She has always been a good neoliberal, making sure the corporate bottom line is never threatened too much. And she does love issuing edicts. But there might be a few problems with committing Michigan personnel to a classic Foreign Freedom Adventure Expedition! on her own.
I have an idea: how about America start acting like a strict parent and cut Ray Dalio's allowance? Mindsets like this--abroad and here--are why I don't have any particular beef with soaking the rich.
Yes, I know--they have lawyers and accountants to help their cash escape capture. And I'm certainly no friend of the idea of a beefed-up IRS which will invariably audit the hell out of the middle class instead of the connected.
But, in principle, yes--sign me up for the billionaire tax. I long since stopped being an unpaid apologist for these sorts of people:
"As a top down country what they [China] are doing is--they behave like a strict parent."
Why could motivate someone to say something so heartless and stupid like that?
Oh:
Per Axios, just a week ago Dalio’s firm announced that it had raised more than a billion dollars to launch its third investment fund in China.
While Arendt's thesis is open to challenge, it seems pretty clear to me that in America, evil wears the most banal of guises. We're quite ok with that--so long as evil is well-dressed and deals in civil, soothing and ambiguous rhetoric.
A shutoff can be the last straw for families
facing expenses they can't afford, creating problems ranging from
stress to poor hygiene to lost parental rights, Read said.
As
well as banning shutoffs, analysts recommended utilities and state
policymakers find ways to help households struggling to pay for water
services, including forgiving existing debts, discounting services or
providing well and septic system repair grants to needy families.
They also recommended:
Addressing
gaps in technical and financial capacity among Michigan water and sewer
utilities by providing funding and expertise to cash-strapped
utilities.
Improving data collection by requiring Michigan utilities to report on their finances, infrastructure and maintenance plans.
Requiring utilities to seek input from the communities they serve before making infrastructure and planning decisions.
Have
the state take a larger role in utility oversight to ensure public
health protection, water quality and appropriate water rates.
While
water affordability is an acute problem in Detroit and other Michigan
cities, it is not solely an urban problem, the analysts cautioned.
Low-income residents of the Thumb spend 20-25% of their incomes on water
and sewer bills; low-income residents in portions of central Michigan
and the western Upper Peninsula spend 15-20%.
Michigan
residents who have private water supplies, such as septic systems and
wells, also face challenges. Analysts found about 20% of wells and 27%
of septic systems in Michiganare in need of repair and replacement.
Water bills have certainly shot up in our humble suburb, but thanks be to God it doesn't eat a quarter of our income. But I know people who have experienced water shutoffs, and it left scars.
Capturing some of the Dalio class' cash might help. Especially when you consider how many good-paying American jobs they have connived in shipping over to Xi's realm.
Running Back Hassan Haskins (No. 25): Five touchdowns and a Michigan legend.
As sharp-eyed readers may recall, back in September I described Michigan football as a "pit toilet" despite an early ok start.
That was mostly based on the following fact: the Wolverines can't win what had become the Buckeyes' Game at the end of the year.
And the team I saw--running the ball like something out of the Ten Year War days (my first football memory was Michigan beating OSU in 1975)...that's not going to work against a bunch of speedsters playing NFL-level offensive ball who can dial up points at will.
Honestly, The Game had become an annual exercise in crushing-disappointment-to-utter-humiliation. Absolutely the latter over the last two games (a corona outbreak killed last year's game, mercifully-so given how crap Michigan was).
Imagine the Red Sox vs. Yankees rivalry before 2004: that's what it had become.
A rivalry mostly in the minds of the consistently-beaten.
And after the Wolverines blew a two touchdown lead over the clearly-tougher and more-motivated Michigan State Spartans, this year's match-up was another foregone conclusion, one I grimly sat down to watch with zero hope, and carefully-policed to douse any embers of deceitful hope that may start to ignite.
But somehow...this version of the Wolverines hammered, mashed and clawed their way to victory. 294 yards rushing, 169 of it from Haskins. Three sacks and 15 (!) pressures from DE Aidan Hutchinson, and a back-breaking sack from David Ojabo.
Yet, I didn't let the embers ignite until the Wolverines scored their last touchdown with 2:17 left in what was once again, The Game.
It's a rivalry again. And I feel like the six year old cheering at the Zenith in the living room again.
But here's hoping that Michigan plants its feet back on the ground today. Because they are headed to utterly-unfamiliar ground: the Big 10 Championship Game. And Iowa gives me bad nightmares from the past.
Update:
Your sports weekend was not this bad, I assure you. Even if you rooted for OSU.
I'm pretty sure the tats are temporary, so at least there is that.
But genuine props for going ALL OUT--and in the opposing team's stadium, too. Dude, you are definitely a diehard fan.
The rural quiet of the Island has attracted many, so it was not surprising that the young couple fell in love with the place. Their vineyard planting had already begun, in fact:
On the surface, their dream might seem as
far-flung as this island in the northern waters of Lake Michigan, but
the couple has planted roots on a 120-acre tract deep in the woods of
the island, the third-largest in the state. Their planting of 2,100
vines on a fallow field this past spring came after their own extensive
research and consultations with others in Michigan’s flourishing wine
industry.
“It feels like a
place somewhere along the road where you could stop and have a glass of
wine with new friends,” said Kate Leese, 35, who grew up in Charlevoix, a
resort town across the lake, about 30 miles away. “Our goal is to have
that kind of place that brings people together.”
Wine
grapes have been cultivated by others on the island in the past but not
for commercial use, the couple says. They'll be the first to bottle and
sell their wine on the island as well as the mainland.
It’s
not hard to imagine that kind of operation happening here, on the open
lawn behind a turn-of-the-century farmhouse the couple is restoring.
Beyond the clearing, where the young vines are sprouting from grow
tubes, hardwoods frame the horizon. Apple trees, remnants of another
farming era, and sugar maples, exploding in fiery colors, dot the
bucolic landscape.
“We have wanted to plant a
vineyard, but it was something that we thought about doing 20 years from
now, in the future,” said Leese, who has a background in biochemistry
and who, like her husband, is passionate about wine. “So many things
came together for us in the last year."
Those things
included finding a property on Beaver Island after a random stop in fall
2019, in the wake of a boat trip up the northwestern Michigan
coastline. They were ready for a more stationary existence after
spending three years on the road, pulling a renovated Airstream around
the continental United States, working remotely.
“Almost
immediately after we pulled into the marina here, we knew this was the
level of quiet we were looking for,” said Kendall, 37, a Jackson
native who has a background as an attorney. “At night, there’s almost
complete silence here. There’s no light pollution. You can hear every
car (if one goes by). It’s the kind of place we had been looking for as
our next spot.”
* * *
Part
of an archipelago, Beaver Island is home to about 600 year-round
residents. It’s the kind of place where everybody knows everybody, where
everybody waves as they pass one another, where neighbors pitch in to
help one another and where everyone does what they can to help the
community.
"And so it's a little more critical to get on top
of it in a very busy urban area, like Detroit or Grand Rapids," said
Mark Geib, administrator of the Transportation Systems Management
Operations division at the Michigan Department of
Transportation. "It's not just for the traveling public, but it's also
for emergency services, the ambulances, and police and fire and all
that. So, you know, we need to keep the roads clear so people can get
around, especially in emergency situations."
Geib said he hasn't seen a snowplow driver shortage anything like this during his 30 years at MDOT.
The
Michigan Department of Transportation contracts out the responsibility
to counties for about 75% of the roads and manages the other 25%
themselves, according to Mark Geib, administrator in the Transportation
Systems Management Operations division.
Individual counties, like Oakland, Wayne and Macomb, are also struggling to fill their rosters.
That's on top of budgetary decisions which have limited plowing and salting to larger snow events (5" or more). Which were probably going to be even more limited with the fuel price increases--especially for diesel.
If it's a mild winter like last year's, manageable.
If it's like 2013...hoo, boy. The Expedition is on its last legs as it is.
Dodge Chargers are the worst. I hate the car with the fury of the thousand sons. Yes, 40K reference deliberate.
No, really: giving the drag racing in our neck of the woods, I have taken to calling it The Official Car of the Detroit A--h--e. Though at least the racing down our street seems to have declined this year.
Troopers spotted a white Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
"traveling at an excessive speed" on westbound Interstate 696 near
Interstate 75 in Royal Oak around 2:15 a.m. Sunday, MSP said on Twitter.
The driver, 29, allegedly clocked in at more than 150 mph before troopers lost sight of him, according to the post.
Minutes later, the troopers found the motorist at Greenfield Road near I-696, pushing his car into a parking lot, MSP said.
"After
further investigation it was discovered the suspect, a 29-year-old male
out of Oak Park, ran out of gas in the middle of the roadway," state
police said. "The suspect admitted to his reckless acts and was found to
be highly intoxicated."
Got to 150 mph?
And intoxicated?
I can only imagine on what, he says rhetorically, recalling the toker walking down the middle of the street early yesterday evening.
One of the many reasons I look forward to winter is that it offers us a partial reprieve from Charger-driven idiocy. Not a complete cessation, mind you--but a definite dial-down.
And apparently the school has been scrambling to find the minimum four referees for weeks.
For some context, Mt. Clemens is central Macomb suburb with a Division 5 (out of 8, with higher numbers meaning smaller schools) program, which means enrollment toward the smaller end. But it's also easily accessible travel wise.
Don't get me wrong: ref work can be grim, especially at the HS level.
And yet, nobody can be found to fill out the roster? Heartbreaking for the young men and their families.
No, I don't know anything about Kevin Rinke apart from the association of the surname with car dealerships.
But "self-funded businessman" will bring back memories of the last such gent to run for governor, Rick Snyder. Only this guy sold cars, which is right up there with "lawyer" in the public esteem department. The ads write themselves.
I have received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine and will get the last in a couple of weeks. I think it is salutary and it was the right decision for me in my situation.
But I won't be wagging my finger at the more reluctant among us. There are various legitimate concerns about the vaccines ranging from the novelty of their RNA background to bad-to-horrific historical experiences with health care institutions--to name but two. Obviously, there can be other factors which involve reasoned calculations against getting the jab(s).
You will see infographics about vaccine reluctance in "red states," and while there is no doubt resistance among rural whites, there is also reluctance among African American populations which the slick partisan presentations frequently elide. And there is good reason for African-Americans to be wary--generations of substandard care would make anyone reluctant to get jabbed with a brand new medical treatment for which there is no legal recourse if it goes south.
But our garbage Congress refuses to act on economic relief in the America of the second lockdowns.
You probably haven't heard of the restaurant version of the Petticoat Junction. But its closure will be a hammer blow not only to the people who worked there, but also to the people who have for decades patronized this truck stop restaurant just outside of my hometown.
My anger with both houses of our national legislature for the posturing and slow-walking of relief is nearing nuclear fusion levels. The suffering is real, and the knowing, calculated indifference to it is the kind of behavior that destroys political legitimacy across the board.
The deliberate destruction of livelihoods and the refusal to extend a helping hand is fertile soil for unrest. The grim sequel to 2020 beckons.
And, mirabile dictu, a 4-3 majority discovered that an unconstitutional delegation of martial-law-level power passed in response to Detroit's 1943 race riot doesn't allow a governor to indefinitely rule the State by decree.
Poor Gretchen--she'll have to start working with people who don't affirm her infallible judgment every waking moment of the day.
Of course, that also means our GOP-controlled legislature has to corral its own dubious quirks.
[WARNING: Gratuitous misuse of the Lord's name in the song.
But other than that, it fits. Except for the part where Adams was a genuine intellectual titan and political thinker.
Whereas Whitmer is....neither.
But she definitely shares Adams' bad judgment, penchant for needless fight picking and unshakable sense of righteousness. She also seems to, like the Adamses, have a happy marriage, so there's that.
And it functionally bans football, volleyball, and soccer.
Because now masks are required for all players.
It has been many a moon since I played football, but the thought of trying to play the sport while wearing a mask over my mouth and nose defies description.
The boys will be dropping like flies during the two-a-days. I can't imagine it will be much more fun for the other athletes, either.
So, they will quickly close up shop after a couple of weeks of struggling to comply--and literally struggling to catch their collective breath.
But the pros are excepted, because of course they are. So, those of you inclined to watch our tragicomic professional franchise can do so knowing they won't have to struggle extra-hard to breathe.
There was much RAEG! from the local left because word first leaked about the colorless gathering. But it turned into a grudging "hey, maybe not a bad idea, but" when the separate but equal one became known.
The fact that it would have been perfectly in line with the spirit of Plessy v. Ferguson completely escaped the university and the commentators.
And if you needed a despair-infected chuckle for the day, there you go.
Our micro-managing governor is going to issue another decree, I can feel it.
But you can count on her to not issue an edict that will keep virus patients out of nursing homes, because she's right and everyone else is wrong.
Not so by the way, with my mother-in-law in a home that saw an early outbreak, my dislike for Whitmer is difficult to quantify. Her refusal to keep virus patients out of nursing homes--which is now unique in the United States--is, bluntly, manslaughter.
Maybe now that she is no longer auditioning to be Mr. 25th Amendment's sidekick, she will relent. But I won't count on it.
Nursing homes, which have been the focal point of the epidemic in this country since March, are responsible for at least 40 percent
of all deaths attributed to the coronavirus. Governors in vast majority
of states decided some time ago that no one infected with the virus
should be sent to a nursing home and that every other imaginable
precaution should be taken to ensure that the disease is not introduced
to places in which it is guaranteed to spread like wildfire.Among them, after a long delay,
was the Democratic governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, who has
otherwise distinguished himself during the present crisis mostly for a
series of obnoxious CNN appearances with his brother, Chris.
This has not been the case in my home state of Michigan. Two weeks ago, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Cuomo's fellow Democrat, vetoed
a piece of legislation that would have prevented patients with active
COVID-19 infections from being placed in nursing homes. Instead, the
legislation would have required these individuals to be treated in
entirely separate, otherwise empty facilities reserved exclusively for
those who have already contracted the disease.
It is impossible to mount a scientific justification
for Whitmer's veto. It was an act of pure spite, a move that signaled
nothing save her unlimited contempt for the Republican-controlled state
legislature. Her feeble defense — that not placing virus patients in
nursing homes where their chances of infecting their fellow occupants
are all but guaranteed would have violated their medical rights and
privacy rights — is risible on its face. Where were the supposed rights
of the same individuals when they were moved from hospitals to nursing
homes, ostensibly in accordance with guidelines from the CDC? Where were
the rights of those who would be exposed to this lethal disease? Only
three days after the first case of the virus was confirmed in Michigan,
the head of the Healthcare Association of Michigan proposed
treating coronavirus patients in vacant facilities in a widely shared
letter. This idea, which would almost certainly have saved hundreds and
perhaps even thousands of lives, was imperiously dismissed out of hand
by Whitmer.
Yes, she remains above water in Michigan polls thanks to a fawning press corps, she's energetic, and the fact that she projects decisiveness with her flowing ink pen.
I will finish with a quote from German general Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord, who categorized officers as follows:
I distinguish four types. There are clever, hardworking, stupid, and
lazy officers. Usually two characteristics are combined.
Some are clever
and hardworking; their place is the General Staff.
The next ones are
stupid and lazy; they make up 90 percent of every army and are suited to
routine duties.
Anyone who is both clever and lazy is qualified for the
highest leadership duties, because he possesses the mental clarity and
strength of nerve necessary for difficult decisions.
One must beware of
anyone who is both stupid and hardworking; he must not be entrusted with
any responsibility because he will always only cause damage.
My prognostication bona fides remain intact, as I incorrectly said that baseball was done a little over a week ago. While it's still dicey, with the Cards the latest to have coronavirus problems, it's still going. I still strongly doubt that MLB will finish even this super-abbreviated season, but "Play Ball!" is still ringing out in empty stadiums.
There's just no way you can create bubble conditions for college athletes. And while the revenue hit will be catastrophic, there is just no way around it. Spring ball would be weird, but maybe we will have a real vaccine by then.
