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THE NEXT TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE

There are 4 types of solar eclipse. Total  Partial  Annular  Hybrid  About the above graphic. On the left is a total solar eclipse. In middle is an annular solar eclipse. A hybrid eclipse appears as either a total or an annular eclipse depending on the observers location.  These only occur once in a decade. A partial eclipse is to the right. A total solar eclipse occurs about every 18 months.  However a specific location will see a total eclipse only once every 375 years.  So if you recently saw one, you'll need to travel to see another.   My wife was born on July 11.  She found out that there would be total eclipse over her Big Island on that day in 1991, so off we flew to Kailua-Kona and stayed at the King Kamehameha Hotel.  Turned out that if we had just watched from the hotel beach, we would have had the best view.  But we had a friend who lived high up on Mauna Loa, so off we went to join him.   But it was so clo...
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WEIRD AL YANKOVIC

We all know President Donald Trump lies all the time.  Remember how he insisted that the U.S. obliterated Iranian nuclear facilities?  If you missed that exaggeration,  watch this.   Actually, he was partly right this time.  We did destroy one of the three sites.   As confirmed by his Administration this morning, though, the other two should be able to resume nuclear enrichment in next several months .  The Fordo site to the left and Isfahan below. It was only earlier this month that I featured Dr. Demento, and mentioned how he was mostly responsible for making Weird Al Yankovic popular in 1976.  I did not realize that Weird Al was still active, and performed this past weekend for his first time at the Madison Square Garden, which has an audience capacity of 19,500.   This one and done show sold out . Alfred Matthew Yankovic was born in Downey, California on 23October1959.  He is thus 65-years old.   Started kindergar...

TRUMP'S HUGE, UGLY LAW

Donald Trump signed his Big, Beautiful Bill on July 4.  Here are some details. Wikipedia  calls it the  One Big Beautiful Bill Act.   For purposes of this posting, I'll call it BBB. Has several hundred provisions. Permanently extends the individual tax rates Trump signed into law in 2017, which were set to expire at the end of 2025. Raises the cap on the state and local tax deductions to $40,000 for taxpayers making less than $500,00/year, but will drop to $10,000 after five years. Temporary tax deductions for tips, and overtime pay. Allows car buyers to deduct up to $10,000/year in auto loan interest for cars assembled in the U.S. and purchased between 2025 and 2028. Creates something called Trump Accounts, allowing parents to create tax-deferred accounts for the benefit of their children, which will expire in 2028.  In short, the U.S. government deposits $1000/birth of a child born between 2025 and 2028.  Then parents may contibute up to $5,000/year, with...

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL AT MIDSEASON

Before I get into baseball, a further look at the fractious Epstein matter.   First some history : March 2005:  Police in Palm Beach Florida begin investigating Jeffrey Epstein after the family of a 14-year old girl reported she was molested at this mansion. He bought the place in 1990. Two miles south is Mar-a-Lago, which Donald Trump has owned since 1985. Epstein's home was razed  soon after it was sold in 2019. May 2006:  Palm Beach police charge Epstein with multiple counts of unlawful sex with a minor. June 2006:  Clearly, Epstein influenced State Attorney Barry Krischer, who sent the case to a grand jury that heard from only one accuser, so the only judgement was to charge Epstein with one count of solicitation of prostitution. July 2006:  FBI becomes suspicious and opens investigations into Epstein's activities not only in Florida, but also New York and elsewhere. 2007:  Federal prosecutors prepare an indictment against Epstein. June 2008:...