Skin in the game.

Today's Tids Issue 4,458

Can always come back; no matter how far down:

If you’ve got something to lose, you’re going to think twice before going all stupid.

I’m thinking that shareholders of Uber and other no profit start-ups are not unlike countries that subsidize their manufacturers allowing them the freedom to dump products into the USA to gain a competitive advantage. Accepting big losses to gain market position is the new name of the business game. Unfortunately, older companies who can’t afford to go profitless have to succumb. It is then when the new companies take off the brakes on prices. Well, it’s not really that new. Just more apparent.

There are way too many loopholes in life these days. Perhaps that’s why irresponsibility and rudeness seem to be on the rise.

AGT review days might be numbered. Yes, several of our devoted readers have long given up on that tedious, overwrought program.

The Question:

What was singer Jackie DeShannon’s greatest hit? Bonus: What do you think are the greatest Sci-Fi films of all-time?

The Headlines:

--Rising Euro Stocks Lead US Markets Higher; Investors Say they Still See A Strong Consumer; Loews Expected to Follow HD”s lower Profits, Revenue; Tariffs Beginning To Cut Into Big Bx Store earnings.

--Trump Cancels Denmark Visit, Shocking Officials There.

--Italian Prime Minister Conte resigns.

--Great White Shark Sightings On The Rise Off Cape Cod.

--Present Makes Strange Comments About Jews Voting For Democrats.

--Boeing Hiring Hundreds In Advance Of 737 Max Production Startup.

--Former Partners On “Healthcare For All”, Sanders And Harris, Now Attacking Each Other.

--Growing Numbers Of Portland Oregon Residents Now Fed Up With Liberal Polices Fostering Homelessness, Addiction And Mental Illness; San Fran Homeless Problem Soaring.

--US Drone Shot Down Over Yemen.

The biggest chunk of Vegas NFL money is going to the Bears and the Browns. Note: A schedule analysis says the Bears have the toughest and the Browns the second easiest (After the Pats).

Illegal immigration would probably cease overnight if the US Government stopped with the very generous subsidies. Those who hate ICE should vote for no subsidies, no benefits, no healthcare for illegals. Yeah, sure.

Great seafood restaurants used to be basically weathered shacks with deep fryers sitting on docks . Now too many of them in choice locations have been glitzified and upscaled; they have basically lost those unique aromas of summer by the salty sea. But there are still one or two here and there. And the old time flavor seems better than ever because it is so rare.

I think walking hard very day is the key to my making the longevity team. Aches and pains be damned.

One of the greatest all-time safety nets for pundits, politicians and personalities is the fleeting minds of US citizens.

Hey, safety nets are nice. But we have safety nets for people should be able to survive on their own. Safety nets for risky behavior. If you are making big decisions with the knowledge that somebody (i.e. US Gov) will send you a check if you lose, or you can sue frivolously, or a kind heart will make excuses for you the chances are you may not make viable decisions. Figuratively speaking.

At least there are no Gary Powers in shot down US drones.

I have always enjoyed Filet of Sole meuniere. Sounds pretty fancy doesn’t it? The literal translation of Meuniere in this instance means “Cooked the way a Miller’s wife cooks”. Regardless. It’s delicious. It’s really about brown butter and mushrooms and delicate fish. Dosed in a little flour with salt and pepper.

It’s like opera where some of the most profound sounding arias are about innocuous daily events.

“Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.” --Albert Einstein

I remember as a summer kid on Cape Cod rowing across Pleasant Bay in my old grey dory to the long spit of land opposite Chatham. It was a beautiful, barren place, with nary a human soul to be seen. We would swim in raging surf and explore the mighty timber keels of buried wrecks of old wooden boats caught upon this once underwater shoal. But today, the area is filed with seals, and great whites off shore waiting for dinner. The remains of the hulls are long gone picked apart by tourists for souvenirs. Probable thrown away or left in rented cottages. The ocean broke through that spit, which had been a part of my life, and now rages in a bay once called Pleasant. But I will never forget those waters, and my old grey dory.

Why can’t they bring back programs that are like “24”? You know, really tense without a lot of blatant societal BS.

Upon hearing that he was nominated for the prestigious Leopold New England Conservation Award, a local Oyster farmer and restaurateur said, “Aw shucks”.

The Answer:

Actually, Jackie had two pretty powerful hits – “What the World Needs Now is Love” and “Put a Little Love in Your Heart”. She started life in Hazel Kentucky as Sharon Lee Myers, and at six was singing country songs on a local radio show in southern Illinois. The progression forms her birth name to her star name reads like a short novel. Bonus: I would agree that #1 could easily be HG Wells War of the Worlds. And I also would accept “The Day The Earth stood Still as #2) (Although I thought the ending didn’t’ live up to the premise. But, of course I was but an early adolescent at the time). The next may be one of my true favorites though – Invasion of the Bodysnatchcrs. #4 is Frankenstein followed by Them, The Thing From Another World, Forbidden Planet, Alien (Scared the bejesus out of me), King Kong and at #10 The Time Machine. The next ten are The Blob, Star Wars, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Fly, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Disappointing), Journey to the Center of the Earth, I came from Outer Space and Earth vs the Flying Saucers. There are many well-known titles not in the top twenty like Back to the Future, Planet of the Apes and The Invisible Man.

“One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed by the choices one makes and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.” –Eleanor Roosevelt.

“One of the annoying things about believing in free will and individual responsibility is the difficulty in finding someone to blame your problems on.” –PJ O’Rourke