Monday, June 18, 2012

Draft communique: G-20 leaders have produced coordinated plan for global job creation


By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, June 18, 9:45 PM


LOS CABOS, Mexico — The leaders of the world’s largest economies have agreed to step up their efforts to boost growth and job creation, which they call the top priority in fighting the effects of the European economic crisis, according to a draft of the statement to be released Tuesday at the end of the Group of 20 annual meeting.

The draft obtained by The Associated Press on Monday places the G-20 on the side of those who have been arguing for a focus on job creation, including through government spending, instead of the budget cutbacks and austerity pushed most notably by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Germany feels that it been unfairly burdened by its large contributions to international bailouts of economically weaker European countries that overspent for years and, in exchange, it has been insisting on steep cutbacks from aid recipients such as Greece. Those cutbacks have led to dramatic economic hardship for voters in Greece and other countries. A growing number of European countries having been advocating spending and growth, not austerity, and the G-20 statement appears to place the group of the world’s largest economies into that camp.

“We are united in our resolve to promote growth and jobs,” the draft says, declaring that the leaders will announce the “coordinated Los Cabos Growth and Jobs Action Plan” to achieve those goals, although the draft does not provide details of the plan.

It throws its support specifically behind greater government spending as a response to a worsening global economy, saying that countries with the resources “stand ready” to take fiscal action.

The plan says the Obama administration pledged to prevent sharp tax increases and government spending cuts from kicking in at the end of the year, as scheduled under current law, to avoid sending the U.S. into another recession.

As G20 officials wrangled over last-minute changes in the wording of the statement, European leaders at the summit struggled to reassure the world Monday that they were on the path to solving their continent’s relentless economic crisis, defending the pace of their response even as market pressures pushed Spain closer to needing a bailout that would strain the world’s ability to pay.

Less than 24 hours after an election that eased fears of a Greek exit from the shared euro currency, the interest rate that Spain pays on its debt surged above the 7-percent level that had forced Greece, Portugal and Ireland to seek international help.

The prospect of a bailout for Spain’s €1.1 trillion ($1.39 trillion) economy immediately eclipsed the good feeling at the G-20 from the election, and it dwarfed the host country Mexico’s expressions of confidence that the meeting of the world’s largest economies would lead to more than $430 billion in concrete commitment for the International Monetary Fund as insurance against future bailouts.

The Spanish delegation to the G-20 bemoaned the rise in the country’s borrowing costs and said the market reaction didn’t correspond to the reality of Spain’s economic strength.


Read more



RESET BUTTON?


Hilarious to think back to Hillary's Russian Reset Button photo opportunity

..

Riddles in Stone ~ Secret Architecture of Washington, D C



Uploaded by thierry1312 on Apr 18, 2011

We've Got Your Back Obama

Obama to press Putin on Syria at G20 amid skepticism

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 04:59 GMT

Source: Reuters // Reuters

* First Obama-Putin meeting since 2009

* Syria conflict stirs Cold War-style recriminations

* Suspension of U.N. monitoring steps up pressure to act

By Matt Spetalnick and Gleb Bryanski

LOS CABOS, Mexico, June 18 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will press Vladimir Putin over Russia's role in the Syrian crisis when they meet on Monday but appears to have little chance of persuading him to budge on Moscow's resistance to tougher U.N. action against Damascus.

After a week of Cold War-style recriminations between U.S. and Russian diplomats, the talks at a Group of 20 summit in Mexico will test whether the two leaders can forge a working relationship and find common ground on Syria and other festering disputes.

Suspension of the U.N. monitoring mission in Syria over the weekend has put added pressure on Obama and Putin, meeting for the first time since the Russian president's re-election, to act decisively to keep the conflict from spiraling into civil war.

But with relations frayed and expectations low on both sides for progress on breaking the deadlock, the stage is set for an uncomfortable meeting in the Pacific resort of Los Cabos.

Diplomatic efforts will be further complicated by Obama's re-election battle against Republican Mitt Romney - who has called Russia "our number one geopolitical foe" - as well as questions on how far Putin might go in translating his anti-Western rhetoric into actual policy.

The hardened tone appears to mark the endpoint of Obama's "reset" of ties with Moscow, pursued with Putin predecessor Dmitry Medvedev and touted by the White House as a signature foreign policy accomplishment.

With Syrian President Bashar al-Assad continuing his bloody, 15-month crackdown on the opposition, Obama and Western allies want veto-wielding Moscow to stop shielding him from further U.N. Security Council sanctions aimed at forcing him from power.

But Putin, a former KGB spymaster, is suspicious of U.S. motives especially after the NATO-assisted ouster of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi last year, and has offered little sign of softening his stance on Syria.

Though Washington has shown no appetite for a new Libya-style intervention, Russia is reluctant to abandon its Syrian ally, a longtime arms customer, and risk losing its last firm foothold in the Middle East, including access to a warm-water navy base.

Obama's aides say they are counting on other G20 leaders such as British Prime Minister David Cameron also to exert pressure on Putin. But Putin can expect solidarity from China, which has joined in blocking anti-Assad moves at the United Nations.

ANGRY RETORT

The seriousness of the rift between Washington and Moscow was underscored last week when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Russia of supplying Assad with attack helicopters. This drew an angry retort from the Kremlin.

"Some people are trying to spoil the atmosphere of these talks," said Yuri Ushakov, Putin's adviser on foreign policy.

He cited not only the arms sale accusation but also a proposed new bill in the U.S. Congress, the so-called "Magnitsky" law, that would target Russian human rights violators, legislation he called "anti-Russian."

Putin focused on another irritant in relations on Thursday, warning ominously of an "appropriate reaction" to U.S.-backed missile defense plans for Europe that Moscow vehemently opposes.

Obama may seek to lower the temperature, but he also wants to be assertive enough to avoid giving Republicans an opening to accuse him of being soft on Moscow at a time when he is already struggling to defend his record on the economy. At the same time, he faces criticism for not providing stronger leadership on Syria.

For his part, Putin will be in no mood for concessions that could be seen as weakness as he seeks to quell dissent at home with tactics that are drawing U.S. criticism. He also will be wary of making commitments to an American president whose future remains uncertain beyond the Nov. 6 election.

On a personal level, there is reason to doubt whether "No-Drama" Obama and tough-talking Putin will click. Their body language will be dissected by the media for any hint of where the relationship is heading.

Their first meeting, nearly three years ago at Putin's dacha when he was prime minister, was by most accounts an awkward one, with Obama subjected to a long monologue of Russian grievances.

But Obama aides say the initial improvement in relations, which came after ties soured near the end of President George W. Bush's tenure, would not have been possible without Putin's behind-the-scenes support.

Los Cabos, where the broader summit will focus on the euro zone crisis threatening the world economy, will be a chance for both leaders to make their case. But no new ideas are expected.

Obama will urge Putin to use his influence with Assad to accept a transition modeled on Yemen's, in which an autocratic president was pushed out, U.S. officials say. Moscow has signaled its opposition to making Assad's exit a pre-condition.

The White House also hopes to placate a key Russian concern. "It's not our goal in Syria to eliminate Russian influence," U.S. deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters.

Putin is likely to push for an international "contact group" that would include Iran, which counts Syria as its only real ally in the region. The United States opposes any Iranian role.

Still, Obama will tread carefully with Putin on Iran. Russia is hosting the next round of talks between Iran and world powers this week, and Washington wants Moscow to do more to help pressure Tehran to curb its nuclear program. (Additional reporting By Steve Gutterman; editing by Mohammad Zargham)


Source


What is Carlos Slim up to?

June 15, 2012 1:09 pm by John Paul Rathbone

Most other investors might be selling assets and hoarding cash, but not Carlos Slim. The Mexican telecoms tycoon and world’s richest man is on a shopping spree. This week alone he has bought a 21 per cent stake in Telekom Austria, while simultaneously pursuing a bigger stake in Dutch telecoms operator KPN. He’s also emerged as the surprise acquirer of an 8.4 per cent stake in Argentine oil company YPF. Using market prices, those two deals alone are worth around $1.3bn. What’s going on?

The Mexican billionaire has always been an astute buyer of distressed assets: good timing is one of the trademarks of his value-based investment philosophy. It drew him to invest in Brazil in 2002, when fears of a socialist government under Lúiz Inacio Lula da Silva crushed market prices. It also led him to invest in Argentine telecoms in 2001, shortly after the country defaulted. Now he’s doing exactly the same again – only in different arenas.

In Europe, the eurozone crisis has trashed asset prices – so that’s a chance for Slim to swoop. In Argentina, meanwhile, an eccentric approach to economic policy-making has trashed YPF’s share price. Furthermore, Slim has apparently picked up his YPF stake from banks that had been pledged the shares as collateral on now defaulted loans. Banks, generally, don’t like hanging onto such stakes for longer than they possibly can – which also makes them more-than-willing sellers, and often at good prices too.

Although these are risky bets, which may or may not provide a return, the fact they are hard assets, available at a good price and in areas he already understands, provides the margin of safety that every value investor likes to have. Warren Buffet, another billionaire value investor, would surely approve.

In Europe, there is also the prospect of growth – from the emerging market operations of Telekom Austraia. And as for Argentina, there may be political synergies to take into account. Slim’s Argentine mobile telecoms operation, Claro, a unit of América Móvil, accounts for the third of the national market, with sales of $2.6bn last year. That’s a position worth protecting – even if it means stumping up for YPF to keep Buenos Aires sweet.

Should others take Slim’s moves as a buy signal? Not necessarily. With a personal net worth of $67bn, Slim can ride out the ups and downs these investments will likely experience over the next few years, in a way most other investors cannot. Slim is also suffering at home. Competition is ratcheting up on both his mobile and fixed line telecom companies. As an asset allocator par excellence, it therefore makes strategic sense for Slim to switch into assets elsewhere that have a chance of a better return.

Two hundred years ago, the financier Nathan Rothschild, who made a fortune by trading ahead of the competition on early news of Wellington’s victory at Waterloo, coined the investment adage: “buy on the canon, sell on the trumpets”. As there are a lot of metaphorical financial canons firing at the moment, that also means the possibility for a lot of deals – at least for Slim, if not for everyone else.





Full transcript of Obama’s speech on the economy in Cleveland, Ohio


Video: President Obama contrasted his economic plan with presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney during a campaign speech in Cleveland, Ohio on Thursday.

Published: June 14


Full transcript of President Obama’s June 14 speech on the economy at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio:


OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much. Thank you so much.

Well, good afternoon, everybody. It is great to be back in Cleveland. (APPLAUSE)

It is great to be back here at Cuyahoga Community College.

(APPLAUSE)

I -- I want to first of all thank Angela (ph) for her introduction and sharing her story. I know her daughter is very proud of her. I know her daughter’s here today. So give her a big round of applause.

I want to thank your president, Dr. Jerry Sue Thornton.

(APPLAUSE)

And I want to thank some members of Congress who made the trip today, Representatives Marcia Fudge...

(APPLAUSE)

... Representative Betty Sutton...

(APPLAUSE)

... and Representative Marcy Kaptur.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, those of you who have a seat, feel free to sit down.

(LAUGHTER)

So...

AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you, Obama!

OBAMA: Thank you.

AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years!

OBAMA: Thank you.

So, Ohio, over the next five months, this election will take many twists and many turns, polls will go up and polls will go down, there will be no shortage of gaffes and controversies that keep both campaigns busy and give the press something to write about.

You may have heard I recently made my own unique contribution to that process.

(LAUGHTER)

It wasn’t the first time. It won’t be the last.

(LAUGHTER)

And in the coming weeks, Governor Romney and I will spend time debating our records and our experience, as we should. But though we will have many differences over the course of this campaign, there is one place where I stand in complete agreement with my opponent: This election is about our economic future.

(APPLAUSE)

Yes, foreign policy matters, social issues matter. But more than anything else, this election presents a choice between two fundamentally different visions of how to create strong, sustained growth; how to pay down our long-term debt; and most of all, how to generate good, middle-class jobs so people can have confidence that if they work hard, they can get ahead.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, this isn’t some abstract debate. This is not another trivial Washington argument. I have said that this is the defining issue of our time and I mean it. I said that this is a make-or-break moment for America’s middle class, and I believe it.

OBAMA: The decisions we make in the next few years, on everything from debt to taxes to energy and education, will have an enormous impact on this country, and on the country we pass on to our children.

Now, these challenges are not new. We’ve been wrestling with these issues for a long time. The problems we’re facing right now have been more than a decade in the making.

And what is holding us back is not a lack of big ideas. It isn’t a matter of finding the right technical solution. Both parties have laid out their policies on the table for all to see.

What’s holding us back is a stalemate in Washington between two fundamentally different views of which direction America should take. And this election is your chance to break that stalemate.




Sunday, June 17, 2012

Irish cardinal expresses shame for church failures about abuse victims

Jun-14-2012 (820 words) With photos. xxxi



A man carries incense during a liturgy of reconciliation during the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin June 14. (CNS/Paul Haring)

By Michael Kelly
Catholic News Service

DUBLIN (CNS) -- As the daily theme for the 50th International Eucharistic Congress switched to reconciliation, Irish Cardinal Sean Brady told pilgrims he was ashamed that the church had failed to respond properly to abuse allegations.

"May God forgive us for the times when we, as individuals and as a church, failed to seek out and care for those little ones who were frightened, alone and in pain because someone was abusing them," the cardinal, primate of All Ireland, told pilgrims in a rain-swept stadium June 14.

Cardinal Brady came under sustained pressure to resign from abuse victims' groups because he knew about the crimes of one notorious abuser, Father Brendan Smyth, in 1975 but did not report him to the civil authorities. Father Smyth went on to abuse children for many years before being finally jailed in 1994.

Addressing abuse victims, the cardinal said: "That we did not always respond to your cries with the concern of the Good Shepherd is a matter of deep shame. We lament the burdens of the painful memories you carry. We pray for healing and peace for those whose suffering continues."

Earlier, the congress secretary-general, Father Kevin Doran, confirmed that there were a number of abuse victims present at the event in a personal capacity. He declined to identify them, insisting that organizers did not want the victims' presence to be misinterpreted as a public relations exercise.

Referring to a large healing stone placed at the front of the altar to commemorate the victims of clerical abuse, Cardinal Brady prayed that "one day this stone might become a symbol of conversion, healing and hope."

"I hope it will become a symbol of a church that has learned from the mistakes of the past and strives to become a model for the care and well-being of children," he said.

Cardinal Brady's homily was greeted with sustained applause by an estimated 10,000 pilgrims at the open-air Mass, celebrated in the Irish language with music by traditional Irish musicians. The cardinal welcomed the many overseas pilgrims, "especially those of you for whom this is the first time to hear the Mass celebrated in the original language of the Irish people."

"We hope that through the universal language of sign, symbol and gesture of our Catholic liturgy, which is itself a source of our communion with Christ and with one another, you will enter with us in to these sacred mysteries," he said.

Heavy rain failed to deter pilgrims, and organizers said the number of people attending has increased each day. While many pilgrims arrived by train and bus, a large group of parishioners arrived after a two-week walk from Bangor, Northern Ireland.

Concelebrants at the June 14 Mass wore plastic ponchos over their chasubles to shield them from the rain. Earlier in the day, a large screen was erected for the many pilgrims who were unable to get a seat at the various workshops and talks.

The evening of June 13 Irish police estimate that 12,500 people participated in a eucharistic procession through the streets of Dublin. Many pilgrims carried banners representing their parishes, and the event included boys and girls who had recently made their first Communion.

Richard Moore, who was blinded as a child in 1972 when he was shot in the face by a British soldier in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, reflected on the importance of reconciliation in his own life. Moore said that, despite his ordeal, he "never had a moment's anger or a moment's bitterness."

He recounted how he met and forgave the soldier decades later.

"To sit in a hotel foyer, opposite the man who pulled the trigger and blinded me for life and caused all those hurts to me and my family -- and to like him -- was an incredible experience," Moore said.

Speaking to Catholic News Service, he said it was "the power of prayer" that has sustained him and allowed him to forgive.

"There is so much that is good in the church that I experience on a daily basis," he said.

"Things need to change in the church; there needs to be a lot more honesty and a lot more openness, but I am hopeful for the future of the church," he said.

His sentiments were echoed by pilgrims. Mary Walsh of Cork, Ireland, told Catholic News Service the eucharistic congress had been "an opportunity for people to come together and share and celebrate the beauty of our Catholic faith. People rightly criticize the church for its failings," she said, "but the fact that the faith is often inadequacy lived does not take away from the truth of it."

Tom O'Sullivan of Belfast, Northern Ireland, said the congress was "allowing the silent majority of the country to come together and share their love for the Eucharist and the Mass." He said he had been heartened and felt his spirits lifted by participating in the events.

END




Saturday, June 16, 2012

What about American workers?

















American Association of University Professors Questions La Sierra University’s Termination of Biology Professor

Submitted: Jun 11, 2012
By AT News Team

The nation’s leading academic organization has expressed concern that La Sierra University violated its own rules as well as long-established standards when it ended the employment of Dr. Lee Greer as an assistant professor of biology. In a letter dated May 31, Anita Levy, associate secretary of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), asked university president Randal Wisbey and board chairman Richardo Graham to explain the situation.
The letter is of particular concern to the university’s faculty, students and alumni because the major accrediting body, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) is on record in 2010 and again in 2011 registering concern about its institutional integrity. The backdrop for the letter is the ongoing controversy about how creation and evolution are addressed in biology classes at La Sierra which has resulted from criticism by an independent ministry since the 2007-2008 school year.
Greer was informed on February 13 that his contract would not be renewed and his employment will end on June 30. He has served as a full-time, regular faculty member for five years. Levy points out that this is a violation of AAUP procedures which the university has stated in its Faculty Handbook that it adheres to. “Faculty members who have completed two or more years of full-time service … are entitled to at least twelve months of notice before the expiration of their appointment.”
Levy also conveys the puzzlement of the AAUP at the university’s actions since Greer “did not actually do anything but simply make a proposal for consideration by his colleagues, the administration, members of the board, and church officials” a behavior that “should not be prohibited under the AAUP’s” rules. Especially since the university board voted on October 11, 2011, to affirm the document.
The letter suggests that the real reason for Greer’s termination is because he refused to sign an apology which the university required of all the biology faculty members who supported his proposal because it allegedly violated protocol. There is evidently no explanation of why this was necessary after the board approved the proposal.
The five-page letter recounts events that have been reported by Adventist Today and other news media. It expresses sensitivity to the issue of denominational expectations of the Seventh-day Adventist university. It clearly states that Dr. Greer is the primary source for the AAUP’s knowledge of the situation. “We would therefore welcome your comments,” Dr. Levy writes. So far as Adventist Today has been able to determine the university has not responded to date.
________________________



GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS by CECE WINANS


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Uploaded by gersomclark on Mar 3, 2008
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Friday, June 15, 2012

Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.


And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:

5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,

7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.

8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:

13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.

14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

Genesis 19:1-16.
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Panetta thanks gay service members, praises repeal of 'don't ask'

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Leon Panettatouted the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” in a video message thanking gay and lesbian service members in honor of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride month.

Repeal of the law that had blocked gays and lesbians from openly serving in the military “proved to the nation that just like the country we defend, we share different backgrounds, different values, different beliefs, but together, we are the greatest military force in the world,” Panetta said. (Watch the full video below.)

The law, in force since 1993, was repealed by Congress in December 2010, but it took until the following fall for the law to be officially halted.

Panetta said the repeal was implemented “with a focus on respect and individual dignity.”

“Going forward, I remain committed to removing as many barriers as possible to make America’s military a model of equal opportunity, to ensure all who are qualified can serve in America’s military, and to give every man and woman in uniform the opportunity to rise to their highest potential.”

He praised those who served before the repeal.

“Just like your fellow service members, you put your country before yourself,” Panetta said. “And now, after repeal, you can be proud of serving your country and be proud of who you are when in uniform.”

“Diversity is one of our greatest strengths,” he said. “And during pride month – and every month -- let’s celebrate our rich diversity and renew our enduring commitment to equality for all.”

Source
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Thursday, June 14, 2012

Dystopia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian. Examples of dystopias are characterized in books such as Brave New World, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and The Handmaid's Tale. The Iron Heel was described by Erich Fromm as "the earliest of the modern Dystopian"[1]. Dystopian societies feature different kinds of repressive social control systems, and various forms of active and passive coercion. Ideas and works about dystopian societies often explore the concept of humans abusing technology and humans individually and collectively coping, or not being able to properly cope with technology that has progressed far more rapidly than humanity's spiritual evolution. Dystopian societies are often imagined as police states, with unlimited power over the citizens. The word derives from Ancient Greek: δυσ-, "bad, hard",[2] and Ancient Greek: τόπος, "place, landscape"[3]. It can alternatively be called cacotopia,[4][5] or anti-utopia.


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Bilderberg Meetings (2012)


Chantilly, Virginia, USA, 31 May-3 June 2012


Final List of Participants


Chairman
FRA Castries, Henri de Chairman and CEO, AXA Group

DEU Ackermann, Josef Chairman of the Management Board and the Group Executive Committee, Deutsche Bank AG
GBR Agius, Marcus Chairman, Barclays plc
USA Ajami, Fouad Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University
USA Alexander, Keith B. Commander, US Cyber Command; Director, National Security Agency
INT Almunia, Joaquín Vice-President - Commissioner for Competition, European Commission
USA Altman, Roger C. Chairman, Evercore Partners
PRT Amado, Luís Chairman, Banco Internacional do Funchal (BANIF)
NOR Andresen, Johan H. Owner and CEO, FERD
FIN Apunen, Matti Director, Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA
TUR Babacan, Ali Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Financial Affairs
PRT Balsemão, Francisco Pinto President and CEO, Impresa; Former Prime Minister
FRA Baverez, Nicolas Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
FRA Béchu, Christophe Senator, and Chairman, General Council of Maine-et-Loire
BEL Belgium, H.R.H. Prince Philippe of
TUR Berberoğlu, Enis Editor-in-Chief, Hürriyet Newspaper
ITA Bernabè, Franco Chairman and CEO, Telecom Italia
GBR Boles, Nick Member of Parliament
SWE Bonnier, Jonas President and CEO, Bonnier AB
NOR Brandtzæg, Svein Richard President and CEO, Norsk Hydro ASA
AUT Bronner, Oscar Publisher, Der Standard Medienwelt
SWE Carlsson, Gunilla Minister for International Development Cooperation
CAN Carney, Mark J. Governor, Bank of Canada
ESP Cebrián, Juan Luis CEO, PRISA; Chairman, El País
AUT Cernko, Willibald CEO, UniCredit Bank Austria AG
FRA Chalendar, Pierre André de Chairman and CEO, Saint-Gobain
DNK Christiansen, Jeppe CEO, Maj Invest
RUS Chubais, Anatoly B. CEO, OJSC RUSNANO
CAN Clark, W. Edmund Group President and CEO, TD Bank Group
GBR Clarke, Kenneth Member of Parliament, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of Justice
USA Collins, Timothy C. CEO and Senior Managing Director, Ripplewood Holdings, LLC
ITA Conti, Fulvio CEO and General Manager, Enel S.p.A.
USA Daniels, Jr., Mitchell E. Governor of Indiana
USA DeMuth, Christopher Distinguished Fellow, Hudson Institute
USA Donilon, Thomas E. National Security Advisor, The White House
GBR Dudley, Robert Group Chief Executive, BP plc
ITA Elkann, John Chairman, Fiat S.p.A.
DEU Enders, Thomas CEO, Airbus
USA Evans, J. Michael Vice Chairman, Global Head of Growth Markets, Goldman Sachs & Co.
AUT Faymann, Werner Federal Chancellor
DNK Federspiel, Ulrik Executive Vice President, Haldor Topsøe A/S
USA Ferguson, Niall Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History, Harvard University
GBR Flint, Douglas J. Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings plc
CHN Fu, Ying Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
IRL Gallagher, Paul Former Attorney General; Senior Counsel
USA Gephardt, Richard A. President and CEO, Gephardt Group
GRC Giannitsis, Anastasios Former Minister of Interior; Professor of Development and International Economics, University of Athens
USA Goolsbee, Austan D. Professor of Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
USA Graham, Donald E. Chairman and CEO, The Washington Post Company
ITA Gruber, Lilli Journalist - Anchorwoman, La 7 TV
INT Gucht, Karel de Commissioner for Trade, European Commission
NLD Halberstadt, Victor Professor of Economics, Leiden University; Former Honorary Secretary General of Bilderberg Meetings
USA Harris, Britt CIO, Teacher Retirement System of Texas
USA Hoffman, Reid Co-founder and Executive Chairman, LinkedIn
CHN Huang, Yiping Professor of Economics, China Center for Economic Research, Peking University
USA Huntsman, Jr., Jon M. Chairman, Huntsman Cancer Foundation
DEU Ischinger, Wolfgang Chairman, Munich Security Conference; Global Head Government Relations, Allianz SE
RUS Ivanov, Igor S. Associate member, Russian Academy of Science; President, Russian International Affairs Council
FRA Izraelewicz, Erik CEO, Le Monde
USA Jacobs, Kenneth M. Chairman and CEO, Lazard
USA Johnson, James A. Vice Chairman, Perseus, LLC
USA Jordan, Jr., Vernon E. Senior Managing Director, Lazard
USA Karp, Alexander CEO, Palantir Technologies
USA Karsner, Alexander Executive Chairman, Manifest Energy, Inc
FRA Karvar, Anousheh Inspector, Inter-ministerial Audit and Evaluation Office for Social, Health, Employment and Labor Policies
RUS Kasparov, Garry Chairman, United Civil Front (of Russia)
GBR Kerr, John Independent Member, House of Lords
USA Kerry, John Senator for Massachusetts
TUR Keyman, E. Fuat Director, Istanbul Policy Center and Professor of International Relations, Sabanci University
USA Kissinger, Henry A. Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc.
USA Kleinfeld, Klaus Chairman and CEO, Alcoa
TUR Koç, Mustafa Chairman, Koç Holding A.Ş.
DEU Koch, Roland CEO, Bilfinger Berger SE
INT Kodmani, Bassma Member of the Executive Bureau and Head of Foreign Affairs, Syrian National Council
USA Kravis, Henry R. Co-Chairman and Co-CEO, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
USA Kravis, Marie-Josée Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
INT Kroes, Neelie Vice President, European Commission; Commissioner for Digital Agenda
USA Krupp, Fred President, Environmental Defense Fund
INT Lamy, Pascal Director-General, World Trade Organization
ITA Letta, Enrico Deputy Leader, Democratic Party (PD)
ISR Levite, Ariel E. Nonresident Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
USA Li, Cheng Director of Research and Senior Fellow, John L. Thornton China Center, Brookings Institution
USA Lipsky, John Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Johns Hopkins University
USA Liveris, Andrew N. President, Chairman and CEO, The Dow Chemical Company
DEU Löscher, Peter President and CEO, Siemens AG
USA Lynn, William J. Chairman and CEO, DRS Technologies, Inc.
GBR Mandelson, Peter Member, House of Lords; Chairman, Global Counsel
USA Mathews, Jessica T. President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
DEN Mchangama, Jacob Director of Legal Affairs, Center for Political Studies (CEPOS)
CAN McKenna, Frank Deputy Chair, TD Bank Group
USA Mehlman, Kenneth B. Partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
GBR Micklethwait, John Editor-in-Chief, The Economist
FRA Montbrial, Thierry de President, French Institute for International Relations
PRT Moreira da Silva, Jorge First Vice-President, Partido Social Democrata (PSD)
USA Mundie, Craig J. Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft Corporation
DEU Nass, Matthias Chief International Correspondent, Die Zeit
NLD Netherlands, H.M. the Queen of the
ESP Nin Génova, Juan María Deputy Chairman and CEO, Caixabank
IRL Noonan, Michael Minister for Finance
USA Noonan, Peggy Author, Columnist, The Wall Street Journal
FIN Ollila, Jorma Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell, plc
USA Orszag, Peter R. Vice Chairman, Citigroup
GRC Papalexopoulos, Dimitri Managing Director, Titan Cement Co.
NLD Pechtold, Alexander Parliamentary Leader, Democrats '66 (D66)
USA Perle, Richard N. Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
NLD Polman, Paul CEO, Unilever PLC
CAN Prichard, J. Robert S. Chair, Torys LLP
ISR Rabinovich, Itamar Global Distinguished Professor, New York University
GBR Rachman, Gideon Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, The Financial Times
USA Rattner, Steven Chairman, Willett Advisors LLC
CAN Redford, Alison M. Premier of Alberta
CAN Reisman, Heather M. CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc.
DEU Reitzle, Wolfgang CEO & President, Linde AG
USA Rogoff, Kenneth S. Professor of Economics, Harvard University
USA Rose, Charlie Executive Editor and Anchor, Charlie Rose
USA Ross, Dennis B. Counselor, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
POL Rostowski, Jacek Minister of Finance
USA Rubin, Robert E. Co-Chair, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Secretary of the Treasury
NLD Rutte, Mark Prime Minister
ESP Sáenz de Santamaría Antón, Soraya Vice President and Minister for the Presidency
NLD Scheffer, Paul Professor of European Studies, Tilburg University
USA Schmidt, Eric E. Executive Chairman, Google Inc.
AUT Scholten, Rudolf Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG
FRA Senard, Jean-Dominique CEO, Michelin Group
USA Shambaugh, David Director, China Policy Program, George Washington University
INT Sheeran, Josette Vice Chairman, World Economic Forum
FIN Siilasmaa, Risto Chairman of the Board of Directors, Nokia Corporation
USA Speyer, Jerry I. Chairman and Co-CEO, Tishman Speyer
CHE Supino, Pietro Chairman and Publisher, Tamedia AG
IRL Sutherland, Peter D. Chairman, Goldman Sachs International
USA Thiel, Peter A. President, Clarium Capital / Thiel Capital
TUR Timuray, Serpil CEO, Vodafone Turkey
DEU Trittin, Jürgen Parliamentary Leader, Alliance 90/The Greens
GRC Tsoukalis, Loukas President, Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy
FIN Urpilainen, Jutta Minister of Finance
CHE Vasella, Daniel L. Chairman, Novartis AG
INT Vimont, Pierre Executive Secretary General, European External Action Service
GBR Voser, Peter CEO, Royal Dutch Shell plc
SWE Wallenberg, Jacob Chairman, Investor AB
USA Warsh, Kevin Distinguished Visiting Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University
GBR Wolf, Martin H. Chief Economics Commentator, The Financial Times
USA Wolfensohn, James D. Chairman and CEO, Wolfensohn and Company
CAN Wright, Nigel S. Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister
USA Yergin, Daniel Chairman, IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates
INT Zoellick, Robert B. President, The World Bank Group

Rapporteurs
GBR Bredow, Vendeline von Business Correspondent, The Economist
GBR Wooldridge, Adrian D. Foreign Correspondent, The Economist


Rothschild and Rockefeller: their family fortunes

As a Rothschild trust prepares to buy a stake in the Rockefeller empire, how have these two dynasties managed to hold on to their wealth for so long?

John D Rockefeller: in 1882, he set up one of the first investment management businesses designed to run a single family’s money - Rothschild and Rockefeller: family fortunes

John D Rockefeller: in 1882, he set up one of the first investment management businesses designed to run a single family’s money Photo: AP

By Harry Mount

8:31PM BST 30 May 2012



You know you’ve really made it when your surname becomes an adjective.

In the late 19th century, the term “Rothschild Tudor” came into use to describe the family’s half-timbered estate cottages, sprinkled across their vast landholdings in Buckinghamshire. And in America, for more than 80 years, Rockefeller has been shorthand for “very rich indeed”. The name crops up in two classic Thirties Broadway numbers: On the Sunny Side of the Street (“If I never had a cent, I’d be rich as Rockefeller”) and the Gershwins’ They All Laughed (“…at Rockefeller Centre – now they’re fighting to get in”).
That’s why, for gilded dynasty watchers, the news of a union between these über-rich clans is so delicious: Lord Rothschild’s investment trust, RIT Capital Partners, is to buy a 37 per cent stake in Rockefeller Financial Services.
The numbers involved are pretty mind-boggling. RIT has £1.9 billion in net assets; the Rockefeller company has £22 billion. As if that wasn’t enough, these companies are just minor fragments of the two family empires. RIT was only founded in 1961; the principal family bank, NM Rothschild & Sons, was set up in 1811, and is run by Lord Rothschild’s cousin, David de Rothschild.
As we will see, there are a lot of Rothschild cousins, all of them pretty deep-pocketed, and plenty of them keen on starting new ventures. It’s symptomatic of the dynasty that Nat Rothschild, Lord Rothschild’s son, didn’t join the family bank when he left university but went to Lazard, before joining an investment management company, Atticus Capital, and then setting up a vast investment vehicle, Vallar plc.
As for Rockefeller Financial Services, that was founded as early as 1882, when John D Rockefeller set up one of the first investment management businesses designed to run a single family’s money. So, as well as making a fortune from their principal company – Standard Oil – the Rockefellers have been making money from their money, as it were, for 130 years.
That is what makes these two dynasties so exceptional – not just their dizzying wealth, but the fact that they have held on to it for so long: and not just the loot, but also their family companies. Other banking dynasties have fallen by the wayside – SG Warburg, founded by Siegmund Warburg in 1946, was swallowed up by Swiss Bank Corporation in 1995; its asset management side, Mercury Asset Management, was taken over by Merrill Lynch in 1997.
Barings Bank, the oldest merchant bank in London, founded in 1762, collapsed in 1995, thanks to the disastrous £827 million punt taken by Nick Leeson. Lehman Brothers remained under family control until the death of Robert Lehman in 1969 – the bank’s collapse in 2008 was the spark that lit the greatest recession since the Thirties. And who now banks with the Medicis, the leading bankers in Europe in the Middle Ages, and the financial backers behind the Renaissance?
It’s true that enormous fortunes – big enough to match 19th-century Rothschild and Rockefeller figures – have been made in recent years. Mark Zuckerberg is thought to be worth more than £12 billion since Facebook went public this month, though that figure seems to diminish a little with each Wall Street trading day. But, still, it’s unlikely that the name Zuckerberg will be associated with dynastic wealth for more than a century, as the Rothschild and Rockefeller names have been.
Part of the reason is that dotcom fortunes, like Zuckerberg’s, can be founded within the four walls of a tiny Harvard dormitory. Great banking and oil ventures needed vast manpower, and vast representation across the world, to establish a foothold in the Victorian rich lists. Those deep foundations produce a lasting infrastructure, a lasting familial obligation to the business, and that lasting association in the popular mind between a particular surname and great wealth .
Also, the Rockefeller and Rothschild families were consciously dynastic from the moment their businesses began. The founder of the Rothschild empire, Mayer Amschel Rothschild, was born in Frankfurt, Germany, the Jewish descendant of a 16th-century Rothschild, Izaak, who took his name from the sign outside his house – “Zum roten Schild” (“At the sign of the red shield”).
It was Mayer Amschel who laid the foundations of today’s Rothschild power base, by sending his five sons off to different European financial hubs: Frankfurt, Vienna, Paris, Naples and London, where his third son, Nathan Mayer Rothschild, founded the eponymous bank in the City in 1811. Almost immediately, NM Rothschild became a major force in the City, bankrolling the Duke of Wellington during the Napoleonic Wars.
John D Rockefeller got going a little later. The son of a travelling salesman, he made a fortune in food supply, before turning to oil refining in Ohio. By 1868, he owned the biggest oil refinery in the world, in partnership with his brother.
Throughout Rockefeller history, the name has stamped itself deep into the popular psyche through its philanthropy. That first John D Rockefeller founded Chicago University and Rockefeller University, as well as the Rockefeller Foundation – backer of, inter alia, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the New School in New York.
It was his son, John D Rockefeller Junior, who built New York’s Rockefeller Centre. The Gershwins were quite right in their lyrics, Manhattan’s gazillionaires did fight to get into the soaring art deco skyscraper, and it became one of the city’s biggest pieces of prime real estate: 19 buildings across 22 acres, all in the very centre of New York, between 5th and 6th Avenues and 48th and 51st Streets.
The cliché of fabulous new wealth is “rags to rags in three generations”, but each generation of the Rockefellers kept on building up the current account, while spreading the philanthropic interests. John D Rockefeller Junior gave the land for the Museum of Modern Art, stuffed the Met with medieval masonry and set up New York’s best-kept secret, the Cloisters museum, a staggering complex of five French monasteries perched on a cliff above the Hudson River.
His five sons continued the dynastic pattern – and that dynastic importance was intensified with the use of Roman numerals: JD Junior’s son was dubbed John D Rockefeller III. His brother Nelson was Gerald Ford’s vice-president; another brother, Winthrop, was Republican Governor of Arkansas. And the youngest brother, David, is still with us, at 96, now the Rockefeller patriarch and still hurling dollar bills at charitable institutions. In 2005, he gave away £64 million to the Museum of Modern Art and Rockefeller University – each.
A philanthropic streak runs through the Rothschilds, too. Jacob Rothschild’s home, Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire – built in Rothschild Loire château style, rather than Rothschild Tudor – now belongs to the National Trust, but he continues to cram it with treasures appropriate to its Victorian builder, Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. He also endowed the National Gallery generously during his time as chairman of its trustees, and did much to turn Somerset House from London’s biggest car park into its finest neo-classical palace.
The new union between the two clans does more than weld two vast fortunes to each other, then. It allies a pair of dynasties that have – coincidentally, independently – followed the two rules that all mega-plutocrats must obey if they want to be remembered in a century’s time. One: ensure your children feel a duty to preserve the family fortune. And, two, paradoxical as it may sound: give as much money as you can to universities, galleries and hospitals.




Wednesday, June 13, 2012

The Anti-Gospel

The Perversion of Christ's Grace Gospel

Available in:
paperback and PDF ebook on Lulu and
paperback and Kindle on Amazon.


From the Introduction:
Most people who attend their church services each week are not hearing the gospel. They are hearing an anti-gospel.

The English word "anti" is a preposition derived from the same word in Greek.1 It means "against, opposite, contrary, or in place of."2 The antichrist is against Christ, and at the same time he seeks to replace Christ. He also seeks to replace the gospel of Christ with a contrary gospel, an anti-gospel.

The word gospel literally means God spell (God’s word). In order to recognize and guard against the influence of the false gospel, it is important for the reader to be like the noble Bereans and check everything that is said against God’s word found in the Holy Bible. See Acts 17:10-11.

The devil is a very subtle liar who opposes God and his gospel. See Genesis 3:1; John 8:44. That old serpent has stealthily introduced his deceptive anti-gospel into the pulpits of churches around the world. He has very craftily mixed the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees into the gospel and ruined the whole loaf. Matthew 16:6-12. The resulting false gospel is premised on the idea that all men are freed from the bondage to sin and therefore have the ability to choose of their own free will whether or not to believe in Jesus.

This is not a dispute over a fine distinction that is only of interest to theologians. This issue goes to the heart of the gospel. It goes to the heart of salvation. It goes to the heart of who is Jesus. The bible states that man is spiritually dead and must be born again by the power of God. Ephesians 2:1-6; John 3:3-8. God has elected certain to be saved by his grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:3-9; 2:8-10. He imbues his elect with the faith needed to believe in Jesus. Romans 3:21-26; John 1:12-13.

The devil’s false gospel reverses the order of things. Under the false gospel preached in most churches, Jesus does not choose his elect for salvation, instead all men have a free will to choose Jesus. Instead of God choosing man, man chooses God. This mythology is not supported by the bible. It is at the heart of a devilish conspiracy against God and man. The free will anti-gospel denies the sovereignty of God and blasphemously makes God out to be a liar. The free will gospel is a heathen gospel that has a god, but that god is not the God of the bible.

The calling of the true Jesus is effectual; all who are chosen for salvation will believe in him. John 6:37-40. The free will gospel has a false Jesus who only offers the possibility of salvation, with no assurance. The scriptures warn about such a false Jesus. 2 Corinthians 11:4. The free will gospel denies the total depravity of man and the sovereign election of God.

The true gospel has a Jesus who loves only his children and saves them for eternity in heaven. The devilish anti-gospel has a false Jesus who loves everyone in the world, but this false Jesus casts most of those whom he loves in hell, suffering in torments for eternity in a lake of fire. The true Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 7 that he never loved those who are sent to hell. "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matthew 7:23. See also Romans 9:21-23. The true God of the bible saves those whom he has elected for salvation and he condemns those whom he has elected for condemnation. See Romans 9.

The false Jesus of the anti-gospel looks on helplessly while the sinner who is spiritually dead in trespasses and sin decides whether to believe in him. The true Jesus preordained and chose his elect to believe in him before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4-5. The false Jesus is an impotent Jesus, who must yield to the desires of men; if men decide after they are saved that they would rather reject Jesus and take their chances with being thrown into hell, they can forfeit their salvation. The false Jesus is powerless to stop them. The true Jesus is Lord of Lords and King of Kings, who is able to preserve his elect and will lose none of those whom he has chosen for salvation. John 10:27-29.


Table of Contents
Introduction

1 Paul Warns About the Anti-Gospel

2 Satanic Conspiracy

3 The Five Points of Arminianism

4 The Jesuit Oath

5 Preventing Grace

6 The Gospel

7 Dead in Trespasses and Sins

8 Chosen Before the Foundation of the World

9 Ordained by God to Believe Not

10 Not Willing that Any Should Perish

11 Salvation Hath Appeared to All Men

12 Born Not of the Will of Man

13 Falling Away

14 How Often Would I Have Gathered Thy Children

15 Ye Do Always Resist the Holy Ghost

16 Only Two Types of Religions in the World

17 The Command to Preach the Gospel

18 No Flesh Should Glory in His Presence

19 Does the Sovereign Holy God Create Evil?

20 He That Was Dead Came Forth

21 The Judas Gospel

22 John 3:16

23 Propitiation for the Sins of the Whole World

24 Denying the Lord that Bought Them

25 Free Will Repentance is Salvation by Works

26 Stripping the Sheep’s Clothing Off John Wesley

27 Rewards for Works

28 Calvary Chapel

29 “Christian” Rock and Roll

30 The Hidden Hand of the Illuminati

31 Arminian Counterfeit Bibles

32 The Devil’s Advocates

33 Phony Arminian Evangelism

34 Evangelicals and Catholics Together

35 Catholic Necromancy

36 Catholic goddess Worship

37 Catholic Idolatry

38 The Gift of Salvation Manifesto

39 Modern Day Pharisees

40 The Catholic Sacraments

41 The Eucharist

42 A Different Jesus

43 Baptismal Regeneration

44 Salvation by Works

45 Priests Claim Power to Forgive Sins

46 The Profitable Myth of Purgatory

47 Indulgences

48 Light Can Have No Fellowship With Darkness

49 Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth

Endnotes




The Right to Bear Arms: Over 10,800,000 Guns Sold in the USA in 2011


by Mac Slavo
SHTF Plan

Recently by Mac Slavo: Sheep to the Slaughter: Americans Raid Savings Accounts To Stay Afloat and Maintain the Dream


The United Nations may think they’re weapons of mass destruction, but Americans seem to disagree.

2011 was yet another record breaking year for gun sales, with Americans purchasing some 10.8 million firearms, a 14% increase over the previous year and up over 50% from ten years ago as reported by the National Shooting Sports Foundation:

Many indicators, including a record-setting 2011, show the firearms industry continues to thrive in a down economy and that the potential exists for another strong sales year in 2012, reports the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry.

Indicators such as background-check statistics, firearms production and importation, firearm-retailer surveys and on-the-ground reports from retailers nationwide reveal that interest in firearm ownership is high. “More and more Americans are choosing to exercise their Second Amendment rights, and they are doing so in a safe and responsible manner,” said NSSF President and CEO Steve Sanetti.

One of the best indicators of firearms sales is the FBI’s National Instant Background Check System, which federally licensed firearm retailers use to conduct the mandatory background check on purchasers of new and used firearms. NSSF downwardly adjusts the NICS data by subtracting checks related to non-purchasing activity, such as checks for concealed carry permits, in order to gain a more accurate picture of market activity.

December marked an unprecedented 19th straight month of background check increases when compared to the same period in the previous year.

Why are more Americans choosing to own firearms? Reasons range from citizens’ increased awareness of the Second Amendment protecting the individual right to own firearms that was reaffirmed in two recent Supreme Court decisions, to increased interest in personal and home protection that may be due to economic uncertainty, to increased interest in the shooting sports and hunting.

Politics has played a role, too, with a surge in firearms sale beginning in October 2008, in part because supporters of the Second Amendment feared the election of less gun-friendly candidates, including Barack Obama, and new, restrictive gun laws they might advocate. Though such legislation has not happened, industry professionals at the SHOT Show believe a similar reaction this election year is possible that could ignite another surge in firearm sales.


As sales climb, recent FBI data shows violent crime continuing to fall in the United States, with homicides dropping out of the top 15 causes of death in the country. The statistics undermine a favorite argument of anti-gun groups that “more guns equal more crime.”Related to the topic of gun sales is the public’s changing attitude toward ownership. A recent Gallop poll showed a record lack of support for gun control, with only 26 percent of Americans favoring a ban on the possession of handguns. When Gallup first asked Americans this question some 50 years ago, 60 percent favored banning handguns.

“These statistics vividly demonstrate that the lawful possession and use of firearms by law-abiding Americans does not cause crime,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel. “There have never been more firearms in civilian possession in the history of the United States, and crime, including homicide, continues to decline throughout the country.”

According to Ammoland, more guns were purchased last year in the United States than than there are active duty military members in the world’s fourteen largest armies combined:

  • Russian Federation 1,027,000
  • North Korea 1,106,000
  • South Korea 687,000
  • Vietnam 455,000
  • India 1,325,000
  • China 2,285,000
  • Iran 523,000
  • United States 1,468,364
  • Republic of China 290,000
  • Brazil 327,710
  • Pakistan 617,000
  • Egypt 468,500
  • Cuba 49,000
  • Ukraine 129,925
    Above Total = 10,758,499

If you assume an average length of each gun as two feet that would be 4090 miles of guns. That is fourteen times the length of the Grand Canyon and all most twice as long as the Mississippi River and 17,280 times higher than the Empire State Building.

Japanese Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was once quoted during World War II as saying, ”you cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.“

Enemies of the people of the United States and our Constitution should take heed. We’ve got guns. Lots of them, so just back off.

Reprinted from SHTF Plan.

    January 23, 2012

    Mac Slavo [send him mail] is a small business owner and independent investor.

    Copyright © 2012 Mac Slavo


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