2022 - What Could Be

Schloss-Blog looking ahead at 2022...

In Sports and Entertainment...(next week, politics and life in general)...

Aaron Rodgers says he's immune - to league rules, that is.

Major League Baseball says no one on the 2017 Astros ever did anything wrong.

NBA says it has COVID-19 under control.

Bears, Blackhawks, Cubs declare themselves professional franchises.

Mets sign Sidd Finch.

Baseball Hall of Fame opens "Steroid Wing."

Spielberg reboots "West Side Story" remake with land-shark and dinosaur.

Obscure high school football coach finds solution for missed tackles - it's called "practice."

"Die Hard 6" debuts - John McLane in shoot-out with Kyle Rittenhouse.

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" ends with Larry David buying Waystar/Royco and having sex with Shiv.

Or does Logan Roy buy "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and have sex with Cheryl David?

Gojo head buying Waystar/Royco revealed as bloodsucking corporate raider. Literal bloodsucker.

Tune in next season.

U.S. office spaces are near empty as people continue to work from home to stay safe from the virus.

Sporting venues and concert halls are packed as people remain safe from the virus.

Michele Tofoya to leave NBC's Sunday Night Football to join Fox News.

Jemelle Hill to join NBC's Sunday Night Football as new sideline reporter.

Cris Collinsworth to join Packers front office.

Jemelle Hill promoted to play-by-play analyst for NBC's Sunday Night Football.

Inflation has gotten so bad that, as Bill Maher says, "Everything's a Dollar" stores are now "Everything's a Dollar-and-a-Quarter" stores.

And finally, Janice Griffith is into revenge sex. Who's Janice Griffith? She's a 25-year-old leading porn star, single, living in my native Brooklyn, and seeking, believe it or not, a very normal dating relationship. 

Janice, call me after your next breakup, please!

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

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

Part II, Reflections on Politics and Law...

First, did anyone get, from last week, that the head of Gojo threatening to buy Waystar/Royco on "Succession," who I referred to as a "bloodsucker," is Alexander Skarsgård, the star of the "True Blood" vampire series? Just sayin'... 

Anyway, on with the show and Happy New Year, or should I say, "News Year?"

***

Is it just me or does anyone else think NFL players are lying profusely about being vaccinated?

Oh, and next time anyone watches an NFL, NHL or NBA game with players you recognize, let me know.

Meanwhile, looking ahead, having recaptured the House and the Senate, Republicans declare Jan. 6 a national holiday.

Students bring AR-15's for "Show 'n Tell."

Marjorie Taylor Greene marries Kyle Rittenhouse.

Ted Cruz appears in Breathe-Rite strips commercial, not wearing a mask on a plane. To Cancun.

New strain of coronavirus identified - stupidity! Reportedly spreading like wildfire.

Long-term effects of COVID-19 vaccine revealed as Windows 11 sales skyrocket.

Joe Manchin says he's closer to making a decision on making a decision.

No, wait ... Joe Manchin's a dick.

Anyway ... Infrastructure Week actually happens.

Ted Cruz appears at Washington National cathedral not wearing a mask at a funeral - his own.

CNN launches CNN Digital - no one watches.

New coronavirus strain identified - COVID of the brain; Republicans particularly susceptible.

Trump finally tells Jan. 6 insurrectionists to go home.

Arizona, Georgia declare Trump wins 2024 election - will count votes in 2027.

In drastic climate-change evidence, hurricane makes landfall in Missouri (actually happened, sorta').

Supreme Court reinstates guilty verdict in Scopes Monkey Trial.

Pompeo, Haley, Rubio, DeSantis, Cruz tell Trump to make up his fuckin' mind already.

Biden names Kamala Harris vice president.

To boost ratings, MSNBC premieres "Afternoon Joe."

ABC/IPsos polling reveals most people don't tell the truth in polling.

Mandalorian declared sexiest man alive.

Kevin Costner elected governor of Montana.

Kim Jong-un memoir reveals homosexual relationship with Trump.

    Melania shrugs shoulders, says, "Meh."

Ivermectin declared drug of the year - by doctors Oz, Phil, Rogan and Rodgers.

Oprah formally ends book club over a million little things.

The same people who say they want to save lives by banning abortions don't want to save lives by mandating COVID vaccinations.

ServPro prepared for anything - except Trump not paying his bill. One thing ServPro can say about that - like it never even happened.

***

From last week, Janice Griffith, why haven't you called me yet?

Oh, and I made my annual New Year's resolution that I NEVER keep: return Christie Brinkley's phone calls.

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

Happy holidays, everyone (yeah, I said, happy - screw you, Trump).

What A Week! This Is Truly Unbelievable!

What a week we've been through.

Hopes for maintaining Roe vs Wade flattened.

The Supreme Court tipping its hand on that.

Trump revealed to have attended a debate with Biden after having tested positive for COVID-19.

Out-of-hand racist jokes by Lauren Boebert.

Infighting among congressional Republicans.

And the college football world, and its values, turned upside down.

The omicron variant is here as well, further emphasizing the need for vaccination. And testing.

Where to start...

***

First, let's apply some logic to what we heard from the Supreme Court this week regarding abortions.

The same people who want to mandate what women can't do with their bodies are the same people who don't want a mandate for COVID vaccinations in their bodies.

More simply, the same Republicans who support banning abortions in the name of the sanctity of life are the same ones who have blocked every attempt at gun control that produced four dead bodies and many more wounded, by a 14-year old, at Oxford High School in Michigan.

Yet, people keep voting for them.

Fuck 'em, I mean it, fuck 'em.

***

If you listened to the oral arguments regarding the Jackson v Dobbs case before the Supreme Court, you probably came away thinking Roe v Wade, for 50 years the law of the land, was in trouble.

And you'd be right.

Questioning by the conservative justices seemed to tip their hand that their vote to legitimize this would overturn Roe v Wade and essentially eliminate reproductive rights for women in this country.

But the most pertinent comments came from liberal just Sonia Sotomayor, who said, in essence, overturning Roe would not allow the court to "survive the stench" of the decision being overtly political, as Mississippi legislators outright stated they were introducing the legislation because they believed that they had a conservative-enough court to uphold it.

And God effin' damn it, they appear to be right.

***

In former chief of White House staff Mark Meadows' new book, due out this week, he reveals that Trump had tested positive for COVID just before his September 2020 debate with Joe Biden.

Not only did he attend anyway, putting everyone, including Biden, in jeopardy, but his family, in attendance, did not wear masks in the hall in Cleveland, as mandated.

Trump never cared who died of COVID. Including his family, I guess.

He was hospitalized three days after debate.

Republicans are truly the party of death.

***

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) did not just allegedly call Democrat Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) a terrorist - she actually did it.

And isn't backing down from it. Omar has subsequently received overt death threats.

Boebert once wanted to carry a gun into the House of Representatives.

With any luck, it would've gone off in her pocket and she'd have shot herself in the foot.

Meanwhile, Republicans continue infighting among themselves, with reckless Marjorie Taylor Greene and traditional Republican Nancy Mace trading more than barbs.

And with Kevin McCarthy refusing to publicly rebuke Boebert or Greene, the Democrats have about their only hope of the Republicans self-destructing in their effort to take the House in 2022.

Hopefully. 

***

If you play football for Notre Dame, how do you feel about your coach bolting for another job with your team?

As I heard a radio commentator say, when Kelly met with his team, if he met with his team, you can bet some 'F' bombs were tossed his way by players so heavily recruited, who helped him win more games than any other Notre Dame coach.

All those wins and one dead student assistant later, he's now the head coach at LSU. Money talks.

***

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

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

Hope you had a Happy Hanukkah.

 

Mixed Bag of ... Stuff

The Schloss-Blog, in the spirit of the holidays, has a mixed bag today. Sort of ... politics and not politics.

***

COVID-19 has changed our lives, but we've come a long way. After all, how many of you remember sneezing into the crease of your elbow?

Yet, COVID hospitalizations are up 40% as we head into the heart of holiday partying, or so the NY Times tells us.

No one, not a single soul, wants to go back to a shutdown, so how do we mitigate against the virus creeping back into our lives in a critical way without compromising the advances we've made in socializing, traveling, shopping and just gathering altogether?

Good question. Anyone got an answer?

We are learning, to an extent, to live with the virus. But the virus isn't done killing us, clearly. We'll be at 800,000 dead Americans soon.

Where do we go from here? Wherever asshole #COVIDiots let us, I suppose.

***

On a brighter note, Sex and the City is back, "And Just Like That" the characters are all here, except for ever sex-crazed Samantha (Kim Cattrall). This time around, they're all in their 50's and there is an acknowledgment of COVID on the show.

We'll see where it goes.

***

Still got cable?

As profitable as cable is, cord-cutting goes on and streaming is poised to displace it as our primary viewing vehicle.

Live sports is primarily keeping cable - and network TV - afloat. Will that last?

I hear from people that all the promises about "live sports" being available on streaming services is not what it is promised to be in their promos.

For me, when I'm the last person still on cable, I'll switch over to a streaming service and find out. Until then, I can access amazon prime and HBOMAX anytime I want to.

It's sort of like an electric car. I'll buy one when the gas stations on every corner are replaced with electric-charging stations that do the trick in minutes, not hours. Shell Electric, Mobil Electric, Exxon Electric are all still a pipe dream.

Or as they say in the commercial, "now squeegee." 

***

As great a quarterback as Aaron Rodgers is, he is just as much a lying asshole.

***

Speaking of things remembered, do you remember malls? Been to one? I haven't. OK, I ran in and out of one, literally, to go to a small jewelry store to get a new band attached to an old favorite watch.

But Macy's? Penney's? Nordstrom? Are you kidding? Been two years.

Will be another two until asshole #COVIDiots get vaccinated and we can all go back to being normal.

Same, for me, for movie theaters.

***

Keep hearing the economy sucks. Does it?

Unemployment? Way, way, way, way down (4.2%).

Wages? Way, way, way, way up. Yes, some 5% annualized. But CNBC is saying a 9% rise in inflation negates that.

Things like supply-chain problems, although alleviating, inflation and labor shortages provide the perception that the economy is not good, even though it's humming.

But perception is reality, and if Democrats don't harp on their economic successes and COVID wins,  Republicans who don't care if you die, or how, will win back everything.

And all those gains stand to be erased.

***

Next week, preceding Christmas, the Schloss-Blog will not just do a year-end look back but will look at some lists of best, worst and most that pop up at this time of year.

Like "vaccine" being the word of the year, according to one dictionary. "Allyship," was the word according to another dictionary, the art of aligning with and supporting a cause, perhaps human rights (so why are the Olympics in Beijing this February?). 

We'll see. See you then.

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

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

Men and Women

Today's post, though updated a little, is rerun from a previous Schloss-Blog from so long ago that it wasn't even called the Schloss-Blog back then. The Schloss-Blog is taking the holiday weekend off.

For today, in the spirit of giving thanks, the Schloss-Blog does not have the heart to be political nor cynical (yeah, right). America remains a country marked by violence or Republican calls therefor. We will address that in a later blog post.

Today, let's have some fun, a blast from the past, if you will. The Schloss-Blog returns in its usual form next weekend.

Today's Schloss-Blog is not about politics (OK, a little). But it is about people. Democrats and Republicans. Boys and girls. Men and Women. Remember when we all got along? Laugh with me. Or at me. Your call.

***

Today, we're thinking that woman should be in charge. Of everything. 

Women should rule the world. Why not? They make sense out of everything.

For instance, men wear jeans.

Women wear jeans that fit.

Like, a guy in our line at the grocery store the other day had jeans on - belted - that had slipped below his butt. Fortunately, his boxers hadn't.

When was the last time, or anytime, that you saw a woman in line at the grocery store with her jeans having slipped below her butt?

***

Men, meanwhile, go to the grocery store.

Women go shopping.

Men buy stuff on amazon.

Women look for exactly what they want on amazon dot com. Or Macy's. Or Clinique. Or Target. Or...

***

Men cook dinner.

Women plan a meal.

Men make steaks on the grill.

Women go to the store, pick out steaks, bring them home, defrost them, tenderize them and marinate them.

Men put them on the grill and flip them every 6 minutes.

But the men cooked them, right?

***

Men sweep and vacuum.

Women clean the house.

In its entirety.

Men go to the bathroom for half an hour.

Women take Febreze with them.

***

Men have favorite football teams they would die for.

Women have favorite football teams they live for.

Men have favorite underwear they like.

Women buy them for him.

Men watch TV.

Women watch their favorite shows.

Men vote.

Women research candidates.

Men like to dance.

Women know how to dance.

Men like Saturday Night Live.

Women like Colin Jost.

Smart men get vaccinated.

All women do.

Men run the United States.

It's about time women did.

***

Good night Mr. & Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you Mr. and Mrs. Robinson.

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

Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving.

Of Mice and Politics

The Schloss-Blog is keeping tabs of former President Trump. Besides trying to block the Jan. 6 committee from gaining access to his papers, and besides trying to dodge bullets in investigations in New York (taxes) and Georgia (election tampering), he's backing 2022 candidates with, shall we say, backgrounds as shady as his own.

Oh, and he's selling that loser of a hotel in D.C. that has drained his finances for years.

Among the candidates he's backing is an all-star team of virtual Trump copycats and definite sycophants.

Eric Greitens is the former governor of Missouri, now running for a U.S. Senate seat there. Donald Trump has endorsed him despite allegations that during an extra-marital affair, to which he has  admitted, he tied up his mistress, who happened to be his stylist, in his house and allegedly tried to blackmail her with naked pictures if she ever spilled the beans. He's also been investigated for shady campaign financing, except, Josh Hawley, then Missouri attorney general, wound up not investigating him. Hmm...

Herschel Walker is a name familiar to everyone. The Heisman Trophy winner and NFL star is running for the Senate in Georgia and is endorsed by ... Trump, even though former senator and #COVIDiot Trumpie David Perdue (who lost in 2020 to political neophyte Jon Ossoff) is itching to run for the same seat held by Democratic Rev. Raphael Warnock.

Trump is backing Walker, who has allegedly threatened his wife's life, with a gun, and is also reportedly not as successful as he claims to be since departing the football field. In other words, like Trump, deceptive.

On the other hand, you're going to love Sean Parnell, running for the Senate in Pennsylvania. He is denying allegations that during divorce proceedings, he committed domestic abuse against his wife and even his kids. A real charmer.

Josh Mandel, meanwhile, an NJB, has remained extremely supportive throughout of Trump's claims of fraud in the 2020 election. He was briefly banned from Twitter though for making what the platform called "harmful comments" against immigrants. He's not the Nice Jewish Boy you want to bring home to meet your mother. But wouldn't you love to have him as your United States Senator?

But the grand-prize winner is Kristina Karamo. The candidate for secretary of state in Michigan, who would get to run state elections if she wins, firmly believes that Trump won the 2020 election and that Antifa is responsible for the Jan. 6 insurrection, posing as stop-the-steal protesters.

Trump has also backed Republican losers Sharon Angle (Nevada) and Christine O'Donnell (Delaware). The latter ran for Vice President Joe Biden's then-vacated Senate seat.

And there's also the redistricted fight shaping up between House Republicans Alex Mooney and Dennis McKinley in West Virginia. Both have been Trump supporters, but Mooney was thumbs down on the Jan. 6 committee while McKinley supported its creation.

Guess which one Trump is backing?

Net/net, if you are a Republican who strayed even slightly from the Trump narrative, he is coming for you.

Coming for you to ruin your reputation. To take your political capital. To downgrade your political influence. Just ask Ted Cruz, a once-proud conservative Republican, who has thrown his wife, his kids, his pride under a bus in the name and service of Trump. 

Y'know,ictoria Secret  it's bad enough that House minority leader Kevin McCarthy is projecting vengeance on his party's behalf for the censure of Paul ("Kill AOC") Gosar, but that McCarthy says that he holds his members to a "high standard."

If murderous videos of other House members is a "high standard," then we've just begun to see the depths to which the Republican Party has sunk. 

It's not that Democrats haven't had their duds (Maxine Waters, Cal Cunningham, Charles Rangel).But the Republican party platform now is 'Hatred." Pure and unadulterated. White supremacy. Racism. Conspiracy theories. Allegations without a trace of evidence.

But believed by millions.

***

Footnote to Xmas shoppers: If you're looking for a Victoria's Secret gift for your sweetie, maybe consider a gift certificate. The popular center for Angels (a term being terminated this years) and sexy gifts says 50 percent of its usual gift merchandise just might be stuck in an offshore harbor.

***

Looks like you can be 17, walk around with an AR-15, kill two people and seriously wound another, and get away with it. At least in Wisconsin.

***

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

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

Happy Thanksgiving. 

This Shit Is Really Happening. In America.

The Schloss-Blog is looking around America and thinking ... this shit is really happening.

Congressmen, GOP Congressmen, are receiving death threats as well as other "endearing" messages from constituents for voting to pass the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that is going to help every American.

Including the ones making the death threats.

It is pretty safe to say that Donald Trump has thoroughly embedded hatred into the national fabric.

***

Speaking of Congress, Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) has posted a video adapted from an existing animated video in which he inserts himself killing - KILLING - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), and then turning on President Biden.

He says it's not what people are making it out to be.

It is pretty safe to say, however, that Donald Trump has embedded calls to violence into our national fabric.

***

It took eight tries, but we finally have an Infrastructure Week to actually celebrate.

The first seven were all failed tries at legislation by the Trump administration. Here's the link to the list of the first seven (https://theweek.com/articles/839005/all-infrastructure-weeks-ranked).

It's pretty safe to say that Donald Trump has embedded multiple ways for economic failure into our national fabric.

***

Might catch some flack for this, but watching bits, pieces and highlights of the Kyle Rittenhouse double-homicide trial, I saw a defendant break down and cry what looked to be were well-rehearsed crocodile tears.

I don't believe he has any remorse whatsoever.

What he does have is a prosecutor who screwed up.

It's pretty safe to say though that part of Donald Trump's legacy is that he inspired a 17-year old, with likely more out there, to pick up an AR-15 and run recklessly into a race-protest riot.

***

COVID-19 continues to rear its ugly head across America, as cases are spiking in several statesw hile the pre-winter, pre-holiday-travel surges appears poised to launch.

In Fresno, California, cases are spiking, ICUs are over-burdened. Same in parts of California. And these are Blue States.

Meanwhile, an appeals court has blocked the Biden Administration's order for companies with more 100 employees to mandate vaccinations.

In other words, Trump's legacy of dismissing the coronavirus has left us with a generation's worth of people who will do anything to resist keeping America healthy.

***

What's even more sickening about the Gosar video (see above) of him killing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the fact that Republican leadership in the House of Representatives (Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise), have said nothing - NOTHING - condemn it, let alone recommend sanctions against Gosar.

Donald Trump's legacy of calling for violent revenge against his political enemies lives on.

***

Aaron Rodgers is a f-cking, lying #COVIDiot.

***

If you've been observing any part of the trial of three white men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery, who was jogging down a Georgia street in Any Neighborhood, USA, you know that the jury has just one Black member.

One.

In the view of the Schloss-Blog, this trial is the 21st century version of "Easy Rider" - in other words, the killing of "Easy Strider."

Trump's legacy of racial bias has become firmly embedded and emboldened into so many parts of our national fabric.

***

Welcome to supply-chain inflation. Grocery, energy prices are spiking.

It's gonna' be a whole until they come down.

Maybe if Trump had attacked the virus more aggressively... maybe if the government hadn't handed out so much money to the Resignation Generation, on a bipartisan basis... who knows.

***

If you have any spare Ivermectin laying around, please send it to Aaron Rodgers. He'll send you back a thank you note, a nice autographed picture and a reduced-price ticket to a Joe Rogan personal appearance somewhere.

The legacy of #COVIDiot misinformation and disinformation on social media.

***

Finally, after the tragedy at the Houston Astroworld Festival concert in which eight died, you have to ask, has anyone learned their lessons from as far back as...

• The University of Wisconsin football game disaster in October, 1993, in which 73 students were crushed, 6 critically;
• The Hillsborough Stadium disaster in Sheffield, England, in which 766 people were badly injured and 97 killed;
• And The Who concert disaster in 1989 in Cincinnati, where 11 people died, so many more were injured.

And this was not the first crowd-control disaster as this Houston event.

Who does Travis Scott think he is, Donald Trump?

***

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

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

 

It Doesn't Matter...

The Schloss-Blog is thinking this morning that there's a lot that doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter who's in office, your taxes are going up. Count on it.

It doesn't matter who's in office, Social Security and Medicare funding are going to decline.

Which means your taxes are going up.

It doesn't matter who's in office, the United States' national debt will continue to rise.

Until the interest on it is the largest portion of the U.S. budget.

And it already has surpassed our GNP.

It doesn't matter who's in office, our air will continue to be polluted.

Unnecessarily..

Thank you Joe Manchin.

It doesn't matter who's in office, racism will continue to rear it's ugly head,

Again.

And again.

And again.

It doesn't matter who's in office, the next Kyle Rittenhouse is out there.

With an AR-15 strapped over his shoulder.

It doesn't matter who's in office, critical race theory will continue to be an object of attack for ... no other way to say this ... racists.

It doesn't matter who's in office, conspiracy theorists continue to promote illicitly that Donald Trump won the 2020 election.

Why isn't he in jail yet?

It doesn't matter who's in office, your prescription costs will continue to rise.

No matter what.

So will your medical costs.

It doesn't matter who's in office, millions upon millions of people believe the conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and about coronavirus vaccine injections.

It doesn't matter who's in office, governments will continue to fund sports teams' facilities.

Because emotionally, fans want them to. And fandom overrules "brain-dom."

Yes, it doesn't matter who's in office. Because it doesn't.

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

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

Why?

The Schloss-Blog today is wondering ... why...

Why are Democrats allowing Republicans to win?

Why are the Atlanta Braves in the World Series?

Why are we running out of water, especially in the great American Southwest?

Why is Joe Manchin a dick?

Why are Democrats going to win "vote counts" but lose elections in 2022 and 2024?

Why do my New York Giants still suck?

Why is my grandson the incredible book-reading/athletic/sports maven that he is?

Why am I worried about the future of the American democracy?

Why aren't you?

Why can't I break 90 in golf?

Why are Lake Powell and Lake Meade at historic lows?

Why did we get hit with a "boom-tornado" storm?

Why is Pomo's shrimp-and-pesto-laden, gluten free-crust pizza so sensational?

Why do golfers continue to aim at my windows?

Why is Bill de Blasio going to run for governor of New York?

Why is Joe Biden's popularity going in the wrong direction?

Why do Democrats go after each other instead of going after Republicans?

Why has no one been held ultimately responsible for the Jan. 6 insurrection?

Why has no player from the 2017 Astros ever been punished for cheating?

Why aren't the Giants (107 wins) or Dodgers (106) in the World Series?

Why are my deliveries from amazon taking 2, 3 and 4 days longer than usual?

Why will it take George Castle less than 5 minutes to post a comment about this blog, something to do with Studio 54, the NY Mets, payola and a 1953 Chevy?

Why are Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis intent on seeing COVID terrorize their states?

Why is Brock Huard the best college football TV analyst that no one ever sees or hears?

Why is Halloween a bigger party night than New Year's Eve?

Why is the Wednesday night of Thanksgiving weekend even bigger?

Why can't football players tackle anymore?

Why is Tom Brady, at 44, still the best quarterback?

Why do I sit down to watch a good football game - and then fall asleep?

Why does I-17 in Arizona have signs for "Mule Crossings?

***

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

My Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show is pre-empted this weekend for Yukon Jack's Halloween Special. Doris, Harry, Joan, Gary, you get your shout-outs next weekend.

COVID Conundrum

The Schloss-Blog is tired of the lies, deceit, misinformation and disinformation out there about COVID-19 and the coronavirus in general, Delta variant notwithstanding.

So we have a few questions, thoughts and ideas.

Do you really believe we're making progress against the virus, or are we doomed to be fighting it, like the flu, maybe, forever?

Do you want your 5-11-year-old child or grandchild to get the vaccine? Is it safe for "Little Johnny" or "Little Jenny?"

Will the 66 million Americans eligible to get vaccinated ever get vaccinated? Or is their abstinence our endgame of never-ending variants, repeated surges and deaths?

Will we be wearing masks forever in certain settings to protect ourselves and others? Or will the reluctance of governors like DeSantis and Abbott continue to stymie travel plans and leave workplaces and public spaces unsafe?

Are you vaccinated? Will you be vaccinated?

Do you know someone who isn't and refuses to be? A good friend? A relative? Is that person out of your life now? And forever, perhaps?

Are you OK going to a concert? A sporting event? Even outdoors? 

Are you OK going to a gym?

Your friends or relatives who are not vaccinated, what would it take to get them vaccinated? 

A death of someone close to them? Your hospitalization, or even your death, God forbid?

Are you in favor of vaccine mandates? For employees? For airline personnel? For healthcare workers? For police and fire? For all civil servants?

Would you want to be treated by someone who is unvaccinated? Or should they lose their jobs?

For many of them, sadly, employment termination comes before vaccination.

Should teachers be vaccinated, or be forced to be tested twice a week?

Is it really someone's right to reject and protest against what gets put in their bodies? If so, where were their parents when they got mumps, measles, rubella and polio shots just so they could go to school?

I have a relative who is about to lose his job because he refuses vaccination. He works for a company that is a government contractor. He has no option. 

Should he? 

I feel badly for him, but not sorry. I have no tolerance, ZERO, for anyone isn't vaccinated. Anyone. Zero.

Yet, I have gotten on planes, my face masked, knowing full well that somewhere between one-fourth and one-third of my fellow passengers are not vaccinated.

And they're allowed to remove or lower their masks while eating or drinking.

In stores I go into, about half of people in there, maybe half, are masked. In Arizona, there's no mandate.

Statistics show conclusively that in Red or Republican states, more people contract the virus and/or die from it than in Blue or Democratically controlled states.

There are more Republican-controlled legislatures in this country than Democratic.

Even the Fox News anchors who condemn mandates work for a company that mandates vaccinations.

We are doomed.

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

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

A Few Observations

A few things the Schloss-Blog observed this weekend...

The whole thing with Brady returning to New England was soooo overblown.

Flagstaff is a pretty cool place. College town (Northern Arizona University). College kids all over, as servers in restaurants, clerks at stores, etc. Backpackers all over, especially near the intersection of I-40 and I-17, looking to hitch rides. Wildlife (elks, mules, cows - yes, mules and cows, crossing roads everywhere). Good restaurants too. Crazy campgrounds with no services whatsoever (good luck).

Arizona is the "off-trail" state. People driving RV's, towing ATV's and Jeeps. You see them all up and down going through the mountains on I-17.

Announcers Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth completely soft-pedaled the history of Tampa Bay wide receiver Antonio Brown, calling allegations of sexual assault, speeding at over 100 mph and throwing a couch out a window that nearly hit a little kid "off-the-field stuff." Guess it gets them in trouble with the NFL if they tell the real story.

NFL defensive players cannot tackle anymore, because contact drills were pretty much eliminated in the last CBA (which happen more in non-contact drills), players don't practice tackling. When you don't practice it, you don't do it well.

Am I dreaming, or did both New York teams win in overtime on Sunday?

Would love to see the next James Bond movie, "No Time to Die," Daniel Craig's last as Bond. But I ain't going to sit in a theater with a bunch of COVIDiots to see it. It'll be on HBOMAX eventually.

I want a truck with one of those special, multi-function tailgates, which serve as an office workspace, a stepladder and a step stool and a basis for a commercial about Walter the Super-Cat.

On second thought, no I don't want that truck.

Quick salute to the women of the National Women's Soccer League who forced the league to give them the weekend off, cancel all games, so they could grieve and reflect on the pernicious behavior of fired coach Paul Reilly, an alleged sexual abuser. Good for them, congratulations to them for their stance.

My wife, is like, incredibly beautiful.

For all the hype about Brady returning to New England, the game itself was - OK. 

Did everyone catch Belichick on camera, mouthing "He got the fuckin' ball" on the pass interference penalty on Tampa Bay's game-winning drive? They never let you hear that on TV, but they always make sure we see the coaches mouthing the words, don't they?

Brady outgained New England in rushing yards, all by himself.

Sorry, but Belichick's a dick.

Schloss-Blog returns in full mode next Sunday (posted two days ago, or did you forget already?).

I am a pretty lucky guy. In the next few weeks I'll be visiting with old friends Ellen, Jill, Mallory, Beni, Joan and Doris.

Special, very special.

Here's to you Gisele - at least tonight no one had to listen to you say, "What does Tom have to do, throw the f-ckin' ball and catch it?" as you did after the Super Bowl in 2012.

Good night, Gisele - uh, Mrs. Brady.

 

Democrats in Trouble, And More

The Schloss-Blog is hoping this early-edition post is moot, sooner than later. But we'll see...

Y'know, the Schloss-Blog realizes that the Biden Administration attacked the coronavirus with a passion focused on eradicating it.

And because of the Delta variant's intensity, Biden and Co. actually succeeded in getting shots into the arms on 77% of Americans, at least one shot, that is. There are more to come, as teenagers and soon kids will be eligible for injections.

So why then are the Democrats undoing all their good work? 

Infrastructure, so badly needed before the Gateway Tunnel collapses, is not supported by the "progressives," because the "moderates" won't vote to pass the mammoth Reconciliation Bill, which will fix everything the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Bill won't, including:

• Free community college (at Bernie Sanders University)
• Lowering the cost of child and pre-K care, significantly (people struggle with that expense, some to the point of going back to work not being worth the cost);
• Medicare expansion, to cover hearing, dental and vision services (you need it, you know you do);
• Child tax credit, $3,600 per, currently in existence but to be extended through 2025;
• Prescription drug pricing, a killer for most, allowing Medicare to negotiate it;
• Paid family and medical leave, up to 12 weeks. PAID!
• Climate change, for everyone except West Virginia, so Joe Manchin's constituents can get deathly ill in coal mines;
• and Small Business Administration expanded financing.

Otherwise, nothing important. The Schloss-Blog didn't realize it covered so much until we dove in and read the freaking thing.

Instead of backing all the legislation, Democrats, "progressives" and "moderates" alike, have decided that they'll hand Congress back to the Republicans, both houses, so the United States can become the shithole it was during the Trump Administration.

Moscow Mitch McConnell would control what comes on the Senate floor (nothing good for the American people). This is a man who has dedicated his life to preventing any and all Democratic legislation since the Obama Administration. This would make you think he and his predominantly gray-haired entourage are racists. No, wait...

Kevin McCarthy would become third in line for the presidency. Third in line! This man is a Trumpian lunatic who denies he called the White House on Jan. 6 and said something to the president to the effect of, "WTF do you think you're talking to? Call this off!"

Now, though, he kisses Trump's butt.

Here's what's worse: Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene would bring legislation that would allow anyone to carry a gun anywhere, make raped women carry their pregnancies to term and construct monuments to Confederate Civil War generals.

And the same people who tried to block blacks from attending colleges in the South would now be enabled to block today's schoolchildren from learning about the history of how they did that.

George Floyd becomes an afterthought, at best.

"The Jews Will Not Replace Us," will become the G.O.P. motto, if not mantra. Aug. 11, or is it the 12th, will become a national holiday, the day that phrase was hatched on our national conscience.

And all because "progressive" and "moderate" Democrats can't agree to support all the legislation before them, instead of just some of it (as long as theirs goes first).

If I was president, I would go to Capitol Hill, meet with all the "progressives" and "moderates" and tell them I was pulling the legislation unless and until they can come to an agreement. 

And if they can't, say hello to President DeSantis.

***

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

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show. And stay tuned immediately thereafter for the Bohemian NightCat, John Kirk Deritis.

Schloss-Blog Jeopardy: What's the Answer?

Playing Schloss-Blog Jeopardy today. Play along...

1) Answer: 270+, 500+, 1,000+ and 2,000? Question: What were the daily COVID death counts in the United States 60 days ago, 30 days ago, 10 days ago and now, as Republican governors (Abbott and DeSantis in particular) refuse to impose mask and vaccine mandates as the Delta variant surges?

2) Answer: Political capital. Question: What are the congressional Democrats wasting with their infighting while policy-devoid Republicans continue to plug The Big Lie and insist on audits that continue to show that Biden won.

3) Answer: Pissed off. Question: WTF is up with the French?

4) Answer: Climate change legislation. Question: As hurricanes and floods continue to destroy our property and homes, why can't we pass the latter?

5) Answer: If you think we've got it bad, it's worse there. Question: Why do migrants from Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica keep flocking to the U.S. border?

6) Answer: Vaccines and abortions. Question: Why are the same people who refuse the former because they say it infringes on their individual rights insist on infringing the individual rights of those (the majority of Americans) who want to maintain the latter?

7) Answer: Obstructionists: Question: What do you call Republicans who refuse to raise the debt limit, refuse to recognize women's reproductive rights and refuse to impose or comply with mask or vaccine mandates?

8) Answer: Fraudit. Question: What is the Republican-driven vote recount called in Arizona's Maricopa County that was supposed to take 1 month but took 6 months and showed that Biden won by even more than when they started it. And they did it at huge taxpayer expense with participants who might as well have been hand-picked by Trump himself.

9) Answer: Kids. Question: Who have parents vaccinated for mumps, measles and rubella so their kids could go to school, but refused to protect them with vaccinations against COVID as infection rates in their age group skyrocketed by 240 percent.

10: Answer: More deaths than births. Question: What happened for the first time ever in Alabama in 2020 due to the state's plethora of COVIDiots?

Final Schloss-Blog Jeopardy: 

Answer: Tax cut for the rich and famous. Question: What is the last and only major legislation the Republicans have proposed since the Obama Administration while they spend their time dedicated to blocking anything that would help Americans.

***

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

More tonight on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show and stay tuned immediately thereafter for the Bohemian NightCat, John Kirk DeRitis.

For the Love of Women

The Schloss-Blog is talking about women today.

No, not the kind you can't live with and can't live without.

This is about the ones who have been mistreated, disrespected, are unheard and virtually unseen.

They're starting to catch up, but they've still got quite a ways to go.

***

The ones who got me started were the members of golf's Solheim Cup teams, both American and European.

Talented. Graceful and gracious. On national TV. What's not to like, right?

The telecasts were an abomination, disrespectful and degrading.

Final round, with Cup-determining singles matches on the course, on cable only.

Whatsa' matter, NBC - aren't the women important enough for the big-boy network?

And the technology employed, or not employed, spoke volumes - where was the Top Tracer tech to track the shots, so critical to viewer following and enjoyment of the games?

Oh yeah, they used it on the men's that weekend, for the Fed Ex individual title.

You can bet they'll use it on the Ryder Cup next weekend, when the men's American and European teams compete for their version of the Solheim Cup.

So, apparently, NBC dedicated neither the money nor the technology to cover the comparable women's event that they have and will for the men's.

And all I want to know is, why?

***

Then came the four tumblers.

According to the well-known faces and voices of Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols and Aly Raisman, the only thing worse than the sexual abuse committed against them was the disrespect exercised by the FBI agents who interviewed them about it.

The distinguished quartet of Olympic medal-winning gymnasts not only detailed the sexual abuse, the same as they did to the investigator, but relayed how, after hours of interviews, the FBI agents still managed to downplay the severity of the incidents in their reports.

And how aghast they were at that. And insulted. And left feeling treated like their complaints were being minimized, as if they never happened.

Yes, we all know Larry Nassar was eventually convicted, but what about the agents who interviewed the four medal-winners? 

Even more, the Schloss-Blog wants to know, was anybody really listening? No one on the panel of senators offered a solution or a path to determine what happened and why. Nor did they offer to put in place procedures that would ensure that kind of treatment never happened again to prospective gymnastics stars.

No one.

***

The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team has had unparalleled success. World Cups. Olympic medals.

The U.S. Men's team, by contrast, hasn't qualified for either event since 2014.

But always got paid a lot more than the women. A lot more.

Not anymore, apparently. Perhaps.

The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) has come back with contract offers to both teams that amount to the same amount of money.

Or do they?

The men, apparently, will stay on a pay-for-play structure. The women, on the other hand, were offered a package structured differently: more guaranteed money; health care; pay for players in the National Women's Soccer League; and maternity and pregnancy leave. It also includes injury pay, a  401 (k) plan and severance.

Does that equalize everything? Some of the women are calling the contract a publicity stunt in the wake of their lawsuit against the USSF to balance the teams' compensation packages.

Either way, the women have been underpaid and disrespected all along, including and ever since Brandi Chastain ripped off her jersey, leaving her exposed on national TV in her sports bra, after her game-winning penalty kick won the 1999 World Cup.

Still waiting for the men's team to reach a sports-bra moment.

***

Enough is enough. Women need to be treated fairly. Pay has to be equalized for the same jobs, and not just on the field. The Milwaukee Bucks just named a woman, Lisa Byington, to replace the retiring Jim Paschke as their play-by-play announcer going forward, the NBA's first. Will she be paid the same though as he was?

And according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women earn 82 cents on the dollar for the same jobs men do in the United States today.

That's not right.

And in Virginia, the Supreme Court struck down a school district's attempt to reinstate a transgender bathroom law rather than let a transgender student use the boy's restroom.

Maybe there's hope in America.

And then again, there's the Texas abortion law.

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

More on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show Sunday night, which precedes the Night Cat, John Kirk DeRitis.

The Cancel Culture Strikes Back

The Schloss-Blog is looking at things that have been canceled and for once, it's almost a promising list. If you're an anti-vaxxer, if you're unvaccinated for COVID, besides being a COVIDiot, there are events and places you can't attend or get into, respectively, and that's a good thing.

In New York, Florida, California, Illinois, some in defiance of a governor's executive order, school districts and restaurants are requiring vaccinations to get in. 

In other words, if you're an unvaccinated COVIDiot, you couldn't get into the Little League World Series this weekend, even if your kid was playing in it. At the least, like the coaches and players, you had to submit to COVID testing every other day. 

In addition, the Little League World Series did not include international teams this year, because of COVID limitations, and participating teams were only issued 250 tickets each for family and friends, again, all of whom had to present proof of vaccination to get in. Also, no souvenir vendors were allowed on site and very few concession stands.

For contrast, the Little League World Series usually has some 300,000 attendees every year.

So, yes, COVIDiots, the backlash against you continues.

***

One of the COVIDiot kingpins, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has issued executive orders on top of executive orders to prohibit school districts and local governments from enforcing mask and vaccine mandates, has contracted COVID.

It is believed that he was heading for Cancun at the time of the diagnosis, but his staff was refusing to confirm this. He was attending a mask-less event, however.

I know what a lot of people are saying about him now that he has COVID, but I'm not going to say it out loud.

Oh, the hell I'm not - is his diagnosis fatal?

***

I keep hearing this and reading this - aren't parents supposed to do anything to protect their kids? Anything?

So, why are so many anti-vaccine parents refusing to get their kids be vaccinated against COVID, or at least go along with mask mandates in their kids' school districts?

These parents, and their kids, have already been vaccinated to be able to attend school for protection from diseases like polio, the flu, measles, mumps and rubella, to name a few.

So why are they resistant to protection from COVID, which has killed 626,000 Americans and infected some 37.5 million, according to NY Times sources.

By the way, among kids, the COVID infection rate has increased 99 percent month to month to an all-time high of 121,000 kids being infected last week alone.

Good job, parents. COVIDiot assholes.

***

Speaking of cancelled, rock star Jason Isbell, who often appears on my Radio Free Phoenix playlist, canceled a show in Houston when the venue wouldn't go along with his request that they enforce all attendees have either proof of vaccination or proof of a recent negative test.

Garth Brooks has reportedly canceled a number of shows for similar reasons. And add Korean all-boy band pop stars BTS to the list.

Screw you, COVIDiots. If you aren't vaccinated, you aren't getting in.

The New Orleans Saints and Las Vegas Raiders have issued the same mandates.

It is wonderful to see the unvaccinated be discriminated against in this way, to lose opportunities. Unfortunately, the rest of us lost a chance at some good concerts.

***

Wishing Godspeed and his protection to those in Kabul trying to get out. God knows they need it.

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

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show, and speaking of RFP, congrats to my buddy John Kirk DeRitis on his full-time gig, midnight to 5 a.m., daily.

A Little Politics, Lot Of "It Are" Ain't Cutting It

A lot for the Schloss-Blog to get to in the world of politics, including Donald Trump's unsuccessful attempt at finding a few corrupt men to overturn the election, but first, we drop in on NBC's 2020 Olympics post-production meeting with its broadcast team.

THE PLAYERS: NBC Sports President Pete Bevacqua, British studio host Cara Banks, British studio host Rebecca Lowe, British soccer play-by-play announcer Arlo White, British-turned-Jamaican soccer analyst Robbie Earle, British soccer analyst Robbie Mustoe, American studio host Damon Hack, American basketball analyst Fran Fraschella, American studio host Kathryn Tappan and American studio host Liam McHugh.

Bevacqua: Well, that were a great Games, weren't it?

McHugh: Pete, you're doing it.

Bevacqua: I is doing what?

Tappan: That! The Games is an 'are,' not an 'is.'

Lowe: No, no, the Games is an 'is,' like the United States are an 'are.'

Mustoe: That are right.

Hack: Can any of you Brits speak well English?

Mustoe: That are well English.

McHugh: What are? Or is it 'is?'

Banks: It are 'is.' Just like Canada are the women's soccer champions.

Hack: No, Canada is the champion.

Lowe: Everybody knows Canada are an 'are.'

McHugh: No, Rebecca, you is wrong.

Lowe: I is not, You is.

McHugh: Oh geez, now I are doing it.

White: What are wrong with you Yanks? You always wins the most medals.

Tappan:  You mean the United States wins the most medals.

Banks: That are right.

Bevacqua: Hey, everyone, focus - I called this meeting because the ratings sucks.

McHugh: You means suck.

Bevacqua: That are right.

***

If the verbatim of the British broadcasters on the various Olympic events and studio productions drove you as crazy as they drove the Schloss-Blog, the revelations about Trump and the 2020 election is even more astounding.

I mean are.

Amazingly, blatantly, Trump called upon the Department of Justice to declare the election fraudulent and then he and his congressional accomplices would take it from there.

DOJ never did. In fact, key attorneys there threatened to resign.

Would you do that? Would you step down from your job to protect the integrity of your company?

The most amazing part is that Trump has been fundraising off of his fraudulent claims, with ordinary people donating money to what has become his estimated $100 million warchest. 

These donors are your friends, neighbors and countrymen - maybe even relatives.

Will Trump use the money to run his 2024 campaign? Will he use it to fund another Republican's campaign, like Cruz, or Rubio, or Haley or Pompeo?

Not if Pompeo doesn't return the $5,800 bottle of wine he pilfered.

My friend and fraternity brother, David Hirsch, had an interesting post on Facebook that the last six Republican administrations had - wait for it - 144 criminal indictments, 93 convictions and 34 prison sentences.

By contrast, the last 5 Democratic administrations had 5 criminal indictments, 3 convictions and 3 prison sentences.

In other words, if you vote Republican, you are voting for scandal, death, disease, environmental wasteland and a plague.

And another insurrection attempt, which just might succeed.

***

Don't know about you, but I was particularly moved by the efforts of so many of the female athletes in The Games, especially the U.S. Women's National Teams in basketball, volleyball, soccer, swimming, gymnastics, beach volleyball, track & field and so much more.

I still get chills when I watch a team accept gold medals and listen to the Star Spangled Banner as the flag is raised in their honor.

Nothing like it. Nothing.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, gold-medalists Sydney McLaughlin and Nelly Korda.

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

Want a Shot? In The Arm, Or Outside of Nats' Park?

The Schloss-Blog can't believe we're still writing about this sh-t - uh, shots - but we are.

Shots in the arm. And shots outside of Nationals' ballpark in D.C. Shots that help avoid a resurgence of COVID and shots that kill people and make them scramble for cover at what should otherwise be a safe venue at which to enjoy a Major League Baseball game.

Would rather be writing about shots of J.D. or Jim Beam, but, maybe another time.

***

There were all kinds of shots fired in the last week. Some of my favorites were in one of the new books about the last days of Trump, just published. In "Only I Can Fix It,"  by Washington Post award-winning reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, it is revealed that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, told us how he really feels about Donald Trump, comparing him to Hitler having a Reichstag moment and living by the "gospel of the Fuhrer."

And those were his nice words.

Yes, Donald Trump was every bit the schmuck you thought he was, and beyond. A desperate man, much smaller than his 6-foot-3, 243-pound (ahem!) frame, fearing the investigations closing in on him and the ones to come.

Milley, for his part, was hell bent on not allowing the military be Trump's vehicle to elude all that, commander-in-chief be damned.

***

But if you're a baseball fan, a sports fan, it appeared to not be so safe to go to a game last week.

At Nationals' Park in D.C., shots rang out, clearly audible in the stadium with a game in progress.

Cool, huh?

People scrambled for cover, for safety.

What would you have done? Hid on the ground in your aisle? Run for the concourse, not knowing if that was safe? Remained calm and figured out where the shots were coming from and then decided where to seek shelter?

Even the ballplayers didn't know what to do for sure as they scrambled for the clubhouse and even ushered some fans in seats close behind the dugouts along with them.

What if you were there? What if you had your kids or grandkids with you? Can you even imagine that happening? Would you know what to do? Is there an instruction manual for this, a set of guidelines to follow for "shots at the ballpark?"

No, there isn't.

So good luck.

Especially next time you're at a game in one of those shooting-gallery war zones, otherwise known as Chicago, New York or - anywhere.

***

Speaking of shots, as we are this week, there's one (or two) we all should be getting, but we aren't.

Those who aren't are paying the price. You've heard the numbers: 99 percent of all COVID-related deaths now are those who have not been vaccinated.

About 83 percent of all new COVIDiot cases are the new, highly transmissible Delta variant and it's spreading like wildfire across southern (i.e., Red) states. And something like 97 percent of all those hospitalized now with COVIDiot infections are - you guessed it - unvaccinated.

Nice, huh? A percentage of your fellow Americans don't care if they die, apparently. They don't request the injection until it's too late - until they've been hooked up to a ventilator and pretty much left for dead.

Can you imagine, unable to gasp for air with machine assistance, begging for a shot (pun intended) at life and being tended to by a physician who knows you're beyond the pale.

Too many stories about doctors having COVIDiot patients ask them for the shot, only to have to tell them, it's too late.

By now, so many of us know or know of someone in our families, among our friends and co-workers or just in our lives who were too late.

They live in that other America, where the vaccine is not proven, they believe, where those who have had COVID believe the antibody will help them stave it off in the future, where politicians have doubted the efficacy of the serum. 

But it works. I know that. You know that. Your friends and families know that.

Everyone else is at risk, perhaps of dying.

In that other America.

***

To borrow from the old public service ad campaign, friends don't let friends go unvaccinated. Don't let your friends. Don't let your family members.

There is plenty of vaccine available now. You can get vaccinated by walking into a CVS.

Or as the old ad campaign goes: don't let your friends be COVIDiots.

***

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

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

Are We Still Talking About This?

The Schloss-Blog today is revisiting some old topics and some themes that remain relevant in, let's say, new stuff, from Afghanistan to Mar-a-Lago to Red states where Delta could run wild.

The Delta variant of the coronavirus, that is.

***

The first thing to fly out of this mosh pit of items I have has to be the damn coronavirus' Delta variant.

Did you know it now officially more than half of all new cases in the United States? Did you know, in some states, some hospitals are tapping out on ICU beds dedicated to the coronavirus? Did you know, most of those states are so-called Red states, run by a Republican governor and/or Republican-majority legislatures?

Mostly in the South.

Those Republican governors (we're looking at you, Greg Abbott), are going to get everyone sick or killed. Or, as Gov. Jim Justice (R-West Virginia) was quoted as saying in The Hill: "...those who are still unvaccinated against COVID-19 will be pushed to get the shot only by a 'catastrophe' in which 'an awful lot of people die.'” 

The coronavirus has already been a catastrophe. Now, it night be another one and make no mistake, in states like Mississippi (Red, Republican, Southern), which has the lowest vaccination in the country, the catastrophe is coming.

The legacy of Donald Trump.

***
In case you missed it, Donald Trump is suing Twitter and Facebook, claiming they are discriminating against and censoring him.

He's even suing CEO's Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg, respectively, and YouTube as well.

Don't count on him winning. The social-media platforms have regularly won such suits brought against them in the past and Twitter defended its permanent ban of Trump on its platform because of the threat of more Jan. 6-like attacks.

Trump likes to sue people and entities he doesn't like. He usually doesn't follow the suits through to the end, using them as an intimidating bully pulpit instead, He has lost when they've gone the route. And when he did win, suing the NFL as part of the ownership group in the USFL's anti-trust suit, the USFL won.

And got a $1 in damages. Trebled, by law to $3.

Expect more from the suits just filed. Unless Trump himself is indicted on unrelated charges.

***

The tax-evasion and fraud charges against Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's chief financial officer, carry as much as a 15-year prison sentence.

Fifteen years.

Allen Weisselberg is 73. If convicted and if receiving the max sentence, he'd be close to 90 when he got out.

Do you think Weisselberg, who has said he'll never turn on Trump, is willing to serve prison time until he's almost 90?

I don't either. And if Trump were reelected (or reinstated?), he couldn't pardon Weisselberg or commute his sentence.

Michael Cohen, Trump's personal attorney and alleged "fixer," said he'd never turn on Trump either.

Until he did.

And here we are, still talking about Trump, taxes and fraud.

***

There are nine (10) Senate seats where one party or the other is considered vulnerable in 2022 elections.

Seven of them are Republican.

Join me in praying that Democrats flip them and hold on to the ones they won in 2016 and 2020 special elections.

If Republicans get the Senate, we're f-cked.

***

Quick takes:

The United States is pulling out of Afghanistan. Mission accomplished?

Teachers in 'Red' states could be in trouble, break the law, if they teach what is being called 'critical race theory,' or, succinctly, the truth about the history of racism The nation's largest teachers union says it will defend any teachers that do. What do you think - should it be taught?

I took a little heat over my comments about youthful Olivia Moultrie and Avery Zweig, 15 and 14, respectively, playing with the pros. I have no problem with them doing this. I have a problem if either becomes the next Jennifer Capriatti. Or Freddy Adu.

I'm sorry, but the officiating in the NBA playoffs, the NHL playoffs and the UEFA Euro 'futbol' tournament, respectively, has been Gawd awful.

Worse than that, we have to listen to those damn British play-by-play announcers say, "Italy are through" to the next round. No, the Italians are through. Italy are a country.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Where have gone, Joe DiMaggio?

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

The Right Wants to Stick It Up The Left's Anus

The Schloss-Blog is monitoring all kinds of right-wing antics. And they are threateningly scary.

For instance, Fox News has spent months delegitimizing the Derek Chauvin conviction for murdering George Floyd.

He murdered George Floyd. We all watched it. But when it came to sentencing him, a Fox News personality wanted to know what number of years, what "magical" number for his sentence was acceptable to the #BLM left and the Fox News-loving right.

I'll tell you what number: the maximum, which he didn't get. Happy now, Fox News? Chauvin could be out after serving 15 of his 22-and-a-half-year sentence.

Is that justice? Is George Floyd's life worth more or less than that? 

At Fox News, it's a "magical" question to be batted about.

***

Meanwhile, the "Fraudit" continues in Arizona, in some refrigerated, remote location now that the "Frauditors" have run through their lease at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix.

Their legions of "Frauditors" have included sitting Arizona state Republican legislators. Leading the way is the Cyber Ninja chief, totally inexperienced in election audits, who also appears in the right-wing, QAnon-inspired documentary, "The Deep Rig," proclaiming that the election, was, indeed, stolen from Trump in a deep fix.

Yes, the guy overseeing the "Fraudit" is on record as to the election, long-ago verified,' being stolen from Trump.

In case you're wondering what the "Frauditors" are going to find, after running the Maricopa County ballots through UV lights and testing them for bamboo (bamboo, because they were run through China - really?), rest easy. They're going to claim a deliberate miscount, caused by anything from deliberate miscounting to voting machines deliberately "changing votes" from Trump to Biden.

Just wondering, if indeed the voting machines changed the count from Trump to Biden, why didn't they change all the Trump votes instead of just enough for Biden to win? And why didn't a hand recount reveal this supposed discrepancy, which it should've and would've, but didn't?

Because there wasn't one.

***

Speaking of the right wing, why isn't Michael Flynn, the former National Security Adviser to Trump, for a whole month, under arrest for proclaiming publicly, that there's no reason an armed coup couldn't happen here and throw Biden out of office, subsequently reinstating Trump.

Flynn is a traitor.

Period. He belongs in prison. Alongside Chauvin.

***

Meanwhile, ongoing, Indiana University students have filed a lawsuit saying they want to show up for school this fall, vaccine free, and it's their rite not to get a vaccine for COVID, even though the college is mandating it.

Looks like there are COVIDiots everywhere, aren't there? Even among our university elite being trained to be America's future leaders.

If this ever gets in front of the Supreme Court, remember, that body just ruled that Arizona's restrictive-voting legislation is legitimate and can discriminate against minority voters. If they're going to go that route, they'll likely allow the coronavirus back on campus and the COVIDiots who threaten to bring it.

Just remember, these same COVIDiots got to Indiana in the first place, having been administered school-mandated vaccinations for everything from measles to chickenpox to meningitis.

But now, who cares about those, right? Their motto would appear to be, we don't need no stinkin' COVID vaccinations.

Until they do.

***

One more thing: do you know Olivia Moultrie? How about Avery Zweig?

Moultrie, from Oregon, is 15.

Fifteen!

She signed a three-year contract to play for ... wait for it ...the Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League. She had signed for professional representation when she was 13.

Would you want your kid or grandkid to being playing professional soccer at 15? The money is sure there for her. But is she the Michelle Wie of soccer or the next Mia Hamm?

Zweig, meanwhile, is 14. She played this weekend in the LPGA's VOA Classic in Texas. 

And now, like Texas counterpart Jordan Spieth of the PGA Tour, she'll skyrocket up the LPGA rankings, in all likelihood.

Junior high? Who needs junior high when you're the top-ranked female junior golfer?

If, in fact, they're the future banner carriers for their sports in the United States, then you go, girls! Serena is getting older. And Coco Gauff is only a bit older than you both. Women's sports definitely need you.

***

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

Next week, back to Weisselberg.

Meanwhile, more Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

And Casey and Katie, congrats on your marriage.

Are We Still Talking About This Stuff?

The Schloss-Blog is wondering this week why we're still writing about COVIDiots, let alone now about revelations that Donald Trump used the Department of Justice to investigate people he thought were his political and personal enemies. Plus, now we have the list of Republicans who voted against awarding Congressional medals to the Capitol Police who defended them during the insurrection, let alone being in denial about the insurrection.

And so, this week, we ask...

Did you know...while vaccination rates continue to lag in southern and/or Red states, then-President Trump was once upon a time suggesting to his closest advisers that people infected with the virus, particularly tourists returning home, be isolated ... in Guantánamo Bay, with some of the worst of the worst political prisoners?

Yeah, he wanted to imprison them, not have their conditions in the official count of those infected to minimize it as much as possible, knowing it would be an election-defeating proposition for him.

And it worked that way, didn't it?

***

Did you know... that of 21 Republican representatives who voted against awarding Congressional Gold Medals to the Capitol Police who helped protect them during the insurrection, seven also voted against recognizing Juneteenth as a national holiday.

Takes some balls to be a traitor and not recognize the people who saved your lives, but to double down as a racist, that takes ultimate degrees of arrogance. Even Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, not the most-patriotic of representatives, were not stupid enough to be on both lists (they voted against the Congressional Gold Medal awards, though).

Andy Biggs (Arizona), Paul Gosar (Arizona), Ralph Norman (SC), Chip Roy (Texas), Matt Rosendale (Montana), Thomas Massie (Kentucky) and Andrew Clyde (Georgia) were the ones on both lists. Gosar's siblings want him expelled from Congress for the role they say he allegedly played in the insurrection.

Clyde described the insurrection as tourists strolling through the Capitol.

People vote for these guys. Real people, American citizens. Your neighbors, perhaps. Your acquaintances. Your relatives. People you know.

Think about it.

***

Did you know... in Florida, at a state-government building, two people are dead, four were hospitalized after a COVID-19 outbreak there?

Those six were not vaccinated. The only other person in the office who was exposed wasn't stricken, but was vaccinated. Shocking, right?

Speaks for itself in a state where the governor and his fellow Republican legislators are more interested in restricting voters' rights than protecting voters' health.

Or keeping high-rise apartment buildings upright.

***

Did you know... speaking of insurrections and politicians who are complicit in them, in Oregon, Republican Mike Nearman was expelled from the state's House of Representatives because he "unapologetically coordinated and planned a breach of the Oregon State Capitol" that happened on Dec. 21 of last year.

The vote to expel him was bipartisan, 59-1. The one vote was his own.

***

Did you know... the Department of Justice, which announced a review of restrictive voting laws in GOP-controlled states, has now followed through by taking Georgia to court?

The new Georgia law allows state officials to literally take over local election boards, severely limits the use of ballot drop boxes and makes it a crime to approach voters waiting in long lines to vote and offer them sustenance, otherwise known as food and water.

The whole premise of the law seemed odd to begin with, considering state officials declared their 2020 vote secure and accurate but passed this legislation to prevent the type of fraud that Donald Trump says took place there anyway.

To my friends in Georgia - Ann, Lee, Nancy, Nancy and Peter - may your voting journeys remain unobstructed and crystal clear, or, as one of you put it to me, despite "Dr. Death" in the governor's mansion.

***

Finally, while President Biden declared that "we have a deal" on infrastructure, it turns out it's just a framework, there's a lot more negotiating to be done, some Democrats are likely going to hold out for a larger package anyway, McConnell has called it "extortion" and Rand Paul is a schmuck.

Just threw that in on general principle.

In typical D.C. fashion, and in the immortal words of Bluto Blutarsky, "Nothing's over until we say it's over."

***

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

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