Update no.1088

Update from the Sunland

No.1088

14.11.22 – 20.11.22

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

 

To all,

 

Finally! On Wednesday, 16.November.2022, at 01:47 [R] EST (06:47 [Z] GMT), NASA lit the candle. Artemic I Space Launch System (SLS) successfully took flight on its uncrewed 25-day mission to orbit the moon and returned to an unusually high speed reentry and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego. The nighttime launch precluded seeing anything other than the rocket engine plumes . . . well actually, the two attached solid rocket boosters provided sufficient temperature and pressure to render the four RS-25 engine exhaust plumes invisible. The launch appeared to be nominal. By the time of publication of this week’s Update edition, the Orion spacecraft has arrived at the moon and begun a complex orbiting test. Artemis II is the first manned mission scheduled for May 2024; they will orbit but not land. Artemis III, the first human return to the moon’s surface is currently planned for a year after the second mission.

 

The follow-up news items:

-- The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Kelli Ward to keep her telephone records from scrutiny by the HSCJ6—Ward v. Thompson [598 U.S. 22A350 (2022)] [1085]. Arizona fBICP (GOP) Chair Kelli Ward, née Kaznoski, This is another defeat for the election deniers, and I suspect the HSCJ6 will gain a substantial amount of important information for their investigation. Ward exercised her constitutional right to due process. She lost. We will eventually know more about her contribution to the insurrection.

-- The 2022 election results in Arizona will not be official and closed until Monday, 5.December.2022. Most of the Arizona races have been declared for senator, governor, secretary of state, and others. The race for attorney general is 600 votes apart (0.02%), triggering an automatic recount. Regrettably, the U.S. representative for the 1^st District, the precinct in which we live, has been declared for incumbent—fBICP MAGA election denier Schwikert [982]. He is not a political activist; he is just a corrupt un-convicted criminal. The genuine embarrassment for the State of Arizona is Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, both ran unopposed. Go figure! What does that say about some Arizona residents and voters? 

-- On Tuesday, the 15^th, a missile was fired and impacted near Przewodow, Poland, killing two local citizens. Poland invoked Article 4 of the NATO Charter for the first time since 9/11, requesting consultations among the member nations. Some claimed it was an intentional provocation by the Russians, seeking to draw NATO and the United States into Putin’s war in Ukraine [1050]. The Russians denied they fired the missile . . . of course they did. Public sources indicate the missile was a Russian made weapon. Initial assessment indicates it was likely fired from Ukrainian territory and may have been an anti-aircraft weapon that did not hit its target. That sounds like a plausible explanation, given the fact that the Russians fired 100 plus missiles across Ukraine, and the Ukrainians fired anti-aircraft weapons to intercept the Russian weapons. One of those defensive weapons apparently went astray.

The size of the crater in Poland bothers me more than a little. Most anti-aircraft weapons do not carry that much explosive. They are not penetrative weapons. They function by spread a rapidly expanding cloud of shrapnel, and those bits of metal are intended to shotgun a target aircraft or missile, as the technique was graphically displayed in the case of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 [657]—a Russian weapon fired by the Russians from Ukrainian territory.

-- On Tuesday, 15.November.2022, [the person who shall no longer be named] [705] publicly announced at Mar-a-Lago his third run for the presidency. Typical to the man, his speech was replete with falsehoods and outright lies. With all the criminal investigations swirling around him, he had the utter audacity to claim, “I’m a victim.” It was a grotesquely lackluster performance, even for him. He is so freakin’ uncomfortable, awkward and gawky using a teleprompter. 

Rupert Murdoch reportedly said, “The best way to upset Donald Trump is to not say his name.” And that is precisely why I decided years ago to never utter his name again. The man does not deserve recognition. He is a pariah—plain and simple. Yet, today, he is a declared candidate for president and a not-yet-indicted accused criminal.

 

On Friday, Attorney General Garland announced his appointment of a special counsel to manage the federal investigations and prosecutions of the former president. Garland cited the former president’s announcement for another candidacy as one of the major factors contributing to his decision. He appointed career prosecutor John L. ‘Jack’ Smith to be Special Counsel for the United States Department of Justice. Smith is charged with handling the Justice Department investigations associated with the January 6^th insurrection and the Mar-a-Lago classified document seizures. We took another step closer to the end.

From my perspective, that is precisely why [the person who shall no longer be named] chose Tuesday to announce his candidacy. He wants the added pressure on the prosecution of a presidential candidacy or even better for him, as hopefully a sitting president. I suspect he may be a little late for that effect.

 

Now that democracy prevailed in the recent election, and We, the People, decided (for the most part) to reject autocracy or worse a dictatorship, I am reminded of our cornerstone document—the Declaration of Independence. As our forefathers grappled with the severance of political ties to Great Britain, the Second Continental Congress established The Committee of Five to draft the declaratory document of our separation from Great Britain. The members of The Committee of Five were:

-- John Adams of Massachusetts – later the second president

-- Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania – one of the most famous intellectuals among the Founding Fathers, whose academic writings and press publications had a very significant influence in the American Revolution, the only person to sign the Declaration of Independence, Treaty of Alliance with France, Treaty of Paris, and U.S. Constitution

-- Thomas Jefferson of Virginia –later the third president

-- Robert Livingston of New York, who later served as the first United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs, administered the presidential oath of office George Washington, and negotiated the Louisiana Purchase as the minister to France

-- Roger Sherman of Connecticut – the only person to sign all four of the U.S. state papers: the Continental Association, the Declaration, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution.

They wrote:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

The Declaration is not a legal document as is the U.S. Constitution and laws passed by Congress and approved by the president. However, the Declaration defines the foundation, the basis, of the Republic. They said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident” meaning everyone knows them; they do not need to be written down. We are “endowed by [our] Creator,” meaning above all laws instituted by men, with “certain unalienable Rights.” The dictionary definition of ‘inalienable’ means “unable to be taken away from or given away by the possessor.”         The Committee of Five included “among these” means precisely that “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” are not all inclusive; it also means there are other inalienable rights that are self-evident and above the law.

For a broad host of reasons, I think The Committee of Five and the Founders believed privacy and freedom of choice were among those inalienable rights endowed by our Creator to all human beings above human laws. I have long considered myself a state’s right persons. I believe states should decide what matters in the public domain of their jurisdictions like speed limits, spitting on sidewalks, littering, et al ad infinitum. The states, or the federal government, have no right or authority to infringe upon our individual inalienable rights.

The conservative justices sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court bench have been tinkering with and whittling away on our inalienable rights. They stand upon 9^th Amendment: 

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Which by the conservative interpretation means the federal government has no authority beyond the written words of the Constitution. From my perspective, they use their interpretation when it is convenient to their intentions. For example, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission [558 U.S. 310 (2010)] [424], the Supremes declared that money is speech, and therefore covered under the 1^st Amendment. With respect, it is NOT. Money is just another form of royalty, i.e., one person is better, more privileged, than another person because of who his parents were or how much money he has. WRONG!!!! “All men are created equal” meaning there is no birth right and it does not matter how much money you have. To that end, corporations are NOT citizens; they have no rights. They are governed solely by the common law from their creation and operation to their dissolution.

The Declaration of Independence may not be common law, but it is the best document we have to illuminate our rights beyond the Constitution and common law. Unfortunately, it will be up to us—We, the People—to enforce our inalienable rights. We can no longer depend upon the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1087:

Comment to the Blog:

“You have my sympathy for your state election officials. In the years since 45POTUS lost the 2020 election, no evidence of misconduct has been submitted to the many courts involved. Enough already.

“Caution and climate change have dampened NASA’s speed and public relations compared to the ‘60s and’70s, but I’ll take scientific and technical progress over awe-inspiring imagery.

“I favor the referendum and initiative process when done reasonably well. For example, Kansans and residents of several other States have voted in favor of abortion rights despite some of those being ‘red’ States according to the pundits.”

My response to the Blog:

I am with you. Enough already! Unfortunately, the election deniers are a determined lot. Some of them garnered sufficient votes to induce a re-count before the results can be certified official and conclusive. Further, we have others, like Kari Lake, who refuse to concede the election at least until every single ballot is counted (which is her right, I must say). Yet, when the gap between candidates exceeds the votes to be counted there is no way to win. Yes, you are spot on correct. There have been a lot of sound and fury accusations, but no hard evidence to even reach “probable cause,” set aside “beyond a reasonable doubt.” There is NO substance, just hot air, like far too many conspiracy theories.

I am not sure what you are referring to with your “caution and climate change” regarding NASA. Substance is far better than imagery. However, imagery often gives us new perspectives of the world around us. Case in point, the James Webb Space Telescope—may the wonders never cease.

My point on the referendum process was, it is so easily abused. Voting for the denial of rights to other citizens is NOT some beauty contest or popularity question. Some rights are inalienable. But, there are very few if any constraints on the referendum process. The tyranny of a willful minority or even a majority should be feared. Semper Vigilans. I am not opposed to the referendum process; I am just very cautious and reserved about it. I do my homework before I vote. Others do not. I do not want my rights to be at the whim of emotion.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“Here in Ohio, we have plenty of restraints on the referendum process and movement toward more. We’re not trying to deny anyone’s rights except the voters ourselves. Our legislature is attempting to require referenda to pass by a 60% ‘super-majority’ rather than a simple majority. That would, of course, be another limitation on progress in a state where those in charge want to go backward, not forward.

“We have gone from mild September weather to typical January overnight on November 10-11. However, lake effect snow often stays north of us, as it is now. We’re having flurries and freezing temperatures. I’ll stay warm and dry except for going out to live my life, probably on foot.”

 . . . along with my follow-up response:

You are fortunate in Ohio. Other state residents are not so blessed. That is the ultimate point of my comments. Inalienable rights are not divisible . . . by state borders or any other incisive. Either we are Americans, or we are not.

The super-majority is yet one more means to limit change—the conservative’s ultimate objective, i.e., preserve what they have, no change. Yes, absolutely! I conservatives want to go back to a time when they controlled life as we know it—no change, no progress, no advancement.

 

Another contribution:

“Good afternoon Cap. Things slowly returning to normality! I’M LOST with your politics currently, just read Nancy Pelosi is stepping down-need an update bud.”

My reply:

Armistice Day is always a very busy time of the year for you. I am so glad things are returning to normal as winter approaches.

Heck, my friend, I live here and I am lost most of the time. Trying to keep up with politics is a full-time, obsessive endeavor. I do as much as I can and often not enough. But, I have other research and writing projects that I prefer to spent my time doing.

Nancy Patricia Pelosi, née D'Alesandro, 82 years of age, first entered the U.S. House of Representatives on 2.June.1987, for the then 5^th District of California (San Francisco). She became the first female Speaker of the House on 4.January.2007. For perhaps many reasons, not least of which is her age, she has decided to step down from leadership positions; she will remain the elected representative for the now 12^th District of California. I do believe she will remain a presence in the House. She has chosen to leave leadership on her terms rather than forced out as Kevin McCarthy claims.

I hope this helps. Any questions, just shoot.

 . . . with follow-up comment:

“Evening Cap. Thanks for your reply-yes this a moving and busy time of the year for us and rightly so.

“We read the names of the fallen since 1918-fotunately our small village has not lost one serviceman since 1945 but some have and another name is added to their war memorials.

“This small village alone has lost a total of 27 servicemen. I’m unsure of the population of that period but it’s only 2000+ now. Yes it must have been utterly an devastating period for our predecessors. Ghastly. And so it is so utterly important that we remember what they did for us.

“Thanks for the government update- she was one of your politicians that I felt really comfortable with. I can understand her perhaps wishing to stand down.”

 . . . along with my follow-up reply:

Remembering is so important. Out of curiosity, do you have an heir-apparent for the works of remembrance you and others perform? Many of us try to remember in the best manner we can.

The sacrifices of my forefathers are on the walls of our home.

I have lived a comparatively vagabond life. We have been in our current village for only four years. We continue to learn more every day.

History is another form of remembering. People have been passing down their history to their children for hundreds of millennia and recording that history for six thousand of those years. It is the remembering that has inspired my writing of the To So Few stories. Nothing is perfect, but I do my best.

Yes, she is often been maligned by one tribe, but her contributions to this once grand republic are undeniable regardless of one’s tribe. Yes, absolutely, she has earned her retirement. God bless her.

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)