The Ayatollahs are Trembling

Leader vows harsh revenge for US assassination of Gen. Soleimani

I copy-pasted the main item of the official Iran Daily web paper. The Leader in question is so afraid that the paper does not dare to mention him by name. Good job, President Trump!  

Jewish Soldiers out in the Cold Rain

Shabbat morning and it is cold and raining in Israel. The Army is on alert because of the ajusticiamiento of the Irani general. The word in Spanish means to make justice to a criminal, execution. I remember my own soldiering times in the Northern front line, wet and freezing in the mountains, like this morning. 

Revolution coming for Central America

The corridor stretching from Southern Mexico to Panama is in its tenth year of drought. The Panama Canal, the chocking point of the world's maritime trade, is drying up and is becoming unserviceable for large vessels.  Pic. 

Millions of people in the dry corridor needed food aid due to drought between 2014 and mid-2016, which resulted in losses of the corn crop. Drought impact has been especially severe in Honduras^[ and Guatemala. 

This explains the sudden pressure of illegal migrants on America's Southern border and Trump's building the border wall. 4 million (would be) climate change migrants from Central America and Mexico are projected according to a World Bank report. The misery will cause serious political disturbances. 

Paranoia

I bought a disk-on-key and paid with a credit card. Ten minutes later appeared on my computer monitor an ad for a disk-on-key, the first time ever. This thing happens all the time. Conclusion: "They" have access to my credit card account, or the seller's computer/printer, and want to sell me a disk-on-key. If so, why are they offering me after I already bought one? I welcome surveillance when they offer me things I may need. No one "out there" ever hurt me but the idea that they are watching and studying me all the time is unsettling. 

Israel: Silent Member of Regional Alliance

The vision of Israel integrated into the regional political structure is becoming a reality. Shimon Peres and many others thought that water supply would be the vehicle leading to this situation, but now we are watching natural gas causing this integration. 

Yesterday, Egypt condemned in the “strongest terms” the Turkish parliament’s decision to authorize the government to deploy troops to Libya. "Such interference will negatively affect stability in the Mediterranean, and Turkey will fully bear this responsibility.” Any Turkish military “interference in Libya threatens Arab national security, in general, and Egyptian national security, in particular,” the statement said. Israel has not been mentioned, but we are implied in Egypt's statement. 

Now I want to hear from Italy that we are its Eastern Mediterranean ally.  Italy is not a martial power like France, but it is part of Europe. All in all, the geopolitical situation of Israel is slowly improving. 

Tension between Hellas and Ionia

The geopolitics of the Antiquity has a way of not going away. Israel (Judea) and Greece (Hellas) and Italy (Rome) are coalescing in a block to build a long submarine pipe line to sell gas to Europe.  The Ionian settlements on the Asian seaboard, once Persian satrapies and now Turkey, aspire to become the energy hub of the region and want to control the sea. The conflicting projects caused Turkey to ally with the GNA faction in Lybia and to send a  military expedition to sustain the alliance. The GNA is in danger of being defeated by the forces of General Khalifa Haftar. In the pic Fuat Aktay pasha, a high officer in the court of Sultan Erdogan. No natural light, everything dark brown, a 19th Century desktop penholder with its ink bottle and a large official stamp holder. On the wall, a classic 150 years old print of Ataturk. Behind, an ornate mahogany cabinet with gilded bronze mounts and handles. The office suggests a man living in the 18th Century. 

The (non-Racist) Elephant Dung Gin from South Africa

The Economist reports that there is new gin in the market in South Africa, at 45 dollars a bottle, distilled with or from pure, natural, organic, non-GMO elephant dung. The gin has a je ne sais quoi reminding one of ... elephant dung or the smell of the veldt; this gin embodies the spirit of Africa. The Economist, always topical, comments that even Africans can now enjoy the new gin (if they have money) because, under the apartheid regime, they were unfree to get drunk on White alcoholic delicacies and had to do with inferior stuff. I doubt Africans with 45 dollars in the hand were refused a bottle of gin, and anyway, what is the point of mentioning that in a note about elephant dung gin?