Sunday Morning Coming Down

Out of curiosity I will be going to a horse show at Tropical Park on Friday and visiting Hialeah Park to watch some quarter horse racing on May 31, 2017. I don't know what to expect.  The track owner seems absolutely determined to "comply" with the law that allowed him to reopen, get a casino and card room by having quarter horse racing.  The races have been around for several years but the parimutual handle has been skimpy by throughbred standards and the track owner says he is losing money and has lost millions of dollars by having quarter horse racing.  The slot machines and card room have been profitable enough for the Track Owner to spend money to purchase license to expand into jai alai and poker in Florida City. It looks like there will be a lot of match races. races.  Two horses, running head to head.  I can only imagine that the purses for these races will be even skimpier than the amount bet on the race.  They may even be non betting races. ...

The Department of Homeland Security has announced that it will extend temporary protective status for about 55,000 Haitians who arrived in the country after the earthquake of 2010. The earthquake  killed an estimated 85,000 people and let many as an estimated 1,000,000 homeless.  The region was also devastated by Hurricane Michael in 2016. There are no good answers to this question.  Folks move in the face of famine, natural disaster, war, and economic disaster.  Haitians fleeing Haiti has affected the Dominican Republic, the United States and other Island in the Caribbean. The rebuilding of Haiti after earthquake has been slow and while much money has been promised to help in the rebuilding of the country there are problems of corruption. Haiti's economy depends on the estimated US$1.5 billion a year in remittances sent home by its million-strong diaspora. Dilip Ratha, lead economist at the World Bank, said the figure could be even higher accounting for perh...

The Preakness is slightly shorter 1 mile 3/16, the field is much smaller with only ten entries this year.  And almost as per usual the favorite in the race is the winner of the Kentucky Derby. Handicapping the race is sort of like reading tea leaves.  What does the trainer say and how does the horse look if you are able to see him on the track.  Todd Pletcher has said Always Dreaming is happy and getting better. 4/5 isn't a good betting idea but the horse looks awfully strong. And the view from the rest of the rail birds is Always Dreaming is the horse to beat but Classic Empire who had a very rough trip in the Derby will have a chance to upset the Triple Crown apple cart.

The question of whether you can do something should be tempered by a second question, whether you should do something.  In matters of intelligence gathering related to the national security of the United States the President of the can reveal information gathered by the government. The Washington Post is reporting the President Trump did reveal "highly classified" information while having discussions with the Russian Ambassador and the Russian Foreign Minister.  According to the report the information came from a source that did not authorize its release to the Russian Government. 1) Can the United States of America keep secrets given to them by others or discovered by their own agents.? 2) Does it make any sense to be discussing this with Russian Officials where the only folks reporting the were the Russian media.? 3) Is there a double standard on this issue and almost everything the Trump Administration does.? In  related matters how much can Trump staff do to c...

I remember the Watergate Burglary and while it does not appear that President Trump has had bag men break into offices looking for political intelligence and at this point nobody has been in front of a judge there are some points where citizens should be concerned. Richard Nixon tried to shut down the Watergate investigations at almost every point.  Donald Trump seems to be following that playbook.  Nixon fired Archibald Cox who had been appointed special prosecutor that was looking into the many facets of the Watergate Scandal and now Trump has fired the head of the FBI because he wasn't doing a good job.  For good measure he tweets that FBI Head Comey should be careful about leaking to the press because it is possible that conversations might have been recorded. It took Barry Goldwater and Hugh Scott to make a special trip to the White House to convince President Nixon to resign more that two years after the Watergate Burglary and various investigations which ultima...

The firing of the FBI Director may have been caused by the Director saying that there was no evidence that President Obama wire tapped Trump Tower and President Trump. It strains credibility to think the Director's ham handed involvement of the FBI into the 2016 Presidential Election caused his firing.  President Trump seemed to praise the FBI for their efforts and "guts". The politicizing of the FBI may accelerate.  If you believe the FBI needs a fresh start and a fresh face you may be correct.  However, timing is important.  Why now and given the reaction of other elected officials there are also process issues that need to be followed.  If the FBI leader has been compromised in some as of now unknown way in relation to existing investigations a special prosecutor should be named named.  Our elected officials need to do their job in making sure the country and the Constitution is protected.

Last night I watched and listened to the Cubs play the Yankees.  I was worried that I might fall asleep as the game was a relatively late starting affair(8:15pm).  The Cubs needed to win the game to avoid an embarrassing sweep by the surging Yankees that look good for this year's playoffs. A victory would also take the bad taste out of the teams collective mouth after the whipping they took on Saturday Night when they lost 11-6.  Brett Anderson got shelled leaving after giving up five runs and getting only one out.  I left a Moose Lodge Dinner beaten in the Kentucky Derby by Always Dreaming.  The Sunday morning was bright, clear, and surprisingly cool for early May in Miami. Church and then an afternoon of quarter horse racing at Remington Park in Oklahoma City.  Intensive study left me with a slight profit.  Mucho trabajo, poco dinero. The lodge brothers gave me some grief for touting an also ran named Irish War Cry.  I gave them the easy exc...

Eric Fresen served eight years in the Florida Legislature.  He also received a degree in finance from F.I.U.. Front page of the Miami Herald reported that he failed to file federal income tax returns for eight years while in office.  Eric Fresen's income for the years where he did not file returns was about $200,000.  In the legislature he was the education budget chief.  A great deal of his money from a company called Civica which designs charter schools that frquently did work for Academica which is a large company that manages charter schools in Florida. The April 27th edition of the Miami Herald reported extensively on Mr. Fresen's sloppy finances. This is shameful.

Former President Obama and Michelle have reported book deals worth $60,000,000.  Writing a book is different from getting a large payment for a speaking engagement. Writing a book takes time, editing, and reflection. I've listened to Dave Berry tell jokes at the (old) Fox Inn, South Miami a few years ago and while the experience was "priceless" and free it wasn't like reading one of his books. Most paid speaking engagements involve a restricted audience that is either chosen by the sponsor of the event or those that can afford to buy tickets to the event or talk.  Often the talks are very expensive fund raisers.  It would seem that $250,000-$400,000 for a speech that might be less than a hour long is excessive even if it is an former president.  Just think what an ex-president could get for a round of golf. On the other hand $25-$50 for a book seems reasonable and if you can't afford the book when it comes out you can always go to the library.  And if yo...