Desperate Men Make for Unsettling Times

What I'm about to discuss today is purely speculation.

What do you suppose is going on in the twisted brains of Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong Un?

I'm not sure, but I know what all three have in common. These are desperate men.

Putin has been meeting with Kim for "mutual support". If Russia gets weapons, North Korea will likely get satellite technology. 

Putin has been forced to scrape the bottom of the barrel because his munitions are running low. The only thing he has left in abundance are nukes. To be honest, how he's managed to stay in power this long is astonishing, but I guess when you put your puppets in place, it's hard to take them all out at once.

Meanwhile, his buddy, Xi (as of this writing) has sent twenty warships and planes to the Straits of Taiwan, occasionally crossing over the meridian into Taiwan. Taiwan, in response keeps warning them off.

Furthermore, China's economy is treading water. Their real estate market has dropped dramatically. And they've stopped posting youth unemployment figures after it hit consecutive high numbers. 

To add to this uncomfortable mix, there's speculation that the US is planning to reestablish a return of its nuclear mission to the UK.  Nuclear mission. That sounds cryptic.

Putin has regularly threatened to wipe the UK off the map. As allies, we're not about to let that happen. I suspect our governments have been in talks about how to deter or retaliate. This could become War #1.

If NATO is busy trying to stop Russia, that gives the Chinese more leeway to take back Taiwan. Eventually, a Chinese plane or ship is going to bully their way too far over the line, and actually shoot something down, which will then escalate matters quickly. There's War #2.

My theory is that the Chinese are trying to force Taiwan to take the first shot so they can say Taiwan started the war, giving them just cause to retake the country.

It's a chess game, and the players are moving their pieces into position.

Let's back up to where I said these were desperate men.

Putin's war has been a fiasco. (For the record, I don't think Ukraine's hands are squeaky clean either, but Putin started this lunacy.)

China's economy is struggling. War would be ill advised since it would greatly damage global trade. China is the world leader in trade. During the pandemic, goods from China were almost nil for at least nine months, crippling their economic growth. Can you imagine if they went to war with an ally? Their economy would collapse.

And North Korea? They've been China's puppet for decades. Ol' Kim wants nothing better than to be able to say he beat the West (at anything!). It's an ego trip for him at the expense of his impoverished people.

Let's extrapolate from there. 

What happens when Putin has exhausted every conventional resource (and ally) to prove his point? 

What happens if China decides to chance it and invade Taiwan while the West is busy with Putin?

What happens when Kim's "test" launch of his missiles actually hits Japan, South Korea, or even the US?

Desperate men can do incredibly stupid things. 

Of course, world leaders have been playing this dangerous game since nuclear arms came into existence. The US is the only country in the world to use nukes in anger. That hasn't stopped Russia, France, China, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea from testing and perfecting its delivery system. And let's not forget countries that are making bombs under the radar.

Anyone can push the button and that's what is so unsettling. It's not the single nuke I worry about. It's the response.

And on that cheerful note, let me remind you that in the US, September is National Preparedness Month. I used to think it was because of all the hurricanes we get during this time. Now, I'm afraid it might be more than that. 

I've been restocking our medical supplies. Blood-stop powder when cutting dog toenails, shaving, or injuries on the homestead, Povidone iodine and Neosporin to reduce infection, Nyquil, allergy meds, and butterfly bandaids.

I guess not many people need special wound closure strips, but we've had our share of big gashes. Injuries happen on the farm. Greg being diabetic, I want to be able to treat him right away.

With the holidays coming up, I'm also keeping an eagle eye for sales, especially for things like oil, butter, and flour. I always do a lot of baking for neighbors and friends about this time.

There's no telling what's ahead, but I thought this time I'd let you see how my mind works. Months before our governments started to tell us to duck and cover over covid, I knew supplies would be hard to find. I didn't think it would last as long as it did. A real war will make covid look like a sneeze.

If you start to hear war drums, stop what you're doing and stock up on essentials. Think back to how hard it was to get things during the pandemic. Plan ahead.