Barcepundit (English edition)

2008-07-25T15:15:00.001+02:00

GRAIN OF SALT INDEED: Charles is suspicious of the report by a Spanish newspaper -which is actually my hometown main paper, La Vanguardia- that Mossad helped in Ingrid Betancourt's rescue. And suspicious he should be: it is so thinly sourced that it almost makes you cry. The reporter says he was told about it by an unnamed Mossad agent while sitting outside a Tel Aviv restaurant. You can almost see the scene in a Golan-Globus second-rate spy movie.

And it's the same gullible newspaper that five years ago seriously reported on the "strange shapes" in the belly of UA 175 that crashed into WTC2 on 9/11. I'm linking to a translation of the original report which was, obviously, in Spanish, but I can confirm that the translation is correct.

2008-07-25T14:52:00.001+02:00

"HE VENTURED FORTH to bring light to the world." Superb Gerard Baker:

The anointed one's pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a miracle in action - and a blessing to all his faithful followers.

Don't miss it.

2008-07-24T13:51:00.003+02:00

THIS IS what my fellow Spaniards who only follow the legacy media don't know about Iraq.

Oh, I almost forgot: this blog is four years old today! It seems it was yesterday, but time flies. Of course it wouldn't have been possible without probably the smartest readers of the blogosphere. And handsome too! Does it show too much I'm pandering you, guys? No, seriously, you're terrific, and this place wouldn't have been the same without each and every one of you. Hope to have you around 4 more years, or more. Sí se puede!

2008-07-20T18:35:00.001+02:00

THAT'S FUNNY.

2008-07-18T12:00:00.001+02:00

A NEW REALITY in Iraq:

All of the most important objectives of the surge have been accomplished in Iraq. The sectarian civil war is ended; al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) has been dealt a devastating blow; and the Sadrist militia and other Iranian-backed militant groups have been disrupted.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government has accomplished almost all of the legislative benchmarks set by the U.S. Congress and the Bush administration. More important, it is gaining wider legitimacy among the population. The attention of Iraqis across the country is focused on the upcoming provincial elections, which will be a pivotal moment in Iraq's development.

The result is that we have an extraordinary – but fleeting – opportunity to advance America's security and the stability of a vital region of the world.

A new reality that wouldn't be there if the no-war-for-oils had succeeded...

2008-07-16T10:08:00.001+02:00

IF OBAMA starred in Raiders of the Lost Ark...

2008-07-12T10:30:00.001+02:00

WHY EUROPEANS doubt that the rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and the other hostages was in exchange of a ransom payment.

2008-07-10T13:32:00.001+02:00

GLOBAL WARMING HYSTERIA is more than mere eco-chondria: for some it's started to be a mental disorder. Literally...

2008-07-09T13:47:00.002+02:00

SPAIN'S ECONOMY: It's a crisis, stupid! Great piece by Soeren Kern.

And don't miss the list of Zapatero's silly utterances. Most amazing one: "To be optimistic is something more than a rational act, it is a moral requirement, an act of decency and, if I may say so, elegance."

Gosh.

2008-07-08T12:23:00.001+02:00

THE SPY WHO CAME FROM THE HEAT: a former CIA operative infiltrated in Iran's Revolutionary Guards tells his story for the first time.

2008-07-05T19:04:00.001+02:00

OPTIMISM grows in Iraq:

Pork is available in Baghdad once again. Not just in the Green Zone, where US diplomats can enjoy their spare ribs and Parma ham, but also across the Tigris River, in the real Baghdad, at "Al-Warda" on Karada Street. Bassim Dencha, 32, one of the few Christians remaining in Iraq and the co-owner of Baghdad's finest supermarket, has developed a supply line from Syria. As a result, he now has frozen pork chops and bratwurst arranged in his freezers, next to boxes of frozen French fries and German Black Forest Cakes. And the customers are buying.

2008-07-05T10:01:00.001+02:00

COLD-BLOODED kid murderers, that's what they are.

2008-07-04T10:44:00.003+02:00

Happy 4th of July!

2008-06-30T12:54:00.002+02:00

SORRY, I can't seem to be able to get excited about this: I don't like soccer. And it puts me off seeing so many expressions of cheap patriotism, with everyone carrying the flag, or their faces painted in red and yellow, and chanting on the streets as if the most important thing in the world had happened.

It's not that I'm anti-patriotism, or something. It's just that I make a mental excercise: if this had happened during Aznar's conservative administration, all the intelligentsia would be screaming off their lungs that Francoism is back etc. But now we're under a Socialist administration, with the championship broadcast on a pro-Socialist TV network, and suddenly it's so cool...

And what it is is a part of the anesthesiation of the populace: they're happy about soccer, so the bitter pill -economy tanking, unemployment rising, inflation up the roof- it's easier to swallow. Panem et circenses indeed.

2008-06-29T20:29:00.001+02:00

SOMETHING to cheer your Sunday:

Iran has moved ballistic missiles into launch positions, with Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant among the possible targets, defence sources said last week.

The movement of Shahab-3B missiles, which have an estimated range of more than 1,250 miles, followed a large-scale exercise earlier this month in which the Israeli air force flew en masse over the Mediterranean in an apparent rehearsal for a threatened attack on Iran’s nuclear installations. Israel believes Iran’s nuclear programme is aimed at acquiring nuclear weapons.

The sources said Iran was preparing to retaliate for any onslaught by firing missiles at Dimona, where Israel’s own nuclear weapons are believed to be made.

Major-General Mohammad Jafari, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard, told a Tehran daily: “This country [Israel] is completely within the range of the Islamic Republic’s missiles. Our missile power and capability are such that the Zionist regime – despite all its abilities – cannot confront it.”

An editorial in a government newspaper, Jomhouri Eslami, said: “Our response will hit right at their temple.”

2008-06-29T17:40:00.003+02:00

UGH:

BarclaysCapital has advised clients to batten down the hatches for a worldwide financial storm, warning that the US Federal Reserve has allowed the inflation genie out of the bottle and let its credibility fall "below zero".

"We're in a nasty environment," said Tim Bond, the bank's chief equity strategist. "There is an inflation shock underway. This is going to be very negative for financial assets. We are going into tortoise mood and are retreating into our shell. Investors will do well if they can preserve their wealth."

Barclays Capital said in its closely-watched Global Outlook that US headline inflation would hit 5.5pc by August and the Fed will have to raise interest rates six times by the end of next year to prevent a wage-spiral. If it hesitates, the bond markets will take matters into their own hands. "This is the first test for central banks in 30 years and they have fluffed it. They have zero credibility, and the Fed is negative if that's possible. It has lost all credibility," said Mr Bond.

2008-06-27T12:29:00.001+02:00

BILL GATES retires today. But...

2008-06-26T14:59:00.001+02:00

ONE COUNTRY LESS in the Axis of Evil:

President Bush said Thursday he will lift key trade sanctions against North Korea and remove it from the U.S. terrorism blacklist, a remarkable turnaround in policy toward the communist regime he once branded as part of an "axis of evil."

The announcement came after North Korea handed over a long-awaited accounting of its nuclear work to Chinese officials on Thursday, fulfilling a key step in the denuclearization process.

2008-06-26T10:02:00.001+02:00

TROUBLE for the euro:

Ordinary Germans have begun to reject euro bank notes with serial numbers from Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal, raising concerns that public support for monetary union may be waning in the eurozone's anchor country.

[...] People clearly suspect that southern notes may lose value in a crisis, or if the eurozone breaks apart. This is what happened in the US in the Jackson era of the 1840s when dollar notes from different regions traded at different values.

2008-06-22T21:02:00.002+02:00

¿RECORDÁIS la mega mansión de Al Gore, el héroe de la lucha contra el calentamiento global, en la que gastaba tanta energía en un mes como el americano medio en todo un año? Tras conocerse esta verdad incómoda, Gore se apresuró a hacer reformas e instalar paneles solares.

Pues parece que ahora consume todavía más que antes.

UPDATE. I put this post in Spanish here, instead of on the Spanish version... adding it now there.

2008-06-22T20:40:00.001+02:00

AND I thought that the Iraq war had been planned by Bush and his Neocons (good name for a rock band, eh?) in order to pillage the country through their corporations etc. What do you know:

European and Asian companies are beating their American rivals into Iraq now that security has improved the investment climate, Iraq and U.S. officials say.

"It's starting to turn … and the people who are getting in on the ground floor are not American," said Paul Brinkley, the Pentagon official who is leading U.S. efforts to help Iraq rebuild its economy. "It's ironic."

You bet it is.

2008-06-22T15:17:00.001+02:00

EVEN the New York Times -the new York Times!- can't but admit it.

2008-06-21T17:21:00.001+02:00

CONFIRMED: there's ice in Mars.

2008-06-20T12:58:00.001+02:00

"NICE MELONS"- funny video.

2008-06-20T12:43:00.001+02:00

REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS against free speech, when it comes to the al-Dura case.