Rant #1,533: Random Thoughts

Here are some random thoughts on some things that I would briefly like to talk about in today's Rant.

Next Round of Baseball Playoffs: And what a good playoff round it will be. The four teams still in this thing--the Mets, Cubs, Blue Jays and Royals--are all highly competent teams, very talented, and exciting teams to watch.

There are no "watching paint dry teams" here. Each one is exciting, made the right moves to get where they are, and are on the brink of doing something special.

And that seventh inning in the clinching Blue Jays game--I have never seen an inning like it.

If that is any indication of what is in store for us in this League Championship round, then it will be exciting.

And I am staying with my picks. I guess I should have been a betting man, because I said that the Blue Jays and Mets were going to make it to the World Series, with the Blue Jays winning, and that still could happen.

But at this point, maybe it is a good thing I am not a betting man. I think the Mets are going to have their hands full with the Cubs, the team I would least like to play right now.

The Cubs are on a mission to erase 1908, the last time they won a World Series, from the record books, like the Red Sox did with 1918 a few years ago.

The Red Sox did it, why not the Cubs?

Aunt Loses Lawsuit Against Her Nephew: This is one of the more bizarre cases I have ever heard of.

I am sure you have heard all the particulars on this one: the aunt comes to her nephew's birthday party, the kid sees her, is so happy see her that he jumps in her arms, the force of the jump knocking her over and injuring her, and she suing her nephew because she had long-term injuries and had no recourse.

And the jury threw this frivolous piece of fluff out, not awarding her a thing.

The back story is that since this happened in Connecticut, she could not get any money from the kid's father's homeowners insurance, so she felt no recourse but to sue to her own, very loving, nephew--who was all of eight years old when this happened four years ago.

This case is disturbing as it is, but the cavalier way the woman spoke about how the injury "changed her life" demonstrated that this woman has absolutely no grip on reality at all.

Her descriptions of how this impacted her life included one where she reportedly said that she "could not hold a plate of hors d'oeuvres anymore with that hand.

I mean, be a bit more succinct when you are going for this type of money in a lawsuit. Say you cannot drive anymore, say you have trouble cleaning yourself, heck, say that you have trouble feeding yourself; but don't be so out of touch that you use hors d'oeuvres as an example of what you can and cannot do anymore.

The worst thing about this is that the kid did what he did out of love, and the woman evidently has no comprehension of what pure, unadulterated love means. She needs psychiatric help, which she probably won't get, not the sum of money she really wanted to squeeze out of this love her nephew has for her.

And yesterday, both she and her nephew appeared on the Today Show to show that there were no hard feelings and that the two still love each other. She said something to the effect that she went into the courtroom "and was uncomfortable with the lawsuit to begin with," and she came out of the courtroom "the most hated woman in America."

And on the Today Show, the boy's father was nowhere to be found.

The whole thing gives me the willies. I have a sneaking suspicion that there was more to this lawsuit than the kid getting sued by his aunt. I am sure that there is much more to this story than is being told.

Mayor deBlasio Visits Israel: Well, the mayor of New York City has once again decided to stick his nose where it simply does not belong.

He is visiting Israel for the first time, supposedly on official business. He has been there before, but not in the capacity of New York City's mayor.

He is going there with the intent of trying to understand what is happening there, and why, as if his understanding of the atrocities being committed over there now will be impacted by his stature and knowledge of the situation.

That would be all fine and good, but you just know that with this ultra-PC mayor, there is more to the story than meets the eye.

He will give a speech on anti-Semitism, which is almost as funny as, let's say, the Rev. Al Sharpton giving a speech on the subject. deBlasio knows as much about anti-Semitism as Mel Gibson does, based on his other actions in Israel and his personal beliefs.

He is supposedly going to meet with a school of Israeli Arabs and Palestinians--and all of a sudden, I read he will also meet with what few Israeli Jewish kids go to this special school--to discuss matters in Israel. He believes in inclusion, and thus, wants to speak to these youngsters.

But why is the mayor of a city with the second largest Jewish population in the world not talking to other Jewish Israeli youth, not kids who go to this special, unique school about the same problems?

Yes, kids who can't walk the streets because they fear they will get stabbed, yes, kids who can't walk to school because they fear their Palestinian neighbors will attack them.

He is meeting with kids in a highly artificial environment. I mean, we are not talking the "Summer of Love" here.

He will be speaking with other Jewish leaders, will speak at a conference of mayors from around the world, and he will be trying to get his arms around the problems faced over there, but he supports a two-state solution, and sorry, mayor, if one ever supported such a solution at any time, the recent violence against Jews in Israel by their Palestinian neighbors should demonstrate to you that you cannot deal with barbarians.

He says he stands with Israel, but he kind of hunches over with them, not truly stands with them.

Thus, your trip, which, by the way, is being funded by an Israeli businessman who has plenty of money, but no sense, if you get my drift, will be nothing but a sham.

If you think you can solve the problems in Israel by speaking to Palestinians and other anti-Israel people, and speaking in a false environment that doesn't truly exist in that country at the present time, then what happened to your inclusion message--you are excluding the very youngsters who are being most upended by what is going on in that country, and you are meeting with people who only want war, not peace, and they demonstrate this by their very actions.

It's like when years ago, the Rev. Billy Graham went over the Russia, was wined and dined by the Russians, was only taken to specific spots by the Russians, and came back to America saying that he saw no religious oppression in that country.

The whole trip is something of a whitewash.

This mayor is probably is the most ignorant person to ever hold his position, as he is constantly blinded by his own personal rationale of inclusion, but without understanding.

But you know what they say: you get what you pay for. New York City voters voted in this clown, not realizing the circus had just come to town.

And will he be late for his various meetings, as he has been constantly as New York City mayor?

Better late than never, I guess.

Speak to you again on Monday.