TODAY AND TOMORROW

SORRY FOR THE DELAY.  THE INTERNET IN THIS BUILDING WAS OUT MOST OF THE DAY.

This was a generally bad Monday for much of humanity, and tomorrow could well be pivotal.  Today is August 5, with the U.S. presidential election three months away on November 5.  I'll start with Mike Lukovich's latest cartoon, indicating what is happening to the Trump presidential campaign, which I guess is good news for Freedom.

The world stock market might well be crashing:

• The U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 1,030.5 points (-2.72%), with the Nasdaq Composite  -3.38% and S&P 500 -3%.

• 
  But the Japan Nikkei had its worst day since 1987, falling 12.4%, mainly caused by disappointing U.S economic data.
• Some blamed the Federal Reserve for not acting expeditiously last week.
• European markets were all down around 2% today.
• Is this a sign of a coming recession?
• Republicans will benefit from what is happening.  
• But it would have been worse for Democrats if this occurred in September, as in 2008, when the Lehman bankruptcy triggered the Great Recession, or in mid-October, a month known for crashes.
• That recession actually began in 2007 when George the Elder Bush was president, and the rupture of the U.S. economy was one factor in Americans voting for a Democrat in 2008, Barack Obama.
• Is there enough time for the Federal Reserve to save Democrats?  A crashing economy favors the opposition party.

Hurricane Debby made landfall on Florida's Big Bend at 7AM EDT.

• Four deaths.
• All signs show Debby trundling along the Eastern Seaboard into this weekend.  
• Interestingly enough, she will weaken quite a bit while on land, but, once into the Atlantic Ocean, could strengthen to 60 MPH and higher, dropping two feet of rain in certain locations.

In the East Pacific Ocean:

• There are four tropical storms, Carlotta, Daniel, Emilia and Fabio, plus another new disturbance, all projected to head for Hawaii.  
• However, cooler waters will most likely weaken them.

Well, the above is a lead-in to what might happen tomorrow.

• War in the Middle East.
• Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on July 30 in Beirut, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran on July 31.
• Iran will most likely on Tuesday punish Israel for these killings.  What and how?
• Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (right) however, indicated that the country is not seeking to expand the war, in a meeting today with Russia's security council secretary Sergei Shoigu,
• 
  Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris will announce her vice presidential running mate on Tuesday.
• The pundit favorites seem to think that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (even money odds), Arizona Senator Mark Kelly (5-2) and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (2-1) are the ahead, with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (3-1) and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg  (5-1) still in the running.
• North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper pulled out and, I guess Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is not now being considered.  I once thought he was the most likely prospect.
• What Harris needs is the proverbial All-American boy to gain white male support.
• Shapiro is Jewish, and that might be ethnic overkill, for Harris has that base covered, plus her husband is Jewish.  Yet, she seems most comfortable with him, and he would bring in the 19 electoral votes from Pennsylvania.
• Kelly is from Arizona (11 electoral votes), and can shore up immigration, gun control and macho credits.  He was an astronaut, flew a Navy fighter plane and is the husband of Gabby Giffords, who was the politician in the family as a Congresswoman from Arizona and was almost killed in an assassination attempt.  The big IF is that his Arizona Senate seat could go to a Republican in 2026.
• Walz is 60 years old, not from a battleground state and is not a particularly effective orator.  He simply has not done much.

The Paris Summer Olympics had some nice highlights for the USA.

• Noah Lyles won the gold in the 100m dash.  
• He was lucky, for he was last (8 runners) from the start to the 40m mark.  Halfway, 7th place.  Then, somehow, his torso (hands, head and legs don't count...in fact, just before the actual finish, you can see American Fred Kerly's orange shoe first across the finish line--and he came in for the bronze medal) made it to that invisible marker that only the camera caught.  He won by 5 thousandths of a second.  A tenth of a second is close....a hundredth of a second is almost immeasurable.
• He now is heavily favored to win the classic double, with another gold in the 200m, something Usain Bolt achieved three times.  Lyles could well also do this in the 2028 Los Angeles Games.  All he needs is to remain sound, physically and mentally.
• 
  A downer, if you wanted more, but Simone Biles only got a silver on the final event, the floor exercise.  Will she return to Los Angeles?  She say's, don't ask.

• 
  Scottie Scheffler, already the #1 player in the world, shot a spectacular 9-under 62 to win the gold.  Tommy Fleetwood of the UK got silver and Hideki Matsuyama won bronze. Spain's Jon Rahm had a 4-shot lead after the 10th hole.  Then collapsed to end up 5th.  Scottie cried on the podium.
• The medal count.

• 1. USA — 75 (19 gold, 29 silver, 27 bronze)
• 2. China — 52 (21 gold, 17 silver, 14 bronze)
• 3. France — 45 (12 gold, 15 silver, 18 bronze)
• 4. Great Britain — 40 (10 gold, 13 silver, 17 bronze)
• 5. Australia — 32 (13 gold, 11 silver, 8 bronze)
• T6. South Korea — 26 (11 gold, 8 silver, 7 bronze)
• T6. Japan — 26 (10 gold, 5 silver, 11 bronze)
• 8. Italy — 25 (9 gold, 10 silver, 6 bronze)
• 9. Canada — 17 (5 gold, 4 silver, 8 bronze)
• 10. Netherlands — 15 (6 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze)

To see the full list of medal standings, click here.

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