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05/16/25 01:46 PM #15645    

Timothy Lavelle

Dark Clouds with Silver Linings

I'd like to thank Bill Bellichik (and little bill) for totally eclipsing Urban Meyers in the lifetime award for dumbest older man.

...and in a recently updated interview with Orville and Wilbur Wright they teamed up in their best Mexican accents, saying "Ray-dar, we don't neeed no steenking Ray-dar". Those guys are such wits, huh?

Party on


05/16/25 04:28 PM #15646    

 

David Mitchell

I'm thinking we could start a new evening news commentary team modeled after David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart, but with an interesting twist.

It would star Tim Lavelle and John Jackson

 

(anybody at PBS interested?)

 


05/16/25 08:09 PM #15647    

 

Janie Albright (Blank)

PBS? Unfortunately, I don't think it will be around long enough to pick up your show Dave. crying


05/17/25 04:16 PM #15648    

 

Michael McLeod

helluva final act being orchestrated by a lifetime global giver and humanitarian,

 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/magazine/bill-gates-foundation-closing-2045.html?campaign_id=52&emc=edit_ma_20250517&instance_id=154699&nl=the-new-york-times-magazine&regi_id=81440061&segment_id=198114&user_id=2bc8a806c869a6b7c9358d96e8c8d355

 

 


05/17/25 07:08 PM #15649    

 

Michael McLeod

Only review I saw was two thumbs down Mark.


05/17/25 07:41 PM #15650    

 

David Mitchell

Mike,

 

Re: Bill Gates foundation.

Quite a contrast to another even richer man who gives a lot - but it's a tiny fraction of his total wealth.


05/17/25 08:41 PM #15651    

 

Michael McLeod

Dave: wish I was rich enough to help people in need on that scale. I can only imagine what that would feel like.


05/18/25 09:14 AM #15652    

 

Michael McLeod

I just ran across a great expression. I don't remember seeing it before:

"A stopped clock is right twice a day."  

The sentiment being even somebody you consider as wackadoodle has a point to make, at least on occasion.

That expression gets that idea across so beautifully and succinctly I wish I'd seen it years ago. I would have stuck it up near my desk to remind myself to listen carefully and with an open mind to everybody I ever interviewed. In all fairness as the years went by my experience at taking in hundreds upon hundreds of points of view about various subjects gradually taught me as much. Which is not to say I didn't I run into a lot of broken clocks along the way. 


 


05/18/25 01:21 PM #15653    

 

Michael McLeod

Dave:

I actually shared your initial reaction to the trump visit. That it was just his usual self-grandizement behavior.

But sometimes I force myself to look at things from the perspective opposite my ordinary go-to position.

It's possible that his efforts will do some good. On behalf of the world at large I hope so.


05/18/25 01:26 PM #15654    

Timothy Lavelle

So, I'm out walking the dog this morning, wondering if the new Pope will be a good friend to Joe G. I hope so Joe.

Then that TV commercial barges into my mind...the one where the Scot guy is saying "Feed your lawn, FEED IT!"

Except in my mind the guy is yelling "Wind your clock, WIND IT!"

Here's a question for you, would you rather have an open mind or the ability to discern fact from fiction? Is one more important than the other? 

I'm going to Tacoma today. Pray I don't get shot...or on the other hand...

Party on

 


05/18/25 06:09 PM #15655    

Joseph Gentilini

Hi Tim LV - wondering if the new pope will be good to me. Thanks for thinking of me. Who knows? I am hopefully optimistic (and I am not naturally an optimist). I think he will be good for bringing a focus to the Church's social justice views which may create tension with this political administration which has not concept of social justice - seems like the exact opposite. When dealing with human sexuality, I think he will try to be more welcoming to my community, but I doubt he will be as welcoming as I would like.  Time will tell.  Francis opened the door a bit so maybe pope Leo will try to widen it a bit more. I can hope. Joe


05/18/25 06:42 PM #15656    

 

David Mitchell

Okay Tim,

I'll bite. What's with Tacoma? Is it a dangerous place?


05/18/25 07:55 PM #15657    

 

Michael McLeod

Is the balona in tacoma a threat to my persona?


05/18/25 09:35 PM #15658    

Timothy Lavelle

To 'splain something about Tacoma...

You may recall that I live close to...okay 6 miles or so outside of...a town called Mossyrock. This metropolis is about as large as the Watterson gymnasium was. So the news we get on TV is Seattle news. Seattle seems to take great joy is using sister city, Tacoma, as the "If you think we killed a few innocent people in Seattle today, just wait until we tell you about the massacre in Tacoma". 

To me, having lived in weird places around the world, some of them off the beaten track, I wouldn't live in either city. Just too damn many peeps. 

You may recall that I also "flambouant up" a story a bit for interest sake also.

Joe, I will hope along with you that the world does not go backward in civil liberty thinking. Dave thinks I am a liberal but I am actually a conservative person who believes that everyone should be able to do what they want until 1. they hurt someone/something 2. they do it in my face.  My face, my space.

Dog, I am as full of it as a Christmas turkey today.

Party on.

 

 


05/20/25 02:33 PM #15659    

 

Michael Boulware

Thanks for the heads up about Mary Ann Nolan's brother. I think it helps visiting funeral homes for people we know and like. Mary Ann is a good lady.

More bad news: Marty Bennett from the class of '67 passed away. Marty was in our golf league for a long time and was always fun to be around. The Eagle Golf League was started by our own Bob Curtin


05/20/25 04:25 PM #15660    

 

Michael McLeod

Thanks Mike.

Even for a sad occasion, maybe it's better to say especially in a sad occasion,  it's good to be a part of a community.

Florida's been home for quite a while now but communal moments, be they happy or sad, make me miss not living up there anymore. Wish I could convey my sympathies in person.


05/20/25 08:59 PM #15661    

 

David Mitchell

Here's a little portion of my first trip over to Viet Nam. It ended up being almost a week long trip from Columbus to Vinh Long - with a few memorable episodes as part of the trip.

 

Part 1 - After Graduating Flight School in Savannah Dec, 2, 1968

----------

 

6 - THE TRIP “OVER THE POND”

 

Although we had hoped to spend Christmas at home, our orders were to report to the Oakland Naval Yard on December 18th. From there we would be bussed to Travis Air Force Base (AFB) north of San Francisco for flights to Viet Nam. Oakland Naval yard was a large base that was a transfer point for all four service branches, but mostly Army and Naval personnel (I think). 

                        

When we arrived, we were told that they were backed up a few days and we were being given temporary quarters in the B.O.Q. (Bachelor Officers Quarters - more like very clean and more spacious basic training open barracks) and would be permitted to go out in the city for those two days and nights. The base is actually closer to downtown San Francisco than Oakland. We were only allowed into the city by day if we wore civilian clothes, and by night only in uniform (never did know why?). They had a small but well stocked “base exchange” where we could buy a cheap pair of civilian slacks and shirts - which we did.

                                                                                                                                                                        

As a nine-year-old kid, I had visited San Francisco with my family, and I knew my way around the downtown area. I dragged about 4 of us around to see Union Square, China Town, and the trolly ride from Union Square up and over to Fisherman’s Wharf. It passed the time and the guys enjoyed it.

            

One night my best buddy, Mike Lee and I got dressed (in simple Dress Khakis - no “jackets”) and headed to dinner at the popular “Fisherman’s Wharf”. We were headed to the famous DiMaggio’s (as in baseball’s Joe DiMaggio) but someone suggested it was not that good anymore and we should try Castagnola’s (Italian and Sea Food), just blocks from DiMaggio’s. 

 

We walked into the crowded lobby and put our names in at the Hostess stand and were told “about an hour” wait. We decided to stay and wait it out and went and stood in a corner. But about five minutes later, one of the hostesses came back over to us and asked “Are you stationed locally or are you en-route somewhere?  We told her we we’re just passing through and she asked, “where to?” We said, “Viet Nam” and she said, “just a moment”, and walked away. 

 

In just minutes, she came back and said, “I have a table for you right now if you don’t mind sitting in the windows overlooking the marina.” She led us to one of the best tables in the house. 

                                                                                                                                                                                            Huge smiles - we were floored!              

 

TBC

 


05/21/25 10:51 AM #15662    

 

Michael McLeod

Dave - I so appreciate you sharing your experiences. And I mean it when I tell you that you're good at it. I gotta bust my ass to write well. You are, as they say, a natural.

I'm in the middle of writing a memoir about my career for the benefit of my children at my girlfriend's insistence.

As I sat down to write it the way it naturally came out is something that is not so much about the career - it's about my mom taking us to the clintonville library to pick up corny books like the bobbsey twin series when we were kids. I swear I have those library trips and my mom to thank for my career more than any of the osu journalism profs I studied under. 

she was a very well educated doctor's daughter and a brilliant woman disguised as a humble, funny, down to earth midwestern housewife.

I hope she enjoyed my stories and was proud of me.

I do remember her saying to me: “Michael, you certainly can write!”

Thinking of her saying that is better than any raise or writing award I ever got.

 

Thanks mom.

Thanks a million.

I should have sent all those damn awards straight to you.

I wish I had put your name next to my byline on every story.


05/21/25 12:53 PM #15663    

 

Michael McLeod

damn. hagan das is crack. 


05/21/25 01:34 PM #15664    

 

David Mitchell

Thanks Mike,

In other news............

Yesterday I had to sit in my car well after I arrived at a destination because I couldn't miss the end of a PBR radio interview with Terry Gross interviewing Jake Tapper. It was about Joe Biden's mental decline and the efforts to get inside his inner circle to see how bad it really was. 

Amazing!

One of the turning points was at a fundraiser dinner put on by George Clooney - big money Democrats and lots of money raised. Back stage before the dinner it became obvious that Joe didn't even recognize Clooney, whom he had known for years. That pushed Clooney to write an ob ed and advise the top Dems to force Joe to walk away, which brought tons of pressure on Clooney.

I was one of those who agreed that Joe was slipping badly, but this interview with Tapper went into a lot more detail from behind the scenes.

 

--------------

Meanwhile this new "Big Beautiful" budget bill looks like another gift to the rich - paid for by the working class.  Ho Humm.


05/21/25 01:48 PM #15665    

 

Michael McLeod

Biden's mental decline, and its ramifications, will occupy pages in american history books long after we're gone.

for a journalist i don't spend much time watching the news now that i'm off duty. and I was a feature and arts writer and never into politics which i kind of regret in retrospect.

but the few times i saw him speak told me we were in trouble long ago. you didn't have to be a political writer to see that.

i'm not smart enough to say what we lost as a country given his condition, 

and i haven't seen any stories to that effect. there are stories and film clips that make it obvious but the influence of how the management of our country has been affected by his condition, during and after his administration,  will be, i guess, for the historians to discuss.

guess i's a hard thing to calculate but again, it'll be reading material for future generations.

 


05/21/25 03:44 PM #15666    

Joseph Gentilini

Hi David and Michael McL -

I enjoyed reading your stories your told and continue to tell. Keep sharing them.

Dave, thank you for your service to this country. Obviously, you did a good job, faced many obstacles, saw horrible scenes, etc., and did it well. Thanks. I think I would have had a nervous breakdown if I had actually been drafted. For my sake (and the country's), I had a high draft number. 

Michael, thanks for your story about your mom and the influence she had on your career. If reminded me of how my parents influenced my career. I was taught that it is important to take notice of people if they were sad for whatever reason - have compassion on others. My family moved from the Hilltop to Arlington in the middle of 4th grade. It was in the 50s and I don't think I ever had any classes with Black or Asian persons. That would be an important aspect of the influence. i lived, I suppose, in a bubble. The only black person I met growing up was the maid we had help clean the house once a month or every two weeks.  And yet, I learned to pay attention and be a bit more compassionate. I smile when I think I would watch the Miss America Show where each state would  present a woman with desires of winner the crown. I would pick the person I thought was best and sometimes she won and sometimes she didn't. Whoever 'lost' -- the other 4 -- I would feel sad about her and thought about the disappointment the women felt. When I got into high school, I wanted to be a priest but that never happened. I applied in my senior year to the Franciscans but was denied because I was 'too sensitive, too submissive, and too sensitive.' Probably true at the time, but years later a Franciscan priest told me he knew who gave the 'tests' and these words were code words a psychologist used really meant he thought I was gay and denied admittance. It worked out OK, however, since I have my own vocation - being in my 44 year-old union with Leo is the way I am called to holiness. (I didn't intend to get into all of that!)

How it influenced my career.  When I went to college, I wasn't good at languages, I couldn't see myself as a business man, I didn't think getting a degree in Religious Studies would do any good, etc. But psychology, social work, philosophy, and theology did interest me. The one that made the most sense to me was Social Welfare and that became my major. Ironicially I did minor in philosophy and theology.  I taught one year at Watterson - Freshman year world history -- and knew I didn't want to do that!  I knew that I needed to get into helping others for a career. By chance, a friend of mine suggested looking into Vocational Rehabilitation which I did. That became my career and both my major and my minors helped me. Helping others who are disabled get some training, college degree or certification in some trade, and then helping them to become employed if possible. 

The very first assignment I had was in the Model City office of BVR at the corner of Bryden Road and Parsons Avenue - in the 70s most people in that area were poor, black persons and white persons.  However, everyone in the office was black and most of the people in the building were black. I confronted my own prejudices.  I am ashamed to admit that I thought black people worked doing janitorial services, etc.  I learned that this stereotype was BS and I learned quickly to open my eyes and see reality.  I grew as a person and a counselor. In order to be even better as a counselor, I got my master's degree and my doctorate.

I didn't intend to get into all of this - sorry!  joe


05/21/25 04:02 PM #15667    

 

David Mitchell

 

Joe,

From what I gathered from your book, you did a darn good job - both at direct counseling, and at the supervisory level. 


05/21/25 05:36 PM #15668    

 

Michael McLeod

Joe: thank you so much for your story.

chaps my ass that they screened you out in that covert, hypocritical manner. Institutionalized predjudice. 

 


05/21/25 11:33 PM #15669    

Timothy Lavelle

For weeks now the news has been working out on Joe Biden. Now Mike and Dave, who I respect have brought his age and failings to our attention. 

Joe is my personal hero, warts and all. From 2016 to 2020 I had a serious ongoing headache. I was desperate for some kind of mental relief from basic mismanagement and ignorance...not just forgetting someone's name but forgetting the constitution and why we all have held this country dear to our hearts. Honored its principles. Why people who fought, actively gun-in-hand fought for this country, were no BS honest to god heroes. I needed a plug to stop the flow of shit (Trump: "I prefer people who didn't get caught!") that was covering our beloved land eminating from a place we all grew up to  honor, the White House.

I needed a super strong aspirin. I didn't need Jesus walking on water; I didn't need Jerry Lucas with his memory tricks, I just needed someone to stop the pain. Joe did that for me. And he went on to lead our country for four years without giving me more than a few twinges of "Ahhh, Joe, c'mon Man!". No one is perfect. Most of us, especially me, would crap the bed in a job like that but like our own Joe G., I think each of us would have a heart and try to love our countrymen instead of being an outright embarrassment that runs the show now with threats instead of smarts, backlash instead of heart. 

Mike and Dave, I respect you guys but there has been far too much trendy bullshit about Joe Biden when people should be asking serious questions in this country about where the hell this country is going.

Down from soapbox.

PS. Joe, I came from St Al's on the Hilltop to St Agatha. Which parish were you in back before St. Agatha's? I'd love to hear about those years. The Hilltop was a special place once upon a. TL

 


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