One of our Salts never left Japan after his arrival there four decades ago, so his observations are profound. We were waiting to see his reaction to the departure of Prime Minister Kishida, which naturally has its own back-story. Instead, he started talking about how the Japanese people were preparing for the change of seasons. For them, it is the warmth and humidity of high summer greeting fresh and rising winds from the northwest and the Mainland.

We can feel the start of that seasonal change here as well. This has been a magic week of marvelous weather. Bright sun, warmth by the blue waters of the Big Pink pool. Both houses of Congress are in recess, or what are termed “State Work Periods,” which may involve some of that. But there is all that other stuff going on in the introductory slide.

The broadest in impact might be the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of a public health emergency they call “mpox.” They did not capitalize the term, which used to be longer and named after the primate Monkey. It is shorter now, and less of an aspersion to other species not known to wear masks, or for intimate behavior that mimics (some) of our own.

Mpox is a virus that occurs in animals and humans and has predominantly affected men who have sex with other men. It can spread between people and cause an illness that typically manifests with a rash and resolves in a few weeks. But some cases can lead to death. This is the highest level of alarm the WHO can convey, last issued for COVID-19 in 2020. Definitely mustard-colored.

The color thing is due to what Management asked us to add to the summary slide. It is a little “stoplight graphic” to the right on the top bar. That will allow them to ignore the rest of the bullets and get to coffee without pause. Two weeks ago, we were concerned enough to feel “red” with alarm about what Iran might be up to, and that colliding with a spike in activity in the Russian adventure in Ukraine. That translated to a Ukrainian intervention on Russian soil near Kursk. In response, Russia has declared an emergency and reportedly recalled a small number to troops from the offensive in Ukraine to defend Russian soil, the largest Ukrainian operation since the start of the two-and-a-half-year-long war.

The Washington swirl was moderately active. The Democrat Convention is set to start on Monday in Chicago, though we are at a loss as to why now that everything has been settled except for the November part. There are indications the pro-Palestinian interests wish to make a display. So the honeymoon currently in progress may show the signs of cool Fall breeze.

There is back-story to that, naturally. The Jerusalem Post claims the US Administration presented Tehran a list of Mossad agents involved in the Haniyeh assassination in order to de-escalate the tensions in the region. Anonymous Iranian sources told Kuwaiti reporters that a high-ranking American security delegation, mediated by Oman, secretly traveled to deliver the news about ally Israel’s secret activity. Perfectly clear, right?

The disclosure included more information on how the assassination was conducted. The details would be enough to intimidate us if it was our organization’s organizational chart being blown up, block by block. Withoutnotification on the calendar.

The American initiative was reportedly done as a “good faith” response to Israel’s strikes, which were carried out without American coordination.

There was a lot more to report from this side, the stuff pointed inbound. The looming election is the pivot point for the mpox pandemic declaration, of course, so everyone on earth gets to share in a portion of our excitement.

Our Director of National Intelligence- the “DNI”- issued one of those periodic reports on Iran’s nuclear program that, for the first time, did not deny there was work in progress. Speculation was that a test might have been conducted, possibly someplace else, so “yellow” is about as good as we can do before attempting to figure out what is happening across the River here in this town.

The paradox of increased kinetic activity also having a slight apparent decrease in the threat of inter-continental missile exchange caused DeMille to tell us to just make the first color on the new light a bright “yellow.” Which is to say, we can still shop and move around like everything is semi-normal, we don’t have to vote right at the moment and there is messaging informing us there is joy in the air and everything is fine.

We have notes to talk about the dramatic point one percent decrease in inflation announced yesterday, lowering the cumulative percent to only 20% in the last three years, or the eight states suing the Federal government about Executive Order EO 14019. Apparently, there is some concern about a perfectly rational plan to make it easier for all those people registered to vote at the 7/11 down the street.

We took our own poll, being careful to include sample bias and previous assumptions to ensure reliable inaccuracy. We agree with Swiss philosopher Henri-Frédéric Amiel, who once observed:

“Let mystery have its place in you; do not be always turning up your whole soil with the plowshare of self-examination, but leave a little fallow corner in your heart ready for any seed the winds may bring, and reserve a nook of shadow for the passing bird; keep a place in your heart for the unexpected guests, an altar for the unknown God. Then, if a bird sing among your branches, do not be too eager to tame it.

We are onboard with that, anyway. Under a mustard-colored sky

Copyright 2024 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com