Update from the
Heartland
No.611
26.8.13 – 1.9.13
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
The follow-up news items:
-- Simply, a jury of 13 military officers sentenced Fort
Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan [412,
610] to death for the murder of 13
people and attempted murder of 31 others. Now, I can only hope the military is more efficient than
civil prisons in executing the prescribed sentence.
-- The continuing Press revelations from the Snowden treason
[599] this week gave us a glimpse of
the top secret CIA budget among other government secrets. Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) has not
been happy.
“Britain Cites Grave Risks in Leaked Data It Seized”
by Katrin Bennhold
New York Times
Published: August 30, 2013
The image is developing in my mind that these traitors – Snowden,
Greenwald, Miranda, Poitras, Assange, et al – are not significantly different
from al-Qa'ida; the only principal difference: they are using words instead of
bullets or bombs. Regardless,
their actions are probably far more threatening to the State than the bombs of
al-Qa'ida. Freedom of the Press
does NOT give them the right to threaten national security. I suspect our British cousins will have
quicker, more effective efforts, dealing with these people than we will in this
country.
With
highly sensitive, national security documents continuing to trickle out, I am
becoming convinced the traitor Snowden did not hold some lofty ideal of public
disclosure of activities he considered illegal, but rather a purposeful,
planned, intentional effort to collect as much damaging material as he could in
widely variant areas with his presumed root access. To me, the more I see, the more I see a traitor, not some
naïve, well-intentioned whistleblower.
His accomplices – Greenwald, Miranda, Poitras, Assange, et al – are just
that in the legal sense and thus should be tried on the same basis as
Snowden. Since Miranda and Assange
are not U.S. citizens, they cannot be charged with treason, but they can be
charged with a variety of crimes from espionage to terrorism. This is no longer, and probably never
was, about holding a rogue government administration accountable; it is
appearing more and more like a malicious attempt to destroy this Grand Republic
and our Allies across the water. I
want them all to have their day in court, and I want to hear their attempts to
justify their actions. I also want
them to suffer the consequences of their actions, just as a traitor or al-Qa’ida
operatives have and will.
On behalf of a grateful nation, the
President of the United States awarded Staff Sergeant Ty Michael Carter, USA, 33,
the Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism during combat operations at COP
Keating, Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, as a soldier in B Troop, 3rd Squadron,
61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. At 05:59
[D], 3.October.2009, the Combat Outpost came under attack by a large,
coordinated, Taliban force, armed with large caliber automatic weapons, rocket
propelled grenades, and mortars.
The Battle of
Kamdesh lasted 12 hours.
Carter defied withering gunfire multiple times to rescue a fellow
soldier and to bring ammunition to comrades pinned down in the open, while he
was wounded. Congratulations to
Staff Sergeant Carter. Godspeed
and following winds.
On 21.August.2013, the Syrian regime of
Bashar al-Assad carried out a Sarin gas attack on a neighborhood in the suburbs
of Damascus, killing at least 1,429 people, including 426 children. The attack clearly violates President
Obama’s red line as well as the Convention on the Prohibition of the
Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their
Destruction (13.January.1993; to which Syria is a signatory).
The
House of Commons voted 272-285-0-93 to reject HMG’s request for authorization
and support for the punishment of Syria.
So, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and NATO are out.
Russia
and the People’s Republic of China have already gone on record disputing the
chemical agent intelligence.
President
Obama announced that he decided to use military force against key Syrian
government targets as a consequence of Assad’s use of weapons of mass
destruction, i.e., lethal chemical agents. In the category of damned if he does and damned if he
doesn’t, the President also announced his decision to seek prior authorization
from Congress, which is adjourned for the Labor Day holiday, scheduled to
return 9.September (a week from this coming Monday). While I support the President’s decision to strike Syrian
government assets and even use a few cruise missiles to decapitate the
government, the issue for the world community is, you cannot choose not to
enforce a prohibition. If that is
the international position, then repeal the chemical weapons convention and
make it every man for himself. The
United States is NOT the world’s policeman.
Further,
perhaps we should amend the Convention to only object to the use of chemical
weapons on other nations, or maybe only if chemical weapons are used on all
five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council simultaneously –
a day separation on one, no deal.
My lame sarcasm aside, if the red line is not where President Obama drew
it, where is it? When is enough,
enough? Do we need another
genocide like Rwanda or Kosovo?
In the category of obscure but significant
accomplishments, a research team at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of
the Austrian Academy of Sciences, led by Dr. Jürgen Knoblich, have turned human
embryonic stem-cells into pea-sized mini-brains with a neural structure similar
to the brain of a developing embryo.
As I understand this scientific milestone, we are moving toward the day
when we can replicate human cells and replace damaged cells. The team in Austria has discovered the triggers to stimulate neutral
omni-cells to become specific, specialized cells, including complex cells like
brain and nerve cells.
Finally, some sanity and reason have
exceeded the foolishness of this damnable war on drugs. Attorney General Eric Holder informed
the governors of Colorado and Washington that the Federal government will not
enforce the Controlled Substances Act
(AKA CSA) [PL 91-513; 84 Stat. 1236; 27.October.1970], regarding the marijuana
provisions. This is a very small
step but it is a positive step forward even if 43 years too late – better late
than never. We need to go all the
way and repeal or seriously diminish the CSA to legalize and regulate all
psychotropic substances for legal age citizens, i.e., 18 years of age. Yes, I am also advocating for reducing
the age to consume alcohol; if you are old enough to die in military service to
your country, we can certainly allow you to consume alcohol. Hopefully, parents will grow up and
teach their children to deal with these temptations or over-consumption
responsibly, without losing control.
The Treasury Department and Internal
Revenue Service announced that they would treat legal same-sex marriages the
same as heterosexual marriages for federal tax purposes. The USG’s action reflects a consequence
of the Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v.
Windsor [570 U.S. ___ (2013); 26.June.2013] [606], which declared
unconstitutional an essential article of the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996
(DOMA) [PL 104-199; 110 Stat. 2419; 21.September.1996]. The new policy allows same-sex spouses
to file federal tax returns as married couples regardless of whether they live
in jurisdictions that recognize non-heterosexual unions. Progress continues with small steps
forward.
News from the economic front:
-- Just when we thought it was safe to venture outside . . .
we are once again staring at the political parochialism surrounding the debt
ceiling limit, projected to be reached in mid-October. We know the all too common refrain, reaching
the debt limit will leave the government at a high risk of having inadequate
cash to fund all operations.
Republicans are demanding significant new spending cuts for the other
guy’s programs in exchange for raising the $16.7T debt limit.
-- The National Police of Spain arrested Javier Martin-Artajo,
a Spanish national, in Madrid on a U.S. warrant. He is charged with hiding losses on bad bets that cost J.P.
Morgan Chase more than US$6B.
Artajo was the supervisor of Bruno Iksil, the Chase trader who
engineered the bets and was given the nickname “London whale.”
-- The Commerce Department revised the U.S. GDP up to a 2.5%
annual rate for 2Q2013, from the initial estimate of 1.7% reported last month. The U.S. economy expanded at a faster
pace than previously estimated in the second quarter as exports and business
investment were revised upward.
The Federal Reserve meets in a few weeks to discuss whether or not to
start scaling back their US$85B per month bond purchasing program.
Continuation
from Update no.609:
“I believe that luck and fate have a role to play in most
major achievements but background and very persistent personal ambition mean
more. As experts study very prominent people in more depth, they are finding
characteristics in common, some of them unpleasant. I doubt that ambition is
genetic because of Presidential siblings such as Billy Carter and Roger Clinton
who inherited none of it that anyone can detect.
“I don't think anyone was intentionally "taught"
to be a "bad man," including specifically Jeffery Dahmer. I saw a TV
interview with him and his father. His father tried to teach him to be a good
man, according to the father's beliefs. That was a catastrophic failure, but
the father never intended his son to do the horrible things he did. That phrase
"circumstances and a narrow ideological perspective" applies equally
to Dahmer. Sr., Nixon, and McNamara. Bundy had additional factors which may or
may not be biochemical. Gacy's case I don't know all that well.”
My response:
I
do not believe ambition is genetic; I think it is learned like so many of the
other traits that drive people to positions of power. Regardless, luck and fate are always active contributors.
Oh,
I do believe there are bad men who teach their children criminal conduct,
including violence on others. I
did not intend to imply all bad men are “intentionally” taught to be bad. I have listened to the broadcast
interviews of Lionel Dahmer. His
words and actions have never matched.
Please allow me to ask, what drove Jeffrey to do the horrific things he
did?
Comments
and contributions from Update no.610:
“Normally, his parole would be at 11.6 yrs, but he got
credit for time served in pre-trial, plus about 112 days or so, taken off by
the trial judge for govt misconduct against Manning that’s how they got the 7
year estimate.”
My reply:
Thx
for the explanation. Even 11.6
years is too short, in my humble opinion.
Since
you are former JAG, do you have any idea why a specific arrest date has not
been given?
. . . a follow-up comment:
“One, we don't have 'arrest' in the same terms as civilian law
enforcement. Under the UCMJ, 'arrest' is the restraint by order of a person,
not pursuant to punishment, directing that person to remain within certain
limits. Confinement is physical
restraint of a person.
“They could produce a date when pre-trial confinement
started; probably when the investigation ID'd him. He was then apprehended and
put in military custody.”
. . . and my follow-up reply:
Again,
thank you for the explanation.
That may well explain why the Press consistently refers to “arrested in
May 2010,” instead of an actual arrest date as indicated in most criminal court
documents.
Is
there a place or document that would have the date of the restraint or
confinement order?
Another contribution:
“Cap, my thanks for your update. I hadn't heard about the
brave act you described by your Antoinette at school? Find her gong someone.
(medal).”
My response:
Short
version: Antoinette was an unarmed, school clerk, who literally talked a
mentally disturbed, convicted felon, armed with an AK-47 along with a backpack
full of ammunition [all illegally obtained I might add] into surrendering with
no injuries. What’s more, she had
him safe his weapon, and lay face down & his arms behind him when the
police entered to building to secure him.
She deserves a lot more than a medal, but excellent point. Her instinctive skills were exemplary
and extraordinary. Several hostage
negotiators said she was more skillful than some professionals. I listened to the full tape, and it is
truly phenomenal.
. . . follow-up comment:
“Cap, one brave lady and lucky for the children she was
there. No more school massacres
Cap.”
. . . my follow-up response:
Amen,
brother . . . all the way around.
Comment to the Blog:
“I am beginning to believe you can no longer see the forest
of revelations for the trees of your attitudes about those who revealed these
facts. We experience surveillance of millions of people, secret agencies
violating their own secret rules thousands of times annually, and the US spying
on our allies in depth. All some folks can do is hold onto their resentment
about the way we learned all of this. It’s time to face the important facts.
The “War on Terrorism” (or Islamo-Fascist fundamentalism) only adds to the fact
that we have not won a war since World War II, and has become a smokescreen for
people who would remove all liberty from the US. Historically, corrupt people in
power always have a bogeyman to blame for their actions. Those people can then
abuse whomever they choose, whether or not those people have anything to do
with the ostensible enemy. Nothing has changed. Power corrupts; absolute power
corrupts absolutely.
“Attorney General Holder has announced a laudable plan to
prosecute those criminally involved in the economic crash. He had best not take
too long. I wonder whether statutes of limitations might let the criminals
escape.”
My response to the Blog:
Re:
forest of revelations. Wow, that
was quite an opinion. We always
have a choice to view the glass as half full. I fundamentally disagree with the perception that the United
States has not won a war since World War II. Likewise, I do not agree that any American citizen is intent
upon removing all our liberties, to do so would be to take their own
liberties. The issue beyond the
forest of revelations remains the balance between freedom and security. The key feature to our constitutional
democracy has always been checks & balances, as the Founders & Framers
recognized. In this current
situation, we have not found balance, as yet.
Re:
prosecution. Yes, the statute of
limitations would allow the criminals to escape. I trust he is mindful of the law. We shall see.
. . . follow-up comment:
“Those who would remove our liberties exempt themselves from
such removal by either loopholes in applicable laws or simply by the fact of
being in power and being insiders who can see that the processes they use on
others are not applied to them. In this regard you can learn far more by
studying history than by taking such people's statements as truthful.:
. . . my follow-up response:
I
share your concerns about the possible compromise of our freedom and liberties
by the instruments enabled for the War on Islamic Fascism. I see these instruments as immensely
more powerful, but not fundamentally different from censorship, mail-reading,
and such enabled, accepted and used during the Great War and World War II. I do not accept the USG’s position as
inherently truthful; I question everything. You have but to read our TWA 800 book to have the
proof. We must be ever vigilant.
My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
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