I am a retired physics professor. I have been concerned about the Palestinian-Israeli situation for years and have authored a number of op ed pieces on the subject, often in response to other pieces giving a distorted picture of the Middle East. I am also concerned specifically about global warming. More recently, additional major concerns are: (1) U.S. provocations against Russia, particularly surrounding the fantastically exaggerated claim that Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election because of Russian interference. Whatever the Russian government did, if they did anything, fades into insignificance when other factors, such as the archaic Electoral College and Clinton's over-the-top nationalistic hawkishness, are considered. (2) The rigged regulatory system that has facilitated the construction of two giant 42" pipelines through the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains I live in.