A Brewhaha: a place where customers joke about their coffee.

Today's Tids Issue 4,024

For the Winter Hiatus:

Relaxed? Savoring smiles, surprises and sentiments from Christmas Eve and day. Wondering why husbands were ever allowed to buy presents. I say, as I put another shirt in the Christmases past drawer. Ah the rituals and traditions of Christmas; some quirky and others majestic. But mostly the magic of Christmas is human, which seems to say a lot considering these digital days. So, I wish you a relaxing week. This passage in time between excesses which in my mind has always been the most stress free of all. Whether in a high-powered job or just working to figure out what you are going to do each day, it is a week where outside pressure seems to diminish like the quiet of a fully pile of drifting, newly fallen snow.

If the worst thing that happens to you to day is that opening bad pun, then you all are going to be alright.

On last Friday night I was tuning through the TV channels when I saw, “I Love Lucy Christmas Special”. I thought immediately that I have seen most of the Lucy stuff. So, started to click on. But, a funny thing happened on the way to the Cheeto’s vault – I watched, and it sucked me in. Even as I was able to predict pretty much what would come next, I found myself watching intently. When the first half hour was over, I watched a second and was equally rewarded. What makes that simple comedy so enjoyable, when I find myself having trouble staying with today’s versions of TV comedy. Maybe I’m just a simple man. Maybe Lucy and Ricky and Fred and Ethel were that good, special. Maybe I just don’t do “edgy” well.  

I hearing of a movement that has as its slogan, “Principle over Party. Yes, I believe the best first thing for all would be the dissolution of factions and parties, a theoretical return to where success is measured by broad human satisfaction and simply a number on a scorecard.

When couple are getting married they seem to look for “Open Concept” houses. As they have children and families grow they find they need a “Used Lego Storage” room. At least.

The Question:

We are entering the meaningful part of College Football Bowl Season. There are five so-called major conferences -- the Big 10, Big 12, SEC, ACC and Pac 12. Which of these has had the best bowl record over the last ten years. Bonus: What are the largest ancestry or ethnic groups in the USA?

The Headlines:

--Weak IPhone X Sales Has Apple Pulling Down Dow; Apple Shares Could Have Worst Day As Rumors Indicate Sales Goals Lowered To 30 Million From 50M; Rest Of Market Not Energetic Entering The Slowest week.

--Retail Sales Soared Higher Than Rudolph; Analysts See Huge Win For Retail Sector.

--US’s Nicki Haley Cuts UN Contribution By $285 Mil..

--Topless feminist “Sextremist” Grabs Baby Jesus Out Of Vatican Creche.

The local discussions in Mid-Maine revolve the takeover of a productive seaweed harvesting and processing company by big Dupont. Locals are asking if this means new hip all-natural warhead and explosives with no GMOS. This could be a win-win for warmongers and vegetarians.

Do you think that journalism majors in colleges are having second thoughts about their chosen profession because of all the about the suspiciousness surrounding their elected field? Probably not, but they would surely like to see the great old profession get its respect back A group of Journalism students at Yale held a contest asking smart tech students to find away to eliminate fake news from the Internet. A winning team made of students from several colleges and recent grads in workplaces came up with “Open Mind”, a browser extension which would block obvious made up news, and direct users to areas of proven reliable, fair news without bias. Very interesting. Everybody would be better off, especially good journalists.

Did you see where a couple of guys who have been best friends for over 60 years have just found out they are biological brothers. Merry Christmas,]

Probably the most tedious sport to watch is College Basketball with all of that deliberate fouling for the last minute and a half. It may be a strategy that helps some teams win games, but I believe it takes away from the efforts of the previous 38 ½ minutes. In addition. Most teams look pretty much the same.

A democrat analyst and known expert on foreign affairs said on some program I was watching, “Trump made the right move on The Ukraine, but he will probably discredit his accomplishment with some bellicose statement. It’s too bad, says that Democrat. But, most Dems love the fact that continually redirects the spotlight away from some of the good things he is doing.

A person commenting on Tax reform says that he hopes the generosity shown to corporations will loosen up the “Quarterly Report Jockey’s. Often attention to the quarterly demands of WS, has the CEO. sacrifices spending decisions for a more secure future. future. This is particularly true these days as older big companies are being encroached upon by the fast-changing technology. It takes money and time to alter a formerly successful course.

The Answer:

The three top Conferences are the SEC – 112-66, Pac 12 – 79-68 and Big 12 – 74-61. The losers are Big 10 – 60-90 and ACC 60-101. They say bowl owners love the big Ten because they bring big crowds, but it looks like that it may be at the urging of the opponents who see a good chance of winning.  Bonus: Germans are the largest heritage, ancestry group in America with about 49.2 million. There have been many arguments on how to treat Black African Americans, which is more about race than ethnicity. In past years they have segmented by country of origin, like Nigeria and or South Africa. But in the latest report they have been designated as part of the larger definition – Sub-Saharan Black Africans to account for overall slavery ancestry. That now pushes the group to second with is 41.2M. Next is Irish (35,5), Mexican (31.8), English (27), Italian (17.90, Polish (9.7), French (9.1), Scottish 5.7, Scotch-Irish (5.1) and Native Americans (4.9). Note:19 million who have mixed ethnic backgrounds o little info of their past, say they are “Americans”. This is mainly in the South US.

Nice to be back to my hum drum self after singing with angels the past few days; a return to sugarless days and simple quiet. But, I do miss the laughs, and looks in the eyes of family members appreciating each other, and the thrill of feeling sugar race thought my veins and arteries.