R-e-s-p-e-c-t and Brewskis.

Today's Tids Isue 3,324

Opening Stuff:

The Deteriorating Society, Department:

You which some young , hip product manager and his ad team used for Bud Light: “The perfect beer for removing ‘no’ from your vocabulary for the night”. How’s that for corporate responsibility, encouraging cretans with hat’s on backwards to load up their woman conquests with bewskies in order break down their resistance, or hopefully for the animals, pass out completely. Now that really reduces the possibility of no. America is being measured for a straight jacket, unless we can get some sense of responsibility, moralitiy human dicey inbred into the next generation. I know, I know, there are plenty of good kifds out there. But there is an ugly trend which has been magnified by some of the nasty, even inhumane occurrences at colleges. And we don’t corporate powerhouses encouraging kids to act badly. The hormones are already pushing these teens to the edge. And, I don’t think I’m being some old fart curmudgeon on this one. It is a problem that is hurting real relationships, injuring women for life and could be a menace to c=society if we don’t come to our senses.

It is really hard to wash Thompson waterseal off your fingers. Somehow my fingers just bubble up.

All births are an emergency.

The Question:

Ok, name the Top ten all time Serial killers.

The Headlines:

--Freddie Grey May Have Intentionally Tried To Harm Himself In Police Van; Washington Post Reports Story From Second Prisoner In Van.

--Bulls Getting Nervous Over Earnings And rate Creep; Stocks Down Before 10:00. Chicago Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) Back In Positive terriotory.

--Unemployment Applications Hit 15 year Low.

--Iran-Arabia Tensions Increase As Iran Positions Two Destroyers At Strait Whig Is Entrance To Yemen.

--US Says Russia Directing Ukraine Rebels

--Sympathy Protestors Clash With Police In NYC.

--Avowed Socialist Bernie Sanders Announces Against the Hill;

--China Issues New Warning To NK Over Nukes.

American Idol looks smaller these days, perhaps because The Voice is such a large extravaganza. It feels small too, and in my humble opinion the singers don’t measure up to the past. I mean, Jax is looming as the favorite and she really can’t sing (Although last night she had a cold); is often sounding flat and off key. She just picks nice songs and is a helluvan actress. Rayvon is becoming a big surprise mainly because he has been in the bottom for several weeks. Nick is pretty bland singing covers, but makes few mistakes. As chief honcho mentor said about Clark – You sound like the long time singer at a Holiday Inn lounge. And he did. I’m thinking he will go next. I don’t know what to tell you – there’s just something missing.

There’s not much that can be said about Baltimore which from the beginning has looked like every other riot with looters running down the streets with stolen goods, cars burning and an occasional TV shot of a professional protester with a hand held megaphone. The most troubling aspect of the Baltimore thing is that come summer others will try to copy it.

The way things are going, it won’t be long before airplanes start charging for emotional baggage.

There’s no truth to the rumor that potential first round pick for tonight’s NFL draft, James Winston, has hired Aaron Hernandez as an image consultant.

If you’re planning for your Saturday Kentucky Derby party, check out Bob Baffert who right now has the two top favorites – American Pharaoh at 5-2 and Dortman at 3-1. Opportunists will be loving Carpe Diem. America’s Horse might just be “Materiality” drawing big wagers on maxed out credit cards. #1 Post goes to Ocho, Ocho, Ocho a 50-1 horse along with Keen Ice, War Story and Mr. Z. A couple of good dark horses maybe Frosted, International Star and Mubtaahij.  All of the horses have credentials so you have consider an upset in this race where there is no overwhelming favorite superstar. The rest are Bolo, Frammento and Verve.

Latest code word addition to the PC Dictionary: Thugs equals racism. Hey, thug equals criminal. Let’s call a spade a spade. PC hides the truth an if we ever needed truth, we need it now.

The Answer:

All serial killers according to experts are measured against the 15^th century Frenchman, Gilles de Rais. He was a former officer in Joan of Arc’s army and killed 80-200 (Maybe as high as 600) fair haired young boys. The rest are Richard Trenton Chase (England), Jeffery Dahmer, Albert Fish (Werewolf?), Andre Chikatilo, Joachim Kroll, John Haigh, Javed Iqbal and Ted Bundy. Want to read about them: http://listverse.com/2007/08/22/top-10-evil-serial-killers/?utm_source=cbpicks&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=direct

Ok, that’s it. See you tomorrow!

Hot summer nights, and nothing to do.

Today's Tids Issue 3,323

Opening Stuff:

The popping of buds on trees seemed almost audible. The emergence of vivid pale greens from the pink hues of buds left me breathless. The power of a returning nature is explosive; the landscape erupts, transforming the views from bleak grey forests into radiant arrays of rich greens and yellows. Why can’t all outbursts be so beautiful; so rich, inspiring. So nourishing to the soul.

It could have been Baltimore, but the directors of the 45,000 mile around the world Volvo race made a more brilliant decisions than they could have ever imagined when a few years ago they named Newport RI as the only USA stopover, over the runner up city of Lord Baltimore. Yikes!

One of the new most used words in America is amenities.

Yesterday I heard quite a sensible discussion about the riots in Baltimore. It was between a former well known politico now talk show host and the head of the NAACP. What made it so helpful and listenable was the moderated tone of their voices and the fact that several times during the discussion they said “I see your point”. I see your point. How important is that in moving towards a solution in any crisis. Or, just living harmoniously. We need more of that in America. We need to keep myopic party line spinmeisters off the air or single minded activists out of the limelight. Freedom of responsible speech might be a start. We need to get real with the facts. We need a national discussion involving participants with open minds. Do you see my point?

The Question:

There are some Iconic songs, songs that created trends for new eras, or as Rolling Stone Mag once said, songs that changed the world. Name Ten that you think might be part of such a list.

The Headlines:

--US Economy Stalls In First “Q”, Expanding at Measly 0.2% Annual Rate; Economists Had Hoped For At Least A Measly Rate Of 1%.

--Iranian  Revolutionary Guard Patrol Boats Capture Freighter In Straits; US Sends In Destroyer.

--IRS Watchdog Finds 1,000’s Of Lost Lois Learner Emails; Another Watchdog Group Blasts US State Separtment And Hillary Over Four Year Battle For Release Of Documents.

--Saudi Arabia Arrests 93, Foiling Car Bomb Attack On US Embassy.

--NASDAQ Apologizes For Pre-releasing Via Tweets Twitter’s Mediocre Earnings Results and Poor Ad Sales Data..

--Hilary Goes For Black Vote Tonight With Speech On Revising Criminal Justice System; Possible Contender To Hill, O’Malley, Blamed For Problems In Baltimore..

--Goldman Revises Apple View; Says It Will Go to 163

--Baltimore And Chi White Sox To Play In Empty Camden Yards Stadium Tonight.

--Obama Touts Controversial Trade Pack.

Happy Joan of Arc entering Orleans day! I would not follow Hillary into battle because I would worry about the spears at my back.

You have to think that any community organizer worth his or her salt has to like what’s happening in Baltimore. I mean it is what community organization is all about. It just has to get under control so it may be pervasive all summer long.

There are signs that retirees are moving away from fairly stable dividend stocks into riskier growth situations. Years ago it was a nickel that didn’t seem to go as far. More recently it has become $20, and now it is feeling like it’s Ben Franklyn loosing weigh rapidly. 2% returns just doesn’t seem to be keeping pace. But, mass moves away from safety into catching a rising star often precedes a fall. Couple that fleeing from safety feeling with today’s incredibly mediocre 0.2% GDP annual growth rate, and I’m thinking the timing is just about for stock market promiscuity is about as bad as it gets.

I thought Hannah delivered the best “Save me” song on the Voice last night, but lost out to India who was even worse than the mediocre Corey who she beat out for the save in the closest race ever. Interestingly the first two saved were the two folk singers, Joshua and Sawyer, about whom I mused yesterday as perhaps being too narrow for a broader audience. But, they are as good as any in the pure singer department, and certainly most pleasant on the ears.. Based on singing though, I thought Corey an India should have hit the bricks. But maybe that’s became I think Hannah brought more diverse entertainment to the show each week while India was getting tired – despite the glowing ranting of XTina..

You have to wonder when the NE Cannabis Convention comes to town in two weeks, if local restaurants will reestablish smoking rooms. Second hand smoke is ruining my brain.

Too much of Pop music today is less about notes and more about lights and costumes.

This could be dangerous. A researcher thought it wise to map out the most racist of 196 designated market areas in the United States. The research tracked Google searches for the “N” word. Then it produced a map where bright red marked the “Racist” areas and green the least or minimalist racist areas. For instance Red followed the Appalachian mountains from Kentucky up through New York. There was practically no Red west of the Mississippi (Except for small parts of Way East Texas and Arkansas.) and in fact it was most entirely green. What is really interesting is that the most democrat controlled state in the Union and near socialist Republic of RI fell into the Most racist category! Just think if some Anti-Racist world army got hold of this map. We’d all be doomed. This exercise just shows you what happens when academia has too much time on their hands with agendas to fulfill, and too many federal grants to spend. Oh yeah and by the way -- Blacks regularly use the “N” Word more than any other race.

BTW, there is a statistic saying that RI is one of the lowest percentage states for black home ownership. In fact, RI has a very low Black population (About 7% versus an national average of about 13-14%) so it would-be factually true that fewer blacks own homes, but not racially disparaging. You can make stats do anything you want. Misreporting statistics is a well refined back art.

The experts are all over the place on the upcoming NFL Draft. They seem more and more these days spending draft day rationalizing missed picks. As usual, nobody knows where Belichick is going, and he loves it that way.

The Answer:

Not including Bach and Beethoven, or Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, here are some titles that may have changed the way you thought about music. Prominent among listeners are Chuck Berry’s Maybelline; Kingsman-- Louis, Louis; Marvin Gaye -- What’s Going On. Also included could be Rolling Stones -- I can’t Get No Satisfaction,  Ray Charles -- I Got A Woman; Aretha Franklyn -- Respect; Joanie Mitchell -- Help Me; Martha Reeves and Vandellas – Dancin’ in the Street; U2 – Pride; Jimmie Hendrix – Purple haze; John Lennon – Imagine; Springsteen – Born to run; Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody; Bob Dylan – Like a Rolling Stone. I’m sure you have some of your own ideas about music that changed the way we thought about music.

Jack Ely of the Kingsmen died at 71 last night:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlIr0IXnQrE

America: The Willy-Nilly era.

Today's Tids Issue 3,322

Opening Stuff:

The Baltimore situation has been reported to death. The only observation I make is that there seems to have been created a new environment of acceptance for unruly protests in America; An apparent organized agreement on a new Bogeyman called the police, with nary a national figure at the top coming to the side of the men and women who risk lives daily to protect the streets from thuggery, murder and theft. It is te quiet Americans who should be taking to the streets.

RI is on the fast track towards moving from the recent Medical marijuana approval to general every day get high approval. Duh! What a surprise. But, all of a sudden some concerned groups are starting get a piece of the stage, asking questions like “What about Marijuana Psychosis for 12 to 18 year olds” who get trapped in the peer competition. Much of the purpose of this movement, other than appeasing so many who like a joint, is to reduce jaoiltime for users. So, reduce jail time, But don’t put kids in jeopardy.

I don’t read books, because when I write my great American novel I don’t want to be subject to accusations of plagiarism.

Uh-Oh, Financial gurus are starting to mutter the words, “Market Correction”. Translated to English, that means, “Death to the individual investor”.

The Question:

A new report lists the Top Ten Wealthiest and Top Ten Poorest states based on Median Household Income. Name them.

The Headlines:

--New Mud Slides Smother Nepal Rescue Efforts; Death toll Rising Towards 5,000.

--Apple Sales Soaring As IPhone Sales Rock; Stocks On Edge Ahead Of Fed Meetings; Consumer Confidence Levels Drop In April; Profit Reports Mixed.

--Supreme Court To Hear Arguments On Gay Marriage; Ginsburg Already In “Yes” Column For SS Marriages.

--Officials Perplexed As Baltimore Thugs Take To The Streets.

--SC Throws Out ObamaCare Contraception Ruling That had Favored Admin; Sends Case Back To Cincinnati US Circuit Court Of Appeals.

--GW Bush Rips Obama Over Middle East Policies.

--Ukraine Rebel Activity Picking Up Again.

--Congratulations To Cole Junior High School In East Greenwich RI Which Produced 7 Of The Top 9 French Students Among 23,000 taking A Test Nationally.

One of the truisms of Family Life is that daughters will always try to keep their dad’s clothes fashionable and up to date with society. The operative word here is “Try”.

The Voice last night…what did I get from the voice last night? I tell you, I got a lot of stuff that didn’t thrill me like I’ve been thrilled before. Personally I liked Hannah Kirby’s act, probably because I like “We don’t need another hero”…and the dancing singing kids were great. The rest blended together to me. Now Kimberly sounded pretty perfect, added some nice drama, but to a song that left me stone faced. India, a powerful singer, didn’t seem to hit all the notes, and her closing attempts at cleverness were strained. Joshua is a really good singer in a narrow arena. His melodies are mind numbing at times as he becomes more like James Taylor with a little more emotion. Sawyer, also a great singer, is centered in the folk area too and has trouble breaking away. But, I still always look forward to him and never find his performances lacking. But still…he is in a bit of a rut. I think Meghan is very good singer, but Beatles’ music just seems so old anymore. Corey Kent tried to step it up and for a moment he appeared to have made it just as drifted off. I have been touting Koryn, and last night shed showed her power again, but I’m just not sure she is the greatest singer that ever stood before a mike. She is a popular favorite, though, now. Two more are gong tonight and you have to think that Hannah or Corey will be one. India may be the other. But, you never know about Joshua, who maybe wearing tin with the younger set. I would oust Corey who is inert to me and India who as a person I like a lot..

I’m probably not going to buy an Audi now. After watching that pretty terrible commercial about the smug, ”I’m bettered than you” kind of guy driving by through a puddle splashing muddy water upon admiring kids, it’s just not who I am.

I‘ve reached that stage in life where I rate doctors by the quality of the magazines in their office..

A kid broke the Rubic’s Cube record yesterday solving it in just 6 seconds. I spend 60 seconds looking at it, dumbfounded, and then give up. How does he do that?

You have to wonder how many kids wonder daily about what Mom did with their baseball cards, or Madam Alexander Dolls.

A new Pew Study shows that Union Membership continues to fall in the private sector, but not in the Public Sector where there should be no need for unions at all (Government writes the laws to protect workers so the Government workers should not need a union to help protect the worker from the law writer and enforcer.) While Union membership has fallen from highs of 35% in the Fifties, to about 11% now, the favorability opinion ratings among Americans have gone up. 45% say Unions have been bad for America, while 43% say they have been good. But now compared to five years ago, 48% have a favorable view versus 39%. But, the fact remains that Unions Corporate Executives need the jobs and income.

Isn’t Justice Ginsberg just like the perfect stereotypical liberal, “I know what I believe and I’m not interested in the facts, new or old.”

I don’t think I’m in the market for an Apple watch. Maybe some tome in the future I’ll decider for it.

The Answer:

Number One in highest household median income is Hew Hampshire. The rest are the Top ten in order are Connecticut, two seats of Government states – Virginia and Maryland, Colorado, Utah, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Hawaii and Alaska. The poorest starting at #10 are South Carolina followed by Tennessee, Kentucky, New Mexico, Alabama, North Carolina, Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Mad Max Department:

May be we do need another hero. A reader sends these headlines from just this morning’s news:
--“Science Proves Welfare Discourages Employment.”

--“Lesbian Couple Awarded $135,000 From Bakery that Wouldn’t Make Wedding Cake…”

--“Clean Energy Loans Leave Taxpayers $2.2 Billion In Hole”.

--“Special Interests Neuter RI Voters.”

Tina Turner Department:

https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=youtube+we+don%27t+need+another+hero&vid=bb30ae3e34d43c866bf5aa5b6ccde35a&l=4%3A48&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DWN.%252fQjzqt4299PIu%252fRhlGxlqw%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DNVPq-_t-ANw&tit=Tina+Turner+-+We+Don%26%2339%3Bt+Need+Another+Hero&c=1&sigr=11bsf1n4t&sigt=11cf9b93d&sigi=123k645b6&back=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dyou%2Btube%2Bwe%2Bdon%2527t%2Bneed%2Banother%2Bhero%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Dytff1-yff16%26hsimp%3Dyhs-002%26hspart%3Dmozilla&sigb=140gl3g2p&ct=p&age=1236957437&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&hsimp=yhs-002&hspart=mozilla&tt=b

Join C.U.D. or the environment will go Thud.

Today's Tids Issue 3,321

Opening Stuff:

They just don’t create road intersections named Succotash at Gooseberry any more.

Give me a field of Black-eyed Susan’s waving in the breeze on a sunny day, and I’ll give you a poem.

To battle the encroachment upon vast and beautiful farm and grazing lands fostered by the power of HUD using schemes like PUD, I have formed an opposition group called CUD – Cows Udder Disillusionment. Chew on that for a while.

“Not a shred of evidence” is traditionally the defensive position of people, usually politicians and white collar criminals, who are caught with their hands in the cookie jar. “Not a shred of evidence” has no bearing on the truth but only indicates of how well the accused has or thinks he or she has buried or eliminated documents, or witnesses to their misdeeds. Hillary and her gang uttered that phrase last week. To a “Where-there’s-smoke-there’s-fire” guy like me, that usually means they are guilty as sin.

The Question:

Croatia’s Tesla and America’s Edison were invention giants, each spawning huge, competitive electric product manufacturing companies, one base on AC and the other based on DC. Name the companies and which inventor used AC or DC.

The Headlines:

--Nepal Still In Shock After Massive Quake; Death Toll Up to 3,700; Google Exec Among Dead Everest Climbers.

--Greece Concerns, Deutsche Bank Earnings Hit Have EuroStocks Falling; Wall Street begins Apple Earnings Watch.

--US Military In Europe Asking for More Powerful Weapons As Russia/Ukraine Tensions Increase.

--Warren Hits Obama On secret Trade deal.

--Israel Air Strikes Foil Terror Operation At Israel/Syria Border.

--Iran Ayatollah Berates Recklessness Of young People With Too Much Money After Deadly Car Crashes.

--Hillary Ops Admit They Made Mistakes; They Weren’t Supposed To be Caught.

--17 Million Americans Watch Bruce Jenner I am Woman Show.

16,283 pounds of trash were picked up on RI beaches at the end of last year’s summer. So now as we look forward, the beaches are pretty pristine, yet unfortunately awaiting users with little regard for maintaining the purity; they are devoid of responsibility to others, ready to cast ciggy butts, beer bottles, DD Coffee cups and Mac wrappers into the natural land and seascapes. And, that 16+ K pile of discarded crap was only that found on beaches and doesn’t include what is routinely seen on city streets,  in suburban neighborhoods and along the highways. I have several pet peeves, but this is surely one that aggravates my tender stomach the most. And unfortunately it says much to much about the insensitivity of the human race. But of course, if this blight is wrought entirely by teenagers, than the inconsideration is more easily understood.

The youth are pretty excited about the possibility of the disappearance of Cable company dominance. They and many other technohipsters like the idea of computer, tablet or smart phone distribution of entertainment in the household,. As I read though, I see articles like the most recent showing Hulu tying up the rights to much of Turner Broadcasting programming on TNT and TBS. Hulu already has rights to distribute 2oth Century Fox originals like Fargo.  And Hulu is only one of many tying up rights to the entertainment you want in your home. So cable will hang in for network and related programming while we all pay $8-10 a month to the many different companies who own what we really like. It may be cool to cast to the TV, but it will never be any cheaper, because as opposed to hopeful thinking, the entertainment communications industry isn’t a new welfare movement. Entertainment companies are only in business to make money. Enjoy the ride, because we will all be seeing lots of change, plenty of enticing options nipping away at our family budgets. Join “TUD” – Television Under Duress.

I  can always find a soothing moment in the symphonic notes from the pen of Juan Sibelius. There is something special about his Fifth Symphony.

As national economies interlock globally a significant emerging new characteristic is a discernible surplus of labor! Surplus of labor forces wages down. (That’s based an old economic truism called supply and demand) So now as economic boundaries are grayed, the impact reaches deep within the former world power nations. But here, it seems the “Supply and Demand” maxim has been usurped by an outré economics maxim -- wages by demand regardless of economic value added. The world economy is forcing down US wages and will continue to do so until the tides rise in third world countries. But the argument to pay what society can’t afford will continue.

They say there is a revolution in men’s fashion. Which, judging by some of the specimens I see grazing our streetscapes, it is a good thing. But for me, while I appreciate the hardworking boutique owner, LL Bean still has the best oxford cloth, button down shirts in the land.

As far a I can determine, having the first gender, race, ethnic or sexual persuasion elected official can only assure the electorate that they will see more of their government on Entertainment Tonight.

The Boston Red Sox spent the winter building up a “power house” line-up. Yesterday, of the nine hitters, 2 were in the 290’s, one was at 264, then 239 and another at 203. The rest were under 200! The team average was.224. No wonder the paucity of key hits with men on base. I know most all of you don’t care, but sometimes I have get rid of my toxins.

Sadly, one of the negative signs of Spring is the rise in news reports of serious motorcycle accidents.

I really like the Richard Strauss (No relation to Waltz King Strauses) waltz -- Der Rosenkavalier. In fact I may be induced to write that it is the best waltz ever written. But. who am I to say that what I like personally is better than favorites of other people who may really, really like for instance a Berlioz, “Unrelated” Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Chopin or von Weber waltz.   The point of this Tidlet is this. Don’t let a critic guide your tastes. If you want to see Mall Cop 2, go and see it. Look at a painting for your self, not because eitis the “in” art. Critics only do one ting really well --- they make you feel uncomfortable enjoyong something they don’t like.

Jobs I would never like: Changing light bulbs atop Hong Kong skyscraper casinos.

The Answer:

Tesla sold the rights to his inventions to George Westinghouse, another powerhouse inventor of the times. Edison’s fledgling company went on to become GE. Westinghouse and General Electric battled for the hearts of the electric industry for tens of decades, with obviously GE winning out fairly recently. Oddly though, in the beginning it was Westinghouse trumpeting Tesla’s “AC” theories while GE went to war with Edison’s less practical DC. Interesting note department: George Westinghouse made his fortune developing the Air Brakes for the railroad industry which was the major economy driving business of the times. George always liked his Air Brake Company better. It like Steve Jobs saying, “But, I really, really like the “White Out” business I bought form George Hamilton.”

Well, the Tids today was a little better than a Dud. And surely, several steps above Crud. Yet,  some days it’s like wallowing in mud after a flood, giving you pints of my blood. But then, what would you expect from a Stud!

Join CUD.