winterhawk

Enjoyed finding out which politicians I had common leanings with on certain topics. Could be useful information down the road when they run for office.

MY morals? LOL, If I lived by MY morals my life would be a lot less rich and fulfilling. No thanks, I'll live by the morals as displayed by Jesus Christ, Himself. And, I'm sorry, but no...I will not...cannot keep them to myself because they don't originate from my shallow heart but from God Himself. Having said that, I think you misunderstood the purpose of my original post and that was to acknowledge that I had allowed myself...I didn't say you or any other Dinarian had...to take my focus off of where it should be and to allow the RV to become an idol. Knowing the consequences of doing so were unacceptable to the God I serve, I confessed it and repented of it and warned others not to make the same mistake. If you feel that trying to prevent others from following in your footsteps that lead to a misstep or potentially disastrous result then I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree.

Well, all I can say is that if God drove a motorcycle, it would undoubtedly be a Harley... ; ]

I'm glad to see that you've been guarding your heart more carefully than I did. My apologies if you felt preached at, it was not my intention. I was a confessing my not being as careful as you, and wanting to warn others not to make my same foolish error. Like you and most of the people you seem to know, I too, look forward to blessing others, which is why I formed Kairos Strategies Group for the purpose of providing spiritual, financial and tangible support in the various Christian efforts being carried out by so many wonderful people. But, to be honest, if I am guilty of turning the RV into an idol, I can't really be sure I don't turn my "works" into one, as well. So, I want to get off on the Right foot with my eyes on Christ and my heart fully His or I run the risk of glorifying myself rather than God. Thanks for your comments. Excellent observation. I feel blessed that I was given the opportunity to be a part of this process that allowed me to invest in it when so many we're not, will not or cannot.

Well said!

Last Sunday, my pastor finished up a series he’s been preaching on concerning idols. He started off with a quote from Timothy Keller, a Christian pastor, author and speaker. An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts... 'If I had THAT—(fill in the blank)—then I feel my life has meaning... then I know that I have value then I'll feel significant and secure.' The Lord is showing me that over the years of following the progress of the Iraqi ReValuation process that I have started relying upon the RV to do what only God can do for me…so I have confessed to God and now to you that… • I am guilty of believing that my life’s purpose is on hold until I am financially blessed by the revaluation of the Iraqi Dinar. • I have fallen into the false belief that my life will have more meaning once it RV's... • I have fallen into the false belief that my life will have significantly more value once it RV's and I can reach out and help others in ministry and in need... • I have fallen into the false belief that my life will have more significance and it will be somehow more secure once it RV's. • I openly confess that this is idolatry—for this hope is in an event and not in the Lord, my God and the ONLY One that give me real meaning for my life and true value as a Child of God. • I confess that my significance is solely dependent upon me becoming less and less significant and allowing Him to be more and more significant in all that I focus upon and all that I do. • Only then will I know the Peace that surpasses all understanding and keeps me securely in His Hands. I ask God to forgive me and to take this idol from my heart and ask Jesus to once again, take His Rightful place on the Throne of my heart. I need to remember that the RV is a financial blessing and a gift from God. I also need to make sure I am worshiping the Gift-Giver not the gift! I share this with you because it is an easy trap to fall into and although you all have been more diligent than I have to guard your hearts, I offer you this reminder to worship God alone and fall into the trap of idolatry as I did. It okay to follow the journey we’re all a part of to the end as long as we keep our heads and heart firmly Christ-centered. We have no guarantee of the outcome or whether or not we’ll even be alive when it happens—accidents and disease to happen all the time—and I for one don’t what to look a back and see a life of worldly wishes and misplaced hopes. Thank you, Father for loving me and showing me where I have gone astray. “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” Psalm 25 1-5 Winterhawk Mark 8:38 John 3:16

...and may God grant a special Blessing upon this boy's mother who lifted him and his brother up out of a world of darkness and destruction giving them hope and the opportunity to become the loving men they've become.

I've been to Iraq during Operation Desert Storm and my son served over there a decade later. We saw so much devastation, hurt and destruction, but we also saw hope renewed and watched the birthing of a new nation. Please take a moment to watch a clip from Australia's X Factor 2011 Auditions with Emmanuel Kelly, an adopted child from Iraq, as he sing John Lennon’s famous classic Imagine. . .and, oh...keep a tissue nearby. His spirit and attitude will lift your heart and remind you at even amidst the horrors and ravages of war you will find a shining star. When Emmanuel was asked by a judge of the competition, Ronan Keating, “What is your age?” He said that “I am not exactly sure. When I was found in an orphanage by my Mom, there was no birth certificate.” “My story is that I was born in the middle of the war and I and my brother were left in shoe boxes in a Park. We were in the middle of gunfire… those noises we didn’t understand.” When you hear him sing you'll understand one thing and that is that if our small investment into his homeland helps bring about healing to a war torn nation to give more like him a chance to reach out for their dreams and achieve them...I am humbly grateful to be a Dinarian and a part of this VIP community. My thanks, again, to Adam for the chance to be involved in the rebuilding of Iraq.

I've received emails from a gentleman by the name of Gary Scott, (Go to: http://www.garyascott.com/about to learn more about him) and I thought this was worth sharing, even though it is a bit lengthy concerning money transfer risks increasing over the years. March 10th, 2011 Modern communications technology has made it technically easier to move money globally than ever before. Yet slowly over the past several decades, the rights of bank privacy and the ability to transfer money around the world freely have eroded because of OECD rules. One reason for this is that that international anti terror and anti money laundering agreements require banks to know their customers… to know where money comes from and where it goes. These global agreements get translated into national regulations. Each country than advises it banking system what to do. The banking systems inform their banks. The banks outline what the believe needs to be done to their employees… usually compliance officers and this places the bank in the position of policing the movement of money. Banks pretty much hate the job… as it takes time… expense… places them in adversarial roles with their customers and overall gums up the mechanisms of free trade. But they must… or face the wrath of their government if… by some chance a criminal or terrorist launders money through their bank. Banks are not the only industry to face this dilemma. Take English lawyers as an example. They are required by law… if they believe a client is involved in a illegal activity to report this to the government. They then cannot communicate in any way with that client for a prescribed period of time. Already this has created at least one massive law suit. An attorney believed a client was involved in some form of criminal activity and reported the fact. The refusal of the attorney to communicate (and complete a contract) with the client caused the deal… which turned out to be legitimate and worth hundreds of millions… to fall though. The client suffered a huge loss. Ooops. Professionals and bankers can be caught between this rock and hard spot. They are not and do not want to be policemen… but must be or face disastrous consequences. Here comes the crunch. Some compliance officers and or bankers or attorneys want to be policemen or have unclear instruction, or poor training or whatever. They can mess up your money transfers when you try to buy real estate in Ecuador or abroad anywhere abroad or try to make an international investment that requires a money transfer. This can dramatically complicate your investing, business or real estate activity. Here are a few examples. Years ago one of our readers opened a stock brokerage account with a US brokerage firm. Some activity in that account alerted the suspicions of a compliance officer. He froze the account and turned it over to US customs. The firm fired the broker involved. The reader wrote to me several times and swore there was nothing illegal going on. The broker confirmed this. I called the brokerage office. They referred me to the customs officer in charge who would not comment on any ongoing investigation. Neither the reader or the broker knew what the alleged infraction might have been. I never heard the outcome but know that after six months the account was still locked and the broker never rehired. I was caught in a compliance trap due to lack of international commercial standards in compliance. Merri (Scott's wife) and I were buying real estate in Ecuador. I had my bank in Denmark wire funds to an Ecuador attorney. Since the funds exceeded $50,000 the bank in Quito froze the funds and wanted proof they came from a legitimate account. My Danish bankers wrote to the Ecuador bankers saying I was known for 25 years and the funds were legitimate. The Quito bank said this was not enough… but never outlined what they did require. The Danish bank didn’t have a clue about what to do. Only the threat of a lawsuit by my Ecuador attorney broke the log jam. I could have suffered a serious loss via breach of contract by not paying for the property as contracted had my attorney not taken this stance. Last year I had cash frozen. We had been processing credit card orders with one bank for over 2o years and had a perfect track record. Some transaction… I’ll never know what it was caused some compliance officer to panic. He froze the account with $14,000 of our funds. The compliance officer acted extremely strange. Crazy since we are publishers selling data but then he stopped communicating at all. No one would reply to phone messages. Mail I sent was returned. The company literally refused to acknowledge that I was even a customer. Only through sheer luck did I happen to mention this to a friend who happened to know the ex CEO of the firm who knew the head of compliance. A quiet word managed to lubricate the wheels of the system and though the institution lost me as a customer… finally after nearly a year we received the frozen funds. I was reminded of this erosion of freedom when a reader recently sent me this note. Gary, I participated in the Ecuador Living Cuenca Real Estate Tour recommended on your website and I would recommend the tours to anyone. This email is just for informational purposes because I believe my experience may possibly be of interest to you. I doubt I am the only person that is encountering this type of problem. The situation is: I am a United States citizen that has deposited funds into the Canadian Western Bank in British Columbia. Last week I faxed a Wire Transfer Request form to the bank for a down payment on a condominium in Cuenca. Then I called the bank with questions about the form and spoke to a manager. She informed me the bank can not release the funds until a regulatory entity approves the release of the funds. The Canadian government has a list of countries it doesn’t want funds sent to; Ecuador is on that list. The manager then told me I had to complete another form that could be completed by answering questions she would ask by telephone. The questions noted below were some of the questions (as best as I can recollect) with respect to the second form: a. What do I plan to do with the funds in Ecuador? b. Do I plan to live permanently to Ecuador? If so, why? c. Will the condominium be my primary residence, 2nd home, rental? d. What was the source of the funds I initially deposited into Canadian Western bank? e. Why did I deposit funds with Canadian Western bank initially? f. Did I investigate the attorney handling the sale? g. How do I know the attorney is honest? h. Will the wired funds be put into a trust until the sale is completed? If the funds are deposited into the attorney’s account how do I know he won’t steal the funds? i. Why isn’t a title company handling the escrow? The bank doesn’t dispute the funds are mine. I was asked many intrusive questions. The bank manager told me one purpose for the questions is money laundering, another reason is because the government disapproves of Ecuador therefore a determination will be made if the funds will be released to wire to Ecuador. Also, I asked the manager if 30% of the funds will be with-held per the request of the United States government. She said yes, but she didn’t know if it would be 30% of the withdrawn funds or 30% or the total funds on deposit. That was when she asked why I deposited the funds in Canada. I told her it was because many U.S. banks are not financially sound and the FDIC won’t release their names therefore I don’t know if my bank is financially sound. Also, that I have read Canadian banks are rated as among the safest in the world. Another reader wrote: After reading the note above a Canadian reader shared this comment: Gary, Thank you for this forum to read and get information. As Canadians we have wired money to Ecuador 4 times for the purchase of two pieces of property. The latest transfer was last September so I just called my bank (Royal Bank of Canada) and they have no restrictions against sending money to Ecuador, in fact said they could not believe that any Canadian Bank would. However Western Canada Bank is a very small banking entity and so that may be the problem. I would also imagine that depositing in another country and then transfering the money out to yet another might be grounds for nervousness. regards. I agree with the Canadian reader. I suspect that the American reader who transferred money to Canada before transferring it on to Ecuador had a problem for two reasons. Problem #1: Immediate back to back transfers are one of the transactions that banks look for. They ask… why go from Bank A to go to Bank B to Bank C unless you are trying to hide something.? Why not transfer direct from Bank A to Bank C? Problem #2: The compliance officer obviously was ill informed or more likely confused (I am being polite here). The 30% withholding tax is a totally different issue and should have had nothing to do with a transfer. Ditto I have never heard of any restriction of transfers between the US or Canada to Ecuador. There was a list, of countries that were labeled “tax havens that did not provide sufficient bank transparency” published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, (OECD) a Paris-based group of wealthy nations, in coordination with the G-20. That list singled out four countries as the worst offenders: Costa Rica, Malaysia, the Philippines and Uruguay. Another 38 countries and territories, including the Cayman Islands, Panama, Bahamas and Liechtenstein, were listed as less serious offenders. Ecuador was never on that list. The 2010 OECD report COUNTERING OFFSHORE TAX EVASION stated “With the commitments of Costa Rica, Malaysia, the Philippines and Uruguay, all jurisdictions covered in the Global Forum’s assessments have now agreed to implement the standard. One may have a perfectly legitimate reason for doing something unusual… but beware… surprising your banker with an unusual transfer can cause delays… undue attention and loss. Here is what I now do to make sure my international investments and transfers are not hung up or worse. #1: I spend more time with my banker. The rules say that my banker has to know me so I make it a point to get to know my banker and let him know what I am doing. #2: I ask my banker questions. Before I make any unusual transaction… I ask my banker about it… is there a less expensive easier way. I let him get involved so he can help me make a transaction. This can really pay off if anything goes wrong… because I followed my banker’s advice. #3: I get permission. Before I make any transaction that will depend on bankers beyond mine… I tell them what I am doing, ask what they want and get permission (and the names of those I ask). For example if i were buying another piece of real estate in Ecuador… before I transferred the payment I would contact the Ecuador bank that is to receive the money and make sure I knew what they wanted (and who told me what they wanted) to see in the transaction. Modern communications technology makes it easier to transfer money. Yet every silver lining has a cloud and in this case the technical ease of moving funds from one country to another also lubricates the movement of money earned through or for illegal activity and terrorism. This fact has led to treaties, rules and regulations, often Draconian, always complicating the freedoms that should be ours. I do not like this fact, but it is a fact so anticipate money transfer risks when you move money internationally. Gary

Scooby Doo--You could be right. Wealth, even extreme wealth is no guarantee Trump could get elected--or even that he should. But, if "people want somebody who has proven themselves in an elected position or in the military", how did we get our current president? Bear in mind, even former President Regan (who is voted for) never served in combat, due to eyesight difficulties, he was classified for limited service only, which excluded him from serving overseas. http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/reference/military.html The Republican Party was impressed by Regan's political views and charisma, and even though he had not held public office before, was elected governor of California in 1966 with their backing. Reagan was the only California governor to become president of the United States. So, at least he had that. I think people are so fed up with the current and previous presidents in the last decade or so, that the tough talking, ultra-successful Donald Trump is resonating in the frustrated hearts of many Americans. If nothing else, the interest Trump has generated should send a message to potential candidates who are, perhaps in a more "win-able" position that we live in desperate times and people are wanting someone with true grit, competency and for Pete Sake's EXPERIENCE!!!!!

I don't care WHO you are...THAT's funny...and 100% correct!!!

I've lost track...are ALL of the required seats going to be finally filled and CONFIRMED by a recognized source? These positions seem to be reported as filled and then waiting to be filled over and over every other day. Guess we'll have to wait for tomorrow. Perhaps if it gets reported in the Iraqi Gazette THEN it will be a done deal...as long as the creek--make that the Tigris River--don't rise and ...

Truer words were never spoken. My father was US Army in WWII serving under General Patton. My older brother served in the US Navy as an enlisted then an officer, my wife is a former Marine, I retired after 20 years in Air Traffic Control with the US Air Force. And, I am proud to say my son has served in both the Army Guard in Kosovo and Iraq and currently awaiting orders as an active duty Army at Ft Bragg. We love our country and have gladly served with pride and honor, glad for the opportunity to do so. America is worth it, no matter what the few disillusioned say.

Religion is what you get when humans try to find god(s). Relationship is what you get when God finds you. . .and believe me He wants to spend Eternity with you, so much so that He sent His Son to Personally invite you to his Home. In addition, He sent His Holy Spirit to guide us down this treacherous path we call life. He has a Plan for each and everyone of us, yet has give us free will to either discover and follow this Plan or go off on your own and have it your way. Even Iraq's rising up out of the ashes of history is part of His Plan for events to come and the RV is an important part of that Plan. Personally, I think that the wealth that we're all about to receive will provide a good indicator on where our focus lies. There will be some who use it simply for personal purposes and status, but after reading many of the comments a lot of you have left over the months, I am betting that a lot of the wealth will go to helping others in need and towards humanitarian and God-centered causes. Religion IS an opiate of many peoples. I would rather seek a relationship with a living, caring God. I spent 20 years serving this country in the United States Air Force, half of that time was overseas from Germany to Iraq. The world looks to America even today. Forget what you read in the papers, they don't report the real truth. The average kid living in a dirt hut still thinks of America as a bright and shining star and if you think this is because we got there because on our own efforts, you're only partially right. We got there because America has historically been a nation based on Christian values of loving your neighbor as yourself and loving God above all others. Don't insult Christianity by suggesting Christ's Values are the same as those who have dared to commit atrocities in His Holy Name...rest assured, He has a good memory and a righteous anger awaiting those who have given Christianity a bad name when in reality they were acting on their own behalf. Fortunately, He is also a very forgiving God and if we confess our sins...our self-centered, and often self-destructive thoughts and deeds...He will forgive us. But, He doesn't play mind games and won't be fooled. He sees the heart. Personally, whether our Fore-Fathers walked perfect Christian lives or lived to look good on the outside only is less important than how we who live in America live out our lives today. Make your life one worthy of the One you worship and put first, whether it be God in Heaven or yourself.

Umm...it's the "F", but less vulgar, hopefully.