There is absolutely no doubt about it. The occurrences taking place on Earth makes it an unhappy place. Progressively events seem to be escalating into catastrophic crisis that some claim will be of Biblical proportions predicted in various books in the Bible. Since we neither claim to be an interpreter of the Bible, or subscribe to doomsday fanaticism, we will ignore the Biblical portents, but we do know that there are unusual problems on Earth today.

These are problems that we as a community must be aware of and alert to. Some people have the tendency to just go on living their private lives, as if in a cocoon, forgetting the world outside. Unfortunately, the world outside eventually penetrates that cocoon.

As we write a major war is escalating in the Middle East, as Israel and the Hezbollah, Shiite Muslims, guerrillas in Lebanon attack and counter attack each other. The stage is set for a conflict of gigantic portions as the conflict has direct implications for the involvement of the Sunni Muslim organization Hamas in Palestine. Both Hezbollah and Hamas, are believed to be supported by Syria and Iran. On the other hand, none of these players have any love lost for the United States and its president.

With this conflict threatening to escalate into a major global conflict, America’s and the world’s economies are threatened. Immediately after the fighting broke out between Israel and Hezbollah, oil prices jumped to record highs, and they will go higher if the war worsens. Oil prices have risen sharply because the major international buyers of oil fear that if the Middle East crisis escalates and Iran, a major oil producer, becomes directly involved, then oil reserves would dry up, so as they demand more oil to stock pile, the price go up. If this continues it will create a recession both here in America and the rest of the world, with people losing jobs, business losing profits, and investments on stock markets going to waste.

We must watch this war closely and hold our collective breaths that Israel does not further retaliate against Hezbollah by attacking Damascus, Syria where both Hamas and Hezbollah have offices. Already, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated that Iran would retaliate against an Israeli attacks on Syria. Any such conflict around the Persian Gulf, a vital oil producing area, would send oil prices to unbelievable heights, undoubtedly setting off a global recession.

While the fire under the Middle East pot gets hotter, other pots on the world’s stove are about to get burnt. For example the new leader in Mexico, Felipe Calderon, who America saw as the better alternative to leftist Andres Manuel Lopez, came right out of the gates attacking America’s immigration plans, criticizing the proposed building of walls between Mexico and the U.S. to curb illegal immigration. Since building these walls are the basis of any compromise that Bush hopes to cement with his Republican fellows in Congress, lack of support by Mexico could further jeopardize the already fractious attempts at immigration reform.

Then over in North Korea, a storm of a whole different nature is brewing. Despite protests from America, Japan and the United Nations, North Korea’s leader is thumping his little nose against them all. He is bent on testing his missiles (even if they do fizzle) and pursuing his nuclear weapons program. If that was not dangerous enough, China, fast becoming a world power in its own right, seems determined to support North Korea. This is a potentially dangerous situation for the people of the world. Don’t expect China to join the UN in placing sanctions on North Korea any time soon, especially as both countries have communist regimes.

Speaking of communists, many world leaders are viewing Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, closely as he seems to be reversing the weakening of repressive communism that Mikhail Gorbachev accomplished during his and the Reagan administration. Putin, despite world criticism, has been shutting up the media, placing limits on private organizations and is once more placing central power in Russia in the Kremlin. Ironically, all this is being done even as Putin hosts Bush and other leaders in a G-8 meeting in Russia.

While all these events are escalating mother-nature seems to be acting strangely as climates become warmer than they have ever been. Temperatures have reached record highs in parts of America that has been traditionally cool spots. Can you believe that Florida has been reported to be America’s cool spot this summer? Scientists are divided on whether this unusual heat is man-generated global warming or a natural phenomenon.

But how can we conclude without referring to the war in Iraq, which we started and now have no idea how to end? Daily reports of the deaths of so many Iraqis, and American soldiers have become unfortunately routine.

Of course as these events merge towards a major global implosion, people are casting increasing blame on George Bush. There are many calls for him to intervene in the Middle East. Herein lies a major problem for this Earth. Bush, the maximum leader, seems to have lost the credibility and respect of jost major world leaders. He reminds us of a high school principal, trying to instill discipline in a too indisiplined school. There he is shouting for order over the intercom, but the more he shouts, the worst the indiscipline becomes. Got the picture?