Thursday, July 28, 2022

A series of unfortunate events

 While I haven't been writing here I haven't been totally distracted, just a tad preoccupied. Since I wrote Can globalisation survive current shocks? (Monday June 6 2022) the world has continued to track in unfortunate directions, reminding me of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. I hadn't thought of that series for years! Somehow, the title seemed appropriate. 

In the eight weeks since I wrote that post, omicron has extended its reach; the WHO had declared a global monkey pox emergency; foot and mouth disease has reached Bali creating Australian consternation;   the war in Ukraine grinds on through a process of bloody attrition: exports of Ukrainian wheat and oil may or may not resume; inflation has exploded round the world with most Central Banks raising interest rates; Shri Lanka has imploded with other countries possibly following the same path; general supply chain shortages continue; and global recession seems very likely.

I find myself sucked into perusal of on-going daily, even hourly, events switching from outlet to outlet. It's very distracting. I must try to do better! 

5 comments:

marcellous said...

Meanwhile, speaking of unfortunate events, what about the VC of UNE?

Trust you are well.

Jim Belshaw said...

Sorry for the continuing lags, marcellous. I am well. The resignation of the VC can be classified that way, although it's fair to say that there were many who did not regret her passing

marcellous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
marcellous said...

Obviously she'd made enemies. The whole reported incident seemed quite bizarre to me, but the main thing was although it was reported as an assault on a child, the offence taken didn't so much stem from any element of an assault but rather from the gesture in association with what she is claimed to have said.

Jim Belshaw said...

It's an odd episode, marcellous. I think that's a fair comment based on reporting.