SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS

Well, not actually my friends but good friends of Israel--supposedly.  In the context of Benny's speech to Congress, I read somewhere that Pat Boone (who knew he was still alive?) was one of the prime movers behind the push for the speech and is one of the prime leaders of the evangelical folks who are fanatic Israel supporters.  You know what they say:  with friends like them, who needs enemies.

And then there was the speech itself followed closely by the letter sent to the Iranians by 47 Republican Senators.  The speech was more of the same.  "I am the only one who really understands the threat from Iran, your President is naive, and there is no reason to continue to negotiate".  Then the letter supposedly "teaching" the Iranians about how our government works.  Turns out (surprise) they know and they rightfully called the letter a political stunt.  They will continue to negotiate.  Seriously, even when Henry and the Vietnamese were negotiating in Paris, Senators did not write letters to Ho Chi Minh.  But the vitriol is worse now and more personal about this President.  That good ole boy Mitch is now holding up the nomination of the new AG because of some disagreement with Obama.  Finally, the Supremes better come through on same sex marriage and the Affordable Care Act.  Otherwise it will get uglier.

Moving on to tidbits from the cultural world:
--The Globe this past week had a terrific long article about the surgeon who was murdered and the man who murdered him.  It could be my imagination but since the new owner took over, longer in depth articles are appearing.
--A great HBO documentary on Edward Snowden and the journalists who broke his story--called "Citizen 4".
--Saw "She is Beautiful when She is Angry" today.  Another documentary this one about the women's movement in the late 60's and early 70's.  Almost felt like we were there.  And maybe at times we were.
--Finally, a great tap dance performance by a group called the Dorrance troupe.  Very special.

Other Ends and Odds:
--I have nearly conquered my road rage but have moved onto crosswalk rage.  One of these days one of two things will happen.  As I am crossing in a crosswalk a cyclist will fail to stop or a car will fail to stop.  My foot will magically kick forward and I will nail one of those suckers.
--Don't care about Hilary's emails.  Just more misdirection about her and her upcoming candidacy.  But believe me, it will also be very ugly when it is formalized.
--You can actually walk on the sidewalks today and actually see that there are bushes under the snow.
--Unemployment is lower than it has been since the Clinton years and it makes me again wonder why the fuck those Democrats were so afraid of running with Obama instead of almost running against him.
--I distrust all those local Ministers (and clergy in general) who want to help fight crime.  Just arrested one who in fact was a member of a gang if not the leader.
--Ferguson is not over nor will it be soon.
--All you folks with no friends--find some.  Your anemic responses to my second contest makes me wonder if you talk to anybody. Get busy.
--The big silver bird awaits us for a visit to the land of fun and sun.

Lastly, RIP Mildred.  She was 97 and passed away this morning.  A bright, thoughtful woman whose good humor and intelligence will be missed.

SPORTS TALK
Revis is gone and we have to move on.  I both know his value and do not blame the Patriots for having limits.  Too much hand wringing especially among the talking heads on sports shows.  Rask is finally playing like the Vezina trophy winner he was.  My big worry is that upon Krejci's return, they will muck around with the two kids playing with Lucic.  They have been terrific and he is playing better with them.  But Julien is not a big fan of their defensive skills which he values highly.  A big error if he mucks around.  And the Celtics are really fun to watch.

Sayonara

POTS AND PANS IN PLACE

Ahem--it's about this snow.  The walkways in the complex have piles higher than my shoulders.  Got leaks coming in windows and through light fixtures.  But, let's be real.  It is a major inconvenience but not a life threatening situation or ailment.  Plus, I really think us Eastern Mass residents are a bunch of wusses.  When all that snow hit the suburbs of Buffalo early in the winter, they did not call out the national guard.  They went about their business and probably did not even cancel school.  They knew and know how to deal.  This city, especially our public transportation system, absolutely collapsed.  Even now, weeks later, some two way streets are wide enough for only one car.  A fucking mess.  Our new Governor made a very important (NOT) decision in response.  He created a committee to study the issue.  The issue is that the system needs more money and he is an anti tax fanatic. The commission is just bureaucracy at work in the most mindless way possible--let's not decide; lets deliberate. Plus, unlike NYC, our system is at least 50% above ground which means it is open to those elements.

Moving on, I have an IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT.  Notice the caps symbolically acknowledging the following.  My readership has been hovering in the low 100's for awhile and I believe it is now time to kick it up a notch or 50.  So, I am setting the goal of adding 50 new readers and will reward whomsoever comes up with the most additional names with a special, yet unnamed, prize.  Just ask the winner of the first contest.  You have a month so get moving.

Ends and Odds

--Benny is coming to town and he ain't happy.  He and Johnny (he who has a perpetual tan) are kicking Barack out of the sandbox and have decided to play together.  He should lose his country's election if only for doing this despicable one upmanship. He may speak for AIPAC but not for all of us Jewish Americans and may not even speak for a majority of his people.  It does not warm my heart to know some of my religions best friends are right wing ideologues.
--Rudy Giuliani is likely to be there in the audience.  Rudy knows The Prez does not love America like Rudy does and he is quite sure about this.  Rudy needs to be kicked to the curb.
--Ted Cruz says his first act when elected President will be to abolish the IRS.  I hate taxes too but when all those Interstate highway bridges in Texas collapse without our tax dollars supporting them, be sure, and call Ted.
--And yup, the Brits have at least one case of the measles.  Idiots all over the world.
--The South is in the throes of self torture as states try to avoid the "plague" of same sex marriage.  Court clerks in all the bum fuck towns just flat out refuse to follow any decisions made by Federal judges.  Really.
--Finally the Turks woke up and realized Syria was an important issue and executed a mini invasion claiming it was to protect religiously important sights--nothing more.  Right and it had nothing to do with the millions of Syrian refugees now living in Turkey.
--Egypt has blown the hell out of some Libyan targets.  But to really understand how crazed Libya is, read the New Yorker piece by Jon Lee Anderson.  I mean it is chaos personified. He is just a terrific writer but I am not sure how he manages to stay alive.
--Don't we always seem to have a drug epidemic of some sort?  It was Oxycontin and before that it was very powerful heroin and now it is an opioid epidemic.  Budget cuts here protected drug treatment which is fine though I wonder about these moving epidemic targets.  By protecting these services, the cuts directly affected Head Start by cutting slots.  No discussion about priorities that I saw.
--And Putin is literally killing off anything on the way to recreating the Cold War.
--At least, the Greeks negotiated their way out of bankruptcy.

SPORTS TALK
--Not surprised Rondo had a run in with his coach.  He is both a prima donna and a head case.  Ainge made a smart move getting rid of him and compared to his Bruin counterpart, his trade with a Dallas team was way better.
--At least the Bruins have allowed two very fast skaters who may not be the best on defense play regularly.  Spooner and Pastrnak are the future.
--I sign Revis for whatever he wants.

Sayonara