Forward from Horror.

Today's Tids Issue 4,446

There is more good:

There’s a lot of dreadful little things that happen day to day anywhere in our world. But Friday and Saturday Morning brought home much too vividly the hate that now exists in this great country. A day when a simple visit to a shopping mall in el Paso and a laughing in a “safe” entertainment center in Dayton ended in the most awful of human tragedies. Two places where people are on low alert, enjoying shopping in one instance or dancing and listening to music at the other. Older people talk about the days gone by when we didn’t have to lock our doors. But now we have to lock down even the most innocuous of venues, just in case. Just in the event some mad person chooses that day and that place to release his demons on the innocent. Yes, within less than 24 hours, at least 29 are dead and 40 more are seriously injured in hospitals awaiting their fate. There are so many days that belie sensibility. Yesterday was one of the worst of them all. Where can you go without looking over your shoulder?

You may have noticed that I am somewhat of a cynic who often thinks we as a country that overreacts much too much. But you can’t overreact enough to the grizzly massacres of yesterday of just plain ole’ good people doing what all people do every day. I just don’t know of any simple answer to stopping mad men. Regardless of political indictments.

Shucking fresh local corn in the summer is great for day dreaming. That’s why I don’t understand having clerks in stores shucking it for you. Is convenience more important than enjoying life?

I’m one of those people who totally enjoys sitting and watching a baseball game. Despite all the negativity from analysts, talkers and pontificators telling the world that baseball is over.

Speaking of declining sports, Country Clubs are having trouble filling membership openings, and this time it is not purely economic. I think younger generations have found other sports or recreational activities to keep them interested, which includes the family on those precious weekends away from work.

Did you read where RBG said that she liked Brett Kavanaugh finding him smart and fair, and with the most woman clerks ever in the history of the Supreme Court. “She referred to her colleague Justice Brett Kavanaugh as a ‘very decent person’ as she lamented what she characterized as the ‘dysfunction’ surrounding the confirmation process for the new justice.” At the service for Paul Stevens she went on to say that her new associates (Kavanaugh and Gorsuch) were “Very smart individuals”.

Somedays when reading through the Tids before hitting send or publish, I think it is pretty trivial stuff compared to real life hard ships people endure every day. It’s always good to put what you think and do in perspective to the bigger challenges of daily life. Self-importance can be pretty debilitating to society if left unchecked

Why do the Alphabet Song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune? Why do you think you will be humming that tune for the rest of the day?

The Question:

What was the name of the vessel that was first to go over the North Pole underwater? And, where did it get its name? Bonus: Why is Greensboro NC Called Greensboro?

The Headlines:

--China’s Tumbling Currency Has World And US markets Reeling; China’s Reduction In value Of Yuan Is Seen As Retaliation To Trump Tariffs And Trade War escalation.

--Nation Prays For The Families Of Those Murdered In El Paso And Dayton Ohio.

--In Speech This Morning, Trump Condemns, Hatred, Racism And White Supremacy; Trump Calls For Background Check Law.

--40 Shot 3 Killed In General Weekend Chicago Shootings.

--Bombs Burst In Bangkok Mall Just Minutes Before ASEAN Summit.

--31 Dead, 62 Rescued After Philippine Boat Capsizing.

--India Shuts Down Internet, Place Local Politicos Under House Arrest, Orders Tourists To Leave Kashmir Region; State To Lose Quasi-Indolence Status; Protests Erupt..

--Turkey To Launch Offensive Against Kurds In Syria.

--Iran Seizes Another Foreign Tanker.

--Dems Blame Trump For Shootings.

A mass shooting is defined as a killing of killing four or more people (Not including the shooter) in one place in one event. Mass shootings are of three categories – gang shootings, domestic violence shootings and politically induced or domestic terror shootings. The Washington Post says there have been 163 mass shootings in the US between 1966 and 2019. Note: You can find any number of shootings as reported by many different organizations with different agendas, but they are all in the low hundreds. Since 1949 (Camden) there have been 28 shootings with a death total over 10. The point: How do you find the 193 shooters out of 320 million before they can take action. The main reasons for shootings are mental illness, revenge for bullying, diminished life accomplishments, desire for notoriety.

Predictably, Dem candidates with flagging poll numbers scrambled over the bodies of the innocent to blame the President for the Shootings.

I just read this quote from some Hollywoodite: “The Best TV shows are about families fighting.” Say what? Family dynamics shows bore me to tears. And my favorites like crime and international intrigue shows and mysteries, spend too much time being diverse, culturally cool, and yes, focusing on family controversies.

CSPI (Center for Scientists in the Public Interest) just published their 2019 “Xtreme Eating” List. This list of restaurant menu no-no’s is one person’s early death warning and another person’s opportunity for deliciousness. For instance, one item that comes from Cracker Barrel is a breakfast consisting of 3 eggs, fried apples, hash browns, sirloin steak, porkchops and biscuits with jam and gravy. There’s something wrong with that? Oh yeah, dump the fried apples.

High School classmates of Dayton shooter Conner Betts said he had been suspended from school in 2014 after officials found his “Hit List” of those he would kill and “Rape List” of girls he would sexually assault. I think that may have been a clue there that would have placed him on some kind of watch list. Alleged anti-Immigrant El Paso shooter Patrick Crusius was a hateful, well known contributor to dark web site. Maybe he should be on aw watch list.

If the Professor on Gilligan’s Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can’t he fix a hole in the boat?

This weekend the Boston Red Sox reminded me of good Sox teams of yore who blew their season in the first week of August. Every single year. That was our plight until the Worlds Series win in 2001. In those days before victory, annual collapses were just a part of living; having hopes and having them dashed. But, we got used to winning and now losing out early hurts more deeply. Strange emotional beasts, we humans.

Organization “Mission Statements” that focus on diversity will often lead to narrow mindedness.

I’m thinking that most of the today’s movies and TV shows are actually therapeutic devices for directors and screenwriters. Or are used as vehicles to normalize their personal fantasies.

Saikat Chakrabarti is now out there on his own, and I suspect you are going to hear him spouting a lot during the next 15 months. Beware of his slickness, and the media who will be succumbing to it.

Speaking of controversial threats to the USA, what is happening in Turkey? This country has gone silent since a fairly active period of inter and intra government turmoil. Is it time to focus the lens of the crack Tids International Conspiracy Department (TIC) on Erdogan? I think so.

Now that the hopes for the big Red Sox finish are dimming, the Crack Tids team of NFL Pickers is clearly focused on the upcoming season. So, get ready for the week before the first game. we will be there for enlightened picks, opinions and guidance to the long season ahead. We’re shooting for 75% this year. First thoughts: I’m a little worried about my beloveds, the Patriots. Are the Cowboys anything without Ezekiel? The great Antonio Brown seems to be dumping on his new Oakland team just as he did the Steelers. Are the Jets finally for real? Let’s hope the high expectations for the Cleveland Browns aren’t shattered. See you in September.

Does the ACLU permit “Watch lists”?

And from another reader attempting to get on the revered Banned Pun List (BPL), we get this oldie: The phone number of the Vatican is Et cum spirit utu-o. A pure thumbs down.

Rhode Islanders talk about TV News anchors like they are members of the family. Come to think of it, in this tiny state, many of them may be just that.

Our esteemed Governor Gina R (Also Prez of the Dem Governors Conference) said Friday, “I’m about making progress in Rhode Island” as she signed a bill allowing hair braiders to work without the regulations associated with the beauty parlor business. So, it’s nice to know we will be attracting more hair braiders to bolster our economy. Actually, RI is on a roll as it has been discovered that the State legislature has gone out of its way to assure the populace that it will have a healthy Auto Body repair industry. Maybe that’s why we keep the roads rugged? RI is all about keeping aunts, uncles and cousins happy.

Living in RI can be an intense head scratcher at times, but you will never see such a range of natural scenic beauty anywhere in this world. Period. That’s just one provincial mind’s opinion.

Just to set the record straight, the Dayton shooter according to his own writings was an avowed leftist anxious for Biden and his generation to die off, and have the nation vote for Elizabeth Warren.

The Answer:

The first atomic sub which went over the North Pole underwater was the Nautilus named after the iconic vessel created by Jules Verne for Captain Nemo. Verne was science fiction writer at a time when I except many people thought all science was fiction. Interestingly, he drew his information for Nemo’s submarine from an 1867 Exposition in France that displayed the French Navy submarine, “Plonguer”. Bonus: Greensboro NC was named after the Great Rhode Islander and key George Washington general, Nathanial Green. Always looking for a home town plug where I can find it.

I think I am using the word “Iconic” much too much.

There is no way to remove the pain form those who lost loved ones in senseless murders. There are now words to soften the tears. Hugs can say, I am with you.  You just pray that they who have lost will smile once more living the memories of the beauty each victim had given; that the void will be filled by what each brought to the world around them.