Hey Venezuela, What Are You Going To Do About It?

The Schloss-Blog sees America (Trump, that is), declaring war on ... passenger boats? Venezuela? Venezuelan passenger boats? 

Passenger boats in the Caribbean? 

Somebody tell the administration that most or close to all of the fentanyl coming into the United States is not from Venezuela - it is produced and shipped from Mexico.

Yes, Mexico.

The country that was going to pay for the wall. But it seems the wall has not adequately kept fentanyl out to the point that Trump has to attack passenger ships coming from Venezuela, which are not carrying fentanyl.

WTF?

So, as long as Trump is attacking Venezuelan shipping interests, is he going to attack Mexico? Is Trump going to send troops into Mexico? Is Trump going to attack SUV's coming out of Mexico. Even the ones with American tourists coming back from vacation?

***

Why aren't we attacking Mexico?

Mexico is the source of most if not all the fentanyl coming into the United States. Why aren't they under attack by our military? 

You know, the same military patrolling the streets in LA, Portland (soon), Chicago (sooner), and Memphis (a Red State deployment, shocking). While we're at it, why not Miami (talk about smugglers ports of call), Houston and, where the mayor and the governor are screaming for help, New Orleans, y'know, in that blue state, Louisiana.

Except that same call for help from the governor of Louisiana is being met with statistical backlash from AH Datalyst Jeff Asher, a statistical analyst who reports that in New Orleans: “Carjackings are down 80% relative to 2022, vehicle burglaries are down 70%, [and] shootings are down 63%,” Asher also wrote, adding in part: “This is a wholly unnecessary stunt.”

Stunts are what Trump is famous for. And he uses the military to try to pull them off. Like his gathering of generals from all over the world to be bored to death listening to dreck from Trump and Sec'y of War Pete Hegseth encouraging them to be ready for war with ...

...wait for it ...

...peaceful protesters in American urban centers (especially the ones in Blue States with Black mayors).

And they better lose weight and all of their morals to be ready to do it.

***

Meanwhile, Bad Bunny, who hosted Saturday Night Live last night, is no longer touring the U.S., fearing for the safety of his crew and his fans from ICE detainment.

However, he will perform at halftime of the Super Bowl in February, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. even though ICE has announced it will have a presence at the game, although it's not clear what that will look like, only that it will target Bad Bunny's crew and fans at the game.

He's from Puerto Rico; that's the United States.

ICE at the Super Bowl. Should provide a chill. Although Bad Bunny may have a surprise in store for them.  

***

Meanwhile, my favorite Starbucks in Phoenix has closed. Just gone, just like that. The place was always jumping, full of patrons talking and working on their laptops, or reading the paper on a Sunday morning. 

It's part of a massive closing spree and layoff pattern for Starbucks, which is closing 1% (400) of its stores and laying off 900 employees at headquarters in Seattle.

***

Between Venezuela and Iran, it is incomprehensible that neither or both have not struck back at the United States with terrorist-like action after the brutal attacks they have suffered at U.S. hands and continue to suffer in the Caribbean. Four passenger/tourist boats have been attacked by the U.S. in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, allegedly carrying drugs. Were they? No evidence has been offered that they were. None, Zero. Zip.

***

This week's Charlie Kirk quote of the week: "...gun deaths are “unfortunately worth it” to preserve the Second Amendment.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Napheesa Collier.

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

And Andy Olson, here's to you for keeping Radio Free Phoenix afloat, literally, this past week.

Ryder-ing off into the sunset; kiss U.S. Golf good-bye for now.

The Schoss-Blog, for all you golf fans out there, is still waiting for Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 golfer in the world, to show up at the Ryder Cup. Oh, wait, it's over? (Don't worry, Tom Veeck, getting to Comey shortly.)

Scheffler and his teammates can't make putts, hit greens or fairways. Otherwise, they're playing great. Europe's team is well managed and has had solid pairings for four-ball and/or alternate-shot. Luke Donald, the Northwestern grad and one-time, long-time Illinois resident, has done a fabulous job with his lineup.

Keegan Bradley, who should be playing, instead is playing checkers and/or Scrabble with his lineups, and they keep getting beat. Bradley is a great golfer who should be out there playing, helping the team with his outstanding sticks while a more-experienced golfer, perhaps a Champions Tour member, is managing the squad (perhaps the suddenly unwelcome Phil Mickelson? WTF.). 

As the President would say: PROSECUTE THESE GUYS. THEY'RE GUILTY (of playing uninspired golf).

Must be the tariffs.

***

Sam Burns, the American who was the best putter on the PGA Tour all season, can't make a putt. And wasn't paired with his best friend, Scottie Scheffler. Why? Why not?

This team is playing like it has never seen Bethpage Black before. They should've been playing practice rounds there once a week all year long and everyday since the end of the Fed Ex Cup, in hopes they'd be on the team.

Clearly, they didn't.

I used to go sledding there every winter when I was a kid. Then, even I could find the greens.

***

Meanwhile, back in D.C., anyone notice that Jim Comey has been indicted? No sooner did the prosecutor assigned to indict (not investigate, but indict) the former FBI director get pushed out, than a celebrity model-turned-Trump personal lawyer got an indictment.

Not only did Lindsey Halligan, a former Trump personal lawyer with no prosecutorial experience get an indictment, it had less than unilateral support from the grand jury, which threw out one of the three charges. A judge could very well toss the other two, they're so weak.

The indictment is so weak, in fact, that Comey, the former FBI director, can't wait to go to trial, he says. "Let's have a trial," he was quoted as saying almost as soon as the indictment was issued.

Trump is losing public confidence as he ignores the economy, poisons foreign relations with foes (Russia) and allies (NATO) alike and deports anyone who ICE agents think doesn't speak English and works a low-paying job. And the Supreme Court has blessed this tactic after lower courts called racial profiling what it is: unconstitutional.

***

All of this has distracted Trump from ... America. From inflation, from rising prices, from pain-causing tariffs and, of course, the Epstein Files. Sorry, Donald, that was your artwork and signature on the birthday greeting.

Don't worry, he hasn't forgotten those. But knowing his approval ratings are in the dumpster and midterm elections are around the corner, where he could lose control of Congress, he is trying to get his Department of Justice to act quickly.

Decisively? Meh...with what's left over there in quality of personnel, not likely.

The Supreme Court seems to want to let Trump act beyond the limits of the Constitution. We'll see if they continue to.

***

Trump has not been quiet about his intentions to get Adam Schiff, James Comey and Letitia James indicted, but his words may come back to undercut the indictments.

Instead of letting DOJ operate on its own independently, he is ordering them aloud to seek these charges and prosecutions. The kind of things defense lawyers salivate over.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, "107."

And in memory of Lenny Marks.

Anyway, more Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

***

This week's (and for the next few weeks), the Charlie Kirk quote of the week:

Transgender identity is a mental disease, needing "brain treatment."

The Schloss-Blog looked up the definition of "Hate Speech," and Charlie Kirk's name kept coming up. 

The Schloss-Blog looked up the First Amendment. It protects "hate speech," so killing someone over it is not justifiable.

Per the NY Times:

Hate Speech includes racial, ethnic and religious epithets, calls for racial or religious intolerance and false statements about racial  or religious groups. Holocaust denial is the most common example." 

For now though, according to right-wing extremists, it's Jimmy Kimmel.

But what about inciting violence? The First Amendment does not protect incitement, but the Supreme Court has defined that term narrowly, requiring a likelihood of imminent violence. Mere advocacy — of violence, terrorism or the overthrow of the government [i.e. Jan. 6] — is legal. The words must be likely to produce violence or lawlessness right away.

***

As John Olive wold say though, 'And now, this:" ABC's turn to suck up: two merger/acquisitions pending: ESPN and NFL Networks and Nexstar buying Tegna in a $6.2 billion deal.

So, Kimmel's gone.

***

So, getting back to that crossroads where Hate Speech meets Free Speech, here's Charlie Kirk on race:

If I’m dealing with somebody in customer service who’s a moronic Black woman, I wonder is she there because of her excellence, or is she there because of affirmative action?

– The Charlie Kirk Show, 3 January 2024

If I’m dealing with somebody in customer service who’s a moronic Black woman, I wonder, is she there because of her excellence, or is she there because of affirmative action?

– The Charlie Kirk Show, 3 January 2024

If you’re a WNBA, pot-smoking, Black lesbian, do you get treated better than a United States marine?

– The Charlie Kirk Show, 8 December 2022

***

And here's Charlie Kirk on racial intolerance:

Happening all the time in urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people, that’s a fact. It’s happening more and more.

– The Charlie Kirk Show, 19 May 2023

And, upon boarding a flight: If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified.

– The Charlie Kirk Show, 23 January 2024

***

OH, there's more...

Kirk openly embraced Christian nationalist language, claiming that liberty was only possible with a Christian population—a narrative tying freedom to demographic dominance, a cornerstone of supremacist logic 

And finally, on the 2nd Amendment:

In 2023, he declared that “it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights,” subsequently framing gun deaths as a tragic but acceptable price for liberty.

***

This is who was being celebrated by the Trump Administration at his funeral today in Arizona.

I truly grieve for his wife and young children. They don't deserve to grow up without a father. 

Hey Charlie, rest in peace. but hold your piece.

America deserves better than the racist, religious discrimination you dispersed.

***

In conclusion, the Schloss-Blog also looked up percentages of political violence committed by the "left" versus those committed by the "right."

Guess what?

According to PBS: Based on our own research and a review of related work, we can confidently say that most domestic terrorists in the U.S. are politically on the right, and right-wing attacks account for the vast majority of fatalities from domestic terrorism. It's not even close.

What happened to Charlie Kirk never should've happened, NEVER! But it exacerbates the unfortunate trend in political violence.

Nine of 14 right-wing men accused of attempting to pull off a violent kidnapping of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, were convicted.

Minnesota State Speaker Melissa Hortman and husband Mark were shot and killed in their home, allegedly by right-winger Vance Luthor Boelter, 

The Schloss-Blog wonders, what's next - a Democratic socialist as mayor of New York City?

Nah, no chance.

***

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

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

About the mayor of Neew York thing ... no, wait...

The Party Of Murder And Violence

The Schloss-Blog has been listening to Trump and sycophants talk about the Charlie Kirk shooting, you know, the one that took the life of a man who spews hatred, racism and vile.

They, on Trump's due, have been denouncing The Left" as the party of murder (Elon Musk says).

What they didn't say, what they conveniently forgot to say, speaking of murder and violence, is what the Radical Right has been doing this and more for many years, (per Frank Bruni in the NY Times):

He made no mention of the assassination this year of Melissa Hortman, the Democratic former speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, and her husband by a gunman who also shot and seriously injured a Democratic state senator and his wife. No mention of an assailant’s attempt to burn down the house of Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, a Democrat, as he, his wife and their children slept inside. No mention of the plot in 2020 to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, a Democrat whom Trump then reveled in vilifying. No mention of the man who broke into Nancy Pelosi’s home in 2022 and struck her husband, Paul, with a hammer, an incident that many of Trump’s allies — including his son Donald Trump Jr. — made fun of.

No, the Republicans are the party of peace and love, right after they're done persecuting and maybe even killing all the "Lefties" they despise.

***

From the CATO Institute: Neither side is immune. Liberal attacks are real; an activist shot the House Republican whip in 2017. But most of the recent attacks came from the right. MAGA assailants targeted Mike Pence; Nancy Pelosi and her husband; and the Democratic governors of Michigan and Pennsylvania. They sent pipe bombs to the homes of Barack Obama and Joe Biden in 2018. In the spring, a right-wing gunman hunted Minnesota state lawmakers, killing one as well as her husband.

***

Who Was Charlie Kirk and Where Are The Democrats?

The Schloss-Blog doesn't want to see anyone get shot, not even Charlie Kirk, but this is who Charlie Kirk was and please, never forget it.

***

And who was this guy who allegedly shot him? His messaging and postings do not make it entirely clear.

***

Trump, his approval ratings in the dumpster, needed a 'turning point' to try to revive them and all of a sudden, Charlie Kirk turns up dead, shot for no apparent reason by a relatively unknown gunman.. 

Just sayin'...

Right-wingers, while fairly unanimous in condemning leftists for the shooting of Charlie Kirk, are not entirely clear. Some pointed fingers at 'Groypers,' one of the furthest-right of right-wing organizations, headed by white-nationalist Nick Fuentes, as the group that may have been the source of the shooting. 

***

Charlie Kirk, meanwhile, for what it's worth:

**...called vaccines "medical apartheid," during the pandemic;

**...blamed DEI hiring practices for the deadly flooding in Texas;

**...at one of his Turning Point organization's events, he said of gun control that what's worth it are "...some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment."

**...cited a Biblical verse from Leviticus that "...endorsed the execution of homosexuals;"

**...and said it should be legal to burn a BLM (Black Liver Matter) flag in public.

***

Just a prince of a guy, huh? 

But absolutely no one deserves to be shot in assassination style. No one.

***

Speaking of vaccinations, the Surgeon General of the State of Florida says he is working with the governor's office to end mandates for all vaccinations.

All mandates for all vaccinations.

Hopefully, you, reading this, do not send your kids to schools in Florida or watch as your grandchildren go off to schools in Florida.

***

Trump is likely about to send the National Guard into Memphis, Tennessee, to supposedly help combat crime there. So he's finally sending troops into a city in a Red State.

With a Black Mayor. Just like all the others to which he has sent troops or is considering sending them.

Crime rates, by the way, in Memphis, are declining in 2025, year over year, and have been trending downward since 2022.

***

While many lower and appeals court rulings go against the Trump administration, the Supreme Court keeps bailing him out.

It recently gave its stamp of approval on his administration's detainments and deportations of people, right off the street, in Los Angeles.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Joyce Gallagher.

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

U.S. Open, Ryder Cup and Storefront Revolt

Competition really drives the Schloss-Blog and the Schloss-Blog has been following a lot of it lately. Like the U.S Open tennis competition, where the challenges, the stunning shot-making, the fierce spirit of the competitors, much of it toward each other, provides compelling reasons to watch.

Throughout, for two weeks, ESPN's expert analysts, and they are, supply viewers with insights they don't get anywhere else. Unless they play competitive tennis themselves, that is, and can plainly see that no matter how good they tell us Alexander Bublik is, no matter how deep they tell us Taylor Fritz can go in the draw, no matter how many times they remind us that some guy you never heard of has beaten Carlos Alcaraz before and no matter how long a drug suspension Jannik Sinner served (three months instead of the usual four years), the finals of one of tennis' premier events comes down to two things:

Who will win this time; Alcaraz or Sinner?

Heading into today's final, the one or the other of them had taken home the hardware in all four majors since the beginning of 2024. No one else had a chance. Not even Novak Djokovic, who has 24 major titles. The problem is, he won his first when Alcaraz and Sinner were 5 and 7, respectively (2008). Tnerefore, it will be a chore for him to win a record-breaking 25th.

Now 38, and more than able to conquer anyone and everyone else not named Sinner or Alcaraz, Djokovic needs help - like someone to beat Alcaraz and/or Sinner en route to the semifinals. Because he can't. He played a great match on Friday againt Alcaraz in the semifinals at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows. He would've beaten anyone else.

Except Alcaraz. Or Sinner, likely.

At least the women's competition was in doubt all the way through. Thank you, Amanda Anisimova, for making it interesting enough for American tennis fans to keep watching, all the way to the finals, with wins over Iga Swiatek and Naomi Osaka. 

Unfortunately, you lost in the finals to the always less-than-gracious Aryna Sabalenka.

American men though, haven't won a major finals since - wait for it - Andy Roddick did it at the U.S. Open.

In 2003.

It might be another 22 years on top of that until an American man wins one.

***

Why is it when that when I write about trashing the President of the United States I get more "impressions" when I post this blog on LinkedIn than I do when I write about sports, other politics, entertainment or just life in general?

Actually, when I trash Trump in this blog, the impressions skyrocket, although not necessarily when I write about "the president." Guess I'll have to write about Trump - uh, trash Trump, that is - more often.

***

Not to drift away from Trash - uh, Trump - but this kid Aaron Stewart from Warren Township High School in Illinoisn rushed for 438 yards - 438 - in a season-opening win for the Blue Devils over Hersey.

438.

In the 50 years I covered high school football, I never saw a kid rush for that many individually. 438 - unbelievable!

***

Speaking of Trump. CBS News has adopted a new policy that says it will no longer broadcast edited portions of interviews with politicians that take things "out of context." This is a result of the lawsuit fhat Trump "won" over the "60 Minutes" editing of an intrerview with then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Trump's attorneys didn't like that CBS broadcast different versions of Kamala responses to a question that he claims made him look bad (as if that's difficult to do).

So, from now on CBS News, you'll see one bad version of a response that makes Trump look bad, not two or three versions.

***

Also, the Trump Administration is so desperate to meet its Stephen Miller-imposed quota of deportations everyday that it will be detaining caskets of soldiers whose names are foreign-sounding at Arlington National Cemetery and were cartel members.

The ACLU is suing so that the caskets get proper hearings before deportation.

***

Bill Belichick looked like the walking dead when he escorted his North Carolina Tar Heels out onto the field for their season opener 

With North Carolina royalty in the stadium for the game (Michal Jordan, Roy Williams, Lawrence Tauylor, Mia Hamm), the Tar Heels went out and sucked. against TCU in an embarrassing 48-14 loss.

If he's the second coming, Nort Carolina missed the exit.

***

Read Subsack: for Marty Maciaszek;

                        for Ilyce Glink;

                        for Tim McKinney;

                        for Katherine Raz.

I do. Very ineresting.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Katherine Raz. More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

           

Doris Burke, Micah Parsons On The Move As ICE Shows Up To Arrest Firefighters

The Schloss-Blog is tracking a lot of movement, not all of it good, from the basketball broadcast booth to NFL rosters to the lies that persistently come out of the White House.

***

Yet another woman hits the glass ceiling - and the glass ceiling wins.

Doris Burke is out as the lead analyst on the ABC/ESPN coverage of NBA basketball, the first female to call the NBA Finals on national TV.

Why? No one knows or at least no one is saying - ESPN's top executives could have vetoed the move, but declined. She'll now step back into the network 'B" team, alongside talented Dave Pasch, who doubles as the Arizona Cardinals football play-by-play voice.

She'll be replaced on Team '1' by Tim Legler, who I love as an analyst. In studio, that is, because when he's on with Scott Van Pelt on Sports Center, they are gold. No one shows how a play transitions into a tactic and then from a tactic into a strategy like "Legs." 

But that's why he's so good in studio or perhaps as one of the pre-game/post-game/halftime analysts on the network's lead games and at the NBA Finals.

There's not enough time to do that in-game, sitting alongside Hall-of-Fame play-by-play guy Mike Breen and talented all-star-turned-analyst Richard Jefferson. The latter was so in support of Doris though that he wore a "My Favorite Broadcaster is Doris Burke" T-shirt when he showed up at the NCAA World Series of Softball Finals in OKC while the ABC crew was there doing the Finals.

To be sure, ABC/ESPN can do what it wants with its analysts. But "Legs" and Doris do the same thing in such different contexts. For the one, its' such deep-thought analysis. And for the other, it's such quick-thought strategizing that they should not be flip-flopped. 

But they were. A blow against women in basketball. A blow against women.

*** 

Speaking of blows against women, Trump decided to strike one, saying he was firing Fed Board of Governors member Lisa Cook.

Cook is saying she can only be fired for cause, or, in other words, malfeasance on the job. The DOJ lawyers agruing for Trump are saying the president can do whatever he wants (surprise!). Trump is arguing that Cook, who he says has claimed multiple residences as her primary housing, has committed said malfeasance.

U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb will get to decide whether the firing "violates the Federal Reserve Act, which states that the president can only remove a member of the central bank's Board of Governors "for cause," according to CBS News.

Even if he loses, Trump's DOJ lawyers say they'll appeal.

Good for them. Trump wants her out so he can appoint a replacement who will give him a majority on the Board of Governors and a chance to get interest rates lowered to where he wants them, inflation be damned.

And it probably will be.

Trump's a dick

***

Green Bay has a new No. 11 and Dallas had two new Nos. 1 in draft picks as a result, plus a Pro Bowl defensive lineman, who's no No. 11.

Locked in a war of words, alleged verbal agreements and claims of trust and can't-be-trusted, Micah Parsons is instead bringing his All-Pro sack talents to Green Bay, where he'll make life miserable for J.J. McCarthy, Jared Goff and Caleb Williams, respectively.

Wonder what Ben Johnson has to say about Green Bay now.

*** 

You can't scream "Fire," in a crowded theater but apparently you can scream "ICE," at least at the scene of a wildfire, you can.

That's what's happening in Washington state, where wildfire sites are being visited by ICE officers, or whoever those masked guys are. They are apparently detaining firefighters who, they claim, are illegals.

At least two on the frontlines of the Bear Gulch Fire were detained and held on Wednesday after U.S. Border Patrol agents arrived mid-morning and ordered workers trying to quell Washington’s Bear Gulch blaze to line up for ID checks, according to The Seattle Times, per The Daily Beast.

Meanwhile, someone was firing into a church service celebrating the opening of the school year in Minnesota.

Where was a blended ICE team on that? 

Stephen Miller has set a daily quota, and a weekly and a monthly quota as well, to wipe immigrants, illegal or not, out of the United States.

Looks like there is a fire in Washington after all.

***

As predictced here, Joni Ernst is not running for reelection to the U.S. Senate from Iowa. But don't worry: Ms. "We're all going to die," as she and the Republican colleagues' healthcare plans are known, will likely get a Cabinet-level appointment when Tulsi Gabbard or Kari Lake gets fired.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Heidi Gardner.

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