WILL ISRAEL BACK DOWN...?

WITH GLOBAL CONDEMNATION POURING IN...

AND NOW WITH SIGNIFICANT LOSSES...

AND THE US TIED DOWN WITH THE IRAQI SHIA IN BAGHADAD, AND THE RESURGENT TALIBAN IN AFGHANISTAN....

AND HAVING A TOTALLY "HOSTILE" IRAQI SHIA ADDRESSING THE REPUBLICAN KONGRESS AS AN ALLY...!!

THIS COULD GET VERY CONFUSING...

BUT OF COURSE BOMBING WOMEN, CHILDREN AND THE ELDERLY FROM THE AIR IS DIFFERENT THAN GOING MAN TO MAN IN THE FIELD... DOES ISRAEL HAVE THE GUTS FOR THIS FIGHT...? PROBABLY NOT...BUT THE WAR CRIMES ROUTE IS EQUALLY UNTENABLE... STAY TUNED.

HERE'S JIHADI...!!

IRANIAN "VOLUNTEERS" ENTER THE WAR AGAINST ISRAEL IN LEBANON!

UK PROTESTS BEING CONDUIT FOR BOMBS TO ISRAEL!

COULD THIS BE THE START OF SOMETHING BIGGER...?

WE CAN ONLY HOPE THAT EUROPEANS SOBER UP BEFORE THE NEOCON-ZIONIST GAME PLAN IS ALLOWED TO REACH A POINT OF NO RETURN...

BLAIR IS NOT OUT OF THE WOODS ON HIS IRAQ DEBACLE...AND ULTIMATELY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY WILL WANT CRIMINAL BLAME FIXED ON SOMEONE FOR WHAT HAS OCCURRED IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND WILL OCCUR IN THE FUTURE...

ALAS, TONY, THE NEOCON POODLE...NO MORE? CAN THIS POODLE BITE BACK...?

ISRAEL'S VERSION OF CUSTER'S LAST STAND...?

The Israelis should not get out of their tanks in Lebanon...!

It's like Custer charging the Indian village at the Little Big Horn...!

Israel should stick with bombing...even if all of Lebanon must be reduced to smoking rubble... Israel has a "demographics" problem vis-a-vis the Arabs... There are too many Arabs and not enough Jews in this fight...

Only the expulsion of all Arabs and the establishment of secure, DEFENSIBLE borders will serve the needs of a New Greater Israel which is even now forming before our eyes...

OIL WILL SOAR IN COMING WEEKS...AS FINAL SOLUTION TAKES PLACE.

As the Final Solution is implemented in Israel and the Arabs are expelled... very likely oil will soar to unheard of levels...over $100 per barrel almost certainly.

Soon the central bank shills will abandon the oil and gold pits...and just let nature take it's course.

To really pull off a "final solution" a few things have to happen...

The War must escalate and expand.

Perhaps there will be some "event" at the Dome of the Rock or elsewhere on the Temple Mount. Any Final Solution will involve the Temple Mount in some way. The Temple Mount is really the Alpha and Omega of the middle east conflict...although you'd never know it by listening to the American Media.

SO ABANDON ALL HOPE FOR PEACE... THAT IS THE MESSAGE FROM WASHINGTON...AND FROM ROME.

THESE ARE THE "END TIMES" FOR THE ARABS INSIDE OF GREATER ISRAEL...

ALAS, WE ARE LIVING IN "INTERESTING TIMES" YET AGAIN....

NO PEACE NOW...ONLY THE FINAL SOLUTION WILL WORK!

NO PEACE NOW!! LET IT RIP...!

THE FINAL SOLUTION IS UPON US!

That seems to be the message from Rome...

Clearly, the Lebanon War is not seperate from the War threats that were being made against Iran just prior to the destruction of Lebanon...

In fact it's all one big policy move directed from Israel and Washington...

Still, with Iraq raging out of control...and with Iran more or less in cahoots with the Iraqi Shia...it is a risky strategy for the west to open up a SECOND FRONT in Lebanon...!

Clearly Bush and the Zionists want a show down with the Shias SOMEPLACE...BUT rather than go to Iran to have it...it was decided to "do" the war in Lebanon....

Within weeks Lebanon will be flooded with Shia Jihadi all willing to die for their cause.

But as Lebanon spins out of control there will be calls to "solve" the "Arab Problem" inside ofIsrael---with the expulsion of all Arabs from Israel AND THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES....!

This is the real meaning of Rice's ominous "lasting peace" language...as we shall see in the coming weeks.

THIS IS A RADICAL MOVE ON THE PART OF ISRAEL...SO IT WILL REQUIRE AN EXTREME "STATE OF WAR" TO PULL IT OFF...WITHOUT GLOBAL OUTRAGE.

INDEED, THE KILLING OF THE UN TEAM WAS A SHOT ACROSS THE BOW OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY...NOT TO HINDER ZIONISTS IN COMING WEEKS...NOR TO OPPOSE THE "FINAL SOLUTION" THAT MS. RICE PROPOSED IN ROME...

WHAT THE WORLD DOES NOT KNOW IS THAT THE FINAL SOLUTION IS THE EXPLUSION OF ARABS AND MUSLIMS FROM ISRAEL ...AND FROM THE WEST BACK... AND LIKELY GAZA AS WELL...

THERE COULD EVEN BE A FURTHER ANNEXATION OF PARTS OF LEBANON...TO COMPLETE THE PLAN FOR A GREATER ISRAEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

ISRAEL SIMPLY COULD NOT AFFORD TO LET THE NEOCONS MOVE OFF THE WORLD STAGE WITHOUT ACCOMPLISHING THIS LONG TIME GOAL OF A "GREATER ISRAEL"...

TIME IS RUNNING OUT ON THE NEOCONS...

AFTER NOVEMBER THE "PEACE MOVEMENT" IN THE US WILL LIKELY HAVE A VOICE IN THE NEW CONGRESS...

THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE NEOCONS WILL BE OVER.

SO THE FINAL SOLUTION IS UPON US.... THERE WILL BE NO PEACE.... IN FACT, THERE WILL LIKELY BE SOME LIMITED BOMBING IN SYRIA AND IRAN AS EVENTS UNFOLD AND THE PUBLIC IS PERMITTED TO SEE THE GRAND STRATEGY THAT ISRAEL AND THE NEOCONS ARE IMPLEMENTING..

THIS IS THE LONG DREADED ZIONIST "FINAL SOLUTION" IN THESE FINAL DAYS OF NEOCON POWER IN WASHINGTON...

LET'S CALL IT: ...."CONDI'S WAR?"

RUSSIANS BLAME BUSH FOR GLOBAL CHAOS!

CHINA SHOCKED BY ISRAELI KILLING OF IT'S UN OBSERVER!

CHINA DEMANDS APOLOGY FROM ISRAEL FOR KILLING CHINA'S UN OBSERVER!

China could pull the financial rug out from under the Neocons...if it choose to.

Simply dump some US bonds....that's all it would take.

Let's hope that sanity is restored soon...

ISRAEL IS COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTROL

AT SOME POINT BOTH ISRAEL AND THE US WILL HAVE TO FACE WAR CRIMES TRIALS...

THERE IS SIMPLY NO CREDIBILITY LEFT... THE ENTIRE SYSTEM WILL BREAK DOWN IF ISRAEL GETS AWAY WITH IT'S CRIMINAL ACTIONS....

IT BEHOOVES EUROPE AND ASIA TO STEP INTO THE "SANITY VOID" CREATED BY WASHINGTON AND ISRAEL BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE... WE DON'T NEED A REPLAY OF 1939...

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE AS A TOTAL LOSS OF CONTROL BY ISRAEL COULD THREATEN WORLD PEACE AND GLOBAL STABILITY...

ISRAEL HAS NO REGARD FOR NON-JEWISH LIVES...IT ROUTINELY KILLS WITHOUT ANY NEED FOR EXPLANATION...

THIS UN INCIDENT IS ONLY THE MOST SERIOUS VIOLATION IN A LONG STRING OF WAR CRIMES BY ISRAEL THAT THE WORLD COMMUNITY MUST STOP...IMMEDIATELY.

DID ISRAEL INTENTIONALLY BOMB THE UN...?

I THINK THAT PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW...

AND IF IT WAS INTENTIONAL--THERE SHOULD BE AN EXPLANATION...

ISRAEL SIMPLY MUST TELL THE WORLD WHAT IN THE HELL THEY THINK THEY ARE DOING...!

AMERICANS SIMPLY CAN NOT BE THE PUPPETS OF ISRAEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

BECAUSE THIS MATTER IS SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL...

EVEN AS MOST OF THE WESTS "DEMANDS" ARE TOTALLY UNREASONABLE...OR UNLIKELY IN A MIDDLE EAST THAT IS NOT YET THE NEO-COLONIAL HOLDINGS OF THE US AND ISRAEL...

NOW IF WASHINGTON CAN CONVINCE THE MIDDLE EAST TO SURRENDER THEIR SOVEREIGNY TO THE ZIONISTS AND THE NEOCONS....THEN I'M WRONG AND I'LL ADMIT IT...

I JUST DON'T SEE THIS BIG SURRENDER OF THE MUSLIMS...AND THE SHIA IN PARTICULAR...TO THE FORCES OF ISRAEL AND THE US...

HOW IS THIS GOING TO HAPPEN...? SOLELY THROUGH KILLING AND MASSACRING MORE MUSLIMS AND SHIA...??

IT'S TOTALLY NUTS... SOMEBODY SERIOUSLY NEEDS A REALITY CHECK...ASAP!

CONDI OKS MORE BOMBING

A NEW NEOCON FIASCO STARTS!!

AND IF YOU LIKED THE IRAQ WAR FIASCO...

STAY TUNED....

LEBANON WILL BECOME A FIASCO ON STEROIDS!!

OIL UP? TIME TO BASH GOLD AGAIN...

Hit'em again! Harder! Harder! But will making gold into garbage really save the dollar...?
The oil market seems rather unfazed by all of the gold bashing.

MARKETS ARE PAINFULLY DULL!

Thank God for the War Crimes in Lebanon...or what would the news be able to report.

But can a market just go nowhere forever...? Well, actually yes...it's called the 1970's... The 1970's had more "false dawns" that a Hollywood film set.

More on market drift...coming soon.

RICE WANTS URGENT AND ENDURING PEACE...?

Better yet...just keep bombing...it's easier!

Just maybe the Zionists are right and we haven't killed enough Shia Muslims yet... Hey, it's worth a try...? They'll lick our boots eventually... Right? All we gotta do is kill more of them...teach 'em a lesson. Let 'em know whose boss. That's the ticket... And if the Muslims are too weak to defend themselves maybe they deserve to die... Survival of the fittest! Social Darwinism is the bed rock of Capitalism.

Call me a Born Again Zionist Baby!

THE NAUGHTY PUPPET VISITS...

Does Maliki think he's a "real" Prime Minister or what...!

I mean this guy can't step outside of the Green Zone without an American Armed escort. Dubya should tell that Iraqi boot-licker whose really in charge in Iraq...or threaten to toss him outside the Green Zone--and see how he likes it!

Puppets should behave like puppets...know their place and keep their mouths shut unless spoken to.

SUB 11,000 DOW ALWAYS READY TO RALLY...

Clearly protecting the DOW from falling below 11,000 is the name of the game on Wall Street...

That the market is "range bound" is to state the obvious...

More than likely the market will levitate at the current range...until Labor Day.

THEN, A SOBER ASSESSMENT of Rates, Geopolitics and the Election will set the tone...

Still this is a market that simply can not be allowed to crash... Stocks have become "too big to fail" in the American economic system... The problem is that they are also too overpriced to go up...

RICE IN OVER HER HEAD...REALLY SAD...

Condi seemed a little shakey today at her first major solo performance on the world stage...

She may not be used to this level of intensity...where War Crimes are being committed on the entire Lebanese People with her consent and encouragment.

The problem with the Israeli/Neocon approach is that it assumes that an entire people, The Shia of Lebanon, will just dissapear. Somehow...

The Zionists have been trying to make the Palestinians disappear for decades...and no amount of War Crimes seems to do the trick.

The notion that you can simply bomb and destroy one segment of the Lebanese population; and not alienate everyone seems to have escaped the Zionists, Neocons and Condi.

The outrage of the global community grows everyday...and saddly Condi has been given an impossible task by her masters. She could crack under the pressure...

Condi is not real good at thinking on her feet especially in no-win situations....and I am expecting some kind of outburst from her before long.

Bush, Cheney and the Neocons made a fool out of Colin at the UN...with his "speech" about Saddam's weapons...

And I'm sure they're enjoying Condi's little mess too...

If Condi were smart...she would resign forthwith in protest against the War Crimes of the Neocons and Dubya & Co. War Crimes that BOTH she and Colin were forced to carry water for...against all decency and reason...and to the amusement, I'm sure, of her bosses.

If Condi were to quit now...she would be a hero... If she continues to be a tool of War Criminals...she'll end up as pitiful as Colin when he opted for his job over what was true and right...

REALLY SAD FOR CONDI....REALLY, REALLY SAD...

DOWN DEMON GOLD! DOWN!

AND DON'T WORRY! BERNANKE WILL KEEP RAISING RATES.

HE'S JUST GOT TO GAS BAG THE STREET EVERY SO OFTEN TO KEEP EVERYONE HAPPY...

DOWN DEMON GOLD! DOWN!

Oil...? Well since Bush/Cheney own oil it can do anything it wants. After all we have to keep OPEC happy while we are destroying the Shia in Lebanon...

Hope our "pals" the "newly democratic" Shia of Iraq don't find out...!

There could be Hell to pay if the Iraq Shia start acting up...especially with that long border with the "evil ones" in Iran.

ISRAEL BOMBS 'EM...AMERICA BURIES 'EM

WHO SAYS WE DON'T LIKE MUSLIMS...!

THE RICE "MISSION OF MERCY" TO LEBANON SHOULD INCLUDE MORE BURIAL SHROUDS...ALL TO MUSLIM "SPECS" OF COURSE! After all we Americans are a culturally sensitive people...!

BECAUSE AS FAR AS ISRAEL AND THE NEOCONS ARE CONCERNED THE ONLY GOOD SHIA IS A DEAD SHIA... DON'T WORRY...MORE BOMBS ARE ON THE WAY!

NO WORD YET ON WHAT THE GLOBAL SHIA POPULATION THINKs ABOUT THIS NEW MOJO FROM THE WEST...

WASN'T THE "HEZBOLLAH WAR" INTENDED TO BE "IRAN-LITE" ALL ALONG....?

AND TO PROTECT ISRAEL WHEN THE "BIG ONE" FINALLY COMES TO IRAN LATER THIS YEAR...?

THIS IS JUST THE "WARM UP." THE MAIN EVENT STARTS THE FIRST WEEK OF AUGUST...

FRANCE SEEKS NEO-COLONIAL ROLE IN LEBANON?

The US ally in Iraq was Britain...which had a colonial interest in old Iraq...

Now, the US ally in Lebanon is SUPPOSEDLY France, which had colonial interests in old Lebanon...!

Is there a pattern here...?

It appears that the Neocon "delusion du jour" is that somehow the west is going to fight the Islamists by re-instating "enlightened" neo-colonial rule in the various middle eastern states...!

And what about "democracy?" Forgetabotit!

THAT'S SOOOO 2003!!

DELUSION DU JOUR INDEED!!

This is more or less desperation geopolitics kicking in in Washington...as the entire middle east spirals out of control...and the Necons remain in denial about the disaster they have caused throughout the region...

So does this mean that France fights Israel in Lebanon....? Or that Condi shakes hands with the Prime Minister of Lebanon only to stall for a while so more bombs can be shipped to Israel?

NOTHING GOOD CAN COME OF THIS...BUT IT SHOULD BE INTERESTING TO WATCH...

BIG BUYING OPPORTUNITY IN GOLD LOOMS...

If gold goes under $600...and gold stocks continue to plunge...in the face of global chaos;

It may be time to call the bluff of the FED shills... Alas, I'm still holding out for those 52 week lows on gold shares... They are coming I suspect. The market is being distorted by central bank "management"...but that can't last forever.

To justify the big drive down of gold...the FED will have to continue raising rates for the rest of this year, or until FED funds hit at least 7% which is probably the neutral zone at this point.

HEZBOLLAH PREDICTS DOOMSDAY FOR ISRAEL...

My hunch is that the Temple Mount is going to be "in play" before this is over.

The Temple Mount is the Alpha and Omega of the middle east crisis... And Israel would be foolish not to take advantage of this opportunity to "re-build" the Temple...

The notion of "Arab States" pressuring Syria to stop supporting Hezbollah is interesting... But will the rising Shia Power Bloc abandon Hisbollah? I doubt it.

This is exactly the fight the RADICALS ON ALL SIDES have been wanting to have...

And especially now for the Islamists, with Israel condemned by world opinion, and the lame Bush Administration tied down in wars of attrition all over the Muslim world...

This would be the perfect time for the Hezbollah exteremists to strike...because the US could "go moderate" after the November elections...as war weary American vote for peace...

SO, BOTH SIDES WANT THIS FIGHT...! LET IT RIP...

GOLD WILL CONTINUE FALLING... BIG RALLY WEEK FOR THE DOW?

GOLD IS REALLY THE ONLY MARKET THAT THE CENTRAL BANKS CAN STILL CONTROL THROUGH THEIR SHILLS...

OIL AN OTHER COMMODITIES WILL CONTINUE AT HIGH LEVELS DURING THE LEBANON CONFLICT...

THE US MARKETS ARE USED TO OPERATING TOTALLY DETACHED FROM GEOPOLITICAL AND MACROECONOMIC EVENTS "ON THE GROUND."

SO THIS COULD BE A BIG RALLY WEEK ON THE STREET...AS WALL STREET SEEKS TO DISTRACT ATTENTION FROM THE DISMAL STATE OF THE MIDDLE EAST.

RALLY ON!

RICE SEEKS PHOTO-OP AS US BACKED WAR CRIMES CONTINUE.

The US and Israel are now completely alone in the world!

Everyone is calling for the War Crimes against Lebanon to stop...

But the US is only seeking bizarre Photo-Ops for Rice & Co. in her already failed trip to the middle east.

The Saudis are not happy campers after being snubbed at the White House...and very likely the Arab Street will rise up in coming days...to force the old Cold War autocrats to assist the Lebanese people one way of another...

One possiblility is an Oil Embargo on the west as happen the last time things spiraled out of control in the middle east.

All that will be accomplished by the Rice junket is to reinforce the arrogance and isolation of the US in geopolitics...as the world unites against American and Israeli war crimes against the ENTIRE middle east... Saddly the Eurolanders are not really internationalists...and the Islamic Bloc is divided...

So a dangerous drift is possible... World War III is still on the table as far as the Neocons are concerned...

Oil and Gold should spike on the Rice Trip...as the true hopelessness of the situation becomes more apparent...

ANOTHER WEEK OF THE SAME...

More hype... More gold bashing... More churning on The Street...

But God help those that miss their number...!

Or who seem less than completely convinced that we are entering a New Golden Age of Corporate Profits...

GOOD MORNING WALL STREET!

WILL THE BUSHIES GET CHATTY NOW...?

Typical Bullies!

Now that they got caught they want to start talking!

Like Marueen Dowd might say,...totally the Frat House mentality... Don't admit anything unless the Dean's Office has caught you red handed... Then go hat in hand and try to talk your way out of it.

A little late...I would say!

Well whatever...! After eight years in office Bush might eventually figure out his job description!

Because it's 3AM and the Toga Party is over!

NOW COMES THE ARAB BACKLASH....?

The notion of a Hezbollah/Jihadi "response" to Lebanon...?

Now THAT is something to lose sleep over...!

Lest we forget Newton's First Law of Geopolitics. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

There is a Yin for every Yang in the middle east...as the "Cycle of Violence" continues.

We need a comprehensive all encompassing "solution" to the Palestinian problem now. And if this Lebanon Mess starts some serious thinking on that subject, like NATO peacekeepers...perhaps, just perhaps, all of the destruction in Lebanon will not have been in vain...!

ISRAEL BACKS DOWN FAST...

THE GLOBAL CONDEMNATION ISRAEL AND BUSH RECIEVED OVER LEBANON SEEMS TO HAVE SHAKEN THEM... THE NEOCONS HAVE OVER-PLAYED THEIR HAND BIG TIME.

AND EVERYONE SEEMS TO WANT TO GET THIS LEBANON SITUATION DONE. ASAP.

AS TO HEZBOLLAH...THEY WILL LIKELY BE STRONGER THAN EVER.

STILL THE INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPERS ARE AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME...IN LEBANON...AND WE SHOULD HOPE ON THE WEST BANK AND GAZA AS WELL...

THAT IS IF ISRAEL REALLY DOES WANT PEACE...AND NOT MORE ANNEXATION OF ARAB LAND....

ROME DEBACLE: BETWEEN RICE AND ISRAEL IT'S A NO WIN SITUATION.

I've got a bad feeling about the Rice "More War" Mission to Rome concerning the Lebanon debacle...

Rice will be spouting a Likud/Neocon party line that is totally off the charts off world opinion...

This will only enflame the Arab and Muslim Street even more...not to mention everyone else!

And will Arab "governments" kow-tow to Ms Rice and do what she says...as expected? I really doubt it... Why should they...? After THIS!

In fact, Ms Rice could recieve several rather undiplomatic and embarassing "tongue lashings" while in Rome; from Muslim and non-Muslim participants alike...

Further, we all know how flustered and semi-hyterical Ms Rice becomes when put under pressure...especially when others reject her annoying tendancy to "lecture."

Let's hope she doesn't throw one of her school-marmy Hizzy Fits in front of the cameras next week...!

It is quite likely to be very intense for Rice...as she goes to Rome holding a very weak hand.

The only real issue is has Israel commited War Crimes with US support or...perhaps not yet?

In diplomacy a weak hand can be very, very unpleasant indeed...

ESPECIALLY, WITH THE WORLD ALREADY ENRAGED ABOUT THE GRATUITOUS DESTRUCTION OF MOST OF LEBANON...AS APPARENTLY AN ISRAELI WAR GAME...!

A WAR GAME WHICH IS NOW AN EXPENSIVE AND TRAGIC CLEAN UP PROJECT FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD...

EVEN WHILE ISRAEL GOES BACK TO IT'S CAFE CULTURE...

UNFAZED BY THE SENSELESS AND ILLEGAL DAMAGE AND DEATH IT HAS CAUSED TO A NEIGHBORING ARAB COUNTRY...

SO HOW DOES MS RICE "WIN" IN A "NO WIN" SITUATION LIKE THIS?

I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO FIND OUT...

ISRAEL AND US DEGRADED BY LEBANON WAR CRIMES.

Whatever happens in Lebanon...

The US and Israel will be seriously degraded in the eyes of the world...

The Neocons in Washington are trying to support one group of Shias in Iraq...while sponsering the destruction of another in Lebanon... And people have noticed!

The UN envoy for humanitarian issues called the Israeli bombing in South Beirut and "war crime"---even as the Bush Administration rushed more bombs to Israel!

Presumably the US has sunk as low as it can go...and that alone is some consolation in many circles...

But for many people the Washington response to the Lebanon Debacle was yet another "eye-roller."

BOTH ISRAEL AND THE US WILL COME OUT OF THE LEBANON CRISIS GREATLY REDUCED...

AND EVEN MORE HATED AROUND THE WORLD--BY MUSLIMS AND NON-MUSLIMS ALIKE...

BECAUSE WHO IS BACKING THE INSANITY IN ISRAEL...? WHO EXCEPT THE NEOCONS AND THE MOST PITIFUL EXCUSE FOR A PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICA?

And what comes next...?

One thing is certain, Bush and Israel are going to be increasingly out of the loop...as the geopolitical world writes them off as a hopeless cases.

AFTER THE LEBANON CRISIS, THERE WILL BE MUCH GREATER UNITY OF INTERESTS BETWEEN THE ARAB AND MUSLIM STATES OF THE MIDDLE EAST, AND EUROLAND, RUSSIA, ASIA, IN PARTICULAR CHINA, AND THE REST OF THE WORLD COMMUNITY...

...AS THE US AND THE RAPIDLY AGING ISRAELI THEOCRACY DRIFTS INTO DECLINE...

ALL THANKS TO THE ULTRA-RIGHT RELIGIOUS FANATICS IN BOTH COUNTRIES.

Postscript: Even Brit Hume and Bill Kristol of Fox News seemed a little "subdued" today...as the full extent of the catastrophe in Lebanon becomes clear.

ISRAEL SOBERING UP AFTER WORLD EXPRESSES OUTRAGE.

If a NATO peacekeeping force is "the answer" on the Lebanon-Israel border...

Why not try it on the border with the occupied territories...?

And FINALLY give the Palestinians their long promised "state?"

The problem with the Israeli-US approach is that so much of it is based on lies...but these lies can not be sustained long term... eventually things spin out of control.

IRAQ WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME AMERICANS HAVE BEEN LIED TO ABOUT THE FACTS ON THE GROUND IN THE MIDDLE EAST...

ESSENTIALLY, THE US POLICY ON THE TWO STATE SOLUTION; AND THE STATUS OF THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST LIE OF ALL...

AMAZINGLY, BY FOCUSING GLOBAL ATTENTION ON LEBANON...ISRAEL AND THE US EXPOSE THEMSELVES TO DEEPER EXAMINATION OF THE REAL ISSUES...

AND, AT LEAST SOME OF THIS "EXPOSURE" SEEPS INTO THE "MANAGED" AMERICAN MEDIA...WHICH HAS MOSTLY BLACKED OUT THE REAL FACTS FROM THE US PUBLIC FOR YEARS...

EVEN BRIT HUME ON FOX NEWS TODAY SEEMED FORCED TO "CONFRONT REALITY"--MORE SO THAN WHEN THINGS ARE MORE "SETTLED DOWN."

EXPOSURE OF THIS LONG TERM US-ISRAELI "BIG LIE" IS THE REAL THREAT ISRAEL FACES IN LEBANON...!

AND THAT COULD BE VERY SOBERING INDEED!

BUSH: KEEP BOMBING...

BUT DON'T WORRY, I'M ORGANIZING A DONOR'S CONFERENCE TO REBUILD LEBANON!

WELL IF DUYBA REBUILDS LEBANON LIKE HE DID NEW ORLEANS AND IRAQ...?

IT'S TIME TO WORRY!

IS ISRAEL LOSING IT'S NERVE FOR MORE WAR CRIMES?

Somehow I suspect that the Likudnics and Dubya are going to sober up before they really get themselves in trouble...concerning Lebanon!

The Lebanon debacle should never have happen... It was a loser from the start.

And now the Americans are stuck with the "morning after" in Iraq! And Iranian affairs will be the worse for it.

I don't think the Zionists and Neocons expected the international outcry that ensued...from the UN, to the Euro-Socialists and the Arab Street. Not to mention war-weary Americans!

CAN CONDI "WEDGE" SYRIA FROM IRAN...?

Oh Pleeease...!

At this point the Neocons had best quit bombing people...and hope that a War Crimes Commisssion isn't established in 2008 to look at their tenure running the world!

THIS IS TOTAL DESPERATION THINKING SETTING IN ON THE PART OF THE NEOCONS!

THE BUNKER MENTALITY BREEDS BAZARRE WISHFUL THINKING AT THE END!

AND IT IS THE END FOR THE NEOCONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST...

THEY ARE TOTALLY DISCREDITED IN IRAQ. AND ESPECIALLY NOW AFTER THE LEBANON DEBACLE...

CONDI AND HER BOSSES MUST BE DELUSIONAL! SHADES OF HITLER'S "SECRET DIVISIONS" IN 1945!

Condi is just slightly less of an international joke than her boss...Dubya and his handlers at the Weekly Standard.

THE INTERNATIONAL BUFFER FORCE...

This idea of an "international buffer force" in Lebanon could be just the ticket...!

It seems totally foolish to have two combatant groups that hate each other, staring across a "blue line" border... It's a recipe for disaster.

Consider what the Allies had to do to Germany after World War Two...

Germany was occupied and divided for a generation!

As a general rule--combatants should NEVER "share" a common border...unsupervised after a war. That's simply asking for more trouble...?

Amazingly, this idea could also be used to "protect" Israel from those nasty Palestinians!

AND SOLVE A MAJOR PROBLEM ONCE AND FOR ALL.... NAMELY, THE ELUSIVE TWO STATE SOLUTION!

THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY COULD "ESTABLISH BORDERS" AND SET UP AN INTERNATIONAL FORCE AT THE BORDER...TO "FRISK" ANY PALESTINAN CROSSING INTO ISRAEL...

THE PALESTINIANS WOULD STAY ON THEIR SIDE OF THE BORDER. AND THE ISRAELIS ON THEIR SIDE...ON PAIN OF INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS AND CONDEMNATION FOR ANY "VIOLATIONS."

WHY HASN'T THIS BEEN TRIED...?

Well, the sad answer is that Israel won't allow it...

Israel wants to annex the "occupied territories" sooner or later...and establish a "Greater Israel" on the supposedly "Biblical" West Bank and Gaza... That's the so-called Likud agenda of the ultra-right in Israel...but it is NEVER even mentioned inside the US! NEVER!

That's why the Zionists are constantly stirring up trouble in the Palestinan settlements...and making the lives of Palestinians as dismal as the international community will allow.

Israel really has no intention of EVER giving the Palestinians a "state"....ANYWHERE!

The entire problem in the middle east is Israel's unwillingness to "tell the truth" about their intentions on the West Bank and in Gaza...

This has been obvious to everyone for years....

The Europeans know it...that's why they are often accused in the American media as being "anti-Israel."

But amazingly, many, if not most Americans DON'T KNOW THE TRUTH about the West Bank and Gaza conflict...

When the population of THE major super-power is "kept in the dark" on a MAJOR issue really, really big problems can develop...!

Sort of like NOW! Because, it's hard for a government to lie consistantly over a long period of time. Sooner or later things come unravelled... Suddenly the enemy doesn't seem so "evil" and the domestic politicans start to look "dishonest." (Dubya & Cheney for example.)

Wouldn't it be great if Israel just told the truth about the West Bank FINALLY! THEN we could just get on with it...?

After these many long years...the truth out of Israel would be refreshing!

Better late than never! Especially now!!

NEOCONS LAST HOPE...SPLIT THE MUSLIMS INTO FACTIONS.

The notion of Sunni Muslims "supporting" Zionists and Neocons against the Shia...and visa versa, is being floated as a possible "New" Neocon strategy in the middle east...

I guess we can forget about Neocon "democratization" for now...? Definitely!

But, will this new "divide to conquer" tactic work?

Probably not. The hatred of most Muslims for Israel and the US is way too strong...especially now...after all that has happen.

The divisions within Islam are important... But attacking Americans and Zionists will still be the major focus of Islamists everywhere for the duration of the present conflict.

The one unifying factor in Islam today is their contempt for Zionists, in particular, and The West, in general.

So, is the "goal" of Israel and the US to RE-START THE CIVIL WAR IN LEBANON?

That would appear to be the most logical result of the recent controversial "policy decisions" of Dubya & Co...

Perhaps, that is really what Condi is up to...?

The operative Neocon tactic being to "discredit" Hezbollah, and blame the Shia for the destruction of Lebanon...

So far the Lebanese people are blaming the Zionists and the US for their plight...

And Hezbollah seems to be more popular than ever...

Can the Empire of Islam unite to fight a common enemy...while still being divided about which group are the "true" Muslims...

Probably...

At this late date, I don't see any Muslim Nation supporting the actions of Israel and the US in the region...

After all, the Americans fought with Stalin to defeat Germany...

Wars make strange bedfollows... But when the Muslims are not fighting Israel or the US...I would expect them to continue fighting among themselves...as they have for Centuries...

Never underestimate the power of an "external enemy" to create unity within a culture...

Just ask Bush and the Neocons about how they used 911 to that end!

CLICK HERE FOR PROOF OF END OF WORLD!

The Bible Code may be an appropriate diversion for this last weekend before TOTAL WAR breaks out in the middle east...

Essentially, the Bible Code is a belief by many Jewish scholars that the Torah has "hidden messages" embedded in it that can be deciphered using certain mathematical techniques.

The links have some of the current thinking by Bible Code scholars from around the world. Like the prophesies of Nostradamus...a little "interpretation" is necessary.

But the interesting part is that the Bible Code has always said that the "end times" would happen in 2006! And more interesting...the time for the start of the end times will be early August of 2006! The first week of August...the 3d to the 6th...are the most common "warning dates." (Amazingly the warning for the 3d oddly mentions "Rome" which seems at first "archaic"...but the summit meeting of the current parties will be in Rome next week!)

And of course...we are now approaching both these key dates...and total Chaos in the middle east...right now!

I do not claim any knowledge of these "codes" but I do find them interesting reading...

CLICK HERE FOR PROOF THAT THE END OF THE WORLD IS COMING!

ISRAEL PROMISES TO DESTROY LEBANON TO SAVE IT.

We've heard that one before...In Vietnam...and then in Iraq! Israel's military has taken over the government... Orwellian Perma-War Looms!

ANTI ISRAEL FEELING INSIDE US GROWING...?

Many Americans now realize that there will be no end to American military action in the middle east, if Israel is setting policy for the US.

The Israel ultra-right is kept hidden from American public opinion through press blackouts... Bias press coverage of the Palestine-Israel conflict is now accepted as the norm in America.

But could this be leading the US down the road to disaster? Of course the Iraq disaster is obvious now.

But there are more disasters waiting to happen... Lebanon is about to be destroyed by Israel with US backing. And Syria and Iran are surely next...even as Afghanistan and Iraq become killing fields for the Israeli supported American Neocons.

My sense is that there is a need for the US to shape Israeli policy in the middle east and guide it toward the peace process. Instead the opposite is happening... The Israeli ultra-right has had a resurgence...and is now dictating policy to the US in the absence of any real leadership in Washington and from the Bush Administration.

Anti-Israeli feeling is growing inside the US...and it will be quite obvious once the destruction of the US backed democratic Lebanon is completed.

NEOCON GOALS IN IRAQ ACHIEVED...CHAOS, NOT DEMOCRACY.

Was Chaos the Neocon's real goal in Iraq and the middle east all along...? Some people think it was.

If so, the Neocons have suceeded in destroying Iraq and creating Chaos in the region.

This CHAOS THEORY of Neocon goals is now gaining credibility in Lebanon as Lebanon is destroyed by Israeli-American war crimes against that "New Democracy."

Is it possible that FAILED STATES are the real goals of the Neocons and Israelis...??

Perhaps any successful Arab State would be a threat to Israel...EVEN IF it were democratic!

The Democracy Theory of the Neocons seems to have been replaced by the Chaos Theory...

But did the Neocons ever really want democracy in the first place?

Because for the most part American Neocons are Arab Haters, just like their Israeli sponsers...both in and out of the US.


IRAQ IS NOW BEYOND SALVATION. And coming attacks on Lebanon, Syria and Iran will complete the Neocon mission...

ISRAEL WILL BE IN A STATE OF PERMA-WAR AGAINST ALL OF IT'S NEIGHBORS...

AND WASHINGTON WILL SURELY NEED TO ESTABLISH A DRAFT TO FULFILL IT'S MILITARY OBLIGATIONS TO THE NEW ISRAELI-NEOCON "CHAOS THEORY" SOON.

CONDI STAY HOME...

Condi's might as well stay home...rather than make it look like she's going to the middle east to get her marching orders from Israel...

The US has lost ALL CREDIBILITY in the middle east--as a negotiator for peace...or anything else.

All Condi will accomplish is to put an exclamation point behind the US support for Israelis killing of Arabs and Muslims by any means necessary.

I would not be surprised if these events resulted in a NEW ARAB OIL EMBARGO against the US and Israel in the very near future.

The Arab Street is at a boiling point...and for that matter so is the Street in Euroland and Asia and Africa...!

The US has adopted the sick Israeli attitude that it is not enough merely to defeat your enemy, you must also humiliate him in the process... Israel is treating Lebanon as if it were the West Bank and Gaza...which is their personal protected killing field for Muslims. The Americans have Iraq...for their torture and humiliation "experiments."

Right now, Condi is heading for the insults and abuse of every nation she visits...except Israel. The Saudis won't kow-tow to Condi...neither will the Palestinians. Condi should stay home until she has something constructive to say. Because her current mojo of "Bombing for Peace" just doesn't made it!

If Dubya and the Religious Right are planning to cause the "end times" in the last years of Dubya's Dismal Presidency...they are right on schedule.

MORE BOMBS FOR ISRAEL! THE KILLING MUST GO ON!

Is this story, like, "real"...?

Or, how stupid are Dubya and the Neocons openly to enjoy killing Arabs and Muslims in this geo-political environment...?

Can the US or Israel expect any sympathy from the outside world in the event of retaliation by Radical Muslims...

I would hope that a little more discretion would be used...at least in Public.

The Israeli racism against Arabs is open, admitted and obvious...but that does not make it right or prudent for the US to get so excited about the Israeli War Crimes that are being committed in Lebanon today...and that are enflaming the world, not "just" the Muslim world anymore.

You have to conclude that there is a little insanity in high places these days...

Shades of 1939!

DELL IS JUST A LABEL...

The "problem" with Dell is that it's just a label on a computer box...nothing else.

And that's a pretty slim reed to lean on in a global economy that has the likes of China and India who want to eat your curry every morning...!

Computers are "assembled" out of various generic parts...Dell doesn't make any of these parts...it merely assembles them and sticks on the label....

Now "branding" used to be important in the early days of consumerism...and indeed in the early days of the personal computer. Because people were concerned about quality and they did not know the product that well.

Now people are not so afraid of their computers anymore...and the prices have dropped so low that a computer is like a cheap watch or pair of shoes...when they are used up...you throw them out and buy a new one. Computers used to cost $2000...now you can get a good one for $200 and toss it when you see a better deal.

Computers are being subjected to "commodity pricing"...they are not unique...one is as good as another. And that is the death of "branding."

Just as one bushel of corn is the same as another...so too commodity pricing has diminished the value of a "brand" ...in this case Dell's brand of computer.

I still love Dell computers...I have many of them. But I am not loyal to Dell in any way...I'll buy the best deal I can find with the most bells and whistles...and when it breaks...I'll toss it and buy something else.

Dell is just a label...one of many in the computer business. Alas, those who live by cut throat competition often die by cut throat competition... It happens all the time in business.

STOP THE WAR CRIMES...

The Lebanon News link in the lower sidebar has a number of anti-war links available.

Israel is losing support in the west...and in the Muslim world...fast!

This entire mess could end up as an International Anti-Neocon Coalition... Bush is so unpopular now that his most innocent statements are seen has pure greed and ignorance incarnate.

If the Neocons would just take an oath not to bomb anyone for the rest of Dubya's term in office...the world would settle down considerably over-night.

HOPING FOR MORE GOLD SELLING...!

As the world gets tenser...and the dollar gets weaker. We can only hope that the sell off in gold continues. Why?

Because it's totally irrational... Could it be caused by FED shills OR hedge funds "gaming" the system...? Likely...

THE FUNDAMENTALS FOR GOLD HAVE NEVER BEEN BETTER...THAT'S WHY IT'S SELLING OVER $600...NOT UNDER $300 AS A FEW YEARS AGO...

GOLD IS A "BUY IT AND FORGET IT" INVESTMENT THESE DAYS...

AND THERE AREN'T TOO MANY OF THOSE LEFT!

NIBBLING ON THESE $20 DOLLAR DROPS COULD BE A GOOD IDEA... BUT I'M STILL HOLDING OUT FOR GOLD SHARES TO HIT THEIR 52 WEEK LOWS... NOW THAT WILL BE A BUYING OPPORTUNITY!

BUT THE FED SHILLS WILL HAVE TO KEEP ON SHORTING BIG TIME...BEFORE WE GET BACK TO THAT LEVEL.

HEZBOLLAH WILL GET IT'S FIGHT...!

WILL THE GLOBAL SHIA COMMUNITY JOIN THE WAR...?

OR IS HEZBOLLAH JUST A BUNCH OF ALL-TALK-NO-ACTION SISSIES? ...WE'LL SOON FIND OUT.

WILL THE JIHADI LEAVE IRAQ AND POUR INTO LEBANON NOW...?

IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE THE IRAQI AND IRANIAN SHIA BLOC STANDING BACK FROM THIS CONFLICT LONGER TERM.

AND OF COURSE, BUSH AND THE NEOCONS ARE THE "OCCUPIERS" OF A MAJOR SHIA ISLAMIC NATION...THE POST-SUNNI "NEW IRAQ!"

A VERITABLE CORNUCOPEIA OF HOLY WAR LOOMS! ARAB RAGE IS AT A BOILING POINT. NO SHORTAGE OF VOLUNTEERS FOR OSAMA'S ARMY NOW, I WOULD BET...

OSAMA CAN SENT HIS TRAINEES TO IRAQ TO KILL AMERICANS; OR TO LEBANON TO KILL JEWS! A VERITABLE NEOCON/JIHADI "TWO-FER!"

OSAMA IS DANCING IN HIS CAVE TONIGHT FOR SURE!

BUT, SOMEHOW I THINK THE NEOCONS ARE BEING "TOO GOOD" TO OSAMA THESE DAYS! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT ALQAEDA HAD IN MIND WHEN THEY DID 911...A TITANIC CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST!

OSAMA MUST BE SAYING: BRING IT ON BABY! BRING IT ON!

THE PAUSE WILL REFRESH GOLD AND OIL STOCKS

The much touted Bernanke pause will be a boon for gold and oil stocks...

As the dollar continues to weaken on the lower rate scenario...commodities will finally decouple from stocks in general...and be able to rise on their own fundamentals.

There has been an effort to attach gold shares to the general market lately... As stocks go...so goes gold mining shares...this is contrary to historical trends where gold was a contrarian play.

WHEN THE FED DOES "PAUSE" THE INFLATION STORY WILL GAIN MOMENTUM...GOLD SHARES WILL RISE...AND PERHAPS STOCKS WILL FOLLOW BECAUSE FOR SOME REASON...INFLATION IS SEEN TO BE "GOOD FOR" STOCKS LATELY... DESPITE THE FACT THAT HIGHER RATES MUST SURELY FOLLOW.

I FOR ONE AM LOOKING FORWARD TO THE BIG BERNANKE PAUSE...IT WILL LIKELY LIVEN UP THE MARKETS CONSIDERABLY... BUT IF THE DOLLAR KEEPS PLUNGING...AND OIL PRICES DO NOT BREAK DOWN--THE FED WILL BE ON THIN ICE GOING WITH A "PAUSE" IN AUGUST.

STILL THE PRESSURE FROM THE STREET IS GROWING EVERY MONTH...

A WILD CARD IS THE MIDDLE EAST SITUATION... IF THE ARAB STREET IS ON THE MARCH...THE FED WILL HAVE TO PROTECT THE DOLLAR TO ASSURE THAT OIL DOES NOT SOAR.

ADDITIONALLY, IT IS NOT CLEAR THAT A "PAUSE" WOULD ACTUALLY HELP THE HOUSING BUBBLE THAT MUCH...MOST MARKETS ARE GLUTTED WITH HOMES FOR SALE NOW...AND THERE ARE NO BUYERS IN SIGHT AT ANY PRICE! THERE IS MORE "WRONG" WITH THE HOUSING MARKET THAN HIGHER RATES... THE HOUSING BUBBLE WAS READY TO BURST NO MATTER WHAT THE FED DID...

IN ANY EVENT, THE NOTION OF THE STOCK DOGS RUNNING WITH THE GOLD BUGS IS NOVEL...

THE STREET SEEMS TO BE BEGGING FOR AN INFLATIONARY FED...BUT THE STREET NEVER THINKS LONG TERM THESE DAYS... LET'S HOPE THE FED STILL DOES.

MARKETS AT REST

A lot of big names are getting whacked... The middle east is so Hot that Iraq and Gaza are back page news. And the Bernanke twister game is over for now.

The market needs to refocus...rest and re-think it's "Bulls Only" mindset...After all, it takes Bulls and Bears to make a market.

This is a managed market that can neither rise, nor fall... Somehow that morbid equilibrium must be broken...so things can move on to what comes next.

INTERNATIONAL "BUFFER ZONE" COULD SOLVE PALESTINIAN PROBLEM TOO.

The notion that an "international buffer zone" could solve the Israeli-Hezbollah problem could a a dangerous precendent for Israel...

After all, the same buffer zone idea could be used with the supposed "Palestinian State." This would undermine Israel's "need" to occupy Arab land on the West Bank and Gaza...and could result in calls for a Palestinian State...which of course Israel is Hell-Bent to avoid.

In short the Hezbollah problem and the Hamas problem could be solved in the same way...A BUFFER ZONE.

Likely Israel will draw a line between Hamas and Hezbollah however...and refuse a buffer zone on their "occupied territory."

These Double Standards are nothing new in the Israeli-US relations with the Arab/Muslim world.

PROFIT TAKING DONE...OIL READY TO RUMBLE.

OK the "profit taking" is done...now it's time for oil to make a run at $80 again.

This is a market that has to mind it's internal "housekeeping" and "mechanics." But the market has not run into any fundamental challenge to $100 oil yet.

These temporary pull backs in oil, based on market mechanics, are certainly something the broader market can ignore.

Fortunately, the Arab and Muslim oil states in the middle east are still "shocked and saddened" by the Israeli aggression against Lebanon...

Soon however I would expect them to regain their composure...and under pressure from the enraged "Arab Street"...start expressing their dismay in the oil markets.

If peace and sanity are not restored soon...an oil embargo...could be the way calm is restored in the region...

After all, Israel has the US supplied weaponry...but the Muslims have the oil!

I say it's a standoff...

DOLLAR COLLAPSE ON HYPER-INFLATIONARY FED

Alas, Poor Ben, he tries to tell them what needs to be done...but they can't hear him!

The market, like Israel, only hears what it wants to hear...

And I wouldn't invest in either of them!

On the Bond market... Merely having a weaker economy does not solve the debt and deficit problem of the US dollar...in fact, it only makes it worse!

The bond market does not seem to have it's arms around the potential for Stagflation in the US economy... This refusal to accept Stagflation, as a likely or even probable outcome, is what has the bond market so dazed and confused nowadays.

MARKET WILL RALLY WILDLY...UNTIL IT DOESN'T.

NEVER A DULL MOMENT IN THIS DULL MARKET!

The market will continue to rally wildly about anything and nothing...as long as it stays within the current ranges of 10,600 to 11,600.

Any move out of that range will be met with instant selling/buying to "restore the range."

But fear not! It will all be very exciting...with plenty of hyper-ventilated news reporters, and news stories along the way.

The real questions, sans the hype, that are being resolved are:

1. IS THE WORLD AT WAR.

2. WILL OIL KEEP GOING BEYOND $80.

3. CAN THE DOLLAR BE SAVED, BY GOLD BASHING ALONE, WITHOUT RAISING RATES TO BUBBLE KILLING LEVELS.

4. IS THE REAL ESTATE BUBBLE IMPLODING.

5. CAN THE AMERICAN CONSUMER CONTINUE THE "MIRACLE OF SPENDING" WITHOUT JOBS AND WAGE GROWTH.

Oh, and Bernanke...? He's really more or less irrelevant now...except to the Wall Street Hypsters and their spin machine.

The Bond market will set rates if the FED doesn't.

In fact that's really what's happening anyway...so all this yada-yada about the "pause" is mostly just newspaper nonsense...white space filler during the dog days of summer.

After Labor Day we'll be entering a Brave New World... "Rethink" will be the name of the game...and it could get very interesting.

DELL'S PROBLEM: A WORLD AWASH IN COMPUTERS.

Who doesn't own 5 or 10 or 15 computers nowadays... They've become "the clutter" in many homes and offices....!

ISRAEL'S CRIMINAL RAGE CONTINUES...

Clearly Israel has an "end times" plan going here....

The "end times " of the Bush Neocons that is...who likely will not be setting the agenda after the November elections in the US.

Any take over of the Congress by Democrats could mark the end of Neocon thinking on a global level...the looting and warmongering will be on the way out! And not a minute too soon...

If and when the "morning after" comes to this maddness, Israel must be permanently put on a list of criminal rogue states that have no regard for decency and civilized standards of conduct.

Only a unified global community can put a stop to the war maddness that has now gripped Israel and Washingtom at the highest levels...

As with Germany under the Nazis, the majority of the population in the US and Israel are decent peace-loving people...it's only the maddess of their temporary leadership that has caused this misery

A return to sanity for BOTH the US and Israel should be the first priority of the UN and others concerned about the recent criminal conduct...and the peace of the world going forward.

CAN THE MARKETS SURVIVE ON GOLD BASHING AND SPIN ALONE?

Well, so far so good... As long as the Dow stays range-bound the traders can do whatever they want...within those limits.

ISRAEL COURTS GLOBAL CONTEMPT IN COMING MASSACRE

Do they really think there will not be a "Morning After?"

Do they really think the world community will forget the War Crimes? What blind rage must be driving Israel to the brink of disaster?

This all comes from the Israeli-Neocon attitude of self-imposed isolation from the world at large... Nations that turn inward lose the ability to react normally in a crisis...

This is really turning out to be Israel and the Neocons against the world... As we shall no doubt see in the coming days.

And what "Fresh Hell" will Iraq become--after the US backed Israeli Massacres of the Lebanese Shia community? It can only be guessed at.

Iraq was already out of control even before the Israeli Attacks...!

GAZA STILL AN ISRAELI KILLING FIELD...!

The distraction of the Lebanon War Crimes has diverted attention from the real problem...which is Gaza and the West Bank.

This is perhaps intentional on the part of Israel, which was getting a lot of bad press coverage about Gaza after they "kidnapped" the Hamas government, and caused this "hostage taking" to spiral out of control...

Essentially the pattern is always the same. Israel provokes an attack on it...and then claims that the other side "started it." The "meter" always starts running AFTER THE MUSLIMS LASH OUT...in response to the provocations of the Israelis.

And of course the American media always "see it" the Israeli way. But the rest of the world, especially the Arab world, has a totally different viewpoint.

This, of course, is then used to "justify" the occupations...and further assaults on civilians...which only provoke more attacks. And the vicious cycle continues.

AMERICAN ARAB REACTION TO LEBANON IS ANGER!

The American Arab community feels a sense of anger at the events in Lebanon, and the US support of Israeli war crimes against the Lebanese people...

Gone is the humility that we saw during the 911 period.

Many Arab Americans are just pissed off! Chances are that none of them are terrorists...few people are really. But the assault on their native culture and customs is getting extreme in Washington.

The political fall out from the Neocon "green light" to mass destruction of a small Muslim nation is likely to be very different than we saw with Iraq...

Everyone hated Saddam.... But Everyone seems to love the Lebanese People. There is something different this time....

Israel, and their US proxies, the Arab-Hating Neocons, may have seriously over-played their hand in the current crisis.

I sense that the "average" American is disgusted with Israel's over re-actions...IF THE POLLING QUESTION is asked in a neutral manner...

Not...Does Israel have the right to defend itself against Lebanese Terror?

But rather: Has Israel acted responsibly in bombing Lebanon?

THE NEOCONS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO WARMONGER THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THIS TIME.... MANY AMERICANS ARE ON TO THE NEOCON AGENDA NOW.

MY SENSE IS THAT THE ISRAEL LOBBY AND THE NEOCONS WILL HAVE TO BACK DOWN IN THE FACE OF GROWING INTERNATIONAL OUTRAGE...AND EVEN FACE DOMESTIC PRESSURE INSIDE THE US FOR A MORE RATIONAL APPROACH TO MIDDLE EAST PROBLEMS...

MANY AMERICANS ARE SICK OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION DRAGGING THE US INTO THESE WAR CRIMES SITUATIONS IN IRAQ... AND IN THEIR BLIND SUPPORT FOR THE ISRAELI ULTRA-RIGHT'S CRACKPOT AGENDA ABOUT "BIBLICAL ISRAEL"...OR A GREATER ISRAEL ON THE WEST BANK AND GAZA....AND NOW PERHAPS IN PARTS OF SYRIA AND LEBANON...!

IT BEHOOVES THE REST OF THE WORLD TO COME DOWN HARD ON BUSH AND THE NEOCONS IN THE LEBANON SITUATION...

ISRAEL HAS BECOME TOTALLY IRRATIONAL IN IT'S APPROACH TO IT'S NEIGHBORS...AND IT'S COURTING DISASTER...BOTH FOR ITSELF AND FOR THE US FORCES STUCK IN SHIA DOMINATED IRAQ...

Indeed, one of the great unity factors in the middle east today is the mutual hatred ALL ARABS AND MUSLIMS feel toward the the Bush Administation...and that's a Hell of a way to run a foreign policy! Right out of Sharons dismal playbook to be sure.

BEWARE OF THE "PAUSE"...

The markets rally wildly on the mere hint of a "pause" in FED rate hikes...

But, stocks will plunge when the "pause" actually does occur... Buy the rumor, sell the fact...

Right now the entire system is "tuned" for FED rate hikes at every meeting...it's predictable and the market likes predictability.

Once the FED "shocks the system" by actually pausing...? All Hell will break loose.

Because many different scenarios will be back "in play." The predictability will be gone...

MICROSOFT'S BUY BACK...

Well at least someone will be buying Microsoft shares...!

Large buy backs are usually an attempt to "fund" past options programs...

Buying back your own shares is a sure sign that you've run out of "good things" to do with the corporate treasury cash...!

Not really an indication of dynamic expansion... More an signal of consolidation and merely holding on...

Microsoft should find a better use for it's money than buying back it's own shares...which have been going nowhere for a long time...probably for good reasons.

FED MINUTES REVEAL...?

What...? Well it takes more than a minute to read them...! Rather long this time:

Here's a quote:

All Committee members agreed that raising the target for the federal funds rate 25 basis points, to 5-1/4 percent, at this meeting was appropriate given the recent readings on inflation and the associated deterioration in the inflation outlook. Such an action would also help preserve the decline in inflation expectations that had occurred over the intermeeting period and which appeared to be conditioned on an outlook for a policy firming.

AND;

To indicate that policy action at future meetings was not foreordained and would depend on the forecasts for inflation and activity in the medium term, the Committee agreed to state that "[t]he extent and timing of any additional firming that may be needed to address these risks will depend on the evolution of the outlook for both inflation and economic growth, as implied by incoming information."

I DON'T TRUST APPLE...

I DON'T KNOW WHY...I JUST DON'T.

SOMEHOW THEY'VE ALWAYS SEEMED A LITTLE TOO "NEEDY" IN THE WAKE OF THE MICROSOFT OPERATING SYSTEM SWEEP MANY YEARS AGO... APPLE IS THE HILLARY CLINTON OF COMPUTERS.

AND THE I-POD COULD END UP AS JUST ANOTHER GADGET SITTING IN THE I.T. CLOSET... WORSE YET WHEN A GADGET GETS TO BE A "FASHION STATEMENT" YOU KNOW THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG...

WHY CAN'T MY CELL PHONE PLAY MUSIC... OR, BETTER YET...WHY SHOULD IT?

SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY...

WILL GOOGLE MAKE IT'S NUMBERS...?

The "Google Story" later today could be The Big Mover for the markets going forward.

Google is one of the last "story stocks" left standing...(alas Poor Yahoo!), and the entire market these days seems to be trading off of "stories."

The grim reality of a weak dollar, rising rates and deficits out of control is simply too unpleasant...

Hence the markets need for stories. The Bernanke "pause" is one story that the Street trades off of regularly.

The thing about stories is that they may or may not have anything to do with reality...

And sooner or later reality trumps stories...as so many investors saddly discover.

UN SEES WAR CRIMES CHARGES AGAINST ISRAEL

Quote of the Day:

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour criticized the growing death toll, saying the indiscriminate shelling of cities and of nearby military sites was invariably resulting in the deaths of innocent civilians.
"International law demands accountability," Arbour said in Geneva. "The scale of the killings in the region, and their predictability, could engage the personal criminal responsibility of those involved, particularly those in a position of command and control."

DOLLAR DEVALUED ON BERNANKE TALK

BAD FOR BONDS. BAD FOR GAS PRICES. BAD FOR INFLATION.

GOOD FOR BIG OIL COMPANIES. GOOD FOR GOLD BUGS...

THE BERNANKE DEVALUATION OF THE DOLLAR WILL BE HIGHLY INFLATIONARY AND WILL CAUSE THE BOND MARKET TO "RAISE RATES" EVEN IF THE FED WON'T.

THE FED IS SO AFRAID OF WALL STREET...THAT IT CAN NOT SEE THE TRAP IT HAS FALLEN INTO...

THAT SAID, THE STREET SHILLS AND TOUTS ARE DETERMINED TO TWIST ANYTHING BERNANKE SAYS INTO SOME KIND OF "RALLY."

ADDITIONALLY, IF THE FED IS TRYING TO "SAVE THE REAL ESTATE BUBBLE" THEY WILL HAVE THE SAME TROUBLE THAT GREENSPAN HAD WHEN HE TRIED TO SAVE THE INTERNET BUBBLE...

ONLY NOW THE US IS MIRED IN EXPENSIVE WARS AND DEFICITS AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE...

ANY STOCK RALLY IS A RALLY FOR DEVALUING THE US DOLLAR...WHICH MIGHT BE A "GOOD THING" AND A NECESSARY RESULT...BUT IT SURELY WILL ALSO BE HIGHLY INFLATIONARY...

LET THE FOOLS RALLY ON... THE NEXT RATE HIKE IS COMING...

AND THE NEXT...AND THE NEXT...AND THE NEXT.

BECAUSE IF THE FED WON'T DO IT'S JOB...THE BOND AND CURRENCY MARKETS WILL DO IT FOR THEM.

THE REAL REASON THAT RETAIL EMPLOYMENT IS PLUNGING...

Shocking truth about retailing in the US-- Revealed! What the Street has missed in fly-over country that tells the real story...! Stay tuned.

YAHOOOOO.....

A TEN BILLION DOLLAR HAIR CUT IN ONE DAY...? THAT'S WHY MOST PEOPLE DON'T LIKE OR TRUST STOCKS...!

BUSH SUPPORTS KILLING ARAB CIVILIANS...

AND HE SHOULD KNOW... HE IS REALLY GOOD AT IT...! BUSH HAS PROBABLY KILLED MORE ARAB CIVILIANS THAT SHARON...BY NOW? TO THE NEOCONS A GOOD ARAB IS A DEAD ARAB.

STILL, WHAT PRICE WILL ISRAEL PAY FOR IT'S INSANITY? CAN THINGS EVER RETURN TO "NORMAL" NOW... REMEMBER THIS IS THE FIRST POST-IRAQ WAR CRISIS...SO NEW RULES MIGHT APPLY!

AND WHAT ABOUT THE SHIA OF OCCUPIED IRAQ..WILL THEY RISE UP AGAINST THEIR OCCUPATION BECAUSE OF ISRAEL'S ACTIONS?

AND WHAT PRICE WILL AMERICAN TROOPS PAY FOR ISRAEL'S CRIMINAL "WAR GAME" IN LEBANON?

ANY FED PAUSE NOW WOULD CRASH THE MARKETS!

In the be careful for what you ask for department...

Any "pause" now would be a disaster for the markets! Still almost no one mentions this...

Rather that a rally, stocks and bonds and the dollar will plunge and gold and oil will soar AFTER THE FED'S FIRST PAUSE...

Traders will over-react to any pause as a "permanant" situation and the dollar will then sell off mightily...the US bond will fall...and rates will soar at the long end of the yield curve.

THE WORST THING THE FED COULD DO TO WALL STREET NOW...IS PAUSE THE RATE HIKES...

ESPECIALLY BEFORE THE HYPER-LIQUIDITY IS COMPLETELY OUT OF THE SYSTEM...

AND BEFORE OIL AND GOLD HAVE TRULY STABILIZED WITHOUT THE HELP OF WALL STREET'S SHILLS...

ANY PAUSE NOW WOULD CRASH THE MARKETS IMMEDIATELY...SORT OF-- "BUY THE RUMOR, SELL THE FACT."

BUT THESE RALLIES IN "ANTICIPATION" OF THE PAUSE...COULD GO ON FOR A LONG LONG TIME.

BERNANKE HAS A MAJOR MESS ON HIS HANDS...A BAD MARCO ECONOMIC CLIMATE AND A MARKET THAT IS TOTALLY HYPED, AND IRRATIONAL TO THE EXTREMES...

NOT A GOOD SITUATION.

ISRAEL'S INVASION NOW..."BELOW THE FOLD" NEWS?

IRAQI SHIA ACTING UP....

The full consequences of the Neocon's mistake in Iraq is only now apparent with the rise of Shia politics all over the middle east...

Soon, Iraq's Shia will want to go to Lebanon to "fight the Zionists!" And how can Bush stop them? ...after all Iraq is a sovereign nation....with a "guest army" in it's midst.

EXACTLY HOW AND WHY THE NEOCONS LIKE WILLIAM KRISTOL, ET AL, THOUGHT THAT EMPOWERING THE SHIA WAS A GOOD IDEA...REALLY NEEDS EXPLAINING!

THE NEOCONS HAVE CREATED A RADICALIZED ISLAMIC POWER THAT COULD SERIOUSLY CHALLENGE ISRAEL'S VERY EXISTANCE.... SOMETHING THAT FEW SUNNIS WERE DOING BEFORE THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ...!

BUSH'S MORONIC FIRST VETO...

When the dismal history of the Bush Administation is written...today's veto will speak volumes about the depth of ignorance in the White House.

Additionally, today's veto could be the final straw for the more eductated suburban and exurban voters, particularly women voters, who feel that stem cells therapy is worth pursuing.

BUSH HAS LIKELY ALIENATED A LARGE BLOC OF WHITE, BETTER EDUCATED AND AFFLUENT VOTERS, WHO MIGHT HAVE STAYED IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY THIS NOVEMBER...DESPITE THE DISASTER OF IRAQ...AND DESPITE THE OBVIOUS INCOMPETENCE OF THE ADMINISTRATION IN DOMESTIC AFFAIRS...

Almost everyone is simply counting the days until we can get this guy out of office...and perhaps send him and his lackeys to The Hague to answer for their many illegal actions and crimes over these many years.

BUSH IS A SAD CASE... BUT TELL ME SOMETHING I DON'T ALREADY KNOW...

MARKETS ACTING IRRATIONALLY...

The idea that anything Bernanke said today was worth 200 point on the Dow is a bit nuts.

If anything today's action shows that the market is still awash with inflationary "liquidity" and Bernanke is nowhere near finished with his job of raising rates and draining the system of the hyper-liquidty that Greenspan left behind.

Furthermore, it is not exactly clear what, if anything , a "pause" would do for this market...?

The market does not lack for liquidity...if anything it's awash in excess money...!

Corporations are flush with cash... M&A activity is rampant and wild. Gold and Oil are still high... And the dollar is still weak...

THESE ARE ALL PROOF THAT BERNANKE SIMPLY MUST KEEP RAISING RATES INDEFINITELY....

I really find today's action shocking and a little bit pitiful...

The hedge funds and market traders are so "cocked and loaded" to make a quick dime...that no body is thinking about the longer term... But did they ever?

This market and the major averages have been rallying for months....and they still aren't getting anywhere...!

THE MARKET'S IRRATIONAL ACTION TODAY IS ALL THE PROOF BERNANKE NEEDS TO KEEP SERVING UP THE "BLACK COFFEE" OF HIGHER RATES ....TO A TRADING COMMUNITY THAT IS STILL WIRED, HYPED AND DANGEROUSLY AWASH IN EXCESS CASH...

THE NEWS FROM BEIRUT...

THE CEDARSEED BLOG FROM BEIRUT...

Interesting Personal first hand account of the situation...

MARKET TWISTS BERNANKE TESTIMONY INTO GOLD RALLY. DOLLAR PLUNGE!

And that's likely how it will remain...

As long as Bernanke keeps raising rates the dollar will stay high, and gold will stay low...

It's anybody's guess what oil will do.

Today the market again twisted Bernanke's testimony to meet it's own desire for a "rally."

Essentially, as long as Bernanke stays rational and does not openly curse Wall Street...his testimony can be twisted to meet the Street's "pause" scenario...but at a price.

A weaker dollar and strong gold and stock prices...on continued inflation hopes...

Bonds naturally will drop...

STILL, THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT INFLATION IS STOPPING...OR THAT OIL HAS REACHED ANY KIND OF PEAK...

THERE IS NO CLEAR SIGN THAT THE FED IS EVEN CONSIDERING A "PAUSE"...

OTHER THAN TO KEEP REPEATING THAT IT WILL ACT "RATIONALLY" TO THE DATA THAT IS PRESENTED...

BOTTOM LINE:

BERNANKE WILL RAISE RATES AT EVERY MEETING THIS YEAR...UNTIL FED FUNDS REACHES A "RESTING POINT" AT ABOUT 7%....

THEN AND ONLY THEN CAN THE FED PAUSE...AND WATCH OIL, GOLD AND THE DOLLAR TO SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING....

PRESENTLY, RATES ARE STILL WAY, WAY TOO LOW...AND THEY ARE FINANCING AND FUNDING AN ON-GOING BUBBLE ON WALL STREET...ALBEIT A BUBBLE THAT IS STRUGGLING TO FIND IT'S WAY UPWARD...

AND THAT'S THE REAL PROBLEM ISN'T IT... WALL STREET WANTS IT'S BUBBLE BACK...AND BERNANKE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO TELL THEM THAT THEY CAN'T HAVE IT...!

THE DOLLAR: A GAME OF MACROECONOMIC TWISTER!

THE DOLLAR GOES UP ON BOTH, INFLATION, AND THE LACK OF INFLATION...

SO THAT MEANS BERNANKE CAN "START THE PRESSES!" AGAIN...?

OR ARE WE MERELY THE VICTIM OF THE WALL STREET'S "SPIN-MEDIA" AND TOUT TV LOGIC...?

OR DOES THIS ANOMALY MEAN THAT EVERYONE KNOWS BERNANKE CAN'T STOP RAISING RATES ANYWAY BECAUSE OF THE DOLLAR'S INHERENT MACROECONOMIC WEAKNESS...SO NONE OF THESE "DATA POINTS" MATTER ANYWAY!

IRAQ IS A KILLING FIELD...

Iraq is nearly out of control... It has become a killing field...where the American occupiers merely run from bunker to bunker trying to stay out of harms way...

Somehow I don't think that's a reason for "staying the course"...

This disaster has to end soon... There are no easy solutions because no one in the region wants to talk about it. The US Miliary is just left spinning in the wind...as Dubya stammers on...and the Neocons scoot over to their Banking Jobs...!

FRIEDMAN CONTINUES TO OFFER ONE-SIDED DRIVEL

Thank God the NYT is a "pay service" now, and few people can read Friedman's increasingly out of touch propagandistic nonsense.

It's so sad...he could have contibuted greatly...but now he's just part of the problem.

David Brooks is more logical and sensible than Friedman these days. The Times should really consider dumping Friedman...and let Joe Lieberman write in his place! Friedman is tired and tapped out.

Or better yet get someone who is still trying to make sense of things... Without that effort, who wants to waste time reading propaganda and out of touch twaddle...!

We already have Ken Mehlman and Bill Kristol for that!

No wonder the Times is "downsizing"...!

BERNANKE LOOMS....!

AND THE MARKET REALLY REALLY HATES REALITY...

BUT YOU CAN ONLY CONSTRUCT FANTASY SCENARIOS FOR SO LONG.

IF THE B-MAN DOES HIS NEW "WAFFLING ACT"...THINGS COULD GO WELL. IF HE TELLS THE TRUTH? THE MARKETS COULD TANK...

DOLLAR SURGES ON DEMAND FOR $100 BILLS IN MIDDLE EAST.

The recent "surge" in the dollar could be caused by the increased demand for hard currency caused by the middle east conflicts.

If so, that might be merely a temporary blip...

Yet the FED shills have taken the opportunity to bash evil gold, (the economic Osama) considerably...despite the fact that nothing has really changed about the dollars macroeconomics.

Bernanke simply must keep raising rates indefinitely... And the minute he stops raising rates the dollar will plunge and gold will soar. Curiously, the dollar has been tightly linked to gold in recent trading...

NOT OIL!

So the gold bashing has taken on increased importance in the FEDS effort to "save the dollar."

But at the end of the day...if oil stays high...the inflation threat will still hang over the dollar...NO MATTER HOW BADDLY GOLD IS BASHED BY THE CENTRAL BANKS.

This recent fixation with gold...could cause the FED to take it's eye off the real ball.

THE PRICE OF OIL...

ISRAEL CLAIMS LIMITED GOALS IN LEBANON

Israel claims to be only after the destruction of Lebanon...not wanting regional war in the middle east...

But this is a questionable claim.

First, without occupation, the border will never be secure. And if Israel is merely "pacifing" it's northern border in preparation for further war crimes against Gaza and the West Bank...even that could be wishful thinking.

After all, the Hezbollah action that "started" this war...was really intended to support the Palestinians who were being massacred in Gaza only a few weeks ago. Remember?

So, again, it all comes down to the unwillingness of Israel to give the Palestinians their "state."

Israel continues to stir the pot whenever things settle down...and the recent war crimes against Lebanon should keep the occupations in place for years to come...and Arab rage at the needed boiling point

OCCUPATION OF ARAB LAND, NOT PEACE, IS THE REAL GOAL OF ISRAEL... AND THAT IS A SURE GAURANTEE FOR MORE CONFLICT.

IT IS FORTUNATE THAT THE ARABS ARE SO PITIFULLY WEAK FOR BOTH ISRAEL AND THE WEST.

THAT'S WHY THE RISE OF THE SHIA IN IRAQ AND IN IRAN IS SO THREATENING TO THE STATUS QUO IN THE REGION...

WITH THE REMOVAL OF THE SADDAM SUNNIS FROM POWER IN IRAQ, DUBYA AND THE NEOCONS HAVE SET IN MOTION A NEW DYNAMIC THAT THEY CAN NOT FULLY CONTROL...

THEY HAVE EMPOWERED IRAN AND THE SHIA BLOCS ACROSS THE MIDDLE EAST.

RADICAL SHIA ARE ON THE MARCH ALL OVER THE MIDDLE EAST... THE OLD BALANCE OF POWER IS IN FLUX...