Showing posts with label Monday Musings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monday Musings. Show all posts

Monday, March 18, 2024

Monday Musings - March 18, 2024

 


1. We survived another week! We are now at the third Monday of March! The remain 41 Mondays in the year. 

2. We enjoyed a wild St Patrick's Day celebration at the local, within walking distance, Irish restaurant. It was fun to see everyone wearing green and enjoying the Irish music. A good time was had by all. I have to admit, we were asleep by the time the party was scheduled to end at 10 PM.
Carola and Chris at the St Patricks Day Party
Tequesta, FL
March 17, 2024

3. I set a new personal record for a single session bike ride yesterday of 25.96 miles! It took over two hours, but it was extremely valuable for me to assess my level of readiness for the June planned three-day, 150 mile ride from Pittsburgh to Cumberland. I also realized that I need to consume more water during long rides and have purchased a camelback to assist with that endeavor. 

4. Today in History. On March 18, 1852, in New York City, Henry Wells and William G. Fargo join with several other investors to launch their namesake business, today one of the world's largest banks. 

The discovery of gold in California in 1849 prompted a huge spike in the demand for cross-country shipping. Wells and Fargo decided to take advantage of these great opportunities. In July 1852, their company shipped its first loads of freight from the East Coast to mining camps scattered around northern California. The company contracted with independent stagecoach companies to provide the fastest possible transportation and delivery of gold dust, important documents and other valuable freight. It also served as a bank—buying gold dust, selling paper bank drafts and providing loans to help fuel California’s growing economy.


Intense diplomacy as US-Israel relations take an extraordinary turn - CNN

Machete-wielding militias battle gangs in Port-au-Prince as Haiti’s elites vie for power - CNN

China's military, state media slam U.S. after Reuters report on SpaceX spy satellites - Reuters

Putin wins Russia election in landslide with no serious competition - Reuters

No one should 'go to jail for smoking weed,' says VP Harris - Reuters

China Turns On the Charm for Foreigners but Its Allure Has Faded - The Wall Street Journal

Pakistan Carries Out Airstrikes Inside Afghanistan - The Wall Street Journal

As Electric-Vehicle Shoppers Hesitate, Hybrid Sales Surge - The Wall Street Journal

Border security deadlock heightens risk of government shutdown - The Washington Post


-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Monday, March 11, 2024

Monday Musings - March 11, 2024

 


1.  The second Monday of March has arrived. The Ides of March are lurking for on Friday. I hope you survived the transition to Daylight Saving Time! There are 42 Mondays remaining in the year. 

Chris, Sue, George, and Me
Big Cork Vineyards, Rohersville, MD
March 10, 2024
2. A visit to Big Cork Vineyards is enjoyable event. We attended our Case Club pick-up event yesterday with friends and enjoyed a beautiful, but cold and windy, afternoon of food and wine. We enjoyed great wines and were some of the first to taste a new wine which is based on an Italian grape. It was the initial harvest of this limited production wine. Vermentino is a bright white wine with almost no color.

3. Fact of the DayThe Washington Post Fact Checker found that in the four years of his presidency, Trump offered a total of 30,573 untruths — an average of roughly 21 erroneous claims a day. (The Washington Post)

4. The cold Maryland pre-Spring has not deterred Chris and me from seeing friends and family. We return to the expected 80-degree days of Florida tomorrow. 

5. Spring begins in 8 short days!

6. Why does a former president believe that he can meet with a head-of-state, in the U.S. who does not visit the President? The former president met with Viktor Orban on Friday and laid out a plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war. (Reuters) He will starve Ukraine for weapons allowing Russia to overrun the country.  This would likely create a situation in Ukraine akin to the 1932-1933 starvation by Stalin that killed between 3.5 and 7 million Ukrainians. If the U.S. does not get aid to Ukraine now, we will have the blood of democracy seeking patriots on our hands.

7. Today in HistoryOn March 11, 2011, the largest earthquake ever recorded in Japan causes massive devastation, and the ensuing tsunami decimates the Tōhoku region of northeastern Honshu. On top of the already-horrific destruction and loss of life, the natural disaster also gives rise to a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The Fukushima disaster is considered the second-worst nuclear disaster in history, forcing the relocation of over 100,000 people.

During the emergency, each of the three operational nuclear reactors at the Fukushima plant shut down successfully, but the backup power and cooling systems failed. As a result, residual heat caused fuel rods in all three reactors to partially melt down. As crews searched the rubble for survivors and the nation reeled from the earthquake and ensuing tsunami, the nuclear disaster unfolded over the course of several days. The facilities where Reactors 1 and 3 were located exploded on March 12 and 14, respectively, prompting the government to evacuate everyone within a 20km radius. Another explosion in the building housing Reactor 2 on March 15 released even more radiation, and thousands of people left their homes as workers used helicopters, water cannons and seawater pumps to try to cool the overheating facility.



Russia's war machine is out-producing US and Europe for Ukraine - CNN

Former advisers sound the alarm that Trump praises despots in private and on the campaign trail - CNN

Russian student jailed after naming Wi-Fi router with pro-Ukraine slogan - CNN

Next Autopilot trial to test Tesla's blame-the-driver defense - Reuters

Israel checking reports that Hamas' military No 2 killed in Gaza strike - Reuters

Why Is My Electric Vehicle Dead? Check the 12-Volt Battery - The Wall Street Journal

How Big Pharma is fighting Biden’s program to lower seniors’ drug costs - The Washington Post

Trump’s freewheeling speeches offer a dark vision of a second term - The Washington Post



-- Bob Doan, Odenton, MD

Monday, March 4, 2024

Monday Musings - March 4, 2024

 


1. Welcome to the month of March. This is the first Monday and there are 43 Mondays remaining in the year.

Looking out the Window
Houston Hobby Airport, TX
March 3, 2024
2. Sitting yesterday at Houston Hobby for almost four hours waiting for our flight home, Chris and I found some awesome chairs to enjoy with a great view. The airport was a huge hustle and bustle. Sunday is definitely a popular day to travel. Even so, we were not prepared for the crowds that jammed Fort Lauderdale when we landed. Fortunately, despite the storms, our over one-hour trip home from the airport was uneventful.

Shrimp Trawlers
Seabrook, TX
March 2, 2024
3. During our three-hour cruise on Saturday, we had the opportunity to enjoy the sights along the shores. In one place there were two shrimp boats tied up which I thought was a sight that I do not see in my region of Florida. We have many fishing boats, but not shrimp trawlers. These were tied up near the entrance to Galveston Bay.

4. How about them Orioles? Finding a way to win and showcasing the incredible talent that the team has amasses. I am hopeful that this will be a truly fun season. 

5. Well, at least it will not be a clean sweep for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee--he lost Washington, DC. Hmmm, Cooler heads prevailing?

6. Today in HistoryOn March 4, 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is inaugurated as the 32nd president of the United States. In his famous inaugural address, delivered outside the east wing of the U.S. Capitol, Roosevelt outlined his “New Deal”—an expansion of the federal government as an instrument of employment opportunity and welfare—and told Americans that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Although it was a rainy day in Washington, and gusts of rain blew over Roosevelt as he spoke, he delivered a speech that radiated optimism and competence, and a broad majority of Americans united behind their new president and his radical economic proposals to lead the nation out of the Great Depression.




Rage brews in Haiti - CNN

Red Sea cables have been damaged, disrupting global internet traffic - CNN

Supreme Court may deliver key ruling as early as today - CNN

Kremlin says German recording shows intent to strike Russia, asks whether Scholz in charge - Reuters

Apple hit with over 1.8 bln euro EU antitrust fine in Spotify case - Reuters

The Skyrocketing Costs Driving Cheeseburger Prices Up—and Restaurant Owners Out - The Wall Street Journal

Kamala Harris Calls for Immediate Gaza Cease-Fire - The Wall Street Journal

Nikki Haley wins D.C. primary, her first victory in GOP nominating race - The Washington Post



-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Monday, February 26, 2024

Monday Musings - February 26, 2024

 


1. This is the final Monday of February 2024. It is also the ninth Monday of the year leaving 44 Mondays!

2. Major League Baseball is back! Spring Training is in full swing and the Orioles played two games over the weekend. It was good to see them back on the field. While people will say that Spring Training records do not matter, they do. It is nice to see the team return to the field every bit as scrappy as they were last season in posting two wins. 

3. The past few days have been very enjoyable here in South Florida with temperatures in the 70s, mild winds, and beautiful clear blue skies. Wow. Last evening we sat in our driveway enjoying the bright, warm sun and some neighbors showed up and we had a great Happy hour together. We eventually moved to the patio to escape the heat of the sun. 

4. The reluctance of House Republicans to support Ukraine has global implications. Putin is trying to tear up the rules-based international order that has protected international boundaries since World War II, while Trump has threatened to destroy the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that holds back Russian aggression. In the Wall Street Journal on Friday, chief foreign affairs correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov noted that European countries are worried that the U.S. will not defend its allies, while Putin has made “a de facto military alliance with the rogue regimes of North Korea and Iran while growing closer and closer to authoritarian China.” (Letters from an American)

5. The First Amendment [of the Constitution of the United States] prohibits the establishment of a national religion, and that same prohibition applies to the states through the 14th Amendment. What’s heartbreaking in Alabama this week is its Supreme Court Justices’ decision to abandon the Constitution and laws they took an oath to serve, in favor of advancing a religious agenda. (Civil Discourse)

6. Today in History. February 26, 1993. At 12:18 p.m., a terrorist bomb explodes in a parking garage of the World Trade Center in New York City, leaving a massive, multi-story crater and causing the collapse of several steel-reinforced concrete floors in the vicinity of the blast. 

Although the terrorist bomb failed to critically damage the main structure of the skyscrapers, six people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured. The World Trade Center itself suffered more than $500 million in damage. After the attack, authorities evacuated 50,000 people from the buildings, hundreds of whom were suffering from smoke inhalation. The evacuation lasted the whole afternoon.



Zelensky: 'It's unbelievable' that Trump is on Putin's side - CNN

Trump’s plan to use Judge Cannon to block Judge Chutkan and avoid trial - CNN

There are five days until a partial government shutdown, and lawmakers have yet to reach a deal to avert it   - CNN

Palestinian Prime Minister Shtayyeh resigns - Reuters

Navalny was close to being freed in prisoner swap, says ally - Reuters

Exclusive: Satellite images reveal floating barrier at mouth of disputed atoll in South China Sea - Reuters

How AI Is Transforming Air-Traffic-Control Towers - The Wall Street Journal

AT&T to Reimburse Customers Struck by Outage - The Wall Street Journal


-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

#mondaymusings #constitution #oriolesbaseball

Monday, February 19, 2024

Monday Musings - February 19, 2024

 


Happy Presidents' Day! 

1. And we are past the halfway mark of February. This is the third Monday of February and the end is in sight. There are 45 Mondays remaining in 2024. 

2. Yesterday was a weird Sunday, trapped in the house by the rain with neither football nor baseball to watch. 

Wilson at Carlin Park
Jupiter, FL
February 12, 2024
3. I know where everyone ventured to yesterday because of the rain: The Gardens Mall! The place was more crowded than at Christmas, I know because Chris and I, like many others, went to the mall to get out of the house. We walked around and shopped, but amazingly went home with nothing new. 

4. We found what appeared to be Wilson from the movie Cast Away the other day. He/it was at Carlin Park. He/it was just sitting there on the beach. I wonder where the tides have taken him/it? I admit, he/it did not look to much worse for the wear. 

5. Pop quiz. Which country is the world's biggest oil producer providing 21 percent of the world's total oil production? 

Answer:Oh wait, that would be the U.S. and we as a producer exceed the next largest producer of oil by 9 percent. See the chart.

6. Today in HistoryOn February 19, 1847, the first rescuers reach surviving members of the Donner Party, a group of California-bound emigrants stranded by snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

In the summer of 1846, in the midst of a Western-bound fever sweeping the United States, 89 people—including 31 members of the Donner and Reed families—set out in a wagon train from Springfield, Illinois. After arriving at Fort Bridger, Wyoming, the emigrants decided to avoid the usual route and try a new trail recently blazed by California promoter Lansford Hastings, the so-called “Hastings Cutoff.” After electing George Donner as their captain, the party departed Fort Bridger in mid-July. 



The Kremlin has never been richer, thanks to a US partner - CNN

 US conducts strikes against Houthi underwater vessel for the first time since Red Sea attacks began - CNN

China’s homegrown passenger jet makes international debut - CNN

Rafah attack: How Israel plans to hit Hamas and scale back war - Reuters

Russia takes full control of Avdiivka coke plant, defence ministry says - Reuters

Oil slips on demand jitters and profit-taking - Reuters

America’s Oil Power Might Be Near Its Peak - The Wall Street Journal

In Russia’s Far-Flung Cities, Navalny Inspired Average People to Challenge Putin - The Wall Street Journal



Neofascism in the United States takes the form of big money, big banks, big corporations, tied to xenophobic scapegoating of the vulnerable, like Mexicans and Muslims and women and black folk, and militaristic policies abroad, with strongman, charismatic, autocratic personality, and that's what Donald Trump is.

Cornel West


-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

#headlines #todayinhistory #mondaymusings

Monday, February 12, 2024

Monday Musings - February 12, 2024


 

Sarcophagi Replicas from King Tut's Tomb
Elliott Museum, Stuart, FL
February 10, 2024
1. It is the second Monday of February. The Super Bowl was last evening. Football season is over. There are 46 Mondays remaining in 2024.

2. Important safety tip. Do not forget that Valentines Day is two days away! 

3. King Tut is still about. We went to the Elliott Museum in Stuart, FL, on Saturday and found not only recreations of the relics from King Tut's Tomb, but a great automobile museum as well. Definitely a return trip is in the works. 

4. I believe small earthquake may have occurred in the vicinity of Simi Valley, CA. It was attributed to Ronald Reagan rolling over in his grave as Trump's words about Putin were spoken. “Trump bragged that he’d encourage Russia to ‘do whatever the hell they want’ to our NATO allies if they didn’t spend enough on defense,” “Trump bragged that he’d encourage Russia to ‘do whatever the hell they want’ to our NATO allies if they didn’t spend enough on defense,” (Politico)


4. Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs for their repeat as Super Bowl Champions! It was a great ending to the game.

5. The Party of Lincoln and Reagan has lost its focus and has become a personality cult.

6. Did someone mention that the MLB pitchers and catchers begin reporting to Spring Training on Wednesday, February 14th? Baseball is back!!!

7. Today in History. On February 12, 2002, former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic goes on trial at The Hague, Netherlands, on charges of genocide and war crimes in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. Milosevic served as his own attorney for much of the prolonged trial, which ended without a verdict when the so-called “Butcher of the Balkans” was found dead at age 64 from an apparent heart attack in his prison cell on March 11, 2006.

Yugoslavia, consisting of Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia, became a federal republic, headed by Communist leader Marshal Tito, on January 31, 1946. Tito died in May 1980 and Yugoslavia, along with communism, crumbled over the next decade.




Trump says he would encourage Russia to attack Nato allies who pay too little - The Guardian

Israel frees two hostages, Gaza officials say airstrikes kill 67 - Reuters

US Senate forges ahead on Ukraine, Israel aid as 'Putin is watching' - Reuters

Trump's shocking NATO remark causes alarm in Europe - CNN

Zelensky’s Military Shake-Up Ties Him to Battlefield Performance - The Wall Street Journal

These Families Are Shutting Down the Bank of Mom and Dad - - The Wall Street Journal



-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Monday, February 5, 2024

Monday Musings - February 5, 2024

 


1. Welcome to February and the first Monday of the month. This is the sixth Monday of 2024 and there are 47 Mondays remaining in the year. Can you believe that Valentines Day is next week?

2. It is Super Week! The Super Bowl is next Sunday and while I am very disappointed that the Ravens will not be playing in the big game, I am excited for the game and the eventual winner. Despite the bad taste left in my mouth from last week's game, I will be cheering on my boyhood favorite team, the Chiefs!

Capt Finn
Jupiter Sound, FL
January 31, 2024
3. Finnegan loves to pretend that he is captain of the boat and look over the bow when we are underway. I took this cute picture of him the last time we were out on the water.

4. Read an interesting response to a question on Quora about who was the worst president in U.S. history and why? The answer, written by William Weir Author, journalist, minister posted on Jan 17:

There was this one guy who started a trade war that killed 300,000 American jobs in his first two years. Then he signed a tax bill that flatlined the stock market and forced the Fed to start lowering interest rates to try to prevent a recession. Then he said a global pandemic was a liberal hoax to kill the economy he spent three years destroying and he set records for the six worst point drops in the history of the Dow, most new unemployment claims in history, and the largest deficit in history. He was investigated and found to have welcomed and encouraged election interference by a foreign government and to have obstructed justice to cover his crimes. He got impeached once for abusing his office to try to coerce a foreign leader into helping him smear a political rival. Then he got impeached again for inciting an insurrection to try to stay in power after easily and predictably losing his re-election bid. Then he got indicted for almost 100 felonies after leaving office.

I forget his name. Draft dodger. Admitted sex offender. Painted himself orange and wore a dead rodent on his head. Wore elevator shoes. Misspelled three letter words on a smartphone. Kept filing bankruptcy. Called himself a winner. Dump? Rump? Plump? Chump? Something like that

5. The Brightline trains travel through our area at nearly 80 mph and they are relatively quiet. We are advised nearly every day of another accident, death, or injury caused by the trains. Many people blame the trains, but in reality it is the fault of those on the tracks. The tracks are a No Trespassing area and should be respected. This weekend when I was in Hobe Sound at the art festival, I saw young boy playing on the tracks. I was very concerned and then very relieved when his parents retrieved him. The trains are truly fast. I stood next the tracks and took a video of a Brightline train speeding by a short time later.






Trump, his lawyers and opponents braced for huge developments in legal battles - CNN

US strikes Houthi anti-ship and land attack cruise missiles, Central Command says - CNN

Palestinians hope Blinken visit can deliver Gaza truce before Rafah assault - Reuters

China's tumbling prices push some exporters to the brink - Reuters

AI chip demand forces Huawei to slow smartphone production - sources - Reuters

How the Funeral Industry Got the FTC to Hide Bad Actors - The Wall Street Journal

Home Buyers Are Shopping Again and Finding More Options - The Wall Street Journal

China Hands a Suspended Death Sentence to a Former Bank CEO - The Wall Street Journal

Zelensky Hints at Major Shake-Up of Ukraine’s Government - The New York Times



-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

#Brightline #trains #news #superbowl #worstpresident

Monday, January 29, 2024

Monday Musings - January 29, 2024

 

1. The fifth Monday of January has arrived. There are 48 Mondays remaining in 2024. My, time is surely flying past. 

Gopher Tortoise in a Hole
Cove Road, Port Salerno, FL
January 28, 2024
2. The Super Bowl teams are set and I am sorry that the Ravens came up short. They played hard, but could not overcome critical errors. In the game between the 49ers and the Chiefs, I will be cheering for the Chiefs, the favorite team of my youth.

3. Chris and I relished in the warm weather yesterday and completed a 12.5 mile bike ride through some local parks. Along the way we spied 10 gopher tortoises--a personal record for both of us ,.I am guessing the tortoises were eating up before the cold weather that arrived this morning. 

4. My only comment on the AFC Championship Game loss suffered by the Ravens is that I still find the NFL officiating to be inconsistent and a joke. Nuff said! OK, maybe I have a second comment--the NFL managed to get the dream matchup between the big market 49ers and the reigning champions. Coincidence? I think not.

5. Explain something to me--Why are Republicans, who have been clamoring for stronger border controls now putting personal pettiness ahead of real paths forward and not getting behind the bipartisan border control bill being hammered out in the Senate? Oh wait--then it won't be an election year issue. News Flash--that will backfire.

6. Today in HistoryOn January 29, 1936, the U.S. Baseball Hall of Fame elects its first members in Cooperstown, New York: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Matthewson and Walter Johnson.

The Hall of Fame actually had its beginnings in 1935, when plans were made to build a museum devoted to baseball and its 100-year history. A private organization based in Cooperstown called the Clark Foundation thought that establishing the Baseball Hall of Fame in their city would help to reinvigorate the area’s Depression-ravaged economy by attracting tourists. To help sell the idea, the foundation advanced the idea that U.S. Civil War hero Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown. The story proved to be phony, but baseball officials, eager to capitalize on the marketing and publicity potential of a museum to honor the game’s greats, gave their support to the project anyway.




'We shall respond,' Biden says after US troops killed in Middle East - CNN

Japan’s ‘Moon Sniper’ robot explorer resumes operations on lunar surface - CNN

Ukraine says it uncovers mass fraud in weapons procurement - Reuters

Hungary making talks on EU aid for Ukraine 'more complicated' - senior EU official - Reuters

Danish frigate departs for the Red Sea to assist US-led operation - Reuters

For Retailers, Business Is Back and Landlords Say No More Rent Discounts - The Wall Street Journal



-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Monday, January 22, 2024

Monday Musings - January 22, 2024

 


1. 2024 is chugging along. We are experiencing cold January weather and it is the 4th Monday of the month. There are 49 Mondays remaining in the new year. 

Flowers on the Patio
Tequesta, FL
January 21, 2024
2. The NFL playoffs are down to four teams. Two family teams remain in the Super Bowl hunt and one of them will represent the AFC in the big game on February 11th. They are the Ravens and the Chiefs who play next Sunday at 3 PM EST in Baltimore. 

3. A bit of Springtime color is gracing our patio in the form of daffodils and hyacinths! The hyacinths smell very nice.

4. The cold here is nothing like the cold elsewhere in the country--but, it still seems cold here. 

5. On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade decision. By a 7–2 vote, the Supreme Court found that the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution guaranteed the right of privacy under its “concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action.” This right to privacy, the court said, guarantees a pregnant woman the right to obtain an abortion without restriction in the first trimester of a pregnancy. After that point, the state can regulate abortion, it said, “except when it is necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother.”

On June 24, 2022, by a vote of 6 to 3, in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organizationdecision, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Five of the justices said: “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion.” 

For the first time in American history, rather than expanding the nation’s recognition of constitutional rights, the Supreme Court took away the recognition of a constitutional right that had been honored for almost 50 years. Republican-dominated states immediately either passed antiabortion legislation or let stand the antiabortion measures already on the books that had been overruled by Roe v. Wade (Letters from an American)

6. Today in History. In a Sacramento, California, courtroom on January 22, 1998, Theodore J. Kaczynski pleads guilty to all federal charges against him, acknowledging his responsibility for a 17-year campaign of package bombings attributed to the “Unabomber.” 

Born in 1942, Kaczynski attended Harvard University and received a PhD in mathematics from the University of Michigan. He worked as an assistant mathematics professor at the University of California at Berkeley, but abruptly quit in 1969. In the early 1970s, Kaczynski began living as a recluse in western Montana, in a 10-by-12 foot cabin without heat, electricity or running water. From this isolated location, he began the bombing campaign that would kill three people and injure more than 20 others.



Iowa revealed how ineffective DeSantis' campaign had been all along - CNN

Boeing faces new safety alert over earlier generation of 737s - CNN

Relatives of Gaza hostages storm Israeli parliament panel as protests mount - Reuters

Ukraine war drives shift in Russian nuclear thinking - study - Reuters

US Navy declares two SEALs missing in Gulf of Aden as deceased - Reuters

Eight dead and dozens missing in China landslide - BBC

Ukraine’s $30 Billion Problem: How to Keep Fighting Without Foreign Aid - The Wall Street Journal

What the IRS Knows About Your Online Sales This Year - The Wall Street Journal



-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Monday, January 15, 2024

Monday Musings - January 15, 2024

 


1. Welcome to the third Monday of January 2024! There are just 50 Mondays remaining in the year. 

2. The football playoffs are underway. Four family teams made the playoffs: Ravens, Cowboys, Chiefs, and Steelers. Through today two teams have played and one will play today. The Ravens, with the best record in the NFL this year, drew a first week bye. Through this morning the family teams are 1-1 and the Steelers play tonight.

Finnegan
Tequesta, FL
January 14, 2024
3. Finnegan was sick earlier this week. I think he got some "people" food which did not agree with him. But yesterday he was fully recovered and posed in a chair for me. What a great image!

4. Well, the Dallas Cowboys failed to win a playoff game again this season. There is something critically wrong with the team and I believe it may be the head coach. I am guessing there will be a major shake-up in the Cowboys organization very soon. The owner did not look very happy sitting in his box at the game. Congrats to the Green Bay Packers who actually played a solid football game. The packers even added some drama by allowing the Cowboys to have the slimmest possibility of making it a game, until there wasn't.

5. The first test of the election season is upon us. Iowa has been in the news far too long and I will be happy to have the caucuses behind us beginning tomorrow. I'm not sure it matters too much; one candidate has been getting unreasonable press coverage due to his multiple indictments and court appearances. His presence is stifling on the national stage. 

Today in History. On January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. is born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of a Baptist minister. King received a doctorate degree in theology and in 1955 helped organize the first major protest of the African American civil rights movement: the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott. Influenced by Mohandas Gandhi, he advocated civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance to segregation in the South. The peaceful protests he led throughout the American South were often met with violence, but King and his followers persisted, and the movement gained momentum.

A powerful orator, King appealed to Christian and American ideals and won growing support from the federal government and Northern whites. In 1963, Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph led the massive March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; the event’s grand finale was King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Two hundred and fifty thousand people gathered outside the Lincoln Memorial to hear the stirring speech. 



Trump attacks Haley, begs supporters to brave Iowa weather Show all - CNN





-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

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