Is Utopia preferable to religion?

If you’ve read my blog from yesterday, you might think I have far-fetched ideas and that I’m a Utopian, but what’s wrong with that, I wonder? 

Of course there are many levels in Utopia, the soft and the hard-core practitioners. Utopia, is perhaps the paradigm of a perfect community in which reality and imagination merge. 

There is a Utopian inside Elon Musk, but that has given us Tesla, SpaceX and tomorrow, the Hyperloop. 

In fact the whole concept isn’t that much different than the relation between society and religion. One could say that Utopia is the equivalent of Paradise, while Dystopia is Hell, so let’s focus on the bright side of the argument!

Utopia uses everyday raw materials and realities to build its story; Is has also a huge component of feasibility, at least on paper, while religion, from all of its history, has constantly been a real “stretch” and totally unproven, save a handful of Lourdes’ miracles. 

This said, tell me why we always laugh at Utopians but generally treat religious folks with the utmost respect? Sometimes, new ideas need a lift and only Utopia can provide a pathway into their realization. 

At any rate, I’m convinced that Utopia beats religion by a very, very long shot, because of its reservoir of possibilities on this earth and not into some imaginary, improbable and questionable space or dimension. So for today, I’ll stick with a Utopian outlook!

A disturbing PowerPoint message

French folks love to send messages in the form of PowerPoint presentations. 

I just got one recently that was explaining how a low birthrate in the western world in general, and in France in particular, was endangering the future of its native population and creating a vacuum for immigration and particularly of Muslim persuasion or specific ethnic groups like Latinx into the United States, for example. 

This massive immigration would subsequently destroy local cultures as we know them. Let me make to points about this message. First, our planet is overpopulated, instead of 7,8 billion people, most scientists agree that we should only be at 2 billion, top, in order to live in a sustainable manner. 

Far too many people are causing global warming, a huge danger for food or water shortages, and are an assault of the planet’s biodiversity and overall proper functionality. Trying to increase the birth rate in developed nation is doomed in advance, as no educated young person living in a developed country and in their right mind, want a big family. 

Couples generally settle on one, perhaps two or none at all. Raising kids is awfully expensive and takes lots of time, no less than a quarter of a century per child. We just need to get used to it and white folks won’t replace themselves. Overpopulation will continue elsewhere, fueled in part by a need for capitalistic growth and religious forces that are fighting for influence. 

This means that immigration is the next point that need to be addressed. Viewed from space, earth shows no border, just land and water. Borders were invented by men to protect their respective territories. Now, to enter a developed enclave, migrants should ideally be needed (with specific education, skills and talents) and be productive. 

Since they’re given the privilege to enjoy safety, good infrastructure and a more prosperous life, they participate in paying for it when they enter or in a manner spread over their foreseeable lifetime. Just like a motorist pays a toll to use a nice, fast and safe highway. 

Short of that, there should be no immigration. Migrating for family reasons could be the exception, not the rule, and at a cost that would be much higher than for self-sustaining migrants. 

Finally, each community should be entitled to maintain and protect its native customs and might choose stringent rules that make it impractical for migrants with a need to keep and maintain their own customs to join that country. 

Pretty simple. If this approach interests you and wish to know more about it, I’ll be delighted to give more details.

Would Jesus support Trump?

...Certainly not. Jesus was not a fan of lying, of insults, sectarianism, racism, egoism and hypocrisy. 

I also think that the Catholic Church was essentially based on the teaching of Jesus, yet in this election year, as Donald Trump is losing ground, every vote counts and he is relying a lot on American Catholics to make up for his expected losses.

Catholics for Trump is one organization that has the mission of giving Catholics some seemingly good excuses for re-electing Trump by “sharing the many successes of the Trump administration” including of course anti-abortion issues. 

Yet, by aligning themselves with a president who tears apart immigrant families, denies climate change, stokes racial division and supports economic policies that hurt the poor, Catholic leaders are forgetting what the teachings of Christ are all about. 

There’s hardly nothing “pro-life” out of Trump's agenda. I wonder what my good buddy Pope Francis thinks of these clowns?

The neighbor’s smelly he-goat

I have been raised with a lot of goats in my environment and know a thing or two about that particular breed of animal. 

What I know for sure is that the male, commonly called he-goat or buck, can smell intensely bad and a lot, like let’s say a skunk, so you get the type of fragrance! 

A lady who lives about half-a-mile from us, as the crow flies, has decided to have such a male goat as a pet, and during rut season, that is, the days are getting shorter in July and through early winter, we get a whiff of his scent when we get close to his enclosure. 

His scent glands are located behind the horns and the system is powerful enough for any female goat, luck enough to stroll by, to notice. 

To make the stench worst, and disgustingly so, the buck pees all over his front legs and beard during the rut. When the female pees, the buck sticks his nose in the urine as it comes out. He also rubs his head in the spot on the dirt where he pees. With his head covered with mud and urine, the buck takes great pride in his elaborate odor. 

I wouldn’t want to be a neighbor to that household; if I did, I’d lodge a complaint, but unfortunately even though our city has an ordinance against animals that “cause unreasonable fouling of the air by odors”, I wouldn’t be too sure about the outcome. 

That lady simply is a big jerk, totally oblivious of the plight of her close neighbors. You may say a he-goat is better than a pet tiger or a python, but think of the poor animal that has no space to roam and no social life. 

That’s a situation simply too cruel and selfish on the part of the owner who should deserve the same kind of isolation!

America’s broken moral compass

The United States has always taken great pride in being the world’s moral compass. 

A strong religiosity, a Constitution most American cherish and respect, an ardent patriotism, a rather puritan society, all elements that have always been the hallmark of that great country. 

Comes Trump and the whole myth begins to disintegrate and America’s steadfast, moral compass breaks down. As a result, most of its population gets numbed to that deterioration and accepts it as the “new normal”, even those – and that’s the worst part – who didn’t and still don’t support Donald Trump. 

Lies, misrepresentation, blatant racism and discrimination become the new norm. Trump as poisoned America’s well and in so doing, the only oily matter that now shows up on its dirty surface is that hypocrisy that always was lurking behind the scenes. 

Isn’t high time that we we flushed all of that toxic matter down?

Tourism and xenophobia

A week or so ago, I learned that Bill Malone, former director of the Park City Chamber and Visitors Bureau was retiring at age 66. Bill came to Park City in 1999 after serving in similar functions in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He also got lucky, I think, to find himself in the perfect sport at the right time. 

Typically, this job requires good administration and hospitality skills, that is, respect and value the visitor to Park City. This said, while highly visible, this is mostly a caretaker position that doesn’t require much creativity or special talent. 

As I have written many times, Park City developed into what it is now, not so much because of the Chamber Bureau good work, the 2002 Olympics or any other special event, but first and foremost thanks to Delta Air Lines purchasing Western Airlines in 1987 and keeping Salt Lake as a vital hub in the heart of the mountain west region, bringing 25 millions passengers a year, only 35 minutes away from our ski resort. 

I have always respected and be very civil toward Bill Malone and the only “kink” in our relationship happened more than 11 years ago, when he had re-posted on his Facebook account a statement by Orrin Hatch, then Utah’s senator, criticizing the upcoming Obamacare. 

I responded quite politely to it, and was told by Malone that “Only an arrogant Frog would make such a stupid statement”. I responded with a touch of humor, but quite politely though, and I called me soon after that for an apology which he reluctantly produced. 

 As the status of limitation has now passed, I still can’t believe this unbecoming, xenophobic statement coming from someone promoting tourism, and making his living from that industry. I chose not to bring that misstep to the public eyes in those days, as it might have cost him his job and had almost forgotten about Bill until news of his retirement stirred back these memories. 

That’s right, today, Bill is retiring after more than 20 years at the helm of our top tourism institution. Some will miss him dearly, he’s even been inducted into the Utah Tourism Hall of Fame earlier this month which shows how serious the nominated committee was in vetting that laureate and not checking his record on bigotry and discrimination too closely! 

I have forgiven him for his nice words towards me and I feel his departure is a great opportunity for all of us to learn something good from it, and I still wish old Bill the most happy trails!

Turning back the clock

Seventy-five percent of Americans would like to end Daylight Saving Time, but keep the summer time year-round so that the sun sets later in fall and winter. 

 I think it’s the same in the rest of the world where there’s such a seasonal adjustment twice a year. What we’ve done today though is cool. 

Yet, today, we just did something really cool by turning our clocks backward. Not by much, just one hour, but its a start. Why don’t we do it for one year or perhaps on decade worth, just to see what happens? Several decades would in fact be much better. 

We would recover our lost strength, our hair would turn black, blond or red again, and this would give us a new, wonderful outlook on life as we’re ready to start again.

I only hope we’d get to keep all the experience and good judgment we piled up a we were getting old!

A more sedate presidential debate

The last face-to-face before the election was predictable; Biden was under pressure not to screw-up and Trump to look more organized and less combative. Both seem to have met that low threshold. 

Trump did it with his trademark lying, his reddish, contorted face and upper-body that didn’t like the constrictions imposed by the new rules, and Biden, who seemed extremely well prepared, did a pretty good job, at any rate didn’t blunder as Trump and the GOP were praying he would. 

This debate was the last chance for the Donald to turn around its declining poll numbers, but now that more than 50 million American have already voted, it will be increasingly difficult to gain support outside of his loyal base of supporters. 

Furthermore, Trump is now running out of cash. Big donors are now switching to Biden who raised almost three time the amount his opponent was able to get in September alone.

Based on FiveThirtyEight, a website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, Joe Biden has a significant lead in national and state polls to the point that traditionally Republican states like Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and Texas might now go Democratic. 

We’re in view of the finish line, and are way past the point where a normal polling error could let Trump close the gap. 

Based on that aggregator Trump only has a 12% chance of winning the contest. Barring a stunning surprise or event, Biden should now bag the presidency!

My obsession with year-round skiing

When I was a teenager, skiing soon became my major obsession. 

After I began working as a liftie during the winter school holidays, I quickly couldn’t console myself when the season came to an end, so my focus turned towards places that conserved enough snow much longer in the spring time and well into summer. 

I payed increased attention to lingering skiable slopes, to topographic maps detailing glaciers or permanent snowfields, first in my Alpine region and very soon, through detailed atlases, the world over. 

At the same time, I created in my fertile mind an imaginary world, in which, through a combination of high altitude and colder climate, one could ski all year round, without having to worry about total snow-melt and long counter-seasonal skiing hiatus. 

I remember that big piece of rock, behind the family restaurant that was deeply textured, recreating peaks and valleys, with some lichen that I translated into forested areas, and where I could create my ideal ski resorts where the snow never melt and skiing never stopped. 

I was hooked...

The miracle Trump remover

There are lots of “miracles products” out there. Some remove stains, a few dental plaque, others remove fatigue, but there was only one that stood a chance to remove Trump from our lives, from the United States and the whole planet, and it’s Covid-19. 

Without this nasty little bugger, Trump would stand on very solid ground on this last stage of the election. Facing a weak Biden and not getting enough cross-wind from Black Lives Matter, he would have sailed through his reelection. 

I’m not saying that the man with orange hair is out of the way yet, but his demise has never been as close. What a relief for the planet, humanity and the entire natural world the day we hear he's been defeated! 

A microscopic virus had the power to accomplish what the most capable and convincing candidate, the most researched and strategic campaigns, or the cleverest speeches couldn’t do. At least, I think so.

We know that unless he beaten in a landslide, we’ll have to struggle till January 20 to get rid of him. So, let’s hope for the best and keep on knocking on wood until this happen!

My short political career

One could think that a political junkie like me must have held political office in his life. That’s correct, but only once. That happened around the early to mid 70s, before I quit ski instructing, I was asked to be on my small village municipal council. Its total population at the time was about 560 people. 

I guess that, from the outside, the person who asked me to join thought I was either smart or had some potential. One thing was certain, I woefully lacked self-confidence, especially within my home town, because I believe of my upbringing, and this wasn’t going to help me. 

Because of this, I wasn’t very comfortable in refusing to participate, so I acquiesced and before I knew it, was a new-minted village councilman. I don’t remember clearly what my work was while I was a local politician; I remember that I participated in some commissions, but can’t recall which one. 

This happened when the Avoriaz ski resort was actively talking with the municipality about installing lifts over its land, so there was plenty of critical developments going on. Yet, I felt so uneasy in my role that I never fully gave it my all. 

That wasn’t the kind of endeavor that I like in a place I felt good about myself. I also felt this kind of assignment was tied into so many rules, too complicated, too slow, and the whole thing wasn’t my cup of tea at all. 

I was in fact delighted when I resigned soon thereafter to moved to Nevers, a French town 5 hours and 30 minutes away, to take a corporate job at Look ski bindings and never turned back, as I never considered any public office either following that experience...

Nine months meditating...

On January 20th, I started adding meditation to my daily routine. As of today, I’ve done it without missing a day and feel great about it. Here are a few observations I can make at this moment. 

Although repeated, the experience is never, ever the same. Each session is distinctly different in how it feels and what it brings. In a nutshell, I find it relaxing, opening me to my deeper self, peaceful, tranquil and devoid of any intense feelings. 

I have found that I can do it regardless of surrounding noises and other distractions. From a tangible benefit standpoint, it has had a huge impact on my memory. While I was always struggling to remember things, names and other topics, I find it a lot easier to mentally retrieve what I need. 

I also find the practice a real pleasure waiting for me, each early morning. At times, it can also be difficult and while I can see where progress can be obtained through meditation, I realize that it take a lot of time to get there, if at all. 

Enough arguments though to keep me enthusiastically going!

The flawed American exceptionalism

American Exceptionalism is that sort of urban legend that said that nothing is better than America and we that we’re number one in every domain. 

Of course, those who critique that myth said that we’re also excellent at double standards, moral purity and hypocrisy too. 

This time, under Trump, the new American exceptionalism keeps us on top when we look at he diabolically divided the country, led by terrible example, badly he’s mishandled Covid-19 and made us one of the most countries that claim the most deaths per-capita. 

He should perhaps discover the virtues of wearing a mask and start donning one if he wants to move its country down this sad hit-parade and grab a few points of support before the election!

Orienting pictures…

During my days working for Look ski bindings, its founder and owner, Jean Beyl, was insisting upon showing product oriented in a certain direction when illustrated of photographed. 

Namely, the “front” of the product had to be placed to the right while the tail, obviously followed to the left. He liked to call that approach “The way a woodworking plane is used...”

Ever since, I’ve bought into that theory and just as we read and write from left to right, I give objects or specific actions the same direction when I represent them. I see in it a way to communicate a positive motion. 

If I want to impress upon the viewer and convey a negative tone, I might turn the object or action from right to left. In spite of some research I have attempted to conduct, I have not been able to validate this rather flimsy theory. 

Again, this would be derived from roman writing that we all use in the western world, going from left to right. Evidently Hebrew, Arabic and to a degree Chinese and Japanese, proceed in the opposite direction, right to left, challenging that theory… 

What do you think?

A two-episode town-hall debate

Since we live in dark-red, theocratic Utah, a congressional debate on both ABC and NBC preempted the dual debates scheduled at the same time on these two channels. Instead, we had the luxury of watching both debates on YouTube, first live for Biden, and then time-delayed for Trump. 

Since Biden is a “normal” human being, his performance was good, well-measured and informative, and the man took the time to answer the questions that were brought to him. 

When it came time to his opponent’s debate, we were amazed to discover that Savannah Guthrie was the first American personality who didn't fear confronting - and crushing - the Monster.

I must say that in addition to not answering questions or lying regularly, Trump wasn’t his normal self. He didn’t have the guts to insult Ms. Guthrie, nor walk away from the stage and all along, he looked a bit contrite compared to his usual behavior. 

Was he sick, unwell? Had he been warned to behave by NBC? Does he realize that he’s now lost the race? At any rate, he didn’t score any point and his lackluster performance is likely to deepen the chasm between him and Biden.

The making of French ski legends

In New Mexico, there’s Sante Fe, the State capital, then a bit north of there, there’s the famous Taos pueblo and yet, further north, there’s Taos Ski Valley, a special ski resort that I have never visited but that is filled with unique characters. 

Like Ernie Blake, its quirky founder and two Frenchmen, Jean and Dadou Mayer, that self-promoted themselves into ski legends, thank to their charming accents, their skills in hospitality and their ability (I guess) to ski better than most Americans at the time. 

These were the good times, when the French ski team was coming of age and French folks couldn’t screw anything up. The breed was in demand, which meant that, in life like in skiing, timing is everything. I had met both of them in 1978 in Denver when I was working for Look ski bindings. 

On October 10, Jean, the elder brother, passed away at 85 from blood cancer. Train at the Cornell culinary school, he was also said to be a Junior Champion during the 1953 French ski championship, but I wonder if this feat wasn’t woven into the story he built around himself, as I had never heard of him when I lived in France. 

At any rate I hope he rests in peace, but in the land of enchantment that is New Mexico, I wouldn’t be surprise if he still decides to haunt Kachina Bowl on powder days...

We just voted!

On Tuesday and seemingly ahead of schedule, we received our mail-in ballots. 

Yesterday, we looked them up, did some research where we still had to, made our choices calmly and wisely, then dropped everything in the ballot drop-box at City Hall. 

Among others, we had to choose a president, we thought a drastic change was in order in that department, and picked a new House Representative. 

In addition, we had to select a new Utah State Governor plus a bunch of other political candidates at the State and County levels, voted on judges whose terms had expired and on a bunch of State Constitution amendments. 

Basically, we simply punished any candidate belonging to the Party that has been an enabler to Emperor Trump. 

That process might sound like a chore, but the whole thing was pleasant and was done in no more than ten minutes. 

God, we’re glad it’s over and can’t wait for November 3rd to watch the sparks fly from all over!

Time for a new passport!

Passports expires every 10 years and each expiration time is another reminder that my life won’t have enough room for another five such travel documents, so it’s another stark reminder that time, as well as my potential for new passports, are now running out. 

With renewal, comes the need for an updated picture. So here I am, setting up the tripod, the good camera, studying its delayed shutter feature, reviewing what the rules are for these particular shots and firing up a few photos. 

When I download them into the computer, I don’t like what I see, finding myself shockingly too old and ugly. I start again, tweaking the lighting, adding a bit of photo-shop and still the results are as dismal as the first time around. 

I’m now getting used to my new facial reality. I should know better though, I observe myself daily as I brush my teeth, wash my face and shave. 

Now, I’m beginning to feel better. I'm a bit more comfortable as an early septuagenarian and I should consider myself extremely lucky to be applying for yet another passport!

My Neanderthal side

Around a decade ago, my family and I got involved with a DNA testing program and occasionally, I’m asked to take a look at my new “relatives”, meaning folks whose DNA is close to ours, and other related information. 

Like that one, telling me I inherited a small amount of DNA from my Neanderthal ancestors. In fact I have more Neanderthal DNA than 74% of their other database members. If you don’t remember, Neanderthals were prehistoric humans who interbred with our ancestors before disappearing around 40,000 years ago. Even though my Neanderthal ancestry only accounts for less than about 2 percent of my total DNA, I still have some influencing my traits. For instance, I have 3 variants associated with being less likely to have a fear of heights, which explains why I feel very comfortable standing up on roofs or working on ladders and – I suppose – sliding on skis or riding my bike. 

While they may have looked a little different, Neanderthals were probably a lot like you and me. They tended to have slightly larger brains than modern humans, and knew how to make fire, use tools and probably speak sometime. They were also artists, creating jewelry and art like the red-pigment paintings that decorate the walls of certain caves. 

 

The only bad news is that DNA inherited from Neanderthals, like mine, may increase my risk of catching Covid-19, but since I don’t attend Trump rallies I should be okay. Finally, while Neanderthal remains have been found close to Africa, there is no evidence that they’ve lived there, but that won’t prevent me for supporting “Black Lives Matter!”

My dream car at 18

In the five years or so preceding my getting a driver license, I knew with certainty what my dream car would be. 

Since I was also poor and pragmatic, ownership of such a car came with a major caveat, which was the kind of job that could make possible such an ownership. Well my tastes were far removed from E-type Jaguar, Porsche or Ferrari.

I was much more down to earth, and was aiming to own a Citroën DS-19. To me, this was “la crème de la crème”, front-wheel drive, air-suspension, futuristic styling. 

Back in these days (we’re talking 1966), I figured out that I needed to earn 923 Francs a week (about $185 of these days dollars) to afford owning such a car. To do so, I’d be a manufacturer’s rep or something of the sort. 

As for my fall back plan, it was a Morris or Austin Mini. I liked these small British cars too and they were also front-wheel drive, almost every bit as revolutionary as Citroën, plus would be much more affordable! 

That said, my assertiveness wasn’t strong enough to generate the desired level of sales income and I had to settle on another Citroën, the lowly 2cv!

The Trump Covid-19 Miracle?

More that a week ago, Trump announced himself that he tested positive to Covid-19. Except for his doctor, no one could verify if he indeed had the virus in his body. 

He made the announcement following Hope Hicks’ infection the day before, did it himself in the wee hours of the morning, which is all but official-looking. Later that day, an avalanche of White House cases was also disclosed. 

Conspicuously absent from that list were Trump’s own children. So, some people caught it and some didn’t. I personally think that his wife, Kellyanne Conway and Kayleigh McEnany volunteered to tag along, giving more depth to the cluster and adding badly needed credibility to the president’s claim. “Misery loves company” approach. 

What is strange though, is that in spite of his age, obesity and poor dietary habits, Trump got out of the hospital pretty much unscathed and wasted no time to minimize the danger of the virus and wear his recent bout with the pandemic like a badge of honor, just like St. George slaying the dragon, or the “Chinese Virus” in that case.

This reality show prompted my wife to say: “I’m sure it’s fake news, and the ‘clown’ has staged the event, as he’s faced with shrinking prospects for his reelection and worsening lack of campaign funds...” 

I concurred with her, as the man who lies like others breathe, is already “credited” by the Washington Post with more than 20,000 certified lies in less than four years into his administration. That’s more than 16 lies a day which is amazing and hard to come even close to. 

Moreover, the man is so Machiavellian that this kind of staging would be up his alley. The bottom line is that we’re less gullible than most Americans are, have strong doubts about his infection and besides, we didn’t hear that Air Force One took him on a short trip to Lourdes, France, so we don’t even buy the miracle story either!

Fast succession at Deer Valley

Back in December 2018, when Bob Wheaton was replaced by Todd Shallan at the helm of Deer Valley, we were told that the hospitality expert was pretty excited to be in the job, saw room for improvements at the resort and was eager to run the business. 

Well, Alterra, Deer Valley’s parent company just decided that it wanted to create both a real estate and a hospitality divisions to be more effective. 

Shallan has been asked to oversee the latter and said that he was excited at the prospect of running that new Alterra division that will encompass food and beverage as well as lodging and club products. 

I hope this new promotion might make him move to Boulder, Colorado instead of commuting from California to his Utah job as he’s done till now. 

He will be replaced by Jeremy Levitt, president and COO of CMH Heli-Skiing & Summer Adventures, who will continue to oversee CMH in British Columbia. 

This suggest that Deer Valley will get another commuter-manager and this leaves me wondering why in the world Alterra couldn’t find, among Deer Valley’s Directors or other executives, someone LOCAL capable to step right into Shallan’s shoes. 

I believe that among these folks, no one lacked the experience or talent for that job, especially if one considers that a top-notch manager like Wheaton would have made certain to groom his own successor…

Veeps debate show what they’re made of!

We watched the debate between Harris and Pence, came with our conclusions and wasted fifteen minutes listening to the pundits. 

Our first impressions were quite clear, and showed us a competent Kamala Harris against a robotic Mike Pence, devoid of imagination, never quite answering what was asked from him and constantly overstepping his allotted time. 

USA Today’s Susan Page did a poor job controlling him and by so doing, delivered a lackluster performance.

 As for the pundits and journalists that call themselves political analysts, they missed the point that Harris won that debate by 59%, in a subsequent CNN/SRSS poll of registered voters who watched the duel, while Pence only got 38%.

I guess that the fly that landed on his manicured hair got the remaining 3% (just kidding...)

A dark side to positive thinking

In a recent TV show about Trump, three keys influences were listed for the man who now seats at the White house: His father Fred, his one-time lawyer Roy Cohn and Norman Vincent Peale, a minister and author, best-known for his famous book “The Power of Positive Thinking”. 

He was the pastor of Marble Collegiate Church, in New York City, until 1984, a Reformed Church in America congregation and he was a personal friend of both Nixon and Trump. Often overly simplistic, Peale's ideas and techniques were peppered with controversy and were frequently criticized by both church authorities and the psychiatric profession. 

I too was infatuated with the power of positive thinking thru “Think and Grow Rich” a book by Napoleon Hill predating Peale’s bestseller where the pastor probably found his inspiration. This helped me a lot along my career, but I always remained clear-eyed about the limitations of such a philosophy and picked my itinerary and expectations accordingly. Besides, Napoleon Hill was quite a controversial character too, back in his days.

Today, Trump’s behavior shows that he remains a staunch follower of Peale’s approach and that he will stop at nothing to turn his personal beliefs into achievable goals. The problem is that positive thinking needs to be used for good deeds in order to remain effective. 

Somehow, the law of Karma steps into its should practitioners of positive thinking forget about that important nuance. A modicum of moral standards helps in rendering the method effective, but that’s the caveat, Trump is woefully amoral for the system to work one hundred percent.

Powder Magazine kicks the bucket

I just learned that Powder Magazine, founded in Sun Valley, Idaho back in 1972, is shutting its publication, along with three other magazines including Snowboarder, Bike and Surfer, owned by America Media Inc. (AMI) in Carlsbad, California. 

This happened as Powder‘s first issue of Volume 45 was getting ready for release. Just the online magazine Snowboarder.com will be maintained this winter with a single editor to run the brand's website and social media accounts and to meet the brand's obligations to the Dew sports tour, which is also part of AMI’s Adventure Sports Group. 

According to Powder’s staff, all are still working on two more issues of the magazine, first their Gear Guide issue available for free in ski shops across the United States, and their Photo Annual, which will be on newsstands November 16. 

Powder was a welcome, irreverent and free-thinking alternative to the late Skiing magazine and its Ski counterpart that is still barely alive, and their mostly boring, technical seriousness. Its great pictures will leave some fond lasting memories in the minds of its faithful followers during its 49 year lifetime. 

Another great magazine falling victim to the internet and Covid-19. Rest in Peace!

Park City stopover

Each spring and each fall, Park City is hosting huge flocks of Canadian geese on their way from, and to, Mexico. 

The species, that lives from 10 to 24 years, is native to North America, breeds in Canada and in the northern United States, in a wide range of habitats. Known for their seasonal migrations, Canada geese travel from further north during the winter that they spend in Mexico or around the southern US border.

They seem to like the Park Meadows section of our town, just where we live, because of its small lakes and nice golf course where they can feed. In case you didn’t know it, Canada geese are primarily herbivores, including grains, but they sometimes eat small insects and fish.

On land, the bird eats a variety of grasses. It feeds by grasping a blade of grass with the bill, then tearing it with a jerk of the head. Most Canada geese have staging or resting areas where they join up with others. In the fall, their migration ranges from September to the beginning of November. 

The early migrants have a tendency to spend less time at rest stops and go through the migration much faster. The later birds usually stay longer. Canada geese fly in a distinctive V-shaped flight formation, at an altitude of 3,000 feet above ground for migration flight, although some Canada geese have been spotted flying at 29,000 feet. 

When they’re flying in V-formation, the lead bird’s job is not simply to guide the other birds in the right direction. Rather, its primary job is to act as a flight engineer, in helping reduce air drag so that the flock can fly for greater distances without expending more energy. 

Also, the birds take turns being in the front, falling back when they get tired, so everyone has a chance to lead. ...Smart geese indeed; have a safe trip to Mexico!

When excess heat kills foliage colors

Our last summer in Utah has been marked by constant heat, no rain and that trend has continued into fall season. As a result our “Kodachrome” foliage season has been a total bust. 

With so much heat and an evident lack of moisture most of our aspen leaves that turn gold right now had their stems so dry that they fell in huge quantities during a severe windstorm the state experienced on September 8.

The result is that most of the trees were defoliated before their colors could even change. Normally, vibrant foliage colors include warm days and cool nights; this stimulates the production of a chemical called anthocyanin, which adds the red in our mountain maples. 

At the same time, the significant difference in temperature between night and day speeds up the loss of chlorophyll from leaves, leaving behind secondary photosynthetic pigments that give us the yellow and orange colors in our aspen groves. 

However, with this summer’s drought and severe heat, the trees were so stressed that many “browned” or loss their leaves prematurely. Usually, the Park City region often see a tourism boost as travelers seek out the vivid leaves of aspen, maples and scrub oak trees, but we experienced our hottest August on record this year. 

Sure the reasons behind fall foliage colors are both complex and not entirely understood, but drought can be a huge factor that will affect its visual quality. Let’s hope this year will be an exception!

Electoral signs in Park City

Just like for the rest of America, every Fall, we see a number of yard signs adorning the front of houses all over Park City. 

This year, some are for local politicians and those are generally distributed free of charge by the candidates running for office, while the presidential ones have to be purchased for around $30 to $40 a piece, which explain why we see less of them.

What is interesting though, is that within Park City, I have yet to see at least one single “Trump” sign. The only signs I have seen are for Biden. 

Yet, while the majority of the electorate will vote for the democratic candidate in our community, there’s a number of Trump supporters. 

Are these kind of ashamed of their choice, since no one has the audacity to display a Trump sign in their yard? I don’t know what you think about that, but that tells me a lot about these f

A challenged President

This hasn’t been a good week for Trump. Now that he got the dreaded virus, his health is placed under a magnifying glass. Two things are certain; he is 74 and this places him into a dangerous age-group and he is also obese, which doesn’t help his case. 

On June 3, Sean Conley, the White House doctor, was saying that “Despite being obese, President Donald Trump is in good health. Based on my history, examination and consultations, the data indicates that he remains healthy". 

This is good news, and unlike some journalists have reported by fear from the White House, Trump isn’t simply “overweight”. According to Mr. Conley, his 244 pounds for 6 feet, three inches put him over the threshold for obesity. 

At that time, Sean Conley had also confirmed that Trump took a two-week course of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which the President has long touted as a potential means of keeping Covid-19 away. Along with that, he also took zinc and vitamin D supplements.

Let’s hope that his good preparation in overcoming the virus gets him over the hump and enables him be back on his feet on election night!

A disturbing PowerPoint message

French folks love to send messages in the form of PowerPoint presentations. 

I just got one recently that was explaining how a low birthrate in the western world in general, and in France in particular, was endangering the future of its native population and creating a vacuum for immigration and particularly of Muslim persuasion or specific ethnic groups like Latinx into the United States, for example. 

This massive immigration would subsequently destroy local cultures as we know them. Let me make to points about this message. 

First, our planet is overpopulated, instead of 7,8 billion people, most scientists agree that we should only be at 2 billion, top, in order to live in a sustainable manner. Far too many people are causing global warming, a huge danger for food or water shortages, and are an assault of the planet’s biodiversity and overall proper functionality. 

Trying to increase the birth rate in developed nation is doomed in advance, as no educated young person living in a developed country and in their right mind, want a big family. Couples generally settle on one, perhaps two or none at all. Raising kids is awfully expensive and takes lots of time, no less than a quarter of a century per child. We just need to get used to it and white folks won’t replace themselves. 

Overpopulation will continue elsewhere, fueled in part by a need for capitalistic growth and religious forces that are fighting for influence. This means that immigration is the next point that need to be addressed. Viewed from space, earth shows no border, just land and water. Borders were invented by men to protect their respective territories. 

Now, to enter a developed enclave, migrants should ideally be needed (with specific education, skills and talents) and be productive. Since they’re given the privilege to enjoy safety, good infrastructure and a more prosperous life, they participate in paying for it when they enter or in a manner spread over their foreseeable lifetime. 

Just like a motorist pays a toll to use a nice, fast and safe highway. Short of that, there should be no immigration. Migrating for family reasons could be the exception, not the rule, and at a cost that would be much higher than for self-sustaining migrants.

 Finally, each community should be entitled to maintain and protect its native customs and might choose stringent rules that make it impractical for migrants with a need to keep and maintain their own customs to join that country. 

Pretty simple. If this approach interests you and wish to know more about it, I’ll be delighted to give more details.

Presidential debates popularity

Compared to the first Clinton-Trump debate in 2016 when 84 million people watched, less than 74 million watched the horrible debate where Trump tried to obliterate Biden through his trademark, abusive style, but ended up shooting himself in the foot. That represented a 13 percent decline from that first 2016 Clinton-Trump encounter.

This would suggest that more folks are tired of the “Clown” as Biden so aptly names his demented opponent. This also reflects that people have become less dependent on the TV network, get more of their news on line than just four years ago. 

Typically, the presidential debates are among the most-watched telecasts of the year, falling in the same category of the Super Bowl, with about 100 million viewers, or election night, which in 2016 gathered a 71 million audience. 

All of 17.8 million of hard-core Republicans and Trumpists, generally older people, watched religiously on Fox News, their only source for information they believe in. 

Will the two other scheduled debate take place? That’s an open question as Trump might not like some of the new rules concocted by the Commission on Presidential Debates, and chose to not participate. 

This would be fine with me as he has proved that he wasn’t intellectually able to debate, just interrupt and scream insults.

A clown at the presidential debate

Last night spectacle was tiring and demoralizing. Looking at two guys in the their mid-seventies as they were jousting for the top national job wasn’t a breath of fresh air to start with, but when Trump started behaving like a demented human being and Chris Wallace, the moderator, seemed incapable of reining him in, the debate took a disastrous turn. 

Biden held up well, exceeded my expectations (the bar was low to start with) and sounded brilliant when he said that Trump was a liar and a clown. What is strange is that most of the press and pundits missed Trump’s facial and body language which were very telling and showing that he wasn’t happy as he was unable to destabilize his opponent. 

When all was said and done, I gave Biden a 6 out of 10 and only 3 for Trump. I just wondered what some Supreme Court Justices like Roberts and Gorsuch were thinking in watching the painful display of attacks, interruptions and lies by Trump, and their foreseeable involvement in arbitrating the upcoming court battle that will an election certain to be contested by our National Clown. 

As for me, I thought that one such debate was so painful to watch that the Presidential Debate Commission should cancel the two other events as Trump has clearly shown that he can’t behave himself.