Donald Henry Kuehn

I enjoy the challenge of match play, going head-to-head against a single opponent is great fun. In stroke play tournaments there’s is the challenge of having to be “on” for three or four days and not being able to get away with too many bad shots. Bogeys and worse cost you dearly in stroke play, not so much in match play because it’s just one hole. I think most people would say a bogey hurts you more than a birdie helps you in stroke play. Each format presents a different challenge and a different mind-set. I had to adjust mentally from the match play tournament to the stroke play format at the N&S at Pinehurst. Not sure how to quantify it, it’s just different.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Hear you, DK, match play is sounding better and better - back to the way golf was originally played.  Why did stroke play come to be?   to create a handicap system ? ? ?

Stewart Myrent

Janis, appreciated your post from this past weekend, referencing the letter sent to our current CIC from Ellen L. Weintraub, Chair of the Federal Elections Committee, relative to Trump's empty claims of voters voting illegally in New Hampshire.  Of course, she is NEVER going to get ANY response from Trump, relative to his false claims, but I'm pretty sure she realizes that already.  My guess is that she sent the second letter, knowing that he would never respond to her 1st letter, just to get under his skin.  I appreciate her efforts, even though she knew she was wasting her time, sending either letter.  As much as I would prefer that Trump was out of office, by the time we all meet for our 55th Reunion, I realize I just have to be patient, until the electorate votes this moron out of office.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Talking different styles of playing sports -

On the campaign trail, Pete Buttigieg was asked about baseball's designated hitter...

He was surprised by the question, but answered directly that he likes National League style...

He's getting kudos for being straight forward...

Stewart, I am grateful for Ellen Weintraub’s effort to shine light on facts.

Are our eyes blind and our ears deaf?

After the debacle of the 2016 election, I make no assumption about the 2020 election.

Stewart Myrent

Janis, I also am making no assumptions about the 2020 election, and, in fact, am growing vewy, vewy fwightened about the upcoming decision about what direction we wish our country to go.  But, I choose to be optimistic & hope for the best; I've also decided that if the 2020 election does not result in quenching my thirst for change at the top, and I am unlucky enough to see the beginning of the end (for America as I've always envisioned it), I will have a relatively short time left to deal with the realities of the fallout from our folly.  I don't think I'll last long enough to see the final, bleak result, but this is all, of course, dependent on us having an unhappy election result.  2020 can't get here soon enough for me.  If it doesn't work out the way I hope, we'll have no one to blame, but ourselves.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Stewart, I too am impatient for 2020, but there’s lots to do in the meantime.  Though our campaigns are too long (and way too expensive), voters hopefully move beyond name recognition and become aware of the candidates and how they wear, the issues, and candidates’ vision for the future of our great nation.

I’m eager for the primaries to see how engaged voters are.  We cannot allow ourselves to feel comfortable (or passive) about the 2020 election.  

You’ve heard “it’s not the guns...  ”

how ‘bout “it’s not the opioids...  ”

Of course, it’s the opioids and of course, it’s the guns.  

The easy accessibility to guns and opioids has been disastrous for our country. 

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Stewart, did you get the memo from Donald Trump? that American Jewish people who vote for Democrats show “either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.”  ?   ?   ?

Bernie Sanders responded to Trump in front of a cheering rally in Iowa: “I am a proud Jewish person, and I have no concerns about voting Democratic.  And in fact, I intend to vote for a Jewish man to become the next president of the United States.”  

(Trump’s comment is all about politics and the Rapture.  Netanyahu has made no public response to or about Trump's comment.)

"More addition by division a’la Trump."  -- David Axelrod

Stewart Myrent

Janis, I did NOT get the memo from CIC Trump.  Before I respond, I need a little more time to decide if I'm just plain ignorant, or disloyal.  It MUST be one or the other.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Trump caves to NRA pressure, but doubles down on “Jews who” he says “show a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty by voting for Democrats.” 

March For Our Lives declares Gun Violence a National Public Health Emergency and has an ambitious new plan for addressing gun violence: The Peace Plan for a Safer America.  The student movement wants 2020 presidential candidates to endorse their new platform.  "Gun violence is destroying our generation.  This is simply unacceptable.  That's why, as survivors and students of March For Our Lives, we believe it's time for a Peace Plan for a Safer America ... the level of gun violence in the U.S. is unprecedented for a developed nation -- and only bold, new solutions can move the needle on the rates of gun injuries and deaths."

"Their multipoint plan has three desired outcomes: reduce gun deaths by 50% over the next decade; push for a 'higher standard' for gun ownership in the US; pressure federal officials to enact more laws to protect Americans from gun violence."

American Jews are rightfully taking offense at Trump’s strategy to single them out in his effort to divide and conquer.

Attention voters: It’s on us to make change at the ballot box.  Trump looks forward to remaining in office for more than 2, make that 3 or more presidential terms.

Stewart Myrent

Just returned a new release to the library, that I picked up about a week ago, "The Legendary Harry Caray: Baseball's Greatest Salesman", by Dan Zminda.  I think I picked it up, as I hadn't read a sports book since "Commander in Cheat".  From Chapter 2, "Early Days", Harry was born in 1914, in St. Louis, as Harry Christopher Carabina.  He never met his father, as his father ran off to fight in WW1, either before, or just after he was born.  After the war, his father went back to the "old country".  Italy? Albania?  Not sure.  From Chapter 5, "New Partners", Harry had handled play-by-play broadcasts since 1945 for the Griesedieck Bros. Brewing Co., but before the 1954 season, Anheuser-Busch Brewery bought the team.  But after 9 yrs. of pushing Griesedieck Brewery products, Harry had no problem realigning himself with the Anheuser-Busch products, & along the way, became very good friends with August A. "Gussie" Busch, Jr., grandson of one of the co-founders.  From Chapter 6, "KMOX", for the first time in 15 yrs., Cardinals broadcasts returned to KMOX, & in 1940, "KMOX became one of the few radio stations in the countrty designated as a 50,000-watt clear channel station, meaning that no other station in the country could use the same frequency.  KMOX's signal was so powerful that on a good night, it could be heard in 44 states, and reportedly listeners as far away as East Africa and Guam could listen to the station."  From Chapter 9, "End of an Era", On November 2, 1968, Harry was a pedestrian hit by a car, resulting in compound fractures of both legs & other injuries.  At the Cardinals home opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1969, "Caray, who was slated to introduce the Cardinals' players before a packed house of 38,163, hobbled onto the field using crutches - even though he no longer needed to use them.  As he passed the first-base line, he theatrically threw away one of the crutches.  Then, with the crowd urging him on, he tossed away the other crutch as well, to tumultuous applause.  'Well, it's all show biz', Caray admitted later.  'I hadn't needed those canes in weeks.'"From Chapter 12, "South Side Blues", after Harry went to the White Sox for the 1973 season, "Primarily a TV broadcaster for the first time in his career, Caray could be seen on TV for six innings for each of the Sox' 130-plus telecasts (he switched to radio for innings four through six).  He was a hit in the new role; at the end of the season, the team announced that Sox TV ratings on their new flagship station, UHF channel 44 WSNS, had improved by 70 percent from 1972.  Caray could also point to the fact that despite the fifth-place finish, the club's home attendance of 1,032,527 was the highest for the White Sox in 13 years, and fourth highest in franchise history."  And from Chapter 21, "North Side Versus South Side", "At the end of the 1992 season, "Caray knew he couldn't last forever, but he wanted to go out doing what he loved.  'One day it's going to be over,' he said in September.  'I hope I die with my boots on, yelling "Cubs win!"  Keel over and die.  Lug Caray away'"  And, "...for the 26-year span from 1993 to 2018, the Cubs not only outdrew the White Sox every year, but also in most seasons it wasn't even close.  For that 26-year period, the Cubs' average home attendance margin was more than 875,000 fans per season.  In the final 2 years of that period (2017-2018), the Cubs outdrew the White Sox by more (than) 1.5 million fans in each season, while nearly doubling the White Sox in total home attendance (6,380,651 to 3,238,287).  The battle for Chicago baseball supremacy was over: The Cubs - and Harry Caray - had won."  I'm not sure about his brief tenure with the Oakland A's, but whether in St. Louis, White Sox, or Cubs, their attendance was vastly improved, when Harry took over as lead broadcaster for each team.  Enjoyed the book; it was an easy read.  Finished in less than a week.  Short chapters. 

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

You’ve heard it said:  

Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life...

problem is they’re not hiring.  

(This from a former EPA employee)  

Watching fires blaze in the Amazon Rainforest, we are observing the irreversible damage of human neglect and avarice on the environment and the world.  

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Women, did we and the #MeToo movement do ourselves in?  I like Kirsten Gillibrand but the force of her voice expelled Al Franken from the Senate without due process.  Amy Klobuchar, Franken’s fellow MN Senator, did not bring sanity to the feeding frenzy - she should value due process.  

Are #MeToo accusations the “death sentence” whether it be an awkward hug or a full blown sexual assault? - are we like carpenters with only a hammer? 

Marvin Irving Blusteln

Janis.  Excellent thought.   My wife was impressed too.

Alan A. Alop

Stewart Myrent

Alan, thank you for your post.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Talk about scandal... President Obama's great scandal was wearing a tan suit.

Remember the ruckus just five years ago when he wore a tan suit in the White House Briefing Room?

Today an avalanche of corruption...

Silence is complicity.  

Day 951 of the Trump presidency.

Stewart Myrent

Just picked up another new release, "Siege: Trump Under Fire", by Michael Wolff, who wrote "Fire and Fury", & there were gems in every chapter.  Virtually every chapter had quotes from Steve Bannon, so it was fairly obvious who Wolff's primary source was, for this book.  This is the 4th or 5th Trump book I've read, & I'm really growing weary of reading about Trump (this is the LAST one I'm going to read).  Harry S Truman was president when I was born, & I'm presuming that he was president when we all were born.  After Harry S, I've lived through the administrations of Ike, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, H.W. Bush, Clinton, "W", & Obama, before Trump, & I have to say, that although I didn't agree with some of these presidents' decisions & behaviors, I don't remember feeling that I hated any of them, until we got to our current CIC.  But the more I read about him, the more I realize that I just don't despise him as president, but I despise him as the poorest possible example of a human being.  He has NONE of the redeeming qualities, such as intelligence, consideration of others, politeness, inquisitiveness or empathy, that result in a normal, well-adjusted human being, that I'm pretty sure we were all raised to be.  So, as much as I'm disappointed in him as my (our) president, I am more severely disappointed in him, as a person, as a human being.  The book was very good.  It held my interest & the chapters were fairly short.  One thing I was only dimly aware of, the president & his wife, Melania, are in a precarious situation, relative to their marriage.  Wolff makes it very clear that the marriage was headed for trouble, even before Trump was elected president.

Alan A. Alop

Right on Stewart!  

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Where is Keith Olbermann?  Donald J Trump would make “Worst Person in the World” every night... each new day the list of Trump horrors grows... Trump flaunts his malice and street smarts - “He lacks redeeming qualities” - he’s a bully through and through.  

I feel your pain, Stewart... feel pain growing around me... looking in the mirror we don’t like what we see, Trump’s vision of America is not where we want to be.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

As most of us are calling for tighter gun laws, Texas, site of 3 of the deadliest mass shootings in the past 3 years, is set to loosen gun laws just weeks after the rampage at a Walmart in El Paso.  Beginning Sunday, September 1, ten new pro-gun laws passed and signed into law in a 2019 legislative session will make it easier to carry and store guns in Texas.  The NRA is celebrating that the measures “will further loosen Texas’ permissive gun laws.”  The NRA, which refuses to “politicize (gun) tragedies” heavily influenced the political process in Texas, lobbying for all 10 of the new bills.  

The NRA suffered one defeat...

after a bill under NRA lobbying to fund a public campaign to promote safe storage of firearms was defeated, $1 million was included in the state budget bill for the public campaign and signed by TX Gov. Abbott.

The NRA's fear of “corruption” in state-run campaigns is troubling - people are dying and the NRA exerts its power with a total lack of perspective.

Brewers are at Wrigley -

Cubs are on fire

Brewers announcers are good guys and good to the Cubs -

they’re encouraging Brewers fans to hop on the Hiawatha and come to Wrigley.  

GO CUBS GO! ! !

Marvin Irving Blusteln

While the dumpster certainly belongs on the worst list,  McConnell and  those who enable him whether tacitly or actively should head that list.  Shame on them they are not patriots.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

No way is Trump in this alone.  Olbermann featured three nominees chosen in order of “worse, worser, worst”... McConnell, among others, definitely belongs on the list... seems someone depicts Trump & McConnell as a two-headed monster.

Donald Henry Kuehn

To all our classmates in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas... be safe and use caution this weekend as the hurricane approaches.

To Marvin: two words to describe the elected Republicans who continue to support 45... Stockholm Syndrome.

DK

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Is life not challenging enough for Texans? Why can't Americans, like citizens of other developed countries, connect the dots and do something to protect life with common gun sense safety?

On the eve of loosened gun laws taking effect in Texas, an active shooter in west Texas was driving around, randomly shooting people...

What do we expect of law enforcement (who are armed and trained)?  Mobile active shooters are even more challenging and more dangerous for them to deal with...

Somehow we choose to live in chaos / in trauma in a war zone...

We must support state leadership to confront the violence federal legislators continue to pass on.  We need not helplessly stand by.  It is urgent that public discussion about assault weapons and high capacity magazines continue and that we follow up with action.  It is time to vote for life and not for candidates beholden to the NRA.

Meanwhile Dorian approaches, threatening the Bahamas and Florida, and Georgia and the Carolinas,

as the Trump administration, at the height of hurricane season, diverts funding allocated for FEMA disaster relief to immigration enforcement.

I echo DK, and encourage all to be safe and use caution.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

"Work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying."  -- Studs Terkel

If feeding a child has to pass your personal "but did they earn it?" test, you have failed as a human being.