Iran to Execute 4 Bankers on Fraud Charges

This is what needs to happen in this country. We need to just start killing these fucking "Pin Striped Bandits"
February 22, 2013
Iran’s judiciary system recently worked through the biggest banking fraud case in the nation’s history.
According to The New York Times, the outcome of the case was made official on Monday. Results were dramatic to say the least.
Judiciary spokesman Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei told reporters that four people had been officially sentenced to death on charges of corruption and “disrupting the country’s economic system.”
The guilty party was responsible for mishandling $2.6 billion of funds – using forged documents in order to receive credit from banks, permitting them to purchase state-owned companies.
From PressTV:
According to the indictment, the owners of Aria Investment Development Company, which is at the center of the controversy, had bribed bank managers to get loans and letters of credit. The company has more than 35 offshoots which are active in diverse business activities.
…
“The four are Mahafarid Amir-Khosravi…[the prime suspect], Behdad Behzadi, his legal advisor, Iraj Shoja, his financial solicitor and Saeed Kiani Rezazadeh, head of the Ahvaz branch of Saderat Bank,” he [Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei] said.
Additionally, the president of the Bank Melli branch in Kish was condemned to life in prison. The former deputy minister Khodamorad Ahmadi has been ordered to spend a decade in prison as well, according to Iran’s attorney general, Mohseni-Ejei.
Several others involved in this infamous scandal have also been slapped with heavy fines and many have also been prohibited from holding public office.
Economist Nouriel Roubini added his two cents on the subject, reporting to Bloomberg:

“Bankers are greedy; they’ve been greedy for the last hundreds of years…t’s not a question if they are more immoral today then they were a thousand years ago, you have to make sure they behave in ways in which you minimize those risks.”

This message surely hits a little too close to home for central bankers across the globe who have been engaged with fraud and corruption in the past or present.
Constituents and political leaders spend a big chunk of time debating over how to deal with our crumbling economy. Ending system abuse from insiders and the Fed alike would undoubtedly have a positive ripple effect, but how is that goal going to be achieved? Thus far, not a single chief central banker has been arrested in light of the financial crisis.
This is completely asinine.
They keep making more money, while we struggle to thrive in the middle class. The brutal truth is that banks prosper when people are on welfare. They’re invested in keeping you down and could care less about your American Dream.
Perhaps Iran is on to something by enforcing real consequences when insiders mess with the country’s entire economic system. The death sentence decision is obviously harsh (Iran’s justice system is pretty harsh in general). Alas, what’s decided cannot be undone. They said they are trying to set an example.
Elite criminals shouldn’t be treated differently than any other criminal; they should be prosecuted, not protected.

What Is Money? And Why We Don't Use It Today!!

In going through my site tracker I ran across a link online that I had written almost 2 years ago. This was in response to another poster on a financial forum. After reading it again I was amazed that I did such a good job in explaining what money is and it's historic role in the marketplace. I have added some thoughts in red to expand upon my original writing of 2 years ago. Maybe people looking in on this blog might take note and learn why the world economy is in the shape that it's in. Very few people can explain this better then I have done here. These thoughts are taken from what Ive learned from others as well as my own observations. The more that people begin to understand the problem, the sooner we can begin the dialog to fix it.

Yes Jim, you are correct. However, it's not that the "old financial rules of thumb have changed" I would submit that the old financial rules are thumb are being rediscovered. I agree with you in some respects as to how to save but to start with you must have savings that is out of the system. Savings that the "Pin Striped Bandits" cant steal.

Having been in the investment world since I was in my 20s and did quite well I have learned a few things. First off I have learned that the U.S. monetary system and the economy is based upon a massive lie. They are the greatest Ponzi schemes ever inflicted on the world. Once you come to accept this you must go back and relearn the history that has been untaught.

Sadly what I'm about to tell you has not been taught in the western world for over 80 years and there is a reason for that. Everyone needs to understand what money is. Very few people can define money and its role.

To start with money has 5 elements. The 5 elements of money are...
(1) A medium of exchange - something of value to exchange for the payment of goods and services
(2) Money must be easily recognizable - in other words people must be able to easy recognize that medium of exchange as being valid and not counterfeit
(3) Money must be divisible - you must be able to easily make change, to take larger amounts and be able to make them smaller
(4) Money must be a store of value - In other words the ability to buy goods and services must be able to be stored for spending at a later time, also called savings.
(5) Money must eliminate DEBT. The payment of money must be able to eliminate any and all debt that is created in the marketplace.

Sadly what we use as money today only satisfies the first 3 elements of money. Elements 4 and 5 are not elements of what we use as money today. What we use as money is not a store of value and it doesn't eliminate debt.

The store of value element is very important in the role of money. In fact I would submit that is is the most important role. Money is a payment that one receives for the value of their time and expertise. That payment of ones labor is a claim on goods and services in the marketplace. Instead of bartering by accepting goods or services as payment one can accept money that allows that person to buy the goods and services they need that the person making payment doesn't have. The ability to buy the same amount of goods and services at anytime in the future is the store of value. If one can fill up their car with gas when they receive payment for their labor today then they should be able to so so at anytime in the future. Sadly this is not the case because the ability to buy the same amounts of goods and services from ones savings is debased by a hidden tax called inflation. The effect of inflation is an increase in the amount you pay for goods and services in the numbers of dollars. Price increases is not inflation and inflation is not good in any amount because it debases your buying power that you have labored for. Once you begin to understand this concept you can therefore conclude that the store of value element of money being debased is the same thing as SLAVERY. The ability to steal the value of ones savings through inflation means that you must labor even more and harder to keep the same standard of living over time. Therefore inflation by debasing money (creating money out of nothing) is immoral. Money is the store of value of ones labor.

Next is the element of eliminating debt. What we use as money doesn't eliminate debt because what we use as money comes into existence as a direct result of debt. Government doesn't issue money, they issue debt called bonds or Treasuries. The ability for government and the banks to create money out of nothing without laboring for it debases or takes away the value of the existing money supply. The value of the newly created money has to come from somewhere so through a process called inflation it is stolen from savers and transferred to the newly created money supply. And because government and the banks create the new money out of nothing they are the first to receive the benefits of spending that medium of exchange for real goods and services that they have no real or right to claim. They didn't earn the new money they created it. To eliminate the debt used to create the new money would be to destroy or deflate the money supply. This is why the government can not and will not ever get out of debt. They cant allow a deflation to happen.

That brings me to gold and how to best explain gold and its role as money.


Gold is money and a store of value. It is the "Currency of last resort" as Greenspan has stated many times through the years. Gold doesn't pay interest, dividends, doesn't restate earnings, has no lawyers, accountants, CEOs or CFOs lying to you on television. Gold doesn't ask for bailouts, doesn't go Bankrupt and cannot cook its books. Gold cant be debased or printed at the will of a company or government and holds its purchasing power.

Gold sits there as a store of value, is labor intensive, and a one ounce coin will not split into a bunch of half ounce coins at the direction of the "Pin Striped Bandits" on Wall Street. Also Gold is the ONLY asset class in the last ten years to increase in value and retain every dollar of its purchasing power.

Can gold go down? Yes. However that would mean that all essential goods and services must fall as well. Gold is and acts more like an insurance policy. You are insuring that something in your portfolio can never go to $0.00. All paper assets have the ability to go to $0.00. This is what you are insuring against.

As Alan Greenspan former Chairman of the Federal Reserve said ....

"In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value. If there were, the government would have to make its holding illegal, as was done in the case of gold (from 1933 to 1975). If everyone decided, for example, to convert all his bank deposits to silver or copper or any other good, and thereafter declined to accept checks as payment for goods, bank deposits would lose their purchasing power and government-created bank credit would be worthless as a claim on goods. The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves.

This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists' antagonism toward the gold standard." Allen Greenspan 1966

Gold is not in a bubble and here is the reason why. Those that say that gold is in a bubble are only looking at the value of gold in relation to its price in the number of dollars it takes to buy it. However I would submit to you that gold has not changed in value at all. Here is the reason why. In January 1999 when gold was at it low it traded at $287.85 an ounce. Crude oil in January 1999 for its low traded at $17.00 a barrel.

When you look at how much crude oil you could buy in 1999 with 1 ounce of gold it comes out to be 16.93 barrels of oil for each ounce of gold. Today gold trades for $1400.00 and oil is trading for almost $90.00 a barrel. Today the same 1 ounce of gold buys 16.13 barrels of oil. In 1999 gold bought 36 more gallons of crude oil then it does today. So in reality, since oil is the main driver of the economy as everyone needs energy to heat homes, fuel cars, run factories etc, Using oil as the basic foundation of to figure out the golds value you can see that gold is currently UNDERVALUED in relation to how much oil gold bought in January 1999.

When you begin to price everyday living expenses such as rent, fuel, power, food, medical expenses, schooling expenses, TAXES, etc you will see that the gold buys the same amount of those essential items you must have for a basic standard of living and quality of life.

Therefore in reality, GOLD is UNDERVALUED at this time. And if you take into account that the Bank of England dumped all their gold on the market in January 1999 pushing its price down, then you have to conclude that gold could really be valued much higher then where it is today when you base the purchasing power of gold in historical terms.

Can gold go down? Yes. However that would mean that all essential goods and services must fall as well. Do you see gas going back to $1.00 a gallon or food dropping by 75%. I don't think so.

Gold is NOT in a bubble. Gold has not gained in value. Paper currencies have declined in value. That is why essential goods and services cost more in paper dollar terms. Now you have to ask yourself where did the value of our dollar go. That value was stolen from us through a process of a hidden tax called INFLATION.

To address what happened in 2008 when gold and silver went down, you have to understand that ALL asset classes declined in dollar value. This was due to the liquidation of debt. Gold declined by 30% yes, however crude oil went from $147 a barrel to less then $40 a barrel. This means that during the deflation period gold purchasing power increased during that time. However, during the last 3 months of 2008 paper/electronic U.S. dollars increased it's purchasing power even faster. This was because the wold economy was going through a deleveraging cycle and the demand for U.S. during this time went up because all market transactions worldwide are conducted in U.S. dollars. The U.S. dollar is the "WORLDS RESERVE CURRENCY" at this time. True, it has been loosing ground as the reserve currency but in 2008 it was still the most dominate currency of the world. This is a status that the U.S. dollar is loosing more and more ground every day. As more and more nations reject using U.S. dollars and look to other currencies as payment to settle trade among themselves, a few of them including China, India, Iran, Russia are turning to their own currencies and gold as the new reserve currency to settle trade debts. Look at gold as a currency and not as an investment.

Before investing in the markets you need real money. Real money is gold and silver.
_________________

Here is Jim's original post that inspired me to respond.
Was thinking the other day about how old financial "rules of thumb" have changed, on many fronts.
Gone are the days from my parents generation where you worked at the same job for 40 years and you got a nice pension for life like my Dad did, now I think you must adapt a "portability" about your job, retirement, health care etc. the onus is now on you not the company you work for.
What I think is important is to "increase the stock in yourself" like improve your marketability by taking courses, learning things/branching out in your field, getting endorsements etc.
I think the old axiom to have 3-6 months living expenses in a liquid account is inadequete, I think it should be more like 9-12 months.
I believe you should save for retirement by first investing in a company 401K (up to and IF they have a company match) then a Roth, the earlier you start the better, it can be done quite painlessly, I've always been a fan of index funds (except my naive early investing days LOL), over time they have proven to be pretty much on par with actively managed funds, why pay the higher expense ratios ? a couple funds have target retirement funds, like target 2035, they automatically tweak as the time moves on.
Invest in your health, eat right don't use tobacco products, drink sparingly, maintain optimal body weight, get check ups, sleep well, cherish friends, family, significant other, don't sweat the small stuff.
Try to save money without doing without, there are so many ways to do it that really add up, the usuals: brown bag it, don't go to Starbucks, watch movies at home, go to library.

Key Underwear Bomber Witness Runs for U.S. Congress

Everyone in the country need to get behind this man. He exposed the government FALSE FLAG TERROR ATTEMPT that happened Christmas 2009 where he and his wife saw the US government get the "Underwear Bomber" on the plane and gave him the bomb to blow it up just before it reached Detroit. The government denied the story at first but later admitted it to the Congress during a formal investigation.

"Just wanted to post something for all of you following along that Kurt Haskell decided yesterday that he is going to run for Congress! Our district is the 7th District of Michigan. Recently, the state lines changed, and John Dingell is no longer in our District. Kurt would be running against a Republican, Tim Walberg, and Kurt will be running as a Democrat."

BREAKING: Kurt Haskell Exposes Government False Flag Operation During Underwear Bomber Sentencing

Kurt Haskell
Infowars.com
Thursday, February 16, 2012

Personal statement from Kurt Haskell.

Every victim of a crime in Michigan is entitled to make a statement in open court regarding the impact of the crime on their life. The statement is limited to the victim’s physical, emotional and financial well being as it relates to the crime. Keep that in mind as you read my statement. Below is a copy of the victim impact statement I gave today at the Underwear Bomber sentencing hearing. When reading my statement, keep in mind that I am a practicing attorney in the State of Michigan. In addition, I regularly practice in the Court the hearings are taking place at and therefore, I am somewhat limited as to what I can say. We were limited to 5 minutes each.

I wish to thank the Court for allowing me these 5 minutes to make my statement. My references to the government in this statement refer to the Federal Government excluding this Court and the prosecution. On Christmas Day 2009, my wife and I were returning from an African safari and had a connecting flight through Amsterdam. As we waited for our flight, we sat on the floor next to the boarding gate. What I witnessed while sitting there and subsequent events have changed my life forever. While I sat there, I witnessed Umar dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, being escorted around security by a man in a tan suit who spoke perfect American English and who aided Umar in boarding without a passport. The airline gate worker initially refused Umar boarding until the man in the tan suit intervened. The event meant nothing to me at the time. Little did I know that Umar would try to kill me a few hours later as our flight approached Detroit. The final 10 minutes of our flight after the attack were the worst minutes of my life. During those 10 minutes I sat paralyzed in fear. Unfortunately, what happened next has had an even greater impact on my life and has saddened me further.

When we landed, I was shocked that our plane taxied up to the gate. I was further shocked that we were forced to sit on the plane for 20 minutes with powder from the so called bomb all over the cabin. The officers that boarded the plane did nothing to ensure our safety and did not check for accomplices or other explosive devices. Several passengers trampled through parts of the bomb as they exited the plane. We were then taken into the terminal with our unchecked carry on bags. Again, there was no concern for our safety even though Umar told the officers that there was another bomb on board as he exited the plane. I wondered why nobody was concerned about our safety, accomplices or other bombs and the lack of concern worried me greatly. I immediately told the FBI my story in order to help catch the accomplice I had seen in Amsterdam. It soon became obvious that the FBI wasn’t interested in what I had to say, which upset me further. For one month the government refused to admit the existence of the man in the tan suit before changing course and admitting his existence in an ABC News article on January 22, 2010. That was the last time the government talked about this man. The video that would prove the truth of my account has never been released. I continue to be emotional upset that the video has not been released. The Dutch police, meanwhile, in this article (show article), also confirmed that Umar did not show his passport in Amsterdam which also meant that he didn’t go through security as both are in the same line in Amsterdam. It upsets me that the government refuses to admit this fact.

I became further saddened from this case, when Patrick Kennedy of the State Department during Congressional hearings, admitted that Umar was a known terrorist, was being followed, and the U.S. allowed him into the U.S. so that it could catch Umar’s accomplices. I was once again shocked and saddened when Michael Leiter of the National Counter terrorism Center admitted during these same hearings that intentionally letting terrorists into the U.S. was a frequent practice of the U.S. Government. I cannot fully explain my sadness, disappointment and fear when I realized that my government allowed an attack on me intentionally.

During this time, I questioned if my country intentionally put a known terrorist onto my flight with a live bomb. I had many sleepless nights over this issue. My answer came shortly thereafter. In late 2010, the FBI admitted to giving out intentionally defective bombs to the Portland Christmas Tree Bomber,the Wrigley Field Bomber and several others. Further, Mr. Chambers was quoted in the Free Press on January 11, 2011 when he indicated that the government’s own explosives experts had indicated that Umar’s bomb was impossibly defective. I wondered how that could be. Certainly, I thought, Al Qaeda wouldn’t go through all of the trouble to plan such an attack only to provide the terrorist with an impossibly defective bomb.

I attended nearly all of the pretrial hearings. At the hearing on January 28, 2011, I was greatly disappointed by the prosecution’s request to block evidence from Mr. Chambers “as it could then be able to be obtained by third parties, who could use it in a civil suit against the government”. It really bothered me that the government apparently was admitting to wrongdoing of some kind as it admitted that it was concerned it would be sued. It further upset me to know that the government was putting its own interests ahead of those of the passengers.

When I attended the jury selection hearings, I questioned why versions of the same two questions kept coming up, those being:

1. Do you think you’ll be able to tell whether something is actually a bomb? and

2. Do you realize that sometimes the media doesn’t always tell the truth?

I continued to be greatly saddened at this point as I felt the truth continued to be hidden.

When Umar listed me as his only witness, I was happy to testify, not on his behalf, but on behalf of the truth. I never expected to testify, as my eyewitness account would have been too damaging to the myth that the government and media are putting forward. A mere 5 days after I was announced as a witness, there was an inexplicable guilty plea which exasperated me as I no longer would be testifying.In closing I will just say that regardless of how the media and government try to shape the public perception of this case, I am convinced that Umar was given an intentionally defective bomb by a U.S. Government agent and placed on our flight without showing a passport or going through security, to stage a false terrorist attack to be used to implement various government policies.

The effect this matter has had on my life has been astounding and due to this case, I will never trust the government in any matter, ever.
In regards to sentencing, nothing I’ve said excuses the fact that Umar tried to kill me. He has waived his valid claim to the entrapment defense. Umar, you are not a great Muslim martyr, you are merely a “Patsy”. I ask the court to impose the mandatory sentence.

My Hometown Valdez Digs Out From A World Class Snowfall

Extreme snow in Valdez, Alaska from anchoragedailynews on Vimeo.

What is a "Three Percenter"?

With the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act it is time to ask, What is a "Three Percenter"?Under the bill and from Obama himself in statements issued over the last few weeks anyone can be detained, tortured, held without charges, trial, access to lawyers, put into FEMA camps, and killed. He said that he would veto the bill but it was released days ago that Obama wanted these provisions put in the bill. He is like Rick Perry. Oppose a bill then support it. This is the first time in world history that something like this has been put into law. Even the Nazi's didn't write down their plans. That way they could always have plausible deniability. Our government is being totally overt in their plans.

"The Three Percent in 1775.

During the American Revolution, the active forces in the field against the King's tyranny never amounted to more than 3% of the colonists. They were in turn actively supported by perhaps 10% of the population. In addition to these revolutionaries were perhaps another 20% who favored their cause but did little or nothing to support it. Another one-third of the population sided with the King (by the end of the war there were actually more Americans fighting FOR the King than there were in the field against him) and the final third took no side, blew with the wind and took what came.

Three Percenters today do not claim that we represent 3% of the American people, although we might. That theory has not yet been tested. We DO claim that we represent at least 3% of American gun owners, which is still a healthy number somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 million people. History, for good or ill, is made by determined minorities. We are one such minority. So too are the current enemies of the Founders' Republic. What remains, then, is the test of will and skill to determine who shall shape the future of our nation.

The Three Percent today are gun owners who will not disarm, will not compromise and will no longer back up at the passage of the next gun control act. Three Percenters say quite explicitly that we will not obey any further circumscription of our traditional liberties and will defend ourselves if attacked. We intend to maintain our God-given natural rights to liberty and property, and that means most especially the right to keep and bear arms. Thus, we are committed to the restoration of the Founders' Republic, and are willing to fight, die and, if forced by any would-be oppressor, to kill in the defense of ourselves and the Constitution that we all took an oath to uphold against enemies foreign and domestic.

We are the people that the collectivists who now control the government should leave alone if they wish to continue unfettered oxygen consumption. We are the Three Percent. Attempt to further oppress us at your peril.

To put it bluntly, leave us the hell alone.

Or, if you feel froggy, go ahead AND WATCH WHAT HAPPENS."

Broker Shuts Down Firm With Chilling Letter About the Market

Although this post is not Celtic Woman related, I feel the need to post it here because it is right on target about what happens when big business is based upon lying, cheating and stealing. Setting that aside I want to warn people about what is happening economically and I urge people to protect their wealth, money, and assets. It is my intent to post economic story's that the main news media wont cover, in the attempt to at least educate people about what is going on. I haven't done this before because I don't want those in the management of CW to take the steps to protect their wealth. But I have come to realize that they are so arrogant that they will disregard these warnings and advise. For anyone who has money in the markets or is wondering why the world economy is having the problems it is please read this post. I will be using this blog to keep people updated on CW but I'm going to have to post blogs about the economy. Unless people understand what is happening they cant take action.
ALCAN1

Dear Clients, Industry Colleagues and Friends of Barnhardt Capital Management,

It is with regret and unflinching moral certainty that I announce that Barnhardt Capital Management has ceased operations. After six years of operating as an independent introducing brokerage, and eight years of employment as a broker before that, I found myself, this morning, for the first time since I was 20 years old, watching the futures and options markets open not as a participant, but as a mere spectator.

The reason for my decision to pull the plug was excruciatingly simple: I could no longer tell my clients that their monies and positions were safe in the futures and options markets – because they are not. And this goes not just for my clients, but for every futures and options account in the United States. The entire system has been utterly destroyed by the MF Global collapse. Given this sad reality, I could not in good conscience take one more step as a commodity broker, soliciting trades that I knew were unsafe or holding funds that I knew to be in jeopardy.

The futures markets are very highly-leveraged and thus require an exceptionally firm base upon which to function. That base was the sacrosanct segregation of customer funds from clearing firm capital, with additional emergency financial backing provided by the exchanges themselves. Up until a few weeks ago, that base existed, and had worked flawlessly. Firms came and went, with some imploding in spectacular fashion. Whenever a firm failure happened, the customer funds were intact and the exchanges would step in to backstop everything and keep customers 100% liquid – even as their clearing firm collapsed and was quickly replaced by another firm within the system.

Everything changed just a few short weeks ago. A firm, led by a crony of the Obama regime, stole all of the non-margined cash held by customers of his firm. Let’s not sugar-coat this or make this crime seem “complex” and “abstract” by drowning ourselves in six-dollar words and uber-technical jargon. Jon Corzine STOLE the customer cash at MF Global. Knowing Jon Corzine, and knowing the abject lawlessness and contempt for humanity of the Marxist Obama regime and its cronies, this is not really a surprise. What was a surprise was the reaction of the exchanges and regulators. Their reaction has been to take a bad situation and make it orders of magnitude worse. Specifically, they froze customers out of their accounts WHILE THE MARKETS CONTINUED TO TRADE, refusing to even allow them to liquidate. This is unfathomable. The risk exposure precedent that has been set is completely intolerable and has destroyed the entire industry paradigm. No informed person can continue to engage these markets, and no moral person can continue to broker or facilitate customer engagement in what is now a massive game of Russian Roulette.

I have learned over the last week that MF Global is almost certainly the mere tip of the iceberg. There is massive industry-wide exposure to European sovereign junk debt. While other firms may not be as heavily leveraged as Corzine had MFG leveraged, and it is now thought that MFG’s leverage may have been in excess of 100:1, they are still suicidally leveraged and will likely stand massive, unmeetable collateral calls in the coming days and weeks as Europe inevitably collapses. I now suspect that the reason the Chicago Mercantile Exchange did not immediately step in to backstop the MFG implosion was because they knew and know that if they backstopped MFG, they would then be expected to backstop all of the other firms in the system when the failures began to cascade – and there simply isn’t that much money in the entire system. In short, the problem is a SYSTEMIC problem, not merely isolated to one firm...

...And so, to the very unpleasant crux of the matter. The futures and options markets are no longer viable. It is my recommendation that ALL customers withdraw from all of the markets as soon as possible so that they have the best chance of protecting themselves and their equity. The system is no longer functioning with integrity and is suicidally risk-laden. The rule of law is non-existent, instead replaced with godless, criminal political cronyism...

With Best Regards-
Ann Barnhardt

HOW I CAME TO LOVE CELTIC WOMAN FROM PBS

It was around April of last year(2005). Every week on CNBC I watch the Suze Orman Show. Its a show all about finance advise. During the show on one of the commericals they ran a 120 second commerical which caught my eye. It turned out that it was an advertisement for the Celtic Woman DVD/CD. I thought to myself "that looks pretty cool.Id like to get that to check it out". I reconized some of the songs. Anyway I didnt order it because iI didnt write down the address or phone number and forgot about it.

Over the next couple of months I kept seeing the same commerical every week during the Suze Orman show. But still I never got around to ordering the DVD or CD. But everytime the commerical came on I just told myself that Im going to have to order that DVD.

Then in June of last year I was on R&R in Washington State visiting my best friend and her kids. We went out to dinner one night to my favorite place. I had my usual, a 24 ounce porterhouse steak. After dinner we went back to the house where I turned on the TV. I started flipping channels and as I flipped I reconized the stage setup form the commerical Id been seeing. I decided to write down the address to order the DVD because I had pen and paper right there on the table next to me. But to my surprise it wast the commerical at all. It was the PBS show itself. Untill that moment I had no idea that it was a PBS show. And as a result I was able to catch about the last quarter of the show along with a couple of interviews. I decided then then I would order the DVD once I got back home to Alaska.

Once I got home I saw the commerical again and went ahead and ordered the DVD. One it arrived in mid August I put it in my DVD player and watched the whole thing from start to finish and watched the interviews. Once it was over I started it a second time. I was just about one third of the way through the concert a second time when I said to myself..."Ive just got to go see this live". So I got on the computer and found the main website for Celtic Woman.

I found the tour dates for the fall tour and decided that the only date I could do would have to be Cincinnati, Ohio on October 28, 2005. I went to the venues website and bought a ticket for the 6th row. Once I had my concert ticket bought and paid for I started looking for airline tickets from Anchorage, Alaska to Cincinnati, Ohio. I found a round trip airline ticket on Alaska Airlines. I had to change airlines and planes in Seattle. So it was Alaska Airlines from Anchorage to Seattle and Delta for the rest of the way. Because I booked the flight through Alaska Airlines website I was awarded the miles on my Alaska Airlines account for the whole trip. That turned out to be 8000 miles.

Once I had all that in place I started going over the Celtic Woman website where I found the forum and posted for the first time about how I was going to travel over 8000 miles to see Celtic Woman in concert. Of course at that time nobody had traveled anywhere near that distance to attend a Celtic Woman concert. Today thats not at all uncommon. The responses i got from everyone were awesome. Everyone was friendly and those that had see concerts before gave me advise as to what to expect. I hung around the forum more and more each day and started chatting with a couple of people quite often. One of the people I was chatting with was planning on attending the same concert as me in Cincinnati. So we decided to meet each other at the theater.

As I was planning the trip I booked a 1 bedroom suite and decided to buy a new outfit for the concert. I ordered a suit from Brooks Brothers in downtown Cincinnati. It cost me a little over $1000 but i figured it was worth it for such a special event. After all I do work 3000 hours a year with little time off so I figured Id enjoy life a little and have fun and splirge a little.

About 2 weeks before the concert, the guy on the forum that I was planning on meeting at the theater informed me that he wasnt able to attend because he had been sick and he didnt know if he would be feeling up to making the drive to Cincinnati. He told me a couple of days later that in fact he wouldnt be able to go and that he had put his concert ticket up for sale on the forum for $25. I was a little disappointed that he wasnt going to make it because we had been chatting for almost 2 months and I was expecting we would be meeting each other at the theater. But thats how it goes.

Of course once he posted the fact that he was sick, couldnt attend and had posted his ticket for sale many people posted in response get well soon messages. About 24 hours later I was checking that thread on the forum and noticed 2 posts that stuck out. The first post was from Kira who posted to Danielle that she should buy that ticket from Matthew and go to the Cincinnati show. Danielle's response to Kira's post was that she couldnt aford the money it would take to buy the gas she would need to make the drive. I reconized Danielle's name on the forum as someone who had just just joined the forum a few days before. I wouldnt have paid much mind to the post that Danielle had made if it werent for a couple of things. First of all she had posted quite a bit in the short time she had been on the forum and that in the posts that I read she seemed like a cool person. The other was she started a thread where we could post pictures of ourselves. I was having trouble posting my picture as usual because Im not good on computers and she explained to me how to do it.

I fingured what the heck. I decided to send Danielle a PM on the forum and told her that I was traveling from Alaska to see the Cincinnati show and that if she really wanted to go that I would cover her gas money. I already knew which seat that ticket was for so I figured we could just meet at the theater. She sent me a PM back and told me that she couldnt evern aford the $25 that Matthew was wanting for the ticket. I told her that if she could just get a loan that I would cover it. Anyway she called several people and wasnt able to prevail. So I decided to take another approach. I was chatting with her on the IM and while I was doing that she emailed Matthew and told him that she was interested in the ticket and that I was going to help her. Whlie she was emailing him and responding to his response I sent Danielle $150 through Western Union. Matthew gave her the ticket free of charge and he sent it to her. And Danielle asked me if it would be OK for her to bring her sister Michelle too. I said "of course". Danielle told me that she would just get a "cheap seat" for Michelle and then I looked and found a ticket in the 6th row about 10 seats to my right. I bought the ticket and was issued an email that Id just have to go to the Box Office to pick it up the day of the concert. I gave Danielle all my contact information along with directoins to the hotel I was staying at and that we could just meet there and walk to the theater. All this took place about 1 week before the concert. She picked up the Western Union the next day and she emailed me that she recieved it.

I couldnt wait to see the concert but I really wasnt looking forward to the long flight that I was going to have to be on. I dont travel with checked baggage anymore so at least I knew I wasnt going to have to wait around for my bags to come off the plane. As it turned out the flight wasnt too bad and I didnt have any problems arriving into Cincinnati and getting to my hotel.

When I arrived the Hotel was really nice except it smelled really bad of cigarette smoke. I had quit smoking 20 months before and it bothered me when I first walked into the lobby. After I got checked in, I walked about 4 blocks to the Brooks Brothers store and was fitted for my new suit that I had ordered 6 weeks earlier. Then I ate and went to bed. The next morning, the day of the concert I got up and picked up my new suit and walked around Cincinnati and then picked up Michelles ticket. It was really cool. Id never been there before and it was alot bigger then I expected. There were people everywhere! I went back to the hotel later that afternoon and got ready for the concert.

Around 6 PM I got a call from Danielle and she told me she was in the lobby so I told her to come up. They came up and we tlked for about an hour then we walked to the theater.

When we got to the theater you were able to walk through the doors but they had the stairs leading to the main lobby roped off. Once they let us in the first thing I did was went to the CW table to buy every solo CD they had on sale and since they had them on sale I also go myself a Celtic Woman hat. Since then Ive refered to the girl who sold me me hat as HatGirl....What a living doll !! I wish I knew her name. She is really nice and I love her Irish accent.

Anyway the concert was as good as I expected it would be. In fact it was even better then I expected. I was i row 6 and had a great view. I didnt know what to expect as far as seeing Deirdre Shannon because I hadnt heard her before but she was totally awesome. I looked for her CD after the concert but there wasnt one to buy so I was disappointed about that. The concert was geat and it just seemed to end so fast. I wish it had been longer.

After the concert Danielle, Michelle, and left the theater and walked aound the building where we spotted the tour busses. I pointed them out and there was a bench against the wall between bus 2 and bus 3. None of us knew if we were going to be able to meet any of the girls or not and at that point none of us had ever met any of them before so this was all new to us. We had been sitting there for about 5 minutes and I noticed a few people come out of the door that was about 30 feet from us. It was dark outside but I was able to at leat notice that one of the gals that came out was really good looking and of course I took note of that. They walked right passed us. Neither Danielle or myself reconized her but Michelle did. Michelle said..."LISA???" It just so happens that it was the very person I took note of just a few seconds earlier. She turned around and took one look at us.......(keep in mind that we had never meet and we didnt say who we were)........and LISA said...."Danielle!!! I didnt know you were comming to this concert. I though I saw you there in the forth row." The 3 of us were totally shocked!! Then LISA says to Danielle..."And this must be your twin sister Michelle." It was amazing!!! She knew exactly who we were just from our pictures and postings on the forum!! I thought that was totally cool and we were all fabergasted by it. Of course Lisa looked at me in my suit and said " and you must be Tony the guy from Alaska. Right?" I was like WOW!!! Talk about a meeting. We didnt even have to introduce ourselves. Then Chloe walks up about 30 seconds later and we met her as well. It didnt last very long because they had to get on the buss and head for Washington D.C. but before we said our goodbyes I handed Lisa a Northernlights Canender from Alaska that I had brought with me to give to them in case I had the chance to meet them.

After that the 3 of us walked back to my hotel and we all talked for a short while. I gave Danielle and Michelle each a signed poster and then they headed home. I flew back to Alaska 1 day later and took another week off work to relax. Two days after returning to work I made the decision to go to Toronto to see them again in concert and to meet more people from the forum. It was alot of fun in Cincinnati and I wanted to do it again. But thats a whole other story.....