We Were A Kingdom

 

Above: Shema (Hear!)

Below: King Yeroboam's Servant

Advisory

 

U.S. TO CITIZENS IN ISRAEL:

“Leave while commercial flights are still available.” The U.S. Gov advisory is urging American citizens to consider departing.

Thank you for the advice. 

The (Amazing) Permitting Business

 I make my living in the last ten years in the permitting business, yet I always considered it a marginal, nuisance addition to the main activity, which is building. I used to belittle it as absurd, incomprehensible, kafkian bureaucracy, but it is something more. I'll think more about this. I never considered it a big economic area but 50% is gigantic.

Planet of the Apes

 The largest armada has been concentrated in the Gulf, trying to force Iran to sign a non-proliferation agreement, that would impede its production of an atomic weapon. But the fanatical/suicidal regime is rejecting any agreement, humiliating the American President. This high alert cannot continue for long, so I do not know what will happen. Hopefully, the Ayatollah will lose their nerves and make a mistake. 

Concerns World Over

 Concerns about the fallout from a US strike on Iran have helped to drive oil higher this year, despite expectations of a global glut. American military forces have massed in the Middle East, and the State Department on Monday ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel at its embassy in Beirut. 

“Oil markets are in a holding pattern pending updates on the Iran situation, with a healthy dose of skepticism being placed on any de-escalatory rhetoric,” said Saul Kavonic, senior energy analyst at MST Marquee. The US military build-up has added a risk premium of around $10 per barrel to prices, he said. 

The whole world is expecting the resolution of the current tension in the Middle East. NASDAQ and TASE stock exchanges are unsettled, with random rises and falls of 10%. 

A Democratic party post-election study says that the support for Israel caused last election loss. The left is mad at Israel to the point that only strong and vocal antisemitic positions will satisfy it. We are back to 1938, when Roosevelt found that antisemitism made it politically onerous to help European Jews. I am more and more convinced that Arthur Koestler was right in that the Holocaust happened because European peoples wanted it. A hundred years later a universal sentiment is converging that Israel (and the Jews) are an unsufferable nuisance.   

Pic.: Vienna 1938. Jews publicly humiliated, forced to wash the streets. I could feel a bit of schadenfreude in the fact that the public in the photograph is barely represented today, as half of the younger Viennese are foreigners. They had ruined themselves and are semi-extinguished. 

"גַּם כִּי-אֵלֵךְ בְּגֵיא צַלְמָוֶת, לֹא-אִירָא רָע"

 

Extensor tendinitis or pre-gout

 
Claude's diagnosis: 

Stable, non-worsening swelling over two days with mild redness and no severe tenderness points strongly toward extensor tendinitis — nothing alarming.

Just stick with the simple approach: rest, cold packs, topical Voltaren gel, and loose footwear. At 80, tendons take a bit longer to settle down, so give it 5-7 days of consistent rest and you should see gradual improvement.

The main thing to watch for is any sudden worsening — increased swelling, fever, or the pain becoming severe. If any of those appear, see a doctor promptly. Otherwise, this looks like something that will resolve on its own with conservative care.

And do keep an eye on that blood pressure — if it stays above 150/95 consistently, it's worth a conversation with your doctor about adjustment of medication.

Probable cause : (1) obesity (2) wearing schoes that fit poorly. 

PS: After Blood Analysis:  Uric Acid 6.7 = green, within the normal range. All other parameters are also normal. No gout.

Probable cause: as above. Up to now, Claude appears correct.

AOC

New York radicals/Marxists have a rising star - Alejandra Ocasio-Cortez.  She is a populist Puertoriquena, with little knowledge of the world but full of energy and daring. She does appeal to the Caribbean and Mexican recent immigrant population, a massive voting bloc that will decide the future of America. Trump may be the last Republican (non-mestizo) President. On the other hand, the USA was prospering under Barack Obama and Joe Biden, as it is now. The country is very solid, and it may survive Latino politics.