Solar eclipse 2024

 Chatting w a friend I looked up how Eid Al Fitr (end of Ramadan) was determined: this is what Al Jazeera English said, paraphrasing: beginning & end of Ramadan depend on sighting the new moon; that varies by location or may not happen due to cloud cover. And this week it followed the solar eclipse: in the new moon, the lit face is away from earth when it's before the sun.

I followed the solar eclipse on YouTube via WFAA TV in Ennis TX, snap dab in the middle if the solar eclipse path, as well as NASA livestream.  Here are a series of screen grabs that show the corona and solar flares in all their magnificence. Click all to enlarge:

Language and mores, Part VIII

 Part VII caps the economic, ethnic and social aspects of the gradual transition from earlier tribal merit-based to later rational principles-based systems, with older aspects still lingering today. Having lived and worked on three continents, and spent three decades recovering my identities of origin and now my spirituality — largely via rc.org summarised in an excellent précis here (private use only) no small thanks to my ex— let me share some pointers in my very personal experience of all of the above. Follow on Part IX here.

Language and mores, Part VII

Update: follow Part VIII here.

 I recapped in my previous post (here) the first five parts ending w how tribal mores persist today. Having mentioned im/migration  in Part III (here), my stay in the family home led to discuss how we relate to our parents. Note that I was born on the way out so to speak - born in Vienna en route from Budapest to Paris as my parents fled the Hungarian Uprising on New Years Eve 1957 -  whereas my sibs were born 15 yrs later in Pau, SW FR, where my parents settled - that time interval isn't germane here - but it helps explain the generation gap. Here is what I said in French:

... We skipped a generation as privileged immigrants: in fact I was the 1st transit  generation, and [my sibs ] were the 2nd landed generation.  Mom and Dad were "entre deux eaux" [1],  in between waterflows and never found their feet on the ground...

Language and mores, Part VI

 In previous parts were framed culture & communications (Part I), stratification of society (Part II),  migrating populations (Part III), inclusivity as seen in the Global South and North  (Part IV), and further asymmetries in newscasting among Global North & South (Part V). Let's see how tribal mores based on merit still exist in the West that's otherwise based on objective facts and common law. 

Update 1: see next post, Part VII here.

Update 2: added a Synoptic View at bottom.

Best take on Arab-Israeli conflict

Note: please ignore if the Hamas attack on Israel is either no interest or info overload - I avoid most of it due to the latter - I only picked this up on my twitter feed, & didn't know this gent prior.

Update: here is the most succinct & brave précis  following on the Oct. 7 events in Gaza. AOC is the voice of the younger honest US politics, harking back to JFK when public office was honest & civil service was cool... 60 yrs. ago! Watch her here  (YouTube) and recover your "illegetimi non carborundum" vibes (don't let the bastards grind you down). Her heartfelt emotion and barely contained rage are palpable: "War crimes do not justify more war crimes", won't you agree?

Update 2: here is the best recap of where Hamas came from (Arte). French only, translated transcript will follow (here).

Update 3: in Andrew Zolnai Private Blog, two mid-2026 posts on Middle-Eastern religious regimes compared here, and Climate Change and the Old Testament here.