The bell tolls slowly.

Today's Tids Issue 4,013

For the brave, for those beneath the sea:

Two thousand four hundred and three Americans woke to a beautiful Sunday morning, this day 76 years ago. They stretched out as the dawning light trickled neath drawn curtains. Others shook the cobwebs from clouded heads wondering if they would ever feel the same after too much a of a bad night. Good morning kisses to spouses brought smiles to homes across the harbor.  Many went to the closet to find their best Sunday to wear as church bells beckoned though the quiet morn. The drone arose, the morning changed to fear, the drone became thunder, chaos, destruction; mass murder. Out of the glowing blue skies hatred descended upon the innocents. 2,403 human beings who looked to a lazy morning at Pearl Harbor, silent moments in church, would never see noon. I will never forget.

As usual, people took sides for the purpose of taking sides after Trump announced his decision to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. Opponents say, “There goes peace”. Trump says it is the first step towards lasting peace.  But of course, Mid East peace has been the object for decades of US presidents, with no success. But, I wouldn’t worry too much about this decision. I expect it will be years before anything can be done to build a new US Embassy in that Holy City. Most of Trump’s favorite contractors will be working on the Wall.

The Question:

Italian restaurants are classified as very casual, casually formal and fine dining. What are the three common Italian words that designate these three varieties of dining? Bonus: What is the difference between an Italian Enoteca and a Taverna?

The Headlines:

--California Wildfires Becoming More dangerous As Expected Santa Ana Winds Could Reach 85mph; 200,000 Flee Homes; Fires Near Wealthy Bel Air Estates; It Appears Getty Museum Will be Spared.

--Stock Markets Still Wandering; GE To Layoff 12K WW; Bitcoin Soars Despite Reported Security Breach; US Jobless Claims Decline Again.

--Many In USA Pause To Remember Pearl Harbor.

--Australia Votes TO Legalize Same Sex Marriage.

--Trump Says Jerusalem Move Is First Step Towards Peace; Critics Say It It Is Dangerous.

The Tids old Pickers are doing well again with the season’s record now up to 137-55 (71.5%). But with gridiron hooligans sending their worthy opponents to the hospital with jarring and often surprising ruthless blows, it may get tougher knowing which teams are actually taking the field. Once again this week, there are posers, forcing me to go with the home team as the main difference between two of comparative strengths. Two underachieves, the Chiefs and the Raiders go tonight. I will once again stick out my neck and pick the Chiefs to finally find their winning ways again. The great, meaningful games are NO at Atlanta, Minn at Carolina, Seattle at Jacksonville, Balt at Pitt and the glamour game, featuring two young QB’s, Philly at LA Rams. I’m Picking home teams Atlanta Pitt and LA Rams. But, I still like the coming-on-strong Seahawks to beat a Jax team with a questionable “O”, and Minn to take Carolina. Buffalo is beat up but Indy is not doing much. I go home team Bills. I like Cinncy over da Bears, TB over Detroit, Dallas over the Giants (Manning’s retrun will not make a difference, but new coach could), Houston over Niners, Denver over Jets, Chargers over Skins and New England over Miami in a closer than you think game.

By the way, we as kids used to do that “invisible box” stunt routinely intheback yard. (IN case you missed it, the “Invisible Box” is the hot viral Tweet where a cheerleader steps upon and over an invisible box.) In our days, we would have a friend lay down and pretend to step on his or her stomach. But, we would employ the same invisible box trick, which is jumping with other leg while keeping the foot on the stomach (Or invisible box) motionless. Too, bad we didn’t have twitter. Or is it?

The Dems are playing it smart going after Franken. I see it is a move to establish a platform of morality and ethics in anticipation of going after Republicans in the event Moore is elected.

Philadelphia continues to get crazier. Remember this is the city that banned soda pop only to find that it was a bad idea. Now they are banning “Bullet Proof” glass for small businesses in dangerous areas of town. A government “nanny” says it is an insult to customers in the area to serve from behind barriers through small windows. Small shop owners say it is only there for safety from thieves and murderers. It is pure nutty PC.

Franken remarked, “I can fool around with any woman I want because I am a comedian”. Isn’t that in a nutshell what all of this is about. People in power of who regard themselves as above the rest feel they have the inalienable right to harass without recourse.

A rich barber is a shearholder. That’s good, I’ll never be a comedian.

The taking a knee phenom maybe one big extortion game after all. According to the Washington Times, the NFL has a preliminary agreement with the Players Coalition that would funnel $89 Million over 7 years to George Soros linked leftist organizations including The Players Coalition (advised by anti-Trump organization – Center for American Progress) and the Van Jones led leftist advocacy group, Dream Corps – which calls for saving clean power, cutting prison population in half and “Sanctuary for all.” Some current leading “Kneelers” say $89 Mil is far from being enough. Conservative spox says, “If the NFL thinks this will help with ratings, it is obvious they feel they can do it without conservative fans. The NFL says that this is only a working agreement and nothing has been firmly decided. And the anger goes on.

By the way, we can cut the prison population in half by cutting crime in half.

Is the next big bubble to burst – Bitcoin?

US cars didn’t fare well in the new Safety rankings. The safest cars in the very top tier were from Hyundai, Kia and Genesis. In the high safety tier just below the top we had more Hyundai models plus cars from Subaru, Toyota, Nissan, Volvo, Audi, Lexus, Mazda and Alfa Romeo. Also in hits group was the only American car  The Lincoln Continental. The top tier for safe SUVs were Hyundai, Subaru, Mercedes, Volvo, Honda, Acura and Mitsubishi. In the midsized SUV group, we had the Buick Envision.

The Answer:

An Osteria is like a Trattoria, but more causal and more focused on regional specialties. A Trattoria is casually semi-formal focusing on typical Italian specialties. The creme’ is the Ristorante. It is the top of the line dining establishment with fine china, spirited contemporary versions of Italian food and often a well-known chef. Bonus: The Taverna is the Italian version of a British pub, but serving wine instead of beer. Very casual food is sometimes available. The Enoteca is a more formal wine tasting establishment, often with a contemporary, high tech design feel. No food is served at the enoteca.

Are we alert enough today? Do we take safety for granted?