Skip to main content

THE JOY RIDE OF THE HARRIS-WALZ TICKET

The problem with the Summer Olympics being in France is that many TV stations surprise you with who won.  I've found MSNBC and CNN to be especially efficient at this.  I said yesterday that France's Victor Wembanyama is 7'6".  Nope, only 7'4".  There have been taller players in the NBA:

  • 7'7"  Gheorghe Muresan and Manute Bol, although maybe Bol might not quite have been up there, and was only 200 pounds.
  • 7'6"  Shawn Bradley, Tacko Fall, Slavko Vranes and Yao Ming, although maybe he was only 7'5".

I'm watching the France-USA gold medal basketball game, but won't tell you who won, or even who is leading.  But can I mention someone named Steph Curry?  He is only the 8th best 3-point shooter ever in the NBA at 43%.  You know who is #1?  Steve Kerr, with 45.4%, and coach of the Team USA.

NBC has not been entirely clear on which events will be covered by your NBC, USA or Peacock channels on the final day, Sunday.  Best I can tell, the USA women's volleyball team against Italy will be carried live at 7AM EDT on your NBC channel, or maybe only on Peacock.  Italy is the clear favorite.  However, I saw where the U.S. women's basketball game against France for the gold might be carried by the USA channel at 6:30AM on Sunday, although 9:30AM EDT on NBC has also, and more prominently, been mentioned.

Then the Closing Ceremony begins at 2PM EDT on NBC with a recap of unforgettable moments.  The actual ceremony will start at 3PM EDT, for 2 hours.  Looks like 62-year old Tom Cruise will be a "surprise" performer.  Now that Taylor Swift's Vienna concerts have been cancelled, she, too might now participate.  

Not the Olympics, but the Williamsport Little League games begin on Wednesday with 20 teams.  One of them will be Central East Maui from Hawaii.  The Lahaina tragedy was a year ago, so their being here is doubly rewarding.  The team has an overpowering pitcher in Evan Tavares, and he was why Hawaii beat Southern California yesterday.  However, he couldn't finish the final inning because he went over the 85 pitch limit, and he is the only good pitcher on the team.  The final two outs took an eternity.

Yes, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz continue their joy ride, for the just released New York Times / Sienna poll shows that they have caught up with Trump and surged past him in the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The poll was conducted between Aug. 5-9 and asked likely voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin about their attitudes toward Harris and Trump. When asked who they would vote for if the election were held today, Harris received 50 percent support to Trump’s 46 percent — a marked improvement compared to President Joe Biden’s performance against Trump in earlierTimes polling. When third-party candidates and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are included in the race, Harris remains ahead by 5 percentage points in Michigan, 2 percentage points in Pennsylvania and 6 percentage points in Wisconsin, with a fading Kennedy averaging just 5 percent support.

Last month Donald Trump led Joe Biden in all these states.

It's pretty clear which team will win the electoral votes in 39 states.  Seven remain competitive:

  • Pennsylvania.
  • Wisconsin.
  • Michigan.
  • North Carolina.
  • Georgia.
  • Arizona.
  • Nevada.
There are four fringe states where the Trump-Vance team currently is ahead, but could still come into play.
  • Ohio.
  • Virginia.
  • Florida.
  • Texas.

The Harris-Walz team has attracted so much more funds and a growing number of additional volunteers.  Definitely, the age factor has been reversed, for Trump has become very old.  The younger generation seems to be leaning in the Democratic direction.  Maybe as importantly, Republicans for Harris are waking up, and more and more are making this known.

To close, thanks for the JOY.  That Camo hat is going viral.  And "only" for $40.  Joy shirts for $16.

-

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

THE ENIGMATIC PHIL SPECTOR

The first presidential debate of Donald Trump and Joe Biden ended up in a near tie.  Both lost.  However, it was an unmitigated disaster for Biden, who just might be too old to win this re-election. For Trump, it was a reinforcement of what he does all the the time, lie.   There will be significant calls for the Democratic Party to work out "something" to replace Biden as their presidential candidate.  Suddenly, Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom and Michelle Obama are added to the spotlight.  But what can "legally" occur at the August Democratic Convention? The situation is different on the Republican side, as Trump is the Republican Party, and no matter if he gets 4 years at his felony sentencing on July 9, or even if the Supreme Court determines he is not immune next week or later, he will be the presidential candidate. Trump is a damned boastful liar and convicted felon, but that is the only option for Republicans.  His vice-presidential choice now become...

ON THE MATTER OF PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

Hawaii today celebrates King Kamehameha the First Day as a public holiday.  Next Monday, June 19, or  Juneteenth,  is a Federal holiday.  However, 22 states, including Hawaii, do not recognize this as a public holiday.  Four of these will begin to honor this day next year, not Hawaii.  Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery.  Here are the Hawaii holidays, and note three that only we have: New Year’s Day: 1st day in January Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: 3rd Monday in January Presidents’ Day: 3rd Monday in February Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Day: 26th day in March Good Friday: Friday before Easter Easter:   Calculating Easter Memorial Day: Last Monday in May King Kamehameha I Day: 11th day in June Independence Day: 4th day in July Statehood Day: 3rd Friday in August Labor Day: 1st Monday in September Veterans’ Day: 11th day in November Thanksgiving Day: 4th Thursday in November Christmas: 25th day in December There are  11 paid Fede...

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...