Taliban Today and Taliban Yesterday

 

Left: Taliban yesterday.

Up: Taliban Today. American uniform, American weapon, American car. The latest fashion in sunglasses. 

Perspectives of Potash

 

My best investment was in potash twenty years ago. Are the good times back? Mr Doyle, who organized the potash cartel, is absent. But last half-year potash has risen from the dead. Is it time to buy? I think so. 

Nutrien's new chief Mayo Schmidt said: "“The outlook for our business is exceptionally strong..."

AY3 Mutant in Israel. Don't Panic.

The Ministry of Health reported the AY3 coronavirus strain based on the Delta strain had been found in Israel. Half of the cases in Mississippi are AY3.

7,856 new coronavirus cases were diagnosed on Wednesday, representing 5.50% of the coronavirus test results received. There are currently 62,163 active coronavirus cases, and the country has so far seen 6,726 coronavirus deaths, including 17 who died on Tuesday and four who died Wednesday.

Nearly one thousand (994) coronavirus patients are hospitalized, including the 603 who are in serious condition, of whom 149 are in critical condition, with 106 patients intubated.

Earlier this month, the Health Ministry said that if Israel reaches 600-700 severe coronavirus cases, the country will need to lock down in order to avoid overwhelming the hospitals.

The reason for this is that Israel's hospitals are able to properly care for just 1,200 coronavirus patients, and reaching the Ministry benchmark would signal that hospitals would reach maximum capacity within the coming weeks.

This COVID is now like the flu, it has an annual season and it is a different strain each year. 

Shechem or Jerusalem

I am reading the Historical Geography of the Holy Land by a Scottish religious leader, George Adam Smith, D.D.,  who explored this land in the 1800's and writes that Jerusalem is not the best place for Israel's capital. Its only advantage (in historical times) is that it is impregnable, or defensible. The natural capital is in the only pass through the Central Range of Samaria, which is between the Ebal and Gerizim mountains, occupied by the city of Shechem. Today, on Gerizim we have Har Tov settlement, overlooking the valley. Those Scott Protestants were very serious people, they knew Greek and Hebrew, and they studied and analyzed the Bible more intelligently than our rabbis. I have tremendous respect for them.   

The Flying Afghans

 

Shortly after taking off from Kabul airport, people started dropping from the American plane sent to evacuate them. Dramatic. 

What's next?

I keep working (without much energy. It is very hot.) and money is silently dripping in. Decided to buy a new Skoda Fabia. Maybe invest in stocks?  Stocks are trading well below their future hyper-inflation book values.

Kabul

KABUL International Airport at this moment. Thousands fighting to get in any airplane.Frightening. Really.