Thoughts for the Day, February 20, 2025: There is not much better in sports than professionals playing for their country. USA! USA! USA!

Four Nations Face-Off

Some of the best sporting events I have ever seen are when professional athletes are playing for the pride of their country. I think back to last summers Olympics in the men’s basketball when USA faced Serbia in the semifinal game and France in the finals. These are two of the finest basketball games I have ever seen. Not to be outdone was the women’s finals game between France and USA.

I think of the Miracle on Ice with USA over Russia and the many Ryder Cup matches in golf. I think of the Jim Abbot game when USA won the gold in baseball and the World Baseball Congress playoffs when professional baseball players representing their country go at it. For Latin American teams, the World Baseball Congress seems like life or death. And we cannot forget the USA women’s soccer team and the fierce battles they have had against China and Canada in the Olympics and World Cup.

Tonight, we get a chance to see what could turn out to be a classic battle between Canada and USA for the Four Nations Face-off Championship. It will be a rematch from game two which the USA won 3-1. The first match had three epic fights in the first 30 seconds of the game. It started prior to the game when the Canadian fans booed the USA National Anthem. I will be glued to the television watching this from beginning to end.

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Speak up and Speak Out

· Trump is not King.

· Ukraine didn’t start the war with Russia. "Mr. President, Ukraine did not 'start' this war. Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. The Road to Peace must be built on the Truth." Former VP Mike Pence in a social media post yesterday

· The cost of eggs has not come down.

· There are not millions of centurions getting social security benefits.

· DOGE/Musk are lying about the amount of money they have saved.

· January 6, 2021, was not a tour of the Capitol.

· “I voted for Donald Trump. But this is not what I was expecting. We didn’t think they were going to take a chainsaw to a silk rug.” Said a disabled veteran, who was fired from FEMA as part of Trump’s dismantling of the federal workforce, said

· NATO is not the enemy, Russia is.

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Gibberish

If it is Trump’s intent to confuse our NATO allies, he is doing a good job. Here are excerpts from a NY Times report today.

After years of working to isolate the Kremlin following its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the White House under President Trump has appeared to flip the script. In the 24 hours after the meeting in Riyadh wrapped up, Mr. Trump made a series of demands and false statements that appeared to embrace the worldview of Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, while blaming Ukraine for the war.

He called President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine a dictator and falsely declared that Kyiv somehow tricked the United States into supporting it in a war that Ukraine’s leaders started. He also mocked Ukrainians’ complaints that their country, having sacrificed tens of thousands of lives to preserve its independence, had been left out of negotiations about its future.

“I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat,” Mr. Trump said on Tuesday, speaking to reporters at Mar-a-Lago, his estate in Florida. “Just a half-baked negotiator could have settled this years ago without, I think, without the loss of much land, very little land. Without the loss of any lives.”

At no point did Mr. Trump criticize Mr. Putin, who, in fact, started the war by invading Ukraine.

After meeting with Russian officials for more than four hours in Riyadh on Tuesday, Mr. Rubio provided few details publicly about what was achieved. He said Russia and the United States had agreed to work on a peace settlement for Ukraine, lauding Mr. Trump as “the only leader in the world” who could have pulled off such a rapprochement between longtime adversaries….

Mr. Rubio’s message to European officials after the meeting in Riyadh was more nuanced and conciliatory, according to the summary of the call, which included officials from Britain, France, Germany and Italy… It was not, Mr. Rubio said, because the United States was sidelining its allies, as Mr. Trump’s remarks may have suggested. Rather, he said, much of the conversation had centered on bilateral issues between the United States and Russia… Mr. Rubio told the Europeans that he was unable to say, based on that one meeting, whether the Russians were serious about making a deal. Mr. Rubio ended the call, according to the summary, by promising to keep America’s allies informed and by urging unity.

I am sure NATO and Ukraine are sleeping well tonight based on the message they received from Trump and Rubio. I am sure that Putin has a shit eating grin that is permanently plastered on his face.

A positive response to yesterday’s question of the day.

Here was my Question of the Day yesterday. To subscribers of Thoughts for the Day. Are you willing to speak up and speak out if you agree that the Musk/Trump presidency is running roughshod over the Constitution? Are you willing to share articles with your friends about your concerns? Are you willing to have difficult conversations with your friends about your concerns? Are you willing to support others who feel the same way you do? I wish I could say that doing so is without risk, but I do not feel that is true anymore.

There was at least one share of my blog yesterday by a subscriber. There was one share on Facebook. One subscriber answered Yes, and another reminded me she has been fighting for equality all her life and she wasn’t stopping now, even though she is a great-grandmother. I also had a new subscriber sign up.

My next blog will be on Monday February 24. There will probably be lots to write about.

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Quote of the Day: “I voted for Donald Trump. But this is not what I was expecting. We didn’t think they were going to take a chainsaw to a silk rug.” Said a disabled veteran, who was fired from FEMA as part of Trump’s dismantling of the federal workforce.

Orchid of the Day: My sister Nancy Berge. After more than an eight-month ordeal for her husband Zane, that included an emergency room visit, a hospital admission, a transfer to Johns Hopkins Hospital, surgery, recovery, transfer to a rehab unit 3 hours from her home, and transitioning from peritoneal dialysis to hemodialysis, Zane is finally living in an assisted living home that is only five minutes from Nancy’s home. The healthcare system threw every roadblock possible to make things more difficult. Nancy’s persistence and willingness to work through the issues were impressive.

Onion of the Day: President Trump. There is no defense for his saying the Ukraine started the war with Russia.

Lyrics of the Day: Winnie the Pooh doesn't know what to do. Got a hunny jar stuck on his nose. He came to me asking help and advice. From here no one knows where he goes. So, I sent him to ask of the Owl if he's there How to loosen a jar from the nose of a bear.

If you think you know the answer, send me your answer in the comments section of the blog.

Answer to Lyrics of the Day for February 19, 2025: Centerfold, J. Geils Band

“Question of the Day: MSU or U of M on Friday Night for the B1G lead going into the final two weeks of the regular season?

Video of the Day: I still get chills 44 years later.

FINAL MINUTE of the Miracle on Ice ⛸️ | Iconic Moments

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