But first:  The U.S. and Iran gave conflicting informatio n about whether the Strait of Hormuz is open, as strikes escalated over the weekend.  Could be worse.   The USA has not yet invaded Kharg Island . Brent crude oil climbed nearly 10% to $83.30/barrel. WTI petroleum jumped slightly more. According to the official site, the Strait of Hormuz is CLOSED . No FIFA World Cup match today. The only really interesting event of this Major League Baseball All-Star week ( regular season games return on Thursday ) is the Home Run Derby, which will only stream on Netflix from 8PM EDT. So on to my posting of today.  The FIFA World Cup seemed to be full of players faking injuries, something tolerated in the game.   Shouldn't this be morally reprehensible, and deserving of a penalty? Well, volleyball players lie all the time.  They almost never voluntarily admit fault, like in touching balls that go out of bounds. Volleyball players literally have to lie ...

Well, the big deal today is that Iran and the USA agreed to talk about ending the now 108-day long war, and open up the Strait of Hormuz. There will be a signing of this document in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday, on Day 112. Note that this agreement is not quite to end the war.  Only another 60-day ceasefire to negotiate ending the war. But neither President Donald Trump, nor Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, nor President Masoud Pezeshkian will participate.  Israel is not part of this signing, so no President Benjamin Netanyahu either. The key signers will be Veep JD Vance and Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi. And, incidentally, SL Khamenei remains in hiding, and has not made even one public appearance since succeeding his father.  Why?  Pretty obvious that Israel will try to assassinate him, too. This is not a peace agreement.  Only a 60-day ceasefire. What about that nuclear matter?  Up for discussion. Around $25 billion of blocked Iran as...