Rant #3,896: Bits and Pieces

Yes, it is that time again--

For Bits and Pieces, where I comment on several subjects that do not require a full-length Rant to get to the nitty gritty of what I have to say about them.

After the snow we have been getting, I figured it was time to rev up Bits and Pieces again, because all we have been getting is a snow job this past week ...

On a number of levels, the first being--

The Nancy Guthrie Kidnapping: This story gets weirder by the day, and the latest that I heard about it is that a 911 call was supposedly put in by a woman who was in distress right around the time of the kidnapping, and it could have been Guthrie herself making the call, but the authorities aren't sure about that.

And Guthrie's family has put up a $1 million reward for their loved one, which again shows that no matter how horrid this story is--and it is extremely horrid--yes, again, it all has to do with money--

But the odd thing is that nobody has taken the family up on its offer, at least not yet, so if the kidnappers were intent on making a windfall from this, they have yet to cash in.

I still believe what I have believed from the very beginning, that this is an inside job--a family member, or someone that the woman recognized, such as hired help, a landscaper, even the paper deliverer.

But something else came to my mind about this sad situation.

The woman was kind of sickly, and we were told that she had mobility issues--

Not that she couldn't get around, but that she had trouble doing so.

Isn't it possible that she may have, for whatever reason, wandered out of her home, and perhaps stumbled in the thick brush surrounding her home, and that she--or her body--can be found there?

There is a lot of thick brush around her home, and I mean, from all accounts, very thick brush, and maybe she is there?

I know, they have that video, but I have to wonder about it ...

Maybe she was, in fact, taken from her home, but maybe she was dumped in the surroundings around the house.

And as for the police there ...

Maybe they aren't telling us everything--and they probably aren't--but would even the Mayberry Police Department had done a better job than these suburban yokels have thus far?

I don't get the whole episode, I don't think anyone else does, and I don't think the police there get it either.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees Announced: The announcement on Wednesday demonstrated the worst, most inept list of nominees to date, in my humble opinion.

In fact, I would say that just looking at the list, my first thought was that not a single performer on it deserves induction--everyone from Pink to Mariah Carey to The Black Crowes.

And even the performers I have liked in the past--Billy Idol, INXS--are they really worthy of induction?

What's more, an era has finally been bypassed completely, as acts from the 1950s and the mid to late 1960s have been shunned again, and seemingly shunned for good.

I have my own picks for the HoF, but let me just harp on one that I have been harping on forever.

Lesley Gore was a pioneer in the rock field: a singer whose songs were not the usual girl meets boy type of stuff that girl singers put out in the early to mid-1960s, including "It's My Party" and "You Don't Own Me."

They were mainly about empowerment, doing what a girl wanted to do when she wanted to do it, and were more forceful than material put out by both female and a lot of male artists during her heyday.

Her music was produced by Quincy Jones, marking his entrance into pop music, and honestly, Gore fits every criteria for enshrinement--success, influence, and even her background checks off all of the boxes.

How can Pink even be discussed without Gore already being enshrined? Would Chrissie Hynde and Joan Jett even be mentioned if it wasn't for Gore opening the door for them?

With its current list of nominees, the HoF is clearly moving away from the genre of rock into a more pop area, and that is shameful, because there are just so many real rock acts that should be enshrined but will never be in there because of a lot--and I mean a lot--of politics.

I put up my views on Facebook under another person's posts, and I was called every name in the book--none complimentary--because of my opinion.

That is another story for another time, but this is the low-reaching level that the HoF has fallen to with its nominees, and I hope that it is proud of itself for its kind of cancel-culture choices.

As for me, as one of the people who actually put up some money to get this thing built, it is a place that I will never visit because it doesn't reflect music that I enjoy, and performers that I believe should be celebrated.

More Snow Forecast: I couldn't leave this story alone.

On top of what we already have--more than two feet of snow after Wednesday's latest dropping--the weather forecasters are saying that we might get several more inches between now and next Tuesday.

This might directly impact me, because on next Tuesday and Wednesday, I have very important doctors' appointments set up, first with the retinologist about my partially detached retina and second, with my urologist about the various problems that I have had in that area.

Any postponement of these appointments sets me back quite a bit, especially the meeting with the retinologist, where I might need to have a procedure done to correct the retina problem.

None of these doctors are around the corner, so they will take a bit of travel to get to, and if there is more incessant snow, I might have to further postpone these appointments ...

Which is not a good thing for my mind, my body, or my soul, to be honest with you.

But let's see what happens--

And I hope if we do, in fact, get more snow, it is not anything too bad.

Not another two feet bad, if you know what I mean.

And with that, I wish everyone a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.

Let's see how the rest of next week pans out.

Rant #3,895: More, More, More

Well, we got hit again in my neck of the woods.

Yesterday morning, we woke up out of our deep slumbers to find that the snow was really coming down, falling on top of the two feet we already had a few days earlier.

It was supposed to stop by 10 a.m., but it continued pouring down a little beyond that time.

I would say that all told, it was worse than the weather forecasters predicted, and when it finally ended, I would say we got about two or three more inches, at the very least, of new snow--

New snow to clean off our cars ...

New snow to dig ourselves out of ...

New snow that will be old snow by today and into the weekend.

This new snow will become old snow because we might get more today, and forecasters are predicting that we might get another pummeling on Monday or Tuesday, another big snow to open up the month of March.

Some say that we really should not be complaining, because we have not really gotten much snow during the past few years, so we were due.

I say that any hint of snow is a time of disappointment, because I simply hate the white stuff.

And what makes it worse for my family is that my son has to work outside in it.

It seems that every day he works is another bad snow day, and yes, he worked on Sunday and he worked yesterday.

I don't know how many shopping carts he can gather and maneuver when the ground is full of the white stuff, but that is his job, so he has to do it.

And, of course, working outside in this type of weather, he is going to be more open to getting sick, but happily, at least right now, he has been able to stay healthy.

We live in a 55-and-older community, and let me tell you, there are people here who have not been outside since we got that two feet of snow the other day, and they certainly did not venture out into the new snow yesterday.

So their cars are pretty much buried, and who knows when they will get outside into the fresh air?

I went out early yesterday to clean off my wife's car, because she was taking our son to work.

She goes to the gym when she does this, so it just makes it easier for her, killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.

I also cleaned off my own car, but I didn't use it until I had to pick my son up from work later in the day.

I did as best as I could with my wife's car, and at one point, I almost slipped on the ice, but let me tell you, my left leg held up pretty well ...

As long as I didn't fall, which I didn't.

I cleaned my wife's car off, and it was ready to go, but the problem was that there was a smaller snow plow parked about 50 feet behind her--

Which made backing out of her space a bit more difficult.

But after a little bit of maneuvering--there was also a car looking to move forward coming at her as she did this--she got out of the space, and was on her way to drop off our son at work and go to the gym.

At this point, the winter of 2025-2026 is going to be a memorable one, but for all the wrong reasons.

The snow doesn't stop, and now that we are entering the last month of winter, it doesn't seem to be letting up at all.

I feel the worst for our son, who has to work in the midst of all of this white stuff.

But he will get through it, my wife and I will get through it ...

We will also all get through it, and you know what is going to happen--

Once the summer comes, we will almost forget about this winter, and complain to no end about how hot it is outside.

That is human nature--

And more importantly, that is how Mother Nature works her mysterious ways.

Let me count the days, and the inches, until we can fully dig ourselves out from all of this mess.

Rant #3,894: Money (That's What I Want)

Enough with the snow. We are still getting hit, but let's talk about something else--

We all heard that late last week, the Supreme Court voted down President Trump's tariff plan.

I say "big deal," because it really doesn't impact the consumer. 

You will not be getting a rebate on what you have already purchased that were affected by the tariffs.

Prices aren't going to automatically go down; they will pretty much stay the same, or even rise.

The Supreme Court decision has absolutely nothing to do with new cars or on metals, so if you are planning on buying a new car sometime in the near future, you are still going to be paying higher prices.

And the President has alternative tariff plans, so he isn't done trying to enforce these taxes on foreign countries.

Just prior to his State of the Union address, he enacted a worldwide tariff of 10 percent. He wanted 15 percent.

The Supreme Court decision did impact the stock market, or least right away, with a huge rise upon closing on Friday afternoon, so if you have money in there, you did benefit to an extent ...

And then a few days later, the uncertainty with the tariffs pushed the market down.

But you know the stock market--

One day's rise is wiped out by another day's plunge.

So what does it really all mean for the average consumer?

Not too much, really.

It really is more important that the President lost in the Supreme Court with a 6-3 margin, meaning that some of his own Supreme Court appointees voted against him.

This proves that the President does not control the voting in the Supreme Court, and that the body can vote on its own independently of the President, even if they were appointed by him.

And that is the way the Supreme Court is supposed to work to begin with, and that is the Supreme Court that we all want.

I think that that is more far reaching and interesting related to this tariff business, that a couple of the members of the court went against the President, the very commander in chief who appointed them to this role.

But back to the dollars and sense of the tariffs ...

Do you really think that manufacturers are going to automatically reduce prices because the President's original tariff plan went kaput?

There is still so much concern with the tariffs, especially since the President has said he is pivoting to Plan B.

He hasn't given up on this plan just yet, and probably, you just know that if Plan B doesn't work, there will be a plan C and D and ...

That is how a businessman works, and Trump is, first and foremost, a businessman.

I understand why he imposed these tariffs to begin with: to try to equal the base of trade with our trade partners, who he claimed had had the upper hand when it came to the manufacture and trading of goods for decades.

But I think that putting so many tariffs on so many countries at once completely backfired, and it did so because the people paying the price were average consumers, who saw prices skyrocket at the grocery store, among other places.

When the general public feels it in their own personal pocketbooks, they aren't going to be too happy, and whether the move was right or wrong--or somewhere in the middle--the little guy was getting it, and getting it you know where, and that is never going to sit right with the general public.

NEVER.

So with one tariff plan scrapped and another--and possibly even others--on the way, so many of us remain in limbo on this thing, and it is not going to ease--

Now or in the near future.

So don't let it all tax your mind too much--

We are going to pay for this, and pay for it one way or another.

Maybe the President can figure out a way to put a tariff on the snow ...

Mother Nature ...

Are you listening?

Rant #3,893: Dig the Foundations

Eek!

Now, we have to dig out from under this mess.

We must have gotten about two feet of snow, and yesterday, it was cooler than predicted--it was around freezing--so a lot if the snow froze overnight.

It got so bad in my neck of the woods that a snow plow got stuck in the middle of the street here, and it took well over an hour or two to get the truck off the ice and moving.

And being that this is a 55-and-older community, people aren't that quick in cleaning off their cars, so this area is really at a standstill.

My wife and I looked out the window a couple of times, and while we saw the snow plow trying to move out of his winter quicksand, there was really absolutely no one out at all.

Just a day to watch TV, sleep late or go onto the computer--

The latter if which i did, because I had plenty of work to do.

Again, the beauty of my job is that i don't have to venture anywhere to do what I need to do--

It is all there online.

My son was supposed to have a dental appointment on Monday morning, but, of course, that was deep sixed because of the snow.

I did try to call the office a few times about this, but no one was there, so I left a message.

I am really surprised that someone did not work from home to contact those with appointments and make new ones, but no one did.

In fact, I received an automated message that my son had an appointment on Monday, but that was that.

So, hopefully, I can get him another appointment.

Funny, but over the weekend, I didn't have much to do, so I watched a couple of baseball spring training games--

Where the weather was at least in the 70s or 80s, and the thought of snow for those attending these games wasn't even part of the equation.

As I have often said, once baseball begins, hope springs eternal, and even with several inches of snow on the ground, we just know the warmer weather is coming.

That being said, we really have gotten pummeled this winter, with one snow storm after another slapping us around.

And I just learned that we have more snow coming this week, not as bad as the last one, but bad enough.

But back to baseball ...

The warmer days are coming, as the proverbial "Boys of Summer" are getting their strokes in there as the snowflakes hit us here.

The end is near ...

We just have to be patient.

And this winter ...

We have to be VERY patient.

Rant #3,892: Winter Wonderland

Goodness, I do hate the snow. 

And we received plenty of it Sunday and overnight into Monday morning--

And it is supposed to last all day.

The weathermen kept on pushing the time when we would finally get snow, and after a relatively peaceful day on Saturday, it took until mid-afternoon to get the snow machine blowing on Sunday.

And yes, my son, the cart attendant, had to work through all of this.

When I drove him to work, there were dozens of carts all over the place.

On Sundays, he usually works alone, so the carts were not only in the stall, but in the middle of the parking lot and really, all over the place.

When people see snow, they panic, and within that panic, they get awfully lazy, and they just place the carts wherever.

At a little after 5 p.m. on Sunday, I texted my son, asking him if and when the store would be closing due to there being at least an inch of two on the ground at that time.

He said he did ask his manager, but they simply didn't know when--or if--they would be closing early.

Whenever they would close, I would have to pick up my son, so I really needed to know.

But like my wife said, all these places care about is the all-mighty buck, and if people are stupid enough to do food shopping in a blizzard, if the store is already open, they aren't going to close so quickly.

So with a couple of inches on the ground--and with the authorities begging people to stay off the roads--I had to go out and get him, about two hours early.

I really felt bad for him, bad that he had to work under these conditions--

But at least he got paid for working, so when this snow is just a memory--temperatures are supposed to rise and we are slated for a couple of rainy days later in the week--at least he will get a paycheck for his efforts.

But anyway, I went to pick my son up, driving through some of the worst conditions I can ever remember.

Visibility was near zero, the snow was coming down so steadily and hard that there were no lanes on the road, and although a normally short trip, it seemed like it took me eons to go back and forth.

The snow ...

For this reason and for many others, I simply despise the snow, and I have hated the white stuff every since we moved to Long Island, and I had to clear our walk when we lived in a house.

Now, I am only responsible for my car, but I hate it even more than I did when I was younger, because as you get older, this stuff gets even more annoying than it was when you were younger.

I can't be bothered with this nonsense, but I guess that I have to be bothered by it, because that is the way it is.

I just love when people get interviewed on the local news and they say that they absolutely "love" the snow.

These are people who never picked up a shovel in their lives, never used a snowblower, and certainly never had to clean off their car.

They certainly wouldn't "love" the snow then ...

They would abhor it just like I do.

I don't know how much snow we are getting--as I am writing this, it continues to snow, snow, and snow some more--but we could get upwards of two feet of this stuff.

I sure hope not, because it will bury us in but good.

And my son has a dental appointment later today, but you just know that that ain't happening.

In the early evening on Sunday, the local Newsday newspaper sent out an email message to subscribers that they would not be delivering today, instead combining delivery of the Monday and Tuesday newspapers into one delivery tomorrow.

Funny, when I was an adult deliverer more than 30 years ago, there was absolutely no such thing, and we had to pick up the newspapers at the depot and deliver them in the most horrid circumstances.

I remember a little more than 30 years ago, we had a similar blizzard in January--I think we received 26 inches of the white stuff back then--and I had to deliver each and every newspaper to each and every home on my route.

It took forever, but I did it--

And people complained that they received the early edition of The New York Times, without the scores from the previous day of sports, and I heard back from them with complaints like you would not believe.

Heck, they got a newspaper ... give me some slack for that, why dontcha!

But that was then, this is now, and I absolutely despise the snow.

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain--

But no more snow!

I have had enough, so please, Mother Nature, have some pity!

Rant #3,891: All Those Years Ago

Well, we finally got to Friday.

Hip, hip hooray!

Nothing much is going on in my neck of the woods, to be honest about it.

I have been fairly busy with work, so the week has kind of passed by pretty quickly.

And with my son's athletic activities put on hold by the break, the only real responsibility I have to fulfill for the remainder of the week is to do our family's food shopping with my wife--

And that is today, this morning.

That is it.

So I have a pretty dull couple of days coming up, with not much doing later today or on the weekend.

When that happens, I try to stay away from the TV, because once I sit down to watch for too long, I invariably end up taking a nap.

I almost cannot help myself.

So I have to find other things to do.

Lately, I have been getting into my record collection again, digitizing records I hadn't listened to in 40 years or more.

Some of the artists I have been digitizing--and invariably getting into again--including Devo, Cyndi Lauper and Gary Numan.

Devo was very popular on FM radio back in the day. Led by Mark Mothersbaugh--who later was very involved in the music used on "The Simpsons"--the band put out catchy pop music using electronics, such as "Whip It."

Before becoming a darling of Broadway--and way before she admitted to having skin maladies--Lauper was quite the pop princess in the 1980s, putting out one hit record after another starting with "Girls Just Want To Have Fun."

Like Devo, Numan used electronics in his pop music production, and while he was extremely popular in Europe, over in the U.S., he put out a couple of catchy singles, only one of which was successful here, and that was "Cars."

In my opinion, music from the early to mid-1980s doesn't really hold up; it is simply a product of its time, often very mechanical and robotic, and these three artists certainly were mainstays during that period.

The use of synthesizers and electronics seemed to be the next level of pop music, but honestly, listening to these artists and tunes in 2026--more than 40 years after the fact--nothing really holds up, everything sounds kind of tinny, and I have to wonder how I got into this stuff in the first place.

But I was in my mid to late 20s when this stuff was popular, so listening to the old WNEW-FM in New York, this is what they played, so this is what I was into.

Even back then, I preferred the earlier pop and rock of the 1960s through the early 1970s, but you can't knock the popularity of Lauper, Devo and Numan during the 1980s.

And that I hadn't put these records on my turntable for decades shows that at least to me, they were just a passing fancy--

But I am still happy that I have these records in my collection.

I digitized a lot of their stuff, and the true measuring stick is listening to this music in the car--

Because that is where this stuff was originally delivered to the masses, on stations like WNEW-FM, so this is where these songs were probably heard first with my ears.

This digitizing frenzy won't last long.

Baseball is stirring, so there will be plenty to watch as the 2026 season begins in spring training and unfolds in games shown on TV.

My responsibilities--to myself and to my family--pick up in March, where I, personally, have several doctor appointments as we get back to normal after the break.

And I always have work, which gives me something to do, and sometimes too much to do.

But for now, I will continue to digitize music so I can listen to these tunes in the car, and remember--and wonder--where I was at more than 40 years ago.

Certainly in a different place than today.

Have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.

Rant #3,890: Drive My Car

Enough about people who don't really deserve to be covered by me.

Let's move on to something else.

How about driving? 

I know that New York State has increased the points one will get for certain driving offenses, such as drunk and impaired driving, and passing a stopped school bus.

That is fine with me; it might make people think a bit more before they do these very stupid things.

Me, I am driving so much less now than I ever have, and it makes me feel good on one side, bad on another.

When I was working full time, I was putting on at least 1,000 miles a month on my car, between going back and forth to my job and other things I was doing during those years.

Now, as a semi-retired person, I am lucky if I put on 400 miles a month, which I mainly put on the car for my son, whether it is driving him back and forth to work, or to his sports activities.

I enjoy driving, I always have, and like my late father the cab driver, I don't mind driving long distances.

I have driven back and forth to Florida on any number of occasions, and it doesn't bother me at all.

On the bright side, less use of the car means less maintenance, less gas usage, and less wear and tear, so I am saving money by driving less.

Our insurance is still pretty high, and my wife and I are looking for a cheaper insurance that gives us the same protection that we currently have.

I have been driving for more than 50 years.

I got my learner's permit when I was 15, passed the driving test the first time out, and this year, I will celebrate my 52nd year of having my full New York State drivers license.

I love sitting in the car, driving around and listening to the radio, listening to music that I want to hear through my thumb drive that I have plugged into the car.

I also enjoy satellite radio, which I listen to on the weekend.

But again, I am driving so little now, especially compared with what I had been doing, that driving has almost become something of an afterthought, something I do when I have to, but that is it.

Look, I am not complaining at all.

I like the fact that I don't have to fill up with gas each and every week, and that the car's maintenance can be extended because I am simply not driving as much as I used to do.

But I kind of miss the times when I was in the car on a more regular basis.

Just look at this week.

On Sunday, I took my son back and forth to work.

On Monday, I drove to the doctor's office to get my catscan.

On Tuesday, I didn't drive at all.

On Wednesday, my wife drove my son to work, so I just had to pick him up.

Today, on Thursday, I won't be driving at all.

On Friday, I will drive with my wife to the supermarket. There is no basketball this week for my son due to the break, so I don't have to drive him back and forth to the gym.

On Saturday, I will drive somewhere to pick up dinner for myself and my family. There is no bowling for my son due to the break, so I don't have to drive him back and forth to the bowling alley.

So for this week, I might drive a total of less than 50 miles, maybe even in the high 30s or low 40s.

Such is my life right now, and as I said, I have mixed feelings about it.

I think being in the car and driving is relaxing to me, a place where I can get away from things, even for a short time.

But now, with my lack of needing to drive every day, I kind of miss it all.

Being behind the wheel is fun, and I still love doing it, but it is seemingly a diminishing part of my life right now--

Unless we go on another car vacation later this year, which is a possibility.

Whatever the case, I just feel there is nothing like getting in the car, starting it up, and driving to wherever you have to go.

And I hope that one day, my son will be able to have the same experience; we are going to look into that possibility again in the spring.

I am convinced that he can mechanically drive a car, but passing the written test will be a mountain that I hope he can scale, even through his learning disability.

I, myself, am the son of a professional car driver, and my father, then retired, drove until about a month before he died.

Me, I think my destiny will probably be very similar.

Rant #3,889: Not the Loving Kind

Sorry, I cannot mourn the passing of the Rev. Jesse Jackson like some people are doing.

He and Spike Lee are in the same boat as far as I am concerned, and neither of them are getting any praise from me.

Like Lee, Jackson was a well-known racist, anti-Semitic figure that doesn't deserve any praise or recognition from anyone.

He was the youngest member of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s staff, and when MLK was assassinated, Jackson supposedly rubbed the dead leader's blood on his own shirt, to try to show that he was there at the time of the murder, and that he tried to resuscitate his boss, and neither of these things were true.

He was an opportunist of the highest order, but he learned nothing from the slain civil rights leader.

That was proven when Jackson was at the height of his powers, and ran for president.

During an interview with a black reporter on his 1984 campaign, he made an off-the-cuff comment about Jews being "Hymies" and New York City being "Hymietown," remarks which he initially denied but later admitted to making, not knowing that the reporter would print what he said.

After admitting to saying what he did, not only did he not apologize right away, but he turned it all around, stating that it was part of a Jewish conspiracy to derail his campaign.

His campaign advisors later admitted that Jackson often called Jews "Hymies," and that he had just let his guard down when speaking to the reporter. He had also had a sort of up and down relationship with the Jewish community for decades, and this incident was his most glaring episode of anti-Semitic rhetoric.

After his campaign collapsed, he tried to walk back those comments, but once he said them, the damage was done, and it kind of devalued him as a civil rights activist, pretty much handing the baton to race-baiter the Rev. Al Sharpton Jr. and others.

Of course, much like what I spoke about yesterday, Jackson's guffaw will not be spoken about and will not be brought up by the media now that he is gone.

Funny, how for generations, slurs against Jews are not handled the same way as slurs against other ethnic groups, so once again, his anti-Semitism will be swept under the rug by the media, just like Lee's recent behavior has been.

We are talking about a 40-some-odd-year difference, but the situation continues to happen.

Why is that? 

Are slurs against Jews not as important, or as disgraceful, as slurs against other ethnic groups?

Jackson will be mourned as perhaps one of the preeminent civil rights leaders of the past more than half century, but he really cannot be mentioned in the same breath as Martin Luther King, who was his mentor.

King spoke highly of the Jewish community and Israel, knowing that a firm bond of the two could help the cause of civil rights.

Jackson, and later Sharpton, have seemingly forgotten what King believed in, and are two of the most polarizing religious/civil rights leaders--along with Louis Farrakhan--that I believe our country has ever seen.

So, while you hear one tribute after another for Jackson over the next couple of days, take into account that he is not being mourned by everybody--

And certainly not by me.

I was taught to not talk disparagingly about the dead, but unfortunately, I am going to have to break that rule here.

Jackson was a phony, nothing but a rabble rouser and an opportunist, and let me tell you, the world is better off without him.

Get out the violins ...

I mean exactly what I said.

Rant #3,888: Under the Rug

Leave it to filmmaker Spike Lee to try to make a political statement at the NBA All-Star Game.

The game--which even though it has been revised many times, still remains the worst of all the pro sports All-Star games--should be as apolitical as can be, but Lee didn't want it to be that way.

His presence at any sporting event is an annoyance--and I say that as an avowed and long-time New York Knicks fan--but his appearance at this game was particularly insulting.

Lee showed up wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh pattern wardrobe outfit, along with a pocketbook with the same fashion statement, and topped with a red cap, all of which which made him look like some type of pro-Palestinian clown.

He has never worn this ensemble at a Knicks game, so why do it here?

It is pretty obvious.

This All-Star game was the first such game to have on its player roster a player who is Israeli. The player's name is Deni Avdija, and he is having a breakout season with the Portland Trailblazers.

Since Lee feels he is always more important than the game being played, it is obvious why he chose such an outfit--

To snub his nose at Avdija, Israel and Jews everywhere, since the NBA has become a major international sport, and his statement can get the most bang for his buck on such a platform, and from his front row seat where everyone can see him.

And the ironic thing is that the game tried a new format this year, with stars born in the U.S. playing against stars ...

Born in other countries.

Lee has shown his antisemitism before, as has Kyrie Irving, who also appeared at the game, even though he wasn't playing in it, sporting a T-shirt with a phrase supporting Palestinians.

You might remember that Irving was booted from the Brooklyn Nets a few years back for his anti-Jewish behavior, so this is nothing new here either.

There were others who attended the game who chose the appropriate clothing to mock Avdija, but no action was taken to thwart this behavior by the league or anyone else.

And what makes this all the more bizarre is that perennial All-Star Lebron James stated during a press conference related to the game that he would like to visit Israel--he has never been there--and he had heard from others what a wonderful place it was.

But then we have Lee and Irving stirring the pot ...

You would think that the NBA would try to stem this type of behavior, which takes away from the game, and actually makes a mockery of it.

And it happening at the first All-Star game with an actually Israeli-born athlete as one of the participants really rubs salt into the wound.

I strongly believe that the NBA should try to take some action against this happening again, even though it might be a free speech issue; that even at a sporting event, people can wear clothing that posits a statement that they want to make, even if it is directed at one player.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver--a Jew himself--really should have said something or done something after seeing this, because these wardrobe messages were clearly directed at Avdija.

And the NBA should really look at its past when making strides in its present and future, because don't tell anyone, but the NBA, in its beginnings nearly 80 years ago, was a predominately Jewish league, with players and executives by and large being Jewish.

Current players should know this, as should the public.

These types of displays are disgraceful, and when they are directed at one player, in particular, it makes it all even more horrid.

It is now up to the NBA to do something about it, but you know and I know that they won't do anything.

Absolutely shameful, and I really feel bad for Avdija, who doesn't deserve such abuse, an abuse dumped on him simply because he is Israeli and Jewish.

Look, they may not be able to regulate Lee, but Irving--who violated NBA rules of conduct with his support of Nazis just a few years back--well, Silver should come down hard on him, but he won't.

When racial violence broke out due to the very unfortunate George Floyd incident, the NBA was clearly alarmed, and allowed players to do and say what they wanted about that situation, even designing T-shirts for players to wear to denounce this hatred.

But now, with a single player targeted at one of the league's premiere events simply because he is Israeli and Jewish, the NBA needs to come down on those who want to make an All-Star game into a political statement, one that targets one of its own players.

But like I said, they probably won't do anything, and that really is a shame--

And a real turnoff to anyone--Jew and non-Jew alike--who was watching the game, and all NBA games in general--to relax and be free of politics.

But today, everything seems to be political, but when these politics target one single player, that type of anti-social behavior is simply reprehensible.

You just know if Lee and the others were targeting an outwardly gay player, for instance, the league--and society in general--would not let Lee get away with it.

But as usual, if it relates to Jews and Israel, well, it really isn't taken seriously, and nothing is done.

The NBA should know better, because Lee, and Irving, and their cohorts obviously don't know right from wrong.

They are entitled to their opinion, but there is a time and place for it, and that time and place was not at the NBA All-Star game.

Sports is supposed to be the place where everyone is on the same plane, and everyone fights for their team on the court, on the ice, or on the field.

By doing and saying nothing about this incident, the NBA is simply sweeping all of this anti-Semitic behavior under the rug, where it does not belong--

It should be above the rim, spoken about, and dealt with.

That would be a true slam dunk for the league, and for sports in general.

Rant #3,887: With a Little Luck

Happy President's Day today, where we honor all of our presidents, from Washington to Trump.

On Saturday, my family and I celebrated Valentine's Day at a local restaurant in our old neighborhood, am eatery we hadn't been to in a year or two.

The prices went sky-high, of course, the service was poor, the food was OK but not anything to write home about, and based on these factors, I don't think we will be going back there anytime soon.

The place was packed, so I am sure the restaurant did well that day, but they probably won't be seeing my money in the future.

Prior to that, my son had his bowling league, and again, he led his team to victory, and his team is in first place as we speak.

They are on President's Day break next Saturday, so they won't be bowling again for two weeks, but the team really poured it on on Saturday morning, and they top the league right now.

Let's see if they can keep it going through June, when the league ends.

They won it all a few years ago, so perhaps they can do it again.

Otherwise, this past weekend was pretty quiet, really nothing with nothing.

Today, I have to clean off the snow from my car as I prepare for a catscan, which I am looking forward to like getting the plague, but it all leads up to an appointment with my urologist in early March.

I have had some problems in that area over the past nearly year and a half, and I hope that this time, I get a clean bill of health and can move on with my life.

I have had a tough nearly 18 months in the urological area, but finally, all my processes have seemed to return to normal.

I was the one out of a million where these processes didn't bounce back as quickly as they should have, but right now, I can happily say that I am much better in those areas, so this catscan is simply a precaution to make sure nothing is brewing where it shouldn't be.

Baseball is roaring back onto the scene, so while there really isn't much to watch on TV right now--I have zero interest in the Olympics--that will end really soon, when Spring Training games are set to air.

After a pretty wild winter, baseball means one thing--

Warm weather is right around the corner, and I can't wait for all of this snow to melt away.

We have a solid patch of ice on part of our terrace, and I have to tell you, each day it seems to get a little bit smaller, melting away under the warmer temperatures we have had lately.

The snow we just got won't help, but ...

I just cannot wait to go out on the deck and do some barbecuing ...

But first, we have to get through the remainder of February, all of March and at least half of April to get to that point.

I hope that by then, my medical worries will be minimal, and I can get back to doing what I want to do and enjoy doing, which is enjoying my apartment and the fact that we are the only people who live here who have their own terrace.

I like to feel like the lord of the manor, even if we really aren't ... we just got lucky in getting this deck.

That is what we all need, a little luck, and in between all the horrors of the past few years, I have to say that a little luck has been mixed in in very small doses.

So I have learned to take it as it comes, and I think that is something we all have to do to get through this crazy and bizzaro world that we currently live in.

No, I don't have a four-leaf clover to pin my hopes on--and we are still a few weeks away from St. Patrick's day at that--but as we start the week, when I get my catscan, I am going to be thinking positive thoughts--

And maybe, just maybe, my dreams will come true.

I am nearly 69 years of age ...

The time has come.

Rant #3,886: My Funny Valentine

Yes, that special day is right around the corner.

Is it Friday the 13th today, which obviously isn't right around the corner, or is it Valentine's Day, which is right around the corner tomorrow?

I guess it depends on how you look at it.

Today is Friday the 13th, and this is traditionally a day where you have to have some good luck, or bad luck is going to hit you.

I don't know if I have had good luck or bad luck in the past few years, but I think I can get through today without much negative happening--

Although you just never know for sure.

Valentine's Day is what it is, celebrating your sweetheart in the best way you know possible.

My son and I hope to take out the Mrs./mom tomorrow.

We haven't been out to a restaurant since our cruise several months ago, and I think it might be high time to do it again, even though the prices are ridiculous.

It is a nice way to celebrate the one you love, whether, in our case, it is your wife or your mother.

We just buy cards for each other, no chocolates or roses or anything, and that is pretty much that, but it serves the same purpose as buying each other a gift.

It is a nice day to sit back and see how lucky you are for having a person you love right next to you--

And thus, it kind of cancels out all the bad that you are supposedly going to experience on Friday the 13th.

It has actually been 11 years since Friday the 13th on a Friday was followed by Valentine's Day on a Saturday, and honestly, I don't remember how we celebrated the occasion in 2015--

But I know that we did.

I have learned that one never forgets Valentine's Day.

My father used to say that since the day is really "St. Valentine's Day," it was a non-Jewish occasion, so he didn't have to celebrate it with my mother.

It used to irk her to no end, but my father ultimately would come around and get her something or take her out somewhere to celebrate the occasion.

Me, I guess I learned from all of that, and I never forget Valentine's Day, because if I did, the sting of Cupid's arrow would not be in my heart, but somewhere else where it would probably hurt a lot more.

And my wife, well, I feel she is the greatest lady around, so why would I ever not acknowledge the holiday?

And my son gets into it, too.

Maybe one day he will have his own sweetheart, but right now, it is his mom, and he sees how I celebrate the holiday, so it kind of rubs off on him too.

Again, we don't go overboard on all of this, but a nice dinner out will be fine.

Where will we go?

Good question.

I don't really know, and I probably won't know until we are about ready to leave to go out to eat on Saturday.

But wherever we go, it will be a nice occasion.

Friday the 13th?

By that point, it will be nothing but an afterthought.

We actually had our own Friday the 13th on Monday the 9th, when we did our taxes, so maybe we were smart to get that annoyance out of the way really early--

Making Friday the 13th pretty much nothing with nothing.

But that is how we did it.

Enjoy today as much as you can, have a great Valentine's Day and a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday--

When I have to get a catscan.

Will Monday the 16th turn into a late Friday the 13th for me?

Only the scan knows for sure.

Rant #3,885: Take a Fool's Advice

OK, I guess it is now my time to chime in on this Nancy Guthrie kidnapping episode.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on this very sad situation, and I do, too.

I am no criminologist, and maybe I am a fool to speak my opinion, but I am going to do it anyway.

As you know, the elder Guthrie, in her 80s, was kidnapped several days ago, and what made this national news is that she is the mother of Savannah Guthrie, the popular host of NBC's "Today" Show.

The woman was seemingly abducted from her home in a secluded but pricey part of Arizona, and there were blood stains that matched up with the older woman's DNA.

The police also found that her video door bell had been dislodged, as well as some other cameras in and around the property.

The family, Savannah and her brother and sister, have made video pleas to the kidnapper(s) to release her, and have even agreed to pay a ransom for her, based on supposed ransom notes that were delivered to a local TV station.

The woman is not very mobile, and takes medication for undisclosed ailments, and since removed from her home, she obviously hasn't been taking them, so there is further fear and worry about her heath and well-being.

Doorbell video that the FBI retrieved shows a hooded male who evidently disconnected the doorbell just prior to the abduction.

A person of interest was taken into custody, but then was released.

And now they have found a black glove about a mile and a half away from the house, a glove which resembles a glove the person who disabled the doorbell wore as seen in the video the FBI made public.

The police there say they hope to find the woman alive, but are pretty much open to any scenario or outcome at this point.

There are so many assumptions and opinions swirling around about this terrible episode, and whatever you think about the TV personality--like her, hate her, or somewhere in-between--your heart has to go out to the family.

This is simply a terrible, terrible tragedy, and collectively, I think we all hope that the elder Guthrie is found alive and well.

But there are some things that perplex me, and perhaps you, too.

Personally, and my opinion obviously isn't worth a hill of beans, I think it was something of an inside job--

Perhaps a family member--all have thus far checked out OK--an acquaintance, someone who has worked for the woman, perhaps even a contractor--since the woman's house's roof was just redone--might be the culprit here.

It is just too fine a story for me to think anything else, and since there were no signs of forced entry, you have to believe that the elder Guthrie somehow knew this person, even if it was somebody so benign like a newspaper delivery person, a meter reader or her landscaper.

Yes, as I mentioned, there was blood found, but I am sure this older woman put up a great fight when she realized what was happening.

And you just know that whoever did this knows there is money in this for them, because TV's Guthrie, I am sure, is paid pretty well for her job.

There are rumors about that the elder Guthrie was not an innocent old lady, that she was very involved in left-wing causes and was very well known in that sphere, but whether she was or wasn't, I guess this possible link has been checked out and not thought to be a viable one.

And the police there ...

Is it only me, but does the sheriff act like a modern-day Barney Fife and doesn't his department appear to be an annex of the Mayberry Police Department?

Whenever reporters question him, he acts like Sgt. Schultz from "Hogan's Heroes,"--

"I know nuthink."

The FBI has stepped into the fray, and maybe they can be more helpful than the local police has been.

But then again, perhaps they are all keeping mum because the case is so fresh that any verbal misstep could mean this woman's life.

We certainly haven't been told everything about this case, but I am sure that the TV host and her siblings are not just relying on the local police department and the FBI to find their mom--

They have the means to hire their own high-priced private investigators to probe into this case, and I am sure they have done that, but there has been no indication that they have.

And then again, we have the fact that a celebrity is involved in this mess, and that brings up another question:

"If it was your mother or my mother, would this horrible case get the same coverage as this one is getting?"

Probably thousands of people are kidnapped, of all ages, every year in our country for one reason or another.

I am sure that there are elderly people involved in those horrid incidents, but you just don't hear about them.

Certainly, the TV host is a well-known person, and that, alone, is fueling interest in this case.

Common-folk like us ...

No, I don't think the media would be obsessing over such a terrible thing as they are in this case, when it involves a celebrity.

As you are reading this, my hope is that the woman has been found, the kidnapper(s) put in jail, and the family can breathe a little bit.

This all might be old news by the time you read this, but something tells me that this story is far, far from over.

As for that belief, I hope that I am very, very wrong.

Rant #3,884: Taking Care of Business

We finally did our taxes, and as predicted--

My son did well--

My wife and I did not.

And just so you know, if you are over 65 years of age, you do get a tax credit, but it does not remove the tax entirely.

This credit did help us out to an extent, but we still owed plenty of money to the state and federal government.

Again, most of it can be attributed to the fact that I am considered to be an "independent contractor" with my job, and I have to pay taxes on that money that I make from being a remote worker, and I have to pay it at tax time.

Simple as that.

And if you need to take money out of other areas to pay off things, it is considered to be income, and you have to pay taxes on that too.

So what it all amounted to was that we had to pay the piper once again.

I am just glad that it is all over and done with for another year.

But this year, I found that a lot of the institutions we deal with took their time sending us our tax forms.

Now, I thought it was a law that all of these forms had to be in by January 31, and honestly, I haven't had that much of a problem with getting these forms--save one or two, including from my workplace--before this year.

This year, many of these tax forms that we needed were sent after January 31, and we even got one or two on the day we filed our taxes, a couple of days into February.

This is just plain wrong, but I guess if there was a law about this, it is not in force anymore, and if there wasn't a law, companies just sent these things out by January 31, but many simply don't anymore, for whatever reason.

But it is all done for calendar year 2025, and that is the important thing.

Tax, tax, tax ...

And you know who gets it in the end.

The poor don't/can't pay taxes because they have no money, and the rich don't/can't pay taxes because they have plenty of ways to avoid doing so--

Leaving the middle class to foot the tax bill.

It has always been like this, it isn't changing any time soon, so you just have to learn to live with it and just manage to do the best you can do under the circumstances.

Tax day is not my favorite day of the year, but after all is said and done, I am just glad that it is over and done with.

First, getting the staples out of my head, and now, paying our tax bill ...

Two things weighing on me that I don't have to worry about anymore.

What's next?

It is just too taxing on my brain to think about that right now.

Rant #3,883: Superman

Hip hip hooray!

We are finally past all of the phony Super Bowl hype--and the Bad Bunny nonsense--and we can move on from all of it.

I have absolutely no interest in the Super Bowl, and for once, there were actually things for me to do so I didn't have to get the least bit involved in this utter stupidity.

My son worked on Sunday in frigid temperatures, so he was my main priority--

Getting him to work and bringing him back home.

In the morning, my wife and I did our secondary shopping as we normally do, and we picked up a few things that we didn't get in our main shopping on the previous Friday.

I then ate lunch, and after that, I watched NBA basketball, where the Knicks played the Celtics, and the Knicks won in a runaway.

After that--and after I took my son to work--I digitized one of the LPs, the soundtrack to the 1969 film "Alice's Restaurant," the comical Vietnam War protest film that I took quite a liking to way back when.

The film was good, the music was even better, and how could you not sing along to the "Alice's Restaurant Massacree," Parts I and II?

Then came dinner, and after that--and after my daily exercise regimen, which I am back to doing after my staples incident--I sat down to watch the TV news, and then, I watched a binge of "Here's Lucy" on the "Catchy Comedy" channel.

The show is true old fashioned comedy, and the channel was showing a lot of the episodes where famous stars of the day appeared, including Helen Hayes, Joe Namath, Petula Clark and Donny Osmond.

The shows are corny, they don't really hold up at all, but they are pretty funny, so it made for a smooth transition into 1) picking up my son from work, and 2) bedtime.

And boy did I sleep!

I had one of my rare nine-hour sleeps, from 10 p.m. to about 7:30 a.m., a sleep that I only have when I am really tired.

And I guess staying away from any mention of the Super Bowl made me tired, but honestly, this was the first Super Bowl Sunday in recent memory that there were actually great alternatives for me to spend a nice weekend day, and not be pounded with the game, which has become so political that it really isn't a sporting event anymore.

And don't get me started about the Olympics, which have had little or nothing to do with athletic achievement since that fateful day in 1972 when Israeli Olympians were murdered simply because they were Jewish.

I haven't watched a minute of any Olympics since then, because even at 15 years old in 1972, I pretty much knew where the games would be headed now and into the future.

And I was correct in my assumptions.

All politics all the time, all hype, phony nationalism, etc.

Just to sum it up, I had a great, and very relaxing, Super Bowl Sunday without even a hint of the Super Bowl in my activity during the day.

(On Monday, I did have to edit a story for work about Super Bowl festivities at one of our bases in Germany, so I wasn't completely immune to this fever, but--)

Who won the Big Game?

Who cares? 

Rant #3,882: The Truth Will Set You Free

I am staple-less!

The staples came out on Friday afternoon, and to echo James Brown--

I feel good!

It hurt a little bit when they took the staples out of my scalp.

There was one staple that when the doctor took it out, for a millisecond, I felt a bit dizzy, but I got my composure back quickly, and before I knew it, it was done.

No staples, no cancer, it is over.

Now I can relax a little bit, but next month, I go to my retinologist to see how my detached retina is doing.

I have some other lingering ailments, but at least for right now, I am OK.

Let's move on ...

To something that I don't really want to talk about, but I will anyway.

President Trump.

I think he has done some good things as our President.

I did not vote for him, but some of the things he has done are impressive, including at least laying the groundwork for peace in the Middle East.

But alas, there are some things that I think he has done that have me scratching my head, with staples in it or not.

The latest is the uproar and furor surrounding his recent post, on his own platform, where he depicted former President Obama and his wife as monkeys or apes or baboons or whatever it was.

The President denies putting this video up, stating that one of his aides erroneously posted it without his knowledge--

But you know what? That explanation really doesn't register.

And the fact that he won't apologize--because he said he didn't do it--really doesn't suffice either.

The whole thing goes back to the tired--and I mean VERY tired--premise that he can't simply drop, that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

It wasn't, so let's move on.

But he can't, he won't, and he refuses to do so.

He portrayed various politicians he doesn't like related to this canard by placing their heads on jungle figures--

I mean, he is the KING of the jungle, isn't he?

And Obama and his wife were portrayed as being monkeys, or baboons, or whatever it was.

This is just plain wrong.

No matter how much you despise someone, you don't do this, and being that the two are black, it just makes it more horrendous--

And to do this during Black History Month, however you feel about that, it is wrong during this month, or the other 11 months of the year.

Both Republicans and Democrats pretty much came out in unison against what he did, and for once, they were both correct--

And the President is wrong, wrong, wrong.

I don't care if his little grandchild did it, it was under grandpa's name, under his watch, and he owns it, whether he actually did it himself or not.

His press secretary, who was put in a really awkward position answering questions about this post, told reporters something to the affect that we should all "move on to something more important," but I mean, what was she going to say to try and cover for her boss?

Trump was wrong, 1,000-percent wrong, and whether he actually did it or not, he should apologize to the Obamas and to the public for this outrage.

And what's worse is the reverberations this will have in the future for the Republican Party.

Looking to the future, some of his unpopular actions are going to make it very difficult for the party to maintain its stance in the near future elections, and his behavior will make it almost impossible for the Republicans to win the next Presidential election.

His approval ratings are way down, and the Democrats have made great strides in winning a number of key elections across the country during the past year or so.

Do you think that utter nonsense like this is going to allow his party to make gains in the near future?

And it will completely doom whoever the Republicans choose to be their presidential candidate after Trump.

And based on the past, you just know what the President will do when his party's choice loses--

He will distance himself from that person, say that he won twice, and say that he actually won three times, and this guy or gal is simply a loser.

Again, I do not think that President Trump has been a bad commander in chief, but many of his actions are so based on ego, and ego alone, that it is turning off so many people--

Voters that the Republicans need to maintain their margins in Congress and in the White House.

This latest imbecility pretty much puts the focus on just how brittle his relationship with the public really is, and if I were advising him, I would tell him--implore to him--that he has got to tone it down a bit--

If not for him, then for Republicans in general.

It doesn't take staples in my head to see that he is making some great mistakes, and this latest thing might be the worst of the worst.

Take ownership of it, apologize, call onto the carpet the aide who supposedly did this--is there really one?--and move on.

You can't sleep?

Get off Truth Social, and get a hobby.

Rant #3,881: Up, Up and Away

Today, I am happy to say that I finally get the staples taken out of my scalp.

Hopefully, everything is good up there and I will be fully on the road to recovery.

It has been difficult since the cancer was removed, but somehow, I have gotten through it.

Onto other matters ...

We lost two more personalities from our Baby Boomer youths this week.

One was Mickey Lolich, one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball during the late 1960s and early 1970s, who carried the Detroit Tigers on his shoulders when they went on to win the 1968 World Series.

He won three games in that series, and that is in addition to winning more than 200 games during his career.

Lolich, 85, was second fiddle to Denny McLain, the last 30-game winner in a season, but when it came down to it, Lolich was the better pitcher and had a much longer career.

He is another guy who should be in the Hall of Fame, but isn't.

And then we have a name that you might not know well, but you certainly knew his image well at one time.

LaMonte McLemore, a founding member of The 5th Dimension, died Tuesday morning. He was 90 years of age, and he died from natural causes following a stroke suffered several years ago.

McLemore was the "tall" guy in the group, and while he usually was in the background when the group performed, he was in the foreground in the background, if you know what I mean.

He was the arranger of the group's music, so he was perhaps the most important cog in the 5th Dimension's success. In that capacity, he mapped out the music for different instruments and different voices, and based on his group's success, he was a master of his craft.

Doing a little research on this guy, I found out that he was an athlete--he had played minor league baseball--and an avid photographer, chronicling the group's hit cycle in photographs in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The 5th Dimension, along with Three Dog Night — which lost Chuck Negron the other day--were perhaps our most popular singing groups during this period, and while Negron was out front with his group, McLemore was in the background in his act, but he was pivotal in the success of songs like "Go Where You Wanna Go," "One Less Bell To Answer," "Up, Up and Away," and "Aquarius," among all the massive hits the 5th Dimension had.

So, two more from that era are gone, and with the passing of Demond Wilson, this has not been too good a week for people who excelled during another time and place.

Have a good weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday--

Without the staples in my head ...

Although there is supposed to be more snow coming to contend with.

Would I rather have snow or staples?

For once, I will take the snow.