This is Day 21 of our trip and Day 12 of our cruise on the Oceania Riviera from Yokohama to Vancouver.  We've been sailing in the open ocean for several days, the seas are now not as rough, and we finally arrive in Kodiak, Alaska tomorrow.  As such, I have been occupied with topics like the International Date Line and why the USA is great, and could well become greater under Donald Trump ( that was the potential if he somehow succeeds in gobbling up Canada and Greenland ). First, Happy Boys Day. It was my third posting of this blog site,  5May2008 , that I wrote about Boys Day.  Same day as Cinco de Mayo, as shown at the end. Today, though, I'll revert to a topic I toss in perhaps monthly called Energy Matters, the following from the  5May2025 issue  of this subject from the America Energy Society. Here is some bad stuff you probably had no idea even existed:  PET COKE. Petroleum coke is the final product from the cracking of oil. When burned, it emits...

  I yesterday again cajoled the World Health Organization on what was holding them back from announcing the end of the pandemic.  Well, after I published, they   announced the ending of the covid pandemic .   Said T.A. Ghebreyesus, WHO director general: . ..even though the emergency phase was over, the pandemic hasn’t ended, noting recent spikes in cases in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. One of WHO's biggest mistakes was that they recommended AGAINST mask-wearing in public during the early months.  They also were reluctant to warn people about the real danger of asymptomatic individuals. Mentioned was President Trump for his terrible response to the pandemic, with the U.S. experiencing the most deaths, more than a million.   While true, we were #1 in total deaths, with 1,162,403 deaths, the USA was #15 in deaths/million population with 3472.  Peru was #1 with 6537, Bulgaria #2 with 5601 and Hungary  with 5085. In total deaths, #2 Br...

               From  Worldometer  (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):            DAY    USA    WORLD      Brazil      India      South Africa June     9     1093     4732         1185        246       82 July    22      1205     7128         1293      1120     572 Aug    12      1504     6556        1242        835     130 Sept     9      1208      6222       1136       1168       82 Oct     21      1225      6849  ...