An Arab proverb says winds do not blow as the ships wish. The 2017 diplomatic blockade of Qatar by four regional neighbors is a fast-fading memory and perhaps a testament to that proverb. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) alliance is acting as a unified regional organization again — perhaps not yet synchronized but moving in the same general direction. Diplomatic and economic competition among GCC members is real and it is revealed across a broad spectrum of issues from oil production/prices to support for renewable energy resource development to diplomatic outreach to Iran to relations with the United States — even skyscraper height within the region. The Arab Gulf…

A global pandemic, fuel costs and traveler preferences led to an early demise for the superjumbo jet. Yet other new commercial aircraft prove that long-haul air travel is still popular. — When Airbus unveiled its new A380 jet in Toulouse, France in January 2005 it represented a bold effort to match and surpass its American rival, Boeing, the leading commerical aircraft manufacturer in the world. …

Twenty-seven year old from Japan is both a talented pitcher and hitter. He’s just what MLB needs as the 2022 season begins. — Shohei Ohtani is a rising star in Major League Baseball. The game is facing numerous challenges including declining attendance (thirty-three percent drop between 2019 and 2021, due in part to pandemic restrictions). Average game length was over three hours in 2021 even as MLB sought to speed up the pace…

Air Florida flight #90 crashed into the icey Potomac River. A Washington CBO staffer risked his life to save another. — On January 13, 1982, an Air Florida Boeing 737 departing DCA Reagan National for Tampa, FL crashed into the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. The plane — attempting to depart during a significant snow storm — was airborne for just some 30 seconds. The plane’s ability to gain altitude and…

The British group’s fourth album, released in August 1987, was a three year production odyssey — and still relevant. — Def Leppard never left. The band first formed in 1977 in Sheffield, England and became one of the premier metal rock bands of the 1980s and beyond. They have endured through tragedy and triumph. Four fast facts: The band’s third studio album, Pyromania, was released in January 1983. It reaching…

Some 16 million Americans served in the military during the war years. By 2024, only 100,000 WWII veterans will still be living. — Eighteen years have passed since the National World War II Memorial opened in Washington, DC. The seven acre sight provides an intimate setting for a momentous event in American history. A fitting tribute for the global conflict that would come to represent the rapid ascendency of the United States in…

The perfect storm arrives: the Ukraine crisis, consumer price inflation, and scarce spare oil production capacity — It’s only March but 2022 is likely becoming a landmark year — for all the wrong reasons. War in Ukraine, an ongoing (but generally diminishing) global health pandemic and now consumer price inflation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 7.9% between February 2021 and this February…

NATO was formed in 1949 and has been called the most successful military alliance in history. That title is generally deserved; the seven decades of post-war political stability and economic growth in Western Europe owes much to the relative peace on the continent and the shared defense commitment among NATO…