What is an ultimate solution? From the  Collins Dictionary . A   solution   to   a   problem   or   difficult   situation is a way of   dealing   with it so that the   difficulty   is removed.     Webster  links the final solution to the Nazi program for the extermination of all Jews in Europe. What was the ultimate/final solution for Adolf Hitler?  If you feel he is a danger, then you find a way to eliminate him.  Can you believe historians have uncovered  42 ultimate solution plots ? The first was in 1932 when poison was used in the Hotel Kaiserhof in Berlin.  He happened to be a vegetarian, so was not much affected. You can read about the  other 40 , but the final attempt was led by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg on 20July1944. You might have seen the 2008 film  Valkyrie , with Tom Cruise as Stauffenberg.  They looked alike. All attempts failed.  Stauffenberg was executed on 21July1944. Hitler committed suicide on 30April1945.  He was only 56 years old. My posting yesterday had to d

 I won't say anything more than to cheer that the major hostage swap in the Hamas-Israel War went well today.   You can read the article . Or  watch a video . Today, all about the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.  I've been here at least a dozen times over the years.   Here is  one stop I made a decade ago , another two years later to give a talk at  Hiroshima University , and third  a  few years later in 2017 to give a talk at Hiroshima University.  where during a visit to Shukkeien for cherry blossoms a bluish-black koi ate Pearl's ash capsule. Were the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the two worst war crimes ever perpetrated in history?  Well,  a lot died : The “low” estimates are those derived from the estimates of the 1940s: around 70,000 dead at Hiroshima, and around 40,000 dead at Nagasaki, for 110,000 total dead. The “high” estimates are those that derive from the 1977 re-estimation: around 140,000 dead at Hiroshima, and around 70,000 dead at Nagasaki, for a total

Before getting into the COVID-19 Pandemic, here is a New York Times viewpoint from this morning on how Biden will tax the very rich: The data is a reminder of   just how far   taxes on the wealthy have fallen over the past 70 years. In the decades just after World War II, many corporations paid about half of their profits in federal taxes. (Shareholders, who are disproportionately affluent, effectively pay those taxes). Today, corporate taxes are   only about one-fourth as large , as a share of G.D.P., as they were in the 1950s and ’60s. Also from the NYT: Bill and Melinda Gates are divorcing , raising questions about the future of their philanthropic foundation. I began reading Gates' new book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster . Bill McKibbens' review , where he starts with: First things first — much respect to   Bill Gates   for his membership in the select club of ultrabillionaires not actively attempting to flee Earth and colonize Mars . For the record, here is a timetable

    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           25       2414    10578        1582        119      144 Mar     2        1989    9490        1726        110      194           30         873   10854        3668        355      78 April   6          906   11787         4211         631       37          14          921   13550         3462       1037