My Muse Today 3/5/26

Sang Kacil is a series of traditional fables about a mouse deer.

These fables include Sang Kacil and the Farmer, Sang Kacil and the Elephant, Sang Kacil and the Crocodile, and Sang Kacil and the Tiger.

The clever mouse deer uses his intelligence and cleverness in the fables to escape trouble in difficult circumstances.

Malacca, in Malaysia, has a coat of arms featuring images of mouse deer. The city is a Martine center for global shipping and military links, hence China’s interest.

China is interested in the Caspian Sea because of its oil reserve potential. It seems fitting that the Chevrotains or mouse-deer coat of arms might be showing the handwriting on the wall. Perhaps a clever solution is needed as we watch the destruction in Myanmar being carried out by China’s backed military.

I wrote this several years ago and am reflecting on the current situation with the War in Iran that was started Feb 28th.

I visited Iran when I was about twenty one and remember many details.

Im those days there was no credit cards, internet etc and I had flown from Holland to New Delhi with a round trip ticked and about 400$. I was assuming I could trade in the return portion of my ticket in India and then would have enough money. Unfortunately no travel agent would offer me a refund saying I would have to return to Holland to get the  money. Hence I hitch hiked with my bicycle from India through Pakistan, Afghanistan and by the time I got to Iran I basically almost out of money though I visited the Caspian sea biking about 60 miles.

I visited a travel company in Tehran hoping that I could cash in my plane ticket but once again I was told I could not. The salesman saw that I was low on money so he gave me $10. With that I took a bus to the coast on the Caspian sea and rode west for about 60 miles on my bicycle. Then I came upon an accident that I will never forget involving a truck and motorbike. There was two people that were on the motorbike. The motorbike was under the front wheels of the large truck and body parts spilled along the road. The driver of the truck was being assisted in walking as he he was in shock.

I realized I needed to get out of Iran and so went to the next bus station, in the town of Rasht which was near the border of  Azerbaijan. I took a bus to near the Turkish border and then somehow got through Turkey and finally to Greece.

I recall the terribleness of the Tehran, very crowded and people seemed all in somewhat of a panic state. A feeling of mass hysteria of the people.

The Caspian Sea also had a very rugged and turmoil feeling to it.

But I will never forget that the man in Tehran gave me $10. When I arrived in Turkey I was totally broke and wanted a coffee but I did not have even money for that and the two youths there at a coffee snack stall would not give me free coffee.

Iran is re-entering the Caspian Sea energy sector, breaking a nearly 30-year hiatus with new drilling in 2025, primarily in Block 18 near the Roudsar formation, where estimations suggest over 600 million barrels of oil and 2 trillion cubic feet of gas is located.

It was last month United States became more involved in Venezuela oil and now United States is at war with Iran. It seems likely USA is interested in being part of the oil that Iran was previously in control of as at least part of a motive for the current fighting there.

It is perhaps easy to suggest that we as Americans have no business being there in a war now but at the same time one should consider what China has been doing. The corruption China does perhaps makes the US War in Iran almost insignificant.

If we (USA) don’t get the oil then China will - perhaps is a way to look at the situation. And who has the oil also is in a position of power.

We should also consider the corruption going on with Saudi Arabia. And what are they doing with their wealth? It was not so long ago Saudi Arabia only had oysters as major economy and then they got oil which seemed to have caused a lot of corruption and also the oil money was used not so much for good but for obtaining material wealth in places like Dubai. Pulling down the world morality instead of raising standards. So once again the current situation it seems is “its all about oil…” or perhaps we can say what we have here is a Black Swan situation.