Update no.696

Update from the Heartland

No.696

13.4.15 – 19.4.15

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

To all,

The follow-up news items:

-- Four members of the Blackwater security detail involved in the Nisur Square incident [16.9.2007] in Baghdad, Iraq, were convicted and sentenced; one received a life sentence and the other three received 30-year sentences for killing 14 and wounding 20, during a transport mission.  The four men went through several legal machinations [421] before reaching this conclusion.

Wednesday was Tax Day in the United States.  Just as it is a citizen’s duty and obligation to vote, it is also a duty to pay taxes for the governmental services we need.  I want to pay my taxes.  I want a government that maintains law and order, protects us from the bad guys at the gate, and helps those among us who need a helping hand to rise above their dire situation.  Like most citizens, I want to pay my share; I do not want to pay more than my share.  And, I am not too keen on helping those who seek to scam or take advantage of our generosity.  Thus, to me, the debate is not about the taxes we pay, but rather how we spend our precious tax dollars.

I have to offer kudos to Elon Musk and his Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) [545] for their second operational attempt [14.April.2015] to land the Falcon 9 first stage booster of its latest cargo launch to the International Space Station (ISS).  The video clip shows the booster landing on the target barge . . . unfortunately, the contact center of gravity exceeded the limits of the landing system, and the booster fell over – close but no cigar.  The first operational attempt to land on a barge platform [10.January.2015] basically hit the target barge and was not even close to a controlled descent.  Based on the progress between attempt one and two, I suspect their next attempt will stick the landing, and the booster first stage will be reconditioned and reused on a subsequent launch – the objective of the effort.

On Thursday, 16.April.2015, our beloved Governor Samuel Dale ‘Sam’ Brownback of Kansas signed into law S Sub for HB 2258 [Senate Substitute for Kansas House Bill 2258], implementing changes to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) law. S Sub for HB 2258 § 9 (14) [K.S.A. 2014 Supp. 39-709] lists a plethora of prohibited expenditures of TANF funds, e.g. “alcohol, cigarettes, tobacco products, lottery tickets, concert tickets, professional or collegiate sporting event tickets or tickets for other entertainment events intended for the general public or sexually oriented adult materials,” et cetera.  Now, personally, I think public assistance funds should not be spent on such things.  Public funds should be for sustenance and improvement for self-supporting productivity; none of the listed prohibited activities can even remotely meet a proper threshold.  Yet, the way such reform was constructed and implemented comes across as callous, cold, and not particularly compassionate.  We can only hope the law is enforced with more heart than the Legislature displayed in the formulation of the new law.

We have long known and recognized the hegemonic ambitions of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) beyond its borders in virtually every direction [624].  This week, we see physical evidence the PRC has taken their hegemony to the next level.  Publicly available satellite images of Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands, South China Sea, document the substantial build-up and development of a major runway, harbor and support facility far beyond the natural extent of the coral reef.  The PRC has clearly staked its physical claim to Fiery Cross Reef [AKA Northwest Investigator Reef, Yongshu Island and Yongshu Reef (PRC); Kagitingan Reef (Philippines); and Đá Chữ Thập (Vietnam); located at 9° 37′ N, 112° 58′ E].  Each of the South China Sea margin countries lays claim to the whole of the Spratly Islands.  I cannot ascertain what exactly the purpose of the PRC’s build-up of the Fiery Cross Reef is.  Perhaps, they want it to be a joint use facility; however, this looks like a schoolyard bully, doing whatever strikes his fancy, betting that no one has the chutzpah to challenge his provocative actions.  My guess: the PRC will complete their construction at Fiery Cross Reef, install air defense systems and a fighter squadron at the island, and then carry out operations to dominate the Spratly Islands and intimidate their neighbors into submission to their will.  We need to pay attention to what is happening at Fiery Cross Reef.

Jacobsen, Annie.  “Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America.”  New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2014.

My reading of “The Nazis Next Door” [682] led me to the Jacobsen book out of curiosity and the need to fill in some blanks in my knowledge of that history.  Both Jacobsen and Lichtblau are professional journalists by trade – the former with the Los Angeles Times and the latter with the New York Times.  Jacobsen offered a better effort to present the facts and a balanced perspective of those facts with respect to a controversial highly classified intelligence program carried out after World War II. 

Apparently, she could not entirely resist the urge to generalize, using the emotionally charged term “Nazi” as an adjective modifier for anyone who worked for or supported Nazi Germany during the war.  Further, Jacobsen uses “ardent Nazi” to be worse than a run-of-the-mill Nazi with the implication that all Nazis and especially all ardent Nazis were war criminals, as if by definition.  Operation PAPERCLIP involved the employment of more than a thousand German scientists, engineers, doctors and intelligence personnel after the war.  As could be easily anticipated, more than a few of those German “employees” presented a serious ethical conundrum.  Some of them were actually charged, tried and convicted by the Nürnberg Military Tribunals; a few of that number were acquitted.  Yet, the label Nazi, used in the far more expansive application than is technically supportable, was intended to forever condemn them to non-productivity and obscurity, and further by association, disparage the American military and intelligence personnel that executed Operation PAPERCLIP or supported the objectives of the program.  The ethical question represented in Operation PAPERCLIP is: where do we draw the line, where is the threshold of tolerance, regarding Germans who worked for or supported the Third Reich between 1933 and 1945?  The crimes committed by some Germans and some Nazis apparently taint all Germans and especially all Nazis, without due process of law.

I was also struck by the clear condemnation of German scientists, engineers, and chemists, who were doing the same work as professionals in the United States and Great Britain.  Such selective condemnation seems to be woefully ignorant or politically biased.  The development and production of chemical and biological weapons are not war crimes.  The testing of those agents on prisoners without consent is a war crime.  As with so many moral questions in wartime, the crime is in the use of such weapons, not the development or production of those agents.

One last observation: neither book makes much of an effort to describe the situation in Germany and Europe in the aftermath of World War II.  To the vast majority of Allied citizens, the Soviet Union was a heroic, allied nation fighting against Germany (and in the last days of the war, against Japan).  Prime Minister Churchill recognized the reality of Premier Stalin’s objectives and intentions earlier than any of the Allied leaders.  He shared his perspective with his compatriot President Roosevelt.  It took Roosevelt two years to acknowledge Churchill’s insight.  Regardless, Stalin’s devious intentions clarified rapidly and became publicly undeniable by 24.June.1948 – a mere three years after the end of the war and after most of the PAPERCLIP decisions had to be made.  The choices presented to the Western Allies in those early post-war years were bad and worse.  Neither Jacobsen or Lichtblau made an adequate effort to paint the backdrop in which the Operation PAPERCLIP decisions were made, and thus, the impression the casual reader is left with is one of American military and governmental culpability, rather than parochial national security interests or simple naïveté, regarding the employment of German professionals after the war.

That said, at the end of the day, Jacobsen came closer to a balanced position than Lichtblau.  As such, I will recommend Annie Jacobsen’s “Operation Paperclip” for anyone interested in understanding the history of a very important, post-war, intelligence program.

News from the economic front:

-- The Gross Domestic Product of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) rose 7.0% for 1Q2015 – below the 7.4% for 2014 and 7.3% for 4Q2014.  The PRC’s economy expanded at its slowest pace in six years, dragged down by a slumping property market, industrial overcapacity and dampened overseas demand.

-- For the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, Japan has overtaken the PRC as the largest foreign owner of U.S. government bonds.  The PRC’s decade long appetite for U.S. government debt has been shifting down amid its slowing economy.  Investors in Japan have been attracted to U.S. bonds by one of the most attractive yields in the developed world.

Comments and contributions from Update no.695:

Comment to the Blog:

“In re police shootings: I see those shootings as racist but not limited to racism. Police work attracts a very specific personality, more so than any other field. Otherwise, why would a person choose to spend his days dealing with people at their worst? Other fields pay better for easier work with better emotional rewards. The police officers I have met, at work and otherwise, have a very strong sense of right and wrong that often devolves into an ‘us versus them’ mentality. Actual and appropriate law enforcement too often changes over time into ‘catching the bad guys’ by any means available. That includes, especially, police officers deciding who the ‘bad guys’ are based on race, attire, or attitude. We may as well expect that people will die unless something basic to the attitudes of the officers can be changed. I will note an even deeper underlying issue. Despite heavily armed police and extreme penalties for violations (the death penalty, ‘three strike’ laws, rigid ‘broken window’ enforcement), the United States continues to have higher crime and imprisonment rates than other similar nations.

“I myself was trained from an early age to do whatever law enforcement officers demanded because they carry guns. This has nothing to do with respect. It's simply fear. That fear fits the facts. Minorities were not allowed in the place and time I grew up. Poor people and ‘outsider’ families such as mine fell into that role. The first time I was falsely accused of a crime I was 11 years old, and my two younger brothers were included in that bit of insanity. I'm glad I was taught not to agitate law enforcement, but I have never come to respect police officers as a category. They are merely human beings with a strange taste in occupations. Their badges and weapons confer a sense of power on them, and power corrupts.

“I will admit to a certain surprise that Wichita has decriminalized marijuana possession. Nobody accuses Kansans of liberalism. I think we may take this a clear sign that progress on this issue is now national.

“I will not be voting for Hillary Clinton. I made that mistake with her husband. I will vote for a progressive one way or the other. Secretary Clinton has had 25 years to build a progressive record and has failed to do so. I don't care what she puts into her campaign. I will vote for someone with a history of progressive actions.

“Unfortunately, here in the U.S. we have a habit of overlooking diplomatic accomplishments. I learned to appreciate President Nixon's accomplishments in that arena only long after he served. I imagine President Obama's opening to Cuba will suffer the same fate with most Americans.”

My response to the Blog:

            Re: Law Enforcement (IE).  I will not quibble with your observations.  I believe the observations are valid at least in part.  Yes, IE share common traits of weakness, as do we as a society.  However, there is another major factor . . . communities get the police they deserve . . . too much “them vs. us,” “don’t snitch,” “I saw nothing,” et cetera.  We need strong, effective IE, and WE must help them in proper policing.  Leaving it to the IE to figure out does nothing but foster “us vs. them.”

            Re: interesting perspective.  I choose to follow instructions from IE not out of fear but from respect for the vital community work they do, and the risks they take for our protection.

            Re: Wichita marijuana vote.  I wish we had at least decriminalized marijuana possession and use.  The vote simply reduced penalties for first time convictions . . . as I said, a very small, half step.  While I do agree, it is a surprising step . . an important one, nonetheless.  I do not think of Wichita as a bastion of liberalism; it certainly appears as such in contrast to the extreme social conservatism exhibited in the surrounding state.

            It is way too early to be deciding on 2016 votes.  I do not know who I will vote for.  If Hillary is the best candidate presented to us on Election Day, then she will get my vote.  Today, we are a very long way from such decisions.

            Re: Obama & Cuba.  I hope you are correct.  Only time will tell.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“‘Communities get the police they deserve’? They get the police they can afford. After tax cuts over and over since Reagan, there's not enough money left to many communities even for these basic functions. Beyond that, I think you have cause and effect backwards. People will share information with the police if they believe the police can and will protect them from the criminals. They will show the police respect when the police earn respect.”

 . . . my follow-up response:

            Regardless of the chicken or the egg, the conduct of the community is directly involved in the effectiveness of law enforcement.  I will agree that tight governmental budgets affect the extent of law enforcement units.

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

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)