Here we are again, readers. Another semester, another ugly winter showing its face in January. We got off lucky over break, and now we’re struggling our way across a frozen waste, with temperatures flirting with true ugliness. Indeed, folks, Winter Storm Jacob has truly left its mark.

I’ve always wanted my name on something, but not like this. A fine bottle of single malt Scotch would have been far more worthwhile. I could sit in a comfortable chair with a glass of it right now, relaxing without a care in the world. Yet instead I am forced to look out and see the lifelessness of the world. It just doesn’t seem fair.

Of course, the weather is just one of many concerns I have had recently. After all, we’re still attempting to make sense of each day, still trying to find something positive out of this, the American experience. It’s an uphill struggle, as our dear, “fearless” leader makes a true mockery of the office that he holds. Images tampered with, lies told each day as fact, it’s enough to make 1984 look like a true story rather than a warning. Aside from national disaster Trump, we’re also approaching what could be an international dilemma, a fourth war in the Middle East.

Yes, a conflict with Iran would mark number four, as U.S. forces have already been involved in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. All three of these have provided one nightmare after another, and can we, not just as a nation, but as a member of the world, throw ourselves in yet another horrifying scenario?

I wish I could say that we could have avoided this, but a fight against Iran has been one the United States has been building towards since the days of the Carter Administration. The downfall of the Shah, the creation of the world’s largest theocratic state, and the hostage crisis that fell in-between, are events that have existed in the back of the national consciousness, and now they are helping to fuel the conflict we see taking shape.

While I have no love for theocratic dictatorships, I cannot say that I want to see this nation dragged into a fourth conflict, to see another decade shaped by a war that we cannot afford in terms of more than just money. The United States is an entity far too entranced by the scent of blood in the water, and yet even as the body bags still continue to arrive from its other wars, it is far too ready to launch into another theater of chaos.

The winter, both physical and metaphoric, is far from over. We still have months to wait for the sun to shine, unmolested by the cold winds and the snow fall. And the one question on this writer’s mind is – can we hold out? Sure, it might be bleak, but that has become the national mood (for those still maintaining any form of sanity). Can we hold out, and what will the world look like once the snow has cleared?