GOLDBUG: The true price of gold and silver

Wednesday, June 19, 2013


http://usawatchdog.com/were-a-long-way-from-the-1970s/

We’re a Long Way from the 1970’s
12 JUNE 2013 
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com (Updated)

*** begin quote ***

In the 1970’s, we had reporters investigating the White House. Today, we have the White House investigating reporters for doing their jobs. What Nixon did in the Watergate break-in is child’s play compared to the Obama Administration’s use of the IRS to target hundreds of groups considered political enemies. Let’s not forget the data collection on millions of Americans by the NSA and the brave souls that lost their lives in Benghazi. Revelations from multiple scandals seem to keep coming. This is, at the very least, a reflection of bad management of USA Inc. and not good for the U.S. dollar.

So, is the gold rush over? Not if you ask China, India, Russia and multiple hedge funds. Can precious metals prices still be suppressed and pushed lower? Yes, but only until the markets cannot or will not deliver physical metal. When that happens, there will be no more selling what you don’t have. It you want to sell 50,000 ounces of gold, you’ll have to produce it. The markets will be “cash only.” Then and only then will you get the true price of gold and silver.

We are a long way from the 1970′s. What is happening now has never happened in all of recorded history. No country has ever been more indebted than the U.S. Money printing has never been a coordinated global event. The risk to a black swan event such as nuclear war has never been greater in human history. So, when will the gold rush be over? The short answer: when there’s world peace and there is trust and integrity in the financial system.

*** end quote ***

It’s interesting when you thing of the giant Ponzi scheme that the dollar represents.

Once upon a time, a “dollar” was:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_dollar

*** begin quote ***

The U.S. dollar was created by the Constitution and defined by the Coinage Act of 1792. It specified a “dollar” to be based in the Spanish milled dollar and of 371 grains and 4 sixteenths part of a grain of pure or 416 grains (27.0 g) of standard silver and an “eagle” to be 247 and 4 eighths of a grain or 270 grains (17 g) of gold (again depending on purity).[36] The choice of the value 371 grains arose from Alexander Hamilton’s decision to base the new American unit on the average weight of a selection of worn Spanish dollars. Hamilton got the treasury to weigh a sample of Spanish dollars and the average weight came out to be 371 grains. A new Spanish dollar was usually about 377 grains in weight, and so the new U.S. dollar was at a slight discount in relation to the Spanish dollar.

*** end quote ***

What is it worth now?

Argh!

Is the answer “not much”?

And shrinking every minute.

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RANT: 40% of U.S. food

Tuesday, June 18, 2013


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/want-to-save-at-the-supermarket-compost-2013-06-18?cid=djem_sm_dailyviews_t

June 18, 2013, 10:26 a.m. EDT
40% of U.S. food is never eaten
How composting could benefit pocketbooks and the environment
By Quentin Fottrell 

*** begin quote ***

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to require residents to compost their food waste may cause headaches for some families, but experts say it could also help cut their rising grocery bills.

Under the proposal, by 2016 the city will require residents to separate their food waste for collection. Organic waste in New York City — which could otherwise be recycled for fertilizer or natural gas — currently accounts for 1.2 million tons or 35% of landfills, and a pilot program on Staten Island achieved a participation rate of 43%, according to the mayor’s office. Last year, Vermont introduced a bill to by 2020 require residents to recycle their food waste — and 33% of the organic waste in that state already gets composted.

*** end quote ***

Mayor B is an entertaining parody of a leader. 

First it’s the big gulp.

Now, he’s just helping.

Argh!

Is there anything that he can’t try to control?

Now don’t get me wrong, 40% waste, and really any waste, is a “sin”.

Growing up “starving children in china” were ofter used as a guilt trip.

For my own part, living alone, it’s hard to go to the supermarket and find packages for one.

In one recent trip, I could buy 8 pre made hamburgers at the cost of half the weight in bulk. Thanks to a freezer and vacuum sealer, I have 7 hamburgers for different days. 

Pre-made salad is cost effective for me. To buy the makings costs more and usually goes bad to quickly.

Sad to say, I depend upon the cafeteria at work for two meals a day. And, I hate week ends for the loss of it.

(Seriously, last week end I made up some hard bolded eggs. But the cafeteria’s are better than mine. Mine are hard to peel; theirs aren’t.)

Just like a “nursing home” except I have to do my own wash.

Laff!

So, I’ll try and do my part Mayor B and not waste anything. Hope everyone else does the same. Without your diktats.

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POLITICAL: Benghazi could have been releived

Tuesday, June 18, 2013


http://www.wnd.com/2013/06/admission-special-forces-were-only-hours-from-benghazi/

WND EXCLUSIVE
ADMISSION: SPECIAL FORCES WERE ONLY HOURS FROM BENGHAZI
Joint chiefs chairman confirms whistleblower account
AARON KLEIN

*** begin quote ***

JERUSALEM – In a bombshell admission that has until now gone unreported, Martin Dempsey, chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, conceded that highly trained Special Forces were stationed just a few hours away from Benghazi on the night of the attacks but were not told to deploy to Libya.

In comments that may warrant further investigation, Dempsey stated at a Senate hearing Wednesday that on the night of the Sept. 11, 2012, attack, command of the Special Forces – known as C-110, or the EUCOM CIF – was transferred from the military’s European command to AFRICOM, or the United States Africa Command.

Also, Dempsey’s comments on the travel time between Croatia and Benghazi were incorrect.

His remarks for the first time confirm an exclusive Fox News interview aired April 30 in which a special government operator, speaking on condition of anonymity, contradicted claims by the Obama administration and a State Department review that there wasn’t enough time for military forces to deploy the night of the attack.

*** end quote ***

OK, now we don’t have some unnamed source afraid for their own hide.

Here’s the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff saying it.

Our fighting men were abandoned on the battlefield for politics.

If I was him, I’d resign.

To admit that I broke faith with my fellow soldiers is dishonorable.

“Everyone” can say there is no scandal here. But that doesn’t make it so. Calling a fart “rose perfume” doesn’t make it smell any better.

Sorry, but “We, The People” should be demanding investigations and resignations. 

Heads on pikes. The perfumed princes in the Pentegon, gone. The chain for command that broke down, gone. 

Sorry, and don’t tell me we don’t know who gave the order. The military ALWAYS knows who gave the orders.

Argh!

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INSPIRATIONAL: What’s anthropogeny?

Monday, June 17, 2013


http://www.alternet.org/books/evolutionary-barrier-being-human-denial-death?akid=10578.1122391.gXZjtr&rd=1&src=newsletter855740&t=12&paging=off

A Fascinating New Theory About the Human Mind, Evolution and Mortality
Why have other species failed to evolve human-like intelligence? The answer may lie in our conception of mortality.

June 7, 2013 

From the book DENIAL: Self-Deception, False Beliefs, and the Origins of the Human Mind by Ajit Varki and Danny Brower. Copyright © 2013 by Ajit Varki. Reprinted by permission of Twelve/Hachette Book Group, New York, NY. All rights reserved.

*** begin quote ***

Who are we? How did we get here? Why are we the way we are? And where are we going?

*** and ***

anthropogeny (this classic but long-unused term encompasses the scientific pursuit of human origins and evolution).

*** and ***

However, the late Danny Brower, a geneticist from the University of Arizona, suggested to me that the real question is why they should have emerged in only one species, despite millions of years of opportunity. Here, I attempt to communicate Brower’s concept.

He explained that with full self-awareness and inter-subjectivity would also come awareness of death and mortality. Thus, far from being useful, the resulting overwhelming fear would be a dead-end evolutionary barrier, curbing activities and cognitive functions necessary for survival and reproductive fitness.

Brower suggested that, although many species manifest features of self-awareness (including orangutans, chimpanzees, orcas, dolphins, elephants and perhaps magpies), the transition to a fully human-like phenotype was blocked for tens of millions of years of mammalian (and perhaps avian) evolution.

In his view, the only way these properties could become positively selected was if they emerged simultaneously with neural mechanisms for denying mortality. Although aspects such as denial of death and awareness of mortality have been discussed as contributing to human culture and behaviour, to my knowledge Brower’s concept of a long-standing evolutionary barrier had not previously been entertained. Brower’s contrarian view could help modify and reinvigorate ongoing debates about the origins of human uniqueness and inter-subjectivity. It could also steer discussions of other uniquely human “universals,” such as the ability to hold false beliefs, existential angst, theories of after-life, religiosity, severity of grieving, importance of death rituals, risk-taking behaviour, panic attacks, suicide and martyrdom.

If this logic is correct, many warm-blooded species may have previously achieved complete self-awareness and inter-subjectivity, but then failed to survive because of the extremely negative immediate consequences. Perhaps we should be looking for the mechanisms (or loss of mechanisms) that allow us to delude ourselves and others about reality, even while realizing that both we and others are capable of such delusions and false beliefs.

*** end quote ***

I found this strangely empathetic.

If one is “smart”, one makes a will. My older family members strongly held the false belief that if you made your will, you’d soon die. When my youngest aunt died unexpectedly without a will, they saw first hand how expensive that was. Since, for some reason, I was immune to that meme, I had made a will when I got married. And, had updated it several  times without dying. I was able to get them in and get it done. Luckily, no prematures passings resulted.

My wife knew about the bad side of diabetes from her brother growing up, When she was diagnosed, we knew and discussed her life expectancy. She lived life to the fullest. She had 20 more years than the “witch doctors” predicted for her. While we “knew” the facts, her passing was a real punch in my gut. One that I don’t think I’ll ever get over. Funny one discussion I remember, I said: “It’ll be easier on me, if I go first”. Her response: “Don’t do that. Think how hard it would be for me.” Of course, I agreed. Like we had any control over what or what would not happen. Other than those few “planning” conversations, we dealt with it by ignoring it for the most part. She was MUCH better at doing that than I was. But she insisted.

This article really hit home.

Maybe we as a species advanced because of a quite remarkable ability to invoke a “selective blindspot”?

I’m going to read this book. Maybe I’ll get some more insight into my problems.

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FLASH: WMAL 610 Larry O’Connor had Joe diGenova blasted the BHO44 administration’s scandals

Monday, June 17, 2013

Repeating from memory:

1. Fast and Furious

Prostitution in the State Department (hadn’t heard that one before)

NSA spying

EPA targeting

HHS Obamacare fund raising from Big Pharma

IRS investigating political opponents

Bengahzi

The Bengahzi stand down order

It was a litany and quite distressing. I’ve queried them for a list. It should make interesting blog fodder.

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LIBERTY: Cut the mic; go to jail

Monday, June 17, 2013


http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/13/School-Violated-U-S-Constitution-and-Texas-Law-by-Censoring-Christian-Valedictorian

SCHOOL VIOLATED U.S. CONSTITUTION, TEXAS LAW BY CENSORING CHRISTIAN VALEDICTORIAN

by KEN KLUKOWSKI 14 Jun 2013, 4:13 AM PDT

*** begin quote ***

Joshua High School officials didn’t just act like a school bully when they turned off a valedictorian’s speech after the speaker mentioned Jesus. They also violated Texas law and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Fox News’ Todd Starnes reported that when a Christian valedictorian at Joshua High School referenced his faith in his graduation speech, school officials literally turned the microphone off. The valedictorian has been accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy to become an officer, and Principal Mick Cochran threatened to write a letter to the Navy saying that this young man is of poor character, attempting to persuade the Navy to refuse allowing this talented student to attend.

*** end quote ***

This is wrong on just so many levels. Let’s see if I can point out a few.

Gooferment Skrules — wrong on so many levels.

Valedictorian — agreeing to a set of conditions and then breaking them.

Skrule bureaucrats — redlining speeches. (Guess they have never heard of prior restraint?)

Principal — what a pal; threatening a little kid. (Yeah, if you can’t have sex with them figure out other ways to <synonym for the act of procreation> with their lives.

Christian — going into the military? (Guess he’s got a different interpretation of ‘blessed are the peacemakers’!)

The Navy — why do you want a trouble maker? (Think you can change him?)

Attorney General for the State of Texas — hey, there’s laws being broken! get a posse a go fix it. Or send a Texas Ranger.

Attorney General for the USA — Hey, you remember the First Amendment? Get on it. (Yeah, with the various -gates going on in the District of Corruption, this is chump change.)

Argh!

Move along all you Sheeple; nothing to see here.

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POLITICAL: The “(pseudo) War on (some) Drugs” has been officially lost

Sunday, June 16, 2013


http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/jun/16/designer-drugs-legal-highs

Why the war on drugs has been made redundant

For every ‘designer drug’ the authorities ban, clandestine labs are churning out a new version. No wonder the law can’t keep up…

Vaughan Bell
The Observer, Saturday 15 June 2013

*** begin quote *** 

When Germany identified the substances and banned them in early 2009, new cannabinoids, again never before seen outside the lab, had replaced them within weeks and this is what has been happening ever since. One gets banned and another novel substance takes its place almost immediately. Professional but clandestine labs are rifling the scientific literature for new psychoactive drugs and synthesising them as fast as the law changes. In one of the most interesting developments, a cannabinoid detected in 2012, named XLR-11, was not only new to the drug market but completely new to science. Several previously unknown substances have turned up since. The grey market labs are not only pushing new substances on to the drug market, they are actually innovating drug design. The human testers select themselves of course, unaware of what they’re taking, sometimes leading to disastrous results. Information about the dangers of new substances is usually nonexistent.

The whole process has also been an unwitting experiment in drug policy. Despite the free availability of substances as pleasurable as already banned drugs, we have not seen a massive increase in problem users and drug mortality rates have been falling. Furthermore, even with the newly introduced “instant bans”, drug laws are simply not able to keep up.

Currently, it is barely possible to detect new drugs at the rate they appear. It has long been clear that the drug war approach of criminalising possession rather than treating problem drug-users has been futile. The revolution in the recreational drug market is a stark reminder of this reality. The war on drugs has not been lost, it has been made obsolete.

*** end quote ***

OK, can we now decriminalize “drugs”. 

Let’s recognize reality!

The FDA and Big Pharma are in bed with each other. The underground drug market is how the REAL free market should operate.

Consumers Reports, Underwriters Laboratory, and informed people are our only defense.

Since time immemorial, humans get high. 10% or so become addicts. The percentage varies but that 10% seems to be a floor.

Instead of wasting resources and ruining lives, let’s get back to basic medicine.

Argh!

But politicians and bureaucrats like to use force on victims of addiction because it is PC and their easy to campaign against.

Meanwhile the politicians and bureaucrats are the real problem. And, some of them are criminals.

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