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...

For those regulars of this blog site, I will get to our American Melody cruise on the Mississippi River.  But first, my topic of the day: the  Cicada . This is not a travel site.  No city/town has that name. Not about those swarming insects from 13- or 17-year broods.   Anyway, this happens not to be one of those springs when they emerge .  Although there will come a few stragglers, like this one shown.  Brood XXIII will strike in 2028.  In prime cicada years, you can more readily find chocolate chip cicada cookies. The Cicada I'm referring to today is the  new COVID variant . This will be an encore, for this variant first appeared in 2024. Cicada is nickname for BA.3.2, which first infected people in South Africa. Cicada is responsible for 30% of Europe's COVID ailments. More: Scientists say that Cicada carries   70 to 75 new mutations   in the spike protein, the portion that the human immune system recognizes and targets. That's m...

Before I enter into my medical posting of today, a few facts and thoughts about the War in Iraq: Oil prices rose today WTI Crude Oil ( USA ):  Up to $100/barrel, dropped to $93/barrel and seems headed towards $95/barrel. Brent Crude Oil ( Europe ):  Jumped to $116/barrel, then dropped to $100/barrel and at this moment was up to $102/barrel. The Forbes Advisor   notes a roughly $0.05 increase in the national average from yesterday, and a nearly $1 increase from a month ago. President Donald Trump met today with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in the White House, but couldn't convince her to send any warships to the Strait of Hormuz.  As of this moment, the USA and Israel are the only countries involved against Iran. However, as Iran keeps sending drones to energy sites of neighboring countries, they are finally "thinking" about retaliating. As you know,  Israel opened a second front in Lebanon against the Hezbollah . Trump is mulling over possibly invading...