Today's Tids Issue 2901
Opening Stuff:

I was sitting in my car at the golf course earlier this morning watching the rain trickle down the windshield. I looked at the car next to me where two of my regular partners were doing the same thing. Finally our fourth regular arrived, got out of his car, put on his shoes, stowed his clubs on his cart, and said, "What are you waiting for, it isn't raining." We got out of our cars. put up our umbrellas...and it stopped. We had the course to ourselves.

If medical science were to improve the average age to 120, nobody could afford the health care to get there.

I see where Germany Prez Angela Merkle says that if elected in September she will step down in 2016. You have to wonder if she's thinking she doesn't want to have to face the ordeal of dealing with Hillary.

Hint for The Day: Never trust an efficiency expert who wears a belt and suspenders.

The Question:
Surprisingly, as popular as winners of The Voice, AGT and X-Factor have been, none of them have scored at all in their post show recording efforts. But one big show has, and it isn't Ted Mack or Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. Name the top super stars produced by the Big one, American Idol?

The Headlines:
--New Rasmussen Report Has Christie Leading Other republicans For 2016 Prez Nomination; Top Five: Christie 21%, Rubio 18%, Jeb Bush 16%, Rand Paul 15% and Paul Ryan 13%.
--New Huge SoCal Wild Fires Have Hundreds Fleeing.
--Last Week's New Jobless Claims Rise To 333,000.
--Man Kills Four, Wounds Four In Mass Shooting In Dallas.
--Assad Escapes Rebel Attack Unharmed.
--Japan, China Clash Over "Lingering" At Sea.
--3 Winning Tickets Sold In $448 Mil Powerball; Two Were In NJ And One Was In Minn.
---PGA Tourney Opens Today; Last Chance For Tiger Major; McElroy Redemption

I made a wretched mistake yesterday when I spelled "retching" with a "w". Yikss. That reminds me of a title for a new book, Retching for the Stars. Or is that "Retching because of the stars"? Anyhow, getting back to yesterday again, Lab grown hamburger is wretched and causes considerable retching.

Cote De Pablo, Ziva David on NCIS, is as sharp and sensible off the screen as she is on it. Among other things in an interview yesterday, she said, "What bugs me about celebrities is that they are a always complaining about no privacy and yet they are constantly on twitter or FaceBook exposing their lives to the world. I don't get it. I don't ever use any social media. Who needs it". I'm going to miss that woman.

I was surprised that in answer to yesterday's Q on "Silver Alert" that someone didn't say it was a warning system developed by Tonto to give him time to out of the Lone Ranger's wife's bedroom before the masked man arrived with a personalized silver bullet

This Kanichi Ebina on America's Got Talent is incredible -- not only as a talent but as an amazing creative thinker.

As indicators point to higher interest rates, the outlook for so-called safe harbor dividend paying stocks like WalMart, Coke and Caterpillar dims. In other words, the quest for low risk in today's market is like Diogenes looking for the proverbial honest man. Sitting and realxing with blue chips just ain't what it used to be.

It Just Gets Nuttier, Department:
A man who "Volunteered" at the Baseball All Star Game in Brooklyn last month has initiated a class action suit so that all volunteers would get paid. Volunteer: "A person who performs a task willinging and without pay>" It appears that this person is volunteering his opinion, which could have a detrimental effect on volunteerism for charities and all matter of people pitching in togetehr for the benefit of others. Gadzooks, what are we becoming.

It appears that small cars save gas, but not necessarily lives. In a new test by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 6 of 12 small cars did not perform well and as a group quite a bit lower than mid sized cars. Only the Honda Civic earned the top rating in front end crashes. The Dodge Dart, Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra and Scion IC received acceptable ratings. The Chevy Cruze and Sonic and VW Beetle got a  very low marginal rating while the Nissan Sentra, Kia Soul and Forte were stamped Poor! I need to find a Jeep with 35mpg.

A company wants to get permission to run another high speed ferry to Beauittiful Blacok Island. The spokesperson for the comapny says proudly, "That will enable us to get more people to the Island faster!" More people! Block Island doesn't need more people. The beauty of Block is its pristine unfettered landscape, its windblown naturalness sitting in the middle of the deep blue sea. Too many people just don't get what perfection is. Too many people these days think perfection is rampant commercialism. I remember 20 or so years ago when a good friend of mine and I were sitting in a bar having a drink. A young couple sidled up to us. We asked how they liked Block. They responded, "We liek it, but it would really be great if it had an amusement park!" I remember sailing to Block and sleeping on the beach. But no more.

That Python escaping in a house to strangle two young boys sleeping in their beds is a very disturbing story. Peta would rush to the defense of the python.

The Conscience: Chapter 26 continues.
    It didn't take long  for Wu to regain his composure. He was good at that. I had noticed it the first time I met him, so I decided then that trying to rattle Wu would be my new pleasant personal challenge.
    "I think Jason is correct," and then added, "And you too Mr. Morgan." He sounds like Sanna, I thought and then hoped he didn't sit on my lap. "Your smiling Mr. Morgan? Did I say something funny?"
   No just the creative wandering mind of a drunk." I held his eyes and contnued. "Tell me about James Smith and Milton Washington. I don't know of them or anything about them. But you must, since you are so well connected in big Moneyville."
   Now it was Wu's turn to smile at my odd word creations. Jason was just watching. I think he was having fun observing this Wu-Morgan parrying. "They are rich. They are clever. James is a quiet man, but is brilliant. Milton is the front man and pretty smart too. I don't know much about their involvement in Biglietto Panfilo, and it sounds like a businesss way out of their normal business operations.
    "I think we should invite them over here." Jason's head turned quickly towards mine. "They are definitely deply seeded in Biglietto."

If you think Putin may be living in the past, you may be right. Yesterday Putin sent Bush a get well soon "Telegram"! Bring back Morse code.

Taco Bell's new breakfast -- eggs, sausage in a rolled up waffle -- looks pretty tempting to me, just so long as they don't use jalapeno infused maple syrup.

The Answer:
Most people now about AI winners who made it -- Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Jordan Spark, Katherine McPhee, Kellie Pickler, Daughtry, Adam Lambert, Scotty McCreery and even the recent winner Phillip Phillips have done quite well. Ted Macks Original Amateur Hour also produced winners, like Anne Margaret, Irene Cara, Tany Tucker and even a young violinist named Louis Wolcott who made a bigger name for himself as Louis Farrakjan! Yikes.

You just can't fix an economy by mandating unsupportable wage minimums.