Category Archives: Current Events

All-Star Strikeout

Greg hits another Home Run!

By: G. Maresca

As Major League Baseball (MLB) opened its season to sunny skies with every team playing on the same day since 1937, the game’s executives seem intent on beheading the golden goose with the woke ax of the Cancel Culture.

Given the issues with two recent Georgian elections, the state’s legislature passed a bill that would strengthen the integrity and fairness of their voting laws.  The MLB suits and their Democrat allies including President Biden disagreed labeling the legislation “an atrocity” and “Jim Crow.”  As a result, MLB’s midseason summer classic – its annual All-Star game and amateur draft that were to take place in Atlanta – will be relocated to Colorado that has similar voting laws.

The president’s distortion of the Georgia law is intentionally divisive since he promised to unite the nation at his inauguration.  Even the left leaning Washington Post awarded Biden four Pinocchio’s.

MLB’s certitude is business as usual.  During last year’s abbreviated season, MLB stenciled a Marxist organization’s initials on pitching mounds leaguewide.  Despite their All-Star boycott of Georgia, MLB announced an expanded television deal with China.  MLB must not realize that in China they eat their bats rather than swing them.

MLB should showcase their All-Star game in Wuhan.  Surely, the Uighurs in their Xinjiang province “re-education” camps would tune in. Even Secretary of State Antony Binken said China is committing genocide against the Uighurs.

The media needs to question Biden on how a law committed to voter integrity in a state that he won warrants a boycott, while communist China gets a pass.

The Georgia law will require absentee voters to provide identification when requesting and mailing in their ballot.  Likewise, ballot drop boxes that were temporary during the pandemic will continue but be reduced.  There were no drop boxes prior to COVID, ever.

What will MLB do when other states pass similar voter integrity laws? Stop playing games in those states?  Why are any of the 81 regular season games being played in Atlanta if this law is so egregious?

Politics injecting itself into professional sports is vogue.  In July 2016, the NBA pulled its All-Star Game from Charlotte, N.C. because a state law mandated that transgenders use bathrooms according to their birth gender. After the law was repealed, the NBA rewarded Charlotte their 2019 All-Star game.

Political division is nothing new, but the ridiculous and despotic reactions are.  Perhaps MLB is auditioning for their future masters – the Chinese Communist Party?  No need to concern yourself with voter suppression when there are no elections.

Georgia is in no way suppressing legitimate voters, but their law does make it harder for illegitimate voters – and that is the crux – for Democrats.  MLB has smeared Georgia’s elected majority as racist and anti-democratic.

State officials should sue for defamation.

Here is MLB lecturing on election integrity when nothing is more fraudulent than an MLB All-Star ballot, where voting early and often is creed.

Drive to the park, buy a beer at the game and you will need identification.  Producing identification is not voter suppression; it is voter certification.  And you better have your immunization card updated to enter because that is next.

Sports should be apolitical, but it is the weak and craven who fail to step up to the plate and make it so.  Georgia showed uncharacteristic courage for politicians something MLB and the crony and woke CEOs at Atlanta based Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola severely lack.

If other legislatures and organizations would exhibit such resolve perhaps, a real examination, without the name calling about why one group has lagged behind in most metrics despite decades of unconstitutional subsidies and preferences.  Then we could address some real causes: 70% children born out of wedlock, 52% of murders, 37% of abortions among a culture that is only 13% of the population where entitlement and victimization handcuff advancement while atrophying young minds.

Bureaucratic elites are in lockstep with the anti-liberty, totalitarian, Constitution-hating zealots who occupy Washington.  This decision by MLB is just the latest example.

Sports is entertainment, not a political movement.

Until conservatives can boycott as effectively as leftists, expect more of the same.

Conservatives need to take a final homerun trot around the MLB bases of going, going… gone.

Good luck with your new friends, MLB.

 

Originally posted 2021-04-09 11:02:17.

Coke CEO

Shut up and run your company

I find it remarkable that of all the corporations and organizations who have come out condemning Georgia’s latest legislation concerning voter requirements, nary a one has explained how the law disenfranchises minority voters. Amazing. I recently read where even CNN said it does nothing to harm minority voting. Have any of these woke companies/organizations even read the law? I seriously doubt it.  Someone, anyone, please explain to me how requiring an ID to vote in the United  States infringes upon a minority’s right to vote. Maybe I’m just out of touch with today’s world, but I don’t think so since the chart below shows an awful lot of “things” that require an ID. How does one exist in today’s world without an ID?? You all know from past posts I consider myself an Economist by education and hobby. I know for a fact that we, as consumers have more power than many of you think. Oftentimes, commenters have asked what we can do to help society get back on track. Well, let me tell you it’s plain and  simple. Spend your hard earned money wisely, that is, do not buy from producers who pay more attention to social media than running their business. Corporations like Coke rely on us for their existence. They should shut their woke mouths and concentrate on running Coke for the benefit of the owners, who are , of course, shareholders! Can you imagine if you forwarded this post to everyone in your address book, and they did likewise, we could really hurt Coke, and perhaps teach that idiot woke CEO, James Quincey, a lesson in Economics!

I recently switched razors to Harry’s, and was about to order some more blades. It’s going in the trash today. We should be together on this Gang. If you read about some company/organization  condemning Georgia for their new ID law, make a comment about on here. Let’s start a list so we all know who to stop buying from or supporting.

 

 

 

 

 

I know switching from favorites can be tough e.g., Tide is but one product of Proctor & Gamble. However, we have to do something rather than sitting round bitching about things. Please join me!

What I Wouldn’t Give for a Shave That Isn’t Woke

From my closet to my bathroom, my house is full of leftist brands. It’s time to do something about it.

From the WSJ

By Dave Seminara

April 4, 2021 4:16 pm ET

Maybe I was wrong to think conservatives should refrain from adopting the bullying, boycotting tactics of the left. I made the case against emulating progressives in these pages last summer as I lamented the rise of the woke corporation, documenting how many of my favorite companies embrace values antithetical to my own. But it’s increasingly clear that the sharp increase in corporate virtue signaling after George Floyd’s death wasn’t a passing trend but a sea change. Perhaps it’s time for conservatives to boycott companies that hate us.

Coca-Cola and Delta, a pair of Atlanta-based companies I’ve patronized for many years, became progressive boycott targets this month for allegedly not doing enough to stop Republicans in the state from passing an election-security law that’s been recast absurdly as a civil-rights violation. The companies haven’t withstood it well.

In an interview Wednesday with CNBC, James Quincey, Coca-Cola’s CEO and virtue signaler in chief, called the law “unacceptable” and “a step backwards,” but didn’t explain why. CNBC host Sara Eisen never asked if he feared a conservative backlash. Instead she pressed him on why Coca-Cola didn’t “publicly oppose this before.”

Mr. Quincey’s comments didn’t placate the woke mob on Twitter, with some insisting that Coke hadn’t condemned the legislation soon enough or forcefully enough. Delta CEO Ed Bastian appeared to be reading from the Coca-Cola script later the same day. His company released a statement condemning the law, and Mr. Bastian said in a memo to employees that the reform was “unacceptable and does not match Delta’s values.”

Opinion: Morning Editorial Report

As the Journal’s editorial board has pointed out, the legislation is in no way a return to Jim Crow, but rather an honest effort to improve election integrity.

Coca-Cola, Delta, Microsoft and other companies my family supports all but called the legislation racist, implying that those, like me, who support it are bigots. As distasteful as this is, I can’t say I’m surprised. When I look around my house, I see many products from woke companies that want me to know how strongly they disagree with me on pretty much every issue of the day.

Start with Patagonia, one of my favorite clothing-and-gear outfitters. The top of its website exhorts visitors to “act now” to stop climate change, warning that “extinction looms for more than one million species of plants and animals.” Maybe so, but what about shoppers who are there just to pick up a $35 “live simply” T-shirt? The homepage tab next to “shop” is “activism.” Click if you dare, because you’re in for a world of lefty indoctrination. Patagonia even endorses political candidates. You won’t be surprised to learn that none of them in 2020 had an “R” after their names.

Moving to the bathroom, I encounter my progressive razors. No, not Gillette. I ditched those in 2019 after the company released a ludicrously woke ad decrying toxic masculinity. But last month I learned that the new brand I’d chosen, Harry’s, had pulled its advertising from the Daily Wire, a conservative website I like. The razor company fled after a Twitter user with 29 followers complained that one of the Daily Wire’s podcasts “is spreading homophobic and transphobic content.” You might think it’d be easier to find a politically neutral shave, given that a majority of men are Republicans and companies generally play to their customer base. But this reality is apparently lost on Harry’s—and Gillette, or rather its parent company, Procter & Gamble.

Another P&G brand my family uses—Pantene shampoo—recently released a commercial about the life of a young transgender girl and her lesbian moms. “She has always been super gender creative, and hair has been a big part of her transition,” says one of the moms. At the end of the commercial, a banner reads, “PANTENE Family is #BEAUTIFULGBTQ—Proud to Support Transgender Visibility.” The ad has about six times as many dislikes as likes on YouTube, but that hasn’t given the company pause. It tweeted that “transphobia has no place in our world or in our feed.”

Maybe Pantene believes that’ll be the extent of the blowback. Many companies take Republican customers for granted. Perhaps they’re right. I still have subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu and Disney+, even though many of their offerings, particularly documentaries, advance left-wing agendas.

But there’s money to be made on standing up to cancel culture. Last summer, after I complained that my preferred coffee company had gone too far left, readers suggested I buy from Black Rifle Coffee Co. “They support Veterans and the coffee is very good,” one reader wrote me. He was right and word is spreading. The company’s revenue nearly doubled in 2020—a year when every other business seemed to be going woke.

Unlike many on the left, I’m fine with companies not taking sides, and I don’t expect every company I patronize to embrace my views. But if Pantene can stand firm on behalf of transgender visibility, perhaps it’s time for conservatives to stiffen their spines, too. It doesn’t seem like too much to ask that the businesses I patronize refrain from actively and loudly despising me.

Mr. Seminara is a former diplomat and author of “Footsteps of Federer: A Fan’s Pilgrimage Across 7 Swiss Cantons in 10 Acts.”

Originally posted 2021-04-05 14:55:57.

The Border Issue

In case you have not been keeping up what’s going on at the southern border; I know it’s hard because DHS is not allowing any reporters anywhere near the border. But, they couldn’t stop my very favorite Senator Ted Cruz, the only one BTW who is pushing term limits knowing he will be out of a job. Albeit, they definitely tried to stop him from seeing the conditions and filming under the guise of “respecting their dignity” — yeah right. You will have to copy and paste into your browser. Why isn’t the MSM shouting to the rooftops, oh, I forget, they don’t care as it’s a Biden issue.

https://t.me/realx22report/1320

Originally posted 2021-03-30 13:29:12.

Belated Memorial Day Message

To all my Vietnam Veteran brothers, as well as my patriotic American followers who weren’t able to serve, may God bless you and keep you. I did not post anything prior to Memorial Day, as I always find myself somewhat lost for the appropriate words. Is it correct to wish someone “Happy Memorial Day? Appropriately or not, I always find it difficult to make that wish.

However, yesterday I received an email from a good friend and fellow warrior, Lobo, with a message from Quang Nguyen that I found highly moving and fittingly appropriate as a Memorial Day presentation. In case you are not familiar with Quang Nguyen, he is a state representative from Arizona. He sent Lobo a copy of the speech he had given this year at the Prescott National Cemetery in his home state. I’ll let him tell you his story. Enjoy!

Big Brother,                                                                    I was given 7 minutes to speak at the Prescott National Cemetery on this Memorial Day.  I thought it beneficial to Veterans to hear a different perspective.  Here’s the copy.  Please remember that I write the way I speak and so I am not paying attention to grammar or punctuation.  Thank you.

It is always an honor to be present here at the Prescott National Cemetery on Memorial Day. I was here last year to hear the wise words from Major General Mick McGuire and I hope to be just half as inspirational as his.

There is somewhat of a different perspective of Memorial Day once you been in a war and understand the true meaning of the “ULTIMATE SACRIFICE”. Today, I offer you my unique perspective of what this day personally meant to me. You see… We recently commemorated the 50th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. I was too young to be in the service, but I lived through three communist invasions including the final one on 30 April, 1975. So when I say I’ve seen American service members walking through the rice fields, I actually saw that with my own eyes. When I say I understand the sacrifice of young men and women who travel 10 thousand miles to fight for my freedom, I actually do know and do understand. More than 58 thousands of your sons and daughters gave it all, SO I can stand here in front of you today. No books; No teachers; No professors will be able to explain the meaning of Memorial Day to me. I know from personal experience. Not a single day in my life that I don’t think about how lucky I am to be an American.

My Dad spent 39 years of his life fighting in three different wars.  My brother fought along side many of you who are here today, from 1968 to 1975 as an Airborne soldier. During my childhood, I learned that two of my first cousins died as rangers in Cambodia. One was executed after the Fall of Saigon in a concentration camp. Those are also my personal experience.

For years, I wasn’t able to visit the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC. I felt responsible for getting those names etched on those Walls. I did not want to interfere with the mourning process by showing up. There is so much guilt in my soul. In 2016, my wife, daughter, and I flew to DC to drop off my daughter Sarah at a Summer Program in Annapolis. Having little else to do in the area, my wife and I decided to visit the monuments and I mentally avoided the WALL. My wife then said to me… We need to spend time paying respect to Vietnam Veterans to which I replied, I don’t think I am wanted there. She literally dragged me from the Lincoln Memorial to the Vietnam Wall. It was 2:30 in the afternoon and for some unknown reasons, not a soul was there except for a wreath left for a soldier with a gold banner: “West Point Class of 64”. I touched as many names as I possibly can and by the time I got to the very end, I was emotionally drained and I felt grateful having known that so many died for me and I am grateful to be adopted by the most generous nation in the world.

To the Gold Star families, you bear the heavy burden of loss. You showed us your strength and resilience and that is a profound testament to the love and pride you hold for your love ones. I will never be in the position of telling you that I understand your loss. Thank you, Gold Star families for your ultimate sacrifice. To you and your service members, this nation owes you a debt of gratitude.

Here’s what we all need to recognize… Our fallen heroes know sacrifice through giving. The rest of us know sacrifice through receiving.

Let us honor our fallen heroes not only with words, but how we live, by serving others, stand up for what is right and to ensure their legacy endures through our action. May we never forget freedom is not free. It is paid for by the brave, and today, we remember them all.

God bless the Unite States America and her heroes.

Quang Nguyen