Tonight 9PM emanating from CNN in Atlanta is the first Trump-Biden debate of 2024.     I provided details on Monday .  How important is this face-off compared to debates in all of history? Is the earth flat? Is earth the center of the universe?   Nicolaus Copernicus in 1580 begged to say otherwise, quietly, and so did Galileo a couple decades later. There were various debates around 1776, and one  Great Debate  had to do with the Constitution. Lot of Great Debates regarding the history of the USA. Unit 1:   How Should Society Balance the Need for Tolerance with the Need to Protect Itself? Unit 2: How Powerful Should the National Government Be?   Unit 3: Who Should Be Allowed to Vote?    Unit 4: Should Women Have Equal Treatment Under the Law?    Unit 5: How Should Americans Treat the Land?    Unit 6: Has Industrialization Produced More Benefits or More Problems for the Nation?    Unit 7: Should the United States Pursue a Foreign Policy of Isolationism or Interventionism?    Unit 8: Wha

Last week I indicated that all signs showed that the Japanese Yen to U.S. Dollar exchange rate would probably continue to favor the USA.  That is, for travelers to Japan to get more value for the $.  Well, it's beginning to happen, as the Yen dropped to its lowest level since 1986 against our dollar today, and  traded at 160.39 . About the topic of the day, I am a Japanese American, and rice has been my staple now for more than 80 years.  My family has cooked a large batch of rice so that the leftover can be stored, something that is not recommended today.  In those days, there were no rice cookers.  I always ate leftover rice left in the refrigerator, and still do.  I don't recall one incident of food poisoning, both myself and anyone I know.  Incidentally, keeping the rice for long periods in a cooker in the warm setting is not recommended. So while the  Cleveland Clinic  reports that there are 63,4000 annual cases of food poisoning, and another  scientific article  says 84,0

  First, my view from where I am sitting, cranking out this posting.  And, before I get into the "Rome of the West," St. Louis, let me first share some rather unsettling news for Democrats from the morning  New York Times .  In short, with all the problems faced by Donald Trump, he is still leading Joe Biden to become our next president, two days away from their first debate. However, the Yale School of Management released this rather startling bit of news.   None...ZERO....of the Fortune 100 CEOs, a group that historically leans Republican, has in this current election cycle donated to Donald Trump . Why such a low level of support?  They are certainly not the MAGA-type.  They can tolerate Biden, but fear Trump.    Yet, zero for 100?  Amazing.  Kind of reminds me as to how  all 12 jurors in Trump's hush money trial voted him guilty, 34 times . And a final aside.   What is the dumbest statement ever made by Donald Trump.   It was not this statement to the left. So back to