The contrast could not be greater. This evening listening to the steady croak of frogs. The first calf of the season should arrive this week. Canadian geese have been flying in pairs looking for nesting spots. Periodic Osprey calls pierce the air. Daffodils and first wave of fruit trees in bloom.

The economic changes caused by US actions are just starting to show. My heart is heavy with sadness on the loss of life, destruction of communities throughout Western Asia and anticipated changes throughout the world.

The war plans being used were developed before drones were a big deal.

Cheap Iranian drones destroying billions: The Radical Asymmetry of Modern Warfare (5.53 min)

Victor Gao rejects the concept we are experiencing a conflict between Western Rule of Law vs BRICS path to multipolarity. He elevates the attack on Iran to a war against mankind. It is a thought provoking interview regarding how he frames the problem US and Israeli leadership inflicted upon the world.

Victor Gao: "You DARE to invade Iran. Be prepared for the CONSEQUENCES." | Ep. 15 March 17, 2026 (1:14:09 min)

Bio
Victor Gao- China’s Unofficial Voice to the World? Joel Wong July 2, 2025

Victor Gao is one of the most prominent Chinese voices in global media, often seen defending China’s policies and presenting Beijing’s worldview to international audiences. While not an official government spokesman, Gao plays a key unofficial role in shaping global perceptions of China—thanks to his unique blend of insider experience, academic rigor, and cultural fluency.

Born in 1962 in Suzhou, Gao first gained prominence as the English interpreter for Deng Xiaoping during China’s reform era in the 1980s. He later earned degrees from Beijing Foreign Studies University and Yale University, including a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School, and became a licensed attorney in New York. He has worked in diplomacy, law, finance, and academia, and now serves as Vice President of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), a Beijing think tank.

Comprehensive article.
Iran’s nuclear materials and equipment by no means ‘obliterated’ Asia Time March 19, 2026

he Trump administration’s demand, just two days before the attacks began, that Iran export its enriched uranium stocks represented a tacit acknowledgment that Iran’s government still had control of this material or could get access to it.

So, as airstrikes on Iran continue, an unclear fate faces several elements of Iran’s nuclear program, including:

• its stock of enriched uranium;
• its centrifuges for enriching more uranium, and parts for more centrifuges;
• any equipment it may have for turning enriched uranium into metal, shaping it into nuclear weapons components and taking other weapons-assembly steps;
• the documents and expertise from its past nuclear weapons program; and
• its as-yet-intact nuclear facilities that are deep underground.

...
With just 100 centrifuges, Iran could further enrich the 60% enriched material to be 90% or more U-235 in a few weeks. That is the concentration needed for the nuclear weapon design that Iran was working on in the secret nuclear weapons program it largely stopped in late 2003.

Even without further enrichment, the 60% enriched material could be used in a bomb, either exploding with less power or using more material and explosives.

Beyond Iran using this material itself, there are other concerns. Nobody knows who might get it if Iran’s government collapses.

China offers Taiwan energy security if it gives up sovereignty Taiwan News March 19, 2026

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Spokesperson Chen Binhua told reporters in Beijing that closer integration with China could help address Taiwan’s energy challenges, particularly its reliance on liquefied natural gas and oil imports from the Middle East, per Reuters.

The war in Iran has disrupted shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz. Taiwan sources roughly one-third of its LNG from Qatar, though authorities say alternative supplies have been secured for the next two months.
...
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council pushed back against the claim, with Deputy Minister Shen Yu-chung (沈有忠) describing such efforts as part of Beijing’s cognitive warfare strategy aimed at undermining public confidence in Taiwan’s government.

The island has been thinking about its energy sovereignty. This report was published last summer.

Resilience or Reliance? Taiwan’s Struggle for Energy Security Taiwan Center for Security Studies July 16, 2025

Dubbed “Silicon Island,” Taiwan and its 23.4 million citizens have carved out a place on the global stage as a vibrant democracy and a powerhouse in semiconductor manufacturing, with chips alone making up around 15% of its GDP. But this economic strength masks a critical vulnerability: Taiwan, with its high population density, limited natural resources, and isolated position in the geopolitical landscape, imports over 90% of its energy. As an island with strained ties to Beijing and very little official participation in international energy frameworks, Taiwan’s dependence on foreign fuel makes it particularly exposed to supply shocks.
...
At the beginning of this year, the Taiwan Center for Security Studies hosted the 2025 Regional Security Tabletop Exercise (TTX), where a blockade scenario following Donald Trump’s election and the worsening of US-China tensions was simulated. In this exercise, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), under the pretense of maritime inspections, targeted coal transports and LNG vessels to erode societal resilience and public morale, plunging Taiwan into a state of intense energy vulnerability. We found that Taiwan’s power grid would likely be the first to suffer due to geographical constraints, its current one-way power system, and dependence on imported fossil fuels. Even during peacetime, Taiwan faces disruptions in its supply chains due to typhoons and other natural events.

To address these risks, shifting toward bidirectional energy transfer could improve grid resilience by balancing supply during periods of high demand. Diversifying energy sources and investing in short-term measures such as LNG storage are also critical. Finally, decentralizing energy production and reducing reliance on the main grid through microgrids will be essential to strengthen Taiwan’s energy security.

Short-term solutions include improving energy storage, diversifying energy sources, and investing in LNG storage, though LNG is not a permanent fix. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) present a flexible nuclear option but face regulatory challenges. Microgrids and decentralized systems can reduce grid dependency, but strong government support is needed.

A couple of articles I found interesting this week.

China grows military-grade rubber in Gobi Desert as war reshapes supply chains Interesting Engineering Jan 31, 2026

Far from China’s traditional tropical plantations, researchers have turned to the Gobi Desert as a testing ground for a new kind of strategic crop: high-value rubber-producing trees.

The effort reflects Beijing’s push to reduce its exposure to fragile overseas supply chains, as China remains the world’s largest consumer and importer of natural rubber, driven largely by its vast automotive and industrial sectors.
...
Turning a medicinal tree into a reliable desert crop required more than just planting it in the sand. The first major hurdle was genetics and to solve it, the research team built a dedicated breeding base in Lueyang county in Shaanxi, where Northwest A&F University is based.
...
In November, Zhu announced a breakthrough: a “rubber priority” extraction process published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. The method combines low-melting-point, eco-friendly solvents with biological treatment for initial gum separation, followed by targeted steps to isolate the rubber. The result is a faster, greener process that significantly lowers energy and solvent consumption while delivering high yields and exceptional purity, making large-scale Duzhong rubber production more practical and sustainable.

Sheepdogs reveal a better way to guide robot swarms Techxplore March 18, 2026

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology studied how handler–dog teams manage these unpredictable flocks in sheepdog trials and found principles that extend beyond livestock herding.

In a study published in Science Advances as the cover feature, the researchers applied those insights to computer simulations showing how similar strategies could improve the control of robot swarms, autonomous vehicles, AI agents, and other networked systems where many machines must coordinate their actions despite uncertain conditions.
...
"That's the counterintuitive part. When only one person has the right information, averaging can wash out the signal. But if you follow one person at a time, and keep switching who that is, the right information can spread through the crowd," Bhamla said.

Building on that idea, the researchers tested a strategy inspired by the switching behavior they observed in sheep. In the simulations, each robot paid attention to just one source at a time (either a guiding signal or a neighboring robot) and switched that source from one step to the next.
...
The researchers call their approach the Indecisive Swarm Algorithm. The name reflects a counterintuitive insight: allowing influence to shift among individuals over time can make groups easier to guide when conditions are uncertain.

Then there is this convoluted mess beginning in the 1970's

The Hidden Epstein-Iran Connection Nobody's Talking About (31:30 min) March 18, 2026