Sunday Morning Coming Down

 I think it is a form of Karma that a former holder of this country's highest office and famous for snarky nicknames has a down low nickname from compliments of his own political party. 

I announced at the UU of Miami that I was going to set up a "cuss jar" at my house as a fund raiser of sorts.  Self imposing a fine when I said out loud " mother^$*()" when I should have just said "oh well".   Speaking to the minister after the service about my announcement he commented on a "Guest at Your Your Table" which was a Thanksgiving to Christmas fund raiser for the UU Service Committee.  You were supposed to make a donation daily which would be approximately what it would cost to feed another mouth. In concept it's good, its execution poses problems. The minister volunteered that he would be a bad candidate for a "cuss jar" as he never swore.  Conversation complete, I instinctively rolled my eyes and said a silent "oh well".

The Governor of North Dakota is Doug Burgum.  I'm not going to make him a hero. You can read what he's done in Wikipedia.  He's a Republican and was an early big investor in Great Plains Software which was acquired by Microsoft. I'm not sure how wealthy he is.  He has enough money to offer $20 gift cards to the first 50,000 voters that donate $1 to his presidential campaign so he can appear on the stage with other Republican hopefuls in their first debate.  I guess it's easier than getting 50,000 people to send you $20 (a double sawbuck) $1,000.000. I'm a democrat.   Closed party primaries and open party primaries have positive features for candidate selection.  The biggest problem with primaries is small turnouts and results that represent the most active, truest believers, who might not be the best candidates. Being a governor of even a small state is a good training ground for higher office. What would people think if Walmart offered gift cards to v...

The highest three branches of government in the u.s.a. hardly rate being capitalized. We have elected at least one president that is a better performer than a governor. (Twice impeached, twice indicted and the legal system isn't done.) Our representatives in congress are too often better at fund raising than legislating.  (According to U.S. Term Limits over 50% of their time is spent raising money for their campaigns.) Our supreme court judges now reflect a political system rather than an old fashioned 'judicial temperament".  Some long recognized decisions have been overturned by a "packed Supreme Court" handpicked from the Federalist Society legions.    

If there are ethics rules for lower level Federal Judges regarding gifts of free travel and other free stuff like vacations, why don't they also apply to Supreme Court Justices as well.  This is a really simple problem to solve.  I would give the "fish eye" to a Supreme Court Justice who asserted that it didn't apply to the Supreme Court. 

On June 8th the former President of the United States of America was indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami. This has never happened before.  Nixon was pardoned by Ford.  At the time it was politically risky but it let the country move forward.  It did leave unanswered what we should do with a president who may have broken the law and it seems to be using his former status as a defense against prosecution. I've served on federal grand juries twice and it is a sobering experience.  We heard cases about fights on airplanes and we heard more than a few serious drug cases that were common in Miami at the time. The current situation is without precedent.   The indictment of a former president means that there are sufficient legal grounds to believe that he has broken the law.  How this will be resolved is to be determined at a later date. Regular people face consequences for getting caught breaking the law all the time.  Why should a past president ...

The movie "Easy Rider" was released in 1969.  I graduated from high school in 1969.  The musical "Hair" hit Broadway in 1967 and "Woodstock" happened in 1969.  The "counter culture" was hooked on sex, drugs, and rock and roll according to a LIFE Magazine article in 1969 as well. It's been over 50 years ago and life changed for a lot of us.   The 1950's really didn't dwell on diversity, equity, or inclusion very much in the suburban Chicago Area. The opposite concern about "block busting" in the closer in neighborhoods was a bigger issue.  Neighborhoods and most residents worried about them changing. Times have changed.  A person might have been excused back then for behavior that certainly wasn't "woke" and more likely open bigotry in the 1950's. Stodgy, backwards, and being afraid of change isn't a formula for what is needed in this world.  Some cultural wars and the way they are being fought are the d...

 Falling asleep with the radio on might means waking up a fishing show, sports scores or what I thought was the BBC overnight programming, or maybe something else for which I was presently surprised. I've become a big fan of Kelly Corrigan and her shows whether it is "Tell Me More" or Kelly Corrigan "Wonders". I'm really happy that she tops off her interviews with her "ten takeaway" from each interviewee.  It's a just in case you missed it part of the show, which does take a long time, but it a great summary.

I'm glad that Fox News is on the hook for defaming Dominion Voting.  The winning lawyers talked about accountability. " Fox News merely acknowledged  Judge Davis's ruling   that the network made false statements about Dominion inside of a longer statement that it will continue to uphold the "highest journalistic standards." In other words "everybody gets paid and no one goes to jail."  This might be the perfect kind of crime.  I imagine this is how the world works.  If you have enough money, capital, or clout you can get away with just about anything and everything is grey. I realize for a significant number of people, the results of the 2020 Election were bogus or they just wished their candidate had won.  The actual results didn't matter.   The media has historically tried to comfort the afflicted and afflict  the comfortable.  I'm absolutely sure that the settlement will not adequately compensate the  voting public for the b...

The rain in Broward County has had an impact on the delivery of gasoline to stations around South Florida.  Port Everglades where the gas supply for in South Florida is shipped was close to ground zero for the historic Wednesday Rain event that flooded Broward County.  Sunday, with gas deliveries disrupted there are lines at some gas stations and others are closed because they have no gas.  Deliveries are now happening and Broward Schools have reopened.  I am planning on staying close to home for the time being.  The gauge says I can drive about another 100 miles. A lot of folks were ambushed by this once in a thousand year rain storm.  The run on gas stations usually happens before the storm. APRIL 18th Three gas stations in the immediate neighborhood are still without any gasoline. I walked to the closest Chevron station and the clerk was unsure when the next delivery will be.  The local news headlines are about the misery and losses from the flood a...

My taxes were filed this morning electronically.  I did my own return, but turned it over to a tax professional to review.  Twenty plus years ago that professional would have been my father who was a CPA in Illinois.  I will get about the same refund as last year.  Being of the age that I must start withdrawing money from my IRA account was simple and relatively painless because I had taxes withheld from all my sources of income, being pension, social security, and IRA withdrawals. Some things you can plan for, and I might make some adjustments to lessen my tax liability next year next year or maybe not. My advice for folks is start early to save for bigger things like education and housing. The effect of compounding is amazing.  Choose wisely when picking a college and a course of study. In my personal and professional experience high cost private colleges don't necessarily give you a higher paying job.  Sadly, it may leave you with student loans that can ...

Two young black legislators were expelled for demonstrating on the floor of the Tennessee Legislature.  Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were voted out of their office for their actions regarding gun legislation in Tennessee. A third legislator, Gloria Johnson, who also participated in the demonstration, escaped being expelled by one vote.  Ms. Johnson is a female and white and a former teacher. If the killing of three staff and three students in the State of Tennessee by a gun toting shooter didn't deserve a debate over gun control by the legislature in Tennessee, I can just shudder.  According to reports the Tennessee legislature has a super majority of republicans, who when voting as a block can ignore what it doesn't like and pass laws and do things that are questionable, at best. The two legislators that were expelled raised enough sand that there home district could reappoint them on an interim basis until a new election would be held.  Commissions in Nashville ...

 Maybe the first line of defense should be there was no crime.  Paying the National Enquirer to quash a story about a tawdry affair almost seems like paying off a blackmailer.  That's probably the best case that can be made. The idea for a politician to cry that politics is the only thing behind his indictment is double talk. The Department of Justice has a policy not to indict a sitting President because the process is for Congress to decide whether the President should be removed from office. In the 45th President's case two impeachment trials ended in the 45th President not being convicted.  There were Republicans that voted to convict the 45th President. A super majority was not reached in either trial.  Whether pressuring the Ukraine to provide dirt on Vice President Biden's who was running for president and then threatening the Ukraine President to cut off aid to the country and then subsequently promoting the biggest of lies that 2020 Election was stolen ...

The final game of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament is tonight.  If the University of Connecticut wins tonight like LSU did last night in the Women's Basketball Tournament, I am going to declare that both teams  UM Basketball teams finished in 3rd place having been beaten by the ultimate champions. You can disagree if you want to.  There is no longer a consolation game for 3rd place in the Men's Division and who knows if the teams in the Final Four want to hang around and play an almost meaningless game. The baseball season has started and so far the snippets of games that I've watched are very much quicker.  The Marlins need to rally, as do the Cubs to get out of the cellar in their divisions.  Two wins between them. The Master's Golf Tournament starts Thursday.  Rory Macilroy is my favorite.  Allowing folks from the LIV Tour to play has brought out some interesting smack talk. The Heat need to win or they will be resigned to play in the play in ro...

Ninety days into 2023 it has been reported that there have been 130 mass shooting and way too many of them in schools.  13 school shootings in schools have resulted in deaths or injuries to students or staff.  I00% of parents want their kids to go to school and not have to experience an active shooter incident and if they are lucky run out of the building with their hands in the air. Maybe the Congress isn't the place for gun legislation.  Unfortunately, state legislators in states like Florida think that more people with guns is an answer to mass shootings.  Most law enforcement people realize that guns in the hands of more people just makes the problems worse. Is it easier to police people if an officer starts to assume everybody has a gun, limited training, and maybe having a "very bad day". One advantage of a federal system is allowing states to experiment with laws regarding access to guns and what kind of guns should be available. And in the next breath, it is ...

I enjoyed last Sundays basketball game that the University of Miami won.  And it was on my birthday to boot.   Yesterday the MLB season began.  Day 1, the Cubs fly the W and the Marlins lost their opener to the New York Mets.  Mets 2023 salaries are almost $229 million dollars, while the Marlins salaries are $85 million dollars.  The Mets are spending even more than their crosstown rivals to get to the World Series. I would guess the University of Miami players through NIL are making serious cash and more than SDSU, UConn, and FAU, (and maybe even all three combined). The NCAA got about $940 million dollars in revenue for broadcasting rights to various championships in 2022 according to reports. The NCAA got money, schools got money, coaches and staff got money, and before name, image, and likeness "gilt" players got next to nothing except for tuition, fees, and laundry money. Do I resent how much money college athletes now make for entertaining me? No, I e...

  It happens all the time. Public Servants in the bureaucracies and elected officials get busted and lose their office and sometimes go to jail.  It might have happened with Richard Nixon but the process got short circuited. He resigned.  President Gerald Ford pardoned him.   The Ford Pardon of Nixon in 1974 was full and unconditional. President Ford felt that Nixon admitted his guilt and was contrite in accepting the Pardon.  After all, President Nixon resigned rather than go through the impeachment process. Fifty plus years after the Watergate Cover Up the punishment fit the crime. Historians feel that Ford's Pardon cost him in 1976. No love lost for Nixon, some might have tolerated his policies, but there were a lot of institutional reasons to get him (Nixon) out of office and hit the reset button. Doesn't look like any Republican Leader wants to say "Our long national nightmare is over". And it seems that any criminal indictment of a former president m...

 Sometime in grade school I remember having "Brighty of the Grand Canyon" being read to the class.   This morning in the NYT I read about donkeys. The phrase ''donkey work" will replace scut work in my everyday vocabulary. It just seems kinder.

 It has been reported that Santos has filed paperwork for his reelection which will allow him to raise money for his reelection. Yes, this is politics these days.  His donor list will be reviewed this time.

Some things need to reinvent themselves.  Most things evolve and most of the time evolution is a positive thing.   I'm not sure what the Florida Governor is trying to accomplish academically by removing the college president at New College and packing the board of trustees and replacing the college president with a close ally and a salary increase that is way out of line with a current enrollment of about 700 students. It is hard to understand the threat of a rigorous program of independent study given the success that many New College students have achieved.  The New College Website highlights:   Students’ progress should be based on demonstrated competence and real mastery rather than on the accumulation of credits and grades. New College also values having a diverse, equitable, and inclusive academic community. The alumni understand this as trying to fix something that isn't broken and a baldly political attempt to politicize a nationally known honors pr...

 There are limits to what minority rule can accomplish.  Eventually even non elected despots and long reining queens get replaced.  After the death of Queen Elizabeth II who was by all accounts popular, the succession of her son Charles is still a work in progress. The resignation of Boris Johnson and his replacement by Liss Truss shows that even those in power are subject to policy and personnel missteps that require changes if they are to move forward. The successions in the United States with periodic elections for Presidents, Governors, the House of Representatives, some Senators and elections for various offices in the fifty states all at the same time make voting an important part of our election cycle whether or not the election of a president is on the ballot. This year's election is important for the near future and as most commentators speak to on the future of democracy or the acceptance of something very much less than democracy as it has been practiced in the...