Iran: US Sanctions The Creeps!

The US has sanctioned three foreign companies doing business with Iran’s energy sector on Thursday. The move follows additional tough sanctions the White House recently put in place against Iran, to impress on Beijing and Tehran its resolve to increase economic pressure over Iran’s nuclear program.

Hey...where is everyone?

The firms, Zhenrong Company from China, Kuo Oil from Singapore and FAL Oil Company Limited from the United Arab Emirates, will no longer be able to receive US export licenses, US Export Import Bank financing or loans over $10 million from US financial institutions. The companies were sanctioned under the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act, a measure that the administration has historically been reluctant to utilise, for fear that it would alienate other countries. The State Department said the move was part of an international effort to target Iran’s energy sector and persuade Tehran to cease in its nuclear enrichment. “The sanctions announced today are an important step toward that goal, as they target the individual companies that help Iran evade these efforts,” the statement said. (Bicom).
(Photo: Copyright Control).

Syria: On Course For A Civil War?

 More bleedin' obvious statements from the head of the Arab League. He has warned that Syria may be sliding "toward civil war". No kidding. Nabil Elaraby told AP that Assad's regime was either not complying or only partially complying with an Arab League plan that Syria signed last month to end its crackdown.

Who am I firing at? Who knows. We're really all
mad bastards in Syria...but...we do want our country to
 be like the new Islamic Egypt...oh and a signed photo
of Jimmy Carter would
be rather nice.

(Photo: Copyright Control).

Jimmy Carter: His Ongoing Love-In With The Islamist Mad Dogs!

We have been very pleased," Carter told reporters during a tour of a polling station at the Rod al-Farag girls' secondary school in a working class district of the Egyptian capital.

"In general the will of the people has been expressed accurately," he said on the eve of the end of the polls.
Egypt's two main Islamist parties have scored crushing victories. Asked about Islamists coming to power, Carter said: "I have no problem with that. The US government has no problem with that either."
Exactly: And that IS the problem, 'O you of the peanuts! 
(Illustration: Copyright Control).

Aussie Whingers! Killing Iran's Nuke Boffin Puts Us Off Our Barby Evenin'

 "Killing Iran's nuclear scientists courts catastrophe and the fragmentation of the regime will have unpredictable, and possibly very violent, outcomes. Whoever is killing Iran's scientists is clearly willing to risk catastrophic consequences that could engulf the region." (The Sydney Morning Herald).

(Photo: Copyright Control).

If you live with 100 million kangaroos at the edge of the known universe you can debate such niceties. Don't you  think that leaving this odious regime to construct WMD's could soon make for an even bigger "catastrophe"? If all you can do is write this crap, warble and hand wring, then just get back onto the friggin' beach with some crap Aussie lager, slap on some factor 50 and leave the hard decisions for those who will actually live with the consequences of doing fuck all!

Tel Aviv's International Honor!

Tel Aviv has once again snagged an international honor - this time as one of the world's most creative cities. Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper lists the White City together with London, Sydney, Stockholm and Shanghai as global centers of technological innovation.
The Globe and Mail's honor is the latest feather in Tel Aviv's cap. In 2010, the National Geographic magazine listed Tel Aviv among the world's best beach cities. Later that year, the Lonely Planet travel guide named Tel Aviv the third best city in the world. 
"The entire population of Israel may only number seven million-smaller than New York City-but this Middle Eastern state spends more of its GDP on research and development than any other nation," the newspaper reported.

The newspaper highlighted recent exits made by Israeli companies - all with offices in or near Tel Aviv. They included US chipmaker Broadcom's purchase of Provigent for $313 million; Google's $70 million paycheck to app developer Snaptu; and eBay's buyout of e-commerce site The Gifts Project for a reported $20 million.
The report also stated that companies like the facial recognition software -- Face.com - and crowd-sourced GPS navigator, Waze, will only secure Tel Aviv's "bright future."
The report showed that in the first three quarters of 2011 alone, 422 Israeli start-ups raised $1.57 billion in venture capital, and an estimated 250 multinationals maintain R&D operations there.
"What we do know is that while Tel Aviv is small, it's one giant innovation engine," said the report
(Video: Copyright Control).

http://www.israel21c.org/

Iran: The Time Has Come For A Good MOP Out!

(Reuters) - With its nuclear program beset as never before by sanctions, sabotage and assassination, Iran must now make a new addition to its list of concerns: One of the biggest conventional bombs ever built.
Boeing's 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), an ultra-large bunker buster for use on underground targets, with Iran routinely mentioned as its most likely intended destination, is a key element in the implicit U.S. threat to use force as a last report against Iran's nuclear ambitions.

A MOP. 

The behemoth, carrying more than 5,300 pounds of explosive, was delivered with minimal fanfare to Whiteman U.S. Air Force Base, Missouri in September. It is designed for delivery by B-2 Stealth bombers.
Would that weapon, delivered in a gouging combination with other precision-guided munitions, pulverize enough rock to reach down and destroy the uranium enrichment chamber sunk deep in a mountain at Fordow, Iran's best sheltered nuclear site? A "second best" result might be merely to block the plant's surface entrances, securing its temporary closure, some said.

Stealth Bomber.

One U.S. official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, described an attack on the underground site, about 160 km (100 miles) south of Tehran near the Iranian holy city of Qom, as "hard but not impossible." The United States is the only country with any chance of damaging the Fordow chamber using just conventional air power, most experts say. (Photos: Copyright Control).

Not Radio Ga Ga...

When the sound of banjo or country schmaltz never did hit the spot, or metal fatigue set in long ago and rap never was a need in your life; please do try the station below. Somehow over the past year or so I've slowly drifted towards Jazz...it just sort of seeps into one especially when played low on the dial. This station is online 24/7 so click the link below...then off you go...

(Photo: Copyright Control).

http://www.wbgo.org/