Our Second Anniversary

Today marks the second anniversary of the launching of this blog.  On Sept. 23, 2011 I wrote my first post "RV Reality Check".  As I read through that post today I see that everything I said then has held up.  Iraq is still a mess.  Bombs are still going off, their leaders are still at odds, and they still can't get a handle on the corruption.  Shabibi is gone, Talibani is either dead or disabled.  There's chaos next door in Syria, and Iran is still a disruptive force.  The dinar has only increased 1/3 of 1%, despite considerable GDP growth which the gurus claimed would produce an increase in the value of the dinar.  A year ago four men were indicted for dinar fraud, three of whom I have written about and included in the blog's banner.  One of those four has pled guilty, and the others are awaiting trial.  And yet the pumpers are still pumping and the scammers are still scamming.

As I look back on that first post I have mixed feelings.  On the one hand I'm comforted by the fact that events have vindicated me somewhat, but on the other hand I'm embarrassed by my ignorance at the time.  I was under the impression that they were reducing the money supply and thought it was possible to see the dinar increase substantially over time.  A few months later I interviewed John Jagerson and discovered that the largest revaluation in history was barely enough to cover exchange fees for dinar investors.  Currencies just don't increase that much.  And in researching for my posts I eventually learned more about the importance of exchange rate stability, the history of redenominations, and the nature of managed floats or de facto pegs.  Some of my readers obviously know more than I do about this stuff and have helped me considerably in getting my education.  Thanks guys.

My strength isn't in economics.  It's not in investing either, especially currency investing.  My strength is in writing and researching.  I have put my skills to work over the past two years to expose fraud and douchebaggery whenever and wherever I saw the need.  I've received numerous emails thanking me for helping people to see through the lies and fraud.  I can't tell you how rewarding that is.  I was able to take my (self-imposed) misfortune and make something positive out of it.  At the same time I have apparently somehow given some people the impression that I'm an expert on currencies and investing which I am not.  People ask me about this currency or that, whether they should invest in gold or silver, where I think the world's economy is going .... etc.  How should I know?  LOL!!!  I'm just a guru-buster.  Talk to a professional.  That's the biggest problem here.  People want to get advice from anonymous hacks on the internet rather than establish a relationship with a qualified professional.  If you wouldn't get medical advice that way why do you think you should get financial advice that way? 

And now I look to the third year of this blog.  I sincerely hope that I'm not still writing about this nonsense a year from now, but I'm not too optimistic.  At the rate things are moving in Iraq it could be years before their currency reform is enacted, if ever.  I took a break late last year and only intended to post when events warrant, but decided about six months ago that my input was still needed since my search engine ranking was slipping and people weren't getting the information they needed.  How long I will remain active I can't say.  There are other excellent sites that are holding the gurus accountable.  MrIQD is one.  Marcus Curtis' blog Iraq Currency Watch is another.  One of our readers started one called Adam Montana - Not So Real RV Intel that I really enjoy. And of course John Jagerson's Learning Markets thread on the dinar scam is also great reading.  Events in my life might leave me no choice eventually but to move on.  Whenever and however that occurs I want to thank everybody now for their support.  It has been an incredible experience to say the least.  Cheers.

-Sam

          

The First Step to Recovery

Before you can recover from an addiction you must first acknowledge that you have an addiction.  If you're not able to bring yourself to admit that you have a problem you'll never be able to rise above it.  The same is true when it comes to being scammed.  You can't move on until you admit to yourself that you were scammed.

It's not the worst thing in the world.  Sure, it's a bit embarrassing.  Nobody wants to admit to friends, family members, co-workers ... etc. that they got hoodwinked, but that's better than continuing down the same road toward perpetual disappointment and potential financial loss.  Just like the alcoholic has to say "My name is John ... and I'm an alcoholic", the dinarian has to be able to say "I made a big mistake here.  I got duped."

I had to say that to myself a couple of years ago.  "My name is Sam, and I got conned."  ("Hi Sam.")  When I finally got around to doing my due diligence and realized that "deleting the zeros" means a lop, and that even if they don't lop the money supply is too big for the dinar to ever RV to a level that would make anybody rich, I did a Homer Simpson DOH!!! or two and started selling my dinar.  It wasn't easy to say goodbye to the dream of instant millions, but in a sense it was blissfully liberating.  At least now I knew what was going on.    

And actually, it wasn't all my fault.  I was new to currency speculation.  There wasn't a lot of information out there on the Kuwaiti "RV" (which never happened), the history of revaluations, and many other things that the gurus were talking about to support their claims.  And even if you found the information, most of the dinar forums wouldn't allow inconvenient facts to be posted as they were considered "negative".  Even some of the most intelligent sounding gurus and researchers were repeating "forum facts" that had no basis in truth.  And some of the redenomination articles actually used the word "revalue" when they were clearly describing a lop.  It was confusing.  It took years for those of us who have dug through articles and studied currency to get to the bottom of this and compile the information that is available today.

If you're hesitant to admit that you were scammed, look at it this way.  You're in good company.  Some very famous people have been the victim of scams.  Steven Spielberg, Kevin Bacon, Sandy Koufax, Larry King, Zsa Zsa Gabor, John Malkovich, and Eliot Spitzer all lost money in the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme.  Dr. Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the worldwide web (no dummy there), bought products online from a fake company.  Singer Billy Joel lost millions to a former manager.  Sting and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar lost millions to their shady financial managers.  It happens.    

So don't beat yourself up.  Just chalk it up to experience and move on.  You'll be glad you did.  Just repeat after me ... "My name is (your name here) and I got dinar scammed.

  

September Update

Hello again everybody.  Yours truly here with another RV update.  The latest is ... you guessed it ... NO RV!!!  That's a shocker, huh?

You may have noticed a few new ads running on my blog.  One is a for a book by our friend John Jagerson that I read and reviewed at Amazon.  I've also included The Intelligent Investor, a timeless work originally published in 1949.  You won't find any half-arsed dinar guru investment analysis and advice here.  This is the book that changed Warren Buffet's life.  At this point I'd like to explain a few things.  People have told me that I should run more ads and monetize my site better.  I wasn't really interested in going to the trouble until recently. When I started the blog I had no idea that it would ever become as popular as it is.  I'm getting over 1,000 hits a day recently.  I remember being excited to see 100 a day early on.  Also, this month marks the two year anniversary of this blog.  I had no idea that the dinar thing would drag on for two more years when I started this site.  I thought they would probably redenominate last year or this year.  At this point I'm thinking it could drag on a couple more years.  So I have decided that I might as well take advantage of the opportunity that has presented itself.  If any of you would like to advertise on this site drop me a line.  As Ross Perot once said "I'm all ears".  You'll also be seeing other changes in the design.  The site looks pretty crappy I admit.  I was much more focused on content than cosmetics until now, but I figure I might as well give the whole site a makeover at once.    

And now to the recap of life in the dinar world in August.

Randy Koonce did a conference call on Tuesday Aug. 6 where he said that the bombings in July were done because the people want an RV.  Breitling made this same absurd comment three years ago but apparently Randy just now received this script.  He went on to predict that the RV would occur within 14 days.   According to my math that would mean that August 20 was the last day of Randy's credibility.  During the call he referred to Chapter 7 as bankruptcy which in and of itself should have cost him any credibilty as any kind of authority on Iraq.  Chapter 7 doesn't refer to American bankruptcy laws.  It refers to United Nations Security Council sanctions listed in the UN charter. 

https://www.freeconferencing.com/playback.html?cid=conferences/6287-17-65-6790-17-65-67-17-65-67-17-65-67640-17-65-675867-17-65-67.mp3&e=1377925260000&cn=51-87-32-24


My favorite guru FootForward was back at it in August, stating that Talabani died in April, that the second heart transplant in the world occurred in Iraq, and that Iraqi pride will ensure that the dinar will revalue to a substantial level so that they can be proud and prosperous again.  While I can't say for sure what Talabani's condition is, I haven't seen any reputable news organization report that he died in April.  Maybe FF scooped them all on this story, who knows?  As for the heart transplant, I don't think so.  The second heart transplant was in Brooklyn, NY.  And I've addressed the pride BS many times.  Currencies aren't valued or revalued according to pride.  They're valued or revalued according to economic factors like GDP, money supply, currency reserves .... etc. and all of those factors indicate that there's no substantial RV coming any time soon in Iraq.

https://www.freeconferencecallhd.com/playback/?n=-17-65-6725105211835-17-65-67-17-65-6715-17-65-67-17-65-67-17-65-67-17-65-672281-17-65-67;0MzI1MTI3MDY=1



Also in August there was this from somebody named Dinarmaven:

"Guys- I've been on the phone all day and everything I'm hearing squares directly with what Tony & Loechin said today. But that's not what I want to talk about tonight. I had a PM today with a special person who's on the verge of losing everything. The house, the car, the furniture...everything. She was losing hope.

I reminded her that sometimes God tests us to strengthen our faith. That said, God promises to take care of his people and I told her not to worry. She either hangs-on by the skin of her teeth and pays everything off post RV, or she buys everything new. I asked her if she planned to buy a new house anyway after the RV. She said "Yea, our dream home."

So I said, "Then why are you worried so much about saving the one you have? You'll be shopping for a new one on Tuesday anyway." It's funny how the reality of our situation clouds the reality of our dinar situation.

The truth is she is already rich. She just doesn't know it yet."

http://www.dinarrecaps.com/1/post/2013/08/dinarmaven-friday-night-post.html

Gurus have been saying this kind of stuff for years.  Two years ago Breitling told somebody in a similar situation "Let 'em take the damn house!  You can buy another one after the RV!"  Unconscionable if you ask me. 

Now let me tell you a story about a friend of mine who never invested in the dinar (even though I told him about it before I knew better).  He's a smart, hard working guy who has always been ambitious.  A few years ago he was on his way to becoming a millionaire.  He had several houses that he owned and was in the process of renovating and selling at a handsome profit.  Then the financial meltdown of 2008 hit and he was nearly ruined.  He found himself in a quarter of a million dollars of debt.  Real estate wasn't moving in his area, and he had difficulty finding a job in his field (IT) to keep money coming in while he tried to turn things around.  He ended up doing odd jobs like hauling trash, landscaping, or remodeling ... all of which he had done for his own properties.  He's a single guy, but he told me the other day that he hasn't dated for five years.  No vacations.  No luxuries like cable TV.  He's driving a car that's over ten years old which he never used to do.  But he has kept working and always communicated about his situation with the banks to keep them from taking action.  Even though he's a Christian, he didn't sit around waiting for a miracle.  He worked.  He sacrificed.  He didn't buy lottery tickets or look to any other get rich quick scheme.  He hustled, and when I talked to him a few weeks ago he told me that things are turning around.  He managed to sell a couple of houses and pay off part of what he owed on the others.  If the economy doesn't take another nosedive in a couple of years he'll be right back where he was before 2008, on the road to wealth.

I tell this story to show you the contrast with the dinar community.  Many dinarians in similarly desperate situations are sitting at their computer on a daily basis waiting for their miracle, when their problems could very well be rectified with a little hard work, sacrifice, and determination.  Maybe if they would put as much effort into managing their own situation as they do looking for their miracle RV their circumstances would improve.  Just a suggestion.    



Also in August this from Frank26's site KTFA:

"WELL,, I RECIEVED A PHONE CALL FROM MY SISTER-IN-LAW TODAYAND SHE CALLED ME EVERYTHING BUT A MILK COW. BECAUSE,,,SHE WENT TO BANK OF AMERICA FOR SOME "OTHER " UNRELATED BUSINESS AND ASKED IN PASSING ABOUT THE IRAQI DINAR FROM A PERSONNEL BANKER.

OF COURSE, THE BANKER TOLD MY IN-LAW THAT THE IRAQI DINAR WAS THE BIGGEST SCAM ON EARTH AND THAT THEY (THE BANK) HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.

MY SIS-IN-LAW THEN SAID THAT THE DINAR SHE HAS WAS PURCHASED FROM WELLS FARGO AND THAT IT HAD TO BE REAL AND JUST NEEDED TO "RV."

THE BANKER THEN SAID IN A GRUFF VOICE THAT WELLS FARGO WOULD TELL HER THE SAME THING AND THAT SHE HAS FALLEN VICTIM TO THE BIGGEST SCAM IN THE WORLD.

SO..AFTER GETTING ALLLL THE INFO..... I WENT TO THE BANK AND TALKED TO THE PERSONNEL BANKER AND WITHOUT SAYING A WORD ABOUT THE DINAR I SAID TO HER RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING THAT I WANTED TO TALK TO THEIR LEGAL DEPARTMENT.

SHE ASKED WHY AND I TOLD HER THAT MY SISTER-IN-LAW WAS JUST HERE AND SHE TALKED TO SOMEONE THAT JUST GOT BOA AND WELLS FARGO IN BIG BIG TROUBLE FOR ADMITTING TO SELLING A CURRENCY THAT WAS A SCAM TO THE AMERICAN CITIZENS.

I WENT ON TO SAY THAT I WANTED TO BE IN THE FRONT OF THE LINE FOR THE CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT THAT WAS IMMINENT. SHE LOOKED AT ME LIKE I WAS A MILK COW BUT WITH A LOOK COUPLED WITH "OH COW MANURE!!!!"

I ASKED HER,"WHY DID YOU TELL MY SISTER THAT?

THE BANKER SAID THAT SHE IS SUPPOSED TO TELL PEOPLE THAT. I ASKED HER," YOU KNOW BETTER DON'T YOU?" SHE QUICKLY REPLIED AS SHE LOOKED AWAY,,,,,"WELL OF COURSE,,YES, YES I DO."

I LEANED FORWARD AND WHISPERED," MAAM,YOU CAN MAKE THIS WHOLE THING GO AWAY RIGHT NOW BY PICKING UP THE PHONE AND CALL MY SISTER AND TELLING HER THE TRUTH."

SHE SAID,"I WILL." I SAID, "NO, NOW, RIGHT NOW.... I WANT TO HEAR YOU DO IT OR THIS GOES FORWARD."

WELL, SHE HESITATED BUT MADE THE CALL AND ASSURED MY SISTER THAT SHE HAD BEEN INSTRUCTED TO "SAY" WHAT SHE SAID TO ALL PEOPLE INQUIRING ABOUT THE IQD AND THAT SHE WAS SORRY....AND THAT IT IS NOT A SCAM."

http://www.dinarrecaps.com/1/post/2013/08/nice-bank-story-from-a-ktfa-member-friday-evening.html

Now at first this sounds shocking.  A bank employee telling people that the dinar is a scam when they know that it isn't, and in fact they have sold dinar in the past.  The problem here is that banks never marketed the dinar as an investment and these douchebags know it.  They simply offered the dinar to people who bought it for traveling purposes just like a hundred other currencies were made available, and they quit selling dinar when they saw how many people were buying it as an investment.  But even more problematic is that similar stories in the past came from Frankie's site.

(Jan. 2011) "Did just that one week ago with a very close friend of mine who is a exec VP of a very large bank. He told me quietly this was a scam. I then shared with him the Presidential order. Then I shared with him how many banks had sold or were selling Dinar. Then I told him that if this were a scam a very large class action lawsuit would begin. I then stared into his eyes and stated that do you understand that if you do not understand the background to this investment that you are adding to the shrill noise of this being a scam when in fact it is not? My friend looked defeated and he was going to investigate on his own. He called me today and apologized. My friend is a MBA, MA from Georgetown University school of Banking, Wash U grad and is a former Government Auditor for 20 years. He now only works with multimillionaires for this bank you should have seen the look on his face last week it was great." 

http://ragtime2bigtime.com/archive/index.php/t-14821.html 

Could it be that Frank is just making this stuff up in an attempt to nullify the effects of these bank scam advisories?  You're so cynical, Sam.




And now I'm going to issue the second Douchie of 2013.  This time it goes out to Mountain Goat for his (or her) lame-arse excuse ridden post entitled "Let Me Explain What Happened".  In this babbling, German-laced dissertation of dinar pumpitude MG cited his (or her) IMF contact, claimed that Iraq needed 10 extra days to remove 000 notes from circulation, claimed that there was an in-country RV at $3.44 although that rate (conveniently) isn't going to appear on the CBI website, blamed Maliki for the recent terrorism, rambled on about glitches in some fancy automation of forex and other exchanges into the CIX (Centralized International Exchange) involved in the reset of 190 currencies, claimed that US banks needed more time to prepare for the currency exchange, and finished with a rumour about an arrest warrant for Maliki. Obviously MG is a believer in the "big lie" technique. Don't just tell them that there were last minute glitches.  Tell them all about this incredibly complex once in a lifetime world-changing revaluation/global currency reset that is so incredibly complex that it continues to prove a logistical nightmare ..... but it's sure to occur soon. 

http://www.dinarrecaps.com/1/post/2013/08/mountain-goat-let-me-explain-what-happened.html       

In a follow-up post a week later, MG suggested that the RV rate would have been $1.13 in 2010 but by waiting three years the rate could now appear at $10 or more.  He (or she) then informs us that the holdup (even though they told us a few paragraphs earlier that there is no holdup) now is software related. 

"I have heard that all the rates did get processed and now signed off by CBs. The rates did not all populate in FOREX though. They are working diligently on this issue. I know this sounds like yet another excuse but it is happening and will be corrected shortly.

Remember they have never, never popped out 190+ changes to rates all at once and had to use this new software and CIX process."

Ask anybody in the software field about this and they'll tell you that you don't fire up a new platform without doing all the testing beforehand.  Read up on "virtualization" or "virtual software testing".  These days developers can produce a virtual world modeled on real world conditions to thoroughly debug any application prior to implementation.  In such an important global event as this supposedly is, there's no need for endless delays, glitches, or "unpopulated rates" as MG indicated.  Think about this for a minute.  In 2000 we had the big Y2K scare.  People thought that the end of civilization was upon us  because the computers that run the world were bound to fail when the clock struck midnight on 1-1-2000.  The fact is the IT world had plenty of time to upgrade their systems and programs, and thoroughly test them all months in advance.  When the rollover occurred things went remarkably well.  Now here we are thirteen years later and the best minds in the world can't successfully implement a currency software upgrade?  Rubbish!  

http://www.dinarrecaps.com/1/post/2013/08/update-from-mntgoat-at-tnt-forum-early-tuesday-evening.html

So congrats to MG for winning the second Douchie of 2013 for his (or her) excellent effort in douchebaggery. Glückwünsche Ruck!

(As you may recall, the GET Team did an interview with a guy known as Contact2 a couple of years ago who also claimed to speak German and rambled on about a global reset and practically every conspiracy theory known to man.  Just wondering if there might be a connection here?)


Still waiting for news on the trial of Brad Huebner and his cohorts Charlie and Michael.  Also awaiting news on the sentencing of Rudy Coenen who plead guilty to dinar fraud a few months ago.  As soon as I hear I'll post what I have.