Old & Opinionated

  November 25, 2023- Saturday   There is a brief ceasefire between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas. This will probably only last three or four days because Israel is intent on destroying Hamas once and for all. At one point I would have said, “And who would blame them,” but now there are thousands of totally uniformed people who are blaming Israel. It just shows you how distorted the world has become. Now it is expected that 50 Israeli’s will be freed, and 150 Palestinians will be released. Why the disparity in numbers? One day we will be given all the details on the negotiations between the two warring groups and where the difference in the numbers developed, but it does appear to be unbalanced. Now we have news commentators getting involved in talking about the situation and one newsperson had this perspective. Does this mean the Israeli prisoners are more valuable than the Palestinian prisoners? What? Where did that come from? This person has an edu...

November 22, 2023- Wednesday-   The history is very clear in this war, this conflict. No one, and that includes Arabs, can trust what Hamas says.   A four-day ceasefire is anticipated to start tomorrow. During this ceasefire, over 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israel are to be released for 50 captured Israelis and Americans. That is what we are being told today. Supposedly, if another 50 Israeli prisoners are released, the ceasefire will be an extended another day .   Israel does not need to be reminded at this point they cannot trust Hamas. The rest of the world needs to learn this lesson. We see so many misinformed people pushing for Palestinian/ Hamas freedom however, they have failed to see the repeated damage Hamas has inflicted on Israel. The rest of the world needs to make sure they do not see this war in small segments of Israel protecting its citizens against Hamas. All of those protesting on behalf of the Palestinians and Hamas need to ask themselves, “...

 November 18, 2023-  Joe Manchin, Democratic Senator from West Virginia, has announced he will not be running for re-election to the Senate.  Rumor has it, Manchin was going to have a hard time getting re-elected because of a very popular Republican governor deciding he wanted Joe's seat.  So, if you have a better than decent chance of losing an election, let's run for President of the United States. Manchin has endeared himself to many people across the United States because he stood up to some of the changes Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi wanted.  In some of those situations, Joe Manchin was actually the most powerful person involved.  He didn't shove that power down the throats of those wanting something from him, but we came across as reasoned and principled in his decisions.  We don't see that very much in Washington, D.C. There is a group called "No Labels" who do not like their choices for President of the United States.  According to many poll...

How's Your Speech?   I am seeing a continuing decline in personal standards. This has to do with the everyday language I hear when I am out and about and what I hear in the media these days. Watching movies and watching some television shows on subscription services brings it front and center to excess. The “F-word” is becoming very prominent in people’s daily speech. In some of these television shows and movies, the “F-word” is used so much, it is a rare sentence that does not include the word. Those producing those shows tell us they are making it like the “real world ”. That comment in and of itself is a sad comment on how they perceive reality. If that is what the real world is like, then we are not as intelligent as we would like people to think we are. Much of this bad language people are using at home to excess. The same people using the word so much at home either tell their children to not say the word or actually laugh about it when their children repeat what th...

  November 8, 2023- Wednesday- Rashida Tlaib Censured   Yesterday, the House of Representatives censured one of its members for inflammatory language directed at all Jewish people. Rashida Tlaib from Michigan is a person of Palestinian descent. Born in Michigan, her parents are from the West Bank or Judea and Samaria next to Israel. What caused this censure was her use of the phrase, “from the river to the sea.” That has long been a Muslim and Palestinian rallying cry directed toward Israel imploring the total annihilation of Israel and the Jewish people.   Tlaib is a Palestinian and she is a Muslim. That in and of themselves is not the problem in her situation. The use of a term of annihilation of other people is the problem. She is backtracking big time now that she has been challenged for the use of the destructive phrase. This time, many people are not buying what she is trying to sell.   For many years now, there has been so much conversation across the U...

November 6, 2023- Monday The Dallas Cowboys lost to the Philadelphia Eagles yesterday 28-23.  If you like football, it was a very good football game.  There were key plays that were made and key plays that failed.  There was also good drama at the end of the game with Dallas falling about three yards short of winning the game after moving the football from deep in their own territory.  There were mistakes made that caused the game to be even closer.  Why did Dallas lose?  Why did Philadelphia win? The key position players made big plays.  The plays called on both sides were very good.  The difference in this game was that Philadelphia offensive line beat the Dallas defensive line.  Philadelphia ran the ball better than Dallas and they were able to protect their quarterback better than Dallas did.   I can't complain about the play of Dak Prescott for the Cowboys because he played very well.  He ran when he needed to run.  H...

November 3, 2023- Friday I started following the Texas Rangers closely in 1973.  Yes, 50 years ago.  I was fresh out of high school and a close friend invited me to Dallas for a weekend.  I wanted to come because I wanted to see the Oakland A’s play.  I had never been to a Major League Baseball game and I had been a fan of the A’s for quite some time.  Those were the days of Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers, Jim “Catfish” Hunter and Joe Rudi.  Those guys had championships in their past and I was a fan.   The Rangers were losers.  They came from Washington D.C. as the Senators in 1972 and they came to Texas with a history of losing.   As the game wore on that August night, the Rangers were fighting to stay alive.  The fans, what few of them were there, were really excited as the game went into the bottom of the ninth inning.  I was starting to get caught up in the excitement of a losing team.  The game was tied and the Rangers had...

November 1, 2023- All Saints Day I am not a person who gives a rip about Halloween.  Halloween has never really appealed to me and frankly I do not understand why people spend hundreds of dollars on Halloween costumes and yard decorations.  To spend that much time and money on evil things just doesn't seem healthy as a society.  I also know many people just see Halloween as something "fun" and is something to break the monotony between Labor Day and Thanksgiving.  I get that but it still doesn't make much sense to me.  I also know those views are not real popular and I can live with that.  It's all part of my ignoring of Halloween. Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, is celebrated in many Hispanic cultures.  It is closely associated with Halloween and if just a little to creepy for me.  All of the skeletons, and hideous masks give me reason to pause and wonder what exactly we are celebrating.  I know this is a time for people to remember the...