World View: etc!: Dealing with contrarianism.

Today's Tids Issue 5,351

Beyond the sun:

I know when standing in the rain.

The sky above is always blue,

And the sun is bright and warm.

I know I will eventually get dry.

One of the sadder new trends to me is bringing gambling into the living rooms of America and using celebs to dupe Americans into separating themselves form their bank accounts and savings. Does this mean we can expect a government bailout for gamblers in the future just before an election day?

Remember when the Continental Divide meant the Rocky Mountains?

AI could be the salvation of those with implausible causes. Apparently, AI programs like ChatGPT can wrote great believable fiction about anything you want to espouse and insert it somewhere into mainstreams social media. So, the of world cause yahoos will always find apparent science to back up their disingenuous imaginations.

So, I will now assume that any medical paper on the negative health effects from potato chips, Cheetos and rich, creamy chicken gravy were made up by a computer. The rain just stopped.

And from the Tids Puns’ Laureate: Mix Mexican alcohol with American literature and wind up with Tequila Mockingbird.

The Question:

Its ben a while since I last asked, “What are the best start words for ‘Wordle’.” The last time number one was “Crane”. What are the top five now?

The Headlines:

--Markets Open Solidly in Positive Territory, Fades a Bit in Late Morning; Nasdaq Continues its January Surge; Tesla Beats Estimates.

--US Q$ GDP Grows at 2.9%; Faster Than Expected Rate Eases Concerns About a Recession, New Jobless Claims Fall Again;

--Russia Sends in Barrage of Missiles During Kiev Rush Hour; Attack Coincides with Decisions on New Tank Shipments.

--Bitterly Cold Winter in Pakistan Has Becomes a Killer.

--Israel West Bank Raid Kills 9 Palestinians.

--Opium Production in Myanmar Surges.

--Adam Schiff Announces Candidacy to Run for Diane Feinstein Senate Seat.

Whoops! Yesterday I reached out into my minimal often confusing vocabulary and used Literal (Exactly as stated) instead of Literate (Knowledgeable) when I discussed my new objective of becoming more accomplished in my knowledge of AI. That is a literal explanation.

Last night I watched “Jack Ryan” Season 3, Episode 5 and I hadn’t a clue about what was going on. There were three parallel storylines unfolding and every one of them took place in very dark nighttime scenes. Why do directors think that not seeing is more like reality. This could be my new pet peeve as I see in gaining momentum among the creative glitterati.

There is a movement in this state to prioritize former marijuana lawbreakers with favored status for receiving valuable Pot Shopp\ licenses form the state. Insane. The inverted logic that possessing Pot being not illegal now means that somehow those who intentionally broke the law in the past are now victims deserving a reward. Are they trying to say that the reason they apparently broke laws of earlier days was only berceuse they were psychics and knew legality was coming.

Enough of lawbreakers. Mikaela Schiffrin won her 84th world skiing championship yesterday. She, just 27, has passed Lesley Vonn for the women's record and moved into second place all time. The overall record is held by Ingemar Stenmark, at 86. Mikaela is just two behind for a tie. Ingemar and Lesley retired at 34 and 33. Mkaela with 6 years left before that age is well on her way to obliterating the record, setting a new goal for decades to come. But I still love the great Ingemar.

While you are noodling around for an answer to today's Q, here is some data to ponder: E (in 12.49 percent of words). The rest of the top letters are T (9.28 percent), A (8.04 percent), O (7.64 percent), I (7.57 percent), N (7.23 percent), S (6.51 percent), R (6.28 percent), H (5.05 percent), L (4.07 percent), D (3.82 percent) and C (3.34 percent)

Are the bulls coming back to Wall Street? I think maybe, but not like at Pamplona.

If there were no COLAs would the cost of living ever rise.

Cupboard is bare, Department:

The US Defense Industrial base is currently sized for peacetime operations. But Ukraine support is stressing it as if on a wartime basis. For many key inventories of ammunition and equipment, right now it would take several years to replenish. One solution is to supply older type equipment instead of the Top Line state of the art stuff, which is what Ukraine needs to stay even with Russia. So, there is a dilemma approaching and Congress will be faced with a rather difficult decision of converting a civilian military production to wartime urgency. We often only see the top lien of the news. Yay for us helping Ukraine...but...

Two sociologists are sitting by the pool. One turns to the other and asks, “Have you read Marx?” to which he replies, “Yes, it’s these damn wicker chairs.”

The Answer:

According to something called “Toms Guide” the best starting word is “Stare”. However, Tom acknowledges that According to the NY Time’s "Wordle Bot” the best words are Crane, Slate, Crate, Slant, Trace, Lance, Carte, Lease, Trice and Roast. On this list, “Stare is number 12. BTW, Tom suggests the best second words to Stare are Phony, Could and Doing. Wired magazine has another slew of words like React, Adieu, Sized, Tears, About, Cream, Paint, Arise and more. Of course, I don’t even come close to any of hat. I guess being a contrarian has its challenges. I say, what’s the fun of resorting to actual statistics when you can fight the battle in your own world.