by John Walters
Starting Five
Going back to Cleveland….
See Ya In June
The NBA Finals begin on June 1, no matter how long or short the conference finals go. That’s fine, because the Golden State Warriors closed out the Utah Jazz on Utah’s court last night by 26 points. The Dubs and Cavs are now a combined 16-0 in the playoffs and except for Cleveland’s opener versus Indiana, which they survived by one point, the games haven’t been close.
Might Houston or San Antonio give the Dubs, who are winning playoff games by an average of 15.6 points per game, give Golden State a stiff challenge. I see either team winning one or two games, but no way the Dubs have a test like the one OKC gave them last year. And the Cavs could lose one to Boston or Washington, but they shouldn’t.
Bring on the third chapter of the Dubs-Cavs trilogy. Until then, the NBA is on cruise control. Even the TNT guys sound bored.
2. Ride, Sally, Ride
Make America Yates Again
Confession: I have a serious middle-aged guy crush on Sally Yates. She’s smart, beautiful, and she doesn’t take any sh*t from Ted Cruz (Did you notice the flirting going on between her and Senator Blumenthal?). Anyway, the big takeaways is that here was a woman among boys, patiently explaining to Don McGahn why one White House official lying to another one matters, and painting a smile on her face when d-bag Louisiana senator John Neely Kennedy said, “With all due respect, who appointed you to the Supreme Court?”
Atta girl, Sally. You rocked.
3. For Goodness Snake
Each spring, as the weather warms outside the town of Nacisse, Manitoba, the red garter snakes awake from their winter hibernation and well, they’re in the mood to boogie. Gotta make more snakes. They’re not venomous, so we can all chill.
4. Is Health Care A RIGHT?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SToeM55KMzU
First of all, major props to Jimmy Kimmel for 1) wading into a politically controversial issue, albeit only after it became personal to him and 2) not backing down from the haters who tried to shush him by calling him a “Hollywood elite.”
Last night Kimmel spoke more on health care and had the smart Louisiana senator (not John Neely Kennedy), Bill Cassidy, who is a physician and a Republican, to discuss health care. Cassidy spoke about the “Jimmy Kimmel test” for health care, which was, “no family should be denied medical care, emergency or otherwise, because they can’t afford it.”
Kimmel kid
So allow me to wade in here (because I never get myself in trouble discussing health care): 1) Why did Kimmel say “family” instead of “individual?” Am I less important because I’m not married or not the young child of someone? 2) If we are to take Kimmel literally, can we ask, as Cassidy did, “How do we pay for it?” And while it’s laudable that Kimmel suggested not “to give tax breaks to millionaires like me,” the uncomfortable reality people don’t want to face is, What’s the value of a human life? And are some human lives more valuable than others? I’m not talking race or gender or religion, I’m asking, Do we spend as much to save an infant who needs a life-saving heart procedure as we do to save an 88-year old who needs one?
My recent experience with health care is that the most vociferous folks about it are the ones who will spend the least on it. Which is always the way. Come at me, bros.
5. Huell Be Sorry
And, yes, Howard saw it coming, which is why he tried to persuade Chuck not to testify
On Better Call Saul, Jimmy McGill—and his brother, Chuck—finally have their day in court. And Jimmy outwits Chuck by exposing his electricity illness as being psychosomatic (which we all knew dating back to Season 1) during Jimmy’s disbarment hearing. It may have been the best courtroom gotcha scene since A Few Good Men, but it will end up destroying the relationship between two brothers and more importantly, because it transpired in front of Chuck’s ex-wife for whom he still has strong feelings, it will probably destroy Chuck.
Ewell, a favorite from Breaking Bad, plants the battery on Chuck that exposes him. I believe that’s his first appearance on BCS.
Music 101
Tighten Up
Second confession of the day: I have no memory of hearing this song by Archie Bell and the Drells before this morning, but in the spring of 1968 (kind of a turbulent time in the USA) this song went to No. 1 on the Billboard charts. Even nuttier, between the time the band recorded this song and its release, Bell was drafted into the U.S. Army and shipped to Vietnam. He was over humping in the bush against Charlie as his song went to No. 1. How come I’ve never heard this story? Life is nutty.
Remote Patrol
Game 6: Senators at Rangers
7:30 p.m. NBC Sports Net
This should have been New York’s close-out game, but they surrendered a late 3rd period tying goal on Saturday and then lost in overtime. Now it’s a survival game. The Garden will be rocking.
LIFE IS A CRAPSHOOT – examples# 1,000,542 & 1,000,543
This morning I read that last year’s TDF champ Chris Froome was out training & some a-hole motorist intentionally ran into him. Thank goodness he was not hurt! Unlike another long time Italian pro-cyclist who was out training on another recent Monday morning & was run over by a van & killed. Folks that do not follow pro-cycling do not realize what a VERY dangerous sport it is – not just in competition but in training. Almost every week, I read of some cyclist, a pro, semi-pro, or amateur run down (intentionally or accidentally) by some vehicle. In almost all cases, the cyclists are in great physical shape. After the ‘encounter’, not so much – either dead, paralyzed, brain-injured, or “just” severely affected the rest of their lives. Question – WHO should pay for their health care? Often needed for the rest of their lives. And who pays for the impact on the victim’s family? Should be the perp, right? HAHAHAHA, most of these a-holes barely get a slap on the wrist!
And in a man-bites-dog cycling ‘accident’, just last week I was reading my new issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance mag & was shocked & deeply saddened to read what had happened to one of my fave longtime writers of the mag – Jane Bennett Clark. She had come out of the DC Metro & was crossing the street on the way to work & was run into by a cyclist. She was in the crosswalk & had the light but this idiot slams right into her. She died a few days later of brain injury. Let’s say she did not die but needed care the rest of her life, WHO do YOU think should pay? BTW, Jane was in good shape & looking forward to her eventual retirement in the next few years.
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST, eh?
The exception doesn’t prove the rule, Susie. By your logic, no one should ever say flight is the cheapest way to travel because I can find isolated incidents of planes crashing. But yours wouldn’t be the first overemotional reaction.
Safest, not cheapest.
I believe your mother and all mothers believe their kid will always be their young child.
I don’t know, Susie. Who do you think should pay? How about the cyclist?
Unless the cyclist is Warren Buffet, there’d be NO chance he would have the money to pay for the life-long care of a brain-injured person. I’ve been thinking about what happened to Jane every day since I found out – can’t get over it. I’d never met her & only really started reading her articles about 7 years ago as these past years she specialized in retirement, one of the few topics in financial mags that I avoided until 2008-09. Up until just 3 years ago, I’d always planned to work until 70. Then I decided to stop at 68, then last year I thought, heck, why go past 67?NOW, I’m even re-thinking that. JBC wrote often about her own eventual retirement to enlighten us all about the topic – what to do, how to do it, what she hoped, etc & now all that planning was for naught.
I do agree with you that we must take responsibility to do what we can for our own health. I do however, disagree with you strenuously about whether “taking care of one’s self” is the main determinant of costly health care. (As mentioned, I believe genetics & luck is far more the deciding factors). We also disagree about who should pay. It is EGREGRIOUS to me that in THIS country the health of its citizens are not THE primary concern & should be PAID for by all of us (i.e. the govt). If you CHOOSE to abuse any substance (cigs, alcohol, drugs, food) &/or engage in dangerous activities, then you should be charged penalties.
Even YOU don’t get it. I mean, how obvious is this? You have no control over luck or DNA. The point is that you should be doing everything possible regarding the variables you DO have control over. Was I speaking Mandarin?
The aunt that also lived on our farm & helped raise my sisters & I, always had at least 2 jobs (main job was Phys ed teacher/coach), took care of her invalid parents, grew increasingly obese in adult life. She also smoked for over 40 years (despite my semi-annual letters to the American Cancer Society for posters & pamphlets to get her to stop). She lived to 92 & only the final 3 months was in a nursing home.
GENETICS. And that one of her 2nd jobs was as dance instructor to junior high age kids for over 3 decades. I was her assistant for 6 years. 🙂
Wait a minute Susie… did you just describe Miss Patty??
Just kidding. That is amazing.
But who determines what activities are dangerous?
I’m totally kidding. Another joke! How tedious of me. OK. FINALLY I get to answer this question for everyone: John does not know Mandarin. I know it seems like he’s the type who might, but he doesn’t, so don’t fall for it.