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

Note to Joe: energy production is not a bad thing 

One of the many things Joe, the job killer, doesn’t seem to grasp is that meeting the energy needs of the United States and protecting our environment are not mutually exclusive. Trying to cut back on domestic energy production is inviting disaster with the loss of an estimated 11,000 jobs at just the XL Pipeline alone. Many of us remember the gas lines of the 1970s and the $3.50 plus per gallon gas prices of the Obama administration. The last thing we want to do is have less than friendly foreign nations dictating oil prices and supply to us again. But Biden’s so-called environmental team is scary in terms of their lack of business knowledge and experience. He seems to be trying to create diversity rather than a competent team that can balance the environment with our nation’s energy needs and independence.

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

1. Related note: GM announces an all-electric fleet of cars and SUVs by 2035. Good and well, but will our already shaky electric grid support such a massive new load? Most experts say we have a lot of work to do between now and 2035 to make that happen.

2. The Vaccine Blues: From an article in “Florida’s Best Newspaper”: “For those who do not have Internet access, you can also pre-register by phone. To find the designated number for your county, visit https://floridahealthcovid19.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/FL-VACCINE-HOTLINES_updated-0124.pdf.” Now, what is wrong with that picture?

3. “Mr. Unity” missed a chance to get America back on track last week with his urging that the impeachment of President Trump “has to happen.” He apparently did not read our lead article from last week. We’ll email him a copy.

4. We know it’s not true (we think), but it’s funny. That is if we had just handed off the COVID-19 vaccination distribution to Amazon and Chick-fil-A, we’d all be vaccinated by now.

5. We shouldn’t be surprised that New York’s shifty governor undercounted COVID deaths in state nursing homes by fifty percent – and, of course, blamed it on the White House. Families who lost loved ones to COVID in New York nursing homes are incensed by this outright lying of a disgusting human being.

Sports, media and other stuff:

6. To this old broadcaster, the two best radio talk show hosts over the past half-century were Bruce Williams and Larry King. Williams, who lived the later part of his life in New Port Richey, passed away two years ago after thirty years of hosting his coast to coast show. And last week, we lost Larry whose career was launched on Miami’s WIOD and later on the old Mutual Radio Network. King was truly one of a kind and led the league in ex-wives (7). He was 87.

7. Was there any role Cloris Leachman could not pull off? She appeared in diverse roles in The Untouchables, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Young Frankenstein and probably her most well-known role as busybody neighbor Phyllis Lindstrom in The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Ms. Leachman died at age 94 last week.

8. From the Belleair Road sign guy – “How ‘bout dem Buccaneers.”

9. No new Hall of Famers this year. Curt Schilling, one of the best two or three postseason pitchers in the last half century, missed by 16 votes. The path to the Hall for Curt is clear; hold your nose and become a liberal.

10. You’ve lived in the bay area a while if you remember some of the local fledgling bands of the sixties like Terry and the Pirates, the Roemans, the Impacs, the Hurricanes (featuring a future Circuit Court judge) and the Rockers (featuring a future heart surgeon) just to name a few - more on singers just below.

Remembering the 50s’ top male singers

Last week we highlighted the top selling male artists of the fifties through the eighties. This week, we begin a monthly series looking more closely at the folks whose records we bought in those decades starting with the top selling male artists of the fifties. As we mentioned last week, Elvis, to no one’s surprise, was at the top. The other top male acts of the fifties, in order, were Jacksonville native Pat Boone, Perry Como, Fats Domino, Nat “King” Cole, Frank Sinatra, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Mathis, Eddie Fisher and Jimmy Rodgers – he of Honeycomb fame – not the country legend. Two surprising omissions are Chuck Berry and Paul Anka, but you have to remember that rock and roll didn’t take off until mid-decade and before that pop singers like Como, Sinatra and Nat Cole were the big sellers. Next month, the female stars of the fifties.

NEXT WEEK: “Surf-Stoppers”; Ft. Wayne Pistons; Joe’s worst pick

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