Breaking Fake News Update (v26)

 Fake News Broke on November 16, 2025!

I have to say, no one is more shocked than I am, seeing two consecutive breaking fake news reports related to professional sports! Last week, it was the NFL's Dynamic Kickoff, and today, it's the NBA All-Star Game? Who had that on their bingo cards for 2025? 

The NBA, for unknown reasons, has decided to totally revamp the format for its mid-season celebration, which will be played during the same time as the Winter Olympics. I'm guessing that might be one reason for the change to the 'USA against the World' team alignment, outlined in the bulletin above. 

I understand from my fake news sources that, if two or more teams end up with the same record after the seven rounds, a draft of the tie-breaker indicates that bonus points will be awarded to the team with the most Americans, but they haven't seen the final plan.

In a 'we thought of everything' move, the league has even devised a way to make sure they can field the teams they want if the voters don't pick enough of the right players. After all, it would be horrible if folks did a little too much America First-ing when they voted. 

If NBA All-Star voting does not result in the selection of 16 U.S. players and eight international players (which can include American players with ties to other countries if necessary), then NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will select additional All-Stars to join either group to reach that minimum.  In that case, at least one team would have more than eight players.

One would hope that they'd do a whole lot of  'splaining on the new process so that they won't have to resort to the backup plan - especially now that there are four fake teams in the mix. And one would hope that the league's betting partners are well-versed on all of the changes so they can adjust their plans accordingly, too.

As always, if fake news is breaking, I've got you covered. And if you have a fake news tip for me, let me know!

Breaking Fake News Update (v25)

 Fake News Broke on November 12, 2015!

Lordy, lordy, what do we have here? More breaking fake news, that's what! 

Yesterday, the FOTUS stepped away from honoring veterans by telling them and their families all kinds of crazy, irrelevant stuff (that's real news I'll address later), and called in to chat with the guys on the Pat McAfee Show. At that time, he expressed his dislike for the kickoff format the NFL has adopted. 

According to the linked article, the president said the change was "demeaning to football" and added that he doesn't think it makes things any safer. 

I mean you still have guys crashing into each other. And it’s the opposite of what the game… the ball is in the air and nobody is moving. It’s supposed to be when the ball is in the air, when the ball is played, you’re supposed to be moving.

My favorite part of his remarks? The part he left unsaid.

I don’t want to say what it reminds me of because I’ll get myself into big trouble but it is not football.

What on earth does it remind him of? Why will saying whatever that is get him in big trouble? If saying that avoiding STDs during the 70s was his personal Vietnam War, and saying he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose any votes, and cheating on all his wives didn't get him in trouble, what on earth is he worried about? 

I can't wait to hear the results of the MAHA leather helmet study - I'm dyeing to hear what the hairdressers comb up with! 

As always, when fake news breaks, I'll have it for you here!

Breaking Fake News Update (v23)

 Fake News Broke on October 9, 2025!

You heard it here first, folks: we've got more breaking fake news! 

If you've been paying attention, or even if you've been trying *not* to pay attention, it's hard to ignore the uproar over the NFL choosing Bad Bunny to headline the Super Bowl halftime show next year. Other than complaining about the officiating, particularly the entire team of refs being on the side of Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, it's been a long time since the NFL was the focus of this much attention. 

Oh sure, folks are up in arms about the league's push to 'internationalize' what we call football - it's hard for some to have wings and beers for breakfast on a Sunday morning, after all - and about the 'sissification' of the league (especially kickoffs!!!) and the new 'safety' penalties that take all the joy out of the game according to he-men warrior-athletes like the FOTUS. 

House Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson (R-Ighteous Indignation) is the first person I saw who floated Lee Greenwood as an alternative to the Puerto Rican rapper, but I'm sure his name has been mentioned in MAGA circles quite a bit. Here's what Johnson had to say about the official choice, and his preference, starting with Bunny. 

Well, it sounds like he's not someone who appeals to a broader audience. And I think there's so many eyes on the Super Bowl. A lot of young, impressionable children. And I think, in my view, you would have Lee Greenwood or role models, doing that. Not somebody like this. 

Um, audience appeal? Really, Missing Speaker? Take a look at these stats for Bad Bunny: 

And what does Greenwood think about all of this? Here's what the NY Post reports:

I agree with Speaker Johnson. I would make a great performer for any Super Bowl show.

It's good that Greenwood said he'd take up the white right patriotic fight, but I have to wonder about some of his (very obviously) fake terms for performing. I mean, seriously? ICE agents arresting anyone who doesn't stand for the anthem??  If I were a betting kinda gal, I'd keep my money on the Bunny.

As always, if there's fake news, we'll break it for you!

Wondering on Wednesday 7/21/21

Ready... Set... Wonder!

A whole lotta wondering going on, going on. Let's dive in.

Billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos separately launched themselves to the edge of space, or actually to space recently, depending on who you listen to. Not surprisingly there's a lot of chatter about how these guys waste their money on stuff like this, rather than on feeding the hungry, or raising wages, or paying taxes (Bezos), or a whole host of other things we'd spend our money on, if we had it to spare. 

But here's what I wonder: is it worse that billionaires spend a few of their own billions launching themselves dozens of miles high, or that cities and countries spend tens of billions of dollars hosting the Olympics, all the while ignoring the needs of their own residents who may be hungry, homeless, sick, unemployed, or otherwise being underserved by their government?

Take Los Angeles, which is set to host the 2028 Summer Games, at projected cost of $6.9B. Additional money will come from the federal government, and the state has committed to cover any cost overruns in case tickets, merch, sponsorships and the like don't cover all of the costs. 

Is there really nothing better that LA, CA, or the US of A could to with that money, I wonder? And, if that's not enough, Salt Lake City is going to be bidding on an upcoming Winter Games, maybe 2034, they say. How much will we spend there, against what more pressing needs?

Can't we just declare permanent spots for the Winter and Summer games, and stop the nonsense? 

Sticking with the Olympics, remember all the uproar over the American sprinter who broke the rules, and tested positive for pot? She would have missed her individual race, serving a suspension for the banned substance, but then she wasn't chosen by the US team to participate in the relay, either, which would have been held after her suspension was served. Instead, her spot went to a runner who didn't have a positive drug test. I wonder why so many people thought that was wrong?

And, one more for you: Becca Meyers, a deaf and legally blind American gold-medal-winning Paralympian swimmer, has withdrawn because she's not allowed to have her mother, who serves as her Personal Care Assistant (PCA), attend the games due to COVID. In a tweet, Meyers said, in part, 

So, in 2021, why as a disabled person am I still fighting for my rights? I'm speaking up for future generations of Paralympic athletes in hope that they never have to experience the pain I've been through. Enough is enough.

The USOC will have one PCA for all 34 members of our swim team, including nine who are blind. In a country where everyone's going to be masked, making lip-reading impossible. Where's the outrage about that, I wonder? Is that really the best we can do, in 2021?

Speaking of "the best we can do, in 2021," there's this:

Athletes on the Norwegian women's beach handball team are being punished for wearing shorts rather than bikini bottoms during a recent game, with the European Handball Federation leveling fines over "a case of improper clothing."

While the men's uniform includes "shorts that fall no longer than 10 centimeters above their knees" the women "must wear bikini bottoms... with a close fit and cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg." And the width of the bikini at that upward angle toward the top of the leg? The same 10 centimeters, or about four inches, as the maximum distance of the men's shorts from their knees.

The fine amounts to about $175 (US) for each of the ten team members. And they don't care - they're hoping to change the stupid rule. Good for them. And how much longer is this absurd objectification going to continue? That's the wondering here. Enough, already! Respect the women as athletes - or, I guess, put the men in similarly-designed bikini bottoms. What's good for the goose, and all.

Finally, we've got Kevin McCarthy, the alleged leader of the GOP in the House of Representatives. McCarthy went to Bedminster to meet with the real leader of the GOP, Former Guy, to talk about the mid-terms he said. But Trump said they had "much to discuss," which undoubtedly included who should represent the GOP on the House Select Committee on Former Guy's insurrection. Five days later, McCarthy named Rep. Jim Jordan and four others to the Committee. 

In response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejecting Jordan's appointment, and that of Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana, McCarthy pulled all his people, saying 

This panel has lost all legitimacy and credibility. Pelosi has broken this institution. 

Pretty sure it "lost all legitimacy and credibility" when you trotted off to kiss that ring in New Jersey, Kev. McCarthy, you'll remember, said this, on the House floor, just days after the insurrection.

Last week's attack on the Capitol was undemocratic, un-American, and criminal. Violence is never a legitimate form of protest. The president bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob riot. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding. These facts required immediate action of president Trump to accept his share of responsibility, quell the brewing unrest, and ensure President-elect Biden is able to successfully begin his term. And the president's immediate action also deserves Congressional action, which is why I think a fact-finding commission and a censure resolution would be prudent.

And today, he stands in front of a microphone and says Pelosi has broken the House? I've gotta wonder, how does he say this stuff with a straight face? As someone I know likes to say, we are so screwed. 

Oh wait - that's me. I like to say that. 

What's on your wondering mind today?

Sidebar: Quick Takes (v60)

In my Quick Takes post yesterday, I expressed concern over the new NCAA Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) program, which allows college athletes to be paid directly by corporations through sponsorships and whatnot. I proposed a different solution to paying athletes for the work they do for their schools - an equally imperfect solution, truth be told, but one that's more equitable, in my eyes. 

The announcement of these changes came at the same time as a legendary figure in high school lacrosse, locally and nationally, did an interview with a local media outlet here in my neck of the woods. The interview wasn't about the NIL changes, but it touched on some of the things that I can see being exacerbated by them. 

Retired West Genesee Coach Mike Messere talked with Lindsey Kramer of Syracuse.com/The Post Standard. Messere retired three years ago, after coaching the Wildcats to 15 state championships and 30 conference championships in his 40-odd-year career. By all accounts, he was a tough and demanding coach; his retirement was accompanied by scathing comments about his team's performance in their 2018 state championship loss, after all. 

The impetus for the interview was news that the coaches for both the West Genny boys and girls teams had stepped down. As Kramer notes in the interview, Messere "has clearly fought off the mellowing impacts of time and distance."

Among other things, he said "It's a tough time right now to be a coach or a teacher. Everything's changing and it's not for the best." In part, he points to discipline, and parents, and demands on the kids.

The parents want the kid to be more free to do their thing. Score, and be fancy, and shine, and make a show of themselves and stuff like that... They want their kid to get a scholarship so they’ve got to be in a certain spot, they’ve got to play a certain way. Before, years ago when they didn’t know much about the game of lacrosse it was a lot better. They couldn’t say too much. But now they learn the word “faceoff” and they think they know it all. They have their ideas, too.

Ours was tried and proven and true the way we were doing it. But it takes discipline, learning a lot of basic skills. Nothing fancy. They’re not jumping up and down and spinning around and making a show of yourself. And the parents don’t like that. They want their kid to do all that stuff to get attention.

And there's more - he's definitely not shy. In some respects, it sounds like he ran his program the way Steinbrenner ran the Yankees. 

The kind of quitting, how do I explain it? They gave up on the West Genny way. Kids weren’t keeping their socks up; they were kicking them down. All the stuff that made you that little bit, not that it made you a better player. It made you different than the other kids. A little more special. I don’t know if they got that or understood that. When they see you come, they know who you are, and you’re something special just by the looks of those socks. It’s a discipline thing. Everybody dresses the same, we play the same, everybody respects everybody else the same way.

And when you think of NIL, can you see what Messere's talking about coming into play? I sure can.

Look at me! I'm the funny socks guy, and I'm getting $1oK for that! Check out my on Insta and TikTok - I'm getting paid for clicks! My team? Losing record, but I'm getting paid! Woo hoo, look at me!

In a lot of ways, I agree with Messere on the importance of team, discipline, and uniformity, especially before the kids get into college. That is not the way of the world now, with competitive teams - travel teams - for kids as young as five or six in some sports. That's a lot of years to learn how to wear your socks just right to get noticed. I've seen myself how kids even that young are being encouraged by parents to star as individuals, rather than as team players.

In addition to being ripe for encouraging selfish behavior on the part of the kids (and their parents) the NIL program also seems ripe for a lot of other stuff, such as illegal payments to players before they get into college, payments to families or coaches to nudge their kids to choose this sponsorship deal over that one, and so on. You know: all the stuff the NCAA has been punishing for years, and which colleges are sometimes willing to turn a blind eye to, if it helps them get a high-powered coach who can recruit great players and bring in the bucks. 

With the new rules, will we eventually see a game where the players are all decked out like NASCAR drivers, proudly touting their sponsors, with maybe a little space saved for their team's name? 

I'm old - or, at least, old school. Shine through your play, not your 'style.' Be part of a unit, not an attention-grabber. Play for the team, not for individual glory. Pull up your socks. Tell your Mom and Dad to take a seat.

Oh - and get off my lawn.

Quick Takes (v60): The Times Are Surely Changing

Happy pay day, college athletes! Get your money while you're hot!

I'm torn on the whole Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) changes in college athletics. New NIL rules allowing student-athletes to profit off their 'brand' through sponsorships or corporate partnerships went into effect yesterday.

The NCAA adopted what they're calling an interim NIL policy, after several states passed legislation allowing this kind of benefit for athletes. According to NCAA president Mark Emmert,

This is an important day for college athletes since they all are now able to take advantage of name, image, and likeness opportunities. With the variety of state laws adopted across the country, we will continue to work with Congress to develop a solution that will provide clarity on a national level. The current environment — both legal and legislative — prevents us from providing a more permanent solution and the level of detail student-athletes deserve.

Some student-athletes jumped into NIL deals right away; for example, here's the story of Hanna and Haley Cavinder, twin basketball players for Fresno State. They'll be part of a national campaign for Boost Mobile - a company that's going whole-hog on deals with college stars. CEO Stephen Stokols explains that it's not just national deals, there's more.

... he's interested in the appeal that many college athletes have on a local level. He said deals could range from annual contracts worth large sums of money to in-kind deals where Boost provides athletes with free cellphones and service plans in exchange for promoting the company on social media.

A lot of these guys are local heroes... We think it's a big opportunity to get regional and local with relevant names in those markets. ...We want to be one of the biggest companies embracing [the college-athlete marketplace] early. We hope to play a role in helping to shape it. There is a lot of gray area that will hopefully be more defined a year from now.

In my neck of the woods, Syracuse University has rolled out a new program, called ACCELERATE, for kids. The program expands upon one started last year, which provided "every student-athlete with real-time multimedia content access from Syracuse Athletics' communications and creative services teams" which they could share on social media. Now, 

...Syracuse Athletics will offer an intensive bootcamp to all student-athletes beginning in September 2021. This bootcamp will allow for subject matter experts from Syracuse University and the corporate world to deliver practical knowledge to student-athletes on entrepreneurship, brand building, creating a business, finance, accounting, contracts, and agents. The bootcamp sessions will help student-athletes further develop their own personal brands and prepare them for the real-world implications of starting their own personal business.

Other schools will surely offer similar programs, which is great for the athletes. All of them - whether they're in school primarily to enhance their brand and create opportunities to go to the next level, or if they're in school to get a degree and move on to a career outside athletics, this is knowledge that will help.

And, good for the kids to have the chance to make money, instead of their schools making money off them. And let's not forget the coaches, too, some of whom are raking in millions in salary, shoe-and-apparel deals, and other sponsorships. That the student-athletes are the only ones not making money for their services is wrong, and has been for a long time. 

But the NCAA's insistence on prohibiting the kids to be paid for the work they put in - often a full work-week (or more) during the season - in order to preserve the 'amateur' status of the kids? That's nuts. 

I'd rather see all the athletes, in both revenue-earning and non-revenue earning sports, get a salary for the hours they put in, instead of giving them free reign to rake in outside money. And they'd get paid for all their time - games, at practice, in the weight room, traveling, watching film - the whole nine yards, as it were. A salary would ensure that all students on a team, whether they get a lot of playing time or not, will benefit. 

And how about some revenue sharing? Could a small percentage of conference money, TV revenue, ticket income, and the like could be divided up among all athletes, based on some formula that people smarter than me could develop? I bet it could.

An added benefit? With athletes being paid by the school, not by corporate interests, you won't see players competing against each other for the same NIL sponsorships, or worse, bad blood spilling over onto the field if one player gets a better deal than a teammate. 

I don't know what the perfect solution is, but there are good ways to do things, and bad ones. This NIL thing seems like a bad way to do a good thing.

Sunday School 8/30/20: Extra Credit

In this week's Sunday School, we heard from two pretty good non-answer-people, one from each party. Today, I wanted to switch gears and hear from people who are not politicians, who are not afraid of answering questions, talk about a subject that they are uniquely qualified to talk about (and that the politicians are uniquely not qualified to talk about): professional athletes, talking about professional athletes and social justice. 

First up? Chuck Todd on MTP, talking with former NBA player (and SU alum) Etan Thomas, and current WNBA player /VP of the Players Association Sue Bird. The interview comes after last week's actions across multiple sports leading to the cancellation of nine NBA games, 11 MLB games, six WNBA games, four NHL games, and more. 

Thomas talked about the leagues standing in solidarity, and making "their powerful statement heard really around the world" and said they've gone above and beyond, not only by not playing, but through the new social change fund, and through focused advocacy work. And he pointed out how it was "interesting" to hear people complaining that the athletes went back to work after their 'strike' or 'boycott' or whatever it should be called, noting that

...it's also not the job of professional athletes to solve the policing problems that we have in this country. You know, that should be the focus of all the people we just saw at the Republican convention this past week. And I would say, instead of Donald Trump screaming "law and order" at the American citizens exercising their right to protest, that he should be screaming "police accountability." But I bet we probably won't hear that. 

Todd, noting that when players boycott, they're taking money out of the hands of the owners, sponsors, and the leagues, asked Bird what role owners and sponsors should play in all of this. She noted that in the WNBA, the owners support the players, noting that she and others heard directly from their owners saying, "We support whatever you want to do."  That being the case, she said, 

I think a lot of it is more so about, like you said, the corporate sponsors, trying to get them to understand where we stand, what we believe in, what we're fighting for.

And, she added, "this isn't new for us. We've been doing this for year, and years, and years."  She said that

what was so special about this moment was an opportunity, like Etan said, for all of these leagues to be unified. And that’s, that’s when, you know -- we've learned in the WNBA when we're unified as one voice, that's where the impact is felt for us. So to have all these leagues together, I mean, you've seen what's happened. 

Todd asked Thomas about some athletes suggesting that, while they're doing a lot, they're not doing enough. Thomas said people always want to do more, and he also wanted to make clear that "this has nothing to do with being for the police or against the police. That's just the right redefining the issue." He used his kids to illustrate the difference between being supportive and being an enabler.

So, for instance, I love my baby Sierra. You know, that's my girl. But if baby Sierra came to me and said, "Daddy, I want to have chocolate chips for dinner," I wouldn't be supporting her by telling her that she can go have chocolate chips for dinner, you know what I mean? That's not supporting her.

And Trump and the right believe that you have to allow the police to do anything that they want to do and then that equals supporting them... Applauding someone and saying, "Everything that you do is wonderful" is not supporting them. It's actually enabling them. And, you know, so I would say Trump is actually acting more anti-police than what he's claiming to be.

Todd turned to Bird, asking if she understood the need or desire to do more. She talked about being in the 'wubble' (the WNBA bubble) and how all of the players being together, being able to talk about the emotionally and mentally draining, "traumatizing and re-traumatizing" experiences the black players have had, makes people feel like they're not doing enough.

We've actually been doing the work. And to be honest, I've had a front row seat with, you know, my girlfriend Megan Rapinoe. She took a knee four years ago. It took four years for that to come back around. So personally for me, I like to share that message with the players because, while it doesn't feel like you're doing enough and while people are going to come at you and be, like, "Well, what are you going to do about it." Just you have to, like, find solace in the fact that we actually are doing the work.

Thomas was asked about NBA players speaking out more than athletes in other leagues like the NHL and MLB, with Todd noting "here're two sports that are whiter and certainly their fan bases are very white," and asked about the importance of the sports world uniting "across racial lines."  Thomas said it's "definitely important," adding

Right now, you know, when you see from the right there's so much of a divisive type of a tone. I mean, just looking at the Republican National Convention, you know, everything is divisive. And so sports has the opportunity to be able to bring people together. And so -- and it's a matter of empathy. So some of these sports that you say, you know, as you say are whiter, you know, they might not be dealing with the same things that I'm dealing with as a Black man in this country. 

He talked about "the conversation" that black parents have with their sons - and daughters -about what to do when they're stopped by the police. Not if, mind you -- but when they are stopped, and how they can't act like their white friends might, because "they will get to live."  And, he pointed out,

... the fact that you are making millions of dollars in the NBA doesn't save you from being Black. And that's the difference. So when the policeman pulls me over... it doesn't matter what I've accomplished in life or who I am or, you know, what tax bracket I'm in or anything like that. I'm a Black man and I'm a threat.

Final question was to Bird, about what she'd say to the politicians who "don't like it when the sports world speaks out on social issues." 

... as a female athlete, the one thing that I've come to realize is we're judged on everything except our sport. We've been judged because we're Black, gay, because we're women. Nobody talks about us playing. So you fast forward, you know, ten, 20 years of this and we've developed an identity. And we're being authentic to it. And so for us, when people say, "Stick to sports," it's kind of, like, yeah, 20 years ago, we tried. You wouldn't let us. And now you're saying that? So it makes no sense to me.

Or to me, frankly.  

TGIF 7/3/20

What kind of week was it? As usual, that all depends on who you are, or where you are, or when you are who you are where you are, or if you are who or what you say you are... Or something.

Let's take a look, shall we, starting in the world of sports...

Women took a knee during the national anthem at a few soccer games; several wore #BlackLivesMatter shirts, and even some coaches and officials took a knee, too.  And it seems, somehow, that the world did not stop spinning. Not only that, but players have a choice in whether, or how, to participate in patriotic celebrations, which seems to me to be a pretty patriotic, freedomy thing to do on the eve of Independence Day.

And speaking of choice, there was more than a little irony in seeing anti-maskers marching to a chant of "my body, my choice" given that the small government conservatives usually only show disdain for that kind of silliness, I recall. Clearly, masks are polarizing issue, and picking a marching slogan is fraught with danger, but heck - even Mitch McConnell (R-White House) has finally decided that wearing a mask is actually something he can talk about.

We must have no stigma, none, about wearing masks when we leave our homes and come near other people. Wearing simple face coverings is not about protecting ourselves, it is about protecting everyone we encounter.

And I would assume that includes his own encounters, for example, with the president, who stated that he himself looked like the Lone Ranger  in his black mask. I hope I get to see that, I really do!

Ghislaine Maxwell, confidant and alleged co-conspirator of the late Jeffrey Epstein, as well as apparent Friend of Trump and Friend of Bill Clinton, if we can believe the photos, was arrested yesterday morning in New Hampshire and is facing multiple charges involving the alleged Epstein sexual assault victims.  Needless to say, given Epstein's unfortunate demise, there are many calls for Maxwell to be placed under the closest of close surveillance while she's in prison, mostly (if the memes are correct), to protect her from the wrath and reach of Hillary Clinton.

And speaking of wrath, there's more than enough of that going around aimed at the NFL (back to sports we go).  First, the Washington Redskins are going to do a "thorough review" on the team's name, after ignoring the calls to change it that have echoed for years. What's different now? Well, FedEx  told them they had to;  and Nike has stopped selling the team's merch after it, PepsiCo, and FedEx were all sent notifications by shareholders asking them to bail on the team if it didn't make a change.

But wait - there's more.

The NFL announced that it would play 'Lift Every Voice and Sing,' a song known as the black national anthem, before the US national anthem at each of the first-week games. Not at every game all season long, mind you - just on opening weekend - but that's enough to drive people crazy on social media, some of whom (including some who may not even watch NFL games anyway) have declared they will never watch the sport again. No comment on whether they're ever going to drink Pepsi again, or ship by FedEx, or pay too much for Nike sneaks. We'll have to see how that all works out.

And one more, before we finish this, our first TGIF lap of the month of July. NASCAR will have a Trump 2020 car this year, to encourage voting, making America great again, and perhaps as a little gamesmanship given we've already seen the #BlackLivesMatter car. Again, when the latter car made an appearance, fans were beside themselves, decrying the intrusion of politics into the sport. Now, not so much.

But that's OK.  Me personally? "I'm never going to watch NASCAR anymore!" (and for the record, I'm not going to watch it any less, either - because I don't watch it at all now...)

TGIF everyone -- and whether you choose to celebrate Independence Day or not, whatever you do this weekend, please be safe.

And remember, hand sanitizer and sparklers are not compatible...

Wondering on Wednesday (v203)

Ready... Set... Wonder!

So, what's going on in wonder-land today? 

Let's take a look, starting in Colorado, where it seems the governor and the state's congressional delegation has been working furiously to get much needed ventilators to help patients with COVID-19 - for weeks. But when they finally got 100 of them, it seems it had nothing to do with anyone other than the state's Republican senator.  Here's the story from Democrat Rep. Diana DeGette, who was not impressed. 

Governor Polis and our Congressional delegation have been working to get more ventilators to Colorado for weeks. In fact, Colorado was set to receive 500 ventilators until FEMA blocked the shipment. Now, President Trump says we will get 100 as a courtesy to Senator Gardner. That means, because the president is playing politics with public health, we're still 400 ventilators short from what we should have received. His mismanagement of this crisis is costing lives and livelihoods.

The governor's press secretary, Conor Cahill, had to take a more conciliatory approach, having seen from the experience of other governors.

The Governor welcomes every piece of equipment that will help save lives in Colorado. He is committed to continuing to work with the federal government, other states, and the private sector to acquire the necessary equipment needed to protect the lives of Coloradans.

So, what's the wondering here? Basically, when will everyone just get the supplies they need, without there being any involvement of the president or anyone outside the distribution wing of the task force? And when will Trump stop requiring people to kiss his ring in order to get what they need for their residents?

In a similar vein, we've got a governor telling a mayor in his state that she has to open the tourist beaches in her city, much to the mayor's dismay. Yep - while there's a state-wide shelter-in-place order for Georgia, Tybee Island is supposed to have their beaches open. Which if you think about it, makes no sense whatsoever, as we saw in Florida and Texas. And again, there's wondering about why there isn't better coordination of these things, and why local officials cannot do what they need to do to protect their residents?

That's what's happening where I live. The state has social-distancing orders in place, supposedly with fines although I'm not sure any have been handed out. But our County Executive, with the support of the mayor of our area's largest city, has added another layer, calling on people to stay at home except on designated days based on whether they were born in an odd or even year. I think it's just fine, and I don't know that I'd want my Sonofa Gov to come in and tell us that we can't do what we need to do here for our own safety. And I'm glad I don't have to wonder what would happen if he did issue a conflicting and less-safe order.

And, of course, the big non-coronavirus news today? That Guy from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, has dropped out of the presidential race. There'll be a lot more about that in other posts, but for now, we have to wonder, how well can Papa Joe Biden corral the Sanders fans, and how much of TGFV's message will be adopted by the Democratic Party when they convene in August?

Now -- on to the good news, the cool stuff that's happening around the world as everyone, and everything, adjusts to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• I wonder what it must have felt like for this man, running a marathon on his balcony? It took nearly seven hours, with encouragement, water and M&Ms from his girlfriend, and "confusion" from onlookers. 

• The only thing I wonder about this couple, from Naples, is how anyone can thank them enough? Looking back into history, they put in place a century's old idea: they lower a basket from their balcony, with a note attached. I won't spoil it for you, but the reaction is heartwarming. 

• And for those who are missing baseball, and one of its most endearing traditions - the 7th inning stretch, there's this 7th Inning Stretch to keep you company. Josh Kantor, the organist for the Boston Red Sox, streams 30 minutes of requests and stories and live chat and charity every day. Fun stuff for a Sox fan like me, and fun in general if you're missing the sound of organ music. I wonder if other organists are tuning in to his show...

• And finally, even Mother Nature is getting in the swing of things. It seems that, with China's manufacturing shut down for weeks, the air has cleared to such an extent that, for the first time in decades, folks can actually see the Himalayas, even from 125 miles away. For some, it's the first time they've been able to see them - ever.  My wondering here? How long will it last, can it last, before we go back to what we were. 

And finally tonight, another one that's sort of close to my heart - we're cat owners, or I guess cat caretakers would be more appropriate. So when I saw a tweet from someone about a friend losing, and then finding his cat, I was thrilled - and then I laughed and laughed. 

I have to wonder, first of all, how he found the missing cat, and second of all,  I wonder how long it'll take for him to find the owner of the one that's not his, once he figures which one is his?

What's got you wondering tonight? 

TGIF 2/22/19

Count me among the folks who are happy that this week is over, and hopefully things can get back to normal starting tomorrow, whether I knock off that bottle of wine tonight or not!

Let's see how some other folks did, starting in the sports world.

We got news (I saw it last Saturday, so it counts for this week) that a confidential settlement had been reached by Colin Kaepernick and the NFL, which resolves the second most hated man in football's collusion lawsuit. Whether or not it leads to a job on an NFL team -- he hasn't played since the 2016 season - remains to be seen, but there are a number of teams that might as well take a chance on him as not. Some have speculated that maybe the Pats would take a chance on him, and that's probably the most logical since they're the most hated team in the NFL.  Maybe hate plus hate could be a match made in heaven?

Speaking of the Pats, news broke today that the team's owner, Robert Kraft, had been caught in a South Florida sting and is being charge with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting a prostitute. Rumor has it there's video - but rumor also has it that there are bigger fish to fry in the sting, which may include sex trafficking, although I've seen nothing long those lines mentioned in reference to Kraft. Categorical denials are coming from his people.

Also on the seedy side of the street? Singer/producer R Kelly has been charged with multiple counts of aggravated sex abuse. Kelly has been getting new attention for prior bad acts, it seems, after a six-hour documentary, Surviving R Kelly, recently aired. If the allegations are true, he deserves whatever punishment he gets.

Meanwhile, Back in Albany (v18)

Nathaniel Brooks/NYTimes 

I thought I'd take a peek at the New York State legislative session that ended last month and see what our state representatives have been up to over in Albany.

A quick scan of headlines and it's not looking good, I can tell you that. Here's a sampling:

• from auburnpub.com: NY State Legislature session: missed opportunities, gridlock
• from the NY Times: Even for Albany, an Unusually Unproductive End to Session
• from the Albany Times Union: Legislative session limps to an end
• from syracuse.com: NYS Legislature adjourns with little to show
• from the Buffalo News: In Albany, Legislature moving to close session, with major deals dying

Sounds like a resounding success, doesn't it? Let's take a quick look at some of the hits and misses from the session.

From the Auburn paper, we got this assessment, the first part from Senator Mike Gianaris (D-Queens), with the second part coming from Brian Kolb (R-Canandaigua), the Assembly Minority Leader:

It's more a story of missed opportunities than a story about what got done.

The 2018 legislative session may be a memory, but it was anything but memorable.  

Nice to see both parties and both houses of the legislature in agreement on this. Other things of note from this article:

High profile proposals to authorize sports betting, overhaul antiquated election laws, extend the statute of limitations for child molestation and address longstanding corruption problems were introduced but never passed amid an ongoing stalemate between the Democratic-led Assembly and Republican-controlled Senate. 

The session's final days saw measures intended to improve school security fall flat. lawmakers failed to renew the state law authorizing 140 speed cameras in the NYC school zone, meaning the city will have to deactivate the devices. Negotiations to overhaul teacher evaluations also went nowhere. 

Successes called out here include legislation related to prosecuting sex offenders, new sexual harassment rules for government employees, and congestion tolls for transportation services in Manhattan, holding rape kids for 20 years, disclosures for online political ads, and a tax on opioid manufacturers.

The NY Times quoted Blair Horner of NYPIRG, who was also unimpressed with this year's session.

There are always things that don't get done. What made this session unique was the gridlock in the Senate, which made even the simplest of issues extremely difficult to resolve.

The Times also provided some detail on those issues in the Senate.

The Senate, for years led by Republicans, has these past weeks been deadlocked in a 31-31 partisan tie after one Republican senator returned to active duty in the Navy, and a group of eight renegade Democrats who had helped empower the Republicans ended their collaboration.  That thew into disarray the balance of power through which Democrats and Republicans, by virtue of their respective controls of the Assembly and Senate, had long been forced to the bargaining table. 

The Times Union shared another point of interest in the lack of accomplishment, via this comment from Patricia Fahy, an Assembly Democrat:

It's a little bit more of a lull this year. Part of it is because a lot was done in the budget, and, I think, because it's an election year, so  more issues are polarizing.

And, of course, our Sonofa Gov had to pivot quickly to fighting an activist actress, Cynthia Nixon, in order to remain in power. John Flanagan, the Senate Majority leader, was not impressed.

The governor was over here last week and certainly (we) had conversations with him but prior to that there was a very large void. So I feel he played some nominally productive role in the conversations that we had. 

Ouch. Way to drive your agenda, eh Gov?  But never fear, the pols kept pushing.

State legislators also found time to approve millions of dollars of pork barrel spending, create a state hymn, authorize new distinctive license plates and name multiple bridges. And even as time ran out on the calendar, both houses of the Legislature continued passing dozens of bills that stood little chance of success in the other chamber.

The Syracuse paper was equally unimpressed with this year's session.

The New York State Legislature's 2018 session limped to its conclusion Wednesday with precious little to show for it. In an election year, that's a funny way to persuade voters that you deserve another term.

The editorial board noted 'punts' on big issues including early voting, fixing the condo tax (more on that in an upcoming post), and efforts to clean up our economic development mess:

The bid-rigging trials involving one of Cuomo's top aides, SUNY Polytechnic, the Buffalo Billion and developers from Buffalo and Syracuse made nary a ripple in Albany. A bill to require the state to maintain a database of all the taxpayer subsidies given to corporations, the number of jobs created and the cost per job to taxpayers passed the Senate but languished in the Assembly. Such a database would bring more transparency and accountability to the $4B in annual state economic development spending. A bill giving the state Comptroller the authority to review SUNY contracts also failed to pass.

In addition to successes already noted above, the Syracuse paper noted passage of a bill allowing Syracuse and other municipalities to tack code violation fees to property tax bills and also a bill to help a local school district avoid payment of massive fines related to years-old missed paperwork deadlines. (For schools that were assessed and paid their fines in similar situations, I expect there was little joy in that one.)

One final note. The Buffalo paper also had some good analysis, but they also gave us this tidbit about how parochial the session had become at the end.

In place of the usual big-ticket items that define the end of a legislative session, lawmakers Tuesday continued pushing through dozens of locally-related and smaller items, including fixing a nearly 60-year-old typo in the name of a New York City bridge - honoring Giovanni da Verrazzano - with an extra Z to set things straight. 

No word yet on whether we'll have a special session to address any of the shortcomings; the most likely suspect is probably sports betting, but we'll have to wait and see.  

Wondering on Wednesday (v133)

Whoa Nellie, as the late sportscaster Keith Jackson used to say -- there's a lot of wondering going on here tonight!

I wonder what, exactly, Jared Kushner did to get his full and permanent security clearance?  Did he:

• stop filing amendments to his financial statements? 
• Stop remembering meetings and discussions and how much money he made and squirreled away under which mattresses? 
• Stop seeking financial help from foreign governments to bail out his troubled real estate company? 
• Promise to take the fall for his father-in-law should the need arise? 

I'm sure there's no correlation between his lengthy interview with the Special Counsel's office and his getting the security clearance. I mean, that would be some kind of crazy conspiratorial dark red state infowar-ish false flag kind of thing, and we all know that's just crazy talk. Right? That's just crazy talk?

And I wonder what exactly is the cause of the falling attendance and falling ratings for NASCAR and why isn't anyone on talking about it? Well, let me rephrase that -- no one other than the fake news is talking about it. But the truth seems to be that attendance is down, ratings are down, and the family business that is NASCAR might be put up for sale.  Now, I'm literally 0% interested in car racing, but when racetracks go so far as to remove tens of thousands of seats to improve their attendance numbers, or to make it look better on TV, we're in the bigly manipulation game, don't you think?

Now, you may be wondering why NASCAR attendance matters to a person like me; let me explain.  You all remember the NFL 'anthem protests' and how the Interferer in Chief thought that anyone who protested should be fired, and how he encouraged everyone to boycott, and how ratings and attendance were down? And how everyone said, boy, those NASCAR fans sure as shootin' would NEVER stand for anyone not standing for the flag...

Well, the truth is, NASCAR attendance is dropping, NFL attendance is dropping, MLB attendance is down, all at the same time. So, it kind of begs the question, were the anthem protests and the resulting bluster from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue the cause of the drop off, as the president likes to claim, or is there a general trend here that maybe he's not wanting to tweet about?

Speaking of the NFL, the owners and the commissioner did their darnedest to come up with a plan that would please? appease? the president and get him to stop yelling at them.  The plan? Any player who is on the field at the time the national anthem is played must stand and be respectful. Players are not required to be on the field during the anthem, but if they are, they must toe the line (while assuming a respectful position of course). Now, don't go yelling at me: I love my country, I know the words to the national anthem, and I stand -- I've pointed all of that out before, and it is still true today.

I wonder, though, what they'll blame for this year's attendance? Or, will the rules changes made in the offseason  (a hit is just a hit, a catch is but a catch...) be enough to get fans back? And what, I wonder, will all the fans who became experts on the NFL's rule book and operations manual do with all their free time going forward?

A couple quick notes: the NFL has been in existence since the 1920's. I think it's safe to say that the world did not come to an end in years between the start of the league and the start of players on the field for the anthem, which began in 2009. And similarly, if unrelated, the world didn't come to an end in all the years between the adoption of the Second Amendment and the Heller decision in 2008 - but I digress.

And now to the last wonderings of the night. Wondering so painful, I must say, that my head Joe Biden Literally exploded (which means, of course, that my head is still intact, and attached). Wondering so exhausting, I'm -- well, I'm exhausted. And sick. And sick tired of this stuff.

How, I wonder - how can it be possible that a person who is parked across two handicapped spaces in an empty drug store parking lot at 2AM ends up Tased, screamed at, put on the ground, arrested for being physically aggressive, scratched and bruised by four police officers and two police sergeants? In 2018? In an American city?

Well, it happens, you and I both know, because the guy who chose to park badly is black. He's black, he's young, he's wearing a chain, and did I mention he's black? It's ridiculous. It's embarrassing. It's shameful.

And so I have to ask, does anyone really wonder why athletes protest during the national anthem?