Update no.584

Update from the Heartland

No.584

18.2.13 – 24.2.13

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

To all,

Here, on the central Great Plains, Wednesday through Friday, we had the second greatest snowfall in our history.  I measured 25 cm (12 inches) on our back porch.  I have been in a near perpetual clearing effort as sheets of ice & snow pack slide off the roof.  Fortunately, neighbors assisted neighbors to clear walkways and driveways.  My aging joints, muscles, back and blood pressure measured more like 12 feet of snow.  We need the water, so I have to be happy with all this snow.  My body is reticent to say this, however we need more.  Our collective wish is not far off as the forecast predicts a comparable snowfall but his time with wind.  Blizzard warnings are up for Sunday night through early Tuesday morning.

Hawker Beechcraft Corporation emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy [542] on Tuesday as a private company and with a new (old) name – Beechcraft Corporation.  The company intends to focus on its core, historic business – turboshaft and piston powered, propeller aircraft.  The future of the company’s turbofan-powered aircraft remains uncertain.  All three product lines – Premier (390), Beechjet (400), Hawker series (987) and Horizon (4000) – ceased production a year or more ago and are up for sale individually or collectively.  The most significant achievement in the legal proceedings . . . the company’s debt burden was reduced by 90%.  The future is far brighter for the venerable aircraft manufacturing company than it was four years ago.

The follow-up news items:

-- The Press reported that General John R. Allen, USMC [USNA 1976], has declined the President’s nomination (re-instated) to be the NATO supreme commander [580] and decided to retire from active service after 37 years of distinguished service.  I shall add his case to my growing list of gross abuse of power by our Federal government.  In the tradition of the nautical services, I say godspeed and following winds, general.

-- Just a short note, I will acknowledge the convictions of the Birmingham Eight [269] in Woolwich Crown Court.  The al-Qa’ida terrorist cell met British justice without executing their dastardly intentions.  Congratulations to our British mates.  I trust the felons shall suffer appropriate punishment.

On Friday, the Kansas Supreme Court rendered its judgment in Frazier v. Goudschaal [KS SC case no. 103,487 (2013)].  The local Press reported the ruling as a landmark case, recognizing the rights of same-sex partners regarding parental rights.  I have not read the decision as yet, but I certainly will do so.  The surprising aspect rests upon the foundation of Kansas Amendment 1 of 2005 – the state’s constitutional condemnation of non-heterosexual marriage.  More to follow.

A curious and strange, “non-governmental” report emerged from a company known as Mandiant, illuminating the pervasive and expansive cyber-espionage activities of a People’s Republic of China (PRC) shadowy organization known as Unit 61398, which Mandiant claims is linked to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), 2nd Bureau (intelligence), General Staff Department’s (GSD) 3rd Department.  Mandiant has designated the collective apparatus as Advanced Persistent Threat no.1 (APT1).  Mandiant has somehow documented the activities of APT1 since 2006, and claims APT1 “has systematically stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organizations.”

            Kevin Mandia founded Mandiant in 2004.  He is a former United States Air Force officer and the current Chief Executive Officer of the company.   Mandiant focuses on helping organizations detect, respond to, and contain computer intrusions, and is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.

Another informative article regarding non-traditional relationships:

“New Sexual Revolution: Polyamory May Be Good for You – What swinging couples and committed polyamorists can teach monogamists about love”

by Stephanie Pappas and LiveScience

Scientific American

Published: February 14, 2013

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=new-sexual-revolution-polyamory

The article indicates 4-5% of Americans may be in non-traditional marriages.  I suspect the estimate may be low.  Perhaps we can all learn from these glimpses outside The Box.

News from the economic front:

-- According to the recently released minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January 29/30 policy meeting, the leaders of the central bank expressed growing unease with the Fed's easy-money policies and suggested they might need to pull them back before the job market is fully back to normal.  The central bankers voiced concern the Fed’s policies could lead to instability in financial markets. They are expected to assess the programs at its next meeting March 19/20.

-- The European Central Bank (ECB) claimed it earned €555M last year on its holdings of Greek sovereign bonds bought during the financial crisis.  The ECB also revealed that nearly half of its Securities Markets Program holdings are of Italian debt (€99B).  They also hold €43.7B in Spanish bonds, €30.8B in Greek debt, €21.6B in Portuguese bonds and €13.6B in Irish debt.

-- The European Commission (EC) reported the eurozone’s economic slowdown continues with France’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecast to grow by just 0.1% and Germany’s GDP by 0.5% in 2013.  The EC debt load is expected to hit 95.1% of GDP this year, the highest levels since the creation of the single currency (2002).

-- Moody's Investors' Service downgraded the credit rating of the United Kingdom from Aaa to Aa1, citing deterioration in the government's balance sheet and continued weakness in its growth outlook.

Continuation of comments from Update no.582:

“It took me awhile to get time to reply -- sorry... my comments inserted, I thought that was an easier way to take the dialogue forward. ...and let me reiterate, that I never would consider your comments offensive or against the Church. ...it's just that we come from a different perspective.”

[inserted text extracted from the original submittal:]

“(each Diocese is different -- some are self insured, some contract it out)”

“(and as we know, even when we do teach them, they don't always follow our good example -- even flawed example -- but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to uphold the standard of behavior even if we fall short of the standard).”  

“But we're all vulnerable to temptation -- another imperfect analogy: we're taught that speeding on roads is dangerous and can cause harm to innocent people, but how many of our citizens ignore the teaching of our public safety professionals. We often ignore what we SHOULDN'T do because of what we WANT to do -- i.e. have sex without worrying about the woman becoming pregnant.”

“Re: ‘. . . the decision to use contraception is a very personal and private matter.’  Agree, but that doesn't mean that every decision is a MORAL one.”  

“Which is why, God be praised, He forgives us when we sin!”

Re: ‘Similarly, is freedom of religion only for organized religious entities, or does it also cover individuals?’  “I personally believe it should -- we used to have a classification for Conscious Objector to the draft laws -- but we're opening another can of worms here.”

Re: ‘Let me just ask, what is the purpose of excommunication?’ “-- nothing to do with this argument. It's usually reserved for persons who profess to be Catholic but who flout the authority of the Church or act against the authority or teachings of the Church in a public way -- (again) thank God that private sin is redeemed through the Sacrament of Reconciliation (often referred to as Confession).”

Re: ‘As I have written before, parents should decide how they wish to teach their children.’ “Totally agree, but my children didn't always follow our rules , and while there was always forgiveness, there were generally consequences.”

Re: ‘Freedom of choice seems to be an anathema to the Catholic Church and indeed most sects of the revealed religions.’ “I'm not sure what you're inferring. Of course, we are made in the image and likeness of God, and our freedom of choice comes from him. He loves us and wants us to follow his commandments, but He gave us the freedom to choose.”

Re: ‘Conversely, I do not want the Church dictating how individuals should live their private lives.’ “There's a BIG difference between dictating and promoting a code of morality that we believe is in conformity with God's law.”

Re: ‘the issue of contraception is NOT about government and religion.’  “This is where we disagree.” ‘It is an individual fundamental right to privacy.  Contraception is a private choice,’ “but a choice taken in opposition to the Church's stance on morality.”

Re: ‘being available for those who choose does NOT mean the Church is “paying” for contraception.’  “Of course it does -- because we have to pay an insurance company to provide those services if the government requires us to.”

Re: ‘It only means the Church respects an individual’s freedom of choice.’  “We DO respect that -- we just don't want to pay for them making a choice we're firmly opposed to.”

Re: ‘The challenge for the Church should be at the conscience level, not the paying level.’  “We should have the RIGHT to be at BOTH.”

My reply:

            Re: “self-insured or contracted.”  With 630 archdioceses and 2,167 dioceses in the world, and a fraction in the United States, there must be a complete range of organizations from uninsured to major group health insurance programs.  The purpose of PPACA is to raise the minimum acceptable standard for health care in the United States.  If any particular organization can pick & choose to diminish that minimum threshold, then the program will not work as intended.

            Re: “standard of behavior.”  This is precisely the point.  Like all moral choices . . . a private matter between each of us and God.  The behavior we are discussing is private, not public.

            Re: “temptation.”  Again, that is precisely the point.  Temptation is a personal struggle, like ethics, integrity or honesty.  It is not for the Church to prohibit the temptation, but to teach the conscience to make the correct choices in the face of temptation.

            Re: “choices.”  Yes, certainly, not all choices are MORAL ones, some are just simple choices like cheese or no cheese.  Some citizens do not see contraception as a moral choice, but more like a prophylactic one like an annual physical or teeth cleaning.  I recognize and acknowledge the position of the Catholic Church regarding contraception as a very deeply moral choice.

            Re: “excommunication.”  So, if I understand this, the Church punishes an individual who publicly defies Church doctrine, but leaves private defiance to the individual’s willingness to seek forgiveness or absolution in the confessional.  Again, if I understand this correctly, excommunication is punishment for not choosing to comply with the Church’s dogma regarding a very private choice.  So, if I keep my private choices private, then the Church will not object, and the Church will expect me to confess my sins in the confessional.  If that is correct, then why would the Church have any basis to object to private choices including contraception, as long as the choices remain private?

            Re: “consequences.”  Yes, there should be consequences for decisions or choices we make.  However, if my choices remain private, then again, my choices are between me and God.  The Church should not seek to prohibit my behavior.  Either I am taught properly, or I am not.

            Re: “freedom to choose.” If so, then why does the Church want to prohibit behavior it does not agree with?

            Re: “promoting.”  I do not see how availability is promoting; in fact, quite the contrary.  I would think the Church would please that employees chose not to succumb to the temptation.  Just because it is available, does not mean anyone has to avail themselves of a service or give into the temptation.  When the Church prohibits employees from having the contraceptive choice, then they are indeed dictating by their prohibition.

            Re: “choices taken in opposition.”  But, those are private choices, not public choices.

            Re: “insurance.”  Health insurance companies offer bone marrow transplants or arterial bypass surgery for those who need them.  If no one needs one, then the insurance company does not pay for what is not used.  It is just available.  Perhaps, then, it is the Church’s objection to the insurance company, not the service.  Perhaps the Church wants all health insurances to refuse to offer contraception.

            Re: “RIGHT.”  Yes, indeed, the Church has that right, and so should each and every individual employee.  Yet, in this instance, the Church seeks to exercise its RIGHT and deny the same RIGHT to employees.

Comments and contributions from Update no.583:

Comment to the Blog:

“Re the Hagel nomination: at this point Obama could have nominated anyone, no matter how skilled or conservative, and the Republicans would oppose the nomination. They have essentially become the anti-Obama party, the Whigs of our time. Reason and even political advantage no longer matter to them.

“Myra Bradwell’s story brings doubt on the ability of the Supreme Court and the sanity of our nation of its time. All the same, someone eventually remedied that mistake. You did not tell us how that came about, but it came about and no doubt the remedy then set a precedent for other cases.

“I appreciate your attention to the Trail of Tears. It’s an ugly story and we (the dominant American culture) have not yet learned our way out of that arrogant attitude. Unfortunately, the US Government has broken every treaty it ever made with Native Americans. The one possible exception is the legislation concerning the Qualla Boundary, a ‘land trust’ for the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation. (Andrew Jackson’s army thought they had left none behind, but they were of course wrong.) That is a more recent set of promises and had not been broken as of several years ago.

“I find it interesting that the more powerful EU economies have begun to suffer. The German government in particular has puffed itself up on the idea that they are somehow more virtuous than the Greeks or other poorer nations. Let’s see how their own people take to the austerity they have imposed on others.”

My response to the Blog:

Calvin,

            Re: Republicans.  It sure does seem to be an accurate observation.  However, I would like to point out the inverse of the same mindless opposition in the Bush-43 administration.  It is like Republicans & Democrats have locked horns and they cannot separate or give an inch.  Somehow, We, the People, must slay the bulls and find more moderate, success-oriented representatives.

            Re: Supremes.  The Bradwell decision joins many other myopic, bad decisions like Dred Scott, Plessey, Olmstead, et all.

            Re: Bradwell.  The history of who and how they eventually issued a law license to Myra was beyond my reach.  All I know is it happened, as recorded in several sources.

            Re: Native Americans.  Agreed.  History is replete with comparable stories of conquest and broken treaties – one of many tainted elements of the history of this Grand Republic.

            Re: Germany.  I suspect the Germans will fair better than the Greeks as they have less endemic corruption, graft and tax evasion.

   “That’s just my opinion, but I could be wrong.”

Cheers,

Cap

My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)