Thoughts for the Day, July 27, 2022: Two pounds of poop per day.

Frank, one of my golfing buddies, in Petoskey and I have this running feud about Canada geese.  Frank thinks they are beautiful birds that are nice to have around. I think they are useless animals who destroy our beaches, ponds, wetlands, lawns and golf courses with their waste and noise.  So, when Bridge Magazine came out with an article about the problems with the growing number of geese in Michigan because of the milder winters we are having, I saw an opportunity to help make my case.  Here is an excerpt from the full article which I sent to Frank.

The increasing number of Canada geese staying over the winter is causing state parks “a lot of issues,” said Ron Olson, Michigan DNR Parks and Recreation Chief. “Particularly in beach areas and heavily used parks where they like to congregate,” Olson said. Canada geese like parks and golf courses for their manicured lawns, abundant open water and other resources they need to thrive. Olson said park workers are constantly picking up goose poop — the bird can produce up to two pounds of poop a day, which contribute to beach closings like those in Lake St. Clair because of high E. Coli bacteria concentrations.

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I didn’t see this coming. The House Select Committee investigation of the January 6, insurrection is having an impact in unexpected places.  From The Guardian earlier this week:

Rupert Murdoch, hitherto one of Donald Trump’s most loyal media messengers, appears to have turned on the former president. 

US media circles were rocked this weekend after the New York Post issued an excoriating editorial indictment of Trump’s failure to stop the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. The editorial, in a tabloid owned by Murdoch since 1976, began: “As his followers stormed the Capitol, calling for his vice-president to be hanged, President Donald Trump sat in his private dining room, watching TV, doing nothing. For three hours, seven minutes.” Trump’s only focus, the Post said, was to block the peaceful transfer of power. “As a matter of principle, as a matter of character, Trump has proven himself unworthy to be this country’s chief executive again.”

The Wall Street Journal, another Murdoch paper, issued a similar critique in which it said evidence before the House January 6 committee was a reminder that “Trump betrayed his supporters”.  Trump, the Journal said, took an oath to defend the constitution and had an obligation to protect the Capitol from the mob he told to march there, knowing it was armed.  “He refused. He didn’t call the military to send help. He didn’t call [Mike] Pence to check on the safety of his loyal [vice-president]. Instead, he fed the mob’s anger and let the riot play out.”  Trump had “shown not an iota of regret”, the Journal said, adding: “Character is revealed in a crisis, and Mr. Pence passed his January 6 trial. Mr. Trump utterly failed his.”

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As we get closer to the elections of 2022, there will be lots of rhetoric about candidates releasing their tax returns. There will be candidates who refuse to do so.  There will be other candidates who say they will do so, but only if the other candidate does.  There will be candidates who will release their tax returns because they think it is good politics.  I appreciate the candidates for state and federal office who release their returns for the public.  It shows their willingness to be transparent.  At the same time, I do not believe personal medical records should be shared.

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Despite the Tigers taking two of three from the Padres, their performance in the last three weeks following their previous six game winning streak has been a major disappointment.  If their performance does not significantly improve over the remainder of the season, changes must be made.  The changes should include replacing the general manager, the hitting coaches, and the trainers.  In thinking about all the trades and free agent signings that GM Avila has made in the last six years, I cannot think of one that has worked out well for the Tigers.  The current team is last in homeruns and runs scored, and their injury list is overwhelming.  Bad luck, bad timing, or an aberration cannot explain the poor performance of Tiger hitters.  Bad luck, bad timing or an aberration cannot explain the consistent underperforming of free agent signings.  Bad luck, bad timing or an aberration cannot explain the loss of five starting pitchers, and a host of other players to muscle and tendon injuries.  Owner Chris Ilitch has a job to do.  The sooner he does it the better it will be for the team and the fans.

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Over the weekend I read an interesting article in The Guardian about Trump’s role in the January 6 insurrection.  Here are excerpts. 

To those who track anti-democratic movements there is a chilling familiarity to this rich evocation of a president descending into an abyss of fantasy, fury and possible illegality. “The picture that the hearings depict is of a coup leader,” said the Harvard political scientist Steven Levitsky. “This is a guy who was unwilling to accept defeat and was prepared to use virtually any means to try to stay illegally in power.”  Levitsky is co-author of the influential book How Democracies Die which traces the collapse of once-proud democratic nations – in some cases through wrenching upheavals, but more often in modern times through a tip-toeing into authoritarianism. Levitsky is also an authority on Latin America, a region from which he draws a compelling parallel.

Levitsky told the Guardian that the Trump who emerges from the hearings was a coup leader, “but not a very sophisticated one. Not a very experienced one. A petty autocrat. A type of leader more familiar to someone like me, a student of Latin American politics.”

If Trump’s Latin American-style authoritarianism rang out from the hearings for scholars like Levitsky, a more vexed question is whether it similarly pierced the consciences of the wider American people. It is in their hands that the fate of the January 6 committee’s prime objective now rests: ensuring that a head-on assault on US democracy never happens again.

As I read this article, I was reminded of a conversation I had with my best friend George Mihaiu that occurred long before the election of 2020.  George predicted correctly that if Trump lost the election, Trump would refuse to leave office by orchestrating a coup or by declaring a national state of emergency and implementing marshal law.  At the time, I told George that even Trump wouldn’t do something as stupid as that.  Now I look back and wonder how I missed all the signs.

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Elections Matter. Pray for peace and tolerance. What are you doing to stop the violence and mass killings? 

Orchid of the Day:  Bridge Magazine for setting the record straight on the redeeming value of a Canadian goose, which is an oxymoron.

Onion of the Day:  My putting.  I three putted the first four holes yesterday.  I was turning pars into bogeys and bogeys into double bogeys in the blink of an eye, or a flinch of the putter.

Quote of the Day:  “Happiness is an accomplishment.”  A good friend.

Question of the Day:  Would you release your tax return to the public if you were running for state or federal office?

Video/Image of the Day: One of my favorite songs of Bob Seger, Turn the Page, covered by Metallica