Sunday Morning Coming Down

 It seems racing analysts don't like being admonished to "stay in their lane".  The life they have chosen is fraught with problems.  Very few jobs come with a 1-800-gambler warning.  I follow horse racing on "social media" and I guess that includes having an adw account from which I can make bets on horses after I have deposited money to bet.  The adw provides handicapping information, access to racing forms, and a live stream of races from virtually everywhere. TVG is connected with Fanduel which has expanded into sports wagering and if you live in a state that allows sports betting you can bet on the Olympics.  Yes at one time it would have been possible to make bets on Simon Biles.  I do not have a Fanduel account but Simon Biles and the Women's Gymnastics Team were given special mention should a person be so inclined. Yesterday, I replied to a racing analyst with a daughter that had been a gymnast for 12 years.  Who felt compelled to comment o...

 In late 1972 I worked for the MIAMI HERALD in the "ad control" department.  The hours for the job let me go to school in the AM and work afternoons into the evenings.  My bosses were kind and I got  promoted to Advertising Manager for the MIAMI HURRICANE, the student newspaper for the University of Miami. The newspaper sold ads for concerts, movies, sporting events department stores, restaurants, some employers looking for people, ROTC, the bookstore and some events held on campus. I am new to twitter but I have been disappointed about folks that talk about stuff that is no where close to horse racing and in many ways are just talking about stuff to maybe get a few new followers and maybe a new client for the ADW they might have a connection to.   The horse racing industry isn't what it used to be.  The industry needs to attract new fans.  It needs to educate players and do a better job of policing itself.  The idea that cross marketing "hot...

  Sen. Kennedy of Louisiana says he didn’t watch the Jan 6 hearing but dismissed it as “Pelosi’s partisan pageantry.” “Just because she loves drama doesn’t mean I have to watch it…I think this is the speaker’s attempt to try to link the atrocities of Jan 6 to the Republican Party” @igorbobic. If a United States Senator effectively voted against a commission to study who was involved in the "atrocities of Jan 6" you could be excused if you thought there was something "funny" going on with that vote in the Senate. John Barrasso of Wyoming John Boozman of Arkansas Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia John Cornyn of Texas Tom Cotton of Arkansas Kevin Cramer of North Dakota Mike Crapo of Idaho Ted Cruz of Texas Steve Daines of Montana Joni Ernst of Iowa Deb Fischer of Nebraska Lindsey Graham of South Carolina Chuck Grassley of Iowa Bill Hagerty of Tennessee Josh Hawley of Missouri John Hoeven of North Dakota Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi Ron Johnson of Wisconsin Joh...

A bus token or several were an incentive to go look for a job.  The promise of a slot in child care was another incentive if there were slots available.  $10.00 gas vouchers, and a host of other supportive services were available to get folks off of welfare or bridge the gap until a customer got their first check.  I get blown off when I suggest that folks go to a job center as part of their job search plan.  There are counselors that can help people by locating jobs close to home, pay competitive wages and might fit their skills and interests.  No cost. One thing that is often overlooked is the fact that folks that have been out of the workforce for weeks, months, or now more than a year may need to brush up their job search skills and interviewing skills.  These folks can help if you are out of work and out of UI..

  Michele L. Norris is  an American journalist who currently works as an opinion columnist with The Washington Post.  From 2002 until 2011, she was co-host of the National Public Radio (NPR) evening news program All Things Considered. Norris was the first African-American female host for National Public Radio (NPR) "We do our children no favors if we only feed them a steady diet of fairy tales that sidestep life’s complexities."  Michele Norris "Students need to learn the full story — the haters  and  the helpers — and years from now, looking back on this moment too, they should know that a group of hesitant scolds tried to keep America’s schools from addressing the forces of racial bias and white supremacy that have shaped almost every aspect of American life."  Michele Norris Howard Zinn wrote "A People's History Of The United States".  The book was from a Social Concerns group at the "First Unitarian Univeralist Church in Miami, Florida. A Peop...

The Stock Market took a hit on Monday because of  renewed concerns about another spike in COVID 19 infections.  Living in a major metropolitan area, I still wear a mask at stores and avoid crowds and practice social distancing.  I have eaten food indoors where I know folks have been full vaccinated since March.   Too many folks I know became sick from COVID 19 and while their symptoms may have been mild or not required hospitalization, for too many with comorbidities it was fatal. Seven months after vaccines became available and recently when easily available too many folks who could and should get vaccinated haven't. While 82% of Miami Dade residents over 65 are fully vaccinated, only 57% of those 18 and older are fully vaccinated.   It should be noted that about 18% of Miami Dade residents have tested positive for COVID 19.  This has lead to another pandemic this time of the unvaccinated.  This statement is not new but the controversy conti...

 BLM comments on the U.S. Embargo of trade with Cuba is mostly wrong and in some ways supportive of some very undemocratic behavior in Cuba.  The Cuban government messed with consular services and led to staff leading to a diagnosis called " Havana Syndrome" and further deterioration of Cuban/American Relations.   And in some ways even the most innocent type of humanitarian trade in food benefits those in power before it reaches the people it is intended to help.  There seems to be an element of racism or colorism in jobs on the island which seems to be ignored from the BLM perspective. As troubling as BLM leadership comments are, both Florida Senators and Republican House Reps and the former President are comfortable questioning the results of the November election but not so much in Florida. At least Reps. Gimenez and Salazar voted to investigate the January 6, 2021 Riot/Insurrection.  Whew! Again draw your own conclusions. Living in Miami has it's compli...

  A Free and Democratic Cuba is the goal. It is now Tuesday in Miami and the Mayor of Miami thinks military intervention by the United States needs to be seriously considered.   A free and democratic Cuba: Would be good for South Florida, The State of Florida, The United States of America and the Cuban People. Any use of the U.S. military forces at this time to overthrow the current Cuban regime to establish a free and democratic government would probably backfire on the Cuban people it is proposed to help. There is no worldwide consensus that Cuba's problems are any more desperate than Haiti's failed state or border problems caused by El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras or Venezuela.  Yes it is an issue in South Florida for humanitarian and political reasons but unrestrained migration from Cuba across the straits to Florida as in the Mariel Boatlift would not be good for South Florida, the State of Florida or the United States of America. This country is big and wealth...

While watching the John Deere Golf Tournament on Thursday Afternoon, the history of the tournament came up.  The tournament has a history for me.    25 years ago (1995): Illinois State graduate D.A. Weibring became the first three-time winner in the Quad City Classic, holing an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a one-stroke victory over Jonathan Kaye. 50 years ago (1970): Ronald C. (Rusty) Wells, a Bloomington businessman who captained Illinois State University’s golf team in 1964, has been appointed head golf coach for the Redbirds. Wells, 27, fills a vacancy caused by the induction of Coach Joe Plack in the U.S. Army. I took a golf class in 1970 and the golf coach was Rusty Wells.  A White Pines co-worker Gary Ostrega played on the same team as D.A. Weibring.  If he played at the Doral I followed him.  Ostrega played on the tour for a year or two.

 Yesterday, people in Miami and Havana went to the streets to protesting food shortages along with other shortages and a shortage of vaccines during the pandemic. The Cuban Government blames the Cuban Embargo by the United States for these shortages. The Government of the United States supports a free and democratic Cuba.   My experience in Miami is that everyone supports a free and democratic Cuba. Some folks down here want the embargo policy to continue, as in the last four years.  It would seem that the pandemic has really slowed travel from everywhere to Cuba making it difficult to import needed goods.  The internet in Cuba was shut down nationwide for a while yesterday. Boats are reported to be gathering in Miami for a visit to the island. 

It's been reported that some fast food emporiums have been slow to reopen for indoor eating.  It's probably cheaper to just have the drive windows open.  Some places with wifi are not ideal work from home locations either.  It's just going to be one of the many things that have been recalibrated intentionally or on the fly. Meanwhile, I have a high friend who lives in South West Missouri that is trying to get back what is a normal life for he and his wife since the Pandemic began and has now circled back to his small rural community of Lebanon, MO.  He and his wife 70 and they have been fully vaccinated for months but they are a distinct minority where he lives.   I will admit to spending time looking at his county, my zip code and other family members counties as I watched COVID 19 spread and retreat.  In Miami, Florida I have always believed that the number of folks that got COVID 19 was undercounted but a serious public health threat. Sadly as the v...