Look at Britain around the turn of the 20th century, or Napoleonic France in the early 1800s, or Spain in the late 1500s. Or so many other great powers of their times, before they went into decline.

Now look at the United States of America, in the early part of the 21st century. When R. Nicholas Burns does, he sees a worrying pattern.

“They were brought down, most of them, by the fact that they couldn’t afford it any more,” the veteran diplomat told a capacity crowd at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center on Thursday.

There are very few musicians in David Crohan’s league. He says so himself.

But he says it modestly as if, after more than 60 years of playing, he is still surprised by the fact.

“I was given an extraordinary gift. I can hear a popular song, and I can learn it in five or six minutes, and immediately put together an arrangement of it,” said Mr. Crohan.

A bill which has been quietly making its way through the state house could dramatically affect the future ownership of some of the Vineyard’s pristine barrier beaches, moving them from private hands to public.

The bill, which consists of just a single paragraph, relates to the barrier beaches that separate the Island’s Great Ponds from the ocean. Many of these beaches are privately owned and also are retreating into the ponds as they are eroded on their seaward side.

About midday yesterday, the lady bather was treading her way carefully through the dunes, ducking as a small group of avian aggressors swooped around her, piping angrily. Only when she finally plunged into the sea did they break off the attack.

About 100 feet away, Caitlin Borck was encouraged.

It’s not that she enjoys seeing other people get swooped, or likes getting swooped herself — and occasionally, deliberately, unerringly excreted upon — by the little birds.