Update from the Sunland
No.1180
19.8.24 – 25.8.24
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
The follow-up news items:
-- Former U.S. Representative George Santos of New York pled guilty to multiple federal felony charges [1094, 1138]. Santos is expected to be sentenced on 7.February.2025. He faces a mandatory minimum of two years up to a maximum of 22 years in prison. United States Senior District Judge Joanna Seybert for the Eastern District of New York will determine his sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. As a reported part of the guilty plea, Santos is also expected to pay restitution of US$373, 749.97 and forfeiture of US$205, 002.97. Whatever his sentence is eventually, it will not be enough for the fraud he has committed on the American citizen residents of the 3rd district of New York.
Moments or epochs of history flash back to me on occasion. This week brought another such occasion. During the Dark Ages, the Christian church declared that it was blasphemous for anyone other than anointed clergy to read or write words from the Good Book. Violators faced excommunication or the cruel ravages of the Inquisition. In essence, the church sought to keep believers ignorant and dependent upon the clergy for information, morality . . . for even the policies of State. The Renaissance brought change. Some of that change was a sprouting and blooming of common education and a quest for knowledge enabled in part by the advent of Gutenberg’s printing press [1439]. Art, music, science, and creative thought illuminated and brightened the dark days since the fall of the Roman Empire. The Renaissance age was marked broadly by the quest for knowledge to vanquish ignorance.
Conservatives, not just in the United States, seek ignorance over knowledge. They want to return to some moment in the past when they dominated virtually everything—what we read, what we hear, what we see, what we can do. In Russia, Putin wants to return all of us to the glory days of the Soviet Union when they dominated their neighbors and controlled every aspect of life. Those not under their direct control lived in fear of Soviet wrath and retribution. Our brand of conservatives may be a little more subtle in their desire for regression, but all the elements are still on display, e.g., DeSantis and Florida Republicans.
I have consciously and purposefully chosen knowledge over ignorance. I want to know the truth—good, bad, or ugly—and I condemn those who seek ignorance over knowledge. I will not submit to their efforts to control my life or anyone else’s life. That is precisely why I have been a feminist and humanist all my adult life.
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) was held this week. Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepted the nomination of the Democratic Party for president of the United States of America. For me, Harris struck resonance with her acceptance of the nomination with her Lincoln-esque moment—". . . .of the people, by the people, and for the people . . .” The broad, general speech was very good, but it was the actual acceptance statement that hit it out of the park. As a prosecutor, she said she did not prosecute criminals for the victims, rather “For the People.” Crime against one is crime against us all. Harris proclaimed, “For the People . . . I accept your nomination for president of the United States of America.” The full paragraph was, "My entire career, I've only had one client: the people. And so, on behalf of the people, on behalf of every American regardless of party, race, gender or the language your grandmother speaks, on behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey, on behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with, people who work hard, chase their dreams, and look out for one another, on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on earth, I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America."
President Biden passed the torch to a new generation of leadership and said good-bye to the political arena in an emotional, somewhat fiery speech to the convention and the world. Very dignified and elegant! Bravo Zulu, Mister President. You stand relieved.
I was impressed and pleasantly surprised by the number of Republicans who chose and were invited to speak at the Democratic Convention and endorse Kamala Harris. I did not count the Republicans on the stage advocating for Kamala Harris, but there were more than a few; that speaks volumes. I do not recall in my decades of following American politics ever seeing such a crossover, either way. I have never seen such a shift. They openly proclaimed their Republican affiliation and condemned [the person who shall no longer be named] for what he has done to their party. They encouraged everyone to vote for the Harris/Walz ticket and demonstrably rejected the division and negativism that has overtaken the Republican Party. Contrast in tone and demeanor of the two conventions were stark and dramatically different.
The other guys have been, are, and continue to traffic in division, exclusion, and fear. I will take hope over fear, knowledge over ignorance, progress over regression. I wish to look ahead, not backward.
The talking heads noticed, as did I, the marked different tone and demeanor of the DNC from past conventions. The sought to re-center themselves to appeal to the majority of American citizens—the moderate middle.
In another disgusting action consistent with the degeneration of [the person who shall no longer be named], self-professed presidential candidate and staunch conspiracist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is hocking his candidacy and supporters to the highest bidder. The Harris campaign has rightly ignored him and rejected the gesture. The other guy, however, is discussing the price with the disappointing Kennedy. He is asking for a cabinet position for his endorsement and dropping out of the presidential race. Disgusting!
On Friday, they apparently reached a deal. Kennedy formally suspended his campaign and endorsed Little Fingers. Kennedy also called out the Harris campaign because they did not return his calls. Go figure!
An observation: It is far easier to be a dictator. All you need is a loyal enforcement service to do your wet, dirty work. Being the leader of a democracy requires a bona fide leader who knows how and can inspire people to the common good.
Do you know why the Republican “intelligentsia” are so aggressively advising [the person who shall no longer be named] to move away from his preferred personal ad hominem attack modus operandi and concentrate on the Republican policies? Because they know their candidate will lose if it comes down to personal traits, morality, integrity, compassion, and all the other true leadership traits that make a great leader. They want the People to be bored, confused, and disenfranchised, because they know the MAGA believers will vote no matter what. They want to other side to be apathetic and complacent, to induce ambivalence. The MAGA dominated legislatures have been working in overdrive to suppress voting ostensibly to enhance the voting influence of their political base.
The ill-fated Boeing Starliner capsule launched into low-Earth orbit on 5.June.2024. The Starliner was plagued early on with helium leaks and problematic thrusters on the service module which is intended to be jettisoned prior to re-entry. We have been told that the capsule itself remains fully functional. However, apparently, NASA is not confident enough to get the Starliner from the ISS to the re-entry insertion point without incident, so the astronauts wait an additional six months aboard the ISS for their return. The crew docked with the International Space Station (ISS) the next day (6.June.2024). NASA announced on Saturday, 24.August.2024, that Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore would not return to Earth on the Starliner. A SpaceX Dragon capsule will be sent up to the ISS to retrieve them. They are currently expected to return to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule in February 2025. There is much more to this story than we are being told. This is not good news for Boeing. Yet, I am grateful that there is an abundance of caution at NASA. The Starliner capsule will be returned to Earth without a crew “sometime in September [2024].”
Comments and contributions from Update no.1179:
Comment to the Blog:
“I still have a premonition that Little Fingers will be having a heart attack or stroke this year. Also, I’ve seen an article lately defining ‘evil’ as the lack of empathy. I agree with that.
“Meanwhile, summer continues. I have become something of a prepper over the years. Due to the absence of effective government action, we must each prepare for the increasing weather disasters as they trend in whatever areas we inhabit or visit. Apparently, the government abandoned emergency preparedness at some time in the 1990s. Good luck to everyone; we’ll all need it.”
My response to the Blog:
Your premonition may well come to fruition. In this instance, I hope not. We really need him resoundingly defeated in the proper, constitutional manner to render him to the dustbin of history.
I accept that definition of “evil” as well. Little Fingers is devoid of empathy or compassion; he cares only about himself, which is a key symptom of malignant narcissism.
I have not quite reached the level as a prepper. The rampant hording of the early pandemic days certainly gave me quite an awakening. Keep the faith; we shall overcome.
. . . Round two:
“When I apply the idea of evil as a lack of empathy, it leads to many places for me, including in social or political issues.
“I’m a ‘little bit’ of a prepper. Based on current events, I keep a week or so of nonperishable food that needs little or no preparation and several gallons of clean water on hand, as well as a battery radio, simple camping gear, and whatever. I don’t believe mobs of looters will materialize because history doesn’t support that in natural disasters.
“I don’t believe ‘we shall overcome’ climate change. It’s already well under way; study any form of natural disaster and also agriculture over the past 50 years. We have the material means available to stop making it worse, but the political will won’t come until a crash comparable to the fall of Rome occurs. I’ve been following this topic for over 30 years, and I’m not optimistic. Humans don’t deal with processes that occur gradually very well at all.”
. . . my response to round two:
Quite understandable. There are myriad social & political issues to which the definition can be applied. We see a dramatic contrast today.
Looters depend upon chaos; thus the proliferation of looters is dependent upon how widespread chaos is. I delve into that issue in my novel Apocalypse Endeavor.
Perhaps not. I agree, climate change is well underway; the physical evidence is clear and undeniable. It is a complex issue, and like you, I fret about our will to amend our behavior to help mitigate the causal factors. By the time it floods Miami, it will be too late for millions of people, putting far more stress on maritime nations.
. . . Round three:
“Someone studied the history of looting. Hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters don’t seem to bring much looting; I suspect civil unrest would result in more looting. I prepare for natural disasters.
“Study timelines of climate change. Even if we did everything right, climate change would continue for a few decades. No proposed means of mitigation shows promise. Even more important, the human response to the changes is too little, too late. The predictions have tended to be too cautious, but we can expect to lose Miami, New Orleans, and probably New York as well as Hong Kong and various other population centers.”
. . . my response to round three:
I agree with you. We are not as prepared as you.
Perhaps so. Climate change is undeniable by any metric. What the salient issue is why? What is causing climate change? Is it just the natural cycle of the planet? After all, we have had hot periods and cold periods. The last ice age began receding 11,000 years ago. One thing for certain (for any reason), we must wean ourselves off of fossil fuels. It is a convenient source of energy, but it is a dead-end road and a costly one.
. . . Round four:
“No past cycle of climate change has been anywhere near as rapid as this one. There must be a new variable. That has been shown to be human activity. Nitpicking the science excuses human unwillingness to change.”
. . . my response to round four:
I will not quibble with your statement. You may well be correct. Speaking only for myself, I remain skeptical. The evidence presented is not convincing. I find it difficult to make the jump that human beings are the root cause. We may well be, but I have not seen that linkage. Our ancestors have only walked on this planet for 50,000 of the 4,900,000,000 years of Earth existence. I struggle with that ratio. Lastly, whether it is human caused or not, we must change; we cannot continue to consume fossil fuels. I accept that you may well be correct; human activity is the root cause of climate change. Regardless, we must change, period, full stop, drop the mic.
My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
