Thursday morning roundup

Israel's challenge in handling a a large influx of refugees is understandable, but tribalism doesn't help the country rise to that challenge.

A retired policeman grasps for middle ground in gun laws.

Europe's gay rights laws vary, not in a way that's conducive to integration.

Rising temperatures are having an impact on the nation's infrastructure.

One woman describes her three-week experience without power (pun intended) as "classic Kafka with Stalinist overtones."

Jet fuel prices have fallen, but airline fuel surcharges have remained constant.

Retailers starting to do business in cities are learning to adapt to the needs of city shoppers.

How do you gain by foregoing dairy? Let Mark Bittman count the ways:

...[in] roughly 1,300 comments and e-mails... people outlined their experiences with dairy and health problems as varied as heartburn, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, eczema, acne, hives, asthma (“When I gave up dairy, my asthma went away completely”), gall bladder issues, body aches, ear infections, colic, “seasonal allergies,” rhinitis, chronic sinus infections and more. (One writer mentioned an absence of canker sores after cutting dairy; I realized I hadn’t had a canker sore — which I’ve gotten an average of once a month my whole life — in four months. Something else to think about.)

Of course, it may not be the problem (see the further discussion about production methods, etc.), but you have nothing to lose except symptoms, weight, and carbon footprint.

Yesterday was the pony swim at Assateague.