There's something about the sound of the chirping of song birds in the Vermont woods as the morning sun filters through the branches of trees that makes you realize that there is so much more to this world than manufacyuteured entertainment.

I missed you guys. So while technology explodes around us, sometimes it doesn't work at all in basic, rudimentary ways. Just let this Tidless respite remind you that there is always so much more to be achieved.

If you take a journey and nothing intrigues you, turn back and you see a whole new world.

Polls are showing that Biden jabberwocky is hurting Obama among indies in key states. Keep on talkin' Joe baby!

So, we were looking for a place to eat dinner one evening. The only place that looked available was the Harpoon Brewery, a local beer brewery. I went in to inquire if they had a menu, and was told by an employee looking kind of guy I met that they had a great menu. Concerned they only served beer, I asked "Do you have Coke?" He tensed, looked around both ways, "Coke?" He asked, eyes darting, mouth taut. "Yeah, like diet coke," I answered noticing his discomfort. "Oh Diet Coke," he smiled, now relaxed yet still with sweat trickling down his chin. "Yeah, sure..Diet Coke. Of Course, yup Diet Coke we have."

The Question:
What are the Top 12 favorite stocks according to managers of the Top Mutual Funds?

The Headlines:
--Greece Dominating Overall Activity On Wall Street.
--Shortage Of Grain In Syria Has Assad Rethinking Actions.
--Forest Fires Torching Sections Of New Mexico.
--Pacific Hurricane Bud Heading Towards Mexico As Cat 2.
--Prosecutors In Clements Case Presenting DNA On Needles As Their Case Winds Down.
--Killer Of Boy Etan Patz, Who Was First Pic On Milk Cartons, May Have Been Captured.

If it's true that we are here to help others, than what exactly are the others here for?

While traveling around some old haunts in Vermont and New Hampshire, I noticed the void left by the disappearance of some pretty good antique shops. I remember sensing the same feeling in Virginia and Maryland recently. Is this all because of "Antiques Road Show" and the resultant rise in prices making it difficult for shops to find bargains in barns in the hills and on back roads?

I'm thinking Valerie Jarrett for Obama Vice President in 2012. Hey, she already is the De-facto Veep.

Next to the electric company's giant roll of insulated wire next to a utility poll by the side if the road was a sign, "This is not Copper"!

In the unintended consequences department, how about the true reality of those latest retail sales numbers. First the retail sales were good, but don't expect retail clerk hiring. The big gains in retail are due to Internet sales, and the trends say that clicking for buying will be the biggest part of retail growth. So, don't necessarily count on local employment improvement. More interesting though is the real estate market future. Best Buy said it first when they closed stores mainly because people were in and out, but only reviewing products for on-line buying. For instance, how will this affect formerly successful REIT investment opportunities? Plenty, say some analysts. It makes picking the right REIT an art. And then there is the construction industry. The concept that there would always be a "Big Box" available to fulfill the dreams of developers is also a potential disappearing slice of America.  (Actually, this is a good thing, because overbuilding has been a scourge upon the land. That's a whole another issue.) But, how will all of those good jobs be replaced if in fact building slows to meet only "real demand", the necessary result of the new reality perpetrated by the rise of internet sales?

You can tell the price range in antique shops by whether they have country fiddles or classical violins playing in the background.

Instead of the Post Office wall, why don't they put pictures of fugitives on postage stamps so mailmen/women can look for them while they deliver mail.

Joe Kennedy Jr. is making $600K per year as chief spokesman for Socialist/Communist Hugo Chavez and his low cost oil sold through Kennedy's Citizen's Energy "Non-Profit" charity. I bet Kurt Shilling wishes his "Non-Profit" was as profitable as Kennedy's?

I was in an antique shop looking at some nice old country art, which was displayed on a panel with hanging price tags. My eye drifted to the floor by my foot where I saw one of those tags laying there. Thinking I had blown it off with the breeze from my cough, I reached down and pulled it quickly only to find that it was actually attached to a $5000 oriental rug which immediately ripped. The movement of the rug pulled the walker away from an elderly woman standing on the other side, who immediately fell into a rare Hepplewhite table, fracturing a couple of the table's 250 year old legs and the woman's 78 year old arm. Her daughter screamed and backed into a collection of rare Chinese vases which smashed to the floor. A clerk came running in and tripped over the daughters leg and dove head long into a $25,000 painting, slashing his arm on a shard of Ming dynasty porcelain. Who says antiquing can't be fun. And very expensive.

I have always read that it isn't the heat of the sun that wakens flowers in the spring, but the angle of the rays. Hmmm. This Spring certainly disproves that theory, doesn't it? Maybe it isn't global warming at all. Maybe all of the earthquakes in recent years have knocked us off are axis? That's a good research possibility, but non-profits can't make as much money off of shifting plates as they can on climate change.

The Answer:
The Twelve are, ranked in order: Microsoft, Apple, Wells Fargo,  Pfizer, JP Morgan Chase, Merck, Phillip Morris, Chevron, AT&T, Comcast, GE and Google. The one with the biggest negative trend is Google. the companies with lowest price earning's ratios are JPM-C and Chevron. Other low multiples are Microsoft, WF and Apple. Note: the Report said "The Top Ten" favorites but they showed twelve. No wonder hedgefunders are having so much trouble.

If a cow laughs, would milk come through it's nose?

One of the prettiest towns in NH, Walpole, has all of the colonial buildings and homes painted white. It is incredibly beautiful and quite striking. There are many old small towns in the back lanes of RI which could have the same comfortable feel. That is, until some yahoo moves in and says something like, "Hey buddy, who says I can't have purple plastic siding," and then calls the ACLU. The legal costs bankrupt the town and Purple siding man finds himself with no friends in a decaying, penniless town. Only in Rhode Island.

Thanks to ardent reader "BB" for some of today's humor. If there are several "BB's" out there in Tidsland, you may or may not be the "BB" I'm thanking. But, if it makes you feel better even though you have done nothing, accept it freely.

Enjoy the comfort of this three day weekend remembering the people who gave lives and limbs to make it so.