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.

What a real newspaper looks like

A few months back, our daughter gifted us with an on-line subscription to The Atlanta Journal Constitution. The gift was primarily so we could more closely follow our beloved Atlanta Braves. That has been mostly disheartening, but a subject for another day. Referred to as AJC by its readers, the paper is, yes, liberal, but not far out left wing as some markets (including ours) are forced to endure. No stories weeping over the forty years imposed on the murderer of a husband and father, a balanced editorial page with folks ranging from Susan Collins on the left to George Will on the right and local coverage folks in Clearwater, Largo and Dunedin would die for; this despite having a circulation about three-quarters the size of our “local” newspaper. In addition to solid and level news coverage, AJC offers a superb design that brings you into the pages of coverage. It is, in short, what a metro newspaper should look like. (Judge for yourself, you probably can capture a sample on line or next time you fly through Atlanta, pick up a copy.)

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

Related to our lead story, an inquiry about a missing local paper delivery a few weeks back was greeted with, “Oh, the delivery guy quit.” So?

After multiple charges of sexual harassment in addition to playing fast and loose with his state’s COVID numbers, disgraced NY governor Andrew Cuomo bows to the inevitable and resigns.

Quote of the week: Protection of access to basic health care means your autonomy as a human being is fully respected by the law – Senator Elizabeth Warren attempting to justify the use of tax dollars to fund abortions. By what stretch is the termination of a human life “basic health care”?

News Note: U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is banned from Twitter for a week. Oh, the humanity – will she or the nation ever survive?

Not so random thought, our friends in the automobile business say the shortage of cars (and parts) is not easing up. In fact it is getting worse. So take good care of the old flivver.

Sports, media and lighter stuff:

You may not have been an FSU fan, but you had to respect the job Bobby Bowden did in turning an average at best football program into a two-time national champion. In a career that spanned from 1959-2009, Bowden had only two losing seasons and a total of 377 wins.

From the Belleair Road sign guy: “Get your shot, moron!”

We think we’re supposed to say this really didn’t come from the 5:05 Newsletter, but here goes: Unemployment up 400% among sports team’s ethnic mascots.

Which begs the question, who is your favorite team mascot? We’ll go with the very entertaining Phillie Phanatic. Which leads to another question, we don’t see that many Phillies’ games, but does he ever get booed? Remember this is the crowd that booed Santa Claus.

55 years ago this week, legendary drummer Keith Moon of the Who celebrated his 21^st birthday by driving a Lincoln Continental into the swimming pool of the Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan. Mr. Moon and his bandmates were banned for life from Holiday Inns worldwide as well as from Flint Michigan. Banishment from Flint, Michigan; is that a punishment?

On this weekend, the anniversary of Woodstock, an idle thought: there is nothing sadder than an old hippie?

Hugs and kisses from me and condolences from everyone else to our Saintly Wife on the 52^nd anniversary of her marriage to your humble blogger.

Finally, a bow to a very generous person

We tip our cap to an anonymous donor who, upon learning that teachers in parochial schools were not recipients of the generosity of our governor, dropped off a check for the benefit of all the teachers in an Upper Pinellas school. That school’s parents and teachers are also taxpayers, just like the public schools.

UP NEXT: No driver’s license; Boomers; Monty Hall

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