Saturday, September 20, 2025

Water Stress in China

 
From a RAND study: Arid northern China receives just 340.6 millimeters of rainfall, 70 percent less rainfall than southern China, which receives 1,146 mm each year.

At the same time, northern China supports 41 percent of the total population and has high agricultural and industrial water demands.

This is not new. RAND analysed how China's government is managing (or mismanaging) the issue, and its influence in China's foreign policy vis-à-vis the USA.

La Corrida

 There is a run on the Argentine peso (pic), forcing the Milei government to pour $1.1 billion US dollars into the local market to calm it down. In the coming days, we shall know if it worked or if Argentina is living its next default. Milei is flying to Washington for salvation. 

The panic started when Milei's party lost against the Peronists in the Province of Buenos Aires. The Peronist (Justicialista) movement was created by Evita Peron about eighty years ago.  Since then, neither a Military dictatorship nor a democratically elected government has been able to balance the national budget.  Wish the best for Argentina in this new Jewish Year. 

Friday, September 19, 2025

Worldwide excitement


The internet is frenetically excited with anti-Israeli and antisemitic attacks; the whole world is cursing Israel. According to Netanyahu, European leaders are weak and are submitting to popular/Islamic violence. He spoke of the European embargo that is being organized and the need for autarky, specifically in weapons production. 

I have some experience with embargoes. When I was in charge of planning the Herzliya Wastewater Treatment Plant, a large water infrastructure project, I found that there were no local consulting engineers with experience in the field. I invited dozens of foreign consultant companies, but that was the time of the Saudi/Arab oil embargo, and they managed a black list of companies that had contacts with Israel. No one submitted any proposal. 

The project was awarded to a local firm headed by Dr. Yair Folkman, which successfully completed it. As a result, foreign consultants were unable to secure work in Israel, while the local firm went on to plan dozens of WWTPs in Israel and several more worldwide. 

Apparently, others had similar experiences, because the bourse was not worried and continued upwards. We shall deal with the cowardly Macrons and make our own weaponry. 

 

Naqba II and Naqba III


 Palestinian Arabs follow a tragic fixed pattern and cannot learn or change. They attacked the Jews a hundred years ago, failed, and British policemen - freshly arrived from Ireland - repressed their violence. In 1947, they tried again and failed, abandoning their villages and walking to Jordan and Egypt. That defeat is called Naqba (Catastrophe). On October 7, 2023, they attacked again. We are in 2025, and once again, they are abandoning their homes and walking. They are leaving everything and escaping with their precious five cu.m. black polyethylene water tank. Their cursed pattern is so regular that Naqba III may be predicted to take place circa 2075.

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

The Aswan Dam Breach Prediction

"Prediction of breach formation through the Aswan High Dam and subsequent flooding downstream area" is a scientific study that concluded that in case of dam failure, 13,466.10 km2 will be underwater, all of it within the Nile Valley borders. About 100 million inhabitants will have to be evacuated to higher lands.

The research team ran 6 scenarios of dam failure following a rectangular breach in the rock nucleus of 10 m wide and 21 m deep. This breach rapidly enlarges, and in a few hours will reach a width of 450 meters, with the lake losing approximately 60 meters in depth. The six scenarios calculated six different climatic situations, concluding that in Scenario 6 (maximum inflow and normal lake height), all the barrages and dams downstream will fail.  

Given the enormous mass (and 11 bar pressure on the dam's internal wall), it is presumable that even a smaller breach in the rock nucleus will rapidly develop, especially in high inflow moments

The study is signed by an Egyptian team: Samir A. S. Ibrahim, El-Belasy, and Fahmy S. Abdel-Haleem
water levels of each scenario during the dam failure were obtained.
2- The maximum peak outflow of the AHD failure is 389009.69 m3/s. This was in case of overtopping
failure when, the inflow of hydrograph of year 1964/1965 was considered. The Nasser Lake contents
and water level are 162.3 BCM and 182m +MSL respectively; the assumed initial breach is 10.0 m
width, and 14.0 m depth in the rock-fill part of the AHD. The breach developed progressively in 95
hours and reached a depth of 62.11 m, and a width of 666.30 m, at level 133.89 m+ MSL.
3- Scenario (3) was chosen to be simulated by 1D2D model because it represents the maximum inflow
and normal water level of the Lake. This is considered the closest condition to reality. In the case of the
Aswan High Dam failure, major damages can be expected along the Nile Valley. The resulting flood
wave propagated down the Nile causing the failure of all other dams by overtopping. The calculated

Monday, September 15, 2025

Arab money


 Qatar says it will suspend a 150 billion Boeing aircraft purchase if US continues to support Israel's attacks on Qatar.


Saturday, September 13, 2025