Glynn Wilson

The 12th annual Great Backyard Bird Count will begin Feb. 13, when tens of thousands of amateur birders will help experts collect data for science — and fun.

Sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count Website has some new features this year, an interactive game: Eagle Eyes.

Everyone who submits a bird checklist during the GBBC is automatically entered in our drawing for bird-related items donated by Wild Birds Unlimited, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Audubon, and Droll Yankees. Visit here to see the selection.

GBBC events are taking place around the continent. Discover what’s going on in your area on the GBBC website’s Local Events page.

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Monday House Judiciary Committee Hearing Delayed

More still coming in down below, in the comments…

Just four days before he left office, President Bush instructed former White House aide Karl Rove to refuse to cooperate with future congressional inquiries into alleged misconduct during his administration, according to a story just out on Newsweek’s Website.

Key excerpts:

- On Jan. 16, 2009, then White House Counsel Fred Fielding sent a letter to Rove’s lawyer, Robert Luskin, (linked as a pdf on the site) saying if his client were to receive any future subpoenas, Rove “should not appear before Congress” or turn over any documents relating to his time in the White House. The letter told Rove that President Bush was continuing to assert executive privilege over any testimony by Rove — even after he leaves office.

- The letters set the stage for what is likely to be a highly contentious legal and political battle over an unresolved issue: whether a former president can assert “executive privilege,”and therefore prevent his aides from testifying before Congress — even after his term has expired.

“To my knowledge, these [letters] are unprecedented,” said Peter Shane, an Ohio State University law professor who specializes in executive-privilege issues. “I’m aware of no sitting president that has tried to give an insurance policy to a former employee in regard to post-administration testimony.” Shane likened the letter to Rove as an attempt to give his former aide a ‘get-out-of-contempt-free card’.”

- The issue arose this week after House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers announced that he had subpoenaed Rove to be deposed under oath next Monday to answer questions about his alleged role in the firing of U.S. attorneys and the prosecution of the former Democratic governor of Alabama, Don Siegelman. Conyers, whose panel extensively investigated both matters last year, signaled that he has no intention of dropping them now just because Bush has left office.

- Luskin said that he forwarded a copy of Fielding’s letter, as well as the subpoena he got from Conyers, to Obama’s White House counsel, Greg Craig, and essentially asked for the new president’s position on these matters, according to Newsweek.

So far Craig hasn’t responded. He could have a conflict of interest on his hands due his friendship with Siegelman, and his past representation of Rove, which is not dealt with in the Newsweek article. Stay tuned…

Luskin also says he has asked the House Judiciary Committee to postpone its deposition of Rove until he hears back. The committee has agreed to put off the deposition — but only for a few weeks.

Bill O’Reilly of the Fox Fake Patriotic Republican network (a.k.a. the Fuck You PR network), offers Rove a tunnel to hide in…anytime?

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Folsom Says Exercise More

Lt. Governor Jim Folsom Jr. is launching a program to encourage all Alabamians — including himself — to eat healthier and exercise more, according to the AP.

Folsom announced something called the “Lt. Governors’ Challenge” on Thursday along with several other organizations that are helping sponsor it. The Alabama program is part of a nationwide effort by the National Lieutenant Governors Association.

Participants can use this Web site to sign up for a 12-week program aimed at healthier living.

“I accept this challenge myself,” Folsom said at a news conference in the Statehouse. He said he already exercises regularly — “but I’m going to up it some.”

Now that Bush is out of the White House, we are planning a “Spring Season” around here, back on the golf course.

And hiking in the Smokies : )

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Turnham Calls on Riley to Appoint a Minority to the Court

Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Joe Turnham today called on Alabama Governor Bob Riley to appoint a minority to the vacancy on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. The vacancy was created by the election of Justice Greg Shaw to the Alabama Supreme Court. None of Alabama’s 19 Appellate Court Seats are held by minorities, Turnham noted.

“Gov. Riley could show a commitment to diversity on the court by appointing a qualified African-American jurist to this vacancy,” Turnham said.

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The Locust Fork News-Journal Joins Call for Action

On the heels of a massive spill of toxic coal ash waste in Tennessee and another similar incident in Alabama, 32 local and regional environmental organizations and other concerned public interest groups have called on leaders to take immediate action to ensure that our citizens, wildlife, and natural resources are better protected from these unregulated coal combustion waste storage facilities.

The Locust Fork News-Journal hereby joins this call and demands that it be heeded ASAP.

In a letter to leaders, the groups wrote:

“It is not acceptable to expose our citizens and important ecosystems to these hazards. These potential threats are no longer hidden from the public eye. The recent spills could be the proverbial canary in the coal mine for more spills across Alabama as well as for other environmental hazards related to coal-fired power production.”

“The negative impacts of coal run far and deep across our state,” the letter continues. “While there are many important solutions to consider long-term, creating a more protective and effective regulatory system for CCW storage facilities is an essential first step.”

“There is a major threat of water impacts since all of Alabama’s coal-fired power plants are located on or near a waterway,” said Cindy Lowry, Executive Director of the Alabama Rivers Alliance. “The hazardous materials contained in these collection ponds are detrimental to aquatic life as well as to human health when they leak out into our waterways.”

Neither the Environmental Protection Agency nor Alabama Department of Environmental Management has increased regulations on toxic materials going into landfills at coal-fired power plants despite after an EPA recommendation in 2000. At a minimum, these agencies should require these toxic collections be regulated to the standards of other hazardous waste facilities.

“One of many ironies surrounding this situation is that these CCW storage facilities have less regulation than our landfills that collect household garbage,” said Michael Churchman, Executive Director of the Alabama Environmental Council. “These industrial sources of pollution should be held accountable for the potentially dangerous chemicals they are collecting and meet stricter regulations.”

The following letter was sent to Alabama state and federal elected officials as well as the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the Environmental Protection Agency.

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Fredo and Rummy in deep doodoo?

Now we’re getting somewhere…

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it will extend the comment period on the proposed rule to designate critical habitat for the Alabama sturgeon, a species listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The original 30-day comment period was set to close January 29, 2009. The agency now will consider comments received on or before February 9, 2009.

A public hearing on the proposed critical habitat designation and the draft economic analysis is scheduled on January 28, 2009, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.,at Alabama Southern Community College, Nettles Auditorium, 2800 South Alabama Avenue, Monroeville, Alabama. This will be preceded by a public information session from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Maps of the proposal and other materials will be available for public
review. The Service is extending the comment period to allow all interested parties an opportunity to comment after the January 28, 2009 public hearing.

On December 30, 2008, the Service announced the opening of a public comment period and the scheduling of a public hearing on the proposed revised designation of critical habitat for the Alabama sturgeon.

Please see this Web page for more information.

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For all my friends — and enemies — in the hinterlands, who can’t pick up alternative radio: Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman and Harper‘s magazine contributing editor Scott Horton appeared today talking about the ongoing investigation by the House Judiciary Committee on Karl Rove and political prosecutions.

A nice summary of where we are after a two-year long battle to bring this investigation to a head. Tip! It turns out the new White House counsel, Greg Craig, is an old pal of Don Siegelman, but later represented Karl Rove. Thus an interesting dilemma, developing…

Craig also talked with North Alabama attorney Jill Simpson about representing her in Washington for her appearance before the House Judiciary Committee staff. She didn’t know at the time he had worked for Rove. You won’t hear that part on the show, but now you know : )

Audio: Democracy Now Segment, Wednesday, Jan. 28

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Glynn Wilson

Watching the monarch migration makes me long for spring…

Orange-and-black wings fill the sky as NOVA charts one of nature’s most remarkable phenomena: the epic migration of monarch butterflies across North America.

Public television should still be a part of everyone’s media mix, even though it’s too bad they have to be sponsored by Exxon Mobile. If you missed the show Tuesday night, Jan. 27, you should be able to catch it on the replay or online.

I’ve written about this migration many times and photographed them too many times, and I learned a lot I didn’t know. Did you know one generation of the butterflies make the journey south to Mexico, while it takes three generations to get back to Canada?

NOVA’s filmmakers followed monarchs on the wing throughout their extraordinary odyssey. To capture a butterfly’s point of view, camera operators used a helicopter, ultralight, and hot-air balloon for aerial views along the butterflies’ transcontinental route.

The film opens with caterpillars munching milkweed in southern Canada in late summer. Soon each caterpillar transforms itself into a silky chrysalis. Roughly 10 days later, a delicate four-winged monarch emerges.

Then, at some unknown signal, the monarchs take to the air on a two-month, 2,000-mile flight over fields, forests, cities, plains, open water, deserts, and finally mountains to congregate in a tiny, high-altitude region of central Mexico where they’ve never been before. Incredibly, they arrive by the millions at the same time each year.

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New Evidence in Prosecution of Governor Don Siegelman

by Glynn Wilson

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers once again made it clear that he and his committee are not going to allow the corruption of the Justice Department on Bush’s watch to be swept under the proverbial “let’s just move forward” rug.

There is still some serious business to attend to, and at the top of the list, in the lead of Conyers’ press release, is a brand spanking new subpoena for Mr. Karl “Turd Blossom” Rove, demanding that he appear in person before the committee and “testify regarding his role in the Bush administration’s politicization of the Department of Justice, including the U.S. attorney firings and the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.”

The subpoena calls for Mr. Rove to appear for a deposition on Monday, February 2, 2009.

Mr. Rove has previously refused to appear in response to a Judiciary Committee subpoena, claiming that even former presidential advisers cannot be compelled to testify before Congress. That “absolute immunity” position was supported by then-President Bush, but it has been rejected by U.S. District Judge John Bates — and President Obama has previously dismissed the claim as “completely misguided.”

“I have said many times that I will carry this investigation forward to its conclusion, whether in Congress or in court, and today’s action is an important step along the way,” Mr. Conyers said. Noting that the change in administration may impact the legal arguments available to Mr. Rove in this long-running dispute, Mr. Conyers added: “Change has come to Washington, and I hope Karl Rove is ready for it. After two years of stonewalling, it’s time for him to talk.”

Click here for the page with the link to a copy of the subpoena.

Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman reacted quickly from his iPhone via a Google Gmail account: “Chairman Conyers and the House Judiciary Committee’s subpoena of Karl Rove gives hope to those who want to know the extent of Karl Rove’s abuse of power and his misuse of the Department of Justice as a way to win elections.

“Chairman Conyers’ action gives meaning to the change that has been ushered in by the election of President Obama,” he said. “I am sure that I speak for millions of U.S. Citizens when I say that I am grateful for Mr. Conyers’ determination to seek the truth.”

“Those who abused their power must be held accountable, otherwise their misuse of power will be more likely to happen again,” he wrote. “Our democracy has been threatened by the use of the Department of Justice as a political weapon. Chairman Conyers’ action will serve to protect our democracy and restore people’s faith that no man is above the law.”

North Alabama attorney Jill Simpson, who came forward as a whistle-blower last summer and provided the key evidence for starting an investigation showing Siegelman’s case was political, said she was happy to hear about the subpoena.

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