We all have ups and downs.  Take the FIFA World Cup, for example: When the USA got outclassed yesterday by Belgium, my interest in these matches dropped to nearly zero.   Then today, in a miraculous comeback, Argentina scored their winning goal in stoppage time, to beat Egypt, 3-2.  I have regained interest because 39-year Lionel Messi scored a goal, and his team has made into the quarterfinals. So what is so crucial about that game?  I have a Messi t-shirt.  Simple as that.  I watch soccer only during World Cup years, men's and women's, and now, at least have someone to root for.  Incidentally: Men's ranking:  #1 Argentina, #2 Spain and #3 France.  U.S, was ranked #17. Women's ranking:  #1 Spain, #2 USA and #3 Germany.  The next World Cup will take place in Brazil next year. This Messi t-shirt was given to me 15 years ago by the Qatar government, when they were the sponsor of the Barcelona soccer team, and their star was Messi...

Super Typhoon Bavi with a wind speed of 180 MPH is approaching the tiny island of Rota in the West Pacific as I write this.  I'll continue this story at the end of this post, about the time when landfall will be reached.  We won't know till tomorrow the outcome. Gusts will reach 205 MPH! Compared to the weather today over Rota, conditions were not so bad in the nation's capital, only reaching 102F, breaking DC's July 4th heat record by 2F.   Plus there were 375,000 people in the audience on the National Mall awaiting President Donald Trump's speech at 9AM, but approaching lightnin g forced a delay until 11:15PM, when a good crowd of 150,000 returned for his almost 40-minute talk.   He actually gave a good speech . Then the promised colossal fireworks show most probably did break the world record for being the largest , with up to 860,000 shells. Pyrotecnico did a fabulous job, and all went well.   Guinness will certify this record in a few days. G...

The USA celebrates our 250th birthday on the Fourth of July.  Much of this begins tomorrow, so I will attempt to summarize what should be the highlights. But first, t hink you're having a bad day?  Consider the following from Google AI: Over 8 million Americans have recently lost their health care over the past year . This includes an estimated 3 to 4.2 million people who lost or dropped Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans and another 3.8 to 4 million people who   today were dropped from Medicaid and CHIP . [ 1 ] Further, according to Google AI: The weather for the 250th anniversary celebrations in Washington D.C. and New York City will be dangerously hot and humid , with prolonged extreme heat alerts in effect across both regions. The stifling temperatures are driven by a massive heat dome that is engulfing much of the East Coast . [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] Conditions in both cities are expected to feature: Scorching Temperatures: Highs are expected to exceed 100 ...