A Decorated War Hero ( at 13 )….What Memorial Day Really Means….Your Next Car: An Uber…or An Apple?…….A Beautiful Mind, Silenced…..Econ Recon: The I-Watch and the Fed

MEMORIAL DAY WEEK

“Heroism is latent in every human soul; however humble or unknown, they (the veterans) have renounced what are accounted pleasures and cheerfully undertaken all the self-denials – privations, toils, dangers, sufferings, sicknesses, mutilations, life-long hurts and losses, death itself – for some great good, dimly seen but dearly held.”

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

Union Civil War General, Congressional Medal of Honor Winner

and President of Bowdoin College

“Nobody Wants to Fight. Somebody Had Better Know How.”

 Marine Corps Recruiting Poster (1970’s)

 A Decorated War Hero (at 13)

Former NBC Anchor Tom Brokaw wrote a book a few years ago titled “The Greatest Generation” in which he memorialized the contribution of our parents and grandparents who fought World War II. Some of that generation were not much more than children when they decided to fight. Many were turned away at the recruiting office but more than a few found a way to enlist even though they legally were not of age to serve.

One such story is that of US Navy Seaman Calvin Graham who was decorated for valor after an attack on his ship in the Pacific. He was 13 years old at the time (and 12 when he joined the Navy). He might have finished the war in the Navy had not his mother, who had been frantically searching for him for months, not imaging he could have enlisted, spotted him in a movie newsreel.

Brokaw was right to call Graham’s cohort “The Greatest Generation” (though by age he barely qualified to be in it). It is Memorial Day weekend, so take a few minutes to read about The Boy Who Became a World War II Veteran at 13 Years Old and did his part to assure that your children and grandchildren would not have to follow his heroic example. It is a story that is almost beyond belief….and should not be forgotten.

What Memorial Day Really Means

Here is one Veteran’s tribute to his fallen brethren.

 Your Next Car: An Uber…or An Apple?

A financial website offers the following provocative hypothesis:

• “We are quickly approaching a pivotal moment in Apple’s history as technology and mobile are on a collision course with the automobile.
• The themes we see playing out over the next 10 years in the automobile industry will serve as the foundation for the next 100 years of personal transport.
• This likely means that Apple has no choice but to enter the automobile industry.”

Will your next car be made by Apple…. or will you be using Uber for most of your personal transportation? What does this mean for your life or your business; especially if you’re directly or indirectly involved in the automobile industry? Check out this article that suggests Uber, Not Tesla, Will be Apple’s Competition in the Automobile Industry.

Econ Recon: The Fed vs The I-Watch

The I-Watch and the Fed: We hear so much about the Fed that many are ready to attribute almost any aspect of the economy to its decisions. Brian Wesbury reminds us that Janet Yellen did not create the I-Watch and opines about continued negative judgments to First Quarter GDP….and what we can really expect about future interest rates.

A Beautiful Mind, Silenced

On this Memorial Day Weekend, John Forbes Nash, the Nobel Laureate in economics portrayed in “A Beautiful Mind” by Russell Crowe, and his wife Alicia who had courageously stood by him through the years of mental illness depicted in that film, were killed in an auto accident when their taxi  hit a guard rail on a New Jersey highway.

Nash, 86 and his wife, 84, were both ejected from the cab, struck by another vehicle and died at the crash scene. They were NOT wearing seat belts. The taxi driver and the driver of the car that struck the Nash’s were reportedly strapped in and had non-life threatening injuries.

Please have a safe Memorial Day Week. Drive carefully…. and wear your seat belts (not just this week, but every day).