Whether it was America 250 or Freedom 250, this was truly a grand weekend for the USA. Sure, it was a bit too hot. And a lightning storm delayed the President Donald Trump's speech and the DC fireworks show.  However, the address was given and the show almost surely did break the Guinness World Record.  Officials are still reviewing the details. From New York City to Los Angeles to Hawaii, all went well. On the other hand, Super Typhoon Bavi did damage to American territories, the Northern Marianas Island and Guam, especially the island of Rota, with details later, and there were several shootings , killing 43 and wounding many others throughout the nation. A video of the 250th celebrations .  Two fireworks photos. The FIFA World Cup had a bunch of highlights.   You can watch the best here .  Today: Portugal vs Spain at 6PM in Dallas. USA vs Belgium at 11PM in Seattle. Belgium is screaming mad, but FIFA gave American striker Folarin Balogun, the USA's leadi...

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...

I asked Google AI, is the USA the greatest country ever? Whether the United States is the "preeminent" (greatest or most dominant) country in history is highly debated and depends on the metrics you use. Its massive economic output, military strength, and cultural footprint are unmatched today, though assessing the "greatest ever" often varies by the benchmarks applied .   [ 1 ] Arguments for US Preeminence: Economic Power:   The U.S. possesses the world's largest economy and leads global venture capital and capital market investment depth .   [ 1 ,   2 ] Innovation & Technology:   The nation is a historical incubator for modern industries and technologies . For instance, it leads global foundations in   Artificial Intelligence   and development compute power .   [ 1 ,   2 ] Global Influence:   Unparalleled military capabilities and cultural exports (films, music, software) provide the U.S. with a level of global soft power rarely se...