GJM

Rumor from another site - THIS IS THE LATEST AND THE GREATEST NEWS OF ALL! The RV was going down this past Friday when Maliki got pissed and left the Country, meanwhile, Allawi was out of the country and was asked to return, so it did and they want him to be the president of their Republic and to be in charge of the Military. They then called Maliki and said okay we have you the number of votes needed to be the PM, but we want you and Allawi to talk and to come to an agreement and a team to unify Iraq. Maliki did not like the idea and fought it for a while, any way they all are back in Iraq and the process to form the GOI is about 2 to 3 weeks, and because of the Treats of the UN and IMF they asked if we agree to unify Iraq under Maliki and Allawi, can we RV under the interim government and they got the okay. So tomorrow Maliki will start to get his government formed (If it is not formed already) and Shabibi will pull the trigger tomorrow a time we do not know, except we were told we will see it before morning, so probably between the 2am to 4am, we can start to watch, look and do all we can to see if the RV has indeed taken place!!

Appreciate the post lagraham.

You and your family are in my prayers.

No Maynard - don't go! BTW - Thanks for your help - Warka activated my card!

Am a devout Christian and this type of apocalypse about judging America does not belong here. One could argue we got divinely punished by a majority of Americans electing what their itching ears wanted to hear and now many are remorseful. But now there is an awaking and individuals who didn't even bother to vote are getting active and interested in defending our constitution and taking back our country from those who are killing business. Don't believe Pastor Wilkerson speaks for God or knows what God has in store for America, especially with an unspecified timeline from a statment made over one and a half years ago. Yes, it is wise to have unperishable food stores in case of emergencies. That is standard procedure here in California with our earthquakes and we are due for the big one soon. But there is a revival going on in America and this nation is the most generous in helping the poor and sending aid abroad. So after America is singled out and specially "judged", who is going to take the lead and help the next country needing desparate aid from hurricanes, earthquakes, or floods--China??, Russia??? Saudi Arabia???

I opened my account back in Feb of the this year and there was a minimum $150 balance required in your USD account then. Don't think this is anything new.

Excellent observations and recommendations. To hedge against the potential of loss of purchasing power of the US dollar through inflaction, would you recommend some offshore investments, e.g. a swiss annuity?

Forgot to include further research. Section 988 was enacted as a way for the IRS to tax companies that earn income from fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates as part of their normal course of business, such as buying foreign goods. Where there are currency gains or losses in connection with a trade or business or with the management or administration of investment assets, the gain is treated as an ordinary gain (rather than as a capital gain) and any loss is generally treated as an expense. However, where currency gains or losses are incurred in connection with the purchase of an investment, the gain or loss on the currency change on realization (usually from selling) is a capital gain or loss and is included as part of the total capital gain or loss on the investment. See link below regarding US Taxation on Foreign Currency Gains. http://www.maximadvisors.com/knowledge-library/international-tax-planning/US-Taxation-Foreign-Currency-Gains-Losses

Thanks for the post. It would have been more informative if Robert Green, CPA, in his response could have given an IRS code reference to back up us opinion. I have read other professional opinions that selling your dinar would be treated as an ordinary gain/loss treatment, subject to Section 988 and not "income". The IRS treats the gains on selling one's personal gold, coin or stamp collection, as a capital gain. Their IRS references state "almost everything you own for investment is a capital asset." See link: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=170634,00.html Most of the dinar owners' transactions represent not incidential exhange of currency for travel but large sums of investment that have been intentionally held for a year or more in anticipation of gains in value.

JBrooks I'll be praying for your father's healing and the peace that passes all understand for you and your family.

Perhaps this link will help contact adam. http://dinarvets.com/forums/index.php?/user/72-adam-montana/

This is really interesting - didn't know it took so much moolah to keep first ladys functioning. It would be nice to see how much was spent by past first ladys. Thanks for the post.

Thank you, doc80904, for your perspective and service. We are so far away and often have no idea what the Iraqi people are going through. Let's pray this does get over with soon.

Thanks, LazySusan, for the post - a sobering picture of where we're at.

With the first wire in Feb., I received a prompt email. The 2nd one in April took about a week to get an email back from them confirming receipt. They are honest but slow these days. You also may want to look into getting online banking - which also takes a bit of persistence - but will allow you to monitor your account. If you don't hear from anyone after a week - perhaps you could email Mr. Issa, as suggested above. He is very good at returning emails.

It is so refreshing to hear appreciation for a change - thanks for the great post!

A bit of a reality check at the end regarding the instability of the ME. Hopefully the goi will get their act together enabling them to protect themselves and their economy. Would be nice to get some electricity there too. Great chat! Thanks for the post EE.

50 dead in attacks targeting Iraqi security forces By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer Sameer N. Yacoub, Associated Press Writer – 5 mins ago BAGHDAD – Bombers and gunmen launched an apparently coordinated string of attacks against Iraqi government forces on Wednesday, killing at least 50 people a day after the number of U.S. troops fell below 50,000 for the first time since the start of the war. Insurgents have been stepping up their attacks on Iraq's security forces in recent months as the U.S. has trimmed its military presence in the country. More than half of those killed Wednesday — 27 — were Iraqi soldiers and policemen. There were no claims of responsibility for the spate of attacks. But their scale and reach, from one end of the country to the other, underscored insurgent efforts to prove their might against security forces and political leaders who are charged with the day-to-day running and stability of Iraq. The deadliest attack came in Kut, 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, where a suicide bomber blew up a car inside a security barrier between a police station and the provincial government's headquarters. Police and hospital officials said 19 people were killed, 15 of them policemen. An estimated 90 people were wounded. "I rushed to the scene to help evacuate the people, and saw body parts and hands scattered on the ground and dead bodies of policemen," said government employee Yahya al-Shimari. "I also saw a traffic policeman lying dead on the ground. There were about 15 cars that were burnt." At the Kut hospital, "there were so many wounded people that the hospital was not able to take all of them," said Dr. Walid Khalid. A similar attack struck a neighborhood in north Baghdad, where a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb in a parking lot behind a police station. Fifteen people were killed in that attack, including six policemen. Police and hospital officials said another 58 were wounded in the explosion that left a crater three yards (meters) wide and trapped people beneath the rubble of felled houses nearby. Five others, including an Iraqi soldier and a police officer, were killed in small bursts of violence in Baghdad. A senior Iraqi intelligence official raised the possibility that some of the attackers had inside help. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said the Baghdad suicide bombing bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida, but said unnamed political factions helped coordinate some of the other attacks. He refused to elaborate. Since Iraq's March 7 elections failed to produce a clear winner, U.S. officials have feared that competing political factions could stir up widespread violence. Iraqi leaders so far have tried to end the political impasse peacefully. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the stalled government, combined with the American troop withdrawal, created ideal conditions for insurgents to attack. Even so, he said the security situation was "under control." "Here you have a government paralysis, you have a political vacuum ... you have the U.S. troop withdrawal," Zebari told The Associated Press. "And in such environment these terrorist networks flourish actually and would love to deepen divisions among Iraqi politicians to apportion blame on each other in order to create as much chaos as possible." But U.S. and Iraqi officials alike acknowledge growing frustration throughout the nation, nearly six months after the vote, and say that politically motivated violence could undo security gains made over the past few years. "What is going on in the country?" said Abu Mohammed, an eyewitness to a car bombing near Baghdad's Adan Square that killed two passers-by. "Where is the protection, where are the security troops?" Still, some security forces proved to be on guard. Police in the northern city of Mosul said Iraqi soldiers shot and killed a suicide bomber Wednesday afternoon as he sought to blow up his car outside an army base. From the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk to the holy Shiite shrine town of Karbala, scattered bombings killed and wounded scores more. They included: _A local council building in Muqdadiyah, north of the capital, was hit with a car bomb. Three people were killed and 18 wounded, said Diyala police spokesman Maj. Ghalib al-Karkhi. _In the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, police said a soldier was killed and 10 people wounded when a suicide bomber rammed his car into an Iraqi army convoy. _Car bombs in Kirkuk, Iskandariyah, Dujail and Mosul killed six and wounded 29. A roadside bomb in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown, killed a policeman on patrol and wounded another. _A car bomb near police station in Karbala wounded 28 people but no fatalities were immediately reported. Two people in the southern port city of Basra were also injured by a car bomb. While violence has subsided significantly since the height of the sectarian bloodshed in 2006 and 2007, militants continue to target members of Iraq's nascent security forces, undermining their ability to defend the country as the U.S. ends combat operations. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100825/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

My husband was talking to me this morning about the RV situation. My first thought was, "oh no, what situation? Another delay? Lop? - In country? What? What?" He was talking about the RV parking problem in our community. Perhaps we are all a bit myopic these days!

Thanks so Scooter for your amazingly hard work, putting it together and sharing it with us. I think I'll vote for Sept. 1, but I'll take the 15th too! Again, thank you so.

Thanks so for the post - I was crying, for sure - Bush has shown his appreciation to our troops time and time again. When I think of who represents us now - I'm so saddened.

I would imagine that most of us are not rich and do not have rich parents. As a result, we were never taught about how to manage a wide variety of assets. A wonderful lesson can be learned from Kiyosaki's book "RIch Dad, Poor Dad". When people ask the author "how do I get started?', his answer is if you want to be rich, you need to be financially literate. Tax laws, investment programs, charitable remainder trusts may be the most boring subject in the world, but it could be the most important. Yes, our first step will be go get a good tax attorney and financial planner. Adam through the VIP program will have recommendations for us. But in the end, we will have the final approval on where our assets go. We need to start studying and building a base knowledge about fiancial issues. To maintain wealth, it must be continuously reinvested as capital. Those who do not reinvest their capital will quickly find it gone—diminishing as it is consumed. Adam referred those who spend without financial planning and some degree of investing as “umbrella drink” vacationers. Do any search on the financial disasters of those who won it big in the lottery and you will see what he means. Evelyn Adams, who won the New Jersey lottery not just once but twice (1985, 1986) to the tune of $5.4 million. Today the money is all gone and Adams lives in a trailer. Missourian Janite Lee won $18 million in 1993. But according to published reports, eight years after winning, Lee had filed for bankruptcy with only $700 left in two bank accounts and no cash on hand. Financial planning and investing is very tricky today, Reading about charitiable remainder trusts, swiss annuities, precious metals, irs reporting requirements will be a big asset when you sit down with the financial professional and map out a plan. You might even suggest some ideas that the professional didn't think of. The more informed you are, the better position you will be to evaluate what is being recommended.

At the risk of stating the obvious, please be careful. I'll be praying for your safe return. Go stealth!

Thank you for the post. Have been following the Dollar Index every weekday for the past year for exactly your reasons. The past nine week decline to 82 from 88 in June is not as alarming as its decline to 75 back in November. The index has been above 80 since March and its recent climb to 88 was more a result of the decline of the Euro with Greece and company than the strength of the dollar. The average person knows so little about investing because in school we are only taught about active income (wages and commissions). Investing today requires a new approach than what has worked in the past. According to Barber Financial Advisors, since Obama has come into office, the U.S. monetary supply increased 120% and the national debt has grown at an astronomical rate. These are levels never before seen in the United States, and as such, the outcome cannot even begin to be calculated. During the past two years, the Federal Reserve has reduced the interest rate to nearly zero as they flood the economy with newly printed money; it is “money” with no value backing it, and it effectively dilutes the value of all US currency in circulation. In the past a very safe and conservative investment was buying Treasury CDs at a guaranteed interest. Today with the potential loss of purchasing power of the dollar, that investment is a lot riskier. I have been advising my mother to take her CD's and invest outside of the US, e.g. China, Canada, & Australia. As the wife of a military husband, her first reaction is that it wasn't very patriotic. She now realizes the importance of diversifying overseas in order to protect her assets and then bring it back into America to help reinvest here after the smoke clears.

\ Gosh this one hurt - Thanks!