Rainbow on Martha's Vineyard

What are the odds?

Memory starts failing as you age

WATCH: Donald Trump demand a loyalty pledge... by sarahburris

A perfect gift

You can buy the above dress for $3,050. It is not a gimmick, it is made up of straw hats. Eight straw hats have been stitched together and black ribbons are used as straps. 

Who do you believe?

The New Jim Crow?

The America's Cup Race is not easy

AVR?

OECD June Report

Bingo!

Fentanyl and people under 50

The New York Times has a fairly extensive article on deaths by fentanyl. The writer acknowledges that their data is not as good as he would like, but the article does include a section describing the data collection process. And it's reasonable.

The estimate is that 62,500 people overdosed on drugs in 2016, most of whom died from fentanyl and similar drugs. Death from drugs is thought to be the largest cause of death for those under 50 years old. 

The article also estimates that "Over two million Americans are estimated to be dependent on opioids, and an additional 95 million used prescription painkillers in the past year — more than used tobacco".

The lawn needs mowing

Why We Lie

From National Geographic

Looking at Religious Intolerance

Unthinkable?

Wall Street on Parade usually talks about the world of finance. Yesterday, it expanded its scope in an article entitled "The Unthinkable is Happening to America". It's devastating. Rather than extract portions of it, here is the complete article:

The unthinkable is happening so fast to America that there is a serious, growing threat that U.S. citizens are becoming desensitized to the chilling reality of our nation’s precipitous decline in respect and credibility around the world. The reflex action is to either deny it’s happening or pull the covers over one’s head.

Two weeks before President Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord, Der Spiegel, one of the most influential and widely read news magazines in Europe, published a breathtaking assessment of the sitting President of the United States. Written by its Executive Editor, Klaus Brinkbäumer, the editorial was brutal and came from a publication known for its investigative acumen. Brinkbäumer made the following observations:

“Donald Trump has transformed the United States into a laughing stock and he is a danger to the world. He must be removed from the White House before things get even worse…

“Donald Trump is not fit to be president of the United States. He does not possess the requisite intellect and does not understand the significance of the office he holds nor the tasks associated with it. He doesn’t read. He doesn’t bother to peruse important files and intelligence reports and knows little about the issues that he has identified as his priorities. His decisions are capricious and they are delivered in the form of tyrannical decrees…

“Crises, including those in Syria and Libya, are escalating, but no longer being discussed. And who should they be discussed with? Phone calls and emails to the U.S. State Department go unanswered. Nothing is regulated, nothing is stable and the trans-Atlantic relationship hardly exists anymore…”

You may not agree with the harshness of this assessment, but it matters that a widely circulated and respected news magazine holds this view of America’s sitting President. Days later, the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, reinforced the growing isolation of America in a speech with the comment that after spending a few days with President Trump, Europe “really must take our fate into our own hands.”

It’s also critical to consider the backdrop under which the President of the United States withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord yesterday – invoking more ridicule on the front pages of foreign and domestic newspapers and rebukes from the heads of some of the most famous corporate brands in America.

President Trump is tied up in court for a widely condemned travel ban directed at Muslims. His administration is under investigation by Senate and House Intelligence Committees, the FBI, a Special Counsel at the Justice Department and the Government Accountability Office for potentially illegal interactions with Russians.

The President has refused to place his business interests in a blind trust and has thumbed his nose at public sensibilities regarding nepotism by bringing his daughter and son-in-law into his administration.

While his campaign was under an investigation headed by FBI Director James Comey, the President fired Comey and then disparaged him to the Russian Foreign Minister and Russian Ambassador as a “nut job” while simultaneously providing the pair with classified information.

The reaction to all of this by Trump supporters is to dismiss it as a bogus propaganda war by disgruntled Hillary supporters. But those charges certainly can’t apply to Wall Street On Parade which throughout 2016 provided our readers with evidence that both Clinton and Trump were deeply flawed candidates and that America deserved much better.

Now Trump has earned the animosity of some of the most important brand names in America with Tweets going out against his climate accord action yesterday from the likes of Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Disney CEO Bob Iger, General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt and dozens of others.

If the world views America as a loose cannon, our nation could experience not only diplomatic backlash but there could be boycotts of our biggest brand names in foreign markets, thus hurting our critical need to expand our export markets and boost job growth at home.

This is a time for all Americans to put aside politics and come to grips with the hard cold reality of the situation in the White House. (My emphasis)

Some quotes from the military re climate change

“The nature and pace of climate changes being observed today . . . are grave and pose equally grave implications for our national security,” says a 2007 report by the Military Advisory Board, an elite group of retired three- and four-star flag and general officers from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. “It is important that the U.S. military begin planning to address these potentially devastating effects.”

“climate change will affect the Department of Defense’s ability to defend the nation and poses immediate risks to U.S. national security.”

“threat multiplier.”

“Climate change poses strategically significant risks to U.S. national security, directly impacting our critical infrastructure and increasing the likelihood of humanitarian disasters, state failure and conflict,”.

Selling weapons

Ah, Youth

What grade would you give this marketing statement?

In response to a Washington Post article about Trump cutting down staffers with insults, Hope Hicks, a White House spokesperson, issued the following statement: 

President Trump has a magnetic personality and exudes positive energy, which is infectious to those around him. He has an unparalleled ability to communicate with people, whether he is speaking to a room of three or an arena of 30,000. He has built great relationships throughout his life and treats everyone with respect. He is brilliant with a great sense of humor … and an amazing ability to make people feel special and aspire to be more than even they thought possible.

Comments on Climate Change

While I do believe that climate change is a reality, I keep wondering if there is another Galileo among the naysayers.