A World of Woe

For many, many years now – really since Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in August of 1990 – I’ve associated the end of summer (through Labor Day) as a time when bad stuff happens.  So far, this year, my theory about summer disasters (real ones, not just crappy movies for overgrown boys) seems to be holding firm.  Let’s see now….

n   Ebola.  Steven Soderbergh’s film “Contagion” isn't theoretical; Ebola is on the move and the question is whether or not it can be largely contained to West Africa or, because of the miracle of air travel and our truly global society, become more geographically dispersed.  Scary stuff…and for those students of scary stuff, you might want to read The Hot Zone¸  a true story about some monkeys in Reston, VA and the danger posed by this deadly virus.

n  Russia.  Putin’s past and present seem to be catching up with him:  A European Court has found in favor of Yukos, the former oil company that he destroyed because it’s founder called him out as the neo-Stalinist he is (and ordered Russia to pay $50B in damages). Even energy-dependent Europe can’t deny that Putin’s Russia is a pretty rogue state.  But punishment and its resulting disruption (Russia is on verge of a major recession) often encourage dangerous people to do even more dangerous things (remember Hitler?) so here’s hoping Putin “blinks” and soon.

n  Gaza.  This is a tragedy that never seems to come to any kind of conclusion.  It would seem so again.  Israel, beware:  Hard to believe when your enemy is Hamas, but you seem very, very close to losing the PR war.

n  Southern California water.  Shades of things to come. Everything you need to know about our country’s aging infrastructure was on view the other day in L.A.  Tens of millions of gallons of water went down the drain in a very thirsty part of our country.  Not good.

n  The U.S. economy and our stock market.  Roaring in the 2^nd Quarter.  But will our troubled world thrown “cold water” on us in Q3?

n  Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife.  Looks like staying in a bad marriage constitutes a felony, among other things.  Oy.

Let’s just say that things this summer are proceeding down the same perilous path as in summers past. 

Time for a vacation, people.