Twenty years ago today, the deadliest tsunami in recorded history inundated Asian countries and killed about 230,000 people.  The  Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake, also called the Boxing Day Earthquake  ( Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, mostly in Europe and Commonwealth nations ): Was caused by a subsea earthquake possibly as high as  9.3 magnitude  ( this was #2 to the largest, which was the 1960 Chile earthquake at 9.5 ) off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Waves were as high as  167 feet  in Aceh province, and two hours later, Sri Lanka saw 20 feet ( with run-ups as high as 41 feet--there is a difference in these two terms ), and  Thailand had run-ups of up to 64 feet.   At Phuket, Thailand, the second wave was the largest at 20 feet.  Also two hours after the earthquake, India saw heights as much as 33 feet.   3100 miles away in Somalia, there was a run-up of 30 feet. The maximum height above sea lev...

First, some   not so good news about our two stranded astronauts on the International Space Station , and worse for Boeing.  NASA decided not to use the Boeing Starliner, and instead, send it home unmanned, to make room for the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft to bring Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore home.  But this cannot occur until February.  Thus, an 8-day mission will end up taking 8 months, if all goes well. Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World ,  by Israel Ka'ano'i Kamakawiwo'ole.  You might have heard it before, for this medley has now been #1 on the World Digital Songs chart, the longest top hit on any of the Billboard charts.  That melodic background comes from a ukulele. Maybe it's because I'm from Hawaii, but I've always been fond of ukulele music.  If I could re-do my life, I would learn how to play one and bring a ukulele off to college.  I do own one now, but it once belonged to my wife, who passed away 15 years ago...

Final night for the Democratic National Convention.    2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters marched yesterday.  All went well.  However, on Tuesday, there were 56 arrests at an un-sanctioned pro-Palestinian rally outside the Israeli Consulate . Froma Harrop had an excellent op-ed today on  Gutsy Republicans are Quiet Star of the Dems' Convention .  Stephanie Grisham, Trump's former press secretary, who was the first White-Houser to resign on 6January2021, shared the true character of Donald and Melania Trump.  Coming from an insider who was like family is just another confirmation of what everyone knows anyway.  Also mentioned other Republicans like Adam Kinzinger and John Giles.  Read this. Otherwise,  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to drop out of the race tomorrow and endorse Donald Trump .   Trump suggested in an interview this week that Kennedy would do an “incredible job” as a secretary of health and human services. Kennedy...