Update from the Heartland
No.625
2.12.13 – 8.12.13
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
The follow-up news items:
-- If the confrontation over the Senkaku Islands [567, 574,
580, 582, 624]
continues, it could come down to an event quite like this – very plausible.
“If China's Airspace Grab Turns Violent, Here's How the
Dogfight Could Go Down”
Posted by Kyle Mizokami, War Is Boring
foreignpolicy.com
Published: Monday, December 2, 2013 - 2:37 PM
This is the type of bloody confrontation the People’s
Republic of China (PRC) is pushing their neighbors toward. The Mizokami scenario also represents
just how delicate the trigger is in this situation and other similar confrontations.
The
PRC’s unilateral imposition of its East China Sea Air Defense Identification
Zone (ECSADIZ) is a seemingly innocuous means to extend its sovereign
territory; in essence, the PRC is trying to rewrite history books. If the ECSADIZ is not challenged, the
PRC will likely impose ADIZ restrictions toward or over Taiwan and deep into
the South China Sea. Some have
pronounced that the ECSADIZ has nothing to do with territorial demands. Perhaps not; yet, how would we view a
Russian action to impose control of the airspace over Attu Island, the
westernmost island in the Aleutian Archipelago? After all, Attu is far closer to Russia (Kamchatka Krai
Island) than it is to the United States.
Control of the airspace is one step short of control of the land beneath
that airspace. Let us not be
confused by the soothing rhetoric of proclaimed unimportance; it is the Sirens
Song.
-- The Snowden treason continues its persistent trickle [599
& sub]. The estimates
of the magnitude of his betrayal range from 20,000 documents to more than
200,000 documents. The Guardian [of London] claims to have only
disclosed 1% of 58,000 documents it has received from Snowden [although I must
reiterate that I have not seen one (1) of those reportedly disclosed documents,
only the Press rendering of their contents]. By any measure, we are a very long way from the end of this betrayal.
Parliament’s
Home Affairs Committee called Guardian Editor Alan Rusbridger to testify on the
newspaper’s actions in the Snowden affair, which has caused quite a disturbance
in the Force. Of course,
Rusbridger stridently defended the newspaper’s actions; yet, he has to be quite
aware of his exposure to the Official Secrets Act
1939 [2 & 3 Geo. 6 c. 121; 23.November.1939].
In a rare act of bipartisanship, Congress
passed and the President signed into law the Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013
[PL 113-053; H.R.1848; House: 411-0-0-22(2); Senate: unanimous consent; 127
Stat. xxxx; 27.November.2013]. The new law expects to streamline the
Part 23 certification process to simplify and shorten the time to develop and
produce small airplanes (less than 12,500 pounds gross weight). This is a welcome move in a beleaguered
industry that has been very slow to recover from the Great Recession. As lethargic as the FAA is, I doubt we
will see improvement from this law in my remaining lifetime. We can always hope.
An interesting article for your
contemplation:
“7 Reasons Why It's Easier for Humans to Believe in God Than
Evolution – What science can tell us about our not-so-scientific minds.”
by Chris Mooney
Mother Jones
Published: Tue Nov. 26, 2013; 8:31 AM GMT
The Left is trying mightily to spread the
blame for the PPACA rollout, and this instance seems quite apropos.
“You Can Also
Blame Newt Gingrich for the Obamacare Website Screwup – To prevent another
Healthcare.gov, Washington could use a digital brain trust. Too bad Newt
Gingrich killed the one it had.”
by Tim Murphy and Tasneem Raja
Mother Jones
Published: Fri Dec. 6, 2013 3:00 AM GMT
I suppose benefit is always in the eye of the beholder. As I see it, this appears to be a
classic penny-wise-pound-foolish action.
Congress created the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) within the
Legislative Branch with the Technology Assessment Act of 1972 [PL 92-484; 86
Stat. 797; 13.October.1972] to provide expert counsel regarding the application
of technology to various legislative initiatives. From various perspectives, the OTA provided the expert
counsel they were chartered to do.
Then came the ascendency of Representative Newton Leroy “Newt” Gingrich
of Georgia to the speakership of the House of Representatives in January 1995,
along with his Contract with America.
Congress passed and President Clinton signed into the Emergency
Supplemental Appropriations for Additional Disaster Assistance, for
Anti-terrorism Initiatives, for Assistance in the Recovery from the Tragedy
that Occurred at Oklahoma City, and Rescissions Act, 1995 [PL 104-019;
109 Stat. 194; 27.July.1995]. The
law should have been more aptly titled the Great Rescission Act of 1995. Funding was rescinded from a wide
variety of government agencies and programs, one of which was the OTA, as the
act rescinded $650,000, thus defunding the OTA; the originating act was not
repealed, funding for salaries and expenses for the OTA were simply removed. The office disbanded at the end of
FY1995, and the OTA closed its doors on 29.September.1995. It seems to me the implementation of the
PPACA was one of the biggest technology projects in quite a long time. The OTA could have provided the
necessary roadmap to avoid the PPACA debacle. Oh well, too bad, so sad. And so it goes.
“Brazil breaks ground: grants civil union to a trio under a ‘polyfidelitous’
relationship – Brazilian public notary Claudia do Nascimento Domingues set off
a firestorm by granting Brazil's first civil union to a trio, an act so
unprecedented that there isn't a word for it in Portuguese.”
South Atlantic News Agency
News from the economic front:
-- The Wall Street
Journal reported that federal regulators are expected to approve “a
toughened version of the Volcker rule,” ending years of wrangling over the
controversial Dodd-Frank provision and opening a new phase of stricter
oversight for Wall Street. The law
at issue is the Dodd-Frank
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act [PL 111-203; 124
Stat. 1376; 21.July.2010],
and specifically the law’s Title VI—Improvements to Regulation of Bank and
Savings Association Holding Companies and Depository Institutions; § 619 – Prohibitions on proprietary trading and certain
relationships with hedge funds and private equity funds [124 Stat. 1620] – the
so-called Volcker Rule [544]. Part of the toughened interpretation
includes a CEO attestation that his company is in full compliance with the law,
presumably to hold CEOs legally and punitively accountable for the actions of
their banks. We have but to look
at the list of LIBOR-involved banks below for candidates.
-- The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported the U.S. economy added 203,000 jobs in November and beat forecasts. The nation's unemployment rate dropped
to 7.0% in the same period. These are positive signs of a strengthening economy
that may intensify debate within the Federal Reserve about reducing the central
bank’s bond purchase program as early as this month.
London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR)
Debacle [552]:
-- The antitrust regulator for the European Union (EU)
announced fines against banks and a brokerage firm for their involvement in
illegal cartels and collusion in controlling the LIBOR interest rate. The fines totaled £1.42B (€1.71B,
US$2.32B).
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) = £325M
Deutsche Bank = £602M
Fined approximate £82M each – Société Générale, Crédit
Agricole, HSBC, JPMorgan, UBS and Citigroup.
UK brokerage RP Martin = £205K
Barclays was spared a fine because it blew the whistle on
the wrongdoing
-- 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]; ~£82M in EU fines [625]
- · 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]; £602M in EU fines [625]
- · Lloyds TSB [UK]
- · HSBC [UK] – Singapore sanctions [600]; ~£82M in EU fines [625]
- · HBOS [UK]
- · JPMorgan Chase [U.S.] – Singapore sanctions [600]; ~£82M in EU fines [625]
- · Norinchuckin [Japan]
- · Rabobank [Netherlands]
- · RBC [Canada]
- · RBS [UK] – £390M (US$612.6M) in UK/U.S. fines, 21 employees involved [582]; Singapore sanctions [600]; £325M in EU fines [625]
- · UBS [Switzerland] – US$1.5B fine, two charged [575]; Singapore sanctions [600] ~£82M in EU fines [625]
- · 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]; ~£82M in EU fines [625]
- · 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]
Others involved:
- · ICAP [UK] – fined US$87M + three executives charged [615]
- · Société Générale [France] – ~£82M in EU fines [625]
- · RP Martin [UK] – £205K in EU fines [625]
The rogues’ gallery continues to grow. I trust none of us will lose sight of
what these banks have done. Lest
we forget!
Comments
and contributions from Update no.624:
Comment to the Blog:
“The confrontation between China and Japan reads like the
setup in an apocalyptic novel. Fortunately for all of us, we are not condemned
to live in a novel. Situations going back at least to the Bay of Pigs mess have
offered national leaders opportunities to destroy the world, but so far they
have yet to do that.
“The person best situated to prevent the Newtown shooter, Adam
Lanza, from committing his crimes was his mother. Unfortunately, as is common
with mothers of sick and/or dysfunctional people, she did not see fit to do
anything effective to change his condition or to prevent it from affecting
others. I find it of personal interest that he was an Asperger’s person because
that is the diagnosis most like my own. Clearly, the results of having a given
diagnosis can vary wildly. Detecting who is likely to commit violent acts
involves immense complexity, partly because the causes of many mental illnesses
have yet to be established, rendering accurate diagnosis and effective
treatment very difficult. In the current example, the causes of my diagnosis
are relatively well known and are tied to specific parts of the brain.
Asperger’s, which appears similar even to experts, has different and poorly
established causes. Add to all that the difficulties in the ways ‘normal’
people think and act and it becomes understandable that people like Adam Lanza
go unnoticed. Not acceptable, but understandable.
“We shall see what we shall see with Iran, Syria, et al. The
Middle East cannot be controlled and the rest of the world is foolish to
attempt it after so many prior failed efforts.
“The Ukraine suffers from the conflict/competition between
the EU and Russia, neither of which has Ukraine’s interests at heart.
“I have emphasized the importance of reliable sources
before. I sent that article from alternet because I felt it was clear and well
supported, but alternet is as progressive as I am. They would not be likely to
offer views friendly to large corporations. I have advocated for a corporate
death penalty before. This seems blindingly obvious: if corporations want the
privileges of people, they must assume the responsibilities of people and
suffer the penalties of wrong behavior.
“I have achieved Medicaid coverage beginning in January if
current conditions continue. While Medicaid leaves something to be desired in
terms of coverage, at least I will not be coping with healthcare.gov any time
soon.”
My response to the
Blog:
Re:
Senkaku situation. An apocalyptic
novel . . . indeed! We can only
hope this situation does not continue to escalate, although the PRC seems
determined to do so.
Re:
disturbed folks. Yes, precisely,
the parents are best situated to recognize their disturbed children. As I understand things, Nancy Lanza did
recognize her son’s problems and sought medical treatment for her son from
every source she could think of in her position, to no avail. She was not the only one, the separated
father, the brother, school officials, possibly neighbors or police. The problem as I see it is not initial
detection, but the lack of mental health triage filtration and processing for
professionals to assess and intervene.
I have no idea whether Adam Lanza might have had his illness controlled
with medication or whether he needed to be institutionalized for more reliable,
continuous, proper, medical care. From
a support perspective, the assessment & treatment facilities must have
flexible application, i.e., maintaining a comprehensive mental health system
for one Adam Lanza is not cost effective.
While we must construct that system, we must also solve the economic
efficiency aspect of that system as well. Adam Lanza was not “unnoticed”; those that noticed had no
means to seek professional assistance.
I do agree: “not acceptable, but understandable.”
Re:
Middle East. I do not think we
seek control. To me, the objective
is restraint, i.e., elimination of the exportation of violence. I see repressive countries quite like
drug addicts, minimize/eliminate the collateral damage and leave them to their
own choices. If Afghans want
tribal war, fine, have at it, just don’t hurt anyone else. Of course, even my approach has its
limits, e.g., Rwanda.
Re:
Ukraine. I dare say the EU is much
closer to having Ukrainian interests at heart than Russia. I do not see Putin as much different
from Stalin, perhaps not as bloody, but certainly as dictatorial and
territorial. The Russians have
been driven for centuries to control sacrificial buffer territory between them
and their perceived threats. The
Ukraine has historically been one of those buffer states.
Re:
corporations. Spot on, brother. Although I must say, the Supremes are
wrong! Corporations are not
citizens; they do not deserve the rights of citizenship. Since the Supremes have decided they
have those rights, then we must have a far more punitive accountability system
and the will to enforce. Fines
& penalties are simply NOT adequate.
Far too many corporate criminals are walking free with their mountains
of money and ill-gotten gains.
Congratulations
on your coverage. Hopefully, it
will lessen the burdens of life.
My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
2 comments:
The article to which you referred us on the Senkaku Islands China versus Japan issue is long, technical, and just not my kind of reading. In any case, it refers to a battle simulation, not to the repercussions that might or might not result from such a battle if it happens. I still hope that neither the battle nor the repercussions will occur.
You continue to present the spy community as a “good guy” in l’affaire Snowden. I see no good guys here, as is usual in my view of spies. We must balance Snowden’s violations of his commitment against the government’s larger violations of Americans’ and others’ right to privacy, just as in cases where the violations concern sexual or other personal conduct. Indeed, we have learned that some of the violations concern spies’ spouses or lovers. We have no way to know what the rest of the violations might have as their foci.
I am glad on a personal level that your industry has received some Federal help at last. Surely you are more deserving than the Wall Streeters who led us into the crash.
I forwarded the article on the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) partly on the considerable merit of the OTA and partly to point out the law of unintended consequences. In the OTA instance, the consequences seemed obvious to many of us out here in the flyover, but those politicians who passed the Contract on America will surely claim they never understood what they were doing when they eliminated so many useful parts of government.
I will note that the article on the triad civil union in Brazil appeared in August of 2012. I have been unable to find any follow-up reports. That may very well mean that the civil union has stood without opposition. I would like to know.
A toughening of the Dodd-Frank proprietary trading rule and related activities will be very welcome if no last-minute obstacles prevent that. I still want officers and specific employees of trading companies to be held criminally liable for their fraudulent or otherwise illegal actions, but any progress is welcome.
The fines in the LIBOR mess are disappointingly small for world-scale banks. We may hope that criminal prosecutions make a bigger and better point.
Calvin,
Re: Senkaku. The islands are just the object of the historic confrontation between Japan and China. Rather than military or potentially violent confrontation, I would prefer commercial competition. Like you, I hope the PRC backs off and takes a more neighborly approach to international relations. Just in writing this, another confrontation between a PLAN ship and a USN cruiser in the South China Sea.
Re: Intelligence Community (IC). I am sorry that you see the IC in such negative terms. They are no different from the military or law enforcement; they are agents of the USG who are genuinely trying hard to perform their mission. Like any other group of human beings, they are mostly good, honorable, diligent citizens, but there are bad folks in every group. The IC, by its nature, has not been so good at filtering out the bad guys. But, a few bad guys does not condemn a whole community.
Re: aviation industry help. Thx mate. Aviation, especially business aviation, has NOT been served well by this administration. Oddly, POTUS has the ultimate biz jet, and yet he condemns those who use biz jets. At least small aircraft manufacturers will eventually see some benefit, but it will not be in my working lifetime.
Re: OTA. Thank you again for the article. As I said, penny-wise-pound-foolish . . . we are heading down the same road again. Bean-counters are very rarely insightful or imaginative. They are notoriously focused on the moment, not the future.
Re: triad. Yes, I was well aware of the publication date. I had seen the article before. I have not found any follow-up either.
Re: Dodd-Frank. I understand the new regulation were accepted and published. Now, the next test will be enforcement. I agree, I want these deviant executives to be prosecuted and punished. Progress by jerks, as they say.
Re: LIBOR fines. I agree! Far too small for banks that make billions in PROFITS, not revenue, but PROFITs after expenses & what miniscule taxes they pay.
“That’s just my opinion, but I could be wrong.”
Cheers,
Cap
Post a Comment