By Jupiter!

"By Jupiter!" was a 1942 Rodgers & Hart musical featuring Ray Bolger, he of the dancing feet. The Planet Jupiter is the largest in the solar system and was recently in the news when it suffered another collision with an asteroid. Astrologers say that Jupiter does everything on a grand scale so that when the television trucks suddenly appeared in quiet Jupiter, Florida to cover Trump's campaign manager, I guess we should not have been surprised. My friends who retired down there will just have to grin and bear it but the notoriety recalls the days of "Hanging Chads".
tjs

Unconventional Conventions III

1968 was a difficult time for our nation. The war in Viet Nam was dragging on, there was much campus unrest and LBJ had just bowed out from running again. This was the scene when the Democrats met in Chicago and things quickly turned ugly in the streets. There was also turmoil inside as a young Dan Rather was manhandled by security while Walter Cronkite was safely ensconced in his booth. The Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley was sitting down front when Sen. Abraham Ribicoff of Connecticut began speaking and he looked directly at Mayor Daley and said "We have Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago!" Again, Daley's retort was unintelligible but suffice he was furious. As a sidelight 1968 marked the third coming of Richard M. Nixon.
tjs

The Final Four

March Madness will soon fade into April leaving in its wake a string of surprises, upsets and busted brackets. Villanova, I love you - I hope you go as far as you can. Syracuse is in their orange zone. And some folks feel the path to victory runs thru "Tobacco Road" i.e. Carolina. But the road this weekend leads to Houston with its hoopla, hype and media and the underbelly of gamblers, scalpers, pickpockets and "escorts". As that old boxing announcer, Harry Balogh, used to intone into the mike "And may the more worthy participant emerge victorious!" Sorry about your brackets.
tjs

Hazards of Blogging

Last week the NY Times had the following similar headlines on the same page:
A - Singapore: Blog Posts Lead to Jail Term.
B - Vietnam: 2 Sentenced Over Blog Posts.
It feels like they are closing in on me. Do I go underground? Adopt an alias? Ask Google to protect me? I didn't think my political opinions would ruffle so many feathers. Let's hear it for the First Amendment!
tjs

Easter Duty

Patty Reilly lived on an island off Cape Cod and every year he took the ferry to the mainland to perform his Easter Duty. Then without warning ferry service was suspended and his absence was noted thereafter. Eventually a priest friend caught up to him noting that he was missed at the Sacraments. When Patty mentioned the ferry cancellation the priest reminded him there was air service to the mainland. Said Pat "No way was he going to fly over - for venial sins it's too expensive and for mortal sins it's too dangerous." Happy Easter!
tjs

You Can Google It

I have always wondered what happens when a driver less car is involved in an accident. Google had its first incident in February where the auto was to blame. It seems the auto "saw" an obstacle in its right hand lane and changed into a bus lane. Google says the car made the assumption that the bus would slow down and the bus driver assumed the car would stay put. All the other accidents were rear -enders caused by humans. But there's that word "assume" again and you know what that translates to.
tjs
(Sorry to end in a preposition.)

Only in New York

Every year in September, New York hosts the annual meeting of the United Nations. With Cuba currently in the news we are reminded of the initial visit by Fidel Castro in 1960 when it was rumored that his delegation were plucking chickens in their hotel rooms and were asked for $10,000 deposit which they refused to pay and ended up in Harlem. That same year the Russian delegation was headed by Nikita Khrushchev who betrayed his peasant roots by banging his shoe on the desk during the full assembly. In later years we had Libya's Gaddafi wanting to raise his tent in the park. The NYPD handled all these intrusions with their usual professionalism as they do every year.
tjs

Unconventional Conventions II

In 1952 the Republicans met in Chicago and the contenders were Robert Taft of Ohio and Dwight D. Eisenhower of WWII fame. The silver tongued Sen. Everett Dirksen was for Taft and Thomas E. Dewey was promoting Ike's candidacy. But Dewey himself was a two time loser in 1944 to FDR and in 1948 to Truman. During his speech Dirksen looked down at Dewey in the second row and said "Don't take us down the path to defeat again!" I couldn't read Dewey's lips on the TV but I am sure his little mustache was bristling. It was electric theater.
tjs

Primarily Political XII

In yesterday's Palm Sunday Mass St. Luke wrote of the crowds falsely accusing Christ of inciting the people. Fast forward two thousand years and we now find a political candidate really inciting the crowds. Hopefully, sanity will prevail and the electorate will do the right thing. Stay tuned.
tjs

The Morning After

It is time to recycle the empty Jameson and Guinness bottles, put aside politics and concentrate on March Madness. Three Philadelphia teams are playing today so hand me the remote. Tomorrow, March 19, the swallows come back to Capistrano from the song of the same name. You can bank on it. It will be more reliable than your bracket selections. Good luck.
tjs

Unconventional Conventions I

With the political conventions still several months off it might be well to review some noteworthy gatherings in the past. The NY Times described the 1924 Democratic Convention as rowdy when held in Madison Square Garden and went to 103 ballots over sixteen days in a non-air conditioned arena. The KKK was involved and fisticuffs broke out and eventually a compromise candidate was nominated who lost to Calvin Coolidge. Democracy in action!
tjs

What Price Greatness?

Pete Rose was a talented baseball player when he played for the Cincinnati Reds team but his gambling addiction brought him disgrace. You will usually find him at memorabilia events or at venues where a buck can be made. He has just presented Donald J. Trump with an autographed baseball with the following inscription: "Mr. Trump, please make America great again!" This from a fellow who played his best years in The Great American Ball Park of Cincinnati, Ohio. How soon he forgets!
tjs

The Ides of March

Today, March 15th is called the Ides of March, the day Julius Caesar should have called in sick and not gone to the senate. Today when the polls close several other senators may learn their fate although not as fatal as the emperor. So, will Rubio cross his Rubicon? Stay tuned tonight.
tjs

Daylight Saving Time

We advanced our clocks this past weekend. So that while commuting on the road at 0700 today, nobody told all the animals that cross the road at 0600 that their world would be turned upside down. Having lived many years in Florida I know that armadillos don't move very fast and the result is roadkill. Additionally, many children are standing in the dark waiting for their school bus. I guess I have become a curmudgeon wondering why we need eight months of DST. What would Andy Rooney say?
tjs

Split Personality

Wow! At a press conference on Friday we learned that there are TWO Donald Trumps presumably the bombastic mean spirited one we see on the stage or the cerebral thinker ensconced in his tower.

But which one are we getting? Is this a coin flip? Heads he wins - tails we lose! I'm so glad we learned this revelation before we have to pull that lever! Caveat emptor!
tjs

The Eagles' Nest

I have been a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles for 70+ years. Before there was a Super Bowl there was a National Football League Championship Game and the Eagles won both games by shutouts in 1948/1949 - the last time back-to-back shutouts occurred in a Championship Game. Al Wistert, a tackle on these teams died last week and he said they loved to achieve shutouts as the management would then treat them for dinner at Old Original Bookbinders, a famous seafood house in Philadelphia. The 1949 game was in Los Angeles and the victory party was held at the Bel Air Country Club but as finances were tight post WWII there were no Championship Rings distributed. Instead the players were given Zippo cigarette lighters  with no engravings. Wistert was so disappointed that he left his lighter on the table. The NFL has come a long way since then.
tjs

Pants on Fire!

The "L" word has been tossed around with abandon lately. First a rude Congressman hurled it at the President. Then Sen. Cruz called his senate leader a liar and now Donald Trump throws it back it Cruz. Can no one tell the truth? Trump tells us ad nauseam that he is self funded but my understanding is he "lends" his money to the campaign presumably expecting a return on investment i.e. "The Art of the Deal." Lest I leave you with a downer let's remember that the campaigns are soon heading to Illinois. I recall the resident of downstate Illinois who requested to be buried in Cook County (Chicago) so he could continue to vote!
tjs

"That's Amore!"

Dateline Chianti, Italy: An exploding population of wild boars has been marauding through the prized vineyards of this area devouring the sugary grapes and damaging the production of their treasured Chianti Classico. While I have tolerated inebriated "bores" on occasion I would not want to face this herd. It recalls the story of the flock of birds attracted to the berries of a particular tree and "not a tern was left unstoned".
tjs

Say It With Pictures

"There's a lot of brand demand for Emojis" says the Twitter man. Ninety-two percent of on liners use them. Six Billion sent per day. They sail past ad-blocking software. They convey emotion "the precious currency of marketers" and apparently are here to stay. Have a nice day!

NY Times headline Monday March 7th - "Scott wins at Doral as McIlroy Falters After a Handshake From Trump." And this was just the Sports Section.

How much is too much?

We are all familiar with the phrase "Taking coals to Newcastle" and last week we read that Alaska was railing in tons of snow for their dog sled races. Now France has announced that they are shipping 20 containers (900,000 lbs) of red clay in to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe as the base of tennis courts for their Davis Cup matches.

When Donald Trump passed through Michigan he repeated the phrase "I love cars!" Heading to Kansas I expected him to mouth "I love corn!" And in Florida we know he likes oranges, the color of his hair. And he will soon visit Akron, Ohio, the rubber capital of the world where one would hope he might say "I'm TIRE-D!" - as are we!
tjs

Potpourri V

Recently released files indicate the extent of Osama bin Laden's paranoia as he wondered "Could an Iranian dentist have planted a tracking device in his wife's tooth?" And didn't he have more than one wife?

Dateline Anchorage, Alaska: A lack of snow is forcing organizers of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race to ship in tons of it by train for the event tomorrow which has been shortened from eleven miles to three. I'm sure the dogs won't mind.

Astronaut Kelley returned to earth after a year in space with minimal fanfare. When Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic they gave him a ticker tape parade.
tjs

The Old Media Updated

When I was young the roadside billboard was an innocent eyesore with an occasional Burma Shave jingle to keep you awake and amused. Fast forward and the billboard you drive past now may be "looking back at you." They may be tracking your travel patterns and behavior through your mobile phone. It's a merger of data and analytics called "Radar". One observer at the Center for Digital Democracy said it is "incredibly creepy" - but, of course, advertisers will love it. A far cry from those Burma Shave signs.
tjs

Primarily Political XI

Just heard the best description of Donald Trump by former Governor of Utah - "Attitude without aptitude!" Brief, concise and apt without the "itude".

Judge Clarence Thomas asked his first question in ten years curiously a week after the death of his colleague he seemed to rediscover his voice.

At the next Fox debate I hope they ask Trump the question Couric presented to Palin - "What are you reading and what do you have on your night table?" With three hours sleep and an addiction to Twitter I doubt he gets past Second Corinthians. But he should be awake to take that three a.m.
phone call. Heaven help us!
tjs