New York Times

In a world some thought we would never see, most Americans and much of Congress seem to agree with Ron Paul's foreign policy advice - at least on the question of a military strike against Syria...

Gold prices fell sharply again just prior to European markets opening, in aggressive selling which saw gold quickly fall from $1,355/oz to $1,343/oz at 0754 GMT. Support at $1,360/oz was breached overnight and gold should now test support at $1,320/oz.

• Syrian Rebels Hurt by Delay (WSJ), U.S. seeks quick proof Syria ready to abandon chemical weapons (Reuters)
• Lavrov Brings Acerbic Pragmatism to Syria Meet With Kerry (BBG)
• Five years after Lehman, risk moves into the shadows (Reuters)
• U.S. shares raw intelligence data with Israel, leaked document shows  (LA Times)
• Japan to raise sales tax, launch $50 bln stimulus (AFP) - so 1) lower debt by sales tax, then 2) raise debt through stimulus.
• Blackstone’s Hilton Files for $1.25 Billion U.S. Initial Offer (BBG)
• Second Life Bankers Thrive in Dubai as Boutiques Boost Fees (BBG)
• Brussels probes multinationals’ tax deals (FT)
• Wall Street's Top Cop: SEC Tries to Rebuild Its Reputation (WSJ) ... and fails
• Tablet sales set to overtake PCs (FT)
• The end of angst? Prosperous Germans in no mood for change (Reuters)

Political analysts over the next year or so, and historians well into the future, are likely to point to the fall of 2013 as a fundamental inflection point in American politics. That period, they will say, is when the American people forced a major new direction in American foreign policy. Before the events of this fall, the country’s electorate largely delegated foreign policy to its political elite—and largely supported that elite as it projected American military power with more abandon than the country had ever before seen. Even as the government steadfastly expanded the range of international problems that it said required U.S. military action, the electorate accepted that expanded international role and that increasingly promiscuous use of force. Those days are gone now.

"If we can avoid force against Syria, this will improve the atmosphere in international affairs and strengthen mutual trust. It will be our shared success and open the door to cooperation on other critical issues.... No one doubts that poison gas was used in Syria. But there is every reason to believe it was used not by the Syrian Army, but by opposition forces, to provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons, who would be siding with the fundamentalists. Reports that militants are preparing another attack — this time against Israel — cannot be ignored... The potential strike by the United States against Syria, despite strong  opposition from many countries and major political and religious leaders, including the pope, will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria’s borders.... It is alarming that military intervention in internal conflicts in foreign countries has become commonplace for the United States. Is it in America’s long-term interest? I doubt it. Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan “you’re either with us or against us.”

The circus just won't stop. John Kerry takes to social media in this Google+ Hangout with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and Lara Setrakian, founder of the digital news site Syria Deeply. This roundtable discussion will weigh the United States' response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria. We just can't wait to hear his reaction to the pending UN Security Council meeting and Russia's need for the US to denounced 'Use of Force'.

Earlier today, Charlie Rose who traveled to Damascus previously, interviewed Syria's president al-Assad at the presidential palace. The interview will air in its entirety on PBS's "Charlie Rose" show on Monday night just as Obama's full media campaign to push for a Syrian war is peaking. In the interview, previewed by Rose on CBS's "Face The Nation" on Sunday morning, Assad denied that he had anything to do with the chemical weapons attack that took place on August 21, 2013 and that there was no evidence that he had "used chemical weapons against my own people". Rose also said the Syrian president would not confirm or deny that the regime has chemical weapons. When asked if Assad though there would be an attack, the president told him "I don't know."

As President Obama continues to push for a plan of limited military intervention in Syria, a new poll of Americans has found that though the nation remains wary over the prospect of becoming involved in another Middle Eastern war, the vast majority of U.S. citizens strongly approve of sending Congress to Syria. "There’s no doubt in my mind that sending Congress to Syria - or, at the very least, sending the major congressional leaders in both parties - is the correct course of action," one respondent noted, adding "sooner rather than later, too, this war isn’t going to last forever."

With the value of the rupee plunging to new lows, the current account deficit at an all-time high and inflation running at nearly a ten-percent annual clip, India is in serious economic trouble. Indeed many are beginning to wonder whether the country is edging toward a replay of the events in the summer of 1991. Back then, an acute balance of payments crisis forced New Delhi into the indignity of pawning its gold reserves in order to secure desperately needed international financing. At a small public event the other week, Duvvuri Subbarao, the outgoing head of the central bank conceded that policymakers rarely learn from their mistakes: "...in matters of economics and finance, history repeats itself, not because it is an inherent trait of history, but because we don’t learn from history and let the repeat occur."

Imagine Dick Cheney in a “Saturday Night Live” skit fantasizing about Barack Obama handling the pressures of going to war...

If Barack Obama is going to attack Syria, he is going to do it without the support of the American people, without the approval of Congress, without the approval of the United Nations, and without the help of the British.  Now that the British Parliament has voted against a military strike, the Obama administration is saying that it may take "unilateral action" against Syria. Unfortunately for the Obama administration, the world is not buying it.  In fact, people are seeing right through this charade. The following are 25 quotes about the coming war with Syria that every American should see...

And other Syria updates ...

U.S. and British Intelligence Officials Admit they Don’t Know Whether the Syrian Government Or Rebels Used Chemical Weapons

French President François Hollande jumped straight in declaring in more Sarkozy-style fashion than ex-President Sarkozy himself that he would attack Syria. That was even before the UN investigators had been shot at by some unidentified people.

Debunking U.S. Claims about UN Weapons Inspections In Syria