Ehlana and Ethan:
We may be officially getting
too-responsible and boring for our younger cousins to hang out with us! Okay, that isn’t actually true, but we do
have a gang of younger cousins camping with friends tonight while we’ve worked
in the office with Mom and Dad after our ball practices; and didn’t want to
join in on the camping fun tonight when we already have a lot going on every
day this week. For today, that started
with Tai Chi by the river and breakfast with Mom and Dad; we work-played at the
lab or archives for the rest of the morning through to around one o’clock; and
then we came home and met up with some friends and cousins for a few play hours
this afternoon. We made a picnic lunch;
headed out on our bikes; and split our time between riding the trails,
swimming, and just hanging out in the shade of a tree for some quality teen
chat time. Our four best friends were
with us for dinner with Mom and Dad; we moved on to those ball practices we
already mentioned; and then Ethan and I were on our own when we came home. We’ve had another triple-digit high today, so
getting into the cool of the house worked for us, but Mom had us get cleaned up
first before joining our parents in the office – a not-at-all subtle statement of
necessity over being polite; and the work and Magi lesson that we did after the
showers was definitely more-pleasant for everyone in the room! ;^)
Our work on charity and family business
projects mixed in again with world news; so let’s combine the two as we wrap up
this report. The disaster response in
Venezuela is getting less media attention as usual for any story cycle, but the
work is really just getting started; there are hundreds of thousands of people
that will need extended and ongoing basic support for months or years; and the
rebuilding will definitely take years after losing hundreds of buildings in the
hardest hit regions. There are other
stories that we are watching and don’t like – including the ‘boots on the
ground’ reports that suggest an ongoing American military presence in the
country. That is another very bad idea
from our leaders if they are planning a back door invasion; and we definitely
do not need to start another war or even an unwanted occupation. Mom and Cassie have led some new work in
Europe related to the heat wave there, but we have limits on aide when the
problem is so widespread and also dispersed on an individual level for the most
at-risk people. We can help with
low-income medical clinics and supporting groups that work with the elderly,
children, or sick; and can only wish that we could do more for all of the
people that don’t have the kinds of support they need and have to try and
survive on their own. The death toll
attributed to the heat is now in the thousands, and that really does bother us
when most of those deaths – and injuries – are preventable.
That brings us up to the wars report; since
many of those other problems could have been solved if money had been spent on
population support instead of military and weapons of all kinds. Let’s include the earthquakes disaster for
that, since all of those buildings that were destroyed could have been built
better if Venezuela hadn’t needed to spend so much time and money on trying to
defend itself from the United States and the economic, political, and military
destruction that has been imposed on them for decades. I feel a rant coming on, but don’t want to go
there; so let’s move on. We are hearing
a report out of Ukraine that we hope proves to be wrong about nuclear materials
that were sent there to be weaponized – and that Russia tracked and then bombed
and destroyed. If true, that is a
horrific escalation by Ukraine and their western backers; we hope there isn’t
any significant radiation risks in the area; and it is truly insane for any
leaders to think that adding in nuclear dirty bombs or ‘tactical’ nukes into
the war mix would be a good idea or have any chance of changing the outcome for
what is happening in Ukraine. Okay, they
could make things far-worse, but you know what I meant; and best-case for us
would be finding out that this story is just more propaganda.
As for the Middle East, the horrors
inflicted by Israel on Gaza, the West Bank, and too-many of its’ neighbors
rolls on; they really believe that they can kill and bomb their way to victory
and the Greater Israel project; and the rest of the world continues to let them
get away with never-ending genocide and war crimes. We aren’t going to add individual stories to
highlight those horrors tonight, but they are out there – if not in our own
major media outlets; and we can assure you that God does not approve of what is
happening in and around Israel.
Depending on the moment or latest report, the Strait of Hormuz either is
or isn’t open; Iran and America continue to exchange fire and rhetoric as peace
talks falter – again; and none of our leaders seem to be seriously trying to
stop the still-growing and developing economic crises that are spreading across
the world. Ethan and I are not amused by
inflation, but we did laugh at serious commentary about Apple product price
increases related to raw materials shortages and price hikes; since that was
getting more attention today than price increases on basic groceries and
supplies that will be far more costly to daily budgets for most people! For the record, we have those price pressures
here in our little town, but we also do what we can to help everyone through
our family businesses and charities; and we also have advantages in a small
farming community that aren’t possible in cities – especially when it comes to
local food; our solar and wind farm; and our ability to work together as a
community.
Let’s stop there. It is getting late, since we did put in a few
hours of work in the office plus some time phasing; and we’re tired and ready
to get some sleep. There is only one day
left in June, and we would like it to be a good one; so we’re out of here and
off to rest up so we can be ready for all of the fun.
Until next time, live with love, fellow
Magi of the Light!
