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

First thing on our mind:

How can you be so old and still not know that much?

Leading off: The UPS quandary

Just starting out or hoping for a career change? Here’s a possible solution with a $170,000 salary. Become a UPS driver. Their full time drivers average $170,000 a year. But here’s the rub – the Atlanta-based shipper is shedding jobs faster than it’s creating them. UPS has 12,000 fewer employees than they did a year ago and forecasts for this year are a reduction of 20,000 more workers. The problem is UPS gave in to very steep union demands, not only in wages, but work rules. Shame on UPS for giving in; shame on the unions for being so greedy. And it’s not only UPS, but Boeing, Chrysler and the Yellow Corp Trucking Co. which has gone out of business after 96 years due to its ill advised labor contracts. There is only so much water in that well and when we drink beyond capacity, bad things happen.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

One of Tampa Bay’s biggest heroes, Hulk Hogan, passed suddenly at age 71. In addition to being larger than life in the ring, he was extremely generous to his community.

The city of Clearwater’s decision on whether to vacate a long city block in downtown to accommodate the Church of Scientology should be an easy call. In one word – no.

One of many reasons we’re glad we’re retired – many job interviews are now being conducted by AI. (That’s aye-eye, not short for Albert). Maybe we should return to a serif typestyle where it’s AI!

Number of the week: 42. That’s the number of unanimous decisions rendered by the U.S Supreme Court in their last session – not quite the ideologically divided body one might think.

Additional judicial news from the 5:05 Newsletter: Biden’s autopen pleads the fifth.

Hawaii’s Senate embarrassment Mazie Hirono says lawmakers doubt her because she is a minority. It more precisely involves her slam bang stupidity. We still remember her asking Supreme Court nominee Amy Barrett if she had ever been guilty of sexual harassment.

Brightline, the highly publicized rail link between Miami and Orlando, is showing ridership 30 percent below projections. But plans are still in place for a Tampa terminus as early as 2029.

This week in 1964 (July 31) The U.S. space probe Ranger 7 transmitted the first close-up images of the moon’s surface, marking a significant achievement in space exploration. These images provided valuable data for future lunar missions, including the Apollo program.

Sports, media and other notes:

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The music world took a hit last week with the passing of jazz great Chuck Mangione. The trumpet stylist was 84.

Happy area code week (727). Tampa actually has an 813 celebration every year in August. Perhaps we in Pinellas should do the same.

Some things just don’t change – or need to. The Bic ”Cristal” ballpoint pen introduced in 1950 is just the same and writes just as well 75 years later.

Related, we broke away from the Cristal about 40 years ago when Bic developed the four-color pen. There has been one on our desk ever since – a device used extensively by the medical and printing professions.

Kudos to the Bucs for sidelining defensive tackle Desmond Watson until he sheds some serious pounds. A guy weighing 464 pounds working out in 90 degree plus heat is a medical emergency waiting to happen.

As we write this, the so-called chalk picks in the American and National League Eastern Divisions, Baltimore and Atlanta, have identical 43-54 records.

Factoid: Of the 10 highest paid major league baseball players (all above $35 million a year) four, Blake Snell, Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg and Anthony Rendon, have played a total of two games this season – both by Snell.

The Top 5 TV shows this week in 1960 were Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Have Gun, Will Travel, Andy Griffith and The Untouchables.

One last thing: The trade deadline

First this note – major league baseball is on track for the most shutouts in the history of the game. The coming week is like Christmas for baseball nerds. What is Santa going to leave under the tree to help us down the stretch or what prospects can we net to help make our future years better than 2025? Five names that could be on the move – Rockies 3B Ryan McMahon; Athletics closer Mason Miller; White Sox CF Luis Robert; Pirate closer David Bednar and Rays’ reliever Pete Fairbanks.

UP NEXT: First income tax; Democratic outlook; Drive-ins

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