Interesting Times

“May you live in interesting times . . .”

It would seem that we are indeed living in interesting times. When most of us are blithely going about our daily lives, trying to get into the Thanksgiving spirit, if not yet the Christmas spirit, many out there in positions of authority are working hard to disturb the planet in often dangerous ways. What do we have going on at the moment?

·         The US and its various allies are attempting to speak seriously for the first time since 1979 to Iran, in an attempt to de-escalate the state of crisis that has existed since the Ayatollah and his minions assumed control of Iran.  We are attempting to convince Iran to renounce nuclear weapons development in exchange for a lifting of the economic sanctions that have been in place for decades. This effort would seem a good thing, eh? Well, except for Israel and its annoying, warring leader Benny Netanyahu. Oh yeah, and except for our ally Saudi Arabia. The king there is always cranky and Iran engaged with the West makes him very cranky. Oh and then there’s our internal warriors, the GOP, or as we like to think of them, the Party of the Extreme Right Persuasion (PERPs for short). They dislike anything Obama suggests, just cuz. Meanwhile Iran just keeps on truck’n with its “nucular” options open.

·         And then there’s China and Japan, still feuding after all these years over some islands they both claim.  But China seems to be upping the ante by declaring that any unidentified planes flying into its airspace over the islands will be met with appropriate force. So, of course, we are continuing to fly our B-52’s into their airspace over the islands, without identifying ourselves . . . just, you know, cuz.

 

·         Then there’s Syria . . . remember Syria? They continue to shoot at one another , the good guys and the bad guys, except we don’t seem to know who’s who in that regard.

·         Oh, and now we have a new one—the Central African Republic-- one guesses it is located somewhere in central Africa, huh?. They all seem to be having a lot of fun killing anyone who isn’t already dead, but especially women, children and other innocent folks trying to get on with their already dismal lives. I guess it has something to do with religion, or power, but I repeat myself.  The French have kindly offered to send in another 1,000 troops to try to “keep the peace” Good luck on that one. I’m thinking Vietnam. Maybe you might consider 50-100,000 troops to “keep the peace”, just for starters.

And now, with all these happy goings on, we are supposed to be thinking about shopping, eating, and shopping some more. That is what Christmas is all about isn’t it . . . shopping??

Well, Black Friday is coming soon. So, remember, ignore all those awful shoot’m-ups going on around the world, and keep focusing on----SHOPPING.

Shop till you drop, baby . . . it’s what we’re all about as a Nation.