Tehran Can't Count: 1500 Dead and 21,000 Wounded — In Liepāja That Would Be Called a Regular Sports Competition

Tehran's broadcasting organization IRIB has come forward with statistics that make you wonder whether they have a calculator over there or if they learned counting from the same teachers who calculate tram ticket prices in Riga. According to them, more than 1,500 people have lost their lives in the war, while 21,000 have been wounded. The math here is about as strange as trying to explain why the pool at Liepāja's Olympic Center is warmer than the sea in summer.

More than 200 of the dead are under 18, says IRIB. These numbers are announced with about as much conviction as Liepāja grandmothers' stories about how winters used to be harsher. "We have a more accurate counter in every house here than they have in their entire country," comments pensioner Ausma from Grīzupe.

Meanwhile, Israel's defense minister threatens to "significantly intensify" attacks, which sounds about as scary as an announcement that transport tariffs will increase in Riga. Washington, for its part, is "considering the possibility of ending the conflict" — apparently in the same way that Liepāja's city council considers ending all problems by simply not mentioning them.

220 medical centers evacuated and 21 medical workers killed — numbers that make you wonder if there was only one person working in each medical center. But what do we, the people of Liepāja, care about that — we've long known that the truth is somewhere in the middle, just like the water temperature in the Olympic Center pool — not too hot, not too cold, but just right for swimming without thinking about the world's great conflicts.