Update no.466

Update from the Heartland

No.466

15.11.10 – 21.11.10

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

To all,

For the Americans among us, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone can enjoy the special day for family and friends.

The follow-up news items:
-- The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct voted 9-1 to recommend the censure of Representative Charles Bernard “Charlie” Rangel of New York for 11 violations of congressional rules related to his personal finances [449]. The full House must vote on the recommendation and impose sanctions. So, it appears dear ol’ Charlie will survive getting caught violating laws that would put us commoners in prison or at least impose a burdensome suspended sentence and probation . . . such is privilege of the high and mighty.
-- Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi of California [265], having been reelected to a 13th term, had to stand before her colleagues in the Democratic members caucus as a candidate for Minority Leader after the significant power shift of the recent election [464]. She succeeded by a vote of 150-43. I suppose she envisions enduring to rise again.

The first former Guantanamo Bay detainee to be tried in federal criminal court, Tanzanian Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, 36, was found guilty on only one of 286 charges – conspiracy to damage or destroy U.S. property by means of an explosive device – associated with his participation in the 1998 African embassy bombings. On that day in August, 12 years ago, Ghailani and his fellow al-Qaeda killers attacked the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 innocent people. Ghailani will likely join others of his ilk as an inmate of the SuperMax prison in Colorado. While Ghailani will probably not know freedom for many years, the USG failed to convict him of the murders he helped commit, and thus represents the difficulty of conventional criminal prosecution of illegal enemy combatants in the War on Islamic Fascism. Perhaps a beneficial or positive result of this disappointing outcome will be to cause the Obama administration to rethink prosecution of illegal enemy battlefield combatants in civilian criminal court.

The President of the United States of America awarded the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Salvatore A. Giunta, USA, for extraordinary valor in combat, above and beyond the call of duty. Shortly after nightfall on 25.October.2007, while returning from a day patrol in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan, the 1st Platoon of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, found itself in a classic L ambush. Giunta charged into the kill zone to save mortally wounded Sergeant Josh Brennan from being dragged away by two Taliban fighters. He became the first living service member to receive the Medal of Honor during any war since Vietnam.

The Nanny State is alive and well . . . eliminating our freedom of choice. Once again, the do-gooders used a highly questionable authority to ban caffeine-infused, alcoholic beverages, creating yet another possibility, verging on infinite opportunities, for smuggling and the criminal subculture to flourish even more. Further, one more time, the best way to deal with such products is don’t buy them, and for those to seek to destroy their lives with such garbage – your choice. If we failed to teach our children properly, then shame upon us; it is our responsibility, not the government’s purpose. When are we going to reject the intrusion of the government into our private lives?

On Tuesday, Clarence House announced the engagement of Flight Lieutenant Prince William Arthur Philip Louis of Wales, KG, RAF and Catherine Elizabeth “Kate” Middleton along with an expected marriage in the Spring or Summer of 2011. Willie gave Kate his Mom’s blue sapphire and diamond engagement ring as a symbolic connection to his Mom. I expect William will fare better than his daddy in finding marital bliss.

“How to Kill the Meth Monster”
by Rob Bovett – Op-Ed Contributor
New York Times
Published: November 15, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/opinion/16bovett.html?nl=opinion&emc=tya1
Succinctly, I fundamentally and categorically disagree. In fact, I shall go farther to say, I strenuously object. The proposed solution ignores reality and represents the classic moral projectionist’s response – force the entire population to the lowest common denominator. My solution is quite simple – legalize and regulate psychotropic substances like methamphetamine, et al. Control the dosage and quality. Sell the material to informed adult citizens, by initiating point of sale controls similar to tobacco and alcohol. Provide education on constraints, e.g., no resale, no transfer, no collateral effects, private use only. Implement graduated constraints for abuse or violation from simple isolation camps to the “Black Hole” incarceration. In essence, let us recognize reality. Freedom is the right to choose – Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Happiness as each of us sees fit. Those who seek the oblivion of such intoxicants freely make their choices. So, let us help them along their way to self-destruction as they choose. Our objection should be, must be, prevention of any collateral damage to innocent citizens especially children. We simply must reclaim the freedom we have lost and get the government out of our private lives. No government or bureaucrat can make better decisions for our individual choices. Stop this nonsense! I should not have to pay a doctor to get a prescription to use an over-the-counter cold-management product. Such recommendations perpetuate the insanity. Wake up America!

All this brouhaha over the enhanced screening techniques implemented by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is troubling on many levels. The enhanced screening includes millimeter-wave, full-body scanners and more thorough manual pat-down procedures. I have not had the occasion to fly commercial airlines in 17 months, so I have not experienced the new procedures, yet. I am aghast, dismayed, and otherwise truly disappointed in all the nonsense being bandied about regarding the enhanced screening. The misinformation, emotional poking, and outright foolishness are tragic. We are at war (declared or not)! American and Allied soldiers are dying on the battlefield to preserve our freedom. We need to go back in history to our last global war for the sacrifices our ancestors made as part of the war effort. First, the scanners use millimeter-wave energy, not x-rays. People, including the Press, which should know better, use words like radiation, implying radioactive material, e.g., x-rays, when in fact the “radiation” is more like a light bulb or cell phone. In fact, the energy level used in the scanner is lower than current cell phone devices. They also use words like naked, nude, exposed, and invasion of privacy. No one has been disrobed. No one’s face has been shown. Unless your have some metallic prosthesis that is unique to you, there is no way to identify an individual. In fact, the screen operator is separated from the scanning device and cannot see the person being scanned. Visible body parts . . . give me a freakin’ break. Images recorded and analyzed are not recognizable. Our collective prudishness is staggering. Regardless, a person can opt out of the device scan for the pat down, then, of course, some among us are calling the more thorough pat down procedure “invasive,” because the TSA agents feel breasts and groins of both men and women. We are reacting as if the TSA agents are sexual predator perverts who are deriving some obscene gratification by examining hundreds of passengers, when I imagine those agents are less interested in performing the more thorough inspection than the passengers are in submitting to the procedure. Then, on top of all this nonsense, we have pilots and flight attendants demanding exemption from the enhanced screening techniques, and now pregnant women, children, perhaps even the elderly. Eventually, perhaps even police, firefighters, clergy, or God knows what all, should be exempted. With this mounting list of exclusions & exceptions, let us guess how the bad guys are going to attack next? They have shown no regret or remorse of using women, children or even their body cavities to get their deadly material into a position to do maximum damage and injury to innocent people.

A set of opinions in our local newspaper instigated me to write . . . again:
“Banning earmarks won’t reduce debt”
by Wayne Powers
Letters to the Editor
Wichita Eagle
Published: Friday, Nov. 19, 2010
http://www.kansas.com/2010/11/19/1595421/letters-to-the-editor-on-earmarks.html
and
“Earmark ban is ‘largely cosmetic’”
by Alan Fram
Wichita Eagle
Published: Saturday, Nov. 20, 2010
http://www.kansas.com/2010/11/20/1596881/earmark-ban-is-largely-cosmetic.html
My letter to the Editor,
Elimination of earmarks will not reduce the nation’s deficit or debt. White-knight Republicans gaining control of the House and supposedly seek to ban earmarks.
First, earmarks comprise a minute percentage of the Federal budget; thus, complete elimination of earmarks will not put a dent in the deficit or debt. Unfortunately, the reality statement misses the primary point.
Earmarks circumvent the entire legislative process created by the Framers of the Constitution to avoid exactly what earmarks have become – unilateral largesse doled out of the People’s Treasury without public debate or scrutiny. Earmarks, like conflict of interest and abuse of power, are wrong on many levels, not least of which are ethical and moral. Earmarks appear useful and valuable to those who benefit, and of course to the politicians who dispense them; other than that the corrosive process of circumvention creates an atmosphere of corruption.
The answer, in short, the process of earmarks must end, except perhaps for very limited national emergencies. Balancing the budget and paying down our massive debt load like a long journey begins with small steps – a million here, a million there, pretty soon we will have saved real money, to paraphrase Senator Dirksen.

Another opinion in the continuing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” debate:
“The few. The proud. The problem. Can the Corps' warrior ethos accept openly gay Marines?”
by Tammy S. Schultz
Washington Post
Sunday, November 21, 2010
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/19/AR2010111906892.html

News from the economic front:
-- I have often pointed to precursor events leading to the banking crisis in the Fall of 2008. One of those event was the Société Générale, SA, short trader Jérôme Kerviel, who gambled €4.9B of his employer’s, actually depositor’s, money and lost [353, 460]. The episode became symbolic of the entire financial crisis. Kerviel was sentenced to five years in jail, although he claims the bank knew exactly what he was doing and that his trades were nothing unusual.
-- The Federal Reserve ordered all 19 banks that underwent stress tests during the height of the financial crisis [383/8] to undergo another review of their capital and their ability to absorb losses under an ‘adverse’ economic scenario. The request is part of the Fed’s effort to step up supervision at the nation’s largest financial firms.
-- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is conducting criminal investigations into about 50 former executives, directors and employees of U.S. banks that have failed since the start of the financial crisis (2007). The agency is increasing its effort to punish alleged recklessness, fraud and other criminal behavior, as U.S. officials did in the wake of the savings-and-loan crisis a generation ago (1988).
-- The European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) were in Dublin to examine the country's finances and troubled banking system, and the Republic of Ireland government has decided to accept the proffered bailout package, as Ireland becomes the latest EU member nation to need assistance.
-- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pushed back amid criticism of the central bank's money-easing policies, arguing that China and other emerging markets are causing problems for themselves and the world by preventing their currencies from strengthening as their economies grow.

L’Affaire Madoff [365]:
-- Two of Bernie Madoff’s former secretaries, Annette Bongiorno and JoAnn Crupi, were indicted, arrested and charged with an array of fraud and conspiracy charges related to their boss’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. The two women join six other people charged in the case so far.

Comments and contributions from Update no.465:
Comment to the Blog:
“My only comment on the main part of this week's blog is that eventually Don't Ask, Don't Tell will go away. In my view, sooner is better than later; therefore, I would prefer the current judicial process to some future legislative action.
“You got quite a response last week. On the health-care issues, I see no reason not to ‘demonize’ the insurance companies, but we need to remember that they are not the only demonic players. Hospitals that charge $10 for an aspirin come to mind, as do pharmaceutical companies that make the hospitals look almost sane. I will also note that health care is a major economic issue. Many of these corporations are milking the Treasury via Medicare and Medicaid, seriously aggravating the issues with our economy.
“On our ongoing discussion of taxes and tax cuts, I want to bring up the current question of extending or not extending some of Bush 2's cuts. Unless your income is at least in the top quintile (top 20%) of US incomes, those cuts never did you much good and you have much to lose from this extension. Rather than more politicians, I refer you to an economist, James Kwak, with this link to his blog entry:
http://baselinescenario.com/2010/11/14/dear-mr-president
(not sure if this link will work; the blog is called Baseline Scenario and the entry is Letter to the President).
His basic point is that continuing to let the wealthy escape reasonable taxes will probably result in cuts to Social Security and Medicare that will harm middle-income Americans far beyond the value of the $880 or so they would receive annually from extending the tax cuts. There are always at least two sides to these issues; a real economist has a better chance of sorting out reality than any politician.”
The article linked above:
“Dear Mr. President – What happened to the global economy and what we can do about it”
by James Kwak
The Baseline Scenario
http://baselinescenario.com/2010/11/14/dear-mr-president/
My reply to the Blog:
Agreed. A significant segment of our society has waited far too long for equal rights, which they were endowed with by our Creator. The leaked DoD report may place a punctuation mark on this initiative. We all await Congress’ action. If not pending, then I am with you; the Constitution is quite clear – all citizens must be treated equal.
We shall disagree on the health insurance companies. Certainly, they are part of the problem, but I think Federal & state governments are bigger contributors. Again, I respectfully suggest, a goodly portion of every health dollar is “un-recovered expenses” due to un-insured or under-insured patients. Yes, there is waste, fraud & abuse of Medicare / Medicaid, and the USG needs to do better at prevention and enforcement.
Interesting perspective – James Kwak. I am certainly no expert. I only have an opinion. Intuitively, we can deduce several realities. Zero tax = no revenue for essential government services. 100% tax = communism, no incentive, et cetera. The proper tax level to stimulate growth and yet provide sufficient revenue. In boom times, the latitude is greater, allowing greater discretion. In recessive times, the threshold decreases; and in sufficient depressed times, the equation must be negative, i.e., the government’s stimulation exceeds the revenue base. Thus, the government’s objective must be recovery, employment, and broadening the revenue base, not squeezing the diminished base.

Another contribution:
“Doing a pretty plausible imitation of the headless chicken here for some months. Just finished a week of school presentations with some of our WW2, Malayan jungle, Mau Mau, (Kenya) and Northern Ireland veterans.
“The reception we received from all ages and staff was staggering. My oldest veteran is a Normandy soldier who was injured taking Carne [France], 8 of his squad being killed by a German sniper that grim morning. He had his index finger shot off by the same sniper. He crawled out of the line to find the dressing station had been shelled. Stories like this and others are very moving and these briefings can become so emotional. I have to be a little careful, especially with the young ones. The briefing ends by telling the students about the work of the Royal British Legion and the work we do for veterans and dependants.
“I believe it's good value for them and us especially during the Poppy Appeal.”
My response:
It is always amazing to be in the company of veterans. Our granddaughters’ school had a veterans recognition day last year. Always very emotional. Even better than our children are taught to understand the honor of service and respect for those who have stood watch at the gates. Sounds like you had a great time. May God bless them all.

A different contribution:
“I know this wasn't in this week's blog (though I feel you might bring it up next week) but I just saw the nominees for Time's Person of the Year and I'm going, "What the hell?" John Stewart and Stephen Colbert!?! Two guys with shows on Comedy Central??? LeBron James??? Hey, isn't this what Sports Illustrated is for? Thank God he said that his nomination was crazy and he should be nowhere near that list. Lady Gaga!?! Lady (Expletive) Gaga!?!?!?!? I have heard her "music." A cat carrying a bag of rusty nails being sucked into a street sweeper is more pleasant to listen to. How does wearing a meat suit and get drunk and flashing your middle finger at baseball games get you a nomination for Time Person of the Year? One line from a song by Rush has more substance than every song by Lady Gaga put together. Yet I don't see anyone nominating Rush for Person(s) of the Year or even voting them in to the friggin' Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame!
“Borderline nominees include Sarah Palin. I like her, but writing books and stumping for political candidates, to me, doesn't qualify you for the award. Glenn Beck. Yeah I agree with some of his philosophy, but again, you need to do more than talk to get this award. President Barack Obama. The guy's policies have done nothing to help the country and he oversaw one of the worst defeats of the Democratic Party in history. Losers shouldn't get such honors.
“I feel Man of the Year should go to someone who has done something to improve the world (say Jonas Salk), or affected social change on a large scale (like Martin Luther King), or achieved some remarkable feat (like the Apollo astronauts). When you're nominating Lady Gaga for Person of the Year, then this award has gone the way of the Noble Peace Prize. Into the realm of the ridiculous.
“At least, that's how I feel about it.”
My response:
Time magazine has always sought controversy with their person of the year selections. Time’s Man of the Year for 1938 was Adolf Hitler, and their Man of the Half Century was Winston Churchill (1950) – rather broad extremes if you ask me. Usually the names leaked to the Press are intended to raise controversy for anticipation. This year’s selection should be interesting, and I doubt it will be any of the aforementioned candidates. We shall see.
. . . a follow-up comment:
“I doubt it will be any of the aforementioned candidates. We shall see.
“I hope you are right, Cap. I REALLY hope you are right.”
. . . my follow-up response:
Me too. We shall see.

One last contribution:
“Re the Durham cite, read this”
http://www.slate.com/toolbar.aspx?action=print&id=2274412
The article linked above:
Jurisprudence
“Interrogation Nation – The baby steps that have taken the United States from decrying torture to celebrating it”
by Dahlia Lithwick
Slate
Posted Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010, at 6:24 PM ET
http://www.slate.com/toolbar.aspx?action=print&id=2274412
My reply:
First and foremost, what the CIA did when they destroyed those interrogation tapes was both cowardly and in a narrow manner, more destructive to the principles of this Grand Republic than the whole issue of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EIT) could ever be. Yet, what those managers did also reflects directly upon the huge injustice we have done to our Intelligence Community (IC) – a product of our day . . . leaks, political polarization, using the IC as a political instrument, et cetera.
While I do not disagree with Lithwick’s opinion (if you will permit a double-negative), I continue to feel such shallow conversations fail miserably to face, reconcile and fill in the chasm that exists between IC operations and American public life, i.e., the law. IC work is always going to be a dirty, messy, nasty business. The Church Committee failed in 1977/8, and that failure has been perpetuated and amplified by continued neglect to the severe detriment of our national security and the IC charged with aiding our national defense.
We cannot and must not treat the IC as Law Enforcement (LE); the IC was not, is not, and never will be a subset or adjunct to LE – the fiasco of the Ghailani trial yet one more dismal example. While the outcome of the Ghailani trial may make us feel better about ourselves, it did not make us safer – in fact, quite the contrary. As we can argue, the rule of law prevailed.
I am as much against torture as the next freedom-loving person. Torture like all those medieval variants intended to extract “confessions” from hapless victims remains an anathema to civilized conduct. Our use of EIT for the IC since 2001 has not caused any injury to anyone that I am aware. Information derived from the employment of EIT by the IC cannot and must not ever be used in prosecution of anyone, which is precisely why we must refine our laws to create a filter / barrier between the IC & LE to ensure criminal prosecutions are not tainted, while we obtain the necessary intelligence information to prosecute this war successfully.

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