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I Scoff!

At the end of regulation they missed a free throw, but got the rebound. A chance to win, but the player who got the rebound then dribbled the wrong way as time expired. Then the star and leader of the team pouted on the bench before the start of overtime, and they were then blown out in the overtime period. This almost sounds like what one would expect at a grade school game, but it was the first game of the N.B.A. championship. Championship series? I scoff!
But plays like this are only one reason that I am predicting that the T.V. rating for the NBA championship series on ABC will be disappointingly sub-par, and from my point of view, the poor ratings couldn’t happen to a more deserving station!
The other ridiculous thing that happened at the end of game one involved a charging call against the beloved home team, the Golden State Warriors. Over the years I have watched a ton of basketball, and I have never seen a charging call reversed by instant replay. The Cleveland fans are still screaming “conspiracy,” but I say, “incompetence!” This is supposed to be championship game, and if these are the best referees that the league has . . . I scoff!
Kevin Durant is one of the best players in the NBA. However, when he couldn’t beat the then championship team from the Golden State, he joined them! This certainly excited the fans in NorCal. However this sort of team shopping, trolling for a championship ring, turns off the fans in the rest of the country. Is anybody in any of the other NBA markets routing for or watching this “If I can’t beat you, I’ll join you” team? . . . I scoff!
However the crowning blow to this upcoming ratings debacle occurred when LeBron James said that neither team in the championship series would go to the White House to celebrate their championship with President Trump. Considering that last year LeBron called our president “a bum,” I am not certain that an invitation was coming.  Be that as it may, while LeBron is certainly quite a basketball player, when it comes to him spewing his political venom, not only do I scoff, but so does about 50% of the T.V. viewing audience.
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Use It or Lose It

Something must be wrong in Sacramento! As best I can tell our esteemed Attorney General, Xavier Becerra, has not filed a law suit against the federal government in weeks, perhaps even a month! I know that the legislature is in session as they are busy formulating laws to ban plastic straws, so the attorney general and his staff of lawyers must also be on the job. What are they doing with all their time? In order to keep their legal skills at a sharp level, shouldn’t they either use them or lose them?

Well it so happens that I have an inside source in the California Attorney General’s Office, and they are not idle. The following are some confidential quotes overheard by my source!
“When we looked at the recent employment statistics for California, we discovered that there were two groups that were not benefiting from the recent economic surge in California. Perhaps we can sue on behalf of these groups.”

A review of job statistics comparing March 2017 and March 2018 revealed the following:

Ten of California’s eleven industry sectors added a total of 326,300 jobs over the year. The largest job gains were in educational and health services, up 86,100 jobs (a 3.3 percent increase), construction, up 54,400 jobs (a 6.8 percent increase), and professional and business services, up 45,500 (a 1.8 percent increase). Other sectors adding jobs over the year were leisure and hospitality, trade, transportation and utilities, government, manufacturing, financial activities, information and mining and logging. Only one industry sector posted job declines over the year, “other services,” down a total of 5,300 jobs.
“Now we are not sure what ‘other services’ means, but does it really matter? Why should this group be left behind? Obviously the federal government and the Trump administration must be at fault. Let’s file a lawsuit!”

The federal household survey showed an increase in the number of employed Californians over the month of March, 2018 and the year from 3/2017-3/2018. It estimated the number of Californians holding jobs in March was 18,552,000, an increase of 2,000 from February, and up 290,000 from the employment total in March of last year. The number of unemployed Californians was 827,000 in March – down by 16,000 over the month, and down by 142,000 compared with March of last year.
“Sure at first glance these unemployment numbers look good, but let’s look at different sub-groups to see who has been slighted.
Perhaps if we look at employment data by race, age, and gender we can find some group that has been slighted by this recent economic surge.”
 
All age groups demonstrated significant decreases in unemployment including a decrease of 20.2% in the 35-44 age group, and a decrease of 19.4% in the >65 age group. All races demonstrated significant decreases in unemployment, including a decrease of 15.5% in whites, a decrease of 9.4% in blacks, and a decrease of 13.0% in Hispanics.
“Nothing here so far. But wait, there does appear to be a group that has been slighted. The so called rising tide has not lifted all boats. In males, 20 years or older, the number of unemployed has decreased 14.2%, whereas in females, 20 years or older, the number of unemployed has increased 2.2%!
Obviously the federal government and the Trump administration must be at fault. Let’s file a lawsuit!
Let’s get this right over to Xavier. Certainly Attorney General Becerra can set the wheels in motion for our next lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of ‘other services’ and the females in our state.”
I certain that all of you are relieved that the lawyers in the office of the Attorney General of California are going to keep using their legal skills, as we would not want them to lose their legal “acumen”!
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Uniforms, Haircuts, and Shoeshines

When I was in the Navy, I was fortunate to have wonderful commanding officers, except for one. Without actually mentioning his name, he was Italian and we nicknamed him the “Italian Loafer.” On more than one occasion he was on my case because my haircut was not to his liking  or because one of my shirt buttons was not being buttoned to his liking. Needless to say, he and I were not best buds! However, one of my friends put everything in its proper perspective when he told me the following:

“Those that can lead, lead, and they face the significant and the real issues head on, while those that can’t, revert to uniforms, haircuts, and shoeshines.”
I happened to recall the Italian Loafer and my friends sage advice the other day as I was reading about what the California legislature is doing this year. As I am sure most of you are aware there are some significant present day issues in California, and in a spring issue of U.S. News and World Report, California was deemed to be the worst state as far as quality of life. Yet the legislature appears to be off on a tangent dealing with what Alan West calls, “progressive socialism.” After Trump’s tax cuts, two California Assemblymen introduced a constitutional amendment to tax 50% of any corporate profits resulting from these tax cuts. In the state that State Business Tax Climate Index ranked as 48th, instead of focusing on the real and the significant problem of California’s high taxes, they wanted to further punish California businesses  (? “uniforms, haircuts, and shoeshines”).
Homelessness is a major problem here in California. In Los Angeles homelessness has increased by 75% in the last 6 years, and in San Francisco there is rampant drug use combined with needles and feces on the streets. This is obviously a real and a significant problem, yet the California legislators are now spending their time with a bill to ban plastic straws, unless the customer specifically asks for one (? “uniforms, haircuts, and shoeshines”).
The schools in California rank at the bottom on test scores, and the infrastructure is not maintained because gas taxes have been used for social purposes. These are both very real and very significant issues, yet the legislature is busy with a bill to make the bottles tops on plastic water bottles non-detachable from the bottle itself (? uniforms, haircuts, and shoeshines”).
California has the highest poverty rate in America and approximately 33% of America’s welfare recipients live in California. This is a real and a significant problem, yet the Sacramento politicians are spending their time formulating a bill to mandate warning labels on polyester clothing because of micro fibers that make their way into the ocean. A significant problem? Yes, but something that deserves to take up time in the California Legislature? No! (? uniforms, haircuts, and shoeshines”)
The more I think about it, compared to the California Legislature, perhaps the Italian Loafer was not so bad after all!