Schloss-Blog: Tupac, Harrison Jr., Inflation, Live Executions and Arizona Sportscasting Housecleaning

The Schloss-Blog is following:

**The Tupac murder trial;

**The Marvin Harrison Jr trade;

**The rate of inflation month to month;

**And the rate of inflation year over year;

**The once and former livestreamed execution;

**Housecleaning in Arizona sportscasting.

Not necessarily in that order, but...

***

...inflation continues out of control. The Consumer Price Index was up 0.6%, month to month, August to September, and year over year it was up 3.7%, from 3.4% a year ago. 

In other words, that money you don't have anymore, now it's less than that.

***

Housing costs are also running away, rampantly. A typical new homeowner's monthly payment is up 5% from a year ago, assuming, as Ilyce Glink reports in her "Love, Money and Real Estate" newsletter, a usual 10% down payment and 30-year mortgage. 

A typical new homeowner, she reports, has a more than $3,000 monthly mortgage payment.

And with mortgage rates averaging more than 7% now, actually 7.5%, can you say, "Ouch!"

Househunters, beware and be aware.

***

Duane "Keefe D" Davis received a 40-year sentence for his role in the murder 30 years ago of star rapper Tupac Shakur, in Las Vegas.

Davis, a kingpin of the South Side Compton Crips gang, wrote in his memoir, "Compton Street Legend," that he was "the only living witness to Tupac's killing" and "who also knows the much larger story around the reasons why both Tupac and Biggie Smalls (aka, The Notorious B.I.G.) were killed."

His memoir confession, so to speak, effectively negated his agreement with the police and prosecutors against self-incrimination.

So now, 30 years later, we finally know what happened in the Tupac-Biggie rivalry. 

Or do we?

***

The once and former livestreamed execution by firing squad of Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan has been called off.

The livestream, that is, not the execution. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had announced it to be livestreamed, but ater considerable backlash, much of it by Republicans, Trump called it off.

The livestream, not the execution.

But, all you veterans, how would you like to be one of the members of the firing squad, called upon to deliberately shoot a man, in a wheelchair, to death?

Even if he did kill 13 people in his shooting spree at Fort Hood.

Not comfortable, is it?

***

Marvin Harrison Jr. got traded by the Arizona Cardinals to the Houston Texans, where the star wide receiver (star?) is reunited with his Ohio State quarterback, C.J. Stroud.

Why did he appear to be so underutilized by the Arizona Cardinals? Only the coach and GM know that.

Now though, we'll see if he really was underutilized in the desert.

Or if he'll be the same ghost he was in Arizona.

***

In Arizona, the play-by-play man and the analyst on radio for the Arizona Cardinals have been replaced this season, as has the play-by-play TV guy for the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

Veterans all, with great reputations for honesty, integrity, fairness.

So how come they're gone?  

***

What a great show Chris Isaak did at the Celebrity Theater last week. He is fabulous. If you have a chance to see him, go.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, cross-country star (and grandson) Jordan Grinnell.

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

Schloss-Blog: Those Lying Numbers Hurt; The Real Numbers Hurt More

The Schloss-Blog has noticed that in so much political advertising this year, made-up number prevail.

Here in Arizona, incumbent Governor Katy Hobbs in accused of losing jobs in a difficult economy. Actually, Arizona lost 4,100 nonfarm payrool jobs in August and added - wait for it ... 17,500 nonfarm employment jobs.

In other words, Republican idiot Andy Biggs is, like the president he worships, lying, or at the very least, deliberating misinforming.

***

Trump, meanwhile, has pushed his DOJ to investigate Democratic Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, possibly for purposes of deporting her.

The Somalian native is saying she will not be silenced.

She likely won't be, deported nor silenced. Like Trump's other politcal targets - James Comey, Adam Schiff, Leticia James, Lisa Cook - she has done nothing wrong and will likely have any charges dismissed.

***

Speaking of numbers, my friend Ilyce Glink is reporting that the Mortgage Bankers Association is saying that interest rates, already approaching 8%, will likely stay above 7% through 2027.

2027!!! Above 7%.

Good luck mortgage shoppers, especially you first-time home buyers.

***

 

Schloss-Blog - Cheating is so de rigueur among DB's

RIP Mike Ditka.

*** 

The Schloss-Blog agrees with Trey McBride, the Cardinals tight end, who complained so viciferously to a ref about pass interference supposedly committed against him that the ref allegedly cursed back at him.

Problem is, defensive backs commit pass interference on almost every play - EVERY PLAY - making it impossible to call it every time and thus throw the game into chaos.

***

The Paramount-Warner Bros deal has closed. Uh oh. The Ellisons have CNN and CBS News.

***

Trump has seen, has heard the backlash and is saying he is having his Super-PAC pay for his campaign ads disguised as public service ads.

Except he's apparently not, as a new set of those ads, government paid, launched immediately therefater anyway.

***

You've heard the expression: the Devil you know, the Devil you don't know.

So, will prior Trump voters, mad about economic conditions, inflation, the war - now vote against his personally endorsed MAGA candidates in the midterms?

Or stick with the man who they acknowledge is killing their wallets?

Stay tuned.

***

Watching the WNBA playoffs has only further reinforced to me that the women's game has degenerated into a WWE brawl.

Players like Angel Reese of the Atlanta Dream, for all her natural talent, are only out there to pick fights. What she does best though is talk trash. 

It's amazing the refs don't call more fouls in WNBA games - female players climb all over each other, clawing, bumping, tackling and, yes, fouling. They do it so often that the refs let most of it go rather than call something on every single possession.

It is just disgusting to watch the New York Liberty play. The team doesn't run even a semblance of an offense and plays little to no defense. It's a team with so much talent, so much of it embedded into the league's legacy, like Breanna Stewart, 

And yet, turnovers, sloppy passes, missed shots, missed layups and no concept of team play are all prevalent in the today's WNBA.

The league has such a golden opportunity to do something. Yet, its stars are playing "Angel Reese-ball."

***

They're going to livestream the execution of the Fort Hood shooter.

Executing him is one thing - livestreaming it is another. MAGA will love it.

What's next? Livestreaming Kushner and Witkoff's failed negotiations with Iran? Livestreaming the botched fix of the Deflecting Pool.

F-ckin' idiotic.

*** 

Is it a trend on American Airlines?

An international flight had to divert to JFK in New York when it was discovered that six of its eight bathrooms were not functioning.

SIX of EIGHT. Imagine being on that flight.

Had a similar "waterfail" on my two flights this week.

En route to Nashville, flight attendants announced that they couldn't make coffee or tea because they had no way to heat the water.

On the return flight, we had a "waterfail" of our own:" one of the bathrooms was out, one of the four on the plane.

Hmm ... American, what's going on? Flew you round-trip to/from Nashville because you went direct.  United, our usual choice, would've required a connection to get there.

But at least their bathrooms would've been connected.

***

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

More next Sunday, the 18th, on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show. The "Howard Hours" are taking this weekend off after a long, tiring but so-rewarding week with my GDX brothers and their significant others in Nashville.

Schloss-Blog: How To Find An Extra Second White The White House Looks For An Extra $5,000 (Per American, Or $1.35 Trillion)

The Schloss-Blog wants to know: Where are all these football teams finding an extra second? And how come the White House can't find one.

Or two.

***

Anyone notice, football teams are finding all kinds of extra time.

To score.

It started with Michigan beating Western Michigan (WMU won!). But that's not the only unique example.

Idaho (0-4) got an extra second to get off a game-tying Hail Mary to tie up Montana State (4-0). Which enabled the 2-point conversion they got to somehow win the game.

Even the Philadelphia Eagles got an extra second to score a TD as the clock expired on the first half, albeit in a loss to the Bears.

And Virginia Tech, coach James Franklin's new home, got an extra second but missed, according to the refs, a last-play field goal that otherwise would've beaten visiting and also unbeaten Pitt.

(It was good.)

Wish I could get an extra second - we would've won our intramural football league at Albany State (OK, UAlbany - yuck).

Alas - officiating looks suspicious sometimes. Just ask Western Michiga,

***

WTF is Trump doing?

While America struggles with high-priced gas and groceries, with inflated prices for everything and a national deficit run wild, he is spending lavishly on his suddenly public-funded ballroom and his D.C. Arch, which is going to house snipers.

WTF are they supposed to be shooting at? Tourists? People around the Deflecting Pool? Congressmen and senators he doesn't like?

He's falling asleep at meetings and conferences, Heck, he's been falling asleep on the job when it comes to inflation and costs of insurance and healthcare.

He fell asleep on strategy and tactics in the Iran War a long time ago, which is why we're losing it. Well, we certainly haven't won it, not by a long shot.

We likely never will, because Iran will never surrender outright, which is what Trump wants. He's never going to get it, despite his constant promises.

In all, Trump has promised more than 100 times that we have won the Iran War or that we're about to.

Tell that to the thousands of U.S. troops deployed there. 

And as to the economy, things are getting so bad that friends and relatives of mine, some in deeply red states, are doubting their support for Trump, for his tariffs and for the war. Deeply doubting, in fact.

And if you're waiting for your Affordable Insurance check, Tariff Payback check or Trump Check for something, good luck ...

...every check he might send adds to the $5 trillion he has added to the national debt since taking office again. 

***

Is it just me noticing this or is it the 4th week of the NFL season and everybody's hurt?

Everybody.

• Jaxson Dart. 
• Brian Burns. 
• D'Von Achane. 
• Puka Nacua. 
• The 49ers defense. 
• Sam Darnold. 
• Caleb Williams. 
• Jayden Daniels. 
• Baker Mayfield.
• Trent Williams. 
• The Detroit Lions secondary.
• The Packers offensive line.
• Drake Maye (we think). 

Who did I leave out? 

It's week 4. Injury reports are getting longer than some active rosters. 

Hey NFL, what's going on?

People's fantasy lineups are in jeopardy.

***

Here's to you Dave Hoover, Larry Marcus, Gary Leventhal, Rich Smyth, Bennett Axelrod and a few other fraternity brothers who had to cancel out of our reunion this week, for reasons that are making the rest of us deeply sad.

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

Schloss-Blog: Ellison Empire Enhanced, But It Ain't Good: News Outlets Restored At White House. Or Are They?

The Schloss-Blog wants to know: have CNN, MSNOW and Politico been restored at the White House?

Or not?

Apparently, they have been. But not in full.

CNN, which was providing the pool coverage this past week, was banned from Trump's plane when it departed Washington, D.C., for Knoxville, for the Texas-at-Tennessee, high-profile college football game between two highly ranked, highly regarded teams.

In other words, Orange Jesus, as a Congressional Republican supposedly once referred to him, gets his mug on TV.

And his hairline. And Multiple times, apparently.

Makes you wonder, with CNN blocked (as opposed to banned, because the judge said the ban was to be over immediately), does Trump relish not having every stupid syllable he mutters broadcast and preserved, for eternity?

Because let's face it - Trump specializes in lies, stupid stuff and ridiculous things he just makes up.

Like, he threatened to either annihilate Iran or make them into a great country again, shortly before rejecting their proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Well, which one is it, Donnie?

Anyway, we'll tell you what's true: TACO TACO TACO.

Trump has also said that oil prices would come "tumbling down" once the war (that's not a war) with Iran ends.

Except that the war shows no signs whatsoever of even being anywhere close to ending anytime soon.

In other words, Iran is losing this war so badly...

...that it's winning.

***

Who's the most-important Emanuel?

There's Ezekiel, the prominent oncologist.

There's the well-known Rahm, the former White House Chief of Staff and Mayor of Chicago. 

And then there's Ari, the youngest, the Hollywood agent and CEO of Endeavor, the powerhouse talent agency. Ari was the inspiration for the TV series Entourage, and he is known to be a ... how to phrase this delicately ... SOB.

His new book, "Roll the Calls," is a descriptive memoir of a power broker in Hollywood. and has been described as a "no-BS look at what it takes to make it in business."

With Rahm linked to being a prospective presidential candidate in 2028, I think I just figured out who should become his campaign manager.

It would be quite an ... endeavor.

***

Paramount is acquiring Warner Bros and this is not good.

It means the filthy-rich Ellisons, friends of Trump, get control of CNN, in addition to the CBS News property which they have already run into the ground.

Disgraceful. CBS News is a shell of what it once was. And will ever be again under the Ellisons and the incompetent Bari Weiss.

***

**Trump wants A.I. to be known as ... wait for it ... S.I. (Super Intelligence).  He says China's Xi Jinping has agreed to that (he hasn't).  And here I thought S.I. meant the SI that I grew up with - Sports Illustrated.

**It's nice be back in The Valley, where it's always hot (hottest August ever). Except when it's humid - then it's hotter. From June 1 to August 31, it was more than 100* ... wait for it ... 31 times.

**Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood mogul who always seems to be on trial, got convicted in New York (guess, on what). He got 15 years. He seems to have 15 lives.

**Jocelyn, my Jocelyn, has been doing the design work on the new Circle the City Medical Center going up in Mesa. The grand opening is in November. It's a beautiful facility for homeless people needing medical attention and shelter.  I am really proud of her.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Melania. Can't wait to see the new documentaries (hah).

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

 

Schloss-Blog: Defense, Please; And Banning The 'Real' News From the People's House

The Schloss-Blog reporter, a longtime journalist who covered sports, sports business and marketing and then taught college courses in all that, is saddened that President Dumocan (note the spelling - most MAGA idiots don't know there's a 'b' in dumb) has banned Politico, CNN and MSNOW from the White House, banned them from covering the "People's" House at the House itself.

He says they're "fake news." Uh, no Donald, they report the "fake news," the lies, the misinformation that you give them.

You did that more than 30,000 times during your first presidency alone, Donald. THIRTY THOUSAND.

During your current administration, just 15 months in, you have lied to and/or misinformed the American people, well, every day - here's 100 of them, among the many thousands.

Fake News? How about 'Fake President."

***

Been watching a lot of football right now. A lot.

Same thing keeps happening over and over. Defensive players miss tackles, again and again.

How come? Probably some combination of coaching oversight, technique and stupidity.

Once upon a time, a very wise high school coach, who won a state championship and regularly competed for so many more of them, the late, great Grant Blaney, told me one of the keys to tackling successfully:

KEEP YOUR HEAD UP. If you can't see it, he told me, you won't hit it. Blaney, a head coach who rarely messed with his team's outstanding defenses over the years, told me that just before a playoff game against a team with a running back headed to a Big 10 school. Blaney specifically mentioned that directly to his defensive players and to his defensive coaches to remind his defensive players. And it worked for his team.

Yet, what I see on television consistently is pretty good athletes and otherwise pretty good defensive players with their HEADS DOWN trying to tackle pretty good runners.

It doesn't work. It never works.

And TV announcers and commentators NEVER point this out. NEVER. They are not licensed to be that critical, though, of some of their former teammates and colleagues, their fellow warriors.

It needs to be called out, ESPN. It needs to be called out FOX, CBS, NBC and all the conference networks.

But it won't be.

Sadly.

*** 

US Customs and Border Patrol agant Luis Uribe was found guilty of "sexuality assaulting, robbing and threatening" four different women in the Chicago area.

What a scum bag. Throw the book at him, please.

***

Bill Belichick's son, Steven, the UNC defensive coordinator, and Michael Lombardi, the program's GM (yes, these programs all have a general manager now), are both out after investigations concluded that Belichick (Steven, that is) acted with "disregard for Carolina's values and standards of conduct."

Lombardi, meanwhile, resigned after the conclusion of the medical leave on which he had been on since the investigations began. The university refused further comment or detail, on either matter.

Can you say sexual misconduct? Maybe it was and maybe it wasn't, but it definitely wasn't leaking plays and game plans to the enemy, especially since the Tar Heels are off to a surprisingly strong start, until blowing this weekend's game to Clemson.

Gee, another scandal involving Bill Belichick? Shades of Inflate-Gate and SpyGate all over again. Scandals just seem to follow the guy who is dating a woman 50 years younger.

*** 

Trump is threatening to tear down the Kennedy Center if he can't have his name on it. Says it was losing millions. Actually, it has lost billions since he put his name on it and prestigious acts are cancelling left.

And right.

***

Canada, snubbed in the United States' tariff war, is joining the EU trading bloc as an "associate partner."

Canada is the first non-European country to be granted this status by a bloc with the same purchaing power as the US market and is most recently as pissed off at Trump and the US as Canada is.

But our second-largest trading partner, our North American neighbor, is turning its back on us.

Is anyone surprised? But don't worry, Trump is going all in on defending Greenland now. Do you care? Does anyone care?

We're going to have more of a military presence at this giant, slushy, melting island nation.

Does anyone care? Bet the Lincoln can't wait to be dispatched there.

***

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

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

Schloss-Blog: Where Are My DOGE, Tariff and ACA Subsidy-Expiration Rebate Checks Already?

The Schloss-Blog wants to know: With a $5,000 "Vote-Republican" check in the works (if they win, that is), WTF has happened to the previously promised rebate checks for:

**The DOGE savings;

**The Tariff Rebate;

**And the ACA Subsidy-Expiration savings?

These alone add up to $8,000 per individual in the United States, or at least toward voter-eligible adults who may have purchased ACA healthcare coverage and were somehow the f_ck or other impacted by the DOGE cutbacks.

All in all, the promised Trump rebate checks have never come and likely never will because he's so desperate to maintain control of his lap dog, do-nothing Congress, that he'll promise anything and everything to anyone and everyone.

And has. But as to those checks?

Don't hold your breath. Trumo doesn't like to part with his money. 

***

Meanwhile, inflation (3.4%) is still sizzling. And the Consumer Price Index is no bonus eithere.

***

The contractor who screwed up the Deflecting Pool disaster is now taking the blame for the faulty work, undercutting Trump's scalding desire to indict Davey Hearn, against whom DC District Attorney Jeanine Pirro has already dropped the charges.

Atlantic Industrial Coatings, Trump's pals and donor, has accepted responsiblity for the damages, not a vandal with a knife or a boxcutter, as Trump has insisted.

Makes you wonder what else Trump lies about.

No, wait ... everything.

***

Just when I was getting ready to blast Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian and his prize quarterback, Arch Manning, for being vastly overrated, they pulled this 21-point rabbit out of a hat in steamy Austin and beat THE Ohio State, 24-23.

They didn't deserve the win. In fact, they looked like crap for three quarters. Ohio State outplayed them. Ohio State out game-planned them. Ohio State out-executed them. 

After three quarters,THE Ohio State had a 23-3 lead.

After four quarters, Texas had a 24-23 lead.

Don't give this win to Arch Manning, although his pedigree shined through, earning him the redemption he and his Longhorn teammates have sought for a year now. No, this win gets credited to Texas' defense, which bailed out what was an overmatched Sarkisian for three quarters.

Left my significant other Buckeye unhappy too.

***

Are interest rates going up, because inflation is.

Have we won the f_ckin' war yet? What about it, Donald?

More than just the Strait of Hormuz, is the Strait Bab Al Mandab is virtually closed now too, what with Houthi terrorists having virtually closed off Saudi Arabia's alternate route to markets for its oil.

Combined with the Strait of Hormuz, which Trump closed by attacking Iran back in February, these two passages see about 30% of the world's crude go to market.

So, we'll ask again, what about it, Donald? Inflation up, consumer confidence, like your approval ratings, way down. 

Life sucks if you're president of the United States. No, actually, for congressional Republicans.

***

Good night Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you Jordan Grinnell, soccer and cross country star.

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