May 25, 2026
Good morning! Reflection, Reverence, Remembering… Mourning, Honouring: Soldiers, sailors… millions killed in military battles… most of them barely beyond adolescence. It’s the one holy day that should be more than just one day. A scant 1/2″ of rain refreshed our parched yard this past Friday; not nearly enough, but better than none. We don’t artificially water our grass, but we try to keep our plants alive.
- Words aren’t yet invented to define and to quantify the meteoric explosion of everything related to artificial intelligence.
- Change in global trade for goods related to artificial intelligence increased nearly 40% from 2024 to 2025… far out distancing any/ all other categories of goods.
- Global average increase in global trade for all categories of goods was 6.5%. (With artificial intelligence obviously greatly skewing that average.)
- The energy sector decreased by almost 10%. (McKinsey & Co.)
- Minneapolis (MN) has the best parks system in the nation, almost… Washington City and Irvine, CA are better, but not by much.
- Counterintuitively and surprisingly, Durham, NC — home to Duke with its gorgeous, sprawling campus — is the worst…
- … which could be expected/ anticipated from the other bottom feeders: Glendale (AZ), Lubbock (TX), Oklahoma City (OK), and Louisville (KY)… (Trust for Park Land, 2026)
- But, we can tell you from experience, each of those cities has other admirable qualities and perks, if not parks.
- Will gambling and greed destroy the multi-trillion-dollar sports industry?
- By some estimates, more than 75,000,000 U.S. citizens have sports gambling accounts on their telephones — with addiction and financial ruin running rampant. (Rosengren)
- We have come a lonnnng way from Judge Landis and the scandal of 1919.
- Must history repeat itself? (Probably)
- More than 250,000,000 barrels of crude oil from global reserves have been depleted in the last few weeks. (International Energy Agency)
- Pretty soon it might have an impact upon the economy — and upon other things.
- Point of reference: This was about 10% of the total reserves.
- According to one source, the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in the U.S. occurs in New Hampshire.
- Do you know what’s ironic about those data?
- There are no privately-owned liquor stores in New Hampshire… only government-owned and operated beer/wine/whiksy stores… (Hmmm?)
- Cause for concern?
- More than 300,000 jobs in large public corporations have been lost during the first four months of 2026. (Challenger, Etc., et al.)
- Leading the way with 10% of the number each: Oracle and United Parcel Service.
- In second place with 16,000 jobs cut: Amazon.
- Most employment in the U.S. occurs in small businesses and those data are not immediately available, at least not to this writer.
- “Investing in mental health is more than a way to improve individual lives;
- it’s a strategic economic move to reduce the global disease and mental health burden,
- extend healthy life spans, and unlock substantial financial benefits.” (Beauvais, Etc., et al.)
- $12.5 trillion is the annual economic value that could be created by 2050 IF society scales access to proven, cost-effective health interventions… (Ibid.)
- That figure is equal to about seven percent of global GDP…
- The most impactful health initiatives:
- Embedding interventions into daily work, such as digital hourly-break nudges;
- Adopting tools that are easy to use and scale, such as digital mental health programs with self-monitoring and tailored guidance;
- Developing initiatives that address multiple health dimensions, such as mind/ body exercise classes;
- Creating programs that measure both health and business outcomes, including stress and productivity. (Ibid.)
