The Israel-Hamas War seems to be escalating.  However, Egypt is beginning to allow foreigners to enter from the Rafah Gate in southern part of the Gaza Strip.   Updates here,   From the morning  New York Times: That is the conclusion of   a new study   by Patrick Sharkey and Megan Kang at Princeton. Stricter gun laws passed by 40 states from 1991 to 2016 reduced gun deaths by nearly 4,300 in 2016, or about 10 percent of the nationwide total. States with stricter laws, such as background checks and waiting periods, consistently had fewer gun deaths, as this chart by my colleague Ashley Wu shows: But on to our cruise.  Aomori is the the capital city of Aomori Prefecture.  Means Blue Forest, with a current population of around 265,000, the northern most of Honshu Island.  There were 319,000 people living here in 2000, and this number has since then been declining, as is the entire country, which was up to 127 million in 2007, but is today down to 125 million. What distinguishes Aomori is

Israel is escalating its incursion into the Gaza Strip.  The latest count shows 8500 Palestinian deaths and 1400 Israelis.  Read this to better understand the  difference between the Hamas and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS ).  For one, the former is 36 years old, while the latter developed more recently. 24 years ago.  Here is what  Russia hopes to gain  from the Hamas-Israel conflict. Jacob Lew was finally confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to Israel .  He was Treasury Secretary for President Barack Obama. This position has been vacant since July, so one wonders if partisan politics stood in the way of confirmation.  Supposedly, it was for Lew's dealings during the Iran Nuclear Deal. Had another excellent breakfast at the Sheraton Yokohama Bay. Then a short taxi ride to  the Diamond Princess.  Took a long time to check-in and finally boarded around 1 PM and had lunch. Noticed someone walk by who looked very similar to Steve of 15 Craigside.  So went up for closer look. N