News

Many prominent and respected people have been warning that this would happen, and now that it has, we should not be shocked. Nevertheless, we are. And while no one can predict the future, one thing is certain: the developments we’ve seen so far are not even the tip of the iceberg.

Israel’s Iron Dome defense system is a technological marvel, but it is not a perfect solution to Israel’s defense needs. The most significant drawback is that, chas v’shalom, a massive rocket attack could be overwhelming. Israel claims that its existing systems have a 90% intercept rate, but that still leaves serious danger from the 10% that gets through. In an unusually large attack, that would be devastating.

Iran has many problems. The U.S. has bombed its nuclear facilities, and Israel has damaged or destroyed many other strategic sites. Israel also killed many of its top generals and leading scientists. The country is suffering from economic sanctions that restrict its ability to buy and sell a wide variety of merchandise. But it is also experiencing another problem that, in some ways, is even more pressing—and no one has any idea how to resolve it. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian summed it up in a few words: Iran, he said, is on the brink of a dire water crisis.

We now return to the fertile topic of “expressions that annoy me,” which is growing ever bigger the older I get.

And I’m not just talking about expressions that people say specifically to annoy you, such as, “You’re old!”  My bother frequently says this, just because I’m older than he is.  And I have to constantly be reminded, because I’m old.  He says it all the time, whenever he can work it into a conversation, because younger people like repetition.  And this isn’t going away, because I’m always going to be older than him, as far as I can tell.  But if I would’ve known he’d be like this, then I would have said, when he was younger, “You’re young!” 

For decades, many people have worried that the world is becoming overpopulated. They were concerned about shortages of food and water, not enough affordable housing, too little living space, and environmental issues. These days people are still worried about population—but for a very different reason. Populations in numerous countries are shrinking rapidly and, if this trend continues, everyone will be affected.

It’s almost summer: time to pack up and go on vacation, where you can let go of the worries of everyday life and have carefree thoughts and feelings, such as the feeling that you probably forgot something at home.