First Lady Melania Trump was in New York City today attending a luncheon hosted by the Nicklaus Children's Healthcare Foundation, one of Mrs. Trump's favorite charities. In collaboration with Barbara Nicklaus, wife of the famous pro golfer Jack Nicklaus, Melania announced the opening of a children's park adjacent to the Miami Children's Hospital.
Melania was a driving force behind this park, which in Pediatric Medical parlance is called a 'healing garden'. Despite the rather New-Age term, healing gardens are based on a medical principle which physicians have known for centuries: that spending time in the outdoors is therapeutic.
For critically ill children in downtown Miami, however, excursions to the outdoors isn't realistically possible. The new park---which is open only to hospital patients---will help enormously. This is especially true since many new patients have arrived in the wake of the recent hurricanes.
"It's true that elements of nature help with healing, and I look forward to visiting Florida when the healing garden is ready, so that I can meet with some of the brave patients and their families who benefit from all that it will have to offer." Melania said.
Dr. Kristine Guliserian, a heart surgeon at the children's hospital, also gave a short presentation to the group explaining other new advances in pediatric care being developed there. The Miami facility is the leading pediatric care facility in the US.
This story was of course ignored by the Corporate Media which is focusing on Michelle Obama's latest outburst against pro-Trump MAWGA women. Melania's predecessor complained that such females are "a disgrace to their gender." A lot of children currently confined in the Miami Children's Hospital would probably disagree. They've been focusing on the DNC Hillary harlequins in Congress, kneeling in solidarity with the NFL thugs. But real women like Melania Trump and Barbara Nicklaus show solidarity with traditional feminine values. Which is why they're admired which Michelle and Hillary stew in envy.
The NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers---once an iconic American institution---was one of the instigating organizations behind last Sunday's fake anti-Anthem protests. Now it's fairly obvious that the motivation behind these publicity stunts was aimed against President Trump, who called out the NFL for its pusillanimity the day before.
So the political motivations behind the Steelers' actions are starting to become clearer. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, it happens, is not only a Democrat but very active in the DNC. It was Tomlin who more-or-less tried to stop players from entering the stadium during the National Anthem, and denounced the one player with manhood enough to defy him.
Tomlin and his wife Kiya hosted a $10,000-a-plate fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in June 2016 in their posh suburban home.
It's not known whether any 'spirit cooking' actually happened, but quite a bit of cash was raised for Hillary's other sinister purposes. And that's not the limit of the Tomlins' activism, by any means. According to Open Secrets, Mike Tomlin gave a whopping $30,000 to the DNC in 2011 and $25,000 in 2016. He also gave the maximum individual donation of $2,700 to the Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton Campaigns those same years.
Tomlin's wife Kiya, a fashion designer and media hanger-on, donated $20,000 to the DNC in 2008; $30,000 in 2011; and $25,000 in 2016. She donated the maximum to both Obama Campaigns and to Hillary's 2016 bid.
Steelers owner Art Rooney II has tried to deflect the growing anger at Tomlin and the players by saying that they have a right to their opinions. That may be so; but we're not talking here about an average Democrat voter. Tomlin directly instigated an overtly political statement---and his deep ties to Trump's opponents casts serious doubts as to his actual motivations. It's highly probable, given these facts, that last weekend's NFL protests were orchestrated and not spontaneous at all.
As for Rooney, his fingers are the same pies as Tomlin's. He is an executive in the firm Buchanan, Ingersoll, and Rooney PC, which Wikipedia succinctly describes as "one of the nation's largest legal and lobbying firms". This company is the government lobbying firm in Pennsylvania and among the top 20 Federal lobbying firms. In 2016, their five top political recipients were: the DNC; the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Hillary Clinton Campaign, and the activist group Women Vote!, in that order.
Aside from arch-RINO Arlen Specter, the overwhelming number of political donations that Rooney has made has been to Democrats. He supported Al Gore, John Kerry. Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton and was an attendee at Obama's Inaugural Ball in 2009.
I wonder how Steelers fans feel, knowing that the over-priced tickets that go to lining Tomlin's and Rooney's pockets, are also supporting the DNC? If we do get a new league, let's leave the Steelers out of it.
While the MSM hyenas, Hollywood jugheads, and Democrats are on their knees everywhere (the natural position for Liberals any place except Church); President Trump moved forward on a new policy to open new educational opportunities other than sports for mostly minority and rural communities. The Presidential Directive allocates $200 million to boost STEM in public schools.
Because of Academic incompetence, the US is falling far behind European and Asian countries in scientific fields. The President noted in his remarks just how bad the situation is. Note especially the portions of his speech that we've highlighted:
"Today, too many of our nation's K-12 students lack access to quality STEM programs; and thus are excluded from some of the most attractive job options in the growing US economy. Courses in Computer Science are especially scarce in too many communities despite the employment opportunities that these skills create. Nearly 40% of high schools do not offer Physics and 60% do not offer computer programming... Minorities and students in rural communities have even less access to Computer Science education. Nationwide, only 34% of African-Americans and 30% of rural students have access to Computer Science classes."
That does bring up the side issue of what the Academic Establishment has been doing all these years with their already-bloated budgets. It's a national disgrace that 2 out of every 5 high schools do not even offer Physics---a subject that we used to get as early as Middle School just a generation or so ago. Postmodern high schools do, however, teach a lot of political correctness and scapegoating. This despite the fact that that 2/3 of young Blacks and 3/4 of young women can't even get access to skills that would enable them to compete.
The President also noted that there is an extreme shortage of STEM teachers, especially in the Computer Science field. Part of this new fund will help rectify this problem as well. As part of this initiative, the President signed an Executive Order in June that would reduce student debt in STEM fields for graduates entering STEM-related apprenticeship programs. The MSM of course ignored that story too; just like they've ignored Obama's obvious failures in his Hope and Change agenda. While educational opportunities for Blacks declined under Obama, his Administration saw some of the worst race-riots in America since the 1960s.
But the billionaire Whacko Left-Wing sport-franchise owners would prefer that minorities are kept on the NCAA plantation and leave the high-tech profits for themselves.
The long-overdue backlash against the corrupt and degenerate National Football League is accelerating and showing no signs of abating. The decline of this organization appears now to be irreversible. Unless they institute some radical reforms they're heading down the tubes along with their confederates in the Corporate Media.
Here's a few resources that have come to light over the last few days, for those readers whose activism is inclined to go further than boycotting games or publically burning NFL regalia---which is also going on across the country.
1. The Wall Street Journal and Zero Hedge have been reporting today that subscribers to Direct TV's NFL Sunday Ticket service have been cancelling their contracts. There are reports that subscription refunds in various forms are now available. At any rate, fans who subscribe to Direct TV or similar services should cancel and try to get refunds. It may not always succeed, but where it does it means money that won't go to the NFL.
2. An online movement has started to boycott Wall Street/Corporate NFL sponsors.
Consumer boycotts usually have mixed results; but putting consumer pressure on these companies is certainly possible. What has a huge impact is when stockholders---including people with IRA-type funds---start divesting shares in these firms and encouraging stockbrokers not to trade them. Significant shareholders can pressure the company more directly. In any case, the monopoly-minded NFL likes giving exclusive 'sponsorship' rights to certain companies; so it is relatively easy for consumers to switch from one of these companies to another.
Just as a side note, USAA---one of the companies listed---is a financial services company for military veterans. Veterans can contact their local VFW or other veterans' groups to apply the appropriate pressure.
3. Several other bloggers have been exposing the fat tax subsidies and illegal tax breaks and monopoly privileges that the NFL gets from politicians at all levels. The NFL is also a tax-exempt non-profit organization (how that is legal we've no idea). Political activists can move GOP (and even sympathetic working-class Democrats) officials to take political action. Some suggestions:
a.) Revoke the NFL's non-profit standing since they violate it by taking political positions.
b.) Lobby to end any taxpayer subsidies to NFL.
c.) Pressure legislators and state Attorneys-General to bring anti-trust suits against the NFL.
And we're certain that legal minds can think up other creative ways to bring the NFL to some kind of accountability.
There's a growing movement to start a new professional football league on the ruins of the old. The last major competitor to the NFL was the USFL during the 1980s. As an interesting side-note, President Trump used to own a USFL team. So we can presume the White House would be sympathetic to the idea.
This denizen of the Deep State was a really bad one, too. Department of Homeland Security official and special agent Christopher Ciccione was jailed today after an internal investigation exposed him as an operative of the very narcotics cartel that he was hired to suppress.
Ciccione was in charge of Operation Cornerstone, an Obama-Era attempt to bring Cali Cartel mob-boss Jose Piedrahita to justice. In 2016, Piedrahita was indicted after an extensive investigation, but the case against him was dismissed by a Federal Grand Jury. Agents involved in the case were baffled at how Piedrahita's case collapsed; but their suspicions were ignored until the Trump Administration came in. Jeff Sessions authorized an internal investigation which discovered that Ciccione was in contact with Juan Carlos Velasco---a notorious Cali henchman.
The indictment issued today revealed that Velasco, a ruthless thug, acted as an intermediary between Ciccione and Piedrahita. In exchange for at least $20,000 in cash; free access to Cali-affiliated clubs; and a hearty supply of prostitutes, Ciccione sabotaged the case against Piedrahita. This sabotage included falsifying agent testimony and suppressing evidence. Legal opinions within the Justice Department concurred that Ciccione's actions damaged the Government's case against Piedrahita.
As a consequence of today's revelations, Piedrahita has been re-indicted and a warrant also issued for Velasco. Both however are apparently back in Colombia, where they still run their criminal activities---thanks to DHS Special Agent Christopher Ciccione.
It's instructive to reflect that the MSM jackals, the NFL protestors, the Antifa, and the rest of the anti-Trump 'Resistance' want the kind of government that Ciccione represented to come back. Whatever the motivations of the recent past administrations were; they are increasingly being uncovered as either unable---or unwilling---to make the government function cleanly, fairly, and efficiently.
We don't want them back. Seven months of Trump has done more for America than the last seven years of Obama combined.
The controversy between President Trump and the National Football League has really intensified. The President yesterday expressed what many---if not most---Americans actually think about the NFL. Most Americans love football, but thoroughly despise the NFL as an institution. A lot of us see it as another cultural swamp in need of draining.
The Corporate Media hyenas---who imagine all Trump supporters as beer-swilling, low-IQ couch-potatoes---pounced on the story and egged on their confederates in the NFL Players' Union to inflame matters worse by staging fake 'solidarity protests' throughout the NFL today. Both the Corporate Media and the NFL leadership hold their followers in complete contempt; and hope that publicity stunts like these will alienate voters---whom they presume will follow celebrity-athletes like sheep.
As for the millionaire perverts and drug addicts who pass for 'athletes' these days, we shouldn't be surprised at their behavior. Most of them are simply punks and thugs who find themselves at home in the gangland-like moral atmosphere of postmodern professional sports. They'll sell out their own teams for a higher contract, so selling out their country and disrespecting its institutions and traditions comes naturally to them.
It wasn't always this way, of course. We're only a few decades removed when public prayers were actually said at football games in addition to the National Anthem. And they were said by people like:
Who, as a young man in WW2 saw his family interned by the US government for being non-naturalized citizens of Italy. Instead of burning flags and running around in a black hood smashing windows, young Gino enlisted and came back from the Pacific Theatre a decorated war hero. Taking advantage of the GI Bill, he finished college, and was drafted by the Baltimore Colts in 1952. Now a Hall-of-Fame member, Marchetti founded a successful restaurant chain and retired a rich man.
One of the most valuable things that team sports used to teach young men like Gino Marchetti was how hard work can turn defeat into victory. Even when the inequalities and unfairness that often comes in life seem insurmountable. The longest field-goal in NFL history was made by a kicker who was born without a hand and partially missing a foot.
In our postmodern culture where victimhood is honored above all else, stories like these seem unbelievable. The whole American ideal, however, is based on overcoming incredibly difficult challenges. Football was, at least in the past, a game of strategy as much as skill. But intelligence, innovation, and excellence left the NFL a long time ago.
The fake-news is also naturally trying to spin the controversy as somehow 'racist' as if there is some natural inconsistency between being patriotic and being Black. The ignoramuses on the Whacko Left fail to understand that Blacks have been a part of the NFL from the beginning.
And back then Black athletes had a lot more discrimination and prejudices to overcome than the sad-sacks of today who won't stand for a patriotic ceremony but don't mind cashing their paychecks. Paychecks, incidentally, which are about 100,000 times higher than what their counterparts in the 1920s were paid.
The actions of the NFL players today are bound to backfire on them. They may imagine themselves too big to fail; but they are really a bunch of pygmies in the bigger scheme of sports history.
The Monocle-and-Martini Set who run the National Football League are outraged with President Trump's remarks in Alabama today. Trump called out NFL management for tolerating the gutter-trash behavior of some of its so-called stars. Recently, some of these punks have doing things like flashing gang signs and giving Black Power salutes on the field, as well as protesting the ceremonial National Anthem.
One might think that a country where semi-literate ghetto-trash can become overnight millionaires and celebrities in the NFL might be worthy of some more respect among this class of people, but not so. The NFL has really become a lot like Hollywood. Both rose to cultural icon status about the same time and both have degenerated long beyond their cultural shelf-lives through a combination of stupid greed, politically-correct pandering, and incompetent management.
But if Hollywood has become a shadow of its former self, the NFL has become a ghost of what it once was. The NFL and its chief corporate media mouthpiece, ESPN, are getting clobbered with declining ratings, revenues, and viewers. This is because the NFL has not only lost touch with its audience; it's lost touch with its very reason for existence.
The NFL was originally about excellence: strategy, teamwork, skill, and sportsmanship. A team represented a community; and thus players reflected the values of the community. This is how football grew to be so symbolic of American values. During the Golden Age of the NFL, teams, players, and coaches usually stayed in one locality and were identified with it.
Today, this attitude has changed completely: championships have become meaningless---because these 'community leaders' have no scruple about running to any other community that offers a higher price. The community gives these teams every dime they have---even building stadiums with tax dollars---and the league establishment thanks them by selling out to the highest bidders and disrespecting values that society believes in.
What has happened to the NFL is the very defect that usually spells the downfall of all monopolistic organizations. In the passing of a century, control of the organization passes from virile and energetic men to effete inbreds who are cynical and resentful. Here again, the comparison to Hollywood is apt.
And generally along with the declining quality of performance, monopolies tend to try and maximize profit by pandering to the lowest common denominator among audiences or consumers. Thus the NFL players today engage in the crudest, most unsportsmanlike behaviors: more like pro wrestling and roller-derbies in the past. The NFL management never tolerated such behaviors before; today they are common. There are numerous players who showed promise once who simply and suddenly dropped out of the league. Usually this was for drug use or some other behavior detrimental to the team or the community's image.
Regarding our postmodern protesting players, there was a famous example of a similar case during the 1970s. Joe Gilliam became the first Black starting quarterback in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But Gilliam had political sympathies with militant Blacks, which he publically displayed and often criticized alleged racism within the Steelers and the NFL generally. His behavior led to coach Chuck Noll throwing him off the team and replacing him with Terry Bradshaw. No other team wanted Gilliam despite his skills.
Bradshaw went on to four Super Bowls, eight AFC Championships, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Gilliam died of a cocaine overdose at the age of 49.
The NFL's political correctness is another huge problem. It's recent tendencies towards gender-bending alienates most of its fan base. It's also preventing quality players from looking at professional football as a desirable career option. It's much the same problem we've seen with military recruitment. A football team, like an Army platoon, needs tough men who respect one another.
The NFL isn't likely to change any more than Hollywood will; and ultimately is going to fall under the weight of its own hubris. What we really need now is a new league that upholds the old values.
