IRAN, THE ECONOMY, THE CHINA/JAPAN FLARE UP AND OTHER SIGNS OF THE END OF THE WORLD

Today was a really bad day for news. Iran claims nuclear capacity, China and Japan may be on the verge of war over some uninhabited islands, mail will soon stop on Saturdays (and totally fucking up my Netflix cue), the economy looks headed for disaster and Paul Walker will now take over in the new Hitman film reboot. Joy.

Let's start with Iran. An article has appeared in an Egyptian newspaper with current Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad quoted saying this:

Ahmadinejad said the world must now treat Iran as a nuclear country. “They want Iran to go back to what it was in the past, but they won’t succeed. They assume we’ll give in to pressure; such thoughts are misguided. We’re already an industrial and nuclear country, a country that has conquered space. For years we have been thinking about sending a human being into space, and we will do that, with Allah’s help. We must ensure development and growth and bring them to pass, and the world must acknowledge our progress,”

The main problem with this statement is that is almost certainly false. While it is possible that they may have enough material for a nuke, there has been no information that they have achieved the capacity for a bomb of missile yet, with yet being the optimum word. They will soon reach that threshhold but, knowing what I do about the nuclear program, they are still months away from achieving that goal. I would almost certainly guarantee this to be grandstanding and I base this on the sentence from the above quote: "A country that has conquered space." On what planet is sending a monkey into orbit, something we achieved sixty years ago, conquering space? Then there's the fact that, if photos are any indication, the monkey they sent up died. Here's the photo they released:



Tell me that's the same monkey because it isn't. The hair is a different color, the nose is a different shape, the eyes are wrong. How dumb do they think we are? Do they really think that all monkeys look alike? If they are lying about their achievement in space travel, it's not that much of a stretch to say they are lying about their nuclear program too.

This is also incredibly stupid as the Iranians must have missed that part of history when Saddam Hussein said he had weapons of mass destruction and then got killed for it. Israel and the US will not react well to this and ups the ante for a giant miscalculation.

Speaking of miscalculations, the Asian Pacific area is headed for a confrontation if what China, Japan and North Korea are all doing keeps occuring. North Korea is allegedly preparing for a nuclear test in blatant violation to the UN treaty. For someone unknown reason we give tons of food to this rouge nation in exchange for them NOT doing this kind of thing. If NK detonates nuke, all food MUST be cut off immediately. I'm sorry if the public starves but I'd rather have that than a North Korea armed with nukes that can hit the US. We are still at war with them for God's sake. This is what happens when countries who shouldn't have nukes get them: the chances for the world to end rise dramatically. Just to stick their finger in our eye, their media there released a video that showed NYC destroyed. Good times.

Meanwhile, China and Japan are inching closer to war over some controversial islands that both claim as theirs. Yesterday, Chinese warships aimed their radar at Japanese naval forces. This is the kind of acts that can lead to a massive war, and one in which US interests will be affected immediately.

And then there is the economy, which despite what the government and MSM keeps touting like a broken record, which is spiraling downward again. Economists Marc Faber and Nouriel Roubini have both said that the debt bubble will burst soon and that the entire world economy may crash. And everyone points to one factor that is killing us: profits. That's all anyone cares about. Not the workers, not the government, not even the company itself which vulture capitalists are buying up, loading with debt and bailing with all their stolen assets. It is this mad drive for profit that is the reason salaries haven't risen for forty years now, why benefits are being slashed and, as a direct result, more and more of us are being driven into poverty and governments are starving for tax revenue that is no longer flowing in but out.

But like any bubble, this one will burst soon. You can't have two thirds of the country making less than $41,000 a year and expect things to be fine. People need to buy things. As they have no money, they put it all on credit. But when you can't pay the credit, and millions just like you, credit card companies go out of business as they have no cash flow just bankruptcy after bankruptcy. Add to that the out of control tuition costs that can't be paid back because new graduates can't find a job, and you have what Roubini says is a "perfect storm."

There is also the housing market which isn't nearly as stable as everyone wants you to believe, an unemployment rate that is masking the true desperation in the country right now (more on that in a future article), and a currency war being fought. There is danger around every corner and the news talks about none of it. It took NBC news three days to talk about the Syria/Israeli conflict and that aired opposite the Super Bowl. The media can no longer be trusted. The government can no longer be trusted. That is a dangerous combination.

Countries like Japan and the US have used ultra-low interest rates and money printing to help stimulate the economies. The unintended consequence of this action is that no one is making any money off their investments anymore, unless you have a high speed computer or inside information. Japan has lost 10% of it's value against the dollar since their new government has tried a growth at any cost attempt which is not succeeding, as growth and cuts are necessary. Grow new business and cut old ones that don't work. That plan is never implemented anywhere. If it was, we would have legal weed here and a defense budget half the size it is.

Because so many people are printing their way out of the world depression, eventually the entire system will collapse and hyperinflation will result. How do I know this? Because everytime this has been attempted in human history, that has been the end result. Look at the Wiemar Republic or even Zimbabwe for how printing money devalues the currency to worthlessness.

Nations have taken noticed as many are dumping treasury bonds and stocks for gold. China has gone from the largest owner of US bonds to the biggest seller and are investing in gold instead, with some saying they are now they second largest holder of gold, just behind the US and now ahead of Germany.

Greed is killing us. Religion is killing us. Stupidity is killing us. And now, thanks to the idiot Republicans who hate the Post Office by saddling them with unsustainable debt, Saturday mail will stop come August. Congress has yet to weigh in on this proposal, as technically they need Congressional action to change anything, so this may still not happen, but if it does, that will suck for anyone who gets magazines, bills, or DVD's in the mail as they will all be delayed now. It may actually put DVD or game by mail service in jeopardy as this will constitute a price hike as the average consumer will get less DVD's per month and may lead to record cancellations as people move to VOD or Redbox. Way to go GOP, you may have cost thousands of people their jobs. Assholes.

IS A STOCK MARKET CRASH IMMINENT? WHY IS THE US STOCK MARKET THE ONLY ONE NOT FALLING APART?

If you live anywhere else but the US, the world stock exchanges have taken a beating over the last few days. As Asian markets tumbled around 2% on average this morning on fears of a European stock slide, our Dow Jones average has risen 125 points as of this writing. WTF? Investors world wide are sounding the alarm that things do not look good for any market and the US is behaving as if they are Kevin Bacon at the end of Animal House screaming, "All is well!" until he gets trampled.

Not that anyone in this country has heard anything from the increasingly worthless MSM about two major corruption scandals in Europe that threaten the world markets because hey, we need to know what Kim Kardashian had for breakfast and who Oprah plans on interviewing next.

Meanwhile, Spain's PM Mariano Rajoy is allegedly receiving illegal cash payments and calls for his resignation are growing louder by the day. The other involves a derivative scandal at the third largest bank in Italy. Again, allegedly, an investigation into Monti Pasche Bank is suggesting that Deutsche Bank (a super shady bank with alleged ties to CIA slush funds, drug lords and terror groups) helped cover up a $367 million loss on the derivative market in 2008, making the bank look more stable than it was just before it was bailed out by taxpayers, shades of what happened here as well. US banks like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs have also been mentioned in the investigation which shouldn't be that big a surprise as they both have a history with illegal deals that were conveniently swept under the rug by our worthless SEC and Justice Department. This is from Bloomberg.com, the only organization running stories about this scandal:

The Italian papers followed Bloomberg’s scoop days later with news that Nomura had structured a derivative for Monte Paschi along similar lines. The Italian central bank then disclosed Monte Paschi executives had concealed documents on the trades from them. Reuters reported that JPMorgan also did a sketchy derivative for the bank.

But the scandal only continued to grow. So far, the bank may have lost a billion dollars on the deals, and it turns out that the Bank of Italy knew about the allegedly fraudulent deals back in 2010, when Mario Draghi was its chief. Draghi is now head of the European Central Bank, and has been critical in tamping down the euro crisis in the last several months.

Now, the scandal threatens to change the course of Italian national elections being held later this month, giving a leg up to Silvio Berlusconi. Meantime, the political upheaval is helping cause the temperature to rise in the euro crisis again. The story has gotten relatively short shrift in The Wall Street Journal, though The New York Times weighed in last week with 1,600 words.


This scandal threatens banks world wide and, with it, the economy. This has also shaken up the upcoming elections in Italy with former PM and convicted felon, Silvio Berlusconi, rising in the polls, raising further uncertainty into an area that hardly needs it. The anti-austerity measures have proven a dismal failure, but much like the Republicans here, politicans are still demanding harsher cuts and the people have had it. Berlusconi is running as a populist, anti-austerity candidate and it's working. Should he win, Italy may prove to be ungovernable as a coalition may be impossible to form and send the entire country into a tailspin and ultimately Europe and the US.

Here's how bank stocks in Europe did yesterday:

UniCredit SpA: -8.3 percent
Commerzbank AG: -5.9 percent
Santander: -5.7 percent
Intesa Sanpaolo SpA: -5.4 percent
Credit Agricole SA: -5.4 percent
Société Générale SA: -4.8 percent
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA: -4.7 percent


That is not good news. And the news in this country is hardly much better. We found out this week that two thirds of this country makes less than $41,000 a year, meaning our middle class is officially dead. Our true employment stands around 23% which hasn't budged now in four years. More and more companies are switching to part time workers because of "Obamacare," but the reality is many companies have doing this for years. I saw it first hand when I worked as an editor for a CBS affiliate nearly a decade ago and soon discovered my chances of getting full time work amytime soon in this field was really nil. I would have to work part time, graveyard shift hours in the hopes that a union job would open that wouldn't be filled by someone with better connections than me. My take home pay for that entire time would be around $250 a week. As I couldn't survive on that kind of pay with zero benefits, I soon quit. This is the reality facing all workers in which Obamacare is a convenient excuse to further destabilize working families.

Most jobs being created are low paying, part time jobs with no benefits and being filled by people who once made $70,000 a year. Now they make $20,000. That is not a job. It's a slave position. And we here in the US are taking it on the chin. Keep it up people and soon you won't even be making that. Start fighting for what is right and stop being sheep. Or dig a ditch and lie down in it because that will be your new home if this crap continues.

THE GOP, SYRIA, THE ECONOMY AND OTHER THINGS THAT ARE DOOMED

The news today was not good as world markets fell due to horrific economic news and the possible end to the bull market. Unemployment numbers world wide are terrible and US futures have opened at .5%, which is not exactly a ringing endorsement of what investors see coming down the road.

Several experts are saying a downturn is overdue with a probably correction of 5-7%, possibly sometime around Obama's State of the Union Address, which will be filled with untruths and outright lies that many are going to see through. Our government is fixing the unemployment numbers, just not in the way the Republicans have said. The numbers were first fixed by Reagan back in the early eighties and then by Clinton in the 90's by simply changing the way the CPI is looked at. Obama and the GOP have both made claims to a "chained" CPI which, if enacted, would destroy our lousy economy. Luckily, the democrats have been firmly against such a plan and thank God for that. This was the worst plan Obama ever had to make the GOP take a budget deal, but morons that they are, threw it back it in his face and now have little chance of getting anything.

Many people, like myself, see a stock market as an unregulated casino where the Big Boys have unfettered access to information and computers that the rest is us don't and are scamming the markets in doing so. The stock market is reaching record highs, but the fact that two thirds of this country is making less than $41,000 a year is a travesty that, sooner or later, will crash the economy. Our middle class is officially dead now and the assholes out there putting people into office on both sides of the aisle from Nancy Pelosi to John Boehner should be ashamed of the damage they have done by voting these morons into office.

The election in Italy is casing problems as convicted felon and former PM Silvio Berlusconi is running for a fourth term and might actually win, meaning Italians are the stupidest mother fuckers on the fact of the Earth. He is currently in second place. This is sending the markets throughout Europe downward as NO ONE outside of the country thinks this is good thing. The only good news is that some polls say that a third of the country doesn't like anybody for PM meaning they get same elections we get: idiots voting for people who have no business running for office.

As stocks continue to drop, another reason is the deadly flare up between Israel and the Syria/Iran/Lebanon Axis of Stupidity. The Axis is saying Lebanon will get those SA-17 missiles come hell or high water with Israel responding that a no fly zone may be implemented to prevent such a thing from happening. Good times. As predicted, everyone shouted loudly but did nothing. No one wants a wider war, especially if you know you will get flattened in the process. But if they follow through with their threat to move missiles again, Israel will strike and the Axis will eventually be forced to respond, if no other reason, then to save face. This could go nuclear in a heartbeat if things spiral out of control as wars have a tendency to do.

Iran is telling the IEAE to come on back and inspect all the sites they want, to which the UN has responded, thanks but no thanks. They have been invited several times to do just that, and once they arrive, the parameters change and the inspectors get nothing done. Talks have broken down between all sides and things look bleak for a peaceful resolution that had little chance of success. Iran wants nukes, period. Israel will destroy the country to prevent that from happening. What do you think the end result will be in that scenario?

Meanwhile, the Republican party is refusing to acknowledge they lost the last election and are currently figuring out new and inventive ways to lose in upcoming elections. The best story I heard today was the the GOP was courting Ann Romney to run for the interm Senate position here in MA. And if not her, how about her son Tagg. Does the GOP really think that if either of these two run, the end result will not be a rout for the republicans? Mitt lost badly here in the Presidential race and anyone even attached to his name is going to have a rough ride running for dogcatcher let alone the Senate.  The GOP is unlikely to change their ways, meaning ultimately, the Republican party is doomed with no chance of winning future elections unless they cheat because they philosophy is not one that a majority of this country has anymore and their key supporters are dying out.

So things look bleak again as they always do right before spring. The only difference is that this year could be catastrophic.

DOUCHEBAG OF THE WEEK: THE GOVERNMENT

With terrible economic news this week, you'd think none of it was happening considering the stock market is hitting record highs and rich people are dancing in the streets as otherse all around starve. Let's see those runner ups.

1)Bouncers at The Brazilian Nightclub That Burned To the Ground- It has come to light that, much like the blaze at The Station in Providence, bouncers prevented people from leaving as the structure was engulfed in flames. The reason was they were worried people were leaving without paying for the drinks, like that was their biggest concern at the moment. Let me give a word of advice to anyone standing between me and an exit where my life is in danger: Don't. Because you won't get two words out before I literally kill you  I may be old and crippled, but once upon time I studied martial arts for years and still know enough to smash a windpipe or two. This is idiocy at it's stupidest and the only glad thing I take away from this is knowing that dumb people are not just here in this country.

2)Lindsay Lohan- Take a quick look at the above picture and tell me that Lindsay isn't aging badly as it's not readily apparent who is the mother and who is the daughter. The Terrible Twosome was turned away from two posh hotels this past weekend; one she was banned from for doing thousands of dollars in damage previously to a penthouse suite, the other because it was "full." Lindsay was also banned from the Chateau Marmont for failure to pay an outstanding balance of $46,000. Hotels have not been kind to Lindsay as in the past she has hit people with her car while leaving Dream Downtown Hotel in NYC and she accused a Congressional staffer of sexual assault at the W also in NYC, an act that never happened. You'd think she'd be getting her act together but recently turned down a stint on DWTS for $500,000 and has few projects lined up even though she is drowning in debt. What a loser.

3)Oprah-I have never disguised my dislike for Oprah Winfrey. She may do good things for people and is a very good interviewer, but privately she as ego the size of, well, her ass and constantly seems to look down on anyone not of her status. That irks me more than anything else in a star. Recently her network faces a bad lawsuit after firing a woman who had the audacity to get pregnant and needed time off. When she returned, they gave her less and less to do and eventually fired her. She is now suing and will probably win. I hope she soaks the struggling OWN network.

4)Pat McCrory- This week, NC Govenor McCrory wants to put strict limitations on courses public colleges offer as many don't have any chance of getting a job in things like "liberal arts classes," because the "educational elite" had take over colleges, otherwise known as not Republicans. He went on to say this :

"So I’m going to adjust my education curriculum to what business and commerce needs to get our kids jobs as opposed to moving back in with their parents after they graduate with debt," McCrory said, adding, "What are we teaching these courses for if they're not going to help get a job?"

This is the same thinking that is destroying our public schools as common thinking is "why teach art, history or music and let's just focus on the basics." This has shown to produce terribly stupid people who know nothing about anything and now you want college people to do the exact same thing. In other words, Republicans are saying "we don't want you teaching our kids things that will make them realize that almost everything we stand for is bullshit." McCrory also seems not to realize that right now, there are few jobs for business majors, nursing and others that we keep being told will guarantee us a job. Imagine what would happen if EVERYONE graduated with those kind of degrees. Unemployment will skyrocket, you ass. Similar proposals by regular douchebags to this column Rick Scott and Scott Walker have been met with derision. What a bunch of idiots.

5)Critics Who Said Zero Dark Thirty Scenes of Torture Never Happened- Many, many people have come forth since the movie was released and said no torture was used to get information in the death of Osama Bin Laden. That has been turned on it's ass when departing Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, admitted that waterboarding was used to collect information after all. So all those naysayers were wrong and may have done enough damage to hurt it's former front running chances for Oscars, now being run away with from Argo, which was fantastic. I am tired of people opening their mouth just to hear the voice.

6)Sandy Hook Truthers- I'll say this again from the cheap seats: THERE IS NO CONSPIRACY HERE! My god, for some people everything is a conspiracy. I have read the dumbest blogs this week about this non story which holds as much weight as the Birther crap that still isn't going away. Real conspiracies are ones with proven flaws in the official story like 9/11, TWA 800, Pan Am 103(which has been proven real), and the assignations of JFK, RFK and MLK. This is hogwash. Get a life people.

7)Syria/Iran/Lebanon- Yes the Axis of Stupid strikes again with Israel blowing up a research site and a convoy of missiles being delivered to Hezbollah. The reaction was swift and immediate and, so far, full of hot air. The Iranians and Syrians have been belligerent but all bluster so far. The Russians are the US and not on high alert anymore but it is a region where everyone is on edge. This is a place where a single match could light up the world.

8)North Korea-Determined to piss off everyone, the North Koreans have signaled that they are getting ready for a third underground nuke test, in violation to UN charters and agreements with the US. This threatens more embargoes and even China has said publicly they are losing patience with the one trading partner NK has. If NK goes through with this, expect major repercussions.

9)Fox News- This week was a sad, sad spectacle as Fox News has given up reporting the news and is now actively flinging their poo everywhere. This week saw the triumphant return of the same temper tantrum like style of past days where President Blackenstein must be stopped at all costs programming. This week it was Skeetgate which now officially makes putting gate on the end of any scandal passe and lame. After the president says he goes skeet shooting all the time, Fox News pounced on it like a hungry cat on a mouse. They questioned it skeptically, asking where are the photos and why has no one mentioned it before. The White House quickly released a picture which, of course, has been photo shopped to death. On and in answer to your question, that's why they didn't want to release a picture of a black man you hate holding a gun.

10)Government- It has not been a good week for the government. There was an embarrassing sting gone bad with the ATF, which of course was not mentioned at all, on any major news network or national paper. Republicans hounded Chuck Hagel for the crime of standing too close to a n%*ger. John McCain has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that this country would be radioactive wasteland if he and his unbelievable unqualified VP had somehow won after his shameless questioning during the hearings. The biggest punch to the American people is a report issued by the Social Security Administration, also not covered anywhere, they says roughly 66% of this country makes less than $41,000 a year, 50% make less than the median average of $26,000 (which is also $15,000 LESS than you would have made in 1970) and 40% make less than $20,000 a year. These are not sustainable numbers and are the NUMBER ONE reason we are still in a depression. We haven't had a raise in over forty years, our unemployment stands at 23% and has remained unchanged now for four years, and the only houses being bought aren't from regular people but by the rich who are renting them out. No money loans, you know the thing that crashed the economy the first time, are back but only for "qualified" people, ie rich people. However, even though the housing market is up, it is an illusion. And again, once too many houses are bought and the rental market is played out, the system will crash again regardless of money in hand. And then the real trouble starts all over. Business everywhere are laying off individuals left and right and no, it is not because of Obamacare. Stores like Best Buy, Radio Shack and JC Penny's have been run badly for years and are hemorrhaging because if it. And none of this is being reported by the media or the government that both keep telling us everything is good. Even though the rest of us struggle to make ends meet in a  world that no longer pays their slaves anything. And that it what we are. Slaves. And until we wake up and demand better from our employers, our government and even ourselves, nothing will change. So congratulation US government you are indeed Douchebag of the week.

THE ATF, THE MIDDLE EAST, AND OTHER THINGS BORDERING ON STUPID

Why do we still fund the ATF? Legislation has all but neutered it, they seem to get nothing done correctly ever and the monstrosity costs the taxpayers over a billion dollars a year, not to mention all the money lost from lawsuits this organization stacks like cordwood. No to pigeon hole all agents as I am sure they must have a few fine officers there, but all the ones I have ever met have been dim witted, jack booted thugs who were not that far from Nazis. One person I know who lived next door to one of these morons had to get a restraining order against the agent as he was constantly threatening him for the most mundane of things (garbage cans to close to his property, a car further away from the curb than it should have been).

It is time to get rid of this organization once and for all and save the taxpayers the cash. These idiots are responsible for the Fast and Furious debacle and now comes word that a sting operation in Milwaukee was gone horribly wrong as well.

A store calling itself Fearless Distributing opened last year selling athletic wear, jewelry and drug paraphernalia. They were not business men but undercover ATF agents intent on getting information on drug and gun operations in the area. In ten months of operations, not one major arrest was made. They did manage to lose an ATF machine gun and get their place robbed of $35,000 worth of merchandise. As if all that wasn't enough, when they left, they forgot to clean the place of sensitive intel and left behind a list that of names, vehicles and phone numbers for undercover agents in the area. Oh and they destroyed the place knocking holes in the wall, broken doors and leaving an overflowing toilet and are being sued by the landlord for failure to pay utility bills and damages to a sum of $15,000.
 
Thirty people were ultimately arrested, mostly for low level drug deals but charged the wrong person in at least three cases. Plus one guy they swore was guilty turned out to already be in a federal prison for an earlier ATF crime. Because they were horrifically, almost comically bad businessmen, as people were buying guns from local dealers and selling them to the ATF for a profit.

They also were so blatant about not being a legit business that locals noticed immediately that either it was a front for money laundering or a sting operation. They had people bringing boxes and equipment at all hours and, when a UPS guy stopped in to ask how many packages they would be receiving per week, they said none. Yeah that's not suspicious. Way to be secretive guys.

The ATF has said that operations like this has reduced crime and gun violence in the area but information from the Justice Department say that these operations have have zero effect on gun crime. The report stated that the ATF had used faulty data and took credit for declining gun violence that had nothing to do with them. These jokers are a boil on this country and the ATF needs to be eliminated as that billion dollars saved could go to things that actually work.

Speaking of things not working, our economy showed a sharp reduction into recession territory, there was a slight increase to the fake unemployment numbers which still stands at 23% not the 7.9% the MSM and government keep touting, and gas price are rising. So with all this bad news you'd think the stock market would be going down too, but no, it is over 14,000 as of this writing. How is that possible? Until America gets paid a lot more money, nothing will ever be fixed. And as every company is experiencing record profits there is no logical reason you cannot give us all a much needed raise. Wages have flatlined now for almost forty years and without a huge influx of money to the middle class, the country is going down hard. Notice our wage losses coincide with the death of the unions. Yeah, unions, the thing we need a national one stat. And if you are one of those morons who doesn't like unions, feel free to move to Russia or China and see how non-union countries get paid. You won't be happy.

The Middle East is still tense with Israel threatening more attacks and Syria and Iran grinding their teeth. Egypt is still rioting and calling for Morsi's resignation which is still almost certainly not for reasons given but his idiotic power grab that set all of this off, and other things like the deadly soccer riot verdict used as an excuse. Protesters were outside of the Presidential palace which means Morsi is losing control as some threw Molotov cocktails and the army responded with tear gas. His curfew is openly mocked and some have described the riots as utter chaos. Morsi's days may be numbered and should be a lesson for politicians every where of what happens when you overreach. The GOP found out about that last November.

There is still no word anywhere from the supposed Fordo explosion so who knows if it's true or not. A suicide bomber has attacked the US embassy in Turkey, a rarity for that country killing two and the bomber. He has been linked to the RHKP-C terrorist group, and a leftist organization for once.

More info on any of these stories as they break.

MIDDLE EAST CONTINUES TO BURN. WAR DRUMS BEGIN AGAIN. IT'S LIKE A BROKEN RECORD.

You can tell Spring is coming soon as, like clockwork, the Middle East again looks like a gateway to WW3. Israel has struck targets deep in Syrian territory after satellite photos showed Russian SA-17 missiles being delivered across the Lebanese border and, ultimately to Hezbollah. The Syrians claim a "military research" base near the border was also destroyed and has been independently confirmed as of this writing. The strike was also seen as a warning that Israel will not tolerate any chemical or biological weapons transfers.

The reactions by the world was swift and immediate. Armed forces across the region. including the Americans and Russians, all went into high alert as war could break out at any minute. The Russians had this to say:

“Such action if confirmed would amount to unacceptable military interference in the war-ravaged country,” said the statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry Thursday. “If this information is confirmed, then we are dealing with unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violate the UN Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it.”

Will this start a war? Unlikely. For now. But this kind of thing is going to happen with more frequency as both Egypt and Syria are falling apart at the seams and both have excellent weaponry that, if in the wrong hands, could turn against Israeli or US interests. We are on a collusion course with Iran, as there is no way they are going to give up their nuke program, and there is no way Israel will allow that to happen.

Speaking of Iran, the IEAE of the UN said they had no confirmation of an explosion at the Fordo nuke plant and there has been little talk anywhere of follow ups so far. This story could still be true but at this point, we may not know for some time. I will keep you informed as more information  becomes available.

Egypt has become a free for all as the curfews in places like Port Said were ignored by EVERYONE and the riots continue. Politicians from all sides have asked for peace but they may have opened a can of worms that is not going to go back to normal so easily. More than 60 people so far have died in the rioting.

Even Saudi Arabia is not in the clear as US officials are worried that if the monarchy falls, what will replace it will be very anti-American and threaten US interests, the worst of which would be oil embargoes or price hikes. Considering that a majority of people there practice Wahhabism, one of the most fundamental versions of Islam, that is not such a stretch to imagine. Protesters are cropping up more and more. In 2011, the King paid the protesters a good sum of money to leave, which they did. When they returned later that year, five died and many more injured when troops fired on the crowd. First you get the carrot, then you get the stick.

BREAKING:News has just surfaced that both Syria and Iran are threatening to retaliate for the Israeli air strike. Syria has said that Damascus "has the option and the capacity to surprise in retaliation." He did not elaborate. Last week, Iran said to the Mehr news agency that any attack of Syria would be an attack on Iran. Today they said the strike would have serious repercussions on Tel Aviv.

Hezbollah also called the attack a "barbaric aggression" which is funny coming from a group of terrorists who routinely kill innocent people.  Russia said it appeared to be an unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation and said it is taking "urgent measures to clarify the situation in all its details."The Arab League called the strike a "flagrant aggression and a glaring violation" of Syria’s sovereignty, as reported by Haaretz.

Let's all hope that this doesn't end as badly as it might.

IRAN EXPLOSION STORY IS TRUE. OR IT ISN'T. OR IS IT?

Talk about a guessing game in the intelligence world. Yesterday I reported that WND.com was issuing a story that the Fordo nuke plant in Iran had exploded and hundreds were still trapped inside. Considering the source, most in the journalism community were skeptical. A day later and there is wildly conflicting data depending on which source you see.

According to The Times of London, think New York Times of the UK, Israeli sources have confirmed that Fordo did explode for reasons unknown and the story was accurate. The Telegraph, also of England, reported the same story but said they had no confirmation through their sources. And then, both Iran and the US deny anything has occurred, agreeing for the first time and appears, at this point at least, utter bullshit.

The story is getting major press world wide. Seen anything about it on the local or national news broadcasts? How about in the press, or Fox news or CNN? Nope, nope and nope. Kind of a huge story to ignore, don't you think? The closest who came to anything about any of the Middle East crisises was Jon Stewart last night. When a news comedy program is the only network nation wide to start talking about all the insanity going on there, you know civilization is doomed.

The story is being confirmed by German newspapers (man my German is rusty so thank God for translations), and countless web news sites, like yours truly. The fact that WND broke the story makes me weep for the MSM because that is one crazy site, but as I said yesterday, they do get some things right. Just because your nuts doesn't mean you might not be occasionally correct.

If this story is true, and it appears to be at this point, Iranian citizens are bathing in radiation and don't even know it as NO evacuations have been ordered. Could Iran be doing what Russia did; by forcing civilians to stay in a highly radiated area, like Chernobyl, and go about their business even though they are actually dying and unaware? That's sick.

Some Israeli papers are saying it was sabotage, which is a solid bet. There is also the possibility that Iran is using substandard materials, due to economic sanctions, and the plant blew up due to negligence. All of this could influence upcoming nuke talks between Iran and the West. It could either lead to a Star Trek 6 moment after the Klingon planet, Praxis blew up, which was the main source of energy and led to a peace plan between the two races. Or Iran will use it as a pretext for war, but first would have to admit it happened in the first place, and that seems some way off.

The worst part of the story is one that is not being reported anywhere but WND.com. According to their sources, Iran has has success in in other areas that are truly frightening. They are listed as:

A secret nuke site exists at Nijaf Abad.

A secret uranium enrichment site is at Khondab, where Russian and North Korean scientists are helping them.

A secret bio-weapons site is at Marzanabad, where with Russian help, Iran has developed at least eight deadly weaponized diseases which can be put into rocket warheads.

Another secret base is at Bonab, where the Russians are helping them with laser technology to enrich uranium.

Lastly, a list of scientists working on the project:

http://www.wnd.com/2012/10/irans-secret-nuclear-bomb-plant-revealed/

That is a lot of problems. While all of this is going on, North Korea is flexing their muscle and sources say a nuke test may be imminent. China has publicly said they don't agree with the rouge state, a rare show of disapproval from the only link North Korea has to the rest of the world.

And of course one cannot forget that both Egypt and Syria and falling apart, one from a dictator, the other from democracy. When you have groups of people living together who hate one another, democracy is not always the best idea, as whoever the winner is, they will exploit the rest he doesn't like. We sit a razor's edge for a massive war, but what else is new. Most of the time, no one knows about any of it, like now, as our media is more concerned with Oscar night, Lindsay Lohan and some lady in Omaha who has a potato chip shaped like Jay Leno.