Tuesday Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Mikhail Gorbachev has passed away. My favorite story involving Gorbachev was during the nuclear disarmament talks with Ronald Reagan in Reykjavik - Gorbachev was to visit Reagan at the American's building and while Reagan's team was discussing the best way to greet the Russian - Reagan grew tired of the debate and just bounded out of the building without a jacket to shake hands with his Russian counterpart. Gorbachev was impressed by Reagan's friendliness but was bothered by the optics. Reagan looked energetic rushing out into the cold without a coat and Gorbachev stuffy in comparison all bundled up for winter.  Gorbachev's team had a singe request from the American's from that point on during the talks. If the two leaders were be be seen outside - could the Americans please make sure Reagan wore a winter coat. It was too cold out and Gorbachev really didn't want to either be cold or look soft... What was up with all the Disney World commercials during the Ohio State - Notre Dame game and why did most of the commercials have no kids in them? The game was probably the most watched 3-hours of TV this week. Was ESPN unable to sell those commercial slots and forced to fill with inhouse promotions? Or are the number of guests going to Disney down so much they have to carpet bomb the nations' eyeball with commercials begging adult's to visit? Maybe the number of visitors is down because of the woke pandering Disney is doing - even in the commercials aimed at adults most of the couples were same-sex... When many people give you the same advice on life, like only worry about the things you can control or say the importance of getting a good night's sleep - you should listen to them. The opposite is true when everyone seems to have the same opinion on betting on football against the spread... The Republicans would be wise to run on the message of getting America back on track for the next two elections in 22 and 24. Think a message of "getting even" will not resonate with voters. That doesn't mean the Democrats won't run on a variant on getting even or punishing the apostates of the current thing during their 30 seconds of hate... Not that I'd ever do this but it occurred to me that one of the better places to make a drug deal would be in the bathroom at a Walmart. There's no security cameras in the bathroom and everyone in Walmart already looks a bit sketchy so nothing would look too suspicious... One of the clues that "science" was in the tank for "politics" was when in 2020 Scientific American endorsed Joe Biden for President. It was their first political endorsement in 175-years. And "poof" just like that all their credibility was shot... Given all the political correctness on SNL these days you have to think something like John Belushi's Samurai Night Fever never sees that light of day on this version of SNL...  "Coming of Age" stories would be a little too spot on if you just reversed the order of those three words... Passions Puppets would be a good name for a sex doll brothel. Too bad it's not possible to launch the business in time to tie-in  with the new live-action Pinocchio... My goal for the upcoming NFL season is to lose one pound for every New England Patriots victory. I'll give myself until the Super Bowl to complete the task and I'm hoping to have to lose 11 pounds. Wish me (and the Pats) luck... As always if this column has made you smile or think - don't be afraid to hit the like button. Also please subscribe (it's FREE) and share with your friends. Thanks in advance..