Berries

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Berries are considered superfood,  for they're packed with nutrients and anti- oxidant elements. We greatly enjoy them in their natural fruit form, in baked goods, in  jams, juices, sauces. Always delicious!

Berries are also widely used in  herbal supplements containing extracts of the active ingredient,  which promise many health benefits such as:immunity/metabolism/energy Boost; anti-aging/anti-inflammation/anti -cancer Fight .

Health stores' staff point at Goji berries, as a  very popular product with potential health benefits, among them ,glucose regulation and eye condition improvement..

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People on meds should beware. Some of these extracts might interfere and/or interact with doctor's prescriptions for blood thinning, diabetes, etc..(Hawthorne's berries and Acai berries, for example, are known to have impact on heart disorders).

We're blessed  here, in Israel, mainly with strawberries, but the season is  short. Most of the other known  berry types (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries etc..) are imported and rather expensive Tiny bottles with berry extracts,  produced by reputable pharma companies, are also expensive, but worth ,perhaps, the money.

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I keep  a  bottle or two of such berry extracts in my cabinet, usually for their anti- inflammatory property. I don't take the capsule or softgel on a regular basis as one would take meds, but whenever I feel a problem and suspect inflammation of some sort. It usually helps.


*web pictures

Coronialism

I've recently come across this new term - coronialism - which refers to the danger of a new order, a new society being established -  based on the restrictions and urgencies caused by the fear of the corona virus, covid-19. 

Personally, I'm not afraid of 'new' and of restrictions. The situation now seems to be close to anarchy in many parts of the world, so, there's great need for regulating factors, imposing law and order on people to get us out of the pandemic. 

It's too soon to pass judgement, draw conclusions, as we're still amid the pandemic. The word  'coronialism',  however, gives us food to thought, especially as it sounds like another -ism  word -colonialism - an historical - geographical process notorious for its oppressive forces.

Most people regard covid-19 as a temporary nuissance that will vanish with the appearance of the right vaccine. Perhaps, (an expert has just offered his belief that by March it'll be over), but its consequences on our economic, social, environmental, and political life will be far- reaching. The world won't be the same. We should better get used to the idea.

In what way will the world change? I don't  know for sure. I only hope it's for the better as we've been living till now in bubbles, in lies, in pretense, in corruption,  beyond our means. So, perhaps coronavirus will bring with it, besides the unfortunate disease and death, also a blessed transformation. We have to believe that.

Uman Pilgrimage

Uman is a town in central Ukraine, on the banks of the Umanka river. 
During the recent decades, the town has become known for the burial place of the 19th century rabbi Nachman of Breslov , founder of the jewish chassidic Breslov movement.

rabbi Nachman's gravesite in Uman *

The annual pilgrimage of  ultra orthodox israeli members of this movement,  to the above gravesite, is not new to me, but I must admit that until now, I've not  been aware of the alarming numbers.   According to the media, about 80 planes carrying thousands of chassidim, are usually booked  for the  Rosh Hashana (jewish New Year) celebrations in Uman.  

pilgrims praying at Umanka river *

Since we've been flagged as a 'red' country, the coronavirus czar has attempted to stop this year's Rosh Hashana  (sept.18) pilgrimage,  warning that it presents serious danger to both Ukraine and Israel. So far, his appeal has only partial success , because of political interference (or non-interference, it  depends on who and  how one looks at it).

single chassid praying by the Umanka river*

No doubt, the ukrainian town gets rich during the 
celebrations at the rabbi's tomb .  Israel gets poorer.
Our PM  is re-elected with the help of the many thousands of  pilgrims' votes, and as a reward, he bestows upon their political parties in the coalition, very generous budgets and rights.

I'm afraid, that even with another PM and a  new coalition , there'll be no way of going back. If you touch these budgets and rights, you might get blood on the streets.

My conclusion - it's the numbers that count. Demography,  not Democracy, is the key to all.
If you ignore demography (in Israel, the orthodox jews, and the arabs are the ones with large families, and their locations - corona red zones), you might find yourself without a country. . Coronavirus pandemic is not all bad,  as it's an eye- opener.

* web pictures

High Holidays Shutdown ?!

We're approaching the High Holiday season which starts with  the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana) on Sept. 18-20; goes on with the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) on Sept. 27 -28; next  Sukkot , Simchat Torah -  and ends on Oct.11.

This year it's all going to be different because of coronavirus restrictions on gatherings, both at the synagogues (for worship activities) and at home (family festive meals) .

Things are not looking good on the 'corona' front. It seems that in China and Russia people are afraid of the authorities; here the authorities are afraid of the people (potential voters who oppose restrictions), so nothing is done properly. 

Transparency is  faulty. We know more or less about the 'red' zones, but almost nothing about age of people in confirmed, as well as in hospitalized  cases.
(There was some mention in a newspaper that currently, those aged 20-39 make up over 30% of the confirmed cases).

According to the chief coronavirus coordinator, prof. Gamzu, the decision about a shutdown will be taken by Sept.10.  In the meantime Army recruits will be assisting with performing tests and 'tracing of contact'. 

The whole world is expecting a vaccine. There'll probably  be more than one, by the end of the year, but I tend to agree with the general opinion that it'll take about two years to end the pandemic.

I don't know about other countries, but here,in Israel, even one year might lead to anarchy and even famine.  May God help us!

Inferno

Beirut is in the news with the terrible disaster that has occured in the city's port. It seems the explosion was caused by poor storage of over two thousand tons of ammonium nitrate. Things are still under investigation .

It isn't the first time , and it probably won't be the last time that man-made disaster happens. 'To err is human'; humans make mistakes (i.e. the errors at the nuclear reactor in Chernobil). Negligence is also human ( the faulty storage of the ammonia gas in Beirut port). The consequences of these human actions are devastating!

Unlike natural disasters (earthquakes, floodings, volcano eruptions, hurricanes etc..) man-made disasters could be prevented, but not always, as they usually revolve around chemicals. This stuff requires extreme care and caution .
Sometimes disasters are a combination of both the natural with the
man-made, like forest fires, for example.

We humans feel helpless. We have no control on  Nature's sent disasters, and little, if any, on the man-made ones.

We can be careful, of course, as to where we choose to live or work: not too close to an industrial zone (chemical and biological hazzards, explosions), not near  a big body of water (flooding) or a forest (fire danger).   But not much beyond that.

In any case, I put my trust in God and pray to Him :to guide , protect , help us when in danger.