Friday, May 8, 2026

Pandemic on the making


 
The colalarga rat transmitted the mutated Hantavirus to a passenger of the cruise ship, killing several other passengers. Now they are trying to localize those who came into contact with an infected persons. One woman who flew in the same plane has been identified, and she is dead. They are trying to stop the epidemic before it endangers the whole world. 

 Hantavirus causes respiratory disease. The cruise ship cluster is grabbing attention because of the person-to-person transmission via the Andes strain, and because passengers from many countries disembarked before the outbreak was detected. 

My Alma Mater


From the La Plata El Dia, Argentina:
"Our faculty has an enormous pending debt with the educational system, since more than 70% of the students who enter do not go to the second year," MarĂ­n warned in one of the strongest passages of his message; "the graduation rate is lower compared to that observed 10 years ago." In that sense, he compared that before it reached 67% while today it is around 18%"

I don't believe that in 2016, 67% graduated, because in my time, graduating classes were no more than 10% of the entrants. I don't know exactly how many graduated in my class because I was the first to finish and left La Plata the day I passed the last exam. 

Tuesday, May 5, 2026

The Ebal Mountain

 

Har Ebal, the Samaritan Jews' sacred mountain. Taken in 2012.

In the Book of Joshua, after the Battle of Ai, Joshua built an altar of unhewn stones there, the Israelites then made peace offerings on it, the Law of Moses was written onto the stones, and the Israelites split into two groups and pronounced blessings and curses as instructed there.

In February 2021 a portion of the site was destroyed by the Palestinian Authority and the stones were ground up and used to pave the road.

Monday, May 4, 2026

President Trump Negotiating

 
US President Donald Trump told Fox News that Iran would be "blown off the face of the earth' if it attacks the US naval vessels escorting merchant vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.

Thinking out of the box

 
        Thinking

https://x.com/i/status/1939933166354972760

Saturday, May 2, 2026

Who is Who in British Politics

Zack Polanski is a latecomer to electoral politics. He grew up in Manchester in a Jewish family, came out as gay as a teenager and spent two decades as an actor, boosting his income with odd jobs including hypnotherapist. In 2013 he told a reporter that he could enlarge her breasts using “the unconscious” (he has since apologised). Two years later he joined the centrist Liberal Democrats but failed to mesmerise voters, standing unsuccessfully to be a councillor in London. He switched to the Greens in 2017. Eventually he was elected to the London Assembly, where he still sits.


The Economist’s poll tracker puts the Greens just three points behind Labour and the Conservatives, Britain’s two traditional parties of government.  Polanski is the leader of the Green Party. (from The Economist).



Thursday, April 30, 2026

Nous? Puissance régionale dominante?

Arab states fear Israel as a disruptive regional power, even a dominant one; the UAE still wants to do deals with it. (From The Economist)

They are starting to take us seriously. Good.