Jamaica basking in IMF's sun

Deutsche Welle, 9 May 2013

The International Monetary Fund has granted Jamaica a much-needed economic lifeline. In return, the island - one of the most indebted countries in the world - needs to get a grip on its rampant public spending.

Inside a Cambio (currency exchange - the ed.), as the customers wait in line, the talk quickly turns to the exchange rate. In a country where many depend on remittances sent by family from the US, Canada and the UK the country's sliding dollar is a worry. "It'll soon be J$100 to $1US, watch my words," says an old man; a woman interrupts to add that it won't stop there, as everyone looks at the board showing the exchange rate.

It's a sentiment that's been echoed across the island for months. Since the start of the year the local currency has lost over 8 percent of its value and investor confidence has also fallen but many hope that will change with Jamaica finally signing a deal with the International Monetary Fund.

The executive board has agreed to a loan of $950 million that's an economic lifeline to the country. The island, which is one of the most indebted in the world, that owes some $18 billion, has undertaken a debt swap by local lenders and has promised to tackle tax reform and public spending.

This should unlock millions more in aid and loans from other multi-lateral agencies; but many are wary after a similar loan and debt exchange in 2010 didn't help to improve the economy after key goals weren't meet.

Corporate Jamaica

In an upscale neighborhood, members of what's known locally as "Corporate Jamaica" - aka the middle class - sit inside a coffee shop. They see the deal as the best of a bad situation. One office worker told me "without it, we'd be lost," another continues, "we seem to constantly be in this position."

Many Jamaicans have made light of comparisons to Greece and other nations facing austerity measures; "we've been in that situation for the past 30 years," was a comment made by one of my friends here. But the situation for the country is bleak.

In the past 30 years Jamaica's economy has been one of the worst, performing globally at about 1 percent growth per year. The other figures don't look pretty either.

These children face an uncertain
financial future

Projections by the IMF up to 2015 estimate it will have the seventh-worst growth in the world. Add to that 17.5 percent of the population living in poverty and unemployment now over 14 percent combined with a debt-to-GDP level of 140 percent, it equals a government that can't afford to spend on its people. Over half of the money that the country earns goes to paying off what it owes, leaving 25 percent on wages and only 20 percent is left to spend on security, health and education.

But despite that Jamaica still keeps its head above water - just.

Head above water

At the University of the West Indies there's a special day for primary school students to take part in a maths workshops. A group of pupils from an inner city school in Kingston are keeping themselves amused at lunchtime by playing counting games in an impromptu playground, the car park of a fast food restaurant. On the other side of the campus, business students discuss their coursework under the shade of the trees, the country's debt hanging over all their heads.

"It's hard being an economist in Jamaica," jokes Dr Damian King, the Head of Economics at the University, and he blames it on the politicians. "We don't need the IMF, what we need is to identify 3 quarters of a billion US dollars to close the fiscal gap, and clearly our administrations have been unable to organise themselves in the last dozen years to do that so the IMF is providing the financial exoskeleton to make that happen."

The ability to tackle head on many of Jamaica's problems has long been avoided by its politicians. The truth is they've played with the economy, implementing measures designed to win voters rather than growing the economy, ultimately at the expense of the people.

"What's different this time is that there's no more wiggle room. So the government doesn't have any way out of its obligations without causing serious problems for themselves. The entire society has coalesced around this need for growth and structural issues," says Chris Zacca, the head of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica.

Local help

 Natural disasters have added to
Jamaica's woes

To get the deal with the IMF, the country has had to get the support of local lenders who agreed to a reduction in the interest they get from the government. They weren't happy about getting a "haircut" on their investments but many were resigned to the fact that it was needed and many think this is a last chance for the country. "If we get it wrong this time, we won't be having another conversation like this. We have three or four years to get this right," says Brian Pengelly, president of the Jamaica Manufacturers Association.

The wage freezes have seen many Jamaicans lose out as public sector workers face more years without a pay rise. But is their belief in the government justified by the country having to go back to the IMF for a second time in just over three years?

"We have to start where we are, and that is by a program which gives confidence that we are going to push our debt ratios downwards and that we are going to undertake the structural reforms that enable us to live within our means to secure revenue, to contain our expenditures and to manage an environment that's friendly to the investor community both local and overseas. These are the building blocks to our country going forward," says the country's Minister of Finance, Dr Peter Phillips.

There are a number of major investments in the country to be signed off that have been waiting for the deal with the IMF, offering more stability to their projects. However others have already started looking to the future. A few weeks ago I found myself at the opening of the mobile phone company Digicel's new regional headquarters in downtown Kingston. The Irish-owned company is one of the largest in the Caribbean and the country wants to see more foreign investment like this.

"I'm incredibly optimistic about Jamaica now that it got its deal with the IMF and is restructuring its finances. Once you've got that platform done the next work is to bring in other foreign directors but also get local companies to invest in their businesses and take them outside Jamaica," says Denis O'Brian, the company's CEO.

Uncertain future

Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller
 has a lot to do

But many are worried that the four-year loan isn't going to fix the underlying problems with Jamaica's economy and some say that haven't heard any answers. "We've been here before; when you have a deal with the IMF it's there to support your balance of payment but that isn't going to grow investment or fix problem areas like crime, energy prices or bureaucracy," says Dennis Chung an accountant and financial blogger on the island.

The high cost of electricity in particular has been seen as a key issue that needs to be addressed as Jamaica's export market remains uncompetitive especially against its oil rich neighbor Trinidad.

But many just hope that the Jamaican dollar stability will be the first step. Because virtually everything is imported into the island, each slide of the dollar sees inflation spiral upwards.

They look back at nearly 51 years of Independence and wonder where it all went wrong. In 1962 the Jamaican Dollar was originally pegged to $1.20 it's now worth less than 1 percent of that.

The goal of the loan and the measures taken by the government is to move the debt to 95 percent of GDP by 2020. It's a big ask in just seven years but many now think this is the last chance for Jamaica to move toward the black after decades in the red.

Related Articles:

World Bank Whistle-Blower: “Precious Metals to Serve as an Underpinning for Paper Currencies"

Archangel Michael on the World’s Movement into the Golden Age, March 24, 2013 – Part 2/2

“… GW: Shifting to events that are taking place in Europe at this point in time, it seems that the events in Europe are reaching or about to hit a breaking point of some kind. Several leaders, including Nigel Farage and allegedly Russian Prime Minister Medvedev have suggested that people should be removing their money from their accounts as the cabal may attempt a last ditch grab for money.

Now, I know, and perhaps many know, that the current system is corrupt and that there will have to be a degree of change in the current system before people will be willing to embrace the new system.

I don’t wish this question to sound alarmist to people, but is what is happening now one of the final, if not the final, straw that will help expose the banking cabal and allow the new system to be implemented? Is this new system ready? Or is it already being implemented? Or is it still only limited to preparatory work?

AAM: No, it is already underway. It is already being implemented. And yes, we do not wish to sound alarmist either, and so we also wish people to know that their resources, what they think of as their money, for those who have saved and put their faith in banking systems, they will be protected to a certain extent. So do not think that you have need to run out and remove all your monies, or that it will be completely gone. But yes, this is the beginning of a transition.

The expression of the lack of faith in particularly the European banking system causes enormous disruption, more significant perhaps than anywhere else. And so yes, it does have a domino effect, but it is not one simply shutting down [the old system] and a new system emerging. It is coming into balance with the new emerging as the old simply fades away.

Is it a last ditch effort on the part of those who have clung to the old paradigm of the 3rd, what you call the cabal? Yes, it is. But it matters not, because it is not going to work for them. Seldom are things such as this situation so black and white. There is always room for free choice and free movement and adjustment.

But in this situation it is simply evolution and expansion. And the expansion of the new, of the new paradigm, of what you think of as Fifth-Dimensional financial systems does not allow for systems that are based on greed and theft and control — and unfairness, basic unfairness, usury.

So, it is rather clearly defined. You have an expression that you use on Earth, “Out with the old.” And this is one of those situations where it is, in fact, the truth.

GW: Okay. So, along the lines of the leadership, or at least some of the leadership of what’s taking place in the financial sector globally, it has been reported that the apartment of the IMF managing director Christine Lagarde was raided last week.

Was this an attempt to expose her as part of the banking cabal, or was it an attempt to stop her from fulfilling the reforms that she is allegedly trying to bring to the international banking system?

AAM: It was an attempt to gather information and perhaps even destroy documentation that she is trying to bring forth for the reform of the financial situation. It was an unsuccessful raid.

GW: Okay. So what I’m hearing in your answer, then, is that Christine Lagarde is working for, I guess, the forces of light to bring the greater change to the IMF. Am I correct?

AAM: Yes. This one has had a real turn-around. No, we do not ever categorize individuals or groups or people as light or dark. But this one has truly committed herself to reformation.

She sees and she has the experience very clearly of knowing what does not work. And therefore she has committed her mission, her purpose to this reformation.

GW: Okay. And could the same be said about the new US Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew? Is he on board with all the changes and working for the reformation as well with Lagarde?

AAM: He is an agent and an angel of change. He could not be simply on board. He is a moving force. ‘…‘’

World Bank Whistle-Blower: “Precious Metals to Serve as an Underpinning for Paper Currencies"

Silver Doctors, 7 May 2013

I had the opportunity yesterday to speak with one of the western world’s most courageous and astute women, Karen Hudes, Former Senior Counsel to the World Bank—now turned whistle-blower.

It was a powerful conversation, as Karen spent 20 years with the World Bank as an attorney and economist, before being “let-go” after reporting internal fraud and corruption.

During the interview Karen indicated that the world is rapidly changing, with western power structures breaking down, economic & political influence gravitating to BRICs nations, all amid a pending currency transition which will highly favor precious metals.   Hudes stated: “All of the countries of the world are going to allow precious metals to serve as currency, and this will be an underpinning for paper currency, as we’ll have both systems at the same time.”

From Tekoa Da Silva:

Starting out by discussing the shocking centralized power she witnessed while working at the World Bank, Karen explained that, “A study done by three [Swiss] systems analysts who used mathematical modeling [shows] how the [world's] 43,000 transnational corporations were being controlled through interlocking corporate directorates. There’s a group of 147 companies, most of them are financial institutions, and what they’ve done, is through the interlocking directorates, they control 40% of the net worth of these [43k] companies, and 60% of their earnings…so that group has been using the presidency of the World Bank as kind of a puppet to dominate the world—that’s [now] finished.”

A major shock to that centralized power base, according to Karen, was the recent move by BRICs nations leaders to bypass the World Bank for their financing needs, by establishing their own development bank. “As the BRICs [nations] economic power grows,” she explained, “they’re not going to be strangled anymore through the grabbing [of] their resources…So their decision to start their own development bank was their way of letting [world] governments know…that its time to end this corruption.”

Major moves toward monetary independence are also being made by growing numbers of U.S. states, Karen added. She explained that, “The states are starting to have legislation recognizing gold and silver bullion as legal currency. This is [also] a very strong signal the states are sending to the federal government, that the time to get serious about ending the corruption in the financial system is now here.”

When asked her thoughts on what this all means for the world monetary system, Karen said, “What’s going to happen, is we’re going to have all the countries of the world, sit down and figure out what’s going to be the best, most orderly transition from the current system that we have, [which has] profound imbalance and unsustainable deficits…[this change] is going to happen as each country makes its preference known, because the system we have now is not transparent, and the biggest change [in the new system], is that there’s going to be transparency.”

That transparency may be found through a gold-backed currency system, Karen noted, as, “All of the countries of the world are going to allow precious metals to serve as currency, and this will be an underpinning for paper currency, [as] we’ll have both systems at the same time. This is my guess, as I mentioned—I am an economist.”

As a final comment speaking towards her difficult journey as a World Bank whistle-blower, Karen said, “I’ve been struggling now for years, to tell the American public what’s [been] going on. I haven’t gotten through, because this [financial] group has bought up the press and has been spreading disinformation systematically. That undermines the whole point of a democracy. How can voters vote without an informed opinion, without the information that they’re entitled too? So this strangle-hold on information is going to end in very short order.”

——

This was a powerful interview conducted with a great American patriot and honorable world citizen. Karen is setting an example for the history books, and her interview is required listening for global thinkers and market students.

To listen to the interview, left click the following link and/or right click and “save target as” or “save link as” to to your desktop:

>>Interview with Karen Hudes (MP3)

To learn more about Karen and support her work, visit: Kahudes.net

Related Articles:

World Bank Whistle-blower. Confidence in the Dollar as an International Currency Is Waning.

CDB governor Chen Yuan to set up BRICS Development Bank

RMB on way to becoming global reserve currency: IMF official

Archangel Michael on the World’s Movement into the Golden Age, March 24, 2013 – Part 2/2

“… GW: Shifting to events that are taking place in Europe at this point in time, it seems that the events in Europe are reaching or about to hit a breaking point of some kind. Several leaders, including Nigel Farage and allegedly Russian Prime Minister Medvedev have suggested that people should be removing their money from their accounts as the cabal may attempt a last ditch grab for money.

Now, I know, and perhaps many know, that the current system is corrupt and that there will have to be a degree of change in the current system before people will be willing to embrace the new system.

I don’t wish this question to sound alarmist to people, but is what is happening now one of the final, if not the final, straw that will help expose the banking cabal and allow the new system to be implemented? Is this new system ready? Or is it already being implemented? Or is it still only limited to preparatory work?

AAM: No, it is already underway. It is already being implemented. And yes, we do not wish to sound alarmist either, and so we also wish people to know that their resources, what they think of as their money, for those who have saved and put their faith in banking systems, they will be protected to a certain extent. So do not think that you have need to run out and remove all your monies, or that it will be completely gone. But yes, this is the beginning of a transition.

The expression of the lack of faith in particularly the European banking system causes enormous disruption, more significant perhaps than anywhere else. And so yes, it does have a domino effect, but it is not one simply shutting down [the old system] and a new system emerging. It is coming into balance with the new emerging as the old simply fades away.

Is it a last ditch effort on the part of those who have clung to the old paradigm of the 3rd, what you call the cabal? Yes, it is. But it matters not, because it is not going to work for them. Seldom are things such as this situation so black and white. There is always room for free choice and free movement and adjustment.

But in this situation it is simply evolution and expansion. And the expansion of the new, of the new paradigm, of what you think of as Fifth-Dimensional financial systems does not allow for systems that are based on greed and theft and control — and unfairness, basic unfairness, usury.

So, it is rather clearly defined. You have an expression that you use on Earth, “Out with the old.” And this is one of those situations where it is, in fact, the truth.

GW: Okay. So, along the lines of the leadership, or at least some of the leadership of what’s taking place in the financial sector globally, it has been reported that the apartment of the IMF managing director Christine Lagarde was raided last week.

Was this an attempt to expose her as part of the banking cabal, or was it an attempt to stop her from fulfilling the reforms that she is allegedly trying to bring to the international banking system?

AAM: It was an attempt to gather information and perhaps even destroy documentation that she is trying to bring forth for the reform of the financial situation. It was an unsuccessful raid.

GW: Okay. So what I’m hearing in your answer, then, is that Christine Lagarde is working for, I guess, the forces of light to bring the greater change to the IMF. Am I correct?

AAM: Yes. This one has had a real turn-around. No, we do not ever categorize individuals or groups or people as light or dark. But this one has truly committed herself to reformation.

She sees and she has the experience very clearly of knowing what does not work. And therefore she has committed her mission, her purpose to this reformation.

GW: Okay. And could the same be said about the new US Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew? Is he on board with all the changes and working for the reformation as well with Lagarde?

AAM: He is an agent and an angel of change. He could not be simply on board. He is a moving force. ‘…‘’

"The U in Kundalini"- Oct 18, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Kundalini, Unification, EU, Nobel Peace Prize 2012, Middle East, South America, Only 5 Currencies on Earth, Old Souls, Duality will dismiss, 3D Humanity will melt with Multi dimensional higher self, Global Unity… etc.)

Brazil's Azevedo wins WTO leadership race: sources

Google – AFP, Jonathan Fowler (AFP), 7 May 2013

Roberto Azevedo, gives a press conference on January 31, 2013 at the World

Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva (AFP/File, Fabrice Coffrini)

GENEVA — Brazil's Roberto Azevedo will take the helm of the World Trade Organization, diplomats said Tuesday, confirming the Latin American giant's new status as a global power.

Azevedo, currently Brazil's ambassador to the 159-nation WTO, narrowly pipped the former Mexican trade chief and heavyweight negotiator Herminio Blanco in a final round, sources familiar with the closed-door contest said, after seven other candidates stumbled earlier in the race.

Azevedo and Blanco's aides emerged tight-lipped from a meeting with Pakistan's ambassador Shahid Bashir, who heads the WTO's governing body, the General Council.

No announcement was due until Wednesday, when WTO members were scheduled to meet, while a General Council session next week will need to give Azevedo formal approval.

The WTO does not hold elections, but picks its chief by consensus, and along with his counterparts from Canada and Sweden, Bashir spent weeks gauging countries' views on who was likely to muster the most support.

The current head of the WTO is Frenchman Pascal Lamy -- a former trade chief of the European Union -- who steps down on September 1 after two four-year terms at the helm.

His successor will face the tough task of trying to revive the WTO's stalled "Doha Round" of trade liberalisation talks, launched in 2001.

Speaking before Tuesday's news emerged, Azevedo told AFP he was convinced he had the mettle to put global commerce's rule-setting body back on track.

"The multilateral trading system is weakened by a complete paralysis in the negotiations," he said.

"It's about making the system respond to the realities of today's world... The only way to do this is to promote trade and trade liberalisation as an important component of development policies," he added.

"We're not going to do that unless we unclog the system," he insisted, adding that a "modulation of the ambition" was needed to allow progress.

On the eve of Tuesday's meeting, Blanco's campaign team had been upbeat telling AFP that they were "very, very confident".

Blanco, a 62-year-old economist, enjoys the reputation of a trade heavyweight.

He was Mexico's negotiator for the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, served as a minister of commerce and also boasts solid private sector credentials.

He and Azevedo repeatedly flagged up their broad support across a range of nations and economic levels, from the poorest to the richest, and had pitched a similar vision for breaking the Doha deadlock.

But 55-year-old Azevedo's insider status as an experienced negotiator and consensus-builder at the WTO appeared to have clinched the contest.

He has been Brazil's WTO ambassador since 2008, after working as a chief litigator in high-profile trade disputes, making him well placed to navigate the system to try to clear the Doha logjam.

"There's no magic bullet, and there's no perfect candidate that will do everything that everybody wants," said Canada's former trade minister and WTO ambassador Sergio Marchi, now a consultant and academic.

"But he's very cool very calm, very collected, he's bright. I think he puts reason before emotion, so I think he's very capable. He understands that system. He knows the players," Marchi told AFP.

The Doha Round, launched at a summit in Qatar in 2001, aims to open markets and remove trade barriers such as subsidies, excessive taxes and regulations, in order to harness international commerce to develop poorer economies.

But the concessions needed have sparked clashes notably between China, the EU, India and the United States.

As Brazil's litigator, Azevedo locked horns with the EU and US over their subsidies for aircraft makers and cotton producers, although Brazil has also been accused of protectionism by trade partners.

"I'm not going to be there defending Brazilian interests or anything of the kind, or Brazilian trade policy," as WTO chief, he told AFP recently.

An unprecedented nine names entered the race.

Those who stumbled in the first round in mid-April were from Kenya, Ghana, Jordan and Costa Rica, while Indonesia, South Korea and New Zealand exited the race in the second round at the end of the month.

Since it was created in its current form in 1995, the WTO's chiefs have been Irish, Italian, New Zealander and Thai, and with Frenchman Lamy in charge since 2005, emerging economies were keen to claim the slot.

"I think members in general are more trusting of a system where they think they can be represented at the top, in terms of geography and level of development," Azevedo said.

Related Article:

New WTO chief inherits crisis-plagued body

Senior Curacao politician shot dead while having a beer with friends

DutchNews.nl, Monday 06 May 2013

The leader of Curacao’s biggest government party and a fervent campaigner for independence has been shot dead close to his home.

(ANP)

Helmin Wiels, 54, headed the ruling party Pueblo Soberano but chose to remain in parliament when it became part of the government. He was shot by two men on the Marie Pompoen beach who drove off in a gold coloured Kia, Nos television said.

Wiels was having a beer with friends, having sent home his bodyguard earlier in the day. A spokesman for his party said they suspect organised crime to be behind the killing because of Wiels work in combatting corruption.

The Carribean island of Curacao is a former Dutch colony and now forms an independent country within the kingdom of the Netherlands.

Related Article:

Curacao politician Helmin Wiels shot dead

Obama to discuss drug war, trade in Central America

Google – AFP, Tangi Quemener (AFP), 3 May 2013

US President Barack Obama arrives at Juan Santamaría International

Airport on May 3, 2013 in San Jose, Costa Rica (AFP, Mandel Ngan)

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — US President Barack Obama arrived in Costa Rica on Friday for a Central American summit focused on trade and the drug war after a stop in Mexico highlighting economic and security ties.

The seven leaders of Central America, plus the Dominican Republic, are expected to press Obama to step up US assistance against ultra-violent drug cartels that use the region as a stopover for US-bound cocaine.

The Costa Rican capital was under tight security for the summit, with a heavy police presence, streets closed to pedestrians and cars, and shops and schools shuttered.

Before landing in San Jose, Obama addressed a young audience in Mexico City's Museum of Anthropology, pledging to forge an equal partnership with his nation's southern neighbor and put "old mindsets aside."

"A new Mexico is emerging," Obama said after greeting the crowd with a few words in Spanish -- "Mexico lindo y querido" ("beautiful and beloved Mexico").

Police officers secure the streets of 

San Jose ahead of the arrival of 

Barack Obama in Costa Rica, on May 3,

2013 (AFP, Hector Retamal)

Turning to a US domestic issue dear to Mexicans, Obama said he was "absolutely convinced" the US Congress would pass immigration reform to bring 11 million undocumented workers -- a majority of them Mexicans -- out of the shadows.

With more than 70,000 people dead so far in a still-raging battle between drug cartels, the US leader acknowledged that "much of the root cause of violence" in Mexico owed to US demand for illegal drugs.

"We also recognize that most of the guns used to commit violence here in Mexico come from the United States," Obama said, vowing to do everything in his power to pass gun control reform back home.

The flow of guns into the hands of drug cartels has been a constant irritant in Mexico, which has linked the rise in violence to the expiration of the US ban on assault rifles in 2004.

On Thursday, Obama met with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who took office in December, and the two leaders sought to shift the focus of their relations back to their $500 billion trade ties.

But they also discussed their security bond, with Obama backing Pena Nieto's new strategy, which is focused on reducing the wave of murders, kidnappings and extortion plaguing Mexico.

In his speech on Friday, Obama said relations with Mexico must be defined by the prosperity they can generate together, not the threats they face.

"Despite all the bonds and the values that we share, despite all the people who claim heritage on both sides, our attitudes sometimes are trapped in old stereotypes," Obama said.

"We are two equal partners, two sovereign nations. We must work together in mutual interest, in mutual respect, and if we do that, both Mexico and the United States will prosper."

Obama will address much of the same issues during his talks in San Jose, including close cooperation in combating drug smuggling at sea.

Obama's spokesman, Jay Carney, told reporters that the US leader "will also be discussing economic and other areas. So security continues to be a pressing problem, but there are other topics on the agenda as well."

The United States has provided $500 million in security aid to Central America since 2008, but the murder rate has soared to 40 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in the region, five times the world average.

The US military has sent ships to the Pacific and Caribbean to intercept drugs, deployed 200 Marines in Guatemala and shared radar intelligence with Honduras. But top US generals warned that budget cuts could hamper the mission.

"We need resolute support from the US government to attack our common drug enemy -- drug trafficking -- since regrettably Honduras and other countries of the region see the dead in a war we didn't start," said Honduran President Porfirio Lobo.

Five-year-old boy shot two-year-old sister with kids' gun

BBC News, 2 May 2013

Related Stories

• Boy, six, dies after US shooting accident Watch
• How a US liberal learned to love guns Watch

A county judge said he would expect
every home in the area has a gun

A five-year-old boy who shot dead his two-year-old sister in the US state of Kentucky used a gun marketed for children, authorities have said.

Kristian Sparks was given the .22-calibre rifle, called a Crickett, as a gift.

The Cumberland County coroner said a bullet had been left in the gun ahead of Tuesday's shooting.

Caroline's death has been ruled accidental, and it is not clear whether any charges will be filed.

'Normal'

She was shot in the chest as Kristian's mother went outside to feed their dogs, authorities said. The gun was apparently stored in a corner of the family's mobile home.

Officials and residents in the rural Kentucky county said it was common for children to begin shooting guns at a young age.

"It's a normal way of life, and it's not just rural Kentucky, it's rural America - hunting and shooting and sport fishing," said Cumberland County Judge John Phelps.

"There's probably not a household in this county that doesn't have a gun."

Kristian's rifle was manufactured by Keystone Sporting Arms, which has a "kid's corner" on its website featuring images of children at shooting ranges and on bird and deer hunts.

The guns are sold in pink, blue and other colours and designs.

The 17-year-old company states its mission is to nurture gun safety among young shooters and displays testimonials from parents who say they are grateful to be able to go shooting with their children.

In the last three days at least three young boys have shot their sisters in the US, says Daily Kos writer David Waldman, who tracks accidental shootings.

In addition the Sparks case, a five-year-old girl was shot and killed by her eight-year-old brother in western Alaska on Tuesday, while a seven-year-old boy shot his sister, nine, in the leg in Auburn, Washington on Thursday.

Kentucky state lawmaker Robert Damron, a Democrat, said: "Why single out firearms? Why not talk about all the other things that endanger children, too?"

Related Articles:

Gun control vote: all but three 'no' senators received pro-gun cash

Republican senators Chuck Grassley, Dan Coats, Lindsey Graham and
Ted Cruz speak to the media about gun reforms. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

An Hour with an Angel with Archangel Michael, December 17, 2012

”.. Lay Down Your Arms

SB: Thank you, Lord. I am going to be asking you about the who, why, what, where, when, how of Ascension, about December 21st. But before I do that there is one question that I have to ask you because I know our listeners and readers want me to. I think they would like to know something about the Newtown tragedy. Was it mind control? Was it the cabal trying to take attention away from Ascension? Was it simply a deranged individual?

Why was it permitted to happen, Lord? It shocked a lot of people.

AAM: It was a tragedy in Newtown, and it was a sacrifice of innocents, both children and adults. And yes, there is divine purpose that comes out of this. Was it a planned action on our part? Absolutely not, that is not the way we operate. It was the action, yes, of a very deranged, ill, dis-eased individual. It was not the act of the cabal. They are in far too deep containment to ever effect such a strike.

Let us talk about the meaning. And the Mother has talked about this also. It is time for all of humanity, east, west, north, south, to come together as one community. And this atrocity, this killing of children needlessly, brings to the forefront what is taking place on your planet.

The beings of Newtown, Connecticut, and this emotional energy, have acted and do act as a surrogate and a catalyst for the human race to come together and say, “No more,” that the slaughter of innocents is not acceptable in any realm.

And what that means, dear ones, is it is not acceptable through missile or drone strikes, in neighborhoods, in marketplaces and schools, or anywhere else. It is not acceptable for children to be hit by stray bullets, by gang wars or by drug lords, in any country, in any nation, in any civilization. It is not acceptable for children to die of disease, poverty, hunger, and starvation.

So these bright angels, this soul group has sacrificed and acted as a surrogate. Now, I wish to tell you that all of these angels were well out of their body and already in the arms of the Mother prior to their death. She had already gathered them up.

So it is not just for them that you weep. It is for each other. Because what you are seeing, what you are witnessing, is the pain and suffering that violence does to humanity, to families, to friends, to siblings, to parents, to communities, to neighbors, to nations. And it is all of you saying, “No more!”

SB: If I may intervene, what do you say to people who advocate the right to bear arms in America? What does one say to organizations that think that they’ll fall under somebody else’s rule if they give up their rifles?

AAM: Let me say this, and I do not simply say it to Americans, I say it to all nations that carry weapons to destroy families and friends. I say it to all beings that carry guns or weapons. And I am talking about missiles or chemical weapons.

When you live in fear, then what you create is fear. When you live in harmony and community and unity, that is what you create. Understand, the opening of 11/11 and 12/12 was not simply some esoteric exercise. You have been unified.

And as I have asked you, and as most of you are doing, that grid is to grow and inflame and ignite more and more every single hour, every single minute of every day. It was not just an hour-long exercise or a day-long exercise.

How can you live in unity and love and carry weapons, guns, ready to kill someone you don’t like or you don’t care about? And it is particularly dangerous when you have those weapons available to those who are unbalanced.

And we suggest to you that there is no way to safeguard against someone who is in the throes of a psychotic episode. There is no way to prevent them from getting a weapon if in fact they are available. That is a fool’s belief.

So if you expect harm to come to you, then harm will come to you. It is a time of change, and you cannot build Nova Earth with guns, missiles, and chemical weapons. You cannot do it. It is not possible. Not in any universe, not in any realm.

I had thought, this day, that I would come before you with my blue flame of truth. And I would say to you, “I am laying down my sword and shield,” because that is my desire and creation, and that it would be symbolic for you to understand that these are no longer necessary.

I did not begin today by saying that because I am still using my sword to cut some cords of illusion with some of you, and some of you are feeling exceptionally vulnerable right now. And so I want you to know that I’m also shielding you.

But my sword is also the scepter of truth. It is the staff of wisdom. It is the staff that you can lean upon when you are exhausted. Your guns do not serve that purpose.

Lay down your arms. This I ask of you. And more importantly, lay down your fear.

SB: Thank you, Lord. I don’t mean to single out Americans. I’m more referring to the Constitution and the provision that the right to bear arms shall not be interfered with. But thank you. You anticipated my questions on Newtown, so I’ve had all my questions answered. 

"THE BRIDGE OF SWORDS"– Sep  29, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

Obama vows new push to close Guantanamo

Google – AFP, 30 April 2013

Activists demand the closing of the US military's detention facility in

Guantanamo, April 11, 2013 in New York City (AFP/File, Stan Honda)

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama vowed Tuesday to make a renewed attempt to close the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, amid a hunger strike by suspected terrorist detainees.

Obama told a White House news conference he did not want any prisoners to die and called on Congress to help him find a long-term legal solution to the problem of prosecuting terror suspects.

"I continue to believe we have to close Guantanamo. I think it is critical for us to understand that Guantanamo is not necessary to keep America safe.

"It is expensive. It is inefficient. It hurts us in terms of our international standing. It lessens cooperation with our allies on counterterrorism efforts. It is a recruiting tool for extremists.

"It needs to be closed," he said.

Obama favors prosecuting enemy combatants in civilian courts and transferring those cleared of wrongdoing to their home countries.

His tough words were the most extensive the president has delivered on Guantanamo for months and reflected his frustration with Congress which he blamed for blocking his efforts to shut the jail at a US naval base in southeastern Cuba.

President Obama made closing Guantanamo

Bay an early priority but he met fierce resistance

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Bermuda and UK territories sign anti-tax evasion deal

France24 – AFP, 02 MAY 2013

The US Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands are seen in a NASA image
 released 09 July, 2003. Bermuda, the Turks and Caicos and other British
 overseas territories with extensive financial centres have signed agreements to
 share tax information in what the British government hailed Thursday as a
major victory in the battle against tax evasion.

AFP - Bermuda, the Turks and Caicos and other British overseas territories with extensive financial centres have signed agreements to share tax information in what the British government hailed Thursday as a major victory in the battle against tax evasion.

Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands have agreed to "much greater levels of transparency of accounts held in those jurisdictions", Britain's Treasury said.

The move is part of an international drive to clamp down on tax havens and is designed to help British authorities find bank account holders who evade taxes by hiding their money overseas.

The agreement means the jurisdictions have agreed to pass on names, addresses, dates of birth, account numbers, account balances and details of payments into the accounts.

The jurisdictions will share the details with Britain but also with tax authorities in France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Britain recently reached similar tax information-sharing agreements with Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

Cracking down on tax evasion is one of Britain's priorities for its presidency of the G8 this year.

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said the move was "a significant step in tackling illicit finance and sets the global standard in the fight against tax evasion".

He called on other countries to remove the "hiding places for those who seek to evade tax and hide their assets".

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Bolivian President Evo Morales expels USAID

BBC News, 1 May 2013

Evo Morales accused USAID of meddling in the affairs of the Bolivian people

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Bolivian President Evo Morales has said he will expel the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Mr Morales accused the agency of seeking to "conspire against" the Bolivian people and his government.

US state department spokesman Patrick Ventrell rejected the allegations as "baseless and unfounded".

USAID has been working in Bolivia for almost five decades, and had a budget of $52.1m (£33.4m) for the country in 2010, according to its website.

"This harms the Bolivian people. We think the programmes have been positive for the Bolivian people and fully co-ordinated with the Bolivian government and appropriate agencies under their own national development plan," said Mr Ventrell.

In 2008, Mr Morales expelled the US ambassador and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for allegedly conspiring against his government.

'Nationalise dignity'

On previous May Days, Mr Morales had announced the nationalisation of key industries, such as hydroelectric power and the electricity grid.

But on Wednesday he said he "would only nationalise the dignity of the Bolivian people".

Speaking at a rally in La Paz, the president said there was "no lack of US institutions which continue to conspire against our people and especially the national government, which is why we're going to take the opportunity to announce on this May Day that we've decided to expel USAID".

He then turned to his Foreign Minister, David Choquehuanca, and asked him to inform the US embassy of his decision.

The president said the expulsion was in protest at a recent remark by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who referred to Latin America as "the backyard of the United States".

Mr Kerry made the remark as he tried to persuade US Congressmen of the importance of the region.

Mr Morales has threatened USAID with expulsion in the past, saying that its programmes have "political rather than social" ends. He has also accused it of "manipulating" and "using" union leaders.

Drugs war

The president, who heads his country's union of coca growers, has also been critical of US counter-narcotic programmes in Bolivia, repeatedly stating that the fight against drugs is driven by geopolitical interests.

In 2008, he expelled the Drug Enforcement Administration, saying it was aiding the opposition.

Bolivia is among the top three producers of coca in the world, according to the United Nations World Drug report. Coca, the raw ingredient for cocaine, has been used in the Andes for thousands of years as a mild stimulant and sacred herbal medicine.

USAID cites as its main aims the strengthening of Bolivia's health system and the provision of "equal access to health care by eliminating social exclusion", as well as improving "the livelihoods of economically and socially disadvantaged people by increasing income and managing natural resources".

The agency also supports programmes to help Bolivian farmers to replace coca with other crops.

The US government had a separate budget of $20.3m (£13m) for its counter-narcotics and military programme in 2010, but it is not clear which agency distributes that money in Bolivia.

Evo Morales became Bolivia's first indigenous president in 2005.

He was re-elected by a landslide in 2009, but has since faced protests from indigenous communities angered by the construction of a major road through their territory, and by police and army officers demanding better pay.