Clearly, the star of the Paris Summer Olympics is the Eiffel Tower, for it stands out all the time.  It is exactly 300 meters ( 984 feet ) high, and was finished in 1889 for the Paris World's Fair.  It is the most visited monument with an entrance fee in the world, and attracts nearly 7 million/year. After day 2, Japan and Australia have won the most gold medals, 4, but the  USA has the most medals with 12 .  France second most, 8. Australia is doing well in swimming, but the star could well be Leon Marchand from France. The USA is surging. Torri Huske (right) and Gretchen Walsh won gold and silver in the 100M butterfly. Foil Fencer Lee Kiefer, won a gold, topping Lauren Scruggs, also of the U.S.  Kiefer also got the gold in Tokyo. The US Women's soccer team beat Zambia 3-0 and Germany 4-1. Lebron James ( 39 ) and Kevin Durant ( 35 ) led the way to crush Serbia 110-84 in men's basketball. Russia and Belarus teams were banned, but certain individuals were allowed...

First, some latest news: China's economy seems to be tanking .   One serious problem is that the unemployment rate among young people ages 16-24 was 21.3% last month, a new record high.  This group is relatively well educated, and could cause problems. But before you get too elated, their second quarter gross domestic product grew by "only" 6.3%.   The USA GDP is growing by 2.3% . With the release of  Speak Now,  at #1,  Taylor Swift  has become the first female to have four albums on the Billboard Top 10 list.  She now also has the most #1 albums in history, passing Barbra Streisand with eleven.  Herb Alpert and Prince are two males who also had 4 at once. I've long felt that Hawaii was in a rut.  Sure Skyline is new, but is only a pale shadow of what it should have been if completed a quarter century ago, for  ridership is 21 times below  what were low projections anyway.  Worse, the actual cost to operate Skyl...