Month: April 2021

Yesterday morning I wrote a witty satirical piece about the Commisioner of MLB, Rob Manfred. It portrayed him as an unprincipled piece of putty, having been molded into the shape of a true weakling when he caved to the demands of Stacey Abrams, Al Sharpton, and the thinking of LeBron James. 

When Manfred decided to pull the game out of Atlanta a lot more than just me thought that he was nothing more than a weak “woke” squishy weasel. (I am truly sorry to insult all weasels.) In that case is it possible that he could make a statement something like the following?:

“Even though I struggled with moving the All Star Game(ASG) from Atlanta, I need to emphasize that this move was the best thing to do for baseball. In fact my team of advisors, including such names as Stacey Abrams, LeBron James, and Al Sharpton, have convinced me that the Georgia Legislature’s latest voting law is out to get black people.

“Actually, no, I did not read the 98 page Georgia document, but these same close advisors have filled me in on what’s in it. Well, of course, I presume that they have read the entire thing.

“I want to emphasize that the ‘suggestion’ by some of my advisers that players would be convinced to boycott the All Star Game if I did not move it out of Atlanta . . . played no part in my decision. This baseball decision was based solely on principle. I will not affirm or deny that before I released this statement, that it has been okayed by my team of advisors Furthermore, the principle involving my membership at Augusta National is different, and so . . . err, I will not comment on it any further.”

However, later that same afternoon, I thought how likely is it that whiny Stacey ‘I-really-did-win-that-2018-election’ Abrams, a Brooklyn college non-finisher and an ordained Pentecostal minister – ordained by Bishop F. D. Washington at the age of nine or ten, and someone who barely finished high school outsmarted someone who graduated from Harvard Law.

Supposedly Sharpton and Abrams threatened that players would boycott the game if he didn’t move it. Also it has been reported that this group also threatened to cause “chaos” in Atlanta if the game wasn’t moved.

Perhaps Manfred thoughtfully decided that the best thing would be to “compromise” and move the game. 

At this point I thought:

“Is it possible that Manfred realized that his legacy could well be that of someone who did irreparable harm to the American pastime. Is it possible that he figured that a proper comeuppance for Stacey and her crowd would be to relocate the ASG to Denver . . . for whereas Atlanta is a little over fifty percent black, Denver is just a smidgen over nine percent black. Is it possible that Manfred thinks that the black folks in Atlanta are a lot smarter than what Abrams gives them credit for. Furthermore, is it possible that the African Americans in Atlanta will soon realize that they have been snookered by a charlatan named Stacey . . . gypped out of about $100 million in jobs.

The other day I spoke to my brother who told me that sports no longer held any interest for him. He doesn’t read the sport’s page any longer, and he doesn’t watch sports on T.V. A lot of my friends are acting similarly. I wondered if this was a developing trend. Since there are polls these days on just about everything, I figured that there must be some sort of poll on this. . . . Correct-amundo, there is one.

The YouGov / Yahoo News poll shows that as “athletes and leagues embraced a new, progressive strategy aimed at amplifying messages of social justice and political advocacy, some Americans began watching more sports,” reported Jay Busbee of Yahoo Sports, “but about three times as many watched less:”

Of those who watch sports on TV, about 11 percent said they now watch more as a result of political and social messaging. However, 34.5 percent, more than one-third, said they are watching less. 

Is there a political makeup to this 34.5 percent? As a non-partisan observer, I would guess there is.

The decline in sports viewership was even more pronounced among Republicans, of whom 53 percent now watch less sports.

Perhaps most significantly, a higher percentage of political independents (38.6 percent) say they are watching less sports after the increase in social justice messaging than the percentage of the general public (34.5 percent). Obviously if Republicans and independents are watching less sports than the average, it must mean that Democrats are watching more. To me not a surprise . . . for a variety of reasons. (A topic for another day!)

Personally, I did not watch any pro-football for a year after the Kaepernick initiated disrespect for the flag took hold, and last year I watched only a handful. Boooo, NFL. I have not missed you!

Pro-basketball? Haven’t watched a single game since LeBron James thought it necessary to preach to me. Boooo, NBA! I have not missed you!

And now Major League Baseball has decided to advise me as to what I should think. Boooo, MLB. I will not miss you!

Without letting you know my political affiliation, I will not be watching the All Star Game or any other MLB game on TV this year. My prediction is that I will miss MLB about as much as I miss the NFL and the NBA . . . ZERO!

A friend of mine insists that the Main Stream Media is not slanted one way or the other. He will never convince me of that, as to me the MSM is obviously not only slanted to the left, but also sometimes they just BS their viewers.

BTW: As everyone knows, in today’s vernacular, “B.S-ing” is merely a synonym for outright LYING!

What follows are two glaring examples of “BS-ing”:

From American Thinker:

In October, news broke that Hunter Biden had dropped a computer off at a repair store and never picked it up again.  The contents were so disturbing that the store owner tried to get the FBI interested.  When the FBI dropped the issue, the store-owner went public.  The left, with National Public Radio (locally PBS) taking the lead, immediately announced that the computer was probably a Russian fake.  Now, though, with Hunter admitting that it could well be his computer, NPR (PBS) is ‘fessing up that its reporting was wrong.

However, the media announced that the story was fake. The tech tyrants used that narrative as the justification to delete from social media any attempts to share the story.

(After the election, it turned out that the story was kept so secret that many ordinary Americans — unlike political obsessives — knew nothing about it.  A poll showed that one out of six people who voted for Biden would not have done so if they’d been aware of the computer and its contents.  Considering that Biden allegedly received over 81,000,000 votes, that means as many as 13,500,000 people would either have voted for Trump or withheld their votes from Biden.  Either way, no matter what Democrats did, they wouldn’t have been able to pretend Biden won.)

In a normal era, the story would have been a huge October surprise.

One of the leaders in the charge claiming that the computer was a Russian plant was PBS (NPR) which you, dear taxpayer, help pay for).  In October, PBS(NPR refused to cover the story.

What turns out to have been politically driven was NPR’s silence.

Later NPR cavalierly admitted that it made a massive error in reporting a major news item. There’s no remorse here.  NPR can make this admission because it knows it doesn’t matter. Its disgraceful behavior worked.

Another example of “BS-ing”:

The latest example of MSM deliberately twisting a story to have its intended effect be different from the truth is the CBS 60 Minute fiasco. For those of you not attuned to the obvious deceit by CBS, 60 Minutes  “interviewed” Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, and asked obviously leading questions which implied wrong-doing with the governor being in cahoots with Publix, a grocery chain. DeSantis thoughtfully responded and explained the entire situation . . . Conveniently 60 Minutes did not include his explanation, because of “time constraints.”

But apparently it’s worse that that.

From The Federalist:

Democrat Mayor of Palm Beach County Dave Kerner railed against CBS’s “60 Minutes.” Kerner said the special was “not just based on bad information – it was intentionally false.”

Kerner continued, “I know this because I offered to provide my insight into Palm Beach County’s vaccination efforts and 60 minutes declined.”

“They know that the Governor came to Palm Beach County and met with me and the County Administrator and we asked to expand the state’s partnership with Publix to Palm Beach County.”

Kerner continued:

“We also discussed our own local plans to expand mass vaccinations centers throughout the county, which the Governor has been incredibly supportive. We asked and he delivered. They had that information, and they left it out because it kneecaps their narrative.”

In addition, Florida’s Director of Emergency Management Jared Moskowitz, who previously served in the state legislature as a Democrat, also dispelled CBS’s conspiracy theory that DeSantis rammed COVID vaccines through Publix after the Miami Herald made the same claims in March.

“This idea why Publix was picked has been utter nonsense,” Moskowitz wrote. “We reached out to all pharmacies and they were the only one who at the time could execute on the mission.”

Hmmm! Two different Florida Democrats saying that CBS knowingly attempted to deceive its viewers. It seems as if 60 Minutes got caught with its hand in the cookie jar . . . In other words it lied by only including info that reinforced their leftward-slanted narrative.

Will 60 Minutes take the high road and apologize to its viewers for intentionally misleading them? Hmmm! 

My money is on, “No, it won’t.” I’ll cover all bets, and that is no BS.

Well the Democrats have done it again! By vigorously, openly, and persistently castigating the Georgia legislature for passing some common sense election laws, Democrat Stacy Abrams and her Democratic cronies have cost Atlanta millions of dollars. This is because newly “woke” Major League Baseball has reflexively pulled the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta. Democratic President Biden, the “pseudo-uniter,” has made the situation worse by speaking out about something which he apparently knows little. (The Washington Post gave him four-Pinocchios on his comments . . . in other words, he, or whomever told him what to say, lied big time!)

The real problem here is that by lashing out at Georgia, mainly Atlanta and the surrounding area stands to lose millions of tourist dollars.

According to WSBTV.com News Staff:

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — The Cobb County Travel and Tourism Bureau estimates that losses from Major League Baseball’s decision to move the All-Star Game out of Atlanta total more than $100 million. Think about this for a second. Who are the real losers here? It certainly is not those Democratic politicians who yell and scream from their comfortable offices, but rather it is the hoi polloi, the common working man in Cobb County, Georgia.

“This event would have directly impacted our county and the state, as visitors spend their dollars on local accommodations, transportation, entertainment and recreation, food and retail throughout the county,” Cobb County Travel and Tourism said. “This would have been a big boost to Cobb businesses and help with recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Who are Democrats actually hurting by dragging the Georgia Legislature over the coals? Let’s actually think for a second:

• think those who work in hotels . . . “Sorry, no need for you to come in today as our hotel is practically empty.”

• think those who work in restaurants . . . “Sorry, honey, but you cannot go to the grocery store tomorrow because I did not get any tips today. Hopefully we will have some customers tomorrow.”
• think taxi drivers . . . “Yah, me too, Joe. Lots of wasted gas, but no riders today. If the All Star Game had come as MLB promised, I could have actually paid my monthly insurance costs.”
• think those who work at the ballpark . . . “I really miss those extra days of work that we were supposed to get with the All Star Game. I will just have to tell my little one that her new bike will just have to wait till next summer.”

I think everyone gets the idea . . . everyone except the Democrats. One would think after repeatedly doing things that hurt the little guy, that some day in the future those Neanderthals would get the idea!

Today on Easter Sunday I read four different stories about churches and church services from three different countries. All of these stories were about Covid and how it is affecting churches and those people who want to go to church to worship.

Which story is the most egregious?

Which is the most nefarious?

Which is the scariest?

In England on Good Friday, the police barge into a church and declare Good Friday mass is canceled due to COVID restrictions. This happened at a Polish Catholic Church in south London this week.(via The Guardian):

A statement posted on the church’s website on Saturday said that they complied with the order to close the service and for people to go home, but insisted it had met all government requirements. It claimed the Met officers had misunderstood regulations on church services during the pandemic.

They said: “We believe, however, that the police brutally exceeded their powers by issuing their warrant for no good reason.”

“Strong work,” London police!

In Calgary police were met with resistance when they attempted to shut down a Good Friday church service for violating COVID restrictions. Artur Pawlowski, the pastor at The Cave of Adullam, told police to leave and not return until they had a search warrant in hand.

Police were hesitant to leave but the pastor wasn’t backing down. “Out of this property, you Nazis!” Pawlowski shouted. “Gestapo is not allowed here!” As police left the property, Pawlowski told them “not to come back, you Nazi psychopaths.” (Here the video is definitely worth watching.)

According to the pastor, the time to stand up and push back against the out-of-control government is now. 

“Strong work,” Calgary police!

Just outside Dallas Texas at a Catholic Church, the pastor called the police because a young pregnant attendee would not wear a mask after she was warned. Apparently it was not important to the pastor that the woman was sitting in the back of the church away from other attendees, and had a one year old in her arms. One wonders if this enlightened “woke” pastor has ever tried to pray with a one year old constantly grabbing at his face mask?

Indeed the police came . . . actually three police came, to usher this “violent criminal” out of the church with the threat of handcuffing her if she did not immediately leave. They timed their arrival immediately after communion, such that the women still had the host in her mouth. Keep in mind that this occurred in Texas where the governor has cancelled all dictums on the necessity of wearing face masks.

“Strong work,” woke pastor!

“Strong work,” Dallas police! Handcuffs? OMG!

In Florida some churches now have the congregation segregated into a vaccinated section and a non-vaccinated section. As of yet I do not think that these churches are checking for “vaccine passports,” mainly because they haven’t come into fruition yet.

Is this an arbitrary attempt to protect some of the church attendees from . . . ? (Which side would be protected? Is the protection for those who have been vaccinated or is this an attempt to protect the non-vaccinated from the vaccinated? – either is absurd.)

However, here I must say, “strong work,” and actually mean it!

( I recognize this as a veiled attempt to satisfy those woke snowbirds that are down for the winter from New England. After all it is important to keep these visitors happy so that they continue to drop something in the collection each Sunday through April.)

From the Daily Caller:

Jury selection for the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin began the week of March 8. The court debated whether to charge Chauvin with third-degree murder for Floyd’s death, and Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill decided to reinstate the charge. Jury selection was delayed as the court debated the charge and then  resumed.

If convicted of third-degree murder, Chauvin could face up to 25 years in prison. He also faces charges of second-degree manslaughter and second-degree murder. 

Chauvin’s trial began  March 29.

While I am far from a legal scholar, I ask, “What is third degree murder?”

The following definition is from Wikipedia:

Only three states (Minnesota, Florida, & Pennsylvania) have this sub-category of third degree murder. Minnesota law originally defined third-degree murder solely as depraved-heart murder (“without intent to effect the death of any person, caus[ing] the death of another by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life”).

After reading that, I still do not understand what third degree murder is!

[As an aside, still from Wikipedia, it is interesting that Minnesota law also defines the crime of third-degree murder of an unborn child, with the same elements of depraved mind and lack of intent to kill distinguishing it from first- or second-degree murder of an unborn child. Both third-degree murder and third-degree murder of an unborn child are punishable by a maximum of 25 years’ imprisonment.                          Hmmm! Does this mean that abortion is third degree murder in Minnesota?]

But I am straying off point . . . back to “murder.”

From Quora:

1st degree murder is premeditated, i.e. i stalk someone over a few days and plan their murder. … technical terms: 1st degree is premeditated, 2nd degree is not. they are both intentional. 

Second-degree murder is generally either:

• An unplanned, intentional killing (reacting in the heat of the moment when angry)
• A death caused by a reckless disregard for human life.

Third-degree murder (also called manslaughter) is an unplanned, unintentional killing that is not part of another felony. It can be either:

• Involuntary (you fall and push someone off a ledge by accident)
• Voluntary (you punch someone and unintentionally kill them)

While somewhat helpful, this is still confusing as to the difference between second degree manslaughter and third degree murder.

Be that as it may, why add the charge of third degree murder at a late date?

Again, emphasizing that while I do not profess to be a lawyer, it seems that there is only one logical answer – the prosecution does not think that they can get a conviction on either of the second degree murder charges and so they have now convinced the judge to reinstate this additional charge. The third degree charge seems to be a fallback position. If the only charges were the second degree charges, and the prosecution could not prove its case, the apt description of Minneapolis would probably be “a chaotic mess.”

At what point do we, as a society, say “enough.” At what point should we decide that perhaps we should use some common sense? Now I realize that common sense is in short supply these days, especially when everyone now has to deal with “wokeness.” 

Let’s revert to an old favorite of mine – mask wearing.

When I take my grandkids to the playground, should I make them wear a mask? Approximately half of the little kids in the playground have a mask on, but only about half of them are wearing their mask correctly. In addition, when one of mask-wearer’s masks falls, he/she typically grabs at the mask and haphazardly puts it back on, sometimes even  right side up. Keep in mind that these are basically the same aged children who go for hours at an indoor preschool classroom without a mask. So now bring them out outside, and put a mask on them!! Hmmm?

The other day I was at a city park, and there was a sign that stated, “wearing a face mask is required.” Keep in mind that this was a totally outdoor environment with two of us in the entire expanse.(FYI: When I saw the sign, I did not put a mask on, as there was no way that I was going to go back to my car to retrieve the one old used mask that I kept there for Karen emergencies.)

It is still unclear to me whom the mask is supposed to protect. In the playground it supposed to protect the wearer from the other kids, or is it supposed to protect the other kids from the mask-wearer? If it is supposed to protect the mask wearer from the other kids, is the mask the now newly fashionable double or triple mask? Hmmm?

A few months back I read a story about a family that was kicked off a Southwest Airline flight because the autistic four year old would not wear a mask. Now do not get me wrong, I like Southwest, and I realize that they did that they were probably following some ridiculous FAA guideline. However, I still have not received a reply to my letter to customer relations concerning this incident. Hmmm!

Not infrequently there continues to be stories about families getting kicked off planes because their young children refuse to wear a mask. Let’s get this straight . . . if the child’s second birthday is tomorrow, then he/she does not need to wear a mask on a plane, but if the second birthday was yesterday, he/she does! This airplane child mask wearing dictate is despite the fact that the air circulation on planes is remarkably efficient, and thus remarkably safe.

At what point are we going to take our foot off on the child mask-wearing accelerator? When is this insanity involving masks and children going to end? Perhaps this story from Cincinnati might help sway some of you Kens and Karens over to the side of common sense mixed with a touch of compassion.

From News 12:

CINCINNATI (WKRC) — Amanda Yeary was supposed to spend a fun-filled day at Newport Aquarium with her two children, but her 4-year-old daughter, Hannah, has trouble wearing a mask or face shield.

Yeary said she was told no exceptions can be made; do not come without a mask. Hannah has Downs Syndrome, which makes masking that much more difficult.

“To be a parent and be told that your child is not welcome at a certain establishment because of their disability is just absolutely heartbreaking,” said Yeary.

Yeary said she called the aquarium to discuss their policies and was turned away.

Should businesses be able to turn people away because of their disability? Disability specialists say a year into the pandemic and these types of situations are still a legal gray area.

At what point might Hannah Yeary and other children with Down’s Syndrome be able to enjoy a day at an aquarium? Perhaps the first common sense step would be to stop “requiring” mask wearing by young children in outdoor playgrounds.

Finally a Supreme Court that has the balls to say something? Finally a Supreme Court that has come out of hiding. No it is not SCOTUS. SCOTUS has had multiple chances to say something . . .  say anything . . . relevant to the 2020 presidential election, but it has thus far done a poor imitation of the three Japanese monkeys, embodying the proverbial principle “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil“. This hackneyed phrase is often used to refer to those who deal with impropriety by turning a blind eye, while in reality the meaning in today’s world when referring to SCOTUS is, “they have a testosterone deficiency.”

From the Green Bay Press Gazette:

The Wisconsin Supreme Court (SCOW) on Wednesday, 3/31/21 blocked Gov. Tony Evers from issuing any new public health emergency orders mandating face masks without the Legislature’s approval.

In a 4-3 ruling, Supreme Court justices declared the statewide mask mandate invalid, with the conservative majority determining the Democratic governor exceeded his authority by issuing multiple 60-day orders for the same public health emergency.

In Wisconsin, state law says governors may issue health emergencies for 60 days at which point the Legislature must approve an extension. Evers has argued he may issue new emergencies because the pandemic’s threat has changed, similar to separate flooding events in the same river.

Writing for the majority, Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote “The question in this case is not whether the Governor acted wisely; it is whether he acted lawfully. We conclude he did not.”

In other words the SCOW basically stated that in Wisconsin there is a limit as to how often and how repeatedly a governor can extend various lockdowns – no matter what his/her pro-ported reasoning.

Imagine a court actually standing up for the rule of law. The people of Wisconsin have a right to be proud of their Supreme Court.

Finally will this sort of logical thinking spread to other State Supreme Courts? One can only hope . . . or perhaps if hope isn’t enough, add testosterone to the drinking water in selected state Capitol buildings.

The Biden administration is reportedly working with private companies to develop a uniform way of handling credentials, or “vaccine passports,” (Green Passports) for people who have received all doses of a coronavirus vaccine, the Washington Post first reported on 3/28/21.

Jeff Zients, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, plans to announce updates within the next few weeks on the new way to determine who has or has not been vaccinated, an official told the outlet.

Although the White House has avoided answering questions on the initiative, Zients said during a March 12 briefing, “Our role is to help ensure that any solutions in this area should be simple, free, open source, accessible to people both digitally and on paper, and designed from the start to protect people’s privacy.”

This idea of a “passport” follows New York’s initiation of the Excelsior Pass, which according to Governor Cuomo, is a free platform for businesses & individuals that can be used to easily access secure proof of a recent negative COVID test or vaccination. 

Are these so-called Green Passports a good idea or a bad idea? At this point those on the left seem to be saying ,” a good idea,” whereas those on the right seem to be saying, “a bad idea.” For instance Governor DeSantis of Florida said, “It’s completely unacceptable for either the government or the private sector to impose upon you the requirement that you show proof of vaccine to just simply participate in normal society.”

So it seems that the gauntlet has been laid down. Luckily we have a President who proclaims to be a unifier. Maybe he, or whomever is making the decisions for him, can figure out a compromise.

Surprise, I do have a compromise!

I say, “Proceed full speed ahead with the making of these Green Passports!” They would, of course, need to be fool-proof and not able to be counterfeited. The addition of a picture would be mandatory, and perhaps the addition of a thumbprint, just to be sure that these Green Passports would not be be able to be put on the black market. Since not all people have access to computers, in order to guarantee that everyone could easily get one of these Green Passports, I would mandate that every post office in the U.S. have the capability to formulate and then laminate a Green Passport for every citizen. To be of practical value, these Green Passports would have to be made available quickly . . . let’s say in the next six months. 

The businesses in the private sector could then individually determine if they were to do business only with those individuals that are carrying a Green Passport. 

What’s wrong with that? It would be up to individual businesses to decide.

It would be a safe and easy way to insure that individuals could prove they are who they say they are. The quicker these Green Passports are available, the better. In fact within one year it would be mandatory that everyone have one. In one year I would assume that anyone who wanted a vaccine would have gotten it. Those who choose not to be vaccinated would have to pay the consequences of not having a Green Passport.

Hopefully, everyone will have their own Green Passport I.D., so that they could be used in verifying the identity of prospective voters throughout the U.S. in the 2022 elections.