Today's Tids Issue 3,513
Opening Stuff:
I
love the cold brisk mornings, walking hard against
icy winds. I love the clarity of the skies and the special glitter reflected
from freezing ocean chop. But all of that perfection in God’s most marvelous seaside
nature is only second best this weekend as I await the New England Patriots
against the Denver Broncos. Hey, God made pig skin too.
Donald
Trump just received an enormous endorsement when Jane
Fonda stepped up to lead the “Dump Trump” movement. What could be better than
to have as an enemy the woman who seems to stand for everything wrong with the
USA. Yes, Donald has just cornered the Viet Nam vet market.
I
occasionally give these little talks to groups of people
interested in International Current Events. I suggested to my friend in charge
that this spring I could talk about Islamic extremist groups taking over
Africa. He responded, “Let them have it.”
The
Question:
Everybody knows that Linda Blair hit it big in The
Exorcist. What else did she ever do? Bonus:
Name five characters on the great old 70’s “Laugh In” show.
The
Headlines:
--Oil Prices Zoom Past $30; Dow Hangs In After
Strong Opening.
--At Least 12 Inches Of Snow Set To Fall On
Eastern Cities Form Richmond To NYC.
--North Korean captures US College Student Saying
He Is American Spy.
--RNC Cuts Ties With Conservative Magazine
National Review After It Goes Anti-Trump.
--New Polls Show That Bernie Sanders Is Electable.
--Federer Wins 300th Grand Slam Singles
match.
--Turkey Concerned Over Russia Build-Up On Syria
Border.
--Dem Hierarchy Concerned Over Hillary’s Inability
To Stymie Sanders Progress.
The
focus is on Flint, but in the 30s and 40’s it could have
been Fall River, New Bedford or Lowell and Lawrence. In the nineties the old
steels cities like Youngstown Ohio saw a vibrant economy disappear, and its
core disintegrate. They are all still fighting back. The common denominator is
a combination of unions pushing the envelope for higher unsustainable wages,
and lately, management who aren’t necessarily managing for the future if the company
by but for sometimes unrealistic financial market demands – losing out to more
focused, less constrained foreign competition. Cities and towns die because
economies move out. Flint is feeling it today, but what city is next, Chicago?
There
are just about 51 hours until the first of two NFL
championship games. My Pats are going up against Denver in the stadium before
rabid fans where my heart has been broken repeatedly. The sports wags around here
are chuckling over Peyton’s alleged dead arm. But his mind is sharp and he
calls a great game. He has a defense and very good receivers. Brady is a pretty
smart game engineer, too. And he has the mind of Belichick as back-up. I see
this as a very close game, and an eke out for the determined Pats in the end,
25-21. (Honestly, I have know idea on this one, really) It is a little clearer
down in Charlotte where I believe that Carolina has an edge. Carson Palmer is
good but he showed some nervousness at home in his first big playoff game last
week. Cam Newton is a pretty cool guy, talented savvy player with a pretty good
offense and very good defense around him. The Panthers will also be nervous in
this game that could lift to a new level the fortunes of this traditional second
tier team. (Of course, The Patriots were 4th tier for years, so the
past means nothing). I have loved Larry Fitzgerald, who always is solid, since
the day he stepped on the pro fields. But, I’m seeing Carolina 28-17.
Well,
American Idol just finished it last Final Audition
segment. I don’t watch much in the early going as there are always too many
losers and joke candidates (Sounds like the Repub primaries) among the real
talent. Some of the names you will probably see as this completion reenters the
real world are Brian Dale Brown, Usen Isong, Jaci Butler, Chynna Sherrod,
Bianca Espinal, Melany Huber (Teen who survived Stage 3 Non-Hodgkin’s
Lymphoma), Zach Person, Rachel Karryn, Stephany Negrete (Early favorite),
Caroline Byrne, Colette Lush, “Folksy” Avalon Young, Manny Torres and Jessica
Cabral (Another possible Top Fiver). Gentlemen, start your vocal chords. The
End begins.
Personally,
I like artificially flavored foods.
I
believe the biggest factor in the new elections is the rise
of the Independents which comprises a voting block bigger than Repubs or Dems.
The latest number from a Gallup0 poll between January 6-10 shows that 44% f all
voters are Independent, while about 29% are Dem and 26 % are Repub. That is one
big reason that Political experts are having trouble figuring out this
election. One big reason why Trump and Sanders can’t betaken lightly.
I
see where the Washington DC schools were closed today in
advance of storm. Has the USA lost its collective mind?
Fighting
between Repub moderates and conservatives is exactly how
the last Clinton got into office.
A
friend tells me that last Monday after two inches of
snow in the nation’s capital, her daughter took 5 hours to get home in what is
normally a shorter than an hour drive. The main problem: Drivers who don’t
respect changes in the road surface. Snow is easy of you pay attention.
One
of things that bothers me about the Catholic mass
is people turning to each other and shaking hands saying, “Peace be with you”.
How inhuman is that! Why not, “How you doin”; “Nice, dress, tie.”; “Ready for
the Pats game this afternoon?”; “Crappy sermon wasn’t it”. You get the picture,
church goers are people too.
With
nearly 50% of Americans getting some kind of Government
assistance, it isn’t hard to understand why a socialist Presidential candidate
has a chance. Of course, I don’t see SS payments to those who contributed,
Government assistance.
One
of the top five government authorities
I hate most is eminent domain. It used to be moderately fair and serve a
purpose, but now it is vulnerable to the violation of intent by developers who
think they are for the common good.
One
of the biggest crimes in American history is a Congress
who‘s predecessors stole the SS Trust Fund and are now classifying payments to
hardworking recipients, “Entitlements”. No wonder people are looking for
outsiders. The whole thing rises to Bernie Madoff standards.
Reading
Between the Lines Movie Reviews:
--The 5th Wave is more like a ripple as
it tries to exploit the popularity of the Hunger Games films. Mankind is
knocked back into the Stone Age after a massive alien invasion. A young woman
with several weapons on a hunt for her young brother teams up with other teens
to bring back humanity. You’ve seen the scenario several times.
--We talked about Synchronicity in the Tids last
week, and now it is a movie. It’s basically about a guy who has to travel back
in time to stop a conspiracy that would deprive him of his invention before it
starts. The word synchronicity” is more thoughtful than that.
--I don’t like movies with grandpa in the title because
they are so full of the same, tired old clichés. This one is no different and in
fact, to me, it looks downright awful. The critics seem to be totally in
agreement with my negativity about this mess, and the audiences not far behind.
Dirty Grandpa is about a grandson ready to marry the perfect girl being tricked
into driving oldster (Robert DiNiro) to Daytona for spring break. Spring break
movies are generally awful, and those with grandfathers trig to be young and
rascally are worse.
The
Parking Lot: Chapter 41 continues…
Jeremiah
felt a sense of pride as his father commanded the room. It was good for his soul
and even better for the atmosphere of the room as the son felt his anger and
irrationality subsiding.
Cook was
one of the more outspoken, but Jeremiah thought he was playing devil’s advocate
for the rest of the less vocal citizens. It almost appeared that he and his
father were working in consort.
Richard
methodically outlined a plan where each family would be allowed to farm 100
acres of land, some that lay on the Mount Hope Bay North of the Howland
waterfront, and the other fertile lands to the east surrounding the Hick own
holdings up by the big lake. Richard in discussion with Cook explained that
those of the same family could combine their lands which would mean that
families like Cook, who had 3 sons would have 400 acres.
The
smiles started to emerge around the table, except on the Howland side. Not a word
was spoken there, but the stares said more.
Richard
Hicks went onto say that these lands would be passed down to the farmers heirs
with complete feedom to control the activity, but all of it would always be
owned by the Hicks family. Hicks was asking for no rental fees, but only hard
work for the good of the growth of the community.
After several
hours of talk on various aspects of the plan, the various families began to see
its positive side for themselves and the community. One byb one they gradually
moved away from the Howland family anti-Hicks position. Elizabeth reached over
and squeezed Jeremiah’s hand and he felt that special warmth.
Each
family would be given a deed to their plots of 100 acres. Richard also assured
them that this land would only pass back to the Hicks when a legitimate member of
his lineage presented the carved whalebone Hicks Seal that would be stamped
upon each deed.
Richard
drew a small laugh when he said that he didn’t see those lands changing
ownership for centuries as the Hicks family retained more land than anybody
could possibly farm!
Then Richard
Hicks posed the big question. We will also offer land egress to the Howland family
in exchange for use fo the port for shipping to points around the great bay.
The
Answer:
Linda Blair’s early career is all about The
Exorcist and similar themed films. She has recently played a detective in an
episode in the TV series “Supernatural”.
Her career careened after she had law problems for ingesting and selling drugs
in the 70’s. She really never recovered and took mainly minor roles in lackluster
films. She spends most of the time on the rights of animals who don’t talk
back. Bonus: After Rowan and Martin,
we had Goldie Hawn who probably had the most productive post Laugh-in career.
Others were Ruth Buzzi, Gary Owens, Alan Sues, Arte Johnson, Henry Gibson, Lili
Tomlin, Jo Anne Worley, Johnny Brown, Judy Carne, Chelsea Brown, and of course
the “Sock it to me” appearance by the jaunty and jovial Richard Nixon. Ruth
Buzzi appeared in all of the 141 episodes as did the hosts. Gary Owens was in
140. Of the nearly 100 guest performers who appeared more than once over the years,
those appearing most as themselves were John Wayne, Johnny Carson, Tiny Tim and
Jack Benny. As I think back, it was a great show.
Hope
everybody in New England and Denver and Phoenix and
Charlotte enjoy the big weekend. I know I will. And no matter what your
interest or endeavor, love the days, weather muffled by snow or tanned by warm
sun. It’s all about what is in your heart, anyhow.
Sorry,
I’m late. Had to go out for bread and milk. Hey, wait a
minute…I don’t eat bread or drink milk! Maybe, ice cream and Cheetos.
I’m
outta
here.
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