Ehlana and Ethan:
Happy 22nd Birthday, Ben Norton!
Before we get to our news of the day, let’s take a moment to write about Ben – formerly known as Benjamin or Benji, since we haven’t mentioned Rebecca’s youngest brother-in-law and his life has changed a lot over the past couple of years while we haven’t really been involved at all. We didn’t even mention in our journals that he got married to Bonnie Benton last fall after harvest in a very small wedding; they had opted for two-year college programs geared toward farm mechanics and retail management respectively; and they have a house on the Norton farms not far from Rebecca and Lucas. While we see them around town and at church now and then; Ben and Bonnie keep busy with their own lives; and their adventures really don’t intersect with ours very often despite the family and work connections. That isn’t actually unusual, so we’re only mentioning it today because we should point out now and then that life does go on even in our little town without us really having anything to do with those events at all.
That’s definitely true here in Regina, and while we’re hoping to make an impression and helping a lot of people in this area and province; we are not so egotistical to think that we can visit for a day and change and become the centers of attention or even have our passing through noticed by the vast majority of the people! We have been having a really good day and got a lot of work done with Cassie and Michael; there were cameo sightseeing moments along the way; and now we’re winding down toward nap time because we’ll be up early for the work-drive day from here to Calgary, Alberta. The work has primarily been agriculture-related for everything we’ve done, and while that’s a bit repetitive to the past couple of days; I find the expansion of our lab projects awesome – even if it isn’t as much fun for my twin and our best friends! There is still a lot for all of us to see and do, though, so we have all had a lot of fun with all of the work and play adventures. The sightseeing highlights included the Wascana Centre Park and Lake where we did some boating on the lake and had a working picnic lunch; the Royal Saskatchewan Museum where Scotty, the world’s oldest T-Rex skeleton is on display; and the RCMP Heritage Centre where we learned all about the history of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
While we worked and played around here; the world moved on without us – and not in positive ways when it comes to the top wars, politics, or business. The world markets blunder along regardless of the real news happening while computers try to battle each other to make the most money for their respective companies and investors and the actual purpose of those markets is lost in the process. The top political stories of the past day and change have revolved around Senator Graham’s funeral and the leader-level meetings that have been going on in Washington among the dignitaries that came to pay their respects. We aren’t going to write about the funeral at all; since we wouldn’t have anything nice to say about the Senator or the undeserved ceremonies and accolades. The politics of faux peace have been on display, and the hypocrisy is never-ending as terms are being demanded of both Russia and Iran that will not be accepted; so even suggesting those proposals is a pointless waste of time. Add in the sanctions package being pushed through congress in Senator Graham’s name; and our leaders are not looking for peace – they want another world war. Let’s also clarify that those new sanctions are really aimed at China, and if we don’t already have enough stress on the world economy; placing up to five-hundred percent tariffs on China would be insane – and they have already promised to halt exports of rare earth minerals if those sanctions are activated.
The fighting on the frontlines and air attacks in the Ukraine war continue to be devastating, and since the diplomatic positions on each side are hardening as the costs rise; there will not be any peace deals anytime soon. There is less news out of the Middle East, but shipping through the two straits has all but stopped despite claims to the contrary; and the only thing holding back more bombing appears to be the real fear of retaliation from Iran and their allies – especially after the Houthis caused so much damage to the Saudi refineries in retaliation for the attacks on Yemeni ports. The Houthis have fired on more ships trying to pass through ‘their’ strait; other ships have been turned back into the Red Sea; and the supply chain shocks will come over the next weeks and months.
Finally, for today, we want to mention reports we’re seeing about the supply chain system. There are obviously already a lot of problems, but we also know that even if both wars ended today; it would take months just to re-deploy global shipping lanes – and longer than that if stability isn’t also restored with some confidence. We doubt that anyone can even predict what will happen to companies that might be going bankrupt without cargos to transport; and it could take years to repair the damage to ports and energy infrastructure in both war regions. As the shutdowns continue, even without more bombing, those issues will continue to worsen; and months could easily become years for recovery. That will hurt the poorest nations and people first; and we will earn all-new enemies as world-wide desperation grows.
That’s another depressing blast of world news, so let’s stop there; and we’ll do our best to switch to happier thoughts as we wind down toward dreamland. Our favorite co-ed cuddle buddies are here to help us out with that; so we’re out of here and will work on filling our personal spaces with love and happiness that we will also hope will spread into the world – even if we can only help to make that happen for a few people at a time!
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
