Israel - Follow The Money

1.An Apple a day....

Israel and Syria may officially be at war with one another, but that isn’t preventing a bustling apple trade between the two countries. Starting yesterday, February 15, and lasting three weeks, all apples grown by Israeli farmers on the Golan Heights will be exported to Syria. An estimated 12,000 tons of apples will be exported every day. Of course, the Syrians will not do business directly with the Israelis, so the apples are transfered through third parties, the UN and the International Red Cross.

2.Israeli Economy Booming

Israel's GDP rose at an unprecedented pace of 7.8%,on an annualized, seasonally adjusted basis, in the fourth quarter of 2010, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported today. GDP rose by an annualized 5.4% in the second half of last year, after rising 5% in the first half, and 3.4% in the second half of 2009.

Comment: That friends, is a booming economy. Quite frankly, the one thing that can save arab economies from long term destruction, is a peace agreement with Israel. But like my cousin Hilton says..."there is no cure for stupid".

3.Intel signs $300m procurement deal in Israel

Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC) has signed a new reciprocal procurement deal in Israel. Intel Israel general manager Maxine Fassberg today signed the five-year $300 million agreement with Industrial Cooperation Authority director general Bina Bar-On. Bar-On said, "The great news emerging from this new agreement touches on Israeli vendors who will be recognized by giants like Intel. Since 1996, Intel has led in reciprocal procurement, making over $5 billion in procurements in Israel," said Bar-On.

Comment: Keep bashing away BDS. The more you bash, the more Israel succeeds. Please remove yourselves from facebook....

4.CSR of UK buys Zoran for $679 million

British company CSR plc, based in Cambridge, is to buy Israeli chip company Zoran Corp. (Nasdaq: ZRAN) for $679 million, the two companies announced last night. Zoran is managed by founder Levy Gerzberg. CSR is a supplier of wireless connectivity and location chips. It sells Bluetooth, GPS, FM, Wi-Fi and audio devices.

5.Israel tests Arrow 2 anti-missile system

Israel's defense establishment has completed a successful test of the Arrow 2 ballistic missile defense system on Tuesday. Using an interceptor missile, the operators were successful in destroying a target missile launched from a ship at sea. The system check was conducted at a designated field in the US.

COMMENT: For some or other reason, Tom Friedman of the almost bankrupt NYT seems to think that Israel is a child in an adults world, lecturing Israel on what it owes The US. Maybe so Mr. friedman, the difference being that Israel pays its debts.

6.Better Place unveils Danish electric car prices

Better Place today launched its European visitors center, together with Renault, and the programs that it will offer subscribers in Denmark. The price of the electric car itself - the Renault Fluence - will be €27,500 (NIS 138,000). The price, which is tax exempt, is considered a bargain for Danes who are normally required to pay 180% purchase tax and VAT on new cars.

7.IDF celebrates Armored Corps history: Trophy system successful 

For Israel this is huge. Defence forces around the world must be in awe of this development. The Trophy (ASPRO-A) system, also known as ‘Windbreaker’, protected a Merkava 4 tank of the IDF from the missile attack, according to news reports.The defence system, produced by Israel’s Rafael company in partnership with US’s General Dynamics, uses sensors and radar to track an incoming missile and fires interceptor missiles that neutralise the hostile weapon before it can strike the tank. The IDF’s Stryker armourded fighting vehicle fitted with Trophy, withstood numerous missiles and rocket attacks under a six-week test and evaluation programme conducted by the US Office of Secretary of Defence (OSD).

COMMENT: And they say Israel is of no strategic benefit to the US... What other ally can develop such equipment? The financial implications, to put it mildly, are considerable.

To survive it is often necessary to fight and to fight you have to dirty yourself - George Orwell 

The Truth About Money

1.Mary Meeker of Bloomberg - "Would You Invest In a Company that lost $2 trillion last year, and has a net worth of a negative $44 trillion? Imagine no Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corp or Coast Guard, no federal courts or prisons, no national park service, no food and drug administration, no embassies, no salaries for Congress. That's what it would take to finance the budget by 2025 and still pay interest on America's debts, without either raising revenues or reducing entitlement growth. That's certainly not a recognizable America."

COMMENT: Looks Like the dollar is in for a rough ride.

2. Dennis Gartman - "Let's get this straight. We're going to be 'gifted' with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don't, which purportedly covers at least ten million more people without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that didn't read it but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a president who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, for which we'll be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect, by a government which has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's broke!!

COMMENT: What could possibly go wrong?

3.Russia stands to lose $4 billion in arms deals due to unrest in Libya, the Interfax news agency cited Sergei Chemezov, head of the state holding company that controls arms exports, as saying on Thursday. (Reuters)

COMMENT:That explains the Russian reticence as regards Libya. They will be losing major money if the uprisings continue. Imagine if they spread to Syria?

4.World food prices rose 2.2% in February from the previous month to a record peak, the United Nations' food body said Thursday, as it warned that volatility in oil markets could push prices even higher. The Food and Agriculture Organization price index rose by 2.2%—the eighth consecutive rise since June—to an average of 236 points last month, the highest record in real and nominal terms since the agency started monitoring prices in 1990.

5. WSJ - China announced plans to increase its defense budget by 12.7% this year, a pickup from last year's sharply lower growth that comes amid fresh confrontations over territorial issues with Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.

COMMENT: Maybe this has more to do with internal strife created by that new adversary....The internet.

6. Protestors shouted "shame" in the chamber Wednesday as Ohio's State Senate narrowly passed a bill that limits collective bargaining rights for public workers. John Kasich (Governor of Ohio) brushed off any suggestion that the measure will negatively impact a potential bid for the presidency, saying "I was not elected to...make political decisions. I was elected to fix this state so families could be lifted, and we would have more opportunity and more hope in this state," he says. "And whatever happens in 2012, I don't really care, that's not my interest."

COMMENT: Thats the difference between a politician and a leader....He leads from the front.

Ho-ka hey! It is a good day to die! Strong hearts, brave hearts to the front! Weak hearts and cowards to the rear! - Crazy Horse (Sioux chief).

The Primary Trend - The Truth about Money

1.SHANGHAI—A United Nations agency said this year's wheat crop is at risk in at least five Chinese provinces, echoing continuous warnings from China that its major northern wheat growing areas are facing an epic drought. In a rare special early warning global alert, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said north China's "ongoing drought is potentially a serious problem." This will have a dire effect worldwide and has the potential to ignite a fire in the impoverished countries.

2. J.P. Morgan will now accept gold as collateral for loans. In doing so, Morgan is saying that gold is as safe as AAA-rated US Treasury bonds. In other words, JPM is classifying gold as a high-quality currency. Morgan said it is responding to clients, many of whom are storing gold in Morgan's vaults.

3. Some of you know this.  But not enough of you.  Madoff did to his investors what the government has been doing to the US citizen for over 70 years with Social Security.  There is no meaningful difference between the two schemes, except that one was operated by a private individual who is now in jail, and the other is operated by politicians who enjoy perks, privileges and status in spite of their actions. When benefits for older investors become due the politicians pay them with money taken from younger and newer wage earners to pay the older geezers....

4.China has shut down parts of the Internet, blocking off all references to Egypt What with the shortages of wheat, China's cash and the similarity of regimes, they must be patiently licking their lips while the military in Egypt move towards "democracy".

5.President Obama's budget, sent to Congress on Monday, carried a clear, if unspoken message: He's digging in -- not just for the immediate spending fight, but for the 2012 campaign. "But Obama's budget was mostly notable for what it didn't do: which was to follow the advice of his bipartisan fiscal commission. $1.6 trillion in tax hikes over 10 years are dead on arrival." - Investors Business Daily.

COMMENT: What is it with this guy? He feints to the middle and then flees back to the left. After his awful first term, I thought he'd had enough. But I was wrong; like all politicians Obama wants to remain in office. What is it about the ascent to power? These fools just can't put it down. Obviously, this unpopular and incompetent president wants a second term. And he's ready to sell his nation and its future down the river to get that elusive second shot at the "big power." Its time to get pragmatic Barak baby!

To be without the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness - Bertrand Russell   

 

The Middle East Fallout

1.The Fatah movement organized a rally in Ramallah to support the Palestinian anti-settlement push and slam the US. The demonstration features racist elements, as protestors carried signs referring to Obama by his skin color, reading "Washington – the black hands support occupation and colonial thinking."

COMMENT: Apparently they have one or two racists amongst the Palestinian arabs....You think?

2.Newsweek - Clueless president -- "The result has been a foreign policy debacle. The president has alienated everybody, not only Mubarak's cronies in the military, but also the youthful crowds in the streets of Cairo. Who ever ultimately wins, Obama loses. Alienation doesn't end there. America's two closest friends in the region, Israel and Saudi Arabia -- are both disgusted. The Saudis, who dread all manifestations of revolution, are appalled at Washington's failure to resolutely prop up Mubarak. The Israelis, meanwhile, are dismayed by the administration's apparent cluelessness."

3.An Israeli Muslim filed a NIS 1.2 billion class action suit against The Central Bottling Company Group Ltd. (the Israel franchisee for Coca Cola) in the Jerusalem District Court today for compensation for mental anguish and infringing the independent choices of the individual. The plaintiff, an Israeli Muslim, filed the suit following publication on the web last week of what is apparently the secret recipe of Coca Cola, and which allegedly contains alcohol. The class action suit was filed by Advs. Hani Tannus, Ofir Cohen, and Mahmud Machjana.

COMMENT: This must be a printing error. According to DBS Israel is an Apartheid State!
Maybe separate courthouses....

4.Palestinian and other Arab leaders were outraged on Friday when the US effectively vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that condemned the Jewish presence in the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria as illegal. Israeli Arab lawmaker Ibrahim Sarsour wrote a letter of condolence to Abbas in which he insisted, “We must say frankly to Obama: You no longer scare us and you can go to hell. We knew his promises were lies. The time has come to spit in the face of the Americans.”

COMMENT: The diplomatic language used must be a dialect of arabic. And now a day of rage. What, somebody stole their candy?...so they throw a childish tantrum. This is getting to be B - O - R - I - N - G......Oh!  And another Israeli Arab lawmaker....for crying out aloud... how many of them are there in this Apartheid State?

5.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.

COMMENT: Great timing Erdogan. Good thing you have those bank accounts in Switzerland.
 

When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck before you crush him - Roosevelt

Obama and the Days of Rage

My first experience of a day of rage came in 1987 during the first Intifada. We were in Gaza in a suburb named Sheikh Rajuan. A lot of whistling and stone throwing. Young kids egged on by adults, generally from behind closed doors while the older generation looked on disapprovingly. The point is, nothing new under the sun. On Thursdays we had a day of rage, Friday after prayers it was a day of protest. Next day it was a day of revenge for a fallen martyr (and believe me there were plenty of those around - enough to fill every calendar day of the year) and so on. You get the idea.


These days it has developed into what the arabs would call "more sophisticated violence." The adults who once watched from behind closed doors are well aware that western media view this as news (or entertainment depending on your views). So, feeling protected by the cameras and a new word for them, "democracy", they put on a show for the world calling it a day of rage. Of course we are supposed to be shaking in our boots at the use of the word "rage".  What we have here is anger, hatred, violence and threats. Folks, this is not western democracy....This is Islam at its best. The manipulation of naive western media, some left wing ideology, western values of freedom and democracy, hunger, greed and lust for power, all mixed into the pot. All that is needed is to stir the pot and smile cynically as the infidels run around in dissaray not understanding what is happening. The problem with stupid people, is that they drag you down to their level and then beat you with it.


And what of Barak Obama and the part he is playing. At the beginning of his term, he made speeches to the muslim world, extending his hand in friendship (at the time somebody warned that it was like shaking hands with the devil). After all, it was his charisma and his oratory prowess accompanied by a big smile that won him the presidency. Why not conquer the world with that brilliant smile? To confirm his genius, he was awarded the Nobel peace prize. Thats when it all started to go wrong. The muslim world regarded his bowing and kowtowing as weakness. Just another infidel, easily manipulated.


Then came Tunisia, Egypt and the rest of the arab world. A shrinking US economy, a devastating loss at election time and a lack of backbone, accompanied by a show of disrespect for Mubarak served to convince the forces of Islam that the time was right to strike. One US ally after another is under attack. The Palestinian arabs sensed the weakness coming out of Washington and moved to replace the US partner with the UN. Out comes the veto and the Palestinian arabs call for a day of rage against the US. Abbas shows his true colours and jumps on the bandwagon. All in all, a sad state of affairs. Serious mismanagement with its roots in day one of this administration. In comparison even George Bush is starting to look good here.


"Day of rage" - something only Muslims could come up with. Problem is Islam gives them nothing but a whole life of rage and when they die they will find an eternity of rage. The rest of the world needs to be enraged with Islam and keep it out of the West so that we can live in peace and not deal with the constant and eternal outrage of Islam. Unfortunately that appears to be a pipe dream as 1.3 billion hungry muslims in a world of shrinking US influence, and an inability to compete economically, begin the process of self -destruction. The only question in my mind, is who they will take down with them.


In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on - Robert Frost

Was that a Revolution?

The icons of western media really went overboard romanticising the uprising in Egypt. Tom Friedman of the NY Times had a "kumbaya moment", CNN commentators almost broke out into song "We shall overcome" while all the foreign policy experts in Hollywood lit candles and contemplated who would get to play the part of  Google's hero of the revolution. With tears in their eyes they lauded people power and how the wonderful people of Egypt wanted to be just like us. How arrogant and condescending. Sorry to put a damper on all the nauseating emotion, but to the people of Egypt, life is not a Hollywood movie. So lets take a look at life in Egypt.


The Egyptian military have total control over Egypt. Who are they? Well for starters, while the Egyptian Government were revamped, The military portfolio remained the same. Field Marshall Mohamed Tantawi remains both Defense Minister and Minister of Military Production, which makes him, in effect, CEO of a vast military-run commercial enterprise that seeps into every corner of Egyptian society. But despite the military's predominant role, the Egyptian public knows remarkably little about how the military actually operates. That's because writing about the military has long been off-limits to the press. The secrecy begins with the military budget, which Jane's estimates to be about $5 billion. As for the parliamentary committee responsible for overseeing those expenses, it is stuffed with police and military officers; the prospects for meaningful civilian oversight anytime soon are dim.

Then there is the military's role in the economy. After the peace agreement with Israel in the late seventies, the military downsized 50% from about a million servicemen. These downsized soldiers were put to work in military sponsored factories. Now, 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.

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.

And now the kicker. Gamal Mubarak, the man designated to take over the regime, was NOT a military man. In fact, in his own corrupt way, intended to institute change in Egypt. The military made it clear to Mubarak, that they disagreed with his appointed successor. At its peak, the demonstrations numbered approximately 300, 000. The army did not interfere in these demonstrations. In fact, they probably sided with the demonstrators. Tantawi safely visited the square during the largest demonstration. Today the square is clear, Mubarak and sons are gone, and the military council controls the country, promising democratic elections sometime in the future. The same military council that has been in control for 60 years. In Brazil and The Phillipines, just to name a few, it took 20 years to move from military control to democracy. How long do you think it will take in Egypt?

To sum it all up, the revolution, (if, in fact there was one), was not about democracy and people power, but more about the cat guarding her milk. And if ever there will be a revolution, it will be based on hunger and a 3000 year old culture, and not a 300 year old western media-led uprising. Fact: The riots in Tunisia continue.

Nobody gets justice. People only get good luck or bad luck - Orson Welles

Believe it or not

1.Denmark, of all countries, is enacting "out of the box" laws.  In order to counter forced marriages, the country does not allow Danish citizens to marry foreigners younger than 24 years old. It also offers non-Western immigrants up to 15 thousand euros or 20 thousand dollars to emigrate back to their countries of origin. Immigrants who are not Danish citizens are banished from Denmark if they commit violent crimes.

2."At this dangerous rate, US debt will be $18.6 trillion at the end of the president's term, an unimaginable explosion of 75% above and beyond the debts accumulated by all of his 43 predecessors combined. America's fiscal future is frightening." From Rep. Kevin Brady, in USA Today


3."In 2009, 41% of children born in the USA were born to unmarried mothers (up from 5% a half-century ago). That includes 73% of non-Hispanic black children, 53% of Hispanic children and 29% of non-Hispanic white children. Those are not misprints." From an editorial in today's USA Today .

4.Every once in a while, I come across a statistic that makes me gasp in disbelief. How about this one? In the US armed forces, over the last year more service people have died via suicide than were killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

5.Iranian intelligence operatives recently detained over a dozen squirrels found within the nation's borders, claiming the rodents were serving as spies for Western powers determined to undermine the Islamic Republic. "In recent weeks, intelligence operatives have arrested 14 squirrels within Iran's borders," state-sponsored news agency IRNA reported. Iranian police commander Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moqadam confirmed the report, saying that a number of squirrels had been caught bearing foreign spy gear within Iran's borders.

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, its just possible you haven't grasped the situation.
- Jean Kerr