By JOHN M. CRISP, Scripps Howard News Service

As the crisis with Iran continues to simmer, Albert Einstein's often-cited remark, in its own way as profound as his theory of relativity, comes to mind: "The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking, and thus we drift toward unparalleled catastrophe."

It's always interesting when three apparently unrelated news stories materialize coincidentally and provoke a serendipitous question such as, in this case: Aren't we driving (literally) very rapidly in the wrong direction?

President Barack Obama mentioned community colleges several times in his State of the Union address last week, and he acknowledged the presence of community college student, Jackie Bray, who sat next to first lady Michelle Obama in the gallery.

Try to imagine our next war. Pardon the fatalism inherent in this suggestion, but nearly all of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st were dominated by war, and one looks in vain for the slightest sign in our future of no war or even less war.

The day after the Iowa caucuses, The New York Times carried four stories with international implications, two that point in a positive direction, and two, not so much. The connections among them are worth considering.

New Year's resolutions often spring from short-lived regrets over holiday excesses. Shame provokes us to vow, for example, never to drink again or, at least, to lose some weight. Resolutions like these don't bear much hope for long-term success, but it doesn't hurt to make them. You never know.

These days, as they observe the world and their own country, American homosexuals must appreciate Charles Dickens as he considers the mid-18th century: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

As the field of candidates vying for the Republican nomination for president continues to churn and roil, is Texas Gov. Rick Perry's eventual victory impossible, implausible or inevitable?

The end of the semester at my college always inclines me toward reflection, relief and mild melancholy. I suspect my students feel the same way, with more inclination, perhaps, toward relief. Five classes have met with me about 30 times each over the course of 15 weeks, five communities of individuals that materialize, coalesce and disperse in a few months.

I was thinking about Iran during Thanksgiving dinner when we hosted, among others, two young Iranians. Not Iranian-Americans, but real Iranians, a beautiful young woman freshly from Isfahan and her boyfriend, a young man from Tehran.