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