Republican Primary Update

So far, there have been primary election in 3 States. Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Donald Trump trounced his opponents in all 3 states. There were only 3 people contesting against Trump. 

Vivek Ramaswamy – withdrew from the contest after the Iowa primary and gave full support to Trump. 

Ron DeSantis – withdrew from the contest after the New Hampshire primary. 

Nikki Haley – South Carolina is her home state. She was a popular Governor of that state. But Donald Trump trounced her today by a margin of 60% to 40%. Nikki does not want to quit. She wants to fight Trump in the coming primaries. Next primary is on March 5. It is called Super Tuesday. 15 States and one union territory will be voting. It looks like Trump will be the victor on Super Tuesday also. 

Mr. Trump says he is considering 6 people for the Vice President slot. Two of them are Vivek Ramaswamy and Tulsi Gabbard. 

Tulsi was a Democrat and resigned from that party in 2022. With the name “Tulsi”, lot of people think she is of Indian origin. She is not. She is an American Samoan born and brought up in Hawaii. Tulsi is a vegetarian and a practicing Hindu. She is a combat veteran holding the rank of Lt.Col. Well liked by people in both parties. 

Stay tuned for Super Tuesday.

Yogi's Quotes

I was reading a news item that said: 

“This application is déjà vu all over again”. 

This is one of the famous quotes by Yogi Berra. He was the Manager for the New York Yankees, a professional baseball team. But Yogi Berra was more famous for his quotes, ala, Rajni Kanth quotes. I don’t know if I wrote a blog post about Yogi’s quotes or not. Anyhow, here are some of his famous quotes. 

It ain’t over till it’s over. 

You can observe a lot just by watching. 

He must have made that movie before he died (referring to an actor). 

I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early. 

If you can’t imitate him, don’t copy him. 

Baseball is 90% mental – other half is physical. 

Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded. 

I take a 2-hour nap – from 1 o’clock to 4 o’clock. 

Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel. 

It ain’t the heat, it’s the humility. 

You should always go to the other people’s funerals, otherwise, they won’t come to yours. 

If the fans don’t come out to the ball park, you can’t stop them. 

And finally, my favorite: 

Yogi goes to a pizza corner and ordered a pizza. The waiter asked if Yogi wants him to make 6 slices or 8 slices of the pizza. Yogi said: I am very hungry and so make it 8 slices.

War Over Tea

It is after all just tea. Can a war break out between 2 countries? That too between USA and England? 

There was already a problem with USA and England. On December 16, 1773, Boston citizens, angry over imposing taxation without representation, dumped several bags of tea imported by British East India Company into the harbor. That was called “The Boston Tea Party”. This was the first major act of defiance to the British rule by the Americans. This rallied the Americans to fight for independence from the British. 

Americans did not get independence from the British. They kicked the British out of their country and declared independence. 

Now another brouhaha is happening over tea between USA and England. A Chemistry Professor in USA advised adding a pinch of salt to cups of tea. She also encouraged drinkers to steep their tea quickly by dunking and squeezing the bags. 

Her name is Michelle Francl. She said “But even after all these years of drinking tea and researching chemistry, I learned new things about what is in my cup and how to make the very best cup of tea.” 

She writes that sodium helps to block a chemical reaction that makes tea taste bitter, and claims squeezing teabags reduces “sour-tasting tannins.” 

Her ideas have sparked uproar in England. The US Embassy in London has to distance itself from this research. 

UK Government responded: “We appreciate our Special Relationship, however, we must disagree wholeheartedly... Tea can only be made using a kettle.” 

The US Embassy made a statement: “The US Embassy will continue to make tea in the proper way — by microwaving it.” 

And for now, World War 3 between these two friendly countries was avoided.