One Touch of Nature

ONE TOUCH OF NATURE MAKES
THE WHOLE WORLD KIN.

~ William Shakespeare

Of Note: Oil has made the whole world kin. This abundant natural resource has grown to influence all aspects of global life particularly in the political and economic realms. Governments are created and broken over oil revenues as factions fight over the black crude. Many African nations suffer from the "resource curse" that describes how billions of dollars can be produced annually from oil production but the majority is lost to corruption, conflict and mismanagement while the bulk of the people live on less than $1 a day. What to do? Nigeria has an idea. The leaders of that nation want to create a sovereign wealth fund, which would invest excess oil revenues directed to building national infrastructure and an economic stabilization program with the balance set aside for future generations. The Nigerian Parliament will vote on the proposal April 9th. If the idea succeeds, its energy could influence other western African nations, which also suffer from the "resource curse," and those nations, which have recently discovered oil, like Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Today's Weather Report: Wow, the sun shone brightly today and the high was 8 degrees Fahrenheit. I say "Wow" because almost a third of the country was getting pummeled by snow and ice. The mega-storm apparently touched 100 million people in one way or another. While this was going on, Australia was assaulted by a huge cyclone that disrupted life on its Barrier Reef side. On the heels of the apocalyptic flooding last month in other parts of the country, the people are wondering what possibly can happen next.