A weekly airing of national and local politics, sports, lifestyles and historical notes from a very politically incorrect viewpoint, Tampa Bay Rants and Raves has been published since 2014. As always, beware - some of what is printed here should not be taken literally.

First thing on our mind:

My, what a $20 mouse can do for your productivity!

Leading off: The passing of a patriot

To the left, he was an anathema; to the center and right, he was an oft misunderstood patriot. Former Vice President Dick Cheney passed away last week at age 84. Cheney left his mark on several presidencies starting with the Nixon administration and continuing with Reagan and both Bushes. He was a U.S. representative, Chief of Staff, Secretary of Defense and what many call the most influential Vice President in U.S. history, particularly during and post 911. We Americans salute his long service to our country.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

Last week saw losses for the Republican Party, not to mention the residents of Virginia and New York City.

California Governor Newsom tells NBC he felt Biden could have served through 2029. Think that sound bite won’t come up in the 2028 primaries?

My, but we’re going to miss you Nancy.

More and more scandals are popping up in west coast Florida’s sheriff’s departments – cheating on tests, way too many inmate deaths in our jails, the list goes on. We need to hold our elected sheriffs more accountable or, as other states have done, return to appointed law enforcement officials, who are subject to firing.

In other scandal news, a story on the NBA scandal said the conspirators cheated “legitimate sports books.” We’re not sure there is such a thing.

Number of the week: 34,000. That’s the number of positions UPS has axed in the past year. It’s mostly due to less business from Amazon. Further woes occurred with last week’s crash at the Louisville Airport as UPS still tries to get away with antiquated equipment like the thirty year old MD-11s they are flying.

We are inching along towards the end of a relatively calm 2025 Hurricane season (we earned it). But, we still have three weeks to go.

As we close in on Thanksgiving and Christmas, our friend TL reminds us that Wisconsin produces more of a holiday staple, cranberries, than any other state – or nation for that matter.

Idle thought: three least favorite holiday foods: fruitcake by a landslide, followed by cranberries and anything that isn’t traditional bread or cornbread stuffing. In other words, hold the oysters.

Arby’s, a staple on Gulf to Bay Blvd. for close to sixty years, has closed.

From the 5:05 Newsletter: There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California.

Born 100 years ago this week (11/10) in Wales was award winning actor Richard Burton. He won a Golden Globe, Grammy and Tony, but never an Academy Award although nominated seven times.

Sports and random notes:

Ad blast from the past, the nostalgic Publix holiday commercial, in which not a word is spoken, following a family’s train trip south to the music of Pat Matheny’s Last Train Home.

In a recent survey of the Top 25 college football stadiums, two Florida venues show up – Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at #13 and Doak Campbell at #23. Topping the list was LSU’s Tiger Stadium.

Hugh Freeze is the latest SEC casualty. Right now, it’s great to be Lane Kiffin.

Apologies for the error; last week we misidentified former LSU coach Brian Kelly as Mark Kelly. The former Tiger coach probably won’t be out of work for long.

In The Athletic 136, Indiana remains on top and 0-8 UMass stays on the bottom. There are no Florida schools in the top 10. Miami fell three to #11; USF remained at #29; the Gators, despite a good effort against Georgia, fell three spots to #43; FSU is at #47 after a blowout win; UCF continues to drop down to #83 and FIU and FAU are stuck at # 113 and #114.

Surprising baseball factoid: The only MLB team with an all-time winning record against the powerful New York Yankees is – the Miami Marlins.

One last thing: An “A” date

A recent feature on the dear, departed Haslam’s Book Store reminded us and our Saintly Wife of one of our “A” dates. She would drop us off at Bananas Music Store on 22^nd Avenue North in St. Pete. Then she would journey down to Haslam’s on Central and explore their shelves while we trolled the well-organized boxes of 45s at Bananas. After picking us up, it was off for east Carolina BBQ at Butlers on 94^th Avenue. We miss Haslam’s and Butler’s, but Bananas lives on, still containing several bits and pieces of our enormous record collection that did not survive our downsizing six years ago. Great memories!

NEXT UP: Celene; New 50 years ago; Stan and Junior

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