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.