First Fish Farm Needs EPA Approval

Photo: Sino Feed Extruder

The news comes from Politico Agriculture regarding the first fish farm in the Gulf of Mexico:

FIRST FISH FARM IN THE GULF AWAITS EPA APPROVAL: Ocean Era wants to be the first to raise fish in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, but the aquaculture company is facing resistance from local residents, commercial fisherman and environmental advocates who are worried about the project's potential impact on tourism, native fish species and pollution. Before Ocean Era can move forward with its plan to raise 20,000 alamo jack in chain-link, open water pens 45 miles southwest of Sarasota, Fla., it needs a final permit from the EPA under the Clean Water Act — a draft of which was initially issued in August.

It's unclear how long the EPA will take to make a final decision, said Neil Anthony Sims, founder and CEO of Ocean Era (formerly called Kampachi Farms). The company had to go through the EPA because the regulatory framework for aquaculture that NOAA finalized in 2016 was blocked by legal challenges. A district court ruled that legislation was needed to give new authority to NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service. Should the EPA grant Ocean Era a permit, litigation is likely to follow, as well.

Ocean Era's mission is to scale seafood production in an environmentally responsible way, Sims said. The U.S. imports nearly 90 percent of its seafood and public health experts recommend that Americans double their consumption. Sims said the proposed operation in the Gulf would have an immeasurable impact on water quality, based on aquaculture farms tested in Hawaii state waters.

"They are trying to say the pollution will be minimal, but some marine scientists have said studies that EPA relied on are outdated and inadequate," said Neal Schleifer, a longtime resident of Siesta Key, Fla., who is helping organize the opposition. He is particularly concerned that waste from the finfish farm will worsen algae blooms, known as ride tide. The Gulf is also prone to hurricanes, and if a pen breaks, fish could escape and threaten wild stocks.

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Ralph Nader: American Fuhrer—Corrupt Rampage Against Americans

Photo: Texas Tribune

There is no doubt that President Trump is not the average politician residing in the highest office of the land.  In fact, President Trump is severely below average in intelligence and actions needed to run the nation.  As a test, the nation has been running on all of the hard work previous politicians and policy-makers have dedicated toward making America great.  That is, prior to President Trump taking office.  That much is apparent and true on every level of the our government.  Since the impeachment trial, President Trump has now been empowered to be even more bold than usual (if that is now even possible).  His handling of the coronavirus is a perfect example of his ability to run our country.



Ralph Nader writes in a recent newsletter about the rampage that President Trump is currently engaged on:

American Fuhrer—Corrupt Rampage Against Americans

Delusionary, dictatorial Donald Trump is drunk on power. Trump’s monarchical and lawless actions are a clear and present subversion of our Republic and its Constitution. As soon as the impeachment trial ended and Trump was acquitted by the Senate’s supine Republican courtiers (except for Senator Mitt Romney), vengeance flooded Trump’s fevered mind.

Ignoring warnings from his advisors, Trump is lashing out in all directions, unleashing torrents of foul-mouthed tweets. Note with alarm how this American Fuhrer is consolidating control and using his presidential power to smash all opposition. Remember that last July Trump declared “I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as President.” He wasn’t kidding, America.

Trump is shocking his current appointees—in addition to those who have quit or been fired in purges.  Without evidence, he is accusing the intelligence agencies and the FBI of conspiring against him! Trump has attacked both the Justice Department and Attorney General William Barr because of the sentencing recommendations by four DOJ prosecutors for convicted criminal and Trump advisor Roger Stone. Barr, a Trump toady, was shaken. Barr said it would be impossible for him to do his job if Trump kept interfering.

As Mark Green and I depicted in our new book, Fake President, loser Trump always retaliates against opponents by charging fraud, fakery, and crookery. Trump’s intimidation of others is amplified by the media that gives no right of reply to Trump’s targets.

What is most troubling are the silences of the countervailing forces that Americans have a right to rely on to fight Trump the tyrant.

Post acquittal, Trump has doubled down on his numerous impeachable offenses (see the Congressional Record from December 18, 2019, page H 12197). But Democrats, who control the House, are not doubling down on their impeachment investigations. Instead, they are following orders from Speaker Pelosi and standing down.

Trump regularly attacks the judges who rule against him or dare to challenge his illegal acts. Yet there is only silence by the many judge’s associations and the many bar associations. The American Bar Association, which has over 194,000 members, remains asleep. All of its members, so-called “officers of the court,” are attorneys and should understand their responsibilities to uphold the rule of law.

Trump’s Party has a long history of vicious voter suppression (chronicled in the new documentary, Suppressed: The Fight to Vote, by Robert Greenwald). These anti-democratic actions should be considered serious crimes. However, the members of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) are largely unprepared to protect voter rights and accurate counting of votes. Some Secretaries of State are aiding and abetting these electoral crimes. Current Georgia Governor Brian Kemp used his power as Georgia’s Secretary of State to suppress black voters, cheating his way to the Governor’s mansion in 2018.

Trump is now doing what all dictators do when they take power: he is purging the civil service of any critical voices of those who simply want to do their jobs. These civil servants made the “mistake” of enforcing health and safety laws that the supreme leader wanted to go unenforced to benefit the President’s big corporate buddies and donors. The government employee unions are not doing enough to fight back and explain what Trump the tyrant is doing to harm people—Trump voters and anti-Trump voters alike. Trump and his cronies are making America more dangerous again by scuttling protections that reduce deaths, injuries, and illnesses.

Whether it is the air you breathe, the water you drink, the vehicles you ride in, or the toxins in your workplace, Trump’s corporatist wrecking crew is running federal agencies into the ground. While corporate outlaws fill Trump’s coffers and hotels with riches, he gives them huge tax escapes and starves infrastructure. The word “corruption” cannot fully embrace how this insulting megalomaniac is tearing apart our country, our democratic practices, and our moral norms. Protections for children, the elderly, veterans and workers are all on Trump’s chopping block.

Who will stand up to this horrible bully who is intent on rolling back America’s gains and the anti-monarchy purpose of the American Revolution itself? Some in the media will sound the alarm. Sensing this threat, Trump interfered with government procurement to tilt a large contract away from Amazon because Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post, which has run many articles about Trump’s rampage. Trump’s Republican campaign committee just filed a loser suit against The New York Times. Whether Trump wins or loses, the intimidation of the media is his goal.

These tactics are working on Chairman Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve, according to former Fed insiders. As a result, the Federal Reserve has stayed committed to lowering interest rates to the detriment of savers. Intimidation is also working on the House of Representatives Democrats, who abhor the lives ruined by the savage sexual predator. Sadly, these lawmakers are not demanding a House Judiciary investigation of Trump’s treatment of women. Credible tort lawsuits are being delayed by Trump’s lawyers.

The cowardly silence of Barack Obama is the most stunning. In his extraordinary new book, The Triumph of Doubt, that names names, former head of Occupational Health and Safety Agency (OSHA), Dr. David Michaels, documents “President Trump’s desire to reverse anything the Obama administration did—if Obama supported it, Trump would do the opposite no matter what the consequences.”

The results are more mercury and diesel particulates in your lungs, more deadly methane accelerating climate disruption, and more coal ash for your children to breathe. Trump’s administration is even failing to adequately invest in medical science, which could save you. Until the coronavirus came along, Trump demanded serious funding cuts for the Centers for Disease Control; these funding cuts were thwarted by Congress. Even more damning, the Trump administration fired the U.S. pandemic response team to save money! The CDC’s annual budget is equal to a mere three days spending by the Pentagon, whose budget Trump bloats.

So where is Obama? Critiquing music, making movies, attending NBA all-star festivities, and readying for March Madness. Obama is thoroughly enjoying himself. What about also using his high political poll ratings and his massive Twitter following (which is far larger than Trump’s) to combat Trump’s actions? If not for the wellbeing of the American people, Obama should at least want to protect his legacy.

If Obama remains so carefree in the critical months before November, he will need a sign beside the exhibits to be displayed at his forthcoming presidential library: REPEALED BY TRUMP.

Action needs to be taken by both partisan sides to save the nation from the path of demise we are currently on.  Sit back and watch the unfolding of the Trump administration's ability to deal with the coronavirus as an example.  The defunding of federal agencies such as the CDC in a critical time as the spread of a potentially deadly virus is a perfect example.  Stay tuned while taking action to elect a suitable replacement.



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Trump Administration Kicks People Off of SNAP Funding And Offers No Work Assistance?

Photo: By United States Department of Agriculture

One of the significant changes that the Trump administration has aggressively pursued throughout the past few years is the reduction of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program -- SNAP.  The Trump administration believes that the program is being abused by the recipients and needs an overhaul.  Fine.  But kicking off several hundred thousand people is not alright.  Every program needs some type of financial oversight.  Additionally, each federal program (and state) could use adjustments through monitoring.  The Trump administration believes that there are 'abled-bodied' workers who need to work rather than sit back and get paid.



According to reporting from Politico Agriculture, SNAP recipients who are deemed 'working abled-bodied status' will not be assisted in finding work as promised:

USDA TIGHTENS JOB TRAINING FOR FOOD STAMP RECIPIENTS: A proposed rule unveiled Thursday would require state agencies that oversee SNAP to consult workforce development boards to the design of their employment and training programs for food stamp recipients, writes Pro Ag's Liz Crampton.

The so-called E&T services are intended to help SNAP participants find a job and eventually stop receiving nutrition benefits. The actual proposed rule change is 120 pages long and covers numerous proposed changes. In the latest announcement, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue again reiterated that the booming economy should lead people to jobs and off welfare programs.

Perdue's deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, Brandon Lipps, called on state commissioners to "leverage the opportunity afforded to us by the longest economic expansion in U.S. history to get to work on getting people to work."

Data-driven? It's not clear what data USDA relied on in making its proposed changes. As POLITICO has reported, the department has invested $200 million to launch 10 state pilots to test new approaches to SNAP E&T but results won't be available until 2021.

USDA also announced it would host the first SNAP E&T National Forum in St. Louis Oct. 13-14.

The Trump administration's SNAP crackdown has faced fierce blowback from Democrats and anti-hunger advocates. At a House Agriculture Committee hearing this week, Perdue and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) traded sharp words over a final rule set to take effect in April that would curb states' ability to waive work requirements for certain able-bodied adult recipients, booting an estimated 700,000 people from the program.

The current economy is an employer's economy.  Which is to say, employers have the upper hand with a considerable lot of potential employees to choose from.  Yes, the economy is strong with low unemployment -- meaning people are back to work.  Although, SNAP recipients who have not held a job might find navigating the new job landscape not just tricky but nearly impossible.



Which is why the USDA SNAP initially offered to help those who would lose the assistance (i.e., funding).  Now to yank the aid and help in finding a job away at the same time is a double punch.  Not to mention that 700,000 people will be out of assistance soon.  Stay tuned to more on the SNAP reorganization.



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Largest Energy Conference in the U.S. Cancelled First Time in 40 years due to Coronavirus Scare

Photo: CERA week

The energy industry is a global enterprise spread throughout the world.  Each year, representatives gather together in the United States to celebrate a conference aimed at the problems and challenges facing the energy industry.  The meeting is at the CERA conference.  Representatives from across the globe travel far and near to attend the world-class event.  An event where ideas can transform industries due to the scale and size of the actors involved in various discussions.  Needless to say, big business merges with Wall Street and global actors to decide where to place funding for the future of the energy landscape.  It's a big deal.



That is why the reporting by Politico Energy last week was so surprising.  Other news agencies ran with the story too.  Mainly, that the CERA 2020 conference would be canceled due to concerns with the rapidly spreading coronavirus across the globe.  Alright, the virus might not be spreading as quickly as the news stories surrounding the illness, but nonetheless, reporting is showing a devastating impact on the world economy.  Reporting earlier last week from Politico Energy brought surprising news of the most significant annual energy conference cancellation in 40 years:

HOUSTON ENERGY CONFERENCE CANCELED: CERAWeek organizers canceled the upcoming conference in Houston for the first time ever, citing concerns over the coronavirus outbreak, Pro's Ben Lefebvre reports. The spread of COVID-19 caused IHS Markit to cancel the conference — one of the biggest energy conferences in the world — for the first time in the event's nearly 40-year history, according to IHS spokesperson Jeff Marn. The gathering has regularly featured heads of the world's major oil and gas companies, international energy ministers and others and was set to begin March 9.

"Our number one concern is the health and safety of delegates and speakers, our partners, our colleagues and vendors," IHS Markit said in a statement Sunday. "We have spent the last several weeks focused on this question, established a medical partnership with Houston Methodist Hospital, have been in continuing dialogue with experts on infectious disease and established an extensive protocol. But the spread of COVID-19 is moving quickly around the world."

The coronavirus has without a doubt produced a large dent in the world economy.  As I wrote previously in blog posts (see below), the world economy took a stock market hit of nearly $6 Trillion dollars in a week.  $4 Trillion dollars to the U.S. markets alone.  That is staggering to say the least.



Worry about the spread of the potentially deadly virus is bringing business to a halt.  Which is worrisome.  On top of all of the negative news, our leadership (i.e., President Trump) has produced a scare among American citizens with his lack of knowledge -- not to mention -- a lack of preparedness.  Unfortunately, the markets do not take well to such advice.  Hopefully, the world economy can recover in due time to keep business running as usual.  Time will tell.



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California University Update On Coronavirus

Photo: The Olive Press

Los Angeles, the city where I live, has issued a declaration of emergency for the Coronavirus (Covid-19).  The declaration allows a joint task force to implement preventative procedures for a potential spread of the virus throughout one of the nation's largest city.  Further, the declaration will allow the retrieval of resources from the State to tackle all aspects of the virus.  The news is reassuring given the recent rapid spread of news around the globe about the potentially deadly virus.


Given the news from the city of Los Angeles, it is appropriate that large businesses should issue reports within their respective environments.  Yesterday morning upon opening my email 'inbox' I noticed that an update on the 'coronavirus' was waiting for me from the department chair:

Hi All,

There has been much talk around the university, by faculty, staff and students, about the impact of the current Covid-19 virus outbreak on the campus.  It has become especially important to clarify a few points now that the City of LA has declared a State of Emergency.

(1)  The city State of Emergency means nothing more than they can now access more funds and can open additional planning and communications channels.  It does not mean that we are in imminent danger or that the risk of contracting the disease has suddenly increased.

(2)  As always, CSUN encourages all to practice healthy habits on campus, including frequent hand washing and staying home if you feel sick, especially with flu-like symptoms.  If you or your students develop symptoms while on campus, please go to the Health Center (818-677-3666).  They are fully prepared to handle such cases.  Other information can be found at:

https://www.csun.edu/shc/news/novel-coronaviruscovid-19-what-you-need-know

(3)  CSUN is actively planning for short, medium or long term effects on campus which may include partial or full closure of classes.  We are not at that point and do not expect to be at that point in the near future.

(4)  Faculty, staff and students are already expressing nervousness about coming to campus.  The university is asking us to be flexible and understanding.  But they are not asking us to make any special accommodations to faculty, staff or students who are fearful to come to campus at this time.

(5)  Please reassure students wherever you can and provide hard facts where possible.  It is important to note that the risk of fatality associated with Covid-19 is not much higher than the flu for young and healthy people.

(6)  The latest information from the campus on the outbreak and our response is on the CSUN homepage (www.csun.edu).  CSUN Housing may have separate announcements and plans and they can be contacted at housing@csun.edu.

As ever, I will communicate whatever information I have about this fast-changing situation and of course, please get back to me if you have questions or concerns.

I am happy to see that our university is issuing information quickly on the virus.  The news agencies are running wild with various reports from around the world.  Which can make accurate assessments difficult to find among the noise.  Here is a short video (less than a minute in length) produced by The New York Times of what the effect of the coronavirus looks like from space:

Time will tell the total impact of this virus spreading across the globe.  Stay tuned!

Why Is Aid For Hurricane Michael (500 days Ago) Being Delayed To Farmers?

Photo: Forbes

Without a doubt, the farmers of America have absorbed the largest amount of pain from the Trump administration policies.  Whenever a disaster occurs, President Trump shows up and says that massive amounts of funding are on its way.  Looking back to the year 2018, Hurricane Michael ravaged thousands of square miles of land.  Especially, when looking at land in Georgia -- a land which farmers depend on for a living.  

With the above description in mind, why would recovery aid not have been dispersed immediately after?  Furthermore, why would funding take around 500 days (and counting)?  

The questions stem from recent news reports from Politico Agriculture regarding Hurricane Michael:

Emergency aid is on the way to Georgia farmers battered by Hurricane Michael more than 500 days ago. State officials on Wednesday announced a $347 million grant program for producers in southern Georgia who suffered damage to their crops, equipment and other property during the Category 5 storm in October 2018. More from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The reporting was taken from 'The Atlantic Journal-Constitution."



One has to wonder what has transpired between the devastating hurricane and the aftermath (present-day)?   What is life like in Georgia for farmers who have suffered from the storm?  FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency is supposed to disperse funds to repair damaged areas to the bare minimum.  After which Congress should appropriate funds to help residents (i.e., farmers) by sparking momentum (i.e., life) in the devastated area.



What appears to be the case is that Congress never came through.  Why not?  The current administration seems to be inexperienced in handling the recovery after a storm.  Furthermore, Congress is excellent at stalling funding.  Stalling due to reprioritizing funding to lobbyists who show up to representatives doors asking for favors with large donations.  What is wrong with Our Country?  Time will tell.


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Photo: CNBC

Last week was a historic week for the stock market.  As I wrote previously, the global markets lost nearly $6 Trillion dollars in market value.  Which created great uncertainty in the global supply chain.  In the end, the American consumer could see great changes in product availability at local shops and retail stores.  Not to mention the spreading of the coronavirus.  This is known.



What is a lesser-known and more mysterious aspect of the well-being in the United States is the thought processes of President Trump.  A few questions arise given the seriousness of the virus:



How can President Trump blatantly deny the seriousness of the coronavirus?


Why is the President more concerned about the stock market than the health of the American citizen?


How can President Trump not be concerned about the health of the American citizen?


Does President Trump think about anyone else but himself?



To give us an explanation into the inner workings of President Trump, Former Assistant Clinical Professor Dr. Lance Dodes of Harvard Medical School was interviewed by Lawrence O'Donnell on the Last Word regarding President Trump's handling of the coronavirus:

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