Greetings from Jerusalem, where it’s an expected to be an unusually high 94 degrees this weekend.

While that is unusual for this city (which sits at elevation), it’s not too bad when you consider huge swaths of France and Spain are on fire, due to extremely dry and hot conditions.

Severe weather has resulted in flash flooding in places as far apart as Texas and Brooklyn (!), as well as extremely dry conditions in much of the US.

While there is no way to predict exactly what weather catastrophe will strike at exactly the right time, there are patterns that are fairly easy to spot. For example, the section in Texas the flooded last week is exactly the place where a girls’ summer camp was decimated last year.

What lesson can we take from this?

We know there will be risks, but we can mitigate them. We can cut back shrubbery and plant growth to prevent fire spread. We can make sure emergency preparations are in place and family members know what to do in a crisis situation.

We can do this with our businesses as well. We may not know what challenge will hit us next, but we can be prepared for those occurrances that are most likely. . . before they become too hot to handle.

Let us help your business rise to the top.

linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com

On Tuesday morning, my daughter and I landed at an airport that was filled with US military aircraft, including nearly 30 air refueling tankers.

No, we weren’t at a US military base. In fact, while the US maintains military bases in nearly 80 countries, it doesn’t have a single one in this particular country.

There ARE American bases in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE. But because of the Iran war, the equipment normally housed there has been temporarily relocated to Israel, where many of these planes are now taking up space at the country’s largest civilian airport.

Why? Because Iran has been hitting US assets in those countries, as the US hits Iranian targets in the ongoing conflict between the two countries.

The US knows the safest place for the $3+ billion of aircraft in the region is Israel—because Israel is the only country in the region that will launch a strong counterattack if Iran dares to attack it again.

The $3 billion figure is notable, because that’s also the amount of credit Israel receives from the US government annually to spend on US-built aircraft and munitions. That’s $3 billion in spending that benefits American companies and provides jobs to US workers each year.

Last week, Democrats in Congress overwhelmingly voted to block US military aid to Israel (the bill did not pass). Seems to me, given the situation, what they really should have been saying to Israel was thank you for having our back and providing us a safe haven as together we fight the largest government sponsor of terror in this millennium.

BTW, Israel has already made the decision to wean itself off US military support. The country is developing its own aviation, air defense, and munitions systems with the goal of being militarily independent within the next ten years.

In the meantime, America knows where to look to stay safe.

Let us help your business rise to the top.

linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com

So far, 2026 has brought us a variety of concerning medical ailments: Hantavirus, Norovirus, Ebola, and now something new and different: a parasitic infection called Cyclospora.

Cyclospora is a nasty parasite that causes severe diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, and fatigue. The outbreak so far has sickened nearly 7000 people—mainly in the Midwest and Northeast—and can last a month or more.

It now appears that the culprit may be contaminated lettuce and other fresh produce delivered to large fast food chains like Taco Bell. It’s hard to pinpoint the cause, because the time between exposure and diagnosis can be several weeks.

Recommendations are to avoid fresh leafy produce and berries, or to wash these very, very carefully. Medication is available to lessen the severity, but infections still seem to linger. Oh for the good old days, when all we needed to worry about was the COVID virus!

How did this happen? Well, the fact that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) dropped monitoring of parasites such as cyclospora hasn’t helped matters. The problem with arbitrary slashing government programs is that many of these programs don’t appear crucial until an incident occurs that causes a crisis—like massive rains causing flooding or a pathogen like cyclospora sickening thousands of people.

Prevention is the key here. We need to watch for potential trigger events and try to stop the crisis before it starts. But once an incident occurs, we need to have the processes and people in place to manage the situation before it spirals out of control.

In the meantime, kids (and adults!) everywhere are probably rejoicing about not being forced to eat their fresh vegetables. Enjoy the move to processed and well-cooked food—for now. Let’s hope we get back to making American produce safe again soon.

Let us help your business rise to the top.

linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com