and bereft of any ability to implement the changes you want.
Meanwhile, the edifices of control that have been erected for your benefit are crashing and require even more support. So, it’s time to attack the validity of anything you might be considering to protect yourself from the chaos we’ve created.
Democratic referenda are ignored. Bitcoin mysteriously has its network attacked. Unpopular parliaments ignore the people and remain in power. Centuries of tradition and convention thrown out the window to serve the next big thing.
The world is going to end in eight years, according to an 16 year-old Swedish girl with PTSD and anxiety disorders but we’re supposed to trust in the inevitability and permanence of transnational super-governments to forestall the apocalypse?
When you lose control of the narrative, when you spin a story out of whole cloth all you can do is double down. This is what the Democrats are doing in the case of Ukraine.
They have to stay on the offensive against Trump because if they don’t their lead candidate (yeah, right!) for President is disgraced. So, the natural thing to do is, Alinsky-like, accuse Trump of the very thing that Joe Biden did and was caught on tape braying about like the jackass he is.
It is over this that Trump is to be impeached?
Daring to reveal the truth about an issue of real corruption in a country deeply implicated in the fake collusion story originally intended to remove him from the Oval Office? This somehow hits the standard of High Crimes and Misdemeanors?
It does when we live in a world ruled by men, not laws.
Trump was, for all intents, acquitted already in any obstruction of justice charges over RussiaGate. So how is his exhorting a foreign counterpart to look into real corruption committed by someone highly-connected to a former U.S. Vice President anything other than him doing his job?
It is his job to prosecute malfeasance of government officials is it not?
Trump’s move to release the un-redacted transcripts of the phone call was the right move. And the Democrats’ continued pursuing of this will likely make them look like morons.
But here’s the rub. Take a lesson from the British fiasco. The whole process through the courts was a sham. The conclusion was foregone the moment the challenge was filed to Johnson’s proroguing of Parliament.
The rest was theater because the Supreme Court was always going to decide this way.
So guess what? The Democrats would not be pushing for this if they ddin’t think they have the votes in the House and the Senate to get this done. Ignore the conventional wisdom on this. They were wrong in the UK.
They will be wrong here, unless Trump has something else up his sleeve.
His removing John Bolton and refusal to attack Iran is driving the neoconservatives to apoplexy. They want their holy war against the apostate Shi’ites and they will get it. Mike Pence will be their avatar until such time as he can be removed through a sham election in 2020.
If this wasn’t the case they wouldn’t be risking what’s left of their political future defending a senile old man, Joe Biden, who they don’t actually want to be the candidate anyway.
It’s a coup folks.
And the full court press is on in this coup for your sanity and to radicalize you into violence. They are daring us to strike back here so then they can be justified in going on full lockdown and cancel future elections.
They have to do this. Their financial markets are in the early stages of collapse. The dollar liquidity crisis has started which will drain Europe of its life blood.
This has the feel of those months leading up to Bear Stearns’ dissolution which culminated in Lehman Bros. in 2008, which broke the engine of the world.
The elite reacting this way is predictable. They were always going here. But the problem is that while you can make something awful legal, it doesn’t make it right. And people know what’s right and what is fair. Breaking the compact between rulers and the ruled sets a dangerous precedent for reciprocal violence.
Because overthrowing a President for doing his job and destroying government to nullify a democratic referendum are points of no return.
Brits and Americans alike are learning the terrible lesson that it is time to put away childish things like representative government and that elections matter. They don’t. You will be presented with nothing but Hobson’s Choices from here forward.
The image you hold in your head of your country is not the reality of the one you live in.
The dystopia is real.
* * *
Join My Patreon if you support teaching oppressors the lesson. Install Brave if you want to continue talking about how to go about it.
Trump Base Ignited Amid Impeachment Chaos; $5 Million Raised In 24 Hours
It’s been a dramatic rollercoaster of a week in Washington, and it’s only Wednesday.
What began as a MSM-fueled third-hand whistleblower rumor that President Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden for pressuring Ukraine ended up with House Democrats launching an impeachment inquiry before looking at the underlying evidence.
Then it unraveled, and it’s not going well for the left.
The whistleblower was reportedly found by the intelligence community Inspector General to have ‘political bias‘ and was in favor of a ‘rival candidate’ for US president.
The claim that Trump pressured or threatened Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating Biden melted into a puddle of fake news after a transcript of the call revealed no such thing – and Zelensky himself said during a Wednesday press conference that “nobody pushed me.”
Now – as Nancy Pelosi predicted, Trump’s base has been energized by what the right largely views as a continuation of the so-called ‘witch hunt’ against their President. The result? According to Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale, is an incredible $5 million raised by the GOP and Trump’s campaign in 24 hours – a “Huge groundswell of support.”
In the 24 hours since news of Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment announcement, @realDonaldTrump’s campaign & @GOP have BLOWN OUT fundraising!
✅$5 Million combined in 24 hrs
✅Donors in all 50 states
Huge groundswell of support leading to Trump landslide in 2020!
One might think Democrats would begin to understand that continuing to push absurd claims – after their two-year Russia investigation was a bust, overshadows any legitimate criticism of Trump and allows him to keep pointing to the clown show.
Nancy gets it. Her rabid constituents do not. However much to her chagrin – as President Trump noted on Wednesday, “She’s no longer the Speaker of the House.”
Oh nothing, just the president of the United States announcing that Nancy Pelosi is no longer Speaker of the House. pic.twitter.com/WnLkdPJ1Wg
On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of letting state-legal marijuana businesses have access to banks and other financial institutions.
It was a historic bipartisan moment, and an important one—though one that skirts the larger and more important matter of changing how the federal government treats marijuana.
The bill was the first stand-alone marijuana legalization bill to pass either chamber of Congress. The SAFE Banking Act—the acronym stands for “Secure and Fair Enforcement”—would shield banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions from being held liable for doing business with marijuana growers and pot shops in states where the drug has been legalized. Under current law, any financial institution that so much as allows a marijuana business to open a business checking account could potentially violate a host of federal banking and drug laws.
“People in states and localities across the country are voting to approve some level of marijuana use, and we need these marijuana businesses and employees to have access to checking accounts, lines of credit, payroll accounts, and more,” said Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D–Colo.) during debate on the bill. “Most importantly, this will also reduce the risk of violent crime in our communities. These businesses and their employees become targets for murder, robbery, assault and more by dealing in all cash.”
The bill also protects third-party vendors—like plumbers or electricians—that might have to do business with state-legal pot shops.
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R–N.C.) called the bill “one of the biggest changes to U.S. drug policy in my lifetime.”
But McHenry voted against it, saying that he worries the bill could give drug cartels access to U.S. financial institutions. The SAFE Banking Act, he added, is a “half answer to a much larger question,” specifically whether marijuana should remain on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.That’s a category that’s supposed to only include drugs with “no currently accepted medical use” and “a lack of accepted safety for use”—terms that obviously do not accurately describe marijuana.
It’s certainly true that Congress should have a larger debate over the federal status of marijuana, but it’s also easy to see why the SAFE Banking Act is the first bill to break the seal and earn a full vote. During debate on the floor, for example, Rep. Steve Stivers (R–Ohio) voiced support for the bill while noting that he would vote against any effort to legalize marijuana nationally.
The SAFE Banking Act passed by a final vote of 321–103 (with 10 members abstaining), enough to clear the two-thirds majority required for the bill’s passage under the suspension of rules that allowed it to be brought to the floor without any amendments being offered.
With the bill’s passage, it moves to the Senate, where a companion bill introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D–Ore.), has 33 cosponsors. That total includes only four Republicans, making passage through the upper chamber more of an open question.
Sen. Mike Crapo (R–Idaho), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, told Politico earlier this month that he would like to hold a committee vote on the bill before the end of the year, despite the fact that he has not signed onto Merkley’s bill.
But neither the larger questions surrounding Congress’ slow-walking of the end of the federal war on marijuana nor the fate of the SAFE Banking Act in the Senate should take away from the significance of Wednesday’s vote, which gave members of Congress their first chance to affirmatively vote for legalization and regulation of marijuana businesses over the decadeslong failed efforts of prohibition.
“For the first time ever, a supermajority of the House voted affirmatively to recognize that the legalization and regulation of marijuana is a superior public policy to prohibition and criminalization,” said Justin Strekal, political director for NORML, a national marijuana legalization advocacy organization, in a statement. The group is “cautiously optimistic” about the bill’s future in the Senate, he said.
“American voters have spoken and continue to speak,” said Perlmutter just before the vote. “Prohibition is over.”
from Latest – Reason.com https://ift.tt/2laRGlL
via IFTTT
The oceans are warming, becoming more acidic, and rising faster as a result of man-made climate change, according to a new special report, The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC). The report is a compilation of the latest research by climate scientists assembled under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Its authors write that the extent of Arctic sea ice is steadily declining, mountain glaciers are melting, the area of snow cover on land is decreasing, and permafrost is warming.
Some of the topline findings in the SROCC are that “it is virtually certain that the global ocean has warmed unabated since 1970 and has taken up more than 90% of the excess heat in the climate system.” In addition, it is likely that the rate of ocean warming has more than doubled since 1993. Researchers have very high confidence that marine heatwaves—defined as when the daily sea surface temperature exceeds the local 99th percentile over the period 1982 to 2016—have very likely doubled in frequency since 1982 and are increasing in intensity. It is virtually certain that by absorbing more carbon dioxide, the ocean has undergone increasing surface acidification.
Total global mean sea level rose by about 0.16 meters between 1902 and 2015 (a little over 6 inches). The rate of average sea level rise between 2006 and 2015 was about 3.6 millimeters per year, which is about 2.5 times the 1901–1990 rate of 1.4 millimeters per year. The rise in sea level is accelerating as water from melting ice sheets and mountain glaciers run into the oceans, and thermal expansion, as the oceans warm up.
In trying to see into the future, the SROCC chiefly focuses on two scenarios: one in which efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions keep future global average warming to around 1.6 degrees Celsius by 2100, and another scenario in which no efforts to limit emissions results in an increase of 4.3 degrees Celsius by that same year.
Global mean sea level rise in the lower temperature 2100 scenario is projected to be about 0.43 meter (17 inches), with respect to 1986–2005. For the higher temperature scenario, the corresponding sea level rise is projected to be around 0.84 meter (33 inches) in 2100.
The rate of global mean sea level rise is projected to reach 15 millimeters per year by 2100 in the high temperature scenario, and to exceed several centimeters per year in the 22nd century. In the low temperature scenario, the rate is projected to reach 4 millimeters per year in 2100. While the researchers express low confidence in computer model projections for 2300, they note that sea level rise in the high temperature scenario could be as much as 2.3–5.4 meters (7 to 17 feet) and 0.6–1.07 meters (2 to 3.5 feet) in the low temperature scenario.
Interestingly, during the last interglacial period between 127,000 to 106,000 years ago, temperatures were between 1 and 2 degrees Celsius warmer than now and sea level was 4 to 6 meters (13 to 20 feet) higher. Researchers believe that the higher sea level of that time period occurred as a result of ice sheet melting in Greenland and Antarctica.
These trends certainly pose challenges to humanity. But there is good evidence that ingenuity and increasing wealth from economic growth can meet these challenges. Let’s take sea level rise. As I noted in an earlier article:
Using a worst-case climate scenario in which no efforts were made to reduce future warming, a 2018 study in Earth’s Future projected that sea level would rise by 2 and half feet by 2100. The researchers estimated that that increase would globally expand the area of land located in the 1-in-100 year coastal flood plain from its current area of about 210,000 square miles, to 290,000 square miles in 2100. The percent of the global population threatened by coastal flooding would rise (in the worst case scenario) from 3.6 percent now to about 5.4 percent by 2100.
A 2018 study in Global Environmental Change, this one also evaluating the economic effects of projected sea level increases ranging from 1 to 6 feet by 2100, concluded that it would be cost effective to invest in the protection of just 13 percent of the global coastline, thus safeguarding 90 percent the population and 96 percent of assets located in the global coastal floodplain. If these projections are approximately correct, addressing sea level rise will be costly, but it does not portend near-term societal collapse.
Setting aside big unexpected surprises, human ingenuity and increased wealth created by economic growth will similarly be able to adapt to the coming changes in the oceans and the cryosphere stemming from future climate change.
from Latest – Reason.com https://ift.tt/2mIj372
via IFTTT
Over at the Niskanen Center, I have a long post on the question of whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could simply refuse to hold a trial if the House of Representatives does manage to adopt articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Ultimately, this strikes me as question of constitutional norms, and it would be inappropriate in most circumstances for the Senate to refuse to hold an impeachment trial and just ignore the actions of the House.
Here’s a taste:
Should a constitutionally conscientious senator ever agree to table or significantly delay an impeachment trial? The text of the Constitution does create some space for that kind of hardball. The Constitution says that the Senate “shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments,” and provides some directions on what should happen when the Senate is “sitting for that Purpose,” but the Senate is empowered to have a trial, not mandated to have a trial. If the Senate wants to take action against an officer, it would need to go through the constitutionally specified process of holding a trial, but if the Senate is content to allow an officer to remain in place it is not clear that the Senate needs to follow any particular procedure. Moreover, the fact that the Senate has the “sole Power” to try impeachments emphasizes that the impeachment process is a cooperative one. There is no way to end-run a Senate that does not want to remove an individual from office.
Toy maker Mattel has announced it is launching a new line of “gender neutral” dolls, prompting some critics to accuse the company of trying to socially engineer children.
“Kids can customize the new dolls with long or short hair, pants or skirts, or both. The dolls come in six different skin tones,” reports Fox Business.
Kim Culmone, senior vice president of Mattel Fashion Doll Design, said the dolls were being released because “kids don’t want their toys dictated by gender norms.”
“Toys are a reflection of culture and as the world continues to celebrate the positive impact of inclusivity, we felt it was time to create a doll line free of labels,” she said.
This is all about social engineering. If @Mattel wanted to make a doll without defined private parts, totally fine, its been done many times and gives kids options. That’s not what’s going on here. This is social engineering masquerading as a toy. pic.twitter.com/LEhRpiF4wy
An ad for the new product featured a boy with purple hair and one who was wearing an earring.
Some respondents accused the company of trying to socially engineer kids, contributing to making them confused about gender.
“This is all about social engineering,” commented Robbie Starbuck.
“If @Mattel wanted to make a doll without defined private parts, totally fine, its been done many times and gives kids options. That’s not what’s going on here. This is social engineering masquerading as a toy.”
One wonders how successful the new line will be.
“Get woke, go broke” is a common refrain, but the amount of free advertising any company enjoys by pandering to identity politics is usually substantial.
* * *
My voice is being silenced by free speech-hating Silicon Valley behemoths who want me disappeared forever. It is CRUCIAL that you support me. Please sign up for the free newsletter here. Donate to me on SubscribeStar here. Support my sponsor – Turbo Force – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown.
