First a, few news items: Today is Labor Day, a national holiday in the USA and Canada on the first Monday of September.  Banks, Post Offices, stock markets and schools are closed.  You can still go out to eat and shop. The U.S. war with Iran has escalated. Exchanges of fire. Strait of Hormuz remains mostly closed. No peace talks have been scheduled. Oil prices remain high, as Brent Crude oil hit a recent peak of $98 earlier today. U.S. gasoline prices reached a record-high national average of $4.15/gallon for the Labor Day weekend.  The previous high was $3.82/gallong in 2012. The Russo-Ukraine War continues with battles and drone exchanges.   It has been 1,656 days since Russian invaded Ukrain on 24February2022.  4,482 days since Russia began occupying Crimeaw on February 20, 2014. While the Trump administration has made efforts to bring those countries together, they have failed. This war will continue if Russia and Ukraine can't agree of land concession...

Today is Labor Day in the USA, a national holiday.  Other countries, too, have a day off, from Google AI Overview. Uzbekistan :   Celebrates   Independence Day . Iran :   Observes the   Martyrdom of Imam Hasan Askari . Kazakhstan :   Celebrates   Constitution Day   (in lieu). Vietnam :   Has its National Day Holiday. Eritrea :   Observes   Eritrea Revolution Day . Guyana :   Has a Public Holiday. Slovakia :   Observes   Constitution Day . Labor Day   The United States, Canada, and Bermuda all have Labor Day, which falls on the first Monday of September.   It celebrates the achievements of workers and the broader labor movement. What to do on Labor Day has changed.  For example: Labor Day   is officially here, which means the NBC Select team has found   tons of deals   up to 70% off on AirPods, sneakers and more. Plus,   Amazon’s Labor Day sale   has discounts up to 50% off on br...

  The history of Labor Day is too, too boring to detail, but: President Grover Cleveland  in 1894 signed the bill recognizing the first Monday of September as Labor Day, providing a new holiday for federal workers.  If he looks a bit rotund to you, he had a Body-Mass Index of 34.6, #2 to Howard Taft at 42.3.  Want to know your BMI?  Look to the right, scroll to near the bottom, stop at Calculate Your Body-Mass Index, insert those details, and the odds are high you will be a lot lower than Cleveland.  The NFL always kicks off their season the Thursday after Labor Day, which this year features the Ravens visiting Chiefs in Kansas City on September 5. While there will be picnics, a few parades and the like, this three-day weekend is the official end of the summer, where consumers spend a lot of money, only next to the Christmas season, and travel. 10,000 workers in 24 cities  are striking this weekend  against Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt hotels. Presi...