If ignorance is bliss...

Joe Soucheray must be a happy man, indeed. Read his current column in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, about the brand new Lights Out program in the Twin Cities:

The latest chapter in what can only be described as a massive crackup is the idea that we have to turn off the lights in downtown buildings to save birds. I don't know if you are aware of this - I certainly wasn't - but birds apparently are attracted to the lights during migratory periods in the spring and fall and then, because they are stupid, they crash into the buildings and die.

I guess if we turn off the lights the birds will make it safely to the next day, when they can sit in a park and get eaten by a cat.

Read the whole column. Opinion columns are ever so much easier to write when pesky facts and research can be ignored. Notice that he's not made reference to any other Lights Out programs, including those in vibrant cities such as Chicago, New York, or Toronto, nor has he interviewed a single person who has worked on the local project, nor has he researched anything substantive about the issue at all. It's all about what Joe Soucheray's idea of "vibrancy" is. About everything else, he's completely in the dark.