From Stolen Uber Accounts to High-Kicking History: Today's Random Thoughts

Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
Start for FREE

Thanks for listening! 

Liberty Line each week on Sunday, look for topics on my X file @americanistblog and submit your 1-3 audio opinions to anamericanistblog@gmail.com and you'll be featured on the podcast. 

Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
Start for FREE

Chapters

• 0:29 Strange Parking Lot Encounter
• 0:58 Night at the Trash Pandas Game
• 3:19 Facebook's Illegal Migrant Marketplace Probe
• 5:26 The Fascinating History of The Rockettes
• 9:04 Question of the Day: First Sporting Event

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:15

Okay, that was weird. I pulled into the parking lot here at work as I normally do. I noticed there was a truck here that I didn't recognize early way before me here, but he was parked kind of far away and he pulled in, shut my car off, turned off my lights, all that stuff and now he's leaving. But as he was leaving he kind of paused and stopped. Oh, I don't know it, weird, but he left. I saw him draw drive off. So we're all good, all right.

Speaker 1: 0:44

We went to a Huntsville I almost called him Huntsville Stars Trash Pandas. We used to have a minor league baseball here back in the day called Huntsville Stars. Then they left. They shut down the stadium, demol the stadium. I guess lack of attendance, lack of participation, and it's because we live in a city that everybody flocks here from all over the nation. They come here to Huntsville to work and live or retire, so therefore they don't really feel a loyalty to any kind of sports team here that we have. But they shut it down for a few years and then somebody got a crawl up their butt or whatever and decided we need to bring the baseball team back and they moved it way, far away from not way far away from us. They moved it to a different location huge stadium, state of the art, brand new. It's a very nice stadium and so we went last night.

Speaker 1: 1:42

It was my second time going, but it's the first time the gent went. We won tickets free from work, great seats. It was a Tuesday night, six o'clock, so it wasn't packed, but there was enough people there. It was fun, and let me tell you why. It was fun because I didn't take out my phone once to look at anything. I probably took a couple pictures before it started, then I put it away and I sat there and I watched a baseball game and it was so relaxing and it was so fun. I don't know if it was fun because it was relaxing or if it was relaxing because it was fun, I don't know, but I had a good time. I was kind of hesitant to go because it's a Tuesday night, oh my gosh, messing up our schedule or you know set routine and everything. And, by the way, fyi, my coworker here is pulling up beside me. So I'm good. It was fun and I'd like to go again, maybe on a Friday night where we could stay a little bit longer, because we did not stay, excuse me, the whole game. We did not stay the whole game because you know my ass has to get up at three o'clock in the morning, so we came home probably middle of the sixth inning, something like that. But it was good. I'd like to go back and do it again.

Speaker 1: 2:57

Huntsville Trash Pandas Look them up. Minor League Baseball here in Huntsville, alabama. All right, the next thing I want to talk about I got two stories real quick. I want to talk about Marsha Blackburn over here talking about Facebook probed over black market groups helping illegal migrants. Migrants, illegal immigrants, illegal aliens how about that? Foreigners land, uber jobs. This is from the New York Post.

Speaker 1: 3:27

Facebook is facing a probe from Senator Marsha Blackburn's office over black market groups on its website helping illegal migrants. Oh my gosh, stop calling them that Unlawfully obtained work. Some of the illicit Facebook groups illicit Facebook groups have been explicit about their intent, with names such as Uber account for rent worldwide. So what is happening here? That involves illegal migrants paying to use legal ride-sharing drivers' credentials for jobs that should be off-limits to them because of their unlawful entry into the US. Not only that, even if they were legal, they shouldn't be doing this. That's illegal to Uber and other people. I would think so. This involves illegal migrants paying to use legal ride-sharing drivers' credentials. That, I would think, is against the law, even if you weren't illegal. See, they did this in New York City too, at the height of all of this. They were doing that in New York City with these scooters and stuff. They were doing that in New York City with these scooters and stuff. Turning a blind eye to these groups operating on your platform is just the latest in many instances of Meta choosing profit over the well-being of American consumers. Blackburn recently wrote in a scathing letter ooh, another scathing letter. Ooh, that'll get them to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, which he probably promptly didn't even read it, or his assistant put it in the trash. Blackburn is demanding answers from Facebook's parent company, meta, about the policies it has in place to restrict users from fraudulent activity.

Speaker 1: 5:04

All right, I'm not going to finish that. You can go finish reading that, because I want to get to a more fun article and hopefully spend a little bit more time on it. How am I doing on time? Good, yes, we're good, and it is about the Rockettes. I love the Rockettes. I've always loved the Rockettes, since I was a child. I wanted to be a Rocket and of course, you know no dancing at all, no dancing experience at all. I was probably too short. However, I've recently learned in this article that at one time the height requirement was only five foot two, and that's what I am. Uh, so let's see if you swarm, if a, I'm sorry. Sorry if you see a swarm of statuesque women high kicking in front of Radio City this week. No, it's not Christmas just yet. The holiday season may be months away, but springtime and when is when Rockettes? History is made. So they're coming up on their anniversary where they? Let's see. Where is it? Oh, I just read it. Okay.

Speaker 1: 6:01

Each April, hundreds of hopeful leotard-clad dancers travel from all over the Big Apple to audition for a coveted spot on the famous kick line founded in 1925, halfway across the country in St Louis, missouri, by choreographer Russell Merkert. He started this. He was asked to create a dance troupe to perform dances before and after a movie in the theater. So Merkert was a chorus dancer. Merkert, whatever you pronounce his name, was a chorus dancer at the Missouri Theater and was asked by the owners to create a special dance troupe to perform before and after movie screenings. He set out to audition girls at local dance schools and assembled the most talented of the day for the Precision Group in October 1925. Then called the Missouri Rockettes.

Speaker 1: 6:53

The famous kick line had only 16 dancers and height requirements were in place, but they were not the same as they are today. Originally, rockettes were required to be between five foot two and five six and a half, but today they must be between five foot six and five foot ten and a half. Why? Why did they make them taller? Just, I guess, because they're more attractive, slender looking, longer legs. He, marker, liked the sound of the word rocket. It sounded really precise. So, magdalene Link of the Missouri Historical Society, it matched up with the kind of precision and most military style precision the dance troupe moved with.

Speaker 1: 7:34

The dancers known for their impressive skills and exactness were a hit in St Louis, where they first performed, namely at the Missouri Theater where it was common to see dancing girls in variety shows, and became very popular. Let's see moving on. These popular girls then embarked on a tour specifically in the midwest and on the east coast. Just a few months after murkirk cast them. During their first national wide tour, the troupe performed in the broadway show rain or shine and started booking more shows in new york city. During one stop in big apple, samuel roxy rother, owner of the brand new Roxy Theater, was dazzled.

Speaker 1: 8:17

So if you want to finish reading that, it has some like actual clippings from the newspapers back in the day, some old pictures. Oh, it's just beautiful. The article goes on. I will definitely finish reading this later. It's a long article. Wow, it goes on and on and on. Fantastic, fantastic. Oh yeah, I will finish reading this later Because it is a very long article and I love the Rockettes.

Speaker 1: 8:40

We did get to see them a few Christmases ago. We went to Nashville. They were there. We got to see them for their Christmas special Spectacular. Okay, that's it for now. We got to do the question of the day day. Okay, what was your very first sporting event that you attended? Maybe professional or minor league or whatever? What is your first sporting event that you remember attending as a youth? I think mine was a Cincinnati Bengals game, but I was a teenager. I'm sure that I went to something before that. I remember maybe we saw the Globetrotters. No, did I go to a basketball game? I can't remember. Look, I can't remember. I cannot remember going to a sporting event as a child, not a professional one, not a minor league. I don't know, maybe I have and I've just forgotten, but I do remember going to a Bengals game. I haven't, I've just forgotten, but I do remember going to a Bengals game. All right, I got to go. That's it for me. Thanks for listening and have a great day. Love you.