Update no.865

Update from the Sunland

No.865

30.7.18 – 5.8.18

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

            To all,

            The follow-up news items:

-- The Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370, under the auspices of the Malaysian Ministry of Transport, issued its final report on 02.July.2018, regarding the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, circa 01:30 [G], on 8.March.2014 [638, 691, 711, 716].  The report is titled: SAFETY INVESTIGATION REPORT—Malaysia Airlines Boeing B777-200ER (9M-MRO) 08 March 2014, and presents the accumulated evidence in the investigation.  There will not likely be further reports until the wreckage is somehow located, and the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) are recovered.  The 449-page document presents all the associated facts.  The salient observation from the Findings section is:

“The changes in the aircraft flight path after the aircraft passed waypoint IGARI were captured by both civilian and military radars. These changes, evidently seen as turning slightly to the right first and then to the left and flying across the Peninsular Malaysia, followed by a right turn south of Penang Island to the north-west and a subsequent (unrecorded) turn towards the Southern Indian Ocean, are difficult to attribute to anomalous system issues alone.  It could not be established whether the aircraft was flown by anyone other than the pilots.  Later flight simulator trials established that the turn back was likely made while the aircraft was under manual control and not the autopilot.” (p.440)

We do not know who manipulated the controls of that aircraft, that night, but the physical evidence is as clear as it can be—someone flew the aircraft on that turning route into the South Indian Ocean to one of the remotest, least accessible spots on the planet.  We also do not know why, although we can make an educated guess—cause the most trauma to the international air transportation system.  If the event had been a murder-suicide, there was no objective served in the purposeful effort to prevent location of the wreckage.  The remains of that aircraft are out there; we just have not found them, yet.

-- Of course, what would contemporary life be without the incessant disinformation tweeting of the BIC.  The latest jewel is:

“..This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further. Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!”

6:24 AM - Aug 1, 2018

We cannot continue to chase his grotesque falsehoods.  Oddly, the BIC persists in making the case for obstruction of justice. Yet, the predominant thought that comes to me with this particular tweet is the President, like other Federal employees including members of the military, represents the United States—NOThimself.  He does not enjoy freedom of speech in the sense that the rest of us do in that his words are far larger than himself.  The talking heads who support the BIC are arguing that he was just expressing his opinion.  As a private citizen, he most emphatically has that right, as we all do.  As President of the United States, he does NOT have that right, just as I did not have that right when I wore my uniform as an officer of Marines.  A subset of those talking head supporters suggested, “Oh, he was just blowing off steam.”  Blowing off steam as POTUS gets good men killed; he does not have that right. This incessant whining by the BIC simply makes him look guiltier and guiltier; however, that may be his objective, daring anyone to prosecute him.

            So, as long as the economy is strong, the BIC’s supporters can tolerate any bad behavior and accept any bizarre conduct. I suppose that is implicit validation that the end does indeed justify the means.  In other words, if Hitler had only been successful, his supporters would have been tolerant of his bad behavior.  As long as we are making money, the rest does not matter a hoot. The economy is good; we’re making money; what could possibly matter beyond that?

            A personal communications thread with a friend and long-time contributor to this humble forum grew to be perhaps of more significance to readers of the Update.  Thus, I include it here:

“We often go back and forth over how people make decisions that are essentially moral in nature. Here's an interesting article about that.”

The URL: https://static.nytimes.com/email-content/INT_4425.html?nlid=78152399

The article:

“The Surprising Truth About How Humans Determine Right and Wrong”

by Max Fisher and Amanda Taub – The Interpreter

New York Times

Published: Friday, August 3, 2018

 . . . to which, I replied:

To me, morality is what we do when no one is watching.  In simplistic form, it is also respecting others.  Anything that causes injury—physical, mental or emotional—to another person is morally wrong.  Stealing $0.25, $25, or $25M is injurious and thus morally wrong.  The example of middle-schoolers deciding what level of bullying is morally wrong is an intriguing challenge.

 . . . Round two:

“I agree with your description of moral behavior, as far as it goes, but my interest is in the process.  The focus of the article was on how people acquire their moral values.  How did you come to those values when others' are so different?  Why is it that when the neighbors get loud (not violent) outside my apartment, my ‘right thing to do’ is going to sleep, someone else's is calling the police, and a third person's right behavior is to go out there shouting at them?  That's what interests me.”

 . . . my reply to round two:

Me as well, my friend. It extends to what happened in childhood to yield those different degrees of morality.  What leads your neighbor to be loud in the first place, to be discourteous to his neighbors?  The process examination is academic in that it generally does not help us "correct" immoral conduct, but understanding is better than not. Morality is not a genetic value; it is learned (or not) in childhood, generally before the age of 5yo. It is mostly the parents.

 . . . Round three:

“The neighbors may indeed have a moral issue. Dictionary.com defines ‘morality" as ‘conformity to right rules of conduct,’ which begs the question of what is right.

“Your dismissal of process examination as ‘academic’ is an issue for several reasons.  First of all, we cannot influence people to change their behavior without understanding how that behavior comes about.  For a simple example, hunters understand game animals much better than the general public.

“Beyond that, we also need to consider whether trying to change others' morality puts us in the same camp as those who try to control our own moral behavior.

“Converting ‘them’ to be like ‘us’ historically fails on the functional level.  For example, pagans have lived according to our values in an unbroken chain since before Judeo-Christian-Muslim religions existed, yet those religions continue trying to impose their morality, as well as their beliefs, on us.

“Insisting that others change also works against my religious beliefs.  I seek to understand primarily as a way of working with others that are different from me so that we may all have better lives.”

. . . my reply to round three:

            There is more to morality than the definition suggests.  The “right rules” can vary widely.  When we look beyond those “rules” or boil them down to their essence, it is respect for others—simply put.  Respect transcends public-private, witnessed or hidden, goes to everyone and everywhere in all circumstances.  Many of our laws (murder, assault, robbery, rape, burglary, fraud, et cetera) are enforcing respect for the person and property of others.

            I did not intend to imply dismissal of the process.  You are, of course, spot on correct.  Examination of the process is essential to understanding the genesis of such behavior.  Unfortunately, so much of our morality is taught to us predominately by five years of age. Delving into the process means examining the parenting of our citizens.  I remain absolutely convinced serial killers are created in the early (or paucity of) parenting of children.

            I note with enthusiasm your illumination of the influence of the revealed religions to impose their beliefs on everyone regardless of religion, e.g., our vast array of morality laws (pornography, sex, prostitution, use of psychotropic substances, abortion, nudity, ad infinitum).  In our instance, the morality laws demand conformity to Judeo-Christian standards; nothing else is tolerable.

            I thought the author’s reference to a student’s rationalization regarding bullying of other students was quite appropriate.  That is a reflection of morality, as they rightly observe.

            I do agree with your representation.

 . . . Round four

“Your boiled-down essence of morality is very like mine, but others use different standards. The most common different essence I've heard is some variation of ‘My God/family/nation is what matters’ (and usually, the only important one.)  By the way, I agree that morality is formed early, but I have seen instances where spiritual/emotional growth improved people's values.”

 . . . my reply to round four:

            No debate.  Your variations are indeed religious parochialism.  To me, this is one reason religion should be confined to the private/personal domain and kept out of politics and public conduct.  Parochialism, by definition, usually, if not always, results in efforts to project those particular values, beliefs, rituals and morality on every citizen . . . to validate their religious parochialism.  In a theocratic state, such projection is expected.  In a free society where individual freedom of choice is respected, such parochialism should never be tolerated.

            Comments and contributions from Update no.864:

Comment to the Blog:

“On the trade front, Trump is applying the bulldozer tactics real estate developers use.  While that has worked on local governments and others in many places, we have yet to see how it performs in international trade.  Probably not well and surely at a higher cost than simply working together with our friends and using existing channels to address our legitimate grievances.

“The security clearances distract from anything important.

“The subpoena to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Trumpistan has not received enough emphasis. Remember my advice to ‘follow the money’?  The investigation is doing exactly that.

“I remain skeptical of economic numbers, especially as they relate to the middle class.  The tax cut may have stimulated the economy in a short-term and sector-selective way.  I posted a New York Times article to Facebook about how Democrats are running on the tax cut in the midterms and Republicans less so.  Also, I’m noting doubts about whether the growth can be sustained even in the current quarter.  If those numbers should fall much in the next quarter, as reported in October, that might influence the midterm elections.

“Enough distractions.  Congress has passed a defense budget that is a multiple of what we need.  The defense sector has successfully captured their regulators.

“Many of the families separated at the border have not been reunited with their families, for which the Trump camp shall not be forgiven.  Loss of one’s children is not an appropriate penalty for crossing the border without papers.”

My response to the Blog:

            Bulldozer tactics indeed!  It seems he is emphatically an “end justifies the means” person . . . which in essence says, screw everyone (allies, friends, contractors, anyone he needs) to get his way . . . and of course his way is the only correct way because he is always right and never ever wrong.

            Security clearances are important, but OK . . . I’ll agree.

            Follow the money . . . my counsel as well. Yes, absolutely; and, that particular subpoena has to be making the BIC far more uncomfortable than even the Cohen revelations.  One of the talking heads suggested these Cohen leaks are probably an implicit indication the Special Counsel and the Feds do not need Cohen to make their case and Cohen is feeling the heat with no bargaining leverage. Interesting perspective.

            I’m with you.  The stimulants the BIC is applying are not likely to sustain the economy.  Further, the trade war worries are quite likely causing a very short-term bump in demand, to execute trade before the tariffs take effect and are retaliated against.

            I quite agree regarding immigration enforcement.  However, I will add that I am deeply disappointed that neither the government nor the Press have reported on the human trafficking aspect of this issue.  I strongly suspect there is some fraction of those children who did not cross the border with any family member and were in the process of being “traded” for the sex trade.  We assume children are with parents.  What if they are not?

 . . . with follow-up comment:

“I agree that the human trafficking aspect of this needs more attention.  Beyond those who crossed the border on their own, a significant number of children belong with parents who have already been deported, and the Federal government is refusing to even attempt those reunions.  A huge number of children have disappeared from view, and somehow must be saved.”

 . . . and my follow-up comment:

            Indeed.  The administration failure to think things through and to prepare for execution of their orders is a direct reflection upon the BIC’s tempestuous behavior—very little forethought about consequences, collateral damage, or procedures—just react.

 . . . with a follow-up to the follow-up comment:

“Exactly, and predators always stand ready to make the most of situations like this.”

 . . . and my concluding comment:

            Precisely, which is why I illuminated the potential!

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

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)