Municipal Solid Waste Recycling

There is a town in South America that disposes its waste into a river. I am preparing a consultancy mission and I am starting to collect materials. The gully down there is called La Cristalina. And yes, the animals feeding on the fresh waste are pigs.

...El daño ambiental que causa por los lixiviados que fluyen directamente a la quebrada La Cristalina, colocando en riesgo la salud de miles de personas. Los basureros tenían desde hace siete años la orden de cierre, fecha desde la cual los mandatarios locales nada hicieron para implementar un plan de manejo de esos lugares; razón por la cual la Corporación procedió de acuerdo a las disposiciones legales a la clausura de esos focos de contaminación. Ahora será responsabilidad de los alcaldes de los dos municipios evitar que a los basureros se sigan llevando desechos y buscar de la manera más pronta un sitio de disposición final que cumpla con los requisitos técnicos ambientales....

New Bio and Agri Start Up Fund

A new agritech fund, the Central Arava Fund, established with Australian investors, will begin operating in April 2008. The new fund aims to establish agrotech and agrobiotech companies in the Arava in the Negev. The Fund expects to raise an initial $5-8 million, and raise an additional $40 million in the second stage. The Central Arava Fund plans to invest up to $500,000 in each venture over a period of 3-4 years. The fund is seeking entrepreneurs with products for export. Like other funds aims to sell the ventures after the investment and improvement; in other words, it will seek strategic investors or to float the ventures 5-8 years after the initial investment in them.

Central Arava Fund's managers will be Eliezer Manor (pic) and Gil Lissai. Manor, a physicist, is a veteran venture capitalist, with a strong background of both Physics and Investment. He has founded numerous hi-tech or hi-growth companies in medical, chemical and electronic industries, such as IST Engineering, Alutech and so on.and founder of the Israel Venture Association. Lissai has experience in agriculture. He has worked with farms in both the Arava and in other countries and advised high-tech ventures and exporters.

NYSE Very Resilient

It was a difficult year, with constant fear of recession, crash and whatnot in the market. Subprime paper losses almost decapitalized many important American banks. But from a market perspective, it is not an exaggeration to say that the U.S. equity market has done amazingly well. In an environment of vicious decline in the housing market, the spread of the credit market crisis, rising oil prices, weakening consumer confidence and intensifying recessionary fears, the market added about 7%. Even discounting inflationary gains, the American market was solid like a rock.

The Case of the Noxious Turkey Emissions

I have been asked to give expert witness opinion in a dispute over a turkey farm's odor emissions. I am doing it for the expenses, because I like the subject and it is a poor farming family being attacked by a rich Intel executive. Intel has a fab in Kyriat Gat and has attracted middle class families with good pay. These people has built nice one-home houses with large gardens in the surrounding agricultural villages, and discovered, to their surprise, that nature and agriculture smells. So they are intent on killing the turkey business of a nearby village, starting with Mr Shookree.

Truth be said, the turkeys in their masses do smell of turkeys. On the basis of my large experience with similar situations when I managed Kever Benjamin's regional wastewater treatment plant, which was also accused of poisoning the lives of its middle class neighbors, the best policy is of dialogue and never confrontation. Unfortunately these Shukry people are so certain of their right, having invested 50 years in their farm in what was a desert, that they followed the litigation way. I told them to change their ways, and do small things all the time to improve the situation, till the city folk's delicate noses get used to their new next-door neighbors, thousand beautiful white turkeys. They are very sweet, friendly, curious, chattering birds, and have good meat on them to eat too.

As Predicted: Stachy Outbreak in Coalinga

NYT reports a general outbreak of valley fever in the Coaling Prison. I wrote a note on it a month ago, I predicted it would be a very serious problem, and that soon it will be in Beer Sheba. the first part is now.

In the past three years, more than 900 inmates at the prison have contracted the fever, a fungal infection that has been both widespread and lethal. At least a dozen inmates in Central California have died from the disease, which is on the rise in other Western states, including Arizona, where the health department declared an epidemic after more than 5,500 cases were reported in 2006, including 33 deaths. Endemic to parts of the Southwest, valley fever has been reported in recent years in a widening belt from South Texas to Northern California. The disease has infected archaeologists digging at the Dinosaur National Monument in Utah and dogs that have inhaled the spores while sniffing for illegal drugs along the Mexican border. In most cases, the infection starts in the lungs and is usually handled by the body without permanent damage. But serious complications can arise, including meningitis; and, at Pleasant Valley, the scope of the outbreak has left some inmates permanently disabled, confined to wheelchairs and interned in expensive long-term hospital stays. About 80 prison employees have also contracted the fever, Pleasant Valley officials say, including a corrections officer who died of the disease in 2005. What makes the disease all the more troubling is that its cause is literally underfoot: the spores that cause the infection reside in the region’s soil. When that soil is disturbed, something that happens regularly where houses are being built, crops are being sown and a steady wind churns, those spores are inhaled. The spores can also be kicked up by mother nature including earthquakes and dust storms.

Sacred Prostitution

Can the universal practice of sacred temple prostitution undestood in the light of evolutionary biology? History books, starting with Herodotus, attest the practice of women offering themselves in Babylonia's temples. How can this be? In current Babylonia aka Iraq, women are hidden in harems and their access sealed by ferocious social norms. Current norms do make sense from the evolutionary sense, Herodotus' histories do not.

Temple prostitution is reasonable since (1) about half of the prostitutes were male ("kadoshim", holy men, in the Bible), and (2) the women offering themselves were infertile and desired (I am sure, desperately) a child, in a socially - religiously approved manner, so their children will not be stigmatized as bastards. In fact, the children conceived this way were called "Children of God" and the sacred prostitutes were called "Virgins". A few generations ago, in rural Europe, there were annual religious rituals that gave opportunity to young men to be alone and have sex with childless women. Yerma ("Barren"), by Federico Garcia Lorca, tells the tragedy of a childless woman in rural Spain and includes a scene of an ancient fertility ritual where women pilgrims climb a mountain towards a high sanctuary, while young men are awaiting them hidden in their way.

It is quite possible in my opinion that the whole virgin birth of Jesus concept as well as his being son of God, are misunderstanding of what was basically a Judean extreme right wing nationalist movement, whose figures (a rabbi preaching about sacred Jewish texts in a synagogue) and motives (purification of the religion, liberation from foreign rule) must have been totally incomprehensible to the peoples of the multinational Roman Empire. (I wonder if real people believed in God really coming down and having intercourse with women in the temple. The answer is multiple: (1) most of the people did believe, since they believe in Jesus, (2) there were not the same people as we are today, they were like Kung! people just starting to adapt to settled village life, (3) the priest performed for an absent God, (4) for the thinking class, it relaxed social stress, the role of religion everywhere). Christianity was a change of phase in history, erasing all former regional cults in an unified, more or less coherent, universal theology. In the process, lost its specific Jewish character and acquired much from the Eastern mythologies. Among them, the mystery of virgin birth. And the figure of Mary Magdalene, interpreted as a sacred whore, maybe Jesus's wife. The pic shows Mary Magdalene by Titian.

Literature in Ecuador

The problem is the lack of buyers and readers of books. In all Ecuador, a country of 10 million, the reading universe consists of less than 5,000 people. A few local writers publish in vanity press but there are few buyers. 3,000 years ago there was more literature in Greece than in Ecuador today.

El público lector es reacio a la literatura ecuatoriana, o cuando menos indiferente. Édgar Freire Rubio, librero quiteño, ironiza: “¿Sabe usted que hay muy pocas editoriales y que casi todas se han convertido en imprentas?”. Ramiro Arias, director de eskeletra, persiste en creer que la solución está en la formación. “Aún no tenemos un mercado sólido de lectores adultos que consuman literatura ecuatoriana.” Xavier Michelena, director de Paradiso Editores, es quizá el menos pesimista. “Sin duda hay un camino que hemos recorrido y del universo de lectores -acaso lleguen a unos 5 000 en todo el país- una parte empieza a confiar en los libros ecuatorianos”.

Israel Chemicals: 30% Expected

Israel Chemicals is our local Potash (POT). Goldman Sachs analyst Edlain Rodriguez said Potash will be able to raise prices because of strong demand and tight supply. "Despite the strong run-up in the stock, we believe there is further upside potential, based on the constant upward earnings revisions that will likely continue in the near-term because of Potash's ability to raise prices due to strong demand and tight supply," Rodriguez wrote in a client note. Rodriguez's new price target is $180, from $122 previously, which implies upside of 25.5 percent to Wednesday's $143.41 closing price. I believe he is right.

Union Bank: Still an Investment Opportunity?

Two years ago I had identified Bank Igud (Union Bank) as an Investment Opportunity, because it was one of the last banks not to be sold to foreign financial bodies looking to enter the Israeli market. It was also a special situation, owned by two groups who were in permanent conflict, which had paralyzed the bank for years. Later I sold the share with a large loss, because the months passed and nothing happened. Now, Shlomo Eliahu, the largest shareholder in Union Bank of Israel (TASE: UNON), has officially put the stake up for sale. He has given Adv. Ram Caspi power of attorney to sell the stake at a value of 130% on the equity. Union Bank is Israel's sixth largest bank. Eliahu owns 27.12% of Union Bank, worth about NIS 300 million. The bank is currently traded at a multiple of 0.72, which means that Eliahu is asking for an 80% premium on the bank's market cap. The asking price reflects a company value of NIS 2 billion for the bank. Eliahu has wanted to sell Union Bank for a long time in order to participate in the controlling core of Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) without any problems of cross ownership. For the same reason, he sold his stake in Israel Phoenix Assurance Ltd. (TASE: PHOE1;PHOE5) to Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG), controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva.

Cats in King Olav's Theater

Ten years after its Broadway production, Cats finally arrived in our neighborhood. The whole family went to a decaying theater named after the Norwegian King Olav. I sat in the first row and enjoyed the painted fat-assed girls and boys singing and jumping around. Wife analysed the deep philosophical message of the show.

Something is happening

...but just now I am unable to focus and think hard on it. Gary writes:

Notwithstanding historical individual investor pessimism, corporate insiders continue to buy their own stocks hand over fist.

This is a very significant bit of information, possibly predicting a strong bull market. My own portfolio has been reshuffled in anticipation of the year 2008, so I have little interest in the going ons of the market and do not want to make the effort of thinking. Gary, with his unrelenting, robotic methodology, cannot but win. Would like to imitate him, but cannot. Lately he has been providing a daily selection of stocks that are likely to go up and another group likely to sink. I assume it is for hedging in Wall Street. Someone should evaluate if he is right and money could be made following his suggestions.

Building Permit - Another Signature Required (that of Olmert)

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he will change the procedure for awarding building permits in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, in order to avoid international crises such as the one that occurred this week. The recent crisis broke out following the publication of a tender for the construction of 307 new homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa.

The prime minister met with Housing Minister Ze'ev Boim this week and the subject reportedly came up during their conversation. Sources in the Prime Minister's Office said that Israel wanted any construction within Jerusalem or the West Bank to be based on rational political considerations, and not bureaucratic decisions that could lead to international condemnation. Olmert said he wanted to be involved in any building expansion plan in order to ensure that it does not contradict Israel's Road Map understandings reached with United States' President George Bush. The sources announced their intention to "approve building only if we see that it does not detriment chances of reaching an agreement with the Palestinians.

Bottom Line: It is becoming nearly impossible to obtain a permit for anything.

Another Plainload of new Israelis

342% in five years

It is not me that am a clever investor, it is that my boat is being pushed by good winds. During 2007, not that it's quite ended yet, the TA-25 index of blue chips rose 32%, and the TA-100 index gained 25%. In the space of (nearly) five years, from 2003 to 2007, Tel Aviv stocks have strongly outperformed the developing markets, rising no less than 342%. Huge amounts were raised by corporate Israel from investors, as the stock and bond markets became an alternative venue to the banks for fundraising. During 2007, there were around 500 offerings on the TASE, an average of about two a day. The companies raised a combined NIS 100 billion, yes billion, from shares and bonds. Divide that figure by the number of days and we find, roughly speaking, that corporate Israel raised about NIS 300 million a day in 2007. 1 US$ = 3.9 shekel.

And Uzziyahu Built Towers in Jerusalem...

The Sephardi businessman (the formless man with the kippa, behind the architectrix with the drawing) decided to add a third floor, making it now a large commercial building. The added floor will house offices, so there is little need for water and sewage pipes - maybe. In a calculated way, he is adding small changes each time, in the classic salami method, possibly to avoid me (and others) asking for a larger fee. I shall have to check my contract if it specifies two floors, if so, I may be able to demand a higher fee.

The building is advancing very fast. He has fifty Palestinians working around, gross wood planks are flying and iron rods are hammered with brutality, the concrete is very bad quality, and there is no finish. But the first floor is already lined with "Jerusalem stone" facing and starting to look nice. The Sephardi may be planning opening a shop on the street level while the other floors are being built. Now I see how large is this building, this small-time basta owner in the market is in his way of becoming very wealthy. The shopping center is near the Jerusalem - Ramallah road crossing, and the people from Adam, Ali, Bethel and other villages are coming to shop in the place. I can see that this project will be very successful. On the way to Jerusalem had to pass a border police check-point in an opening of the wall, "manned" by bored Ethiopian girl-soldiers with painted blond hair.

Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus

In my way to my projects, I have to pass near the largest Palestine refugee camp called Balata. The camp was established by the UNRRA in 1950 and each family received a tent. Later, UNRRA in its infinite wisdom built cement cubicles instead of the tents, creating an impenetrable jungle of cement. Numerous international NGO groups work in Balata. While desperately searching for anything, but anything, that is unrelated to work, I found on the net an English couple's site with pics of their Balata volunteer tour. Their project uses music to help children with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) to better handle their emotions. The British are nice people, more so today that British Airways started a campaign to increase tourism to Israel, but I would like it better if they also come to help the much traumatized children of Sderot.

The Lemonade Factory

Once a client, always a client. The lemonade factory invited me again and help them with some water problem. During the last year he changed the team (from angry platinum blond Russians to friendly Ethiopians), bought new equipment, improved the formula to a less yellow liquid that includes some real frozen lemon, and following my advice, bought two filters: the first one is fine mesh filter and the second one, activated coal filter. He is still not eliminating the hardness from the water. The product is too sweet for my taste.

Vicious Gazelles

My wastewater reuse project in the Shomron (Samaria) has encountered a pityless, unrelenting, ferocious enemy: savage, feral, wild gazelles. They devored the eucalyptus trees we had planted and irrigated so carefully. At first, we thought of the habitual suspects, Palestinian goats, but it appears that the terrorists are wild herbivores that roam the Shomron and will not hesitate to harm the Zionist enterprise in its historical homeland. Those were expensive, genetically engineered, industrial wood eucalyptus trees, a very promising economic project. Now we have to think of an electric fence, to keep wildlife out of our plantation. On the pic we see (maybe) ancient (2500 years old) stone terraces and a carob tree whose life was pardoned by the agriculturalist. The lower pic show the ampliation of the industrial area. The plans call for hundreds of new factories in the site, even if the existing plants are suffering from severe lack of manpower.

Feliz Navidad !

Pope Benedict XVI is a force for good. Merry Christmas to all!

Government Sewer Standards

I'll pass on some sewer plumbing ("sanitary engineering") tips I was taught:

-Sewage flows downhill
-If you need it to flow uphill, provide a pumping station
-Never lick your fingers at the job site
-It may be s*** to you, but it's bread and butter to me

And you might want to know a little about pipes, very critical to plumbing; here are some typical government specs

Government purchasing specifications

1. All pipe is to be made of a long hole, surrounded by metal or plastic centered around the hole.
2. All pipe is to be hollow throughout the entire length - do not use holes of different length than the pipe.
3. The I.D. (inside diameter) of all pipe must not exceed the O.D. (outside diameter) - otherwise the hole will be on the outside.
4. All pipe is to be supplied with nothing in the hole so that water, steam or other stuff can be put inside at a later date.
5. All pipe should be supplied without rust - this can be more readily applied at the job site. N.B. Some Vendors are now able to supply pre-rusted pipe. If available in your area, this product is recommended as it will save a lot of time on the job site.
6. All pipe over 500ft (153m) in length should have the words "long pipe" clearly painted on each end, so the Contractor will know it is a long pipe.
7. Pipe over 2 miles (3.2km) in length must have the words "long pipe" painted in the middle, so the Contractor will not have to walk the entire length of the pipe to determine whether or not it is a long pipe.
8. All pipe over 6" (152mm) in diameter must have the words "large pipe" painted on it, so the Contractor will not mistake it for small pipe.
9. All pipe fittings are to be made of the same stuff as the pipe.
10. No fittings are to be put on pipe unless specified. If you do so, straight pipe will become crooked pipe.
11. Flanges must be used on all pipe. Flanges must have holes for bolts quite separate from the big hole in the middle.
12. When ordering 90 degrees, 45 degrees or 30 degrees elbow, be sure to specify right hand or left hand; otherwise you will end up going the wrong way.
13. Be sure to specify to your vendor whether you want level, uphill or downhill pipe. If you use downhill pipe for going uphill, the water will flow the wrong way. 14. All couplings should have either right hand or left hand thread, but do not mix the threads - otherwise, as the coupling is being screwed on one pipe, it is unscrewed from the other.

New Jerusalem on the Massachussetts Bay

Prof. Kevin MacDonald thinks the Puritans on the Massachussetts Bay established a proto-state with worldchanging potential, and I tend to agree with him. Unfortunately, I am unfamiliar with early American history, but he blames its dissolution to the loss of political sovereignity and inferior-blooded immigration (surprisingly, not of Jews, Africans or Mexicans, but of garden variety British people). The pic is Richard Mather, a chief Puritan leader. MacDonald writes:

East Anglian Puritans "became the breeding stock for Americas Yankee population" and "multiplied at a rapid rate, doubling every generation for two centuries. Their numbers increased to 100,000 by 1700, to at least one million by 1800, six million by 1900, and more than sixteen million by 1988—all descended from 21,000 English emigrants who came to Massachusetts in the period from 1629 to 1640". The Puritan founders arrived with their families. Most were middle-class or above, but only a few were true aristocrats. Even fewer were poor: "Less than five percent were identified as laborers" and "nearly three-quarters of Massachusetts immigrants paid their own passage—no small sum in 1630". The leading Puritan families of East Anglia "intermarried with such frequency" that one historian dubbed them "a prosopograher's dream". Another indication of high-investment parenting strategy characteristic of the Puritans is that education was prized. Puritans also distinguished themselves by their strong support of public libraries and public schools. Massachusetts law required every town of 50 families to hire a schoolmaster, and every town of 100 to maintain a grammar school that taught Latin and Greek. East Anglia has the highest average intelligence in Britain and "a larger proportion of scholars, scientists, and artists came from East Anglia than from any other part of England". The very success of the Puritan enterprise—its size, its wealth, and its control over a large area of land comprising the Massachusetts Bay Company—made it the target of the British colonialists seeking to control their possessions and a goal for immigrants seeking economic advantage. But in the absence of control over their own territory, the group strategy quickly unraveled. The Puritans lost the abilities to govern their territory, control the behavior of its inhabitants, and control immigration. And in the absence of these prerogatives, the Puritans gradually ceased being a well-defined group strategy. Without control of a specific territory, the Puritans succumbed to their own individualistic tendencies and those of the surrounding culture.

One wonders what might have happened if the British colonial authorities had allowed the colony complete sovereignty and if it had ultimately become a nation-state. Such a state, based on a clearly articulated exclusivist group strategy, might have been extremely successful. Composed of a highly intelligent, educated, and industrious citizenry, and with a proneness to high fertility and strong controls promoting high-investment parenting, it might have become a world power. The demise of Puritanism is likely a major event in the history of European peoples.

Bronfman Counter-Attacks

Globes, that yellow fishwrap, wites: IKEA Israel has launched a media counteroffensive against the court's cancelling its planned purchase of land in Rishon LeZion for a second store. The company today accused "a powerful businessman" with real estate interests in the city of being behind the lawsuit against the company. At today's press conference, Ikea Israel chairman Ron Hadassi said, "It is obvious that 163 small businessmen in downtown Rishon LeZion cannot be responsible, because what do they have against Ikea? Heavy-hitting lawyers submitted a list of petitioners, and it is still not clear who has the deep pockets to finance them, but it's obviously special interests."

"The opposition costs a fortune, which somebody is financing because no one can claim that small businessmen have the wherewithal to do so. Someone with very important interests is driving the opposition in exchange for which he is paying a lot of money. Apparently, development of the lot with an IKEA store is greatly perturbing him about his business. If this individual would appear openly in person, then it would be possible to identify his commercial interests, which run contrary to what by the vast majority of Rishon LeZion's residents say they want."

Are you implying that a person with real estate interests for the sale lot or in the same city is involved?

Gabay: "In the same city."

Who is it?

"I think I know, but I cannot say. I have no proof. I expect the media to find out."

Why do you think that this is the case?

"There are signs."

The pic is a US Navy Seals Mad Max type vehicle. Actually exists.

Viento en Popa

Very good day at TASE. Orckit's loss was made up with BAZAN and Israel Corporation earnings.

Out of Orckit, Into Israel Corporation

Took the decision and executed it: Sold all my holdings of Orckit Communications at 30% loss and bought Israel Corporation stock. Orckit has not sold an equipment for two years, a month ago there was an article in Globes that one of its sales executives travelled to the US to sign a contract with Global Crossings, it was a false alarm or a planted article. The graph of the last three years reflects the investors's gradual loss of hope, with a sudden rise and fall a month ago caused by Globes's pumping of the stock, and its current decline. Last week Global Crossing took the decision to buy its equipment from a French start up. Asked for advice on Yahoo's Orckit Board and received it from Ixthus.

We have no idea about the size of the Global Crossing project in the US. You may be correct that this award to Ekinops precludes Orckit, but if this is a large project I would disagree with you that Orckit is 100% out of the picture. I will offer you British Telecom's huge buildout called 21CN as an example of what I am talking about. They will use both Fujitsu and Huawei for their Multiservice Access Nodes. They will also use both Adva and Ciena for their aggregation boxes. In fact in just about every area of their new 21CN network they have chosen multiple vendors. Korea Telecom is preparing to build a similar next generation network and are following British Telecom's lead.
Orckit's CEO said on the last Conference Call that we should not expect any major announcements before the end of the year. If they got this order from Global Crossing I would have thought they would have announced it by now, especially since Ekinops made their announcement. Even if the opportunity with Global Crossing is forever gone, Orckit may still have other irons in the fire. I am personally no longer invested in Orckit. I was very disillusioned with the Globes report. It strikes me that there are individuals purposely pumping the stock through the media. The Conference Call was also quite disappointing.

His posting was decisive for me. He seems to know Orckit's business in depth and he is not holding the stock. The stock is in free fall in Tel Aviv, that was enough for me and sold with a large loss. Bought Israel Corporation, which is in the bulk carrier business (ZIM). Now I hope that Orckit does not appear with a sudden announcement that they won a contract, that would make my decision a sad mistake.

The Shomronim (Samaritans)

The Samaritans were "re-discovered" by American pilgrims. The Samaritans, like the last Kaifeng Jews, sold their sacred scrolls to the Americans. However, the Samaritans survived to our days, and are reviving. William E. Barton DD left an interesting description of the Samaritan Passover in the last century.

Some institutions and customs of the Jewish people are now best to be observed in that small and once depised sect, the Samaritans. They cling to their ancient mountain, and there worship God according to primitive custom. The Passover of the Jews had been extensively modified even in the time of Jesus. Our Lord and his disciples did not eat with shoes bound on their feet, nor standing, nor with staves in their hands. They did not hastily depart when supper was over, nor burn what was left from the paschal feast. They ate reclining, and at leisure; their shoes were removed, and their feet were washed, as at the ending, not the beginning of a journey. They sat for a long time after the meal was ended, and had bread left with which to celebrate the Lord's Supper. In short, the details provided for in Exodus xii. 11 were ignored.

Burton goes on to describe the sacrifice of the lambs, how they were cleaned and roasted. The right foreleg of each sheep was removed and placed on a separate pole, as the priests' portion. During this whole time the shouting continued, "There is but one God." About an hour before sunset the men and boys assembled again, with shoes on their feet, and staves in their hands. Their loins were girded, and their preparations for the ceremonial journey were complete. There were 87 men and boys at this service. All the boys over 4 years of age were present, and apparently every man except Shafek, the eldest son of the High Priest, who was ill. Just before sunset they all shouted, "Jehovah passed over the Children of Israel and smote the Egyptians!" Then they bowed their heads and worshiped as the sun went down. Ten minutes after sunset they all stood up, with shoes on feet and staves in hand, and began to eat the meat, watching lest some Muslim steal a bone, and throwing every bone into the fire without breaking it. Portions were put aside for the wives of the men; and in time all adjourned to their tents to finish the meal with their families. A very few of the men sat down during the latter part of the meal, but most stood up throughout. Ten of the women were mentruous, and were not permitted to eat the Passover. They were in one tent and were very unhappy and weeping. The pic is by Jameel from the Muqata. There, but the Grace of God, go we.

Sea Change in the Investment Universe

On Wall Street, the last five years were dominated by the phenomenal success of market neutral strategies. After the 2007 collapse, long strategies are coming back, favouring growth stocks. This is Gary's insight and he is right. I cannot but admire Gary, who day by day sticks with his methodology, focused and concentrated. I get bored and distracted very easily, am unable to carry out long term projects, and that's why I have am fascinated by persons like Gary, who always win while I always lose. We are approaching the end of the year, a good time to take the decision to change, but of course at my advanced age that means nothing. Anyway, I benefit from Gary's consistence, and I am doing not bad on the market. Thanks, Gary.

Israeli Cleantech

Out there in the blogosphere, there is a blogger dedicated to promote Israeli cleantech enterprises. He has gathered an impressive list of cleantech related enterprises:

AquaPure Technologies (water)
AqWise (water)
Atlantium (water)
BioPetroClean (purification)
Blue I Technologies (water)
BPT Bio-Pure Technology (water)
CheckLight (water)
Chromagen (solar)
EER (waste management)
Genova (biomass)
IDE Technologies (desalination)
IQWind (wind)
Levgum (rubber recycling)
Lextran (air pollution reducer)
Medis Technologies (fuel cells)
Mekorot (water)
Metrolight (energy efficiency)
Netafim (drip irrigation)
Ormat Technologies (geothermal)
Phoebus Energy (energy efficiency)
Power Electronics (energy efficiency)
Project Better Place (electric car)
Pythagoras Solar
REN Waste (waste management)
Solel Solar Systems (solar)
Techtium (battery management)
TGE Tech (waste management)
WaterSheer (water)

Israeli VCs

Oasis Investment Fund
Precede Technologies
Links List / Israeli VCs
Evergreen Venture Partners
Giza Venture Capital
Gemini Israel Funds
Pitango Venture Capital
Genesis Partners
Israel Cleantech Ventures
Terra Venture Partners
Gaon Agro
Star Ventures
Tamir Fishman Ventures
Shrem, Fudim, Kelder & Co.
Canaan Partners
Sequoia Capital Israel
Greylock Israel
Benchmark Capital
Opus Capital
Elron
BHCO Cleantech
NRVision Ventures

Israeli Incubators

Yishum Tech Transfer (Hebrew U.)
Rotem Cleantech Innovation Ctr.
ATI (Ashkelon)
Katamon Program (Technion)
BG Negev Technologies
TEIC / Technion Incubator
GreenTech / Mofet B'Yehuda
Kinarot Jordan Valley Tech.
Maayan Ventures

Israeli VC Blogs

Michael Eisenberg / Benchmark
Rami Beracha / Pitango
Jacob Ner-David / Jer. Capital
Eze Vidra / VC Cafe
Yaron Galai
Sagi Rubin / Gemini
Tali Aben / Gemini
Ed Mlavsky / Gemini
Ouriel Ohayon / Gemini
Daniel Cohen / Gemini
Shai Agassi / Project Better Place
Giza VC Blog

Other Cleantech Resources

Always On
GreenTechMedia
Energy Crossroads (Stanford)

Avrum Burg Not Crazy

Avrum Burg is the son of one of the founders of Israeli political establishment, a successful politician himself that chaired the Knesset and the Jewish Agency. After he lost the elections to the Labor Party, he turned to business and failed. Then had a vision and became anti-Zionist and anti-Israeli, took up the French citizenship and wrote a book defaming Israel. In an interview, after accusing us of losing our moral compass and so on, he was asked if Israel bears the responsibility for a suicide bomber blowing himself up in Cafe Hillel and a woman terrorist blowing herself up in Maxim Restaurant in Haifa?

"I go to Cafe Hillel with my family. I visit the owners of Maxim restaurant every New Year's. So when a suicide bomber blows himself up in places like that, he is out to kill me, too. He doesn't distinguish between good and bad; when he blows himself up he is attacking all of us. It's clear to me that from the moment a terrorist straps on an explosives belt it is my duty to kill him. At this late moment he is the person whom you must kill before he kills you."

The man is an apostate, but not crazy. I declare him capable of standing trial.

Blade Runner Rehabilitated

I saw Blade Runner 25 years ago and is my favorite film. Now it is reviving and rehabilitated as a masterpiece. Slate even writes a note on it.

The replicants are godly; beautiful, amoral, utterly without pity. The humans, meanwhile, are portraits of sallow, creepy-crawly compromise: emotionally stunted, cynical, two-faced. "More human than human," crowed the corporation that designed the replicants. The film pushes the unintended irony of the slogan to its maximum conclusion. Replicants love and die with auroral intensity; we humans are the walking dead. The replicants, who are on a mission to extend their four year life span, display a stronger sense of community than the human beings on earth. With his three partners now destroyed by explosive bullets, the silver-blonde replicant Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) succeeds in finding his way to Dr Elron Tyrell himself, the master of the Tyrell Corporation and the genetic engineering genius who actually designed him. At first, he is penitent ("I've done...questionable things...") and inquisitive ("I want more life, father"), reflecting the almost childish nature of him, yet this is contrasted with his superior intellect. When it becomes clear that Tyrell will not, or cannot, help him, he expresses one of the strongest showings of emotion in the movie by kissing, then crushing the head of his creator."

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe, says Batty, clutching a white dove to his naked breast. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.

The story is untidy, full of contradictory details. The unicorn scene, where Deckard's minder leaves an origami unicorn to him to discover (Deckard had recurrent visions of a white unicorn, an implanted memory), is an indirect way to say that Deckard too is a replicant. "Arent we all?" The story is very unclear (or deep?). A masterpiece.

Gilad Ardan: Israel Needs Green Building

I am long interested in water reuse in residential and business building, but the concept is not advancing in Israel. Now, in a meeting in the Knesset, the Head of the Economy Committee Gilad Ardan announced that future shortages of electricity demand that Israel adopt the "green building" concept. Dr Nitzan Eyal, in charge of Environment in the Standards Institute, said that already they have is "Green Standard", but its adoption is voluntary and unsubsidized. Kever Benjamin's new neighborhood is being erected following this standard, as will the new military city planned for Beer Sheva. The head of the Committee for Green Building, Architect Rafi Reis, criticized the Standard, which is too permissive for his taste. The Architect Michal Naor-Vernik, from the Ministry of Construction, said that bureaucratic rivalries obstaculize the application of green standards. The Ministry of Finance who has the final word in all issues, said that they are not ready to think of subsidizing anything till a clear consensus is reached.

Bottom line: Nada. Palabras.

Matthew Bronfman Loses 100 million $ (Hope Not)

Even it the papers say so. I would be very unhappy if this story ends Bronfman hurt. But the case is educational. Here comes a very rich American Jew (pic with wife Stacey) and invests billions in this country, and a swarm of despicable types attack him. The case also damages Meir Nitzan, the Major of Rishon LeZion, a straight man dedicated body and soul to the advancement of his town. I happen to know Meir Nitzan, he is building a large industrial area south of Rishon, and succeeded in attracting IKEA Israel (owned by Matthew Bronfman) to erect its largest outlet in it. The permitting process was duly initiated but Bronfman did not wait for the final permit (Tofes 4) to start building but invested about 100 million dollars in the site. No entrepreneur can wait the permitting process to be completed, because takes up to ten years. Normally they start building and operating the business and when a Ministry or other actually sues them, they contract professionals like me to complete the permitting process. Truth is we Israelis are like that, we dont move a finger till we are under the hanging tree and realize that it is real and we have no choice. But in this case, local furniture shops sued to stop IKEA's project, they feared it will ruin them. Once there was a public conflict, "citizens for a honest government" activists took an interest in it, smelling an opportunity to make capital of Mr Bronfman, a nice man stigmatized as oligarch intent on destroying small businesses, and Major Meir Nitzan, a politician eternal in his office. They found out that IKEA had maintained meetings with the Major before the tender, and reached agreements which were fully documented on signed memorandum, which are not illegal but do cast a shade on the purity and transparency of a public tender process. No corruption is involved and all can be easily understood. No businessman will invest 100 million dollars without talking first with the authority in charge, and no Major cannot attract investors without talking to them. HaAretz writes:

Judge Nurit Ahituv nullified the tender, citing irregularities in the bidding process. Her ruling followed a lawsuit filed by local businesses, residents and environmental groups against the Israel Lands Administration and the Rishon Letzion municipality, arguing that the leasing tenders covering land in southwest Rishon Letzion were unlawful.

The idea of building a second giant IKEA branch ensued from the extraordinary success of the first outlet, which is just off the main coastal highway in Netanya. But the choice of the site in Rishon Letzion set off a flurry of complaints by local businessman and environmental organizations, the former on the grounds that IKEA would ruin them and the latter on the grounds that the site was unsuitable. Given that a civil proceeding was already underway, the police decided against commencing an investigation against city authorities, including the mayor Meir Nitzan, on suspicions that they had tailored the tender to IKEA's convenience.

Wasted Literary Talents on Orckit Board

Dear Diary, This morning I bought a block to pull up the price of the stock, and I suspect Hamama (another board persona) saw me, i spent the last ten hours sitting in this coffee waiting the day to end but it is only 11AM, on the street I see two men watching me, one is a fat one with a mark on the face and the second one looks like a alley cat.

Yesterday I sat twelve hours in Kafe Aroma, the manager asked me to leave after I tried to sell a superb stock called Orckit to the customers. BTW, dear diary, he asked me never to return.

The coffee shops in the Igal Allon area are becoming scarce, I dont know where to go from here, but I do know that it must be a place serving a large expresso for five shekels because there seems to be little cash left in the company.

Itzik (orckit's manager)

יומני היקר, הבוקר הרבצתי קניה כדי לעלות את המניה, ונראה לי שחממה עלה עלי, כבר עשר שעות שאני מגרבץ בבית הקפה הזה ומחכה שהיום יגמר והשעה רק 11 , בחוץ ישנם שני אנשים שמתצפתים עלי, אחד שמנמן עם צלקת בעין והשני דומה לחתול יבלות.

אתמול ישבתי בארומה 12 שעות והמנהל זרק אותי לאחר ששידלתי לקוחות לקנות מניה מעולה בשם אורכית, אגב יומני הוא ביקש שלא אחזור לעולם.

בתי הקפה באיזור יגאל אלון הולכים ונגמרים, אני לא יודע לאן אני ממשיך מכאן אבל אני יודע שזה לבית קפה שמגיש הרבה אספרסו ובזול כי קופת המזומנים של החברה הולכת ונגמרת...

איציק..

The background of this sarcastic note is the fact that Orckit, having developed some gadget for integrating fiber optic and copper line data transmission, has one client and during the last two years failed to sign new contracts. Itzik Tamir, its CEO, is being accused here of doing nothing but selling Orckit stock to the public. The stock is selling about 10% of its value before 2 years ago and we the investors are waiting for a second client to adopt Orckit technology.

An Excercise in Talmudic Logic

What are the things they study in a yeshiva (Jewish religious high school)? How to think, of course.

A yeshiva student said to one of his fellows, "The sages ask: What makes the glass of tea sweet? If I reply that it is because of the sugar, then I must ask: What is the teaspoon's purpose? The answer: To sweeten the tea, for which the proof is as follows: When you put sugar into the tea, it does not turn sweet until you have stirred it with the teaspoon. In which case, why do we need the sugar at all?" The Second student replied, "Indeed, it is true that the tea is sweetened by the spoon. Now, why do we need the sugar? My reply is that sugar is necessary because it's only when the sugar dissolves that we know it's time to stop stirring."

The pic: Raanan Agus, 39, manager of the new Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund, 6 billion US$, spent a year studying at Yeshivat Har Etzion.

The Jewish people closing in

As Prof. Kevin MacDonald predicted a few years ago, Judaism is becoming more closed and authoritarian. Now the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel, HaRav Metzger, proposes a world computer database of Jewish marriages, so the problem of "Forbidden Marriages" will not occur. In a meeting of rabbis he told the story of a Yeshive bocher (divinity student) who selected with great care his bride of a good Jewish family and then it was discovered that his parents had not been married in a kosher Jewish ceremony, and that because her mother was not Jewish and the father, a religious Jew, had hidden this "sin" from his children. According to the halacha, the bocher is not Jewish at all, which must be quite a shock for the ultra-ortodox boy. All his life dressed in black kaftan and keeping the 516 commandments, and he is not even Jewish and cannot marry a Jewish girl. The story is strikingly apocryphal but the trend is clear.

Concentrated Wisdom

Gary, the Hedge Fund Manager, writes:

There is an undying belief by the herd that the future is bleak, notwithstanding positive data points. While this doesn't bode well for near-term trading, it is likely an indication another meaningful bottom is close at hand.

Like all big ideas, this seems simple, but I find depth in it. My optimism is undying, reality-resistant. The future is evermore brilliant. I dont know if it is me or the xeroxat, but the end result is the same. I predicted a sunny day on Wall Street, in a time when everybody is convinced that we are living the last days of Pompey and the End of the World is Near. However the Nadaq ended green. My new portfolio on TASE is working well.

Remembering Bauchi

I spent one and half years in Nigeria, mostly managing the Bauchi Meat Products Company's cattle ranch in Galambi. I designed and planned water reservoirs and bridges in Galambi, and other infrastructure. It was a long long time ago.

Things Happen Fast

On Dec.3 the CIA and fifteen other American intelligence services delivered a bomb assuring the American Government and the world that Iran has no bad nuclear intentions. Dec.16 and Russia delivered nuclear fuel for an Iranian power plant that is at the center of the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program. Thinking of it, the CIA not only sabotaged the President's publicly stated and forcefully advanced policy of denying Iran any nuclear capability, but actively played into the hands of America's rival, Russia, and of course, of Iran. The President and Dick Cheney are ominously silent on the subject.

Empathy on the Small Cap Boards

I love reading the small cap boards where one meets such a nice people! Like this one below: "Nu? Lito-Group rises 30%! No, it sinks... Now I am glad that you are losing, I wish you to lose all your money, that you'll have no money for food, that you'll eat grass like the goats, maaaaaa, maaaaa..."

נו? ליטו גרופ לא עולה ב-30%! הפוך היא יורדת, נכון שהמחזור הו קטן אבל מי שמבקש לקנות אותה מוכן לשלם רק ב-10% מתחת לשוק. עכשיו אני שמח על זה שאתה מפסיד, הלוואי שתפסיד את הכסף שלך, שלא יהיה לך כסף לאוכל, שתתחיל לאכול עשבים כמו עיזים, מאאאאא, המאאאא

The Cleantech Craze Intensifies

Shai Beilis and former Star Ventures partner Yaffa Krindal are setting up new $100 million cleantech fund called Tamarix Ventures LP. Tamarix will become Israel's largest cleantech venture capital fund. Several cleantech funds have been established over the last two years in Israel. Israel Cleantech Ventures, and Terra Venture Partners LP are very small, Pitango Venture Capital, Gemini Israel Funds, and Genesis Partners have set their sights on the field but have made no investments so far.

Samaritans: There We Go but for the Grace of God

I dont stop to be fascinated by the Samaritans. They share the same lineage as we Jews, we are from the same human stock and they came in with us lead by Joshua Bin Nun. However, they claim to be the true keepers of the faith and culture of the ancient Israelites. Their religion, Samaritanism, is based on the written Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy) but with a different version of the ten commandments. The last commandment is expanded to include God declaring Mount Gerizim the holy spot of Israel. It is this commandment which gives Samaritans religious justification to its construction of their holy temple on Gerizim. Samaritans believe Moses was the last prophet (the other prophets of the Old Testments are fictional according to the Samaritans). The big difference to present-day Judaism is the Samaritans uninterrupted chain of the High Priestly Family (which in Judaism was lost two thousand years ago), the animal sacrifices in the Temple and denial of the Talmud and any rabbinical law.

Samaritans came from the northern tribes of ancient Israel. It was once believed the Samaritans intermixed with invading pagan groups but this theory has fallen out of favor. Whatever the reason, by the end of the fourth century BC the split was finalized. The Jews had their temple in Jerusalem while the Samaritans had their's forty miles away on Mount Gerizim.

During Greek occupation the Samaritans were relatively well off. However, while external persecution was light some Samaritans embraced Greek culture. Things changed when the Maccabeean John Hyrcanus conquered Samaritan lands and destroyed their temple. The Roman era was a mixed time for the Samaritans. The Samaritans were not granted the same special exception of religious freedom that the Jews received. The Samaritans were forced to offer sacrifices to the Roman imperial cult. The local Jewish leaders kept up persecution on Samaritans who became virtual untouchables. After the failed Jewish revolts against Rome, things changed somewhat. Samaritans were allowed to rebuild their temple. The Samaritan leadership made the effort to constantly remind the Roman authorities that Samaritans were not like the "troublesome" Jews. The Christian empire was no friend of the Samaritans. Religious oppression led to failed revolts against Emperor Zeno and Justinian I. The temple was destroyed again. Justinian I allied with the Christian Ghassanid Arabs to crush the last Samaritan revolt. Tens of thousands of Samaritans were killed or forcibly converted. It was a blow that the Samaritans would never recover from. The Islamic Era was one of attrition. Samaritans were granted People of the Book (Dhimmi) status. Many of the remaining Samaritans converted over time to end the economical and social oppression against them. Most of the people of Nablus (Schem) must have Samaritan blood running in their veins.

In the pic we see the Samaritan priests during the annual sacrifice on Mount Gerizim. The young priest does not seem to use the traditional head cover but a white cowboy hat. Sacrilege!

Another One Bites the Dust

Majid Harazin, Gang Boss of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza, bites the dust. His car, full of explosives, was hit by our Air Force an hour ago. By now he must be examining the 70 "raisins" he was awarded in Paradise.

Laugh the Best Remedy

A sheriff known for housing inmates in old military tents has a new idea–a chain gang of drunken driving convicts wearing pink shirts and performing burials of people who died of alcohol abuse.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he wants the chain gang to act as a deterrent to potential drunken drivers. He has already used the color pink on inmates–he issued them pink underwear.

“Maybe this will warn people — knock it off, don’t drink and drive,” Arpaio said. “You’ll end up in pink underwear on the chain gang.”

Is Quito's Water Suitable for Drinking?

Maybe. 50% of the water is supplied from the Papallacta lake, which was heavily contaminated by 22,344 barrels of crude spilled in 2004. The accident caused the death of 300 cows and all the fish in the lake. Since then the water is not used by the people of the area. Petroecuador, that assumed responsability for the accident, considers the area contamination free as from 2005. However, rests of oil can be seen in the water. The water also has a natural high content of arsenium. EPA regulations establish the following limits:

Contaminant MCLG1 (mg/L)2 MCL or TT1 (mg/L)2 Potential Health Effects from Ingestion of Water Sources of Contaminant in Drinking Water

Arsenic 0.010 as of 01/23/06 Skin damage or problems with circulatory systems, and may have increased risk of getting cancer.

Benzene zero 0.005 Anemia; Reproductive difficulties, decrease in blood platelets; increased risk of cancer. 1 liter of gasoline makes undrinkable 1,000,000 liters (1,000 cu m) water. 22,344 barrels of oil carry the potential to contaminate 4.5 million cubic meters of drinking water.

Har Bracha Merlot

A full-bodied, complex and notably tannic, a Merlot with true personality. Dark purple toward black, with the tannins as yet still rather firm but with the balance and structure that bode well for the future. As the wine comes into its own, look for black cherry, currant and plum fruits, those on a spicy cedar-wood background. Winemaker: Haim Wachtenheim, from the ancient Rothschild Rishon Le-Tzion Winery.