Today's Tids Issue 2,057
Opening Stuff:
One of the great things about riding a ski lift, other than wonderful solitude, is the opportunity to watch people taking care of people. I love watching the Moms and Dads teaching the smallest of children. Or, big sisters and brothers patiently, yes patiently, teaching their younger siblings. Or husbands teaching wives and wives teaching husbands. Girlfriends teaching boyfriends and vice-versa. Guys teaching their pals. And gals teaching theirs. The slopes is a place where people care. It always puts a smile on my face as I ride to the top.
Remember as you walk thought life that all con men are likable.
The Question:
Today’s is the anniversary of another day in US history that will “live in infamy”…the ratification of the Amendment that gave us the Income Tax. Name the year and the number of the Amendment. Name the amendments that followed the Bill of Rights up to the 2Oth.
The Headlines:
--Bomber Kills Three Children And Three US Troops In Pakistan.
--AIG Able To Pay Out $100 Million In Bonuses Because Of Taxpayer Support; Most Are Contractual.
--Mr. Bi-Partisan Ridicules Republicans At Latest Presidential Campaign Stop; Prez Expected To Play Kissy Face With Senate Republicans Today.
--GOP Kirk And Dem Giannoulis Win Illinois Primary Setting Up Battle For Obama Senate Seat; Kirk Way Ahead In Polls; Governor Primary Results In Dispute.
--More Americans Have Trouble Making Hard Choice Between Paying Down Credit Card Debt And making Mortgage Payment.
--Europe Remains Skeptical About Iran Nuke Plans.
--Toyota Hit By 100 Complaints About Prius Brakes.
--Stocks Slide As Growth of Services Industries Fall Short.
More Stuff:
Is the media’s infatuation with issues like gays in military and having ten instead of five films nominated for the Oscar an indicator of their inability to understand and discuss intelligently the complexities of some of the most serious issues in the history of the world? Or is it just that the reading public wants it light all of the time.
I love stories like that of Abby Sunderlund. In case you missed it, she is the 16 year old girl who has set out to sail around the world non-stop, single handed. She came up with a technical problem and will be sailing into to Cabo for repairs. But since she has not yet crossed the equator, legally she can call Cabo her start and end place and still qualify under the non-stop rules. Next to The Tids, following Abby on http://soloround.blogspot.com can be almost as exciting!
Cholesterol pill users are a lot like four-wheel drive car owners. Both groups think they don’t have to do anything different to help themselves.
One of the great little art museums in the country is the Richard M. Hunt designed Newport Art Museum in RI. For 83 years now, they have added to the fulfillment of members with a winter lecture series that is as versatile as it is venerable. This week after last weeks trip inside Mayan writing, a speaker Maury Klein will look into the “myth” of the Robber Barons”. This is quite the topical subject as it grew out of the 1930’s and the great depression. Just as today people are looking at Wall Street for goats, the pained people of that time sought to blame the captains of industry who created the world’s largest industrial economic force. It could be enlightening. Maybe those guys at Goldman Sachs aren’t so bad after all. Maybe Clueless Lane really does do something other than make my retirement portfolio decline.
Consumer Reports is now reporting what some of my friends have been saying for months – coffee sucks! In a new study of 37 blends and 13 decafs, no coffee made it to “Excellent” or “Very Good”. The best any coffee could do was a third place level of “Good”. Those best were Starbucks House Blend and Green Mountain Signature Nantucket Blend. The decaf high scorers, also at the third level “Good”, were Allegro organic, Peet’s, Caribou Daybreak and Bucks County. So, the good news is that it isn’t because your taste buds are getting old. The beans are.
Headline of the Week Department:
A headline in the Newspaper Food section highlighting cuisine for the new China year said “The Year of the Tiger Starts off with a Bang!”. Oops!
While we are into the vagaries of headlines and reporting, check out this gap between headlines and what really is happening. A business story about the year of XM/Serius Radio is headed by “Stock Price up 600%” and “Moody’s Upgrades Bond Rating”. Run don’t walk to your nearest broker, right? Wrong. The 600% increase was from 13 cents/share to 93 cents/share. This means that after a year the stock is still under $1.00 meaning that it could be delisted by NASDAQ and the shares would be worthless. The Moody’s rating was up to “Junk Bond” status. Look both ways before you run.
The Novel:
Through the Same Eyes: Chapter 53. –I took a deep, pleasant breath and slowly exhaled after I hung up from Kent. He was telling me something important and all I was hearing was those pleasant tones that soothe coming from a heart and a mind that I love. Kent. Kent. Why did you come into my life? My life that was totally perfect. My life that could be unbelievably perfect again. With Paul and of course my Jax and my Jill. Why is true love so strong? Why does my heart ache now with lovely pain? Can I lead two lives for the rest of life? Am I strong enough to make a decision? Why am I stuck in this hospital bed with barely any voice and no strength, and so much to do? I pressed the buzzer fro my nurse as I tried to see what if anything I could do about what Kent was telling me about BiEm. The nurse came within seconds. I love her, I thought. I gave her a huge smile which is about all I can give anybody now. “You called”, she said jokingly. I gestured for her to bend in closely. “Call Jack Wiley for me. I have to talk to him. Do you think I can talk?” “Honey”, she said gesturing wildly, I believe you can do anything you want to do”. I wondered.
More Stuff:
The smartest person in the room is always the person in the room who talks the least. I got by using the mute button for years.
And...that brings us to “Prime Time”. Can you say Las Vegas?
One reader worries about the recent Fed’s statement “We’re not finished with Toyota yet.”. He can only wonder if the US Government and Labor Union ownership of the two failed American companies is driving this action with the net result being a weaker largest competitor of US government companies. You have to figure that the Detroit big labor groups have always harbored a little hatred in their hearts fro Toyota who by building plants in non union states helped drive down wages in general. There is also a rumor out of the Midwest that Honda is next in the sights of our federal protectors. Honda was the first Japanese company to build in America.
The Answer:
These “Q’s” are getting a little heavy. We’ll be back to superficial tomorrow. The Income Tax amendment was number 16. and it happened 96 years ago. Eleven was “Immunity of Sates from suits by outsiders; Twelve Revised Prez election process; Thirteen nixed Slavery; Fourteen was about post Civil war citizenship deals; Fifteen prohibited denial of suffrage by race, color or servitude; Seventeen was direct election of senators; Eighteen said no more drinky-poos; Nineteen said woman could vote; Twenty set term commencement for Congress and Prez; 21 repealed eighteen; 22 set two term limit for Presidents.
The End:
No matter how slight, there is nothing more pleasant than blanket of white cleaning the landscape in the morning.
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