Notations On Our World (Weekly Edition): As The New Week Dawns....

As we went to press, we wanted to begin this edition of "Notations" with a focus on Iran as the Country is about to usher in the New Year of 1396 in a little over 7 Hours.    The Farsi Service of the Voice Of America was busy over the past number of weeks reflecting upon the year as it looked to the new year--including a "viewer-driven" program about the notorious players of the year in Iran today:

One of the most notable persons at hand was the Mayor of Tehran, Ghalibaf, who was deemed the "Liar of the year"--especially in the aftermath of the collapse of the Plasco Building in Tehran earlier in the year.  Iran's Former President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is making noises again to run in the elections--after revelations about the extent of the corruption during his 8 years.    What was also quite interesting was how it was revealed that the former President did not even have a  He is yet to face Justice--even though one of his Vice Presidents has declared his candidacy.    Our team was amused as the former President joined Twitter and noted "...Follow Me" even though Twitter was blocked during the Green Movement.    It must be noted that  Iran will be basically shut down for 2 weeks before things begin anew.    Tragedy also struck Iran as the South part of the Country was faced with a Tsunami.   

Beyond Iran, there is Israel.   Israel in the midst of a political crisis as a result of the dispute over the replacement of the Public Broadcast Authority that may result in snap elections.   The current Prime Minister has a razor-thin majority in Parliament and any fissure will cause the Government to collapse.  This is as Israel has attacked Syria and Syria has retaliated.       The rebels, though, seem to have been emboldened as they attacked Government Forces in Damascus--taking the fight to the heart of the Regime.    Damascus had seen a number of car bombs over the past week as well.  This underscores that the Syrian War will continue onward despite supposed regime gains over the past number of weeks.      

Beyond the Middle East, there is China.   The US Secretary of State has been in China gearing up for a summit with President Trump.   Although Mr. Tillerson met with President Xi for about 7 Minutes, the bulk of the discussions was with the Chinese Foreign Minister--as thorny issues including THAAD and North Korea was discussed.   China Daily (an Official Organ of the Chinse Government), depicted the View from China below: 



This is as India has seen the opening battles being drawn for the 2019 Elections.   Uttar Pradesh--India's Largest State with over 200 Million Residents--has a new Chief Minister.  He is a Hindu Ideologue by the name of Yogi Abijah who believes in a Hindu India.   Although he has committed to be the leader for all the people, it will be interesting to see how things develop.   

Meanwhile, in the United States, there are a number of key things coming up this week.   The Budget Blueprint was one of the central topics of discussion during the US Public Affair Shows.  The Budget Director noted something very interesting during his appearance on CBS News' Face The Nation as he noted that he does not have a business card because he has to pay for it--as the host, John Dickerson, asked about the President's Trips to his Florida Estate.    This is also as The Healthcare law continues to work itself through--Ted Cruz said that the Healthcare law as it stands will not pass. as hearings will be conveyed on the Russia connections that would feature the FBI Director.   The Supreme Court Nominee will also be before the US Senate Judiciary Committee.

It is bound to be an interesting week....

As Spring Is In the Air: A W-End Musical Interlude.......

Our team chose this from Ace of Base which we hope all enjoy...Happy Spring:

On This St. Patrick's Day 2017....

We here at the Daily Outsider wanted to wish all a Happy St. Patricks' Day as we leave you all with this Irish Blessings and as we are ever so grateful to +Jonathan Huie for the series of thoughts: 

   

May love and laughter light your days, and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons bring the best to you and yours.
- Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.
And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.
- Irish Blessing

May God grant you always...
A sunbeam to warm you,
a moonbeam to charm you,
a sheltering Angel so nothing can harm you.
Laughter to you.
Faithful friends near you.
And whenever you pray,
Heaven to hear you.
- Irish Blessing

Notations On Our World: On @POTUS Watch w/The View From the White House

The White Hosue has just launched "1600 Daily" with its' view on what has been going on.  What our team found interesting was how only the conservative-leaning media was cited in its' reporting.    It was also quite a remarkable press conference as The President's Budget Director used very blunt language in his assessment when he was in the Press Room.   The blunt answer in response to the proposed reduced funding for the UN in light of the famine affecting 20 Million People was especially striking.   It must be noted that the 62-Page Document is just a blueprint.   The Administration is slated to deliver its' budget in May.

A sampling of "1600 Daily" is noted below":    

WHITE HOUSE MEMO:

President Donald J. Trump is committed to delivering relief to Americans struggling under the weight of Obamacare's rising prices and onerous mandates. The President's reforms will bring down costs and increase access to coverage for millions of Americans. It's time to repeal the disaster known as Obamacare and replace it with a system that puts the interests of the people first.

GET INVOLVED

• President Trump wants to know how Obamacare is affecting hard-working Americans.
  Share Your Obamacare Disaster Story With President Trump

FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP

OVAL OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS

• President Trump leads a listening session on Healthcare with Americans struggling under Obamacare.
  
  • Read President Trump's Remarks
  • Read The Personal Stories
  
• President Trump signs an executive order focused on a "Comprehensive Plan for reorganizing the Executive Branch"
  Read More

WHITE HOUSE UPDATES

Photo of the Day: 

President Trump meets D.C Mayor Muriel Bowser, Paul Wiedefeld, General Manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and Tom Bossart, Homeland Security Advisory ahead of winter blizzard warnings.
View Photo

• President Trump has his first Cabinet meeting
  Read More
• Cabinet Blog Series: Secretary Perry: Energy Department Employees Can "Change the World"
  Read More

PRESS ROOM

• Watch yesterday's press briefing here.
• Today's press briefing will take place at 1:00 P.M. EST in the White House Briefing Room with Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Watch it here.

PRESIDENT TRUMP'S SCHEDULE

• 10:00AM: President Trump meets with Chief of Staff Reince Priebus
• 12:30PM: President Trump has lunch with the Deputy Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
• 3:00PM: President Trump has a call with CEO of Anthem and the Secretary of Health and Human Services
• 4:00PM: President Trump has a call with Speaker of the House and House Majority Leader regarding healthcare

NEWS REPORTS

• Breitbart: "Donald Trump Meets with Victims of Obamacare at the White House"
  Read More
• Fox News: "Trump: Americans will be able to 'pick the plan they want'"
  Read More
• Townhall: "Five Ways The White House Plans to Sell Obamacare Repeal and Replace"
  Read More
• Fox News: "Trump steps up ObamaCare repeal push, meets with law's 'victims'"
  Read More

37% cut in the Department of State

Dismembering Government, One Dollar at a Time

How 120 Generals & Admirals say this is wrong!!!
About the Muslim Ban 2.0

Notations On Our World (Special Edition): On the @POTUS Budget Blueprint For 2017 & Beyond

President Trump's Budget Blueprint has been published.    It is an Outline that has already drawn criticism from the likes of Senator McCain.   It is going to have a profound impact on the States that according to Route Fifty that relies  on the Federal Government for 22 Percent of their budget outlays.    It is also going to impact the Poor in a very significant way.

The +Washington Post   just released this "clip" on it as the  ensuing debate begins:

Notations On Our World: On #Europe Watch W/the Dutch Elections & @POTUS Watch

The Dutch have re-elected the Prime Minister to a New Term seeing off the Challenge From the Far-Right.    It is a rather complicated structure as underscored by this courtesy of +Al Jazeera English :

After Brexit and the Election of Donald Trump in the United States, someone noted that Common Sense seems to have prevailed.    The next major test of populism is France as Elections loom there as the Conservative Candidate Francois Fillon has been indicted on Graft Charges related to the Fake Job Scandal.     

Meanwhile, in the United States, President Trump's Travel  Ban was blocked by a Federal District Judge in Hawaii on the eve of its' going into effect.  Professor Jonathan Turley just released an analysis of this which is worth noting.   This is as  5 Republican Judges on the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit noted their approval of the President's authority (available by clicking here...)  
It will be quite interesting to see where this all goes...

On the Prowl.....

As debates rage on, elections occur, we here at #Outsiders wanted to take a moment of pause on this week of celebrations (Holi; St. Patrick's Day and Nouroz)  just to share this "Thought For the Week" courtesy of the team at +VALUES.COM : 

On @POTUS watch w/this Newsflash on the @GOP Plan To replace #Obamacare

The Congressional Budget Office has just come out with its' estimate on the GOP plan to replace the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare).    This is as the Trump Administration had been working on trying to undermine the work of the CBO--showcased by the most recent daily White House Press Conference by Press Secretary Sean Spicer.   As it garnered headlines on CNN and the Huffington Post, it was buried on the FoxNews website.     Our team has noted the full summary below--the entire report is available by clicking here: 

Summary

The Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2017 directed the House Committees on Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce to develop legislation to reduce the deficit. The Congressional Budget Office and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have produced an estimate of the budgetary effects of the American Health Care Act, which combines the pieces of legislation approved by the two committees pursuant to that resolution. In consultation with the budget committees, CBO used its March 2016 baseline with adjustments for subsequently enacted legislation, which underlies the resolution, as the benchmark to measure the cost of the legislation.

Effects on the Federal Budget

CBO and JCT estimate that enacting the legislation would reduce federal deficits by $337 billion over the 2017-2026 period. That total consists of $323 billion in on-budget savings and $13 billion in off-budget savings. Outlays would be reduced by $1.2 trillion over the period, and revenues would be reduced by $0.9 trillion.

The largest savings would come from reductions in outlays for Medicaid and from the elimination of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) subsidies for nongroup health insurance. The largest costs would come from repealing many of the changes the ACA made to the Internal Revenue Code—including an increase in the Hospital Insurance payroll tax rate for high-income taxpayers, a surtax on those taxpayers’ net investment income, and annual fees imposed on health insurers—and from the establishment of a new tax credit for health insurance.

Pay-as-you-go procedures apply because enacting the legislation would affect direct spending and revenues. CBO and JCT estimate that enacting the legislation would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits by more than $5 billion in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.

Effects on Health Insurance Coverage

To estimate the budgetary effects, CBO and JCT projected how the legislation would change the number of people who obtain federally subsidized health insurance through Medicaid, the nongroup market, and the employment-based market, as well as many other factors.

CBO and JCT estimate that, in 2018, 14 million more people would be uninsured under the legislation than under current law. Most of that increase would stem from repealing the penalties associated with the individual mandate. Some of those people would choose not to have insurance because they chose to be covered by insurance under current law only to avoid paying the penalties, and some people would forgo insurance in response to higher premiums.

Later, following additional changes to subsidies for insurance purchased in the nongroup market and to the Medicaid program, the increase in the number of uninsured people relative to the number under current law would rise to 21 million in 2020 and then to 24 million in 2026. The reductions in insurance coverage between 2018 and 2026 would stem in large part from changes in Medicaid enrollment—because some states would discontinue their expansion of eligibility, some states that would have expanded eligibility in the future would choose not to do so, and per-enrollee spending in the program would be capped. In 2026, an estimated 52 million people would be uninsured, compared with 28 million who would lack insurance that year under current law.

Stability of the Health Insurance Market

Decisions about offering and purchasing health insurance depend on the stability of the health insurance market—that is, on having insurers participating in most areas of the country and on the likelihood of premiums’ not rising in an unsustainable spiral. The market for insurance purchased individually (that is, nongroup coverage) would be unstable, for example, if the people who wanted to buy coverage at any offered price would have average health care expenditures so high that offering the insurance would be unprofitable. In CBO and JCT’s assessment, however, the nongroup market would probably be stable in most areas under either current law or the legislation.

Under current law, most subsidized enrollees purchasing health insurance coverage in the nongroup market are largely insulated from increases in premiums because their out-of-pocket payments for premiums are based on a percentage of their income; the government pays the difference. The subsidies to purchase coverage combined with the penalties paid by uninsured people stemming from the individual mandate are anticipated to cause sufficient demand for insurance by people with low health care expenditures for the market to be stable.

Under the legislation, in the agencies’ view, key factors bringing about market stability include subsidies to purchase insurance, which would maintain sufficient demand for insurance by people with low health care expenditures, and grants to states from the Patient and State Stability Fund, which would reduce the costs to insurers of people with high health care expenditures. Even though the new tax credits would be structured differently from the current subsidies and would generally be less generous for those receiving subsidies under current law, the other changes would, in the agencies’ view, lower average premiums enough to attract a sufficient number of relatively healthy people to stabilize the market.

Effects on Premiums

The legislation would tend to increase average premiums in the nongroup market prior to 2020 and lower average premiums thereafter, relative to projections under current law. In 2018 and 2019, according to CBO and JCT’s estimates, average premiums for single policyholders in the nongroup market would be 15 percent to 20 percent higher than under current law, mainly because the individual mandate penalties would be eliminated, inducing fewer comparatively healthy people to sign up.

Starting in 2020, the increase in average premiums from repealing the individual mandate penalties would be more than offset by the combination of several factors that would decrease those premiums: grants to states from the Patient and State Stability Fund (which CBO and JCT expect to largely be used by states to limit the costs to insurers of enrollees with very high claims); the elimination of the requirement for insurers to offer plans covering certain percentages of the cost of covered benefits; and a younger mix of enrollees. By 2026, average premiums for single policyholders in the nongroup market under the legislation would be roughly 10 percent lower than under current law, CBO and JCT estimate.

Although average premiums would increase prior to 2020 and decrease starting in 2020, CBO and JCT estimate that changes in premiums relative to those under current law would differ significantly for people of different ages because of a change in age-rating rules. Under the legislation, insurers would be allowed to generally charge five times more for older enrollees than younger ones rather than three times more as under current law, substantially reducing premiums for young adults and substantially raising premiums for older people.

Uncertainty Surrounding the Estimates

The ways in which federal agencies, states, insurers, employers, individuals, doctors, hospitals, and other affected parties would respond to the changes made by the legislation are all difficult to predict, so the estimates in this report are uncertain. But CBO and JCT have endeavored to develop estimates that are in the middle of the distribution of potential outcomes.

Macroeconomic Effects

Because of the magnitude of its budgetary effects, this legislation is “major legislation,” as defined in the rules of the House of Representatives. Hence, it triggers the requirement that the cost estimate, to the greatest extent practicable, include the budgetary impact of its macroeconomic effects. However, because of the very short time available to prepare this cost estimate, quantifying and incorporating those macroeconomic effects have not been practicable.

Intergovernmental and Private-Sector Mandates

JCT and CBO have reviewed the provisions of the legislation and determined that they would impose no intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).

JCT and CBO have determined that the legislation would impose private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA. On the basis of information from JCT, CBO estimates the aggregate cost of the mandates would exceed the annual threshold established in UMRA for private-sector mandates ($156 million in 2017, adjusted annually for inflation).

Reflections...

Nouroz "Haft-Seen" (A celebration of Spring & the Possibilities) 

Spring is in the Air.   It is the time for Nature to renew itself and to think about the art of the possible yet again.  This is as an estimated 300 Million People around the World celebrate the advent of Spring with the ancient celebration of Nouroz.      This is also as Hindus around the World will be Celebrating Holli:

  

We wanted to maintain a spirit of  fun and reflect upon the art of the possible as we decided to feature this "Grid of Thought" courtesy of the Team at +VALUES.COM which we hope all enjoy as we all jointly march towards Spring:

   

This is also the Lent Season and this image captured it all about the need to renewal always: 

 

On behalf of all of us here at the Daily Outsider, we wish all a great week!!!

Onward...as we wish all our Hindu Brothers and Sisters...

Notations On Our World (W-End Edition): On Our World....

It has been a remarkable March 2017 in Our World.    As The Trump Administration passes the 50-Day Mark,  a sense of uncertainty continues to be the order of the day.    What has been amazing to us is the apparent sidelining of the Department of State in the realm of Foreign Policy as policymaking seems to have been concentrated in the White House with the profound changes in Europe and the Near East.    Britain will be triggering Brexit Negotiations as elections are coming up in the Netherlands and France.    This is as Turkey is to have a vote to expand the powers of President Erdogan.     What is also of note is how Narenda Modi is dominating India as he gears up for the 2019 Elections.   His Party, the BJP, won India's key state of Uttar Pradesh decisively.    

Spring is also in the air and with it the advent of Nouroz.  Nouroz has been recognized as by the UN and it is celebrated in a number of countries around the World--including Iran on March 21 of every year.   The new year in Iran is also going to be a year of change as new Presidential Elections loom that positions the current incumbent against the conservatives within the ruling factions inside the Islamic Republic.     The Israeli Prime Minister's recent Moscow trip was interesting in that it was trying to undermine Iranian influence in Syria as he deemed it, "..Unacceptable".     It is interesting that he seems to be emboldened in the aftermath of President Trump's Election.   It is also of interest, though, that Mahmoud Abbas has been invited to the White House by President Trump.   

As we went to press with this edition of "Notations", we saw reporting on the second Airbus being delivered to Iran as part of the nuclear agreement.     The revised travel ban, though, has gone into effect that is slated to be put into effect March 16.    The Oscar-winning Iranian Director, Asghar Farhadi,  reflected upon the original ban as he boycotted the Oscars after having won his second Oscar--remarks that were delivered by the Iranian-American Entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari who accepted the Oscar along with the Iranian American Space Pioneer Dr. Firouz Naderi: 

    

I'm sorry I'm not with you tonight. My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and those of other six nations whom have been disrespected by the inhuman law that bans entry of immigrants to the US. Dividing the world into the “us" and "our enemies" categories creates fear. A deceitful justification for aggression and war. These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries which have themselves been victims of aggression. Filmmakers can turn their cameras to capture shared human qualities and break stereotypes of various nationalities and religions. They create empathy between us and others. An empathy which we need today more than ever."  

What was quite remarkable was to be witness to the plight of one of the leading opposition figures inside Iran, Mehdi Khazali.   Dr. Khazaili was detained after he called for a boycott to protest the internal repression inside the Country.   What he noted after he was released was quite remarkable as he noted that a number of key Security Organs refused to accept the responsibility for his custody as he began a hunger strike to protest his detention.   

One eye-opening expose was recently done by the Farsi Service of the Voice of America to underscore the continued profound challenges faced by the Islamic Republic: 

The dialogue is in Farsi--However, the policies of the Islamic Republic was exposed in a major way.  Although some of them are known--including for instance the work of the Quds Force in Iraq and Syria--the "soft war" is also remarkable.     One of the elements of the Force is a brigade called the "Fatameyon"--Afghans who are approximately 18,000 who are supported.     This is as an analyst appearing on this program compared this "Soft war" to Hollywood".    One of the leading institutions, the Al Mustafa Organization, has apparently graduated some 40,000 graduates--in addition to having currently 30,000 students (including 10,000 religious students).   

The "culture war" that the Islamic Republic has launched against the World is remarkable.    One very interesting clip uncovered was what Khomeini said to undermine Iraq at the time.    Iran has operations in over 80 Countries sponsoring cultural programs and training clerics to the tune of billions of dollars.     Some of the support has included a 2 Billion Dollars to the Kumours Island, 2 Billion Dollars to Sri Lanka and a 1 Billon Dollar loan to Iraq.  These are just very small examples that were exposed in this 47-Minute expose by this broadcast.    The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp touted its' efforts in Lebanon rebuilding schools, fixing electricity for 73 villages and other economic development efforts.    This is as after 30 years people in the South of the Country have hardly running water in the rural areas and as children are not able to attend school--one estimated that some 250 Villages have no running water at all. 

 As Iran continues to struggle with economic difficulties, one exposure was a directive from the First Vice president to Rouhani as he directed the privatization organization to direct proceeds from all privatizations to help fund the repairs and rebuilding of Shiite sites in Iraq to the tune of an estimated 2 Billion Dollars.        It was ironic how the apparent goodwill underscored by President Rouhani's Inaugural statement somehow rang hollow: 

  

Fascinating times.....

Notations On Our World: On the Eve of The Week-End w/Thoughts On South Korea & A Musical Interlude To Enjoy....

South Korea just made history as a sitting President was impeached and has been forced from office.  It is about the rule of law and being witness to history has been quite remarkable to be witness to.    It will be interesting to see how the dynamics with North Korea will change in light of the changes and the looming election to the Blue House (The South Korean Presidential Residence).  We have also been assessing the latest out of India with a very key election that would be a harbinger of the looming 2019 Election as Prime Minister Modi gears up for reelection. 

Our team wanted to begin the weekend with this "oldie" from the group Hiroshima with their rendition of "One Fine Day" which we hope all enjoy:   



We leave you with A remix of Egyptian Cat Heads from the Met Museum Open Access collection by Claire Voon for Hyperallergic, CC0 as we wish all a fabulous and restful Weekend: 

Poem of the Week: Emerson

  

View of the Week: School Choice Goes To the Movies - Education Next : Education Next

The Transformation of Education is one of the key priorities of the Trump Administration as it touts school choice.    We just picked this up that was published on Education Next that captures the profound choices and challenges:



School Choice Goes To the Movies - Education Next : Education Next: Everything anyone needs to know about school choice – who benefits from it and who opposes it – was summarized in the first few minutes of the movie Hidden Figures … and in the trailer right before it.

Thought(s) For the Week

Please enjoy this mid-week special edition of "Thoughts for the Week" as we continue to remember to celebrate the possible and never be discouraged: 

Notations From the Grid : A Reminder of Where We've Been...and Where we're going.....

It has been a challenging year already with all that has gone on in our World.   Our team decided, once again to celebrate the achievements and really reflect upon the possibilities as epitomized by this image we have chosen.   It must also be of note that despite all the challenging times we've been witness to, this chronology courtesy of +Peter H. Diamandis underscores the art of the possible and how the future is indeed bright: 

In 1917...

One hundred years ago, things looked a little bit different.

1. World Literacy Rates

- 1917: The world literacy rate was only 23%.

- Today: Depending on estimates, the world literacy rate today is 86.1%.

2. Travel Time

- 1917: It took 5 days to get from London to New York; 3.5 months to travel from London to Australia.

- Today: A nonstop flight gets you from London to New York in a little over 8 hours, and you can fly from London to Australia in about a day, with just one stop.

3. Average Price of a U.S. House

- 1917: The average price of a U.S. house was $5,000. ($111,584.29 when adjusted for inflation)

- Today: As of 2010, the average price of a new home sold in the U.S. was $272,900.

4. The First Hamburger

- 1917: The hamburger bun invented by a fry cook named Walter Anderson, who co-founded White Castle.

- Today: On average, Americans eat three hamburgers a week. That's a national total of nearly 50 billion burgers per year. And now we’re even inventing 100% plant-based beef burgers… produced by Impossible Foods and available at select restaurants.

5. Average Price of a Car in the U.S.

- 1917: The average price of a car in the U.S. was $400 ($8,926.74 when adjusted for inflation)

- Today: The average car price in the U.S. was $34,968 as of January 2017.

6. The First Boeing Aircraft

- 1917: A Boeing aircraft flew for the first time on June 15.

- Today: In 2015, there were almost 24,000 turboprop and regional aircraft, as well as wide body and narrow body jets, in service worldwide.

7. Coca-Cola

- 1917: On July 1, 1916, Coca-Cola introduced its current formula to the market.

- Today: Today, Coca-Cola has a market cap of about $178 billion with 2015 net operating revenues over $44 billion. Each day, over 1.9 billion servings of Coca-Cola drinks are enjoyed in more than 200 countries.

7. Average U.S. Wages

- 1917: The average U.S. hourly wage was 22 cents an hour ($4.90 per hour when adjusted for inflation)

- Today: The average U.S. hourly wage is approximately $26 per hour.

8. Supermarkets

- 1917: The first "super" market, PigglyWiggly, opened on September 6, 1916 in Memphis, TN.

- Today: In 2015, there were 38,015 supermarkets, employing 3.4 million people and generating sales of about $650 billion.

9. Billionaires

- 1917: John D. Rockefeller became the world's first billionaire on September 29.

- Today: There are approximately 1,810 billionaires, and their aggregate net worth is $6.5 trillion.

For context, Rockefeller’s net worth in today’s dollars would have been about $340 billion. Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, is worth $84 billion today.

10. Telephones (Landlines vs. Cellphones)

- 1917: Only 8% of homes had a landline telephone.

- Today: Forget landlines! In the U.S., nearly 80% of the population has a smartphone (a supercomputer in their pockets). Nearly half of all American households now use only cellphones rather than older landlines. And as far as cost, today, you can Skype anywhere in the world for free over a WiFi network.

11. Traffic (Horses to Cars)

- 1917: In 1912, traffic counts in New York showed more cars than horses for the first time.

- Today: There were approximately 253 million cars and trucks on U.S. roads in 2015.

12. US Population

- 1917: The U.S. population broke 100 million, and the global population reached 1.9 billion.

- Today: The U.S. population is 320 million, and the global population broke 7.5 billion this year.

13. Inventions and Technology

- 1917: The major tech invention in 1917? The toggle light switch.

- Today: The major tech invention of today? CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology, which enables us to reprogram life as we know it. And we are making strides in AI, robotics, sensors, networks, synthetic biology, materials science, space exploration and more every day.

14. High School Graduation Rates

- 1917: Only 6% of all Americans had graduated from high school.

- Today: Over 80% of all Americans graduated high school this past year.

15. Cost of Bread

- 1917: A loaf of bread was $0.07 ($1.50 when adjusted for inflation)

- Today: A loaf of bread costs $2.37.

16. Speed Limits

- 1917: The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

- Today: The maximum speed limit in most cities is about 70 mph.

Just wait for the next 100 years.