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Here, firmly into my seventh decade, I can’t get too animated or interested in reading the opinions of those who constantly predict disaster and the end of all we know. I certainly do not pretend to be anything like an oracle though. This is merely my opinion to share. Disasters come and go or are just ongoing. Conquer, cope, improvise and overcome are the only ways to prosper and be happy if you are not in control of the game board as most of us are not.

That said, I am certain the banking cabal is always up to something and they don’t know how it will turn out but they always act in their best interest at the time. They are globally powerful and scheme on a global scale all the time. They are so powerful and rich a mistake in one place or two, or three or four will not hurt them badly. They have been at this for centuries.

The ME will always be in turmoil that ebbs and flows. KSA is fighting for survival but they will survive. Their petrodollars gamble to continue to control oil markets is on shaky ground after three years and the treasury is getting smaller. After more than 100 years of hydrocarbon centric international policy the grip of that is loosening just a little. Mostly by changing culture of our youth and their belief they are destroying the world by consuming hydrocarbons. Couple that with the ubiquitous presence of shale oil and gas and the game is changing for KSA and the rest of the ME. They will continue to be suppliers to the world but for now just not as important.

The Russians are not leaving Syria. They are expanding their naval base even now.

You are correct, most of what becomes material for change we fail to see when it begins and they are too big to change when they become apparent. Collapse of the British Empire. I’m sure many saw it but many refused to believe it, could do nothing about it and so pretended it was not happening. Same things happen today.

I have seen that most of what we predict as futurists does not happen. We over or underestimate and things we never expected happen instead.

We are on tippy turf here in the US. The nation is just about equally divided in terms of politics. In any election the leaning can change with the wind. Regionally of course we are not so tippy but there conservatives are certainly in a national minority.

Trump is changing things and very fast. The avalanche that is possible with this tax change is unsettling to me. Too much change too fast is the feeling I get and I worry about an over heated economy. The economy has always corrected to a mean over some 10 to 30 year time frame but it does it by lurching up and down. I believe the biggest reason for my concerns is that having owned a company and shared in operating others I know that rationally coping with a 15% of gross income windfall would be difficult. I will not be surprised by a frenzy of wasteful spending. I have seen it happen in at least four cycles of the oil business and it inflates everything unreasonably.

As my Dad passed into old age he advised to gather all the problems you can’t do a thing about, stomp them down into a little box, latch the lid and then sit on the box and smile. After you have enjoyed a moment you can get on with tackling the things you can do something about.