The next big day for the U.S. will be Friday, when we will see if our federal government stops functioning or not.   Speaker Mike Johnson has unveiled a funding bill to overcome the potential shutdown .  The Senate is more iffy, for Republicans cannot prevent Democrats from filibustering, which takes 60 votes to stop.  Actually, the USA has recently  closed 10 times , and not to worry, for essential services will continue. Are we entering into a recession?  The Dow Jones sunk 900 points today, with the Nasdaq plunging 4%.   Worst day since 2022. On the international level,  President Trump  is suffocating Ukraine's Zelensky more than ever.  Now that Trump got his blackmail minerals deal, he wants Ukraine to give all lands Russian has conquered to them, with more concessions to come.  He keeps upgrading his revenge quotient. No question that the current U.S. president, Donald Trump, wants to join the president-for-life club, which ra...

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...