MONEY: Aspen Silver Dollar

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

1. Aspen Silver Dollar Shines Forth

Just what you need to weather the monetary storm

ASPEN SILVER DOLLAR

From beautiful Aspen Colorado with its golden Aspen trees, a new currency shines forth.

Peter Affolter, explains the Aspen Silver Dollar, actually started in 2008 when Dr. Bill Wesson, long time local dentist, wanted to introduce Aspen to the unique values of silver.

“Well, Bill introduced me to silver and when he got so busy, I decided to take action and launch the Aspen Silver Dollar as a local currency.” Affolter said.

There is no doubt that Affolter, a well know local chef, is dedicated to silver. As he points out, “In the restaurant business, a cup is a cup. I think a dollar should be a dollar and that dollar should hold its value and even increase in value as people prosper. Simply put, silver has a better shelf life than food.”

Affolter is convinced that the Aspen Silver Dollar is good for his beloved mountain community, the Roaring Fork Valley area and good for America. He is quick to point out that, “Silver is better than voting. Sound money is a more effective and positive approach to big government. It can even be profitable!”

So what finally pushed Affolter to take the big plunge into the silver business? It started when he wanted to buy some silver in Aspen but there were no coin dealers and only one antique store had a few old US silver dollars. With no silver available, Affolter decided to follow the old marketing adage, “find a need and fill it,” and voila, the Aspen Silver Dollar was born.

Very quickly, Dr. Wesson and a dozen other Aspenites started using the Aspen Silver Dollar. The dentist, local bar, food store, car repairman have become the first local merchants to accept the new silver dollar for their goods and services.

Dr. Bill Wesson said, “I am very grateful that Peter took action to bring silver to Aspen. I think it is the best thing for Aspen and strongly encourage everyone to get and use the Aspen Silver Dollar for their own good and for the good of Aspen.”

To hear Affolter tell his story, he harkens back to the good old days when Aspen was the richest silver mining area in the world. He reminisces about how the Populist Party adopted silver as “legal tender” after the panic of 1893 – that almost killed Aspen. But Aspen never died, although it was down to only 705 residents in 1930.

Today, Aspen is the storied land of the rich and famous. But still Affolter is concerned about his beloved town and its local citizens. He is concerned about the US dollar and what the future will bear. And who knows, with silver up nearly 25% in 2009, the $50 Aspen Silver Dollar might just catch on if the current US dollar drops any more and Aspenites start shopping for something with more value.

So what is the Aspen Silver Dollar? Aspen Silver features an image of Liberty on the obverse and an Aspen leaf on the reverse. The new silver dollar contains one ounce of pure .999 fine silver and has a $50 MSRP so it in sync with the silver market and can be used voluntarily by merchants who accept it. So does the new dollar cost $50? Not if you know Affolter or live in the Roaring Fork Valley area. Locals are encouraged to get the currency at a steep volume discounts and then use it for whatever value is agreed upon with the merchant. The value changes with the silver market that is on an uptrend.

In addition to the 2010 Aspen Silver Dollar in Brilliant Uncirculated condition priced in sync with the silver market, two special collector issues have been created. The First Day of Issue features a special hand stamped Aspen leaf hallmark and a Limited Numbered Issue of only 100 individually hand stamped with a serial number.

The new Silver Aspen Dollar is, very “Aspen.” It is beautiful and more valuable than the debt plagued US dollar and would have been the darling of the Aspen of old. And who knows, for anyone who is savvy or lucky enough to catch Peter Affolter, the Aspen Silver Dollar might be just what you need to weather the current monetary storm.

For additional information Peter Affolter: 970.923.2658 paffolter81615@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: The Aspen Silver Dollar is not a currency, as it does not have a face value ($50 is the MSRP only) and is not intended to compete with the depreciating US dollar. The sole purpose of this commemorative “dollar” is for local enjoyment only as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Let it be known that this is not a Liberty Dollar and that I have not involved in the minting, production or circulation of this historic commemorative “dollar.” I was commissioned as an artist only.

And if you have a “hot idea” and want to take action with your own commemorative “dollar” contact Alan McConnell at Silver Liberty Marketing alan@mail.org.

Please note that the Aspen Silver Dollar is not intended to be used as United States currency and any representation as such is strictly prohibited by law.

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MONEY: Ship your luggage?

Thursday, February 25, 2010

http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/kiptips/archives/save-money-by-shipping-your-luggage.html

Kip Tips
Save Money by Shipping Your Luggage
You may spend less by using a shipping company — rather than the airlines — to get your bags to your destination.
By Cameron Huddleston, Contributing Editor, Kiplinger.com

*** begin quote ***

You may be able to save money by shipping your luggage rather than checking it in the next time you fly. The idea might sound absurd. But if you do the math – as Airfarewatchdog.com has done for you in this chart — you’ll see that it would cost you less in some cases to send your bags to your destination by FedEx, UPS or U.S. Postal Service ground shipping.

*** end quote ***

We did it once before it was fashionable. Worked excellent. Not cheap. Probably cheaper now. And, easier.

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MONEY: Beat Airline Fees

Sunday, February 21, 2010

http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/18/nanofiber-clothing-iphone-technology-cio-network-travel.html?partner=technology_newsletter

Travel
How To Beat Airline Fees
Quentin Hardy, 02.18.10, 07:00 PM EST
Garments and gadgets that let you travel light and avoid extra charges on your next trip.

*** begin quote ***

This was before plausible roller bags, Web sites for lightweight travelers, and all the digital folding headphones, smart phone stands and nanofiber clothing that make the light life easy. It was also before the cursed baggage fees–now beating them is almost like flying for free.

*** end quote ***

Of course, I would only fly if I couldn’t get an appointment for a colonoscopy!

It also makes the “safety” case that all that junk dragged into the cabin makes us ALL unsafe should an emergency occur. The TSA should be the bad guy, (It is already.) By enforcing the number and size restrictions on carry ons. The airlines SHOULD charge for all the carry on crap. That’s what SHOULD be discouraged! Make checked bags free; carry on costs!

Argh!

If I were “king”, I’d proclaim the diktat throughout the land. And the serfs would rejoice.

If not for that, then for the fact we’d be using gold as a monetary standard and the gooferment would be cut down to size. (And, the airlines would be running the terminals, schedules, and “security”. Where passengers could sue in the “king’s” court for damages.)

And, peace and prosperity would be the rule though out the “kingdom”.

I can only wish!

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MONEY: Estates don’t make it to heirs

Saturday, February 20, 2010

http://mortonlaw.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/02/a-tale-of-two-sisters.html

February 10, 2010
A Tale of Two Sisters

*** begin quote ***

While meeting with a client yesterday I heard a story that I thought was instructive and worth repeating. My client’s two aunts were both in the same nursing home. One of her aunts was destitute, and her room was paid for by Medicaid. The other had managed to save a couple of hundred thousand dollars and was in the room next door privately paying for her care at about $5,000 per month. After about 3 years, the other aunt was also destitute and received Medicaid. My client correctly observed that both sisters had the same type of room, in the exact same facility, and received the same care, but one was spending her life’s savings while the other received the same care at no cost. My client wisely recognized the wisdom of planning in order to preserve her life’s savings.

*** end quote ***

Having seen this situation up close and personal, I agree it’s a disaster.

A great aunt gave a substantial estate to eventually getting tossed from a “private” nursing home into a state facilitiy. An aunt, who was merely “great” to me, burned through a several hundred thousand dollar “savings” to wind up the same way.

The answer: don’t get old!

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MONEY: The debt will ensure that any freeze is a joke

Thursday, February 4, 2010

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=123352

Obama: The era of big government is … eternal
Posted: January 28, 2010
Larry Elder is a syndicated radio talk-show host

*** begin quote ***

What about the national debt – what we owe? According to the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation: “The public national debt – $5.8 trillion as of 2008 – is projected to double by 2012 and nearly triple by 2019. Thus, America would accumulate more government debt under President Obama than under every president in American history from George Washington to George W. Bush combined.”

The Big Entitlements – Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – remain the incredible spending faucets set on automatic growth. Neither Obama and his party nor most “fiscally conservative” Republicans offer anything resembling a way out. Meanwhile, the band plays on.

*** end quote ***

The Socialists aka Secular Progressives, will bankrupt us sooner or later.

How does the country survive?

Tax revolt by the payers.

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MONEY: Tax the banks; tax the people

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

http://dailyreckoning.com/false-hope-in-financial-free-lunch
/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign
=Feed%3A+dailyreckoning+%28The+Daily+Reckoning%29

False Hope in Financial Free Lunch
By The Mogambo Guru

*** begin quote ***

“President Barack Obama said Thursday he wants to tax banks to recoup the public bailout of foundering firms at the height of the financial crisis.”! Hahaha!

I am sure that you, being the astute Junior Mogambo Ranger (JMR) that you are, are laughing merrily with along with me – Hahahahahaha! – because this is so, so, so Theater-of-the-Absurd funny on so many, many, many levels, once you get beyond the horrifying, un-funny realization that it is abysmally, shockingly, alarmingly stupid on just the one level: it is a known fact that a tax on a business is just another expense to the business, like labor and raw materials, that is added to the prices that they must charge their customers in order to make a profit, which makes prices go up as the businesses raise prices to maintain their profit margins by recouping the tax they had to pay by, in case you haven’t been paying attention, raising prices, which is inflation, which is the one thing a country does NOT want, making a tax on business the most stupid thing you can do.

*** end quote ***

I’m not laughing at the fool in the WH or all the other fools on the Hill. They are sooo dumb!

And, we’re just as dumb to not standing up to ALL of them.

(1) ANY tax on ANY company is dumb. EITHER: (A) the company takes this new cost and passes it along to the customers. (Might even mark it up a little, a la any regulated utility that has a license to steal!) OR (B) if the cost can’t be passed along due to (international?) competition, it goes out of business and closes down and let’s go all its employees. How dumb can one person, even the President, be?

(2) Banks are a special type of company. It deals in money. If you are supposedly trying to get the banks to loan money to Main Street to get the economy moving, taking money from them makes ZERO sense! Perhaps, the President may want to speak to to little Timmy tax cheat Geithner, who defends AIG rescue as essential (to Goldman Sachs) and Helicopter Ben, about the banks borrowing from Treasury at zero and buying Treasury Bills at 3%. Seems like that is worse than the bail out!

The “Corporate tax” should be ZERO. Only real people pay taxes!

Argh!

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MONEY: Is a Zimbabwe here preventable?

Monday, January 25, 2010

http://www.survivalblog.com/2010/01/letter_re_hyperinflation_appea.html

Letter Re: Hyperinflation Appears Certain for the US Dollar
from SurvivalBlog.com by James Wesley, Rawles

*** begin quote ***

Katrina and Haiti are examples of either predictable events or unpredictable instantaneous events as would be a single nuclear event such as a “suitcase bomb” . Each of these has a number of things in common, but the most significant is the limited geography associated with each. The biggest difference between Hurricane Katrina and the Haitian earthquake is the lack of adjacent unaffected land. In the case of Katrina there was a place to bug out to, on foot or by vehicle, without walking into hostility, and the time to do it. In Haiti, there is no warning and no place to go unless you are a long distance swimmer, but it will be remedied and controlled. There will simply be more deaths and casualties along the way. There will be survivors and they will by and large return to the way things were before the quakes.

*** end quote ***

Excellent observation. Geographic disaster zone where help can come from the outside … … eventually. The trick will be to survive until help arrives.

*** begin quote ***

Our society is so intertwined that any number of small subtle events can build up to and then spark these events. As with Katrina, those signs are out there. You are being warned, and just have to identify what they are and be on the outlook for them. I would compare Haiti to a localized small nuke; no warning, nothing to see coming, it just happens.

*** and ***

It could be a stock market crash, droughts, government failure to renew its short term debt, political upheaval, increased taxes or something as obvious as hyperinflation caused by continued Fed intervention into the economy. It is likely that all of these things and many others, in their own small way, will collectively be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. There is no way to tell which one or ones and when it is likely to happen. History tells us that it will happen.

*** and ***

I could ramble on forever about all of these things, but consider that hyperinflation is absolutely in our future. It’s caused by the Federal Reserve Bank and our government. The only way to decrease the value of what we owe is to print more money, or go to war. Printing more money simply dilutes the value of the dollar in this country. We buy oil with those dollars, and the less they are worth, the more dollars it takes to buy it. All things in our world are directly related to oil. The more it costs, the more everything else costs. Most of our goods are imported from foreign countries. The less the dollar is worth, the more dollars it costs to buy them. As the dollar decreases in value and it takes more dollars to buy the same old necessities, your paycheck never increases proportionately, and if the company you work for fails to make a profit, you’ll be unemployed. That $2 gallon of milk may soon cost $5 or even $10 dollars. As in Zimbabwe, $1,000 or more dollars. Sometimes it can’t be had at any price. Our money today has decreased dramatically in value and purchasing power since the Federal Reserve began in 1913. If you are my age, you’ll remember 15 cent per gallon gasoline. At that time minimum wage was $1.25 per hour. I could buy 8.3 gallons of gas for every hour worked. Today, using the same comparison, I could almost buy only 3 gallons for one hour worked at today’s minimum wage. This applies to all commodities. It’s only going to get worse, much worse.

*** and ***

The government is giving away more money than we provide to it. It’s generating unbelievable debt. Taxes have to be increased. This will decrease how much money you have to buy the more expensive goods and services. Watch the M2 and M3 money funds. They are the gauge of how much money the government is borrowing. Watch the roll-over or default of the short term debt at the end of this year. Where will the money come from to pay the $2 trillion in short term debt? Why would China or anyone else loan us this money when even they can se that they will not get repaid in anything other than de-valued dollars.

You will never see the truth about any of these topics reported in the MSM, and there is a dearth of connecting the dots, even on the Internet. As you read about these things, ask yourself, “what does it really mean” and how does it link the the other current happenings. I can’t list all of the inter-related subjects that have an effect on this, but can only advise you to pay attention. If you don’t, it will sneak up on you and you won’t be ready. – Tom H.

*** end quote ***

A very astute set of observations imho.

I’m not so sure now with the elections in VA, NJ, and MA, that disaster might be avoidable.

With gridlock on the horizon, we have a chance to allow the market to correct the economy on its own without “help” from the gooferment.

If the congress critters were serious people, they would recognize the terrible effect of the annual deficit and the national debt. Glenn Beck has been doing yeoman’s work in calling national focus to it.

I’d suggest that each year, we should have a national surcharge on income tax. I’m not for an income tax, property tax, or any kind of tax, but we have to save the ship. I’d rather be a passenger rather than Robinson Crusoe. So let’s start! Someone has to go thru the Federal Budget, line by line, a la that great movie “Dave”, and have a “fire sale”. Department of Education, out. Department of Agriculture, out. Price Supports, out. Foreign Aid, out. You get the idea. After we are pared down to the “bare bones”, it’s time to “fix” the tax code. Identify the poverty line in every zip code. Income minus the poverty amount. And, then take -steal – rob 10%. Then add 1% for the national debt. 1% for the last year’s deficit.

It would be a way back.

No deficit; no need for the surcharge. No debt; no need for a surcharge. That’s paying off the credit card.

Then, we have to look at all the unfunded mandates?

Maybe financial collapse is inevitable?

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MONEY: Negotiate rebate up front!

Friday, January 22, 2010

*** begin quote ***

Redeeming rebates for hardware and software is a pitfall-filled process, as contributing editor Scott Dunn’s Jan. 7 Top Story pointed out. But reader Walter Donavan says he’s found another way to play the rebate game:

“Scott omitted one possible method of dealing with rebates that is 100% certain — if you can negotiate it. Simply tell the vendor by phone or e-mail that you want the product and will buy it, but only with the rebate already included in the price. For example, ‘$50 after mail-in rebate of $100’ becomes ‘$50 price now.’ Never mind the risky $150 price before rebate.

“I will no longer buy a product that depends on a mail-in rebate. If the vendor won’t give me the post-rebate price up front, I hang up. It’s very satisfying.”

*** end quote ***

Sounds like a good policy for everyone all the time.

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MONEY: Obama made your contribution

Monday, January 18, 2010

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/47719.html

January 17, 2010
Obama Promises $100 Million in Aid for Haiti
Posted by Laurence Vance on January 17, 2010 05:12 PM

*** begin quote ***

It sure is easy to spend money when it is not your own. How charitable of Obama to donate $100 million of other people’s money. But shouldn’t America do something to help Haiti? No, America shouldn’t do anything. This $100 million comes out of the pockets of American taxpayers. In a free society, no one should be forced to fund foreign aid to any country for any reason. But what about individual Americans, shouldn’t they do something? Individual Americans may do something and can do something, but it would be wrong to say that they should do something. Who is to say whether John Doe on Main Street in Topeka, Kansas, should donate to the Haiti relief effort? It would be nice if he did, but only God alone can say that he should.

*** end quote ***

This is how I felt when I first heard it — robbed!

There are a lot charities that deserve our support. Voluntarily! SUre, President Obama can pledge 100 million. It’s not “HIS” 100 Million. It was ours.

I have less problem sending some of the military to help out. Like a hospital ship. Like “spare” troops sitting idle, “guarding” Arlington. But we have several wars going on.

I have no problem with VOLUNTARY charities. I do have a problem with “charities” that have no connection to Haiti that are soliciting. And, those with HIGH administrative rake-off. And, those like UNICEF that have an agenda.

I pray for the poor people of Haiti. But, you have to admit that the political corruption down there has made it a worse disaster.

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MONEY: Gooferment wants to turn savings into guaranteed income streams

Sunday, January 17, 2010

http://www.newmediajournal.us/government/01152010.htm

Government
Retiree Annuities May Be Promoted by Obama Aides
BusinessWeek.com/Bloomberg

*** begin quote ***

The Obama administration is weighing how the government can “encourage” workers to turn their savings into guaranteed income streams following a collapse in retiree accounts when the stock market plunged.

The US Treasury and Labor Departments will ask for public comments as soon as next week on ways to promote the conversion of 401(k) savings and Individual Retirement Accounts into annuities or other steady payment streams, according to Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis C. Borzi and Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Mark Iwry, who are spearheading the effort.

Annuities generally guarantee income until the retiree’s death, and often that of a surviving spouse as well. They are designed to protect against the risk that retirees outlive their savings, a danger made clear by market losses suffered by older Americans over the last year, David Certner, legislative counsel for AARP, said in an interview.

*** and ***

Content Editor’s Note: The Obama Administration is going to try to force investors to structure IRA and 401k accounts into what amounts to a US Treasury debt-backed government annuity. This is an attempt to divert hundreds of billions of dollars of private retirement accounts into federal government debt. If the Chinese won’t voluntarily buy more US debt, the government will simply force it on American investors whether they want it or not. Just more freedoms being taken away.

*** end quote ***

Last time, the trial balloon was “enhanced social security”. Considering that “Social Security Insurance” is broke, that was a lead balloon!

Now they are back with another one, “annuities”, in Treasuries, and I’m sure sold by the Administration’s friends at AARP, packaged by Goldman Sachs, insured by AIG, and delivered by a GM car. (OK, the last is a joke! But this whole think is a joke.)

What those unfamiliar with annuities does is ROB the estates of these people. And, make the gooferment your heir. Argh! As if the Death Tax wasn’t bad enough.

OK, for ha has, why not convert social security into annuities? Sure cause then people could sell them out.

BUT, (there is always a big butt), then we would be FORCED to recognized how underfunded all these “insurance” programs are.

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