Monday Musings - January 1, 2024

 

Happy New Year 2024

Times Square, NYC on TV

1. Don't look now, but the year changed whilst you were sleeping. There are 53 Mondays in 2024 and this is the first. There are 52 Mondays remaining.

2. Family NFL Report. The family teams did well this week posting a 4-1 record. There is a new family team--the Chiefs of Kansas City. Three of the family teams are in the playoffs. One is definitely out, and one team has an outside shot at making the playoffs. 

Cowboys (11-5) tame Lions (11-5), 20-19

Commanders (4-12) court-martialed by 49ers (12-4), 10-27

Steelers (9-7) overcome Seahawks (8-8, 30-23

Ravens (13-3) drown Dolphins (11-5), 56-19  

Chiefs (10-6) outlast Bengals (8-8), 25-17

3. Well, let's hope the world can solve some big issues this year. 

4. Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because “It’s all happening!” Have the happiest New Year!

5. Today is the day that the political campaigns start their engines and it gets real!

6. Today in History. On January 1, 1959, facing a popular revolution spearheaded by Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement, Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista flees the island nation. Amid celebration and chaos in the Cuban capital of Havana, the U.S. debated how best to deal with the radical Castro and the ominous rumblings of anti-Americanism in Cuba.

The U.S. government had supported Batista, a former soldier and Cuban dictator from 1933 to 1944, who seized power for a second time in a 1952 coup. After Castro and a group of followers, including the South American revolutionary Che Guevara (1928-1967), landed in Cuba to unseat the dictator in December 1956, the U.S. continued to back Batista. Suspicious of what they believed to be Castro’s leftist ideology and worried that his ultimate goals might include attacks on the U.S.’s significant investments and property in Cuba, American officials were nearly unanimous in opposing his revolutionary movement.

Powerful earthquake hits western Japan, triggering tsunami warnings - CNN

Humanitarian crisis worsens in Gaza as Israel-Hamas war rages - CNN

Russia says toll from Ukrainian shelling on border city has risen to 24 as it vows to retaliate - CNN

North Korea's Kim says armed conflict becoming reality because of US - KCNA - Reuters

Pope Francis tells Rome to clean up its act before 2025 Holy Year - Reuters

China's Xi says 'reunification' with Taiwan is inevitable - Reuters

-- Bob Doan, Odenton, MD