Every day is your day.

Today's Tids Issue 3,897

For Chocolate Dreams:

Happy National Chocolate Eclair Day, everybody! What a yummy way to awaken to this world of toil! An eclair can change everything, you know; slow down the pace, increase the fever. Let your mind wander: sitting across from a loved one, sharing, slowly chewing, savoring, watching eyes reflect the sensation; feeling the pulse deepen. The éclair, it’s only a pastry. Or is it?

Warren Buffet says he is looking for a bigger deal. I could raise the price of acquiring The Tids.

Too much about the running of America is keeping score.

I always thought RI was about as bad as a basically socialist government could go, but now we have a well-known Chicago journalist naming Illinois – “Venezuela in America”. And from where I’m sitting looking about 50 miles to the west, I’m seeing Greece, sometimes called Connecticut. Remember when Europe and the world looked up to America. Now some of our renowned states are like Third World countries struggling to survive. That’s the opinion of financial analysts who say definitively that Illinois is in a “deaths spiral”. And, it is all because of unfunded pension obligations. Nothing has gotten more out of hand than Sates legislatures packed with Union officials handing out super generous pensions. No wonder FDR said that there should never be unions of public employees. Expect now to see 401 K’s popping up to replace all of these public funded pensions. It’s just a fact of economic life, if you can’t afford something, you shouldn’t buy it.

Getting and keeping government out of business has always been the better judgment. Up in Seattle where the legislators forced a $15 minimum wage upon basically low margin food businesses, it is looking like a fiasco. Enough time has passed to produce sufficient data for analysis. They have lost 5000 lower wage jobs. In addition, cut hours resulted in an average wage reduction of $125 per paycheck per month. If you can’t afford it, it’s a bad idea.

The Question:

“Golf Digest” Magazine has just released the results of a survey among players to name the 30 nicest guys on the tour. Who are they? Bonus: There’s a lot of talk about US manufacturing these days. 17.6 Million cars were sold in America in 2016. That’s a lot of jobs. Which car makers are on the Top Ten “Most American Made” list?

The Headlines:

--Oil Prices Up For Fourth Day; Stocks Drifting.

--Trump Warns Assad About Use Of Chemical Warfare; Country Denies Allegations Of Coming Attack; Syria Needs Russia And Iran Approval To Use Chemical Weapons.

--EU Hits Google With $2.7 Billion Anti-Trust Fine; EU Says Google System Favors Their Own Comparison Buying Service; Alphabet (Google) has Ninety Billion In Cash.

--After Travel Ban Ruling, HSS Says It Will Act Professionally And Humane; SC Ruling Excludes Banning People Returning To US Homes, Professors And Technology Engineers.

--CBO Acting Director Supports Senate Health care Bill that would Reform Medicaid.

--Pew Research Shows That Obama Had Better Favorable Numbers Than Trump Has Among World Allies; Further Info Indicates That Allies Like New More Powerful Stance Of USA, But Worry About Volatile Leader.

--Three CNN Reporters Forced To Leave After Network Had To Scrap False Story On Trump Associate’s Relationship With Russia.

--SC Sides With Churches On Availability Of Grants.

People love to get creative with their boat names. I guess that’s better than strange monikers for their kids (Unless of course you’re a Hollywood personality) How about names for boats like “Seas the Day”, “Pier Pressure”, “The Codfather”, “Didjabringabeeralong”, “Full of Seamen”, “Campbells Sloop”, “Cirrhosis of the River”, “She got the House”, “Fish and Chicks” -- And the funniest, “Unsinkable II”.

I was proud of my name, and often envisioned Kings of England Richard II and Richard the lionhearted riding into battle in full armor. Now people won’t name their kids Richard, because our crazed society has so ridiculed the nickname. It’s some kind of identity theft. But I stills it upon my white steed, proud to be a king.

The Future of Golf, Department:

There are so many great young golfers, with new ones arriving on the scene, making their presence known each year. I propose two PGA tours. I would go to the world rankings, and each Tour would alternate picking from the top until over 250 players are chosen for the Big Double Tour, Then, I would propose a super bowl where the top 12 golfers in each tour would face off in a Ryder cup style contest. It’s gotta happen. There are just too many great players.

Hillary’s stabs at getting back into the limelight are getting sillier and sillier.

North Korea officials are impressed with a Spanish resort that specializes in heavy drinking. Plans are said to be underway to create a duplicate near a large NK city. Great idea. Get tourists drunk so the wander into town, do stupid things and get jailed. It’s part of a make work scheme for torturers.

It's kind of sad to think that if beleaguered Puerto Rico voted to become US state, it would fit right in.

There’s a new book on Amazon called “500 Years of Living:” It’s a collection of essays by six regular old guys and their editor and teacher about various aspects of their lives… from simple childhood memories to war and survival. Two of the guys were naval officers and one a pilot, all relating humorous and harrowing times during the Viet Nam problem. A brilliant university professor and native Syrian tells of a childhood in a once calmer home country, and his travels to get out, finding romance, before working at the UN. Another, an authority on world travel, will keep you smiling at his travel experiences. The last is me, a guy who writes the Tids. Just your basic Walter Mitty. It’s $12.95. All proceeds go to a local university Scholarship fund.

Oracle lost the America’s Cup to New Zealand. The America part  of the cup has fallen on hard times since the good old days when he races were held here for 70 or so years. There were no Americans on the Ellison’s (He’s building a home here) boat Oracle. The boats are now super Hi tech and winning is all about innovations. Oh, it always has been about superior boat design and capturing a multikilometer of speed, but the tech now seems bolder, kind of like between flying and sailing. But really cool, requiring enormous new skills, and readapting some older ones, like pedaling a bicycle. . But, not necessarily America’s.

The Answer:

#1 of the 30 most likable pros is the ever-gentlemanly Jordan Spieth followed by Tony Finau, Adam Scott, Stewart Cink, Ricky Fowler, Billy Hurley III, Geoff Ogilvy, Brandt Schnedeker, Justin Rose and #10 Andrew “Beef” Johnston. Aaron Badderly kicks off the second ten followed by Matt Kucher, Rory McIlroy, Mark Wilson, Zack Johnson, Graeme McDowell, Jason Day, Brendon De Jonge, Harold Varner III and #20 Brendan Steele. For 21 to 30 we have Henrik Stensen, Ernie Els, Ryan Palmer, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Charles Howell III, Padraig Harrington, Bill Haas, Louis Oosthuizen, KJ Choi, and at #30  Adam Hadwin. Bonus: Japanese car makers Toyota and Honda sedans headed the list last year. Somehow, they magically dropped off this year. Was it the presence of Trump in the White House that mysteriously gave US makers a boost? #1 is Jeep Wrangler, followed by Jeep Cherokee, Ford Taurus, and then two Honda products – the Ridgeline Pickup and Acura RDX. The second Five are Ford 150, Ford Expedition, GMC Acadia, Honda Odyssey and Honda Pilot.

Get ready for Friday.