Venezuela Man-Eaters

 Venezuela sits on the largest reservoir of oil, larger than Saudi Arabia. There were a few years when the streets were full of hundred-dollar bills and needed to get out of Buenos Aires. Caracas was booming and even secretaries were so well paid that they went to breakfast in Miami. I went to the Venezuelan consulate to get a visa, but there were so many people waiting that I gave up. Then Chavez mismanaged the economy and soon there was no food, and the population went hungry. Being such a large and fertile country, that was incredible. But the fact was that Venezuela had no agriculture, they were buying all the food from the USA. These days millions of Venezuelans are walking through the Darien jungles to enter the USA. Biden agreed to receive 2 million of them. These are people that succeeded in almost dying of hunger in a real paradise. They are about 50% Indian, that is, mestizos from an especially bloody kind of natives, the Caribbean anthropophagi Yanomami (pic) and other hyper-violent Orinoco basin tribes.  Up to half of all Yanomami males die violent deaths in the constant conflict.  It would be needless to remark the ferociousness of the Spanish conquistadores and Canarian settler contribution.  

We Must be Something

 

I do not know. Anyway, he should be a great addition “My entire life is pro-Semitic,” Elon Musk said in the initial minutes of his live chat this evening with Ben Shapiro on Twitter/X.

Musk joined Shapiro, the Jewish conservative pundit and social media figure, for a discussion on “X, anti-Semitism, and the future of free speech."

He referenced the Hebrew roots of his first name, claiming it is like “being called Bob” in Israel. Musk was also metioned that he went to a Hebrew preschool, and that his father took him to Israel when he was thirteen. Several times over the course of the discussion, Musk mentioned that he has visited Israel twice.
“I don’t know if I am genetically Jewish...but I am aspirationally Jewish,” he said.

I like Chris Christie

 This New Jersey politician is competing for the second place in the Republican party. I like him not only because he is exceedingly obese, just like me. His career is based on persecuting corruption. His momma is Sicilian, that is, Ionian descendent. He must know some Sicilian expletives I used to hear in my barrio, Liniers. Ma’ va te ne a fanculo! 

Vaffanculo! 

The London Tideway Project is 90% ready

I was hosted by the project in my last visit to London. It is impressive. 

Dementia, A National Threat

 

Think about 81-year-old Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell freezing mid-speech multiple times, and the 90-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a key member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, being hospitalized and publicly exhibiting confusion and a "rapidly deteriorating” memory. Feinstein’s extended absence earlier this year delayed numerous judicial confirmations—she missed over fifty votes during her ten-week vacancy. A Pentagon-funded study released in April this year identified dementia among high-level US officials as a national security threat. RAND points out that many of the high security officers have military backgrounds with possible brain damage. RAND used to be a serious think tank. 

The prevalence of dementia among people over 65 is 10%. People (like me) are working till they die so there must be a high prevalence of the disease among senior politicians. I think Ehud Barak may be suffering dementia. He was exposed to traumatic experiences in the military, and he is at increased risk to develop dementia. The RAND report focus is on federal employees in general, but also deals with the risks associated with elderly leaders. RAND uses the same risk evaluation matrix required by firefighters in Israel for permits, a standard form I am familiar with. 

Watching the recent conservation between Bibi and President Biden, I noticed that Bibi was talking animatedly to an absent Biden. Biden slowly touched his left ear with his right hand and the dreamy movement ended by crossing himself in a way totally out of context. Maybe he heard the word Jerusalem and automatically crossed himself. He is 81 and candidate to another four years. His vice, a former ferocious attorney, is a mystery. Haris is half Iyer and half Jamaican mulatto. No children. She stands in line to be the next President or the one after.

Potash supplies - tight?

 Mosaic said global supplies of potash and phosphates are expected to remain tight “through 2023 and likely beyond” because of lower shipments from Belarus, port constraints in North America and exports from China that remain “well below” 2021 levels. Meanwhile, the company sees demand benefiting from “favorable grower economics” amid high crop prices.

“Mosaic is well-positioned to capitalize on the fertilizer market’s recovery, which is well underway,” chief executive officer Joc O’Rourke said in the statement.

Potash price fell from 800 to 300 US$/ton this year, and Belarus is channeling Russian potash exports. Experts say "Sell" - but Mosaic (pic: Mosaic's Colonsay mine) is increasing production. What is happening? Why am I so confused?

I am invested (and losing) on ICL. ICL is an Israeli company dual-listed in Tel Aviv and New York. ICL has gradually expanded into a global business since helping to establish its home country’s potash industry 80 years ago. Israel Corp, Israel’s largest holding company, owns just over 45% of the business. As the world’s sixth largest potash producer, the company is responsible for over one-third of global production of bromine, which is used in agricultural chemicals, dyestuffs, insecticides and pharmaceuticals. ICL has become one of the largest providers of specialty fertilizers, bromine and flame-retardants, and a significant supplier of pure phosphoric acid. Its operations include the Boulby mine in the UK, where the company has shifted towards exclusive production of Polysulphate, claiming to be ‘the first and only supplier of this new and unique fertilizer’.

PS: Sept.25 and ICL dropping in NASDAQ. ZIM falling 6%. This winter will be cruel. 

Israel's First Proxy Victory

 The Armenians in Azerbaijan surrendered and thus, that war ended with our ally's victory. Russia's friend lost. We supplied Azerbaijan with weapons paid with oil, and with the use of its 3 or 4 air bases left by the Soviets. Thus, in a very modest scale, we are proving that our friendship is worth a lot. Good.

Pic.