yogaman

...and a whopping 72% of statistics are made up on the spot.

I agree with your assessment. Time to get rid of Iranian influence and agents once and for all if any progress politically or monetarily is to be made.

Why Pompeo Flew to Baghdad in a Hurry https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/05/17/why-pompeo-flew-to-baghdad-in-a-hurry/ Iranian threats inside of Iraq. Those saying Exxon evacuated for political reasons may be wanting to hide or downplay Iranian influence within the country. JMO

Thanks Butifldrm, very nice summary. I thought I read a short while back that the Paris club had forgiven the debt. Anyone else remember that? If so, could be a step closer.

Thanks for the shout out Botzwana. Some people are frustrated but must understand if arrests are made and the judges are crooked nothing will happen. Many things are happening for appointments and key players removed from power. Also, if something great was happening for draining the swamp, MSM would not be reporting accurately if at all. WWG1WGA

X22 report interviews Robert David Steele, ex-spook with lots of contacts. A few minutes in he talks about GCR and that the gold backed dollar should be instated in about 3-4 weeks. I like this stuff, but tied to the other info from chris2028 that gold standard has been in place since Jan 21st, this is just too good.

Thank you Synopsis, I always enjoy your posts.

Could the new categories to replace possibly be new categories of dinar? Then this would be beginning of dedollarization process. Just posing the question.

https://www.oann.com/u-s-backed-coalition-continues-final-offensive-against-islamic-state/ U.S.-Backed Coalition Continues Final Offensive Against Islamic State OAN Newsroom 2:05 PM PT – Sun. January 27, 2019 A U.S.-led coalition is cracking down on the remnants of the Islamic state in Syria, ahead of the planned troop withdrawal from the country. According to the Syrian Democratic Forces, the ongoing U.S.-backed offensive is focusing on the last outposts of ISIS on the Syrian-Iraqi border. FILE – In this Wednesday, April 4, 2018 file photo, a U.S. soldier, left, sits on an armored vehicle behind a sand barrier at a newly installed position near the front line between the U.S-backed Syrian Manbij Military Council and the Turkish-backed fighters, in Manbij, north Syria. An American military official said Friday, Jan. 11, 2019 that the U.S.-led military coalition has begun the process of withdrawing troops from Syria. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File) Officials say ISIS only controls two small villages on the east bank of the Euphrates River. SDF fighters believe ISIS will lose its last remaining territories over the upcoming weeks. The ongoing military operation is expected to end the existence of the ISIS caliphate on the ground in Syria. The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said at least 42 people–including 13 civilians–were killed in a recent series of airstrikes against the Islamic state.

I think this may be a step behind, it says budget is not passed. Could be admission that situation is improving but not want to admit it is as good as it is. Some people do not want good news to get out, because it might make President look good. In my humble opinion.

Sorry, wrong link https://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-iraq-baghdad-revival-20190127-story.html?outputType=amp

https://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-iraq-baghdad-revival-20190127-story.html?outputType=amp Baghdad is reemerging from 15 blood-soaked years, but the city now barely functions By NABIH BULOS JAN 27, 2019 | 5:00 AM | BAGHDAD Cars cross the recently reopened 14th of July Bridge, a major thoroughfare linking Baghdad’s banks across the Tigris River. The bridge, which connects to the Green Zone, had been closed since the start of the Iraq war in 2003. (Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP/Getty Images) For weeks now, Capt. Ghassan Ghani and his team of workers, cranes and long-bed trucks have stripped away what has been a fixture of this city since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion: the 12-foot concrete barriers lining Baghdad’s major roads and buildings as protection from suicide car bomb attacks. Ghani, a member of Baghdad Operations Command, supervised one Tuesday evening as a crane lifted one of the slabs, known as T-walls, that had long hulked over a road in the Iraqi capital’s downtown. As the T-wall swung away, a shock of green emerged — an unkempt swath of palm trees adorning the corner of a government building. “It’s time to do this,” said Ghani, “so that the old Baghdad can finally be seen again.” Since late last year, about 12,000 T-walls have been carted away to a disused airport in central Baghdad, a temporary stop until they’re installed beyond the city’s outskirts. It’s another sign of a city shuffling off the vestiges of 15 blood-soaked years that made Baghdad’s name a byword for death, and that culminated last year in the destruction of the militant group Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq. Yet for many, the flush of that victory has given way to the realization that Baghdad, once a jewel among Arab capitals and now on the cusp of achieving mega-city status, is barely functional. Teams of Iraqi soldiers have been removing the concrete barriers known as t-walls from around the city. (Nabih Bulos / Los Angeles Times) The daily reality for more than 9 million Baghdadis is bumper-to-bumper traffic jams on roads unrepaired since before the U.S.-led invasion, and hours-long electricity cuts that turn broiling summers lethal. People are desperate for jobs, with almost a quarter of the working-age population unemployed or underutilized, according to the World Bank. Those same problems afflict much of Iraq; last year, they spurred violent protests in the southern city of Basra. The demonstrations felled hopes of a second term for then-Prime Minister Haider Abadi, the leader credited with saving the country from Islamic State but who couldn’t deliver the economic and political reforms needed to jump-start the economy. His successor, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, has so far done little better. Eight months after last year’s elections, the independent with few allies in parliament has yet to form a government or pass a federal budget. “There's nothing the prime minister can do other than removing concrete barriers. He's the prime minister of T-walls,” political commentator Abdul Rahman Jebouri said. “It's become so bad that even removing cement blocks is an accomplishment.” Still, it’s hard to dispute that the capital is safer. There were no car bombings in 2018, said Lt. Gen. Jalil Rubaie, head of Baghdad Operations Command. That’s a remarkable contrast with previous years, when Islamic State and its precursors carried out hundreds of attacks, often multiple bombings on the same day. The car bombs killed hundreds and forced the government to balkanize Baghdad with T-walls and dozens of checkpoints. The city became a labyrinth, its roads inexplicably cut off and its green-lined boulevards obscured by a T-wall crust of drab concrete. Times staff writer Nabih Bulos reports from the streets of Baghdad. Other incidents, such as shootings, robberies and attacks with smaller roadside bombs and hand grenades were also down 40% compared with 2017, said Michael Knights, an Iraq expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who collects U.S. government and Iraqi open-source data on violence in the country. That, along with a 2015 lifting of a midnight curfew, has resulted in a resurgence of Baghdad’s legendary nightlife. Street cafes teem with young men sporting gravity-defying mohawks or gel-slicked pompadours. Musicians, theaters and comedy shows are popular, and Mansour Mall, Baghdad’s biggest, was packed in December with families posing in front of a Christmas tree installation. Later in the evenings, dedicated drinkers materialize before rows of liquor stores, tombola joints and “super” nightclubs (essentially strip clubs) on Abu Nuwas Street. In addition to removing T-walls, authorities have loosened other security measures, mostly to improve conditions for drivers of the 1.8 million cars registered in Baghdad. (Hundreds of thousands more enter the city from all over the country every day.) Over the last year, 35 checkpoints have been removed, said Rubaie. Last month, to mark the first anniversary of the government’s victory against Islamic State, Abdul Mahdi ordered the partial opening of the 14th of July Bridge, a major thoroughfare linking Baghdad’s banks across the Tigris River that has been closed since the start of the war in 2003. The move cuts the hourlong journey across the river to five minutes by allowing motorists to cross through the reviled Green Zone, a 4-square-mile area of lawns and wide, pristine boulevards that housed late leader Saddam Hussein’s palaces and, after the invasion, the headquarters of U.S. civilian and military authorities, international diplomats and aid offices. It also houses the parliament building, the seat of the new Iraqi government. Feeding the seagulls hanging out near the Ahrar bridge is a popular afternoon activity in Baghdad. (Nabih Bulos / Los Angeles Times) It’s usually closed to most Iraqis, save for their politicians, who insulate themselves from the privations the rest of the population endure every day. (Traffic lights here are unaffected by the intermittent electricity.) But for many, access to the bridge is hardly a point in the government’s favor. “You're like someone whose jacket was taken. You're cold. Years later, they give it back to you and expect you to say thank you?” said Hussam Mahdawi, an unemployed 45-year-old man visiting Mutanabi Street, the heart of Baghdad’s book-selling district. Mahdawi’s thoughts echoed those of Mohammad Ali Agha, an out-of-work anthropologist out with his wife and three children one Friday evening at the Zawra amusement park. “Electricity, water, basic schooling.… It’s shameful we have to think of such basic things. A rich country like ours, we should be talking about human rights and higher education,” said Agha, adding that his children were packed in classrooms with 60 other students. “And the politicians who put us in this mess never go away,” he said. “I want someone with different ideas, someone who would separate religion from the state and bring something new.” Zawra Park, which opened in 1971 and which includes a 200-acre zoo, is the story of Baghdad in miniature: a once beautiful area that has fallen in disrepair because of neglect, conflict and corruption. The problem isn’t even the buildings that were destroyed after the U.S. invasion. It’s the people themselves who are now destroyed. SALEM ASEEL, 56-YEAR-OLD BAGHDADI Share quote & link A comedian exhorts passers-by to attend a show. Baghdad is known for its theaters. (Nabih Bulos / Los Angeles Times) Other monuments, such as a gargantuan pair of crossed swords — held by hands modeled after those of Hussein — that loom above Grand Festivities Square or the 673-foot Baghdad TV tower, have also faded. At least Hussein built something, said Salem Aseel, an unemployed 56-year-old. “No matter what these politicians do, it won't compensate for what they did these 15 years,” said Aseel. He spoke of buildings raised around the time of the birth of the Iraqi Republic, after Iraq’s monarchy was toppled in a 1958 military coup. “It was a golden era.” But, he added, “the problem isn’t even the buildings that were destroyed after the U.S. invasion. It’s the people themselves who are now destroyed.” Before it can tackle grandiose projects, Iraq now faces the formidable challenge of rebuilding a country ravaged after more than four years of battling Islamic State. The government estimates that will cost more than $88 billion. Yet the 2019 budget, which amounts to more than $110 billion in total spending, has 75% set aside for operational costs, experts and politicians say, with relatively meager allocations for reconstruction in areas clawed back from the extremists. (Los Angeles Times) Electricity, a long-standing issue, will get 8% of the budget. But the government will need to rehabilitate a grid that produces an average of 15,000 megawatts, although peak demand reaches 22,000 megawatts, said Electricity Minister Luay Khatteeb. Islamic State’s looting of power lines has reduced power generation by at least 4,500 megawatts, he said. Job creation is also a major demand, but political blocs have chosen to fatten an already bloated public sector instead of growing the private sector. And all this relies on oil prices holding steady as well as the U.S. granting a waiver for Iraq to ignore sanctions on Iran — both questionable scenarios. Much also depends on keeping Islamic State at bay. Knights, the Iraq expert, said that authorities had succeeded in making Baghdad safer than it has been in years, but “that’s also because [Islamic State] had put the majority of its power defending cities it controlled.” But with those areas no longer under its grip, the extremist group has returned to its guerrilla warfare roots. Last month, Islamic State struck the northwestern city of Tall Afar with a car bomb that killed three people and wounded 13 others. Many believe it’s only a matter of time before it will hit Baghdad. “It’s a choice by the enemy, and that can be reversed,” said Knights. Ghani, who supervised the removal of the T-walls, said some Baghdad residents were nervous about them coming down. “Some people objected, and said they were afraid of attacks. That’s why we removed the ones in front of the Defense Ministry first,” Ghani said. “We figured once people saw us doing it they couldn’t say anything.” Knights said the Iraqi government plans to redeploy the T-walls on Baghdad’s perimeter, funneling traffic through certain roads and using air surveillance and better intelligence to facilitate movement. Islamic State still maintains a presence in various pockets on both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi border, taking advantage of lack of coordination among the various forces in the area to hide and regroup. Agha, the unemployed anthropologist, however, proposed a solution for that too. “Why don't we do like Trump?” he said, giving a rueful smile. “Let’s just put all those concrete barriers on the border, and make a wall with Syria,” he deadpanned. “That should stop everything.” Children play at Baghdad's Zawraa Dream Land, an amusement park opened in 1971. (Nabih Bulos / Los Angeles Times)

That's awesome. You just can't ride a bike with wind in your face with full view of the countryside, and think about politics. Just a feeling of being alive, nothing more.

Awesome post LGD! Thanks for all the cool research.

There goes Maliki's support. Good news for government stability.

https://m.thebaghdadpost.com/en/Story/34630/Iran-pulls-out-military-advisors-from-Iraq-after-US-withdrawal-from-Syria Saturday، 29 December 2018 06:42 PM Iran pulls out military advisors from Iraq, after US withdrawal from Syria Iran's ambassador to Iraq Iraj Masjedi Iran has withdrawn all of its military advisors from Iraq, Iran's Ambassador to Iraq, Iraj Masjedi, claimed on Friday, saying no need for Iranian advisors after the declaration of victory over ISIS, according to a report in Iran's Press TV. The Iranian claims came in the wake of US President Donald Trump to withdraw his troops from Syria. Masjedi, a former IRGC Quds force commander, slammed the US for keeping its forces in Iraq and "reinforcing its bases and establishing new footholds" there, according to the report. The Iranian ambassador made his remarks during a meeting with Iraqi students and journalists in Baghdad. The Iranian statement followed soon after US President Donald Trump made a surprise trip to Iraq to visit US troops the day after Christmas.

So, is it 7 billion dinars, or 7 billion dollars? Maybe both. 1:1 😁 Maybe just translation snafu, but I am hopeful!! Go RV! Go 1:1!

Very interesting indeed. I hope it is as you say, to reduce note count, that would be great. Also could be trying to unload a bunch of counterfeit, may be water damage would make them unidentifiable? and get credit?

Thank you Laid Back. I'm feeling good about this year. I have been saying "this is the Jubilee Year!" Go RV!!!

Don't forget the gold reserves. I think it is around 90 tons 90 tons = 2,893,567.19 Troy ounce price = $1200.70 (today) $3,474,306,125.03 Add to reserve number Round numbers 43 trillion IQD/1190=$36 billion dollars $64.5 billion / $36 billion = $1.79............. There is the other number 180% "expected to reach two months after about 180% "

I think also the use of internet banking, phone apps, etc.

In attendance, IMF, World Bank, AND BIS. HERE WE GO!!

Bill introduced to House, no more action. Is not passed or sent to Pres. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5404

Is this possibly the CBI formally asking to be put into article VIII? And they accept the responsibilities that go along with that? Maybe, maybe not. But, hope springs eternal.

I've read several times over the years that the plan was to pay the national debt with dinar held in reserve by US.