Opuscula Moses’ aliyah* easier Than our return To Israel via El Al

MY SPOUSE AND I ARE ISRAELIS. We also are U.S. citizens; me by birth, she by naturalization. We have been in the States 40-plus years.

Our daughter and grandchildren are in Israel. We have two sons, but no grands, remaining in the U.S.

UNFORTUNATELY, the Chinese virus has “snafu’ed” our return.

 

Airplane in a medical mask against the sky, character. Travel Safely

We have tickets on El Al LY18, a direct flight MIA-TLV.

The flight is — was — supposed to leave Sunday evening.

The flight was canceled and rescheduled for the following week.

That flight was canceled and rescheduled for the following week.

That flight also was canceled and rescheduled for the following week.

Is it El Al or politicians?

We are pretty certain the problem originates in Jerusalem.

The politicians are allowing only “n” number of returnees per day, and only from one departure site per country. For the the entire United States JFK is the ONLY port of exit.

That might be OK IF El Al flights could originate elsewhere — e.g. MIA, LAX, ORD — and add passengers at JFK for, as far as Israel is concerned, a single point of origin from the U.S.

U.S. law — indeed most countries with multiple international airports (Spain is another good example) prohibits foreign carriers (e.g., El Al, Delta) from transporting passengers in-country UNLESS the flight either originates or terminates in another country.

Only U.S. carriers can fly passengers from one U.S. airport to another U.S. airport.

El Al COULD pick up passengers at MIA, LAX, ORD, etc., fly them to JFK, add passengers at JFK but cannot discharge passengers at JFK. The same applies on El Al flights TO the U.S.

Been there; done that.

Testing, testing

Because of the Chinese virus — don’t tell me that’s not “pc; remember the (misnamed) “Spanish” flu? — the world was turned upside down. Between common sense and paranoia, borders, schools, places of worship, public places, and a host of other things were shut down.

During World War I, Spain was a neutral country with a free media that covered the outbreak from the start, first reporting on it in Madrid in late May of 1918. Meanwhile, Allied countries and the Central Powers had wartime censors who covered the flu, many believed it originated there (the Spanish, meanwhile, believed the virus came from France news of the flu to keep morale high. Because Spanish news sources were the only ones reporting on and called it the “French Flu.”) (https://historiography/topics/world-war-i/1918-flu-pandemic)

As this is written, passengers heading to Israel must have a special test within 72 hours of departure and submit a form within 24 hours of departure to a government clerk who will decide if the passenger is allowed to board.

On arrival in Israel, the passenger may be tested again and may be sent to a quarantine hotel for 14 days.

Appropriate timing

If Moses left Egypt today, we STILL would be wondering in the wilderness.

HaShem promises to gather us together and being us back to Israel, but with Israelis who refuse to follow guidelines (masks, social distancing, hand washing, refusing vaccination) and an indecisive government, going home nearly is impossible.

With Pesach at hand, I am surprised the government still has not opened the airports — Pesach is, after all, the merchants' (and tax collector) money-making holday equivalent to other counties' Christmas and yet another election in the offing, the incumbents may fear for their seats in Knesset.

Meanwhile, we survive with the kindness of others who tolerate our infringement on their good natures while El Al ignores our plight and the plight of other Israelis stuck — fortunately not in Lodi (CA) — in limbo while El Al or Bibi & Company cannot get it right.

Color me an unhappy camper.

When I made aliyah in 1975, everything went smoothly. All my dealings with Israeli government offices, banks, etc. were fine.

Forty years later … a different story.

Blame it on the Chinese.

Why not fly to JFK?

1. My wife and I are seniors with mobility issues. Shlepping luggage, a rollator (walker), and mobility scooter borders on the impossible. El Al will not arange transfer from the domestic flight to its flight.

2. Each time the mobility scooter is loaded/unloaded from a plane, there is a chance it will be dropped and made useless.

3. Any delay with either flight could put our pre-boarding test in jeopardy; we would be "stuck" at JFK for an undetermined duration.

American Airlines is to inaugurate 3 flights a week MIA-TLV BEGINNING IN JUNE. A long time to impose on people.

* Then again, Moses never made it into the Promised Land, so perhaps I should have re-thought the headline.

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on Moses’ Aliyah

Opuscula STUPID HEADLINE

THE JEWISH NEWS SYNDICATE, a/k/a “JNS” wins the award for stupidest headline of the week.

At https://tinyurl.com/y25echvv JNS asks What does Iran’s pivot to China mean for Israel?

It HAS to be kidding.

 

Consider:

  *  China owns Israel’s Haifa and Ashdod ports

  *  China is making attempts to build Israeli infrastructure

  *  China owns at least one major food supplier (Tnuva)

  *  China is notorious for stealing other counties’ secrets

  *  China is known to “play both ends against the middle” for its own benefit

  *  China has, largely through deception and spying, stolen military secrets from the U.S. and Russia and on those secrets it has built its modern military

That being the case, China’s “pivot” to Iran — a “pivot” that has been going on for at least a decade and includes trade with the ayatollahs banned by the U.S. and others — MUST be a concern for even the most leftist Israeli.

 

The enemy of my enemy . . .

The Muslims have an expression: The enemy of my enemy is my friend. That can be reversed in the case of Persia: The friend of my enemy is my enemy.

China is Iran’s friend — at least for the time being.

China has a goal — restore the trade route between China and Europe. It is making the effort over land and over water.

In itself, there is nothing inherently wrong with China’s ambition.

The problem is China’s abuse of its political and trade alliances.

China never has been known as a peacemaker, so any hope that China would mitigate the ayatollah’s goal to destroy Israel is no more than a pipe dream.

What China could do, and based on its history, likely will do, is to “sell” information about Israel to the ayatollahs who in turn will share it with their proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, and Jordan. Do they really care about the floundering PLO/PFLP? It may not be worth the ayatollah’s effort or funds.

China is offering — for a fee, of course — to dig tunnels in Israel for rapid transit, a la major cities’ subway (“tube”) lines.

Israel sits on a major fault — that’s how the walls of Jericho fell¹ — and quakes are known to happen throughout the country.

 

Dead Sea Fault line (FIU article & image @ https://tinyurl.com/y3orf9dl)

 

The Dead Sea Fault (DSF) has branches (below) toward the Mediterranean Sea that pass beneath some of Israel’s most densely populated areas.

 

DSF branches into population centers
Left: Maps of the World @ https://tinyurl.com/y2vgv3o5
Right: From FIU map (ibid.)

 

Although the fault and is branches are fairly well documented, the Chinese would, of necessity when digging tunnels, precisely locate the fault lines. Sharing this information with the ayatollahs and their proxies could result in a major earthquake destroying much of the country.

Would the ayatollahs risk destroying the Mosque-on-the-Temple? Would they risk endangering the lives of their friends under PLO/PFLP? Consider the Muslim desire to die in an intifada. Given that, what is the obvious answer?

 

Pay me now or pay me later

Israel must decide if it really is in its best interest to allow the Chinese to buy the country food companies, to take over the sea ports — U.S. ships visit Haifa; will that cease when the Chinese flag flies over the port? — to dig tunnels near a fault line.

Granted, there may be some financial benefits to selling the country to the Chinese — could it be worse than the Roman, Greek, Assyrian, or other occupations? — but in the long run, is it in Israel’s long-term best interests?

There was a Fram oil filter commercial many years ago² that told car owners: Pay me now, or pay me later.

If Israel sells out to the Chinese will it have to pay later?

TO BE HONEST, this scrivener heartily dislikes the Chinese government. It has sent the U.S. a long list of faulty and dangerous products, it has given the world more than one virus (COVID-19 being just the latest), it has proven it steals secrets, both government and commercial. In this scrivener’s opinion, China cannot be a trusted friend.

Sources

1. Joshua 6 2-17 (JPS ©1955)

2. Fram commercial: https://tinyurl.com/z2up2ug

עינים להם ולא יראו * אזנים להם ולא יאזנו

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on Stupid Headline

Opuscula In bed with foes: U.S., Israel, China, And Iran: Foolish

RISING TO A NEW HIGH IN POLITICAL AND MILITARY STUPIDITY, three countries have climbed under the covers with China:

1. U.S.
2. Israel
3. IRAN!

While President Trump is trying, despite leftist Democrat opposition, to wean the U.S. from cheap Chinese products — somehow “goods” seems inappropriate for things from China —, Israel is surrendering its Haifa and Ashdod sea ports to the Chinese, and the Chinese are buying oil from Iran in exchange to technology — technology that may be used against the U.S. and Israel, the “Big Satan” and the “Little Satan” according to the ayatollahs.

The Chinese already own a number of companies in the U.S. and Israel, including major food processing companies.^{1, 2}

 

Enemies of Israel and U.S.: Chinese dragon, Iranian cat

 

The most prominent foreign acquisition of an American food company in the past few years was Chinese company WH Group’s 2013 purchase of Smithfield Foods for $4.7 billion. The combined company is the largest pork producer in the world. WH Group, formerly known as Shuanghui, allegedly has received subsidies from the Chinese government. The deal was the largest ever Chinese acquisition of an American company. Brazil may be an even bigger buyer of U.S. food companies.³

The Chinese are pervasive both in the U.S.⁴ and Israel,²

Is there a danger to U.S. and Israeli security from the Chinese invasion? The Rand organization seems to support this with its RAND_RR3176 report⁵.

The Chinese are known for stealing technology from any and every source.

Both Israel and the U.S. are leading technology countries; leading in defense, electronics, medicine, general science, agriculture, environmental sciences, and more.

Why would ANYONE invite a known thief into their home?

No one with an ounce of sense would do that.

Worse, why would ANYONE invite a known thief into their home when the thief is cozy with someone who wants to harm, to kill, them?

Yet, both Israel and the U.S. allow the Chinese thieves into their homes.

The old expression: “You get what you pay for,” while grammatically wrong is, still, sadly true. When you “buy cheap,” you get cheap.

People do it.

Governments do it.

The trouble with buying Chinese — or worse, letting the Chinese buy into the house — is that not only is the purchased product shoddy, but the thief in the house is stealing from his or her host.

China has proven it doesn’t care for its customers.

Despite U.S. laws to the contrary, China has sent to America

Contaminated food

Dangerous medicines

Drywall that gave off volatile chemicals and sulfurous gases

Faulty automotive parts

Flammable clothing

Toys painted with poisonous lead paint

and the list goes on.

Israel has allowed Chinese companies to dig tunnels for public transportation, and well as permitted it to build light rail systems.

Given that the Chinese are in bed with Iran, and that Iran repeatedly, almost continuously, threatens to “wipe Israel off the map,” the Iranians now know more about Israeli tunnels and infrastructure than is good for Israel.

The Chinese need Iran’s oil more than they need Israel — and America’s — money.

Common sense, a commodity the leaders of Israel in particular seem to lack, would caution against doing business with the friend of my enemy.

MEANWHILE, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Tehran has been negotiating a 25-year accord with China, terms of which will be announced once a deal is struck, French news agency AFP reported Sunday.⁶

There is a famous saying in the Middle east: “An enemy of my friend is my enemy.”

Israel and the U.S. would be well advised to consider the implications of an Iran-China liaison.

 

---

 

Sources

1. China in US: https://tinyurl.com/y8tr7k32

2. China in Israel: https://tinyurl.com/y9e9pjrp

3. Foreign food companies: https://tinyurl.com/y7sujvfu

4. Chinese ownership in U.S.: https://tinyurl.com/yavhq6w6

5 Rand: https://rand.org

6. China-Iran Agreement: https://tinyurl.com/yay7dpnh

עינים להם ולא יראו * אזנים להם ולא יאזנו

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on China and Iran

Opuscula Chinese may cost Israel its best ally

AS THE CHINESE FLAG begins to replace the Blue and White, Israel may find itself losing its one military and financially strong ally, the United States.

THE CHINESE, who already hold enough U.S. debt to bankrupt the country, now are buying up Israel.

Tnuva now is Chinese.

Haifa Port is Chinese.

Ashdod soon will be Chinese.

What next?

What is known is that the Chinese buy or steal when they can from any source. Israel’s intelligence community must be a prime target.

What is known is that China is in bed with Iran, the enemy of both the U.S. and Israel.

Apparently Israel’s ”king for life” cannot see the reality in front of him.

If China buys more control of Israeli industry and services, the U.S. will be more and more reluctant to share anything with Israel, and Israel may be less inclined, or able, to share with the U.S.

Will Chinese flag replace Mogan David?

China not only BUYS Israeli industry and services, it also could SELL to Israel military hardware — aircraft, surface and submersible ships, missiles — all of which is said to be “world class.” A lot of the stuff IS “copy cat,” e.g. a Chinese version of the Russian AK-47, but they may have, as the Japanese have done since WW 2, improved on the original product (transistors, being a case in point).

What would be the U.S. reaction to Israel suddenly buying Chinese military gear in lieu of U.S. goods. (Would China “give” Israel military aid on the condition that it use the yens to buy Chinese products, the same “string” the U.S. uses to bolster its own “military-industrial complex?”)

Consider: Since China and Iran are in bed together, and since Iran has its forces in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Gaza, what can Israel expect?

Israel should expect Chinese intelligence, a/k/a spies, to provide Iran and its proxies on Israeli defense plans, including available and “in-the-works” weapons, weapons and troop placement, and possibly plans to counter an almost certain attack from Iran and its proxies.

Buying Tnuva is one (unfortunate) thing; taking control of Haifa and Ashdod ports is another, and far more serious.

As long as China is doing business with Israel’s enemies, it should NOT be doing business in Israel.

עינים להם ולא יראו * אזנים להם ולא יאזנו

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on China Buys Israel

Opuscula If China owns Tnuva, Who controls quality?

 

I'm a little concerned about China's Bright Food Group becoming the major shareholder in Tnuva.

My concern is not strategic - others are worrying about that. My concerns revolve around

  (a) Tnuva's image

  (b) Tnuva's quality control

Those concerns go hand-in-hand.

In the Several States, Chinese products are known for being, at best, shoddy, and at worst, dangerous to health.

Time and time again Chinese products have had to be recalled.

  Dog food that sickens canines

  Drywall that emits corrosive gases

  Lead in paint of toys that often find their way into the mouths of small children

  Tires that fall apart

And those represent just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

We know the Chinese don't care about either quality or laws governing their products import into other countries.

This is NOT "anti-Communist" or "anti-China" rhetoric - Chinese products simply too often are dangerous.

What will this mean for Tnuva? (And Smithfield, the ham company recently acquired by Bright Food Group.)

If Tnuva (and Smithfield) products are made in Israel (and Virginia) and the quality assurance/quality remains in Israeli (American) hands and the product is simply exported to China (hopefully still under the manufacturers' supervision), then maybe its not so bad. I would be concerned that the product would be mishandled on the trip and go dangerously bad.

On the other hand, China now can control dairy product prices - via supply and demand - in Israel. It wasn't long ago that Israeli consumers went on strike against what they perceived to be over-priced products. The government stepped in and applied some pressure to resolve the matter. It won't have that leverage if the Chinese drive up the price of, say, cottage cheese, in Israel to subsidize its sale in China.

As a risk management practitioner, I would be against the sale; there are simply too many disadvantages to Tnuva and to the Israeli consumer.

If China wants to produce dairy products and put a Tnuva label on them, that presents a risk for Tnuva's reputation.

It's a done deal, Tnuva's majority stockholders - Brits - enjoy their profits from the sale and Tnuva is in jeopardy.

Boycott China

Instead of boycotting Israeli products we ought to be boycotting Chinese products.

What has China sent us?

 

CFLs

The U.S. government banned manufacture and import of incandescent bulbs by fiat effective January 1, 2014. See Why people still use inefficient incandescent light bulbs in USA Today.

The hype for the CFL, as presented in the USA Today piece, is:

"An incandescent bulb can cost as little as 70 cents. Meanwhile, a CFL bulb sells for at least a few dollars and an LED starts at $10 but usually runs around $20.

"The problem with incandescents is you end up paying more in electricity costs. Incandescents are inefficient – 90% of the energy goes toward heat and only 10% toward light.

"Incandescents also don't last as long as CFLs and LEDs. The typical incandescent bulb lasts about 1,000 hours, while a 15-watt CFL bulb lasts 10,000 hours and a 12-watt LED bulb lasts 25,000 hours. In other words, incandescents last about a year while CFLs can last 10 years and LEDs up to 25."

Note that none of the above is attributed; no sources cited. As a former newspaper reporter and editor, my suspicions are that the hype came from a PR practitioner's dream.

Unfortunately, the quality claimed in the article has not been my experience. Given the cost of CFLs and the rate of failure - lamps-per-package - the cost is far more than the price paid..

Where do these bulbs originate?

China, of course.

A check at Global Sources lists multiple manufacturers - all in China.

The Michigan Department of Community Health notes that "A CFL bulb is made of glass, a ceramic and metal base, a powder called phosphor, and a small amount of mercury.

"The mercury in the bulb is in the form of an invisible vapor or as part of the phosphor coating on the inside of the glass.

"The amount of mercury vapor that is released from one broken CFL bulb is not enough to make anyone sick. However, to avoid any exposure to mercury, we recommend that you leave the

room for at least 15 minutes before cleaning up the broken bulb. If you can, open a door or window to the outside to let fresh air into the room where the bulb was broken.

"Although CFLs are safe to use, we recommend that pregnant women and children under six years of age are around mercury as little as possible.

"If the light bulb will be used in play areas, such as children’s bedrooms or playrooms, where there is greater risk that a bulb may be broken, you may want to consider using standard light bulbs or LED bulbs.

"LED bulbs, or light emitting diode bulbs, do not contain mercury and offer greater energy savings than both standard and CFL bulbs." (Michigan Department of Community Health)

According to the Scientific American Web site:

"As effective as it is at enabling white light, however, mercury—sometimes called quicksilver—is also highly toxic. It is especially harmful to the brains of both fetuses and children. That's why officials have curtailed or banned its use in applications from thermometers to automotive and thermostat switches. (A single thermostat switch, still common in many homes, may contain 3,000 milligrams (0.1 ounce) of mercury, or as much as 600 compact fluorescents.)

"Jim Berlow, director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Hazardous Waste Minimization and Management Division, recommends starting by opening the windows and stepping outside. "Any problems at all frequently are handled for the most part by quickly ventilating the room," he says. "Get all the people and pets out of the room for 15 minutes and let the room air out. If you have a central heating system or an HVAC [heating, ventilating and air-conditioning] system, you don't want it sucking the fumes around, so shut that down."

"The important thing is not to touch the heavy metal. After airing out the room, the larger pieces of the bulb should be scooped off hard surfaces with stiff paper or cardboard or picked up off carpeted surfaces with gloves to avoid contact. Use sticky tape or duct tape to pick up smaller fragments; then, on hard surfaces, wipe down the area with a damp paper towel or a wet wipe. All materials should be placed in a sealable plastic bag or, even better, in a glass jar with a metal lid."

Drywall that contains high levels of sulfur

Over 3,000 homeowners have reported that drywall imported from China has caused health problems and metal corrosion in their homes. The contaminated drywall has high levels of sulfur, which may be responsible for a rotten egg smell in affected homes, blackened or corroded pipes, failure of air conditioners and other household appliances, and health problems such as asthma, coughing, headaches, sore throats, and irritated eyes. (See NOLO)

 

Flammable pajamas for children

In one of many cases, the Consumer Product Safety Commission ordered the recall of about 12,000 pairs of Chinese-made children's pajamas manufactured for one clothier in the U.S.
The CPSC cited "The pajamas fail to meet the federal flammability standards for children’s sleepwear, posing a risk of burn injury to children" as the reason for the recall. (CSPC.)

In another case, the CPSC ordered the recall of an additional 6,000 units shipped to another clothier in the U.S.

 

Flame retardant chemical residue

And when the Chinese DO apply flame retardant chemicals . . .

"The black-and-white notice that a fire retardant has been applied adorns an array of children's products, including car seats, strollers and baby changing mats as well as home furniture. It might as well be a red flag, according to many health experts who caution that the added chemicals likely pose a greater health risk than any flames they might fend off. Common flame retardants have been linked with learning disorders, reduced fertility and cancer, they say, and non-chemical alternatives do exist.

'Protecting children from fire doesn't require exposing them to toxic chemicals,' said Ivy Sager-Rosenthal, campaign director for the nonprofit Washington Toxics Coalition."(Huntington Post)

 

Tires lacking material to prevent tread separation

Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co., based in Hangzhou, China, built the tires for Foreign Tire Sales with inadequate gum strips, used to prevent tread separation, or none at all, Foreign Tire Sales said in a statement to the safety agency.

The Chinese company "unilaterally changed the construction" after its product passed federal tests without telling Foreign Tire Sales about the change, the U.S. company told the government agency, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The flaw is present in about 450,000 tires sold to the New Jersey company and an unknown number sent to other distributors, Foreign Tire Sales said.

The problem is that Foreign Tire Sales says it can't afford a recall. "FTS recognizes that a complete product recall might be in order," the company said in a June 11 letter to the safety agency. "Such a recall would force FTS to file for bankruptcy." (Car and Driver)

 

Toys with banned lead paint

Mattel, the maker of Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels cars, recalled nearly one million toys in the United States today because the products are covered in lead paint.

According to Mattel, all the toys were made by a contract manufacturer in China.

The recall, the second biggest this year involving toys, covers 83 products including Sesame Street and Nickelodeon.

Mattel says it prevented more than two-thirds of the 967,000 affected toys from reaching consumers by stopping the products in its distribution centers and contacting retailers But more than 300,000 of the tainted toys have been bought by consumers in the United States. (New York Times)

Bottom line

If the product is made in China, or if the origin of the product is unknown, consider buying something else. In the case of CFLs, the U.S. has allowed China to corner the market so we are "stuck" with lamps that burn out long before they should.

Given the country's lack of QA/QC and cavalier attitude toward safety and reliability, any time you buy a product "Made in China" you are taking a risk. For my part, if there is an alternative source, I'll prefer it.

What am I missing?

Political correctness
trumps public health

When I was a small boy and had measles, medically rubeola, a large QUARENTINE sign went up on the door. The same went for other highly contagious diseases. This obviously was before vaccines nearly eliminated the illnesses. (Smallpox lingers in areas of ignorance and religious superstition.)

When I was a teenager I was a pearl diver in a local Walgreens. For those not in the know, a “pearl diver” is a dishwasher. I also did a little short order work and occasionally manned the counter.

Before I could don an apron for my first day at work I had to prove to Walgreens – because the State of Florida insisted upon it – that I had passed a VDRL screening.

VDRL stands for Venereal Disease Research Laboratory ; in other words, a test to see if the person being tested had, or ever had, syphilis. Although syphilis could (then) be cured by antibiotics, a trace always lingered as a Scarlet Letter.

In addition to the VDRL, a urine sample was taken to check for gonorrhea, a/k/a “clap” or “drip.” Antibiotics also are the medication of choice to eliminate this malady.

When I enlisted in the Air Force I was poked and probed six ways to Sunday.

Later, when I married, the State insisted that both my bride-to-be and I had a VDRL before we could go to the county courthouse to buy a license. Back in the day.

Today, outside of hospitals, quarantine signs have gone the way of Burma Shave doggerel, you might find one in a museum or on an on-line nostalgia site, but never on a residence door.

With Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) more rampant than syphilis or gonorrhea ever were, pre-employment tests for food handlers and prospective brides and grooms are passé.

People with common contagious diseases no longer are isolated; only a few diseases, treated in a hospital environment, rate isolation.

Maybe isolation – quarantine – never was necessary for the patient with the disease on the idea that once the disease manifested itself, the contagious stage had passed; the isolation was to protect outsiders from the caregivers in the house.

That, of course, fails to explain why tests to determine if a person is an STD carrier have been eliminated for food handlers. Likewise the elimination of premarital tests for STDs.

Are tests for HIV or AIDS required for any job?

Can a person with hepatitis be deprived of employment in a health care setting? According to the US CDC, “Hepatitis B is usually spread when blood, semen, or another body fluid from a person infected with the Hepatitis B virus enters the body of someone who is not infected.” A sneeze to crown a tuna fish sandwich will do the job.

Times they are a’changin’ – and I’m not convinced they are changing for the better.

* * * * * * * * *

For want of a light that lasts

I just changed a CFL that was “guaranteed” to last 5 years.

The US government has banned incandescent bulbs as energy INefficient to force its citizens to buy Compact Florescent Lamp bulbs – all Made in China by the way.

I keep replacing the “5 year” bulbs after anywhere from 6 months to 2 years.

I thought China already owned the United States; why are we still buying faulty products from them? Are D.C. politicians getting a kick back?

Kosher & China??

 

Two adjacent headlines from Kosher.com, THE Website for kashrut information ( http://www.kashrut.com/News/.

Increase of kosher food production in China

Information on pesticides and aduteration in foods from China

 

Chinese kosher: According to an article in Arutz 7 ( http://tinyurl.com/acf62nb), “The China Ministry of industry reported that more kosher products are being produced in China for domestic use and export. According to the report, the amount of kosher production rose 60% in 2012, compared to the year before.

“Much of the food being produced is exported to markets around the world, including Israel, which is a big customer of fish, canned vegetables, and other grocery items "made in China". But some of that kosher production is also being used domestically for the Chinese themselves.”

 

Dangerous foods: “Pesticides and aduteration in foods from China. Food Sentry had analyzed nearly 1,000 reported food violation incidents in 73 countries. They found that China had the most violations of any single country. Produce was most likely to be contaminated with pesticides while seafood was most likely to be contaminated with antibiotics. "32 distinct pesticides found in Chinese foods, mostly in produce, fruit and spices. In one instance, a cumin sample had six different pesticides (acetamiprid, carbendazim, profenofos, cypermethrin, hexaconazole and Ethion) detected at violative concentrations in laboratory testing." Some of the issues found are the following:

• "Antibiotics were a particular problem with seafood from China. We found multiple instances of leuco-malachite green (a metabolite of malachite green), enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin (fluoroquinolone drugs), and sulfamethoxazole (a sulfonamide drug) contamination." "Leuco-malachite green/malachite green have been banned in aquaculture by the FDA since 1983 due to serious toxicity, so their continued use in Chinese aquaculture is cause for concern. It is actually a dye used in the clothing industry, but it has anti-bacterial properties that are effective for use in fish farming. In this case we found it reported as a contaminant in tilapia, grouper, mackerel, carp and crabs." The FDA inspects only 2 percent of all food imports and tests much less than 1 percent, there’s a good chance that some contaminated tilapia is getting through.

• Escherichia coli, Clostridium botulinum and unspecified coliform bacteria being reported multiple times.

• “Mycotoxins from poisonous molds were present, mainly in seeds, oils, dairy and rice. Economically Motivated Adulteration (EMA) continues to be an issue in China.

• “Seafood has water added to increase its weight. The fish is soaked in sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP), which at high concentrations can be toxic. Israeli Video showing water addition in a the Chinese fish processing plant.

“Food Sentry ( http://tinyurl.com/b5f26og) has found that very little of the total import amount is actually inspected and tested, and the results from foreign laboratories that do test demonstrate some persistent level of contamination across a range of products.”

The time has come

Back in 1972, then-president Richard Nixon went to China. His trip set the groundwork for normalization of relations with China, a country that since has devoured the US economically and sends us shoddy and dangerous goods.

But at least it is not a belligerent a la North Korea or Iran, and indeed now tries to keep North Korea in check.

On June 12, 1987, then president Ronald Reagan challenged then USSR premier Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. The wall eventually came down on November 9, 1989.

In 1995, then-president Wm. Clinton normalized relations with Vietnam, a country with which the US had been at war for a number of years during which 58, 209 Americans lost their lives (Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war)

We’ve established a relative peace with most of our former foes, certainly the ones that had – some still have – the capability of harming US citizens at home and around the globe.

In February, 1962, then-president John Kennedy, with an executive order, placed an embargo on Fidel Castro’s Cuba. Kennedy imposed travel restrictions on February 8, 1963, and the Cuban Assets Control Regulations were issued on July 8, 1963. (Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_embargo_against_Cuba#Kennedy-era_embargo)

For an interesting aside, see the Wikipedia entry (ibid.) regarding Kennedy’s fondness for, and pre-embargo purchase of, Cuban cigars.

The US State Department considers, in 2013, that Cuba is a “state sponsor of terrorism” and based on that, prevents almost all travel by US citizens to Cuba.

Cuba, which made the list in 1982, is one of only four countries the US State considers to be a “state sponsor of terrorism,” the others being Syria (1979), Iran (1984), and Sudan (1993). Libya was on the list but it was removed. China, North Korea, and Saudia are absent from the list, although they are actively warring against the US either financially and industrially (China), providing funding and shelter for Muslim terrorists (Saudia and other Muslim-dominated countries), or blatantly threatening the US with missiles (North Korea).

The only threat to the US Cuba might possess is cancer caused by smoking Cuban cigars and cigarettes.

There seems NO valid reason to prevent average US citizens from visiting the island. Special permits have been granted to some American citizens and they have come back safely. That cannot be said for other countries, Mexico in particular, yet there is no prohibition on travel to Mexico.

So why is the embargo still in place?

Primarily because expatriate Cubans, despite claims to the contrary, don’t want to go home. They have “Cubanized” South Florida which explains why Cuban Spanish is the dominate language in South Florida for even the less-than-elderly population.

If relations between Cuba and the US were “normalized” and trade barriers torn down, the island’s economy would improve and with it its dependence on Russia. The South Florida Cubans who claim that they want to “go home” would no longer have an excuse to stay in the US. The island’s mix of communism and capitalism seems to have no negative effect on Canadians who are allowed to visit Cuba. I have heard no talk from Canada about returning visitors pressing for a communist (form of) government in Canada.

The only other people who stand to benefit from a continuing embargo on Cuba, besides cigar makers in Tampa FL, are sugar cane and beet growers who would have to compete with Cuban sugar cane.

Politically, aside from the Cubans in South Florida, there seems no reason to prevent social intercourse with the island nation.

It’s not going to go away.

Its government will never be a sustainable US-style democracy – the US has several times tried to force our understanding of democracy on Cuba and it always is quickly replaced by a dictatorship that seems better suited to the Cubans by the Cubans. It may surprise some Americans, but not every one wants to be American look-alikes.

It won’t make South Florida’s Cubans happy, but since he’s a lame duck anyway, perhaps President Obungler could issue an executive order to cancel another Democrat’s executive order and lead the way to normalization of relations with the US’ neighbor to the south.

Of course there is no guarantee the State Department will DO what a president instructs it – moving the US embassy to Jerusalem is a good – albeit sad – example of how State does what it wants despite congressional and presidential instructions.