The Way of the Gods

That’s Shinto — the way (“to”) of the kami (“shin”). As to the kami — who might they be?
“I do not yet understand the meaning of the word ‘kami'” wrote Motoori Norinaga in 1771. If he didn’t, who did? Norinaga was the foremost scholar of his age; he devoted his life to studying the native literature from its ancient beginnings. "In ancient usage, anything whatsoever that was outside the ordinary, which possessed superior power or which was awe-inspiring, was called kami."

Shinto teaches nothing, enjoins nothing, demands no submission, works no miracles, effaces evil by cleansing it, transmutes dread into joy. There is no heaven, no hell, no nirvana — just “the rising sun each morning,” “the coming of the kami.”

P.S.: I wonder why the much more advanced, elaborated, intellectually satisfying religion of Christianity did not catch up in Japan. Christianity was adopted almost instantly by NorthWest European pagans, had a good start in China (see Memorial Tablet in the tomb of Matteo Ricci in Beijing), but it never became the state religion.

The Flu

Third day of flu. It has three or four days more to run. The first night was bad, now it is just uncomfortable. No fever.

The virus is made of eight single-stranded segments of RNA that together code for 10 proteins. Most originate from pigs, others from birds or humans. This perverted thingie celebrates a permanent sex orgy, trading genes and mutations. It is a depraved swinish chemical robot and definitely not kosher. 

P.S.: January 30 and this thingie still multiplying in my throat. It is a novel hybrid, stronger than its ancestors. 

Day Zero in Cape Town

Cape Town's five million inhabitants are suffering water supply restrictions because the five dams feeding the city are drying up. The reason is the El Nino climatic oscillation which has been occurring for thousands of years (see graph above), causing flooding in Peru's coastal deserts. The Incas made mass human sacrifices, that did not solve the problem but provided entertainment and felt good, and eventually the climate returned to regular. Since the water is still flowing from the taps, the situation is not catastrophic and the time has yet to come for real - human - sacrifices.  Alternatively, they can hire Israeli water magicians (moi!). I can promise contractually that I shall make rain in Cape Town - eventually. 

P.S.:  Yet if the choice is between suffering or Israelis, they will do without water and Israelis. The South African government, which is strongly aligned with the Palestinian cause, has snubbed informal offers of help made by the Israeli ambassador. Israel has substantial expertise in desalination technology, but last year the mere presence of a former Israeli ambassador on a panel to discuss water management aroused such protest that the event was cancelled.

Prepping for War in Sweden

The Swedish Government is distributing to the population a 1949 survival manual how to behave in case of war. What war?
(a) A violent reaction against the armed criminal "refugees" that are throwing grenades to police stations. There are no go zones where the Government is unable to police. Lofven said: “There are social problems. Last year 300 shootings occurred, 40 people were killed. It’s a terrible development I’m determined to turn around.”
(b) A foreign war, maybe vs Russia, that lately has been patrolling the Baltic. I don't know.

Expecting Drought

The climate change is here. We are in the fifth year of lower than average rainfall. Another desalination plant is being planned near the Lochamey HaGhetaot kibbutz. A large publicity campaign is being prepared for next March: Save Water. We shall manage, but the neighbors cannot. Will the Jordanians start a war if the price of the water in Amman increases? I don't think so. But our stupid leadership believes that revolutions are caused by poverty, hunger, drought. On the contrary, poverty is caused by revolutions and wars. Pic.: A tanker truck illegally takes water from a river in Jordan. (Image credit: Steven Gorelick)  We can be sure that widespread water penury in the neighboring countries will cause unbearable international pressure on Israel to give up its little water. In the best of the cases we will be seen as selfish and inhuman, in the worst case we will blamed for the penury of the Arabs.

TASE improving

TASE the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange is opening up and attracting more money. 5.2 billion dollars were invested in 2017 in Israeli start-up funds. Using La Griffe's methodology, how many start-up quality workers are in Israel? Take that number and divide by 5 (80% is not available for new projects because they have good jobs) and you reach the conclusion that each one has to burn about  2 million dollars per year. In the water sector, I know only one interesting start-up, a flow meter connected to the cloud where IBM WATSON's AI analyses the data. After two months of learning, it builds a model of the consumer's schedule and water use, and can alert losses, changes in water consumption of the machines, say washing machines, etc. The idea seems promising.

Another good news is that Paul Singer is buying Bezeq shares. Israeli managers and directors are already trembling. Bezeq - a communications company - is very solvent, but its owners and executives are being investigated by the police.