Today is Friday, July 24. It’s the 33rd day of summer.

Actually, it’s not. It’s Thursday, March 5 as I write this. But I wanted to make sure you had the full impact of what I’m trying to say.

That’s because it’s snowing as I write. So far, on this particular morning, we’ve gotten about three inches. The temperature, which actually got up to about 45 yesterday, is now in the mid 20s, and with the moderate wind feels a bit colder.

It also snowed yesterday, or March 4 if you’re having trouble following this. Two heavy, slushy inches that were not a great thing to shovel for a man who was almost 61 (I’m 61, and hopefully didn’t have a heart attack from shoveling snow, as you’re reading this).

In fact, it has snowed so many times since the end of January that I can’t remember all the stupid little snowfalls we’ve had. But there are piles of hard, dirty snow everywhere. There’s about two feet on my lawn; I haven’t seen dirt since before the Seahawks didn’t give the ball to Marshawn Lynch at the 1-yard-line.

And it’s been cold. More single-digit days in the New York area than I can ever recall. Ugly, raw, unproductive cold.

There’s three things today — now I’m talking about July 24 — can be.

It can be really hot, in the 90s or even close to 100. Humid. AC going full blast. Hard to stand outside for too long. 

It can also be in the upper 60s and low 70s, raw and rainy for this time of year. Ruining the getaway on a summer Friday. No outings to the park or beach.

Or it can be a perfect, say, 82 degrees and sunny. A little breeze to mix things up. A day for all those outdoor activities you love: a run in the park, a bike ride, a picnic.

All three of those scenarios — all three — sound absolutely blessed at this particular moment, when this is what is outside my door:

The message I’m sending to my 4-1/2 month older self and to the rest of you is: Get over it!

So it’s warm. So it’s a little uncomfortable.

You are not shoveling snow for the umpteenth time. You are not thinking you need a fourth layer to go to the supermarket. You can walk outside barehanded and not risk frostbite. You are drinking cold water and not incessant cups of tea or coffee.

Today is Friday, July 24. If I made it through this winter, and right this second that doesn’t seem like such a sure bet, this day will seem wonderful.

Except that winter is only five months away.

1. It’s Wednesday, July 22, 2015.

2. The video of Sandra Bland’s arrest is, if nothing else, testimony to a complete lack of police professionalism.

Ms. Bland is clearly upset by this traffic stop and, being an African-American woman, she reacts with the fear of being stopped in the middle of nowhere Texas by a single white male police officer. If this officer, Brian Encinia, had any degree of competence, he would have reacted with patience and calm.

Instead, he took a situation that a professional police officer — and I’ve known my share of them in places throughout the United States — would have handled deftly and turned it into a crisis.

Whatever happened to Ms. Bland after her arrest that led to her death in a Waller County cell needs to be thoroughly investigated by competent law enforcement. That would mean someone outside Waller County and Texas. 

3. Jon Stewart’s final “Daily Show” interview with President Obama had a very strange finish.

Stewart, who seemed very detached through most of the interview, asked a question about making young people give a year of their lives to serving the country. It’s the old national service idea — you could join the military or do some sort of public service work that meets one of our country’s many needs. Stewart even said that at his advanced age — he’s over 50 — he’d volunteer to do so.

The President, while lauding the theory, understands the reality. He kind of muddled through some verbiage about how today’s young people are very dedicated to helping others, and how Americans tend to join together at the local level.

What Obama left unsaid is this: What’s also out there is the idea of entitlement. The idea that there might be others who want or need something, but that’s not my problem. And I’ll do whatever to get mine.

You see it when drivers weave crazily on highways because 65 mph isn’t fast enough. You hear it when people decide to text or talk on a cell phone during a movie or play.

It’s manifested in the Donny Trump phenomenon — “making America great again” means building some eyesore tower that wrecks the Manhattan skyline or discrediting the contributions of anyone who won’t worship at the altar of his fabulousness.

Jon Stewart’s sentiments for national service are noble. But President Obama, who spent formative years helping needy Chicagoans, knows the score. While there are many who are ready to clean up wastelands and help the homeless and hungry, there are many who aspire to gold-plated Trumpdom. 

1. It’s Tuesday, July 21, 2015.

2. Donny Trump Joke of the Day: Q: With expectations that his lead in the polls will implode, what will be the epitaph of Fabulous Donny’s run for the White House? A: Hair today, gone tomorrow.

3. The death of Sandra Bland needs to remain high in the nation’s consciousness.

Ms. Bland, an African-American, died in a Waller County, Texas, jail cell three days after she was arrested in a traffic stop. The police say she died from asphyxiation after hanging herself. Her family and friends say that the young woman had no reason to commit suicide, and believe her death is the result of foul play.

There have been too many instances of suspicious African-American deaths at the hands of law enforcement in the past couple of years, and this one needs a proper investigation by people outside of Waller County — or even Texas for that matter.

4.   Gossip is what anything can reveal about anybody. Journalism determines whether what’s revealed is in the public interest.

The revelation that a media executive sought the companionship of a gay porn star is of interest to his wife and his family. Any interest beyond that is among people with prurient curiosity, and that’s usually not a great character trait.

When the Web site Gawker made the revelation late last week, there was an outpouring of disgust among journalists. And the site’s ownership was uncomfortable — it aspires to respectability and, with it, financial success.

So it pulled the story, to the chagrin of the Gawker staff. Two of its editors resigned and the owner had to explain the retraction to an angry staff.

Here’s a few thoughts from someone who’s been through more than one journalistic crisis:

a) You can make an argument that anything that’s discovered is news. But determining whether that discovery should be made public is what separates salacious gossip from journalism advancing the people’s right to know. The information unveiled by Gawker is, in no way, in the public interest. There’s no great journalistic standard; this isn’t the Pentagon Papers or Woodward and Bernstein.

b) I’ll say this for the Gawker staff — they must have the courage of their convictions concerning their protest. Because it means that the people who hire at more established news organizations are going to instantly put their resumes in the reject pile. I would.

c) One reason Gawker would publish a story such as this one is part of a problem that infects all of journalism right now: Feeding the beast. Web sites are never down, so neither are the people who create content for them. And if you don’t change your content rapidly, you risk irrelevance. You risk getting lousy social media data. You risk readers fleeing to somebody else’s site. So there’s an unrelenting need for stuff. The standards for what’s news and what’s not decline. (To be fair, the proliferation has led to the rise of some real reporting. See ProPubllca.) And you get crap like what Gawker did last week.

1. It’s Monday, July 20, 2015.

2. My kids, my youngest brother and almost all the people I worked with a year ago at CNN have no first-hand knowledge of what it’s like to see Americans on the moon. In fact, the idea of it isn’t even on their radar.

Yes, the space program cost a lot of money, although nothing close to what such debacles as Vietnam and Iraq did. But it was the manifestation of one of the higher ideals of the human race – to go places we haven’t been before. That’s an idea to think about on this 46th anniversary of the first moon landing.

Incidentally, the Smithsonian has launched a Kickstarter campaign to digitally preserve the suit Neil Armstrong wore on the moon. If you want to take part, here’s the link.

3. Throughout the weekend, I contemplated what to write about Fabulous Donny Trump’s latest  incidence of diarrhea of the mouth concerning John McCain.

But after you have a couple of days to work through the incredible sense of anger, you realize that Huffington Post has found the proper solution. Don’t cover Donny as political news, cover it as entertainment. As HuffPo says, like the Kardashians and “The Bachelorette.” Except that even the Kardashians know better than to belittle a man who spent years in a POW camp.

Donny is, as we used to say around the time of the moon landing, a happening. Like a party to tie-dye shirts or when you took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese.

So there’s two ways to deal with this sack of dust and feathers. One is to call him Donny, because I’ll bet big money he hates being called Donny. The other is coming up…

4. It’s the Donny Trump Joke of the Day. I’ll try to come up with one every day until he disappears back into his skunk burrow. I’ll get the ball rolling with this one:

Why can’t there be a Donny Trump Joke of the Day?

Because that would be redundant.

5. With only a minimum of ceremony early today, the United States and Cuba resumed diplomatic relations. The move won’t immediately make this a world of peace and harmony. But given that these two nations almost came to nuclear blows in my lifetime, this big step in normalizing ties is a reminder that there are solutions to seemingly intractable and dangerous problems. It makes the idea that there could be peace in other places, including the Middle East, seem less daunting.

6.   My New York Mets won yesterday, beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 in 18 innings. The bad part is that the Mets left 25 men on base, matching a team record. The good part is that they now qualify for a group discount on tickets at the Cards’ stadium.

7.   If you’re in the New York area, remember that it’s hot out there. Stay cool.

It’s Friday, July 17, 2015. Sixty years ago today, Disneyland opened.

In an effort to liven this blog, and to make it easier to write every day, I’m starting Friday Yes or No. I’ll ask 10 questions, and then give 10 yes or no answers. Let’s see how this goes.

Q: Is there really that much difference between the two nut cases from adjacent states — Tennessee and South Carolina — that committed cold-blooded murders in the past month?

A: No

Q: Are the people who waived Confederate flags outside President Obama’s hotel in Oklahoma City traitors?

A: Yes

Q: Is Republican Congressman Tom Cole, who condemned the Confederate flag waving, a true patriot?

A: Yes

Q: Are the Greeks and Germans going to be at odds again over Greece’s financial status?

A: Yes

Q: Is Greek food better than German food?

A: Yes

Q: If I were a Bostonian, would I want the 2024 Summer Olympics in my neighborhood?

A: No

Q: If I’m still a New Yorker, do I want the 2024 Summer Olympics to be in Boston?

A: Yes

Q: “Game of Thrones” got the most Emmy award nominations. Have I ever watched it?

A: No

Q: Do I plan to watch it, considering that creator George R.R. Martin is a fellow graduate of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism?

A: No

Q: Now that the Google self-driving cars have had their first accident involving injuries, although it was the other car’s fault, am I still eagerly awaiting the mass availability of this technology?

A: Yes

1. It’s Thursday, July 16, 2015.

2. I was 19 and sitting in my parents’ backyard on July 16, 1973 when my Mom came outside to tell me something amazing. She had been watching the Senate Watergate hearings and some guy — his name, BTW, was Alexander Butterfield — testified that Richard Nixon taped every conversation he had in the Oval Office. That meant there were tapes of all these controversial things that John Dean, Nixon’s former aide, alleged the president had said that implicated him in a criminal conspiracy.

Some 42 years later, it’s still hard to believe that a) Nixon did that b) he didn’t destroy the tapes and c) that this country was stupid enough to elect that crooked bastard twice.

3. You can’t help but love the story about Boston’s snow farm — the pile that still consisted of snow into the early part of this month. At its peak, during the city’s horrible winter of 2015, the pile was 75 feet high and covered an area of four acres. And because it was the ultimate mix-in, infused with asphalt chips, garbage scraps and other detritus of The Hub, it was taking a long, long time to actually melt.

But as of yesterday, the city declared that the snow farm, on Tide Street near the harbor, is now just a rubbish pile. The last snow has melted.

There might be some folks who are wistful about that. They’re crazy. It finally, really, truly is summer in New England.

4. Japan’s penance for some of the terrible things it did in the middle of the 20th century lasted 70 years.

The nation’s charter, initiated after its World War II surrendered, stipulated that the country could not be involved in military action outside its islands. The idea was to show Japan’s justifiably suspicious neighbors that it could co-exist with them in east Asia.

But today, Japan’s House of Representatives approved a measure allowing the nation’s soldiers to fight in foreign conflicts. Other steps required before final approval aren’t expected to the change the outcome.

The measure is a response to increased tension with China in the western Pacific, as well as the murder of Japanese citizens held captive by ISIS. The United States, the primary force that defeated imperial Japan in the 1940s, supports the measure.

It’s impressive that such a peace stance lasted as long as it did. And a little discerning that the rest of the world couldn’t follow along.

1. It’s Wednesday, July 15, 2015

2. Now, the New Horizons fly-by of Pluto is something that should make Americans beat their chest a little bit. We got something built, admittedly with help from other great minds around the world, that flew 3 billion miles in nine and a-half years. It got within 7,800 miles of the dwarf planet and sent back photos that are pretty amazing.

For whatever reason — more focus on human problems such as Iran and Greece, it’s midsummer — this achievement isn’t resonating with people. It should. It’s a moment to be proud. 

3. “Death to America” trended on Twitter yesterday. It was a phrase contained in a lot of tweets written by opponents to the new nuclear limitation accord with Iran. Of course, “Death to America” is what Iranians have been known to chant in public demonstrations, some as recent as last week. And this was what the opponents wanted to say: How could you possibly make a deal with people who seek our demise? The more foaming tweets spoke of how President Obama was selling out America and its allies for a place in history or even to be true to his real faith — which, of course, they have decided, is Islam.

So, once again, it’s time to check reality.

Yes, there’s a lot of animosity toward the U.S. in Iran. A lot of it has to do with the fact that we thwarted Iranians’ attempt at democracy in the 1950s and forced the brutal Shah on them for another 20 years. Some of it has to do with the voices in this country that are looking to bring back the Crusades and Christianize the Middle East.

But here’s the thing. That animosity is more tolerable when it doesn’t have nuclear weapons it can play with. And the agreement is the best we can get, given the fact that Iran already has nuclear technology and the rest of the world is patiently helping us stop them from weaponizing that technology.

If the “Death to America” tweeters believe that war is another way to stop them, here is what they have to do.

They have to agree that if the United States went to war to Iran, they, or their children, or their grandchildren, have to be among the forces we send. They would go there, to the Persian desert, where the average high this time of year is 114 degrees.

They would go there pretty much alone. Israel, with its saber-rattling prime minister, is kind of busy fending off threats closer to home. The Europeans, including the British, aren’t interested in a war with Iran. Neither are allies in Japan and South Korea that have abided by the sanctions imposed on Iran at a cost — the oil that would lower prices in their countries — with the idea that they would lead to an agreement such as this one.

And Russia and China, which helped us get this agreement, would probably aid Tehran, creating an axis that might be stronger than the one we fought in World War II. So, while we’re slogging through the desert, Russia is taking the opportunity to step up its mischief against Ukraine and other Eastern European nations that were once part of the Soviet Union or its bloc. China is ratcheting pressure on Japan over territory in the western Pacific.

Through all this, Iran has the liberty to develop nuclear weapons, since there’s no agreement like the one we have.

That’s the world you have to accept if you support the idea of bombing Tehran back to the stone age or using our boots on the ground to put Iran in what you perceive to be its place. So you’d damn well better be prepared to put your own life or your kids’ lives on the line. Because you can’t have mine.

The “Death to America” chanters in Iran only get their wish if we shun diplomacy and try to fight them in a war. An agreement that works, which this has a good chance of doing, is death to “Death to America.”

1. It’s Monday, July 13, 2015.

2. Thirty-eight years ago tonight, I was watching a comedy called “Nasty Habits” at what was then the UA Quartet movie house in the Flushing section of Queens. About 10 minutes before the end of the movie, the power went out. The dozen or so of us in the theater initially thought the outage was temporary.

Nope. The lights were out all over New York City. It was a hot summer night, and there was no power.

To this day, I’m proud that my 23-year-old self, five months into my first full-time job, made it into work in Rockefeller Center. In fact, I apologized for being 30 minutes late for my midnight-8 a.m. shift.

That was the second systemic power outage of my life — there was a famous one in November 1965. A third would occur in August 2003.

This probably little-noted anniversary should serve as a reminder to government and power company officials that maybe it’s a good time to check to make sure the grid is in good working order. Whether you’re working from home or commuting to a job, it’s never a good thing for the power to be out.

By the way, I couldn’t get a rain check for the movie. All I wanted to see was the end of “Nasty Habits,” a spoof of Watergate with Glenda Jackson and Anne Meara. So, about a week later, I spent another $3 to see the movie all over again, including the ending. It was cute, but not really worth it.

3. Is someone doing a pool on when the next Greek crisis will surface? The solution that European creditors have pretty much imposed on the Greeks doesn’t seem like much of a solution at all. But here’s hoping for the best for the Greek people, whose ample bravery will get yet another test.

4. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is running for president. The man has tried to gut the Badger State’s schools from pre-k to the University of Wisconsin, has little respect for the jobs done by first responders and doesn’t have the guts to stand up to people who insinuate that President Obama isn’t American.

The Republicans have a lot of dolts seeking their nomination — it will be between Walker and Fabulous Donny Trump to see which one will be the biggest horse’s ass.

1. It’s Friday, July 10, 2015.

2. Greece looks as though it is going to capitulate to European creditors’ demands for more austerity. That, despite Sunday’s overwhelming vote to tell the creditors to shove their demands.

Which makes you wonder why they bothered to vote in the first place.

What hasn’t changed since Sunday is what will get Greece out of this mess — a real restructuring of its debt and programs aimed at getting people back to work and spending money.

So if the reports of the agreement are accurate, expect us to be back at this nonsense at some point in the next year or two.

3. There’s a ticker-tape parade in New York today for the U.S. Women’s Soccer team that won the World Cup. The weather is great, and lots of folks — especially a lot of girls looking for heroes — are excited. So despite my feelings toward the sport, I’m happy for everyone and hope it’s a day of great memories.

4. Twenty-three days ago, nine members of a Charleston church group were murdered in cold blood, allegedly by a guy who was looking to start a racial war. Today, the Confederate flag came down from a South Carolina capitol flagpole for the first time in more than a half-century.

As I said yesterday, I really hope the murder suspect has to watch the flag lowering over and over again, for the rest of his miserable life.

5. I normally don’t care about the All-Star Game final vote, in which fans pick the final player for the two league teams. It’s a gimmick aimed at drumming up interest for a game that is normally pretty uninteresting.

But as a Mets fan who has followed the team more closely in my retirement, I can’t help but feel as though reliever Jeurys Familia, the team’s closer, deserves the recognition. This young man stepped into the crucial job when another player was suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs. And he’s done brilliantly.

So I’ve spent this final day of voting doing my best imitation of a Chicago ward boss in the Daley pere days. If you tweet the hashtag #VoteFamilia, you can vote and put an emoji in your tweet at the same time.