So Obama will be President. I'll repeat something I said on this blog over a year ago: In my view, the Republicans losing the White House won't change the Dinar RV one iota. It will still revalue. It will still happen. Our investment will still pay off very, very well.
Obama is no fool. Iraq has 25% of the remaining cheap crude oil in the world. Eventually the world will find replacements for oil, but the transition will take decades, and oil will be worth a lot in the future. Obama cannot afford to let Iraq disintegrate into chaos. Iraq is too vital to the future of the American economy, to let that happen. Obama knows the importance of what Bill Clinton once said: It's the economy, stupid.
Obama is no fool. Obama will remove American forces from Iraq only when security is achieved. He has publically stated he will rely heavily on General Petraeus's advice. And to repeat myself from a year or more ago, on this blog, President Bush has essentially won this war already, although the press won't admit it. What is it? 12 of 18 Iraqi states already are being controlled by the Iraqi government? And plans are in place for transfering remaining authority, within 2 years?
President Obama essentially has a war won, handed to him on a silver platter. Permanent occupation is not necessary to claim victory. Economic victory will come from the momentum of events already set in motion.
A generation from now, when Iraq is a rich and stable democracy, people will change their minds on President Bush, and he will be hailed as a great visionary President, who started to transform the Middle East, into a stable and prosperous region.
I don't believe American forces need to be in Iraq, in order for the Iraqi goverment to eventually be successful, although it would help a lot. Every single Arab country has eventually established order in their countries, and the sole use of deadly force, which is a requirement for stable government, economic development, and a successful RV.
Under President Bush's wise leadership, America has already done enough good things in Iraq, that the momentum is there, that it is inevitable, just a matter of time, that stability will be reached, and the economy will boom, and an RV will hit. It can't be stopped, no matter who is President. I said it a year or two ago, and it's still true.
Our investments will be just fine. I still expect to get rich off it, and plan to buy more Dinar in the future.
Just today, I helped my sister buy several million Dinars at Scotia Bank, which is one of the largest banks in Canada, and sells Dinars.
I don't know why God has allowed this, but it must be his will, for reasons beyond my comprehension.
David Frum, a Canadian intellectual, a Republican insider, who I know casually, and who used to be George W. Bush's speechwriter, just released a book he had been working on for two years. Two years ago he saw that the Republicans were going to lose the White House in 2008. It turns out, he was right. So he went to work for the last two years, writing a book about not only why the Republicans would lose, but what they would have to do and change, including several principles I discussed on this blog previously, in order to regain power in 2012.
I agree with Rob N., Obama may fail as a President. If Republicans are smart, they will take Mr. Frum's advice, start re-building, so they can regain power, when the Democrats eventually fail, as they will.
I hope the people on this blog, who are faithful contributors, like Sara, and Rob N., don't lose heart. You may not like the political changes coming to your country, but you will like the changes to your life, once the RV hits: You will be rich, my friends.
I am generally a conservative person, and if I were American I would be a moderate Republican, but I never invested in the Dinar because I loved war, (I don't) or the Republican Party. I invested in the Dinar, because, deliberately ignoring all ideological considerations, and after cold and ruthless political calcuation, I decided the Dinar was an outstanding, once in a lifetime economic opportunity.
I still think so.
And I haven't changed my mind one atom on that. I haven't budged even a fraction of an inch on that. I haven't change, because I have seen nothing that changes my mind, on that question. I still think our investment will work. A Dinar RV is coming.
I remain optimistic, because I think the facts support optimism.
Thank you for the encouraging words. I invested in the Dinar because I attempted to follow the money. The money is still pouring in to Iraq from U.S. coffers. I hope to see it begin to pour in from foreign companies once the SOFA and HCL becomes Iraqi law. I am planning to increase my position in the Dinar.
As far as the U.S. election, I am disheartened. With an Obama victory Hilary Clinton is out until 2016. The GOP has lost its way. It has failed to remain true to its principles. This election was a referendum against George W. Bush than it was a defeat for Senator McCain.
Iraqi officials express different veiwpoints on new U.S. presidency
Politics 11/5/2008 5:03:00 PM
BAGHDAD, Nov 5 (KUNA) -- Different reactions were sparked amongst officials in Iraq on Wednesday after the election of the new U.S. President Barack Obama.
Following the result, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani sent a cable of congratulations to Obama on his new position at the White House.
Talabani said that he veiwed the American people's election of the first African American president as the "upholding of your (American people) great country's esteemed values built by your forefathers who instilled the principles of democracy, equal opportunities, justice and respect for humanity regardless of race or colour." He also said that he looked forward to establishing improved bilateral relations with Washington The Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari in a televised statement viewed that American policies towards Iraq would not change much.
Hope was expressed by Zebari that the newly-elected president would not hasten the withdrawal of U.S. forces out of Iraq.
He also said that Obama had informed the Iraqis he would not speed up the withdrawal of forces.
Iraqi Vice President Tariq Al-Hashimi meanwhile said that Obama would deal with the Iraqi situation according to American interests.
Following a meeting he held Wednesday morning with Iraqi officials, Al-Hashimi said that "there is general consensus (in Iraq) that interest is what guides the United States of America, and in this regard the newcomer to the White House will take into account the interests of the United States first and foremost." He continued "the new president Barack Obama proposed a theme of change during his presidential campaign which we hope will include the world and Iraq as well." On the other hand, Iraqi government spokesperson Ali Al-Dabbagh stressed that his country's government is to brief Obama on its recently proposed amendments on the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement.
Al-Dabbagh said that he expected the reply from Washington to be a swift one serving the interests of both nations on basic fundamentals that maintain the sovereignty of Iraq. (end) mhg.ahh.sd KUNA 051703 Nov 08NNNN
(www.kuna.net.kw)
Iraq gets 'positive' signals from US on security deal - MP
Email Print
Baghdad, 05 November 2008 ( AFP )
A top Shiite lawmaker said on Tuesday that Iraq has received "positive" signals from Washington for the changes which Baghdad proposed to the draft security deal between the two countries. Sami al-Askari of the ruling Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) said that the Iraqi negotiators had "received positive indications from the Americans regarding the changes proposed in the SOFA [Status of Forces Agreement]."
"But we are yet to receive their response officially," Askari, who is close to the Iraqi negotiators, told AFP.
Washington and Baghdad are negotiating a security deal that would determine the future of US forces in Iraq beyond 2008 when the present UN mandate - acquired after the 2003 invasion - expires.
The latest draft stipulates that American forces will withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 2009 and from the country by 2011.
But the signing of the pact has been delayed despite several months of negotiations and Baghdad has proposed more changes to the draft.
On Tuesday, the Baghdad edition of the London-based newspaper Ash-Sharq al-Awsat said the Americans had agreed to three of the five latest changes proposed by Iraq.
It said, quoting unidentified sources, that Washington had dropped the clause that authorizes Baghdad and Washington to seek an extension for retaining troops in the cities beyond 2009 and in the country beyond 2011.
The report said Washington has also agreed to allow Iraqis to inspect the incoming and outgoing American postal mail, and was also ready to make some changes in the language of the texts. But US negotiators are not keen to further loosen the immunity offered to its soldiers. Washington has already agreed to allow Iraq to prosecute US troops and civilians if they commit any serious crime outside the base when off duty. But Iraqis want to prosecute them for crimes conducted on their bases.
Iraqi National Security Advisor Mowaffak al-Rubaie said he had no comments on the report in Ash-Sharq al-Awsat, while US Embassy officials in Baghdad were also unavailable for comment.
On Monday, the White House said it would give its formal answer to the proposed changes in the coming days.
"We expect to be talking with the Iraqis over the next week," spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters. "There might be some that we can support; there might be some that we won't be able to support."
She said that Washington's answer to the changes would be delivered by its Baghdad ambassador, Ryan Crocker.
(www.iraqupdates.com)
Iraq VP proposes referendum on U.S. security pact
Email Print
Baghdad, 05 November 2008 ( Reuters )
An agreement allowing U.S. forces to stay in Iraq for three years should be put to the public in a referendum, Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president said on Tuesday.
The pact, which will govern the U.S. presence in Iraq after a mandate from the U.N. Security Council expires at year's end, "must not pass without approval from Iraqis," Tareq al-Hashemi, who is one of Iraq's two vice presidents, said in a statement."
"This agreement is an important and sensitive subject ... Iraqis should have their say."
A popular vote on the agreement has not been widely discussed. The government is committed to enacting the pact through a vote in parliament, where passage may be difficult because many lawmakers have close ties to Shi'ite Iran, a staunch opponent of the pact.
U.S. and Iraqi officials are rushing to find a final consensus on the pact, which is now months behind schedule. If no agreement is reached by the end of the year, Iraq says it will seek an extension to the U.N. mandate.
Iraq's government appeared close to sending the agreement to parliament for approval last month until Baghdad before suddenly requesting amendments, including a clearer definition of when its courts can prosecute U.S. troops.
A reply from Washington is expected within days, and the government has said that if a final text is agreed it will swiftly seek a vote in parliament.
An aide to Hashemi said that the vice president, Iraq's most senior Sunni Arab politician, was proposing that a referendum question be included in provincial elections scheduled to take place by the end of January.
(www.iraqupdates.com)
Talabani says U.S. base offer conditional
Email Print
Baghdad, 05 November 2008 ( The News International )
Iraq's president has dismissed Kurdish leader Massud Barzani's invitation to the U.S. to set up military bases in the Kurdish region if a proposed security pact with Baghdad fails.
Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, said Washington could set up bases in the country - even in the Kurdish region - only with Baghdad's approval.
"It is not possible for U.S. troops to stay in Kurdistan without the approval of the central government," Talabani said in an interview with state television.
"Kurdistan is part of Iraq, and all of the country's constitutional laws apply to it."
Barzani, who heads the Kurdish administration in the country's north, had offered his region as an alternative for U.S. military bases if the status of forces agreement being negotiated between Washington and Baghdad fell through.
Iraqi newspaper quoted Barzani, who has strongly backed the controversial proposal, as saying during a recent visit to Washington that his regional government would "welcome" the setting up of U.S. military bases.
"We reject the statement by Massud Barzani," Sheikh Saleh al-Obeidi, a spokesman for the group, told media.
"This position reminds us that Kurds want to separate. There is a constitution in this country and they have to respect it."
The U.S. government - after initially balking at making any changes demanded by the Iraqi government in the draft pact - is now expected to respond in the next few days.
The agreement is supposed to outline the framework under which U.S. forces will stay in Iraq beyond 2008.
The signing of the pact was delayed after the Iraqi cabinet sought key changes, including greater legal jurisdiction over US troops and guarantees that U.S. soldiers would not launch attacks on other countries from Iraq.
Kurds have also been spared the worst of the violence since 2003 and many actually feel that their lives have improved over the last five years, with foreign investments and a flourishing local economy, our correspondent said.
The final draft of the proposed pact must be endorsed by the Iraqi parliament after the amendments are finalised by both Washington and Baghdad.
(www.iraqupdates.com)
Good to hear your views timbitts and Rob N., and I'm glad this blog can now drop the presidential campaign splurge which has been dominating this site....and we can now look forward to seeing the possible good, bad or ugly which this outcome is going to have on our investment....although I am English, I do appreciate the passion you American's have for your President....but this blog is about dinar, I just hope this event doesn't cause the good what's happened to date to go pear-shaped.
It's been ages since I've written on this site or contributed info,(I was bored with the constant politics/satistics) so I felt now was a good time....IMHO..... I wish you all well...Matt uk
ABU DHABI, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell is studying the use of floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals to ship gas produced in Iraq and Egypt, a senior Shell executive said on Wednesday.
The terminals would each have capacity to export two million tonnes per year of LNG, John Mills, Shell executive vice president for gas and power in North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, told reporters at an energy conference.
(www.reuters.com)
Iraq reviews 2009 budget due to falling oil price
Wed Nov 5, 2008 1:07pm GMT
By Mariam Karouny
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq is reviewing its proposed 2009 budget as a result of the steep fall in oil prices, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih said on Wednesday.
The draft 2009 budget, which has yet to be enacted by parliament, envisions spending of $78.8 billion, based on an oil price that would average $80 per barrel and exports of around 2 million barrels per day.
Iraq is "now reviewing revenue projections and will amend the budget accordingly," Salih told Reuters.
But the price of oil -- which accounts for more than 90 percent of Iraq's revenues -- has fallen by more than half since a high of $147 a barrel in July, in part as a result of slowing global demand caused by the international economic crisis.
Salih said Iraq can use a surplus from this year to supplement spending in 2009 if revenues fall short, but said the budget would still be under review.
Iraq's budget for this year, including a supplemental spending package, totals $69 billion and the country expects to show a large surplus for 2008 when oil prices exceeded its targets.
"While we will be using the surplus from this year, we may have to reduce planned allocations," Salih said. "We are also proposing a supplementary budget early next year, hoping that by then the uncertainties will have been alleviated."
Salih said another reason for the review was a drop in Iraq's oil production and exports over the past few months.
Iraq's exports in September fell to just 1.64 million barrels per day, down from 1.75 million bpd in August, the Oil Ministry said on Wednesday, blaming power shortages and technical problems.
Exports have fallen in recent months after nearly touching 2.0 million barrels per day in May, and the government says poor infrastructure is to blame. The head of the state oil export company SOMO, Falah al-Ameri, told Reuters exports were back up to between 1.75 and 1.80 million barrels per day in October.
Iraq desperately needs to rebuild infrastructure wrecked by decades of war, U.N. sanctions and neglect.
But its capacity to run rebuilding projects has been limited. With oil prices high this year, the government has so far had difficulty spending what it earns.
Violence in Iraq has dropped to four-year lows, which Iraqi officials hope will allow them to launch major public spending programmes on basic services like power, sewage and clean water.
Iraq having problems with rebuilding it's infracture--- also sounds like the USA. This was one of the issues that I did not believe the Republicans would address...the american need to rebuild the USA infracture on roads, bridges and structure to protect cities from oceans, and dam breakage (as in Iowa's situation and New Orleans). These issues need to be addressed and have long been overlooked.
America needs to concern itself with the economic needs of its own people, if america is going to remain healthy and a super power to the world. During these two wars that america finds itself in--- america's economic power has been drained and this is also a national security issue to the people of USA.
I think america's enemies know that if they can bankrupt the USA; the USA will be weakened to such an extent that the USA would not be able to defend itself and the interest of the world from terrorism. The economic crisis is the one issue that I believe President Bush neglected to mend due to out of control spending.
It is for this reason that I believe President-Elect Obama will face a major national security crisis (and probably more than one) in his presidency. America will need everyone's prayers as we try to retool our industries and pull our economy out of economic crisis, in addition, to our current wars.
For those of you from different countries looking onto the events in the United States of America, I am hoping you understand the nature of the problems that the citizens of our country is undergoing at this time. I too have been wondering how other citizens in other countries are undergoing these same economic hardships and what each of you have been experiencing as a result. I hope many of you will write in and let us know at T & B what you have been observing and experencing in your country due to this global economic crisis.
I know the United States is being blamed for this global economic crisis; and for those of you who have this attitude, you could be right. I too and probably many more americans like me believe we have corrupt politicians and greedy business practices without adequate accounting oversight, fleecing the american people. The american people were fleeced out of 700 Billion Dollars. More money than many of us will ever see in our life times. The american people lost Trillons in investments and retirement dollars.
I personally would like to say to those of you, (who do not live in USA), how sorry I am for these economic hardships that our country has impacted upon the global economy because of greed, unwise risky business practices and corruption in high places.
I saw today that Donald Trump was on cable television, telling us that he can't get financing for his business projects as the banks are not loaning money. He is wondering what they did with the tax money of 700 billion dollars. He belives we are heading into a 1929 depression. If he is right, than we have global problems and so does the dinar.
President-Elect Obama is in for a hard ride. Pray for him, God's providence takes over in everything. Trust him.
Iraqi government announces receipt of U.S. reply 06/11/2008 16:03:00
Baghdad (NINA)- The Iraqi government announced Thursday receiving the U.S. administration's reply on the Iraqi proposed amendments to the draft of the intended security agreement. The announcement was made by Ali al-Dabbagh, the government spokesman.
(www.ninanews.com)
Iraqi MP says oil law could pass by year end
Email Print
HOUSTON, 06 November 2008 ( Reuters )
Iraq's parliament could pass a long overdue federal oil law by the end of 2008, but other laws needed to get Iraq's energy production on track would have to wait until 2009, said the vice chairman of the legislature's oil and gas committee on Wednesday.
Speaking on the sidelines of a Houston energy conference Abdulhadi Al-Hassani said the law must unite all of Iraq, including the northern Kurdish region, disputes with which have held up the law's passage since February 2007.
"We want to build one people," Al-Hassani said. "We want to build one nation. We want this law to unite us. We can pass the oil law in the year, within in 2008."
Iraq's oil and natural gas industry also needs laws to govern a national oil company, which would partner with international companies, as well as laws on the distribution of revenues among Iraq's regions.
Passage of the oil law is being held up on the question of combining with the laws on a national oil company and revenue distribution, he said.
"They insist on passing the laws together, we have to do it one-by-one," Al-Hassani said.
Other news reports have cited disputes over contracts the Kurdish government has signed with oil companies.
The lack of a federal oil law is seen holding up Iraq's development of its reserves beyond current production of 2.5 million barrels per day.
To get around the lack of an oil law, the Iraqi government is in talks for individual contracts with foreign oil companies, including majors like Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said Hamid Al Bayati, Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations.
As many as 115 companies are vying to develop Iraq's reserves, Iraqi officials have said.
Iraq hopes to expand the country's oil output to 4 million barrels per day within two to three years, Al Bayati said.
"The potential is up to 6 million, even 8 million, even 10 million barrels," he said.
Building an infrastructure to produce the maximum amount possible from Iraq's 115 billion barrels in proven reserves could cost $100 billion, Al Bayati said.
(www.iraqupdates.com)
Shell plans Iraq venture with expats
Email Print
06 November 2008 ( The Times )
ROYAL Dutch Shell is to become the first big Western oil company to move large numbers of expatriate staff into Iraq to oversee its gas joint venture, The Times has learnt.
By Robin Pagnamenta
In recent weeks the Anglo-Dutch oil giant has been sounding out security companies, suppliers and logistics companies in Iraq about how to support an expatriate operation of as many as 200 people in Basra, where it has signed a preliminary deal worth up to $US4 billion ($6 billion) to process and market natural gas.
Shell had been expected to operate in Iraq, at least initially, with a skeleton staff of foreigners supplementing local employees. However, its plan to consider a much larger force of expatriates, including both its own employees and foreign contractors, represents the first time that a big Western company has considered such a large commitment of resources to Iraq since the 2003 war.
A Shell spokesman said that it would not send personnel to Iraq until it was safe to do so and there were no immediate plans because the contract had not yet been finalised. The company said: “Over time we will increase our presence in the country but for security reasons detailed plans will remain confidential.”
However, experts said that the security environment in Basra was sufficiently stable to support such a move. Andreas Carleton-Smith, director of Control Risks Group, which advises oil companies on the security threats in Iraq, said: “People are very experienced now with dealing with the level of threat in that area. While not easy, people can gear up and deal with it . . . I think security is one of the least difficult of the issues they will have to deal with.”
He said that regulatory problems and potential contractual disputes with the Iraqi Government or suppliers could present more serious obstacles than just security.
Michael Corke, an energy consultant with Purvin & Gertz, said in Dubai: “This kind of project is very much the kind of thing they would have to do with a hands-on approach – with their own people on the ground.”
Shell, which is struggling to rebuild its comparatively thin reserves portfolio, has been among the keenest of the international oil companies to enter Iraq, which has the world’s third-largest reserves after Saudi Arabia and Iran as well as vast, mostly untapped, reserves of natural gas.
It signed a landmark deal with Baghdad in September to extract the 700 million cu ft of gas a day that is flared during oil production from 19,000 sq km of land in the Basra region – enough to meet all of Iraq’s power generation needs. Initially, most of the gas is likely to be used for domestic electricity production, although it could later be used for exports to other Gulf states. Shell has said that, ultimately, a liquefied natural gas plant could be built in Basra that would allow for exports of gas farther afield, including Britain.
Shell has been using external contractors to conduct surveys required for the project. Assuming that the deal is finalised, Shell is looking at enlisting external expertise to operate and repair ageing production facilities and to install new equipment.
The Iraqi Cabinet approved the deal, which gives the state-owned South Gas Company 51 per cent and Shell 49 per cent of the venture.
Other Western oil giants, including Total, BP and ExxonMobil, are in talks with the Iraqi Government about other oil and gas projects, although continued delays over the passage of an oil law that would set out the legal framework for the industry have held up progress.
(www.iraqupdates.com)
BRUSSELS, Nov 6 (KUNA) -- A 7-member Iraqi parliamentary delegation led by vice-president of the Iraqi parliament Sheikh Khalid al-Atiyyah concluded Thursday a 3-day visit to Brussels after holding talks with Members of the European Parliament (EP) and officials of the European Commission and the EU Council.
Al-Atiyyah is also the president of the EU friendship group in the Iraqi parliament.
The Iraqi delegation was invited by the EPs Delegation for Relations with Iraq - which is led by British MEP Emma Nicholson - to take part in the Arab Week hosted by the EP.
The two delegations discussed ways to promote parliamentary cooperation between the EU and Iraq.
Representatives of minority communities in Iraq also attended the meeting, a source in the office of Emma Nicholson told KUNA here today.
A separate delegation of Iraqi businessmen also held talks with EU deputies on trade and economic ties between the EU and Iraq.
An exhibition titled Iraq and Europe is being displayed during the Arab week which concludes today. (end) nk.ajs KUNA 061551 Nov 08NNNN
(www.kuna.net.kw)
This is a non-Dinar post. With the conclusion of the U.S Presidential election and my obvious disappointment with who the President Elect is I found yesterday one bright spot in this election cycle.
__________________________________________________________
Gay couples disappointed by Calif. marriage ban
Thursday, November 6, 2008 6:24 AM EST
The Associated Press
By MICHELLE LOCKE Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actor George Takei and longtime partner Brad Altman were the first to receive a marriage license in West Hollywood when a court cleared the way for gay marriage earlier this year.
Best known for his role as Mr. Sulu on "Star Trek," Takei on Wednesday was disappointed but philosophical about California voters' decision to yank that right by passing a constitutional amendment restricting marriage to heterosexual couples.
"There are going to be heartbreaks, setbacks and sacrifices to be made," he said, "but we will soldier on."
The passage of Proposition 8 stirred anger, protests, lawsuits and a deep sense of loss among gays in California. At least three legal challenges were filed by Wednesday night and others were being prepared, ban opponents said.
More than 1,000 people took to the streets against the ban in Los Angeles and West Hollywood, blocking traffic. Police said at least four people were detained.
Hundreds also gathered on the steps of San Francisco's City Hall. Some held candles and carried signs that read, "We all deserve the freedom to marry."
It was unclear what would happen to the estimated 18,000 gay and lesbian couples, many from other states, who married after same-sex marriage was legalized in California in June.
On the other side of the issue, supporters of the ban hailed the outcome of the vote.
"Government did not create marriage, and neither politicians nor legislators have the right to redefine its basic meaning," said Brian Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage California.
"Common sense, and concern for the common good, trumped ideology, bigotry and power politics here in California," he said in a statement.
Andrew Pugno, attorney for the coalition of religious and social conservative groups that sponsored the proposition, said they planned to defend the measure, saying the legal action is "an insult to California voters and an attack on the initiative process itself."
Among those voting for the ban was Denise Fernandez, 57, of Sacramento. "I believe a Christian is held accountable, and we have to make a difference."
Many gay marriage supporters had hoped that a strong Democratic turnout for presidential winner Barack Obama would cement the right to marry extended by the state Supreme Court in May.
But the success of Obama, who does not support same-sex marriage but had opposed the gay marriage ban, did not translate into a win for gay marriage. Amendments to ban gay marriage also were approved in Arizona and Florida.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting Wednesday night, 52 percent of those voting in California favored the ban versus 48 percent against.
In the Castro, San Francisco's gay neighborhood, the marriage ban's success squelched what had been a boisterous celebration Tuesday night.
A crowd swarmed from the neighborhood's many bars into the streets immediately after Obama was declared the presidential winner. Police cordoned off a block in the heart of the district as disco music coursed through giant speakers.
But the party was over a few hours later.
"It's very disappointing," Michael Walker said outside the Moby Dick bar, resigned that the measure was going to win. "It's discrimination."
In downtown San Francisco, a city where a majority of residents voted against the ban, residents were disappointed by its success.
"I feel sad," said Venkaf Mannava, 30, a computer programmer who is married with three children. "It's a personal decision and we should not say how other people should live their lives. They should be free to love and marry who they want."
Despite intense disappointment, some newlyweds took comfort in the fact that millions of Californians had voted to validate their relationships.
"I'm really OK," said Diana Correia, of Berkeley, who married her partner of 18 years, Cynthia Correia, on Sunday in front of the couple's two children and 80 relatives and friends. "I hope the marriage holds, but we are already married in our hearts, so nobody can take that away."
In Los Angeles, Altman said having the state recognize his marriage to Takei was "extremely meaningful to me, but our relationship will continue and we will live long and prosper no matter what happens on the legal front."
As the leading financial institution that has served Iraq since 1999, we have played a significant role in the reconstruction of the country by participating as a lead financier in many core sectors including power, water, communication and construction.
It gives me great pleasure to inform all our distinguished clients that Warka Bank for Investment and Finance and Citibank established a mutually rewarding banking relationship that will best serve our clients, banking industry and the economy.
We look forward to unleashing the full force of the partnership with Citibank for the benefit of the new Iraq.
Below are our account details at Citibank in which you can now direct your wire transfers to fund your accounts at our bank.
Account Number: 36908969
Account Name: Warka Bank for Investment & Finance
Bank Name: Citibank NA
Branch: New York
Swift Address: CITIUS33
Fed Wire: 021000089
Best regards,
Mohammad K. Issa
Deputy Managing Director
International Affairs
Does this mean we can use citibank to open an Al-Warka account? Or, does this simply mean citibank is the proxy for the U.S. instead of wiring first to Germany and then to Al-Warka?
I talked to Citi Bank customer service in New York this morning. They said that Citi-Bank cannot open an account, for anyone, in another bank, so they must serve as a portal for money only. Warka has an application to open an account, on their website, and Warka lists Citi Bank as an associated bank, whatever that means. I haven't set up an account there, but from reading Warka website, its obvious they want some personal information from you, to open an account, you send it to them, I guess, and they contact you back by email, with further details, about wiring money.
Sara, I know this election was hard on you. My prayers are with you. I hope you keep posting.
Warka is using Citibank rather than the German bank for it's money wires. You don't open up accounts with Warka in a Citibank, it's a maney transfer point only, they (Warka and Citibank) may very well have more agreements and services scheduled, but for us, the Warka bank users, the difference is that we don't need to wire anything to Germany no more.
It is good to hear from you. I assume you are back in the states now. When did you get back from Iraq? Did you enjoy your experience there? Are you scheduled to go back?
Sara,
I want to echo Timbitts' sentiments. Though the election did not go our way does not mean we recoil. We keep up the good fight to turn this country back around. I posted earlier today the one bright spot in this election cycle the California constitutional amendment defining marriage strictly between a man and a woman.
For those of you that are still trying to call me, I feel it's best that I come back to this thread and update. I have had wonderful conversations with many of you and have enjoyed extending the hand of friendship.
The individual that supplied this information to me once posted his story about a son ln law of a senator. As the weeks have gone by.........I have gained trust in his words. I never mentioned his story before because he was bashed severly for it.
This morning I got numerous calls telling me that an RV has already occured and that the figure is 3.86. These contacts are in Iraq, stockbrokers, investors and military sources. Very deep in my heart.............I'm finding it extremely difficult to accept such a figure of 3.86. My mind and calculator say that it's improbable and yet my heart says it's...........possible. Please keep in mind that where as these maybe classified as rumors, I want to better define the reason for my confidence in the sources.
This gentleman is a fidelity representative and received a text from a fellow worker telling him that his bank source had confirmed an RV and the figure. I asked if he could ask him more questions for me........and he said he couldn't talk. That's why he texted him. This gentleman is 62 years old and suffered a stroke two weeks ago, witnessed by his fellow workers. A man in such a position does not go around exaggerating or making up lies about his bank sources information. Already half paralyzed ...............and at his age.............I tend to have some faith in this source. I leave it in your hands to determine for yourselves.
God knows I want an RV. I know ................YOU want an RV. But please keep in mind the teachings that I have shared. This RV will be a blessing without a doubt, we just have to be patient enough to wait for it. Just because we are seeing so many flashes of hope ...............don't let it blind you. Prepare yourself in what ever way it takes to have a safety net if we are let down with this information. Personally, I take a spiritual approach to my ............safety net. I pray hard ...........for all of us.
One more thing...........and I have no idea what it means but it seems reliable maybe someone can check up on it. WARKA has opened an account with Citi Bank in the United States. It probably has already been posted somewhere and I just wasn't aware of it.
No I am not from Puerto Rico........but I am of Mexican decent. Born in Laredo, Texas and I have no middle inital. Birth name is Francisco Villa. My family was too poor to give me a middle name LOL.......no L or E for me.
Thank you so much for all of you who are contributing to your access of information. Any one having similar stories to this thread....please keep posting.
I didn't think you really wanted to hear my view, timbitts or Rob N. But since you asked for it, I will do one post for you and to answer anonymous... with apologies to those who want no discussion EXCEPT Dinar. I will seek to keep my comments to a minimum (this post excepted).
I had hoped for mercy upon the US, though I continued to speak of the vision I was given of a coming Judgement and Holocaust upon US soil and citizenry. I had hoped for a reprieve by being given a good man with wisdom and discernment (McCain)... and, as Daniel Pipes wrote on Tuesday's election:
QUOTE:
I had confidence that the American people would reject Obama when they learned about his extremist political views, dubious associations, and biographical mysteries. I am astonished that these problems hardly registered, I feel bewildered by my own country, and apprehensive by what comes next.
God was disposed to put McCain in power.. but was moved against the US by her own decisive voice for Obama. (I wish God wouldn't be swayed by mankind's will, sometimes.. and their prayers. Freewill is such a complicating factor. It would make it all so much simpler if it were completely dictatorial under His loving Hand. But then, prayer works so very much good many times and mankind is not a race of robots, to be forced to do the right thing and accept what is wise.) He gave her what she wished. It reminds me of the children of Israel who complained that God was not giving them meat in the wilderness, only manna which kept them alive. CAN He give us meat, they unbelievingly asked. As we saw the American people say, CAN Obama be the President? The possibility was always there.. it was just a question of if it was God's will or not. But they didn't want to seek what God's will was, they did not wish to listen or care about "his extremist political views, dubious associations, and biographical mysteries" as Daniel Pipes wrote, above.
Psa 78:29 So they did eat, and were well filled: for He gave them their own desire;
Psa 78:30 They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths,
Psa 78:31 The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
Psa 78:32 For all this they sinned still and did not believe...
In this Biblical account, God gave the Israelites what they wished.. and then sent His Judgement upon them.
A Parallel? We will see..
What's Next??
QUOTE:
The erosions of conservative rights will be incremental. Each one will have its own justification. Each one will be supported by the establishment media. Each one will be timed so as to allow the general public to become accustomed to it, to accept it as unremarkable, or even to come to regard it as a public good for the sake of keeping conservative "troublemakers" from fomenting disorder.
And the Obamessiah, still speaking frequently to stadia full of admirers, will provide a tone of reasoned moderation, combined with further appeals to hope, in order to justify it all.
These are the sorts of things Alinskyites do. These are the sorts of tactics used by ACORN, at whose conferences Obama himself regularly taught seminars on "power." These are the sorts of policies favored by the academic left, Obama's old milieu -- the policies that favor speech codes and stolen campus newspapers and the firing of faculty for "offensive" remarks.
Conservatives have fought things like this for years already, of course. But they've never fought it while the left controlled so many of the levers of power, and certainly not when the left was led by such a charismatic and near cult-inspiring leader who was so smart, so well steeped in these stratagems, and so fully supported by a Fourth Estate up whose legs warm feelings run every time he waxes eloquent.
Change... Obama Announces Creation Of His Marxist Youth Corps
Here's some hope and change for you...
Barack Obama will require students to partake in 50 of community service in middle and high school and 100 hours in college:
From Change.Gov Office of the President-Elect:
(image)
Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.
==end quote==
Don't think for a minute that this won't include some kind of indoctrination:
Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year.
At one time in our history church groups would volunteer to assist their community.
Now, we have the Church of Obama.
Maybe this helps explain the sudden surge in firearm sales.
Related: Claudia Rosett wrote more about Obama's ideas that subordinate individual freedom to the collective.
This is getting a little scary.
posted by Gateway Pundit at 11/06/2008
AND, along the same lines:
President Obama To Bring Back Slavery
From President-Elect Obama’s website:
“Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year.”
===
Someone should tell Mr. Obama that Mr. Lincoln freed the slaves.
While they are at it, they should also tell this Constitutional scholar that the Constitution now forbids involuntary servitude:
QUOTE:
Amendment XIII
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
===end quote==
The Republican Party got rid of slavery 143 years (and a bloody Civil War) ago.
And the Democrats have been working ever since to bring it back.
This article was posted by Steve Gilbert on Thursday, November 6th, 2008.
Comments:
1) SG
Just in case anyone think Mr. Obama is not serious about this, bear in mind that his new Chief of Staff wrote a book demanding this very thing:
Rahm Emanuel wants us to have compulsory national service. If it’s a law, it will be enforced. I’m sure there will be some sugary incentives thrown in. (Reduced tuition, for example.)
But once they get started down this path, there is no end to it.
2) Professor_Repulso
Will we all get one of those spiffy red neckties as sported by members of the Young Communists League?
Don’t forget they want a Gestapo/KKK civilian force the size of the pentagon to keep everybody inline and things running smoothly.
When do I get my Obama youth knife?
3) DEZ
“isn’t the point of volunteering that the fact that it’s VOLUNTARY?”
Not any more.
4) Byrd
Do you suppose he got the idea from Farrakhan and the Rules For Radicals of Saul Alinsky?
Typical socialist agenda.
I’m also a bit leery of the government telling us what does and does not constitute “community service.”
I’ll rot in jail before I do one second of forced community service under this marxist agenda.
5) BatK
You may rot in jail when you refuse to burn incense to Emperor Obama.
6) DW
I envision rooms full of people on stationary bikes hooked up to generators.
Or maybe people who spy on their neighbours and report every potential wastage of energy (I believe the UK already has something along these lines).
The poor bastards on stationary bikes will be part of the re-education camps.
They might even try “The Matrix” type of human power generation.
Wow! We could write one heck of a science fiction novel with all of this material and call it, The Obama Chronicles.
7) Professor_Repulso
I think their loophole is the phrase “…except as a punishment for crime…”. He didn’t mention his Kangaroo Kourt Krew that will dispense speedy justice on slackers, the primary charges being ’selfishness’ and ‘racism’.
8) Anonymoose
I would just like to know what kind of “service" Obama is demanding? It sounds good on paper and to the liberal parents to say they want the kids to learn good citizenship skills blah blah blah, but what will they be doing? Unless of course this whole plan isn’t service but just to provide free labor for whatever, replace the government employees who’ll be lost when the taxes are cut.
And the Windfall Profits Tax to send a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate to American Families for jump starting the economy? Aren’t these the same people who earlier this year were talking about Bush’s $600 Stimulus Checks as a waste of time? The difference is Bush wasn’t taking the money from the corporations, but it’ll be interesting how this will be spun as a must have that will save the day. Meanwhile it’ll go towards beer and Playstations.
And I’m already seeing banner ads about how he’s a “fan” of clean coal. I’ll give him this, his marketing department works fast.
Somebody stop the Planet of the Apes, I want to get off………
9) curvyred
I guarantee my children WILL NOT BE GOING TO VOLUNTEER AT SOME CESS POOL INNER CITY CRIME RIDDEN NEIGHBORHOOD, no way no how.
I will fight this with every fiber of my being.
My children do volunteer work, but they will not be following some “government mandate” that is against the Constitution.
10) Jeffersonian
While people shout to the heavens that they are “free at last”, they cannot seem to notice that they are slaves to the great massa in Washinton who, as all good slave drivers do, provides for his servants every need so long as they remain loyal and do as they are instructed. We live in an age of institutional slavery, by which government enslaves the people by making them wholly dependant upon the master, and continues to provide so long as the servants obey. That obedience includes voting and acting as instructed. Aren’t these people told that unless they vote as instructed that “someone” will take away that which is being provided them, be that welfare, social security or whatever entitlement? Slavery is alive and well, it is just acceptable so long as it serves the almighty state rather than the private enterprise. Slavery is indeed a deplorable institution, but it is even more so when it is veiled as an act of compassion.
Pro 22:3 A prudent man foresees the evil, and hides himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
I see a whole lot of celebratory simpletons (the simple pass on and are punished, above) right about now.
How many got out of Germany before it turned into the hell Hitler made of it?
How many forsee when evil arises.. and find a way to hide from it?
How many don't.. pass on.. and are punished in the Judgement to come?
Maybe God will give to us the Dinar RV.. so we can "hide" ourselves (from the Judgement).
(Thanks for that post, cornish_boy).
Hopin.
Maybe it will come to the point that America will have to make a stand...
or lose its freedom.. under the very man they were so happy to elect.
It is so true.. be careful what you wish for.. you may get it.
I wish America had willed GOD'S will, not their own.
PS As I said before.. if John McCain had gotten in as President, the attacks on US soil would have come from OUTSIDE, an external threat. Now, with Obama in the Whitehouse, they will come from within the country and its institutions itself. The government itself will either become tools of the enemy (due to Obama's naivete and easily being manipulated by them in his inexperience, as Rob N's veteran's post explained) OR through deliberate sabotage due to Obama's holding socialist policies which create the room for terrorist "friends" and enablers to hold the reigns of governmental power and its secrets. No matter how you look at it.. the government will become the enemy of the citizenry by furthering the aims of the terrorists from within. That would not have happened under a McCain Presidency.
The attacks on US soil will now come from within, and there will be no one you can trust within the government to help you out of it. Self reliance will have to be key for any citizen wishing to remain.. to survive. Remember, BHO will cut the military and the first ones he will remove from power and influence.. will be Republicans and those who are minded against his socialist agenda - including those who would protect themselves by staying armed and well prepared to defend against homeland terror threats. Socialists and extremist radical terrorists are allies.. in case you hadn't noticed Iran and Russia being friends, etc. These bedfellows will cause a lot more havoc in their attempts to bring the US to her knees than would have been the lot of US citizenry had McCain (in God's mercy) gotten in. This new Obama youth measure is just the beginning..
Your comments regarding Obama's youth programs remind me of Adolf Hitler and his youth brigades. He indocrinated those young people to carry out his hate and bigotry.
In my view, Barack Hussein Obama will do the very same thing. An all out assault on those who oppose Obama and his policies is to be carried out by first indocrinating our young people.
Another image that my mind conjures up is that of Antiochus IV Epiphanies placing that pig upon the Jewish Alter inside the holy of holies was an insult to the Jewish people and their God. Just as Antiochus had no regard for the Jewish people or the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob neither does Barack Hussien Obama.
Because of his extreme Marxist almost Facist leanings the American way of life and its principles will be severely tested with a Hussein in the White House. This is the time in our lives where we will have our freedoms severely curtailed. I am not confident the GOP can solidify and reorganize in four short years. Unfortunatley, because of a Hussein Presidency Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Paul Stevens can retire now without worrying about being replaced by conservative justices.
For those of you who believe in God and his son Jesus Christ this is the time to be praying in earnest for this country and its direction.
Kuwait firms seek key role in rebuilding Iraq
Thu Nov 6, 2008 10:25am EST
By Ulf Laessing
KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait is seeking to exploit its position as gateway to Iraq after the Gulf Arab state stepped up diplomatic ties with Baghdad, opening the way for companies to play a leading role in reconstructing its larger neighbor.
Top executives of Kuwaiti companies and experts told the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit they were setting their eyes on Iraq after Kuwait sent its first ambassador since 1990 and security is improving.
Sandwiched between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Kuwait is the main gateway to Iraq from the south, and the U.S. military moves thousands of soldiers and most of its supplies for operations in Iraq through the small neighbor.
The Iraqi capital of Baghdad is also closer to Kuwait City than to Amman in Jordan, to the southwest.
Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah is expected to visit Iraq soon, which could pave the way for more deals for Kuwaiti companies spreading out of their home market.
Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBKK.KW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the country's third-largest lender by market value, is in talks with a Kuwaiti investment firm to buy an unnamed Iraqi lender, Chairman Abdulmajeed al-Shatti told the summit.
"Iraq is always on our agenda," Shatti said.
Smaller rival Burgan Bank (BURG.KW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) just bought a stake in Baghdad Bank as part of plans to expand and diversify income.
Meanwhile, Kuwait's Agility (AGLT.KW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the Gulf's biggest logistics firm, is setting up platforms in Iraq, betting goods will have to be moved when investors flock to the country after the security situation improves further.
"When the security situation improves we will have more local partners to develop the business in Iraq. I think you can see it happening now," Agility Chairman Tarek Sultan said.
His company has supplied U.S. troops in Iraq since the U.S.-led toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Agility also wants to buy further into the Iraqi telecoms industry where Kuwait's biggest cell operator, Mobile Telecommunications Co (Zain) (ZAIN.KW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), is already a big player.
"If they have more stability ..., I think that Kuwait is in an excellent position to have an advantage from its (location)," said Amani Bouresli, a finance professor at Kuwait University.
BITTERNESS
Despite the expansion plans, many Kuwaitis still feel bitter about Saddam Hussein's 1990-91 invasion, with parliament opposing government plans to waive Iraq's huge debt.
Relations between the neighbors have been slow to develop with Kuwait only last month sending its first ambassador to Baghdad since 1990, while Iraq keeps pressing Kuwait to cancel the debt and compensation for the invasion.
"In 2003, we were benefiting a lot in the beginning but now it is less and less. The Iraqi government and the Kuwaiti government should settle their problems to enhance economic cooperation between the two parties," said Naser al-Nafisi, general manager at Al-Joman Center for Economic Consultancy.
Kuwait has been trying to boost cooperation by planning a multi-billion dollar project to reshape the north bordering Iraq and building a container port on Boubiyan island south of Iraq.
The major oil exporter also plans to invest $132 billion in building a city in the north and a rail link to Iraq.
"We are waiting for see these projects in real life," said Nafisi. "There is a lot of talk. If we saw 50 percent of this, it's enough."
(www.reuters.com)
House of Representatives received approved version of oil and gas law
Baghdad Tariq Araji
Chief of the House of Representatives and the Chairman of the oil and gas in the Council yesterday from the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers approved version of the oil and gas law after amendments by the State Consultative Council.
The secretary general of the Council of Minister Ali Alaak in a statement addressed to the "morning" yesterday after two rounds of talks with Prime separately conducted by the House of Representatives, Dr. Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and the Chairman of the oil and gas in the Council had been emphasis on adopting the version that has been delivered to them in order to speed up the adoption of the law. It should be noted that the draft law is presented to the Cabinet at its twenty-sixth of February 2007 and brought to the state council for amendments and unanimously approved by the third in July last year. Alaak said he agreed to adopt a law during the first reading in the House of Representatives, taking into account the amendments made to hold the State Consultative Council, the law, denying at the same time, that there are other copies of the draft law. The "morning," published in the edition on Monday, quoting a member of the Commission on oil and gas in the House of Representatives Noureddine Hayali, saying that high-level delegation from the Council will meet Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to end debate on the draft law of oil and gas, indicating the presence of four copies of Law. http://www.alsabaah.com/paper.php?so...page&sid=72126
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are poised to cancel 20 billion dollars owed by Iraq and to end the file of compensation to Kuwait
MENA
Close to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to resolve the issue of debts owed by Iraq, which has about 20 billion dollars, in agreement with the Baghdad government to repeal, as well as addressing the issue of compensation paid by Iraq to Kuwait and other countries affected by the brutal invasion.
This came in a press statement made yesterday by the chief adviser in the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Thamer Ghadhban, who explained that the body had formed committees to negotiate the cancellation of the debt of Iraq to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, as well as end the file of compensation as well.
. Neighbors - BAGHDAD - full of Albulada member of the Economic Committee in the House of Representatives said that the reduction of the budget next year will not affect the overall economic plans and programs to the provinces and regions if the deal with the ideal money and follow-up. Albulada said in a statement to reporters on Friday that the state has investment projects in several provinces have allocated substantial sums this year, in addition to the amounts allocated to investment within the next year Mozanp
. Confirmed that it was the right home that felt the repercussions of the money on his year through the completion of projects and infrastructure development. . She proportions completion of projects in the provinces have not lived up to the required level, because the money allocated to them approved in March last and not the beginning of this year likely to reinstate the House of Representatives to consider fixing the date of release of funds to give sufficient time for completion of projects in the provinces.. The Albulada to encourage the private sector to create investment opportunities and projects that attract the savings of citizens and cash flow for effective participation in development plans. . Calling for the lifting of the efficient functioning of the State organs and public facilities so as to improve the performance and control to conform with international standards.. The International Monetary Fund obligates the Iraqi government to reduce the state general budget for 2009 to 67 billion instead of $ 80 billion, based on the price of a barrel of oil stands at about $ 62. .. This came in talks between the ministers of finance and Iraqi oil Bayan Jabr Zubaidi, Hussein Shahristani in Amman with a delegation of the International Monetary Fund, where Zubaidi said that the Iraqi rejection of the demands of the International Monetary Fund liberalization of prices of petroleum products and stop increasing the salaries of workers in the state and reform of the Iraqi dinar exchange rate as agreed The Iraqi side to cut the state's public budget by 13 billion dollars. http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljeeran.net%2Feconomic.html&sl=ar&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
America The Beautiful
November 7, 2008
by Joan Swirsky
"The sun will come out tomorrow," Little Orphan Annie sang in "Annie," the long-running Broadway classic.
Well, on the morning of November 5, the sun wasn't shining for over 55-million Americans, including me, who voted for a McCain-Palin administration. But the sun was blazing in another way for the historic election of Barack Obama as the first person-of-color to be elected President of the United States.
For those who witnessed, as I did, the violent racial strife of the 1960s, the assassinations of the most ardent advocates of minority civil rights, and also the redemptive messages and effective actions of Martin Luther King, Jr., a Republican, it is stunning to realize that, not 40 years after blacks were being murdered for aspiring to equality, a person-of-color has been elected to the highest office in the world.
And for those of us lucky enough to have also witnessed men walking on the moon, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the invention of the Internet, President-elect Obama's election is yet another affirmation of the exceptionalism of America - its limitless opportunities, God-given freedoms, bountiful generosity, and the essential optimism and decency of its citizens.
For nearly two years, our electorate has watched and listened as the candidates presented their versions of the American Dream, explained or rationalized their past and current associations, and defended their stupefying verbal gaffes.
Like other conservatives, the American Dream I prefer is about small government, low taxes, a free-market economy, domestic-energy independence, a judiciary that strictly interprets the Constitution, and value for the life of the unborn. But the American electorate - besieged by a shaky economy and entranced by a charismatic "change" agent who stood for none of these values - strangely opted for a candidate who touts big government, high-taxes, strict curbs on domestic drilling (and the destruction of the coal industry), leftwing Supreme Court justices in the mold of Ginsburg and Stewart, and a remarkable distain for the value of in-utero infants.
It almost makes you believe that the people who voted for Obama have been living in an alternative universe. After all, under the first six years of President Bush's stewardship, the economy soared to heights previously unknown, consumer confidence was at an all-time high, unemployment levels were unprecedentedly low, and the affordability of both gas and food was never a topic of conversation. But from the minute Democrats gained control of Congress in 2006, the downward spiral began:
Consumer confidence plummeted.
The cost of regular gasoline soared.
Unemployment escalated by 10%.
Households saw $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate through stock and mutual fund losses.
Home equity dropped by trillions of dollars and untold numbers of homes are in foreclosure.
Food prices skyrocketed over 30% in 1 year.
In spite of this, our electorate selected a man who promises a trillion dollars in new spending and draconian tax hikes on the most productive members of our society. His election inspired plenty of dancing in the street - both here and overseas - but the stock market reacted by taking the greatest plunge in history after a presidential election. It's going to take a whole lot of "hope" to get us out of this Democrat-created mess!
That said, if the Supreme Court decides that Mr. Obama meets the Constitutional mandate of being a legal citizen of the United States - an issue that has still not been resolved - I wish him good health, as well as wisdom and strength, in the daunting tasks that lie ahead of him.
If The Supreme Court Decides...?
At this point, Supreme Court Justice David Souter's Clerk informed Philip J. Berg, the lawyer who brought the case against Obama, that his petition for an injunction to stay the November 4th election was denied, but the Clerk also required the defendants to respond to the Writ of Certiorari (which requires the concurrence of four Justices) by December 1. At that time, Mr. Obama must present to the Court an authentic birth certificate, after which Mr. Berg will respond.
If Obama fails to do that, it is sure to inspire the skepticism of the Justices, who are unaccustomed to being defied. They will have to decide what to do about a president-elect who refuses to prove his natural-born citizenship.
"I can see a unanimous Court (en banc) decertifying the election if Obama refuses to produce his birth certificate," says Raymond S. Kraft, an attorney and writer. "They cannot do otherwise without abandoning all credibility as guardians of the Constitution. Even the most liberal justices, however loathe they may to do this, still consider themselves guardians of the Constitution. The Court is very jealous of its power - even over presidents, even over presidents-elect."
Also remember that on December 13, the Electoral College meets to casts its votes. If it has been determined that Mr. Obama is an illegal alien and therefore ineligible to become President of the United States, the Electors will be duty-bound to honor the Constitution.
Giving Credit
Mr. Obama's victory on November 4 has been attributed not only to his own personality and message of "change" and "hope," but also to a highly efficient ground operation, an uncritical - indeed fawning - leftwing media, and the ability to raise a staggering $650 million (much of it from foreign sources, the names of whom have still not been reported). Also unreported, but a crucial part of his success, has been the heroic work done - historically - by Republicans.
It was a Republican, Abraham Lincoln, who sacrificed everything - including his life - to fight a Civil War that ended slavery.
As documented by Diane Alden for Newsmax.com:
During the Civil War, Republicans planned the most significant amendments ever to our Constitution and enacted - despite fierce opposition from the Democrats - the 13th Amendment to ban slavery, the 14th Amendment to protect all Americans regardless of the color of their skin, and the 15th Amendment to extend voting rights to African-Americans.
"Every man that wanted the privilege of whipping another man to make him work for nothing, and pay him with lashes on his naked back, was a Democrat.Every man that raised bloodhounds to pursue human beings was a Democrat.Every man that cursed Abraham Lincoln because he issued the Emancipation Proclamation was a Democrat,"wrote Robert Ingersoll in 1876.
For its first 80 years, the Republican Party was the only one to provide a home for African-Americans.Until well into the 20th century, every African-American member of Congress was a Republican. The same was true for nearly all state legislators and other elected officials.
In 1888, Republican Senator Aaron Sargent introduced the "Susan B. Anthony" Amendment to the Constitution, according women of all races the right to vote.Strong Democrat opposition to what would become the 19th Amendment delayed ratification until 1920.
But that's ancient history, you say. Okay, how about the 20th century?
In the 26 major civil rights votes after 1933, a majority of Democrats opposed civil rights legislation in over 80 percent of their votes, while the Republican majority favored civil rights in over 96 percent of the votes. See here and here.
When President John F. Kennedy was a senator from Massachusetts, he could have voted for the 1957 Civil Rights Act pushed by Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson, but he didn't. This Act only passed with the help of Republicans. After JFK was elected president, he failed to suggest any new civil rights proposals in 1961 or 1962.
In 1963, Kennedy decided to act on the 1964 Civil Rights Act, but faced a filibuster by southern Democrats. Republicans favored the bill, which would have failed without their votes.
Hubert Humphrey, a member of Congress when Democrats held both houses of Congress, admitted that, "without the leadership and help of Republicans," legislative efforts "would have been watered down or failed because of obstinate Democrats - i.e., the Dixiecrats."
The fact that Democrats are quick to take credit for the Civil Rights Act and for the civil rights movement itself is both phony and a self-absorbed vanity," Alden says.
The Republican Leader in the Senate, Everett Dirksen (R-IL), wrote the 1960 Civil Rights Act, and was the person most responsible for defeating the Democrat filibuster against the 1964 Civil Rights Act.The 1964 Civil Rights Act passed the House of Representatives with 80% Republican support but only 61% of Democrats.
In the Senate, 82% of Republicans supported the bill compared to 69% of Democrats.
Similarly, the 1965 Voting Rights Act was supported in Congress by a higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats.Democrats vigorously opposed Republican efforts to protect the civil rights of African-Americans, from Reconstruction until well into the 20th century. In much of the country, racist Democrats virtually destroyed the Republican Party, which did not become a force in those areas until President Reagan's message of freedom and equality prevailed in the 1980s.Today, the Republican Party continues its historical commitment to civil rights at home and around the world.
In 2004, [America celebrated] the 150th anniversary of the GOP as well as the 50th anniversaryof Brown v. Board of Education - a watershed of the modern-day civil rights movement.In May 1954, former Republican Governor and GOP vice presidential candidate Earl Warren, appointed Chief Justice by Republican President Eisenhower, wrote this landmark decision declaring that "separate but equal" is inherently unconstitutional.To help enforce this principle, the Eisenhower administration drafted the 1957 Civil Rights Act and guided it to passage over a Democrat filibuster.
The Four S's
In Why Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican, Frances Rice, Chairman of the National Black Republican Association, tells us that, "in that era, almost all black Americans were Republicans. Why? From its founding in 1854 as the anti-slavery party until today, the Republican Party has championed freedom and civil rights for blacks. And as one pundit so succinctly stated, the Democrat Party is as it always has been, the party of the four S's: Slavery, Secession, Segregation and now Socialism." Rice continues:
It was the Democrats who fought to keep blacks in slavery and passed the discriminatory Black Codes and Jim Crow laws.
The Democrats started the Ku Klux Klan to lynch and terrorize blacks.
The Democrats fought to prevent the passage of every civil rights law beginning with the civil rights laws of the 1860's, and continuing with the civil rights laws of the 1950's and 1960's.
It was Republican President Dwight Eisenhower who pushed to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and sent troops to Arkansas to desegregate schools.
Much is made of Democrat President Harry Truman's issuing an Executive Order in 1948 to desegregate the military. Not mentioned is the fact that it was President Eisenhower who actually took action to effectively end segregation in the military.
President Kennedy was opposed to the 1963 March on Washington by Dr. King that was organized by A. Phillip Randolph who was a black Republican.
President Kennedy, through his brother Attorney General Robert Kennedy, had Dr. King wiretapped and investigated by the FBI on suspicion of being a Communist in order to undermine Dr. King.
In 1968, after riots broke out in Tennessee where a teenager was killed, Democrat Senator Robert Byrd, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, called Dr. King a "trouble-maker" who starts trouble, but runs like a coward after trouble is ignited. A few weeks later, Dr. King returned to Memphis and was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
Although affirmative action now has been turned by the Democrats into an unfair quota system, affirmative action was begun by Nixon to counter the harm caused to blacks when Democrat President Woodrow Wilson in 1912 kicked all of the blacks out of federal government jobs.
It was Republicans who founded the historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Critics of Republican Senator Barry Goldwater who ran for president against Democrat President Lyndon Johnson in 1964, ignore the fact that Goldwater wanted to force the Democrats in the South to stop passing discriminatory laws and thus end the need to continuously enact federal civil rights legislation.
President Johnson, in his 4,500-word State of the Union Address delivered on January 4, 1965, mentioned scores of topics for federal action, but only thirty five words were devoted to civil rights. He did not mention one word about voting rights.Then in 1967, showing his anger with Dr. King's protest against the Viet Nam War, President Johnson referred to Dr. King as "that Nigger preacher."
Contrary to the false assertions by Democrats, the racist "Dixiecrats" did not all migrate to the Republican Party. "Dixiecrats" declared that they would rather vote for a "yellow dog" than vote for a Republican because the Republican Party was known as the party for blacks. Today, some of those "Dixiecrats" continue their political careers as Democrats, including Democrat Senator Robert Byrd who is well known for having been a "Kleagle" in the Ku Klux Klan.
Republican Senator Strom Thurmond defended blacks against lynching and the discriminatory poll taxes imposed on blacks by Democrats. If Senator Byrd and Senator Thurmond were alive during the Civil War, and Byrd had his way, Thurmond would have been lynched.
"Today," Rice says, "Democrats, in pursuit of their socialist agenda, are fighting to keep blacks poor, angry and voting for Democrats." In 2004, they blocked passage of a bill to renew the 1996 welfare reform law that was pushed by Republicans and vetoed twice by President Bill Clinton before he finally signed it. They are opposed to school-choice opportunity scholarships that would help black children get out of failing schools, and they blocked Social Security reform, even though blacks on average lose $10,000 in the current system because of a shorter life expectancy than whites (72.2 years for blacks vs. 77.5 years for whites).
"Democrats have been running our inner-cities for the past 30-40 years," Rice adds, "and blacks are still complaining about the same problems. Over $7 trillion dollars has been spent on poverty programs...with little, if any, impact on poverty."
These are facts - you know those pesky little things that liberals abhor. But in spite of the Democrats' historical racism, their abominable record in serving the needs of the black community, and their obvious inability to handle our economy, there's a new Democrat in town, once again promising the moon.
Will The Sun Come Out Tomorrow?
Mark Alexander, the publisher of http://www.patriotpost.us/, quotes George Washington, who said: "We should never despair. Our situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth new Exertions and proportion our Efforts to the exigency of the times."
Alexander, ala FDR, calls the election of Barack Obama "a date which will live in infamy." "Liberals have elected a Socialist with deep ties to cultural and ethnocentric radicalism, and his executive and legislative agenda pose a greater threat to American liberty than that of any president in the history of our great republic.
"Obama has twice taken an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic" and to "bear true faith and allegiance to the same." He has never honored that oath, and, based on his policy proposals and objectives, he has no intention to honor it after again reciting that oath on 20 January 2009. Obama seeks to, in his own words, "break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution."
My perspective is not so bleak. We still have an influential conservative media, a growing number of exciting conservative stars on the political horizon, and an electorate that voted in huge numbers for a Republican candidate who was outspent by multimillions, shamefully savaged by a biased media, and distrusted by many of his fellow Party members. We won't make that mistake again! And we won't make the mistake of not reminding the electorate just how contributory we Republicans have been in fighting the Democrats to bring about true racial justice in our country.
Until and unless the socialists among us take away our rights, my country will always be America the Beautiful to me.
(www.rightsidenews.com)
Solagh: the decision to lift the value of the Iraqi dinar was the result of studies value
11/8/2008 1:29:35 PM
قال وزير المالية باقر جبر صولاغ ان الدينار العراقي يشهد تحسنا ملحوضا خلال الفترة الحالية.
Said Finance Minister Baqir Jabr Solagh said the Iraqi dinar has improved Mlhaudha during the current period.
وأضاف صولاغ ان التذبذب الحاصل في السوق المحلية يعود الى بعض الاشاعات التي تثار من اجل عرقلة هذا التحسن .
Solagh added that the fluctuation caused in the local market due to some rumors that have arisen to block this improvement.
موضحا ان قرار البنك المركزي العراقي في رفع قيمة الدينار العراقي امام العملات الاجنبية هو قرار صحيح وجاء نتيجة دراسات قيمة تهدف الى رفع القيمة الشرائية للمواطن العراقي قبل كل شيء .
He explained that the Iraqi central bank's decision to raise the value of the Iraqi dinar against foreign currencies is the right decision and the result of studies designed to raise the value of the purchasing power of Iraqis before everything.
This is JMO so don't soot me, aim for the guy with the suntan, and I do not mean Roger, it will be good to have Rog back even for a short while as he is the best at turning gobellegook into English
I think I might just look in on my bookie and see what odds I can get on Obama
A Not being able to prove that he is an American citizen
B Being killed before January the 20th
Lets face it, its like the coffee boy being made the President of the company, he knows where it is and how to get there, but has no idea what to do when there
I was hoping he would at least suround himself with people that at least have some idea of how to play the game, so far that is not hapening
I do not think it will take very long before all the brain dead numptys that voted for Obama, will realise that it will become the bigest cock up in US history
As he flip flopped he way along the trail, he seemed to think that $250,000 was a standard wage for everyone and that anyone earning less will pay no tax's, then it was $200,000, then $120,000 he is not from this planet, he is about as far away from the real world as anyone can be, there's a thought send him into outer space on a one way ticket to the edge (if there is one) of the universe
There may be one ray of sunshine in this, and that is your friend and mine George (sneaky bastard) Soros, has something to do with the CBI, I cannot remember what, but an idea was that he was somehow holding an RV of the dinar back, and now his gang of crooks are to be running the US soon, then bang an RV, oh look this boy has only been in for a few months and has sorted out Iraq in one step, Steve.
Yes home for a couple of days now, very busy arranging things, and have just barely cached up with sleep ( 15-16 hours or so the first night).
It will be a very short R&R, and I will be barely able to cover all the bases before I do a "wheels up" again.
So we have a new president, a guy that have spent about 14 months all together on the senate floor, and he did some communal work in Chicago.
Wow, what a resume'.
I guess we're in for a President that will do an "on the job training" routine.
He's going to need so many people sitting on the side lines telling him how the buttons are pushed and how the ropes are pulled that it will pretty soon be obvious that he will be running the show, about the same as Al Sadr, with a cadre of people around him, apologizing for him, or explain for the public what he "really mean".
What will be good though in the trucking community, there was so many stories around when Clinton was president, that a lot of entertainment was offered on the CB, it has been a bit dry on the fun stories lately, but with Obama in, it will probably be fun driving truck again, as you probably have less need for the XM Radio.
The Iraq experience is on its tail end, with a lot of hard work done by the military forces, bringing the success we have had, so far, to a close to completion.
There have been a lot of forces in play, but the US military , by its nature, is not designed to do the task of society builder, but still they did.
I really admire those guys....still they did.
Rewind any video, and you will find a uniformed member of our armed forces in any capacity, sitting down with Sheiks, negotiating with Mullahs, shaking hands with kids on the street, setting up deals, arranging for negotiations with any and all being an Iraqi, and at the same time insulating and surround Al Qaeda, to the point that they have an almost impossible situation in Iraq, so impossible in fact, that they are completely alienated from the common Iraqis support, Sunni, Shiite, and Kurd alike.
Al Qaeda have lost it so completely now, that they are urging the Al Qaeda members to go over to the Afghanistan/Pakistan area instead.
Wouldn't you say, with a statement like that, that they lost?
In a scenario like this, I can see the new President preaching for his followers, that 'I will finally end the war"...and his followers will again have another jubilant demonstration, in the same class as the followers of a foot ball team when they win the Superbowl.
The only difference here is that while they are playing it on the same emotional level as football teams, this time around, the opposition ( conservatives) will not act like a losing football team from the Super Bowl, and have the regularly and statistically proven wife beating session.
Obama can play for the masses, reason logic and sanity does not, and will not seek approval from the masses.
It is for the individual to find it.
If the individual can't find it, he will of course feel better of himself, by screaming with the masses.
The masses have a great conductor, and cheer leader now.
Have been inspired and challenged by all of your post-election thoughts and reactions.
I personally have been in a daze for the last few days. Worked in Nevada on the Repub. campaign. I was so disenchanted with my first go round. Mostly because, it appeared that Mc Cain was working against his own campaign strategies and hundreds of staffers and volunteers. Then I went back because I had to see my commitment through.
There was a constant under current...like no one wanted to say it...but we all felt it....MC CAIN WAS THROWING THE ELECTION.
And the part that ticked you off the most...he did it graciously with a smile on his face.
He blew it for conservative Americans ( approx 52 million) who still hold moral values ( which include high economic principles)
It will take me a while to digest and try to put some kind of intelligent rationalization to the hundreds of questions this last several months have raised in my mind.
But, having said that, I think we need to realize that since the inception of the idea that men could inhabit and live and thrive on the soil of the US, some faction somewhere, at all times in the last 230+ years has tried to destroy America. Nothing has changed in this arena.
Today, there may be a stronger grip to that effort, because of Obama and the left Congress......but none-the- less, the concerted effort marches on.
So, how then, and why does this seem sooooooooo much different?
Well, because, in times past, our leaders and government realized and practiced that we were blessed and protected by our Creator. And, while not perfect, lived their lives to standards that flowed over into our government. In other words, we had favor and blessings From God...we were His nation, because our forefathers passed down to the generations the importance of worship and seeking God's will.
Well, for the last 50 years we have been pushing those beliefs to the cellar. Just a few years ago, they consummated a good debate. Today the debate is over. One is considered a lunatic to even entertain such thinking. The evil forces in this nation that have been bent on destroying our Judeo Christian heritage and COMMITMENT, HAVE BASICALLY GOTTEN THEIR WAY.
There have been many nations and Empires throughout the history of mankind that have been abandoned by God because of same issues and agendas, and have fallen to despair or demise.
Every single day of our lives, since we have been born, at least half the world has hated us and wished and tried to do us harm.
BUT, God was an invited honored guest in our culture, and we enjoyed His protection, and mercies and all the promises in SCRIPTURE that are given to those who seek Him.
As a nation and government we have told Him, we no longer believe in Him and His percepts, we no longer even believe He was our Creator.
We do not believe that He alone gives life and He alone can take life. We told Him to take all His blessings and stuff it! Cause we believe in self- reliance, and we can accomplish anythng we want if we just want it bad enough, are willing wo do ANYTHING to get it.
We have replaced humility and compassion with pride and greed. We have replaced our Creator with idols of every kind. And if that weren't bad enough, we are proud of it all!
So there you have it...,a true prescription for disaster.
The antidote is found in His Word. A few that come to my mind are : 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land....
Also Psalm 81...( after Israel turned their back on GOD)....Vs 11-16 " But my people would not listen to me. ISRAEL would not submit to me, so I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. If, however, My people would listen to me and follow my ways, how quickly, I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. Those who hate the Lord would cringe before Him and their punishment would last forever. But you would be fed with the finest of wheat, with honey from the rock I would satisfy you".
So there you have it....and we (United States) are a living testament of what it means to be under His grace....we've had it all! And now we lose it all!
CS Lewis said, "the last experience of the sinner is the horrible enslavement of the freedom he desired"
I truly believe that it is not only weak men that fall, but also strong men, in the wrong place at the wrong time, with the wrong thoughts for the wrong reasons.
Yes, the Dinar is our common experience here, but without Christ as the center of our lives, it is probably the wrong place, time, and reason for any true and lasting hope.
A letter written to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Monday, July 7, 2008
Dear Editor:
Each year I get to celebrate Independence Day twice. On June 30, I celebrate my independence day, and on July 4, I celebrate America's.
This year is special, because it marks the 40th year of MY independence.
On June 30, 1968, I escaped Communist Cuba, and a few months later, I was in the United States to stay. That I happened to arrive in Richmond on Thanksgiving Day is just part of the story, but I digress.
I've thought a lot about the anniversary this year. The election-year rhetoric has made me think a lot about Cuba and what transpired there. In the late 1950's, most Cubans needed a change, and they were right. So when a young leader came along, every Cuban was at least
receptive.
When the young leader spoke eloquently and passionately and denounced the old system, the press fell in love with him. They never questioned who his friends were or what he really believed in. When he said he would help the farmers and the poor and bring free medical care and education to all, everyone followed. When he said he would bring justice and equality to all, everyone said,'Praise the Lord'
And when the young leader said,' I will be for change and I will bring yu change', everyone yelled, 'Viva Fidel!'
But nobody asked about the change, so by the time the executioner's guns went silent, the people's guns had been taken away. By the time everyone was equal, they were equally poor hungry and oppressed. By the time everyone received free education, it was worth nothing. By the time the press noticed, it was too late, because they were now working for him. By the time the change was finally implemented, Cuba had been knocked down a couple of notches to Third World status. By the time the change was over, more than a million people had taken to oats, rafts, and inner tubes. You can call those who made it to shore anywhere else in the world, the most fortunate Cubans. And now I am back to the beginning of my story.
Luckily, we would never fall in America for a young leader who promised change without asking, what change? How will you carry it out? What will it cost America?
Would we?
Manuel Alvarez, Jr.
I don't know about you.....but I am on my knees!
Carole
experts agreed that the economy in the deletion of the draft long-term zeroes, which purports to implement the central bank needs economic stability "not available" in Iraq, refused Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister that the project would cost the state significant amounts "without real results."
The economic researcher Abdul Karim Hilfi that "the central bank's decision to delete the three zeroes in the long run, not the new economic landscape has preceded us to several countries, and especially those Germany."
The Al Hilfi (Voices of Iraq) that the Iraqi situation "do not have the objective conditions of the deleted" because Iraq "suffers from structural economic problems of inflation rates and a strong addition to high rates of unemployment, how will be deleted zeroes of the dinar, which already does not exist?".
He pointed out that "Iraq is unable to proceed with this resolution, both short term or long-alike" explanation saying, "It is possible to delete zeroes when the strong production and service Jlth addition to the absence of structural imbalances or inflation and unemployment rates are less than 10 % "He said, adding that the resolution" can not be implemented only after a long time, if carried out in one or two years would be a negative influence because the economy is in recession now. "
The Central Bank of Iraq announced late last month of October on a long-term for the deletion of three zeros from the Iraqi dinar in order to improve the situation of the Iraqi currency.
In turn, drew a researcher and academic Hilal Ta `that" the draft was the deletion of zeroes draft proposed by the Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabr "and" could be applied and considered as a medium or long term, and could not be applied until after the stability of the economic situation and improve the Iraqi dinar exchange rate. "
The Ta `l (Voices of Iraq) that the project" the most important of several requirements that need a stable economy in some respects and needs substantial financial resources as well as to support the Iraqi dinar foreign balances "and" it could be applied during the last period, but for the impact of the global financial crisis Iraq's economy. "
For his part, objected Adviser to the Prime Minister Abdel Hussein Al-Anbuge delete zeroes on the draft of the Iraqi dinar, and said to (Voices of Iraq) "To leave the project now is not the first to occupy the whole state to lift the zeroes from the currency at this stage."
"We do not agree, starting with this policy in favor of changing the form of currency, quality or deletion of the three zeroes" for the fact that "solutions cash is always symbolic and solutions are not true, the Iraqi economy and the real problems should heed the State address."
An example of "structural imbalances, to stop the wheel of the productive sectors such as agriculture, basic industry, in addition to a semi-destroyed infrastructure," and expressed his belief that the things mentioned by the "supposed to take priority."
He said Al-Anbuge "If the operation was intended to tackle inflation is to simply delete Aielj zeros from the currency, because that means I'm a citizen I was carrying cash and paper group purchased a dinars and by commodity, and when I deleted the zeroes the same good, I'll cash the same paper."
He stressed that Al-Anbuge situation "would not differ for the Iraqi citizen," and it "will not only exist for only cost huge amounts of money to cancel the previous currency and re-printed a new currency" and therefore "has no positive results on inflation."
He expressed the belief that "the results are only psychological, some negative for individuals who believe that they have a large amount of cash out of delusion, but after it becomes a fortune after deletion of a few zeroes have a concern because he thought it was a poor, or the results of psychological positive[/color] individuals because they buy goods Siatkaddon Cheaper. "
Securities in Iraq, in turn, would be affected by the deletion of the zeroes of the Iraqi dinar as a member of the Federation of Iraqi mediators said Mohammed Ismail, who told (Voices of Iraq) that "in case the deletion of zeroes currency capital companies reduced rates zeroes."
He stated that "For example, if the capital of three billion company will be three million dinars, in which case we will be in front of the stage where the market closed for a certain period for the issuance of certificates of new shares to bondholders, with the number of shares unchanged."
IMF Executive Board Completes First Review of Iraq's Stand-By Arrangement
Press Release No. 08/199
September 3, 2008 The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed today the first review of Iraq's Stand-By Arrangement (SBA), which is designed to support the country's economic program through March 2009. The Board also completed a financing assurances review under the SBA. The SDR 475.36 million (about US$746.3 million) arrangement was approved in December 2007. It is being treated as precautionary by the authorities (see Press Release No. 07/301), and no purchase is planned.
As part of the completion of the first review, the Board also approved Iraq's request for a waiver of an end-June 2008 quantitative performance criterion on the government wage and pension bill.
Following the Executive Board's discussion of Iraq's economic performance, Mr. Takatoshi Kato, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, said:
"After several very difficult years, economic prospects for Iraq are improving and the authorities are persevering with the implementation of their economic program in 2008. With the recent improvement in security, oil production and exports are increasing while inflation has been reduced. The strengthened fiscal and external positions offer Iraq a good opportunity to rebuild its institutions and infrastructure in order to achieve sustained higher economic growth. The success of these endeavors will hinge on continued improvements in security, sound management of oil revenues, and implementation of key structural reforms.
"To accelerate economic reconstruction and meet other pressing needs, the supplementary budget for 2008 provides for a sizable spending increase. The additional investment, following several years of public underinvestment, is welcome but will require vigilance to ensure that the quality of public investment is maintained. A civil service salary increase will be phased in over 2008 and 2009 in order to avoid overheating the economy. To keep inflation under control, the Central Bank of Iraq will tighten its monetary policy stance, appreciation of the dinarnotably by increasing the pace of and by keeping its policy interest rate positive in real terms.
"Some fuel prices were increased in mid-2008, and the government intends to raise other fuel prices early next year to reduce still-sizable indirect fuel subsidies. The Fund stands ready to assist the authorities in developing an appropriate adjustment mechanism for setting domestic fuel prices.
"It will be important to step up the pace of structural reform. Of particular urgency are the early adoption of a comprehensive reform plan for modernizing public financial management, the finalization of the census of public service employees to eliminate ghost workers, and the streamlining of the in-kind Public Distribution System. In the financial sector, restructuring programs for two major commercial banks based on the completed financial and operational audits should be taken forward, and the set of prudential regulations for commercial banks completed. Establishment of a new legislative framework for the hydrocarbon sector will facilitate investments in the sector.
"Progress has been made in strengthening governance and fighting corruption in the hydrocarbon sector, through oil-metering and Iraq's participation in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. An extension of the metering system to all oil sector activities will further strengthen transparency in the sector.
"The central bank intends to continue to implement the recommendations of the IMF's Safeguards Assessment Report and the external audit report of its 2007 financial statements. The adoption of reserves management guidelines is an important step in this regard.
"The authorities are making commendable efforts to conclude debt agreements with official non-Paris Club and private creditors that have not yet provided debt relief to Iraq," Mr. Kato said.
IMF EXTERNAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
Public Affairs Media RelationsPhone:202-623-7300Phone:202-623-7100Fax:202-623-6278Fax:202-623-6772
__________________
You wrote: "So there you have it....and we (United States) are a living testament of what it means to be under His grace....we've had it all! And now we lose it all!"
Untrue. Even if MILLIONS of Americas die (and I perceive they will) as a result of this, yet God shall use the calamity to His purpose to call back His own to Himself, and many will turn to Him during the coming storm. God is NOT done with the United States.
In the vision I was given, I saw multiple attacks with nuclear weapons upon US cities on the Eastern seaboard. This was pre-911 when I received the vision, but I was actually present in that time period in real time and witnessed the deaths of literally MILLIONS of Americans, then brought back to this time frame to wait and watch as history catches up to what I saw.
It is still scheduled to happen. Once it does, I believe China will move to take advantage of America's weakness. This calamity (taken from the spiritual perspective) is in payment for America's sins, as you said. But America has BEEN the Lord's and this is not destruction in the sense of total decimation. It is punishment with the aim of calling America to her knees. Our God is a jealous God and He WILL have America back to Himself.. no matter what it takes.
I believe that I saw about 40 nukes detonating on US soil.. in highly populated cities. I believe two million Americans would die per explosion/city, so approximately 80 million Americans die, or about one third of the US population, in one day. The remaining two-thirds now have a wakeup call. No longer will they say domestic spying and "racial profiling" are too extreme measures. They will want to be safe.. and I think they may reconsider trusting in Barack Hussein Obama to give them that safety.. and look to the Lord who alone can make them safe.
(And, since I saw three nuclear explosions happen one after the other on Washington, D.C., taking out the Congress, US Supreme Court and Whitehouse.. which of course would be key targets, no Obama would remain at that point in time to turn to by the American citizenry. Indeed, in seeking God on this defeat in the election, I was reminded that Sarah Palin is now in Alaska.. very far from these attacks and safe.. along with a lot of others who were defeated and simply won't be there when this nuclear holocaust happens. So maybe it won't be seen to be such a blessing for those who seem to have "won" these seats in the election, in the long run.. )
It is dark days now, and millions of American lives hang in the balance to be lost. But that is not the end of the story, even if it is granted to America's enemies. America will not be defeated. She will fight, and she will turn.. and from the rubble, she will again be given victory.
I have been so sorrowful over those who will not hear.. who scoff at the prospect of these deaths while the skull and crossbones of hell stare them in the face. But the good people (who live East of Atlanta, Georgia on the map) who will not be nuked will be galvanized by this into a people used by His hand for future endeavors. And as noted by Steve on the board, there could be a way OB may not actually become President, which could change this scenerio perceptively. But so far, nothing has.
The reason why we seem to be moving inexorably (unstoppably) toward this is that God cannot let this affront to His law stand.. but we must also know that He will not forsake utterly His people. Even in the Old Testament, when God turned His hand against His people for their sins (such as in Lamentations), it was not to their utter ruin. In the same way, America will fall.. and rise again. She will regain her former glory (as a nation UNDER GOD), and she will be strengthened. Only then will she turn from the idolatry she has embraced and walk again in the light of God's Word and embrace His good and holy law, with its protections of life, family and marriage, etc. It is bleak in looking forward now.. but it is not completely evil. I have had a long time accepting this fate for the US, which I love, but I must admit God has convinced me this is what He will allow.. as I find myself saying with the leaders of countries and the inhabitants of the earth who love America:
Lam 4:12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
Surely we, too.. cannot BELIEVE this.. that THIS "Jerusalem" - Washington, DC - is being breached by America's enemies.. that the adversary of America itself should walk into its gates and sit as its king.. (President) is an amazing and almost impossible thing to believe. I find myself wondering what "The Duke" (John Wayne) or even the Founding Fathers would say if they were alive today to see this.. Yet it has happened. And it will be used to bring judgement (chastisement) upon America.
A rumor:
Ayers and Obama in regular contact
November 5, 2008
The media never vetted this plant. Terrible. White House coup. (from Atlas Shrugs)
Ayers and Obama in regular contact says source close to Obama candidacy. Global Labor hat tip Paul
The relationship between the Democratic Party’s Presidential candidate Barack Obama and Bill Ayers, the founder and leader of the now defunct terrorist organization Weather Underground, is deeper and closer than currently understood, according to an individual who has had a senior role in the Obama candidacy that has included direct contact with the candidate.
The Weather Underground was responsible for a series of bombings during the 1970s that caused extensive property damage. Three of the Underground’s own members died when a bomb exploded accidentally in a New York town house in 1970. Among the dead was Ayers’ girl friend at the time, Diana Oughton.
The source has stated that Obama and Ayers have a direct personal relationship that extends back to the 1980s and that there are now close ties between both Michelle and Barack Obama and Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, also a former leader of the Weather Underground. Global Labor believes the source to be highly credible but has not been able to confirm independently the comments made by the source.
The source has said that either Obama himself or his wife Michelle communicate with Ayers or Dohrn on a regular basis, up to “several times a week,” including discussions about the “vetting” of potential advisors to the campaign as well as potential appointments to staff positions in the new administration should Obama win the presidential race.
The source continues to support the Obama candidacy but has expressed serious concern about the influence of what is known in the campaign as the “Ayers camp” on the candidate.
The Obama campaign itself has officially denied the existence of a close relationship between Ayers and Obama and continues to quote on its website mainstream media sources that contend that connections between the two are “tenuous.” While Obama himself attempted to minimize the relationship he has never denied that it existed and, in fact, hinted during a debate with Hilary Clinton that he had had dinner with Ayers at some point. Ayers himself has refused to talk to the media about his relationship with Obama.
An interesting rumor.. about WHO is being appointed under that "Administration".. America's friends.. or enemies? Whether this particular rumor is true or not, it points out the fact that the friends and associates of Barack who are being appointed are unlikely to be America's friends... and a lot hangs in the balance.
All that is missing is the nuclear technology.. and it won't be long until they have that.
===
Wanted: Suicide bombers to attack U.S. Iranian group recruits young 'martyrs' to fight 'global arrogance'
Posted: November 05, 2008
By Chelsea Schilling
A terrorist group is distributing flyers in Iran calling for young volunteers to join the Lebanese Hezbollah to carry out suicide operations against the "Global Arrogance" – also known as the United States.
The leaflets promise young recruits that they will join "fighters in the worldwide front against the Global Arrogance," the Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI, reported. The term is used by some Iranian officials in reference to the U.S.
On Nov. 1, Tabnak, an Iranian news website identified with Expediency Discernment Council Secretary and former Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezai, announced a group has been actively recruiting members in Tehran and large Iranian provinces for Lebanon's Hezbollah. The flyers are labeled "Registration for Membership in the Lebanese Hezbollah " and "Registration for Martyrdom Operations." Each form requires addresses and additional information so recruits may be contacted for the cause.
Tabnak reports a Tehran phone number and address is located on the registration forms. However, the website reported "validity [of the address] could not be confirmed." Martyrdom registration forms reportedly include the name of an organization known to be active in the region, though Tabnak does not reveal its name.
MEMRI translated the news report. A portion of it reads:
"It should be mentioned that this group – some of whose previous activities and [projects] were not without merit – has in the past recruited martyrdom squads [for operations in] Palestine, which generated a wave of [anti-Iranian] propaganda worldwide and branded Iran a terrorist [state]. [The same group] also produced a recent documentary on [the assassination of former Egyptian president] Anwar Sadat which aroused considerable protest in Egypt and prompted the creation of an anti-Islamic and anti-Iran film that insults the great leader of the [Islamic] Revolution [Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini]."
Tabnak also reported, "[A]n Iranian movement called the World Islamic Organization Headquarters for Remembering the Shahids has carried out several recruitment campaigns for volunteers for martyrdom operations in Iraq and Israel, and has produced a film titled 'Assassination of a Pharaoh,' on the assassination of Sadat."
"The Iranian regime has tried to present the martyrdom movement as a voluntary enterprise independent of the state," MEMRI reported in May. "However, the presence of Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) representatives at the movement's registration ceremonies suggests that it is endorsed by the regime."
In July 2005, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad openly endorsed suicide missions, asking, "Is there an art more beautiful, more divine, and more eternal than the art of martyrdom?"
The latest suicide recruitment campaign comes just before Iran's annual celebration of its "National Day Against Global Arrogance" on Nov. 4. Among other events, it marks the 29th anniversary of the day militant Islamists stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took more than 90 people hostage for 444 days, most of whom were American. Every year, many Iranians celebrate near the site they have decorated with anti-American slogans and dubbed the "Den of Spies."
It was on the TV news here in the UK that a main street Bookmaker has turned away bets on Obama being killed and saying that it was a sick bet, what a killjoy, LOL
I see in the US the sale of guns has gone way up, as they seem to think Obama will make it harder to get a shooter, but it seems he has flip floped on this as well, as he now says he is right behind the, Second Amendment, duz this BOY have a backbone, I don't think so Tim
Yes you have a point, Obama have said that "I will not take your hand guns" but, from that to his anti gun agenda it is pretty easy to conclude that it will be ok to own and possess a hand gun, if it is stored completely disassembled, each piece under separate lock, and you are only able to open up the lock, when an electronic signal from an authority will permit the lock to open.
You can only open one lock per month, and there will be per permit only, a permit issued from the authorities, demanding a full physical, background check, medical clearance, and a signature from at least three persons that also have to full fill the same criteria.
If you have any outstanding debts, child support, alimony or any outstanding traffic tickets, or other disputed debts currently in court, you will be barred from opening any lock for a mandatory three year period.
If ammunition and guns are found in close proximity to each other, it will be considered that the gun is actually intended to be fired, a Felony offense, no trials will be held, especially if the caliber of the ammo matches that of the make of the gun.
So for sure Obama will keep his word, "I am not going to take your guns away"
Sleep safely assured that everything will be just fine.
The conclusion of this interesting and detailed article (with a LONG list of reference materials) is worth noting... along with this statement:
Quote:
The Iranian military has often acted irregularly or by proxy, sparking insurrections in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain, and perhaps the Palestinian Authority as well. On May 3, 2008, former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami acknowledged as much. Speaking at the University of Gilan, he argued that the current Iranian strategy of exporting revolution by means of "gunpowder and groups sabotaging other countries" was inconsistent with what he argued was Khomeini's preference for soft power.[25] It is irresponsible to argue, as former nuclear-inspector-turned-peace-activist Scott Ritter has, that Iran does not pose a strategic threat to the United States and its interests.[26] At its core, the Islamic Republic is an ideological regime with a mission to export its revolution embedded both in its constitution and in the IRGC structure.[27]
===end quote==
But more immediately..
===
Can a Nuclear Iran Be Contained or Deterred?
By Michael Rubin
Posted: Wednesday, November 5, 2008
MIDDLE EASTERN OUTLOOK
AEI Online
Publication Date: November 5, 2008
Conclusion
The Bush administration has treated deterrence and containment as rhetorical pillars, but, beyond the Gulf Security Dialogue, few in Washington appear willing to take the measures necessary to deter or contain a nuclear Iran. Even in the unlikely event they would achieve Iraqi acquiescence, neither Barack Obama nor Joe Biden support permanent bases in Iraq,[45] even though such facilities would be the cornerstones of a containment policy. Simply put, without permanent bases in Iraq, a nuclear capable Islamic Republic cannot be contained.
While Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) laid down the necessary marker to support a deterrence strategy when she declared that the United States could "obliterate" Iran should the Islamic Republic use nuclear weapons, Obama's criticism of her statement[46] undercut the commitment to retaliation upon which any deterrence policy must rest.
It may be comforting to Abizaid, Mullen, and the electorate to believe that the United States can deter or contain Tehran's worst ambitions, but absent any preparation to do so, Washington is instead signaling that the Islamic Republic has a green light to claim regional dominance and, at worst, carry out its threats to annihilate Israel. At the same time, absent any effort to lay the groundwork either for containment or deterrence, Washington is signaling to its allies in the region that they are on their own and that the U.S. commitment to protect them is empty. Arab states and Iran's other neighbors may calculate that they have no choice but to make greater accommodation to Tehran's interests. Should Israeli officials believe that the West will stand aside as Iran achieves nuclear capability and that a nuclear Islamic Republic poses an existential threat to the Jewish state, they may conclude that they have no choice but to launch a preemptive military strike--an event that could quickly lead to a regional conflagration from which the United States would have difficulty remaining aloof.
Roger...
What is the present rate on the dinar in Iraq...?
Are you still convinced your move on some funds to the isx was a good move? What has been your experience so far....down or up?
You have no idea how much I wished you were right, concerning God sparing a remnant of "His People". The issue that I see as scripturally unidentifiable, is that "His People" are referred to as the Jews. I certainly am not an authority of end time prophesy, but there seems to be an unanimous view that the US is not factored in. So, many have asked, "what will become of the US, a known world power?" There has been much speculation. The most recent thought I heard expressed by Ed Hinson, of World Prophetic Ministry is that the US being the Christian capital of the world is not noted in end times activities, is because the Rapture will dismantle the US as the world knows it.
In my prayers, I appeal to the Lord's mercy on behalf of all of the godly people in this nation, including the missionaries around the world who spread the Gospel. As well as all the downright dirty work of mercy shown to the most oppressed and diseased, hungry and deprived humans that US Christians minister to.
Biblical history shows us that we have a very patient GOD whom gives much warning and many many chances for repentance and restoration to
Himself. But biblical history also shows that when God decides enough is enough, the righteous experience His wrath also. Just as God's riches and blessings fall on the ungodly daily.
Again, I hope you are right, and that Christians will be left to rebuild our nation.
I think about the time of Jeremiah, where God raised evil Kings to bring judgment on His people. I don't pretend to know the mind of God, but I can sure draw some parallels to our experiences here and around the world.
At any rate, we must not stop pleading for His mercy, and do all that we can to be light and salt to this lost world.
Hi Roger,
So glad to see you are alive and well. I have thought about you often.
Now, concerning, the gun control. Is the recipe you detailed for essentially taking away our ability to defend ourselves, something that is a known agenda, in the detail you described, or is it your prediction of what MIGHT HAPPEN?
Please check out www.obamacrimes.com; this site calls into question the legitamacy of a Barack Hussien Obama Presidency. This is not being reported by the mainstream media.
Another person you may want to listen concerning Barack Obama is Larry Sullivan. Listen to his press conference. Barack Hussein Obama should not be our President.
Hello everyone;
Greeting from a third year medical student. I must admit many of us own Iraqi Dinars, and we take the time to read Sara's post on our down time. I must say Sara, your comments about our new President are................amusing. Keep up the good work and keep us laughing. We especially love the way you mix your hatred of Obama with the word of God. Very funny. Keep up the good work.
Carole; (this reply is theology no Dinar, touching on the US role in prophecy, some);
I have sat at Jesus' feet and listened to Him speak. I know many have theories about how the Lord might or might not work for the US and the endtime (rapture) scenerios. I have waded through their materials at times, trying to figure out the Lord's will.. for background. Then I took it to the Lord Himself in prayer. It is the only way I can get clarity on such questions.. simply ASK.
Of the things I have been shown: Heb 5:11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing you are dull of hearing.
Few seem to wish to really hear what Jesus has to say, or to make the disciplined effort to seek His will directly. It seems to me they are more pleased to aquire a new teaching at the feet of a man than to seek the Lord Himself and see what He wills. You say that there are many who say that "His People" are only the Jews. Yet, of those of us who know the SAME Lord (who is the same yesterday, today and forever) of the Old Testament through His son Jesus Christ, it is said in the OT:
Isa 63:16 Doubtless You are our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: You, O LORD, are our father, our redeemer; Your name is from everlasting.
Isa 63:19 We are Yours: You never bare rule over them; they were not called by Your name.
Who does this speak of.. but Christians? Who is the One who REDEEMS a people to Himself.. our Redeemer? And does this not speak of a Christian nation such as the US? This applies to the USA.. the people who are Christians and a nation UNDER GOD.. though Israel acknowledge us not, and Abraham be ignorant of us.. yet we are called by HIS name (Christians), and are REDEEMED to God by Him (through His blood).
As for the rapture teaching.. I know the apostles did not see the "rapture" as it is taught today. If you look into how the Apostles interpreted those passages, you will see it is NOT the way it is interpreted today. Indeed, the modern interpretation of those words were given in 1830 by a spiritist vision and I do not follow spiritism, even in supposedly "Christian circles:
QUOTE:
Irving’s doctrine of the Secret Rapture appears to have originated from a spiritist vision of Miss Margaret McDonald in March 1830, who spoke in a trance from a so-called vision of the Advent of Christ. This was an hysterical experience translated into rumour, which then became teaching. It has no scriptural foundation. It penetrated the Plymouth Brethren through John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) who introduced it into general prophetic interpretation. We therefore have a mainstream theory of Dispensationalism espoused by millions as Scriptural prophecy, which in fact has no basis other than the hysterical ravings of a young woman in a trance in March 1830, during a period when it was fashionable to have such experiences.
I have read books which trace the "rapture" teaching to this one woman and her utterance and prove beyond doubt that this kind of teaching did not exist before 1830. Personally, I am trying to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ as faithfully related by His apostles, not a spiritist visionary who spoke in a TRANCE and created a new prophetic interpretation. I won't go any further with this, as prophecy and theology are not the point of this blog and there is much which relates to Iraq, the US, Israel and the region which I wish to speak of instead. Google Margaret McDonald's name and Darby and how the vision of this woman made it into mainstream Christian thought.. then look for what the apostles taught and believed, if you care. I certainly hope it won't be among the, "many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing you are dull of hearing" in your case, friend.
You mistake rebuke for hatred. But then, I would bet you are the sort of person who believes that a God of love could never send ANYONE to hell.. not even Hitler. Hell is a place, by the way, that God Himself created, not the devil (who gets thrown into it). No one is tortured in hell.. except by permission of God Himself. Does that make God unloving and hateful in your mind, too? Then I am in good company.
Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Mat 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
One thing you assure me of.. I am very salty.
That much is appreciated.
Alshabibi: citizen started to regain confidence in national currencies
The stability of the exchange rate of the dinar against the dollar
CAIRO - Muhammad Khalifa
Dr. Sinan Alshabibi Governor of the Central Bank exchange rate stability of the Iraqi dinar against the dollar, and that the bank encourages citizens to buy dinar and handling and keeping it
Where currencies began his confidence day by day and became keen on the conduct of the dollar and the dinar rather buy it as it saw Amian revealed dinar return to power, which led to the elimination of inflation, which we suffer from in the past.
He said Alshabibi told the (morning) during his participation in the Arab banking conference in 2008, held in Cairo under the slogan (the role of banks in financing investment projects in Arabic) sponsored by the Arab League, we aspire in the near future to the return of Iraqi dinar to what it was in the seventies and the beginning eighties against the dollar and other foreign currencies and we are endeavouring and serious in this regard, but added that this process is not easy and simple and depends on the supply and demand of Iraqi dinars.
And encourage the private sector in the transfer of capital between countries reported: that opportunities are open to all and free to move money to any country that wants alluding shortage of regulatory issues in this area because we are still suffering from a routine killer in most government departments, explaining that there Many banks have formed a civil relations with a wide Arab and international banks and well and bode well Annci and we were in isolation from the world banking over 30 years but at the same time we are moving very fast pace.
For his part, Associate Director of the Rafidain Bank Mohsen Abdel Hassan told (morning), which participated in the conference representatives from the banking Rafidain Bank came to participate in order to continue the banking interface between Iraq and Arab countries and return to the Arab ranks banking indicating that the participation of Iraqi banks in these conferences Arab and meetings are very positive because it is through the identification of the latest developments at the Arab Banking addition to agreements with various banks participating Conference.
He added that the Rafidain Bank has eight branches in the Arab countries two in Jordan and the other in Lebanon and Syria and Abu Dhabi, Cairo and Yemen, we have an ambitious plan to increase the number of bank branches to reach all the Arab countries, and provides services to these branches Iraqi community in the transfer of funds and other banking transactions addition to pay retirees of Iraqis who live in these countries.
He connected at the level of board chairman of the Union of Arab Banks Adnan Hamad Youssef told (morning): We have established strong relations with Iraqi banks as we work together to invest funds in the reconstruction of Iraq and through our union together, pointing out that we approached the Iraqi bank now to send a number of working in the Iraqi banks for training and rehabilitation in the Union and at the hands of expert professional bankers pointed out that we in the European aspire to attract bankers Iraqis through their support at all levels within and outside Iraq, explaining that the Federation began an ambitious plan establishment of several bank branches belonging Arab tent Union in Iraq After improvement of security. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ar&u=http://www.alsabaah.com/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwww.alsabaah.com%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dmozilla%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:unofficial
Not so fast - check the date on the article that cornishboy just posted. April of this year. A LOT of water has passed under the bridge since then, and it sounded as if it were imminent in April. Didn't happen. I still hold Dinar, but I don't check daily as I used to. It'll happen.
Sara -
One scenario I can see as a possibility that will still fit your predictions about God putting a Democrat in office, but not Hillary or Obama: Obama may yet prove to be ineligible.
But whatever may come, your predictions have reminded me that we really have very little understanding of God's working out of His will. I see once again that it is good for me to seek a deeper relationship, thereby making it possible to be His hands in this world, but not so much His mouth. You are gifted differently, but at this point I don't know what to make of many of the things you have shared on this board concerning future events.
Having said that...
Chris - be careful what you and your medical student friends laugh at. First, what does it matter that you're a medical student? Does that make you intellectually superior? And even if you are, big deal. The humility you seek from Sara is the same humility you should exhibit yourself. And besides, what if it turns out she's right? You will have to answer for yourself. And if she's wrong, your comments and actions are still hypocritical. At that you are no better than she. So much for being superior.
--
My personal conviction about the election is that it was never a question in God's mind. Nor is any of the future. He's still interested in each of us as individuals, the human race as a whole, and is in the business of reconciliation and regeneration. How could any human being, sinful as we are, be successful in this world were it not for His grace and mercy?
Will Obama be a good president? Probably not. I don't expect him to be. I expect we have some significant battles for our freedom ahead of us. But my next door neighbor thinks Obama will be a good president. What's my response? Ridicule him and try to make him feel guilty or stupid? What's the benefit to either him or me in that? Better to be the hands of Jesus in his life. That's how we change the hearts of those who seem willing to worship a man who will ultimately disappoint them. It's all about relationship, grace, and a Godly caring. God's in control. How can I do more than He?
Hi there buddy, well in Iraq, the Dinar have the rate it has as set by daily actions of CBI. Local fluctuations are about the same as any money dealer, money buyer, or seller would see.
Dollar are pretty much accepted, but the Dinar is almost always the day to day currency now.
That is basically the key to the Dinars acceptance, and it has been so long now that they have had the Dinar, that this is in reality a non issue.
When an Iraqi is thinking "Money" he is thinking "Dinar", in the same way as we are thinking "Dollar".
However, for contractors and military in Iraq, we are using Dollars, anything on the base is Dollars.
A funny side note on the use of Dollars, exchange money, ...the jingaling, in the pocket, will in a very small community like that, be hard to get, so on the base, the merchants invented their own cents.
It is round hard paper pogs, with one side saying the denomination,5, 10, 15 or 25 cents, and the other side have photo of something that is related to military. (Imagine that, a 15 cent piece in paper form, fully accepted as money, in a Dollar economy)
The paper pogs will build up pretty quick in a jar, but you can then take the jar on a certain day to the Western Union office, and exchange them back to real Dollars.
Since a pretty long time back, we started to wean the Iraqis off the Dollar, and nowadays we pay any and all transaction that is involving direct business with the Iraqi community, with Dinars. (even the bribes).
When you have one currency that is dominating the economic landscape, like the dollar did in the past, and you have a fledgling new currency, the trust in the new currency is not really there fully, and the less trust there is in the new currency, the more speculation, and off the market dealing you will get, sometimes with inflated numbers, that is mostly to the disadvantage of the new currency.
Nowadays the Dinar is established as much as any other currency, and it's rate is per the exchange rate, and the only fluctuation is the percentage the money dealer can take out of it. Mostly it is about the same, like if you are buying Dinars from a dealer in the US, or if you are buying Iraqi Dinars in Kuwait for example, they will take a small cut, and you will not see anything extraordinary nowadays.
The Dinar is too established, too free floating, too commonly available for common man, that a "Black Market" Dinar trade can take place. (But I am sure there are scammers out there, trying to tell some naive buyer that his ten Dinars will cost him fifty bucks....but hey, you can't save all the starving children in the world, some will die, some Dinar buyer will be scammed)
As for the ISX, Carl, yes, glad you asked, yes I would say that it was a very good move.
I have not had any time to do a bigger spread on my purchases, like I know Steve have. I have a very reasonable portfolio though.
I have good enough spread that I don't have to worry if one or two companies will go sour ( I am pretty sure some of the companies will bomb, but I really just need a couple of them to take off, for the investment to pay out pretty good)
So far when I started to place stocks, the index have risen from 30.000 to about 50.000 now. (Like the Wall Street index)
I have seen a couple of flat spots on the ISX, and a few downtrends also but the general overall trend have been proven to be up.
Also, and this is a pretty good piece of info, for about a month and a half ago, I got an e-mail from Warka, ISX Dep, saying that company XXX had payed off yearly dividends , and 3.1 mill Dinars(about $2500) was hereby deposited into my Dinar account.
So, one day they just told me that I was approx 2.500 bucks richer....I'll take it,... thank you.
I immediately checked my Dinar account, and sure enough, there it was.
The Iraqi economy seems to live in a bubble of it's own, and when the big global credit crunch came a couple of weeks back, the ISX went down slightly for only a couple of weeks, and then reversed.
The Iraqi experience is really testing everyone's patience, and it is a game of patience more than anything else. Anyone that have ants in their pants are not cut out to do the Dinar game. Iraq is spelled...no competence...slow... no decisions...and in an environment like that things are not happening at lightning speed.
The insurgency is over, some Al Qaeda is around, but have such a hard time to exist that they are in the whole picture, even if it is terrible bombings they do, more of an annoyance.
Competence will have to be imported,(at least in the beginning) and as the fighting is done, the imported competence will eventually start rolling the ball.
Once the ball is rolling, speed in most any sector will pick up.
I would recommend ISX, right now, the banking system is the biggest players on that stock market. I would buy in a pretty good spread on the banks, but I would start also to try to select as many companies as possible that are doing construction, or is affiliated with construction in one form or the other. (cement, construction supplier, etc)
Do a good overall pick, with pretty good coverage, and leave it alone for some time, and I am pretty sure that you will be pleasantly surprised in a couple of years...remember Iraq is spelled ..slow.....
All the potential is there, and so far, as I have experienced, I have gained much more by going into the ISX, compared with having Dinars in a safety box.
An economic boom WILL come in Iraq, but again, anyone dealing with Iraqi Dinars, and don't know the way they act and do things over there, will not understand the kind of patience we need to see this trough.
I am pretty sure though that at least the members of this blog know pretty much what we are up against, and can appreciate that this is a very very good chance of a good return on the investment there, but it has to come on the Iraqis terms.
Another issue, that may be very interesting , and another piece of the puzzle, American bases in Iraq.
Some of the older members here may recall the big protests in Germany in the late -60s and -70's, over US bases, the "Yankee Go Home" banner was everywhere and displayed more than often.
In the 2000's when the US really were serious about getting out of there, as there was no strategic call for holding big bases in Germany after the Cold War, same people were now demonstrating for the US to STAY.
The bases was now developed to such an extent that it directly affected 25000 Germans income, and indirectly much more.
"Yankee, Don't go home".
So what did we learn from that, well if the food on the table is at risk, we are accepted.
We have very much bases in Iraq, and even though we will keep some of them, the vast majority of bases, will be returned to Iraq. As a preparation for that, right now applications from Iraqis are being reviewed for work on the bases, eventually in the first round the number of Iraqis employed will be around 3000.
In this moment of time, we are building up exactly the reason Germany is saying "Yankee Don't Go Home", but in Iraq.
This will especially be an important step in Iraq, as there are almost no jobs to be had in this moment of time.
Carole,
Thanks for the thought,....I went into the forest with a friend today and shoot my AK47. Obama is nothing.
Cornish Boy,
Good article, it is a bit cryptic, with the automatic translation though. As far as I can see, this is a person that are writing an article about what he heard CBI President, Shabibi say, in a conference in Cairo.
He claims that he wants to have the Dinar back in the same range as it was before Saddam, and in the same range as the other neighbouring countries.
He have said exactly that, in another statement many years back also.
He hasn't done it so far.
Sara,
Just by the fact that one God exist, it then allowes for the possibility of multiple creations of Gods.
If one God is created, then there is noting that forbids another one to be created.
Whoever created God would be better off to have an army of them, same caliber as the first one.
If God says that there is no one like him, he is lying because that is in itself an impossibility.
The fun part with creating, is that you can set rules for what you can create.
You can create one God, or you can create many Gods.
If you set the rules that there is only one God, well then, there is the limit.
If you set the rules that there are many Gods, well that's the rules then, but now you have excluded one God that are the chief of it all, so that is your new limit.
Angels are pretty fun to create, because no one have set a limit on them, you can create as many as you want of those.
Well said. I too do not know what to make of Sara's predictions when it comes to the President-Elect and of the coming doom of america. Even if the President-Elect were not eligible to be the President (and that court decision is due out on December 1st) than Joe Biden would be president and he would have to appoint a new vice president. Can anyone imagine Joe Biden President?. Nancy Pelosi would be third in line for power to the post of executive branch of government. The republican's would not even fit into the picture without a new election in four years from now.
On the nuclear crisis predicted by Sara, I live on the eastern sea board and herefore my family will probably be among the victims killed. We will see God sooner than expected should Sara be correct on an upcoming nuclear attack on the USA. However, I am inclined to agree with the writer that wrote that God would save some americans to shape this people to come to him in repentence from their sins and for his will. This country has nothing but grace and mercy from God to depend on. I am certain of it because of who God is...in his providence.
God is in History and he will write the history through the people that he planted in america.
Trade Bank of Iraq Selects Misys to Provide Core Banking and to Expand Trade Finance Capabilities
Last update: 5:21 a.m. EST Nov. 10, 2008
LONDON, November 10, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Misys plc (UK:MSY: news, chart, profile) , the global application software and services company, today announces that Trade Bank of Iraq, the government owned commercial bank, has selected an integrated solution from Misys to help expand its business aggressively into universal banking.
The agreement includes an upgrade to the latest version of Misys' core banking system Equation, integrated with the newest version of Trade Innovation (Misys TI Plus 2.0) and its branch automation solution, Equation Branch Automation (EBA). The combined solution will be implemented at the bank's head office in Baghdad and will improve the service delivered by the bank to its customers, as well as allowing further integration with new banking channels, including Internet banking and ATMs.
As part of its drive towards stability, Iraq is focused on developing a strong and internationally functioning economy. Two industries are important in supporting that goal; a strong international trade finance capability and a modern branch network within the country. Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI), the institution charged with facilitating Iraq's international trade and reconstruction programme is taking advantage of Misys' award winning solutions to strengthen its capabilities. TBI currently has 6 branches with the plan to roll out more branches in Baghdad as well as more throughout the country.
TBI has been a Misys customer since 2005 and has grown rapidly both in the number of branches and customers, as well as in the variety of services it offers to those customers. Building on its early success, TBI is gradually introducing modern, innovative products and services to the retail and commercial banking market across Iraq. It has chosen an integrated and robust solution from Misys to continue the development of its online banking offering and to maintain market advantage as the Iraqi branch network continues to spread. The new functionality also improves its trade financing capabilities, which are an important part of improving Iraq's reputation and standing in trade within the global economy. The bank has established relationships with over 134 prime banks covering 63 cities in 39 countries.
Mr. Hussein Al-Uzri, Chairman, Trade Bank of Iraq comments: "Our reputation is built on excellence performance and we continue to exceed performance expectations. Selecting a company with Misys' pedigree and experience is important in helping us achieve our ambitions. Thus, through an open trade and investment regime, an investor-friendly business environment is dawning. This will confirm our position as one of the biggest and most successful trade finance banks in the Middle East."
Roy Froud, Head of Middle East and Africa, Misys Banking, comments, "Trade Bank of Iraq is playing an important role in helping with the economic rehabilitation of Iraq. The strength of the Misys solution and our experience in retail banking and trade finance were important factors in our winning the contract."
Misys has built a vast amount of knowledge and expertise in the trade finance and financial supply chain market, with award-winning solutions from the front office through to the back office. This enables Misys to add real value to customers and continue to be an innovator in the market.
Equation Branch Automation (EBA) is designed to support customer-facing staff within a retail branch banking environment. The EBA system is tightly integrated with the Equation core system, and provides ready-to-run functionality to support cashiers, personal bankers and relationship managers. EBA allows online, real-time transaction processing with immediate access to account and transaction information and verification of availability of funds.
About Misys plc
Misys plc (FTSE: MSY.L), provides integrated, comprehensive solutions that deliver significant results to organisations in the financial services and healthcare industries. We maximise value for our customers by combining our deep knowledge of their business with our commitment to their success.
In banking and treasury & capital markets, Misys is a market leader, with over 1,200 customers, including all of the world's top 50 banks. In healthcare, Misys plc owns a controlling stake in NASDAQ listed Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions, Inc a clear leader in the provision of healthcare technology, serving more than 150,000 physicians, 700 hospitals and nearly 7,000 post-acute and homecare organisations. Misys employs around 6,000 people who serve customers in more than 120 countries.
We aspire to be the world's best application software and services company, delivering results for the most important industries in the world.
Trade Bank of Iraq Selects Misys to Provide Core Banking and to Expand Trade Finance Capabilities
Monday November 10, 5:20 am ET
LONDON, November 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Misys plc (LSE: MSY - News), the global application software and services company, today announces that Trade Bank of Iraq, the government owned commercial bank, has selected an integrated solution from Misys to help expand its business aggressively into universal banking. http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/081110/3780383en_public.html?.v=1
Oil major Royal Dutch Shell Plc said its planned gas venture with Iraq's state oil company will have a monopoly on collecting and marketing gas extracted as a by-product of oil production.
(www.noozz.com)
Sistani to forbid signing pact if violating sovereignty 10/11/2008 15:35:00
Najaf (NINA)- The Prominent religious authority Ali al-Sistani has announced that he will forbid concluding the security agreement with the United States "if it infringes upon national sovereignty," according to head of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Counsel.
(www.ninanews.com)
Iraq-US security pact shouldn''t be misinterpreted - Moussa
Politics 11/10/2008 12:20:00 AM
Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa
CAIRO, Nov 9 (KUNA) -- Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa said Sunday the security agreement between Iraq and the US should not be interpreted as a gateway for attacks against any country in the region.
Moussa made the remarks at a joint news conference with Iraqi minister of state for national security Sharwan Waeli who conveyed a letter from Iraqi prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki to the Arab League chief.
Moussa said the letter was about ongoing negotiations regarding the Iraq-US framework agreement. He said the letter did not include details of the agreement but the general headlines.
"We all should work for the stability in Iraq and neighboring countries," said Moussa.
Moussa commented on the security agreement and said "the security agreement should prevent any movement or an aggression or confrontation with any neighboring country. This is a very important issue because we all seek peace and calm." The Iraqi minister Waeli said his government was keen to inform the Arab League about the security agreement due to the important role of the pan-Arab organization.
The agreement, he asserted, forbids assaults against a neighboring, Arab or friendly country.
There is a clear phrase in the agreement which forbids Iraq to be a launch pad for attacks against neighboring countries, he said. (end) mfm.bs KUNA 100020 Nov 08NNNN
(www.kuna.net.kw)
Kuwaiti Amir''s envoy arrives in Iraq bearing summit invitation
Politics 11/10/2008 3:59:00 PM
(WITH POL-KUWAIT-ENVOY-IRAQ) BAGHDAD, Nov 10 (KUNA) -- His Highness the Amir's Envoy and Advisor at the Amiri Diwan Khalid Yousif Al-Fulaij arrived on Monday in the Iraqi capital to deliver a letter from His Highness the Amir to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
The letter includes an invitation to attend the Arab Economic Summit, set to be held in Kuwait January 19-20, 2009. (end) mb KUNA 101559 Nov 08NNNN
(www.kuna.net.kw)
Take courage if Philip Berg is right Barack Hussein Obama will not be the President of these United States. If Obama cannot produce a valid birth certificate then the court has no choice but to decertify the election. What a historical and momumental event. I can only speculate how the supreme court would resolve such a situation.
I hope you had a chance to peruse www.obamacrimes.com and the press conference given by Larry Sullivan posted on you tube. While I disagree with Philp Berg politically and Larry Sullivan morally are credible in my opinion. Barry and his campaign have until Dec 1, 2008 to produce a legal U.S. birth certificate. This may not be possible; accordng to Philip Berg he has a tape of Obama's Kenyan grandmother stating she witnessed his birth in Kenya.
Of course the mainstream media is not reporting this story. If true, It will destroy Obama and severly damage the credibility of the DNC. Both of which I do not mind at all. In the end Sara you may be right. We do not always know the way God works to fulfill his perfect plan.
Thanks for the thoughtful posts, all. Rob N - thank you for the information on the birth certificate. Steve posted on it, too.. it could change everything. We all wonder why Obama didn't produce his original birth certificate as we all know it exists.. so it should be interesting. I appreciate the posts from Iraq, too, thanks. Cornish_boy, I appreciate your posts, and that one I commented on was a good reminder, (I hadn't seen it before, or if I did, I forgot what it said).. I just thought that it showed what they are working TOWARD.. and soon.. and that that "soon" can mean soon, if not imminent (as David pointed out). :)
Thanks, also, David so very much for your kind words defending my ability to voice my thoughts on the topic of the direction of the country, and my concerns over the vision ("catching up") I was given. Those who laugh, like Chris, are often doing so because they don't even believe there is a God, any more than a spaghetti monster.. so His hand in world politics is dismissed as impossible, even silly. Christians and theists, including the mostly God-believing populace in the US (over 85%, I believe), know better. They have seen His hand in their lives and know He is real.. even if the atheists never can see Him.
Bertrand Russell (Humanist, atheist) said when someone asked him if he got to heaven and God asked him why he did not believe, "Why did you make yourself so hard to find?" Such persons just cannot see, as God apparently is hidden to their sight. That difficulty in seeing God, that blindness, is not apparent in MOST of the population of the United States, and for those who have ears to hear and eyes to see.. such considerations as God's will and hand are imminently important in the political sphere and direction of life. I am confident that people can seek Him and learn His will for their lives, if they are truly open to hearing from Him without "preconditions." Thinking along those lines, Laura - I am sure that the Lord will direct you, as you seek Him, about what to do.. at least you are concerned about being in a possible target zone, and can seek Him until He gives you peace about it. Surely you can trust Him with your life and family.. and to move you (maybe give you Dinar RV money to do so?) in His timing if it is not His will you be there and if it must happen - that is, if He "will not turn" from this direction for the nation:
Psa 7:11 God judges the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
Psa 7:12 If He does not turn, He will whet his sword; He has bent His bow, and made it ready.
Psa 7:13 He has also prepared for Him the instruments of death; He ordains His arrows against the persecutors.
Speaking about God preparing instruments toward the death of the wicked.. "arrows" "a sword" and "His bow".. I was thinking about Obama and somewhere I read that because his resume is so incredibly thin, we do not have the ability to KNOW what he will do in office. Therefore, people PROJECT onto him what they THINK he will do. People from complete opposite sides of the board think he will do what they want him to. And he cannot please everyone. They are all CERTAIN that the minute he gets in, their agenda will be accomplished. He flip-flopped so much, taking up every position at one point in time, that everyone who voted for him thinks he represents them. But he will not be able to flip-flop once in office (if he manages the hurdle of the birth certificate fiasco), so FINALLY the real positions he holds would show. There was even one young woman on youtube who said Obama would pay for her gas and mortgage payments..
I went looking for the quote I was thinking of and I found it, it was Karl Rove who wrote,
QUOTE:
Many Americans were drawn to Mr. Obama because they saw in him what they wanted to see. He became a large vessel into which voters placed their hopes. This can lead to disappointment and regret. What of the woman who, in the closing days of the campaign, rejoiced that Mr. Obama would pay for her gas and take care of her mortgage, tasks that no president can shoulder?
The country voted for change Tuesday. But the precise direction of that change remains unclear. Mr. Obama's victory was personal rather than philosophical. The soaring hopes and vague incantations of "change" that have characterized the last 21 months were the poetry phase; a prosaic phase is about to begin.
This should be an interesting few years. Let every American hope for the success of the new president and the country we all love.
Mr. Rove is a former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush.
I think those who voted for Obama and today staunchly defend him are in for a big shock once he assumes office. He won't be what they project onto him he will be. That includes those who most congratulated him on his win.. Iran, China, the Hamas, Cuba, Venezuela, Russia, etc. Pragmatic concerns will play a part in his finally making policy decisions, not just soaring rhetoric of "hope" and "change" which lulled the masses to sleep, and so far appeased America's enemies. Bin Laden is said to be soon releasing a video in which he will state in his upcoming address to Obama, “We will fight him if he fights against Islam.” Really.. IF? If Bin Laden and his extremists simply do not know where Obama stands on fighting them (terrorism).. how can the American people? Even the terrorists don't really know where he stands.. unbelievable!
====
Bin Laden video alert for Obama
Published: 08 Nov 2008
OSAMA Bin Laden is set to release a video threat to Barack Obama, fanatics have warned.
The al-Qaeda chief’s first message in months could come when Mr Obama names his first Cabinet.
Hate preacher Omar Bakri led the talk in extremist Arabic chatrooms. He said: “It will be fresh, addressing the Cabinet he chooses.”
In a direct threat, Bakri went on: “We will fight him if he fights against Islam.”
To them, fighting terrorism IS fighting Islam - a position I am sure many would protest (those being protected by US forces who are Islamic in Iraq and Afghanistan, for instance.) But don't you find it amazing that the man who is scheduled to be the next Commander-in-Chief has not given his position on fighting the war on terror we are engaged in.. to such an extent that the ENEMY doesn't even know if he will fight them? And, they will signal to him what to do to appease their position soon.. because no one knows whether he will or won't take it into account and accomodate their view.
Hmmm.. as we all know, President Bush signed an executive order allowing us to buy Dinar. Is that order still NECESSARY for US citizens to hold Dinar? Or is it now no longer a concern, since Dinar trades internationally at the nominal value set for it?
My concern was.. if Obama recinds/cancels the order.. will holding Dinar be illegal in the US? Yes, I can see him doing it, if he has the power.. stopping those "rotten capitalists" trying to make a buck on poor, downtrodden Iraq's misfortunes - from a war which was a "mistake" (as he once called it).. it just fits with his socialist viewpoint, don't you think?
Of course, I totally expected he would remove all protection of the unborn and expand human experimentation at the cellular level (stem cell research), adding, no doubt, to the "wicked" column God has which keeps track of such things and filling up the cup of sin for when it must be repaid.. in Judgement.
Sara.
===
Obama to target Bush executive orders in first days
November 9, 2008
by Ed Morrissey
Barack Obama wants to find ways to make his mark quickly in the opening days of his presidency and reverse the legacy of George W. Bush. Obama will focus his efforts on the list of executive orders that shaped White House policy, reversing them quickly. That does not require legislative approval, but it could bring the most contentious issues to the forefront immediately and create more polarization than post-partisanship (via Jazz Shaw):
QUOTE:
Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.
A team of four dozen advisers, working for months in virtual solitude, set out to identify regulatory and policy changes Obama could implement soon after his inauguration. The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, Capitol Hill staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive, said a top transition official who was not permitted to speak on the record about the inner workings of the transition.
In some instances, Obama would be quickly delivering on promises he made during his two-year campaign, while in others he would be embracing Clinton-era policies upended by President Bush during his eight years in office.
==end quote==
One suggestion might even make sense, from a states-rights perspective. Bush signed an EO blocking California from adopting its own emissions requirements for automobiles, apart from the federal CAFE standards. That EO was a sop to the auto industry, but it defied federalism. If Obama rolled back that EO, it would support the federalist principle of state sovereignty and weaken, however slightly, the Commerce Clause attack on it.
The other top two targets will enrage the pro-life lobby. Obama plans to end the federal ban on funding for human embryonic stem-cell research (hEsc) and upend the Mexico City rule that forbids federal foreign aid to be used to promote abortion. He can expect a big controversy on both.
The hEsc order annoys researchers who can’t get money for their projects elsewhere, but that’s because the technology has surpassed hEsc. Scientists have since developed plenipotentiary stem cells from adult tissue, ending the need to destroy embryos at all. If hEsc really held out any promise apart from other technologies, it would not need federal funding at any rate — it would have private donors lining up to invest in it, as other stem-cell research does.
While American voters feel some ambiguity on abortion, they overwhelmingly do not want their tax dollars paying for or facilitating abortions. The Mexico City rule forbade federal funds to be used to facilitate the acquisition of abortions by groups abroad, much as the Hyde Amendment prohibited federal funds to be used in the same manner domestically. If Obama rescinds it, he can expect a great deal of outrage from pro-life groups and a reopening of the debate over the use of tax money to procure abortions anywhere.
These aren’t exactly low-hanging fruit, nor are they the acts of someone who professed to find middle ground between pro-life and pro-choice groups. These are the acts of a pro-abortion absolutist, and they presage the sponsorship of Planned Parenthood’s Freedom of Choice Act. So much for governing from the center.
Roger - Thanks so very much for the insights from Iraq and input on ISX, etc. I am glad they don't want US/coalition forces to leave.
As for your bit on God.. I just watched "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" and here was Ben Stein talking to staunch mechanistic evolutionists of the first string who would admit that DESIGN would be ok.. but only if the designer is not God. They actually said in the interviews that, as far as life ORIGINATING.. life from non-life, that doesn't happen so maybe it was "seeded" onto our planet by alien beings. That is SCIENCE? As Ben Stein said.. isn't that science fiction? To admit design and then say the Designer cannot be God.. isn't that a prejudicial worldview and not SCIENCE?
Basically, concerning how life originated on earth, Stein shows that there are two possible paths which scientific inquiry could lead you to ONE - to mechanistic processes or TWO - to some kind of intelligent Design. He then examines the data of increasing complexity even at the DNA, nanotech and cellular level and shows that this degree of complexity which is inherent in living creatures is highly improbable (impossible, actually) to have arisen mechanistically. He then argues that there is a wall between the two viewpoints which has nothing whatsoever to do with SCIENCE but which has to do with the worldview that a scientist holds. He proves that equally academic scientists hold to either of these viewpoints, so that it becomes obvious that it isn't "science" making the wall of partition between these two, but prejudicial worldview. He proves that worldview and not science is behind the current establishment's mechanistic view which excludes Design arguments.. and that excluding one view because you dislike tangental implications (God) is wrong and not the way true science should be done (so arguing for academic freedom).
Your reasoning allows the origin of life to include design, not just mechanistic processes (which have never been shown to create life in the laboratory). Your admission that God or Gods have possible existence allows the equally valid and scientific viewpoint that DESIGN can be the origin of life on our planet. That is a step away from mechanistic evolutionary views, which do not allow any design, supposedly. But they do allow it could be "aliens" (which is, of course, DESIGN of some kind by DESIGNERS).
When you say, "Whoever created God would be better off to have an army of them, same caliber as the first one." That idea is saying this, "Whoever created God" - and THAT someone "who created God" is another being that created God.. just like the mechanistic evolutionists say aliens created man. Ok, if that is true.. who made the aliens? Or.. in the case of your argument.. what being was it that created God? And what made that? Sooner or later.. you have to go back, and back, and back.. to find who is the Ultimate Designer.. the first being where the buck stops, the first Designer. Who is THAT being (?) - THAT Designer who made the complexity we find at the nanotech, DNA and cellular level and put that level of complexity in life and started it living?
If you can allow that there is an UNCAUSED cause of everything.. an ULTIMATE Designer.. then you can at least understand that those of us who see the Designer argument can move beyond mere design and begin to see that Designer as a sentient, volitional, complex and intelligent being - and then we could say that there is no one like that First Designer. So when you say, "If God says that there is no one like him, he is lying because that is in itself an impossibility." I ask you to rethink that.. and tell me who is back of all this Design we see around us.. and if mechanistic evolutionists admit that it cannot happen (life) just by mechanistic processes (they tried in the lab with chemicals and electricity, it doesn't work), then whoever did the DESIGN of life, where did that design come from (aliens?).. and then go back.. (who made the aliens?) and back (and who made that?) and back (and who made that?) until we get what made everything. The buck stops somewhere.. I am asking you.. WHERE? And is it wrong to say that at that final stop.. that there is none like Him - none like the first Designer?
What you say is an IMPOSSIBILITY.. must exist for what we see to exist. There is design in the DNA makeup of cells.. there is incredible "machinery" at the cellular and nanotech level. If mechanistic processes cannot produce the change necessary for life even to occur (and it cannot) then how can it make such incredible cellular design? If design is seen and it is admitted it cannot happen by present processes.. where did it come from? Is it less scientific to say God? No, because you cannot prove it wasn't God or Gods. It isn't SCIENCE for evolutionists to say that the unknown from which life arises is a mechanistic process. It is a belief, not based on any testable evidence in any laboratory. Any more than you can prove a belief in God as the origin of life is science.. BOTH are merely worldviews, not science. And both are then equally scientific, since neither of them can be disproven by science or proven by it. It is beyond our technology to say that life originated by God or mechanistic processes.. NEITHER can be proven in a lab.. or DISPROVEN, either. So to exclude one (because you don't like the idea of a Designer or God) is simply prejudicial and wrong.
You speak of creating God or Gods.. mankind can dream up all kinds of imaginings about an ultimate Designer they call God, but mankind is so feeble that humans cannot even stop themselves from dying, whereas this uncaused cause we speak of appears to be immortal and must exist outside of time itself. The reason I say that is.. where did TIME come from? Again.. what caused time to exist? What is the CAUSE of time? Time is something which can be changed, accelerated or slowed, it is a dimension and we are pretty sure (scientifically) you can get outside of it, or become not subject to its constraints (see Einstein and Godel's work- Godel said that in reality time does not exist, which would be true from the viewpoint of another dimension outside of time). Surely if something caused time.. it must be outside of time - immortal. No? So where does that Cause exist? Where is the immortal realm? How did it create time? And was it done mechanistically (undirected) or by design? Again, the chance of things "just happening" with incredible intricacy and DESIGN within them.. becomes more and more tenuous as a hypothesis the further we move along. Can you argue that time had a purely mechanistic cause, but life is improbable to have arisen by mechanistic means alone? By what proven experimental method?
If time was a mechanistic process.. what process caused the beginning of time? And where did IT come from? See? If all things have a cause.. where is the first cause of all things.. of space, time, life.. etc, etc. The question of whether there is one or many Gods is secondary.. we must establish first there is a God.. or Designer.. something which began the origin of life and has intelligence in the Design of all we see.. space, time, the cosmos. When they say the Big Bang began everything.. where did that "speck" come from? Why did it go "bang"? Where did it originate? Why was it unstable? If it has happened many times before.. what about the FIRST time? Where did the first one come from? Origins.. where things must come from.. cannot be a loop with no answer at the end. It ends at a first cause of all.. and that, we call Design.. and very often, people call it God. However you define it, that is God.. the first uncaused Cause of everything.
The "rules" set on that Designer are only there by reasoning things about what that uncaused cause must be.. like that Designer must be immortal because the Design must have occurred (with design) outside of time to have created the space-time continuum. It must be infinite because what we see has an end, but something must go on forever. For instance, if you say.. what is beyond what we can see with a telescope? Then you say.. what is beyond that? And beyond that? Until you MUST come to something which is the final beyond.. an infinite Designer. Is it not arbitrary rules.. it is human logic and reasoning, which has brought about our ideas of what God must be. What He is is not truly known.. because He is beyond our understanding. He is not as we are, and His thoughts and ways are necessarily of a higher order thinking process than we can attain to. People like to put God in a box, but He is far beyond anything we can imagine or understand. It is amazing we see anything of Him at all. As David said today in his post, "we really have very little understanding of God's working out of His will" - I agree. We see in a glass darkly, yet we do still see some small part of God and what He is by what evidence we have of Him around us (and His moving in our lives when we allow Him to). A Designer of such infinite intelligence, existing as He must.. must necessarily be beyond time and above all known dimensions of space.. it is mindboggling what He must be to satisfy the question of being the undesigned Designer of all we see.
The next step is.. if God is real, not an imagined hypothesis, you would expect if He exists that He would communicate to mankind, which is volitional and innately has been given a very strong desire to KNOW. That this is self-evident to many is obvious in the bringing about of religions.. people seeking and reaching out to God. Some are dead ends.. but surely in all the almost universal trying (except for the atheists), someone somewhere must have heard from the real God (if He exists)? (Parting the Red Sea, anyone?) Surely somewhere in history would be recorded acts we could point to as proof of a greater being (raising the dead, making blind to see, for instance?). Hence, reality supports the hypothesis, for those not prejudiced against the evidence by a previous assumption that such things cannot be because all must arise mechanistically without any Designed intention or Designer.
You said, "Angels are pretty fun to create, because no one have set a limit on them, you can create as many as you want of those." I challenge you to make one of them.. you know you cannot, and I am not sure you really believe such beings exist. They are of a higher order than we are, existing in more dimensions.. how can you, a being in this dimension, create a being higher than yourself which can be present in other dimensions we don't even have complete understanding of as to how it exists? So someone HIGHER than angels made them.. no? So God is above the angelic realm, having created it, and must be in a realm which we cannot choose to come to (existing as we do in a lower dimension). If we can only intermittently see angels.. how can we see God who is so much higher than even their dimensions of being? It isn't that God is HIDING.. it is that He cannot be contained in our very, very, very tiny and visible three dimensional world. He must be ABOVE all dimensions to have created them.. no? And even for those of us who believe God chose to incarnate Himself on earth in the person of Jesus, we admit that God remained in every realm above, all the while being in the physical shell of that man, Christ Jesus. Jesus Himself said He was both on earth and in heaven when He said:
Joh 3:12 If I have told you earthly things, and you do not believe, how shall you believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
Joh 3:13 And no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
That Jesus was referring to Himself when He spoke of the Son of man who IS (present tense as He spoke here on earth) in heaven is proven by:
Mat 16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
So in the first passage, He was saying that He (the Son of Man) IS in heaven.. when He said that He came down FROM HEAVEN and IS in heaven, quote, "the Son of man which is in heaven."
So even while He was speaking to them on earth.. He was in heaven.. which MUST BE for a being who is multidimensional, even if He chose to incarnate Himself into a physical body in the person of the Son of Man. (He was very proud of that title and used it a lot in the Scriptures as it proved He had come among us, which I am sure was quite a feat, taken from the ultimate upper dimensional point of view.) Again, as He said here.. it is not easy to understand because it is a "heavenly" thing and they had trouble with the earthly ones He told them (verse 12, above, If I have told you earthly things, and you do not believe, how shall you believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?)
Steve and Rob N - You brought up the birth certificate thing with Obama. Presuming it is proven that Obama is not natural born as a citizen.. could it be argued that this disenfranchised all the voters for Obama OR McCain and that another election must be staged with truly natural born citizens? Why must it be that Biden is then President, when Obama was disqualified to run? Wouldn't the entire election results be invalid? Why are the Democrats then allowed to retain power when they received it wrongfully? Even if the truth comes out AFTER the inauguration, that makes a Constitutional crisis, but it does not change the fact that Obama (and the Democrats) were wrongfully awarded power in the election and that if that information had been known he would not have had the votes he did, so a revote must take place.. no???
OSAMA bin Laden is planning an attack against the United States that will "outdo by far" September 11, an Arab newspaper in London has reported.
And according to a former senior Yemeni al-Qaeda operative, the terrorist organisation has entered a "positive phase", reinforcing specific training camps around the world that will lead the next "wave of action" against the West.
According to the report, bin Laden is himself closely following preparations for an attack against the US and aims to "change the face of world politics and economics". The source also said that during the next few days the terrorist organisation may send a sign of its violent intentions.
The warning has emerged at the same time as publication of a report leaked to The Telegraph newspaper which reveals that a document drawn up by the intelligence branch of the Ministry of Defence says that thousands of extremists are active in the UK.
The document says the operatives are predominantly UK-born and aged between 18 and 30. Many are believed to have been trained in overseas terrorist camps.
Security officials are convinced al-Qaeda cells will attempt another "spectacular" inside the UK with major transport centres, such as airports and train stations, the most likely targets. Other targets include the Houses of Parliament, Whitehall and Buckingham and St James' palaces, with the threat level described as "severe".
I don't believe AQ has the ability to carry out the attack on US soil I saw. That won't be for a while.. after President Bush leaves office, likely during the time when Iran is scheduled to develop nuclear weapons (the next few years). I continue to believe, say and consistently predict that the US is safe under President Bush and will not have a repeat of 911 under President Bush's Administration.
===
AQ wants to outdo 9/11 in new attack on US
November 10, 2008
by Ed Morrissey
An Arab newspaper in London has reported that al-Qaeda intends on launching an attack on the US that would “outdo by far” the 9/11 attacks. Al-Quds al-Arabi also reported that their Yemeni contact within AQ, a “former senior operative”, says the terrorist network has already begun consolidating its networks in preparation for the attack.
The Australian newspaper The Age accepts this at face value, despite the hardships AQ has faced over the last few years. They have had difficulty recruiting ever since the collapse of their effort in Iraq, and the financing for their network has become far more problematic since 9/11. The claim to control significant territory in Somalia sounds like a gross exaggeration, but even if they did, Somalia hardly gives them funding or strategic positioning. Most damning is the lack of any real action from AQ over the last two years as they watched their organization get destroyed in Iraq.
That doesn’t make them dead, though, and they may still have enough resources to at least attempt a major action against the US. It only took 19 men to make the 9/11 attacks succeed, after all. We’re now much more vigilant about security and counterterrorism than we were before the attacks, but they’ve also had time to adapt.
What targets would “change the face of world politics and economics”? That sounds like a renewed focus on either New York City or Washington DC, or perhaps both. They could be looking at Wall Street, the UN, or perhaps a strike at Capitol Hill.
Still, this sounds more like empty bravado than an imminent threat. Osama wants to make himself relevant after hitching his wagon to the war in Iraq and losing badly. Talking up his plans for world domination may win him a few more recruits, but he’s too busy hiding from Predators to do much else.
You decide which is real and which is an illusion.
If you and I talk about angels, we have an agreement that they exist, that is very real for you and I, so we have both created angels as a reality.
An atheist don't want to create a reality of either a God, or Gods or Angles.
If you create a God, or Gods, or angles, and that is real to you, the atheist will say that it is an illusion.
Still the atheist DID create God, Gods, or angels, but he says that this creation is not real.
An agnostic can create a God, Gods or angles, and look at it, and say that it may be possible to create them.(Even if he just created them, and are looking at it, while he is discussing it)
An individual can even create an endless chain of creators, (the...-"who created God", chain), that's a very clever set up, but the individual still created it, even if he denies it.
Deny your creation, you then have to assign that creation to some one else.
Anytime an individual denies his own creation, he is lying.
If you create God, then deny your creation, you lie.
If you create God, and you create him in such a way that he has the ultimate power, then you deny your own creation, you then make what you just have created...God, responsible for your creation.
You have just now created something that ....creates you, and the whole universe.
That is how we get suicide bombers, bible thumpers, and "religious" wars.
No one really mind of an individual creates God, Gods or angels, because what takes place in an individuals own universe is untouchable.
An individual can create anything.
The problem is always when an individuals reality bubble has to mesh with another individuals reality bubble.
When two reality bubbles don't mesh, they don't agree, the opposing reality bubble have a tendency to be viewed as non survival, and is repelled.
If two or more individuals agree that what they now have created ...God, instead, have created them, you will have an agreement, and good affinity with that individual, as both have common reality. A couple of more of those individuals, and we can even start a church, mosque or synagogue.
Very soon we have preachers that feel they have an obligation to teach all others about how to view God, how he is created, and what he do.
The preacher tells a kid, that have no problem at all creating anything, a God, Gods, or angles, and the preacher tells the kid that this creation is not his, it is made by God.
The kid looks at the God, Gods or angels he has just created, and agree with the preacher,(just got a cookie from him) the kid makes the decision that this creation is made by God.
And the kid have just lied for the first time in his life.
For those of you living in the blue states that overwhelmingly voted for Barack Hussein Obama; I am asking you to contact your state representitives and have them provide you a list of electors. Once you obtain that list please write them to ask them not to cast their electoral votes for Barack Obama.
Sara, that was a great explanation of how you believe that creation began, but I am approaching that time when I have to meet my maker so I am trying a get some kind of understanding of how things really operate.
For many years I believed whatever was taught me in church about God and his miracles but as I began to delve deeper into how things work I began to question some of the things I was hearing and noone seemed interested in explaining them.
I have never seen a miracle, I have seen some thing that are hard to explain such as a man who was given 3 days to live and he made a miracleous recovery or someone in an auto accident and should have been killed, but survived.
If someone could give me one example of an individual who had an arm cut off and a new one grew and replaced it, then I would take that miracle and become a missonary and try to save the world.
I do believe in God and that he created the universe but I believe that he put this operation in motion and then backed off and let intelligent and free spirited individuals live their life as they saw fit and when it was all over, he would judge then and compensate them for the way they had performed.
Obama is our man, he may not have been our man of choice but he is now our leader and we must support him so long as he deserves our support. I do not envy him this monumental task of trying to get some kind of order out of this present chaos.
I must disagree with you about Obama being our man. He is not nor will he ever be my man. I have often said to family and friends that I would never shake the hand of Bill Clinton add Obama to that list.
I hope those people that reside in the blue states will contact their electors and asked them to cast a different vote than for Barry. In my opinion, those that voted for Barack Hussein Obama are stupid.
China and Iraq signed Monday an oil deal that would allow China National Petroleum Corporation ( CNPC) to help develop al-Ahdab oil field in eastern Iraq's Wasit province.
Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani signed the 2.9 billion U.S. dollars deal with CNPC President Jiang Jiemin in a ceremony held in his ministry.
"This is an important participation from the Chinese side to develop the Iraqi oil fields, and we are looking forward for more participation in rebuilding Iraq," Shahristani said at the signing ceremony.
He added that the deal "would produce a total of more than 110, 000 barrels per day (bpd), which would mainly be allocated to the Zubaidiyah power plant in the province and the surplus would go for export."
Zhi Yulin, board chairman of the Alwaha Co. which is affiliated with CNPC, told Xinhua that he hoped the project would boost Iraqi oil output, help facilitate post-war reconstruction, create job opportunities and contribute to the social stability.
While underlining security was the biggest challenge the company would face, Zhi promised to do their best to guarantee the staff's safety.
The state-owned CNPC had signed an agreement with Iraq's Saddam Hussein government in 1996, which was postponed by the UN sanctions on Iraq and the following U.S.-led invasion to the oil- rich state.
(www.iraqupdates.com)
Site work starts for building the "City of the Future" in Baghdad
The authorities in Baghdad have launched billions of dollars worth of housing projects in the capital to build hundreds of thousands of new residential units for citizens as the city starts to rebuild after years of war.
(www.noozz.com)
Iraq government approves $67b budget for 2009
Agencies
Published: November 11, 2008, 16:15
Baghdad: The Iraqi government on Tuesday approved a $67 billion budget for 2009 after revising its spending plans downward as a result of falling oil prices.
Government spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh said the budget would be sent to parliament for ratification.
The government had announced last month it was cutting its spending plans from a forecast $80 billion to $67 billion in light of falling oil prices.
Iraq earns nearly all of its government revenue from oil exports, which have averaged between 1.6 and 2 million barrels per day over the course of this year.
(www.gulfnews.com)
Simple majority needed to pass security agreement -- Iraqi court
Politics 11/11/2008 9:59:00 AM
BAGHDAD, Nov 11 (KUNA) -- The Iraqi Constitutional Court said a "simple parliament majority" only is needed to pass the Iraqi-US security agreement, a paper said Tuesday.
Al-Sabah state paper quoted a member of the Iraqi United Coalition as saying that the court decided that the agreement with the US will be passed even if just half of the members plus one approve it.
The court did not think it was necessary to issue a special law for voting on the agreement, the paper added.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi prime minister's media advisor Yasin Majeed announced that the Iraqi government responded to the US proposal of changes on the agreement, which was requested by the Iraqi side, on Monday.
He refused to reveal whether the Iraqi government approved or declined the US re-drafted proposal.
Meanwhile in Najaf, Shiite leader Sayed Ali Al-Sistani stressed that decision on the security agreement lies with state officials, but any such pact should not challenge the national sovereignty or the interests of Iraqi people in any way.(end) ahh.ris KUNA 110959 Nov 08NNNN
(www.kuna.net.kw)
BAGHDAD, Nov 11 (KUNA) -- The Iraqi authorities opened here on Tuesday the Imams bridge in northern Iraq after three years of its closure, which is a clear indication of decrease in sectarian violence, as the structure links Al-Athameyah Sunni and Al-kathemiya Shiite areas.
A special ceremony was held in Baghdad, attended by government officials, Iraqi security leaders, clergymen, and tribe leaders.
The bridge was closed in August 2005, after the death of around 1,000 citizens in a stampede during their march to the shrine of Imam Musa Kathem in a religious rite.
The re-opening of the bridge is an important indication of security improvement, as Al-Athameyah and Al-Kathemiya are considered strongholds for the Sunni and Shiite communities in Iraq. The two areas are only separated by the bridge overlooking the Tigris River.
Lt. Gen. Aboud Kanbar said, in a the speech he gave at the ceremony, that this bridge could be considered a bridge of brotherhood.
He added that the re-opening of the bridge is a message to the world that Iraq has achieved remarkable success, saying that they defeated terrorism, underestimating the operations of a number of terrorist groups and saying they will be "terminated".(end) ahh.lb KUNA 111138 Nov 08NNNN
(www.kuna.net.kw_
Sara, Concerning your comments about what would or should happen if it is found that Obama is not a natural born citizen. The constitution is specific on that matter; the position would automatically go to the vp. I don't know what the chapter or verse is but the constitution is specific on that issue. I don't like it but that's it.
Also, I was told that G-d ordains leaders by an Obama supporter. I believe this. However, ordained for what purpose? G-d instructed Isiah to ordain the king of Syria for the specific purpose of destroying the army of the northern 10 tribes and to kill it's king because that nation had strayed so far from G-d and His commands. (1Kings)
Central bank adviser said the appearance of Mohammed Saleh, said that the UN Security Council resolution on the provision of guarantees for deposits of Iraq will end this year after it was extended last year to one year.
He told a news briefing in favor of the deployment to Iraq today, Tuesday, a small country for the international community and the international market and the global system, calling on the international community to provide protection for deposits to the country.
Saleh expressed the hope that the help of a security treaty with the United States on the continued support of external stability of the national economy and provide the minimum acceptable to Iraq in moves to create an environment for integration into the global market.
Saleh said the world oil market would not affect the country for years to come, stressing that the country will work to find alternatives to the energy out of the economy-taking to the diversified economy, adding that he was optimistic despite the market fluctuations of oil prices.
Trade Bank of Iraq Selects Misys to Provide Core Banking and to Expand Trade Finance Capabilities
11 November 2008 ( AME Info FZ LLC )
Misys plc , the global application software and services company, today announces that Trade Bank of Iraq, the government owned commercial bank, has selected an integrated solution from Misys to help expand its business aggressively into universal banking.
The agreement includes an upgrade to the latest version of Misys' core banking system Equation, integrated with the newest version of Trade Innovation (Misys TI Plus 2.0) and its branch automation solution, Equation Branch Automation (EBA). The combined solution will be implemented at the bank's head office in Baghdad and will improve the service delivered by the bank to its customers, as well as allowing further integration with new banking channels, including Internet banking and ATMs.
As part of its drive towards stability, Iraq is focused on developing a strong and internationally functioning economy. Two industries are important in supporting that goal; a strong international trade finance capability and a modern branch network within the country. Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI), the institution charged with facilitating Iraq's international trade and reconstruction programme is taking advantage of Misys' award winning solutions to strengthen its capabilities. TBI currently has 6 branches with the plan to roll out more branches in Baghdad as well as more throughout the country.
TBI has been a Misys customer since 2005 and has grown rapidly both in the number of branches and customers, as well as in the variety of services it offers to those customers. Building on its early success, TBI is gradually introducing modern, innovative products and services to the retail and commercial banking market across Iraq. It has chosen an integrated and robust solution from Misys to continue the development of its online banking offering and to maintain market advantage as the Iraqi branch network continues to spread. The new functionality also improves its trade financing capabilities, which are an important part of improving Iraq's reputation and standing in trade within the global economy. The bank has established relationships with over 134 prime banks covering 63 cities in 39 countries.
Mr. Hussein Al-Uzri, Chairman, Trade Bank of Iraq, comments: 'Our reputation is built on excellence performance and we continue to exceed performance expectations. Selecting a company with Misys' pedigree and experience is important in helping us achieve our ambitions. Thus, through an open trade and investment regime, an investor-friendly business environment is dawning. This will confirm our position as one of the biggest and most successful trade finance banks in the Middle East.'
Roy Froud, Head of Middle East and Africa, Misys Banking, comments: 'Trade Bank of Iraq is playing an important role in helping with the economic rehabilitation of Iraq. The strength of the Misys solution and our experience in retail banking and trade finance were important factors in our winning the contract.'
Misys has built a vast amount of knowledge and expertise in the trade finance and financial supply chain market, with award-winning solutions from the front office through to the back office. This enables Misys to add real value to customers and continue to be an innovator in the market.
Equation Branch Automation (EBA) is designed to support customer-facing staff within a retail branch banking environment. The EBA system is tightly integrated with the Equation core system, and provides ready-to-run functionality to support cashiers, personal bankers and relationship managers. EBA allows online, real-time transaction processing with immediate access to account and transaction information and verification of availability of funds.http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/39672
This is taken from a rather long article re the economy in general - so I have just posted the stuff re the dinar.
Weak banking performance and three main points behind
Financial expert identified three main points behind the action does not suit the Iraqi banking sector with the tasks entrusted to it to activate economic activity, the inherited problems of security and instability, weak banking culture, and the absence of clear economic policy of the State.
The financial expert, Dr. Majid Image achieved that despite some security and stability during the past few to a large degree, but could not yet provide the appropriate atmosphere for all economic actors and banking in addition to the full greatly affect the level of inflation to its negative impact on cost, especially With a weakness in the delivery of basic services such as electricity, communications, transportation, and in many cases, fuel and others. According to Voices of Iraq.
In the view of the picture that other causes of vulnerability of the banking performance comes from within the Iraqi personal with weak banking culture, a weak banking management of many banks that the risks related to the operational and market risks, liquidity and credit risk.
And financial expert, therefore, cast the blame on the Iraqi state that suffers from the absence of clear economic policy, integrated and lack of clarity in economic policy towards the public and private sectors, let alone encouraged by the State Import and focus on non-productive sectors necessary to move the economy in Iraq working on the efficiency of banks.
He highlighted the work of Image Central Bank and his responsibility to supervise banks that it, as the central monetary policy by strengthening confidence in Iraqi dinars and to raise the value of the dollar, which considered an important basis for strengthening the work of banks and investment promotion, reduction of inflation.
He noted the Central Bank to assume the task of losses to support the work of banks and not subject to the collapse of the banking system by raising the interest rate monetary policy because of weak economic activity, at the same time to attract the largest number of community groups to deposit with the banks and absorb part of the inflation in prices.
Attempting to eliminate zeros from the dinar currency strategy to improve
Iraqi Central Bank said that the cancellation of three zeros from the Iraqi dinar is a long-term strategy to improve the bank's currency management system.
A statement issued by the National Center for media source in the bank as saying: cancel the zeroes of the value of currencies is a case in most central banks in countries that experienced long periods of hyperinflation and mass have generated substantial monetary conditions require better economic management in a favorable and stable conditions. According to Voices of Iraq.
On the face of criticism that monetary policy in Iraq, raising the value of the dinar against the U.S. dollar, authorized source said: Antvq with the view of some in raising the value of the dinar against the dollar that Iraq has a surplus in the balance of payments.
The modern monetary theory that the view of improving terms of trade cause, calling for combat and monetary imbalances inherited the Iraqi economy through the adoption of proven names to address the inflationary expectations to achieve economic stability and on that basis, the Iraqi dinar's value will rise.
He added: If we imagine to the contrary, there was a disaster in the Iraqi economy caused by exchange rate Anhfadh leading to new highs in prices and this intersects with the economic policy of Iraq at the present time, which aims to achieve prosperity and economic stability.
The two economists disclosure in August last Aug. that the process of removing zeros from the Iraqi dinar does not have a major impact on economic transactions in Iraq, an economic researcher with the view that such a measure if it is already, it will not be fundamentally changing the mechanism of monetary or financial The country.
The statement continued: Apart from the above, the exchange rate policy caused by external variables facing higher food prices and other goods globally, which will lead to imported inflation can not be addressed only by improving the value of Iraqi dinar and the foundations according to the terms of trade which is still working for the benefit of the national economy.
On the possibility of improving the value of domestic currency, and expectations that the exchange rate soon by a Iraqi dinars per hundred dollars, the source said that authorized the Iraqi dinar exchange rate and improve the value of conditional factors, the first being in the international foreign Tuaralaaniattiyat the Central Bank of Iraq, and the second is the level of inflation, He explained that enhance the value of Iraqi dinar to the level or goal in question had gone as we reach the level or better, but that is subject to workers above. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&langpair=ar%7Cen&u=http://www.hewarat.dk/hewarat_data.php%3Fsid%3D13255&prev=/language_tools
مدد Deposit Center in the financial market data begin to introduce new investors
2008-11-11 09:41:25 2008-11-11 09:41:25
اطبع الموضوع Print issue
ق. Iraq began filing center in the Iraqi market for securities investors to incorporate new data received from brokerage firms to organize the investment process in the market.
. The Executive Director of the market, Taha Ahmed Abdul Salam told the independent press (Entcha) today, Tuesday, was the completion of the introduction of data received from investors to brokerage firms Equator electronic filing system, a system for rapid integration of data in the capital market, in order to organize the investment process in the market.
ديد . He has completed market shareholders receipt of a record five companies for the purpose of testing charged to the filing system for receiving data and other companies for the purpose of testing the process of loading after adjusting existing data in accordance with the requirements of the new filing system. مشل. He continued to hold meetings with the companies contributing to other programmers for the purpose of creating data to be those companies are ready to download.
في البورصة . He said Abdul Salam to the approval of the stock market after the Gulf to secure their commitment to implementing all the requirements of listing on the bourse. منن ري. , Adding that bringing the number of companies listed 96 companies as of November this month.
اية)/20/ The market had recently completed the implementation of the testing program leave Mjuli brokerage firms. (End) / 20 /
مدد Deposit Center in the financial market data begin to introduce new investors
2008-11-11 09:41:25 2008-11-11 09:41:25
اطبع الموضوع Print issue
ق. Iraq began filing center in the Iraqi market for securities investors to incorporate new data received from brokerage firms to organize the investment process in the market.
. The Executive Director of the market, Taha Ahmed Abdul Salam told the independent press (Entcha) today, Tuesday, was the completion of the introduction of data received from investors to brokerage firms Equator electronic filing system, a system for rapid integration of data in the capital market, in order to organize the investment process in the market.
ديد . He has completed market shareholders receipt of a record five companies for the purpose of testing charged to the filing system for receiving data and other companies for the purpose of testing the process of loading after adjusting existing data in accordance with the requirements of the new filing system. مشل. He continued to hold meetings with the companies contributing to other programmers for the purpose of creating data to be those companies are ready to download.
في البورصة . He said Abdul Salam to the approval of the stock market after the Gulf to secure their commitment to implementing all the requirements of listing on the bourse. منن ري. , Adding that bringing the number of companies listed 96 companies as of November this month.
اية)/20/ The market had recently completed the implementation of the testing program leave Mjuli brokerage firms. (End) / 20 /
, foreign investment
[BBC MONITORING INTERNATIONAL REPORTS]
Published Date: November 10, 2008
["Iraq's Markets" programme, moderated by Hamdan al-Jarjawi, discusses foreign investment in Iraq and Iraq's Stock Market - recorded]
Dubai Al-Arabiya Television in Arabic at 1610 gmt on 6 November carries a new episode of its weekly "Iraq's Markets" programme presented by Hamdan al-Jarjawi. Today's episode discusses foreign investments in Iraq, and Iraq's stock market.
Al-Jarjawi says that the Iraqi Stock Market index has been witnessing improvement since the beginning of this month compared to last month's sharp drop. He adds: "The index is expected to exceed the 50-point barrier in future trading driven by the banking sector," noting that more than 90 per cent of the trading volume this month was in the banking sector.
The programme then airs a three-minute report about Iraq's stock market. The reporter says that the general index of the Iraqi Stock Market dropped from 57 to 47 during last month. He notes that observers blame the drop on the decline in foreign investment in Iraq's stock market, and on the fact that capital has been withdrawn to be reinvested in bank stocks. An Iraqi figure says that the drop in the index is affected by the principle of supply and demand, and that trading volume in Iraq's stock market is limited. The reporter reviews the performance of the banking and hotel sectors in the stock market. He adds that the industrial sector has improved in light of anticipated foreign investments. He says that analysts expect the index's performance to improve this month in light of the improvement in the stock prices in the hotel, banking, tourism, and industry sectors.
Sa'd Tabrah, chairman of the board of the Iraqi Islamic Bank in Baghdad, joins the programme in the studio. Al-Jarjawi notes that the stock market index increased during the month of Ramadan but that it dropped in October. Asked about the reason for this drop, Tabrah says that "the main reason is the financial crisis in the United States." He explains that the crisis caused confusion which resulted in the sudden drop in stock prices.
With regard to foreign investment in Iraq's Stock Exchange, Al-Jarjawi says that investment was three per cent in September but dropped to around one per cent in October. Asked why Arabs and foreigners are reluctant to invest in Iraqi stocks despite their low prices, Tabrah says that Iraq's Central Bank pursues a very rigid monetary policy driven by paying high interest rates on "overnight deposits." He explains that the policy of "overnight deposits" attracted most banks, and discouraged them from financing small and medium businesses as well as investments. He stresses that granting high interest rates, more than 20 per cent, neither encourages investment nor development.
Al-Jarjawi notes the improvement in bank stocks in November. Tabrah says that the banking sector has improved because it has become clear that Bush's era is coming to an end, and because everyone is looking forward to a better future led by Barack Obama. Hence, he expresses hope that the new era will reflect positively on Iraq's economy.
----
Al-Jarjawi begins by saying: "During the US-Iraqi Dialogue Conference on Investment, Deputy US Secretary of the Treasury Robert Kimmitt said that a delay in approving the agreement with the United States could make investors hesitant to invest in Iraq even though security has improved there." He asks: "Will the Americans use the carrot and stick policy or the stick and stick policy in dealing with the Iraqi Government?"
The programme then airs a three-minute report by Aminah al-Dhahabi who notes Iraq's constant efforts to improve the investment climate in the country with US support, and says efforts continue on the official level to ensure the signing of an economic agreement with the United States within the framework of the long-term agreement to support investment and develop Iraq's economy. She refers to US Ambassador Ryan Crocker's remarks that he does not believe Iraq can improve its economy without the world's help. She also refers to Kimmitt's remarks that a delay in approving the security agreement with the United States could make investors reluctant to invest in Iraq. Al-Dhahabi says that according to the government, Iraq needs more than $400 billion in investments. She adds that only $15 billion have been earmarked by the government while according to the investment department there are investment proposals amounting to $75 billion. Video footage is aired of Deputy Izz-al-Din al-Dulah saying that Chapter 7 [of the UN Charter] will be activated if the agreement is not signed, and that Iraq's funds will lose immunity. He stresses: "This is what we have heard in the media. As for the details of what is taking place with regard to the economy in the agreement, we do not have any information for the simple reason that the agreement has so far not been presented to us." Al-Dhahabi notes that during the investment conference held in Baghdad at the beginning of the week, the Iraqi finance minister called for partnerships between Iraqi banks and the United States and neighbouring countries in order to provide better chances for loans. Video footage is aired of Deputy Abbas al-Bayyati saying that if establishing partnerships helps development then it is acceptable. Al-Dhahabi notes that as a result of the recent drop in oil prices Iraq will have to reduce its budget for 2009. Concluding, she says that the United States has promised Iraq a strong economy and investments by US companies in return for Iraq signing a bilateral understanding agreement.
Al-Jarjawi says: "The opinions of the members of the legislative authority in Iraq vary regarding the significance of signing an economic agreement with the United States and regarding the impact of postponing it or not signing it." Video footage is aired of Deputy Zaynab Karim saying that the agreement is very oppressive to Iraq with regard to the exploitation of its resources "to serve the interests of the occupying country, not the interests of the Iraqi people." Meanwhile, Deputy Ahmad Anwar says that based on the agreement, the United States promises full economic cooperation, and Deputy Abd-al-Bari Zebari says that US support for investment in Iraq is very important, and stresses the need for rebuilding Iraq.
The programme then airs a five-minute interview with Iraqi Planning Minister Ali Baban conducted by Aminah al-Dhahabi. She asks him about the link between Iraq's need for foreign investments and the US presence in Iraq, and why the United States has used a language of implicit threats. Baban says: "Actually, they did not use a language of implicit threats. However, they noted a special situation; namely, if the agreement with the United States is not signed perhaps US investors will not feel that there are enough guarantees to come to Iraq." He adds that Iraq is concerned about "Iraq's assets in the United States. Our fear is focused on these assets and the possibility of lifting US protection on them, thus making them subject to claims and legal lawsuits that demand us to pay billions of dollars." Baban notes that US investments in Iraq are limited, and once again stresses: "We are very much concerned about the fate of the Iraqi money deposited in US banks, and we are very much interested in technical cooperation, not only with the United States but also with all countries." He expresses fear that the failure to sign the security agreement could result in an unstable security situation. He argues that in such a case not only US companies, but also companies from all countries will refrain from investing and participating in projects in Iraq.
Al-Dhahbi says that foreign investment in Iraq remains low. She asks if this indicates that Iraq's economy is fragile and that it lacks the main components of a market economy. Baban says that there are many opportunities in Iraq "but we have not provided the legal framework and the suitable climate for foreign as well as local investments." He adds that "investment requires a suitable legislative atmosphere, an effective banking system, money market, guarantees, and protection." He stresses that if the security situation continues to improve, investors will not hesitate to come to Iraq. He praises the Investment Law which provides guarantees for investors, but notes Iraq's incomplete economic structure.
Al-Dhahabi says that according to the budget figures, the government is monopolizing the rebuilding process. She asks if this is due to the lack of an active private sector, complicated government procedures, slow implementation, or the lack of qualified people. Baban says: "All that you mentioned is correct." He discusses the problems facing the private sector such as the energy problem, unfair competition, and shortage of qualified people. He adds that the government can help the private sector but that this has not yet been done.
Following a short break, Al-Jarjawi says that the Iraqi Government signed in Amman economic agreements with Arab and foreign investors to rehabilitate, Build-Operate-Transfer, BOT, Iraqi companies and factories. He adds that the Iraqi companies and factories would be re-operated for a specific period of time at the cost of $1 billion. He notes that a senior Iraqi official has described this measure "as a step towards privatization."
The programme then airs a three-minute report by Suha Jamil in Amman. Jamil says that the Iraqi economy remains the strongest card and notes the recent agreement to rehabilitate Iraqi companies by foreign companies. Video footage is aired of Fadil Muhammad Jawad, adviser to Iraqi prime minister for legal affairs, saying that companies are always eager to invest in Iraq. Jamil says that $1 billion has been allocated for the rehabilitation of the Iron and Steel Company by a British company, and that $60 million will be spent on rehabilitating the Diyala Company for Electrical Industries. She adds that a Japanese company will rehabilitate the Al-Hijrah Company for Fertilizers at a cost of $150 million; that 38.5 per cent of production will be for the mother company while the rest will be for the rehabilitating company; and that the government will reacquire full ownership of the company after 15 years. Fadil Jawad says that companies usually aim to regain their investment costs within four to five years. Jamil notes that the projects encompassed by the signed agreements had stopped as a result of the economic and political situation in Iraq in the past 25 years.
Concluding the interview, Al-Jarjawi thanks his guest.
Source: Al-Arabiya TV, Dubai, in Arabic 1610 gmt 6 Nov 08
__________________
Iraq's Largest Shiite Party Faces Tough Choice For Long-term Partner: Iran Or America
BAGHDAD, Nov. 11, 2008
(AP) The fate of an agreement that would keep U.S. troops here for three more years rests with Iraq's largest Shiite party, which must choose between its two main partners: the United States and Iran.
Most lawmakers are waiting for that party, the Supreme Islamic Iraq Council, to take a position on the agreement, which parliament must approve by the end of the year. Only then will smaller groups, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's own Shiite party, commit to the deal or oppose it.
For the moment, all the parties are off the hook. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Monday that the government is still not satisfied and wants more talks on specifics.
But once both the Iraqi and American governments declare a draft final, it will be the moment of truth for the Supreme Council.
It will have to choose between the Shiite-dominated neighbor that nurtured it during Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime and a superpower that helped it spearhead the Shiite rise to power after ousting the dictator in 2003.
Iran bitterly opposes the agreement, fearing it would pave the way to a long-term U.S. presence on its Western border and threaten its national interests.
"We are generally supportive of the agreement," said a Supreme Council lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. "But we are in a very tight spot. If we say yes, people will say we are traitors. And if we say no, they will say we are Iranian stooges."
Another Supreme Council lawmaker, also speaking on condition of anonymity for the same reason, said, "It is stupid to make an enemy of America."
"Yes, Iran is a friend and an ally. But the agreement is in the national interest and we will accept it even over Iran's objections," the lawmaker said.
The proposed deal would allow U.S. troops to stay through 2011 after their U.N. mandate expires on Dec. 31. It would enshrine a special relationship between the U.S. and a country that under Saddam was considered a bulwark against westward expansion of Iran's influence.
But the Supreme Council cannot afford to sever its ties with Iran. The party needs its neighbor for political support in the power struggle with Sunnis, Kurds and fellow Shiites.
The election of Barack Obama in the U.S. adds another element of uncertainty. Obama has called for withdrawing all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of his inauguration, about 18 months ahead of the Dec. 31, 2011, deadline.
There have been signs that the Supreme Council may be moving to distance itself from Iran, although a complete break is unlikely to come anytime soon. Most of the steps away from Tehran have been largely symbolic.
"I think that until there is a final deal over power sharing and the future of Iraq, the Supreme Council will keep its ties with Iran," said Vali Nasr, an expert on Shiite affairs at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Last year, the party decided to declare Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, its spiritual guide instead of Iran's supreme leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khameini.
Al-Sistani is an Iraq-based Iranian who has major theological differences with the Iranian ruling clergy.
Shiite politicians are looking to al-Sistani for both guidance and political cover. But the cleric, who is close to the Supreme Council, has not taken a clear position on the deal either.
On Friday, senior party official Sadr al-Din al-Qubanji told the weekly prayer worshippers in the holy Shiite city of Najaf that the agreement must be put to a national vote and win the support of the "highest religious leadership" _ meaning al-Sistani.
The uncertainty leaves the Supreme Council wrestling with a decision that could reinforce its position among Shiites _ or destroy it.
The Supreme Council's dilemma reflects the wider divisions within the majority Shiitecommunity. The Shiites gained the most from the U.S.-led invasion, but they know challenging the Iranians over the security agreement carries huge risks.
Three Shiite lawmakers, including one from the Supreme Council, said politicians genuinely feared Iranian retribution, including assassination, if they came out publicly in favor of the agreement.
Iran also could retaliate by closing its border with Iraq, halting trade and denying Iraq the lucrative business of the millions of Iranians who visit Iraq's Shiite religious shrines. Another option would be to halt cooperation with Iraqi authorities on security and development.
For the Supreme Council, the security agreement holds political risks at home, too.
With provincial balloting in January and a general election later in 2009, the Supreme Council is caught between the need to show voters it is not the servant of Iran and the need to avoid a backlash from disaffected Shiites if it signs an agreement to extend what most Iraqis consider foreign military occupation.
"Its most important task is to demonstrate its independence and efficacy to Iraqis at a time when Iraqis increasingly doubt it," Middle East expert Jon Alterman said of the party.
(www.cbsnews.com)
Warning!!!!!!!!!! Socialism and Marxism comes to home to you.
Movement to Scrap 401(k)s Gains Traction
Net Gains: Guaranteed Retirement Accounts Are Getting Attention in Washington
Column By DAVID McPHERSON
Oct. 28, 2008
When it comes to how we spend and save, borrow and lend, nothing in this nation will ever be the same.
Today's stock market shocks are adding momentum to the idea that 401(k) plans should be replaced with a more stable retirement alternative.I can't tell you how the financial crisis will be solved, when the Dow will return to 13,000 or if home prices will recover anytime soon. But the events of the past two months make it clear our national money habits are in for big changes.
Given that reality, there's one proposal you might want to keep an eye on. A recommendation to shake up the nation's 401(k) system is gaining traction as workers and retirees gape in horror at their investment account balances.
"Four weeks ago this plan didn't have a chance," conceded its author, Teresa Ghilarducci.
Suddenly, things have changed. Ghilarducci's proposal to create what she calls Guaranteed Retirement Accounts is gaining attention in Washington as the nation grapples with the issue of retirement security in the wake of a 40-percent-plus drop in the U.S. stock market this year.
"These last three weeks people are learning their 401(k) plans can go down," said Ghilarducci, an economist at the New School for Social Research in New York.
Called to testify before Congress earlier this month, Ghilarducci's ideas are gaining wide exposure nearly a year after she published a policy paper on the subject. She followed up that paper with a book published in May, "When I'm Sixty-Four: The Plot Against Pensions and the Plan to Save Them."
Her proposal calls for knocking down the 401(k) plan system and replacing it with a government-run pension plan funded by employee contributions. Participants would be guaranteed an inflation-beating return and a lifetime stream of income.
"What people want from their pensions is guaranteed income for life," Ghilarducci said in an interview Monday.
Here are the basics of her proposed Guaranteed Retirement Accounts:
• Employees would make mandatory contributions equal to at least 5 percent of their earnings. Workers could contribute higher amounts if they wish.
• Those contributions would be offset by a $600 federal tax credit each participant would receive.
• As with a 401(k) plan, workers would have individual accounts they could track. The balance of each account would depend on each worker's contributions and income level.
• The Social Security Administration would handle account management, and the Thrift Savings Plan -- a well-regarded retirement plan for federal employees -- would manage the money.
• Participants would be guaranteed a fixed rate of return that exceeds inflation by 3 percent. For instance, if inflation stood at 2 percent, the worker would earn 5 percent; if inflation reached 3.5 percent, the worker would earn 6.5 percent. Participants could receive an inflation-beating return above 3 percent if the government's investment returns were high enough.
Related
Keeping Your Money Safe in a Market PanicWall Street Woes: Where to Put Your CashWATCH: Wall Street Woes• At retirement, participants' account balances would be converted into a lifetime stream of income that adjusts for inflation. There would be options to take partial lump sum payments, opt for lower payments in return for survivor benefits and, upon death, leave a portion of a financial account balance.
The intent of the plan is not to replace Social Security. Rather, Guaranteed Savings Accounts would supplement Social Security, Ghilarducci said.
She estimated a full-time worker retiring after 40 years could expect a benefit equal to about 25 percent of pre-retirement income. That would be on top of Social Security benefits.
The portion of Ghilarducci's plan that has drawn the greatest criticism is her suggestion to eliminate the tax breaks received for contributing to a 401(k) plan or an IRA.
Last week, conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh pilloried her ideas, but Ghilarducci said Limbaugh got some of the facts of her proposal wrong, including that the guaranteed rate of return would be 3 percent above the inflation rate, not a flat 3 percent return.
Ghilarducci now talks about maintaining some level of tax-free contributions, maybe up to $5,000 a year, to IRAs or 401(k)s. That's more than most workers contribute to a retirement plan, she said, and would only cost the federal government $25 billion a year compared to the $80 billion a year contribution levels cost the federal Treasury now.
Ghilarducci said she's not "anti-stock market" but, rather, against 401(k) plans in their current iteration. She called the 401(k) "a tax shelter with very bad elements, namely hidden fees and very costly products."
The retirement scheme simply does not work, she said.
"If current trends continue, poverty rates among the elderly will increase and middle-class retirees will find that their retirement income will not pay for the lifestyle they achieved while working," she wrote in her original policy paper.
Ask the retirees you know if they've begun to worry about the same trends as the Dow has fallen more than 20 percent in less than a month. I think they might want to hear more about Guaranteed Retirement Accounts.
I'm not ready to embrace every aspect of Ghilarducci's plan, but it's a plan that needs to be part of the national discussion as we deal with the fallout from easy credit, risky derivatives and a stock market decline that has devastated the retirement fortunes of millions.
(www.abcnews.com)
11 November 2008 ( Xinhua News Agency )
China and Iraq signed Monday an oil deal that would allow China National Petroleum Corporation ( CNPC) to help develop al-Ahdab oil field in eastern Iraq's Wasit province.
Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani signed the 2.9 billion U.S. dollars deal with CNPC President Jiang Jiemin in a ceremony held in his ministry.
"This is an important participation from the Chinese side to develop the Iraqi oil fields, and we are looking forward for more participation in rebuilding Iraq," Shahristani said at the signing ceremony.
He added that the deal "would produce a total of more than 110, 000 barrels per day (bpd), which would mainly be allocated to the Zubaidiyah power plant in the province and the surplus would go for export."
Zhi Yulin, board chairman of the Alwaha Co. which is affiliated with CNPC, told Xinhua that he hoped the project would boost Iraqi oil output, help facilitate post-war reconstruction, create job opportunities and contribute to the social stability.
While underlining security was the biggest challenge the company would face, Zhi promised to do their best to guarantee the staff's safety.
The state-owned CNPC had signed an agreement with Iraq's Saddam Hussein government in 1996, which was postponed by the UN sanctions on Iraq and the following U.S.-led invasion to the oil- rich state.http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/39686
Cornishboy: You need to stick with posting newspaper articles as your thoughts are almost incorherent, but I did recognize that you were attempting to be a smart-ass.
Even though your comments were those of a dumb-ass, I will refrain from posting any concerns that I have about where I will spend eternity, in the future.
The whole idea with the 401-K is that the worker will invest in the industry in his own country, and use the dividends out of the stocks that fund is invested into, as a supplementary pension.
It has to be understood in the first place that a 401-K is a higher risk, and a more volatile way of investing. Its really nothing to it, because that is the way it works.
Workers are pooled together in a fund, that buy stocks, that's it.
Stocks will go up and down, and as such there are no guarantee that a fund will give such or such dividend at the time of retirement.
As a sweeping generality, in the long run, stocks will normally go up, and that is the phenomenon that the funds are built upon.
The charm with a fund in the stock market is that you invest a certain amount, and as it grows, it is reinvested, and you take out funds only when it is time for retirement. That will eventually be much more money than you originally invested.
Another bonus is that in many cases, the employer will match you investment to a certain percentage, for the employer, that is free money.
Problem is, if you want a secure way of investing, don't go for the stock market in the first place.
A 401 portfolio can easily fluctuate and swing back and fort according to, if there is good times or recession, or a national traumatic event.
A friend of mine decided to invest his 401 in a very aggressive and extremely risky fund. He had about 160.000 in it at the time of 9/11, then it went to about half it's value, but up until a couple of years ago, it went up again and surpassed the old number.
A 401 K plan is like a helicopter, it will never be as efficient, it will never go as far, and it will never go as fast as an airplane, but it can take off straight up.
To ask for guarantees, in a 401 K plan basically shows that the investor have not fully understood how it works.
Most 401-K plans are non aggressive, and are leaning onto the safe side, but at the same time, not paying out as good, they are basically a relative stable good slugger, that will perform as predictable as possible.
Investors in a 401-K will many time feel that it works almost like a savings account, with a very good interest rate, but it isn't. However if the main 401-K plans behave that way, then it is almost "expected" that it will continue to grow.
In recessions, then the investor almost automatically will start looking for" who screwed up", and "who is at fault".
Ideas like, -" isn't it time to overhaul the 401-K system, with something better and safer", may come around?
Sure it's easy, don't invest in the stock market, easy as that, get bonds, or just get a savings account, it won't grow as the stock market, but then again, if the swings back and forth is bothering the person, noting is stopping anyone to put the money under the madras.
Very few places pay enough to keep up with inflation, and to put the money in a jar, and dig it down in your garden is a sure loser.
There is nothing wrong with having a 401-K plan, it is however a long term investment, and there are no way of guaranteeing that it will go up all the time.
That is the same as going into a casino in Nevada, and ask for the money back if you lost it.
I don't see the point in the new idea about skipping the 401-K plan. Maybe if a lot of people have realized that they have lost a lot of money in their 401-K plan lately, with this current economic upheavals we are having right now, it doesn't help trying to "fix" the 401-K, that's not what is wrong, it is just a recession in this moment of time, and
that's all there is to it.
What is causing the recession and how can it be fixed......well, that is another story.
In your view, Roger, man creates his own reality.. and even God, by his thought processes. But I see it in a far more practical thing. Think of it like a poor, starving, hungry man. He may close his eyes and THINK about roast beef, potatoes and vegetables with salted butter slathered all over them, served with the finest of red wines.. but when he opens his eyes the very real truth is.. there isn't anything there to eat. Similarly, if you THINK about God, how creation happened (long ago), angels or any other unseen spiritual topic, you can imagine whatever you wish.. but when you open your eyes, it was just a fantasy. And reading about it in dusty old books is boring. How do you know what is real or true just by reading a book? Reality, if those things are true, is based on objective truth which doesn't change and can be proven. Why can't we experience them first hand?
Since you have never seen angels or known God, you think whatever you think of concerning them is equally true.. because any thought you make up in your mind is merely make believe. But just because God is unseen does not mean He is not real or cannot be known in truth, in reality. We do not create reality.. reality exists objectively. The Bible describes objective truth which can be experienced.. and it isn't a fairytale (even though it seems far away when you are not a Christian). Hmmmm..
Why don't you try getting saved, Roger? I mean.. what can it hurt? If you do that, sincerely - ask God to forgive you of all your offenses (sins) and ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior - you may be able to experience the spiritual realm. It would definitely answer your skeptical side very, very well. And life as a Christian never has a dull moment, I assure you. The Bible is real to me.. it isn't words, it's life. I know the words in it are trustworthy.. every one.
Each of the Scriptures I have come to know.. those from firsthand experience and those I have accepted and known by just reading them and accepting them as true as they are written.. each one is reliable as truth. I know the author of the book and He is not a liar, and what He wrote is true in every particular and at every juncture. I have tested His word and some passages He has tested ME on them, too. The holding to the Bible as truth may seem to be "faith" to some, but to me.. it is just everyday realities I KNOW and have seen and experienced to be true. I wish that kind of experience for you, too. :)
Neil - You mentioned that Obama is "now our leader".. but he isn't yet. As Rob pointed out, he hasn't even had the electoral college votes tallied yet. He has not been inaugurated as President, and there is the issue of his being natural born or not.. what was it 12 lawsuits(?) - surely they require some answers. Maybe once people see the socialism which Rob posted on "coming soon to your country, courtesy Obama" they may also reconsider. I am not of the opinion that Obama is "now our leader" and I am wondering if, when the Lord told me Obama would not be the next President.. that maybe I heard right and God didn't change from His plan because a sufficient number of people petitioned Him with their free wills to do so. He didn't say that Obama wouldn't win the vote.. He just said he wouldn't be PRESIDENT. Sometimes with the Lord, such semantics are very important. I will wait and see. He isn't President yet.. he may never be.
Revoir wrote that if Obama is not natural born the position would go to the VP.. but I do not believe that is so. That is only if a qualified President cannot serve. It was never envisioned that a person who was NOT QUALIFIED to be President should run.. so I do not believe that there is a position delineated in the constitution saying the VP elect (Biden) would then take over in the case of an UNQUALIFIED person. Check the document.. I am certain the wording is that if a President "cannot serve".. because of incapacity, etc. Not if someone who is completely without merit in the light of Constitutional requirement were to be found to be unqualified and so fraudulent as Barack Hussein Obama would be if he were found to be not natural born.
While I agree with you, Revoir, about God ordaining leaders for good or for evil purposes.. I am truly, sincerely and honestly unsure Obama will be allowed (by God) to serve as the President of the United States. I truly believe it is only GOD who can put a person into that place and not men (even voters). And certainly, the direction and actions Obama is planning to take are a concern. For instance, the rumors of Hamas receiving an Obama delegation which they touted in two newspapers today makes one wonder, since the Obama campaign has not yet denied it.
===
Did Obama’s team meet with Hamas before the election?
November 11, 2008
by Ed Morrissey
Two Israeli newspapers print the claim from Hamas today that Barack Obama’s team met with the terrorist group before the elections. The Jerusalem Post and Ha’aretz both report that Hamas says it met with Obama advisers in the Gaza Strip before last Tuesday’s elections, after first having made connections via the Internet:
QUOTE:
The Arab daily Al-Hayat on Tuesday quoted a senior Hamas official as saying that United States President-elect Barack Obama’s advisors met with members of the Palestinian militant group before the U.S. presidential election.
Ahmed Yusuf, a political advisor to Hamas’ Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh, reportedly told the London-based paper that, “The connection was made via email and after that we met with them in Gaza.”
Al-Hayat reported that Yusuf also said the relations were maintained after Obama’s electoral victory last Tuesday. He said the president-elect’s advisors requested that the relations be kept secret so as not to aid his rival, Senator John McCain.
==end quote===
Thus far, neither newspaper has received a response from Obama or his staff about the story, with the Post noting the difference in time zones as the reason. Obama told American voters that he would not meet with Hamas until they renounced terrorism. If this story turns out to be true, then Obama lied to American voters during the campaign.
But is it true? So far, only Hamas is making this claim...
Perhaps it is nothing.. but maybe it is yet another point showing that he is not qualified to be President, among many. Although the discernment of men may be questionable.. I have no such concerns with the intelligence and discernment of God on vetting qualifications to be appointed to that office. And THAT is what will determine these things, after all.
Neil, I don't believe God "put this operation in motion and then backed off and let intelligent and free spirited individuals live their life as they saw fit" quite in the way you speak of it.. since the Scriptures say that God determines who is and who is not in power.. putting one person in, or removing them (by various means) at His behest.
Psa 75:7 But God is the judge: he puts down one, and sets up another.
Dan 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He will..
So.. if He rules and is the One who gives it.. then I think I will wait a bit longer.. to see if HE will put Obama in. I know the American people spoke through their votes, but I haven't yet been assured that HE (God) has added his stamp of approval on their choice... particularly if Obama is not qualified legally in the first place.
As well, I think we all answer for our actions, but I don't see God as so distant from things, or disinterested as you portray. How can He count the hairs on our heads and know the number of them.. but not care if the next President will expand and sanction euthanasia, abortion and using conceived babies for stem cell research?
Luk 12:6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?
Luk 12:7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: you are of more value than many sparrows.
He tells us to not worry about food or clothing, but to seek first His Kingdom.. then lets Obama put in place policies to rob us so that we will become poor, jobless and unable to afford clothing or fuel? Something here does not fit..
Mat 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed?
Mat 6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.
Mat 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
As for those gods you speak of cornish_boy.. they are so unknown today.. if they were real, how come no one even has heard of them? Did they "die off"? Surely a true and living God could keep a strong following throughout the world.. if he were real? Exotic religions are often not followed because they have been so thoroughly disproven in the past that no one took them very seriously. As a great Jewish teacher once said of Christianity when there were but few followers of it:
Act 5:34 Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;
Act 5:35 And he said to them, You men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do as touching these men.
Act 5:36 For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nothing.
Act 5:37 After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.
Act 5:38 And now I say to you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nothing:
Act 5:39 But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it; lest you be found even to fight against God.
The fact that those gods you speak of were brought to nothing.. says to me that they were not of the real Deity, even as Gamaliel here communicated.
You have not understood one word of what I have been saying.
Reality is what you agree to.
Even the physical universe, follows it. If you live in the physical universe, and try to walk trough a door without opening it first, you will hurt your nose.
First in order to avoid being hurt, you have to agree with the physical universe in the first place, ...a door...open it...or hurt your nose...
Reality starts with you first.
You can create whatever you want to create.
You can create God or Gods or angels, as much as you want, other people that have done the same, have even written a book about it, and layed out all the rules on how to think about that creation.
And you have agreed with the reality that that book, that is about God, is superior and absolute, unquestionable, and self evident, Thus it can be used to prove itself.
You can create all that.
I don't say that this is a bad book, a bad God or a bad way of life.
The only thing I am saying is that it is your creation, and you are serious about it, and that creation have holy rules in it, have absolutes, and it that creation tells you that you are created, and you can not create....pretty good creation.
An individual can undo, redo, change start or modify any creation, but that creation that you are showing us, have a contingency clause in it.
If you would undo that creation, a battery of devils, temptations, and stuff that are flying around with black wings, will kick in, as a savior to this set up, in order to keep the first creation going.
So good is, keep the creation of God as it is, it says it is the the book of good behavior, and spiritual endless existence.
Bad is, to undo this creation, because that is non survival, and evil.
You create your own reality.
I really want to talk about the subject of God, as the first Christians did, they didn't need a book, a church, or rituals, and saw God as Jahve, the concept of ...I am.
Today Christians are afraid of their own creation of God, and as a result, can't create anything.
Can't even see the original Christian concept of God.
Sorry, Roger.. I guess I just don't see what you say.
When you said, "Even the physical universe, follows it. If you live in the physical universe, and try to walk trough a door without opening it first, you will hurt your nose. First in order to avoid being hurt, you have to agree with the physical universe in the first place, ...a door...open it...or hurt your nose...Reality starts with you first. You can create whatever you want to create."
I see the reality of the door and not hurting your nose beginning with your saying.. "Hey, there is a door. Don't run into it or your nose is going to hurt." So instead of reality starting with YOU.. it starts with you acknowledging the door.. before you bump into it and hurt your nose. Kind of like acknowledging God before you run into Him (after death). I don't see that process of reasoning as "creating" anything, but only acknowledging the objective fact of the existence of a door (or God). Sooo.. you lose me after that.. when you go into how we "create" things by our acknowledgement of it or not. Because I am still staring at the door (which I KNOW exists) and saying.. "What do you mean I can CREATE it.. it simply IS.. all I am doing is acknowledging that it exists so as not to smack my nose into it." We can discuss it, question about it (God doesn't mind any more than the door), or examine it as best we can.. but it still is going to be a door. And that fact, to me, does indeed seem rather absolute. Your statement, "You can create whatever you want to create" - when speaking of the door makes no sense to me. It simply IS.. I don't create it, and I can't change it. But I do think I ought to watch out for it, or else I might smack my nose into it by my lack of acknowledgement of reality.
So I am sorry I cannot see what you are getting at.
I guess we just have to agree to disagree on it.
But I care for you and your viewpoint I respect. :)
Back to Dinar..
In looking for new news.. I found this, which seems relevant to the last post (non-Dinar):
===
'Why Believe in a God?' Ad Campaign Launches on D.C. Buses
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. — You better watch out. There is a new combatant in the Christmas wars.
Ads proclaiming, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake," will appear on Washington, D.C., buses starting next week and running through December. The American Humanist Association unveiled the provocative $40,000 holiday ad campaign Tuesday.
In lifting lyrics from "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," the Washington-based group is wading into what has become a perennial debate over commercialism, religion in the public square and the meaning of Christmas.
Edwords said the purpose isn't to argue that God doesn't exist or change minds about a deity, although "we are trying to plant a seed of rational thought and critical thinking and questioning in people's minds."
The group defines humanism as "a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism, affirms our responsibility to lead ethical lives of value to self and humanity."
Last month, the British Humanist Association caused a ruckus announcing a similar campaign on London buses with the message: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."
Best-selling books by authors such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have fueled interest in "the new atheism" — a more in-your-face argument against God's existence.
Yet few Americans describe themselves as atheist or agnostic; a Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life poll from earlier this year found 92 percent of Americans believe in God.
I like that, "we are trying to plant a seed of rational thought and critical thinking and questioning in people's minds.".. like 92 percent of Americans are really, really stupid, without rational thought OR critical thinking. Just because this 8 percent of the population are blind and WORRIED so that they say, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." doesn't mean the rest of us who have come to peace with God and are NOT worried about it should start saying there is no God (or door to smack your nose against.) No offense intended, Roger.. I just don't see the argument of "There probably is no God" when 92 percent of the people acknowledge that there is. SOMETHING had to lead them to that conclusion, and since it is an overwhelming majority, it really is unlikely to be stupidity without rational thought or critical thinking involved. It makes me wonder who is going to smack their nose into the door (in the afterlife).. those who believe there is a door.. or those who won't acknowledge it exists?
A non-dinar post!
__________________________________________________________
Instead of Barack Hussein Obama winning the electoral votes to become President. Barry should be inside a federal prision. Lest we forget he violated the Logan Act.
What is the logan act? The Logan Act is a federal law that makes it a felony for any American citizen to attempt to negotiate with a foreign government or attempt to influence foreign policy without clear authority from the executive branch of the U.S. government.
Obama negotiated with the GoI to stall signing the Status of Forces Agreement with the United States until he was in office. This is a direct violation of the logan act.
This man should not be allowed to be the President of the United States of America. It is my hope and prayer that those electors from blue states will cast their votes for John McCain and not for Barry. Those of you that reside in the blue states please contact your State Representitives to obtain the names of those electors. Time is short, they cast their votes on December 13, 2008.
God Almighty save us from the scourage that is Barack Hussein Obama.
Rob N - I had forgotten about the Logan act Obama violated. So many people gloss over what he has done wrong - as though it is inconsequential, even to violate the law. I pray God, who is righteous, will not hear the prayers of those who judge Barry O by their own skewed untrue view, and that God will see Barack Hussein Obama with His absolute moral truth and clarity (shall not the judge of the earth do right?) and according to and upholding the law, He will judge accordingly. If so.. BHO will never become President.
Sighh.. unless, as Revoir wrote.. it is because God has chosen a terrible future of Judgement upon America - the vision I saw.. unstoppably. I think the Executive Orders BHO intends to recind.. are likely to be the very ones keeping America safe from terrorism.
Of note today.. they are NOT going to use the money as they said they would.
After all.. their word means as much as the law does.. subject to "change" or something they can ignore at will.
May God hear.. and judge.
===
$700B Bailout Won’t Be Used As Planned
From an understanding Associated Press:
Paulson says troubled assets will not be purchased
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics
WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday the $700 billion government rescue program will not be used to purchase troubled assets as originally planned.
Paulson said the administration will continue to use $250 billion of the program to purchase stock in banks as a way to bolster their balance sheets and encourage them to resume more normal lending.
He announced a new goal for the program to support financial markets, which supply consumer credit in such areas as credit card debt, auto loans and student loans.
Paulson said that 40 percent of U.S. consumer credit is provided through selling securities that are backed by pools of auto loans and other such debt. He said these markets need support.
“This market, which is vital for lending and growth, has for all practical purposes ground to a halt,” Paulson said.
The administration decided that using billions of dollars to buy troubled assets of financial institutions at the current time was “not the most effective way” to use the $700 billion bailout package, he said.
The announcement marked a major shift for the administration which had talked only about purchasing troubled assets as it lobbied Congress to pass the massive bailout bill.
Paulson said the administration is exploring other options, including possibly injecting more capital into banks on a matching basis, in which government funds would be supplied to banks that were able to raise money on their own.
The bailout money also should be used to support efforts to keep mortgage borrowers from losing their homes because of soaring default levels, he said.
A proposal to have part of the bailout funds used to guarantee mortgages that have been reworked to reduce monthly payments for borrowers is an approach the administration continues to discuss, but Paulson did not announce that it would be adopted. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair has pushed for that approach…
==end quote===
Suddenly it’s a bailout of and credit card debt and car and student loans? Oh, and to give people houses for free?
I suppose these people who are to receive this bailout money..
will be those Obama received funds from in his campaign.
Payback... after all, he owes a lot of people favors.
They'll do fine, as the rich always do..
they find a way ($$) not to be touched by the calamity, and secure their assets.
Rob N - A thought for you. If they cannot stop the continual decline in the markets (over TEN PERCENT since the announcement of BHO as Pres-Elect), even by reallocating the money from the 700 Billion as a stopgap measure to try and stop the steep deline.. if they cannot STOP the decline.. do you think that elected officials on December 13th might just reevaluate if they should cast their electoral college votes for a man whose election is obviously ruining the economy.. and will continue to do so? If the markets remain scared and running.. in spite of pulling out every stop they can imagine to try and stop the slide.. will BHO receive the electoral college votes he needs to secure the Presidency?
That is down four percent across the board and another 348 points off the Dow.
Think electing a socialist might permanently ruin the economy?
Might someone care.. around December 13th??
Report: Obama Seeks Iranian Assistance In Afghanistan
November 11, 2008
Hope and Change in action...
The Obama Administration is already considering talks, without preconditions, with the Iranian Regime.
...The same regime that has been killing our soldiers for the last 5 years in Iraq.
(Picture) The Iranian regime held a massive anti-Israel anti-US youth rally just last week. The one poster reads "Death to Israel." (ISNA)
This goes back to that fundamental Leftist belief that America is the problem and that regional regimes are the answer because they all want peace and stablity.
Reuters reported:
QUOTE:
President-elect Barack Obama plans to try a more regional approach to the war in Afghanistan including possible talks with Iran, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing national security advisers to Obama.
The president-elect also intends to move ahead with a planned deployment of thousands of additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan and refocus on the hunt for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the newspaper reported.
However, the Obama team is far from working out how to bring bin Laden back to the forefront of the U.S. counter-terrorism agenda, The Washington Post reported.
Obama received his first high-level intelligence briefing as president-elect last week.
While emphasizing the importance of continuing U.S. operations against Pakistan-based Taliban fighters who attack U.S. forces in Afghanistan, the incoming administration intends to remind Americans about the fight against Islamist extremists and the September 11 attacks, the newspaper said.
Advisers told the newspaper that Obama plans to underscore that al Qaeda remains the nation's highest priority.
"This is our enemy," on Obama adviser told the newspaper, referring to bin Laden "and he should be our principal target."
Iran, on Afghanistan's western border, has been kept at arm's length by the Bush administration, but should be considered in formulating a new Afghanistan strategy, a senior U.S. military official was cited as saying.
Surely the Iranian Regime can be trusted.
It sounds like Obama and his cronies still do not consider the Al-Qaeda terrorists in Iraq a threat, though.
Have they even admitted that Al-Qaeda is operating in Iraq, yet?
Thank you, President Bush for keeping us safe for the past 7 years anyway.
posted by Gateway Pundit
Comments:
1) retire05 said...
the incoming administration intends to remind Americans about the fight against Islamist extremists and the September 11 attacks
Well, how nice.
For seven years, the Democrats have tried to make us forget 9-11 and the fact that it was George Bush who has prevented another attack on American soil. To them, 9-11 was just a "bumper sticker". If President Bush even hinted at 9-11, he was accused of using it for political gain.
Now, The One is going to remind us, once again, that there are those in this world who want to kill us, no matter our political leanings.
What was up, is now down and what was down, it not up.
Makes me want to scream.
2) Takekaze said...
Oh merciful...
I just read on the arte videotext (arte is a German-French co-production and these days known mainly for forging history) that Obama wants to negotiate with the taliban. I realy, REALLY hope this isn't true.
Because if it is, all the success, all the sacrifices in A-stan will have been in vain. If that happens, then A-stan will be taliban controlled once more in a couple of years. Then we're back at 2001.
I really, really hope it's not true.
I fear Obama will go for "peace, no matter the cost".
Short term "solutions" (a.k.a. cluster f*cks) for longterm problems. That won't work.
3) Tom W. said...
Dunno how this will go...
D'ohbama wants to keep Sec. Def. Gates, which is good, and I think he wants to keep Petraeus and Odierno.
From what I've heard his plan is to keep most of the Bush foreign policy in place--since it works--and try and put his boot on our necks domestically.
The problem with that is that all his stated proposals will cause massively higher prices and unemployment, which will turn the nation against him in record time.
So, I say "Go for it, Mr. President." Do your worst.
As long he doesn't surrender in Iraq and render worthless all the sacrifices our troops made, I can deal with the shitestorm of stupidity and incompetence headed our way.
4) LifeTrek said...
Allowing this war to be divided into individual wars like Iraq and Afghanistan is one of the greatest disservices the media has done for this country.
I don't care who Obama is, wrapping up Iraq and Afghanistan will NOT end the terrorists war on the US.
David
I don't care who Obama is, wrapping up Iraq and Afghanistan will NOT end the terrorists war on the US.
I agree.
I think President Bush put it well when he said that we should fight the terrorists over there, not here.
As Obama ENDS the fighting over there and brings the troops home..
HERE is where the fighting will be - and soon, nuclear weapons from Iran will figure in to the equation.
Change the formula keeping the Homeland safe.. change the outcome.
Yep.. real change, for sure..
for about 60 to 80 million American lives which will end as a result of OB nearsightedness -
bringing his chicken friends (terrorist "pals") home to roost.
He entertained them in his living room.. and America didn't care..
now America can "entertain" and pal around with them, too -
starting here with Iran "helping out" in Afghanistan.
Unless someone doesn't like that view, and finds a way to make sure OBs utopical vision doesn't come true..
like not voting for him Dec 13th.. maybe??
We can hope for change.. and sanity, some.. can't we?
I don't like the alternative, is all.
You assume that I am not at peace for "being in a target zone". How so?. If God's providence is that this country is targeted, he will make provisions for his own. If he chooses that I and my family come home, we will be with him and life on this earth will be over. I am like Paul, to die is to be with Christ. Living is not in how long one lives. Otherwise, God will make provisions for our escape from this calamity on this earth if it proposes his will.
I know I wrote you about how to build a bomb shelter--and after giving this some more thought, I came to the above understanding with God. God is my ultimate protector and the peace he gives is not as the world gives but as he gives.
Yes, I and my family would be killed if such an attack occurs. However, I will not lose my peace over these earthly events and the hearts of men to distroy mankind. God is my anchor.
For those of you talking about creating your own Gods, the God I serve is a reality whether I believe or not. If I created him, than this created God would not be God at all. Take time to pray and find out if God exist.
Sixty million Americans will die in that holocaust I saw.. the Lord assures me.
(I figured 80, He says 60, that is still one heck of a lot of people dead.)
I don't like that.. nor do I wish it were the truth. I would prefer peace and safety.
But this time in history is not a time of peace, but of war.
Ecc 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Ecc 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
Ecc 3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
Ecc 3:6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
Ecc 3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
Ecc 3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
God determines if it is a time to kill or to heal.. a time of being born, or dying..
a time to speak or be silent.. a time of peace or a time of war.
Even Barry O is figuring that one out.. he will be a war President (IF he takes office) like it or not.
He cannot MAKE peace in a time of war.. any more than the allies could have unilaterally made peace with Hitler.
The only way to have peace with radical Islam.. is to submit, and cease to be free (or defeat it by war).
Is that what America is willing to do.. to submit to have "peace"? It looks like that is what she voted, in BHO.
To have an appeaser.. a peacenik.. a trucemaker.. with those who will use the truce to make more weapons in the dark.
You remember this.. these are the same folks Obama wants to HELP in Afghanistan.. ok?
This is what they will do while they negotiate with Obama.. just like before.
Remember??
===
Iran’s Negotiator Brags About Duping West
I’m shocked, shocked, I tell you.
From the UK’s Telegraph:
How we duped the West, by Iran’s nuclear negotiator
By Philip Sherwell in Washington
05/03/2006
The man who for two years led Iran’s nuclear negotiations has laid out in unprecedented detail how the regime took advantage of talks with Britain, France and Germany to forge ahead with its secret atomic programme.
In a speech to a closed meeting of leading Islamic clerics and academics, Hassan Rowhani, who headed talks with the so-called EU3 until last year, revealed how Teheran played for time and tried to dupe the West after its secret nuclear programme was uncovered by the Iranian opposition in 2002.
He boasted that while talks were taking place in Teheran, Iran was able to complete the installation of equipment for conversion of yellowcake - a key stage in the nuclear fuel process - at its Isfahan plant but at the same time convince European diplomats that nothing was afoot.
"From the outset, the Americans kept telling the Europeans, ‘The Iranians are lying and deceiving you and they have not told you everything.’ The Europeans used to respond, ‘We trust them’," he said.
Revelation of Mr Rowhani’s remarks comes at an awkward moment for the Iranian government, ahead of a meeting tomorrow of the United Nations’ atomic watchdog, which must make a fresh assessment of Iran’s banned nuclear operations.
The judgment of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the final step before Iran’s case is passed to the UN Security Council, where sanctions may be considered.
In his address to the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, Mr Rowhani appears to have been seeking to rebut criticism from hardliners that he gave too much ground in talks with the European troika. The contents of the speech were published in a regime journal that circulates among the ruling elite.
He told his audience: "When we were negotiating with the Europeans in Teheran we were still installing some of the equipment at the Isfahan site. There was plenty of work to be done to complete the site and finish the work there. In reality, by creating a tame situation, we could finish Isfahan."
America and its European allies believe that Iran is clandestinely developing an atomic bomb but Teheran insists it is merely seeking nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Iran’s negotiating team engaged in a last-ditch attempt last week to head off Security Council involvement. In January the regime removed IAEA seals on sensitive nuclear equipment and last month it resumed banned uranium enrichment.
Iran is trying to win support from Russia, which opposes any UN sanctions, having unsuccessfully tried to persuade European leaders to give them more time. Against this backdrop, Mr Rowhani’s surprisingly candid comments on Iran’s record of obfuscation and delay are illuminating.
He described the regime’s quandary in September 2003 when the IAEA had demanded a "complete picture" of its nuclear activities. "The dilemma was if we offered a complete picture, the picture itself could lead us to the UN Security Council," he said. "And not providing a complete picture would also be a violation of the resolution and we could have been referred to the Security Council for not implementing the resolution."
Mr Rowhani disclosed that on at least two occasions the IAEA obtained information on secret nuclear-related experiments from academic papers published by scientists involved in the work.
The Iranians’ biggest setback came when Libya secretly negotiated with America and Britain to close down its nuclear operations. Mr Rowhani said that Iran had bought much of its nuclear-related equipment from "the same dealer" - a reference to the network of A Q Khan, the rogue Pakistani atomic scientist. From information supplied by Libya, it became clear that Iran had bought P2 advanced centrifuges.
In a separate development, the opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has obtained a copy of a confidential parliamentary report making clear that Iranian MPs were also kept in the dark on the nuclear programme, which was funded secretly, outside the normal budgetary process.
Mohammad Mohaddessin, the NCRI’s foreign affairs chief, told the Sunday Telegraph: "Rowhani’s remarks show that the mullahs wanted to deceive the international community from the onset of negotiations with EU3 - and that the mullahs were fully aware that if they were transparent, the regime’s nuclear file would be referred to the UN immediately."
====end quote===
Wait. I thought it was us Americans who are supposed to be so naive and unworldly.
- This article was posted by Steve Gilbert on Saturday, March 4th, 2006.
Maybe that assessment that Americans are naive and unworldly has truth..
certainly it appears embodied in the choice of BHO.
Now we can see naivete in Obama making friends with Iran and getting their "help" in Afghanistan..
all this nuclear stuff will go under the table/bus.. along with Israel..
and referral to the UN security council is a joke.
Iranians are our "friends" - our "helpers" in Afghanistan - why refer?
So dear Israel will shortly see the fruits of this clandestine labor..
unless they act to avert it.. alone.
Because Barry O is not only NOT stopping the threat.. he is helping them continue on.
The fruit of that labor won't be only toward Israel.. dear America.
If you think that Obama is going to fight for you.. for your homes and very lives..
think again. (McCain would.)
I still hope that somehow.. somewhere.. some way.. it can be averted.
That I haven't been shown the INEVITABLE future of America.. only one POSSIBLE timeline.
But the election of BHO to be Pres-Elect.. has made me wonder.. and care more.. and pray.
It doesn't have to be, you know. But maybe it is that God turns the country to destruction..
in the plain sight of all.. and then calls the American people to turn from evil, or it will inevitably happen:
Psa 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
Psa 90:3 You turn man to destruction; and say, Return, you children of men.
(the whole Psalm is instructive for those who read, on the topic.)
Well said, Laura..
God is the best recourse for our trust in every situation.
I am sure His will is being done.
I meant no questioning of your faith or peace..
Indeed, this reassures me what I know..
God leads His people, through life and eventually even unto our deaths (however that will happen), as you know.
Psa 48:14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death.
Iran test-fires new missile, Israel within reach
By Zahra Hosseinian Zahra Hosseinian
TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran said it test-fired a new generation of surface-to-surface missile on Wednesday and that the Islamic Republic was ready to defend itself against any attacker…
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, like outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush, has not ruled out military action although he has criticized the Bush administration for not pursuing more diplomacy and engagement with Tehran.
Iranian Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said the Iranian-made surface-to-surface Sejil missile had “extremely high capabilities” and was only intended for defensive purposes.
He said it had a range of close to 2,000 km (1,200 miles), almost as much as another Iranian missile called Shahab 3. That would enable it to reach Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf.
“This missile test is in the framework of Iran’s deterrent doctrine,” the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
“It will only land on the heads of those enemies … who want to make an aggression and invade the Islamic Republic,” said Najjar, who did not mention any country by name…
==end quote===
The President Select is right. We have got to talk to these people.
They probably don’t realize that what they are doing could be viewed as threatening to some.
Once they understand, they will surely stop.
This article was posted by Steve Gilbert on Wednesday, November 12th, 2008.
Comments:
1) Liberals Demise says..
“This missle test is in the framework of Irans deterrent doctorine.”
Somehow I don’t see Israel seeing it that way. Just like their nuclear program is for “Peaceful” purposes. YUP…It’s time for the Office of the Resident Reject to send Iran a “Time out Warning” before they are put in a corner for 10 minutes! That’ll learn ‘em to mess with “THE ONE!!”
2) proreason says..
LD: It’s time for the Office of the Resident Reject to send Iran a “Time out Warning”
Be careful, LD. We wouldn’t want to damage their self-esteem.
3) yadayada says..
Sadly, even though the Iranian parliament (par ‘lame’ nt ? por ‘lament’ ? not sure of spelling or inflection) says they are doing their best to rid their government of Achmedinijad’s anti-west cabinet members (already 10 ousted), they may not do so fast enough. and Iran will probably still be the cause of another war before he’s gone.
p.s. Please mark this in history. not because of my self absorption, but because you KNOW it will happen.
In light of the past DUPING of the West concerning that negotiator.. I think these reports from Iran of their removing those who are are for war from their cabinet.. ALONG WITH shooting missiles they can use to target Israel and US forces in the Gulf.. proves the gesture of removing people from the cabinet is just another DUPING move.. while they continue to move toward war.. and nuclear weaponry. Both of which will come to Israel AND the West/US.. all too soon.
Of course.. it does affect the Dinar and Iraq too..
You cannot have a nuclear war.. started by their next door neighbor, Iran...
and business as usual for Iraq and its currency.
(For those who think discussing Iran is off topic.. no, not really..
nuclear war next door has repercussions on Iraq, for sure.)
Human Interest story..
Will they do DNA testing to make sure they are related.. ??
====
8,000 Beduins stake their claim as the lost tribe of Barack Obama A sheikh in Galilee says he has evidence that he and his family are linked by blood to the new President
November 13, 2008
James Hider in Bir al-Maksour
He has a host of relatives in exotic locations from Hawaii to Kenya, and during his run for the American presidency he discovered that he had an aunt living in Boston.
Now Barack Obama is being claimed by not one but as many as 8,000 Beduin tribesmen in northern Israel.
Although the spokesman for the lost tribe of Obama has yet to reveal the documentary evidence that he says he possesses to support his claim, people are flocking from across the region to pay their respects to the “Beduin Obama”, whose social standing has gone through the roof.
“We knew about it years ago but we were afraid to talk about it because we didn’t want to influence the election,” Abdul Rahman Sheikh Abdullah, a 53-year-old local council member, told The Times in the small Beduin village of Bir al-Maksour in the Israeli region of Galilee. “We wrote a letter to him explaining the family connection.”
Mr Obama’s team have not responded to the letter so far but that has not dampened Sheikh Abdullah’s festivities.
He has been handing out sweets and huge dishes of baklava traditional honey-sweetened pastries to all and sundry, and plans to hold a large party next week at which he will slaughter a dozen goats to feed the village.
It was his 95-year-old mother who first spotted the connection, he says. Seeing the charismatic senator on television, she noted a striking resemblance to one of the African migrant workers who used to be employed by rich sheikhs in the fertile north of British Mandate Palestine in the 1930s.
The Africans would sometimes marry local Beduin girls and start families, though, like many migrant workers, would just as frequently return home after several years.
One of those men was a relative of Barack Obama’s Kenyan grandmother, Sheikh Abdullah maintains.
He estimates that his tribe extends to as many as 8,000 members, all of them loosely connected to the African-American senator for Illinois.
Sheikh Abdullah swears that he has papers and pictures to back up his claim but has promised his mother not to divulge them until he has presented them to Mr Obama, something he hopes will happen once his “relative” is in the White House.
“We want to send a delegation to congratulate him, and we know we’ll get an answer soon,” he grinned.
Sheikh Abdullah’s renown as the relative of the soon-to-be most powerful man on Earth has spread like wildfire among the Arab community of northern Israel, and especially among Beduins, a formerly semi-nomadic group of pastoralists corralled into townships by the modern state of Israel.
Two baby boys born into the sheikh’s large clan have even been named Obama.
“We knew he’d win,” the sheikh said, constantly interrupted by a barrage of phone calls from wellwishers and those hoping to cash in on his newfound wasta, an Arabic term denoting influence or clout. “We have always been a lucky family.
“We hope he’ll end all wars and intervene here to solve our problems in Israel. The Beduin are the people who suffer the most here,” he added while greeting a wellwisher from Ghajar, an Arab town divided between Israel and southern Lebanon, the bitter legacy of the Jewish state’s long occupation of southern Lebanon.
“We hope to God that Obama will solve the problem of Ghajar,” said Sheikh Issam al-Khalil, a leading citizen of the divided town, whose residents mostly speak Hebrew and Arabic but many of whom consider themselves as originally Syrian.
“Everyone is talking about [Sheikh Abdullah’s ties to Mr Obama] . . . They believe it. The sheikhs from all the villages are talking about it. There’s a whole delegation of Druze leaders coming from the Golan Heights to congratulate him.”
Sheikh Abdullah is greeting a dozen respectful visitors a day, basking in the reflected glory of what would be not only the first African-American US President but the first one who could claim kinship with an entire clan of Beduins.
Roger!
Your wearing your fingertips away by attempting to explain the method of how things are created and observed in the universe...
Each has their own path to follow and you and I have a different path...what some do not understand is we all end up at the same place after this life's journey...
It's ok - Roger and I corresponded off board yesterday on this and other topics.. he's fine with it. He's headed back to Iraq and is incommunicado for a while. I don't think he minds my prayers to Deity for his safe trip, prosperous time at work and safe return home, in spite of the fact we don't see eye to eye on everything theologically. I know I come across intolerant - it is only due to strong convictions - but it really isn't so. Roger knows I care about him and my heart is in the right place.. so he overlooks what others might see as offensive. I hope you understand that toward you, too, Carl.
Roger wrote (and said he wished he had posted it to this blog and I could if I wanted to):
QUOTE:
I try to kep up with the economic news, and have been suffering trough
a whole evening on Bloombergs News Channel, to me it is a very
booooring channel, and I feel it is more of a push to educate myself on
the latest world economic news.
It doesn't look too good all over the world.
Suddenly the whole world got a credit crunch. And there is very little
money to be had for credit, as most creditors have overextended
themselves way too much.
If a lender have 10 mill dollars, lend it out, and then borrows 100
million dollars cheap , and continue to borrow out money to individual
customers, just to ride the market wave ( hey you bought a too
expensive house....no problem, here is the money, just pay us back with
interest).
That works as long as the individual lenders pay back on time, if not,
then the lender have overextended himself to the point that he can very
well get into bankruptcy.
In no time all the coffers were empty, because the 100 million the
lender company had borrowed from his source, was also borrowed money
from somewhere else.
Suddenly there was a huge mountains of debt notes floating around on
the market, and very little hard cash......oops.
So when the housing went south, as it does every ten years or so, it
blew the bubble, now everyone and his brother are trying to collect,
but there are nothing to collect, they are all sitting on debt notes as
"security".
Wow, I should have wrotten all that on the blog, well.... you can run
with it if you wish.
==end quote===
Certainly, the fact that there was sold to the public these debt notes with nothing backing them (except the good names of Freddie Mae and Fannie Mac) caused the beginnings of this financial mess. The fact the Democrats repulsed all the efforts to regulate Mae and Mac does make them responsible for the financial crisis, though the public sees it as the fault of the sitting government or Republicans (as is historically true for all problems, the people blame those in power). The other day I was trying to explain this to a friend of mine who told me that if it was wrong and criminal, the GOP should have thrown people in jail and FORCED them to do the proper thing. "Fat chance," I thought.. but didn't think it worthwhile explaining that politics doesn't actually work that way, with one party strong-arming the other one or putting them in jail when they disagree about the degree of regulation necessary. But I suppose people who have lost in the markets big time are not quite as rational as others more distant from the crisis may be.
The continuation of the crisis, however, is due to other factors, IMHO. The DOUBLE WHAMMY of both the housing market bubble bursting AND a sudden lurch leftward in the President-Election of BHO means that capitalists are leery of letting their money remain in the markets any longer. In the past three days alone over one TRILLION has been taken out of the markets because investors FEAR what Barry O will do. That lack of confidence is continuing to feed the market frenzy of selloff.. and I see no remedy in sight for that, except maybe a Dec 13th reversal of course by the electoral college voting for McCain instead of Obama. I suppose there are other factors could cause it to move toward the positive, but it isn't just economic news such as a slow fourth quarter driving individuals to remove themselves hastily from the stock market to the tune of a trillion dollars over the last three days.. it is fear they can lose it all with BHO's new socialist policies.
That the market was NOT rebounding and it is continuing to slide into the abyss is shown by the desperate political move of reallocating money from the 700 Billion bailout to try and offset this move from a lack of confidence by the market in Barry O's ability to handle the economy. It may not work. If it doesn't change the market slide between now and Dec 13th, they may have to remove that threat by electing McCain in order to bring stability to the markets so they can bounce back.. or they may foollishly take the economy to breaking point, and perhaps beyond it by rabidly supporting him even as the market gives him a vote of no confidence by removing their money from the market. No matter how they spin it, quote, "The stock market has lost about $1 trillion over the past three days" and if that continues on for any time, we have a broken market. But that was the brilliant choice of the vote of the majority of the American public.. who wanted BHO's redistribution of wealth to the middle class.. so who are we to argue if those they were TAKING FROM leave the marketplace along with their ONE TRILLION.. and more?
===
Stocks plunge for third straight session
Wednesday November 12, 2008
By Sara Lepro, AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- An increasingly despondent Wall Street fell for the third straight session Wednesday as investors absorbed another series of dismal corporate reports and news that the government won't buy banks' soured mortgage assets after all. The Dow Jones industrials dropped more than 410 points, and all the major indexes lost more than 4 percent.
The stock market has lost about $1 trillion over the past three days, according to the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 index, which reflects the value of nearly all U.S. stocks.
A TRILLION DOLLARS just got taken from the market.. golly, think it was a slow fourth quarter did it? They may blame slow corporate results and the desperate attempts by politicians to interfere in the markets and reverse this downward trend for the ONE TRILLION that got taken from the markets.. but they cannot change how people worldwide feel about investing in capitalist markets when the leader of the free world is closer in policy to the Kremlin than to free markets. In Russia, on similar fears about government interference, they suspended the stock market itself yesterday:
===
Russian trading halted after 12% drop
By Charles Clover and Isabel Gorst in Moscow and Paul J Davies in London
Published: November 12 2008
Russian shares sank sharply on Wednesday before trading was halted as investors digested lower oil prices, uncertainty over the rouble, and worries about the Kremlin’s interference in the economy.
The price of insuring Russian debt soared as credit market sentiment turned dramatically against Russia and some of its leading companies.
At least they are willing to make known publicly the TRUTH that it is the worry about GOVERNMENT that is causing the plunge in the stock market. Over here, they cover for "the One" and will continue to do so and try everything they can to reverse it. But will they be successful? Politicians do NOT control the free markets. If by Dec 13th the stock market is in a shambles (or even suspended as the Russian market is) it COULD make the politicians turn from BHO as the answer to all their problems, and they may acknowledge he isn't the savior from this crisis, but an additional problem added to it. It could sway enough electoral college votes if they see they will preside over a bankrupted economy.. then again, they may have such faith in their "Messiah" that not even that will deter them. I saw little evidence of rational thought in the run up to the election, and that may continue even in the face of overwhelming truth as shown in the reality of the market. I guess we will see.
The Deputy Minister of Industry and Minerals of Corporate Affairs Mohammed Abdullah, setting up an international exhibition on the ground Baghdad is clear evidence of the security and stability in the capital, as a great opportunity for companies Ministry to exchange experiences and proposals with international companies to participate in the exhibition.
Abdullah said during his visit to the wing of the Ministry of Industry and Minerals on the sidelines of Iraq international exhibition mounted on the surface of Baghdad today, Wednesday, the ministry involved more than fifty and a hundred fifty represented laboratory for various sectors, including the (construction, chemical, petrochemical, and food and pharmaceutical, engineering).
He said the massive participation of the ministry is in support of a similar exhibition in Baghdad aimed to upgrade the national industry, indicating that the products of these companies compete with their counterparts Alaalambp in terms of quality and efficiency which is identical to the standard specifications of products compared with covert fake trademarks are frequently found in the local market, Indicating that the approval of Parliament for legal protection of the consumer and the producer will contribute significantly to the reduction of flooding the market, which is now threatening the national product.
Meanwhile, a media source in the Ministry of Industry, told the independent press (Iba) today, Wednesday, Abdullah during a meeting with two managers of a number of private sector companies to participate in the exhibition said the ministry's support to the private sector through cooperation with companies in line with ministry policy Market economy pursued by the Iraqi economy, also discussed ways of improving them by the private sector.
The international exhibition with most of the Copyright and currently is first and foremost international exhibition will be on the ground in Baghdad since (2003), in which more than (150) Arab and international companies and local as well as contributions from Iraqi ministries and their (trade, oil, Science and Technology).
I have enclosed a letter I am writing to the U.S. Attorney's Office. I would appreciate your feedback regarding the letters content. Time is of the essence before December 13, 2008.
__________________________________________________________
11/13/2008
Jeffery A. Taylor
United States Attorney’s Office
555 4th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Sir,
My name is Rob N. and I am writing you as a concerned citizen of the United States of America. I love this country very much and feel it a privilege from Providence that I was born and raised in the land of the free. With less than a month before the electors cast their votes for President I feel it my duty as a citizen of this great nation to raise some concerns I and others have about Presidential Elect Barack Hussein Obama.
The most important concern relates to Obama’s visit to Iraq during the summer of 2008. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari charged Barack Hussein Obama sought to convince the Iraqis to end negotiations related to the Status of Forces Agreement and instead ask the UN for another one-year extension to the current mandate. Since Barack Obama was neither an appointed diplomat nor envoy visiting Iraq on the behalf of the Untied States these actions of our new Presidential Elect while in Iraq are a direct violation of The Logan Act of 1779; a violation of this act constitutes treason. Why are no federal charges pending against Obama? Will federal charges of treason be filed before the electors cast their votes on December 13, 2008?
Another concern I have stems from the charges levied against Barack Obama by Larry Sinclair. During his press conference at the National Press Club he claims he and Obama participated with each other in gay sex and illegal drug use. Were any of these charges including the death of Donald Young investigated by your office?
My final concern relates to questions regarding the validity of Obama’s citizenship raised by a Philadelphia Attorney named Philip Berg. According to Berg, Obama appears to have dual citizenship in Kenya and Indonesia not the United States. There have been questions raised about Obama’s Hawaiian birth certificate on his fight the smears web site. Has your office launched its own independent investigation into whether Obama is indeed a citizen of the United States?
Sorry, here is the last paragraph that failed to post above.
__________________________________________________________
If your office finds Obama conspired against the United States for his political gain then he is guilty of treason and he cannot be President of the United States. If your office finds Barack Obama while a United States Senator from the state of Illinois participated in illegal drug use and is with-holding knowledge of a murder he cannot be President of the United States. If your office finds in an independent investigation that Barack Hussein Obama is not a natural born citizen of this country he cannot be our President. It is my hope all of these concerns will be appropriately investigated by your office in an expeditious manner since the electors meet on December 13, 2008 to cast their ballots for our next President of the United States.
If the media are any indication.. this is a non-event.
They are certainly studiously ignoring the titanic sinking quietly into the abyss..
The Dow has lost 1,342 points, or about 14%, since the election
FOURTEEN PERCENT you say?
If McCain had been President Elect.. how much coverage would this have been given?
the post-election three-day decline of 7.1 percent last week was the worst in the Modern Era.. markets normally rally immediately after presidential elections... with the average since the beginning of the 20th century being a 0.7 percent rise.
Unprecedented historic decline?
Isn't Obama is going to make it all wonderful again.. and everyone is supposed to prosper, right?
After all, the middle class will get that big fat check from the Obama redistributionists..
OR maybe Wall Street will suck out all the money from the markets so he hasn't any cash of theirs to redistribute?
Sara.
==== Newsbuster Open Thread today on the economy and BHO
By NB Staff
November 13, 2008
For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: The Obama Bear Market.
The voters may be full of hope about the looming Obama Presidency, but so far investors aren't. No President-elect in the postwar era has been greeted with a more audible hiss from Wall Street. The Dow has lost 1,342 points, or about 14%, since the election, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting similar skids. The Dow fell another 4.7% yesterday.
Maybe worse, the post-election three-day decline of 7.1 percent last week was the worst in the Modern Era:
Since 1900, the worst such three-day performance for the Dow was a 6.0 percent fall after Harry S Truman was reelected in 1948. Such titanic declines are atypical as markets normally rally immediately after presidential elections with the average since the beginning of the 20th century being a 0.7 percent rise.
Is Obama and his socialist economic policies to blame for this post-election collapse?
But then, the Obamabots are not likely to see clearly any problem.. or need to correct it:
==
Broder: Obama's First Week Goes 'As Well As Anyone Could Imagine'
By Noel Sheppard
November 13, 2008
If you want to get an idea of the kind of rose-colored microscope Obama will be scrutinized with by journalists now that he's headed to the White House, you need look no further than David Broder's column in the Washington Post Thursday which actually began, quote, "The first week of Barack Obama's transition to the presidency has gone about as well as anyone could imagine."
Hmmm. I guess no one could have imagined president-elect Obama being greeted by a show of confidence by Wall Street instead of an historic stock market collapse.
For some reason Broder chose to ignore the 14 percent decline in equity values since Election Day, but the Wall Street Journal didn't:
QUOTE:
The voters may be full of hope about the looming Obama Presidency, but so far investors aren't. No President-elect in the postwar era has been greeted with a more audible hiss from Wall Street. The Dow has lost 1,342 points, or about 14%, since the election, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting similar skids.
==end quote==
Driving this point home further, the 7.1 percent decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the three days following Election Day was its worst post-presidential election performance since at least 1900. This gives Obama the dubious distinction of being the first president-elect to usher in a larger stock market sell-off than Harry S Truman's 6 percent decline in November 1948.
But none of that seemed to bother Broder who instead focused on Obama's acting skills, quote, "What we have seen so far suggests that Obama's skills will carry over to his new and expanded responsibilities. His victory speech in Grant Park, his first news conference and his meeting with President Bush went off almost without a hitch."
Yes, words are clearly more important than actions to folks like Broder as Commentary magazine's Jennifer Rubin pointed out:
QUOTE:
Well, there was that Nancy Reagan crack. And, yes, he did get into an uncomfortable minor spat with the President of Poland. [...]
It is not that things have gone badly, or that there haven’t been positive developments. But it certainly is not the case that we can’t imagine a better start. (What about not picking a fight over missile defense with an ally, while Russia continues its bluff-and-bluster routine?) Critical analysis and balance are verboten. We are in full rooting mode.
You have inspired me with hope that the electoral college might possibly see reason and choose not to vote Obama to be the next President. Certainly, with the stock market reacting to Obama being President elect by an unprecedented selloff equivalent to the entire holdings of the US stock market.. and a historic drop of 14 percent.. that may give them pause. I am certain other developments will press upon them as well between now and December 13th, which could make the argument for a McCain Presidency more logical and indeed likely. Certainly, McCain being a Democrat (remember John Kerry wanted McCain on his ticket as VP at one point?) should help sweeten the deal to a palatable level for when they have to take this medicine.. or lose the country they supposedly love. Your arguments are excellent and moral.. yet I think there will be more of a "kick" given by world events.. as God moves them toward His will.. or the country will face incredibly dire consequences.. on several fronts.
I have never been for Obama but where does anything say the market is dropping because he won the election? The market was dropping long before then and continues to do so because of the mess the banks and lending institutions created. Nobody has the right plan to get things fixed and until they do, the market is going to continue to drop irregardless of who is/has been elected.
Shpanky - You go right ahead and continue to believe that. It's still a free country and you are entitled to your opinion. :)
Of course, the ENTIRE stock market bugging out does mean something isn't right.. (a trillion dollars in three days is a lot of money) but if you want to blame it all on Freddie Mae and Fanny Mac exclusively.. go ahead. Why did the markets wait to fall so long, though.. if that was the only factor in their thinking? This crisis was in place quite a long time BEFORE the election.. why didn't it drop a trillion dollars a long time ago? And did you note that just before the election the stock market rallied.. almost like they anticipated a McCain win and a continuation of free market policies.. what was the cause of that if it was all downhill from the time of Freddie Mae and Fanny Mac as you suppose? What caused them to have optimism and cause it to go UP at that time? I don't expect you to agree.. but maybe some rational and critical thinking can be aired for you to consider.. if you are willing to give it a try.
If it was Mae and Mac only.. can you at least note the BLAME youtube I posted today showing the Democrats are responsible for it.. so at least you won't go around blaming President Bush. I personally believe that those who follow your lead in their thinking will never correct the underlying problem.. but will miss what could be done to correct the mess... perpetuating the continuation of it as a result. For those who will insist on blaming President Bush for the market bugging out for fear of Obama's socialism... that won't help, but self-deception is also a feedback reinforcement loop, as the Media has shown consistently.
Maybe you might remember this post from before which asks the provocative question, "
Comments