How we start the week

Here’s the news I’m reading on TV this morning. Not a lot of good news either.

I guess we need to start seriously worrying about China. From USA Today: President Biden is saying that if China invades and tries to take over Taiwan, the United States will intervene militarily. Biden is in Japan for the first Asia trip of his presidency.

Reuters reports that the President’s remarks appear to be a departure from existing U.S. policy of so-called strategic ambiguity on Taiwan.

Here’s the problem. China considers Taiwan its territory. Taiwan considers itself democratic and independent.

To Ukraine now. The New York Times is reporting judges in Kyiv handed down the first guilty verdict for a Russian soldier tried for war crimes. The 21-year-old sergeant was convicted of shooting a 62-year-old man during the first days of the war.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine did not start a food crises, but it added “fuel to a fire that was long burning.” That comes from Gro Intelligence. It’s a company that predicts food supply trends.

The U.N. Security Council reports that “even if the war were to end tomorrow, our food security problem is not going away anytime soon without concerted action.”

Here’s the problem. Both Russia and Ukraine supply one third of the world’s wheat exports. They are in the top five producers of corn.

The scary number: The world has about 10 weeks worth of wheat on hand.

Now to monkey pox. I know, but it’s Monday. Not any good news out there. Two confirmed cases in the U.S. right now. A third presumptive case in Broward County in south Florida.

Monkey pox is treatable. There are vaccines. (So, there is some good news.). It’s just strange that all of a sudden there are so many cases around the world.

Now, to the Supreme Court and Roe v. Wade. Fox News reports the decision could come as early as today.

That leaked draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito seems to indicate the court plans to overturn the landmark abortion case. Now, the court does not have to release that decision today, but it could.

If all this holds true, whenever that decision is released, there is concern of a nationwide wave of violence. Protests have already happened at the homes of Supreme Court justices.

Another January 6 type situation? This time at the Supreme Court. Washington is bracing.

All this could be moot if the asteroid hits us. Yep, there’s one out there. Closer than usual. From UPI: Asteroid 4 times larger than Empire State Building to fly past Earth.

I guess I buried the lead on this blog post.

Friday the asteroid will make its closest encounter with Earth. The experts say it will safely pass us by. But…close enough we might be able to see it in the sky.

So, I did find some good news on a Monday. The asteroid won’t hit us on Friday. Whew!