The next big day for the U.S. will be Friday, when we will see if our federal government stops functioning or not.   Speaker Mike Johnson has unveiled a funding bill to overcome the potential shutdown .  The Senate is more iffy, for Republicans cannot prevent Democrats from filibustering, which takes 60 votes to stop.  Actually, the USA has recently  closed 10 times , and not to worry, for essential services will continue. Are we entering into a recession?  The Dow Jones sunk 900 points today, with the Nasdaq plunging 4%.   Worst day since 2022. On the international level,  President Trump  is suffocating Ukraine's Zelensky more than ever.  Now that Trump got his blackmail minerals deal, he wants Ukraine to give all lands Russian has conquered to them, with more concessions to come.  He keeps upgrading his revenge quotient. No question that the current U.S. president, Donald Trump, wants to join the president-for-life club, which ra...

Today, a little bit of everything, beginning with the  return plans for our stranded astronauts .  I've had  several postings on their plight,  and at one time their rescue would not be until February of next year. SpaceX launched NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, their 4-seat Crew-9 capsule docked with the International Space Station yesterday.  I guess the USA and Russia are still cooperating on something. But, whoops, there will be no early return. NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore have been stuck on the ISS since June 6. The four will return to Earth in February. The death toll from  Hurricane Helene  is now up to 119, and will continue to grow, for there are 600 or more still unaccounted.  Most of those killed, 73, are from the Carolinas ( 46 in North Carolina, where as much as 30.78 inches of rain fell ), 25 in Georgia and 13 in Florida.  Several million are still without power.  At...