Yes, Paris pulled it off.  Their Summer Olympics production was outstanding.  But who am I?   Read what  Time  magazine said . Sure, it rained some, but it was tolerable. It did not get stifling hot.  Some days saw highs in low 70's. However, as the globe gets hotter, the Summer games might well need to be shifted to the Fall or Spring.   Tokyo in 1964 did move to October. Then again, the Southern Hemisphere can be more utilized, for it will be winter there.  Only Sydney and Rio have hosted, but Jakarta has a population of 34 million, Buenos Aires 22 million, Johannesburg and Lima with 11 million.  Brisbane only has 2.6 million people, but will host in 2032. No reason why any event needs to be held during the daytime.  What's wrong with a midnight marathon?   Or, hold all events indoors, including the marathon. I've been in Los Angeles in July and remember both smog and triple digit temperatures.   Dodger St...

Clearly, the star of the Paris Summer Olympics is the Eiffel Tower, for it stands out all the time.  It is exactly 300 meters ( 984 feet ) high, and was finished in 1889 for the Paris World's Fair.  It is the most visited monument with an entrance fee in the world, and attracts nearly 7 million/year. After day 2, Japan and Australia have won the most gold medals, 4, but the  USA has the most medals with 12 .  France second most, 8. Australia is doing well in swimming, but the star could well be Leon Marchand from France. The USA is surging. Torri Huske (right) and Gretchen Walsh won gold and silver in the 100M butterfly. Foil Fencer Lee Kiefer, won a gold, topping Lauren Scruggs, also of the U.S.  Kiefer also got the gold in Tokyo. The US Women's soccer team beat Zambia 3-0 and Germany 4-1. Lebron James ( 39 ) and Kevin Durant ( 35 ) led the way to crush Serbia 110-84 in men's basketball. Russia and Belarus teams were banned, but certain individuals were allowed...

Deloitte published their assessment of Rome's 2000 year-old Colosseum, which could well cost from $250 million to $1 billion to build today.  You can  read the details here , but, ta-da, it is worth $79 billion.  It would rank   #14 in the current list of world billionaires . There are moments and experiences, says Mastercard, that are priceless, but many famous historical artifacts are also in that category, especially those of Leonardo da Vinci. Some of his works do have known values.  A prominent one, and most expensive art piece ever sold, is  Salvator Mundi,  which was bought by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed Bin Salman in 2017 for $450 million, some say as a gift to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and today has a value closer to $500 million, or half a billion dollars. To the right is how the Leonardo pictured Jesus Christ, but it is still not clear if he finished it in the 1490s while working in Milan on  The Last Supper , or in Florence a...