Canales News Briefs

February 24, 2010

"...You conclude 'that condors suffer lead poisoning from ingestion of spent

ammunition in carcasses and gut piles upon which they feed sufficiently

frequently to raise mortality rates well above those referred for sustainability',

that rate assumed to be 10%. Furthermore 'The evidence on this point is

overwhelming'. This is what we believe happened in the 1980's and what

would happen if the supplemental feeding program were to end, but it is not

an accurate description of the present situations. For the birds released in

California the evidence in support of this statement is somewhat less than

'overwhelming'. In fact there is no support at all; over the past four years

mortalities from all causes have been less than 10%..."

- Comments from Dr. Robert Risebrough in an Open

Letter to the Members of the American Ornithological

Union/California Audubon "Blue Ribbon Panel" on their

2008 Report on the California Condor Recovery

Program, August 5, 2008.

To All,

They just don't make politicians like they used to....

Thick, As A Brick:

Well, it' official. Assemblyman Pedro Nava (D-Bedlam) is going to have a press conference today on the alleged evils of lead bird shot. What is more, he is going to be surrounded by representatives of those sponsoring groups who apparently have yet to answer the criticisms and comments in Dr. Robert Risebrough's Open Letter to their 2008 report.

But Nava proposes more than just a generalized notion that yet even more modern products somehow don't past environmentalist muster. In this case, Nava is going to introduce AB 2223, a proposed ban on lead birdshot for hunting and target shooting in State Wildlife Areas. (What's next, windmills for power generation?).

And just for that "extra-special" touch, Nava is to be joined by such "pro-sportsman" oriented groups as Defenders of Wildlife and the Humane Society of the United States in support of his efforts. No, hunters and shooters have nothing to fear but "Fear Itself" of a proposal backed groups dedicated to the prohibition of hunting in any form, place or manner (That means falconers too, in all probability).

Now, one could theoretically say that Nava might not have been aware of the large body of evidence in the public record that rebuts or debunks the "junk science" promoted in the past to ban hunting ammunition. After all, when one is running for the Democrat Nomination for Attorney General one is apt to be busy fundraising, glad-handing, and cutting enough back-room deals to float 10 CVN-75's.

But not this time. Nava has had information personally presented to him as to inadequacies of the so-called science. He was even shown key elements of Dr. Don Saba's Presentation, which was presented to the public record at last Augusts' public comments on a previous lead shot ban proposal to the California Fish & Game Commission. It was this presentation, along with a significant report given by Dr. Erik Randich ( Randich Report.pdf ), that has seemingly discredited the claims that links of blood lead in animals can be linked by isotopic compositional analysis specifically to lead found in ammunition. (Said discrediting has gotten to the point that even Peregrine Fund seems to be moving away from the claims of Church et al 2006, given it's conspicuous absence of late.).

In effect, it takes a truly "special" politician to ignore evidence when it's brought to his attention. Whether this is a "good thing" to see in an Attorney General is totally different kettle of fish.

Still, one cannot but be concerned that Nava is jumping the gun here with this "no-brains" foray into banning ammunition. Currently there are strong indications that AB 821 lead ammunition prohibitions are not working as promised in Central California. Hunters, retailers, and a DFG dependent upon hunting license and sporting goods sales tax revenue to fund operations and pay state employee pension obligations are going to have a good deal to say if it turns out AB 821 has laid the Mother of All Eggs. If anything, Nava may not want to stand too close to lead ammo ban advocates, if simply for the fear of the cream pies to come (It's hard to get Cool Whip out of Armani, it seems.).

Hunters have no choice but to present the real science on this issue. What with indications that the so-called "non-toxic" ammunition is about as viable an environmental solution as mercury-saturated CFL's over incandescent bulbs, this will not be an insignificant debate.

What is more, as the possibility increases that some of the Constitutional issues of the Second Amendment may be significantly resolved in 2010, shooters will have to be on the look out for gun control by other means. Environmental regulation, with the same quality of evidence as that of the "Climate-Gate" minions at the University of East Anglia, may appear to be that other means. For now, such attempts appear to be made to order for Paul Helmke and a Brady Bunch looking to jump ship off of a Titanic already swamped to the quarterdeck.

But given that it's at least an election year, hunters and shooters will get to have their say one way or another. We just have to stay informed, and stay ready.

Links at:

http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_2201-2250/ab_2223_bill_20100218_introduced.html

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/21/local/la-me-attorney-general22-2010feb22?pg=2

http://www.peregrinefund.org/pdfs/Commentaries/FactSheet_LeadExposure.pdf

Pandora's Box:

Gridlock is not good, if one is a minion of Nancy Pelosi and her posse of Psycho Job-Killer Liberals. So implies J. Taylor Rushing at The Hill, whose seeming attempts to put "lipstick on a pig" should get him this year's Oscar over the motion capture folks who did Cameron's Avatar.

But for those of us who do not want to be left to Nancy Pelosi's tender mercies, the parliamentary maneuvers needed to keep her from the richest supplies of unobtainium this side of the Great Society are just what the Na'vi ordered.

After all, it is certain that such extractive methods as "cap and tax", rationed healthcare, reduced Medicare, and forced tithes from a credit system being largely drained by continued Congressional malfeasance will end up clear-cutting every Home Tree from Carmel to Kittery.

One hopes that the avatar's of the filibuster can maintain their efforts in the face of the overwhelming firepower coming from Establishment Liberals and Media Sycophants alike. With luck, we can take our purple mountains majesty back from the strange aliens who would only leave a smoking hole in the ground where a proud people once lived.

Link at:

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/83059-senate-sitting-on-290-house-bills?page=2#comments

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=521997

http://www.thecypresstimes.com/printFriendly.cfm?articleID=27933

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/02/23/obamas_way_or_the

_highway.html

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Health-care-Dems-just-dont-have-the-votes-85079742.html

http://blogs.investors.com/capitalhill/index.php/home/35-politics/1425-cook-democrats-likely-to-cut-cord-on-many-incumbents

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100223/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul

http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/measuring-the-coming-gop-tsunami

http://poughies.blogspot.com/2010/02/republican-blizzard-on-generic-ballot.html

Respectfully,

Anthony Canales

SFVMC-NRA