The USA would not have amounted to much if we had not acquired all those territories to the west, north and south.  Maybe President Donald Trump's manifest destiny for Greenland, Panama Canal and Canada might well be visionary.  Make American Even Greater! Original size of U.S. in 1789 = 864,746 square miles. We then grew to 3,531,905 square miles through territorial acquisitions. 1803 Louisiana Purchase from France, 828,000 ( almost the same size as originally ) square miles (sm) for $15 million, now worth $389 billion. 1818, British Cession, 45,417 sm. 1819, Florida, $5 million, Spain, 72,101 sm. 1845, Texas cession, 389,166 sm. 1846, Oregon territory, UK, by contested occupation, 286,541. 1848, Mexican Cession from Mexico, $15 million, 529,189. 1853, Gadsdend Purchase from Mexico, $10 million, 29,670. 1857-1858, Islands in the Pacific, 16 sm. 1867, Alaska, $7.2 million from Russia, 591,000. 1967-1947, islands mostly in the Pacific, like Hawaii, small sums, about 120,0...

Thursday has served as Covid day since the pandemic.  No more, but here is an update, for I keep knowing of people who are still getting infected. What to know about the FLiRT variants of Covid-19 .  New variants are distant Omicron relatives from JN.1, which was responsible for the surge of cases this past winter. FLiRT because mutations include the letters F and L for one, and R and T for the other. KP.2 in particular is rising, now accounting for 25% of new cases at the end of April.  However, KP.2 is less infectious than JN.1. Current vaccines protect against FLiRT variants. Here is the  latest summary : Total cases. #1  USA  112 million #2  India  45 million #3  France 40 million #4  Germany  39 million Total deaths. #1  USA 1,219,487 #2  Brazil  711,380 #3  India  533,570 Of course, India significantly under reports.   One WHO report estimates that their death toll is 10 times higher than rep...

Sakata with a population of almost 100,000 is in Yamagata Prefecture. However, it was 127,000 in 1960.   Many immigrants to Hawaii came from this area.   From the 17th to 19th century, Sakata was very prosperous because it was a shipping route for the Sea of Japan into the country, November is the wettest month, but it was sunny yesterday.   This city escaped damage in World War II, with only one air raid.   The Sakata Festival from May 19-21 is their major historical event.   You can catch the bullet train from Tokyo to Niigata, then transfer north to Sakata. City most known for the 2013 film,  Oshin  (click on it to watch the entire movie), which followed the 297 15-minute episodes of  Oshin , the serialized morning television drama, which aired in 1983 and 1984.   Here is a typical episode . I had never before heard of Sakata, but if you decide to visit, here is Trip Advisor link on  Things to do in Sakat...