Cauldron bubble, toil and trouble

Submitted by Michael S (United States), Jan 16, 2015 at 20:30

Hi, Tovey

It's just as well, then, that Obama missed the photo op. Netanyahu is one gutsy guy, to go into that nest of hornets.

By the time this is posted, I think the world's attention will have shifted from the terrorism hype, to the currency crisis that began at the end of this week. In a few more weeks, the DR Congo is ripe for a new outbreak as well: The AU is demanding that the Hutu rebels to leave the country; but they have no place to go, so they will likely fight -- and it should be horrid. That will be a genuine news story, but I doubt that it will be covered.

I've been making a map of the various national groupings in the world. North America-Israel is the most powerful, followed by Europe. Lately, I've been sorting out some of the "isolate" groups. East Timor is one; another is Guinea-Liberia-Sierra Leon, which is unified by "war, famine and pestilence". It sent something of a shock through me, that whole areas of the earth can even now be described in apocalyptic terms.

Of course, other places like Ethiopia and Somalia have done their time in that sort of classification; but with nearly 9,000 dead in just a few months, I thought this was exceptional. It really isn't. Some famines have killed more; and no killing machine can compete with the Fertile Crescent lately; but ebola has a shock value, in how quickly the victims die. Sub-Saharan Africa makes me think of a bubbling cauldron of real trouble, waiting to spill over.

We live in interesting times.

Shalom shalom.

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