Sunday Morning Coming Down

Who said conservatives can't try to be interesting.  A new twist for me in literature brings back something old and calls it new.  John Boehner writes a book about his time as Speaker of the House.  Comparatively it was a bucolic time where there was a standoff between the Tea Party Wing of the Republicans and the Democrats.  On the House is scheduled for release in April. Folks who only read books during their daily commute through Audible can now listen to Boehner read his book along current commentary. As in Tristam Shandy, but I digress:  Boehner is reported to have invited Ted Cruz to go #%^# himself while reading his memoir. This was just an update by Boehner who has called Cruz "Lucifer in the Flesh" and "a miserable son of a bitch before the junior senator from Texas visited Cancun about a week ago. History will judge Speaker Boehner, whether Boehner's latest on Cruz will make it past the editors, the quote will sell some books.  It's not a "whe...

It's going to be hard to measure what another prolonged rehab by Tiger Woods will have on golf, and especially golf on TV.  He might never play competitively again and others were just happy he survived a horrendous car crash it is reported he doesn't remember. I've played golf, I've attended PGA tournaments in Miami regularly, and I like watching golf on Sunday Afternoons as much as I like baseball or football on TV. Tiger Woods may be the greatest of all time in the game of golf.  He may not be held on to as reverently as Arnold Palmer of ice tea and lemonade fame but he made golf a spectator sport for many that never owned a set of golf clubs.  Sometimes I wondered why they covered Tiger on TV when he wasn't in contention to win a tournament.  In my small golf focus group, the most popular answer was if Tiger wasn't part of the broadcast, it wasn't worth watching. In person it was difficult to follow Tiger on the course, you were better off getting the be...

The Miami Herald reported some pretty damning statistics about the distribution of the vaccine in Miami Dade County.  "Upwards of 45% of Miami Dade County 65 years and older have received their first vaccine shot.  If you are Black and 65 years or older only about 8% have received their first shot in Miami Dade and statewide less than 6% of the Black population over 65 years old have received their first shot. The Miami Herald  interviewed folks living in West Perrine, a South Dade Neighborhood that is over 50% Black.  Even though the neighborhood is near the Metrozoo, it is only giving shots on a drive thru basis and there are no walk ups at this time.  Appointments are arranged over the internet or by telephone at this time further complicating the situation.  There is a small clinic operating in the neighborhood and many residents are still leary of vaccines because of the infamous Tuskegee Experiment. The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negr...

Democracy requires a level of decorum that has been lacking in the last five years.  That said until the 2020 presidential election I just assumed the loser conceded to the winner of an election.  They might not really be on speaking terms, they might really dislike each other and they may want a rematch. I wonder if the lack of a concession caused and made the 1/6/2021 riot much more likely than it might have been and much more violent than it was. To the extent that political leaders have followers they need to lead, and not to confuse.  Senator Cruz and Hawley should have recused themselves from yesterday's hearing.  

Abe Lincoln's birthday was February 12, 1809.  It's still a state holiday in Illinois.  Illinois also celebrates President's Day on the third Monday in February.  Before President's Day became the national holiday George Washington's birthday on February 22, was also celebrated.  Some states celebrated both February birthdays and some states just celebrated just Washington's birthday. On June 28, 1968 the United States Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act , changing many federal holidays to move over to Monday from other days of the week. Originally Washington’s Birthday was celebrated on February 22nd each year but was permanently moved in 1968 with the signing of the new Act. So the new date of President’s Day will fall between February 15 and the 21st each year and never on his (Washington’s) actual birthday of February 22nd. Two really big tourist activities were cancelled last weekend.  The Miami International Boat Show and the Coconut Grove Art F...

From the person who brought you dittos, feminazis, and humor regarding being homeless, it started as schtick and became political code words, dog whistles and spawned line of imitators and an audience that was it's own focus group.

Ted Cruz had a really tough week serving as a juror in the Trump impeachment trial for activities that he and Josh Hawley were instrumental in instigating.  And for that he deserved a vacation.  Nothing wrong with a "staycation" these days.  A quick review of the media and I could only find two public figures willing to "walk the plank" in support of Ted Cruz.  Erick Erickson and Dinesh D'Souza gave weak excuses for behavior that really had no defense given the pandemic and freezing weather that lead to disaster declarations by the Governor of Texas and the President.  Erickson correctly said Cruz could do little to repair the Texas energy grid, it's a media frenzy, D'Sousa said by going to Cancun he would not be using scarce resources needed by others. Actually, I'm sure that there are constituents he could have helped by adding his voice to that of the state and local officials.  But those Zoom meetings can be tricky. Meanwhile in Florida the Gover...

 It's been almost a year since the pandemic took hold of most people's lives.  Moving forward these days isn't as frightening as it was 365 days ago plus or minus.  It depends what cohort you are in and what you think about the long term. I like the ideas of evaluation of performance, achievement of goals and mid-course corrections if the performance is lacking or goals are not being achieved. From the Washington Post:  Life expectancy at birth, considered a reliable barometer of a nation’s health, has risen steadily in the United States since the middle of the 20th century, with small annual decreases in recent years caused mainly by “deaths of despair” — drug overdoses, alcoholism and suicide.  Flat and modestly declining life expectancy from 2015 to 2017  caused considerable concern among public health experts after decades of progress against heart disease, cancer and other maladies.     According to the CDC life expectancy went down a year fo...

 If you have ever served on a jury or even went to jury duty and were never picked you know the impeachment process isn't like anything you might experience in a criminal trial or even a civil trial where the standard of proof isn't beyond a reasonable doubt. The last four years have been a republican problem and it has been reported the the senior senator from the State of Kentucky and leader of fifty republican senators has thrown in the towel and called it a vote of conscience.  And even that is nebulous as state parties are trying to sanction republicans who wish to separate themselves from the former president.  There are without a doubt folks that would vote for the former president again or listen to him on AM radio and so it goes.  Just because you can doesn't mean you  should or will.  If you think the media is biased, try a variety of sources. The larger question is a longer term response to what folks experienced over the last thirteen years. I a...

 Senator Marco Rubio from the  state of Florida is in a bit of a quandary.  Twitter has him wearing a baseball cap featuring 99Jamz Radio pushing for more folks of color to get vaccinated while pushing to cut back on more COVID 19 aid which may pass without his support or that of many other republicans.  He also is against the impeachment trial which he has said is a waste of time because the former president has left the building and the Senate should be debating what will be in or not be in the new aid package on a bi-partisan basis I guess. Senator Rubio will be running for reelection next year and he would like to avoid a divisive primary fight which might be a Trump backer if he isn't careful.  He's already got his second shot of the vaccine, has a good paying job and political ambitions.   Just think what Senator Marco Rubio's life would have been like had his parents decided to remain in Cuba and not immigrate to the U.S. prior to the Castro Rev...

The choice is almost always yours and there are buts, and qualifiers of many colors shapes and sizes.  There are also limitations in the kinds of choices made and avoided.  Needs and wants often conflict along with timeframes.  Political parties work at restricting votes of conscience in the name of unity.  They have ways of enforcing representatives from straying across the party line. Sometimes party leaders politicians are allowed to vote in a way to save their skin back home if the district polling is different from the party line.  This happens but only if the majority doesn't necessarily need the vote.  Otherwise, politicians are often required to take "hard" votes that may not be popular but necessary for reasons of the "party". "Party Solidarity" kind of begs the question are you really voting for a representative who will use their judgement or a party which you might not always agree with. Votes to convict the president in the senate after hi...

 A friend once said you don't shoot birds with rifles.  Last night and again this morning I just missed scoring an appointment.  The time and location I chose was filled but I am getting quicker and did some research about JMH clinics and their locations.  Next time I will chose between a rehab center on 12th avenue and Jackson South. Neither would be as convenient as the CVS I use, Doctor's Office, Metro Zoo, Tropical Park some other unknown sites as of now near the University of Miami. Meanwhile, The Miami Hurricane  electronic version was hacked after they reported large gatherings of students featuring hardly any social distancing, beer drinking, and hardly a mask in sight.   And as most stuff in Miami, it's complicated, students renting houses off campus may have started the party but these calls are not emergencies in the usual sense, the owners of the property that are ultimately responsible, and South Miami, Coral Gables and Metro Police would ...

 I sort of remember the "carnage" left after George McGovern lost in 1972.  I was living in Florida and the formerly "old south democratic strong hold, which flipped Republican in presidential races and was increasingly Republican statewide with a few exceptions like Ruben Askew, Bob Graham, Lawton Chiles and Bill Nelson.  George McGovern moved the process along by losing the state and getting less than 30% of the popular vote running against Richard Nixon. Margorie Taylor Greene Last night the House of Representatives voted 230-199 to strip her of committee assignments.  She wasn't drummed out of the Republican Party for spreading baseless conspiracy theories.  She tried to retract statements she made prior to being elected. In a powerful moment, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., walked around the floor showing his colleagues a poster featuring a screenshot of a Facebook ad on Greene's campaign page. The image featured a photo of Greene holding a gun al...

 From The Hill:  Trump's control over the party has been an issue of concern for many national Republicans eager to rid themselves of the former president following the events of Jan. 6, when his supporters rioted as members of Congress were meeting to certify President Biden's Electoral College win, despite the GOP's voting base largely remaining in his corner. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), under fire from Democrats and some in the centrist wing of his own party to take a stand against Trump and remove Greene from her committee assignments, recently met with the former president in Florida and is set to meet with Greene this week. Maybe it's time to do some constructive compromising with the ten Republicans regarding the next COVID 19 Relief Bill. This might seem stupid by some Democrats but working with ten Republicans and more than a few moderate democrats won't redistribute wealth.  It might tamp down Trumpism which is still a threat to this c...

And so I play the lottery, it's one reason to put on your shoes and go for a walk.  I count steps and don't mind walking a friends dog when he visits.  I'll take the minor awards, when playing on Tuesday and Friday and hitting the board means I will go onward in "survivor" games on DERBY WARS.  I handicap the races and look at what the track handicapper says when I play.  In my experience an "educated guess" is better than a wild ass guess usually.  A long time ago I bought Innumeracy by John Paulos.  The book decries a general lack of understanding regarding statistics.  Looking at all the things that have happened over the internet age we are now living in it seems really important that folks understand more about statistics and large numbers because we are living in a world of almost 7.8 billion people whose impact on the planet is great. The pandemic and with almost 13% of the Florida population testing/tested positive means large groups should be ...