Corruption Lives In New York State

 

Apparently it is time to clean house with all the corrupt Democrat rats crawling through Albany, beginning with Elliot Spitzer, Andrew Cuomo, Kathy Hochul and Brian Benjamin .

 There are no checks and balances when only one party controls all facets and areas of state government.

 Hochul did a poor job vetting this guy for Lt Governor, if she vetted him at all, and got the Democrat controlled Legislature to rubber stamp his appointment.

And in addition, Hochul's husband's company, DelawareNorth  was awarded the $850MM contract  to build the Buffalo Bills new stadium with STATE FUNDS APPROVED IN THE LATEST STATE BUDGET.

 It is a total, allegedly, of $250MM from Erie County and $600MM directly from NYS.

 Corruption Lives in New York State!

Happy Birthday In Heaven, Godson

 

Happy 30^th Birthday, Steven!

Sadly, you are not here to celebrate this momentous milestone day with us, but know that your Mom and Dad, Roseann and Gary Wessel, have already begun marking this day by remembering you on Facebook. I am sure, knowing my sister, many tears flowed down her cheeks as she began to write that remembrance.

Aa I recall, you were a boy, and then a man, who marched to his own drum.  It was, at once, both frustrating and amusing. But, now it is missed.

I am sure you are aware, but you are going to be an uncle again. Your brother, sister-in-law and niece will be welcoming a boy this summer. And soon enough, your sister will be getting married.

Perhaps, he would inherit some of your fine characteristics which showed love and kindness, humor and wittiness, and even talent when you sang and acted that all who knew you, appreciated when you came into contact with them. See what you could do to make that happen. Okay?

While you are at it, please give a big hug and kiss to Nana, Gramps, Uncle Tim and a tutta la nostra famiglia that you have the privilege to see every day wherever you are, and tell them all that they are missed by so many. But I am sure they, and you, already know that.

Godson, I vaguely remember my 30^th birthday, even though it was so long ago. I still have all the Beatles albums your Godmother, Aunt Anne Marie, gave me that day. And I still enjoy listening to them even today.

So Steven. Enjoy this milestone birthday and make the most of it, as I'm sure you will. And remember this. Although you are not physically with us anymore, you are always in our hearts.

Blow out your candles and make a wish. Happy Birthday Steven! 🎂🍰🍺🥂

 

Eric Adams, the ELITE Mayor of New York City

 

So today, Eric Adams, Mayor of NYC, righted part of the stupidity that Dedumbo bequeathed to NYC as he was leaving in December.

HOWEVER, by cancelling the vaccine mandate for ballplayers, stage actors and other entertainers, he ignored his own common sense he applied for the elite for the same mandate and kept it in place for the city workers who were fired, or about to be fired, including Police, Fire, Healthcare Workers, and other union and non-union workers who spend hard earned money to support Broadway and Sports people.

 Essentially, if you are RICH, PRIVILEGED and part of the ELITE Class, Eric Adams has decided you have separate rules than the rest of us, who are being penalized for our non-compliance to the same dumb rule.

 He wants people to come into the city to spend their hard-earned money to help bring the city back to the pre-pandemic economy. So, as the elitist he perceives himself to be, he wants your money but demands that you must comply with his now-dumb, asinine rule because he looks down on the unvaccinated middle class as if we are dirt and slime, while our money isn't.

 Hey Eric, it will be a cold day in hell before I spend my money in your dirty, crime-ridden, $#!+hole of a dump city again. And wait until you see the theaters, arenas and stadiums remain less than half-full going forward.

 You need to look into the mirror and know that the man looking back at you is now a bigger DUMB@$$ than the one you replaced. 

Good luck with that!

The NFL's Crazy Playoff Overtime Rules

Say what you want about this year’s playoff season, but this weekend proved to be filled with exciting finishes in all four games. There were three upsets and a game of evenly matched contenders who played their game into overtime.

The three upsets were not decided until the waning seconds of their games. It made for exciting finishes to a football fan with no skin in the game. Fun to watch, no emotional ties to who won or lost, no money at risk. Just enjoyable football.

But it is the Chiefs-Bills game I want to discuss.

It was clear from the start that both  quarterbacks were up to the task and traded touchdowns on their first drives. It was also an exciting game all throughout, right up to final play at the end of regulation.

Game tied, overtime to commence. The last game of an absolutely exciting weekend with more excitement to come, right?

But then, the rules got in the way. 

During the regular season, overtime rules state that if the receiving team scores a touchdown on its possession, the game is over and the other team does not get a chance to score. But if the receiving team does not score, then the other team gets the ball. At this point, it now becomes first team to score wins, or ends in a tie if no one scores at the end of overtime.

In college, overtime rules differ slightly, but in an important way. Both teams get a chance at possession and then the team who scores the most points in overtime wins. For example, if the receiving team scores a field goal, the other team must score a touchdown on its possession to win. If, instead, they also score a field goal, the next score by either team wins, or ends in a tie at the end of overtime.

To Roger Goodell: This is something which should be considered for post-season only. While the current rules may make sense during the season, for expediency's sake, TV conflicts and other reasons, for the post-season, it isn't fair to the players of either team, or the fans, if one team gets a chance to score and the other does not.

I understand that this year is done. But there is plenty of time for the rules committee to modify playoff overtime rules for next year and for the years to come. 

Let's get it done.

Keith Is Finally Right. Now, Retire the Best Mets Ever

 

Thank you, Steve Cohen! You have finally done something your predecessors failed to do. Recognize the greatest non-pitcher who played for this great franchise.

 I know that Mike Piazza was finally recognized in 2016 by having his number retired by the Wilpons, but only AFTER he was elected to Cooperstown. And I guess they felt they had to recognize the greatest left-handed pitcher by scheduling to retire Jerry Koosman, which ironically, they couldn’t because of the pandemic.

 So, that honor fell to you, which was fun to witness with fans in the stands.

 But retiring Keith Hernandez #17, who was a leader in every sense of the word, proved to me and I am sure, many others, that you are not only a fan, but a man out to right a lot of wrongs done over the last sixty years.

 Now, I am not saying you should be like George Steinbrenner, who seemed to retire everybody who played for the Yankees. That was insane! But as a fan who has watched, enjoyed, rooted for the Mets since their first Opening Day, back when I was eleven years old, I can assure you that there are several others who equally deserve recognition for their play and later, for their support of a franchise which ignored them.

 First and foremost, Ed Kranepool #7. He played his entire career only with this team, starting in September 1962 until the end of 1979. He has also been a great Ambassador for the team for all the years since.

 Then, we have Tug McGraw #45, who had the guts to stand up to a man with the cheer which still inspires old and new fans of a day gone by. “Ya gotta believe!” inspired the team to rush from last place on August 16, 1973 to win the Pennant by beating the Reds in the playoffs. And almost beat the A’s in the World Series.

 Or, how about Gary Carter #8, who took control of a talented pitching staff and made them into the best pitching staff since the 1969 to 1973 Miracle Mets? And who brought his own unique leadership skills to win the 1986 World Series and retired with dignity at the end of 1989?

 And finally, there is John Franco #45, the best reliever the Mets ever had. He was with the team from 1990 until 2004 and as every fan knows, he was counted on to save the win each time he appeared. Oh, and he was one of the four Captains the team had, too.

 In the years to come, there will be others who may deserve to have their numbers retired and flown on the peaks of this beautiful ballpark, like David Wright, and maybe Mookie and Darryl and Doc.  Davey Johnson also deserves consideration, as well as Bobby Valentine.

 But Kranepool, McGraw, Carter and Franco should come before any others. And while you are the owner and can do what you want, as a fan you know these are very valid and excellent choices.

So Steve. It is time to fix the past and recognize those who made this franchise into the best team with the most truly loyal fans of any sports team which played in New York. As a long-suffering, dedicated and loyal fan, Orange and Blue since ’62, do the right thing and recognize the greatest players who ever played baseball as a New York Met.

A Cautionary Tale

 

So, as many of you know, I have bladder cancer and have been undergoing chemotherapy as my preferred treatment plan. I have now completed two treatments. Each cycle is three weeks. Next week completes cycle 1 of 4 cycles where, for my aggressive chemo plan, requires 2 weeks Chemo and the third week off.

 By mid-January, God willing, I will be finished. But the last time I had chemo, my plan was a 24-week plan which had complications which lasted nine months. But yes, I am extremely positive that I will finish on time.

 The purpose of this post is to let you know I am a cautionary tale. Both cancers can be caused by cigarette smoking. There is no direct proof that it was for me, but science shows that it certainly was a big contributor. I started in February, 1961, and had my last on Christmas Day, 1995. Almost 35 years, the last 15 years as a three plus pack a day smoker.

 When I started, every TV show, starting with I Love Lucy, Dick Van Dyke, Fred Flintstone and so many movies showed characters smoking all throughout. Family members and friends smoked. My Dad, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and even on occasion, my Mom.

 Even advertisers glorified smoking where “four out of five doctors recommended smoking Lucky Strike for better health”, Winston tasting “good like a cigarette should”, walking “a mile for a Camel”, and having “a lot to like with a Marlboro”.

 By 1965, we had our first warning placed on every pack, carton and ad shouting that smoking was bad for our health. Remember, I started at almost ten, and now I was almost 15, hooked and feared nothing because I was invincible. Yeah, right!

 By 1980, I was smoking those three packs a day I mentioned above. And I saw first-hand what happened to many people around me who smoked. But I said it wouldn't happen to me. After all, I was not yet 30, running several miles a week, unwinded, a strong specimen of a man in excellent health and shape at a fit 170 to 180 lbs, six feet tall, with a mass body index around 18.5 before anyone really cared about this measurement.

 Did I stop smoking? No, of course not.

 Fast forward to 1995. I stopped smoking because a pack of cigarettes on Long Island was approaching $2.00 a pack. When I started in 1961, a pack was $0.25 a pack. Plus, you could try what you liked with "two-cent loosies" the guy in the candy store displayed proudly in a tray on the counter of the popular or "exciting" cool brands available for purchase. By 1965, this was illegal. And so was selling cigarettes to people under 18. 

 While "loosies" stopped being displayed and sold because doing so was an obvious violation, selling packs to minors, like me at thirteen, was not enforced. Along with the Sen-Sen Gum. Or Violet square candies.

 Back to 1995. I used the patch which was only sold via prescription. Of course, I did it my way. It took me six months to finally complete the three-month plan because I added weeks by cutting the patches to make the level of nicotine wean me slower to the next level down. 

 21 mg to 14 to 7 to 0 in three months. Not me. I went from 21 mg for 25 days, to 18 mg for 25 days by using a scissors, to 14 mg for 25 days to 10 mg for 15 days. 7 mg for 30 days to 3 1/2 for 50 days to finally 1.75 mg for 10 days or so. I stopped this on June 30, 1996.

 I have helped others stop smoking, too. By being there and encouraging them. As part of their support team.

 But, I learned in 2011, I had Stage 3 Colon Cancer and now I have Aggresive Bladder Cancer. I blame no one. It was my choice to smoke. I actually felt I stopped on time.

 Ehhhhh... Wrong!

 As I said earlier in this commentary, I am a cautionary tale. I am in no way interested in blaming anyone for my choices or for a pity party. That is just so beneath my own dignity and self-respect. I have always been a man who takes responsibility for my own choices, my own decisions with no regrets. I like the man that looks back at me in the mirror. I am the man I am for those decisions I made for me. Maybe not happy with some of the outcomes. But proud that I made them for ME. And those who know me, know that this comes from my heart.

 When you read this, take this message as it is meant. Not as a reprimand. Not as a criticism. But as a lesson. Stop. Today. If you know someone smokes send it to them. If you have young children, sit with them and explain that the dangers are not immediate, but rather, long-term. If they smoke already, don't yell or punish them. Instead, show them this.

 There is longevity for my family to live well past 80. I will be grateful as a seventy-year-old man to reach 75.

 And now, I am just a cautionary tale.

 

The Many Lessons of the 2021 Election

Okay. So now the pundits and prognosticators have had a day or so to lick their wounds and have begun to make excuses for how their data was wrong, or misinterpreted, or didn’t see the red wave hiding in plain sight, or the election gremlins affected the turnout and results. Or, maybe, instead these self-proclaimed seers that the media and the parties rely on to predict the outcomes of an election with their sophisticated polling formulas (see https://frankmchalesviews.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-poll-that-matters-first-tuesday-in.html for more details) really don’t know squat about reading people. 

Hey pollsters! Lesson One on polling is the only poll that matters is the one done on Election Day. And Lesson Two? People will lie to you if they feel your questions are intrusive or misleading.  

You see, if the questions are slanted in a subliminal way toward one candidate or party, most reasonable people with any elementary understanding of social behavior, will see through you and tell you what you want to hear to make your point. Or, maybe, you want to slant the outcome to your candidate that you will only hear what fits your agenda. Or the agenda of the person or party who is paying you to come up with the desired result. Either way, the margin of error a poll uses as a fallback is a cover to make the poll seem more legitimate. 

But the poll taken on Election Day doesn’t need the trickery of deceptive questions or spinning the outcomes to fit an agenda. Why? Because the poll taken on Election Day is real and doesn’t factor in a margin of error, because there is none.  

And by the way, the same can be said of exit polling, a strategy used by the media to help them come up with how the polling got it so wrong before Election Day, and gives “legitimacy” to their “experts” that report all night long after the votes are counted. 

But here is the thing. The people see through all of this and vote the way they feel about the President, the Congress, the Governor, etc., and the policies these entities are foisting on the American people may not be in line with how the people feel in the months leading up to Election Day. 

You know, like MANDATES which take away the FREEDOM TO CHOOSE what the people want for their own well-being, without the government, Federal, State or Local saying the word “MUST” and making the people feel like WE are the government’s chattel. Certainly, if a government official wants our votes on Election Day because they believe we are smart enough to vote for his or her agenda, then they must also believe we are smart enough to make our own decisions for ourselves. Right? RIGHT?

So, here is the lesson with the Election of 2021. The people are tired of being TOLD what we MUST do. And government officials must remember that THEY WORK FOR US. Not the other way around. They need to go back and re-read the Constitution of the United States. And focus on the Preamble which says all of this in less than sixty words with these following six promises:

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

This is the lesson that the non “leaders” need to learn, like Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, Hochul, Newsom, “the Squad”, and other wannabe dictators. Because WE THE PEOPLE will vote you out if you continue to go down that path. 

And no pollster that you hire will be able to save you from your own deserved self-destruction, no matter how the questions are asked. Because we can see right through it.