DIAMONDS

        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     21      1225      6849         571        703       85

Nov    25       2304    12025        620        518      118

Dec    30       3880    14748       1224       299      465

Jan     14       4142      15512        1151        189      712

Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398

Mar      2       1989     9490        1726       110      194

April     6        906    11787         4211       631       37

May     4        853     13667        3025      3786     59 

June    1        287    10637         2346      3205      95

 July    7         251      8440        1595        817      411

Aug     4         656    10120        1118        532      423 

Sept   22      2228      9326          839       279     124

Oct      6       2102      8255          543       315       59

Nov    3        1436      7830         186        458       23

Dec     1       1633      8475          266        477       28

Jan     7        2025      6729         148         285     140

Feb     2        2990   12012          946        991      175

Mar     2        1778     7756          335         173       28 

Apr     1          439      4056         290         52        12

May    5          225      2404        151            ?        64 

June    2         216      1413          130          10        31 

July    7          320       1958        297          38         9 

        14          231       1721           292          47         8 

        21          367       2063         351          45         4

        27          397       2326         308         44         5

Summary:

• The World retrogressed back to May 5 of this year, when there were 2404 deaths, compared to 2326 yesterday.  However, it was 12,012 on February 2 of 2022, only about six months ago.  The world high in deaths/day occurred in January of 2021.
• Japan had by far the most new cases, 180,226, with the USA at #2 with 114,116.
• New cases/million population
• #1      Wallis and Futuna  16,062
• #2      Micronesia  5,931
• #3      Cook Island  4,944
• #4      Brunei  3,537
• #5      Anguila  2,422
• #6      South Korea  1,951
• #7      Australia  1,899
• #9      New Zealand  1,838
•           Hawaii  1455
• #14    Japan  1,434
• #17    Germany  1,235
• #19    Taiwan  1,074
• #29    Hong Kong  591
• #35    Israel  442
• #41    USA  341
• #73    Thailand  39
• #88    South Africa  6
• #109  China  0.08
• More than a hundred locations did not report new cases yesterday, so the above rankings are not as bad as the above shows.
• Note that Japan, which was #1 in new cases, is #14 in new cases/million population, and Hawaii is slightly worse than Japan.

The biggest news of the day was Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin announcing a deal on a whole bunch of Democrat liberal desires, including climate change, tax credits for electric vehicles, higher taxes for corporations and really rich people, medicare medications and subsidies for Obamacare.   

• Amounts to $369 billion (or $430 billion, depending who is reporting), and far less than the $2 trillion plus originally proposed.
• Normal bills require 60 senators to pass, but this budgetary item will use reconciliation, which only needs a majority  (50 senators and the Veep) upon Senate Parliamentarian approval.

• 
  But what about Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and a few other recalcitrant Democrats?  No comments about them, but the fact the announcement was made must mean something.
• Should pass the Senate next week.
• Interestingly enough, this agreement was reached after the Senate passed another bill to subsidize the domestic semiconductor chip industry.  The House will soon concur.
• McConnell and Republicans are supremely pissed about what happened.

Apparently, a larger one was found 300 years ago, but a 170-carat pink diamond named Lulo Rose was recently discovered in Angola from gravel and sands found on riverbeds.  

• Only one in a 10,000 diamonds is colored.  
• And only one in every 100 diamonds is greater than 10.8 carats.

• 
  Not certain what Lulo Rose is worth, but Angola's biggest diamond, dubbed the 4th February Stone (a colorless diamond three inches across, right) discovered on 4 February 2016, was 404.2 carats and sold for $16 million.  It is the 27th largest diamond ever found.

• 
  The largest diamond ever was the Cullinan on 25 January 1905 in Pretoria, South Africa at 3106 carats and weighing 1.33 pounds.  
• Sir Thomas Cullinan owned the mine.
• Sold to the Transvaal provincial government and presented to Britain's King Edward VII as a birthday gift.

• 
  The Cullinan was cut into 9 large stones and 100 smaller ones.
• The largest is called the Star of Africa I, or Cullinan I, and is at 530 carats, the largest in the world.  It is mounted in the British Sovereign's Royal Scepter.
• The Scepter was made in 1661, with Cullinan I added in 1911.

There are two tropical storms in the East Pacific.

Frank will reach Category 2 strength, but move north and dissipate:

Georgette will just continue to meander in a circle.

Day 8 of the Blood Lily bloom.  Notice that six or seven more are in the process of appearing.

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