1. It’s Tuesday, August 4, 2015

2. It’s President Obama’s 54th birthday. I guess the Fox GOP debate isn’t today because this is a national day of mourning to those folks.

3. A nice birthday gift for the president would have been acceptance of his common sense proposals to combat climate change. Alas, the ignorant killjoys of the Republican right have other ideas. They’re giving the president a suit, and not the kind you get at Brooks Brothers.

According to The New York Times, they’ve been planning legal action since before the president even began considering what to do. Because to these knuckleheads, it isn’t about solving problems. It’s about making the most of them. 

4. Clearly, the putz making these videos aimed at demonizing Planned Parenthood is determined to increase the number of abortions in this country.

I know, he claims to be an anti-abortion activist.

But that’s just a ruse. He obviously believes abortion is a desirable procedure, because he’s going after the leading organization in reducing the number of terminated pregnancies. Through family planning and education, much of that provided by Planned Parenthood, this country has reduced the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions.

Those programs are so much more effective that telling kids in their hormone-racing years that, nah, hold that thought, you can wait. And if you just can’t, you have to accept the consequences.

So what do you think this guy’s game is? Is he invested in clothes hanger makers, whose business – sadly – will improve as abortions are harder to get for people of limited means? Or is he behind some kind of warped chemistry firm that will make something aimed at helping a woman abort a fetus by drinking it? Or does he represent a country that will be the abortion go-to place for women with the means to get it done?

Whatever it is, he and the self-sanctified creeps on this campaign to vaporize Planned Parenthood are more than happy to see the progress made in reducing abortions turned back. You, as a voter, need to ask them why.

As was proven all those years before Roe v. Wade, women who feel that they must have an abortion will have one. Whether it’s done legally and safely, or in those crude backroom ways that endanger the woman’s life, or by women with the means to pay an otherwise reluctant doctor or fly to some country that allows the procedure.

Stopping Planned Parenthood from the important work it does, keeping women healthy and informing women and men of the choices they have to make their lives happier, is idiocy. So far, the Senate has resisted the nonsense. Sadly, I’m not confident that will continue. 

1. It’s Monday, August 3, 2015.

2. The roller coaster of being a New York Mets fan is on the ascent after this weekend’s three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals. It included Friday night, when Wilmer Flores — a national hero for showing that being a Met means more to him than just a paycheck —homered to win the game.

But being a Met fan means there’s a big fall out there somewhere. Until it doesn’t happen, I’m trying to temper my enthusiasm. 

3. Sometimes, in baseball, two outfielders are converging on a fly ball. One has a better chance of catching it. So what the other does is get into a position that would allow him or her to catch the ball if there’s a flub.

That’s what this Joe-Biden-running-for-president thing looks like to me (and Nate Silver).

There’s little doubt that Hillary Clinton is the Democrats’ front runner. But Democrats have been scared by the Clintons’ adventures in the past. If there’s something out there that could knock Mrs. Clinton out of the race or jeopardize a victory 15 months from now, the thought is that someone needs to take up the party mantle.

That someone is not any of the other Democrats running — even Bernie Sanders, the darling of the party’s left flank. I’m not even sure Sanders could carry Vermont, the state he represents in the Senate, against a Republican who’s not Fabulous Donny.

So what Biden might be doing is saying, “Hey, it’s Joey. If Hillary gets in trouble, I’m here.” Biden has been a loyal vice president and is more likable than perhaps anyone else in American politics.

The problem is he’s also a go-to punchline for everyone from Jon Stewart to The Onion. He would also be 74 years old on Inauguration Day 2017. That, I’m afraid, is a little old.

I’m not sure that if the ball hits off Hillary’s glove, Joey is the guy who could catch it.

It’s Friday, July 31, 2015. Here are this Friday’s ten questions with writer-supplied yes or no answers.

Q1. Is it me, or did July fly by?

A1. Yes

Q2. Is it true that there’s no crying in baseball?

A2. No 

Q3. If the clueless Minnesota dentist who hunted down the protected lion violated U.S. law as well, should he be extradited to Zimbabwe?

A3. Yes 

Q4. Is there’s a snowball’s chance in hell that, at age 67, I’m going to the Winter Olympics in Beijing?

A4. No 

Q5. Is it too bad that Taliban leader Mullah Omar died in his bed and not in one of the violent manners of death he unleashed on the poor people of Afghanistan?

A5. Yes 

Q6. Is Frank Bruni the best columnist in The New York Times’ stable?

A6. Yes 

Q7. Does Hillary Clinton and her husband make it hard sometimes to be enthusiastic about her run for the White House?

A7. Yes 

Q8. Is there any doubt that Fabulous Donny Trump will be the main attraction at next week’s Republican presidential debate?

A8. No 

Q9. When I see the full moon tonight, will I try to sing The Marcels’ version of the song “Blue Moon”?

A9. Yes

Q10. Is a good review in The New York Times enough to convince me to see the remake of “Vacation”?

A10. No 

Have a nice weekend!

1. It’s Thursday, July 30, 2015.

2. A guy who spews the crap that flows from Fabulous Donny Trump’s mouth, or is responsible for as many architectural nightmares, is on shaky ground when he calls anything “disgusting.” Especially when it’s a woman trying to feed her kid in the way that she’s biologically capable. 

3. What happened at Citi Field last night is a precautionary tale of 21st century media.

If you were a Mets fan on Twitter, you saw events unfold. Tweets that the Mets, hoping to grab a playoff spot, were on the verge of making a trade for a good hitter. Tweets that the hitter was Carlos Gomez, a former Met who’s now a star outfielder with the Milwaukee Brewers. Tweets that the Mets were sending back pitcher Zach Wheeler, currently recovering from Tommy John surgery, and outfielder Juan Lagares, whose bobblehead was given away by the team three weeks ago. Tweets that it was not Wheeler and Lagares, it was Wheeler and Wilmer Flores, who started the year playing shortstop.

Met fans around the world saw the tweets. Met fans in Citi Field saw the tweets.

So who didn’t see the tweets? Wilmer Flores, the 23-year-old guy who supposedly was about to have his life upended. Who got a standing ovation from fans in a blowout loss because they knew what he didn’t. And Terry Collins, the Mets’ manager, who couldn’t understand why his shortstop was crying in the middle of the field.

Eventually, the Mets’ front office disclosed that there was no trade. It appears one of the teams backed out at the last minute.

What’s strange is that the Internet has sped up word of mouth to the point that if somebody jumps the gun on an announcement, you have the bizarre spectacle of last night. When the news becomes a 23-year-old shortstop in tears because everyone else knows something — or thought they knew something — about him before he did.

Flores was not in the Mets’ starting lineup today against San Diego. He probably needs a day off. I sure as hell would.

4. A University of Cincinnati police officer has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in connection with the slaying of a motorist earlier this month.

Of course, the officer is Caucasian and the motorist is African-American.

What brought about the indictment is a body camera on the officer showing that his claim that the motorist was aggressive and posed a threat was bogus. “It was an asinine, senseless shooting,” the prosecuting attorney says.

Unfortunately, especially of late, it’s not an isolated incident. The fact that the case is being pursued with vigor is of little consolation. The fact is, despite all the incidents from Ferguson to Staten Island to North Charleston to Baltimore, this crap is still happening.

If Fabulous Donny really wants to see something disgusting, he should watch this video.

I’ll have more to say about this next week. 

1. It’s Tuesday, July 28, 2015.

2. I’m trying to think of something Mike Huckabee has done to make the world or this country better. Anything.

3. There’s encouraging news this morning for those of us who signed the White House petition to get Yogi Berra recognized with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Obama administration issued an official response to the petition, which surpassed the 100,000 signatures needed to generate the response, recognizing that Yogi is worthy of consideration. While the administration says it can’t reveal who’s under consideration for the nation’s highest civilian honor, the response is peppered with Yogisms, ending with “it ain’t over ’til it’s over.” 

4. Huckabee. Still thinking about it.

It sure as hell isn’t the stupid cinnamon “cure” for diabetes, a cruel hoax for the gullible who might have listened to him.

5. A lot of Americans are in prison. We have a higher percentage of our population incarcerated than any other so-called civilized nation.

That’s ridiculous. It’s the detritus of the days when politicians would make “law and order” the issue of the day.

Among the ways they placated the fear mongering they sowed was to require judges to issue mandatory minimum sentences for just about any offense. More people in prison — read that, of course as more people of color in prison, because that’s what they meant — would make everyone feel safer. ‘

It doesn’t. It ruins lives, and not just those of the over-sentenced. It wrecks communities.

The fact that there is now an effort by politicians of all persuasions to change this is good. But it’s not great, because it’s too late to undo some of the damage done to our society and our psyche. 

6. Not yet on Huckabee.

I — and I’m sure lots of young women in Arkansas —are at least grateful he didn’t have the opportunity to identify as female in high school so he could indulge his desire to see them in the shower.

7. There was an airline radio commercial in the 1970s that promoted New York’s La Guardia as a friendly neighborhood airport.

Most 21st century travelers would choke at that description. So the plans to rebuild La Guardia announced by Vice President Biden and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo are welcome.

On the other hand, if you’re flying to or from New York from a midrange U.S. city, say Chicago or Orlando, how bad is the next five years going to be? Just a thought.

8. I give up. Huckabee is a worthless sack of dust and feathers. He’s worthy of being Fabulous Donny Trump’s running mate, which is what I think he’s angling for.

1. It’s Monday, July 27, 2015.

2. Revulsion is the word that comes to mind when you see the New York magazine effort to give Bill Cosby’s accusers individual and collective voices.

I was able to see it last night on the Web site (which, as of this writing, has been down for most of the morning for reasons undisclosed). Each of these women share the hurt and fear they’ve felt after being sexually assaulted by a man who the world — including me — believed was a hero.

I think it’s impossible to read the whole thing at once because, at some point, your sense of disgust becomes overwhelming.

Revulsion.

Journalistically, it’s a tremendous package — one reason you can’t call it a “story” is that it’s 35 individual stories brought together through the smart use of Web tools.

3.   Back when I thought he was one of the greatest Americans ever, I downloaded the Bill Cosby app onto my iPhone and iPad. It was a pretty thorough app, with pictures, concert dates, a biography, photos and other highlights of his career.

Now, the app has the feel of an abandoned shopping mall.

There’s still the remnants of what was there — pictures of Cosby with Captain Kangaroo and Lena Horne (I’m not sure either of their estates would be too keen about that right now).

But then there’s the Fan Wall section, with comments posted in a random way like graffiti. Lisalisa49 saying “You’re a serial rapist.” Castrol_Kuwait saying “Mr. Bill your my number one fan I don’t care what they say, in my eyes you still innocent.” archiewatts21 has posted a picture of Cosby in one of his trademark sweaters with his eyes looking upward and his famous smirk with the image of Disney’s Snow White lying asleep.

In the Photos section are four pictures, two of individual children, one of Cosby talking to some girl and one of him talking to two older people.

The Store shows a picture of what must be the Web site, but you can’t buy anything. And there’s some kind of bizarre ticker with random comments on the bottom of the screen.

It is, all in all, a mess. Which seems fitting.

4.   Supposedly, Cosby’s legal team is launching some sort of publicity offensive (a word with double meaning here) against the accusations. I guess they’re going on talk shows and news programs to get the message out that he didn’t do what all these women say he did.

Here’s the thing: There’s nothing lawyers, publicists, religious leaders, celebrities, well-meaning civic leaders — anyone — can do for Bill Cosby.

The only way this goes away is if Bill Cosby gives an honest accounting of what transpired. Not the rambling, old crotchedy man routine we saw in interviews before all this became widely known.

Cosby has always had the ability to get straight to the point. That’s why his comedy always seemed so brilliant.

He can do that again if he wanted to. He apparently doesn’t.

5.   I’m biased. I’m a fan of The New York Times and a really big fan of my fellow Medill School of Journalism alum, Margaret Sullivan, the public editor who looks into flaws in The Times’ reporting.

This morning, she pulls no punches in criticizing what The Times did wrong in reporting last week that federal inspectors general were seeking a Justice Department criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton’s e-mail practices.

The Justice Department later said the referrals were not for a criminal investigation. The Times slowly pulled back from the story and corrected it.

In short, Ms. Sullivan says The Times was too hasty in publishing something that was too dependent on anonymous sources.

Her piece is a reaffirmation of the integrity with which she handles her job — and a reminder that The Times, unlike other publications in the city it calls home, values its integrity enough to air its admittedly dirty laundry. 

Today is Friday, July 24. It’s the 33rd day of summer.

Actually, it’s not. It’s Thursday, March 5 as I write this. But I wanted to make sure you had the full impact of what I’m trying to say.

That’s because it’s snowing as I write. So far, on this particular morning, we’ve gotten about three inches. The temperature, which actually got up to about 45 yesterday, is now in the mid 20s, and with the moderate wind feels a bit colder.

It also snowed yesterday, or March 4 if you’re having trouble following this. Two heavy, slushy inches that were not a great thing to shovel for a man who was almost 61 (I’m 61, and hopefully didn’t have a heart attack from shoveling snow, as you’re reading this).

In fact, it has snowed so many times since the end of January that I can’t remember all the stupid little snowfalls we’ve had. But there are piles of hard, dirty snow everywhere. There’s about two feet on my lawn; I haven’t seen dirt since before the Seahawks didn’t give the ball to Marshawn Lynch at the 1-yard-line.

And it’s been cold. More single-digit days in the New York area than I can ever recall. Ugly, raw, unproductive cold.

There’s three things today — now I’m talking about July 24 — can be.

It can be really hot, in the 90s or even close to 100. Humid. AC going full blast. Hard to stand outside for too long. 

It can also be in the upper 60s and low 70s, raw and rainy for this time of year. Ruining the getaway on a summer Friday. No outings to the park or beach.

Or it can be a perfect, say, 82 degrees and sunny. A little breeze to mix things up. A day for all those outdoor activities you love: a run in the park, a bike ride, a picnic.

All three of those scenarios — all three — sound absolutely blessed at this particular moment, when this is what is outside my door:

The message I’m sending to my 4-1/2 month older self and to the rest of you is: Get over it!

So it’s warm. So it’s a little uncomfortable.

You are not shoveling snow for the umpteenth time. You are not thinking you need a fourth layer to go to the supermarket. You can walk outside barehanded and not risk frostbite. You are drinking cold water and not incessant cups of tea or coffee.

Today is Friday, July 24. If I made it through this winter, and right this second that doesn’t seem like such a sure bet, this day will seem wonderful.

Except that winter is only five months away.

1. It’s Wednesday, July 22, 2015.

2. The video of Sandra Bland’s arrest is, if nothing else, testimony to a complete lack of police professionalism.

Ms. Bland is clearly upset by this traffic stop and, being an African-American woman, she reacts with the fear of being stopped in the middle of nowhere Texas by a single white male police officer. If this officer, Brian Encinia, had any degree of competence, he would have reacted with patience and calm.

Instead, he took a situation that a professional police officer — and I’ve known my share of them in places throughout the United States — would have handled deftly and turned it into a crisis.

Whatever happened to Ms. Bland after her arrest that led to her death in a Waller County cell needs to be thoroughly investigated by competent law enforcement. That would mean someone outside Waller County and Texas. 

3. Jon Stewart’s final “Daily Show” interview with President Obama had a very strange finish.

Stewart, who seemed very detached through most of the interview, asked a question about making young people give a year of their lives to serving the country. It’s the old national service idea — you could join the military or do some sort of public service work that meets one of our country’s many needs. Stewart even said that at his advanced age — he’s over 50 — he’d volunteer to do so.

The President, while lauding the theory, understands the reality. He kind of muddled through some verbiage about how today’s young people are very dedicated to helping others, and how Americans tend to join together at the local level.

What Obama left unsaid is this: What’s also out there is the idea of entitlement. The idea that there might be others who want or need something, but that’s not my problem. And I’ll do whatever to get mine.

You see it when drivers weave crazily on highways because 65 mph isn’t fast enough. You hear it when people decide to text or talk on a cell phone during a movie or play.

It’s manifested in the Donny Trump phenomenon — “making America great again” means building some eyesore tower that wrecks the Manhattan skyline or discrediting the contributions of anyone who won’t worship at the altar of his fabulousness.

Jon Stewart’s sentiments for national service are noble. But President Obama, who spent formative years helping needy Chicagoans, knows the score. While there are many who are ready to clean up wastelands and help the homeless and hungry, there are many who aspire to gold-plated Trumpdom. 

1. It’s Tuesday, July 21, 2015.

2. Donny Trump Joke of the Day: Q: With expectations that his lead in the polls will implode, what will be the epitaph of Fabulous Donny’s run for the White House? A: Hair today, gone tomorrow.

3. The death of Sandra Bland needs to remain high in the nation’s consciousness.

Ms. Bland, an African-American, died in a Waller County, Texas, jail cell three days after she was arrested in a traffic stop. The police say she died from asphyxiation after hanging herself. Her family and friends say that the young woman had no reason to commit suicide, and believe her death is the result of foul play.

There have been too many instances of suspicious African-American deaths at the hands of law enforcement in the past couple of years, and this one needs a proper investigation by people outside of Waller County — or even Texas for that matter.

4.   Gossip is what anything can reveal about anybody. Journalism determines whether what’s revealed is in the public interest.

The revelation that a media executive sought the companionship of a gay porn star is of interest to his wife and his family. Any interest beyond that is among people with prurient curiosity, and that’s usually not a great character trait.

When the Web site Gawker made the revelation late last week, there was an outpouring of disgust among journalists. And the site’s ownership was uncomfortable — it aspires to respectability and, with it, financial success.

So it pulled the story, to the chagrin of the Gawker staff. Two of its editors resigned and the owner had to explain the retraction to an angry staff.

Here’s a few thoughts from someone who’s been through more than one journalistic crisis:

a) You can make an argument that anything that’s discovered is news. But determining whether that discovery should be made public is what separates salacious gossip from journalism advancing the people’s right to know. The information unveiled by Gawker is, in no way, in the public interest. There’s no great journalistic standard; this isn’t the Pentagon Papers or Woodward and Bernstein.

b) I’ll say this for the Gawker staff — they must have the courage of their convictions concerning their protest. Because it means that the people who hire at more established news organizations are going to instantly put their resumes in the reject pile. I would.

c) One reason Gawker would publish a story such as this one is part of a problem that infects all of journalism right now: Feeding the beast. Web sites are never down, so neither are the people who create content for them. And if you don’t change your content rapidly, you risk irrelevance. You risk getting lousy social media data. You risk readers fleeing to somebody else’s site. So there’s an unrelenting need for stuff. The standards for what’s news and what’s not decline. (To be fair, the proliferation has led to the rise of some real reporting. See ProPubllca.) And you get crap like what Gawker did last week.

1. It’s Monday, July 20, 2015.

2. My kids, my youngest brother and almost all the people I worked with a year ago at CNN have no first-hand knowledge of what it’s like to see Americans on the moon. In fact, the idea of it isn’t even on their radar.

Yes, the space program cost a lot of money, although nothing close to what such debacles as Vietnam and Iraq did. But it was the manifestation of one of the higher ideals of the human race – to go places we haven’t been before. That’s an idea to think about on this 46th anniversary of the first moon landing.

Incidentally, the Smithsonian has launched a Kickstarter campaign to digitally preserve the suit Neil Armstrong wore on the moon. If you want to take part, here’s the link.

3. Throughout the weekend, I contemplated what to write about Fabulous Donny Trump’s latest  incidence of diarrhea of the mouth concerning John McCain.

But after you have a couple of days to work through the incredible sense of anger, you realize that Huffington Post has found the proper solution. Don’t cover Donny as political news, cover it as entertainment. As HuffPo says, like the Kardashians and “The Bachelorette.” Except that even the Kardashians know better than to belittle a man who spent years in a POW camp.

Donny is, as we used to say around the time of the moon landing, a happening. Like a party to tie-dye shirts or when you took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese.

So there’s two ways to deal with this sack of dust and feathers. One is to call him Donny, because I’ll bet big money he hates being called Donny. The other is coming up…

4. It’s the Donny Trump Joke of the Day. I’ll try to come up with one every day until he disappears back into his skunk burrow. I’ll get the ball rolling with this one:

Why can’t there be a Donny Trump Joke of the Day?

Because that would be redundant.

5. With only a minimum of ceremony early today, the United States and Cuba resumed diplomatic relations. The move won’t immediately make this a world of peace and harmony. But given that these two nations almost came to nuclear blows in my lifetime, this big step in normalizing ties is a reminder that there are solutions to seemingly intractable and dangerous problems. It makes the idea that there could be peace in other places, including the Middle East, seem less daunting.

6.   My New York Mets won yesterday, beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 in 18 innings. The bad part is that the Mets left 25 men on base, matching a team record. The good part is that they now qualify for a group discount on tickets at the Cards’ stadium.

7.   If you’re in the New York area, remember that it’s hot out there. Stay cool.