slip sliding away

slip sliding away.....

the you know the nearer your destination

the more you're slip sliding away  (Paul Simon)

The circus trial and conviction of Donald Trump will have a rippling effect on the American brand that will be felt for a very long time. We are the central American banana Republic that we used to laugh about....a land where dictators rewrite the laws and use judges to imprison their opponents.

Statute of limitations expired ?  extend them

Alleged offenses are misdemeanors ?  upgrade them to felonies.

Defendant has the right to know the charges ?  not today.

there is a laundry list of grievances which will be grounds for appeal , but that will come after the election. The here and now is that the demonrats entire campaign will now be focused on labeling Donald Trump as a convicted felon.....i think it will backfire......the two sides are well drawn.....very few people will ever switch sides......this is and really has been a battle for the independent voters in the swing states.....i think those people are waking up today and may be very concerned about the precedent set yesterday.....November will be an opportunity to say NO to this slide to irrelevance.

The US Flag is not to be flown upside down EXCEPT as a signal of dire distress in instance of extreme danger to life or property....that to me sums up the past 3 1/2 years.....but even if you disagree...that opinion falls under free speech....we can agree to disagree......in any event the Flag code is not enforceable.......if it offends you that's okay......i'm offended by BLM and Palestinian Flags....

research shows that the Appeal to Heaven flag was designed by Colonel Joseph Reed, who served as the personal secretary to George Washington. Originally commissioned for use on six military cruiser ships, the flag was adopted on October 21, 1775. It became the official Massachusetts navy flag in 1776. In 1968 it was featured on a US postage stamp. 

Unlike the Swastika in Germany, the Appeal to Heaven flag has not been outlawed or banned (yet). The problem is that some of the Jan 6 peaceful demonstrators carried the flag, and so the left has tried to recategorize the flag as a symbol of  extremism and white supremacy. Is this different than labeling fans of a sports team as criminals because the local street gangs wear NFL merchandise ?

Congress has authorized Billions to our ally Israel in their war with Hamas, but Joe biden has witheld precision bombs in an effort to appease the arab left of the democrat party. election interference anyone?

Congress has also authorized Billions to our ally Ukraine in their war with our rival Russia, but Joe biden has told the Ukraine they do not have "permission" to fire these weapons in areas where Russian troops are assembled ( i wish i was kidding)

if these are not examples of a nation in decline then i do not know what is........2+3=BEEER

God only knows
God makes his plan
The information's unavailable
To the mortal man
We work our jobs
Collect our pay
Believe we're gliding down the highway
When in fact we're slip slidin' away

won't you try

 Won't you try

Won't you try
Find a way to need someone
Find a way to see
Find a way to need someone and the sunshine will set you free
Won't you try
Won't you try
Won't you try
With love before we're gone

Saturday afternoon
Saturday afternoon   ( Paul Kantner)

The Spring Lake 5 miler has always been the unofficial kickoff to summer for me......i would say i have run at least 30 of the last 40 years.....i missed 4 straight while in the Navy and of course the morning after Matteau Matteau Matteau in 94. 

I had a decent sleep last night and i am hoping to jog/limp walk through the course today with visions of BAR A dancing in my head........

i haven't talked hockey since the end of the regular season....and i ain't gonna start now

When your head is feeling fine
You can ride inside our car
I will give you caps of blue and silver sunlight for your hair
All that soon will be is what you need to see, my love
Won't you try
Won't you try

layin back in an old saloon

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My makeup is dry

and it clags on my chin
I'm drownin' my sorrows in whiskey and gin
The lion tamer's whip doesn't crack anymore
The lions, they won't fight and the tigers won't roar ( Dave Davies)

i must admit is was a little sad watching the Preakness stakes yesterday, even though i had picked Seize the Grey and was delighted to see Mister D Wayne Lukas win again.

The sadness came from watching the onetime great event slide into the pit of irrelevance.

The Baltimore Sun said the track refused to release the attendance figures but they estimated the crowd as approx 40,000....i looked it up......when me and Rocco were there in 1991 they had 96,000.

In 91 they had a stage in the center of the infield and the radio station had local rock bands play short sets in between races......you could bring coolers onto the infield and beach chairs......it was predominantly college aged kids having a blast and it really had the vibe of all day keg party in the sun.....vendors walked around selling black eyed Susan cocktails and topless chicken fights were the Coed special of the day....

Strange tidbit.....this week the State of Maryland announced the sale of $400 million in bonds to gut and renovate Pimlico racetrack.....they are going to close next May after the 150th running on the Preakness and expect to reopen for the race in May 2027.

Belmont Park as we know is closed for the same renovation, the Stakes will be held in Saratoga for this and next years race. The entire grandstand is being taken down and track and infield are being redesigned to the tune of $455 million.

This on the heels of Churchill Downs spending $200 million to redevelop the Paddock, and another $300 million for a hotel/casino on the grounds.

all this for a dying industry....what am i missing ?  I understand that sportsbooks have pumped money and life into the industry, but if everyone bets on their phones and nobody goes to the track (except once a year) do they really need to build a Taj Mahal around the oval ?

Let's all drink to the death of a clown

So won't someone help me to break up this crown?
Let's all drink to the death of a clown

In a land that's known as Freedom

 How can such a thing be fair

Won't you please come to Chicago
For the help that we can bring (CSNY)

I have a lot to say and so very little time to say it....literally......my good friends at Blog2print are going out of Business and i have to publish the 3rd volume of this blog into hardcover  by Monday....so i need to address some elephants in the room and document some things for posterity.

I have been observing the news and reporting on some of the most important occurrences that i feel are stepping stones to a second civil war, and on May 11 2024 i feel we have crossed the great divide....it is inevitable......we are well passed the point of no return.

The Roman Empire lasted 1,000 years....the Ottaman Empire over 600.....and in school we covered both in a fortnight. This American Expirement, this land of Freedom; will turn 250 on July 4th 2026. (That is if we make it) The original premise of huddled masses yearning to be free was a good one and it worked. But like any great house from history....a divided one can't stand......and the fastest way to become a house divided is to let in people that do not share your core values and principles. I am not talking cultural differences, we are a melting pot and that's what has made us so special. I am talking about people that Hate you and what you stand for , people that do not wish to assimilate but rather divide and conquer. The Muslims and the Chinese have been playing the long game for 2,000 plus years......every generation takes a step forward while changing a piece of their adversaries for ever. Some generations took giant leaps and bounds.....

The transition of America from where we were on September 12th 2001 to where we are now should shake everyone on the planet to their core. As a nation we have elected the squad, women who have pledged allegiance to Palastine over the US; and they are serving in Congress. We have turned our back on our most vulnerable ally in the Middle East and we have celebrated protesters' wearing Hamas headbands on the Campus grounds of Colombia , Harvard and all the rest. All this in 23 years since these same terrorists attacked and killed close to 3,000 innocent civilians on our soil. Last week was a turning point for me too.....i have crossed over.....from the alarmist ringing the bell to the survivalist with an action plan. I will still blog as long as i am breathing, but i am heading to high ground.

From the bottom of the ocean
To the mountains on the moon
Won't you please come to Chicago?
No one else can take your place

Occupy Wall St, The George Floyd riots and the BLM marches were the precursor to what is to follow, they were the testing ground to see how far they could push us, what they could get away with and what society was willing to just accept. Unfortunately this blue print is in the hands of the Anti-Semitic mobs that have been terrorizing Colleges (for now), and will be moving into the cities after graduation. This summer will be a big pot of water on a stove...simmering and beginning to bubble until it Boils over on the Shores of Lake Michigan on Monday August 19th at the Democratic national Convention.

The fuse has already been lit, i expect an explosion of Anti-American behavior to swallow and engulf Joe Biden and his friends, because these people are not the Democrats we grew up with...they are not concerned about the "party" , they want chaos and destruction and as they like to chant "Death to America". 

We can change the world
Re-arrange the world
It's dying, if you believe in justice
It's dying, and if you believe in freedom
It's dying, let a man live his own life
It's dying, rules and regulations, who needs them
Throw them out the door

 I hope to live long enough to see the looks on the faces of the Homosexuals' for Gaza when the mob takes control and they learn that they are about to loose from the neck up for offending Allah. I hope to see at least one press conference where the young ladies of America are lobbying against arranged marriages, being forced to wear Hijabs and veils from head to toe and losing their driving privileges' and right to vote.

I hope to witness the socialist mobs that spent generations living off Capitalists handouts , welfare, unemployment, food stamps etc etc when they realize that there aren't even crumbs to share when living in a dictatorship.

I think Chicago will be the official Ft Sumptor moment , i expect the majority of the cities to devolve into chaos , I can envision martial law and.......wait for it........the cancelling of all elections.....we already are a banana republic so what's stopping the dead and dying from grasping the reigns of power by any means available? i have never tried to tell anyone what they should do, or what is best for them and their familes, but after 10 days of deep thought and self examination i think i have to go where the chilly winds don't blow......Jesus was an only son, and love his only concept.....Slainte - Peace Out 

where have you been

 my blue eyed son (Dylan)

that's a long answer.

I have been to Australia and Diego Garcia and a lot of places in between.....some thanks to my adventurous spirit but mainly thanks to my uncle Sam and the Unites States Navy.

I have been to Israel and Spain,  and Sicily, Turkey and Greece....some for an extended period of time and others for a shot of Raki and a brief hello.

I've been to Venice and Rome and Naples and Trieste.....i was up and down the French Riviera for the Summer of 1988......Cannes, St Tropez, and from Marseille to Monaco....i drank in the finest Hotels in Nice and in a roadside farmhouse outside of Toulon.

I crossed the Atlantic on Guided Destroyer and sailed through the Med, The Rock of Gibraltar, the Straits of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf...I was part of a Battle Group that crossed Khadaffy's line of Death and lived to tell about it. I sailed from the North Atlantic to the Coast of South America and everywhere in between......but i never crossed the equator and became a shellback...but i did live in Pascagoula Mississippi and was in drydock in the Ingalls shipyard...famous for the alien abduction of 1973  

I spent a night in the Nairobi Hilton and thought i was Ernest Hemmingway on the eve of a Hunt.

I ve been to the Hemmingway House in Key West and the birthplace of Jack Kerouac in Lowell Mass.

Ive been to Golden Gate Park and the Haight-Ashbury and i stood on the steps of the Grateful Dead House......

Ive been to Neal Cassady's favorite bar on the outskirts of Denver and i rode the rails from NY to LA and through the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico. I drank a beer on the Santa Monica pier and stared off into the end of the World.

Ive been to Wrigley and Fenway , to Shea and Yankee Stadium pre 1975...ive been to Coors Field and Dodger Stadium, Camden Yards and the Old Vet in Philly.....I saw the Nats at RFK and the White Sox at the New Commiskey, and although i never saw the Jays, i did see Doug Flutie throw 6 TD's in the Skydome against the Argonauts.

I saw the HABS in the Forum and the Maple Leafs in their beloved Garden..I saw the Whalers before they left Hartford and i hope to see them someday soon in Raleigh.... .I had season tix in the blue Seats for a decade..I saw the  Bruins in  Boston on quite a few occasions...some in the Old Gahden and some in the New one...., the BlackHawks in the newly opened United Center but I never been to Detroit.......but I did see St Francis in the New Dorp bubble that Nicky Fotiu helped build and i am eternally grateful I did.

I saw Navy play at Annapolis and the Black Knights play at West Point from the Bar in the Michie Room...I saw the two teams play each other multiple times in multiple stadiums including the 100th anniversary game at the Vet.....I saw Notre Dame at South Bend and attended the Worlds Largest Cocktail Party in Jacksonville and the Florida-Georgia game. I saw Harvard vs Yale from New Haven and Penn St, USC, Fla State and others at the Kickoff classics at Giants Stadium.

I saw the Reggie Jackson hit 3 homers to win the World Series and the Lombardi trophy awarded in Tampa. I saw Mark Messier Raise the Stanley Cup over his head and lay to rest a 54 year old curse, but first i saw Stephane Matteau make sure he got that opportunity ( at 4;24 of double OT on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend 5/27/94).

Ive been to the Kentucky Derby, The Preakness and multiple Belmont Stakes.....The Wood, Travis and the Florida Derby and I was at the Breeders Cup in my Hometown Track in 2007.

ive seen more concerts than the brain can recall but some highlights were the Stones, The Who, Bob Dylan and the Clash , Neil Young and David Allan Coe, Hot Tuna and CSNY, The Band after Robbie and the Wailers after Bob....Charlie Daniels, Willie Nelson, Marshall Tucker and the Outlaws, but sadly Skynyrd long after Ronnie....Simon & Garfunkel at Shea and Central Park, Jackson Browne , Tom Petty, The Eagles and all the No Nukes participants , and i was at the 30th anniversary concert for Bob Dylan ......but perhaps my finest blessing was the 100 + times i was in an arena to see Jerry Garcia with the Dead or solo and i am grateful i was able to attend a few shows with my wife at MSG less than 2 years before his departure...we saw the Grateful Dead and the JGB and i am sure glad we did.

I packed a lot into 59 years.....and i am sure i have omitted a lot.......just wanted to put some of it down in black and white before early onset dementia sets in....Cheers

And still

 those voices are calling from far away

Wake you up in the middle of the night just to hear them say

"Welcome to the Hotel California (Henley-Felder-Frey)

so 47 years ago this week the Eagles single Hotel California topped the charts......May 1977.....where in God's name does the time go ? I remember hearing that song on the radio everywhere i went as a 12-13 year old lad.......76th street stairs....Shore Rd, Bliss Park, Riis Park,......I wasn't a big Eagles guy at the time......i was indifferent towards the band.....liked some songs, but did not take them too seriously......i grew to appreciate their music years later....but in the spring and summer of 1977 those opening chords were ever present and distinct....and it was a longer song......and nobody dared turn the dial when it was on........it was a different world back then....packs of teenagers and young adults were hanging on most corners and inside every schoolyard.....society was attached at the hip to their radios......and in the warm weather the rolled down windows of a passing car amplified the fabric of a generation.....rare was the individual cassette tape or 8 track.....in Brooklyn it was WNEW or WPLJ......looking back on it, that was unifying in it's own way........today everyone marches to their own drum  or ipod.........i don't have to guess, i know i am old...but can it really be almost 50 years ? 

Last thing I remember, I was running for the door
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before
"Relax, " said the night man, "We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave"

I can't twist the truth

it knows no regulation

Handful of senators don't pass legislation (Barry McGuire) 

just some facts....

Columbia cancelled their Graduation Ceremony.

Brown University and other schools brokered deals with the Mob and agreed to hold votes on Divesting from Israel in the fall.

Protesters across the city and country desecrated WWI & WWII memorials with spray paint, burnt American flags and draped statues of George Washington in Palestinian Flags.

George Washington University asked for the DC Police to intervene, so far the DC Police have ignored this request.

at UNC the faculty have threatened to withhold grades for all students...UNLESS....the students that were suspended for breaking school rules during violent protests are granted amnesty.

and at UCLA...the DA has seized videotape and vowed to leave no stone unturned to bring the guilty parties to justice.......he was talking about the counter protesters that tried to break up the Anti Israel encampment.

When human respect is disintegratin'
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin'

And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
How you don't believe
We're on the eve of destruction

annual derby rant 2024

 The rant was almost cancelled this year when Old Alvarez was unlawfully detained , but he is back to drink JUST A TOUCH of the Jack Daniels to HONOR MARIE .....i offered him a shot of DORNOCH that MYSTIK DAN brought back from the SIERRA LEONE, but he prefers the DOMESTIC PRODUCT. Of course the TRACK PHANTOM from WEST SARATOGA objected ....he considers himself a real SOCIETY MAN because he's friends with GRAND MO THE FIRST..he promised everyone an EPIC RIDE with his new CATALYTIC converter, but he wasn't even CATCHING FREEDOM with that old car...truth be told it was ENDLESSLY staling....it was JUST STEEL....not a STRONGHOLD .........alvarez was fighting with the computer when  he demanded to know what was T O PASSWORD......I admire his FIERCENESS.....his RESILIENCE and his spirit that stays FOREVER YOUNG.........and that's the play today 

17-19-11 , but alas i have been wrong in the past.

where have you gone, Joe Dimaggio ?

 Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you

Woo, woo, woo ( Paul Simon)

i believe today is day 10 since the POTUS was seen on camera, yesterday he was supposedly inside a Delaware school with Steven Spielberg, and they were filming a big glitzy campaign commercial......no actual video evidence to support this......i hope they took some time outs to pray for the hostages...........and by that i mean the janitors at Columbia not the jews in ghaza ( we know they are dead).

as the nation is further divided, as college campuses are illegally occupied by foreign agitators and as enrolled students are violating the law and threatening the safety and right to exist of their fellow jewish students....the President and his giggling sidekick fool are nowhere to be seen or heard.......KJP and doctor jill are running the country and the main stream media seems fine with that.

Christopher Wray now swears the FBI does not monitor protests.......maybe he forgot how regular citizens had their ATM records seized by the FBI and they were interrogated as to why they were within 100 miles of the nations capital on January 6th ? 

What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson?
Joltin' Joe has left and gone away
Hey, hey, hey

Hey, hey, hey 

doesn't have a point of view

Knows not where he's going to
Isn't he a bit like you and me?
Nowhere man please listen
You don't know what you're missing

Nowhere man, the world is at your command (Lennon/Mcartney)

The Colleges and Universities are in a state of turmoil ....Riots, illegal encampments, occupying school buildings by force, detaining janitors....all in the name of an Anti-Semitic movement that is bought and paid for by George Soros and the CCP.

Where is Joe Biden ? 

This is an election year after all....surely  the Democratic nominee has a thought or concern or warning or even some reassurance he wants to offer to the American People  .........no ?   Cricketts ?  ( and i am not talking about the little puppy that the Devil Woman Kristy Noem shot to death)....the POTUS released a statement through a white house spokesperson......ho hum.....support for Israel is iron clad.......no place for antisemitism ....yawn.....same ol silly warning to Iran....DON'T.....blah blah....

and what about the Herbrew Nero ? Where in the name of Abraham has Chucky Schumer been ?  it's often said in Washington DC that the most dangerous place to be is the space between Chuck Schumer and Microphone...but not lately.....the little sniveling rat with his glasses hanging off his pointy nose has not had a Sunday Press Conference or a soap box dissertation in weeks....he hasn't rushed to the Columbia Campus like Speaker Johnson or visited NYJew or any of the other protest sights........but we shouldn't be surprised......remember barry hussein and his lead from behind policy...the great spoonjiah never met a crisis he couldn't ignore until it was resolved before taking a side .

say what you will about the African't Americans....but if these colleges were being occupied by the KKK and the black students were being harassed and told they are not welcome........well, Sharpton, Jessie and all the clowns from the Ringling bros would spring into action in defense of their own........amazing how Jewish leadership is content to hide its' head in the sand .....will be interesting to see come November if they go behind the curtain and pull the lever for the same people that left them out on a limb.

He's a real nowhere man
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody

Making all his nowhere plans for nobody 

on this date

 Located at 26 Wall Street in New York City's Financial District, Federal Hall is the birthplace of American Government. Formerly a British colonial city hall, in 1789 it was reconstructed and became the seat of the new American government. On April 30th of that year, a crowd assembled in front of its second floor balcony to watch George Washington take the oath of office as our first President of the United States.

i do miss the days of working in lower Manhattan on a day like this.......I walked past that statue everyday for many years and i always paid a visit on April 30th.......left unsaid in the above paragraph was that the great George Washington walked down Broad Street to Fraunces Tavern where he raised many a mugs of Cider and cavorted with his fellow Rebel Scum.........God Bless America, Today and Every Fuking Day !

There's guns across the river aimin' at ya

 Lawman on your trail, he’d like to catch ya

Bounty hunters, too, they’d like to get ya
Billy, they don’t like you to be so free (Dylan)

I don't know about you, but me ? i am quite certain that the FBI , DOJ and the rest of the government alphabet klans are scouring surveillance footage, gathering evidence and taking fingerprints from each and every campus protest and infraction....last night the paid protesters broke into and seized Hamilton Hall on the grounds of Columbia.....they took down the stars and stripes and replaced it with the Palestinian Flag...........a threat to democracy ? you betcha.....worse than Jan 6th ?  yassir........can you imagine if a security guard hiding behind a barricade was to fire a deadly shot into the heart of some young female on the other side ?  Ashley Babbitt, say her name.

side note...Palestine is a region and was never an actual country...so what the fuk are these nomad gypsies doing with their own flag ?  maybe i can get cracking on a sweater Nite flag.

side note 2......John Sullivan was at the Capitol on January 6th and he committed the inconvenient crime of filming the shooting death of Ashley Babbitt.....earlier this week he was sentenced to 6 years in prison.........the actual shooter ? Michael Byrd ....well he was quickly and quietly exonerated as a justified shooting and then promoted to Captain....look it up.

4 days out from the Kentucky Derby and i have no horse........i need to get busy.....i did see the approximate post time listed as 6:57 ..........i used to host an annual party and the first cars were rolling up to the house at high Noon........the backyard was all clear ( except for some gladiators hanging for the hockey playoffs by 6:57) ....i don't know about you , but if am in full swing by noon these days, i am sleeping soundly by 6:57.

side note.....the #5 post has the most wins with 10.....this year Catalytic sits in stall 5 at 30-1

side note 2....the #17 Post has NEVER won......the early favorite Fierceness occupies that dreaded gate at 5-2 ....hmmmm

stay tune for the annual Derby rant come saturday and please feel free to leave suggestions in the comments....i will take any advice this year....i am lost.

Rangers took care of business in the 1st round......can't emphasize how important every extra day off will be come late May/early June.

one step at a time........2+3=BEEER

Hang on to your woman if you got one
Remember in El Paso, once, you shot one
She may have been a whore, but she was a hot one
Billy, you been runnin’ for so long

waive a white flag

 put away the pistol,

Too many people just can't get kissed
But if there's nothing I can do to make amends, baby
Hope you don't murder me (Elvis Costello)

Well, Columbia and USC have decided to bow down to the protesters and beg for forgiveness at the expense of the idiots that pay tuition to attend these over priced institutions. the Trojans wasted no time in cxling Graduation.....so your the 1st one in your family to receive a degree and your parents and grandparents were making the trek to Lala Land to see you walk across that stage and receive your diploma ?  well too bad. 

Columbia immediately cxld in person classes and went to round the clock negotiations with the terrorists....they drew not one, not two, but three lines in the sand.......3 time the school administration set a deadline for the end of the encampment and threatened to bring in law enforcement to end the unlawful seige on private property.......and 3 times they extended their own deadline........even barry Hussein would blush at such weakness.

Indiana, Austin, Harvard and other campuses across the land saw increased professional protesters take to their lawns and erect George Soros funded tents on their pristine lawns, threatening jewish students and putting graduation plans on ice.

Strong Showing for the Sweater Nite Community around the globe this week......Not only was 2+3=BEEER reported from Rome to Naples......but yesterday the 11209 SN25 Shirts were spotted in Morocco courtesy of the Z-Bird..and she sported a Ranger Cap to complete the ensemble .....We Are EVERYWHERE........keep spreading that gospel.

But when I hit the bottle, there's no telling what I'll do
'Cause something deep inside me wants to turn you black and blue

Mission possible

 Sweater Nite has successfully landed an operative behind  the mozzarella curtain and is spreading the artificial intelligence warming….one bathroom wall at a time……next up…..we will be carving this important message into the walls of the colosseum.

open your shutters

 I'll open my doors

And we can go howling neath the vagabond moon (Willie Nile)

someone once told me that Willie Nile was gonna be the next Bob Dylan.....and i'm sure to her he was....and that's all that counts. terribly saddened to learn of the passing of Jean McEvoy Brown.....she was a rock n roll pioneer, an all around genuine good person and a kind hearted communist....she was born to protest and i am sure she is organizing one upstairs today.....God Speed Jean, you were a good egg, thanks for telling us about so many fantastic bands in the mid 70's /early 80's.

on this the 188th anniversary of the Texas Militia slaughtering Santa Anna and his band of dirtbags......the Great Sam Houston attacked the Mexicallis on the San jacinto River and later renamed that tributary the Little Dog Lagoon.....i wonder if any school in America still teaches about the Mexican aggressors who tried in vein to rule the Cowboys and ranchers in the free state of Texas...i doubt it  

today is big day in the history of the blog........we have sent a spy on a secret mission to Europe to bring the word of this hockey gospel to the gindaloons......we shall see if Alvarez is able to access this blog or if the EU has blocked us.

Overnight reports are coming in that Israel shot some missiles into Rafah and killed 16 people......13 supposed kids from the same family....this coming just hours after the House approved a huge spending bill with financial aid to Israel......i expect the protests in the US to turn up a notch after this news spreads.

I was dissapointed with their response to Iran....although i think it was basically a forewarning to the Mullahs ...letting them know that Israel knows exactly where the iranian Nuclear program is centered....and hopefully next time they wipe the entire facility off the map.....I still would have preferred to see some Iranian military bases hit hard.......but without real support from the US i geuss the Israelis have to play it safe.

anyway its a great day to settle in and watch some playoff hockey........and raise a few glasses to the Great State of Texas and remember fondly how they never forgot the Alamo and ultimately slaughtered the wet backs......yipee.

“I know I’ve seen that face before,” Big Jim was thinkin’ to himself
“Maybe down in Mexico or a picture up on somebody’s shelf”
But then the crowd began to stamp their feet and the houselights did dim
And in the darkness of the room there was only Jim and him
Starin’ at the butterfly who just drew the Jack of Hearts

Now i'm goin back to Canada

 On a journey through the past

And I won't be back 'til February comes (N. Young)

well today starts what we hope is a 2 month Journey to the center of the hockey earth. This may sound strange but i think the first round will be the toughest test for the Rangers. The Caps are a slow , old, boring team with a HOT Goalie.......i am extremely nervous that the longer let them hang around each game and the deeper the series goes, the greater the chance that the caps find a way......Conversely if we come out and take care of business in 5 or 6 games and beat them soundly in the wins......then we will cruise to the Conf Finals and I think we play up to our opponents level and Beat Boston, Fla, Tampa or Toronto............the Finals will depend on how healthy we are and who is our opponent.......but that miserable first round could derail the express.......let's hope i am dead wrong.

side note, the NHL says that the latest date for a game 7 of the finals in Monday June 17th......just so happens i will be in North Myrtle Beach on that date......how surreal to watch the Rangers win the Cup in a Gin Mill on the water in South Carolina of all places.

The Rest of the 1st round series play out like this.

Canes over Isles  

Florida Over Tampa

Toronto over Boston 

out west

my blue plate special again is Winnipeg

Jets over the Lanche

Nashville over Vancouver

Dallas over Vegas

Oilers over Kings

i looked it up....last year i went  4 of 8 in the first round......that's pathetic....but that's also Hockey.......if all 8 of the teams i think will lose , were to actually win.....i would only be mildly surprised....and you can't say that about any other sport....

I will stay with you, if you'll stay with me"
Said the fiddler to the drunk
And we'll keep the tab on a journey through the past

I can't get , any rest

 People say I'm obsessed

Everything you say is lies
But to me there's no surprise  (Fine Young Cannibals')

oh no Joe......the demented CIC was giving a speech in Pennsylvania yesterday and went off script.....he started talking about his Uncle who was in a plane that was shot down off the coast of New Guinea and Joe assumes he was eaten by Cannibals' because they never found his body ........unga bunga bunga binga 

2 questions

Joe has been a politician for 40 years......8 years as VP and 3 1/2 as POTUS.....what took so long for him to suddenly care about the US Steel Industry and his desire to put tariffs on Chinese steel ?

and more iportantly question 2.....everyone talks about New Guinea but you rarely if ever hear anyone talk about Old Guineas ......why ?

Rangers-Caps.....i am already having nightmares about Lindgrens brother in nets for the Caps.

Anxiously waiting for Israel to Hit back on Iran........i have to believe it is coming and it will be substantial.

Jorma tonight at the Vogel...giddy up

She drives me crazy
Like no one else
She drives me crazy
And I can't help myself

an eye for eye

 a tooth for a tooth

Vote for me and I'll set you free
Rap on, brother, rap on (The Temptations)

sleepy Joe is at it again....trying to persuade Israel NOT to retaliate after Iran shot 120 missiles into Israel over the weekend.....the sad sack leader of the free world says since we shot down their missiles we won....no need to take further action....and that is precisely why Iran fired missiles in the first place...because the leader of the free world is as feeble as a pussy cat.

The law of the land.....their land....the middle east.....since the beginning of man has always been an eye for eye.......strength is the only thing they understand.....people that aspire to beheadings as a form of persuasion are not concerned with moral victories......the only response acceptable to these people would be for Israel to fire 121 missiles at Tehran.....anything short of that will only ensure that Iran and their proxies will live to attack Israel another day........peace is not an option.....the only peace this will region will ever know is the incredible silence after Israel kills a few hundred thousand iranians and the people of iran finally overthrow the Mullahs.

this being tax deadline day , the prophetic words of the Temptations echo across the land.

Evolution, revolution, gun control, sound of soul
Shooting rockets to the moon, kids growing up too soon
Politicians say more taxes will solve everything

And the band played on

So, round and around and around we go
Where the world's headed, nobody knows

the bills are due and the baby need shoes

 But I'm busted

Cotton is down to a quarter a pound
But I'm busted 
I got a cow that went dry and a hen that won't lay
A big stack of bills that gets bigger each day
The county's gonna haul my belongings away
'Cause I'm busted 
Oh, yes, I am  ( Harlan Howard / Ray Charles)

nobody sang the blues with a touch of humor better than the great Ray Charles, although the late Walter Lure did a remarkable version with the Waldos....Walter played Hank Szala's 60th Birthday party at Webster Hall and included the above referenced song in the setlist as a special request from yours truly.

saw an interesting interview with  Jim Grant the other day...he is a self acclaimed Fed Watcher....and he was talking about today's inflation and the inflation of the 1970's......we talk a lot about bad history repeating itself because people are either unaware of the past or willfully ignorant.

MR. Grant said that rising energy costs were the biggest factor for the decade and i think we all remember gas rationing ....even and odd days plate sales....and long lines at the pump.....but i wasn't old enough to recall or slept through in class ( as if anyone ever taught anything relevant or worthwhile in school) ...there were 3 occasions where the inflation data partially  cooled and Wall Street and others declared premature victory ....he said they were looking hard for silver linings and a reason to decide and believe everything was over and now ok.......only to see inflation roar back even stronger and interest rates to peak at 20%.

sound familiar ?  The POTUS lies and says inflation was roaring when he took office (it was 1.2% for the 6 months prior to inauguration) and then he compares 2024 inflation to 2023 to prove that it has cooled and conveniently  ignores the 2021-2022 numbers.....since Joe took office cumulative inflation is north of 6%....but Wall Street and the Oval office are still pushing for a Rate Cut.......Chairman Powell is fighting for his Job and will probably cave and cut rates in an attempt to help Biden.....Trump has already said he will not Keep Powell when elected........funny thing is that Trump is also a big proponent of lower rates....so whomever he brings in will also cut rates..........so i think we should once again stock up on Beer and Pretzels because inflation is here to stay.

Well, I went to my brother to ask for a loan
'Cause I'm busted
I hate to beg like a dog without his bone
But I'm busted, I'll tell ya
My brother said, "There ain't a thing I can do
My wife and my kids are all down with the flu
And I was just thinking about calling on you
'Cause I'm busted too"