Sunday Morning Coming Down

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi says recognizing same sex marriages would impose significant public harm and create problems for the state's pension and health insurance programs.  I wouldn't like to comment on her success or lack of success with marriage, but it is clear to her that providing a civil right to marry for all people isn't on her to do list. The Sunshine State of Mind is a little cloudy at this time. The Miami Herald reports that tourist funds were used to support the Miami Dade County Parks Department and to avoid the layoff of police officers and correctional officers because the tourist funds freed up other county money and avoided a tax increase as well.  The county had tourist dollars stashed away for future use to fund various stadium projects to the tune of anticipated $50 million dollars.  The raid on these funds will be made up because our tourist industry has recovered and tax collections are way up according to analysts.  Let's hope the ...

In the USA there have been a number of foreys into populism where politicians promise the moon rhetorically but in practice deliver quite a bit less. Some folks might think of this as failed populism, I'm not exactly sure about definitions because they are subject to manipulation but the government has had some significant failures which may or may not be included in populism, although the failure is almost always blamed on the public for being stupid, lazy, or cheaters asking for a free lunch at someone elses expense. Dylan Thomas is quoted as saying an alcoholic is someone who you dislike, that drinks as much as you do.  There is a lot of truth in that comment, an awful lot of truth, and it may describe where we are at these days.  It's easier to attack people and ideologies than govern. A cartoonist can characterize Social Security Benefits as a ponzi scheme a la Bernie Madoff, educational policies as a failure, and immigration policies, as out of control I would ask ...

You shouldn't be surprised if someone on the the staff of The National Review thinks Maya Angelou's poetry leaves them less than totally inspired when Bill Clinton was sworn into office or that they think that Richard Blanco, Obama's choice for inauguration day poet was even worse.  Would you expect anything different? Maybe the worst thing about this state of affairs isn't the literary criticism, it's controversy where there there isn't any controversy.  The lady died, she wrote books, she was an entertainer, she was a poet and she overcame a lot of stuff.  History will take care of her place in the scheme of things. The lady's story is her own and at her funeral folks will share their stories and celebrate her life.

Just read a Facebook post about bringing back Gary Meier to drive time radio on WGN in Chicago. Secondly, I know nothing about Gary Meier and have never listened to his radio show but I do listen to local radio talk shows on the AM and getting fired is part of the radio business Miami had Neil Rogers, Mike Reineri who spent almost their entire adult lives broadcasting on various stations up and down the radio.  If I liked the personality, I would follow them wherever they went on the dial  Some stations had clearer signals than others and you could hear them for quite a distance and others might disappear a few blocks from the house. Talk show hosts can develop devoted fan bases.  Talk show hosts with fan bases can alienate those that don't like the host and that can bleed over into other shows and the station itself. These days, you are lucky if you have a local talk show with a local host.  There are so many syndicated shows these days radio is pretty vanilla...

Horse racing in Florida will be changing soon and hopefully for the better.  Gulfstream Park and Calder Race Course have come to an agreement where the two tracks will no longer run head to head against each other.  Calder Race Course will run in the fall, and Gulfstream Park will pick other days the rest of the year.  Calder will have enough days to continue operating its slot machines, Gulfstream will pay Calder for it's reduced schedule of races and signature races and to keep its barns and training facilities open for horsemen. Long term this is big news for Florida Racing. But I'm absolutely positive that all the wouldas, couldas, and shouldas that follow the ponies, will be watching to see what the carryover pool will be for the mandatory payout of Gulfstream's Rainbow Pick Six on Monday. A single winning $.20 ticket could be worth as much as $16 million.  The facts point to multiple winning tickets being sold and the winners splitting as much as $16 mil...

According to the Icelandic Review, the prime minister thinks adopting the American or Canadian Dollar could be good for Iceland. Iceland is a small place and I've wondered how they have been able to maneuver in international economics with a small economy and one dependent on trade.  Actually I'm not sure they have been that successful and economists like Milton Friedman thought a long time ago that the country would have been better off using the dollar.  The global recession hit Iceland hard and the country is only now recovering slowly. Lots of countries just use the dollar and others peg their currencies to the dollar.  The country can take advantage of low interest rates and the whole system is just simpler not having to worry about what others think the countries currency is worth. Political leaders in Iceland would be prevented from playing games with the country's currency. At the end of the day controlling inflation and government debt is vital to Iceland...

The Wall Street Journal thinks the VA Hospital System should be dissolved, others might say blown up, and others may just be speechless at the appointment scandal at the agency.  With Viet Nam vets getting older and ten years plus of wars in the Middle East this problem should have been foreseen. I'm not going to defend anyone involved in this mess.  This is Memorial Day Weekend and the vets that served this country need an alternative to the VA Hospitals if the hospitals are unable to do what they need to do for whatever reason(s) put forward and while they fix the problem(s). On the battlefield doctors are saving folks, and then the wounded go home to wait and wait. The provision of medical services to vets used to be a benefit to those that served, the administration, congress, and the agency needed to start working on this problem a long time ago. I'm guilty thinking that saying "thank you for your service" means something. Does it really mean much of anythi...

On the backside Hialeah Park AM Citation Statue and Fountain Morning Exercise Whoa. What was that?  Sunday Afternoon Looks like a race track.

A cousin of mine passed away suddenly after a couple of days in the hospital.  He was my age and was a retired Army band member who toured the country playing concerts. My aunt and uncle have outlived three of their four sons. It is very sad. I found out about his hospitalization and death from the Internet.  No phone calls, just an e-mail from a cousin from Canada. There were quite a few messages of sympathy, shock, and sharing on Paul's Facebook page from friends who had worked with him, were band members, and a few old girlfriends I guess.  A few folks just wondered what happened and how he died so suddenly. I must send a card to Aunt Thora and Uncle Ron.  I've sent a message to their Facebook page, but being old school I'm going to the drug store to buy and write on a sympathy card.  The last time I saw my cousin he was in a fancy concert uniform playing the trumpet in downtown Miami about fifteen years ago.  This is how I will remember Paul, play...

I just finished watching something posted on Facebook that showed how a bunch of beagles reacted after they were released from cages where they had lived their whole lives, supposedly I guess, I'm not sure of the accuracy of their rescuers claim and would not be surprised if the claims of the rescuers were more than a little bit overdone or exaggerated. In spite of my concerns about the claims of the rescuers, I would like to express my support for animal rights organizations because animals are subject to exploitation and have precious little to say about their housing, food, and care and a few advocates can't hurt. I could be accused of more than a little bit of confusion, hypocrisy, and inconsistency because I like horse racing, dog racing, and lots of other sports that include animals like fishing, and being a carnivore is probably not a plus in this argument, but that's the way I see it. If you have a dog, cat, or another pet you can no longer take care of, pleas...

Yesterday while waiting between a few events I found yet another way to spend time on the Internet.  I've played Internet games regularly and was introduced to them at work a long time ago by a computer expert who used games to get clerks accustomed to completing paperwork with pen and ink to use computer key boards.  Not entirely successful as the job required interviewing skills and listening skills and keyboarding skills. Not everyone was a three tool whiz, and not everyone was proficient in English, French, Spanish, and Creole and work arounds were needed all the time. It's been a long time since I've played a board game, the last being Trivial Pursuit or cribbage if that counts as a board game. Yesterday I was introduced to on line Monopoly, live against other lost souls, or against the computer. My first and possibly only time I will play online I played the computer.  I've never played the game where properties not bought had the auction button.  This spee...

The Miami Herald writes today about a sore subject. The Miami Heat in spite of having another great season whether they do or don't win the NBA championship have only paid the county its landlord for the Triple A Arena $257,134 in a profit sharing plan agreed to in 1997. Long story short, the Miami Heat paid for the building and is repaying itself about $14 million dollars a year from revenue it generates from game.  Renovations and poor ticket sales can lower profits or actually cause losses which wipe out any money the County might expect for buying the land on which the stadium sits. Profit sharing only kicks in when net revenue exceeds $14 million. In return for a new agreement, the team agrees to stay in Miami, continue to make improvements to the building and pay the County about $1 million, but the subsidy for the stadium would also go up and is projected to double The whole thing is really financed by hotel tourist taxes and ticket sales. How much having a winning b...

 Coal mining is one of the most dangerous occupations around.  There have been really monstrous disasters in coal mines in China, France, Japan, and elsewhere.  The 1942 Benixhu disaster killed 1599, 1099 Courriees, France in 1906, and 687 were killed at the Mitsubishi Mine in Japan in 1914. The current Turkish mining disaster may have claimed over 420 victims with 282 bodies recovered and another 140 still missing.  Explosions from coal gas, suffocation and cave ins are just a few of the ways you can die if you work underground. Mining is a rural occupation almost entirely.  People that work in or have a job related to a mine are very much like a family. Like it or not I felt more than a little fatalism when I was around coal miners during my short time in West Virginia. I can hardly imagine what the families of the killed and missing Turkish miners have gone through, the last few days. The conventional wisdom is that coal mining is much safer today than ...

Jules was a friend of mine.  He sold me wine. Jules died a couple of days ago and I would have gone to his services had a known.  I think it would have been interesting. I originally met Jules at a wine tasting party that a friend had.  I tried a lot of different wines that night and decided I liked Auslese.  The wine was pretty sweet but I liked it. I have since developed a taste for wines that are less sweet.  I went to several other parties, but I always seemed to buy the same wine.  Eventually the parties were less important but the calls from Jules were important enough that if I missed his call, co-workers were sure to give me a message.  A bottle or two became a case at a time, the wine was delivered to my house, and I became friends with the delivery guy. I brought wine to dinners, parties, and gave bottles of wine to staff members that liked wine at Christmas. After retirement I got a few calls from Jules, he worked until he got into his...

Jose Fernandez, 21 and ace pitcher of the Miami Marlins was placed on the disabled list and may need Tommy John surgery for injured ligaments in his elbow. He will probably be done for the season and longer as recovery from this kind of injury takes a long time.  The Marlins were trying their best with this pitcher.  Last year his season ended early because they didn't want to strain his golden arm and this year he left a couple of games early to again avoid straining his arm. The kid from Cuba is a great story and he has a following. People would make efforts to go to the park to see him pitch, a la Kerry Woods of the Cubs.  Maybe next year or the year after. Fred Grimm, the Miami Herald's answer to Mike Royko commenting about new plans for Watson Island and the one percent: "Not Miami. We've not only come to terms with stark inequalities of wealth distribution, we've made it a growth industry to fawn over and grovel to."  Watson Island a public space on Bi...

I try to avoid shopping at Walmart but  there are times when it is as convenient and as cheap as any of the alternatives. There are lots of reasons to bash Walmart for the wages they pay workers, their impact on other businesses, some of their labor practices, and stuff I've never even thought of, but I wouldn't complain one bit if they green up on their use of energy and get a little like Whole Foods in the process. I'll take progress on more efficient use of energy where ever possible and Walmart by their size can help out if they use more solar power and their growing carbon footprint could be even worse if they did nothing. This is example of bipartisanship that is what it's all about. Mr.Reich thinks the administration missed the boat big time by lauding Walmart's efforts. The tax savings will probably probably go directly to stockholders, but that is a different issue. On Sunday, I cringe when we open the doors for Sunday Services and then make no effort...

I was kind of amazed to see that Vibram Company that made a version of running shoes that look like gloves for your feet set aside money to refund the purchase price for dissatisfied customers. I was a jogger, I've run lots of 10ks, 5ks, a few 15ks, and the Orange Bowl Marathon. At 63 years old my knees aren't doing the best and just about all my jogging buddies have moved on to riding bicycles. I've read all the books about running.  The Complete Book of Running by Jim Fixx and This Running Life, by George Sheehan and lately, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall all have popularized running and McDougall's book was the touchstone for running as close to barefoot as possible. Runners, that run a lot, spend a great deal of money on shoes and I'm sure some that read Born to Run tried what has been called shoe condoms. I imagine that if I was younger and still running I might have tried these shoes and maybe put them into the shoe rotation, as a change, or maybe ...

The Miami Heat are 5-0 in the NBA Playoffs and I'm reserving a seat front row center tonight and that is no surprise. Eleven more victories and the threepeat will be complete.  The Miami Marlins on the other hand are a total surprise with a record of 19-15 are tied for the lead in the National League East. With the Marlins how long it will last is any body's guess but I've become a fan of the team and their reruns of games played the night before. Day baseball is the way the game should be played. The team was 8-1 during the latest home stand and 17-5 while at home. They play San Diego tonight and I will be busy handicapping races in Oklahoma City and listening to the game Meanwhile, the cross town rivalry in Chicago made a few of my relatives happy. I was struck by the way a bat splintered and almost impaled the Cub pitcher. The slow motion shot of the bat flying at the pitcher was scariest thing I've seen at a baseball game. Meanwhile another cousin has decked out...

I'm not sure what happened at the border or if Rob Ford ever got to the border to be denied access to entering the United States. You can be denied entrance into the United States for a variety of reasons and a conviction related to a controlled substance violation, even once is a basis for not allowing a person to enter the country. Sorry about that, whether the punishment fits the crime I have my doubts, but as Mr. Taylor said in 7th grade: "tough toenails, you grew em, you chew em.  An immigration attorney may be needed but in Mr. Ford's case maybe should stay home and take care of business in Ontario.

I should have known this movie would be a problem because one of the producers was Johnny Knoxville of Jackass fame.. The documentary from the Tribeca Film Festival followed the Whites, a truly disturbed and twisted family from Boone County, West Virginia. I found this on Amazon Prime and the major cost was an opportunity cost. I should have been watching the Miami Heat play basketball, or the Marlin's baseball game or gone for a walk. I am a fan of all things West Virginian I guess and thought a documentary about a dying breed of outcasts, king coal, and mountain dancing couldn't be all bad. I was uncomfortable from almost the first minute of this movie.  The drug use, language, criminal behavior and just about everything sort of reminded me of the backside of the movie, Deliverance. You can't make this stuff up. Florida still has a problem with pill mills and doctors that prescribe pain pills in a perverse form of medical tourism and I can imagine the White family...

Yesterday, Monday I was thinking about how things have changed. Maybe it was because they were demolishing Tioga Grade School and there were lots of old pictures and not a few recent pictures of the school posted on Facebook. This outside looked old, the inside not so bad. I walked to that school from Kindergarten through 6th grade with some time out for a time in England 3rd and part of 4th grade at Bushy Park Air Force Base. Then five minutes watching an old rerun of Lassie said it all.  Of course Lassie saved the day, but Timmy was told to tie the rope to the bumper of the truck, while his Dad is trying to save a scuba diver who is pinned at the bottom of a lake by an underwater boulder. The rope brought  to the Dad by Lassie is tied to the boulder and Timmy is told to start up the truck and put it into reverse. Timmy guns it, the boulder is moved and the diver is saved. Who these days would trust a little kid or maybe even themselves to tie the rope to the bumper, tie ...

The Derby is over and I'm on to the Preakness in two weeks.  A future book bet on California Chrome was a good bet after all. The horse is the real deal, but a lot of things can happen in two weeks.  There is a lot of talk about a Triple Crown winner as there always is after the Kentucky Derby.  Sir Barton was the very first Triple Crown Winner, sort of anyway.  They didn't really use the term until 1930 when Gallant Fox was the second horse to win the Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.  The Cubs haven't won the World Series since 1908. It's only been 36 years since Affirmed was the last Triple Crown winner.  Horseman could learn patience from Cubs fans. Randy Weidner, trainer of the Beaver, had a good weekend also.  He won the South Dakota Futurity and the South Florida Derby for quarter horses at Fort Pierre, South Dakota.  The owner, breeds quarter horses and I guess this makes him the go to guy if you want a South Dakota Bred. Derby Winn...

The Kentucky Derby is today, and I'll be watch and my money is down. I've looked at the past performances and seen most of last races and more than a few of their last workouts. A mile and a quarter is five times the length of classic distance in quarter horse racing. Not unlike the difference between drag racing other car races. Horses are neither motorcycles or race cars and I could make a positive comment about almost all the horses in the race. In fact about a month ago, I made selections in the race knowing it was a possibility that the horse or horses might not even get in the race. I wouldn't be surprised if $185,000,000 were bet legally from all sources on the race and a very small amount of it came from Miami.  With the possibility of 20 horses running in the race the possibilities are almost endless and I don't think California Chrome is the second coming of Secretariat. I'm boxing the 4,5,6,20 in Exactas and Keying the 6,20/3,4,5,6,20/3,4,5,6,20...