"BUT IS HE REALLY AN AMERICAN"

The weather on Marathon Day was gorgeous--warm and sunny as if the powers that be were paying us back for last year's awful bombing.  I watched the ending and admit to taking some serious pride as an American won the race and held off those terrific African runners from both Ethiopia and Kenya.  Then I settled in to do my exercise which is way less than "marathonic" in length.  I surf the tube when I do this and usually end up watching a game or horse racing.  Less frequently I end up watching and listening to talking heads as they discuss sports.  So on Marathon Day, I caught a piece of one of these talking heads wondering out loud if Meb was a real American.  This guy has a name ending in a vowel--I would bet either his parents or his grandparents came from the old country and were not invited to be on the Mayflower. It was totally pathetic, embarrassing, and repugnant.  These idiots are bad enough when they stir up the sports pot--but for them to discuss issues of citizenship is really beyond the pale. Meb's father walked from the Sudan to Ethiopia (or Eritrea, I forget and it does not matter since it was 600 miles in any case), got to Italy, and then to America as a legal entrant to this fine country--and we are being asked if this man's child is really an American.

Now bear with me as I move on to a lengthy list of ends and odds.
--Let's start with anti-semitism which seems like a smooth if not sensitive transition.  The shooter in Overland, Kansas tried to kill Jews but missed and killed other innocent people; but he picked Jewish venues and his history clearly shows us all what he stands for.  Then, locally, we have all sorts of anti semitic graffiti appearing in the schools of Burlington, Ma.  In both elementary and secondary schools.  Leaders are doing all the right things--but really more of this shit?  Finally, in a place that I am not surprised to find it, leaflets in Ukraine urge Jews to register themselves with their city/town--just like you know who as a prelude to the death camps. And no I do not consider myself paranoid.  Just fucking angry.
--But then my tribe has to absorb the message of one of our members named  Donald Sterling, the NBA owner, who is flat out a racist pig.
--Speaking of smooth transitions, it is quite eerie watching the TV show "The Americans" and watching the news involving the Ukraine.  Putin really is taking us back except there are nukes all over the fucking place and a lunatic like Putin has some of them--as do the Europeans and us upstanding Americans..  And no I do not consider this paranoia either.
--I think our new Mayor is doing a fine job but he is mucking around in the casino business and insuring that we may never see a casino in the eastern part of the state.  Meanwhile, he is silent on the new $30 lottery ticket which apparently is different than gambling.
--And yet another terrific transition this time to politics.  I guess we just kicked Scotty to the curb in the Granite state--not to the curb permanently.  He is now a New Hampshire home boy running against Jeanne Shaheen--who had the audacity to support Obamacare.  He has picked another woman to do battle with who is smarter than he is.  I just hope Jeanne puts her brass knuckles on and kicks the shit out of him.
--Our child welfare agency is truly on the ropes with yet more children dying.  Their oversight of cases seems totally inconsistent and they actually have the gall to say that if they respond to an "emergency" within 24 hours, they have met a standard of care.  Ask a fireman/woman what would happen to a house fire if that were their definition  of an emergency response.  Why would anyone want that job and if someone does want it, they better be taking a lot of meds.
--Have no words to offer in terms of that South Korean ferry sinking. Too many people keep dying all over the place.  Some words from Iris Dement:  "I'm older now and have no time to cry".
--Georgia (the state not the country) has legalized possession of guns in churches. But what about synagogues--after all fair is fair.
--I will not stop for jaywalkers carrying yoga pads.  Seems a bit incongruent, no?
--The big silver bird is warming up to take me South to my 50th HS reunion--I remain petrified.  Will I need a translator for conversations with some of the good old boys and girls who have never left the South?

SPORTS TALK
--I think the folks who go to the Master's and/or the Kentucky Derby just have a bucket list of places they want to go to and  want to get drunk in the sun. Why are they mostly white?  Sometimes it seems like they are watching NASCAR.
--The good news is that NBC is sending Tara and Johnny from their Olympic coverage team to Louisville to cover the Derby.  They are way cool.
--The Red Wings had me worried but the Bruins inhaled them after Game 1.

Sayonara