Arquivo para a ‘Information Science’ Categoria
Covid-19 situation is undefined in Brazil
21
Feb
While bets on a fall in Covid-19 continue, we emphasize that
it would be safer to think about a second semester in relation to protocols in particular for distancing, the death chart shows a blur this month (see chart), and the study on the new omicron variant BA.2 are still in their infancy, and the WHO is investigating other subvariants, although BA.2 has been the main one in the increase in new cases, in the state of São Paulo 3 cases have already been detected.
It is being called a “stealth omicron” (stealth) because it manages to escape vaccines, with lower severity, but the subvariants are still being studied, both the severity (which for now is lower, but still lethal), while if observes in this month of February the Ômicron is dominant and an increase of those of the subvariant BA.2.
While most studies point to less seriousness, scientists from Japan from the University of Tokyo, Kumamoto, Hokkaido and Kyoto point out that the subvariatne may be more aggressive than the original, because it affects the lungs more severely, and we already know that this has been the case. more serious factor, and therefore called SARS-Covid (SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).
Kei Sato, a researcher at the University of Tokyo who conducted the study, argued that the most important thing at this point would be to monitor more closely and “establish a method to detect BA.2 specifically would be the first step” in many countries, as we had already posted. have a “new” testing policy in this case.
Many cases are not counted because there is no mass testing and many are asymptomatic.
If we look at the data from Denmark where BA.2 cases are very high (data from Our World in Data) we observe that the number of hospitalized (almost 1,500, 33 in ICU) and deaths (33), is a reference if not we take care to avoid a new generalized infection, once the omicron is spread, despite the authorities not reacting.
We continue to ask for a clearer protocol, with distance and a policy of avoiding agglomerations, but it seems that for political reasons this has been abandoned.
Tension hours for peace
15
Feb
The President of Ukraine Voldymyr Zelenskiy said yesterday (14/02)
that he heard that Wednesday will be the fatal day for a possible Russian invasion, and called the people to “unity” and to demonstrate this day for Ukraine. and for peace, he tries to minimize the possibility of an attack and is willing to make concessions for peace.
On the other hand, Russia also claims to be ready for peace, but contrary to concessions reaffirming its demands, among them the non-inclusion of Ukraine in NATO, which would be a threat to Russian territory, Putin hides what everyone knows about expansionist desires, which in the Russian view is just the reintegration of their territories from the time of the USSR.
The war apparatus on the borders of Ukraine grows, not only to the north on the border with Russia and Belarus, but also to the south in the region of Moldova and in the territory of Crimea that is under Russian possession, but that is claimed by Ukraine, too. in these countries the American diplomatic delegations are being withdrawn.
The pattern of Russian speech is repetitive, just like that of the West (USA, Germany and UK mainly), only France and Ukraine itself admit concessions, on the Russian side there is a list of demands for a possible peace while making the rhetoric that they do not want war, in addition to Chinese support, Argentina as well as its ally Venezuela and the unexpected Brazilian support seems to give strength to Russian desires, Bolsonaro is visiting the country in troubled times.
There will be no peace without concessions, and both the Russian side, which says there is a chance for peace if their demands are accepted, and the Allied side, which says the response will be swift and severe, seem more to be preparing for war than willing to peace.
These are days of tensions, especially for the Ukrainian people, but also for a good part of Europe, Russia has a base of supersonic nuclear missiles Zircon, both in the exclave (discontinuous territory of Russia) and close to Crimea in the Black Sea, these missiles that were tested at the end of last year can reach European countries and are faster than international anti-aircraft batteries, in addition to the issue of carrying nuclear capsules.
Despite having a large army, the Ukrainian army is much inferior in technologies and weapons, NATO support is only strategic, but the people will resist (photo)
Beyond the concessions, it is necessary to understand the insecurities and visions of opposing sides, it is not possible to reach an agreement without the ability to see the “other side”.
Happy are the peacemakers
11
Feb
The cycle of plague, famine and war in whatever order it has taken
place in history is fed back because the forces that promote peace succumb and among them are also the true spiritual forces that desire the progress of the human soul, which is inseparable from the substantiality of life. , not only human, but of the entire planet.
The 20th century, in addition to the second world war, everyone who lived through it narrates the horror of this period and the deprivations they went through, especially the poorest, was also marked by authoritarian regimes and Franco, Salazar and De Gaule in Europe, the liberation struggles colonial times, and the civil war in Spain, all wrapped up in atrocities and many deaths.
With the end of the pandemic imminent, but it should be noted that it is still advancing in the southern hemisphere, a cycle of social deprivation approaching a war would be the least desirable and there are no diplomatic forces that can avoid it, what would be the consequences of an insanity of this type is for all analysts, unpredictable in proportion and extent.
There are forces that fight for peace in the underground of societies, today’s pronouncement (02/11) by Pope Francis is one of these forces, but even within religions and spiritualities (we have already discussed the true asceticism) there are those who sadistically (because have not lived and read testimonies of the war) are not bothered by this danger.
The pope said forcefully: “war is madness”, and asks for dialogue, several diplomatic attempts have been made but the paths of any bilateral agreement seem to be closed, in a way because the parties do not seem willing to give in on problematic points. (the presence of NATO and Russia itself in Ukraine, for example), the pope also asked that this dialogue be “serious” and that each side really be willing to listen and give in to a possible agreement.
As the hours go by, the attempts seem to be running out, the common citizens of both countries, the poor and the vulnerable, most would never approve of a war, there is hope and faith that they will be minimally spared if the absurdity happens.
On the eve of a football club world, where the dispute ends with the end of a match and in the midst of the Winter Olympics, despite all rivalries, in this case the desirable thing is that in addition to the opposing sides, everything is consummated from a certain end point, and in this case the supporters of two or more teams, is more humane than the insane dispute for territories and warlike advantages of a war with unpredictable consequences.
The biblical liturgy says, in the passage in which Jesus meets his disciples and a crowd on a plain (all on the same plane) of Tire and Sidon (Lk 6:20=21): “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the God’s kingdom! Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled! Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh!” and explains that the rich and powerful once had the solace in this world and the false prophets who are applauded, because they did not have the courage to tell the truth.
Let us hope that a remnant of serenity, tolerance and balance remain in the great world war forces and the war is avoidable.
Little history of Ukraine
08
Feb
In the 3rd century the region was inhabited by the Goths (250-375),
the region was called Aujo, there was a Cherniacove culture there, the Ostrogoths settled in 350 with the influence of the Huns, to the north there was a people who had a Kievan culture (then later Kyiv or Київ).
The origin of today’s Ukraine is in Slavic tribes that arrived in this territory in the 5th and 6th centuries, in the 9th century Viking invaders arrived, called Varigi, the Mongols invade in the 13th, King Igor I with a young Varigi teenager named Olga united the peoples, this kingdom called Rus had Kiev as its capital, the king will be killed and Olga takes power with great vigor and courage, and dominates the peoples, Olga will occupy a special role and then convert to Christianity with great work in favor of the poor .
Olga is a separate chapter, after being a strong queen and to a certain extent cruel to her enemies, her son takes over the kingdom and she converts to Christianity, built churches, carried out evangelization campaigns, but was unable, however, to convert her son. Sviatoslav (Svyatoslav I), helped the poor and sick people so much that he became a saint recognized by the Orthodox Church in the year and by the Catholic Church of the Byzantine Rite, his son did not convert, but his grandson Vladimir I converted and also was declared a saint.
The Variagi commanded several strategic points in Russia and explored transport and trade, so during the 10th and 11th century, the territory of Ukraine became the center of a powerful and prestigious state in Europe, called at the time Kiev Russia (recall was the kingdom of Rus) and were also the basis for many subsequent Slavic nations (such as Greater Bulgaria and Belarus, for example), in addition to the Russians themselves who were then just scattered Slavic tribes.
The state was conquered by Casimirio IV of Poland, while the heart of ancient Kievan Russia passed to the control of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but the marriage of Grand Duke Jagellan of Lithuania to Queen Hedwig of Poland, changed control of the sovereigns. Lithuanians to most of the Ukrainian territory and thus returned to Ukraine.
We take a leap into history, which is also rich in the medieval period, a civil war that lasted 4 years after the Russian revolution (1917) in 1921 Ukraine becomes a Soviet socialist republic, with purges and land grabs that Ukrainian farmers refused to deliver, Ukraine is a major grain producer.
The Stalinist period and the Nazi occupation of its territory, which caused more than 10 million deaths between 1930 and 1945, Ukraine resisted Russian collectivization and Nazi invasion, Ukraine in the Soviet period was responsible for ¼ of Soviet production in the agricultural sector producing 40 million cereals, a record for the time.
Finally, the problem of the Crimean territory, which has its origins in the war of 1853 and 1856 where there was a conflict between Russia and an alliance formed by France-United Kingdom-Kingdom of Sardinia (today part of Italy), in 2014 the war is reborn with the takeover by Russia, it should be clarified that there was a contract between Ukraine and Russia in a kind of leasing for the concession of the Balkan port where Russia’s largest maritime fleet is located, in Sevastopol, which was thus an independent territory of Ukraine.
Thus, among the most absurd analyzes is the one that says that Ukraine would be unviable as an independent state, it is weakened by an internal war and under Russian pressure.
Pandemic increases and countries do not care
07
Feb
The news is from the BBC in Portuguese several countries
(United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Austria, Finland, Belgium, Greece and Sweden), tired of the change in routine, many countries, environments and even sanitarians relaxed in control because the Isolation is indeed difficult, in Brazil the number of deaths has reached thousands.
The pressure is actually political and economic, and the authorities will find themselves under pressure to reopen the economy and thereby free up environments for commerce and social interaction, but the economic cost can also be serious with the number of people who will leave, even Even if it is for less serious cases, it is visible in some sectors, in the case of Brazil, that many employees contract Covid in the Omicron variant, and in this case they must leave for at least 10 days, but here it was also reduced to 5, that is. , more contagion.
Last Tuesday (1/2) the WHO declared its concern about this relaxation, but European commissioners and health experts rushed to say that the end of the pandemic is near, there are small signs that the peak (we are still at it) could attenuate, but it is too early to infer that we can relax, the normal thing would be to wait for the low curve (graph).
According to Agência Brasil, Brazil Agency of Health recorded 197,442 thousand cases on Friday and 1,308 deaths in 24 hours, this amounts to 26,473,273 cases and 631,802 deaths, due to the high number it is very unlikely that the cases are just unvaccinated or children.
The vaccination of childrens for the most part is still the first dose, and in many states today they will be back to school, they could at least wait a little, but countries that return to work need to have a place to leave their children, so the motivation is also economic and not really a concern for the children.
It is very likely that the Pandemic will enter a cooling cycle, perhaps it will not disappear completely, but care should be maintained and this is not what is observed, except in some Asian countries where they seek to raise tolerance to zero, an example is the restrictions of the Winter Olympics on Pequim and also the Club World Championship held in Abu Dhabi that are in the news all over the world, just make a comparison of the measurements there and the measurements here.
Moving forward to true thinking
04
Feb
No thought is complete if it does not have a spirituality, what modernity
calls subjectivity but which is separate from objectivity as is typical of dualism, creates two realities and neither is part of the whole.
Contemplating the whole means considering the depth of our Being and understanding that we are part of an immense universe full of mysteries, and that our soul yearns for infinity and that is where a true spirituality walks, which is not separated from the substantiality of life (the which is called objectivity in modernity, which is just the part) and that without it we do not contemplate and live the whole, we live a segmented life.
To replace it with a small part, small vices and pleasures, is to walk in frivolity, in superficiality, no true asceticism does without a spirituality, and there is no spirituality without contemplating the human soul as part of the whole of our Being, thus surpassing anthropotechnics and to arrive at an onto-anthropotechnic that looks at things and also at the soul.
Many exercises, from the physical to the spiritual, are done seeking this asceticism, at this point Sloterdijk is right almost all of them are “despiritualized” but his explanation is incomplete because there is no eschatology in their spheres, this reasoning is done especially in Spheres II, which is the whole towards which we walk, it is possible to go to Him.
Yes, it is possible if we move towards deeper waters, seek the completeness of our substantiality, overcoming anthropocentrism and understanding the Earth and the Universe as our home, our abode, but mainly walking and casting the nets for deeper thoughts and spiritualities, there is at high sea, even if raging, what our soul longs for: the eternal.
The biblical passage Lk 5:4-5 says, right after Jesus taught the crowds and Peter (Simon) complained that they had not caught anything, Jesus answers him: “when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon: “Go into deeper waters, and cast your nets for fishing”, Simon replies that he worked all night and caught nothing, but obeyed and cast the nets.
The result was a great fishery. Here, the substantiality of the food and also the spirituality of advancing “to deeper waters” are worthy.
Different reactions to dominant thinking
03
Feb
In countries that were colonies of Europe, the term decolonization
emerged, which differs from decolonization because it penetrates precisely into the dominant thought and epistemology (some authors will call it epistemicide), which is not the simple liberation of domination, but also the resurgence of cultures. subalterns.
Thus, authors appeared in Africa (such as Achiles Mbembe), in Latin America (Aníbal Quijano and Rendón Rojas y Morán Reyes), as well as authors of original culture such as indigenous peoples (Davi Kopenawa and Airton Krenak), but a dialogue with European authors is possible. open to this perspective like Peter Sloterdijk (speaks of Europe as the Empire of the Center) and Boaventura Santos (speaks of epistemicide and also some concepts of decolonization), there are many others of course.
Christian culture must also be highlighted in these cultures, seen by many authors as a collaborator of colonialism, one cannot deny the historical perspective and also the doctrine that is the liberation of peoples and a culture of fraternity and solidarity, it is also a minority today in Europe and persecuted in many cases.
Among the Europeans who defend a new humanism, or a humanism in fact, since the Enlightenment and materialist theories failed to contemplate the human soul as a whole, and are therefore a one-legged humanism, among the Europeans I highlight Peter Sloterdijk and Edgar Morin, the first who defends the concept of community as a “protective shield” capable of saving our species, and the second, a planetary humanism, where man is a citizen of the world and diversities are respected.
Both consider the proposals populist, it is good to know that there are left and right, they must lose with the current crisis and global consumerism depends on an atmosphere of “frivolity” or superficiality that humanity will be forced to rethink, we will not go back to that what we consider stable, the original writers themselves, as Davi Krenak highlights in several interviews, what we want to return to was not good, there was no real happiness and well-being in what was considered normal.
As an aspect of the construction of thought, in Sloterdijk I highlight anthropotechnics, for him modernity was a de-verticalization of existence and a de-spiritualization of asceticism, while the knowledge and wisdom proposed in antiquity leave the empirical and the deceptive to go towards the eternal and of the true, as religion does not exist for him, it would be a movement of wisdom and knowledge, and not just an asceticism of exercises, where the immortal soul was exchanged for the body.
In Edgar Morin’s perspective, it is the hologrammatic perspective that can give man a vision of the whole, now fragmented by the specialization and particularity of each branch of science, a paradox of the complex system in which man is a part that must be integrated into the whole, where “not only the part is in the whole, but in which the whole is inscribed in the part”, the pandemic taught us this, but the lesson was still poorly learned, in the middle of the pandemic crisis it was decided that everything is released and there is no protocol for protection of all in each (each part), and there is no co-immunity.
Scientific truth and humility
02
Feb
From the Copernican revolution, with the discovery of Galileo
and with the scientific advances it should be clearer, even more now with the discoveries of unknown forces of the universe and with the new telescopic James Webb, it should be more and more clear that the man does not he is the center of the universe, although he is capable of doing a lot of damage if he does not put aside the anthropocentric and enlightened vision that places him as an “all-powerful”.
Schopenhauer also followed, one of the first to criticize the Kantian “thing-in-itself” and his metaphysical system of putting in its place a “Will” (which is the same thing as when man was placed as the center of the universe and the earth where its center inhabits), opened a new philosophical perspective where nothing exists on purpose, everything and we are all consequences of an endless system, with determinations and goals, and that we are responsible for one fate hurting the other, we are hurting ourselves.
In this way Schopenhauer wanted to represent in a compassionate way that he can represent in himself the pain of another, and this would be a great step towards peace, although the phrase of this philosopher is capital: “Man is properly speaking, an animal that attacks” (Arthur Schopenhauer), which goes back to the “wolf man of man” and justifies an aggressive state.
The well-known foundation of Kantian ethics is the categorical imperative (act in such a way as to be a model for others) that serves to guide the actions of subjects, and this in turn is the principle of a “factum” of reason, which is part of the world. numenic, which manages to influence (not in principle sense) the phenomenal world, in order to guide the actions of the rational subject in a universal and necessary way, Schopenhauer at this point makes an important criticism, although it is not enough for a deep criticism of this ethics.
For him, the Kantian ethical program is meaningless because it has as its ultimate foundation of action a metaphysical aspect that disqualifies actions that come from any other instance than reason, the relationship that exists between reason and metaphysics (see that the Kant’s metaphysics is not part of the world, but it is neither theological nor divine), is that rational subjects (transcendental in relation to objects) share the unknowable, since they are able to think about metaphysical things, but not know them.
Numenic refers to what is known without being part of the senses, it is a criticism of empiricism but does not recognize the phenomenal (which manifests itself as a thing).
This gap where there is no mystery, it is natural that it has distanced itself from divine and theological transcendence, but it is an objectified reason, without subjective aspects, that is, proper to the subject, and Schopenhauer correctly points to the pain of the other who is capable of conceiving. , but this principle of compassion will not have a development, other phenomenological authors deal with the question of the Other, and this is a principle for the critique of reason.
Covid 19: increase in the number of deaths
31
Jan
The rhythm and curve in each country are different, Europe, even in
the middle of winter, saw the curve increase exponentially and only later did they take sanitary measures, in some countries including with lockdown, Asian countries, especially China and Japan, faced with strict isolation measures. and were successful in controlling the new wave, the winter Olympics that are about to begin in Beijing will not have an audience and the measures for the delegations have been a rigorous testing control.
A WHO official Van Kherkhove warned of the assumption that the virus will go softer with mutations: “There is no guarantee of that”, of course we hope so: “but there is no guarantee of that and we cannot bet on it”, justifying that measures sanitation services are still sorely needed.
In Brazil, there is an increasing number of daily infections, which approach the record of 200 thousand (graphic), and an increase in daily deaths that exceeds 800, with a moving average around 500, the increase is significant and there is no visible stabilization or decline trend, several states register an increase, only Pernambuco, Pará and Rondônia register stability.
The policy that believes, by hypothesis, that the pandemic is passing or that it can become an endemic is still without clear scientific data, the very seriousness of the omicron that is less lethal does not have a precise assessment, working on preventive when it comes to life is the most prudent thing the authorities can do.
We hope and as we said last week, we believe in the power of positive thinking and believing in hope, that everything can be close to an end of the pandemic, but caution is still necessary with decisions that release the people and public events that may be responsible for a greater number of infections and deaths.
There are forces that can change the course of catastrophe
27
Jan
The idea of some imminent catastrophe to happen is in the air, it’s
not just apocalyptics, but natural scientists who see planetary depletion (glaciers, species extinction, climate change, earthquakes, etc.), political scientists about the ideological tension that returns remembering the cold war, and it would be possible to avoid or at least have a positive reaction to it, the pandemic looks like it was a training and the rehearsal doesn’t look good.
One of the recent mysterious discoveries made by astronomers is that an object in our “galactic backyard”, which means at 4 thousand light years, a space object was found, as being a neutral star or white dwarf are only hypotheses, in which this object produces powerful beams of energy, the strange object (pictured) launches the beam of powerful energy that crosses the line of sight of the earth observed by astronomers and published in the journal Nature (see in ICRAR), are something unusual in space observations.
Natasha Hurley-Walker, from Curtin University’s International Center for Radio Astronomy Research, leads the team that made the discovery and stated: “This object was appearing and disappearing for hours in our observation…. It was kind of scary for an astronomer because there is nothing known in the sky that does that.”
There are also powerful forces that act in our midst, it is not just about cheap exploitations of prayers or positive feeling that can lead to the improvement of an environment and people, a set of words and actions taken in a positive direction for a given problem can and should able to resolve or change situations where the problem or conditions are great.
In addition to the pandemic, which some want to decree the end as if it were that simple, we have the tension of an imminent war, and we should have no doubt that all people who can speak, ask, meditate or pray that an atrocity of this size does not occur. they must do it, in war only civilians, the poor and the weakest who suffer, there is no palpable or healthy solution that comes from provoked catastrophes.
Mysterious object unlike anything astronomers have seen before – ICRAR
