February 7, 2023

Politics, Drones, and Sports – Competition Abounds

The New Democratic Primary Calendar and the Old Republican One

The Democrats made the expected change and rearranged their primary calendar in a big way. Some thoughts about all that:

• It is way past time to make such a change. Setting the pace with Iowa and New Hampshire has made no sense for a very long time. I personally like the Iowa caucus model, and New Hampshire’s tradition of just about everyone personally meeting the candidates has appeal. But neither state is representative of the country at large, and caucuses are too time and labor intensive to be representative. Good to move on, Democrats.
• The former first states are not happy, and New Hampshire in particular plans to fight it, or ignore it. The Democrats will have to punish them by not recognizing delegates.
• Making South Carolina first is clearly pay back for its rescue of Biden in the last election. No other reason to make it first, since we are unlikely in this lifetime to elect a Democrat out of SC. Much more excited to see Nevada, Georgia, and especially Michigan in the first tier. Good choices.
• An interesting side-note on New Hampshire. Since they will no longer be first to ballot, a lot of independents and democrats in the state might choose to vote in the Republican primaries to help defeat Trumpists and other extremists. This could have an interesting time coming up.
• An important note overlooked by some is that Biden mentioned in all this that no state should assume its position in the primaries order. In other words, let’s relook this regularly and think about some rotations. Excellent idea.
• Meanwhile, the Republicans are changing nothing in their primaries. I expect that is partly because they like it as is and partly because they would have little chance on agreeing on anything new.
• It will be interesting to see how this affects the political competition in 2024.

Environmental Costs & Opportunities

 Some really interesting dynamics seem to be at work in technological development, politics, and economics around a wide range of environmental and energy issues. More than ever, we need to call on each other to think less about just costs although it is noteworthy that in many cases, environmentally friendly energy sources are coming in cheaper than carbon based sources.

This is a good time to think less about costs and more about investments, focused on getting the outcomes the planet needs. To me, this is parallel to our historic failures to invest in infrastructure – another important area that Biden has set on an important new and correct course. Hey, we are actually investing in America and fixing things needed. We need the same mindset among more of us for environmental investments.

Drones vs Fireworks

A fascinating new trend is popping up around the globe. Fireworks are being replaced with LED equipped drones. Think that sound boring? Think again. Look at the sample attached later in this discussion.

The drone option is, I bet, cheaper in the long run, once initial investment costs are covered. They surely are safer – think of all the celebrations cancelled due to fire risks. That can now be a thing of the past. And if the sound and light show provided by the new technology is not enough, should not be hard to provide audio (explosions) and visual/olfactory (smoke) stimulus if desired. But in time, that all likely goes away.

When this first came up, I thought about all the fireworks companies that could go out of business, some of them family owned for generations. Silly me. I momentarily forgot the power of the free market to foster innovation and adaptation. I bet you a bunch of those companies are looking at becoming drone specialists right now.

Ironic that the first one of these I saw was held in China – the place that invented fireworks. Here, check out a drone show. Dazzling.
https://australianaviation.com.au/2022/01/video-500-drones-light-up-the-night-sky-in-sydney-skyshow/

 Tom Brady and the Art of Retiring

 I have not been much of a fan of Brady as a person. Remember Deflate Gate? Yeah, I think they cheated. Actually, I really do not like the New England coach and that sort of rubbed off onto Brady for me. But the man clearly is the GOAT – no one has ever been this good at his profession.

And so, when he retired last year, I doffed my hat to him. Well done, I thought. A great career and he walked away at exactly the right moment. Not an easy thing to do, deciding when it is time to hang up the uniform. Apparently, it was too hard and six weeks later, he took it all back.

I said then that he would regret this mightily. Sure enough, he had his worst year ever at home (lost his wife and family) and on the field (an ignoble season; in spite of some good personal statistics, the team was not up to the challenge). He is not the first to hang on too long, nor will he be the last.

I get the challenge. Hey, I have retired twice myself. Not easy to know when, but that is no excuse for hanging on too long. Pay attention, those of you yet to face this decision. Better to leave a bit early and leave something on the table as opposed to staying too long and ending sadly. Judgement and self-discipline are required to get it right. Brady came up short on this last contest on both counts.

Next Event

By the time you read this, we will be getting ready to hear the State of the Union speech. I am not sure these things have any use at this point, but here we go. Wonder what sort of childish, embarrassing thing one or more Republican members will commit at this one? How many Supreme Court judges will nod off?

Oh, the excitement.

     Bill Clontz

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