Layng quietly in fields

Layng quietly in fields
Glstening lights

Monday, January 13, 2020

Freedom isn’t free.



Today's Tids Issue 4,565
Conflicted absolutes:

I considered opening this week with a Tids about impeachment. But it will be an overwritten news item in the days ahead. It has become more like the frayed pages of back pocket dime store short story than a classic literary masterpiece. The two sides will play political games and when in the end the verdict probably comes down “Not Guilty” the games will begin again. It sad when a constitutional tool to preserve integrity in the top Government positions becomes just another political dirty trick. Maybe we need an amendment to preserve the dignity of the impeachment process.

As an alternative to writing about impeachment, I was going to open with a poem about love and romance. About birds feeling the warmth of the unusual spring weekend here. And Lovers strolling in woodened pathways near the salt air shore feeling the rising desires that springtime often brings. But of course, this was just two days of a pleasant tease. So, it’s back to reality of a cold winter, and unfortunately, the bitterness of political absurdity in DC.

Baseball is just weeks away, the glorious days when the crack of bats are heard again throughout the sunnier climes. And, also just out are the odds for the great Masters’ Championship, with Brooks leading at 9-1. He is followed by Rory at 10-1, Tiger 12-1, Jon Rahm 14-1 and the law firm of Dustin, Justin, Justin and Rickie at 18-1. When you are talking top-o-the-leaderboard, you can use first names only. So, remember while shoveling, slipping sledding or skiing, their first letters all being “S”, just like Spring.

Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony must have been startling to those used to Hayden and Mozart.

I am not the bit surprised about the so-called Royal Bru-ha-ha involving Meghan. You could see it coming 3,321 miles away. Wrong kind of glitter for starlets.

Which will put the biggest dent in the British economy – Brexit or Megxit?

I’m looking forward to a couple of Tigers playing for the NCAA Football Championship tonight. LSU and their superb QB Joe Burrow are getting a lot of love. Clemson the other Tiger in the game are last years National Champs with their own superb QB Trevor Lawrence -- who has never lost a game. But Clemson is looked upon as a team playing in an inferior league, and because of that and does not get the sports experts respect. Burrow and Lawrence are excellent players and winners. Both “D’s” are very good. Both have very good runners and pass catchers. I think it will be high scoring and a genuine thriller. I’m supporting Clemson, but I don’t know who will win.

The Question:
What was the name of Ernie Kovac’s wife? Bonus: Name five songs by Stephen Foster.

The Headlines:
--All Markets Open Week On Upbeat Note; Tesla Jumps Above $500 After China Keeps Subsidies In Place; Busy Week Looms: Fed Beige Book Due Wednesday, US And China To Sign Phase One Agreement Wednesday, Major US Banks To Report Earnings Starting Tuesday, Holiday Retail Sales To Be Released Thursday; Oil Prices Remain Relatively Stable. .  
--Iran Protestors Use Military Shootdown Error To Plea For Government Leader’s Removal; Among Iran Protestor’s Shouts is, “They Are Lying That Our Enemy Is America, Our Enemy Is Right Here.”; “Down With The Dictator (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei)”.
--ABC/Ipsos Poll Says 56% Of Independents And 57% of All Americans Unhappy With Trump Handling Of Iran Situation; Demographic Analysis Shows Dramatic Political Party Split; On Impeachment -- Only 39% Of Independents And All American Adults Agree That NP Withholding Articles Was Right To Do.
--Trump Tweets Out Support For Protestors.
--NFL Down To Final Four: San Fran Versus Green Bay; Tennessee Versus Kansas City.
--Australia Air Drops 4,500 Pounds Of Water, Carrots and Sweet Potatoes for Wallabies.
--Bloomberg Says He Will Spend Big Bucks To Beat Trump Whether Or Not He Is Nominee.
--Pelosi Says Without Witnesses Senate Trial Is A Coverup; Repubs Say If Dems Had Done Job Properly Witnesses Would Already Have Been Heard.

As stock prices soar, will we begin seeing stock splits again?

The leading candidate for the annual Stupid Human Tricks Award is spelled B-o-e-i-n-g. Boing, Boing, Boing.

There is agreement among legal observers that says if the Dem Congress hadn’t pressed for a rushed impeachment hearing and progressed normally, they would have had plenty of times to subpoena and wait to hear the witnesses they are now saying should be heard in The Senate. They created a weak case and are now trying to demean the institution that will hear it.

A company called BrainCo makes head bands loaded with sensors that can monitor brain activity. Some are suggesting that the headbands be passed out to high school students, naturally in attractive “in” colors and designs. The teachers could the monitor brain activity of each student. Of course, students’ brains are often elsewhere. I’m thinking that Johnny sitting in row five thinking about Susie in row one who is thinking about Johnny in row five could short circuit the entire system. Could a teacher call out Robert as an “idiot” even when she knows it is true?

Nothing is free especially all of the stuff that we think is free on the internet. We are paying for it with our data which should be considered priceless.

When a short interlude of spring surprises us in mid-Winter, the teens and twenty somethings immediately strip down to Tee-Shirts. While older people go from six layers to five… and worry that that may have been too risky.

The last thing I would want is somebody I don’t know trying to interpret my brain waves.

He “F” Factor: Do the thoughts of Spring produce offspring?

Based on limited hearsay, the head of the Teachers Union in RI went mad on a social network and deemed an entire HS girls’ basketball team -- “Racist”. Which as you can imagine resulted in rocks, slings and arrows heading the way of the falsely accused bunch of good kids just playing basketball. Of course, the union chief’s thoughtless accusation was entirely wrong. In one of her many statements in response to a request that she stand face to face with the young girls and apologize, she responded, “I don’t know what the ask is.”  BTW this is the second time this year that a team was falsely accused of being racist. Remember when sports were fun and people appreciated the play? Remember when sports were to bridge the divide gouged by ideological disagreements.

The union chief’s actions are a good reminder that with freedom, comes responsibility.

BTW, something to keep an eye on. There is a growing, more cohesive National Association of Parents Called “Parents, USA” with an aim to clip the wings of the high flying and overly powerful NEA.

The USA has about 320 million residents and we continue to overreact and take sides on the anecdotal evidence of one.

College basketball has improved now that elite athletes realize that sitting on the bench of an upper echelon team is not as good as playing regularly for a second echelon team. And that is what is happening now as top teams get knocked office regularly. The days of extolling college basketball monarchy may be over. Now all they have to do is get rid of the three-point shot so we can get back to good passing. Oh, wait a minute, the three-pointer is another reason the 2nd echelon can beat the elite. Oh well. You can’t have everything.

It was fun rooting for Tennessee in last night’s AFC game. Actually, I hear I wasn’t alone as a lot of people were tired of the media puffing up Baltimore as football perfection. Although, Lamar Jackson showed again that he is a running wizard.

Arizona State is ranked number 15 in NCAA Hockey?

I’d like to write more about popular music, but I haven’t heard much worth writing about.

Over the years I have found that popular music of bygone eras sounds better when you view it nostalgically. But I just can’t see that happing as these younger generations grow older.

The Answer:
The businesswomen, actress, singer, comedienne wife of the groundbreaking comedian Ernie Kovacs was the very tainted Tony Winning Edie Adams. (If you said you Bette Wilcox you would also have been correct. She was Ernie Wife #1) Bonus: Poor old Stephen Foster wound up a pauper on the streets o NYC. Had he a good agent he may have retired comfortably from the royalties from “My Old Kentucky Home”, “Beautiful Dreamer”, “Camptown Races”, Oh! Suzanna”, “Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair”, “Old Black Joe” and “Old Folks At Home (Suwanee River)”. He wrote about 280 songs beginning in with his first in 1840 at 14 -- Tioga Waltz. He wrote throughout the Civil War, dying in NYC’s Bowery with 3 cents in his pocket at a mere 38 years old. And a note in his wallet that read, “Dear Hearts and Gentle People”.

The swimming pool on the Titanic is still full.

I would work and fight to be free. I surely would never choose to live for free.


No comments:

Post a Comment