Things are not going well for the USA:
- We got booted out of the FIFA World Cup.
- The war with Iran has returned, and petroleum prices have jumped up.
- President Donald Trump alienated our allies in the NATO Summit held in Turkey.
- The New York Times indicated, perhaps now, Kharg Island could be invaded:
Speaking at the NATO summit in Turkey yesterday, President Trump threatened major new combat operations against Iran, including the seizure of Kharg Island, where Iran stages its oil for world markets, and attacks on the country’s infrastructure and desalination plants.
- On March 14, about 2 weeks into this war with Iran, I indicated that his compelling invasion was inevitable.
- Graham Platner withdrew from his U.S. Senate race against incumbent Susan Collins.
- This action is an okay thing, but there is no Democrat in Maine with any kind of drawing power to beat an incumbent, except, maybe, current Governor Janet Mills.
- However, Mills is 78 years old and dropped out of this Senate race earlier this year.
- Senator Susan Collins is "only" 73-years old.
- The situation:
Democrats need a net gain of four seats to capture control of the Senate this fall. Apart from Maine and North Carolina, all their opportunities come in states Donald Trump carried by double digits in 2024 — Ohio, Iowa, Alaska and Texas. Maine is the only blue-leaning state with a GOP senator.
- Western Europe suffered from the hottest June on record. Supposedly with 4700 excess deaths.
- NOAA reported that the past 12 months were the hottest for the USA on record, and March was 9.5 F warmer than the 20th century average for the month.
- Remember that Heat Dome the Eastern portion of the U.S. suffered through leading up to the July 4th weekend? Well, another Heat Dome is forming towards the west to bring record heat next week to as high as 105F in the Plains and Midwest.
- Why all this heat?
The projections by the U.N. climate agency and the United Kingdom’s Meteorological Office said there’s a 75% chance that the average global temperature between 2026 and 2030 will be more than 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit higher compared to pre-industrial times. That threshold is the agreed-upon limit of warming — averaged over 20 years — set in 2015 by the Paris climate agreement.
To kick you out of this ennui, let's turn to color. Pantone annually picks its color of the year:
The Pantone Color of the Year for 2026 is Cloud Dancer (PANTONE 11-4201). It is a serene, airy, and balanced shade of white chosen by the Pantone Color Institute to symbolize calm, clarity, and a fresh start in a noisy world.
Kind of a drab selection. Mind you, other paint companies also have their annual pick:
Sherwin-Williams / HGTV Home: Universal Khaki, a sandy, versatile neutral.
My favorite course at Stanford was Color. While my major was chemical engineering, I minored in art, and took about as many of those courses as ChE. Colors are certainly meaningful to me. TIME magazine says:
A Splash of Color Might Be the Easiest Way to Boost Happiness
- Says Ben Williams, CEO of Color Factory:
- Ingrid Fetell Lee asks: Why does a purple poodle—or a hot-pink umbrella or lime-green phone case—make us feel so good? It turns out the answer goes back millions of years.
Further: Our color vision evolved in part to help our primate ancestors find ripe fruit in the treetop canopy. Those ancient instincts are still running in the background. A bright burst of color tells your brain something good might be nearby. It’s a sign of energy. It’s like a sign of life, and it taps into primal neurological circuits that are related to nourishment. We evolved to find joy when we see bright color, because that means nourishment is coming. When we put color in our environment, we’re effectively hacking into those ancient circuits and using that to feel more joy.
We all have favorite colors. I do too, but nothing beats a gorgeous rainbow, something we almost daily see from where I live at 15 Craigside.
- Double rainbows all the time.
- A triple rainbow is possible, but difficult to see because the third one is very pale. Here is a video.
- A quadruple rainbow is theoretically possible, and, supposedly happened in Germany on 11June2011. Read this article.
Smooth Radio has compiled a top 51 of songs with color in the title. By clicking on that link, you can actually view/listen to each one. Well, a number of them have been deleted.
- #1 Yellow Submarine, The Beatles.
- #2 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John. Who would have guessed that Yellow became #1 and #2. There are three Yellows in the top 10, as #7 is Donovan's Mellow Yellow. Well, this one was deleted, so here it is.
- #3 Brown-Eyed Girl, Van Morrison. This is was deleted, so here it is.
- #46 Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Gene Autry.
- #49 White Christmas, Bing Crosby.
- #51 Yellow, Coldplay. Yes, even ending in Yellow.
Smooth Radio also has a top 49 with numbers. Interesting that #49 is When I'm 64 by the Beatles from Yellow Submarine. I never heard of songs #1 to #5, but #6 is 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, by Paul Simon.
- #1 10,000 Hours, Dan + Say & Justin Bieber. And, incidentally, Bieber was just added to the World Cup Final half-time show, which also includes, Madonna, Shakira, BTS. Gustavo Dudamel, Coldplay and The Muppets.
- #2 100 Years, Five for Fighting.
- #3 2 Become 1, Spice Girls.
- #4 2468 Motorway, Tom Robinson
- #5 Five Years Time, Noah and the Whale.
- #6 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, Paul Simon. Finally, a song I know.
- #49 When I'm 64, The Beatles.
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