Sunday Morning Coming Down

Saturday the barns at Hialeah Park are scheduled to open. Races will begin on December 26th and there is still a lot of work to be done before the first call to the post. The QH folks will becoming from Iowa, Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana for the most part. I think a lot of trainers enjoy the good weather before they start training their two year olds seriously for the big races out west at Remington Park. Hopefully, it will dry out and get a little cooler. Update 12/31/2015 It's now Thursday.  The races have resumed.  Morning workouts are happening.  The jocks cafeteria is open for tacos, burritos and all sorts of Mexican morning food.  Prices are up, but early this fall the cook bought a yearling at Heritage Place, somebody has to pay for that baby. Opening day, Sunday, and Monday were filled with trial races for big races to be held in two weeks.  The races were held but the biggest controversy was probably in the racing secretary...

I'm hardly a theologian. I'm hardly a theist either, but in this holiday season it might be prudent to point out that Christians, Jews, and Muslims probably all worship or believe in the same God. All three believe that God is the Creator and that God will someday end the world that he created. All three believe that God is a judge as well, that he will show himself as such on the last day, and that the criterion for his judgment will be not worldly greatness but moral integrity. And this list can be extended just as easily as the list of differences. If there is a God, let's hope he or she or it is the forgiving kind.

"This six bedroom, eight and one half bathroom home has been impeccably maintained and updated to reflect the amenities necessary for 21st Century Living: a 60 KW generator that provides the security of knowing activities will continue regardless of the elements; a walled and gated location, covering more than 27,000 feet on Key Biscayne's most prestigious, private street.".... The place is probably even more amazing than the insert in The Miami Herald.  The price is so high you have to call to find out how much it is. In 1971 you could go to restaurants like the English Pub on Key Biscayne or a steakhouse like The Hasta near the Grove and Coral Gables, knowing that Nixon ate there semi regularly. Key Biscayne isn't as laid back as it once was.  President's Nixon's Winter White House was pretty secluded but very very modest by standards even back then.  It was torn down as many of the houses built back in the 50's have been to make way for newer wat...

Justice Scalia serves on the Supreme Court of the United States. Justice Scalia went to Harvard Law School.  Harvard is a private school that can decide who will be admitted to the school. It is almost inconceivable that a judge sitting on the Supreme Court would say something like this " There are those who contend that it does not benefit African-­Americans to get them into the University of Texas where they do not do well, as opposed to having them go to a less advanced school, a less­­ — a slower­-track school where they do well," Scalia said Wednesday, according to the Supreme Court transcript . The idea that Texas might decide to admit African Americans to address issues of diversity and access to the STATE University of Texas is something that might be better left to the State of Texas. Justice Scalia seems to prefer the good old days when segregation did the work of putting students in their place and often guaranteed a second class education.  What happene...

Donald Trump and his ideas about banning Muslims from coming to this country are being slammed from all directions.  And this time like a whole bunch of other times he is trying to walk it back by saying it would be a temporary measure until we can figure out what is happening. This seems to be a pattern.  Throw out some red meat to those who support him and appeal to the most base of his base. These kind of appeals to fears that exist be really need to be stopped and called out as the worst kind of demagoguery that has no place in the serious process of electing a president of the United States.  In fact it seems this pattern of attacks on people in this country may actually inflame behavior we are so concerned about.  Scapegoating people of a certain religion or nationality or race isn't an American trait I agree with and think those with a different point of view need to speak out. This is not the stuff of policy for any country that calls itself a democracy...

If you really need to get away you can become  a citizen of Dominica for a cool $100,000. You can travel on your Dominica passport and you don't even need to live there. Dominica Passport and Second Citizenship and its Advantages Second Passport and Dominica Citizenship for life Dominica offers second passport and citizenship for life for the main applicant, applicant’s spouse and dependent children (if any). Dual Citizenship Dual citizenship is permitted and there is  no residency requirement. It is necessary to visit Dominica once to attend the interview with a committee appointed by the Prime Minister in order to get your second passport. However, once citizenship is granted you have the option of living and working in Dominica for the rest of your life. ...

The owner of FastTrain a  private for profit vocational school has been found guilty of theft and conspiracy in his operation of the school. The Commission for Independent Education, the Private School watch dog didn't do its job of investigating student complaints. The school took advantage of loopholes, hired recruiters that only had the owner's interests at heart and used sleazy tactics and forged signatures of potential students to get control of Pell grants and loan money intended to help students pay for classes.  Too often the students were ill qualified for their classes. The private for profit schools and the existing state run vocational schools  both need good quality oversight.

About two weeks ago Dade Medical College closed its doors and the owner pleaded guilty. MIAMI - Dade Medical College owner Ernesto Perez pleaded guilty Monday to charges of illegal campaign contributions and resisting arrest Monday as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. Besides serving three days in jail, Perez will have to pay a $150,000 fine and do 160 hours of community service as part of the deal. Perez was facing up to six years in prison had he not taken the plea deal. He left the courthouse without talking to reporters. In the meantime, students from the now defunct college are trying to figure out how to get their money back or how to complete their nursing degrees. From the Miami Herald 11/17/2015: Education Management Corporation agreed to pay  $95 million dollars to settle lawsuits about how it recruited students. Judge Terry McVerry while dismissing an attempt to squash on of the lawsuits, called the allegations in the case a multi billion dollar co...

The irony of a media staff member at the University of Missouri trying to restrict a photo journalist's access to a protest site on campus can't be minimized. On one hand you have a highly respected journalism school and a student journalist trying to document what was happening on campus.   The protesters were not happy with a person walking around taking pictures of what was going on. The video of what happened included a lot of yelling and more than a little confusion. A woman who began yelling at Tai to leave was later identified as Melissa Click, a professor in the university's communications department. “Who wants to help me get this reporter out of here? I need some muscle over here," she screamed to some of the other protesters at the conclusion of the video. Tai was also accused of violating the protesters' privacy rights at one point. Sadly, I don't think there was much reporting done and these days wandering around with a camera and...

The President of the University of Missouri has resigned. The football team had threatened to sit out Saturday's game against BYU. It was possible that the school would need to forfeit more than just the game. The school had guaranteed more than $1 million dollars to their opponent. And who knows what the alumni would think if their Saturday Afternoon was disrupted. Maybe the lawyers would have been able to figure out a way around that penalty, and put the screws to the players on the football team, but the most expedient thing happened, the university president resigned. I am unable to comment on the status of racist speech or racism at Missouri or or any other school. I am almost positive that colleges and universities experience stuff that most folks would consider racist. Colleges and universities are small cities and when a diverse group of folks are put together both good and bad things can happen. It would be really interesting to see NFL players exercise a little bit ...

UPDATED: $222.40 Mahoning Valley Maiden Winner: Was 'She' Really A 'He'? - Horse Racing News | Paulick Report

Cubs fans have a right to be disappointed with the way their season ended. They also have the right to be pleased that the Mets lost to the Royals. And finally they have the right to feel good about next season. The team is young, very talented, and if the team can avoid a collective sophomore slump they should be in the battle for a playoff spot again. The team's improvement from 2014 was tremendous. The Royals could teach the Cubs a few things about "small ball". It is fun to watch players hit home runs, but the fact that timely hitting of singles can also score runs. It might also help to just keep the ball in play rather than striking out, which doesn't advance runners. The biggest issue is playing in the NL Central Division. The Cardinals don't look like they are going to slow down next year. Ask the Pirates about the wild card playoff system.

The Sunday Miami Herald wrote about what Miami Beach is doing to fight flooding during high tides.  Pumps are moving water to the Bay and in some places roads and sidewalks are being raised so cars and pedestrians don't have to drive or walk through sea water regularly. Ocean levels are rising and dealing with how it is affecting Miami Beach isn't just front page news, its a political and engineering issue. It's not just about hurricanes, its about high tides that are already here. They are the "King Tides" that can swamp places like Las Olas Blvd and parts of A1A in Broward, and lots of places on the beach, and even Matheson Hammock in the Gables is under water twice a day at this time of the year. The really big effects of a rising sea level are probably decades away, but we really need to start doing stuff now if parts of South Florida will continue to be liveable.

At the end of the University of Miami/Duke football, I'm sure that I was like many Cane Fans.  I turned the game off with a little bit of disgust.  Duke had driven down the field and scored a touchdown with the aid of about three pass interference calls and a questionable touchdown run with almost no time left. The Canes were penalized 23 times during the game. A sloppy game at best with three good drives and a reasonable defensive effort but the Canes gave up a 24-12 lead. Enough of this. I sat in a dark living room. Disappointed. The lads had figured out a way to blow a game they should have won, on the road, against a ranked team. Duke being ranked ahead of the "U" was probably a good enough reason for Al Golden to have been fired.  Last week's loss to a good Clemson team wasn't a big surprise.  The margin of the defeat was the shocker. In bed, I thought about American Pharoah. Well, at least he won impressively, at odds of 3/5. I turned on WQAM radio. ...

A Face Book Friend commented on life in Israel where there is health care is subsidized and religious education is also subsidized. The subsidy is such that both health and education have little impact on the family budget and according to Israelis education and health care is of high quality. The United States sends approximately $3 billion dollars is Israel in foreign aid. I guess the simple question is why is congress not working harder to make education and health care more accessible and of a higher quality.

The stock market is a funny place. Maybe this isn't funny but it is a sort of sad commentary about the way things are. The price of Walmart shares in the stock market were down about 11% last week and it was because they were going to pay their workers more money and as a result their profits would be lower, so say the analysts. Profits down, stock price lower.

The Cubs are about a year ahead of schedule if you were to believe all the talk during Spring Training this year. They have finished the regular season strong and tonight's game is set up for their ace, Jake Arrieta. If there ever was a time to take it one game at a time, one at bat at a time, and one pitch at a time. I can hardly wait for tonight's game to start.

Maybe the World Series is being played in the National League Central Division this year. Whoever gets out of this division has my vote for World Series Champion.  The Cubs with 96 wins and maybe a 97th today have already exceeded my expectations for the year. They may even finish in a tie with the Bucs for 2nd behind the Cardinals.  If the wheels don't fall off they will give the Redbirds a nasty fight. Finishing the regular season winning a possible eight game winning streak is great momentum for the wild card playoff. Go Cubs! You Go Girl! Last night Captivating Cara steered clear out of the gate and then drove for the win in the 7th at Prairie Meadows Race Track. Coming from PP#8 she paid $26 and change for winning the 250 yard race. Receiving some class relief she survived a very positive comment from the track handicapper to allow me to recover my loses from earlier races. And so it goes.

Sometimes taking the long way isn't a big mistake.  I knew a trip from Miami, Florida is going to be a long trip, and I didn't like the idea of driving by myself to Iowa or Oklahoma City.  I could have flown if time was an issue but these days time isn't the biggest concern. I started out for Altoona, Iowa on Sunday, 9/20/2015. I returned to Miami, Florida on 9/29/2015 and in between time I went to a horse sale at Heritage Place in Oklahoma City, and returned to Altoona, Iowa, and saw horse races at Remington Park in Oklahoma City and Quarter Horse Racing at Prairie Meadows Race Track in Altoona which isn't far from Des Moines. Quarter horse racing which I follow and participate in to a very small amount moves around the country in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Iowa and recently Florida and other states like Minnesota, and Indiana and throughout the Inter mountain West. I left Miami on this tour to escape the end of summer and to hop...

Just got back from four road trips that started in Miami, Florida and ended in Miami, Florida with a round trips from Altoona, Iowa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Leg one from Miami to Altoona.  The trip started on a Sunday Night.  The trip was mostly uneventful except for a passenger in a wheel chair.  Taking the bus for any distance is arduous, taking a six hundred mile trip in a wheel chair is kind of hard to imagine. I'm sure the drivers kind of dread this kind of passenger because of the extra work it requires and all the complications possible. There are lots potential problems and the only thing I had to say to my self over and over was: "I'm glad I'm not in that chair.  And in a related matter, mobility for the disabled is something a lot of folks would just like to ignore unless it applies to them. Bus stations are multi modal transportation hubs but sadly they are not very comfortable and can be kind of scary places if you don't travel by bus often. The...

September 9th, 2001 Gladys left Hope Hospice in Fort Myers and on the 10th was on her way back to Bensenville. I was in Fort Myers when she passed away and by the evening I was on my way back to Miami to return to work. There were a few things that needed to be taken care of before another trip to Bensenville to bury someone. You can never quite prepare for the death of a parent or close family members. At my desk I fumbled through some paperwork, listened to voice mail messages, and started looking at the e-mail to see what needed to be answered and what could wait till the afternoon. Then someone came into the office and started talking about a plane crashing into the WTC. It was almost immediately felt that this was an act of terrorism as a second plane crashed into the second tower. I wondered what could be next. Your mind does strange things at times like this. My first thought was that Mom had known something was going to happen and she wanted to get the hell out o...

Weather hardly ever delays football games.  They say only lighting will get a game delayed. It doesn't matter how cold or how hot or how rainy it might be. But no lightning please. There were more than a few college and high school football games delayed by lightning last night The stadiums these days are equipped with technology that can detect lightning that is over 40 miles away.  The weather applications on just about everybody's phones can also tell you when lightning is close by. Yet somehow or other when the tickets have been bought, folks will go to the games they have bought and paid for and it hardly matters whether they will be comfortable. If it's a big game, the faithful will be there and that is almost guaranteed if the game isn't on the cable or internet. I, myself in the days before lightning detectors have sat through weather that would have qualified for tropical storm classifications and been named.  I remember a Notre Dame Football game th...

Tom Brady dodged the underinflated footballs yesterday, but the NFL is appealing the decision, meanwhile Brady will be able to play in the league opener. The Kentucky Clerk who still refuses to issues marriage licenses is sitting in jail for being in contempt of court.  From the AP: "I just want the licenses given out. I don't want her in jail. No one wanted her in jail," Yates said. During a hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge David Bunning had offered to release Davis if she promised not to interfere with her employees issuing licenses, but she refused, citing her Christian beliefs. And in Miami a drive in window guy at Arby's has been suspended indefinitely and the shift manager fired because a police office was allegedly refused service at the drive in window. The police officer complained to the manger because she was worried about the condition of her order.  The Arby's corporate office has apologized and offered to feed police for free today. Tom...

I've never thought a clerk in any court in the nation was filling a religious office when they gave out marriage licenses to folks that wanted to get married.  On the contrary, a clerk in a bureaucracy is more like a tax collector than a minister. If the job description says you look at a form to make sure it is filled out correctly, collect the required fee and issue the license, that's the job. The honorable thing to do if you can no longer abide by the requirements of the job, is to resign your position. You can always explain your reason for leaving your last position.  In fact, this Kentucky clerk has probably raised enough sand regarding the issue to get a job that pays more and will be able to raise enough money to cover the related legal expenses.  If one is to believe her position politically is popular, martyrdom  isn't always a big sacrifice.

It has been a quiet summer hurricane season so far. But as folks that have lived in Miami for a while know you only need one direct hit to screw stuff up.  Hurricane Andrew in 1992 was a real game changer for me. In the past the Hurricane Center Director was a rock star of sorts. Neil Frank, Bob Sheets and Max Mayfield explained what would be happening and when should you start putting up your shutters. If you already had them. I've noticed a subtle change about the coverage of hurricanes and weather in general on the tube these days.  The weather has moved up in the amount of coverage it receives in national news and in the local news as well.  A significant amount of money is invested in weather coverage down here. Miami and daily thunderstorms during the rainy season and beautiful weather from late fall through spring is hardly newsworthy but it is reported on early in each newscast. During hurricane prime time tropical waves, depressions, storms, and hurric...

Citizenship in the United States of America would be a different issue and might be able to be discussed more rationally if it were not for the issue of  SLAVERY and its history in this country. In more an a few ways this a matter of history. Folks can ignore history, folks can try to change history, but many times in spite of our issues with history it just keeps marching on. Some folks go on and on about the Constitution. The South might have been happy to count all their slaves to make their states more powerful but they would not have been happy to be taxed for their slaves. The 3/5ths compromise was about representation and taxes and probably less about slavery until the Constitution was ratified. Article 1, Section 9.  The importation of more slaves into the country was not popular, however another compromise in the new Constitution prohibited the Congress from legislation restricting the importation of slaves until 1808. Article 2, Section 3 requi...

Wednesday Evening you could watch "The Donald" in action in a New Hampshire town hall meeting on MSNBC. The event was televised on Hardball and took up a significant part of All In. Don't remember there being a lot of commercials while it was on. You may not like everything he says about issues, you may not like anything he says about the issues or you may disagree with almost anything he says about the issues. But when an oligarch talks about other Republican candidates and their big money sponsors and how they are beholden to their backers and he has gumption to validate that this is how the political game is being played, it resonates with folks that are of both parties. "Make America Great Again" is about as effective a campaign slogan as I've heard in  my life time. His operation is slick and so far his past hasn't affected his poll numbers and his take downs of  the other Republicans is withering, if not always entirely accurate. His crowd ...

Do you remember Travon Martin and George Zimmerman? First off, I think living in Florida I thought it was the direct result of our "stand your ground laws".  If you felt threatened you could shoot first and invoke self defense as a reason for your actions. As a result of this tragic killing there was a twitter hash tag #Black Lives Matter. As these things go there was a twitter hash tag #All Lives Matter. I don't have a twitter account and have had only a literal understanding of "Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter".  Maybe one tweet was trying to be even more inclusive than the other tweet. Not so... In fact if you look at the internet the hash tags are at odds and generating their own steam. I'm not sure what the evolutionary process for civil rights, criminal justice, economic justice or other social movements is or should be. This is from a web page About Us on # Black Lives Matter. #BlackLivesMatter is working for a world where Black ...

I've played all three major little league sports, baseball, basketball, and flag football one year.  I was going to try out for freshman basketball in high school, but was offered the job of manager and participated as manager for basketball and football through my sophomore year. I was very busy and spent almost as many hours at practice and games as the players. Spring of my sophomore year I played golf, but never was good enough to be one of the best seven players that would play in matches. In fact, while the team was on the bus for a match, I was usually practicing at Mohawk or White Pines. I got my picture in the yearbook for my participation for whatever I did if it related to the high school sports I participated in. I was on the varsity golf team for three years. By the Spring of my senior year I was eligible for a varsity letter for my time as team manager and playing on the golf team. I would have been ready to play if needed, but never had one of...

Unitarians believe that they are too good to go to hell. Universalists believe God is too good to send them to hell. And then we have Planned Parenthood, Ben Carson, the Republican Party, Charles Darwin, Margaret Sanger and lots of other women out there. I'm not surprised that Dr. Ben Carson would call out Margaret Sanger regarding some of beliefs about eugenics. I'm also not surprised that Dr. Ben Carson would have used fetal tissues in medical research. I'm also not surprised Dr. Carson might connect the anti abortion debate with the discredited science of eugenics. It might not be science but I'm sure there are an awful lot of folks out there who would like to think you can breed intelligence, hard work, and good hygiene out there. Science and politics don't always mix really well. Politicians often hide what they do with rhetoric that doesn't match reality and a lot of science isn't very scientific or it needs a lot more study to make sure it meets e...

Settling down from an afternoon at Canterbury Park where Effortlessly Strut finished 3rd in the North Central QH Association Futurity, I found the Cubs game on TBS. The Cubs were leading the Giants 2-0 and were on the verge of sweeping the SF Giants. The 9th inning was pretty nerve wracking.  Cub closer Rondon almost gave the game away, he loads the bases, and then strikes out the side, technically a save, but a very ugly save at best.  Cubs are having to play like champions to qualify for the wild card.  Still a lot of baseball left but the Cardinals seem to have the Central locked up. Effortlessly Strut earned $4200 for finishing 3rd. .012 seconds between 1st and 3rd place times and only .006 behind the 2nd place finisher. Lugged in slightly.  It was a blanket finish.  Maybe PRM will be luckier.  

I don't know Senator Rubio's exact address in West Miami. The fact that he is trying to sell his house for about $675,000 and move closer to Washington and that he recently sold a residence in Tallahassee is kind of typical for Florida real estate in general. Many older houses built after WWII are getting razed and what is getting built is much bigger and probably out of the reach for most families unless they are two income families with good jobs. The average family income for the West Miami zip code is about $38,000. West Miami is a small town that is mostly a bedroom community and mostly Hispanic. It is a nice neighborhood in a very convenient location, near the airport, shopping and other stuff people like to do. Senator Rubio probably has one of the higher incomes in the town, he was a city commissioner at a very young age and has probably just outgrown his old home town and by all accounts he did grow up in West Miami. There are probably things to look at regardin...

I've taken to listening to the commodity report on Country Radio, which is sort of like the Racing Form for grain, pork and cattle. The folks talk about the price of the basic elements of stuff which we all end up buying in the grocery store. There is also a lot of talk about the weather, the Chinese economy, the strength of the U.S. dollar. Plant diseases and stuff like avian flu can also make farmers and traders worry from minute to minute. And if that isn't enough information the stuff we eat is also produced in South America, Europe and other places as well Too much rain, too little rain, too hot or too cold, the dollar makes our grains more expensive for people overseas, and if the economy is weak we buy fewer steaks, drive less, the price of corn can go down and who knows next year how many acres of corn will be planted. And that doesn't even include the price of oil which is an important factor in the cost of production of our food and I've heard it said that...

I know this was a long time ago but history seems to happen again and again.  George McGovern was the eventual nominee of the Democratic Party but there were a lot of candidates for the job. McGovern, Humphrey,Wallace, Muskie, Jackson, Chisholm, Sanford, Mills, Hartke, Lindsay, McCarthy, Mink, Yorty, Harris, Bayh, and Hughes were all candidates for the nomination. When all the votes in the primaries were counted Hubert Humphrey received 4.121 million votes and McGovern received 4.053 million votes. McGovern wasn't really considered a prime time candidate until April when he got about 30% of the vote in Wisconsin. I think the Republican Party has given way too much power to Fox News and the oligarchs and has minimized the importance of Republican voters. The Democrats aren't out of the woods either. The primaries seem a long way away.

The Miami Herald reported Friday on the closing night for the Fox Lounge in South Miami. The South Miami bar and food joint lasted sixty nine years. Back in 1973 it had a little bit of elegance compared with other places I would stop for a beer. The lounge area was dark and always a little bit smoky. If you went in during the daylight ours you were well advised to watch your step and kind of feel your way around until you eyes adjusted. My parents enjoyed dinner there when they visited Miami, food was good, and they drank martinis and manhattans back in the day. Thursday night was prime rib night which affordable but you had to reserve one. Snooze you lose if you forgot to call ahead before leaving from work. Once, while waiting to eat at the bar, who should I see sitting two stools down the bar but Dave Barry, Miami Herald humorist and author. I told him I liked his book about being 40. He nodded and we both went back to our drinks. Another customer engaged him after a...

Walter Palmer killed Cecil the Lion on his latest hunting trip to Zimbabwe. Walter is a Minnesota dentist who allegedly paid over $50,000 for the trip, license, and guide services. It is not completely clear if the proper licenses were obtained and it is alleged that the guide baited the lion to get him to leave a protected park area where hunting is not allowed to stray on to land where he could be hunted. The baiting described is forbidden. Not very sporting to leave a tempting meal across the border of the park and then hunting an animal looking for a meal. There is hunting, but this kind of big game hunting is stretching any reasonable definition of hunting I would support. I've eaten deer while living in West Virginia, the next door neighbor was sharing meat from his freezer. I gladly accepted the food and ate it immediately after it defrosted. I've eaten pheasants, ducks, and geese that were killed by shotguns. I'm not a vegetarian and have my doubts...

I figured out how to access Siriusxm radio (which is part of my new vehicle) on the internet. The satellite radio service allows you to access baseball games from across the country and last night I was able to listen to the Chicago Cubs on the radio. A Cubs radio broadcast was a distant memory and back then the house in Illinois had no air conditioning and on a really hot night the transistor radio tuned to WGN and a box fan in the basement did the trick.

Colin Cowherd, late of ESPN was given a relatively unceremonious send off from ESPN Radio among other things conflating Dominicans, baseball, and intelligence. To paraphrase: The game is so simple even players from the Dominican Republic are good at the game and just about anybody could manage a major league baseball team. Little experience is required. Young Dominicans play baseball and the best go to baseball camps to hone their skills, with the express purpose of going to the "Majors" In the USA, Little League Baseball and Football and Basketball and other minor sports can possibly lead to college scholarships even if they don't lead to professional careers. Keith Olberman and Bill Simmons are leaving ESPN along with Cowherd. I think opinionated radio hosts and sports have their place, but it isn't on ESPN. It's just too easy to anger the NFL, MLB, NBA, or the NCAA and indirectly sponsors raising sand in places where the leagues and advertisers don't wa...

One day I hear the song "Fast Car" by Tracey Chapman and by Tuesday Morning I'm driving a new car and exploring the Sirius/XM radio in my new car. First stop was Rural Radio. Channel #80.  Crop reports, weather reports, the peanut crop forecast, and then an extended conversation on beef, pork bellies, and other live stock prices and information from a report the USDA had released after the markets had closed. Back in Illinois, about fifty years ago, I remember my Dad's experimentation with trading grain futures as part of his job. The company sold canned corn beef among other things and he was developing a trading strategy to hedge the price of raw materials for stuff that had a shelf life of "forever". I got to Hialeah and was going to have a sandwich at the Moose Lodge, but they didn't open until 3:00 pm. Settled for "ropa vieja" and a "cerveza bien fria" at a cafeteria on East 4th Avenue. Looked like rain so I headed for home...

Embassies in Havana, Cuba and Washington D.C. reopened yesterday, about seven months after President Obama announced a change in policy that had been in place for about fifty years. Marco Rubio has announced there won't be an American Ambassador to Cuba while he is the Senate. The Diaz Balarts and Illeana Ros Lehtenen and Carlos Curbelo also spoke out against the change in policy.  The English version of the Miami Herald covered about 2/3 of the front page with a picture of the Cuban Military Guards that raised the Cuban Flag in Washington D.C. The local news all covered the story from Little Havana and from the Versailles Restaurant where a distinctly older conservative crowd hangs out and anti Castro Brother politics will be discussed on a daily basis. Folks from both sides of the issue had their signs and the conversation was loud. Congress won't change the embargo policy and the United States won't be giving up Guantanamo. Carnival Cruise Line will be establishing...

I've been driving an older second vehicle for about the last three years. Year one, more or less routine, by the end of year two, there seemed to be something that needed fixing every other month, and lately even more often and stuff I really can't do for myself anymore. The past two weeks I've been studying the car ads, and yesterday, I was going to get the Sonata fixed, and rent a car while it was in the shop. (I promised myself this would be the last time). This morning, rail to Avis, no cars available. I bought a new car from the dealer across the street from Avis. A smallish Chevy Sonic was something I had planned on buying a little bit closer to the end of the model year, but necessity sometimes is a/the mother of things to come.  The process was kind of painless, mostly because my credit score was excellent and there was no trade in. And so it goes, handyman is considering buying the sonata. Not quite happy, happy, happy but it is progress.

On the role of regret A lot of people, their regret is kind of hedged with justification or with a continued commitment to the cause that they were fighting for. A lot of the [Irish Republican Army] guys will say, "I don't regret being in the IRA; I think our aims were correct. But I regret some of the things that happened. I regret some of the things that we did.".  This is from NPR and a story about the troubles. Amazingly, these thoughts on the role of regret seem to roll around in a lot of thinking on an awful lot of topics.  I wonder if the regret is for what was or what was not accomplished. It is difficult to not have a life where regret does not take some place in our thinking.

The last few days I have been listening to music on the radio and at home. Whether this is just a break or another change it's not clear.  The music on 93.1 in Miami is older than The Beatles and not head banger stuff  It is stuff that made it to the radio in 80's, 90's would find the songs familiar and maybe stuff that you got tired of listening to back then.  Catchy tunes. Easy and usually undemanding lyrics. Maybe, it's just summer in Miami, the beach, or cold beer.  I think it's sort of like "Call Me, Maybe" for those getting ready for social security.

I've been following the run up to the publication of Go Set A Watchman.  During the last year I've reread To Kill A Mockingbird and watched the movie. The book was published over fifty years ago. I've heard reports on NPR that Go Set A Watchman was something submitted for publication and the editors suggested the book be rewritten/edited and the result was To Kill A Mockingbird. The publication of Go Set A Watchman might just be a publisher taking advantage of the old manuscript.  I'm unaware of any comments by the author.  The "new" novel has generated a lot of sales and interest and more than a little controversy about Atticus and Gregory Peck. I think I'll wait till it gets to the library.

The MBSF is going to be run at Canterbury Park outside Minneapolis this afternoon. RW Quarters has two qualifiers in this race and a reasonable chance at winning some serious jingle.  About 20 days ago when they had the qualifying races, I seriously thought about visiting the Midwest for the finals on the 12th. As of late, I will be watching the race on the internet, and communicating electronically.  The race was run on Sunday. The results were disappointing. If the owners were expecting to win about $17,000 for a race that lasted only about 18.287 seconds but finished in 18.652 seconds and won only $1,850 you might understand their disappointment. The chart said it all. "Bumped and bore out." A clean start would have helped, but she lost by a little more than a length.  

The Local Channel 10 is in the Dominican Republic reporting on Dominicans deporting Haitians and other undocumented "Dominicans". The Miami Herald is reporting on Puerto Ricans leaving the Greece of the Caribbean, and folks with tourist b-2 visas often over stay their visas. Really? San Francisco is being tarred and feathered for the tragic killing of Kathryn Steinle by an undocumented male with multiple felony convictions and multiple deportations. San Francisco takes issue with being required to cooperate with federal immigration on deporting folks without warrants. Ms Steinle's death points to some obvious issues with the sanctuary movement. Some folks may warrant sanctuary while others deserve Devil's Island or worse. As the world gets more global the velvet rope still exists. The devil is in the details. I'm looking forward to seeing how Carnival Cruise Line's educational visits to Havana is going to work out and whether the Cuban/Haitian Adjustme...

The simple explanation for this is change in location of the Confederate Battle Flag is simply change. This is no longer a country that will abide slavery, even though there is still a warm fuzzy feeling for aspects of the good old days that we each define ourselves. Donald Trump can say whatever he wants about Mexicans and roil the waters. Jeb Bush's wife is from Mexico. President Obama is the result of a union of an African and an Anglo from Kansas. And the Supreme Court has ruled marriage equality is the law of the land, and oh by the way South Carolina has African American, Republican Senator and an Indian American Female governor and even the grandson of Strom Thurmond is having some second thoughts about his past after the latest hate crime. The fantasies that folks entertain will continue in spite of both a macro and micro reality. It will be interesting to see when and where the breaking point will be on the behavior of Donald Trump, Daniel Snyder, and others of similar...

I remember the days when you had to go to a fireworks display that was supervised by the fire department. I'm not even sure you could buy sparklers legally in Bensenville. Then I moved to England where they celebrated Guy Fawkes Day and the 4th of July was a day for ex-patriots and the smallish display was held at Bushy Park AFB and other bases in England.  You could buy "bangers" at the toy store for a few pennies each and bottle rockets were just a little more expensive. Bigger "bombs" were available but they were out of the financial reach of an eight year old. Returning to the States, you saw the occasional roadside stand but the really good stuff only seemed to be legal or purchasable at "South of the Border", in South Carolina. I have a mixed history. The low point was Slattery trying to throw and M-80 out of his car and trying to land it in AKR's yard. He dropped it in the car and we both bailed out. It never went off and we were able to...

I would like to think of the Gold Coast of Florida as the center of the Universe. Oh well, at least Greece had a lot of smart folks along time ago.

PBS is running a three part series on "The Abolitionists" starting this evening in Miami. The ideas related to abolition of slavery among the Unitarians and Universalists have evolved. The following is from the UU website: The debate about slavery in the United States proved contentious within both Unitarianism and Universalism. While some of the country's leading abolitionists were women and men who identified as Unitarian or Universalist, each of the young denominations struggled to articulate a unified stand. Churches in the Southern states felt the stresses acutely, because their congregational membership was drawn from both the North and the South and their ministers were most often Northerners. In the North, too, Unitarians and Universalists took a variety of positions on slavery, and some prominent Unitarians and Universalists debated on the national stage. For example, John Quincy Adams, a Unitarian, stood up against the agreement that kept Congress from deb...

I just finished reading about a company that changed its retirement policies because two of their employees had babies with expensive medical issues when they were born and had cost a lot of money. One, a premature infant spent about two months or more in neonatal intensive care. I have a bone to chew in this case, when I was born I too spent a long time in an incubator. It was the 1951. When I discussed my medical history with a doctor, he made a comment that I was probably lucky to be alive, all things considered. The mother of one of AOL’s “distressed babies” penned a  searing reply  to Armstrong on Sunday, explaining how she had given birth only five months into her pregnancy. “I take issue with how he reduced my daughter to a ‘distressed baby’ who cost the company too much money. How he blamed the saving of her life for his decision to scale back employee benefits. How he exposed the most searing experience of our lives, one that my husband and I still struggle to discu...

Today marks the return of Jose Fernandez from the disabled list to pitch for the Miami Marlins. Jose was the Marlin's Ace fourteen months ago, before he tore his rotator cuff and underwent "Tommy John" surgery and a lot of "rice" which includes rest, immobilize, compression and elevation.  Jose is quoted as saying he played an awful lot of dominoes during his recovery. Along with immobilize, I would include ice and along with elevation folks are encouraged to do therapeutic exercises. Today's game will have a big crowd. Guaranteed! It's camp day and the Marlin's have lots of kids attending.  The T-shirts will make the place colorful. Regardless of what you might think about school uniforms it will  make it easier to keep track of the campers. Along with day campers a lot of the 55+ crowd will be able to get free tickets for the afternoon game with the San Francisco Giants.  A crowd of 30,000 plus is expected which could be the biggest crowd since...

A couple of months ago the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami had a series of discussions about 'white privilege".  I'm not a big fan of the word privlege, be cause I think advantage is more accurate. The following is an outline of the more common aspects of 'white privilege". Citizenship  - Simply being born in this country affords you certain privileges non-citizens will never access. Class  - Being born into a financially stable family can help guarantee your health, happiness, safety, education, intelligence, and future opportunities. Sexual Orientation  - By being born straight, every state in this country affords you privileges that non-straight folks have to fight the Supreme Court for. Sex  - By being born male, you can assume that you can walk through a parking garage without worrying you'll be raped and that a defense attorney will then blame it on what you were wearing. Ability  - By being born able bodied, you probably don't ha...

“It’s not [Cubs pitching coach Chris] Bosio this time, it’s [Cubs manager Joe] Maddon, and that means a change. [Reliever Jason] Motte is on his way in. Strop is on his way out, pointing toward the heavens. We can only ask or wonder that he is asking some departed relative for forgiveness for this atrocious performance.” Bob Costas didn't think much of Pedro Strop's relief effort on Friday and blown saves by a relief pitcher won't bring out the best in people. Players that invoke the baseball gods when entering games or in this case when leaving a game should be fair "game".  Personally, all this pointing to the heavens is getting to be just another one of those "baseball" nervous gestures similar to the waggle of a golf club. Maybe Bob should have self censored because an awful lot of broadcasters are athletically challenged, but make no mistake about it, the latest losing streak of four games hurts.

I'm relieved that the Supreme Court decided in favor of the ACA and decided that the right to marry applied for everyone in all fifty states. In the middle of the night on a sports talk show the guy started talking about the gay marriage issue. The San Francisco 49er's tweet of love wins and posts the gay pride flag isn't surprising but the idea that love wins is an idea of Biblical proportions. A Mississippi legislator's response is to suggest that the State of Mississippi stop issuing marriage licenses entirely. Tina Turner sang: "What's Love Got To Do With It." Demographically, an awful lot of households consist of one person and recently it was estimated that 27% of the population fit that description or defy description. Sort of like it's complicated and regardless of what SCOTUS says it still is complicated. Napoleon Dynamite, is/was a comedy and it is also a dance movie.

The Atlantic Monthly put the Confederate Battle Flag in its place. It was a South Carolina symbol  during the Civil War to defend slavery, it was resurrected in the fight against civil rights for African Americans, and it was a symbol that motivated a hate crime that ended in the death of nine people attending a prayer meeting at the Emmanuel A.M.E. Church. The Governor was right to say it was time to take the Flag Down. Jeb Bush took the Confederate Battle Flag down in 2001 saying it didn't represent modern Florida. It certainly doesn't represent modern South Carolina.  

Unitarian Universalist Congregations pride themselves with being liberal congregations in theory. Theory is easy, getting folks to change is the hard part. Making it easier for people to change is possible but a lot of habits are hard to change and the parties must want change to happen. Even good church going folks have their differences as evidenced by this hatchet job on Unitarian Universalism.  Just telling people to wake up and smell the coffee doesn't work very well. Historically UUs were in favor of the abolition of slavery but that didn't make UUS the go to religion. Don't ask me why but churches are a lot like fraternal organizations and a lot of them are not very integrated either. When and if stuff like happens requires big organizations with a large advertising budget and some rules everybody signs on to.  Unfortunately, this usually only works when selling products and military which isn't very voluntary except when you sign up. BY  GABRIELLE DEVENIS...