Update no.596

Update from the Heartland

No.596

13.5.13 – 19.5.13

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

To all,

For those who may be concerned, all family members are accounted for and well.  We had several strong tornados pass through Wichita Sunday afternoon.  There are some reports of damage, but no injuries reported, as yet.  The cell that came the closest literally blew up in 30 minutes to the southwest of Wichita and took another hour pass us.  The weather occupies the broadcasting, so damage reports will probably not come until Monday.  The warning systems, Internet radar images, and local television coverage gave us ample time and fairly precise location information.  It was a close call, but close only counts in horseshoes.  Fortunately, the storms passed early enough for us to get everyone out of their basements and have a family gathering.  Jeanne did a magnificent job with dinner – a great conclusion to a tumultuous afternoon.

You may have noticed, the Updates have been a little thin lately.  A good chunk of my available capacity has been diverted to working with the publisher of my books – Saint Gaudens Press – to prepare and release the Electronic Book (eBook) versions.  The Anod series is currently on-line and the others will be accessible on-line shortly.  They are or will be obtainable from all delivery systems, so your choice entirely.  Saint Gaudens Press has also decided to publish my To So Few series of historical novels – the first book, To So Few – In the Beginning, should be released later this summer.  As retirement approaches, I am eagerly looking forward to writing full-time and returning to Anod and Brian Drummond in the not too distant future.  Thank you for your patience, understanding and support.

            If you have not yet made the jump to eBooks, I highly recommend the system and process.  I am currently reading The Last Lion – Winston Spencer Churchill – Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965 by William Manchester & Paul Reid – the third volume of Manchester’s book about the man who mobilized the English language and took it into battle.  The third and final volume is well worth the wait.  Manchester was unable to finish is primus opus before his passing.  The family selected Paul Reid to use the completed portion of Manchester’s draft manuscript, and his notes and research to finish the project.  Little, Brown and Company published and released the book in November 2012.

            The flexibility and interactive features of eBooks truly enhance the reading and learning experience more than I ever imagined.  For those who may be interested, I use an Apple iPad as my reader and the only thing it does not do is provide the smell of the ink and paper.  So, there you have it; now, you know.

This whole IRS kerfuffle stimulates all sorts of emotions – anger, frustration, rage, annoyance, understanding and curiosity – and even a dollop of I-told-you-so.  On one hand, the IRS has a responsibility to investigate all applications for 26 USC §501(c) non-profit organization, tax-exempt status.  In that context, they must understand the nature and context of the organization’s business.  This instance would not be the first time one group or another fraudulently claimed non-profit status to hide from the tax collector.  Frankly, I am suspicious of political groups – conservative, liberal or otherwise.  The problem here, it seems, rests on the zealotry of the agents in prosecuting their responsibilities.  The notion of the IRS singling out political organizations for special scrutiny and using the powerful instruments of State to pry into the internal affairs of any organization whose politics the government does not care for triggers off all sorts of alarm bells, warning klaxons, and outright indignation.  On the flip side of this coin, these governmental shenanigans are not new or unique to this administration.  Tricky Dick Nixon and his cronies are now infamous for their abuse of power and abuse of the IRS.  This is precisely what scares the bloody hell out of good citizens – the thought of some government bureaucrat rummaging through our lives and private affairs.  Intellectually, I would prefer to exclude all political groups from tax-exemption; yet, the thought of the taxman auditing political groups is also a rather disconcerting notion.  Then, we add the profound ramification of Citizens United v. FEC [558 U.S. 310 (2010); 21.January.2010]  [424] and the potential for abuse and vast amounts of foreign money being laundered through political organizations staggers the imagination.  Nonetheless, at the end of the day, any governmental system including tax collection must be run by flawed human beings who sometimes make dreadful mistakes.  We must prosecute those who offended the public trust.

Comments and contributions from Update no.595:

Comment to the Blog:

“I heartily agree with Judge Korman in the Tummino v. Hamburg (“morning-after pill”) case. In particular, I agree that the disputed ruling was ‘arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.’ This particular piece of political nonsense went on for 12 years and therefore does not excuse either the Bush (43) or the Obama administrations. I see no point in giving parents control of that situation either. Too many parents are unreasonable and will do great damage to their children’s futures by denying them this opportunity to take responsibility for their actions. After all, how do girls get into situations where they need a morning-after option? Not through responsible parenting. That factor also applies to (conservative) Judeo-Christian morality. With either of those approaches, the morning-after option specifically only applies after the approach touted has already failed.

“Small investors are borrowing against their portfolios again? How quickly they forget. Do these people really deserve to be protected?

“You and others continue to talk about firearms (not “guns” please; three of my brothers served in the US Army) bans when no firearm ban has been proposed. I will not accept a slippery-slope approach. That is pure fear-mongering.

“Your other commenter gave a clear discussion of the differences between pressure cookers and firearms. That also applies to shoe bombs, explosive underwear, etc. If we ban everything that has ever been or clearly could be used in a bomb, we ban pretty much everything. Bare hands have been used to kill people. Ban those?

“Incidentally, your notion that there are “bad men” who can somehow be prevented from using firearms that are readily available to everyone else lacks support, beginning with a very clear definition of “bad men” that allows for their detection by available means without infringing on everyone else’s rights. In the real world, families and friends will not see their brothers, sons, or others they care about as “bad men.” In the particular case of the Boston Marathon bombers, too many people are potentially suspicious from the viewpoint of the sanity-challenged people in the intelligence community to allow for close examination of each of them. The other mass killers have not had political connections in most cases. Killers in general are typically neither political nor involved with the mental-health treatment system.”

My response to the Blog:

            Re: morning after pill.  We cannot have it both ways.  Either parents are responsible and accountable for the conduct of their minor children, or they are not – therein lies my conflicting views on this issue.  Of course, this topic gets us into childhood sex education and other hypersensitive subjects.  As I wrote, I agreed with Judge Korman’s decision for the reasons he clearly established.  However, while the decision follows the law, it does not recognize or acknowledge the parental accountability factor.

            Re: investor borrowing.  Indeed, how quickly we forget – irrational exuberance that threatens another crash.  They deserve no protection, and insurance against that risk should be so bloody expensive they cannot ignore the risk.

            Re: firearms.  Ah, yes, the DI’s famous admonition – “This is my rifle. This is my gun.”  LOL  Our penchant for prohibitions are all too familiar.  One group uses the law to impose their beliefs, their values, on everyone else.  That is not freedom, no matter whose beliefs are being imposed.

            Re: pressure cookers.  My sarcasm did not translate well, apparently.  We cannot ban tools, no more than we can ban ideas.  Free is free, or it is not.

            Re: “bad men.”  The criterion is actually quite simple – respect.  If each of us respects the space, person and property of all other citizens, then there will be no bad men.  Littering may not be a sign of a serial killer, but it is the same disrespect for others.  Bullies in the schoolyard disrespect others.  There are signs.  Each of us can look for and illuminate those signs.  It is in minds of bad men that these crimes germinate and transform into action.  You are quite right; mass or serial killers rarely have a political agenda; they are motivated only by the killing – the ultimate disrespect for a human being.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“I will freely admit to having little interest in either law or ideals with regard to the morning-after pill. To me, it simply gives women and girls a chance to take responsibility for their choice. We can attempt to hold parents responsible for teens' (and sometimes pre-teens') choice but if we do that we will have still more unwanted children of incapable parents. That also gives them a sane response to rape and coercive situations. I would like to prevent damage to the mothers and the children in all of these situations. As I pointed out before, by the time the need for a morning-after pill arises the parenting has already failed.

“‘Our penchant for prohibitions’ is indeed familiar, but all the same no gun ban is under consideration.

“You're right: I don't understand sarcasm much of the time. Sarcasm, according to experts, is a difficult tool to use well because so many of us share that particular trait and even those who do understand have widely varying responses to it.

“Your criterion for "bad men" does not translate to action.”

 . . . my follow-up response:

Calvin,

            Yes, I imagine a consequence of holding parents accountable may be more unwanted children.  In those cases, the States should take action to protect the children and prevent the negligent parents from having more children.  We must start somewhere.

            Re: “That also gives them a sane response to rape and coercive situations.”  I do not understand this sentence.  Sorry.

            Re: failed parenting.  Spot on!  We should not be banning things to assuage bad parenting.  Using the law to compensate for inadequate parenting is not the way to raise responsible future parents.  This is precisely why we must hold parents accountable.

            The current congressional efforts to prohibit assault weapons has stalled, so yes, there is no firearms ban currently under consideration.  Perhaps, now, we can move to working on the root causes rather than the tools.

            Respectfully, I believe my definition of bad men does work.  Look around.  Watch people.  You will see disrespect in some.  When we care enough about our communities, we will encourage respect and punish disrespect. 

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

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)