Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Peanut Gallery

Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant. 


1.Reuters: Medical sources in Cairo report rising death toll as police and military forces charge activists calling on ruling generals to hand power over to civilian gov't; military rulers say violence will not delay elections. At least 45 people are said to have died. PG: The majority of protesters were Muslim Brotherhood. We repeat: What is happening in Egypt has nothing to do with democracy. Its a face-off between the MB and the military, who have no intention of releasing the reigns of power.


2.A retired New York City police officer living in Florida has been ordered to take down his flag commemorating September 11 by his homeowners’ association, WPLG reports. 
Wentz said he ran into Tower 1 and started pulling out people before the building collapsed. He said he lost 43 friends and colleagues that day. Wentz says he now has cancer, from breathing in all the particles during the cleanup of Ground Zero. "I will not take that flag down. That flag will remain up. I don't care how many fines they want to give me, I refuse to take that down," Wentz told the station. PG: I don't know whats happening to the US, but its time for Americans to take their country back. 
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/20/retired-police-officer-reportedly-told-to-remove-flag-honoring-victims-11/?test=latestnews#ixzz1eI3ySXD5


3.BEIJING—China had its first monthly outflow of foreign currency since 2007 in October, signaling that global investors are pulling out money on fears over the global economy and reduced expectations that the yuan will appreciate. Inflows of capital into China have been slowing in recent months as enthusiasm about the Chinese economy has cooled and as many global investors repatriate funds to meet liquidity squeezes in their home markets, economists say. PG: An important indicator


4.A new iPad app developed in Israel lets patients watch angioplasties live. Thanks to technology developed at the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Israel, the relatives – and even the alert patient in the operating theater – will be able to view the whole process on their iPad screens.From now on, family members anxious about a patient undergoing a coronary catheterization or angioplasty with the insertion of a stent do not have to wait until the procedure is over to find out how it went. PG: We need to start a new blog "Only in Israel..."


5.Parliamentary elections in Egypt hailed by the media as historical. For the record Egypt has always had parliamentary elections under the watchful eye of the President. The only difference is that the Muslim Brotherhood is now participating and will likely win a majority. The MB have just won a majority in Morocco and the Islamists also control Tunisia. PG: There must be a trend here somewhere.....Looks like the Islamic Spring is on track.


6.Stratfor:  How exactly the Egyptian parliament turns out is, of course, the main question on everyone’s mind. But the military regime does appear so far to have the controls in place to shape the results and allow for a largely weak and ineffective civilian face to be put on the government while keeping that core regime structure in place. PG: There are 18 million inhabitants in Cairo alone. The demonstrations in Tahrir Square numbered at most, 100,000. Despite CNN trying to create a different impression, it appears that the Egyptian street is sick and tired of the BS.



7.A large explosion rocked the western Iranian city of Isfahan, semi-official FARS news reported Monday afternoon. According to the report, the blast occurred shortly after 2:00 p.m. FARS did not reveal the cause of the explosion, which was large enough to be heard throughout Iran's third largest city. PG: The Iranians have since denied it. Within a week the Iranians have threatened Israel with 30,000 suicide bombers, 150,000 missiles, the targeting of Israel's nuclear arsenal and now are threatening NATO defences in Turkey. Meantime the bombs seem to be exploding in Iran. We are well aware that Iran's intelligence services follow this blog (most blogs that discuss Iran). So the Peanut Gallery can confirm for them that an explosion did take place in Isfahan and it wasn't an accident.


8.A Norwegian newspaper is reporting Anders Breivik will not stand trial for July's mass shooting and bombing attack in Norway. A psychiatric assessment out today concludes he is insane, and thus, not fit to stand trial. Instead he'll be sentenced to treatment at a psychiatric hospital. PG: Israel's jails are full of these lunatics, maybe Norway would take care of some them......


9.WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home prices are falling again in most major cities after posting small gains over the summer and spring, the latest evidence that the troubled housing market won't recover any time soon. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday showed prices dropped in September from August in 17 of the 20 cities tracked. Atlanta, San Francisco and Tampa posted the biggest monthly price declines. Prices in Atlanta, Las Vegas and Phoenix fell to their lowest home point since the housing crisis began four years ago.
Prices rose in New York, Portland and Washington.


Some days you're a bug. Some days you're a windshield - Price Cobb

Brainless



1.U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he was deeply concerned about the continued euro zone crisis, blaming it on a lack of political will, and that market turmoil would continue until Europe has a concrete plan to deal with its debt woes. COMMENT: Look whose talking.....

2.Iran's armed forces chief of staff denies explosion that killed 17 Revolutionary Guard troops had any link "to Israel or America." Hassan Firouzabadi, quoted by the student news agency ISNA said "This recent incident and blast has no link to Israel or America but the outcome of the research, of which the incident happened as a consequence, could be a strong smack to the mouth of Israel and its occupying regime," he said. COMMENT: Israel needs a few more smacks in the mouth like that. Excellent research technique. Keep it up.


3.He was caught with his pants down. A pilot who accidentally locked himself in the bathroom of his LaGuardia-bound plane caused a terror scare last night when a helpful passenger with an accent tried to come to his rescue by banging on the cockpit door. The embarrassing comedy of errors began when the captain of a Chatauqua Airlines flight from Asheville, N.C., decided to take a bathroom break before landing. Read more www.nypost.com/p/news/local/flight_scared_tless_NCATGVoOq9V6WgWjVwszRJ

4.Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal hailed a new Palestinian partnership Thursday when they met in Cairo to discuss a reconciliation pact signed seven months ago, AFP reported. Mashaal said the two had turned a new page in relation to the Palestinian nation while Abbas, who heads Fatah, explained that "there are no more differences between us now." COMMENT: Give them five minutes........


5.A senior military advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei warned Saturday that Tehran would retaliate against an Israeli military strike by hitting back at nuclear facilities in Israel. Former head of the Guards' Political Bureau Brigadier Yadollah Javani said, "If Israel fires [a] rocket at one of our nuclear facilities or vital centers, it should know that any point of Israel, such as its nuclear facilities, would be a target for our rockets and we have [that] capability," Iranian news agency ISNA reported. COMMENT: If they have this ability then why do they need to build a bomb? 


6.Hamas Politburo chief Khaled Mashaal:"Why should we be afraid? The Israeli enemy is trampling over the Palestinian people's rights on a daily basis, Israel continues to exercise its aggression and is hurting the Palestinian people's rights," he said. COMMENT: So what are Palestinian rights according to Hamas? Trample Israel....keep on trampling their rights!


7.Miley Cyrus is throwing her support behind the Occupy Wall Street movement with a video for a remix of her tune “Liberty Walk.” The singer used footage of real Occupy protests to create the clip.  “This is dedicated to the thousands of people who are standing up for what they believe in…” read the words that flash across the screen at the beginning of the video. COMMENT: A modern day Robin Hood with a twist. Stealing from the poor little rich kids and lining her pockets at the same time, using technology created by the 1% (or 15%). This kid makes American banks look look like Hannah Montana.....


The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them - Queen Victoria



It's not whether you win or lose, but how you place the blame - Anonymous politician 

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Dear Mr. President.....

This article from March has received thousands of hits...clearly it has struck a chord



MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2011

Dear Mr. President....

Dear Mr. President,
                            Many people are blaming you for the fire sweeping the arab world, and for the position the US finds itself today, both economically and politically. To be honest, you inherited a difficult situation. And to be brutally honest, you have mismanaged nearly everything on your plate. If any of this is incorrect, please accept my apologies. 

At the beginning of your presidency you travelled to Egypt, embraced your long term ally, Hosni Mubarak and spoke with sincerity to the muslim world. I watched the speech. You then looked him in the eye and gave Mubarak a warm handshake. What followed is history. In the blink of an eye, Mubarak was thrown under a bus, insulted and humiliated by your excellency on national TV. This was preceded by the now infamous trip to Saudi Arabia. Imagine that, Mr. Obama, bowing  to King Abdullah. The same king, who recently watched your (in his eyes) betrayal of his fellow dictator, Mubarak. I wonder what he must be thinking today? In fact, what are all US allies thinking today?

So why did Mubarak refuse to take calls from the White House? Unimportant you say. Not to US allies, its not. Maybe we are looking at the situation through CNN eyes. Could it be possible that Mubarak and the rest of the dictators have a pretty good idea of what is out there. For example, Sheik Yusf Quaradawi, the most important cleric in Islam banned for decades by Egypt returned to adoring crowds in Tahrir square. His most famous quote "Hitler put them in their place". (Please read further Dr.Harold Brackman's report for The Simon Wiesenthal Centre on The Brotherhood - outstanding).

Maybe, just maybe, Mubarak was well aware of some of  the animals in his country who cheered his downfall by sexually assaulting Lora Logan during their celebration, screaming Jew, Jew, Jew! What you definitely do know, Mr. President, is that black peoples of all races are regarded as inferior class humans under Islam, in keeping with Adolf Hitlers Mein Kampf. You also know how many American lives have been saved by Mubarak's intelligence services in the war against terror. Your CIA would also have informed you that Mubarak was dying of a terminal disease. 

So in case his excellency doesn't get it yet, lets try it from a westerners point of view. Democracy believes in two things. Peace and freedom. Democratic transitions tend to be the work of generations. …. Mubarak was an authoritarian leader, but he was prudent enough to understand his people's interest in peace (and his own interest as well). In fact, Mubarak was slowly building a middle class. Note all the doctors, lawyers and accountants at the demonstrations. His son, Gamal, was NOT a member of the military, and in his own corrupt way intended to continue the slow march to democracy. The Egyptian economy has been growing by 6-7% p.a. over the last years.

What should you have done Mr. President? ( a popular question often posed by many.) The answer is easy. You should have supported a transition to democracy led by your ally Mubarak. This could have been easily accomplished considering the man is ailing, had already announced his intention not to stand, and together with US aid as leverage.....Well, all it takes is leadership.... Worst case, Mubarak would have fallen, leaving the army in control. Todays situation. The difference being, sir, is that you would not look like a back stabbing, self serving politician being led by the nose by CNN and other "experts" in the media. 

Lets jump to other decisions. The decision to press Israel to freeze settlements for ten months, using the old story used by your ex-allies in The Middle East, and by Tom Friedman of the NYT.. "The settlements are the key to the problem. Remove them and you will have peace", looks more ridiculous by the moment. Sane people mentioned that Israel had removed the settlements in Gaza and was rewarded when thousands of missiles were fired into the south of Israel. Bottom line, The Palestinian Arabs declared a "Day of Rage" against the US, last week, calling you "The black hands in Washington".The settlement freeze only made things worse, giving birth to further arab demands.Another success.

Economically, the decision to focus on your health plan and not on jobs and small business, led to a crash at the polls. Then along comes the new budget plan, and guess what? The plan is once again geared to spending and the next election. When will it become clear to his excellency that the vast majority of Americans are fearfull of a future for their children repaying this enormous debt, and prefer to take the pain now. Astounding that most of the planet have realised this. The "Nation of Islam" have realised this and see it as the right time to strike. The Chinese and Indians are watching in awe as US foreign policy crumbles. Yet you continue to zig zag all over the map trying to get reelected. You sir, are no Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan.

Some free advice, for what its worth, Mr. Obama. Try to clear the air on what you really think. How about statements to the world press that read something like this:

1. I, the president of The United States will do what is necessary to ensure the future of our children, even if it means that I am only a one term president.

2.The United States will not tolerate the rise of extreme radical islamic regimes under the guise of democracy, and will prevent this, using force if necessary.

3.Israel is not an Apartheid State and anybody who thinks so, is delusional.

4.The settlements in Judea and Samaria, as much as I oppose them, are not the reason that peace talks in that area have broken down. Rather, it is the Palestinian refusal to come to the table, that is the core of the problem.

5.The United States will oppose any regime in the Middle East that uses arms and terror to subdue their own populations, for example Libya, Hamas, Hizbullah, Syria and Iran. The leaders of these regimes should leave office right now!

6.The Israel - Palestinian "problem" was created by the dictators and tyrants as a tool to divert the attention of their oppressed populations from the real problem. Today we are witnessing the results.

And the kicker, Mr. Obama

7.The way forward economically, Is for Arab leaders to sign and enforce peace agreements with the only true democracy in the region, Israel. Imagine if all that money spent on weaponry was used for the good of the people.

Keep it simple and stick to the truth. Otherwise the most popular slogan in the next election will be "President Obama, you should leave...right now!"

The first rule of holes: when you're in one, stop digging - Molly Ivins

Thursday, November 17, 2011

The Peanut Gallery

Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.


1.Iran admitted on Sunday that some of its computer systems have been infected by a new Stuxnet-like virus called Duqu. The virus was discovered several months ago and is believed to be a more advanced version of the Stuxnet virus which attacked Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility last year. Head of Iran's civil defense branch Brig.-Gen. Gholamreza Jalali told the official IRNA news agency that Duqu was discovered inside computer systems but that Iran had developed a way to contain and neutralize the malware. PG: Thats what they said about stuxnet. "Informed sources" say that Duqu is creating havoc in their computer systems.


2.Iran buries the 'architect' of its missile defense Western intel official tells 'TIME' that Mossad was behind missile base blast; Revolutionary Guard official's importance underlined by appearance of Khamenei at funeral, visit by defense minister. Iran on Monday buried a senior military officer it called the "architect" of its missile defenses, killed in a massive explosion at a Revolutionary Guards' arms depot that authorities said was an accident. PG: Cool tactic. Everybody focused on nuclear facilities and "bang" in a completely different place. We wonder how safe anybody in Iran must feel.......


3. The Bahraini government went public with the discovery of an alleged plot involving at least five Bahrainis traveling through Syria and Qatar on a mission to carry out attacks against government and diplomatic targets in Bahrain. Iran vehemently denied it was involved and portrayed the plot as a fabrication, just as they responded to the alleged plot against the Saudi ambassador. PG: The plot thickens.


4.The next day, the Iranian press reported that Ahmad Rezai, the son of Mohsen Rezai, who is the secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council, a former IRGC commander and presidential contender, was found dead at a hotel in Dubai. The deputy head of the Expediency Council told the Iranian press that the son’s death was suspicious and caused by electric shocks, while other reports portrayed the death as suicide. PG: What makes one think that the covert war against Iran is intensifying?


5.Iranians traveling to Israel could go to prison for up to five years instead of only three months, after Iran's parliament revised an existing ban for such trips. The measure apparently reflects Tehran's security concerns over archenemy Israel. Iran claims to have dismantled several purported Israeli spy rings in recent years and arrested Iranians with alleged links to Mossad. PG: The holocaust Ahminedejad so fervently denies, will not be repeated in his lifetime.


6. South Sudan joins with Canada, and of course the left wing media is ignoring this development simply because it does not fit the ideology. The newly independent South Sudan is openly supporting the Jewish State and intends to open its new embassy in Jerusalem. Simon Deng, the South Sudan Delegate to Durban 3 shocked the audience "pointed out that while the UN has spent years adopting scurrilous resolutions against Israel, the body generally has ignored the Arab racists committing crimes against Black Africans far more heinous than those falsely alleged against Israel.


7.From 1955 to 2005, four million non-Arab Sudanese were murdered, seven million were ethnically cleansed, and hundreds of thousands, including Mr. Deng himself, were seized by Arab slavemerchants and sold into bondage to Sudanese and Egyptian Arab owners. Darfur was never a "tribal" conflict, as the UN long soft-pedalled it; it was Arab colonialist genocide against Black Africans. It took UN bodies 16 years to recognize what was afoot, and they did so then only at the behest of Jewish organizations in Israel and the United states. PG: The truth will out. You cannot fool all the people all the time.


8.Europe's sovereign-debt crisis has made U.S. Treasurys an attractive investment as a safe haven, despite Washington's own difficulties with overspending and big budget deficits. Of the $14 trillion in debt China is owed $1.1 trillion while Japan is owed $950 billion. About $4.5 trillion is owed to foreigners. The rest is owed to US institutions and investors. PG: One can almost feel the stress as foreigners look to invest excess funds. Europe or the US? The frying pan or the fire?


9.Not included in the $14 trillion (sorry, now 15) are US government guarantees to Fannie and Freddie totalling about $5 trillion. Who knows how much was guaranteed to Mutual funds, banks and corporations, also not included. PG: you can run but you cannot hide.


10. And of course, the kicker. The U.S. government is obligated under current law to mandatory payments for programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. The GAO projects that payouts for these programs will significantly exceed tax revenues over the next 75 years. The present value of these deficits or unfunded obligations is an estimated $45.8 trillion. This all adds up to about $65 trillion (give or take a few trillion). PG: Obama and congress are planning cuts of $1.5 maybe $2 trill. And Obama thinks that Europe needs a plan.


Time for belt-tightening.You can't live on a million a year anymore - Randy Newman

Monday, November 14, 2011

Israel - The Miracle Continues....

1.IAI to set up US electronic defense systems co

The new company, which will be located in Maryland, will be part of IAI North America. ELTA Systems Ltd., based in Ashdod, is one of the world's leading electronic defense systems companies, which develops, designs and manufactures radar and electronic combat communications systems. He added that the decision was based on the positive experience gained by IAI's first subsidiary in the US, Stark Aerospace in Mississippi, which was established five years ago to manufacture and market Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and electro-optic payloads to North American customers.

COMMENT: CIA successes against Al Qaieda are thanks mostly to Israeli technology.


2.Ethiopian Israeli named Ambassador to Ethiopia 

Rachamim Elazar, has been named by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Israel’s next Ambassador to Ethiopia, making him the first Israeli of Ethiopian descent ever to serve as an Ambassador for the State of Israel. Rachamim was one of the first Ethiopian Jews to make aliyah to Israel in 1972 at the age of 14.

COMMENT: Israel must be attempting to export Apartheid to Ethiopia.

3.This feels like a miracle

Parts of the Canadian government announcement issued Nov 10 as regards Canada's position on Israel at the UN: “This series of resolutions against Israel is generally one-sided, unbalanced and does not address the complexities of the issues, nor seeks to address the true actions and responsibilities of all parties. “As a package, the resolutions are unbalanced, lack references to terrorist activities carried out by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and others against Israel and are, thus, ultimately unhelpful to the cause of a lasting, negotiated peace.
“Rockets rain down on Israeli schools without condemnation in these resolutions.
“Israeli soldiers have been kidnapped and held without regard to international norms and standards. This, too, has not been reflected in resolutions over the years.
“There are important elements in these resolutions that need to be discussed, but they are drowned out by the unbalanced nature of the broad package of resolutions. “No other conflict area in the world draws even a fraction of the time and energy of member states—even though there are a number of long-standing and destabilizing conflicts that seem intractable.
“As a result, Canada has made a decision, based upon its principled foreign policy, to vote no or to abstain on this package of General Assembly resolutions on the Middle East.

COMMENT: Clearly Israel is not alone. A miracle in itself. God Bless you Stephen Harper.

4.Tamar partners in talks to export gas to South Korea

The partners are close to a multibillion dollar deal with Daewoo Shipbuilding to build and operate a floating liquefied natural gas terminal.  The gas produced from the well will be cooled to minus 160 degrees Celsius for transport in liquefied gas tankers to South Korea. The price of natural gas in Korean is 2-3 times higher than in Israel.


5.Better Place raises $200m in third financing round

New investors in the electric vehicle venture include General Electric and UBS. Shai Agassi's electic car venture Better Place LLC has raised $200 million in its third financing round in the US from a consortium of investors and partners, nearly doubling the company's valuation to $2.25 billion (after money). The launch of the first nationwide electric car networks in Israel and Denmark is just months away.


6.Breakthrough: Israel Develops Cancer Vaccine

Vaxil’s groundbreaking therapeutic vaccine, developed in Israel, could keep about 90 percent of cancers from coming back. In a breakthrough development, the Israeli company Vaxil BioTherapeutics has formulated a therapeutic cancer vaccine, now in clinical trials at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem. If all goes well, the vaccine could be available about six years down the road, to administer on a regular basis not only to help treat cancer but in order to keep the disease from recurring.

A single idea can transform a life, a business, a nation, a world - Breakthroughs

Saturday, November 12, 2011

The Peanut Gallery

'Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.


1.As the American withdrawal from Iraq nears, the majority Shia government in Iraq is arresting more and more Sunni Muslims. The balance of power in the area is shifting towards Iran and all eyes are on the Persian Gulf, more specifically the Straits of Hormuz. About 40% of the world's oil passes daily through the Straits. Iran has the longest coastline along the straits and when one adds Iraq......the recipe for a crisis is complete. 


2.Don't look for a military strike against Iran either by the US (extremely unlikely in an election
year) or Israel. When and if Israel decides to strike, it won't be while there is media focus. As for the US, whenever the subject arises, they do the only thing open to them. They bluff. Imagine if the Iranians, in response to an attack, mine the straits of Hormuz. Apparently they have also been training suicide boats to attack oil tankers. PG: Think world financial markets and $300 dollar oil in an election year.


3.What would the Sunni reaction be to Iran manufacturing a nuclear device? Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran are deadly enemies and it is no secret that the Sunni world is hoping that Israel will do the job for them. If not, it is not inconceivable that the Saudis and Sunni Pakistan would agree to place nuclear weapons on Saudi soil (Pakistan has more than one hundred nuclear devices). PG: And for some or other reason, Obama felt that Afghanistan was of more strategic importance than Iraq.


4. Robert Kaplan: Iran is a crucial country. It fronts not just the oil-rich Persian Gulf but also the oil-rich Caspian Sea. No other country does that. It has a window onto Central Asia, which no other country in the Middle East has. So it’s enormously important. We are playing for high long-term stakes with Iran. 


5.George Friedman: We have to also recognize that with their increased power in Iraq, with the probability that the al Assad regime in Syria — Iranian allies — can survive, and with Hezbollah in Lebanon, we are looking at a situation where Iranian influences could stretch from the Afghan border to the Mediterranean. This is an enormously dangerous situation and it’s not really about nuclear weapons. PG: So now we are beginning to understand why the Saudi's are funding the Sunni uprising in Syria. Let the games begin!


6.Against heavy odds, Egypt and Tunisia are trying to woo back tourists with campaigns making use of the social media, celebrities, new slogans and a dose of image re-branding.  But they face an uphill effort as the smoke of revolution hasn’t quite dissipated and Europe, a key source of tourists, looks to be slipping into recession. PG: This is the reality of the Obama inspired arab spring. An economic catastrophe and the world is voting with its feet.


7.Daniel Pipes: Given a free choice, a majority of Middle Easterners vote for Islamists. Dynamic, culturally authentic and ostensibly democratic, these forward a body of uniquely vibrant political ideas and constitute the only Muslim political movement of consequence. But Islamism is the third totalitarian ideology (following Fascism and Communism). It preposterously proposes a medieval code to deal with the challenges of modern life. Retrograde and aggressive, it denigrates non-Muslims, oppresses women, and justifies force to spread Muslim rule. Middle Eastern democracy threatens not just the West's security but also its civilization. PG: Never a truer definition.



8.Adobe on Wednesday said it will no longer push its Flash software format for use in the browser programs that come with smartphones and tablet computers. Instead, Adobe will increase its support for HTML5, a collection of technologies backed by Apple and others such as Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. The fundamental dispute between the companies, which began collaborating in the 1980s, was who controls key technology standards.


9."Infression," a word invented by The Dines Letter, suggests that inflation and depression will occur simultaneously: an inflationary depression. This is a new virus cropping up in the international monetary system. Its feature is a flood of government money which attempts to inflate (because such inflation worked in the past), but the real purchasing power of people – adjusted for inflation – will decline. 


10.The Arab League called on the Syrian army to stop the killing of civilians on Saturday and said it was suspending Syria from the regional body in a surprise move that turns up the heat on President Bashar Assad. PG: The majority of arab league countries are Sunni. They all voted on favour of the suspension while the Shiites voted against. So similar to the politically bankrupt  UN. Not worth the paper it was typed on. Expect the violence to continue.


11. The United States is planning to bolster its military presence in the Persian Gulf as it withdraws its remaining troops from Iraq at the end of the year. Gulf countries have been disturbed by Iran’s growing reach in the area, a consequence of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Gulf countries are likely to welcome US plans to expand its military presence in the region.
The National (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), 6 Nov 11. PG: Huh? We didn’t see this in the American press. Obviously they are more worried about Herman Cain's sex life.


Thought of the day: Imagine if Adolf Hitler had possession of a nuclear bomb......


It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor even the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change - Charles Darwin


Brainless

1.Palestinians accepted to Unesco: "This vote is not directed against anyone, but represents support for freedom and justice," Abbas said in a statement to the official news agency WAFA. COMMENT: Freedom and justice means "we are alive and all the infidels are dead".

2.Arab League chief expresses "extreme astonishment" at decision by US to cut UN cultural agency funding following decision to accept PA. Arabi expressed his "extreme astonishment" at the decision by Washington and said "such an American step gives a negative indication of the possibility of success in the efforts to revive stalled peace talks," the statement quoted him as saying. COMMENT: "Extreme Astonishment?"Why? The US warned them up front. Oh I see..apparently when arabs threaten, they don't really mean it. What? No revived peace talks? Obviously another arab threat. Who cares? 


3.More than two months after the fall of Tripoli, Libya's new leaders are still struggling to secure massive weapons depots, stop the smuggling of munitions out of the country and disarm thousands of fighters who brought down Muammar Gaddafi's regime. Libya's temporary leader, responding to increasingly urgent international appeals, said he can't do much because he lacks the funds. COMMENT: Libya has $160 billion in foreign exchange reserves, all freed up when Tripoli fell. Enuff said.


4."Israeli threats to attack Iran's nuclear sites are nothing but media propaganda," Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Tuesday. COMMENT: There they go again, judging everyone by themselves.


5.Sarkozy was overheard telling Obama about Netanyahu, “I cannot stand him. He is a liar." Obama replied, "You’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!" COMMENT: Two politicians discussing a third politician who has the audacity to feed them their own medicine. Great insight! Wonder where they get their info? Must be the CIA.


6.A senior cleric from Syria's Christian minority said "everyone loves" President Bashar Assad and that he was still the best man to enact reforms, despite his military crackdown on pro-democracy unrest. "He is the president, everyone loves him. Not just Christians, the Muslims too." COMMENT: Its amazing what fear can do to the brain.


7.Standard & Poor's mistakenly announced the downgrade of France's top credit rating on Thursday, frightening investors already anxious over Europe's worsening debt crisis. It contributed to the worst day for France's government bonds since before the euro was launched in 1999. In a statement issued nearly two hours after the fact, S&P said the message resulted from a technical error and not from any action it intended to take against France. COMMENT: That kind of a mistake costs a lot of people a lot of money. Any Lawyers available?


8.In response to reports of a possible Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, Iran is threatening to mount an attack on Israel via the Syrian border. Some 30,000 Syrian and Palestinian men have spent the past three months training to infiltrate Israel in order to carry out suicide missions, the Iranian Fars news agency reported Friday. COMMENT: Wow! 30,000! Don't think there are enough virgins in heaven to satisfy this crowd.


Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid - John Wayne



Sunday, November 6, 2011

The Peanut Gallery

Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.


1.Tunisian authorities have issued an international arrest warrant for Suha Arafat, the widow of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The justice ministry said she is suspected of involvement in financial corruption with the family of deposed President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
PG: Amusing that they claim to have a "Justice" ministry.


2.More than two months after the fall of Tripoli, Libya's new leaders are still struggling to secure massive weapons depots, stop the smuggling of munitions out of the country and disarm thousands of fighters who brought down Muammar Gaddafi's regime. PG: Another arab spring success story.
3.SERHANIYEH, Lebanon (AP) – Syria is planting landmines along parts of the country's border with Lebanon as refugees stream out of the country to escape the crackdown on anti-government protests, officials and witnesses said Tuesday. A Syrian man who stepped on a mine and had to have his foot amputated was the first known victim, according to a doctor at a hospital in Lebanon that treated him. The doctor asked that his name not be published for fear of repercussions by authorities. PG: Border control arab style. Thats all they have to offer their peoples. Hate, violence, fear and "Follow me, I'm right behind you!"


4.David Elazar: Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) - a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers. PG: Must be referring to the arab spring or to Greece, Spain and Italy or maybe to Occupy whatever. Intriguing how all this ties in with the extreme left - Islamic coalition.


5.On Thursday, Egyptian activists released a statement directed at the Occupy movement – which started in New York’s Financial District in September and has since spread to hundreds of cities worldwide – saying they are also fighting against a “1 percent elite” bent on stifling democracy and social justice. PG: I guess we have part of the answer. Interesting that without Microsoft, Apple and Facebook etc. they would all be sitting in caves smoking hookah.


6.Occupy Vancouver protesters say a young woman’s death at the Vancouver Art Gallery site shouldn’t be cause to force the closure of the three-week-long encampment. The woman, identified online as 23-year-old Ashlie Gough of Victoria, was found unresponsive in her tent Saturday afternoon from a rumoured drug overdose. PG: Rumoured? Are you kidding? One has to be pretty naive to be unaware of whats happening in some of these encampments.


7.The Arab League announced that they had reached an agreement with Syria to end the fighting. Under the Arab League plan, Syria's government agreed to pull tanks and armored vehicles out of cities, release political prisoners and allow journalists and rights groups into the country. PG: That didn't last too long. About 6 hours. These guys (no women) all sit around a table pretending that they are different from Assad. 


8.Don't look for a peace process in the Middle East any time soon. The UN is as effective as the arab league. Since 1960 at least 80% of UN General Assembly emergency meetings have been about condemning one state - Israel. PG: Imagine that. Six billion against six million. So while the arab world disintegrates Israel goes from strength to strength. Truly a miracle.


9.The latest TV cable ratings show that Fox News has 4x as many viewers as CNN. O'Reilly has 5x more than Anderson Cooper, while Nancy Grace equals Cooper. Dr Drew equals Piers Morgan while Fox and Friends has close to 6x the viewing of American Morning. PG: Looks like CNN is fated to go the way of the arab spring (they coined the phrase) as they ride off into the sunset followed by the arab league and the UN.


10.Cupcakes may be addictive, just like cocaine. A growing body of medical research at leading universities and government laboratories suggests that processed foods and sugary drinks made by the likes of PepsiCo Inc. and Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) aren’t simply unhealthy. They can hijack the brain in ways that resemble addictions to cocaine, nicotine and other drugs. “The data is so overwhelming the field has to accept it,” said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “We are finding tremendous overlap between drugs in the brain and food in the brain.”


Integrity is non-negotiable. - Janet Plein


Saturday, November 5, 2011

Preposterous Predictions

SUNDAY, APRIL 24, 2011

Preposterous Predictions?
This blog is for fun. If 7 out of 10 predictions turn out to be correct, credit will go to the Peanut Gallery who constantly make unscientific forecasts.

1.The United Nations will not vote to establish a Palestinian State within the 1967 borders in September. The closest they will get, if at all, will be to vote for a Palestinian State, the borders to be decided during negotiations brokered by the US. All the surrounding noise is pressure by the international community.

2.Israel, surrounded by so much uncertainty and danger, will not succumb to pressure to withdraw from its present borders. How does the Jewish State make peace with animals that slit the throat of a 4 month old Jewish baby, and then witness how the local Palestinian population celebrates by handing out candies?

3.The Egyptian Military have no intention of relinquishing control of Egypt, with or without elections. They own 40% of the economic assets in Egypt, and it would be comparable to Obama announcing he won't be running for a second term.

4.The next major confrontation will be in the Middle East. No brainer. Take your choice, Sunni vs Shia, Islam vs Christianity or Fundamentalists vs Military. Sort of par for the course, when economic pressures create misery.

5.The Islam/left coalition of the deranged will slowly crumble while the silent majority look on dumbfounded at the Islamic World parading its true colours. Trust the peanut gallery, 6 billion people might not quite believe what they are seeing, but sooner or later it will register. In todays new world it's no longer possible to sweep the garbage behind a burqa.

6. And now economics. The food shortage we are seing now is just the tip of the iceberg. Food and water will become a major priority in some parts of the world.

7.Economic power will be shared between the BRIC (Brazil, Russia,India, China) countries and the West. Canada and Australia will benefit the most.

8.US interest rates will remain low for the forseeable future. Any rise in US rates will perforate the huge world debt bubble. Other countries will raise rates to combat inflation, thus strengthening their currencies. From this follows that the direction of the US dollar is long term down.

9.The federal reserve will continue to print dollars in June in some form or other. They might not call it QE3, but its the same thing. Gold will reach $2000 dollars an ounce, silver to hit 75 bucks an ounce and one asks when? The peanut gallery says..."as long as it takes".

10.Energy, not oil, will be in demand for as long as the eye can see. Therefore alternative energy will be the biggest game in town, with the dark horse being nuclear energy (believe it or not). And the slam dunk? Rare Earth Minerals!

Now is no time to think of what you do not have.Think of what you can do with what there is - Ernest Hemingway