Progress

The House passed a bill in a bipartisan vote to avert a default on the nation's debt and set spending limits.

Kudos to my Congressman, Mike Gallagher, who voted to support the bill.  I support normal.

On to the Senate....

Opportunist

Leave the windows on the old pump house open to air it out at your own peril.

Because mama robin is going to build her nest in a basket on a shelf.

It's a house, in a house, in a house.

Smart bird the American Robin is....... 

Bluebird of Happiness

Among the regular harbingers of spring is the return of the Redwing Blackbird, the American robin and the eastern bluebird.  One of our favorites is the bluebird and they've been seemingly scarcer the past couple of years. 

The notion of the bluebird of happiness has its roots in French folklore and comes from the delightful feeling associated with the sighting of one of these birds with the faded rusty breast, white belly and blue back and tail. They're a flash of color in an otherwise brown and dreary springtime world. They’re fond of perching on the top of a post, tree or garden rake leaning on the fence and surveying their domain.  

WI.DNR.Gov

 

Meet Sialia sialis - the Eastern bluebird.  These are cavity-nesting birds and only a couple of human generations ago their numbers were in serious decline in this country as a consequence of limited nesting habitat.  They’re more common nowadays because us people have mobilized in the face of that decline and assembled and installed nest boxes for them. Multiply that by hundreds of thousands of similarly-minded bird enthusiasts and you get the drift.  More cavities – more birds.  

Most of the time house wrens and tree sparrows nest in our boxes which is just fine.  They make for good tenants.  Only a few days ago I spotted a flash of blue and upon checking the box discovered this.  They’re nesting in a box just at the edge of the back yard making bird watching from our new three season room easy.

A fun factoid about the eastern bluebird is that the young of the first brood assist in raising the young of the second brood.   

Good parenting the bluebird has. 

Memorial Day

It is, in a way an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars far away.  The imagination plays a trick.  We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise.  We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray haired.         

  

But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives - the one they were living and one they would have lived.       

When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers.  They gave up their chance to be revered old men.  They gave up everything for our country, for us.  And all we can do is remember.    

 - Ronald Reagan

 

Originally called Decoration Day - Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service to our country.                          

There is an American Cemetery and Memorial located in Colleville-sur-Mer on the bluff overlooking Omaha Beach in Normandy, France.  Dedicated in 1956 the Cemetery and Memorial is situated closely to the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944 - the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II.              

This is the final resting place of 9,388 of our military dead - most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations.  If you were to visit this place you will note that upon the walls of the Garden of the Missing are inscribed an additional 1,557 names.  And because old battlefields continue to yield their dead - rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.              

In Plot E Row 26 Grave 37 rests James D. Johnston - Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division.   

Jill and I walked this sacred place on a typical rainy Norman morning and while I have no connection to James Johnston, his life before the war, or his survivors following the war, what you can discern from the marker is that Johnston was from North Carolina and was a commander in the same division and infantry regiment my dad served.  

       

Howard Gaertner landed at Utah Beach as an infantry replacement.  He was a machine gunner in a heavy weapons platoon.  Dad fought in the battle of the hedgerows, the breakout at Saint-Lô and Patton's mad dash across northern France.  

Among the first allied troops to participate in the liberation of Belgium his European excursion ended less than three months later by wounds incurred in combat.  By the grace of God (and fortunately for me) he was not killed.  Following his recovery in England he was redeployed and served for a brief period in the US Army of Occupation in Germany.        

 

Johnston died from wounds suffered from the detonation of a German 88mm shell at the blood-stained Crossroads 114 near Acqueville just outside of Cherbourg.*  Death in combat was fickle in the skirmishes and battle for mere meters in the uneven and mixed woodlands and pastures of the Bocage.  Lt Col Johnston was killed - PFC Gaertner was not. 

Dad returned home from the war and lived a full and rewarding life.  He worked quietly in a public school system and never spoke about his war experiences in any great detail until I was well into adulthood.  I am alive today to muse about this subject because he survived.  James Johnston never had the opportunity to sit on the stoop with a a beer and share closely-guarded feelings about the war with a son.        

This is why Memorial Day is bit more personal for me.        

When it came time for a permanent burial, the families of the dead were asked if they wanted their loved ones repatriated for permanent burial in the U.S. or interred overseas.  Lieutenant Colonel Johnston's remains lie here with approximately 461 graves belonging to 9th Infantry Division G.I.s.           

On this holiday it is useful to remember and honor the lives that brave men and women sacrificed.

Both of those lives.   

 

 

 *Eight Stars to Victory - Mittelman, The Battery Press

 

Sunday Morning Update - And An Insight

Good morning.

Another day has dawned and as of last evening it would appear that we have a debt ceiling agreement.  To be sure, the agreement to avert a default now heads to congress; where its passage is clearly uncertain.  Speaker McCarthy continues to be bedeviled by troublemakers who may revolt.  As a consequence the Kabuki Dance and its theatrical drama persists.

I'd like to share some insights from Peter Zeihan, geopolitical analyst and author.  I follow him closely in my retirement journey to better understand the impacts of financial, cultural, political and military events.  

Zeihan's observations on the debt ceiling generally jibe with my own.  Namely, after threatening a sufficient amount a unwarranted self-sabotage an agreement will materialize at the last moment.  Fingers-crossed that we've correctly predicted the outcome.

The US is one of the few nations that imposes a hard cap on public borrowing.  And this is not the first time a political party has sought to weaponize a threat of default as a means of extracting budget concessions that should belong in appropriations negotiations.  Unless the system changes it won't be the last.

For the present, the Democrats have accused their Republican colleagues of cynically using the mechanism to damage Biden going into the 2024 election cycle and to slash spending that they would likely struggle to pass into law.

Of course, when under recent Republican rule, total debt under Trump increased by $8 trillion.  That is a whopping one-fifth (20%) of the entire total.  In all fairness, there was a COVID response back then and $4 trillion was added by Biden so there is plenty of blame to go around.

This is all just political theater; but it has gone a bit further than usual.  What I wanted to share is that Zeihan has pulled the lamp cord on my light bulb casting more light and added clarity for independents, center-right individuals and conservatives who have found themselves wandering in exile for the last seven or so years.

Zeihan reminds his viewers that we're going thru a period of political transition - something that occurs every couple of decades.  And when that happens the factions that make up the parties move around.  They jump ship, maybe they become swing voters or they might switch sides.  The stage that we're at in the moment is one where the fiscal and business conservatives have been banished from the Republican coalition while at the same time the MAGA movement has attracted significant union and populist support from the Democrats.  It is messy.

Between the unions, fiscal and business conservatives all transitioning, when it comes to the debt ceiling there's no one around to knock some sense into other fringe groups more willing to play with matches.

So, there you have it.  When I tell you:  It isn't my daddy's Republican party anymore. It is because it isn't.  The GOP has been undergoing fundamental changes since the onset of the tea party movement.  Donald Trump's trouncing of the Republican establishment in 2016 and his continued popularity among his base exposes the weakness of the laissez-faire economic approach known as Reaganism.  Reagan Republicans and Neo-conservatives who believe in limited government, free trade, fiscal responsibility, a muscular foreign policy and staying out of the people's personal lives need not apply.  Cancel your Chamber of Commerce membership.  You are persona non grata.

Being an old guy and set in my ways my cohort of like-minded individuals has little tolerance for performative politics.  So if you want to have a meltdown over a rainbow windsock on sale at Target that's your business.  It isn't going to add to the prosperity of my country, security domestically or abroad, secure the border or fix the systemic problems of our shaky entitlement programs.  It's basically a bullshit party platform.

While it sucks periodically to reflect on having outgrown my usefulness I'm satisfied to watch from the sidelines until the wheels come off.  I may be obsolete, but this old guy isn't gonna die on Culture War Hill.  I'm gonna enjoy the show.

The gist of what I outline above starts just before the two minute mark.  But watch the entire thing.  It's a short four minutes.  Thanks, Peter for helping me navigate this.  And a Hat Tip to Braumeister for the initial recommendation many years ago.....

Weight Lifter

Photo - Door County Sail and Power Squadron

 

Meet the Happy River.  She is one of four sister ships: Happy Rover, Happy Ranger and Sailer Jupiter. 

The Happy River is a heavy lift vessel and as a consequence can carry forest products, general cargo, containers, heavy manufactured items and other "mammoth" projects. It was built in 1997 by Merwede of the Netherlands and is operated by Mammoet Shipping. This ship is delivering custom LNG tanks from Spain.  

Photo - Door County Sail and Power Squadron

Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding is partnering with Crowley Maritime Corporation (Shell) on the largest LNG (liquefied natural gas) bunkering barge ever constructed in the United States. Inasmuch as the shipyard gantry crane hasn't the lift capacity; the Dutch vessel is going to shift these tanks into the barge for installation at Bay Ship in Sturgeon Bay.

 

You can learn more about this project here.

 

Sturgeon Bay shipbuilding rocks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday Music

 In 1976, George Harrison, who was good friends with Eric Idle, joined Monty Python on stage at New York's City Center. 

Dressed as a Canadian Mountie, Harrison was in the chorus for The Lumberjack Song.  

No mention was made of Harrison's appearance although a few in the audience recognized him. 

The next night, Harry Nilsson showed up to perform the same feat but with disastrous results. He fell into the audience and broke his arm. 

Here's a performance of The Lumberjack Song performed at the "Concert for George".....

Update From The Oriole Ranch

As per usual there are a couple of oriole feeders out.  And the one on the west side of the porch has a trail camera mounted on the post opposite of its location.

Male and female Baltimore Orioles, Indigo Buntings and a red-bellied woodpecker for good measure.

Some recent photos of feeder action for your viewing pleasure...

Early Blooms

They're done now; but last week was a delightful week for spring bloomers.

The lilacs and apple trees in the yard were really flaunting their stuff...

New York Minute

A day in the Big Apple reduced to 55 seconds.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) from Apple.

 

What To See In The May Night Sky

There is a conjunction on tap this month that is worth your while if the skies are clear.

And you don't have to stay-up until the wee hours to catch it!

The next couple of evenings are going to feature a trio of our favorite Solar System heavenly bodies - Mars, Venus and a waxing crescent Moon.  

Because the moon will only be four days old it won't wash-out the planets Mars and Venus.  There will be additional stars and constellations in the background too.

All of this should be visible to the naked eye although binoculars will be helpful and a telescope won't hurt if one is available.

Fingers-crossed for clear skies....

Early Blooms

The red oak tree in the yard was a bare root stick when planted twenty years ago.  In the intervening decades it has grown into a handsome pre-adolescent.   

The other day I noticed that the tree had large numbers of catkins hanging from the prior year’s growth as the leaves of 2023 emerged from their buds.

Yes oak have blossoms too.  These are one of the flowers that are produced by the tree – the male flower to be certain.  This species is monoecious – meaning that it produces both male and female flowers. Each male flower typically has six stamens (ranges from two to twelve) which have long spreading white filaments when the flower fully opens.  The female flowers are more reddish-green and appear as small slender spikes in the axils of new growth. 

I gave this tree a thorough examination and could find no flowers of the female persuasion. Not surprising inasmuch as they are not visible to the naked eye.  It is from the female flower that acorns are formed.  Red oaks mature sufficiently at twenty or more years of age before they are capable of producing acorns.  Large numbers of acorns won't materialize until the tree is fifty years of age.  Which makes sense for a tree that will live many hundreds of years. 

This tree has been producing acorns for about 5-6 years.

Overachiever.....

 

Sunday Morning Gorilla

Sure, you're probably thinking I'm going to launch into another rant or diatribe about the 800 pound gorilla sitting in our respective sitting rooms.  No rant this morning.  Just a few factual observations; the first of which is that Trump and now Biden have avoided addressing the primary cause of our budget woes. 

When I tapped-out this post a couple of days ago It was basically impossible to read, view or listen to any media outlet without a reminder about the debt ceiling debate.

To be clear, this is a scary subject inasmuch as while our country has sufficient income to pay the interest on our debt (the bondholders) we also have a $1.5 trillion shortfall in 2023 to pay for all of the previous spending authorized by all the previous congresses and signed into law by all of the previous presidents.  From a purely technical perspective this isn't about a budget - this is about paying for the spending that we're already on the hook for.

That said, there is now a parallel discussion about the budget; which is a positive development.  Appropriations is where this discussion belongs; the debt ceiling is about paying for past obligations.  Yet make no mistake, unless the ceiling is raised we will have insufficient funds to pay for all of our lawful obligations including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Between you and me I don't believe there will be a default.  Anyone holding an IOU (government bond) will collect their interest on time and congress and the president will agree on some sort of scheme to address discretionary spending.  There is a high probability congress will convene some sort of Blue Ribbon Committee to study a weight loss plan for the 800 pound gorilla.  Of course I am notoriously famous for my bad predictions and while Kevin McCarthy is legislating he is bedeviled by a small number of crackpot members of his caucus who love outrageous tweets, reckless and inflammatory rhetoric and generally performative politics.  Just like the congressional nutjobs who extol the virtuousness of Vladimir Putin, they're cuckoo.  Why is it that some people elected to congress spout such outrageous  foolishness?  Is this a mechanism to fund raise?  Or a means to draw attention on cable programming?  Suck all the oxygen from the room?  Childish attention-getting behavior?  It's stupid, I'll never understand it and I digress.

We have a debt limit problem inasmuch as we continually borrow to make ends meet.  And the fundamental driver of our spending has been the growth of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.  Insufficiently funded, this leads to borrowing. This is the 800 pound gorilla.   Does it strike you as strange that neither Trump or Biden could be bothered  to acknowledge this?  You know who has talked about it?  Governor DeSantis.  But I digress. 

Source: Office of Management and Budget, 05.16.23

Consider this, in 2023 those three items will for the first time, will account for more than one-half of the entirety of the federal budget.  Furthermore, these three items account for just shy of 11% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  In three decades this is projected to rise to 15% of our GDP. 

If you do the math the issue in our living room is we are presently borrowing to pay for an 800 pound gorilla today that could  grow to a 1200 pound gorilla in the years to come.  Creating a King Kong is not sustainable.

So, instead of fabricating a crisis and potential self-inflicted wound over paying for stuff that all of the foregoing congresses and presidents have passed into law we need to be holding a serious discussion about how we reform the largest programs in the budget.  Truthfully, the very best opportunity to reform our entitlement programs is when we enjoy rare periods of divided government.  Like right now.

No amount of shrinking the IRS, defunding the FBI, or clawing-back of COVID relief funds is going to plug a $1.5 trillion shortfall.  This is not rocket science.  This is simple math. 

While a handful of coconut congressional troublemakers might delight in gleefully blowing-up the economy, tanking the stock market, spiking our future borrowing costs and destroying everyone's carefully-built retirement plan with a default; I'm going to keep my eye on any serious zookeepers in congress and maybe a president who might take a stab at taming the growth of the gorilla and keep this country on a steady path of economic growth.  Yes, virtually every indicator supports the notion that the economy is presently doing quite well. Let's stipulate that too much debt can kill the economy. But that is another discussion for another day. 

This blogger isn't going to hold his breath over entitlement reform.  As it doesn't stand a chance of happening until after the 2024 election and we know who's in-charge of congress and the white house.

Until then, it appears that we've got bullshit culture wars to fight.  So, grab a cold bottle of Bud Light to assuage any festering election denial and my serious-bad predictions.

Whistling past the grave yard.

Bearded Bird

If you’ve seen a male wild turkey, you likely noticed a shock of long, dark, fibrous bristles hanging from its breast plumage.  That’s called a beard, and it’s made of modified feathers. 

Jakes (yearling male birds) have beards of 3 to 4 inches in length, while a 2-year-old gobbler has a 7- to 9-inch beard.  Older gobblers have beards of 10-plus inches.  

It has been theorized that 10 to 20 percent of hens (female turkeys) have beards.  Aside from this likely genetic mutation bearded hens also breed, lay eggs and raise broods. As far as we know, bearded hens are just as sexy to spring gobblers as those without.  

You don’t have to purchase a ticket to the circus to see a bearded lady….

 

Friday Music

Recorded in 1972 and released in 1973 this song is the third and final one of the California Saga series of songs on the Holland album by the Beach Boys. 

Composed by Al Jardine, the otherwise missing in action Brian Wilson barely contributed to the Holland production.  One day Brian Wilson showed-up at the studio, asked for a microphone and began singing I'm on my way to sunny Californ-i-a. After which he abruptly walked out.

Stranger yet, at the invitation of Al Jardine, ex-band member, Bruce Johnston secretly recorded background vocals for California Saga.  His contribution is uncredited.

I had the vinyl LP and always considered this album one of the groups best works - almost as good as Pet Sounds.

Turn-up the volume for:  California  Saga (On My Way to Sunny Californ-i-a).....

The Garden Chronicles

It has been a busy place around these parts.  Living in rural America means that when things dry-out sufficiently the spreading of manure, tilling of fields and planting is a near non-stop endeavor.  Morning, noon and night the sound of farm machinery is ubiquitous. 

This armchair farmer has been busy too.  My garden is basically installed.

The first sowing of radishes looks sad; a consequence of neglect while away on vacation.  A second sowing has been made along with spinach, five varieties of lettuce, carrots, beets, green beans, cantaloupe, cucumbers, pumpkins and leeks.

The peas are up! 

After the risk of frost has passed the sweet peppers and tomatoes will get plugged-in.  

Vive le Jardin Magnifique!

What To See In The May Night Sky

Tomorrow brings us a New Moon which means the skies will be especially dark.

Hubba Hubba.

If it isn't cloudy this is a terrific time to get out and do some serious star gazing.  It's not too cold, the skeets haven't hatched in any bothersome quantities and the resident frog chorale will be serenading us astronomy nerds with the songs of their spring courtship ritual.

So, grab yourself an adult beverage and set-up a comfy chair with all of the lights-off and soak it up the Milky Way and the spring constellations.  Invite your sweetie to join you.

Raising a toast to clear skies and dark nights....

Behind the Curtain

On October 27, 1961 combat-ready American and Soviet tanks faced off in Berlin at the U.S. Army's Checkpoint Charlie. 

Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union over access to the outpost city of Berlin and its Soviet-controlled eastern sector had increased to the point of direct military confrontation.

Cooler minds prevailed, the Soviet system eventually collapsed and today Germany has been made whole.

Communism doesn't work... 

 

Playing Well With Others

The proximity of a flock of turkeys to one or more deer doesn’t scare-off the whitetails and the presence of the deer doesn’t seem to bother the birds.  By all outward appearances they seem to enjoy the company of one another.  What is the explanation for this curious wildlife behavior and what seemingly might be a symbiotic relationship?

Wild turkeys are gifted with advanced eyesight.  Not only do they see in Technicolor but their vision is about three times greater than that of a person with perfect 20/20 vision.  Turkeys are also social animals and travel in flocks of multiple birds.  Which translates into multiple eyes keeping careful watch on possible threats.

The sniffer of a whitetail deer is incredibly advanced.  So much so, that I've been busted by a deer that scented my presence long before they spotted me.

There are some wildlife biologists that have posited that both of these species trusts the other's best sense for their mutually-assured security.

So it should not come as a a surprise that they'll be in the company of each other from time to time...

 

Scorched Earth Policy

Last Wednesday afternoon, on very short notice, and with the window of opportunity rapidly closing it dried out sufficiently for us to conduct a prescribed burn.

You're probably scratching your head over the notion of someone deliberately setting something on fire beside a BBQ grill.

Drip Torch

Over several generations it has been an accepted practice to suppress Ma Nature's use of fire to maintain the natural order.  While suppressing fire will bring a smile the face of Smokey Bear it also has unintended consequences.  Without the impact of fire combustible fuel accumulates on the landscape making any fire event more dangerous.  Witness the devastating wildfires in California, Colorado and other states.  

 

So, at usually three year intervals, we have a professional burn crew set fire to the seven acres of grassland  wildlife habitat that constitutes our backyard.  This removes combustible material that is close to the house and has other benefits that I'll enumerate.  

Our local BUG Fire Department authorized the burn and both their leadership team and county dispatch is kept informed of the timing.

A controlled burn accomplishes a number of things.  Included among them are:

1. Fire removes excess fuel (built-up thatch) thereby reducing the risk of an out-of-control wildfire.
2. Fire returns valuable nutrients to the soil
3. Fire kills undesirable woody vegetation, invasive plant species and the blackened earth warms-up quickly in the spring sunshine stimulating the growth of desirable native plants
4. Following the application of fire the resulting flush of desirable plant regrowth is a benefit to wildlife – including insects, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and birds.

Photos and video clips.....

 

Burn crew

 

Back burning against the wind

 

 

 

Setting the head fire with the wind

 

 

 

Resulting blackened surface

 

 

Mom

 

This is a fun photo of my mom. 

That’s her - Grace Mary McNulty - the two-fisted Schlitzer on the right. Presumably, my pop, Howard, took the photo. 

Anyway, the boys had returned home from the war and Cathedral High grads were enrolling at Marquette University under the GI Bill. 

Judging from the pennant I suspect this photo was from the beach at the south shore yacht club. 

I don’t think anyone was married just yet. The remaining suspects in the photo eventually became (from L to R) Shirley and Bob McNulty and Bob and Pat Maslowski. 

Fun facts about my mom…

She did not drive a car.   Mom used public transportation everywhere. 

I learned to cook from my mom yet the secret pie crust recipe remains just that. 

Grace smoked unfiltered Chesterfields until becoming a grandmother. 

Happy Mothers Day and God Bless the Irish.

Slàinte!

 

Sunday Morning Migration

Last weekend Sid and Braumeister and I had an opportunity to chat it up about the immigration, asylum and migration conundrum we face.  (I deliberately list these as three separate issues because they as similar but not one and the same.)  Looking at this chart the operative questions that come to mind:

• Are the increased apprehensions under Biden evidence of progress?

• Are the smaller number of apprehensions under Trump lack of progress?  Or the inverse?
  

• Apprehensions + detention = deportation?  Or catch and release?

• Are our borders open, closed or porous?  

• Is it deliberate or a broken system?
  

There's a lot of data here to unpack in this chart.  

Here's a stab.

It is obvious that the number of apprehensions at the border is evidence of a surge.  Immigration activists oftentimes emphasize the events in other countries (gang crime, political oppression, war) as having an outside influence on migration.  

Think:  PUSH.

Factors such as the strength of our economy also play a role.  We enjoy a plethora of job opportunities.  Door, Kewaunee, Brown and Outagamie Counties are relevant examples of this. 

Think:  PULL

Nevertheless, when we make it difficult for people to enter the country fewer individuals make an attempt.  Donald Trump was out-front in his opposition to immigrants and immigration.  A likely cause of a smaller number of apprehensions under his watch.  Joe Biden did not manifest that level of hostility and that might explain a surge in apprehensions under his watch.

Think:  SIGNALING

Border policy is complicated stuff.  More so because I believe that both parties use it as a device to keep their respective base constituents in a near-constant state of agitation and turgid arousal.  As a consequence the nuance and complexities of the subject matter get lost in the tumult of emotional misinformation

Democrats seem to avoid the difficult questions.  And a lax (or seemingly welcoming) immigration attitude/policy brings with it all manner of problems. Including, but not limited to:  dangerous and life-threatening travel, exploitation by smugglers all resulting in the overwhelming of social services and shelters creating dangerous conditions on both sides of the Mexican/American border. 

Simultaneously, immigrants and their families have ascended the economic ladder and thrived in the US.  In their book Streets of Gold: America's Untold Story of Immigrant Success by economists Abramitsky (Stanford) and Boustan (Princeton) have defused much of the fearmongering. 

The bottom line is no country in its right mind should have open borders.  Nevertheless, refugees with a legitimate asylum claim should have a resolution in less than an eight to fourteen year wait time  Those who wish to come to this country for a job should have a legal opportunity to do so.  Dreamers, born here of undocumented immigrants are already birthright citizens.  (Yes, it is in the Constitution).  They should have a legal path to permanence.

According to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests and deportation of undocumented immigrants increased in the second year of the Biden administration. Although numbers remained below Trump and Obama averages this crackdown has had its intended effect with apprehensions dropping.  Alas, Title 42, with its pandemic restrictions, expired last Thursday and appears to have had the unintended effect of migrants interpreting this as an opportunity.  Joe Biden has sent additional troops to the border for purposes of logistical support.  Nevertheless, he's facing some humongous challenges with the migration influx and surge of border crossings.

It's a shit show for sure.

Like I said, this is hard stuff and requires commitment to solutions and successful outcomes from serious leaders on both sides of the aisle.  

I do not believe there is sufficient critical mass to roll that boulder up hill.  Yet.  All of which explains the current fixation over bullshit subjects like  gender dysphoria, election denial and wokeness over Bud Light.

Sheesh.

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary

― H.L. Mencken

A Walk Down Memory Lane

One of my cloud photo storage reservoirs is hosted by America's premier search engine.  And from time-to-time Google sends an unsolicited zinger my way.  This photo was suggested to me Monday evening.

 

That was also the anniversary of V-E Day; Victory in Europe Day. On this day Germany unconditionally surrendered to allied forces in Europe.  Coincidence?  Between you and me I think it is their version of AI (artificial intelligence) at work.

 

Anyway, this photo was taken in Reims France in 1945 after the cessation of hostilities.

 

That is my pop (Howard) on the right with his Cathedral High School pal Donald Darnieder. 

 

Dad landed at Utah Beach as an combat infantryman. Wounded in the liberation of Belgium in September he was evacuated to England. Following recovery from his wounds he returned to the continent and served in the Army of Occupation in Germany after the war.

 

Don was ordained a priest the year I was born.

 

Thanks, Google, for the walk down memory lane.