Update no.723

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 6^th 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                        :-)

Update no.722

Update from the Heartland

No.722

12.10.15 – 18.10.15

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

To all,

            The follow-up news items:

-- On Tuesday, the Onderzoeksraad Voor Veiligheid (OVV) ["Investigation Council for Safety"; AKA Dutch Safety Board] issued its report titled: “Crash of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17” dated October 2015, offering the product of their analysis of the downing of the hapless Malaysian Airlines over Eastern Ukraine on 17.July.2014 [657, 665].  The findings are quite conclusive.  The aircraft was shot down by a Russian-made Buk Mk-1 {SA-11} Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) launched from Russian (oh wait, to be politically correct, I should say rebel separatist) held territory of Eastern Ukraine that detonated above the left, forward fuselage outside the pilot’s windscreen, instantly killed all three flight deck crew members, and caused an in-flight break-up of the aircraft.  The OVV produced an excellent trajectory analysis and investigation, especially given the reality that the wreckage was spread over a 25 square mile area in an active combat zone.  The OVV report Figure 50 trajectory analysis depiction is the most demonstrative I have seen in quite some time.  While we know definitively what destroyed the aircraft and killed everyone onboard, we will not likely ever know who pulled the trigger or more importantly who ordered the shoot down of a scheduled commercial aircraft cruising at altitude.

            For those who may be interested in technical details of such events, the OVV produced an excellent animation of their trajectory analysis.  See URL:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11928778/MH17-hit-by-Buk-missile-Ukraine-plane-crash-Russia-live.html

            As an ancillary but related side note, the physical evidence provided in the OVV report serves another independent purpose – it essentially disproves the U.S. Navy SM-2 missile strike, friendly fire hypothesis on TWA800 [102 through 661].  The SA-11 and SM-2 missiles are roughly equivalent in capability, size, warhead and lethality.  There was no (zero, none, nada, niente) impact damage on the TWA800 fuselage reconstruction even remotely comparable to the damage seen on the MH17 forward fuselage – classic high-energy penetrations from a modern SAM warhead.

-- In an interesting (and in my opinion, inappropriate) twist, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has file suit against the two principle psychologists who advised the U.S. Government’s Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EIT) program [457, 501 541, 678].  I do not know what contractual arrangements the two advisors had with the government, but I expect the government to vigorously defend the two men.

 “ACLU files lawsuit against psychologists behind CIA's interrogation program – James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, two psychologists from Washington state, are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

by Doug G. Ware

United Press International

Published: Oct. 13, 2015 at 5:38 PM

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2015/10/13/ACLU-files-lawsuit-against-psychologists-behind-CIAs-interrogation-program/8971444767785/

-- This is really rich!

“Kremlin Says Russian ‘Volunteer’ Forces Will Fight in Syria”

by Andrew E. Kramer, Helene Cooper and Ceylan Yeginsu

New York Times

Published: OCT. 5, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/world/europe/nato-russia-warplane-turkey.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=3

Putin has tried this routine more than once – Crimea, Eastern Ukraine.  Since Putin has not suffered sufficient consequences for his aggressive conduct, I suppose he feels this ‘volunteer’ nonsense is working for him.

            Tuesday evening, the first debate for the Democratic Party presidential candidates occurred.  There were many elements of interest, but only one that struck a nerve for me to comment upon at this stage of the silly season.

            This group of hopefuls appears to be unanimously against free trade agreements, arguing that such agreements allow jobs to go outside the country.  They argue that jobs should be forced to remain in the U.S.  Not only do they demand jobs be retained here, but they also argue that entry level and/or low skill jobs should be paid substantially more money, i.e., raise the minimum wage.  From my perspective, this is yet one more example of a knee-jerk, populist treatment of symptoms rather than root cause(s).  The rhetoric sounds nice, but it is wrong.  Such insular policies may play well for those citizens who rely on low skill jobs, but they are ultimately injurious to society and the economy.  We will not progress by remaining in the past and trying to make labor even more expensive than it already is in this Grand Republic.

            Well, now that I think of it, one more opinion, if you will allow me.  I understand the urge to tax the wealthy and more importantly to plug certain tax loopholes that allow hedge fund and investment bankers to avoid taxes while making obscene amounts of money gambling with other people’s money.  We do not need to tax the wealthy into poverty or even into the middle class.  Yes, they should pay the Treasury more than they do today, but we must find a reasonable balance.

            If we lump all silly season nonsense into the ball of junk, I will add one last observation from this week’s allotment.  The joint whiners-in-chief, AKA Trump and Carson, threw a hissy-fit and pout-fest demanding they be allowed opening and closing statements before any further debates, and that debates must be limited to two hours, or they would boycott the next debate event.  To my shock and horror, CNBC, who will host the next Republican Party presidential candidates debate, bowed to their demands.  I am gobsmacked to say the least.  To me, this is a blatant effort to command attention and squeeze out the other candidates and avoid as long as possible any discussion of substance.  Three hours was not long enough to hear all the candidates; two hours will make it virtually impossible.

            Comments and contributions from Update no.721:

“No doubt there is an information war, exercised by many countries as to what is really going on in Syria.  The two major players, America and Russia can masterfully manage the perceptions to their audiences in their respective countries. 

“I've not been following Russia's military too closely over the years, but the launch into Syria, seems to show their military is more advanced than I was thinking.  And as you mention, Putin's directive to his military leaders, is impressive from the standpoint they have the resolve and capacity, to strike what they call ISIS targets.  Our own information campaign whether from in GOV or out, seems to suggest Russia is hitting the Assad opposition, which we have helped to train and arm, versus just targeting ISIS.

“I read somewhere yesterday while out and about, that Russia has established a direct line to Israel's military command, as to coordinating the airstrikes on Syria by Russia.  At least this is an overture at deconflicting, what could be a bad incident between the multiple nation-states playing a role in Syria (France just conducted some airstrikes this past week).

“I understand Russian and USA airplanes in Syria have gone as close as to have visuals amongst each other, though CBS News said no provocative acts occurred.

“Being aware I send an abundance of material out each week, I did already send this opinion piece by Henry Kissinger in the Wall Street Journal, yesterday, but it can easily be missed in the bulk of emails, so I am linking you to it here:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-path-out-of-the-middle-east-collapse-1445037513

“Some folks might suggest I don't take anything from Dr. Kissinger too serious as to de-escalation in war,  à la mode Vietnam.

“The Op-Ed you sent in your last Update by Gates & Rice, is interesting, but they too could be accused of helping to start/maintain this whole mess that many would suggest started with Iraq in 2003.

“The geopolitics of what we see in that region of Syria, is a MATRIX.  I assume much of religion there is also being manipulated/presented as to further what clearly are resource wars and billion dollar contracts to weave pipelines through various countries. 

“I might refer to the classic Donald Rumsfeld message:

"There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know."

“There was an interesting debate on the BBC a couple weeks back I tuned while coming back from LAX.  The round table was an interesting and respectful panel discussing Russia's adventures in Syria.  One of the questions raised, was whether the economic sanction imposed on Russia from The West, may have triggered Putin's moves on the grand chessboard, into Syria.  It seemed a few "experts" did think this was the correct logic for the domino effect.

“On the recent college shooting in Oregon, I agree that through intelligence and laws keeping mentally ill people from acquiring/possessing guns, that if such efforts could actually reduce violence, it might be something many could get on-board with.  We know with software and machine learning, we can use predictive analysis, similar to what we saw in a masterfully done movie MINORITY REPORT.  Of course the begging question is how is this accomplished without breaching the 2nd Amendment and intruding on our rights to privacy?

“As we now see developing in Israel/Palestine, daily knife attacks.  In China we've seen mass knife attacks that killed more than 20 people.  So how do we now attack knives and keep them out of the hands of violent or insane people?  

“I'm sure you and I will agree the focus should be on the actor and not the tool of choice.  Violent repeat felons with evil ambitions, routinely and each day, acquire guns.  There are tons of laws on the books to keep them from doing that, but it happens.

“On the Colonel Pat Lang’s Blog you have in your current Update, interesting reading below.  I might add that with Islam, I am increasingly a believer there is no "moderate" or "conservative" but as to the Islamists fighting for their religion on a global scale or caliphate, there are only RABID Muslims.  And we know what we must do with rabid dogs.”

“Addendum:

“Knew I was missing something important.  On the recent mass shootings--The most important item I forget to stress is that we need to be examining the role that psychotropics, other drugs, violent video games (shooting simulators), lack of God in our nation, destruction of the traditions and family structures, and social insulation/isolation due to Internet, video games, etc..  I would say these contributing factors are much more important than our focus on guns.  The hypocrisy of the politicians who use these tragedies to further their own selfish agendas, should also be examined.

“If Obama & his cartel (and their handlers), wanna talk gun control, start with Chicago.”

My response:

            Thank you so much for your continuing support and for your observations, opinions and contributions . . . always appreciated.

            Putin and the Russians may have numerous motives for their insertion into the Syrian situation.  I’m sure those motives are a designated Essential Element of Information for the Intelligence Community (IC).

            Finding the balance between a citizen’s fundamental right to privacy and government’s proper intelligence collection requirement is an illusive objective, but it must be resolved and reconciled.  Our system of justice hangs predominately upon punishing actions rather than intentions, largely because of our emphasis on freedom of speech and thought, which in turn makes intelligence collection an anathema in our society.  I will be so bold to say that ALL of these mass shooters should have triggered alarms in a properly alert and aware society.  The IC has worked very hard to find and intercede with various terrorist threats with notable but not complete success.  We need the same focus on potentially violent, mentally ill or unstable citizens to stop these events, or at least some of them, before they happen, and any innocent citizen is injured or even threatened.  We are a very long way from such an intelligence system.

            I do not share your ‘no moderate Muslims’ opinion and I will leave it there.  Religion alone is not the problem, but rather the intolerance of cleric interpretations that lead to extremism.  The Islamofascists want us to make it a religious war; they want us to validate their crusades accusations (1095-1291 AD); we must resist that temptation and erroneous path.  This fight is about bad men intent upon harming and oppressing free people.

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

Cheers,

Cap                 :-)

Update no.721

Update from the Heartland

No.721

5.10.15 – 11.10.15

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

To all,

            The follow-up news items:

-- Who knows what to believe in the public reports regarding the Russian injection into Syria?  [718, 720] Additional perspective is offered in the Comment Section below.  The Russian released to the public video clips of them launching cruise missiles from ships in the Caspian Sea.  At first, I thought that had to be a mistake; there cannot be much of a naval threat in the Caspian Sea.  They fired over Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and into Syria . . . at least that is what the Russians claimed.  The United States reported a handful of the Russian missiles landed short of their targets in Iran and Iraq . . . that is presuming they were all intended for Syria; to be blunt, they could shoot at anything they wish and claim an errant weapon.  We have to hand it to the Russians.  By bold, audacious action, they are dictating military operations in Syria, and we are closer to direct conflict with the Russians, or losing whatever modicum of influence we had in the region.

            Two relevant, related opinions (in addition to those offered below):

** “Kremlin Says Russian ‘Volunteer’ Forces Will Fight in Syria”

by Andrew E. Kramer, Helene Cooper  and Ceylan Yeginsu

New York Times

Published: OCT. 5, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/world/europe/nato-russia-warplane-turkey.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1

** “How America can counter Putin’s moves in Syria”

by Condoleezza Rice and Robert M. Gates

Washington Post

Published: October 8, 2015

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-to-counter-putin-in-syria/2015/10/08/128fade2-6c66-11e5-b31c-d80d62b53e28_story.html

-- Now, we hear the Umpqua Community College shooter [720] was discharged from Army basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, after just one month in 2008, apparently for attempting to commit suicide.  So, here is yet another perfect example of our inability to collect domestic intelligence information on troubled or disturbed citizens and translate that intelligence into preemptive action to avoid violent events.  Further, our appalling mental health treatment capacity in this Grand Republic seriously complicates, if not nullifies, any effort to keep firearms out of the hands of mentally ill, disturbed, or violence prone citizens.  We must find a fair and constitutional means to keep firearms from unstable individuals, and if that means removing and prohibiting the possession of firearms in the residence of citizens who harbor unstable citizens, then so be it.  Yet, I maintain my opinion, any further restriction of firearms possession must be linked concomitantly to intelligence on and treatment for the mentally ill and other threatening or unstable individuals.

            With that said, I must note here that we have repeatedly seen that flawed citizens occupy government positions, and have consistently proven themselves incapable of resisting political pressure to use sensitive information collected by the government for political purposes, e.g, IRS against minority political parties, terrorism intelligence surveillance information to discredit Elliott Spitzer, et al ad infinitum ad nauseum.  Abuse of mental illness information will further stigmatize the mentally ill and ostracize them, which in turn will create even greater resistance to treatment or even identification. 

            Comments and contributions from Update no.720:

“On the Russian air strikes in Syria, be cautious when reading about who is being hit.  The Russians say they are hitting ISIS/ISIL targets – Western media says they are hitting ‘moderate Syrians’.  Not sure who these ‘moderates’ are.   Apparently some in the Beltway and neocon community think that AQ is a ‘moderate’ in Syria and advocate helping them.  This is the same AQ that attacked us on 9/11!  Totally insane – and there are reports that one of our agencies is actually helping AQ.   Below is from a blog regarding this. On FOX this weekend a retired general was using a map to describe the situation- at one point he had the pointer on the ISIL blob and called them ‘our allies.’- That is a good analogy for what is going on.

From Colonel Pat Lang’s Blog:

"... in recent months, the Israeli government and its American neoconservative allies have been floating trial balloons regarding whether Al Qaeda could be repackaged as Sunni "moderates" and become a de facto U.S. ally in achieving a "regime change" in Syria, ousting President Bashar al-Assad who has been near the top of the Israeli/neocon hit list for years.

“A key neocon propaganda theme has been to spin the conspiracy theory that Assad and the Islamic State are somehow in cahoots and thus Al Qaeda represents the lesser evil. Though there is no evidence to support this conspiracy theory, it was even raised by Charlie Rose in his "60 Minutes" interview last Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The reality is that the Islamic State and Al Qaeda have both been leading the fight to destroy the secular Assad government, which has fought back against both groups.

And, if these two leading terror groups saw a chance to raise their black flags over Damascus, they might well mend their tactical rifts. They would have much to gain by overthrowing Assad's regime, which is the principal protector of Syria's Christians, Alawites, Shiites and other ‘heretics.’"  (emphasis in original)

 . . . to which was added:

“More on the ‘moderates’ myth

[Also from Colonel Pat Lang’s Blog:]

“New evidence of alliance between "moderates" and Jihadis.

“Meanwhile, further evidence has surfaced, confirming collusion of so-called "moderates" with Salafi/Jihadi groups. Indeed, the rebel factions in the Rastan enclave have now established another "joint operations room" (sort of a command and control centre), in which remnants of FSA units will join hard-core "Jabhat al-Nusra" (JaN) and "Ahrar al-Sham" representatives.

“While last week's reports in the mainstream media were buzzing with statements by rebel commander Jamil al-Saleh, according to which there were no Jihadis in his area, it now turns out that his troops have entered into a tactical alliance with the same Jihadis he claimed were not even there in the first place.

“This new piece of evidence should be another blow for the still popular myth of the "moderate" rebels. In particular, new terminology used by Beltway experts and DC officials, calling the radicals "Islamic conservatives" or "Islamic nationalists", can now be seen as the plain repackaging effort it has been since its inception.

“In addition to Jihadi heavyweights "Jabhat al-Nusra" and "Ahrar al-Sham", the Rastan "joint operations room" regroups "Faylaq al-Homs" and "Jaish al-Tawhid". As previously stated, names don't really matter that much when it comes to Syrian rebels and JaN's ascendancy in terms of "command and control" and "force multiplier" can be taken for granted.” (emphasis in original)

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

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)

Update no.720

Update from the Heartland

No.720

28.9.15 – 4.10.15

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

To all,

            The follow-up news items:

-- Well, now we know.  The Russians have begun combat operations in Syria [718].  They claimed they attacked ISIL positions.  The Allies believed the Russian struck a rebel group under their support against the Assad regime.  The Russians continued to attack friendly rebel positions, almost taunting the Allies to defend their people on the ground.  This singular event represents the potential for Russian and Allied aircraft engaging in direct combat with each other.  I suspect the situation in Syria is going to get much worse before we will see any improvement.  I want to be wrong.

            ‘Tis the silly season after all.  After the sliver of hope earlier this year, I thought Congress might actually accomplish one of their primary tasks properly. Alas, not so fast o’ naïve one.  They have fallen back to their old ways.  Well, we can at least show a little gratitude they did not shutdown the government.  On the last day of the fiscal year, Congress passed the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2016 [PL 114-053; H.R.719; House: 277-151-0-6(1); Senate: 78-20-0-2(0); 129 Stat. xxx] – another temporary appropriations bill, extending current funding levels only to the middle of December.  The President signed the bill the same day it was presented to him.  We are not out of the woods just yet.

            President Obama admonished American society for our resistance to “responsible gun control laws” in this Grand Republic after the Umpqua Community College incident in Roseburg, Oregon.  I have long argued that the issue is NOT an inanimate mechanical device we commonly call a pistol, or rifle, or firearm, or gun.  The issue is and has always been the disturbed mind of anyone who chooses or decides to kill other innocent people.  I have also contended for quite some time that we need mental health screening, triage and treatment to identify and treat disturbed individuals before they act.  With that said, I will take the President’s challenge and say, stop talking and propose whatever regulation anyone thinks will keep weapons – all weapons including firearms – out of the hands of mentally ill individuals and others who may be prone to violence.  How do you propose we do this?  So, while we try to transform our outrage into something meaningful, I want to challenge all of us to look at ourselves, our contributions to these events.  Yes, that is exactly what I intended to say.  These mad men are NOT invisible.  Communities must get involved, must help police.  What have the people around them done to help identify them as potentially violent individuals – anti-social, psychopathic, mentally ill, whatever threshold is rational and supportable.  To this end, we must separate the intelligence (data collection) process from law enforcement.  We must find the balance.  Is the privacy of a mentally ill person more important than the right of a citizen to have firearms?  At the bottom line, we must focus our attention on the root cause and not be seduced by the appearance of change represented by a band-aid on a gaping, open wound.  This problem is far bigger than gun control.  That said, I could support effective controls on disturbed or violent individuals obtaining (or even possessing) firearms, but that means collecting data on individuals and making that data accessible to those who can intercede or preempt violent action.  Let us not be seduced.

            We new it would come to this:

“Gay couple takes legal action over son's birth certificate”

The Associated Press

Kansas City Star

Published: OCTOBER 1, 2015

http://www.kansascity.com/news/state/kansas/article37203693.html

A married, same gender couple has sued the state to have both their names on their child’s birth certificate.  I certainly understand the objective in this instance (and other related relationships).  However, there is a physical, biological reason for recording the sources of the material that created the child.  I laud the efforts of the parents to ensure they are represented on their child’s birth certificate.  We must not lose sight of the reality that recording the genetic source of the ovum and the sperm that produced the child is an important state function.  State forms and processes must change, but we must not abandon proper state public interests.

            News from the economic front:

-- The Labor Department reported nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 142,000 in September – far below the trend over the past 18 months. The unemployment rate remained at 5.1% last month, after ticking down in August.  The data suggest global economic turmoil is sapping momentum from the U.S. economic expansion.

            No comments or contributions from Update no.719.

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

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)