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 The doctor asked that his name not be published for fear of repercussions by authorities.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