Every year since 2002 the University and College Union (UCU), the largest trade union and professional association for academics working in further and higher education throughout the UK, has attempted to implement some form of boycott of Israeli academic institutions that have been shown to be complicit in the ongoing persecution of the Palestinian people. And each year, amid much acrimony and cries of "anti-semitism", boycotters meet with significant resistance from pro-Israeli members of British academia, and other institutions.

This year however, lowly Sott.net has inadvertently become involved in the melee.

Summary: The fall of gold accelerated last week with gold falling 9% against the dollar last week and 16% over the past two week. Commodities in general have been falling. We seem to be seeing the bursting of the commodities bubble due to the view that the world economy has not yet "decoupled" from the United States.

No doubt the easing of commodity inflation and the increase in industrial production in the U.S. is good news. The problem is that the root cause of the recent distress, the collapse of the housing market, shows no sign of letting up.

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As we noted here yesterday, Arthur Silber has written a powerful and profound series of articles on the Joe Biden VP nomination, and its deeper implications. He has now followed these up with a piece on Biden's disturbing -- not to say blood-curdling -- acceptance speech on Wednesday night. You should read Silber's latest piece in full, but I wanted to add a few comments of my own.

Joe Biden's acceptance speech was indeed a remarkable performance -- bellicose and delusional and deceitful by turns. If you closed your eyes, there were moments when you would have thought that you were back in the Cow Palace in 1964, listening to Barry Goldwater belching fire and threatening doom for all those who challenge America's uniquely exceptional special unquestionable morally superior dominance of the world.

Arthur Silber points us to some of the money shots in Biden's speech. And the porn allusion is entirely appropriate in this case. The speech, like the whole evening -- which was given over to the glorification of war and the triumphant militarization of American society -- was a lurid example of the pornography of power.

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The blog, Farewell 43, gives Americans a chance to bid George W. Bush 'farewell'. I think they really mean: GOOD RIDDANCE!

Visit them and post your own 'good riddance' message. Let the very worst frickin' "President" in American history know what you really think.

Following is the text of my 'good riddance' message. Post your own on their site. Here's a link to my comment on Farewell43! See also: Oh, Blessed Day!