Follow the bouncing ball; sing a tune of happiness.

Today's Tids Issue 3,678

For Mindless Activity:

If you are a sports fan like me, it doesn’t get any better than right now with the kickoff the of the NFL; the wind down of the PGA tour with the tense FedEx Cup playoffs followed by the Ryder Cup. And of course exciting baseball pennant races in several of the divisions. Why would anybody want to think about the political morass?

Are you getting excited about tomorrow’s Tids – the first issue with NFL Pickum’s! Zowie! The Tids Sports department is deep in the bowels of Tids Castle sorting through their piles of hunches, sharpening up the darts; all this to give you the best pre weekend picks around for the next 17 weeks.

We increasingly live in a world based on faulty premises and misrepresented data.

People who want to protect the USA from the chaos that would come from uncontrolled immigration have to suffer the slings and arrows of the irresponsible who would call them racist.

The Question:

What well known classical overture was written to commemorate Russia’s victory over France at the Battle of Borodino.?

The Headlines:

--Markets Lower; Iran Says It Will Keep On Pumping Ignoring Saudi-Russia Deal; Big Investors Have Apple Under Microscope.

--CNN/Orc Poll Has Trump Leading Hill By 2 Points; Developer Had Been Down 8 Points In Same Poll.

--Southwest USA Waiting For tropical Strom Newton.

--GOP Congress Demanding Answers About $1.7 Billion Paid To Iran.

--Fox Pays Out To More Woman Alleging Sexual Harassment By Ailes.

--Labor Day In Chicago One Of Most Lethal In Years; 13 People killed.

America’s Got Talent will have its final next week. Tonight they will announce the second five for the championship. There were some good performances last night but a few of my personal favorites were a little off. (BTW, The judges still are really annoying, so it takes a lot of talent to keep me watching.) I think the most mesmerizing act of the evening was by the sparkling young contortionist Sofie DossiI. I also enjoyed the Rubics Cube magician Steven Brundage. But you never know where the viewers will vote, like last week where the Sinatra impersonator lounge singer won out over Malevo, a really excellent and original thinking dance group. Back to last night, there were a lot of singers – Jayna Brown, Calysta Bevier, Linkin’ Bridge, Bryan Justin Crum and Kadie Lynn. Kadie Lynn, a very good 12 yo Country Singer, is one of my favorites, but I thought a little off last night. I could say the same about another excellent pop singer Calysta Bevier. (So, two of my faves are on the edge). The judges went berserk over Crum, but I wasn’t that impressed. He’ll get a strong female vote. The judges also went overboard for Brown, but I didn’t’ see any hairs raising on my arms. Linkin’ Bridge may be the most talented of all singers. Viktor Kee has a pretty polished juggling act, but it is becoming repetitious. Kadan Bart Rockett are two really cute, energetic kids who have a pretty good magic act. But, a little amateurish. The Passing Zone was a comedic juggling Act that was all talk and no action. The Clairvoyants are what the name says and they are good and smooth. 5 of the above move on. I say Clairvoyant and Sofie make it. Probably BJ Crum too. I think the other two come from Bevier, Brundage, Lynn and Linkin’ Bridge. But what do I know.

The more you look around the more you see machines doing everything for humans. Life today is more about freeing up time so energetic young people can do more of what cavemen probably did millennials ago – climbing, hunting, planting, gathering, running, swimming and making love in strange places. Maybe the real apocalypse is all about regression?

Hill has got to get more creative. Her campaign is going back about 5 decades to dredge up the successful Johnson Nuke Threat accusation against Goldwater as their new frivolous accusation against Trump. When the going gets dire, the dire get desperate.

I have a new T-Shirt: “They called me Racist and I’m proud of it! I’m keeping families in Urban neighborhoods safe by telling the truth.”

Gretchen Carlson did not come out too badly, getting $20 Million from Fox after her allegations of harassment by Ailes. I guess she didn’t need the ERA after all.

I gotta figure that there is just too much money floating around and a lot of people aren’t getting a share equal to their contributions. But, it has always been that way. Script writers make decent money, but those who echo their words make millions. Brilliant engineers, break technological barriers so app inventors can make billions. You get the picture; the train engineer gets the glory while the guys shoveling the coal get dirty.

The Answer:

I suspect you all knew that the victory by Russia over the invading Napoleon inspired Tchaikovsky to write The 1812 Overture.

This is one of those days where when you look out the window it seems dull. But, when you go outside you can feel the fading energy of the onetime Hurricane still lingering off the coast. Life is about perspective.