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