Political hacks, and computer hackers.

Today's Tids Issue 3,485

Opening Stuff:

So, there I was in the Doc’s office, when out of the blue he brought up that he was treating an eColi patient and wondering if it came from eating meat at Chipotle. I said that the Boston problem wasn’t eColi, but eColi had been the Chipotle problem recently out west…and, I added that the cause was generally considered to be lettuce. He replied, “But, meat is a bigger cause of eColi.” I replied , “But the The Chipotle  problem was due to lettuce. That’s all I’m saying,” I added. He countered, “But, the Jack-in-the-Box outbreak was due to meat.” I agreed but added, “I’m talking about the lettuce at Chipotle.” The he paused noticeably and stared. From under his breath through closed teeth, I heard whispered deliberately, “Meat is the big problem for eColi, “Yeah, ok, if you say so,” said I, “but at Chipotle was lettuce.” His eyes narrowed, his nostrils flared and with a movement that caught me off guard I saw a hypodermic needle clenched in his right hand aiming at my left arm. As he plunged it in I heard him shout, “Meat is the problem!!” My eyes fluttered open to see a ginger-squash colored room. I was immediately startled by animated videos on the walls where all sorts of dancing vegetables were singing, “We’re green and we’re yellow, and we’ll make you a healthy fellow…!” I shuddered, shrank into my pillow. Looking down I saw myself in artichoke deigner pajamas, lying in string bean sheets. I sat up and noticed guacamole oozing out of cracks in the walls. I had to get out of there, and fast. I looked for doors or windows but there were none. All I saw was a trap door guarded by two jalapenos wearing sombreros. Hey, wait a minute. I think I just wrote the first act of my new Broadway musical about the last meat eater on earth..

DC Tentacles, Department:

You may have seen this in your state too. Down here on the island there is a place called the Maher Center which for over 62 years has been a place of caring for the severely handicapped and those with developmental disabilities. It is a totally non-profit caring organization wich includes a Garden Center designed as a workplace for people who could not find prideful jobs in many general population businesses. The Maher idea spread to other places further broadening te spectrum of work sites where handicapped people had a chance to contribute with the skills they had. But, the Big Government in Washington doesn’t seem to like the idea of good Americans doing it for themselves. About two years ago, The Justice Department under you-know-who issued a mandate to states to essentially eliminate the places of good works in favor of “Community” centers. Americans through centuries have generally done a good job of taking care of their own, but it doesn’t seem that that’s ok with the left in the Community Organizer Obama White House.

So, if that story about encroaching big government is worrisome, think about what happened yesterday in the city of lights. Yes it was the climax of the Paris Climate Orgasm that erupted with loud cheers and hearty backslapping. Now, we officially have a potential menacing global bureaucratic monster that has been authorized to control the actions of counties above and beyond their own elected officials. The left’s objective for the globe is blurred national lines, and we have just witnessed step one.

I always admired NBA’s Syracuse Nats Dolph Shays as a great, hard nosed basketball player. This is that time of life when all of your boyhood heroes seem to be dying.

I get an incredible urge to eat Mexican food about once every three and a half years. And then when finished, I wonder, “What was that all about?”

After walking through a Dollar Store, I suggest they change the name to The Yuan Store. If you get my drift.

The Question:

A new study as listed best and worst run states. Name the top five for best and worst. Bonus: Name the big movie that put Dee Wallace in the spotlight. Big Bonus: A new report on most ethnic cities, shows that Johnston RI is second most Italian in the country. What city is number one for percentage of Italians. Name it for Polish, Irish, Portuguese, French, German, Norwegian and Syrian. I hear that Obama is asking the DoJ to go after these ethnic strongholds for lack of diversity.

The Headlines:

--Street Anticipating Nasty Week Ending With “Quadruple Witching” Friday; Bears Say Wednesday Could Be The Day The Bibble Burst; Oil Drops Below 435; GoPro Stock Hammered On Software Concerns.

--Russia Ship Fires Warning Shots At Turkey Vessel In Aegian Sea; Turkey Says Its Patience Has A Limit.

--Prez To Begin National Handholding Campaign With Visit To Pentagon On ISIS Plans.

--Barrons Says Stocks Could Rise 16% in 2016.

--Cruz Takes Big Lead Over Trump In Iowa.

--Ax Wielding North Texas Hospitality” Student Killed By Police.

--Time Magazine Reports That Conservative Watchdog Group Has Requested Federal Investigation Into SoS Clinton’s Involvement In Getting Preferential Treatment For Son-In-Law’s Undersea Mining Venture.

Forget what the politicians tell you are the biggest risks. A good reader and highly talented Enterprise Systems manager tells me she and systems managers across the land are girding for an all out war against hackers and their evil deeds. Hacking is poised to disrupt personal and business activities like never before. So be forewarned. Some anticipated new big areas for cyber attacks are: 1. The big money in “Fantasy Sports” -- where hackers could steal data of customers or manipulate data for big pool payoffs. 2. Political candidates are all over the net now and their personal info has become potentially an easy target. 3. Planes, Trains, and your own automobiles are so digital that they are prime for nimble fingers, with potential disastrous results. 4. Drones can now be mounted with hacker software to attack big institutions like healthcare and government agencies. 5. There are theories about nations tampering with timing machines in the 2106 Olympics to give their athletes an edge. Software doesn’t need a urine test.

The Paris Climate “Agreement” could ignite one of the most inflationary eras in history with inefficient energy mandates that could affect business global competitiveness, fewer jobs and people’s budgets squeezed.

And the jolly Jalapenos in Sombreros sing: "Take a chance and pass us by, your eyes will be tearin' and mouth a searin'..."

When you think about it, almost all of the big Wall Street meltdowns have been the result of irresponsible and even carefree investing. The latest poison infecting the markets appears to be the rapidly declining stability of junk bonds. The “Freeze” announcement by Third Avenue (as reported in Fridays Tids”) has become even more significant, and now an out in the public danger signal to a market that has been teetering after months of being bludgeoned by lowering oil prices, the interest rate mystery and a slower than desirable economic growth. The Third Avenue e move spells “P-A-N-I-C” in capital letters. You can smell the sweat on the street.

Is there a less pleasing company Logo/Mascot than that stiff Burger King?

Local Sports Writer Bill Reynolds says it perfectly, “The Repubs have too many candidates that are #3 starting pitchers.”

Say what you will about perennial RI political candidate Chris Young and his wife Kara, but he was a leader of a project that put the Nativity scene back into the Statehouse. And, a beautiful scene it is.

If Unions were founded primarily to protect workers from unscrupulous employers, why do they need public employee unions to protect people from the folks that wrote the laws of protection?

I was walking down the medical/pharmaceutical products aisle of a large store when my eyes spied a package: “At Home Marijuana Drug Test” Kit. Say what? Do stoners have to test themselves to make sure they are properly high? Or is it a way to determine if they should go to work that day. “Oops, I failed. I guess I just have to stay home and get mellow. Rats” Don’t you love our new society.

If you never run to keep up with style trends, you’ll never go out of style. And, you’ll always look like yourself and save lots of money too.

The Parking Lot: Chapter 35

   Jeremiah Hicks was in and out of fever for nearly two weeks. Musatta and his mother always hovered near by, keeping him cool and continuingly cleaning the wound. The two woman did what they could but knew that only his strength would save him. He would open his eyes and look around to see hopeful eyes, but always lapse back into a deep sleep.

  Finally the fever seemed to break for good, as Jeremiah sat up in bed and asked his mother, what am I doing here? Then he felt the sensation in his stomach. He winced. “Howland,” he muttered.

   “What happened, what day is it.”  He started to move as if trying to get out of bed, but his mother pushed him back. “You are strong Jeremiah, but you still need rest.”

   “Where is Elizabeth?”

   “She’ll be here shortly. She has been with you constantly for almost for two weeks. She will be very happy to see you up. But, you must rest. You are lucky.”

   “Did they kill Howland?” His mother looked at him, not wanting to evoke new tensions.

   “He is under control.” But, she knew that he was with his people on the shore, and her husband Richard and other inland people expected a small war. He had been talking to Red Shoes and the tribal counselors who also agreed that Howland and his families were hot heads. Not only that, they would love to get the Indian lands down the Sakonnet.

   “Your dad will control the situation. He will need you to get stronger.” That was the moment when Elizabeth walked back into this room. Jeremiah felt her strength.

Every good musical comedy needs a love song to start the heart strings atwitterin'.  Our hero now trying to extricate himself from a vine of veggies sings to cute and cuddly yet saddened cows and chicks and piggies walking by, "There's nobody left to love you, but see, I have my fork in hand for you..."

The Answer:

The best run state is North Dakota (Oil windfalls help a lot) and the worst is New Mexico. The rest of the best are Wyoming, Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota, followed by Utah, Texas, Colorado, Washington and Massachusetts. The rest of the worst are Illinois, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Alabama, New Jersey, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas and Pennsylvania. Interestingly, one of the big factors in determining “worst”, is Debt/capita ratio. #10 “Best” Mass is #1 in that negative category and #47 “Worst” RI is #2. RI must be doing a lot of things wrong to be 37 slots lower than its neighbor. Bonus: I always liked Dee Wallace after seeing her first big starring role in ET: The Extra-Terrestrial. You may have seen her also in The Hills Have Eyes, 10, The Howling and the very tense Cujo. Big Bonus: Fairfield NJ is the most Italian city (Note: The Top 10 most Italian are all in Conn, RI and NJ Cities). Most Polish is Sharon Wisc,  Irish – Spring Lake Heights NJ, Portughese – Acushnet Ma, French – Turtle Mountain ND, German – Union O, Norwegian – Spring Grove Minn and Syrian – Morris Pa (6%).

I have watched and listened to Muslims and those against unrestricted Muslim immigration, They both misstate each other’s words with similar slipperiness. The Muslim imams just do it on NPR, so they tend to sound intelligent while being equally misleading. I personally like the sign I saw at one of the local “Love Everybody” rally’s: “Save Hate Speech for Brussels Sprouts”.

Love your neighbor et. al.,and have a good week.