We are scheduled to fly from Honolulu to Seattle in 8 days, then on to Iceland for a few days.  Never been there.  Then board a cruise to Montreal, with a positioning sail to optimize our chances of seeing the total eclipse of the sun on 12August2026.  We'll drop by Greenland for a couple of stops.  From Montreal, fly to Vancouver to board another cruise back to Hawaii.  So today, the topic is related to cruising. I'll begin first with Hurricane Fausto, now at 85 MPH, centered 900 miles from Hilo, and moving west at 14 MPH.  Hurricane force winds extend through a 90-mile eye, with tropical storm-force winds a radius 175 miles out.  The good news is that Fausto is expected to weaken and slide by north of the Hawaiian Islands. Next, those ongoing wars. Day 1,613 of the Ukraine-Russia War, and really Day 4,539 days since the Crimea takeover.  Today, mostly drone attacks these days, with no peace talk progress. Day 149 of the U.S./Israel vs Iran War f...

 I'll start with what happened over the past 24 hours: The China Xi - USA Trump summit in Beijing was not a disaster.   Not much was agreed to, but no huge problems resulted. Xi admonished Trump about Taiwan, and his response was muted.  China could play a role in settling the Iran War.  It appears that Xi Jinping will return a visit to the U.S. in September. In a Star Advertiser poll: What should the U.S. do in the war against Iran? May 14, 2026   D. Just “finish the job” with military action (235 Votes) A. Current ceasefire/diplomacy is working (126 Votes) B. Call on NATO for active role (105 Votes) C. Call on China for active role (54 Votes) Oil prices went up: Brent crude futures gained $3.35, or 3.17%, to $109.07 a barrel by 12:34 p.m. CDT (7:34 a.m. Hawaii time). West Texas Intermediate futures were up $3.85, or 3.81%, at $105.02. So on to my topic of the day.  May 15 is the135th day of 2026, so there are 230 days left this year.  Thus far, ...