Update no.702

Update from the Heartland

No.702

25.5.15 – 31.5.15

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

To all,

The follow-up news items:

-- The hegemony of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) continues unabated in the South China Sea and has expanded like a cancer to other island / reef locations, beyond Fiery Cross Reef [696].  The PRC has extended their unilateral, “possession is 9/10 of the law” campaign in the South China Sea.  Confrontations are increasing, and the PRC has challenged “intruders” on their claimed airspace.  Now, Deputy Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army's General Staff Admiral Sun Jianguo publicly claimed that the new islands his country is building in the South China Sea will benefit the region and provide “international public services,” including maritime search and rescue, disaster relief and scientific research.  Sun went on to emphasize that such activities “fall well within the scope of China's sovereignty” and there we have it – the essence of this issue.  This is simply the contemporary Chinese version of lebensraum, 80 years hence.  This will not end with a few islands in the South China Sea.  When will the world reach its threshold of tolerance?

-- At 18:26 [R] EDT, Sunday, the U.S. Senate voted to invoke cloture [Senate: 77-17-0-6(0)] and bring H.R. 2048 [700] to a floor vote for passage.  The Senate still has floor debate ahead, so any amendments that might be added would require a re-vote in the House.  If passed, the bill will end the so-called §215 electronic surveillance program carried out by the NSA and betrayed by Snowden [599, 610].  The bill will allow the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 [PL 107-056; 115 Stat. 272] {and its subsequent renewals} to expire, and to be replaced by new, reformed provisions of what may become the USA FREEDOM Act and a modified, electronic, surveillance program.

The State Department has officially lifted Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, after Congress failed to act once the Obama administration triggered the 45-day notification period.  This was the next step on the path toward official recognition and a resumption of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States.  The path the government is on will be rocky, with obstacles-a-plenty, but this is a long overdue and necessary journey.  Let’s move out smartly . . . with appropriate caution, due diligence and attentiveness.

News from the economic front:

-- The Commerce Department revised the 1Q2015 Gross Domestic Product down from the previously reported 0.2% growth [698] to a 0.7% seasonally adjusted annual rate contraction as harsh winter weather and a strong dollar sapped demand for American goods.  The dip is considered temporary and should be short-lived.  The data also reflects upon the vulnerability of the U.S. recovery from the Great Recession.

Comments and contributions from Update no.701:

Comment to the Blog:

“I applaud the people of Ireland. Apparently the church has lost its grip on them. The ‘fundamental’ thing that requires votes or court decisions or legislation is the change in society's attitudes. Once that happens, the law follows.

“The LIBOR scandal has shown us signs of life in the regulatory community, and I'm sure the fines will come in handy for budget-deprived government departments. However, the banking companies will be little affected by their felon status; they have waivers to get them around the laws concerning felons in their business. The fines themselves were already budgeted. It's relevant here that corporations are no more people in banking than in election financing. No people (living, breathing, feeling humans) are paying the price for manipulating the LIBOR rates, and that must happen before anything important changes in favor of the people.”

My response to the Blog:

            Re: the Ireland vote.  Interesting perspective, my friend.  Society’s attitudes can be defined by the social factors, as each of us chooses who we wish to associate with for whatever reasons that are important to the individual, regardless of bias, prejudice or whatever.  Where our ancestors failed is in transforming those societal attitudes into laws forced and enforced on everyone . . . disregarding the individual’s freedom of choice and fundamental right to privacy.

            Re: LIBOR scandal.  I like your perspective on this.  Corporations (banks in this case) have no soul, no heart, no conscience, no empathy, no courage, no faith, no blood; they are inanimate structures constructed by flawed men, who are generally more interested and focused on making the most money in any way they can devise.  While the capitalist in me believes the profit motive is essential for human progress, I also believe we must put corporations in their proper place in our society and that place is NOT in any shape or form even remotely close to the construct offered by the narrow 5-4 majority of the Supremes.  We will make the necessary corrections, but unfortunately, it will take many years to do so . . . longer than years of life we have remaining; so, it will be up to the children of our children to fix what the Supremes have done.  If the new AG can extract some punishment of the individuals who perpetrated the massive injury that dove us into the banking collapse of 2008 and the Great Recession, then perhaps we can inch our way down the path of this long journey ahead.

Another contribution:

“On Japan, it sure would be nice to see them come out of what can only be described as a marathon flat-line, for an economy that exports so many products even to this day (though they must import most of their items since they have little natural resources).  Japan has a big age-wave problem as you are aware of, similar to Europe.

“On your reply to another reader on the Garland, Texas event, let's hope that good LE/IC stuff is in place for Phoenix on tomorrow, as they are having another ‘contest.’”

My reply:

            Re: Japan.  It sure would be nice to see Japan rise out of their ‘stagflation’ situation.  Yes, they also have a serious, falling, reproductive rate to maintain their society and culture, which is also coupled with very strict immigration laws and processes.  They are a resilient nation, and I believe they will sort it out in time.

            Re: Phoenix.  I hope everything goes well this weekend and turns out to be a non-event.

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

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)