Roses and deficits.

Today's Tids Issue 2,364

Opening Stuff:

The calming mist shrouded the bare, pristine beaches while surf crushed the shore. The hum of engines arose like an echo of the surf and grew to a terrifying roar as the horizons were filled with 5,000 ships carrying 30,000 vehicles and 150,000 men. And boys. Young men, old men looking ahead with fear in their eyes at the open beaches. No place to hide. At swirling, monstrous ocean currents that would prove more violent than bullets that would tear through tender flesh and brave hearts. And yet they came, wave after wave of young men, innocent men against pure satanic evil. The white sands turned red, and still they came. Aiding fallen friends and strangers. But never retreating. Always moving forward. Taking a barren beach that would change the world. 10,000 that fateful yet honorable day in 1944 were severely wounded or killed. Today is the day we remember.

Everybody loves Pachelbel's Canon...even if they don't know what it is.

To the uninitiated like I was 20 or so years ago when I started my Dorothy Perkin's roses, those first fast growing shoots with the red end leaves looked like lush growth. Of course, they were suckers that would drain the strength from the heart of the plants. This is not unlike "stimulus" spending that piles up government jobs, pays people not to work and sidetracks pure economic factors necessary in a free productive economy. It looks like something is happening, but it sucks the life out of true unfettered competitiveness. In a real economy, governemnt hiring comes after the private sectors expand.

It looks like The Portuguese have voted out the Socialist suckers and in a center right government that promises austerity and the first steps back to a true economy.

Although, in Greece the protestors waved signs that actually said, "Don't pay back our creditors!" This is true. How red are the tips of their leaves? Sorry Alexander, there is no hope.

And, maybe we aren't so far behind. In the just released stats showing the richest counties in America, 4 0f the top 5 are in Virginia and Maryland surrounding, guess, our own Washington DC. The greatest concentrations of wealth in the USA are in the areas where the biggest industry is Big Government.

The Question:
Three of the great world wide service and caring organizations are the Red Cross, Salvation Army and YMCA. Where were they started and by whom?

The Headlines:

--5 US Soldiers Killed In Baghdad Rocket Attack.
--Supreme Court Orders PA Appeals Court To Re-Examine Ruling On Hazleton Pa's Crackdown On Illegal Aliens; SC Recently Upheld Arizona's Employer Sanction Law; Other States Looking To Move Against Illegal Misdoings.
--International Data Corp. Revises 011 PC Sales Growth Downward from 7.1% To 4.2%.
--E.Coli Isolated To German Sprout Farm.
--Israeli Troops Fire On Syrian Protestors On Golan Heights.
--Santorum Announces For GOP; Conservatives Welcome Him.
--Obama Federal Reserve Governor Pick, Noble Winner Peter Diamond; Diamond Says GOP Mean To Him.
--Truck Sized Asteroids Barrel Through Earth Atmosphere At 86,000 Mph.

Back to More Stuff:
Not to beat dead horse-meat to death, but that $2,000,000 they spent on the circles of nutrition is just one of probably thousands of what I call federal "HH" spending. That's Happy HorseS--t if you don't no the code. You know a bunch of bureaucrats sitting around having hallucinogenic orgasms over things that are only interesting to them. It happens every day. It's called too many people with nothing to do.

Put a warm and cuddly grey haired wig on Totalitarianism and you've got the USA Nanny State. Sound farfetched? Totalitarianism is "a political system where the state under the power of a single person, faction or class recognizes no limits over its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible." Bans on smoking in parks, cameras watching and measuring what kids eat in schools, executive branch commissions beyond the reach of "Checks and Balances" telling companies where they can build factories or how much the can pay execs, states recording the mileage on your car, elimination of sugary drinks. Encroachments are always incremental, sometimes barely noticed. And then one day, they don't need wigs any longer, and you sit wondering, "Grandma, what big teeth you have."

A lot of friends I know took years after retiring to work off all of those "Air Miles" they acquired on biz trips. I'm finding that I'm down to a small handful of souvenir pens I received at press conferences. So I can't travel. I can write about it.

In 2008 Obama said: "Navy Seal Team 6 is Cheney's private assassination team." In 2011 he says: "I put together Seal team 6 to take out Bin Laden."

When Federer stopped new phenom Djokovich in the French Open this weekend, he told the world that he still has it. The French Open men's Final Four was one of the most intriguing in years, but it still came down to the duo Roger and Rafael. And once again Nadal won it. International tennis is strong.

Tell me, why are "Hackers" continually romanticized instead of harshly denounced and criminalized. Is it some kind of Robin Hood thing? These slugs are home invaders of the worst sort.

I forgot to mention the passing of NFL great Andy Robustelli. He was a stalwart of the great NY Giant teams before the Mighty Pats were twinkle in Billy Sullivan's Eye. I met Andy once when I was making a series of TV commercials about successful local businessmen. While ferocious and unyielding coming from his defensive end position, this everyman was one of great character, kindness and simple human understanding. You'll never meet a better guy and few better football players. Thanks for the memories.

Remember when wristwatches were considered a marvel replacing those old cumbersome pocket-watches which required you to remove it from your pocket and flip open a top to see the time? Sound familiar. Maybe wrist cellphones are the next big trend? But, no texting allowed.

Almost Near: Chapter 23 continues. --After leaving the police station, Tucker tossed his rental car keys to Audrey. "You drive while I make some phone calls.'
"Getting a little cocky, aren't you?" Tucker reddened. But then he noticed her playful glance, and he smiled to himself and relaxed. He pulled out his phone and started tapping out a number. He looked over and saw that Audrey was in deep thought. Probably has her reporter mind whirring, he thought, so that when he was finished she would have two or three good ideas. He was beginning to rely on her. A lot.
"Josh Simpson please." A few seconds later. "Josh. Tucker. What's going on there. Same ole's crap, eh.?" He smiled a couple of times. He always enjoyed the ramblings of the editor. "That's a good one Josh. I've got something going here that could turn into a book. Actually, I'm working with a reporter." he paused, "A real one," he held the phone away from his ear, as the swearing burst out. Then they both laughed. "I got to talk to Lolly there. Yeah, I need her husband to go up and check my house." Then, Tucker's face went blank. "She's back? She's living up at my house?" What'd she look like. Was she angry? Nervous?" He sat there and listened. "She is as pretty as she always was and hoping I'd be back soon?"
Audrey glanced over with a new expression he hadn't seen before. He was silent.

Governor Chafee-Lite is hovering again. Last week he represented his tax plan that nobody likes at a town meeting where nobody came...and he said that's "a good thing because that means they like it". What a good boy am I he was heard exclaiming as he as he sprinkled himself with fairy dust and floated back to the state house. Of course, the people who are against his measures probably weren't there in droves for two reasons. First they are small business owners for the most part and they actually work. Second, most believe that the tax idea is so loony that not even RI legislator wouldn't vote for it.

The Answer:
The YMCA was founded in 1844 in London by Sir George Williams. His goal was to put Christian principles in practice achieved by developing "a healthy spirit, mind and body." I guess that everybody knows that Clarissa Harlowe Barton (Clara) founded in 1881 at the age of 60 the Red Cross. The Red Cross was the result of her heroic work during the Civil War bringing supplies to the stricken on the battlefield. In 1865 in England William and Catherine Booth founded the East London Christian Mission. It was ordered after a quasi-military structure. The husband and wife team was perfect as William preached to the poor and Catherine spoke to the rich gaining financial support for their efforts.

The End:
Like cigarette smokers before them, cell phone users are ignoring the warnings of cancer. The consensus among cell users after the latest theorizing about brain cancer and cell phones was "I don't care, I want my cell phone." Personally, I don't believe the surmising. It sounds to me like another of those "HH" spending sprees.

A little windy today. And I don't mean the weather.

There is no green in Ireland

Today's Tids Issue 2,230

Opening Stuff:

One of the reasons I like reading a newspaper on a cold winter's evening is that the lamp keeps my head warm.

For some reason the voters of Newport decided that a giant monolithic elementary school which will eventually homogenize children was a better idea that smaller neighborhood schools. It's all about big Government getting its arms around towns and the people in them. It's all about sucking the life out of individualism and the inventive thinking that goes with it. Frankly, if I had children, I'd move.

Have you noticed all of the hype around the fifty year anniversary of the election of JFK? I don't seem to remember fifty years for Ike or Harry. Media people are such suckers.

The Question:
With thanksgiving coming up, here's a question to consider. You have just finished dinner and you are full. There are two lukewarm spoonfuls left in a casserole Do you eat it or throw it out?

The Headlines:

--0-Man May Cut Short Visit To Country Of His Childhood; Mt. Merapi Rumbles.
--Good M&A Earnings News Has WS Opening Higher.
--Stress from Economic Woes Dipping.
--Charitable Giving Off A Third.
--Engine Room Fire Cuts Power Stranding 4,500 On Cruise Liner Off Mexico.

Back to More Stuff:
I had just finished golf on this blustery Nor'easter kind of day, when my partner and I found ourselves chating over hot coffee and sweetroll with a nice woman from Ireland (Here 20 years) who runs the pro-shop, cash register and lunch counter. She had plenty of time to talk. We were the only fools on the course. She quickly read us as conservative cretins and began railing about the potential of an America under Obama beginning to look like the dreadful Ireland. There is so much Government money available for even able bodied people that people have just given up working and that they teach their children to look forward to a life on the government dole.That skilled tradesmen have all but disappeared, because not working is so rewarding. It has become a society that pays for babies and gives free housing. Free housing inhabited by irresponsible homeowners is plunked down in the middle of homes owned by hard working people sucking the value out of their homes. Industrious Europeans who came to woirk when Ireland was booming have left to return to Poland which is now the preferred spot for manufacturers. She says that Ireland is ready to go under. Don't be fooled by the green valleys, stone walls and golf courses.
Today's headlines:

I see where Novartis is in the last stages of a research project which would produce a marketable embedded microchip to monitor your body. So what is this idea of Smart Pill technology anyhow. "Warning: Cheetos alert" Send food Nazies to..."

What ever happened to good old fashioned "Stigmas". Like the stigma of not working. Or having children out of wedlock A society that doesn't feel pain will eventually deteriorate.

There is no reason on earth why it should take well over three years to bring to trial two men caught red handed after the brutal torture, rape and murder of three innocent woman in Cheshire, Ct. And, how many years now will appeals go on over the death penalty?

Every kid and juvenile thinking adult will be whining for a "Kinect" this Christmas. And the usual black-market deals will be available as lemmings walk off cliffs for entertainment that will be passe in a year or two, And, most amazing about this marketing effort are the mass of comprehensive cross. promotions.

I don't read stories headlined, "What Women Want.".

Have you noticed how the Government is starting to squeeze seniors? The new Medicare year comes with a premium increase while the SS checks stay the same. Eventually this will force blocks of seniors into Medicaid and the the bloated bureaucracies will be happy. It's called maintaining job security.

The Answer:
Interestingly, if you were born in the thirties or forties, you would probably eat it. In the fifties or later you would probably throw it out. In the depression and WWII years, food was precious. It is probably the reason why the earlier born keep things like TV's that just work fine.

The End:
Erin's Gone Blah!