Who needs Oprah.

Today's Tids Issue 2,460

Opening Stuff:

I have rarely stood by the ocean as I did yesterday and felt more of the simple yet magnificent beauty of the world around us. The wind, the waves, the salty spray in my eyes. The chorus of pounding surf and the screaming gulls reveling above. A symphony of nature's wonder.

I think we are in the midst of a new Pro-Global Warming PR campaign. In the past week we have had new reports of near catastrophic carbon releases and of course last week the ballyhooed Physicist former skeptic Richard Muller moving over to the cause. But, coming out this week is another member of the Cal Berkley research team, Georgia Tech world atmospheric expert Dr. Judith Curry who said Muller misrepresented the teams findings and there no reason to believe temperatures are getting warmer --"It was a huge mistake with no scientific basis". She went on to say that warming has ceased for an entire decade. Let's face it -- Global Warming is an industry and hyping the coming Armageddon is making a lot of people a lot of money. It's no different than a Clueless Lane fund manager picking winning stocks. It's all about making money.

When people say Technology is changing the world, it also means that more people can be fed falsehoods faster than at any time in history. That misconceptions can grow faster than mold in an ocean cottage outdoor shower.

The Question:
Week Ending Double Q: 1. There's a formula among Hollywood producers use to determine each year the most overpaid stars (That's dollar returned for every dollar of salary). Name the top five. 2. Name what are considered the most overpaid jobs in America.

The Headlines:

--Economy Adds Fewer Jobs In October; But 80,000 Dips Unemployment To 9%; Stocks Slipping On Unsatisfactory Jobs Report.
--House Agrees To Subpoena White House On Solyndra.
--Negative Economic Signs In Europe Hint At Return To Recession.
--"Groupon" Raises $700 Mil In Massive IPO.
--Obama Calls For Economic Stability And Job Growth Under EuroZone Seem Irrelevant.
--For The First Time, New Generation Will Do Worse Than Parents.
--Detroit Lions Only NFL Team Losing Money.
--CIA Following Twitter, FaceBook.
--Huge Asteroid To Pass Earth Within Moons Orbit November 8.
--Jackson case With Jury.

Kathy Griffen makes me not want to get interested in the new generation of comedians.

Poorly written Headline Department:
"Productivity climbs, but hiring still lags". Productivity can generally be defined as obtaining more value from the same resource. In this case it is humans. Productivity increases necessarily mean decreased need for more labor. Now if this author had said "Production climbs, but..." He would be closer to being correct. This is what bothers me about some news reporters writing about economic factors. It's the "A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing" syndrome, but when that misguided knowledge is in the minds of those with the typewriter or microphone, than it can be nuclear. A chain reaction that can create a contamination of uninformed minds. Just because one writer chose "But" instead "necessarily reduces".

From time to time we have cited examples of new technology with the potential to eliminate jobs, even industries. The last one was the idea of Tablet computing turning wait staffs into mere servers. Now in Idaho there is a law up before their Assembly that would require virtual learning as part of the qualifications for degree. The proponents see taking 2 courses per semester at home via computer as preparation for colleges. Obviously Teachers Unions don't see it that way. And, they are probably right.

Has the "Do not call" law been revoked?

I would not be surprised if 0-Man attacked Iran in some manner just before the election.

I would have liked The X-Factor to keep the big group "Intensity" going. I think the sprightly group would have added some upbeat singing interest to a lineup where sameness is starting to wear me down. It must be a generational thing.

I have to say something about Governor Chafee-Lite. I always thought he was an honest guy, except for his Rosie O'Donnell moment when he denied the reality of Shilling's bloody sock. But, he has shown a sensible thought process and a large amount of courage acquiescing to the determination and solid ideas of Gina Rainmondo, who he obviously admires and recognizes as a giant of a woman who knows her stuff. A lesser politician might try to stifle her dominance and move her popular acceptability to his side of the ledger. But, as a good thoughtful manager should, he has joined her in support, and in doing so is refuting the people, The Public Employee Unions, who helped him squeak-in in a three person race. But, that doesn't mean he still isn't a little goofy.

Reading between the Lines Movie Reviews:
--Tower Heist has an all star cast, and that what bothers me. I always worry about star laden marquis subverting the integrity of a dcent plot. A manager of a super high priced NYC residence learns that the penthouse occupant, a Wall Street Super star who also happens to manage the pensions of the buildings workers is a Madoff type crook. With the prospects of losing their money the Manager gets together his fellow workers with a plan to rob the Penthouse. Serious and funny, but not great.
--I was turned off to this one I read that one of the funny moments of A very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas is when they get a two year old child high on Marijuana and cocaine. It follows the antics to the twosome scouring NYC for a perfect Christmas tree to replace one they ruined. Along the way they satirize Santa and Jesus. These are movies of which I have no use.

Almost Near: Chapter 48 continues. --"TL loves SW. What do you think that means?" Barton's eyes bore into Tucker's. Tucker didn't flinch. "I think it could mean Tucker Loutite loves some woman who's name starts with "S". Like maybe Samantha." Audrey leaned into Tucker's shoulder. "Have you ever seen this before?"
"No."
"How do you think it got to this God forsaken part of Little Rick Arkansas?"
"I have no idea."
"Yet you put it in your pocket." He turned to Audrey and then back to Tucker. "Just like that. You see something shining in the mud and automatically put it your pocket."
"Ok, John. Enough."
"No Audrey, not enough. I think that this is very odd. And don't try t protect him. I know you do too. You're just too smart not to be suspicious."
"Tell him Tucker. I'm sure you just reacted foolishly.
Tucker didn't say anything for a minute. Barton and now Audrey looked at him, the detective accusingly and the reporter hopefully. "I saw some thing shiny, and when I reached down I recognized it almost immediately. It's the kind of thing you don't forget. I gave it to Samantha when we graduated from High School. It became very meaningful to both of us. The fact that she must have saved it still after all the years struck me in my gut. I felt I had to protect her. And I don't know from what. It was just an emotional reaction." Audrey smiled a little smile, like a sign of relief and maybe belief in this man, a romantic, a knight riding to the rescue of his love.
"Well Loutite, you may become emotional again when you and I start talking about finding this woman. A woman who may be a murderer." Audrey thought of the stories about Rudy beating Samantha. She saw again the look in the eyes of her children.

The Answer:
1. The most overpaid in Hollywood are 1. Drew Barrymore 2. Eddie Murphy 3. Will Ferrell 4. Reese Witherspoon and 5. Denzel Washington. Denzel was a surprise to some because of the quality of his work, but a thoughtful quality product doesn't draw the big crowds. The efficiency of a stars salary is based on how many of the brainless you can cram into theaters. I saw 10 minutes of a Will Ferrell movie and I will never be again sucked in. 2. In reverse order -- 10. Wedding Photogs 9. Major Airline Pilots 8. West Coast Longshoremen (A paper shuffling "clerk" can make $136K) 7. Skycaps ($70-100K) 6. Real Estate Agents selling high priced homes 5. Motivational Speakers/ ex-Pols on Lecture circuit 4. Orthodontists (Versus harder working dentists) 3. CEO's of poorly performing companies 2. Washed up pro athletes in long-term contracts. and #1. Mutual Fund Managers (Make $750 to a Mil and are only 3 of 10 make money for investors.) At least that's better than washed up aesthetes who may be hitting .250.

Why should I watch TV and get angry, when I have all of nature to comfort my soul. Because I'm just another stupid human being that's why.

Wallow in the beautiful Fall days this weekend...and don't forget to turn your clocks...which way?...heeeeelllllllppppppppp....

Whoops!

Today's Tids  Issue #2406
(Written 8/8)
Opening Stuff:

So, the big news, I mean really, really big news Saturday morning was a first-ever in the history of the United States of America! And where did the local Big Time newspaper plant this story of 23 decades...in an eensy-weensy left hand bottom of page six! In this same edition of our Big Time newspaper the lead editorial espoused the desirability of becoming a European style "Welfare State". Of course they may be thinking of themselves first as a welfare state, perhaps the only road to survival for newspapers.

It's such a grey Monday, maybe we need a little sunshine before I become totally despondent. Being an eternal dreamer, I can easily slip away from reality to a grassy pasture surrounded by stone walls on three sides and the ocean on the other. Where you can waft into your senses salty air aromas, and feel the soothing breeziness cooled by the relentless seas. Pick a flower. Step on a cow paddy. The New England countryside is a beautiful place.

I'm reminded of a time in the 1970's when the leaders a nice little town in Idaho received a gigantic check from the Federal government. The reason: The town fell below the arbitrary national poverty levels used as a basis to give away taxpayer money. The Town leaders scratched their heads, and sent it back. "Look around", they said to the perplexed Government official. "Do we look poor?" The latest census says that 46 Million Americans are below the "poverty" level. Yet, a only a small fraction of that are indeed the poor and downtrodden buggers as suggested by the word "poverty". Additional research of the 46 Million shows that most live in their own homes or nice apartments with TV's, DVR's, modern appliances, indoor plumbing and at least one car. A majority have two. In fact, most who fall below the arbitrary poverty level today, say, just like those folks in Idaho said 35 or so years ago, "Hey we're pretty darn happy." Maybe here's an area where we can start shaving wasted dollars sent to states and cities to combat a mirage.

The Question: 
Name the five of the countries that still have a AAA Credit rating.

The Headlines:

--The World Awaits Wall Street; Asia Markets Crushed By US Downgrade; Europe Rallies On New Bond Plan To Support Weak Sisters.
--US Stock Futures Tumble.
--Moody's Says US Must Find More Deficit Cuts.
--Police Shooting In London Incites Riots, Fires.
--Gunman Kills 7 In Quiet Copley Ohio Neighborhood; Man Wlaks Through 3 Houses Shooting Randomly.
--Salena Gomez, Justin Bieber Teen Coice Award Winners.
--Red Sox Come Back To Beat Ya-Ya-Ya-...In Ten; Sox Get To Ace Rivera In Ninth.

Anal Department:
I'll tell you what bothers me on Sunday mornings -- Advertising inserts that stick out of today's more narrow width newspapers and crumple around the edges providing a disorderly start to my awakening. A messy newspaper just puts me in a foul mood. Which just gets worse when I dribble coffee down my clean shirt.

There's no truth to the rumor that Mubarak has sent out for Casey Anthony's lawyer.

If the US Government was as tough on countries that took our money and spit in our face as they are on their own so-called obese citizens, the international aid money saved would surely fatten our treasury.


Virginia Tech University has 30,000 students and 6,500 employees. That's 4.6153 students per employee. Looks like a Government in action to me! No wonder tuition's are going through the roof.

With federal, state and local government chiefs afraid to utter the word taxes, expect fees and fines to soar. For instance, Connecticut just collected about $1.2 million in fines from companies that failed, or more likely forgot, to register as a company doing business in the state. The fee to register is about $150. Some of the fined companies had to pay $20,000 to $27,000 in fines! What's that all about.

Surprise a Minute Department:
It seems as though every day we learn something new about what is buried in the bill that nobody read before passage, the new National Health Care Travesty bill. And what's been dug up is about as pretty as a decaying corpse too. Why just last week, Massachusetts boasted that a loophole would give them over the next ten years $1.3 Billion in free money!

You have to expect that the feds are using the same slight of hand tricks in defining obesity rates as they did establishing what constitutes poverty.

Almost Near: Chapter 32 continues. --"How is she?" Audrey wiggled into her seat and hooked the belt.
"You were right. I should get back. I also talked to that lawyer who is out searching for her. There is somnething terribly wrong."
"And, I think we are in the right spot to find out what it is. These adorable kids I just watched are most certainly hers. Florence knows a lot more than she probably thinks she knows. What time is your flight?"
"Oh...I haven't had time to do that." Tucker pulled out his phone and searched for an airline app. "Do you know how these apps work?"
"She's a romantic luddite!" Smiling, Audrey grabbed the phone in mock frustration. She pressed a couple of buttons. Hmmm-ed. Hmmmm-ed again. "Ok you're booked on a 9:30 tonight to Boston." She passed the phone back. "Type in your credit card number."
While Tucker tapped his phone Audrey continued. "Now what? We've got to talk to those Kids, but we don't wnat to scare anybody. Especially the children."
"Shit! I hate typing on these small keys."

The famine we're reading about in Northern Africa is just a small example of a catastrophe waiting to happen in 30 years or so when many of the African nations will have populations bigger than the US.

I remember the day my Dad threw me out of the house after I told him I wanted ot be a politician like his dad. I wonder what that was all about.

Actually there were politicians of note on both sides of my family. No wonder I have so much trouble tracking my genealogy!

The new Democrat Buzz Phrase: "Tea Party Downgrade." It will be dripping off the lips of every Dem spinmeister and shallow spokesperson. Guaranteed. That's right after they pepper the airwaves with the Buzz Word of the moment defining a Tea Party comprised of every day Americans as -- "Terrorists". Government spending is a problem regardless of how the excuse mongers and name callers try to avoid it. And thank God some people are willing to stand up so this essential issue won't drift into the backwaters of DC.

Some pretty well connected industry experts are telling me that the real reason for the slow return of manufacturing jobs, if they ever come back, is the lack of trained skilled workers...or even trained unskilled workers! You can see it in the supermarket when a deli person can't slice ham to the correct thickness.

The Answer:
Our northern neighbor Canada is one. The rest are Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Isle of Mann, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. We now join Belgium and New Zealand as the three countries in the AA+ column. In case you are curious, China and Japan are AA- and Russia is BBB.


Happy?