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Written by Michael Mandaville
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The Iranian nuclear Watch has been heating up lately on a number of fronts.
1. U.S. Carrier Battle Groups: The U.S. Navy has moved two carriers into the Gulf. You can check U.S. carrier positions here.
2. Iranian Nuke Scientist Killed: A James Bond-like magnetic bomb attached to the Peugot of Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan killed the nuclear technician near Natanz, Iran's primary nuclear facility area.
4. Iran Holding Naval Exercises: More provocations to come. The U.S. Navy recently rescued some Iranian sailors who were in trouble. Think they'll remember that.
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Written by Michael Mandaville
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The Baltic Dry Index may not mean much to people but it's an economic indicator - free of the politically influenced indicator from either the European Central Bank or the Federal Reserve - that talks about shipping Dry goods and commodities around the world.
In recent weeks, the Baltic Index has fallen off a cliff, plummeting from almost 2,200 in mid October to just about 641 on February 6th, 2012. This is usually taken as a sign of decreased economic activity.
ZeroHedge.com notes that shippers are now paying people - going negative - to keep their ships active.
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Written by Michael Mandaville
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Orange Juice is closely followed as a commodity common in American households and restaurants. A spike in orange juice is indicative of rising prices (inflation) on other goods. You can see the chart here for orange juice which spiked over 32% from Jan 1st 2012. That's over 7,000% a year if given an annualized percentage.
ZeroHedge is a website that examines economic issues and, in this case, had an article on...Orange Juice. Read it here and see the frenzied video on Orange Juice trading.
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Written by Michael Mandaville
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Parliamentarian Parviz Sorouri, who sits on the powerful committee of foreign policy and national security, claimed that the arrested agents planned to strike at Iranian interests with the aid of Israel.
Sorouri said the spy network aimed at damaging Iran in the security, military and nuclear sectors.
The Iranian official's comments come after current and former U.S. officials said on Monday that dozens of spies working for the CIA were captured recently in Lebanon and Iran, as well as after Iran's claim earlier this year that it had intercepted a major spy ring.
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Written by Michael Mandaville
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Iranian officials admitted Sunday that they had uncovered evidence of the Duqu computer virus -- labeled "Son of Stuxnet" by cyber experts -- at the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites, state-controlled IRNA news agency reported.
"We are in the initial phase of fighting the Duqu virus," Gholamreza Jalali, was quoted as saying. "The final report which says which organizations the virus has spread to and what its impacts are has not been completed yet."
The original Stuxnet malware was the culmination of a vast technical and espionage effort that had only one target in mind: the Iranian nuclear program. And is widely believed to be the work of the United States and Israel. Experts who looked at the program were amazed at its ability to penetrate Iran’s secure, highly protected security system and destroy it without being detected.
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Written by Michael Mandaville
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Starting today, the welcome screens on 1.2 million hotel television sets in Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton, Holiday Inn and other hotels in the USA will show a short public service announcement from DHS. The 15-second spot encourages viewers to be vigilant and call law enforcement if they witness something suspicious during their travels.
During the PSA, which starts with a woman exiting a yellow taxi in front of a train station, a narrator says, "Maybe you see something suspicious. Can you be sure? If you see something, say something to authorities."
The PSA, which will be interspersed with other messages on the welcome screen, will be the same in all 5,400 hotels that LodgeNet serves. It ends by telling viewers to contact "local authorities."
http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/story/2011-11-02/Hotel-guests-recruited-with-Homeland-Security-TV-spots/51032602/1?loc=interstitialskip
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Written by Michael Mandaville
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World War II really showed how Hollywood got behind the Fight against National Socialism German Workers Party and the Japanese Greater Co-Prosperity Sphere. But there's not much Hollywood is doing in the War Against Radical Islamists.
HOLLYWOOD AWOL ON WAR AGAINST TERRORISM
When the United States went to war after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the film industry soon followed suit. Movies like “Flying Tigers” (1942), “Wake Island” (1942) and “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” (1944) rallied the nation to the Allied cause.
Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda and Clark Gable personally joined the battle, while famed director Frank Capra oversaw “Why We Fight,” a series of films meant to inspire the troops.
Even Bugs Bunny did his part, with shorts like the provocatively titled “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips.”
Hollywood’s response to the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent war on terrorism couldn’t be more different.
Studios initially avoided direct mention of radical Islam’s assault on the home front. An image of the twin towers was removed from a teaser poster for the 2002 film “Spider-Man.”
Later, when the industry finally decided to tackle the subject head-on, it cast a critical eye on America’s response to those attacks via “Fahrenheit 9/11” (2004), “Lions for Lambs” (2007), “Rendition” (2007) and “Redacted” (2007), not the terrorists who perpetrated them.
What were you expecting? A “Rambo”-esque franchise chronicling a Taliban-killing hero? |
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Written by Email Story from Mack
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Bar Stool Economics…
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it wouldgo something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.
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Read more... [Tell Stories to Make a Point:"Taxes Properly Explained]
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Written by Michael Mandaville
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Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950),[1] better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author. His work is marked by a profound consciousness of social injustice, an intense dislike of totalitarianism, and a passion for clarity in language.
Considered "perhaps the 20th century’s best chronicler of English culture",[2] he wrote works in many different genres including fiction, polemics, journalism, memoir and critical essays. His most famous works are two novels: Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).
ACTION: There are many things that I don't like about Orwell but his clarity in the use of language is not one of them. Whether or not you agree with everything, read the quotes below. If you disagree, then great - think about WHY you disagree to form an argument or an opinion in a reasonable thought process. Too often these days, we castigate individuals as 'idiots' (which they may very well be) but let's start with logic and reason.
But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought. George Orwell
Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. George Orwell During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. George Orwell
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Read more... [Tactic: Think and Digest Quotes- George Orwell]
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Written by Michael Mandaville
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A former terrorist trainer has become a comic book author as he moved from helping the terrorists to opposing the terrorists.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- The real life adventures of former al-Qaida-linked militant Nasir Abas have become a comic book in Indonesia, chronicling his transformation from foe to invaluable ally in the fight against terrorism.
The story of the soft-spoken, seemingly mild-mannered 42-year-old - recognized by strangers on the streets and even asked for the occasional autograph - is well-known in the world's most populous Muslim country.
He went from helping train Muslim extremists who carried out some of Southeast Asia's deadliest attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombings, to informing police about the inner-workings of the Jemaah Islamiyah network.
He's also joined a government program to convince convicted terrorists that killing unarmed civilians in the name of their faith is wrong.
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