DONALD TRUMP IS HARDLY UNIQUE

 From Worldometer (new deaths yesterday):

        DAY  USA  WORLD   Brazil    India    South Africa

June     9     1093     4732        1185        246        82

July    22     1205     7128         1293      1120       572

Aug    12     1504      6556        1242       835       130

Sept     9      1208      6222       1136      1168        82

Oct      21     1225       6849         571       703       85

Nov    25      2304    12025         620       518      118

Dec     30      3880    14748      1224       299      465

Jan        7       4207     14812      1455       234      441

              8       3914    14792      1044        229      616

            12       4259    15711       1109        200      755

            13       4103    16423      1283        201      806 

            14       4142    15512       1151          189      712

Summary:  Could have been worse.  Perhaps the peak was attained on January 12.  We'll see on the day Joe Biden is inaugurated.

The USA has been a lot more predictable on who becomes the next leader and when, so far.  Israel will hold its fourth election in two years in March.  See if you understand this summary.  There are so many parties  (20) that weird coalitions can form at any time.  At least ten politicians have said they are in the running to next run the country.  

Add to all that the scandal trials of current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  Trump led for four years.  Netanyahu has been Prime Minister of Israel since 2009.  Once admired as Bibi, he is now not so fondly respected.  Yet, he might continue to be at the top.  His Likud Party has the most votes, but it needs 61 of 120 seats, and finding coalition partners have previously been a crafty art form for Netanyahu.  His ability to stay out of jail is also, certainly, remarkable.  His latest trial will continue next month.

Ever wonder what happened to President Park Geun-hye, who was first impeached in South Korea, then later in 2018 sentenced to 25 years, plus fined $18 million?  All she did was abuse her power.  Well, her attempt at reversal was yesterday rejected.  However, she is actually eligible for a presidential pardon, and something like this generally occurs in the country.  Her father Park Chung-hee was also president, from 1963, but assassinated in 1979 while still in office.  Gyeun-he was the first female head of any East-Asian nation.

I once had dinner with South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan just before he was sentenced to death in 1996 for his role in the Gwangju Massacre.  IT'S WORTH A FEW MINUTES OF YOUR TIME TO READ ABOUT THIS MOMENTOUS ENCOUNTER.  He too had 20 years prior arranged to convict president-elect Kim Dae-jung to a death penalty, but pardoned him.  In this photo with another country president, Rho Tae-Woo, who was convicted of the same crime in 1996, and with Chun (to the right), they were both pardoned in 1997.

A convicted kidnapper won a landslide victory in the Kyrgyzstan presidential election.  Sadyr Japarov, a pro-Russian who led an attempted take over of their White House back in 2013, failed, and went to prison.  Then, in 2017 he was sentenced to 11.5 years for a kidnapping attempt.  On 10 January 2021 he got 79% of votes cast for president.  On that same day, he convinced the Parliament to strengthen the role of his role and weaken the powers of that same legislative group, adopted with 80% of member votes.  Sounds like a budding Trump.

So maybe the crimes of President Donald Trump are hardly unique for someone heading a nation.  I can boldly predict that, if convicted, Trump will not get the death penalty.  He will not even go to jail by this process.  What will happen?  He will be shamed...and that's about all.

Another presidential matter.  In 2013, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe decided not move into Koutei (sometimes spelled Kotei--Kantei is where he conducts business), a Tokyo mansion where they are supposed to live.  It has four stories and is a 75,350 square foot concrete building, including an office and a hall for hosting official dinners.  Plus it's free, with a $1.5 million annual sum for operation.  However, it is haunted by ghosts.  I grew up being afraid of obake.  They are as common as vampires in Europe and zombies in films.  The Atlantic goes into great detail.  Then yesterday, Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga indicated he, too, might not make that move.  He has been in office for three months.  Appears that funds are being developed to demolish both and build a safe mansion.

A few more items of possible interest:

• Some sperm banks are running low on supplies during the pandemic. Enter the sperm kings.  The problem?  Too much demand.  While most donors reportedly specify they will donate through artificial insemination only, others offer donations via “natural insemination,” also known as sex.  As one might imagine, “the line between altruism and a sexual kink can get murky quickly,  
• The Trump administration executed Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row.  First female in 70 years.  You might remember her.  
  
  She was sentenced to death in 2008 by a Missouri jury for the 2004 murder of a pregnant woman, cutting the fetus out and kidnapping it.  The baby survived.  Victoria Jo is now 16 and doing well in Missouri.

• 
  Stefan Thomas has two guesses left to remember an old password. If he can’t, he’s lost $220 million.  An American computer scientist, he used an IronKey flash device, a digital wallet, and wrote the passcode on a piece of paper.  He lost it.  He had ten chances to get the money, but has failed on eight attempts.  If he screws up two more times, the money just disappears forever into the ether.  According to Chainalysis, 20% of all existing 18.5 million Bitcoin, valued at over $130 BILLION, appear to be lost in various such virtual wallets.  Oh, don't feel too sorry for Thomas.  In 2019 he was estimated to be worth $2.69 billion.  These lost bitcoin shares are worth less than 10% of his fortune.  He remains a billionaire.

Do You Love Me?  

Yup, responded Atlas, then another Atlas, plus Spot, and Handle.  Loved Spot, who you can have for $75,000.  Built by Boston Dynamics, the company was purchased by Google in 2013, then sold to Softbank of Japan in 2017.  Last year Hyundai of South Korea got ownership.

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