Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Danger signs from the Pacific Ocean?
Since I came back from Mt. Shasta I went to the beach several times to walk our dog with my wife because we live within a mile of the Pacific Ocean.
However, I took a video of a Coastal Ground squirrel next to our car eating a weed or plant and I don't think I remember ever seeing a coastal Ground squirrel do that before. I also noticed then that about 1/10 of the tourists were there at the ocean because of the price of Gas now in California.
I also noticed another day that the Sea Gulls had driven the Sandpipers off the beaches and the Sea Gulls were now eating the Sand Crabs that live under the sand and are about 1/2 inch to an inch long and usually live 6 inches to a foot under the sand at the ocean's edge living on little particles of things they eat under the sand from the ocean.
So, these are two of the signs that something might be wrong with the Pacific Ocean that I have seen so far. So, the raising of Temperature in the Pacific ocean by 3 to 8 degrees on the surface is a real thing and we might see a die off of birds and other ocean creatures this summer and year during the Super El Nino coming.
Monday, May 11, 2026
It's important to have compassion for yourself. Why?
Because what Goes around comes around.
If you are kind to yourself often you are kind also to others and if you are kind to others often you are kind to yourself.
What goes around comes around. Karma
So, integrity is treating others like you would be treated and to treat yourself with Kindness.
This is how to create a good future for yourself and all others you come into contact with in any way.
By God's Grace
Thebes, Egypt?
we were watching "The Mummy(1999) with Brendon Frazier and then started the Sequel made in 2001 and the name Thebes came up and it is associated with Luxor now I think.
Also, I think Brendon Frazier and the old cast are making a 3rd Mummy movie it appears now too 25 years after the Sequel which is interesting too!
begin quotes:
Key Aspects of Ancient Thebes:
- Location: Thebes covered approximately 36 square miles, spanning both sides of the Nile. The East Bank housed the city proper and residential areas, while the West Bank ("City of the Dead") was dedicated to tombs and mortuary temples.
- Significance: It served as the capital and religious center for the god Amun, reaching its height of power and wealth during the New Kingdom when Egyptian empire stretched from the Euphrates to Sudan.
- Major Monuments:
- East Bank: Karnak Temple Complex (largest temple complex in Egypt) and Luxor Temple.
- West Bank: Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, the Colossi of Memnon, and the mortuary temples of rulers like Hatshepsut and Ramesses II (Ramesseum).
- Modern Name: The modern city of Luxor (Al-Uqá¹£ur) occupies the site of ancient Thebes.
- History: Thebes rose to prominence in the 11th Dynasty to unify Egypt, acting as a crucial political power that pushed back foreign rule.
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Thebes (Egyptian Arabic: طيبه ), known to the ancient Egyptians as Waset, was an ancient Egyptian city located along the Nile about 800 kilometers (500 mi) ...
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Asia braces for a second wave of energy shocks from the Iran war: Full Article
Asia braces for a second wave of energy shocks from the Iran war
Asia braces for a second wave of energy shocks from the Iran war
Asia’s initial buffers against the Iran war’s energy shock are fraying as a second wave of impacts hits
ByANTON L. DELGADO Associated Press and ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL Associated Press
May 10, 2026, 10:18 PM
BANGKOK -- Asia’s first defenses against energy shocks from the Iran war are running short and a more consequential second wave of impacts is beginning to hit.
When the war started, governments scrambled to adapt to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for energy flowing to Asia. They made difficult trade-offs: saving power at the risk of slowing businesses, prioritizing gas for households at the risk of fertilizer production and dipping into energy stockpiles for temporary relief.
But these measures were based on the war lasting only a short time, allowing a quick resumption of energy flows. That has not happened.
With no clear end in sight, the fuel crisis is now rippling across economies. Airfare costs, shipping rates and utility bills are climbing, jeopardizing economic growth. About 8.8 million people are in danger of being pushed into poverty and the conflict may cause $299 billion in economic losses to the Asia-Pacific region, according to the United Nations Development Program.
“The countries with the least resources to respond, or the consumers who can least afford to pay, are the ones who feel everything first,” said Samantha Gross of the U.S.-based think tank Brookings Institution.
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Asian governments planned their budgets assuming the price of oil would average around $70 a barrel. Subsidies helped to keep fuel prices stable. But the war pushed the price of Brent crude to as high as about $120 a barrel.
Governments now face a stark choice between maintaining those costly subsidies, straining public finances, or cutting them to pass higher costs on to consumers, risking a public backlash, said Ahmad Rafdi Endut, a Kuala Lumpur-based independent energy analyst.
In India, early steps to redirect fuel supplies toward cooking gas for roughly 330 million households cut into supplies for fertilizer plants. The surging of fertilizer prices and meteorologists warning of weak rainfall in an El Niño year is a concern for the world’s largest rice exporter.
India has relied on subsidies to shield its 1.4 billion people until now, but on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to buy locally and cut down on travel abroad to save dollars. He also encouraged people to work from home and use public transport to reduce fuel consumption, and asked farmers to halve fertilizer use.
The Philippines quickly shifted to a four-day work week to save fuel. It also rolled out targeted subsidies for poorer households. However, Fitch Ratings noted that most consumers are still paying higher energy costs, causing business activity to slow in major cities like Manila.
Thailand abandoned its diesel price cap less than a month after the conflict began, as its fuel subsidies ran out. It's now cutting other spending to manage higher oil prices while trying to keep its budget under control.
Vietnam extended a suspension of fuel taxes to ease pressure on domestic prices. Jet fuel shortages have led to flight cuts. Tourism makes up nearly 8% of Vietnam's gross domestic product — the nation's total output of goods and services — so that affects the entire economy.
“Business is not good right now," said Hanoi-based tour guide Nguyen Manh Thang. “There are already fewer tourists.”
Fuel shortages have pushed cash-strapped countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh to buy oil and gas at current market prices, which are often higher and more volatile than long-term contracts. This raises import costs and adds to pressure on their already limited foreign exchange reserves.
Governments can keep costly fuel subsidies by cutting spending from other priorities like welfare, or borrow more and risk higher inflation, said Endut in Kuala Lumpur. Alternatively, they can reduce subsidies and pass higher costs on to consumers, risking angering voters.
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Once subsidies are exhausted and inflation starts to rise, countries could face what he called a “fiscal time bomb.”
The war's eventual end won't bring quick respite to Asia.
The global oil and gas trade will not bounce back right away, and it will take time to restart production, said Gross with the Brookings Institution. Repairing damaged infrastructure, restarting facilities and allowing for transport time from the Middle East to final markets will take weeks or even months.
Europe will feel a similar impact to Asia, but with about a four-week lag, experts say.
Americans are also feeling the pinch as gas prices spike across the U.S. But Southeast Asia is currently the “biggest pain point," said Henning Gloystein of the Eurasia Group consultancy firm.
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“This fuel shortage situation is going to get worse,” he said.
In Africa, higher energy and import costs are similarly straining budgets, widening deficits and driving up inflation. The war is also taking a toll on Latin America and the Caribbean, where growth is projected to slow slightly.
The complex disruptions across global supply chains will continue to have broader impacts, warned Ted Krantz, CEO of supply chain risk firm Interos.ai.
The crisis also highlights the fragility of Asia’s growing middle class, said Maria Monica Wihardja of the Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, with many people at risk of slipping back into poverty.
The energy shock will reshape Southeast Asia’s economies over time, she said, including shifts in job markets and how countries plan for future energy crises.
Countries are already debating and implementing longer-term solutions, like diversifying fossil fuel suppliers, developing nuclear energy and renewables like solar.
The war is making geopolitical risk central to the economic outlook of Southeast Asia and directly slowing regional growth, said Albert Park of the Asian Development Bank.
"The longer it lasts, the larger those negative effects would be,” he said
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Ghosal reported from Hanoi, Vietnam.
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