All of the misinformation isn't coming from the White House. It is us too. We regularly participate in misinforming each other. People accept as gospel Internet polls which are about as far away from scientific sampling and reliability as possible. The numbers may be huge, imposing at times, but have no relevancy with regard to reality. And then there are those consumer preference "polls" like those posing as reviews for restaurants. Trendy but unreliable. First, they are answered mainly by people who have the time to answer. Second, the negatives will always be loudest because the injured love to scream. Many of the glowing positives sound like they are from mom and a few cousins. Even scientific appearing polls can be designed to achieve certain results by building in bias. Promoters use them regularly. Global warmers use them. Anti global warmers use them. Nutritionists use them. Unions use them. Management use them. And finally, reported results sometimes don't include all results that don't meet preconceived conclusions. I am not here though to crucify all polling. Most of the big research house polls are incredibly accurate whether for political or marketing strategies. They are run by honest, professional, well educated researchers. You just have to be careful out there because somebody is trying to fool you. Especially now, in an election year.
There doesn't seem to be much difference between Lindsey/Brittany, and the Kennedy women. It's just the way it's positioned in the news.

Do you think they first wrote the word "Column" the way they did so it would look better when they added the suffix "ist"?

I was wondering as I read the headline this morning, "Boy Scouts Reaffirm Exclusion of Gays", if before acceptance, 8-12 year old boys have to pass a nude picture of a woman test. I wonder what that badge looks like.

The Question:
I remember as a kid playing a game that required knowing names of all the types of Cigarettes (Remember Wings) and the types of cars. Quick, name five Ford division cars and five Chevy cars.

The Headlines:
--Jump In Housing Starts, Earnings Has Market Higher.
--Killer Bomb Blast In Bulgaria Was According To Israel's Netanyahu Iran Generated.
--Goldman, BoA Announce Cost Cutting, Employee Reductions.
--New Socialist French President Hollande Asks General To Review Country's Participation In NATO.
--Panetta Says That US Will Defy Any Iran Attempt To Stifle Shipment Of Oil.

The economy is a mess, and messier than most believe. All you had to do was listen to yesterday's harangue between the Fed chair and the politicians to get a sense of a bind that is on the edge of a disaster. The first big number: We are in fact $15,890,147.000.000 in debt and it grows in a scary fashion. (http://www.usdebtclock.org/) Check out the spending and tax revenue and the debt. OK, now yesterday Bernanke told Congress that the move to eliminate Bush tax cuts would stifle a snail growth economy as would cutting spending designed to start taking a bite out of the debt. Taking action to Lower interest rates, which is about all the Fed can do, has proven the past few years to have accomplished very little. Most times in the past it has been a fix that stimulated the economy. But not now, because the US economy has been seriously restructured. The real problem is that we should have stopped spending and cut out everything in the government about fifty years ago, except of course defense and...and...and...what was it we were getting for our $15 almost 16 trillion? Oh yeah, The Kennedy Center annual TV program.

BTW, that debt clock link  is a handy thing to save. It gives you all kinds of info including minute by minute auto sales by brand.

So, when things get bad -- eat! I don't know about you but I always have leftover when I grill chicken. Usually I make great sandwich for the enxt day. but here's a simple "Grilled Chicken Hash" recipe. First dice chix to about 3 cps. Quarter 1 1/2 lbs red skin potatoes;  boil12-15 mins.  I'm starting with my favorite ingredient -- Butter! In a large skillet heat 3 tbs Butter, 2 tbs OO. Slice two lg sweet onions (Vedalia - Yum), toss in, and cook covered on low ten mins, stir. Uncover, raise to med. Sprinkle atop onions 1/2 tsp salt and tsp gran sug. Cook 20-3 mins, stir often, til onions brown. Loosely mash down pots. Place pot and chix in onion mess with 1 1/2 tsp herbs de Provence and freshly gound pepper. mix all. in greased dish, scrape mixture and bake at 425 for 15 mins. Can't be bad.

Big banking precipitated it's current steady decline by building it's growth upon the loose sands of risk.

Here's five fatty foods that can make you thin...and happy! -- Grass Fed Beef, Olive Oil, Coconut, Dark Chocolate and Almond Butter. And my selections are Beef and Dark Chocolate!

I would have had a lot more Tids this morning if my sweaty arm hadn't stuck to my notes. Now I can't read the words through the wrinkles on my arms.

In these days of promiscuous electronic eavesdropping, the old comedy line, "Hey waiter, there's a bug in my soup." takes on a whole new meaning.

As you know, The Tids Financial Editor has termed the monthly wait for Bernanke as "Waiting for Godot". If you are aware of that confusing play than you can see the relevancy. Now, a chorus of European financial leaders have joined in saying "If you are looking to learn what's happening in the US, you are better off paying attention to almost anything other than Bernanke's congressional testimony." There are no panaceas and that is what everybody is looking for -- A fairy Godmother. Bibity Bibity boo just doesn't work on a debt that is now $15,890,287,000,000. That's up $140 Mil since the paragraph above, written about 1 1/2 hours ago!

One of the reasons spending has careened out of control is because a fundalmental law of existence: Demographic groups enlarge themselves  as population grows. Small groups become significant demographics and finally controlling behemoths. The average citizen never has time to unify thinking (ha-ha) he has a congress person looking out for him or her. They never know hits them

The Answer:
The Ford F-150 and the Chevy Silverado are holding these divisions together, but they aren't cars or SUV's. Ford: Focus, Fiesta, Fusion Hybrid, Taurus, Mustang, Edge, Flex, Escape, Explorer and Expedition. For Chevy: Corvette, Camaro, Sonic, Cruze, Impala, Malibu, Spark, Volt, Eqinox, Avalanche, Tahoe and Suburban.

Good new for Rhode Island old people -- The state isn't on the list of worst states for retirees. Worst is Louisiana followed by Georgia, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama and Kentucky. This list isn't about cost of living but living longer. The states on this list have lower life spans, higher crime and common poverty.

Oh yeah retirees, the debt just grew another $60 Million in the last 45 minutes. What are your kids going to do about it?