Get Out Of Debt

French Churches are not simply momuments to Religion, but repositories of the countries history, tradition and culture.

Control Freaks

In France, as in most countries, the history of the Church is intertwined(to say the least)with the history of the State. For the obvious reason. Both are in the control business . Both want to tell their lost little lambies where/how to live, and most importantly , what’s kosher and what’s not.

The state does it with taxes, subsidies, rules and regulations. The Church with religious mumbo jumbo. But,  as often happens with two power structures in competition, they “pump up da volume” – as King Henry the Eighth did when he decided the best way to get rid of his problems with his Chancellor, Sir Thomas More, was to get rid of him. Devishly simple, wot?

Party Time!

France’s Pope Innocent 111( perhaps taking a cue from Mohammed, on whose sword was supposedly written – “My message is peace”) had an equally simple and effective solution to his problem with the Cathares.(pro – cat-r’s) A religious “sect” who were “stealing” followers by the carload from the Roman Catholic side o’ the street.

Pope Innocent invited all the Cathares to the walled city of Carcassonne for a bar-b-que. Theirs. When the “Head Chef” pointed out that women and children were included – his “Holiness” replied :”Kill them all. God will know the Holy ones.”

This black historical reality has added a new, equally black humor connotation to the name – “Cathares.” It now(also) means – “meat burned to a crisp.” As in : “Do ya want if rare, well done, or…Cathares.?”

(The inummerable French scholars in my audience might enjoy “l épopée Cathare 1198-1216 by Michel Roquebert.” (Editions Privat, 14 rue des arts,Toulouse.)

Leveraged Buyouts…and more

Religion hates competition.

Just like that other power structure – The Multi-National Corporation. But where the Multi-National’s solution would be to buy out your suppliers, undercut your prices,then “acquire” you for pennies on the dollar,Religion goes right for the jugular. Literally. If not a garden variety massacre like Carcasonne, then “Holy wars.” Religion with an “edge.” A way sharp edge.

The French Church’s contribution to these “missions of mercy” were the Knights Templars. Who, incidently were, among other things, the first Multi-National.

Saving the Savages

Their main mission as a “ Christian Military Organization”, was to “ capture ” Jerusalem in particular, and the “ Holy Land ” in general.

Meaning that they would have to(with the Church’s Holy blessing, bien sur) “do away with”any Godless Arabs  that might, for some inexplicable reason, feel that ,to parphrase Woody’s song….”this land is our land.”

Little Acorns

Like most of us, the Templars started small. So small, and poor, that their first emblem was two knights riding on one horse! However, the Templars had a high friend in Holy places, in the person of Bernard(later St. Bernard) of Clairvaux. His movin’ ‘n shakin’ convinced the Pope In 1129 to annoit the Templars with his Holy mumbo jumbo. Now, they could attract enough investors to afford a horse for each knight. High cotton!

Not “On the Wagon”

The Templars name .Nothing to do with temperance, I’m happy to say. They started out calling themselves “The poor fellow soldiers of  Christ.” Later, after one of the many times they captured Jerusalem(and they “lost” it just as many) and wanting a permanent base, The King ‘0 J-town gave them an abandoned(can ya guess why?) mosque on a hill overlooking the city. As the ruins on the mound were(and you gotta love this word) “reputed” to be the remains of the temple of Solomon, the T-team added “of the temple of Solomon” to their Corporate identity. And, contractions being as popular then as now……it was inevitably reduced to “Knights Templar.

Dayton bankruptcy lawyers are advising that they are quite busy, especially compared to last year. While the economy is supposed to be improving in certain areas, Dayton bankruptcy lawyers are reporting that their client list is growing.

Many Dayton citizens have been to their local Dayton bankruptcy lawyers, and there are sure to be many more to follow.

Dayton has been one of the most economically hard hit regions of the country, and despite claims that the economy seems to be getting better, the case loads continue to grow. So more lawyers are engaged.

How to find one of those lawyers?

Simple. Ask around. Chances are your friends or relatives have had to hire one to help them with their finances. Most are not going to brag about having to reorganize their finances, however.

If your friends and relatives have been luck and smart, then there is the internet.

Most lawyers have a web site, and if they don’t many are listed on the local bar association web site.

If the internet seems too impersonal or not believable, there are community organizations that have contact with lawyers, as well as churches.

Before dialing for lawyers, make a plan. That way you can ask the lawyer specifics about your situation and where you would like to be in several years.

Your lawyer will advise you on whether you need to file either a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 consumer bankruptcy filing. Or the advice may be to be more conservative with your spending, save more, and work with your creditors one on one to try to reduce the debt or come to a settlement.

Reorganizing your finances is probably not what you thought you would be doing at this time, but working through your problems now, and with a good lawyer, will help you have economic peace of mind in the future.

Are you struggling with debt and looking for some relief? Do you need help getting out of debt and staying out of debt? Your best options are all non profit debt relief options. You can get out of debt and there is help out there. Here are two top non profit debt relief options for you.

First, you can go to your priest or your pastor and find out if there is someone in your church that has volunteered to give other members of the church financial help. If there is not someone usually the priest or pastor can help you considering that they run the churches finances.

This is probably the first option you should try because it will not cost you a cent. When people are helping you with your finances and there is nothing in it for them except seeing you in a better place you will get the best advice possible. They will help you get out of debt and counsel you so that you don’t go back into debt.

Your other option is a non profit debt service. This is usually a credit counseling service. They will charge you a small fee because they still have to pay their employees and cover expenses, but the fee will not be very much. This type of service will help work with your creditors to get lower payments.

They will negotiate with your creditors to get interest rates lowered or even eliminated. They will also get late fees and penalties stopped and waived. Then, you will pay the service a monthly payment that they will divide up and pay to your creditors what they have worked out with them.

A non profit debt service will also require you to attend credit counseling sessions so that you can learn about your credit and how to keep yourself from getting back into the situation you are currently in. This is a very good option for anybody that is not a church goer or does not feel comfortable talking to a priest or pastor.

Using one of these non profit debt relief options will help you get to where you want to go. You have to have some patients and discipline to stick to the plan that is worked out for you. You also have to be willing to give up a few extras in order to make sure you have the extra money to deal with your debts.

At first I was reluctant to write an article on the widespread Nigerian rip-off scheme known as the “419″, but the fact that I keep getting these in my mailbox, coupled with new news stories every month about people getting taken in by this most obvious of ruses served to change my mind.

Now I knew this was a scheme the first time it showed up in my e-mail box, a letter from a wealthy foreigner who needs help moving millions of dollars from his homeland, promising you a substantial percentage of his fortune in exchange for helping him.

Of course the adage “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is” should be ringing loud and clear in your head by now, but every year thousands of people are taken in, blinded by the thought of instant wealth for very little effort.  So they agree to the proposal.  Almost on cue, however, something goes wrong.  Paperwork will be messed up; officials will need to be bribed, always something requiring that they send some money to correct.  But it’s okay, in light of the load of cash that is about to drop in their lap, they do it, viewing it as a small but worthwhile investment.  The scammers will continue to use these “obstructions” until the victim’s bank account is sucked dry or the victim starts asking questions.  Either way, you will never see your money again.

There are also variations on this particular con, some coming from churches or other organizations operating under the guise of transferring considerable wealth from one location to another.

The strength of this particular ruse is based on the expectation of incredible wealth.  Who wouldn’t part with ,000 if they knew they were going to get a few million out of it?  The thing is, the payoff is never going to come.  All this is designed to do is take your money from you, not put anything in your pocket.  If the scammers can get a person to swallow the whole “I’m going to get something great” concept, then the fish is on the hook and ready to be landed and cleaned.

And it is a highly successful endeavor, with over 0 million in losses every year in America.  Given the fact that many are probably too embarrassed to report being the victim of such an obvious con, it is only logical to expect that the actual figure is considerably higher.

What is even more amazing is that it is not a new occurrence; with variations on the theme dating back to the 1920′s and propagated by the Postal Service.  The main location of many of these criminal efforts is Nigeria, with the Nigerian government issuing a statement disavowing its involvement with these schemes.

Worse, some people have attempted to go to Nigeria and meet with the scammers in a bid to get their money back.  This is extremely dangerous and has resulted in several murders, as well as folks who simply vanished, never to be heard from again.  If you have been the victim of the Nigerian 419, your safest bet is to just take the loss, admit you were taken, and move on.  It is not worth endangering your life over.

Of course the golden rule when it comes to protecting yourself and your assets is simple….never send money to anyone you meet online.  Never provide personal information of any kind to online strangers (or any stranger for that matter).  These guys are good, and can conceivably steal your identity from such innocuous information as your name and the town you live in.

Also, remember what I said earlier, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  There is no free lunch, and no one is going to give you vast amounts of wealth for so little work.  It doesn’t happen.  Ever.  You cannot reap what you have not sown, so don’t fall for the ruse that this time somehow you will.

When doing business online, always take time to make sure the company is valid and reputable.  A ruse doesn’t have to come from Nigeria, and home grown rip-off artists are just as plentiful.  Don’t allow yourself to become parted with your money.