But first, maybe  President Donald Trump's 20-point Gaza Peace Plan is showing some progress .   No one expects the Hamas to accept all of them, but they did agree to release all captives and the act of handing over administration to Palestinian technocrats. So far, in the Gaza Strip, 66,288 have been killed and 169,165 wounded.   On 7October2023, almost two years ago, 1139 were killed in the initial Hamas-led attack. About my topic of the day, I've long been lamenting the overflow of watchable films and series available on Netflix and Prime.  Why expand into the plethora of other streaming options when I can't keep up with what I have, which costs me around $30/month.  And, of course, why venture out to a movie theater to end up watching a film that will cost me around that amount of money, when you add the popcorn, drink, gasoline cost, time it takes to get there and back, and the risk of a car accident or worse.  Oh, also getting infected with ...

But first, looks like the Federal government will be shut down just after midnight tonight.   How terrible is that? To begin, there have been 14 of these since 1980, including three during Trump's first term.   In 2018, for 34 days, from December 22 to January 25. This broke the 21-day record on one under President Bill Clinton. How will the stock market react?  Many times, goes up.   In anticipation  of what could happen tomorrow: The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI ) rose 0.2%. The S&P 500 ( ^GSPC ) rose 0.4%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC ) gained 0.3%, coming off modest   closing gains   on Wall Street.  Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 notched their best third quarter since 2020. Want more details on what to expect?   Read this. About that other matter of importance,  Time  magazine had some details:   Trump and Netanyahu Announce Major Gaza Deal, Threaten Dire Outcome if ...

 By now you know that the United States joined Israel in the air strikes against Iran. Iran made its usual fiery tirade about revenge and death to infidels, which is a religious term . Seven  B-2 Spirit stealth bombers  left Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, the only operational home of these planes, flew to Iran, re-fueled in mid-air multiple times, dropping 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, also known as bunker buster bombs, on two targets in Iran.  Other bombs also fell at a third nuclear site. These same bombers then turned around, again after mid-air refueling, to Whiteman on a 37 hour flight. As a decoy, at the same time, six B-2s went to Guam.  We have 19 of these bombers, made by Northrop. These B-2s are the only planes capable of carrying bunker busters, and these 19 are the only ones still operating. President Donald Trump remarked that the U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear facilities were  spectacular .  Yes, but not totally.  Bun...

But first, tidbits about Juneteenth ( today is a national holiday, and tomorrow will be the first day of summer ) and the Israel-Iran War. Time  magazine agrees with my  Tuesday posting  that, Juneteenth or not,  the struggle for civil rights still continues . President Donald Trump has said his decision to join Israel on strikes against Iran will wait for two weeks. He  says Iran needs some time to decide for itself if it really wants to be decimated .  Fat chance that they will agree to stop trying to become a nuclear power.  And, by the way, there are now nine of them:  US, Russia, China, France, UK, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea. The Gerald Ford Task Force has not left Norfolk, Virginia yet, and will probably arrive in the Mediterranean in just about two weeks. Trump seems to be facing some MAGA backlash.  Important elements don't want to join a foreign war.  Yet, most probably would also like to see Iran drop their nuclear...