Bracket This!

The Schloss-Blog doesn't usually talk brackets until the NCAA Basketball Tournament, but the College Football Playoff bracket has generated some discussion. So have the Bears. So has Chicago sports in general, where five - count 'em 5 pro teams will have new, full-time head coaches/managers for their 2025 seasons. 

Chicago sports suck.

***

The Chicago Blackhawks only recently fired their head coach and are now being "interim" coached. In other words, thanks for stopping in, Anders Sorenson.

The Chicago White Sox, who set a record for most losses in a season in 2024, will have new manager Will Venable for 2025, promising, as all new mangers and head coaches do, to put a competitive team that will hustle on the field.

Sure you will, Will, sure you will. But can they run the bases, hit the cutoff and get the clutch hit?

Finally, the Bulls - no, wait - have Billy Donovan, who, at five years, is the longest-tenured head coach in Chicago pro sports right now. But with the Bulls perhaps looking to trade their best player (Zach LaVine), will that last?

Those three teams are the ones on the new Chicago Sports Network, which, while available on the satellite networks and Fubo, is not available on Comcast's Xfinity cable network, effectively cutting them off from the vast majority of the Chicago-area market.

So, not only are Chicago-area teams sucking, so is the ability to watch a lot of their action.

The Chicago Fire MLS franchise will have a new coach next season as well, Gregg Berhalter, the former USMNT head coach.

Tyler Marsh takes over as head coach of the Chicago Sky, who are not all that far removed from their WNBA championship year (2021).

They are not what you would call a winner either these days.

***

The United Healthcare CEO shooter (OK, alleged), is a hero online.

People who have beefs with their insurance companies over claim denials are praising him as a hero and companies in the industry have had to "beef up," if you will, security around their executives.

T-shirts are praising the shooter as a hero, the industry as the villains. According to NBC News, there were more than 100 items available for sale online, holding the shooter up to be a hero. "Hoodies, stickers, mugs, and even fake bullets" that include the three words that were on the shell casings found on the scene are popular ("Deny, Defend, Depose").

In the United States of America, who do we love? Luigi Mangione, apparently. 

***

Donald Trump, the president-elect, attended the Army-Navy football game on Saturday. In attendance with him, VP-elect J.D. Vance, Secretary of Defense-designate and alleged drunk and womanizer Pete Hegseth and Daniel Penny, recently acquitted of criminally negligent homicide in the NY Subway strangling case. The ex-Marine restrained a rider in a chokehold who was an apparent nuisance on an NYC train until authorities arrived.

Luigi Mangione couldn't be released yet or Trump might've had him on board as well. Wonder if he'll pardon him upon an almost-certain conviction down the road, along with the hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters Trump has pledged to pardon.

***

Speaking of pardons, does ABC and George Stephanopoulos deserve one?

They will pay Trump $15 million for Stephanopoulos referring to him as "a rapist" in an interview with South Carolina Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace, questioning her support for him in the wake of the E. Jean Carroll civil verdicts against him. Because he was found liable of sexual assault, the jury’s verdict did not mean that Ms. Carroll had “failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word 'rape.'"

Trump's administration is expected to carry on its campaign against mainstream media once he's sworn in, except now, the Department of Justice is likely to bring the fight against, prospectively, the NY Times, MSNBC, et. al.

Of note, Harvard's Laurence Tribe, the esteemed law professor, said in a Blue Sky post that ABC likely wouldn't have paid Trump $15 if he wasn't president-elect.

***

The Onion was denied the opportunity to purchase Alex Jones' "Infowars" website, ostensibly to convert it into a parody of itself.

The bankruptcy court judge who made the ruling said it failed to maximize the amount of money it could've yielded to the families who have long suffered in the wake of Jones' defamation of them since the Sandy Hook school shooting.

Onion owers say they will continue to seek ways to to provide said relief, or, in other words, make even more of a buffoon out of Jones and Infowars.

Hopefully, Onion ownership will win on - aheam - a-peal.

***

There's been so much talk about the College football Playoff bracket, most of it in Alabama.

Or on ESPN.

And it can stay there.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Cheryl Sweet.

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

Speaking of RFP (https://radiofreephoenix.com), welcome back to the airwaves, Cheryl Sweet, now in the 4-8 p.m. slot weekday afternoons (Arizona time, that is). And be with RFP on Christmas Eve, when station-founder and face Andy Olson starts his 36th annual "Rock 'N' Roll Christmas" at 6 p.m. and goes 30 hours straight, live, through all of Christmas Day.  

  

 

The Devils You Say...

 The Schloss-Blog is mad that...

...if the New Jersey hockey team kept "Devils" in its name and got rid of "Red," how come the Tampa Bay baseball team took "Devil" out of its name and kept "Rays?"

Huh?

***

Baseball's prospective "Golden At-Bat Rule" would allow teams to send up the hitter of its choice in a critical situation.

Any situation. At any point in the game of the team's choosing. Just one time per game though.

But why stop at just "Golden At-Bat?"

Why not "Golden Pitch?" Yeah, give teams a chance to use the pitcher of its choice to any batter in any situation?

Why not?

Well, Commissioner Rob Manfred is now saying that perhaps the "Golden At-Bat Rule" is an idea that needs, well, some reconsideration.

Ya' think?

***

Trying to decide what's more difficult: 

Which team should've been left out of the College Football Playoff: 

**Alabama ... or ...

**SMU.

Or what loser should've been left out of Trump's prospective Cabinet:

**Tulsi Gabbard ...  or ... 

**Pete Hegseth?

Although Matt Gaetz did us all a favor.

***

Roman Mendez, 6.

Elisa Wolford, 5.

They were the critically injured victims in a shooting earlier this week at Feather River Adventist School, which is near Oroville, California.

They are 6 and 5, respectively.

They were shot by Glenn Litton, 56, who targeted them and their school before shooting himself. He had a criminal history and could not legally purchase a gun.

But he had a "ghost" gun, you know, one that's made principally from parts assembled from different guns.

Litton supposedly had a problem with Seventh Day Adventists.

America has a problem with "ghost" guns. 

Tell Congress. Yeah, right.

***

Do you watch Sports Center on ESPN?

I do.

It has competent, intelligent and often wickedly, wonderfully sardastic anchors.

So how come the hot female ones try to be hotter by dressing for a news and information program as if they are going out clubbing immediately thereafter.

Or as if they just came in from clubbing all night?

OK, I'm not saying they should dress like "school m'arms." But do they have a disco in the basement of ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut?

I mean, I've heard about the wild parties that are (were?) legendary there... as mentioned in "Those Guys Have All The Fun; Inside The World of ESPN," by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales (2011).

But ladies, really? I think you're good looking but if I want to see you in clubbing attire, I'll take you out dancing.

***

Hey, heard about Sydney Gifford and Alyssa Sheil?

Well, it finally happened. In the world of "Influencers," Gifford sued Sheil, one influencer suing another, claiming she totally copied her ... style.

Yeah, her style.

Specifically, the suit claims Sheil copied "her fonts and camera angles, decorated her apartment to match, got a similar haircut, and featured comparable Amazon products on her social media," according to a report in Fast Company.

These two, 24 and 21, respectively, had reportedly discussed a mutual project when Gifford alleges Sheil copied ... well, everything, and Gifford is asking for as much as $150,000 in damages.

Will be watching their respective TikTok video feeds closely.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you (again), Jordan Grinnell.

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

Deadlines and Commitments

The Schloss-Blog is mad about a newspaper's budget, an HOA's religious sanctimony, Merrick Garland's screw-up and just who is an American enemy anyway, not necessarily in that order.

***

Unmentioned above but seriously concerning was Joe Scarborough and Mike Brzezinski of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" bolting to Florida last weekend to meet up with Donald Trump, who they'd been tearing into visciously the last nine years for his hypocrisy, dishonesty and lack of integrity.

So where was theirs?

***

Radio Free Phoenix, the online station where I do the Sunday night vintage, free-form, underground rock 'n' roll online show and have for more than six years, celebrated its 20th anniversary with a kickass party at Rooster's Country bar and grill in Mesa, Arizona, last Sunday.

Kickass hardly describes it. Founder Andy Olson hosted a star-studded lineup of Phoenix-area rockers who performed, including a rousing set by Summer of Love, which does 1967 hit-music only. They had the whole place dancing to the Monkees and Turtles hits, among other bands.

The 'whole place' included current and former RFP deejays Janie Snyder Pecorella, Joe Catanzaro, Miss Holley (Keri) King, Paul Riopelle, Sharon Kelley, John Hesterman, Cheryl Sweet, John Kirk DeRitis, station voice and face Liz Boyle and yours truly). Plus a roster of Phoenix-area radio all-stars.

RFP merchandise and memorabilia was auctioned off and/or sold and many, many dollars were raised for the commercial-free operation, which otherwise only takes in money on sales of T-shirts and coffee mugs, or on outright donations.

I am honored to be one of the deejays.

***

On a bitter note, if Merrick Garland had started the investigations and prosecutions of Donald Trump immediately upon taking office as Attorney General instead of waiting a year, Trump would've likely been tried and convicted by now and all of this mess would've been avoided.

Thanks for nothing, Merrick. Now Trump is going to likely investigate and prosecute you for no other reason that being Biden's Attorney General.

***

The HOA where I live hangs holiday garnish on its gates every year at this time. Except this year, the HOA apparently took exception to having Jewish-related decorations up and had them taken down with a notation to the people who worked diligently to put them up to the effect of no Hanukkah decorations allowed, period.

I sense antisemitism on the board of directors. No, I don't sense it, I see it. Outright.

***

If China is our enemy for influence in the Pan-Pacific region, among other places, how come we trade so much with them?

And how come Trump wants to screw that up by placing outlandish tariffs on Chinese imports? Go figure, but inflation will soar.

***

The newspaper for which I have been a sports correspondent the last 10 years cut out using all part-timers at the tail end of this high school football season due to budgetary constraints.

It left huge gaps in its coverage of the heart of the football playoff games this weekend, with many games going unstaffed.

For me personally, it meant a one week-premature ending to my sportswriting career, 50 years now. Saw many great games, teams and performers out here the last 10 years, including Brock Purdy, Spencer Rattler and N'Keal Harry and classic games between Centennial and Chaparral, Chaparral and Saguaro, Saguaro and ALA Queen Creek (coached by Ty Detmer) and Horizon and Millenium.

Thank you everyone at Pioneer Press, the Daily Herald and now the Arizona Republic for allowing me to share my words with your readers. It's been a privilege.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Erin Schlossberg.

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

Women in the White House? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Wiomen in the White House

The Schloss-Blog is still mad, but not that Trump won.

Actually, we survived the first Trump Administration, although not everyone did.

Like the 1 million Americans who died from COVID because Trump dismissed it.

And this year, the Democrats who stupidly refused to remind America of that.

And got blown out of the water in the election.

Trump and the Republicans have the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

What could go wrong? What could possibly go wrong? 

***

Is there a conspiracy among TV neetworks?

Every time I change the channel during a commercial break, the channel I switch to is on a commercial break.

Every time.

Does that happen to you too? Isn't if effing frustrating?

Even during football games. I can switch from one game on a timeout to another, and it's on a commercial timeout as well.

No, really.

In different time zones. In a game between teams three different time zones apart.

I'm done channel jumping. 

Until tomorrow night, that is.

***

Since the election, I have not watched a minute of MSNBC or CNN or any network newscast, for that matter.

The NY Times is about all I can handle.

Have been watching Bill Maher, John Oliver, SNL and ... and ... OK, that's about it.

Bill Maher has been spot on, lambasting Democrats for handing the election to the Republicans, scolding them for poor messaging and for forgetting to say that the economy is pretty good right now, that inflation is under control right now and that immigration - well, when was the last time there was a news flash about a caravan making its way through Central America and Mexico?

Like, never.

Four years of Trump, maybe more - yikes!

Two years at least of Republicans controlling Congress.

What could go wrong? What could possibly go wrong?

Besides everything.

***

Good night, Mrs, Calabash. Here's to you, Charli, XCX.

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

And look for pictures on my Facebook and Instagram from the Radio Free Phoenix 20th anniversary party.

Ouch

Schloss-Blog says:

The economy already is good. Trump will take credit.

The economy will be slammed by Trump's tariffs and tax cuts. Trump will not take credit. He'll blame Democrats.

A national abortion bill is on the way. Trump will take credit.

Cuts are coming to entitlements in the name of Elon Musk. Trump will take credit.

The border is already at prepandemic levels for immigration. Trump will take credit.

The border will be closed. Trump will take credit.

Muslims will again be banned from coming to the United Stares. Trump will take credit.

   How are you feeling about that, all you Arab-Americans who voted for Trump?

Israel, in continuing to attempt to exterminate Hamas, will instead exterminate Gaza.

With Trump's full support.

   How are you feeling about that, all you Arab-Americans who voted for Trump?

J.D. Vance is one heart attack away from being president.

***

My social media feed reads like a funeral.

***

Trump will deport both illegal and legal migrants. He's coming for you.

Because of Trump's outright support for Netanyahu's war effort, antisemitism will spike in America.

Ukraine is Putin's.

And when we withdraw from NATO, so is much of Europe, likely.

I'm not gonna' move to Canada. Or any foreign country. However, "moving to Canada" has spiked in search engines. Really.

And if California secedes, I will move there.

***

The answer: Gavin Newsom, J.B. Pritzker, Josh Shapiro and Gretchen Whitmer.

The question: who is already running for president in 2028.

But will Trump step down in 2028? And have the criminal charges against him be brought back up?

Meanwhile, Trump will ask his Attorney General to investigate and prosecute everyone from the Bidens to the Clintons to Jack Smith to Kamala Harris and anyone with a 'D' next to their names. Maybe even true patriots like John Kelly and Mark Milley.

And he'll pardon as many of those those Jan. 6 insuurectionists as he can.

***

Kamala Harris got punished for the inflation that spiked in the wake of Trump's refusal to recognize COVID.

As 1 million Americans died. That dismissal killed them and the economy.

And gave birth to the product shortages that became inflation.

Democrats got punished. In the Senate as well.

***

Meanwhile, get ready to be in line at the grocery store, at the restaurant, at the movie theater with someone with an AR-15 strapped on their back.

Guns will proliferate in our schools. In the name of "protection."

The government will be back in so many of our bedrooms.

Women just became second-class citizens.

Trump was the juggernaut who launched inflation.

Now it got him reelected.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Jordan. Long may you reign in soccer and in fantasy football.

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

And see you, perhaps, at the Radio Free Phoenix 20th anniversary party at Roosters Country in Mesa, Arizona, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2-7 p.m.

Trump killed...

 The Schloss-Blog is mad about...

...Kamala not telling America that Donald Trump killed 1 million of their fellow countrymen with his dismissal of COVID

...and set off inflation with same by causing product shortages as cargo shipments backed up at American ports.

...Trump is running for only one reason:

TO STAY OUT OF JAIL

***

Are you watching the advertising? If you live in a battleground state, you can't help but see it everywhere (Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin).

It's sickening sometimes, what Kari Lake says about Democrat Ruben Gallego, a decorated Marine and true Arizonan.

It's sickening what Bernie Moreno in Ohio says about women.

It's sickening what J.D. Vance says about immigrants.

And women.

And with Donald Trump, it's just plain sickening. About women. About immigrants. About Haitians in Ohio and Venezuelans in Colorado.

His followers believe everything he says.

***

Yet, about one-third to one-half the electorate believe Trump won the 2020 election. They don't care that he's a convicted felon, that he's been proven liable for defamation and SEXUAl ABUSE. That he's been proven liable for fraud.

And that he's had six - count 'em six - bankruptcies, yet he's more trusted to handle the economy.

D'oh.

Hillary Clinton was right - basket of deplorables. If you're a Trump supporter, you're a supporter of racism.

Congratulations.

***

Good night, Mrs.  Calabash. Here's to you, Tyrique Stevenson.

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

Mad About...

First things first:

Happy birthday, John Kirk DeRitis. And party alert: Radio Free Phoenix 20th anniversary celebration at Rooster Country in Mesa, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2-7 p.m. BE THERE.

***

Now then, the Schloss-Blog is mad about ...

...Kamala Harris not scaring me yet. Scare me, or Trump just might win.

Convince me that Trump is going to send the military to arrest me for a speeding ticket.

And let me rot in jail awaiting my hearing.

Scare me.

Scare me that Trump is going to let his police stop and search any assembly of people on a city street.

Anywhere.

Scare me so that I know what Trump will do as president will scare me, if you want to win.

***

Kamala, your ads try to scare people that Trump's going to raise taxes, do away with Social Security and Medicare and ban abortions.

His ads try to scare you into thinking murderers are running around all over the country, illegally having migrated in (even though they didn't).

Which one scares you more, if you're susceptible to that?

Remember, you're running for president, he's running to stay out of jail.

***

Or, alternately...

...remember "weird?" It worked. Get back to it. Be a little lighthearted. It gets under Trump's skin. Shows your sense of humor. Make me laugh, alternately. 

It just might be the knockout punch you're looking for. Bill Maher thinks so.

***

The Schloss-Blog is also mad about ...

...The NY Giants, my NY Giants. They are pathetic. Never repaired the offensive line sufficiently to the point that Saquon Barkely walked. 

To Philadelphia. He walked.

Didn't pay him. Gotta' pay him - best running back in the game. Didn't pay him. You let him walk. Damn

***

...mad about Donald Trump's ability to attract attention by not campaigning

Showing up at a closed-to-the-public McDonald's and doing brainless work. 

Or standing around and brainlessly swaying to music for 39 minutes at a campaign event. 

He is a pathological liar and is cognitively challenged, severely so.

But he's likely going to be the 47th president because Kamala is way too nice in campaigning. Gotta' hit him below the belt. 

You have no knockout punch, Kamala. Better find one.

***

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is paying $880 million to settle sex abuse charges. 

Scary!

***

Some 18 or so million people have already voted.

18 million!!!

The race is already over. People already decided for whom they're going to vote.

A McDonald's fry station trainee might very well be our next president, even though he's a disgusting human being.

*** 

Kamala, your messaging sucks. 

You keep running around the country telling the same old stories about working at McDonald's, caring for your mother and coming from a poor household.

Nobody cares.

Remind people that your administration solved COVID while Trump killed 1 million Americans by dismissing COVID. Remind them you created more jobs than any other administration while Trump lost more than any.

But you won't. You're using Biden's advisors and he was 7 points behind with them. You have not sustained your post-convention boost. 

Why?

Because your messaging sucks. I stand behind you with unwavering support. Now start scaring undecided voters and Nikki Haley voters into voting for you. 

I can't do it for you. Or else that music-swaying, cognitively challenged idiot just might win.

*** 

Good night, Mra. Calabash. Here's to you, Kamala.

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

Fighting Mad

 The Schloss-Blog is mad about ...

Kamala not reminding the U.S. that Trump killed 1 million Americans during COVID;

...or that Trump started us down the road toward unbound inflation with his dismissal of COVID and the subsequent product and supply shortages that ensued, and...

...Kamala not reminding us that Trump is a convicted felon, 

...Kamala not reminding us Trump has been found liable for sexual abuse;

...and defamation of character;

...and liable for business fraud;

...and has had six businesses go belly up (but you trust him on the economy);

...and lies more often than he tells the truth;

...and cheats on his wife with porn stars;

...and Playboy bunnies;

...and wants to grab women by the p___y;

...just walk up to them and grab them by the p___y.

***

The Bears want a new lakefront stadium (the current 'new' one is a whole 20 years old, cost $632 million).

So how do you get a new multibillion-dollar stadium? You win.

How do you win? You get a pattycake schedule, which is just what the NFL gave the Bears, the league's way of showing its support for the new construction, which will be a moneymaker. Winning teams get new stadiums.

However, my college intramural team could beat the Bears schedule for the first half of the season.

But say hello to the new stadium on the lake. When the city and state get what they want in financial commitments from the Bears and the league, that is, then they'll sign off on it.

Just a matter of time. Sorry, Arlington Heights. But the old racetrack grounds are going to look good as a combination commercial/residential development.

Geez, I hope they keep that Starbucks I like on Euclid Avenue.

***

James Carville, the election consultant guru, says the best communication is the kind  that moves you emotionally, scares you, perhaps.

C'mon, Kamala, scare me. Please.

***

Will Donald Trump grant pardons to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrectionists?

Already, six people to whom he granted clemency during his first term have been charged with crimes again.

Does that answer the question? Believe him when he says he'll do it, that he'll put hundreds of criminals back on the street.

Don't let him.

***

Did you see Trump's sway session to the music for 39 minutes instead of taking more questions at a town hall?

He is cognitively impaired and afraid of himself, afraid of losing, afraid of going to jail.

Yikes!

***

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

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

 

Why War? NY Times says Netanyahu, Hamas Want It

The Schloss-Blog needs to hear the Kamala campaign saying:

**Trump insulted Detroit - in Detroit (she did, finally!).

**Trump insulted Blacks, at the National Association of Black Journalists

**Trump insulted parents, especially women, with his empty, heartless comment on child care at the New York Economic Club

**Trump insults all immigrants and will deport all of them - ALL OF THEM - even the legal ones and especially the ones from his so-called "sh_thole" countries.

**Trump and Vance lie pathologically: about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, and Aurora, Colorado. About FEMA's response to Hurricane Milton.

**Trump has a "concept" on healthcare - he's had it since 2015.

Let him have it, between the eyes, right to the jaw. C'mon Kamala.

Kamala, the most-effective ads are the ones like the "liar" messages Ruben Gallego uses against Kari Lake, with real voters speaking out loud about her outlandish positions on abortion and that she won the gubernatorial election (she didn't). Two years later, she's still suing to be appointed governor of Arizona. Meanwhile, she already lost a defamation suit filed against her by the Maricopa County Recorder, whom she accused of dishonesty and fraud in that 2022 election.

Remember, Kamala, you are running for president. Trump is running for his life, to stay out of prison, possibly for the rest of his natural life, and will do anything, ANYTHING. You, Kamala, are running to save our lives. Will you do anything ... to save my life, our lives? You should. What are you waiting for?

Kamala needs a 'knockout punch" to solidify her campaign, clinch victory. Maybe Trump will give her one with his violent, out-of-control rhetoric. Trump's negative ads about you are leaving you with a black eye. When are you gonna' give him one?

***

Meanwhile, the war in Gaza rumbles on, for several reasons, but mainly because: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set unreasonable paramters for victory, virtually unreachable. Hamas, on the other hand, just wants to survive and keep fighting and getting sympathy.

And while Israel tries to seek out and kill Hamas leaders, they allegedly hide out among the general population and with the surviving hostages, making it that much more difficult for the Israelis to accomplish their goals. 

It's time for the United States to step in and end this. Somehow.

***

Border crossings and inflation are at levels as low as they've been at in many years. And the stock market is at record highs.

The economy is good. Trump's record with business sucks and leaves a trail of bankruptcies  in its wake.

Yet, polls show he's most trusted to handle the economy and immigration.

It's deplorable.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Jordan and Erin.

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

War

The Schloss-Blog is concerned that we'll be going to war, along with Israel, against Iran, which vastly outnumbers and out-weapons Israel, even though the Israelis are the far superior fighting force.

When Hezbollah invades, when Iran declares war after Israel's next retaliatory attack, how will Israel offset Iran's advantages in numbers?

With the help of the United States. At first, it will be our planes and missiles fired from the sea. But how long, if war breaks out between Israel and Iran, before U.S troops are on the ground?

And with Donald Trump in the White House, Netanyahu has a green light to go full scale, accompanied by what he knows will be Trump's permission and promise to commit to combat.

Trump says he wants to stop the killing. But ultimately, he'll sacrifice American lives in the Middle East and destroy what relationships we have with the Arab world.

Meanwhile though, Antony Blinken will shuttle around the Middle East, campaigning for peace, but how did that work out between Russia and Ukraine? Between Israel and Hamas? 

And where are the hostages? Dead or dying. And while we campaign for peace and humantarian aid, we feed the "good guys" with the weapons they need to hold off the "bad guys," aka terrorists and invaders.

As we should. Right? They're terrorists, right? Yes, they are.

Is this any way to conduct a ceasefire negotiation?

Above all though, remember - Hamas is the bad guys here. Bad guys need to be gotten rid of.

*** 

Did anyone notice that Donald Trump lost a debate to someone he says is "mentally disabled?"

***

And in sports...

The Knicks got Karl-Anthony Towns.

Yes!!!

Stephen A. Smith will be happy - he wanted the Knicks to get rid of Julius Randle.

This trade makes me a little sad. There was a time when any major move by the Knicks would've prompted an immediate phone call from bestie Gary Kruh, with whom I grew up in Brooklyn. We would've lamented or cheered long distance for hours over such a move.

Or over getting Mikal Bridges. Or over the secret weapon throw-in in the Towns' trade - draft rights to James Nnaji.

We would've discussed the plusses and minuses for hours.

We were devout Knicks fans - along with Keith Corbin, we went to Knicks playoff games, stood in long lines for tickets, rode New York subways late at night on the way home and even went to Bill Bradley's first game as a member of the Knicks at the old Madison Square Garden.

Gary's been gone for 15 years now. Somewhere though, he's smiling.

R.I.P. And let's go Knicks.

***

One last sports and entertainment note: within a couple of days of each other, the sports world lost Pete Rose and Dikembe Mutombo and then we lsot entertainment superstar Kris Kristofferson.

Sadly, Pete Rose, I'll bet, will be enshrined now into MLB's Hall of Fame.

You watch.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Sharon Kelley.

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

Tramp

Here's what the Schloss-Blog is taking note of politically:

Trump is only trusted on the economy because of "The Apprentice." Kamala, where's that ad? In actuality, he's a failure; all those bankruptcies. And Trump media might be next. It's teetering, and if Trump sells his shares, cashes out, he'd be taking and leaving many of his friends and investors screwed. Kamala, where's that ad?

***

Trump said in the 2016 campaign that he'd be in the office, "working (his) ass off," not playing golf all the time, like he accused Obama of doing. So, he played golf for just about a full one year of his presidency, 307 times, 25% of the time he was in office. The rest of the time, he never came out of his living quarters until about 11 a.m. everyday and just walked around the White House, seeing what channels the TVs were on and ordering them onto Fox News if they were on MSNBC or CNN. He never took his Presidential Daily Briefings seriously. Kamala, where's that ad?

***

Trump and Vance keep saying that Haitians are eating people's pet dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio. So far, it has caused bomb threats around town and general animosity and outright hatred toward that legal, hardworking community. Trump and Vance are racists. Kamala, where's that ad?

***

We all know he's a convicted felon. For now, at least. Sexual abuser.  In other words, he's a pig. Kamala, where's that ad?

***

Trump repeatedly dismissed COVID, including his famous it's at 15, going down to zero reference. What happened? It mushroomed into a mega-person death machine, killing more than a million Americans, bootstrapping the economy and backing up ports around the country. It left stores with shortages of goods and Americans subsequently paying ridiculous prices for goods and services. In other words, it was Trump, who so many Americans say they trust with the economy who sank the economy. Kamala, where's that ad?

***

So, are you better off than you were four years ago? Trump says COVID knocked him off course. Of course, he failed to deal with it either, so, no wonder. The economy is doing better now than it was doing pre-pandemic. Yet, polls show pretty much consistently that Trump, with all his failures, is trusted more on handling the economy than Kamala is. It is, according to many, because of his reality-show reputation on "The Apprentice." 

But "The Apprentice" is not the economy and now comes new polling showing Kamala shortening the gap between her and Trump on handling the economy. This is especially as Kamala can hang her hat on people's confidence in the economy, in their own buying power, in their real wage growth, which has outpaced inflation for a year-and-a-half now and the stock market, which has posted record gains everyday as it pads people's retirements.

America is not a game show and Trump is a business failure, disinterested in running America and poised to ruin the economy, as studies by Penn-Wharton and Goldman Sachs reveal without exception. Trump's tariffs will blow the roof off inflation and kill America's pocketbooks disastrously.

And now comes new polling that Kamala, not Trump, will handle the economy better going forward. Yeah, Kamala. 

***

Yet, Trump keeps on lying. And lying. He'll say anything to stay out of prison, which is the only reason he's running for president.

In his Aug. 8 news conference at Mar-a-Lago, he lied 162 times. In one hour.

And made outright 32 false claims in his April interviews with Time Magazine.

In a speech to the National Guard Association of the United States, he claimed he created the Veterans Choice healthcare program.

No, Obama did that. Trump extended it though.

He claimed China will pay the preposterous tariffs he's proposing.

Nope, consumers pay that.

It's an endless list, right down to Haitians eating cats and dogs. It's gotten so bad, Haitians have filed criminal charges against him.

Will he get arrested when he shows up there, as he's promised to do.

Hopefully.

***

Bottom line, minstream media gives Trump a pass on lies. Stories should always start with,"Trump lied," regardless of the topic (economy, forgeign policy, immigration). Then tell the story. Bjut they never do...

The economy is great and getting better (hiring, jobs, GDP, inflation, wages). Kamala, where's that ad?

In other words, Kamala, your messaging needs freshening.

***

On another note: The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) is reporting that 12 prep players have died this year due to football injuries.

Twelve!

The Association told The Daily Herald of Illinois that "it's something to be concerned about" but it's also "probably the safest it's ever been."

Twelve dead is not safe enough for me and this is my 50th year covering high school football.

Not safe enough...

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Erin - congrats on your surfing adventure.

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

Albany, Aces, Ads

The Schloss-Blog is back from Albany, and East Berne, where we visited with my Gamma Delta Chi fraternity brothers and their significant others in a glorious party weekend. It all came up aces, a constant flow of conversation that seemed as though it picked up where it had left off - in 1972, 1973 or 1974.

One other highlight - a quick ride out to East Berne, where I attended Camps Orinsekwa Sonnikwa for 16 summers, the longest-tenured camper-turned-counselor/waterski instructor.

There is nothing left of the camp grounds, now desolate, overgrown, the bunks razed, the magnificent waterfront facility gone. 

But East Berne, on the other hand, thrives. Maple Inn on the Lake, Warner Lake, that is, which I glided all over as a skier, is a popular cocktail spot and dinner-gathering place, right on the lake, viewing the tiny cabins so many people still own on the mile-long body of water. Pics I took are up on Facebook.

After a delicious lunch, coconut shrimp superb and a glass of wine, we cruised around to the old sites: the former Maple Inn; the boarded up Duke's Ice Cream parlor; and the closed-up Ted Quay's gas station. Wasn't much else to town and there still isn't. Blink when you drive through on old State Route 443 (nee, 43) and you'll miss it.

But not the memories.

***

As much as I could remininsce, there is a world going on. Trump and Vance continue to lie, about everything, in a media landscape thats doesn't even call them about it hardly because it's all they do. NY Times, you are letting us down.

Trump will let the United States, the world down. Bigly.

Go ahead, vote for him - his tariffs will raise prices and set inflation off amok. His tax proposals will benefit the rich and balloon the deficit, four times as much as Kamala's would.

Go ahead, vote for him and good luck with both your money and your rights, because they're both disappearing.

Good luck.

***

Deportation.

Trump plans to deport everyone who is not a white nationalist.

OK, not that drastic, but close. If you weren't born in the United States, you could be gone, perhaps even if you're a naturalized citizen.

I mean, he would've deported Obama if 44 had not had a birth certificate proving he'd been born in the United States.

There's even word of immigrant camps where those awaiting deportation would be held, pending hearings deciding their fates.

Only to be deported anyway. Because if you come from a sh_thole country, you're gone.

Oh what fun.

Go ahead, vote for Trump. Then send me a postcard from the sh_thole country from which you end up, or from "camp."

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, GDX wives.

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

Rest in peace, Al McCoy.

Me Howie, UAlbany

This special edition Schloss-Blog spent the weekend remembering, from back in his college days, that what happens in Albany, stays in Albany (to quote a good friend).

***

Great to spend time with my fraternity brothers of yore at our old stomping grounds, Albany, NY, where we all attended SUNY Albany.

Between swapping stories, remembering old times (some good, some not as good) and reintroducing ourselves to each other, we found time to take over Fort Orange Brewing Company and drink a night away. Then we took over the Elm Avenue Park's large pavilion and ate and drank an afternoon away, mixing in some friendly cornhole competition (there's no such thing as "friendly" competition in Gamma Delta Chi).

Showing off our magnificent, modern GPS skills, some of actually found the "Large Pavilion" on the first try, or, as Corky recalls, we kept on effing going. So did the stories.

Twenty-eight of us, and spouses, partied and reminisced about tales of zipping down the Thruway to Yonkers Raceway to place a sure bet on a horse that couldn't miss - until it did. Or recalling how, two years in a row, our dorm overlord and then the university housing director, respectively, decided to consider evicting a quartet of us for having - heavens to Betsy - a refrigerator in our suite (fraternities at the time were housed in designated sections of campus dorms because they had - ahem - "misbehaved" too often in the city of Albany and were subsequently "sentenced" back to campus for "oversight").

But a refrigerator, c'mon, how are you supposed to keep the beer cold?

So enamored were we with each other and our spouses that hardly anyone paid attention to the college football games on TV we had going in our hospitality suite - instead the banter flew, the drink flowed and the pizza got chomped on.

Would like to mention some names here but then I'd have to mention all of them and there's not enough room here for that. But there's plenty of room for all of them in my heart.

***

While the reunion rambled on, and we did leave the Hilton Garden Inn standing, the world kept spinning.

And spinning. Haitians are now "persona non grata" in MAGA America. Not only do Donald Trump and J.D. Vance lie over and over, they admit they do and they get cover from their fellow Republicans in Congress and all over.

Well, not from, of all people, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who called out Trump for being close to - yuck - Laura "Loomy" Loomer. All she does is contend that 9/11 was an "inside" job. Trump says, that's cool.

Kamala won the debate though. Now, if she can only win the election too.

***

Meanwhile, back the reunion, everybody headed home. To New Jersey. To Long Island. To Chicago. To Phoenix. To Tampa. To Dayton. To Colorado.

Plans were discussed to get together down the line, in small groups. In Arizona. In Florida. In some warm weather clime.

Hopefully, it'll happen.

Hopefully.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, GDX wives.

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

Trump Stock Has No Value

The Schloss-Blog, paying attention to the markets, has noticed that they always bounce back. Always.

But speaking of markets, what do Donald Trump's Truth Social and Donald Trump's word have in common? They are both worthless and still sinking.

Trump's Truth Social media outlet continues to lose money daily and its value had shrunk by 75% since coming on the market, although it was a creative merger with a benefactor's shell company that established the original value.

SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT as Donald himself would likely type in all caps on his outlet. By the way, anyone notice he has been tweeting again on Twitter - uh, X - lately, since his DJT, as it's seen in its listing, has been sinking. It also has rapidly diminshing revenue.

Even if Trump cashed out now, he'd bring in less than the $2 billion his stock is worth after taxes and fees. It was worth $6 billion-plus once. It'll never get back to that.

Like everything else he touches, it's a loser.

Like his word.

Maybe you heard him describe childcare in his recent economic remarks to the New York Economic Club. He said "child care is ... child care.." and we must take care of it.

Huh?

Both Goldman Sachs and Penn-Wharton have declared after careful examination that Trump's economic plans - including massive tariffs on Chinese goods, would shrink the economuy, where Kamala's plans would put the economy on a growth path and keep it there.

Huh?

This is the same man who changed directions in a political-rally speech to tell attendees he'd rather die by being electrocuted by the battery of a sinking boat than by being eaten by a nearby shark.

Huh?

You want Trump in charage of the economy? Six of his companies, including his casinos, have gone belly up. How do you go bankrupt in the casino busines?

Good luck, MAGA world, good luck.

***

Republicans are secretly rooting for Harris to swamp Trump, big time, so they can finally get rid of him and get their party back. 

No, really.

They just won't say it out loud for fear of Trump shaming them and his followers doxing and swatting them.

***

**No cell phones in school. Educators are continually saying to keep cell phones out of the classroom or keep them off in the classroom to enable students to get caught up, increase learning achievement scores and erase educational losses suffered during learn-from-home sessions during COVID. But is it the right move? Or should they be learning how to use them responsibly?

**Polling averages compiled by the NY Times show Kamala Harris leading or deadlocked with Donald Trump across the board in battleground states, although within the margin of error throughout. However, Biden trailed Trump by 5-9 points in all those polls, so Harris clearly has the momentum and it is growing. Just ask any shark or captain with a sinking boat with an underwater battery. She's going to beat him and his constant referencing of unsubstantiated fraud claims shows how nervous he is.

**Stay away from Acadia Health for treatment. More than 50 of their former executives testified that the healthcare giant keeps behavioral and mental-health patients virtually imprisoned to garner financial benefits.

**A French man is on trial for repeatedly drugging his wife and literally recruiting dozens upon dozens of men to rape her in her unconscious or subconscious state. You mean, there's a French Jeffrey Epstein?

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Happy 45th birthday, ESPN.

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

Gamers, Dating, Tax Credits and the U.S. Open

The Schloss-Blog is wondering .. can you meet someone interesting enough with whom to be in a relationship who's a gamer or through a dating app anymore?

Gen Z'ers are more and more saying no.

Fake profiles, distrust of dating-app companies and fresher prospects on other social media are just some of the reasons why.

Do you trust dating apps? For you? For your kids? Your grandkids?

Not only that, but people who "game" a lot are not likely desirable dating partners, let alone life partners. Per the National Bureau of Economic Research, don't date a gamer because those who don't game are much more attractive.

You want a gamer? They come with baggage, and a controller, a headset and a mouse.

***

Six hostages found dad, likely killed just before Israeli troops emerged upon them in a Hamas Gaza tunnel.

Die, Hamas, die, but bring the remaining hostages home first.

***

Feeling risky, brave?

You too can have Dinner in the Sky. 

Suspended in midair over a metro area and being willing to pay hundreds, or more, you can eat some markets hanging over it all.

Literally. Take a look. This is for real.

Not only that, there are an increasing number of places around the country, around the world, to do it.

Yes, even at the Willis Tower in Chicago, sort of.

Good luck with that.

***

Kamala Harris says she supports a $25,000 tax credit for those families trying to finance a house, especially for the first time, as they feel priced out in a housing market short on units and high on prices and interest rates.

Trump's plan, per a NY Times report, is "pledging to deport undocumented immigrants, which could cut back temporarily on housing demand but would also most likely cut into the construction work force and eventually limit new housing supply."

He also plans to bring down interest rates, but Jerome Powell is way ahead of him on that.

You tell me, which way do you want to finance a house?

***

I love tennis, love it.

The U.S. Open is the ultimate event where Grand Slam sweep hopes go to die. Just ask Serena.

This year, the U.S. Open is dying, or at least the top seeds are.

Carlos Alcaraz, gone. Novak Djokovic, gone.

So the winner will, finally, for the first time in 21 years, be an American, right?

Frances Taifoe. Taylor Fritz. Tommy Paul.

The guy who beat Alcaraz, the immortal Botic van de ZandeSchulp, is already out in straight sets in his next match,

The guy who beat Djokovic is likely to be out shortly, Of course you all know Alexei Popyrin.

Not.

Italy's Jannik Sinner is still around, PED accusations notwithstanding, 

Looks like Andy Roddick's place as the last American to win in Queens will stand another year.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, hostage families. You deserve better.

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

Red Flags, Hugs, Handshakes and Caleb Debuts

Schloss-Blog watching so much stuff on the heels of the Democratic National Convention...

But first... I never want to be on the road with the two lunatics in the Safelite commercials. They are dangerous, careless and clearly unobservant of the things around them on the road.

Hopefully, they are not representative of their Gen Z generation.

***

Kamala is ready to be president. Trump just whines and whines and whines. Tiresome. I stand by my prediction: Trump will skip the debate on Sept. 10 because he knows he'll be blown out. This is not a rematch with a stumbling Biden; it's a matchup with a capable prosecutor who will have the answers for everything and will over and over remind Trump that he is a convicted felon.

***

Maybe the Bears will have a great season. They have an easy, early schedule with only two playoff teams from last year in their first nine games and no division games at all, which means no Lions or Packers.

In their preseason game against Cincinnati, Caleb Williams, for all his talent and athleticism, was about to have a fourth straight 3-and-out until Cincinnati committed a dumb pass interference penalty which allowed the nifty pass and catch with Rome Odunze everyone raved about against a bunch of Cincinnati second-stringers.

But Wlliams is going to be good and the Bears schedule will help him develop quickly against weak opposition.

***

Staying in touch with lots of former students, I hear horror dating stories, especially pertaining to dating apps.

The NY Times knows why.

In its July 26 "Well" newsletter, one reason to be cautious is if your date says every ex has“been a horrible, borderline-crazy person,” and that just might be what He (or she) is saying about you down the road. Red flag.

Or if you're in a relationship in which you have "rose-tinted glasses on." take some advice from friends who don't and offer up a precautionary message, especially about that significant other who has had a bunch of ex's who were those horrible, borderline-crazy persons.

Want more? Check out the "Well" newsletter item, linked above.

***

Some quick post-DNC observations:

**Trump is still talking about "Black" jobs and has even expanded to "Hispanic" jobs.

**Michelle Obama for president. Or at least a Cabinet post.

**Trump is so desperate he was posting to Truth Social at a rapid pace in real time with Kamala's acceptance speech. He can't stand her stealing his media time.

**The Fox anchors at the DNC, to whom Trump called in during Kamala's speech, cut him off while he was griping to them.

**Does Robert Kennedy Jr quitting the race make a difference?  Not much, probably. People backing him didn't want Trump or Biden.

**Trump is unhinged, so where are Mark Esper, Mad Dog Mattes and John Kelly, the former Trump administration officials who know he's a danger to democracy. They need to do more to prevent the catastrophe that is Trump.

***

Do you play golf, watch it? 

Men shake hands after a round. Women hug.

Huh?

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Kamala Harris.

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

I Like My Keurig (Just Not My Machine)

The Schloss-Blog loves its coffee.

OK, decaf. 

But ... me and my Keurig machine are gonna' have, as Joe Biden would say, "a come-to-Jesus" talk.

***

Other than Tramp insulting everyone who ever wore a U.S. military uniform, the Schloss-Blog has noticed this week that his Keurig machine is making good coffee...

...and leaving a trail of drip along the way.

The damn machine drips, and drips and drips.

All over the kitchen counter. It soaks a rag or towel I leave underneath it. It takes a few days, but it does.

I've checked every discussion group I could find online for clues and tips and I've heard it all.

*Don't refill the container with the cartridge open (I never do);

*Only use filtered water (I always do);

*Don't leave it full overnight (I never do);

*Clean it with vinegar (my wife always does).

That's it - out of ideas. This has happened with all three Keurigs we've owned in two diffferent houses. Keurig has even replaced - on warranty - two of them - so that makes five we've owned.

They still leak.

Got any ideas? We're open to suggestions, because the coffee's pretty good but the kitchen counter is pretty wet.

***

Tramp just can't help himself.

Now he's calling the civilian Presidential Medal of Freedom more important, more significant than the Medal of Honor for military killed or wounded in action.

The latter goes to he that “distinguishes himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty."

The former goes to those who “have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors."

You tell me which one is more significant. You tell me, if you're from a military or Gold Star family, which award is more significant, more meaningful, more endearing.

And you tell me, if you're from one of those families, are you voting for Tramp or Kamala? The guy who calls soldiers "losers and suckers" or the woman who will uphold American dignity around the world?

Not a hard choice.

***

Tramp's Virginia campaign headquarters were broken into. There were no indications that thieves found anything to do with the economy, inflation, immigration or even treating COVID-19.

Tramp reported $300,000 in sales of his customized Bible. At $59.95, that's about 5,000 bibles. That's not a lot.

Pays for about one day of his lawyers' fees.

***

Do you watch "Law & Order' and "Chicago P.D.?"

If you do, you know that in the latter, when police on scene call for medical help, they radio in for an "ambo."

On the former, police call in for a "bus."

Let's hope if you need assistance, you don't get a Chicago cop in NY calling in for you.

***

I'm a big news watcher but I'm finding that Americans get so much of their information from TikTok. that in mind, I am believing that America's leading TV newscasters are John Stewart on "The Daily Show" and "John Oliver on "Last Week Tonight."

Which make HBO and Comedy Central America's leading news networks.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mariska Hargitay.

More Sunday Night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show and next week, our look back at the Democratic National Convention.

Debby, "Rich," Pitbull Stadium and Straight Women Have Fewer What..?

The Schloss-Blog is tracking Debby, she's a raging downer, Pitbull's stadium, Taylor Swift and terrorism (wha..?) and why we love Tim Walz.

***

Well, Debby hung around long enough, didn't she?

Tropical Storm nee Hurricane Debby finally went off shore this weekend after wreaking havoc from the Gulf Coast to the Maine coast. There was seven inches of rain in parts of northern New York. I went to college in northern New York.

Ouch!

I can't remember too many storms that hit Florida, went off into the Atlantic, came back to hit the Carolinas and then wind northward through the Eastern Seaboard, not while I was growing up in New York, especially.

Debby downer indeed.

***

Going to a Florida International University (FIU) football game this fall?

Pitbull will be there.

The south Florida school will have the south Florida rapper at every game this year as his name becomes the name on the school's football stadium.

What's next - Gloria Estefan center court for FIU basketball?

***

On his "Hot Ones" podcast, influencer Sean Evans, all of 23, interviews celebrities and pits them against hot wings to see if they can stand up to them.

Is there an influencer catefory for interviewing Arizona high school football to see if they can stand up to my red-hot questioning?

No.

***

The Olympics are rockin'. 

U.S. basketball - rockin'! U.S. track and field - rockin' out! Did you see those 4x400 relays?

U.S. gymnastics - so rockin'! Soccer? Oh yeah!

NBC telecasts? Not so much. Too many "playing through" inserts, difficult scoreboards to read with small, no-contrast type faces and just way so much promotion for NBC's fall lineup that I can recite it by heart.

***

Teenagers were threatening to disrupt Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna with a terrorist attack on the venues.

Tay-Tay, it's time to endorse Kamala.

***

Donald Tramp was all over Kamala when the market slid last week. Now they're back but his polling numbers against Kamala aren't.

Straight women have fewer orgasms than lesbians. No, really. 

Tim Walz is a former teacher and coach. I'm a former teacher and sportswriter. No wonder I love the guy.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Sean Evans.

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

Tramp Should Be A Prisoner

The Schloss-Blog is welcoming home Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmesheva, which is more than what Tramp offered up in response to the prisoner exchange.

In fact, in his stinging social media post, Tramp blasted the Biden administration for the swap and in that lengthy diatribe, never, ever welcomed them home or thanked goodness for their safe arrival.

Never in that initial reaction.

Never.

Of course, he had boasted repeatedly that he alone could get Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter, home and that Putin would release him once he was president again.

Why wait that long to make the call to Putin, ass-wipe?

***

Tramp continues to display his cowardice, canceling the presidential debate on ABC in September and calling for it to be on Tramp-friendly Fox News.

That's OK, Donald - Kamala doesn't want to debate someone who relies on racist and mysoginistic tropes as his primary campaign themes.

America doesn't want to see it either.

***

Know what the difference is between Hillary Clinton's "basket of deplorables" and J.D. Vance's "childless cat ladies?"

Hillary was right.

***

Seventeen-year olds were all over the news last week.

A 17-year old derailed a train in Nebraska by misaligning a track-change switch. causing some $300,000 in damages all told.

A 17-year old, meanwhile, walked into a dance studio in Southport, England, and began stabbing people taking part in a Taylor Swift-themed dance event.

Really.

Two children - children - were killed and nine others seriously injured.

A suspect is in custody in both cases.

Seventeen-years-old.

Seriously.

WTF is going on?

***

On a brighter note, the Olympics have been downright entertaining, as they should be.

The U.S. Men's U-23 soccer team advanced to the knockout round, first time in 24 years.

And then got knocked out, but that's OK.

The women's team? They beat stubborn Japan in the quarterfinals, which stubbornly played not to lose, until it did, 1-0. Trinity Rodman, you rock in the tradition of your dad.

So much for my soccer bias...

...but how about Katie Ledecky? She's now the most-decorated U.S. female athlete in Olympic history.

Isn't it a thrill watching her, or any U.S. athletes for that matter, on the podium, the American Flag hanging behind them, the Star Spangled Banner playing? You know it sends a chill down your spine, you know it does.

And it's great.

Here's to all the U.S. winners, who have given the Americans a big advantage in total medals won.

Deservedly so.

Including you, Stephen Nedoroscik, you Rubik's Cube freak, you, and your U.S. Men's Gymnastic teammates.

And you Simone Biles and teammates.

Thanks for the thrills.

***

The biggest Olympic story, however? 

Leon Marchand elected mayor of Paris.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Trinity Rodman.

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

Biden to Harris and D-E-I Don't Believe The GOP Is This Low

Biden is out. Kamala is in. And the Schloss-Blog is behind ... LeBron for VP.

***

Not kidding. Why not LeBron for VP?

He's old enough (only 5 months younger than Vance, the GOP racist/mysogynist nominee). He's more popular than Vance, and than Tramp (his new, official nickname in anything I post).

LeBron gives Dems Ohio, something they haven't had since Obama beat Romney.

LeBron has already won in Ohio (for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016). Vance changed his mind in Ohio, going from a Tramp-hater to a Tramp kiss ass.

LeBron is outspoken on the social issues that carry the day with suburban moms and most Democrats anywhere, transversing progressive and moderate lines.

He makes sense, he's down to Earth and caring, especially contrasted against the mysogynistic and racist tropes of Tramp and Vance.

LeBron for Vice President. He won't get it, but doesn't it sound good? Kamala, give him a Cabinet post, at the very least.

***

Everyone has been saying that Biden couldn't beat Tramp, especially after the disastrous debate performance he put in.

I've ben saying it since January, every time I witnessed video of Biden walking feebly across the tarmac to a gaggle of reporters before boarding Air Force 1 or across the White House lawn before boarding Marine 1.

I've repeatedly said he needed to get in a gym, get some sun, get some color, and not just some color on his staff or in his Cabinet. He's already got that.

Been saying for many months he needed to take some Fruit & Fiber or some supplement that would pep him up.

But he hasn't. Or if he has, it didn't show on him.

Is he sick? Parkinson's? Something else. There's been a Parkinson's doctor, reportedly, repeatedly at the White House for many visits for many months now.

One positive though, besides the monumental momentum that Kamala has gathered: Biden always said that one primary reason he was running again was that he felt he was the only Democrat who could beat Tramp, as he's beaten him before.

Although few Democrats believe that now, they might want to reconsider, because in stepping aside for Harris, Biden just might have beaten Tramp after all.

Well, Tramp did just fall out of a coconut tree, yknow!

***

Tramp is chickening out of a second debate he knows he'll lose.

Yeah, you know, against the women he calls, lyin'.

Funny - next time Tramp tells the truth will be the first time.

Meanwhile, Harris is all ready.

Tramp is a coward, a convicted one.

***

Jennifer Coolidge is tremendously goofy in the Discover ad campaign. But apparently, she calls Discover at all hours of the day and night - just to chit chat.

Really? Who does that?

***

With the Olympics coming to L.A. in 2028, can you imagine if President Tramp gets to give a welcoming speech to athletes?

He'd still be griping and dishing tropes about the 2020 election. At the Opening.Ceremonies.

Please vote for Kamala.

***

If Tramp wins, prosecutions brought by the Special Counsel go away.

If Kamala wins, the rule of law wins.

If Tramp wins, the Department of Education goes away.

If Kamala wins, Ten Commandment banners are removed from classrooms.

If Tramp wins, tariffs on everything and higher prices, subsequently, for everyone.

If Kamala wins, inflation keeps going down and the economy keeps growing.

If Tramp wins, infrastructure disappears. So do jobs.

If Kamala wins, infrastructure remains and expands as the mantra for the United States that is already is.

If Tramp wins, the national debt skyrockets.

If Kamala wins, the only thing that skyrockets is national enthusiasm.

If Tramps wins, well, you know...

***

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

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

 

 

How Both Sides Lost An Election

The Schloss-Blog has detected that there is a lot of evidence that both sides are trying to lose this presidential election.

***

If you've heard Trump's hateful, spiteful rhetoric, like his acceptance speech at the Republican concvention, you know he's trying to lose.

Then again, if you saw Biden's performance in the presidential debate, you know he's trying to lose.

Right now, based on polling, especially in the so-called battleround states, Biden is succeeding more.

In losing.

He trails Trump in all seven so-called battlegound states.

All seven.

If the election were today, Trump would be president again.

We can't have that in America. But it appears we will.

Unless Biden steps aside.

***

Kamala Harris for president?

She's got nothing going for her.

Nothing.

Which might be how to beat Trump. What could Republicans attack her for, besides being a minority, being a female?

A Black female.

With the ability to beat Trump badly in a debate. 

Really, what are they going to attack her for?

Maybe her vice presidential selection. Maybe.

***

What can she attack Trump for?

Hateful, spiteful rhetoric? Racist policy? Piling on the debt with his tax and trade policy? Setting the economy back decades.

Lying. Lying. Lying. Lying. And also lying.

Trying to overthrow an election, a government.

It seems that might not be enough though.

***

How about guns?

The homicide rate, by gunfire, is 22 times higher in the Unitesd States than in the European Union.

And the murder rate in the United States is down.

Way down.

What else do you need?

Hey Democrats, why aren't we hearing about this?

Maybe your messaging, as always, sucks.

***

A CrowdStrike software update failure set the United States - and everyone everywhere else, back. Way back.

On land. Train schedules were chaotic.

In the air. Airports were a mess, a huge mess.

Everywhere.

Did you try ordering ahead at Starbucks? You couldn't/

Amazing how one software flop, in something as simple as an update, can bring the United States and the world to a virtual halt.

But it did.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Arike Ogunbowale.

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