“Real Craic”

Happy Saturday. Blame me if you must, yes, I am a bit behind. St. Patrick’s Day was earlier this week. Nevertheless, in the manner the dear folk of Éire would welcome you into any pub (even on days other than St. Patty’s), “Real Craic” – translated into meaning ‘you’ll have a good time — enjoy, have a lot of fun’

Love short lived – No more than six months ago Elon Musk was a beloved master, creator, business leader, and innovator. He was seen as the guy who was paving a pathway to what we view as American exceptionalism.

Then he made a major blunder. He discovered that Free Speech was number one in both our US Constitution and also number one in his personal belief system. Since it became obvious that social media had dropped any semblance of Free Speech; he bought one of the main players.

Then he aligned himself with a Presidential Candidate who he felt was espousing his personal viewpoints. You know the rest.

Now he requires a security team of over 20. His much loved, globe saving, electric cars began to be singled out for barbeque parties, and so it goes. It truly is a nutty world.

Anyway, our nation’s #1 African American, Mr. Musk, had also started a company which brought us back into space, SpaceX. 2024  numbers show how he’s done. Beating the competition is putting it mildly — I actively follow Space launches and SpaceX activity with Musk is making a trip into the heavens seem to be akin to taking an Uber.

Musk has blown the Overton Window wide open, and I bet he’s watching with a broad smile.

A Scheme? – It’s no secret in these parts that (brought to my attention by Kirstin) I love Dave’s Killer Bread – with 21 Grains & Seeds. A couple of reasons, the stuff tastes great and my Yuka App rates it at 100 out of 100.

Having said that, Dave’s Killer Bread also was able to point out how companies can deal with inflationary and tariff related issues. The trick is to trick. In food especially it gets down to packaging etc., anything to avoid a price increase.

Dave’s Killer Bread is even better. Packaging stays the same, size is unchanged, and price unmoved. In Dave’s case it wasn’t until I got to eat my newly opened loaf that I discovered a secret. It would appear I might have discovered a sneaky ‘shrink’; just don’t completely ‘fill’ each slice. Problem solved!

Mentioning bread, recently I discovered how grocery shelved bread is date marked and thought I’d share — it’s the little closure clips. I hope this helps.

Separation of Powers – At least it is if your name is James Boasberg and you’re a Federal Judge, a Judge who seemingly pokes at anything; similar to the way a pangolin pokes. So that I don’t blather on, if interested in a serious (and seriously accurate) assessment of what’s going on click on this link to Margot Cleveland’s assessment.

He, the same judge who gave the nutty order for over the ocean flights full of ne’er-do-wells to do a 180.

When Boasberg was advised that the flights had departed well before he wrote the order, thought it within his right to order them to return.

It is the satire entity, “fake news you can trust”, The Babylon Bee (March 17, 2025), which published this headline: “Federal Judge Orders Astronauts Be Returned to Space Station“.

As my French cousin would say: “la trahison des experts” (the betrayal by experts), is that a period we’re currently in?

The Polygraph – was an invention by President Thomas Jefferson – now such an instrument is called the Autopen. That instrument seems to be in the news a lot. But here is what I found interesting. Legal guru, Alan Dershowitz, owns one of the Jefferson letters which was signed by his Polygraph. Dershowitz claims that at an auction polygraph documents fetch more than those with an original signature.

I’m having a bit of a thought, thinking a little into the future, and at Biden’s many thousands of documents signed by machine!

The Cincinnati Reds – are Major League Baseball’s oldest team, set to embark on season 136. Opening Day on Thursday is an amazing event. The Opening Day Parade is a de facto city-wide holiday with the three-hour long event as kick-off. It’s been months since an Opening Day ticket was available – and the stadium will fill with more than 50,000. This year it’s special with the Reds hiring the hugely successful and locally loved Terry Francona as the new team manager. Francona played for Cincinnati during his playing years and now is back in one of his favorite towns.

Here is a photo – displaying my current occupation. I’m fairly well involved. If you’re nonplussed here’s a hint — all will be complete no later than April 15.

Life is AMAZING! Sláinte!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

Tennis was a bit of a highbrow sport which I enjoyed in college. Then when I was younger it became indoor ‘handball’ and I joined a club. As of late the biggie is ‘Pickleball’ and even on my walks I’ll occasionally pass an area where I can hear the smacking of the ball. Now there is a different style of racket ball which is taking off. Listed below are all racquetball games, but which one of the following is that new one to emerge into the next ‘must play’ thing.

1) “Frontennis”
2) “Stické”
3) “Frescobol”
4) “Jombola”
5) “Miniten”
6) “Padel”
7) “Totem Tennis”
8) “Sphairee”