Papiamento

 

Minister Plasterk lo papia cu dirigentenan di paisnan Aruba, Curaçao y Sint Maarten y cu esunnan di e municipionan particular Bonaire, Sint Eustatius y Saba riba e desaroyonan di e ultimo añanan y riba e coopracion denter di Reino. Tambe e ta bishita diferente proyecto riba e islanan.

Searching for Dutch wastewater discharge regulations (A new project!) I discovered that official documents are published in Dutch and...papiamento. Amazing. 

An Alternative Explanation of the Beirut Port Explosion

Dr. Mordechai Keidar's alternative theory:

1. There was a series of at least three explosions, each of which had a different result. The first created a gray column of smoke that remained for several minutes. The second, a column of red smoke that also remained for several minutes, while the third created a white mushroom cloud that dissipated within seconds. Therefore, there were at least three different materials stored in that warehouse.

2. Anyone familiar with how a port operates knows that the front row of warehouses, which are closest to the water, are used for short term storage. Cargo that is meant for long term storage is moved to warehouses which are further away from the water.

3. Anyone who ships sensitive cargo and does not want it to be seen, photographed or targeted by others - from the air, space or ground - tries to hide it as close as possible to the water, at the closest warehouse, and this is the warehouse which exploded.

4. Beirut seaport replaced Damascus Airport as the destination for Hezbollah to import ammunition and explosives from Iran, after Israel - according to foreign sources - attacked the warehouses at Damascus Airport several times. Therefore, what used to arrive at Damascus Airport is now brought to the seaport of Beirut by ship. The warehouses in the port of Beirut have replaced the warehouses of Damascus airport.

What probably happened on August 4 is an explosion of volatile and flammable materials which were incorrectly stored by Hizbollah for at least a day in a metal, un-airconditioned warehouse, when the temperatures are extremely high. I believe that missile-fuel fumes evaporated from a container and when they touched the hot wall or ceiling they ignited and created a chain reaction which caused the three explosions.

The pics are by Reuters and they are, in the original, numbered 1,2,3. 

Lebanese Failed State causes Beirut Port Explosion

 Gradually it is becoming discovered that 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate produced by an African explosives factory had been left forgotten in a Beirut port warehouse. How did it happen? Apparently the carrier was demanded a hundred thousand dollars for port services, did not pay and the ship was detained with its crew (pic). An incredible clusterfuck - yet easily possible in an Arab country. Eventually, this ticking bomb exploded two days ago, causing a tremendous crater and destruction. 

Nog kolonies pikkewyne in antarktika ontdek

Pikkewyne means pinguins in South African Dutch. 

Beirut Self-Destroys

All the papers say that someone forgot 2700 ton ammonium nitrate (a fertilizer) in Beirut port and that it exploted spontaneously. Bullshit. No one forgets nothing, the storage costs money and someone has to be the owner and pay the rent. In 2018 Netaniyahu spoke in the United Nations' General Assembly and pointed out Site Number One - a Hizballah weapons deposit in the Beirut port, near the water. I wonder if that was what exploded, as well as the fertilizer, producing a large crater and  a fantastic mushroom. 

UTA's Racine Lab from pure science to profitable industry

Thirty years ago I met Mr Racine from France, at the inauguration of the Racine Root Laboratory in the University of Tel Aviv. It looked more or less like the pic below. I thought then that the money could be spent better on other lab. I was wrong and shortsighted, because the pic is from a commercial medical Cannabis plantation at Tirat Yehuda moshav, proving the vision of Mr Racine and the importance of apparently useless research. I feel so stupid and small...  

Herzliya WWTP to be razed

I have a sentimental attachment to the Herzliya wastewater treatment plant which I upgraded in the 1990's. I built the settling tank and planned the sludge treatment towers and the main office bldg. When submitting the budget request, I recommended instead to connect to the Shaf-Dan system in Rishon LeZion, as the nearest pipe was only 1500 away. The Municipal Boss Eli rejected my suggestion because he did not want to be dependent from the ShafDan monopoly, notorious for blackmailing and exploiting its clients. 

Why the decision to write off the 30 million shekel invested in the plant? The reason is Herzliya is now the local Silicon Wadi and real estate is most valuable. In addition to the 1,230 homes, of which 246 will be allocated for small apartments, immediately east of the Ayalon Highway (Road 20), there will be 35,000 square meters of commercial space, as well as public buildings, a public transport terminal and a park. The housing will be in blocks 10 floors high although there will also be two residential towers of 35-floors each. There will also be a bridge over Road 20 and the railway linking the new Herzliya neighborhood to Derekh Yavne in Ramat Hasharon to the west. A whole new city 5 km off from Tel Aviv. 

The plant is built on an abandoned Arab agricultural complex. The "manor", in my times, served as a "hostel" to illegal Palestinian workers. The high tech area of Herzliya is very impressive and luxurious. Zionism has more than fulfilled Herzl's vision of a developed nation.