And the question is, Alex.

Today's Tids Issue 4,566

Jennings for President:

Today’s headlines here were about the RI State of the State Speech, the Dem Debate, Nancy stepping up and into the 2^nd ring in the circus, Ken Jennings winning the Big Jeopardy G.O.A.T and the firing of Boston Red Sox Manager Alex Cora for cheating. After giving proper respect to Ken, the only one that matters to me is the news of my beloved team being rudderless and cast under a suspicious cloud. The rest will take care of themselves, but now, baseball angst has me in its grasp. Aaaaaarrrrrgh!

I just found an interesting little oddity. Lizzie Borden of axe murder fame was the daughter a mother named “Innocent”. Maybe the jury knew that when she got off. Law could be strange in those days of yore. (Innocent Cornell was the daughter of Thomas Cornell of RI). Yes, that is the same Cornell family who gave us Cornell U.

Misery and happiness are choices.

The Question:

Margaret O’Brien was certainly one of the icons of 1940’s Hollywood. Name 3 of her movies.

The Headlines:

--Trump To Sign China Pact Today; Some On Wall Street Not Happy About Tariffs Remaining In Place Until After The Election; Mnunchen Says Many Technology Issues Are Part of Phase One Agreement, Cyber Security Issue To Be Resolved In Phase 2.

--Stocks Open Higher But Then Drift.

--Iran Leadership Increasingly Concerned By Multi Level Attacks From Dissatisfied Citizens.

--Ken Jennings Wins Jeopardy Tournament Of Champion In Tense Moment That Came Down To The Last Second; Ratings For Special Jeopardy Average Of 15 Million Per Night Beats NBA Final, Wod Series, Stanley Cup; beats all Other game Show and Scrioted Shows Except Finale Of Big Bang Theory.

--Michael Avenatti Arrested By IRS.

--Job Satisfaction Index: #1 “Front End Engineer Followed By Java Developer, Data Scientist, Product Manager. Devops Engineer, Data Engr, Software Engr, Speech Language Pathologist, Strategy Manager, Biz Development Mgr,

As of today, Drew Brees is just a year younger than fellow future Hall of Famer Tom Brady. As you know, Tom has a unique food regimen which he sells as a sort of “Fountain of Youth”.  It includes foods like avocado ice cream and other assorted food oddities that will never touch my pedestrian lips. So, I thought I’d investigate Drew to see what keeps his aging body going and producing. For breakfast Drew goes to combos that include has a stack of gluten free pancakes or waffles, grits. Hash browns, sausage, bacon and some fruit. He and his wife drink almond milk. His favorite dish is the Chicken Fried Steak Po-Boy! His favorite restaurant specializes I various Louisiana shrimp and crab dishes and “Stacked High Onion Rings.” I like Tom Brady, but I’m going to dinner with Drew Brees.

Here’s how silly and shallow news reporting as become. The big morning headline take-away from the Iowa debate last night was Eliz refusing to shake Bernie’s hand. Something important must have been said. I mean they were there standing and their lips were moving. After all, they are running to become the so-called leader of the Free World. Buttigieg came across as the best debater. Amy achieved her goal of looking like the “Pragmatic Alternative” for voters. Joe came across as the worst debater, often forgetting or misstating a point. The biggest Missed Opportunity award went to Tom Steyer who had been gaining strength through his carefully programmed ad campaign, but on stage last night he looked nude and vulnerable. The upshot -- Amy is nice and maybe even a solid choice for the Dems, but has no chance. Joe despite a continuing campaign of flubs is still up on top. It’s a choice between Bernie and Eliz the whiz for the leftist vote. And Pete looks good most all of the time, but may not be able to get over the top…this time around. I have no feelings for this group. And I wonder if any of them have captured the enthusiasm of the broader Dem community. But, regardless, the world knows that Eliz didn’t shake Bernie’s hand.

The Jeopardy GOAT ratings show that nerd’s minds battling nerd’s minds is the second most popular sport in America.

Every once in a while, the Tids “End is Near Department (END)” picks a random page of the statewide Obituary page to figure that average age of those passed. Today there were 20 obits with a high age of 99 (Congrats) and low of 54. The average was 85. Looking good!

Did you know that in 1919 21 people in Boston were killed when a container holding 2.3 million gallons of molasses burst? I wonder if there was political party against molasses.

President Trump needs a Snopes like department in the White House to monitor his retweeting of suspect photos and jokes.

It was nice to see that the ratings for the Jeopardy playoff were very good. It shows that people in the USA still appreciate brains.

Rope to rope before going into battle: “Lets join the fray”.

Did I just say something about brains?

There is no truth to the rumor that if today Nancy picks RI’s David Ciciline as a Trial Manager, that he will name his brother lawyer for the Mafia as the official trial attorney.

Our Gov promised last night that RI will be the first state to be all alternative energy. That means we will have the highest cost burden for energy for struggling citizens, and now can be assured that businesses will never move here again. RI is choosing misery.

Considering the ratings success of Jeopardy GOAT, get ready for an assault of poor imitators.

The Answer:

Margaret was indeed the child-star darling of the silver screen. She got noticed fast at just age 5 “for her convincing acting style” in a film called Journey for Margaret. In 1943 she did some War Effort films with the mega stars like Cagney and Anne Southern. She was excellent speaking French in Jane Eyre. Her star really rose into the heavens playing opposite Judy Garland in Meet Me in Saint Louis. I remember her vividly in “Secret Garden”, playing opposite another child wonder Dean Stockwell. She was Beth in the 1949 and 1958 (CBS Musical adaptation) versions of “Little Women” and was very good in The Centerville Ghost, Our vine Has Tender Grapes and Bad Bascom. She played Marie Curie at age five in the Madam Curie film.

Note: Earlier this week an Internet Hoax announced Dean Stockwell’s death. Fans were aghast and s addend. Ah technology. Stockwell had a very good career after his child stardom, in movies, TV and especially on Broadway. BTW, Stockwell really didn’t like his role in Secret Garden but loved acting alongside Margaret who said was a wonderful actress. Sometimes you got to remember those whose glory days have passed.

One of the greatest things for your self-esteem is getting a question right on Jeopardy. Iago!

Choose happiness. It’s good for you and everybody around you.