Thoughts for the Day, May 15, 2024: If you don’t score you cannot win.

You cannot win if you cannot score.

The Detroit Tigers have lost their last two games to the second worst team in baseball, the Florida Marlins, and have fallen below the .500 level for the first time all season at 21-22.  The Tiger pitching during the two games was phenomenal. Over 19 innings they gave up only 8 hits and two earned runs.  Unfortunately, the Tigers did not score a run in either of the games as they lost 1-0 in ten innings on Tuesday and 2-0 today.  No matter how good the pitching is, you cannot win without scoring. 

This should not be a surprise. 

When it comes to the surgical practices, it should be no surprise that hospital surgical teams with more female doctors lower the risk of complications.  

Per the Guardian today, A new study has found that hospital surgical teams that include more female doctors lower the risk of serious complications and could in turn reduce healthcare costs. Researchers examined more than 700,000 operations spanning a decade and discovered that hospitals with teams comprising more than 35% female surgeons and anesthesiologists had better post-operative outcomes.

Dr Julie Hallet, the lead author of the study at the University of Toronto, said: “These results are the start of an important shift in understanding the way in which diversity contributes to quality in perioperative care.”

I will not be watching.

President Biden and the former president have agreed to two presidential debates on June 27 and September 10.  I will not be watching. If I want to watch people that age perform, I will watch a YouTube video of the Rolling Stones’ recent concert tour.  

Stock markets set record highs today.

he S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite indexes set all-time highs today.  Better than expected inflation numbers were the driving force behind the record.  The macro economy continues its positive progress.  This is good news for President Biden.  Unfortunately, interest rates and inflation continue to be a problem to everyday Americans.  This is President Biden’s kryptonite.  

It has always been about protecting the election and not his family.

Per Joyce Vance’s Civil Discourse, Michael Cohen testified Donald Trump warned him that as soon as he announced his candidacy, women would begin to come forward. That doesn’t sound like a man who was worried about protecting his wife and family. Had he been, he would not have run for office. Plenty of potential candidates engage in that calculus. Trump didn’t. Instead, he warned his fixer to be ready. Preventing Stormy Daniels from telling her story publicly was all about the election. It was always about the presidency, and never about his family.

A step in the right direction in a no-win situation.

Per the Guardian, Last week Joe Biden said he had delayed a shipment of bombs to Israel over concerns they might be used for a big invasion of Rafah, the town in southern Gaza housing 1.3 million Palestinians, many of whom fled there during the conflict. But on Tuesday two US officials told Reuters that the state department has moved a $1bn package of weapons aid into the congressional review process – a package that includes tank rounds, mortars and armored tactical vehicles. The White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, had told reporters the US would continue to provide military assistance to Israel, but the White House paused the bombs because “we do not believe they should be dropped in densely populated cities” In a no-win situation, I believe this is a step in the right direction.  

Marlboro man no more.

I love this from Heather Cox Richardson. The cowboy myth was always a political image, designed to undermine the idea of a government that worked for ordinary Americans. The American cowboy burst back into prominence with the advent of the Marlboro Man in 1954, and the idea of an individual white man who worked hard, wanted nothing from the government but to be left alone, was a sex symbol, and protected his women became a central myth in the rise of politicians determined to overturn the liberal consensus. Now it seems the myth has come full circle, with the party led by a man whose wife rejects him and whose lovers ridicule him, who makes up stories about dangerous “others,” cheats on his taxes, solicits bribes, and tries to sell out his followers for cash—the very caricature the mythological cowboy was invented to fight. Unfortunately, this man is now the MAGA Kamikaze Party choice to be the leader of the free world.

It is good to have friendly judges deciding one’s fate.

Per Joyce Vance, it’s been apparent for months that the May 20 trial date for the former president’s trial for his removal of government documents to his personal residence wasn’t going to be the actual start of trial, as the Judge let critical motions stack up and refused to rule. This week, she announced that the trial date was off, and then she refused to set a new one.This case could and should have been ready for trial in December or January if she had been working on the motions and realistic deadlines all along.Judge Cannon’s action here bears a striking similarity to what Trump asked her to do back in July of 2023, when he and co-defendant Walt Nauta filed a joint motion asking her to “postpone initial consideration of any rescheduled trial date until after substantive motions have been presented and adjudicated.” She didn’t then; she scheduled the May trial date. But now, she has given Trump what he wanted all along, and it’s contrary to what the law directs judges to do.

Being seen at the former president’s trial, seems like the place to be for members of the MAGA Kamikaze Party.

The far right MAGA extremists are going out of their way to show support for the former president by showing up at his trial.  Since they are not under a judicial order against speaking out against witnesses, jurors, or the judge, they are serving as the former president’s mouthpiece as the former president reluctantly complies with the judge’s order to “shut up”. While the extremists are working hard to remain in the good graces of the former president, it leads to my Questions of the Day.  Where is Melania? Why is she not sitting by the side of the former president in this time of need?

If you are cheating, you better not get caught.

After nearly every inning in th? e MLB, an umpire inspects the pitcher’s glove to make sure the pitcher is not hiding any foreign substance that could be put on the ball when pitching to magnify the action of the ball.  It happens thousands of time during the season with no drama or issues. Then something happens that reinforces why the umpires check the pitcher’s gloves.  Yesterday, the umpires found a foreign substance on Astros starter Ronel Blanco’s glove. Before he could throw a pitch in the 4th inning, umpires convened on the mound and decided to eject Blanco, who was on a roll against the A’s lineup. Today the MLB suspended Blanco for 10 games. For the Astro’s this is another black mark against a franchise who was found guilty of cheating in the playoffs and world series.  Tiger manager A.J. Hinch was the manager of the Astros at the time, and he was suspended for one year.    

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Quote of the Day: “Michael Goodwin writes that with a fresh round of favorable polls, the presidential race is now Trump’s to lose. Don’t underestimate his ability to do so.” Nolan Finley of the Detroit News in his blog today.  

Orchid of the Day: Fellow umpires Mike Laird, Shaun Amos, Brad Coffey, and Todd Wills who were awarded the state finals for this year’s MHSAA baseball championships.  These guys have worked hard at their profession by attending camps, working many games, and training others. 
Onion of the Day: The Detroit Tiger’s hitting the last two games.  A total waste of two gems by their pitching staff.

Second Onion of the Day: Houston Astro pitcher Ronel Blanco for using a foreign substance on the ball while pitching last night.
Question of the Day: Where is Melania? Why is she not sitting by the side of the former president in the court room during his time of need?

Video of the Day:

Trump v Biden: the key moments of the final presidential debate (youtube.com)

1 thought on “Thoughts for the Day, May 15, 2024: If you don’t score you cannot win.

  1. Rick Bossard

    Hi Biggsie, I LOVED the “Marlboro Man” piece! Boz

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