Thursday, October 30, 2025

Israel normalizing

 
Fitch has upgraded the rating of Israeli banks to STABLE. The outlook revision reflects improved conditions as economic activity has largely normalized, creating growth opportunities for Israeli banks while limiting asset quality pressures.

TASE's Finance Index changed colour to green. 

Ill.: Smotrich, the minister of economy. 

Monday, October 27, 2025

Bessent made money betting on the Argentine peso

Incredible. The American Secretary of the Treasury (a former Wall Street speculator) bought Argentine pesos before the elections, and now that Milei won,  their value has risen! making lots of money for the American Treasure. Scott Bessent is the only speculator to have ever profited from betting on the Argentine peso. Pic.: Scott Bessent.

Post Scriptum: All the Journalists (pic) are using iPhones instead of heavy cameras and microphones. I, too, moved to phones and have three or four unused cameras stored. I also have two new computers not yet installed. 

Sunday, October 26, 2025

France's lost creditworthiness

Moody's changed France's rating to negative. That means that France will have to pay a higher interest rate for borrowing money. 

Fitch also downgraded France, and its bonds will have to pay more to remain attractive.  

Not good. France has always been and remains the center of Europe, yet it is sinking. I am reading about Engerrand de Coucy in the 14th Century. 

Friday, October 24, 2025

Frida


 Beautiful picture of Frida Kahlo and Trotsky and his wife arriving in Mexico. Frida is beautiful. Half Hungarian Jew, half mestiza.

Thursday, October 23, 2025

MAiD in Canada


About Medically Assisted Death in Canada for 2023:

  • Suicides: 1.5% of deaths
  • MAiD: 4.7% of deaths
  • Combined total: approximately 6.2% of all Canadian deaths

In June 2016, Parliament passed Bill C-14, which legalized MAiD with eligibility criteria including having a serious and incurable illness, experiencing intolerable suffering, and having a reasonably foreseeable natural death. HillNotes.

Why MAiD is So Popular

Baby boomers (born 1946-1965) are the largest generation in Canadian history and began retiring in 2011. Between 2016 and 2021, the number of Canadians aged 65 and older increased by 18.3%. The population aged 85 and older is one of the fastest-growing age groups, with a 12% increase from 2016, and could triple by 2046 Statistics Canada.

Cancer was the most frequently reported underlying medical condition for MAiD, cited in 64.1% of cases in 2023. The median age of MAiD recipients was 77.6 years Canada.ca

The medications used in medical assistance in dying typically involve a two-step process:

  • Pentobarbital (Nembutal) - most frequently used in jurisdictions like Switzerland, the Netherlands, and some U.S. states
  • Secobarbital (Seconal) - used in some U.S. states
  • These work by depressing the central nervous system, leading to unconsciousness, followed by respiratory arrest

In Canada, a combination protocol is often used:

  1. First: A sedative/anesthetic (like midazolam or propofol) to induce unconsciousness
  2. Second: A neuromuscular blocking agent or additional medication to stop breathing and heart function
Athenians used κώνειο (hemlock). Progress is real.

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

Demogaphic Response to HAMAS's Raid (October 2023)


 An analysis of the trends by population group and religion reveals that this new national trend (of an increase in TFR) was driven by a divergence in the fertility patterns of Jewish women alone. From January to May 2024, the fertility rate among Jewish women climbed back to 3.10 children per woman. In contrast, among all other religious groups, the downward trend in fertility continued during these months, falling to 2.68, 1.62, 1.64, and 1.24 children per woman for Muslim, Christian, Druze, and “Other” (without religious classification) women, respectively.

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

MUC19 genes in America


Modern-day Mexicans have the highest frequency of the Denisovan-specific MUC19
 variants, with about 33% of the population carrying this version of the gene. About 20% of Peruvians carried the variant, whereas only around 1% of Colombians and Puerto Ricans did. The researchers think this is because, on average, Mexicans have more Indigenous American DNA in their genomes than the other populations do.

When the team investigated which archaic human group had passed on these gene variants, they were surprised to see that the Denisovan section of the gene was sandwiched between Neanderthal-specific DNA. The most likely explanation for this is that Neanderthals first acquired these variants from mating with Denisovans, and when Neanderthals later mated with modern humans, they passed on this surprise genetic parcel.

The New Guineans carry the highest percentage of Denisovan genes. Probably they look like the original Denisovans  (pic). The men are muscular and the girls are not ugly.

Monday, October 20, 2025

The Yellow Line


New Frontier is being marked on the land. Pic: ZAHAL's American caterpillars planting yellow concrete markers. HAMAS lost about half of Gaza's surface. Arafat's vision of the Jews being corralled into the sea is materializing, only that they are being herded into the beach. 

P.S.: 56% of the Gaza Strip is now under Israeli/American control. The best times in the Middle East were when Britain ruled it all a hundred years ago. Maybe America will be willing to take up the torch.

Sunday, October 19, 2025

Ceasefire violated

 Ceasefire violated: Hamas launched anti-tank missiles at IDF forces in Rafah. Heavy exchanges of fire are commencing. There are reports of IAF airstrikes in both northern and southern Gaza. 

Saturday, October 18, 2025

Possible Ischemia


De algo hay que morir.

P.S. No ischemia, just too much exercise for this sedentary alte kacker. BP fell to "insufficient".

Thursday, October 16, 2025

Synagogue Architecture in PreWWII Hungary

 

There were no authentic Ashkenazi sources, so they took inspiration from the Morisco style (Arabs in Spain).

Look at the houses. Jaszbereny was exactly like that. My grandfather owned five or six on the main street. My other grandfather collected "Berhazakat" - multistore apartment buildings in Vac. Collecting real estate is a passion I inherited from them. 

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Vires Acquirit Eundo

 


Working hard is a habit. Let's start the day.

PS: From Spanish, I understand Latin.

Tuesday, October 14, 2025

Debasement (aka Inflation)

It's a debate about whether investors should shift away from traditional currencies and bonds into alternative assets like Bitcoin and gold due to concerns about government spending and currency devaluation. (Bloomberg)

There is no debate worth debating, since everybody feels the devaluation of every currency. Gold, silver, bitcoin, and other assets are seen as a defense. On the other hand, there is a growing overproduction of oil, meaning an unmanageable fall in prices (Rockefeller managed to stabilize oil prices, but he is dead). 

On the other hand, growth in all European economies is very weak or zero, and the USA has lost steam and is sliding into stagnation. Even Japan and China seem to have arrived at the top of prosperity. If Central Banks print more money ("easing"), then inflation may get out of control. The only industry that is expanding is AI. I don't see much productivity generated by it. Mechanical intelligence has uses, but I don't feel it yet. 

All in all, it is dispiriting. Is there anything worth doing for me? I shall die in a few years. Claude the AI cheers me up: You still have agency!


Sunday, October 12, 2025

The Cohens bless the people

Shacharit (the morning prayer) began at 8:45 a.m., and its Birkat Cohanim (Priestly Blessing) took place at 9:30 a.m. The Musaf prayer began at 10:15 a.m., followed by the Priestly Blessing ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Anyone called Cohen or considering himself a descendant of Aharon, the brother of Moshe, is a Jewish priest.

And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:

Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying: In this way you shall bless the children of Israel; you shall say to them:

May the LORD bless you, and keep you;
May the LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
May the LORD lift up His face to you, and give you peace.

So shall they put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them

Saturday, October 11, 2025

The Nobel Peace Prize committee and Machado


 María Corina Machado, the winner of the 2025 Peace Nobel Prize, is an opposition leader in Venezuela, fighting against chavismo (Socialism of the XXI Century) in a moment when Venezuela and the USA are effectively at war. The Latin American left wing supports the dictatorship of Maduro as a symbol of resistance against imperialism. 

The Nobel committee favours left-wing positions, but Maduro's communism was too much even for them. From an Israeli Zionist perspective, President Nicolas Maduro is not a friend, but neither is he an active enemy. His anti-Zionism is confused (Jesus Christ was a young Palestinian unjustly crucified by the Spanish Empire) and informed by conspiracy theories. BTW, the origin of the Maduro family is a 17th-century Jewish immigration from the Caribbean, as he said in 2013, my grandparents were Jewish and converted in Venezuela. 


Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Re-start


The Jewish religion includes lots of holy days when working is not allowed. Shabbats are sacred. And now it has been almost two weeks since public offices were closed, and I have done little to no work at my desk, drawing plans.  Now it is difficult to restart the routine. Grok advises:

  • Address Mental Blocks: Reflect on what’s holding you back. If it’s overwhelming, focus on one project at a time. If it’s a lack of motivation, reconnect with your “why” (e.g., financial goals, passion for engineering). Journaling or a quick walk can help clarify thoughts.
  • Eliminate Distractions: Set up a distraction-free environment. Silence non-essential notifications, use website blockers like Freedom or Cold Turkey, and communicate boundaries to others during work hours.

  • P.S.: I did not work. I got distracted with AI. Says take low-interest loan from keren histalmut, etc., and Buy State of Israel taxless bonds. 
  • Monday, October 6, 2025

    Deloitte issues refund for error-ridden Australian government report that used AI


    Deloitte issues a refund for an error-ridden Australian government report that used AI

    The question is whether it used Claude? It needs strict checking and re-checking.  

    Saturday, October 4, 2025

    Reproductive Insurgency

     

    A scholarly paper from Duke University describes the insurgency against reproductive racial capitalism

    "Such protests reveal the persistence of forms of specifically reproductive contestation that were pervasive in the context of forced reproduction in slavery. Here we are thinking about the long history of enslaved women regulating their own fertility through abstinence, emmenagogues, abortifacients, and self-managed abortions (SchiebingerSchwartzFettLatimer). We are also thinking about how a radical politics of abolition feminism remains to be realized. We have seen the perverse impact of the form of liberal abolitionism that was prevalent in the nineteenth century, which used women’s reproductive capacities to hijack the control of formerly enslaved women’s reproductive labor beyond formal Emancipation (Turner). We have seen the end of the slave trade without seeing the end of slavery (SharpeHartman, Lose). We have seen former slaveowners explicitly building a system of extractive labor based on women’s reproduction after 1807. Likewise, in the present, we can clearly see, if we are willing to think outside the box about the meaning of substantive reproductive freedom, that liberal ideas of “the right to privacy” have not and will not suffice to protect the basic human right to control one’s body."

    The authors imagine that they are female slaves in a 19th-century Southern plantation, where the owner is forcing them to have children to increase his capital. So they protest by refusing the capitalist's project. The whole thing is imaginary; they are fighting an inexistent slavery, like toddlers refusing to eat.  

    It is childish, to say the least.   

    P.S.: In Israel, there is a saying "הם חיים בסרט" they are living in a movie. Now that the internet is an important part of our "lived" life, it is easy to lose contact with reality. The authors above are living in a different reality, with female slaves being forced to breed. Of exploited slave-workers, in an invisible dictatorship. They are discriminated against and oppressed by an inexplicable system. 

    The best proof of living in the real world is if they are making money. They are, since a university pays them an excellent salary, and that proves that they are in touch with reality, and the "reproductive insurgency" nonsense is an effective survival tool. They are living in a movie, maybe, but it allows them to enjoy a comfortable existence. Oh boy!

    Friday, October 3, 2025

    Manteros

     I studied in the city of La Plata, a French planned city built specifically to become the capital of the Province of Buenos Aires. Its public buildings, the University, the Cathedral, all were copies of Paris, irradiating wealth and good taste. The city with diagonals was a success. The local paper El Dia informs that "in 2023, la Municipalidad relevó a más de 1.100 personas ejerciendo la venta en el espacio público, concentradas en lugares emblemáticos como Plaza San Martín, Plaza Italia y Plaza Rocha."  (In 2023, there were 1100 individuals in the informal trade sector, selling second-hand clothing on the streets. They are called manteros.) It is difficult for me to imagine such poverty in that administrative-university city. In this era of universal, fantastic progress, Argentina has sunk to Third-World level. What a pity. 

    The pic shows the manteros of Moreno, a suburb.

    Wednesday, October 1, 2025

    London is a financial backwater

     

    I remember when London was the center of the financial world. It financed the train network in Argentina, developed the frozen meat exports, the mines in South Africa, and coffee plantations in Brazil. In Bauchi, they developed the peanut cultivation, created the Bauchi Meat Plant, etc. 

     The British Navy was a force for morality; it eliminated the slave trade worldwide, against the material interests of the Empire. 

    All that, gone. 

    President Trump mentioned the disaster that London has turned into. I am a lifelong Anglophile. I don't want the disappearance of the English nation. What a pity.

    PS: Overall equity offerings on TASE raised a total of NIS 5.6 billion in H1-2025 (1.7 billion USD). H1 means the first six months of 2025, so we should rank in the 7th - 9th. place, but Bloomberg ignores us. Money is flowing into Israel.  

    Weak Hands are being Shaken Out


     NVDA smashes through resistance levels, breaking above the consolidation that has been in place since mid-July. Weak hands have been shaken out, so we could be seeing a short-term vacuum kick in...

    In trading lingo, "weak hands" refer to jittery investors who sell quickly during dips or periods of uncertainty. "Shaken out" means they've been scared off and sold their shares, like during NVDA's recent consolidation. Now, with fewer sellers, the stock might rise more easily as "strong hands" (committed holders) remain.

    I am learning new things every day.

    The reasoning seems correct. In the coming days, we shall see if it really is.