One of the Salts out in the Western United States reported this morning that there were some bright yellow leaves in the trees near his high-prairie home. We exchange the portents of daybreak to set the tone for analysis of the day to come. There is another change in process, the slide from warmth and humid Patio afternoons into something a bit chillier. The month of August has just hovered at the mid-point and tipped forward toward into the collision with September. All the bullets on the Weather Report slide this week represents things that are actually happening. For us in America, it revolves around next year’s election and the narratives being woven to support desired outcomes.

What those might be contain some mysteries that float around the one big one. Who is going to be the President? With 14 months to go, we have extended the usual year-long campaign into something that seems to have been in progress for a year already. The GOP is going to have their first debate in only six days, and we will hear about how the portfolio of potential nominees shape their approach to the issues.

The other argument in play- the reelection one- has been entertaining. The President’s family legal issues have been stacked up against those of his family without any resolution as of yet, but we appear to have modified the Constitution without much discussion. Local District Attorneys now assert some strange authority to indict Chief Executives. This will have some interesting implications for election seasons to come, we are sure.

It has been a long time since the direct threat of a nuclear exchange has been a headline. Now it is embedded in the daily news about the Ukraine and possible outcomes in the Special Military Operation in progress against the Russians. In addition, South Asia is simmering all the way to the north. Europe has expressed interest in the waterways of the East. Russian and Chinese warships are conducting patrols north of the American Aleutian Island. There is the real possibility that there will be more trouble a world away from the placid waters of the Black Sea.

Some of the Salts are uneasy about the possibilities ahead. They feel that things could veer off into unexpected directions in short order. Others have been following the events and think that the images of warships is just a cover for other real problems. The COVID Recovery has been an exercise in social chaos.

One that is coming to the three moving-and-shaking economies of the States, China and Russia is Commercial Real Estate. “Working From Home” appeared to be a viable approach to the pandemic, but the emptying-out of central city areas is having a significant impact on how ordinary things work. Or don’t work, as the case might be.

China has been vituperative about their Belt-and-Road initiative to span the globe with a new economy. Africa is a target for development even as Russia attempts to display it’s might in Eastern Europe and the part of Asia to which their sprawling nation extends. The Ruble has shrunk to record lows in the dollar exchange. Here, demographics for America are changing with an open border and millions of undocumented- what do we call them this week? “Immigrants?”

China is poised to topple into a population decline that mimics the one that abbreviated Japan’s once seemingly relentless rise. Why are young men of military age being briefly retained and then released into our homeland? Could they be cadre elements of disruption in a conflict over Taiwan

We don’t claim to know, but we are following the news with more than mild interest. There are some conditions that will determine social outcomes around the world. There will be reactions to those disruptions . We hope that a general war is not one of them, you know?

We had hoped for a funnier Thursday headline and analysis. But we have to process the same news you do, and at least we can say it is interesting.

Copyright 2023 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com