Established in 2014, Tampa Bay Rants and Raves is a weekly airing of local and national politics, sports, lifestyles and Tampa Bay memories from a politically incorrect viewpoint.

First thing on our mind:

All our life, we never realized there was such a thing as a paid protest consultant – someone we all could live without.

Leading off: Local transportation’s future

It’s long overdue – the city of Clearwater and the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority have cut a deal to swap land and build a transit hub at the corner of Court Street and East Avenue. The site, to open in 2026, will accommodate the new, larger buses. Most exciting, the new PSTA installation sits next to train tracks opening up the possibility of a light rail connection in the future.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

There is a possibility with the ill-advised, proposed reclassification of marijuana, that the drug might be available at pharmacies. Wouldn’t that be special - waiting in line for your needed prescription behind a bunch of potheads?

We can forget about interest rates dropping any time soon as the Biden White House fails to harness inflation.

Looking around our nation’s campuses the last month brings to mind, the George Carlin truism, “Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.” 

Graphite, something you equate with pencils, but also used in batteries, is being rationed by China leading to another squeeze being put on the already troubled EV market.

Biz note: Some products given up for dead that are making a comeback: vinyl records, the flip phone and the disposable camera.

We tip our cap to the state of West Virginia which has ceased banking relationships with four banking groups whose corporate policies discriminate against fossil fuel companies. West Virginia is one of the largest coal and natural gas producers in the nation.

We all get annoying calls from all over the country, but the ones that we and our friend TL absolutely refuse to answer are from San Antonio, fearing for some unfathomable reason, the Air Force wants us back.

International news from the 5:05 Newsletter: In a swift and decisive response to Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israeli targets, President Joe Biden retaliated by attaching a note to the next pallet of billions of dollars in cash to Iran that reads “PLEASE DO NOT USE FOR TERRORISM.”

This week in 1953 (May 5) Channel 38, WSUN-TV, the bay area’s original TV station, signs on. It, along with WSUN 620 radio, was owned by the city of St. Pete. First it was CBS, then ABC before Channel 10 (WLCY-TV) won the ABC affiliation in September of 1965. WSUN-TV went off the air in July of 1970.

Sports, media and other notes:

He had just celebrated his 86^th birthday. Boss guitarist Duane Eddy (Rebel Rouser, Because They’re Young) passed away last Tuesday.

Related to our TV historical note above: You’ve lived in the bay area a long time if you remember WSUN-TV personalities: Capt. Mac, Jay Black and Sid Perry.

The Weather Channel announced staff cuts last week. The hardest to swallow was 32-year TWC veteran Mike Seidel, who shared many of our living rooms during hurricane season.

Topping the charts this week in 1974 was one of the few songs to go to #1 by two different artists (and 12 years apart) – the Locomotion by Grand Funk Railroad following Little Eva’s 1962 rendition.

NFL fans are going to miss Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason at the CBS desk this fall. Both were jettisoned after over twenty years each at the network.

This time, it’s Comcast that is making sports fans crazy (remember the Disney, UF fiasco last fall?). Comcast has dropped Bally which carries Atlanta Braves games to a six-state market comprising 35 million people. Eventually, they’ll reach an agreement, but that is little salve for fans. By the way, Comcast needs to watch its pennies as it fell just short of a $15.5 billion profit last year.

…one last thing: Would you like fries with that?

Usually we review books published within the last few months, but a book that escaped us back in the late seventies caught our eye recently. It’s Grinding It Out, Ray Kroc’s story of how America’s ubiquitous fast food restaurant came to be. It is truly one of those Horatio Alger tales of how a paper cup and electric mixer peddler founded McDonald’s. Kroc’s devotion to quality and value makes the success seem easy, but it wasn’t. Attention to detail won the day. A few weeks back, we mentioned that no McDonald’s ever contained a jukebox, pay phone or vending machine – good side income, but they also create unproductive traffic and disrupt customers who simply want a burger and some fries for their family. Fries, by the way, are, by far, McDonald’s biggest selling item followed by the Big Mac and Egg McMuffin. We regret Kroc did not live long enough to write a follow up book. He died in 1984. But there are more recent treatments which we intend to read. But, if you’re an entrepreneur or just interested in Americana, Grinding It Out would be an enjoyable, but all too short, read.

UP NEXT: Hershey bar; “Big” coke bottles; Indy it ain’t

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