If I could spell “Popourri”, this would be it.

Today's Tids Issue 4,096

For Rhapsodic Musing:

I write my flowing, romantic words

Of calming seas and singing birds,

To represent the world more gently.

And help me persevere, mentally.

Yesterday at our local High School sailing team practice, they were having a snowball fight. How cool is that!

That Villanova Team, with a capital ‘T”, is one tough, resourceful bunch of basketball players. They are relentless, consistently taking away brief moments of hope from their opponents. There were some exceptional players on Michigan last night. A couple were real talents who probably have a great future, but they couldn’t make it happen against that Power Wildcat group who just never stop coming at you. Congrats to Nova.

Speaking of diminishing hope, Trump tweeting is wearing me down.

The Question:

What is Snap -10A?

The Headlines:

--Stock Bargains Have Investors Buying Back In.

--China Says It Will match US Tariffs – Intensely.

--Saudi Prince Says Jewish People Have Right To their Own Land.

--Putin, Erdogan Launch Turkey’s First Nuclear Reactor.

--Honduras “Caravan” (And US Supporters) Using “Refugee” Ploy To Get Hands On US Free Goodies.

--Panera Bread Is Latest To Have Customer Records Hacked.

--GM To End Reporting Monthly Sales(?).

--Spotify Lists On NYSE With $132 Reference Price Producing $23 Billion Valuation!

--Big East’s Villanova Tops Big Ten’s Michigan For NCAA Men’s Basketball Title.

The graveyard shift was the result of an earthquake.

For investors, The Facebook problem is more than the disturbing privacy issue currently in the news, Like with many institutional discrepancies, one red flag often initiates probes into the broader spectrum of company or personal segments (See Manafort). In the case of FB and its social media brethren, it is becoming perhaps a question of over valuation and finding new revenue streams to justify true growth. This may be a matter of one red flag causing a caution yellow flag for all, and a slowdown in the tech sector.

Say it ain’t so, Calamity Jane – Doris Day is 96 years old! My boyhood dreams are shattered.

Tim Cook was not necessarily trying to insult Zuckerberg, but saying to WS -- what you see in FB and ad-based companies is not us. We have many revenues streams, so don’t lump us all together. Don’t let market hysteria cloud judgment.

Note: Spotify, which just listed on the NYSE, is burning cash – revenue of $5 Billion and a loss of $1.5 Bil. The cost factor is about negotiating good license agreements from performers and songwriters. My question, how much of Spotify’s growth was due to it’s earlier model of “Free” music downloads?

The Masters is going to be a great tournament regardless of the return of Tiger or how well he plays.

Is wall Street over protecting adolescent tech businesses as they seek maturity?

The US Post Office has been oozing red well before Amazon came on the scene. You don’t fix a competition problem through Big Government harassment – you make a competitive move to fix your shortcomings.

I’d say that in almost 100% of cases where police show up, tense and on high alert, it isn’t because somebody ate somebody else’s cake at a Sunday School picnic.

Smart doctors can smile too.

Media ad sales have always been about projectable demographic data of subscribers, readers and now clickers. FB and the rest are just giant media outlets with personal data being the source of amusement instead of editorial opinions and journalistic news. The social media companies are just giant media companies in the advertising business, nothing more, nothing less. Every media company since the begging of times has spent millions trying to learn as much as possible about their audiences. In new Tech media, audiences just send it in naively, free.

It was tough rooting for Villanova last night, knowing that some of the finest, most beautiful people I know are Michigan fanatics, and were feeling low. But then, I’ve never had a heart.

So, does GM think that by not reporting monthly sales, they will be ending a decline?

This may be a rather simplistic view of why Hillary lost for not knowing the world beyond Chappaqua NY. She obviously wasn’t aware that if you look back at the history of The Voice, you will find that the majority of winning singers were voted in by “Country Folk”, not necessarily by coastal elite. You don’t have to go to Sutter’s Mill to find that little nugget. It was just lying there for her and all of her advisors to see. The USA is bigger than NY and Cal.

The Answer:

SNAP Is “Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power, and the SNAP A10 was the 1965 USA Nuclear Reactor launched into orbit, designed to test the use of this most efficient power source for space habitation. Because of a voltage meter failure, the Reactor stopped working after 43 days. Not to worry, say US scientists -- it is in an orbit designed to last 4,000 years (Unless of course, the orbit math was designed by the voltage meter engineer). Unfortunately, pieces of that Reactor in space have been regularly falling off, and there is, alas, a chance of collisions to set radio activity free. (And leakage may have already occurred). That’s because there are 29 other reactors up there, all launched by Russia. This does not sound like a happy thought. Maybe this presents an idea for a sequel to The Black Panther.

Where does radio activity go in a vacuum?

Well, folks it’s been a pleasure once again.

And, remember that people will react to intimidation, but prefer to work with people they like.