Nobody Really Knows

NOTE: On the eve of an unthinkable war…

The older I get, the whole puzzle of life on earth seems like it should be simple. We need to find the right balance that allows us all to exist together. That's about it, but whether we will ever be able to do that is another question.

There's a synchronicity to your life and my life and all of our lives — what each of us does affects everyone else. Everybody wants and needs the same basic things.

My Canadian-born grandmother was in a nursing home in her 90s when we went to visit one winter's day to take her out on a day trip. We went to a nearby hilly area where we parked and watched people with sleds go up and down a gentle incline.

There was fresh snow and my tiny grandmother sat in the front seat watching for a while before pronouncing, "Round and round everyone goes, and where they stop nobody knows."

That was it. She had nothing else to say.

My grandmother has been gone for more than half a century now and the world has changed in dramatic ways and yet her truth remains. Everyone is still riding the merry-go-round and where they will stop nobody knows.

HEADLINES: 

• Iran's Khamenei rejects Trump's call for surrender as thousands flee Tehran (Reuters)

• Trump threatens Iran’s leader, demands ‘unconditional surrender’ (CNBC)

• Israel says it killed a top Iranian general as Trump warns people to flee Iranian capital (ABC)

• War on Iran is splitting Trump’s Maga movement (Financial Times)

• How Trump Shifted on Iran Under Pressure From Israel (NYT)

• Trump officials reverse guidance exempting farms, hotels from immigration raids (WP)

• Immigration raids in Los Angeles hit small business owners: 'It's worse than COVID' (Reuters)

• Gardeners on ICE raids: ‘People are afraid, but they still have to work’ (LAT)

• NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander handcuffed by ICE (CNBC)

• More than 140,000 protesters attended No Kings protests across Bay Area (Mercury News)

• School shootings have become routine – political assassinations are next (Telegraph)

• Suspect Planned to ‘Inflict Fear’ With Wider Killing Spree, Prosecutors Say (NYT)

• Trump tariffs risk damage to sectors that employ more than 80 percent of U.S. workers (WP)

• Judge rules some NIH grant cuts illegal, saying he’s never seen such discrimination in 40 years (AP)

• Trump escalated his feud with his one-time ally, Tucker Carlson, claiming that no one cares about him or his concerns regarding this major crisis. [HuffPost]

• Poll: GOP budget bill faces nearly 2-to-1 opposition, with many Americans unaware of details (WP)

• A federal jury in Colorado found that MyPillow founder Mike Lindell defamed a former employee of a leading voting equipment company after the 2020 election. [AP]

• Where humidity will soon surge to extreme levels (WP)

• Kraft Heinz to remove artificial dyes from food products over next 2 years (ABC)

• Why a professor of fascism left the US: ‘The lesson of 1933 is – you get out’ (Guardian)

• AI Is Poised to Rewrite History. Literally. (NYT)

• China’s MiniMax Says Its New AI Reasoning Model Beats DeepSeek (Bloomberg)

• Teacher Required To Provide Own Salary (The Onion)