1.Tom Friedman does not think that the social security system in the US is a Ponzi scheme, or a pyramid. In answer to a question by Rick Santelli, he was adamant that it was not.They ended up calling each other idiots. This is the same Tom Friedman of the NY Times who believes that the arab spring signals the birth of human rights in the Middle East. At least he has stopped singing Kumbaya. For the record, the peanut gallery considers the social security system in the US to be a pyramid or legalised ponzi scheme, and anybody who agrees with Tom Friedman (on anything) needs to get his head out of his Silicon Valley.
2.President Obama announced his jobs plan on Thursday. Two questions. Why in two parts, first part to a joint sitting of congress and 2nd part to announce measures to finance the plan, not before congress. Only conclusion is that he is once again playing politics. Once the glitz fades, all we have here is another Chicago politician... and not a very good one at that. Secondly, why did it take him almost three years to come up with a jobs plan? And then he parades around as though he invented the wheel. PG: All the hype and spin around this president has become really tiresome. Stock market appears to agree with this description, tanking 300 points. whoops...sorry, that was because of Europe. So when the market goes up, its Obama, and when it tanks, Its Europe. Sound familiar?
3.The US is going to veto the proposed palestinian state if it ever arrives at the Security Council. Why, one asks? Its quite clear to all and sundry that this administration has no sympathy for Israel (You too, Hillary). Its simple. A win-win for Obama. Elections on the way, which is the simple answer. The real answer is that the palestinians have worked out that the president's foreign policy is a disaster. So the tactic is to remove the process from the Americans to the UN where they have an automatic majority, thus neutralising "citizen of the world" Obama and American involvement in the peace process. That is something that the Nobel peace prize winner cannot afford...another strategic failure. Thus the veto.
4. The media is at it again. The White House Council of Economic Advisors’ seventh quarterly report on the impact of the stimulus reports that the stimulus created or saved about 2.4 million jobs. The media jumps onthis plus for the stimulus plan and spins it for all its worth. What they conveniently forgot to mention is that each job cost the American taxpayer $280,000. If they had cut a cheque for $100,000 to every person employed during this period, they would have saved $427 billion. Mind you, these are Obama's economists, so who knows what the real numbers are.
5.An Egyptian mob attacks the Israeli Embassy in Cairo. This must be the arab spring that CNN promised. In fact, this is Egyptian democracy. Mob rule versus the military. Every day that passes, Mubarak looks more justified. PG:To all the worried souls...relax. The military controls 30-40% of the economy. Egypt's major industry that earns foreign currency is tourism. The military own and control most of the tourist spots in that country. So they will protect their investment while at the same time lining their pockets. That same foreign currency is used to purchase their staple diet - wheat (The pita factories are also owned by the army).
Therefore the only way forward is the peace treaty with Israel.
6.The Egyptian military-run firms hold strong positions in a wide range of key industries, including food (olive oil, milk, bread and water); cement and gasoline; vehicle production (joint ventures with Jeep to produce Cherokees and Wranglers); and construction, in which it benefits being able to deploy conscripts during their last six months of service. We're talking of clothing, we're talking of construction of roads, highways, bridges. We're talking of pots and pans, we're talking of kitchen appliances.
7.And if you are not yet convinced...The military also owns most of the valuable land in the country, including extremely beautiful beaches, and some of the greatest coral reefs in the world which were absolutely crying out for touristic development. The military gave private developers access to the land, and the developers made military officers shareholders in big tourist developments. No one knows for sure how many resort hotels or other businesses in Egypt are run by the military, which controls somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of the nation's economy, according to various estimates. Bottom line, officers in the Egyptian military are making "billions and billions" of dollars. The peace treaty with Israel facilitates this!
8.In the past two years, Turkish construction companies launched $7.6 billion worth of construction contracts in Libya, according to Turkey's Foreign Economic Relations Board, or DEIK. In Egypt, Turkish investment is longer term, with $3 billion of assets on the ground. Trade with Syria tripled to about $2.4 billion, between 2006 and 2010, as Turkish textile, pasta and other companies moved operations to Aleppo. PG:Great timing Erdogan. Good thing you have those bank accounts in Switzerland.
9.Erdogan is talking up a storm again. He is on his way to Egypt to try and improve his standing in the arab world and continues to flap his lips. contrary to what the nedia is saying, Turkey and Egypt are rivals for leadership in the arab/muslim world. The bad news for Erdogan is that Turks are not arabs, and that they have another major rival in Iran/Syria and Hizbullah. Fellow blogger, Lilac Sigan who writes 'The Other Side of the Equation' says it best: "So when you have nothing of value to sell to the masses, you can always sell hate. It worked well in Nazi Germany, and it’s working till today in Egypt, in Lebanon, in the PA and in many other places." PG:Erdogan is another one of those thugs who drags everyone down to his level and then beats them at it. The Middle East is facing difficult times in the months ahead. Israel is the least of his problems.
To succeed in the world, it is much more necessary to possess the penetration to discover who is a fool than to discover who is a clever man - Cato the Elder
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