This blog will be updated as things of interest occur to be communicated to interested parties.
Right now we are seeing a number of interesting things.
1. The World Economic Forum - a major power group that does not style itself as such but certainly is, issued the following statement a few weeks ago:
“We are at the cusp of a vicious cycle that could impact societies for years. The pandemic and war in Ukraine have fragmented the global economy and created far-reaching consequences that risk wiping out the gains of the last 30 years. Leaders face difficult choices and trade-offs domestically when it comes to debt, inflation, and investment. Yet business and government leaders must also recognize the absolute necessity of global cooperation to prevent economic misery and hunger for millions around the world. The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting this week will provide a starting point for such collaboration”, (Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum.) the statement went on to predict high inflation across the globe, food insecurity, particularly in parts of Asia and Africa, and "continued fragmentation of the global economy"
They of course suggested that their annual meeting could provide further insight (guidance perhaps?).
To the interest of many watchers, those predictions seem to be beginning to fail. The price of gasoline, considered a leading indicator, has begun to fall and has fallen for more than 30 consecutive days as of this posting. Generally, rising oil and gas prices presage increased inflation, and dropping oil and gas prices presage... the opposite. It's too early to tell for sure, but I think we are going to see prices stabilizing over the next 2 or 3 months -- predicted ONLY by the government of the United States, which I find incredibly interesting. Given the resources available to the World Economic Forum, why would they have issued such a frightening statement unless they were very, very sure? Was/Is someone trying to LEAD the economy, rather than respond to economic forces? I certainly am not sure.
2. Evidence is rapidly emerging that the United States Secret Service may have, at some level, cooperated in the coup attempt on January 6. (It doesn't matter which party you support in the US or whether you think Trump or Biden SHOULD have won the election, honesty is absolutely necessary to ever make headway in the world, PARTICULARLY the hidden world and honesty says - Trump lost, Trump then plotted to seize power illegally - and many people cooperated with that effort. It is a shock to me that the Secret Service, at any level cooperated, but the destruction of all text messages from Jan 5 and 6, 2021 AFTER the Inspector General had ordered them turned over is pretty sure proof that they are hiding something. They can twist themselves into pretzels claiming that it was a mistake, a migration, whatever; I taught computer science courses at the university level for over 20 years - what happened was deliberate. That leaves me wondering if the 1st and 2nd families - at a minimum - are actually safe from some TV-level attempt at murder, and as an American that concerns me.
3. The Council on Foreign Relations (full disclosure - I have been an "academic" member for nearly 20 years - I do NOT have any decision-making power, no vote, no nothing, but I do usually get their announcements and occasionally engage in conversations that mean nothing) appears to me to be concerned more by the unbalancing of power in Europe due to Russia's failed invasion of Ukraine than by the invasion itself, which I find odd. On the other hand, I agree with them that the side effect of the invasion is increased food insecurity in some areas globally. I, who am more concerned about human lives than power find this very upsetting.
