Update from the Heartland
No.383
13.4.09 – 19.4.09
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
No.383
13.4.09 – 19.4.09
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
This weekend, we rented a 12-passenger van, gathered up the half of the family in Kansas, and trundled down to Austin to celebrate our youngest grandchild’s 2nd b-earth-day – Judson James – who put on a heroic demonstration of how will power can defy total exhaustion. We also celebrated Tyson’s 30th B-day. Thank you, Melissa & Tyson! Well done! So, if I am a little late distributing this Update, which I most likely will be, please accept my most humble apology, but family first.
The follow-up news items:
-- We learned more about the rescue of Captain Phillips [382]. Three Navy SEAL marksmen lay on the fantail of the Bainbridge with as yet unspecified weapons, waiting patiently for an instant in time. The Bainbridge rolled in Sea State 3 swells, at night, with the Alabama lifeboat bobbing at the end of a 100 meter towline behind the warship. Then, the instant the shooters sought arrived. Three, virtually simultaneous shots – three dead pirates! The fourth pirate, who had been medically treated on the Bainbridge and had been negotiating for the release of his comrades, instantly had his situation change – no way out. I trust the hapless 4th bad guy will never feel sunshine again, for the rest of his natural life . . . that is unless we find the courage to exterminate the vermin. Anyway, that was not my point here. For those who are familiar with precision marksmanship, we need no words to appreciate what those shooters accomplished. For those who may not be aware of such skills, to me, the most incredible aspect of this event was the timing & coordination between those three men, to ensure all three bad guys ceased to exist at virtually the same instant. That coordination of their individual actions is nothing short of awesome. Congratulations lads. Well done!
[SIDENOTE: At times like these, I am reminded of General “Black Jack” Pershing, USA, and his handling of the Moro uprising in the Philippines after the Spanish-American War. Taking a lesson from Pershing’s playbook, and from another professional forum, we could have handled this episode differently, to send a far more poignant message to the Somali pirates in general. Imagine if you will . . . what if we negotiated the release of the pirates in exchange for Captain Phillips and allowed the pirates to be retrieved by their mother-ship. Then, as the pirate-ship returned to port, with their comrades on the shoreline, cheering in celebration of their successful smack-down of the Americans, and after passing the channel buoys leading into the harbor, we delivered two (2) Mk-84 LGBs (2,000 lbs. High Explosive, LASER-guided bombs), impacting amidships and at the bridge, sinking the bloody thing in full sight of the waiting crowd. Done properly, the wreckage would block the harbor entrance. Perhaps a more punctuated message – if you want to play, we can play!]
-- The appointed, Minnesota, three-judge panel assessing the senatorial election results has ruled in favor of the challenger Al Franken [369, 381]. The incumbent, Norm Coleman, is expected to appeal to the state supreme court, and losing that appeal, to the U.S. Supreme Court. I doubt the results will change. This will be over, someday.
-- After defying the civilized world, the DPRK launched their rocket [198, 239, 381]. The UN Security Council condemned the provocative action. Of course, pouty little Grand Dear Leader Umpa-Lumpa got all huffy about anyone objecting to what he wanted to do, so he expelled International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, restarted their 5MW Experimental Nuclear Reactor Plant and the Nuclear Fuel Fabrication Plant at Yongbyon, and suggested they were going to initiate plutonium enrichment, again. This is the character who threatens hope for peace.
-- The Obama administration has reportedly drafted new regulations that would limit Federal funding of scientific research with human embryos donated at fertility clinics. We need to see more of the new regulations.
On Thursday, as he headed down to Mexico enroute to Trinidad for the Americas Summit (minus Cuba), President Obama announced the government would not prosecute CIA operatives involved in the interrogation of battlefield combatants, captured during the War on Islamic Fascism. The administration released another bunch of Bush-era memoranda (reportedly over 1,000 pages) to satisfy an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Freedom of Information request. I have only recovered one of the additional memoranda – an 81-page Yoo epistle on interrogation, so far – and have not completed reading the document. Based on Press reporting and my reading to date, public disclosure of these documents is an extraordinarily foolish and naïve thing to do. I am all in favor of openness in government, but these are not ordinary times. We are at war, regardless of what the uber-Left wishes to think. This is not some civic governance exercise.
This little tidbit will appear rather odd, since I have not followed through to a logical grounding. The following New York Times Book Review triggered a few thoughts I wanted to jot down.
“Genealogies of Morals”
by Charles R. Morris
New York Times
Published: April 10, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/books/review/Morris-t.html?8bu&emc=bua2
As you will note, the review involved this new book:
Neuhaus, Richard John. American Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile. New York: Basic Books, 2009.
I have not yet read the book, but the review was sufficient ta get me ta thinkin’. I have railed against the infringement upon our freedoms by the moral projectionists in our society. Such statements tend to imply that morals in politics or the law are not good. I freely acknowledge my zealous pursuit of societal respect for a citizen’s fundamental right to privacy, broad tolerance of each citizen’s freedom of choice, and government’s proper place in the public domain and out of the private affairs of citizens. As a consequence, my words are occasionally interpreted as anti-religion, or perhaps at best, as ambivalence toward religion. Then, as I was ruminating over the central philosophical question, our local newspaper – Wichita Eagle – offered this modest blogger snippet:
“Brownback: Faith helped make America strong”
by Rhonda Holman
Wichita Eagle
Published: 14.April.2009
http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2009/04/brownback-faith-helped-make-america-strong/
Rhonda quoted Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, “America has always been, and remains, a deeply religious nation. At our best, we live up to our national ideals of defending the equality and dignity of each and every human life. Public policy decisions are all about deciding what type of nation we shall be. And the sacredness of the human person is a principle that tends to get lost in that decision-making process as societies become more secular.” Brownback’s opinion fairly well represents the extraordinary challenge confronting mankind for centuries – since in part from the Magna Carta (1215), the Petition of Right of 1628, John Milton’s Areopagitica (1644), the English Bill of Rights of 1689, John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government (1689), and of course the Declaration of Independence (1776), et al – the tension between the citizen and government, and the relationship between religion and the secular State. Religion has served many functions in history . . . for millennia – civilizing mankind, blossoming of the arts, the basis for law, and establishing moral values essential to life. Yet, religion has also been one of the most powerful forces of destruction on this planet, largely due to parochial self-interest. Thinkers and philosophers in history sought the balance between those often conflicting forces. The struggle continues to this day. While I broadly agree with Brownback, I respectfully and strongly disagree with his application of that faith in law and politics. Like all Americans, I staunchly believe in “the sacredness of the human person,” yet I fundamentally disagree with his notion that we have “lost” our humanity in our societal decision-making. Half of the Judeo-Christian Ten Commandments deal with faith – the relationship between the individual and God– while the other half (for the most part) address public conduct – the relationship between individuals. “Thou shalt not murder . . . or steal,” et cetera. Those principles are essentially respect for others. Like most freedom-loving people, I want proper laws to establish order, discipline and acceptable public conduct, hopefully to help provide an encouraging environment for peace, prosperity, and our individual “pursuit of Happiness.” What I do not want is government intrusion upon and encroachment of each citizen’s fundamental right to privacy and their freedom of choice regarding their private affairs. The exception to the last point comes when there is harm or injury to others, i.e., a citizen’s individual freedom does NOT offer license to harm others or impose upon another person’s freedom. Then, of course, as is often the case with social questions, we must address the conflict of the grey areas – the intersections of public and private rights. So it is with the abortion issue – the clash between a woman’s private right to choose what she wishes to do with her body and the projected rights of a single cell with the potential to become a human being. Then, we embroil the Court within this debate by its landmark case -- Roe v. Wade [410 U.S. 113 (1973)] [319] – with one side viewing it as Court-sanctioned abortion, and the other side seeing it has validation of a citizen’s fundamental right to privacy (and control over our body). Both sides are wrong; and, stability can only come from compromise, moderation, and recognition of the rights of others.
Four (4) retired general officers – founders of an organization known as Flag and General Officers for the Military – wrote a opinion regarding the potential service of homosexuals in the military.
“Gays and the Military: A Bad Fit”
by James J. Lindsay, Jerome Johnson, E.G. “Buck” Shuler Jr., and Joseph J. Went
Washington Post
Published: Wednesday, April 15, 2009; Page A19
http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/F490YD/LQR5W/IYEU66/CWZZSW/4CDJK/VU/h
Needless to say, these retired officers argue forcefully against the military service of homosexuals. They wrote, “With the nation engaged in two wars and facing a number of potential adversaries, this is no time to weaken our military. Yet if gay rights activists and their allies have their way, grave harm will soon be inflicted on our all-volunteer force.” The catalyst for their opinion statement was introduction of H.R.1283 – titled: Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009 – which is an attempt to modify the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 [PL 103-160; 10 U.S.C. §654] [312]. The arguments against such reform presented by Lindsay et al have the exact same ring as arguments made 40 years ago against racial integration or against gender integration 30 years ago; and, those arguments have absolutely nothing to do with performance – solely, the social perception of such integration. Heck, I had similar reservations and wrote an essay to document my opinion in 1998 [see: http://www.parlier.com/web1p03w.htm#gender]. My opinion has changed. I think General Shalikashvili is correct [265, 312], and General Lindsay is not. The arguments against homosexuals serving honorably in the military are specious and based on perceptions, rather than reality or actions. Once again, I must say, let us move passed our perceptions and deal with facts. The integration of homosexuals (or rather the broader non-heterosexuals) is not particularly different from racial and gender integration. The military should implement a similar service-wide training program to allay concerns, enhance tolerance, and work to achieve proper integration. The military is a special class, but not that special. Let us mature as a society and shed our traditional homophobia.
News from the economic front:
-- The investment bank Goldman Sachs posted a 1st Quarter profit of US$1.8B, and announced a US$5B public stock offering, intended to raise sufficient money to pay off the Federal TARP funds (and get out from under the government’s thumb). Another positive sign, I would say.
-- The President appointed Herbert M. “Herb” Allison, Jr. – the government appointed CEO of Fannie Mae – to supervise the US$700B Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
-- The Commerce Department reported U.S. retail sales that unexpectedly decreased 1.1% during March (compared to the prior month), when economists expected an increase of 0.3% -- a shadow on the recovery.
-- The computer-chip maker Intel reported 1st Quarter net income fell 55% on lower sales and margins, however the company indicated that PC sales appeared to have bottomed out during the quarter and that the industry is returning to normal seasonal patterns – a positive sign of recovery.
-- The Wall Street Journal reported that eBay plans to spin off its Web-calling service Skype and initiated plans for an IPO in early 2010. The company thinks that “Skype has limited synergies” with the core eBay auction service and PayPal payment arm.
-- AT&T’s exclusive deal to carry Apple’s iPhone in the U.S. expires next year. The companies are in negotiations to get an extension until 2011. AT&T is attempting to transform itself amid the crumbling U.S. landline phone business and rapidly mutating wireless market.
-- The Obama administration has been conducting a stress test of the U.S. banking system and is expected to disclose the state-condition of the 19 biggest banks in the country, as it tries to restore confidence in the financial system without unnerving investors. Talk about a balancing act!
-- The Labor Department reported the consumer price index (CPI) slipped 0.1% in March from February, pretty much in line with economist forecasts. The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, was up 0.2%, slightly greater than expected. Oddly, an 11% rise in tobacco prices [why is it I suspect taxes] accounted for much of the rise in the core index. The year-over-year CPI decreased 0.4% – the first annual decline since August 1955.
-- The Fed Reserve’s Beige Book compiles reports from the 12 regional Fed banks and indicates the recession deepened further through early April. Yet, 5 of 12 districts reported positive signs that economic activity in some sectors was starting to stabilize. All districts reported troubled labor markets.
-- General Growth Properties – the shopping mall developer and owner – filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in one of the largest real-estate failures in U.S. history, as the company staggered under the crushing US$27B debt load, stemming from past acquisitions.
-- J.P. Morgan Chase reported 1st Quarter net income of US$2.14B (down 10%) on revenue of US$25.03B (up 48%) from a year earlier, better than analysts’ expectations. The bank noted their extension of approximately US$150B in new credit to consumer and corporate customers during the quarter.
-- The Wall Street Journal reported Google’s 1st Quarter net income rose 8.9% on higher year-over-year revenue, though a broad slump in advertising spending slowed the company’s growth.
-- Steven Lawrence “Steve” Rattner, leader of the auto task force, was one of the Quadrangle Group’s executives involved with payments now under scrutiny in a state and federal probe into an alleged kickback scheme at New York state’s pension fund.
-- Names to watch . . . Danny Pang – a California money manager – and his investment company – Private Equity Management Group Inc. (PEMGroup). The Wall Street Journal reported that Federal criminal and civil investigators are looking into a range of anomalies with his business and financial activities. We may add his name to the rogues’ gallery blooming from the current economic situation.
-- Citigroup posted 1st Quarter net income was US$1.59B, compared with a prior-year net loss of US$5.11B, on revenue that nearly doubled to US$24.79B – its first profit in 18 months – on the backs of 13,000 job cuts and continued efforts to build loan-loss reserves.
-- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a finding that carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases pose a danger to the public. Unless superceded by congressional action or the courts, the EPA finding may be the tell-tale retreating shoreline in advance of a regulatory tsunami, putting stricter emissions limits on a wide range of enterprises from power plants and oil refineries to automobiles and cement makers. So it begins.
L’Affaire Madoff [365]:
-- Judge Louis L. Stanton, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, rejected the government’s strong objections and removed a legal obstacle to Bernie Madoff filing for bankruptcy. I have not studied the law or read the judge’s ruling, but from a public perspective, I am with the Federal prosecutors on this one. The injection of the bankruptcy court into the recovery process of stolen assets makes the government’s efforts all the more difficult. There will be more to this story.
The Blago Scandal [365]:
-- On Tuesday, impeached and convicted, former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Federal corruption charges. Of course he would; there is no hope of Blago gaining integrity and honor. The other defendants in this sordid case —former chief of staff John Harris, former chief fundraiser Christopher G. Kelly, and Springfield millionaire William Cellini — also pleaded not guilty at their arraignment on Thursday. Former campaign manager Alonzo Monk is expected to be arraigned next week. Both Harris and Monk are reportedly cooperating with the prosecutors, which does not bode well for Blago. Well, at least he is trying to eek out his last few months of the pleasures of freedom before he becomes a guest of the State.
Comments and contributions from Update no.382:
“Regarding J.Ezra Merkin, he should go to jail, as well. As Dave Barry [in the NY Times] says, ‘You can't make this stuff up!’ Not only was Merkin getting financial advice from a felon serving time in prison, but he ignored the one piece of that he should have taken. The felon, a Victor Teicher, who had been convicted of securities fraud, told Merkin that Madoff's trading results were impossible to achieve. Amazing, Merkin was getting investment advice from a guy in prison and he ignored the best advice given.
“Merkin is in serous kim-chee for taking big bucks to reputedly do ‘due diligence’ on investments, only to simply had the funds with which he had been entrusted over to good ol’ Bernie. In a related matter, NYU, which is suing Merkin for his vaporizing US$24M of the school’s endowment, is seeking to get documentation of conversations with Merkin, which purportedly have him saying that he would do the due diligence AND invest in a broad array of stocks. Stay tuned. The Wheels of Justice grind slowly, but they do grind. Some legal experts think Merkin will be involved in civil lawsuits for decades, if not for the rest of his life.
My reply:
The best I can hope for is Merkin and the others join Bernie, and they all get to enjoy being some big bubba’s prison yard love-buddy.
[NOTE: the blog received a very long diatribe from an anonymous contributor regarding the current economic situation, the recovery efforts, and the State of the Nation. It is too long to reprint here, as is usually the custom.]
My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
This weekend, we rented a 12-passenger van, gathered up the half of the family in Kansas, and trundled down to Austin to celebrate our youngest grandchild’s 2nd b-earth-day – Judson James – who put on a heroic demonstration of how will power can defy total exhaustion. We also celebrated Tyson’s 30th B-day. Thank you, Melissa & Tyson! Well done! So, if I am a little late distributing this Update, which I most likely will be, please accept my most humble apology, but family first.
The follow-up news items:
-- We learned more about the rescue of Captain Phillips [382]. Three Navy SEAL marksmen lay on the fantail of the Bainbridge with as yet unspecified weapons, waiting patiently for an instant in time. The Bainbridge rolled in Sea State 3 swells, at night, with the Alabama lifeboat bobbing at the end of a 100 meter towline behind the warship. Then, the instant the shooters sought arrived. Three, virtually simultaneous shots – three dead pirates! The fourth pirate, who had been medically treated on the Bainbridge and had been negotiating for the release of his comrades, instantly had his situation change – no way out. I trust the hapless 4th bad guy will never feel sunshine again, for the rest of his natural life . . . that is unless we find the courage to exterminate the vermin. Anyway, that was not my point here. For those who are familiar with precision marksmanship, we need no words to appreciate what those shooters accomplished. For those who may not be aware of such skills, to me, the most incredible aspect of this event was the timing & coordination between those three men, to ensure all three bad guys ceased to exist at virtually the same instant. That coordination of their individual actions is nothing short of awesome. Congratulations lads. Well done!
[SIDENOTE: At times like these, I am reminded of General “Black Jack” Pershing, USA, and his handling of the Moro uprising in the Philippines after the Spanish-American War. Taking a lesson from Pershing’s playbook, and from another professional forum, we could have handled this episode differently, to send a far more poignant message to the Somali pirates in general. Imagine if you will . . . what if we negotiated the release of the pirates in exchange for Captain Phillips and allowed the pirates to be retrieved by their mother-ship. Then, as the pirate-ship returned to port, with their comrades on the shoreline, cheering in celebration of their successful smack-down of the Americans, and after passing the channel buoys leading into the harbor, we delivered two (2) Mk-84 LGBs (2,000 lbs. High Explosive, LASER-guided bombs), impacting amidships and at the bridge, sinking the bloody thing in full sight of the waiting crowd. Done properly, the wreckage would block the harbor entrance. Perhaps a more punctuated message – if you want to play, we can play!]
-- The appointed, Minnesota, three-judge panel assessing the senatorial election results has ruled in favor of the challenger Al Franken [369, 381]. The incumbent, Norm Coleman, is expected to appeal to the state supreme court, and losing that appeal, to the U.S. Supreme Court. I doubt the results will change. This will be over, someday.
-- After defying the civilized world, the DPRK launched their rocket [198, 239, 381]. The UN Security Council condemned the provocative action. Of course, pouty little Grand Dear Leader Umpa-Lumpa got all huffy about anyone objecting to what he wanted to do, so he expelled International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, restarted their 5MW Experimental Nuclear Reactor Plant and the Nuclear Fuel Fabrication Plant at Yongbyon, and suggested they were going to initiate plutonium enrichment, again. This is the character who threatens hope for peace.
-- The Obama administration has reportedly drafted new regulations that would limit Federal funding of scientific research with human embryos donated at fertility clinics. We need to see more of the new regulations.
On Thursday, as he headed down to Mexico enroute to Trinidad for the Americas Summit (minus Cuba), President Obama announced the government would not prosecute CIA operatives involved in the interrogation of battlefield combatants, captured during the War on Islamic Fascism. The administration released another bunch of Bush-era memoranda (reportedly over 1,000 pages) to satisfy an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Freedom of Information request. I have only recovered one of the additional memoranda – an 81-page Yoo epistle on interrogation, so far – and have not completed reading the document. Based on Press reporting and my reading to date, public disclosure of these documents is an extraordinarily foolish and naïve thing to do. I am all in favor of openness in government, but these are not ordinary times. We are at war, regardless of what the uber-Left wishes to think. This is not some civic governance exercise.
This little tidbit will appear rather odd, since I have not followed through to a logical grounding. The following New York Times Book Review triggered a few thoughts I wanted to jot down.
“Genealogies of Morals”
by Charles R. Morris
New York Times
Published: April 10, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/books/review/Morris-t.html?8bu&emc=bua2
As you will note, the review involved this new book:
Neuhaus, Richard John. American Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile. New York: Basic Books, 2009.
I have not yet read the book, but the review was sufficient ta get me ta thinkin’. I have railed against the infringement upon our freedoms by the moral projectionists in our society. Such statements tend to imply that morals in politics or the law are not good. I freely acknowledge my zealous pursuit of societal respect for a citizen’s fundamental right to privacy, broad tolerance of each citizen’s freedom of choice, and government’s proper place in the public domain and out of the private affairs of citizens. As a consequence, my words are occasionally interpreted as anti-religion, or perhaps at best, as ambivalence toward religion. Then, as I was ruminating over the central philosophical question, our local newspaper – Wichita Eagle – offered this modest blogger snippet:
“Brownback: Faith helped make America strong”
by Rhonda Holman
Wichita Eagle
Published: 14.April.2009
http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2009/04/brownback-faith-helped-make-america-strong/
Rhonda quoted Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, “America has always been, and remains, a deeply religious nation. At our best, we live up to our national ideals of defending the equality and dignity of each and every human life. Public policy decisions are all about deciding what type of nation we shall be. And the sacredness of the human person is a principle that tends to get lost in that decision-making process as societies become more secular.” Brownback’s opinion fairly well represents the extraordinary challenge confronting mankind for centuries – since in part from the Magna Carta (1215), the Petition of Right of 1628, John Milton’s Areopagitica (1644), the English Bill of Rights of 1689, John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government (1689), and of course the Declaration of Independence (1776), et al – the tension between the citizen and government, and the relationship between religion and the secular State. Religion has served many functions in history . . . for millennia – civilizing mankind, blossoming of the arts, the basis for law, and establishing moral values essential to life. Yet, religion has also been one of the most powerful forces of destruction on this planet, largely due to parochial self-interest. Thinkers and philosophers in history sought the balance between those often conflicting forces. The struggle continues to this day. While I broadly agree with Brownback, I respectfully and strongly disagree with his application of that faith in law and politics. Like all Americans, I staunchly believe in “the sacredness of the human person,” yet I fundamentally disagree with his notion that we have “lost” our humanity in our societal decision-making. Half of the Judeo-Christian Ten Commandments deal with faith – the relationship between the individual and God– while the other half (for the most part) address public conduct – the relationship between individuals. “Thou shalt not murder . . . or steal,” et cetera. Those principles are essentially respect for others. Like most freedom-loving people, I want proper laws to establish order, discipline and acceptable public conduct, hopefully to help provide an encouraging environment for peace, prosperity, and our individual “pursuit of Happiness.” What I do not want is government intrusion upon and encroachment of each citizen’s fundamental right to privacy and their freedom of choice regarding their private affairs. The exception to the last point comes when there is harm or injury to others, i.e., a citizen’s individual freedom does NOT offer license to harm others or impose upon another person’s freedom. Then, of course, as is often the case with social questions, we must address the conflict of the grey areas – the intersections of public and private rights. So it is with the abortion issue – the clash between a woman’s private right to choose what she wishes to do with her body and the projected rights of a single cell with the potential to become a human being. Then, we embroil the Court within this debate by its landmark case -- Roe v. Wade [410 U.S. 113 (1973)] [319] – with one side viewing it as Court-sanctioned abortion, and the other side seeing it has validation of a citizen’s fundamental right to privacy (and control over our body). Both sides are wrong; and, stability can only come from compromise, moderation, and recognition of the rights of others.
Four (4) retired general officers – founders of an organization known as Flag and General Officers for the Military – wrote a opinion regarding the potential service of homosexuals in the military.
“Gays and the Military: A Bad Fit”
by James J. Lindsay, Jerome Johnson, E.G. “Buck” Shuler Jr., and Joseph J. Went
Washington Post
Published: Wednesday, April 15, 2009; Page A19
http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/F490YD/LQR5W/IYEU66/CWZZSW/4CDJK/VU/h
Needless to say, these retired officers argue forcefully against the military service of homosexuals. They wrote, “With the nation engaged in two wars and facing a number of potential adversaries, this is no time to weaken our military. Yet if gay rights activists and their allies have their way, grave harm will soon be inflicted on our all-volunteer force.” The catalyst for their opinion statement was introduction of H.R.1283 – titled: Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009 – which is an attempt to modify the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 [PL 103-160; 10 U.S.C. §654] [312]. The arguments against such reform presented by Lindsay et al have the exact same ring as arguments made 40 years ago against racial integration or against gender integration 30 years ago; and, those arguments have absolutely nothing to do with performance – solely, the social perception of such integration. Heck, I had similar reservations and wrote an essay to document my opinion in 1998 [see: http://www.parlier.com/web1p03w.htm#gender]. My opinion has changed. I think General Shalikashvili is correct [265, 312], and General Lindsay is not. The arguments against homosexuals serving honorably in the military are specious and based on perceptions, rather than reality or actions. Once again, I must say, let us move passed our perceptions and deal with facts. The integration of homosexuals (or rather the broader non-heterosexuals) is not particularly different from racial and gender integration. The military should implement a similar service-wide training program to allay concerns, enhance tolerance, and work to achieve proper integration. The military is a special class, but not that special. Let us mature as a society and shed our traditional homophobia.
News from the economic front:
-- The investment bank Goldman Sachs posted a 1st Quarter profit of US$1.8B, and announced a US$5B public stock offering, intended to raise sufficient money to pay off the Federal TARP funds (and get out from under the government’s thumb). Another positive sign, I would say.
-- The President appointed Herbert M. “Herb” Allison, Jr. – the government appointed CEO of Fannie Mae – to supervise the US$700B Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
-- The Commerce Department reported U.S. retail sales that unexpectedly decreased 1.1% during March (compared to the prior month), when economists expected an increase of 0.3% -- a shadow on the recovery.
-- The computer-chip maker Intel reported 1st Quarter net income fell 55% on lower sales and margins, however the company indicated that PC sales appeared to have bottomed out during the quarter and that the industry is returning to normal seasonal patterns – a positive sign of recovery.
-- The Wall Street Journal reported that eBay plans to spin off its Web-calling service Skype and initiated plans for an IPO in early 2010. The company thinks that “Skype has limited synergies” with the core eBay auction service and PayPal payment arm.
-- AT&T’s exclusive deal to carry Apple’s iPhone in the U.S. expires next year. The companies are in negotiations to get an extension until 2011. AT&T is attempting to transform itself amid the crumbling U.S. landline phone business and rapidly mutating wireless market.
-- The Obama administration has been conducting a stress test of the U.S. banking system and is expected to disclose the state-condition of the 19 biggest banks in the country, as it tries to restore confidence in the financial system without unnerving investors. Talk about a balancing act!
-- The Labor Department reported the consumer price index (CPI) slipped 0.1% in March from February, pretty much in line with economist forecasts. The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, was up 0.2%, slightly greater than expected. Oddly, an 11% rise in tobacco prices [why is it I suspect taxes] accounted for much of the rise in the core index. The year-over-year CPI decreased 0.4% – the first annual decline since August 1955.
-- The Fed Reserve’s Beige Book compiles reports from the 12 regional Fed banks and indicates the recession deepened further through early April. Yet, 5 of 12 districts reported positive signs that economic activity in some sectors was starting to stabilize. All districts reported troubled labor markets.
-- General Growth Properties – the shopping mall developer and owner – filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in one of the largest real-estate failures in U.S. history, as the company staggered under the crushing US$27B debt load, stemming from past acquisitions.
-- J.P. Morgan Chase reported 1st Quarter net income of US$2.14B (down 10%) on revenue of US$25.03B (up 48%) from a year earlier, better than analysts’ expectations. The bank noted their extension of approximately US$150B in new credit to consumer and corporate customers during the quarter.
-- The Wall Street Journal reported Google’s 1st Quarter net income rose 8.9% on higher year-over-year revenue, though a broad slump in advertising spending slowed the company’s growth.
-- Steven Lawrence “Steve” Rattner, leader of the auto task force, was one of the Quadrangle Group’s executives involved with payments now under scrutiny in a state and federal probe into an alleged kickback scheme at New York state’s pension fund.
-- Names to watch . . . Danny Pang – a California money manager – and his investment company – Private Equity Management Group Inc. (PEMGroup). The Wall Street Journal reported that Federal criminal and civil investigators are looking into a range of anomalies with his business and financial activities. We may add his name to the rogues’ gallery blooming from the current economic situation.
-- Citigroup posted 1st Quarter net income was US$1.59B, compared with a prior-year net loss of US$5.11B, on revenue that nearly doubled to US$24.79B – its first profit in 18 months – on the backs of 13,000 job cuts and continued efforts to build loan-loss reserves.
-- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a finding that carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases pose a danger to the public. Unless superceded by congressional action or the courts, the EPA finding may be the tell-tale retreating shoreline in advance of a regulatory tsunami, putting stricter emissions limits on a wide range of enterprises from power plants and oil refineries to automobiles and cement makers. So it begins.
L’Affaire Madoff [365]:
-- Judge Louis L. Stanton, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, rejected the government’s strong objections and removed a legal obstacle to Bernie Madoff filing for bankruptcy. I have not studied the law or read the judge’s ruling, but from a public perspective, I am with the Federal prosecutors on this one. The injection of the bankruptcy court into the recovery process of stolen assets makes the government’s efforts all the more difficult. There will be more to this story.
The Blago Scandal [365]:
-- On Tuesday, impeached and convicted, former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Federal corruption charges. Of course he would; there is no hope of Blago gaining integrity and honor. The other defendants in this sordid case —former chief of staff John Harris, former chief fundraiser Christopher G. Kelly, and Springfield millionaire William Cellini — also pleaded not guilty at their arraignment on Thursday. Former campaign manager Alonzo Monk is expected to be arraigned next week. Both Harris and Monk are reportedly cooperating with the prosecutors, which does not bode well for Blago. Well, at least he is trying to eek out his last few months of the pleasures of freedom before he becomes a guest of the State.
Comments and contributions from Update no.382:
“Regarding J.Ezra Merkin, he should go to jail, as well. As Dave Barry [in the NY Times] says, ‘You can't make this stuff up!’ Not only was Merkin getting financial advice from a felon serving time in prison, but he ignored the one piece of that he should have taken. The felon, a Victor Teicher, who had been convicted of securities fraud, told Merkin that Madoff's trading results were impossible to achieve. Amazing, Merkin was getting investment advice from a guy in prison and he ignored the best advice given.
“Merkin is in serous kim-chee for taking big bucks to reputedly do ‘due diligence’ on investments, only to simply had the funds with which he had been entrusted over to good ol’ Bernie. In a related matter, NYU, which is suing Merkin for his vaporizing US$24M of the school’s endowment, is seeking to get documentation of conversations with Merkin, which purportedly have him saying that he would do the due diligence AND invest in a broad array of stocks. Stay tuned. The Wheels of Justice grind slowly, but they do grind. Some legal experts think Merkin will be involved in civil lawsuits for decades, if not for the rest of his life.
My reply:
The best I can hope for is Merkin and the others join Bernie, and they all get to enjoy being some big bubba’s prison yard love-buddy.
[NOTE: the blog received a very long diatribe from an anonymous contributor regarding the current economic situation, the recovery efforts, and the State of the Nation. It is too long to reprint here, as is usually the custom.]
My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
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