Well its Christmas time again and the world is still deep in trouble. Burying one’s head in the sand is alive and well it seems,

1. At least there is a bit of comedy in the Megan and Harry doc. Aside from committing the biggest TV sin, being boring – the doc’s first three episodes showed just how out of touch with reality those two are and Megan particularly comes off as a shallow fame digger. Harry comes off as a besotted simpleton. Switching to the other news showing starvation in Somalia with millions facing death, the devastation in Ukraine where little old ladies are freezing and living like cave men, floods, etc – how are we to have any sympathy for Megan and Harry? Boo Hoo, you have to put up with paparazzi while you live the life of luxury in your big mansion while most of your countrymen are suffering from inflation, trying to make ends meet etc.

2. Speaking of Ukraine, there is still some thinking about a negotiated settlement. The problem is simple. If Putin can show any win, then the message will resonate with China and Taiwan will be the next drama the US will face. And that drama will dwarf the Ukraine situation. Also, the money spent in Ukraine is a drop in the bucket of the US defense expenditure and in fact, given the damage Russia is doing to its military capability (not to mention its credibility) at around 5% is a cheap investment for the US to make. Meanwhile, people dont realize that when the US commits billions of $ most of that money is spent buying US arms and goods so much of the money stays in the US and is in fact a stimulus to the defense industry providing jobs to US workers and to research on ever more sophisticated weapons. The reality is that Putin will loose as the West cannot afford the price to let him win. We still have enough leaders who remember the lessons of World War 2, The sooner the Russian people realize this and get rid of him the better off they and the world will be. There is another silver lining, though long term but significant and mostly overlooked. The pressure on Europe to find alternatives to fossil fuels will end up as a knife in the heart of the Russian economy, Saudi Arabia and other oil rich states as well. There is good reason that the Gulf States and even Saudi Arabia are looking to build up there non oil business. They see the writing on the wall. Russia should do the same instead of waiting its energies on trying to be something it is not.