TWO 1s, A 3 and SISTER JEAN

College basketball will dominate my day…

Just listening and watching the ramp-up to tonight’s two semi-final games…

Then, around 6 ET, Sister Jean and her Ramblers from Loyola/Chicago play number 3 seed Michigan in the first game.

I like Michigan.

In the second game, we’ll be entertained watching two 1 seeds: the Prairie’s darling, Kansas, taking on Villanova.

I think the Jayhawks beat the Wildcats, in double OT.

Something to watch for in BOTH games: College basketball, generally, and this NCAA tournament in particular has embraced the 3-point-shot revolution.

But, making them under the pressure of this weekend presents a totally different story!

 

‘SWAMPY’ HOUSING ARRANGEMENT

A lot of us, living on the Prairie, are quite familiar with the antics of Scott Pruitt, current head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The former Oklahoma Attorney General played it “fast and loose” with the oil industry, and its numerous companies doing business in Oklahoma.

He was a big proponent of fracking.

And, there wasn’t much that little Scottie did NOT detest about Barry Obama and his environmental policies.

Well, as many of you know, Pruitt is another one of Carrot Top‘s cabinet members that loves to advantage himself on your and my dime.

Yesterday afternoon, news broke that Pruitt rented a residence in Washington in 2017 that was partly owned by the wife of a top energy lobbyist whose firm, according to disclosure forms, conducted business !!! before the EPA that same year.

ABC News reported that Pruitt had paid $50 per night !!! to rent a bedroom in a condominium on Capitol Hill for the first half of 2017.

Motel 6 can’t even match that pricing!

A typical full studio or one-bedroom apartment in the same area would cost between $1,500 and $2,000 per month or much more, a search of current listings indicates.

While the agency said yesterday that the arrangement was consistent ?!?! with federal ethics rules, the developments come as Pruitt is already under fire from Congress regarding unrelated ethics questions.

In February, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee ordered Pruitt turn over documents related to his first-class travel ! at taxpayer expense, questioning whether he had received the appropriate waivers to do so.

Little Scottie claims he needed added security protection…NO joke.

With the way little Scottie spends $$$ on our nickel, one can easily understand why.

 

 

AN EASTER REFLECTION

Happy Easter and Passover to ALL…

I came across this piece in the New York Times late last night/early this morning – by Pete Wehner – and, wanted to pass it on to each of you…

BLUE-GRAY T-shirt is INVITED

Circle Tuesday, April 10th on your calendar.

That’s the day, supposedly, Marky Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, is to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A possible ‘buttered popcorn’ day!

Zuckerberg has NOT formally accepted the invitation, but it appears he’s inclined to do so, as his social-networking company faces ‘intensifying pressure’ over policies that allowed data on up to 50 million individuals to be transferred to Cambridge Analytica tied to Donald John Trump’s ’16 campaign.

Leg irons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A congressional hearing is generally the last place any corporate chief wants to be.

Bread and water!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Testifying before Congress after such a blatant scandal can be a high-wire act for any CEO.

Solitary confinement for the first 30 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zuckerberg, who has NEVER given public congressional testimony, can likely expect a grilling ! from lawmakers [one hopes] from BOTH sides of the aisle.

Tech stocks are suffering one of their worst beatings in years ! as investors reassess a sector that faces the prospect of greater regulatory scrutiny.

Shower permission once a month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The hard part in such a setting, within the Swamp community, is balancing ! the various constituencies a CEO has to address: the lawmakers in the room, who have the authority to impose new regulations on the industry; the company’s customers, Facebook’s more than two billion users in this case, who can be turned off by what they hear; and the company’s shareholders, who want to see their chief fend off additional pressure to the company – and, its stock price.

NO visitation rights for 90 days, with the exception of Roseanne Barr.

nyet, Donnie Boy

There is NO tension between the US and Russia.

At least, NONE between Vlad the Bad, and his pal, The Weave.

Furious at what it described as an anti-Russian campaign orchestrated by Washington and London, the Kremlin exceeded ! an equivalent response to the United States and ordered the closing of the American Consulate in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city.

The consulate is bigger and far more important to relations than the Russian Consulate in Seattle, which the Trump administration ordered closed on Monday as part of its expulsion decree.

Russia, yesterday, heightened a confrontation with Europe and the United States over the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain, saying it would expel 60 American diplomats and an unspecified number of envoys from other countries to retaliate for a mass expulsion of Russian diplomats working in the West.

Listen, we’re watching political professional wrestling.

It’s a show to demonstrate that our countries [in the West] are at odds because our world has become the ultimate reality television.

Given Trump’s past history in the WWE, that background gives a much better explanation of what’s really going on.

He kicked out some people as theatre, and Vlad responded in kind.

I don’t know what will happen in the next episode, but I’m sure it’ll be dramatic whether it’s real or NOT.

If this administration has any onions at ALL, we’d go after the oligarchs close to Putin.

However, we’d need a sane president with a spine !!! to make that happen.

To keep it simple, Trump, along with Stevie Mnuchin and Sleepy Ross, could use the same issue of Forbes that they’ve used before, rather than specific info from consultation with any, or ALL, of our intelligence agencies.

Stevie and Sleepy reading to Carrot Top by the campfire…

Probably wishful thinking.

It seems like the only two people the current president honestly fears are Bobby and Stormy.

DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH!

Surprisingly, as we get closer and closer to the 45th president’s decision, very little is being reported on it.

What am I talking about?

The Iranian Nuclear Deal.

The Iranian nuclear deal, formerly known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was struck in 2015 between Iran and China, the US, UK, Russia, France and Germany.

It was designed to limit Tehran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of economic sanctions.

The Iranian Nuclear Deal has looked very fragile !!! since the election of Donald John Trump in November 2016 but, so far, the current president has been persuaded to leave the agreement alone.

That position is NOT likely to last much longer!!!

Trump has repeatedly criticized the deal, opposing terms that would allow Iran to gradually reinstate its nuclear activities [the so-called “sunset clauses”], and accusing Iran of violating the terms of the agreement.

You’ll remember, in January, Trump demanded that France, Germany, the UK and the US Congress “fix” ?!?! the deal by May 12th, by committing to tougher measures against Iran.

As of today, we are 6 weeks away from that date…

With NO love lost between Trump and Iran, the world-wide political community has reduced the odds of the nuclear deal’s survival to 1 in 3, according to international business commentaries.

Why?

Here are just a few of the most obvious reasons:

• Trump’s personal situation with the Mueller investigation;
• North Korea;
• Bolton’s appointment;
• Pompeo’s move to State;
• Little to NO progress by our international partners on ‘fixing’ the deal;
• Our Congress being totally inept to this deal, and the unintended consequences.

If the UK, Germany and France, alongside Congress, don’t fix these issues by May 12th,  America will withdraw from the pact and sanctions will be reinstated – although, keep in mind, this would NOT be done for a number of years.

Iran’s posture and reaction to Trump’s decision is simply incalculable right now.

Why, oh why, can’t we ALL enjoy an apple pie?

 

CHURCH LADY’S LIP HAIR

The great Dana Carvey is back, in full force…

DR. RONNY

This is un-freaking-believable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dr. Ronny Jackson, a rear admiral in the Navy, and current White House physician, will, if confirmed, be the next head of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The department, the federal government’s second largest, has been burdened for years by aging infrastructure, an inefficient health care system and an unwieldy 360,000 plus person work force.

Jackson, a career Naval officer who has NO real experience ! running a large bureaucracy.

Z-E-R-O.

He would replace the latest Trump Cabinet casualty, David Shulkin. He of the infamous European trip/padded expenses, along his wife.

Another big spender on my dime!

But, back to Dr. Ronny.

The VA head needs to be an experienced administrator used to managing large, wide-ranging operations NOT someone who added over two inches to Trump’s height, subtracted 50 pounds [at least!!!] from his weight and declared a man with high cholesterol despite taking statins “in great health.”

A daily diet of Quarter-pounders, with cheese, at 2:30 in the morning, laying in bed, didn’t seem to bother Dr. Ronny.

Again, NO large-scale administrative experience, but that doesn’t matter. The main criterion is demonstrated willingness to say what you’ve been told to say.

Our military vets deserve a hellava lot more!

PARDON ME…

The New York Times was first to report this story.

Later yesterday, the Washington Post followed with their own version.

Supposedly, the 45th president’s lead lawyer at the time, John Dowd, was described as floating the idea !!! of a pardon for Paulie Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, and Mikey Flynn, the former national security adviser, at a vulnerable moment for the two men last year.

BOTH Flynn and Manafort had contacts with Russians while advising Trump and were under investigation by special counsel Bobby Mueller’s team, but NEITHER had been charged at that point.

The discussions came as Mueller was building cases against both men, and they raise questions about whether the lawyer, Dowd, who resigned/fired last week, was offering pardons to influence their decisions about whether to plead guilty and cooperate in the investigation.

Dowd and the White House have denied the contents of this story.

Such alleged talks suggest that Trump’s lawyers were concerned about what Flynn and  Manafort might reveal were they to cut a deal with the special counsel, in exchange for leniency.

Why do innocent people need pardons?

I really can’t wait for the “stupids” to vacate 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!

Remember, Carrot Top did express a keen/intense interest last spring and summer in his power to pardon. He, repeatedly, asked his team of sycophants whether he could pardon his advisers, his family members and EVEN himself.

I think I’m right in saying, once pardoned you have NO right to pleading the 5th Amendment. So, Manafort could be compelled to testify [threatened with NY State & Virginia violations] about Trump, and he would have to answer.

Every strategic choice for Trump is fraught for him, deliriously joyful for the rest of us.

“ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN”

The above quote comes from one of my all-time favorite Red Sox players: Kevin Millar.

It stems from the ’04 season when the Bosox were down to the Yankees in the playoffs and came back to beat them, and then moved on to end their historic drought by winning a World Series championship, their first in centuries [just kidding, but to New Englanders it seemed that way!].

Well, again, that quote applies starting this afternoon as the 2018 Major League Baseball season gets underway, across the country.

Seven plus months, into the first week of November [depending on weather, and the length of the playoffs and World Series games].

As most of you know, baseball and hockey were the first two games/sports that I learned to play growing up in Maine.

And, my love of the Red Sox, from a very early age, taught me much about –

• PATIENCE;
• HEARTBREAK;
• PERPETUAL SORROW;
• DEPRESSION;
• ANXIETY;
• HOPE.

But, enough of me…

So, here we go, my ’18 predictions as we, ‘Play Ball!’

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST: Red Sox

AL CENTRAL: Indians

AL WEST: Astros

AL WILD CARDS: Yankees & Twins

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST: Nationals

NL CENTRAL: Cubs

NL WEST: Diamondbacks

NL WILD CARDS: Diamonds & Brewers

AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: Astros beat the Red Sox

NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: Dodgers over Nationals

WORLD CHAMPIONS: Astros beat the Dodgers, again.