Mr. Trump’s war, now nearly two weeks old, is already reshaping travel patterns, energy dependencies, living costs, trade routes and strategic partnerships. Countries typically shielded from regional conflict, like Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates, have faced retaliatory Iranian fire. The fallout could disrupt midterm elections in the United States, tilt the war calculus in Ukraine and force China into a major economic pivot.
Those effects may compound if Mr. Trump presses ahead with the war, particularly if Iran escalates its counterattacks and blocks ship traffic through the critical oil passage of the Strait of Hormuz. Some economists are already invoking a dreaded memory for any U.S. president — the specter of oil-shock-induced stagflation, with growth stalling and prices roaring upward.
“I’m old enough to remember the events of the ’70s, and a world in which oil price spikes were a significant issue both economically and for a president who might be facing elections,” said Suzanne Maloney, an Iran expert at the Brookings Institution. “That doesn’t seem to have been priced into the decision making,” she added.
What happened in the ’70s?
Two things.
There was the Oil Crisis of 1973 and the Oil Crisis of 1979.
It’s that first one in 1973 I want to talk about.
I was 13.
Inflation at the grocery store was 14%.
According to Wikipedia:
On 6 October 1973, the Yom Kippur/October War began when Egypt attacked the Bar Lev Line in the Sinai Peninsula and Syria launched an offensive in the Golan Heights.
Israel took heavy losses in men and materiel during the fighting against Egypt and Syria, and on 18 October 1973, Meir requested $850 million worth of American arms and equipment to replace its materiel losses
On the afternoon of 19 October 1973, Faisal was in his office when he learned about the United States sending $2.2 billion worth of weapons to Israel.
The arms lift enraged King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. Faisal was angry that Israel had only asked for $850 million worth of American weapons, and instead received an unsolicited $2.2 billion worth of weapons, which he perceived as a sign of the pro-Israeli slant of American foreign policy.
On 20 October 1973, he retaliated by placing a total embargo on oil shipments to the United States, to be joined by most of the other oil-producing Arab states.
The embargo imposed on the United States led to shortages of oil in the United States, which set an inflationary spiral.
Nixon later boasted in his memoirs that the US Air Force flew more sorties to Israel in October 1973 than it had during the Berlin Airlift of 1948–49, flying in a gargantuan quantity of arms, though he also admitted that by the time the arms lift had begun, the Israelis had already “turned the tide of battle” in their favor, making the arms lift irrelevant to the outcome of the war.
In an interview with the British historian Robert Lacey in 1981, Kissinger later admitted about the arms lift to Israel: “I made a mistake. In retrospect it was not the best considered decision we made”.
Why do I have this feeling that, old as I am, I will live to hear on some documentary or read in some book that someone from this current administration will talk about this current war and say, In retrospect it was not the best considered decision we made.
Why do I have this feeling that this current war won’t be the only topic about which someone from this current administration will talk about and say, In retrospect it was not the best considered decision we made.
Why do I have this feeling that this current administration won’t be the only topic about which someone from this current generation of voters will talk about and say, In retrospect it was not the best considered decision we made.
dark, darker, darkest watch the day going backwards ready, get set, go
We read in the Bible that:
Isaiah answered, “This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?”
“It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” said Hezekiah.
“Rather, have it go back ten steps.”
Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz. (2 Kings 20:9-11 NIV).
I came to work last week and the sun was up and out of the Atlantic Ocean and shining in my eyes and the sunshine made me feel good the way sunshine does down here.
Maybe growing up in West Michigan which has the 2nd most overcast skies in America just behind Seattle, made me really appreciate sunlight.
There is a quality to a bright sunshiny day that I hope I never take for granted.
This morning I got up and drove to work in darkness.
I parked behind the office and walked through the pool area to back doors on sidewalks lit by street lamps.
I have no strong feelings about daylight saving time one way or the other.
It came with the year, like the holidays and was controlled by the Government, like taxes.
The concept of all of us being on the same clock seemed important.
When you think about it, that the Prime Meridian is pretty much accepted by the world regardless of race, creed or country of origin is unusal.
According to Wikipedia, In 1884, the International Meridian Conference (of government representatives) took place in Washington, D.C. to establish an internationally-recognised single meridian.
That Conference decided to accept The Greenwich meridian as the prime meridian, a geographical reference line that passes through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in London, England.[1] From 1884 to 1974, the Greenwich meridian was the international standard prime meridian, used worldwide for timekeeping and navigation. This prime meridian (at the time, one of many) was first established by Sir George Airy (in 1851).
Greenwich Mean Time.
GMT.
Somewhere I have seem photos of a metal rail or rod set in stone that marks the Prime Meridian at the Royal Observatory in London.
Imagine my shock when looking up data for this essay I read in Wikipedia that in1984 it was superseded in that role by the IERS Reference Meridian which, at this latitude, runs about 102 metres to the east of the Greenwich meridian.
I do not know if there is a brass rail somewhere in London marker the IERS Reference Meridian.
BUT I digress.
I remember a lecture back in college where the Professor described how back in the day in small towns, the local jeweler, if there was one, would take their best clock on the first day of spring, would watch the shadows and when the sun was directly overhead and the shadows disappear, the jeweler would set the clock to noon and hopefully the clock would function properly until you could set the time again on the first day of winter.
The Professor didn’t say what would happen on cloudy days.
Then along came trains and train schedules and standard time so that trains would run on time and not run into each other.
I have a old gold packet watch at home from 1900.
It was certified to keep Official Railroad time which meant it could run for a year with just being wound and not lose more than 15 seconds.
It was a Federal Law that if you worked for a Railroad you had to carry such a watch.
Again I digress and here we are in Daylight Saving Time.
I am again driving in the dark, waiting for the sunrise in a couple of weeks.
We changed all the clocks.
All the iPhones change by themeselves.
If it wasn’t for Ovens, Microwaves and Cars, most folks wouldn’t even notice though they may scratch their heads and wonder why it was dark again.
And I am reminded of an incident back when I was working in the Newsroom in Atlanta.
I was proofing a story and noticed that a reporter, answering all the whos, whats and wheres had stated that the when was 10:15 a.m. EST.
I approached the reporter and said that the time had changed and they should now use EDT in place of EST.
The reporter stared at me for a second, and I am not embellishing this one bit, and they asked, “Those letters mean something?”
Now it was my turn to stare.
Before I could say anything, the show’s Producer spoke up.
leaning against each other like drunken brothers at a funeral
Adapted from the poem, Even Numbers by Carl Sandburg as published in The People, Yes in The Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg by Carl Sandburg (Harcourt, Brace and Company: New York, 1950).
1
A HOUSE like a man all lean and coughing, a man with his two hands in the air at a cry,
“Hands up“
A house like a woman shrunken and stoop-shouldered, shrunken and done with dishes and dances
These two houses I saw going uphill in Cincinnati
2
Two houses leaning against each other like drunken brothers at a funeral,
Two houses facing each other like two blind wrestlers hunting a hold on each other.
These four scrawny houses I saw on a dead level cinder patch in Scranton, Pennsylvania
3
And by the light of a white moon m Waukesha, Wisconsin, I saw a lattice work in lilac time white-mist lavender a sweet moonlit lavender
Sorry but I just couldn’t resist.
Hey Little Brother!
Still in the drivers seat!
For those who know, they know,
For those who don’t know, that’s my little brother Pete watching me handle the reigns sitting in the drivers seat ( at the Dutch Village in Holland, Michigan).
I don’t have glasses yet and it looks like I still have my front teeth so this could have been the summer of 1968.
1969 was a rough year on my face.
I got glasses.
On my 9th birthday, I got hit in the face with a surf board that gashed my cheek open.
On Thanksgiving Day, running from my brother Timmy, I slipped and fell on the basement floor and chipped my left front tooth in half.
Still wear glasses.
Still have the scar.
One of grand daughters just lost her front teeth and asked her Mom if she could get a gold tooth like Pappa.
BTW, I should mention that this college basketball season, Michigan went undefeated on the road in the Big 10, something that hasn’t happened since 1976.
They tied the record of most regular season wins by a Big 10 team.
And in the process, the swept the home and away series with that team in East Lansing.
eventually weekends end reality sparks the sunday scaries
White Rainbow, Folly Beach, Hilton head Island, SC 3.7.2026
Readers of this blog will remember that on Saturday I enjoy the Guardian column, Blind Date, where the newspaper sets up a blind date between two volunteers at some posh (always wanted to use that word) dining establishment (can’t say just restaurant because the blind date might be at a pub, bistro, brasserie or just plan diner) and then the two volunteers are asked to answer questions about the blind date.
As this takes place in Britain, I enjoy the language and the menus of the dining establishment.
As for the menus, yesterdays Blind Date took place at the Cargo Cantina in Bristol.
Their website says, “CARGO Cantina is inspired by the authentic Cantinas of Mexico, traditionally forbidden to women, children and men in police or military uniform, where hombres used to drink around the bar and have some botanas (bar snacks).”
The first click on the menu, much like and online menu here in the USA, lands you on a page that says, ORDER BY GET GRUB or UBER EATS.
Again, as this is in Britain, you are invited to place your order via … Deliveroo!
Not kidding.
Deliveroo!
Is that not faboulous?
In a country where the bathroom is referred to as a loo, the online food delivery service is deliveroo.
Just gets you mind going doesn’t it.
Usually I find really goofy food choices on the menu like Singing Hinnies or Cullen Skink but this menu was straight forward Mexican with tacos, burritos and such but with a twist like Smoked Carrot Tostadas.
There was a nice note at the bottom of the menu that stated, 50p from each sale of our TORTILLA CHIPS + SALSAS are given to support Casita de Barro in Puebla. This is an educational project which creates sustainable living opportunities for communities in the local area.
There was also a warning that Cargo Cantina was a CASHLESS venue, meaning they only accept plastic which is different as we are seeing more and more restaurants here going cash only.
But enough about Casa Cantina as I DIGRESS.
Yesterdays Blind Date was with Harry, 24, an ecologist, and Freya, 24, a theatre-maker and cook.
The first question asked of the volunteers is “What were you hoping for?”
Harry responded, Some tasty food, and a nice evening with good company to block out the Sunday scaries.
The Sunday Scaries?
The Sunday Scaries?
Hadn’t heard of that one.
I have heard of “The Mondays”.
As in the movie, Office Space where Peter says “I gotta get out of here. I think I’m gonna lose it.”
And Nina, a co-worker says, “Uh oh. Sounds like somebody’s got a case of the Mondays.”
Later Peter asks his next door neighbor Lawrence (who he talks to through the paper thin walls of their side-by-side apartments, “Let me ask you something. When you come in on Monday and you’re not feeling real well, does anyone ever say to you, “Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays?”
Lawrence replies (through the wall), “No. No, man. Shit, no, man. I believe you’d get your ass kicked sayin’ something like that, man.”
So I was thinking that somehow the Sunday Scaries could be related to having a case of the Monday’s but on the side of the Atlantic.
I open The Google and typed in Sunday Scaries and there it was …
If you’re a Monday-to-Friday worker, your two favorite days of the week probably begin with the letter S. Fun thrives on Saturday and Sundays, after all. It’s a two-day stretch with no job responsibilities.
But weekends eventually end — and as a new work week closes in, that looming reality can spark a growing dread known as the “Sunday scaries.”
As in the Cleveland Clinic about which Wikipedia states: Cleveland Clinic is an American nonprofit academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation, Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921 by a group of faculty and alumni from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Cleveland Clinic is consistently ranked as one of the best hospitals in the United States.
The Cleveland Clinic, one of the best hospitals in the United States, recognizes the Sunday Scaries as a real malady.
The Cleveland Clinic says:
“The transition from weekend relaxation to work mode can be a tough 180-degree turn,” she continues. “In that way, Sunday scaries are a normal reaction to adjusting to a different role and change.”
Plus, let’s be honest here: Work can be nerve-wracking. In fact, 83% of employees in the United States report feeling workplace stress.
“Work is one of those things people get anxious about because we don’t have control over so much of it,” adds Dr. Prewitt. “That can lead to negative thoughts and fears and worries about what’s ahead.”
And the Cleveland Clinic offers these 10 suggestions to chase away your worries about Monday.
Adopt a positive mindset: Negative thoughts can fuel the Sunday scaries. So, instead of thinking, “I don’t want to go to work tomorrow,” fill your mind with encouraging affirmations like, “I can do this” or “I’m ready to get back to it.” Keep busy: Schedule a fun activity on Sunday. Running errands or crossing tasks off your to-do list can help keep your mind off Sunday, too. Either can leave you feeling satisfied. Break a sweat: Exercise releases feel-good endorphins that can brighten your mood. Heading to a park for some hiking or the gym for a lifting session can give you the strength to take on Monday. Clear your head: Practicing mindfulness can be calming and help put you in the moment during the weekend. Try meditation, yoga or get that massage you’ve been wanting. Catch some ZZZs: Tired is no way to go into a new work week. Use the weekend to catch up on lost sleep and recharge your batteries. (Just don’t sleep too much, as that can bring its own set of problems.) Aim for a fresh start: Do your best to wrap up work tasks BEFORE you clock out on Friday. That can keep things from lingering in your head during your days off. Treat yourself: Give yourself something to look forward to on Sundays and Mondays. Maybe that means a nice dinner with friends or family to end the weekend or a coffee from your favorite café on the way back to work. Make Mondays easier: Reduce start-of-the-week worries by embracing the concept of “Bare Minimum Mondays” and easing back into job duties with simpler tasks. Plan ahead: Jotting down a to-do list for when you get back to work on Monday may help release your worries about what’s to come. (Just make sure you keep the list out of your head once it’s written!) Detach from work: If possible, try to avoid doing work over the weekend to fully separate yourself from your job. That email can wait until Monday.
There you have it.
10 tips to avoid those Sunday Scaries and help prevent a case of Mondays.
Personally, I believe you’d get your ass kicked sayin’ something like that, man.
Also, for myself, was on the beach on Hilton Head Island yesterday.
There was a lot of moisture in the air though not quite fog.
And overhead was a white rainbow.
In the Book of Genesis, The Bible tells us that:
I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.
Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.
Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.
Always a comfort to read and to see a rainbow in the sky.
Though there is the question about the rainbow being white.
Never saw that before.
Could it mean something?
Here come those Sunday Scaries.
We could be set up for a real bad case of the Mondays.
BTW: I was kidding when I said White Rainbow but according to Wikipedia I was right. Wikipedia says, A fog bow, sometimes called a white rainbow, is a phenomenon similar to a rainbow; however, as its name suggests, it appears as a bow in fog rather than rain. Because of the very small size of water droplets that cause fog—smaller than 0.05 millimeters (0.0020 in)—the fog bow has only very weak colors, with a red outer edge and bluish inner edge. The colors fade due to being smeared out by the diffraction effect of the smaller droplets.
No Haiku For You 