Don’t we have enough ill winds?

Today's Tids Issue 4,214

For Changing Direction:

Farm to table restaurants are generally very low on my favorite’s list, but I support fully the concept of farm to market as it makes smaller farmlands viable again, and at least farmers finances get healthy.

The hair stylist at the zoo has become the mane attraction.

9-11 was the day that the US lost its innocence. The day when people realized that we were open to all the world and the evil in it.  No longer would great oceans protect us from foreign aggression. No longer could we define our enemies as organized militaries. We look over our shoulder now, and what do we see?  The anger against us is still seething. How will it be released against us the next time? In a gas attack, that would kill widely. Or in a massive cyber attack that could stop our economy, our health services, our interconnectivity. If I was building a defense budget, I would be funding the construction of cyber walls.

The Question:

Here’s a couple of questions about colleges. Name the top ten most expensive colleges. What are the best bargains among major colleges and universities?

The Headlines:

--Cat 4 Florence Moving Into Warmer Waters Ahead Of Potentially Deadly Strike On Carolinas; Massive Storm Shifts Slightly South; Bridges Off Barrier Islands Closed.

--Dow Up, Nasdaq Off, S&P Steady.

--JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon Says he Could Beat Trump In Election (Is he Running?)

--Russia And China Holding Joint Military Exercises On Border. Is It A Message To USA?

--Pope Calls Meeting Of Bishops On Child Abuse.

--New Strzok-Page Emails Surface; Imply Leaking Strategy Within Intelligence Agency Brethren.

If Obama thinks that electing democrats will bring sanity back to America, then he must not be looking at Kamala Harris.

BTW, the Washington Post this morning went after Trump again in a headline: “Another hurricane is about to batter our coast. Trump is complicit.” Who’s their new editor and chief, Rosie O’Donnell. Maybe in Trump’s mind he thinks he can control the weather, but presidential power is quite limited in many ways, and that includes igniting acts of God.

I have to be honest, I thought AGT last night was dreary and lackluster. First, there were 11 acts and if you count the big choral group, 7 were singers. What ever happen to fun acts on this show? Of the non-singers, Aaron Crow the silent magician or whatever, has put on two successive shows that were much too long with way too little taking place. Da RepubliK is just one more acrobatic street dance group tumbling along like all the rest. The comedian Vicki Barbolak is another in the long line of duds. The non-singer with the most talent was easily the fiddler Brian King Joseph who puts on quite the show, is a remarkable talent, but last night he also caught the lethargy fever of the rest. Of the singers, Noah Guthrie could be very good, but missed it last night. Christine Wells tried to do the popular “Natural Woman” thing but was basically a shouter who bored me. Now, the sibling trio We Three, was an act I have enjoyed, and last north, while the song wasn’t that great for these ears of yore, I thought they were pretty good. I’m not sure I liked Daniel Emmet because he a sang the beautiful, moving “Somewhere” or because he has a voice that is good,, very good, but that classic needs more feeling than he gave it. Glennis Grace could be a challenger on AI or the Voice, but here she was just one more singer that didn’t stir me. Now, I was looking forward to that 14 year old ball of energy with the big voice, Courtney Hadwin. Now her voice was there but I think she got lost in the rocker “Born to be Wild”. I have also enjoyed The Angel City Chorale, but like the rest last night they sang a so-so song minus some of the cleverness they have shown in the past. So, I wasn’t wowed by any of them. I think that Emmet, Hadwin and Joseph should make the final five. Of the rest I could see Angel City, Glennis Grace or We Three vying for the final two spots. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if a voting audience looking for variety went for Crow. I’ll eat it if Barbolak makes it.

By the way, I watched the show in 20 minutes using my DVR and remote to block all judges’ comments, Banks antics and commercials. If I caught up and it went live again, I’d just tune in the Red Sox game till I accumulated more time on the DVR. It’s the only way to watch AGT.

It looks like Hillary has decided to iterate Harris’s multi-factchecker debunked attack on Kavanaugh. But then, Hillary never had any sense of shame.

Remember the days when people being interviewed would always start with “Like….”. Now, even some of the brightest men and women start with “So….” Check it out.

I just did my civic duty…voting. In RI, it really does feel like a waste if you are a Repub. Maybe that’s’ why our state motto is “Hope”. The Dems developed it to comfort the downtrodden.

The NASCAR World Series, a ten race to the finish begins next week. Sixteen drivers made it into the Championship round. The top ten are Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvek, Martin Truex,  the currently red hot Brad Kaselowski, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, Chase Elliot, Ryan Blaney and Eric Jones. Some key drivers edged out were Ryan Newman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne and Matt Kenseth.

Do you think that the founders of this country ever in their wildest dreams though that abortion was the demon that could bring down a country?

The Answer:

The ten most expensive colleges are Columbia, Vassar, Harvey Mudd, Franklin & Marshall, Reed, Duke, Bucknell, Colgate, Amherst and University of Southern California. Surprisingly, the best value colleges and universities in the Country is Princeton. Number 2 and 3 are neighbors in Cambridge Mass – Harvard and MIT. The rest are Yale, Stanford, Columbia (Say What), Vanderbilt, U of North Carolina, Cal Tech and Dartmouth, Now, many f these look like expensive places, but their endowment and funding plans designed to enrich the student population make them very affordable.

Well, about the only thing I  can do for the Carolinas and the good people there is pray. Amen.