WND EXCLUSIVE

THE 'REAL JOHN LENNON,' REVEALED AT LAST

Man who knew him says new movie project 'Genius' gets it right

Published: 13 hours ago

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The man called upon by the Beatles to run their record division, and named as the U.S. manager of their Apple Records beginning in 1968, says a new short movie project, “Genius,” gets the story right about John Lennon.

The project, by evangelist Ray Comfort, has been described as a new and chilling movie on the life and tragic murder of Lennon.

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“It’s chilling because it reveals what people will do for money,” said Comfort. “There are ordinary people out there who would kill you. All they need is the right money and the belief that they won’t get caught.”

Just before he was murdered, John Lennon told Playboy magazine that he didn’t want to die at 40. Ironically the famous singer was gunned down at the age of 40 by a man who killed him just because he wanted to become famous.

“John Lennon was a musical genius,” says Comfort. “All I have to do is think of some of his songs and even the titles make me feel good…and I’m not the only one. His music has crossed cultures and even generations. The Beatles have sold more than 2,303,500,000 record albums, and in June of 2012 they hit number one on iTunes. They are as big now as they ever were and they’re half dead – with the tragic loss of Lennon and Harrison.”

Ken Mansfield, who was a member of the Beatles inner sanctum for years and was on top of the Apple building in London as the Fab Four played for the last time, said, “‘Genius’ will open your eyes.”

He says he knew the real John Lennon, and “That’s who we have portrayed in ‘Genius’ – the real John Lennon.”

Comfort said, “It has twists and turns that you don’t expect. ‘Genius’ shows another unheard of side of John Lennon and that will certainly ‘open your eyes,’ as Ken Mansfield so aptly said.”

The movie was released for free viewing on GeniusTheMovie.com. and is available online.

Scheduled for release this weekend is the companion book written by Comfort,
“The Beatles, God and the Bible.”

The book and video are in the tradition of his stunning “180″ short feature that accompanied Comfort’s “Hitler, God and the Bible.”

Not too many people know that John Lennon met Paul McCartney while at a church function, or that John was a choirboy. Nor do they know that at the height of their fame in 1965, all four Beatles professed to be atheists.

Yet in 1980, John had moved from proudly stating that they were more popular than Jesus, to humbly saying: “I’m a most religious fellow … I was brought up a Christian, and I only now understand some of the things that Christ was saying in those parables.” As a young man, George Harrison wrote, “I want to find God. I’m not interested in material things, this world, fame – I’m going for the real goal.” Later in life, Ringo Starr said, “For me, God is in my life. I don’t hide from that.” In the 1990s, Paul McCartney said, “I’m not religious, but I’m very spiritual.” He prayed for his wife when she was having trouble giving birth to their daughter, and his 2001 song “Freedom” spoke of freedom as “a right given by God.”

Little has been said of the spiritual side of the world’s most famous music group. “The Beatles, God, and the Bible” changes that with its unique and fascinating insight into the spirituality of the Fab Four.

Mansfield also wrote the forward for the book.

Ray Comfort is the founder/president/CEO of Living Waters Publications. From humble beginnings, the ministry has become internationally recognized, reaching the lost and equipping Christians with every necessary resource to fulfill the great commission. In addition to his main ministry, Ray is co-host (with Kirk Cameron) of the award-winning television program “The Way of the Master,” which airs in 70 countries around the world. He also co-hosts a daily radio program by the same name, airing on the Sirius Satellite Radio Network and hundreds of terrestrial stations. Ray is a bestselling author of more than 60 books. He and his wife, Sue, live in Southern California, where they have three grown children.

See the complete collection of Ray Comfort books and videos here.

Also available is “The Lennon Prophecy: A New Examination of the Death Clues of The Beatles,” by Joseph Niezgoda.

See the book trailer:

See the video trailer:

Media interested in interviewing Ray Comfort about his new book and video on the Beatles can email media1@wnd.com.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/the-real-john-lennon-revealed-at-last/#dHo8ZeHOAXgQ2TaY.99 

NFL players: Three out of four own guns

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2012/12/06/jovan-belcher-kansas-city-chief-nfl-guns/1752195/

NFL players: Three out of four own guns

David Leon Moore, USA TODAY Sports

NFL players say they need to own guns for protection, and that hasn't changed despite the Jovan Belcher shootings.

11:12AM EST December 7. 2012 - Former NFL running back Thomas Jones was always around guns, long before he became a football-carrying member of that unofficial gun club within the National Football League.
As a kid, he and his buddies fired guns in the woods in Big Stone Gap, Va. They'd shoot bottles and go hunting.
His dad had guns.
Jones bought his first gun his senior year at the University of Virginia, and, as a rookie with the Arizona Cardinals a dozen years ago, he learned quickly that guns were an ingrained part of the NFL culture.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: Belcher tragedy
"Most guys when they first come into the league is when they first start to realize they need protection," Jones says. "Because money brings a lot of positive things. But most of the time, it brings more negative things. People don't like you for what you have, for who you are. They don't like you for what you represent. And people will go to any length to take what you have or harm you in some way just because they don't have what you have. If you don't have a firearm to protect you from situations and God forbid something happens to you, you wish you would have a firearm."
Jones, who retired last season with the Kansas City Chiefs after 12 years in the league, was a big brother to young linebacker Jovan Belcher, who killed his girlfriend, and then himself, last Saturday.
Yet less than a week removed from the tragic shootings in Kansas City, NFL players aren't ready to give any ground on their belief that carrying guns is not only a right but, in their world, a necessity. Indeed, numerous players told USA TODAY Sports that in their estimation, roughly three-quarters of NFL players owned guns, compared with 40% to 45% of households in the general population, according to the National Rifle Association.
Though no statistics on NFL gun ownership exist, and league spokesman Greg Aiello called the percentage estimates "a wild guess," even former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy — widely viewed, even now, as the moral compass of the NFL — says the number of players who armed themselves during his tenure "shocked" him.
When Dungy, now an NBC analyst, was coaching the Colts, he'd always ask at the first team meeting of the year, "How many of you guys have guns?" Then he would tell the players that they needed to register their weapons in Indiana.
"I was always shocked at the number of guys who raised their hand. ... That was kind of eye-opening to me. ... (But) it's just a fact of life. These guys had them. ... I think so many of these young guys have been around guns and have seen guns, and they just feel that's part of the landscape for them growing up."
Like Jones, Belcher owned guns. But Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, the mother of their three-month-old daughter, and then killed himself with a different gun in front of his coach and general manager in the parking lot of Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium.
"I'm not ... trying to tell guys in the league they need to purchase firearms," Jones says. "I'm just saying to be realistic about our lifestyle."
Wayne LaPierre, chief executive officer for the NRA, dismisses any notion that guns are to blame for the tragedy, or that NFL players are in some way different.
"It's not a culture of athletes," he says. "It is particular behavior by particular individuals that is no different from the rest of society. We've got to stop making excuses. A murderer is a murderer."

Jovan Belcher warms up prior to the Oct. 27 game against the Ravens.  Ed Zurga, AP

Lessons of Taylor's death
According to numerous players, it's not a secret that the NFL is loaded with firearms. One of the reasons routinely mentioned is protection, and one of the incidents players often cite is the death of Sean Taylor, a Washington Redskins safety who was killed in a home invasion in Miami in 2007. He was 24.
Redskins kick returner Brandon Banks echoes the mantra that it's all about protection. The third-year player, who declined to say whether he owns a gun, says "70% of the NFL players have guns. Guys get them as soon as they start getting some money, when people start knowing where you live."
BENEFITS: Belcher daughter eligible for at least $1 million
Players in other pro sports leagues agree with that sentiment, including in the NBA where former Utah Jazz star Karl Malone, a noted outdoorsman, once put the number of gun owners at "close to 60%."
But just as in the greater society beyond sports, gun ownership isn't only about protection. For many players and millions of Americans, guns are simply the equipment for another popular sport: hunting.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger calls himself "a huge hunter" and says he owns rifles, shotguns and handguns. He estimates the percentage of NFL players who own guns at "over 75%-80%."
Roethlisberger's teammate, James Harrison, is a gun collector and one of the most avid gun advocates in sports. Harrison reacted to the Belcher story with sadness, but the all-pro linebacker is unapologetic about his passion for firearms.
"It has nothing to do with the guns," Harrison says. "Somebody goes out and kills somebody with a knife; you going to blame the knife? It's the person who did it who's responsible."
Redskins wide receiver Josh Morgan no longer owns a gun. But he says he grew up in Washington, D.C., carrying unregistered handguns. He gave up guns "after one of my best friends got killed. That's when I had to stop. When you see so many people get killed and you witness so many deaths and go to so many funerals before you leave high school — and you've got 12, 13, 14 friends die from murder or get stabbed — you get tired of going to funerals. You get tired of crying."
Morgan says he knows a lot of players who own guns for protection, and he defends their right, even as he chooses not to exercise his.
"Some people just have nothing to lose," he says. "When you've got people like that, you've got no choice but to protect yourself and protect your family."
MEMORIAL: Kasandra Perkins remembered for bringing joy
The NFL's Aiello says the league educates players about guns and weapons every year. Each team conducts an annual mandatory preseason meeting with NFL security, club security and local law enforcement at which gun laws are reviewed and explained. At this meeting, NFL employees are urged not to own guns, according to Aiello.
Some players have followed that advice.
"I do not own a gun," says Redskins tight end Logan Paulsen. "It's something my wife and I have discussed. We (the team) are away a lot, so it gives me some peace of mind knowing she could protect herself (if she did have a gun). It also makes me nervous because there are a lot of issues with gun safety."
Paulsen, who puts the league gun ownership number at "70-80%," realizes that he's "definitely in the minority."
But Troy Vincent, the NFL vice president of player engagement who played from 1992-2006, disputes that the league has a gun culture, or that players commonly own and collect guns.
"No. No. I've never. … You'll hear people say, 80%-90%, 20%. How do you know that? We don't ask that question. That's personal information. ... (But) we're not naive by any stretch of the imagination."
While echoing Aiello's comments that the league does all it can to educate players, Vincent shed tears and became emotional when asked about the Belcher tragedy.
"A young lady lost her life, and it didn't have to be that way."
Family and friends said goodbye to Kasandra Perkins, 22, at a funeral Thursday in Blue Ridge, Texas.

Too eager to arm?
Because Belcher was a gun owner, a person in his home would have been three times more likely to be involved in a homicide, and five times more likely to have killed himself, according to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine.
If that Saturday in Kansas City were an average day in America, 32 people were slain with guns and another 54 people were killed by guns in suicides or accidents, according to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. More than 31,000 people in the USA die in gun-related incidents each year. This year, one of those deaths was the stunning suicide of recently retired NFL superstar linebacker Junior Seau, who had acquired a handgun for protection but, according to his friends, hardly knew how to load it.
SEAU'S FINAL DAYS: Plagued by sleepless nights
Whatever the reasons athletes give for gun ownership — or their Second Amendment rights to legally purchase firearms — gun safety advocates continue to be concerned about the link between guns and professional athletes. There's nothing wrong with owning a gun, they say, if the buyer is ready for gun ownership.
"You have young people with a lot of money, and there may be a quickness in a decision to buy a gun," says Dan Gross, president of the Brady Center. "There's a kind of social norm that exists in certain professional sports around ownership of a gun. It's kind of encouraged. And I think there's a tendency among professional athletes not to look into the right equation in terms of risks versus benefits."
Not true, says the NRA's LaPierre, who blames the premise of a gun culture in the NFL on the media and anti-gun groups.
"You've got good Americans who love to play sports, who are disciplined, who are responsible, and they're no different from any other Americans," he says. "Owning guns is a mainstream part of American culture, and it's growing every day."
Gross says he and his organization aren't trying to ban guns. They seek education and awareness, and they urge potential gun owners to pause and consider that — statistically speaking — placing themselves around guns increases their risks.
"What we saw with Belcher and Kasandra Perkins was a very clear manifestation of those risks, as was Junior Seau," Gross says.
LaPierre counters: "The one thing missing in that equation is that woman owning a gun so she could have saved her life from that murderer."
Other sports leagues
Just as with the NFL, other pro sports leagues have had their share of gun controversies.
In December 2009, Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton violated NBA rules when they had unloaded guns in the Washington Wizards' team locker room. Both were suspended for the remainder of the season. But gun ownership — for sport and protection — remains vibrant.
Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, now a commentator on TNT, says, "Most of the guys I played with over the years always had protection. We've had some players get mugged going home late at night, coming off a road trip or leaving nightclubs. But I've never heard of a situation like (the Belcher shootings) where everything went crazy."
Barkley, too, says that a tragic aberration like what happened in Kansas City doesn't diminish his right to own a weapon: Having a gun "is a personal choice. It's my personal choice, and I'm not going to change it. I don't care what anybody says."
NBA veteran and Los Angeles Clippers star Lamar Odom doesn't own a gun, even though he was once held up at gunpoint.
"I understand there are mixed feelings and mixed emotions about it," he says. "I think it's our right to be able to protect our homes, but I just don't feel the need."
Major League Baseball has long been associated with a hunting culture. This week, Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum revealed that former teammate Robin Yount accidentally shot him in the right ear on a recent quail hunt. And San Diego Padres general manager Josh Byrnes spoke out on guns after one of his pitchers, Andrew Cashner, lacerated a tendon in his right thumb with a knife after a deer hunt this offseason.
"As a GM, I am concerned," Byrnes said Thursday, while noting that he supports gun control. "We can control things on the job, but away from it, we hope they make the right decisions."
But Atlanta Braves general manager Frank Wren argues that hunting lends itself to experience with guns.
"What's different is that the hunting culture for the most part are the most gun-savvy and the most careful and cautious of any group of gun owners," says Wren. "And we're also not talking about handguns. That's a whole other class that we don't see."
Wren has plenty of experience on his teams with avid hunters, among them recently retired star Chipper Jones and former Braves first baseman Adam Laroche. Wren recalls them often setting up targets under the stadium where the grounds crew stores sand and practicing with bows and arrows. But he says in his 25 years with several franchises, he's never come across issues with players and guns. He says part of that stems from many players coming from Sun Belt states, where guns are often introduced in childhood.
"The first thing you do as a kid in the South is go take a gun safety course," Wren says.
Saving lives, or taking lives?
But just a day after the Chiefs gathered at Belcher's memorial service, players question whether the murder-suicide will have any lasting impact on the league.
Steelers wide receiver Plaxico Burress, infamous for accidentally shooting himself in a New York City nightclub in 2008, called the Belcher shootings "very, very unfortunate" but isn't sure the tragedy will be a lasting lesson to a gun-heavy league.
"It will for a little while," says Burress, who served 20 months in prison because he was carrying the gun illegally. "But over time something else will happen and we'll be having the same discussion then. Things like this happen to people every day. It just happened to be Jovan, somebody that we knew."
Steelers safety and player representative Ryan Clark doesn't own a gun in a locker room where his quarterback estimates that most of his teammates do. He has twice seen gun-related tragedies up close. Clark's freshman year at LSU in 1999, a close friend killed himself with a shotgun blast to the face.
"Everybody sat around the next day when we found out, wondering what could we have done different. What could we have said to him? You don't see the signs. We never found out why," Clark says.
He was also a teammate and friend of the Redskins' Taylor, whom he played with from 2004-05 before joining Steelers in 2006. Taylor armed himself with a machete during the home invasion in which he was shot dead.
"If Sean had a gun, he's probably alive today," Clark says. "I choose not to own one. But guys are targets and they have their families and they have guns in their homes, they want to protect themselves and they have the right to. The law gives them the right to."
Clark recognizes the difficult calculus, and societal wrenching, over the issue of gun ownership.
"In that case, Sean Taylor, maybe it saves a life there. But in the next case (Belcher), it takes two lives."
Contributing: Jim Corbett in Pittsburgh, Lindsay H. Jones in Kansas City, Mo., Robert Klemko in Landover, Md., Mike Garafolo Florham Park, N.J., Paul White and Bob Nightengale in Nashville.

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GOVERNMENT = SELF APPOINTED LEGALIZED CRIME SYNDICATE !!!!

China's new leaders ban red carpets, pomp and 'empty speeches'

THIS SHOULD BE PUT IN FRONT OF THE OB'S IN DC - AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE 'RIGHT' THING TO DO

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9722125/Chinas-new-leaders-ban-red-carpets-pomp-and-empty-speeches.html

China's new leaders ban red carpets, pomp and 'empty speeches'

China's new leaders have promised a dramatic overhaul of how the Communist party behaves, responding to growing public criticism of imperious and lavishly rich officials.

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao toasts guests at a banquet. New rules are being introduced to help change the Communist party's image Photo: GETTY

By Malcolm Moore, Beijing
6:45PM GMT 04 Dec 2012
Party leaders will no longer be greeted wherever they go with cheering crowds, banners, red carpets and elaborate flower displays, said a statement on Chinese state media after a meeting of the new 25-man Politburo.
The updated rules also ban dull, long speeches and fawning write-ups in the state newspapers, as the party tries to reshape its image.
In recent years, even the lowliest Communist party officials have enjoyed a fin-de-siècle lifestyle, being chauffeured around in luxury cars and greeted by crowds of well-marshalled schoolchildren.
Officials have seemed to compete with each other for who could build the biggest local government offices, offer the grandest banquets – often with specially imported delicacies or food from exclusive farms – and accumulate the most wealth.
Now, after growing criticism at the decadence and arrogance of the party, its new leaders appear determined to make a change.
In the two weeks since he was anointed as China's next president, 52-year-old Xi Jinping has delivered two speeches on national television without notes.
Li Keqiang, who will become prime minister in March, and Wang Qishan, the new anti-corruption chief, have also held meetings in which they banned participants from making grandstanding speeches.
In a seminar last Friday, Mr Wang interrupted professors to stop them addressing him as "respected secretary Wang".
The new rules also stipulate that leaders should no longer show up for ribbon-cutting ceremonies, groundbreakings or any other self-aggrandising events, exhibitions or forums.
Government reports will also "thoroughly change", eliminating jargon and indeed jettisoning any "empty and unnecessary documents".
Foreign travel will be "strictly controlled" and one staple of Chinese propaganda: the drummed-up crowds of Chinese students and expats that greet leaders when they touch down on foreign soil, will also be dropped.
Official motorcades will no longer play havoc with traffic as road closures are minimised.
Yao Bo, a former leader writer with the China Daily and now an entrepreneur with over 650,000 followers on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter, said he felt the new leaders "are paying significantly more attention to outside voices".
He said: "The last generation [of leaders] lived in a small bubble and did not listen to public opinion. I do not know if there will be a substantive political change, but at least the new leaders are striking a different tone."
He added that local government officials now had a benchmark to govern their behaviour and be judged by.
Xie Zhiqiang, a professor at the Party School in Beijing, which trains leading cadres, told state media that the unscripted speeches and face-to-face meetings of the past few days were a positive start.
"It is also notable that the Politburo requested all regions and all departments to put these rules into practise and demanded rapid results.
There will be annual audits, punishments for abusers, and the budgets for events will be inspected".
Ren Zhiqiang, a billionaire property baron said that he had "long heard" that changes were being planned.
Meanwhile, Mr Xi also pledged on Tuesday to implement the rule of law, in a speech that seemed aimed at criticism over government corruption, a lack of accountability and official brutality.
"We need to treat peoples' needs fairly and endeavour to make them feel justice has been done in every single case," he said.
Additional reporting by Valentina Luo

GOVERNMENT = SELF APPOINTED LEGALIZED CRIME SYNDICATE !!!!

Trainers teach dogs to drive cars

Just when you think your have already seen it all .....................

 http://www.myfoxorlando.com/story/20270364/2012/12/05/trainers-teach-dogs-to-drive-cars

Trainers teach dogs to drive cars

Posted: Dec 05, 2012 1:55 PM MST Updated: Dec 05, 2012 7:10 PM MST

By: Cynthia Smoot, FOX 13 News - bio

AUCKLAND, New Zealand -

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks -- a trainer in New Zealand is teaching man's best friend to drive -- really!
The SPCA in Auckland thought it would be a good way to showcase how smart rescue dogs are and perhaps improve their adoption rate. So they called on animal trainer, Mark Vette, who was up for the challenge.

Click here for more on the story: http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/20270364/2012/12/05/trainers-teach-dogs-to-drive-cars
Out of a pool of seven dogs, Vette chose "Monty," "Ginny" and "Porter." Monty is an 18-month-old giant schnauzer whose owners turned him in when he became "too much for them to handle."

Ginny is a 1-year-old whippet mix rescued from abusive owners, and someone found 10-month-old Porter roaming the streets.
Vette explained their strategy.

"No animal has ever driven a car before so what we're going to do is we're going to do a straight and we're going to head off, so we'll start the car, get into position, brake on, gear in place, back onto the steering wheel, accelerator, take off and head along the straight and then stop," he said.

At first, they started with lots of indoor training with a fake car, using clicker-reinforced targets to teach the dogs how to shift gears, use a brake and steer.

"When we chain behaviors together, in this case we've got 10 behaviors we're all putting together, so each behavior is a trained behavior, and then you put them into a sequence. So it's a lot to do, and for the dog to actually start to get an idea of what actually is happening takes quite a long time," Vette said.
Five weeks later, Monty was ready to try the real thing -- on a closed track, of course. Monty hopped right in behind the wheel, put the car into gear, on command, then waited for the trainer to order "A" for accelerator.

Then he was off! Monty was driving...some might say a little better than what we sometimes see on Tampa Bay roads!
Monty and the other "drivers" will show off their new skill on national television in New Zealand on December 10th. Vette says after that "test drive," his roving rescue rovers just might be in huge demand. Says Vette, "It will be Dial-a-Dog" the week after this!"

Read more: http://www.myfoxorlando.com/story/20270364/2012/12/05/trainers-teach-dogs-to-drive-cars#ixzz2EQeLXLGf

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GOVERNMENT = SELF APPOINTED LEGALIZED CRIME SYNDICATE !!!!

Obama refused to release memos on drone strikes

Obama refused to release memos on drone strikes

Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich

Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich says President Barack Obama’s administration has refused to show Congress any documents detailing the legal justification for drone strikes overseas.

Kucinich is currently building bipartisan support for a resolution that would force the Obama administration to demonstrate the legality of the drone program.

The resolution is co-sponsored by Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul, New Jersey Democratic Rep. Rush Holt, Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash, Massachusetts Democratic Rep. James P. McGovern and California Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee.

“Thus far, the administration has refused to release the memo or any documents, despite multiple requests from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle,” Kucinich said in a statement on Friday. “Intelligence operations that have virtually no transparency, accountability or oversight raise serious legal questions, particularly when such programs may constitute possible violations of international law or the Constitution of the United States.”

Kucinich told The Daily Caller on Capitol Hill this week that Obama is bypassing Congress by authorizing drone strikes overseas.

“Regardless of your support of our drone program, Congress and the American people deserve to know which laws the United States is relying on to conduct this program, and how they are interpreted by the executive branch,” Kucinich said.

If the resolution of inquiry passes Congress, it would require Attorney General Eric Holder to “transmit to the House of Representatives not later than 14 days after the date of the adoption of this resolution, any documents and legal memoranda in the Attorney General’s possession relating to the practice of targeted killing of United States citizens and targets abroad.”

The drone strikes “violate the U.S. Constitution, kill innocent people and stain our nation’s moral consciousness,” Kucinich said. Daily Caller

FACTS & FIGURES

In 2008, after Barack Obama won the presidency in the U.S., the drone strikes escalated and soon began occurring almost weekly, later nearly daily, and so became a permanent feature of life for those living in the tribal borderlands of northern Pakistan.

The CIA and the U.S. military use drones to target and kill those Washington describes as “suspected militants” in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and Libya.

 

A report on the secret drone war in Pakistan says the attacks have killed far more civilians than acknowledged, traumatized a nation and undermined international law. In "Living Under Drones," researchers conclude the drone strikes "terrorize men, women, and children, giving rise to anxiety and psychological trauma among civilian communities." Democracy Now

"The number of 'high-level' militants killed as a percentage of total casualties is extremely low -- estimated at just 2% [of deaths]", says the report

According to revised military stats revealed on December 6, the U.S. launched 447 drone attacks in Afghanistan this year. That makes Afghanistan, not Pakistan or Yemen, the epicenter of U.S. drone attacks, The Wired reports. 

http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/276936.html

Iraq To Be World’s Fastest Growing Economy 2012/2013

Political Vel Craft

Iraq To Be World’s Fastest Growing Economy 2012/2013

Posted by Volubrjotr on December 8, 2012

Posted in: gas, government, iraq, oil, political, politics. Tagged: baghdad, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Central Bank Iraq, ExxonMobil, International Energy Agency, iraq, Kurdistan, Kurdistan Regional Government.

Iraq will emerge as the world’s fastest growing economy in 2012 and 2013, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML)
The Wall Street bank’s data shows that among all the major economies it tracks, Iraq will be the only country that will post double-digit-growth in 2012 – clocking a 10.5% improvement in GDP this year. China will emerge as the world’s second fastest-growing economy this year, with 7.7% GDP growth. Meanwhile, the ten most important emerging markets will only grow at 5.5% this year, weighed down by problems in OECD economies, BAML data shows.

A ship is connected to the Basra Oil Terminal twelve nautical miles off the Iraqi coast in the waters of the Northern Persian Gulf close to the port town of Umm Qasr.

Iraq will post a slightly lower but still impressive 8.2% growth in 2013, beating China once again (which is forecast to grow 8.2% next year), to emerge as the fastest growing economy again, according to BAML calculations.The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has a slightly lower forecast for Iraq of 8.5% in 2012 and 8.2% in 2013, but expects even greater growth over the next few years.” We expect Iraq’s economy to grow by a robust 9% on average during 2013-17, driven primarily by rising oil production,” says the EIU.
“Bouts of violence, especially in central areas around Baghdad, will continue to disrupt the economy, but improvements overall in the security situation should aid economic activity in some of Iraq’s more ethnically and religiously homogenous southern and western provinces, leading to increased wholesale and retail trade.” The private sector is also expected to chip in with oil companies driving growth and boosting infrastructure development, housing, transportation and communications.
The pace of Iraq’s revival in the coming decades depends very heavily on the oil sector: how quickly production and export are increased and how the resulting revenues are managed and spent, says the International Energy Agency.
“By mid-2012, oil output was above 3 million barrels per day (million bpd), of which around 2.4 million bpd was exported. Iraq’s improving stability, its huge resource base and contracts concluded with international companies to develop the country’s major fields provide the foundation for a rapid increase in oil production in the coming years,” says the IEA, which believes that Iraq will lead OPEC oil production growth over the next two decades.

US Firm Wins $60m Affordable Housing Project in Thi Qar

NO SMOOTH SAILING However, Iraq will need to overcome a set of challenges relating to investment in infrastructure, institutional reform and the legal framework for the hydrocarbons sector, enhance human capacity and consolidate political stability and security, said the IEA. Much will depend on the stability in and around the country.
With regional conflicts in Iran, Syria, Palestine escalating, there is a danger Iraq may get caught up in the ensuing tensions.Iraq has its own domestic political problems to contend with.” The continued weakness of central authority and the security services may allow militia and insurgent groups to re-establish themselves in some areas, although violence is unlikely to return to 2006-07 levels,” notes the EIU.
“The government of national unity, which brings together the four largest political groups, will continue to be weak and divided, and some blocs may pull out to join the parliamentary opposition.” The federal government in Iraq is trying to resolve a long-standing dispute with the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, which is emboldened by the interest of foreign oil companies in its oil-rich deposits. Indeed, U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil has decided to exit Iraq’s West Qurna-1 oil field, to focus on its projects in Kurdistan.

United States Embassy In Baghdad. Largest Embassy In The World.

Baghdad was furious when ExxonMobil decided to invest in KRG region without securing the federal government’s approval.Analysts are hoping that the government will finalise the hydrocarbon’s law and resolve its dispute with KRG to offer greater clarity to foreign oil investors who are key to funding Iraq’s growth.

Entrance To The U.S. Embassy Baghdad

The country will also need to improve its financial and legal infrastructure to attract investment, especially the financial services sector.” Reinforcing central banking operations includes rebuilding the capacity of the central bank to conduct monetary and exchange rate policies, supervise banks, and manage the country’s foreign exchange reserves,” says the International Monetary Fund.
“The financial restructuring of the two main state-owned banks is an important step to help establish the conditions for the banking system to extend credit to the private sector.” Equally crucial is the issue of corruption, which is said to be rampant in the country. Despite the challenges on many fronts, the economy is enjoying a revival which could raise the standard of living many Iraqis and bring them into middle class, which would secure domestic growth, rather than depending on oil exports.
“After experiencing inflation rates of 70% in 2003, the Central Bank of Iraq was successful in reducing inflation to the single digits 4.8%, where it has remained since,” says the IMF. “ The economy is growing with the revival of the oil sector and the improvement in the security situation. And with the support of the international community, debt levels have been brought down to sustainable levels.”
Dinar Trade

Overlooking The U.S. Embassy Baghdad.

 

FYI - Interesting that the NWO cabal, which operates out of and has occupants moving to Denver from Wash DC and London, thinks there is a coming situation that is serious enough to take a few years and millions - perhaps billions - of dollars to build an entire well equipped city 7 miles under the Denver airport.  Why the interest in and the need to take on such a costly monstrous project unless there was a well motivated reason?  Form your own opinions.  

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/government-promises-world-won-t-end-dec-21-192819519.html#more-id

Government promises world won’t end on Dec. 21

By Liz Goodwin, Yahoo! News | The Lookout – Mon, Dec 3, 2012

Pages of the 12th-century Dresden Codex, a Mayan manuscript used to incorrectly predict the end of the world (Joern …

The U.S. government wrote a helpful blog post on Monday titled, "Scary Rumors About the World Ending in 2012 Are Just Rumors."

The post on USA.gov says NASA scientists have received thousands of letters from people convinced that the world will end on Dec. 21, based on a misunderstanding of the ancient Mayan calendar that's been promulgated in doomsday message boards online. Some people think a giant comet will strike Earth that day, others that we are about to collide with another planet. A NASA scientist said he's received several letters from young people contemplating suicide because they believe the apocalypse is coming.

"The world will not end on December 21, 2012, or any day in 2012," the post says.

NASA released a video earlier this year explaining that the Mayan calendar does not actually predict the end of the world on Dec. 21, and that the myth that the planet "Nibiru" is heading toward Earth is easily disproved because astronomers have detected no such planet. America is not alone in trying to placate nervous doomsayers. The Russian government has made similar assurances to its people that the end of the world is not nigh, and authorities in France are planning to block access to a southern mountain which believers think could serve as a mystical place of refuge on Dec. 21.

Some doomsday groups are capitalizing on the fear by spreading the Dec. 21 myth online. A Belgian amateur astronomer named Patrick Geryl has set up an online community for people who follow him and believe the world will end in three weeks. He tells followers to stockpile 15 to 20 pairs of shoes and to be in good physical shape. Geryl declined an interview request, saying over email, "No time for interviews. ... Want to enjoy last weeks of our civilization."

Congress's hiden slush funds - that'swhere the pensions are kept - little payouts-big funds

“The Biggest Game InTown” about the Government CAFR wealth shell game w/ Walter J. Burien YouTube 2hr 16min

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkwjtbTjTsE

Years ago I heard about this shyte going down in Arkansas when Clinton was governor there. Every county in Arkansas was flush with cash, yet raising taxes because no county could balance their budgets…ALL this hidden money generated by the court systems was more than enough to make those counties have surpluses, huge surpluses. CAFR was never mentioned, just thought it was something Clinton engineered back then.I did not realize this has been going on NATIONWIDE now for how long??? The whole DEFICIT-thing is BULLSHIT!! Man, this is BIG!! IF THIS GOES VIRAL???

MORE:
http://www.morningliberty.com/tag/walter-j-burien-jr/

Judges score big!

“There is more crimes committed in the American court system than on the streets every day. It generates 2.6Trillion in revenue each year….” -Walter J. Burien.

This video truly shocked me. I just did not realize it was actually this massive….It is a massive CRIME SYNDICATE designed for profi, NOT JUSTICE!!!

~darylluke.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gIt_vurpHbQ