Nobody will know but your heart.

Today's Tids Issue 2,480
Opening Stuff:

I remember when I was probably 10 or eleven, wandering with a couple of friends from store to store downtown. Yeah, we walked many miles a day. Finding myself in the corner drugstore, my taste buds aching for some Dentine gum, I reached down only to find my pockets were bare. I looked around. I edged up to the candy display. My little hand slinked out of my pocket, to the Dentine and back in again. I looked around. Nobody was looking. I called for my buddies, let's go. Outside they were goofin off, like usual. "Wanna a piece of gum?" "Sure," they all said, "where'd you get it anyhow". I didn't answer, Then we started punching each other and doing stupid stuff. But my heart was now firmly affixed in my stomach. And it remained there for most of the year. I broke out in sweat every time I passed the store. Then one day I walked down town, alone. I breathed in deeply and walked back into that lions den, with my hands in pocket. I looked up and saw Old Mr' Elliot and the ice cream counter guy staring at me.They knew. I turned back to the door. But, stopped. It was time. My hand slinked out grasping a nickle. I looked around again and put it on the counter. Nobody was looking. I walked out whistling through dry lips. A little bit any how. Don't tell.

Who says Tim Tebow can't pass?

I will never understand the reasoning behind or get used to the phrase -- "The image in your rear view mirror may be closer than it appears".

The Question:

Time for Double Bonus day: 1. Did Michelangelo consider himself a sculptor or a painter? Which came first, "David or "The Sistine Chapel"? Who was his most important mentors? Give me one myth about the painting of the Sistine. 2. Name the three super hits by Little Richard. Little who?

The Headlines:

--US Stock Futures Up Sharply On News Of Potential Progress In Europe.
--Pearl Harbor Survivors Gathering There For 70th Anniversary Of Japanese Atrocity.
--Putin's Party Barely Sneaks By.
--New USPS Cuts Could Make "Two Day Or Worse 1st Class Delivery" The Norm.
--Merkel, Sarkozy still Seeking deal That Would Stabilize Euro.
--Clinton Avows USA Continuing Support For Afghan.
--Madonna Named Entertainment For SuperBowk Halftime.

One out of eleven people shoplifts something during this crazy "shopping" season. It costs business $190 Billion. Congress shoplifts something from the taxpayer everyday and it's up to about $15 Trillion. Petty theft is really not so petty.

While on the same general subject, there is no legal defense that bothers me more than that of many defense, celebrity and other, lawyers -- "It's only a misdemeanor".

Oh yeah, in case you are interested the 10 most shoplifted items are Filet Mignon's, Jameson Whiskey (Really, that's what it says), Electric Tools (Power Toothbrushes are tops as well as work tools), IPhone4, Gillette Mach 4, Axe (Men's deodorant - retailer can't smell thief coming!), Polo Ralph Lauren, Let's Rock Elmo, Chanel #5 and Nike.

If the American Revolution made America, then the War of 1812 made America great. Yet few people celebrate that every important war that put the US on the map as a power, and actually signaled the beginning of the current friendship between the US and Britain. Few people, except the cities and towns around Lake Erie, a burned out Washington DC, a bombarded Baltimore, a ehroic New Orleans and Rhode Island where we are building an official State Tall Ship, a teaching ship, named after the hero of the Great Lake - Oliver Hazard Perry. Some of the big battles of this largely forgotten war were the siege of Baltimore (Star Spangled Banner), Battle of New Orleans.

As far as I'm concerned, the best looking residential development in RI is Harbour Ridge outside of Wickford. It has rather amazing architecture for a residential effort, with all homes being entirely different except for two things -- quality and character.

The headline said, "Obama gets laughs at Kennedy Center Honoree Dinner." Let's see, the room is filled with leftist President fawning celebs, and he gets laughs for his jokes. How odd. How newsworthy.

Alas, the Post Office looks like it is cutting itself to irrelevancy. I always thought the USPS was a much better deal for package delivery than either UPS or FedEx. It was a product that always got there fast as promised. So the question asked is why can't the PO make money like those two services do. Easy, the USPS is mandated to deliver everything anywhere at the least possible cost. It is their charter to deal with inefficient markets.

Actually, old Ma Bell, the big "monopoly" everyone wanted to bring to it's knees, had the same mandate as the Post Office. They had to string lines to that lone farmer in in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma, while upstarts like Sprint cherry picked the most profitable connections -- major city to major city.

I'm looking at the South Carolina primary as the most telling of the early contests.

Over in Russia they say more and more people don't like Putin, but he and his operatives have successfully squashed, maimed the image, of any of the potential candidates and that there is nobody left to run. Sound familiar.

Word out of Massachusetts is that Scott Brown has lost his conservative super-supporters.

I don't get that giant drop in unemployment. The new jobs added report was a mere 120,000, which all experts agree is far below what is necessary to nudge the unemployment downward, much less the .5 drop! The WH immediately released a report about 0-Man's Jobs Act effectiveness. But later economists said "Not do Fast Politicians". The work force that gained 120k jobs also lost 315K who gave up looking for work. Also, BLS (Board of Labor Statistics) says " the civilian labor force participation had declined to 64%", another piece of statistical evidence saying more people were not looking for work. So, Charlie Brown, that's why that number looked weird.

Almost Near: Chapter 52 continues. --Audrey punched his arm lightly like she had been doing for the past months since they met. She did it reflexively as she had, but wasn't sure she had the same good vibes. He is a nice guy and always had that man-in-need appeal, she liked. But, his moods lately had been noticeably different, at least to a snoopy reporter.
"So, you still love me?"
"When was the last time I said I loved you?"
"Oh, just about never, but I got this feeling! Wanna sing!"
Now Audrey laughed, and loosened up a lot, giving him a little jab.
"So," she asked, "Don't you think this Dante accident was little bit coincidental?" She asked him, but didn't indicate that she believed that Samantha had absolutely nothing to do with it. In fact Audrey was starting to feel for Samantha's plight herself.
"I think it is awful that it happened. Dante seemed like a nice guy."
"Tell me about that locket you found?"
"That was a story about the past. I'd rather talk about us."

The Answer:
1. Donatello was Mike's second teacher, and probably his most important confluence. he considered him self a sculptor, which is probably why his David, 1504, preceded his best know painting achievement the Sistine Chapel,1508-1512. As opposed to popular lore, he painted standing up. What is also interesting about the Sistine effort was his use of a very vibrant color palette. This was revealed when during the 1980's restorers removed 470 years of accumulated crud. Things may have been brighter back in those days than what most paintings of the era reveal. Or maybe art was used to to counter the bleak! or not. 2. The throaty one's big three in the mid 1950's were Tutti Frutti (All Rooty), Long Tall Sally and Good Golly Miss Molly. A-wop-bop-a-loo-lop-a-lop-bam-boom!

Shop lifters and litterers. "Hey, I didn't do nuttin." What does your heart tell you?

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!

My mind is empty.

Today's Tids Issue 2,291
Opening Stuff:

This is one of those beautiful periods of Winter when the hills and fields are glazed with ice that glistens in the moonlight and dances brightly under the daily sun like a million ballerinas with diamonds in their hair.

Kind of makes you forget the potential flaws in the can't be beaten Red Sox line-up, doesn't it?. 10 days til P's and C's. Crack! Aaaaaahh.

Nothing is making me happier these days than the resounding return to championship form by Kim Clijsters.

The Question: 
It's Friday so it must be Bonus "Q" Day. 1. King's Speech looks good with 12 nominations for the gold statue. But two films were nominated for 14. Name them and their winning years. 2. Name the defensive Hall of Famers from the vaunted Pittsburgh Steeler SB winners in the 70's.

The Headlines:

--Unemployment Down To 9%; Only A Disappointing 35,000 New Jobs Created; Say What?
--Wall Street Could Open Slightly Higher As WS Gurus Try To Decipher Labor Reports.
--Anti Hosni's Overcome Two Days Of Thuggery To Continue Calls For President's Removal; Some Activists Are Calling For March On Prez Palace Which Could Bring Out Army In Force.
--New Report Details How States Squandered Stimulus Money.
--Internet Corporation For Assigned Names, The Global Warehouse For Internet Addresses has Handed Out Its 4 Billionth Address; There Are No More Says ICANN Chief Rod Beckstrom.

Back to More Stuff:
For my money, John Batchelor is the best of the talk show mavens. This guy, who reads a book a day!, is very knowledgeable not only on politics, but also the economy, world affairs, science, literature and the arts. His show broadcast nationally 9-12 Eastern is refreshing and intelligent, and because it is so varied in scope, avoids the monotonous repetition that often dilutes the veracity of legitimate observations. You can go to http://www.johnbatchelorshow.com/podcasts/ He, a Republican without adjectives, and says "I don't have it in me to be a fire breathing Dragon, and frankly I enjoy my discussions with all Democrats comfortable in their skin as I am."

Those news reports above about the reduction in unemployment percentages and the meager creation of new jobs is conflicting at best. It looks from here that the folks in the government aren't talking to one another. The two month drop of 0.8% is largest drop in 53 years, but understanding that all isn't that rosy, it is probably due to more people dropping out. The jobs grew by 950K (83K/Month) in the past year. 8 Million jobs were lost in 2008-09. 83,000 new jobs /month isn't even close to keeping up with population growth, much less overcoming the 7 Million lost jobs still not available. There are pockets of brightness, but caution should still be the watchword for average investors who's miscalculations aren't compensated for by large bonuses.

Almost near: Chapter 5 continues.
--Watching Tucker row the dory to his magnificent J-92 was the perfect start to the evening. While he appeared to concentrate totally on Samantha sitting comfortably on the stern thwart, he also meticulously dipped the oars silently into the early evening water without a hint of splash. The only sound interrupting perfect silence was the knocking of the oars in the locks.
"Grab the rail, that's the little silver thing directly above your head." Tucker laughed. Samantha smiled too ignoring his doubt of her sea knowledge. Samantha held the boat steady while Tucker positioned the back end towards the beam. He grabbed a rail, and told Samantha to stand and unlatch the rail lines. She stood a little too fast and the slender dory started moving away causing her to stumble backwards. Keeping one hand firmly on the rail, Tucker grabbed her with the other just as she was about to topple into the harbor. Her hand splashed as she came around to land firmly in Tucker's lap. Tucker looked more surprised than she did. His faced reddened slightly.
Samantha was totally comfortable. She felt as though she was in the exact place where she was supposed to be.

Predictable Hollywood Department:
I was watching your basic innocuous TV mystery show, when a suspect, a real slovenly, bombastic doofus was shown as rabid opponent of Gay Marriage. It's just a part of the unspoken agenda to depict people who truly believe in what they believe about the sanctity of marriage as below the fashionable elite's intellectual threshold. Or how about the reviewer of the new movie Sanctum who says: "...The survivors are winnowed until -- true to the tradition of so many such films (Survival), woman and non-whites are gradually dispatched." The point of this entire mess above is that while entertainment mahoffs say they have nothing to do with today's changing morality, they sure spend a lot of time trying to be devious about infiltrating minds weakened by explosions and motion picture magic..

The continuing saga of Providence Journal's misplaced pre-election endorsements entered another phase of meaculpa as they went after Chafee-Lite's new Education Citadel as being loaded with union operatives or pawns which will impede in possibility of righting the States floundering economic ship of state. Of course just about every free thinking voter knew that Union endorsed Chafee would do this when the Projo boosted him for Gov.

Reading Between the Lines Movie Reviews:
--Sanctum looks like a made for 3D effort which is just its first problem. Adventurers will probably enjoy this "B" thriller about a group of explorers trapped a mile below the surface in a maze of caves that are being flooded after a cyclone. You will be forced to endure several deaths due to accident, suicide and yes murder. All, though, is predictable.
--Kirsten Dunst may have to go back into rehab after watching this weird film, All Good Things, co-starring Ryan Gosling. Gosling is a rich guy who meets a simple woman, Dunst, and marries her. The marriage is everything the woman could ever want. Ten years later she is missing without a trace. No clue. Coincidentally, however, several acquaintances of Gosling are found dead and Gosling is brought to trial for them and now his wife's apparent disappearance. Gosling has to defend his transvestite dressing and other weird habits. I'll watch it.
--The Roommate is a thriller about a deranged college girl who becomes obsessed with her roommate. It's a lot like a Single White Female" remake. Same tension as you discover which girl is evil and the the crazy things that happen ot the other. I think it will be a good adventure when you need to vacate your mind and keep things simple.

Whatever happened to Debra Winger?

The Answer:
1. The 14 nomination winners were Titanic (1997) and All About Eve (1950). 2. The Pittsburgh Steeler defensive players from the 70's in the Football Hall of fame are Joe Greene, Jack Ham, Mel Blount and Jack Lambert. There was so much positive publicity about the famed "Steel Curtain" that you may have thought there were more. Oh, on offense they had Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Mike Webster, Lynn Swan and John Stalworth. And Coach Chuck Noll, And Owners Dan and Art Rooney.

The (weak) End:
I like to clear out all of the grief so I can go into the weekend with an unencumbered mind. It makes everybody around me happier. Unfortunately for those who aren't around me, I tend to want to email them too much of my cumber.

Vacation Tids continues…

Today's Tidlets Issue 2,190
Opening Stuff:

On a day when in Kenya the people ran to the polls to support a new Constitution that would vastly curtail the powers of the President, the US Congress voted for a so-called “Jobs” bill that would effectively dilute the state’s power to determine their own education policies in the future. The Dems demonized GOP’ers in their typical fashion as they paid homage to Union backers with a new bill that would direct $10 Billion to help pay for teachers salaries. The States, the last bastion of common sense where budgets by law must be deficit free, will by accepting money printed in DC be indebted to the government's education direction and regulations. So let’s hear it for the ancestral home of the Prez. Where they have seen and despised the tragedy of an Executive Branch dictatorship free from checks and balances.

I don’t think I’ll ever understand the “Waver Wire.”

Did you hear about the exotic dancer who had to quit because she couldn’t put up with the daily grind?

While sarcastically casting aspersions at the importance of August, I forgot about one of the most important ever events in US history. VJ Day. That stands for Victory over Japan. You may have missed it because 49 politically correct states have rejected the idea of celebrating that day when masses of Americans took to the streets to breathe a gigantic sigh of relief with the defeat of the murderous Japanese army. So let’s just take a second and think about the millions of US soldiers who died on those crumby little islands or in immense Naval battles to vanquish a foe who snuck into Pearl Harbor one Sunday morning to kill sleeping Americans.

The Question:
A new poll just out this morning announces the most liberal state in the US of A. What is it. How does the same poll describe the nation?

The Headlines:
--Rudy Giulliani’s Harvard Student Daughter Caroline Snagged For Shoplifting; Will Probably Exhibit No Shame If Dad’s Publicists Can Effectively re-Write History.
--Cal Fed Judge Overturns Voter’s Explicit Demand For Ban On Gay Marriage.
--Nolan Ryan Led Group Tops Contender Mark Cuban Gang In Auction For Bankrupt Texas Rangers Baseball Team.
--Kagan Expected To Be Latest NYC Liberal On Supreme Court.
--High State Labor Costs May Force Home Town Hero Harley Motorcycle To Leave fro Another Friendlier State.

Back to More Stuff:

Now that Apple is becoming immensely successful with the intro of iGadgets, you can expect hackers to start paying a lot more attention to security deficiencies in the company's software. Somewhere in his vault Bill Gates is Smiling.

You have to love the columnists who are busy writing columns about why they aren’t going to write columns about Bret Favre this year. And…Jeez, I just did it myself.

Now that the FTC has successfully come down on Intel for overpricing computer chips, I think it is time they went after baked goods, convenience store soda pop and state and local government employees. We have to get back to some kind of value system.

There was glee on Wall Street yesterday as a better than normal July service sector jobs employment report was announced. Keep your eye on that one for the end of September report. That’s when those summer service jobs that got rolling in July will start to decline for the Winter. If Wall Streeters’ were looking 6 months ahead like they want you to believe they do, they may have noticed that.

With the approval of Kagan the SC is danger of becoming an institution of special interest groups.

The Answer:
According to Gallop this morning, the most liberal state is the one from where this morning missive originates…that’s rii-iight… Little Ole’ RI. And once this word gets out, more libs will come our way. And more government will get in the way. Actually the biggest pocket of lefties is right in our Nation’s capitol, DC! Surprise! As far as our good nation as a whole, the poll says that overall the majority of the people declared themselves as Conservative or very conservative. Conservatives out number liberals across all states by 20% points. Will somebody send the Ocean state a life raft? Or are we already to far adrift?

(Actually, while Rhode Island has the most declared liberals at 32% Moderates are the highest at 36%. 29% of Ocean Stater’s are conservative.)

It looks like everybody in the country is going conservative except those naming Supreme Court Judges.

I may be back tomorrow. And then again...

A great, upbeat day!

Today's Tids Issue 2,146
Opening Stuff:

For some reason I always think of the 4th day of June as an upbeat day. Maybe it’s because it is two days before D-Day and I envision the Pubs in England filled with soldiers enjoying their last pints with good friends and fellow warriors before they jump into LCVP’s for the Channel crossing. A trip for many which may be their last.

So, I write that because I didn’t want to start this day’s effort off with a negative story “US adds 431.000 Jobs.” What’s so negative about that, you ask? 411,000 of these jobs are temp census workers. A manufactured labor pool that has already started to decline. The backbone part of an economy, the private sector, added a mere 41K down from 218K in April and the fewest since January. The unemployment number dropped from 9.9% to 9.7% because 312,000 people left the labor force or gave up looking. Sounding like a Rhode Island Pol, The Prez said, “This report is a sign that our economy is getting stronger by the day.”

Headlines for stories that I don’t read: “How to pick healthy breads”.

The Question:
Southwest Airlines continues to get solid praise from consumers. Which airlines get the most complaints and what are three of the most common complaints?

The Headlines:
--Stock market Tanks On Suspect Jobs Report.
--Euro Hits Four year Low.
--Oil Leak Slowed.
--Gaza Activists renew Efforts.
--Florida Still Pumping Out Tomatoes Despite Winter’s Cold.
--Daily Show’s Stuart Shoots Down Glenn Beck Claims.
--Budget Restrictions Increasing 4 Day School Weeks.
--Holloway Murder Suspect Shipped To Peru To face Charges For Similar Murder Of Younger Woman.

Back to More Stuff:

I totally missed it. But, one of our sharp eyed readers asks after reading my Tid about Joe Biden’s approval of Israel taking a tough stand on what is smuggled into their country: “Any chance he would take a strong stand on what we let across our borders?

I just love our brilliant readers.

The best things in life are expressed simply.

I’m finding the News in general is very quiet. The media are rolling along with the big mess in the gulf, but 90% of it isn’t news. It is a good indicator of how little real news there is each day. At least on a national level. The most important things happen locally, but unfortunately too many people think they have to be national.

I thought it was interesting to learn that the far and away favorite class of third grade students in an East Greenwich RI elementary school was the “History of our Town”. How great is that! We hear so much global crap these days that I believe it is refreshing to know that kids are loving learning and feeling proud about where they live. What could be better for America than that!

Through the Same Eyes: Chapter 75 continues. –There is that name Kent again. Could I be so blind. Me the magnificent? He is so relaxed. So not into the running of BiEm. He lets his people do just about everything in his lab. But he does rule with an iron fist and even though not noticeable they cower to his power. “What do they say about Kent Middleton?” I asked.
“Basically, Bromsky beneath his ego and arrogance seemed afraid of him. And made comments indicating he was being manipulated. These are things that people in our business pick up. You know we are all basically paranoid and we know how to look for it in others.”
“We call paranoia ‘Instinct’ here, Bill.” We laughed. “Ok, what do we know? We know that Middleton had everything to gain when Bromsky got caught. You have to admit, it was kind of an outrageous scheme. That’s interesting in itself. We know that Laura was Bromsky’s niece.” I looked at Bill. “And, Bill, I know that Laura is doing cleaning work and Middleton’s house is one of her customers.” Then I heard my self mumbling to my self, “I wonder what size bra she wears…”
“What was that Boss?” He was looking at me oddly. “Did you say something about bra sizes?”
I started to skirt the question when the phone rang. I put up my hand to quiet Bill. “Hello?” I looked at Bill and mouthed Henry Boulder. I’m not sure he knew who Henry Boulder was. “Hi Henry.”
“Well, detective Durham, I got something new for your file folder. Laura Jacoby seems to be among the missing.” I absorbed what he said and smiled at the coincidence of his call.
“Why would you think she is missing? You saw her yesterday. She could be in Worcester shopping.”
“It’s a long story. I just wanted you to have something to think about before I see you tomorrow. The FBI will be here, and I think they want a Pow Wow.”
“Is Kent going to be there<” I asked hoping I didn’t sound anxious.
“Nope,” he responded. “I think that is who they want to talk about.” Henry hung up.
“The mystery deepens Billy, the mystery deepens.”
“You just called me Billy, boss”.

When a tree falls in the forest, do the other trees make fun of it?

Reading between the lines Movie Reviews:
--Get him To the Greek is one of those morally depraved comedies that features lots of “F’ Words, Sexual outrages and continuous drug use. It is hard to feel for the people especially since the Rock Star trying to make a comeback is defined by his own friends as “The worst person on earth.” The plot is about our hero’s (played by Jonah Hill) effort to get the rock star to the famous Greek theater. So you can imagine, nothing goes right. It will be a box office smash.
--The promos for Splice scares the daylights out of me. A bio experiment goes wrong and almost unstoppable blood thirsty creatures leap out of corners and stop your heart’s beating. Not good for old people. A white knuckle Si-Fi ride.
--Undercover agent Spencer Aimes (Ashton Kutcher) falls in love with Jen Kornfelt (Katherine Hiegl) and gives up his cherished flashy life and high speed cars. Three years of wedded bliss are violently interrupted when word leaks out that a million dollar price tag has been placed on Aimes’ head and assassins are standing in line to kill him. This tends to put a little pressure on the marriage. Has the makings of a good yarn, but may play for laughs just a little too much.

The Answer:
Number 1 Worst is Delta. They are followed by United, US Airways, Northwest, American, Comair, Continental, AirTran, Frontier and Jet Blue. The most common complaints are rudeness, baggage problems, cancellations, reservations and in-flight problems.

The Last Beat:
Mark Twain once said, “Do not depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” I don’t know what it means either!

Love your weekend. By the time Today’s Tids reaches you, most of you will have folded up your computers.