Before I get into what you see above, first, China is back in covid crisis, and I'll have a full coverage tomorrow. How bad? Well, the whole world this past week (7 days) experienced around 300,000 new cases. China will have 65 million new cases/per week for at least the month of June!!! This is so shocking that I need more time to gather reputable information.Second, this is Memorial Day, a national holiday, and time for circumspection and forethought.
Actually, there is a sixth branch of the military, the U.S. Space Force, which was created on 20December2019, and reports to the U.S. Air Force, a similar relationship as the Marine Corps and Navy. The USSP currently has 8600 active duty personnel with access to 77 spacecraft. This was Trump's doing, but Biden apparently has decided to continue operations. The current issue is whether SpaceCom moves from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama. Lots of politics involved.
Recep Erdogan beat his opposition in a run-off election yesterday First time he has been anywhere close to being unseated. But he'll be leading Turkey as president until 2028, something he has been doing since 2014. He was also prime minister from 2003-2014 and mayor of Istanbul from 1994-8. He is 69-years old.
Turkey plays Russia off against the Western World. Erdogan likes being in NATO, and plays an important balancing act, supplying drones to Ukraine and negotiation continuing grain shipments, while purchasing Russian oil and gas, cheaply. But maybe this is because the country is located between East and West. But will he join the European Union?
Josef Newgarden of the U.S. driving for Team Penske, became the first American since 2016 to win the Indianapolis 500. Only three have been winners since 2007. I don't remember watching this race in decades. However, I happened to click on this channel when a crash occurred with 16 laps to go. Red flag. Then, another red flag with 6 laps to go. Finally, a third red flag with only 3 labs left. All drivers walked away uninjured. What particularly drew my interest were cameras in the cockpit and also outside the car. You see everything that happens, in split screen, in real time. Amazing. They need to keep split-second control for three hours. Watch this. Another You Tube near the end. Extended highlights.
Turns out that those Indy cars now have a good safety record. 42 drivers have died (plus 32 others, like crew, etc.) Fifty years ago, 1973, saw a range of deaths. Since then, cars and tracks have been improved so that only one Indianapolis 500 driver has since died in this race. Yes, he waved the green flag, and Jewel sang the national anthem. Did you know Driver's (the actor) past included the University of Indianapolis, Juillard and three years in the Marines? Then won two Oscars.
These cars can produce up to 700 horsepower, have a top speed of 240 MPH and zoom from zero to 200 in about 8 seconds. In case you were wondering, Formula F1 cars are a few pounds heavier and have a top speed slightly lower than Indy vehicles. However F1s can accelerate faster.
Indy cars race in the U.S. The F1 calendar this year will include 23 races in 20 countries, traveling 75,000 miles and transporting 1500 tons of equipment/entry. The final race will be on November 26 in Abu Dhabi, and our tour bus zoomed through the track where these cars will race when we visited the country late last year. There will be three in the U.S.: #5 Miami (that was on May 7), #19 Austin (October 22) and #22 Las Vegas (November 19).
Indianapolis 500 winners generally get $3 million. But it's more complicated than that because this sum is shared with the crew and company. F1 racers supposedly earn from $1 million to $55 million/year, with Max Verstappen at the high end. He won the #7 F1 race this weekend in Monaco in 1:48:52, 28 seconds faster than the #2. That was his 4th victory this season, and was able to survive two wall clips.
There is also the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), which uses stock cars pretty much off the manufacturing line, with minor variation, around twice the weight of the other two, with a V-8 engine, going up to 200 MPH, and from 0 to 60 in 3.4 seconds. You too can buy the almost Toyota Camry, Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro. Would look identical to NASCARs, except with those slight internal improvements. They are pondering a switch some day to electric or hydrogen fuel cell cars. Nah, not the latter.
The entire NASCAR Cup Series has seen 28 driver deaths, but the last one was in 2001, Dale Earnhardt. 52 F1 drivers have died since 1952, but safety measures have helped so that the latest was in 2017. And I've mentioned the recent good record of the Indy 500.
I noticed that 15 Craigside is competing in the Kupuna spelling bee this summer. Sponsored by Hawaiian and Alaskan Air Lines, so the winner will win up to 50,000 miles and free trips. However, the major one is the Scripps National Spelling Bee, where the finals will be broadcast on Thursday, June 1, on the Ion Channel. Why? Ion is owned by Scripps. If you check, some sources say the Ion Channel is at 1539. No such channel in Honolulu Spectrum. However, I called, and if you live where I live, I will get it on Channel 27, KPXOHD. I see the programming beginning at 7PM on June 1, so recorded it. Then, I thought if the station is KPXOHD, it was be also at a high definition channel, and surely enough, also at 1027, so that is where I will record the two-hour show. So when I went to 1027 it was already on record mode. Hmmm.
I've been watching Mawar since she was a super typhoon approaching Guam, strength went as high as 185 MPH. The latest worry is the approach of Typhoon Mawar towards Okinawa. While the eye has dropped to "only" 105 MPH, The Japan Times has some information, with tracking provided by Accuweather.
Tomorrow: the new China covid crisis. Incidentally, Shanghai today recorded its highest May temperature ever, hitting 97 degrees. Yes, global warming.
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