Irma in my neighborhood

It is not an everyday experience to dodge a hurricane. As Naples was right in the path of Irma, we moved East to stay with our daughter. Damage in Naples is impressive mostly in areas that are low lying, older homes built before the stringent building codes after hurricane Andrew in 1992, and in communities with manufactured housing.

There are still parts of Naples without power, communications, and with no access because of flooding. There has been a curfew from 9-6, there are restrictions on water, stores are slowly reopening, so are gas stations. Schools will not reopen until September 25.

In my community all construction is post-Andrew with high standards for building codes, and it shows: buildings don't have catastrophic damage, but sometimes important ones. However, the storm has devastated landscaping, sometimes breaking and felling trees that normally would withstand your "common" hurricane.

A photo collection from around where I live: the fallen trees.

Jean-Claude Juncker: USEXIT

Texas, as seen from the Florida coast. Photo ET

Jean-Claude Juncker: USEXIT

It must have been in the afternoon, after lunch, so around 3 – 4 PM. It was a good lunch I presume. The President of the European Commission, shortly after the “digestif” finally drew the day’s conclusion: we’ll split the US. Yep! Ohio, and Austin, Texas. If President Trump does not stop saluting the Brexit.

There Mr. President you can see the writing on the wall, by our greatest graffiti artist. Beautiful wall.

After “The Mouse That Roared”

Juncker should not be ignored.

Generally US media tried to be nice with the pre-April Fools Story:

Real Clear Politics told the story as is, and that is funny by itself.

The British Express treated him as the boss. Expressit.

Bloomberg however was kind and gentle and improved the story by prepping up the Texas angle. Texas has indeed a right to secede. Texas could also make it on its own: it has its own distilleries.

White Collar Crimes

My Orchids. Phalaenopsis "Spotted Soul" Photo ET

This is an excerpt of a remarkable article by Alice BrightSky, senior director of Fordham Law's compliance programs

WhyPeople Commit White Collar Crimes (And How to Stop Them).

White Collar Crimes

… Perpetrators of many white collar crimes were not career criminals who set out to defraud their employers, clients, and shareholders, but rather businessmen and women … who committed criminal acts in response to overwhelming personal pressures.

One felon states … “Most white collar crimes are the cover-ups that come after a bad decision."

Duke University cognitive science professor Dan Ariely digs deeper into the nature of bad decision-making. Among his conclusions were the discoveries that a culture of dishonesty often leads to individual dishonesty, and that the ability to rationalize dishonesty helps promote dishonest acts.

As another expert in behavioral economics and psychology, Daniel Kahneman, … states that …. “the illusions of validity and skill are supported by a powerful professional culture.  We know that people can maintain an unshakeable faith in almost any proposition, however absurd, when they are sustained by a community of like-minded believers.”

Here is the link again to the article:

http://www.fcpablog.com/blog/2017/3/20/alice-brightsky-why-people-commit-white-collar-crimes-and-ho.html