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Today's Tids Issue 4,356

Just Foolin':

Tis April everybody. Beautiful, hopeful April. Will it be about practical jokes or budding of trees and greening of hills. Of Easter eggs hidden in bushes, and mighty organs in grand churches celebrating the heavens aglow. I love chocolate, but I don’t eat it much anymore. But, Easter is a good day to not only end Lenten resolutions but many daily prohibitions like eating delicious chocolate that’s bad for you. Alas, the tax collector cometh. Just one grey day of many that are so Sumy. The baseball season are well underway, the college BB Champs have been crowned and the Masters tournament with flowers aglow is a magnificent show. The breezes off the sea are still cool but the days grow longer and the sun feels warmer. A poet named T.S. Eliot called it the cruelest month. It’s only cruel if you overdo your anticipations and expectations. Like everything else in life, if you are rational about reality, April is one of the most special of all, indeed.

Facebook and Twitter and Google and the rest are saying they can institute artificial intelligence that can judge the acceptability of written comments. It all depends on the input to these new born minds.

Whatever happed to Easter bonnets in church?

Whatever happened to people in church?

Yesterday, on Sunday, I had the opportunity to watch the UConn women beat Louisville in a terrific NCAA Women’s regional final. Then the Providence College men’s hockey team shutout Cornell to gain a spot in the NCAA Frozen Four championship battle. Finally, I was glued to the two last rounds of the excellent PGA match play championship. That left me no time for the NCAA final four playoffs. And, you know what, I didn’t miss it at all.

I’m finding that the word “recent” tends to relate to any date that occurred during my lifetime.

The Question:

What are the five busiest symphony orchestras in the World? Bonus: Two USA states have one religion that dominates. Name it. Extra Bonus: What was Rogers and Hammerstein’s first Broadway musical?

The Headlines:

--China Factory Activity Up; World Markets Respond Favorably; US Expected To Follow; US Retail Sales Fall; Economists Say Closure Of Mexican Border Entry Points Would Halt Shipments Of About $600 Billion In Goods And About $60 Ballion In Services..

--Trump Diverts Funds From Wall Project To Build Hurricane Escape Bridge From Puerto Rico To Miami; Expects String Of Hotels Along Largest Ever Bridge.

--Trump Says He’s Dead Serious About Pulling Funds From Central American Countries Of Origin For Illegal Immigrant Invasion.

--New Photos Show President Trump In Love Nest With Alexandra Casio-Cortez. Maxine Waters Calls For Investigation Of AOC For Pillow Talk Giveaway Of Progressive Secrets.

--23^rd Horse Dies At Eerie California Racetrack.

--New Era Of Volatility Expected For Stock Markets; Tums Sales Expected To Double.

--Jussie Smollett Lawyers Claim April Fools Defense.

--Disneyland Bans Smoking And Oversized Stroller. (That Sounds Like An April Fool’s Joke.)

The race to become the oldest living president was just a matter of who died first, Jimmy Carter or GHW Bush.

Another sign of rampant tourism out of control comes from the Netherlands where people coming to see the magnificent, colorful tulips all in a row, walk in them and trample the flowers and kill bulbs. Is it a sign of just too many tourists overwhelming small areas or just too many people who just don’t care about others?

If I were to tell you that Pete Buttgieg was a strong Dem candidate for President would you think that an AF prank (Except for Indianans). You probably would lock me up I I said that PB had raised over $7,000,000 in ten first Quarter making him one of the leading Dem Candidates. And it’s all true! And, so far there are no pics of him with women or native American DNA test results.

International Detente, Department:

Of the 882 Major League Baseball players, 257 are from other nations. The Dominican Republic is number one with 109. The next two are Communist/Socialist Countries Venezuela (68) and Cuba (19). In addition to US territory Puerto Rico (18), there are Mexico, Japan and Canada with players in the US league.

Not surprising to many, the Lyft pop burst quickly after initial jubilation. Most expect company to now languish like Group-On or Fitbit. But, the owners got the money for their longer range future. If there is a future, if they can make a profit. Will it be “Blue Apron” or “Esty”? Next up, Uber.

You know, I used to make up stories for my April Fools edition, but now I just read the headlines and listen to political experts.

AG Barr taking several weeks to adjudicate the info in 300 pages of Mueller observations doesn’t seem out of line to me. Actually, anything can be out of line when politics are involved. That’s why I have stopped paying attention to news from or about politicians. In the past he or she telling an obvious bold-faced misstatement of Facts would yell April Fool. Now, they mean it and look like fools.

Camille Sant Sans composed his first work when he was 3 years old. He had been playing piano for 6 months. I’m thinking that I’m a late bloomer.

Headline out of Ukraine: “Comedian tops public opinion poll in race for next President.” The inference there was that it was odd. I say not. We have comedians running all the time.

I think a guy on the radio who is very Republican and quite conservative, speaks for a lot of people: “I don’t like the person who is President, but I believe in 75% of his polices, and that’s the highest percentage for any President recent memory.”

Two things that bother me are jumping to conclusions and negativity before the fact.

Science reports a new discovery with regards to elephant seals and their ability to dive over a mile while holding their breath for two hours. New evidence found in a melting iceberg allowed them to surmise that elephant seals were quite sedentary before giving up smoking, which allowed them to explore deeper ocean food sources with now improved lung structure.  Unfortunately, now with the availability of more food and the need for greater blubber layering for thermal protections, they became fat and immobile on land. And, easy prey for speedy polar bears.

The Answer:

Number one busiest symphony orchestra is Royal Philharmonic with 150 appearances. Next is NordwestDeutsche with 139, Chicago with 126, Philadelphia with 123 and New York with 120. That’s a lot of fiddlin’. Bonus: You probably got Utah, which is dominated by Mormons. The other is Rhode Island which has a vast majority of Catholics. Note, 78% of Americans are Christian, 2% are Jewish and 1% is Muslim. 15% do not have a religious identity. That means that of those with a religious identity 95% are Christian. The largest Christian group is protestant at 48% followed by Catholic at 23 %. Extra Bonus: O-k-l-a-h-o-m-a was cheered by all and the songs hummed all the way home.

So far, I’ve made it through the morning without a April first scare from my kids.

If a comedian made fun of fat, heavy midriff guy named Chuck at a dinner in his honor, would that be called a Chuck Pot Roast?