Rant #2,038: Bits and Pieces

Yes, today we cover a potpourri of stories, none of which deserve a full Rant, but need to be spoken about anyway.

I used the word potpourri on purpose.

I was watching a "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" rerun the other day, and I remembered what they made of the name, and how they snubbed their noses at the censors.

Remember, they said it was "pot-pourri," and it was pretty funny how they got away with that.

Anyway, back to the stories of the day.

President Trump to Recognize Jerusalem as Israel's Capital: This will be a momentous occasion, as later today, our President is to hold a news conference announcing that our country will recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, with plans to move the embassy there.

But he has to back up his words with actions.

You just can't pick a building, say that is your consulate, and you move everything over there as if you were moving from one house to another, with a big moving van holding all the contents, transporting the stuff from one place or another.

It has to be laid out over a couple of months, if not even a couple of years.

If the President simply says that our country recognizes Jersualem as the capital of Israel, and he gives no further timetable for the move of the embassy, it is kind of an empty declaration.

Tel Aviv will probably remain sort of a lame duck capital for a while, but the President must give that timetable.

And what will he say about East Jerusalem, which Israel has occupied for decades and which is the most contentious piece of the entire deal, coveted by both the Israelis and Palestinians?

Many people don't want to see Trump declare anything about Jerusalem, but this could be the first step toward the Israeli/Palestinian impasse ending, in particular if he says that while he recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital, that in good faith, Israel should hand over East Jerusalem to the Palestinians to set up their own land.

I don't think this will happen, and the Palestinians have proven time and time again that they not only want East Jerusalem, they want all of Jerusalem and all of Israel for their own. And this way of thinking goes all the way back to the creation of Israel in 1948, when they--and the rest of the Arab world--would not settle for a two country solution.

Let's see what happens. This could be a momentous day, or the same old same old.

Mitch Margo Dies: Some of you probably don't know who Mitch Margo was, but if you listened to your radio in the 1960s, you heard a lot of his work right there on the AM dial.

Margo, 70, was an original member of the Tokens singing group, the pianist for the act that brought "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" to American audiences.

The song was a number one hit for the act in the early 1960s, and became a hit all over again when it was used in Disney's "The Lion King."

But the Tokens were a bit more than a one-hit act. They had other big records, including "Tonight I Fall In Love," and they had a slew of middling singles on the middle to end part of the Hot 100, including "I Hear Trumpets Blow," but they were a bit more than just an act with several hits.

They were the guys behind the Happenings, who scored several hits on their own, including "See You in September on the Tokens' B.T. Puppy record label.

They also wrote a lot of music for commercials, including "She Let's Her Hair Down (Early In the Morning)," which had its beginnings as a TV jingle for a shampoo, and proved so popular that it was expanded to a full-length single.

And they also recorded under a number of aliases, including "Cross Country," which allowed them to have charted records into the 1970s.

The Tokens were quite an interesting act, and Margo was right in the middle of it all.

LiAngelo Ball Saga Continues: You might remember that this guy was one of the three UCLA players who got caught shoplifting in China and could have served a long sentence there if not for the intervention of President Trump, who made some sort of a deal to get them out.

Since then, it has been sour grapes all around, as the President only wanted a thank you for his efforts, but got a diatribe of imbecilic responses from Ball's obviously mentally incompetent father, LaVar, who has come off as perhaps one of the dumbest people on the planet in these responses.

The younger Ball said that he did what he did because he thought he could get away with it, and what's more, he was coerced by the other two teammates to do what he did.

Yes, and again, I have a nice bridge to sell you if you believe all of this.

Furthermore, the elder Ball says that UCLA has not treated his son kindly with its suspension of his son, and the younger Ball will move elsewhere to play ball at some other college.

Of course, education has nothing to do with it, basketball is the only reason that the younger Ball is going to college.

Now, that on the surface shows how ridiculous this thing has gotten, but, of course, this is a prevailing opinion among many NCAA athletes--they go to college to play ball and prepare for the major leagues of whatever sport they are playing.

The NCAA is at fault on this, by letting this prevailing opinion go on for decades.

But the Balls are responsible for their reprehensible behavior since the younger Ball has come back home, and honestly, I don't think that UCLA really cares that it is losing its non-star player in the least, and it probably hopes the other two take a hike, too.

Update on My Job Hunt: To show you how it goes, yes, I am still employed, but our place is still teetering on oblivion. It is difficult to explain this to any one of you who have not been in this situation, but every day could be the final day for this place.

Anyway, I got a call recently from a prospective employer, who evidently kept my resume since June and wanted to chat with me about employment.

He called my home, and I was at work, of course, so my wife, who got home before me that day, texted me and told me I had this call.

I could not contact them in the middle of work, so once work ended, I got in my car, and called the company as I was driving home.

"Hello, may I speak to ---------?"

"He is not here now."

"OK, can you take a message?"

"No. Nobody is here now. Call back tomorrow." (Of course, this made no sense, because the person on the line that I spoke to was there.)

"Can you take a message? It is difficult to call, and I cannot call during work."

"No. Call tomorrow."

Well, this left a bad taste in my mouth, but I pursued it, and I got the same woman on the phone again the next day and I did it on my lunch break.

"Can I speak to-----------?"

"He is not here now. Call tomorrow."

"M'am, look, I spoke to you yesterday. It is very difficult for me to call during the day at work. Can you please take a message?"

"Why can't you just call tomorrow?"

"Because I want --------- to know that I called. It has to do with employment. He was calling about my resume."

Finally, she agreed to take the message, and as you can assume, I am cutting this conversation down a bit, it took her several minutes to agree to do this.

"When can ---------------- call you?"

"Please have him call me at lunch time, around 12:30 or so, or after work, at about 5:30 or so."

And I thought she took that all down.

The next day, I get a call on my cell phone at 9:30 in the morning from the fellow. I ran into the bathroom, and he is just going on and on and on, asking me questions.

"Please, sir, can I call you back at lunch time? I cannot talk now. I am at work and honestly, I am in the bathroom now speaking to you."

"OK. I will call next week."

"Can I call you?"

NO, DO NOT CALL ME (yes, his voice level went up). I WILL CALL YOU."

And that was the end of that. Never heard from the guy again ... only because the woman pretty much refused to take a message, and when she did, she screwed up what I told her.

So goes the life of someone looking for a new position.

It stinks like rotten cheese.

I have some personal business to attend to tomorrow, so I won't be able to speak with you again until Friday.

Have a great Thursday.