“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Pablo Picasso

A feeling of potential abrupt change has been ever presence in my life. The local environment provides stark examples of changes can last for centuries with little to no recovery.

(4.11 min)

Some subject a lot more scenery. Some of the volcanic flows are several thousand years old and still do not support plant life.
Newberry National Volcanic Monument: Volcanic Wonders of Oregon (56:44 min)(easy to understand at 1.5 speed)

Our societies make choices to shape lives to adapt to local land conditions or radically change the landscape to fit the way we expect to live. Modern industrialized cultures for good or bad reshape their living environment.

A fascinating look at one of China's responses to their need for energy sources.

China’s EAST breakthroughs shorten path to fusion power Asia Times May 11, 2023 (part one)

Thanks in large part to the accomplishments of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), China has propelled itself to the forefront of international research on magnetic confinement fusion.
...
On April 12, 2023, EAST succeeded for the first time in maintaining a 100 million C° plasma for over six minutes in the dynamic state known as the “H-mode”, where “H” stands for “high confinement.” This specific plasma state has long been regarded as especially favorable to the stable confinement of plasmas in tokamak devices.
...
The best and probably unique practical solution to confining a plasma on a sustained basis, on Earth, is to suspend it inside a vacuum chamber using powerful magnetic fields, a process known as magnetic confinement. Putting it extremely simply, the charged particles making up the plasma are caught up in the magnetic field lines.

The leading design for achieving sustained magnetic confinement of a plasma is the tokamak, invented in 1950 by Soviet physicists Andrei Sakharov and Igor Tamm.

The innovative fire fueling China’s artificial sun Asia Times May 12, 2023 (part one)

EAST reactor puts China on fusion’s leading edge Asia Times May 13, 2023 (part one)

Türkiye's (Turkey) election is Sunday and Western powers would like to see a new leader.

Turkish election is likely to disappoint the West Asia Times by M.K. Bhadrakumar May 12, 2023

Erdogan is a man of history with a formidable track record in power in consolidating civilian supremacy in a working democracy.

Kilicdaroglu, on the contrary, has nothing to show and never held an elected post. Yet, if Western capitals are dreaming about a Kilicdaroglu victory, it underscores the high stakes in Sunday’s election.

However, the paradox is, even if Kilicdaroglu is the winner, western powers shouldn’t expect an outright alignment of Turkish foreign policies with Western demands.
...
The Western hope is that,given the alchemy of the rainbow coalition that may propel Kilicdaroglu to victory, he will be leading a weak government — unlike Erdogan’s assertive, stable government.
...
Considering that President Biden is fully in the orbit of the influential Greek lobby in US politics (which lavishly funded his political career through decades), Kilicdaroglu will have no illusions while upholding claims of maritime boundaries, special economic zones or exploration of gas reserves in East Mediterranean.
...
The Turkish neutrality in the Ukraine conflict cannot be understood as a “stand-alone” issue. In reality, geoeconomics has been a driving force in Turkish-Russian relationship. Whether Kilicdaroglu may or may not have uses for the Russian S-400 anti-missile system is a moot point, but he certainly cannot do without the $20 billion Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, which Russia’s Rosatom is not only constructing but will also be operating in future.

The Turkish economy is partly built on the “German model” — Turkish companies use cheap energy from Russia to produce industrial products at competitive prices for the European market. Why would Kilicdaroglu emulate the folly of the present “trans-Atlanticist” leaders in Berlin to terminate cheap long-term energy supplies from Russia at the cost of deindustrialization?

Bold gambits on the West Asian chessboard The Cradle by Pepe Escobar May 9, 2023

Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu has already made it plain that if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan retains power in the 14 May presidential elections, Ankara will neither impose sanctions on Russia nor violate the Montreux Convention, which forbids the passage of warships to and from the Black Sea in wartime.
...
Erdogan’s chief security and foreign policy adviser, Ibrahim Kalyn, has aptly pointed out that there is no war between Russia and Ukraine; rather, it’s a war between Russia and the west with Ukraine serving as the proxy.

This is why the collective west is heavily invested in an “Erdogan must go” campaign, which is lavishly funded to propel an oddly-matched coalition into the presidential seat. In case the Turkish opposition wins – and their payment to the Hegemon begins – sanctions and violations of Montreux may be on the cards again.

Yet Washington may be in for a surprise. Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has implied there will be a more or less continued balanced posturing of Ankara’s foreign policy tilt, while some observers believe that even if Erdogan is ousted, there will be limits to Turkiye’s pivot back to the west.

The quality of US diplomacy in the Team Biden Administration.

Exclusive: Biden administration hunts for high-value Russians for potential prisoner swap CNN May 11, 2023

The Biden administration is scouring the globe for offers that could entice Russia to release two wrongfully detained Americans, Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
...
S officials’ outreach extends to some countries that have recently arrested alleged Russian spies, including Brazil, Norway and Germany, as well as a former Soviet bloc country, to discuss the possibility of including them in any potential prisoner swaps. Germany has in its custody a former colonel from Russia’s domestic spy agency named Vadim Krasikov, who is widely seen as being atop Russia’s list of prisoners it wants back. ...
While the US has multiple Russian cyber criminals in custody, Russia will not entertain them as part of a deal for Americans charged with espionage, according to current and former US officials involved in past proposals put on the table with Russia.

This one was highlighted in Monday's The Evening Blues
Zelenskyy vows to defeat Putin/ JFK assassination update - Ray McGovern (22:58 min) May 8, 2023

DOJ & Ukraine - Where's the Truth? Larry Johnson fmr CIA (22.33 min) May 12, 2023

The the other livestream videos this week by Judge Napolitano channel ongoing discussions regarding current Ukraine/Russia conflict and drone strike on the Kremlin from different perspectives.

Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ)are one of the methods to keep tensions high the area around China.

Clearing the air on East Asia’s ADIZs Asia Times May 11, 2023
Grumbles about ADIZ violations often carp of China’s rising assertiveness but the combustible issue is much more complex

China’s November 2013 declaration of an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea was rebuked by the United States and its Northeast Asian allies.

It was viewed as a counter-hegemonic geopolitical move for control over contested islands and as the first of multiple declarations designed to expand Beijing’s regional influence and reinforce dubious maritime sovereignty claims — particularly over the South China Sea.
...
Viewing East Asian ADIZs through the narrow “rise of China” lens provides only partial understanding. Making full sense of the issue requires a broader regional focus that acknowledges the ambiguity of these zones, and the complex interactions between actors involved in establishing, enforcing, challenging or complying with them.

Despite dangers of escalation and miscalculation, there is currently no formal agreement on how ADIZs operate in the region.
...

The initial ADIZs were set up around South Korea, Japan and Taiwan in the 1950s.
...
But consensus over these zones has broken down after the Cold War. East Asian states have expanded — or set up — their zones to reinforce their claims while opposing any suggestion that rivals be permitted to do the same. For example, in 2010 Japan expanded its zone to slightly overlap with the Taiwanese ADIZ, a move opposed by Taipei.
...
Redirecting the use of ADIZs back to defensive purposes, such as nuclear security and counterterrorism, is unlikely as long as policymakers believe that they are effective for asserting sovereignty over the sea or land below.

What is on your mind today?