Open Letter To..

Schloss-Blog Open Letter to Joe Biden:

Hi Joe.

Your messaging sucks. Totally sucks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And Trump submarined it.

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

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

Like you and me.

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

Remind people of that.

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

How?

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

One million-plus.

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

Might want to rethink that. 

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

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

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

And best to Jill. Regards,

Howard

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

***

Post post script:

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

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

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

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

***

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

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

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

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

***

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

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

Really.

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

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

***

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

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

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

Maybe they should start with the governor.

***

Congress is considering a ban on TikTok in this country.

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

***

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

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

How are you doing, Elmo wants to know. 

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

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

***

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

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

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

***

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

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

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

Or as Bill Maher calls LA, "Tentsville."

America has done little or nothing for these people.

And will undoubtedly do even less going forward.

***

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

And was a quality person.

RIP, Lynn. You'll be missed,

***

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

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

Asleep But Studying, Maybe - Trump Slurring and Dune Popcorn

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

***

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

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

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

Yeah, me to, God __in'  damn it.

***

Got a Dune Popcorn Bucket?

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

You tell me why (heck, I know).

***

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

Because there was none.

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

She'll lose that one, or settle.

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

***

Katie Britt.

In the kitchen.

Sounding as scripted as she looked.

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

Was she barefoot?

***

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

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

FIVE-HUNDRED MILLION HOURS.

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

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

***

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

NINETEEN TIMES LONGER.

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

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

Me neither. Get married guys.

***

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

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

Aimlessly Wandering Through The World of Outrageous Ticket Pricing and HBO

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

***

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

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

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

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

***

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

In Arizona, that is.

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

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

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

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

***

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No, wait...

***

Quick-hitters:

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

Don't mention Bruce Springsteen or Taylor Swift.

***

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

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

211 to 186

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

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

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

Otherwise, it just sucks.

***

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

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

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

***

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

***

Is Julian Assange a journalist?

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

Or is it?

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

Or not.

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

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

Or is it?

Yes, it is.

No, wait...

***

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

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

***

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

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

***

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

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

Can You Afford A Home In ... Phoenix?

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

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

Affordable in Phoenix? You tell me.

***

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

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

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

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

What do you think? 

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

***

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

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

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

Fun, huh?

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

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

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

Yet.

***

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

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

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

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

A little.

***

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

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

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

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

***

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

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

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

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

***

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

***

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

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

 

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

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

***

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

Donald Trump took advantage and questioned where her husband was.

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

***

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

Biden supposedly said Mitterand instead of Macron.

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

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

WTF?

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

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

Yeah, me neither.

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

***

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

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

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

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

If they don't want Fields, who does?

Stay tuned.

***

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

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

You are a card-carrying QAnon Republican.

***

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

Then Trump said not to vote for it.

So they didn't.

Assholes.

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

While America suffers.

***

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

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

Both are deserving, especially the ailing McMichael.

Congrats.

***

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

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

Wheeling and Wild

The Schloss-Blog is thankful for Wheeling High School thinking enough to put me into its Sports Hall of Fame this weekend, as a "Friend of Wheeling" (actually, as a Media Contributor to the Community).

***

It was humbling.

To get the notification from A.D. Don Rowley Jr. that I was being inducted.

It was humbling.

To find out that I was accompanying the girls cross-country team that won the first-ever official state title, a team that I covered as a rookie sportswriter, and did it so very convincingly.

It was humbling.

To gather with so many of them, first at Cooper;s Hawk for a cocktail and then at the school for pizza and remembrances as we conversed, strolled around the athletic facilities, laughed, hugged, told tales and just enjoyed the moment.

It was humbling.

To be included with coaches Mark Saylor and the late Jim Nagel, two guys who are coaching giants for their accomplishments.

All I did was write about it. And photograph it.

Thanks for the love from Rowley, from Saylor, from Gail (Miloch) Huster, Betsy and Bonnie Buenzow (who graciously stopped for a pic with Jordan, my grandson, who they termed my 'mini-me'), Denise Begrowicz, Geri Sabal Egan, Debbie Rathje and so many others who showed up.

And four special ladies: Sue Saylor, Mark's better half, one of the best golfers and most-gracious people I know; Donna Dubbelde, a Hall-of-Famer as a do-everything coach who celebrated the occasion with all the gusto and caring that she brought to the volleyball, basketball and track events she coached; Dana Miroballi, the four-time state cross-country champ who was not on the 1979 team (she came along later), but remains a true friend of the school (and of mine) and the best coach Luke could ever have; and Marilyn Kent, the true of queen sports at Wheeling, who never failed to greet me and at the door when I covered a game there with the warm smile that always shook off the cold winter night.

What a delight to see them all and so many more. And thanks to Dave Oberhelman and Marty  Maciaszek at the Daily Herald for capturing it all so eloquently.

***

Don't have the heart to spoil this with political commentary this week. I'll just say I've got 83 million reasons why.

As Elmo would say though, just checking in; let me know, how you doing?

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, ladies of 1979.

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

From Scary to Sublime

The Schloss-Blog has been observing some things scary, some sublime and some just ordinary. And then petulant child Donald Trump in a courtroom.

***

Scary: the number of Bigfoot sightings in Colorado tripled year to year in 2023. 

How come? Well, according to Floe Foxon (whoever she is/they are), Bigfoot sightings automatically increase in areas where there are a lot of Black Bears.

So, was that a Black Bear you sighted, or  Bigfoot?

Ask your local ursinologist.

***

Sublime: Tara Vanderveer became the winningest coach ever in college basketball, men's or women's, when she and Stanford recorded a 65-56 win on Jan. 19 over Oregon State.

She surpassed record-holder Mike Krzyzewski (ret.) of Duke with her 1,203rd career win.

Nice to see a female coach get the honors. 

She better keep going - UConn's Geno Auriemma is only seven behind her.

***

Scary: Watching Republican presidential candidate after candidate roll over like an obedient puppy and fall in line and endorse Trump, in hopes of being named to his Cabinet if he wins.

Even scarier: watching Republicans in Congress, who have been clamoring for a border and immigration deal, reject all solutions agreed to because Trump doesn't want them.

What will they do when Trump is a convicted felon, wearing the new black (i.e., orange).

***

Sublime: anytime you get to watch Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and/or Josh Allen play football, take advantage and do so.

They treat the game and execute within it like the shrine that it is (NFL games are 93 of the top 100 watched shows last year).

***

Scary: Per Adam Schiff on "Real time with Bill Maher," Stormy Daniels is the only contractor who got paid by Trump.

That trial is still scheduled to start in late March. Or maybe that's sublime.

***

Scary: this video of two future hockey Hall of Famers, Evgeni Malkin and Kris LeTang, killing a penalty for the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's recommended that other ordinary hockey players not try this.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/penguins-letang-and-malkin-cause-brutal-delayed-penalty-own-goal/

Enjoy. Malkin and LeTang did not.

***

Scary (but sublime): Have you been watching "True Detective: Night Country?" Jodie Foster is the sheriff in a small Alaska town investigating the disappearances-turned-deaths of scientists in a remote lab nearby doing some secretive, high-powered research.

The HBO show incorporates parts of everything set in snowy, cold climes, from the horror classic "The Thing" to drama with a comedic slant, like "Northern Exposure." There's plenty of sex, nudity and cursing, all contained within a mystery that you can't stop watching in HBO's next Sunday night hit.

***

One last scary: the judge in the case where Trump has to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in defamation compensatory and punitive damages, warning the jury that came up with that amount to not not tell people they were on the jury.

Juries that rule against Trump draw his ire and then death threats from MAGA assholes.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Jodie Foster.

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

 

    

Ghosts, Meetings and The Economy

The Schloss-Blog is thinking about "The Ghost of John McCain," the up-ticking of the national economy and spending too much time in meetings.

***

Sure to torment Donald Trump, the play, Ghost of John McCain, brings the late senator, in the afterlife, into the mind of '45,' where he is in essence trapped, trying to find a way out. 

Trump was never a fan of McCain and belittled him for being a captured war hero and bedeviled him for being the deciding vote against removing Barack Obama's signature legislation, the American Healthcare Act.

Nowadays, about some 12-15 million people rely on it.

But in Trump's mind, McCain has to "debate" his way out by arguing for all of the American values and ethics that Trump scorns. Along the way, Cindy McCain, Roy Cohn and even Lindsay Graham make appearances in the shelter of Trump's mind.

Talk about a headache.

By the way, it's a musical, and producers Jason Rose, an Arizona public relations consultant, and Jason Fose, a political consultant, are the show's drivers. It debuted in New York earlier this month and is looking for a way to renew and extend its run.

Although in Trump's brain, that's not very far, is it.

***

Are you in too many meetings?

According to Americans who work primarily at a desk, they are, or at least there is too much time spent in meetings, which hurts their productivity. 

This is according to a Slack survey.

Sounds like somebody needs to have a meeting to decide what to do about it.

***

The economic outlook keeps getting better and better.

Americans think their financial status is getting better and better. The stock market is hitting record highs (can you hear you 401c singing?). Mortgage rates are declining. So is inflation. And gas prices. OK, not groceries so much, yet.

And then there's this thing called the consumer debt payments-to-income ratio. Most Americans check in at spending about 10% of their monthly income on debt. A quick AI-fueled search reveals that the Servus Credit Union notes that your gross debt servicing (GDS) should never be more than 30% of your income while total debt servicing (TDS) shouldn't be more than 40% of your income.

Got that? Someone tell Congress.

***

Quick takes:

• Nikki (Nimirata) Haley forgot to mention the role of slavery in spawning the Civil War. She also doesn't think America is a racist country. She's from South Carolina.
• Nikki Haley refuses to call out Donald Trump on the civil charge of sexual assault on which he's been found liable. How gratifying of her.
• Watching the Australian Open tennis matches, saw the host country's Storm Hunter playing. Not kidding.
• It appears Trump's strategy to get reelected is to get convicted of a felony and thrown in jail.
• Have you been watching the late-night hosts riddle Iowa? They basically make the Iowa caucus the 180-degree polar opposite of the day on which it was held: the Martin Luther King holiday observance.
• Japan's Moon SLIM rocket landed in the Sea of Nectar. Just saying.
• Are shows on HBO and Netflix just so much better that they get so many Emmy nominations or is it because they're on HBO and Netflix?

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. I see you in a New York deli, @Joan Millheiser.

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

Penalties Are Ruining The Game, Especially By The Media

The Schloss-Blog is turning to sports this week, mostly (and a little politics) - and is fed up with media assumptions, like the one that says Bears-Packers is a rivalry like no other.

If you ask the players on the two teams, yeah, it's a rivalry, but so are their games with longtime division rivals Minnesota and Detroit. 

To longtime Bears fans, the Packers are the team they hate the most, want to beat the most (especially after 10 straight losses to them now and 15 of the last 16). As Aaron Rodgers said, we own you.

The media loves to hype up the "rivalry," but after 10 in a row and 15 of 16, it's not exactly a rivalry any more than games against Minnesota or Detroit.

Yes, it's the longest-standing series in the league, but that's all it is.

Bears fans, stop hating on the Packers and start leaning on the team to clean up its act. They've started with a cleansing of the offensive coaching staff. But will that be enough? Will Justin Fields have enough weapons and appropriate game plans and play-calling to win? They fired the offensive coaches, but not the quarterback.

Yet.

Stay tuned. The best Bears rivalry in 2023 was between Fields and the offensive coaching staff.

***

Penalties.

Teams today take so many penalties. Offsides. Pass interference.

Guys line up offsides apparently all the time now. And pass interference, especially defensive, is a constant. Defensive backs take interference penalties rather than give up a big play or a long touchdown.

They are coached to do that. It slows the game down, ridiculously and unnecessarily. It enrages the fans. Especially in the college game, where it is only a 15-yard penalty.

So go ahead speedsters, go long.

And get held. Or tackled. Or just held up.

Sometimes, the refs even throw the flag. A lot of times, they just let it go, to the oftentimes bitter amazement of fans.

Yes, the refs suck sometimes too.

***

Through a series of mental gaffes, Donald Trump has demonstrated that his cognitive ability is not what he says it is.

In fact, it's what he says Joe Biden's is.

He doesn't know what city he's in or who he ran against in 2016 or 2020. And that's just the top of the list.

He's logistically stupid. Your vote for him endorses that and your own gullibility. And stupidity.

***

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spends a lot of time traversing the Middle East, looking for peace and trying to stop the Israel-Hamas War into becoming just, The War of Everybody.

How's that working out?

***

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

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

On the Border, On the Economy, On Michigan, Or Washington

The Schloss-Blog is wondering about a few things, like why is it taking so long to reach a border/immigration policy/Ukraine-Israel funding deal and who to back in the CFP championship game: Michigan? or Washington?

***

Michigan has Blake Corum.

***

What is taking so long in Washington, D.C.? Why is it taking so long for Joe Biden and the Democrats to reach a deal with the unreasonable, big lie-backing, Trump-run Republicans in the House on immigration policy, border control and, on the other side of that coin, funding for Israel and Ukraine to supply their munitions for their battles with terrorists and oppressive autocrats, respectively?

Nobody gets everything they want in a deal, so bite the bullet everyone and let's make a deal.

***

Washington has Michael Penix Jr.

***

There is a good reason why the House Republicans and the Senate Democrats, along with the White House, have not reached a deal on the border on one side and Israel/Ukraine funding on the other.

The Republicans don't want to, so they can keep blaming the border mess on Biden and the Democrats. Then, if Trump wins, they'll close the border all together.

Nothing like racism to drive international immigration policy. Republicans hate everybody.

***

Michigan has twice-suspended, Super Bowl-beaten Jim Harbaugh.

***

Donald Trump is the one who keeps calling the likes of House Speaker Mike Johnson to press him into not making a deal on the budget, shutting down the government, the border, Israel weapons funding and Ukraine weapons funding.

If everyone else loses, he figures he wins.

What a prick.

***

The president of Harvard has resigned.

Her supporters call it racial.

Well, it depends on context, right?

***

Washington has Kalen DeBoer.

Who?

Verizon, uh - T-Mobile, no, yada yada Visible - no, uh, Consumer Cellular is reportedly offering him an endorsement deal.

Who?

***

Aaron Rodgers says Jimmy Kimmel's name could be showing up in Jeffrey Epstein's papers.

Jimmy Kimmel says, meet my lawyers.

***

I have ultimate respect for the police, but why, at every mass shooting, do you see many cops just standing around talking, almost casually?

***

Nicki Haley says Trump is followed by chaos everywhere he goes.

But she'll pardon him anyway if convicted.

***

Michigan has a defense.

Washington has an offense.

Defense wins big games.

***

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

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

Happy New Year! Spite Is Everywhre!

The Schloss-Blog has noticed that 'spite,' in all its ugly shapes and forms, is everywhere as we go into 2024. Me, I'm still holding out on my new year's resolution to return Cindy Crawford's phone calls, same one I make every year.

***

How do you eliminate "spite?"

It's everywhere. It's in every word Donald Trump speaks (his campaign is his nasty and violent retribution tour). 

It's in the Middle East, where Hamas has pledged to keep coming after Jews, after Israelis, no matter what. Even if there's a cease-fire. Even after the hostages have all been returned. Even after they stop stealing the humanitarian supplies from the Palestinians who need it.

You can kill Hamas terrorists, but can you kill the "spite" that drives them?

What a shame that it's "spite" instead of a peaceful resolution and the opportunity to live side by side in peace.

And democracy. People who protest for a cease-fire don't realize the "spite" that exists in the region. 

***

Talk about "spite," it's alive and well in Tennessee.

The moms of students at Covenant School, where three students were killed in a mass shooting, were rebuffed by the Tennessee legislature when they attended a forum on gun control and came away empty-handed when legislators, GOP dominated, refused to hear or acknowledge their pleas to consider legislation that would protect schoolkids' lives going forward.

Most of those moms are, or at least were, politically conservative and now have reality staring them in the face, as the legislators they helped elect turn a deaf ear to their pleas, aimed at protecting the lives of young Tennesseans.

Tell that to the moms of Uvalde, Texas. Parkside, Florida. And all the red states where Republican legislators refuse to protect their constituents from people who openly carry AR-15s and then use them to kill defenseless children.

You know, like Hamas terrorists do.

***

Speaking of "spite," despite this having been the warmest year ever on Planet Earth, substantive legislation to protect the planet still is lacking.

Greenland, the one Donald Trump wanted to buy when he was president, is turning to mush. It's melting seven times faster than it was in the 1990s and its ice sheet is disappearing at a rate of 234 billion tons per year. 

Another great investment that he and his sons would've made but been unaware of the financial balance sheet implications because we all know they never look at those. They just sign off on them.

And blame someone else.

***

Yes, there's so much for which to be thankful: My family; my friends; my fraternity brothers and our upcoming reunion; the wonderful athletes who have stayed in touch and recall my coverage; my former students making significant contributions in their communities through their professional and personal commitments; and for me personally:

• Being a Radio Free Phoenix DJ
• The guidance of an older brother that helped catapult me to academic achievement and to a rewarding career; 
• A career in sports that I only could have dreamed of;
• My grandson, the athlete, the fantasy football whiz and scholastic over-achiever;
• My daughter, who has become such a wonderful mom;
• And my Jocelyn's pending retirement, that will open up so much opportunity for us.

***

I am thankful for all of you and wish there wasn't so much spite to have to write about.

But there is.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Lori Jones Guthrie.

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

Happy, blessed new year to you all.

(Joyce, Greg, Bill, Becky: Back those Bison).