Per the NY Times, Pelé, one of soccer’s greatest players and a transformative figure in 20th-century sports who achieved a level of global celebrity few athletes have known, died on Thursday in São Paulo. He was 82. Pelé had been receiving treatment for cancer in recent years, and he entered the hospital several weeks ago for treatment of a variety of health issues, including a respiratory infection. A national hero in his native Brazil, Pelé was beloved around the world — by the very poor, among whom he was raised; the very rich, in whose circles he traveled; and just about everyone who ever saw him play. See my Video of the Day
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Southwest Airlines has a lot of explaining to do after their performance this week after leaving thousands of passengers stranded for the holidays. The company said the scheduling systems that match pilots and attendants to flights had become overwhelmed by the volume of changes that Southwest needed to make after frigid weather around Christmas forced it to begin delaying and canceling flights. That left it unable to quickly restart flights when the weather improved because it could not get crews to where its planes were. Southwest’s problems were compounded by its point-to-point system, in which planes do not regularly return to large hub airports — a contrast with other large airlines.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
George Santos problems just got bigger. Federal and local prosecutors are investigating whether Representative-elect George Santos committed any crimes involving his finances and lies about his background on the campaign trail. The federal investigation, which is being run by the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, is focused at least in part on his financial dealings, according to a person familiar with the matter. The investigation was said to be in its early stages. In a separate inquiry, the Nassau County, N.Y., district attorney’s office said it was looking into the “numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated with Congressman-elect Santos” during his successful 2022 campaign to represent parts of Long Island and Queens.
Santos is creating a dilemma for the leadership of the Republican leadership in the House. Santos has pledged his support to Kevin McCarthy for Speaker of the House. McCarthy does not have full support of the majority of the House to win the job and the Republican majority in the House is razor thin, so the Republican leadership does not want to remove Santos and open his seat up for another election and allow the Democrats to win the seat.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Every once in a while, an athlete does something that I find to be next to impossible. On Tuesday night, NBA star Luka Doncic had 60 points, 21 rebounds, 10 assist ,2 steals and one block in the Dallas Mavericks victory over the New York Knicks. This a stat line that has never been seen in an NBA game.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
With U of M men’s basketball teams loss to the 5-8 Central Michigan Chippewas tonight, you can kiss Michigan’s NCAA tournament chances goodbye .Juwan Howard and his staff have a lot of work to do, if they want to turn this season around.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Former DHS director Jim Haveman issued his 41st report on the prosecution of Nick Lyon related to the Flint Water Crisis. Here are excerpts from today’s report.
It is time to stop and for AG Nessel and her team to decide to drop the case given the decisions of the Supreme Court, Judge Kelly and the Court of Appeals. It is the right decision to make. Our collective New Years wishes should be that Governor Whitmer, the Michigan Supreme Court, the Michigan Legislature, the Michigan Bar Association and you the reader, along with Michigan citizens say “it is time to stop the blatant disregard for the highest court in our state who has the FINAL WORD (as the Supreme Court ordered on June 28,2022).
If you think the above is a travesty of justice, think what could happen next if the AG office does appeal to the Supreme Court. Let us assume since they already acted on the DISMISSAL on June 28,2922, the Supreme Court indicates they will not consider the appeal. AG Nessel and her prosecution team have telegraphed ahead last fall they would consider charging Director Lyon for the 3rd time. If you think that is vindictive and cruel you are right!! The courts have definitively demonstrated that the AG’s team has a flawed case against Director Lyon and the other defendants.
Now that Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud is being promoted to Chief Deputy in AG Nessel’s office, will Ms. Hammoud stop being the AG office’s leader in charging former state employees and demoralizing present state employees? As Chief Deputy, Hammoud will now be on the civil side of the firewall that AG Nessel established when she first came to office.
As I have written before, the continuous efforts of AG Nessel’s office to prosecute the defendants is political and not based on legal substance.
Stay Tuned! and bring on 2023!
Feel free to share my blog or to sign up to receive it directly in your email. See the sign-up mechanism at the bottom of the blog.
Quote of the Day “Mr. Santos’ fabrications are nothing short of stunning.” Anne Donnelly Nassau County district attorney.
Orchid of the Day: Gary McKee, 53, from the north of England has run a marathon every day since 1 January, raising more than £400,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support and Hospice at Home West Cumbria.
Onion of the Day: Southwest Airlines. See above story
Question of the Day: Will Michigan beat TCU in its college football playoff game on Saturday?
Video of the Day: