Just Got Back From Illinois...

The Schloss-Blog is going to try to get back to 'normalcy,' whatever that is, after last week's difficult but necessary post about the how divisive America has become because of Trump. Merry Chrismahanukwzukah to all.

***

Fifty-eight percent of Americans believe Trump committed serious federal crimes.

Twenty-seven percent of Republicans think so.

They don't care.

***

Did I mention I'm making the only New Year's resolution I ever make once again this year.

And never keep. Please continue reading to find out what it is for weak-kneed me.

***

Al Michaels will not be calling any playoff games for NBC this year, as he has for-seemingly-ever.

Seems he has taken criticism for not being enthusiastic enough on his current amazon gig on Thursday nights.

With some of the trashy games he's had to call, can you blame him?

A lot of the games have been close, but not exciting. And who doesn't want to call a Bears-Commanders game?

***

Inmates at Alabama prisons are suing over what they say is treatment like slaves and slavery-like conditions.

The 10 inmates, all Black, are claiming they get little or no pay and little or no sleep. Nor nourishment.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville promised to look into it.

Never.

Or as soon as he's sure the United States Military has learned the lesson he imposed on it.

***

Once upon a time, Donald Trump tried to disqualify Barack Obama from being president by virtue of not having a U.S. birth certificate.

Now, the state of Colorado wants to disqualify Trump from being president.

For being an asshole.

And for leading and inspiring an insurrection, in violation of the 14th amendment.

Like I said, for being an asshole.

***

Price of bread down. Price of gas down. Mortgage rates down.

Consumer concerns about the economy more optimistic than they've been in a long time.

Biden just might win this damn election, despite looking like he's feeble.

***

My New Year's resolution, which I will fail to keep, as usual, is to finally return Cindy Crawford's phone calls.

Damn.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Jocelyn (your retirement imminent).

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

Me

In case you're wondering, yes, the Schloss-Blog has noticed how divisive America has become and most of it started since Trump entered politics.

It has impacted me and my personal relationships too, let alone my interactions with friends and some relatives, mostly in-laws.

***

Eight years ago, when I had a disagreement with friends, relatives, with anyone, over things political, we agreed to disagree, hugged, kissed, shook hands and moved on.

No more.

Some of my longest-standing and closest relationships have dissolved.

My friend Gary, who stood up at my first wedding, lived across the hall from me in grad school. We joked about everything. He called me "Schloss." 

He's no longer in my life.

What I believe are Trump's discriminatory policies and scorching comments that have put people's lives in jeopardy have no space in my world.

Gary thinks Trump next to God. Is Gary racist? Not the Gary I know, or knew. But if he supports Trump then he supports the racism Trump espouses and thinks Trump was fraudulently denied the 2020 election. (Full disclosure, he wasn't.) 

Me and Gary will likely never talk again.

***

Same to a lesser degree for me and Steve, a fraternity brother. Not the biggest guy, but a pretty good basketball player. Could dependably hit the open jumper.

Now he goes to bat for Trump, something I'll never do.

We don't exchange comments anymore, via email, text, after having had some intensive exchanges on Facebook, on Facebook Messenger, on anything, although the last time we did was when he notified me of the death of another fraternity brother, a good friend with whom I was part of a six-person suite at school.

You guessed it, a Trump supporter as well.

***

I was as close with my friend Keith, with whom I grew up in Brooklyn, as I was with anyone. Since we were 13.

He was a dependable basketball partner and a great receiver in football. Wish he'd gone to UAlbany and joined my frat so I could've had him on the flag football team which I quarterbacked for my fraternity. He would've been the missing piece we needed to get over the top on a pretty-good third-place, flag football team

Now, we rarely talk or communicate. Trump took him to what I think is the dark side. The once friendly banter we grew up exchanging has all but disappeared, despite his living in California and me commuting back and forth between Illinois and Arizona.

Belief in Trump turns disagreement into outright spite, even between the oldest and closest of friends.

***

Finally, and there are many more examples, I'll end with my relatives on my wife's side.

I adore them. They are generous to a fault.

We watch football together, exchange generous birthday and Christmas/Hanukkah gifts.

And we can't talk politics. They likely think I'm off my rocker for my political beliefs while I think they perhaps read and believe too many conspiracy theories.

My wife is a true believer and is probably more firmly entrenched in her denial of Trump than I am, his actions and the justice he should get as his trials proceed.

She knows to keep her mouth shut about politics in her family's presence.

The whole thing can but somehow doesn't make gatherings uncomfortable. But political opinions do.

***

The bitter truth is that since Trump emerged on the political scene, America is a country of divisiveness and spite. (See Republicans, House of Representatives.)

Friends across the country  have parted ways. Holiday gatherings around Christmas trees or over a Thanksgiving table setting are no longer places where anything goes in conversation.

Please know, if I mentioned you in this piece, or if you think I mentioned you, it wasn't because I don't like you anymore.

It was because I love you and miss the things about our relationships that made them as special as they always were.

And I want them back.

With Trump in the house, claiming fraud and promising militaristic vengeance, that likely won't happen.

***

Good night Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Jenni Golz (great to see you).

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

Back to School, and If The Economy's So Good, Why Don't Peopl Think So

The Schloss-Blog went to college once and taught at the college level for a long time. But these days, colleges are in the news for all the wrong reasons.

***

The University of Pennsylvania needs a new president because its former president doesn't know how to define genocide or at least what a threat genocide is on a college campus or anywhere else.

Makes you wonder about the quality of people who run our colleges and their decision-making processes. Apparently those processes are faulty at MIT, Harvard, Penn and likely schools of lesser stature too.

How comforting and yet how disgraceful.

And there is no truth to the rumor that Penn's applications include a question of whether the prospective applicant endorses genocide.

We know the now-former president does. 

***

As if it's not bad enough that the presidents of MIT, Harvard and Penn embarrassed themselves, their schools and the whole concept of free speech at college campuses, a shooter let loose at UNLV, killed three and set a sad record for the number of shootings on schools' grounds this year: 306.

Three-hundred and six.

If you're rethinking how safe your kids, your grandkids are when they go off to school each day, you're right to do so.

But Ted Cruz thinks we need more armed gunmen on campuses to provide security.

Yeah, Ted, good idea.

***

Hey, colleges, we're not through.

Just what was the College Football Playoff committee thinking when it omitted unbeaten Florida State and defending two-time national champ Georgia out of the upcoming playoff?

Were they not good enough (combined 25-1 record)?

Did they have to get paired against each other in the Orange Bowl? As if that's going to settle any arguments.

And of course, if those two get in, who gets taken out?

Alabama? They beat Georgia.

Texas? They beat Alabama.

Speaking of which, because of the final rankings, either Texas or Washington is going to play for the national title.

Texas. Or Washington.

Instead of unbeaten Florida State or two-time defending national champion Georgia.

They can't start the 12-team playoff soon enough.

***

Outside of college, the Schloss-Blog is asking questions.

• Like, why do Republicans vote to toss lying George Santos out of Congress but also vote to overturn a legitimate election in favor of lying Donald Trump?
• What were the fake electors thinking about in Nevada and Wisconsin that got them indicted and to admit publicly that Trump lost, respectively?
• Why, if the economy's so good do so many people think it's so bad?
• And what will the LIV-PGA merger look like now that it is full tilt after Jon Rahm took what is a reported $500 million to play carnival golf for LIV?

Golf as we know it will now never be the same.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you Ofelia Roitman.

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

King Charles, SI goes AI and F... you Elon

The Schloss-Blog is examining the debut of King Charles on CNN, SI's use of AI and Elon mouthing off, per usual.

***

Anyone else watch the debut of "(Gayle) King Charles (Barkley)" on CNN last Wednesday, the network's next attempt at finding a hit weekday prime time show.

The new twist featured these media stars as the hosts of their own, play-it-by-ear, criticize-all, no-holds-barred, hour-long show about anything out there and everything relevant. Or irrelevant.

To me, the show was irrelevant. Sir Charles provided nothing like his irreverent persona on the TNT/TBS NBA studio show, where he mouths off freely with Kenny Smith, Shaq and Ernie Johnson.

That Charles was not there on sister network CNN. The show had the potential to be as irreverent as its lead characters can be when they want to be, what with King's subtle witticism capabilities and Barkley's capability not to do such.

If I'm going to watch Charles, I want to see him as irreverent as Elon, without being Elon, tempered by King's ability to rein him in.

She never had to. He never showed up. Stay tuned for next Wednesday.

***

Trump wants to do away with the 1st Amendment, the 5th Amendment and 14th Amendment. In other words, good-bye free speech and due process for all.

There are some people out there who believe there was fraud in the 2020 election because Trump says so.

If Trump is elected, those people will be the first to complain when they lose their free speech and their due process.

***

Sports Illustrated has become the next media outlet to be tainted by AI. Supposedly, the once great bastion of sports journalism has been using AI-generated articles.

Although the Bears, Giants, Commanders and Cardinals are using AI-generated offense.

***

OK, so what's this about?

Daryl Hall has filed a restraining order against once pop-partner recording artist John Oates, allegedly over plans to ... sell interests in their musical rights?

Isn't it always the money when partners break up?

Enjoy the next Hall and Hall concert you go to.

***

Many of the same Republican representatives who voted to remove George Santos from the House for his incessant lying that got him elected in the first place are the same Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results which were a product of Donald Trump's incessant lying.

You can have it both ways if you're a Republican.  

***

Elon Musk told his major advertisers, at a public forum sponsored by the NY Times, to go 'F' themselves, for all intents and purposes, after they abandoned 'X' (nee, Twitter) in the wake of an antisemitic post he put up. But Disney CEO Bob Iger, at the same forum, revealed the same sentiment as many major media companies who pulled their advertising from 'X:' "And by him taking the position that he took in quite a public manner, we just felt that the association with that position and Elon Musk and X was not necessarily a positive one for us, and we decided we would pull our advertising."

Antisemitism does not pay.

If you want to tell off Elon on 'X,' do so quickly - you never know - you could wake up tomorrow with the cash-strapped platform shut down.

***

Nobody knows what it will do, but the world's largest iceberg is afloat after breaking off in the Antarctic. It is three times the size of New York City.

Awaiting the next Titanic to come along.

***

Black Friday (almost $10 billion) and Cyber Monday (~$12 billion) set records for consumer online purchases this year.

Don't know about you, but I haven't been to a mall, not even Woodfield, since before the pandemic.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Yocheved Lipschitz.

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

Just Got Home From Illinois, Looking For Parking...

The Schloss-Blog is thankful for a great holiday weekend, for John Fogerty and for Joe Biden handling the diplomacy in the hostage-prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas that Donald Trump would have no doubt undiplomatically blown up.

***

John Fogerty has still got it.

The Creedence Clearwater Revival front man put on a dynamic show at Talking Stick Resort's poolside concert venue.

He did all of his old CCR hits and his two sons, part of the accompanying band, were magnificent.

Fogerty is 78; put on quite a show.

***

Joe Biden should take notes at a Fogerty show. The energy is abundant.

Biden did a magnificent job helping to orchestrate the Israel-Hamas prisoner-hostage exchange.

You can only imagine the number of ways Donald Trump would have undiplomatically screwed that up, leaving behind a trail of dead hostages in Gaza and burned alliances in the Middle East in general.

Remember, it's Trump who wants to stop all those Muslims from coming to the United States.

Mr. Not Diplomatic, although he is considering Susan Sarandon for a Cabinet position.

He cares a lot more about delaying his court cases beyond the election.

Which, if he loses, is fixed, y'know.

***

Speaking of ageless performers, here come the Rolling Stones, Hackney Diamonds tour, 2024.

Mick is 80. Keith is 79. Ronnie is 76.

If only they could transfuse some energy to Biden.

And help him separate Brittney from Taylor.

***  

I park all over Phoenix.

Health club. Starbucks. Grocery store. High schools where I'm covering a game.

Too many two-way aisles, gives rise to other drivers making awkward turns into spots angled away from them and taking the risk of hitting you or some poor pedestrian.

Too many narrow spots. Open door, chip paint on car next to you, or have yours chipped.

At the airport, drive in circles looking for a spot. Spinning in oval patterns, up and up. Everything on lower floors reserved from the privileged or the compact-car drivers. Or emergency vehicles.

At the golf course, barely enough room to swing open your tailgate or trunk and get your clubs out and change your shoes.

At least they don't charge to park at the high schools.

***

Looking for a house?

Home prices are up 40 percent over the last three years.

Listings are down 20 percent over the same period.

And interest rates, they're at a 20-year high.

Just peachy, huh?

On top of all that, existing home sales are down 15 percent over the past year.

Happy house hunting.

***

A Thanksgiving meal for 10 was $61.15 this year, down from $64.05 in 2022. But this year's was still 25 percent higher than pre-pandemic.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Yafa Hadar.

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

Doctors, Death and Dying Broke

The Schloss-Blog is examining why Dr. Ruth is back and the Washington Post's decision to publish death photos.

***

Dr. Ruth Westheimer is back as New York's loneliness ambassador.

Yeah, you heard right, loneliness ambassador. In that role, she will combat what Surgeon General Vivek Murthy calls an epidemic.

Who else is better suited for the role than the famed sex counselor?

First patient is this Donald Trump guy, whose trial in New York has left him financially abandoned.

***

According to the New York Times, women looking for marriage partners are striking out all over.

They keep running into men who are afraid of commitment (sound familiar?). Or else they can't find men who, per the Times, "meet their expectations."

That is defined as “limited in their ability and willingness to be fully emotionally present and available," according to conclusions from an American Enterprise Institute study of 5,000 guys.

In other words, committed.

What's a poor girl to do?

The Times article even cites a Yale anthropologist's study that concluded that "alpha males," and there are a lot of them, "want to be challenged by work, not by their partners."

Hey guys, do you live up to marriage-eligible women's expectations?

Apparently, a lot of ladies are settling for whatever it is you can offer, or they're freezing their eggs because they can't find someone who measures up.

High school was so much easier.

***

The Washington Post has published photos you supposedly never want to see - from mass shooting scenes.

Terror on Repeat is a compilation of photos from killings done with AR-15s, the weapon of choice these days for mass shooters.

The study includes photos from: Uvalde, Texas; Newtown, Connecticut; and Parkland, Florida. 

It will turn your stomach.

The Post says it did this because it wanted to provide "a better understanding of what actually happens in these shootings."

These photos are extremely graphic, in the name of "what actually happens."

If your senator or congressman or state assemblyman opposes deep background checks, mandatory delays in vetting before purchases are approved or limitations on purchases known as red-flag laws, send him or her the link to that Post report.

And keep your head on a swivel in grocery stores. Or theaters. Or remind your kids and grandkids to do the same at school.

***

One more time, according to the NY Times, you will likely die broke if you need elder care and have somewhere between $171,000 and $1.8 million dollars in savings.

See you at McDonald's.

***

Whatever else you think about the Israel-Hamas War, Hamas will always keep coming for Jews, cease-fire notwithstanding. Hamas uses hospitals for battlegrounds and weapons storage, let alone command posts. 

They don't care about the patients. Or the doctors. They steal the relief supplies.

They always will.

***

Two Golden State Warriors and one Minnesota Timberwolves player were ejected from an NBA game just 2 minutes into the contest for fighting.

Who do they think they are, the Republic party?

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Dr. Ruth.

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

Memories Light The Corners Of My Mind...

The Schloss-Blog is writing this post in honor of fellow Brooklynite Barbra Streisand and her new memoir, all nearly 1,000 pages of it.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the world...

...Why is everyone jumping on Biden's supposed mental alertness when Trump keeps forgetting...

• ...If he's in Sioux Falls or Sioux City
• ...If he ran against Barack Obama in 2016 or Barack Obama in 2020
• ...If Obama is yet going to get us into ... wait for it ... World War II
• ...and that he was serving as president and keeping us safe in the world in 2021 ... when he wasn't president

Can't wait to see what he forgets next. His children sure forgot everything at the Trump Organization trial in New York City.

***

Never forget - Hamas attacked Israel and still wants to kill all Jews, ceasefire notwithstanding.

***

Anyone watching the NBA In-Season Tournament games? The off-color, multi-color courts being used are U-G-L-Y!

Also, having trouble generating interest in these games, or about as much as I have for regular-season NBA games, in which no one plays defense.

They don't in these games either

***

I was a little behind in my reading, so I still had a many months-old edition of GQ (yes, I read that, fashion plate that I am), the one that had an in-depth profile of Matthew Perry. Because he only just passed away, picking it up and reading it put a lot about him into a little better perspective.

He was enigmatic, to say the least.

His descriptions of his days and nights on prescription drug-infused highs are enough to make you as sick as he was, literally rolling around in his own excretions and not knowing where he was. His reflections on the celebrities he dated are penetrating, as are the reasons he broke up with so many of them: he was afraid they'd break up with him first as soon as they discovered the truth about him. He was in and out of rehab - wait for it - 65 times.

The cast and crew of "Friends" never deserted him, always supported him and stood by him.

To the bitter end.

***

Spending as much time as I do in Phoenix now, I 've been peeking in on Phoenix Suns games (literally, just peeking in - I cannot watch an NBA game, start to finish until the playoffs).

The Suns have an almost completely redone roster and have added star guard Bradley Beal.

But since they're all still getting to know each other, their games look like average schoolyard shootouts and they don't have Devin Booker, who's been hurt.

And it shows.

***

Does anyone think Hamas would grant a ceasefire if Israel asked for it?

Yeah, me neither.

***

Ohio has enshrined abortion into its state constitution.

Virginia voted to ensure that its legislature doesn't propose any kind of abortion ban.

Republicans are not getting the message that abortion is a loser.

Just like they are. Just like Trump is.

***

Had the pleasure of covering Arizona's first Class 6A (big schools) Girls Flag Football championship game last week for the Arizona Republic.

What a blast. Refreshingly original. Extremely competitive attitudes from these star athletes. On the sidelines, they were as into it as their male football counterparts, but without the F bombs.

Worth watching. Worth covering.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mountain View girls flag football.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show. And thanks for all the anniversary and birthday wishes.

No World Series Watchers, Culture Problems in Chicago and Let's Energize Joe

The Schloss-Blog, like so many others, noticed that no one watched the World Series this past week. It was between Arizona and, uh - oh yeah, Texas.

Before the World Series, could you name three players on either team? The managers? The cities in which their home stadiums are located?

Yeah, I could, but I'm a lifetime sports reporter and sports journalism educator.

Plus, as Deadspin noted, the Series, for the first time, started on a Friday-Saturday for the first two games, on the weekend preceding Halloween, when a lot of people who might otherwise be hanging at sports bars watching the games were at - well - Halloween parties.

That huge degree of unfamiliarity with the players and the inconvenient starting days added up to record-low TV ratings.

The games were for the most part close and entertaining, but only for those in the Dallas and Phoenix markets who bothered to watch.

Time for Major League Baseball to reexamine start dates, promotion, playoff seeding, et al.

***

The Chicago Bears dismissed their running backs coach this past week, without explanation.

They dismissed their defensive coordinator two weeks into the season.

They say the culture is just fine in their headquarters at Halas Hall in Lake Forest, Illinois.

Bet Alan Williams and David Walker are not saying that.

***

Torey Lovullo, the Diamondbacks manager, says he'll die trying to win a World Series for the fans in Arizona.

After the "bullpen" game he managed, which they lost 11-7 (game 4) and trailed 10-0 in the third inning, he has one foot in the grave.

***

Just a quick word to Joe Biden: survey after survey shows that voters, including Democrats loyal to him and his policies, would rather have a younger version running for president.

He does carry himself in a somewhat feeble manner, including his speech delivery.

He is 80.

Trump is 77 but carries far less of a negative perception in that dimension.

So, Joe, I'll pop for you to get a hair coloring and a new doo, for a subscription to Balance of Nature Fruits & Veggies, for weight training to pump up the bod' and for anything else that will add some zip to your step.

You've got a year - do it. That seems to be your only negative, but it's a biggie - do it. Even if Trump's in jail by then, do it,

Send me the bill, because we can't have Trump in the White House again.

***

The National Association of Realtors is reeling in the wake of being found liable to inflate realtors' commissions and a sexual harassment charge against its CEO, who has stepped down.

A PR nightmare for the industry's backbone association.

I could've worked there in PR. Was offered a position there just before I accepted my position on the faculty at Columbia College Chicago.

And stayed there 23 years.

Whew!

***

R.I.P. Walter Davis (North Carolina, Phoenix Suns).

A true pro and a great one.

He was 69.

***

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

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

 

Support for Israel and Practice, Practice, Practice

The Schloss-Blog is looking at Michigan State, the NFL, immunity pleas and please, everyone, support for Israel.

***

Do you know Hitler's birthplace?

Either do I, but Michigan State thought enough of it to put it on its stadium videoboard as a trivia question.

The question is, WTF is going on at Michigan State? As if they don't have enough problems and as if they haven't had enough things go wrong.

Congratulations, Michigan State, you're our school of the weak.

***

If you watch as much NFL play as I do, and you probably do, you've noticed an epidemic: nobody can tackle.

I mean nobody.

Missed tackles are a requirement for defensive players.

I remember revered high school coach, the late Grant Blaney, telling me after a playoff game against a team with a stud running back, that he stressed to his defensive players to tackle with their heads up, or else that stud back wouldn't be there when they went to wrap up.

And so I watch as NFL players tackle with their heads down and wrap up thin air regularly. 

That's only part of the problem. The rest is practice. Hitting in practice has practically been eliminated in the NFL, ostensibly to avoid injuries.

BS.

If you don't practice tackling you won't be good at tackling.

You keep hearing about players getting non-contact injuries in practice. The hell with that and they need to hit. And hit. And hit in practice or they won't be any good in the game.

They certainly can't be any worse.

***

Is it just me, or has the sensationalized, media-hyped Brock Purdy looked ordinary the last two weeks?

Yeah, he has.

***

Just wondering out loud: how long before Rudy Giuliani, Jeffrey Clark and John Eastman take plea deals in Georgia now that Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell and Ken Chesebro have?

And then Trump?

***

The Arizona Diamondbacks post-season success tale has been storybook.

They had the worst record of any MLB playoff qualifier. They finished the regular season with a plop.

And dashed to the World Series.

Congrats.

Now though, how long before the World Series is over, regardless of outcome, before the Diamondbacks shake down Phoenix and Arizona for the $400 million to $700 million it's estimated they need to repair and upgrade Chase Field?

You can hear the cries now: 

• We need the stadium repairs to be able to sign free agents and win it all;
• We need the stadium upgrades to give our fans the ultimate experience they deserve;
• We need the stadium work or we'll be forced to move someplace that will make these financial considerations for us.

It'll happen. And with the winning streak they're on, they can do it.

And the fans will be behind them. Until they see ticket prices next year.

*** 

If you don't support Israel, then you support terrorism.

Period.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Golda Meir.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show. And stay up following my show for John Kirk DeRitis, the Bohemian NightCat.

Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, Disney and Women Shrieking

The Schloss-Blog is eying baseball and why he doesn't watch it anymore: because this year, strike outs surpassed hits.

Believe it.

And they have every season since 2018.

They swing for the fences. I swing for the remote.

***

Is it just me, or are women screaming? A  lot?

• Like in the Google Pixel 8 ad, when the woman screams as her boyfriend takes a knee to propose.
• Like in the Jacuzzi remodel-your-bath ad, when the chic designer unveils the new shower for the client. And she shrieks.
• Like on the SNL season opener, as the women in the audience scream when a clever spoof on Taylor Swift's impact on NFL coverage ends with her boyfriend, Travis Kelce making a cameo.
• Or the Mom in the Chick fil  A ad recounting how wonderful it was to be able to supply a goodie bag of sandwiches for their stationed-overseas son. And then he walks on. And she screams in delight.

What am I missing? Is it necessary to shriek? Is this the shark jumping out behind the boat in the first "Jaws" movie?

Ladies, why do you scream? Men don't. They gasp. They smile. Or cry. Or mutter a "Yes!" under their breaths.

But men don't shriek.

Do we? Guys?

***

Disney turns 100 (today). One hundred? How many businesses can say they've lasted 100 years? Not Sam Bankman-Fried's. Maybe not Donald Trump's, pending trial results in New York.

To celebrate, Disney is re-releasing "Snow Shite and the Seven Dwarfs" in a supposed 4K restoration of the 1937 original, although its live-action version caught a lot of flak. The technologically touched-up remake will be available on Disney+.

Jocelyn has a soft spot for Disney cartoon films. I'll have to get her one when the disk comes out.

***

Sidney Powell blamed Venezuela, and in good part Cuba and Italy, for technology that changed votes from Trump to Biden in 2020.

Now, she's confessing her lies and turnings state's evidence in the Fulton County, Georgia, case against her and Trump.

You can bet she's hoping Trump gets reelected so he can pardon her. By the same token, can't you just hear Trump muttering "That bitch" under pressure when he heard about it? 

Can he do that from jail?

***

Mitt Romney and Oprah almost ran together as a ticket in the 2020 presidential election, Oprah as VP.

Yeah, right, Oprah settling for VP.

Never.

***

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

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

 

Harvard, Hard Way, Hard Luck and (Microsoft Owes) How Much?

So much going on that the Schloss-Blog doesn't know where to start. Well, actually, sure we do...

...A bunch of students from varying organizations protested loud and long about that the whole thing going on now between Hamas and Israel is all Israel's fault.

Their protest was a little too loud and a little too long for billionaire Bill Ackman, who demanded the names of the students so they could be blacklisted when they go job-hunting. Ackman claims Harvard, via its corporate shield, is protecting the students from backlash,

Bottom line: want to protest, anything? Use your college, the bastion of free speech, right?

Wrong, says Ackman and others in the corporate world who agree.

And hasn't Harvard stirred up enough controversy lately anyway? Race neutrality. Affirmative action. And Ivy League sister Penn caught flak for hosting a Palestine Writers Conference, which got labeled "antisemitic" because of its attendance and focus.

Makes me feel better about my SUNY degree.

***

The Schloss-Blog swears, every golf course in Arizona is closed for overseeding right now, which means I haven't played in three weeks.

I don't want to hear it, Mark.

***

Do you wear Birkenstocks? 

The IPO of the fashionable footwear maker, while generating a lot of money, came up disappointingly short though.

There was a time when everyone I know wore Birkenstocks. Now everyone I know can own a piece of Birkenstock.

Although owning a pair might be a better investment than owning their stock.

***

In case you were wondering, Apple iPhones are the brand of choice with those in the Gen Z demographic.

They love the camera.

Looks like I'm as ancient as my Android.

***

Microsoft, which closed a $69 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard, reportedly still owes the IRS $29 billion in back taxes.

Activision Blizzard makes the ever-popular "Call of Duty." The IRS, meanwhile, comes to your door with AR-15s if you owe back taxes.

Or so said Ted Cruz.

In a release from Cancun.

On vaca.

While Texas was freezing over.

***

ACT scores are at their lowest since 1991.

American youth has apparently forgotten how to read.

And add.

***

One last note to asshole Republicans: Iran can't touch the $6 billion, not a penny.

Got it?

***

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

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

 

Recent College Grads, Turn Away

The Schloss-Blog wants to know if you're a recent college grad, or know one, or have one in the family, because if so...

...life expectancy at age 25 (adult life expectancy) for those with four-year college degrees rose by 59 years on the eve of the pandemic. In other words, an average individual would live to 84 - up from 54 additional years (or 79 years old) in 1992. During the pandemic, by 2021, the expectation slipped back a year.

All this is according to the Brookings Institution, which found that life expectancy for the college educated in 2021 was eight-and-a-half years longer than for the two-thirds of American adults who don't have a bachelor's degree. Most alarmingly, that is more than triple the 1992 gap of about two-and-a-half  years.

Live longer. Go to college.

***

In other Schloss-Blog news ...

... if you watched the women compete in golf's Solheim Cup and then the men in the Ryder Cup on consecutive weekends last month, maybe you noticed the same thing the Schloss-Blog did:

The NBC networks carrying the competitions did not cover them the same. The shot-tracking technology used to trace shots in air during the men's competition was not used near as generously in the women's competition.

What, the women don't matter? At least the U.S. women's team had a shot at winning the Solheim Cup and actually wound up in a tie, which enabled the European team to keep the prize. The U.S. men's team was never close in the Ryder Cup competition. But the shot-tracer was still amply evident.

Oh yeah, the U.S. men's team, much more so than the women, can't putt. The guys I play with on Tuesdays all summer in Illinois make those putts.

***

Polls show that Joe Biden is considered too old to complete a second term as president, even though he has shaped and passed some remarkable legislation in technology, jobs, climate and ... yes, infrastructure, which was announced every week during the Trump administration but never executed.

Biden needs a jolt of energy to correct what is considered his more-feeble-than-most posture, speech, gait, delivery and general appearance.

Vitamin B12? Super Beets? Fruits & Veggies? He needs to resemble the Joe Biden that Jason Sudeikis so often portrayed on Saturday Night Live.

Well, who else should be the Democratic nominee? Kamala? Gavin Newsom? J.B. Pritzker?

Yeah, that's what I think too...

***

When the NY Giants play the Washington Red__ uh, Commanders, on Sunday, Oct. 22, play close attention.

After watching the Red__, uh, Commanders, put on a pathetic display against the hapless Bears, the Giants-Commanders showdown will be a battle to see who has less.

And when you have less than the Bears, that's a problem.

***

If you don't think there's a difference between Democrats and Republicans, consider...

...when Donald Trump got indicted, all the judges and prosecutors got life-threatening messages.

Repeatedly.

When Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) got indicted - again - no one got threatened.

And now, Greg Gutfield, on Fox News, has literally called for civil war.

How mature.

***

One last sports note:

During the regular season, Major League Baseball used a man on second at the start of every extra inning to speed up games.

In the postseason, uh uh - no such thing. Rule suspended.

Hey MLB - either get rid of the rule for the regular season or use it in the postseason. Can't have it both ways.

***

A quick tip of the cap to Terry Griffin (BG, '78) and guys from the Buffalo Grove and Barrington high schools classes of '78, '80, '82 and '84 who gathered last weekend to mark the memory of the late Dave Millay with their annual kegger.

I'll join you next year, guys.

***

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

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

 

The Schloss-Blog has been watching the fallout from the GOP debate, the fallout from Donald Trump getting his properties shoved up his ass and the fallout from Taylor Swift marrying Travis Kelce.

Just kidding on that one - they didn't get married. Just wanted to make sure you were paying attention.

***

According to Donald Trump, his brand is worth so much that his properties must be too.

***

Fox News commentators blasted Taylor Swift over her supposed "let's f#%king go" cheer at the Kansas City Chiefs game last week.

Hey Fox, Smartmatic will be talking to you soon about the same thing for which you paid Dominion $787.5 million. In other words, there are bigger things for you to worry about than Taylor Swift's potty mouth (besides, I like a girl who talks dirty).

***

Phoenix Suns fans and media are celebrating the departure via trade of center DeAndre Ayton, who is now a Portland Trailblazer.

Where, actually, at age 26 and so many years of being a double-double machine, he'll fit perfectly.

Meanwhile, local Phoenix media are pounding their chests over how the Suns are going to be bigger by getting smaller in what they got back in this trade.

Hey Suns, Denver or the Lakers versus Milwaukee for the NBA title.

***

At the Republican presidential debate, seven people who will never be president debated why they should be.

None of them should ever be, as the colloquialism goes, dog-catcher. Yet, they all want to be Trump's vice-presidential candidate.

That's going to be Kari Lake, who has her lips pressed to Trump's cheeks.

***

Donald Trump could lose his New York-based businesses, according to a ruling from a New York-based judge.

That's what happens when you estimate the value of your New York apartment at somewhere between $114-207 million in what the judge called a "fantasy world."

To many Americans, his presidency was that overvalued too.

***

Uh, Paging Bob Menendez: time to step down.

***

Uh, speaking of that court ruling last week in New York, no one was speaking of it at the debate on the same day as the ruling.

Not the candidates. Not the moderators (what a bunch of wusses). 

Oh, that's right, it was on Fox.

***

Who's Barbara Mullen?

Oh trust me, you know.

***

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce?

Oh surely, he can do better.

Just kidding, just kidding!

***

The writers are back and Bill Maher missed them, as he fawned all over Ron DeSantis when his "Real Time with Bill Maher" returned last Friday.

***

J.P. Morgan Chase paid $75 million to settle a lawsuit that it in good part helped enable Jeffrey Epstein and his sex trafficking..

Time to get my money out of Chase Bank.

***

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, Still So Different, and Hold My Sneakers

The Schloss-Blog is asking...

Should I buy a pair of SUAV sneakers or waterproof Vessi loafers? Maybe waterproof Looms? They're good for golf. We like Dbeck sneaker/loafers too.

Hmm... feel free to chime in.

There seems to a plethora of custom, vintage shoes and sneakers on the market these days though. Where the heck did all these off-brands come from?

***

Anyhow, saw something in Morning Brew about a chain that makes chicken sandwiches redesigning and re-equipping its kitchens to enable it to hasten service.

Except, in a true grammar gaffe, Morning Brew editors called it enabling a "faster chicken sandwich."

Don't know about you, but I can't wait to see if I can catch up to a "faster chicken sandwich." Does this mean we'll start to see customers chasing their chicken sandwiches across parking lots nationwide?

The "fastest chicken sandwich" chase. Can't wait.

***

Speaking of shopping, the Schloss-Blog is looking for healthcare insurance, especially seeing as Mrs. Schloss-Blog is retiring at the end of this year (congrats, Joss).

Do I go with making Medicare my prime and adding a Part C supplement for vision, dental, etc., and then a separate Part D add-on for prescriptions? Or do I go the Medicare Advantage route?

Feel free to chime in, before Republicans cut or eliminate Medicare.

***

Speaking of Republicans, did you watch the House committee hearing in which the GOP representatives tried to fry Merrick Garland?

Every question seemed to begin with, "What took so long to investigate and prosecute Hunter Biden?" and, "Why hasn't Joe Biden been indicted yet?"

I'd feel more comfortable if GOP representatives asked about how to help mitigate against inflation, or how to improve relations with China, or how to help Ukraine win the war? Instead, you hear GOP representatives running around the country welcoming infrastructure projects in their districts for which they voted against the funding.

***

Anyway, the Schloss-Blog, as it does every so often, is looking at the differences between men and women. The fairer sex is winning.

For instance...

...men like to use emojis.

Women know what they stand for.

***

Men see yellow lights and speed up.

Women see yellow lights and slow down.

On the road and in life.

***

Women stop at ... stop signs. D'oh.

Men roll through.

***

Men play pickleball.

Women win at pickleball.

***

Men see what Lauren Boebert did at a performance of "Beetlejuice The Musical,  and are disgusted.

Women see what Lauren /Boebert did at a performance of "Beetlejuice The Musical" and respond by making a contribution to her Democratic opponent, Adam Frisch.

***

And as evidence that we've been harping about this for so long, from a previous Schloss-Blog post on "Men and Women..."

...Men wear jeans.

Women wear jeans that fit.

***

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

More next Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show. I'm off this week. John Kirk DeRitis, thee Bohemian NightCat, sat in for me on Sunday the 24th. Thanks, John.

Hunter Hunting, Library Closing, 9/11 Remembering and Impeachment (Really?)

There's so much for the Schloss-Blog to digest and so little time. to do it.

A suspiciously timed indictment of Hunter Biden, a slew of library closings under threat of bombings and presidential impeachment all rearing their ugly heads.

Again.

***

So, when did slutty Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt (underage) Gaetz start running America?

They run Kevin McCarthy, who's lying when he says he didn't change his mind about announcing an impeachment inquiry instead of putting it to a vote, which he knew would fail. But the impeachment will fail because there's no evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors.

Yet, Republicans got their wish on Hunter Biden being indicted. On charges that may or may not ever go to trial and/or be dismissed.  

From everything I can tell, they will not ever link President Biden to Hunter's illicit dealings, however extensive they may be.

But what Vice-President Biden did wrong back then was knowing Hunter was screwing up and not going to him and telling him to knock it off. Joe did what good parents do - stayed out of his adult child's  life. 

Now though, it's too late. The Schloss-Blog's question: will Hunter or Trump be convicted and go to jail? Both? Either?

Maybe.

***

Kudos to Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, who spearheaded the bill that makes libraries around the state ineligible for state grants if "they restrict or ban materials because of 'partisan or doctrinal' disapproval."

In other words, stop preventing our children from reading, oh, say, Shakespeare. The law is viewed as a possible template for other states to prevent overtly restrictive book banning.

Giannoulias was grilled before the U.S. Senate about it, but stood tall. But he in good part championed the bill because libraries around Illinois have been experiencing bomb threats, ostensibly from those who object to, oh say, Shakespeare.

Violent threats and violence itself seem to be a way of life in the United States: for people who think the Department of Justice has been too soft on Hunter Biden; for people who think the FBI was too intrusive with Donald Trump; for people who just don't like Black people.

When Trump is convicted, somewhere, and he will be, we'll see if the civil war-level protests he has predicted come to pass.

By the way, I don't know anyone who watched Trump's interview with Tucker Carlson. and who's Tucker Carlson, btw?

***

Was going to get into one of my periodic updates on the differences between men and women, but that's out of place with the above. So, I'll just say that's coming, along the lines of a prior post in which I decried that men like to sing along with songs on the radio while driving around.

Women know the words.

So, along different lines, in a fabulous column in the NY Times, Ross Douthat explains that "the ball always finds you."

In other words, if you're a weak or unconfident baseball player, in a key situation, someone will hit the ball to you.

Will you field it successfully, make the big play?

A wobbly ankle-boned Bill Buckner could not in the 1986 World Series and Douthat notes that Buckner should've been subbed out for his defensive caddy, Dave Stapleton, before that ball was hit.

Douthat's point? It applies to politics. Joe Biden decided to run despite his age. Will it cost Biden, like Buckner's ankles cost him?

It could cost Trump too, who's just three years younger.

If you have a weakness, "the ball will find you."

It found Bill Buckner.

***

Men like to eat.

Women know what's healthy.

***

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

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show. Where the ball always finds me.

Trucking, Sore-Loser and The Ryder Cup

The Schloss-Blog has noticed few things about driving in Arizona, about Peter Navarro, just convicted of ignoring a congressional subpoena, and about the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

The oversized, gas-eating pickup truck, also known as the state car of Arizona, is all over the roads. So are its drivers, who think they own said roads.

They regularly speed. By a lot. Signal turns and lane changes? Hah! 

Cut you off? Every chance they get. Parking spot hogs? They park nose in on an angle.

Across two spots.

And when one of them parks alongside you, good luck opening your door.

However, do the speed limit or even 5 over in front of them and they let you know with a tailgate or a flash of their brights.

And when they do slow down and you go to pass them ... uh uh ... not allowed. They'll wake up, speed up and block your lane change.

Otherwise, they're cool.

***

Got a kick out of watching Peter Navarro in front of the D.C, courthouse, griping and groaning about his arrest, his prosecution and his subsequent conviction.

This verdict was known in advance, he declared to a gaggle of reporters.

Well, yeah, Peter.

You were summoned by Congress to testify before a committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.

You didn't come. You blew it off,

That's a crime. Of which you are now guilty. You also offered no defense, no documents, and your claim of executive privilege was not substantiated by Donald Trump, so the judge denied your opportunity to use that as a defense.

You say you don't have the money to appeal it, but you will. You say you'll die in prison. Maybe.

You say they put you in wrist and leg irons when you were initially arrested on this charge.

Actually, you were offered a chance to call an attorney. Instead, you wanted to call a reporter.

As to leg irons, it's not clear what happened or when. You probably should've had some on your mouth.

You will lose your appeal. You'll look good in prison. You'll still be claiming executive privilege.

Well. you have privilege to claim that. But you don't have it.

The slogan of those in Trump's orbit: Keep lying, even after you've been convicted.

***

Hey golfers (looking at you, Joe Catanzaro). 

Am I the only one who has a problem with the U.S. Ryder Cup team?

It's a solid team, make no mistake.

But I am having trouble digesting two picks: Brooks Koepka selected from the LIV tour ("I hate LIV," says Rory McElroy) and Justin Thomas from, well, nowhere near the qualifying criteria.

Thomas, a great golfer, without a doubt, did not qualify for the Fed Ex Cup final three tournaments, being outside the 70-man field.

Me, instead of Koepka and Thomas, I would've selected Keegan Bradley, the veteran who had a great year, and Cam Young, the second-year pro who is a contender, week-in, week-out on tour.

I'm with McElroy, I hate LIV. Never watch it. Don't follow it.

I like Thomas, but he just didn't play well enough this year.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment fund underwrites the LIV tour. When they start financing the Ryder Cup, it's time to re-examine everything.

***

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

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

Phoenix Population Is Up But Columbus Dispatch AI Is Down

The Schloss-Blog has noticed that Phoenix' population is up but the Columbus Dispatch's use of AI is not.

And here's why.

The Gannett-owned Dispatch published a wrap-up story that sounded like it had been spit out by - well - a computer.

Actually, AI put out a story based on statistics only and it sounded like it. The story had no human-touch elements or first-hand observations whatsoever. The snappy first sentence read: 

• "The Worthington Christian [[WINNING_TEAM_MASCOT]] defeated the Westerville North [[LOSING_TEAM_MASCOT]] 2-1 in an Ohio boys soccer game on Saturday."

Catchy, huh?

Career sportswriter that I am, this kinda' ticked me off.

The Dispatch has since suspended use of AI for such purposes, despite the requirement that AI-generated content must have facts and accuracy verified first.

Maybe someone should make sure first that AI knows what soccer is.

*** 

So, while AI might be down, the population of Phoenix is up. It went up by some 20,000 between between 2021 and 2022.

What hasn't kept up is housing in Phoenix. Average cost of rent in Phoenix is $1,588 a month for a whopping 806 square feet.

That would require a minimum salary of $56,836 a year, or about $8,000 less than what you earn at minimum wage ($13.85).

So, for all of you who have run to Phoenix during and since the pandemic seeking greener pastures, make sure the job you land pays a decent wage.

If you want to keep 806 square feet over your head, that is.

***

If you've been watching the U.S. Open Tennis, and it's been fabulous, you probably heard that there are 10 working moms in the women's draw.

Ten.

And why shouldn't it be. This is excellent and exciting news.

Caroline Wozniacki has been a sheer delight to watch, her two toddlers in tow. And as Pam Shriver and Mary Jo Fernandez, calling one of her matches, said on TV of the body suit she was wearing, "She's rocking it."

And her opponent.

***

Speaking of the U.S. Open, no American man has won it or any other tennis major since Andy Roddick turned the trick in 2003.

Twenty years ago.

Speaks to the status of men's professional tennis in the United States.

Francis Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz, we need you.

***

Couldn't help but notice that when Donald Trump was booked in NY, he checked in at a reported 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds.

When he did the same in Atlanta, it was reported he was 6-2 and 215.

Is he self-reporting, or what?

I'll go with the former.

***

College Football Game Day is back on ESPN.

Who cares?

The only thing remotely interesting is the game picks with a celebrity.

Otherwise, Pat McAfee's clown show, Gene Wojciechowski's weekly celebration of an athlete who has overcome adversity and students who sneak signs in that violate decency standards make this show only worth watching for Big & Rich's opening song and the picks at the end.

Three hours that I refuse to give to ESPN. Almost as bad as Sports Center and all the shoulder NFL programming on the network constantly asking, "Is this the year for the Cowboys?"

***

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

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

And Just Like That, Investigating the Investigations of the Investigations

The Schloss-Blog has not got its usual slew of items this week, but it does have a peek at how investigations of investigations can go awry and just give rise to more. The problem is why they're done.

Republicans complain about weaponization of investigations while they do the same thing and shrug off the investigations that have led to four indictments of a certain former president...

...of the United States of America.

While Republicans continue on their fruitless investigative paths of Joe Biden, Alvin Bragg and now Fani Willis, they gripe in hindsight that Hillary was never punished.

For anything.

Actually, she is one of the most-investigated politicians.

Ever.

The Benghazi attack was investigated 10 times, including by the Republican-led Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. It concluded that the terrorist attack there, which resulted in four American deaths, including that of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, was "preventable."

Of course, that 2012 attack happened on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's watch. Six different House committees had Republican-majority members deliver a report damning to Clinton and the Obama Administration. It claimed that they altered talking points and delivered conclusions that were misleading and incomplete in their report on the attack.

In other words, the Republicans said the Democrats said the attack was not as bad there as it actually was.

Four Americans were killed, including the ambassador. That's pretty bad and was never denied. That report, by the way, according to Democrats on the committee, was written with no Democratic input.

In the end though, the Republican-majority House Intelligence Committee concluded that "there was no deliberate wrongdoing by the Obama administration."

As to Hillary's email controversy, while she was accused of deleting 33,000 emails (see Trump, Donald, campaign appeal to Russia to find them), she was never found to have committed anything egregious, even by Republican investigators. DOJ's investigation found nothing to prosecute about her using a private email server.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump waves classified documents around at his golf clubs and stashes them all over Mar a Lago and Republicans complain the investigation and subsequent indictment over that is unfair and biased.

So, while Republican investigations of Hillary produced nothing to see nor prosecute, they still press ahead now with investigations of the what they call the "criminal" Biden family.

Yeah, MS-13 is all over the Cabinet. And don't forget, in your neighborhood.

***

Been watching "And Just Like That," the "Sex & the City" sequel?

It's been interesting to see what happened to our sexy, jump-into-bed-with-whoever characters.

Sort of.

They killed off Big. Supposedly, he was a sexual predator (isn't that what the show's about?). No, he allegedly really was, and not just a lech on the set either.

And after he went to Paris and saved Carrie too. Hmmph!

Anyway, all four of the principal characters have undergone life changes and season two just ended with Sam (Kim Cattrall) making a cameo appearance at last.

Call it a cameo of a cameo, for as long as she was on screen.

So, is there any truth to the rumors that she and Sarah Jessica Parker had a falling out and that's why Cattrall didn't come back full time for the sequel at all?

Two movies and a financial dispute over salaries later, Cattrall is missing from the small-screen renewal, even though both are saying there's no bad blood.

If you believe that, then why isn't Cattrall in the show?

And just like that, no sex and the city for her.

***

Hope my friends and relatives out east listened to me Sunday morning on Radio Free Phoenix, a rare mid-morning appearance for me subbing for Joe Catanzaro.

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

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

How Many Ways Can You Say Fraud? And Ageless or Airbrushed Super-Models of Lore

The Schloss-Blog is reading all about the ridiculous number of ways Trump has claimed fraud or inaccurate vote counts, tabulation machines tampered with and outright cheating.

It's a lot.

Plus, we have a take on "aging" super-models: are they aging, or, as the NY Times asks, airbrushed?

***

Before we get to Trump, couldn't help but notice Carli Lloyd's critical commentary on the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, which got disappointingly bounced early from the Women's World Cup.

The former international player of the year and Olympic and World Cup champ with the United States National Team was critically insightful on the team after it scored just 4 goals in 4 games and got bounced from the tournament.

Among her criticisms, The Athletic reported, were, "The team was disjointed, was not a unit, and the coaching was not what this team needed." She didn't stop there, but enough said about her feelings, which she expressed on the Fox Sports telecasts.

She took some heat for it on Twitter - uh, X - but never backed down.

So, is her job as a TV analyst for the home-team broadcast to be a cheerleader for the tournament favorites or to call them out for their shortcomings?

You tell me.

***

According to the NY Times, Trump has repeatedly mischaracterized the voting and counting process thereof, made false claims about verifications, put out baseless charges about fraud and fallen back on any number of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

He also tried to illicitly reverse the legitimate election results and overthrow his own government, which was validating it.

Any wonder he's been indicted 4 times now?

***

The local authorities were upset that the Marion County (Kansas) Record was going to report something they didn't like.

So they arrived with a warrant and took everything, including at the home of the paper's 98-year-old founder, who subsequently passed away, possibly from the stress.

The authorities wound up returning everything when their misguided effort was publicized and a local prosecutor said it wasn't kosher.

And the entire journalism community came and stood at the shoulder of the paper. And rightly so.

***

Ageless? Or Airbrushed?

These gorgeous super-models of '90s fame came together and recreated a vintage Vogue cover  for which they all had posed so long ago.

So, the NY Times asks, are they ageless? Or airbrushed?

Check out their picture and you tell me.

***

Quick takes:

• Harrison Ford, who, as Indiana Jones, declared that he hates snakes, had one named for him. Kate Winslett, by the way, had that honor bestowed on a beetle.
• In a survey, only 37% of respondents said they have faith in Joe Biden's handling of the economy, which is thriving. Huh?
• Anthony Richardson, a first-round draft pick rookie, will start at quarterback in week one for Indianapolis. Let's see, risky? Ask Andrew Luck. Or Peyton Manning.
• Trump's legal faults prevent him from holding office, let alone run for it, says the Constitution's 14th Amendment and Professors William Baude (U of Chicago) and Michael Stokes Paulsen (University of St. Thomas). Maybe we'll see what the Supreme Court says, huh?
• You've heard about all the water shortages plaguing the American Southwest. So how come, Axios reports, water usage in the greater Phoenix area is down from ... wait for it ... 1957?

***

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

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

Buying a Car, Trading With Mexico and No More Erros in Baseball - Wow!

The Schloss-Blog is noting some trends - car buyers are paying more for their cars; the United States is trading more with Mexico and baseball is seeing its fewest errors ever. So far.

What else could go wrong? Or has it?

***

Inflation may have cooled but car payments apparently have not.

Not everywhere.

In Texas, the Houston Chronicle reports, car buyers are financing their purchases at an average monthly payment of more than $1,000.

One. Thousand.

Only Wyoming, according to the report, ranks at that level for new-car buyers.

What's going on?

It's a combination of post-COVID prices being high, demand for new cars being up as we continue to be in a post-pandemic world, and interest rates being as high as they are in the wake of the Fed raising them to mitigate against inflation.

Why in Wyoming and Texas?

Other than those states are overrun with baskets of deplorables, who knows? OK, that wasn't fair.

Yes, it was.

***

It's true, Mexico has taken the lead.

No, not as the leading source of migrants at the border.

As the leading country with which the United States trades, surpassing ... China!

What's going on? Why should it matter to you?

(Full disclosure - basic tenet of teaching journalism for 23 years, as I did at the college level: tell people why it matters to them.)

So, it all started with Trump (who else and why isn't he on trial for this?). When he commenced his famous tariff war with China, things started to sour between us and them. Today, we impose more than a 19% tariff on Chinese goods while they impose, in retaliation, more than a 21% tariff on us.

This is not good. It's so not good that the Biden administration left it in place. Hmm...

Anyway, one shot-down balloon and a lot of nasty words later, Mexico has ascended to the top spot.

It's easier to trade with Mexico. No tariff restrictions. Easy proximity. And even most illegal drugs come through the main portals anyway (not through the wall that Trump never built and Mexico never paid for not building).

Of course, if Trump gets re-elected, he'll re-establish trade and relations with China by raising tariffs even more and waving around classified documents in front of visiting Chinese diplomats. 

And serving them that incredible, beautiful chocolate cake.

***

It's easier than ever to watch to Major League Baseball.

Games are quicker thanks to the pitch clock. Fewer pitching changes, less time between pitches and keeping hitters in the batters box all go a long way toward our enjoyment of the game.

But how do you feel when you watch one of your favorite players on your favorite team boot an easy ball hit right at him?

A costly error, right?

Not these days. Official scorers are ringing up fewer errors than ever. Plays that look routine and you know your grandmother could've made still get booted and are being scored more than ever as - hits.

What's going on? (I read that somewhere before in this blog post.)

Official scorers are grading more and more balls as hits and fewer and fewer as errors, at a pace that will leave MLB with fewer errors committed than ever before.

Why?

Are media members who double as official scorers courting player favor? Are pitchers clamoring for more errors to be made to protect their earned run averages? And how would you like to be the teammate of a pitcher who is clamoring for more errors to be declared.

It's a conundrum: pitchers' ERA's versus position players' fielding percentages.

Which should win?

To me, if they can get their hands on it, they should catch it. Period.

***

What's a galette?

The NY Times referenced making one in a recent article. It was carmelized. It had cracked black pepper and gruyere.

But what is it?

I read the article and I'm still not sure. Someone help me out. Before I go to France next year.

***

Robbie Robertson is dead and the music world has lost a legend. He reportedly had prostate cancer.

He was 80.

Lil Tay is dead and Hip Hop and the world of influencers has lost an emerging legend.

She was 14.

No one knows what took her life.

Will we ever?

What's with Hip Hop? Great music and great artists, but we know as much about Lil Tay's death as we know about who shot Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac.

Maybe, as B.I.G. said, violent death is as inevitable, as - "...the black talons loaded in the clip, so I can rip through the ligaments, put the f'ers in a bad prediciment..."

He didn't say "f'ers."

***

If Trump doesn't lie, John Lauro lies for him.

***

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

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

And welcome aboard at RFP. Mike McCoy. Shazam!

David Hughes, all the best. You'll be missed.

DeSantis, Slavery and Stealing Cadbury Creme Eggs

The Schloss-Blog is wondering if slavery was as good for the Jews in Egypt as DeSantis and the Republicans in charge of education in Florida think it was for Blacks.

We're also looking at invading or bombing Mexico and what fuel-efficiency standards set down for 2032 mean for EV development between now and then.

***

Does Ron DeSantis really believe that slavery taught Blacks useful skills?

DeSantis needs some useful skills, like how to lower insurance rates in Florida, how to stop the population loss in Miami-Dade and how to win an arm-wrestling match with a mouse.

He also needs a personality.

And he needs to stop throwing the Florida educators who wrote that disgusting curriculum, at his direction, and take responsibility for it himself, racist that he is.

***

Did you hear the one about the guy who got 18 months in prison for stealing 200,000 Cadbury Creme Eggs?

Because he did.

Really.

***

Hey, I'm as much for EV development as the next guy (the "next guy" is for it, right?).

I mean, Volkswagen is supposedly going to only build electronic vehicles as of 2030.

But what about America's street corners? Will charging stations replace gas stations as the principle places to stop, "refill" and keep your car running?

I doubt it. In fact, the government just released its new fuel-efficiency standards for 2032 that automakers are supposed to live by.

We are supposed to be living in, by then, a 58-mile-per-gallon world by then.

But not a 58-mile-per-volt world.

When all those street corners are recharge stations instead of gas stations, I will purchase an all-electric automobile.

Until then, maybe a hybrid.

Maybe.

***

Republicans reportedly are floating suggestions to bomb and/or invade Mexico to get after the cartels that control the drug traffic so prevalent in this country.

Really.

If they are successful in waging war with Mexico, but lose that war, rumor has it we'll be giving back Texas.

Which means Ted Cruz and family can go to Cancun tax free.

***

Couldn't help but notice that my Giants finally signed Saquon Barkley to a new contract, a franchise tag at an adjusted $11 million.

Daniel Jones, meanwhile, who had a decent year and helped the Giants even win a playoff game, got a 4-year, $160 million contract.

I'm thinking, considering what Saquon means to the offense and the fact that the Giants offense runs through him, not Jones, Saquon should've got the $160 million and Jones the franchise $11 million

***

Donald Trump's Save America PAC has spent virtually all of its money on his legal fees and is now, says the NY Times, "...broke."

He will likely spend the campaign season of the election running from courtrooms in Florida to New York to Washington, D.C.

Couldn't happen to a nicer, more-deserving defendant.

***

Commander, the resident White House dog, is that no more, after reportedly biting as many 10 Secret Service agents.

Who says the Secret Service doesn't protect the president with its blood.

Does it do that for Trump?

***

All I want for Christmas is a Kencore T-shirt.

Not really, but...

***

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

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

Take the GOP and Shove It

The Schloss-Blog is looking at the GOP and thinking it sucks.

Also got some thoughts on Barbie, Verizon's Sadie and the judge who texts and gif's while her court is in session.

But first, back to the GOP. As they continue to support the master criminal running for president, the GOP is proving what it stands for.

The GOP stands for restricting people's right to vote, by restricting their access to the vote, especially people of color.

The GOP stands for restricting women's reproductive rights by passing laws in Red states that outlaw abortion outright or the privilege to one after six weeks of pregnancy, when most women don't even know if they're pregnant.

The GOP stands for restricting the rights of LGBTQ+ people. It stands for restricting the privileges of trans people.

Yet, millions of people still vote for these guys. And these guys continue to support a master criminal for president.

Hillary Clinton was right: the GOP and those who vote for it? Basket of deplorables!

***

I like "Losers."

No, not that those losers, but "Losers: Dispatches from the Other Side of the Scoreboard," the Mary Pilon and Louisa Thomas-edited book of articles and essays about those who lost the championship game, those who came in second at the Olympics or those who committed the error that enabled the other team to ring up the winning score.

"Losers..." (Penguin Random House, 2020), celebrates those who celebrate those who didn't win but came so darn close.

And Pilon and Thomas are just the editors to assemble all that. Pilon is an author, a former NBC Sports producer and former NY Times and Wall St. Journal reporter who has covered the Olympics, as well as so many other major sporting events. Thomas, also an author and a New Yorker staff writer, has contributed to everything from the NY Times to The Atlantic.

They haven't met a second-place finisher they don't like. And face it: do you remember who finished second in the greatest Olympic relay race ever? Do you remember who the losing team was on the only two home runs to ever end a World Series.

That’s who comes to mind for me, but Pilon and Thomas focus on those who write about Floyd Patterson, not a loser but a fighter who lost a big bout. They look at Jeremy Taiwo, the decathlete who finished second to Ashton Eaton, one of the great decathletes of all time. They look at being a fan of cursed teams or cities that had perennial losers, like the streaks in Boston and Philadelphia. It’s not just the stories you know, however. It’s the stories you don’t know but will grab you.

Like the Cubs did all those years. Like the Red Sox did.

After reading this, you'll appreciate them. And their fans.

***

People want Donald Trump to be president. This is insane,

***

Trump says the government underwrote the Jan. 6 riot to cover up its fraudulent elections.

Do you ever wake up and wish he was dead? Except DeSantis would be the Republican frontrunner.

Please see my comments about the GOP, above.

***

Does anyone think 'X' is going to become the all-in-one app that Elon Musk wants it to be?

Neither do I.

Neither does my phone, which still says "Twitter" on the the logo. Elon Musk has a lot of work to do.

***

Barbie asks, "Did you guys ever think about dying?"

I've got to go see the movie.

***

America's Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, admitted in a court filing that he lied and that he defamed when he said poll workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss cheated in the Georgia presidential election vote counting in 2020.

He's also in the process of losing his law license altogether.

Donald Trump sycophants are as big losers as Trump is. Trump doesn't care.

As long as they lie for him.

***

Judge Traci Soderstrom, in Oklahoma, was caught texting and gif'ing while her court was in session, a murder trial no less.

Trump wants her to oversee one of his upcoming trials.

***

Oh lord, I'll be back in overheated Arizona in a few weeks.

It's too hot to play golf. It's too hot to go for a walk. It's too hot to dine alfresco.

It's too effin' hot.

***

Hope you listened this morning when I was on the air on Radio Free Phoenix, subbing for Joe Catanzaro.

Joe’s a golf lover, so he’ll appreciate that Jocelyn won the Women's Division of the famous Benes Family Open Golf Invite on Saturday. She also won the women's long-drive competition.

Our team, with individual men's runner-up Alex Janco, who shot 80, finished second. Joe Bartosch's son J.J., who hits the ball a country mile, was the winner (73).  I shot a very respectable 93 on the difficult Hughes Creek course, contributing to our team's second-place 94.

Just another typical day on the golf course.

***

Are a "phubber?" That's someone who puts his or her relationship at risk by paying more attention to his or her phone than his or her partner.

Think about it.

*** 

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

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