What can I do for you today?

Today's Tids Issue 3,664

For Kindness:

As a gentle piano fuses with the rich deep strains of a cello playing softly in the back ground, my mind wanders to morning flowers covered with due; orange glows from the sun shimmering through trees to the east; to glistening steeples poking up on the new horizon promising hope and love. Waking in the gentle quiet of the early morn before the human bluster, is like a soft fingers massaging my heart. There is nothing but goodness in the dawning world, a sense that kindness awaits all who would want to be soothed. I strive to carry that through the day.

Maybe we should Dump Trump for “I Like Mike”! That has a nice ring to it.

I usually root for up and comers, underdogs who fight battles unseen by the front running chroniclers. But, I have to admit that super swimmer Michael Phelps is something special. He has and still does prove it each year that he is the champion and not the image of over enthusiastic promotional cheerleading. Unlike many sports people who are often made all-stars because of their past, Phelps earns it by new accomplishments. By beating all-comers.

A new international study proves that people who read regularly for 30 minutes a day will add about two years to their lives. That’s far better than what you can hope for from walking, listening to music or eating Kale. Zowie!

I was really happy to see Justin Rose win that Gold in Olympic golf. One of the good guys, as is Matt Kutcher the American who won the Bronze. And how about that final hole with the great Henrik Stenson and Rose going in tied.  It looked like a great tournament,  a true one of a kind experience overall,  and the players to a man seemed to agree. How about all of those super stars who were afraid of mosquitos wondering now why they missed out on something great. See what the media can do when they paint something good black!

The Question:

Who are these people? Sam Champion, Paul Greengrass, Phillippe Petit, Debi Mazar and John Slattery.

The Headlines:

--Markets Look Strong At Week’s Opening Bell; Some Analysts Fear Impact Of Valuations Creeping Higher.

--Milwaukee Burns After Black Police Shoot And Kill 23 Yo Armed Black Man With Extensive Record; Georgia Policeman Shot And Killed In Possible Ambush By 24 Yo Man Named Royleen Delshawn Deeds.

--Hillary Campaign Enlisting Illegal Immigrant Children To Aid In Voter Registration.

--Floodwaters Continue To Rise Leaving Thousands Homeless In La; LA Area Forest Fires Roaring, Destroying Homes.

--USA Passes 1,000 Gold Medal Mark In Their Summer Olympics History. Only Other Country Over 500 Is Russia.

--ISIS Maybe On the Run In The Middle East, But Is Gaining Territory In Afghanistan; Iraqi Kurds Taking Towns Around Mosul.

--RI Little League Team From Warwick Makes It To Williamsport World Series; Third Year In A Row For RI LL Team!

Prosciutto makes almost everything taste better. Well maybe not Oreos or Ice Cream. But, I can definitely see a taste explosion in Prosciutto wrapped Cheetos.

One of the funnier aspects of the current presidential election is Bill Clinton defending Hillary’s carelessness  and reinterpreting the FBI Chief’s remarks essentially saying – that woman, my wife did not have Suspectual relations with classified data! Yeah, right, Like you can believe Bill Clinton. What is really humorous is that when Bill first ran, Hillary the ever adoring wife sat lovingly by his side in that famous 60 mins “Tammy Wynette” interview to discount the Gennifer Flowers intrusion saying I love that man of mine. Yikes. I guesshe owed her one. Love and stay with him as long as he can pave the way for her ambitions. The Clintons say whatever is necessary regardless of truth or morality.

How come the Nike “Swish” is bigger, more prominent than “USA” on the uniforms of the American Golfers. I’d like to say that it is un-American, but let’s face America is always about commercialism. Just like money talks in politics.

Just in case you’re interested the Olympics Poor Sportsman Award should be shared by Egypt’s Islam El Shehaby and USA’s soccer heroine Hope Solo. As I said Friday, big ideological labels don’t define people, people do.

“Shoe” tells us that Scottish cheese is Loch Ness Muenster!

And, a rather brilliant reader sends us this: A local monastery is hiring a new choir director: Apply if you get the chants!

Trump gets castrated every day over his remarks about banning Middle easterners, yet the Uber company is methodically ridding the USA of taxi cab drivers and is considered a national hero.

I guess to be accepted by the new world I’m going to have to get  into “Cupping”. Actually, my blood flows every time my shin hits a low table.

I thought I saved a new picture to my computer this morning, but when I went to upload it to the Tids Blog website it was nowhere to be found. Where does this stuff go?

Hillary plays fast and loose with national security and state secrets, and Trump is called Unfit for office.

I was the recipient of a phone research call Saturday. It turns out that the poll was designed to determine what I thought about the idea of the IRS preparing our tax returns! Talk about big government intrusion! I faithfully answered the questions, but I have to tell you  I had the pollster laughing at the end as she must have seen the blatant conflict of interest and the absurdity of letting the IRS know everything about you. The real insanity is that we have people in government thinking this way. That is really scary to me.

Young people look more admiringly at older people who say things like Uber.

The Parking Lot: Chapter 68.

    Nancy Hicks sat quietly staring out the window at the small 18^th and 19^th century worker homes in the offbeat Newport neighborhood of her “safe” house. She always retracted inward when problems seemed insurmountable, as they did now. The murder of the AG McGuire really got to her. She was in the middle of something way bigger than a local squabble. And she had drawn in her friends and Jared, a beautiful man who moved her. Who, she smiled inwardly, maybe she loved.

   But, her mind was not so inert, as it was pouring through the writings of her ancestor Elizabeth, Musatta; that almost sacred bundle of papers passed down so reverently over the years until it arrived in her hands. She had practically memorized it all as she found herself drawn to the to her ancestor’s courage and determination. Thoughts of Elisabeth always gave her strength. She was seeing clearly again this brave daughter of a Wampanoag Chief taking down Big Howland; standing strong with her father-in-law Richard and husband Jeremiah.

   She always felt at her best with the spirits of her past. How many generations those special genes have traveled and a somehow found their way into her heart; she was the recipient of Hicks family resolve. Was this the end or the beginning.

   Nancy pulled out the small amulet with the red shoes design, the key that could unlock the secrets of all the Sakonnet lands for anybody who possessed it. This was the prize.

  But who was the Bristol parade assassin? Who were the powers behind whatever had been a happening? Was Nancy running along the same path as her ancestors, or was it her imagination and dreams taking over.

   She shook her head, shivered and stood, walking quickly to her phone. She hit an app and scrolled till she found that call to her phone when they were hidden on the island. It was the AG’s phone, but it was the location at the time that she needed.

The Answer:

If you watch Good Morning America you probably knew that Sam Champion was the weatherman for 25 years. Paul Greengrass is an English movie director who we all love for the three great Bourne movies. Phillippe Petit gained fame as the cool nerved man who walked on a high wire, a really high wire, between the Twin Towers in NYC. My stomach turns a I write! Debi Mazar is a sharp tongued Jersey actress best known for her role as press agent Shauna Roberts in Entourage. You either loved or hated John Slattery as Roger Sterling in Mad Men.

I remember an old story about the demise of USA manufacturing dominance. A major US Machine Tool company was pitching their wares to GM at a time in the late 1970’s when Japan and some German and Swiss manufacturers were bringing lots of bright innovations to the industry. So at the meeting, The Big US company offered the usual from this now pretty arrogant industry with the heads in the sand – different color paint job and moving some of the same ole, same ole elements of the machine around with a minor tweak or two. At the end of the presentation the presenter was said to have asked, “What more can we do for you?” The head of the GM delegation answered quickly: “Go out of business.”

That’s what I worried about when I wrote the opening line; “What can I do for you today.” Yikes.

BTW, the US machine tool industry deteriorated rapidly during the 1980’s so that today none of the former Behemoths are a factor at all. The USA had led the world, but forgot about R&D as they were taken over in the late 1960’s, early 70’s by conglomerates. Being a leader is great as long as you never forgot the creativity and sweat and concern for customers that got you there.