Holes in the fabric.

Today's Tids Issue 4,242

Lift the Fog:

The latest new sign of an economic slowdown could be the recent news of a general downward slide in corporate revenue. Now good profit reports are sound indicators when they are the result of new and growing revenue. But when revenue dips, profits maintenance is only achieved through cutting key elements of a strong company -- manufacturing capital improvements, R&D and of course people. And, the people effect then becomes widespread, as national wages decline and purchasing power wanes. Personally, I think the American stock markets got more superficial when they began measuring everything by quarterly expectations, which essentially forced many a manager to make not so intelligent decisions for the preservation of acceptable reports. Maybe WS needs a new formula to measure success, like how well companies are designed for growth and their capability for meeting new challenges, especially in these new techno times. And, maybe they should be measured also on how well they keep people employed, because the free enterprises system endorsed by the “Of The People” government should at least incorporate the fate of their beholders into the formula.

My wife was furious at me for kicking dropped ice cubes under the refrigerator. But now it’s just water under the fridge.

Also threatening the US perhaps is the reluctance of parents to have children immunized against infectious diseases. All of a sudden diseases long thought gone for good are returning in epidemic style, like measles and others we all of the past loved seeing eradicated. It has been pretty much proven that immunization does not cause other horrible illnesses but only serves to prevent them. 

The Question:

What are the ten oldest colleges/universities in the US? Bonus: What are the five most expensive?

The Headlines:

--International Political Tension Expected To Drive Down Stocks Again Today; Saudis Pledge To Be Responsible Participants In Oil Markets.

--Red Sox And LA Dodgers Begin Coastal World Series Tonight.

--Bomb Experts Disarm Explosive Devices Found In George Soros Mail Box At Westchester County NY Home.

--Erdogan Says He Has Evidence That Khashoggi Killing Was Planned In Advance.

--Trump Warns He Will Cut Off Millions In Aid To Central American Countries If They Don’t Get Their House In Order.

--Judge Affirms Verdict Against Monsanto, But Slashes Damages Down $250 Mil To $39 Million

--US Warships Sail Through Taiwan Strait; Japan’s Abi Ad China’s Xi Hold Summit.

A few days ago while checking out at the supermarket, the cashier informed me that there would be a $1.40 tax on my $10.00 purchase of Diet Coke. I said, in dismay, “Tax?”. She said, “Yeah, that is interesting, because there is no tax on water.” I told her that big government is persecuting people who drink products they don’t like. She stared at me. The guy behind me was buying three gallons of water and four bananas. He didn’t agree with me either. Going to the supermarket could be dangerous to my health.

Home sales are declining, so say the latest reports. So where do all of those people who have been playing the home-buying game put their money? People may not be moving into newly bought homes, but they still eat, and if the economy slows, cheaper food will be good. Anybody can get into a fast food franchise if they have the dough. A million for a food franchise seems relatively cheap all of a sudden if you consider what you get for a million for an overpriced home: Subway -- $106 to 394K; Micky’s -- $1M to $2.2M; Starbucks -- $315K; Dunkin -- $110M to $2.2M; Pizza Hut -- $297K to $2.1M; Burger King -- $316K to $$2.3M; Taco bell -- $1.2M to $2.6M; Wendy’s -- $2M to $3.5M; Dominos -- $$120K to 4462K; Dairy Queen -- $1.1M to $1.85M.

I don’t know how else to express it: The marauding mob marching through Mexico is looking like a coordinated foreign attack on US sovereignty. Pure and simple.

But, some of the President’s hyperbole about the march isn’t helpful

The latest urban boomlet is emigration out of big cities into smaller nearby cities, many of which are being restored to the glory of their manufacturing heydays, and are much cheaper in which to live .

Dieting fraud is high weigh robbery.

Giant toymaker Hasbro is having some revenue and profit problems due, they say, to the demise of Toys r’ Us. Now my questions is: Is the slowing of revenue due to less spending by consumers, or because in the past Hasbro and other toy manufacturers would produce and dump products into the retailer warehouses, which looked like sales and thus produced better spread sheets than the reality of the markets. But, they met quarterly expectations, and put RrU out of business in the long run.

Behind every successful student here is a deactivated Facebook account.

The Answer:

Harvard was first in 1636. U of Penn says it was the first University. But that aside, the oldest after Harvard are William & Mary 1693, Saint Johns (Annapolis) 1696, Yale 1701, Washington Colleges 1723, Penn 1740, Moravian (Bethlehem) 1742, U Delaware 1743, Princeton 1746 and #10 Washington & Lee. The next ten are Columbia, Brown, Rutgers, Dartmouth, Charleston, Salem, Dickenson, Hampden-Sidney, Transylvania and Washington & Jefferson. Bonus: Unlike dates which are factual, “Most Expensive” can be quite subjective, with a few opiniated dollars here or there dramatically changing rankings. So I picked one list that looked pretty complete. The ten most expensive colleges are Harvey Mudd, Columbia, Chicago, Sarah Lawrence, Claremont McKenna (Cal), Scripps, NYU, Southern Cal, Dartmouth and Haverford. Number 11 is SMU.

It’s easier to be legal than ethical.