Musing Bytes 5 - Laniakea, Kokaku Kidotai, and PayPal
EventHorizon1984
30 September 2014
“Deep in the fundamental heart of mind and Universe there is a reason."
Life, the Universe and Everything, 1982, Douglas Adams
Elizabeth Gibney's Nature.com article "Earth's new address: 'Solar System, Milky Way, Laniakea'" started small.
Based on "Tully, R. B., Courtois, H., Hoffman, Y & Pomarède, D. Nature 513, 71–73 (2014)."
The topic added dimensions to the question, 'Is it bigger than a breadbox?'. Yes, very much bigger.
"The super-cluster spans some 520 million light-years in diameter."
Photo from Nature.com
View Nature.com video at http://www.youtube.com/embed/rENyyRwxpHo
However The Universe is, Large. Depending on your concept of "observable universe", The Universe is approximately "92 billion light-years" in diameter, but Earth based observations have only viewed up to 13.8 billion light-years "in every direction".
Still Laniakea is big. Bigger than anything a human would encounter in the day to day world. There are no hardware stores stocking 500 million to 1 billion light-year tape measures.
And yet Laniakea looks familiar.
“Well, it's just that the way the Major's been looking at us lately is kinda scary.”
Tachikoma, Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell, Masamune Shirow
(c) Production I.G., Bandai Entertainment, Madman Entertainment, Manga Entertainment
The conceptual view of Laniakea is reminiscent of Major Motoko Kusanagi's face, during one of her classic falling scenes.
Ghost in the Shell, Masamune Shirow
(c) Production I.G., Bandai Entertainment, Madman Entertainment, Manga Entertainment
Ghost in the Shell, or Kokaku Kidotai, was first written and illustrated in May 1989 by Masamune Shirow. Making 2014 it's 25th Anniversary year.
Getting back to to the topic of known space. The Universe is expanding, not contracting. An appropriate time sequence would be the Major rising, not falling. The galaxies have the flow and appearance of water on a woman's head, as she breaks the surface of a pool of water.
Taking all this to a philosophical conclusion. Suppose the Laniakea formation was our three dimensional view of "Laniakea", a mathematically higher dimensional being, entering our Universe and peeking.
The Goddess could use a hair cut. Guess where?
“We and our board believe the best way to drive long-term shareholder value is to keep eBay and PayPal together, to capitalize on the opportunities”
John Donaohe, eBay INC CEO, January 2014
The news of eBay INC separating into two entities, PayPal and eBay, circulated quickly today.
"EBay Inc. (EBAY) is spinning off its PayPal division, throwing the business into direct competition with Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc. as consumers step up the use of smartphones and computers to pay for goods and services.
Activist shareholder Carl Icahn had pushed for a split earlier this year"
While many had anticipated this for years, it took the actions of Carl Icahn to spark the separation.
John Donahoe, eBay INC CEO, will handle the separation, and then step down as CEO.
It is likely the announcement of the split was timed to give eBay INC a last minute boost, before the 3rd Quarter expired.
Our guess is John Donahoe and company are angling to sell the de-clawed and devalued version of eBay INC., soon after the separation.
"Donahoe was the wrong man for the job"
David Steiner, EcommerceBytes, 30 September 2014
In a rare show of public disdain, David Steiner of Ecommercebytes.com, started his article "How Will John Donahoe's Tenure at eBay Be Remembered?" with:
"In baseball, there's a saying after a team has a bad season: You can't fire the team, you fire the manager.
John Donahoe's team at eBay has had a bad season, with growth that didn't keep pace with its competitors, a public confrontation with investor Carl Icahn, security breaches, site outages,.. you could say that eBay has had a very bad season."
And ended with:
"The Donahoe Era was a disaster for small sellers."
Our take on John Donahoe stepping down as eBay INC CEO, and hiding in one or both of the new PayPal and eBay Boards?
"There's something wrong here, there can be no denying
One of us is changing, or maybe we've stopped trying
And it's too late, baby, now it's too late
Though we really did try to make it
Something inside has died and I can't hide
And I just can't fake it"
It’s Too Late, 1971, Carol King & Toni Stern
Grab your own business domain and setup shop online.
Before it is too late.
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“The thing that's always worried me about being one of the few is the way we keep on getting fewer.”
Flight Officer David Campbell (Sir Richard Burton), The Longest Day (1962)
Influenza Mortality versus COVID-19 Mortality
Influenza Mortality versus COVID-19 Mortality
EventHorizon1984
12 April 2020
“the 36,000 figure is a) an estimate, b) an average, and c) that these are "influenza-associated" deaths”
Beth P. Bell MD, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008
You've probably run across this type of daily coronavirus post from a non-American:
It's an 'apples and oranges' type of argument. There is a flu vaccine. There are multiple medical treatments, such as Tamiflu, for the influenza. While there is no COVID-19 vaccine nor fully tested Tamiflu drug equivalent.
Yet the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) does present the following:
Yet the CDC did say the number was an "estimate."
“Estimation: The fine art of guessing”
Jonathan Rasmusson
The CDC did have a methodology that produced the high end "62,000" mortality number.
The "61,777" pneumonia deaths are what the CDC described as "influenza associated deaths."
The CDC policy:
To put some of these numbers into perspective:
These flu death statistics are from test results ("positively identified"). And not an "estimate."
To do an apples to apples comparison, you need to compare the positively identified deaths from influenza to positively identified deaths from COVID-19. Not add "associated" non-tested results.
Can that 2020 influenza number be obtained?
Yes, from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). On the CDC site.
“One civilian dead for every ten terrorists. That’s an acceptable ratio.” Fletcher
“Unless you’re one of the civilians” Frank Murphy
Blue Thunder (1983)
Week one of 2020, 416 influenza deaths.
Week:
Week thirteen (ending March 28 2020) - 300 influenza deaths.
Total 2020 influenza deaths, 6076.
And 2019? From the start of the flu season; 1 October 2019, week 1.
2019 influenza deaths, 829. Total influenza deaths for the 2019-2020 flu season so far, 6095.
The CDC characterizes 'flu season' as "influenza activity often begins to increase in October. Most of the time flu activity peaks between December and February, although activity can last as late as May."
With two more months of flu season to go, it is unlikely the death toll for influenza will be anywhere near 62,000. Or even 24,000.
And what of COVID-19?
CDC, Washington State Report First COVID-19 Death
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Let's do a mortality comparison.
COVID-19 Total Deaths United States
Influenza Total Deaths United States
Draw your own conclusions.
But do it from home.
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“the thing what worries most of us in the field of public health is a respiratory illness that can spread even before someone is so sick that you want to keep them in bed.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, 2019
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Posted at 16:30 in Business, Commentary, History, Science | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, coronavirus, COVID-19, influenza, National Center for Health Statistics, NCHS
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