In my opinion the four greatest tennis players of all time are Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal (no offense to Pete Sampras). They have dominated tennis in the last 15 years with all having at least 20 grand slam titles. Unfortunately, in the last two weeks two of them have decided to retire. Two weeks ago, Serena retired and now this.
Roger Federer is retiring from professional tennis at age 41 after a series of knee operations, closing a career in which he won 20 Grand Slam titles, finished five seasons ranked No. 1 and helped create a golden era of men’s tennis with rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Federer posted what he called a “bittersweet decision” via social media on Thursday, less than a week after 23-time major champion Serena Williams played what is expected to the last match of her career.
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For us old folks collecting social security benefits, there is some good news related to the 8% plus increase in the annual inflation rate. Our social security benefits will be adjusted accordingly, thus the average annual social security benefit is expected to increase by over $1,700 for 2023.
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Detroit Piston star point guard Cade Cunningham had an enviable job during his summer off season. He was to eat as much as he could to build bulk and gain strength in his upper body so he could handle the contact that occurs during an NBA game. With the help of the Piston’s training staff and his family, he was able to gain 15 pounds of muscle in his upper body during the summer. Hopefully it will translate into better finishing at the rim, tougher defense, and the ability to play through contact. Time will tell if it works.
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No surprise here. Per the NY Times tonight, federal judge Aileen M. Cannon, on Thursday rejected the Justice Department’s request to resume a key part of its inquiry into former President Donald J. Trump’s handling of sensitive government records and appointed an independent arbiter to oversee a review of documents seized from him last month. The judge, Aileen M. Cannon, appointed a candidate suggested by the Trump legal team and agreed upon by the government to sift through more than 11,000 records. The candidate was Raymond J. Dearie, a semiretired judge from the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
In a 10-page decision, Judge Cannon, of the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, declined to lift any part of an injunction she issued last week that barred the department from using any of those documents, including about 100 marked as classified, for investigative purposes until the special master had completed a review.
The Justice Department had asked the judge to partly stay that order so it could immediately resume using the 100 or so documents marked as classified in that trove, saying the freeze was endangering national security. It also threatened to go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, and seek an emergency stay if she did not agree to its proposal by Thursday.
In a concession to that argument, she said Judge Dearie should first look at those documents “and thereafter consider prompt adjustments to the court’s orders as necessary.” That raised the possibility that the special master could quickly clear them and the judge might then permit the F.B.I. to resume using them.
In her order, Judge Cannon said she was unconvinced by the government’s arguments that Mr. Trump “could not possibly have a possessory interest” in the classified materials he took to Mar-a-Lago or that he had “no plausible claim of privilege as to any of these documents.” She also noted that the government was unlikely to “suffer an irreparable injury” if its investigation into Mr. Trump’s hoarding of the sensitive material was delayed by a special master’s review.
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The decisions by Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida to send two planeloads of people to Martha’s Vineyard, and by Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas to send two busloads to Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence on Thursday — roughly 150 migrants in all — made many headlines and caused many comments today.
Although DeSantis and Abbot are blaming the immigration issue on Biden’s policies, they could not be more wrong. The truth of the matter is that neither party wants to address immigration, because it is a no-win situation. Since 1980, immigration has been a hot topic. During that time, both the Republicans and Democrats have had full control of the presidency and both houses of Congress, yet neither party has put forward a program that would pass when they had full control. The only President who put together a proposal when he had full control was George W. Bush and his proposal got shot down by his own party and never came up for a vote.
As proven by the passing of the Affordable Care Act, if there is a will there is a way for the party in charge. When it comes to immigration there is no will on either party’s part. Both parties just want to use it as a rallying cry every two years against the party in charge.
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As a former Mustang GT 5.0 owner, I was excited to see the new 7th generation mustang being unveiled at the North American Auto Show yesterday, What was really impressive was the stampede of mustangs that traveled from Ford World Headquarters to the unveiling at the auto show. See my Video of the Day.
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Elections Matter. Pray for peace and tolerance. What are you doing to stop the violence and mass killings?
Quote of the Day: “I think what you’re seeing there is a conflict within the Republican Party. There are those in the party who think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before,” Nancy Pelosi told reporters during her press conference when asked about Graham’s bill and other Republicans’ reactions.
Orchid of the Day: The brand new Mustang.
Onion of the Day: Both political parties for bringing us to a point where we are today on immigration. What happened today is a sad commentary about our country.
Question of the Day: In what order would you rank Federer, Djokovic and Nadal as being the greatest male tennis player.
Video/Image of the Day: The unveiling of the new Mustang