Today's Tids Issue 3,498
Opening Stuff (For the Year):
Well,
I hope the New Year started off as good for you
as me…and that was pretty damn good. After checking out at BJ’s (Like Costco’s
in NE), I actually found in the free boxes bin one that looked like a box, that
was perfectly sized for what I bought. Life is good.
My
naïve concept of the USA was that that this country was
designed in a way where singular minded wishes of kings or oppressive ideas
from dictators were to be a thing of the past in governing because of the three
equal branches of Government. Did you happen to notice the word equal? I don’t
believe there is an amendment to the beautiful constitution that says executive
orders are available to get around the will of the people as represented in
Congress. But, we seem to have a President who doesn’t care for anything that
isn’t on his own plate. I’m beginning to doubt that people in the new
generations and in the fourth estate understand the concept of equal branches
(As in having the same or identical to in value). Congress representing diverse
peoples in diverse states butting heads with out of control Presidents is what
the country is all about. Are presidents going the way of pop culture, becoming
out of proportion to reality? Am I missing something? Happy New Year.
The
really good news is that 2016 gives you one
“Do-Over” day. So if you have a real downer, you have sunshine assured freebie
coming on Feb 29. How great is that? Double Zowie!
Christian
McCaffrey is one, truly, amazing football player.
Oh
yeah, the pressure is off as I have already broken my New
Year’s resolutions. Last night I had a giant helping of KFC gravy, and the night
before a grandson thrust a bag of Cheetos right under my nose. What’s a human
to do? Breakem’ early and relax. That’s my motto.
The
Question:
Triple
“Q” Start to New Year: 1. The great cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond died. Name five of his
greatest movies. 2. What was the
name of the first American born saint? 3.
World villains have occasionally been named as Time Man/Person Of the Year. Name
three (Obama doesn’t count.)
The Headlines:
--Dow Plummets 400 Points at Opening After China
Markets Halted Down 7%.
--Hezbollah Attacks Israeli Troops On Lebanon
Border.
--Saudi Ceases Relations With Iran After Burning
Of Embassy I retaliation For Hanging Of Shiite Cleric; Saudi Allies Scaling
Back Ties With Iran; Oil Prices Climbing.
--Netflix, Amazon Shares Fall Seriously After Down
Grades; Fiat/Chrysler Stock Off 1/3 After Ferrari Divide.
--Huge Quake Rattles Northeast India; 8 Dead.
--FBI Has Eyes On Oregon Militia Standoff.
--GM Invests $500 Million In Lyft.
Do
you know those movie scenes where a camera pans
into a romantic setting softly illuminated by 25 to 30 candles. I’m afraid my
attention would be continually diverted, more concerned about hair being caught
on fire, or knocking candles into a combustible gossamer curtain fluffed in the
fan induced wind. For me, keep it simple.
Iran
and Saudi Arabia -- the classic Sunni-Shiite battle smoldering
in the dessert while the West runs around with pails of water hoping to smother
a potential inferno fueled by deep roots -- is making me very nervous. Rhoumani
looks like the peace keeper, though his strings are pulled by Kahamanhi who
doesn’t. The real problem may be the newish King of Saudi, Salman bin Abdulaziz,
who along with his controversial son Mohammed bin Salman is a lot more hard
line than former kings who preferred basking in gold plated rooms. The sands
are blowing.
The
world financial markets love consistency, and the
Middle East is as consistent as ever.
There
wasn’t a lot of publicity about the Chicago Purchasing Managers
Index falling to 42.9. That’s a double Yikes!
It was a super drop 0f 5.8 points to bring it to the lowest outturn
since July 2008. This Institute of Supply Management number is said to show USA
expansion when at 50 or above. Order backlogs were the largest segment of the
index in decline. PMI Data shows that backlogs have been in decline for 11 months.
So below 50 is a contraction of the economy, and when it is as low as 42.9 it
indicates a contraction at a faster pace. Just one little piece of data to add
to the mystery of where the stock market may be going.
Couple
that with Santa’s failure to show up for the year end
rally, and you have to wonder about where 2016 markets are going.
And
then, we had China!
The
good news today is that I get to wear my new cold
weather boots.
Last
night as the counter person pushed towards me my KFC
order, I observed, “Quiet in here.” She replied, “I like it.” “But,” Said I, “you
aren’t making any money?”. She looked at me with a knowing grin, “I am.” I
heard of another big time fast food place that is losing customers at local outlet
because employees don’t seem to care, and are only keeping the place barely
clean. There’s a point here somewhere about a society that sees too many getting
money for doing nothing, and one where doing something gets no reward.
Standing
ovations don’t seem to mean what they used to. People just
seem to stand up immediately after watching or listening to somebody do something
they can ‘t do themselves.
Duh
news of the morning – NCAA Football playoff game ratings
down 38%! It doesn’t take a genius to (And there ain’t no geniuses here in Tidsville
even though it was predicted as loser programming last week) to know that most
of the majority of potential viewers are out reveling on New Years eve. What do
colleges care about stupidity – they were already paid by Bowl owners.
Talking
about those brainiacs at the NCAA, how about the slate of
New Years Eve and New Years day feature bowl games that produced a combined
score of 337 to 110. And, most of the 110 points for those losing teams, some who
looked like they didn’t show up, was in garbage time against the dominant team’s
substitutes. Most of the TV sets clicked off at half Time.
Oops,
Department:
One of the biggest Tids typos of the year wasn’t
exactly a typo, but more like a sign of severe digital collapse in a normally
orderly mind. I had a small error factor of about 5,200 when I came up with the
number of 7.8 Million words written last year in the Tids. It was more like a
half million, or to be exact, about 523,700 words, or about five decent sized
novels. Sorry about my delusions of grandeur!
Wayne
Rogers did well in a second career becoming somewhat
of a financial guru, but to me he remains one of the funniest guys ever for his
role in M*A*S*H. And who will ever forget his last appearance on that show.
Another old favorite hits the trail beyond the stars.
Did
you happen to notice that the network news programs had
features on Natalie Cole’s death but barely mentioned Wayne Rogers. Do you think the National News media is
prejudiced?
I
don’t know where Rhonda Rousey came from, why she
is so popular and why she is mentioned endlessly in Internet news and Twitter
or Instagram feeds, but it won’t bother me if it stopped.
And
while we’re on sports reporting overkill, get ready for all
Peyton Manning all of the time after his insertion produced a comeback win for Denver.
That said, I think he handled his post game interview beautifully.
The
Parking Lot: Chapter 37 continues…
Fred felt
his legs turning to the proverbial jelly. All pretense of a positive confidence
posture was leaving him like sand crabs at low tide. He took several deep
breaths and tried to stand up a little taller, but he could see in the eyes
upon him that they knew he was a goner. Intimidators know their stuff. “I’ve
been helping you every way I could,” he finally said. He wondered what his
words sounded like.
All he
saw was a smiling Rackovic, a smile that definitely said, sure Fred, sure, you’ve
been great. Suddenly he felt his arms being drawn back and he found himself being
held in a position he had never ever experienced. It hurt like hell, and he could
feel the urge to let loose some tears. But, he had to hold back. God, what were
they doing to him. He heard a whisper through bad breath into his ear, “That
was for Charlie.”
“You see Fred,”
Rackovic started, “our guys here are very upset about what may have happened to
their friends.” He looked up and held Fred’s eyes. “What you can do for us
about the casino and our other plans for your town don’t mean much at all anymore.”
Suddenly Fred felt himself being driven across the room and into a wall. He
only saw black as now new pains traveled rapidly from his head down through his
jaw and shoulder to his toes. Then arms let go and he fell into a clump.
The
Answer:
1.
Among his 0ver 90 films are Close Encounters of The Third Kind, Deer Hunter, Deliverance,
Bonfire of the Vanities, Witches Of Eastwick, (The super flop ) Heaven’s Gate,
Surgarland Express and the Long Goodbye. 2.
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton was born in 1774 in New York City of the British
Empire, and went on to Emmitsburg MD where among other things she founded the
Sisters of Charity. 3. Mass murdered
Joseph Stalin was 1942 Time Man Of the Year. Time began it’s naming of most influential
persons in 1927 and in addition to Stalin, it has included serious world ogres
Adolph Hitler, Nikita Krushchev and Ayatollah Khomeni. (The Khomeni selection produced
an enormous backlash in the USA, and since the mag has soften its selections.)
Actually, the Time list is an interesting amalgamation ranging from the
villains above to groups like Ebola Fighters to all Presidents since 1927
(Excluding Silent Cal, who didn’t make enough noise to get in. The man/Person
of the Century was Albert Einstein followed by FDR and Ghandi, who originated
the ever-popular Gandy Dancers Ball. https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-006&ei=utf-8&fr=ytff1-tyc&p=pu%20tube%20gandy%20dancers%20ball%20song&type=
Have
a great New Year starting right now!
Whoops! China market collapses. Iran and Saudi Arabia draw lines in the sand. And the President of the USA will be talking today about getting around the representatives of the people, Congress
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