First, can't help but start the week with another Lukovich cartoon: Also, too,  David Brooks of the  New York Times  this week had an op-ed about Donald Trump. The world is saved in tiny steps over time, and  Anthony Blinken did personally meet with President Xi Jinping . Then, of course, today is Juneteenth, celebrated as a public holiday by more than half of our states, but not Hawaii.  We have too many days off as it is, and June 19 is too close to June 11, King Kamehameha the First Day.  While there is no slavery today in the country, Blacks do earn far less than Whites.  From the  New York Times  this morning. And for Republicans who are worried about how hourly wages are increasing too rapidly, the reality is that, accounting for inflation, minimum wages are actually lower than in 1978.  For those who can't subtract, that was 45 years ago.  Also from  TNYT . I'm doing fine, too.  Returned from Las Vegas 9 days ago, and when I first weighed myself at home 4 days ago,

On 12 February 2019 I left for Bangkok.  To quote my posting of that day: I leave this morning for Bangkok.  A simple trip with five others has now been reduced to three because the others felt it was too dangerous because of the coronavirus epidemic that has spread to Thailand.  There has been a lot of concern expressed to me by residents of 15 Craigside, mostly for my welfare.  However, no doubt there is also a worry that I will return to infect them with some horrible tropical disease, like perhaps the Wuhan coronavirus, which, incidentally, now has an official name:    COVID-19 .  The 19 because it was discovered in 2019. When I left Honolulu China had reported the most number of COVID-19 cases and Thailand was #2.  I returned two weeks later.  Here were my  Thai highs .  In afterthought, I should have chickened out on my Bengal Tiger encounter, but glad I made that trip.  Phuket was hardly worth the effort, while Chiang Mai was a nice stop.  They sell yellow- to orange- to red-col