Remodelling: NYC vs. Ramat Gan

“We’re talking a minimum of $100,000 for [the studio we first visited], which requires a complete remodeling,” Michael Johnson, a vice president at the New York Apartment Association, explained.

The cost: $10,000 for an architect to review the plans and obtain a permit; $50,000 for kitchen and bathroom materials and labor; $20,000 for the floors and ceilings; $6,000 for appliances; $25,000 in electricians’ fees; and a miscellany of other significant fees. These figures add up to the typical $100,000–$200,000 costs of renovating a studio apartment like the one we visited. It’s the same story upstairs in the second unit."

In New York you need a CD permit to make changes in your apartment; the cost of the permit is $ 10,000 (=32,000 sheqel). In Ramar Gan, it is about the same. The process is similar but in Israel you have to receive permits of the Water Corporation and the Environmental Unit and so on. In Ramat Gan also present a map indicating distance from water boreholes. 

Drought in Tehran and ...

... and in Kabul of Afghanistan, Iraq is wilting under drought and dust storms. Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and Turkey are approaching their Zero Hour.

Tehran is sinking a foot per year. As Elisha Kaly said, there is no aquifer under a city. The aquifer dries off, and the soil is compacted, and can never again function as a water repository. Kaputt.

The famous qanats of Iran have been abandoned in favour of electric pumps. They were working well for their age, but now they cannot be rebuilt.

WWIII?

WWIII?  After Generations of Peace, Europe Tells Its People to Prepare for War

“We’ve never had a situation where a man [Putin] is threatening nuclear blackmail. That: ‘If your military starts to win, we’re rolling out the nuclear weapons’ type of thing,” said Dimon.

NVidia moves to Israel

Optimism. 

Nvidia’s plan to build a “spaceship” campus in Israel, matching the size of its Silicon Valley headquarters, is a big vote of confidence in the country’s AI industry. The new campus will be as large as Nvidia’s two main U.S. buildings and will sit on land the company fully owns—a first for them outside the U.S. It’s a clear sign to the world that Israel is emerging as a major hub for AI.

How not? Half of the world's richest people, all AI entrepreneurs, are Ashkenazi Jews. There must be something special in us. I look at us and can't see what. Perhaps it is our delusional feeling "יהיה טוב" - it will be okay.

ELBIT rising

 6.20% UP! 

Years ago, I planned the replacement of a sinking wastewater pipe at the Elbit campus. I did not find anyone "working". Boys and girls were animatedly chatting and flirting in the offices and in the cafeteria. 

Food and sex are the primary motivators for humans. The success of Elbit proves it.

Bad Luck

 I just bought ELBIT shares and watched the share price dissolve.  What is happening? 

According to investigators, defense companies paid bribes worth potentially millions of euros to win contracts through NSPA to supply products to the military alliance and 32 member states.

Documents obtained by journalists show that Elbit, one of NATO’s leading suppliers, was suspended by the NSPA on July 31. Several of the company’s existing contracts have been frozen, and the company itself has been banned from participating in new tenders. Elbit’s subsidiary Orion Advanced Systems was also suspended. (This is not true, according to Elbit).

Eliau, a 60-year-old man is suspected of bribery and participation in an organized criminal group. He has not yet been arrested and may be traveling under a false identity, according to informed sources.

The suspect is the owner or director of several defense consulting companies: Elar Systems Corp in the United States, Eral Systems UAB in Lithuania, and Arelco Europe Management Consultancies, registered in Greece.

Although there is no public information linking him to Elbit, people close to the investigation claim that he plays an important role as a consultant to the company. Elbit itself is not currently under investigation.

P.S.: This morning Elbit is rising, so the issue may not be so serious. I also spoke to someone in the sector, and he dismissed the issue as something trivial and usual in the defense business.

Belgian Model

 
Social photos of Jeffrey Epstein and his friends have been published. The tall blonde is the Belgian model Ingrid Seynhaeve, at a Victoria’s Secret party in 1997. Good teeth.