Did you know that both Mother's and Father's Days are national holidays?  Of course they are always celebrated on Sundays, so they are not a federal holiday.  President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation in 1914 designating  Mother's Day  as the second Sunday in May.  Of course motherhood has long been cherished, and the ancient Greeks and Romans held festivals in honor of mother godesses Rhea and Cybele. Mind you, the Greeks and Romans also honored fathers, and in Catholic Europe, St. Joseph's Day ( March 19 ) is a feast day dedicated to Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus.  But Father's Day in the USA had a rather startling beginning that few know. First, Father's Day did not become a national holiday until 1972. The reason why has everything to do with civil rights movements in the 1960s. The story starts in 1964 when a middle-aged father and mid-level federal appointee, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, dreamt a solution to America's racial conflict in his sle...

But before God, interesting baseball afternoon for me yesterday.   Took a nap, woke up to an ending of a Major League Baseball game between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.   Dodgers 18 - Yankees 2, the most ever runs the Los Angeles team had over their New York rivals, ever.  With 21 hits.   Yankees?  Two home runs by Aaron Judge, who is on one of my fantasy teams. The Dodgers and Yankees are the favorites to make the World Series final. Switched stations to the Washington Nationals at Arizona Diamond Backs. First inning, no outs.  Nationals had already scored 9 runs. First out.  Crowd went wild. Nationals scored 10 runs in the first inning.   Third out.  Crowd went wild. Two more high scoring games:  Rays 16 - Astros 3.  Brewers 17 - Phillies 7. Mind you, there were a number of pitching battles yesterday. Pirates 2 - Padres 0. Cubs 2- Reds 0. Cardinals 2- Rangers 0. Royals 1- Tigers 0. Marlins 1 - ...

From the  New York Times :    The USA has 63% Christians, a decline of 15% in 18 years: However, people have stopped leaving churches en masse, according to   a new study released   by Pew Research. Further from the  Pew Research Center : 22%  of Americans are categorized as   spiritual but not religious (SBNR)  because they say they think of themselves as spiritual or they consider spirituality very important in their lives, but they neither think of themselves as religious nor say religion is very important in their lives. 58%  of Americans fall into an overall or   “NET” Religious   category because they say they think of themselves as religious or they consider religion very important in their lives. This group can be subdivided into U.S. adults who are   both religious and spiritual   (48%) and those who are   religious but not spiritual   (10%) 21%  of Americans are categorized as   neit...