Back to Mars

Perseverance on Mars
Artist Conception of the Landing

Perseverance has landed!

Despite COVID-19 the largest spaceship ever to land on Mars completed its complicated landing yesterday in dramatic fashion as the United States once again exhibited its technological dominance in the exploration of the Solar System. 

Launched last year on July 30th at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the spacecraft landed on Mars yesterday after a descent which is what they call "seven minutes of terror." It became the 8th craft to successfully land on the surface of Mars and the fifth U.S. rover. 

And, as they say in the gymnastics world, it stuck the landing!

Some excitement amid the deep winter storms and pandemic!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

As the Days Go On

 

Sometimes it seems that the days just drag on from one to another in an endless procession.

The COVID pandemic has highlighted how we are a social a people and we are each experiencing how much has been ripped from us as we ensure personal distancing and limit contact with other humans. 

And then there are the winter storms racing through the region. The 5-8 inches of expected snow for today has resolved to sleet and freezing rain again with little accumulation. 

Just another day in Maryland.

The storms are raging across the country and it will be a good day to just remain in the house and watch the precipitation fall from the sky. But, that also limits human contact. 

And so the days continue until summer when, hopefully, we will again be able to go to baseball games and theaters. We will no longer be cautious around others. 

That is the dream.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Texas Tragedy

 

The Texas grid got crushed because its operators didn’t see the need to prepare for cold weather

After reading the above article in The Washington Post, I believe that the reason millions of Texans have no electricity to heat their homes during this unprecedented cold snap is simply corporate greed. 

It is a tragedy.

And it could have been prevented. 

Sadly, even in the middle of another crisis where people are dying the urge to obfuscate the truth took over. The Washington Post article reports:

Fossil fuel groups and their Republican allies blamed the power failures on frozen wind turbines and warned against the supposed dangers of alternative power sources. Some turbines did in fact freeze — though Greenland and other northern outposts are able to keep theirs going through the winter.

But wind accounts for just 10 percent of the power in Texas generated during the winter. And the loss of power to the grid caused by shutdowns of thermal power plants, primarily those relying on natural gas, dwarfed the dent caused by frozen wind turbines, by a factor of five or six.

As the cold hit, demand for electricity soared past the mark that ERCOT had figured would be the maximum needed. But at a moment when the world is awash in surplus natural gas, much of it from Texas wells, the state’s power-generating operators were unable to turn that gas into electricity to meet that demand.

In the single-digit temperatures, pipelines froze up because there was some moisture in the gas. Pumps slowed. Diesel engines to power the pumps refused to start. One power plant after another went offline. Even a reactor at one of the state’s two nuclear plants went dark, hobbled by frozen equipment.

In short, nobody prepared for the weather even though the forecasters were "right-on."

Earlier in the article, The Washington Post sums up the problem that occurred in Texas:

What has sent Texas reeling is not an engineering problem, nor is it the frozen wind turbines blamed by prominent Republicans. It is a financial structure for power generation that offers no incentives to power plant operators to prepare for winter. In the name of deregulation and free markets, critics say, Texas has created an electric grid that puts an emphasis on cheap prices over reliable service.

And millions are without power to heat their homes and prepare food while the politicians try to deflect blame.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Storms

Scene of the Snow
from the New York Times

Fighting against the storms has become the way of life for February. January was mild by comparison, but this month the recurring feature of the weather reports are the continuous storms sweeping across the country. 

The weather has been horrific in some places. Snow in Houston? Sub-zero temperatures in Texas. Snarled traffic and huge accidents fill the evening news. It almost makes the winter here in Maryland seem sublime. What is a quarter inch of ice compared to all of that being reported from around the country? 

It is a weather tragedy. And there is more on the way. It is going to be a rough stretch. Look at how much of the country is getting snow and ice.

Maybe keeping us all inside will help lower the COVID infections? 

Get ready, because here it comes.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - February 15, 2021

 

1. The third Monday of February is upon us. It is also February 15th--there are two months until Tax Day! I can't believe the annual reckoning with the government is at hand.

2.  It is President's Day and a time to celebrate the leaders of our Republic. And it is nice to have another three-day weekend. 

3. I watched the ice storm this weekend as a spectator. The news reports of the tragic accidents across the country are a reminder that travel during such a storm is extremely dangerous. 

4. I am hoping that winter will end soon. 

5. I watched hockey and golf on TV yesterday since there was no football or baseball. 

6. Today marks the 8th holiday in the past 6 months. There are only 2 holidays remaining to celebrate during the next 6 months. 

7. Today in History. "Remember the Maine!" A massive explosion of unknown origin sinks the battleship USS Maine in Cuba’s Havana harbor on February 15, 1898, killing 260 of the fewer than 400 American crew members aboard.

One of the first American battleships, the Maine weighed more than 6,000 tons and was built at a cost of more than $2 million. Ostensibly on a friendly visit, the Maine had been sent to Cuba to protect the interests of Americans there after a rebellion against Spanish rule broke out in Havana in January.

GameStop Investors Who Bet Big—and Lost Big - The Wall Street Journal

Green Hydrogen Plant in Saudi Desert Aims to Reshape Energy Grid - The Wall Street Journal

As Impeachment Trial Ends, Biden Takes Center Stage With Stimulus Bill - The New York Times

In a Game of Cat and Mouse, Iran Eyes New Targets in AfricaIn a Game of Cat and Mouse, Iran Eyes New Targets in Africa - The New York Times

Biden is winning Republican support for his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan. Just not in Washington. - The Washington Post

Mardi Gras is canceled, so residents are making their homes into floats: ‘New Orleans doesn’t know how to do anything halfway’ - The Washington Post

Myanmar protesters undaunted amid crackdown - Reuters

India to ship COVID-19 vaccines to Canada as diplomatic tension eases - Reuters

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

One out of every five jobs in our country depends on trade. So, I will propose a broader strategy in the field of international trade— one that increases the openness of our trading system and is fairer to America's farmers and workers in the world marketplace. We must have adequate export financing to sell American products overseas. I will ask for new negotiating authority to remove barriers and to get more of our products into foreign markets. We must strengthen the organization of our trade agencies and make changes in our domestic laws and international trade policy to promote free trade and the increased flow of American goods, services, and investments.

Ronald Reagan's Second State of the Union Speech January 25, 1983

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Time to Look Forward, Finally

I am happy that the final clean-up from the previous administration's mess is completed with the end of the impeachment trial yesterday. Although the final verdict was never in doubt, there was drama and the American public was able to gauge just how dangerous was that insurrection which the former president incited. 

Now, almost four weeks after the inauguration, is the time for the Congress to finally get on with the business of running the country and working with the Biden administration. 

I am encouraged as this week begins. The numbers of new COVID infections and hospitalizations are finally trending down. Vaccinations are increasing, I will be able to receive my second vaccination next Sunday and then be fully vaccinated waiting only for whatever boosters are developed to defeat the mutant strains. 

And it is Valentine's Day, always a day to look forward. I hope everyone can find their Valentine and enjoy the day. Let's look forward as a nation and work to create the society and the world in which we all want to live. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Tariffs are Taxes

Tariffs are not just annoying.

Image from Wall Street Journal

I know that many people thought that tariffs on goods from foreign suppliers would be lifted when the new administration took office, but the reverse is actually true. 

The tariffs have remained. The tariffs have even remained on European products like wine and cheese. 

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Tariffs on Wine, Food From Europe to Stay for Now, U.S. Says

Decision came despite intense lobbying by the U.S. restaurant and beverage industries that are already reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic

I am not a fan of tariffs as they are obstructions to trade. And worse, the food and wine tariffs for European products are in response to disagreements over aircraft industry subsidies. 

The real problem with the wine tariffs, according to the WSJ article, is as follows:

Wine represents the largest source of profit for many restaurants, he said, and more than 80% of the burden of the tariffs are absorbed by the U.S. businesses and consumers, rather than by European wine producers.

And that is the larger problem with tariffs--it is the American consumer that pays the bulk of the cost.

Tariffs are a hidden tax. The former administration ignored that fact by constantly asserting that the foreign countries were paying into the treasury and the current administration is the facade to help pay off the deficits run-up by the former administration.

--Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

President's Day

This weekend is President's Day weekend!

It is the weekend we celebrate the President's of the United States. 

Think about it--45 men have held the job of President of these United States. There have been great and not so great presidents. 

But one thing I am sure of--no one wants a president to fail. I may disagree with them over so many indues, but I never want a president to be a failure. And most have been successful. 

Here are some motivational quotes from successful Presidents:

“The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.” – George Washington

“I would rather belong to a poor nation that was free than to a rich nation that had ceased to be in love with liberty.” – Woodrow Wilson

“Honesty is the first chapter of the book wisdom.” – Thomas Jefferson

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” – Abraham Lincoln

“America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.” – Harry S. Truman

“The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.” – John F. Kennedy

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt

The quotes and images are from: 
10 presidential quotes in honor of Presidents’ Day

I found the Lincoln quote to be especially timely.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Highlighting the Bushes

Bushes Highlighted with Snow
Elkridge, MD
February 11, 2021

We received about two inches of snow overnight. 

I despise snow.

But, as soon as it is light out I will crank up the snow thrower and clear the drive so that the rain can freeze into ice. 

I know that doesn't sound like a good plan, but it is better than letting the rain freeze the snow and then it will take longer for the snow/ice to go away. 

But this morning the trees and bushes are highlighted with snow--which always makes them seem just a little bit more interesting, like a painting. 

It makes the cold seem just a bit more tolerable, well that is until I get out there and have to move it out of the drive.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Baseball is Almost Back!

The winter of my discontent is nearly over. It appears that baseball will be back on time. 

Spring training in Sarasota for the Orioles is about to begin. Pitchers and catchers report on February 16th. But even better, the one player that the Orioles missed last year has already reported to camp-- Trey Mancini! Recovering from colon cancer, Trey appears ready to hit the field and be the team leader.

Covid has changed baseball. Doubleheaders will now be seven inning games and extra innings will start with a runner on second. I fear that the era 19 inning games is over. Baseball has become to commercialized to allow giving away free games as extra inning affairs.

Here is the big news: Opening Day is April 1st. Pushing back the start of the season has been dropped.

Take me out to the ball park--I hope.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD