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

We seem to be at the watch and wait stage of of the major issues around the world. Unable to directly influence any of the major events impacting the rest of our lives. Being flooded with political campaign information. If I do not vote the "correct way" all tragedies of the state, county and its residents are my fault.

So continue with my daily habits of noticing something to enjoy during the day, do an activity to make the future better, help someone else and keep the cockroaches moving by shinning light where they aggregate.

Douglas Macgregor, Col. (ret.) reminds me of a couple of men I knew in the past who did not sugarcoat their opinions to fit a particular audience. I may not always agree with him, but will always appreciate the opportunity to learn his thoughts.

If he is correct in his opinions regarding the conflict we, the individuals, will once again have to be picking through the political and societal wreckage to rebuild lives and society. The predator class will simply be looking for another way to make profit.

War and Regrets in Ukraine The American Conservative by Douglas Macgregor, Col. (ret.) Oct 19, 2022

No one in the White House, the Senate, or the House consciously set out to turn the proxy Ukrainian war with Moscow into a contest of “competitive societal collapse” between Russia and NATO. But here we are. No one imagined that the Biden administration and the bipartisan war party would drive Americans and Europeans into a political, military, and economic valley of death, from which there is no easy escape. Yet that is precisely what is happening.
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For the moment, Washington remains blind to these developments.
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Given that American politicians are always more preoccupied by domestic affairs than foreign policy, members of Congress are quick to adopt the “true faith.” This faith explains why for the last eight years members thought a future war with Russia was a low-risk affair. Ukrainians would provide the cannon fodder and Washington would provide the expensive weaponry and munitions.

Predictably, Washington’s governing strategic principles are unchanged from previous U.S. interventions around the world. Muddle through: masses of soldiers—in this case Ukrainians advised by U.S. and allied officers—and huge infusions of cash, equipment, and technology can and will permanently alter strategic reality in America’s favor.
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The stupefying air of self-righteousness the Biden administration assumes when it attacks erstwhile strategic partners such as Saudi Arabia or delivers moralizing lectures to Beijing’s leadership, or when its media surrogates express contempt for the Russian state, is downright dangerous.
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The result is a toxic climate of ideological hatred making it hard to imagine a contemporary U.S. secretary of State ever signing an international agreement renouncing war as an instrument of U.S. national policy, as Secretary of State Frank Kellogg did in 1928. But as one of Shakespeare’s characters in the Merchant of Venice warned, “The truth will out.”
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It is not the first time that American political leaders misjudged the true nature of a situation. In 1969, Kissinger advised President Nixon against de-escalation on the grounds that keeping U.S. troops fighting in Vietnam remained one of Washington’s few bargaining weapons in its negotiations with Hanoi. Kissinger was wrong. Washington gained nothing at the negotiating table with Hanoi by sacrificing more Americans in Vietnam after January 1969.
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As long as Washington delivers cash, military assistance, and equipment to Ukraine, Kiev will fight its unwinnable war, and Washington’s ruling political class will profit from the transfer of cash to the Pentagon and the U.S. Defense Industrial Base. But Washington, its NATO allies, and Ukrainians will gain nothing of strategic value, while Russia is likely to grow stronger. That is a development Washington will regret.

Looking at a couple of different aspects of the worldwide conflict - energy and economics.

Russia-China ties strengthen as global recession looms Asia Times Oct 20, 2022

The much-vaunted economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic was short-lived. The global economy is now once more in the midst of a slowdown – the sharpest after any post-recession recovery since 1970.

From a political perspective, it can be seen as a threat because of its widening influence and continued engagement with Russia. Ironically, though, a purely economic approach to China’s continued growth ends up with precisely the opposite conclusion: China’s economy – and the boost it gets from Russian supply – can be seen as something of a lifeline for Europe.

In the US, the Federal Reserve is ratcheting up interest rates at the fastest pace since the 1980s, and the resultant strengthening of the dollar has caused global shares to drop some 25% in dollar terms in their worst year since 1949.

In Europe, the supply-side shocks resulting from sanctions have unleashed rampant inflation and wiped out growth forecasts for the coming years. Berlin’s recent announcement of a €200 billion gas price relief scheme has driven a wedge between Germany and its poorer neighbors, casting doubt on the possibility of a collaborative European response to the coming turbulence.
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In part, China’s continued growth comes down to its readiness to buy Russian goods on favorable terms for its own market. Its neighbor to the north provides a steady flow of hydrocarbons, metals, fertilizers, and value-added products, including from the petrochemical and forestry industries.
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A paper prepared by the European Union’s foreign service and presented to ministers on Monday reportedly says that “China has become an even stronger global competitor for the EU, the US and other like-minded partners,” paving the way for a recalibration of Sino-European relations from limited engagement to all-out competition.

But while Europe’s largest economies grind to a halt, the increasing trade between Russia and China is one of the factors helping to keep the global economy buoyant.

More on the energy consequences of the conflict.

EU says its gas reserves are ready for winter. But there's a catch Russia Times 10-21-2022

Only about 10% of the gas in storage facilities from Italy to the Netherlands is under the direct control of public officials through national strategic reserves, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The rest is in the hands of international trading companies, like Glencore and Vitol, energy utilities and industrial groups. Those companies are free to sell to the highest bidder, even if it’s in another country, while their main interest is maximizing their profit margins.
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The bloc’s gas network hasn’t operated under a scenario like the current crisis, experts say, noting that much will depend on the weather. According to consultancy Wood Mackenzie, in the event of a cold winter, inventories could sink below 10% by the end of March, which could set off a renewed scramble for supplies ahead of next winter. Some traders and analysts have warned that the real test will be refilling stores next year without Russian gas supplies and as the EU target rises to 90% by November 1.

Food and famine is a common theme of the political and societal control that keeps coming up in our history and modern politics (think Afghan and Yemen).

Blood in the Archives Asia Times Oct 18, 2022
Newly declassified files from the National Archives of Australia show how the Department of Foreign Affairs provided PR cover for Indonesia’s genocidal scorched-earth campaign in East Timor, Peter Job reports.

The Indonesian military, aided by U.S. and Australian supplied materiel and aircraft, launched a campaign to isolate and eliminate the Timorese resistance fighters. It was anticipated that the starving rural populations would abandon support for the guerrillas.

In some ways the Indonesian campaign mirrored the U.S. military campaign in South Vietnam a few years earlier, of “strategic hamlets” and the “Phoenix Program” to eliminate resistance guerrilla sympathisers.

This campaign of “encirclement and annihilation” saw widespread destruction of food resources in Fretilin-held areas, enforced surrenders of the civilian population and their relocation into transit and resettlement camps. Villages were bombed and destroyed, crops were burned, livestock destroyed. Napalm was used. Many civilians died during this campaign and in the aftermath journey to the camps.

Biolabs issue still a current concern at the United Nations.

US May Be Compelled to Answer Questions on Biolabs in Ukraine, This Time at UNSC Sputnik News Oct 18, 2022

The issue of US biolabs in Ukraine has once again received wide international publicity. On October 18, Belarus, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Syria, and Russia called for invoking Article VI of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) because of US military and biological activities in Ukraine.
Article VI of the Biological Weapons Convention allows states-parties to lodge a complaint with the United Nations Security Council if they suspect a breach of treaty obligations by another state. In the event of such a development, the United States, as a state-party to the convention, would be obliged to cooperate in any investigation that may be initiated by the UNSC.
Chinese experts interviewed by Sputnik believe that if the US has nothing to hide, it should provide a comprehensive explanation.

One last day before the freezing weather hits, so will be busy.

What is on your mind today?