The world is a scary place. There are several items that are in the news that add to that impression.
First, there is the seizure by the US of TWO tankers on the high seas. Normally, I would view this as piracy, but if the US is blockading Venezuelan oil, which they may have done, then this is a legal seizure. The cargos will have to be unloaded and the ships released. But it does raise the temperature of potential major power confrontation.
Second, there is the spectre of internal rebellion in America. Another shooting in Utah at Mormon followers, and Democrat Party leaders inciting citizens to disobey federal law in Minnesota (and possibly in California and/or New York?) does not speak well for the prospects of having some constructive bi-partisan discourse. I don’t see a declaration of succession from the union coming, but the US civil war didn’t appear, full blown, without prior disagreements either. I suspect that encouraging disregard for Federal Law is a felony, or ought to be.
Finally, despite declarations that neither side wants a war, Iran and Israel seem to be moving in that direction. Israel continues attacks against what everyone knows are Iranian proxy puppets (Hamas and Hizbullah), and Iran states openly that they do not trust Israel. This kind of ‘limited’ war has been around since the 1950s when North Korea invaded South Korea. It remains limited only because the major powers behind the active participants are afraid of what escalation might bring
Wetherhorn 