₦airaland Forum

Some kids were digging their compound in 1978 when they came across something big, something valuable, a buried Ferrari!
The family had just moved into the house and were doing the routine clean up when the kids bumped into the object, authorities were however called and the area was roped off before digging out the car.
Farmers Insurance was contacted and because of the VIN number they traced the last owner. After the investigation, it turns out that the owner of the car had actually hired thieves to steal the car and dump it in the ocean so he could claim insurance on it. The thieves buried the car with the intention of returning to pick it up.
The car was however auction and was restored to its former state by the buyer.
More pictures of the car can be seen via the link below
http://parroteye..com/2015/07/kids-dig-up-ferrari-car.html

Having been admitted to the Hospital since 24th of June, Bobbi Kristina has finally died, the family decided to take her off from life support after giving up all hope of her survival.
Bobbi Kristina was found in a bathtub earlier this year, January 31 to be precise and all attempt to resuscitate her proved abortive, she has been in an induced coma until now.
Unfortunately, her guardians, Pat Houston and Bobby had to take the decision to withdraw the life support, it has really been a tough decision for them to take but they all- The family- Houston and Bobby- had to come to terms that the end is near for the youngster.
Information has it that, the Police Department is gearing up for a murder case against her former boyfriend, Nick Gordon as investigations revealed bruises all over her face when she was found in the tub.
Least we forget, her mom, the late Whitney Houston also died in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
R.I.P Bobbi!

http://parroteye..com/2015/07/bobbi-kristina-whitney-houstons.html

Catholic World News - July 23, 2015
The New York Times has published a lengthy story on the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.

"The front line against ISIS in Northern Iraq is marked by an earthen berm that runs for hundreds of miles over the Nineveh Plain," the paper reported. "A string of Christian towns now stands empty, and the Kurdish forces occupy what, for thousands of years, was Assyrian, Chaldean and Syriac land ... Even if ISIS is defeated, the fate of religious minorities in Syria and Iraq remains bleak."
The article's analysis includes criticisms of both the Bush and Obama administrations:
In 2007, when Al Qaeda was kidnapping and killing priests in Mosul, Nina Shea, who was then a U.S. commissioner for religious freedom, says she approached the secretary of state at the time, Condoleezza Rice, who told her the United States didn’t intervene in ‘‘sectarian’’ issues ...

More recently, the White House has been criticized for eschewing the term ‘‘Christian’’ altogether ... When ISIS massacred Egyptian Copts in Libya this winter, the State Department came under fire for referring to the victims merely as ‘‘Egyptian citizens.’’ Daniel Philpott, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, says, ‘‘When ISIS is no longer said to have religious motivations nor the minorities it attacks to have religious identities, the Obama administration’s caution about religion becomes excessive.’’

For the ladies...
Ladies, real men do exist – and not those poor excuses you’re used to dating either. There are fully grown-ass men in this world and they would love to be with you.
The truth is that you don’t have to settle for whatever boy comes your way. In fact, you shouldn’t settle; you’re doing yourself a real injustice. If you’re going to be with a man then be with a grown-ass man. Simply put, they’re better for you. They’re more fun. They’re more reliable. And they’re better in bed.
There really is no reason to date the schmucks you’ve been dating. Although, to be fair, it can be hard to tell the difference – especially at first glance. But with time, it’s easy to separate the men from the boys. In case you need a little extra help, here’s a checklist for you:
1. His apartment looks like an apartment.

Not a frat house. Not a zoo. Not a garbage dump, but an actual apartment. He doesn’t necessarily have to have his own place. Nor does it need to be extravagantly furnished, but you should be able to distinguish the floor from the rest of the place.
Grown men take pride in surrounding themselves with an environment that supports an active and healthy lifestyle. If he’s too lazy to keep his place clean then he’s definitely too lazy for the more important things in life.
2. He does what he does because he loves to do it – he’s more than capable of motivating himself.

This isn’t to say that a guy working at McDonald’s isn’t a grown-ass man. Unless, of course, that’s where he plans on staying. It’s really all about the plan. Grown men have plans to get themselves from point A to point B. More importantly still, they are driven to do so.
3. He doesn’t ever need a babysitter.

No matter how drunk he is, no matter the situation… if your man is able to take care of himself and get his sh*t done, then he’s a grown man.
If you’re dating a guy who needs you to carry him home after a night out or to keep a leash on him so he doesn’t go off an do something stupid, then I think you know the kind of guy you’re dating.
4. When he has a problem, he speaks his mind – and does so calmly and respectively.

You see, grown men don’t just go about agreeing with everything their women say. They have a mind of their own and they’re more than happy to speak their opinions. However, they do so respectfully and are always open to hearing your thoughts on the matter.
5. He has his priorities straight – and you know you’re most definitely one of them.

Guys who are lost in life aren’t much more than boys. Men have direction. Boys have playtime. If your man knows what he wants out of life and gives all those things that are most important to him attention and care, then you have yourself a winner.
6. He takes care of himself – body and mind.

His body is his temple and his mind is his high-priest. He lives by his own religion – his own philosophies. He understands that in order to feel good, you have to feel healthy. He’s a well-oiled machine, inside and out.
7. He supports you and your dreams, always encouraging you and keeping things positive.

It’s the men who tell you that you can’t do something, that you can’t accomplish something, who are poisonous. Grown men don’t like to use the word “can’t,” especially when it comes to the women they love.
8. He doesn’t complain because he knows complaining doesn’t yield results.

He puts his nose to the grind and produces results. Bitching is for bitches. He’s a grown-ass man.
9. He makes decisions, but is more than comfortable with allowing you to take the wheel.

There is never a need to have one of those pointless “what do you want to do?”, “I don’t know, whatever you want to do” conversations. If you ask him what he wants to do, he gives you options, not a question or a volley in response.
10. When he has you alone, he isn’t interested in anything other than you.

He’s not concerned with the show on TV, the music on the radio or anything other than getting you undressed. He’s a man, an animal. And he is more than keen to let the animal out to play.
11. He admits that he is wrong when he is wrong.

He doesn’t point fingers or try to maneuver out of the situation. He understands that being wrong is part of human nature. There’s no shame in it. He understands that you can’t learn if you can’t admit you’re wrong.
12. He knows your value and appreciates you for you.

He doesn’t just tell you he loves you – he shows you he loves you. To him, you are a part of his life. You are an extension of him.
He cares about you and knows that words fall short of the emotions he feels for you. He’s not shy to show you he loves you because you are one of the most important aspects of his life.


http://parroteye..com/2015/07/12-signs-youre-dating-man-not-boy.html

Rapper 50 Cent was once worth $155 million, and now he's just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

He isn't the only one.

From Mike Tyson to Francis Ford Coppola, we rounded up riches-to-rags stories, featuring high-profile people who found themselves in a tricky financial situation.

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye's estate has an estimated net worth of $5 million.

Back in 1976, the Motown legend's divorce from his first wife, Anna Gordy Gaye, led him to file for bankruptcy. In order to cover the $600,000 Gaye owed his wife in alimony payments, the singer gave Anna the rights to his album "Here, My Dear."

The singer's financial troubles — along with drug addiction — followed him for the rest of his life, even though he continued to record albums and perform. He even moved to Europe in 1981 to avoid dealing with the IRS. Gaye was killed in 1984 when his own father shot him after a heated argument.


Kim Basinger

When Kim Basinger filed for bankruptcy in 1993, the actress had a net worth of $5.4 million.

Her reason for filing for bankruptcy was backing out of filming the movie "Boxing Helena." Main Line Pictures sued her to the tune of $8.1 million for breach of contract. In a new trial three years later, Basinger settled for $3.8 million.

Basinger has since appeared in multiple films, including "8 Mile" and "Cellular," and she signed a contract with IMG Models — at 60 years old. As of last year, she had an estimated net worth of $36 million.

Meat Loaf

Meat Loaf currently has an estimated net worth of $25 million, a far cry from where he was decades earlier.

The singer filed for bankruptcy in the '80s after Jim Steinman — who wrote many of Meat Loaf's songs — filed a lawsuit against Meat Loaf. This came just after the not-so-successful release of Meat Loaf's album "Dead Ringer."

The singer's last hit album was released in 1993. He has since acted in movies (including "Fight Club"), released the TV series "VH1 Storytellers," and published an autobiography.


Cyndi Lauper

Cyndi Lauper currently has an estimated net worth of $30 million.

The singer had a rough start, though. She spent four years singing and writing songs for the group Blue Angel. The group's "Polydor" album (released in 1980) never took off, causing Lauper to file for bankruptcy in 1981. She sang — dressed like a geisha — in a Japanese restaurant and worked retail before releasing her hit album "She's So Unusual" in 1983.

In September 2014, Lauper teamed up with singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles to record a song for the campaign Shine a Light, which raises money for pediatric cancer research.

MC Hammer


When rapper MC Hammer released his hit album "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em" in 1990, he had an estimated net worth of $33 million.

Not long after, in 1996, Hammer filed for bankruptcy protection with a total of $1 million in assets and at least $10 million in debts. Years later, Hammer told Oprah Winfrey his debt wasn't a result of frivolous spending. He said, "I took my money and employed 200 people in my community. I had a payroll of a million dollars a month at times."

Hammer is now married with five children, and does everything from investing in internet startups to preaching to developing iPad apps. As of 2013, he reportedly still owed the IRS $800,000 in back taxes.

Francis Ford Coppola

When Francis Ford Coppola filed for bankruptcy protection — for the second time — his assets were listed at $52 million.

The director blamed the majority of his debt on the making of "One From The Heart," a movie that cost $27 million to film but only earned $4 million. In 1992, when he filed for bankruptcy protection, Coppola had liabilities of $98 million.

More recently, Coppola was the executive producer of "The Bling Ring," which came out in 2013. He owns a winery, which reopened in 2010, along with several boutique hotels.


Curt Schilling

Former MLB pitcher Curt Schilling earned just over $114 million during his 19-year career.

After retiring, Schilling sunk almost all of his net worth — $50 million — into founding a video-game company, then lost his entire fortune when the company filed for bankruptcy in 2012. He was forced to sell many of his possessions (including his famous bloody sock and his $3 million Massachusetts home).

After an eight-month battle with cancer, Schilling went back to work in the 2014 as an analyst for ESPN, where he is now.

Larry King

Larry King currently has an estimated net worth of $150 million. However, at the time he filed for bankruptcy, he wasn't earning much working as a radio announcer in Miami.

The talk show host admitted that he was "flying high" back in the '60s during his time in Miami. In 1972, he was arrested for grand larceny and accused of stealing $5,000 from a business partner. The charges were eventually dropped, but King struggled to find a journalism job for several years thereafter. In 1978, he filed for bankruptcy with a total of $352,000 in debt. He was saved when CNN offered him a late-night talk radio show in Washington, D.C., that same year, which later became the famous "Larry King Live" that ran for 25 years.

King retired from CNN in 2010, but the host still does two web talk shows and "Larry King Now," which airs on Ora.tv.

Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson earned a staggering $400 million over the course of his 20-year boxing career.

His earnings didn't exactly last him, though. The former heavyweight champion filed for bankruptcy in 2003, with a total of $23 million in debt. His debts included a $9 million divorce settlement, $13.4 million to the IRS, and $4 million to the British tax authorities.

Tyson released a memoir in 2013 and his TV show "Mike Tyson Mysteries" just finished its first season.

The world has moved on but the families of the victims are still in the dark as to the fate of their loved ones.

As the conventional news coverage of Flight 370 becomes increasingly delusional and detached from reality, for the sake of all those families and loved ones still suffering I thought it important to publish a reality check that can help bring the discussion back to some common sense.

Let’s cover five indisputable facts about governments, radar and aircraft:

Fact #1) Every modern nation tracks air traffic with military radar systems

All the key nations involved in Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 run military radar systems 24/7. This includes Malaysia and India, of course. These radar systems are operated for purposes of national defense, making sure each nation can identify aircraft entering its air space.

If you don’t believe that military-grade radar systems can track the altitude, direction and speed of a Boeing 777, then you don’t believe in radar at all.

Fact #2) Every modern nation runs civilian air traffic control “passive” radar systems that work even without aircraft transponders

Beyond the military radar, modern nations also run air traffic control radar systems which work in both “active” (transponder) modes and “passive” mode (requiring no transponder). Although civilian air traffic control systems are generally not as powerful or accurate as military systems, they are nonetheless fully capable of detecting and tracking a Boeing 777.

In fact, as any air traffic controller will tell you, their radar systems are fully capable of tracking flocks of birds and other airborne objects which are far smaller than a Boeing 777.

Fact #3) A Boeing 777 has a massive radar signature

Unless equipped with some sort of exotic technology we’ve never heard of — like a radar “invisibility cloak” borrowed from the Klingons of Star Trek — a Boeing 777 has a massive radar signature. The cylindrical fuselage, curved wings and surface controls (flaps, ailerons, rudder) all reflect radar waves with very high efficiency. A commercial Boeing aircraft is not a stealth bomber.

The explanation that this Boeing 777 “vanished” from radar simply doesn’t hold water. And if the explanation is that “the pilot flew the aircraft at very low elevation to evade radar,” then it makes no sense that the pilot would carry out this complex evasion for 4-7 hours and then plunge the aircraft into the Indian Ocean.

Furthermore, a suicidal pilot has no need to evade radar in the first place! If he wanted to crash the plane, he could have done it immediately after takeoff, or at any point during the first few minutes of flight. There is no need to evade radar if you wish to consciously crash the aircraft.

Fact #4) Boeing 777 aircraft cannot survive a collision with the ocean and remain intact

One of the most ridiculous theories currently being floated around the mainstream media — and written by journalists who apparently have no education in fundamental physics or flight mechanics — is that Flight 370 “crashed” into the Indian Ocean and somehow magically remained fully intact!

Although it’s comforting to think that airplanes are made of incredibly strong steel that can withstand high-velocity impacts with bodies of water, the far more sobering truth is that aircraft are flimsy structures made primarily of aluminum. Aircraft are not rigid; they flex and bend, even during flight. If you’ve ever watched the wings during flight, you’ve no doubt noticed that they have a surprisingly wide range of movement, almost as if the wings are flapping. An aircraft fuselage moves, bends, expands and compresses due to changes in temperature, ambient pressure and structural stress.

A large commercial aircraft that crashes into water simply cannot remain intact. While there are some miraculous water landings where skilled pilots were able to “land” aircraft on water thanks to near-stall speeds, flaps and amazing flying skills, a full-speed crash into water can never result in the aircraft remaining fully intact. The nose, wings, fuselage and tail would all be torn apart by impact with a body of water.

Even many attempted “water landings” still result in huge structural failures of the aircraft, as seen in this photo of a relatively gentle water landing of a flight headed for Bali:

Fact #5) A vanishing of Flight 370 would have taken the cooperation of governments

Here’s the most astonishing fact of all: because of all the facts stated above, the vanishing of Flight 370 must have required intentional planning and action from at least one government (and possibly more). Somebody is covering up the truth of what happened to MH370, and it looks almost certain that the Malaysian government is part of this cover-up, as previously reported.

Conclusion on Parroteye. .com

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Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been stripped of the welterweight world title he won after beating Filipino Manny Pacquiao this year for failing to comply with rules, the World Boxing Organization said on Monday.

Mayweather, who improved to 48-0 by beating Pacquiao in May, missed a deadline by which he had to pay a $200,000 sanctioning fee from the fight and vacate the junior middleweight title he also held, the WBO said in a statement.

The WBO said it is against rules for boxers to hold world titles in multiple weight classes and that Mayweather had to indicate which weight division he he would retain.

Mayweather, who finished ahead on all three scorecards of what proved to be the top-grossing prize fight of all-time, had until 4:30 p.m. ET (2030 GMT) last Friday to advise the WBO of his position.

"The WBO World Championship Committee is allowed no other alternative but to cease to recognize Mr. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. as the WBO Welterweight Champion of the World and vacate his title, for failing to comply with our WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests," the WBO said in a statement.

Mayweather, who earned over $200 million from the fight which generated a record pay-per-view revenue in the United States of $400 million, has two weeks to launch an appeal. (Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Ian Ransom)

See You Again"
(feat. Charlie Puth)

[Charlie Puth:]
It's been a long day without you, my friend
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
We've come a long way from where we began
Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
When I see you again
(Hey)

[Wiz Khalifa:]
Damn, who knew?
All the planes we flew
Good things we've been through
That I'll be standing right here talking to you
'Bout another path
I know we loved to hit the road and laugh
But something told me that it wouldn't last
Had to switch up
Look at things different, see the bigger picture
Those were the days
Hard work forever pays
Now I see you in a better place (see you in a better place)

Uh
How can we not talk about family when family's all that we got?
Everything I went through you were standing there by my side
And now you gon' be with me for the last ride

[Charlie Puth:]
It's been a long day without you, my friend
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again (I see you again)
We've come a long way (yeah, we came a long way) from where we began (you know we started)
Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I'll see you again (let me tell you)
When I'll see you again

(Aah oh, aah oh
Wooooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Yeah

[Wiz Khalifa:]
First you both go out your way
And the vibe is feeling strong
And what's small turn to a friendship
A friendship turn to a bond
And that bond will never be broken
The love will never get lost (and the love will never get lost)
And when brotherhood come first
Then the line will never be crossed
Established it on our own
When that line had to be drawn
And that line is what we reach
So remember me when I'm gone (remember me when I'm gone)

How can we not talk about family when family's all that we got?
Everything I went through you were standing there by my side
And now you gon' be with me for the last ride

[Charlie Puth:]
So let the light guide your way, yeah
Hold every memory as you go
And every road you take, will always lead you home, home

It's been a long day without you, my friend
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
We've come a long way from where we began
Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
When I see you again

(Aah oh)
(Uh)
(Aah oh)
(Yeah)
(Wooooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
(Ya, ya)
When I see you again
(Uh)
See you again
(Wooooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
(Yeah, yeah, uh-huh)
When I see you again

I was in one of the micro finance banks in Ikeja on the 1st of July 2015 when everyone scampered for safety, when I checked through I saw armed policemen heading towards a tattoo shop, after they left, we got the full gist.
It so happened that a lady came around to get her breast tattooed, then the management appointed a guy to go do it for her in one of the hotel nearby so as not to expose her b@@bs in the public, she paid the agreed sum before they left for the hotel, just her and the employee.
While making the tattoo for the lady, the guy got tempted to have a taste of the b**bs and then placed his mouth on the lady's b**bs, she landed him a slap and rushed out of the hotel room.
The guy is now at large...

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CONT'D- Meet The Secretive Group That Runs The World- PART 2

Those discussions, say central bankers, must be confidential. “When you are at the top in the number one post, it can be pretty lonely at times. It is helpful to be able to meet other number ones and say, ‘This is my problem, how do you deal with it?’” King continued. “Being able to talk informally and openly about our experiences has been immensely valuable. We are not speaking in a public forum. We can say what we really think and believe, and we can ask questions and benefit from others.”

The BIS management works hard to ensure that the atmosphere is friendly and clubbable throughout the weekend, and it seems they succeed. The bank arranges a fleet of limousines to pick up the governors at Zürich airport and bring them to Basel. Separate breakfasts, lunches, and dinners are organized for the governors of national banks who oversee different types and sizes of national economies, so no one feels excluded. “The central bankers were more at home and relaxed with their fellow central bankers than with their own governments,” recalled Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, who at- tended the Basel weekends. The superb quality of the food and wine made for an easy camaraderie, said Peter Akos Bod, a former governor of the National Bank of Hungary. “The main topics of discussion were the quality of the wine and the stupidity of finance ministers. If you had no knowledge of wine you could not join in the conversation.”

And the conversation is usually stimulating and enjoyable, say central bankers. The contrast between the Federal Open Markets Committee at the US Federal Reserve, and the Sunday evening G-10 governors’ dinners was notable, recalled Laurence Meyer, who served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve from 1996 until 2002. The chairman of the Federal Reserve did not always represent the bank at the Basel meetings, so Meyer occasionally attended. The BIS discussions were always lively, focused and thought provoking. “At FMOC meetings, while I was at the Fed, almost all the Committee members read statements which had been prepared in advance. They very rarely referred to statements by other Committee members and there was almost never an exchange between two members or an ongoing discussion about the outlook or policy options. At BIS dinners people actually talk to each other and the discussions are always stimulating and interactive focused on the serious issues facing the global economy.”

All the governors present at the two-day gathering are assured of total confidentiality, discretion, and the highest levels of security. The meetings take place on several floors that are usually used only when the governors are in attendance. The governors are provided with a dedicated office and the necessary support and secretarial staff. The Swiss authorities have no juridisdiction over the BIS premises. Founded by an international treaty, and further protected by the 1987 Headquarters Agreement with the Swiss government, the BIS enjoys similar protections to those granted to the headquarters of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and diplomatic embassies. The Swiss authorities need the permission of the BIS management to enter the bank’s buildings, which are described as “inviolable.”

The BIS has the right to communicate in code and to send and receive correspondence in bags covered by the same protection as embassies, meaning they cannot be opened. The BIS is exempt from Swiss taxes. Its employees do not have to pay income tax on their salaries, which are usually generous, designed to compete with the private sector. The general man- ager’s salary in 2011 was 763,930 Swiss francs, while head of departments were paid 587,640 per annum, plus generous allowances. The bank’s extraordinary legal privileges also extend to its staff and directors. Senior managers enjoy a special status, similar to that of diplomats, while carrying out their duties in Switzerland, which means their bags cannot be searched (unless there is evidence of a blatant criminal act), and their papers are inviolable. The central bank governors traveling to Basel for the bimonthly meetings enjoy the same status while in Switzerland. All bank officials are immune under Swiss law, for life, for all the acts carried out during the discharge of their duties. The bank is a popular place to work and not just because of the salaries. Around six hundred staff come from over fifty countries. The atmosphere is multi-national and cosmopolitan, albeit very Swiss, emphasizing the bank’s hierarchy. Like many of those working for the UN or the IMF, some of the staff of the BIS, especially senior management, are driven by a sense of mission, that they are working for a higher, even celestial purpose and so are immune from normal considerations of accountability and transparency.

The bank’s management has tried to plan for every eventuality so that the Swiss police need never be called. The BIS headquarters has high-tech sprinkler systems with multiple back-ups, in-house medical facilities, and its own bomb shelter in the event of a terrorist attack or armed conflagration. The BIS’s assets are not subject to civil claims under Swiss law and can never be seized.

The BIS strictly guards the bankers’ secrecy. The minutes, agenda, and actual attendance list of the Global Economy Meeting or the ECC are not released in any form. This is because no official minutes are taken, although the bankers sometimes scribble their own notes. Sometimes there will be a brief press conference or bland statement afterwards but never anything detailed. This tradition of privileged confidentiality reaches back to the bank’s foundation.

“The quietness of Basel and its absolutely nonpolitical character provide a perfect setting for those equally quiet and nonpolitical gatherings,” wrote one American official in 1935. “The regularity of the meetings and their al- most unbroken attendance by practically every member of the Board make them such they rarely attract any but the most meager notice in the press.”8 Forty years on, little had changed. Charles Coombs, a former foreign exchange chief of the New York Federal Reserve, attended governors’ meetings from 1960 to 1975. The bankers who were allowed inside the inner sanctum of the governors’ meetings trusted each other absolutely, he recalled in his memoirs. “However much money was involved, no agreements were ever signed nor memoranda of understanding ever initialized. The word of each official was sufficient, and there were never any disappointments.”

What, then, does this matter to the rest of us? Bankers have been gathering confidentially since money was first invented. Central bankers like to view themselves as the high priests of finance, as technocrats overseeing arcane monetary rituals and a financial liturgy understood only by a small, self-selecting elite.

But the governors who meet in Basel every other month are public servants. Their salaries, airplane tickets, hotel bills, and lucrative pensions when they retire are paid out of the public purse. The national reserves held by central banks are public money, the wealth of nations. The central bankers’ discussions at the BIS, the information that they share, the policies that are evaluated, the opinions that are exchanged, and the subsequent decisions that are taken, are profoundly political. Central bankers, whose independence is constitutionally protected, control monetary policy in the developed world. They manage the supply of money to national economies. They set interest rates, thus deciding the value of our savings and investments. They decide whether to focus on austerity or growth. Their decisions shape our lives.

The BIS’s tradition of secrecy reaches back through the decades. During the 1960s, for example, the bank hosted the London Gold Pool. Eight countries pledged to manipulate the gold market to keep the price at around thirty-five dollars per ounce, in line with the provisions of the Bretton Woods Accord that governed the post–World War II international financial system. Although the London Gold Pool no longer exists, its successor is the BIS Markets Committee, which meets every other month on the occasion of the governors’ meetings to discuss trends in the financial markets. Officials from twenty-one central banks attend. The committee releases occasional papers, but its agenda and discussions remain secret.

Nowadays the countries represented at the Global Economy Meetings together account for around four-fifths of global gross domestic product (GDP)— most of the produced wealth of the world—according to the BIS’s own statistics. Central bankers now “seem more powerful than politicians,” wrote The Economist newspaper, “holding the destiny of the global economy in their hands.” How did this happen? The BIS, the world’s most secretive global financial institution, can claim much of the credit. From its first day of existence, the BIS has dedicated itself to furthering the interests of central banks and building the new architecture of transnational finance. In doing so, it has spawned a new class of close-knit global technocrats whose members glide between highly-paid positions at the BIS, the IMF, and central and commercial banks.

Over the centuries there have been many stories, some based on loose facts, others based on hearsay, conjecture, speculation and outright lies, about groups of people who “control the world.” Some of these are partially accurate, others are wildly hyperbolic, but when it comes to the historic record, nothing comes closer to the stereotypical, secretive group determining the fate of over 7 billion people, than the Bank of International Settlements, which hides in such plain sight, that few have ever paid much attention.

The world’s most exclusive club has eighteen members. They gather every other month on a Sunday evening at 7 p.m. in conference room E in a circular tower block whose tinted windows overlook the central Basel railway station. Their discussion lasts for one hour, perhaps an hour and a half. Some of those present bring a colleague with them, but the aides rarely speak during this most confidential of conclaves. The meeting closes, the aides leave, and those remaining retire for dinner in the dining room on the eighteenth floor, rightly confident that the food and the wine will be superb. The meal, which continues until 11 p.m. or midnight, is where the real work is done. The protocol and hospitality, honed for more than eight decades, are faultless. Anything said at the dining table, it is understood, is not to be repeated elsewhere.

Few, if any, of those enjoying their haute cuisine and grand cru wines— some of the best Switzerland can offer—would be recognized by passers-by, but they include a good number of the most powerful people in the world. These men—they are almost all men—are central bankers. They have come to Basel to attend the Economic Consultative Committee (ECC) of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which is the bank for central banks. Its current members [ZH: as of 2013] include Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve; Sir Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England; Mario Draghi, of the European Central Bank; Zhou Xiaochuan of the Bank of China; and the central bank governors of Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Canada, India, and Brazil. Jaime Caruana, a former governor of the Bank of Spain, the BIS’s general manager, joins them.

In early 2013, when this book went to press, King, who is due to step down as governor of the Bank of England in June 2013, chaired the ECC. The ECC, which used to be known as the G-10 governors’ meeting, is the most influential of the BIS’s numerous gatherings, open only to a small, select group of central bankers from advanced economies. The ECC makes recommendations on the membership and organization of the three BIS committees that deal with the global financial system, payments systems, and international markets. The committee also prepares proposals for the Global Economy Meeting and guides its agenda.

That meeting starts at 9:30 a.m. on Monday morning, in room B and lasts for three hours. There King presides over the central bank governors of the thirty countries judged the most important to the global economy. In addition to those who were present at the Sunday evening dinner, Monday’s meeting will include representatives from, for example, Indonesia, Poland, South Africa, Spain, and Turkey. Governors from fifteen smaller countries, such as Hungary, Israel, and New Zealand are allowed to sit in as observers, but do not usually speak. Governors from the third tier of member banks, such as Macedonia and Slovakia, are not allowed to attend. Instead they must forage for scraps of information at coffee and meal breaks.

The governors of all sixty BIS member banks then enjoy a buffet lunch in the eighteenth-floor dining room. Designed by Herzog & de Meuron, the Swiss architectural firm which built the “Bird’s Nest” Stadium for the Beijing Olympics, the dining room has white walls, a black ceiling and spectacular views over three countries: Switzerland, France, and Germany. At 2 p.m. the central bankers and their aides return to room B for the governors’ meeting to discuss matters of interest, until the gathering ends at 5.

King takes a very different approach than his predecessor, Jean-Claude Trichet, the former president of the European Central Bank, in chairing the Global Economy Meeting. Trichet, according to one former central banker, was notably Gallic in his style: a stickler for protocol who called the central bankers to speak in order of importance, starting with the governors of the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, and the Bundesbank, and then progressing down the hierarchy. King, in contrast, adopts a more thematic and egalitarian approach: throwing open the meetings for discussion and inviting contributions from all present.

The governors’ conclaves have played a crucial role in determining the world’s response to the global financial crisis. “The BIS has been a very important meeting point for central bankers during the crisis, and the rationale for its existence has expanded,” said King. “We have had to face challenges that we have never seen before. We had to work out what was going on, what instruments do we use when interest rates are close to zero, how do we communicate policy. We discuss this at home with our staff, but it is very valuable for the governors themselves to get together and talk among themselves.”

Read the full story on:http://parroteye..com/2015/05/meet-secretive-group-that-runs-world.html

http://parroteye..com/2014/12/seun-kuti-to-fg-apologise-for-killing.html

Afrobeat singer and son of Fela, Seun Kuti has publicly asked the Federal Government to apologise to his family for the death of his grandmother, Funmilayo Kuti, before putting her picture on the proposed N5000 note.

Let’s go back in time; it’s February 1978, and Nigeria is being ruled by the military, led by General Olusegun Obasanjo. One of the most influential women in the country, Olufunmilayo Ransome Kuti is resting in her Surulere abode, where two of her sons – Doctor Beko Ransome Kuti and musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti also call home. Her house is then invaded by a thousand unknown soldiers who attack and brutalise Beko and Fela, vandalize property, including Beko’s hospital, but in the worst of atrocities, allegedly throw Olufunmilayo from the second floor of her house to the ground.

The first woman in Nigeria to drive a car and to ride a bike; a woman often regarded as ‘The mother of Africa’ slips into a coma and in April that year, dies from the injuries sustained. Fast forward to 2012; Goodluck Jonathan is President. The Federal Government have announced a proposed N5000 note to be printed and circulated in the country. They have also announced that they are considering putting Funmilayo Kuti’s picture on the note. Her four children – Olikoye, Beko, Fela and Dolupo, who protested her death back then are all dead, but one of her grandsons’ Seun Kuti isn’t taking the news lying down.

In an interview with Channels TV, Seun, son of the late great Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti has rejected the consideration and accused the Federal government of killing his grandmother. ‘She was murdered by the Federal Government, her house was burnt down on that same day, two of her children were brutalised, almost killed on that same day and the family have not receive any apology or compensation, most especially justice for such atrocity.’ Seun, an Afrobeat musician himself, is asking for not just an apology, but for someone to be held responsible for the February ’78 attack which resulted in the death of his grandmother. ‘First, the Federal Government has to accept that they were the cause of her death.

The official statement that they are still giving us is that she was murdered by 1,000 unknown soldiers who stormed the Kalakuta Republic’. Social network campaigns have been put in gear, with family, fans and friends of the Kutis. On Facebook an ‘I Hate the New 5000 Naira Note’ group was opened. On micro-blogging site Twitter, popular singer-producer Tha Suspect who is also an ‘advocate of the masses’ said ‘Elder Funmilayo Kuti On The #5,000 Note?? Plenty Apologies Go First Take Place but Shame go Gree Govt?’ Seun Kuti is not just advocating for the FG not to use his grandmother’s picture. From his tweets, we see he wants the N5000 not to be printed at all. Seun also seems to be ready for whatever, as he has also indicated that he will ‘take it to the streets for them’ if the idea is not nipped in the bud. ‘If it’s goin to require us taking to d streets for ‘them’ to listen, then AM READY! Nigerians RISE; & say NO to d obnoxious N5,000 note!’ @realsuenkuti tweeted.

The bill to print the money has already been approved by the Federal Executive Council, which President Goodluck Jonathan heads, and has been passed on to the House of Senate. It might be a matter of days before the CBN governor Sanusi Lamido is given the go ahead to commence printing.

The FG is however yet to respond to his (Seun Kuti) request, neither have they apologized. And the question of what the other descendants think about the whole matter arises – the most notable being the revered saxophonist Femi Kuti and elder sister Yeni Kuti. Femi 50, and Yeni, 51 who have stayed very close to each other over the years seem to be more interested in honouring their late father Fela by completing the much talked about FELA Museum.

As reported earlier, Fela’s Kalakuta Republik has received a complete overhaul and is being transformed into a Fela-inspired Historic house museum. Renovations are still on-going and recently, his son Femi paid a visit to the house. In an exclusive chat with Yeni Kuti, daughter of the late Afrobeat legend, she tells us the Lagos State government are the only sponsors of the huge project.

It was gathered that a sum of N40m was paid to the building contractors Total Consults to start and finish the former Kalakuta Republik. The monument was expected to be completed before October 15, when this year’s Felabration festival kicks off....

EFF leader Julius Malema on Sunday accused President Jacob Zuma of having betrayed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

“Since Jacob Zuma surrendered the life of Brother Leader Gaddafi to imperialist murderers, Africa is lacking of a Pan African voice which should unite all progressive forces,” Malema told delegates at the party's elective conference at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein.

“Gaddafi's death has surrendered our continent to even intense exploitation by imperialist forces.”

On April 10, 2011, following talks in Tripoli, Zuma announced that Gaddafi had accepted a roadmap for ending the civil war in that country. Libyan rebels rejected the plan. Gaddafi was captured and killed on October 20 that year.

Malema said South Africa's foreign policy, particularly in consolidating the Pan African agenda, was not convincing and selling the continent short. He said more than 80 percent of funding for the African Union and the Pan African Parliament came from the European Union.

“Gaddafi was the only one who was willing to fund the African Union and was the only one who took practical steps to unite the African continent.
“In honour of colonel brother leader Gaddafi, the EFF should fight for the political and, most importantly, economic unity of the African continent,” he said.
Malema called on delegates to develop a thorough understanding of the religious fundamentalism that had engulfed the African continent, given the violence in Kenya and Nigeria.

“The EFF's struggle for economic freedom should inspire all Economic Freedom Fighters across the continent and diaspora,” he added.

Malema said the party's new central command team, to be elected at the conference, should visit African countries and explain the party's vision for the continent.
“We should do so because it will never be wise to wage a struggle for the economic emancipation of the African continent without the support of Africans.

“The internationalist character of the EFF means that we are an international organisation and movement, which should mobilise all the progressive forces in the African continent,” he said.
After his speech, Malema toyi-toyied and sang “kill the boer”, sending the hall into an uproar. - Sapa

http://parroteye..com/2014/12/zuma-betrayed-gaddafi-malema.html

http://parroteye..com/2014/12/81-year-old-woman-goes-sky-diving.html

'Age is nothing but a number' so says a Cliche... But a Chinese Grandma has come out to prove to the world that the Cliche is real.
Min Deyu, from Shiyan City in central China's Hubei province, went to visit her son who lives in Australia in November when she decided she wanted to jump out of a plane.
It sounds unbelievable but it's true.
According to Xinhuanet News Agency."What's the big deal, I'm jumping," she said before skydiving from 12,000 feet.
After she saw her son, Min Xiong Jianping Deyu, skydive The Beach and Beyond's Yarra Valley drop zone, she decided to give it a trial, she went for health checkup and did a little practice by jumping out of a plane that same day in tandem with a staff member.
"There is no training, the staff just told me some action essentials and precautions," Min Deyu said.
As she was in free fall for 60 seconds, Min Deyu made bird like actions and gave a thumbs up to those on the ground. Local media reported her excitement after the jump was contagious. The grin on Min Deyu's face says it all.

Akon has been quite for while now.

Los Angeles - Dr Dre has been named the highest paid musician of 2014 by Forbes magazine.

The music mogul topped the financial bible's annual list after picking up a staggering $620m in the last year, largely due to the sale of his Beat Electronics company to Apple.

His huge fortune makes second-placed Beyoncé's $115m seem tiny in comparison; though she was one of only two other stars to earn over $100m. The Eagles took third place taking home exactly $100m, largely thanks to a world tour.

In fourth place was Bon Jovi, who earned $82m and attributed their fortune to being "efficient" and keeping entourage costs to a minimum. Front man Jon Bon Jovi said: "I think it's just wise to be efficient. I know big bands where each of them has personal assistants on the road; each of them has a security guard. We don't have a security guard. Take your own friggin' bags!"

Rounding out the top five was veteran rocker Bruce Springsteen, just $1m behind Bon Jovi with $81m. The top 10 was completed by 'Believe' singer Justin Bieber, boy band One Direction, Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney, DJ Calvin Harris and country star Toby Keith.

Forbes spoke to industry experts and compiled income from touring, recorded music, publishing, merchandise sales, endorsements and other ventures from the period June 2013 to June 2014 to produce the rankings.

Forbes' highest paid musicians of 2014:

1. Dr Dre - $620m
2. Beyoncé - $115m
3. The Eagles - $100m
4. Bon Jovi - $82m
5. Bruce Springsteen - $81m
6. Justin Bieber - $80m
7. One Direction - $75m
8. Sir Paul McCartney - $71m
9. Calvin Harris - $66m
10. Toby Keith - $65m
11. Taylor Swift - $64m
12. Jay Z - $60m
12. Diddy - $60m
12. Bruno Mars - $60m
15. Justin Timberlake - $57m
16. Pink - $52m
17. Michael Buble - $51m
18. Rihanna - $48m
19. Rolling Stones - $47m
20. Roger Waters - $46m

Source: http://parroteye..com/2014/12/dr-dre-named-highest-paid-musician-of.html

When i saw P-Square brother's picture on the internet brandishing some pistols, i had my doubt if it was not a photoshoped image, when i learnt of the post on his twitter handle “F..k with me cos u know I got ‘em.”

I had a rethink, we've always held Jude Okoye in high esteeem, he has never been in the news for any thing negative and he has been feeding us with the best music production ever, i couldn't imagine who would have stepped on his toe that he decided to take the law into his hands.

His Fans and Followers have berated his conduct but and some even pleaded with him to remove the post, but he has remain adamant, attracting comments both negative and otherwise.

“I suggest you take down this photo. You’re not sending the right message to youths out there. With you being a celeb. Real shame!” wrote one follower with handle @Kveeeeeee.
The guns

The guns

Another follower @alextobechi who in agreement with @Kveeeeeeee simply said: “I’m disappointed in you Jude.”

To @Sugarcherry2, the music stars’ brother is stealthily promoting gangsterism: “Hehehehe Tupac and Biggie…Pls Jude don’t start a war biko.”

A follower by name Mor Sene with handle @yuseemi was more worried and told the award-winning director: “Don’t start this s**t in Nigeria you F***tard…You might have it but don’t show it…Lord knows when pics like this would start becoming a trend in Nigeria…”

He continued: “That’s exactly where I guess the bad influence will start spreading to the masses to make this ‘bad influential pic like’ this in Nigeria trend.”

@Havenlyhot wrote: “A real man fights without a weapon and wins his battle like a warrior.”

And @Alashock was a bit acerbic: “Height of shamelessness if you think this is a show off…Stupid American wannabe…Even when the supposed advanced country (America) is currently campaigning for gun control. Insecurity of the highest order from Judeengees.”

For a follower, Nelson Ebuka with handle @boinero, he believes Jude’s access to excessive cash could be responsible to this misdemeanour: “Too much money dey disturb you…U need a cognitive therapy….Remember God fit take d fame and money in minute. Even American artists never try dis one,” he stated.

Temitayo Ogunseye described Jude’s action as “sheer stupidity at its peak”.

There are others who are calling for investigation into this act by Jude whether he has right to threaten anyone with guns on the social media whether he is legally or illegally in possession of the firearm.

Jude is gradually gaining not too good reputation with some of his posts on the social media. Recently, he alongside his twin brothers flaunted wads of foreign cash while aboard a private jet.

Being a website designer, i was to bill a client in dollars, the last time i checked, the naira was about 1.70 to a dollar, luckily for him, he was with the dailies so he decided to confirm the rate of the dollar, that was when i found out the dollar has fallen and on making inquiry..i found out it is true, so i decided to bring it to the notice of my readers....

The nation’s currency naira yesterday weakened against the US dollar losing 52 kobo at the interbank as it closed at N159.72/$ compared to N159.20/$, data from Financial Markets Dealer Quotations (FMDQ) have revealed.

Victor OFILI, research desk, Cowry Asset Management Limited attributed the naira depreciation to demand not being met by adequate supply.

He anticipates an appreciation of naira tomorrow as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will sell forex at its Retail Dutch Action System (RDAS) window.

According to him, once the funds enter the market, it will supplement the amount available in the alternative segments which include bureau de change and parallel market.

However the CBN on Monday offered $350 million but sold $349.8 million to 20 deposit money banks at the rate of N155.72/$ at its bi-weekly RDAS window.

Analysts had expected naira to firm up across market segments this week as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) resumes forex sales at the official market, after two weeks of year-end closure.

Interbank rates at the money market yesterday, climbed slightly across tenor buckets by 1.92 percent from 11.43 percent the previous day to 11.65 percent.

Consequently, Nigerian Interbank Offered Rates (NIBOR) for 7 days tenor increased to 10.91 percent from 10.83 the previous day. In the same way, 30 days, 60 days and 90 days tenors climbed from 11.08, 11.33 and 11.70 percent the previous day to11.45, 11.70 and 11.95 percent respectively.irriri..com

Having posted the story of Basketmouth and his dry joke, which many of his followers and fan took personal, although i saw the post on his wall, but i didnt give it a second thought because i know he will never in his right mind promote rape, he has however come out to apologize to everyone about the cruel joke....
Quoting him, this is what he has to say ...
“I broadcasted a joke that many clearly misunderstood and have found offensive and I sincerely apologise. The intention however was to highlight an unfortunate trend and the ridiculously flawed comparison between money and the worth of a woman,” the comedian explained.
Addressing his “apology” to all women, “the ones that make our lives colorful, the ones we owe our lives literally, our pride, our money choppers, the true stronger vessels,” Basketmouth said, “this is me, Bright Onyekwere Okpocha saying, I no dey crase to promote rape? (sic)”
The joke has since been removed. irriri..com

Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah is in the news again but this time around its for a certificate scandal.
Read the excerpt below.
US College Says It Did Not Award MBA To Stella Oduah As It Has No Masters Programme

Stella Oduah, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation who is embroiled in a scandal of towering proportions in the ministry, faces new integrity questions as her Masters’ degree has been challenged by the United States school which supposedly awarded it.

Her resume, which she presented to the Senate as a ministerial nominee in 2011, indicated she obtained a Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) from St. Paul’s College Lawrenceville, Virginia, United States.

But SaharaReporters has learned from the President of the college that it has never in its 125-year history had a graduate school or graduate program.

The Provost Vice President of Academic Affairs, and the Vice President of Institutional Development said in response to our inquiries, “We don’t offer any graduate programs here.”

Similarly, the school’s website states: “Saint Paul's College is accredited by the Commission of Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate [bachelor’s] degrees.” There is no mention of graduate degrees.

The Minister’s documentation shows she received an undergraduate degree in accounting from the college in 1982, but Dr. Claud Flythe, St. Paul’s current president, could neither confirm nor deny this during a phone conversation with SaharaReporters. Further verification with the Office of Alumni Affairs is also currently impossible, the school said, because the college has been closed since June 2013 to loss of its accreditation.

“[Oduah] realized very early in life the indispensability of a sound education in her growth plans in life and therefore pursued her education with all diligence and sense of purpose,” her documents claimed, adding that a determination “to have the best education at the highest level” prompted her stay at the Virginia college in 1983 for the MBA programme.

As her public relations machinery marched on, in December 2012 The Sun newspaper published an article headlined “Stella Oduah: An Amazon of transformation,” which lauded her “MBA from St Paul’s College, Lawrenceville Virginia USA.” The story also praised her for being an official who brought her “rich educational background to bear on the aviation sector by automating revenue centers in all the agencies and parastatals to boost their revenue profile and enhance transparency and accountability in the system.”

In October, SaharaReporters broke the story that Mrs. Oduah, a former campaign manager for President Goodluck Jonathan, purchased two bulletproof BMW cars worth $ 1.6 Million (N255m) through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, for her own use.

Following an investigation, the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation dismissed the Minister’s pleas of innocence and all her rebuttals during her testimony. The committee’s report, which was subsequently adopted by the House, declared that no budgetary appropriation had been made for the purchase of the cars, and that the NCAA proposal for their purchase was rejected.

President Jonathan also set up a three-member administrative panel to investigate the matter, but he immediately travelled out of the country with Mrs. Oduah and Colonel Dasuki, the National Security Adviser who was to serve as a member of the panel. Not only did the panel submit its report much later than the two weeks it was given for the assignment, Mr. Jonathan has refused to release its report.

Mrs. Oduah’s new certificate questions are certain to feed into national concern about her credibility as an elected official, but also about Mr. Jonathan’s credibility, and about the nation’s security apparatus which verifies official documents offered to the Senate for official nominations.

If Mrs. Oduah deliberately deceived the Senate, it remains to be seen if the Upper House will be sufficiently motivated to take up the matter with the Executive.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s aviation industry continues to face a massive challenge, with struggling airports and airlines, as well as financial and administrative pitfalls that hinder expansion and development.
gobulksmsng.com

For years I have wondered what the value of Twitter is for sales and business. Everyone knows the indisputable value of LinkedIn for B2B sales, marketing, B2B prospecting, and entrepreneurs in general. But Twitter is finally gaining traction in B2B.
This article shares some of the latest Twitter strategies, tactics, tools, and best practices.
Darren Rowse of ProBlogger has a really cool ebook called 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. It it gives you 1 thing to do per day on your blog for an entire month. It is for those who never quite get around to it because they are so busy.
Think of this article as “31 Days to Using Twitter to Build Your Business.”
GETTING STARTED
1. Decide your purpose. Why are you using Twitter?
Some Twitter users utilize the social media site to build their company brand or generate leads. There are bloggers who use the platform to share ideas and articles and to see what others are writing about. Some people check Twitter for news, while others want to see what celebrities or friends are up to.
Defining your purpose will help you decide who to follow and what kind of information to share.
2. Focus on your passion. There are millions of Twitter users tweeting thousands of pieces of information every second. It is easy to get overwhelmed by and lost in the noise. Rather than trying to soak it all in and repurpose everything, focus on your passion.
Don’t be a jack of all Twitter subjects and a master of none. Tweets surrounding your passion are going to be stronger. Plus, you will attract users who have similar interests. If you don’t focus, you will attract meaningless followers, if any at all.
3. Define your brand. Once you have zeroed in on your purpose and passion, decide how you want the Twitter world to view you.
Do you want to specialize in one subject to attract a targeted audience? Or do you want to be more general, tweeting about numerous topics? Do you want your tweets to be funny and casual or very professional? Is your goal to be a thought leader or celebrity? This will give you direction on who to follow and what to tweet.
4. Determine your strategy. Is your strategy to communicate?
If your goal is to influence, promote or sell, your strategy should be communication based. You are going to want to attract attention. To attract attention, you are going to need to tweet, direct message, engage with other users and focus on getting information out in the Twitter world.
Is it to listen?
If you are using Twitter to keep up on news, learn, provide customer service or perform market analysis, your strategy should be to listen. You are going to want to decide who will provide the content you’re interested in and follow them. You will also want to learn how to utilize filtering tools, including hashtags and Twitter lists.
5. Learn how to use Twitter. Reading this article and articles like it is a good first step. However, to really learn how to utilize Twitter, you’re going to need to get your hands a little dirty and roll up your sleeves.
1. Go to Twitter.com, and create a free account.
2. Learn Twitter terminology. When you post something, it’s a tweet. When you repost something from another user, it’s a retweet or RT. Trending topics, or TT, are topics discussed by many users at a given time. You can Favorite a tweet by clicking on the star. That is a great way to recognize someone for sharing your content.
3. Explore. See who is on Twitter and what people are tweeting.
4. Engage. Follow the guidelines in this article and become an active user.
6. Grab your name, brand or persona. (@KenKrogue)
When you are signing up, you will need to decide your Twitter name, which is how people will tag you in tweets and ultimately how you will be known on Twitter. Mine is my name, @KenKrogue. If you can’t get your own name, add your passion or function like @KenKrogueSells or something. My company address is @InsideSales. Choose something that fits you or your business.
7. Take a good picture. Use a close-up headshot of yourself or a logo of your business. This image will show up on your profile page and next to any comment you make on Twitter. You want people to recognize you. Make sure the image is clear and well-lit, with your face in the center. (Or you can be off-center, like me, if you are a little different.) You want to avoid having other objects beside you in the picture.
If you are using a logo, try not to make it too wordy, or it will not be readable at the small image size. Your image can be formatted as a jpg, gif or PNG. The size limit for upload is 700KB. Twitter reformats the image for the profile picture and the smaller image that goes next to comments.
Changing Your Profile Image. To change your profile image, click on the gear icon located at the top of the page, and select “edit profile.” Next to “Photo” select “Upload photo” from the drop down. Upload your photo from your computer.
8. Find your keywords. Use the Google Keyword Tool (now Keyword Planner as of Aug 26) to find the keywords that make up your industry or market. Remember to divert a river, don’t dig a well. In other words, tap into existing traffic rather than generating it from scratch. It is better to know about keywords than even about hashtags, because a hashtag is a keyword or a “theme” that can help amplify your exposure.
9. Research and identify your #hashtags. Hashtags are a tool to make words more searchable. To create a hashtag, place # before a word. Hashtags allow Twitter users to tap into a Twitter-wide conversation. Discover the trending conversations, and decide which ones you want to be included in. This will also help you connect with users who have similar interests.
Use a maximum of two hashtags per tweet. Hashtags are a useful way to get your tweet out to people who are actually interested in its main subject, but too many hashtags in a single post can be overwhelming.
#Hashtags can be a #useful #tool, but this is #toomany in a #single #tweet. #annoying #overwhelming
Five Tools to Help Research Hashtags:
1. Twitter Toolbar: You can search terms, keywords and people by entering them into the toolbar at the top of the page on Twitter. For example, if you are in sales, try searching #sales and related keywords you have identified using the Google Keyword Tool. If you want to see tweets surrounding a certain topic enter that term into the search bar, and it will bring you to all related tweets. For example, if you wanted to see tweets related to the Inside Sales Virtual Summit, enter #SalesSummit into the search bar, and all tweets tagged #SalesSummit will show up.
2. Hashtags.org: Hashtags.org provides research to help businesses improve social networking strategies.
3. Topsy
4. Twitter Reach
5. Social Mention
(3-5 are social analytics tools that can provide analysis of your tweets and hashtags.)
10. Wordsmith your profile with keywords for search and fun facts for people. Once you have decided why you are using Twitter, what your target audience is and gone through the initial setup, now you want to show up in search. Include keywords in your Twitter profile.
11. Publish your Twitter ID in your other media. I post my Twitter ID (@KenKrogue) in my email signature, at the bottom of articles I write and anywhere else I think applicable. This lets people know I’m on Twitter and helps them find me. A great way to grow your following is to start with people you know and connect with them in various ways.
BUILD YOUR NETWORK
12. Check out Twitter Tools like TweetAdder or Tweepi to target who to follow or who you want to follow you. The best way to build your network is to target your content specifically to those who would be interested in following you and make it really interesting and valuable. TweetAdder or Tweetpi are perfect tools for this. Check out How to Build a Targeted Twitter Tribe of 100,000 on Jeff Bullas’ blog. Two other useful tools are Twitonomy, which provides analytics, and Twtrland, which offers up social intelligence.
13. The follow-first rule: I follow you then (hopefully) you follow me. This is by far the most common way to get followers. Twitter puts limits on how many users you can follow. Here are the guidelines: “Every account can follow 2,000 users total. Once you’ve followed 2,000 users, there are limits to the number of additional users you can follow. This number is different for each account and is based on your ratio of followers to following; this ratio is not published.”
14. The favorites-follower rule: I click ‘favorite’ on your Tweet, then you follow me. This method helps you gain targeting following by first finding Tweets that match your interests and targeted keywords. Then you click ‘favorite’ and often they reciprocate. This takes more time, but gives you a much higher quality and engaged following.
15. The offer-follower rule: You follow me, I give you something: information, ebook, etc. Make sure to give away something that your target audience will value. Make it easy for people to claim their reward.
16. The fan-follower rule: You follow a celebrity, they tweet you about them. You follow a celebrity types to keep up on their tweets. Twitter helped this process a lot by featuring the 17. Choose your lists: Twitter lists allow you to listen to relevant conversations, identify influencers and filter out the noise so you can focus on the people and topics you care about.
18. Two ears and one mouth rule: Listen (and research first) before you speak. It is much better to listen about twice as much as you tweet if you want a strong following that is engaged and targeted to your purpose and passion.
19. Listen with Topsy. Topsy.com is a Twitter search engine that let’s you see if anyone listens or cares. Let’s you see the latest Twitter results in the past hour, day, week, 20 days, month or all time — with a cool trending graph
Twitter address of famous people in the Twitter registration process.
20. Use Tweetdeck or HootSuite to listen to the conversation about you, your company, or your industry. Serious listeners step up to Radian6, what is now the saleforce marketing cloud.
START COMMUNICATING
21. Create and tweet great original content that fits your purpose. Create content that is informative and entertaining. Write about industry news, especially if you’re in a position to break the news. Stay on top of trends and provide commentary that adds context. If somebody releases groundbreaking research in your industry, write about this research. But don’t just regurgitate it. Use your own expertise to explain why this research is important. Show others in your industry how they can apply it to their work.
Use a combination of short-form content, like tweets, and long-form content, like blog posts, to establish yourself as a thought leader.
22. Summarize and curate great content that fits your purpose.
Share facts, insights and statistics in 140 characters or less. Try to keep your tweets to about 100 characters to leave room for links and hashtags and to increase the likelihood that somebody will retweet your content. Use your Twitter lists to curate relevant content. Set up keyword searches to track content by keywords.
23. Spend your time on really great headlines with keywords. Your headlines have the greatest impact on how many people share and read your content.
Here are some proven headline formulas:
• Lists: Headlines with numbers in them consistently perform well. Example: 7 Undeniable Reasons People LOVE List Posts.
• How to: “How to” titles promise a benefit to your readers. Example: How to Use Sales Data to Increase Sales Productivity.
• Target a Shark: Refer to a shark, which can be an important company or person in your industry. This allows you to feed off the shark’s popularity to call attention to your content. Example: What Steve Jobs Can Teach You About Startup Success.
• Include Keywords: If you want to be known for sales motivation, make sure to include that keyword phrase in your headlines. Example: 6 Insanely Useful Sales Motivation Secrets.
24. Keep tweeting — Resend tweets with different angles. Some social media experts (Guy Kawasaki for example) recommend that you send the same tweet four times to cover all four U.S. time zones.
If you want to mix things up, here are some different angles you can take:
Use statistics to show significance: 90% of your sales come from 10% of your list
Address tweets to the individual by including the word “you”: Why You Should Focus on 10% of Your Prospect List
25. Alternate tweets by time of day and day of week. Social media scientist Dan Zarrella says that the best time to tweet if you want to be retweeted is on Friday at 4 p.m. EST. That’s based on aggregate data he has analyzed for millions of retweets. The engagement levels on your Twitter account may vary based on your industry and other factors.
Use the Buffer App Tool (one of my favorites) to schedule your tweets. Test different days and times. Monitor engagement by using Buffer’s Analytics tab. Identify patterns among your Twitter followers. Schedule your tweets for your optimal days and times. >Don’t overlook weekends. Some Twitter users see higher engagement over the weekend. But the only way to know is to test and monitor your results.
26. Bridge Twitter with other media. Create a dynamic experience for your Twitter audience by including different types of media, such as images and videos.
Here are some tools you can use:
• Twitpic: Go to Twitpic.com, create an account, upload photos and easily share them on Twitter.
• Yfrog: Yfrog is another popular photo-sharing service.
• YouTube videos: Simply paste a YouTube video URL into a tweet. Your followers will be able to view the video right in their Twitter stream by clicking on the “View Media” link that appears in your tweet.
• AudioBoo: Use AudioBoo to share audio files. Once you have an account, sharing an AudioBoo link is super intuitive.
Twitter is a very passive media, but great to build awareness and start conversations. I recommend bridging to more assertive media like email, Chatter, LinkedIn, phone conversations, and live meetings. Live meetings are the most assertive, and work great at common events like Trade Shows, etc. Use Twitter to bridge to more assertive media as soon as you can.
27. Retweet great content. When you see something worth sharing in your stream, retweet it. This means that you are sharing somebody else’s Twitter content with your own followers. Retweeting somebody else’s content accomplishes two things:
1. It helps you make friends with other influencers on Twitter.
2. It shows your followers that you’re an active member of your online community.
Retweeting is simple. Here’s how:
Click the Retweet button on any tweet. This will publish the original tweet in your followers’ streams. The tweet will appear exactly as it did when it was first tweeted, meaning it will appear to come from the person who originally tweeted it. A message will appear at the bottom of the tweet telling people that you retweeted it.
Retweet the old-fashioned way. When viewing a tweet, click Reply. Copy and paste the original message into your tweet box. Place the letters RT in front of the original tweeter’s Twitter handle, or @ sign. Click Tweet. The post will be published in your followers’ streams as if it came from you. Many users prefer this method of retweeting because it’s better for building your own brand.
28. Send direct tweets as a great form of communication. Direct tweets are one-to-one messages as opposed to one-to-many. So, these tweets are more personal by nature. Use direct tweets to build strong relationships and to communicate important messages.
There are two types of direct tweets:
At-replies: Send an at-reply to another Twitter user by hitting the Reply button on any tweet. Type your message into the box that pops up and click Tweet. Your at-reply will show up in this person’s Interactions stream, which means it is more likely to be seen than a regular tweet. Just remember, your at-reply will also be visible to the public as part of your general Twitter stream.
Direct messages: If you don’t want anybody but the intended recipient to see your tweet, use a direct message. Click on the gray gear icon at the top of your Twitter profile. Select Direct Messages and create a new message. Once you submit it, it will appear in the recipient’s inbox.
29. Use great #hashtags. Hashtags categorize your tweets, which makes it easier for others interested in your topic to find them. Turn the keywords you want to be known for into your hashtags. Create a hashtag by placing the # symbol in front of your keywords. For example, #insidesales, #sales and #salesdata are popular hashtags in the sales space. Remember the rule though: divert a river, don’t dig a well.
Find existing hashtags with lots of traffic by searching for them using the Search Bar at the top of your profile. View a list of related tweets by clicking on a hashtag inside a tweet.
Make a hashtag for every event and presentation you do. #salessummit was our hashtag for our big Virtual Sales Summit. It already had lots of existing traffic (divert a river.)
Put your hashtag right at the bottom of every slide in your PowerPoint to make it easy for people to see it and tweet while you are presenting.
30. Leverage your tweets in Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs. Share your Twitter content with your audience on other networks by re-posting your tweets on Facebook and LinkedIn, when appropriate. You also can embed a tweet into your blog or website. Click on the date in the upper-right-hand corner of a tweet. Then click More and select Embed Tweet. Copy the code and add it to your blog or website.
SEE IF IT’S WORKING
31. Check where you stand on social media tools, like Klout.com, Peerindex.com, Kred.com, Wefollow.com. Your influence on social media matters. The higher your score is, the more influential and relevant you are to others in the social media realm. One of the most popular tools is Klout. Quickly set up an account on Klout to see your score from 1 to 100.
Use these Twitter tips to help you build your business.
Courtesy: gobulkSMSng.com

What is the difference between an entrepreneur and someone who just runs a business?
As is often the case, I may not exactly know what it is, but I know what it is not.
What is the difference between a leader and a manager?
Leaders walk in front and show others the way. They lift the heavy boxes first and, like Tom Sawyer, they start out by painting the fence better and faster than the crowd who gathered to watch them. It is awe that makes the crowd members pick up a brush and join in. But unlike Tom, they stay involved through the process and keep recruiting others. (Entrepreneurs figure out vinyl fences don’t need paint.) Leaders are like Tom Sawyer, they start out by painting the fence better and faster; others join in out of respect and awe.
Leaders don’t stop for nearly as many breaks or gather around and watch others, unless they are learning and comparing. They always hoe to the end of the row, even in heat, a rainstorm, or when supper is calling.
Leaders begin to sing out when the song begins, because they know the other voices will soon blend in and hide the fact they are slightly off key.
Leaders seek out the one lagging beyond, find what makes them tick, then challenge them to keep up and to keep time.
Leaders are like the Marines… first in… last out. They don’t punch a clock, they get a job done, even if they mop up what’s left behind.
Leaders work on the system, managers work in the system.
Leaders like exempt over non-exempt. They demand a fair salary, they don’t ever want to be measured as just an hourly wage. But they will work hard and long under one if they have to, even if they get sent home by their manager before overtime rules kick in.
A manager never quits a job until they find one that is better.
Leaders rarely get fired. But they often get fired up. They will quit any job that asks them to do something they don’t believe in. But they will work at any job if the reason is strong enough or they have given their word.
Leaders are shepherds with a staff who call out with their voice, not sheep herders that ride horses with lots of smart dogs that nip at your heals.
Entrepreneurs know you need to be both a leader and a manager… in that order. They always start with a leader, and then find a manager.
They know a great leader is the ultimate solution to any problem. They pay ten to a thousand times more money for a great leader than a great manager… in a heartbeat.
What is the difference between finance and accounting?
One is a tool with leverage, the other is a method with scrutiny.
One puts the world at your feet, the other keeps the IRS away.
Finance finds the money at all costs. Accounting finds the cost of money.
Finance uses predictive analytics and statistics to gauge the odds of success. Accounting uses bookkeeping to track success and report to finance.
Accounting hears there is a recession going on. Finance finds counter-recessionary trends and catches a wave.
Finance steers through the land mines and sees trends on the rise. Accounting reports on the cost of running aground.
Entrepreneurs practice both and hire both. And pay much less for Accountants.

What is the difference between sales and marketing?
Sales are the Navy Seals, the Green Berets, the Rangers. Marketing is the Air Force that rides high and sees far. They can’t win a war by themselves, but they sure look good to the folks on the ground kicking door to door.
Sales seeks out and solves need.
Marketing causes awareness and turns it to interest.
Sales wishes Marketing would educate interest into need before it gets to them, so they don’t have to. But they do if they need to. It just takes longer.
Sales knows that interest is the counterfeit of need.
Sales yells at Marketing for not generating enough good leads. Marketing yells back for not calling them all before they get cold.
Sales makes a way, marketing finds a way.
Entrepreneurs know they are both right, but that sales is the last to ever turn off the lights.
What is the difference between a statesman and a politician?
A statesman, or stateswoman, wades into the fray, a politician maneuvers through it.
A statesman fills his hand against the odds. A politician feels the odds against his hand.

Ethics and law are a statesman’s guide, with greater good as the motive. A statesman is honest when nobody is looking. He speaks up even when he is the only one in the room who is willing to.
He would serve for a single dollar, and often do. He would love to put down the heavy burden, but only do when those he loves and is duty-bound to uphold are out of harm’s way.
Entrepreneurs are the statesmen (and women) of business.

What is the difference between faith and belief?
Faith is action, it is of the body. Belief is thought, it is of the mind.
Faith comes after hope, which is the fuel of the heart… desire… purpose… motive.
Faith is an assurance that what you have seen happen before, though you don’t see it now, will happen again… if you act and work.
Faith knows it’s enemy is doubt.
Belief hopes to become faith someday when it grows up.
Faith is based on truth. Belief may not be based on anything.. It doesn’t know.
Faith will risk it all and is willing to pay the price for every blessing. Belief flees because it isn’t sure, and wavers when things get really difficult.
Others look at faith and say “I get it!”
They look at belief and wonder if they get it.
Faith only wonders why.
Belief worries how.
Entrepreneurs know that belief turns to faith based on truth, assurance, and action… always action.
What is the difference between church and religion?
Church is a place you go to, on the outside. Religion is within.
A church is a building you go to worship on a specific day each week. Religion can be found on a mountaintop… alone.
Religion may or may not be had in a church.
A church is what you identify with. Religion is who you really are.
Some religions believe in God or god, or no god. But they live it.
Religion is the sum total of your habits. Habits are the true garb of religion.
Entrepreneurs hire people from all churches, but look deeply for those who live their religion, whether it includes a belief in God or not.

What is the difference between learning and understanding?
Learning goes to the source by itself, practices and rehearses, engages, memorizes and teaches back, and walks away with a treasure.
Understanding watches the teacher do the problem on the board and gets it then, but can’t figure out the ciphers in the textbook at home in the evening.
Learning goes to Lynda.com for $25 a month, where every software package lies at its fingertips, and in six months figures out how to start a company building websites.
Understanding gets a degree after four years, finds a job, and then works for somebody else for six years to pay off student loans.
Understanding is the counterfeit of Learning.
Learning goes to school to sit on the front row and ask questions.
Understanding takes notes to pass a test.
Learning cares much more about the quality of the question.
Understanding cares more about the completeness of the answer.
Training is what the trainer does. Learning is what sticks.
Teaching is what a teacher does. Learning is what a student does.
Learning is the valuable residue that is left over after Teaching occurs.
Learning counts only if it is measured and can be applied.
Learning leads to an education. Understanding leads to a degree.
Learning leads to an entrepreneur. Understanding leads to an employee.
Entrepreneurs don’t spend much of their time as an employee.
Only long enough to learn on somebody else’s dime, and from somebody else’s understanding.
Entrepreneurs don’t usually have an MBA, but they hire as many of them as they can.
Courtesy: gobulksmsng.com

With new social networking platforms appearing from behind every corner, it can be hard to know exactly where to commit your time and resources. And as we move into the latter-half of 2013, it’s important to look ahead to where social networking is going, and how we can get on board.

As I think about the trends in social media so far this year, I’ve compiled a list of my predictions as to where we’re headed as we inch towards 2014.

1. Investment in Social Media Will Become a Necessity, Not a Luxury

While I’d argue that investing time and resources into a social media strategy is most definitely a necessity in 2013, I believe the tipping point in public sentiment from ‘should have’ to ‘must have’ will occur in 2014.

Businesses are already coming to terms with the need to integrate their social media efforts with their content strategy, and are seeing the impact of social media in terms of lead generation, referral traffic, and revenue.

As businesses see these very real and measurable benefits, I believe we’ll see a move away from assigning social media tasks to existing employees, and see even more companies hiring social media strategists or full-time social media managers.

The benefits of social media are many, but they include:

Improved social signals (which are a factor in the search ranking algorithm).
Company branding
Improved brand awareness
Word-of-mouth advertising
Increased customer loyalty and trust
Improved audience reach and influence

Social media is also one of the three pillars of SEO.




2. Google + Will Become a Major Factor

While Facebook continues to lead the pack in terms of number of active monthly users (1.15 billion at last count), Google+ is quickly gaining steam, and in fact, now has the second highest number of monthly users (343 million).

With Google using the platform to collect personal information (think demographics, location, etc.), Google+ should no longer be thought of as ‘just’ another social network. It’s increasingly proving itself to be an integral part of Google’s grand scheme in terms of SEO, social signals and providing a more personalized search experience. This is especially apparent with the importance of Google Authorship, which I project will be one of the key components to Google’s search ranking algorithm by the end of 2014.

I believe that businesses who are finding themselves spread thin with their social media efforts will increasingly turn to Google+ as the closest thing we have to a ‘one size fits all’ social network.

As Google+ moves towards even greater integration with other aspects of the web – as they’ve already done with their foray into local search – I think we’ll see its growth skyrocket, both in terms of business and personal use. For information on how to start using Google+, read “How to Breathe Life into Your Google+ Profile.”



3. Image-Centric Networks Will See Huge Success

We’ve seen a consistent trend in 2013 toward sharing through image and video, rather than text-based content. Visual content will increasingly become a critical piece of any solid content strategy, and social networking site Pinterest will continue to shed its reputation as a ‘women’s only’ network and become an integral part of retailers’ marketing strategies.

Other image-based social media sites like Slideshare, Tumblr, Path, and Mobli will continue to grow, and businesses will need to become more mindful about the ‘sharability’ factor of photos on their websites and blogs in order to derive significant benefit from their social media content marketing efforts.



4. We’ll Witness the Rise of Micro-Video

It seems that writing 140 characters and taking 3 minute long videos is becoming too tedious for many of us. Micro video to the rescue!

With the emergence of micro video apps like Twitter’s Vine and now Instagram’s video sharing feature, we’re seeing even more movement toward real-time video sharing. And not just any videos; with Instagram allowing 3-15 seconds per video, and Vine allowing precisely 6 seconds, users are even more likely to create and share videos from their smartphones.

It will be interesting to see if and how these bite-sized pieces of content will change the playing field when it comes to video-based social media.



5. Foursquare Will Decline Sharply

With stale traffic numbers, and significant difficulties raising capital in 2013, Foursquare continues to struggle its way towards 2014.

With other social networks like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter offering location-based features, it seems like only a matter of time before Foursquare folds and their users are absorbed into these other networks.



6. MySpace, Love it or Hate it, Will Grow
With their radical makeover and re-branding efforts earlier this year, MySpace appears to be getting its second wind. Offering an iPhone app that allows users to network, receive private messages, and listen to their own personalized radio station, MySpace seems to be on track for growth in 2014.



7. LinkedIn Will Become a Major Player for B2B Business Growth

Still holding steady as the #1 social networking site for professionals with 238 million users, LinkedIn isn’t just sitting on its heels. With the launch of its Influencers program, LinkedIn is positioning itself as not only another networking site, but as one of the largest sources of content creation and curation for professionals.

As it grows and attracts even more users, the advantages of being “linked in” will become enormous for B2B marketers.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2013/09/24/the-top-7-social-media-marketing-trends-that-will-dominate-2014/
Follow me on Twitter @chrisdaramola for more insights, predictions, and expertise.

ABC is your best bet. gobulksmsng.com