No April fool here

Happy April 3, everyone!  That’s not really a thing, but no one attempted a prank on me on April Fool’s Day, so just thought I would mention that.

Lots going on in the world right now, as always.  

I don’t know what your opinion of what’s happening in the Middle East might be, but at this moment I’m just sick about the most recent events there.  I have long been in awe of Jose Andres, a renowned chef and founder of World Central Kitchen.  WCK goes where the need is and feeds people in the midst of war, natural disasters and many other events.  Not surprisingly, they’ve been on the ground in Gaza for some time.

If you had not heard, seven of their team members were killed as collateral damage from an Israeli missile attack, despite having coordinated their travel route with the IDF.  A senseless tragedy and one that cannot simply be explained away.

There is ample blame to go around in the Israel-Hamas conflict, and until US diplomats and President Biden finally persuade everyone involved to accept a greater level of accountability, this will continue to worsen for all concerned.

Back to the US, I saw a link on Threads about the cargo ship striking the Francis Scott Key Bridge across Baltimore’s harbor and thought it was one of those “epic fail” videos. Horrified when I saw that it was a real event, but not at all surprised that there was immediately finger pointing about how it could have happened, what the root cause was (and, no, it wasn’t diversity/equity/inclusion programs) and how it gets fixed and by whom.

At last report the process of clearing the bridge wreckage was underway and the Coast Guard is now attempting to create at least a small but clear channel for some ships to safely enter and exit the harbor.  If that’s not successful we all will feel the effects.

Oh, and the 2024 presidential campaign appears now to be in full swing.  Ads galore, rallies and other campaign appearances by both candidates.  Seems clear at the moment that President Biden enjoys a significant advantage in the area of fundraising, but here in early April, it’s hard to imagine things staying that way.

And with this campaign activity there is also a flurry of legal activity as well mostly concerning the former President and his multiple trials.  The first of these will commence, ironically, on April 15, Tax Day.

I’m in Indianapolis for business this week and the upcoming solar eclipse is the talk of the town here.  From what I’m hearing schools will be dismissed and a lot of people will be taking off work to view it.  Safely, we hope!

Baseball is back, my Cincinnati Reds have won three games and lost two.  The offense has come in waves, but the team needs to improve its defense if it hopes to compete this year!

And Kentucky basketball fans had to endure another early exist from the NCAA tournament, but because the cost of buying out Coach John Calipari’s contract is so steep, he will return next year.  Hopefully with some changes in his approach!

That’s what’s top of mind this morning.  Hope you have a great day!

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