Words from two of my favorite humorists.
"To get back to my youth, I would do anything in the world, except exercise, get up early or be respectable."
- - - Oscar Wilde
"The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for."
- - - Will Rogers
The Prayer of St. Francis
The 97th Awards Program of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences will occur this coming week. I haven't seen one of these for years. My wife and I did enjoy watching the Red Carpet festivities and making fun of the participants.
Red Carpets date to the Ancient Greeks as noted in the great play, Agamemnon. It signified power and divinity. King Agamemnon was reluctant to walk on it because he would seem overly confidant and excessively proud.
In modern times, it has been used as a symbol for welcoming guests around the world. The Academy has used a red carpet for movie premieres since 1922. It officially began using the red carpet at the awards program in 1961. The longest red carpet they ever used measured 500 ft at the 2007 awards ceremony. Never again. In 2023, they tried a different color, champagne, and it fell flat. Never again. If you like ogling bloated egos, artificially sculpted bodies, and overly confidant and excessively proud people, have at it.
Question of the day:
What woman won more Oscars than any other woman? Go a-head, look it up.
Last week's quiz was really 'off the wall'. Sorry! I was trying to outsmart AI. No fun having questions that have answers you can look up. Oh well.
This week, a more standard question.
What has the nickname "The Forbidden Isle"?
Answer on Friday.
Sunday is special. Without the Sun we would all be dead. We can do without the Moon, planets, and stars - but not the Sun. We can do without everything, but not the Son - of God.
"Keep holy the Lord's Day."
The Daytona 500 auto race opened the racing season as usual. There was a slight rain delay after the President, in his limo, led the field around the track. William Byron won for the second year in a row.
Another week, another plane crash. This time a Delta regional jet bounced into Toronto, lost a wing and flipped upside-down on the runway. Most everyone had their seatbelts fastened and, as a result, there were few injuries - none life-threatening
The Polar Vortex weakened and allowed the polar jet stream to destabilize and wave and weave it's way down into the heart of our country where it doesn't belong. This is the official answer from the Pisgah Weather Bureau. Let's all vote to keep the polar jet stream up north of South Dakota where they know how to handle it.
Looks like the police of various agencies have put the pinch on the Monday Night Football burglars. Burrow, Mahomes, Kelce and others have been the victims. Not sure what that group intended to do with necklaces with huge jewel encrusted numerals hung on them, diamond coated teeth covers, or other such silliness.
A cult called the Zizians is roaming around the country and up to no good. They have been linked to at least 6 deaths in 3 states. The leader is a guy called Ziz who uses female pronouns, dresses in along black coat and is a radical vegan and anarchist. Supposedly, his crew is a bunch of young, whacko, computer scientists. This is too crazy to ever be a movie.
Baltimore Ravens kicking specialist, Justin Tucker, has been accused by more than 15 women of sexual misconduct. I had him on my fantasy team last year and he let me down, too.
Uber is suing DoorDash for using anticompetitive practices. It's reported that they called Lyft to deliver the suit.
Pope Francis lies in a Roman hospital with double pneumonia. He's 88 years old.
Saturday Night Live celebrated it's 50th anniversary. Time flies.
Flooding was so bad in southeastern Kentucky that at least 11 have lost their lives.
Seems that the belligerent sides are talking about ending the Russia-Ukraine war - not with each other but with the U.S.
The Cincinnati Reds are practicing in Arizona and are full of optimism. The first pre-season games are scheduled for today! I'm getting excited - a little.
The latest trend in soft drinks are prebiotic sodas. Even Coca-Cola is getting in on the act.
Kentucky Fried Chicken headquarters in Louisville being moved to Plano, Texas. Yum Brands is also moving Pizza Hut there and moving Taco Bell and Habit Burger to Irvine, California. Parent company is sticking it out in Louisville.
XU at 17-10 and UC at 15-11 are struggling to stay relevant in the last two weeks of the season. Each will have to do something special in their league tournaments to play on in Madness.
The Bengals have a lot of irons in the fire regards to payroll, signings, free-agents, trades and - - - crickets. The big shoes won't fall until mid-Summer.
First, I promised the answer to Monday's Quiz. Silver, of course, is the Lone Ranger's horse. Of course! On every TV program, the Ranger began by saying hello to his horse - nice guy that he was. I can still hear him bellow in a deep loud voice, "Hi Ho Silver!" So, of course, the horse's first name must have been Ho. I've heard that some people think he was saying Yo; so I'll count that as a right answer also.
There is a follow-up to the story of Silver. When the Lone Ranger retired, he sent Silver to live on a farm with a nice pasture. This farm happened to be on the road near where the Seven Dwarfs lived. Of course, they also greeted Silver each day on their way to work.
You'll never get this answer out of your mind.
C.S. Lewis, the Irish-born British writer and scholar who penned more than 40 books in his time including The Chronicles of Narnia, quipped as he lay on his deathbed suffering from kidney failure: "We must recognize that, as we grow older, we become like old cars - more and more repairs and replacement parts are necessary."
Ain't that a fact!
You may know that I often refer to songs or hymns as prayers - in truth, they can be. I recently received a prayer card at a funeral that used the hymn "Amazing Grace" as the prayer. On the card were four verses. I knew the first three - the fourth I had never heard. This song has been around since the 18th century; written by poet John Newton. There are many versions of it used these days. It may be the most played song in all the world as it has been adopted by many religions. Today, that extra verse will be our prayer.
Deep dive into TARIFFS
Tariffs are added costs applied to products shipped between countries at the shipping country's discretion or by the receiving country at it's discretion. A country can place a tariff upon outgoing or incoming products. There is an International Harmonized System that classifies all goods by name, material and use into one of over 17,000 classifications with a 10-digit code. All countries use this system. In our country, the U.S. International Trade Commission maintains this list. This system was adopted here during the Reagan Administration.
So, tariffs can be placed on any of these 17 thousand categories. Centuries ago, the Congress gave that authority - to place or repeal tariffs - to the President. It's one of the few things he can do without asking anyone's permission.
You could see all the tariffs in force by going to the HTSUS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States). This schedule is enormous; it has 99 chapters, under 22 sections and many appendices for various chemicals, dyes, and the like. The U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection agency is the watchdog and final arbiter for questions and interpretations in regard to tariffs.
Tariffs placed on incoming goods are usually used to equalize the costs between imported items and those manufactured within a country. This is based on the theory that consumers will purchase at least cost at retail. In this case, the tariff is good for the manufacturer in the country because it equalizes competitive prices. But this might hurt the consumer who now has to pay a higher price. The tariff in this case is a two-edged sword. Also, one must be very careful about how much a tariff should be. If you put too high a tariff on a product that was low in the marketplace but now is high, those in-country manufacturers will raise their price to meet the new market price created by the tariff. Consumers will pay even more.
Sometimes tariffs are placed on incoming goods because the manufacturing country is "dumping" products at low prices to maintain pricing in their country. Tariffs dissuade this practice. Sometimes tariffs are placed on incoming goods because a particular industry is being hurt by goods being brought in at a very low price because of labor wage differences.
Tariffs placed on outgoing goods are used as a penalty or leverage to offset some difference in other goods.
Whoops! My kids have told me never to write this much at one time. Sorry. I quit.
The Super Bowl went off without a hitch - unless you were rooting for Kansas City. Yikes, they got behind the 8-ball and couldn't recover. They couldn't get out of their own way. And, Yes, I listened to the half-time show and watched a little bit of it. It was like watching a foreign film. I kept asking for the TV to put the translation on the screen but I couldn't get it done. I don't know what to think.
Both UC and XU are getting better as the season goes on but, alas, maybe too late for a March run unless something strange happens in league playoffs.
The Reds are in camp and the pitchers and catchers loosening up. They all get going on Monday and their first preseason game is on the 22nd. Things begin for real on Thursday March 27 at 4:10 pm against the San Francisco Giants at Great American Ball Park.
It was a strong week for our financial markets. Stocks are generally up right now.
Doge is still disrupting the Washington scene. The administration is putting on a diplomatic push on to end the war in Ukraine.
Eggs are supposedly real expensive but I don't see it. Waffle House is asking an extra $6 a dozen over and above what they already get. That seems extravagant.
The people of Philadelphia had a big parade for the Eagles. It was cold.
The hostages are dribbling out of Gaza as the Israeli troops pull back. I don't get the whole thing.
Rory McIlroy won the Pebble Beach Pro-Am by a good margin. He seems to have it all together.
Someone bought at auction a Stradivarius violin made in 1714 for $11.25 million.
Trump entertained King Abdullah of Jordan this week and also,
The Ohio Valley is stuck in a very Wintry-type weather cycle for the past week and that to come.
Did you see the Snow Moon? It's out there and gorgeous.
Now, on to more pressing or distressing matters; aging. Today, I'm wondering if guys are more set back by the knowledge that when their child has an infant, they have become a grandfather or by the knowledge that the woman to whom they are married - - - is a grandmother. I must admit that I never pictured myself as married to a grandmother but, for sure, after a certain time, I was.
What do you think?
Happy Valentine's Day to all my lovely progeny and those in my family by marriage. I wish you all happiness, love and peace.
I've written about Valentine's Day many times over the years - just enter that into the search above to check them out.
Finally, I wish a very happy birthday to my s-i-l Jeffery. All the best good man.
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