This blog site has too much recently focused on natural disasters and Donald Trump, so today, an escape into sports. Must start with Spain beating England for their first  soccer World Cup .  From utter turmoil to triumph, what a story.   The women had revolted against their Spanish soccer authority, and lost that battle .  Perhaps 12 of their best players might have been missing in Australia.  Yet, they're world champs.  Incredible. Oh, I drafted three ESPN NFL fantasy football teams yesterday.  Took me two hours.   Mind you, it is FREE. Had no idea what I was doing, but ended up, I think, with competitive teams.   First kick-off is not until the day after my birthday, a game between Detroit and Kansas City  (I have Mahomes and Kelce ) on September 7.  I'll be on the Pride of America between the Big Island and Kauai. There will be three games this year in London and two in Frankfurt.  They had one game in Munich last year, and it was sold out. Super Bowl LVIII will be on Sunda

Read the  Sunday  Star-Advertiser  about the Lahaina Apocalypse.  Mentioned are Oprah Winfrey, cadaver-sniffing dogs, Googledoc, 93 deaths, estimated damages now up to $6 billion and other wildfires still continuing on Maui.  This is now a period of transition and mourning. Today, I will look back into my past, then project a hopeful future for Lahaina.   Four and a half years ago  I had lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in the world, the Paris La Tour D'Argent ( I've also dined at their Tokyo steeple ), and from my table could view the Seine and the  Notre-Dame .  A month later, this church burned down.   At a cost exceeding a billion dollars, this cathedral might re-open at the end of the year, but could take up to 40 years to completely restore. In May of last year,  we took the Pride of America for a cruise around the Hawaiian Islands.  The first stop was Maui, and from our cabin in Kahului Harbor, took a photo of a wildfire. The ship was on the other side of the isla

First, the good news.  Covid cases are crashing.  South Korea led the world in new Covid cases for many months, but finally was overtaken this past week by the USA.                                  Last Week       This Past Week  Weekly Case Change World               404,396              74,913                     -81% USA                   39,033               27,512                    -30% S. Korea           317,060               18,386                    -94% New Zealand       3,623                 4,477                    +24% Like the USA, South Korea's women's soccer team was eliminated from the World Cup.  However, they did tie Germany, which also got the boot. Nature has totally screwed up the  25th World Scout Jamboree  in Saemangeum, North Jeolla, South Korea. August 1-12, 2023. 43,000 participants from 158 countries. First, there were  floods that inundated this tideland . Then, it became that there were going to be sanitation, water, transportation and infrastructu

For soccer fans, the USA plays Vietnam at 9PM EDT ( 3PM Hawaii ) on your Fox channel.  So far, there have been four games, and both New Zealand and Australia won their initial matches. Lionel Messi makes his American debut tonight at 8PM EDT ( 2PM Hawaii ) with the Miami FC against Cruz Azul in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  You need to have access to Apple TV and have an MLS season pass, plus will be in Spanish on Univision.  Team is appropriately dressed in Barbie Pink. The Open at the Royal Liverpool Golf Course has completed day 2, and Brian Harmon of the USA leads by 5 strokes over Tommy Fleetwood of Scotland.  The cut was +3, 8 strokes behind Harmon, and includes the following players:  Adam Scott, Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka, Padraig Harrington, Rickie Fowler and Patrick Cantlay. At +2 was Cameron Smith, who won this tournament last year. Missing the cut were Keegan Bradley, Collin Morikawa ( 2021 winner ), Tony Finau, Billy Horschel, Justin Rose, Shane Lowry ( 2020 winner ), P