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.

The Biden administration’s energy mess

Gas prices reach seven dollars a gallon in Virginia last week as gouging takes place during the fuel shortage caused by a cyberattack on a critical pipeline. Maybe we should have a few more pipeline options, eh Joe? Sixty five percent of gas stations in North Carolina were without fuel. Others states suffered nearly as bad – South Carolina and Georgia (50 percent each) and 45 and 39 percent in Virginia and Maryland respectively. First question – where is Biden’s weak-kneed Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm who promised action against the gouging like occurred in Virginia? And how long will the American public put up with gas lines and ever increasing prices at the pump. This same situation cost Jimmy Carter his job forty years ago. And it’s a good thing that Biden probably considers himself a one-term President, because he is heading down that path on so many fronts – energy being one of the most crucial.

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

Headline from last week: US jobless claims fall again as some states end federal aid. Should that come as a surprise to anyone?

The word on the street is that Florida Democratic Rep. Val Demings is considering a run for Marco Rubio’s Senate seat. If we were advising Demings (but she hasn’t yet called us), we would advise her to stay where she is for the time being.

We think Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard’s take on the proposed development plans for Clearwater’s bluff is sound. That being let the other drivers for redevelopment get in place first rather than proceeding with mediocre (our word) plans currently on the table.

Quote of the Week: "Anybody making less than $400,000 a year will not pay a single penny in taxes." – Joe Biden. We’re pretty sure he meant “new taxes,” but with Joe, you never know. Remember that when you get your tax bill this year.

In a related note - your tax dollars at work: Federal sky marshals assigned to monitor high risk flights were recently diverted so they could accompany California Rep. Maxine Waters to Minneapolis to basically rabble rouse. She was already accompanied by two Secret Service Agents and two armed Capitol policemen. And somehow, she required diversion of yet two more sky marshals when she landed in Minneapolis. Wow!

From The 5:05 Newsletter: Japan is proposing to conduct joint naval military exercises with Germany. What could possibly go wrong there?

There’s been a hue and cry from many to preserve the Kellogg mansion in Dunedin. While we support the preservation of worthy structures, we wonder how many folks have actually seen the place. Frankly, it’s an eyesore.

Sports, media and other stuff:

A thought from our Saintly Wife: “Why don’t we just have Amazon take over the postal service?” Makes sense to us.

Here’s a fun car game like counting the number of different state license plates you see on a trip. Count the number of “Help Wanted” signs on Gulf-to-Bay Blvd.

Number of the week: 182,000. That’s the population decline of California last year. Or put another way, roughly the number of people living in Fort Lauderdale.

At the quarter post in the MLB season, who would have bet on the Minnesota Twins having the worst record in baseball? Nobody. The White Sox having the best? Yes, we can buy into that.

We love “borrowing” thoughts from signs at the soon to be world famous Gassman Law Firm on Court Street; the sign guy on E. Belleair Road and this one from the flower shop at Hercules and Drew – “Motherhood, the most dangerous ‘hood you can enter.”

You’ve lived in Upper Pinellas County a long time if you camped at Camp Soule during your Boy Scout years.

TBR&R Focus Group: TV shows we loved

This month, we’ve tasked our elite TBR&R focus group with naming three of their all-time favorite TV shows. Our youngest focus group member went for lighter fare with Cheers, Seinfeld and Star Trek. Another member had an eclectic mix of The Good Wife, The Wonderful World of Disney and Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom (one of about a dozen animal shows she views weekly). Another of our elders chose some true classics - Amos and Andy, the original Superman with George Reeves and M*A*S*H. It was three very distinct shows for another of our select group. She chose Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In, The Tonight Show plus the acclaimed British series Upstairs, Downstairs. For another member, it was two comedies, Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men along with an early sixties classic – The Untouchables. And our newest focus group member chose The Office, NYPD Blue and Six Feet Under. Some shows getting multiple votes from our distinguished group were Cheers, Seinfeld, M*A*S*H and The Good Wife. A great bunch of shows!

NEXT WEEK: Take over Ken; Brenda &Connie; Summer Songs

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