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I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas
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| Irving Berlin |
Let’s wrap up the Christmas season with a wonderful piece from ‘The Free Press’ (thefp.com) by Eli Lake. The title which appears in the following link to it suggests its content but it is so much more. Copy and paste https://www.thefp.com/p/eli-lake-jews-wrote-your-favorite-christmas-songs-irving-berlin on your browser line or CLICK HERE for a real treat.
JL
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Meaningless Football Bowl Games
While the College Football Playoffs including the nation’s dozen top college football teams are proceeding along, and will feature the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Peach, Orange, and Cotton Bowls as nominal sites of their playoff games, the other 35 or so remaining bowl games are fading into insignificance.
Good teams that won at least six games play in them. Unless the game is in or near the hometown of one of the teams playing, these once important games are mostly ignored, played in near-empty stadiums
and only exist to provide content for the TV networks or to gratify a local sponsor. For example, the other day, about 10,000 people showed up for the 2024 ‘Famous Idaho Potato Bowl’ in Boise, Idaho.
Some players who expect to enter the ‘transfer’ portal or the NFL draft choose to skip these lesser bowl games, avoiding a possible injury. Tulane’s star quarterback, Darian Mensah, skipped the Gasparilla Bowl game (I know what an Idaho Potato is, but what the heck is a ‘Gasparilla’?) against the University of Florida for that reason, and his team was crushed. Similarly, Florida Southern defeated San Jose State in the Hawai’i Bowl (taking five overtimes to do so) but would not have won if the loser’s star quarterback hadn’t chosen to skip the game.
And of course, no one cares about James Madison University having defeated Western Kentucky University in a near-empty Boca Bowl played in FAU’s stadium. (At least the players got a trip to the beach.)
Without additional support from the civic and business communities, these lesser bowl games wilI soon be history. I think I know why none of the major manufacturers of bathroom fixtures, for example, probably flush with generous marketing budgets, don’t jump in and sponsor an available bowl game just for its advertising value. I suppose that if Kohler, American Standard, or Toto ever decided to do that, they would have trouble getting two college football teams to play in what inevitably would be called the Toilet Bowl.
JL
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Do as I Say, Not as I ‘Do’ Department
Under most circumstances, someone in this country on a student visa is not allowed to work, unless that work is ‘on campus,’ connected to their field of study. When subsequently applying for a more permanent type of visa, on the path to becoming a naturalized citizen, disclosure of having possibly previously worked illegally under such circumstances, admittedly a ‘gray area,’ ought to be made and clarified, even if such disclosure is not specifically requested.
Failing to do so might later jeopardize the individual’s citizenship but it probably would be undesirable and very difficult, if not impossible, for the government to even pursue that strategy many years later in regard to a naturalized citizen.
If you are interested in reading about more on this subject, or know of someone whom it might describe, an interesting CNN article can be found at by CLICKING HERE.
JL
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MUMP and More Political Stuff
Yale’s Timothy Snyder recently suggested the word ‘Mump’ to replace MAGA as emblematic of where the Republican Party has drifted. They are a combination of the first two letters of Elon’s last name and the final two letters of Donald’s last name. Read his Dec. 22 column (‘Thinking About …’) at https://snyder.substack.com/ or just by CLICKING HERE. You'll learn about who the Mumpers are and the role of the Mumpets as well. (There’s a typo in his writing where he writes ‘Trump’ when Snyder obviously intended to write ‘Musk.’ You will spot it.)
And in a sprawling 90-minute speech at a conservative conference on Sunday in Phoenix, as reported in the New York Times, the president-elect offered a triumphant view of his election victory in which he described his liberal adversaries as ‘befuddled.’
Quite honestly, the only ones who are ‘befuddled’ are those Americans who voted against their own interests in November. Forget those in Congress who vote similarly; they’re afraid of how Elon’s dollars (or ‘crypto’) can hurt them in primaries.
The Democrats can retake the House in 2026 if they concentrate on supporting simple and understandable measures that directly benefit working-class Americans, something they missed doing in the 2024 elections. It’s that simple. Right now their ‘leadership’ should be making a list of such measures.
That might even put an end to the ‘befuddlement’ of many voters, unless enough of them continue to remain blind to the historic dishonesty and unending hypocrisy of the Republican Party as pointed out by Professor Heather Cox Richard in her December 23 posting. Check it out at https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/ or CLICK HERE.
JL
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Even if you have skipped some of the links in this posting, go back and check out the 'White Christmas' piece at the beginning, if you haven't already read it. Just CLICK HERE.
Housekeeping on Jackspotpourri
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Again, I urge you to forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it.
JL
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