US intelligence agencies conclude.....

....that Iran is not, I say again, not, constructing any nuclear weapons, though for some reason the story says "bomb." The reactor that attracts so much attention on Iran's southwest cost is not being used for military research, US intelligence agencies conclude. Granted, there is a capability to do so since the Iranians are engaged in nuclear research but there is no military applications as yet.

So why continue to surround and harass Iran? Such behavior only pushes them towards military applications. The answer may well lie in an attempt to once again drive up oil prices with the aid of a manufactured "crisis".

Has Iran shown a history of imperial aggressiveness? Yes, it has. But it is not doing so at the moment. Nor can they.

Iran's economy is not that strong. They are surrounded by the US military in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, and the Persian Gulf . Iranian threats to Israel cannot be carried out because the US, and probably Israel, can knock the missiles down before they come close. Furthermore, Iran's relationship with Hamas has fallen apart so Iran's ability to strike at the Israelis is degraded even more. Unfortunately, there are still Iranian proxies in southern Lebanon but can they seriously damage Israel? Even their best effort in 2006 could not seriously damage Israel nor has any meaningful attempt repeat the effort.

Oil traders (maybe "traitors" is a better spelling) continue to harp about an Israeli preemptive strike on Iran. Have they looked at a map? Does any Israeli airplane have that kind of range to get there and back? And somehow, I don't see Jordan or Kuwait giving permission for overflight and even Iraq would not allow that, especially considering their experience in being on the receiving end of an Israeli strike back in 1981.

When these same speculators shout about Iranian efforts to shut down the Hormuz waterway, remember, Iran has a small navy that the US Fifth Fleet can destroy within a day. Also remember that when Saddam Hussein began blowing up oil wells in Kuwait during the Gulf War in 1991, oil prices did not move.

Who are the real villains here?

All these threats only reinforce the "Americans are coming to destroy Iran" propaganda Tehran feeds its people. And it suits the purposes of those seeking to steal more from the American people. And the sad thing is is that the morons in Tehran might actually be less of a threat to America.

Pic from CIA World Fact Book

Story for your consideration from New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/world/middleeast/us-agencies-see-no-move-by-iran-to-build-a-bomb.html

Now he's worried about gas prices?

Gas prices are heading for $4 a gallon by the end of next month. On a much faster pace that the 2008 spike that led to this horrific economic situation. Back then, Candidate Obama railed against the White House (justifably) for not doing anything to allieviate the situation. Now four years later, prices have leaped from under $2 to $4 and President Obama has done nothing. In 20o8, he called for a comprehensive energy plan. In 2012, after vetoing the Keystone oil pipeline project, he is calling for a comprehensive energy plan.

So what has he been doing for four years?

Everything a politician uses the world "comprehensive", they sound like used car salesman.

That is because that is what they are.

Congress has a 9% approval rating.

You are better off talking to a used car salesman.

So much for "Hope and Change"

The story from from USAToday.com for your consideration:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/02/obama-mocks-gop-on-gas-price-issue/1#.T0ajUvmD-QY

Why not just default?

When I look at Greece's debt problems and the measures they are taking to "solve" it--more debt and massive cuts in the minumum wage--I wonder why they just don't default and start over. The debtors are not getting their money back and the country's continued membership in the European Union is just going to drag the whole thing down.

The EU has spent over $320 billion to try to keep Greece afloat. Meanwhile Portugal and Ireland are in trouble and two large economies, Italy and Spain, are in the same, sinking, boat. Will the EU shell out more money to keep them out of the red for a few months?

Better to take the medicine and start the road back to recovery.

When a country is facing 20% unemployment and has to suffer austerity cuts that result in 20% cut in wages, default and going back to the drachma makes a lot more sense.

Could it mean the end of the Eurozone.

Probably.

Didn't look like it was working that well anyway.

On this day....

On this day in 1965, the Canadian flag we know and love was adopted. All around the world, this is seen as the flag of justice, peace and freedom.

Hope and Change second to Super PACs

Isn't this the guy who said he wanted to change politics as we knew it and end corruption in DC? He looks sort of like the same guy who campaigned against Super PACs in 2008, calling them a "threat to liberty."

Of course, we can also thank the Supreme Court for ruling in 2010 that corporations were people. Remember, this is the same organization that ruled slavery and segregation was legal. Sorry if I seem skeptical about their logic...

Nonetheless, the Obama flip flop on PACs below for your consideration courtesy of Yahoo news.




http://news.yahoo.com/obama-shows-weakness-super-pac-stance-change-184400868.html

Germany rising?

For the 17th or 18th time, I read in the news that stocks rallied on impending deal/hope of solving the Greek debt crisis. It is not solved and it is not going away. The Eurozone is not going to become any kind of political union or superstate. It might turn into a German vassalage though.

All of the Euro bailouts have come straight out of Germany's pocket and Chancellor Angela Merkel has said there will be no more. Germany, located in the center of Europe, and possessing the continent's strongest economy is clearly the strongest country in the faltering EU. Without Germany, there is no European Union but with or without the European Union, there will be a Germany.

Germany has the lowest unemployment rate (6.6%) in the EU, an economy that is an interesting mix of industrial and financial, and seems to be developing an interesting relationship with Russia when it comes to oil. It kind of looks like 1880 all over again when Bismarck gave the Czar loans to modernize Russia and keep them from allying with France.

Some extremists start shouting about 1939 and "the Germans are coming!" but I can't see that happening. A possible swing rightward and a resurgence in patriotism but I don't see the swastika making a comeback.

Oddly, Angela Merkel may succeed where Kaiser Wilhelm and Adolf Hitler failed. Germany may conquer Europe without firing a shot or even intending too do so. Greek, Spanish, Irish, and Italian debt is held by a lot of Germans and at some point, they will call in the markers. Deals will be made but with those come concessions. What sort of concessions will there be? I don't think the Germans are out to overrun Europe but it is looking like they will own a good piece of it.

Europe, with or without the EU, will continue to revolve around Germany. Europe's history is usually the story of a power vacuum in Germany or a Germanic attempt to expand in all directions, from the Romans to the Third Reich. Sometimes it was just migrations and others it was an attempt at conquest. Sometimes, historians hate to use this phrase, it "just happens". The law of unintended consequences can lead down roads no one even knew existed. Take a look at Europe's history in the 1860s and you will see what I mean.

I have heard from a lot of people that the European Union was formed not only to create a unified Europe but a European Germany. It might end up creating a German Europe. It just might be inevitable.