But first, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs yesterday.  Also, this video shows that  Iran/U,S. peace talks are privately ongoing . In the meantime, to strengthen our bargaining position: Now,  three U.S. task forces will be available to support any invasion . The USS Abraham Lincoln has been deployed since January. The USS Gerald Ford arrived in the eastern Mediterranean in February. The USS George H.W. Bush was near the Horn of Africa on Tuesday and is expected to head towards the war region.   This aircraft carrier is also carrying 6000 troops.  Another 4200 military personnel are with the Boxer Amphibious Group and the 11th Expeditionary Unit are expected to arrive later this month. All the above will be to support approximately 50,000 U.S. troops already in the region. Boots on the ground? The last American killed in this war was more than a month ago, Today is April 16.  The two-week truce ends on April 22. In addition to better protect...

  Day 2 on the Diamond Princess cruise #2:  arrival in Port Klang, Malaysia. The usual noodles lunch, with beer. I take long naps after lunch because we have an active nightlife that extends beyond midnight.  Walked a short bit in the hallway, showered, and off to Good Times at Sea for a Johnny Walker Gold Label on rocks. Then on to dinner at Sabbatini's.  Bread, with a glass of Seghesio Zinfandel and the Johnny Walker Gold Label from Good Times. First, an appetizer called arancini, a Sicilian dish of deep-fried rice ball with mozzarella cheese in the middle.  Always comes, and this is our third time here, Next, a Salumi Misti and Truffle Risotto,  I'm getting to love the al dente risotto.  I specifically asked to limit the quantity by a factor of two, One meatball over spaghetti. Then an Osso Buco, which comes with a different kind of risotto.  Excellent. Piece of grilled codfish. Then off to line dancing and karaoke in Club Fusion, followed by d...

Still at sea on the Seabourn Odyssey.  Also too, tomorrow.  But on Friday we arrive in Lahaina.   Today, I stumbled across a ranking by  Forbes,  then subsequently found another that was different.  Not sure which is the latest, but I suspect this is a more recent  Forbes  ranking of the top 150 American Universities.   This was for 2022. #1      MIT #2      Stanford and Cal Berkeley #4      Princeton #5      Columbia #6      UCLA #7      Williams College #8      Yale #9      Duke #10    Pennsylvania #15    Harvard #20    Chicago #50    Wake Forest #100  Loyala Marymount #150  Oregon Yikes, Harvard at #15??? Not sure how up to date that was, but I also stumbled across what appears to be another  Forbes'  2022  ranking of American universities .  According ...