Politically Correct

 In 2016, Donald Trump proved being politically correct is not always the answer. He told us what was on his mind.  In 1960, John Kennedy once said he thought if he was unable to be president
he thought Lyndon Johnson would do a fine job. That was politically correct. During the Watergate scandal, as the heat began to build, Nixon was finally able to have the Special Watergate Proecutor removed. That wasn't politically correct.

Donald Trump has been an alternative to those who have had enough of people who are politically correct. It proved to be a successful strategy for becoming president. It is not a wise way to govern. That is why people in government try to be politically correct.

Car Prep

Car Prep

For three-years, from October of 2006 to December 2009 I washed and cleaned vehicles for Enterprise  Rent-A-Car. I applied for the job in September when work orders from Adecco staffing very slow. I thought it would be fun to work at the airport. I did do that for a few weeks. I began working for Enterprise at their officer in Meridian, Idaho.  After that, I went to Nampa, spent  a few weeks at the Airport, and then their on Fairview Avenue in Boise. It was at  Farview Avenue
that I spent most of my time. 






I cleaned the inside and washed the outside of vehicles in a garage. The lighting wasn't too good.
This made getting the inside a challenge. The routine was to vacuum out the inside, wipe down the dashboard and the rest of the interior, clean the windows, close the doors, scrub the vehicle with a nylon broom. The vehicle was then hosed down and dried with towels.  After that, I parked it
and cleaned another vehicle.




Part of my job was removing people's possessions from the vehicle and taking them to the office. Sometimes the people called the office to ask about something they were missing.
Usually, they did not.  I wondered how a sales person could check a car and overlook what was left behind.



For three-years, my longest stint of employment, I wiped-down, vacuumed, and washed cars for Enterprise in Boise, Idaho, and neighboring cities.  This came after I was fired from a local TV station. I did this without ever taking a vacation.  I never really thought about taking a vacation.
I would rather make money.


Now I look back on those years with Enterprise in Boise with warmth and affection.  I didn't see it that way at the time,.

Cleveland Spiders

Cleveland Spiders

Cleveland Spiders

This post is dedicated to my cousin, James. The photo above is of the Cleveland Spiders. Cy Young was one of them. The team did not last too long. The Spiders were the first baseball team to play at League Park. Unlike our current baseball team that has  provoked protest and outrage from native American Indians, this team was different.



I am sorry that some  native American Indians are so offended by the name of Cleveland's baseball team  and the colorful cartoons that have been drawn of Indians wearing baseball uniforms.  As many Clevelanders cheer them on in the World Series and say "Go Tribe," others such as my well-intentioned cousin will say "Go Spiders."



Irregardless  of the name, I wish Cleveland's baseball team the best tonight and hope they win the World Series tonight. 

OSU-Michigan

Something very important happened yesterday. It is something that happens once a year. It happens in either Columbus, Ohio, or Ann Arbor Michigan. It is the OSU-Michigan football game.


I know about this because I have a relative who is a Michigan alumni. It is a very important date for him. It is why I am so aware of this game and the importance of it. His sister once told family members it is not a coincidence that when scheduling an event for one of his kids one year, it is not a coincidence the event was scheduled so her brother wouldn't have to miss this game.


On Saturday, November, 29th,  the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines. After what seemed to be a fairly close game, coach Urban Meyers decided to run up the score late in the fourth quarter. It was thoughtful of him. He is paid very well for his service to the school. He has also given the school their money's worth. When it came to beating archrival Michigan, he once again gave the school and their devoted fans their money's worth. Instead of sitting on the lead, coach Meyers along with some talented players wound up increasing the lead. First they did it with a running play near the end zone. It was a well-executed play and it had coach Meyers raising both hands into the air and then motioning victory with a clenched fist. The other play was when a player got a hold of Devin Gardner, Michigan's quarterback. Instead of sacking him, he knocked the ball out of his hand and recovered it for a touchdown. It was a very good play.


When the game ended with the final score OSU 42, Michigan 28  I began to wonder if Michigan's football coach, Brady Hoke, will have his job next year?

How is my cousin taking it?

He might not have been too disappointed. When I discussed Wolverine football with him about a year and a half ago, he told me they didn't have a very good team.

Goodbye to the Main Temple

The building at The Temple's  building at The Temple's main campus known as "the main temple," was sold to Case Western Reserve, a nearby university, a few years ago. Milton Maltz, who once was a trustee with The Temple, negotiated the sale. The Temple, officially known as Temple Tifereth Israel, has use of the main sanctuary on holidays. I think this agreement is good for about fifty-years. I thought this was a very good idea until Maltz and the university unveiled a plan to renovate the building into a performing arts center and change the name to The Milton and Tamar Maltz

Center for the Performing Arts at The 
                                                                                   Temple- Tifereth Israel.Vice-President Joe Biden will soon decide whether or not to run for president in 2016. When or how long will it take for him to decide what he wants to do?


Renovate means that the part of the building that is not on the National Registry of Historic Buildings will be demolished and replaced by a new building.  The part of the building that is listed as a historic landmark - this includes what you see in this photo -  will be changed. I wonder what the main sanctuary will look like when construction work is done.  What will the chapel look like after it has been "renovated?"


The chapel is where weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, and Bat Mitzvahs were held. There is also  the all purpose room where the Purim carnival was held and food was served. Luntz Auditorium, located in the part of the building that was added to the original structure, will be demolished. That nice auditorium where I attended services as a Sunday school student and watched performances will be demolished. Also on the agenda for demolition is the library. The main sanctuary  where I watched
Rabbi Daniel Jeremy Silver lead services and read from the Torah on holy days will be remodeled.
I liked it the way it was.

Rabbi Silver died several years ago from brain cancer.  The main temple, the legacy of his legendary father, Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, is no longer  The Temple's. Soon it will be a performing arts center.



Is this the beginning of the end?

 I ask this because when an old  building is renovated by new owners to save it from being demolished, the internal structure is changed. When a new generation of owners buy the building and the cost of fixing it is the same or more than building a new building, the owners point out the building is different from the original building. People familiar with the original building agree, and they bring out the wrecking ball. I shared this thought with a person who has a degree in Architectural History. He told me I had just made an interesting insight.  But I don't have to worry. Like Rabbi silver, I will probably be dead when that day comes.

The building at The Temple's building at The Temple's main campus known as "the main temple," was soldThe building at The building at The Temple's building

The Cat With Nine Lives



If there was an award for a person who keeps rebounding from failure after failure, I cast my vote for Byron Scott. He is the current head of the Los Angeles Lakers and he was hired for that job after winding up with five last place finishes in the last five years.If there was an award for a person who keeps rebounding from failure after failure, I cast my vote for Byron Scott. He is the current head of the Los Angeles Lakers and he was hired for that job after winding up with five last place finishes in the last five years.

After conducting what seemed like an extensive search for a new coach, one with Doc Rivers as the favorite candidate, the Lakers chose Scott. I was surprised.  He spent his last three years as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Now, he's with one of the league's winningest teams. He really knows how to land on his feet.

His hiring by the Lakers shouldn't be too surprising. Recently, the Lakers have taken a liking to head coaches fired by the Cavaliers. Before hiring Scott, they also hired Mike Brown after he was fired by the Cavaliers.

It seems the Lakers thought a head coach with extensive experience coaching in the NB who has experience coaching winning teams was a qualification. In addition to his experience playing for Pat Riley and winning a few championships with the Lakers, Scott has had four 1st place finishes as a head coach.

He has also had five seasons as a head coach with a record for his teams finishing at .500 or better. This record comes with 14 seasons as a head coach in the ABA and NBA. His position as head coach of the Lakers might also have something to do with his past success as a player for the team. It seems that landing a head coaching job in the NBA is a who-do-you know business. Phil Jackson, one of the NBA's winningest head coaches has said the only reason he became a coach in the NBA is because
he knew Jerry Krause, the former General Manager of the Chicago Bulls. If it wasn't for Krause, Jackson said, he never would have been chosen to coached in the league. This holds true for Scott's hiring as the Laker's coach. He and Kupchak were teammates on the Lakers during the 1985-86 season. They've been re-united. I wonder how long it will last.

 

Amy Mihaljevic

The search for Amy is over. This is actually the search for the person who killed Amy. Mark Mihaljevic and his surviving children might have some hope that whoever abducted and killed his daughter, Amy, might be found. His ex-wife, Margaret McNulty, won’t. She’s already dead.


Amy was the daughter of Mark and his ex-wife, Margaret. She was abducted from a shopping center in Bay Village, Ohio, several years ago. The reason why there might be new hope when it comes to solving this highly-publicized cold-case about the abduction and murder of Amy Mihaljevic is that the Bay Village Police Department hired Phil Torsney, a retired FBI agent to help them in their search for the person who killed Amy. She was 10-years old when she was kidnapped from Bay Square Shopping Center in Bay Village, Ohio, on October of 1989.


If Torsney thinks differently than the Bay Village Police department, Amy’s surviving family members might have something to look forward to. If he doesn’t, Amy's father, Mark Mihaljevic, and his surviving siblings won't. For Margaret McNulty, Amy’s mother, it doesn’t matter. She died a few years ago. It is Margaret's life and background that might yield some clues to solving this crime that has plagued the Bay Village Police Department for the last 24-years. The police department has been working on the assumption that Amy and the person who abducted her know each other quite well. They seem to have dismissed at least two other factors to this unsolved murder. There might be more. The two links I have in mind is the place where her body was found and the fact that whoever abducted her knew her mother and might have gone to school with her mother. I wonder if the guy who met Amy at the shopping center to buy a present for her mother who had recently received a promotion at her job knew each other. Is it possible the guy was trying to get even with Margaret McNulty by kidnapping and killing her daughter?


The other overlooked clue to this case is Ruggles Township. It is the place where Amy’s body was found. To dump a person’s body in a field and get away without being spotted seems to mean the guy is familiar with this area. I wonder if there has been a resident of that community or the surrounding community of Ashland County who knew Amy’s mother. If Torsney is willing to consider those possibilities in his search for the killer, Amy’s surviving siblings and her father might have something to look forward to.


If the retired FBI agent follows only the leads given him by the Bay Village Police Department, the perpetrator of this crime should have little to worry about.

Ruggles Twp.