Update no.711

Update from the Heartland

No.711

27.7.15 – 2.8.15

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

To all,

            This week’s excursion featured the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri.  My time management was not the best, so I must apologize for not having more interesting images to share.  Jeanne and I took a few days for a mini-vaca.  I dropped her off at The Plaza for shopping (not my thing), and then I drove to the museum about five miles away (not her thing).  The museum deserved more time than I was able to offer.  As such, I had to focus my attention and data collection on the history portrayed.  One of my future projects is an historical fiction based on the Great War experience of Great Uncle Charles Newton Parlier – my paternal grandfather’s older brother – who enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps as war loomed.  Uncle Charlie survived the Battle of Belleau Wood and other notable battles as a member of the 78^th Company, 6^th Regiment, 4^th Brigade, 2^nd Infantry Division.  The majority of my images were data plates of presenting bits of history I did not have catalogued elsewhere.  Let it suffice to say, the museum is a treasure trove of historical facts and material presented in the highest quality displays.  The museum offers a wide variety of historical artifacts from weapons and uniforms to a variety of related items.  They did do an exceptional job representing the carnage of the War to End All Wars without the nauseating gore that truly was part of that conflict.

            The best images I have were of the exterior and Memorial with some of the buildings of Kansas City in the background.  The park in which the Memorial and Museum sit covers the hill between Union Station and the Federal Reserve of Kansas City.

 

World War I Memorial Tower

[file: WW1 Mem A.JPG]

Memorial Base

[file: WW1 Mem B.JPG]

Memorial Dedication Stone

[file: WW1 Mem C.JPG]

The base of the tower is inscribed:

In Honor of Those Who Served in the World War

In Defense of Liberty and Our Country

Below the inscription is the Dedication Stone, which reads:

Dedicated November -1-1921

In the Presence of

Marshal Foch – Admiral Beatty – General Pershing

General Diaz – General Jacques

Vice President Calvin Coolidge

Robert Alexander Long

President of the Liberty Memorial Association

Guests of the American Legion

I found it particularly noteworthy that the Memorial Tower was constructed and dedicated in 1921, and the impressive museum was built much later below ground, around the foundation of the Memorial.  The museum did not open until 2006 – an interesting piece of engineering and well done I must say.  I spent two hours inside the museum, made it through the whole presentation, however the museum deserves at least a half-day to a full day [normal hours: 10:00 to 17:00 daily] to fully absorb the content.  This is one of those rare sites worth a detour and extra time.  The next time we are in Kansas City, I will make another pass at the museum to take in the rest of the information available.

            The follow-up news items:

-- While I believe the Supremes reached the correct and proper decision in Obergefell v. Hodges [576 U.S. ___ (2015); 26.June.2015] [706, 710], one particular aspect of the dissent’s argument concerns me – what are the boundaries of religious freedom?

            Last year’s decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores [573 U.S. ___ (2014); 30.June.2014] [655, 675] extended religious freedom to corporations without apparent constraint.

            The 1^st Amendment Establishment Clause states:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”

            With all the state religious liberty laws in anticipation of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell, how do we answer the salient question?  I think the answer is actually quite simple, yet the Supremes have complicated the answer substantially with Hobby Lobby and with the dissent in Obergefell.  Religious belief is a private matter of conscience.  The 1^st Amendment extends protection to religious establishments, i.e., churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and physical facilities involved in the practice of religion.  The Court has taken a liberal view of what qualifies as a religious establishment.  So many ancillary questions cloud our ability to answer the primary question.  The Court has decided the government cannot inject itself into private matters, but they appear to condone private individuals imposing their beliefs upon other citizens in the name of religious freedom, presumably through the free exercise clause.  If that interpretation is sustained, does that ability to impose religious freedom extend wherever and whenever a citizen chooses to voice their religious beliefs?  Further, what happens when my religious beliefs conflict with your religious beliefs?  Which will prevail . . . the majority?  This boundaries of religious freedom and the free exercise clause are a long way from being settled, and I think even the establishment clause has aspects of uncertainty remaining.

-- The debris discovered on the coast of Réunion Island, in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Madagascar, appears to be a B777 flaperon.  What we do not yet know, if it is a part from the long-missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370) [638, 691].  Other debris has been found so far discounted as not aircraft related.  The found part in question has been transported to the DGA Techniques Aéronautiques technical laboratory in Toulouse, France, for detailed examination.  Investigators will learn a good deal from the part, especially if internal serial numbers confirm the flaperon belonged to MH370.

            News from the economic front:

-- The Federal Reserve kept its interest rates near zero.  They cited progress in the U.S. job market, but noted their nagging concern about low inflation, which may well convince them to delay the day of the first rate increase.

-- The U.S. Commerce Department reported the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at a 2.3% seasonally adjusted annual rate in 2Q2015, better than the 1^st quarter of this year but still below expectations.

            No comments or contributions from Update no.710.

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

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)