Tampa Bay Rants and Raves is a weekly airing of national and local politics, sports, lifestyles and nostalgia items from a very politically incorrect viewpoint. As always, beware - some of what is printed here should not be taken literally.

Leading off: A dangerous Florida amendment

Just a few weeks ago, (TBR&R 5/22/23) we ranted about political action committees that hide under innocent sounding names. The latest threat to Floridian’s safety is the seemingly innocuous Smart and Safe political committee. They are advocating something that is neither smart nor safe – the legalization of recreational marijuana in the state through a constitutional amendment, hoping they can get enough potheads to vote for the measure. Luckily, the state, under the leadership of Attorney General Ashley Moody, is fighting the measure in the courts this summer. We’ll keep you advised.

Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

A suggestion from writers Angela and Dennis Buttimer: “The next time you go to a restaurant or public place, observe the engagement people have with their phones versus each other.”

Related thought: We really need to take more timeouts from our phones and other electronics and more “time-ins” with the people in our lives.

Educational note from the 5:05 Newsletter: The National Education Association is reporting that history test scores are at their lowest point in US history since Thomas Jefferson wrote the Magna Carta in 1933.

Seriously, it’s embarrassing to watch quiz shows where contestants don’t know the difference between Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt or Lord Nelson and Ricky Nelson. Yet these people vote.

A member of our outstanding focus group reports what may be the most offensive thing he has ever heard on TV - “We need to help our audience understand…”

Curious: The nation’s number six non-fiction bestseller is Jason Chaffetz’s The Puppeteers, a look behind the scenes at who pulls the strings in the Biden White House. It is not available in the Pinellas Library System. You can, however, avail yourself of any of the three dozen copies of the number eight book – Michele Obama’s The Light We Carry.

This week in 1948 (June 24) Republicans nominate New York Governor Thomas Dewey to run against Harry Truman. Despite that famous headline, Governor Dewey did not win.

Sports, media and other stuff:

A brief retrospective at the end of last Friday’s evening news on NBC gave a very clear picture of how far the network has fallen since the days of Huntley, Brinkley and Chancellor.

For what it’s worth, our All-Star ballot is Atlanta/Toronto heavy with three players from each. The Angels got two votes with the rest spread among the other 27 teams.

Homer alert: Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani (the two Angels votes from above) visit Coors Field this weekend. That should be fun to watch.

Number of the week: 13 – the number of Stanley Cups won by the Montreal Canadians – two more than the Toronto Maple Leafs. The most by an American team is six by the Detroit Red Wings.

So now the NFL is going to allow in-stadium sports books. Isn’t that swell? Fortunately, the NFL is still subject to pesky state laws which mean 15 teams, including all those in Florida, will not take part.

Idle thought: shouldn’t there be truth in advertising by aging rock bands requiring them to say: “this is our 6^th Farewell Tour, more to come?”

You’ve lived in Clearwater a long time if you ever dined at the Steak and Ale Restaurant on US 19 just south of Gulf to Bay Blvd. The last Steak and Ale closed 14 years ago, but there are whispers of a revival by its now parent company Bennigans.

…and another thing: electric car, maybe not

First, the advice of every expert in the auto business, don’t buy any car right now unless you need it. The average price of a new car is now well north of $40,000 (the price of the very nice four-bedroom, two bath home we bought when we began a family – but that’s dating us). Used car prices, while easing, are still at record highs. As for electric cars, the infrastructure to support them just isn’t there and even hybrids have a severe disadvantage – that being when you have to lay out a minimum of a thousand dollars for a replacement battery. Some luxury models’ battery replacement costs can reach over $20,000. Those numbers will buy you a lot of gasoline even at today’s Biden prices. The average range of an EV is equal to a half tank of gas, so forget about traveling up to Grandma’s in Virginia without a hunt for several charging stations. And one last thought from auto experts, if you lease your current vehicle look at buying and keeping it or flipping it at the end of the lease. Vehicles leased a few years back have purchase options on average of $8000 less than the current selling price of the same year model.

NEXT WEEK: Selective memory; MLB at midpoint; Cherbourg

061823/758

Sorry, time does not permit replies to comments.