Weekends are too damn short, I must say. One minute it’s Friday afternoon and wooooo it’s time to shut the laptop and have some fun, baby, and the next it’s Sunday night and the sun is setting and all you have to show for it is…a long bike ride, a shorter bike ride, dinner out with friends, dinner in on your anniversary and a very clean kitchen. So I guess it’s better than nothing. I just hate to have to cram all my me-life into two days and work gets the remaining five.
I guess it doesn’t have to. That’s why after-work socializing was invented, but who has the energy for that anymore? On the other hand, it’s amazing anyone has the energy for anything, these days.
I did go shopping Saturday, too. Wore a mask. I will continue to do so, for all the reasons you’ve already heard. I may return to the gym, though, at extreme off-peak hours and preferably with the doors cracked open. I’ve kept my membership going, to support the place — might as well get something for it.
Something else I did this weekend: Caught the first couple episodes of “Halston.” I am in full agreement with Tom & Lorenzo in their essential disappointment. I actually went to a fashion show in his famous Fifth Avenue “aerie,” as it was inevitably called. Liza was there. The clothes were great, but he was past his prime a bit by then. I was enough of a hippie that I found Ultrasuede kinda gross; it violated my principles that clothing materials should be natural, dammit, and I never understood the appeal of the famous Ultrasuede coat dress, although I don’t have much of an eye, admittedly. The ’70s are, in my mind, a pastiche of polyester and Pucci and knock-offs of Pucci and, yes, Halston.
Anyway, I guess the upshot of the weekend was, I’m glad to be less-masked, for now. Don’t have much more to offer, other than this photo of the weekend:
And this is why more women should be in charge of things.
📸 Mark Gormus, @AP pic.twitter.com/JvCE3M4NoM
— Lisa Kirbie (@lisakirbie) May 15, 2021
Week ahead, let’s get to it.
LAMary said on May 16, 2021 at 11:41 pm
Halston, Pucci and von Furstenberg,I think. There was a spectacular catch at the Dodgers game yesterday too. Good game yesterday. Sucky game today.
149 chars
Dexter Friend said on May 17, 2021 at 2:03 am
I love the protective helmet on the baby. Nice catch, and I saw a rash of great fan catches this weekend. Baseball’s best story is Shohei Ohtani of the Angels. He is the largest Japanese athlete I have ever seen and he leads (tied) the league with 12 home runs and is also a knock-em-dead pitcher, and nobody’s been this good at all this since George Herman “Babe” Ruth.
I took the weekend off away from all political shows and just walked Pogo, cut the lawn, pulled weeds, and went grocery shopping. And I was excited when Jane Pauley took over CBS Sunday Morning News, then disappointed when , in my opinion, it just turned to stuff I care nothing about. But you may want to search CBS for their lead story. It’s an interview with Ewan Macgregor about the Halston show. Not my thing, but hardly any of their topics interest me. I switched over to English Premier League Football.
891 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on May 17, 2021 at 7:00 am
Two bike rides in a weekend sounds pretty productive to me.
UFOs continue to show signs of intelligent life, still refusing to make direct contact with humanity or official government agencies.
196 chars
Mark P said on May 17, 2021 at 8:58 am
I saw the 60 Minutes segment on UFO’s and kept waiting for the “skeptic” interview, you know, a physicist or a radar or electro-optical specialist, but I waited in vain. They had one kind of skeptic but no one who could explain optical illusions or the vagaries of radar and IR sensors. Plus they interpreted physical impossibilities as potential evidence of something real but unknown instead of evidence that they didn’t really see what they thought they did. For example, radar saw something drop 80,000 feet in a second in the atmosphere, and ending up near the ocean surface. That’s more than 54,000 miles per hour. In the real world, the one where we actually live, there would have been a huge, blinding streak of light and a massive explosion-like flash at the surface as all that super-compressed and heated air hit the surface. But nope. A little foam on the surface. It’s all bullshit.
908 chars
Julie Robinson said on May 17, 2021 at 9:29 am
Ms. Proprietess, me thinks you need a vacation. Or retirement. Sweet retirement, where all the days blend together. (Unless you are moving; then they blend together in a less pleasant way.) But until retirement can happen, definitely a vacation.
I haven’t decided if I’m going to watch Halston yet. Maybe someone will put the Krysta Rodriguez as Liza musical numbers on youtube and I can watch that. That’s really all I’m interested in, because how many times can you watch a person self-destruct and enjoy it? I somehow made it all the way through Fosse/Verdon, after all. Incredibly talented people; incredibly poor at living in a healthy way.
My weekend recommendation is Tammy Duckworth’s book, Every Day is a Gift. This lady is kickass. I didn’t know that she began her doctorate in DeKalb at Northern Illinois University, my hometown area. She writes that when she first drove into Illinois and saw the cornfields, she immediately felt at home.
956 chars
Heather said on May 17, 2021 at 9:30 am
Lots of bike rides for me too, and drinking/eating out with friends. I gotta remember how to budget for that stuff. Also gardening. I do most of the flowers at our condo building so that’s been keeping me busy.
Yesterday I headed to Montrose Beach to see Rose and Monty, the famous piping plovers of Chicago. This year they nested right in the middle of a semi-protected area of the beach (which will soon be fully protected), so there are a lot of volunteers making sure people stay away, and they also erected a metal cage to keep predators away from the eggs (the plovers can get in and out–they are surprisingly small!). I also went to the adjoining bird sanctuary, and I finally understand why they call one section the “Magic Hedge.” So many warblers and American redstarts! Also spotted a hard-to-see thrush thanks to another birder, catbirds, and as always lots of cardinals and red-winged blackbirds. It was very relaxing.
935 chars
LAMary said on May 17, 2021 at 9:59 am
The catch at the Dodgers game I mentioned was by a woman. I forgot to include that. And Dexter, did you see the header that won the Liverpool/West Brom game? I bet you did if you were watching EPL.
Monty and Rose are good names. Someone I used to work with just got two Australian Shepherd pups and asked for name suggestions for the two male pups. I suggested Sydney and Melbourne, shortened to Sid and Mel. Nope. She chose lame names. I’m very disappointed with her. Sid and Mel are two perfectly good dog names.
516 chars
Jeff Borden said on May 17, 2021 at 10:14 am
We’ve been out to eat five times now. And I’ll be seeing my third Cubs game at Wrigley Field on Wednesday night. It feels good to reenter the world. . .even just a little. We’re even considering hosting our usual July 4 backyard party, which we canceled the past two years.
273 chars
Deborah said on May 17, 2021 at 10:53 am
We’re going to a restaurant in a couple of hours for brunch with S’s cousin and his hubs. The restaurant we’re going to has garage doors in one area, I asked to sit near the open doors when I made the reservation. We are all vaccinated but will feel more comfortable in the open air area, although it is a little cool here in Santa Fe this morning, the high is only going to be 66 later today.
I spent yesterday chopping roots out of the area where the new wooden fence is going. Four hours using a hatchet, my arms are sore today. I can’t wait to get this fence installed.
576 chars
JodiP said on May 17, 2021 at 11:08 am
We had a nice mellow time up with our friends at the cabin. Like Heather, saw and heard quite a few birds, including loons. On the way back, we listened to Levar Burton reads, a podcast in which he reads short stories. The nearly 3 hour drive zipped by!
In what has got to be a strong mark of becoming a pretty boring person, I am delighted with a new sprinkler for the lawn/garden, which I tried out last night.
My wife finally gave our newish dog a bath. Turns out he is not a dull white, but blinding white on those parts of him that are white! We had held off a bit because he is kinda timid. But he played with a neighbor puppy, including wrestling and got wonderfully filthy.
687 chars
Julie Robinson said on May 17, 2021 at 12:12 pm
Jodi, somehow I missed that you had a new pupper. What’s his name? Hope the adjustment continues to go well.
Mom had an emaciated gray cat come to her door, declawed on all four paws, and in bad physical shape. Once kitty was getting regular meals she washed herself and she was pure white. Now, who sets loose a declawed cat? Mom checked all the places for lost animals but no one responded to her report. Anyway, that was Princess, who came at a very low point in both their lives, and we still don’t know who rescued who.
528 chars
LAMary said on May 17, 2021 at 12:54 pm
Small rant. When Kobe Bryant died there was a Kobe related story on local news every fucking night for three months or so. Now it’s a year or so later and I have to listen to community leaders going on about him again, calling Kobe the thing that galls me the most: a role model for kids. He was a rapist. If you choose to believe it was consentual he was a cheater. There are in southern California new fewer than 300 Kobe murals. He was a brilliant athlete. When his helicopter crashed he was on his way to a kids’ game at one of his centers in a very affluent neighborhood where the children of people with considerable disposable income could send their kids to learn to play basketball. Not the hood. Kardashian country.He did stuff for kids in the hood, absolutely, but he had some flaws that I think exclude him from the role model title. The woman who accused him of rape had her life threatened when someone, supposedly on his legal team, released her name. There are better role models.
996 chars
Julie Robinson said on May 17, 2021 at 1:39 pm
Death washed him clean? I dunno. Weren’t there jokes about Mrs. Kobe’s jewelry, that this ring was from indiscretion #23, and this tennis bracelet from #54? They shouldn’t have been flying that day, and I guess we’ll never know if that was pilot error or being pushed by Kobe.
Speaking of poor role models, Bill Gates has now admitted an affair with an employee.
363 chars
JodiP said on May 17, 2021 at 2:18 pm
Julie, our new boy is Hamilton, a 4 year old terrier/boxer mix. We haven’t shared on FB because we are still a bit embarrassed about the other dog having to be returned. We have had him for about 5 weeks, and he is doing great! We asked a lot of questions at the shelter and consulted with a dog trainer friend before adopting.
LAMary: 100% with you on Kobe.
362 chars
Joe Kobiela said on May 17, 2021 at 2:27 pm
If I remember correctly Kobe was knocking at the back door so to speak.
NTSB concluded it was pilot error, I just flew Tuesday thru Saturday all over California and the marine layer is a real bitch. Came back from Carlsbad to Detroit Saturday afternoon 6.5hr with a fuel stop in Nebraska saw a lot of the USA.
Home tomorrow.
Cheers from Green Bay
Pilot Joe
360 chars
basset said on May 17, 2021 at 2:36 pm
Saw the Liverpool goal but, not knowing much about hockey, I need someone to explain how the goalkeeper was way down by the other net in position to score.
We’ve been hearing about pent-up travel demand, seeing it for sure today. Tried to book a rental in our usual beach visit area, Navarre Beach, FL, and everything, I mean everything, within reasonable distance of the water was taken. Best we could do in early June was three nights in a Hampton Inn for close to $1100. Been meaning to try South Carolina for awhile, maybe this is the year.
550 chars
Julie Robinson said on May 17, 2021 at 2:46 pm
Pilot error, but was it because he was under pressure from Kobe?
I love Hamilton for a name. Hope LA Mary approves.
118 chars
beb said on May 17, 2021 at 2:48 pm
Came across this article this morning on Buzzfeed about an all-women’s gym and some of the things they do to make women feel more comfortable there.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/shelbyheinrich/all-womens-gym-tiktok-viral
And of course some men feel threatened by this.
269 chars
Colleen said on May 17, 2021 at 3:02 pm
Seems to me that men, especially white ones, are the biggest snowflakes of all….
82 chars
Deborah said on May 17, 2021 at 3:22 pm
Our brunch at the restaurant was terrific, I have missed being able to go there, and it turned out not being too cool sitting by the open doors, I had to take off my jacket. Our guests were great, LB got on great with the cousin’s hubs, they talked about cooking a lot.
Now it’s very dark, threatening thunderstorm imminent, hoping it rains too, very, very dry around here. Soon there will probably be lots of wildfires in the mountains. Yikes.
Sid and Mel are great dog names especially for Australian shepherds. Hamilton is a cute dog name too.
552 chars
Sherri said on May 17, 2021 at 3:26 pm
Kobe was a rapist. Kobe also went out of his way to be supportive of women’s basketball players. There are quite a few players in the WNBA and in college who regarded Kobe as a mentor. Neither erases the other. People are capable of both great harm and great good.
266 chars
Suzanne said on May 17, 2021 at 4:01 pm
Speaking the good and the bad in the same person, here is one I never knew about.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/05/17/peter-yarrow-carter-pardon-assault/
168 chars
LAMary said on May 17, 2021 at 4:17 pm
I know Kobe was working hard to fix his reputation after the rape thing and supporting women’s sport was part of that. And yes, Mrs. Bryant’s jewelry collection was increased with a very large pink diamond after the rape victim was paid off to go away. Hamilton is a perfectly nice name for a dog. Named after the founder of my home town, Paterson, NJ. I was only critical of the dog names selected after they rejected Mel and Sid because they were very common dog names. Mel and Sid worked as cool names because they referred to the two Australian cites and to me sounded very 50s comedian-ish.
646 chars
Jeff Borden said on May 17, 2021 at 4:49 pm
The ancient Greeks were correct about a lot of things, but especially the duality of human beings.
98 chars
Joe Kobiela said on May 17, 2021 at 4:54 pm
It was reported that Kobe never pressured the pilot, however the pilot probably didn’t want to disappoint Kobe so he went. It can be a really hard thing to tell someone no. I can’t go unless my dispatch gives me the ok. I have had them cancel flights when I would have been comfortable flying, if the customer complains we have them call customer service right then and we discuss it together. I have two thoughts, I’m a professional pilot and if I think it’s too bad why would you question me? And it’s better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, then in the air wishing you were on the ground.
Pilot Joe
629 chars
David C said on May 17, 2021 at 5:08 pm
I expect it’s a lot harder if the flight service Kobe used isn’t set up like your employer is, Joe. It’s probably doubly so when it’s a celebrity who isn’t used to hearing the words “Sorry, no”.
194 chars
Joe Kobiela said on May 17, 2021 at 6:29 pm
True David, I do fly some celebrities, so far all have been very nice and respectful of our safety specs.
It’s one of the reasons I fly for who I fly for, my company has my back, while I personally haven’t had any problems others have and have been backed up 100%.
Pilot Joe
281 chars
Mark P said on May 17, 2021 at 6:38 pm
A group of grocery chain executives visited my hometown on a scouting trip. They were eager to leave our airport to get to the next stop, so the pilot took off into low clouds against the wishes of his copilot. There are still a few pieces of the plane on the mountain they flew into a mile or so from our house.
312 chars
David C said on May 17, 2021 at 6:50 pm
If you’re over Oshkosh on your way out of GB tip your wings so I know it’s you, Joe.
84 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on May 17, 2021 at 9:22 pm
In our community I’ve gotten to talk to quite a few NetJets pilots & crew over the years who work out of Columbus, and they all say that it’s both common for some wealthy clients to try to push against weather and other risk factors, and also for their company to tell certain clients “we don’t need your business” if they push too hard.
341 chars
Deborah said on May 17, 2021 at 9:56 pm
So tonight I started my chemo cream regimen that I’ll need to use on my forehead, temples, my upper lip and a spot on my chin. This is for some precancerous skin spots that have developed, too many to freeze off at the dermatologist office as I’ve had done in past years. This has to be done for 2 to 4 weeks and my dr says it can be shocking to look at. I’ve put this off for over a year, partly because the small tube of cream cost $800 dollars without insurance, then I got Medicaid prescription insurance, then the pandemic hit etc etc. So for the next month, I’m having to completely stay out of the sun on my face. I have lots of hats in NM, but I have to make sure they don’t scratch my forehead while it’s all messed up. I’m making up for my time growing up in Miami, FL as a kid, pre-sunscreen. This is not going to be fun.
832 chars
A. Riley said on May 18, 2021 at 12:51 am
The women’s gym thing isn’t new — there was one (don’t remember the name) I used to go to on Lawrence Ave. in Chicago thirty years ago, maybe longer. It wasn’t as plush as the one in the Buzzfeed story, but it did have the tinted windows. Buzzfeed just found clickbait with the whiny menz.
Re Kobe: It seems that elite athletes are almost automatically awarded a get-off-the-hook card and a halo. And of course untimely death — any famous person’s untimely death — tugs at the heartstrings of the Victorian Gent (as Tom Wolfe called the collective sensibility of the media beast). Tragedy! Pathos! An opportunity for Glurge!
631 chars
Dexter Friend said on May 18, 2021 at 2:11 am
Deborah, when I was in Vietnam I went shirtless most of the time and the sun turned me brown. Later in life I figured I had likely ruined any chance of going without skin cancer. I have had the skin inspection twice and no indication of precancer. Dad was shocked to see me at the airport when I had completed army service. I was really very fried.
Just today I heard a comment about how accepted Mike Tyson is these days. Tyson is a rapist, convicted in denial. I always thought Bryant was a sexual predator turned rapist, and Michael Jackson definitely was a rapist. Money and lawyers got two of them off, but Tyson’s verdict and prison time seems to endear him to his public.
LA Mary, I had the game on live when Alisson was forced to move to the opposite goal area and scored on the corner kick header. I was shocked and elated. Onward Reds!
And tonight Shohei Ohtani of the LA Angels blasted yet another prodigious home run deep into the marine layer air at Anaheim. Gaw-DAMM that man can hit.
Did you see the diners in Louisiana , calmly sitting at their tables as flood water rushed in, immediately 3 feet high? That fierce rain around Lake Charles was horrifying, other-worldly.
Over 200 Palestinians and 10 Israelis dead as Netanyahu targets civilian dwellings and then lies about it. I thought he was going to be voted out. He’s like Putin, head of state for life? Hamas is firing rockets by the thousands but the US-built anti-incoming system blows 98% of them out of the sky. The one thing I am sure of is there will never be peace and understanding there.
1593 chars
Mark P said on May 18, 2021 at 8:54 am
Dexter, the Iron Dome system is Israeli designed and built. They’ve been working on missile defense for a long time. The US has cooperated, but it’s the Israelis’ system. It’s different from what we mean in the US by missile defense because it’s meant to destroy the small, unsophisticated, short-range missiles Hamas is using, a simpler problem than hitting long range
ICBMs. That’s what the US is trying to do.
425 chars
Jeff Borden said on May 18, 2021 at 9:42 am
The day Amy Coney Barrett was born for is fast approaching. Justice Handmaiden and her rightwing pals on SCOTUS will soon weigh in on an absurd anti-abortion law passed in Mississippi. The countdown to overturning Roe v. Wade has begun.
236 chars
Heather said on May 18, 2021 at 10:25 am
A. Riley, I remember that gym on Lawrence. Women’s Workout World, right? You’re right, not a new thing. Wasn’t Curves also women only?
A friend just had some skin cancer removed from her shoulder–they took a pretty big chunk, but now she has the all-clear. However, she has to go back for checks every three months for the next two years and is a bit freaked out since her sister has had four instances of skin cancer.
I don’t have anything to say about Justice Handmaid, except for a giant middle finger to all the men who said women who were crying when Trump was elected were being hysterical.
600 chars
LAMary said on May 18, 2021 at 11:48 am
Deborah, there are cooling gaiters you can wear that will cover your nose, chin etc. We’re all very fair skinned in this family and my son who does brush clearance wears one of those gaiters since he’s outside all day and a hat doesn’t cover everything. There’s a three pack at Costco for 16 bucks.
298 chars
Joe Kobiela said on May 18, 2021 at 12:43 pm
Nancy
Any comments on the Governors little trip to Fla? Rules for thee but not for me?
It’s a very thin line on what is allowed, might be a interesting thing to check on.
Pilot Joe
188 chars
Deborah said on May 18, 2021 at 1:47 pm
LAMary, I have big floppy hats that cover everything on my face. The problem is the hat brim resting on my forehead if it’s all broken out and irritated. So far this morning it doesn’t look any different, but I’m assuming it takes a few days. I put a thin coat of the cream on after washing my face before bed, then in the morning I wash it off and put a coating of Aquaphor on my face wherever the cream had been. Aquaphor is basically like Vaseline which then gets all in my hair, even though I have headbands to try to keep my hair from getting all greasy. I haven’t ventured out in public yet.
Our jeep is getting a new windshield right now, it got a crack in it that was growing by the day. Everyone’s vehicle in NM has dinged and/or cracked windshields. After my husband gets back from the auto glass place, I’m going to venture out with my hat, my mask and sunglasses, so not much of my face will be showing.
919 chars
Mark P said on May 18, 2021 at 2:31 pm
Deborah — don’t you just love chip-seal?
44 chars
Deborah said on May 18, 2021 at 6:11 pm
Mark P, I used chip seal once when I had the first tiny ding in the jeep windshield. They did the seal at the place we get the car washed. This crack happened probably from a different later ding and then there was a wide temp swing in a drive from Santa Fe to Albuquerque. The crack was growing about 1/2″ a day and then yesterday it grew about 3″. Luckily we had already made the appointment to get the windshield replaced.
I made the mistake of looking at google images of people going through the same cream treatment I’m going through for Actinic Keratosis, holy cow it is shocking. Right now my forehead itches like crazy but doesn’t look any different yet. The good thing though is that when it gets all scabby that means it’s working, getting rid of the dangerous cells that can turn into cancer.
807 chars
susan said on May 18, 2021 at 6:22 pm
Mark @40. “Chip-seal” may have caused the windshield ding, to begin with. Ironic to fix it with chip-seal.
178 chars
Dorothy said on May 18, 2021 at 6:34 pm
Deborah I had forgotten that my dad used that cream and had the same scabby, red places on his face as the medicine did its work. He had several experiences with skin cancer on his face and had the tip of one ear removed.
Re the baby helmet in Nancy’s shared photo – one of my great nephews is currently wearing one. I think he’ll be done in June or July with it. It’s because his skull was flattening too much and also an issue with his neck being tight and his head sort of lolling to one side. He’s doing great so far. His mother is an extremely high maintenance worrier so at first she was quite consumed with so much agitation over it. I think she’s come around after some of her friends talked about someone they knew whose baby used one.
758 chars
Deborah said on May 18, 2021 at 7:12 pm
Ok I get it now, chip seal is not the stuff they used to fix that first ding, I don’t actually know the name of it.
The dings in windshields in NM often happen when they de-ice the roads with this stuff called scoria (spelling?)it’s a type of lava rock that has salt like minerals in it. Cars and trucks flip it up onto windshields of following cars. It’s a rust colored material that turns sort of purple at the end of winter. Plus there are a lot of gravel roads in NM, especially around Abiquiu.
501 chars
Mark P said on May 18, 2021 at 8:41 pm
The chip-seal I was referring to was the road surfacing kind. We call it tar and gravel. It helps resurface a highway but it’s hell on windshields. Everyone complains when they are behind someone or some idiot passes them and cuts back in too closely, but the driver in front never thinks about it.
300 chars
alex said on May 18, 2021 at 10:07 pm
I lost a big chunk of nose to basal cell carcinoma a couple of years ago. Hated the dermatologist, though, and going to get checked out at a different clinic for my ongoing treatment. I can feel other spots that are likely precancerous too so I may end up doing the facial cream thing or just have them burn/slice them off like I did before. Nice thing about being old and not on the make is that you don’t give a fuck what you look like.
The clinic I was going to, recently rechristened “Forefront Dermatology,” is now part of a national chain of sorts. And not terribly well run. I went there only because my mother was a classmate of Dr. Gilbert of that place, although she couldn’t remember whether it was high school, undergrad or grad school. Yes, he was 90 before they took the scalpel away from him and told him to go take a chill pill. I didn’t have the pleasure of working with him, though, but another doctor, slightly younger and a hideous ghostly white, who had a shitty bedside manner.
Their switchboard isn’t local and I had one appointment screwed up because they’re on central time and I showed for one appointment at 3 PM instead of 2 PM because they fucked up. So I had to reschedule. Otherwise, all kinds of promises were made but never addressed. And they had a nurse practitioner (male) who was a nutter and tried to engage me in political banter and I was appalled. And they played radio stations definitely skewed toward the nutter demographic. All in all not just disappointing but downright offensive.
We have chip and seal roads around here but I never got windshield damage from those. My cracked windshields always happened on the interstate and were caused by dump trucks carrying loose gravel at 80+ MPH.
1746 chars
Dexter Friend said on May 19, 2021 at 1:44 am
Mark P., yes the Israelis developed the Iron Dome but even with Israel being the number one recipient of USA aid, and home to brilliant people, they could not get it to work without USA supervision, assistance, or whatever everyone calls it. Uh…and also the funding for it.
From the internet: “Israel’s Iron Dome is an air defense system developed by the Israeli firms Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, with financial and technical support from the United States. First put into service in 2011, it is designed to stop short-range rockets and artillery like those fired from Gaza.”
Now the unrest has spread to Jerusalem and the West Bank.
679 chars
Mark P said on May 19, 2021 at 8:57 am
Dexter — I don’t have first-hand knowledge of the Iron Dome system development, but, based on my first-hand knowledge of US missile defense systems, I doubt that US technical assistance was key to its success. The US doesn’t have much interest in the kind of missiles Hamas is using. Our interest is in missiles with significantly longer ranges. They are different technical problems.
390 chars