The 70 Nations That Will Meet In Paris On January 15th Are Going To Publicly Commit To Dividing The Land Of Israel

....so, tomorrow, 70 nations want to divide up Israel to include a Palestinian state.  Nothing here to see, children.  Move right along.

http://www.silverdoctors.com/headlines/world-news/the-70-nations-that-will-meet-in-paris-on-january-15th-are-going-to-publicly-commit-to-dividing-the-land-of-israel/

Israel applies to join China-backed AIIB investment bank

America's loss of face on the economic world stage is now complete.  Two of America's biggest allies:  the UK and now Israel have defied Washington's orders and have applied to become founding members of the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/01/us-asia-aiib-israel-idUSKBN0MS46J20150401

How Israel Spins War Crimes

This is a provocative opinion on the current use of propaganda.  Of course, spin and war crimes are often connected, not just from Israel.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/07/28/how-israel-spins-war-crimes/

Israel ‘furious’ with White House for leak on Syria strike

The roster of US allies pissed of at Washington is growing.  Conversely, the list of US allies is shrinking.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-furious-with-white-house-for-leak-on-syria-strike/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Israeli fighter jets and Saudi missiles

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100884040?__source=yahoo|finance|headline|headline|story&par=yahoo&doc=100884040|Israeli%20fighter%20jets%20and

Israel Confirms 'Game Changing' Airstrike on Syria

http://news.yahoo.com/video/israel-confirms-game-changing-airstrike-120704578.html

Israel drawn into Syria fighting for first time

Oh-oh...we'll see how "real" this is if the price of crude oil spikes this week.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ap-newsalert-169#overlay-context=users/cjones

Head Of Iran's Revolutionary Guards: "A War With Israel Will Occur"

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-09-22/head-irans-revolutionary-guards-war-israel-will-occur

Armada of international naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike

Meanwhile, back at the Judaic/Islamic OK Corral...the headline is certainly provocative--as if an Iranian first strike is imminent, which infers an Israeli first strike is justifiable?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9545597/Armada-of-international-naval-power-massing-in-the-Gulf-as-Israel-prepares-an-Iran-strike.html

U.S. has no right to block Israel on Iran: Netanyahu

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/11/us-israel-iran-netanyahu-idUSBRE88A0FO20120911

'PM tells US 'time has run out' on Iran diplomacy'

Speaking of...hey, it's NFL time!  All is well.

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=283353

Decision by Netanyahu, Barak to strike Iran is almost final — Israel TV

The situation in Israel has gone beyond posturing.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/decision-by-netanyahu-and-barak-to-strike-iran-is-almost-final-israeli-tv-says/

Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran

I guess Obama found Israel a convenient scapegoat for cyber-attacking Iran's nuclear enrichment plants.  President Obama:  living up to his Nobel Peace Prize.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/world/middleeast/obama-ordered-wave-of-cyberattacks-against-iran.xml

From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran's main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America's first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program. 

Mr. Obama decided to accelerate the attacks - begun in the Bush administration and code-named Olympic Games - even after an element of the program accidentally became public in the summer of 2010 because of a programming error that allowed it to escape Iran's Natanz plant and sent it around the world on the Internet. Computer security experts who began studying the worm, which had been developed by the United States and Israel, gave it a name: Stuxnet. 

At a tense meeting in the White House Situation Room within days of the worm's "escape," Mr. Obama, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency at the time, Leon E. Panetta, considered whether America's most ambitious attempt to slow the progress of Iran's nuclear efforts had been fatally compromised. 

"Should we shut this thing down?" Mr. Obama asked, according to members of the president's national security team who were in the room.

Egypt ends gas deal with Israel, stakeholder says

Remember how Americans yawned when there was rioting and military skirmishes in the middle east / north Africa (MENA) last year?  The US had their own domestic economic problems, yet we chastised the foreign sovereign governments for their violent treatment of their citizens' uprising.  "Those poor, poor folks..." was the general sentiment.

Well, a power vacuum has been filled by militaristic entities, and Egypt has just cut off energy supplies to Israel.  If this sounds vaguely familiar (see Iran being cut off of the global financial system), it's understandable.  The posturing has now turned into trade sanctions and economic warfare.  If one applies a bit of extrapolation, the end game doesn't look so good.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/22/israel-egypt-gas-idUSL5E8FM2XZ20120422

Brent At $126 As Israel Security Cabinet Votes 8 To 6 To Attack Iran

Well, here we go:  first, the trade and foreign currency sanctions against Iran.  Now, Israel's intention for a preemptive attack on Iran.  I wonder how India, China, and Russia feel about all this, given Iran supplies them with oil.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/brent-126-israel-cabinet-votes-8-6-attack-iran

Iran loads first nuclear power plant

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/iran-loading-fuel-its-first-nuclear-power-plant-israel-warns-reactor-use-totally-unacceptabl


http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE67K01D20100821

Iran's military forces

I was curious about Iran's military force, wanting to see how they compared to other countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, for instance. A quick glance on Wikipedia revealed some startling numbers. Boldface emphasis is mine.

* The Iranian Military consists of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, and the Iranian Air Defense Force. The regular armed forces have an estimated 420,000 personnel: the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, 350,000 personnel; the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, 18,000 personnel; and the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, 52,000 airmen.[5] Iranian Air Defense Force is a branch split off from the IRIAF.[6]

* The Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, or Revolutionary Guards, has an estimated 125,000 personnel in five branches: Its own Navy, Air Force, and Ground Forces; and the Quds Force (Special Forces).[5]

* The Basij is a paramilitary volunteer force controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards. Its membership is a matter of controversy. Iranian sources claim a membership of 12.6 million, including women, of which perhaps 3 million are combat capable. There are a claimed 2,500 battalions of which some are full-time personnel.[7] Globalsecurity.org quotes a 2005 study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimating 90,000 active-duty full-time uniformed members, 300,000 reservists, and a total of 11 million men that can be mobilized if need be.[8]

Iran's military was called the Middle East's most powerful by General John Abizaid chief of United States Central Command (U.S. forces' commander in the region). However General Abizaid said he did not include the Israel Defense Forces as they did not fall into his area of operations.[9]

I'm pretty sure US military personnel won't be posing for camera crews like they did in Iraq if the Israeli/Iranian conflict escalates into war.

Another reason to be bullish on gold

First, the Fed has dropped short-term interest rates down to 0%. Then, the Treasury is injecting up to $7.4 trillion in additional capital, literally out of thin air, to support ailing (and failing) industries.

Capacity issues are creeping in, as farmers lose crops due to drought, mines dry up, and exploration for new resources are stalled due to the financial crisis. All these factors point to inflation. However, fears of deflation rule the day.

Yet, gold prices keep trending up. Shares of gold mining companies have shot up even more--up 100% in some cases.

The markets are betting on deflation of asset values, including equities and real estate. Hence, both are likely to remain low for some time. And crude oil and other energy sectors have been battered. Agreed.

But looking forward (instead of through the rearview mirror), oil won't remain below $40/barrel forever. And when that dynamic reverses course, inflation will rule of the day.

And today, we had other things to worry about. Palestinians are shooting rockets at the Israeli border. Pakistani troops have abandoned the Afghanistan border and re-aligning themselves along the Indian border. The price of gold shot up over $20/oz within minutes of the news.

Today, we found out gold is not only a great hedge against inflation, it is also the currency of last resort in times of financial and geopolitical crises.