Update from the
Heartland
No.642
31.3.14 – 6.4.14
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
Life is
good! Sunday, Jeanne and I enjoyed
a matinee performance by the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and Choir, followed by
a delightful supper. No matter how
many times I listen to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No.9, I am awestruck by
the magnificence of what I believe is the greatest piece of music ever
written. First performed in 1824
Vienna, Austria, the music evokes the glory of life itself. Regardless of whether anyone enjoys
classical music, Beethoven’s epic 9th Symphony should be a wonder of
the world like the Grand Canyon, or the Great Wall of China, to be experienced by
everyone, as part of our short stay on God’s little green earth.
The follow-up news items:
-- The Flight MH370 [638-41]
investigation gets curious’er and curious’er. Late last week, a PRC coastal patrol ship reported detecting
the 31.5 KHz “ping,” presumably from the aircraft Flight Data Recorder (FDR) at
an Indian Ocean location north of the recent search areas west of Perth,
Australia. Various precision
search ships have been dispatched to the Chinese location of the detected
signal. The conditions reported by
the Chinese are suspect . . . sorta like wishful thinking to me. Until the pinger signal is confirmed by
independent sources, I doubt the Chinese report. Yet, as we aviators say, better lucky than good. Then, I heard CNN Aviation Analyst Jeff
Wise say that if we want to get to zero accidents, we must go beyond a “highly
evolved monkey” in the cockpit. It
is quite understandable why professional pilots take offense at such a narrow,
shallow view of what the guys who wiggle the sticks do on every flight they
fly. Yes, pilots have been known
to make mistakes. I can cite more
than a few examples, not least of which I would note Continental 3407 [374], Air France 447 [391],
and Asiana 214 [604]. I can also point to many lives saved by
the extraordinary skill and ingenuity of pilots –United 232 [19.7.1989] and USAirways
1549 [370]; I do not know of any
machine that could have handled those events and saved all those lives. A highly evolved monkey . . . really?
Here is a rich one!
“CIA misled on interrogation program, Senate report says”
by Greg Miller,
Adam Goldman and Ellen
Nakashima
Washington Post
Published: March 31 [2014]
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence voted 11-3 to
declassify and make public the Committee’s five-year study of the CIA Detention
and Interrogation Program, or perhaps the 400-page executive summary of the
6,000-page report. The Committee’s
recommendation has gone to the President, who ultimately must order declassification
the source data utilized by the committee. Press reports like this one drive me simple bat sh*t
crazy. I assume from their words
that one or more of these “reporters” have actually seen the report or portions
of it. Anything else is rumor and
hearsay no matter the source.
Regardless, just discussing classified material with the Press is a
federal felony. In the
contemporary vernacular, WTF! I am
outraged that “current and former U.S. officials” would betray their
country. Just like that fugitive
in Russia, these “officials” chose to go public by going to the Press with
sensitive classified material. I
expect the President to withhold his approval or to order serious redaction of
the documents to be made public.
If any portion of the report is eventually made public, I will do my
best to digest the contents, as enhanced interrogation techniques have been a
major topic of debate in this humble forum. Lastly, perhaps “they” were the Greatest Generation because
those who were even remotely aware of Unit P.O. Box 1138 did not disclose the
existence of the specialized interrogation unit or its products until they were
declassified and made public 50 years hence. There is a lesson in that history.
Another trigger for me . . . this one . .
. an opinion column.
“Government has
crossed the church-state line”
by Cal Thomas
Tribune Content Agency
Wichita Eagle
Published Wednesday, April 2, 2014, at 12 a.m.
Cal opens his opinion by quoting Mark 12:17 – my words:
“Render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar, and render unto God that
which belongs to God.” In quoting
scripture, dear ol’ Cal is arguing the Hobby Lobby case that before the Supreme
Court, specifically regarding Freedom of Religion; in this instance, whether
the chief executive of Hobby Lobby can deny employee medical insurance coverage
for processes he objects to on religious grounds. Cal concluded, “Caesar needs to get back on his side of the
church-state line.” Therein lies
the rub; where is that line? As I
started Cal’s opinion, I imagined he was going to argue that everything belongs
to God, meaning there is no line as the state is subservient to God. This is usually the argument offered by
devoutly, fundamentalist, religious people. Then, he got to his real point. “That’s going to take a Republican Congress and a Republican
president with courage and a new health insurance plan to repeal [PPACA] and start over with real
reforms that protect religious believers and enhance health care.” To say the least, I fundamentally
disagree with Cal Thomas.
Concomitantly, I will repeat my acknowledgment of the difficulty in
establishing the church-state line.
To me, the operation of a business is a public process, as it affects
other citizens in one form or another.
Yet, as has been argued in this humble forum, the Freedom of Religion
can be and has been argued on an expansive as opposed to a narrow
perspective. I will continue to argue
the “wall of separation” exists at the individual consciousness level. The domain of religion is the
individual soul – the choices made to live their lives. The domain of the state is the public
environment. Further, the owner of
a business is operating as an officer of the business, not as an individual;
there is a distinct difference.
Thus, the decision to use any medical process rests at the private
individual level, not the corporate level. I expect the Supremes to reject the appeal of Hobby Lobby,
and, we may have to wait until June to hear their judgment in this case.
The Supremes did it, again. They issued their ruling in the case of
McCutcheon
v. Federal Election Commission [570 U.S. ___
(2014); no. 12-536]. Press reports
suggest the Supreme Court decision further removes restraints on donations for
political purposes – corruption from my perspective. Apparently, the Court sustained its premise established in Citizens
United v. Federal Election Commission [558 U.S. 310 (2010); 21.1.2010] [424]. I have several book projects that I must get done, so my
reading of McCutcheon will have to wait. I think the Press observations on the ruling are probably
correct, and this does not bode well for the common citizen. More to follow . . .
News from the economic front:
-- General Motors felt the heat for a decade delayed
automotive recall for a defective ignition switch that would turn everything
off while driving, with fatal results.
There are many lessons to be learned in this very costly debacle. Not least of which is this may be the
perfect example of why configuration management is so bloody critical,
especially to manufacturers of human transportation vehicles like automobiles
and aircraft. The ignition
switches involved have the same part number although the position plunger in
the defective switch was 0.12mm shorter.
With the same part number, General Motors cannot isolate the suspect
lot, which in turn means the cost of the recall will be substantially higher. Further, I cannot imagine why General
Motors’ executives justified such an extraordinary delay . . . other than
perhaps they believed their advisors, who may have claimed no change in the
ignition switch. As a footnote,
new General Motors CEO Mary Teresa Barra née Makela handled herself well in
public testimony before a congressional inquiry.
-- The Labor Department reported the U.S. economy added a
preliminary 192,000 jobs in March.
They also revised upward the January and February payrolls by a combined
37,000. The revised February
employment growth was 197,000. The
unemployment rate held steady at 6.7 per
centum.
Comments
and contributions from Update no.641:
“The Russian Foreign Minister and Secretary Kerry have
agreed that the Crimean situation requires diplomacy to resolve. President
Putin agrees, he has 30,000 ‘diplomats’ assembled on the Ukrainian border.”
My reply:
Diplomats
. . . indeed!!
Comment to the Blog:
“I think your other commenter gave a sound history and
analysis of Crimea and its surroundings. While I have not checked his or her
facts, the outline works with what I know. My only real opinions are that the
rest of the world should probably meddle only with extreme caution and that the
United Nations is probably the best forum for debate. When I read in that
comment about Crimea providing a warm-water port for the Russian Navy, the
whole thing began to make sense. The Russian merchant marine might also benefit
from that.
“As that comment pointed out, ethnicity plays as strong a
part in the former USSR as it does in other troubled regions. His analysis of
the ethnic Russian versus Tatar situation follows as night follows day, and his
example of Chechnya works too. Does Putin really want two local wars to go with
his international situation or has his foresight failed?
“As I recall it, the Baseline Scenario blog stated that only
one bank had failed the stress test. You refer to plans rather than current
holdings, so maybe that's the source of the difference. Citigroup and its too
large to jail kind have little to no way to begin improving their images
without real and deep changes in their business models.”
My response to the
Blog:
To
my knowledge, those observations are accurate and apropos. The warm water port is a big deal to
the Russians, but that was not a reason for armed intervention and a façade
referendum vote.
Ethnicity
of residents is not appropriate either.
I wonder how things would work out if the Mexican army removed their
patches and identifying markings from their uniforms, entered South Texas, held
a referendum, and then claimed that South Texas was finally reunited with
Mother Mexico?
I
think Putin would love a good war to stir up the nationalistic juices and of
course rely on him to defend Rodina,
and he could demonstrate what a powerful leader he is. Bullies think like that.
Yes,
Zion Bancorp failed the stress test as reported in Update no.640. The capital plans are different from
but related to the stress test. Zion
also had their capital plan rejected.
As I understand things, Citigroup passed the stress test (perhaps not by
much), but the Fed rejected their capital plan, which probably dealt with other
specific elements. The Press
reports did not offer details, so it is impossible for us to judge.
. . . follow-up comment:
“I do not understand how you support attributing primarily
personal motivation to Putin. Putin's publicity stunts satisfy a taste for
macho leaders in much the same way as Reagan's or LBJ's carefully staged ranch
events. If Putin's performances tend toward the crude and clumsy, that still
works in Russia. Such marketing leaves him no more prone to pointless wars than
those US Presidents. In fact, I would think him less so based on his record
compared to theirs.
“Putin is already firmly in control in Russia, other than
Chechnya. This will do nothing for that situation. However, if Ukraine were to
focus its economy toward the West, that would endanger Russia's hold on the
year-round port and oil pipelines terminating on the Black Sea. Losing the use
of that port or facing increased costs poses serious dangers for both Russia's
Navy and her economy. Ukraine was in fact close to an alliance with the EU when
this crisis began. The question of working more closely with the EU versus with
Russia precipitated the unrest and leadership change that kicked off this whole
adventure. The initial Ukrainean leader chose to work with Russia and most of
Ukraine revolted. Crimea did not follow suit and here we are.
“Your comparison of Crimea to South Texas does not hold up.
Russia's loss of Crimea is far more recent than Texan statehood. The fall of
the USSR, which removed Crimea from Russian control, is living memory, whereas
Texas achieved independence and then Statehood in the 1840s. Perhaps more
important, Russia is more prosperous than Ukraine and that will support any
ethnic unrest among the Russians in Crimea. All of those facts support the
statement that Crimeans of Russian descent might prefer to reunite with Russia.
It's a good bet the referendum was rigged, but nevertheless a majority of
Crimeans may very well support Russia. Nobody has made that contention about
those of Mexican descent living in South Texas. Mexico, while it is gaining on
the US, remains a much poorer nation. Also, many of those Mexican-descended
families preceded the Anglo settlers by a century or more. They may feel their
home was invaded a couple of centuries ago, but they do not feel they belong in
Mexico. Any Mexican descent is a distant memory or less than that for many who
are ethnically Latino. Also, "Mexican" does not include all Latinos
by any means. The comparison does not hold up.
“Thank you for the clarity on the banking situation. That
gives us the different levels of actual regulation that different banks are
finally facing.”
. . . my follow-up comments:
Re:
Putin. Perhaps so. I am not so generous.
Re:
Russian Black Sea access. I
respectfully disagree. The Russian
naval base and pipeline terminals were never threatened, to my knowledge . . .
other than in “Soviet” perception.
Bases in foreign countries are nothing new. Even if the Ukraine was firmly and functionally in the EU
and NATO, the Russians could still have long-term leases or other legal
documents to protect their local interests; if those agreements were violated, then
the Russians might have a cause de guerre.
Re:
Crimea. You are slightly off in
your history. Premier Khrushchev
“gifted” Crimea to the Ukraine in 1954.
Back then, Ukraine was still an SSR state, so perhaps back then the
property transfer could be considered internal or irrelevant. My use of South Texas was an analogous
imagining, illustrating potentially how we might feel in comparison to the
Ukraine. The Russians violated
Ukrainian sovereignty with intention; it was not a mistake or error by some
local commander. Using force of
arms is not how these issues should be resolved. The United States would not take kindly to an armed
secession of South Texas with Mexican troops in unmarked uniforms and military
equipment, stirring up long dormant affiliation with Mexico or the Spanish
Empire. Let us not sugar coat what
the Russians have done in Crimea.
Re:
banking. Yes, and I hope there are
many more culprits who will eventually lose their freedom for a long time.
My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
