I'm A Pimpin Turtle...

Wild Journey's: E.T.

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2013-01-09T04:57:46Z

Israel loves Iran - Iran loves Israel

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2012-06-28T02:34:14Z

From Israel to Iran

Iran responds to Israel

Syria, Iran, Russia and China plan joint war games, Iranian news agency reports

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2012-06-19T16:12:11Z

Syria, Iran, Russia and China plan joint war games, Iranian news agency reports

Times of Israel

Iran, Syria, Russia and China are planning the “biggest-ever wargames in the Middle East,” according to an unconfirmed report on the semi-official Iranian news site Fars News.

According to the article, the four countries are preparing 90,000 troops, 400 aircraft and 1,000 tanks for the massive joint maneuvers, which are to take place along the Syrian coast within a month.

The report states that Russian “atomic submarines and warships, aircraft carriers and mine-clearing destroyers as well as Iranian battleships and submarines will also arrive in Syria” and that Egypt has agreed to let 12 Chinese warships cross the Suez Canal for the exercises.

The IDF spokesman’s office called the report a “political matter” and declined to comment.

Iran is currently holding talks with six Western powers over the fate of its nuclear program. The talks, said to be held in a tense atmosphere in Moscow, seek to alleviate world concerns that the Islamic Republic is developing nuclear weapons.

Syria meanwhile faces international pressure to end a 15-month crackdown on local rebels trying to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad.

China and Russia have come to the aid of both countries in recent months at the UN Security Council, vetoing military intervention in Syria and expanded sanctions on Iran.

Shyne in Jerusalem

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2012-06-05T04:28:57Z

Paul says US `slipping into a fascist system'

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2012-02-20T04:22:34Z

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul warned the U.S. is "slipping into a fascist system" dominated by government and businesses as he held a fiery rally Saturday night upstaging established Republican Party banquets a short distance away.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/politics&id=8549714

Ron Paul & Joe Rogan on the Tonight Show w/ Jay Leno

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-12-17T20:37:47Z

Decorated Marine lectures New York police: ‘There is no honor in this’

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-10-17T22:47:08Z

United States Marine Corps. Sgt. Shamar Thomas from Roosevelt, NY went toe to toe with the New York Police Department. An activist in the Occupy Wall Street movement, Thomas voiced his opinions of the NYPD police brutality that had and has been plaguing the #OWS movement.

Thomas is a 24-year-old Marine Veteran (2 tours in Iraq), he currently plays amateur football and is in college.

Thomas comes from a long line of people who sacrifice for their country: Mother, Army Veteran (Iraq), Step father, Army, active duty (Afghanistan), Grand father, Air Force veteran (Vietnam), Great Grand Father Navy veteran (World War II).

Oaksterdam chancellor: Fed crackdown on medical pot a ‘war on patients’

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-10-12T01:46:15Z

Watch: U.S. Marines tell Hannity to ‘f*ck off’

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-10-12T00:50:56Z

California pot shops ordered to shut down within 45 days

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-10-07T19:47:25Z

RAW STORY

The Obama administration is finally cracking down on the medical marijuana industry, in a big way.

In letters received by 16 licensed California dispensaries and their landlords this week, U.S. Attorneys threatened to swoop in and seize the properties if they don’t close up shop within 45 days.

The Associated Press said that a coordinated crackdown on the medical marijuana industry would be announced at a press conference on Friday.

The move comes in the same week that the Internal Revenue Service took steps that may force Oakland’s Harborside Health Center, the nation’s largest medical marijuana dispensary,to shut down.

The same enforcement tactic that’s being used against Harborside — a very old law that prohibits groups that traffic in controlled substances from taking tax deductions — could also be used against pot shops in all of the 16 states that have legalized the drug’s use for medical purposes.

The U.S. medical marijuana market has grown into a $1.7 billion industry, and experts say it could potentially double that figure within just five years.

Keith Olbermann Reads The Statement Released By The Wall Street Protesters - 2011-10-05 - YouTube

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-10-07T19:36:09Z

PBS documentary sheds light on marijuana’s cancer-killing properties

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-08-27T02:34:35Z

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

Ron Paul's Urgent Warning!

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-07-27T23:10:46Z

Tribe meets white man for the first time - Original Footage (1/5)

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-06-30T03:42:37Z

Glenn Beck On The "Only Four Outcomes"

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-06-28T02:37:51Z

New bill ending federal ban on marijuana to be introduced in Congress

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-06-24T22:02:55Z

RAW STORY

Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Ron Paul (R-TX) will introduce legislation on Thursday to the U.S. House of Representatives that ends the federal prohibition on marijuana.

The Oakland Tribute reported that the bill would limit the federal government to enforcing cross-border or inter-state smuggling laws, and allow people to grow, possess, use or sell marijuana in states where it is legal to do so.

Although over a dozen states have legalized the use of marijuana for medical reasons, it is still outlawed under the federal Controlled Substance Act.

The legislation authored by Frank and Paul would allow each state to propose and enforce its own marijuana laws without federal interference.

Democratic Reps. John Conyers (MI), Steve Cohen (TN), Jared Polis (CO) and Barbara Lee (CA) are co-sponsors of the bill.

"The human cost of the failed drug war has been enormous -- egregious racial disparities, shattered families, poverty, public health crises, prohibition-related violence, and the erosion of civil liberties," Lee said Wednesday. "And of course the cost in dollars and cents has been staggering as well -- over a trillion dollars spent to incarcerate tens of millions of young people."

"I co-sponsored this bipartisan legislation because I believe it is time to turn the page from this failed drug war."

Rep. Cohen, another co-sponsor, called last week for an end to the 40-year war on drugs, which he said had spent trillions of dollars to incarcerate millions of people for non-violent crimes.

Ron Paul Interview on Co Introducing Bill To Decriminalize Marijuana

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-06-24T01:11:35Z

Fear not of men...

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-06-18T22:34:10Z

MIRAGE - Buildings and mountains appear in China

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-06-18T17:01:01Z

'Magic Mushrooms' Can Improve Psychological Health Long Term

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-06-17T21:25:20Z

The psychedelic drug in magic mushrooms may have lasting medical and spiritual benefits, according to new research from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

The mushroom-derived hallucinogen, called psilocybin, is known to trigger transformative spiritual states, but at high doses it can also result in "bad trips" marked by terror and panic. The trick is to get the dose just right, which the Johns Hopkins researchers report having accomplished.

In their study, the Hopkins scientists were able to reliably induce transcendental experiences in volunteers, which offered long-lasting psychological growth and helped people find peace in their lives — without the negative effects.

Ron Paul Responds to President Obama’s Middle East Speech

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-05-21T21:23:41Z

BUSINESS WIRE VIA DAILY PAUL

LAKE JACKSON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ron Paul, a twelve-term U.S. congressman, member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate, remarked on President Obama’s speech earlier today about the United States’ Middle East policy. Please see the statement below.

“The President gave a speech today about our foreign policy in the Middle East, and once again this administration has proven that it does not understand a proper foreign policy for America. When will our leaders finally do what’s right for America and rethink this irrational approach we’ve followed for far too long?

“Israel is our close friend. While President Obama’s demand that Israel make hard concessions in her border conflicts may very well be in her long-term interest, only Israel can make that determination on her own, without pressure from the United States or coercion by the United Nations.

“Unlike this President, I do not believe it is our place to dictate how Israel runs her affairs. There can only be peace in the region if those sides work out their differences among one another. We should respect Israel’s sovereignty and not try to dictate her policy from Washington.

“The President also defended his unconstitutional intervention in Libya, authorized not by the United States Congress but by the United Nations, and announced new plans to pressure Syria and force the leader of that country to step down.

“Our military is already dangerously extended, and this administration wants to expand our involvement. When will our bombing in Libya end? Is President Obama seriously considering military action against Syria? We are facing $2 trillion dollar deficits, and the American taxpayer cannot afford any of it.

“Our military’s purpose is to defend our country, not to police the Middle East.

“As the President prepares to send even more support to Egypt, we should be reminded that it was our foreign aid that helped Mubarak retain power to repress his people in the first place. Now we have to deal with the consequences of those decisions, yet we keep repeating the same mistakes.

“I am not the only one who can see the absurdities of our foreign policy. We give $3 billion to Israel and $12 billion to her enemies. Most Americans know that makes no sense.

“We need to come to our senses, trade with our friends in the Middle East (both Arab and Israeli), clean up our own economic mess so we set a good example, and allow them to work out their own conflicts.”

May 15 - Paradigm Shift: Palestinians march through Golan Heights en-masse to Majdal Shams

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-05-16T03:20:00Z

Bin Laden dead before U.S. raid - Iranian Intelligence Minister

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-05-09T18:35:00Z

RIA NOVOSTI

Iranian Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi said Tehran has evidence that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had died of disease long before the United States' alleged raid on the terrorist, FARS Iranian news agency said.

Bin Laden was killed on May 2 in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad, north of the capital Islamabad, during a raid by U.S. Navy Seals.

"We have accurate information that bin Laden died of illness some time ago," Moslehi said.

Bin Laden's body was buried at sea less than 24 hours after the operation.

"If the US military and intelligence apparatus have really arrested or killed bin Laden, why don't they show him (his dead body) why have they thrown his corpse into the sea?" Moslehi continued.

A DNA test proved that the corpse of the dead man belonged to bin Laden, who has topped the FBI's most wanted list for the past decade.

White House spokesman, Jay Carney said on Wednesday that Washington would not release bin Laden's postmortem photos to avoid instigating propaganda and possible violence.

MOSCOW, May 9 (RIA Novosti)

Ron Paul - South Carolina Debate Highlights

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-05-07T04:32:00Z

Gaddafi gold-for-oil, dollar-doom plans behind Libya ‘mission’?

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-05-06T00:36:00Z

Top Government Insider: Bin Laden Died In 2001, 9/11 False Flag Attack

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-05-04T22:21:00Z

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State under three different administrations Steve R. Pieczenik says he is prepared to tell a federal grand jury the name of a top general who told him directly 9/11 was a false flag attack

GLOBAL RESEARCH

Top US government insider Dr. Steve R. Pieczenik, a man who held numerous different influential positions under three different Presidents and still works with the Defense Department, shockingly told The Alex Jones Show yesterday that Osama Bin Laden died in 2001 and that he was prepared to testify in front of a grand jury how a top general told him directly that 9/11 was a false flag inside job.

Pieczenik cannot be dismissed as a “conspiracy theorist”. He served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State under three different administrations, Nixon, Ford and Carter, while also working under Reagan and Bush senior, and still works as a consultant for the Department of Defense. A former US Navy Captain, Pieczenik achieved two prestigious Harry C. Solomon Awards at the Harvard Medical School as he simultaneously completed a PhD at MIT.

Recruited by Lawrence Eagleburger as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Management, Pieczenik went on to develop, “the basic tenets for psychological warfare, counter terrorism, strategy and tactics for transcultural negotiations for the US State Department, military and intelligence communities and other agencies of the US Government,” while also developing foundational strategies for hostage rescue that were later employed around the world.

Pieczenik also served as a senior policy planner under Secretaries Henry Kissinger, Cyrus Vance, George Schultz and James Baker and worked on George W. Bush’s election campaign against Al Gore. His record underscores the fact that he is one of the most deeply connected men in intelligence circles over the past three decades plus.

The character of Jack Ryan, who appears in many Tom Clancy novels and was also played by Harrison Ford in the popular 1992 movie Patriot Games, is also based on Steve Pieczenik.

Back in April 2002, over nine years ago, Pieczenik told the Alex Jones Show that Bin Laden had already been “dead for months,” and that the government was waiting for the most politically expedient time to roll out his corpse. Pieczenik would be in a position to know, having personally met Bin Laden and worked with him during the proxy war against the Soviets in Afghanistan back in the early 80′s.

Pieczenik said that Osama Bin Laden died in 2001, “Not because special forces had killed him, but because as a physician I had known that the CIA physicians had treated him and it was on the intelligence roster that he had marfan syndrome,” adding that the US government knew Bin Laden was dead before they invaded Afghanistan.

Marfan syndrome is a degenerative genetic disease for which there is no permanent cure. The illness severely shortens the life span of the sufferer.

“He died of marfan syndrome, Bush junior knew about it, the intelligence community knew about it,” said Pieczenik, noting how CIA physicians had visited Bin Laden in July 2001 at the American Hospital in Dubai.

“He was already very sick from marfan syndrome and he was already dying, so nobody had to kill him,” added Pieczenik, stating that Bin Laden died shortly after 9/11 in his Tora Bora cave complex.

“Did the intelligence community or the CIA doctor up this situation, the answer is yes, categorically yes,” said Pieczenik, referring to Sunday’s claim that Bin Laden was killed at his compound in Pakistan, adding, “This whole scenario where you see a bunch of people sitting there looking at a screen and they look as if they’re intense, that’s nonsense,” referring to the images released by the White House which claim to show Biden, Obama and Hillary Clinton watching the operation to kill Bin Laden live on a television screen.

“It’s a total make-up, make believe, we’re in an American theater of the absurd….why are we doing this again….nine years ago this man was already dead….why does the government repeatedly have to lie to the American people,” asked Pieczenik.

“Osama Bin Laden was totally dead, so there’s no way they could have attacked or confronted or killed Osama Bin laden,” said Pieczenik, joking that the only way it could have happened was if special forces had attacked a mortuary.

Pieczenik said that the decision to launch the hoax now was made because Obama had reached a low with plummeting approval ratings and the fact that the birther issue was blowing up in his face.

“He had to prove that he was more than American….he had to be aggressive,” said Pieczenik, adding that the farce was also a way of isolating Pakistan as a retaliation for intense opposition to the Predator drone program, which has killed hundreds of Pakistanis.

“This is orchestrated, I mean when you have people sitting around and watching a sitcom, basically the operations center of the White House, and you have a president coming out almost zombie-like telling you they just killed Osama Bin Laden who was already dead nine years ago,” said Pieczenik, calling the episode, “the greatest falsehood I’ve ever heard, I mean it was absurd.”

Dismissing the government’s account of the assassination of Bin Laden as a “sick joke” on the American people, Pieczenik said, “They are so desperate to make Obama viable, to negate the fact that he may not have been born here, any questions about his background, any irregularities about his background, to make him look assertive….to re-elect this president so the American public can be duped once again.”

Pieczenik’s assertion that Bin Laden died almost ten years ago is echoed by numerous intelligence professionals as well as heads of state across the world.

Bin Laden, “Was used in the same way that 9/11 was used to mobilize the emotions and feelings of the American people in order to go to a war that had to be justified through a narrative that Bush junior created and Cheney created about the world of terrorism,” stated Pieczenik.

During his interview with the Alex Jones Show yesterday, Pieczenik also asserted he was directly told by a prominent general that 9/11 was a stand down and a false flag operation, and that he is prepared to go to a grand jury to reveal the general’s name.

“They ran the attacks,” said Pieczenik, naming Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Stephen Hadley, Elliott Abrams, and Condoleezza Rice amongst others as having been directly involved.

“It was called a stand down, a false flag operation in order to mobilize the American public under false pretenses….it was told to me even by the general on the staff of Wolfowitz – I will go in front of a federal committee and swear on perjury who the name was of the individual so that we can break it open,” said Pieczenik, adding that he was “furious” and “knew it had happened”.

“I taught stand down and false flag operations at the national war college, I’ve taught it with all my operatives so I knew exactly what was done to the American public,” he added.

Pieczenik re-iterated that he was perfectly willing to reveal the name of the general who told him 9/11 was an inside job in a federal court, “so that we can unravel this thing legally, not with the stupid 9/11 Commission that was absurd.”

Pieczenik explained that he was not a liberal, a conservative or a tea party member, merely an American who is deeply concerned about the direction in which his country is heading.

Watch the full interview with Dr. Pieczenik below.

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show.

Paul Joseph Watson is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Paul Joseph Watson

Bin Laden’s Neighbour: “None Of This Is True”

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-05-03T23:26:00Z

CONTEXT: Benazir Bhutto on death of Osama Bin Laden

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-05-02T23:58:00Z

Benazir Bhutto, who was killed in a suicide attack at the end of 2007, stated that Osama bin Laden had been killed by Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a man convicted of kidnapping and killing journalist Daniel Pearl.

Osama Bin Laden just killed.....?

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-05-02T03:42:00Z

Benazir Bhutto: Bin Laden was Murdered - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnychOXj9Tg

David Ray Griffin: "Evidence that Bin Laden has been dead since late 2001" http://bit.ly/mrk3H2

Former CIA Officer in 2008: "Of course Bin Laden is dead..."http://bit.ly/ik2J4K

Daily Mail article about Bin Laden being dead since 2002:http://bit.ly/k5uubI

Here is a Dec. 26, 2001 story reporting Bin Laden's death-http://fxn.ws/j500Ze

IMF bombshell: Age of America nears end - Commentary: China’s economy will surpass the U.S. in 2016

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-05-01T20:47:00Z

MARKETWATCH - Brett Arends

BOSTON (MarketWatch) — The International Monetary Fund has just dropped a bombshell, and nobody noticed.

For the first time, the international organization has set a date for the moment when the “Age of America” will end and the U.S. economy will be overtaken by that of China.

According to the latest IMF official forecasts, China’s economy will surpass that of America in real terms in 2016 — just five years from now.And it’s a lot closer than you may think.

Put that in your calendar.

It provides a painful context for the budget wrangling taking place in Washington right now. It raises enormous questions about what the international security system is going to look like in just a handful of years. And it casts a deepening cloud over both the U.S. dollar and the giant Treasury market, which have been propped up for decades by their privileged status as the liabilities of the world’s hegemonic power.

According to the IMF forecast, which was quietly posted on the Fund’s website just two weeks ago, whoever is elected U.S. president next year — Obama? Mitt Romney? Donald Trump? — will be the last to preside over the world’s largest economy.

Most people aren’t prepared for this. They aren’t even aware it’s that close. Listen to experts of various stripes, and they will tell you this moment is decades away. The most bearish will put the figure in the mid-2020s.

China’s economy will be the world’s largest within five years or so.

But they’re miscounting. They’re only comparing the gross domestic products of the two countries using current exchange rates.

That’s a largely meaningless comparison in real terms. Exchange rates change quickly. And China’s exchange rates are phony. China artificially undervalues its currency, the renminbi, through massive intervention in the markets.

The comparison that really matters

In addition to comparing the two countries based on exchange rates, the IMF analysis also looked to the true, real-terms picture of the economies using “purchasing power parities.” That compares what people earn and spend in real terms in their domestic economies.

Under PPP, the Chinese economy will expand from $11.2 trillion this year to $19 trillion in 2016. Meanwhile the size of the U.S. economy will rise from $15.2 trillion to $18.8 trillion. That would take America’s share of the world output down to 17.7%, the lowest in modern times. China’s would reach 18%, and rising.

Just 10 years ago, the U.S. economy was three times the size of China’s.

Naturally, all forecasts are fallible. Time and chance happen to them all. The actual date when China surpasses the U.S. might come even earlier than the IMF predicts, or somewhat later. If the great Chinese juggernaut blows a tire, as a growing number fear it might, it could even delay things by several years. But the outcome is scarcely in doubt.

We have lived in a world dominated by the U.S. for so long that there is no longer anyone alive who remembers anything else. America overtook Great Britain as the world’s leading economic power in the 1890s and never looked back.This is more than a statistical story. It is the end of the Age of America. As a bond strategist in Europe told me two weeks ago, “We are witnessing the end of America’s economic hegemony.”

And both those countries live under very similar rules of constitutional government, respect for civil liberties and the rights of property. China has none of those. The Age of China will feel very different.

Victor Cha, senior adviser on Asian affairs at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, told me China’s neighbors in Asia are already waking up to the dangers. “The region is overwhelmingly looking to the U.S. in a way that it hasn’t done in the past,” he said. “They see the U.S. as a counterweight to China. They also see American hegemony over the last half-century as fairly benign. In China they see the rise of an economic power that is not benevolent, that can be predatory. They don’t see it as a benign hegemony.”

The rise of China, and the relative decline of America, is the biggest story of our time. You can see its implications everywhere, from shuttered factories in the Midwest to soaring costs of oil and other commodities. Last fall, when I attended a conference in London about agricultural investment, I was struck by the number of people there who told stories about Chinese interests snapping up farmland and foodstuff supplies — from South America to China and elsewhere.

This is the result of decades during which China has successfully pursued economic policies aimed at national expansion and power, while the U.S. has embraced either free trade or, for want of a better term, economic appeasement.

“There are two systems in collision,” said Ralph Gomory, research professor at NYU’s Stern business school. “They have a state-guided form of capitalism, and we have a much freer former of capitalism.” What we have seen, he said, is “a massive shift in capability from the U.S. to China. What we have done is traded jobs for profit. The jobs have moved to China. The capability erodes in the U.S. and grows in China. That’s very destructive. That is a big reason why the U.S. is becoming more and more polarized between a small, very rich class and an eroding middle class. The people who get the profits are very different from the people who lost the wages.”

The next chapter of the story is just beginning.

U.S. spending spree won’t work

What the rise of China means for defense, and international affairs, has barely been touched on. The U.S. is now spending gigantic sums — from a beleaguered economy — to try to maintain its place in the sun. See: Pentagon spending is budget blind spot .

It’s a lesson we could learn more cheaply from the sad story of the British, Spanish and other empires. It doesn’t work. You can’t stay on top if your economy doesn’t.

Equally to the point, here is what this means economically, and for investors.

Some years ago I was having lunch with the smartest investor I know, London-based hedge-fund manager Crispin Odey. He made the argument that markets are reasonably efficient, most of the time, at setting prices. Where they are most likely to fail, though, is in correctly anticipating and pricing big, revolutionary, “paradigm” shifts — whether a rise of disruptive technologies or revolutionary changes in geopolitics. We are living through one now.

The U.S. Treasury market continues to operate on the assumption that it will always remain the global benchmark of money. Business schools still teach students, for example, that the interest rate on the 10-year Treasury bond is the “risk-free rate” on money. And so it has been for more than a century. But that’s all based on the Age of America.

No wonder so many have been buying gold. If the U.S. dollar ceases to be the world’s sole reserve currency, what will be? The euro would be fine if it acts like the old deutschemark. If it’s just the Greek drachma in drag ... not so much.

The last time the world’s dominant hegemon lost its ability to run things singlehandedly was early in the past century. That’s when the U.S. and Germany surpassed Great Britain. It didn’t turn out well.

Updated with IMF reaction

The International Monetary Fund has responded to my article.

In a statement sent to MarketWatch, the IMF confirmed the report, but challenged my interpretation of the data. Comparing the U.S. and Chinese economies using “purchase-power-parity,” it argued, “is not the most appropriate measure… because PPP price levels are influenced by nontraded services, which are more relevant domestically than globally.”

The IMF added that it prefers to compare economies using market exchange rates, and that under this comparison the U.S. “is currently 130% bigger than China, and will still be 70% larger by 2016.”

My take?

The IMF is entitled to make its case. But its argument raises more questions than it answers.

First, no one measure is perfect. Everybody knows that.

But that’s also true of the GDP figures themselves. Hurricane Katrina, for example, added to the U.S. GDP, because it stimulated a lot of economic activity — like providing emergency relief, and rebuilding homes. Is there anyone who seriously thinks Katrina was a net positive for the United States? All statistics need caveats.

Second, comparing economies using simple exchange rates, as the IMF suggests, raises huge problems.

Currency markets fluctuate. They represent international money flows, not real output.

The U.S. dollar has fallen nearly 10% against the euro so far this year. Does anyone suggest that the real size of the U.S. economy has shrunk by 10% in comparison with Europe over that period? The idea is absurd.

China actively suppresses the renminbi on the currency markets through massive dollar purchases. As a result the renminbi is deeply undervalued on the foreign-exchange markets. Just comparing the economies on their exchange rates misses that altogether.

Purchasing power parity is not a perfect measure. None exists. But it measures the output of economies in terms of real goods and services, not just paper money. That’s why it’s widely used to compare economies. The IMF publishes PPP data. So does the OECD. Many economists rely on them.

Brett Arends is a senior columnist for MarketWatch and a personal-finance columnist for The Wall Street Journal.

All Eyes on the Mississippi River

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-05-01T19:17:00Z

MY FOX MEMPHIS

In Brief:

- The Mississippi River is rising causing her tributaries to flow backwards.

- The river rose 2 feet after the recent batch of storms.

- It is expected to crest at 45 feet on May 10th, the same day BBQ fest contestants set up their tents.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Mississippi River continues to rise, so much so that its tributaries are starting to flow backwards. At Tom Lee Park, preps for Memphis in May continue knowing that the worst is still yet to come.

It's a site not often seen; the Wolf River and Nonconnah Creek are flowing backwards. The swelling river cannot take on much more water.

Gene Rench with the National Weather Service said all eyes are on the Mississippi. The tributaries flowing backwards are a big problem for the adjacent communities.

"Right now the Mississippi river is in the process of going through what we call an epic flood, meaning it's more than historic, it's more than a 100 year flood, it's more like a 500 year flood," he said. "We could flood many homes, businesses, close down factories, people could drown."

The river is more than two feet past flood stage; it rose two feet in the 24 hours following the storms. It's expected to crest at 45 feet around May 10th, right when Barbecue Festival teams are setting up their tents.

Memphis in May's Diane Hampton said they can deal with the forecasted 45 foot river. "At that point Tom Lee Park is not underwater; it's very close, but it's not flooded."

Hampton said they are preparing for the worst and looking at alternate locations for the Championship Cooking Contest, but remain confident it will stay downtown.

As for Music Fest, the only change is the city is pulling up the direct electricity and everything will run on generators.

"The river is not going to stop anything this weekend, other than the flood of people that's going to be down here," Hampton said.

Admittedly, she said the river has a mind of its own.

The Army Corps of Engineers is trying to out smart it by shutting down the Tennessee River and closing all other tributaries and dams that feed into the Mississippi.

According to Rench, "we're hoping and praying that the plans and actions that the Corp has taken, this strategy is going to work."

As the Mississippi River rises to near-record levels, Tunica's nine casinos will shut down indefinitely, displacing about 10,000 workers and costing millions in lost dollars. The closure orders were issued Wednesday to ensure the safety of visitors and workers.

All visitors must be off the property by 2 p.m. on the designated day. This anticipated closing schedule is based on current forecasts and is subject to change based on weather conditions.

Putin: Who gave NATO right to kill Gaddafi?

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-05-01T01:29:00Z

NATO Air Strike Kills Gaddafi's Son, Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, And Grandchildren

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-05-01T01:19:00Z

GATHER

A NATO airstrike has killed Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, the son of Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi, along with three of Colonel Gaddafi's grandsons.

BBC News reported that NATO airstrikes hit a large villa in which Colonel Gaddafi and his family were residing, but that Gaddafi was unharmed in the attack.

Moussa Ibrahim, a spokesman for the Government of Libya, said that the villa, located in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, was attacked with full power. His statement continued as follows:

The attack resulted in the martyrdom of brother Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, 29 years old, and three of the leader's grandchildren. The leader with his wife was there in the house with other friends and relatives, the leader himself is in good health, he wasn't harmed. This was a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country.

Saif al-Arab Gaddafi was Colonel Gaddafi's youngest son and was most recently in the news for a scandal involving his graduate thesis from the London School of Economics. It was discovered that the thesis was plagiarized in large portions.

The killings of not only Saif but also of Colonel Gaddafi's young grandsons call into question the ethical nature of the NATO strikes. NATO forces seem determined to simply kill Gaddafi outright, rather than make any attempt at bringing him to justice for the crimes that he is accused of. Events like today's make one wonder what the end game really is.

Ron Paul on Stossel 4/28/11

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-04-30T22:27:00Z

Fresh violence hits Syrian town: Army Tanks Bombard Protestors, Bodies Rotting in the Streets...

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-04-30T14:10:00Z

Deraa hit by shelling and heavy gunfire, as funeral processions for scores of people killed in protests get underway.

AL-JAZEERA

The south Syrian flashpoint town of Deraa has been hit by fresh shelling and heavy gunfire, as residents bury people killed in Friday's "day of rage" protests against the government, a witness tells Al Jazeera.

The army has been firing at protesters in neighbourhoods in Deraa's old town and at least four houses in the Karak neighbourhood have been damaged by shelling, according to the witness.

The shelling started at 03:00GMT on Saturday, the witness said.

"We are totally besieged. It is a tragedy. Many houses are levelled by shelling from the army. For the past six days we haven’t seen an ambulance," the witness said via telephone, while gunfire rang out in the background.

"We are keeping the bodies of the dead in refrigerator trucks, but many bodies are still lying in the streets. Many of the bodies are bloated and are reeking."

Tanks had been pounding the northern part of Deraa around the Omari Mosque since morning, another witness told Al Jazeera via telephone, the sound of the bombardment audible in the background.

The witness said he had seen 20 tanks enter the city on Saturday morning and while there was no confirmation on casualties, many wounded were being treated by residents in their homes.

A second witness confirmed that tanks as well as armoured personnel carriers had entered Deraa this morning as well as helicopters flying soldiers into the city.

"They are shooting at houses, both the tanks and the soldiers. The most intense fire is at the Omari Mosque," he said, the sound of gunfire audible over the phone line.

"The bullets are flying straight over my head as we are talking: It's so close. The humanitarian situation is very bad: There's no food, no medicine, no electricity. We are collecting rain water to drink," the second witness said.

Around 300 soldiers had defected and joined the protesters, he said, sharing information on the army's movements and plans. Some of the defected soldiers had shot at the army in an attempt to defend civilians but they were fast running out of ammunition, he said.

"We have about 60 bodies now in refrigerated lorries. The army is looking for them to bomb them to remove the proof of their crimes," he said.

Al Jazeera could not independently corroborate the witness accounts.

New protests planned

At least 62 people were killed in nationwide clashes on Friday when tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets, activists said, while authorities said nine members of the security forces were killed by "terrorist groups".

Pro-democracy protests were held against Bashar al-Assad's government in most cities and major towns after Muslim weekly prayers, as on past Fridays for a month.

The protesters pledged new countrywide demonstrations from Sunday at the start of what they called "the week of breaking the siege".

Demonstrations would take place on Sunday in Deraa, which has been besieged by security forces since Monday along with the Damascus suburb of Douma.

Activists also called for rallies on Monday in Damascus, Tuesday in the northern towns of Baniyas and Jableh, Wednesday in Homs, Talbisseh and in Tall Kalakh on the border with Lebanon, and night vigils on Thursday.

Friday's deadly Day of Rage protests gripped many Syrian cities and towns, the London-based rights group, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP news agency, with 33 people reported killed in Deraa alone.

The Committee of the Martyrs of the 15 March Revolution gave a slightly lower overall death toll for Friday, saying 56 people were killed, including 33 in Deraa and 25 in the central province of Homs.

The group said in a statement after the bloodshed that a total of 582 people have been killed since protests erupted on March 15 by security forces firing live rounds and tear gas.

The military said five soldiers were killed and two captured by "armed terrorists" in the Deraa region of southern Syria, while three soldiers were killed when gunmen tried to cut off the highway linking Homs to Hama.

A policeman in Deraa was also among the dead, the military said, adding that dozens of assailants were killed and wounded and 156 arrested.

Assets blocked

As the violence raged, the US blocked the assets of Assad's brother, Maher al-Assad, who commands Syria's feared Fourth Armoured Division. The US also announced sanctions against several other senior officials and Syria's intelligence services.

"The United States strongly condemns the Syrian government's continued use of violence and intimidation against the Syrian people," the White House said in a statement on Friday.

EU ambassadors in Brussels launched preparations for an embargo on the sale of weapons and equipment that might be used for internal repression and decided to put on the brakes on trade deals with Syria.

The 27-nation bloc will also "urgently consider further appropriate and targeted measures with the aim of achieving an immediate change of policy by the Syrian leadership", said EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

In Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council endorsed a US call for an investigative mission on the bloodshed as it voted in favour of a resolution condemning the crackdown.

But Assad's government reiterated its running ban on demonstrations, despite lifting a decades-old law barring them earlier this month, as the Muslim Brotherhood accused it of "genocide".

Adnan Mahmud, the Syrian information minister, told AFP the crackdown would continue, saying the "authorities are determined to restore security, stability and peace to the citizens".

The interior ministry urged Syrians not to join the protests and warned that unauthorised rallies would not be tolerated.

Friday's protests also rocked the coastal city of Baniyas, where about 10,000 turned out to shout "liberty, solidarity with Deraa" and "down with the regime," activists said.

Some 15,000 people also protested in the majority Kurdish city of Qamishli and neighbouring towns.

Fatah and Hamas agree to historic Palestinian reconciliation deal

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-04-28T00:15:00Z

Rival groups will form interim government and then move toward setting a date for a general election, four years after their government collapsed when Hamas overran the Gaza Strip.

HAARETZ - Avi Issacharof and Reuters

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement hammered an historic reconciliation deal with the rival Hamas group on Wednesday, agreeing to form an interim government and fix a date for general election within the year.

The deal, which took many officials by surprise, was thrashed out in Egypt and followed a series of secret meetings.

"The two sides signed initial letters on an agreement. All points of differences have been overcome," said Taher Al-Nono, the Hamas government spokesman in Gaza. He added that Cairo would shortly invite both sides to a signing ceremony.

"We have agreed to form a government composed of independent figures that would start preparing for presidential and parliamentary elections," said Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of Fatah's negotiating team in Cairo.

"Elections would be held in about eight months from now," he added.

Abbas has been making a heavy push for reconciliation with Hamas, with which it held a unity government that collapsed during a five-day civil war in 2007 and ended with the Islamic militant group seizing power in the Gaza Strip. Fatah had already signed the reconciliation agreement in October 2009, but Hamas had until now refused to give up on demands it had set before the rival group.

The accord agreed upon on Wednesday was first reported by Egypt's intelligence service, which brokered the talks. In a statement carried by the Egyptian state news agency MENA, the intelligence service said the deal was hatched by a Hamas delegation led by Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of the group's politburo, and Fatah Central Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad.

"The consultations resulted in full understandings on all points of discussions, including setting up an interim agreement with specific tasks and to set a date for election," the statement said.

It said the agreement would allow Egypt to invite all Palestinian factions to sign a national reconciliation agreement in Cairo in the next few days.

Restoring Palestinian unity is seen as crucial to reviving any prospect for a Palestinian state based on peaceful co-existence alongside Israel. Fatah, the mainstream Palestinian movement until a 2006 election victory by Hamas, backs negotiated peace but the Islamists reject it.

Al-Ahmad and Abu Marzouk said the agreement covered all points of contention, including forming a transitional government, security arrangements and the restructuring of the Palestine Liberation Organization to allow Hamas to join it.

Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas leader who participated in the talks, said Wednesday's deal covered five points, including combining security forces and forming a government made up of "nationalist figures".

He said Hamas and Fatah would free respective prisoners.

Implementation of the accord is due to start following an official signing ceremony in Cairo, expected in early May.

Any interim government is unlikely to include Hamas officials in an effort to avoid the sort of international boycott that hit the Palestinians after the 2006 election.

A senior Egyptian intelligence official told Reuters on Wednesday that he expected Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, who is based in Damascus, to attend the signing of the agreement in Cairo.

At news conference in Cairo, where the Fatah and Hamas leaders sat side by side, Ahmad said Palestinians had paid a heavy price for their infighting.

"We are proud that we now possess the national will to end our divisions so we can end the occupation of Palestine ... the last occupation in history."

Abu Marzouk added: "Our rift gave the occupation a chance. Today we turn a new page."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas could spell the end of the peace process. "You can't have peace with both Israel and Hamas," Netanyahu said, in remarks directed at Abbas. "Choose peace with Israel."

Israel, the U.S. and the EU consider Hamas a terror group because of its rocket attacks and suicide bombings aimed at Israeli civilians.

The U.S. administration, the largest single donor to the Palestinians, withheld funds when Hamas was a part of a short-lived Palestinian unity government. The Palestinian Authority is heavily reliant on foreign aid and forgoing the funds could easily spark its own crisis.

Since the bloody coup in 2007, the Palestinians have been divided between rival governments in the West Bank and Gaza, the two territories they hope to turn into an independent state.

With peace talks stalled since September, Abbas has begun an effort to win international recognition of Palestine, with or without an agreement with Israel. That effort is to culminate at the United Nations in September.

Palestinian officials have acknowledged the need solve their differences with Hamas before they can go to the United Nations. Abbas has made repeated overtures toward Hamas in recent months - including an offer to visit Gaza to lay the groundwork for national elections.

Hamas leaders had said they want a full power-sharing deal before meeting with the Palestinian president - including a deal on how to divide security responsibilities.

Hamas had also demanded further gestures from Abbas before considering unity, such as a release of hundreds of Hamas prisoners locked up in the West Bank, re-opening closed Hamas charities and the removal of a ban on Hamas activities in the West Bank.

The Palestinians receive more than $470 million a year in direct financial assistance from the U.S. The U.S. hasn't said what it will do if Hamas returns to power in the West Bank, but it will likely cut off the funds unless Hamas agrees to renounce violence and recognize Israel. Hamas has given no indication it is prepared to do either.

Rep. Ron Paul to explore 2012 presidential bid

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-04-26T16:20:00Z

USA TODAY

Texas Rep. Ron Paul will announce today that he is forming an exploratory committee for the 2012 presidential race.

Drew Ivers, the GOP congressman's 2008 campaign manager in Iowa, told the Associated Press that Paul will also announce members of his Iowa campaign team.

Paul developed an ardent following through the Internet for his 2008 presidential bid, finishing a distant fourth in the race for delegates behind GOP nominee John McCain.

This month, Paul said he was "close" to making it official for another run at the GOP presidential nomination. He has accepted an invitation to a presidential debate in South Carolina, to be held May 5.

Paul has traveled to key states such as Iowa and New Hampshire to gauge support and recently did some fundraising for his political activities. His prowess in raising money on the Web helped him set some records in the 2008 campaign.

As a congressman, Paul is best known for his strongly held libertarian views about getting the government out of people's business. For example, he is known for opposing every appropriations bill and his criticism of the Federal Reserve Board.

The congressman will make his announcement at 3:45 p.m. CT/4:45 p.m. ET at the Holiday Inn at the Des Moines airport.

Monday, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said he would not seek the presidency next year.

iShares Silver Trust (SLV) a scam? Ponzi? (Submitted by BillytheKid)

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-04-26T16:16:00Z

Apmex Starts Reverse Inquiry: Seeks To Buy "Any Quantity" Of Silver From Clients At $3 Over Spot

PIMPIN TURTLE — 2011-04-26T03:58:00Z