For this week's consideration: Optimist section; Puerto Rico; redistricting in Wisconsin (WI); Catalan independence; Russia and Saudi Arabia; Santa Claus; DPRK and Jimmy Carter; Russia's future; astronomy's new "magic;" alternative power.

The Optimist section. Link here for this week's uplifting stories. 

Puerto Rico. What the president did and did not see. As this story points out, the president was not shown -- at least on the ground -- the areas that were the most ravaged by Hurricane Maria. Mentioned the negative budget impact for Washington was perhaps not the best opening to his visit and the pictures of he and the First Lady pitching rolls of paper towels into the crowd did not do much to improve their images. It was not reported that Trump saw the long lines at the airport, ATMs, or supermarkets. Neither does one normally visit a storm-ravaged area dressed in white.

WI redistricting. On October 2, this was the first case of the new term argued before the USSC. Vast and varied potential outcomes may arise from the Court's decision in Gill v. Whitford. From the New Yorker, this note about an exchange between Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Court's newest member, Justice Neil Gorsuch. The case was noted on PBS in an interview with long-time court watchers, Jeff Greenfield and Marcia Coyle. This second link includes the WI maps used in the case.
This other New Yorker story for its opening words about lyricism and gerrymandering. 

Catalonia and Spain. A recent story on NPR discussed the implications of the Catalan independence, not only for Spain, but other nations and alliances. For the EU. Even for far away India. Before, during, and after our revolution, Canada was the favored refuge for Torries who wanted continued allegiance to England and the king.
     Spain's wrong headed approach, says the Economist, leaves much to be desired -- and feared.

"Secession would be a disaster for Spain. The country would lose its second city and risk the further loss of the Basque region. Secession would also hurt Catalans, which is why a majority of them probably oppose it. And Catalan independence might stir up separatism elsewhere in Europe—in Scotland again, no doubt, but also in northern Italy, in Corsica, perhaps even in Bavaria.

Russia in the Middle East. During and after the Cold War, a cornerstone of American foreign policy was to insure that the USSR, nee Russia, had as little influence as possible. The forth coming visit to Russia by the Saudi monarch will seek to change that and give Russia influence there and concurrently on worldwide oil/gas prices. This presents the Trump administration with a totally new foreign policy wrinkle, one certainly outside the experience of the the president's new political appointees at the State Department.

Russian meddling. From The Hill: (1) Collusion is still an open question; (2) the intelligence community's muddled message; (3) the danger for future elections; (4) Michael Cohen, the president's personal lawyer; (5) long way to go.

Santa Claus. Archaeologists have reportedly found "the tomb in southern Turkey of the original Santa Claus [Saint Nicholas of Myra (now Demre)] , also known as St. Nicholas, beneath his namesake church near the Mediterranean Sea." Alas and certainly censor this news snippet if there are young children in your house!

Jimmy Carter and the DPRK. No other former president has worked harder worldwide for multiple humanitarian causes than ex-President Carter. Here he discusses his multiple trips to the DPRK and his contacts with North Koreans, from leaders to peasants in the countryside. He says,

As the world knows, we face the strong possibility of another Korean war, with potentially devastating consequences to the Korean Peninsula, Japan, our outlying territories in the Pacific and perhaps the mainland of the United States. This is the most serious existing threat to world peace, and it is imperative that Pyongyang and Washington find some way to ease the escalating tension and reach a lasting, peaceful agreement....

Over more than 20 years, I have spent many hours in discussions with top North Korean officials and private citizens during visits to Pyongyang and to the countryside. I found Kim Il Sung (their “Great Leader”), Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, and other leaders to be both completely rational and dedicated to the preservation of their regime.... There is no remaining chance that it will agree to a total denuclearization, as it has seen what happened in a denuclearized Libya and assessed the doubtful status of U.S. adherence to the Iran nuclear agreement. 

If President Carter is correct in his assessment, regime preservation could be key. It is safe to assume that, if allowed to voice their 'druthers, the average North Korean would speak out for national preservation -- without another Korean conflict. Carter said, "They are probably the most isolated people on Earth and almost unanimously believe that their greatest threat is from a preemptory military attack by the United States."

Russia, post-USSR. This review from the Christian Science Monitor discusses Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen's book, The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia. The reviewer begins, "The future is history because, as the Russians say, 'Budushego net,' there is no future. Gessen asks, “Had the ideas of freedom and democracy really been forgotten no sooner than they had apparently been won?” Apparently so. She continues, “Old government, Party, and KGB hands had filled the many voids at all levels of the bureaucracy and had resumed their ascent up the power ladder, as though the end of the Soviet Union had caused just a temporary layoff.” Sure to be a sobering read.

2017 Nobel Prize in Physics. This article from the Christian Science Monitor's "Weekender" section discusses this year's award. In 1915, Einstein advanced his general theory of relativity in which he predicted gravitational waves and September 14, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detected the waves caused by the collision of two massive black holes, 1.3 billion years ago.
     This and three subsequently detected events have ushered in a completely new kind of astronomy. “This opens up a new window on the universe,” says Saul Teukolsky, a theoretical astrophysicist at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. “And each time a new window has opened up, we’ve made incredible discoveries. LIGO uses motion, not just observable electromagnetic events (including light). This was also the first time the physics award was made so soon following a new discovery.

Copenhagen and China. This clip from CBS Morning News is about Copenhagen's striving to become the world's first all alternative energy city. This second clip is about China's immense efforts to become the world's leading producer/user of solar energy. (pardon the required ads) Meanwhile, in the US, the Trump administration vows not to abandon coal and "solar states" fight to save the American solar panel industry.


10 October 1913: President Wilson sent a telegraph signal from Washington, D.C. to Panama which set off an explosion destroying part of the Gamboa dike, effectively opening the Panama Canal.





Thank you for reading. May your first snowfall come quietly as ours did in Denver.

This week's topics: Puerto Rico; Jones Act; Alabama; tax reform; the swamp; business startups; women drivers; violence and the KKK; health care; DPRK news; Catalonia; Las Vegas.

Puerto Rico. An picturesque island, close-at-hand in good times, but far off when the times get tough. Our mainland population may increase significantly as many, many thousands of our off-shore citizens flee their devastated island. Mainland-bound planes are filled to capacity, on hand supplies are rapidly vanishing, big rig drivers are desperately needed to move supplies that are piling up in port depots, and power remains off for most of the island. Though the governor continues to do the politically correct thing by thanking the president for his concern and FEMA's assistance, an increasing number of other elected officials have called for a full-scale military mobilization to assist the battered island and the president is seen as reacting more slowly than he did for Houston and Florida.

Jones Act. Ever wondered why your Princess cruise from Seattle to Los Angeles has to go further south for a quick visit to Encinada, Mexico? Blame it on the Jones Act, which mandates that only US-flagged ships can go to successive US ports. Your Princess cruise ship is flagged (registered) in a foreign country, hence the hurried port to call in Mexico. If you sail from Vancouver, British Columbia, your cruise can end in Los Angeles.
     When Harvey and Irma wreaked havoc on the Trump administration immediately suspended the Jones Act, enabling any ship to bring supplies to the aid of Houston and Florida. In the case of Puerto Rico, this happened after a week's delay.

Alabama. For multiple reasons, "strange' was the appropriate word for  this state. From the Washington Post, E.J. Dionne wrote, "Former judge Roy Moore’s victory [55% - 45%] over Sen. Luther Strange was a sign of just how extreme Republican rank-and-filers have become." Strange had the backing of President Trump, while ex-White House staffer, Steve Bannon, campaigned for "Judge" Roy Moore. Dionne opines that "... right-wing insurgents were given a license to challenge Republican incumbents all over the country in 2018....Moore is now 70 years old and was twice suspended as the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court for refusing to obey laws he saw as at odds with his religious beliefs. Normally all this would be career-ending."
     If Dionne is correct, as seems probably, the 2018 primary season will begin early and will be far from the usual hum-drum, ho-hum affair. Further, another writer says, "Make no mistake, Tuesday’s Republican Senate primary in Alabama centered on [Senate majority leader] McConnell’s failures."
     The president, who very much dislikes losing, was reported to be unhappy. 

Tax reform. Hot on the heels of having failed to remove/replace the current health program, the Republican-controlled Congress has moved on to tax reform. Taxes being inevitable, one can only wonder if these reform plans will also be declared dead in the near future.

The Swamp. Columnist Robert Samuelson writes about why the much detested "Swamp" continues to exist.

Business entrepreneurs. As the 2008 Great Recession continues to recede, economic columnist Robert Samuelson looks at the seeming reality of the TV show, "Shark Tank," and government-collected data. "There’s a huge gap between perception and reality. Just recently, the Census Bureau released its latest figures for business start-ups, and they paint a picture strikingly at odds with the conventional wisdom. Instead of a boom in business start-ups, there has been a long-term decline. In 2015, start-ups totaled 414,000, 'well below the pre-Great Recession average of 524,000 startup firms,' as the Census Bureau puts it."

Women drivers in Saudi Arabia. In the near future Saudi roads will undergo a change: women drivers will be behind the wheel. The authorities are now engaged in deciding how to implement the decision, so it will not happen in the immediate future. Even though this driving specific restriction has received the most "press," it is not thought to be one of the most important. Change is undoubtedly afoot in the Kingdom. Link to article from Aljazarra.

KKK. In this column from "Outlook" (Washington Post), Daryl Davis, an African American looks back at his long-standing efforts to understand why members of the KKK and various other Aryan racist groups hate him -- even though they do not know him. Interesting reading. His 1998 book, Klan-Destine Relationships, is about his endeavors to understand his white adversaries through conversation, not confrontation.

Health Care. "Is health care a right? Here is a discussion of this divisive question from the New Yorker by Atul Gawande. "A right doesn’t distinguish between the deserving and the undeserving, and, for many in my Ohio home town, that rankled."

North Korea. Once again, the president and his secretary of state seem to be at odds about how to best deal with the DPRK's continuing missile and nuclear developments. State: There are open channels of communications with the DPRK. White House: Talking with Kim Jong Un is "a waste of time." One more reason to worry about our foreign policy mechanisms. However, the diplomatic equivalents of playground bullying and taunting may be altogether a different matter. The president should remember that at the very least he has personal responsibility for approximately 37,500 US troops stationed in South Korea. Then, of course, there are the millions of South Koreans and Japanese.
     A Washington Post story notes that strangely Jong Un's regime continues to "bite the hand of the Beijing elders" who support him, frustrating both China and President Trump. The reasons for Jong Un's actions may be rooted in the distant past when the Chinese Communists thought his grandfather, Kim  Il Sung (North Korea's founder), had sided with the the Japanese occupiers, whom they arrested and imprisoned.

Catalonia independence. As noted in the Economist story, last Sunday's unconstitutional (?) secession/independence referendum turned nasty when Spanish police forcibly shut  down 300+ polling places. Catalan officials said that votes that were counted showed showed 90% in favor of independence. Some non-voters want a "third way," i.e. greater autonomy. Stay tuned!

Las Vegas violence. Slowly, but surely -- sadly -- the US is coming to the realization that we, too, will repeatedly experience what so many others in the world accept as as common daily occurrence: mass violence. Discussions here will, of course, include much back-and-forth about the 2nd Amendment.
     Link to the Economist story with graphic of mass shootings since 1982. The authors note this apparent necessity: "American politicians routinely warn against “politicising” (sic) mass shootings. Although they take to the airwaves to discuss airline safety in the wake of a plane crash or security measures after a terrorist attack, discussing gun laws after a lunatic shoots scores of people to death—asking whether, perhaps, the ease of obtaining weapons in America might have something to do with the frequency with which mass murderers kill people with firearms—is understood to somehow be in bad taste." (emphasis added)


Thank you for reading. It's snowing in the Rockies.