Sunday Morning Coming Down

There have been so many different things happen during the run up to nominating this year's presidential candidates. Truth seems to be in the eye of the beholder and objective facts are less important than scoring points with your followers. You seem to be able to say whatever you please with very little consequence and you can walk it back if you it doesn't play well in Peoria. The democrats are having to deal with the folks that came out during the occupy movement, and the republicans need to deal with their Tea Party folks.  The Coffee movement which asks for civility and compromise is finishing somewhere behind the also rans that dropped out of the process or were assigned to the kiddie table during the early debates. Both parties seem to be girding themselves for conventions that may not go as smooth as planned. At various time during this seemingly endless process, I have felt Donald Trump was not a serious candidate for the office for which he is campaigning. ...

Sports Talk radio has gone off on the conversation between the Duke Head Coach and Dillon Brooks at the end of the game.  Brooks drains a meaningless three pointer and folks need a professional lip reader to interpret what the coach said.  Had a Duke player done the same thing it would have been just as meaningless as the outcome was not in doubt.  Oregon 82 - Duke 68. I'm in favor of free speech.  Player Brooks bucket says what says. Communication being what it is includes a source, a message, and a receiver.  This is one time when I believe both the player and the coach were talking past each other.  It might be about the unspoken rules about "sportsmanship" if you think that is important, or it might just be about how the game ended with Duke losing and being disappointed and Oregon winning and being joyous. Post game celebrations when it is all on the line are usually over the top (again it is in the eye of the beholder).  Oregon has not won ...

One polling place for a town of 60,000 seems beyond stupid and so would having only sixty polling places for a county of 4,000,000. No wonder the lines were long and it made it difficult or impossible to vote in the Arizona Presidential Primary on Tuesday.  What were the elected officials thinking? This is one reason why there needs to be a national voting rights law.

President Obama said some very complimentary things about Cuban exile community during his trip to Havana yesterday.  Fabiola Santiago, Miami Herald Columnist said she appreciated his evocation of our capital of exiles. "In the United States," you said, we have a clear monument to what the Cuban people can build: It's called Miami".  I would like to add that it is also Hialeah, Westchester, and Sweetwater and lots of other communities in South Florida. Locally, it was announced that Carnival Cruise line will start regular visits to Cuba, and on a separate front "Radio Mambi and its mostly older listeners called in and denounced Obama as a traitor, a Communist sympathizer, and his trip "un vomitivo". Soon there will be a new president in the United States. Change in Cuba will have to come from the people in Cuba, but it is clear change is coming.

I used to live near O'hare Airport in Bensenville, near Chicago.  If I had seen Air Force landing at the airport it would have been a big deal.  A former Bensenville resident posts a picture of Air Force One landing in Cuba with pictures of all the old cars in Cuba. Sort of like the old days in Bensenville, when folks used to go and watch the planes land at the airport. I comment that the picture wasn't just another day in Miami or Bensenville. The next comment is about Obama taking a vacation in a 3rd world country. The reply is that the President needs security. Somewhat ironically, the commentary about the presidential visit to Cuba was made by someone who likes visiting Mexico and other places on cruises since he retired or is tired according to his FB page. Maybe soon he will be able to visit Cuba by plane or boat because of the reopening of diplomatic relations between the countries. At last report about 27,000 Cubans have asked for asylum crossing the border ...

The headline in the Miami Herald said "Cold War to warm welcome".  And I learned some new slang.  The picture on the front page above the fold showed the First Family arriving at Jose Marti Airport.  The story below the fold detailed the weekly march by the Damas de Blanco and their protest for more human rights and freedom for political prisoners on the island.  At the end of their march they this Sunday they encounter pro government groups toss flyers into the air and lay down in the street and get arrested.  "This battle for the streets is a well practiced ballet that occurs week after week.  The government says it is protecting the Ladies from the pro government supporters, the Ladies and other dissidents say they are being repressed and at times beaten." On one hand someone is going to say; this is the First Family going on a spring break trip to Havana and this shouldn't being happening while there isn't political freedom on the island.  On t...

This is an easy one except that the republican senate leader already started the republican majority in the wrong direction.  A sitting federal appeals court judge deserves getting a hearing from the judicial committee. The judge in question has already been voted on in the Senate for his current position and by many reports he is a centrist and not controversial. Mitch McConnell and others may think the President is setting a trap by proposing a moderate candidate for the Supreme Court, knowing McConnell's position and encouraging democrats to run against senators up for election. This is just being too cute by half.

If you follow things on the internet or more like likely the internet feeds you stuff you might be interested in there are lots of  "free bracket contests" that offer $10,000 to $1,000,000 if you are able to fill out a bracket that ends up perfect from the first round to the final game.  The ESPN contest and group that I am in asks you to pick a final score of the final game as the ultimate tie breaker. lol. It seemed to me that Michigan State would roll to the elite eight as would WVU.  The "U" is still alive and my final four are ok, Kansas, UVA, UNC, and Oregon are still alive. WVU played sloppy basketball for them and it looked a little bit like the Stephen F. Austin star Thomas Walkup could have been a finalist in a contest to be the WVU Mountaineer. More than a few thousand folks thought Michigan State had a good shot at the final four and they were one of the more popular choices to win the tournament.  All I can say is Middle Tennessee State is the bes...

Survivor started in the 5th at Gulfstream Park. This is a very low stakes handicapping tournament run by the Derby Wars website.  The premise is simple pick five horses in races 5-11 at Gulfstream Park.  As long as your horse finishes 1,2nd,or 3rd you go on to the next race. Your day is over if your selection does not hit the board. There would be a maximum of 144 entries. If you made it all the way through the program you could win $500 if you are the only winner. It is quite possible that the tournament will end early. Today after five races there are only two players alive with 5 winners, if none of the survivors make a winning selection, they go one to the next race. I'm not sure if this is good news or band news.  I was eliminated after the second race, my pick in the 3rd race finished last. Two in a row hitting the board left me in a tie for 26th place.

At one time in my work life I was a student member of the International City Management Association. The organization had a code of ethics that was very useful while I worked in local government. Tenet 1 Be dedicated to the concepts of effective and democratic local government by responsible elected officials and believe that professional general management is essential to the achievement of this objective. Tenet 2 Affirm the dignity and worth of the services rendered by government and maintain a constructive, creative, and practical attitude toward local government affairs and a deep sense of social responsibility as a trusted public servant Tenet 3 Be dedicated to the highest ideals of honor and integrity in all public and personal relationships in order that the member may merit the respect and confidence of the elected officials, of other officials and employees, and of the public. Tenet 4 Recognize that the chief function of local government at all times i...

These are pictures from the Winner's Circle this year at Hialeah Park.  It was an awful lot of fun being part of the RW Quarters Team this year and I'm glad to be able to share this with folks.

About 44 years ago I voted for George McGovern in the Florida Democratic Presidential Primary. Senator McGovern finished 6th in field of 11 candidates, mustering a whopping 6% of the democratic votes cast.  He was whipped soundly by George Wallace, Hubert Humphrey, Scoop Jackson, Edmund Muskie, and John Lindsey. Somehow or other he got the Democratic Nomination for President.  Right off the bat he had a huge problem finding a vice presidential running mate.  Lots of potential running mates turned him down. I remember as the primary process went forward the Democrats had an ABM program(anybody but McGovern). Some folks might think that John McCain's first mistake was choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate.  I would like to testify that McGovern's choice of Tom Eagleton of Missouri for vice president makes McCain's choice look not so bad.  Eventually Sargent Shriver of the Kennedy Clan agreed to be McGovern's running mate after Senator Eagleton resigned f...

The early voting season got off to a sluggish start.  I voted early at the Coral Gables Library.  The only race on the ballot was presidential primaries.  It was March 1, 2016 and there were no lines and only two people in the parking lot representing for the candidate of their choice. Florida has a closed primary system.  You need to be registered in the party to vote in their primary. Registration in the parties is as follows 40% Democrat, 36% Republican, 20% No party affiliation with 4% minor parties. In the 65 year old cohort 41% are Democrat, 40% Republican, 13% No Party Affiliation. Lots of folks vote by absentee ballot. Many say it is more convenient to vote absentee. I disagree because I think folks ought to get up and get out and vote. The folks with no party affiliation will not have a say in who will become the major party's candidate for the highest office in the land or if there are any contested primaries down the ballot.  On one hand thi...

Reflecting on the last week in politics, the good old days were not that great either. One president resigned in disgrace.  The other got very close to leaving in disgrace as well. Nixon Debated Paying Blackmail, Clemency 'Keep Cap on Bottle' By Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein Washington Post Staff Writers Wednesday, May 1, 1974; Page A01 President Nixon, during a lengthy meeting in the Oval Office on March 21, 1973, told White House counsel John W. Dean III that "you have no choice but to come up with the $120,000" demanded as blackmail payment by one of the Watergate burglars, according to an edited transcript of the meeting. The transcript reveals that Mr. Nixon, on his own initiative, discussed accommodating blackmail demands on at least a half-dozen occasions during the meeting without once suggesting that paying the men for their silence would be wrong. Instead, the transcript reveals, Mr. Nixon repeat...

The Miami Herald endorsed Senator Marco Rubio in the Republican Primary today.  Candidates for president in the Republican Party are falling by the wayside on a weakly basis. This endorsement is blowing kisses to a favorite son.  Who the Miami Herald might have endorsed had Jeb Bush stayed in the race a couple of weeks longer is an open question. The newspaper says "they disagree with the Cuban American senator on many issues- gun control, Obamacare, climate change, diplomacy with Cuba, and frown upon his frequent absences in the Senate." I'm thinking this endorsement is sort of like spitting into the wind.  I'm sure it will not move many voters this year. Cynically, I wonder if the ad staff got some contracts for print and internet advertising in the deal.  If so.  I hope they got paid in cash.

I really don't think Governor Christie looked particularly comfortable standing next to Donald Trump last night.  Why isn't he back in New Jersey being its governor?

The last race at Hialeah Park ran shortly after 4:30 pm on Monday the 29th.  The last day of the meet is also known as getaway day.  Horses are loaded on to vans and moved to the next track where they will run.  Owners and trainers will have one last opportunity to win some money to pay some bills and maybe do some very last minute horse trading picking up a horse that might win next time out and unloading a horse or two that would cost money and space to move.  The proverbial hay burner. My connection with RW Quarters would be coming to an end (At least until next season). The stable had a very slow start going about 0-20. The owners and the weather were problematic.  A serious slump. There was a jockey change.  A new stable hand came on board and things started to turn around.  A first time starter running for a tag at $5,000 would become the leading money winner for the stable.  First out the horse ran greenly and finished 4th a length behi...

February 28, 2016 I went to the races at Hialeah Park and participated in a charity event that included several local police and fire departments departments competing to see who could roast the best the best pig.  I'm sure there have been lots of pigs roasted in Hialeah.  The funds that were raised went to a family that had child with cancer and unpaid medical bills. Tickets were not cheap but the cause was a good one. A follow up story by the Miami Herald posted in Facebook brought a really snarky comment about roasting pigs from a vegetarian. Police roasting pigs was ironic and amusing.  I could have thought of a lot of other things to complain about other than food on Sunday. Like: Why didn't I bet more money on the late Daily Double which was a dead lock cinch?