Update no.829

Update from the Sunland

No.829

13.11.17 – 19.11.17

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

            To all,

            Another turning point milestone in our lives has arrived.  We departed from Kansas on Wednesday and arrived in Arizona the following day to begin our long-planned wintering in a warmer climate.  Several months ago, we concluded our discussions regarding the potential for a permanent move and set a plan in motion to achieve that objective.  Our dog Sadie tore the ACL in her right rear knee that required surgery and delayed our movement plan by two weeks.  We do not have a new residence, yet; however, we have been looking in earnest since our decision to move.  As a consequence, I am compelled to change the title of this Blog, again . . . for the third time.  This humble forum began in 2001, as the Update from Italy, changed to Update from the Heartland in 2003, and now the new Update from the Sunland.  The cyberspace address will remain the same.

            I wrote the paragraph above in advance.  The execution of the plan did not play out exactly as expected.  After thinning things out and packing as much as we could, the professional packers took the better part of two days to complete their work—one day longer than planned.  I thought we could finish moving most of our “stuff” out of the house (leaving only major furniture for showings) on Wednesday.  In reality, we did not finish until noon the following day.  We hit the road, “heading down the highway, lookin’ for adventure” at 13:00 [S] CST.  We made our planned RON late Thursday, in Tucumcari, New Mexico, got a good night’s sleep, and arrived at our winter encampment Friday evening.  Now, the priority becomes finding a proper permanent residence.

            BTW, Jeanne gets the credit for the Blog title change.  Thank you, Sweetcheeks!

            The follow-up news items:

-- You know, none of the Trump clan, including The Donald, are guilty of anything until they are charged, tried and convicted in a court of law, or in Donald’s unique case, in the House of Representatives and Senate of the United States.  So, they are all presumed innocent until proven guilty.  What is so puzzling to me . . . why do they continue to act so damn guilty?  My guess, they all believe to their core that they are better than all of us and entitled to do as they please.

-- The revelations of sexual abuse by Harvey Weinstein [823] opened a floodgate to similar accusations against men of influence and power.  The latest culprit is none other than Senator Al Franken of Minnesota—clear evidence that such accusations are not confined to Republicans like Roy Moore.  I simply note the addition to the list of transgressors.  I have nothing new to add to my opinion of men who act badly [826 & prior].

            A frequent contributor and friend asked a number of important questions in another forum that I thought worthy of discussion within this humble forum.

“mass sexual assault allegations striking Hollywood and the political sphere”

            First, this flood of sexual assault and misconduct allegations in the post-Weinstein days is certainly not limited to Hollywood or the political sphere.  I truly believe this phenomenon exists in every segment of society where an individual is in a position of power over other human beings.  They are not limited by any of the social factors that I am able to see.  There are bad people in all segments.

            Second, like rape, these actions are not about sex; they are all about power and domination of other human beings.  I have stated previously, this phenomenon is quite akin to the divine right of kings—the king can do no wrong.  As long as any citizen feels he is better, more important, than another citizen, we will continue to suffer these abuses.  As long as children are raised to think they are better than others, those children will grow up to feel they are entitled to abuse others.

            Third, I am disturbed by the time lag between bad conduct and public or legal accusation.  Trial by Press or public opinion is flat wrong.  I understand the reluctance of the victims to stand up to powerful assailants.  In that, I am thankful the dam broke and we have started to confront these bad men for their bad behavior.  No man has any right whatsoever to impose his will or proclivities upon any non-consenting human being, period, full stop!

“Trump's Asian junket”

            The President’s Asian soirée was better than expected, actually . . . at least from the public perspective.  The organization of the trip was spot-on perfect to send a clear message to Kim Jung Un and the DPRK; they are alone in threatening their neighbors and the United States, and any action on their part is not likely to end well.  The exercise of three (3) carrier battle groups in the vicinity was not coincidental and quite appropriate.  I do agree with the President in that previous administrations were far too tolerant and malleable with respect to the DPRK.  Whether linked or not, the optics of a senior PRC envoy travelling to the DPRK after the POTUS visit is very positive.  I give him credit for sticking to the script of the experts; however, his deviations remain quite worrisome.  He is NOT as important as he thinks he is.

 “Saudi Arabia going-ons whether you think it was/is a coup and power consolidation, with any potential for their pivot towards Russia”

            The Saudi situation remains both disconcerting and troubling.  I understand the apparent pivot, given the actions of the Obama administration to hold the Saudis accountable for their tacit support of Wahhabism and the broader Salafism.  I find it difficult to imagine how the Saudi leaders can or will justify cozying up to the Russians for a host of reasons; however, the recent public overtures are most likely an overt warning shot across the bow of the United States.  The aggressive “governmental” actions of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud, 32, has a measure of validity in that corruption seems to be a hereditary fact of life in the region; however, the arrest of potential opponents to his eventual ascendancy appear to be no different from other notable power consolidations efforts by other dictators like Hitler, Mussolini, Mao Tse Tung, and most recently Kim Jung Un.  There is no doubt in my little pea-brain that the Saudis see the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) as their singular greatest threat.  I do not see Mohammed’s “anti-corruption” arrests as a coup d’état in that his father, King Salman, quite probably sanctioned Mohammed’s aggressive moves to solidify the change the King made in June of this year by removing his nephew as the previous crown prince, thus elevating his son as the heir apparent.  As a consequence, we see a number of disassociated events in Saudi Arabia in isolation rather than as part of a continuum.  As always, time shall tell the tale.

            “That’s just my opinion, but I could be wrong.”

            The Republican dominated House of Representatives passed HR 1, titled: Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, by a partisan vote of: 227-205-0-2(1).  The primary problem I have with the House legislation is it will add US$1.5T to the national debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).  The House bill appears to face an uphill slog in the Senate.  At the end of the day, I am not in favor of a tax cut without concomitant spending reductions to at least achieve a zero-sum state, if not a revenue surplus to pay down the debt.  Adding another US$1.5T to the national debt is simply NOT acceptable or justifiable.

            Further, removing the mandatory clause of the PPACA is counter-productive to achieving universal health care for all citizens.  I understand our societal commitment to freedom of choice; however, the lowest rates possible depend directly upon the participation of all citizens, not just those who choose to participate.  I understand young folks not caring or wanting health care insurance, yet, that is not how insurance works for everyone.  This is a common good and general welfare issue in the broader sense.

            Our middle son sent along the following link for a video clip of interest:

“The Trump Presidency: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZAPwfrtAFY&feature=youtu.be

            John opened his shtick with:

“I know, I honestly know, that the prospect of talking about Trump yet again feels exhausting.  We are all so tired of him.  Every room in America should have a sign on the wall that counts the minutes that it’s been since we last heard his f**king name.”

            John also illuminated three key techniques Trump consistently uses to insulate himself from criticism:

1.     Delegitimizing the Media – waging war on the very concept of truth.

2.     Whataboutism – changing the subject to someone else’s perceived wrongdoing; attempting to establish moral equivalency; all criticism is hypocritical and everybody should do whatever they want.

3.     Trolling – intentional antagonism of others to divert attention from his actions.

John has deftly illuminated the propaganda techniques utilized by totalitarian governments to deflect attention from their actions and further their political objectives.

John accurately established the significance of Trump’s diversion techniques.  “Whether [Bill] Clinton engaged in predatory behavior is absolutely a legitimate question, but it shouldn’t really inform what we do about Roy Moore.  And, even if you believe that Democrats are guilty of a double standard, the solution is not to have no standard whatsoever.  That is why it is so important to train ourselves to identify these techniques [noted above], because their natural endpoint is the erosion of our ability:
to decide what is important,
have an honest debate, and
hold one another accountable.”

            One sobering thought, the Roman Empire was not defeated or conquered by an external enemy.  Numerous internal forces deteriorated the cohesiveness of the societal fabric and corroded the empire from within.  So much of what I see today is not intended to strengthen the societal fabric, but rather consolidate power and bolster the Trump brand in the commercial world.  The power of the United States rests upon our diversity, not in some notion of unilateral dictated homogeneity.

            Comments and contributions from Update no.828:

“You should send the last contributor this video.

https://youtu.be/1ZAPwfrtAFY”

My reply:

            I’d say John Oliver is spot on . . . the apple is indeed an apple . . . not a banana.

            I will pass it along to the last contributor as well as the entire forum.  Unfortunately, I cannot divulge the identity of the contributor.

Another contribution:

“Thanks for your weekly Update.

“The church shooting was incredibly tragic (like all).  I think Trump mentioned this situation is more about mental illness than guns.  I agree, however I also agree with you that the law/systems now in place, failed us too, as the U.S. Air Force should have reported accurately and timely, the events that led to the perpetrator's discharge (including spousal abuse, and then fracturing his own son's skull).  There was also a police contact thereafter regarding the Texas shooter's abuse of his own dog.  An evil person, no doubt.  Do you believe our mental health system has failed us too?   It will be interesting to see if toxicology results come back from the autopsy workup on the church shooting suspect, to see if any drugs and/or alcohol were present during his terrible act.

“Those in our country that are polarized by such tragic events that seem to get worse and more frequent, need to remember one of the mass killings in the past year in China involved the perp there using a knife.  Of course we could include vehicles being used for mass murder as we have seen in NYC and Europe.

“Your Update and interaction with readers/contributors, is very interesting!   It does almost seem like we need to abandon the traditional two-party system here, with a few different and new brands (but not suggesting 31-Flavors).  We saw Ross Perot peter out as a presidential hopeful in the 1990's when he formed the Reform Party.

“I had hoped in the 90's for Newt Gingrich, thinking he was a critical thinker and his doctrine Contract with America seemed worthy for the goals and direction he wanted to steer America to.

“Looking forward to your next Update and your analysis/opinion on all the mass sexual assault allegations striking Hollywood and the political sphere.  Additionally would like to see your take on Trump's Asian junket; and your discernment on the Saudi Arabia going-ons, whether you think it was/is a coup and power consolidation, with any potential for their pivot towards Russia?”

My response:

            Re: Texas church shooter.  Yes, indeed, I suspect the autopsy toxicology findings will be informative and may not be negative.  “Do you believe our mental health system has failed us too?”  Well, I don’t think it is the health care system that has failed, but our political system.  Congress and state legislatures are the one’s who removed funding for mental health triage, treatment and support.  We continue to point at the lack of mental health care processes as a root cause of these tragic events, and yet, Congress & state legislatures do nothing.  Further, I see a societal failure much like the Catherine Susan ‘Kitty’ Genovese murder [13.3.1964].  Until every citizen feels a responsibility to protect fellow citizens and assist law enforcement in that process, we will suffer these societal systemic failures.  Like so MANY other mass killers, more than a few people saw the signs and did nothing.  We must all care for others.

            I quite agree.  The current two major parties have failed us, or perhaps, if we look deeper, we will see that is us that failed each other—we keep electing them; we whine about our politicians, but we keep electing “our guy.”  In fact, a significant portion of citizens of this Grand Republic were so desperate for change in the political intransigence, stagnation and fratricide, they turned to a snake-oil salesman for the magic elixir, and now, residents in Alabama are turning to another one of those guys to fill the state’s open senate seat.  Our votes matter!  Abstention is NOT a worthy option.

            The Contract with America was a noteworthy idea and concept, yet it had one major flaw . . . it was Republican rather than American.  There were also notable failures to fulfill that Contract for the obvious reasons—partisan focus.

            Thank you for raising a number of important topics for discussion in this humble forum.  Rather than attempt response in the Comments section, I’ll try to respond in this week’s Update.

 . . . a follow-up comment:

“Your core message in first paragraph/last sentence is most noble: ‘We must all care for others.’  Yes, it is a political problem with the mental illness problem, and also I might add a problem in the mental care infrastructure that does not do enough to provide understanding, does not communicate to other family members, and often will prescribe MEDS with not well enough known side effects discussion/disclosure.  I have a close family member with serious issues, and have been in and out of all of that for a long time, with such frustration.  A more holistic and inclusive (to other family members) approach needs to be addressed.

“The spike in politicos and cops addressing the homeless issue, especially in San Diego and other California cities, is directly coupled to the lack of addressing and solving the issue of mental illness.  It took a serious outbreak of Hepatitis-A in San Diego, to get the politicians to finally acknowledge and truthfully admit we have a serious issue with the homeless.

“Perhaps the two major political parties have become far too bureaucratic like much of our government structure.  Like most bureaucracies, they atrophy and stop producing results, and largely protect the power they have acquired through many decades.  That was largely the appeal of Donald Trump to his constituents (voters), they saw DT as an outsider (he was very persuasive at sending that message, whether real or imagined), and outside the SWAMP.  My conspiratorial tendency of thinking causes me to still wait to see if this was fact or fiction (I might be too paranoid for some).

“Good call on the Contract with America, I will have to go back and review that doctrine by Newt, who is know doubt an interesting intellectual and historian.

“Cap, I look forward to your next Update, and will share it with the ‘Group.’”

 . . . and my follow-up response:

            A significant obstacle we face is actually the HIPAA restrictions {Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) [PL 104-191; 110 Stat. 1936; 21.8.1996]}, which limits the disclosure of personal data to anyone, including the government, without the patient’s consent.  While I believe HIPAA is an important bulwark against the intrusion of the State in our private affairs, we must find a more reasonable balance; the collective good eventually exceeds an individual’s privacy rights.  The challenge for us is, where does that balance point lay?  Clearly, with this most recent event, we are biased too far toward individual privacy at the expense of the collective good.

            Re: homelessness.  I quite agree.  The problem exists to varying degrees in virtually all cities.

            I think you pegged it.  A substantial number of citizens ignored The Donald’s serious personality flaws out of desperation; they wanted an anti-establishment anybody; they got one.  I suppose the jury is still out regarding his potential to accomplish anything significant.

            I largely see Gingrich’s Contract with America as self-aggrandizement—self-promotion.  While the Congress of his era did fulfill some of those professed objectives, there were also notable failures.

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

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)