By DR. LARRY MOSES
No one asked me but… Last Thursday night Cinderella left the ball and found her carriage was really a pumpkin drawn by mice. The Bad News Bears fell short in their quest to win the World Series.
As much as I dislike the game of hockey and refused to join the Golden Knights crusade, I have to admit it is one of the most amazing sports stories of my lifetime. A bunch of cast offs no one wanted, with a coach no one in the league was interested in hiring, came just short of being the best team in all hockeydom.
I am not sure there is such a word as hockeydom, but if there isn’t there should be.
For those of you who have embraced this strange game, more power to you. I explained my frustration to my son, who has become an ardent fan of the Knights, that the expending of such immense energy with little or no scoring reminds me of my early dating years.
When I suggested it would be a better game if they were to take the goalie out and let the score go the way of basketball in the seventies or eighties, he brought up the NFL. I am still not sure why an NHL team doesn’t hire a sumo wrestler and place him in the goal.
My son countered my arguments by explaining that if football teams were not allotted six points for a touchdown and an extra point after each touchdown, many of those games would end two to three. He pointed out that both football teams march up and down the field often scoring only once or twice.
I hate it when my opposition is right. However, since I no longer follow the NFL, the argument fell on deaf ears.
I can only congratulate the Golden Knights for doing the impossible and nearly being the first expansion team to take home the Stanley Cup.
No one asked me but… A little over a month ago, President Trump alleged that the FBI had inserted a spy in his campaign organization in hopes of gathering information to help elect Hillary Clinton. The President called for a Department of Justice investigation to confirm that indeed a spy representing the FBI was tasked with monitoring the Trump campaign. There seemed to be a legitimate reason for concern as anti-Trump members of the FBI used official government e-mails to distribute scathing discussions on the evils of a Trump election.
The Department of Justice launched what they have called an exhaustive study to find out if indeed a spy had been feeding James Comey’s FBI with information about the Trump campaign. Keep in mind this exhaustive study lasted barely a month.
Contrast that with the investigation of Trump’s 2016 campaign alleged collusion with Russian operatives. This investigation has been going on for over a year at the cost of $17 million.
Very early on in this investigation that refuses to die, it was stated there was no collusion. However, rather than pull the plug, they have broaden the search for Russian attempts to interfere in the election to include the fact that some of Trump’s campaign people prefer Russian dressing on their salad.
Let’s resolve the issue. The Russians did and will continue to try and interfere with American elections. America will continue to interfere with the governments around the world. Bob Mueller can close his investigation now; there was no collusion between Donald Trump and the Russians.
The Democrats lost the election because, as flawed as the Republican candidate was, their candidate was worse. The Clinton campaign is a study of what NOT to do if you want to be President of the United States.
The Democrats apparently forgot that the popular vote does not elect the President of the United States. If it did so, the states of New York and California would get to pick the President each year. The electoral college is there to protect the less populous states and it is important that this process be protected.
However, back to the issue at hand. Did the FBI insert a spy into Trump’s campaign? The Department of Justice has concluded the answer to that question is no.
What they found is the FBI had an informant, not a spy, in the Trump election headquarters. It further stated that use of an informant is standard FBI operational procedures and has been very useful in its battle against organized crime. This distinction between a spy and informant sent me on a search to find the difference.
A dictionary definition of a spy is a person who secretly collects and reports information on the activities, movements, and plans of an enemy or competitor. A spy is an agent who is employed by a state to obtain secret information concerning its potential or actual enemy… one who secretly keeps watch on another or others.
A dictionary definition of an informant is a person who gives information to another. One who informs against others is an informant.
What is the difference of a spy and informant? A spy is an “outsider” whose role is to gather information in a covert fashion. An informer is an “insider” who exposes information to authorities. A spy is doing their job, while an informer is using their job in a disloyal manner, to reveal information. In Biblical terms, Joshua was a spy, Judas was an informant.
In FBI terms, I am not sure there is much to disquisition between the two. I suppose in a land that has come to accept that “illegal aliens” are merely undocumented workers and drug dealers are unlicensed pharmaceutical salesmen, it should not shock us to find the FBI would make a distinction between an informant and a spy.
Under these standards, I apparently was not a teacher of history for 18 years, I was really a purveyor of historical facts. I apparently have never seen an elephant as those large gray animals I saw were pachyderms. The state Republican party is not supporting a man who makes his living off prostitutes, they are supporting a man who provides men with ladies who deal in negotiable affection.
Words are words. If you are giving away confidential information to those outside the confidential circle, you are a spy. In actuality there is more honor in being a spy than an informant. A spy at least is loyal to something.
Thought of the week… “You’re not allowed to call them dinosaurs any more. It’s speciesist. You have to call them pre-petroleum persons.”
― Terry Pratchett
