News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
Portland Council Comedy Club — The Portland, Ore. City Council continues to hold its meetings online in its never-ending battle against Covid, and probably Putin too now.
This is a good thing as they have become the one place in America where you can find gut-splitting comedy unafraid of offending the woke.
Here is a snip from yesterday’s (March 16) session.
Best Irish Baseball Players, Happy St. Patrick’s Day
By Joe Guzzardi
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I set out to determine the best-ever Irish baseball players. The task was more challenging than I imagined, but also more rewarding. Reviewing the Irish baseball greats and their stellar diamond accomplishments was a welcome diversion from the troubled world around us.
To get started, I read the Society for American Baseball Research’s player biographies and then referred to Baseball-Almanac’s statistical records. Early on, I realized that identifying a single best-ever Irish player is impossible. I broke the Irish greats into four groups: best hitter, best pitcher, best manager and most influential – the player responsible for creating a baseball buzz that brought droves of new, but still curious, late 19th century fans to the ballpark.
Irish players, mostly Irish-Americans, have been an integral part of the American baseball scene since the post-Civil War era when the sport enjoyed its first popularity surge. By the mid-1880s, just after the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs was formed, players could earn $10,000 a year at a time when the average annual income was $800. Understandably, good athletes were drawn to baseball. Like Italian and Eastern European immigrants, the Irish knew that when they played baseball, they were taking steps toward becoming full-fledged Americans.
Best Irish batsman is Cleveland-born “Big” Ed Delahanty. The eldest of five MLB brothers, Big Ed played most of his career, 1888-1903, with the Philadelphia Quakers, the Phillies, the Cleveland Infants and the Washington Senators. During his 16-year career, Big Ed hit .400 or better three times, and ended up with a .346 career average, the fifth best in baseball history, a .411 on-base percentage, and a .505 slugging average. Delahanty was an excellent right fielder with a rifle arm.
Toward his career’s end, Delahanty’s wife became gravely ill; he lost money at the race track, and he went on extended drinking binges. On July 2, 1903, riding a train across the International Railway Bridge over the Niagara River, Delahanty abruptly left the train, stumbled onto the bridge, fell into the river and drowned. Some speculate that Big Ed committed suicide, others claim he was pushed by an irate night watchman with whom he’d scuffled. The circumstances surrounding Big Ed’s death have never been resolved.
Best Irish mounds man is Tony “the Count” Mullane. The affable, County Cork-born pitcher was a well-known rake and a skilled boxer, as well as a competitive ice and roller skater. During his 13-year career from 1881-1894, mostly with the Cincinnati Red Stockings, Mullane won 30 or more games in five consecutive seasons. In 1884, the height of his career, the Boston Herald wrote about Mullane that he’s “a most effective pitcher; his delivery is low and his command of the ball wonderful. He pitches with left or right arm equally well.” The ambidextrous Mullane racked up 284 career wins.
Best Irish Manager: No list of Irish greats is complete without Troy, NY’s John J. McGraw. McGraw could have appeared as a player with his .344 career batting average and .466 on base percentage. But McGraw is most often remembered as the New York Giants manager who, during his 30 years at the helm, led his team to three World Series crowns.
“In Tales from the Deadball Era,” Mark Halfon wrote that McGraw was an argumentative, profane, belligerent manager who “took no prisoners in a battle for baseball supremacy. Opposing clubs had to prepare for any eventuality when they faced him. The Reds, for example, worried that he [McGraw] contaminated their drinking water. McGraw may not have tainted the water, but it was not beneath him,” Halfon concluded.
As outstanding as Delahanty, Mullane and McGraw’s contributions were, they pale compared to another Troy-native, Mike “King” Kelly. King was baseball’s first 15-year-old player, first matinee idol, first $10,000 earner, first to write his own autobiography – “Play Ball, Stories from the Ball Field” – first to have a song written about him – “Slide Kelly Slide” – and the first catcher to wear a glove and chest protector. Kelly, because of his ability and charisma, changed baseball from a simple, pastoral game into America’s most popular sport.
In his biography about Kelly, “Slide Kelly Slide,” Marty Appel wrote, “There was never a better or more brilliant player. Colorful beyond description, he was the light and the life of the game. … He was one of the quickest thinkers that ever took a signal. He originated more trick plays than all players put together.… As a drawing card, he was the greatest of his time. Fandom around the circuit always welcomed the Chicago White Stockings, with the great [Cap] Anson and his lieutenant, King Kelly.”
Between 1878 and 1891, Kelly played with eight teams, six of which won National League titles. During that period, Kelly won two batting titles and led the league in runs scored three times. Like Delahanty, however, Kelly loved to gamble, spent money recklessly and couldn’t stay out of saloons. King Kelly, sometimes called, “The Only Kelly” died at age 36 of pneumonia.
Delahanty, Mullane, McGraw and Kelly, great Irish players all, revered by a growing legion of early 20th century baseball bugs, but whose names time has obscured, deserve recognition on St. Patrick’s Day, 2022.
Joe Guzzardi is a Society for American Baseball Research and Internet Baseball Writers Association Member. Contact him at guzzjoe@yahoo.com.
Injustice anywhere William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit 3-17-22
Ab. Xibzqks’a Lig qa iv mvkpivbml bqum — i lig bw jmoqv bzivanwzuqvo eqvbmz’a lzmiua qvbw acuumz’a uioqk.
Ilzqmvvm Kwws
Answer to yesterday’s William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit quote puzzle: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Turkish Senator Dr Oz — Mehmet Oz, the surgeon and television personality who is seeking the Republican nomination for this year’s race to represent Pennsylvania in the United States Senate, has declared he’ll give up the security clearances that are provided to all U.S. Senators to keep his dual citizenship with Turkey.
That may not disqualify him for the job under the law but it should for all thinking people.
Granted we weren’t going to vote for him anyway, but if one still hits the button for him knowing full well one’s concerns — and the concerns of America — are not his primary loyalty, one is a damn fool.
The Pennsylvania primary election is May 17. For whom should one vote?
For whom are we going to vote? The Bridgewater hedge fund guy? Sean Gale, Silent Joe’s brother?
Honestly, we don’t know. We just know that Turkey’s interests are not the same as those of Pennsylvania and we don’t want Oz to write the laws.
Trey Gowdy Speaker At Pennsylvania Leadership Conference — The 2022 Pennsylvania Leadership Conference to be held April 1-2, at the Penn Harris Hotel by Wyndham (formerly the Radisson Penn Harris) in Camp Hill will feature policy “conversations” including an Agenda for Pennsylvania, State of the Conservative Movement, Empowering Pennsylvania Parents, and The Future of Health Care.
Former Congressman Trey Gowdy, currently a Fox News contributor and host of Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy, will be the featured dinner speaker Friday evening at the conference, former Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin will be the kick-off speaker, John Gizzi of Newsmax will be the conference breakfast speaker, State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, Auditor General Tim DeFoor, nationally-syndicated radio host Rev. C.L. Bryant of FreedomWorks, Cliff Maloney from the Citizens Alliance of America, Scott Parkinson from the Club for Growth, Cleta Mitchell from the Conservative Partnership Institute, and James Broughel from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University will also address the conference. The event will include special forums spotlighting candidates for Governor of Pennsylvania and United State Senator from Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Leadership Conference is the premiere gathering of public policy conservatives each year in the Keystone State. It is the largest and longest-running of the state-based conservative conferences regularly attracting a long list of conservative elected officials, scholars, journalists, and activists for two days of speeches, panel presentations, workshops, and networking.
Here are details of the policy conversations:
Agenda for Pennsylvania
Matthew Brouillette, Commonwealth Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs
Kerry Benninghoff, PA House Majority Leader
Scott Martin, State Senator
State of the Conservative Movement
John Gizzi, Newsmax
Paul Kengor, Grove City College
Empowering Pennsylvania Parents
Andrew Lewis, State Representative
Aaron Anderson, Logos Academy
The Future of Health Care
Lloyd Smucker, U.S. Representative
Henrik Rasmussen, Stand Together
Details of workshops and panel presentations along with the complete conference agenda is on-line at www.paleadershipconference.org.
A pre-conference Pennsylvania Election Integrity Summit sponsored by the Conservative Partnership Institute and the Election Integrity Network will be held on Thursday, March 31t at the Penn Harris Hotel. A separate registration for the summit is required and available at www.paleadershipconference.org.
Unjust and unwise jealousy William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit 3-16-22
Puqbzapjl hufdolyl pz h aoylha av qbzapjl lclyfdolyl.
Thyapu Sbaoly Rpun, Qy.
Answer to yesterday’s William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit quote puzzle: It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty upon the supposition he may abuse it.
George Washington
Next Wave Of Refugees To US Likely Ukrainian
By Joe Guzzardi
Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine has brought devastation or death to hundreds of thousands of people. Around the globe, Russia’s assault on the Ukraine has outraged fair-minded people. Russia is 28-times Ukraine’s size, has twice its population, and its military has more than 1 million active-duty personnel, more than four times Ukraine’s force strength. Russia also has 378,000 reserve personnel and 250,000 paramilitary troops who are ready for active duty at any time. Through March 8, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported more than 500 civilian deaths in the Ukraine and more than 900 injured, but noted that the total is likely higher.
Whenever and however the brutal war ends, millions of Ukrainians will be displaced, as well as Russians vocally opposed to the war who fear President Vladimir Putin’s retaliation. Between the invasion’s beginning and March 6, more than 13,000 anti-war protesters were arrested. Russia’s crackdown on dissenters includes blocking access to Facebook and Twitter which could disseminate anti-war news that Putin wants hushed up. In early March, Putin signed legislation under which people suspected of spreading “fake news” about Russian forces could face up to 15 years in prison.
The UN Refugee agency reported that 2 million Ukrainians have fled their country, mostly to Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. But the news agency Reuters found that, at the U.S.-Mexico border, a growing number of Russian and Ukrainian nationals have been encountered. In Mexico, the migrants buy “throwaway” vehicles and then drive across the border into the United States to seek asylum. Assuming the Russian invasion continues, tens of thousands more displaced Eastern Europeans could eventually reach the U.S. to make their asylum claims.
Illegal entry attempts could increase as visas become increasingly difficult to obtain. A Miami immigration lawyer fluent in Russian, Andrey Plaksin said he is overwhelmed with calls and emails inquiring about the visa process and their availability. One option that might help Eastern Europeans get to the U.S. would be if they applied for a nonimmigrant tourist or work visa, assuming they could find a U.S. consular post open and accepting appointments.
Once inside the U.S., they would face minimal chance of deportation. Almost immediately after the invasion began, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas granted Ukrainians living in the U.S. before March 1 temporary protected status for 18 months, protecting them from deportation for that period. Historically, TPS is quasi-automatically rolled over in 18-month increments for periods as long as two decades.
By an overwhelming margin, Americans and Congress wants to help Ukrainian citizens and other countries that Putin may be determined to destroy. Eight in tenvoters are following the Ukraine crisis closely, and 70 percent favor strong sanctions against Russia.
But with the Russia-Ukraine war coming just weeks after the U.S. airlift that took Afghan nationals to overseas U.S. military bases, then to the American homeland, and with the illegal immigration invasion ongoing, with no end in sight, many question how the country can environmentally sustain itself. Projecting Biden’s first year immigration totals over his four-year term – about 2 million illegal immigrants, 650,000 “got aways,” 1 million-plus lawful permanent residents and tens of thousands of Afghan evacuees – and the U.S. will have about 8 million illegal immigrants that Customs and Border Protection processed, and roughly 2.5 million “got aways” now in the interior, safe from deportation. The Afghan resettlement is over, but a Ukrainian surge could surpass those numbers.
To the existing totals, remember that demographers must include the roughly 3.1 family members that lawfully present immigrants, including refugees/asylees, will petition to be admitted to the country, as well as the families that they’ll start or add to once in the U.S.
Despite the Biden administration’s ballyhoo about a future green America, he’s ignored the huge carbon footprint that thousands of new immigrants will make as housing, roads, schools and hospitals are built to accommodate the needs of them and their offspring.
Fifty years ago, the Rockefeller Commission Report, “Population and the American Future,” was submitted to Congress. The report urged population stabilization at the 1972 level, 211 million. Instead, population has soared to the current 334 million, and is projected to reach about 400 million by mid-century. Be mindful that these totals are pre-Biden’s expansive open borders and resettlement policies.
Fewer people would relieve, at least in part, many of America’s social ailments, including most obviously sprawl and overcrowding. Yet stable population’s obvious benefits have escaped every presidential administration, Republican and Democrat, since Richard Nixon. A half-century of disregard for population growth has had no noticeable benefits for most Americans. For the donor class elite, however, growth is good – for them.
Joe Guzzardi is a PFIR analyst who has written about immigration and its consequences for 35 years. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.
Morning rain never lasts long William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit 3-15-22
Oz corr hk luatj gt atpayz gtj atcoyk pkgruaye zu jkvxobk g sgt ul noy tgzaxgr rohkxze avut znk yavvuyozout nk sge ghayk oz.
Mkuxmk Cgynotmzut
Answer to yesterday’s William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit quote puzzle: Morning rain never lasts long.
Czech Proverb (sort of)
Primary 2022 Part 2
By Bob Small
As discussed in a previous post, there was a Democracy Unplugged which, briefly became Delco Debates.
This change was due to some internecine fighting over goals and outcomes. For context, in the mid-70’s I was briefly in some political party that could be called The East Philadelphia Socialist Concept, where three of us felt if we could only overthrow the other three, then we could begin the Revolution. Well this is what happened to Democracy Unplugged. That, and we actually helped, albeit slightly, influence an actual election.
My guide to following these more interesting, less electable Candidates has always been Politics1.com
To follow the congressional races, go to “Governor and Statewide races” and locate Pennsylvania in the US Map, then scroll down past Gov, Lt. Gov and Senator to Congressional Races. Tapping the name of a Candidate will lead you to his/her Facebook or Twitter page or website.
We stopped at the 5th Congressional District, last time but now we’ll skip up to CD 12 and Republican Don Neville, the only tattoo artist on the whole CD Candidate list. He sees himself as an antidote to the “socialist/progressives” in this election. He also advocates “parents rights to educational decisions”.
CD 14 only lists one Candidate, incumbent Guy Reschenthaler. In this case, I blame theDemocrats for not fielding an opposition candidate. Maybe my fellow Greens or the Libs can get someone on the Ballot by the August deadline.
CD 15 lists Libertarian Liz Terwilliger who believes in core Libertarian values “I believe in minimal government. Government’s role is to protect and secure individual rights”
She works as a speech-language pathologist,
CD 16 has a farmer, Rick Telesz, running under the Democratic banner. He sits on the steering committee for Rural Voices USA. He also sits on the PA Soybean Board, etc.
CD 17 includes Democratic Candidate Sean Meloy, who champions LGBTQ rights and is a member of the DNC. If elected, he would be the first openly Gay member of Congress from Pennsylvania If elected, he promises to hold corporations and special interests accountable.
CD 18 was eliminated in 2022, due to the 2020 Census. Democrat Mike Doyle had the honor of being the very last congressperson for this district.
Gift given in secret William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit 3-14-22
Rtwsnsl wfns sjajw qfxyx qtsl.
Hejhm Uwtajwg
Answer to yesterday’s William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit quote puzzle: A gift given in secret soothes anger, and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath.
Proverbs 21:14