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

First thing on our mind:

When someone asks you to become president of a condo association, move.

Leading off: Good for Delta!

We’ve always had a fondness for Delta Airlines. It’s probably because they always carried us home to loved ones from places we really didn’t want to be. Now the airline finds itself the victim of a misguided “Boycott Delta” campaign because they are no longer allowing their flight attendants to wear Palestinian flag pins on their uniforms; pins that many of their customers would consider anti-Semitic. Moving forward, only American flags may be worn on Delta uniforms. This makes too much sense as you certainly would not expect to see an American flag on Aeroflot or Palestinian Airlines flight attendants.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

The signs at the protest read Stop Trump’s Abortion Ban. Guess that reads better than Keep Killing Unborn Children.

AOC files articles of impeachment against two SCOTUS justices. We’re sure Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas are quaking in their boots.

Breaking political news from the 5:05 Newsletter: Jill Biden Refuses To Drop Out Of Presidential Race.

Last week’s polls had Trump over Harris by only 2.6 percent. But we venture if Harris does become the candidate, she’ll say and do stuff that will make that margin widen.

Idle thought: if we were Vladimir Putin, we know who we would want to prevail in November’s presidential election. Fortunately, he doesn’t have a vote – we think.

The merger of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus is akin to Ford merging with GM. Both have many devout customers who wouldn’t be caught dead in the other store. In the south and southwest, it’s been Neiman Marcus while Saks was the preference of the eastern corridor.

Nearly half (46%) of electric vehicle owners say they will return to internal combustion vehicles with their next purchase.

So, you’re sitting there with a 3.25% mortgage, or better, none at all. Are you going to jump in with mortgage rates still just shy of seven percent?

This week in 1965 (July 18) WLCY-TV Channel 10 signs on, sister station to top rated WLCY Radio 138. It won the ABC affiliation in a protracted battle with WSUN-TV in September 1965. In 1978, it changed call letters to WTSP, the original call of their radio station; in 1994, it switched to CBS.

Sports, media and other notes:

Monte Kiffin, the architect of the Bucs’ famed and oft-imitated Tampa 2 defense, passed away last week at age 84.

With the passing of Willie Mays, who is now the greatest living Hall of Famer? Tough question – three names come to mind, Ricky Henderson, Sandy Koufax and Greg Maddux.

Looking ahead: The team facing the toughest schedule for the balance of the season is our hometown nine, followed by the Rockies and Guardians. Easiest schedule down the stretch: Reds, Mariners and Cubs.

We’re often and justifiably critical of our local newspaper. But if you did not read Christopher Spata’s well-written July 4 article on “the sound of MacDill AFB,” look it up on line.

Troubled CNN announces another 100 job cuts.

Another “benefit” of on-line gambling – the state of New Jersey has fined Draft Kings $100,000 for playing fast and loose on revenue numbers reported to the state.

This week’s political song: Tammy Wynette’s Stand By Your Man. Fewer and fewer Democrats are humming that tune these days.

Topping the charts fifty years ago this week was the biggest hit of the year, The Captain and Tennille’s Love Will Keep Us Together. Ten years earlier., the Beach Boys were riding high with their two-sided #1 hit I Get Around/Don’t Worry Baby.

You’ve lived in the bay area a long time if part of your trip home from summer vacation was a stop at a Carolina or Georgia fruit stand.

One last thing: A morning on the internet

We know you’ve probably experienced this, but upon arriving back from breakfast, we discovered that (1) our Netflix subscription had again expired (2) we had won a Marriott pillow (3) Home Depot had just the porch set we’ve been looking for (4) our bank alerted us that we signed in with a new device – the same device we’ve used for about three years (5) we can transfer any balances we owe over to one of our credit cards at a really, really good rate (for them) and (6) Unbreakable brain – that we could use! We also could use some stronger internet filters.

NEXT WEEK: The players speak; Don Knotts; GOP update

071424/598

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