Germany and Denmark are two of 27 member countries in the European Union. The EU was formed in 1993. The population of the EU is 448 million, 5.8% of the world population, and higher than the 335 million for the USA. Has one-sixth of the world GDP. With GDP of $19.3 trillion, the EU is #2 to the U.S. with $28 trillion, and ahead of China with $18.6 trillion.   Where will the EU be in 2028? They share boundaries, have a common economy and a unified political leadership.  I remember a long time ago picking up a car in Sweden and driving to Italy.  Crossing into a new country was painful.  Not anymore. Noteworthy for not being a member are Norway (something to do with fishing resources) and Switzerland ( it's complicated, but has to do with historical independence ). Also not a member are Turkey, Liechtenstein and Iceland. Of course, the United Kingdom experienced Brexit in 2020. Potential new members are:  Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey. A complication is wh

Thursday has been Covid day since the pandemic, and has transitioned into medical/health/nutrition day. Today, back to Covid-19 because I just took the latest booster shot.  But first, a few news topics: Texas authorities have blamed power lines for igniting their largest wildfire .  Bad news for  Hawaiian Electric Company . President Joe Biden gives his  State of the Union  message tonight before a joint session of Congress tonight at 9PM ET. Great opportunity for his first major campaign speech, and he will cover all his victories and campaign issues. Senator Katie Britt, Republican from Alabama, will deliver the Republican response.  She is a MAGA-Trumper. Jill Biden has invited 20 guests, including the prime minister of Sweden (see following story). Some history: George Washington gave the first SoU in 1790. Thomas Jefferson discontinued this need in 1801. But Woodrow Wilson in 1913 re-established this practice, and the SoU has since then been presented yearly, but sometimes not or

The Russian War in Ukraine has re-aroused the fear of a nuclear holocaust.  The closest humanity has been to extinction was the prospect of a similar horror through much of the Cold War.  Two J. Robert Oppenheimer productions will shake you out of your comfort zone.  It's actually worse because he is only the Father of the Atomic Bomb.  He had a feud with Edward Teller, Father of the Hydrogen Bomb. MSNBC had a documentary last night:   To End All War:  Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb , featuring a number of comments by Christopher Nolan, whose film,  Oppenheimer , will be released on July 21.  This movie is rated R and will be 3 hours long, with a glowing cast:  Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Emily Blunt as his wife, Matt Damon as General Leslie Groves, who ran the Manhattan Project, Robert Downey, who eventually became Oppie's nemesis, Kenneth Branagh, Florence Puch, as O's girlfriend/mistress, Gary Oldman, Josh Hartnett, Rami Malek, Matthew Modine, and others. S