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Scott Bradley talks about Protecting your assets while dealing with Modern Day Banking 2, Debt Settlement,Credit VS Debt, Debt Consolidation, Wage Garnishment Protection, Bankruptcy alternatives, Bank Account Protection, Debt Cancellation. Explaining Modern Day Banking 2your rights.

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Offshore Banking In The Modern World

Offshore banking, or international banking as it is sometimes referred, is more popular and prevalent than ever, and all signs seem to indicate that there will be no slowing down this trend. The world is fast becoming a much smaller place, and the barriers that used to make it hard for people to do business in other countries have all but dissolved in the face of new regulation. Offshore banking is not about setting up a secret bank account.  It can be a viable option for your company to consider if wanting to take advantage of the opportunities that globalization brings. For Entrepreneurs looking to start up a business, with some of your business activity overseas, setting up an offshore bank account should be part of this process.

An offshore bank account is not that much different from a domestic account. As more and more people are participating in international banking, the banks and accounts themselves have gotten more and more user-friendly. A corporate services company can be a valuable partner when investing offshore. Finding an experienced consultant can assist in the strategy development process as well as the execution of banking offshore, or setting up a company offshore. A professional offshore consultant will have knowledge and experience of various offshore jurisdictions and the advantages, or disadvantages, which come with each.

When you decide to start your offshore bank account, you will need certain information and due diligence.  These requirements can vary according to the jurisdiction but, in general, requirements can include:

i)               Company incorporation documents

ii)             Copy of passport

iii)            Bank reference letter

iv)            Address details

Once your offshore banking services are up and running, benefits such as operational efficiency, international funds transfer and multi-currency accounts can be taken advantage of. In today’s global economy, it is very prudent to try different things and keep your options flexible and open.

Offshore banking is a strategy available to both individuals and companies looking to improve investment efficiency and overall financial position.  Due to focused attention from governments fighting tax evasion, offshore banking activities need to be researched and planned to ensure all legal requirements are met. Obligations must be met for the offshore banking jurisdiction as well as the investor’s home jurisdiction.

The Final Word on the Place of Modern Israel in Biblical Prophecy

The final word on the place of modern Israel in Biblical Prophecy

I’ve been hearing it, in one form or another, every since I was converted as a teenager – that God has a plan for political Israel, such that the fate of the nation is intricately tied to the fulfilment of other Biblical prophecies and, indeed, to the second coming of Christ!

I can’t remember where I heard it first – whether I first read it in Hal Lindsey’s “Late Great Planet Earth” or whether I heard it earlier from New Zealand’s white Pentecostal evangelist, Barry Smith. Either way, I’ve heard it plenty of times since, and the spiel is always basically the same – that the triumph of Israel over its Middle-Eastern neighbours has been clearly prophesied in the Biblical texts, and that until this happens, the ‘final battle’ (‘Armageddon’) and the ensuing 1000-year reign of peace can’t happen either.

The spiritual thrust of this sort of message is always ‘give yourself to Christ so that you will be ready when he reappears.’ There is an obvious accompanying political message too though – that we should all lend a hand to the state of Israel in her battles with her neighbours, lest the progress of the Biblical prophecies be somehow frustrated, or at least stalled.

‘Christian Zionism’ is the technical term for this reading of the Scriptures. Ironically, it tends to flourish best in areas of the church where there is a strong distinction between the sacred and the secular – between religion and politics. Indeed, most Christian Zionists will tell you that political matters have nothing to do with their faith, which is concerned exclusively with their personal salvation. The only exception is with matters concerning political Israel, which still has a special role to play in God’s plan of salvation.

Beliefs along these lines are widespread amongst Evangelical Christians, particularly in the US, where they translate into an aggressively pro-Israel foreign policy. In recent years, the Christian Zionist lobby has played a significant role in supporting and strengthening the special bond that exists between Israel and the West., and members of the church have been actively courted by Israeli nationalists both in the US and in the state of Israel itself!

OK. Enough about Christian Zionism! If you didn’t know what it is, you do now. Either way, I’d encourage you to give it a wide berth! Why? Because, in my view, Christian Zionism is both wrong and dangerous!

It is wrong because it arises out of a misunderstanding of the Bible. It is dangerous because it sanctions actions that contribute to the supremacy of the state of Israel without regards to their broader consequences, and without any serious evaluation of the moral nature of the actions themselves.

Now … I do believe that I have a simple way of demonstrating to Christian Zionists that they are completely off-track! My argument is simple and decisive, and I have never yet met a Christian Zionist who is able to respond with anything more than a blank look when confronted with this argument.

What’s more, it doesn’t involve disputing any of the so-called prophetic texts. It doesn’t require me to challenge the distinction between sacred and secular. It doesn’t even require me to adopt a political position on the state of Israel. I could be very pro-Zionist and still maintain this point; that Biblical prophecy is never normative!

Biblical prophecy is never normative. In other words, prophecies in the Bible never function as commandments – telling us directly how to determine our relationships with our neighbours. They function to bring us closer to God – generally through repentance. Allow me to flesh this out:

When Amos proclaims God‘s judgement – “For three transgressions of Israel and for four, I will not revoke the punishment” – his purpose is not simply to upset people by telling them that they are about to be destroyed, nor is he giving them an invitation to come and join him in destroying Israel. On the contrary, his purpose is to call his hearers to repentance so that Israel might not be destroyed.

When the prophet Jeremiah rails against the sins of Israel, and predicts that a ‘boiling pot from the north’ will spill over in their direction and destroy everything, this is not designed to shift anybody’s political allegiance from Israel to the northern nation of Babylon (or Assyria).

On the contrary, Jeremiah’s sincere hope always was that the events he prophesied would not come to pass, and when things did take place just as he had predicted, Jeremiah wrote a whole book of Laments, mourning the tragedy of Jerusalem‘s destruction!

Do you see my point? Jeremiah predicted the destruction of Israel, but this does not mean that he endorsed it as a good thing, or wanted to encourage anybody to help make it happen.

Yes, the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC was the fulfilment of the Jeremiah’s prophecy, but it was still a great tragedy that should have been prevented, and, according to Jeremiah, could have been prevented, had the people turned to their creator in repentance and faith.

Biblical prophecy is not normative. Jeremiah’s prophecies did not make the destruction of Jerusalem a morally acceptable act, and if we had been a part of his audience, the correct response would not have been to go and enlist in the Babylonian army so as to join in the looting. No. Such prophecies have a specific spiritual purpose, functioning something like shock therapy. The prophet paints a shocking picture of the judgement that is about to fall with a view to rattling his hearers to the point that they wake up to the fact that something is seriously wrong!

This is what distinguishes Biblical prophecy from both fortune-telling and electioneering. Biblical prophecies are not given for the sake of satisfying anybody’s curiosity about the future, any more than they are designed to help shape 21st century foreign policy. Prophecies are given in order to call people to back to God.

This is where Christian Zionism just gets it plain wrong.

Christian Zionists claim that the Biblical prophecies point to the triumph of 21st Century political Israel over its Middle-Eastern neighbours. I think that their interpretation of the Biblical texts is erroneous, but that is unimportant here. What is important is, even if they were entirely correct, and that a particular Biblical prophet did indeed predict a military victory for modern Israel over, say, Iran, this would not mean that either the prophet or the Bible was endorsing this as a good thing, deserving of our support, any more than the destruction of Jerusalem that Jeremiah foretold was viewed as a good thing, worthy of support. On the contrary, as in the historic example, even if it were ‘prophesied’, the right thing to do, from a Scriptural point of view, might well be to oppose it.

Biblical prophecy has never been normative for people of faith. It is the commandments that are normative. You know the ones – ‘love God and love your neighbour’. These are the Divine commands that inform our actions and tell us how we ought to behave towards our neighbours. And it is only on the basis of these commandments that we can construct a Biblically-based foreign policy – on the basis of love!

Perhaps I shouldn’t be too harsh in judging my Christian Zionist brethren for confusing prophesy and commandment. After all, the prophet Jonah himself was guilty of exactly the same confusion.

You remember Jonah, don’t you? After his adventure with the big fish, he did end up going to Ninevah and delivering his message: “Yet forty days and Ninevah will be destroyed”.

.It was a very simple message, and if ever a Biblical prophesy appeared to be a simple prediction about the future, it was Jonah’s.

If you made it to the end of the book, you know that Jonah, after delivering his message, found a good vantage point outside of the city and sat there, waiting for the fireworks to begin. Much to his own chagrin, they do not begin. His prediction was not fulfilled. Why not? Because his prophecy had been successful. Do you see the distinction?

Jonah’s prophecy was successful, in that it caused people to repent and come back to God. The result was that the city did not need to be destroyed. God is depicted as being very happy about this. Jonah was not.

Read over the last chapter of the book of Jonah sometime if you’ve missed the details. Jonah treated his prophecy as if he were simply informing people of the inevitable. He fully expected the judgement to happen and believed that it was right and fitting. Indeed, I suspect that nothing would have made Jonah happier than if God had given him the privilege of pressing the button to detonate the fire and brimstone attack upon Ninevah. But it was not to be!

Jonah made the mistake of seeing the destruction of Ninevah as a good thing, simply because he had prophesied it! If he’d had any Christian Zionists with him, they might have formed an anti-Ninevah foreign policy on the basis of his prophecy. They might have further concluded that sending arms to Ninevah’s enemies was an appropriate response to Jonah’s prophecy. Thankfully the people of Ninevah knew how to respond to Jonah‘s words. They repented, which was the purpose of the prophecy all along!

Biblical prophecy is not normative! It is the commandments that are normative.

Confusing the two is not simply a mistake. It is dangerous and can be downright wicked, because when you confuse prophecy and commandment, you run the risk of breaking the commandments for the sake of seeing your prophecy fulfilled.

Let’s get specific here:

The oppression of the Palestinian people by the state of Israel in recent years has been horrendous. Between the massacres and assassinations and the daily grind of an apartheid system that treats Israeli Arabs as second class citizens, all the commandments have been broken.

If we look at the situation through the eyes of Jesus – with eyes of compassion and mercy – we cannot but be moved to both pity and anger. Pity for the many who have been victimised – both Palestinians and Jews who have tried to resist the occupation. And anger towards the foreign countries who make the oppression possible – countries that include Australia as well as the US.

And the saddest part, from my point of view, is that much of this oppression takes place in the name of religion, and with the blessing of the many parts of Christ’s church, because it is all seen as being a necessary part of the great end-time drama, as depicted in the Biblical prophecies. How shameful!

Biblical prophecy is never normative!

Jonah prophesied that Ninevah would fall. Thanks be to God, his prophecy was NOT fulfilled.

Jeremiah predicted that Jerusalem would fall. Oh, what a good and godly thing it would have been had we been able to prevent that from happening!

The fact that something has been prophesied does not mean that such an outcome is a good thing. The predicted events may be things that we should oppose. We need to be guided here by the commandments. The commandments inform our actions, not the prophecies themselves.

OK. That’s the spiel. Are you convinced? I hope so. I accept though that many Christian Zionists will not be convinced.

Even amongst those who read and understand what I have said, some will not be convinced, but will continue to believe that the Lord Jesus would have us give unilateral support to the State of Israel, regardless of their record of human rights abuse. I accept that. People are complex, and hold to these types of positions for reasons that are often difficult to understand.

But know this – that the Christian Zionist position is not logical, it’s not moral, and it’s certainly not Biblical, even if its adherents to add ‘because the Bible says’ every time they state their case.

Modern Window Treatment For Your Modern Tampa Home

1.    Go organic with wooden blinds and natural woven shades.

Wood is making a comeback in decorative hardware, according to Deb Barrett, trend specialist for Grace McNamara Inc., while bamboo, birch and maple are the materials of choice for the newest finials and pulls. Since there is a “going green” theme for 2010, giving your Tampa home a touch of natural materials like bamboo blinds and maple shades instantly updates your house’s design.

2.    Sleek silhouettes for chic-looking window treatments

Simple, sleek lines are all the rave of window fashions from flowing drapes to chrome decorative hardware. Creating sleek silhouettes against a window instantly lends a clean, modern look to any window and room. Instead of blinds, why not opt for solar shades? Solar shades absorb UV light and help regulate room temperature. You’ll be on your way to having a modern and chic Tampa home in no time.

3.    Color it blue

One of the quickest ways to update a window is by using colorful treatments like curtains and draperies. The color blue will be huge this 2010. Shades of teal, aquamarine, and ocean blue on your curtains and drapes give a cool effect to the room. You can compliment this window treatment by coordinating it with the cushion covers and beddings. Be careful not to over do it. Splashes of blue here and there should do. Hunter Douglas has a wonderful line of colored, printed, and patterned curtains and drapes. Artistic Widows of Tampa holds Hunter Douglas products so you should give them a try.

4.    Luxury fabrics are a staple

Fabrics like silks, velvets, damasks, fur, leather and suede will never go out of style. Linda Henry, editor-in-chief of Window Fashions magazine, says luxury fabrics of curtain and draperies should be mixed with sparkling crystal, beaded tassels and lavish embellishments on every element of the window – hardware, trimmings and fabric. You’ll instantly add a sophisticated look to your Tampa home.

5.    A touch of velvet on your shades and blinds

According to one Tampa interior designer, grosgrain, a strong, closely woven ribbed fabric usually made of silk or rayon, is used as a ribbon detailing on blinds and draperies. Velvet banding can also be used as detailing, or as ladder tape to cover up route holes for string in blinds.

6.    Classic shutter won’t ever fail

Hardwood shutters will never be outdated as long as you keep its color fresh. Shutters for a Tampa home are important to regulate sunlight and extreme weather conditions. You can have a stylish yet fully functioning set of shutters by choosing between hardwood and poly-stain compound shutters that can withstand high heat and humidity.

The larger and bolder the prints on your window treatment, the better. Stripes and bold graphic designs instantly provide a statement to the whole interior design concept. Go for printed and textured curtains or shades.

Now that you have these tips, you can start updating your home’s interior design starting from your window treatments. Artistic Windows can offer you an array of window treatment options for your updated and modern Tampa home.

Stock and Bond Trading Powers Modern Asset Allocation

For most individual investors, trading is approached in a totally speculative manner. Stock trading, in its more popular forms (Day Trading, Swing Trading, etc.) includes none of the elements that a conservative investment strategy would contain: little if any attention is given to the Quality of the equities selected; Diversification is determined by chance alone; no attempt is made to develop an increasing and dependable stream of Income. But stock trading by individual investors doesn’t deserve quite as bad a “rep” as it has earned. After all, its very foundation is profit taking, probably the most important and most often neglected of the activities required for successful investment management. Unfortunately for most equity traders, loss taking is a more common occurrence.

Bond, and other income security trading is generally avoided by most non-professionals. Obviously, it takes more investment capital to establish positions in corporate and municipal bonds, real estate, and government securities than it does in equities, and the volatility that traders thrive upon is just not a standard feature of the mundane world of income investing. Surprisingly, most investment professionals avoid a more exciting approach to income investing that is actually safer for investors and less inflexible in the face of changing interest rate expectations. Certainly, Wall Street financial institutions pressure their representatives to push individual new issues and/or investment products, but I think that the market value fixation that stretches from Wall Street to Main Street is the real culprit. Income securities need to be assigned a value that recognizes the safety of their income production and market value changes should only to be viewed as opportunities for increasing yield or taking rare, but wonderful, profits.

Consequently, most trading is done in an equity only environment that is too speculative for most mature (in whatever sense you choose) investors. But this is not the way it needs to be. Since stock prices are likely to remain volatile in the short run and cyclical in the long run, there will always be opportunities for profit taking. Similarly, there are no rules against taking advantage of the cyclical nature of interest-rate-sensitive security prices. Trading is the world’s oldest form of commercial activity, and it is unfortunate that it is treated with such disrespect by our dysfunctional tax code. It is even more unfortunate that it is looked at askance by client attorneys and brokerage firm compliance officers… masters of hindsight that they are.

Trading does not have to be done quickly to be productive, and it doesn’t have to focus on higher risk securities to be profitable. And perhaps most importantly, it doesn’t have to avoid the interest-rate-sensitive income securities that are so important to the long-term success of any true investment portfolio. Once a trader/speculator is weaned off the gambling mentality that brought him to the shock market in the first place, he can apply his trading skills to investing and to portfolio management. The transition from trader/speculator to trader/investor requires some education… education that generally cannot be obtained from product salespersons.

Step one is to gain an appreciation of the power of Asset Allocation. Asset Allocation is the process of dividing the portfolio into two conceptual securities buckets. The primary purpose of the equity bucket is to produce growth in the form of realized capital gains. The other bucket contains securities whose primary purpose is to produce some form of regular income… dividends, interest, rents, royalties, etc. The percentage allocated to each is a function of a short list of personal facts, concerns, goals, and objectives. The cost basis of the securities must be used in all asset allocation calculations. Asset allocation itself is a portfolio planning exercise that is based on the purpose of the securities to be purchased, and long term in nature. It should not be “rebalanced” or altered due to current market conditions or suppositions about the future.

Market values are used in the selection process that identifies potential trading candidates and as the trigger mechanism for profit taking decisions. Cash from all income sources is always destined for one bucket or the other, depending on the cost-based asset allocation formula. Selecting equities must first be fundamental, then technical… quality first, and market price second. My trading experience is that higher quality companies purchased at a 20% or more discount from the 52-week high, with a profit target of approximately 10%, is a very manageable approach. The proceeds find their way back into the “smart cash” pot for asset allocation according to formula. There will be times when smart cash will grow quickly while the list of new trading candidates shrinks, but when trading candidates are all over the place, smart cash can only be replenished with income produced by both securities buckets. Thus, insistence upon some form of income from all securities owned makes enormous sense.

What about trading the income bucket securities? Enter the managed closed-end income fund (CEF), as tradable as any common stock, and in a surprising variety of income producing specialties ranging from preferred stocks to royalty trusts, treasuries to municipals, and REITs to mortgages. No more worries about liquidity and hidden markups. No more cash flow positioning or laddering of maturities. And best of all, no more calls of your highest yielding paper when interest rates fall. Instead, you are taking capital gains, compounding your yield, and paying your dues to the equity bucket with every transaction. And when interest rates move back up… you’ll have the luxury of reducing your cost basis by adding additional shares. Of course its magic… that’s what we do here on Wall Street!

Buying Modern Living Room Furniture

As you may be aware living room furniture should be sturdy and able to withstand stress as this is the room where the family spends maximum time. Homes with children and pets need functional furniture that is user-friendly. The way you arrange seating in your living room will reflect how your family and guests socialize and congregate in your home. With the right arrangement and seating styles you can turn a living room into a lively colorful place.

A comfortable sofa is an indispensable item in any living room. A sofa is generally a large piece of furniture that dominates the entire living room area. Living room sofas are meant for relaxing during free time and serve many purposes like listening to music, watching TV, reading, entertainment with friends and relatives and sharing light moments with family members. Look for sofas that offer comfortable seating and ensure they are not too soft, as this will make it hard for people to lean forward while engaging others in conversation. Bean bags are a popular seating option that gels easily with a living room furnished with modern furniture. These bags add a trendy look to the living room.

As you shop for your new living room furniture you will encounter several different styles. Modern living room furniture should be elegant and designed using the most technologically and architecturally advanced design. Hybrid style of living room furniture is a combination of modern, traditional, and casual styles. Casual living room furniture is more about comfort and less about aesthetics or decor. It is of course the needs of a family that determine the kind of furniture that would be most suited for a living room.

The popular furniture items that enhance living room decor include couches, recliners, arm chairs, coffee tables, entertainment centers, pianos, area rugs and other useful or decorative pieces. Opt for a recliner in which to relax for movie or TV viewing but make sure that it is only a secondary item of living room furniture. Many modern furniture pieces are done up in leather or designer fabrics. The use of wood or metal frames ensures durability. Sleek shapes furniture in vivid colors are often the hallmark of modern living room furniture.

An entertainment center within the living room space is the present trend. It often turns out to be the focal point for the living room. There is a wide range of furniture of different designs for entertainment centers. These are also available in several variants like specialty woods, carved decorations and stained glass inlays. Your ultimate choice will depend mostly on what fits the space, although personal preference is also equally important.

There are many options available when it comes to living room cabinets – be it style, size, finish, or storage space. You can also choose stools from different finishes and styles.  With its sleek appearance, a stool is comfortable and light and can easily be carried to other rooms.

Side tables within easy reach of the seating are essential as people expect refreshment and entertainment to go together.  Coffee tables, end tables, side tables, and decorative chests are just a few of the larger, more impressive pieces of living room furniture accessories.  However, smaller living room accessories add homey touches to the living room. Such items include candleholders, picture frames, artwork, and flower vases among many others.