Resort Developers, Not Political, Seasoned Negotiators

The Schloss-Blog noticed that Iran sent experienced political negotiators with nuclear insight and expertise to Pakistan to talk new 'JCPOA." The United States sent two real estate developers and a political idiot - no, wait, Marco Rubio didn't go. Iran sent its parliamentary speaker and its chief foreign minister, experienced political diplomats with insight into what they really want to see in a new version of a "JCPOA" and to protect the international sovereignty of their country.

The United States sent three, well, not-so-wise men.

***

The promised Trump economy, as I saw in an MSNOW report (as opposed to MSLATER), is in shambles.

**Inflation ... rampant

**Gas prices ... going up and up, fueled by war

...that we started

**Grocery prices ... well, you know...

**GDP? Far below what was promised.

**No more foreign wars ... greetings from Tehran.

The Trump economy is a flop. We'll see where it goes from here. But don't worry, he's going to put another two-week delay on its prospective recovery.

***

This is year seven of my time at Radio Free Phoenix. My Sunday night rock 'n' roll show is broadcast around the world from radiofreephoenix.com and I've gotten to go to some great concerts (like the Satchvai Band, featuring guitar ace Joe Satriani, this past weekend in Mesa).

Marshall Tucker Band, Al Stewart, Chicago, and Tommy James & the Shondells have been among the Danny Zelisko show headliners at the Celebrity Theater we've been fortunate to see. 

Thank you, Sharon Kelley for recruiting me, Liz Boyle for training me and Andy Olson for anything and everything else. Always nice to see you and Cheryl at a show, sit and have a drink and chat. Cherished memories. And thanks for promoting my talented friends, country-rockers BB & The Billies (Betsy and Toby Petrie). A link to their Radio Freedom show is now on the website, available on demand.

And thanks to the whole staff - David, Joe, Paul, Anthony, John, et. al. - for all the support; radio pros who took in a sportswriter and made him a DJ.

Wait and see what happens during the next seven years, folks. Keep on listening.

***

My longtime role as a sportswriter has left me in a unique position to evaluate - the f_ckin' NY Knicks, who will not win this year's NBA title, or next year's, until they add what they really need - the next version of Anthony Mason or Charles Oakley, in other words, their next tough-guy forward.

The @Knicks need a player everyone else but Knicks' fans hate because he's tough, dosn't get pushed around, does push everyone else around and can guard guys bigger and taller - because he's ... tougher!

That's all they're missing now. The missing element, the missing ingredient. Because replacing coach Thibs with coach Brown has been ... a wash.

Go get the next Mason or Oakley - trade, free agency, draft - but find him and sign him.

And beat up everyone else. Got enough finesse, sharpshooting. Go get some toughness.

And some championships.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

Just What Have You Accomplished, Mr. President (no, not you, Stephen Miller)

The Schloss-Blog has noted that ...

Nuclear disarmament, uranium enrichment capture, destruction ... not accomplished;

Iran's military capabilities destroyed ... not accomplished;

Regime change ... not accomplished;

Strait of Hormuz reopened ... not accomplished.

So tell us, Donald, just what was accomplished in this war you started.

***

Meanwhole, domestically ...

White House ballroom construction ... halted.

Ouster of Jerome Powell at the Fed ... denied.

National Guard deployment in LA, Portland, Chicago ... sidelined.

Inflation ... on runaway status.

Gas prices ... soaring.

Stocks ... skidding.

ICE, derailed;

Birthright citizenship privileges ... likely to hold strong (or else Marco Rubio would be deported)

What's next, "SAVE" the vote - bah, humbug,

So tell us, Donald, just what have you accomplished in your second term, just 15 months in?

***

There are other stories going on:

The Chicago Bears are threatening to move to Hammond, Indiana. "Bear down, Indiana Bears..." has a certain ring to it. 

On second thought...

...They just want the best financial deal they can get from either Hammond or Arlington Heights, IL, where they own the Arlington Park Race Track property. That is supposed to be converted into a retail/commercial/residential hub in Chicago's northwest suburbs, anchored by a domed stadium that could ostensibly host a Super Bowl, concerts, special shows, et. al. 

The betting line here says they won't leave Illinois, no matter how enticing the Indiana deal is.

***

Good thing, as the President said, that we have completely obliberated Iran's military capabilities, or else the Iranians would not have been able to shoot down one of our F-15 fighters.

In other news, the Strait of Hormuz is still closed, no matter what else we bomb, obliberate and/or completely decimate.

To pay for the war, Trump is asking Congress for ... wait for it ... $1.5 trillion. This for a war, remember, which he says we've already won.

Meanwhile, he wants to divert money from entitlements like Medicaid, Medicare, child care,  healthcare insurance and general help for people in the greatest need.

Thank you, Donald "America First" Trump.

***

Ye is back, playing to a reported 68K in a jam-packed SoFi Stadium in LA.

They still love him. For some reason which we can't fathom.

EV sales, meanwhile, are up, as the price of gas continues to soar, with no end in sight, especially in Europe. Enjoy your Teslas.

Meanwhile, Trump keeps losing in court and that's all that's protecting democracy right now. Well, that and his plummeting approval ratings.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show. Hope you listened in to the Radio Freedom special with Toby and Betsy Petrie this weekend. BB & the Billes, now they are special.  

Trump's Folly ... and Women Are Doing What?

The Schloss-Blog has noticed that where Alaska was Steward's Folly, Iran is fast becoming Trump's Folly. Of course, Alaska would go on to become our 49th state and Sarah Palin's outpost against Russia.

Iran, on the other hand, is becoming the war Trump has won without winning, the oil Trump has said he has stolen without acquiring it and the waterway, Strait of Hormuz, he says he has reopened without reopening it, except, perhaps, at the cost of American military lives.

***

But first, in our ongoing perspective on the differences between men and women, well, I've been watching both the men's and women's NCAA tournament games, and I'm sorry, ladies, but your game is slipping.

Used to love watching women's hoops: they boxed out; they played defense; they made the extra pass; found the open 'man;' took high-percentage shots; played clean.

Not anymore.

The women's game, and at the WNBA level too, has become a hacker's paradise. Too much defense played by reaching instead of moving your feet, too much over-the-back attempts at rebounding and way too much grousing at the refs.

The coaching sucks too, or has at least taken a step down, from the days of the great Pat Summit. Only Geno Auriemma of UConn seems to uphold the standard she set with his teams' quality and style of play and accompanying winning percentage and championships.

Where have you gone Tamika Catchings, Candice Parker and Chamique Holdsclaw? At least we've got Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers.

The men, meanwhile, still take too many off-balance shots, still chuck up way too many 3-pointers,  especially under duress, and play stand-and-wave defense until the NBA playoffs or NCAA Tournament starts, or the game hits crunch time.

You want to disagree with me, be my guest; but this is what I see and I've been seeing a lot. Even been to a few ASU and GCU varsity games in person. Defense is something they heard about.

Glad to see the women get paid in their new agreement with the WNBA. Now, raise your games, please, ladies, to that pay scale.

Thank you.

*** 

Now then, why haven't we ended the war with Iran in a successful manner, or at least in whatever Trump would describe as successful? 

Well, for one thing this is what happens when you send two real estate developers - Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff - to negotiate a nuclear arms arrangement, where Obama sent experienced diplomatic envoys and nuclear scientists.

In the end - and the war will end - but this time around at a negotiating table - where all wars end - in an agreement that won't be too much different than the one Trump tore up in his first term. All the bluster, all the flexing of military might and all the prior obliberation of Iran's nuclear capabilities - just eight months ago - has left us trying to obliberate it - again.

Nice job, Donald.

***

Note to college basketball players - men and women - stop chucking up so many 3-pointers and start working the ball in for higher-percentage shots. It's amazing what'll do for your scoring, your percentage of successful possessions and your efficiency on offense.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Kamala Harris (you were right - Trump is doing everything you predicted he'd do).

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

And listen in this Saturday at 2 p.m. AZ time and Sunday at noon AZ times for a Radio Freedom broadcast in which Andy Olson interviews Betsy and Toby Petrie of BB and the Billies about the 15 songs they would play if they were in charge of RFP for an hour and their history as a musical force in Illinois music. 

Fighting Terrorism in the Middle East - Or Are We?

The Schloss-Blog remembers when 'W' declared war on terrorism, after 9/11. "You're with us or you're with the terrorists," he said, or some reasonable facsimile thereof.

Twenty-five years later, Trump is reining terror down on American citizens through masked ICE and CPB agents in unmarked cars and without warrants while American soldiers die in the desert.

And to get his hands on the enriched uranium he already obliberated, he's going to need a large, land-based force and scientific experts to capture and remove it, respectively, which is going to cost lives, time and lots of money.

But let me get this "strait," the war's over, right?

***

How's your NCAA bracket doing? I had 26 of 32 right in the first round, not too shabby. At or near the top of my two entries, on CBS Sports and ESPN, respectively.

VCU, unbelievable, right? Not only beating North Carolina but maybe ending former Knick Hubie Smith's time there as coach.

Maybe.

Four double-digit seeds won in the first round, and I missed all four. Wisconsin, out, hurt a lot of people. High Point, really?

And Kentucky is only alive by the grace of God. Why didn't Santa Clara foul before that last desperation heave that forced overtime?

My Final Four remains intact though and the qualifying seeds add up to less than 10, which is how it should be if you want to win your pool.

***

The "SAVE Act," Trump's near last-gasp attempt to keep Congress from falling to the Democrats (because it will), is not going to pass because the Republicans in the Senate don't have the votes and Leader John Thune (Wyoming) won't suspend the filibuster rules because he's afraid they'll eventually be used against him.

Trump, however, is getting desperate. Expect him, in the wake of this bill's failure, to eventually declare a nonexistent national emergency and/or to announce an executive order to the same effect, requiring overbearing I.D. requirements to vote, although without Congressional action, it won't stand in court (except with Alito and Thomas).

***

Trump's director of the National Counter Terrorism Center stepped down after he couldn't in good conscience, stand by the administration's decision to invade an Iran which, he said, posed "no imminent threat" to the United States.

He was also a 2020 election denier and an otherwise big-time MAGA typical loser.

***

Want erotica?

ChatGPT, Grok and other AI are ready to bring it to you, are, in fact, already bringing it to you.

Enjoy.

16 and under, no worries? Have fun.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mark Steace.

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

War! What Is It Good For? Absolutely Nothing' ...

The Schloss-Blog wants to hear from someone, anyone who know what the war with Iran is about. No, wait, the "excursion."

***

 Back to the "excursion" momentarily, but first...

**We lost to Italy and didn't know it could've knocked us out of the WBC. That's alright because we came back and beat Canada (again?) in the quarterfinals.

**Bam Adebayo dropped 83. EIGHTY-THREE! -- OK, it was against the Wizards, but...

**The White House made a video interspersing NFL highlights with its war highlights. Ethics? We don't need no stinkin;' ethics, says the Trump White House.

**They followed it up with a similar video depicting war highlights and explosions with video-game explosions. 

**Next, they're going to make a highlight film of Trump's golf's game. No, wait...

***

The war - ahem, excursion into Iran is deadly. U.S. bombing killed some 175 civilians, many of them schoolchildren, but we don't care because, as Pete Hegseth says, we don't need no stinkin' rules of engagement and we show no quarter.

Polling consistently shows that U.S. citizens don't want this war and don't want U.S soldiers at risk of their lives.

But we press on.

Country Joe McDonald died this week. He sang loud and proud against U.S. participation in the Vietnam War, with these lyrics:

...and it's 1, 2, 3, what're we fighting for?
don't ask me, I don't give a damn
next stop is vietnam
and it's 5, 6, 7, open up the pearly gates
well there ain't no time to wonder why
whoopee! we're all gonna die...

...well c'mon mothers throughout this land
pack your boys off to Vietnam
c'mon pops, don't hesitate
send ‘em off before it's too late
be the first one on your block to have your boy come home in a box

and it's 1, 2, 3, what're we fighting for?
don't ask me, I don't give a damn.

Yeah, that's about Vietnam, sang it at Woodstock. But is it so far removed from what we're going through now with Trump's repeated forays into forever wars?

***

A synagogue in Michigan, the largest in the country. The assailant is dead, no serious injuries otherwise. 

Except for psychologically, maybe.

A university in Virginia. Old Dominion. An ROTC instructor dead. 

Anti-semitism and Islamophobia, respectively.

The war in Iran is sparking violence domestically. It will spark more.

Enjoying this, Donald, enjoying this?

***

Team USA is somehow barreling forward to the championship game of the World Baseball Classic, despite itself.

Now, if it can only defeat Japan.

And it's own coaching.

***

If you need proof that Trump treats war like a game, just watch the videos that he had posted mixing sports "bomb" highlights and video-game explosions with actual war bombings.

NFL and MLB athletes are not amused.

Either are the parents of the soldiers killed in our Iran War so far.

Trump is an immature child and treats American lives that way. Just another game.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Nora O'Donnell.

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

Dragged 'In' By Netanyahu ... Dragged 'out' by Epstein?

The Schloss-Blog wants to know: does Donald Trump make his own decisions? Not when Benjamin Netanyahu makes them for him.

Did the Israeli PM, still fighting for his political life, make sure the United States was dragged into war with Iran by convincing Trump that it was in the United States' best interests to join Israel in ravaging Iran?

Probably.

And while the United States is "re-obliberating" what it already had "obliberated" back in June, Iran and the proxy terrorist organizations under its wing (Houthis, Hezbollah) are attacking U.S. bases around the Middle East (and hitting some not U.S. military base targets). Meanwhile, the U.S. is hitting at least one civilian target in Iran, killing school children.

So, did Iran "dis-obliberate" what the United States had already 'obliberated,' according to President Trump?

In any event,, take your pick. And tell us now, what this "war/not a war" is all about:

** Regime change in Iran? 

            *Don't count on it, necessarily.

** 'Obliberating' a 'dis-obliberated' nuclear threat?

            *It was obliberated already, right? Right?

** Freeing the Iranian people to rise up (and be slaughtered again in the streets)?

            *How'd that work out last time they "rose up?"

** Or just protecting our military assets in the Middle East?

            *We had intel that said they were going to attack us if Israel attacked them. 

In other words, Israel dictated our foreign policy and literally dragged us into this war/not-a-war.

Just asking, Donald, just asking. As if you know the answer.

***

She was declared dead.

She had drowned in a backyard pool, in Gilbert, Arizona.

Rushed to a hospital, she was declared dead, an hour after life-saving measures had been performed on-site.

Five hours later - FIVE HOURS - she showed signs of life and the as-yet unidentified child is now expected to survive.

Or, as an ER doctor said: "Dr. Frank LoVecchio told [local Arizona outlet] AZFamily that healthcare workers should remain “overly sensitive” when “pronouncing a child dead."

Ya' think?

***

The Epstein Files are still out there and Trump keeps looking more and more implicated, doesn't he?

***

Kristi Noem is out as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Nominated to replace her, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R - Oklahoma), is a former MMA fighter with little to no experience in border protection and immigration enforcement.

He once picked a fight, during a committee session, right there in the chamber, with witness Sean O'Brien, president of the Teamsters Union.

He'll be about as effective as Noem, just without the fancy wardrobe and dog-shootings.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Bryce Drew.

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

 

 

I ran and I ran and I ran - and then I skated

The Schloss-Blog is not amused that the United States is once again participating in a war (Iran) that will result in many deaths around the Middle East. We were promised no more wars, we were promised the end of two wars, on "day one." How's that working out?

Also, we're a little ticked that the @WhiteHouse is using the Gold Medal-winning U.S. Men's Hockey Team as political props, promoting their presence at the State of the Union address and giving the goalie, Conner Hellybuyck, the Medal of Honor. Brady Tkachuk isn't happy the the president used his image in a video that appears to show him disparaging Canadians, who @Trump despises.

Bill Maher, the acerbic comic and talk-show host, has said repeatedly that he thinks @Trump despises war, an impression he took away from a dinner with Trump.

He's not so sure about it now.

***

Trump said in June that we had obliberated Iran's nuclear capabilities. Now, with this weekend's attacks on Iran, are we obliberating them again, or attempting to?

Again?

Will this be a long-term campaign? Will Americans die? Will American boots be on the ground in Iran?

Nobody knows, or is saying.

Iran is no peaceful state: slaughtering protesters; financing and arming terrorists in the Middle East; vowing to destroy Israel, and already with many years of American blood on its hands, dating back to the embassy occupancy in 1979.

Trump wants Iranians to rise up against is dictatorial regime. Will they? They were slaughtered in the streets weeks ago. History says they'll be slaughtered again, as in: Hungary 1956; Bay of Pigs, 1961; and Tiananmen Square, 1989.

Yet, the president who professes to be the should've-been and next would-be Nobel Peace Prize winner, has launched eight - EIGHT - military operations in his first 13 months in office so far. 

Nobel Peace Prize, my ass.

***

If the battle persists, if the campaign goes on - days, weeks, months even - impact to oil prices is immeasurable. Estimates are that 20% to 40% of the world's crude oil passes through the Straits of Hormuz and with Irani-sympathetic terrorists prospectively targeting shipments there, impact to crude oil prices could jump as much as 70%, by some estimates, in the result of a protracted conflict.

Or just for revenge by Iranian-sympathetic Houthis, Hezbollah and Hamas.

Oh boy!

*** 

Also, back home, America is celebrating the U.S. Gold Medal in Hockey at the Olympics in a thrilling 2-1 overtime win over Canada.

Oh, that's the women's team, the one that won't go the White House because of @Trump's insults and disparagement of women.

The men's team did participate in White House misogyny by showing up at the State of the Union and receiving @Trump's blessing, little knowing that they were being used as political props by @Trump.

Heroic goalie Connor Hellebucyk will receive the Medal of Honor from @Trump for making 41 saves in the historic win over Canada, or about as many saves as wars @Trump claims to have stopped.

More significantly, American Brady Tkachuk, a star player, is miffed over his use in a White House video that appears to show him disparaging Canada.

In other words, he recognized that he and the team are being used as props by @Trump.

Congratulations.

SNL had its take on it as well.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Hilary Knight.

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