"Off to Graceland"
Junichiro Koizumi, the Prime Minister of Japan (similar position to president), is in the country visiting President Bush. So of course, they went to Graceland?
Sometimes life is stranger than fiction.

140-year-old Elm tree on the back of the twenty dollar bill falls down in D.C. storm

Combination photograph shows back of U.S. $20 bill showing The White House with the 140-yr old Elm tree and workers at the White House clearing the fallen tree, which was knocked down by heavy winds in a storm in the Washington area overnight, June 26 2006. (Larry Downing - L/Reuters)

Current Events: Warren Buffett Giving Fortune to Gates Foundation With Conditions
Warren Buffett's contribution of about $1.5 billion a year to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be used to seek cures for the world's worst diseases and improve American education, Bill Gates said Monday [6/26/06]. Read more here.

The Gates Foundation has been getting a lot of press recently but I think that it came as a shock to many when this was announced. Buffett is the world’s second richest man, second only to Gates. With this gift, Buffett is giving away something like 85% of his money. I think this combination of philanthropy will have major implications for the U.S. and the world.

This reminds me of the philanthropy of the Gilded Age “Robber Barons” like J. D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie (picture at left) that are still having a major impact on American even though their foundations were established some 100 years ago.

There has also been an upswing in household giving in the U.S., despite fear of “donor fatigue.” My wife and I give to Doctors Without Boarders and Save the Children on a regular basis and have give to UNICEF, SaveDarfur.org, and other charities. I believe that give to charity is a duty for everyone who can afford it—even if it’s not much.

We should keep an eye on this story.

How Long Will America Lead the World?

The United States is still the dominant force in technology, innovation, productivity and profits. But Americans don't quite realize how fast the rest of the world is catching up.

"Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, held in London on June 22, 1897, was one of the grandest fetes the world has ever seen: 46,000 troops and 11 colonial prime ministers arrived from the four corners of the earth to pay homage to their sovereign. The event was as much a celebration of Victoria's 60 years on the throne as it was of Britain's superpower status. In 1897, Queen Victoria ruled over a quarter of the world's population and a fifth of its territory, all connected by the latest marvel of British technology, the telegraph, and patrolled by the Royal Navy, which was larger than the next two navies put together. "

"Well, Americans have replaced Britons atop the world, and we are now worried that history is happening to us."

Fareed Zakaria, one of my favorite Newsweek columnist, wrote about America's position as a world leader in the June 12, 2006 issue of Newsweek. He made some interesting observations about how technology and the global marketplace will eventually challenge America's position as the world leader. Some good food for thought. What better way to start off my 21st Century blog with a reminder of how critical the Internet and future technologies are to our future.

And later, Fareed says:
“There are some who see the decline of science and technology as part of a larger cultural decay. A country that once adhered to a Puritan ethic of delayed gratification has become one that revels in instant pleasures. We're losing interest in the basics—math, manufacturing, hard work, savings—and becoming a postindustrial society that specializes in consumption and leisure.”

This is a good point, I hope that we don’t get lost in our affluence and forget how hard people had to work to make America what it is today.

You can read the article here.