The Peanut Gallery

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

1.While CNN and others are obsessing about Trump, top military officers of the United States, Russia and Turkey. U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, Russian Armed Forces General Staff Chief and First Deputy Defense Minister Gen. Valery Gerasimov and Turkish General Staff Chief Gen. Hulusi Akar held a tripartite meeting in the Turkish city of Antalya. Meetings like this only take place after months of preparation. Kamran Bhokari: A meeting of the most senior generals is not about discussing tactical details. This meeting in Turkey – like all similar meetings – involves strategic-level discussions. Another critical thing to bear in mind is that heads of different countries’ military establishments meet after their respective political bosses already have made a decision on joint action. COMMENT: The anti-ISIS strategy is moving forward with US and Russian co-operation taking centre stage.

2. John Mauldin: The problem is that at least 80% of manufacturing jobs were lost not to companies moving factories to China or Mexico but to increased automation. Some estimates run as high as 90%. Those jobs are never “coming back.” They are gone. And that trend is going to continue and accelerate. I fully understand that if we do get corporate tax reform, along with some other reforms, it is quite possible that Apple, for example, would move its iPhone 10 factory to the US. But iPhones are increasingly assembled by robots, and in a few years those and other such products will mostly be made on largely automated production lines, whether in China or the US. COMMENT: Trump's speech to congress hit the ball out of the park. Even a sceptic like myself was impressed. Again...its not what you say that matters....

3.TIP: Inspired by the United Nation’s proposed blacklist of companies that “profit from the occupation” and upset by a delay, the Palestinian Authority’s Fatah party decided to release its own list of companies which should be boycotted. A surprise appearance on the list? Cosmetics giant Revlon. Revlon made the cut because its head, Ronald Perelman, gives money to the “Zionist” Chabad and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Other household names on the blacklist include Volvo (for Israel’s use of its heavy machinery) and ReMax (which sells real estate over the Green Line.) COMMENT: Anyone remember the Arab boycott of Israel? How did that work out for them....

4.Fox News: President Trump made a startling claim Saturday that former President Barack Obama had Trump Tower phones tapped in the weeks before the November 2016 election.
In early Saturday morning tweets that began at 6:35 a.m., the president said the alleged wiretapping was “McCarthyism” and “Nixon/Watergate.”“Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism,” Trump wrote. COMMENT: Sorry folks....but there is nothing funnier than an arrogant dumb guy who thinks he is a genius...LOL. Of course, on a more serious note, Trump is doing exactly what Putin expects of him. He is using the office of president to delegitimize America's democratic institutions. (and now wikileaks is back at the party).

5.GPF Deep dive: China’s economic miracle, like that of Japan before it, is over. Its resurrection simply isn’t working, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. Sustained double-digit economic growth is possible when you begin with a wrecked economy. China’s dilemma, like Japan’s, is that it built much of its growth on exports. Both China and Japan were poor countries, and demand for goods was low. They jump-started their economies by taking advantage of low wages to sell products they could produce themselves to advanced economies. The result was that those engaged in exporting enjoyed increasing prosperity, but those who were farther from East China ports, where export industries clustered, did not. COMMENT: Bottom line....the Chinese slowdown is continuing. (The Chinese govt has predicted a slowing down in 2017).  This has important consequences for the real estate bubbles in Canada and Australia. China is desperately trying to prevent funds from escaping the mainland.

6.Daily Mail: Rotating Dubai skyscraper to be built in 2020 allows guests to swivel their rooms 360 degrees. Residents at Dubai's new hotel with be able to watch the sunrise and sunset in the city's rotating hotel. The Dynamic Tower was proposed nine years ago by Israeli-Italian architect David Fisher. Fisher created the design with the idea that 'the motionless state of today's houses does not reflect people's actual lives, where everything is constantly changing'. COMMENT: Israel and Israeli's continue to change the world! Read more:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4231698/Rotating-Dubai-skyscraper-built-2020.html#ixzz4aZ580zON

7.Israeli scientist Alan Bodner has created Like-a-Fish, a breathing device that can literally spin oxygen out of water. Not only is it great for divers, but its technology can also be applied to submarines and in underwater habitats. COMMENT: WOW! Read more http://www.israelisonit.com/inventions#/how-to-breathe-like-a-fish/

“The trick is this: keep your eye on the ball. Even when you can't see the ball.”― Tom Robbins

I told my psychiatrist that everyone hates me. He said I was being ridiculous - everyone hasn't met me yet - Rodney Dangerfield

On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron - H. L. Mencken