Author Archives: Mark Q Manning

It Turns Out Rex Tillerson Is Just Another Member of the Swamp

Mother Jones

Now that ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson seems to be a likely choice for Secretary of State, I got to wondering: where did his name come from in the first place? Obviously not from Trump himself. Well, I asked, and Twitter delivered. Here is Politico:

Tillerson was brought into Trump Tower for an interview with Trump at the recommendation of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who count Exxon among their private consulting clients, according to two sources familiar with the conversations. His name was first publicly floated for the job in early December and he met privately with Trump on Tuesday. Rice sat down with the President-elect in late November, and Gates followed her three days later.

So Tillerson pays Gates and Rice for “consulting,” whatever that means, and they in turn recommend him to Trump for the State Department. Welcome to the swamp, ladies and gentlemen.

And while on we’re on the subject of the Secretary of State, National Review editor Rich Lowry says that Tillerson, Rudy Giuliani, and Mitt Romney all have problems that ought to disqualify them:

The natural pick here has always been John Bolton, who endorsed Trump early, who fits broadly within the Trump worldview that you might characterize as muscular realism, and actually has substantial foreign policy experience.

I think the answer here is pretty obvious: Bolton doesn’t like Russia, and he has no qualms about saying so loudly and persistently. Trump obviously values an appreciation of Vladimir Putin’s talents more highly than he does even loyalty to Trump. Plus there’s the mustache.

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It Turns Out Rex Tillerson Is Just Another Member of the Swamp

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Could Immigration Sink Obamacare at the Supreme Court?

Mother Jones

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David Savage writes today that President Obama’s executive order on immigration could have an unintended consequence: convincing Chief Justice John Roberts that Obama really is riding roughshod over the rule of law and needs to be reined in. And perhaps the latest challenge to Obamacare is just the place to start:

Two years ago, the chief justice surprised many by joining liberals on the court to uphold the constitutionality of Obama’s Affordable Care Act. And he probably holds the deciding vote in a second legal challenge to the healthcare law — one that seeks to eliminate government insurance subsidies to low- and middle-income enrollees in two-thirds of the nation.

But Roberts, an appointee of President George W. Bush, has shown an increasing skepticism toward what conservatives call Obama’s tendency to overreach….The question now is whether the president’s immigration action will influence the thinking of the justices, and particularly of Roberts, as they consider in the upcoming healthcare case whether the president exceeded his authority.

….Critics are appealing to Roberts and the court’s conservatives, arguing the president and his advisors have no power to unilaterally change a law passed by Congress. Their argument echoes the criticism voiced over Obama’s immigration directive, accusing the president of trying to fix a broken system by acting on his own rather than waiting for Congress.

Experts say that legally the healthcare case is a close call. If so, the outcome may turn on whether the justices are inclined to give the president the benefit of the doubt, or whether they believe it’s time to rein him in.

Granted, Savage is just speculating here. He really has no evidence for this at all and quotes nobody aside from a single legal expert from the Cato Institute. Still, you have to assume that perhaps Savage has been hearing rumors that prompted him to write this. And it certainly fits into speculation that Roberts may be hunting around for an excuse to atone for his apostasy two years ago when he upheld Obamacare in the first place.

It’s kind of unnerving to even suspect that Supreme Court justices might really think this way. But it’s hardly inconceivable. The law itself, along with the real-world consequences of the court’s actions, don’t seem to occupy a large share of the justices’ minds these days. These are becoming bleak times in Supreme Court land.

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Could Immigration Sink Obamacare at the Supreme Court?

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15 Unique Handmade Sunglasses

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15 Unique Handmade Sunglasses

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Benghazi Talking Points: "A Bureaucratic Knife Fight Pitting State vs. CIA"

Mother Jones

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Earlier today, my basic take on the Benghazi talking points was that they exposed some “unseemly bureaucratic squabbling combined with the usual mushiness that you get when an interagency process produces a series of drafts of sensitive information for public consumption.” Glenn Kessler has more on this:

This basically was a bureaucratic knife fight, pitting the State Department against the CIA.

….First, some important context: Although the ambassador was killed, the Benghazi “consulate” was not a consulate at all but basically a secret CIA operation which included an effort to round up shoulder-launched missiles. In fact, only seven of the 30 Americans evacuated from Benghazi had any connection to the State Department; the rest were affiliated with the CIA….So, from the State Department perspective, this was an attack on a CIA operation.

….The talking points were originally developed by the CIA….and clearly imply that State screwed up, even though internally, it was known that this was a CIA operation. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland especially objects to the reference to previous warnings, saying it “could be abused by members of Congress to beat up the State Department for not paying attention to warnings.”

….The final version of the talking points shows what happened: Just about everything was cut, leaving virtually nothing. The reference to “consulate” was also deleted, replaced by “diplomatic post.” From a bureaucratic perspective, it may have seemed like the best possible solution at the time. From a political perspective, it turned out to be a disaster.

I think this sounds almost certainly right: in a set of talking points that was supposed to be about what happened, CIA tried to add a paragraph that deflected blame for the debacle elsewhere. State objected since they considered this a CIA operation in the first place. Read the whole thing for Kessler’s full explanation. And see David Corn here for his take on why today’s news is bad for the White House even though the substance is thin: “This is not much of cover-up. There is no evidence the White House is hiding the truth about what occurred in Benghazi….But the White House has indeed been caught not telling the full story.”

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Benghazi Talking Points: "A Bureaucratic Knife Fight Pitting State vs. CIA"

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Train Derailment Spills Oil, Ignites Keystone Debate

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A mile-long Canadian Pacific Railway train derailed in Minnesota on Wednesday, spilling 15,000 gallons. Reuters reports that 11 of the 94 train cars came off the tracks about 150 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

Officials did not say whether the oil was from Canada’s tar sands, but the derailment is sparking still more debate over the controversial proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would carry tar sands oil into the US. Here’s a relevant excerpt from another Reuters piece:

Some experts have argued oil-by-rail carries a higher risk of accidents and spills.
“It is good business for the rails and bad safety for the public,” said Jim Hall, a transportation consultant and former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
“Railroads travel through population centers. The safest form of transport for this type of product is a pipeline. This accident could—and ought to—raise the issue for discussion,” he added.
Others note that spills from rail cars are rare, and that delivering crude by rail has opened up opportunities in recent years for producers to develop huge volumes of oil production in areas of the United States that are not connected to markets by pipeline.
“It’s not very good publicity, but railroads are incredibly safe, they don’t spill often,” said Tony Hatch, independent transportation analyst with ABH Consulting in New York who has done work for major railroads. “It should not change the opportunity railroads have to make us more energy independent.”

We import more oil from Canada than any other country, so it’s worth noting that with or without the pipeline, we’re already moving oil into the US and there is a potential for spills.

Mother Jones
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Train Derailment Spills Oil, Ignites Keystone Debate

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America’s wildlife to get some moving help as climate changes

America’s wildlife to get some moving help as climate changes

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Wildlife corridors could help birds find new homes.

The climate is changing, and flora and fauna the country over are on the march, on quests for hospitable new homes.

And hey, here comes Uncle Obama in his metaphorical truck, ready to lend a hand.

From the Los Angeles Times:

The Obama administration Tuesday announced a nationwide plan to help wildlife adapt to threats from climate change.

Developed along with state and tribal authorities, the strategy seeks to preserve species as global warming alters their historical habitats and, in many cases, forces them to migrate across state and tribal borders.

Over the next five years, the plan establishes priorities for what will probably be a decades-long effort. One key proposal is to create wildlife “corridors” that would let animals and plants move to new habitats. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Daniel M. Ashe said such routes could be made through easements and could total “much more than 1 million acres.” The plan does not provide an estimate of the cost.

The effects of climate change are already apparent, the plan notes. Oyster larvae are struggling off the Northwest coast. In the Atlantic, fish are migrating north and into deeper waters. Geese and ducks do not fly as far south. In the West, bark beetles destroy pines because winters are not cold enough to kill infestations.

The plan is called, appropriately, the National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy; NOAA’s got a summary.

The L.A. Times notes that while some politicians have been resisting efforts to brace their human constituents for climate change, so far the obstructionists have left plans to help wildlife alone:

Recently, some state-level efforts to adapt to global warming have been stymied by politicians who reject climate science. In North Carolina, for instance, planning to build infrastructure along the coast that could withstand storm surges worsened by sea-level rise has been delayed. State politicians dismissed scientific models that predicted the rise by the end of the century.

But efforts to help wildlife adapt have not provoked a backlash so far, state and administration officials said in a conference call.

“With coastal communities, there are challenges with coral populations, with changing dynamics in fish population,” said Eric Schwaab, assistant administrator for fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “So people are less focused on why and more focused on what’s next.”

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America’s wildlife to get some moving help as climate changes

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Growing Your Own food at Home Using Aquaponics

Introduction

Food prices are rising because of inflation, drought, and high demand caused by an increasing population. These factors are making more and more people want to start growing their own food at home.

If you want to grow your own food you should look into A-P better known asaquaponics. This new gardening method will allow you to grow food at home and save energy at the same time. Keep reading to learn what aquaponics is, why it is better than regular gardening, and how you can cultivate your own food using this new cultivation method.

Aquaponics Defined

This great new farming method combines the best aspects of hydroponics with the best aspects of aquaculture. With hydroponics, plants are typically grown with their roots suspended in a solution of nutrients. This solution allows for faster absorption of vital nutrients by plants as compared to plants grown in soil.

In aquaculture, better known to some as fish farming, different species of fish are raised for food. These fish are mostly raised in large man made tanks. However sectioned off parts of coastal waters and rivers have also been used to farm fish.

Soil Based Gardening vs. Aquaponics

A regular garden requires a lot of manual labor. You have to till soil, shred compost, pull weeds and spread fertilizer. With A-P there is no soil, this means there is no soil tilling. The fish in your system produce the nutrients for your plants. This eliminates the need to shred and spread compost and to apply fertilizers.

You also need to constantly water a regular garden because of water loss caused by soil absorption. In an A-P system, the water is recirculated and reused. This greatly reduces the amount of water that you have to use to grow your own food.

Fruit Growing with Aquaponics

This is a gardening Method that lends itself quite well to growing fruits. Typical fruits grown in an aquaponics system include tomatoes, strawberries, and melons. You can also grow fruit trees with aquaponics if you set your system up to handle these kinds of plants. Fruit grown using A-P is often of better quality than store bought fruit.

Vegetable Growing with Aquaponics

Vegetable growing using A-P is easy and fun. Almost any kind of vegetable will grow really well. Root vegetables such as potatoes are the only types of vegetables that you may have difficulty growing. Root crops need to be grown in a media based system and/or wicking beds for best results.

Keeping Fish in an Aquaponics System

A-P allows you to grow fish in your backyard as easily as you grow plants. You can grow many types of fish. In fact you can raise any gill breathing aquatic animal. Commonly raised aquaponic fish include tilapia, jade perch, and small mouth bass.

Conclusion

Growing your own food at home using A-P is a great idea. With food prices increasing because of droughts, inflation, and increasing demand; it is becoming more and more important to begin growing your own food. Using an A-P system to grow your own food is a smart move. Aquaponics allows you to grow vegetables and meat at the same time. A-P also will save you money because there is no need to buy fertilizers.

Before building your own aquaponics system check out Vic Tuller’s UltimateAquaponics.com.

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