About freakin' time!

One of the more amazing things about the Bush years was the willingness by the White House, various members of Congress, and a huge number of the (supposedly) Christian crowd to embrace the use of torture (so long as that icky word wasn't used). This country descended into a pit of depravity and destructive amorality so fast the supersonic boom of horror it left stunned those of us who blithely assumed that Americans would of course understand it for the evil that it is. The Bad Guys, the guys in Black Hats, those were the people who did that kind of thing.

Lest anyone forget, our congressional delegation all--every single one of them (count them, the three of them)--supported "harsh interrogation techniques." Ol' Uncle Ted, Sweet Lisa, and Yon Dung.

And still, the Obama White House and the Democratic-led Congress can't seem to recognize how important it is that war crimes and abominations like these policies, even if described with pretty words, are still abominations and the people responsible for them need to be brought to justice. That's called complicity.

But the Spaniards are finally calling the Bush White House on its shit.

More on pollock, trawling, salmon, and money

John Enge recently posted a column on Alaska Report, "Science vs. Barons of the Fish Business:"

It is apparent that the two trawl fisheries mentioned above [Neah Bay, Washington, and the Bering Sea] are not conducive to family fishermen, subsistence and sport users, the many other species of fish in the ocean, or the coastal communities. The problem is that these giant factory trawlers, and many independent trawlers fishing for shore plants with 'legal rights to process a certain % of the total catch,' don't mind snuffing out all other species of sea life. The big fishery in the Bering Sea is the pollock fishery, prosecuted by mid-water trawlers. That would seem to be a safe way to fish. Just scoop up the schools of pollock, leaving plenty behind for replenishment of the stocks. (Except that half the pollock fishery is right before propogation and the pollock never get to sow the seeds of the next generation.)

…Many times, the electronics are indicating the wrong kind of fish; fish that they are not permitted by law to keep. So down goes the nets and up comes millions of pounds of squid, king salmon, chum salmon, halibut, herring and anything else that lives in proximity to the pollock. It's not like they all live in separate apartments. You clean out one apartment and you get a mixed bag of occupants. Remember, the trawl nets are like pulling a football field-sized sieve sideways through the water, with everything in that amount of space for miles squeezed into a 'sock' on the end of the net. (I won't even go into bottom trawling where Oregon State University researchers found that it extinguishes 30% of the species complex where they have been.)

According to the Marine Stewardship Council, the Alaska pollock fishery is seeking recertification as a sustainable fishery. There is a lot of money in pollock, especially in sustainably fished pollock, and some serious drivers in the purchasing end of the business. For example, McDonald's:

McDonald's purchases more than 18,000 metric tons, or 43.2 million pounds, of fish a year for its popular Filet-O-Fish sandwiches. Filet-O-Fish is made with pollock, a whitefish that lives in the cold waters off the coasts of Alaska and eastern Russia. The Marine Stewardship Council has certified U.S. Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of Alaska pollock fisheries as models for sustainable fisheries management, but many retailers and foodservice operators still use whitefish from other fisheries that are less sustainable and traceable.

McDonald's is very interested in obtaining fish from sustainable sources, providing an economic incentive for fisheries to obtain certification of sustainability. But is that level of sustainability certified by the MSC sufficiently sustainable? or is it just better than no certification at all? or, as Thomas Royer asks, is it really only a myth?

Fisheries are generally classified as a sustainable resource on the assumption that they can be maintained for future generations. However, studies have demonstrated man's ability to deplete major fisheries since the Middle Ages.

A recent book, "The Unnatural History of the Sea" by Callum Roberts, traces the destruction of fish populations from the estuaries of England after 1000 AD to the most recent demise of orange roughy off New Zealand. It has been estimated that 90 percent of large fish have now been depleted.

Will the Bering Sea pollock fishery continue to decline? Is it already too late?

An Anchorage Daily News article last summer points to the decline in the pollock fishery, which certainly doesn't sound like it's very sustainable. One interesting thing that Callum brings up, and that is discussed at the Progressive Policy Institute, is that of subsidies "to help keep catch levels up." These subsidies to build boats were in vogue until around 2004. There is a whole blog on the subject, in fact. Among the interesting recent posts are:

• WTO beaten by the Marine Stewardship Council
• US: fisheries subsidies and advice to President Obama on fisheries policy
• US: $170 million subsidies for commercial fishers of salmon in the West Coast
• USA: fisheries subsidies and WTO Trade Policy Review
• The pain of high fuel prices: US Senators introduce a bill proposing fuel subsidies for fishermen

Sustainability codes, of course, are only as good as their policy—and compliance.

Video of Goodman's arrest

Behold, Alaskans, what your Senators voted to allow: the muzzling of the free press. Or rather, the intimidation and harrassment thereof.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune continues to cover this story. The Minneapolis Post has an interesting article on the civil rights of journalists in this situation.

NPR has finally figured out what's happening.

More on solar energy

The Senate bill that will extend the solar tax credit (and do a lot more good besides) is S 3335, Jobs, Energy, Families and Disaster Relief Act of 2008, which would replace HR 6049 (Rep. Don Young voted against that one). Senators Baucus and Reid have introduced this bill and it could be voted on as early as Tuesday, July 29. Solarnation has an Action Alert on it: write your senators! Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski need to know Alaskans support this.

In the summertime, we've got oodles of light. And we have a heck of a lot more of it in the wintertime than Lower 48ers would suspect, simply because of reflection off of all that snow.

Darrow's Trifecta of Greed

Well, it's official: Ted Stevens, Lisa Murkowski, and Don Young are all on the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's Most Corrupt List for 2007.

Lovely.

The Comeuppance Beginneth

Ah, yes, finally the Corrupt Bastards Club's DC contingent is getting the probe in uncomfortable places.

"Alaska Republican Don Young under criminal investigation -- again"

"Alaska's `Clean' Image Marred By Delegation's Ethics Issues"

"Dark cloud hangs over Alaska delegation"

"Alaska Sen. Stevens Under Investigation"

"Alaska Lawmakers Coming Under Scrutiny"

"Alaska Senator to Sell Back Land"

Took the mainstream media long enough to notice this kind of thing, don't you think? Here's a tip of my hat to people like Ray Metcalfe, terrier for justice.

I notice that the News-Miner's editorial of July 26 fails to mention the c-word anywhere in its "let's get this over with" approach to the problem. They do say it's a bad thing to have "weakened members of Congress" and that Senator Stevens "is seeking re-election next year," and "would like Alaskans to withhold judgment, citing “incomplete and sometimes incorrect reports in the media.” So the News-Miner, scrupulously avoiding judgement (which really, is a reasonable thing to do regarding people), is also peculiarly avoiding mentioning the problems associated with corruption in goverment, and the shockingly high level of corruption currently being rooted out of Congress. Somehow, the debilitating effect that corruption has on the Legislative Branch and on the effectiveness of government is not mentioned.

You've condemned the innocent, Lisa

In voting for the Graham amendment, Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens have voted to take away any chance that the wrongly accused could have an impartial court review their case. Innocent people, people the military even KNOWS are innocent, are still being held in prison at Guantanamo Bay. Why? and under what delusions are our senators operating that makes them think that it's okay to imprison the innocent, or the military is infallible, or that it's okay for people to be held in chains and without access to the courts, all on the basis of a suspicion, or of being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Our senators cannot honestly claim to be on the side of justice.

Addenda 11/20/05: more on these two detainees at Obisidian Wings.