Opening Stuff
I have a new pal. Harry. It's an alligator. Actually it's a pal I'm not interested in getting close to. But, on the other hand he's always there when I need a diversion and he doesn't require a lot of talking. You can see a rather fuzzy picture of him on http://www.todaystids.blogspot.com. My hand must have been shaking when I took the pic.
Some of the little things that have people looking up about the economy are the increased ordering of appetizers and desserts at restaurants, upticks in taxi activity, difficulty in getting seats for entertainment events and maitre d's return to arrogance. Look around you. You can feel it. just so long as you close your eyes when passing gas stations.
To understand what has been wrong with Congress for the past couple of decades, you have to look no further than the election to the House of former Providence Mayor David Cicillini. And the biggest reason he was elected -- the watch dog, the guardian of the people, The Providence Journal.
Daily Question: This is kind of a stupid question becasue the answer can vary so greatly depending on who makes the list...me or some critic intimidated by a chef with his head up his you know what. None of my choices will be on the list of 101 best restaurants in the US. Name the top Ten.
Today's Headlines:
--Pressure Being Brought To Tap Plentiful US Oil Reserves.
--Moody's Downgrade Tips Greece Towards brink.
--Gates Says US Should Stay Involved In Afghanistan.
--Libyan Rebels, daffy force Win And Lose Gains.
--213,000 Foreign Workers Have Fled Libya.
--New Poll Has Public Supporting Owners Over Players.
--China Maintains That Taiwan Is Rogue State Of Mainland; Warns US To Not get Involved.
--Romney Stands Up Against "0"; Says He Is Best Repub Hope To bring Down Prez.
I'm having a lot of trouble justifying why I would ever want to pay over $40 Thou for a Chevy Volt, a compact car. Other than "Hey look at me, I have a Volt" there is little that I can see that would give me much for the money and basic inconvenience. First, they are touting the car as an "extend range" Electric. After a rather short 30-35 mile max jaunt, a gasoline engine turns on. Sounds like a hybrid to me. If you want to be all electric without gas assist you have to plan short trips and be prepared to wait 10 hours for charging on a standard home outlet. If you want a 4 hour "quick charge" you have to buy a charging station for about $500 and be prepared to spend an additional $1,500 for installation. The tried and True Toyota Prius, for example gets you 50 mph with no overnight charging for about $24,000. And this is the new face of GM.
Actually, the Volt sounds like it may have been designed by Obama. It doesn't know what it wants to be.
Of course, the Repub candidates don't seem to be too good at making up their minds (About running) either.
Almost There: Chapter 11. --Samantha's car drove as if on automatic pilot. She was in a trance, fighting for reality, but not knowing where she should begin. The car moved up through the New Hampshire Hampton's to Rye. She pulled over to a sea wall in Rye and got out of the car. The air was fresh, like something she knew from her past. The sky was big over this town that rose above the sea. It was a beautiful new England place, but different than lobster Cove. More majesty. Another kind of a New England seaside. She had begun to think that while Lobster Cove was the most familiar of anything she knew, she knew nothing else, it was becoming superficial. So much of the depth of her memories there had been lost the past three weeks.
And who was Tucker. Why did he know so much about her? He was the nicest man she had ever met in her life. Yet, she couldn't think of any other man in her life. Her father, she must have had a father. Did she have a brother? Was she married? She looked down at her fingers and noted the indentation of ring that was once on her finger.
She got back in the car feeling better, but still thinking she was going mad.
I passed a "made-for-TV" teachers protest on a highway East of North Naples Florida.The signs read "Save Public Education" Say what? Who wants to get rid of public education? Actually that's code for "Save the Union bosses Jobs."Obviously once again good teachers are being used by Union Bosses to further their power grab and preserve income. You remember what the retiring VP and Chief Legal Council, Bob Chanin, of the NEA said at his go-away party. The NEA exists primarily to further the jobs of our members. "Despite what some of us would like to believe (About the NEA), it is not because of our creative ideas, it is not because of the merit of our positions, it is not because we care about our children, and it is not because we have a vision of a great school for every child. We have power because there are more than 3.2 million people who are 'willing' to pay us hundreds of millions in dollars." Just in case you needed a perspective on this mess. Willing?
Too many people in our "Service" economy don't seem to understand that the only reason they are there is to take care of customers.
I had a chance to visit both Wal-Mart and Costco within days of each other. Wal-Mart was a mess with little choice for some pretty basic products. The employees ranged for stupid to rude. I never have to go back. Costco, is well organized. In fact so well organized that it is at times not user friendly. I think they take themselves too seriously. But then, I dislike shopping in general
I have come to the conclusion that it isn't the Cheetos, potato chips, bugles, cheddar rice cakes, Pringles or any number of snacks that I'm addicted to, it's the salt.
The groups most interested in getting this Sommalia pirate thing under control are the insurance companies. In fact the best plans of attack are not from the governments but form the private companies with the real stake. For instance, they could give better rates for ships how carry armed guards. Or some have even gone so far as proposing their own private navies. Actually it would be a great career for returning military veterans.
Some people tried to make the BYU Honor Code incident a racist thing. That included Knick star Stoddemeyer who tweeted some messages promoting racism. Within a day, however, somebody must have explained to him what an "honor" code was, because the next day he supported the BYU action without reservation. He then was attacked by those who wanted to keep the racist fires burning.
Many charities are big scams only because they are run as inefficiently as governments with top heavy, luxurious managements. For instance Bono donated $8 Mil for Haiti fund admin costs to deliver a couple of hundred thousand to the needy.
Quiz Answer: #1 is The French Laundry in Yountyville CA, Per Se - NYC, Le Bernardin - NYC, Daniel - NYC, Alinea - Chicago, Blue Hill Stone Barn - Pocantico Hills NY, Chez Panisse -Berkley CA, Jean Georges - NYC, Citr0nelle - Washington DC and The Inn at Little Washington - Virginia. Here's the entire list. http://www.thedailymeal.com/101-best-restaurants-america?utm_source=yahoo%2Bshine&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=101best
Not a particularly interesting Tids this morn. Maybe it's because I'm going out to play golf...Right Now!
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