Rule 21

   Baseball great Pete Rose passed away today, as did Basketball great Dikembe Mutombo. Both of those men had steller careers in their respective sports, but one of those men betrayed his sport after his career ended, and the other became an outstanding ambassador for his sport.

   Over the years I've had several discussions with fellow baseball fans regarding Pete Rose being banned from MLB baseball for life for betting on baseball, and his concurrent banishment from the Baseball Hall of Fame.

   For the record I agree with Pete Rose's lifetime ban from baseball and I now also do not believe he belongs in the HoF.

   I was on the fence regarding the HoF issue for a long time (though never questioned for a second the need for the lifetime MLB baseball ban), but after I read his autobiography (My Prison Without Bars, published in 2004) wherein he finally admitted (after 15 years of lying about it) that he did indeed not only bet on baseball games, he bet on baseball games in which the Cincinnati Reds, the team he was the player/manager of, were playing.

   Every MLB clubhouse has Rule 21 of MLB's code of conduct posted in full view of each and every person who enters the clubhouse. Rule 21 states, "Any player, umpire, club or league official or employee who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform shall be declared permanently ineligible." 

   The Rule had been implemented after the 1919 World Series was marred by the actions of several members of the White Sox to throw the Series for a gambling ring allegedly headed up by organized crime figure Arnold Rothstein.

   Pete Rose walked into MLB clubhouses as a player, player/manager, and solely as a manager over a combined 4,200 times. Which means he saw Rule 21 over 4,200 times, and I'd bet big money he even read Rule 21 a significant number of times. 

   Which means that he was well aware that his actions were not only wrong, but at best a big F/U to the game that he swore he loved with his heart and soul.

   Pete Rose believed he was bigger than the game. He was not, and the penalty he agreed to is the one that must stand if the integrity of the game is to be maintained.  

   That's my opinion, and I'm not backing down.

Duck & Cover

   Some situations are avoidable, some are not. 

   Unfortunately, the situations that are unavoidable are rarely good, at least not in my experience.

   I cannot recall one single instance over the course of my lifetime when I have thought to myself, "Man, how the heck did I get in this situation? Why oh why oh why did I have to buy this winning lottery ticket?" or "Dang, just my luck to be standing next to this incredibly intelligent, emotionally available, fun & funny, beautiful woman who is pretty much demanding my phone number so she can call me up and ask me out to dinner next week."

   Nope, not once.

   No, usually the circumstances of the unavoidable situations are nearly always dire to some degree.

  There may be times when you find yourself in one of those unavoidable situations and you might start wondering if you're going to be able to get out of it unscathed.

   You might even find yourself trying to strike a bargain with the god or gods of your choosing to get yourself out of the unavoidable situation. You might even find yourself running scenarios through your head inwhich you do find a way out of the unavoidable situation with nary a scratch.

   That's fantasizing, and only clouds the mind. When you find yourself in an unavoidable situation, you need your wits about you - all of the wits you can muster, and they have to be sharp.

   The unavoidable situation is going to unfold and happen and run it's course. The chances of escaping unscathed are always 50/50, but as everyone knows, 50/50 is not a great bet.

   So what can one do? Well, first thing of course is don't do anything that will make the unavoidable situation worse, and the second thing to do is to minimize your part in the unavoidable situation.

   And third, try to dodge the fall out. Because there is always fall out. 

Thinking Vs Thoughts

 

   Some people think. They spend considerable amounts of time mulling over ideas or explanations or possible scenarios, regarding this, that, and just about everything else.

   Some people have thoughts. They just pop into their heads on occasion, and can be as rudimentary as "I wonder if the car needs a tune up?" to the more obtuse such as "How the hell can that moron possibly think going 45 on an interstate freeway is a good thing?" 

   The difference is sensational.

What's Up?

 

The Bird On The Sidewalk

   The young girl (5, maybe 6 years old) ran over to the motionless little bird that lay on the sidewalk. She crouched down and stared at the bird intently while her mother ran to catch up to her.

  "Don't touch it Sweetie", her mother exhorted, "It might not be safe".

   The crouched-over little girl turned her head as her mother approached and said, "It's a bird, Mama, and it's sleeping." 

   The mother stood over her daughter and caught her breath. After a few seconds she said, "No Fran, it's not sleeping, it's dead. We should go now".

Everybody Likes The Ramones Now (yeah, yeah)

Everybody

Everybody

Everybody

Everybody 

Likes the Ramones now (yeah, yeah)

Everybody

Everybody

Everybody

Everybody

Likes the Ramones now (yeah, yeah)

There was a time when they played before 1000 or so on a good night

Playing fast and loud, drums and bass tighter than tight

Didn't have T-shirts, had to make 'em yourself

Couldn't hear it on the radio, had to buy their albums off the back shelf

Rocket to Russia was the first one bought at Tower off Rosecrans

Played incessantly with mom yelling it belonged in the trashcan

Lobotomy, lobotomy, lobotomy and Rockaway Beach occasionally

Short, simple and sharp, not that pretty vacant obscenity

Nobody wanted to hear the noise created by those Forest Hill boys

Leather jackets and denim jeans, converse all-stars to complete the scene

And we hopped and bopped and slammed until we could hardly stand

All of us sharing in the grand new energy emanating from this fantastic band

Everybody

Everybody

Everybody

Everybody

Likes the Ramones now (yeah, yeah)

Everybody 

Everybody

Everybody 

Everybody

Likes the Ramones now (yeah, yeah)

Buying T-shirts at Hot Topic or Spencers

Hearing songs on the radio, praised now by the old suppressors

Gabba gabba hey chanted by school children in the middle of the day

Never for a moment knowing it never got a minutes airplay

PJ Soles (bless her soul) danced with them on the big screen

Rock and Roll High School was the perfect movie at sixteen

Funny, freaky, fearless in that slightly irreverent '70's way

Gave the band a bigger audience and an even bigger payday

Then Phil came around and the band's energy decidedly unwound

Brought in some big guns, added piano, overdubs and the wall of sound

Baby I Love You was covered and became the first nail in the coffin

The Punk was relegated to the corner when the Pop walked in

Everybody

Everybody

Everybody

Everybody

Likes the Ramones now (yeah, yeah)

Everybody

Everybody

Everybody

Everybody

Likes the Ramones now (yeah, yeah)

Feel My Pain

 

   She was on her cellphone as I approached the counter. About a minute or two of animated conversation later, she deemed it necessary to put up her index finger as if to indicate she would be with me in just a minute. 

   That minute passed and then another before she approached the counter to take my order. She stared at me while still listening to her cellphone, which was cradled between shoulder and ear.

   "A large coffee with two creamers and a bagel" I requested, and she pushed the appropriate buttons on the register without even as much as a nod of reply.

   I paid and stepped away from the counter to make room for the person behind me.

   The server had moved over to a large coffee pot and started filling a large cup with coffee. She looked over at me mid pour and mouthed "Did you want creamer?" as she continued to listen to her cellphone.

   "Yes", I replied, "Two please." She turned to pick up the bagel that had appeared in the small serving window as I said that, then returned to the coffee while replying to a question which the person on the other end of the cellphone asked (something to do with a party that was coming up). 

   She topped off the coffee and placed it on the small counter next to the foam plate with the bagel.

   "Was that two creamers?" She mouthed again, and I again confirmed my order. She then placed the coffee and bagel in front of me, and I took my order over to a small table.

   The bagel was fine but the coffee...no creamer.

   The woe was nearly overwhelming. 

The Posted Requests

 

Artwork Anonymity

   The most interesting aspect of this particular art installation is it's location. 

   These two large panels, composed of nearly 2,000 wire-tied thin six-inch square plates of brushed stainless steel with another couple hundred or so overlaid/attached thin six to ten inch square plates of stainless steel that have been painted/enameled in various colors, are located in the area of Denver known as Cherry Creek.

   It's pretty much the Beverly Hills of Denver, Cherry Creek is.

   But the two large panels are not on prominent display in Cherry Creek - they are quite hidden, in an alley near the intersection of 1st and Clayton.

   It's a short alley, and is used by very, very few people.

   Makes one wonder if this is what the artist/creator wanted - anonymity for their art?

 

An Unconsidered Legacy Of The Late Robert Craig Knievel

   The kid told me about the accident that resulted in the road map of scars on his head. He was 17 at the time it occurred, right smack dab in the middle of the reckless years.

   He was a passenger, riding along with a few friends, the driver having recently received his first drivers license and having "borrowed" his older sister's car to take his friends out for a ride.

   The driver's situational awareness was undeveloped and he went right through a stop sign - a large truck that was barreling down the road perpendicular to the road that they just blew through broadsided the small Chevy they were in. The kid was not wearing a seatbelt, and when the passenger side door was popped open by the impact he was ejected from the car.

   He was sent flying, to more accurately paraphrase him.

   He was told later that his body was found over 200 yards from the accident site, battered, bruised, mangled.

   The other three passengers survived with lesser injuries. He was in the hospital for six full months plus.

   His skull had been broken in numerous places, as were fifteen other bones. The Doctors told him it was an "Evel Knievel" situation, a reference he did not understand until he was able to look the stunt riders career up many months later. 

    Eventually the doctors put 5 steel plates (held together by 28 small screws) in his skull. Steel pins were also used to help put broken bones in both lower and upper extremities together.

   It was three years after he left the hospital when he was finally able to walk comfortably without a cane, though he sometimes still uses one. 

   The story was told to me after I asked about the Evel Knievel tattoo he had on his right forearm - he said it had a dual purpose, that of covering scars and also reminding him daily of just how fortunate he was to have survived the wreck.

   

The Sky Is Alive With Fire Tonight

 

                       Taken while on a walk around the reservoir on Kipling and Florida tonight

Nature Finds A Way

 The bowling ball after nearly 20 years of laying in the yard along the back fence

Other Than That, It's Good To Be Home

    After a long challenge filled day, when you are finally able to shrug the weight of the world off your shoulders and sit down in your comfy chair, take off your shoes and socks and let your dogs breath easy, it's somewhat disconcerting to have to deal with your big fat cat just staring at you with a look that says, "You forgot to fill the bowl with food this morning, Bozo."

The Thing About All These Migrants...

   So much negative reaction action surrounding the recent migration to the United States by Central & South Americans being thrown about by people who consider the people making the migration to be a threat to the United States as a whole and to them as individuals.

   Myself, I try hard to thoroughly examine both sides of the coin on every issue, and this one is no exception.

   On the this particular issue I have to keep in mind that I myself am the descendent of migrants - sure, my ancestors made their migration primarily from Europe, and sure, it was over a hundred years ago that the majority of my ancestors made what was a hellish nightmare of a journey across thousands of miles of foreboding terrain and an even more foreboding ocean (my ancestors were steerage class at best...), but still, I am descended from migrants all the same.

   I started my look at both sides of the migrant situation coin by considering what factors the Central & South American migrants were having to deal with that could be motivating them to leave their respective homelands.

   Starting with the what seems to be the lowest common denominator, which is of course, money.

   For your convenience, all monetary denominations are stated in U.S. dollar equivalents.

   In the Central America country of Nicaragua (ruled by president Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo - both of whom incidentally, have been banned by the Biden administration from entering the U.S.), minimum wage is job specific (if you are in banking you are going to make a bit more than if you are in mining) at best, general labor pays about $50.00 a week. In some South American countries, like Argentina for example, the best one can hope for is $38.00 a week. 

   Venezuela has a current weekly minimum wage of $0.91

   You read that right, $0.91 a week. 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/953880/latin-america-minimum-monthly-wages/

   Couple that with rampant inflation, and insanely corrupt/incompetent government, a very high crime rate, high infant mortality...well, you get the picture - it's a hellish place to live.

   And all of that in a country with the world's highest known oil reserves.

   You read that right, Venezuela has the world's highest known oil reserves.

   If you lived in Venezuela and were not part of the ruling party/privileged class, wouldn't you being doing everything to get the hell out? It's a situation very similar to what the average Eastern European commoner had to deal with in the late 19th century - heck, it's what the average Western European commoner had to deal with at the same time, too (esp. the Irish). 

   So yeah, lack of means for the procuring of adequate goods to meet basic needs, horrible living/working conditions, political repression up the kazoo...those are very, very good reasons to want to get the heck outta Dodge.

   Compelling enough reasons that nearly 8 million Venezuelans have left their homeland since 1999 (though the bulk of the diaspora has occurred since 2015).

   There are a few other factors, too - safety and security (living in a country that abides by the rule of law is attractive, even if you are prone to believe that justice is not always equitable) and the chance (a chance not even remotely guaranteed, but better than one has in a lot of other countries) of being able to provide for yourself and your family.

   Now for the other side of the coin. The lowest common denominator for those opposed to what they prefer to call illegal immigrants appears to be crime/criminals.

   There is a belief among a large segment of the U.S. population that a big percentage of the migrant population that has made their way to the United States recently has done so solely to commit crimes/engage in criminal activity.

   To be certain, there have been a number of crimes committed by migrants, and those crimes have received an incredible amount of attention by the 24/7/365 news outlets.

   Because, as we all know, if it bleeds it leads. Not a lot of coverage for the vast majority of migrants that are not commiting crimes or engaging in criminal activity.

   Crime and criminal activity is and has always been part of every single migrant population that ever set foot on U.S. soil. From the 14K Group (Chinese Triad) to the White Hand Gang (Irish Mob) to the Kielbasa Posse (Polish Gangsters) to the Corporation (Cuban Mafia) to the Yiddish Black Hand (Jewish Mob) to the Harlem Racketeers (Black Mafia) to the Brighton Beach Gang (Russian Gangsters) to the...again, you get the picture.

   Other than being primarily formed by immigrants or their recent descendents, there is one thing that all of those perpetrators of crime/criminal activity have in common, and that is that each and everyone of them represent an extremely small percentage of their respective populations.

   But once the media has decided to blow up the crimes/criminal activities of individuals that are in any way related to a specific group of similar individuals, then the whole guilt-by-association ball starts rolling downhill. 

   https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/debunking-myth-migrant-crime-wave#:~:text=Despite%20claims%20from%20conservative%20media%20and%20campaign%20rhetoric,Democratic-run%20cities%20%E2%80%94%20is%20causing%20a%20%E2%80%9Ccrime%20wave.%E2%80%9D

   Another of the lowest common denominator factors is the allegation that the recent migrants are stealing jobs from natural born Americans. 

   Consider what it takes to get a job in this country. First off, one needs Identification and proof that you are eligible to work in the United States. Second, you have to be able to communicate with your employer, and third you must have a reasonable level of ability and desire to perform the job itself.

   Any job that a migrant secures in this country is generally something that no natural born American wants to do, will do, or can do. At any  price. That's a cold hard fact.    

   The third lowest common denominator is the repeatedly stated belief that members of a specific political party are encouraging migration to the United States specifically from Central and South American countries because eventually those people will become supporters of that specific political party. 

   Uhm...that makes no sense based on a couple of factors. First, the vast majority of the recent migrants are coming from leftist controlled countries, and they are coming to the United States to not have to live under the heel of a leftist government.

   Reread that a few times and think back to when Daniel Ortega or Castro or Hugo Chavez were (or maybe still are) the darlings of the quasi-intellectual left-wing fringe. Those are the people the migrants are fleeing - think they are going to align themselves with the United States political party that is most closely associated with supporting them and their agendas?

   A fourth lowest common denominator factor often cited is the financial burden that has been placed on governments at the local, state, and federal level. Chicago has spent upwards of $400 million over the past two years to house and care for some 47,000 migrants, New York City is claiming over a billion for the same time period (for a reported 100,000 migrants) and Denver, the city with the highest number of migrants per capita (and my area of residence) is claiming $60 million spent dealing with it's migrant situation.

   All the numbers are considerable. However, as has been proven in various studies, over time migrants historically have had a net positive economic impact on the United States - read this one from the office of the Secretary for Planning and Evaluation - https://aboutbgov.com/bcK7

   Heck, you don't need to read any study to acknowledge that fact - if you are reading this and you are living in the United States, chances are (like a 99.99% level chance) you are descended from migrants, whether they got here 50 years or 250 years ago, the undeniable truth is the United States is a nation built by immigrants - we are indeed US.

   So, after considerable thought and analysis of both sides of the coin I have to admit that I personally believe that the debate over recent migration is much ado about nothing. The hubbub is just more clickbait to sell ad space or garner support for politicians once again using fear to further their own ends.

    Disclaimer: It may seem as if I am unobjectively leaning towards the migrants here, and I confess I am, because, as previously mentioned, I am descended from migrants myself, and I also have a personal connection with one of these recent migrants. He is a young man from Nicaragua who has an application for political asylum currently pending. 

   He is bright, speaks, reads and writes English fluently, and works his ass off - in less than three years of working every single job that has come his way he has been able to purchase a home - albeit, it's a mobile home, but it is a home. 

   He has no desire to "work the system" or do anything that could be remotely considered taking advantage of government largesse (which is a helluva lot more than I can say about a number of my acquaintances who are natural born citizens of this great country).

   He paid $10,000 to various coyotes to get him from Nicaragua to the United States. Everything he had earned and saved since the age of 10.

   He is determined to become a citizen of the United States and wants to serve in the US Military if at all possible.

   Yeah, he's just one example, but he's a good one.

Now Boarding At The Cruise Ship Pier In Omaha...

                                                   Geography...yeah, don't skip that class
 

If You Had A Million Dollars...And Only One Million Dollars

   Let's play the "if" game...with a slight twist. What if you were gifted with exactly one million tax-free dollars...with a stipulation that in order to receive the one million dollars you would never be able to work again for the rest of your life.

   Would you be able to do it? Would you be able to live on one million dollars for the rest of your life? 

   It is possible, that much assuredly is true, but the question being put forth is, could YOU do it? 

   Do you possess the knowledge and necessary self-discipline to live the rest of your life (no matter what your current age is) on what proceeds could be generated from an initial cash position of one million dollars?

   There are thousands of people who have acquired a million dollars and promptly blown it - lottery winners, professional athletes and pop music stars are notorious for doing so, but it has also happened to thousands of one-hit wonder novelists, screen writers, promoters, Only Fans product producers, Tik-Tok influencers, trust fund recipients, entrepreneurs who hit on something that worked for awhile...and a whole helluva lot of heirs and heiresses.

   I have known (and still know) a few people who have literally blown a million dollars (and more, much more).

   Quite a few of the aforementioned are/were highly educated, smart, and driven type A personalities (natch) and that's why they were able to acquire a million dollars in the first place. 

   But all of them shared a common trait. They were money dumb.

   Oh yeah, there were no doubt multiple other factors involved, but the biggest factor was (and no doubt still is), they were money dumb.

   Being money dumb naturally implies that they were not money smart, and that's a fact of life for tens of millions of people. 

   Being money smart is not just avoiding being money dumb, btw. It is much, much more than that. 

   To the best of my knowledge, nobody is born either money dumb or money smart, which means both traits are acquired or learned (characteristics? skills?).

   Learning to be money dumb is fairly easy - you just have to ignore the fact that your supply of money is finite and just spend everything you earn on anything that catches your fancy regardless of cost.

   Learning to be money smart is fairly hard - you have to become cognizant of the fact that your supply of money is limited to what you earn and then learn that anything you purchase, be it only food, clothing & shelter or comic books, tattoos, sports cars or concert tickets are all expenses, and expenses need to be monitored and budgeted for.

   Learning to be money smart means learning how to work with money, and learning how not to play with money.

   Let me repeat that: Learn how to work with money, learn how not to play with money.

   Money is not a toy, it is a tool.

   Yeah, there are people out there who are going to scream at the top of their lungs that money is a tool of the devil - that money is the root of all evil, and thus capitalism is destroying the world, and that in a fair, egalitarian society with equitable wealth distribution, there would be no needs or wants and thus needing to know how to work with money would not be unnecessary, blah blah blah...

   We are dealing with reality here, not pie-in-the-sky utopian fantasy bullpucky. All the first-year idjits and Reddit-educated economy reformers can fcuk a duck.

   Idealism has made more people homeless than capitalism ever has.

   Learning to work with money means living in reality, not fantasy.

   I have known hundreds of people from every demographic imaginable over the course of a long and challenging life, and the cold hard truth is that the people I know who live in reality are the ones who accept that learning to work money is literally just learning to be a responsible human being.

   For all those who scream that consumerism is the problem, and that capitalism is the root cause of consumerism, I can only say one thing; pull your head out of your a$$.

   Anti-capitalist activists repeat that lie at the top of their lungs at every opportunity without anything remotely resembling credible evidence, but man do they get to feel all self-righteously social warrior-esque good about themselves for awhile. 

    But I am digressing a bit here. The question, Raymond, is, "If you were bequeathed a million tax free dollars, could you live on it for the rest of your life?

   Think about it. Have you learned how money works? If not, why not? Are you still living in a fantasy world wherein your needs will be taken care of by a wonderfully benevolent government (corruption free, with a bureaucracy staffed by competent, caring individuals who only have your best interest at heart...excuse me, I have to regain my composure here - writing that made me laugh a bit too hard).

   Look, let's get one thing straight. A cold hard fact about government is that it is never going to be free of predatory narcissistic fascists of every stripe that only want to be in control of you and your money, and the bureaucracy in place is only there to aide and abet them in that undertaking.

   This is true of every government on the face of this planet, from Haiti to Norway, from the United States to Mali. Accept that fact and then proceed to deal with it in the best way possible.

   And that way is by learning to work with money, not play with it.

   Fortunately we live in a day and age where learning to work with money is much easier than it has ever been in the history of mankind.

   Because if you are reading this you have access to the Internet, and the Internet is chock full of resources much more reliable and credible than this blog written by a halfwit of dubious background and education.

   That's not self-deprecating character assassination btw, that's just a truth I've learned to live with.

   Anywhatzit, we live in a wonderful time with wonderful resources at our fingertips, be it Investopedia, IBKR, Motely Fool, the timeless advice of Gerald M. Loeb, the incredible insights shared by Beth Kobliner, and even some of what Jim Cramer loves to shout (unmanaged debt is indeed the enemy of prosperity).

   So learn how to work money, stop playing with it.

Disclaimer: Nope, I do not have a degree in finance or economics or anything remotely associated with managing money. I also am not stating unequivocally that all it takes to achieve financial security is learning to work money. I am, however, willing to state unequivocally that learning to work money will do more good for your financial heath than harm.

P.S. No one actually go out and fcuk a duck. It's just an expression.

P.S.S. Insulted by anything I wrote? Damn, you need to develop some thicker skin.

   

The Children Of Privilege Are Going To Save The World

The children of privilege are going to save the world

Though they've never gone without they know exactly what you need

Tell you you've been brainwashed when you refuse to believe

Everything they tell you is what you need to be free

The children of privilege have always received the right education

And even after mom & dad split up 

They received adequate substitutes for parental affection

Each exactly according to their nurturing needs

Slapping that Give Peace A Chance decal on your Tesla is easy

If you've never been forced to actually fight

Not with words or a well-written editorial but with your fists

To defend yourself, your family or a random innocent kid

Pleading with us all to donate to their pet causes

While they're wearing ten-thousand dollar Armani suits

Or playing the role of the common man when its called for

In pre-ripped and worn thousand dollar jeans 

....and fashionable factory-scuffed Cowboy boots

Pre-approved social sentiment and environmental consciousness up the ass

As they languish on the balcony of their 5,000 sq ft summer homes

Dressed to the nines at fundraisers for some oppressed demographic 

Sipping fine wine from a cup made from the latest 

....starch-based biodegradable styrofoams

Believing deprivation means not having enough toys

Or having to eat at a soup kitchen (where they volunteer to serve up dinner rolls)

Without ever having a clue as to what it means to actually live everyday in fear

Of losing jobs, houses, families, minds and souls

Tell us we are morons for not voting for the billionaire of their choosing

Tell us that we're lemmings if the people we listen to are not telling their story

Subtly slip in that only the uneducated, misguided or the mentally unfit

Would listen much less believe any words that didn't originate in their repertory

The children of privilege need their guilt to be assuaged

They need to be able to believe that the life they live is in everyone's best interest

The children of privilege need to believe they are divinely appointed stewards

So if you could just please be compliant that would be very considerate

The Correct Response Is Never At Hand

She called to me as I was walking past her table

And she asked, "Why don't you stop and sit with me for awhile?"

I replied, "Well, we haven't been introduced and stopping by is not my style."

At least that's what I thought of saying a few moments after the moment

At the actual moment she asked the question I sorta froze up

And just pretended I didn't hear her while taking a sip from my cup