The world has reached a lull period. Iran war continues with the Strait of Hormuz closed and little in battleground activity.   Invasion of Kharg Island? Maybe tomorrow? The sudden death of Senator Lindsey Graham was a shock.  Now what? He was the Republican to face Democrat Annie Andrews on November 3. Republicans now need to go through essentially the same ( but different ) process as Democrats in Maine to find a replacement. There are 114 days until November 3, so both parties have enough time. Fritz Hollings was the last Democratic Senator from South Carolina.  That was 20 years ago.  The other senator from this state is Tim Scott. Prediction markets in January of this year gave Democrats less than a 10% chance to beat Graham.  However, last month that percentage had jumped to 21%.  On November 3 with no Graham on the ballot, who knows for sure? The FIFA World Cup is taking a 2-day break. Semifinal 1: France vs. Spain – July 14 at 8 PM ED T (AT...

The big news of the day is that, according to President Donald Trump, Israel and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire. Of course, he has made similar statements in the past, on 2April2026 and 8June2026.  We'll know in a day or two if this latest development will last, leading to an opening of the Strait of Hormuz and success in peace talks. However, yesterday: When Welker mentioned what local (California) officials have said about the process, Trump said, “They’re crooked. Just like you’re crooked. Your press is crooked and Meet the Press is crooked.”   Then, President Trump stormed out of an interview with NBC's Kristen Welker yesterday , after being challenged on false claims about California's ongoing elections and the 6January2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, something he has done in the past, like the CBS 60 Minutes interview with Lesley Stahl in 2020, and several more instances in the past.  Presidents Biden, Obama, both Bushs' and Clinton never did so in anger. To b...

This blog site has been posting daily now for 18 years. Has been visited by 221 countries, and the reason why this is more than the 193 countries in the United Nations is that there are entities like Antarctica, and smaller territories that have their own domain. Not sure when I first reached 1 million total visitors, but I do know that for the first 15 years or so the average viewers/day was around 500, so I would guess that this site took around 7 years to hit one million.  Now up past 6 million total. However, during the past two days, the number of visitors reached 147,720 and 123,579, so for reasons I can't explain this site went viral.   For long-time readers, I have tended to focus on certain topics on a given week day. Sunday:  spiritual, religion, reflection on life, etc. Monday: global topics, with some thoughts about what is to come during this week. Tuesday:  nostalgic, linking with the past, etc. Wednesday:  sci-tech and the future. Thursday:...