Titbits 117

The series of events have been called a “revolution,” “revolt,” “upheaval,” “uprising,” “awakening,” “spring,” “conspiracy,” “rioting,” “terrorist,” “hell,”  “Arab,” “Islamic,” and “foreign” are also terms intermittently used in conjunction with the previous descriptions.

Yalla. Covid-19 has become a passe-partout “cause of death“. You don’t die of Ebola, Sarl, or other sisters of Corona…. You just died of Covid-19. I am under the impression that the “Spanish flu” that harvested more than 20 millions after WWI might be a nasty kind of Covid-19.

Why we refrain to say what we think? Do we only express opinions that seem safe to the community idiosyncrasy? Here’s how the spiral of silence works and how we can discover what people really think?  If you never master the courage to sound and look like an idiot for a while, you’ll never do anything great.

Antoun Saadi, founder of Syria National Social party in 1936 said: “The main difference between our capitalist class and the ones in more advanced nations is that our kind of capitalism is Not founded on industrialization which seeks unified and larger markets; but we have simply an outmoded mercantile system”

A reminder for our people in the Near-East: Israel was implanted by the western colonial powers in our region to prevent any daily trade and communication among the same people. Israel was created to fail us in any sustained development among the same people who were divided in pseudo “independent” States in order to facilitate the fomenting of civil wars among the pseudo-States. Israel/USA/France/Britain are existential threat to our future well-being

Equal practical opportunities circumvent the wrong implication that opinions are reached independently of their surrounding.

As long as police officers are Not controlled for alcoholism, violence will be prevalence in these institution.

One of the plans of the genes is to decide whether we are to be one of the human species or a bacteria.
Together, the bacteria in the intestine have 150 times more genes than us, called microbiome

Stimulating opportunities to choose from is a stabilizing factor in societies. Stimulating desires (and wants) can be easily blocked in many ways and generate unrests

When a young guy was raised to equal status in the living with his superiors (parents, uncles…), to feel free of extending his opinions, of tasting everything that was displayed in front of him, of expressing the desires he has…How can this guy feels as soon as he feels scared and cowed when confronted with a Master who treats him as a “slave”? Who forces him Not to speak or communicate with the invitees, of Not finishing his meal (as was the customs with apprentis)… When he feels like desiring everything just because he is denied it? (Rousseau)

If an hour of reading leisurely failed to generate a single worthy idea/feeling to note down, then you better try another book

Covid-19 has resuscitated the ancient mode of separation among communities. Farewell the mild fiscal and commercial barriers. Still, internet (social platforms) continue to add wings to ideas/feelings that have been restrained for so long.

Funny. Covid-19 confinement has proven that No major commercial furniture manufacturers have designed a convincing high-performance chair that blends in with the rest of our homes (✦). —Kira Bindrim, 

Protest in Portland continues. For the 56th day in a row, a mostly white crowd of protesters gathered to voice their disapproval of police brutality and racial injustice.

Ideal face mask for Covid-19? You want a three-layer mask. Next to your mouth goes cotton or something else soft and woven. The middle should be a non-woven material, like a Kleenex or the polypropylene in reusable shopping bags, to increase filtration. And the outside should be something that repels moisture, like a nylon or polyester blend.

Etre assez intelligent, assez bon, assez prevoyant, assez… n’aident a rien. C’est l’autre moitié, (l’autre assez) qui fait défaut et qui prévaut. Justement, c’ est “l’autre assez” qui est le plus intéressant.

Mais oui, on peut rire toute une journée, si on apprend a rire de soi-même.

Redouter l’ironie c’est craindre la raison: Plus tu ironise sur ta condition, plus sage tu deviens.

Ce n’est pas la parole qui déguise la pensée: c’est bien ce qu’on écrit.

Why this urgency of US/Israel to negotiate the maritime borders between Lebanon and Israel? Apparently, the blocks 8 and 9 in Lebanon are the main reserves of gas/oil in the Mediterranean Sea. Israel wants to start extraction near this area and fear Hezbollah will demolish any offshore installations without any agreement. Israel does Not want the wealth of this reserve to be share with Egypt and Cyprus.

Proving that competition is a click away is not the same thing as proving that a market is competitive. For competition to work well, consumers need to be able and willing to switch to better products, and new competitors need to be able to enter the market.

Released 42 years ago: late Nigerian Afrobeat star and political activist Fela Kuti “Sorrow Tears & Blood” in his pidgin English: “My people sef dey fear too much!”. Fitting Nigeria past three weeks of EndSARS protests against police brutality, this “Special Anti-Robbery Squad” 

Lumper-proletariat? Prolétariat a guenilles des bidonvilles, shantytowns. L’intellectuel communist a une idée précise de ses propre sous-classes. Ces Lumper-proletaires terrorise les communists traditionnels: Ils ne savent pas comment traiter avec eux.

Chinese officials are testing out a virtual yuan, backed by the central bank, in one of the world’s most cashless societies. Funny, counterfeit digital yuan wallets have already sprung up to exploit the innovation. Yeah, how old, off-line problems have a way of resurfacing in the online world.

Racism is virtual among the rich, regardless of color, religion or origine. The only difference is Old and New wealth.

Racism spans all the spectrum of differences among the poor people.
One exception in Lebanon: White colonial citizens are highly welcomed and treated like VIP, even if they are practically poor or pretty stingy

“Zombie fires”? Wildfires have been smoldering underground in Siberia for five years and can outlast harsh winters and are a growing problem in Arctic areas of Russia.

If we could read each other’s body language, Zooming will fail to bring out the remote communication message.

Not much into that business. If you care, then these Top 10 Cyber Security Tips

• Reboot your mobile device(s) every morning
• Use a microphone/camera blocker on all devices/computers when not in use
• Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) with all email/cloud/web accounts
• Use a Password Manager (with strong passwords, no password reuse)
• Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN), make sure the VPN vendor is based in a friendly country!
• Make sure all devices/computers are fully patched (operating system/software/apps are always updated)
• Don’t post addresses, phone numbers or email account information on social media
• When travelling, don’t use airport/plane/hotel Wi-Fi networks unless absolutely necessary (and use a VPN if you do!)
• At home, don’t use the Wi-Fi network provided by your ISP modem (use a separate Wi-Fi router)
• Keep home IoT (smart speakers, TVs, etc) on a separate Wi-Fi network from devices/computers

Nicolás Rivero’s story on how cities like Stockholm and Seoul are using pneumatic tubes to dispose of waste brightened my day, allowing me to daydream of a better-smelling, less rat-heavy way of life. —Sarah Todd

More than 100 years ago, a multinational Census of Hallucinations found that up to 19% of the living said they’ve encountered the dead . Did you ever had this experience?

The rolling droids robots emit ultraviolet light to disinfect St. Pancras International, one of the country’s busiest transport hubs.

Even with the $18 trillion of stimulus pumped into the global economy, mostly by wealthy governments, the International Monetary Fund projects a cumulative loss of some $12 trillion by the end of 2021.

Measuring hidden carbon footprints of oil companies that are mostlyò generated  from their customers and suppliers?  David Fickling and Elaine provide a useful, if “more art than science,” estimate of which big polluters are keeping the most concealed.

Caste system in certain countries extend to overseas locations: Indians from lower castes can’t escape prejudice even when they emigrate to the US. It’s rampant in Silicon Valley, and Dalits in particular face insidious discrimination from their upper-caste Indian colleagues.

The main reason for tariff cost related are handicap procedure 77%, These cost have prompted companies to relocate their supply chains production. An increase of 33% so far.

New research from the New York Federal Reserve shows more than 70% of a potential $1,500 second payment would be saved or put towards debt payments rather than buying goods, which is the main reason for these lavish payment. Only the well to do can save. The common people have to spend it, no matter how they respond for “wishing” to save.

Poorer nations are floundering amid massive public debt and shortfalls in state revenue. All the while, the roughly 2 billion people who eke out a living in the world’s informal economies face varying degrees of deprivation.

Financiers and traders on Wall Street may be starting to feel optimistic, but for most people the gloom is only deepening. Starvation and famine are looming wide and large in most Third World States