Credibility requires courage.

Today's Tids Issue 4,377

Bluebirds:

Do you feel it like I do? The rebirth of romance in the air. Is it in the imagination? Or do blue birds sing a beautiful song to daises and daffodils newly born. Is it my mind that creates the glow, or is it forests filling out with colorful buds anew? Am I walking on air, or am I just feeling all of the love that’s there? Well you don’t need a scientific analysis about how you feel. It’s good. And it’s warm. And if you look into my eyes, you’ll see the love in my heart beaming through. There is something about Spring. Why birds in trees sing, and why bees are too busy to sting. It just comes at you like cool ocean waves tumbling on a shore. Wade into it.

Or maybe, I have hay fever and my eyes are a little bleary. Nah. I’ll take romance.

Narrow-mindedness is compressive.

Three rousing orchestral crescendos that always get my heart beating a little faster, my blood flowing a little more energetically, are Brahms “Academic Festival Overture”, Britton’s “Young People’s Guide to the Orchestra” and Liszt’s “Les Preludes”.

Now That old Joe has shown his money gathering power, you can expect more intraparty sniping as the 20 or so Dem candidates get serious about positioning themselves for the longer haul.

Happy Birthday Bernie Madoff! Thanks for being a constant reminder of that if it looks too good to be true it probably isn’t. And, that nice guys can finish you off fast.

The Question:

The first five US presidents were Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe. Who were 6-10?  Bonus: What are two other names for a heron? Extra Bonus: Who was Clara Petacci?

The Headlines:

--Markets Could Be Sluggish As Investors Await News Of Key Economics Reports: Fed Policy Statement, April Jobs Report, Bank Of England Monetary Policy Decision And China Purchasing Manager’s Index.

--Construction Crane Falls Off Seattle Building Under Construction Squashing Cars; 4 Killed.

--Kamala Harris Calls For End Of “Right To Work” Laws.

--Avengers: Endgame Takes In First Weekend Dough Of $1.2 Billion, And All-Time Movie Record.

--Trump Had Supporters Cheering In Wisconsin, While Press Corp Gathered To Laugh At Him In DC.

--Boeing Says It Will Cost $1 Billion To Fix 737Max program; More Whistle Blowers Emerging.

--Fox’s Judge Napolitano Makes Case For Trump Obstructing Justice.

A good and sound Tidster reminded me the other day that Ivanka Trump was in the African countries of Ethiopia and Ivory Coast promoting the advancement of a global women’s program. He noticed that nary a word of about her efforts could be found in the general press. He noted that if Michelle had done the same, she would be on the cover of Time and regaled across all of the network interview programs. Like or hate the person Trump, he has not been treated well at all by the media at large, even when producing positive results for Americans. By the way, the Global Women’s initiative is designed to boost the lives of 50 million women in developing countries.

Scientific research has proven two things about smart phones. One, their use by employees will reduce business productivity by a third. Second, a person with a phone in their hand (Note not using it or looking down at it.) implies to another that you are not interested in them.

On Saturday here they imploded two giant super expensive-to-build cooling towers, the last most visible remnants of a once critical coal fueled energy plant. It will now become a construction site for off shore windmill production. But here’s the catch – the two towers were less than a decade old. I call that waste. But you can expect more of that as the winds of acceptable energy solutions change dramatically. And the cost of electricity goes up.

But, the landscape above the blue waters of Mount Hope Bay does look a lot better.

Grave Mistake: Burying Mom in the wrong plot.

Remember Cinerama? There is one show I saw using that advanced technology of the day that I still can see clearly, and hear beautifully in my mind. It was of Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A over filmed scenes of Scandinavia and rigorous tall ship sailing. I can still see it, but I forgot the name.

(Note: The premiere of Cinerama in New York City in 1952 was front page news, and drew prominent people Like Thomas Dewey, Violinist Fritz Chrysler, Met Opera impresario Rudolph Bing, NBC’s David Sarnoff, CBS’s William Paley, the brilliant Richard Rogers and Louis B’ Mayer.)

While in Congress, Dem candidates Booker, Gillibrand, Harris, Klobuchar, Sanders, Warren, O’Rourke and Biden sponsored 1,565 bills and 40 became law, a hit rate of 2.5%. 20 of those were of Biden during his 36 years and 14 by Klobuchar during her 12 years. Beto had one passed, the naming of a post office. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren had no laws passed; Booker two, Bernie two and Gillibrand one.  Just a few facts, maam.

Brewhaha: When customers in a café make jokes about their coffee. Unless of course they are in a beer hall.

Netflix is facing a future that could be questionable. It’s not just that many solid companies like Disney are getting into the streaming act, it’s that many of the Hollywood entrants used to produce content for Netflix. That’s called a bind.

A friend of mine says he never thought he would say it, and still can’t believe it is coming out of his lips, but from what he has seen and heard lately, Nancy Pelosi is the only politician making sense. Yikes!

Credibility in this new world can be fleeting. And taking firm, unwavering extreme positions on issues, glomming onto spurious rumors for support, will lead to nothing but skepticism. You’ve got to analyze instead of channelize.

Some people don’t cross picket lines in support of strikers. Others don’t cross picket lines for fear of being mugged.

I think Robert E. Lee was a helluva General. And, I’m a Yankee to the core. (Not a Ya, Ya, Ya,… of course).

Joe Biden in a campaign strategy meeting: “I hope I don’t rub voters the wrong way!”

The Answer:

John Quincy Adams was number 6 followed by Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. Bonus: A heron is also known as an egret or Bittern.  Extra Bonus: Clara Petacci was Mussolini’s Mistress. The two were captured trying to flee Italy after the war and were executed.

I’m actually beginning to feel the beauty of Spring. But, I still know enough about the vagaries of April and May to keep my Winter clothes near at hand.

Love your week, E-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y!!