The ASSwipes of big pharma are working overtime on an mRNA injection specifically for ASS sufferers. It will double as a disease X life saver also. Not exactly like the candy, but close. The FDA and CDC have already approved this miracle drug since it falls under the how-bad-can-it-be-even-if-it-murders-millions category.
I'm afraid that they're getting serious about their final final solution.
There are still lots of open questions though about what it will look like.
They really do seem to have a large variety of ultra-tech tools at their disposal.
They have I believe earthquake/tsunami machines, weather making machines, mind-control machines, fire and lightning DEWs, and of course the bio-weapons, and standard
kinetic, nuclear and chemical weapons, then the whole UFO / holographs and super GMO hybrid races.
btw. we didn't abandon Don's show, just have to catch it as we can on podcast.
Mary Maxwell was once again a brilliant guest on the show.
I'm sure your father was very proud of you, he just didn't know how to tell you. Better than not being told you are loved at all. Thats what I grew up with. We would watch the Green Bay Packers play on Sundays and the local wrestling. On that good old black and white. Also Ma and Pa Kettle, plus 3 Stooges and Laurel and Hardy. No one these days seem to know any of these shows. TV was only on during the evenings or when weather was inclement. Otherwise, it was "get outside". We should feel lucky to have had a decent childhood, poor or not, but kids these days spend their time on their cells. Not much hope for the youth of today. But thats been the plan, all along now.
Yes, we spent a lot of time outside, didn't we? Never watched Ma and Pa Kettle, but love Laurel and Hardy, and still watch the Stooges every Saturday on ME TV. Thanks, Fran!
Fran: Brad Pesek was in my class in Lincoln, NE. His father was a wrestler and his grandfather was the very famous wrestler John Pesek. You can look him up on the Internet. Brad was a lot like his father and grandfather. He was a natural athlete and still in great shape at 72.
Interesting. I do not remember John or Jack Pesek at all; don't know if they wrestled in our area. Milwaukee had The Crusher, of course, being a big beer drinker that he was. I do remember Mad Dog Vachon, Verne Gagne, Dick the Bruiser, Baron Von Raschke (The Claw), Nick Bockwinkel, Larry Hennig, Johnny Valentine, The Shiek, Wahoo McDaniel, and there were probably others from all those wrestling shows we watched. The Crusher was a South Milwaukee native and did work as a brick layer, which my father was. I think they did work together at some point. We also had John Matuszak, who was in football and acted in some movies. Big dude, 6' 8", you couldn't miss him. John was a real party animal. He died from opiates, supposedly. People from our town really fawned over him. We also spent time watching Roller Derby too; some pretty good fights. Good old days, Timmy!
Fran: I remember the names Verne Gagne, The Shiek, and Matuszak. I never went to a wrestling match but my friend Patrick did. He and Brad Pesek would go to Omaha, and in Lincoln, to help Brad's Dad and the other wrestlers.
Cage matches were big back then. Patrick helped Brad put together the buckets of fake blood.
The wrestlers were gymnasts and actors. They were risking injury every time that they got in the ring. Sure, it was all choreographed but people got hurt.
Yes, those flops and theatrical fighting cause many injuries. And check out the life expectancies of most of these wrestlers. They tend to die before their time. Big John Studd's child was in the same preschool as my sister-in-law's daughter. Died very young. Thanks.
I'd like to know when all this fakeness started. Probably goes way back. The boxing matches were faked too. Ali being one Big Fake if I ever saw one. I never attended a real live wrestling match, all was watched on TV. People went crazy over this stuff, but its what we had. Guess it was considered old fashioned fun and showed humans' animalistic tendencies. You can catch The Crusher on YT if interested. I got into wrestling in the 80s with The Ultimate Warrior being my favorite. He was "hot" too. lol Sure, they got hurt, like in football, but for that kind of money, they sold themselves. For the Bigs.
The article shows how wrestling changed over the decades. The photo of John Pesek looks a lot like his grandson, Brad, who was in my class.
Decades ago I read an article about Andre the Giant in Sports Illustrated. That wrestler was amazing. He thought nothing of drinking a whole case of beer or wine and eating every dish on the menu.
I was born in 1936 and as a kid ,i did play with balls often in the school yard .But as I became a teen I lost interest playing with a ball ,especially watching someone playing with it .That does not mean that I had no interest in activities that where far ,far more interesting than chasing a ball around .My interests was concentrated in activities that I was able to do myself .To my mind adults being obsessed with ball playing [ watching ] is childish ,they never grew up .They miss all the far more interesting activities ,that I call sport ,simply all the stuff one can do that does not require a ball .but we can do with our own body and some equipment ,to make it possible .I had an adult friend who wold travel to the other end of the continent to watch a ball game ,an obsession similar to fanatics of a religion .I could not stand his whining anymore about HIS TEAM ,winning winning winning .I did feel sorry for him ,that his mind was wrapped up in a rubber ball .So I don't see him anymore . All fanatics ball game watchers or religion cultists have my sympathy as long as they stay far away from me .
joe stuerz 85: So you are 86 soon. Your world is the world of my parents. My Dad was born in 1931 and Mom in early 1932. I was born twenty years later.
My Dad loved football. He was a salesman on the road half the year. To stay out of the bars, he'd go to the movies and NFL games on Sundays out on the road.
My Dad was all about leadership. Sports, as well as business and rarely politics, shows leadership or not. Dad was a big fan of Vince Lombardi. He knew him. Dad respected hard work, dedication, and leadership in any endeavor. Chasing a ball is just one of them.
Chasing the ball correctly is the result of hard work, discipline, and leadership. I still look for that in sports, entertainment, politics, work.
You are right that it is not about winning all the time. Sometimes shit happens. Nowadays I focus on the process of the endeavor, not the end product.
No Timmy,I was born in 1936 and now I'm 87 .The 85 is outdated .I admire the ones who are able to do acrobatics with a ball ,but feel sorry for them at the same time ,because they miss out on so many activities that are far ,far far more satisfying and suited for an adult .
I grew up much the same as you, just a few years older. My dad enjoyed sports and seeing me play, but was WWII/Korea vet, and all business. I was insane about all 3 sports and participated from age 7 until 46. My last hurrah at 46, was semi-pro league for off-season AAA players in central CA. I even boxed on an AAU team for a yer.
Like you, as a kid, I could name every player at every position on every baseball team. I was almost as good at that as with the NBA and NFL. I was from Oklahoma, so really worshipped Mickey Mantle. I would tell kids that I was his young cousin (liar).
I never payed attention to politics until Clinton came along, which alerted me to the fact that politicians can screw up my country. Then I became addicted.
Now I stay up with stuff, but not an addiction, but more of a curiosity as I see things playing out as written in scriptural prophecy. I gave up watching all sports except football, but my enthusiasm in infinitesimal to what it used to be. Too much cult of personality, chest pounding, 1st down signalling, military promoting, commercial interruption, crummy commentators, political correctness.
I'm sure there are millions of us, Synickel. That's impressive that you were still playing at that level at age 46. I seem to have peaked at age 11. While obese somehow. Thanks!
I'll bet I'm the only person left who remembers that when Teddy threw his hat into the ring in 1980, Neal Goldschmidt (former mayor of Portland OR, and then Transportation Secretary under Carter) threatened to withhold transportation monies from cities that had mayors who supported Kennedy in the primaries. Goldschmidt later became one of Oregon's worst governors. He became persona non grata when the news came out that he raped a 13-year-old babysitter in 1973. This was an open secret in Oregon politics for years...demonstrating the corruption in Oregon politics, and the total control of the state by the democratic machine.
Like you Donald, I've always had a keen interest in history and politics. My first presidential election when I could vote, I voted Ed Clark for president. I voted for Perot, Russel Means, Nadar...never once voting main parties until 2016. By 2008 I had given up on voting. I did vote for Trump in 2016, only because I was TERRIFIED by the thought of Killery as president. I think Trump is an actor playing a part...but still better than Killery. Since I dropped out of pop-culture decades ago...all I knew about Trump was what I read standing in line at the grocery store. All I knew was that he was a rich guy in NYC who dumped his wife for Marla Maples. Still, anyone was better than Killery, to my way of thinking. Like you Donald, I'm addicted to politics, and I still pay attention to meaningless primaries. Now I'm starting to feel: anyone but Nutty Niki.
You do have a good memory, Kris. I'd forgotten that tidbit about Goldschmidt. Carter completely lost me with his hostility towards Teddy. He made it a point to declare that he wasn't going to talk about Chappaquiddick. Regularly. But hey, he supposedly was still banging nails in for Habitat for Humanity well into his nineties. That's more that most of them ever did. Thanks!
Kris: I remember Neal Goldschmidt (goldshit). Oregon has always been suspect. The KKK was rampant in Oregon in the 1920s and the original Oregon State Constitution forbade Negroes from entering Oregon.
I lived in the Puget Sound area from 1975-2000. Seattle was a great place in the 70s and 80s, but now it is worse than Oregon.
I lived within walking distance of Puget Sound, on the Kitsap peninsula 1998-2000. I've done some research on the KKK in Oregon, and their activities here was pretty much focused against Catholics, in particular, Catholic education. There weren't enough blacks to go after. Oregon did have the sundown laws, though.
Kris: I lived in a shack at the cove on the southeastern end of Port Gamble Bay in 1982-83. Taking that Kingston-Edmonds ferry twice a day damn near did me in.
I used to go up to Port Gamble to walk my dog, beings that it was a former company town that had been gentrified and was quaint. I would also take the ferry to Vashon Island or downtown Seattle (have not been back since I moved away)to walk. If I asked for a free transfer when I boarded on my side, I could ride to Vashon Island and back for free, because they never checked if you actually changed ferries. Lots of nice parks to walk your dog up there...but nothing is worth the suffering they put us through in this part of the country.
Kris: I think the Port Gamble company town property was for sale when I lived across the bay from it. I grew to hate the ferries. Nowadays they are a broken down mess. Not enough staff for the boats (Covid forced vaccinations).
I went to Vashon Island once to get firewood. It is still a rainy hippie island last I heard.
Well I have certainly wasted my share of this life staring at a TV screen that had people running and jumping around on it ... baseball, football, basketball, hockey, golf, tennis, all kinds of Olympic sports, you name it. Hell, I would even watching Curling. I never went full fanatic about any specific one, but gave each one its turn, calmly obsessing over whatever playoff was happening at the time. And there always seemed to be one.
And then there was born an epiphany that opened my eyes for good. About 4 years ago there came a great fraudulent malady across the land that completely altered my perspective and made me realize the relative importance of everything ... a personal great reset if you will. I think it was the cardboard cutout people in the stands staring blankly back at me that woke me with a slap to the face, finally killing my interest in TV sports.
That being said, I must confess to sneaking a peak at beach volleyball now and then ... I am still human after all ;-). Thanks for another great piece, DJ.
It definitely has been wasted time for the most part, J. Lee. I don't know, maybe I'd feel differently if my teams had won a lot of championships. Thanks!
Oh I'm sure that girl lost your fathers baseball. Nah, she probably auctioned it off on Ebay for half a million dollars. You should do a search and sue her pants off.
A little more seriously, sports and politics do have a lot in common. They are both rigged, promote beer sales, and are full of brain-dead talking heads that make headlines, and every lame interview they conduct gets millions of views.
The only real difference is that some of the political rallies you can get into for free while sports games always have a ticket price. But in both cases you can stay out of the cold and watch everything from the comfort of your own living room, so long as you have paid the electric bill. (Maybe you can even watch both in the homeless shelters.)
Personally, I have been out of sports and politics for over 30 years now. I still do not know who won the world series or who is in the Super Bowl, which I assume is this weekend. I guess that makes me an AOTGA instead of an ASS.
What else do sports and politics have in common? The participants make ridiculous salaries, have to cater to the woke agenda, get to participate in Freemasonic rituals, and get invited to Epstein's Island.
They also get to hang out with pop singers every now and then.
Well, that girl would have done whatever she did with his baseball in the late 1920s, WW, so I doubt ebay was available to her lol. Good points. Thanks.
There is that connection we develop with sports and our fathers -- for me, it was Detroit even though we moved many states away in 1975.
But we did return for games five and six of the Tiger's world series in 1984.... an experience right up there with any, especially for a 15 year old kid. After the closing victory in game six, the city went crazy, even turning over vehicles. We were all briefly friends in the streets, just chugging beers, hollering and high-fiving. My father said savor it as some gentlemen on the streets of Detroit that handed me cans of beer, typically would be 'mugging' us.
living thousands of miles away, we never went to any more sports games in Detroit, but my father and I had the pleasure of watching some basketball and hockey championships on the television together over the next decades, up until about ten years ago always filled with bellies fully of alcohol.
Remained a devout Detroit sports fan ever since, especially the Lions who are winning and going far for the first time in over 30 years, but I've found myself wondering in years of late why it is that just a silly game can affect one so profoundly?
As to the 'fix' I had a feeling they would 'allow' the Lions to go far this year because for the first time I can recall probably since the Barry Sanders days, the major networks showed the Lions in their NFL commercials. The conspiracy widened a bit when inexplicably Tampa Bay failed to call a timeout at the end of the game last Sunday that would give them at least a minute shot of tying the game, but instead just let the clock run out and hit triple zeros
anyhow, watched some Lions games with the old man this year including the first playoff win, at his house because he is on oxygen now and cannot get around except with a walkers and I saw that playoff victory nearly brought tears to his eyes. Did not get the invite to the last playoff game, most definitely due to some F-bombs I dropped during the first playoff game which did not meet well with his wife.
jwslaw: I have a friend who grew up in Detroit. He told me that Alex Karras picked him up in his Corvette when my friend was hitchhiking. My friend said Karras was a very good guy.
Karras was one of the all-time greats. Like far too many White NFL legends, he somehow wasn't elected to the Hall of Fame, until they put him in posthumously in 2020. That's the kind of stuff that will be in my sports book, if I ever write it. Thanks, Timmy!
Sounds like the good ole days...hitchhiking and getting rides in Corvettes.
Running into quite a few folks from that originate from that area, all of which have a bit of a sparkle in their eye due to this Lions run. quite trivial in the grand scheme of things these days, but fun times nevertheless!
About a year after my dad's passing, I went to visit my brother who then provided me with a few articles from dad's briefcase. I discovered that my dad had kept the Little League scorebook (which by the way my mother helped author) from my glory years as a Little Leaguer. He kept this in his briefcase as a keepsake for years.
When I saw that scorebook, tears came into my eyes, and I could feel my father's love all over again.
Beautiful story, Hugger. You must treasure that. I wish I had my son's scorebooks from basketball- oddly, he seemed to peak at age 11 just like me. His sport was soccer- really prolific scorer. So glad that we got many of his highlights on video tape. I think I'd like to see my highlights, but not really sure. Being as fat as I was would take something away from the enjoyment. Thanks!
Thanks Don, I appreciate that you interact with all us followers, as it is a pleasant, momentary escape from the daily grind at the office to read your articles and rant a bit on the comments.
Was fortunate to have quite a few memorable experiences with my father and tried to produce the same for our children, but hopefully without as much of the family drama I encountered when young, which is perhaps a story told in the future. ... even thought about writing a book one day since it was far from mundane.
I used to suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome but Biden cured that for me! I had given up on national politics until Kennedy started his campaign. I still have enough naive optimism to vote for him.
I am reading Survival of the Richest. Great book but it infuriates me to hear about these failure-CEOs and ridiculous “non-profits” making all that money. Thank you for teaching me about Huey Long - we need him today!
I wonder if the guy who coined that one should be on the run? You know considering
what happened to Joan Rivers and then that unfortunate paddle boarding incident.
I mean, if I were him, or if he were I, or is it, if I was him, or were he me, then should he, not I, be looking over one shoulder? Certainly, under no circumstances would he/I, or any of us for that matter,
accept an invitation to paddle board on, or anywhere near, Long Island. That is the part of the equation which is most certain. Same same, for that unnamed individual who first insinuated a "Clinton body count".
That again became a kind of viral meme, which escaped a certain confine, and shouldn't be ascribed
to just one individual, but more-so as an idea which presented itself in the public consciousness, and which simply resolved itself into a single person's very unwitting and otherwise innocent, but dimly perceptive, mind to be shared with others of similar bent.
If there really is a "Big Mike," then that would bring the transgender agenda to its logical culmination. How ironic if the first "female" president wasn't really a woman? Thanks, Scott.
Yeah I'm kinda in the same boat as you. Of course both sports and politics are rigged and the folks watching are so brainless that they barely try to even hide it. But I can tell you exactly why I still do it. I watch sports for the simp!e thrill of marveling and the peak of human performance and I watch politics to marvel at the peak of human disgrace. What can I say, I'm fascinated...
Hey Don- Now that I know you're a baseball history fan, you might enjoy checking out my Baseball History Comes Alive website (https://www.baseballhistorycomesalive.com). It's rated as the No. 2 baseball history site on the internet (behind only Baseball Reference), with over 1400 baseball history essays and photo galleries, all categorized for easy access. Hope you'll check it out...would love to have you aboard! Gary Livacari PS: Great essay today (which I read on Lew Rockwell)...Really enjoyed it. You're a man after my own heart!
The ASSwipes of big pharma are working overtime on an mRNA injection specifically for ASS sufferers. It will double as a disease X life saver also. Not exactly like the candy, but close. The FDA and CDC have already approved this miracle drug since it falls under the how-bad-can-it-be-even-if-it-murders-millions category.
Please, spare us ASS victims from big pharma! Thanks, Crixcyon!
I heard they already have a Quaccine for Disease X. That is quite convenient so that when the sheeple start dropping they can blame it on the disease.
I'm afraid that they're getting serious about their final final solution.
There are still lots of open questions though about what it will look like.
They really do seem to have a large variety of ultra-tech tools at their disposal.
They have I believe earthquake/tsunami machines, weather making machines, mind-control machines, fire and lightning DEWs, and of course the bio-weapons, and standard
kinetic, nuclear and chemical weapons, then the whole UFO / holographs and super GMO hybrid races.
btw. we didn't abandon Don's show, just have to catch it as we can on podcast.
Mary Maxwell was once again a brilliant guest on the show.
Just imagine having her for a teacher!
Mary is great, Scott. I can indeed picture her as a teacher. Thanks!
The final solution will look like Chapter 13 of the Apocalypse.
It will be promoted by KC tight end Mr. Pfizer and the swifties will all glad line up.
I'm sure your father was very proud of you, he just didn't know how to tell you. Better than not being told you are loved at all. Thats what I grew up with. We would watch the Green Bay Packers play on Sundays and the local wrestling. On that good old black and white. Also Ma and Pa Kettle, plus 3 Stooges and Laurel and Hardy. No one these days seem to know any of these shows. TV was only on during the evenings or when weather was inclement. Otherwise, it was "get outside". We should feel lucky to have had a decent childhood, poor or not, but kids these days spend their time on their cells. Not much hope for the youth of today. But thats been the plan, all along now.
Yes, we spent a lot of time outside, didn't we? Never watched Ma and Pa Kettle, but love Laurel and Hardy, and still watch the Stooges every Saturday on ME TV. Thanks, Fran!
ME TV is great. Its really the only television station I watch.
Fran: Brad Pesek was in my class in Lincoln, NE. His father was a wrestler and his grandfather was the very famous wrestler John Pesek. You can look him up on the Internet. Brad was a lot like his father and grandfather. He was a natural athlete and still in great shape at 72.
Interesting. I do not remember John or Jack Pesek at all; don't know if they wrestled in our area. Milwaukee had The Crusher, of course, being a big beer drinker that he was. I do remember Mad Dog Vachon, Verne Gagne, Dick the Bruiser, Baron Von Raschke (The Claw), Nick Bockwinkel, Larry Hennig, Johnny Valentine, The Shiek, Wahoo McDaniel, and there were probably others from all those wrestling shows we watched. The Crusher was a South Milwaukee native and did work as a brick layer, which my father was. I think they did work together at some point. We also had John Matuszak, who was in football and acted in some movies. Big dude, 6' 8", you couldn't miss him. John was a real party animal. He died from opiates, supposedly. People from our town really fawned over him. We also spent time watching Roller Derby too; some pretty good fights. Good old days, Timmy!
Fran: I remember the names Verne Gagne, The Shiek, and Matuszak. I never went to a wrestling match but my friend Patrick did. He and Brad Pesek would go to Omaha, and in Lincoln, to help Brad's Dad and the other wrestlers.
Cage matches were big back then. Patrick helped Brad put together the buckets of fake blood.
The wrestlers were gymnasts and actors. They were risking injury every time that they got in the ring. Sure, it was all choreographed but people got hurt.
Yes, those flops and theatrical fighting cause many injuries. And check out the life expectancies of most of these wrestlers. They tend to die before their time. Big John Studd's child was in the same preschool as my sister-in-law's daughter. Died very young. Thanks.
I'd like to know when all this fakeness started. Probably goes way back. The boxing matches were faked too. Ali being one Big Fake if I ever saw one. I never attended a real live wrestling match, all was watched on TV. People went crazy over this stuff, but its what we had. Guess it was considered old fashioned fun and showed humans' animalistic tendencies. You can catch The Crusher on YT if interested. I got into wrestling in the 80s with The Ultimate Warrior being my favorite. He was "hot" too. lol Sure, they got hurt, like in football, but for that kind of money, they sold themselves. For the Bigs.
Fran: Here's the link to John Pesek the wrestler:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Pesek
The article shows how wrestling changed over the decades. The photo of John Pesek looks a lot like his grandson, Brad, who was in my class.
Decades ago I read an article about Andre the Giant in Sports Illustrated. That wrestler was amazing. He thought nothing of drinking a whole case of beer or wine and eating every dish on the menu.
John was a good looking man. Interesting about Andre. I'm sure a lot of them drank. They must have been naturally big, not beefed up with steroids.
I was born in 1936 and as a kid ,i did play with balls often in the school yard .But as I became a teen I lost interest playing with a ball ,especially watching someone playing with it .That does not mean that I had no interest in activities that where far ,far more interesting than chasing a ball around .My interests was concentrated in activities that I was able to do myself .To my mind adults being obsessed with ball playing [ watching ] is childish ,they never grew up .They miss all the far more interesting activities ,that I call sport ,simply all the stuff one can do that does not require a ball .but we can do with our own body and some equipment ,to make it possible .I had an adult friend who wold travel to the other end of the continent to watch a ball game ,an obsession similar to fanatics of a religion .I could not stand his whining anymore about HIS TEAM ,winning winning winning .I did feel sorry for him ,that his mind was wrapped up in a rubber ball .So I don't see him anymore . All fanatics ball game watchers or religion cultists have my sympathy as long as they stay far away from me .
joe stuerz 85: So you are 86 soon. Your world is the world of my parents. My Dad was born in 1931 and Mom in early 1932. I was born twenty years later.
My Dad loved football. He was a salesman on the road half the year. To stay out of the bars, he'd go to the movies and NFL games on Sundays out on the road.
My Dad was all about leadership. Sports, as well as business and rarely politics, shows leadership or not. Dad was a big fan of Vince Lombardi. He knew him. Dad respected hard work, dedication, and leadership in any endeavor. Chasing a ball is just one of them.
Chasing the ball correctly is the result of hard work, discipline, and leadership. I still look for that in sports, entertainment, politics, work.
You are right that it is not about winning all the time. Sometimes shit happens. Nowadays I focus on the process of the endeavor, not the end product.
No Timmy,I was born in 1936 and now I'm 87 .The 85 is outdated .I admire the ones who are able to do acrobatics with a ball ,but feel sorry for them at the same time ,because they miss out on so many activities that are far ,far far more satisfying and suited for an adult .
joe: I think we are both beyond our expiration dates.
I can't argue with you, Joe. Fan is short for fanatic, after all. That's why I admitted that I have ASS. It's like kicking heroin. Thanks!
I grew up much the same as you, just a few years older. My dad enjoyed sports and seeing me play, but was WWII/Korea vet, and all business. I was insane about all 3 sports and participated from age 7 until 46. My last hurrah at 46, was semi-pro league for off-season AAA players in central CA. I even boxed on an AAU team for a yer.
Like you, as a kid, I could name every player at every position on every baseball team. I was almost as good at that as with the NBA and NFL. I was from Oklahoma, so really worshipped Mickey Mantle. I would tell kids that I was his young cousin (liar).
I never payed attention to politics until Clinton came along, which alerted me to the fact that politicians can screw up my country. Then I became addicted.
Now I stay up with stuff, but not an addiction, but more of a curiosity as I see things playing out as written in scriptural prophecy. I gave up watching all sports except football, but my enthusiasm in infinitesimal to what it used to be. Too much cult of personality, chest pounding, 1st down signalling, military promoting, commercial interruption, crummy commentators, political correctness.
I'm sure there are millions of us, Synickel. That's impressive that you were still playing at that level at age 46. I seem to have peaked at age 11. While obese somehow. Thanks!
You should have applied that mind to biochemistry. You could have a made a million in the 1980's
I'll bet I'm the only person left who remembers that when Teddy threw his hat into the ring in 1980, Neal Goldschmidt (former mayor of Portland OR, and then Transportation Secretary under Carter) threatened to withhold transportation monies from cities that had mayors who supported Kennedy in the primaries. Goldschmidt later became one of Oregon's worst governors. He became persona non grata when the news came out that he raped a 13-year-old babysitter in 1973. This was an open secret in Oregon politics for years...demonstrating the corruption in Oregon politics, and the total control of the state by the democratic machine.
Like you Donald, I've always had a keen interest in history and politics. My first presidential election when I could vote, I voted Ed Clark for president. I voted for Perot, Russel Means, Nadar...never once voting main parties until 2016. By 2008 I had given up on voting. I did vote for Trump in 2016, only because I was TERRIFIED by the thought of Killery as president. I think Trump is an actor playing a part...but still better than Killery. Since I dropped out of pop-culture decades ago...all I knew about Trump was what I read standing in line at the grocery store. All I knew was that he was a rich guy in NYC who dumped his wife for Marla Maples. Still, anyone was better than Killery, to my way of thinking. Like you Donald, I'm addicted to politics, and I still pay attention to meaningless primaries. Now I'm starting to feel: anyone but Nutty Niki.
You do have a good memory, Kris. I'd forgotten that tidbit about Goldschmidt. Carter completely lost me with his hostility towards Teddy. He made it a point to declare that he wasn't going to talk about Chappaquiddick. Regularly. But hey, he supposedly was still banging nails in for Habitat for Humanity well into his nineties. That's more that most of them ever did. Thanks!
Kris: I remember Neal Goldschmidt (goldshit). Oregon has always been suspect. The KKK was rampant in Oregon in the 1920s and the original Oregon State Constitution forbade Negroes from entering Oregon.
I lived in the Puget Sound area from 1975-2000. Seattle was a great place in the 70s and 80s, but now it is worse than Oregon.
I lived within walking distance of Puget Sound, on the Kitsap peninsula 1998-2000. I've done some research on the KKK in Oregon, and their activities here was pretty much focused against Catholics, in particular, Catholic education. There weren't enough blacks to go after. Oregon did have the sundown laws, though.
Kris: I lived in a shack at the cove on the southeastern end of Port Gamble Bay in 1982-83. Taking that Kingston-Edmonds ferry twice a day damn near did me in.
I used to go up to Port Gamble to walk my dog, beings that it was a former company town that had been gentrified and was quaint. I would also take the ferry to Vashon Island or downtown Seattle (have not been back since I moved away)to walk. If I asked for a free transfer when I boarded on my side, I could ride to Vashon Island and back for free, because they never checked if you actually changed ferries. Lots of nice parks to walk your dog up there...but nothing is worth the suffering they put us through in this part of the country.
Kris: I think the Port Gamble company town property was for sale when I lived across the bay from it. I grew to hate the ferries. Nowadays they are a broken down mess. Not enough staff for the boats (Covid forced vaccinations).
I went to Vashon Island once to get firewood. It is still a rainy hippie island last I heard.
another Leo Frankenstein. Where are those lynch mobs when you need them.
I like that acronym.
Ironic that I spent much of my youth attempting to get ASS, isn't it? Thanks, Rhonda!
Indeed. :)
It is Self Incriminating.
Well I have certainly wasted my share of this life staring at a TV screen that had people running and jumping around on it ... baseball, football, basketball, hockey, golf, tennis, all kinds of Olympic sports, you name it. Hell, I would even watching Curling. I never went full fanatic about any specific one, but gave each one its turn, calmly obsessing over whatever playoff was happening at the time. And there always seemed to be one.
And then there was born an epiphany that opened my eyes for good. About 4 years ago there came a great fraudulent malady across the land that completely altered my perspective and made me realize the relative importance of everything ... a personal great reset if you will. I think it was the cardboard cutout people in the stands staring blankly back at me that woke me with a slap to the face, finally killing my interest in TV sports.
That being said, I must confess to sneaking a peak at beach volleyball now and then ... I am still human after all ;-). Thanks for another great piece, DJ.
~~ j ~~
It definitely has been wasted time for the most part, J. Lee. I don't know, maybe I'd feel differently if my teams had won a lot of championships. Thanks!
Oh I'm sure that girl lost your fathers baseball. Nah, she probably auctioned it off on Ebay for half a million dollars. You should do a search and sue her pants off.
A little more seriously, sports and politics do have a lot in common. They are both rigged, promote beer sales, and are full of brain-dead talking heads that make headlines, and every lame interview they conduct gets millions of views.
The only real difference is that some of the political rallies you can get into for free while sports games always have a ticket price. But in both cases you can stay out of the cold and watch everything from the comfort of your own living room, so long as you have paid the electric bill. (Maybe you can even watch both in the homeless shelters.)
Personally, I have been out of sports and politics for over 30 years now. I still do not know who won the world series or who is in the Super Bowl, which I assume is this weekend. I guess that makes me an AOTGA instead of an ASS.
What else do sports and politics have in common? The participants make ridiculous salaries, have to cater to the woke agenda, get to participate in Freemasonic rituals, and get invited to Epstein's Island.
They also get to hang out with pop singers every now and then.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
Well, that girl would have done whatever she did with his baseball in the late 1920s, WW, so I doubt ebay was available to her lol. Good points. Thanks.
There is that connection we develop with sports and our fathers -- for me, it was Detroit even though we moved many states away in 1975.
But we did return for games five and six of the Tiger's world series in 1984.... an experience right up there with any, especially for a 15 year old kid. After the closing victory in game six, the city went crazy, even turning over vehicles. We were all briefly friends in the streets, just chugging beers, hollering and high-fiving. My father said savor it as some gentlemen on the streets of Detroit that handed me cans of beer, typically would be 'mugging' us.
living thousands of miles away, we never went to any more sports games in Detroit, but my father and I had the pleasure of watching some basketball and hockey championships on the television together over the next decades, up until about ten years ago always filled with bellies fully of alcohol.
Remained a devout Detroit sports fan ever since, especially the Lions who are winning and going far for the first time in over 30 years, but I've found myself wondering in years of late why it is that just a silly game can affect one so profoundly?
As to the 'fix' I had a feeling they would 'allow' the Lions to go far this year because for the first time I can recall probably since the Barry Sanders days, the major networks showed the Lions in their NFL commercials. The conspiracy widened a bit when inexplicably Tampa Bay failed to call a timeout at the end of the game last Sunday that would give them at least a minute shot of tying the game, but instead just let the clock run out and hit triple zeros
anyhow, watched some Lions games with the old man this year including the first playoff win, at his house because he is on oxygen now and cannot get around except with a walkers and I saw that playoff victory nearly brought tears to his eyes. Did not get the invite to the last playoff game, most definitely due to some F-bombs I dropped during the first playoff game which did not meet well with his wife.
great work as always Don --TY
jwslaw: I have a friend who grew up in Detroit. He told me that Alex Karras picked him up in his Corvette when my friend was hitchhiking. My friend said Karras was a very good guy.
Karras was one of the all-time greats. Like far too many White NFL legends, he somehow wasn't elected to the Hall of Fame, until they put him in posthumously in 2020. That's the kind of stuff that will be in my sports book, if I ever write it. Thanks, Timmy!
Very cool story. TY
Sounds like the good ole days...hitchhiking and getting rides in Corvettes.
Running into quite a few folks from that originate from that area, all of which have a bit of a sparkle in their eye due to this Lions run. quite trivial in the grand scheme of things these days, but fun times nevertheless!
I appreciate you sharing your own wonderful remembrances, jwslaw. Thanks!
If only we could get the Woke and the Broke to root for the same team and have them win the Super Bowl. It might avert a Civil War.
Snap out of the government mind control lol. Thanks, Darpa!
Operation Mockingbird, to be more specific. (I wonder if the NFL was developedby the Tavistock Institute.
About a year after my dad's passing, I went to visit my brother who then provided me with a few articles from dad's briefcase. I discovered that my dad had kept the Little League scorebook (which by the way my mother helped author) from my glory years as a Little Leaguer. He kept this in his briefcase as a keepsake for years.
When I saw that scorebook, tears came into my eyes, and I could feel my father's love all over again.
Beautiful story, Hugger. You must treasure that. I wish I had my son's scorebooks from basketball- oddly, he seemed to peak at age 11 just like me. His sport was soccer- really prolific scorer. So glad that we got many of his highlights on video tape. I think I'd like to see my highlights, but not really sure. Being as fat as I was would take something away from the enjoyment. Thanks!
Thanks Don, I appreciate that you interact with all us followers, as it is a pleasant, momentary escape from the daily grind at the office to read your articles and rant a bit on the comments.
Was fortunate to have quite a few memorable experiences with my father and tried to produce the same for our children, but hopefully without as much of the family drama I encountered when young, which is perhaps a story told in the future. ... even thought about writing a book one day since it was far from mundane.
I appreciate your support, my friend. Thanks!
I used to suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome but Biden cured that for me! I had given up on national politics until Kennedy started his campaign. I still have enough naive optimism to vote for him.
I am reading Survival of the Richest. Great book but it infuriates me to hear about these failure-CEOs and ridiculous “non-profits” making all that money. Thank you for teaching me about Huey Long - we need him today!
I appreciate the kind words about my book, AnnekeB. Thanks!
Ah, yes, "Big Mike".
That one sure took off like a rocket.
I wonder if the guy who coined that one should be on the run? You know considering
what happened to Joan Rivers and then that unfortunate paddle boarding incident.
I mean, if I were him, or if he were I, or is it, if I was him, or were he me, then should he, not I, be looking over one shoulder? Certainly, under no circumstances would he/I, or any of us for that matter,
accept an invitation to paddle board on, or anywhere near, Long Island. That is the part of the equation which is most certain. Same same, for that unnamed individual who first insinuated a "Clinton body count".
That again became a kind of viral meme, which escaped a certain confine, and shouldn't be ascribed
to just one individual, but more-so as an idea which presented itself in the public consciousness, and which simply resolved itself into a single person's very unwitting and otherwise innocent, but dimly perceptive, mind to be shared with others of similar bent.
If there really is a "Big Mike," then that would bring the transgender agenda to its logical culmination. How ironic if the first "female" president wasn't really a woman? Thanks, Scott.
Scott: I hear that the Obama's are looking for a new chef. LOL! A dangerous career move.
Same here with sports and politics, plus movies.
There are lots of us, Howard. Thanks!
Yeah I'm kinda in the same boat as you. Of course both sports and politics are rigged and the folks watching are so brainless that they barely try to even hide it. But I can tell you exactly why I still do it. I watch sports for the simp!e thrill of marveling and the peak of human performance and I watch politics to marvel at the peak of human disgrace. What can I say, I'm fascinated...
That's it, Deuce. Thanks!
Hey Don- Now that I know you're a baseball history fan, you might enjoy checking out my Baseball History Comes Alive website (https://www.baseballhistorycomesalive.com). It's rated as the No. 2 baseball history site on the internet (behind only Baseball Reference), with over 1400 baseball history essays and photo galleries, all categorized for easy access. Hope you'll check it out...would love to have you aboard! Gary Livacari PS: Great essay today (which I read on Lew Rockwell)...Really enjoyed it. You're a man after my own heart!
I will check it out, Gary. Thanks!