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 The Israeli military, too, has contributed to the Israeli hasbara that Tel Aviv would be able to face several threats at all fronts, from Gaza, to the West Bank, to Lebanon, and Syria.

 But the Hamas attack at numerous Israeli targets on Saturday, October 5, at precisely 6:00 am Palestine time, proved him utterly and humiliatingly wrong. Neither Netanyahu, nor his army were in fact able to face a single Palestinian group, operating alone, and under siege.

 It will take time for all of this to sink in among Israeli leaders, military brass, media, and society. For now, however, Netanyahu is desperate to show that Israel remains a powerful country and a regional power that deserves its often-touted status of having an ‘invincible’ army.

 But all his options are nearly impossible.

 It was obvious that Hamas, and later the Islamic Jihad, were keen on capturing as many Israelis - both soldiers, and settlers - as possible.

As its 30th season opens, that crowd pleasing palace the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts is mounting a musical perfect for capitalizing on the fact that as of this writing, it’s currently Hispanic Heritage Month. The title characters of On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan are, of course, real life musicians who were both born in Cuba. Given the Miami Sound Machine’s (and later iterations of Gloria’s band) hits, including “Dr. Beat,” the eponymous “Get On Your Feet” and the positively infectious “Conga,” I wondered if Feet! would actually have a plot per se or if this stage production would merely be a glorified excuse for a concert.

Originally published 2016

According to a recent Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) report, cancer of the cervix was the 14th most common malignancy among Minnesota women. Cervical cancer was also listed as the 17th most common cause of cancer death in Minnesota.

In Minnesota, according to the statistical information provided by the MDH (published at http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/hpcd/cdee/mcss/documents/ccc.pdf), the incidence of cancer of the cervix among Minnesotan females of all races is a miniscule 6.8/100,000 population (ie, 6.8 newly diagnosed cases per 100,000 women per year). (Incidence is the term for the number of new cases of a disease diagnosed during a specified period of time, usually a year.)

BANGKOK, Thailand -- China's navy quietly sailed into the shallow, energy-rich Gulf of Thailand earlier this month for Blue Strike 2023, a joint naval exercise to increase Beijing's influence with Thailand's newly elected, military-backed civilian government, which is also a strategic U.S. treaty ally.

Meanwhile, in his first political foray onto the international stage, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin flew to New York and attended the UN General Assembly Sept. 18-24, where he met President Biden and other politicians along with Google, Microsoft, Tesla, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is also eager to scrutinize and charm Thailand's new prime minister, and invited Mr. Srettha to visit Beijing Oct. 8-10.

The U.S. and China are eyeing the new administration and its views on international investment, tourism, trade, and weapons purchases.

On Aug. 22, Parliament ended three months of bickering and agreed on a pliant civilian-led, 11-party coalition government fronted by Prime Minister Srettha, a real estate tycoon.

Something happened on Tuesday, as I began researching this column — I wound up having to give myself a COVID test.

A good friend had just tested positive and, well, we had recently gotten together. I needed to see if I was OK. I note this not because there was bad news — I tested negative — but because . . . well, I’m not quite sure. I had never self-administered a COVID test before, or had any such test at all in several years. I felt fine. I didn’t feel sick. Of course I’m OK, I had whispered to myself as I inserted the swab into my nostril. But the test results could be a shock — that’s the whole point of taking it.

Even though there was no shock, I still felt as though something had grabbed my soul. I was unable, in the aftermath, to calmly push forward as an intellectual and delve into my chosen column topic: the narrowly averted government shutdown (and whatever it might have meant). My emotional space felt hollow. The column simply wasn’t there. Now what?