Before my topic of today, a bit about those Southern California wildfires. These fires are usually caused by Santa Ana winds that can come from October through March. Of course, you also need certain environmental conditions, like drought and global warming, plus some ignition source.  Power grids are especially of concern.  And lightning.   Human causes, like campfire accidents and arson.  In fact, here is what Google AI says: Santa Ana wildfires are not typically caused by a single natural weather trigger; rather, Santa Ana winds act as the dangerous weather accelerant that spreads fires, while nearly all the actual ignitions (90% to 95%) are human-caused . [ 1 , 2 ]. I had a posting last year about them . Apparently, those fires now in Southern California have peaked. Of course other areas in California will remain vulnerable. Certainly, this is not only a California problem, for the Global Fire Dashboard today shows 6926 hotspots around the world. Glo...

I was born on 6September1940.  Am now on the Silversea Silver Whisper, heading towards three Pacific Ocean hurricanes.  Met the captain of this ship last night, Julien Albiel to my right (your left) and hotel director Valentin Trif. He was pleased to hear that we both thought the Silver Whisper was the best cruise ship we have ever been on, all things considered.  Even better that the Ritz-Carlton Luminara.  Here I am with Captain Tom Roth of that luxury yacht.   Read the story of how he personally helped me on Day One of our cruise from Singapore less than a year ago So back to the Silver Whisper, spent some time talking to Captain Albiei, mostly about those three hurricanes.  Twelve hours later, or this morning, the situation has further improved regarding our safety.   Hurricane Karina is now a tropical storm at 60 MPH and continuing to mover westward, sufficiently north of the Hawaiian Islands. Will become a post-tropical gale as she head...