Water for Capstadt

The Capetown, South Africa, is facing water supply difficulties. The reservoirs are empty and each person is allocated 50 liters per day.  The climate change has caused this beautiful city (and others) mis-positioned with regards to water supply. Technology can save them but few have it. South Africans are thinking seriously on towing icebergs from the Antarctic: it is feasible in a well organized peaceful world, it is a precarious in the chaotic, violent, desperate world to come. Pic. Los pinguinos son Argentinos! 

The Worst Nightmare of the Antisemites, Realized: Jews rule the World.

Every time I visit an anti-Semitic site or read some article, I realize that the authors are terrified of the possibility that those pushy, aggressive, ambitious, intelligent, satanic etc. Jews are conspiring in the dark and achieving effective world domination. Well, guys, I have news for you: We did it! Donald Trump is not only surrounded by Jews and related to Jews but mentally he is a total Jew or the closest a person can get to being Jewish while being a six foot tall blond German. Observe, the first thing he did was to bring in his Jewish son-in-law into the inner sacra sanctorum of the American government, she sat he Orthodox daughter in the presiding chair in cabinet meetings. First things first and he moved the American Embassy to Jerusalem and declared that America will nuke anyone fucking with the Jews. Just as he was reading Netaniyahu's wish list.

But wait, after publicly fulfilling the non-existing Sages of Zion's wet dreams, what has changed in the world? Nothing. The Europeans keep fragmenting as before, the Korean pyromaniac keeps building atomic bombs, America keeps rejecting immigrants, China is positioning itself for a war against America and so. No one gives a fuck about Jerusalem. The ultimate conclusion is that we Jews and our trifling conspiracies import little or nothing and in fact, nothing changes as "we" rule the world. Basically we Jews are a noisy but utterly unimportant people in the this small patch of rocky desert with an unbearable climate. Some clever people has already realized this, but the alternative, that NOBODY rules the world, that is it utter chaos, is unthinkable, and dangerous. Nietzsche wrote that God is dead and no one is replacing him, and went crazy.

Ruling the world and being marginal, irrelevant? A humbling insight, is it. 

Germany on the move

I am reading The Guns of August about WWI and I can't understand what motivated the European nations in the cusp of their prosperity to fight each other to death. Much posturing and bayonet sharpening, and horses and honor, but why the enthusiasm? These days America is abandoning the NATO and the Europeans are preparing to defend themselves. I have not clear who is against whom. The initiative comes from Germany, that is rearming. Moreover, is recruiting its satellites into the Bundeswehr.

"So far, the low-profile and ad hoc approach of the Framework Nations Concept has worked to its advantage; few people in Europe have objected to the integration of Dutch or Romanian units into German divisions, partly because they may not have noticed. Whether there will be political repercussions should more nations sign up to the initiative is less clear."

 Some Germans must be thinking "The mustachioed psychopath is dead and his histrionics half forgotten - this time we shall succeed."

As a Jew, I hope there is nothing to worry about German power, although - who knows?

Cheated and Angry

I am leaving too much money on the table. One of the most difficult projects was the Center Bar (pic) commissioned by one Sharon Hazan, who never paid me. Last week I went to the place for another bestially difficult project, and saw that the Center Bar was full of customers and having great success. The kitchen is in the small shop to the left while the tables are on a round platform (a former gold fish pool) in the center of the atrium. The place, Dizengoff Center, was built by Platto Sharon and the Pilz brothers in 1974 or 5. The building is in bad condition, and I had to find ways to supply water, drainage, kitchen grease interceptor, air conditioning and exhaust hoods and ducts and air filter and evacuation to the atmosphere. All the drawings had to be approved by the local infrastructure engineer, an anorectic girl by the name of Melinda. Once, she asked me to leave a meeting because I could not take off my eyes from her as she was fighting off some lettuce leaves in front of her on the table. Poor girl.

Hazan! Prepare the cheque, I am not forgetting you.

Greece Domesticated

What is domestication if not enslavement? Greece has graduated from her second, or third? fiscal program imposed on her by Germany and the date of the start for the repayment of her hundred billion debt has been moved ten years ahead, to 2033. Greece promised to follow the strict terms of a 2% budget surplus that has maintained her in misery and recession during these last ten years. 

Koko the Talking Gorilla - Dead at 46

The world is shocked as the news of Koko's demise spread by the internet. Applying her predictive AI (Animal Intelligence) powers, Koko broke the bank at Montecarlo and invested her chips in ... chips, becoming the main shareholder of INTEL and AMD companies. The shadowy ownerת, known as "K", had initiated the technology sharing secret "understanding" (conspiracy?) between Intel and AMD, creating the state of fake competition beloved by American economists. Without the wisdom of Koko the Talking Gorilla, I am now expecting the merger of these two "rivals".

Koko z"l had been my intimate friend ("Honi soit que mal-y pense"). She had decorated Obama's Oval Office, and liked to impersonate famous rock stars. She suffered from chronic obesity and back pain, sleeping on a mattress filled with gold coins and hundred dollar bills. She said that the touch of hard cash made her sleep better.

AMD vs Nvidia

The Taiwanese rumor mill says that Nvidia's products are not selling well. On the other hand, AMD is healthy and lifting to the moon. AMD has integrated Dvision, an Israeli group specialize in military imaging that looks the best thing around in 3D imaging.  I want 3Division or any other similar gang.

Sold his mother to the Ayatollah

Dr Gonen Segev, ex Minister of Energy, was detained by the Shabach and accused of working as an Iranian spy. Segev comes from a poor family in the Krayot neighborhood of Haifa, he was working as a doctor in the Hospital HaEmek while renting a room in the home of the ex Minister of Defense. He entered politics with him and won the Energy Ministry. He was entangled by an Israeli Arab in drug dealing in the Gulf and fell like a rotten apple into the extended hands of the Iranian intelligence.

Lately he has been living in Nigeria. At last the Shabach's long hand reached him when trying to cross to Equatorial Guinea, and was extradited to Israel. He will spend the rest of his life in jail. What damages did he cause to Israel? No one knows. Most probably he acted as a recruiting agent for the Iranians, complicating all his acquaintances. A very bad apple.

Black Buildings in Tel Aviv

I try to avoid Tel Aviv in summer, the temperature can easily reach 40 Centigrades, and people travel like crazy on electric scooters and bicycles and motorized shoes or whatever. The municipality is transforming the city, its latest project is a 100 floor skyscraper. Surprisingly, most of my orders are in Tel Aviv, and I charge higher fees there because of the bureaucracy and the collapsing infrastructure that makes planning very difficult. The pic is the new Alon twin towers, black and intimidating. I may get the order for a restaurant in it. 

A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich J

All the armies of the Antiquity checked out with the gods before entering a battle if the day was fausto or infausto. Today was pre-ordained for me to be infausto, a luckless day. I started at 630 but the car did not, so I spent an hour arranging replacement for my lectures. The University's secretary cut me cold: Professor J. this day will be deducted from your salary. I never lost one day before, but that does not count, they are implacable.
Then the mails: My garage design was rejected for a small error, it happens to the best, but my client was impatient and demanding.
I checked my savings account, it is 10% lower than a month ago. I had the impression that it had been a good month, with money flowing in aplenty, but the numbers said differently.
A client-friend called to demand to finish his project - he was harsh and insulting.
Tomorrow I have to deliver the Dizengoff Center design. It is very complicated, the Center is fifty years old and decaying, they want to join several levels in one kitchen and a restaurant in the roof. I have not started yet. 
It was like a blow in the face, suddenly I felt bitter and depressed. Decided to stop worrying and to get drunk for the night.
Tomorrow is another day.
Hope so.

The dangers of safety

J. Thompson analyzes the inexplicable fall of Norwegian IQ. I think of one possible cause: the extraordinarily high level of physical safety and quality of life achieved by that country. Too much comfort may have a deleterious impact on IQ.

When in the seventies I had to urgently leave Argentina, I went to the United States where I have relatives. Since I had much open credit in Lufthansa (bought in Nigeria, because there was nothing to buy using my excess nairas) I continued to Israel. I was amazed that people here was buying land and investing, while worldwide consensus was that Israeli victory was not "real" and the country could not survive long. I remember Moshe Dayan saying that the army was too small, he needed a million strong army (like the Swiss, he said) to provide minimal security. The population then was about 2 million.

I decided to stay and asked to change my status from tourist to immigrant. I was impressed by the pro-active attitude of the people, facing difficulties and having real achievements. "Don't worry, not everybody dies in the war", told me my uncle, a Colonel in the IDF. I reached the conclusion that Israelis would never allowed to become passive, complacent, lazy or drunk. I did not consider IQ as a variable and to this day I don't believe in the Flynn effect.

Realizing What is Important in Life

CHETTY: So if you’re in your mid-30s, only something like a quarter or less of girls growing up in the Bay Area are married, and we show in our paper that every extra year you spend growing up in the Bay Area, you’re less likely to get married. I remember telling my wife, “I don’t think we need to worry. Our daughter will be fine in terms of earnings. It’s just that she might not be married if we move to California.”

COWEN: So, you’ve lowered your expectations for grandchildren?

CHETTY: Yes.

Source Chetty is a genius and not yet forty. Yet he is worried about grandchildren. If he really thought it was important, he would move to Beit Shemesh or Modi'in Ilit. He would quit Stanford and world-fame, and teach in a yeshiva known only to Haredi Jews. Obviously, he is not worried enough.

Lost in the information deluge

A 24 years old Arab man of Yaffo killed his two sisters for unbehooving behavior.

The Settlements are Aging

I have lots of new job offers, many of them in Judea and Samaria, where the water and environmental infrastructure is aging and in need of urgent upgrade. Without we noticing, the time has passed and some of the earliest villages have celebrated fifty years. The standard replacement age for water pipes is 25 to 30 years, and these villages have invested nothing in maintenance nor replacement, so the situation is critical in many points. There is talk of declaring some structures having historical values, something like museums of the settlement movement. Now it is the time to collect the object of the initial pioneer times. There are already third generation native Samarians walking the land, so what does the Israeli left mean by "temporary" encampments whose 'final" situation is to be negotiated?

Pic. The first years of Kedumim. I was there, in BAHD 3 on the slope to the left. 

Extreme Heat Waves and What the Palestinians Have Learnt from Them

Nothing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Really. They keep rejecting modern agricultural technologies and writing nostalgic tales about "baladi" (village) agriculture, the neverland when man was synchronous with nature. At the fellah level, the poor fellow sees and believes that hi-tech Israeli agriculture works, and tries to imitate it, but in Ramallah the very idea is taboo.

Psy War at Its Brightest

"The Iranian people are victims of a cruel and tyrannical regime that denies them vital water," Netanyahu stated. "Israel stands with the people of Iran, and that is why I want to help save countless Iranian lives."

He noted that "Iran's meteorological organization says that nearly 96% of Iran suffers from some level of drought" and that Iran's Environmental Minister had warned that "50 million Iranians could be forced out of their homes due to environmental damage."

"Millions of Iranian children are suffering due to mismanagement and incompetence, and the theft of vital resources by the Iranian regime."

"The Iranian regime shouts: 'Death to Israel!' In response, Israel shouts: 'Life to the Iranian people!'"

Source: Benjamin Netaniyahu.

From now, it is not Allah retaining rainfall from the dry land of the poor Iranian farmer, it is the cruel and tyrannical clerics that pretend to represent Him. Israel is willing to make it rain in abundance, it is the bad ayatollahs's fault that we are not allowed to.

Observe the Islamic Republic of Iran's Meteorological Organization map: There are almost no green points left in Iran. Of course, the map was faked by the Mossad to frighten the Ayatollahs. If not, it should have been.

The fact is that a bad climate change is coming to Iran, and if they do not wake up -  a Hassaka-like religious-revival will surprise them. 

Celebrating Fun in Tel Aviv

The annual gay parade in Tel Aviv. Are we decadent?

Argentina Decides It Belongs to the Third Shit-World

Israel was shocked and humiliated this week when Argentina decided that its futbol team, lead by the semigod Messi, will not arrive to Jerusalem to play us. The Argentinian Foreign Ministry had acceded to the Palestinian authority's diplomatic request.

On the other hand, Argentina has negotiated and received a 50 billion dollar loan facility at the International Monetary Fund. There was a run on the peso and if they had no access to finance, the speculators would have destroyed the country in a year. Everybody knows what is the meaning of the monstrous debt to the IMF: the immediate drastic reduction of public spending, unemployment and misery, deflation and sale of national resources to American and other foreign capitals. Argentina has a very long and very unhappy history of indebtedness to the IMF. No nation that accepted the IMF debt-slavery ever escaped from the shit-hole.

Improductive Week

I am feeling ill all this week. On Saturday night I drank some red wine and felt terrible. Lower back pain to the extent that barely could stand and walk. I got also a bad cold and it developed to a hard ball under the right mandible. I behaved quite stupidly and when T. did not arrive at time, I left without waiting a minute.

In fact I should be feeling well, at long last I owe no more declarations to the taxman and the family is well. I am prospering and flooded with work orders that I cannot fill. Watching the young women at the university and knowing that I am untouchable for them, makes sad and depressed.

Another Victory

The Start-Up MediaMind made Exit and pocketed millions. The partners to the triumph raise the SMALL bottle of beer. Herzl, who was a member of the dueling German student unions, wrote that the contribution of the Jews to their culture was "the SMALL glass of beer".  We maintain that tradition.

Another Jewish History Ends. The Germans Killed It.

Monsanto is/was a very old and large agricultural chemicals (toxica) and genetically modified seeds company. It is being bought by the German concern Bayer. So disappears another Jewish family's name from history. Although it could be constructed as another case of Germans vs. Jews, this is definitely NOT a story of antisemitism. It is another story is triumph of the German industry over American chemicals. Bayer never was antisemitic, during WWII when they were excluded from South America, it partnered with and made rich my Buenos Aires uncles.

Monsanto ("Holy Mountain") is a small village in the Portuguese mountains, where Spanish Jews found refuge when expelled by the Catholic Kings. “The Monsanto family was a longtime Sephardic family that fled the Inquisition. Isaac Rodriguez Monsanto eventually emigrated to America, later bringing over his brothers and sisters. The family became prosperous merchants, shippers, fur buyers, and bankers in New Orleans, despite the Code Noire. Furthermore, they practiced their Judaism openly, but some in succeeding generations abandoned their ancestral faith. In 1896 Olga Mendez Monsanto married John Francis Queeny, hard-driving chemical entrepreneur. He and his son Edgar Monsanto Queeny created the Monsanto Chemical Company. Fast forward one hundred years, and Monsanto is a large multinational corporation. 

Yet Monsanto's very name induces a range of negative reactions in the public – from disgust, to concern, to fear over its power on the food we eat. Bayer will rid itself of the Monsanto name, a chief lightning rod for environmentalists’ opposition to agricultural technology. Although few are aware of the Jewish connection of Monsanto, it is good that the name will be heard no more.