Update from the Sunland
No.1078
5.9.22 – 11.9.22
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
Our heartfelt condolences to the Royal Family and the British people on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II – Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor. She lived a good and worthy life. May God bless her immortal soul. She reportedly passed peacefully at her beloved Balmoral estate on 8.September.2022. On her passing, her eldest son Charles Philip Arthur George Windsor became King Charles III, 73 years of age.
The British People finally have a new prime minister—Mary Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Truss. After the resignation of Boris Johnson (7.7.2022) [1069], the Conservative Party chose Ms. Truss as their leader, and thus by their ruling majority in the House of Commons, she became prime minister. Her audience with the Queen occurred at Balmoral on 6.September.2022—two days prior to the Queen’s death. The public image of the audience shows the Queen standing with a cane and a nice smile. She did not appear to be ailing. The photograph is public testament to the Queen’s dedication to public service.
Well, well, well! The Government of Poland announced the selection of the Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopter for its new attack helicopter fleet.
The follow-up news items:
-- Ah, yes, the gift that keeps on giving. [The person who shall no longer be named] filed suit in Florida—Trump v. United States [USDC SDFL WPBD Case no. 22-81294-cv-AMC]. He petitioned the court for a special master and an independent review of documents and materials removed from Mar-a-Lago during the FBI warranted search [1074]. Judge Aileen Mercedes Cannon granted the petition for a special master. She also temporarily halted the use of those documents and materials for the on-going criminal investigation. She recounted some of the chronological facts.
What the judge failed to recognize or acknowledge in her order was all of the legal wrangling could have and would have been avoided if he had simply abided the law and returned the documents and materials removed erroneously from the White House in January or then again in June. He chose not to do so. He brought all of this on himself, the judge ignored the facts and reality.
Former attorney general Bill Barr declared that Judge Cannon’s order was wrong on many aspects and encouraged the Justice Department to appeal the judge’s order. The legal to & fro began immediately. Judge Cannon’s inordinate deference to the former president has given him exactly what he wants—extension. So far, it appears Attorney General Garland has not yet decided to appeal Judge Cannon’s order. My recommendation: file an appeal of the entire order immediately. Do not waste more time negotiating with a criminal.
The single, simple, cold fact is, [the person who shall no longer be named] could have and would have avoided all of this confrontation and embarrassment if he had simply not absconded with documents, classified and unclassified, that belonged to the USG by law. And failing that milestone, if he had simply returned all of the materials to the USG. He chose not to do so, and in fact, he repeatedly defied the law and repeated attempt to enforce the law in a gentlemanly manner. [The person who shall no longer be named] chose not to do so. He even defied a grand jury subpoena and ordered his lackey attorney to falsify the certification. Judge Cannon refused to acknowledge the USG’s extraordinary deference to the former president and repeated efforts to recover the classified documents he had absolutely no right to hold and the presidential records that by law belong in the National Archive—not his office. The FBI naturally gathered up personal materials during the search since they were mixed in together. There is also an established process by law for him to recover those personal items from the FBI and USG (National Archive). But as we know by Article 99 of the Constitution, no law, procedure, process, rule, guideline, precedent, or tradition applies to that man—the rest of us, yes, but not him. He is special!
-- After two failed attempts to launch (so far) [1077] the Space Launch System (SLS) Artemis I mission, NASA announced the next launch attempt that is now scheduled for Monday, 19.September.2022. Then, after writing the previous sentence early in the week, the next launch date has bounced back to uncertainty. As of the publication of this week’s edition of the Update from the Sunland, the next launch attempt is now stated as not earlier than 23.September.2022. NASA has decided to perform a complete fueling test to validate the repairs, and then they intend to secure a waiver of a critical safety system—the Flight Termination System (FTS). The FTS is designed and intended to destroy the rocket if it veers off course during launch. NASA has already one FTS test extension for this SLS vehicle. The range criteria require the FTS to be tested every 25 days. The FTS test necessitates the rocket to be rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). If a waiver of the FTS test is not granted, the next launch attempt would be further delayed to October or later. We shall continue to pay attention to their progress.
-- It seems President Biden’s Philadelphia primetime speech [1077] has touched off a far broader crisis of public debate. More than a few citizens have gotten their feathers ruffled by the president’s effort to segregate the so-called “MAGA Republicans” from regular Republicans. It further seems the “MAGA Republicans” desperately want to hold onto their mainstream status protected by ihr Anführer. He is no longer in power by a proper constitutional election. The “MAGA Republicans” refuse and apparently are incapable of recognizing that the majority of American citizens rejected ihr Anführer. Time to grow up and accept reality—“MAGA Republicans” are a waning minority. So, I say to all “MAGA Republicans,” abandon your foolish, unconstitutional, notions of power and rejoin the law-abiding citizens of the United States of America. If not, you will continue to be marginalized and banished to the periphery of American society. Either support and defend the Constitution or be relegated to the dustbin of history along with other radical fringe groups like the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Brotherhood, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Neo-Nazis, Three Percenters, et al ad infinitum ad nauseum. This is a free society. Your choice.
The New York Times reported on a dark joke circulating among lawyers following the mounting legal, civil and criminal cases and investigations against [the person who shall no longer be named]: MAGA actually stands for “making attorneys get attorneys.” How true! How true! And yet, his believers give him their blind loyalty, which makes that devotion so sad. The selfish, narcissistic con-man does not deserve even a sliver of that devotion. However, in a free society, every citizen remains free to believe what they wish and support whomever they wish, no matter how bad—a genuine tragedy for this once grand republic.
President Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy of Ukraine accused the Russians of using the six-reactor Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station as a nuclear weapon by their staging weapons and supplies at the site and conducting offensive operations from the plant (artillery). He is spot on correct. Any compromise of the six-reactor cooling and control systems would likely result in radiation release similar to Chernobyl [1986]. Radiation release by any means is essentially a dirty bomb with a large-scale effect, i.e., a nuclear weapon. To me, what Putin is doing is a crime against humanity . . . beyond a war crime.
One of the numerous digital history sources I routinely visit or subscribe to is History Today. An item in this week’s newsletter caught my attention.
“Has a War on Drugs Ever Been Won? – Society’s battle against what Richard Nixon called ‘public enemy number one’ is an ancient one. Is there any sense in fighting?”
History Today
Published in History Today Volume 72 Issue 9 September 2022
Interesting observations. My answer to the subtitle query is NO!
I have long confessed my initial support for President Nixon’s “war on drugs.” I simply did not know any better. Somewhere roughly a decade later, I began a protracted process of questioning the cost-benefit assessment. My conclusion: the cost vastly exceeds any potential benefit.
We can have freedom or moral projection prohibition. We cannot have both. Prohibition requires all of us giving up too much freedom. As for me, I say no, not worth the sacrifice. Rather than prohibition, I believe we should make consumption as safe as possible. Let the consumers do what they wish. Just do not involve the rest of us. If you do not like the effects of psychotropic substance consumption, do not take any of them.
I attempted to define a different societal approach to deal with psychotropic substance consumption AND respect every citizen’s fundamental right to privacy and freedom of choice. If anyone has even a sliver of curiosity about what might be a better method of dealing with drug consumption other than prohibition, I encourage you to read Indulgence[1027].
http://www.parlier.com/indulgence.html
If anyone has a better idea, I am all ears! We simply cannot continue to do what we have always done (at least for the last 50+ years) and expect a different result. Let us grow up, evolve, and move on.
Fox News commentator Geraldo Rivera, a long-time Republican and supporter of [the person who shall no longer be named] finally reached his threshold of tolerance. He tweeted:
Election Deniers depress me. I blame President Trump for his shameful campaign to slander and undermine American faith in our elections.
For all his positive accomplishments, and there are many, I could never support him again.
Without fealty to the Constitution, we’re 2d rate.
1:40 PM · Sep 7, 2022
I suspect he just got “unfriended” for that one.
Former secretaries of defense and chairmen of the joint chiefs of staff wrote a precise and cogent open letter to the United States of America. Every citizen, or even citizens of other countries who cherish freedom, should read the letter carefully. While the military offices must be and remain apolitical, the secretaries are both Republican and Democrat, and several served presidents of the opposite party from their own. There is a lesson in that simple fact alone. Here is the title and URL for the letter:
“TO SUPPORT AND DEFEND: PRINCIPLES OF CIVILIAN CONTROL AND BEST PRACTICES OF CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS”
Published: September 6, 2022
The letter was signed by:
Signatories:
Former Secretaries of Defense:
Dr. Ashton Baldwin Carter, PhD (Theoretical Physics)
William Sebastian Cohen
Dr. Mark Thomas Esper, PhD (Public Policy)
Dr. Robert Michael Gates, PhD (Russian and Soviet History)
Charles Timothy Hagel
General James Norman Mattis, USMC (Ret.)
Leon Edward Panetta, JD
Dr. William James Perry, PhD (Mathematics)
Former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:
General Martin Edward Dempsey, USA (Ret.) [USMA 1974]
General Joseph Francis Dunford Jr., USMC (Ret.)
Admiral Michael Glenn Mullen, USN (Ret.) [USNA 1968]
General Richard Bowman Myers, USAF (Ret.)
General Peter Pace, USMC (Ret.) [USNA 1967]
They noted, “Many of the factors that shape civil-military relations have undergone extreme strain in recent years.” Extreme strain . . . indeed. There is only one flawed man who shoulders the entire blame and culpability for that extreme strain. We must learn and improve from this jarring tragedy in our glorious history. Most of us who have served in uniform under arms know these principles by heart and soul. Yet, in these troubled times, I laud the initiative of these men to clearly and precisely denote these foundational principles of our nation.
Comments and contributions from Update no.1077:
Comment to the Blog:
“I applaud NASA for the diligence they show in the process. They’re an example to more earthbound engineers.
“I excuse your sarcasm today because it expresses so precisely the attitude of King Baby and his more delusional followers. In a rational world, he’d be in custody to prevent him from doing anything more with classified documents and his associates would suffer close surveillance. Also, there could be connections to Jeffrey Epstein’s operation. Ghislaine Maxwell’s father worked with Mossad. Who can say what happened with all of those powerful men?”
My response to the Blog:
Yes, indeed, they are practicing the aviator’s old adage—better safe than sorry. It is an ambitious mission with many firsts. They will take flight when they are ready. We should have the DART impact later this month.
Yes, agreed; I thought so as well. Other citizens have gone to prison for many years for doing far less. Good query, but no evidence I can think of. Epstein nurtured many prominent friends. Chump could easily be one of those; it was his modus operandi, but we do not need another conspiracy theory. We need facts.
. . . follow-up comment:
“We may never have many facts about Epstein's operations. Indeed, I'm surprised that Ghislaine Maxwell lives on. (I wish her well.) I just wonder how long the echoes of that will affect national affairs.”
. . . my follow-up response:
Yeah, not likely. The collateral reverberations from that episode may well bounce around for years or a generation. But, we do not see proper digging because most folks want it to go away.
My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
2 comments:
Good Monday, Cap,
Selling weapons to Poland and others is about great profits for the military-industrial complex. Strategic objectives, if any, are secondary.
I can’t imagine how executive privilege can apply to one who is not the executive. Let’s get on with the prosecution. Lawyers, like other contracted helpers, lose their loyalty if not paid. King Baby’s habit is not paying the help.
“Wars” on concepts can’t be won. A public health approach to drugs and various other issues will pay off better. See Portugal for a good example.
Have a good day,
Calvin
Good morning to you, Calvin,
I do not share your cynicism about the military-industrial complex. President Eisenhower used the words ‘guard against’ and the meaning of the applicable words in his farewell address was ‘beware.’ He did not say abandon or dismantle the military-industrial complex. His caution was well-founded in direct knowledge of what he saw. In the instance of Poland’s security, I do believe the need for such a sophisticated weapon system is warranted and justified given Russia’s current unprovoked aggression in a neighboring sovereign state and Russia’s activities to destabilize Eastern Europe. I will also note that Russia is already on Poland’s border—Kaliningrad Oblast. Thus, I cannot agree that this action is simply some endeavor for great profit.
I am having exactly the same doubts and skepticism about the former fellow’s lame claims of ‘executive privilege.’ The Supreme Court has been very clear in that executive privilege and other protections for a sitting president have limited extension to a former president, and those protections cannot mask criminal conduct regardless of his status. Nixon induced those judgments, so at least they are established. The last guy found another packet of tools to carry out his confidence man activities, and the Justice Department is whittling away at those tools. I share your frustration with the perceived slowness of the Garland Justice Department, but there are signs the vice continues to ratchet closed on him. Just yesterday, the Justice Department issued 30 subpoenas to many of the man’s enablers and confederates complicit in the BIG LIE, which suggests to me that the federal prosecutors are concentrating their focus. Yes, indeed! That man has a very long history of stiffing those who do work for him—five (5) bankruptcies. And lawyers are no different; he does not respect them (or anyone other than himself), he only uses them and throws them away. “Making Attorneys Get Attorneys” indeed!
We are in absolute agreement on that observation. I would only add regulation to your public health approach. To me, public health includes regulation of consumable quality, purity, and uniformity. More fatalities have recently been reported from contamination of consumables with fentanyl—unregulated production. The Press and public blame the consumable, but it was the contamination that caused death. Fifty years of history has validated my hypothesis that prohibition cannot and never will diminish consumption, just as it did not with alcohol or tobacco. Knowledge is an infinitely more powerful tool than ignorance as Nixon administration Controlled Substances Act took. Portugal is a shining light of hope, and they have taken a more enlightened path in dealing with psychotropic substance consumption. However, to my thinking, they have not gone far enough, but their success speaks for itself. We are very long overdue for reform and a more intelligent and respectful approach to psychotropic substance consumption. We need to grow—knowledge over ignorance.
“That’s just my opinion, but I could be wrong.”
Have a great day. Take care and enjoy.
Cheers,
Cap
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