Update from the
Heartland
No.637
24.2.14 – 2.3.14
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
The follow-up news items:
-- With the European Union, the United States and the world,
for that matter, focused on the Ukraine at the moment, the PRC took another
stab at the Senkaku Islands dispute [567,
574, 580, 582, 624].
On Friday, 21.February, they sent a People's Liberation Army Air Force, Tu-154
electronic warfare aircraft, and a State Oceanic Administration, Y-12 utility
aircraft into the Japanese Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ)
simultaneously, without notification. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force
scrambled F-15J fighters to intercept the intruders. Given the configuration of the intruders, the PRC mission
was probably a signals intelligence collection operation to characterize the
Japanese response. We have the
prospect of many more provocations by the PRC, it seems to me.
Opinion:
“Edward Snowden's Moral Courage”
by Chris Hedges
Truthdig | Op-Ed
Published: Monday, 24 February 2014; 09:43
Hedges offers us noble words. To be frank, I would like to agree with his words. Yet, I find myself unable to do
so. In fact, I must respectfully
disagree. Moral courage . . . I must
raise the bullshit flag.
Taken
at the philosophical or intellectual level, there is a point to be made with the
implications by the disclosures by that fugitive in asylum in Russia. The intellectual debate regarding the
USG’s, and specifically the NSA’s, intelligence collection activities certainly
can and should be a matter of public debate in a free society. If we are to believe the claims of that
fugitive from justice, the NSA has been walking a very fine line, pressing
their legal authority right to the precipice, and challenging our individual,
fundamental, right to privacy as well as our freedom from governmental
intrusion.
My
objections and rejection grow from his methods. I certainly appreciate his prima facie whistleblower
motivation; he apparently believed the NSA was acting beyond its authority
under the Constitution and the law.
However, his methods of confronting that perceived illegality were wrong
in the worst possible way. The
fugitive in Russia used his trusted position inside the NSA to hack into
compartmented folders to collect documents he believed demonstrated his
assessment. He set himself up as
the ultimate judge. He had no way
on God’s little green earth of placing any (if not ALL) of those documents into
context, or understanding (perhaps not even aware of) the legal basis of the
NSA’s electronic surveillance intelligence work. If he had used different methods, taken a different path, I
might actually be defending him as a patriot, standing up to the man,
uncovering wrongdoing in the federal government. He chose the traitor’s
path. I must condemn his betrayal
of this Grand Republic. I advocate
for his prosecution to the fullest extent of the law, if for no other reason
than to discourage other potential whistleblowers from choosing the wrong
path. That fugitive in Russia has
not made us safer or freer. In
fact, his egocentric, ill-informed, unilateral actions have done quite the
opposite.
Chris
Hedges only saw the superficial, idealistic façade, rather than the root threat
of the actions taken by that fugitive in Russia. The rationalization portrayed in Hedges’ opinion has its own
implications on the functioning of the Intelligence Community of this Grand
Republic and consequently on our national security.
The eyes of the world have been on the
Republic of Ukraine for several weeks now. After weeks of protest and bloodshed, President Viktor
Fedorovych Yanukovych fled the country to take refuge in Russia. Fortunately, imprisoned, former, prime
minister Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko was released from political
incarceration. Speaking from
Rostov-on-Don, Yanukovych claimed he was still president and demanded the
country must remain united. After
the Yanukovych departure, the chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament Oleksandr Valentynovych
Turchynov was elected acting president of the troubled country, caught between
Russia to the east and Europe to the west. Then, as if the political turmoil and struggle was not
enough, President Vladimir Putin decided to throw his oar in the water,
ordering Russian troops in the Crimea to seize two airports outside the large
Black Sea Fleet naval base at Sevastopol.
The Russian troops and their supporting vehicles had their
identification markings removed, as if that might lessen the seriousness of the
armed incursion. The Ukraine and
Russia have a long and contentious relationship over many centuries. During World War II, many Ukrainians
fought for and aided the Germans against the Russians. In 1954, the Presidium of the Supreme
Soviet of the USSR transferred the Crimea by decree from the RSFSR to the
Ukrainian SSR, as a “gift” for Ukrainian support of the Soviet Union. I suspect the Russians feel their warm
water naval base is threatened, or perhaps the ethnic Russians in Crimea and
Eastern Ukraine feel this is the time to break up the country along those
ethnic lines. It seems to me we
have seen these justifications for war before. Then, Putin requested permission (as if he needed it) to use
armed force in Ukraine, if he believed it was needed; the Federal Assembly
voted unanimously to grant him that authority. As with the Russian 2008 invasion of Georgia, the European
Union and the United States can do little to defend the sovereignty of the
Ukraine; in fact, no one has much leverage over the Russians. I am reminded of the extraordinary
action of Prime Minister Churchill in 1945, as victory over Germany was
inevitable and Russian tyranny over Eastern Europe took on all too real
dimensions. Churchill ordered the
Imperial General Staff to plan Operation UNTHINKABLE – the liberation of
Eastern Europe by force of arms.
Clearly, the plan was never executed, but it exemplifies the West’s perception
of the Russian propensity for domination.
We cannot know how this will turn out. We can do little to assist them in their journey to freedom. We can only hope they are able to find
their way to the light of freedom they deserve, as all human beings
deserve. Secretary of State John
Kerry will be in Kiev on this coming Tuesday to show support for the Ukrainian
people. Hopefully, armed conflict
can be avoided and some peaceful solution achieved. A repeat of 1945 is simply not acceptable, and we
collectively must find a way to achieve peace.
We have another state constitutional
amendment declared unconstitutional for blatant discrimination against
non-heterosexual citizens -- De Leon v. Perry [USDC TX WD SAD Case
5:13-cv-00982-OLG (2014)]. Judge
Orlando Luis Garcia of the United States District Court for the Western
District of Texas, in San Antonio, wrote, “Without a rational relation to a
legitimate governmental purpose, state-imposed inequality can find no refuge in
our United States Constitution.”
This is precisely the bottom-line in this debate. The government has NO place behind the
front door and especially in the bedroom of citizens.
Arizona Governor Janice Kay “Jan” Brewer
vetoed the state’s latest discrimination bill passed by the legislature in the
guise of religious freedom (SB 1062).
Finally, some semblance of sanity has come to a socially conservative
state.
News from the economic front:
-- The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index increased 11.3%
in 4Q2013, compared to a year earlier.
An index of existing home prices in 20 major metropolitan areas rose
13.4%. Home prices posted their
largest annual gain since 2005, amid a frenzy of sales activity, low mortgage
rates, and reduced inventories during the first half of the year.
The Commerce Department reported new single-family home
sales rose 9.6%, reaching their highest level since July 2008 – a long stretch
of weakness in the housing sector.
I hope we are not creating yet another real estate bubble.
Comments
and contributions from Update no.636:
Comment to the Blog:
“Perhaps the Spanish (in re Gibraltar) really are not trying
to re-write history. Maybe they just want to begin a new chapter after three
centuries.
“Charles Lane, in your linked article on marijuana
legalization, ignores factors other than the “War on Drugs” that might have
reduced marijuana use and arrests. I include demographics. The Baby Boom
generation has aged. Some of us have quit using illicit drugs, and many others
by now have learned to avoid arrest. He also argues with himself in the
next-to-last paragraph by stating that, “The case for decriminalizing pot is
strong . . .” In the end, he leads himself astray.
“Perhaps it's just the attitude I inherited from my father,
but I do not see rising household debt as a positive thing. When will we learn
that credit is not money?
“Speaking of credit, I see no surprise in the Ukraine's
dropping debt rating. That's bound to happen when a government is overthrown,
regardless of reason.
“I rejoice that more bankers stand to do time in the LIBOR
mess.”
My response to the
Blog:
Re:
Gibraltar. As I understand
history, the British are not easily intimidated and do not take kindly to those
who seek to do so. Further
challenges to British sovereignty will not end well for Spain. Gibraltar is NOT Hong Kong.
Re:
Lane. There are numerous conflicts
in Lane’s opinion. From my
perspective, he has not spent much time really thinking things through. Decriminalization has the least chance
for success. Legalization will not
be much better. Neither of those
governmental actions can deal with the criminal sub-culture that has evolved over
decades to supply demand or address the paramount public domain objective of
eliminating the collateral damage.
Frankly, I am NOT in favor of simple decriminalization. I think the lower level actions are
meant to be self-fulfilling prophecies – see, I told you so; legalization made
it worse; we need to go back to the war on drugs and we need the death penalty
for possession.
Re:
household debt. You are spot
on. Increasing household debt is
not a positive thing. It does
suggest increased economic confidence.
Household debt is like national debt but worse. Households cannot print money –
legally.
Re:
Ukraine. Nope, no surprise
whatsoever. I’m puzzled that the
country’s credit rating is as high as it is . . . perhaps an indication of the
capacity potential of the country.
Re:
LIBOR. Ditto! I’m encouraged by Green’s statement
there are more to come. Those
criminal bankers are no better than Bernie Madoff or Bob Stanford. None of them should be allowed to enjoy
one berry of the fruits of their crimes.
So, to David Green and the other prosecutors of these banker criminals I
say, godspeed and following winds.
My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
