Update no.1158

 Update from the Sunland

No.1158

18.3.24 – 24.3.24

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

 

To all,

 

The follow-up news items:

-- In a court filing, [the person who shall no longer be named] claimed he was unable to produce the US$464M bond in his civil fraud case—New York v. Trump [NYSCEF Index No. 452564/2022] [1133]. He approached 30 insurance bond underwriters and none of them—not a one—would give him a US$464M bond for various reasons not least of which was the overvaluation of his proposed collateral properties. The filing means he will not be able to appeal since he has not fulfilled the district court’s order, and he is quite likely to face another court order to cease assets that have a net worth totaling the amount of the court order. He started whining that those “valuable” properties would be sold at fire sale prices if the government seized them and sold them.

Later in the week, Tiny publicly claimed he had US$500M in cash, but he chose not to spend this cash on a frivolous and false court judgment. If Tiny does not post the court-ordered US$464M bond tomorrow, he is quite likely to find out who has primacy in his business fraud court case. Stay tuned!

 

On Friday, gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons in advance of a concert at the 6,200-seat Crocus City Hall in Moscow. As of Sunday evening, 137 have been killed and 100+ wounded or injured in the attack. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Greater Khorsan (ISIL-K) immediately claimed credit for the attack. Yes, ISIL terror attacks continue although not at the frequency they once did. What makes this attack different is Putin’s determination to pin this attack on Ukraine, which has denied any involvement in the attack. Frankly, Ukraine is far more believable than Putin for a host of reasons. The Russians did not deserve at attack like this. They did not instigate the invasion of Ukraine. The United States provided intelligence of an imminent terror attack that the Russian government reportedly discounted as misinformation intended to provoke Russia. My sincere condolences go to the families and friends of the deceased and injured in the attack. May God bless them all. The four primary shooters were captured and arrested. I hope and trust the perpetrators feel the full weight of the justice they deserve.

 

Well, wonder of wonders, Congress finally passed the second half of a proper appropriations bill . . . six months late . . . but hey, better late than never. The bill—Making further consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and for other purposes [PL 118-xxx; H.R.2882 Senate: 74-24-0-2(0); House: 350-58-0-22(5); 137 Stat. xxx]—has been presented to the president but not yet signed. This latest action is two weeks after the president signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 [1156]. Both funding bills were bipartisan efforts. Neither bill provides the necessary supplemental funding support for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, and the Gaza Palestinians. They say that is to come. At the bottom line, at the least the federal government is properly funded until the end of September. Then, the process starts all over again this summer. And so it goes!

 

Of course, the so-called  “Freedom Caucus” was not pleased that “their” speaker” facilitated and agreed to a compromise that led to the appropriations bills noted above. Being upset as they as they are, they got their angry crazy white woman—Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia—file a motion to vacate the speaker’s position just as they had done with the previous speaker [1134]. The Freedom Caucus is not about conservatism, or the Constitution, or any other recognizable trait other than chaos, which, by the way, fits in perfectly with ihr Lieber Anführer. I laud Speaker Johnson, although I strongly disagree with many of his political positions; both appropriations bills were passed by substantial bipartisan margins. Whether Johnson can convince enough Democrats to stand with him to stop the motion to vacate is yet to be seen. One thing for certain, the last thing we need right now is chaos. We need order, stability, and calm. There are far too many on-going sh*t-shows in this country and the world for more chaos. Regardless, we shall endure and persevere.

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1157:

Comment to the Blog:

“How much profit is SpaceX making from the taxpayers?

“It’s nice that Boeing’s failings are finally catching up with them, but let’s not let that industry shrink to one manufacturer, Airbus. Everything about aerospace and/or the military-industrial complex needs re-thinking.

“Egregious failures of parenting, as in the Crumbley case, should result in criminal charges. However, we should be cautious about regulating ordinary parenting.

“Tiny knows exactly how to manipulate the MAGAts, although I suspect he’s losing a few. The rest of the electorate needs to listen to those threats. They’re more than hints.”

My response to the Blog:

I have no idea. SpaceX is one of the companies that are a vital support for the Artemis missions to produce a permanent settlement on the Moon and Mars, so I would imagine they have contractual or grant arrangements with the USG.

It was bound to happen. We were lucky more innocent people have not died by the foolish, myopic, incompetency of past and current management. Yes, absolutely, we do not need less competition. We need a strong Boeing. Unfortunately, that is not what we have today.

The Crumbley’s are not the first parents who have failed society. Like you, I do not want the government involved in parenting any more than I want bureaucrats involved in making our medical decisions. I think the societal message here is, there were public signs that Nathan was having trouble. Those signs were ignored. The parents are ultimately responsible.

Oh my, yes he does, and yes, absolutely, we need to listen and pay attention. Yes, they are more than just hints . . . just like “Stand down and stand by.” He likes to mask his meaning in ambiguous context, but his true believers know exactly what he means. He must be stopped before he does more serious damage to our once grand republic. We need a time to heal and build, but we will be unable to do so as long as Tiny is able to spew his vile worthless snake-oil elixir on prone citizens.

 . . . Round two:

“SpaceX will eventually stand as an example of the dangers of privatization via agency capture. Missions to colonize places beyond Earth are folly while Earth herself is in danger.

“Aerospace needs much better reforms than ‘a strong Boeing.’ I would joyfully watch Boeing go under if legitimate competition arose and regulation was imposed on the entire industry. Oligarchy and monopolies endanger the nation.

“‘Stand down and stand by’ is a military command and wouldn’t be directly understood as such by most Americans. ‘There will be a bloodbath’ is very clear. Whether his delusional followers could carry it out is another question, but the attempt would be a disaster in its own right.”

 . . . my response to round two:

Perhaps . . . only time will tell. So far, they are doing a bang-up job of development. They are safely and effectively launching multiple scientific, commercial, cargo, and personnel spacecraft at an increasing rate. I do not agree with your statement that space habitation programs are folly. I believe such endeavors are as necessary as the Lewis & Clark expedition and the westward migration efforts.

Replacing Boeing would not be easy and would likely take generations to accomplish, and the market may have irreparably shifted in that amount of time. Yes, oligarchies and monopolies do in fact endanger the nation in a variety of ways.

Yes, exactly. But, the context of his “coded” message was buried sufficiently to raise reasonable doubt. Once more, he will get away with a morally irresponsible statement. I suspect there are those out there who are planning and preparing for trigger activation at the appropriate time. Semper vigilantis!

 . . . Round three:

“We shall see about SpaceX. And I still think we’d better keep the planet we have livable rather than try to abandon it. It’s a priority thing.

“Setting up another company to replace Boeing wouldn’t address the systemic issues or the underlying monopolistic economy. Think more broadly. Aerospace is obvious because of the crashes, but most of our industries are consolidated and harmful to everyone but the wealthiest owners.

“Tiny’s recent message wasn’t coded at all. ‘If I’m not elected, there will be a bloodbath’ is a clear threat. I have no idea why he wasn’t charged with sedition.”

 . . . my response to round three:

Yes, indeed! We must take care of the planet we have, but that does not preclude exploration and habitation of other celestial bodies. We can walk and chew gum.

Point taken. Competition is essential to a viable capitalistic society. I am thinking beyond Boeing, which might not survive.

Wait now, you are putting me in the position of defending Tiny, and I do not like that position. You and I read it that way, but others will stand on context. He was indeed talk about foreign auto imports and the U.S. auto industry. Even in context, “bloodbath” is not a word any president and presidential candidate would ever use . . . except for Little Fingers. Taken either way, the statement was wrong. I condemn his statement in anyway he wants to cast it. It was wrong, period, full stop.

 . . . Round four:

“We have a budget deficit and ordinary taxpayers deserve a break. We can spend money on SpaceX and other ego projects or try to keep the planet we’re on habitable. If we want both of those, we need to find money elsewhere. I could go for a defense budget no more than twice as big as the second-largest other nation’s budget, but I know that’s not a popular position. We could try to pursue billionaires’ money, but they control the government.

“Tiny isn't a clear speaker. He’s a demagogue, and there’s no telling what is actually in his mind when he speaks. It’s possible he meant to talk about the auto industry, but you and I know his followers didn’t hear it that way.”

 . . . my response to round four:

“Ego projects” . . . I think not. I might accept that moniker for Virgin Galactic, but not SpaceX or Blue Origins. The latter two are development projects in direct support of the NASA Artemis program to send humans back to the Moon and onto Mars. Those are legitimate space exploration endeavors. Taxation is the power to destroy. As such, there must be balance between too much and not enough. Clearly, with all the deductions enabled and allowed by Congress over the years, many, if not most or all, pay a lower effective rate than you or me. Many of those deductions are for the wealthy not for common citizens. I would like to start at taxing the wealthy at least at the effective rate of most citizens. We can go from there.

Tiny has never been a good orator. He was talking about the foreign auto imports, but he chose the word “country” in his bloodbath statement; that is not the auto industry. He does not get a pass for his poor juvenile use of the English language. Yes, exactly, he speaks to his core followers and could not care less for the rest of us. But, it still comes down to who votes In November.  As of today, he is ahead of Biden and everyone else in the national polls for the Electoral College count.

 . . . Round five:

“I'll note that who votes in November can be influenced by the Democrats, but they'll have to offer ordinary Americans more than they have since Clinton (who didn't fulfill his promises).”

 . . . my response to round five,

I understand and appreciate the argument. At the end of the day, we deserve what comes. I can only say, no one is perfect. We are all flawed. As in the last two presidential elections, we have been faced with a choice between an anti-democracy authoritarian wannabe and an old school, give-and-take compromise. So, we are on course for a “three-peat.” If Biden wins, it will be his last term of office. If Tiny wins, he will strive mightily to extend his term of office or repeal the 22^nd Amendment. To me, we are faced with an obscene choice—peace & calm versus chaos. The choice is ours.

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

 

Another contribution:

“‘morning Cap-unfortunately this individual is still cluttering our news headlines and will. I fear, do so for some time.”

URL:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68577638?xtor=ES-208-[70786_BBCNews_USElectionUnspun_Cohort_008_200324]-20240321-[bbcnews_donaldtrumptrialsanthonyzurcher_newsus]

My reply:

Unfortunate indeed! His legal woes and maneuvering will occupy our Press for at least the next year or more depending upon his success in delaying trials. Add in political and other nonsense, he seeks to dominate the news as long as he possibly can. He has a major deadline this coming Monday. If he does not post bond by Monday, NY AG James can begin seizing his "assets." It is going to be a rough road ahead for all of us.

 . . . follow-up comment:

“Thanks Cap-could I ask please-the meaning of ‘post bond’?”

Yes, absolutely. "Post bond" is an alternative to placing the cash in escrow pending his appeals.  He does not have that amount of cash. So he must raise a bond, which means he obtains a guarantee, usually from a bond insurance company, for the full amount of the judgment. The insurance companies have said, no thanks, we do not believe your valuation of the assets offered, i.e., 30 different bond insurance companies declared Tiny could not meet the bond assurance requirements. It sounds rather convoluted, but it is actually straightforward. The other way to look at this kerfuffle is that Tiny is NOT worth what he says he is.

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)

Update no.1157

 Update from the Sunland

No.1157

11.3.24 – 17.3.24

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

 

To all,

 

On Thursday morning, at 06:25 [T] MST, Thursday, 14.March.2024, SpaceX launched its IFT-3 mission. Starship 28 was stacked on top of Booster 10 for IFT-3. They got farther through the mission profile than on any previous mission but not far enough. All 33 booster engines fired off and performed nominally during ascent to staging. The hot staging appeared to go off without a hitch, unlike IFT-1 & IFT-2. The booster center engines successfully relit in sequence and maneuvered the massive booster to its return to base attitude, including return burn and descent attitude. The booster seemed to be nominal until the engines started to relight for the landing burn while penetrating a cloud deck. The grid fins worked very hard and fast but ultimately failed to align the booster, and the necessary maneuvering engines failed to light and remain lit during the final flight phase of flight. The booster was lost at the very end. Starship 28 successfully completed the risky hot staging with all six motors, three standard (sea level) Raptors, and three vacuum nozzle Raptors, lighting on command during staging. The spacecraft achieved suborbital velocity and apparently successfully accomplished its space tasks up to but not including the space relight of the engines. I suspect they were beginning to lose control of the vehicle and could not properly orient the craft for the engine relight test. Starship 28 was on a trajectory to reenter without the engine relight test, so it reentered the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean. SpaceX provided a remarkable streaming video from the forward port stabilizer fin looking aft to the rear port stabilizer fin throughout the flight including a goodly portion of the reentry. The vehicle appeared to have lost quite a few insulation tiles prior to and during reentry. The video also suggests they failed to maintain proper attitude control prior to and during reentry, exposing unshielded portions of the spacecraft to reentry heating. We saw the atmospheric plasma field around the aft portion of the vehicle during reentry down to 75 kilometers of altitude. The super-heated plasma field was magnificent to watch, and I look forward to additional opportunities. The starship appeared to reenter sideways rather than level, nose high, and suffered what SpaceX prefers to call a “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” AKA an inflight breakup. One fact is certainly noted, SpaceX got farther along the mission profile than on the first two test flights. I suspect SpaceX will quickly correct whatever it was that went wrong on IFT-3 to make the next mission successful from start to finish. SpaceX stated they expect to fly the stack four to six times this year. I wish them the best of luck and success.

 

The follow-up news items:

-- Boeing’s travails [889, 896, 1149] continue to deteriorate at an increasingly rapid rate. The company failed to produce the requested documentation for the Alaska Airlines 737 door plug blowout event, and the U.S. government filed criminal charges against the company. Boeing clearly and emphatically has a quality control problem that has now become pervasive. Profit will come by being the best, not the least expensive. They definitely need to take a step, or five, back to when the quality and safety of their products were paramount . . . rather than cost.

-- James Crumbley, husband of Jennifer Crumbley [1152] and Father of Nathan Crumbley, the convicted mass killer, was found guilty on four counts of manslaughter by a jury like his wife. Sentencing is expected next month. The courts and two juries have sent a very clear message. Parents can and should be held criminally responsible for the criminal actions of their children. We are long overdue for such findings. I trust the sentences for mother and father will be appropriate for their failures to society.

-- On Saturday, at a campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio, for senatorial candidate Bernie Moreno and wearing his red MAGA hat, [the person who shall no longer be named] [768, 991] declared, "Now, if I don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath for the whole . . . that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country, that’ll be the least of it." He went on to state, “If this election isn't won, I'm not sure that you'll ever have another election in this country.” What sort of man, especially a person running for the office of president of the United States, says such things. In the wake of his inflammatory words, his sycophant minions have tried to “explain” and deflect from ihr Anführer words. They say lame things like he was only kidding, it was campaign rhetoric, he meant the auto industry not the people, et cetera ad infinitum ad nauseum. At best, his chosen words were seriously imprecise, i.e., he said ‘country’ when he meant ‘auto industry.’ At worst, his words were imbedded coded signals like the BBC did during World War II, sending messages to the resistance in the occupied territories. He is doing exactly what he did in 2020, preparing the ground and his believers to contest the election when he loses. The evidence of his criminal, unconstitutional conduct multiplies and still his believers do not waver. The only question remaining is, will saner, more democratic, protectors of the Constitution vote in November? If we do vote, [the person who shall no longer be named] will be rendered to the rubbish heap of history where he belongs. There are more of us than there are of the MAGA bunch including Lieber Anführer. Let us do our duty in November.

 

Both President Biden and [the person who shall no longer be named] have clinched their respective party’s nominations after the Tuesday round of additional primaries, i.e., they have gained sufficient delegates for a first-round ballot nomination. The rest is gravy. Unless something major happens (like a conviction and imprisonment of Tiny) between now and November, it will be a repeat of the 2020 election with what appears to be the same malfeasance and criminal conduct by the MAGA bunch that plagued the 2020 election. Strap in, we are bound to experience another very rough road and test of our foundation democratic principles and ideals.

 

The Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claims to have won re-election to his fifth six-year term, winning 88% of the vote. Of course, he did. Was there ever any doubt. Putin is an old-world Soviet practitioner Stalin’s declared adage—it does not matter who votes, only who counts the votes. So, the saga continues.

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1156:

Comment to the Blog:

“Of course, the Supreme Court has strayed from law and logic in its decisions. Mitch McConnell has manipulated the appointments for those positions throughout his reign over the Republican Party. Now we can't even get rid of Clarence Thomas. In any prior era, Thomas would have failed his hearing along with Kavanaugh and probably Barrett.

“If we don't get rid of the ‘debt ceiling,’ budget dysfunction will continue.

“Tiny's ‘empire’ wasn't ‘gold plated;’ it was merely gilded trumpery. 

“I'm seeing fact-checking and other criticism of Senator Britt's response to the State of the Union. It reads like Tiny's speeches, but she doesn't have his knack for demagoguery.

“Those shouting about the border must remember (a) the declining birth rate in the USA and (b) the labor supply in the cash economy.

“Nikki Haley has suspended her campaign. Marianne Williamson on the Democrat side has not. I imagine each of them wants to be the ‘fallback’ choice if their party's candidate reaches death or disability. I'm still voting Green Party.”

My response to the Blog:

I broadly agree with you. The Thomas concurring opinion in the Dobbs case was the most telling and damning in his efforts to set us back a century or more. For the first time in my life I say, if we can maintain our democratic governance, the system will eventually correct itself, to right the ship of state.

We are also agreed on the debt ceiling issue, the law has long outlived its usefulness and value.

That was exactly my impression as well. She made a huge mistake in delivering that speech. It seems she has swallowed his worthless snake-oil elixir, and now, she believes.

That would be nice, but I do not think they care. Saner minds will have to be elected to Congress for that to happen. We must wait for the November election.

Perhaps so. Both candidates are very near clinching their nominations. Once that occurs, it will be up to the party conventions to decide. I cannot imagine them going back to the voters.

You are a much better man than me. I am not so decisive. I will continue to wait for the November general election ballot to decide.

 . . . with follow-up comment:

“In time, the Supreme Court will be improved by the retirement of the master manipulator Mitch McConnell. I'd still like to see term limits for Justices, too.

“Also in national politics, the Five Thirty-Eight newsletter this morning analyses the effect of Senator Sinema's exit on Arizona. Along the way, it makes interesting points about independent voters and also mentions the likely end of the filibuster.

“At long last, I am again a formally registered Green Party member. If we can get ballot access in 50 states and enough money to publicize our policies, we can be a force.”

 . . . my follow-up response:

Ditto and agreed.

Yeah, I was quite sorry to hear that Kristen Sinema decided not to run for reelection. I suppose the handwriting was on the wall when she announced she was leaving the Democratic Party and running as an independent. Given the two “party” candidates [one of which is Tiny with breasts], I would have voted for Sinema, again. I did not always agree with her actions and positions, but in the main, I believe she did a good job trying to find solutions to intractable problems.

The filibuster as it has mutated in recent decades should go to the history books. The current employment of the procedure is just wrong, wrong in every possible way. The latest evidence to support abandonment was the obscene obstruction of Tuberville.

How is the Green Party candidate chosen? I would like to see the Green Party on every ballot. I do not understand why not?

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)

Update no.1156

 Update from the Sunland

No.1156

4.3.24 – 10.3.24

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

 

To all,

 

The follow-up news items:

-- We can chalk up another win for [the person who shall no longer be named] from the beneficence of the Supremes. This one is the case of Trump v. Anderson [601 U. S. ____ (2024); No. 23–719] [1145], the Colorado primary ballot disqualification case; the unanimous Court reversed the Colorado Supreme Court ruling. The Court declared that a state cannot execute §3 of the 14^th Amendment without a specific charge by Congress, which in this instance, they did not have. Although they did not specifically state it, the Supremes expected a conviction under 18 USC §2383, or some other specific authorization by Congress, i.e., §3 is not self-executing as Colorado claimed.

I see significant fallacies in the Supremes’ arguments. The Court stated, “the Constitution grants the States freer rein than Congress to decide how Section 3 should be enforced with respect to federal offices is simply implausible.” First and foremost, Congress does not conduct elections of federal officers; the States do. The Constitution has charged the States with that task, thus the Electoral College. Congress does not need to pass legislation to enforce age, naturalization, and residency requirements for any candidate; the State do that in their processes. There is no federal election ballot, only ballots in the States and Territories. I think Colorado hit it exactly correct, they are simply enforcing the constitutional requirements of which §3 is just one of those requirements. Further, the Supremes wrote, “[S]tate enforcement of Section 3 with respect to the Presidency would raise heightened concerns. ‘[I]n the context of a Presidential election, state-imposed restrictions implicate a uniquely important national interest.’” [quoting Anderson v. Celebrezze 460 U. S. 780, 794–795 (1983)]. Colorado was NOT deciding upon or imposing any unique restrictions on candidates for the presidency; they were simply doing what the Constitution directs. Whether a state chooses to enforce the U.S. Constitution is their business. Colorado did what they thought correct. The fact that other states chose not to abide the Constitution is their business. The Sotomayer concurrence observes that “The majority announces that a disqualification for insurrection can occur only when Congress enacts a particular kind of legislation pursuant to Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. In doing so, the majority shuts the door on other potential means of federal enforcement.” That is exactly the point, and yet she (along with Kagan and Jackson) sided with the majority that the states have no authority to enforce the Constitution without specific authorization by Congress.

All the justices conveniently ignored the elephant in the room. The case would be moot and unwarranted if he had not incited an insurrection and interference in the presidential election of 2020. One important, if not vital, element of this debate is there is only one person who brought this one—[the person who shall no longer be named]. If he had not incited the rally crowd to march on the Capitol Building, we would not have this situation. If he had not developed and perpetuated the BIG LIE, we would not have this situation. If he had not sought the presidency for a second time, we would not have this situation. Colorado did not create this situation, only [the person who shall no longer be named] did. The Colorado secretary of State did not decide to disqualify him, a district court made a factual finding that he had incited an insurrection. The secretary of State simply followed the law and the Constitution. State acts like this were not some arbitrary or capricious action by the Colorado secretary of State. It most certainly was not. Section 3 of the 14^thAmendment to the U.S. Constitution is not written as a felonious law; it is an election requirement. Congress did in fact make insurrection a felonious crime [18 US §2383].

Reading this case is like watching a circular firing squad trying to execute a person in the center of the circle. In a very narrow sense, I understand the purpose and motives of the Supremes in Anderson, but they have not improved the law. But hey, that is just me.

At the bottom line, the January 6^th insurrection leader will be on the ballot in Colorado and other states that disqualified him for inciting an insurrection interference in the constitutionally mandated election process. The world continues to turn.

 

Well, how about that! Congress finally passed a proper appropriations bill . . . at least for half of the federal government—Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 [H.R.4366; Senate: 75-22-0-3(0); House: 339-85-0-8(3)] {with the usual suspects voting against the bill in both chambers}. The other half is due by the end of this month. The bill has been presented to the president, but I have no record or indication that it has been signed yet. I shall hold the hope that Congress do their job and fund the remainder of the government before the deadline.

Hanging out there beyond the appropriations bills is the funding bill(s) for our support of Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and the bulk of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Palestinians. Of course, the rest of Congress’s constitutionally mandated business still sits in the Inbox.

 

In a masterful stroke, President Biden chose to deliver his constitutionally mandated annual State of the Union report to Congress (and the nation) on Thursday, the 7^th of March, two days after the Super Tuesday primary voting in 16 states. With a wide variety of polls indicating [the person who shall no longer be named] was likely to do well and thus also likely to do his usual chest-beating, bellicose, gloating, it would be a perfect opportunity to display a stark contrast with his probable Republican opponent. Oh my, was he correct . . . spot on, correct. As a bonus, [the person who shall no longer be named] met the court-imposed deadline to post a US92M bond in the defamation case he lost to E. Jean Carroll. Looming out there later this month is the other court-imposed deadline to post a US$0.5B bond in the civil business fraud case; that one will not be quite so easy to fulfill. If he misses it, a whole new set of problems opens up for him. He faces the potential of the court carving up his one-time gold-plated empire. In general and interesting enough, President Biden referred to [the person who shall no longer be named] as “my predecessor.” He refused to use his familial name. The president spoke directly to key successes in his administration and did a masterful job of baiting and silencing that rogue mouth from George, Margie Taylor Greene (MTG). All in all, I thought President Biden gave us an excellent State of the Union address.

Senator Katie Elizabeth Britt, née Boyd, of Alabama delivered the Republican response to the president’s State of the Union message. Just a quick note, I find it rather odd that they put a young female politician in a kitchen to convey such a reply. She gave us a doom & gloom message with a near whisper, a broad smile, and a giggle and verging on tears scattered throughout. Whomever wrote her speech did her a profound disservice to her credibility and integrity. Perhaps that is what she intended to do, but for now, I give her the benefit of the doubt—an unfortunate misstep.

 

ihr Anführer decided that chaos on the southern land border was more important to his campaign for president and his domination of the once Grand Old Party than any possible improvement to the situation. He ordered his minions in the House to block the Senate bipartisan immigration reform bill. I have been and remain from the school of any action is better than inaction. The immigration system has been broken and woefully underfunded for decades including through the previous guy’s administration. The fBICP / MAGA bunch refused to do anything, so they can point their crooked fingers at the Democrats. To be clear, the obstruction put up against doing anything for the border & immigration situation is the sole product of Lieber Anführer and his minions, a minority within the Republican Party, not Republicans in general, in the main. Until the good Republicans (and here I mean the voters, not the politicians) find the cojones to banish that far right-wing bunch from their party, we will continue to face this grotesque dysfunction. I have also lived by the old adage that something is better than nothing; the MAGA bunch have chosen nothing. And, they have imposed their beliefs on everyone, including the good Republicans and all the rest of us. This must stop! The Senate had a bipartisan immigration system improvement bill that would have made the abysmal situation better . . . not perfect, but better. We deserve better!

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1156:

Comment to the Blog:

“We already knew the Supreme Court was tainted. So did Tiny.

“The Democratic National Committee (DNC) connives with the Republicans to sabotage elections, knowingly or otherwise. Their tight control of primary results, constant negativity, corrupt fundraising, and claims of helplessness discourage voting at least as much as the Republican tactics.

“Mitch McConnell has no more ethics than Tiny, but he has a great deal more skill at manipulating the system. I want him to retire altogether.

“Most criminals blame ‘the system’ for their behaviors. Tiny has accumulated a large horde of minions and followers who amplify his nonsense.”

My response to the Blog:

I would not have used that word eight years ago, but it certainly seems valid today. I suspect the Court is not going to be as reliable as a protector for the orange Jesus as he expects. He is singing their praises today, but he may not be in a few months. The ballot case pales in comparison to the immunity case later this year.

The political parties are separate, unique entities that reflect our national governance—representative democracies. They are comprised of human beings who are flawed and often driven by selfish motives. The political parties do not have the oversight and cross-checks that our national governance does. By definition, they are more prone to deviance. Yet, we can and do influence them with our voices and our votes.

I am with you there. Mitch has long exceeded his worth. He still has three years remaining in his current term. He may be stepping down as minority leader, but he’ll still be hanging around.

Oh so true. It always everyone else’s fault—never his. That is also a major trait of malignant narcissists.

 . . . Round two:

“The DNC and RNC don’t ‘reflect our national governance—representative democracies.’ Study how the DNC fills its membership and how it operates. It’s not representative of Democrats as a whole. The Republicans have a leader that has the party as followers.”

 . . . my response to round two:

So you say. I cannot dispute your observation, so I will acknowledge slivers of truth in the general broad statement. At the end of the day, we have what we have. The only way to change it is from within, and I am not willing to spend my remaining years in that struggle. Onward and upward.

The malignant narcissist is headed back to the general election ballot, and we will have a very stark choice to make in November.

Just a related FYI: I took on one crusade in my life and I failed.

 

Another contribution:

“Of interest Cap.”

US supreme court ‘erred badly’ with Trump ruling, leading US historian says | Donald Trump | The Guardian

My reply:

I am still digesting the Court’s ruling from yesterday. So far, I would agree with the Guardian’s reporting. I will be rendering my opinion in this week’s Update. Thanks for thinking of me. More to follow.

 . . . to which the contributor added:

“This has just arrived this side.”

https://news.sky.com/story/donald-trump-rival-nikki-haley-becomes-first-woman-in-history-to-win-republican-primary-after-washington-dc-victory-13086958

 . . . my reply to round two:

True, but not the first to win a primary.

 . . . Round three:

“Sure Cap, but does she plan to continue to strive? Can she?”

 . . . my reply to round three:

I suspect she will keep going until her opponent either clinches the nomination or she runs out of donor money. Today is Super Tuesday with 16 states conducting their party primary votes. If Tiny wins them all, he will be close to clinching but not close enough. Yes, she can keep going until the money dries up.

 . . . Round four:

“Keep going girl-your nation needs you as does the entire world.”

 . . . my reply to round four:

Well, that did not last long. Haley has indicated she intends to suspend her campaign later today. The malignant narcissist is one big step closer.

 . . . Round five:

“Yes we just heard that Cap-big shame, she needs more financial support I hear. I shudder to think what the future holds-how many law cases does he have to survive without a 'guilty' result? If he is found guilt-ridden while the nation is voting what will that mean for your homeland Cap? Do you need a criminal running the business!...”

 . . . my reply to round five:

Indeed, a true shame. She was a very rare voice of reason amid the verbal hallucinations of a malignant narcissist and his blinded minion lemmings. I do not agree with all her positions, but Haley is a far more palatable candidate than the other guy. You are not alone in your concerns for the future as long as that man remains a candidate. He has nearly locked up the Republican nomination, which would put him another step closer. The citizens who have swallowed his worthless snake-oil elixir and encouraged his juvenile, schoolyard bully behavior do not care. Multiple polls tell us a substantial number of his believers will vote for him even if he is convicted and imprisoned.

He has been found guilty (liable) in multiple cases in business fraud and libel cases, but that does not phase his supporters. So far, he has been largely successful in delaying the hard criminal cases in his gamble that he will be elected to a second term. God forbid what he will do to our system of governance if that was to happen. Your rhetorical question is spot on the money. The Founders of this once grand republic would shudder with revulsion if they had ever imagined a man of his immorality putting his slimy criminal hands on the instruments of state.

The MAGA bunch will vote. They are a minority. The real hard question is, will the majority of Americans vote this November to remove him from the field? We will not know until November. One thing as certain as the sunrise is I will vote as long as I am able, and it will never be for that mad man.

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

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)

Update no.1155

 Update from the Sunland

No.1155

26.2.24 – 3.3.24

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

 

To all,

 

The follow-up news items:

-- The Supremes decided to hear the immunity claim of [the person who shall no longer be named] [601 U.S. 23A745 (2024); case no. 23-939], which will further delay the federal election interference case, an appeal of United States v. Trump [DC CCA No. 23-3228 (2024)] [1152], which was in turn an appeal of United States v. Trump [USDC DC Case 1:23-cr-00257-TSC (2023)] [1125]. They will not hear the arguments until April 22, and we will not likely have a decision until May or June. The DC CCA ruling was demonstrative and definitive. That was apparently not enough for the Supremes.

What I find particularly disturbing in the certiorari statement was the framing on the question before the court in this case. They declared they would decide:

Whether and if so to what extent does a former President enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office. [emphasis mine]

To me, the question is largely settled law—United States v. Nixon [418 U.S. 683 (1974)] [870] and Nixon v. Fitzgerald [457 U.S. 731 (1982)] [970]. The question from my perspective is whether a sitting presidency holds absolute immunity to commit felonious (unofficial) acts and avoid prosecution (not persecution) even when he is no longer in office. The case before the district court will determine and establish whether the acts he committed were official or unofficial, therefore until district court makes its factual findings, the Supreme Court should not address the validity of the root accusations. [The person who shall no longer be named] has appealed the lower court rulings on his motion to dismiss based on his claimed absolute immunity were denied. If the motion to dismiss is allowed by the Supremes based on their statement of immunity, we will not get to the questions of official or unofficial, legal or illegal.

Surprisingly, the Supremes are taking their sweet time in deciding this element of the charges against the former president. I thought far more urgency was required. In the timing alone, the Supremes are enabling the obvious delaying tactics of [the person who shall no longer be named].

-- The Odysseus (Odie) lander’s mission team [1154] is striving to make the most out of the bag of lemons they have. The lander appears to have broken two of its six legs on landing and has taken on a pronounced tilt. The current plan is to attempt to sleep the spacecraft through the two-week nighttime it is about to enter in the hope of reviving the spacecraft when daylight returns. All the onboard experiments appear to be at least partially functional. I wish them good luck in keeping the craft alive.

-- Illinois joined Colorado [1145] and Maine in banning [the person who shall no longer be named] from the ballot under the insurrection clause of the U.S. Constitution [§3, 14^th Amendment]. The plot thickens. The Supremes have yet to render their opinion on the disqualification {Trump v. Anderson [case no. 23-719 (2024)] [1149]}.

 

The Republicans and the Russians want to convince you that your vote does not matter, so why bother? They want you to doubt our election system to the greatest extent possible, so that you do not vote.

To that end, the folks who call themselves Republicans are striving mightily to convince us the election system is insecure, unreliable, and untrustworthy. They seek to impose dramatic constraints on voting to make it far harder to vote, so only citizens who have the means and capacity will vote, i.e., their people. If election day was a holiday, paid, day off, and they had sufficient polling stations so that every citizen could walk to the voting place and wait in line not more than 10 minutes, I might accept the elimination of vote-by-mail, early voting, and such. They (and here I mean Republicans, fBICPs, MAGAts) have gone the other way making is far more difficult and problematic to vote so that only the well-to-do can afford to vote.

Just remember, that gaggle on the far right want us to lose faith in our election system, to doubt the results. They want us to feel voting is not worth the time or effort. Why? So everyone other than their faithful will not vote. The result . . . their faithful will vote and thus dominate our governance, judicial, law enforcement, and education systems no matter how much of a minority they are.

If that is the nation you want, then you are well on the way to achieving it. If you do not want that society, then you must vote and not succumb to the Siren’s Song of the Right.

 

Octogenarian Senator Addison Mitchell ‘Mitch’ McConnell III of Kentucky announced he would resign as minority leader effective in November, but he would remain as the senior senator of Kentucky. McConnell will be remembered by history as the single legislator, then majority leader, who stole a supreme court nomination from President Barack Obama, refusing to even consider the president’s nomination of Merritt Garland for NINE (9) months, and then when the shoe was on the other foot just four years later, he turned around and jammed confirmation of [the person who shall no longer be named]’s third Supreme Court nomination through the Senate in one month at the end of his presidency. The time has come, long overdue.

 

Apple, Inc. announced they have abandoned their quest to produce an electric car. They have reportedly sunk more than US$1B into the development effort, employed roughly 2,000 employees. Why they decided to abandon the effort is unknown. Apple indicated they planned to transfer the employees work on the electric car to the expansion of their generative Artificial Intelligence initiative. Their car would likely have been as advanced as their other devices. Unfortunately, we will likely never know. Bummer!

 

Here is a simple observation. [The person who shall no longer be named] has made a daily, if not hourly, claim that he is the victim of a prejudicial legal system. He sayis being persecuted by the legal and judicial systems simply because he is the leading Republican candidate for president. He further claims that the indictments and suits against him are election interference efforts by the Democrats to prevent him from becoming president. The reality is there is only one person, one reason, why he is named in all these different cases in separate jurisdictions. HE VIOLATED MULTIPLE LAWS IN MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS, period, full stop, shut the front door! He has only to look in the mirror to see the source. Do not be fooled by his worthless drivel. If any of us common citizens had done a mere fraction of what he has done in just one of these cases, we would be charged, tried, convicted, and imprisoned already. The man violated the law! Now, that said, he is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The gears of justice turn agonizingly slowly. The millions of dollars good American citizens have given to him and enabling him to use every possible tool to delay, delay, delay, on the gamble that he will be re-elected president, and in that position, he will order the dismissal of at least the federal cases and further obstruct the state cases against him in hopes of delaying any criminal trial until after he can no longer run for president or the grim reaper gets him. Either way . . . justice denied!

[The person who shall no longer be named] has also argued that any trial, federal or state, during the election campaign period (September to November) is unfair to him as a presidential candidate. To which I say, hey, numbnuts, again, look in the mirror. You are the one who broke the law beyond probable cause [beyond reasonable doubt is yet to be determine in court], and you are the only one striving mightily to delay rather than seeking swift justice to clear your name. I think of most us know what your delaying tactics mean regarding your guilt or innocence.

We are teetering on the precipice of making an accused (yet to be convicted) state and federal felony criminal president of the United States . . . again! What does that say about us as a people, a society, a culture?

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1154:

Comment to the Blog:

“The question that can’t be answered in the abortion debate is when a separate consciousness or spirit enters the body. The partisans use whatever answer they can imagine in order to control women’s sex lives. With any luck, the ridiculous Alabama IVF decision will be overturned.

“Alexander Smirnov, the centerpiece of the case against the Bidens, is a liar and appears to be a Russian asset. The MAGAts don’t want to talk about that.

“I’d love for Justice Thomas to accept John Oliver’s retirement offer. It’s easily the best Thomas could do once he’s no more use to the oligarchs.

“I come from a rural place that’s been a home of Christian nationalists for a long time, and I’ve been watching them gain strength since Reagan’s time. This country won’t be safe for anyone if they take over.

“One issue with all of the above stress is that it distracts us from the climate issue. I saw a figure several times in my news feeds this week that 2.6 million Americans were displaced by natural disasters last year, and we are not a hard-hit area.”

My response to the Blog:

Quite so! Those factors are unknowable, which is exactly why I prefer to rely on a demonstrable extrauterine viability metric. When Roe was decided (1973), that threshold was pegged by medical science at 26-weeks gestation (post-fertilization). Medical science has progressed since 1973. Today, the threshold of extrauterine viability is roughly 20 weeks. If medical science and knowledge advanced to lower that threshold to two weeks, I could support reducing the decision threshold, which would concomitantly mean the detection of fertilization in a reliably practical manner would have to progress to allow such detection. Granting a zygote ‘minor child’ status is scientifically and rationally ridiculous based on emotion and religious belief. Those are not practical, measurable parameters to make such judgments and impose upon a woman’s fundamental right to privacy in her medical treatment.

Oh so true about Thomas. Just an unimportant FYI, I believed Anita Hill and was convinced Thomas should have never been nominated, set aside confirmed (1991). But that is history; we have what we have today.

I do not know nor am I able to judge safe or unsafe, I absolutely believe we would have less freedom of choice, less privacy, and reduced levels of other constitutional rights. As I have written many times, white Christian nationalism would be essentially just as calamitous as fascism, theocracy, and other forms of dictatorship.

Again, I see the issue at a very personal level in my very heavy lift convincing my wife that we must abandon fossil fuels and go all-electric. The struggle continues. We must dramatically reduce (with zero being the objective) our demand for and use of fossil fuels.

 . . . Round two:

“I agree that we can follow the threshold of viability in our understanding of what independent life is, but it raises the question of whether society is willing to pay for advanced procedures in the many cases where neither parents nor insurance can do that.

“I take my understanding of safety in a given nation from studying the history of governments. Under any given form of dictatorship, including theocracy, nobody is safe in their life or liberty.

“I have been car-free, partly by choice, for several years now. Yes, I'm bragging but I'm also a role model.”

 . . . my response to round two:

Absolutely agreed, which is precisely why that decision belongs solely with the pregnant woman and her presiding physician—no one else! The State has no business in private medical decisions. Most genetic anomalies can be detected before the viability threshold. Those that cannot or might threaten the life of the mother after the window opens are still the domain of medicine. The life of a mother supersedes that of an unborn fetus threatening her life, unless she freely chooses to risk sacrificing her life for her unborn fetus. In the latter case, I suppose we would be sanctioning suicide by baby.

While I agree that history records that your observation is generally true, it is not specifically true . . . or a given. Other people should be free to choose their preferred form of governance. As for me, I prefer freedom of choice over any form of authoritarianism including theocracy (or any version thereof) and especially MAGA governance.

You are fortunate to have access to an acceptable transportation system. We are not so fortunate in the Valley of the Sun. Far too many forces resist a workable public transportation here. Perhaps the best public transportation system I have yet experienced is the London Underground. Everything is within easy walking distance of an Underground station to the very outskirts of the city and links directly with five major railway stations for access to the rest of the UK and Mainland Europe. For us, a private automobile is a necessity.

 . . . Round three:

“You may be seeing news reports of tornadoes here. My immediate vicinity is okay, but several nearby areas saw damage.

“Whether or not people choose authoritarian governments, they are not safe under tyrants. The dictators turn on anyone for any reason or none.

“I found your transit system trip planner. You’re in a decent place for transit, although the far reaches of suburbs everywhere are less well served. You even have rail service, which we lack. I have included a link from your ‘burb to Tempe.

https://www.valleymetro.org/trip-planner?oname=Fountain+Hills%2C+AZ%2C+USA&olat=33.6042079&olng=-111.7256936&dname=Tempe%2C+AZI'%2C+USA&dlat=33.4255104&dlng=-111.9400054&mode=now&dt=-&tm=-

You also have Amtrak service, which we have been promised sometime in the future. I’m not convinced electric cars in their current incarnation will serve our needs.”

 . . . my response to round three:

Yes, I did see those weather reports. I am so glad you are safe & sound. Rough weather is always a challenge of life.

I would certainly agree with that. My point, it is their right to choose. One of our ‘Ugly American Syndrome’ consequences is our tendency to evangelize our form of democracy in countries whose people do not want that form of democracy, e.g., Afghanistan. We like to think all people want to be free. The reality is they do not. We must accept reality.

Thank you for our local transit planner. Most cities have such planners. I will include the link as a public service. It is also illustrative of the difficulty. According to the planner, the noted journey should take 1 hour 41 minutes with two transfers. In an automobile, the journey usually takes 30-45 minutes. My experience with public transportation worldwide is it often takes longer than expected. Further, that is one way. With a one or two hour appointment (doctors), we are talking about the better part of a day versus a quarter of a day. Therein lies the rub—time. Further, some buses are electric, most buses are diesel. The local rail is electric. Amtrak is diesel. I am still trying to do my part to eliminate fossil fuels. The struggle continues.

 . . . Round four:

“The USA doesn’t really evangelize true democracy. Those people might reject American capitalist control if we did that. (They will anyhow, but we’ve been able to buy the oil and other industries up to a generation of profits.)

“My other methods of living car-free are via walking (very location-dependent) or electric bicycles or scooters. Those work very well except in winter, but I’ll stipulate that I have a great deal of experience with bicycles as non-hobby transportation. (Transit use reduces fossil-fuel consumption because of shared use of resources.) Other than that, keep your eyes open. Other choices are in development and will roll out when the tipping point of climate change arrives.”

 . . . my response to round four:

Oh, we often say it, but I agree. Our representatives have espoused the American (capitalist based) form of democracy. The ‘Ugly American Syndrome’ has led to a unique form of arrogance on the world stage that has not endeared our nation to other across the global. We are admired for what we have accomplished and despised at the same time for how we impose our chosen system on others. The common disorder of American exceptionalism is not an admirable trait.

You are a far better man than me, my friend. I remain attentive to evolving technology that would enable us to dramatically reduce our consumption of petroleum in its myriad uses. As I often paraphrase the Chinese philosopher Lao Tsu, long journeys begin with small steps. My current writing project (hopefully my next book, provisionally titled Anod’s Glory) centers on our future five centuries from now. It is a fun book to write and imagine.

 

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

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)