Update from the Heartland
No.733
28.12.15 – 3.1.16
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
Well,
now, here is a first and an other than auspicious start, I must say. For the first time 14+ years of writing
this Blog, I have essentially nothing to say or even report. Perhaps I am distracted with writing
projects. Or, maybe there have not
been any worthy topics at the end of the holiday season and beginning of the
New Year. I am certain this
situation will change as we enter the primary season when party members
actually cast their votes for whomever will represent their party in the
general election, and of course, the general election itself next fall.
One
rather surprising event played out on live television programming related to
the global celebration of New Year’s Eve.
The Address Downtown Hotel fire in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, preceded
the phenomenal fireworks and light show centered on the Burj Khalifa – the
world’s tallest building. The
Address Downtown is a 5-star, 63-story luxury hotel located a few blocks from
the Burj Khalifa. The public
reports indicated the fire began on the 20th floor when a curtain
caught fire. Watching the live
coverage on CNN left me with several impressions. First and foremost, what was so bloody flammable on the
exterior of that hotel? A curtain
on the 20th floor does not become a wall of continuous flame rising
20+ stories, and furthermore, that wall of flame was sustained for an
inordinate amount of time, i.e., whatever the flammable material was, it was
not rapidly consumed, as the material of a curtain would be. Second, CNN reported that the Dubai
fire officials claimed there were no explosions. During the course of an hour or so of CNN’s live coverage, I
witnessed at least three large fireballs at the base of the hotel that
certainly looked like explosions.
At first, I thought they might be propane tanks or something
similar. Now, I am not so
sure. Lastly, while there was
clearly involvement with the interior on numerous floors, the worst of the fire
appeared to be confined to the exterior.
I do not know the specific structural characteristics of the hotel, so
it is hard to say what the consequences of the fire are to the structural
integrity of the building. A fire
burning that intensely and for that duration must have cause structural damage
of some degree. Yet, the fire did
not appear to be as significant as the World Trade Center fire of 2001. It will be interesting to see the
official investigation findings . . . if we ever get to see them.
Comments and contributions from Update no.732:
“I too have been following SpaceX and enjoying reading the
biography on Elon Musk, who is certainly an incredible individual with all his
accomplishments. Talking about
space programs, I have a Kindle and subscribe to a service called BookBub that
alerts me to books of interest to me, at a super discounted price. The other day I obtained a book on the
entire Apollo program for $1.99. I
am enjoying reading about the history of Mercury and how that advanced to
Apollo.
“Thanks for your reminders (cautions) of Josef Goebbels.
Donald Trump is an interesting force, similar to why I am reading about Putin
in another Kindle book, which right now I am reading about his interesting rise
in the KGB. I am thinking the
Carson camp is going to be crumbling soon, it appears some key staffers
including his top advisor resigned in the past few days. Do not know if Carson forced the hand,
or the individuals chose on their own to leave. Carson is likable, obviously smart, but lacking charisma and
chutzpah in a time when the nation as a collective, demands an archetype in
presentation, of someone forceful and capable of standing up to the challenges.
While I admire some qualities in
Trump, and am like most of us entertained by them, I also do not see him fit for
our leader. I would be more
comfortable with a Rand Paul, though many dislike him for what they see as his
deviation from ‘the establishment’ or ‘norms’ as maybe we are too comfortable
with. On Carly Fiorina: she is smart, has a good history in business
(though some say the HP track record is poor), and more. But in watching the debates, I have lost
interest in her simply because she lacks charisma and presence. Something
about her style bothers me, maybe it seems too pre-programmed by others, so she
is not being authentic. She rarely
changes facial expressions, and I've never seen her smile/laugh. I have too strong of memories from the
movies Manchurian Candidate, 1962 and 2004, with the former original version
the best. I always thought Frank
Sinatra (not name dropping, but former client when I was in jet charter, a/c
mgmt.) did one of the very best jobs as an actor in that movie...it was
awesome. While I was against Condi
Rice's position on the Iraq War, I always thought she would have been a much
better candidate than many. She is
way-too smart, plays piano without scores in front of her, is a master of
Russian studies, and is well networked. I drove some doctors in the early 2000's and one of them is
now chief of neurosurgery in one of our trauma centers. Condi was his professor at Stanford, and
you can imagine his IQ, he said Condi was one of the smartest persons he ever
knew, and highly graceful and classy. I believe her sexual attraction is to other women, so that
may have been an issue with her not being ‘run’ as they say.
“Same reason I don't like Joel Osteen the pastor, while myself a
Christian. I belief he and his
wife are way too far crafted for my taste. Something too obvious about pretty boy. When you are asking for donations/tithing
and can afford a Gulfstream 650, I have some moral issues with that.”
My response:
Re:
space program. We share that in
common. I have always been
fascinated and intrigued by space whether real or fictional. The SpaceX 1st stage booster landing was
a really big deal for a host of reasons.
Re:
Republican candidates. Thank you
for your assessment. I am looking
for a moderate, socially liberal, fiscally conservative, political leader who
is strong enough to seek and find the means to compromise in getting things
done in Congress. I want the
government OUT of our private affairs, period; and, that one requirement
disqualifies nearly all of the candidates. Frankly, I do not see any candidate in any party that fits
my desired attributes; so, for me, it will be who gets the closest. The absolute and complete paucity of
any semblance of humility disqualifies the current Republican front-runner in
my book; anyone in any job who claims to be always correct, never wrong, and
never apologizes for anything because he is never wrong is not worthy of any
job of responsibility. That’s my
opinion, and I’m stickin’ to it.
Re:
Osteen. I’m absolutely with you on
that one. I would not call him a
cleric, since he has no divinity degree, ordination, or qualifications for that
matter. I guess we should call him
a lay-minister. Nonetheless, any
‘religious-man’ who wraps himself in the trappings of wealth has failed in his
primary purpose and ignores the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Clearly, I’ve never been a fan.
My
very best wishes to all. Take care
of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
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