Major news story last week was the senseless murder of 19 young school children and at this writing two teachers by an 18 year old gunman, whose motive has yet to be determined. In addition to the school slaughter, the gunman first shot his grandmother, who survived. The assailant also wrecked his grandparent’s truck prior to the shooting.
President Biden, in his remarks about the matter, was quick to call for more gun control. Soon after that the Pope echoed the call for more gun control. Actually the shooter had purchased his weapons legally, so he must have passed all background checks. The city with the most stringent gun controls – Chicago – also has the highest number of shootings on a weekly basis.
Because the Texas shooter was killed, it is unlikely that we will ever be able to ascertain his motive. As a result, there is a call for more security at all schools in the country.
THE FRENCH OPEN. A few weeks ago I mentioned all of the changes that have occurred in the sport of Tennis over the last several decades. The major changes of course were in clothing and equipment.
Watching the French Open I noticed three things I may have missed previously. The first was the bouncing of the ball before the service toss, which I believe was first introduced by Djokovic, now both men and women routinely use the practice. The second was that the players all seemed to stand parallel to the baseline when preparing to serve, I believe it was John McEnroe who started that practice. The third was the drop shot coming into prominence, mostly by the young sensation, Alcaraz.
While everyone is praising 19 year old Alcaraz as the next big thing in tennis, he almost faced elimination in the second round of the French. One thing to note about the youngster’s game is his amazing foot speed, which enables him to be in position to make the shot. Most coaches, in all sports, will tell you that the only thing they can’t teach is speed.
The reason the well-executed drop shot is effective is that most of the big hitters are standing far behind the baseline. Currently, the drop shot has become a staple even by such powerful strikers as Nadal and Djokovic.
PRIMARY ELECTIONS. In the five states that held Primary Elections on May 17th some of past President Trump’s endorsed candidates did well and some did poorly. So as far as Trump’s influence on the General Election may not be as powerful as once thought. The most interesting races will probably be in Georgia, where Trump had trouble in having the results overturned.
Biggest winner of the night seems to be Huckabee’s daughter, Sarah, former Press Secretary for Trump who is running for Governor of Arkansas. One Trump endorsed Candidate, Herschel Walker, former NFL star, also seems well on his way in Georgia.
UKRAINE WAR. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which was supposed to be a Blitzkrieg like affair, recently reached three months in duration with no end in sight. It is still hard to figure out Russia’s Putin’s endgame because he is bent on reducing Ukraine cities to rubble and making them all but inhabitable.
With many Western nations supplying arms and other support to the Ukrainians the NATO Nations are actually engaged in a proxy war. One thing is for certain, by his vicious conduct Putin has now joined the long list of despicable dictators like Hitler and Mussolini. It is doubtful that he can ever regain his former status on the world stage.
SHORTAGES. With the rise in the U.S. of inflation and the many shortages on the shelves of our supermarkets the country is experiencing a sort of decline into third world status. Affecting most adults is the soaring price of a gallon of gas. An increase that occurred under the Biden Administration long before the conflict in Ukraine began.
As much as President Biden tries to spin the cause on Putin, he is roundly corrected by the media, even the Left Wing outlets. Interesting is the fact that of all the shortages, baby formula is getting the most attention by the Press. The latest news has us importing the youthful staple from Europe.
At this writing the supply chain is still not working at full speed in this country. The blame for this is rightly on the shoulders of Biden’s Transportation Secretary Buttigieg, who is more concerned about highways being racist. Buttigieg’s solution to the gas crunch is for people to get rid of their gas guzzler and buy an electric vehicle.
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