The Miraculous World of Benny Hinn

One of the mega-star television evangelists recently placed under investigation by the Senate is Benny Hinn. Hinn is one of the more controversial celebrity evangelists due to many of his claims — that he has divine healing powers, that God will destroy the coastal U.S., and that corpses can be revived by having their hands placed on television screens during Trinity Broadcasting Network broadcasts. However, nothing tops his shockingly bizarre faith-healing/revivalist summits, held at gigantic arenas and amphitheaters across the country; Hinn causes thousands of spectators to faint by pointing at them, while others cry from the pain of invisible fire.



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[Source: Vidz King - Posted by WAR ON YOU]

History of Oil in the Middle East from WWI to the Present: Iran Eliminates the U.S. Petrodollar

On Sunday 17 February 2008 the first phase of Iran's oil and petrochemical bourse on Kish Island was inaugurated, paving the way for “all major currencies of the world” to be used in future oil transactions. Two months later, on April 30, Iran announced that they had “totally removed U.S. dollars in the country's oil transactions.”

To understand the significance of these events let’s take a look back at our history, starting with World War I. The following short video (2:08) recaps the events that resulted in Britain landing troops in Iran in 1914, and consequently occupying Iraq. A more detailed and glorified recollection of this part of our history can be witnessed through one of the greatest epic movies of all time, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’.


We fast-forward to the first attempt of Middle Eastern countries to free themselves of Western control of their resources with Iran in 1951, when the democratically elected president, Dr. Mohammed Mosaddeq, nationalizated Iran's oil industry. Unfortunately however, Western powers would not stand idly by while Iranians took control of their own resources, which is why in 1953 the CIA, following instructions from Britain, organized a coup against Dr. Mosaddeq and overthrew the government. This was a well documented event and general knowledge among all those who lived in the Middle East and Asia for decades, but was not well known in the West until the year 2000 when the United States government released documents on the operation, and apologized to Iran and its people for the devastation that it unleashed. The following short video (4:39) is a good introduction to this topic.







Let’s now discuss the purchasing power of the US dollar.

Since the end of the Second World War, the US dollar has become the international reserve currency. The need for countries to maintain US dollar reserves was solidified in 1974 during the Nixon administration, when negotiations with Saudi Arabia assured that the oil would only be sold in US dollars, and surpluses from oil proceeds would be invested in U.S. Treasury Bills. In return the US would militarily and economically protect the Saudi regime. Since that time, US dollars have dominated world markets - until the year 2000 that is.

The following article, “The Real Reasons for the Upcoming War With Iraq”, which was written before the US invasion of Iraq, lays forth an argument that the war in Iraq was not just about oil but about the currency in which oil is traded. It is mandatory reading for anyone who wants to understand the basic concepts of American foreign policy, economics, and its military operations around the world. This article states that the principle reason why the United States invaded Iraq was because Saddam Hussein in the year 2000 went ahead with his plans to stop using the US dollar in its oil business and start using the Euro.

The trading of oil for the Euro instead of US dollars is an extremely important historical precedent set by Iraq that must be understood to fully grasp the implications of Iran's announcement in December of 2006 that they would “use Euro instead of US dollar in (their) next year's budget.” If the United states was willing to invade Iraq to prevent oil from being traded in any other currency than the dollar, then it would be logical to assume that they will also confront Iran regarding their plans to permanently and absolutely phase out the US dollar.

This now brings us full circle to the opening of Iran’s Oil Bourse and their announcement that they have “totally removed U.S. dollars in the country's oil transactions.” Since Saddam Hussein’s declaration that Iraq would begin to sell oil in other currencies, a few very significant events have taken place. Iran’s announcement that it would follow suit is just the tip of the iceberg. Many other countries have already started to sell the US dollar and to convert to other currencies. Some of these countries include: Sweden, Cuba, U.A.E., China, Russia, India, Indonesia, North Korea, Venezuela, and many more.

It is a fact that oil is the only reason the US dollar has maintained its value and acceptance as the world currency. Once countries can buy oil in non-US dollars then the complete collapse of the American Empire will occur.

All countries are aware that the US has been printing absurd amounts of their fiat currency, and they are no longer willing to hold reserves that continue to devalue. This devaluing has become accelerated since the discontinuance of the M3 report. “On March 23, 2006, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System” ceased publishing the M3 monetary aggregate. The M numbers (M1, M2, and M3) are “components of the United States money supply”, which “show the amount of dollars in circulation”.
[Source: Vidz King - Posted by WAR ON YOU]

Conservatives Deeply Depressed Over McCain Campaign

(Las Vegas, Nevada) Conservatives are so depressed over the state of the McCain campaign--particularly its failure to include and enthuse the Republican base--that they are preparing themselves for a monumental GOP defeat in November, Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, said in a speech to FreedomFest.

“You even have some conservatives who are considering voting for Barack Obama, because they fear McCain as president would destroy what’s left of the Republican brand and would finish off the conservative movement,” said Viguerie. “Their mood is that of the fatally ill patient who says ‘Let’s get this over with’.”

“John McCain has had the Republican nomination sewn up for five months and has done little to convince conservatives they should come off the sidelines and fight for him,” he said.

Viguerie said, “Personnel is policy and if Senator McCain won’t surround himself with conservatives during this campaign, when he desperately needs them, why should we think that he will have conservatives making critical decisions in his administration?”

“Senator McCain has never been a conservative, is not one now, and will not govern as one. From McCain-Feingold to cap-and-trade, he is a supporter of one Big Government scheme after another. History shows that, in the Oval Office, where almost all the political pressure comes from supporters of Big Government, he would only get worse.”

Viguerie has also called for the resignation of the Republican leadership in Congress.

“After this year’s expected blood bath in the November elections, the voters will bring about a massive housecleaning of GOP leaders in favor of principled conservatives,” he said.

Freedom Fest, at which Viguerie spoke, is a gathering of prominent advocates for free markets. Other speakers this year include Steve Forbes, George Gilder, Bob Barr, Dinesh D’Souza, Christopher Hitchens, and Congressman Ron Paul.

[Source: Vidz King - Posted by WAR ON YOU]

An American Pastime: Smoking Pot

The Netherlands, with its permissive marijuana laws, may be known as the cannabis capital of the world. But a survey published this month in PLoS Medicine, a journal of the Public Library of Science, suggests that the Dutch don't actually experiment with pot as much as one would expect. Despite tougher drug policies in the U.S., Americans were twice as likely to have tried marijuana than the Dutch, according to the survey. In fact, Americans were more likely to have tried marijuana or cocaine than people in any of the 16 other countries, including France, Spain, South Africa, Mexico and Colombia, that the survey covered.

Researchers found that 42% of people surveyed in the U.S. had tried marijuana at least once, and 16% had tried cocaine. About 20% of residents surveyed in the Netherlands, by contrast, reported having tried pot; in Asian countries, such as Japan and China, marijuana use was virtually "non-existent," the study found. New Zealand was the only other country to claim roughly the same percentage of pot smokers as the U.S., but no other nation came close to the proportion of Americans who reported trying cocaine.

Why the high numbers? Jim Anthony, chair of the department of epidemiology at Michigan State University and an author of the study, says U.S. drug habits have to do, in part, with the country's affluence — many Americans can afford to spend their income on recreational drugs. Another factor may be an increasing awareness that marijuana may be less toxic than other drugs, such as tobacco or alcohol. (However, the study also found that the U.S. is among the leading countries in the percentage of respondents who have tried tobacco and alcohol). As for the popularity of cocaine, the reason may simply be the close proximity of South America, the world's only coca plant producer. And finally, Anthony notes, it's a matter of culture: the U.S. is home to a huge baby boomer population that came of age when experimenting with drugs was a part of the social fabric. "It became a more mass-population phenomenon during a period when there were a large number of young people who were in the process of creating a culture of their own," Anthony says.

The survey also found that more Americans not only experimented with drugs, but also tended to try pot and cocaine for the first time at a younger age compared with people in other countries. Just over 20% of Americans reported trying pot by age 15 and nearly 3% had tried cocaine by the same age. Those percentages jumped to 54% and 16%, respectively, by age 21. That finding isn't surprising, says Dr. Richard Schottenfeld, a professor of psychiatry and a drug expert at the Yale University School of Medicine, since peer influence has a significant impact on the prevalence of drug use. In the Netherlands, for example, there is a large, vocal and homogeneous conservative population that is staunchly opposed to marijuana, says Schottenfeld. And anti-drug activists have made recent attempts to tighten the country's cannabis policies.

Yet experts say the findings of the new survey don't fairly reflect the success or failure of any particular drug policy. The survey asked only whether people had ever tried drugs in their lifetime — it did not ask about habitual use. "For drug policy, what you look at is regular use," says Tom Riley, a spokesman for the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy. "Somebody having tried pot in 1968 in college doesn't really have much to do with what the current drug use picture in the United States is."

Though current findings may not provide enough context to judge existing drug policy, Anthony says they do highlight some valid issues, especially since stringent laws don't appear to impact whether kids experiment with drugs. "One of the questions raised by research of this type is whether Americans will want to continue supporting the incarceration of young people who use small amounts of marijuana," Anthony says.

The ongoing study, which surveyed more than 85,000 people in 17 countries, is part of a larger project through the World Health Organization's World Mental Health Survey Initiative. Anthony says further research about the frequency of worldwide drug use, and new data from additional countries will be released in the future.




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[Source: Vidz King - Posted by WAR ON YOU]

'The War On Greed' Starring Henry Kravis

How is it possible for us to be entering a recession while buyout billionaires like Henry Kravis saved $96 million through tax loopholes in 2006 alone? That's just one buyout billionaire, in one year, making use of one loophole! Just think how much these private equity crooks are costing taxpayers who are already battling financial hardships and home foreclosures.

Our earlier War on Greed films garnered over 350,000 views and a lot of attention from The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The New York Post, not to mention the Private Equity Council. Such wonderful feedback made us realize that now is a crucial time to connect the dots between buyout billionaires and everyday Americans suffering through this recession. And in talking with many of you, we thought a short, animated video could be a great means of conveying the gross misconduct of Henry Kravis, KKR, and the policies of buyout exploiters. So Paris, Lee Stranahan, and the team went to work to bring you our first animated video.

Now for the serious part. Join over 18,000 people who have already signed our petition demanding our presidential candidates close the Henry Kravis tax loophole. Then, please send this film along to ten people. Make sure Larry the Loophole is seen by friends, relatives, and schoolmates through Facebook, MySpace-the works! We already started spreading our message yesterday outside the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, when we joined the SEIU to present Kravis with the "Loophole of the Year" Award.

Last week, journalist David Sirota wrote, "As the facts trickle out about the private equity scam, you can bet public pressure for change is going to start building." Yes, we've presented the facts here with animated satire and humor, but our hope is that this will allow us to reach tens of thousands of people together. .

Another KBR Rape Case

Karen Houppert | In the wake of Jamie Leigh Jones's highly publicized charges, a woman comes forward with new allegations of a brutal sexual assault and cover-up at a KBR camp in Iraq.

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[Source: The Nation: Top Stories - Posted by WAR ON YOU]

U.S. Supreme Court Wont Hear Campaign Finance Case

On March 24, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, 07-953. This is the case brought by people who wanted to make and advertise a film that would be shown in theaters and would try to make a profit. Yet the subject of the film would be to attack Hillary Clinton. The group wanted to be free of campaign finance reporting requirements.

Technically, the Court ruled that it doesn’t have jurisdiction to hear this case, because of procedural problems. This is slightly different than merely choosing not to hear the case.

Obama Attended Hate America Sermon

The Obama campaign has told members of the press that Senator Obama was not in church on the day cited, July 22, because he had a speech he gave in Miami at 1:30 PM. Our writer, Jim Davis, says he attended several services at Senator Obama's church during the month of July, including July 22.

The church holds services three times every Sunday at 7:30 and 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Central time. While both the early morning and evening service allowed Sen. Obama to attend the service and still give a speech in Miami, Mr. Davis stands by his story that during one of the services he attended during the month of July, Senator Obama was present and sat through the sermon given by Rev. Wright as described in the story. Mr. Davis said Secret Service were also present in the church during Senator Obama's attendance. Mr. Davis' story was first published on Newsmax on August 9, 2007. Shortly before publication, Mr. Davis contacted the press office of Sen. Obama several times for comment about the Senator's attendance and Rev. Wright's comments during his sermon. The Senator's office declined to comment.
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100 Year Old Electric Car Makes A Comeback

To promote itself, Detroit Electric--a new joint venture between Zap and China's Youngman Automotive Group--plan to release a limited number of cars based around the Detroit Electric, an electric car produced by the Anderson Electric Car Co. in the early part of the 20th century.

Anderson produced various models of the Detroit Electric from 1907 to 1939. Customers included Henry Ford and Rockefeller. It was also featured on a stamp. TV host Jay Leno has some of the cars in his collection.

When the opportunity came up to buy the brand, Zap and Youngman decided to go for it, said Zap co-founder and CEO Steve Schneider. The reissued car will be based on a model from around 100 years ago.

"For the bride to be, or the bride of many Junes ago, a Detroit Electric," read a company advertisement from decades ago. "No other bridal present means so much, expresses so perfectly all you need to say."

The company advertised quite a bit in Cosmopolitan. During the 1910s, Anderson employed 1,100 people (and not a drunkard, scalawag or reprobate among them!).

Back in 1917, a Detroit Electric cost anywhere from $1,775 to $2,375--in other words, fit for the proletarian or plutocrat. The cars could go 65 miles to 100 miles on a battery charge, but only go at speeds ranging from 6 miles per hour to 25 mph.

Although the company was growing in the 1910s, prices continued to drop on combustion cars, which started to sap sales in the 1920s. The stock market crash of 1929 then took a toll on the company. It lingered through the 1930s before collapsing in 1939.

But it wasn't for lack of enthusiasm.

"The magnificent Detroit Electric is easily the enclosed car sensation of the year," read another ad. Huzzah!

Detroit, in its new incarnation, will start coming out with electric economy cars in 2010.

Ron Paul "The High Tide"

Will My Crack Tax Be Paying for These Hookers?

NY Governor Eliot Spitzer, who has made news after proposing a "crack tax," a method of collecting tax revenue on illegal drugs by requiring drug dealers to purchase stamps to place on their products, now has bigger problems than being laughed at by his constituents. Turns out Spitzer likes to pay for it, sex that is. He's been linked to an online prostitution ring that was busted last week and allegedly admitted this fact to his senior advisers this morning. I knew there was a reason he was so desperate for new revenue. Those girls don't come cheap, you know.

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Lost in Political Philosophy

ABC's TV series Lost, whose fourth season premieres tonight, has multileveled mysteries and a cruelly withholding storytelling style that inspires passionate love and passionate frustration.

The love comes from the show's fascinating and compelling adventure-intrigue-SF storytelling. The scenario: plane crashes on an uncharted island. Some passengers, most with a fair amount of dark intrigue in their past, survive and try to forge a workable civilization -- and to escape. Previous inhabitants of the Island bedevil them. Everything ensues.

The frustration comes from the fact that halfway through the show's entire six-season arc, the viewer can be certain of very little -- neither what lies ahead nor precisely what's already happened -- and certainly not the meaning of what's happened.

The search for meaning bedevils characters and viewers. No element of the show is as suggestive and aggravating as its heavy reliance on political philosopher references.

The show stars a John Locke, which initially just seemed a curiosity. But as the show progressed, we were introduced to a Danielle Rousseau, a Desmond David Hume, a Mikhail Bakunin, a Richard Alpert, and even an Edmund Burke.

But what does any of this mean?

The popular show drops plenty of clues but, can you trust them?

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[Source: AmSpec News Article Feed - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]