My life has been up and down, but mostly good.  In this blog I've actually said that my life has been in the 99.99th percentile.   But part of that is because, over the course of time,  Homo sapiens  have had 117 billion birth s.  As there are now only 8 billion of us, and life today surely must be a lot better than in the past, that already places me at a great advantage, and you too. I was born in  1940 , a dark period in history when Hitler was conquering Europe.  The #1 song in the USA was  I'll Never Smile Again , by Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra, with Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers. But more than just that, after an acceptable youth growing up in Kakaako ( Honolulu ), not a slum, but definitely below average, I had a great final two years of high school and got accepted at Stanford University. Life was generally fine there.  I read today an entry in  Quora  entitled:   Is Caltech the most academically diffic...

 As the past few day have been featuring ridiculously expensive Japanese Whiskies, to all mothers: But how many mothers actually receive whiskey for their day of the year?   Mothers get $25 billion worth of gifts/meals, compared to $16 billion for Father's Day.  Also 84% of mothers are recognized and only 76% of fathers.   Are mothers better respected or loved or good at inspiring guilt?   Whatever, here is what mothers most get : 47%  flowers. 36%  chocolate. 29%  gift cards ( 150 million/year, next to Christmas and Valentine's ) 26%  dinner. 22%  jewelry. 19%  beauty products. Also: Spending is up in the USA:  $134 this year, up from $97 in 2020. Surprisingly enough, only around 50 countries follow this American tradition, which some say was first suggested by Julia Ward Howe, writer of the  Battle Hymn of the Republic .   But only a few use the second May, and it is never a public holiday. Which coun...