The send balloons by the wind, we down them.

 For the first time, Israel has deployed the "Lahav Or" laser system to the Gaza border to intercept airborne incendiary and explosive balloons that are being launched at innocent Israeli civilians by the terrorists in the Gaza Strip.  I think it is a big deal. Balloons filled with propane gas are easy to explode, I know, but this is an important advance toward the next generation of antiaircraft weapons.

Thinking about Kamala

 

I follow from afar American politics but it was Steve Sailer's note that revealed to me who is Kamala Harris, probable VicePresident and  subsequently (Biden is 77) possible President. She is a woman whose education and political career was focused on racism that is the legendary victimization of American Blacks. She perceives reality through the lenses of race relations, and it is worrying to put this limited and obsessed person in charge of a world power like the United States. And specially now, when the country finds itself in competition/war with a larger and homogeneous power, like China.  

Pic.: Kamala with her first political patron, her first step in her career. According to state records of the time, members of the committee had to be "selected from persons with experience in management of hospital services, risk management insurance or prepaid health programs, the delivery of health services, the management of county health systems, and a representative of recipients of service.”

Brown’s decision to appoint Harris raised eyebrows in political circles. “Both boards are reserved for political payback or occasionally for personal rewards for personal service,” said Brett Granlund, a former California Republican state assemblyman who worked closely with the commission while Harris was on the board. “The boards are considered plumb appointments as they require no work, no policy credentials, and are paid the equivalent of a full-time [state] senator for arriving at a one- to two-hour meeting each month.”

Granlund said the appointment seemed brazen at the time because of the relationship between Harris and Brown. “Screwing the speaker has its rewards,” he said. “Stevie Wonder could have seen through that play.”

She is not unattractive. 

The Secret Sharer

 Itzhak Suary is the de-facto leader of a complex group of Israeli enterprises, and it is buying up large businesses that are in temporary trouble because of the corona virus crisis. The group was founded in the sixties by an Israeli financier called Guttwirth, he dies without children and will. The directors, quietly, continued the management and development of the group so successfully that today it comprises many businesses. Suary is an Iraki Jew, accountant, that now "owns" de facto "half" (metaphorically speaking) of Israel. 

 

Chicago is Being Looted while I am Writing

The Chicago Police Department quietly made history when 28-year veteran Eric Carter was promoted to 1st Deputy Superintendent. Coming atop the promotion of 20-year veteran Barbara West to Deputy Superintendent in January, it now meant the department’s three highest-ranking officers were African-Americans — for the first time in CPD’s 184 years. And earlier overlooked was the history made when West became CPD’s highest-ranking African-American female officer ever. Lori Lightfoot, a Black Lesbian, is the Major. 

The Israeli papers are reporting  that 40 thousand American Jews registered for Aliyah, immigration to Israel. I do not what they are feeling, but those African mobs invading the wealthiest streets and looting the luxury items and bottles, even if there is no violence, unsettle me. I cannot understand why the political leadership is not resisting  but just moving out of the way. I am reading Naipaul's a City in the River Bend, where European are leaving Zaire (Belgian Congo). The speaker is a Muslim Indian from Zanzibar, totally apolitical. A sad story. 

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.