Picto Diary - 25 to 31 January 2024 - Out and About on the "Wing"

Above: Snow Park Lodge, Deer Valley, UT. 25 January 2024.

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Stein Eriksen art piece.

Lite snow. Blah visibility. Inch of powder on groomed, though, made for fantastic skiing! Coffee break at Steins First Trax with the four PGAs.

Above: Iron Canyon, Park City, UT 24 January 2024.

Freddie and the Night Visitors.

Above: Elephant Club at Alta Club, Salt Lake City, UT. 26 January 2024.

Blake Moore, US Congressman, Utah 1, Koessler, and The Bishop.

Moore is a Rodney King Republican. "Can't we all just get along?" Conservative firebrands might call him a RINO. Moore bristles at such criticism. "I'm every bit as conservative as Jim Jordan," he said in pre-lunch conversation with Mwah (sic) and Koessler. "Yet they call him a conservative and me a RINO." Moore can't hide, though, that he sponsored a fundraiser for former Wyoming Congresswoman, Liz Cheney, a vehement anti Trumper. Moore did vote against DJT's second impeachment.

Moore is living proof of the Utah legislature's successful effort six years ago to neuter the caucus/convention method of selecting party nominees for national office works. Last go around, in 2018, unambiguous conservative, Jason Preston, won the Utah 1 convention vote, but Moore, got on the primary ballot via the alternative signature gathering process, and beat Preston in the primary, thereby winning the nomination to run as the sole Republican nominee for District 1 in the general election. A bill currently stands before the state legislature to discard the signature gathering option to get on the primary ballot. One takeaway: Signature gathering candidates are more moderate than convention winning candidates. If the signature gatherers consistently win the primary, which has happened in most recent Utah primaries, all other things being equal (like money), then Utah voters seem to prefer more moderate types over the fire brands.

Moore's Rodney King approach notwithstanding, he seems to be highly regarded by his peers in Congress. He was elected, after only three years in Congress, to the position of Vice Chair of the Republican Conference, beating out several Republican colleagues after two hours and multiple rounds of voting. The Vice Chair position was recently vacated by House Speaker Mike Johnson. Moore is the first Utah congressman to serve in Republican leadership.

In his remarks to the Elephant Club, today, Moore talked about his role on the House Ways and Means Committee. He spent much of his talk getting into some pretty deep legislative weeds, which might have been encouraging for a wonk, but was somewhat boring for me. Moore is not alone as a pol in his tendency to vamp the time away while speaking to a group until time is up thereby avoiding serious, or controversial issues to be raised in the heavily truncated Q and A.

Above: Rana Talwar. 1948 to 2024. Delhi, India. Died, Saturday, 27 January 2024.

Rana Talwar, first Indian to head a global bank, dies - Times of India (indiatimes.com)

I had two points of professional contact with Rana.

First, New Delhi, India, in 1972. My first job as a banking professional was as Sundries Officer of the Citibank New Delhi, branch. In those days, it was unusual for an American to be lowest officer on the totem pole in a Citibank India branch. Rana and then-wife Roop, along with a half dozen other Indian officers and their wives, couldn't have been nicer in welcoming us into the Citibank India family. We were included in many of the Citi Indian officers' social functions. During one dinner evening, at the home of Ajit and Rowena Grewal, a liquor laden cake was served. Margaret, a nondrinker, ate a piece of that cake and then burst into a fit of uninterrupted giggling for the remainder of the evening. In subsequent meets with those present, Margaret's giggling fit would always be raised as one of the highlights of our New Delhi assignment.

Second, as a Consumer Group country business manager in Japan, I was a peer of Rana, who was Consumer country business manager for Malaysia/Singapore. From circa 1983 to 1985, Rana and I worked for Ed Harshfield, Division Executive based in Hong Kong. Dick Kovacevich, later CEO of Wells Fargo, was Ed's boss, based in New York. I would see Rana at the annual budget meeting for Ed's division. During the period, Rana was seen to be successful in building Citi's business in Singapore by targeting high net worth consumers with a linked banking product called Citigold.

Rana was highly regarded at Citibank. His passing has elicited numerous paeans, including from then CEO, John Reed, then Citi and late Wells CEO, Dick Kovacevich, and many of his former employees, on the Citi Asia Pacific alumni forum, The Park City List.

After Citi, Rana became CEO of Standard and Chartered Bank, based in London, with a significant branch presence throughout the Subcontinent and the Far East.

Above: Home of Rana Talwar, Delhi, India. 18 January 2016. Diary entry, 27 January 2024.

After arrival in Delhi by bus from Jaipur, and check in at the Gurgaon Oberoi Hotel, two Citibank alumni couples, broke off from The Margaret Taylor Dance Troupe to join Indian Citibank alumni friends for dinner at the home of Rana Talwar in New Delhi.
(front) Rana Talwar, Jerry Rao. Chita Gauba (behind Rana). Left to right: Steve Taylor, Mehli Mistri, Mike Callen, Margaret Taylor, Royina Grewal, Vickie Callen, Saker Mistri, Mandira Gauba.

Above: Snow Canyon State Park. Washington County, UT. 27 January 2024.

Out and about on the Duc.

Utah rocks!

Above: Mesquite, NV. 28 January 2024.

Out and about on the 'Wing.

Lunch at Taco Bell in Mesquite. 80-mile round trip from Ivins, UT. 62 degrees, Ivins. 70 degrees, Mesquite.

TIMDT, Bishop's favorite motorcycle riding partner.

Above: Ivins, UT. 29 January 2024.

Good morning!

Above: Hebron, Utah. 29 January 2025.

Out and about in the 392.

On quest to visit Utah locales never before seen by Peterbilt. Hebron. Ghost town west of Enterprise, UT. Here Hebron cemetery with Huntsmans, Terrys, Hunts, and Pulsiphers buried, original settlers from 1862. Town abandoned 1906 due combination of floods, drought and earthquake. There are ghosts here! My mind's eye sees the determined Mormon settlers (ghosts!) struggling to eke out a farming living in some of the most hostile, even now as then, quarters of the American continent. As I imagine such scenes, I reflect on how, at least for most of us, modern life has allowed for elimination of those old challenging, difficult pioneer survival tasks. And still, today, we find reasons to be ungrateful and complain.

It was interesting to see the Mormon pioneer names on the Hebron cemetery gravestones. I went to grade school with a Pulsipher. My cousin was married to a Terry (since deceased). I was friends with a Huntsman couple (now both deceased). We bought our Ivins home from a Hunt, developer/contractor descendant of the Hunts buried in the Hebron cemetery.

Above: Washington County, UT. 29 January 2024.

I have always appreciated these targets, disguised as road signs, which enable locals to keep up on their shooting skills. In an era where there is much suspicion of government, at least here government does something useful.

Above: Ivins, UT. 30 January 2024.

My favorite jazz artist, Jay Lawrence.

Addendum

Feedback on Daily Blog - I Choose Defibrillation - 24 January 2024

I Choose Defibrillation | Stephen DeWitt Taylor

good.

Brand Man,
Ventura, CA

excellent points

Hoops,
Pelham, NY

keeper! read and heed!

Nathans,
Orlando, FL

Brilliant. Thank-you.

Mark,
Palo Alto, CA

 

We need a big change. so, I am for RFK Jr.. like Argentina.

Dems got a drug addict Senator over Dr. Oz . . they can win whoever they choose for 2024 ?

I am not sure a Rep with a weak Party can beat the Dems.. quite hopeless. .

Otherwise, I agree with most of what you said. Trying to understand why SC Ok with border open?

Mano,
San Jose, CA

Rationally correct, propaganda wise still uncertain. Hoping the sane will prevail.

KAT,
McKinney, TX

US defibrillation. Great name.

Fish,
Santa Barbara, CA

Abortion should be on the ballot in two key states. Republicans will lose both, for that reason.

Fish,
Santa Barbara, CA

 

Well stated!…”Damn the torpedos…"
Boeing,
Sedona, AZ

 

Steve,

I have kept your Jan 9 screed which includes your Year-End 2023 SDT Note and I have re-read it a number of times. I kept mulling over should I reply or not. But here I am. Unlike Academy Theater of Salt Lake City, I will not ask to be removed from the mailing list, though like him, I disagree with most of what you have written. Our friendship goes back too many years and I still believe that the informed exchange of opposing ideas is of value. I also have kept the response to your piece by Eric of Seattle. I encourage you to re-read it and think about what he had to say.

You begin your note with “Central to America’s decline”. When you begin with that assumption, it is clear where you are heading. Open your mind. There are many reasons why America is not in decline. God knows there are a myriad of economic and social issues to be desalt with, but that assumption or belief closes off rational thinking. The glass is not half empty, it is half full.

You suggest that the Fed is responsible for the gap between the haves and have nots. You say prospects for the middle class are grim because the Feds policies favor the privileged. While we are in absolute agreement of the need for a robust middle class, I hesitate to accept that the Fed's policies favor the privileged. The Feds principal responsibility within monetary policy is to manage inflation and that is what they have been doing. Trying to put the brakes on inflation by raising rates is not designed to favor the privileged, nor do I believe it does favor privileged. I don’t think our mutual friend Dennis Lockhart (President of the Atlanta Fed for 10 years - you know this but other readers of this may not) would accept that the Fed favors the privileged. (Ask him). What favored the privileged were the Trump tax cuts for the rich. Eric’s piece on this makes a lot of sense to me.

Yes, our immigration polices are a mess and borders need to be controlled. But, here we are now, faced with a reasonable first step to improved immigration policy crafted by the Senate which if delivered to the President, he said he would close the Southern border immediately, has been killed by Trump who has in effect told Mike Johnson to pronounce it DOA. The clear objective is to prevent the Biden administration to have any success on the issue as that would take some of the steam out of the Trump campaign and help the Biden campaign. Here we see the political operatives putting politics before country. The same thing is happening right now with respect to the Child Tax Credit. The House passed a bipartisan bill but the Senate Republicans say they will not support it as it will give Biden a success.

You say there is a growing possibility that US youth will be called to war. Where in the world did you come up with that? Are some of your sources suggesting a new draft? On that subject, allow me a few comments. My age group, and I suspect some of the LDSM regulars are of the same age, had the draft and later the lottery. At age 18 we registered, and we knew we had an obligation to serve. Most of us did. Some got bogus letters from flaky doctors about bone spurs or other ailments to get out of serving. I personally served three years of active duty and three years in the reserves. I also worked for the US Government for nearly four years with two and a half yers in Laos in the middle sixties. I bristle when men who avoided the service natter on about “patriotism”. I am very much in favor of some form of National Service for young men and women. After High School or after college and for some period of time six months to a year or two. Open the debate.

DEI, human values, humanistic studies all tied together. Read David Brooks piece in the Sunday NYT Opinion section, “How to Save a Sad, Lonely, Angry and Mean Society”. Ironically, it may reinforce your belief that America is in decline, but he offers sanguine thoughts about how to turn that around. Much of his thoughts revolve around education in the humanistic studies. A good liberal arts education versus pure STEM. Again a personal anecdote. I did four years of Mechanical Engineering. In those four years I had one course that was not technical - Engineering Report Writing. Hah! Yet, we have local governments forcing schools to eliminate courses in the social studies, history, the arts, culture, serious literature, music etc and also banning books. Related to this, you write about “reduced expectations of student performance”. Again, I ask where did that come from? Seems to me that expectations have not reduced, but performance is disappointing in too many cases.

America losing its Democracy. You say the government is taking steps moving toward social credit systems and digital currency. News to me that the government is taking steps toward a digital currency (again ask Dennis) and what are “social credit systems” anyhow? To me the biggest threat to our democracy is a Presidential candidate who claims he will be a dictator on day one and who demands personal fealty rather than deference to the Constitution.

So far, two of the three Presidential candidates whom you feel understand what the forces are that are taking America down and who have the right stuff to stem the tide are gone. That leaves Donald Trump who I know you have supported in the past and I assume you will support him and his MAGA platform this time around. I don’t expect my views, or those of Eric of Seattle, will have any impact on your views, but at least as long as we still have the opportunity to vote, I will promise you that my vote will cancel out yours. (Or, from your point of view, your vote will cancel out mine)

Stay in touch. Ski well.

Tom,
Aspen, CO

Tom, Thanks for your heartfelt note. I look forward to hearing about your adventure cruise in the Persian Gulf.