Never give up.

Today's Tids Issue 3.839

For Determination:

This is Holy week among Christians, and Passover is moving along nicely in the Jewish communities. So, there is a different kind of light shining over the shoulder of this observer of foibles and accomplishments. Maybe you’ll find an inspiring word or two. You never know.

It used to be for farmers, but now I’m sure Daylight Saving Tine is for the Masters. What terrific final paring coming up the 18^th fairway as the evening sun glowed across Augusta. The ball rattled into the cup. The fans rose ad shouted S-e-r-g-i-o. The players heart throbbed with agonizing happiness. Seve smiled.

I put my big Mahler #2 Symphony, “The Resurrection” on yesterday morning. It was as awesome as ever, and it vividly reminded me that after this week of exploring and remembering agony and death, there come indescribable beauty.

Somebody is always complaining about something. And the new media makes a lot of trivial nothing more than something.

If my eyes were “HD”, I’m sure I would have a much better appreciation of HD TV.

The Question:

The NCAA Polo Championship (See below) could be considered a contest between the Baptists and the Methodists. What are the differences between the two religions. Bonus: What are the names of the four layers of the Atmosphere?

The Headlines:

--Stock Futures Lower; Oil Prices Firm As Russia Commits To Slower Production; Syria Aftermath A Worry To Investors.

--Tillerson, G7 Pressuring Putin To Divorce Assad.

--Christian Churches In Egypt Attacked By Islamic Terror Organizations; Dozens Murdered.

--Alleged Russian Hacker Captured In Spain; May Be One Involved In US Election; Hackers Get Into Amazon Intermediaries.

--NBA’s Russell Westbrook Achieves 43^rd Triple-Double.

--Toyota To Spend $1.3 Billion On Kentucky Plant.

--Sergio Clips Rose In Exciting Masters Duel; Garcia Finally Wins Major.

--Sharks Forcing people Out Of The Water At Fort Lauderdale.

While I have a special reverence for this coming week, I have to say that in my youth my full attention was focused on the size of the solid chocolate rabbit that was being wrapped up the street somewhere in my Grandmother’s house.

Check “Spam” from time to time. You may find a wandering Tids in there. Occasionally your morning mess finds its way into that state of acute limbosis, and reminds me that perhaps I have exceeded good taste, or worse, have become boring. More often though, it is an email service awakening to the need protect users from unknown foreign intruders. The Tids: UFI.

Died in the wool lefties spent a lot of time Friday and over the weekend looking throughout their liberal handbook for negatives about the carefully targeted missile attack on the Syrian airport. It was pretty hard for any of them around here to come up with anything of geopolitical substance, other than perhaps the cost of the missiles. Even Silver Spoon Senator Sheldon, a distinctly Progressive “Whitehouse”, heaped high praise upon the Trump initiative. Actually, it was quite humorous to read statements from    a clump of political observers I know to be highly anti-Trump; where it was obvious they were trying their best to disguise their innate approval for the action.

When I want to drift away from the loonyness, I opt for my favorite orchestral poets, Ottorino Respighi and Richard Strauss.

I used to like grilling outside better when I timed my meals by the level of the liquid in my martini glass. Or, was that the number of martinis? Hmmm…cloudy.

I have chances from time to time to glance at those glossy esoterically designed magazines aimed at higher income and educated demographics. What I notice more often than not is some artist getting a photographer friend to make his crap art look good with shadows and white space. Much of it looks like a big art fraud to me.

Early in this baseball season, there seems to have been more than the usual number of knuckleheads dashing upon the diamonds during MLB games. Many are promoting some cause. Of course, we don’t know their objective because TV cameras go elsewhere when the disruptors appear. Maybe that would be a good rule of thumb for local street protests. Turn off Network and Cable News TV. There’d be less ruckus, and more intelligent protesting.

Little Roger Williams University on the bay up north of here played for the NCAA Polo Championship against SMU, That’s Polo as in riding horses with mallets. I didn’t even know that the NCAA had Polo championships. I think SMU has the advantage – their nick name is, The Mustangs. But it is a religious war – The Methodists against Roger Williams who’s namesake started the American Baptist religion. Methodists versus Baptists! Yikes!

A guy sued Dunkin’ Donuts because they gave him butter substitute instead of the real thing. A lawyer group found others with the same life crisis and formed a class action suit to alleviate their dire plight. They settled, and the original plaintive got $500. The rest of class action populace got three baked goods with real butter. The lawyers got $90K. What a waste.

Have you heard anybody talking about “Tort Reform” for any new health care proposal. That was the Tids big complaint about Lala-Pelosi Healthcare.

The Parking Lot: Chapter 85 Continues…

    “First, we have to meet with all of the farm communities,” Martha started taking charge as usual.” John had the look of the admiring son, and Noah just walked over and held her hand. Within minutes she had outlined the beginnings of a plan that could work. At the least, she got everybody out of the funk.

    John and two of his brothers rode east and north to alert those farmer families, while Martha and Noah went southeast, and to the areas by the big bay south of the village. Martha could see that as John rode away, his face told her that he would rather be back with his wife. Maybe that will make him efficient for a change, she thought, and then smiled.

   Before they reached the split to their own routes, Noah and Martha talked about the situation, which they both knew could be disastrous. What they had going for them, they agreed, was a strong bond between them almost all of the village families. And the fact that the three young Howlands were not particularly well liked by many. But, now those boys had some facts never known, new facts about old history. Can people look within themselves honestly. Will they see what they have accomplished by working together. It bothered both of them that David Howland, a clause friend, was having trouble reconciling the new information.

   The two came to that fork the road. They pushed their horses over next to each other and Noah leaned across to kiss Martha. She threw her arm around, grasping the back of his head to hold it. She looked brave but she needed Noah more than he would ever know.  She wondered if her mother was like that too.

The Answer:

Some people still remember religion, you know about God and stuff, and the coming week which is so holy among Christians. The so-called Protestant versions of Christianity arose because somebody “Protested” something or another. (And they didn’t have Twitter to go viral). And, the people flocked to the new ideas. In general, Baptists are stricter than Methodists, basically fundamentalist, while Methodists are looser more liberal than purely fundamental. Methodists are broader in their beliefs. Baptists don’t baptize infants, waiting until they are educated children or Adults (That’s an assumption that adults are educated.) Baptist congregations, however, are more independent choosing their own pastors while Methodist pasrtors ware appointed by bishops in a so-called central government. So the Anti-Puritan RW put a little puritan ethic into his Baptist religion. Basically, Christian religions believe in the same basic premise, but man got in the way of full unification. Bonus: We all live in the Troposphere, which goes up a little over the height of Mount Everest. Next is the Stratosphere, then the Mesosphere an finally the Thermosphere.

Perseverance is a very good attribute.