THREE PERPLEXING TRUMP CABINET CHOICES

President has made some perplexing choices for his cabinet.  The first batch made some sense.  The latest seems cloying, if not baffling and certainly stunning.

Take Matt Gaetz as Attorney General.  Here Trump should have selected a lawyer with gravitas and high credibility.  Surely there are many of them, who would still be supremely loyal to him.  Trump called Gaetz a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney.  A 42-year old Floridian with a law degree from William and Mary, Gaetz practiced law for two years, never as a prosecutor, partly tainted by one suspension.  You would think that his legal shallowness and potential for not being confirmed by the Senate would influence him to for now hold on to his House seat.  But he just resigned from the Congress.  Perhaps Gaetz's irredeeming virtue is that he too has some sexual issues clouding his past.  He will become a weapon for Trump.

The other worrisome selection is Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence.  A 43-year old former Democrat from Hawaii, I'm one of many in her home state saying....what???  She did serve in Iraq, but only in the National Guard.  Her key role on the Trump campaign team was preparing him for the debate against Kamala Harris.  And you know badly that went for Trump.

What does the National Intelligence office do, anyway?

• The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a senior cabinet-level United States government official, required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to serve as executive head of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) and to direct and oversee the National Intelligence Program (NIP). All IC agencies report directly to the DNI.
• Thus, Gabbard will sit at every full cabinet meeting.
• Before the DNI was established, that role was performed by the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
• The first director in 2005 was John Negroponte.
• 
  The seventh and current director is Avril Haines, the first woman to hold that position.  Anyone ever
  hear of her?
• Some previous directors were a Vice Admiral and a Lt. General.
• There are 17 intelligence agencies and organizations, including the CIA.

The third alarming nomination is Pete Hegseth, FOX News personality, as Secretary of Defense.  Said Politico:

Pentagon officials alarmed over Hegseth’s lack of experience: ‘Would you trust him to run Walmart?’

Did you know that this is only one of 80 other Pentagon appointments that requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate?  About the DOD and Hegseth.

• A $780 billion annual budget with 3 million employees.
• 1.4 million active-duty personnel.
• Commander in Chief will be Donald Trump
• Some say, next to the presidency, the DOD secretary is the second hardest job in the executive branch.

• 44-year old Peter Hegseth:
• Princeton BA and Harvard MPP.
• Served in Iraq and Afghanistan, awarded a Bronze Star Medal and still served as an Army National Guard major.
• Political commentator for Fox News.
• Author of six books.  

Not related to the above, nor our Norwegian Encore cruise, but we are just a couple of hundred miles west of Paris, so just a note that the Notre Dame Cathedral will re-open on 8December2024.  Last year, one of my postings said:

Four and a half years ago I had lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in the world, the Paris La Tour D'Argent (I've also dined at their Tokyo steeple), and from my table could view the Seine and the Notre-Dame.  A month later, this church burned down.   At a cost exceeding a billion dollars, this cathedral might re-open at the end of the year, but could take up to 40 years to completely restore.

Typhoon Usagi brushed the Philippines, is now down to 110 MPH, will weaken into a Category 1 and skirt the southeast corner of Taiwan late Friday or early Saturday as a tropical storm.

Our Norwegian Encore will on Day 33 arrive in Zeebruge, Brussels, Belgium tomorrow.

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FRANCE: CAVIAR AND CHAMPAGNE

Last week I posted a two-part series on red wines.  On this nostalgic Tuesday, I will make it a five-part series with a visit I made in 2019 to France, where we tasted champagne and Bordeaux wine and cognac.  Parts 4 and 5 will be posted on subsequent Tuesdays.

But first, a few newsworthy items.

• As my blog expressed yesterday, President Donald Trump has transformed himself from dud to hero.
• Looks like that fragile ceasefire for the Israel-USA vs Iran War is holding.  Lot of questions about where those 880 pounds of enriched uranium might be to future role on how the International Atomic Energy Agency can check on Iran to how long the ailing 85-year old Ayatollah can hang in there to a million others.  However, give Trump credit for solving this war in less than two weeks.  Israel still has that Gaza Strip problem, and there continues the Ukraine-Russia war, but the world today is in a safer place than yesterday.
• 
  Triumphantly, Trump joins the NATO gathering the Hague tomorrow.  Better yet, the 4% target of defense spending as a % of GDP figure he scolded members of NATO into implementing during his first term could well in time go as high as 5%.  
• In many ways he was right, for some countries were not contributing much, and the USA was supplying around the most.  
• 
  In his second term, the point he was making was that the Ukraine-Russia War was their problem, not his.
• In 2024:  Poland 4.12%, USA 3.38%, Germany 2.12%, France 2.06%, Canada, 1.37%, Luxembourg 1.29% and Spain's 1.28% being the lowest

• 
  The second matter is the New York City Democratic mayor election today.
• Mayor Eric Adams will in November be an Independent candidate, while Curtis Silwa is the Republican nominee.  In 2021, Silwa lost to Adams by 43 percentage points.

• 
  But the Democratic primary will go on for some time to come.
• First, there are 11 candidates.
• Favorite:  former governor Andrew Cuomo.
• Making a spectacular finish:  Muslim 32-year old Zohran Mamdani, a progressive state legislator.
• In the mix:  City Comptroller Brad Lander, who you might remember got arrested for defending immigrants.  He is Jewish.
• 
  Second, no one will get a majority.  Here is where it gets complicated, for voters do more than just pick their choice.  Called ranked choice, won't bother to explain.
• Third, Cuomo and Mamdani have indicated they will still run on November 4 representing another made-up party if they lose today.
• One possible look at this ranked choice method for the general election.

• Confused?  Try reading this news article.

Okay, so on to France, caviar and champagne.

• Six years ago I still sometimes flew in coach class.  So on Hawaiian Airlines for Los Angeles on 12February2019.
• Stayed overnight at the Marriott LAX.

• 
  This was to be an overnight flight on Air France.  We got to the terminal around lunchtime, and saw Petrossian, a French caviar restaurant.  To quote from my Valentine's Day posting:

The lunch we had was absolutely fabulous:  French caviar with French Champagne and French Vodka (Grey Goose).  Mystery woman is taking the photos, that is why you will see a lot of me on this trip.

Food and Wine tasted over 60 caviars, and picked 7 worth the splurge.

• The most versatile:  Petrossian Royal Ossetra Caviar.  A French company founded in France by 2 Armenian brothers, Melkoum and Mouchegh Petrossian in 1920.  To quote

If Petrossian’s iconic blue tin won’t sell you, its balanced, elegant flavor will. This osetra caviar has a smooth, buttery mouthfeel that will make you want to pop a bottle of Champagne. It’s so straightforwardly delicious that it would be just as enjoyable to eat on top of a crunchy latke as it would straight from the tin. $129 for 30 grams, petrossian.com.

• 
  The cheapest was American Noir Caviar Company Hackleback Caviar for $32/ounce and the most expense, Browne Trading Company Royal Belgian Osietra Caviar for $166/ounce.
• Read the details here.

Got to Paris, taxied to the Renaissance Vendome, and for our Valentine's dinner went to Flottes.

The next day featured a Michelin 3-star restaurant, La Tour d'Argent and The Louvre.  

• Walking from our hotel to the restaurant through Le Jardin des Tuileres was a hassle, for we almost got mugged twice.  I hate Paris because of these Gypsy packs.
• Got to La Tour d'Argent and were given a fabulous table with a view of the Seine, and, to the left, Notre Dame.  Oh, this catherdra; suffered a major fire two weeks after we left.  Finally got fixed-up a few months ago for a billion dollars.

• 
  See that giant encyclopedia?  That is their wine list.
• Started with Pike Dumpling and scallops.
• Lunch of roasted duckling filet with duck skin chips.

• Then to The Louvre and the Mona Lisa.  10 million last year, the world's most visited museum.

• The next day we had lunch halfway up the Eiffel Tower.

• 
  This tour was led by Elvis, a wine-buyer for a Big Island supermarket chain.  This why we got free tastings.
• He had exquisite talents, except perhaps a weird sense of economics.  He found a roundtrip method to get to Paris and back.  I believe he paid a total of $300.  His choice of hotels was also almost comical.  We stayed in the smallest room possible, one that had the toilet in the shower.

• 
  Elvis experienced dangerous adventure getting to meet us in the hotel we arranged.  Read this posting.  In a way, he is lucky to still be alive.
• We caught a French bullet train (200 MPH) to Rheims, 80 miles to the northeast of Paris, where we met the fourth person, Tom.  This region produces all the champagne from France.
• Elvis scheduled a tasting at Taittinger Champagne.  

Picking the best champagne is like doing this for caviar.  Doesn't mean much, but try rating butter or beer or whatever.  Same.  Here, though, is an enjoyable article about champagne, with a resultant top 13.

• Taittinger ($50) came in at #5, but only one point out of a hundred below the #1, NV Mailly for $42.
• #12 was Kirkland Signature for $20.
• You say, where is Dom Perignon?  This what the drunken cyclist (Jeff Kralik of Houston...he did this survey by himself) said:

Next on the list would be Dom Pérignon, the tête-de-cuvée (top wine) of Moët et Chandon (and treated as a separate entity), but I was unable to convince anyone to send me a bottle, which is probably a good thing since I like to hold on to my Doms for at least a couple of decades (I had a 1973 Dom in 2010 which was phenomenal) and find younger version a tad aggressive.

So don't take these ratings too seriously.  Kralik also recommended that you should visit the Notre-Dame de Reims for their Son et Lumière show, as shown below.

Next Tuesday, on to Bordeaux, and a spectacular stop at Chateau Lafite Rothschild.  Then, for part 5 in two weeks, our favorite part of the whole trip, Cognac.

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TRAVEL ON YOUR MIND?

This is Sunday, so I'll avoid Donald Trump and his shenanigans.  We leave in two weeks for the Osaka Expo, then catch a cruise on the Oceania Riviera from Yokohama to Vancouver.  This is a test whether I can travel much anymore.  Our gargantuan Fall/Winter 2024 journey worried me because I had trouble sleeping on the road, especially on cruise ships.

So today, a potpourri of travel info:

• This is a matter that will keep changing, and then, maybe not, so keep up-to-date on travel advisories for those wanting to visit the USA.  Here are two examples.

Canadian citizen Jasmine Mooney had been traveling between her home country and the US on a work visa for years without issue—but a few weeks ago, she was detained by US border authorities after attempting to renew her documentation at the US-Mexico border. During a 12-day ordeal, she says she was held in cold and crowded jail cells and even put in chains at points.

Mooney is just one of several people who have attempted to travel to the US recently who have faced challenges at the border, including a researcher who French officials say was denied entry after his phone was searched and immigration officers found messages that were critical of the Trump administration.

• What is happening is that the Trump administration has tightened border policies to check immigration.
• But you got wonder if you are transgender, or a person known to be a Trump-hater.  And who isn't, these days?
• Some countries like Uruguay and Japan warn their citizens of hate crimes if they travel to America.
• France and many other European nations Denmark and Germany strongly recommend travelers to consult their embassy for the latest adjustments.  Transgenders have had problems entering the U.S.
• In 2024 20.4 million visitors came from Canada, generating $20.5 billion in spending.  One change is that Canadians staying for longer than 30 days are now required to register with the U.S. government, which is to file a Form G-325R or I-94.  You don't do this, you could be fined.
• All this brouhaha will means that tourists to the U.S. will most definitely drop this year, a pain for the travel industry.

How safe is flying today?

• From USA Today.

Statistically speaking, it is, but those statistics themselves can be a little confusing. A cursory glance at numbers from the National Transportation Safety Board will show 67 deaths in commercial plane crashes this year – a huge upward surge after zero deaths last year and very out of line with the 10-year trend in which commercial aviation deaths have generally been measured in the single digits.  However, it’s important to remember that flying remains safe, and there’s context to the number of accidents recorded by aviation professionals. 

This has been an anomalous year in the U.S.

Time magazine wrote about the 100 World's Greatest Places of 2025.  I've only been to a few of them.  I'll show some photos and the reference so you can get details.  

Mbano Manor Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Shebara Resort, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia.  Opened late last year.  I wrote about this location yesterday.

The Ghan, Adelaide and Darwin, Australia.  I mentioned this train three years ago.

QT, Singapore.  This is a boutique hotel that only costs $250/night.

Waldorf Astoria, New York.  This is a Hilton, where a room now costs $2,000/night.  Stayed there once for much less, a long ago.  Here is my story, and this photo to the left is one I think I took.  The photo below is from the article.

I stayed there once, and remember seeing a Broadway show.  It was 10:30PM when I began walking back to the hotel.  It was only a couple of blocks away.  I should have caught a cab anyway, for one block, it turned out, was dark, with strewn waste disposal containers, and no one but me.  I made it the hotel okay. 

The Waldorf Astoria closed in 2017, but after $1 billion of renovations, reopened in November of 2019.  It is now owned by an insurance company from China, which was taken over by the central government for insurmountable problems.

I just rechecked, and the Anbang Insurance Company of China purchased this hotel in 2014 for $1.95 billion, the most expensive hotel ever sold.  However, has had financial problems, and was taken over by the Chinese government.

Nintendo Museum, Uji, Japan.

Niue Blue, Tamakautoga, Niue.

Notre Dame, Paris, France.  I again have a story.  It was 15April2019. 

Lunch at Tour d'Argent was heavenly.  We got what we felt was the best table in the house. The view of the Seine (which is a river, 483 miles long, flowing into the English Channel at Le Havre) and Notre-Dame:

Had quite a wine list.  We had three bottles.

Anyway, the whole point to this story is that two months later, on 15April2019, the cathedral had a serious fire.  Took almost a billion dollars to repair.

I'll stop here, but next, the Ho Chi Minh City Metro.  Once known as Saigon, Vietnam, a city now of 9 million, this mass transit system finally opened last year.  I've been to this city several times, and there was always talk of something to ease the traffic of 7 million motorbikes.  After $1.7 billion mostly loans from Japan, the 12.2-mile line has 14 stops.  They hope to have six additional lines before 2025.  When I posted on this city 16 years ago, I indicated that the biggest freshwater fish was caught in the Mekong River, which wanders past.  The largest catfish in the U.S. is 121 pounds.

To close, Saturday Night Live last night opened with the hapless Hegseth, Vance and Rubio mistakenly involving three high school girls in a group chat.  Watch the video.

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