A weekly look at the Tampa Bay area and national politics from a conservative viewpoint – plus a helping of sports and lifestyle items. Warning: not everything printed here should be taken at face value.

There’s no amount of money….

We begin with our quote of the week – if not year: “There's no amount of money that's going to change the devastation and destruction that they've done to families not only all across our county but all across the country”. The quote is from Travis Bornstein, whose son got hooked on opioids and eventually died from a heroin overdose. Bornstein was scheduled to testify in the first ever trial of drug companies and their aggressive marketing of drugs they knew were highly addictive. Just before a jury was about to be seated, the companies agreed to settle two Ohio counties for $260 million dollars – a pittance compared to the some 400,000 deaths opioids have caused. It was the easy way out for the multi-billion dollar industry. We still look forward to the day when there is a trial and some of the masterminds behind the drug pushing see some well-earned jail time.

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

1. Broward County sheriff Scott Israel’s fate should have been decided at the ballot box – not on the floor of the Florida Senate.

2. Term of the week - “national critics”. Quoted by liberal media trying to gain credibility on some assertion in a news piece. Let’s see, you and I are a couple of old slaps who live in Florida, so if we weigh in on an issue in, say, Michigan that makes us “national critics”, right?

3. That was a nice little bombshell dropped by Bob Ballard during the so-so Titanic feature on the National Geographic channel. His real mission when he found the Titanic wasn’t the ill-fated liner but two lost U.S. nuclear subs – something known only to the geekiest of geeks and conspiracy theorists - more on this in the weeks ahead.

4. Johnson and Johnson recalls their Baby Powder. Can nothing be trusted anymore?

5. You’ve lived in Pinellas County a long time if you remember when Publix was closed on Sundays and gave S & H Green Stamps.

Sports, the media and other stuff:

6. The NFL is attempting to muzzle players who justifiably criticize officials who make bad calls. Five figure fines are being handed out to players like Baker Mayfield, Clay Matthews and others as the level of officiating in the NFL continues to deteriorate.

7. In a related note, MLB umpire Eric Cooper died last week at age 52.

8. After the Mets swung and missed badly last year, the Red Sox hired Chaim Bloom of the Rays as their chief baseball officer. We predict a resurgence for the Bosox much like that of the Nationals who wisely hired Davy Martinez after other teams passed.

9. The clear winner in the 2019 World Series was West Palm Beach which hosts both the Nationals and the Astros.

10. Bobby “Boris” Pickett left us 12 years ago, but for this week, his claim to fame lives on virtually every music station in America – The Monster Mash – number one on the charts this week in 1962.

The managerial turnstile – so far

You pretty much knew Maddon was going “back home” to LA once he wore out his welcome in Chicago. Girardi to the Phils is a bit of a surprise. We had him penciled in for his hometown (he’s from Peoria) Cubbies. Ross is a likeable guy, but for the most part, the “new fresh face” thing hasn’t been working out –see Mets, Phils etc. Likewise, we expected the Padres to go for a more experienced hand like Ron Washington. Not sure who will fill the Mets dugout. That job is not all it’s cracked up to be – same for the Giants. And the Pirates and Royals are going to have to take whomever they can get.

NEXT UP: Traffic cams; More MLB post mortem; WPB Wins!

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