By now you know that the United States joined Israel in the air strikes against Iran. Iran made its usual fiery tirade about revenge and death to infidels, which is a religious term . Seven  B-2 Spirit stealth bombers  left Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, the only operational home of these planes, flew to Iran, re-fueled in mid-air multiple times, dropping 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, also known as bunker buster bombs, on two targets in Iran.  Other bombs also fell at a third nuclear site. These same bombers then turned around, again after mid-air refueling, to Whiteman on a 37 hour flight. As a decoy, at the same time, six B-2s went to Guam.  We have 19 of these bombers, made by Northrop. These B-2s are the only planes capable of carrying bunker busters, and these 19 are the only ones still operating. President Donald Trump remarked that the U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear facilities were  spectacular .  Yes, but not totally.  Bun...

The wine world knows that France, Italy and California produce the best red wines.  The top two wine producers switch between Italy and France, with Italy now #1.  #'s 3 and 4 also change, with Spain today producing more than the USA.  Australia is #5.  China is rapidly rising, and is  affecting wine prices in other ways,  too.  Interestingly enough, though  world wine production is dropping , and  is lower than 1961.  Some blame climate warming. Today I will focus on the best red wines.  Some day I'll talk about the finest white wines. France:  Bordeaux and Burgandy. More specifically, there are two blends of Bordeaux, the left bank uses mostly Cabernet Sauvignon and right mostly Merlot. Burgandy is almost always Pinot Noir, although White Burgandy is Chardonnay. Italy:  Piedmont for Barolo and Tuscany for Brunello de Montalcino. California:  Napa Valley and parallel Sonoma Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon and red blends. ...

Just when you thought the USA had abandoned Ukraine,  President Donald Trump today indicated that he will resume aid, both military and intelligence, to Ukraine .  What did President Volodmyr Zelenskyy have to do?  He showed openness to a 30-day ceasefire.  However, in talks that began in Saudi Arabia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that Ukraine had to give up land won by Russia in this war.  What a way to start discussions.  Note that  Ukraine was not invited to this meeting . It was exactly five years, on 11March2020, that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was announced by the World Health Organization ( WHO ) to be a pandemic.   Before that day, this disease was called coronavirus, novel coronavirus, Wuhan coronavirus or Wuhan pneumonia.   WHO officially named it 2019-nCoV in January 2020, and shortened it to COVID-19 on 11February2020, with CO from COronavirus, VI from VIrus and D from Disease, while 19 came from the year it was fi...