Obama Stabs Israel Right in the Back for His Re-election Bid

I guess pleading for Israel to wait until after the election to strike Iran was just his opening gambit. Now Obama is determined to throw Israel under the bus for daring to protect themselves from a possible nuclear annihilation.

The first report in Foreign Policy quotes anonymous American officials saying that Israel has been given access to airbases by Iran's northern neighbor Azerbaijan from which Israel could launch air strikes or at least drones and search and rescue aircraft.

The second report from Bloomberg, based on a leaked congressional report, said that Iran's nuclear facilities are so dispersed that it is "unclear what the ultimate effect of a strike would be…" A strike could delay Iran as little as six months, a former official told the researchers.

"It seems like a big campaign to prevent Israel from attacking," analyst Yoel Guzansky at the Institute for National Security Studies told ABC News. "I think the [Obama] administration is really worried Jerusalem will attack and attack soon. They're trying hard to prevent it in so many ways."

The first leak is absolutely egregious because it is telegraphing Israels attack plan and will probably get a lot of IDF pilots and maybe even Azerbaijani Air Force ground crews killed. I could see Iran preemptively striking these airbases before the IDF can get their planes in place. They could also mass their air defenses in the northern part of the country and be ready for a strike they know will come. That move put a lot of lives in danger.

Also the idea of a tie between Azerbaijan and Israel is probably quite a state secret if it is true and Obama just ruined that so he could get the Jewish vote to win re-election. I'm hoping this is a smoke screen by Israel to throw Iran off and maybe get them to put their anti-aircraft missiles in the wrong area or maybe goad the Iranians into striking first. If it isn't and Obama leaked this info then it would have to be one of the worst betrayals of an ally in US history.

The second leak was just Congress saying that Israel shouldn't strike Iran because you only put their nuclear program back by 6 months. I mean it is still better than negotiating with Iran while they have their program going full blast. I mean Israel doesn't care about US elections they only want to prevent a second Holocaust and a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. I am seriously hoping that this is just a ruse and not Obama selling Israel out to insure the Jewish vote in November.

Damn Austerity Measures!: Germany's Bild Newspaper Removes Topeless Cover Models

I guess keeping up with the European hard-nosed banker role they are trying to banish any impropriety from their most circulated newspaper.

"There's long been a discussion about whether it's still in keeping with the times," Tobias Fröhlich, a spokesman for the Bild publisher Axel Springer AG, told Der Spiegel.

However, the newspaper did not rule out publishing nude women within its pages ("better-wrapped, inside the paper"), as other newspapers in Europe do.

Well at least the nude women will be inside the paper hidden from the prying eyes of the party-boy Greeks, Italians, Portuguese trying to get their hands on that sweet German cashola.

I mean Europe expects a certain decorum and sedateness from the new German Banking Empire. So that means more hard faced women in pant suits and less topless babes in thongs. I mean you don't want Germany getting all Bunga Bunga on Europe now.

GM Goes Long Peugeot Citroen to the Tune of $400 Million: Did you do your DD American Taxpayer?

Since we are part owners of GM by owning 1/4 of the company it would be a good idea to see what they are wasting their money on. In this case we invested $400 million in a nearly bankrupt French car maker.

Peugeot can undoubtedly use the cash.  Last year, Peugeot's auto making division lost $123 million.  And on March 1 - just a day after the deal with GM was announced - Moody's downgraded Peugeot's credit rating to junk status with a negative outlook, citing "severe deterioration" of its finances.

In other words, General Motors essentially just dumped more than $400 million of taxpayer assets on junk bonds.

The article write says buying junk bonds is a bad thing but I would really like more information as to the solvency of Peugeot going forward. Losing $123 million in a year isn't too bad unless their cash reserves are in the toilet. How much is their debt load? How much of the losses is debt service and is the revenues growing? What about their union contracts? That is the kind of information that I would want to see before a company I own (as an American taxpayer) forks over $400 million to buy shares in that company. 

Shouldn't that $400 million go to paying off GM debt, buying back shares, or simply buying me out as the part owner of a company emerging from bankruptcy? In any case I really hope we don't see any Peugots being sold in the US. One goofy looking European car (Fiat) is more than enough.

Weird Explosion Caught on Phoenix Newscast

Now this is one strange burst of light.

The strange blast was caught on tape and aired live during Robinson's report. At first, news station employees thought the explosion was a transformer. But when FOX 10 checked with local utility providers APS and Salt River Project, they were told no transformers had blown in the area.

It really looks like a shell exploded but you figure there would be all sorts of outcry if that happened. When I first saw it at full speed I kind of thought it looked like the sci-fi interpretation of faster than light travel. Kind of what the Enterprise does in Star Trek. Here is the video so you can see for yourself:

Obama Thinking About Building Manufacturing Hub

This is a very interesting idea that should have some bipartisan support I should think.

President Barack Obama announced Friday that the administration will launch a manufacturing hub designed to bring together academics, government engineers and private industry to design cutting-edge materials, equipment and manufacturing processes.

This seems to be a sort of research factory and depending on what they patent it might eventually pay for itself instead of being a money vacuum like everything else in the government. It would certainly bring in high paying jobs and tax revenue to whatever state it is built in.

Romney's Wife Now Looks Like a Clueless Millionairess

These people just can't get out of the way of their own wealth sometimes.

Attempting to make the point that there are things more important than money, she instead uttered, "I don't even consider myself wealthy, which is an interesting thing. It can be here today gone tomorrow." During the same interview, speaking about the horseback riding therapy she uses to treat her multiple sclerosis, she said, according to Boston Globe reporter Michael Levenson, "Some people have lovers in every port; I have horses in every port."

Yup its not like she is a billionaire. Then she would feel wealthy. The correct way to have said that line so that it didn't sound tone-deaf was "with Obama lurking about with his hatred of the well-to-do all the wealth we have might be gone at any moment. So we really cherish it."

Then don't talk about how many horses you have. A guy without a job does not want to hear about your pure-bred Arabian stallions that you have at your various mansions. It isn't the 80s anymore. I wish Eric Cantor or Paul Ryan was our candidate and not Monopoly Man Mitt.

Clueless Democrats Rail Against Oil "Speculation"

I swear sometimes the Dems are so clueless when it comes to things like commodity prices that you wonder how they got their jobs in the first place.

"As the cost for American people to fill their gas tanks continues to skyrocket, the CFTC continues to drag its feet on imposing strict speculation limits to eliminate, prevent, or diminish excessive oil speculation," the members of Congress told the commissioners in a letter. "We urge you to take immediate action to impose strong and meaningful position limits, and to utilize all authorities available to you to make sure that the price of oil and gasoline reflects the fundamentals of supply and demand." 

Um, speculation does not drive up oil prices nearly as much as the threat of an Israel/Iran War would. I swear the Dems see shady bankers and Wall Street types hiding under every rock. The funny part is that these changes only effect US traders because of the hated Dodd-Frank Law. Oil futures are a global market so traders in other countries might not feel these sanctions at all while US firms have to deal with them.

Also is hedging by an oil major considered speculation? I mean they are betting against their own production of oil in order to limit their downside. So they are speculating that the price does not drop below a certain amount so they don't start to lose money. Would a limit on the total contracts they own affect this hedging? Who knows? The Dems certainly are clueless on this issue.

McCain Calls for Bombing of Syria

Well, I guess he has a point where we bomb Libya to save civilians but don't do so in Syria is sending a message that we are inconsistent in our want of regime changes.

"The United States should lead an international effort to protect key population centers in Syria, especially in the north, through airstrikes on Assad's forces," McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a speech on the Senate floor.

"To be clear: This will require the United States to suppress enemy air defense in at least part of the country," said McCain, who has repeatedly called in recent weeks and months for a stepped-up U.S. effort to protect Syrian civilians.

I think it would be a good use of force to start bombing Syria into submission. It would eliminate one of our last enemies in the region and will force Iran to stand alone. However, Syria is a lot more advanced than Libya and their air defense is state of the art from Russia though. It would not be a cake walk and we might lose some pilots in any protracted air war with Syria. I hope McCain would be ready for something like that happening.

The Whole Limbaugh Calling Fluke a Slut is a Double Standard: But I'm Glad Rush Apologized

Well Rush apologized which I think is pretty appropriate for attacking a seemingly innocent law student who wanted her college to pay for her birth control.

"I descended to [the left's] level when I used those two words to describe Sandra Fluke," Limbaugh said. "I've always tried to maintain a very high degree of integrity and independence on this program. Nevertheless, those two words were inappropriate. They were uncalled for. They distracted from the point that I was actually trying to make, and I again sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for using those two words to describe her. I do not think she is either of those two words. I did not think last week that she is either of those two words."

Yes, it is up to conservatives to practice civility and refrain from name-calling. The left does that all the time and guys like Rush should not stoop to their level. I mean Bill Maher called Sarah Palin a cunt during his stand-up act and the National Organization of Women doesn't want him removed from HBO. In fact NOW hasn't said a word about misogyny form the left at all. Now Rush and Maher share the exact same boat. But it is up to Rush to be above Maher and not personally attack people that disagree with him. I'm glad he apologized.

GM Scales Back Volt Production

Well it seems they are just not selling like they should be. So much for the green jobs Obama was promising people.

General Motors GM +0.15% will halt production of the Chevy Volt electric car for five weeks, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a spokesman. Around 1,300 workers at GM's Hamtramck, Mich. factory where the Volt is built will be out of work between March 19 and April 23, the report said, citing the spokesman. GM sold about 7,700 Volts last year, below its target of 10,000.

Oil Prices Briefly Move Higher on Fire Hoax

I hope the SEC gets to the bottom of this chicanery.

“The reports are completely untrue. They originated from Facebook and Twitter, and the pipeline is still up and running,” one official told Dow Jones Newswires.

Oil futures jumped over $110.55 a barrel in after-hours trading Thursday following a report from Tehran’s PressTV which said that an explosion destroyed pipelines in the “flashpoint” Saudi city of Awamiyah.

An online website called the Arab Digest posted a headline “Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Revolution hits the oil sector – pipeline under fire” and two photos of what it claimed was a pipeline fire. Neither photo showed a pipeline, and the fires didn’t appear large. The photos couldn’t be authenticated.  The site quoted what it said was an unidentified resident of Qatif calling the blazes a message to the U.S. to pressure Saudi Arabia for reform.

“This is just a false propaganda, and we are not going to entertain it,” a second Saudi official said.

I would like to see if this Arab Digest has ties to the Iranian regime or not.