You must know by now that  Iran finally responded on their revenge  for the assassination of Hamas leader  Ismail Haniyeh in Teheran on 31July2024, compounded by those pager/walkie talkie explosions and bombing death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. Sent 180 or ballistic missiles to Israel from Iran.  Almost 90% got intercepted, but that means at least 20 succeeded.  However, no fatalities. Remember that earlier revenge strike by Iran in April for Israel bombing their militia in Syria?  More than 300 missiles, of which 99% were intercepted? I think the drop in interceptions this time was that there were only two destroyers helping the  Iron Dome , which was funded by President Barack Obama.  In April, at least one aircraft carrier helped in the defense. The question is what's next? Was that all from Iran?  Early reports indicate that was it . Will Israel retaliate?  In April, they didn't because there were no civilian deat...

Today, a little bit of everything, beginning with the  return plans for our stranded astronauts .  I've had  several postings on their plight,  and at one time their rescue would not be until February of next year. SpaceX launched NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, their 4-seat Crew-9 capsule docked with the International Space Station yesterday.  I guess the USA and Russia are still cooperating on something. But, whoops, there will be no early return. NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore have been stuck on the ISS since June 6. The four will return to Earth in February. The death toll from  Hurricane Helene  is now up to 119, and will continue to grow, for there are 600 or more still unaccounted.  Most of those killed, 73, are from the Carolinas ( 46 in North Carolina, where as much as 30.78 inches of rain fell ), 25 in Georgia and 13 in Florida.  Several million are still without power.  At...

Yesterday I reported on those Israeli pager attacks of the Hezbollah in Lebanon.   A second wave followed .  First, 9 killed and 3,000 injured, and second, 25 deaths and 600 wounded.  As carrying a mobile phone incurs other risks, the Hezbollah must be stymied on how to communicate.  These Taiwanese pagers are fabricated in Budapest, Hungary.  Japanese walkie-talkie devices were apparently also triggered.  Like the Taiwanese, the Japanese-maker, Icom, said someone just copied their product.   The Hezbollah will retaliate in some way.  And what about the Iranian revenge attack that has long been delayed?  The whole region is now a powder keg on the verge of exploding.  Our next two trips will totally avoid that region. Last week I lamented the position of the USA on medical care and costs.  Well, a new report found that the  U.S. ranks as the WORST performer among 10 developed nation in health care .  In preventin...