A ship in a harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.

Today's Tids Issue 3,518

Opening Stuff:

The spirit of Americans has always been one of striving forward, not sitting idly by. The greatness has never come from relaxing and watching life pass by; sitting in the back seat letting the Government drive you to your appointed destiny. Democrats and Republicans alike have always broken through the bonds of contentment to move beyond mere satisfaction. So why are we allowing the haze of complacency disguised in the robes of fairness blind the ignition of everybody’s innate nature for self reliance. Stop the nonsense. Bring back the fire.

I had the occasion yesterday to pass by the waiting room of the local hospital cancer center. It was packed with people, doing what all people do in waiting rooms – reading, watching the clock and looking up every time a nurse enters the room. Most looked calm, engaged, just as they would if you passed them on a street, stood behind them at a checkout line or sat next to them in a theater. You never can see the courage in the hearts or daunting physical and mental pain of people fighting deadly daily battles. You never know what kind of day a stranger may be enduring. That’s why I try to smile as I walk by.

And, you really never know what’s in the hearts of diplomats. Yesterday Kerry of the USA and his counterpart in China, walked out after a long conference on China Sea Islands and North Korea activity saying that progress was made. Then, in the press conference they were diametrically opposed on all questions. I guess the art of diplomacy is hiding the truth, unless of course you are in Benghazi and need help fast. Shouting “Help!” is as clear as it gets.

The Fed may have mis-parsed their words yesterday beacause the Stock Market really, really nose dived after they spoke.

The Question:

Double “Q” Day! 1. Who is Louise Hovick? 2. What did Marthe Keller ever do?

The Headlines:

--Stocks Tag Onto 7% Oil Price Increase For Hot Early Opening, Then Drift Back From Black.
--IS Claims Responsibility For Attack On Egyptian Military Convoy; 16 dead in Latest Nigeria Bombings; Bombs Outside Yemen Presidential Palace Have Country On Edge.

--Sweden To Deport Up to 80,000 Refugees in the Next Two Years; Germany Also Finding Higher percentages Of Dangerous People In new Refugees.

--FaceBook Expands Anti-Terrorism Squad; Enhanced FB Cop Group Keeps Eye On 1.3 Billion Subscribers (70% Outside Of USA) For Terror Related Activity,

Just In Irony, Department:

The front page of the Providence Journal this morning had a huge story about the rescue rebirth of a downtrodden Providence from near bankrupt despair in the early 1970’s. It was dead and gone, according to many. A few minutes ago I heard that a man who had a lot to do with shaking things up to get the process underway, moving it forward, Buddy Cianci, died this morning. Buddy to people outside of RI is known more for being the Mayor going to jail on racketeering charges, or for clubbing his ex-wife’s boyfriend with a 2x4. But, regardless of his quirky habits, he got things done. People who don’t like him, dispel his contributions saying it was many others who revived the beautiful city, sold so magnificently by Buddy. And, it was buddy who knew how to move lethargic politicians into positive actions. Buddy’s vision is one of the reasons why Travel & Leisure mark it as one of the ten best US places to visit. He never stopped imagining greatness, and doing something about it. Buddy was something else, and everybody will agree on that.

There’s no truth to the rumor that Clint Eastwood will take over the empty podium at the Repub Debate tonight.

Paragon Lost, Department:

Liberals in America always hold up Denmark as a paragon. So you can imagine how dismayed these La-La land dreamers were when they learned that the Danes in an effort to make the country less appealing to refugees were confiscating all assets of refugees. Some protestors likened it to the Nazi’s taking gold teeth from Jews.  The truth is, though, that everybody in Denmark who receives social benefits is subject to the same rule. Maybe Lefties will have to hold up The USA as the new paragon as we give away everything asking for nothing in return.

The Oregon stand-off must be about something, but it hasn’t assaulted my brain yet.

In 2011 Donald Trump Tweeted: “Megyn Great; Debate No-Shows Bad.”

You may not have noticed, but congress is in session.

Pundits demean conservative ideas and humor not because they don’t get it, but because they don’t want to get it.

I think that Ali-Baba still looks like a company with a great future. But in general, this new a wave of Internet stocks bewilders me. FaceBook for instance, which is probably a social gathering place where people hang out their laundry, cracked the $300 billion net worth yesterday and showed excellent profit growth and increased ad sales. I think I have to go back to ad school.

So while FB has made billions offering you something you didn’t know you needed, here is an App everybody has had a need to use often. Have you been intrigued by those ads for Tile, the App that helps you find things? I have. I looked it up and found that there is also another competitor called TrackR. It turns out that TrackR could be slightly better, or maybe a little less cumbersome. Anyhow, an App reviewer likes the overall concept a lot, and it is easy to use. People use it to find keys, wallets, pets and even the phone itself. All you do is slip the tracking devices into the items often misplaced, and set your phone to Bluetooth and GPS. What’s interesting is that if the lost items are even far away, other phones in the area with the service will pick up the signal and automatically send a notice to your phone. Ooooo-Weee-Oooo. Also, if you press a button on a tracking device it will trigger a ring from your lost phone even if it is on “Silent”, Say hallelulia!

I’ll tell ya, there’s some pretty smart people out there with strong moral roots still looking at Rick Santorum as the best person for America. He’s one of those candidates where people too intelligent for their own good tune out and miss a lot of solid thinking.

The Parking Lot: Chapter 42 continues…

  “We’ll be in touch with you, Fred.” Nancy listened for several more seconds and pressed off.

   Jared raised his eyes as in saying, Ok tell me more. “Beth,” Nancy shouted into the kitchen, “Fred asked how you and the children were?”
    “That’s nice,” came the reply accompanied by a clatter of pans.

   “Fred didn’t have much to say,” started Nancy now turning towards Jared, her face looking a lot more serious. “He said something that led me to believe that Rackovic, may he rest in peace, was under the gun from somebody else. We may just be in a lull. Somebody else is watching these events as closely as we are, and it wont belong until they begin thinking it is I and my mysterious gentleman friend behind it all.” Nancy smiled up at Jared, who these days liked nothing better. 

   “So chief, where are we?” Jared smiled back.

   “There’s a casino meeting at town hall tomorrow night, and if the police don’t detain Fred, my guess h is that he will be there, along with whomever is really behind the entire mess.”

    Nancy stood up and walked across the room where she put her arms around Jared and her head on his chest, squeezing and feeling the connection she needed now. “I’ll be there too.”

  

The Answer:

1. Everybody but me probably knew that Louise Hovick was Gypsy Rose Lee – Bada-Bing. And, her sister was June Havoc. 2. Marthe Keller was a pretty good Swiss actress who first raised American eyebrows with her role as Dustin Hoffman’s girlfriend in marathon man. She was also intriguing as the terrorist in Black Sunday. After working with Al Pacino in the romantic comedy Bobby Deerfield, they started a romance of their own. After film in the US and Europe, Marthe went back to her classical roots and became very active in opera, first taking many speaking roles, and then finally into successful opera direction.

Do you realize how much tighter our country’s bonds would be if the opposing sides didn’t reject out of hand the entirety of each other’s views?

God, I’m much too portentous today.

Will all the other’s get a bump.

Without the presence of Mr. Trump

Or will, the show become a blotch

As not a soul tunes in to watch!