‘Do not worry’ | Ramokgopa says Koeberg radioactive contamination is safe

The Table Mountain in the background, Koeberg in the foreground, Africa's only nuclear power station. Beautiful!  

Don't worry, says Kagosientso Ramokgopa, Head of ESCOM. 

West Hollywood: Billion Dollars Failure

A large sinkhole closed down Sunset Boulevard. Utilities have been working to keep the aging water system running, but have struggled with limited funds, long project timelines, and the overwhelming length of the pipeline that needs to be replaced. “We have, in the water system, a capital improvement budget that is over a billion dollars,” Collins said.

I wonder what they will do if the San Andreas Fault snaps as it must. In the El Cajon Pass, stress has reached its maximum level. Several big companies have moved to Texas. Could it be connected? California is not what it used to be.

Crise de l'eau

 

Of course, TAHAL, the Israeli water consulting company I worked for many years, is no more. We worked mostly in Latin America and Africa. It was never able to set foot in any developed country, mostly because those countries had solved their water problems.  But now I am seeing growing difficulties, not only in France and Europe in general, but also in the USA, such as the Colorado River catchment area. The problems, at least in California, which I know personally, are the "greenness" of the regulation. A new TAHAL could find new markets in the West, as its water infrastructure and professional human capital degrade.

16% of France's waterways had dried up as of last June, compared to just 6% in June 2025. France 24

The country is experiencing its third heatwave in as many months, with wildfires further fueled by dry conditions. France 24

Broader European monitoring (EDO) shows watch-level drought conditions persisting or expanding in the Iberian Peninsula, France, southern UK, southern Germany, the Alps, and Italy, with alert-level conditions having emerged in France as well.

Ro Khanna at Zanuta

Congressman Ro Khanna staged a photo-op tour of Khirbet Zanuta ("khirbet" = ruins of a Judean village, repopulated by Beduins)) — anything to throw another accusation at Israel. Just another politician surfing the antisemitism wave to juice his presidential ambitions. And American Jews? Silent. Scared to say a word.

3 million new Europeans

 El Mundo reports that Spain is granting citizenship to three million illegals. The Sanchez government has blocked the Extranjeria (the department normally dealing with foreigners), and the police have been charged with issuing EU identity documents. Gradually, they and their families will move on to Europe's heartland. They are Hispanos from Colombia and Venezuela, others from Spain's  African former colonies. They are all sure votes for Sanchez and Europe's Socialists. 

Why they keep selling on credit to the USA?

 I am an Israeli water engineer of a curious nature. Some of my clients are not paying (yimach smam - a Hebrew curse), and I wonder if I should continue working with them. Thinking from a global perspective from my 3 m by 2 m cave, I wonder why America can keep trading with a persistent current-account deficit that reached $1.12 trillion in 2025 — 3.6% of GDP. By trading partner, the largest bilateral deficits are with China (~$270 billion), Mexico (~$157 billion), Vietnam (~$113 billion), Ireland (~$80.5 billion), and Germany (~$76.4 billion). America is more indebted year by year, yet it makes no difference. Maybe its military strength explains this kind of imbalance. Israel, fortunately, is a structurally strong country with a large savings account. We can do without foreign assistance.

Pic.: Mongol taxman collecting tribute.

Kissinger: Order above Peace

 
I am rereading Kissinger's World Order. He died at 100 on November 29, 2023, but the book was written in 2014. He was against negotiations with HAMAS for peace; he advised reaching some acceptable mechanism for co-existence. Trump is following his advice in fighting the Ayatollahs: he is not interested in peace, but in workable rules for maritime passage through the Hormuz Strait and controlling the development of nuclear power. Even these limited aims are very difficult to agree on for the Shia clerics, as they are waging a long war of vengeance for the assassination of Abu-Bakr 1600 years ago.