Spring Has Sprung

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Who would have thought it would be in the 40s when Pitchers and Catchers began showing up in Port St Lucie, the Mets Training site, yesterday? And today, actually, may be only a few degrees warmer. Like in the high 50s.

It will be tough to get warmed up, even if Steve Cohen pays for stadium heaters. It has been frigid for the last couple of weeks and is not expected to achieve the “perfect” climate for Spring Training until sometime next week. Probably by February 13.

Officially, pitchers and catchers are supposed to arrive by next Wednesday, but the players looking to make a good first impression learned early on that you don’t get a second chance to make the first. And they all want to give themselves a lead in the race to make it to “the show”.

And when rookies realize that the veterans are still in the hunt for a place on the roster, it is even more incumbent on them to make that extra effort. After all, there will only be twenty-six players heading into the Opening Day festivities.

Suddenly, by Presidents Day everyone will be expected to be present when the team starts its “two-a-day” workouts. And then, by Saturday, February 21, the first pitch of 2026 at 1:10 PM will have been thrown.

Of course, some of the greatest rivalries of all time began right in "Little Old New York" with the Yankees, Giants and Dodgers, and in 1962, the Mets joined the fray. The one-time city rivalry went Coast-to-Coast, even to this day.

Perhaps, as with all new beginnings, our boys will have a better season than last. After all, with Spring, hope “springs” eternal.

Let the games begin!

Time For Another Mid-Winter Escape

​A few events are scheduled to occur between today and Sunday, February 8. Some are generally expected pretty much as annual events, and one or two are newly anticipated.

First up, of course, is the annual prognostication we have come to know as Groundhog Day. You know, where we expect a rodent to tell us how much winter and cold weather we can expect over the next six weeks. Like that logic exceeds that of the science of Meteorology.

Well, maybe it does, based on the amount of errors the “scientists” seem to make. Right?

The next event would be this coming Sunday, when all of America stops to have their Annual Day of Gluttony… uh, their Super Bowl Parties, sponsored by beer, chips, dips, and other foods we would otherwise shun for their challenge to good and healthy eating habits. 

And after we watch about half the game which follows our food-stuffing extravaganza, many of us will pass out on the couch as we become suddenly exhausted from our carb-fest.

Then, during this week, we will turn our sights on the mundane cold which seems to surprise us each year, setting new records all across the country.

Also late this coming Sunday, if all goes according to plan, we will witness the first launch of humans to the moon since the 1970s.

NASA is sending humans back on a path toward the Moon with the Artemis II mission. Launching aboard a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, as well as Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency, will set off to orbit the Moon on a 10-day mission. This will be the first crewed flight of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft around the Moon. 

Their goal is to verify modern human capabilities in deep space and pave the way for long-term exploration and science on the lunar surface.

And finally, once again, some in the Congress are showing what happens when the children  in a family can’t get along. Essentially, it is like  one child picks up his marbles and storms home until he gets what he wants, as if to spite everyone else.

It is becoming too tiresome and boring to so many, that perhaps fewer people will play with that child until he finally loses all his friends. Maybe that is what it will take, when others are willing to compromise to get along most of the time. 

Not pointing fingers, but everyone knows who it is.

So enjoy your week and watch how it ends as we tune in to “Another Week in America”.

A Violation of Journalistic Integrity

Funny how a law written, passed and signed into law by a Democrat-controlled Congress and a Democrat President in 1994 to protect abortion clinics from protest by right-to-life groups can also be used by Christians and others when their rights are violated. Maybe it depends on whether you believe in the Democrat Church of Abortion or the Church of your religious beliefs.

The Freedom ot Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act of 1994 is a US federal law (18 USC § 248) that prohibits the use of force, threat of force, or physical obstruction to injure, intimidate, or interfere with anyone obtaining or providing reproductive health services, or exercising their right to religious freedom at a place of worship. It was enacted to protect abortion clinics and staff from violent blockades, with penalties including fines and imprisonment.

But, it also protects persons in a house of worship. Oops... the media forgot that little tidbit of information.

Don Lemon tried to claim he was a journalist when he led a group of protesters into a St Paul, Minnesota church recently, and this morning, was arrested for his role in that riot.

Of course, the usual suspects of the Lame Stream Media will come to HIS defense, claiming it is violation of his First Amendment right of Freedom of the Press. But they have already neglected to report that the protesters violated the right for people to worship freely and without interference or be placed into danger by those  who disagree with them.

People who claim to represent the Journalism industry cannot involve themselves in a cause for which they sympathize, and then HIDE behind the Freedom of the Press clause when they get caught intentionally breaking the law. Unless, of course, the media believes the law is there "for thee but not for me."

We will all find out soon how this will all play out. But to parapharase Lloyd Bentsen who once said to Dan Quayle as he compared himself to JFK, "You, Sir, are no journalist."

STOP the Defund ICE Madness

​Do you remember way back in the summer of 2020, a mere five year years ago, when another Minnesotan, George Floyd, was killed because he resisted arrest? And became a “martyr” for another liberal cause to defund the police? All because ONE police officer was overtaken by his own zealousness, prejudice or other uncontrolled emotion.

This caused unrequited racial discord that summer and for several years thereafter. Until more reasonable people took control of the narrative. 

Until recently.

Now, this month, Minnesota is once again the focus of uncontrolled protests, led by the same Governor, Tim Walz, who seems to conveniently forget he swore to uphold the laws of the United States and the Constitution, to instead lead the new call to defund ICE. You know. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, created by the Congress with bipartisan support, under the supervision of the Department Homeland Security.

If you recall, ICE was created in March 2003 as a result of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which merged the investigative and interior enforcement elements of the former US Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Its mission is to identify, investigate, and eliminate vulnerabilities in the nation's border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security. 

Presidents from both political parties have recognized and acknowledged the importance of this agency to eliminate those people presently in this country illegally, especially those who committed crimes in their home countries or here, since they arrived. 

But now, suddenly Democrats and liberals who oppose President Trump’s constitutional responsibility to enforce our immigration laws have grabbed on to the cause to Defund ICE. Which seems to be the cry in so-called sanctuary states and cities who harbor illegal aliens. For various nefarious purposes.

Reasonable Democrats, as well as Republicans and Independents, support the elimination of illegals, especially those with criminal backgrounds. Those who have entered into our country and commit additional heinous crimes against society do not deserve additional “due process”, since none was given to THEIR victims. And there are too many.

It is time to end the insanity to defend these people and send them back to their countries of origin. And prosecute those elected officials who continue to violate their oaths to defend OUR country.

Including both Federal and State representatives and governors, and others, who violate the ConstItution and our laws.

How To Beat Those Winter Days

Today is January 27, and it is a frigid day in virtually every state in this country. And even in Hawaii, earlier this month, it was reported that ten inches of snow fell on several volcano peaks!

Anyhow, temperatures ranged from -11* in Fairbanks, to 14* in Bangor, to 17* in NYC and 35* in   Orlando. DAMN, that is COLD!

But, here is some good news, My Friends. It WILL get warm again. You can count on it.

In six days, we will reach the halfway mark between Winter and Spring on February 2. Then, on March 8, 40 days from today, we will see 7:30 sunsets again with the return of Daylight Savings Time. 

In just thirteen days after we change our clocks, the first date of Spring arrives. Then, on April 1 it's Passover; and finally, on April 5, a mere sixty-eight days from today, tulips and daffodils will be noticeable as we celebrate Easter.

Just the thought has to warm your heart. Doesn't it? Helps to rid the fog of the winter doldrums from your mind and think clear thoughts again.

So, don't fret over some wind chills and a little bit of white powder. It will warm up and it will all melt away, leaving you with the memory that you overcame another of nature's attempts to discourage you.

And remember, nothing, not even cold weather, lasts forever. Enjoy your hot cocoa!

An Illogical First Choice To Take a Stand By Mamdani

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While forty states brace for a massive winter storm this weekend, including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, New York City Mayor Mamdani brazenly has declared as of Friday, “No snow day for you!”

Public school students can at best hope for remote classes for early next week as the city braces for a potentially devastating storm that the mayor has already said could dump more than a foot of snow or more across the Big Apple. And it is expected that there could be a loss of electricity, as well.

The city will confirm by Sunday 12PM whether students should show up for class in person or log in remotely. But what good would working from home on Google Classroom if you can’t turn the computer on?

Forecasters are predicting the fast-approaching monster winter storm could batter the city with up to 18 inches of snow through Monday, bringing bone-chilling temps and a travel nightmare across the tri-state.

Even Gov Kathy “Krazy Kat” Hochul on Friday declared a state of emergency for the entire state, as Mamdani insisted the city was well-prepared to weather the first major storm of his administration, dubbing the operation “Blade Runner 2.0.”

Mamdani urged New Yorkers to hunker down inside. Oh, and stay safe.

“I want to encourage New Yorkers to do their parts to stay safe this weekend. That is why we are issuing a hazardous travel advisory for Sunday and for Monday,” he said.

“I want to encourage New Yorkers to do something that we don’t often have the luxury of doing, which is take a breath and stay home, stay indoors, stay off the roads, watch the snow come down, watch the worst possible reality TV show you can find.”

But schools will be open, he insisted. One way or another. All to get Federal and state money for his panacea of socialist programs.

This illogical decision by the Mayor may show his glaring failure to be a leader in order to show, instead, that he is a boss.

Good luck with that!

Remembering All Who Gave Their Lives To the Final Fontier

It will be forty years this coming Wednesday, January 28, 1986, when the Challenger exploded seventy-three seconds after liftoff. It will be fifty-nine years since Apollo 1 caught fire during a test on the launch pad on January 27, 1967.

It also will be twenty-three years since Columbia blew apart as it returned to earth passing over Texas on February 1, 2003.

In each case, there was nothing NASA, or anyone else, could do to save them. Several other American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts died in the pursuit to explore space, the final frontier.

“It’s hard to believe it was that long ago,” said four-time astronaut and former NASA associated administrator Bob Cabana during NASA’s Day of Remembrance ceremony yesterday at KSC’s Visitor Complex. “For those of us who were around at the time, the picture of those two solid rocket motors, their plumes going off in separate directions against that clear, blue Florida sky that morning is something that’s firmly etched in our brains that we will always remember.”

These brave souls should and will be remembered now and always for the noble cause of learning the secrets of space and the knowledge which will be gained for all mankind. It is an innate quality we have as a species to learn all we can about our neighborhoods and our universe.

As much as the explorers who left the comfort of their homes to find “shorter routes” to Asia more than five centuries ago, and instead, found two continents and several unexpected islands in the way as they headed west, they learned much about the world they did not know in which they lived. It inspired additional journeys to learn all they could as their horizons expanded.

To the modern-day men and women who died daring this same pursuit, we salute you. 

As President Reagan said that night when the seven astronauts died in the Challenger explosion,  they "slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God," a poignant line from the poem "High Flight" used to honor their sacrifice and aspirations. He further told the nation, "We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye". 

As NASA prepares to visit the moon again next month with Artemis II, let us remember those who went before into the vast reaches of space to pave the road for a new way and pray for a safe return.

May God continue to keep them all safe and may He continue to bless them forever.