IT'S BEEN A WHILE

But I am still angry--and hopefully have not lost my touch.  Let's just start with some odd ends.

--The not so good news is much like last summer, I lost another cousin.  Marilyn's death was unexpected and pretty much left her family in tatters.  She was a wonderful niece to my mother and a great friend to Barbara and me.
--The good news is that, while in the Berkshires, I re-united with a long lost cousin and his wife who I had not seen in nearly 30 years.  A very warm and intimate reunion.  He took me on my only visit to Ebbets Field when we were kids and he lived in Brooklyn.
--The Berkshires were terrific though trying to get into the kitchen with 5 assertive female cooks was not always easy.  The weather was just wonderful while the visit of the black bear to our deck was kind of interesting.  I was never sure how these big family get togethers over a month long time span would work. And, yup, there are tensions and difficulties.  But seeing my grandchildren and my young adult niece/nephew and my adult children all in the same room is very special.  I cannot quite quote the date but Frank Bruni wrote a super column in the NY Times about these vacations.
--So, I go to the Post Office on Saturday morning.  Two clerks working while a third counter space lies unstaffed.  Meanwhile the line is so long--you get it?  You can see other staff in the back room just walking and yakking.  One of the clerks makes the following announcement:  "If you don't like the lines, come earlier."  Some wise guy in the line (?moi?) says "if you staffed better, the line would be shorter".  I vote immediately to privatize it despite my support of unions.  The service in these places is a joke.
--I so miss Jon Stewart.  I can only imagine what he would be saying about the Donald and the rest of the Republican crew--or Bernie for that matter.  A recent article in the New Yorker about the Donald is enough to scare the pants off of you.  I admit there is still a part of me that hopes he wins the nomination since I do believe someone will then kick the shit out of him.  But then again....
--Cruz and Huckabee decided they needed to visit the Kentucky court clerk who refused to marry gay and/or lesbian couples.  Despite what the Supremes decided.  Yet their total disregard for the law and their selfish political ploy raised no hackles anywhere--just what you would expect from those good old boys.
--Turkey has entered the coalition fighting ISIS and, oh by the way, their planes managed to bomb the Kurds on their way to bombing ISIS.  It is really ugly over there and while I still believe we will have a country called Kurdistan, Turkey will likely make it a bloody process.
--Now raise your hands if any of your ancestors came over on the Mayflower or you are related to Native Americans.  MMM--I see less than five of you.  Therefore, you likely are the children or grandchildren or perhaps even great grandchildren of immigrants.  Most of us came from some place else and usually to escape oppression or to look for a better economic situation.  For those fucking Republicans to play on the ugly nature of certain segments of the population is worse than pathetic--it is racist and frequently anti-Semitic.
--Many Hungarians welcomed Hitler so it is not surprising that they are having a fence built to keep out the influx of immigrants.  The really welcome surprise is the spontaneous positive welcome of the German people.  Plus they are taking over 400,000 refugees.  I know this is primarily a problem in Europe.  But for the U.S. to feel comfy with taking 10,000 of them is downright insulting.  Oh, by the way, Netanyahu has refused any of these folks--it figures.
--Calling all Social Workers.  You may not follow sports but the judge who handed down the decision on Tom Brady has an MSW.  Hah.

SPORTS TALK
So some of the paparazzi mags had Giselle divorcing Tommy over Deflate gate--now what?  And does anyone care?  Ben Rosen is a true freshmen starting  QB at UCLA--and a member of the tribe.  My Yanks are having a hard time holding onto that wild card spot.  But, as predicted here, those Jays are just winning and winning.  Rex is up there in Buffalo already running off at the mouth.  I do believe it will be a tough game

A shout out to Charles during his recuperation--be strong.

Adios