Looking for the Crack that lets the Light In

The days are shorter again. As if November isn't dark enough the world is turning upside down with anger, fear and uncertainty. Donald Trump was just elected President. I can't begin to understand that many people voting for hate, except to say that I presume they felt it was better than the status quo that Hillary Clinton represented.

The absurdity of this election has me convinced that there is more truth in alt news and conspiracy theories then there is in the mainstream media. Everything in the mainstream media feels like distraction and disinformation. How can anyone know what the truth is? Who really pulls the strings? What does it all really means for the common "pleb". 

I don't pretend to know a single answer to the important questions. I am just feeling around for a crack down here in the darkness, hoping eventually that I find one large enough to let some light in.

Impending doom or just an anxious "doomer"?

Is the world at war? Is the sky falling? Or am I just a crackpot “doomer”? The news has me so anxious lately I just need to vent....

I am a bit of a news and politics junkie and I don’t just read mainstream media, I often read the blogs and news of supposedly less credible news agencies, so there is a possibility I am just becoming a paranoid conspiracy theorist.  While the modern media gives us many more voices I am increasingly finding it hard to know who and what to believe is truly going on in Canada, let alone the rest of the world. That being said I am finding it hard to not believe that the world is at war and on the precipice of a catastrophic economic collapse. 

The South China Sea is becoming increasingly militarized as China looks to secure more islands, even if it needs to build them, supposedly to gain control of the oil and gas deposits there. The US is also increasing its presence in the region to support other countries in the region like the Philippines and Malaysia. Of course this “support” is not altruistic; oil and gas are involved after all.

The Middle East which never seems to take a breath between conflicts is as bad or worse than it’s ever been. Israel continues to expand its settlements. The inmates are running the asylums of  Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan which of course is more the fault of the super powers then the jihadists that have sprouted up everywhere in the vacuum Russia and the US leave behind each “intervention”.

As for the “super powers”, did the Cold War ever actually end? The US and Russia are in a proxy war at the very least in Syria as each country supports a different group of despots. I read a report recently that several Russian jets and a helicopter “buzzed” an American warship numerous times in the Baltic Sea. Which then has me wondering why an American warship was in the Baltic Sea?

The European Union is dealing with a migrant crisis that is unprecedented. I find it interesting that it is Greece and Italy that seem to be dealing with the brunt of this situation. Greece looks like it has become a refugee camp as everyone else in Europe apparently has the option of closing their borders. Talk about being kicked when you are down. The tourist industry was about all Greece had left. I doubt anyone wants to holiday in Greece right about now. 

Of course it isn’t just Greece experiencing economic collapse, world economies are all trending down. Venezuela and Brazil have joined Greece, and Italy, according to the news, is almost there. How long before the rest of the western world joins them? Who really knows what is happening in China? 

 All this political and economic uncertainty is happening in a world trying to deal with increasing environmental crises, not the least of which is global warming. Billy Joel may have been right when he said, “We didn’t start the fire, it’s been burning since the world was turning”, however I for one want the world to stop! Some one for the love god hit pause! What is it about human nature that causes us to be so selfish that we won’t make a single solitary change until it is our house burning down or the gun is pointed at our family?