This article in the Times (paywall, sorry) was interesting and timely, but ultimately didn’t help me determine what I have – cold, flu, Covid or RSV. Looks like either cold or Covid, as I’m sneezing my brains out at 1am. Good times.

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I’m learning more about the Israeli-Hamas war. Hamas are fundamentalist Muslims, pretty much the same dudes who changed the world with 9-11. The slaughter of innocents they just did within Israeli borders will change Israel and perhaps the whole Middle East, just at 9-11 changed America. And not for the better. WW3 isn’t far down this road.

This just underscores how much I believe that religion is the root of all evil in the world. As soon as you believe that your tribe, and only your tribe, are “god’s people” and that all others are heathens, it’s inevitable that extreme views in your tribe will call for eradication of the others. If you believe that god speaks to you, and that by listening you decide to hurt other people, it’s probably not god you’re listening to. It happens over and over again in human history. Religion is why we fight and is the cause for almost all atrocities. A pox on all religions.

Meanwhile, we can only hope that the Israelis have a better/smarter reaction to this attack than we had on 9-11. Not likely, but we can hope.

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Someone really hated The Exorcist: Believer. I’ll take their word for it.