These Rabbi's are Three Fries Short of a Happy Meal!

In 2005, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatened to "wipe Israel off the map."

Then in August of 2007 he declared that the Jewish State is "the standard bearer of Satan," and would soon fall apart.

Also in in August 2007 the Iranian President said that "there is no way for the salvation of mankind but the rule of Islam over mankind."

Ever since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Iranian ayottollahs have referred to the United States as "the Great Satan" and Israel as "the Lesser Satan."

Last week, while staying in the Intercontinental Hotel in New York, Ahmadinejad spent an hour with a group of rabbis, all of whom in my opinion are three fries short of a happy meal! They belong to an organization named Jews United Against Zionism.

The rabbis presented the Iranian President with a silver fruit bowl engraved with the message ... "We present this as a token of our appreciation for your sweetness and love of the Jewish people and all mankind."

Rabbi Yisrael David Weiss stated to award-winning journalist Michael D. Evans that Ahmadinejad likes the Jewish people; but that Zionism is an evil concept. He said that Ahmadinejad was not anti-Semetic and that he only wanted to get rid of Zionism and the State of Israel.

Duuuh? With all due respect Rabbi Weiss, it is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.

There's Kind of a Hush all over the Middle East

On September 6, 2007 five Israeli fighters struck Syria.

Moderate Arab states were unusually quiet in the aftermath as were international players who are usually quick to condemn any act of Israel which they view as aggressive.

Israeli officials are neither confirming nor denying the target or the purpose for the strike and apparently there's a state imposed "silence" on the matter.

International observers see several key messages:

• Israel was able to strike at Syria without suffering any military or diplomatic consequences.
• Israel will take steps to prevent other countries in the Middle East from obtaining nuclear capability.
• If a Syrian nuclear installation can be targeted by Israel without any international outcry what does that say for Iran?
• The London Telegraph is suggesting that the strike was carried out with Washington's blessing, in part as a test of the new Russian-made Pantsyr air defense missle systems recently purchased from Moscow by Damascus. Since Iran is also equipping itself with the Pantsyr air defense system, the Telegraph speculated that the U.S. was extremely interested in seeing a live-fire demonstration.
• The New York Times speculated that the real reason for the raid was to get intelligence on a number of suspected nuclear facilities Israel believes have been sponsored by North Korea.
• The Kuwaiti daily, al-Jareeda is reporting that Israel's target were unnamed Syrian missle batteries that were brought to Syria from Iran.
• Haaretz reported that U.S. government and military sources said they were "happy to have Israel convey to both Syria and Iran the message that they can get in and out and strike when necessary."

It's time to start connecting the Middle East dots because the current hush in the Middle East is about to become a roar.

Kwik Hits - #1

The average American family has $3,800 cash dollars in the bank ... no retirement account whatsoever ... owes $90,000 on their mortgage ... and owes $7,200 in credit card debt. The average American consumer is in "deep puckey" due to personal debt levels.

Consumer expenditures are currently running at 72% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) .... that's 72%!!!!! This is a number that has never ever been reached at any time in modern history by any nation on the planet ... can you say economic unsustainability?

Washington's not so secret Secret

Bill Gertz, the Washington Times' top military investigative reporter and publisher of his own subscription based intelligence website, "Geostrategy-Direct" is reporting that his military sources in the Pentagon are saying that the US has completed preparations for war against Iran.

Dubbed "Prompt Global Strike", some of the preparations, include;

• conversion of B-2 bombers to carry up to 80 500-pound Joint Direct Attack munitions.
• conversion of 4 Trident nuclear missle subs, each carrying 150 sub-launched cruise missles, providing enough firepower to attack 600 targets with multiple missle salvos.
• Aegis cruisers have been upgraded.
• the first F-22 advanced fighter bombers have been deployed.
• fielding a new 15-ton deep penetrating bomb that is designed to attack deeply buried and fortified targets, like Iran's nuclear facilities.

Getz quotes one top US military officer who said that the window of opportunity to take out Iran's nuclear facilities is closing fast and that after the autumn of 2007 (coming up fast) Iran's capability to retaliate will increase as the 2008 presidential election season begins by the start of next year.

Hold on to your hats ... the potential for something nasty to hit the proverbial fan is a definate possibility!

The U.S. Greenback is in Big Trouble!

The U.S dollar and bond markets are now in serious trouble! This week's Fed figures showed a collapse in U.S. bond purchases by foreign central banks. In July they fell from $97 billion to only $19 billion.

America desperately needs foreign capital flows to cover the current account deficit which is expected to reach $850 billion this year, or $3.4 billion a day. If the foreign central banks continue to back-off from buying Treasury and Agency paper, the Fed will be forced to step into the breach and buy it themselves and that means much higher inflation. Foreign central banks have been funding 30% of America's debt so far. If you pull them out of, or reduce their involvement in this equation, you've got big trouble in little China.

The flight from the U.S. dollar has already begun. Iran has massively cut its dependence on the dollar and now 70% of its foreign assets are in euro's, other currencies and gold.

60% of all oil exports are now in euro's.

For the first time ever, Saudi Arabia refused to cut interest rates alongside the Fed, signaling that they are preparing to break with the dollar which could very easily set off a stampede out of the dollar and into the euro right across the middle east. European countries as well as Japan are "dumping their dollars" to buy American businesses in order to cut their losses.

U.S. bankers via two deep interest cuts are putting the nail in the dollars coffin. Their short term solution will push up long-term interest rates, which in turn will drive up mortgage rates and drive real estate into a deeper crisis.

Money and credit creation will increase which in turn will bring hyperinflation. which will create a major recession which then can very easily spill over into a depression.

The U.S. dollar is collapsing, and as it does, so will consumption. And as all of this witches brew boils and bubbles, the end result will be that the U.S. dollar will no longer be the world's reserve currency and America's dominance in all world affairs will be diminished.

For all those who laughed when knowledgeable people were, and still are, predicting a one world government with a one world currency ... I've got a sneaking suspicion that all of that laughter is about to come to a screaching halt.

Let's be Fair to Duhlton McGuinty!

Much has been made by John Tory and Howard Hampton about the all too many promises which were made by Duhlton in the last election and then broken.

Say it isn't so Duhlton! Please tell us that perhaps you were misquoted or even taken out of context. Please explain to us that your intentions were honorable but you were unable to be a man of your word because every Conservative and NDP Premier in the entire history of this great Province had bungled things so badly that you were UNABLE to keep your promises!

Canadian's are a fair people, and in that spirit of fairness I would like to give you the opportunity to explain to us the promises which you were able to keep.

I know that you are a busy man these days. Respecting your time constraints I would appreciate if you could summarize just 10 promises which you have made and kept during the last election campaign and or as Premier of Ontario .... only 10!

PROMISES WHICH I'VE MADE AND KEPT

by

Duhlton McGuinty

1. I
2. I
3. I
4. I
5. I
6. I
7. I
8. I
9. I
10. I

Take your time!

Wuz up Wuh?

Just a couple of things percolating in my cranium after discovering the following tidbits.

• For every dollar spent in the U.S. declassifying documents, the government spent $185 to conceal documents. It cost the taxpayers $8.2 billion.
• Bush has issued at least 151 signing statements challenging 1,149 provisions of laws passed by Congress. Before 2000, presidents had signed fewer than 600 statements in 211 years.
• Bush has used the state secrets privilege 38 times. It was only used 59 times over the previous 23 years.
• Americans have submitted 21.4 million requests under the Freedom of Information Act versus 1.9 million just 7 years before.
• 53 of 57 agencies are backlogged for fulfilling requests. 12 Agencies have requests pending 10 years or more. My understanding is that there is a 20 day deadline for responding.

Now I'm not suggesting that there are untoward happenings here, only respectfully asking the President .... Wuz Up!

Promises, Promises and more Promises

Here are some of the key election promises already made by the four major parties in Ontario.

Liberals

• Close all coal-fired power plants by 2014 (promised by 2007 in 2003)
• No new taxes or tax increases (promised in 2003)
• No roll back on health-care tax.
• Increase education funding by $3.1 billion a year by 2011.
• All-day junior and senior kindergarten classes starting in 2010 (promised in 2003)
• $300 textbook grants to college and university students.
• Tax-credits for kids in extra-curricular programs.
• A $45 million denticare program for low-income families.
• A $42 million program to help kids with homework.
• A new statutory holiday in February.
• Hire 9,000 new nurses.
• Ban trans fats from all school cafeterias.
• Ban the cosmetic use of pesticides.

PC's

• Eliminate $2.6 billion Ontario Health Premium.
• Provide public funding to privately-run, faith-based schools.
• Increase annual health care spending by $8.5 billion over four years.
• Hire more family doctors.
• Increase annual education spending by $2.4 billion over four years.
• Fix the education funding formula.
• Find $1.5 billion in spending "efficiencies."
• A zero-tolerance approach to aboriginal land-claims disputes.
• A 5% cap on annual property assessments and a review of the current system.
• Put 100% of provincial gas tax revenues towards roads and transit.
• Hire an additional 200 provincial police officers and push for manditory minimum sentences for marijuana grow-ops and a stronger Youth Criminal Justice Act.

NDP

• Increase minimum wage by $2 to $10 per hour.
• Establish Ontario Smiles, a $100 million denticare program for low-income families.
• Allow northern Ontario to keep proceeds from levies on mining profits, Crown timber and hydroelectric power,
• Freeze college and university tuition fees at 2003 levels for four years.
• Cap industrial hydro rates, residential property tax assessments and transit fares.
• A ban on allowing replacement workers during labour disputes.
• Eliminate public-private partnerships, or P3s.
• Funding for municipalities to hire 3,000 new police officers.
• Reverse $3.6 billion in costs downloaded to municipalities by 2015.

Green's

• Shift taxes "off goods and onto bads" by taxing resources like fossil fuels and unearned income like capital gains, rather than workers and businesses.
• Shut down coal-fired power plants by 2009; stop building and refurbishing nuclear plants; encourage communities, businesses, individuals and institutions to conserve and produce renewable wind and solar power.
• Stop funding religious schools, amalgamate Catholic school board into a single public board, cap university tuition at $3,000 a year and college at $1,500 a year.
• No more private-public partnerships; maintain a publicly funded, publicly delivered health-care system; better home care with minimum wage for caregivers.
• Decriminalize all drugs, expand safe injection sites for hard drug users, invest in programs for marginalized youth rather than more police officers.
• Expand Alternative Land Use System to better compensate farmers for environmental protection efforts like water and soil conservation and bird habitat protection.

So these are some of the promises which have been made by the major political parties. I'm sure that the closer we get to election day the more "goodies" will suddenly be found and placed on our tables ... bon appetit!

Just plain Gorey!

Guess who lives here?

• It's located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville.
• It's a 20 room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas.
• Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a seperate guest house all heated by gas.
• It consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES)
• The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, this fella devoured nearly 221,000 kWh - more than 20 times the national average.
• His average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.
• Since the release of his movie, his energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.
• Natural gas bills (isn't that a fossil fuel) for his mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.
• In 2006, he paid in total nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate (not exactly a northern or midwestern "snowbelt state ... for pete's sake its in the South)

What can I say ... it's an Inconvenient Truth for Al and the Tipper!

The Law of the Garbage Truck

I recently had this article by David J. Pollay passed on to me ... thought that you might enjoy it.

How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you're the Terminator, for an instant you're probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly one can get back their focus on what's important.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a New York City taxicab. Here's what happened.

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling swear words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!"

And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

"Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did."

So this was it: "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people: at home, on the streets? It was that day I said, "I'm not going to do it anymore."

I began to see garbage trucks. Like in the movie "The Sixth Sense," the little boy said, "I see Dead People."

Well now "I see Garbage Trucks." I see the load they're carrying. I see them coming to drop it off. And like my Taxi Driver, I don't make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time, Walter Payton, did this every day on the football field. He would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground after being tackled.

He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best.
Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting.

Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses.
Leaders and parents know that they have to be fully present, and at their best for the people they care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day.

What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here's my bet. You'll be happier.

Some more Ramblings

In 1981 it took $1.42 of additional credit to generate each dollar of additional income in the US, today it takes $4.00 ... oh my!

Bill Gates, ex of Microsoft, Google's Eric Schmidt and Kohl's William Kellog in aggregate sold $63.18 of shares for every $1.00 of shares which they purchased. They did this while telling everybody that the economy was strong and headed even higher. Time to dump my shares in Bell India!

As the U.S. dollar is quickly heading for the crapper, foreigners are scooping up American assets so that they can dump their U.S. dollars which are shrinking in value day by day.
In 2006 foreigners bought $148 billion of U.S. businesses, up 77% from 2005. Germany was the biggest player, buying almost $23 billion of U.S company's. Those boys from the Middle East bellied-up to the bar purchasing almost $13 billion and the Japanese $9 billion. And the Chinese with their contaminated foods and lead paint are on their way.
Imagine the changing face of Corporate America as the dollar drops 35% to 50%.
Gee, I hope my new boss won't be named Sgt. Schultz. That would be a real bad day on black rock.

Kuwait, one of America's supposed staunchest allies has unpegged its currency away from the American dollar. And Petro producers now want to be paid in Euro's. Sadamm Hussein also loved those Euro's untill America liberated Iraq and put oil production back on the U.S. dollar. Just pure coincidence I suppose.

Six years ago 70% of foreign reserves and gold holdings by the Central Banks in foreign countries were in U.S dollars. Today its 64.7% as they continue to sell greenbacks not wanting to lose money.

Robert Murdoch made the statement that this world is run by GOD! Oh, it's not the God who you are thinking of. IN Mr. Murdoch's view GOD is Gold....Oil....and Drugs. Funny you should mention drugs. Afghanistan, you know the country which we are trying to democratize, produces 70% of the worlds opium. You know Iraq ... the other country which we are trying to democratize is now planting huge poppy fields in southern Iraq. Word is that the CIA, MI6 and some powerful families are reaping huge profits already to finance some more of those lovely black-ops soirees. HMMM does Iran contra poppy into your mind?

It's DAY 159 of the Official Wadgit Khan Watch. Has anybody seen or heard anything from the boy. I'm getting a little worried.

Random Ramblings

• Have you ever noticed that usually a few days prior to JW holding a major press conference or when addressing the nation on all things "terrorist related" another Osama Bin Laden video tape mysteriously appears out of the ether? Didn't that just happen again last week just prior to General Patreus laying out the government's strategy for bringing some of the troops home from Iraq ...something which George W doesn't want. You don't suppose that Osama is paid an appearance fee by George do 'ya?
• Speaking of JW's address to the nation last week, I watched part of it all the way through.
• How about those brain surgeons over at Diebold ... you know the company who manufactures those paperless voting machines that can be hacked and rigged.....now these morons have released a photo of their master key on their website that is good enough for anyone to copy. Perhaps Darwin was right!
• The greatest act of faith is when a man decides that he is not God. Apparently Dick Cheney has not made that leap yet.
• My Wadgit Khan Watch now stands at 158 days. Has anybody seen hide or hair of him. Well you wouldn't see any hair per say. He gets his toupees made and fitted by my barber. But that's another story. If there's a Wadgit sighting please let me know,
• To Mayor Miller of Toronto .... it is good to remember that in levying taxes and in shearing sheep, it is well to stop when you get down to the skin.
• One of the most perplexing questions of our time: where do all the solutions go after a candidate is elected?
• From what I can see, DUHlton McGuinty is in the business of explaining to others what he personally does not understand while trying to save both sides of his face at the same time.
• Stephan Dion is the only man I know that knows how to live without an identity.
• Watching the Democrat and Republican presidential hopefuls on CNN (Cartoon News Network), I have come to the opinion that American political debates are the lowest form of human communication.
• OJ Simpson is back in the news once again. Obviously he is a proven space cadet. But as we have since learned that in Las Vegas he had his lucid moments and was merely thick as a brick.