ETC

Today, I'll just borrow from traditional sources.  From the New York Times:

• Russia’s Victory Day, celebrating the Soviet triumph over Nazi Germany, is May 9. Western officials worry Vladimir Putin may exploit it to intensify attacks.  (May 9 is this coming Monday.)

• 
  Trying to tame inflation, the Fed approved its biggest interest rate increase since 2000.
• Tucker, Thiel, Trump: How J.D. Vance won Ohio’s Republican Senate primary.

About Vance's victory, many think, aha, Trump is still very influential, and will make a huge difference in the upcoming November mid-term elections.  

• Nope, what will happen is that a small percentage of Republicans will be so negatively effected by this Trump-effect that they will skip voting, and a small percentage of Independents will vote for the Democratic opponent.  
• This differential will in several elections only favor the Democrat.  

• 
  I suspect Democrats will end up after the 2022 general election with greater than their current majority in the House (around 10, and this number fluctuates because of several vacancies).
• The Senate will remain Democratic because of the same reason, but further because 21 Republican seats need to be defended, compared to 14 Democrat seats.  It would not be surprising for the 2-vote Democratic majority doubling to four.

Home mortgage rates are ascending.  Freddie Mac today reported that their 30-year rate rose to 5.27%, the highest since 2009.  It was 2.96% a year ago.  The 15-year rate rose to 4.52%.  Home sales are expected to decline by 10% this year.  What is causing this rise in inflation?  The Ukraine War.

From Quora:

From your Digest

Viktor T. Toth

IT pro, part-time physicist5y

If an average galaxy is the size of a golf ball, how far would the next average sized galaxy be on average?

• 
  Galaxies are large things.  It would take light 100,000 years to get from one end to the other.
• Andromeda is the closest galaxy  It would be a yard away.
• But the Sun is a tiny thing.

• 
  Say you are on a football field a hundred yards away from a large beach ball, or the equivalent of our Sun in this comparison.  At this distance, you would get sunburn, like being on a beach.
• You hold up a grape, or, our Earth.
• Jupiter would be a small orange a third of a mile away.
• The closest star, Proxima Centauri, would be 18,641 miles away.
• On this scale, the size of our Milky Way Galaxy would be from here to Jupiter, or 500 million miles in diameter.  

Amy Atwell of the University of Hawaii will use #25, the same number as in her UH days, as a member of the Los Angeles Sparks, which just opened the season.  I can't remember the previous Hawaii basketball player ever being on an NBA or WNBA team.

Another great day yesterday, starting with a rainbow and on to lunch at Assaggio Ala Moana.

The bread is what makes Assaggio famous.  Cold Antipasto Salad, New York Steak and Scampi with Linguini and Angel Hair Aglio E Olio, enhanced with Basil leaves and anchovies.  There was too much food, so much came home.

We had a bottle of Opolo Mountain Zinfandel from Paso Robles.  It was so outstanding that we inquired with the waiter, and he said Tamura's sold it.  On my bucket list is an Amtrak trip to Paso Robles.  Shipping to Hawaii I hear is almost free, if not free with a large enough order.  From Wine Spectator, the country of France had six wines in the top 100.  Paso Robles alone had five.

Wine Spectator magazine, one of the most trusted brands in the business, clearly saw something special coming out of the Central Coast wine region this year, naming these five bottles to the upper tiers of its 2017 Top 100 list.

No. 10: 2014 Booker Oblié Paso Robles 

No. 16: 2014 Turley Zinfandel Paso Robles Ueberroth Vineyard

No. 22: 2014 Saxum James Berry Vineyard Paso Robles Willow Creek District

No. 24: 2014 Justin Justification Paso Robles

No. 26: 2015 Tablas Creek Patelin de Tablas Blanc Paso Robles

The Assaggio lunch was fabulous.  We then drove to Tamura's and ordered a case of Opolo Mountain Zinfandel.  For dinner, I had the remainder of the steak, with eggs and tsukemono, finishing the bottle of Opolo.

Today, of course is the Kentucky Derby.  We're just about getting ready with our first Mint Julep.  I'm a bit confused, as I see BOTH Old Forester and Woodford Reserve as the bourbon of choice.  I'll need to solve this mystery.  But I do have a bottle of each, here with the ingredients and appropriate derby hat.

For lunch, we'll then have Mexican tacos (a delayed celebration of Cinco de Mayo), with something new, Mint Julep Margarita.  These will be featured tomorrow.

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