Billie Jean King wrote a wonderful piece in the NY Times today about Serena Williams who will be retiring after the U.S. Open which starts this week. The article is titled, What Makes Serena Williams So Watchable? The article starts out as follows:
I’ve seen many generations come and go in tennis, and every time you see a great player retire, it’s really difficult. But the news that Serena Williams is moving on from tennis is particularly hard because of what she represents. Her presence and politics raised the game. The technique, power and rhythm of her serve are unbelievable. It sets the tone for the intensity of her game. I don’t care what happens after that; I’m just there to watch her serve.
Quote of the Day: . There is a quote that appeared in the article which sums up Serena’s drive that made her the G.O.A.T. “I’ve built a career on channeling anger and negativity and turning it into something good.”
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I started to get excited Friday in anticipation of NASA’ first lunar launch in almost 50 years. I had the same anticipation I had as a kid, when I would watch the first NASA launches, including the Explorer 1, the Echo satellites, the Mercury space program with Ham the chimpanzee, Alan Sheppard, Gus Grissom and John Glen and finally the many Apollo missions culminating in Neil Armstrong’s landing on the moon while the whole world watched, announcing “The Eagle has landed.” and then six hours later when he stepped onto the lunar surface, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
It was always excitement and fear because we knew a smooth launch and recovery was not guaranteed. It was a time of great exploration into the unknown. Who can forget the drama of Apollo 13, when the thought of astronauts being lost in space was very real?
It is unfortunate funding for NASA programs was cut significantly following the Apollo program. A whole generation missed out on the range of emotions that I and so many others experienced on a regular basis from 1958 to 1972. When the launch of the Artemis 1 moon rocket was cancelled today due to a technical issue, I was again reminded of the disappointment I had as a kid when a launch was cancelled. It was a major disappointment, until they announced the new launch date, when the excitement started all over again.
To this day, I cannot be out on a clear night without looking for satellites as I did with my dad when I was young. I do it in Petoskey and in Gulf Shores all the time. Once I start looking, I will not go in, until I see a satellite.
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Every day I check the stock market. It is something I have doing for 50 years. Last Friday, as Leah and I prepared for her friends Bernie and Terri and their husbands Denny and Rick to arrive for the weekend, I didn’t check the market until later in the day. I anticipated a major movement because of Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole. I was not anticipating a 3% drop. Here is what the NY Times had to say.
Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, delivered a sobering message on Friday, saying the Fed must continue to raise interest rates — and keep them elevated for a while — to bring the fastest inflation in decades back under control.
The central bank’s campaign is likely to come at a cost to workers and overall growth, he acknowledged; but he argued that not acting would allow price increases to become a more permanent feature of the economy and prove even more painful down the road.
Stock prices plunged in the wake of Mr. Powell’s comments, as investors digested his stern commitment to raising rates and choking back inflation even if doing so damages growth and causes unemployment to rise. The S&P 500 fell 3.4 percent, its worst daily showing since mid-June, and investors in bonds began to bet that the central bank will raise rates by more than they had been expecting.
Fortunately, today’s market dropped less than 1%.
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When Russian president Putin ordered a nearly 10% increase in military troops in the next year, my first thought was how was he going to get that many troops in such a short time. It brought back thoughts of the draft in the U.S. during the Vietnam war. I am wondering how sending another 100,000 troops to fight a war on foreign territory is going to workout for Putin. I wonder if the new troops will volunteer or be volunteered if you know what I mean. I wonder how the mothers of these new troops will react. It is just one more thing to make me wonder what Putin is thinking with the invasion of Ukraine.
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Elections Matter. Pray for peace and tolerance. What are you doing to stop the violence and mass killings?
Orchid of the Day: Rory McIlroy, for winning his third Fed Ex Cup and the $18 million prize that goes with it. He is a champion with class who cares about the game of golf. He is the face of golf and the PGA tour.
Onion of the Day: The person who went on a shooting spree in Detroit on Sunday morning killing three people and injuring another at various locations throughout the neighborhood.
Question of the Day: Will Putin be able to raise over 100,000 in new troops without taking a major political hit?
Video/Image of the Day: Highlights of Rory McIlroy’s winning round on Sunday.