Thursday, August 2, 2012

The Peanut Gallery

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


1. Anybody who believes that Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, visited Israel to honour a statue of some Russian unknown, must be pretty naive. After he departed, nearly all his entourage stayed behind to negotiate gas and oil deals, arms purchases and other unnamed    contracts. This follows the visits by senior government officials from India and China, and a military delegation of generals from Brazil. PG: It looks like Moses did choose the correct  destination for the Tribes of Israel. 


2. More and more Americans are giving up their US citizenship, apparently for tax reasons. The latest is Eduardo Saverin of Facebook and former Clinton supporter, Denise Rich. PG:  A side effect of government and the policy of robbing Peter to pay Paul.


3.The New York Times has fallen on hard times. Their stock has fallen by about 70% over the last few years and their readership is shrinking. Similar to CNN. A comment in the Jerusalem Post: "At least the NYT is consistent. In the 1930s they buried stories about Kristallnacht and the coming Shoah. They opposed Israel's independence and supported the British policy of preventing survivors reaching Palestinian shores. They called for retreat from Sinai in 1956, restraint on June 4th, 1967, and a cease-fire when Israel was routing Egypt's army in the Yom Kippur War. Let the NYT be dam*ed and let us hope that no Israeli "leader" ever listens to them."


4.The case of Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor imprisoned after helping the CIA track Usama bin Laden, hasn't fallen by the wayside just yet. Sen. Rand Paul claims to have enough support to force a vote on the Senate floor later this month on a bill stripping Pakistan of U.S. aid unless Afridi is released. PG: If anyone needed more conviction that Barack Obama cares only about his re-election, and that he only has moral fibre when the concern is himself....this is it.


5.The Democratic leader of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Monday that the White House appears to be responsible for some leaks of classified information.
"I think the White House has to understand that some of this is coming from their ranks," Sen. Dianne Feinstein told a World Affairs Council forum. PG: The worst kept secret in Washington. As if Obama has no idea who is doing this. He's the only one who benefits.


6.As thick as thieves. Egypt's Mursi has put Hamas's Mashaal on an equal footing with heads of state, thus granting legitimacy not only to the Hamas leader but to its entire movement. Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, has also been officially invited to the Presidential Palace in Cairo. PG: Another Obama human rights success.


7. As the US economy stalls, the Fed is getting closer to an official QE3. The only question is whether it will be before or after November. PG: We wonder what they are hoping to achieve? Maybe to hold up a flagging economy until elections, in the hope that the politicians will come with an economic plan, sooner rather than later. The other question one needs to ponder: What happens if the stock market reacts negatively to QE 3. This would be the final straw. We advise caution. Not much ammunition left.


8.CLIC: Saudi Arabia does not have any Israeli checkpoints, walls, or soldiers patrolling their borders. Instead it has oil sloshing up from the ground to the tune of one-fifth of the world's petroleum reserves. So how does one explain the fact that the IMF puts Saudi Arabia 13 spots behind Israel when it comes to GDP. The World Bank puts it 8 places behind Israel. The only Muslim countries with a better GDP Per Capita rating than Israel are small monarchies drowning in oil. PG: If Muslims fail in the West Bank, then Israeli checkpoints are to blame. If they fail in Canada, Australia and Europe, then racism is to blame. But if they fail in Pakistan, Somalia and Saudi Arabia-who is to blame?


9.Check this out: http://gawker.com/5930003/   Aly Reisman parents watching their daughter at the Olympics....Marvellous!



Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.
Albert Einstein