Monday Musings - August 26, 2019

1. It is the last Monday in August. Next week at this time it will be Labor Day and the first Monday in September. Summer is slipping away.

2. The cooler weather this weekend, while refreshing, was too autumn-like. September is stirring.

Sunrise over the Blue Ridge Mountains
Earlysville, VA
August 24, 2019

3. Weekend wine tasting trips are an enjoyable way to get away with friends and enjoy the fruit of the vine.

4. Sunrise is the best time of the day to be awake. The sight of the world waking to the sun and promise of the new day is exciting. 

5. Orioles Update. Who can believe the Orioles? Coming off a 7 game losing streak, they have come back and have won 4 of their last 6 games including splitting a series with the Rays 2-2. It is beginning to look as if they will settle for losing about 108 games this season. 

6. Family NFL results. It was a good week as all four teams claimed victory. The start of the NFL season is only two weeks away.
  Ravens defeat Eagles 26-15
  Steelers defeat Titans 18-6
  Redskins defeat Falcons 19-7
  Cowboys humble Texans 34-0

7. The pool season is slipping away. There are only about two weeks remaining before I close the pool for the year. 

8. Word of the week.  Despot: a ruler or other person who holds absolute power, typically one who exercises it in a cruel or oppressive way.

9. Today in History. On August 26, 1939, the first televised Major League baseball game is broadcast on station W2XBS, the station that was to become WNBC-TV. Announcer Red Barber called the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York.



Headlines

Business Groups Warn of Peril as Trump’s Trade War Spirals - The New York Times

Hong Kong Officer Fires Shot, and Police Use Water Cannons at Protest - The New York Times

Oil down nearly 2% as trade war shakes confidence - Reuters

Warplanes dump water on Amazon as Brazil military begins fighting fires - Reuters

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

But before I close, I want to leave with you a speech by a man not so well remembered in history, but those words, spoken on the eve of our struggle for independence, should uplift and inspire now as surely as they did in 1775. Joseph Warren, a Boston doctor, left us these words before giving his life at Bunker Hill: Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of, on you depend the fortunes of America, you are to decide the important question, on which rests the happiness and liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves.

-- Election Eve Address A Vision for America 11/03/1980

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD