We remember Merito Acosta (1896-1963)

We remember Merito Acosta  (Baldomero Pedro Acosta Fernández) who was born in Bauta, Artemisa, Cuba, on this day in 1896.

On June 15, 1913, Acosta made his major league debut with Washington.    He was only 17 and one of a handful of teenagers who’ve played in the major leagues.     

Acosta played 5 more years hitting .255 over 180 games.   He played all 3 outfield positions.

After baseball, Acosta worked to put a minor league team in Havana under The Florida International League.

Acosta died in Miami in 1963.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

Obama goes political plus Gallup numbers & John Paul II (1920-2005)

Obama goes political plus Gallup numbers & John Paul II (1920-2005) 05/18 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics:

President Obama goes political at a commencement address....John Paul II (1920-2005).....Gallup has Trump about the same as Bush and Obama at this point of their presidency.......Lincoln nominated 1860.....

and other stories......

click to listen:

Monday’s video: Obama goes political at a commencement address....

Monday’s video:

Obama goes political at a commencement address.....

click to watch:

We remember Ken Osmond ("Eddie Haskell) who died today

As a new arrival in the US, I fell in love with '"Leave It to Beaver".

A few hours ago, I learned that Ken Osmond, who played the legendary "Eddie Haskell", died at age 76.

The week in review with Bill Katz the editor of Urgent Agenda

The week in review with Bill Katz the editor of Urgent Agenda 05/17 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics:

Guest: Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda........Obama is back .......The Democrats present a proposal but lose 14 representatives....Trump steady in polls......big GOP win California....Are protests turning into The Tea Party of 2020?....Biden and the VP search....Watergate hearings 1973.........other stories.....

click to listen:

Fear of lawsuits holding the economy back

Last week, I spoke with a community college administrator.  I asked him a couple of questions:

First, when do you want to re-open the campus?  He said the sooner, the better.

Second, are you afraid of lawsuits?  Darn right, he said.  Then he added that many colleges are scared to death of a class action lawsuit.

My guess is that a lot of businessmen and school administrators know exactly what my friend was saying.

This is why we need litigation protection, as this editorial from the Las Vegas Review-Journal is indicating:

As states lift their coronavirus lockdowns, businesses face a host of obstacles, including reluctant customers, cautious workers and disrupted supply chains.  But there’s another gremlin lurking in the shadows that has gone largely unnoticed: the trial lawyers.

“Plaintiffs lawyers are massing to loot medical providers and employers in response to the coronavirus,” read a headline in The Wall Street Journal last month.

The issue is nationwide.  In Nevada, Randi Thompson, state director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses, told the Review-Journal that business owners worry they will be held liable if an employee contracts COVID-19 upon returning to work.  The federation conducted a poll which found that 68 percent of small business owners are very or moderately concerned about prospective lawsuits related to the virus.

“If Congress wants America to recover with any speed from this epidemic,” the Journal noted, “we can’t have a lawsuit epidemic, too.”

Indeed.  If employers are intimidated by the threat of litigation, the destruction will only worsen.

Indeed it will.  This is why Congress needs to pass legislation that protects employers and school districts from lawsuit madness.  Otherwise, important sectors of the economy may not open at all.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

AMLO vs doctors in Mexico?

Last week, a friend told me that doctors in Mexico are working in crowded hospitals and forced to wear masks for several days.  I was also told by an old business associate that lots of people are dying and no one trusts the official coronavirus figures.

Then I read about President Lopez-Obrador going after doctors.  This is from Pulse News Mexico:   

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) nonstop, venomous spiel against any person or organization that dares to question his Venezuelan-inspired Fourth Transformation (T4) socialist model has become the norm nationwide, sowing hatred and division across the country and spurring violence against journalists, NGOs, human rights organizations and anyone else who dares to question the Holy Doctrine of Saint AMLO.

But on Friday, May 8, AMLO’s vicious verbal assaults went beyond the pale and even offended some members of his fanatical army of blind proselytes: He attacked the nation’s physicians, saying that, until he came to power, health workers in Mexico “only sought to enrich themselves.”

Incredible, to say the least.

My good guess is that most Mexican doctors and nurses will be shocked to hear that they’ve been enriching themselves over the years.

According to a friend, a retired physician and now lives in Texas, the salaries in Mexico City range from 770,000 for an entry level job to 1,400,000 pesos for one with lots of experience.     

The peso today is about 23.83 pesos to 1 dollar, according to Bloomberg.  

So do the math and an experienced doctor is making US$ 59,000.  Frankly, you can live well in Mexico with that salary but that’s far from enriching yourself.

We love and praise our doctors and health care workers up here.  President Trump calls them “warriors” and VP Pence can’t stop talking about their sacrifices.

Down in Mexico, they have a president who has found a new punching bag to blame for the collapsing economy.  He is attacking doctors at a time when the hospitals don’t have enough ventilators. 

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

The Democrats have a new economic proposal with George Rodriguez

The Democrats have a new economic proposal with George Rodriguez 05/15 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics:

Guest: George Rodriguez, South Texas conservative......The House Democrats have presented a $ 4 trillion package for economic recovery.....What's in it? ........Happy # 83 Trini Lopez.........

and more stories.........click to listen:

Friday’s video: May 15 and Joe DiMaggio & Nolan Ryan....

Friday’s video:

May 15 and Joe DiMaggio & Nolan Ryan....

click to watch:

I don’t know about a red wave but no blue wave for sure

On Tuesday night, I went to bed cheering the Wisconsin results but wondering if “ballot harvesting” would erase Mike Garcia’s lead in California.

On Wednesday, we got the good news that the lead was just too bit to steal.  

Mike Garcia beat Christy Smith by double digits.  In other words, a conservative GOP Hispanic candidate beat a very liberal Democrat in a district that went for Hillary by seven points in 2016.

So do we say hello to the red wave of 2020?  I don’t think so, but we do say be careful about buying into the anti-Trump wave of 2020.

In Wisconsin and California, the elections happened in the background of two media narratives:

First, Republicans are running away from President Trump because he is going down.  

Both of these candidates attached themselves to the president and they did well.

Second, more people want to stay home rather than open the economy.

Well, the lockdown is clearly getting people angry.  People want safety but they want to go to back to work.  These elections show that people feel fully capable of doing both.

My point is that something is happening out there between New York and Los Angeles that these polls are not picking up.  The country is angry and getting angrier with politicians who don’t understand, for example, that Detroit is different than the rest of Michigan.

So what happened on Tuesday?  I won’t say that a red wave is coming, but I know that a blue wave is not happening for sure.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.