Founded in 2014, Tampa Bay Rants and Raves (TBRR) is a weekly chronicle of politics, sports, lifestyle and historical notes from a politically incorrect viewpoint. Some of this content should not be taken literally.

First thing on our mind:

From the Dali Lama: “Happiness is the highest form of health.”

Leading off: It’s about time!

Perhaps it was not done with the greatest of finesse, but the Trump administration’s recent action in Venezuela is long overdue. It sends a message to our neighbors in the Americas that we are literally sick to death of poison invading our borders and shores. The latest statistics show 110,000 Americans dying annually of drug-related issues or just about double our losses in the entire Vietnam War. So yes, it is a matter of national security. It’s encouraging to see folks on both sides of the aisle on board with the action. There are, of course notable exceptions like malcontent Marjorie Taylor Greene or Democratic lackey Kathy Castor, balanced by the support of Florida’s most liberal political voice Debbie Wasserman Schultz. At last, an administration has the guts to say we’re mad as hell with you poisoning our populace and we’re not going to take it anymore.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

She was the Jewish mother we never had. Our longtime neighbor, Ida Schwartz passed away at age 95. She and her late husband, Irv, were the kind of neighbors you only dream of having.

The tale of two cities: In the mid 1970s, the population of San Diego was 700,000 and that of Chicago 3.5 million. Today, San Diego is at 1.4 million and Chicago 2.7 million.

Saks Global, which bit off more than it could chew with its purchase of Neiman Marcus a year and a half ago, might be headed for bankruptcy. The action would draw the once proud Neiman Marcus chain down along with Saks and their Bergdorf Goodman stores.

Elmer Fudd a.k.a. Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota has seen the writing on the wall and will not seek another term.

At the beginning of the year, several states stopped SNAP purchases of soda and candy. It would do all of us well to pretend we are on a SNAP diet.

What might appear to be an inadvertent omission from one of our 10 predictions from last week was not inadvertent. It was because they are crooks. We can say no more.

Automotive note from the 5:05 Newsletter: I’m really tired of the LED headlights on some cars. I'm glad you can see 92 miles ahead, but the rest of us are blind now!

Sports and random notes:

It was kind of a weird way to end the NFL season rooting for the New Orleans Saints to beat the equally inept Atlanta Falcons.

In the prestigious Duke Mayo Bowl, Wake Forest QB Robby Ashford was playing for his fourth team in six years. That is wrong in so many ways.

Nine teams including the Tampa Bay Rays have canceled their TV deals with Fan Duel Sports Network. Fan Duel reportedly has missed broadcast rights payments from last season to several of the nine teams. MLB is prepared to take over the broadcasts if necessary. It will not affect each club’s broadcast teams.

Long time Athletic and Atlanta Journal Constitution writer, David O’Brien announced his retirement earlier this month. He spent close to four decades covering first the Miami Marlins and later the Atlanta Braves. His straightforward reporting will be missed.

Two west coast high school football teams made the various national Top 25 rankings – IMG Academy in Bradenton and Sarasota’s Cardinal Mooney. The consensus national champion was Buford (GA) High School.

Ad blast from the past, Marlboro’s “come to where the flavor is” over the driving Elmer Bernstein Magnificent Seven theme.

Our family doesn’t normally drink citrus drinks unless we have a cold. One recent instance got us searching for an old favorite – Five Alive, a product of Minute Maid. Sad to report that production ceased in the U.S. quite some time ago, although it still is produced abroad and can be had in Canada and parts of Africa.

Related: Amazon still imports some for sale in America, but the price is quite dear as in $10 a liter on the low end.

Topping the charts fifty years ago this week was C.W. McCall’s novelty trucking song Convoy. Ten years earlier, it was The Beatles on top with We Can Work It Out.

One last thing: The carousel spins

And so the carousel spins. Former Bucs head coach Raheem Morris out in Atlanta after only two years, no surprise nor was Las Vegas’ parting company with Pete Carroll or the Browns moving on from Kevin Stefanski. You can be excused if you didn’t even know the name of the Arizona Cardinals head coach (or forgetting they moved from St. Louis 38 years ago). The coach’s name is Jonathon Gannon who went 15-36 in three years - again, no surprise. Is there any more irrelevant team in the NFL than the Arizona Cardinals? While there had been rumors, the Ravens’ ouster of John Harbaugh defies logic. If he chooses to continue coaching, he will be unemployed for two weeks. Here in the bay area, Bucs coach Todd Bowles dodged the bullet, but offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard was a casualty of Tampa Bays’ disappointing season. The most recently fired head coach, Miami’s Mike McDaniel, would be a terrific fit, but odds are he will land one of eight vacant head coaching jobs.

UP NEXT: City off the tracks; VHS; Fourth term

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