I'm late, I'm late for a very important date.

Today's Tids Issue 2,511
Opening Stuff:

Just when you think you're having a good day, Zappo's gets hacked. Does anybody ever remember the Sears-Roebuck catalog getting hacked? I don't think so.

I think Romney is leading the way now purely on potential electability in the Fall.

The Question:

Bonus Day: 1. The fans have spoken -- Which match up do you think America wants to see in the Superbowl -- Balt/SF, NE/SF, NY/NE or Balt/NY? 2. Name the five top all time NCAA Basketball points scored.

The Headlines:

--China Economy Growing Better Than Analysts Predictions; World Markets Strong; Dow Up 140 At 11:00AM..
--GOP Debate Better Than Average; Romney May Release Tax Returns By April.
--CitiBank Profit falls 11%.
--Wikipedia To go Black In Protest Of Congress Bills That Will Attempt To Regulate Web Site Activities; Big Boys Google, Facebook et.al. Agree With W, But Will Operate.
--Denver Says Tebow Will be #1 QB In Training camp.

The SuperPac idea may have been a good one if all of that money was used for truthful education instead of lies and spewing seeds of hate and division.

You get a sense of how fragile the world economy must be when the market drops significantly on fears of the high costs of suits from one cruise-liner mishap

I thought last night that Santorum looked pretty strong; Newt knows how to get to the belly of the voting beast; Paul is compelling, funny and a bit loony at the same time; Perry was better than he was in the beginning, but it's too late; Romney was playing the game of trying to avoid being caught. I didn't think it was a good night for Romney, and in no special order, the audience liked Newt, Paul and Santorum best.

Before TV the big event for kids growing up was getting ice cream after a tonsillectomy.

To be honest with you, I never really understood Alice in Wonderland.

"Alcatraz" premiered last night, and while it was well produced, it is a bit of a stretch and other than the intrigue of watching a killers plot their specialties, mainly another police drama. A kinda weird one.

Everybody loves Downton Abbey.

Republicans are conceding a Romeny nomination because they feel it is inevitable and they just want the agony to end.

You have to figure that the NFL league office is torn between having a San Francisco-Baltimore Super Bowl with two telegenic brothers facing each other. Or, a rematch of the New England/Giants thriller of 3 SB's ago. But, it's a happy problem. A Niners/Pats match could be the Leftist Bowl, Ninth Circuit Court Versus Ted Kennedy.

Voter ID is really about regaining a tinge of honesty in a political world that has lost its direction. Yet it has become another of those bogus racist arguments, leading me to believe that instead of capitalizing on progress, black leaders want to keep the divide alive so they will remain important.

The Answer:
1. Pete Maravich is the all time scoring leader with 3,667. The next nine are Freeman Williams, Lionel Simmons, Alphonso Ford, Harry Kelly, Keydren Clark, Hersey Hawkins, Oscar Robinson, Danny Manning, Alfrederick Hughes, Elvin Hayes, Tyler Hansbrough and Larry Bird. Note that most of these top scorers were before the 3-Point rule and when freshman couldn't play. Of course they were around before kids left college after one year. Whatever happened to Bevo Francis? 2. A New York-Patriots (37%) game gets the nod from the nations fans just ahead of Pats-Niners (35%). Niners-Balt is next with19% with NY/Balt at 9%.

Sorry for the thinning Tids today, and the speedy good-bye, but life is pressing and I must raise to the challenge.

If there were no problems in the world we wouldn't need leaders.

Read all about it!

Today's Tids Issue # 2,328

Opening Stuff:

One of the the great treats during this time of year is that you can always catch a good "Messiah" somewhere.

It's nice that a golf tournament is on TV opposite the NCAA playoffs. When my heart gets beating out of control, I can turn to the golf to slow it down. Better than blood pressure medicine.

One of my pet concerns in our increasingly messy world is the decline of newspapers, a most comfortable way to be informed. Alas, I think it is essentially doomed. Consider that even though people's time spent with news is at an all-time high, allegiance to traditional sources is tumbling fast. And believe it, that includes relative newcomer Cable TV News which has had the biggest audience tumble of all. From the Pew analysis of 2009-2010 (The very latest data), the on-line news went up 17.1%. All of the rest fell -- Local TV (-1.5%), Network TV (-3.4), Newspapers (-5), Audio (-6), Magazines (-8.9) and Cable TV (-13.7%)! Surprised? The crunch for newspapers though is on the ad revenue side. Local TV went up 17% followed by Online (13.9), Cable TV (8.4), Network TV (6.6), audio (6) and Magazines 1.4). Only newspapers went down and that was a fairly high 6.3%. That is the death knell. Hear the bell ring.

I could write an entire Tids on this, but I know you'd rather see a good, bad pun. "During the Invasion of Sicily during WWII General Patton was preparing to take the city of Palermo. His meteorologists told him his selected day would be incredibly rainy. He immediately ordered that the N.Y. Times be brought in and placed under tailgates of the transports bringing in the men to keep feet dry. His staff was mystified why the Times over the Daily News. But they brought in 5 tons of the paper as requested. It was then that Patton issued his famous quote: "These are the 'times' that dry men's soles."

Are my "Beloveds" in danger of becoming the "Despicables"? Maybe, if others think about the Red Sox like Baltimore manager Buck Showwalter. "I'd like to see how smart Theo Epstein is with the Tampa Bay payroll." He went on, "...That's why I like whipping their butt. It's great, knowing those guys with a $205 Million payroll are saying, 'How are they beating us?'." Do others in the AL feel the same? Will the Sox be in the cross-hairs of the other managers too?" Sorry Gabby.

Let's hear it for Red Sox Japanese pitcher Diasuke (DiceK) Matsuzaka who just donated $1,000,000 to the Japan relief fund.

The Question:
Name the ten colleges with the highest endowments. Which university endowment portfolio made the biggest gain in 2010?

The Headlines:

--Market Futures Up On Strong Showings Last Week; Could Be Tempered By Japan, Libya Issues.
--Libyan Rebs Close In On Daffy Stronghold.
--Blasts Rock Yemen Faactory Overtaken By Militants.
--Budget Battle Heats Up As Congress returns.
--Radiation In Japan Seawater May be Spreading.
--No Cola For SS Predicted Again For 2011.
--Pediatricians Worried That FaceBook May be Adding To Kids Low Self Esteem, Depression.

Back to More Stuff:
The more the dangerous debt problem of the US is politicized, the less the people will take it seriously. And the more they will resist solving it. Of course the politicization takes place on all ends of the debate. The arts groups who depend on grants and the manufcaturing industries who depend on defense contracts and other big government stimualtion. The "Aha Moment" came when WWII defeated the great depression.Tthe rallying cry thereafter for recessions was "All we need is a good war." Now we have social wars, cultural wars, financial wars and of course old fashioned bloody wars all demanding an influx of government (Read that taxpayer) cash. So basically the answer to the Debt/Deficit problem is peace!. Understanding among all factions that we just can't create economies any more, because there is no economy left. That if you have something to sell, whether a product or personal knowledge, you are going to have to to do it yourself. And the society at large will recognize its needs.

The ten most important words in the English language are "If it is to be, it is up to me." How simple is that?

Out in the middle of the almost Everglades country are a couple of small towns about 25 miles east of the well-to-do Naples Florida. One is makeshift and the home of seminole indians and migrant workers. The other is a Catholic town with a university, spiffy Main Street, Academy and neat neighborhoods just built by Domino Pizza billionaire Tom Monahan. One skyline is dominated by a giant casino. The other by huge cathedral like church. A tale of two Americas in the middle of nowhere.

It didn't take long for my brackets to crumble like "Galloping Gertie". After Friday I had but Kansas, Florida and UConn left in the eight. But I was long gone well before that. And this morning after yesterday I have but UConn of my original Florida, Ohio State, Notre Dame and UConn. Hope you all did better.

I was out at the paper machine yesterday morn getting my Sunday paper only to find a moderately attractive blond putting in quarters. She looked up as I approached and said, "Would you like a freebie?" I stood silent for a moment. "Oh...you mean paper? I would never do that. You know the paper's are on their last legs..." I started my harangue on the plight of the news papers. She rolled her eyes, took her paper and left as fast as she could. I guess that's too deep for the morn.

Almost Near: Chapter 13 continues. --Tucker plunked the bag on Audrey's desk which startled her out of her editing process. She was ready to blast the intruder, but smiled when she saw Tucker standing there with a stupid grin on his face. "Oh, hi!" She got up and stole a chair from her neighbor and pulled over to Tucker.
"You look industrious this morning," he started. "Hope I didn't break into a key train of thought." She made a motion to minimize the seriousness of her activity. "So what do you have."
"Show me what's in the bag and I'll tell you whether it's worth the information I have." She laughed. "Tell me about why you are here asking about this case?"
"I think I met Mrs. Quimpierre up in new England where I live. It's a long story. Let's eat." Audrey was opening the sandwich. She looked at and smiled telling him it was her favorite because had no veggies.
Tucker detailed in short form the story of Samantha, from his teens to present. Audrey watched him intently. "So this is a mission of intense love," She said looking at him in the eyes. Tucker reddened. He didn't know what to feel before this attractive, intelligent woman. "I like an incurable romantic who will go to the ends of the earth for the woman of his hopes and dreams." She said smiling warmly. Tucker relaxed.

You have to believe that people on our Western and Northwestern coasts are thinking about the possibility of tsunamis. That unyielding wave traveling at jet speed is one ugly, terrifying beast.

With all of the world news dominating, the unemployment reports are sneaking through without much comment. The worst four states are Nevada (13.6%), Cal (12.2), Florida (11.5) and Little Ole' RI (11.2). And RI isn't going to get better until they decide to get smarter about business. I just heard of yet another small RI owned company (one that had just built a brand new factory about a couple of years ago and started hiring for well paying jobs) is packing up to move to Massachusetts. The reason: You guessed it. A tax advantage and economic package too good to resist.

I think those flat brimmed, high crown hats on golfer's look a little too foppish for an athlete. In fact, Ricky Fowler looks like a Broadway chorus groupie. And to those who say, "It is the modern way to look", I say Nehru Jackets!

The Answer:
Harvard is a small country with a $27 Billion endowment followed by Yale at $16 Bil. The three other double digit endowments belong to Princeton, Texas and Stanford. The rest are MIT, Michigan, Columbia and Northwestern. The Texas endowment had the highest percentage growth during the past year.

The End:
In case you weren't aware, Galloping Gertie was the infamous Tacoma Narrows Bridge that failed due to aeroelastic flutter, a resonance caused by a 42mph wind that cause the suspension bridge to start dancing until it pulled it self apart and fell into the Puget Sound. The films of the collapse have been used in every civill engineering school and the study of that collapse in 1940 led to batter structures today. At the time it was the 3rd longest suspension bridge after the Golden Gate and the George Washington Bridge.

You can get the entire State of the News story at: http://stateofthemedia.org/2011/overview-2/key-findings/

The Government of Syria is killing its protesting citizens. Why isn't the UN moving there?

Anybody who picked all #1 seeds in this new era of super star early departure just doesn't get it. Hey...wait a minute...the Prez picked all number ones!

Ziggy Circles.

Today's Tids Issue 2,285
Opening Stuff:


One of the great things about email, is that on cold cloudy days, lots of warm sunshine can come your way.

The problem with vegetarians is that they are promoting their food so much that prices are bound to climb way beyond the level of good value. (Value is measured as dollars divided by taste bud modules.) As almost anybody moderately aware of economics knows, the poor tend to be heavier because they eat the cheapest foods -- Pastas, taters and Tasty Cakes. Hmmm? What's wrong with that?

How many people think like I do that it is odd how the media follows Gabby Gifford's every movement, every flutter eyelid, every ambulance transfer? I wonder why? Is it because it is the only Democrat with any guts that the media has left to write about.

The Question:
Another bonus Double "Q" today! 1. Actually, this morning I'm savoring a big win by Providence basketball over Villanova (PC's 2nd in a row over a top 25 team) Which conferences have the most teams in the top 25 list? 2. Exactly what is a "Ziggy Circle"?

The Headlines:

--Egypt Fiery Anti-Gov Protests Continue For Third Day.
--SS Fund To Be Kaput By 2037.
--Dollar Spikes After S&P Downgrades View Of Japan's Debt.
--New Unemployment Data Rises Unexpectedly; New Apps Surge 51,000 To 454,000; Stock Futures Down.
--Econ Doubts Have Foreclosures Rising In 149 Of 207 Largest Metro Areas Across The Country; Continued Unemployment The Problem; Phoenix, Chicago, Detroit Metros Hit Hardest.
--Bombs Kill 37 At Baghdad Funeral.
--Palin PAC Has More Than $1.3 Million In Cash.
--Mandela Hospitalized.

Back to More Stuff:
I see where the IRS has new "App" for easy filing. Just what I need, the initials IRS on my smart phone. I only think about that intimidating collection agency once a year. I don't need to see them when I'm scrolling to my favorite app: "Junk food of the Day".

The world was a lot nicer before the arrival of mass produced lawyers.

I don't follow American Idol too closely in these early rounds. Just a little too much contrived stuff for me. But, it looks like the talent pool in Wisconsin was better than that of the Apple last week. Among the promising aspirants are Scott Dangerfield, Beghun, Emma Henry, Jerome Bell, Naima Adedapo, Thia Megia, Molly DeWolfe Swensen, Scotty McCreery and Chris Medina. I'm think that I could get to like Emma, Naima, Thia and Scotty a lot as this goes on. That is, if they can continue to get better as the competiton moves along. And is this a year we can get the boppers to vote for someone other than a cute guy with a modest talent?

I'm thinking that the media has just discovered manufacturing as I'm seeing lots of frothy reports by wide eyed wet behind the ears "veteran" newsmen touting the amazing things that go into making product. Things any body from the lowest spot on an assembly line to head of engineering has known for 200 years.

Grow Up Department:
Some of you may remember the kid who showed up on the sandlot with baseball almost devoid of tape and a bat without a screw holding it together. Then he would say "If you don't let me play I'll take my bat and ball and go home." That sounds a lot like Robert Burton, the mega rich UConn Football booster who wants his money back ($7 Mil) because they wouldn't let him pick the football coach. This public incident is probably repeated in private throughout the land of scholar-athletes. Major college sports teams are all about money, not any longer about "My college team is better than your college team." -- pure and simple. AD's are businessmen with business training. But, Burton is right, UConn made a poor choice for Coach!

The Union bought Chafee-Lite appears to be supporting the NEA gang in RI in its desire to be rid of Education Commish Dorothy Gist. Oddly, Gist's ideas of pushing the students to greater achievement seems to be right in line with "In the NEA Pocket" President Obama. Go figure.

How about that Dennis Kucinich suing the Congressional cafeteria because he found an olive pit in his wrap. His suit says the sandwich contained a dangerous substance. Is that anything like a weapon of mass destruction. In a related story, it has been learned that the kinder gentler 0-Man admin is arming border guards with bags of olive pits.

Almost Near: Chapter 4. --All of sudden Samantha found herself standing at the end of the dock looking down at the stranger in the dory. He was concentrating on what he was writing and appeared oblivious to his voyeur. It was almost five minutes before he looked up slowly, as if to draw and idea out of the sky.
At once he noticed Samantha. His face broke into the kind of unconditional smile reserved for the closest of friends. Lovers.
Samantha was startled at his sudden expansive attention. She stammered, embarrassed. "I. I. I don't know what I'm doing here." The stranger saw the confusion in her face and his smile turned to concern.
"I hope I didn't startle you," He said kindly. A caring tone. Kind eyes putting her at ease. "I was suprised to see you standing up there and I immediately thought you were somebody I knew. But, I can tell by your reaction that I'm not." He said it comfortably like it was somebody Samantha should have known.
"I just came down to eat breakfast, and I saw you here...and .. I ...I don't know why I came over here."
"Breakfast!" he exclaimed, deftly ignoring her discomfort. "I need breakfast too. Would you join me at Lillies?" Samantha seemed to relax.

Olive pits would be one reason why I never order olive sandwiches. The other is that olives aren't any good unless in martinis. And then they are only good in martinis so you can throw them at friends across the bar.

The Non-Sequitur strip this morning announced the next national trauma with a street preacher's sign: "Repent! Unfriending is near." There's always something.

The Tids Sports department has no football predictions today. The big story is the first big tournament in golf where the Tiger returns. His fans and even those who now have a deminished view of the this super player will be wondering if he can come back. There is no truth to the rumor that his manager is placing strippers in his motel room to help him regain the magic.

The Answer:
1. The big East is up front with 7 closely followed by the Big 10 with 6. Then we have Big 12 with 4, SEC - 3, Mountain West - 2, Pac 10 - 1 and the mighty "Dick Vitale Conference" (ACC) with but One! Say it Ain't so Coach K. 2. A "Ziggy Circle" is a frivolous term used to describe fanciful play in the snow. As in...a girl running to be caught after throwing a snowball at man of her dreams.

The End:
It looks like a perfect morning to run in ziggy circles and throw a couple of snowballs.