StatsA few months ago, I revealed to my readers that I was fearful of MRI machines. At that time, I was deathly afraid of sliding into a long tube. I had a serious case of claustrophobia.

It seems that many more maladies are being diagnosed with the information provided by an MRI test. I’ve had tests for my head (I played football and rugby as a youngster), my aorta, (a little bit of plaque), my lungs and pancreas (prevention), my shoulder (skiing accident), my knee, my prostate and my Achilles tendon. I feel been in MRI machines monthly.

Every time I walk into a doctor’s office, he or she prescribes an MRI examination. The first couple of times, I offset the claustrophobia using unusual, but effective tricks. Most notably, I insisted on receiving general anesthesia (very expensive). Once, I wore a pair of glasses that enabled me to see backwards out of the MRI tube. Clearly, I needed to man-up and find a way to survive the dreaded MRI.

My plan was described in detail in the earlier blog post. I “practiced” for an upcoming MRI and was successful. What, practice for an MRI? It was simple, and over a few days. I lied on the floor, shut my eyes and stayed motionless for 30 minutes, the standard period of time for MRI exams.

It was a gigantic moment, I bravely slid into position at the imaging company and told the technician to zap me. No problem. No fear. All the practice got me through the terror of being in the tube. That was then.

Now I’m proud to announce that I just had a cardiac MRI that lasted one hour. That’s 60 minutes of lying still and breathing in and out about 100 times. What a challenge. What an accomplishment. No one will ever call me a wuss.

I recommend, not that I’m qualified to recommend any medical treatment, to practice before you take an MRI, if you are claustrophobic. I’m happy to make this discovery for man/womankind. ‹ Softball Politics — WordPress.com

The Iran ayatollahs and their sycophants have proven time and again that they are liars, religious zealots, murders and abuses of women. Iran is a member of an axis of evil along with Russia, China and No. Korea. Specifically, Iran’s political objectives are to convert the Middle East to their sect of Islam, eliminate the State of Israel and force the U.S. out of the region. Iran’s current weakened situation won’t dampen its desire to lead the Middle East.

Currently, Israel and the U.S. have an excellent opportunity to finish the job of defanging Iran and its vicious ruling class. It would be a huge mistake to think that Iran is prepared to live peacefully and have cordial relations with the  U.S.

With such a reputation, one wonders why America waited so long to “obliterate” Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. But that aside, did the U.S. destroy enough of Iran’s nuclear operations to prevent it from regrouping in the near term, possibly with the help of other countries, including ones that are enemies of the U.S.? Will No. Korea, once again,  provide missiles to Iran that will be aimed at Israel and the U.S. military?

Further, are there enough nuclear parts available to put together a smaller nuclear weapons program that could be transported to surrounding countries in the Middle East, or even to the U.S. and Europe in small containers? Weapons could be transported aboard ships or passenger airplanes.

Further, will the ayatollahs regroup and create havoc throughout their region? This can be done using conventional bombs and terrorist attacks.

The theocratic government of Iran is an unholy group that revels in political murder and terror. They are not interested in living peacefully. Rather, they want to convert every person in the world to Shia Islam.

Trump keeps talking about getting together with the ruling parties in Iran and working out a treaty that ends the conflict between Iran and most of the Middle East. It’s not going to happen. The ayatollahs still control a huge military that will likely protect the ruling class. Moreover, a contract signed by Iranian rulers is not worth the paper it is documented on.

There are many Iranians that want to escape the abusive rule of the Iranian clergy. They want to see the ayatollahs fail. The U.S. should assist Iran as it burns to ashes.

The U.S. and Israel should stand by with weapons locked and loaded. If Iran makes a threatening move against U.S. allies with its military or with proxies, the US and Israel should intervene in force. Presumably, any offensives by the U.S. would be against military targets.

The U.S. should attempt to bankrupt Iran so it would be unable to rebuild its military. Without money, Iran will fail and its citizens will revolt.

It was a close call. Iran was on the brink of building a deliverable bomb. The US and Israel arrived just in the nick of time to prevent World War III.