Monday Musings - July 17, 2023

 

1. And it is here. The third Monday of July is upon us whether we are ready for it or not. There are 23 Mondays remaining in the year. 

2. The Orioles continue to roll! Remember the commanding lead in the Divvies that the Tampa Rays had? Well, it is down to one game! Go O's. They have two series sweeps in their last two series following a split with the Yankees. 

3. Air travel in America has become a game of chance. The weather coupled with airline mismanagement seem to be the primary problems. Yesterday, our flight from West Palm Beach to Baltimore was late getting away from the gate because people cannot seem to understand how to get onboard an aircraft. Despite that, we arrived in Baltimore 10 minutes early only to wait almost 40 minutes for a gate so we could deplane. We have friends who were trying to fly from New Haven to West Palm Beach yesterday. Their flight was canceled and apparently they cannot be rescheduled until Friday. What gives?

4. Anyone else notice hot hot it is? Are we enjoying the Dog Days of Summer?

5. Today in History. Disneyland, Walt Disney’s metropolis of nostalgia, fantasy and futurism, opens on July 17, 1955. The $17 million theme park was built on 160 acres of former orange groves in Anaheim, California, and soon brought in staggering profits. Today, Disneyland hosts more than 18 million visitors a year, who spend close to $3 billion.

Walt Disney, born in Chicago in 1901, worked as a commercial artist before setting up a small studio in Los Angeles to produce animated cartoons. In 1928, his short film Steamboat Willy, starring the character “Mickey Mouse,” was a national sensation. It was the first animated film to use sound, and Disney provided the voice for Mickey. From there on, Disney cartoons were in heavy demand, but the company struggled financially because of Disney’s insistence on ever-improving artistic and technical quality. His first feature-length cartoon, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938), took three years to complete and was a great commercial success.

A family was driving to a Pennsylvania barbecue when they got stuck in flash flooding. The mother has been found dead, and 2 of the children vanished - CNN

Moscow halts grain deal after bridge to Crimea struck - Reuters

Global temperatures near record highs as US, China meet on climate - Reuters

Berlin aims to have "best equipped" NATO army division in Europe in 2025 - Reuters

China’s Fading Recovery Tests Its Policy Playbook - The Wall Street Journal

Europeans Are Becoming Poorer. ‘Yes, We’re All Worse Off.’ - The Wall Street Journal

The U.S.-Made Missile System Defending Ukraine’s Skies - The Wall Street Journal

-- Bob Doan, Odenton, MD