The Ugly Truth

‘Israel on high alert as end of Mughniyeh mourning period draws near…’

‘Israeli fighters violate Lebanese airspace…’

To any average person, the above headlines seem like business as usual in the Middle East, as there has never been a period since 1948 where the once Holy Land was not a cauldron of violence and conflict. To those who understand the deeper reasons behind the recent (and not so recent) bloody history however–meaning Israel’s seeming addiction to the shedding of blood–what it indicates is that there’s more to all of this recent business than merely noise. The fact is, Israel’s war party is planning a hell of a bash, big enough to die for, and not just in the thousands but possibly in the millions.

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HaAretz

We need Europe, the peace needs Europe, but official Europe covers its eyes and automatically falls in line with the U.S. and its blind support for Israel and its boycott of Gaza. By not speaking about the siege on Gaza, the starvation imposed on it and the killing of hundreds of its people, Europe's leaders are not meeting their political and moral obligations. This blind friendship enables Israel to do whatever it wants.

The amount of support being shown for Israel these days is almost embarrassing. The parade of highly-placed foreign guests and the warm reception received by Israeli statesmen abroad have not been seen for quite some time. Who hasn't come to visit lately? From the German chancellor to the leading frontrunner for the American presidency. And the secretary-general of the United Nations is on his way. A visit to Israel has become de rigueur for foreign pols. If you haven't been here, you're nowhere.

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Uruknet

Whether their name is sectarian militias, paramilitary groups, death squads, mercenaries, criminal gangs, rogue elements in the new Iraqi security forces (no matter what they are called or how different they are), it is said they are controlling Iraq now and turning it into a no-man's land. It is said that the American occupation authorities, and their Iraqi agents in the government are helplessly incapable of controlling them. That they are ever stronger, better functioning, and more organized , and that they are consolidating their control over the north and the south of Iraq, making its division a de facto truth.

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Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.” - Woody Allen

By now it should be clear to all but the craziest of optimists that we are in a recession, at least in US. What is not clear, however, is the severity of this recession and if this will turn into a depression. A technical recession is defined as the economic decline in two or more consecutive quarters. This means that the real economy instead of growing, contracts. This economic decline may involve a general decline in employment, investment and corporate profits. Recessions can be accompanies by inflation or deflation.

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