LIVE FROM WHITE SETTLEMENT, TEXAS, IT'S THE CRAB

Ask yourself this:  How can there be a town with a name like that?  Seriously--and do not tell me about the tortured history of its name.  I wonder who lives there and if kids, when applying for jobs/colleges, put that on applications.  "you're from where?"  EEK!!  I intend to get to the bottom of this mystery as soon as I can.

But let's first chat about a quote from the Rabbi at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.  In the aftermath of the shootings in Jersey City and the machete attack in Monsey, he wondered if it was open season on Jews.  I wonder how secure my synagogue is and wonder why politicians (except for Governor Cuomo) are silent in the face of these attacks. POTUS has a daughter and her family who are members of my tribe and his mouth remains closed.  He opened it during Greta's visit to the UN so he could bully an adolescent.  but he is silent in the face of anti-semitic terror. But I now know I am part of a nationality--not just a religion.  What the fuck does that mean?

Ends and Odds:
--Is AG Barr the worst example of an AG in our lifetime or what?  He is a toady at the beck and call of a miserable SOB of a boss.
--Rudy is till loose even though he has been documented interfering in our foreign policy as a private citizen.  He needs to be in a butterfly night and given some serious meds.
--Adam Driver, who I like, has been all over the place recently.  Home alone, I saw him in a movie called "The Report".  It is based on an expose of the CIA's use of torture after 9/11.  Anyone who watches MSNBC has seen John Brennan pontificating about the current Administration and its decisions.  Turns out he supported the toruture of prisoners and cokes away from the movie as no angel.  Driver was terrific.
--You do know that we will not let children in those "immigrant" detention facilities receive flu shots.  You know that right?  I mean Stephen Miller must know a lot about medicine, right?  what does that say about us as a nation?
--Did you further know that Thailand has taken in more immigrants than we have--even though we are nearly 6 times bigger and certainly wealthier?  It as embarrassing to hear about this on our recent trip.
--During the recent impeachment hearings, 13 more Federal judges were rammed through by Mitch and POTUS.  Lifetime appointments.  You bet senate elections are important.
--Robert Kraft went to the White House to celebrate Hanukkah.  He has no shame.

IT'S BEEN AWHILE

But here I am in living color or some such.  The big silver bird took me back and forth from SE Asia. The Thais and Cambodians both live under repressive dictatorships.  Three generals over see the Thai government having staged a coup after a "fair" election.  The Cambodian dictator is an individual who, almost ironically, was a member of the Khmer Rouge. On top of that, each country ha a monarchy!!

Those facts are beside the point--almost.  The point is that despite the dictators, the people we interacted with were warm, friendly, and spoke lovingly of their countries.  Thailand is a country of 60 million people.  Bangkok is enormous and is bigger than NYC.  Also, full of traffic congestion and crazed scooter drivers. It is way more advanced than its neighbor Cambodia.  An example: the rice in Cambodia is still farmed by hand without any machinery.  Thailand's rice is harvested by machinery with people helping. The Thais, btw, have taken in more than 2 million refugees from Myanmar.  Steven Miller be damned.

Finally, it is important to note that the Khmer Rouge literally forced the evacuation of Phnom Penh and other cities.  Emptied them in order to force the residents to work on farms so that they could be re-educated.  2 million died out of a country which at that time had a population of 10 million--20 %.
It does much more than simply boggle the mind.

A side benefit of the trip was that I watched no TV.  POTUS did not intrude.  A respite I enjoyed.  Saw not a minute of the House hearings and continue to believe he will not be leaving office unless he loses the election.  BTW, if you want to read about his supporters, Maureen Dowd turned her column over to her brother in yesterday's NY Times.  It is scary to read and made me very nervous about POTUS winning next November.

Most of my toes and fingers continue to be crossed hoping RBG survives this medical crisis and can
last for 11 months.

Looking out at the first snow of the year and "weathering" (get it?) the hysteria of the weather people.

SPORTS TALK
He looked old yesterday.  That would be Mr. Brady.  I think Edelman should take next week off and force Brady to throw to the other receivers.  He has put all the other receivers in a sort of purgatory.
But at least, up here, the Celtics are fun again without Kyrie and the Bruins are winning.  I can live with that.

Hope you had a good holiday.  See you in a month.

BETCHA THOUGHT I FORGOT

Nope.  I am screeching even as the great silver bird is warming up on the runway.  I look forward to a 15 hour flight with 300 of my best friends nearly all of whom will have toilet paper stuck to the bottom of their shoes as they return to their seats.  Close your eyes and imagine what the toilets look like after 15 hours.  Ugly.  Now onto other matters some of which are equally ugly:

--Like:  I really am longing for Sean Spicer to return as spokesman for POTUS.  The current spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, has been quoted as referring to POTUS as a genius.  Seriously, we can disagree on a lot of things but does anyone really believe that?
--The only way I can understand how conservatives (law and order types) love this guy is that they are solely focussed on the elimination of abortion rights via the appointment of judges.  POTUS can do anything else he wants as long as conservative judges are appointed to gut a woman's right to choose.
--You all do know that these current cases (about impeachment, about POTUS, about immigration) will ultimately get heard and decided by the SCOTUS.  That means a lot of us will be depending on Justice Roberts to do the right thing.  Don't ever forget that Mitch and his friends sabotaged Merritt's ascension to the high court when Barack was the Prez.  That's one reason we are in this fucking mess.
--Apparently our soldiers cannot protect the Kurds but can protect the Iraqi oil fields.  Property over people. I guess from the perspective of a real estate tycoon, it makes sense.
--Recent language used by the leader of the free world seems to indicate he is being persecuted and at the same time is tone deaf.  Check these words out:  civil war, coup, lynching.  Language is important Language sends messages and people get it.  Supporters and detractors understand code words when they read them.
--Did ya know the Ukraine phone call was perfect and incredible.  A kerfuffle over nothing.
--Frontline episode all about Steven Miller was scary. He is a nasty man.  And, oh so sadly, he is a member of my tribe.
--So is Chaim Bloom!!
--The fewer Dems in the race, the better.  There are still too many as of this morning.
--I'm a Boomer and am wondering what I have not "gotten" today. I know everything we did (back in the day) was and is wrong.
--Love Bob Seger and tried to get tickets to see him but all they had were $400 seats.  Only for the Boss.
--Before I go out and crunch a few acorns, a note or two about sports.


--Tonight's Pats game is the first one all year that I am worried about.
--Good for the Nats;  but Strasburg just opted out which is not good.
--The Bruins first line has got to be watched to be appreciated.
--Chaim, mentioned above, is the new head of operations for the Red Flops. Likes gefilte fish.  Look it up.

Shalom

IT'S BEEN AWHILE

But here I am leading off (get it? a baseball reference in honor of the MLB playoffs).  Important things first: namely, the pigs and the sharks. And not a sequel to West Side Story. The Globe, in its zeal to provide readers with up to date info on all manner of animals, gave us the following:  pigs escaped from their enclosure on a Vermont farm.  Police were called, a chase ensued, and some of the porcine critters were never caught.  Unless, of course, someone up there in the Green Mountain state has a bunch of pork belly in their freezer.  Can only assume the Globe will follow up.  Much like their well documented followup on beach closures.  During the height of the Cape's shark hysteria, the Globe created a special "shark" section.  Seriously?  This country is teetering on its edge and we get a special shark column.  Have to move on.

Truth be told, the change in the frequency of these screeds was partially due to me being sick and tired of me being sick and tired.  How much more can I say about POTUS.  Apparently a little more like:

--Corey Lewandusky's performance in front of a national tv audience was the perfect working definition of arrogance/petulance.  I hope he goes down with the ship.
--Do you feel more comfy cozy knowing Mike Pompeo keeps a bible on his desk and references it during meetings?   I suppose Mike needs all the  help he can get.  And oh, btw, he was in the room and perhaps even on the phone during the now famous POTUS calls with the Ukrainian president.
--We have lost the man who combined the perfect mustache with the best  81/2x14 yellow pads I have ever seen.  Bolton has now taken to criticizing POTUS which really means no good deed goes unpunished.
--I am not really sure how this will end up but I don't think POTUS will leave office unless he is not elected next November.  But I do believe Madam Pelosi has out maneuvered him in terms of being patient and then hitting the gas quickly and heavily when POTUS stepped on his tongue again.  I also think putting Adam Schiff in the lead over Nadler was brilliant if only because of the optics.  Poor Jerry just does not come across so well.
--I am feeling rage that Seven Miller made sure none of the Bahamians from the island of Abaco
were given TPS status.  Let them live on an island that is now totally flattened. He needs to find his way to the exit.
--Three people POTUS admires:  Putin, Boris, and the president of Brazil.  Make little rocket man the fourth.  All dictators no one should admire.
--Betsy Devos who will fight any effort to allow forgiveness for loans should use the same door as Miller.
--In the midst of all this shit, i saw a flyer asking for support to fight the closure of Doyles.  That being a very old timey "Irish" bar.  Its food was awful but all sorts of local and national politicians needed to have their picture taken there.  Putting aside what it means to be an "Irish" bar, do we need to raise money to keep it open when the owner just sold the liquor license for 400K?  It might be better to save some immigrants from deportation.

SPORTS TALK
That famous carnival huckster and coach of the Pats Mr. Bill deserves all the criticism he gets for bringing on Antonio.  And don't even give me a maybe on that.  I was wrong about the Yankees (they are in) and the rd flops (they are out).  My bad.

If you are fasting next week, have an easy one.
Shalom

IT'S THEREABOUTS

Close readers of this screed will know that I promised a new post on Labor day or thereabouts--so fulfilling my promise to you, it is now officially "thereabouts".  On a very somber note, AM passed away this past weekend.  I had not been a good friend to him over these last years--not seeing him; not contacting him or his partner.  But guilt is not helpful.  As I said to a close relative, the word "centered" is way overused and misapplied.  Except in this case.  If you were to look up the definition of centered, AM's picture would appear.  YB used to tell me that, as she got older, at least once a week she attended a funeral.  I am not there yet; but I can see that on the horizon.

Here are some other, rather less important, thoughts and factoids:
--In light of that first paragraph, a great column by Kevin Cullen in the Globe (and not about animals).  He writes about all of a sudden he is attending more wakes than funerals.  This aging business does seem to come crashing down quickly.
--Speaking of the Globe's fixation on animals, they are overboard (!) with the sharks.  They update us daily on which beaches have to close and what we are supposed to do in response to the appearance of the great whites.  I still don't get it--it is the ocean and they are wild animals.  Maybe, POTUS will build a wall to keep them out.
--Speaking of which (yet again), POTUS is taking Pentagon money and using it to build more of the wall on our southern border.  I am not sure I care about the Pentagon having less money but please don't tell me it is an emergency.  The detainees are in emergency conditions as are their children.  But the physical wall is not an emergency.
--Children legally admitted to the states because they have precarious medical conditions--this group is the new target and one wonders how Stephen Miller can sleep at night. POTUS is not smart enough to have thought of this on his own.  Miller is and is a member of my tribe to boot. This administration
and its core group of acolytes despises kids, poor people, people of color, and any combination of those.
--Barr pridefully announced he knew the names of the 5 inmates to be executed once the Feds decided to pull the switch.  No shame.
--Can this be true--POTUS played golf while Dorian put millions at risk?
--Mother Pence, her hubby, and his Mama stayed at a hotel owned by POTUS 150 miles from the site
of his meetings.
--Not enough words for Mr. Epstein--am glad he is no longer with us.
--Will be publishing once a month from now on/hope you don't get anxious in the meantime.

Sports Talk
--Going to Fenway Sunday night to relive the glory days of the Red Sox/Yankees.

Shalom and to some of my readers, Have a happy and healthy New Year.

FOOLED YA

I thought I could withstand the pressure from you readers but due to overwhelming demand, I am dropping this in mid-July and swear you won't hear from me again until Labor Day or thereabouts.   That demand thingy in the previous sentence was fake news.  But, in terms of real news, I am starting with some soft serves.

If any of you doubted or continue to doubt the impact of Title IX on women's sports, I present to you the world champion U.S. women's soccer team.  Virtually beat all of your Europe's best and please do not tell me how much better European teams have gotten.  Perhaps they are better but then the Americans have also improved.  The penalty resulting in a penalty kick was iffy; but Rose crunched a goal off her left foot and that was enough.

A BIT OF SPORTS TALK (Skip on down if you must):
--Since we are two weeks beyond the 4th of July, I promised some baseball thoughts.  The red Flops bullpen is in tatters but I still think in the end they will be a playoff team.  Just too many excellent hitters.  My Yanks are playing out of their minds but my translation of that is that they are also playing way over their heads with thin starters but a very deep bullpen.  A Labor Day update is in the cards. That baseball game in London was stupid and both teams stunk.

Now lets get serious.  More or less two exact quotes from our crack team of Border Patrol agents on the Southern border:
    --"You can just look into their eyes and know they are or will be gang members".
    --"Immigrant children can just leave the shelters even if they are just 10".
On top of which, we have the discovery of all those racist emails on some sort of secret website used by the agents.  OK, fine not all of them.  But enough so that the culture is infected.  A positive culture depends on shared values and respect for the "customers" being served--in these cases the immigrants. A culture requires a leader who can define those values and who can enforce adherence to them.  We have seen no such leadership.
--Some Congressmen/women visited some of the shelters where sleeping apparently has to be done in shifts because there is no horizontal room for laying down.  They were appalled.  Pence went and prayed on it and wished we could talk more civilly.  Wonder what Mother Pence says/thinks.
--OOOH, Kelly Anne wants to know the ethnicity of a reporter.  What is that about although already being on edge, I can guess she wanted to slime him.  Glad he refused to answer.
--POTUS really believes he was a super genius at Wharton. And has no racist bones in his body.
--I do love the "squad" but I worry POTUS will distract us with attacks on them.
--Listen up, Spuds:  You can draw a direct solid line from POTUS to 3 southern governors.  Wallace of Ala., Maddox of Ga, and Barnett of Miss.  Back in the day, they also appealed to white nationalists and eventually faded away.  I worry this guy will not--not with the support of those silent Republicans and the evangelical Christians.  It's just about the judiciary which in turn is about overturning Roe V. Wade.
--I missed the parade--did I miss anything other than bombers in the air and tanks on the ground?
--And then a suburban synagogue north of Boston was leafletted with fascist slogans aka "make America great again".
--Some of my most consistent readers believe we should "do something" about the Great White sharks.  Besides getting the fuck out of the water, what is that we should do?  Maybe kill all the seals so the sharks starve or relocate them?  It is called wildlife for a reason--it is wild and such is life.
--More to come, god willing, in September.

Shalom

IN OLDEN TIMES

In the fabulous 60's, some of us chose to join VISTA as a way to delay our exposure to the draft.  I will avoid a discussion of the implications of that.  But, as a volunteer, you were an actual employee of the Federal government.  The good news about that was that we regularly opened our mailbox and found a check!!  We also ate a lot of surplus Velveeta cheese.  But, here comes the point:  we were also subject to the Hatch Act.  You know that law which restricts federal employees from using their employee status to advocate for or against political candidates.  You know that law that Kelly Anne
just got busted for and that POTUS will certainly ignore.  No surprise--the unpleasant entanglements posed by existing laws like the Hatch Act need not be followed.  Moving on.

--The continuation of the war against people of color and/or poor people is undiminished.  SNAP, which essentially is what we used to call the food stamp program, has been under attack.  Stores like 7/11 do not want to follow regulations which tend to support healthy food choices.  It is basically too much trouble.  Now many of those stores are in low income neighborhoods whose residents have no access to supermarkets.  So let the folks buy cigarettes and liquor but not bananas.
--Does anyone else look at Jared and believe he is old before his time?  Does he ever wear a T shirt or go without a tie? We all know he would have been hated in High School.
--So excited when I was recently on our North Shore--I actually saw a Dairy Queen and a Sonic.  While seeing all those ads (especially the Sonic one with the 2 knuckleheads sitting in a car), I was dying to figure out where they were located.  Don't go West young man; just go North.
--Nate "the great" Silver sent me an email urging me to send money to a number of candidates.  Nate is the same guy who lulled me into believing Hillary would win.  Now these might be good people to support, but why should I believe Nate?
--Speaking of which, I am ignoring all polls predicting an election 16 months from now.  I am also refusing to watch the Democratic debates--there are too many candidates and I am worried Joltin' Joe might actually get nominated.  Say it aint so, Joe!! Call me when it is "mano v (wo)mano".
--From the fine pages of the Boston Globe:  A picture of a bulldog undergoing surgery for swallowing a disgusting number of pacifiers.  And we saw his iv's too.  Then our crack but corrupt State Police
rescued 12 ducklings from a sewer.
--Mitch and his wife really do need to be kicked to the curb.  She has now been revealed to be a double dipping thief.  We know marble mouth Mitch just wants to appoint right wing judges.
--Between "nasty women" and the loser who is mayor of London, POTUS has had a great time calling people names but not doing a fucking thing except almost bombing Iran.  I said almost.
-- The high temperature range in Austin this coming week:  between 93 and 100.  Get that AC going now. I will be heading in that direction for an important/happy celebration.

--And a reminder.  I won't be bothering you again until the fall.  Have a good summer and a good Shabbos.

Shalom