PUTIN MEETS TRUMP IN ALASKA

As I compose this posting, Donald Trump, with Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, is meeting with Vladimir Putin, and his two equivalents, Sergey Levrov and Yuri Ushakov, at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.  Results will enfold over the next few hours.  Here is one video link.

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  The world seems cautiously optimistic, but not Time magazine, which today reported that Alaska Cannot End Putin's War in Ukraine and The Last Six Trump-Putin Meetings Failed.
• Why is this summit happening in Alaska?

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  This Russo-Ukraine War:
• Began in late February 2014 when Russia occupied and annexed Crimea.
• Then in February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and and at first it looked like they would soon overwhelm the country.

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  With help from the USA and NATO, this did not happen.
  
• The current situation is a stalemate, with Russia occupying around an additional 20% of Ukraine land, and with the U.S. and NATO poised to continue to help Ukraine.

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  From most reports, Russia has suffered around a million casualties (deaths and injuries), with Ukraine at half that number.  In comparison, the Israeli-Palestinian is approaching 200,000 casualties, with many Palestinians being civilians.

Here, it's only August, and the PGA season is close to ending.  The FedEx Cup playoffs consist of three tournaments, the St. Jude Championship held last week, the BMW Championship now in play and the Tour Championship next week.  It's a bit complicated, but the following came from Google AI Overview:

1. FedEx St. Jude Championship:  Won by Justine Rose.

• The top 70 players in the FedExCup standings after the regular season qualify. 
• It's a 72-hole stroke play event with a cut, meaning the field is reduced after 36 holes. 

2. BMW Championship:

• The top 50 players from the FedExCup standings after the FedEx St. Jude Championship advance. 
• This is also a 72-hole stroke play event with a cut. 

3. Tour Championship:

• The top 30 players in the FedExCup standings after the BMW Championship qualify. 
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  The main change to the 2025 FedEx Cup is the elimination of "Starting Strokes" at the Tour Championship. Instead of the player-ranked No. 1 starting with a lead, the final event of the playoffs is now a traditional 72-hole stroke-play tournament where all 30 players begin at even par, offering a clean, level playing field to win the season-long title. 

The winner will get $10 million at the Tour Championship tournament.  The remaining 29 players will share $30 million based on how well they do.  #30 will only get $355,00, with #2 winning $5 million.

This has been going on since 2007:

• 2007: Tiger Woods
• 2008: Vijay Singh
• 2009: Tiger Woods
• 2010: Jim Furyk
• 2011: Bill Haas
• 2012: Brandt Snedeker
• 2013: Henrik Stenson
• 2014: Billy Horschel
• 2015: Jordan Spieth
• 2016: Rory McIlroy
• 2017: Justin Thomas
• 2018: Justin Rose
• 2019: Rory McIlroy
• 2020: Dustin Johnson
• 2021: Patrick Cantlay
• 2022: Rory McIlroy
• 2023: Viktor Hovland
• 2024: Scottie Scheffler

I end this week with Awesome Nature, worth your viewing.

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