Update no.1042

 Update from the Sunland

No.1042

27.12.21 – 2.1.22

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

 

            To all,

 

2022

Happy New Year to all

 

The follow-up news items:

-- Following the brilliantly successful launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) [1041], NASA’s initial assessment of the JWST launch indicates the precision of the launch parameters means the spacecraft used less fuel than planned to achieve its nominal trajectory. The result means the JWST may have a longer than planned operational lifetime on orbit. The current estimate is the projected lifetime may have been increased from 10 years to 16 years with the conserved fuel. The JWST deployment team took a well-deserved day off on New Year’s Day.

Once separated from the second stage of the Ariane 5 rocket (L + 0), the JWST began its extensive 344-step deployment sequence. As of Sunday, 2.January (L + 8), the spacecraft completed the unfurling of the large sunshield. After their day off, the deployment team decided to delay the spreading of the five layers of the sunshield. They spent Sunday working to optimize the power system on board the spacecraft and expect to begin separating the layer and tensioning of the sunshield on Monday. Once the layers are in position and properly spaced, they will begin tensioning each layer to full deployment. With the sunshield unfurled but not yet fully tensioned, the telescope and other cold side instruments began cooling to their final operational temperatures. The near-infrared instruments will work at about 39º K. (-389°F., -234°C.) through a passive cooling system. The mid-infrared instrument will need the assistance of a helium refrigerator, cryocooler system to reach its operational temperature of 7°K. (-447°F, -266°C.)—seven degrees above absolute zero. When the team is satisfied with the state of the sunshield, they will begin the multistage deployment of the secondary and primary mirror assemblies. They are on track to reach full deployment and achieve a stabilized halo orbit at L2 on L + 29. From that point, they will begin the calibration, testing, and certification of the onboard instruments. We should see the first image from the JWST by late spring this year. So far, so good.

 

Three retired Army generals offered us a sober warning.

“Opinion: 3 retired generals: The military must prepare now for a 2024 insurrection”

by Paul D. Eaton, Antonio M. Taguba and Steven M. Anderson

Washington Post

Published: December 17, 2021 at 5:05 p.m. EST

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/17/eaton-taguba-anderson-generals-military/

The opinion of these three retired Army generals serves as the canary in the coal mine. They are telling us loudly and clearly that the canary is wobbling on the edge of death. I urge every American citizen and every freedom-loving person on the planet to carefully read and think about their words. The three generals are:

-- Major General Paul D. Eaton, USA (Ret.) [USMA 1972]

-- Major General Antonio Mario Taguba, USA (Ret.)

-- Brigadier General Steven M. Anderson, USA (Ret.) [USMA 1978]

The generals are rightly warning of the potential for renewed assaults on the democratic fabric of this once grand republic. Of course, for the portion of our citizens who are prone to the BIG LIE, logic and reason do not matter; only their beliefs in the BIG LIE. Whether American society and democratic principles survive these unprecedented attacks on the fabric of our culture is yet to be determined and will likely pass to our children and grandchildren. My generation has failed its test. The best I can say is, godspeed and following winds. It is unlikely I will see the conclusion.

 

            Comments and contributions from Update no.1041:

Comment to the Blog:

“I look forward to the James Webb Space Telescope’s findings. I’m not astronaut enough to keep Lagrange Point L2 readily in my mind, so I looked it up. ‘A stable orbit well outside Earth’s orbit but parallel to it’ works for me. The NASA description noted that the L2 orbit requires course corrections.

“I’ve been a leftist and a critical thinker for decades. I critique the Establishment. Compare and contrast the U.S. response to the virus to that of any advanced nation and you’ll see my position on that response. Follow the money to understand how that happened. Also, I’m still studying propaganda. I wonder if King Baby’s u-turn on the vaccines will cost him followers.

“I enjoy reading much as you enjoy writing.

“Let me note here that capitalism is an economic system, not a form of government. If the majority in a democracy favors changing capitalism, change it.

“On the discussion of racism: I have a close friend who numbers a couple of immigrants among her other close friends, one from Singapore and the other from Belarus. Both of those friends have asked her about Americans’ pervasive individualism. Could those very sensitive white people be taking personally anti-racist commentaries directed to society as a whole?

“A large majority of conservatives are indeed privileged white people. Those of us who suffer don’t want to keep the status quo.”

My response to the Blog:

There are five Lagrange points where mathematically the gravitational forces balance out, allowing a minimal amount of fuel to maintain position. The “halo orbit” that JWST will use has intrigued me, but it is beyond my knowledge of the physics and mathematics. Although I have not read it anywhere, I suspect the halo orbit is necessary to remain clear of other spacecraft parked at L2. BTW, L1 is used for many sun-observing spacecraft we rely upon today for early warning—solar storms. The JWST has completed the second of three course corrections, deployed its solar array to achieve a power positive state, and deployed the high gain antenna and completed its initial communications tests and checks. Today, L + 3, the JWST should deploy the sunshield pallets in preparation for unfurling the critical sunshield array on L+ 6, which will not be fully deployed and tensioned until L + 7. So far, so good.

As I am sure you well know by now, I am neither leftist nor rightist. I think of my politics being about as close to the middle as possible, although I am tending more to the left these days. Follow the money is always wise counsel. In the instance of U.S. COVID-19 response, the USG was woefully ill-prepared despite the clear warnings from the previous administration. Further, from my perspective, the USG pandemic response was driven to a far greater degree by the demand to feed the ego and narcissism of [the person who shall no longer be named]. To me, he is the primary culprit for the USG’s laissez-faire, every-man-for-himself approach that has resulted in over 800,000 fatalities, a severely taxed medical treatment system, and an active, aggressive resistance to the common good. Yeah, his way-too-late support for vaccinations is illuminated by the boos he heard recently, but I doubt he cares a hoot.

We are a match, then. Thank goodness.

Agreed and supported. I have grown quite tired of the lame excuses for standing by as people suffer. While I support the deployment of more individual socialism and the retraction of so much corporate socialism, I must confess my fear of the autocratic nature of applied socialism and communism. The underlying principles of communism are lofty and worthy; however, the implementation of communistic principles in governance through human history have been tragically destructive, including the PRC, which is currently the longest surviving pseudo-communist regime. For those reasons, I support and advocate for passage of the Build Back Better bill (H.R. 5376, currently in the Senate).

We should ask the immigrant friends of your friend. I cannot imagine why they would feel that burden, but that is just me. Critical Race Theory is not anti-white. It is only history, or at least a perspective of history. There are real reasons a goodly number of white folks truly believe they were blessed by God to enslave people not-like them. After all, slavery was normal and accepted in the days in which the Bible was written. I can find no evidence or even hints that my ancestors (back to 1640) ever owned slaves or condoned slavery. That said, a branch of my paternal family remained in North Carolina and sent another branch to Louisiana, so the potential exists. My branch of the clan began moving west circa 1830 without slaves or any hint of owning slaves. I do feel responsibility for making things right, which unfortunately remains a work in progress rather than an accomplishment. If you do ask the immigrants your question, please share the answer if possible.

Personally, I think your observation is quite plausible and may well be the primary reason the fBICP (former GOP) has embraced white supremacist groups, neo-nationalists, neo-fascists, and insurrection as a means to cling to their waning power and influence. It also explains their unprecedented return to Jim Crow election law restrictions and unconstitutional interjection of the legislature into the election process beyond the all-too-common gerrymandering phenomenon. The Arizona Republic has documented the shift toward the fBICP by the legislature’s gerrymandering efforts. Yes, indeed, those of us who resist the fBICP insurrection activities do not want and cannot support the status quo, set aside the status quo ante they ultimately seek.

 . . . Round two:

“I haven’t moved much at all on the left-right political spectrum, but both major parties have gone further to my right in actual policy, especially economic (versus cultural) policies. You might be experiencing the same phenomenon from a more central position.

“King Baby certainly impeded the USA’s response to COVID, but not only him. Many factors affect our ongoing poor response to the pandemic, not just his huge ego. 

“I’m not sure how you read racism or a ‘burden’ into the immigrants’ questioning of individualism. They merely question why we have no perception of society as a whole having responsibility and deserving allegiance rather than the American approach of 330 million individuals each on our own. The racism and burden come into it because of your other commentator perceiving Black Lives Matter and other protests as a personal attack on him rather than a request for society to address the harm done to them. That also applies to whether your particular family ever owned slaves. My immediate friend’s family emigrated from Poland in the last century, and she doesn’t see herself as part of the larger society in this sense of redress. (I asked her about that in the context of reparations.) My family goes far enough back to have been on both/all sides of issues back to the American Revolution. I believe that I’m a part of the society that owes reparations for harm done regardless of my personal participation.”

 . . . my response to round two:

Well, since you asked (sort of), I think the trend vector of the Democratic Party is left, perhaps not as much as you would prefer but more overtly socialist due in no small measure to Bernie Sanders influence and pressure. From my perspective, the fBICP (former GOP) has a trend vector that has become monstrously right, in fact so big and so far that it has surpassed extreme right into the autocracy and fascist regions beyond right. The former Tea Party fellows, e.g., Jordan, Meadows, Gaetz, et al, have stoked that segment of our society that are prone to white supremacy, neo-fascist ideology, so much so that the good Republicans have been so deeply intimidated into acquiescence and conformance. As a relentless used car salesman, [the person who shall no longer be named] latched onto that reality and put public voice to those elements of American society.

I used the phrase “to a far greater degree” as a form of predominantly. At the bottom line, the USG pandemic response was his responsibility as president. Everyone else in the Executive Branch worked for him.

Oh my, apparently, I misread your paragraph. I did not pick up that the object was individualism rather than an implied comment on Critical Race Theory. I offer my most humble apologies to you for my faux pas. Individualism has always been a feature of American society, largely, I suppose, due to our emphasis on freedom of choice—"Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness.” I would still like to hear their opinion. However, I suggest that Americans with light skin pigmentation who are taking anti-racist commentaries personally may have underlying guilty thoughts. Individualism is a blessing and a curse. We bear witness to the latter in the pandemic tragedy playing out before us. Further, our predominant individualism has been interpreted historically by dictators as weakness. They seem to consistently misread that phenomenon. Historically, a threat to our freedom remains a powerful coherence force that vastly exceeds our individualism, although recently I have begun to question that observation.

I cannot claim to be among the suffering. However, my sympathy and compassion for the suffering has continued to grow. I absolutely agree with your observations, which is precisely why I have been and remain an anti-status-quocitizen. White privilege must end. It is and always has been wrong. Equality is equality, and it is indivisible. When we deny equality to anyone by any one or combination of the social factors, we have denied freedom to all of us. It is unfortunate that too many white folks feel equality is taking something from them. To me, that is a worthy definition of white privilege and an extraordinary reflection of racism itself.

 . . . Round three:

“The talk in the Democratic Party is left these days, but I’ll note that the DNC supported Senators Manchin and Sinema over progressive primary challengers, perhaps anticipating moments such as this one. I’ve heard Democrats back to Bill Clinton saying the right thing but doing something else. Senator Sanders and most of the progressive Democrats like to point out that Sanders is part of a movement, not acting as an individual.

“In editing my prior comment, I took out a sentence about white people having guilt. ‘Real’ men don’t talk about it, but they can be incredibly sensitive.”

 . . . my response to round three:

Perhaps so, I am not privy to the inner workings and hidden mechanisms of either major political party (and I use that term quite loosely with respect to the fBICP [the former GOP]). I only see what is accessible publicly. Thus, I cannot argue with your perspective.

Your observation about white people guilt is consistent with my observations and knowledge. It is certainly my view that those who are the most vociferous against CRT & BLM are most likely in that category.

We shall overcome.

 . . . Round four:

“At least the holiday season is finally over.

“I'm not privy to the inner workings of the major parties either. However, what either of them said is easily compared to their policy accomplishments, and I've been doing that comparison all of my adult life.

“The rain is falling here, but the cold doesn't arrive until tomorrow. After that, the predictions are for our usual inconsistent weather.”

 . . . my response to round four:

Indeed. We slog on.

Agreed. And, what you see as accomplishment, or your expectation of accomplishment may well be different than mine. Legislative compromise in a pluralist society is never pretty, neat, or simple.

Our rain is done and headed your way. Bright sunny clear days now, although a tad on the chilly side for me.

Weather has been inconsistent throughout recorded history and far beyond back to the evolution of the planet.

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)