Down to the sea in Berluti's.

Today's Tids Issue 2,124
Opening Stuff:

As I watch these intrepid reporters in their boats, dressed appropriately in slickers, courageously sticking their hands in oily water, looking off into the horizon, pain in their eyes, proclaiming that the slick is but 10 miles from the shore, I’m thinking that he real problem for the environment is probably happening mere hundred’s of feet below them. How incredibly destructive to sea life would be an ocean floor covered with oil?

I may have to go with the Dems on this financial regulations overhaul bill. Especially now that the GOP has gotten rid of the self financed “Bailout” component of the bill. I’m a CTTP guy. That stands for my long heralded “Closer to the Crooks” voter control strategy. States and local power. One of the remaining sticking points before passage is the Federal versus states power in the writing and enforcement of rules. The GOP wants total control with the feds. The Dems say the states should do it. I can’t go with that. Nobody has proven to me that “what’s good for the banks is good for the consumer” works at all.

The Question:
The first American newscast was by NBC in 1941. Who was the first anchor and how many can you remember to present?

The Headlines:
--3.6% Q1 Productivity Beats Estimates; Overall Lower Labor Costs Raises Fear Of Slower Recovery.
--Euro Decline Raises New Fears Of Declining European Economy As Greek Mess Infects Other Countries.
--Surprising Boston Bruins Take Big Step Towards Stanley cup.

Back to More Stuff:

American Idol sucked Tuesday night. Maybe it was the dreamy style of the Sinatra tunes. Maybe it was because none of the singers were very good at all. But I think it was because Siobhan and her innate energy were missing from this show which had boiled down to 4 mediocre men and a pretty good woman. Now we know, even though praised I thought wrongly by the judges, that Aaron was tossed. It could have been any of the five based on the performances I saw. Oh, and I’m sorry I missed the review yesterday. It must have been the lackluster performances or the misery of missing Siobhan that knocked me down.

In response to a Tids note yesterday about pictures of self looking better when not wearing your glasses, a reader suggests keeping the lights in the house low. Shadows are good fro skin tone.

In an article this morning about the ugliest buildings in Providence I was both dismayed and educated. Dismayed because some of my personal favorites were severely criticizes and some of my obvious ugly’s went unnoticed. Educated because it proved to me once again that people’s opinions are incredibly varied. And particularly when it comes to taste and beauty. It is easy to be critical of just about anything. Believe it or not, the Tids used to be far more cirticle of just about anything. But as the circulation grew, I found myself tempering some observations. Oh, never observations about right and wrong and general morality and honesty, but on areas of personal taste. If everything was like me, it would be a bland world.

And, if you don’t think that people have opinions about things that should appear obvious yet 180 degrees different from yours, consider the CNN commentator (Agosta, I think) who said that he didn’t blame the Times Square bomber for being mad at the US because his house had been recently foreclosed.

Actors performing at matinee productions where the audience is 90% senior citizens should never expect a “standing” ovation.

Didn’t you get the feeling while following the drama of the Times Square bomber that you had just seen it all before on “24”?

You have to expect that the cost of health care will grow even beyond what it is today as organized groups lobby congress to have their respective maladies covered by this bill. That’s the way all government grows beyond control. It isn’t always the original bill that’s the problem, but what scared congress people add to it over time that makes big government control prohibitively expensive.

I sat next to a couple of High Schoolers in an auditorium yesterday. At one time an older dial phone was brought on the stage. The one next to me turned to her friend and said “Did you ever see one of those phones where you stick your finger in the hole and turn the wheel!” You have to wonder what will be nostalgia when she is my age. It could be scary

The Answer:
The father of Conservative commentator Cal Thomas, Lowell Thomas was the first news TV anchor. Next we had John Cameron Swayzie til 1955. The David Brinkly was the Washington correspondent at the time but was not much of a factor until he joined Chet Huntley in 1955. By 1956 the correspondents power had ousted Swayzie. Of course NBC at the time of the H-B emergence had been overshadowed be CBS Edward R. Murrow. When Huntley retired in 1971, the NBC effort became rudderless with a series of anchors Brinkley, Frank McGee and John Chancellor. The network regained it’s footing when Tom Brokaw took over. Now we have the ever well dressed Brian Williams.

The End?
Missing anything? I had to run, and couldn’t do justice to the plight of Maggie Durham today. But she will return tomorrow, fighting for her sanity,,,and maybe her life.
Oh… this could be a bonanza day for those of you who love to find typos!