Global disaster is more than a cancelled Bieber tour.

Today's Tids Issue 3,914

For the Awakening:

There are some world events where you just can’t dive into a Cheeto’s bag and wait ‘til it’s over. Bad things are getting serious, like the success of the last NK rocket launched into space, that is now projected to have the ability to reach across the lower forty-eight? The scary part is that our experts as recently as a year or so ago said they weren’t even close to that capability. Now they are reassessing their previous predictions of about ten years on how quickly they can learn to adapt a nuclear warhead to their new and improved ICBM. Last week’s technological advance has really opened the eyes of NK watchers. Couple that with NK’s partner Iran successfully launching a satellite rocket, and…well…we don’t know the rest of the story. Social issues may stir the heartstrings of many, but here we are talking significant bipartisan destruction of the rich and poor, gay and straight, black brown and white. It’s time to look up from the phones.

There are few scenes that stir me more than giant rolls of baled hay sitting in a fresh mowed field at twilight.

If I stopped with the salty, cheesy snacks, I could lose a quick ten pounds easy. But, I’d be dreadfully unhappy. Personally, I like happiness.

DT’s unification plan is not going too well. Now he seems to be creating a crevice within his own Repub party.

The Question:

Name the five US Colleges whose graduates are most like to get Phd’s.

The Headlines:

--Dow hits New All-Time High At Opening; Oil At Two Month High.

--US, Japan Vow Action Against Kim After Latest Missile Test; US Conducts Successful THAAD Anti-Missile Missile Tests.

--Two Candidates In Venezuelan Election Murdered In Their Homes Just Prior To The Start Of Voting; Maduro Hails Decisive Victory For Rewriting Constitution; Opposition Says 88% Of Venezuelans Didn’t Vote.

--Russia’s Removal Of 755 US Diplomats Heightens Tensions Between Countries.

--China Irritated By US And Japan Comments About Their Lack Of Help On NK.

--US Sanctions Against Venezuela Could Be Boon To US Economy; Could Get US Oil Fields Working  Again.

--Named Storm Forms In Atlantic Off Florida; State Redaies Defenses Fir Emily..

--As Snap “Lockup” Ends, Shares Of Company Decline.

--In LA, Van Plows Into Sidewalk Diners.

The first news out of the Priebus camp says that the Admin is truly in chaos. It goes on to say that like bewildered Spicer, Reince too had to constantly react to the Quixotic nature of the President.

Everyday Reince was scrambling to determine who was on first. Most of the time he came to realize it wasn’t him.

I guess a young adult wearing “Untucket” shirts is dressing out of the box.

Say it ain’t so, Rob Ninkovick.

Would it be great if Trump could get his “Mooch” to dump Kim Jung-un with the ease that he created the circular firing squad in the West Wing?

If you are making garlic- cheese bread, make sure the garlic doesn’t overwhelm the cheese or else you have nothing.

The American Cocoon doesn’t feel the silk, Department:

An expert on many things global and military, and in this case China, says that the Chinese are now clearly #1 in the world economy. The leadership under Xi is making sure that position of strength grows forward. They are putting up the dough, about a trillion into their “One Belt, One Road” initiative, which is essentially a modern-day version of the “Silk Road.” You may have heard of OBOR. The Chinese have already begun upgrading infrastructures from southeast Asia to The Stans to Africa – and all the way to Great Britain to assure the rapid mass distribution of their products. That includes railway tunnels it Laos, power plants and a port in Pakistan, train lines between Budapest and Belgrade. They own their own port in Greece, and are even building a nuclear plant in England. It is their “version of a more audacious Marshall Plan”…without the military obligations.

That resident expert who just returned from a big intro gathering in Beijing that included Putin and other state leaders, doesn’t dismiss the potential problems of China’s aging, mostly male population (Due to misguided single child program) or their current internal bubble economy, but sees their determination to control world marketing and distribution as serious and real threat against the future for US dominance. Xi: “Pursuing protectionism is like locking yourself in a dark room.”

There’s a big difference between fear of being bound by a global government and being an unbridled player in the global market.

Adolescent sodium chloride is known as salt-teen.

A bus driver who probably ranted to his riders about the pervasive blight of the rich is about to turn the first democracy in South America into a communist dictatorship, with all of the smothering trappings, it appears, of Cuba and Soviet Russia. He and his supporters yesterday claimed an ”overwhelming” victory in support of his rewriting the constitution. The opposition are crying “Sham”. Thus the fisrt step of any self supporting communist regime is to successfully stage a crooked election and proceed to do what they want to do with a bogus popular support. I’m not international political expert but I can clearly see a civil war brewing here, or more likely a total revolution. This is a bus driver who doesn’t ask where you want to go, but just takes you to where he wants you to be. Tis a bad situation down there.

Have you noticed that the two major oil producing countries with by far the highest per-barrel prices are Nigeria and Venezuela at $121 and $113 respectively. (Oil currently trades at $49.71) This the country’s only real source of income and they may be pricing themselves out of the market. Tis is a very sad situation.

Let’s for argument’s sake say that progressives and conservatives could work very well together, like say, garlic and cheese in bread. The problem remains the same, though. A heavy hand favoring one of the ingredients always produces something less than tasteful.

Up here though, it is one hundred per cent unequivocal pride for the New England Patriots. Yes, the practices are overflowing with filled to capacity crowds of all ideologies, sexes, income brackets and races cheering as one! Sorry for that burst of provincialism, folks.

Say it ain’t so, Evonne Goolagong. You’re not 66?

I have observed people building expensive, complex often beautiful cabinets for TV sets in their living room. Unfortunately, TV set styles, sizes and functionality change quickly these days, and furniture-like, built-in cabinets don’t.

Over my entire life, I have never paid much attention to health care insurance. In fact, I tended to avoid people who sold insurance of any kind. I only got interested when progressives came up with the idea of nationalizing an entire industry that always seemed to me to be working ok in some form for probably 95% of the country. Then I figured, something wrong is going on out there. And now look at the mess.

The way I look at Health “Insurance” is this. It isn’t insurance at all the way it is used today. It is basically prepaid medical expenses. It’s like if you had auto insurance that paid for oil changes and monthly maintenance and checkups. Because of the availability of bags of money, the consumer would be less concerned about charges and auto care providers would sneak up prices to the point where the entire system would become much too expensive -- just like medical insurance which has become a giant fund for everything from Band-Aids to ear wax removal.

Venezuela proves once again that an ever-expanding government employee base will always vote for an ever-expanding government.

The Answer:

The educational wombs that produce Phd’s are found at #1 Cal Tech which is followed by Harvey Mudd (Cal), Reed (Oreg), Swarthmore, MIT, Carleton, Grinnell Iowa), Bryn Mawr, U Chicago and Oberlin (Ohio).

The health care everybody should want to support and a policy we should be focusing on right now is one that would prevent the deaths of millions of American from North Korean ICBM-itis.