Update from the Heartland
No.723
19.10.15 – 25.10.15
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
Well,
well, well, another one bites the dust.
Representative Paul Davis Ryan of Wisconsin succumbed
to the siren’s song – the seduction of power. At first, I was impressed with his wisdom in resisting calls
for him to stand for Speaker of the House, after the withdrawal of anointed
heir apparent House Majority Leader Representative Kevin Owen McCarthy of
California. Ryan sought the
prerequisite support of the hard-line Freedom Caucus conservative group, the
centrists Tuesday Group and the Republican Study Committee. The mirage of Republican unity
supposedly convinced him to forego his influential position as Chairman of the
House Ways & Means Committee for the sure to be headaches, frustration and
nightmares of herding cats. So, it
appears Ryan may well become Speaker of the House at 45 years of age. Regardless, I shall remain reservedly
optimistic Ryan will find a way to attain compromise, and if we are really
lucky, marginalize the radical right of the Freedom Caucus.
As
an ancillary side note, the name Freedom Caucus has always struck me as rather
ironic. In the context of their
espoused political positions, they mean freedom for anyone who believes as they
believe, but certainly not for anyone who chooses a different path to “Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
I’m just sayin’.
The
Roman Catholic Church completed the Fourteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the
Synod of Bishops. Pope Francis I sought
the support of the bishops for his initiative to liberalize church doctrine by
offering a pathway for Catholics who have divorced and remarried to receive
Communion, as well as a modest softening of the Church’s position on
homosexuality and non-heterosexual marriage. The conservative resistance within the Synod of Bishops
handed Pope Francis an embarrassing defeat by withholding support for his
signature initiatives. To me, this
little episode represents the far broader struggle between individual freedom
of choice and general societal dicta, between an individual’s pursuit of
Happiness and conformity within the normative Box. Il Papa Francisco famously declared, “Chi
sono io per giudicare un gay?” [Who am I to judge a gay?] I have interpreted his statement to
mean that the Church’s mission should be to offer comfort and guidance to
individuals, and to leave judgment to God. I continue to admire the wisdom of Pope Francis and to be
disappointed by those who feel compelled to impose their choices, their will,
their beliefs on other human beings.
News from the economic
front:
-- The People’s Republic of China reported the country’s Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) for 3Q2015 was 6.9% -- below the official targeted
growth rate of about 7% for the year, and now the slowest pace since the Great
Recession began.
-- The People's Bank of China announced their intention to
cut the bank’s benchmark lending and deposit rate by 0.25% to 4.35% and 1.5%,
respectively – the 6th cut in benchmark interest rates since
November of last year. The central
bank also indicated it would lower its reserve-requirement ratio for banks by
0.5% in the bank’s efforts to revive slowing economic growth.
Continuation from Update no.721:
“I know I can make opinion about Russia/Syria/Putin,
sometimes in a way that would question why Obama & those at his command,
have been ineffectual, or so it seems, at producing true solutions regarding
ISIS. The apparent duplicity of our CIA and other assets
funding/training/equipping those anti-Assad elements ("moderates") is
causing many of us to question what the hell our government is really doing in
that region. Putin comes riding in
and almost appears like a white knight.
And believe me, I understand Russia can be just as clever at propagating
myths and propaganda, as we can in full intensity PsyOps objectives. It may be a good possibility the Putin
move in/on Syria, is his last attempt to save face and preserve some
geopolitical prestige. Don't
know.
“I am sure you viewed Minority Report, if not, I highly
recommend it. Pre-Crime Unit. Interesting concepts. Very
futuristic. If I recall, it was released in 2002.
“Thanks for your opinion on ‘moderate Muslims.’ I am in a flux right now on this entire
issue. I know some Muslims that are very kind people, private about
their beliefs, business people, God fearing, and humble. I doubt they
would ever have any tendency to do harm or become violent, radical, or part of
any terrorist network. I guess
where I need to better define my distrust of much of Islam is that part of
political Islam, that is trying to strip political and economic systems/structures,
not to mention cultures/histories, instead, for their religious Sharia Law all
encompassing umbrella over the lives of men and women. This is a danger and I believe the
goals for this are being germinated across our world right now. This movement is a cancer! And I am fearful much of it may have
already infiltrated parts of our own government, commerce, academia,
intelligentsia, news media, Hollywood, and much more. The way I view it is a religion was hijacked for
political/power/economic gain, and the bulk of those followers of Islam, are unaware
of the hypocrisy of their religious leaders.”
My latest response:
Re:
Russia. I do not know what
happened, is happening, or might happen in the corridors of power. When I stand back and ask myself, why
is Putin doing this? What is his
purpose or objective? To me, Putin
is odd version of Trump, i.e., restore Russia to greatness. The best and easiest path to achieve
that objective, create an adversary to focus Russian media, Press, and popular
opinion. What used to be the
Politburo (and now I don’t know what the elite committee is called) was not
happy with Russia being marginalized, not feared (often erroneously interpreted
as respect), and otherwise not engaged in international affairs. As an ancillary note, I also suspect
the Russian ‘leadership’ cabal is exhibiting a bully-like syndrome,
compensating for their weakness, insecurity, lack of confidence, and sense of
being on the outside, i.e., demanding attention.
Yes,
I’ve seen Minority Report.
Interesting concept. It
would be an easy step to take, and there is logic in the notion. However, like any system, flawed and
weak human beings will find a way to abuse such technology for political or
personal reasons.
Re:
moderate Muslims. I could say I
have Muslims friends who are as American as any American who has been here for
generations. However, please allow
me to offer an analogous example.
I grew up in the 50’s with ‘duck & cover,’ Civil Defense Corps, the
‘Red Scourge’ or the ‘Red Menace.’
My military training focused almost entirely on the Soviet Union and the
forecast cataclysmic battle on northern plain of Central Europe and the Fulda
Gap between the Warsaw Pact and NATO.
Russians were portrayed as universally one step beyond Neanderthal. Long story short, I spent several weeks
in the Soviet Union as the guest of my Russian counterparts. I departed Moscow the day the coup
began – 19.August.1991. Let it
suffice to say, the Russian people are no different from us or anyone else;
they want the same things – to live in peace, to have their children enjoy a better
life than they had. I will be so
bold to make the same claim – people are people. The issue before us is not religion, not Muslims, not the
people of other countries or faiths; the issue is the contamination and
corruption of innocent people by megalomaniacs intent upon dominating others;
in this instance, ‘clerics’ who use obscene interpretations of a peaceful
religion to achieve their objectives.
Such cleric interpretative abuse is not limited to Islam. IMHO, Sharia Law is no different from
Christian papal bulls 600 years ago.
Let us not condemn people for their faith, but rather help them mature
beyond the confines of religious dicta that impose on the freedom of all of us.
My
very best wishes to all. Take care
of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
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