Living Among Us

I've got the strange feeling that Sars was a warning, Corona (officialy named covid-19) is the 'real thing'. The viral outbreak doesn't seem to be under control. Words like 'global', 'outsource', 'China', have become ominous. If the chinese stop working , the economies of the world might collapse.

In the meantime, people go on with their plans, especially touristic ones. During the second week of February we have the annual IMTM  fair (see my previous posts on the subject). Usually, it's a popular, colorful touristic event that lasts two days; half of the day dedicated to professionals , the other half open to the public.

Expo area in TA

Entrance

Pavilion 2 out of two main exhibit pavilions

This time, however, something in the air, perhaps fear of the virus,  got translated into fear of the crowds. Most visitors just grabbed maps and flyers without pausing to ask questions or discuss itineraries like in the past; some of the beautiful booths were partially or totally deserted.

Indian booth posters  - Incredible India

India booth posters- Human and Nature

Perhaps,  there's some other explanation ( I arrived late,  the business transactions among tourist operators once closed , the public was of little interest to them, the operators were tired from the 'after party' of the previous evening... ), but it's hard to ignore the virus rumors, these days.

Men's  chat

girls'  chat

deserted  booths

If I understand correctly, the covid-19 virus is part of the same virus family as the 'flu' (the corona family).
Not much is known about it, so hopes, at this stage,  are modest - mainly to bring it down, at least, to the level of the flu (influenza) virus.

The latter has practically been living for decades among us. We are familiar with it, have an annual vaccine, anti-viral drugs, understand its spreading  process, can foresee mutations etc..

May God protect us from  the Corona  family !

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The Beggar in Black

I remember from my childhood and early adolescence in a communist country, that begging was seen as public disturbance and  forbidden by law; beggars were treated cruelly if caught. 
Charity and fundraising were not allowed either. 
The rationale behind it was that the government took good care of its citizens , and the above activities implied the opposite, which was unacceptable.

Perhaps the communist approach was not so bad after all, considering the amount of fraud and corruption regarding benevolent, non- profit organizations in the western world.
People give away stuff and money without properly checking where it goes to and that doesn't help fix the situation.  Sometimes even the social services are involved  in the scam.

Well. to go back to what I started with - begging and beggars.
Over the years, I occasionally stumbled upon a certain beggar who for some reason or another, managed to capture my attention. His "territory" was the heart of  Tel Aviv city. 

He was not the standard beggar. He didn't have a 'fixed' place, but was rather on the move, stretching his hand to passersby and shop keepers, an imploring look on his face . He seemd ageless, with no visible physical disability. He made no use of kids or heart-breaking little posters to ellicit symphaty. He was casually dressed in a black t-shirt and  pants.

begging-   (Getty's images)

I happened to see him a few times in an adjacent town, probably his hometown as he was not begging there.  Last time, I saw him sitting in a posh restaurant checking the table menu. I stood outside for a while, not believing my eyes; my imagination ran wild. Was he leading a double life? Was the man at the table, perhaps,  a twin  brother?

I entered the restaurant and approached his table; looked him into the eyes, but... couldn't do it, couldn't ask him about the begging, couldn't tell him that people begging money, do so for very basic needs, not for luxuries.   
Just turned around and left.  
Were are the story investigative journalists when you need them?

Sitting Shiva

'Sitting Shiva'  is a mourning custom in judaism. It starts immediately after the funeral and lasts seven days and nights ('shivah', literally means seven).

The 'shiva' is kept at the residence of the deceased or in the home of one of the principal mourners (relatives of first degree). The mourners usually sit on low beds and stools, express their grief, and discuss the loss of the loved one with visitors that come to offer their condolences and comfort .

web picture (from the Jewish Chronicle) -Sitting Shiva

Shortly before my  retiring from work, the secretary at our office lost her mother, a last year hospice patient. 

The 'shiva' was held at the home of the secretary's sister.  The latter, a TV writer and director, wife of  a well-known hospital doctor, lived in a beautiful house, located in a respectable neighborhood of a central city.

We were a bunch of four-five people from the office coming to extend our condolences to the bereaved family. 

The spacious living room was occupied by the sister and her family awaiting the visits of high society people from the TV and medical fields.. We were directed to an adjacent room where we found our secretaryׂ with HER visitors.

I  felt very badly about that, not to say shocked. The 'shiva' is meant to be a custom of togetherness not of separation, of human solidarity not of human polarization.

The thing is I've met the sister on a previous occasion and she had left a great impresion on me: good- looking, witty, polite, kind. And now this... perhaps,  her husband's idea. Who knows.
We (the office colleagues), were too embarassed to discuss the matter among us.

The Silent Walls

People often blame  outer factors for their health issues: antennae, electric cables, screens, pesticides...the list is long. We seldom hear ,however, about the walls in our homes. 

indoor walls and ceiling  (Web picture)

The truth is that these walls emit toxicity at various levels. Silent, silent, but dangerous. Building materials, wall primers and paint , have improved over the years; and yet we're constantly advised, and rightly so, to keep windows slightly open during most of the year.

(Air conditioning, which requires closed windows and doors for its efficacity, has worsened things for many people, including me, causing various allergic reactions and dry skin). 

I don't trust any wall stuff. We don't really know what's in it despite regulations. The use of  lead in paint ( lead -  a metal that can be very toxic)  was banned in 1978, but  it still exists in walls of older homes.  Asbestos (silicate minerals)- based materials, are banned in most countries and yet they are not completely out of use.

The bottom line - we should keep the windows open (not all the way, just a few inches)  for as long as  possible. Of course, not during the night or in very nasty weather.

A Neighborly Hand

I tend to compare Climate Change with an experienced army general. The later knows he cannot successfully fight a war with the tactics and strategies of the last war. He has to surprise the enemy.

Fires were not new to australians, and yet they got surprised by the highly devastating nature of the last fires.They needed all the help they could get (The neighboring countries New Zealand, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea were the first to offer help). 

In Israel, we don't have much rain . but 2-3 consecutive days of strong rain, some ten days ago, almost destroyed an entire city (Naharyia) in the north of the country.  The city was heavily hit by floods, and that came as a complete surprise.
The official explanation to the stunned citizens was that the severe flooding was perhaps due to the Gaaton river(crossing the town) being diverted to build a mall?!

Naharyia floods (web picture)

It would seem Climate Change is here to stay. So, there are two main urgent needs:
1.  lots of smart rescue plans to save lives (both human and animal).
2.  good neighboring country relations based on reciprocity and cooperation.  
Nations are more than willing to help other nations in distress, but sometimes because of distance, it takes precious time till the planes with the experts and equipment arrive at the scene of the disaster.  So, where possible, good neighbors are top priority.

Nine years ago we had a deadly fire on Mt Carmel (44 fatalities) We badly needed help and we got it from many countries. It was really heart warming.  Here's the list with the helping countries (it appeared on the internet):

Azerbaijan – 2 helicopters
Bulgaria – 1 plane and 92 firefighters
Croatia – 1 plane, 8 firefighters and fire repression materials
Cyprus – 1 plane and 1 helicopter
Egypt – fire repression materials
France – 5 planes and fire repression materials
Germany – 1 plane, 7 experts in firefighting and fire repression materials
Greece – 7 planes, 34 firefighters and fire repression materials
Holland – 5 experts in firefighting
Italy – 1 plane and fire repression materials
Jordan – 3 truckloads of firefighting equipment and materials
Palestinian Authority – 21 firefighters and 3 fire engines
Russia – 3 planes and 22 experts in firefighting
Spain – 5 planes
Switzerland – 1 plane, 3 helicopters and a team of 14
Turkey – 2 planes
UK – 2 helicopters
US – 5 planes, 11 experts in firefighting and fire repression materials

Among the countries that offered assistance which wasn't required: Australia (was ready to rapidly deploy a team of 5 incident management experts and 20 tons of fire retardant), Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Romania and Ukraine.

It's mutual. We always offer help to other nations in disaster cases. I especially remember the earthquakes in Azerbaijan and Turkey. Israel had  an important assisting presence there.