Which “B” will live to sting another day?

Today's Tids Issue 4,600

March Tease:

It’s not surprising that Dems are dropping out along the roadside. It is surprise in a way that they are going for Biden. After all, the rise of the of all the Dem candidate was basically as a result of voter looking for somebody better than Joe. We’ll see tonight, won’t we. Do the endorsements for Joe rally and unite the supporters around Bernie? Will Mike and his ads surprise everybody in California and other big states? And, why is Elizabeth still in there?

I asked a knowledgeable Israeli friend of mine if last night’s election would finally solve the governmental vacuum.  She said, probably not. There are just too many factions and too many communication outlets enabling factions to reach into more and more communities. And, nobody wants to give.

One of the worst outcomes of this new digital world of communications is not getting a response.

You may need motion sickness pills today to watch the Stock markets vacillate.

The Question:

What make a pretzel taste like a pretzel?

The Headlines:

--Yesterday Stock Markets Pull Off One Of The Biggest One-Day Gains Ever; Expect Possible Paring Today.

--G7 Statement On Plan To Control Effects Of Virus Disruption On Economies Is Underwhelming; Could Affect Global Markets

--Major Tornado Rips Through Nashville; So Far, 2 Dead, 156 Injured; Multi Millions In Destruction.

--Tonight Is The Beginning Of The Real Dem Primary: Joe Gets Endorsements From Amy, Pete and Beto.

--Chris Matthews Quits “Hardball” After 20 Years; Pressure from MSNBC Bosses Probably Pushed Him Out.

--Netanyahu Claims Big Win; Likud Strong But Still Short Of Majority.

--Conservative News Behemoth “Newsmax” Is Funding Pac for Repub Senate Races.

--Mexico Speeding Up Extraditions Of Cartel Bosses To US.

--Putin Sends Up to Parliament Constitutional Amendments: Amendments To Reinforce God In Constitution, Stipulate That Marriage Is Between Man And Woman, and That Crimea Is Part Of Russia.

“Homeland” is very good this year, now four episodes into the final season. The story centers around reality. It almost exactly mirrors current US negotiations with the Taliban. It’s about those in Afghan and US who want peace, and those who would sabotage against it for personal and pollical advantages. Last night, as unusual, it left us sitting on the edge of our seats. And the prospects of anxiously waiting another week. Oh, the torture.

In the Ukraine, it isn’t just the traffic light that goes green, yellow or red. The entire arm and pole light up in colors. Probably impossible to miss, unless one is texting.

If any of those three “B’s” get the presidency, there will be a rush on EpiPens. Ouch!

Yay four thousand six hundred Tids!

Think about all of the money that has been spent so far on primaries to get to square one!

Remembered when Fed Chair Powell told Trump he needed to maintain room in the interest rates for that day when the Fed needed to control a potential tragedy. Now many analysts are saying they wish the Fed had more room. yes, keeping the Fed independence is essential to the possibility of stability

If you are listening carefully, this election is what it has always been -- getting back or keeping the Supreme Court. Dems will be all out to get the Senate, the key to judges at all levels. It isn’t Joe Biden that the DNC loves, it is that Joe has a better chance of dragging along a couple of senate races.

Thinking of last night‘s abrupt exit by Tip O’Neil’s guy Chris Matthews, I’m thinking I’d better look back on these Tidlets to see what I said. You never know how what was acceptable in the past is a capital offense today. The cultural deputies of today are against capital punishment or life sentences, they just want ruin your reputation so life for the rest you days on earth is unbearable. I guess that’s why millennials like the pogrom “The Walking Dead”.

Checking Account: Verifying testimony. Groan.

How fast could the Virus spread in all of those homeless communities of LA, San Fran and many other major cities? That is scary.

Remember how annoying it used to be when you were asked to “Press1” to speak in your native tongue? Now when aske to press 1 for English, they send you to Southeast Asia where invariably you get a tech person you can barely decipher.

One of the reasons that Homeland is so good is that Carrie is so natural. Too many police dramas and action/thriller tales have woman heroes who looked like they just stepped out of a Hollywood or NYC fifth avenue salon and spa. And they utter too many ideological oriented messages instead of just talking like people.

I think it is too late for me to become a screenwriter. Besides I ache the idea of some Harvey Weinstein wannabee pawing at me. Down, Harvey, down!

Do you know how delectable it is, when your taste buds leap, when watching a big steak grilling in your back yard? You have to wonder if vegans get the same thrill mowing the lawn.

It should be fun tonight watching the returns of Super Tuesday and the angst of the spinners as they create excuses and theories.

I just got a phone call from Utah. Just this minute. It seems that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir wants to perform an original tone poem of my life, and it will only cost me $50K in gift cards. This is my lucky day! Fame at least – just in time for my Alumni magazine.

The Answer:

I like the flavor of pretzels, so I thought I’d investigate how it gets there. A major ingredient is Malt syrup like that used to make beer. But the real secret is dipping them in hot alkaline solution (Baking soda) or food grade lye and water after baking 20-30 mins. That is what gives them the unique taste and the brown color. Not that you are gonna rush out and make pretzels, but I just thought you’d like to know.

Is there a better snack on the run than Hot Annie’s airport pretzels?

All of a sudden, I’m salivating for the rest of the day.

Preferring bugs named Bunny.

Today's Tids Issue 4,599

Play a calming melody:

Happy March, E-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y! Maybe the proverbial winds will blow CoronaV out to sea. Maybe the winds won’t blow at all. Who knows what muddy March will bring -- the snow we didn’t get in January and February? Or maybe it will just be what good old March has always been, a great time for the Irish and delicious Zeppole’s for the Italian communities on St. Josephs day. It is a month when golfers have dreams again of breaking par, and gardeners begin thinking about arrays of color in fields afar. But I guess mostly, it is the month in which Spring officially begins. And whether good or bad, it is a dream of softer days that sets hearts aflutter.

An energetic reader says I should do more Tids in New Englandeze. That’s in a nutshell means, if there is an “r” in a word, take it out, and if there isn’t an “r”, put one in. As in Pahk The cah, or by adding a “r” as in Squarsh!

A local Sports writer humorist wonders if Higher Education refers to costs!

Happy Birthday to the Family Circus cartoon. 60 years, and still able to stay above the fray saying nice things about families and people of all everything and anything; and always maintaining strong, unwavering ideals of goodness, kindness and consideration.

Stock market Blues. Algorithms, algorithms, algorithms…God save us from algorithms.

The Question:

Who came first, Elmer Fudd or Bugs Bunny? Bonus: Who is the oldest and the youngest of this group of people: Daniel Craig, Ben Roethlisberger, John Cowsill (The Cowsills), Loraine Newman and Jon Bon Jovi?

The Headlines:

--Markets Trying To Break Out Of Bleak Week Past. Dow Maintaining Early Advances At Mid-Morning, Nasdaq Struggling To Rise; Central Banks Reassuring Moves For Stability; Asian Markets Charging Back After Japan gets Positive About Future.

--US/Taliban Peace Treaty Signed; Violence Promised To Diminish (Not Cease Immediately); Gradual US Troop Withdrawal To Begin; Taliban Pledges To Block Terrorist Groups; Prisoners To Be Released; Government Sharing Agreements Will be Toughest To Complete.

--North Korea Fires Two Short Range Missiles.

--GE”s Jack Welsh Does At 84

--Butt And Steyer Drop Off Dems List.

--Iran Ayatollah Inner Circle Leader Dies Form Virus: RI Has First Two Cases For People Who Were In Italy; Cities Around The Globe Shutting Down Schools; Officials Urging Calm, Good Sense.

--Supreme Court To Take Up Challenge To Obamacare Individual Mandate.

When you turn on an AM/FM radio you get exactly the program you want. When you ask Alexa or a similar disembodied voice, you get what her management has Made deals with.

I’m thinking that the big reason why there are so many people behind the idea of veggie based, 3D printed fake meat is because they need to conserve real meat for their pet dogs.

Algorithms is a misnomer. Did you ever see the former VP of the USA dance or try to keep time with the music?

Frankly, I never realized that Kobi Bryant was an Icon.

I’m thinking the Iran Coronavirus problem arose from Iran Nuke engineers visiting China, and vice-versa.

The Celtic’s fan favorite basketball player is Tacko Fall, a 7 foot 6 inch giant who plays for the Maine Claws, their main minor league team. “Bring back Fall, bring back Fall”…goes the chant.  Liking and rooting for who you like, not who the publicists want you to like, is what is fun about being a fan.

I can’t exactly explain why, but there is something about the first day of March that always seems special. You know the feeling.

I have gotten this far without mentioning a politician’s name in a Tidlet. Maybe that’s why you feel so good. That’s a healthy start to March.

Speaking of unhealthy, I see this scenario of not many people in the US being afflicted with a well-known virus, but may Americans seeking help for Anxiety and Depression following the media barrage of case by case reports.

But, unfortunately, the presidential campaign is part of life these days, much too big a part I believe. So, Super Tuesday is upon us. How will the results from last Saturday’s South Carolina vote affect the race going forward (Can I still say race?) Biden did well, and two stepped down to open opportunities for those left. Does Joe represent USA Dems better than the others? But then, even with new openings for voters after the loss of Pete and Stuyer, is the candidate himself still not any better than he was when he looked weak in debates? Tomorrow is Super Tuesday. And that now is all about whether or not Spring brings Bloomie.

Liz and Amy Should pack it in too. Or do they need the stage to vie for VP Candidate?

The mirror maker decided to retire because just couldn’t see himself doing the same thing anymore.

The Good news is that I will no longer have to worry about mispronouncing the word Buttigieg.

Do you get the feeling that Coronavirus would be just another disease if the stock market wasn’t plummeting along with it? Sought of changes the focus, doesn’t it? (Sought of is New Englandeze for sort of)

On Sunday I talked to a knowledgeable person about manufacturing in China. She told me of her teleconference Friday about the Virus and production of her company’s products in the virus stalled country. The general tenor was that the main factories would be coming back on slowly, say at around 20% capacity in a week or so. But the continuing stickler will be smaller factories that make parts. There is a lot of interconnectivity among plants in China, and the disruption won’t be overcome with one sweeping magic wand.

The news about the USA/Taliban peace treaty signing which should be a pretty big deal, was on page Nine of Sunday Morning’s Big state newspaper. I think it may have been in big black agate type on page One if 0-Man was still in charge. But then, Trump’s PR management wasn’t so hot either, considering that they chose to announce when most people are focused on the Virus, the money lost in the markets and Dem Super Tuesday.  

I think that Bloomberg is making very good commercials. But his premise appears faulty. He thinks voters are rational.

Bloomie’s commercials seemed to appear every ten minutes last night. If anything, Super Tuesday will be a true test of the power of advertising.

I have in the past fished in the lakes and streams of Vermont and New Hampshire. One guy I went with from time to time, had in his mind that there was a good old lunker lying down there just waiting to give his line a tug. We went to the deepest lakes up to the Canadian border, but never really sensed a chance for hope. But on Saturday, Tom Knight fishing in New Hampshire caught a 60-year-old, 37.65 lake trout in Big Diamond Pond near Stewartstown, that broke the 62-year-old sate record of a mere 28 pounds. My friend is probably crying the blues… “That was mine, mine…”. But, at least he knows now, it was in there.

Maybe they will rename Syewartstown, “Knightstown”. Did Stewart ever catch a lunker?

The Answer:

In 1940, Elmer Fudd first appeared in “Elmer’s Candid Camera” where he was harassed by a rascally rabbit that later became Bugs. Bonus: Ben Roethlisberger is youngest at 38. Loraine Newman is the oldest at 68. Daniel Craig is 52, Jon Bon Jovi is 58 and John Cowsill (A local boy) is 64.

Never stop dreaming, because you will never know when your record setting fish decides to take the bait.