Ehlana and Ethan:
Happy 42nd Birthday, Uncle Mark!
The birthday dinner and game night at the
Inn were the entertainment highlights of our day; we had some after school biking
fun too; and helped with next-gen kids during that meal while the adults were
busy with the birthday roasting and other entertainment. The rest of our day was good too, but
uneventful; and we’ve had a quiet night since getting home – if you don’t
include the sound of the thunder that has come along with the storms that will
be in the area for half the night before moving out of the area. Mom didn’t want us to do any work in the
office tonight after getting home from the Inn, but we did deal with some
chores before the bath or Jacuzzi time; and now we’re taking care of the usual
twin chat and computer checks.
Cassie and Michael spent their day working
in and around Philadelphia with a mix of business meetings, charity-related
meals, and two site visits. They are
still on the road as we’re writing this with one of their longest evening
drives as they head to Pittsburgh next; and they are going to be tired by the
time they get to their hotel. They will
also only have time for a nap before getting back to work, but they also want
to get a lot done at every stop between there and when they’ll be home in time
for the holiday weekend.
The top world news today was the visit
between the American and Chinese Presidents.
The reports have been surprisingly-quiet; so we’re hoping that President
Trump didn’t do anything to insult the Chinese leaders. The few claims that have come out seem
insubstantial, and if a two-hundred jet purchase order for Boeing is the best
they could do for that level of meetings; then the entire trip was
pointless. There were statements about
China ‘helping’ with the Strait of Hormuz, but there were no specifics; and we
doubt that China will offer to do anything that would actually help with our
goals for the Middle East; and President Trump won’t actually want the kind of
help that China would like to provide that would require serious concessions on
‘our’ side of the conflict.
On the Ukraine war front, Russia is
resuming and expanding their attacks on Ukraine; and Kiev and Odessa are
definitely in the cross-hairs now while the fighting on the frontlines are
ramping up too as Russian forces push to take full control of the Donbass
region. We expect that they will push on
beyond those borders; and the Ukrainian leaders should be worried about a total
collapse of their armed forces. There is
no way for outsiders to know when that will happen, but then the bigger
question ought to be whether there will be anything left of Ukraine before or
after that happens. Western leaders
continue to talk tough and send more money and weapons to Ukraine; and that
just proves that they are delusional. A
story we saw today about a proposal for a Ukraine war tax on NATO countries to
pay for those expenses is more proof of that stupidity, and the Pope apparently
agrees with us; since he has stated that the European plans to build up their
militaries are a very bad idea and that diplomacy is the answer to bringing
peace to the region again.
Finally, we want to mention that worldwide
draws on strategic petroleum reserves are continuing, and that affects oil
prices, but some countries are already closing in on limits for being able to
do that; and we are closing in on the point where those drawdowns will need to
stop; and then the problem won’t be price – it will be supply shortages that
will lead to economic slowdowns. World
leaders can continue to pretend otherwise, but economic output has a direct
relationship with energy use whatever the price, so if we get to a point where
the supply in down ten or fifteen percent; world output will decline by that
amount too. No, that doesn’t mean that
the decline will be constant across the world, and poorest countries will be
hit hardest, but we should all care about all people; and we do not want to see
millions of people moving down from insecurity to desperation. There are some stories about new rounds of
migration toward Europe and elsewhere; and that is sure to get worse if our
leaders don’t get serious about solving the biggest problems right now.
To bring this part of our update around to
that Presidential meeting in China; there weren’t any signs that the two
most-powerful leaders in the world made any progress in solving those problems;
and we are very sure that two-hundred new jets will not make a difference –
unless the plan is to use them for daily flights for desperate migrants needing
to relocate to anywhere they might have a chance to survive the consequences
that are coming from all of the worst political decisions of the past few
decades.
That’s enough for tonight. We’re ready to get some sleep; so we’re going
to get started on that right now.
Until next time, live with love, fellow
Magi of the Light!
