About the Omicron variant, it is becoming crystal clear that no one is safe until everyone is safe.  The whole world needs to attain herd immunity to diminish this virus to flu status.  While Omicron could mean that those vaccinated could be infected ( and we really don't know if this is true at this early stage ), the consensus sense is that vaccinations will prevent a serious illness and death.  So get vaccinated.  Looks like my trip to Dubai for the World Expo in March is now in serious jeopardy. About Dubai,  Lindsay Lohan , who now lives there, announced her engagement to Bader Shammas, a financier in the country.  In the post she called her betrothed:    My love. My  life. My family. My future .   She is co-starring in a  Netflix holiday rom-com  as a spoiled hotel heiress with amnesia opposite  Glee  star Chord Overstreet. On the college football sports front, Oklahoma's Coach Lincoln Riley is moving to the USC...

This Monday finds the world without any major war, natural disaster or particularly newsworthy item, except maybe Omicron, the latest COVID-19 virus of concern: It is the 13th variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Thus we should be up to the 13th Greek letter to name this strain. But the World Health Organization skipped #13 Nu and #14 Xi...why? Nu sounds like new, which could confuse people, they say.  But it is new, so why not? Xi sounds like Xi Jinping, and the UN is afraid of the Chinese president.   Or maybe it was to not stigmatize a region. If you're wondering why you never read or heard about Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda and Mu, they were definitely variants, but never reached the level of concern.  Actually, though, Lambda  (Peru ) and Mu ( Columbia ) remain variants of interest. Best as I can tell, you can pronounce OMICRON any way you want.  However, if you had to pick one, say  oh-MY-cron : Oh-muh-cron. “The correct pronunciati...

Hanukkah is a joyous Jewish festival.  Don't worry too much about the spelling, for there must be half a dozen ways to do that.  This 8-day festival of lights starts at sundown tonight ( always on Sunday ) and runs through December 6 this year.  The start date can vary from around Thanksgiving to after Christmas. Each night one more candle is lit on a candelebrum called a chanukiah, placed at a window to the left of the door, if possible.  But you ask,  why are there 9 lights/candles ?  Especially as there are 8 days of lighting and the seal of the State of Israel has 7, which is the standard menorah.   The middle one, the shamash ( means attendant, and is always higher or lower than the other candles ), is the helper candle that is used to light the others.  There is an order beginning with one the first night, plus the samash, lighted after sunset, except for that Friday ( because of the Sabbat, so the lighting should begin before...

I usually don't show this table on Saturdays, but the U.S. number was so low on Friday that I just had to follow-up today:                                          From  Worldometer  (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):          DAY    USA    WORLD     Brazil      India      South Africa 2020 June     9    1093     4732         1185        246       82 July    22     1205     7128         1293      1120     572 Aug    12     1504     6556        1242        835     130 Sept     9  ...

                                         From  Worldometer  (new  COVID-19 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...

                                       From  Worldometer  (new  COVID-19 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  ...