Update no.438

Update from the Heartland

No.438

3.5.10 – 9.5.10

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

To all,
The follow-up news items:
-- Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving al-Qaeda gunman from the 26.November.2008, Mumbai, India, attack [363/4], was found guilty of murdering 166 people and waging war against India. Judge M.L. Tahaliyani sentenced Kasab to die for his crimes.
-- Agents of the Transportation Security Administration and Customs & Border Protection arrested Faisal Shahzad, 30, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent and the son of a retired Pakistani air vice marshal, onboard an Emirates Airlines B777 aircraft at Kennedy Airport in New York City. His airline ticket pegged his destination as Dubai. The Federal Bureau of Investigation charged Shahzad with conspiring to explode a weapon of mass destruction in New York City Times Square [437]. The international hunt for co-conspirators continues.

The British election this week left no decisive winner. With 615 of 650 seats in the House of Commons decided, the Conservatives picked up 290, Labor 247, the Liberal Democrats 51 and smaller parties 27 seats; 326 seats are needed to form a government. This is what the British refer to as a “Hung Parliament.” As the counting continues and we wait on the undecided seats, negotiations have begun, to form a majority coalition.

News from the economic front:
-- The Commerce Department reported U.S. consumer spending increased by 0.6% from the prior month – twice as fast as income in March – however, saving dropped to 2.7%, its lowest level in 18 months.
-- For a relatively brief 16-minutes period, beginning at 14:45 [R] EDT, Thursday, 6.May.2010, the machines took over trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting more than 900 points – the most precipitous one-hour in Wall Street history – something like US$800B in net value evaporated in less than an hour. Fortunately, human sanity intervened. We can understand the markets being skittish over the European debt crisis as well as the looming financial reform legislation; however, I am very suspicious regarding the root cause of this episode, and I worry it might have been induced.
-- The government reported the American economy added 290,000 jobs in April, a stronger gain than expected, but the unemployment rate rose to 9.9% as more workers sought jobs. While April was the second consecutive month that the economy added employees, we still have a long way to go before we can claim a sustained economic recovery.

Comments and contributions from Update no.437:
“You know I'm at ground zero of this debate [illegal immigration]. I do agree with the law, but I do share your concerns that there could be abuse of this law. I feel that most police officers will act responsibly when it comes to enforcing this law, but there will always be some bad apples wearing badges who are going to do something stupid because of it. We need to be careful in that regard. But yes, the racist rhetoric has gone completely overboard. No rational person wants to have police storm up to a pair of Hispanic guys simply walking down a street, chatting amongst themselves and minding their own business, and ask for their IDs. There does have to be some probable cause to this. I also wonder why it's okay for other countries to require legal immigrants to carrying their ID and passport and green card or whatever, but many on the left in this country feel to do such a thing is a violation of civil rights. When we get pulled over by the police, we have to present our driver's license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance. If I want to take cash out at the teller window of my bank, I have to present my driver's license. Heck, if I pick up tickets from will call at a Diamondbacks game or a Coyotes game, I have to show ID. It's my belief that there is a segment of the US population that believes crossing the border illegally isn't a crime. I've even heard some people go as far as saying since the Southwest US once belonged to Mexico, we shouldn't make a big deal out of it. Well, if we go by that logic, then any British person who wants to come into the USA should not be required to have any documentation since America once belonged to England. Or, all Italians should be allowed to enter Great Britain without any form of ID as Britain once belonged to the Roman Empire. And when it comes to the Mexican Government criticizing Arizona's immigration law that is utterly hypocritical as their immigration laws are way more stringent than what we have in the US. So where do they get off dictating to us?
“To close, Arizona's law would not have been necessary if the federal government had just done their job and protected the border. It's not like this problem has been going on for years. And why should we in Arizona have to put up with property damage, drug dealing, kidnappings, rapes and murders committed by people who should not be in the country in the first place. If the Feds refuse to do their job, then someone else needs to step up, and we in Arizona did just that.”
My response:
Thank you for your perspective on Arizona and SB1070. While we are in 100% agreement regarding presenting identification, I must offer the other side of the argument; there is a huge difference between not obtaining your tickets or getting a traffic warning for no proof of insurance, and the threat of arrest, conviction and deportation. I am all for protecting & defending the borders against all invaders – benign or not. I am also for compassion toward others who live peacefully, work productively, pay their taxes, and try to assimilate. The solution lies in the middle ground between “throwing the bastards out” and “amnesty for all.”
Spot on! SB1070 would not have been necessary if the Federal government had done its job. Illegal aliens have been a problem for decades, but the seriousness and threat grew by orders of magnitude after 9/11 and the degeneration of the abysmal “war on drugs” with each passing year. The illegal alien issue is not about wayward citizens of foreign lands; it is about national security, national sovereignty and national identity. This issue is about the future of this Grand Republic.
May God bless our Arizona brothers & sisters as they lead the way for the rest of us.

Another contribution:
“We're in the final throws of an 'unusual' general election with election day on Thursday. I won't go on Cap, we'd need several beers each. It is however the first time for ever that we have a genuine three party conflict this one really won't be over until 'the fat lady sings.' Only then, providing the winning party have an overall voter's mandate, can we move ahead and remove ourselves from this spiraling abyss.
“What's happening in Greece has frightened the whole of Europe with questions such as who's next? Although I personally felt the Euro was good for us too it's as well we didn't enter. I couldn't see our fellows, such as Germany, being happy to bail us out.
“If we need help we'll ask BP who have continued to make obscene profits over the years but I understand very soon may well have their purse lightened somewhat by Uncle Sam who, quite rightly, is unhappy about the black stinking crude that is about to invade your coastlines. However I notice that most of the stories we hear are referring to 'responsibility and litigation' rather than an attitude of 'let's get going and sort this problem'. At a range of 3,000 nautical miles I can hear the lawyers rubbing their ravenousness hands together.
“Am I being unreasonable?”
My reply:
Your elections are fascinating, and election day is day after tomorrow. I remember the history of the 26.July.1945 election. This week’s election may not be as dramatic, but it could be quite historic . . . especially if the Queen must get involved and decide. I have not been impressed by Gordon Brown from long before his ouster of Tony Blair, but I also do not underestimate his political abilities. Nonetheless, I think he was spot on . . . Gillian Duffy is indeed a bigoted woman; sad that his faux pas has been turned into a political nightmare, but that’s politics.
What is happening in Greece should frighten everyone including we colonials. Taking on massive public debt to pay for generous social programs is a recipe for catastrophe, as we bear witness today. Greeks are protesting the anticipated cuts in those “benefits.” Portugal and Spain appear to be teetering not far behind Greece.
The BP oil well blowout is an environmental & human tragedy. Curiously, some Internet rumblings are surfacing that the floating rig may have been attacked. Interesting hypothesis . . . but quite implausible at this stage. I will watch this one closely. BP has publicly stated they will cover the costs of the clean up, which is the correct position. Yeah, unfortunately, as is all too common, the lawyers are convulsing with anticipation over the potential massive claims yield.

My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)