Senator with “Pirate” Eyepatch
I was under the impression that the State of Michigan had serious problems – a $2 billion budget shortfall, its largest city in dire economic straits, schools closing for lack of funding, that sort of thing. Things must be better than I realized as Sen. Roger Kahn (R-Saginaw) proposed and the Senate passed a resolution officially recognizing “International Talk Like a Pirate Day”. If they have time for this sort of resolution in the Senate, things must not be as bad as I thought. One can only hope that the eye patch that Senator Kahn wore while presenting the resolution is not also his proposal for ophthalmic heath care.
The resolution itself notes that “International Talk Like A Pirate Day” was started “as a way to express [the event founder’s] individual passion for nautical plundering.” The resolution goes on to say that the State of Michigan is responsible for “promoting worthy maritime initiatives” and that “Talk Like a Pirate Day” “celebrates beloved maritime activities.” Linking “nautical plundering” with “worthy maritime initiatives” and “beloved maritime activities” all in one very short resolution is just dumb. Really dumb.
One event that the State of Michigan did not choose to endorse is the IMO International Day of the Seafarer held on June 25 of each year to recognize “the invaluable contribution seafarers make to international trade and the world economy, often at great personal cost to themselves and their families.” Apparently the Michigan Senate prefers pirates.
Although Michigan is a mid-western state, it borders four of the five Great Lakes and has 3,126 miles of Great Lakes shoreline. The state has its own maritime academy. The US Great Lakes fleet includes 57 large self-propelled vessels and tug/barge units moving dry-bulk cargoes with a transport capacity of 115,000,000 tons of cargo. The Great Lakes shipping industry plays an important role in the United States economy. Nevertheless, the Michigan Senate chose to endorse “talking like a pirate” rather than to support professional mariners in their home waters and around the world — a world where piracy remains a serious threat to seafarers every day. What can one say, but Aarrgh.
I’d love to participate, but I just don’t think I can learn to speak Somali by June 25th.
Oh, you meant historical pirates? I guess I’ll just do a lot of old-timey cursing, then, but…
Oh. You meant cartoon pirates. Kaaaaahn!
Exactly.
Sometimes it seems like the only thing many state legislatures can accomplish is to pass meaningless resolutions. It never surprises me to see a state in a serious crisis avoiding fundamental problems in order to let it be known that the official state color is maroon and that the state government would like to pass a resolution thanking god for maroon-ness.
…………..and I thought we had some “sick puppies” in state governments in Australia……….but………..what can one say. This really takes the cake!!!
And there’s the SS Badger- Lake Michigan Carferry.
I did not expect anything smarter from the State Legislature of Michigan, with both houses solidly controlled by GOP through gerrymandering. In last November elections, more Michiganders voted Democrat than Republican but the latter kept control. As friends of the Gun, they have declared a savage war on the state’s wolves for the benefit of pelt trappers and trophy hunters, in the face of opposition from Natives and wildlife defenders. A referendum petition to curb the slaughter collected more than 250,000 signatures from MI registered voters, more than required to have a referendum on the matter included in the 2014 ballot but the state legislators rammed through another law designed to thwart the referendum. Naturally, they support “Talk like a pirate Day” – it is their native lingo.