Much of today brings back memories.  Let me start with the possible  return of COVID-19 , which served as the theme of my Thursday postings for years.  According to the CDC, there has a been a spike in COVID-19 cases of 18% this past week, and 24% hike in hospital admissions. From  Worldometer,  173 Americans died of COVID this past week and 277 in the previous week.  Of course, last year 550/week died from the flu, and this rate tends to jump in the winter, so flu deaths today are considerably higher than from COVID.  And few take the seasonal flu seriously. This alarms professionals like  Ashish Jha . More people tend to die 21 to 28 days after cases begin to increase. 60% of Americans did not get boosted. And look at how politics can make a difference. About that New Orleans terrorist attack by 42-year old  Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar , he was inspired by ISIS, but probably acted alone.  Donald Trump was wrong again, blaming Jabbar as an...

Why is the number 58 important this year?  This happens to be Super Bowl LVIII, roman numeral for 58.  Try to find Super Bowl 58 on any logo.  Maybe on a jersey. Alex Barrett of the 49ers will be the only #58 on the field.  Why does the NFL want to confuse people with a numbering system no one really knows? “The Roman numerals were adopted to clarify any confusion that may occur because the NFL Championship Game — the Super Bowl — is played in the year following a chronologically recorded season,” the NFL once wrote in a   postseason media handout . The thing about the Super Bowl is that it is not just a football game.  I went to a theater for the very first after the pandemic when I saw a double-bill of  Barbie  and  Oppenheimer .  I would never go to see  Barbie , which for me was colorful, and that was about it.  Loved  Oppenheimer  because that's the kind of film I like.  I predicted it would someday win a bu...

  First, can't help but start the week with another Lukovich cartoon: Also, too,  David Brooks of the  New York Times  this week had an op-ed about Donald Trump. The world is saved in tiny steps over time, and  Anthony Blinken did personally meet with President Xi Jinping . Then, of course, today is Juneteenth, celebrated as a public holiday by more than half of our states, but not Hawaii.  We have too many days off as it is, and June 19 is too close to June 11, King Kamehameha the First Day.  While there is no slavery today in the country, Blacks do earn far less than Whites.  From the  New York Times  this morning. And for Republicans who are worried about how hourly wages are increasing too rapidly, the reality is that, accounting for inflation, minimum wages are actually lower than in 1978.  For those who can't subtract, that was 45 years ago.  Also from  TNYT . I'm doing fine, too.  Returned from Las Vegas 9 days...