Wednesday 12 January 2022

Personal Freedoms Dying. Quebec Leads!

 Baltic Dry Index. 2151 -126   Brent Crude 83.65

Spot Gold 1820

Coronavirus Cases 02/04/20 World 1,000,000

Deaths 53,100

Coronavirus Cases 12/01/22 World 314,176,731

Deaths 5,521,515

“It cannot be too clearly understood that this is NOT a free country, and it will be an evil day for the legal profession when it is. The citizens of London must realize that there is almost nothing they are allowed to do. Prima facie all actions are illegal, if not by Act of Parliament, by Order in Council; and if not by Order in Council, by Departmental or Police regulation, or By-laws. They may not eat where they like, drive where they like, sing where they like, or sleep where they like.

A.P. Herbert, Uncommon Law. "Is It a Free Country?”

Up first today, Quebec vaults into the lead in the Covid-19 political panic charge against personal freedoms, taking first place from Australia and dropping second place New Zealand into third. The USA down to fourth.

What next, charging those with HIV, [your favourite hate disease here,] more because politicians can?

'This will set a dangerous precedent': Canadians react to Quebec decision to ask unvaccinated adults to pay up

Tue, January 11, 2022, 9:33 PM

Quebec Premier François Legault announced Tuesday that unvaccinated adults in the province will soon need to pay a "health contribution."

"The vaccine is the key to fight the virus," Legault said at a press conference. "This is why we’re looking for a health contribution for adults who refused to be vaccinated for non-medial reasons."

"Those who refuse to receive their first dose in the coming weeks will have to pay a new health contribution."

The amount is still unknown but Legault indicated it would be "significant."

He added that these adults who are refusing to get vaccinated are putting an "important burden" on the province's healthcare system.

"I think it’s normal that the majority of the population is asking that there be a consequence," the premier said.

"Yes, we will continue to look at spreading the use of the vaccine passport but I think we have to go further and I think that right now, it’s a question also of fairness for the 90 per cent of the population who made some sacrifices. I think we owe them this kind of measures."

Following the announcement of this new "health contribution" to come, many Canadians took to social media to respond to this upcoming measure, some in support and some against the move.

More

https://www.yahoo.com/news/quebec-unvaccinated-health-contribution-tax-covid19-213300449.html

Back in the global stock casinos, Fed Chairman Powell is covering everyone’s back once again.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumps 2% as tech stocks rally; China’s December inflation slows

SINGAPORE Chinese markets rose on Wednesday, tracking gains in other Asia-Pacific markets. U.S. markets also rallied overnight as comments from the Fed chief appeared to reassure investors.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led gains in the region, as it jumped 2%. The Hang Seng tech index soared 3.7%, as Tencent was up 3.13%, and Alibaba climbed 4.7%, and Meituan jumped 7.69%. JD soared over 9%.

Mainland Chinese markets also rose, as the Shanghai composite was up 0.37%, and the Shenzhen component rose 0.61%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.86%, while the Topix was up 1.43%. Tech stocks rose, and SoftBank was higher by 5.26%.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.42%.

In Australia, the ASX 200 was higher by 0.69%. Gold miners gained in the morning. Kingsgate Consolidated soared more than 10%, while Evolution Mining jumped 4%, and Newcrest was up 3.22%. Gold prices climbed 1% on Tuesday.

Economic numbers due out in Asia on Wednesday included China’s consumer and producer price index for December.

China’s consumer price index was up 1.5% in December compared to a year ago, according to Reuters — a drop from the 2.3% increase in November and lower than the 1.8% rise expected in a Reuters poll. Factory prices climbed 10.3% from a year earlier, slowing from the 12.9% rise in November and less than the 11.1% expected in the Reuters poll.

“Lower inflation opens room for the government to loosen monetary policies further. The probability of interest rate cut is rising, in our view,” Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, wrote in a note after the release of China’s inflation data.

Stocks on Wall Street rallied for a second day after a rocky start to the year.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 1.41% to 15,153.45, building on an afternoon rally from the previous session that snapped a four-day losing streak. The S&P 500 rose 0.92% to 4,713.07, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 183.15 points, or 0.51%, to close at 36,252.02.

“Stocks rebounded, reversing the recent downward trend, as comments from Powell reassured investors that the Fed is prepared to tighten monetary policy to maintain price stability,” ANZ Research analysts Brian Martin and Daniel Hynes wrote in a note.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that rate hikes and tighter policy will be needed to control inflation, but did not announce an accelerated change in policy from what the central bank had already signaled.

More

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/12/asia-markets-china-cpi-and-ppi-fed-comments-world-bank-forecasts.html

Wall Street closes higher after Powell testimony eases investors' concerns

Jan 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes gained ground on Tuesday with Nasdaq leading the advance as investors were relieved that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony to Congress did not include any major surprises.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, in a congressional hearing that pointed to his likely confirmation for a second term in the job, said the U.S. central bank, was determined to ensure high inflation did not become "entrenched."

But he added that rather than diminishing job growth, the Fed's tightening plans which include higher interest rates and a reduction in its asset holdings were necessary to maintain the economic expansion. read more

After falling just 1% earlier in the day, the interest rate sensitive technology sector (.SPLRCT) bounced back and brought the broader indexes with it. Technology-laden Nasdaq closed up 1.4% marking its biggest daily gain so far this year.

Powell's comments likely reassured investors that the Fed was not going to prioritize inflation reduction above everything else, including employment, said Shawn Cruz, senior manager of trader strategy at TD Ameritrade in Chicago.

"The initial concern was the Fed would upset the pace of the recovery," said Cruz. But the investor takeaway from Tuesday's testimony was that "he's not just going to try and crush inflation" without regarding "the other effects that could have on the economy."

More

https://www.reuters.com/business/futures-rise-ahead-fed-chair-powells-testimony-2022-01-11/

Next, to no one’s great surprise except perhaps in the District of Crooks, sanctioned oil sells for a discount, but sells anyway.

China Gorges On Cheap, Sanctioned Oil From Iran, Venezuela

Tue, January 11, 2022, 6:05 AM

(Bloomberg) -- China doubled down on imports of Iranian and Venezuelan crude in 2021, taking the most from the U.S.-sanctioned regimes in three years, as refiners brushed off the risk of penalties to scoop up cheap oil.

Crude processors in the world’s biggest importer were observed to have bought 324 million barrels from Iran and Venezuela in 2021, about 53% more than the year before, according to data from market intelligence firm Kpler. That’s the most since 2018, when China took 352 million barrels from the two nations.

Chinese buyers, particularly private refiners, have benefited from Washington’s tough line on Iran and Venezuela, continuing to buy their oil long after their counterparts elsewhere in Asia ceased purchases. The risk that non-U.S. entities may lose access to the U.S. financial system or have their American assets frozen if found guilty of breaching the sanctions hasn’t dissuaded them.

A glut of unsold cargoes, rising international prices, and the issuance of more crude import quotas by Beijing, have incentivized the private refiners, known as teapots, to snap up more oil from the pariah states. These shipments typically don’t show up in official customs data.

“This surge was triggered by rising crude prices, making Iranian crude, anecdotally, up to 10% cheaper when delivered into China,” said Anoop Singh, head of tanker research at Braemar ACM Shipbroking Pte Ltd. The U.S. also eased sanctions enforcement as it tried for a nuclear deal with Iran, he said.

Sanctioned oil is typically transported on old ships that would have otherwise been set for the scrapyards, providing cost savings, according to Singh. Cargoes may be shipped directly from the country of origin on tankers that have gone dark -- meaning their transponders are turned off -- or transferred between vessels at sea to mask where the crude has come from, he said.

Iranian and Venezuelan crudes are often re-branded and passed off as oil from Oman and Malaysia. China hasn’t received any Iranian crude since December 2020, while imports from Oman and Malaysia have risen, official data show.

More

https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-buys-more-sanctioned-oil-210000011.html

Finally, another gloomy report from the Davos Lords of the Universe postponed meeting.

Inequalities, aka central bankster “no billionaire left behind” programs are fuelling social tensions on planet Earth. You don’t say.

WEF report warns of Covid inequalities fueling social tensions across the globe

Published Tue, Jan 11 2022 4:37 AM EST

New research from the organizers of the annual Davos gatherings in the Swiss Alps warns of inequalities stemming from the coronavirus pandemic that could flare domestic and cross-border tensions around the world.

This year’s Global Risks Report by the World Economic Forum describes a “global divergence” — where poorer nations have much lower Covid-19 vaccination rates and , therefore, face more prolonged economic troubles.

“Covid-19 and its economic and societal consequences continue to pose a critical threat to the world. Vaccine inequality and a resultant uneven economic recovery risk compounding social fractures and geopolitical tensions,” WEF said in the report published Tuesday.

“The resulting global divergence will create tensions — within and across borders — that risk worsening the pandemic’s cascading impacts and complicating the coordination needed to tackle common challenges.”

Aside from the catastrophic death toll, one of the most immediate impacts of the coronavirus pandemic has been the ensuing rise in inequality, many economists have said. They’ve noted that many people have faced job insecurity or haven’t had the means to attend online education due to lockdowns.

Richer countries have had earlier access to Covid-19 vaccines and many are already administering their third, or even forth, doses of the vaccine to their citizens. Meanwhile, poorer countries are struggling to see their populations receive even a first dose.

In Ethiopia, only 1.3% of people are fully vaccinated against Covid. In Nigeria, this number is 2.1%, according to Our World in Data. By comparison, in the U.S., 62% of Americans are fully vaccinated. In the United Arab Emirates and Portugal, this number is at around 90%.

“There is a major concern about livelihood crises — that’s actually number two on this list, so big concern around jobs and what’s happening in the labor market,” Saadia Zahidi, managing director at the World Economic Forum, said about the outcome of the Global Risks Report.

In the report, nearly 1,000 global experts and leaders from academia, business, civil society, government and other organizations, said that societal risks “have worsened the most since the pandemic began.”

These specific risks included social cohesion and mental health deterioration.

In addition, only 16% of respondents said they feel positive and optimistic about the outlook for the world. Furthermore, only 11% said they believed the global recovery will accelerate.

More

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/11/wef-report-warns-of-covid-inequalities-fueling-social-tensions.html

“And least of all may they do unusual actions 'for fun'. People must not do things for fun. We are not here for fun. There is no reference to fun in any Act of Parliament. If anything is said in this Court to encourage a belief that Englishmen are entitled to jump off bridges for their own amusement the next thing to go will be the Constitution. For these reasons, therefore, I have come to the conclusion that this appeal must fail. It is not for me to say what offence the appellant has committed, but I am satisfied that he has committed SOME offence, for which he has been most properly punished.

A.P. Herbert, Uncommon Law. "Is It a Free Country?”  

Global Inflation/Stagflation Watch.

Given our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians,  inflation now needs an entire section of its own.

An economist's guess is liable to be as good as anybody else's.

Will Rogers.

As costs soar, some Japanese companies do the unthinkable: raise prices

TOKYO, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Premium telescopes, violin bows and speciality paper are bucking a deflationary trend that has defined Japan for decades - all have had their prices hiked by companies confident they can charge more without losing business.

Years of stagnant prices and wages have made Japan Inc nervous about charging more for fear of alienating shoppers and losing market share. Traditionally, firms have chosen belt-tightening in the face of rising costs.

While the overall rise in prices is still modest, more firms are opting for increases, led by market leaders often with speciality products, as commodities and transport costs soar due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a weakening yen makes fuel and imports costly.

"Few people care when the price of an astronomy telescope goes up," Tsuzuki said. "But a hike in the cost of milk or eggs will be reported as big story on every single news show."

Tokyo-based Shirakawa Sogyo Co Ltd, which has been importing and selling violins since the 1960s, this month raised prices of some Swiss-made bows by as much as 36%, to up to 539,000 yen.

A strengthening Swiss franc against the yen has added to the squeeze on already tight profit margins, company President Susumu Shirakawa said.

Now may be an "easier time" to raise prices because costs are generally going up for everyone, he said.

"Some of our competitors are doing it as well."

Goods sold to other businesses are seeing bigger price increases than those sold directly to consumers, according to official data.

Wholesale inflation, which reflects the prices firms charge each other for goods, rose to a record 9% in November, while the core consumer price index ticked up 0.5% from a year earlier, the highest in nearly two years.

Final goods prices rose just 4.6% in November even as raw material costs spiked 74.6%.

More

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/costs-soar-some-japanese-companies-do-unthinkable-raise-prices-2022-01-11/

Rising inflation in India could become a ‘pain point’ for the economy

Published Tue, Jan 11 2022 2:04 AM EST

Surging inflation will continue to be a significant “pain-point” for India’s economy as the country battles a third wave of Covid-19 infections, according to one economist.

Rising prices have been a concern for India for over three years now, said Charu Chanana, lead economist for Asia at Continuum Economics, an independent research firm.

In the first quarter, “we actually do see inflation getting above the 6% level — which is at the upper limit of the RBI central bank,” she told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Tuesday, referring to the Reserve Bank of India.

“The omicron wave suggests further challenges. In all of the previous Covid-19 waves, we’ve seen significant supply chain impacts. And the impact on inflation has been significant,” she pointed out. It is going to be one of the “most important pain-points for the economy right now,” she added.

In the central bank’s latest Financial Stability Report released last week, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das underscored that the Indian economy faces headwinds from global developments and more recently, the emergence of the highly transmissible omicron variant.

“Inflation remains a concern buffeted as it is by the build-up of cost-push pressures,” he said.

The report further noted that even before omicron, global growth and trade were starting to lose steam, stalled by factors such as supply chain disruptions and bottlenecks.

“These forces, along with elevated commodity prices, have rendered inflationary pressures persistent across geographies, posing a serious risk to global economic prospects,” the central bank said.

More

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/11/rising-inflation-in-india-could-become-a-pain-point-for-the-economy.html

Covid-19 Corner

This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.

We open with yet another mainstream media omicron panic article with very little to no science behind it.

There’s very little difference between the infection omicron rate between vaccinated and unvaccinated, while the breakout vaccinated infected are just as infectious as the unvaccinated, at least in the early statistics.

But with higher levels of vaccinated being asymptomatic, at least in the early statistics, omicron was only “discovered on November 24, 2021, there is an increased chance of the vaccinated unwittingly spreading omicron more to the general population.

U.S. sets new COVID hospitalization record, signaling Omicron surge could be less mild than experts hoped

Tue, January 11, 2022, 10:00 AM

The U.S. set a new COVID-19 hospitalization record Monday, exceeding 140,000 patients for the first time since the start of the pandemic — a warning sign, experts say, that the nation’s Omicron surge is already more severe than in other countries and will only get worse as it spreads from highly vaccinated cities to less protected parts of the U.S.

America’s previous.hospitalization peak came on Jan. 6, 2021, when 139,781 COVID patients were hospitalized nationwide, according to New York Times data. But that was several months before a mass vaccination effort kicked in and shielded recipients from the vast majority of severe disease.

On Monday, the number of Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 hit 142,388.

Word of a new U.S. hospitalization record may surprise Americans who have repeatedly heard that the hypermutated Omicron variant — which has triggered an unprecedented wave of breakthrough cases in vaccinated and previously infected individuals — is ultimately milder because it’s less likely to seriously sicken those who catch it.

“I think people have fixated on this idea that it’s mild,” New York University epidemiologist Céline Gounder recently told New York magazine. “Mild means mild — relatively mild — for the individual who’s infected. But it does not necessarily mean mild at a population level.”

The new U.S. hospitalization numbers — including rising ICU admissions in the cities Omicron has struck first — suggest just that: If even a milder variant infects enough people, the resulting surge can be anything but “mild.”

The problem, as Gounder and others have pointed out, is twofold.

First, there is a ton of virus circulating right now, with an average number of new daily cases (the current 7-day average stands at 677,243) that’s nearly three times higher than ever before. Virologist Trevor Bedford of the Fred Hutchinson institute in Seattle has calculated that tests are now catching just one in four or five U.S. infections — which means that Omicron is actually infecting more than 3 million Americans each day.

More

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-sets-new-covid-hospitalization-record-signaling-omicron-surge-could-be-less-mild-than-experts-hoped-100032439.html

U.S. FDA amends J&J vaccine fact sheet to include rare bleeding risk

Jan 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday amended the fact sheet for Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ.N) COVID-19 vaccine to include a rare risk of immune thrombocytopenia, a bleeding disorder.

"Reports of adverse events following use of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine under emergency use authorization suggest an increased risk of immune thrombocytopenia during the 42 days following vaccination," the regulator said in a letter to J&J's arm, Janssen Biotech Inc.

The symptoms include easy bruising or tiny blood spots under the skin, or unusual or excessive bleeding, the FDA said.

The amendment fact sheet follows similar moves for the vaccine by other regulators, including that of European Medicines Agency in October.

Both the J&J and AstraZeneca (AZN.L) vaccines, which are based on a similar platform, have previously been associated with another very rare combination of blood clotting and low platelet counts, known as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome.

More

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-fda-amends-jj-vaccine-fact-sheet-include-rare-immune-bleeding-risk-2022-01-11/

South African studies suggest Omicron has higher 'asymptomatic carriage'

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Preliminary findings from two South African clinical trials suggest the Omicron coronavirus variant has a much higher rate of "asymptomatic carriage" than earlier variants, which could explain why it has spread so rapidly across the globe.

The studies - one of which was carried out when Omicron infections were surging in South Africa last month and another which resampled participants around the same time - found a far greater number of people tested positive for the coronavirus but were not showing symptoms compared to previous trials.

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Preliminary findings from two South African clinical trials suggest the Omicron coronavirus variant has a much higher rate of "asymptomatic carriage" than earlier variants, which could explain why it has spread so rapidly across the globe.

The studies - one of which was carried out when Omicron infections were surging in South Africa last month and another which resampled participants around the same time - found a far greater number of people tested positive for the coronavirus but were not showing symptoms compared to previous trials.

In the Ubuntu study evaluating the efficacy of Moderna's (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccine in people living with HIV, 31% of 230 participants undergoing screening tested positive, with all 56 samples available for sequencing analysis verified to be Omicron.

"This is in stark contrast to the positivity rate pre-Omicron, which ranged from less than 1% to 2.4%," the researchers said in a statement.

In a subgroup of the Sisonke trial evaluating the efficacy of Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ.N) COVID-19 vaccine, the mean asymptomatic carriage rate rose to 16% during the Omicron period from 2.6% during the Beta and Delta outbreaks.

"The Sisonke study included 577 subjects previously vaccinated, ... with results suggesting a high carriage rate even in those known to be vaccinated," the researchers said.

They added that the "higher asymptomatic carriage rate is likely a major factor in the rapid and widespread dissemination of the variant, even among populations with high prior rates of coronavirus infection".

South Africa experienced a surge in COVID-19 infections from late November, around the time its scientists alerted the world to Omicron. But new cases have since fallen back and early indications are that the wave has been marked by less serious disease than earlier ones.

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/south-african-studies-suggest-omicron-has-higher-asymptomatic-carriage-2022-01-11/

US reports 1.35 million COVID-19 cases in a day, shattering global record

The record in new cases came the same day as the nation saw the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients also hit an all-time high, having doubled in three weeks.

REUTERS  Published: JANUARY 11, 2022 08:16

The United States reported 1.35 million new coronavirus infections on Monday, according to a Reuters tally, the highest daily total for any country in the world, as the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant showed no signs of slowing.

The previous record was 1.03 million cases on January 3. A large number of cases are reported each Monday due to many states not reporting over the weekend. The seven-day average for new cases has tripled in two weeks to over 700,000 new infections a day.

The record in new cases came the same day as the nation saw the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients also hit an all-time high, having doubled in three weeks, according to a Reuters tally.

There were more than 136,604 people hospitalized with COVID-19, surpassing the record of 132,051 set in January last year.

While the Omicron variant is potentially less severe, health officials have warned that the sheer number of infections could strain hospital systems, some of which have already suspended elective procedures as they struggle to handle the increase in patients and staff shortages.

The surge in cases has disrupted schools, which are struggling with absences of staff, teachers and bus drivers.

---- New York City suspended service on three subway lines as a large number of workers were out sick, according to its Twitter account. Companies' plans for workers to return to office have also been derailed.

Deaths are averaging 1,700 per day, up from about 1,400 in recent days but within levels seen earlier this winter.

A redesigned COVID-19 vaccine that specifically targets the Omicron variant is likely needed, Pfizer Inc's CEO said on Monday, adding his company could have one ready to launch by March.

https://www.jpost.com/international/article-692156

Finally, why HMG so often gets Covid-19 strategy so wrong.

“When we speak of the ‘Crown’ we sometimes mean the Monarch himself; but more often we mean the Government or some Department of it, or some department of some Department, and sometimes in practice, it is to be feared, some subordinate clerk in some department of some Department. All these Departments, nominally controlled by one who is nominally the King’s Minister, enjoy in practice the benefit of the doctrine that the King can do no wrong.”

A.P. Herbert, Uncommon Law.

Next, some vaccine links kindly sent along from a LIR reader in Canada. The links come from a most informative update from Stanford Hospital in California.

World Health Organization - Landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccineshttps://www.who.int/publications/m/item/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines

NY Times Coronavirus Vaccine Trackerhttps://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html

Regulatory Focus COVID-19 vaccine trackerhttps://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2020/3/covid-19-vaccine-tracker

Some other useful Covid links.

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus resource centre

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

Rt Covid-19

https://rt.live/

Centers for Disease Control Coronavirus

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

The Spectator Covid-19 data tracker (UK)

https://data.spectator.co.uk/city/national

 

Technology Update.

With events happening fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section. Updates as they get reported.

Today, a break from the technology of the future with an update on our past.

From Greek to Latin: Visualizing the Evolution of the Alphabet

Published on

Over the course of 2021, the Greek alphabet was a major part of the news cycle.

COVID-19 variants, which are labeled with Greek letters when becoming a variant of concern, normalized their usage. From the Alpha variant in the UK, to the Delta variant that spread from India to become the dominant global strain, the Greek alphabet was everywhere. Seemingly overnight, the Omicron variant discovered in South Africa has now taken the mantle as the most discussed variant.

But the Greek alphabet is used in other parts of our lives as well. For example, Greek letters are commonly used in mathematics and science, like Sigma (Σ) denoting a sum or Lambda (λ) used to represent the half-life of radioactive material.

And the study of linguistics shows us why using Greek letters in English isn’t completely farfetched. This visualization from Matt Baker at UsefulCharts.com demonstrates how the modern Latin script used in English evolved from Greek, and other, alphabets.

It’s All Proto-Sinaitic to Me

Before there was English, or Latin, or even Greek, there was Proto-Sinaitic.

Considered the first alphabet ever used, the Proto-Sinaitic script was derived in Canaan, around the biblical Land of Israel. It was repurposed from Egyptian hieroglyphs that were commonly seen in the area (its name comes from Mount Sinai), and used to describe sounds instead of meanings.

As the first Semitic script, Proto-Sinaitic soon influenced other Semitic languages. It was the precursor to the Phoenician alphabet, which was used in the area of modern-day Lebanon and spread across the Mediterranean and became the basis for Arabic, Cyrillic, Hebrew, and of course, Greek.

Evolving into the Greek, Roman, and Latin Alphabets

Over time, the alphabet continued to become adopted and evolve across different languages.

The first forms of the Archaic Greek script are dated circa 750 BCE. Many of the letters remained in Modern Greek, including Alpha, Beta, Delta, and even Omicron, despite first appearing more than 2,500 years ago.

Soon the Greek alphabet (and much of its culture) was borrowed into Latin, with Archaic Latin script appearing circa 500 BCE. The evolution into Roman script, with the same recognizable letters used in modern English, occurred 500 years later in 1 CE.

Many of the letters which first came from Egyptian hieroglyphs made their way into modern English, but they took a long and convoluted journey. As the graphic above highlights, some letters evolved into multiple forms, while others fell out of use entirely.

And this is just a snapshot of the many scripts and languages that the modern English alphabet evolved from. Lowercase letters came from Roman cursive, which evolved into the Insular and Carolingian scripts before becoming modern lowercase English.

Like many things in the long arc of human culture, alphabets are not as far removed from each other as you might think.

More

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/from-greek-to-latin-visualizing-the-evolution-of-the-alphabet/?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits

“It may be said at once that it any case no blame whatever attaches to the persons responsible for the framing of these charges, who are placed in a most difficult position by the appellant's unfortunate act. It is a principle of the English law that a person who appears in a police court has done something undesirable, and citizens who take it upon themselves to do unusual actions which attract the attention of the police should be careful to bring these actions into one of the recognized categories of crimes and offenses, for it is intolerable that the police should be put to the pains of inventing reasons for finding them undesirable.

A.P. Herbert, Uncommon Law. " Is It a Free Country?”

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