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God's 4-H Club

Most Americans have heard of 4-H (Head, Heart, Hands, and Health), which is a youth development program administered under the auspices of both the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I recall they had a 4-H club in the high school I attended in my home town in Central Illinois, which, like 4-H clubs all over America, provided educational opportunities for young people aged 8–18 related to agriculture, healthy living, science and technology, and civic engagement.

Well, that sounds terrific...especially in a highly agricultural area like Central Illinois. But my oh-so-cool friends and I had absolutely zero interest in what seemed to us like a total snoozer—a boring club full of nerdy farm girls.

» Continue reading the article for JUN '26...

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Separation Anxiety

I've been teaching English in Taiwan since 1992, and in my early years here I worked for a woman who operated a branch of a chain of language schools where I taught children's classes in addition to adult conversation classes. She also ran a private kindergarten where I was regularly pressed into service teaching children between the ages of three and six.

One rite of passage I witnessed regularly occurred when a very young child was left at the kindergarten by his or her mother for the first time. Many children, although they may have been a bit timid or anxious initially, got through it in fine fashion. By lunchtime they would be running around and playing with the other kids, and seemed none the worse for the experience.

For others, however, it was a very different story. Some children would be so traumatized by their perceived abandonment that they would scream and wail for hours on end at volumes belying their diminutive size, impervious to any attempts by teachers or other children to interact with or comfort them in any way. In some cases, this continued until mom returned at day's end to pick the child up, only to continue unabated the next day. I remember one little girl who screamed all day for two solid weeks—I think she finally just wore herself out.

Sooner or later, the kid finally begins to realize that (a) crying accomplishes nothing, (b) the people at the kindergarten are nice, (c) there are some cool toys to play with and some fun activities to be part of, and (d) that yes, mom really will come back.

I suppose it's a natural part of growing up.

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5/26/2026 — From the "Burning Brightly" Department...

In 1987, Donald Trump published his best-selling book The Art of the Deal. The way things are going with Iran, many are surmising that perhaps he should go back and re-read it.

Here's a timely quote from said book:

"The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood, and then you're dead. The best thing you can do is deal from strength, and leverage is the biggest strength you can have."

Indeed. In the opinion of many experts, however, it is Tehran that appears to have the leverage...bellicose threats from Trump to "open the (bleeping) Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell" notwithstanding.

The reality is that Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz has put tremendous pressure on the global economy. As gas prices have risen, Trump's approval rating has fallen—and now the Trump administration appears to be prepared to agree to a deal that could very well end up leaving Iran in a stronger position than they were in when the war began.

The basic components of the deal appear to be as follows: Iran agrees to open the Strait and not charge any tolls. If they do that, the Iranians get phased relief from sanctions, which will include access to billions of dollars of frozen assets. Also, Iran will promise to "restrict" its nuclear program, although the details of such restrictions will be the topic of future negotiations.

And that means exactly what you think it means: The central issue of stopping Iran from ever developing a nuclear weapon with which to accomplish their stated goal of annihilating Israel remains largely unresolved and with a big question mark hovering over it.

Maybe it's just me, but this doesn't sound like winning.

Trump has also basically left Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who originally sold the war as an opportunity to secure regime change in Iran, more or less on the sidelines. One obvious problem, however, is that there is and has always been only one way to accomplish that: a full-blown ground war, complete with plane after plane returning to America filled with body bags containing the remains of American soldiers...many of whose parents voted for and support Trump.

Since we haven't experienced that sort of thing since Vietnam in the 60s and early 70s, Americans have long since lost their taste for real, full-blown, ground-pounding war—the kind that kills our sons. We've grown accustomed to slick, clean-cut air strikes that get the job done from umpteen thousand feet, with flight crews returning with smiles and high-fives. Regime change in Iran is a very different kettle of fish, so forgive me for stating the obvious:

If you think Trump's support is waning now, oh baby...wait till the body bags start flowing in.

Of course, Trump knows this better than anyone—it's a basic fact of life. But one simple truth remains: The current regime in Iran cannot simply be removed, it must be destroyed. The current regime will never allow their nuclear ambitions to be snuffed out, regardless of the cost, and that leaves us with no choice but to go in get our hands bloody.

And it is becoming clear that Trump is doing his utmost to put that out of his mind with a deal that essentially leaves the nuclear question dangling.

The good news, and frankly the only good news I can think of in this regard, is that the failure to destroy the current regime in Iran leaves the green light for Gog-Magog burning brightly.

Which leaves the green light for our departure burning even more brightly.

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