BLACK FRIDAY 2025

 Happy day after Thanksgiving, when Article IV of the Constitution says "And Congress shall make no low prohibiting or interfering with every American's right on the day after the day of thanks to purchase items half off." So enjoy those rights 48% of the population thinks are in the Constitution.  

We gave you two of three winners in yesterday's games. And we told you that the big bet was Cincy over Baltimore, and as it turned out it was not even close. You're welcome.  Right now, computer AI projections have the 62 Mets as the statistical favourites to win the AFC North as no other team wants it. 

 And the neighborhood is still reverberating with the cheers from the last catch Cowboy George Pickens made at the end of the game- giving him six for the day- and filling in the last part of the three-way parlay, Cowboys +3.5, Dak over 270 yards passing and Pickens over 5.5 catches. That $1500 parlay where we had a few thanksgiving guest as partners paid off very nicely for all.  You never heard so many people chanting "throw it to George" with less than two minutes left in a game. 

For today and the 3PM game on Amazon: 

Take some of that newly won turkey-day cash and plunk it down on Da Bears plus 7 in Philly. 

And while parlays are sucker bets, they are fun, and Thanksgiving football is all about having fun with friends. So if you want to follow Rumpole, this is our parlay: Over 43.5, Over Caleb Williams 203 yards and Over Caleb 1.5 TD passes (so he has to throw two). 

Have fun and enjoy.  And don't forget to exercise your constitutional rights and go on Amazon and buy that slow cooker and the Romba Robot Vacuum you just must have. 

GREEN FRIDAY

Update: 11 am- 13 Israelis and 12 Thai hostages have been released.  Which shows that the criminal act of hostage taking was an international incident. It wasn't just Hamas vs Israel. It was Hamas vs The World and this is a threat we must take seriously.  

While we all hold our breath and pray that the "pause" in bombing holds in Garza, and hostages are released, it is a national holiday of arrant consumerism here in the US. Suddenly that electric carving knife you will never use, and the plug-in automatic room freshener that you will never refill all go on sale for 11% off,  and you have to have them. 

Yes we are scoffing at you and Americans as you load up your credit card. The important things in life- like family and the safety of children are right in front of you. There are four-year-olds who were ripped from their homes with their parents murdered who are being held hostage. There are young children in Gaza whose siblings and parents were blown to bits right in front of them. There is tragedy in unspeakable acts that has unfolded day by day in the last part of 2023. Shame on all of us.  

When will we get to the point where preserving our small blue planet and living in peace and using the blessings of the technology we have developed becomes more important that killing in the name of the lord? 

Maybe never. Maybe we are doomed. Maybe we as a planet blow this infinitesimal chance that nature gave us in the form of carbon-based life. We appear to be alone in the universe and maybe this is why. 

Well enough cheeriness for the day after Thanksgiving. We just write what is on our restless mind. 

We call it Green Friday because if you followed our bets yesterday, WE WON EVERY ONE OF THEM. We picked the Green Bay upset. We reluctantly went with the Cowpokes and we gave you our best bet over 43 in the 49'ers win over the Seahawks. The total just squeaked by at 44, but we won and Draftkings will be paying out handsomely to our burgeoning betting account.  

We hear it is cool in Miami. It snowed here in the Northeast coast earlier this week. A wet, icy, not fun kind of snow. The type of weather that makes coming home to a hot soup in a bread bowl and a warm fire a wonderful thing. 

Happy Green Friday and let's see if our Fins today can keep our streak going. 

THE HANGOVER

 It's Black Friday, In more ways than one. 

After an orgy of travel and large family gatherings, there will be a Covid price to pay in the coming weeks and months. Europe, hard hit by a second wave, watched in horror, as Americans, no followers of science we, rushed to travel and gather, because as we all know, the Bible guarantees the American right to watch football and eat turkey on a day of Thanksgiving. 

Thanksgiving. To give thanks for blessings. We wonder how many of us will be giving Thanks a month from now as Covid strikes those who ignored the warnings against travel and gatherings yesterday. The name of this holiday, at least for 2020, may well be one of history's great ironies. 

NO MORE EMAILS PLEASE

The day after Thanksgiving we are much more comfortable telling you what we can do without, rather than what we are thankful for. Let's start with the emails and texts from acquaintances  wishing us a happy Thanksgiving.  Our Thanksgiving was not hinging on getting that email from a court reporting firm wishing us a happy holiday. Or the email from the mediation group run by a bunch of retired judges who we had no use for when they were on the bench. Or the endless text messages from clients and people we barely know. Did we need a text from the woman who runs the copier and IT services in our office? NO.  Ditto the email from the Urology/Proctology group telling us to enjoy our holiday dinner. Just stop it. No cards. No emails. No texts. Eat your turkey and pie in peace and stop bothering us. Please. This is our normal misanthropic side, and maybe it needs more airtime. 

THE HANGOVER

We strike to give our readers some measure of comfort and consistency. We use the same font. We use the same nomenclature when describing the daily difficulties of a lawyer's life  in South Florida (Browierd). And we treat the pompous leaders with the same amount of Rumpolian disdain. Which is why we find ourselves having to apologize for the words we used in describing South Florida's judiciary in our annual Thanksgiving post. Loyal readers click this link for blog posts that provide a certain amount of comfort, especially when describing our robed readers. Our Thanksgiving post did not live up to those standards. We expect it will not happen again in this blogger's career. Mea Culpa. 😜

How can we end this Black Friday post on an up-note? Covid is running through the NFL. The Steelers-Ravens game is in serious jeopardy of being canceled after being delayed from Thanksgiving eve. 

There are no Thanksgiving Blockbuster movies to go to. It's hard not to start feeling a bit of the Covid-Holiday blues. 

And yet... Vaccines are arriving in South Florida within two weeks. 

And....the inauguration is 54 days away. 

Pick up Obama's first volume of his memoirs. It's not as good as US Grant's- but it is a good read.  

Go check your email and text messages. More than likely, you will not have one from us wishing you a happy day.  And for that you can give Thanks. 

BLACK FRIDAY

SCOTT ROTHSTEIN UPDATE: Inside the Belly of the beast : An 18 Year Old Intern's Story on Working for Scott Rothstein at RRA. Meeting the Governor for a chat; Lunch at Capital Grille; tooling around in a Bentley Convertible. All in a days work.

Good Morning. It was 56 degrees at sunrise in Miami this morning. ( It's not yet sunrise here in Truckee, and it's 43 degrees. The high will be about 39.)

Enjoy your shopping.

OFFICE MITAT (MIAMI BEACH) ON DESK DUTY PENDING INVESTIGATION.

This was forwarded to the FACDL listserv and is based on a CBS 4 investigation. It's weird to say the least, and tragic:

A 2006 Mercedes took the southbound ramp of the Turnpike at Bird Road and was seen on camera weaving out of its lane before crashing into the toll plaza. The driver, 29-year-old Leingke Perez, was a bartender at Mango's Cafe on South Beach. She was airlifted to the hospital but died.

On the surface, this could be seen as just another tragic traffic accident, but it's what happened after the crash that has drawn the attention of the Florida Highway Patrol.

Surveillance cameras at the toll plaza caught the accident. Seconds after Perez's Mercedes is seen crashing, a Miami-Beach police cruiser appears on camera on the state security video pulling into the parking lot. The driver, apparently Officer Osvaldo Mitat of the Miami Beach Police Department, was seen running towards the crash.

Twenty seconds later, Officer Mitat is seen on camera, appearing to be tossing bottles from the car. He does not appear to be rendering aid to the victim of the accident or calling 911 to ask for help. From the camera's perspective, investigators determined Mitat tossed the bottles toward a retention pond.

The next day, Mitat came back to the scene apparently to retrieve the bottles. He was met by FHP investigators who told him they had collected the bottles as evidence.

Why was officer Mitat so interested in clearing Leingke Perez's car of bottles? It's unclear right now. But we have learned he not only worked off-duty detail at Mangos but that he was dating bartender Leingke Perez....

Sources say the couple lived with each other, and the officer was separated from his wife but is still married.

"I don't know of his life or nothing; I just know he's a great guy, and they used to love each other very much so," said Crosby.

CBS4 visited Perez's home Wednesday and found officer Mitat's patrol car in her driveway. He did not answer the door.

Miami Beach police are not saying much about what happened except for a brief statement, "The department is shadowing the investigation being conducted by the Florida Highway Patrol...."

Late Wednesday afternoon Detective Juan Sanchez of the Miami Beach Police department told CBS4's David Sutta they hadn't taken action because they were waiting for FHP to finish their investigation. However, by Wednesday night, Officer Mitat had been placed on desk duty pending the outcome of the investigation.

The Florida Highway Patrol would not comment on its investigation. They are awaiting reports to determine whether Leingke Perez was intoxicated when the crash happened. Officer Mitat remains on duty while the investigation continues.