Believe in Yourself.

Today's Tids Issue 4,268

A Loverly December, moments to remember:

George H.W. Bush as President today would do a lot for America.

Happy December, everybody! Yup, something happened over the weekend – the month of Goblins and turkeys changed to the month glorious birth and fruitcakes. Yes, it’s the time for unwarranted anxiety in this month that focuses on love and rebirth of humanity. We remember the biggest sneak attack since the Trojan Horse, and shepherds in fields hearing heavenly voices. The month that is cold is full of hearts that are warm. We say thanks for socks and play with kids blocks. We devour buttery cookies, and help homeless in their nooks. Yes, this is truly the month of love and giving, remembering all those passed, and embracing the living. Yes, December is the happy months, regardless of what psychoanalysts tell us.  

I have seen recently Christmas tree ornaments with pics of kid’s favorite movie characters. It’s just one more subtle publicity scheme. Isn’t Christmas commercial enough without hanging it on trees?

You probably wonder at times how the Tids team of sophisticated and worldly, hip writers can spend so much time extoling the virtues of bad, so-called unhealthy food.  Of course, it’s simple, somebody has to support those who choose to eat foods that taste good over those who blindly follow gastronomic gurus. Because real health in today’s confusing arrogant world isn’t about aches and pains and heart failure, it’s about a happy mind free from conflict and intimidation. Living healthy is significantly more achievable with self-esteem. It is not about pointing fingers at the size of tummies. It’s about savoring every burst of salty flavor from orange cheesy snacks or thick rich creamy gravy without guilt. Yes, there are people in this world other than those who flaunt perfect bodies. And, the Tids is for you!

Hanukah began yesterday and will end on December 10^th. Light the candles, eight; rededicate the old Jewish Temple; Praise the resilience of the Jewish people. It is a wonderful season of light and poetic thoughts.

The Question:

What was the famous book written by Harriet Beecher Stow -- Red Badge of Courage, Jane Eyre, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, North and South or Life Among the Lowly. Bonus: In Eastern football up through the seventies there were three mini football groupings comprised of teams with age old rivalries – The Big Three, The Middle Three, and The Little Three. Who were the teams in each?

The Headlines:

--USA Mourns GHWB.

--US Stock Markets Will Close Wednesday In Honor Of GHW Bush.

--Xi And Trump Come To Cessation Agreement On Trade Escalation.

--Markets UP sharply At Opening And Look To Strong Day After Xi/Trump Agreement; Qatar To Pull Out Of OPEC; US Farmers To Receive Benefits From New China/US Truce; Microsoft Passes Apple As Richest US Company.

--Michele Obama Disagrees With FaceBook’s Cheryl Sandberg “Lean In” Strategy.

--Tom Brady Ties Archie Manning For Most TD Passes Ever.

--Jerome Corsi Issues Criminal Compliant Saying that Mueller Sought False testimony.

--Samsung And Verizon Announce 5G Plans; Apple 5G Expected In 2020.

--Important International Climate Conference Begins.

--37-Year-Old American Woman Goes Missing In Costa Rica.

--NCAA Football Playoffs: Alabama Versus Oklahoma; Clemson Versus Notre Dame; many say It Should Be 8 team Playoff.

--The Favorites For Next Year’s World Series Are The Boston Red Sox 11-2, The NY Ya, Ya, Ya, Ya…and Houston Astros at 6-1, And LA Dodgers at 7-1.

I have always thought that orchestra conductors are not getting enough out of Shubert’s 9th “The Great” Symphony. But then, maybe that was the way it was written. Of course, who am I but a man with ears.

In today’s star power world books don’t have to be good to sell millions.

The PC crowd tends get become very active during this beautify Christmas season. For one, my just typing C-h-r-i-s-t-m-a-s is basically a criminal act of significant proportion. But the cultural blighters really get to work on Christmas songs, and most of their comments sound like excerpts from the satire mag “The Onion”. The latest is a ban of the pleasant little winter ditty, “Baby It’s Cold Outside”, because it suggests date rape.

In honor of GHWB, the Tids will become ideological free, that is, if the author can suppress his bias. Well…it’s a start for crissake!

I look out upon once rolling fields of grasses and wildflowers dancing in the breezes, and now see reflections from solar panels. And I wonder, there just has to be a more efficient way to get power than gobbling up beautiful acres of open spaces.

American offshore windmill developers and political backers always point to the success of the Northern European model, but they don’t tell you all the facts. The US press hasn’t written the story about Denmark cancelling all Windmill projects, or the enormous problems faced by Germany. Or, hordes of fishermen marching in protest. Or salt corrosion or the need for gas power equivalents. In Europe they exist through taxpayer subsidies, and produce high cost electricity, another shot on the everyman pocketbook. Euro windfarms produce less than 20% of promised output. I could go on. It would take 17 issues of Tids to describe all of the shortcomings often painted rosy by those who want alternative power for political purposes. I firmly believe we should be looking for more efficient ways to produce power that is cleaner and renewable. But, jumping into in bed with the first concept you see though glazed eyes that turns your head, is never the way to go. Especially when you wake up in the morning.

Some are saying that advanced battery power will be the real future, although there are significant tradeoffs with that too.

Maybe the best ever of our renewable power efforts was capturing rivers and streams.

This just in: Millions of Americans have been seen staring into super market frozen orange juice sections because the juice containers were marked “Concentrate”.

While many sports fans were glued to NFL games on Sunday, the best game of the week was the women’s basketball game between #2 UConn and #1 Notre Dame. Mighty UConn rose up to win 89-70, but it was tense all the way before the final breakaway.

Organic: It is a grocery business word meaning double the price.

Once you get beyond the fact that Mahler seems in conflict with your traditional perceptions of classical music, you find that his music sounds like a twinkle in the eye and energetic loving hearts.

Did you know that in the 1830’s Harriet Beecher Stowe was a member of the “Semi-Colon” club. It’s a good thing that there are affliction societies. You know, banding together for self-esteem.

Now they are naming winter storms. I remember before weather people that weather came and weather went, and we either played in it or waited until it was over.

The Answer:

Harriet Beecher Stowe was quite the woman – Quaker, writers and abolitionist. Her best-known book was “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” sometimes known as “Life among the Lowly.” Bonus: The Big Three were Harvard, Princeton and Yale. The Middle three were Lafayette, Lehigh and Rutgers. The Little Three were Amherst, Wesleyan and Williams. Up though the mid-sixties, all of those teams played solid football. Many other eastern colleges like Colgate and Holy Cross, for instance, were highly competitive and also played some of the Bigs. But, alas, the bigs got too big and the cash too exorbitant. So, now, the Ivy League is still filled with great rivals with less dominance of the three. The Middle Three divorced Rutgers who eventually went Big time Big Ten, leaving Lehigh and Lafayette to form the Patriot League modeled after the athletic/academic principles of the Ivies, and including other midsized universities including the above Colgate and HC, plus schools like Bucknell and Fordham. The Little Three are still strong rivals and are part of a league including all the strong liberal arts colleges, like Middlebury, Trinity and the “Maine Big Three” of yore – Bates, Bowdoin and Colby. So, life goes on for the former Eastern football elite, but it just doesn’t cost so much.

Since I changed the color of my favorite monastic robes, they have been stiff and uncomfortable. I guess old habits dye hard.

Groan your way through December!