Notes From All Over -- The Katie Ledecky / Lana Elaine Fraser Edition -- July 3, 2021

Grilling. Apparently not all news CNN reports is fake. Link here. Six BBQ grills were tested, and rated. Contestants:

• Weber Original Premium Kettle grill, 22 inches wide, three colors: best overall grill; $175 - $195;
• Weber Original Kettle grill, 18 inches wide; for under $100; best budget grill; $99
• Oklahoma Joe's Blackjack Charcoal Kettle grill, $280;
• Napoleon Pro 22-Inch Freestanding Charcoal Kettle grill, $499
• Char-Griller Premium Red Kettle Charcoal grill, $177.62
• Cuisinart 18-Inch Kettle Charcoal Grill, $85 - $95

Estates: older Americans stockpiled a record $35 trillion. Link to The WSJ. Some data points (although I thought the article was pretty lame); some numbers rounded:

• the greatest wealth transfer in modern history has begun;
• 1Q21:
• Americans aged 70 and above, a net worth of $35 trillion, Federal Reserve data
• amounts to 27% of all US wealth, up form 20% three decades ago
• that wealth is equal to 175% of US GDP, more than double the proportion 30 years ago
• older generations will hand down $70 trillion between 2018 and 2042
• $60 trillion to heirs, mostly millennials and Generation Xers
• another example of the outsize economic power of baby boomers
• average inheritance:
• 2019: $200,000
• 1998: $150,000
• 2026: gift-tax exemption will drop back to $5.5 million/person; currently, $12 million/individual

Katie Ledecky:

• has officially qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games
• 200-meter; 400-meter; 800-meter; and, the 1500-meter freestyles
• link here. 

Apple: likely to debut next-gen 3-nm chip technology in 2022 iPad Pro. Link here. 

Ethanol gasoline (E15): US court rejects EPA rule expanding E15 sales. Link here.

• an appeals court has thrown out a federal rule finalized in 2019 that authorized year-round sales of fifteen-percent ethanol gasoline (E15) blends across the US, dealing a blow to biofuel producers who pushed for the change
• unanimous decision, 3 - 0;
• very, very interesting -- the basis for the court's ruling
• in plain language, the law said ten percent ethanol; no way did it apply to fifteen percent ethanol;
•  court's judgment won't change anything for awhile; as usual, the court delays enforcement giving plaintiffs opportunity to appeal
• the ruling does not affect the same 2019 rule affecting RINs
  

MDU or OKE: Zacks. I disagree with Zacks' recommendation. Link here.

Travel: a look at the big differences in the three units of the TR National Park. Link here. Quick! Name the three units and where they are located in relation to each other.

*****************************************
A Musical Interlude

Reflections.

Post-graduate contestant. 2014.

Wins crown. 2014.

In her earlier days, some seven years earlier (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5neyFA5rM5w):

*******************************
Katie Ledecky From A Reader

I can't remember if I posted this before. This comes from a reader. 

Regarding Katie Ledecky.

 

Take Michael Jordan.

Take Tom Brady.

Take Wayne Gretsky.

Take Sugar Ray Robinson.

Take Pele or Maradona.

Take Dale Earnhardt or Richard Petty.

Take Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus.

Yes, take The Babe.

While there will be endless debates/quibbles about different candidates/statistics/positional aspects, the above named athletes will - unarguably - be on every single comparative listing when the Greatest Of All Time athletes are discussed. 

(Informed observers ought not even question Jim Thorpe as being the Greatest All Around due to, if nothing else, both his versatility and overcoming of hardships. Name One. Single. Athlete today who could win 2 Olympic gold medals wearing discarded shoes of two different sizes - neither of which matched Thorpe's).

However, using one single metric, I would think it indisputable that Katie Lececky is not merely the best swimmer to ever don a pair of goggles, she is the Greatest Of All Time athlete as she does not merely beat her rivals year after year, she CRUSHES them ... all world class athletes themselves.

Think Petty winning his races by a full lap for 10 years running. 

Sugar Ray knocking out everyone in the first round. 

Tiger or the Bear leading every single round in every tournament for a straight decade. 

The Babe hitting 60 home runs with a .400 batting average for several  years straight.

This is the proven track record of Katie Ledecky in her not only winning virtually every race for a solid decade now, she has destroyed her competition consistently race after race. 

Starting out as a 15 year old in the 2012 Olympics, she not only won the gold, she beat the runnerup by 4 full seconds. 

(For context, yesterday's women 200 IM had 4 one hundredths of a second - .04 seconds - separate the first, second, and third place finishers).

No doubt whatsoever ... 

The world has NEVER seen, and may never again witness, an athlete that has so dominated a sport for so long a time as Ms. Katie Ledecky has. Her overdue recognition ought to be acknowledged and applauded in the most widely spread fashion starting right now.