Ehlana and Ethan:
Happy 5th Anniversary, Caleb and Erica Palmer!
This update is coming to you while we’re on the road this evening from Whistler to the provincial Capital of British Columbia, Victoria. Our final day in the Canadian Rockies has been amazing, and along with the work stops; we checked out some of the top natural wonders in and around Whistler; ranging from an art museum to bear watching and a zip line. That was a lot to pack into one day and the total drive time to Victoria will be around five hours plus cameo sightseeing stops, but the views heading out of the mountains and toward the Pacific Ocean with the sunset ahead of us are going to be amazing too! That part of our story and the personal news for the rest of our night can wait for our next update.
While we’ve been having an amazing, sunny, and fairly-hot day here, we didn’t miss out on a lot back at home – though Cassie and Michael – and Sophia and Aaron – likely would have been at the anniversary dinner and party for Caleb and Erica. They’ve had a hotter day, but also got a bit of rain; and it would have been a chores day for us if we’d been home. Thanks to the time change, we can report that Naomi, Sophia, and I are getting blamed for our team’s loss tonight in their game against the Vortex. We’ll deal with the teasing about that, but for the record, they only lost by two runs; and the hot weather and a rain shower might have had more to do with that difference in scoring than our ability to be there to contribute! Cassie and the guys in the van with us aren’t buying that line when we all know that we’re the three best players on our team; so let’s just stop there and move on with the world news update.
Let’s begin with a story that might prove to be an actual problem in the future thanks to the precedent related to the Ukraine war but out of Sweden. They pirated a Russian ship, and then their courts ‘awarded’ it to the Ukrainian government. The trends toward piracy by European and American navies has been stupid, but now the courts in those countries are getting involved and trying to legitimize those thefts; and that is going to end badly for everyone. If that isn’t a problem for ‘our’ side; then we surely can’t complain if Russia, China, India, or any other country in the world does the same to our commercial ships! Do we really want the world to go back to the days of actual piracy risks and the need for naval escorts and security forces to protect shipping?
While politicians and media pundits have been fighting over stories about western weapons shortages and President Trump added threats against ‘leakers’ along with the never-ending threats against Iran; the Middle East tensions remain high as Israel continues attacks in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon; and the Saudi-Houthi fighting continues and intensifies too. Iran and America might not be exchanging missiles and drones again yet, but those tensions remain high; we still don’t see a deal for the Strait of Hormuz not just being agreed to but actually implemented; and there is very little shipping traffic happening in either strait. That will continue to deepen the economic consequences for the world – especially as reserves dwindle and actual access to petroleum-based products becomes a bigger issue than price. News flash to our leaders – you can’t sell what you don’t have!
European leaders continue their insanity far beyond piracy and theft – though they continue to steal interest accumulation from frozen Russian assets and give them away to their own military industrial complex – we mean Ukraine! The immigrant crisis in that Spanish enclave continues, but that is just a distraction for the people that is self-inflicted due to foreign policies in Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere. They really are pushing hard to get Ukraine to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian, and we can add in a bit of cynicism here when writing about ongoing efforts to send all fighting-age Ukrainian men back to Ukraine to die for the cause too while keeping the young Ukrainian women. That is more than a little dark, but possibly-true; and not even as-terrible as it is to intentionally send men to die on the front lines of a war that Ukraine shouldn’t have fought at all.
Finally, for this report, the tariff war with China is on again; our leaders just passed another Russian sanctions bill that really targets China and India; and the battle is on again as tariffs or controls are added for everything from rare earth minerals to tech of all kinds and general consumer products. Our leaders really should crack a history book or three, since trade wars, blockades, and other economic aggressions – like piracy – often lead to hot wars. Since our side isn’t doing very well with the wars already in progress; maybe we shouldn’t risk starting one with China and its allies! They should also keep in mind that allies sometimes switch sides – not to mention that many of our allies also have large segments of their populations that hate us; so we should seriously think about reversing course before the fighting around the world really does escalate into broader conflicts or wars!
Yeah, we don’t trust our leaders to have that much sense either, but let’s stop there. We want to enjoy the rest of this drive to the west coast; the scenery is stunning; and the co-ed cuddle time is really great too – at least for three out of four of the couples in this van! Stay tuned, since our final weekend in Canada should be awesome too – even with all of the work that Cassie and Michael have booked in Victoria and Vancouver!
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
