Don't let the summer sun obscure important days ahead

Ah, the lazy, hazy days of summer. It's time to relax, kick off your shoes, walk along the soft, sandy beach down the Shore or head to some exotic foreign locale. Maybe there will be an opportunity for a little light reading, perhaps a few novels. No doubt there will be plenty of time for more than a couple barbecues and those delicious scoops of ice cream.

Being journalistic curmudgeons, however, those of us at the Voice would like to throw out just a few reminders of the real world. The scenario pictured above may be the normal summer routine, but it does not look like this summer will oblige. The coming months look to be exceedingly hot, and we are not referring to the weather.

The economy is putting a damper on more than a few vacation plans. People are hurting and that fact will not take a vacation. It's hard to kick back when the cloud of unemployment hangs over many in our region.

This summer also promises no respite with regard to the threat of Iran's nuclear ambitions. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must be smiling after the world stood idly by when North Korea exploded a nuclear bomb and testfired some long-range missiles.

The coming months will also see a ratcheting up of the partisan rhetoric over President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. She has a compelling story, rising from a difficult childhood in the Bronx to perhaps the highest court in the land. The Jewish community, like the rest of the nation, needs to get to know a lot about her judicial views on a host of issues.

So, by all means, enjoy the summer. Try to relax a little. Just resist the notion that events will also take a holiday.