Harlem Globetrotter Passes - RIP Curly

Sliding, between the legs one-handed dribbles with a gleaming smile and A Shiny Bald Head. That's how I remember Curly from the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. Curly and Mr. Clean were the men who made bald cool in the early 1970's. But while Mr. Clean was only an animated commercial, Curly was the real deal as he mesmerized and entertained audiences around the world.

He and Meadowlark Lemon were the two stars I remember most from my era of Harlem Globetrotters. The two of them played off each other well, causing gymnasiums to roar with laughter and applause. They were truly two great basketball players ahead of their time and can easily be compared to Golden State's Steph Curry and Draymond Green if you ask me. 

Steph's amazing dribbling skills and Draymond's generalship of the team on the court could have easily been a Harlem Globetrotter combination. Even comparing Draymond's three-point shot with Meadowlark's long shot shows similarities. Of course Meadowlark had the Half-Court Hook Shot he'd perfected over the years; if only Draymond were given the green light to take shots like that in a real game.

Meadowlark passed away in 2015 and Curly went to rest just two days ago.  They filled my childhood and many others with magical dreams and loveable memories that we'll all cherish for as long as we live. You can still catch episodes of the Globetrotters Saturday Morning cartoon show on YouTube.


Fred "Curly" Neal, We Thank You for your Service.

I Got PPE, But "I Want You To Do Me A Favor Though"

How To Get Face Masks to Doctors and Hospitals in Need


If the Commander in Chief is okay asking a foreign ally in desperate need of defense armaments against a common enemy to first do him a favor by helping in his re-election, then what will he ask of state governments looking for federal support and leadership to arm against an invading viral pandemic?

It might sound treacherous and/or treasonous, but our man in the white house is handling this deadly national medical crisis as if his re-election depends on it and not civilian lives. 

Instead of putting his best foot forward and giving American citizens the leadership and support it needs at this time, he has done what he's been crookedly doing since taking over the office previously held by democratic favorite, President Barak Obama; Lying, Denying, Misleading, Misinforming, Blaming, Blocking, Campaigning and all out making America less great than it ever was. And less safe.

His dismantling of Presidential values and candor has led to our government being incompetent and unable to stand strong ready to fight together. Today we find ourselves as a nation vulnerable to attack from outside forces with only ourselves to blame only because of who we as a country elected to lead. 

If only our man in the white house were not suffering from narcissism; a personality disorder reflecting selfishness, involving a sense of entitlement, a lack of empathy and a need for admiration. When you couple this narcissist condition with a national crisis you get March Madness 2020 - the Coronavirus Campaign. And as anyone watching daily presidential press conferences knows, Coronavirus, unlike Republican Senators, does not respond positively to Lies, Denials, Deflections or Blame coming from a narcissist. It just goes on infecting, sickening and killing the misled/misinformed citizenry of a country pregnant with crisis when it first arrived. 

Most Americans, knowing the shortcomings of our man in the white house, were rooting for him to succeed in handling this medical crisis, taking a "we're all in this crisis together" attitude. We needed to believe that our Republican Senators who acquitted him of impeachment charges saw something leader-like in him that maybe us citizens somehow were overlooking. Perhaps just maybe the Naked Emperor was donning an exquisite and expensively made invisible suit.

Well, here we are unprepared and unprotected against a pandemic that we knew was coming and deadly. Early on our man in the white house could have rallied the country and government forces to steady ourselves and prepare for what was forecast. But his narcissism, such a self-defeating disease, began whispers of hoax, conspiracy and re-election deterrence into his ear. And while he takes no responsibility for our late and limited response to the Coronavirus, state governors are showing their leadership medal by pulling together whatever limited supplies and support available. America, in the face of a world conquering coronavirus and incompetent (fill-in-the-blank), is showing its unconquerable spirt and fearless fight to survive.


As we pause in the cause of fighting this pandemic, let us bear in mind what we're seeing and not seeing from our leadership in the white house. For as much as we depend on our government to lead and protect against invaders, it is our duty to place persons sound in mind, body and spirit to fulfill our expectations of leadership at the highest levels of state and federal government.

Vote

Alyssa Milano
Calls on Donald Trump to convert his hotels to hospitals for coronavirus relief. Trump has hotels in the cities of New York, Washington D.C., Miami, Las Vegas, Waikiki, Chicago and Charlottesville with other hotels outside the U.S. in Scotland, Ireland and Canada.

The Golden Piper - Amazon Review

We've all seen or heard the storyline before; a dying old millionaire invites all his long detached heirs to his mansion for one last round of "who's the greediest of them all!"  But in "The Golden Piper," the old man plays his money-hungry heirs like a musician stroking just the right key on a new and eager instrument. You might even say he began to play God, or the Devil.

The author does a wonderful job painting the many characters with their monetary hangups, wants and needs. No two guests are painted the same and yet all came regarding the money, not for love of a dying relative. Some you may find redeemable but the promise of money tends to blur many a redeemable quality in individuals. 

The story flows along very orderly, revealing bits and pieces until everything and everyone is laid out bare for inquisitive readers to see and judge.  Then comes the coup de grace. You'll love it!

Sports On Lockdown - Sh!it Just Got Real Folks

Let me start by saying my heart goes out to all victims of the coronavirus to date. This world health crisis is something that we're all battling together. No human being is immune. With each passing day the realities of just how impactful and threatening a world pandemic can be on our daily lives is brought into focus. We are seeing unfold right before our eyes a social shift from living our lives bunched together to having to distance ourselves from one another for fear of contracting or transmitting a deadly virus. 

If like myself you live in a good size major city then you know it's almost impossible to distance yourself from others. Whether it be buses, trains, elevators, grocery stores, office buildings or, Lord forbid, hospitals, humanity is right there pushing up next to you and usually you're pushing right back.  It's something you learn to tolerate when living in a city, it comes with the territory, like homelessness. Same with those of us who enjoy large entertainment venues packed with thousands of people. Whether it's a music concert, sporting event or street festival, we brave the crowds for a few hours of cheerful ecstasy and harmonious entertainment. 

Well my fellow consumers of sports, music and cultural outdoor events, those days are cancelled while our society does battle with this deadly virus. When they cancelled the St. Patrick's Day Parade I figured oh well, some poor chap won't be dressing up in green and drinking himself silly, too bad. When the weekend Coachella music festival was recently postponed I thought, there's gonna be a lot of disappointed partygoers, oh well. 

Today, when it was announced that the NBA was suspending its season indefinitely I wasn't all that disappointed since my Warriors have basically taken the season off after five consecutive trips to the Finals. But that basketball news was followed up this afternoon with a bombshell headline.

"March Madness Cancelled Amid Coronavirus Pandemic"


Are they crazy? Don't they understand the significance of this annual college basketball tournament? What about my bracketology predictions? This is Madness! 

Then it hit me; March Madness 2020 will be remembered for more than any game or event. March Madness 2020 is the month and year that a flu-like virus named Coronavirus caused the civilized world to shrug and pause.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the president's task force on coronavirus, said Wednesday that the outbreak in the U.S. is only "going to get worse."