American Beauty

k98nights, Thank you for the post, I have had people asking me where and what to send to those affected by this devastating disaster. AB

I have read all of your very kind and gracious responses, I can say without a doubt they will help ease some of pain "homedaycare" and her family are going through, and please know that each one of your kind responses will make a difference to them. I did read where members where talking about taking up donations, that is an amazing offer, but to be honest I'm not for sure that is something she would want. My understanding is that food, fuel and water are going to be the shortage so many stores and restaurants are just gone. I went and spoke with the US post office to day to see if I could send a care package, and they said I could but nothing could be shipped next day or 2 day because of the damage in the area, but I could send a package. *** I'm sorry k98nights I totally forgot that is where you live, I'm so glad you and your family are okay, that is a blessing. I was going to try and check in with Bama69 to see if him and his family were okay, but I haven't found anything out yet.

I will be praying for you and your family my SFAM, you are truly one of the best friends a person can have. So many lives were lost it makes you realize what is really important in life, and I think I will say a prayer "Thanking God" that I get to give my husband and daughter a "Hug and Kiss." I just remembered why I'm so blessed, and it's time I tell God, "Thank you!" I'm so sorry for those that lost loved ones yesterday, I will keep y'all in my prayers.

If you would like to read the actual bill, here is part of it, and a link to the entire BILL NUMBER: AB 2789 CHAPTERED BILL TEXT CHAPTER 612 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 30, 2010 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 30, 2010 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 18, 2010 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 20, 2010 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 15, 2010 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 10, 2010 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 12, 2010 INTRODUCED BY Committee on Banking and Finance (Eng (Chair), Evans, Fong, Fuentes, Mendoza, Nava, Ruskin, and Torres) MARCH 9, 2010 An act to repeal and add Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 1800) of, and to repeal Chapter 14A (commencing with Section 1851) of, Division 1 of, and to repeal Division 16 (commencing with Section 33000) of, the Financial Code, relating to money transmission. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2789, Committee on Banking and Finance. Money transmission. Existing law provides for the regulation and licensure by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of money transmitters, issuers of travelers checks, and sellers of payment instruments. This bill would repeal those provisions and enact the Money Transmission Act, which would provide for the regulation and licensure by the commissioner of persons in the business of money transmission, defined to mean the selling or issuing of payment instruments or stored value and the receiving of money for transmission. The bill would prohibit a person from engaging in the business of money transmission in California or advertising, soliciting, or holding itself out as providing money transmission unless licensed by the commissioner or exempt from licensure. The bill would provide that only a corporation or limited liability company may be licensed to engage in the business of money transmission. The bill would require specified information to be included in an application for a license. The bill would authorize the commissioner to conduct an examination of an applicant, at the applicant's expense, and would require the commissioner to approve an application for a license if the commissioner makes specified findings, including that the applicant has adequate tangible shareholders' equity, as defined, and is competent to engage in the business of money transmission. The bill would require licensees to file with the commissioner audit reports within 90 days after the end of each fiscal year and other specified reports each calendar quarter. The bill would impose various fees and would require the commissioner to levy assessments on licensees for the purposes of administering these provisions regulating money transmission. The bill would establish requirements in order for a licensee to appoint an agent to conduct money transmission on behalf of the licensee. The bill would require a licensee to maintain eligible securities, as defined, meeting specified requirements. The bill would authorize the commissioner to issue an order requiring the licensee to maintain and obtain specified securities if the commissioner finds that the financial condition of a licensee is unstable, as specified. The bill would require a licensee to provide specified notices and disclosures to customers, including a notice relative to a customer's right to a refund, disclosures relating to rates of exchange, a notice indicating that payment instruments are not insured, and a notice providing information on making complaints to the commissioner against a licensee. The bill would require licensees to maintain certain financial records for a 3-year period. The bill would authorize the commissioner to examine the business and office of a licensee and to suspend or revoke a license if the commissioner finds that a licensee or agent of a licensee has, among other things, violated the provisions of the act or engaged in fraud or unsound practices and would authorize the commissioner to assess specified civil penalties against a person that violates these provisions. The bill would also make it a crime for a person to engage in the business of money transmission without a license or an exemption from licensure or for a person to intentionally make a false statement, misrepresentation, or false certification in a record filed or required to be maintained under these provisions. By establishing new crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 1800) of Division 1 of the Financial Code is repealed. SEC. 2. Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 1800) is added to Division 1 of the Financial Code, to read: CHAPTER 14. MONEY TRANSMISSION ACT http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_2751-2800/ab_2789_bill_20100930_chaptered.html

I'm sorry, I apologies!!! AB

Violent Crackdown on Iraqi Opposition by Patrick Martin Global Research, March 9, 2011 Dozens of armed police shut down the Baghdad offices of two opposition political parties Sunday, in the latest demonstration of the dictatorial reality of US-occupied Iraq’s nominally “democratic” government. Officials of the Iraqi Nation Party and the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP) said that their offices had been seized two days after tens of thousands turned out in anti-government demonstrations that met with violent repression from the security forces of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The Iraqi cabinet denied that it was outlawing the two parties, claiming instead that the buildings were state property and had been taken because the Ministry of Defense was “in need of these buildings now.” A senior leader of the Iraqi Nation Party, Mithal al-Alusi, told the New York Times that officials of Maliki’s Dawa Party had spoken to him before the March 4 protests and asked him to throw his support behind the government. He said that the seizure of the offices was an act of retaliation for this refusal. The action against the ICP and Iraqi Nation Party is part of an ongoing wave of political repression in Iraq, conducted both by the Maliki government and its principal coalition partners, the two Kurdish parties who jointly control the regional government in Kurdistan. Journalists covering an anti-government protest March 4 in Basra, in southern Iraq, were seized and beaten by police. Gunman in military uniforms raided an independent radio station in the Kurdish town of Kalar. The station’s director, Azad Othman, told the Associated Press the volunteer station had been reporting extensively on demonstrations in Sulaimaniyah against the two ruling parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. These attacks follow nationwide raids the previous Sunday, in which Iraqi police detained 300 people, mainly journalists, artists, lawyers and other intellectuals who were taking part in the ongoing protests, held for the last several Fridays in imitation of the huge Egyptian demonstrations that forced the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. The protesters have focused their actions on Baghdad’s Tahrir (Liberation) Square, in honor of the square of the same name in the center of Cairo. The protests on Friday, February 25, were among the largest in the Arab world, and a total of 29 people were killed, shot to death by security forces in at least eight cities, including Baghdad, Fallujah, Mosul and Tikrit. As the Washington Post described the protests: “Witnesses in Baghdad and as far north as Kirkuk described watching last week as security forces in black uniforms, tracksuits and T-shirts roared up in trucks and Humvees, attacked protesters, rounded up others from cafes and homes and hauled them off, blindfolded, to army detention centers. Entire neighborhoods—primarily Sunni Muslim areas where residents are generally opposed to Maliki, a Shiite—were blockaded to prevent residents from joining the demonstrations. Journalists were beaten.” The Post quoted human rights activist Salam Mohammed al-Segar, one of those beaten during a sit-in, declaring, “Maliki is starting to act like Saddam Hussein, to use the same fear, to plant it inside Iraqis who criticize him. The US must feel embarrassed right now—it is they who promised a modern state, a democratic state. But in reality?” The repression was so flagrant that the Obama administration felt obliged to issue a statement describing US officials as “deeply troubled.” Maliki defended the actions of the security forces, blaming the victims and claiming they were former supporters of Saddam Hussein. Anti-government demonstrations continued Monday, March 7, on a smaller scale, and thousands took to the streets of Baghdad, Fallujah and Sulaimaniyah in what they called a “Day of Regret,” to mark the first anniversary of the Iraqi elections that left a badly divided parliament. Despite finishing second in the number of seats in parliament, Maliki was able to cobble together a coalition of Shiite and Kurdish parties and remain in office. The criticism of Maliki by the Obama administration and by US newspapers like the Times and the Post reveals mounting tension between the Iraqi puppet regime and its American overlord. Washington has long regarded Maliki as too close to Iran, and sought to insure the inclusion of former prime minister Iyyad Allawi, a long-time CIA asset, in the new government. Allawi’s Iraqiya Party, which drew its main support in the Sunni-populated areas, won the largest number of seats in parliament, 91 to Maliki’s 89, but has been shut out of any significant political role and is now beginning to break apart. Eight members of Iraqiya quit the party this week and announced they were forming a new parliamentary bloc. Allawi himself declared last week that he would not accept a largely ceremonial position as head of a national security council that would have little power. He told a press conference March 3 that he was declining the post “because of a lack of commitment to national partnership.” The press conference raised eyebrows because it was held in Najaf, the Shiite holy city, and Allawi appeared side by side with Moqtada al-Sadr, leader of a Shiite-based movement that clashed repeatedly with the US occupation, only to line up behind Maliki in last year’s parliamentary maneuvering. Both Allawi and Al-Sadr criticized the growing concentration of power in the hands of Maliki, particularly in the wake of a court ruling that gave the prime minister power to place his nominees in control of Iraq’s central bank, the human rights committee, and many other agencies. Beyond the factional interests of Maliki’s bourgeois opponents, however, there is indisputable evidence of a turn to mass repression on the part of the regime that was created by the US invasion and occupation of Iraq. A report issued by the US-based Human Rights Watch February 21 found that “human rights abuses are commonplace” in Iraq. “Eight years after the US invasion, life in Iraq is actually getting worse for women and minorities, while journalists and detainees face significant rights violations,” the organization declared. “Today, Iraq is at a crossroads—either it embraces due process and human rights or it risks reverting to a police state.” Despite widespread reports of systematic torture by Iraqi police interrogators, the report said, US military authorities routinely transfer detainees to Iraqi prisons where they know they will be abused, the report said. Human Rights Watch singled out a severe retrogression in the status of women and girls, who under the secular dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party were “relatively better protected than other countries in the region.” Forced marriages, forced prostitution, domestic abuse and sexual abuse have all risen sharply in the years since the US invasion. The report also pointed to mounting attacks on what it called “marginalized groups,” including religious minorities like Sabian Mandaeans, Assyrian and Chaldean Christians, and Yazidis, as well abuse and discrimination against the tens of thousands of amputees and others disabled by war, civil war and terrorist attacks. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=MAR20110309&articleId=23600

Plan to Encourage Investments in Iraq Wednesday, March 09, 2011 17:27 GMT Iraq Businessmen Association said on Wednesday during an economic conference held in Basra that it set a plan in order to encourage the Iraqis living outside Iraq and who have Capitals to come back to their motherland and contribute in Iraq investment projects. Meanwhile the regional government undertook to provide them with facilities. http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Economics-News-Iraq/3-61401-Plan-to-Encourage-Investments-in-Iraq.html

Comment on Rumaila Oilfield Production Posted on 07 March 2011. Tags: Ahmed Mousa Jiyad, oil production, Rumaila By Ahmed Mousa Jiyad, Norway, 7th March 2011. Recent data on Rumaila production for the period 26 December 2010 to 27 February 2011 indicates that after achieving the 10% threshold over the baseline production, daily production dropped sharply to the extent that in few days, production levels were lower even than the baseline production. The purpose of this intervention is to provide a few comments on the issue taking into consideration the related provisions of the contract. 1. The contract provides that the contactors (BP/CNPC +SOMO) are entitled to begin recovering cost and remuneration fee once they achieved 10% over the contracted baseline production for 30 consecutive days. 2. For Rumaila the contracted baseline production is 1.066 million barrels per day (mbd), and hence the threshold for commencement of cost and remuneration fee is 1,172,600 barrels (the red line in the following chart). 3. The actual payment to the contractor is limited to 50% of the “deemed revenues” for petroleum cost and remuneration fee, and 10% of the “deemed revenues” for the supplementary cost. 4. Daily production data from Rumaila seems to satisfy the condition of 10% over the contacted baseline production for 30 consecutive days until 31st January 2011, as shown by NO (daily production rate) curve in the chart. Hence the contactor is entitled to apply the cost recovery modality. Average price for Basra crude during January was $93.37 (assumed to be the FOB price), which gives a total of $151.7 million as cap for payment to the contractor from the deemed revenues of the incremental production for the period 11 to 31 January (which the daily production data are officially available). If one assumes average daily production for the first 10 days in January is equal to the daily average of the remaining days of January, then the contractor share for the whole of January would be ca. $224 million for remuneration fees and cost recovery.Total incremental production (over the baseline production) during January is estimated to be 3,997,524 barrels, giving BP/CNPC a maximum remuneration fee of $3,897,586 (after deducting SOMO’s share and the income taxes). The remaining amount of ca. $223 million represents 14.9% or 13.1% of the budget for 2010 work programme, which was reported to be $1.5 or $1.7 billion. 5. During February, daily production fluctuated with 12 days below 1,172,600 barrels threshold including 4 days with daily production even lower than the baseline production itself, while the remaining 15 days are above this threshold. However, since the downward production was deep the average daily production in February was 1,155,593 barrels, which is only 8.4% over the baseline production. Even if we apply the contracted annual decline of 5% per annum, this would not make for the difference of 1.6% for February underperformance. This implies that the IOCs have failed to sustain the 10% over the contracted baseline production, and this disqualifies IOCs from recovering their cost and remuneration. 6. It appears, as anticipated by many including myself, that IOCs would attain the 10% threshold over baseline production to invoke cost and fees recovery without insuring sustainability of the increase by applying short terms mechanical or technical modalities instead of the advanced enhance recovery methods. BP/CNPC uses contract for the supply and servicing of Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESP), which was split between two companies, Baker Hughes gets 60% of the work while Saudi Al-Khorayef Petroleum Co., has the remaining 40%. ENI, last year done some debottlenecking (at Zubair oilfield), reducing pressure here, re-perforating there; it is not really sustainable – they have some work to do (as Thamir Ghadhban said to IOR on 9 December 2010) 7. The Ministry of oil, SOC and Iraqi oil technical/professionals are expected to address this issue openly, accurately and professionally as the problems of the concluded contracts began to surface loud and clear, and remedial prompt and effective actions are required. It is vital that an annual report on Rumaila, and for that matter on all other contracted fields, is published and posted on the websites of MoO and SOC (and other ROCs) to outline what has happened to the Work Program and its Budget. Oil and Energy Committee in the Parliament should also have its say on such matters. Ahmed Mousa Jiyad Mr Jiyad is an independent development consultant, scholar and Associate with Centre for Global Energy Studies-CGES, London. He was formerly a senior economist with the Iraq National Oil Company and Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, Chief Expert for the Council of Ministers, Director at the Ministry of Trade, and International Specialist with UN organizations in Uganda, Sudan and Jordan. Jiyad is regular contributor to MEES publications. He is now based in Norway. http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2011/03/07/comment-on-rumaila-oilfield-production/

Trade Bank of Iraq to Launch Private Equity Fund Posted on 07 March 2011. Tags: private equity, Trade Bank of Iraq The state-run Trade Bank of Iraq plans to set up a $500 million private-equity fund to invest in projects in the country, and will next month look to identify a global player to act as the fund’s general partner, according to a report from Reuters. Hussein Al-Uzri, president and chairman of the bank, said it aims to launch the private-equity fund this year, which will invest in medium-sized projects in industries including oil services, power and hotels. The bank also plans to open branches this year in London and Beirut, and eventually aims to open offices in North America, east Asia, and possibly China, as Iraq attempts to attract investment to fund its rebuilding. “Iraq will need major investment in infrastructure — in housing, oil, power, and so this will need capital investment into the country, and we are counting on the private sector, both Iraqi and foreign, to participate,” Uzri told Reuters. Iraq expects private investment to triple to $30 billion this year, a senior government official told Reuters last month. Overall, Iraq needs $600 billion of investment to rebuild, according to the National Investment Commission (NIC). Launched in 2003, Trade Bank of Iraq has been widening its product offerings beyond trade finance and plans to add eight domestic branches this year to its current 15, Uzri said. The bank had $15 billion in assets at the end of 2010, a level it aims to expand by about 15 percent this year. It earned net profit of $386 million last year, and is looking to increase that by about 20 percent in 2011. Uzri, who was in the Indian capital for a global banking industry conference, declined to identify the firms on the short list to help manage the planned private-equity fund, which intends to raise money from investors. “What we want is somebody that is of course recognised internationally but at the same time, that they would invest time and money in Iraq,” Uzri said. “We want to make sure that for them, this is … strategic, they want to come here, they want to put people in, and time,” he said. Security remains a concern for investors in Iraq, and Trade Bank of Iraq’s headquarters was devastated by a deadly bomb blast last year. Still, Uzri said it has become much easier to pitch the Iraq investment story than during 2005-2007. “Almost every day we have visitors from abroad coming in,” he said. Once a privatisation law is passed, the bank eventually intends to bring in investors to take a minority stake, with a foreign strategic investor a possibility, he said. (Source: Reuters) http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2011/03/07/trade-bank-of-iraq-to-launch-private-equity-fund/

Linda55, I'm so glad I got to chat with you the other night. I'm so sorry that you are going through this, I hope you get better very soon. Todd and I will keep you in our prayers. Homedaycare, Larry, and ralpher wanted you to know that you are in their prayers also. We all send you our best wishes to get better soon. AB

MrParrot, I'm very sorry that you are going through this. I know this is of little comfort, but you are one of the most cared about characters in the Dinar World. You have made so many people laugh and enjoy this roller-coaster ride, even those faced with similar situations as yours. You should not let you self-worth or self-esteem be based on losing your job, or make you feel worthless in this bad economy. Your job or income do not make you a good person or a quality person, your actions when faced with what feels like a hopeless situation is what defines you. I sorry that your marriage is falling apart because of it, no ones marriage should fall apart because of money and bills. The truth is when things are good everyone is happy and enjoying life, but when things are bad is when you find out who truly cares for you. Because people who truly care will be there for you during the bad times as well as the good. Thank you for all the laughs and joy you have brought to the Dinar World. I wish you all the best and hope everything improves for you. Sincerely, AB

Here are the links to the CIA World Facts book: Country Comparison :: Stock of money https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2209rank.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af&regionCode=sas&rank=82#af Country Comparison :: GDP (purchasing power parity) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2001rank.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af&regionCode=sas&rank=113#af

darkstar, You did not even read my post correctly, if you had you would know it was not my sister who was busted, as we do not practice "TAX EVASION," it was her friend. So to call me misinformed is incorrect on your part.

If you people do not think that the Feds are not all over the internet , you are very mistaken. Look at the title of the thread, " Offshore Laundering." I can guarantee you that they are all over this and others like it. Do any of you really want to spend time in prison for "Tax Evasion" which is what the offshore account's is, "Tax Evasion." My sister's best friend believes the same why as this member "Darkstar," she lost her ranch to the IRS and also had to pay three million in back taxes and penalties. She is also on probation due to "Tax Evasion." She was given 18 months to come up with the three million or she was going to Federal Prison. The ranch she lost was 18,000 acres and had been in her family for many generations, she did not owe a dime on it and now it's gone because of "Tax Evasion." She had never lived anywhere else. I'm sure many of you have property, cars, etc. that are paid off, you probably work very hard to get them paid off do you want to lose them? Many of you see the RV as a chance at early "retirement," is "Tax Evasion" worth it? Wouldn't it just be easier to talk with a licensed CPA, a good Tax Attorney and/or a recommended Financial Planner to help discuss with you your tax breaks, such as "credits and exemptions" that you are entitled to. A professional tax attorney will be by your side in the event there is an audit a CPA. Where will "darkstar" be when you get the knock on the door by the IRS? Please don't let people talk you into something that is illegal, the title of the thread implies it is illegal. If you don't believe me go get a free consultation with a Tax professional and ask them if this is "Tax Evasion" and what the repercussions of these action are. I will use every "Tax Break" my CPA and Tax Attorney find for me and my family. I will not put my future or my family's future in jeopardy for some scam that will cost me my freedom. Take a second and look up this Pete Hendrickson that "darkstar" responded to "Barbann's" inquiry in the affirmative by saying that he was intimately familiar with Mr. Hendrickson and also replied "Do you know who I am?" Link: http://www.dailypaul.com/node/112334 Or just "Google" his name and read all about it yourself! I simply cannot emphasize it enough you must not try to get out of paying your taxes or you will end up in jail.

Thank you for posting this, it truly shows the good in people. I'm amazed by these boys willingness to be part of what was probably the greatest day in Shay's life. Most of those boys will be part of other baseball teams as they grow-up, however Shay past away proud of his time on a team and his one game. Even though he was never apart of another team, he was part of a miracle that day. I hope if I'm ever faced with a miracle I choose the right path like these boys did. The other players may never think about the day they helped a miracle come true, but Shay's family will never forget it or the boys that help the miracle happen. American Beauty