Schloss-Blog: Trump Has A Death Wish!

The Schloss-Blog thinks Donald Trump has made it clear: he has a death wish.

How come? He said so himself, maybe not in so many words, but he said so himself: in explaining his luxury catering cart transfer from AF-1 to a military plane, he said, "I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk."

Huh?

If that's the case, Donald, then why transfer, even if by luxury coach, even if, by you own words, you were safer on Air Force 1?

According to Trump, in his convoluted reasoning, the plane he was transferred to was the more likely target.

In his own words, his advisers, both Secret Service and miliary, supposed that the Iranians would've thought "..that would be the plane I think that we -- that they would be more likely to go for."

Huh?

So, the Secret Service and the military, which advised you to make the catering-cart transfer, had you move to a plane that was a more likely target? That, although you're the president they are sworn to protect? Even though they were transferring you to a plane that was in greater jeopardy? Even though the party you left behind on AF-1 was, subsequently, a lot safer than you were?

Trump definitely has a death wish.

Just like the shooting in western Pennsylvania, the one from which he emerged from a pile of Secret Service agents to shake a fist at the world, even if that left him as a clear target in an area that had not been totally secured yet. 

Staged. Oh yes it was, staged.

If that bullet truly grazed his ear, he would have a scar now that would last forever.  But he doesn't. Instead, the shooter is dead and the bullet that went by Trump's ear killed an innocent person in the audience. Almost one-third of Americans believe the attempt was staged.

Trump has a death wish. 

Don't want to see an American President assassinated, but one of these days, one of these attempts just might succeed, especially the way the Secret Service dispenses advice.

***

I guess you never know how difficult it is to be faced with someone close to you on 24/7 watch in a psych ward until you go visit that person in the hospital.

At the same time, on something completely detached from that, you're dealing with a trusted friend who suddenly decided to become your mortal enemy, for a variety of reasons you don't even comprehend.

You don't harbor any such feelings toward that person. Just confusion over the origination of the abyss between the two of you.

Meanwhile, the person so close to you in that psych ward has left a searing impression on you that you'll never erase.

Life goes on. You deal with it.

***

Has anyone noticed that the filthy-rich Dodgers ... suck?

Since July 1, the team that spent whatever it took to acquire one of baseball's best pitchers at the trade deadline has a record of 18-19, and just 13-13 since the All-Star break.

And yet, still has a comfortable lead in the NL West.

Maybe all their riches and fat payroll, which are meaningless, in all likelihood, to the owners, is why the rest of baseball rises up to play against the Dodgers, to give them Hell and let their play show the resentment they have toward the team that can spend recklessly and not feel any burden.

I grew up a Dodger fan in Brooklyn. but if you ask me, even though they truly suck, I'll say, "Let's go Mets."

*** 

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

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

Schloss-Blog: Influencers and Cyberattackers

The Schloss-Blog is watching Influencers, cyberattackers and a certain ping pong player named Lily.

Hey, the Ballroom may have been halted, for now, but the Influencer business and cyberattackers just keep on rolling.

Yes, the Influencer business just might be your kids' or your grandkids' paths to a successful careers. And why not?

Influencers are said to have made a collective $21 billion last year, and, apparently, deservedly so. They boost so many brands.

They sit in their cars and videotape themselves eating the food that they just bought at a drive-thru. And rating it. It continues in beauty, coffee and fitness, as all are industries whose brands benefit from Influencer promotion.

They're coming for you. Your kids are going to do this for a living. 

Yes, you deserve a break today. A profitable one.

***

I see where Trump declared that Minnesota was to blame for a cyberattack on 30 of the state's municipal water systems.

Thirty.

But like Jeanine Pirro's charges against Davey Hearn for damaging the Deflecting Pool, these allegations fell apart when ... wait for it ... six other states got similarly cyberattacked as well.

Guess what, Donald? As in Minnesota, Iran did it, part of their covert payback for you hitting them so hard that we're out of missiles.

Did we mention that a judge ordered a halt to construction of the Ballroom without Congressional approval of the expenses?

***

Speaking of water, Arizona, where I hang out from time to time, along with neighboring California and Nevada, are likely going to see water-rate hikes very soon, as the reigning drought in the southwest continues to shrink the available water runoff from the Colorado River.

The river is not getting its usual runoff of snow from the mountains because there hasn't been very much snow and/or rain to have that much runoff.

Lake Mead, the principle water-supply reservoir for Arizona, is down to its lowest levels since ... wait for it ... 1937. In other words, it's at about 27% of capacity. In fact, what are believed to be the remains from mob-deposited bodies have washed up there.

Hey Donald, thanks for all the solution ideas. No, wait...

***

Todd Blanche is going to the Attorney General of the United States. In other words, Republicans have no backbone whatsoever.

***

Congrats to Cardinals great Larry Fitzgerald, QB Drew Breese, linebacking great Luke Kuechly, Adam Vinatieri and Roger Craig on induction into the NFL Hall of Fame.

It's Eli's turn next.

***

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

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

Did we mention that a judge ordered a halt to construction of the Ballroom without Congressional approval of the expenses?

Schloss-Blog: The 'Deflecting Pool' Slash That Wasn't, Jerry Jones and Walking Out On Mellencamp.

The Schloss-Blog has been watching this weekend as Trump's fabrication that the Deflecting Pool - uh, Reflecting Pool has unraveled and exposed him as the Liar-in-Chief that he is.

We've also got Jerry Jones and John Mellencamp items coming up too, which we'll get to in a moment.

But Trump's weeks-long insistence that the damage to the Deflecting Pool, as his tale has come to be known, unraveled in the face of his total lack of evidence against David Hearn, the former Olympic rower whose snatching up of a sliver of blue paint on the pool's surface got him indicted for doing the damages.

Trump is still teeing off on DC Prosecutor, personal former fav and Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro for dropping the charges after her investigation revealed that the damages were likely caused by the shoddy work of Trump's own contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings. They got the work on a no-bid contract and the $16 million cost to date far exeeds the $1 million originally forecast.

Bottom line: Trump's angry, he's been flat out caught in the act of lying, he's embarrassed and will likely go to his grave insisting that Hearn committed vandalism.

But Hearn didn't. Trump's own motorcade driving over the then-drained Deflecting Pool probably did.

***

It's another loss for Trump in what has become a string of losses in court, including and especially on the anti-weaponization fund and IRS settlement.

***

Before we get to more on Crooked Trump (there's always more), have you heard Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones spout off on - you guessed it - we're gonna' win the Super Bowl this year?

The Cowboys have not even been to their conference championship game in 30 years, so when quarterback Dak Prescott declares and Jones leans into that it's "Super Bowl or bust," it's just a tired old refrain from the franchise that thinks of itself as "America's Team," right? 

South America, perhaps.

The sad part is that ESPN gives this credence and has every year for the past 30 years. Yeah, the Cowboys are going to the Super Bowl - if they get tickets.

***

And now, a true story:

Attended John Mellencamp's fabulous concert at the Credit Union 1 Amphitheater in Tinley Park, IL. He rocked. In fact, he rocked some people out of their seats, literally.

In his opening song, the 2014 hit, "Lawless Times," Mellencamp improvised a line to embarrass and be critical of Trump: 

"You can't trust the police with guns if they're ICE," was what he sang midway through the tune, while a video of ICE thugs doing their detainee-beating thing played on the Jumbotron screen behind the stage.

We were seated in the amphitheater, looking straight on at the stage. While the line, as the Sun-Times review stated, earned a raucous response from the audience, in front of us, at the venue just 20 or so miles from the bright red Indiana border, you could see people hurriedly getting up to leave. MAGA folks, no doubt, insulted by what they felt was the disrespect shown to 47.

Suddenly, there were pockets of empty seats in the amphitheater in front of us.

It happened again near the end of the show, when he performed "Pink Houses," which includes the line, "Go to work in some high rise, and vacation down at the Gulf of Mexico."

MAGA supporters, no doubt disgusted that he sang "...Gulf of Mexico" instead of the MAGA-and-Trump-preferred "Gulf of America," got up and left, without staying for his final tunes and encores.

They probably think David Hearn is guilty too.

Mellencamp, a native Hoosier, still resides in Bloomington, Indiana, today.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, record-smashing 800 runner Jordan Grinnell.

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

  

The Schloss-Blog: Hey MSNBC - uh, NOW -

The Schloss-Blog is watching America go to Hell in a ... War Wagon.

Donald refuses to just walk away from the war he says we've won some one dozen times since its inception on Feb. 28, 2026. It's another 32 times all told that he has declared that we have ended the war or come close to doing that, suggesting Iran's total capitulation.

Twelve wins. Thirty-two virtual victories.

So how come our US Navy, and our troops are still languishing in the southeast side of the Strait that is not open?

Yet. Again.

***

Democrats, where are you? Trump has given so much ammunition and you have refused to use it. You keep waiting for him to f_ck up, and he does it all the time, yet his election-denier candidates keep winning primaries. Yes, he still carries weight in the Republican Party. And Republicans in Congress are afraid to try to stop his illicit activity. Instead, Democrats are counting on the courts to do it. 

They don't, not always, at least.

***

Trump's speech to a revamped White House Correspondents Dinner audience was a disaster, full of disgusting language, untruthful statements and made-up stories.

He insulted CNN's Kaitlin's Collins, who asks him questions he won't answer because he either doesn't know the answer or refuses to divulge it because it would expose his lies.

He referred to CNN's Jake Tapper as "Fake" Tapper. He still calls the NY Times the "Failing" NY Times.

He continues to refer his perceived political enemies to the DOJ for prosecution.

What a guy.

***

Did anyone notice, E.Jean Carroll got her money, $5.6 million, in her settlement with Trump for sexually assaulting her and defaming her. Trump tried so hard to avoid paying her. The judge he could no longer do that. It's an admission of guilt for him.

The $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund has been completely obliterated by a judge who referred the DOJ lawyers who represented the president for possible punitive action from the bar. The judge also eliminated the case's provision that Trump and family couldn't be prosecuted nor even audited by the IRS ever again.

Some 50 million Americans - 50 MILLION - have little to no access to news anymore as news deserts become more and more common, according to a study and analysis by Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. There are more than 200 counties across America where this condition exists.

The World Cup has come and gone. Are you paying more attention to soccer now because of the boost the sport got from the tournament? According to a study from pro-soccer-leaning For Soccer, 57% of people are saying they are. Hey, ask 'em again in a month. Two months.

LeBron is going to Philadelphia in one of the biggest, stupidest moves ever. He is chasing the ring, period. He needs two more to tie Jordan at 6 championships and he believes Philly, now with Jaylen Brown, is where to go get them. This move is all about LeBron, not about Philly. Good luck, LeBron. You got one title in LA in 8 years playing with a revolving door of superstars, including Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves and, of course, Luka. How'd that work out, LeBron? Don't be fooled, Philly. This isn't about you; it's about his ego.

ICE has been ordered by Trump to stop invasive, violent incidents with people whose cars they pull over on the streets, or chase, or just plain shoot into. No wait, Trump went TACO on that too.

Tire tracks from a Trump motorcade were visible on the Reflecting Pool when it was drained in the ongoing effort to frame someone for tearing up the pool. 

IT WAS TRUMP.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Olivia (how was the Benson Boone show?).

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show. By the way, looking good in that RFP T-shirt, Toby. 

Schloss-Blog: Strait Closed; Trump Slammed in Court; 2 Americans Dead; and the WNBA Suddenly Sucks

The Schloss-Blog is watching the U.S. presence in the Middle East go to Hell. The Strait of Hormuz is closed; The Strait Bab el-Mandeb (from the Red Sea) may be next; and Trump got body-slammed in federal court.

Two American soldiers were killed in Jordan when Iran, retaliating for strikes on essential civilian targets, hit the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, a coalition base used by both U.S. and Jordanian forces. Another U.S. soldier was reported missing and four others were evacuated to Jordanian hospitals and have since been discharged, per NPR.

In other words, Trump is going to be pissed, but he brought this on himself by striking civilian targets, killing Iranian citizens and falling back on his insistence that Iran had surrendered and lost the war, way back in ... dare we say, February.

In further retaliation, Iran has reportedly told the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who they support and supply, to be ready to close down another key waterway carrying oil, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. In other words, driving up oil and gas prices and further throwing the world economy into fits. 

Thank you, Donald Trump, for your lack of attention to this matter.

America, hold on to your wallets.

***

In the meantime, Trump got slammed in federal court when U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ruled that Trump's lawsuit, filed on behalf of Trump against Trump's own IRS, was a sham designed to allow Trump to set up his "anti-weaponization fund" and reward himself and his sons with protection against auditing by the IRS going forward.

Now the fund is going away and so is the "protection" Trump thought he was getting out of the lawsuit he filed against himself.

***

My question, going forward, is what are you Democrats doing about all this? Why aren't you taking the ball and running with it, letting America know, over and over again, about not just Trump's cheating ways but adding on his never "thinking about Americans' financial situations" and belief that "nobody gives a sh_t about housing."

Democrats appear to be settling in, letting Trump trip all over himself, continue to make errors in judgement that cause prices to keep on rising, let an unpopular war continue, which is now costing more American lives, and watching his ongoing focus on vanity projects to celebrate himself take priority over trying to provide relief for Americans and their pocketbooks in the face of Iran winning the war that Trump started.

Yes, let Trump continue to suffer in 37% or lower approval ratings (YouGov). But run with that messsage instead of just laying around. He's going to try to steal the midterms in which you Democrats should romp. 

Make sure America knows. Or Democracy dies.

***

Must say, been a WNBA fan since its inception.

Great athletes, great basketball players. Great shooters. They play defense. They share the ball. They box out on the boards. They hit the open "man." 

All the time.

Until now, that is.

Watching games this season has been depressing. They resemble WWE Wrestle Mania events. Fouls are plentiful and fierce, even dangerous. Just watch Alyssa Thomas lean into Caitlin Clark's vocal cords. 

Some women try to do their best Michael Jordan imitation, attemtping to dribble through the defense in its entirety and score on a LeBron-or-MJ-like move.

It's disgraceful and announcers on ESPN and ION cover up for them, praise such efforts and neglect to mention there was a) no box out, b) no hustle on defense, and/or c) no effort.

Because that's what it looks like. And the fans see it.

***

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

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

The Best Don't Play Soocer; Mellencamp Sticks It to the Hoosier/MAGA Crowd

Wow, the Schloss-Blog goes to see John Mellencamp in concert (what a show, more to come on the politics of that), but the world goes to pot while we're at the show.

**Lindsay Graham dies (more to come);

**Trump launches attacks again on Iran (the cease-fire is over);

**The Strait of Hormuz is closed (again).

More to come on all that...

***

But first, the Schloss-Blog wants to know ... why don't the best athletes in the United States play soccer?

The structure of the sport leaves soccer seeking out the best athletes instead of the best athletes seeking out soccer. 

That embarrassing loss to Belgium in the Round of 16 proves it: we were outclassed, outsmarted and outplayed in the entirety of that game by a team that flexed its veteran muscles and played angry about Folarin Balogun being eligible for the game in a mysterious, unethical decision by FIFA and its president, Ginnai Infantino, and the pressure he succumbed to from Donald J. Trump. 

Nothing personal, Fo, but you shouldn't have played and Belgium knew it and was ticked off that Infantino caved to Trump and allowed him to play, reverseingthe suspension that automatically accompanies a Red Card.

***  

Why is the Schloss-Blog writing somewhat at length here about John Mellencamp's phenomenal performance Saturday night at the Credit 1 Amphitheater in Tinley Park, IL? 

No. 1, it was truly phenomenal. The Indiana man is 74 and kills it out there (still smokes - even snuck one in on stage). Has a book of hit songs that goes on forever. And performs them with perfection, backed by a truly marvelous band.

Beyond that, it was 20 miles from the Indiana border and it showed. The sold-out crowd  of 28,000 definitely included a sizeable number of Hoosiers who love Mellencamp's music but are not in love with Mellencamp's liberal leanings. And it showed.

In his opening song, "Lawless Times," a pop-tune throwback to the '50s, he disparages ICE and its illicit efforts.

MAGA attendees got up and left. Just left. Large pockets of empty seats suddenly showed up in the pavilion after he blended a lyric about ICE into the 2014 cult hit. It was his first song. Tickets in the pavilion were pricey. These people didn't care - they just left.

Mellencamp wasn't done. 

In an extended version of "Pink Houses," he belted out "... go to work is some high rise and vacation down at the Gulf of Mexico."

He paused. Looked out at the audience, the band holding the rhythm behind him ... and he asked, "You OK with the Gulf of Mexico?"

A smattering of boos in a crowd that was predominantly in favor of calling it that, rather than Trump's "Gulf of America." More MAGA loyalists got up and left.

From organizing "Farm Aid" with Neil Young and Willie Nelson, to the Gulf of Mexico (not America), Mellencamp has never been shy about expressing his liberal ways. Even ran a video during the show, a duet he did with The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, a song called "Wasted Days," a duet with one of Trump's biggest critics, who's not shy about expressing such on stage.

Take that MAGA.

***

As we enjoyed Mellencamp's performance, the Gulf (not Mexico, but Persian) was exploding again, with the accompanying gas and grocery price spikes that go with it

The US fired on some 140 Iranian targets in supposed response to Iran firing at a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and having subsequently closed the Strait.

And it leaves us with oil tankers stranded. Gas prices spiking. An already sensitive world economy fracturing even further.

Welcome to Trump's ongoing War with Iran, the one that emphasizes his not thinking about Americans' financial situations and his feeling that "Nobody gives a sh_t about housing."

What a guy.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, John Mellencamp.

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

The Schloss-Blog: I've Got A Problem With Amazon, Facebook and the New York Times (Among Other Things)

Are you as ticked off as the Schloss-Blog is about ... amazon and/or Facebook and/or the New York Times?

The Schloss-Blog is ticked off, although I am basically a very happy (go lucky) guy.

But amazon has been slow with deliveries - have they been for you too, especially if you live in a Blue State, like me? Stuff that used to come the same day, now, regularly, comes in two days, sometime three. What's up with that?

***

And Meta (i.e., Facebook) has been a pain in the ass. To sign in, Facebook makes you jump through hoops, as you squirm to try to identify three fire hydrants, or buses, or bridges, or ... whatever, in extremely grainy, fuzzy pics, splattered across an array of nine. You do it again. And again. And again, before Facebook finally lets you sign on. Hey Facebook, hey Zuckerberg, if your buddy Trump doesn't give a sh_t about housing or people's financial situations, then nobody gives a sh_t about three fire hydrants either.

Apparently, Zuckerberg is working so hard on developing AI that he has forgotten about, well, everything else.

***

Do you have an electronic subscription to the NY Times, like I do? The Times, apparently, they are a changing, and unnecessarily too. They're making me (and you?) jump through hoops just to sign on. After entering I.D. and password, do you get the same f_ckin' a pop-up I do, redirecting you to yet another email that has a "code," and after retrieving it, you have to go back to where you came from and enter the f_ckin' code. 

Apparently though, what they want you to do is add people to your subscription. Such a bargain. Hey New York Times, who gives a sh_t? Just let me read what I just punched up.

***

Anyway, been watching Wimbledon? Why do tennis players, with an easy overhead awaiting a smash, hit directly at their opponents instead of into the open court?

Watched Tiafoe do it. And  Keys. And Anisimova. Hey, just put the ball away; why extend the point and give your opponent a hint of a chance?

Is it some psychological thing, showing you can overpower your opponent? Maybe. Doesn't work though.

***

Oh Davey Hearn, you've been a bad boy.

The 67-year-old former Olympic kayaker made a big mistake: he was hanging out at the damaged, algae-filled body of water we formerly called Washington, D.C.'s Reflecting Pool, where he picked up a small strip - hand-sized strip, of the painted-America Blue floor of the pool, a floor that came loose after Asshole Trump's motorcade drove over the whole f_ckin' thing, which no doubt caused the flooring to suffer a - wait for it - 350-foot, ultra-damaging gash.

And now he's been indicted for doing such. His lawyers have not only insisted upon his innocence (and that of several others who were arrested on similar charges) , but they've called out the administration for being completely devoid of evidence in an attempt to cover up the botched job it did in renovating the pool.

With the Iran negotiations going nowhere in the incapable hands of Jared Kushner and Steve Wit-less-koff, with Americans expressing no confidence in the president's ability to get a handle on an economy for which pricing and cost-of-living are out of control, with ICE picking up anybody who doesn't look like - wait for it -Vanilla Ice - Trump is focused on the damage he did to the Reflecting Pool and who he can blame it on.

***

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

Hope you had a Happy 4th and Happy 250th America.

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