The End of Venezuela?

Geopolitical strategist, Peter Zeihan, posted this yesterday morning. 

 

United States forces have captured the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, in the capital of Caracas.  Peter suggests that this event marks the beginning of the disintegration of what is left of the country... 

 

 

I got all sorta questions.

 

If you watched Telemundo last night - Venezuelans were celebrating.  They appeared ecstatic that Maduro is gone.  How could that possibly mean the beginning of the end?   If Peter believes Venezuela was already a dead state and where civilization is going to disintegrate, then wouldn't this action be a positive one as it provides Venezuelans an opportunity to turn things around?  It might be more like the beginning of Venezuela as a functional state.  

 

The military operation was nothing less than a spectacular tactical success.  Yet, what is the strategy to follow?  Is there a plan, some sort of architecture to manage an orderly transition?​  Or will this be a nation building mission with a vague and nebulous end result?  

 

Venezuela could install opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado; whom Maduro didn't allow to take office and Trump has also dismissed out of hand. 

 

It will be interesting to see where things are in one month, three month and six month intervals. 

 

And ask yourself this.  What gives the United States the authority to attack another country and remove their leadership?  

 

Who is next?

 

Mexico or Greenland? 

 

You Read It Here First

 

Yup, sometimes the king of bad predictions finds a truffle.  I wasn't wrong after-all.

You read it here first

I suppose we'll have to see what comes on Sunday, Monday and thereafter. 

 

They stole our oil, and we'll be selling large amounts of oil to other countries.

- Donald J. Trump  

Shooting Stars On Tap Tonight

The Quadrantids are an annual meteor shower that is a consequence of Earth passing through the debris field of a crumbling comet some 500 years ago.  If you have an opportunity to witness this event - depending upon your location - it has the potential of producing as many as 60 to 200 shooting stars an hour. 

For those of us in North America the Quadrantids will reach its maximum rate of activity tonight - January 3.  Some shooting stars associated with the shower began on January 1^st and will continue thru January 4^th.  It is short-lived yet has big potential.

Observing the show on the peninsula requires a location with little light pollution and a view towards the north-northeast between the North Star and the Big Dipper.  Unfortunately this month's full moon materialized yesterday and its light will interfere with all but the brightest meteors.  The predicted peak for the Quadrantids is just before dawn tomorrow morning when they can produce as many as 100 shooting stars per hour.  Fortunately, this meteor shower is known to produce really bright fireballs that even the moon cannot outshine.    

You do not necessarily need to locate the radiant to observe the meteor shower as the shooting stars will appear in all parts of the night sky.  Viewing prospects for your own location can be found here.

Raising a toast to clear, winter night skies and viewing the heavens...

January's Wolf Super Moon

01.09.20 Wolf Moon

With the arrival of this evening comes the first full moon of 2026. 

According to Native American tradition January's full moon is named after howling wolves and is remembered as the Wolf Moon. 

It is said that at any given time there are estimated to be a dozen wolves wandering-about here on the peninsula.  I haven’t heard any wolves howling - just the resident coyotes - likely explained by the fact that the only wolves here are solitary males.  They've been  known to find their way here having dispersed from other packs in northeastern Wisconsin or Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  I am also told it is unlikely there is a breeding population around here.  But I digress.

In other cultures this is called the Old Moon, Snow Moon, Ice Moon or Moon after Yule.  My Celtic ancestors called this the Stay At Home Moon.  

This also happens to be super moon and will occur overnight tonight and tomorrow.  Full moons are always opposite the sun and fully illuminated.  They rise at sunset and set at sunrise.  In wintertime these moons reach as high in the sky at midnight as a summer noonday sun and cast shadows!  This is the third consecutive super moon (November, December and January) and will appear 8% larger and 16% brighter than your basic garden-variety full moon.  Here in the Midwest the crest of the full moon falls at 4:03 AM tomorrow.  Nevertheless, it will appear full both tonight and tomorrow and glow near Jupiter and the twin stars of Gemini - Castor and Pollux. 

And so it begins - if you like clear skies and howling at the moon - 2026 is going to deliver 13 must-see moon events including Super Moons, conjunctions and an eclipse.  You may wish to bookmark this link so you don’t miss anything.   

Fingers-crossed for cold, clear winter sky-gazing tonight. 

Friday Music

 Not much to say about a music machine with 2000 marbles.....

Joined The Club

A couple of months ago the Missus was in Green Bay on other business and made a trip to the local Costco, signed-up and reconnoitered the store.  She didn't purchase anything but briefly scouted the arrangement.  As she described it - If you could call it an arrangement. 

Last month we were in the Naked City for family stuff, stayed overnight, ran some errands at the Mayfair Mall, stopped in Manitowoc on the way home and finished with a stop at the Green Bay Costco.

We did a more in-depth scouting of the arrangement.   Clothing heaped on pallets, small kitchen utensils sharing shelves with furniture.  Cell phones and gas grills side by side, an Optical Department and much more.  IYK - YK.  Anyway, with a few more visits we'll probably get the lay of the land.  And while I haven't much use for ginormous haunches of beef, or a platoon-sized bag of frozen won tons; the produce looked great, same for the freshly-made chicken pot pies and rotisserie chicken salad.  Too bad I already purchased shrimp for the New Year festivities. I did pick-up a 40 pack of AA batteries for $19.99 (trail cameras) and a two pint container of blue berries for $3.79  Absolutely excellent pricing!  The Missus picked up some Christmas presents for herself and we both agreed that the World's Largest Retail Pumpkin Pie was a bargain at $5.99.  If I had a family with three growing children I'd be at Costco on a near weekly basis.

We get to Green Bay with sufficient frequency that it makes sense to start a Costco shopping list for bulk items.

And I got added to the plan on that visit and have my own ID.  Benefits of membership.

    Happy New Year!

A New Year Wish

This time of year brings exceptional opportunities to view the night skies without humidity, light clutter and skeeters.  All with only your eyes.

This is my pal Orion - The Hunter - an easily identified winter constellation in the southern night sky.  Doggo and I say good night to him before turning-in most nights. 

I’d like to take the last few moments of 2025 to wish all my friends, neighbors and acquaintances best wishes for good health, prosperity and community in the New Year. 

See ya in 2026!

Tom