Open Letter To..

Schloss-Blog Open Letter to Joe Biden:

Hi Joe.

Your messaging sucks. Totally sucks.

You're way too nice. Trump isn't nice - he's filthy, in fact.

You don't have to be filthy, but you have to be honest. I heard Nicolle Wallace on "Deadline: White House," say that you're messaging is too timid. 

Just saying that Donald Trump "doesn't like" or "doesn't trust" women isn't cutting it.

He hates women. Degrades them. In his speech, In deposition testimony.

He hates immigrants. Despises them. Degrades them. Every day.

Yet, he's gaining ground with minorities in polling.

Why? Because you're losing ground with them. The public is clearly saying the border and immigration are a problem.

Yes, Trump sank the solution for that. In fact, use that video clip of Republican Sen. James Lankford mouthing, "That's true," at your State of the Union speech regarding the problem-solving legislation he helped negotiate on the border that Trump sank. Use that in your messaging, in your ads, and make sure people know how conservative Lankford is and how he accomplished exactly everything Republicans wanted in that bill.

And Trump submarined it.

So, in no uncertain terms, remind people of that. Again. And again, And again.

Trump is a narcissistic sociopath. Remind people of that. Remind people that if he's president again, the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights he takes away from people he despises will be gone for everyone.

Like you and me.

Trump has done nothing but make sure Ukrainians are the bad guys while his sycophants in Congress have accomplished no domestic-policy legislation whatsoever.

Remind people of that.

And at the grocery store, which is where you are losing the election, find a way to remind people this is Trump's fault.

How?

It's the fallout from his pandemic-policy failure, which left supply chains knotted, prices inflated, where they've remained, and 1 million-plus people dead.

One million-plus.

By the way, corporate America, whose pricing needs to come down in grocery stores, are exactly the ones whose taxes you want increase. 

Might want to rethink that. 

Trump, meanwhile, for all intents and purposes, killed those 1 million-plus. He did, with his denial of the pandemic. Do you think for one minute he'd fail to call you a murderer if the situation were reversed? In fact, if he's president, he'll try to prosecute you for it.

Stop being polite but stop short of being as divisive as Trump, let alone disgusting.

You're better than he is. Start reminding people of it.

And best to Jill. Regards,

Howard

P.S. - prep up the look and the talk, please.

***

Post post script:

*Most Americans need to retire with $1.46 million in savings. Most Americans have $88,400 in savings for retirement on average.

*As they said on SNL, the women's NCAA Tournament has been the more interesting.

*If you never heard of Mark Elias, by the time the next election is over, you'll be glad you did.

*Indiana State won the NIT. So, there are 68 teams better than them?

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Kristin Wiig.

More Sunday Night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show, and I sub for Sharon Kelley on Sunday at 4 Pacific (6 Central, 7 Eastern).

Frozen and Sawed Off; Successful and Unpopular; ...and Other Things That Repel Each Other

The Schloss-Blog is noticing that fans in Kansas City really would give an arm and a leg for their Chiefs. OK, fingers and toes, but really... And why is Joe Biden so unpopular when the economy is so good?

***

Are you loyal enough to give an arm and a leg for your team?

Some Kansas City Chiefs fans who attended the team's Jan. 13 home playoff game against the Miami Dolphins have had fingers and toes amputated as a result of sitting through the game's below-zero temperatures and wind chills of some minus-26 degrees.

Really.

The exact number of fans who suffered amputations is not clear, but it happened, the Medical Research Center of Kansas City reported to the NY Times. 

Are you that loyal to your team? I don't know about you, but I would've watched the whole game - from my living room.

***

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) officers and personnel have all been gotten rid of at the University of Florida and apparently will be throughout the state's university system.

Doesn't it make you want to send your kids and grandkids to school there?

In other words though, the state of Florida doesn't believe in diversity, equity and inclusion, although the state is saying it's getting rid of it to promote equity and purge anything that promotes unfair bias.

Maybe they should start with the governor.

***

Congress is considering a ban on TikTok in this country.

Maybe those old, gray-haired, technophobes should learn what the heck it is first.

***

While the United States economy continues to sparkle, Joe Biden's popularity rating (33% approval) continues to plummet.

Pew found 44% of Democrats find the economy to be performing extremely well and more than 25% of Americans overall (yes, Republicans continue to pull the rating down).

How are you doing, Elmo wants to know. 

I'm pretty good - but if you believe in Trump, you are likely responding, "pretty bad."

Well, Trump's finances aren't too good, are they, what with all the money he owes E. Jean Carroll and the state of New York.

***

Katie Britt used that disgusting survivor story in her SOTU response despite it being totally misleading. 

A bigger problem was that Britt mislead about the story instead of describing what she was doing something about it - which is nothing, like the rest of the Republicans in Congress.

Republicans are like your ex - complained and complained and did nothing about it.

***

There are some 650,000 homeless people in America, as of 2023.

SIX-HUNDRED FIFTY-THOUSAND. It's a record high number and a double-digit percentage increase from 2022.

New York City and Los Angeles have one quarter of that, combined, and more than half are in our 50 largest cities.

Or as Bill Maher calls LA, "Tentsville."

America has done little or nothing for these people.

And will undoubtedly do even less going forward.

***

Lynn Pattison passed away on March 7. I worked with her at Barrington Press for 7 years. She was a bulldog of a reporter who produced quality work.

And was a quality person.

RIP, Lynn. You'll be missed,

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Lynn Pattison.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

Asleep But Studying, Maybe - Trump Slurring and Dune Popcorn

The Schloss-Blog is noticing a study that says students who don't get enough sleep curse more. We also noticed Katie Britt in the kitchen. Yikes.

***

Apparently, if students - college students - don't get enough sleep, they curse more. Probably. Let alone have poorer performance (in the classroom, that is - anywhere else, who knows).

According to Current Psychology, this is the case. They curse about aches and pains and tend to curse about just being tired.

Think about it - what did you say - what do you say - when you had, when you have aches and pains? And feel tired after, perhaps, a not-so-good night's sleep.

Yeah, me to, God __in'  damn it.

***

Got a Dune Popcorn Bucket?

They are going for more than $100 and the internet is going crazy for them.

You tell me why (heck, I know).

***

In Arizona, Kari Lake has dropped her lawsuit to inspect mail-in ballot signatures in Maricopa County, which she claims would have revealed that there was voter fraud.

Because there was none.

Also, the lawsuit against her, for libel, filed by Maricopa County's Republican Recorder, Stephen Richer, has been allowed to proceed, after she allegedly defamed him after she lost the gubernatorial election in 2022.

She'll lose that one, or settle.

But Republicans don't lose elections - they are victims of fraud. Or as President Biden said in his State of the Union address -  "You can't love your country only when you win."

***

Katie Britt.

In the kitchen.

Sounding as scripted as she looked.

Will not be Den Mother nor PTA Mother of the Year.

Was she barefoot?

***

Adam Sandler earned $73 million in 2023. SEVENTY-THREE MILLION.

His films were watched on Netflix some 500 million hours in the first half of 2023 alone.

FIVE-HUNDRED MILLION HOURS.

I guess it pays to get bounced from Saturday Night Live. Shane Gillis, there's hope for you.

Sandler, by the way, beat our Margot (Barbie) Robbie and Tom (Mission Impossible) Cruise.

***

About Arizona, one more time, according to Axios Phoenix, it takes singles 19 times longer to save up to buy a house than it take couples.

NINETEEN TIMES LONGER.

(No, I'm not going Trumpian here with the all CAPS).

Can you imagine being a confirmed bachelor and waiting 18 more years, perhaps, longer than your married and/or cohabitating friends to buy a house?

Me neither. Get married guys.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Jill Biden.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

Aimlessly Wandering Through The World of Outrageous Ticket Pricing and HBO

The Schloss-Blog has discovered that "aimlessly wandering" can be good for you, as long as it's not while you're aimlessly drifting between lanes on a four-lane interstate highway, that is.

***

We've been reading some lately about "aimless wandering," the practice of just going out there and walking, conscious more of letting your senses go to take in all that is around you as opposed to where you are actually doing that. Going out and walking wherever your instincts take you is one of the precepts of this practice.

It's a Daoism thing - to be aligned with the natural order of the universe.

Don't worry - the Schloss-Blog has not gone off the deep end (did that a long time ago). It's just that the frustrations of life can be so overwhelming (i.e., SCOTUS) that an escape is a good release and we like to go out for long walks, early morning, along the golf course outside our Arizona door. Either that or go the gym and attack a stationary bike or a cross-trainer while letting the mind do the aimless wandering as Stephen A. Smith aimlessly wanders with his off-the-wall rants about why the Knicks should've acquired Donovan Mitchell instead of Jalen Brunson.

Or perhaps both of them. Yes, the 'A' in his name stands for aimless.

***

While aimless seems to define the Supreme Court of late (did away with abortion, likes guns, hates the environment, kisses Donald Trump's ass), you should try navigating HBO.

In Arizona, that is.

The indications that Arizona has been leaning blue politically do not apply to HBO. Yes, the Grand Canyon State has one independent senator and one Democrat. Yes, the state has a Democratic governor, Secretary of State and Attorney General. But both houses of the legislature are still red, albeit by just one vote. And every abortion-banning, gun rights-expanding piece of legislation they pass along gets vetoed by the governor (who won her seat by fraud - just ask that bitch she beat - Kari Lake).

HBO doesn't care. If it's liberal, it gets buried in Arizona.

Bill Maher, for instance, whose liberal-leaning and entertaining "Real Time" is on at 9 p.m. in our Illinois abode (that would be 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. in Arizona, depending on which side of Daylight Savings Time we're on), is not on until 11 p.m. in Arizona (or 10 p.m., again, depending on which side of Daylight Savings Time we're on - Arizona does not spring forward nor fall back). And 11 p.m. in Arizona is the other side of midnight in Illinois (again, depending on ... OK, you get it...). Which means that Friday night show is not until Saturday morning in the Grand Canyon State.

Apparently, Maher's liberal rants are too much for Arizona to absorb, according to HBO and Cox Cable, although he's had some pretty conservative voices (Ted Cruz) on the show, of late.

***

But that's not all in Arizona and the oddity that is HBO. Liberal means late night in Arizona, very late, as in the next morning.

"Last Week Tonight With John Oliver," doesn't air on Sunday night, like it does everywhere else. Try Monday morning, after midnight. Try pulling it up on demand on Cox - good luck.

Oh, there's some good 'X-rated' and even 'R-rated' programming on HBO. Who doesn't like seeing a trim Jodie Foster getting banged on "True Detective: Night Country" or listen to Larry David and his frenemies go off with f-bombs on "Curb Your Enthusiasm?"

But even that is on Sunday nights at - you guessed it - 11 p.m. (depending on which side of Daylight Savings Time we're on), just before - you guessed it - what becomes the Monday morning telecast of "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver."

By now, you're saying, Schloss, get rid of Cox Cable and get - oh, say - YouTube TV, or Fubo, or one of those streaming services. But by the time I get all of the of the streaming services with all the shows I want (they're just not all on Hulu, Netflix or any one of them), I'd be spending as much on streaming - or more - than I am on cable.

And it's not just HBO. Gannett's Arizona Republic has joined the fray (full disclosure - I have been one of their sports correspondents since 2015 and an online subscriber since before then).

But Doonesbury, the politically insensitive cartoon strip, is now out of the Sunday paper, which, in our household, we don't read online - yours truly gets up early and goes out and buys the late edition on Sunday mornings (plus a Starbucks stop - remember when you could buy the Sunday paper at Starbucks as well? Not anymore.). 

Hunt around for it on the azcentral.com website. I dare you. Doonesbury doesn't come up on an online search.

I have called and/or written to the powers that be on HBO and the Republic. No luck. No response.

You'd almost think an abortion ban and everyone toting AR-15's is next.

No, wait...

***

Quick-hitters:

• If you think inflation-driven prices are bad, wait until Donald Trump becomes president again, slaps tariffs on everything and deports every essential worker in the hospitality and agriculture industries and see what happens to prices.
• Ukraine says it has lost 31,000 lives in the war with Russia. But estimates are that somewhere between 66,000-88,000 Russians are dead and another 412,000 wounded or MIA. Putin doesn't care who he kills.
• Bought tickets for a Cactus League exhibition baseball game (preseason game, my ass). Four tickets were - with service fees - $464 to go see the Giants play the Cubs (split squad) at Sloan Park. If we're lucky, maybe Cody Bellinger will be part of the split we get.
• Checked other prices - four at a Dodgers game against the Padres were $562. How about Olivia Rodrigo concert tickets? Try the neighborhood of $563 per ticket. Billy Joel? You could pay upwards of $1,200 for a ticket. The Stones on their Hackney Diamonds tour? Good luck finding something under $600 with a reasonable view.

Don't mention Bruce Springsteen or Taylor Swift.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you Mrs. Robinson.

More Sunday night as always on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

211 to 186

The Schloss-Blog is noticing that the NBA All-Star Game is not your father's NBA All-Star Game, not even his father's.

I've got 397 reasons why I haven't watched it since Magic Johnson made his return from HIV in the 1992 game. Like the NBA regular season, it's got no defense, a lot of unnecessary 3-pointers and a bunch of frivolous slam dunks. 

It's time to make the NBA All-Star Game into a 3-on-3 competition for big money, single-elimination. C'mon NBA, take the same chance the NFL did when it turned its high-scoring Pro Bowl into a flag football event.

Otherwise, it just sucks.

***

I swear, everyone except Donald Trump is asking me for $19.97 a month for life to help them feed children, perform surgery and care for pets.

If I paid all of them I can think of, it would cost me something like $220 a month.

Trump is asking for a lot more than that. And he needs it. Thank you, Judge Engoron. 

***

If 70 is the new 60, I'm 40, right?

***

Is Julian Assange a journalist?

Then why is everyone griping about his prospective extradition to the United States being a violation of the First Amendment?

Or is it?

According to First Amendment Watch at NYU, Assange's alleged violation of the Espionage Act with his leaks to Wikileaks don't matter whether he is a journalist.

Or not.

"The Espionage Act doesn’t make any distinction between journalists and non-journalists," according to Justice Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

So he can be charged? So the profession of journalism is not in jeopardy because of the charges against him?

Or is it?

Yes, it is.

No, wait...

***

Joe Biden just canceled another $1.2 billion in student debt and has canceled $138 billion all told.

So why are young people having so much trouble believing in him, especially with their intended vote? Trump would've kept the money to pay off his legal fees.

***

Alabama's Supreme Court says embryos are kids and destroying them can incur the wrath of God.

In other news, the Alabama Supreme Court declared Donald Trump to officially be "Orange Jesus."

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, ladies of New Jersey.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show (hello GDX).

Can You Afford A Home In ... Phoenix?

The Schloss-Blog has been reading that it's tough to afford a home in Phoenix. So we did some Schloss-Math. A Generative AI search says: 

• According to Payscale, the average salary in Phoenix in 2023 is $74,145. ZipRecruiter says that the majority of salaries in Phoenix range from $45,709 to $80,743 annually. Gusto says that the median salary is $56,550, with 80% of salaries falling between $26,299 and $130,500.
• As of January 2024, the median listing price for homes in Phoenix, Arizona was $519,500, and the median price per square foot was $302. In January 2024, the median price of homes sold in Phoenix was $450,000.

Affordable in Phoenix? You tell me.

***

Kroger and Albertson's are merging, if the federal government lets them.

Seems the state of Colorado says that such a merger would be anti-competitive in today's inflation-stricken market. Colorado seems to want to block a lot of things, huh?

Such a merger would combine the Nos. 2- and 4-largest grocers in the country (Walmart is No. 1). However, they are the first- and second-largest "traditional" grocers. A merger would create a 5,000-store behemoth.

Would it enable them to cut prices or monopolistically raise them? Would there be layoffs to help mitigate against the costs of such a merger? Or would they hire more? Would salaries go up? Or down?

What do you think? 

Me, I think, "Hello, Costco. Hello, Aldi."

***

How would you like to have "Meet Cutes NYC" set up shop in your town?

It seems Jeremy Bernstein, Victor Lee and Aaron Feinberg run around the streets of New York approaching couples who appear to be partners (key words, "appear to be") and ask them if they are romantically involved and how they got started.

They tape their impromptu responses and post them all over their social media accounts.

Fun, huh?

I'm waiting for the news story about the couple who smashes them with an umbrella or whatever weapon happens to be handy when the couple is romantically involved - except illicitly. You know, married, just not to each other.

That's when "Meet Cutes NYC" becomes "Beat Cutes NYC."

Fun, huh? Don't worry, they're not franchising.

Yet.

***

Wawa, where you can't idle while grazing inside, and Buc-ee's, the pride of Texas, are expanding.

If you like your food "gourmet c-store," Wawa and Buc-ee's are for you.

Wawa is heading out across the American south and Midwest, while Buc-ee's is setting sights west (even Arizona).

McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell are shivering.

A little.

***

In Oklahoma, a country and western radio station has changed its mind and will play songs by Beyonce from her new album, songs that are country-and-western oriented.

After facing an outcry of racism charges for not playing said songs, the station, KYKC-FM, changed its mind.

The wrath of the Queen B's fans is not something you want to face.

Beyonce, by the way, is no stranger to country and western -  she did a duet with The Chicks in 2016.

***

It's official - the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) has approved flag football as a championship sport.

It's about time. These girls are pretty good. 

I had the privilege of covering the Flag Football Class 6A championship game for the Arizona Republic last fall and let me tell you, it was intense, fun and as athletically competitive as any other football game I've covered.

These girls can play. Looking forward to it in Illinois.

***

Oh, if you were expecting me to write about the $455 million judgment against Trump in New York, y'know, the one he says is part of the plot to derail him in the election, maybe I'll do so next week - I'm still too busy gleefully snickering about it, wondering which oligarch or emir he'll ask to pay it for him.

***

Good night Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you Mrs. Robinson.

More Sunday Night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

 

A Kliff-hanger and Tay Tay's in the House

The Schloss-Blog is watching Super Bowl LVIII, reflecting on conspiracy theories and wondering why Republicans worked so hard on a border bill they blocked.

***

Just when Nikki Haley had built some momentum, she surrendered it to someone called, "None of These Candidates."

Donald Trump took advantage and questioned where her husband was.

Maybe Donald should look in his own backyard - yo, Donald, where's Melania?

***

Joe Biden apparently said "Mexico" when he meant to say "Egypt."

Biden supposedly said Mitterand instead of Macron.

That's OK though - Trump said they're going to change the name of "Pennsylvania" if he loses.

To what? How about, "Thank You, God, Trump Lost!"

WTF?

Anyway, both of them will soon be 80-somethings. 

So, you want one of them to be president or Kamala Harris? Or Vivek Ramaswamy?

Yeah, me neither.

Bob Costas said on "Real Time with Bill Maher" that Trump can't be president and Biden shouldn't be and replacing Biden on the ticket at the national convention would not be a first.

***

Kliff Kingsbury will become offensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins - uh, Commanders.

Which means that the Redskins - uh, Commanders - will trade for the No. 1 pick from the Bears (or will they?) so they can take the quarterback that Kingsbury coached in college at USC - 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams.

Kingsbury made a pretty good pro quarterback out of the Cardinals Kyler Murray. Kingsbury groomed a pretty good college quarterback who would become a great pro. You may have heard of him - Patrick Mahomes.

Or, if as reported, the Redskins - uh, Commanders - don't get Williams, will it be because Williams told the Bears he's OK with going to them at No. 1 and playing for their new offensive coordinator. So. do the Bears want the quarterback their head coach and GM selected or the one they were left with - Justin Fields?

If they don't want Fields, who does?

Stay tuned.

***

If you believe that Taylor Swift will pop up on the halftime show with Usher because she's there anyway for Travis ... or if you believe she will endorse Biden immediately after the game ... or if you believe that the Chiefs getting to the Super Bowl is a Democratic-led, Deep State-driven plot to get exposure for Swift just before she endorses Biden ... or if you believe that the whole Swift-Kelce romance is a Deep State attempt to get young voters who are football-watching fans to look more favorably at Biden ... or if you believe that Swift and Kelce will announce their engagement after the game and intent to get married at Joe Biden's inauguration ...

... and if you believe all that...

You are a card-carrying QAnon Republican.

***

Republicans negotiated a border-security bill for which they'd been clamoring for months.

Then Trump said not to vote for it.

So they didn't.

Assholes.

Republicans have done little in Congress this year besides attempt impeachment and carry out Trump's revenge agenda.

While America suffers.

***

Record-setting kick returner Devin Hester and defensive line monster-turned-media personality Steve McMichael will be going to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

One is a Chicago Bears Super Bowl Champion. The other returned a kick for a touchdown in a losing Super Bowl effort.

Both are deserving, especially the ailing McMichael.

Congrats.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, "None of These Candidates."

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.