Update no.601

Update from the Heartland

No.601

17.6.13 – 23.6.13

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

To all,

The follow-up news items:

-- The U.S. Department of Justice filed espionage charges against Edward Joseph Snowden.  The Department of State revoked his passport.  These were the first formal shots toward extraditing Snowden to the United States to stand trial for his crimes.  The government of Hong Kong decided the international provisional warrant for Snowden’s arrest was insufficient and the revocation of Snowden’s passport was untimely, as they allowed him to board a commercial flight to Shermetyevo International Airport in Moscow.  The Russian authorities have apparently not detained him during his layover.  Press reports suggest he is trying to make it to asylum in Venezuela or Ecuador with the support of WikiLeaks lawyers.

            The disclosure of U.S. classified material is one thing – bad enough in itself – however, this whole Snowden fiasco has also exposed British participation in the wide-ranging, international, electronic surveillance program.  I am angry enough with the damage to U.S. national security.  I am beyond incensed with the collateral damage to a primary ally.  As an American citizen, I apologize to the British People for the damage Snowden has done to their national security.

A wide variety of Press & media sources reported this week on the announcement of an EPIX Channel documentary film, scheduled to be broadcast on 17.July, titled: TWA Flight 800 (17.July.1996).  Some of the guys identified so far were inside the investigation and presumably have additional inside evidence beyond that material already disclosed.  You may recall, the USG aggressively prosecuted several people who disclosed inside information early in the investigation. 

            There has never been a debate about the Center Wing Tank (CWT) explosion being the primary cause of the in-flight break-up.  The B-747 CWT is generally used for long-range flights.  For TWA800, the CWT was essentially empty (less than 100 gal.), since that capacity was not needed for the aircraft loading and the New York-to-Paris route.  The CWT residual fuel at the temperatures that evening produced a combustible fuel-air atmosphere in the CWT.  The question has always been what ignited the CWT fuel-air mixture to explode?  There is no evidence -- zero -- in the publicly available data that would indicate an internal cause, i.e., the electrical spark hypothesis.  The missing scavenge pump was happenstance and pure conjecture . . . beyond that, highly unlikely based on construction and operation.  The fuel quantity probes operate at such low voltage to also be highly unlikely as a spark source.  Both would need multiple mechanical and electrical failures to produce a sufficient spark to ignite the fuel-air mixture.

            There would only be burn marks on the exterior with a substantial weapon, e.g., SM-2 SAM.  The key for small weapons like ManPADS, e.g., SA-7, FIM-92, is penetrations.  For example, it would have taken only one (1) high-velocity BB from a warhead to penetrate the skin of the CWT to ignite the fuel-air mixture inside.  The subjects in the documentary claim they had penetration evidence that was suppressed during the event investigation.  Hopefully, the documentary will show us the evidence along with the chain of custody to validate the hypothesis.

            Certainly, these guys needed to gain some distance from the investigation in order to disclose what they know and minimize the threat of prosecution.  Further, a big chunk of the USG's classified data should be declassified in 2016, which was when I thought we might see more of the evidence.  Needless to say, I will record the program and study the contents carefully.  Perhaps, the dam of silence has been breeched.

            FYI: Kevin Ready and I wrote TWA 800 – Accident or Incident?, which was published in print form in 1998.  We are working with the book’s publisher, Saint Gaudens Press, to release the book in digital eBook format next month.

News from the economic front:

-- The U.S. Federal Reserve forecasts that the unemployment rate should continue to decrease to 6.5% in 2014.  They are also estimating the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) should grow by 3% to 3.5%, compared with a 2.9% to 3.4% estimate in March. The forecast for next year's inflation was little changed.  The positive news was overshadowed by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s public comment that sent the market’s all-a-twitter that the central bank may begin pulling back its US$85B per month bond-buying program later this year to completely end the program by the middle of next year.

-- An initial indication of manufacturing activity of People’s Republic of China (PRC) hit a nine-month low in June. , HSBC Holdings PLC announced the preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), AKA HSBC Flash China PMI, dropped to 48.3 in June from a final reading of 49.2 in May. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.

London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) Debacle [552]:

-- The trial of Tom A.W. Hayes, 33, a British citizen and former UBS & Citigroup trader, is scheduled to begin next month in Southwark Crown Court.  The Serious Fraud Office charged him with various crimes related to the LIBOR manipulation scandal, covering a period from August 2006 to September 2010 – half related to his time at UBS and half to his time at Citigroup in Japan.  Hayes, and another former UBS trader, Roger Darin, 41, of Switzerland, have also been charged with conspiracy by the United States Justice Department in a criminal complaint that was unsealed in December.  I expect these two may be key witnesses for the prosecution of others, including executives who sanctioned their criminal activities.

-- So we don’t lose focus . . . the infamous 16, involved, international banks are:

·      Barclays [UK] – US$454M fine [550]; Singapore sanctions [600]

·      Bank of America [U.S.] – Singapore sanctions [600]

·      BTMU [Japan] – Singapore sanctions [600]

·      Citigroup [U.S.] – Singapore sanctions [600]

·      Credit Suisse [Switzerland] – Singapore sanctions [600]

·      Deutsche Bank [Germany] – US$654M LIBOR profit [578]; set aside €500M (US$641M) for LIBOR liability [589]; Singapore sanctions [600]

·      Lloyds TSB [UK]

·      HSBC [UK] – Singapore sanctions [600]

·      HBOS [UK]

·      JPMorgan Chase [U.S.] – Singapore sanctions [600]

·      Norinchuckin [Japan]

·      Rabobank [Netherlands]

·      RBC [Canada]

·      RBS [UK] – £390M (US$612.6M) in fines, 21 employees involved [582]; Singapore sanctions [600]

·      UBS [Switzerland] – US$1.5B fine, two charged [575]; Singapore sanctions [600]

·      West LB [Germany]

Added to the list by the Monetary Authority of Singapore [600]:

·      ING [Netherlands] – Singapore sanctions [600]

·      BNP Paribas [France] – Singapore sanctions [600]

·      Crédit Agricole [France] – Singapore sanctions [600]

·      DBS [Singapore] – Singapore sanctions [600]

·      Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation [Singapore] – Singapore sanctions [600]

·      Standard Chartered [UK] – Singapore sanctions [600]

·      United Overseas Bank [Singapore] – Singapore sanctions [600]

·      Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. [Australia] – Singapore sanctions [600]

·      Macquarie [Australia] – Singapore sanctions [600]

·      Commerzbank [Germany] – Singapore sanctions [600]

I trust none of us will lose sight of what these banks have done.

Comments and contributions from Update no.600:

“Here's one of my rare responses, its rareness not to infer any particular importance but just to suggest that my morning is less scheduled than normal, and it's length not to infer any lack of appreciation for your entire offering:

   “1.   ...checks and balances...

            Did you note the wonderful lock step litany of assurances from all the high ranking officials who testified the other day, calculated to convince us by a barrage of positive propaganda that our government is dedicated to personal freedom of all citizens?  I felt so much better, after I threw up.

   “2.    ...treason...  during time of war...

              We, unfortunately, are not at war, because Congress has not figured out how to declare war.

   “3.     ...Bishop Spong...

              As an Episcopalian, proud of our claim (usually true) to allow God-given human reasoning to question human invented dogma, I've been a quiet fan of Spong for decades, impressed every time I've heard him speak and seldom inspired to doubt his sincerity and dedication to basic teachings of Jesus (as contrasted with the foolishness constructed by men who over the centuries felt power in defining and refining the undefinable and unrefinable.   (Hey, that's was not bad!  You can quote me on that.)

“Hope your medical reports are encouraging and your coffee is hot.”

My response:

            Thx.  Just another number for me.

            Re: “surveillance.”  The administration is in a tough crack.  They have to defend the PRISM program, while attempting to assuage the near universal apprehension regarding USG intrusion into our private affairs.  Conversely, the bad guys cannot be allowed to hide behind our rights.  The balance must be in there somewhere.

            Re: “treason.”  If the only definition of war is a congressional joint resolution signed by the President that is explicitly labeled “This is a declaration of war” or equivalent, then I suppose I must reluctantly agree.  However, I do believe SCOTUS has at least partially established the AUMF’s as essentially or comparatively a state of war.

            Re: “Spong.”  I had not heard or read about him before; so, an appreciated voice of reason, it seems to me.

            Re: “medical.”  Next checkup in August.  So far so good.

Comment to the Blog:

“You get the message of Snowden’s action and point it out. The potential for abuse is staggering. Then you insist he has committed treason. Is that not a conflict? My opinion is that he acted on his conscience at great cost to himself in order to try to end the tyrannous government I keep hearing from gun owners might be in the future. It’s already here, y’all missed it, and he’s trying to do something about it.

“Bishop Spong points out some saner positions for Christians. His scope, for me, remains within the Judeo-Christian outlook rather than covering ‘religion’ in general, but it’s a good job all the same.

“I tend to oppose patenting any part of humans, but this is a new and extremely complex field of law. I do not look forward to the tangles that will result from this particular branch of medicine/technology.”

My response to the Blog:

Calvin,

            Re: Snowden’s treason.  No. I see no conflict.  I accept that individuals within the government may have a crisis of conscience regarding the work they are doing, or the orders they are given to execute.  There is an established process to raise issues with the government’s conduct.  Snowden did not avail himself of that process.  He unilaterally chose to betray his oath, his country, and the very people he claims to be acting on behalf of in this instance.  Snowden chose to act as prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner.  There is no way on God’s little green earth his actions were noble, even if the government was tyrannical, which I do not agree to either.  He may be trying to do something, but it is not to help We, the People.  I see his actions as narcissistic, egocentric, self-serving, and otherwise a betrayal of the trust placed in him.  He placed himself above all others in the determination of right and wrong.  I am critical of the government, of various administrations, and of agents, but I do not betray this Grand Republic.

            Re: Spong.  Early on, he refers to “all religions,” and yet he speaks from his Episcopal education, experience and background; so, it should not be surprising that he speaks from his Christian foundation.  His basic premise remains valid & accurate – religion is about control.

            Re: patenting DNA.  I have not read the Supremes’ reasoning, as yet.  This arena is only one of a myriad of complicated, human technical issues.  I have not read the Myriad Genetics case, yet, but I will.

 . . . follow-up contribution:

“The notion that Snowden could accomplish anything by following the chain of command is ludicrous. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. How you can see a government that claims a right to kill anyone at any time without due process or to perform lesser evils such as monitoring communications of people not shown to be involved in crimes and confiscating reporters' notes as not tyrannical eludes me.

“I note, and agree with, Bishop Spong's statements amounting to the human element being the issue with religion. He clearly believes in a God, just not the manipulative approach of organized religion.”

 . . . my follow-up response:

            Re: Snowden treason.  There is a wide variety of legal means available for dissatisfied contractors serving the government to illuminate or initiate public debate regarding perceived or alleged misconduct of the government.   There is no public evidence he attempted to use any of those means.  He chose betrayal.  I trust he shall suffer the consequences of that betrayal.  Whether he is prosecuted for treason is yet to be determined.

            Re: enemies of the State.  Whether the government is tyrannical or carrying out its primary constitutional task is an assessment for every citizen.  I will also add, there is a monumental difference between objection to the conduct of an administration or the government across several administrations, and threatening national security – the security of all citizens far beyond the government.  Freedom does NOT give any citizen the unilateral right to be prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner.  Snowden did not attack enemies of the State; he attacked the State itself – all of us.

            Re: Spong.  My interpretation of his opinions as well.

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

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)