Obliteration! What's Next? 28 Hours? 28 Days? 28 Weeks? 28 ... (gasp!) Years?

The Schloss-Blog is willing to wait 28 years to see if Iran retaliates, but will Iran retaliate?

***

Donald Trump says we have "obliterated" Iran's nuclear capacity. But have we obliterated their capacity to strike back at us?

We'll see, even if it take 28 hours.

***

Hey Evan Cohen at ESPN's "Unsportsmanlike" radio show - Dillon Gabriel will not be the Cleveland Brown's starting quarterback this season.

Unless the rest of their prospective starters get obliterated in an attack by the U.S. or the Pittsburgh Steelers, whichever comes first.

***

28 days?

***

Columbia College Chicago, where I taught for 23 years, has just laid off 20 full-time and/or tenured faculty and reduced its number of major tracks to 33, plus seven graduate programs.

The layoffs were in addition to the 23 faculty told in January they would not be renewed this fall. Half the layoffs were from the School of Communication and Culture, in which I taught journalism until my retirement from the institution in 2017. 

Columbia was always a leading institution, noted for the elite graduates it has produced in film, TV, journalism, music and entertainment.. It was always a less-expensive, open-admissions college ideal for students who were left without an option because classes didn't start until after Labor Day.

Will classes start again on Labor Day, 2026? Hope so.

***

28 weeks?

***

So, if you've been watching, you probably tuned into ABC/ESPN coverage of the WWE and UFC anticipating to see premium, quality championship battles.

Instead, an NBA playoff basketball game broke out.

Commissioner Adam Silver has to be exasperated the way the refs are letting such a quantity of hard contact, virtual muggings occur on court, this from the league that once banned handchecking.

UFC 317 is June 28. NBA 317 was tonight.

***

28 months?

***

In this column's ongoing efforts to periodically define the differences between men and women (i.e., men wear jeans; women wear jeans that fit), and in deference to Will Smith's recent release of "Pretty Girls," we respectfully note that:

**When male recording artists sing about love, they sing about sex. Female artists, when they sing about love, on the other hand, sing about romance (candlelight dinners, nice wines, then a little sex).

**Men like to dance. Women know how to twerk. Uh, dance.

**Bill Maher of "Real Time with Bill Maher," thinks men deserve more respect than they get in commericals and sitcoms in which they come off as having less sophistication and common sense than women.

**Really, Bill?

***

28 years?

***

Chris Canty's top 5 superstars in sports by definiton of Magic Johnson (you'd pay to see this athlete), as he mentioned on "Unsportmanlike" on ESPN Radio, were ... Caitlin Clark on top, then everybody else (LeBron, Messi, Shohei, Coco). 

What about Aaron Judge? Cooper Flagg? Paul Skenes? Luka?

Do you agree? 

***

28 seconds? Yeah, probably.

***

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

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

A Killing In Minnesota

The Schloss-Blog is disgusted by the shootings in Minnesota - which authorities say were targeted assassinations - that took the lives of the state's Speaker Emirita of the House and her husband and, previously that same night, seriously wounded a state senator and his wife.

So far, Trump has said .. crickets by way of condolences.

***

A suspect has been identified in these shootings, a man who identified himself as law enforcement at the respective homes of these victims in the middle of the night and then shot them when they answered the door.

Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, a Democratic, and her husband, Mark, were shot dead in their suburban Minneapolis home. State Senator John Hoffman, another Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, were shot at their nearby home and are reportedly recovering in a nearby hospital.

Trump has said violence like this cannot be tolerated but we did not read anywhere that he offered condolences.

***

And it's one of those weeks for sad news.

Brian Wilson, founding member of the Beach Boys, died at 82 last week.

We saw the Beach Boys on their 50th anniversary tour in 2012 at the Chicago Theater and they were fabulous. Did all of their hits, great harmonies throughout, backed by a terrific 9-piece band.

I'm glad we caught them at that time. Now, it won't happen again.

R.I.P. Brian, somewhere playing again with Carl and Dennis.

***

"Dance to the Music." 

"I Want To Take You Higher."

"Hot Fun In The Summertime."

Those are just a few of the hits that Sly Stone composed and performed with The Family Stone.

He died at 82 last week as well.

Wilson and Stone deserve the recognition that our Radio Free Phoenix playlists will bestow upon them.

***

Speaking of deaths, the NY Knicks front office died this past week. In the wake of the firing of head coach Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks - oops - forgot to have a replacement, let alone a worthy replacement, in line and ready to go.

And were subsequently denied permission to discuss the job with the head coaches, respectively, of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Atlanta Hawks, the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks, the latter being a former Knick.

Did they really believe that just mentioning the team name would unlock all obstacles?

Apparently, yes.

And why let "Thibs" go at all? He got them further in the playoffs than any other coach, these past 25 years.

But the Knicks still have James Dolan Ownership Disease, which is sort of like Matt Ishbia Ownership Disease in Phoenix. It's an ailment that infects owners with the belief they can do a better job than real basketball people at managing team personnel.

***

Courtney Vandersloot, the leading scorer and assist maker in Chicago Sky history, is out for the season with a torn ACL, suffered last weekend against the Indiana Fever.

She had broken the respective records held by her wife and former teammate Allie Quigley.

Here's hoping she comes back next season, at age 37, and finishes her career in the appropriate daylight it deserves.

***

So much death, so much injury, so much violence. America, so much of this was emboldened in the last decade.

When you know who came along in politics.

We need America back. 

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Melissa Hortman.

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

Biden Is Dead, Long Live Biden

The Schloss-Blog has noticed that the Trump administration says Joe Biden is dead and we say, "Long Live Biden!" What movie is "The king is dead, long live the king" from, anyway?

*** 

It's not just from a fantasy, although this book would have you think otherwise.

***

Meanwhile, have you seen this video? It's about the current administration and it's pretty ... taxing. Check it out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ4Z-F1xaP0

***

Recently realized that I'm willing to fly seven-plus hours to France, but drive into downtown Chicago. on the construction-laden Kennedy Expressway, for two-and-a-half hours, not for me.

***

Congrats to Columbia grad Kacy Hintz, now reporting sports for WPLG in Miami (just in time for the Florida Panthers-Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup Finals matchup) after all those successful years at WRAL in North Carolina.

***

The Knicks fired Head Coach Tom Thibodeau, who had five successful years there and took the team further in the playoffs than any of the nine coaches who preceded him.

NINE!!!

He was fired for one reason only though: losing game one of the conference finals to Indiana, blowing a 17-point, fourth-quarter lead in the process and a 7-point lead with less than a minute, less than 30 seconds, in fact, to go.

Now, there's a standard for the next coach.

***

Apparently, the phrase "The King is dead, Long live the king," goes back to 15th century France.

OK, but I didn't see any evidence of that while in France in April, although Colbert says Biden was there then.

***

The states of Maryland and Rhode Island had automatic gun bans upheld by virtue of the Supreme Court declining to hear challenges to their respective laws thereon.

Take that, MAGA.

***

Sen, Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) told a townhall assembly in her home state that the Republican proposal to cut Medicaid drastically and eliminate millions from coverage under the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) would ostensibly be replaced, for all intents and purposes, because, "We are all going to die." 

The next day, from what appeared to be a cemetery, she  apologized and then doubled down, saying, "I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth."

Or, as the senator is now known around parts of Iowa, Joni Hearse.

***

The Trump Administration has opened up the largest area of open, public land in the United States, in Alaska, to oil company drilling. It's believed to be a vast area of annual wildlife migration.

Next, he's going to open up The Loop here is Chicago, another vast areas of annual wildlife migration, into which he already drills for immigrants with legal standing.

***

Have you seen "MountainHead" on HBO, where four tech titans gather for a weekend on one of their mansions atop a snowpacked peak? It's supposed to be a weekend of poker, fast-food gorging and joking around.

It quickly degenerates (spoiler alert) into a near-comedic drama about life values, money, U.S. direction, money, stock valuations, money, life and death, money and WTF do tech titans really think about?

Not you and me, apparently.

***

Alas, "The King is dead, Long live the king," did appear in a movie. 

Oh Robin Hood, you sneaky devil.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Claire's Boutiques.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show. While you're listening, remember to buy a T-shirt, a coffee mug, a poster, because we're commercial free and receive no public financing.

Whatsoever.

***

Joe Biden is still alive, btw.

Taco, Derringer, U.S. Hockey and Studies That Don't Exist

The Schloss-Blog has noticed that "Taco" is trending right now, and not the kind you get at namesake restaurants either.

And while we lost a pistol this week, the U.S Men's Hockey team gained a title it has not won in - wait for it - 92 years.

Ninety-two!

***

Meanwhile though, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is unleashing studies in the name of "Making America Healthy Again" that don't exist.

Literally.

The report, from the MAHA Commission, cited at least seven studies that don't exist. DON'T EXIST.

We take our health recommendations from these idiots. The report was supposed to cite reasons for chronic illness in American children.

Instead, the report had a chronic Trump family illness - and a bad case of it at that.

So, if you want to trust your children's health in the hands of the people who prepared that report, well, good luck.

***

Moving right along, true story: watching the French Open coverage on TNT Network, their on-site panel of tennis personalities, hosted by Adam Lefkoe, was telling stories about drug testing procedures which they'd experienced.

Coco Vandeweghe, a two-time WTA Tour winner and Tennis Channel commentator, explained how a specimen tester arrived at her home early one morning while she was still playing on tour.

She cooperated, as they're expected to do, except she told the examiner that she had to take care of a "bodily function" first that had nothing to do with the specimen she was there to collect.

It didn't matter.

The examiner, Vandeweghe related, stayed with her as she took care of the other unrelated function, watching her all the way. 

All the way.

Ah, the pains of being a professional athlete subject to the rigors of staying within the bounds of what's allowed in your body.

And what's coming out of it too.

***

We lost a great rocker this week, Rick Derringer, 77. 

Famous for "Hang On, Sloopy" among other hits, the native Ohioan was a master guitarist who was much more than that - he was an entertainer.

He produced Weired Al Yankovic's "Eat It" and did a rousing version of "Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo," a personal favorite of this DJ.

Saw him perform with Edgar Winter and he had been touring with Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band, doing renditions of each band member's hit songs.

Just another All American Boy.

R.I.P, Rick.

***

TACO.

It has become the acronym for what our president has become known when it come to tariffs - "Trump Always Chickens Out."

Because of the frequency with which our president threatens, enacts and then cancels tariffs, he has earned that nickname on a viral basis around Wall Street and D.C., as well as and especially across social media.

TACO.

He clearly doesn't like it and expressed his disdain for it when asked about it during a White House media session.

But he keeps on doing it. With China. With Mexico. With the EU. With Canada. 

TACO.

It's trending.

***

Perhaps unnoticed under the sports headlines, especially this past week, what with the NBA and NHL playoffs heading into championship rounds, was the U.S. Men's Hockey Team winning the world championship.

Yes. the U.S Men.

In Sweden over the holiday weekend, the U.S., Men's team beat Switzerland, 1-0, in overtime, in the finals of the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) World Championship.

This is prestigious - the U.S. had not won it since - wait for it - 1933. That's 92 years ago, for those of you doing the math.

In an on-ice celebration tantamount to the 1980 jubilance of the upset of Russia in the Olympic semifinals, the U.S. Men scored the game's only goal in overtime on Buffalo Sabres' center Tage Thompson's wrister, assisted by Logan Cooley of the Utah Mammoth.

Makes you anxious for how good the Olympic hockey will be next year in Italy, when the NHL frees up its stars (d'oh) to go play for their respective countries over in Italy. 

***

Harvard and Trump, meanwhile, are having quite a nasty little go of it, aren't they? Trump takes something away, Harvard sues to get it back, judges generally side with Harvard and on we go.

The administration says it's because of the school's poor oversight of antisemitism on campus, especially since the Israel-Hamas war broke out.

But, just wondering, could much of it be due to Barron Hilton not being accepted for admittance at Harvard while Malia Obama was accepted?

Hmm...

***

Barron Hilton not accepted for admission at Harvard.

Malia Obama accepted for admission at Harvard.

Trump taking away everything from Harvard except the ivy.

And that's next, perhaps.

Hmmm...

***

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

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