Countdown to Blah.

Today's Tids Issue 2,997
Opening Stuff:

Somebody wake me when a bowl game that means something begins.

The headline this morning read, "Obama closes year with budget deal." Most bi-partisan Washington observers say the deal got done becasue the President wasn't involved.

One of the big restaurant trends around here, and I'm sure out your way too, is "Farm to table". Personally, I prefer ranch-to-table. Moooooo.

The Question:
Most pople have a pretty good feel the best selling cars in the US. Whjat are the best selling cars worldwide?

The Headlines:
--Markets Continuing Santa Surge.
--Ice Storm Still Causing Havoc In Northern States Across Country.
--Kabul Suicide Bomb Kills 3 NATO Personnel.
--Bomb Hits Cairo After Arrest Of Dozens Of Newly Segregated Terrorists"; Egypt On Edge.
--Japan Inflation Hits Five Year High; Italian Lire Hits All Time Low.
--US Insurance Companies Having Fits Trying To Keep Up With Ever Changing ObamaCare.
--India To Retaliate By Issuing Tax Violations Against, Revoking ID Cards Of US Consular Officials.
--US New Jobless Apps Down 43K.
--Attacks and Counter Attacks Continue In Thai and Ukrane; Bomb Blast Kills 8 In Somali..
--Philly Court Overturns Priest Conviction For Sex Coverup.

It appears that wind energy cmpanies will have to stand on there own as the incredibly lavish Government subsidies of the 1992 "Production Tax Credit" end December 31. The power source after two decades of free money has failed to prove it is or will become efficient. Note: Wind power supporters will point to low electricity prices in Texas, but Wind Companies there would offer their product at negative prices becasue the subsidies were so over the top lavish! The Feds are now saying that if the states think wind is good then they can foot the bill. In RI, supporting wind would be like buying something from Kurt Shilling all over again.

The headline for yesterdays SA fish attack tragedy could have been. "Paraguayans plunging in piranha polluted Pirana processed by paramedics."

A new CNN/ORC Poll says that 70% of Americans feel that the economy is generality in poor shape. The Fed and host of statistics indicate an improving economy, but it appears the numbers don't take into consideration the hardships of lower paying, part times jobs, which are more the norm in real non-statistical America. And of course, numbers have never included those who have dropped out of the force. Like everything else in this world, change is occurring rapidly. It seems to be occurng at an even more rapid rate on the human side of statistical equations. Remember, the USA worker is now affected by the rising tide of lower global wages, never a factor when when US factories made everything that was bought. We are entering the nothing is as it was era...some of it promoted and some of it inevitable.

Of course when Superbowl rolls around money will be blowing like dandelions in the windy north New Jersey as hotel rates are already out of sight. They are expecting 400,000(!) to cram into that already overcrowded area of the world. What are the 330,000 or so who can't get into the stadium going to do, hang out at the Lombardi Turnpike Rest area? Maybe they'll have a giant snowball fight over the last hot dog. These are the type of happenings that have no enticement for me -- Over priced, overcrowded, and in the end, I coulda seen it better on TV. Brrrr.

There's no truth to the rumor that the "Too Big to Fail Banks" have divided the MetLife stadium into 7 sections for the big event. Instead of Occupy Wall Street, it could be occupy exit 16.

Reading Between the Lines Movie Reviews:
--Mandela is the big new critical fave. The performance of in the lead is considered powerful ad dominant. If you like Mandela it will be a heartwarming, satisfying view of his life of peace and nation creation.
--The Wolf of Wall Street was reviewed here kast week ad it's still "Must See!
--The Grudge Match isn't, or at least by me. It stars DeNiro playing DeNiro as a Ragig Bull-like overage boxer and Stallone playing Stallone as Rocky-like over age boxer. I won't see it. Lots of steriotypical senior jokes.

The Answer:
What you see world wide, may trend towards the USA some day. The 10th most popular is a "Supermini" Volkswagen Polo. ( is the Honda CR-V and is followed by 8- Ford Fiesta, 7- Volkswagen Golf, 6- Toyota Camry, 5- Chevrolet Cruze, 4- Hyundai Elantra, 3- Volkswagen Jetta, 2- Toyota Corolla and numero uno -- Ford Focus. Conservative Angela Merkle's Germany and the non-government subsidized US company are the big point earners! It's always politics!

The Novel series will be back  big next week.  No Harry, it wasn't your fault, It wasn't because I kept stepping on clones and Jedi in my bare feet!

Happy Weekend to Nowhere e-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y!