The Peanut Gallery

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


1.The New America -- "We are heading into what may be the dirtiest presidential campaign in history. The Obama campaign is planning to use the one billion it hopes to raise to portray the Republican nominee as a dangerous, heartless radical. That nominee is sure to respond with a withering counter-assault." - The Week magazine.


2. New York Times columnists Tom Friedman and journalist Roger Cohen, both Jews, as well as journalist Nicolas Kristof have been leading the charge in castigating Israel and unabashedly praising the Arab Spring. In a recent column, Kristof  postulated that "conservative Muslims insisted that the Muslim Brotherhood is non-discriminatory and the perfect home for pious Christians – and a terrific partner for the West." PG: Amazing that these guys are still singing Kumbaya. What usually happens when these journalists are proven wrong and the catastrophe is upon us, they crawl back into a hole and disappear from sight.


3.Hillary Clinton: "This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform and is not worthy of a great people," Clinton was quoted as saying in a speech at Washington's Georgetown University. PG: A woman in Saudi Arabia was recently decapitated for "sorcery". Imagine Hillary making the same type of statement about US ally Saudi Arabia. (Who contribute millions to the Clinton Foundation).


4. President Obama had the option of leaving a small force of Americans in Iraq. By doing so, he could always have claimed to have done his best to prevent a complete breakdown of law and order in that country. By ordering a complete withdrawal from Iraq he has taken ownership of the decision to withdraw, so whatever happens in 2012, will be his responsibility. PG: Finally he is showing some form of leadership in a country starved of leadership. For his sake we hope this does not backfire, placing his election chances in the hands of the Mullahs.


5.Richard Russell of Dow Theory Letters: "It's now clear to me that Obama lacks the background, the experience and the courage to be president. Left to Obama, the government would run everything -- and probably run everything into the ground -- current example, the US Post Office. I was excited about Obama at first, but the more I see of him the less the excitement. He's very passive and worse, he's usually wrong."


6.When Obama took over for Bush in January of 2009, America was only $10.6 trillion in debt. In less than three years, the nation’s debt has ballooned past the $15 trillion dollar threshold.To put it in perspective, as National Review notes, the national debt has grown by a stunning $48,994.12 per second that Obama has been in office. PG: They say if you stick your head in the oven and your feet in the refrigerator, on average you will feel comfortable. Another way to look at the above is that during George Bush's presidency the debt grew from $5.7 T to $10.7 trillion, jump of 88%. During Obama's presidency only 40%. Bush was president for 8 years, while Obama only 3 years and counting. Go figure.


7.In the annals of coalition disputes, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s government is setting new standards: In the space of three days, his government leaked plans to arrest Vice President Taqiq Al-Hashimi on charges of terrorism, caused a key ally to begin boycotting parliament and sought permission to dismiss Deputy Prime Minister Saleh Al-Mutlak. Maliki is a shiite and the "terrorist" and the deputy prime minister are both Sunni Muslims. PG: And so it begins....


8.A rash of bombings hit Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 63 people in the first big attack on Iraq's capital since a crisis between its Shi'ite Muslim-led government and Sunni rivals erupted days after the US troop withdrawal. Most attacks were in mainly Shi'ite Muslim neighbourhoods. PG: And so it continues....


9.The Simon Wiesenthal Center asked UNESCO’s director-general Wednesday to suspend its sponsorship of a Palestinian children’s magazine, saying the magazine applauded Hitler for murdering Jews. The PMW report references an essay in the magazine by a teenage Palestinian girl. The girl wrote about meeting Adolf Hitler in a dream, who tells her that he killed the Jews “so you would all know that they are a nation who spreads destruction all over the world.” In the essay, Hitler tells the child to be patient regarding the suffering of the Palestinians at the hands of the Jews. PG: The SWC does tremendous work weeding out the planet's anti- semitic scum. Read more http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=250462


10.NEW YORK (Newswise) – The Wildlife Conservation Society tracked a southern elephant seal for an astonishing 18,000 miles – the equivalent of New York to Sydney and back again. WCS tracked the male seal from December, 2010, to November, 2011. The animal – nicknamed Jackson swam 1,000 miles north, 400 miles west, and 100 miles south from the original tagging location, meandering through fjords and venturing past the continental shelf as he foraged for fish and squid. PG: Now thats impressive!


Snowflakes are a fragile thing individually, but look at what they can do when they stick together - Fernando Bonaventura