BLOG:    2009-2010 Archive BLOG

BLOG Archives 2007-2008

BLOG Archive 2006

BLOG Archives 2000-2005

We've all seen some of those other sites; their 'blog' started about six weeks ago and has maybe 12 posts. 

Well, they've to start somewhere...

Here at the CoinMine, we've been analyzing things in quite a bit of detail for the past nine years; and we've been

spot-on more than a random roll of the dice would indicate, since 2000!.  Browse below through a few hundred pages of

observations, picks, calls, diatribes, rants, and raves and mine your own nuggets.

12.30.10    Metals Performance for the Year

2010 Metals performance.

Gold                %27.74

Silver              %80.28

Platinum         %18.08

Palladium       %96.77

12.29.10    Shovel Ready Jobs in NYC!

Plenty of SHOVEL jobs available in New York City. Too bad the sanitation union (the ones that run snowplows on garbage trucks)
has ordered a work slowdown! This ensures they get more OT for shoveling snow (while they are letting the garbage pile up).
When the snow melts, they then get more OT to pick up the rotting garbage! Union tactics at their finest!

12.29.10    Money Laundering = Coin Cleaning

 And the Vatican cashed in on the action:

 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/pope-to-issue-new-bank-norms-amid-probe/article1851709/

12.29.10    On Cleaning Coins as a Public Service

“Quarters look like sparkling silver bits.” 

Cleaning clad pocket change is fine, but NEVER clean your old silver or copper coins.

Scrubbed clad (coins with no silver) don’t have any collectible value.  However, old coins that contain silver – especially those before
WWII has collector premium – called numismatic value.

A cleaned coin removes the natural patina, or original skin, off the coin – leaving a much less desirable piece of numismatic history. 
Numismatic coins that have extra value due to rarity and condition can lose up to half their value immediately once improperly cleaned.

You can find much more about the nature of coin cleaning and conservation here: 

http://www.coinmine.com/What%20You%20Should%20Know%20About%20Coins/Composition/Coin%20Chemistry%20and%20Cleaning.htm

12.29.10    Chromium 6 hubbub, this will drive up Mining costs in NA

The EPA is moving toward regulating Chromium +6 per both Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act. 
The US Army, via Corps of Engineers, has spent TENS of MILLIONS fighting Cr regulations b.c. it is near impossible to differentiate native
(background) Chromium from that created via industrial process.

The EPA will promulgate Maximum Contaminant levels per Safe Drinking Water Act. This will cost water purveyors to add further remediation technology, which will simply be passed on to potable water customers.

This story had gotten traction in the trade.

http://www.awwa.org/publications/StreamlinesArticle.cfm?itemnumber=55808&showLogin=N

What is even more disturbing – and NOT getting the deserved press/discussion - is the current effort to establish numeric standards for Cr and other metals via the Stormwater regulations. Specifically, NPDES elements for municipalities via Phase II.  Cities, and everyone conducting work in the cities (contractor) will need to monitor (physical chemical samples) in impacted areas to ensure metal content is not above arbitrary standards.

The mining industry works in areas that are, by definition, rich in metal-bearing soils.  How much extra money it will take to comply with Cr+6 monitoring is just a guess at this point, but will be a real/fixed/increasing cost.

12.29.10    Brigus Gold Sell Off (BRD:AMEX)

Was off over 6% earlier.  Seems overdone IMO; now coming back up. No real news that I can see.  Strong support @ 1.88.  Think it should continue up to 2.35ish or so before a real possible decline…

12.29.10    Continental Army Depreciation Certificate

“This 6 percent interest-bearing note was meant to account for the depreciation of pay soldiers received while serving in the Continental Line. The note offered the soldiers inflation protection, as the value of the note would be set against the value of corn, beef, sheep wool and sole leather if the value of continental currency dropped.”

Sometimes the NEW note isn’t a better note…

The note was tied, in part, to the increase in the price of beef and leather.

(see bottom of page)

http://www.pmgnotes.com/news/viewarticle.aspx?NewsletterNewsArticleID=1024

On aside, anybody catch the WSJ article two days ago regarding the death of the pork belly futures market? Interesting piece!

12.29.10    Cost of Christmas - 1960

http://www.gti.net/mocolib1/prices/1960.html#1960holiday

A few lessons:

*Should have kept a silver dollar, now worth over $30 FRN; an increase of 30:1

*Should have bought the used 1951 Willys station wagon jeep for $150. TANGIBLE ASSETS maintain value.  Try to buy a 1951 Willys wagon now, TOUGH.  On ebay right now, there is not even one 1951 available.  You can buy  1953 wagon for between $1,700 (not running, parts car) and $6,500 (about the condition of a used 1951 wagon would have been in 1960!) An increase of 43:1

Using the ration of 30:1 as the standard cost of theft via inflation, one can measure the increase in Cost and Value for a fairly wide range of goods.

Interesting stuff…

*Train set, Lionel, "Santa Fe," 5 car with diesel engine, 24.66/est

This did not increase at the inflation rate, over time.  I just priced an equivalent train set last month, cost $400 for only a 16.2 x factor increase.

12.29.10    question authority?

Remember, if you question the TSA charade (especially from a vantage of professional knowledge and training), they will come to your house, steal your possessions, and throw you in jail.  This is why they hate us for our freedom!

http://news.travel.aol.com/2010/12/23/pilot-in-hot-water-for-exposing-security-flaws

12.29.10    How Tax Hikes Destroy Jobs

Pretty hard to argue with this in-depth analysis:

http://www.illinoispolicy.org/news/article.asp?ArticleSource=3613&utm_source=Illinois+Policy+Institute&utm_campaign=4893ce5c0a-Daily+Show%2FSun+Times+Media+Alert+4%2F20%2F10&utm_medium=email

12.17.10    Sold Corn for a nice profit.

12.21.10 Gifts to Kids - Not the GirlScouts Administration

This year I stopped my support of the Girl Scouts.  They had sent a mailer highlighting how they taught girls ‘environmental activism’ and a number of other dubious pursuits, none of which aligned with their mission statement.

I excoriated their philanthropy lead, and copied a third of their corporate board.  Only the philanthropy lead responded, with a half ass ‘that isn’t what we meant’ garbage trough.

Forget them.

Better and more deserving organizations out there!

Better off donating to a local alternative school

Kinross Gold, actually, has been making some very nice donations to education causes over the last couple years. No fanfare, no press releases, very classy KGC.

I am rather impressed with their company they have built over the past 5 years, from many disparate parts.

12.17.10 Sold GoldCorps (GG) at about $44.45

12.3.10    Mono Lake Discovery - Bacteria that Live on Arsenic

More than that, they've built As into their DNA!

Scientists (but not reporters) have known for years about the existence of bacteria that make a living on Arsenic.

This article from 2003 notes there are at least 16 different bacteria that digest As.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Attack+of+the+rock-eating+microbes!+Some+bacteria+break+down...-a0110963009

For at least 25 years there has been evidence that certain bacteria along the ocean hot vents were making a living off arsenic and heat.

One of the four largest remnants of ancient Lake Lahontan which covered most of Nevada.  These lakes, like the rest of Nevada (and parts of Ca, Ut, Or) are part of the Great Basin.  This means there are no rivers which flow to the ocean, all waters flow into basins, and evaporate.  All these lakes are outstanding places (Great Salt, Pyramid, Walker, Mono).  Tahoe is in the great basin, but is actually an alpine lake, since water flows out of Tahoe (and ends up at Pyramid (and formerly in Lake Winnemucca).

Mono is one old body of water (three quarters of a million years+) with an amazing salt soup.  There is a hot spring along the water’s edge.  Closed to humans, saved for the wildlife. (I’ve been in it but not a great spot; especially with so many other awesome soaks nearby).

The colors of the adjacent Sierra Nevada ridge at sunrise and colors playing upon the water at sunset are unsurpassed.  Great place to take a walk, beauty extends for miles.

The lake’s unique chemistry and resultant water color, and mountain surroundings provide for some particularly beautiful plays of light.

So many photogenic scenes along the lake that for many years there was an Ansel Adams photography studio on the lake. Closed down six or seven years ago.

For many years an old motel chalet and lodges stood empty, decaying across the highway.  That was my dream property. Was going to fix it up, put a wife in each cottage!

Someone else fixed the place up eventually

http://www.tiogalodgeatmonolake.com/

The Lake had been dying. All five streams that feed her were diverted to L.A.  About 10 years ago the city and natural groups and the state finally came to an agreement to keep enough water flowing into the Lake so that the island in the middle could remain an island.  (When the water level gets to low the land bridge allows coyotes to reach the bird preserve).

Tuolumne Meadows (Yosemite); Mammoth, and a host of other outstanding areas (and mining history) are within 30-60 minute drive.

Definitely worth spending a couple days there, if you have never been.

12.3.10    Two More Nevada Mining Towns will Return to Dust (gypsum dust, actually)  

http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/custom/empire.pbs

Gerlach is the gateway to the Black Rock Desert.  Great place to get some space!

12.1.10    Sold Half my UXG

12.1.11    The senate passed BY VOICE VOTE the newest set of burdensome regulations

These were specifically designed to hamper the small/local/organic farmer at the expense of the large agri-corps.  

Yes, the new law WILL make it harder to collect seeds, and penalize those that do not purchase GMO seed.  Read here why Monsanto, Archers Daniel Midland, and those adding the GMO and poisons to your food SUPPORTED this bill and paid off the Senate to pass.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/1123/Food-safety-bill-101-What-are-the-facts-and-myths

11.24.10    When a Corporation Controls too much of Its Supply Chain

From what I have seen a corporation that controls/owns their vendors and suppliers can prosper over the short term, but lose over the long term.

If a corporation controls the vendor, the corp will ensure the vendor supplies EXACTLY what they want, to their specs, on their timeline, to fit their needs only.  Since the corp gets what they need, they improve efficiency and profit.

However, if that vendor does not supply any other firm, how will the vendor learn the advances in the sector/industry?  They won’t! 

Also, if the specifications are rigid, how will the vendor introduce changes that will improve the project? They won’t!

So in the long term, the vendors and corp are on the same boat. No new thinking, no new developments, no breakthroughs – just groupthink.  Looks like part of what took down GM/ACdelco.

Good idea to learn how to value corporations. Lots of successful fundamental trades made by comparing stock price to underlying corp book priced.

11.21.10    TSA Molestation of the Citizenry

Remember how TSA stated in public releases that the body scans COULD NOT be released because they would not be saved?

(Well, at least *I* remember that)

They lied about this, just like they lie about every thing else.

For a start, here are 100 saved and released images:

http://gizmodo.com/5690749/these-are-the-first-100-leaked-body-scans?skyline=true&s=i

Hey, you ever wonder why Israel DOES NOT DO THIS?

Don't they have a bit more experience with this terrorism thing?

How come they aren't setting up a complete police-state apparatus?

Answer: Because the system is NOT designed for safety, it is designed to keep you compliant with the military-security police state.

And the fools clamor for more!

'Give us Iris Scans for expediency'
'Molest our children for safety'
'Perform cavity search on my wife for our freedom'

NOW you know what it feels like to live in Germany, 1938 or Cuba 1958 or China 1966. The people cried out for even more government control and they reaped what they sowed...

11.21.10    One of the Largest Gold Nuggets in the US Sold

http://www.rgj.com/article/20101121/NEWS/101121007

Hope the new buyer allows visitation rights!

Read what the doofus casino manager says - 'Wasn't drawing the public interest anymore'.

Yep, that's because the Casino kept the same small, obfuscating, display case since the 1970s.  The Golden Nugget is located next to a gold-coin focused coin store and across the street (sorta) from the Carson City Mint (Museum).  A little marketing could have gone a long way to drawing traffic and public interest.  Too bad, I always enjoyed viewing this collection on my way to the craps table.  They neglected the collection so badly, never even cleaning the class so one could take a decent picture.

Regrettably, poor management has been driving this casino into the ground.  I give them another 18-24 months before they close their doors.

The other largest gold nugget collection in the US, displayed at the mineral museum in Mariposa, really is worth the visit on your way into Yosemite.

11.20.10    Interesting survey on expats living abroad, satisfaction with new host country

https://www.hsbc.com/1/2/newsroom/news/2008/hsbc-survey-reveals-best-expat-locations

USA actually ranked much higher than I thought!  For as bad as america has declined

I can't get past the fact that immigrants are still arriving here FROM other place. Sure, the pace has slowed down from what it was six years ago, but the pace of inflows has always varied.

I've known quite a few expats that tried Nicaragua, Belize, Ireland, Thailand, Mexico, Australia, Vietnam, France, Germany, Scotland, Costa Rica, Argentina, Caymans and Jamaica.

I do know US expat community still growing in Brazil, Panama, Chile and northern Italy. But the flow of volume still comes this way.

Rather dour to consider as bad as it's getting here for many folks, it's even worse most everywhere else...
 

One of the hardest factors for Amercians to adjust to abroad is that the expats miss ice cubes and bowling

BINGO! They miss the CULTURE, high or low.

Fact is, the US is the dominant culture.

IF you examine your life and surroundings, as obviously you have done, THEN you will change your values much faster than the dominant culture.  As such you will no longer fit that culture and seek another more to your new value system and liking.

That search typically proves unfruitful, the grass is always greener, etc..

I spent two months in Belize in 1991.  One of the most beautiful places I have been, that barrier reef, the Cockscomb mountains, the savannah plains rolling to Tikal…

But I missed not being able to have a cold drink, or play a game of pinball, or 1,000 other little conveniences that we take for granted every day.  Eventually I realized by the previous dominant culture (Mayan) died off: their surroundings were unforgivingly brutal.

Also, as corrupt as we are – many folks still uphold the rule of law.  I have not found that the case through much of Latin America and Asia.  Even in 91 cocaine money ruled Belize.

About five years later a family I was close with moved to Belize, sold everything in Ca and ‘moved for good’.  I gave them five years.

They lasted three.

Switzerland, eh?

Ya!  If you have been given a year to live before dying of terminal cancer, move to Basel.  Boredom will kill you in six months, saving you hospice…

11.20.10    Lincoln to Disgrace the US Dollar Coin

http://www.collegenews.com/index.php?/article/us_mint_3984729875269229/

Why not, he disgraced the republic. Only fitting he should represent the value of a dollar now being worth one cent!

James Buchanan, Franklin Pierce and Millard Fillmore ALL KEPT THE UNION Together.

None of them saw fit to instill martial law under some bs pretext. Buchanan proved himself an incredible statesman, as a little research proves.

Poor Lincoln, a soul so tortured he still roams the presidential suite...

And every time I get the chance to provide a mini-lecture on US financial history, he gets his comeuppance.
 

11.19.10    The End Result of a Fiat Fractional Reserve Banking Debacle

11.19.10    The Jobs are NOT Coming Back

Why is the investor money no longer flowing to the US?

Because the US governments dissuade investment via unreasonable environmental regulations, red tape and taxes.

Pretty basic...

11.18.10    40 Years of Fraud, Theft and Lawbreaking

And Charlie Rangel gets a 'censure'. This means he loses the nice parking spot at the capitol building, seriously.  The man had 3Million$ in legal bills! How does this happen? Well, he takes his campaign finance money, gives it to his lawyers (who skim 20% off the top) and the rest goes to chuckles bank account in the Bahamas.  This is how politicians get rich...

11.17.10    So you Want to be a Real Estate developer?

Sometimes you have to skip past the first couple intro chapters to see where all the hard work is eventually leading. That is, rather than always focus on the baby steps sometimes good to hear the big picture from one that has ‘been there, done that’.

I found this talk rather enlightening; interesting that he *starts* with architecture and occupancy rates…

Fast forward through the introduction and start at minute 11 when the presentation begins.

http://www.planbeconomics.com/2010/11/16/so-you-wanna-be-a-real-estate-developer/

11.17.10       Metals and Stocks

kept selling off Monday and Tuesday, as I mentioned they should.  Silver is still the more bullish of the metals, did not have the bearish divergence that gold did.

Still see silver going down to 23 (convergence of the 50 day EMA and the middle rail of the current trendlines); or $22.10 (bottom rail) or $19.25 (200 DEMA and bottom band support).

Still see gold to $1,325; maybe more, with today as a sucker buy

But you never know, staying in cash instead of metals has been a very poor strategy for the past decade…

My sells had much better margins of safety than the two spec buys; the buy volume has been anemic.

11.16.10    The Political Favors Get re-paid

You get the shaft.  Here is just the start of union groups and special interests with a 'waiver' from the 'Health Care Act'

http://www.hhs.gov/ociio/regulations/approved_applications_for_waiver.html

11.15.10    Google will get you to think what THEY want you to think!

Har...

Really, I found a while back a need for a decent glossary that ties monetary, mining, coins, trading together.

For example, if you just google (or use a better search index like dogpile or ixquick that doesn't track and sell your queries) 'banjo', you will find all kinds of 4 and 5 string entries.

Now don't get me wrong, I love the plectrum world and have an Orpheum Number One banjolin myself, but google refers you to another cesspool of lazy thinking - wikopedia.

The wiki agents have another mandated limited view of the world.

The reality is, banjo also has three mining/geotechnical meanings.

You could spend useless hours trying to get wikipedia/google to tell you that.
 

So, I made my own useful glossary ( always a work in trial).

Hope you find it useful...

http://www.coinmine.com/Reference/Master%20Financial%20Glossary.htm

11.15.10    On Trading Rules

1. Monetary Philosophy determines a trading Philosophy

2. Trading Philosophy determines a Trading Focus (industry/sector)

3. Trading Focus determines the Trading System

4. Trading System Determines Trading Rules

The trader eventually and constantly tweaks and adjusts these rules to fit their own predilection and experience.  These rules morph into decision points, mechanically implemented yet continually back tested.  The underpinning philosophy may change over time, demanding a change in the focus (and in turn the systems and rules).

Here is a nice collection of various trading rules:

http://www.page88.co.za/cr/tradingrules_menu.shtml

Note that these rules generally flow from the two original trading rules list.  The first appeared in 1923, based upon Jesse Livermore’s experience as published in Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre:

Of all the speculative blunders, there are few greater than trying to average a losing game.

Always sell what shows you a loss and keep what shows you a profit.

You cannot try to force the market into giving you something it does not have to give.

The courage in a speculator is merely the confidence to act on the decision of his mind

A loss never bothers me after I take it. I forget it overnight. But being wrong – not taking the loss – that is what does the damage to the pocketbook and to the soul.

The man who is right has two forces working in his favor – basic conditions and the men who are wrong.

The trend is evident to a man who has an open mind and reasonably clear sight. It is never wise for a speculator to fit his facts to his theories.

In a narrow market when price moves within a narrow range, the thing to do is to watch the market, read the tape to determine the limits of prices, and make up your mind that you will not take an interest until the price breaks through the limit in either direction.

You watch the market with one objective: to determine the direction of price tendency. Prices, like everything else, move along the line of least resistance.

In the long run, commodity prices are governed but by one law – the economic law of supply and demand.

It costs me one million to learn that a dangerous enemy to a trader is his susceptibility to the urging of magnetic personality combined with a brilliant mind.

Have a profit – forget it! Have a loss forget it even quicker!

It was never my thinking that made the big money for me. It was my sitting, my sitting tight.

There is only one side to the stock market and it is not the bull side or the bear side, but the right side.

The second major list was developed by W.D. Gann in 1942:

Never risk more than 1/10th of your capital in one speculation. ( * )
Use Stop Loss orders
Don't overtrade. ( * )
Never let a profit run to a loss.
Don't buck the trend.
When in doubt, get out.
Trade only in active stocks. ( * )
Spread risk among 4-5 issues - not just one.
Never fix your price, trade at market. ( * )
Don't close positions without a good reason.
Build an emergency fund.
Never buy to get a dividend.
Never average a loss.
Never get out because you've lost patience with a position.
Avoid taking small profits and big losses.
Never cancel a stop order once you make a trade.
Avoid getting in and out too often.
Be just as willing to go short as long.
Never buy because a price is low, or sell because a price is high.
Be careful about pyramiding at the wrong time.
Select stocks with a small volume of shares outstanding to pyramid on the buying side, and the ones with the largest volume of stock outstanding to sell short.
Never Hedge. Get out instead.
Never change a position without a good reason.
Avoid increasing your trading after a period of good trades.

Notice that these two canons of trading rules are actually rather different!

Why?

Different Philosophy and thus different Focus (Stocks vs. commodities).

11.12.10    It Starts as a Cartoon

But becomes nightmarish reality in just days...

They Hate Us for Our Freedoms...

11.12.10    Metals Markets

Gold and Silver should correct quite a bit more IMO. If not, the next move up could be very impressive indeed!

Gold has next decent support at $1,325. Gold outperformed most all the other metals today, showing relative strength.

Silver can fall all the way to 23ish and still be in the powertrend up.

Same for both the DJIA and SPY, both are re-testing the very long term trendline, from below. IF it turns down, turns down hard, if it breaks through – potentially very impressive gains.

Sentiment and internals have turned down, though:

Copper is at a triple top.

XAU is at the top of a trendline going all the way back to 1990! Quite bearish. Similar to the hard metals, if it breaks through Katy bar the door.

Note the weekly XAU printed ANOTHER higher high. Stokes and candlecharts point down whereas macd and aroon in the positive.

My guess is momentum fades and XAU falls to 195ish, maybe lower BUT if it breaks up through the trendline ANOTHER major buy signal.

IAG has that gap that will set resistance.
Hecla Insiders selling the crap out of it, just one example of many:
 

GSS (tanked this week on earnings) and CORN (not even close to the run that Sugar and others have had) look the best here from a risk/reward perspective, if you have cash to deploy IMO.

I have begun to sell a little more than usual for the short term, but the long term should be up for hards, softs, equities due to Quantitative Easing II…

11.11.10    Recent Change to California Regulations

Require that life insurance companies notify customers that if the policy holder is considering a change in their policy, to consult with a licensed insurance or financial advisor.

So, does this work in the Insurance Company favor or not?

Depends on if you consult an insurance advisor (salesperson) or advisor - who should give quite different answers!

Politicians need to be seen as 'taking on' the insurance industry over the past year.

Could be that the large NY brokerage houses are funding this 'advice' to shield heat from their obvious criminal activity?

11.10.10    The Joys of Silver

Humans have used silver for the past twenty centuries because it is an effective antibacterial agent.  Remember silverware?

Silver cutlery replaced lead since silver (Ag) is also non-toxic to humans (unlike lead) except in ultra high doses, typically via intravenous injection or abnormally persistent oral doses.

Today physicians use Silver sulfadiazine and various nano-silver applications in bandages and burn creams for the antibacterial/antifungal properties.  There are dozens of other medicinal applications.

Alcohol will lyse a bond (kill a bacteria) but is of incredibly short duration since it will evaporate within a minute; whereas silver delivered as a cream, gel or mist is persistent enough to prevent bacterial colony growth after the initial germs are killed.

It took us 2,000 years – but we are back on track understanding the medicinal applications of silver.  In large part, the major pharma companies have demonized simple medical applications in favor of their monopolistic patents.  Their stranglehold is fading though they pay a large array of admen to post illogical and incorrect hit pieces on natural remedies proven over the past 100 generations of humanity…

11.9.10    Solid Propellant Missile Launched From Sea 35 Miles off Coast of Los Angeles

And the military/government ask us to believe

a) They don't know what it is (but nothing to worry about!)

b) Just common contrails from a plane (since you won't believe the first B.S. answer)

Note: contrails do not occur at such low altitudes, one way to tell the difference between chemtrails (or propellant exhaust) and vapor trail

11.5.10    Hope That False Flag Bomb Attack doesn't go Off Tomorrow Like Planned in the Simpsons Cartoon!

11.3.10    Ron Paul vindicated.

I first voted for Ron Paul for President of the USA in 1988.  If only a few more citizens were awake then we may have been able to prevent some of the massive fraud and decay in our country. Alas, the blind snickered and giggled, but usually just asked 'who'?  Most folks could not even name the six or seven  parties that typically make every major ballot.

Time marched on, and the country further swirled down the toilet.  But Ron's stature grew.  They realized he wasn't flashy, and not even that great a politician. Just an honest man, doctor, husband father and patriot.  One that could explain the complicated financial madness in layman's terms.  By 2006 Ron Paul led many republican straw polls for president. He actually won the more than one states' presidential nomination when he ran again for president in 2008 His following grew immensely.

Today he was named chairman of the House Monetary Policy Subcommittee.

Vindication at Last!

(p.s. His son was elected US Senator yesterday, if you needed just a little more proof!)

11.3.10    The Nevada Election Was Fixed

In Nevada the state regulators have access to software that controls the slot machines; non-registered software is illegal.  The diebold voting machine software is 'proprietary' information.  Guess who services the Diebold machines? SEIU technicians!

Nv Gaming inspectors have immediate and mandatory access to NV slot machines.  They can shut down malfunctioning or broken machines on the spot.  The state electoral commission has  NO ACCESS to the diebold machines.

Slot machine manufacturers are subject to background checks and employees are investigated for criminal records.  Diebold programmer are anonymous!

Slot machines are certified by a public agency, all data subject to sunshine laws. The diebold machines are certified by private for-profit corporations who release no mandatory data!

In Nv, if there is a handling dispute on a slot machine payoff the Casino MUST contact the government regulatory board who investigates machine function and payout record.  When the voter complains about a fixed diebold machine, THERE WAS NO MANDATORY INVESTIGATION.

Read about the voters in Las Vegas who claimed Diebold electric voting machines would register Reid before they even voted!!

The election was fixed. 9:5 true odds.

(And here's the kicker.  Guess who certified the vote in the most populous county in Nevada?

Rory Reid, Harry's son!!

11.3.10    Meet the New Boss

Same as the Old Boss

11.2.10    How to Calculate Price per Earnings per Growth:

2010 Annual Earnings (Current Year ending Dec 17): 6.30
2011 Annual Earnings (Next Year Dec 18): 7.49
Projected Growth (1 Year): (7.49-6.30)/6.30

 = 19.62% growth year over year.

Note: Just because the numbers that you calculate don’t exactly match stockhouse or  yahoo or etrade, so what?  Yahoo et. al gets its data feed from more than one source. One feed will provide one # and another source feed will have a different one.

Think how many different data points Yahoo has every day? Even if they are only wrong 2% of the time that is a VERY large number of bad datum points.

PEG is a good metric for retail sales, not so much for other industries (such as mining; other aggregate, etc).

In retail sales, there is even a better forward indicator IMO – PES Price per Earnings per Sale. Also like Price per Sales and Revenue per Sales. Nothing happens until a sale is made. 

For example, retail restaurant chains are so flash in the pan (about a three year sweet cycle) that you need to know if the sales continue to grow. If not, WATCH OUT.  Remember Boston Markets? Yeah,  they were REALLY hot for three years. Now Bankrupt.  Black Angus Steak House? Same thing.

Look at the sales curve for those restaurant and add Applebees, PFChang's, Round Robin, etc.

Now overlay for the restaurant chain you are currently analyzing...

10.31.10    Rare Earth Metals – A Short Primer

Rare Earth Metals (REE) are elements, typically metal, that are required for high tech development and manufacture of electronics, aerospace, military and similar products.

Some examples include:

Molybdenum

Ruthenium

Lanthanum

Neobium

Tantalum

Cesium

Lithium

Cerium

Vanadium

Different analysts include varying example in their REE basket.  For instance some would include Uranium while others would not.

Since REE are required for military applications, the mineral stocks are strategic store – a very competitive market exists for the rarest REE.

Extraction of these rare earths are similar to precious metal mining with a few notable differences.

1. Whereas precious metal ores have been sought out for a few thousand years, the REE have only come into demand in the last 70 years (some of these elements were only ‘discovered 100 years ago).   This means that the mining infrastructure (power, roads, water, and human resources) do not exist where the ore bodies exist.

2. The mineralogy may require different engineering and technology than have usually been utilized on precious metals mines.

Some of these extraction scenarios produce many more tons of overburden (waste rock) than precious metal mining. This is a social and environmental aspect that demands significant personnel resources and goodwill capital.

Here are a few popular blogs to read about REE.

http://www.raremetalblog.com/

http://www.raremetalstock.com

NOTE: These sites may receive financial subsidies by manufacturers/miners for product placement and write-ups.

How to Invest In REE

Option One – Speculative: Stock Picking.

This option requires the most amount of due diligence and time and will typically only pay off for the savvy. You will need to focus on a sector within the industry. For example, if you look at the Uranium slice of the REE pie, you might find choose to stick with the larger producers such as Denison, Cameco (CCJ), etc.

Or, perhaps you want to allocate some very speculative wagers into micro firms that may be on to the next bid ore body and determine that Ucore or Fronteer, Uranerz (NYSE:URX) or Paladin have promise:

When you become familiar with current producers, and learn their ore bodies, at that point you can begin to extrapolate from that ore body and predict which explorers in nearby areas have higher likelihood of production.  For example, Uranium City in Saskatchewan might provide a more likely source of future uranium deposit discovery than Chicago, right?

Option Two: The Funds

Pinetree Capital, PNPFF, has multiple uranium stocks and is one of the very few funds with exposure to the rare earths; the fund also holds potash and precious metal portfolio.

http://pinetreecapital.com/investments/sectors/uranium/

Option Three: ETF

The Rare Earth Metal Fund (REMX) just started trading.

DISCLAIMER: YOU MAY NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND WILL LOSE PROBABLY LOSE YOUR ASS, SO DON’T BUY ANYTHING.  PROVIDED AS INFORMATION ONLY.

(and I will buy REMX tomorrow)

10.29.10    Happy Nevada Day

The Nevada Miners lived in some far away places, for the time, and built civilization amongst the alkali sagebrush scrub.  Austin was just such one example:

[IMG SRC=http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm146/weepah/postcards2/AustinNvcirca1908jpg.jpg]

Once in a while, the miners needed something to take their mine off another 10 hour shift under the earth.  They left a clue, a token, from one of their favorite past times; this one from the greatest gold camp on the planet – Goldfield Nevada!

[IMG SRC=http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm146/weepah/Tokens/TheDen125centtokenRSmall.jpg.jpg]

The camps of Goldfield, Tonopah and Beatty were roaring in ’06. 

In Rhyolite the miners flew their flag high, showing their strength in numbers:

[IMG SRC=http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm146/weepah/postcards2/RhyoliteMinersUnionMarchjpg.jpg]

Alas, they overplayed their hand in Goldfield following the panic of 07.

The owners Wingfied and (Senator) Nixon called upon their friend, Governor Sparks who sent in troops.

The Wobblies (union) were broken forever!

All that Nevada dore (gold)

Ended up somewere.  Maybe a piece in your pocket.

Before that stop, the gold took a breather in the basement of the San Francisco Mint:

[IMG SRC=http://s295.photobucket.com/albums/mm146/weepah/?action=view&current=SFMintCoinShow11609007.jpg.jpg]

10.29.10    Original Charlottes Web Cover Art Sells for over $150,000

Estimate was only $20-30k

http://fineart.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=5038&Lot_No=78301&type=artnews-tem102910

10.28.10    This Site has a Good Coin Melt Value Calculator

http://www.usacoinbook.com/

10.28.10    Will the US Treasury Take the Nickel out of Circulation?

Or will they debase the coin, to plastic or zinc?

Nickel currently has about 7.5 cents of metal.

We've been selling rolls of 1940's and 1950's nickels for a premium!

Even then, we are selling less than the intrinsic value...

10.28.10 Will the Fed Give up on Paper Printing

and will the US accept a plastic dollar bill?

Many countries use polymer notes:

http://www.pmgnotes.com/news/viewarticle.aspx?NewsletterNewsArticleID=933

10.28.10    Federal Reserve Delays Release of Redesigned $100 Note

they can't even get the scrip right!
---

A problem with the paper creasing during printing has delayed the release date of the redesigned note.

On October 1, the Federal Reserve Board announced a delay in the issue date of the redesigned $100 note. This new design incorporates cutting-edge, anti-counterfeiting technologies and the Federal Reserve imposes strict quality controls to ensure that users of US currency around the world receive the highest quality notes.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing manufactures Federal Reserve notes and has identified a problem with sporadic creasing of the paper during printing of the new $100 note, which was not apparent during extensive pre-production testing. As a consequence, the Federal Reserve will not have sufficient inventories to begin distributing the new $100 notes as planned.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing is working to resolve this problem, and the Federal Reserve Board will announce a new issue date for the redesigned $100 note as soon as possible. The originally scheduled issue date was February 10, 2011.

Source: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
 

10.26.10    CA State EPA Perpetrates Fraud, once again

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has belatedly disclosed that its scientists have overestimated state diesel engine emissions by 340%. CARB is the powerful state agency charged with researching and regulating air quality standards. These diesel pollution estimates were the basis for costly 2007 regulations.....

.....Worse, last year members of the CARB learned that the author of critical studies on diesel engine pollution, Hien Tran, had falsified his academic credentials. Tran admitted his deception, and accepted a CARB demotion. However, Tran’s analyses remained the basis for the aforementioned pollution regulations imposed upon operators of trucks, buses and other diesel-powered machinery" ....

http://www.examiner.com/ecopolitics-in-los-angeles/calif-climategate-part-ii-air-board-s-340-pollution-error
 

10.21.01    Tweets Precognize Stock Market Action?!?

The general mood among Twitter users can predict the rise and fall of the stock market almost a week in advance, a new study has found.

A computer scientist in the US has discovered that the correlation between the Dow Jones and the collective public mood was almost 90 per cent accurate.

The link raises the startling possibility that stockbrokers may one day be able to make bets on the stock market based purely on how people are feeling on Twitter and blogs

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1322133/How-monitoring-Twitter-users-feeling-predict-stock-market-days-advance.html#ixzz1303watsm

10.21.10    The English are taking copper out of the 5 and 10 pence coins

Will used nickel plated steel.

The British govt figures it will save 10M lbs a year.

But, the net result will actually be a loss to economic production since the changes to vending machines, parking meters, etc will cost over 40million lbs.

10.21.10    Is There a Difference Between 440 and 528 Tuning?

Someone stated:

“nearly all modern music is recorded in A440 Hz, which was identified by the military in the 1930s to cause mass hysteria and nervousness in humans...it soon became the standard everyone uses to this day.”

To Which I replied:

No, music is recorded in a key, not in Hz.  Granted, many guitarists tune to A440 but that is only b.c. tuning to center C C523.3 (Piano) is a major pain!  Guitarists just picked up from where violinist and other strings left off. 

Today many folks tune to open D or A flat, especially when they are going for mass hysteria! Lol.

In fact, 440 was only standardized b.c. some Germans who invented the tuning fork were able to standardize a typical production run at that Hz.  The original tuning fork was about 20 Hz below 440.

Pythagoras used 256Hz for the basis of his intonal scale.

The note that really causes human discomfort is The Brown Note, har!

Actually, the subsonic range (infrasound) below 20Hz does cause human discomfort.  There have been numerous studies of infrasound effects on the human system (we are an electromotive field ourselves).  Germans studied the effects going back to the 1920s.

Many researchers have concluded that paranormal activity is actually caused by repeated infrasonic waves, reported as a general uneasiness. More pointed, repeated exposure to the 17-19 range can actually affect the peripheral vision, causing the brain to ‘see’ slight objects in the far fields of vision where none actually exist.

That phenomena of a repeated infrasonic wave causing reports of paranormal observations originally occurred in factories where machinery would hum at a constant.

When the cause for the phenomena was discovered, it was given a name: “Ghost in the Machine”

10.18.10    Found Out I Bought  Counterfeit (altered) Coin

1932 Quarter with added D Mintmark.  I bought it in a collection, and was rather suspicious of the mark. Glad I sent it in rather than try sell it!  Been pretty lucky, actually. First counterfeit coin I've purchased. (Well, there may be another one or two I picked up on purpose for a specimen piece).  No chinese fakes, yet...

10.17.10    What deflation feels like, the story of Japan

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/world/asia/17japan.html

10.15.10    MERS Mess

The mortgage market is beginning to lock up.  Heard quite an interview on the radio today.  Here is the site of the radio host:

http://www.realwealthshow.com/

Today's show should be up there soon as an archive. The segment was with the second guest.

Last week Wells Fargo, Bank of America and a couple other government-financed crime enterprises announced a moratorium on their foreclosures.  Note that a full 30% of the US single family housing stock are foreclosed homes.

The lawyers smell blood and have initiated a feeding frenzy.  Why buy a house under this dark cloud?

Here is another take:

http://gonzalolira.blogspot.com/2010/10/second-leg-down-of-americas-death.html

Bob Chapman speaks to the subject beginning in minute 7.  Says the mess will take years to unravel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDDl65Nb7sk
 

Big Mess

10.4.10    History Leaks Out

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20101001/D9IJ5O3G0.html

By LAURAN NEERGAARD

WASHINGTON (AP) - American scientists deliberately infected prisoners and patients in a mental hospital in Guatemala with syphilis 60 years ago, a recently unearthed experiment that prompted U.S. officials to apologize Friday and declare outrage over "such reprehensible research."

Just imagine the studies they are currently conducting on you!

10.3.10    The Incumbent Love Fest Didn't go so well

Look at the large patches of grass on either side of the reflection pond.

AFL/Move On can import all the Section 8 housing freeloaders they like, but the real working class stayed home.

MSNBC really embarrassed themselves this time!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39474438/ns/politics/

10.2.10    Asset Rich, Cash Poor = Production Land

The first case I heard this term, and still believe it really applies best, is in regards to farm/ranch land. Sometimes these large parcels of land have been held in the family for generations and, as towns and cities grew up around the parcels, the land has grown greatly in value.  As a result, the taxes on the land have also gone up.

However, the property does not cashflow any more than it ever has.  Hence, the underlying asset is worth large $$, but the land is illiquid. Furthermore the sellers may be very reluctant to sell the family parcel that has been held in one name for 150 years; something akin to selling the birthright.

We know dairy farmers in California and Ranchers in California/Nevada who are in a very tough spot right now.  Milk and beef have not experienced the same boom that many other hard commodities have experienced in the past 10 years. This fact is compounded by price fixing by the government. (In California, Department of Food and Agriculture sets the price of milk).

More regulations, especially the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations section of the Clean Water Act have really squeezed dairy operations. 

Of course, the mom and pop farmers also have to compete against an increasingly consolidated corporate farm.  Mom and pop don’t have the array of lawyers that Monsanto, Con Agra and Archers Daniel Midland have.  SO, the small family unit has become squeezed out of markets.  If you are forced to use GMO seed, and the market for such if falling, you lose market share. This compounds the problem of increasing price of supplies (especially fuel and seed).

Rather than sale the land outright, some of the mom and pop family farmers have put their land into conservancy land trusts.  Depending upon how the trust is set up (through either the Williamson Act or Farmland Conservancy Program), this trust either freezes the tax rate or may even pay a large one-time cash payment in return for keeping the land farmed ‘in perpetuity’. In essence the state puts a conservancy lien (‘easement’) on the property.

Nevada faces different challenges to land value and illiquidity.  Some of these factors have been quite recent due to major land deflation across the state (and a very challenging water rights environment).

Naturally, the political machinations have set up some very nice means to profit from the scenario via special tax districting...

10.2.10    Estate Sale Today

The guy selling the stuff, after I asked about the coins, started asking me about gold.  He had just started researching the fed reserve, read Jekyll Island, etc.

He asked if I thought gold would still go up.

I asked, in turn:

Have you bought any yet: “no”

Then gold will still go up.

I asked: Do you trust the banksters;

“no”

Then gold will still go up.

I asked: Do you trust your politicians?

“no”

Then gold will still go up.

He volunteered he was buying/selling tube transistors, communications equipment.

I thought that was great, especially considering my belief the next hot war theatre will involve use of EMP weapons and I brought up Tesla.

Then the other guy in the room started mentioning some of Tesla patents….

Folks ARE waking up.

And, California decriminalized marijuana yesterday – definitely a chink in the private prison movement.  They haven’t even been able to criminalize being underwater in your mortgage yet, so the prison trade took a big hit.

Look for bad news, that’s what you’ll find.

Actually talk to folks, you might be surprised…

10.1.10    Beginning of the Fourth Quarter, 2010

Things should get interesting! 

Market Health

Getting harder to unload larger coin/bauble collections, whilst demand for bullion coins is still quite high.

The demand for better mining/railroad scrip; obsolete and confederacy notes, etc continues to strengthen.

9.26.10    Why forced diversity never worked:

http://alphadesigner.com/project-mapping-stereotypes.html

9.26.10    A Decent Read

http://www.thecactusland.com/

9.26.10    Do believe that PCGS will eventually need to change their slabs,

ala NGC,

to allow for visibility of the edge.

9.24.10    Johnny Cash: Hurt

Song written by Trent Reznor, recorded by Johnny just a while before he passed on. Song written about a junkie, sung by a recovered one. 

The scenes with the memorabilia were filmed at the John Cash museum, started by his mother, which had been defunct for 12 years. 

At the scene with the banquet table, the producer said - John, this is our last scene go ahead and throw all the food off the table or whatever you wan't to do to add some drama.

John was at the banquet table alone. He poured out a glass of wine all over the table.  He was alone b.c. of the loneliness he created from the booze and drug addiction, and from all those who passed on before him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o22eIJDtKho

9.24.10    market technicians association

http://www.mta.org/eweb/StartPage.aspx

any decent content?

they held their conference in San Francisco Sept 17th; same day as the SF Mint Coin Show. I went on the 18th to the coin show. Traffic was not nearly as good as the first show last spring, but much better than the show last fall.

9.24.10    Tour of the SF Mint well worth it.

The guy that gave the tour this time was an architect and former Mint Museum employee.  The mint stopped production at that facility in the 1930s, but reopened a Museum and administrative functions in the 70s only to shut down again in the 90s.

Learned that the mint foundation was re-engineered based on the October 1872 earthquake. Did not previously know that. The dolomite foundation is built upon a bed of sand. The entire bed of sand is meant to float, like a surfboard, during soil liquefaction. Had they actually tied the mint into the bedrock, the foundation would have fractured and the facade and floors would have collapsed in the 1906 SF quake. Instead, the mint only experience surface damage to the facade from the FIRE, not the earthquake. The fire burned so hot (all the buildings around the mint burned to the ground) that the water vapor in the sandstone caused the sandstone facade to literally explode. 

The mint superstructure was saved because the building courtyard was built directly over an artesian spring, which was turned into a well.  Since the mint had backup power, they could pump the well and direct the hose onto the sandstone to prevent even more of the facade from collapsing.  Since the mint made it through the earthquake and fire relatively undamaged, and since the mint had its own water source, the building became a sanctuary and then center of re-building government in the downtown SF financial district.

9.21.10    Fall Equinox: Beautiful site in the sky, a Full Moon flanked by Jupiter

9.20.10    All the Financial Bubbles: A comparison

More outstanding work by Sharefin!

http://www.sharelynx.com/chartstemp/BubbleComparisons.php

9.20.10    Tom O'Brien Track Record on Gold Price Action this year = Terrible

Not sure if he is trying to downplay gold so that his listeners on TFNN simply give up and send in their precious metals to his 'Tiger Club' which buys metal below melt value, or if he really is that poor of a chart reader/fundamentalist. 

Now, I have only been listening to him for about a year, since our local financial station just picked up his 'show'; but in that time he has called for gold to experience a large price correction multiple times now, only to be wrong at every juncture as gold price makes new highs in dollar terms.  Hope his jewelry trade pays the bills, b.c. his gold trades sure don't!

9.18.10    Commodity prices + wages + transportation = prices for finished goods

Since the lows of 2008 the prices for silver, copper, gold, wheat, corn, rice, soybeans, cattle, hogs, sugar, cotton, coffee, cocoa have all surged.

Cotton prices alone rocketed up 28% in just the past 8 weeks. Cotton is now at the highest price level in 15 years.  This will guarantee higher clothing prices down the line.  When combined with major wage inflation in China, US stores will be forced to pay higher wholesale amounts, since other countries (Indonesia, Vietnam, etc) will be able to increase their prices.  American shoppers should see unprecedented rise in clothing prices within the next 6-9 months.

9.18.10    Plenty of Ways to 'make a buck' on Government Graft

Sure, there will be plenty of ways to make a buck on this one. 

Start a ‘minority/owned’ front company to land a government contract via typical channels of nepotism and fraud.  Take the $500,000k authorized in the RFP and deliver 38% to the people who are supposedly protected by the bureau. The other 62% is agency overhead (vehicles, office space, promotions, ‘health care’, workers comp fraud, lawsuit settlement, overages, standard theft) and ‘profit for services rendered by contractor’.

One issue I SELDOM see discussed regarding all the ‘OPPORTUNITIES’ for making a buck on “Health Care Reform”, ‘Consumer Financial Protection’, Clash for Clunkers, ‘Police Actions’ or any of the other bureaucratic boondoggles is business ethics; especially in relation to standard economic theory/underpinnings of micro capitalism.

In essence, some folks see no ethical difference between profit made via inventing a cure for disease vs making a buck from police action (illegal war) profiteering. 

My parents and grandparents (and probably yours) made an honest living on a spread between the value added by their labor/education and what the product realized on an open market, triple net.

That work ethic is not lost in all of us, but has obviously become a point of ridicule for a large swath of the public, many of them reliant on taxpayer largesse or defaulting on their promissory notes

Secondly, the point initially made, albeit briefly, is that new fees/taxes/licenses do NOT accrue to GDP.  These are a drag on the economy, not a lifeboat. 

The bureaucracy DOES add costs to the business process. A case study on this exposition relies more accurately on national economic development studies over the past centuries rather than a string of posts in an ephemeral thread.

Denying such via reliance on an argument that others making the point are ‘whiners’ or ‘complainers’ does little more than immediately bring down the economic/business debate down to the lowest denominator of ad hominem sophistry.

Submitted most respectfully, all $/Dollar are not made equal.

9.17.10    Kinross merges with (acquires) Red Back Mining

According to the supplemental Kinross (KGC) circular mailed out this week.

The arrangement provides Kinross with exactly the type of early production property they have shepherded well in the past several years.  Also provides important exposure to the bourgeoning west africa lodes. Looks good to me

Mauritania and Ghana Proven and Probable (PP) reserves are currently at 5.9M oz AU.

5.9 PP x $1,200/oz AU (9,17.2010)= $7,080

$7,080M of PP/ 256 M shares outstanding (7.1 M float)

= 27.6$/share per PP AU

Kinross (KGC) paid $21.3/share USD (warrant price)

21.3/27.6 = 77%

.77 x $1,278 oz = $986 per oz paid per PP.

BUT, the Feasibility Study for Tasiast wont even be completed until 2011.

Expect quite a bit of inferred reserves to roll into the PP column then…

So, the $950 quote for deep storage is about right for Proven and Probable, but WAY high for ALL resources (including inferred).

Large reserves (5M+)just waiting around to be plucked don't appear quite lying around waiting for a pluckee anymore.

That, and cost of mining in Nevada and Austrakua don't exactly look to be going down any time soon...
 

9.17.10    Made up DC gun death rates

Non-factual hyperbole which actually works against gun rights defense.

C’mon, you really believe DC has over 3,000 gun deaths every year?!?

http://dc.about.com/b/2008/03/12/firearm-death-rates-in-washington-dc.htm

Kinda reminds me of the ‘tea partiers’ who generally seem motivated to equating public dissatisfaction with government to racism/extremism.

Thinly veiled provocateurism, but that’s what sells at Walmart these daze…

9.17.10    Great Coin Show Sept 17&18, San Francisco Mint

This is an awesome place for a coin show.  Nice group of dealers, too.

Worth going, for sure.

Here is a coupon:

http://griffincoin.com/page5.html

9.17.10    September 17, Interesting Day.

Founding of the Presidio of San Francisco, the oldest military base on the western coast of North America. The Presidio was an active base under three flags: Spanish, Mexican, US.  The base closed in 1995 when the local politicians decided they would rather have the place serve as a real estate slush fund to support their re-elections and pet projects.

Constitution Day, US

Battle of Antietam (US Civil War), still the bloodiest day, in terms of loss of American life.
 

9.16.10    Silver Broke through price of $20.67

There wasn't any real technical resistance there, but there did exist one interesting fundamental point:

100 years ago the price of GOLD was fixed at $20.67 by the US.  We actually had the power and reserves to keep the price fixed.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen...

9.9.10    Buy PGE?

PGE made a high just the day before, so technically it will probably break down from here.  I would wait a few days. BP went down for weeks after the oil spill b.c. liability wasn't fully known. Same with PGE. There are media reports that folks smelled gas for a few days.  Wait a few days to see the action, i think it will go lower BUT provide a very nice buying opportunity. PGE controls so many crooked politicians, and is such a great monopoly, they can't lose long-term.

9.7.10    Bring the Kids to Burning Man?

This year at BM one of my quests was determining if I should bring my children, currently 2 and 4.

Since 1984 I have been visiting the Black Rock/Smoke Creek deserts and understand the logistical and medical challenges.  Those are generally ameliorated by having Black Rock City infrastructure present (multiple paramedics, ambulances, and air-evac available; medical tent, and numerous trained and staffed professionals available.) Currently there are epi-pens. Ventilators. Sterilized equipment, oxygen, saline lines, and various other medical support that are generally not available when you go camping anywhere else during the year.

 The time it takes to get to a hospital emergency room from BRC is actually less than the time it takes to get there from many other smaller Nevada towns (Tonopah, Ely, Yerington, etc).

I interviewed perhaps 100 people this year regarding the topic, about 70 people with children and 30 people w/o children.  Found that the folks w/o children were split about 50/50 whether or not it was a good idea to bring a child.  My sense was that split generally mirrored their ideas on having a child AT ALL, BM or elsewhere.

The parents, to a tee, stated their kids loved BM.  I generally saw the children really enjoying themselves EXCEPT when the weather turned sour (extreme calm heat or extreme dust storm).

The ideas on what ages were best/worst are varied.  Many people did not feel an infant was able to properly adjust to the dust and was prone to dehydration (ore verbalize their needs).  Other folks felt strongly that tweens/teenagers could have comprehension problems regarding what they saw.

Kidsville grew into a VERY organized and functioning camp. Their first year, 2001, was actually the last time I was at BM.  Kidsville organized itself to meet the demands of the playa and the event. The number of semi-structured events and activities proved surprising and comforting.  When I entered the camp (there was really only one major entrance) I immediately saw folks looking at me (a single male) much like a neighborhood watch program.

Initially my perception was that the parents with children must have deliberated for quite some time on the pros vs cons of kiddies at BM.  Overall, I found that was not the case. The parents intuitively knew their children could not typically follow voice command or would have problems with the weather were staying with grandparents/babysitters (stayed at home).  Most other parents were just of the mindset that the children were part of the family unit, they went where the parents went, good times or bad, penthouses or camping camping.  The parents I interviewed provided really illuminating answers;  they had thought through both the philosophy and the logistics.

Here was the consensus on the best methods for bringing children:

1. Wait until they can speak (tell you their physical needs).  Personally, I will wait until the kids are 4 and 6.

2. Bring a trailer/RV and camp in Kidsville.  You can shelter from the sun/storm in an RV in ways you cannot in a tent or other vehicle. In our RV this year we had AC/Power/private sink-toilet-shower, clean facilities, refrigerator, etc.

3. Go to BM with another couple you already know and trust so that you can watch each other kids for 2-3 hours while parents go for the NIGHT party.

4. The days are very enjoyable for children if THEY DON’T HAVE TO WALK.  The two best methods for child transportation are: A) A shaded/vented bicycle trailer where the kids sit that are powered by mommy/daddy pedaling. B) A mutant art cart (four seater golf cart tricked out).  This allows you to strap the kids in the back seats and take the children EXACTLY to the art pieces you want them to see while speeding past the more ‘adult’ camps/domes.  Also allows you to get back to the RV at the first sign of developing dust storm.

In sum, most respondents were supportive of children and with the mitigation/management techniques presented above.

The BM experience, like the rest of life, is different with children. Seeing the event and art through their eyes presents unique rewards and challenges.

 I am comfortable bringing my children when the youngest is 4 years old.

See you there…

8.30.10    Why the Banking Act of 2010 is Only designed to spark further Class Warfare

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/93ff41de-b457-11df-8208-00144feabdc0.html

8.29.10    Thanks to you, our Customers!

Our sales have done really well this summer, traditionally the slow time for precious metals and coins.

In part I know we are benefitting from larger trends: the precious metals have generally out performed every other market for a solid decade.

Was nice to be right about that one, eh?

8.24.10    How to Devalue a Currency

Step One: Take the specie backing away.

Status: Completed in 1913/1964/1971

How Fallen Empires Devalue their Currency, leading to collapse

"Silver coins were a basic medium of exchange during the empire, and one of the major Roman coins, a denarius (plural, denarii), equaled four of the smaller silver coins called sesterces. During the reign of Augustus (circa 30 B.C.), a silver denarius weighed 5.7 gm (.20 oz) and was 99 percent pure. By AD 193 it had dropped to 4.3 gm (.15 oz) and was only 70 percent pure. The deficit spending of later emperors nearly halved the silver value of the coinage.”

The soldier-emperors who followed the Severan rulers continued to treat the military generously, but as tax collections fell and silver mines were exhausted, imperial funds disappeared. The treasury melted down available coins and issued new money that had less real value. By 270 the silver content of the coinage was only 1 percent. This devaluation of the currency soon had a terrible effect on Rome. As money became worthless, much of the empire was reduced to a barter economy. The state collected food, animals, and other supplies instead of tax money. "

http://www.crystalinks.com/romanempire.html

The marketplace last devalued paper relative to metal in 1964 and 1965. According to Burton Hobson in International Guide to Coin Colleting, [First Edition. New American Library. New York. 1966]:

"..we had a coin shortage so severe that commercial banks at one point were forced to offer a few cents' premium for every dollar's worth of coins turned in, so that payrolls could be met and change made to the penny."

Step Two: Remove Larger Denomination Currency so that all Transactions Must go through a Central Clearing House (federal reserve system).

Status: Check.  Completed via removal of the $10,000 $5,000 $1,000 and $500 dollar bills, in 1934.

Step Three: Eliminate Coinage

Status: Almost complete.

Should the penny be removed from commerce?

well,

A one ounce gold American Eagle has a denomination of $50

whereas the market value is roughly $1120.

Is this a problem?

Um, yep.

But don't take my word for it...

Let's see what Charles Jenkinson had to say about the general subject in A Treatise on Coins of the Realm:

"A difficulty then existed, and continues to exist, which must necessarily be removed, before any plan can be adopted for the improvement of the silver I have already observed, that silver and gold, in reference to each other, are estimated at Your Majesty's mint at a different value or price, than these metals are generally sold for at market. As long as this difference subsists, both of these metals will not be brought, in a sufficient quantity to the mint to be coined: that mineral will only be brought which is estimated at the lowest value with reference to the other: and Coins of both metal cannot be sent into circulation at the same time, without exposing the public to the traffic of one sort of coin against the other; by which the traders in money would make a considerable profit, to the great detriment of Your Majesty's subjects.

And this mischievous practice, and the frauds committed in carrying it on, are the more to be apprehended in  this country, where the Mint is free: - that is: where every one has the right to bring gold or silver to the mine to be converted into coin; not at the charge of the person who so brings it, but of the public: for,...the charge of coining Gold  and Silver has been born by the public; and, contrary to the practice of most other countries,  no seignorage has been taken.

To prevent this evil, it is necessary to determine, whether there must be a standard, or superior Coin, made of one metal only;  and whether the coins of other metals must not be made, and take their value, with reference to this standard Coin, and become subservient to it; - and, in such case, of what metal this standard Coin, to which the pre-eminence and preference are to be given, should be made."

Now, substitute copper for silver (or metal - such as it is, for paper notes) and talk about removing the modern cent from circulation...

In the 1950's, Japan introduced aluminum coinage into circulation for the first time in her history.

Source: Coins through the Ages. Laurence Brown. Bonanza Books. New York. 1961

Don't take my word for it, Part II:

The Silver Dollar Epitaph

Born - 1794

Died - 1935

Buried - 1964

- William L. Graham Jr.

The Silver Crisis.  Hickory Press. Lake Forest. Il. 1964. 134 pages. Softcover.

"At the end of February, 1933, just before we went off the gold standard, there were in the United States a little over 8 Billion Dollars of money (aside from that held in the US Treasury). Of this sum about two-and a third billion dollars consisted of gold coins and gold certificates."

- Edwin W. Kemmerer.

Kemmerer on Money. John Winston Company. Chicago. 1933. Hardcover. 197 pages.

 With the following inscription:

-Dedicated to the Memory of Grover Cleveland: A fearless and valiant champion of sound money.

No wonder Cleveland is seldom mentioned in the top five presidential rankings...

"The evil effects of such decline (silver and gold against available commercial monetary expanse) were enormously increased by the shortsighted, crafty manipulation of currency by the european rulers. ..and by the inability of the age to understand, or even to perceive, the hidden working of two metals see-sawing against each other -acting as levers against each cutting each others throats. The discovery of America corrected the fall of prices and saved europe, but it left her rulers as deadly ignorant as before of the workings of bi-metalism to give a name to what they had not even perceived as a phenomenon, much less system."

The History of Currency: 1252-1896. W.A. Shaw.

Step Four: Establish a two-tier currency system, one for international settlements and one for internal trade.

Status: Partially completed via the Bank of International Settlements.  The next step will be to establish one currency for trade and one currency for day to day transactions.

The day to day currency (a newly introduced red-back) will immediately plummet in value and continue to erode until, eventually, the public will abandon it all together.

The currency for international trade (the greenback) will be backed by actual US assets. This has already occurred to some degree via locking up western BLM-managed lands containing mineral ores for eventually hand-off to the Chinese.

A better solution, but politically unpalatable, is for the US to call a spade a spade and devalue the US 'dollar' (the Federal Reserve Note) by one significant digit. At one point a (large) cent could buy a loaf of bread. A loaf of bread nowadays is $3. So, = knock off two digits from the dollar, and that FRN would be worth what a post 1982 cent is worth today - one cent.  Although, you would still need 3.5 cents to buy the loaf of bread, look at it this way, now the loaf comes with slices so it is 'value added', part of the productivity daydream nightmare that has allowed flawed logic to devalue the dollar some 97%.

At some point the Red Note FRN will circulate outside the country at some discount, or premium to, the domestically traded greenback. We may as well position ourselves for this eventuality and influence its due course to whatever degree possible.

Step Five: The greenback stops trading. Most citizens readily accept the Iris scan and carbon credit allocation system.  For those that won’t (religious objection or those in rural environments) the Government takes, instead of your useless scrip, actual material such as ammunition, food, stored goods, etc.

The way this is introduced is by first eliminating, or more likely, making non-palatable, any non-government spending accounts. 

For example, Phil Grande played a great obama quote yesterday, to wit: “I don’t have a problem with folks that have money in IRAs”.  Well, isn’t that benevolent of our dear leader.  Of course, next quote will have the modifier (..provided they are already fully invested in the government IRA/MSA/HAS/MEDPLAN/ first”.)

nah, Could Never Happen Now/Here…

8.24.10    Today's Lousy Housing Numbers

Real Estate: Single Family Home

Started looking again for a SFH to buy/re-hab/rent.

last two properties I have penciled up and then called the listing agent already had multiple qualified offers (*and they didn't want anohter offer!).

Neither were on the market more than 60 days, both had significant problems to boot.

Real Estate: Commercial/Industrial

Helped out a local water district looking to rebuild a water reservoir.  Some of their quotes look like they are coming in AT cost, just to stay afloat.

Not good...

Water operators becoming scarce.  This year the State of California dropped its standards on who can disinfect/treat water from a Treatment License to a Distribution License.  Much easier qualifications.  Of course, the state only offers the written test in English, so the qualified applicant pool, even for the minimum license, keeps dropping.

8.24.10    More regulations, eh? 

The regulations we have are not enforced, or are unenforceable.

The regulatory bodies we have vary between corrupt and incompetent.  Harry Markopolos provided the Securities and Exchange mathematical proof why Madoff was running a ponzi shceme.  Harry pursued the case FOR 9 YEARS; SEC refused to even begin an investigation.

Furthermore, Congress just shoveled another 1,500 pages of ‘financial reform’ down our throat – the largest expansion of financial bureaucracy in over 70 years.  Yah, that’ll help.

You really wanna change things? Starve the beast. Pull your $ out of the bank and put into a credit union.

8.24.10    Check out Monday’s Kitco podcast with my fave crush Alexis:

http://www.kitco.com/Exclusive-News/

She has on Phil Streible, Senior Analyst with Lind-Waldoock.

Seriously, the guy looks about 28.  WTF does he know, a paid for degree and nepotism based job? How many articles have you read that he’s written over the past decade? Was he right? Go to the JVs and prognosticate about GOOG.

Pretty faces and prettier words

Blunting the take of sharpest swords

8.23.10    SilverBourse.com

Makes the scene.  They have some good information here on Australian mint silver coinage production for the past ten years:

http://silverbourse.com/mintage-information-australian-lunar-silver-coins/

8.21.10    International Mine Water Association

http://www.imwa.info/imwa2010/index.php

Conference in Nova Scotia, Set 5-9

8.20.10    $50k historic gold bar stole via smash and grab?!

http://www.miningweekly.com/article/gold-bullion-stolen-from-florida-treasure-museum-2010-08-20

8.20.10    Make your own: metal casting in the back yard

http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/index.html

8.20.10   Public Perception and Political Environment for Mining, worldwide

http://www.miningweekly.com/article/attitudes-becoming-more-hostile-to-mining-in-80-of-jurisdictions---fraser-institute-2010-08-20
 

Perception and support in Canada declines dramatically.
 

Only Botswana improving...

8.20.10    High Denomination U.S. Notes Remain Popular With Collectors
By Kathy Lawrence
 

Three of the four highest prices realized for notes in the recent Heritage ANA Signature Currency Auction, part of the official ANA World's Fair of Money auction in Boston, were high denomination notes. The top selling note was a Fr. 2221-B $5,000 1934 Federal Reserve Note PCGS Very Choice New 64PPQ. That note realized $103,500 with the 15% buyer's premium. A Fr. 2231-A $10,000 1934 Federal Reserve Note PCGS Extremely Fine 45 brought $69,000. Another $5,000, this one a Series 1928 example from the Atlanta district, a Fr. 2220-F $5,000 1928 Federal Reserve Note PMG Very Fine 20 crossed the auction block for $63,250.

Per Heritage Collectors New, August 19. 2010

8.20.10    Southern Nevada Bank Ratings

http://www.lvrj.com/business/nevada-lenders-rank-low-59603082.html

The pressure is still on, and how.

8.20.10    The Administration to Give more Money to the Banks (your money!)

Because that’s what the administration does best!

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/banking-financial-institutions/114349-banks-to-benefit-most-from-white-house-program-to-stave-off-foreclosures

8.20.10    Electronic Frontier Foundation TO Verizon

ETISALAT CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY THREATENS WEB SECURITY
 

EFF's open letter urges Cybertrust, a division of Verizon, to evaluate whether the trusted SSL CA certificate it issued to United Arab Emirate-based Etisalat should be revoked. Etisalat recently threatened to discontinue service to BlackBerry users after Blackberry developer Research in Motion refused to provide the UAE government with surveillance back doors in its encryption services.

This follows a mislabeled firmware update to approximately 100,000 UAE BlackBerry subscribers that contained malicious surveillance software in July 2009.
 
For more information and the full text of the letter go to:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/08/open-letter-verizon

8.20.10    How your shopping cart spies on you:

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/08/city_of_cleveland_to_use_high-.html

8.20.10    Leon, Mexico: The trial run for the complete surveillance state

What life under the North American Union will be like in 10 years:

http://www.fastcompany.com/1683302/iris-scanners-create-the-most-secure-city-in-the-world-welcomes-big-brother

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/19/leon-mexico-to-use-biometric-scanners-in-all-aspects-of-life/

8.19.10    Cool Website: IdahoNationals.com

Indeed the mining west produced treasure that we can still mine!

Wallace Id is one of my favorite mining towns in the country.

Here is a nugget mined near that district, from Murray:

Looking around this page you may just find the miner that dug up that nugget, and the mine from whence it came:

http://www.murray-idaho.com/

Old mining town postcards are fascinating.  Photo techniques, real post cards, boomed with the Idaho and Nevada boomtowns in the glory years of the 1880s-1910s. 

As one example, Rhyolite sure is an interesting place, even today.  My favorite piece of mining ephemera is from Rhyolite, actually, a sweepstakes entry. 

The drive down Titus canyon from Rhyolite into Death Valley proves one of my favorite back routes.  The bottle house, the railroad depot, the modern metal artwork all provide quite a scene against a beautiful colored palette desert backdrop.

Here the Mining Union marches in the glory days, just before Teddy Roosevelt sent in union troops to break up the union for real.

Alas, the Nevada National notes produced by the banks of these mining camps do not come cheap (minimum 2,000 +, for just a good/very good).  I’ve run across Reno, Elko, Ely at coin shows, etc, but prefer to put my collecting money into the postcards, mining scripophily, ephemera and trade tokens.

Regarding national notes, the next book I plan to purchase is:

The Nevada “Sixteen” National Banks and Their Mining Camps.  Melvin Owen Warns. 1974.

8.19.10    Daybar Study: Average Investor Returns unperform the market

http://www.grubmanfinancial.com/main/library/averageinvestor.html

8.19.10    Mining Magnates built the west.

  The minerals produced steel which formed the railroads and steelyards.  The gold and silver built the Comstock, and the Comstock built San Francisco.  The period of 1870s-1890s was THE single greatest period of wealth and expansion in US history, bringing forth the singular societal phenomenon called the ‘middle class’.  This middle class in turn built out our fine Republic into the pinnacle of political achievement, education and scientific advancement   Those were the days built upon principle, by men of vision and drive, financed only by true specie: gold, silver and copper; the blood of a healthy capitalistic society.

William A. Clark, the Copper King of Montana

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35266269/displaymode/1247?beginSlide=1/from/toolbar

The cancers of today’s bailout mentality, deficit driven dereliction, declining middle class and all the other ubiquitous signs of decay and societal decline you see around your community are not by chance.  The bankers drove out honest legal money, installed a corporate controlled fiat debt mechanism, and now hold you and your kin and neighbors in debt over dozens of trillions of ‘dollars’ (federal reserve notes). 

Long live the honest miners, those who traded a day’s wage for an honest dollar.

Not all of us have forgotten, nor given up…

8.19.10    Nanosilver disinfectant under review by EPA

EPA is announcing a 45-day public comment period for the draft document "Nanomaterial Case Study: Nanoscale Silver in disinfectant Spray" (EPA/600/R-10/081). The document is being issued by the National Center for Environmental Assessment within EPA's Office of Research and Development.

The draft is intended to serve as part of a process to help identify and prioritize scientific and technical information that could be used in conducting comprehensive environmental assessments of selected nanomaterials. The 45-day public comment period begins August 13, 2010, and ends September 27, 2010. POC is Office of Environmental Information Docket; telephone: 202-566-1752; facsimile: 202-566-1753; or e-mail: ORD.Docket@epa.gov (Federal Register: August 13, 2010 [Notices], Page 49487-49489).

8.15.10    Gold Coin Market sees continued Strength

Per the witness of Doug Winter, upstanding and longtime nice gold piece purveyor:

http://www.coinlink.com/News/market-reports/some-observations-about-the-2010-boston-ana-show/

Nice gold coins are rarely hard to sell...

8.15.10    Mainstream Media Valuation

Last week newsweek sold for 1$. Basically completely bankrupt and void of value. The liabilities far exceeded what 'worth' the company had. Only reason the rag is still propped up is to float negative press about your countrymen.

I suppose someone (just one person on the planet) was still willing to pay 1$ for newsweek's opinion.

Remember in highschool when my lame history teacher made us buy both Time and Newsweek to keep up with 'current events'. Took about three weeks before I realized they ran the same exact story, with the same exact spin, just a few pictures taken from different angles.

Pretty convincing evidence for this 15 year old student that the Powers That Be had locked up the press tight as a drum. Voluble lesson, served me well, thanks lame ass teacher for that unintended teachable moment.

8.14.10    Skeletons in the 'Health Care Bill' start falling out of the closet

I have been following this one closely because it will add new requirements for me. 

1) There are No New Taxes

There are no new taxes (almost everything is already taxed.  What currently is not taxed will be taxed soon after Obama’s tax writing committee [official doublespeak: US National Debt Commission] comes out with their proposal right after this fall’s election.  A central plank to ‘reduce the debt’ will be the creation of the Value Added Tax). 

The VAT - a tax on every transaction - will be a central plank, count on it, no matter how it is couched.

You will be forced into the position of monitoring other's financial transactions and acting on behest of the IRS.

The IRS does not need to be ready to enforce regulations.

Like all rules and regulations, they were not designed to be universally followed - only SELECTIVELY ENFORCED.  You will carry the water for the IRS at the threat of CRIMINAL and CIVIL PERSECUTION (or, as is more standard, threats of such).

The 2011 and 2012 provisions are setting up a mechanism whereby we all report on each other to the IRS. This process and mechanism is a rollout pre-ceding the VAT.

The IRS is already preparing for the brush back from the small business owners in the US (i.e. the new dinosaurs).

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-irs-arms-60-of-its-investigators-with-12-gauge-pump-actions-guns-2010-2

2) The Liability is on the Buyer

THE BUYER is required to file the 1099 for YOUR purchases.  Purchase covered are anything over $600.  If you try to make more than one serial purchase of $595 to get under the trigger, that will cause you a fine also (Just as the current reporting cap is $10k and serial financial deals to avid that amount are a federal crime, called ‘structuring’, just to catch al Qaeda dontch know.)

That’s right, now YOU must acquire ‘personal information’ (social security number{SSN}) from anyone that sells you something over $600.

And when you buy…Sure, you WANT to give your SSN to dozens of merchants every year, RIGHT?

SURE THEY WILL ‘change’ the LAW.

You think WalMart or Apple or Microsoft is going to have to follow this provision? HAH har!, funny.

No, the burden IS ON YOU; the citizen small business owner.

Big corporations have lobbyists and lawyers to avoid this type of thing. 

That’s what your tax dollars go to, new regulations that further increase your paperwork burden.

3) The Burden is On YOU

The burden of being up to date on tax law is placed on the tax payer.  That is why those in the tax industry fight so hard (e.g. write new legislation via their lobbyists on K street) for new incomprehensible regulations, so that you then must hire a ‘professionals’ to sift through the garbage and render a ‘tax strategy’.

Of course, the IRS loves new regulations, especially poor ones.  Nobody writes regulations so that you can effectively follow them, regs are written so they CAN BE SELECTIVELY ENFORCED.

Rule of Law no longer exists; unevenly enforced regulations replaced that old relic canon.

4) The Law Impinges upon the Small Business in Favor of Big Business

Since you don’t give much to the political campaigns, you are simply an unnecessary waste of resources.  

Mom and pop vintage stores, ebayers, pocket vest coin dealers, antique store, pawn shops, will be CRUSHED because THEY must collect SSN from Everyone that sells over $600 in one year (less than HALF a one ounce gold coin!).

Oh, BTW, the $600 figure is CUMULATIVE over the year.  You can’t sell a quarter ounce now and a quarter ounce later to avoid the trigger.

Big businesses typically only buy form 10-20 vendors/distributors, so its not like they can’t have their CPA and accountant send out 20 more forms on top of the stack of paperwork.  How many accountants work in your business that are staffed to collect SSN for a few hundred buyers off the street so that them may in turn send a 1099 to the IRS for that same purchase?  (Oh yea, keep those files for seven years in a separate box when THAT audit comes knocking).

The American Institute of CPAs already put an objection into the rule making deliberative process b.c. they don’t want every useless citizen calling them up and asking questions.

6) Don’t like the 10% VAT?

Good, because they govt wants you to pay 28% instead!

See the National Taxpayer's Advocate paper criticizing this law.


(28% ‘withholding tax’ (same as capital gains rate, go figure) applies if the seller does not provide a valid Taxpayer's Identifying Number or SSN).

5) Of course they will REPEAL some sections for the ‘hardworking american families’.  Specifically, the caring politicians will write in these exemptions before the presidential election to show how much they care:

- Gas
- Groceries at the market
- crap you buy at chinamart for Christmas presents

Let’s face it, when you can ONLY afford those luxuries, you aren’t worth the bureaucrats time.

Because, fact is…

6) THIS IS AIMED at TRACKING PRECIOUS METAL PURCHASES

OH, you haven’t noticed that gold and silver performance has essentially out=performed ALL other investment classes EVERY YEAR FOR THE PAST DECADE? 

Well, some other folks have notice, I can assure you of that.

Remember,

1)   The government hates competition which is why counterfeit is heavily penalized

2)   Substitute competition against the Federal Reserve Note debt instrument issued by their friends and cronies at the Federal Reserve Corporation will not be tolerated (that is, specie)

3)   The IRS and TREASURY do not want you to understand how and why species has been THE currency for 6,000 years.

4)   Too many folks who bought UNTRACEABLE gold and silver at ¼ of today’s prices AREN'T paying the 28% tax; that will change.

One major intent of this law is to kill the gold and silver trade by requiring the SSN and 1099 for most purchases.

 Obama’s health care proviso to require a 1099 tax form for any gold sale over $600 is designed to kill the trade.
 
Gold has always curried favor in part b.c the trade is anonymous, this provision, requiring the buyers and sellers of gold to provide a SSN number and receipt to theirs for every purchase of ½ once or more removes the anonymity of gold.

The government hates anonymity of the citizenry.

Right now in California you MUST provide a THUMBPRINT, SSN and PHOTO ID to recycle aluminum cans for a few bucks. 

Just wait to see what else will be required for gold and silver transactions.

You know, BECAUSE THIS IS A GREAT HEALTH LAW THAT WILL IMPROVE EVERYBODYS LIFE!!!

(especially the little people)

he he, eh?

8.12.10    Food Freedom: Grow your own while you still can

http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2010/04/24/s-510-is-hissing-in-the-grass/

"There is No Right to Consume or Feed Children Any Particular Food; There is No Generalized Right to Bodily and Physical Health; There is No Fundamental Right to Freedom of Contract." ~ US Dept of Health & Human Services and US Food & Drug Administration, 2010

http://foodfreedom.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/fda-no-right-to-food-health-contract.pdf

8.13.10    Goldman report is not a good sign for price of gold!

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/goldman-goes-goo-goo-gold-gold-market-poised-rally-us-real-rates-head-lower

Remember when Goldman Sachs said price of oil was going to $200 a barrel?

Yep, look at the price now...

When they say you should buy, their the ones selling it to you.

8.11.10    30 year T-bill yield, down over 20%!!

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=%5ETYX

yah, that's healthy...
 

8.8.10 Jack DeSangelis puts a sell call on gold

DeSangelis has traded commodities since the 70s and has been pushing gold for the past decade. (He is a front for Legend National Gold Exchange, a moderate pressure boiler room gold pushing operation).

His reasoning is that Obama’s health care proviso to require a 1099 tax form for any gold sale over $600 will kill the trade.

Gold has always curried favor in part b.c the trade is anonymous, this provision, requiring the buyers and sellers of gold to provide a SSN number and receipt to theirs for every purchase of ½ once or more removes the anonymity of gold.

He believes that silver purchases are a substitution trade.

Personally, not sure the 1099 will really affect gold purchases that much...

 

8.8.10    Best/Healthiest Cookware?

We use stainless steel with copper base cookware

Looked at more expensive stuff, but really:

The Kirkland set made in Italy sold at Costco is a nice deal, IMO.

Stainless and Copper are both relatively non-corrosive and non-reacting. Sure, you'll get a little bit of Iron and Copper in your meal eventually, both are essential elements needed to properly function.

I have seen NO study that shows Iron as a toxin at these micro levels. Copper at these micro levels is only a toxin to certain salmonids, barely.

IMO and study.
 

8.8.10    Real Estate Development Opportunity

On the interchange off I-10, So.Cal, Thousand Palms Ca

The actual address, too new (?) to appear in Mapquest, is 105 Conchita Road, this is the cross avenue

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Thousand+Palms&state=CA&address=%5B72200-72273%5D+Ramon+Rd&zipcode=92276&country=US&latitude=33.816355&longitude=-116.40214&geocode=BLOCK

Across the highway from the Aqua Caliente band Casino. Was pretty packed when I was there two years ago.

Will be auctioned by Hudson and Marshall (CB ELLIS), the auctioneer outfit I bought my SFH from, August 18^th in LA.

There’s a RE deal/play there somewhere, what would you do?

8.5.10    How Fallen Empires Devalue their Currency, leading to collapse

"Silver coins were a basic medium of exchange during the empire, and one of the major Roman coins, a denarius (plural, denarii), equaled four of the smaller silver coins called sesterces. During the reign of Augustus (circa 30 B.C.), a silver denarius weighed 5.7 gm (.20 oz) and was 99 percent pure. By AD 193 it had dropped to 4.3 gm (.15 oz) and was only 70 percent pure. The deficit spending of later emperors nearly halved the silver value of the coinage.

The soldier-emperors who followed the Severan rulers continued to treat the military generously, but as tax collections fell and silver mines were exhausted, imperial funds disappeared. The treasury melted down available coins and issued new money that had less real value. By 270 the silver content of the coinage was only 1 percent. This devaluation of the currency soon had a terrible effect on Rome. As money became worthless, much of the empire was reduced to a barter economy. The state collected food, animals, and other supplies instead of tax money.

http://www.crystalinks.com/romanempire.html

8.3.10    Inside Fix

All the US Presidents, except one (not the one you think), share the same ancestors.

http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=146059&catid=175

7.30.10    How Can the Japanese Suffer a Twenty Year Deflation

When they have such an intrepid citizenry such as this?

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/woman-makes-her-own-parking-spot/1jrvcqv3i

7.30.10    California Bans Lead in Toys = Chinese Pick a Different Poison

So, the law of intended consequences (artful dodging of regulations + general legislative banality) =

China increases level of cadmium in children's toy.

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/childrens-jewelry-lead-cadmium-47011402

7.30.10    Tangible Assets Sought out by Millionaires

And that group of millionaires INCREASED between 2008-2010

http://www.kovels.com/index.php/201007287993/News-News-News/millionaires-keep-high-end-market-hopping.html

7.30.10   Predicted Short Term Price action in Metals Markets

I vote the seasonals trump this year.

The gold and silver positions I sold in May were at higher levels than here.

Bought back most the positions last week.

Often I am early, price likely remains weak next couple weeks, but I see the higher seasonal trends kicking in.

A rather standard year in equity and metal prices all in all.

One thing that could drag the metals down is a large fall in price of oil, if seen as proxy for the commodities.

The oil inventories are rather high right now.  Should traders exit long positions the drop in price could snowball.  Recent price action and chartage on XOM, as already mentioned, may foretell this trade.

Then again, two separate market timing radio shows on the business network y-day posted their view on going short XOM, so that trade maybe getting crowded already

That said, I also lowered my equities exposure a bit based on Arch Crawford's Cardinal Climax call. 

Just in case...

Dat's a rap.

7.30.10    When I entered negotiations on buying an existing business I learned five things:

1)      Many businesses keep three sets of books

a)      one for the IRS

b)      one for a potential buyer

c)      one for themselves

2)      It is easier to agree on price rather than terms

3)      Goodwill is rarely worth what the seller believes

4)      Depending on the business, inventory and/or customer lists are worth the majority of the firms valuation

5)      Make sure you are only buying the assets, not the liabilities

I decided to start my own business instead of buying an existing one...

7.24.10    Long Term Gold and Silver Price Performance

The best resource on the internet for financial graphs was developed by Sharefin.  Here is his site.  You have to subscribe now.  Will take you a while to find everything.

http://sharelynx.net/

A good place to start initially is with the first graph on this page (The 600 year silver chart):

http://www.rapidtrends.com/silver-to-gold-ratio/

also hosted here:

http://goldinfo.net/silver600.html

FWIW, I think this chart is actually incorrect in that the ratio for silver actually shows as too overweight during the middle ages based on other data I have seen (the 2,000 year charts).  The comparison gets difficult because silver traded day to day as currency whereas Gold typically only exchanged hands for large land swaps or political deals.

Governments throughout the globe have attempted to fix the price of gold since government began.  They actually achieved some success about 1,400 a.d. to ensure relative stability amongst economic pacts between each other.  Silver had been allowed to float for many centuries (and thus become debased), whereas gold was only allowed to float beginning in 1973, more or less. 

This silver devaluation trend continued even moreso after the Polosi Strikes by the Spanish in the Andes in the 1500s.  Silver became the de-facto currency over most the trading world, and eventually the value was debased.

Here is a good study on the value of silver, as paid for working me wages, over the past 500 years (start on page 37):

http://www.economics.ox.ac.uk/Members/robert.allen/WagesFiles/wagesnew2.pdf

You can see silver became cheaper, compared to hours labor necessary to procure, after the precious metals strikes in California and Nevada in the mid 1800s. 

Silver became so cheap, relatively, that the bankers could no longer make a profitable spread to suit their tastes.  Hence, they engineered the panics and depressions  of the 1890s and 1907.  The US presidential election of 1896, to large degree, was based on the battle between whether Gold (Republicans) or Silver (Democrats) should be the coin of the US realm.  Gold won.

Just ten years later the bankers were no longer satisfied with the Gold carry trade, and they instituted fiat currency via the 1907 panic and the resulting Federal Reserve Act six years later.

You can find some more long term price comparisons here (Long term Inflation in US and UK):

http://www.measuringworth.com/inflation/    and  http://www.measuringworth.org/gold/

There are a few thousand gold/silver ratio and price performance charts that go back 30-100 years.  There are a couple hundred good charts/graphs that go back to the middle ages.

Since I started looking in 1999 I have only seen five or six decent 2,000-4,000 year charts, and regrettably can’t locate at the moment.

Of course, most folks only have a two year time horizon anyway! LOL

7.24.10    Gold to Silver Ratio

 Another Interesting Ratio along these same lines is the Gold to Silver.  Historically the Ratio has been about 16:1.  The price of Gold has recently extended his dominance and the ratio is now about 70:1.

For that reasons some folk have been stocking up on Silver.

However, they may not be aware that twice in the past 100 years the ratio has gone as high as 100:1, during times of extreme financial imbalance.

Furthermore, when one looks at the LONG term ratio charts, you can see that silver had traded at a much higher premium for several centuries in the Roman period and in the Middle Ages, at times breaking the 10:1 barrier.

As with any other financial play, it all comes down to time horizon.

 7.23.10  Someone asked: Which debt is better to pay off?

Here is the Theoretical Example:

 Let's say you have 2 debts,

A). Rental Property 2nd Mortgage Fixed, 7% interest over 20 years -- You owe $30k

B). Credit card 10% -- You owe $30k

Which do you make extra payments on first?
 

His answer to his own question was:

"The conventional wisdom might say to pay off the credit card, because the rate is higher. 

 However,  if you pay off the Fixed 2^nd mortgage on the rental house, then you would have additional cashflow which you could put towards paying off the CC.  This is a case of using leverage, other people’s money via rent, to increase your financial position. 

In the end you would have more equity in your property from your efforts, instead of just paying off a CC that has no collateral attached to it and no benefits, other than interest, in paying off the debt."

Here's Our Take

Sure, That is the conventional first analysis.  But a deeper look will show that what hasn’t been mentioned, but should, is RISK, LEVERAGE and OPPORTUNITY COSTS.

Paying off credit card is zero risk return.  Can you safely net over 10% somewhere else without taking more risk?  Probably not, nearest sort-of safe yield today is in non-tradable REITS only at around 7%.  So in this case risk/reward confirms the previous answers to pay off the CC.

 However, the RISK analysis also must consider Margin of Safety.  That is, has temporary market conditions now rendered the house temporarily undervalued?  Maybe the neighborhood average price is off 50% in the past three years.  If so, your Margin of Safety has decreased on two accounts:

1. The Bank has effectively decreased their share of the investment; leaving you more exposed to disaster to the property; and

2. Your Return on Equity has decreased.

 Remember the mantra of value investing; DO NOT LOSE PRINCIPAL. 

 Which leads us to LEVERAGE.  How can we Leverage the Principal for Greater Yield?

 IF the property ‘value’ has decreased 50%, you equity may have increased from a previous 10$ of the house value to now 30% to %50.  Should all the other numbers remain similar (cash flow from rents, etc) you are now in the position to use that Principal as a Collateral for a loan that allows you to put money into another rental that triple nets 12% 

 Bingo.  No opportunity cost lost, but cashflow increased.

 INFLATION vs DEFLATION

 Another way to analyze the scenario is simply from a money velocity angle.

 If you think the house will increase in value, why pay off the mortgage at all?  IF you think it will continue a steep decline, then pay it off.  A nasty deflation is not the time to be in hock on depreciating assets, bc. Now the Opportunity Cost is working AGAINST you.  The money sunk in the principal continues to lose value against what else it could buy tomorrow.  Just my two pence.

 Opportunity Costs.

 If you pay down the interest card, you gain no equity, just perhaps a few extra credit score points.

Someone else pointed out that LIQUIDITY trumps all.  Here was my response:

So, what is the best type of liquidity?

I’ve come to the conclusion that you need diversity in your liquidity as with any other portfolio.

Frankly, a bunch of FRNs could become greatly devalued in a very short time period.

Hence the metals. Yet, as previously discussed here, 1-oz gold or bullion coins won’t work for the day to day items, hence silver.

But, you can’t eat silver.

Thus, I came to the conclusion that I’d better stock up on WHAT I NEED.

And accordingly, have stocked all kinds of goods and supplies.

Mostly as insurance, but also could turn into a financial play as well due to THE COMING VALUE ADDED TAX!

Right now the US National Debt Commission is formalizing their proposals. The VAT - a tax on every transaction - will be a central plank, count on it, no matter how it is couched.

You will be forced into the position of monitoring other's financial transactions and acting on behest of the IRS.

The IRS does not need to be ready to enforce regulations.

Like all rules and regulations, they were not designed to be universally followed - only SELECTIVELY ENFORCED.

If you have the means and the space, buy the essentials now. Only one of two possibilities:

- They will become more expensive.
- They won’t be available.
 

7.17.10    Why you should not keep your precious metals 'on deposit' with a bank:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/christie-blatchford/an-unkind-complicatedness/article1643419/

7.17.10    "Financial Reform"

Will:

- Increase the cost of borrowing

- Politicize the mortgage industry.  There will now be 'commissions' to determine if you should be allowed to purchase a car, house or business. A VERY dangerous situation. Your success now depends, not on your ideas and hard work, but on the whims of selected political teams.
 

- Availability of Capital will tighten, which will drive capital out of the US

- There is NO reform of the criminal activity at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. These two 'pillars' of the US housing industry are now discredited penny stocks!

For the first time EVER the banks now own a larger percentage of residential equity than all the homeowner equity combined:

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/living-the-dream-what-do-you-own-really

- US will become less competitive in financial markets.  Remember how the powers that be convinced you that we would ship our domestic production industries overseas, that we didn't need those dirty 'ol 20th century factories. Remember how the financial and other 'service' industries were the new path?

How's that working?

Let's look at a few metrics:

Fact is, the legislation will only INCREASE the powers of the folks that lead is into this financial debacle in the first place.  The legislation INCREASES the back-room powers of the federal reserve instead of providing visibility and sunshine.  The legislation does NOTHING to address:

The number of American's on the public dole is at RECORD levels.  Almost 40 million americans are on food stamp assistance.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6465E220100507

Percentage of homeowners who have missed a mortgage are at record highs:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Mortgage-delinquencies-drag-apf-3683370452.html?x=0

Even worse, the foreclosure filings are at RECORD high levels:

http://thehomeforeclosurehelp.com/archives/barack-obamas-foreclosure-help-programs-are-not-working

7.16.10    Mandatory financial education for all citizens:

Why the banking industry and US Treasury Department WANT you to short sale your home or get foreclosed:

http://www.youtube.com/user/fiercefreeleancer

And if you think that’s bad, wait ‘til you see what is in the massive 'Financial Reform' Law passed by the Senate yesterday!

From your paycheck straight to Government Sachs…

7.15.10    The Administration Aims to Shut Down America's Energy Independence

Six month moratorium on drilling. What, exactly, will that accomplish?  You think the fraud, waste and abuse at the Minerals Management Service will get cleaned up in that time?  Nope.  Only thing the moratorium does is force drilling rigs and operations to leave the Gulf of Mexico.  Heck, we're losing production rigs to the Congo!

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/540265/201007131904/Idled-Gulf-Rigs-Head-For-Africa.aspx

After tens of thousands of dollars in expenses, and weeks of travel, to move and re-set the rig, think they're coming back any time soon?

7.10.10    Arch Crawford warns on Cardinal Climax planetary alignment; time to get defensive on equities

http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/234091-hewitt-heiserman/61457-rare-cardinal-climax-planetary-alignment-this-summer-puts-stocks-at-risk-says-veteran-sky-watcher

Although I rarely trade based on astronomy, Arch has been WAY to accurate over the years not to pay some heed.  Time to get defensive and SELL into this increase in equity market value over the past week IMO.

7.4.10    Independence Day

The last several years, more like fifteen, I had become somewhat despondent on the fourth of July, even when celebrating with friends and families.  As I have documented here, our civil liberties have eroded quite severely in this timeframe and numerous unpleasant events have unfolded that threaten our great constitutional republic.  However, I am now quite convinced that the electorate has finally woken to the domestic enemies.  Although the hour is late, the cause still proves just - all these decades after 1776.

7.2.10    Metal Leverage Programs

In these programs they function as a brokerage, more or less. Commission on sliding scale btw 9-15%.  You provide the money and they provide you a receipt with how much metal you own in a warehouse.  Steve Kramer, of Leland (he has his own podcast in partnership with Jack DeAngelis) serves as principal.  He wouldn’t provide a prospectus or contract up front and stated that the industry hasn’t done this in 35 years. Only the receipt of funds would fully disclose the terms [percentage and points (?)] of any particular principle trade.

 I imagine the players have generally remained the same but the firms have changed names over the years given the vagaries of the gold market since 1980.

7.1.10    Major US Banks Admit and are Proved to Support Latin Drug Cartels

Hope this doesn't surprise you:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-29/banks-financing-mexico-s-drug-cartels-admitted-in-wells-fargo-s-u-s-deal.html

6.30.10    Why the Gold Price was hit Yesterday

Big decline on the Dow this week.   Folks who manage mutual and trade funds need to close out the second quarter books which end June 30.  In order to ameliorate their losses, they need to sell their winners. IN this case, gold was that winner, having traded very near all-time highs.  You need to sell the winners to pay for the losers.

6.29.10    World’s safest table saw – stopped by one finger!

http://www.noob.us/miscellaneous/sawstop-worlds-safest-table-saw-in-slow-motion/

6.29.10    OilCano spews more Disinformation

 How about this Gem:

“A report prepared for prepared for President Medvedev by Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources warns that "a greater danger involving Corexit 9500...is that with its 2.61ppm toxicity level, and when combined with the heating Gulf of Mexico waters, its molecules will be able to "phase transition" from their present liquid to a gaseous state allowing them to be absorbed into clouds and allowing their release as "toxic rain" upon all of Eastern North America”

Serious time out/red flag here.

Just as I have felt an obligation to witness honest money and teach finance, so too shall we spread our light unto the scientifically illiterate.

a)      Corexit isn’t that toxic in the scheme of solvents. 

b)      Moreover, toxicity has nothing to do with propensity for ‘phase transition’

c)      Author needs to know that the heat does drive the reaction.  Yet, according to  Clausius–Clapeyron it is a non-linear function.  For that matter, the Gulf is a MAJOR thermal mass which will control the exothermic reactions. 

d)     Hello authors, Vapor Pressure ring any bells? This is the ‘scientific concept’ they reached for, and strained a brain muscle.

The Corexit MSDS CLEARLY states the product has, actually, a VERY LOW vapor pressure. Below water even!  Yep, just a matter of checking a few facts and basic science.

Both increasingly in short supply, alas.

6.28.10    2005 Merck Vaccination causes seizures in Children

according to the journal Pediatrics, released today.

http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_15392649

Funded by Kaiser Permamente out of Oakland. Best thing to come out of Oaktown since Zito and boys set the AL record for win streak in '02.

6.28.10     Can Recommend Two Brands of Freeze Dried Food

Thrive (the Costco brand) and Honeyville Farms.

Honeyville has the most variety, but does cost more. I have tried the red wheat and two types of fruits. All three were of excellent taste and quality.

For bulk, the Costco brand provides a good option. I have only tried the onions but they were quite good.

The quality of today's freeze dried food, compared to the dehydrated swill of 20 years ago, is amazing.

Keep an eye on the Costco for sales. Typically they sell a years supply of food for one person for about $1,000. ON a sale we got the deal for $800. Probably the chepest insurance on the planet. We supplement the bulk with selected Honeyville farms orders and fresh vegetables and fruit that we grow ourselves.

Now have: Lemon, Lime, Tangerine, Orange, Apricot, Plum, Blueberry and Raspberry.

[Also have a persimmon, but turns out might not be the fruiting variety, drat].

Learn to dehydrate and vacuum pack.

ain't rokett science...

MREs take up too much volume IMO

However, the new generation has the ability to heat itself.  This feature provides a good morale source and saves heating fuel/time down the road.  Might be an option if you have extra space.

Food is good, but more important is a secured and sanitary water supply.  Lock yours in NOW!

6.28.10    Went Camping for a few days with Family

Beats the computer, for sure.

6.25.10    Why the Media Got it Wrong on McChrystal

Pointedly, McChrystal was not 'fired', indeed he submitted a timed, planned, articulated and well-publicized resignation, via letter to Rolling Stone.

Mc clearly laid out the reasons why he feels Afghanistan is the disaster it has always been, why the action cannot be won and who is responsible.

Mc clearly understands the situation and will not allow himself to be pegged with the defeat and took an offensive action to early retirement while maintaining his face and respect of the staff.

The Commander in Chief has not been able to do any of this and has led our forces and nation to defeat and ruin, with plenty of help from the career criminals that comprise the executive and legislative branches

6.25.10    Today's pop in Metal Prices

Possibly a reaction to the banking deal in the US.   Gold says "get yer stuff off the books now before we confiscate".

6.25.10    Gold Coin - One of Only Five

And it sells for melt value alone. Definitely NOT a sign of a bottom in the market!

"VIENNA, Austria -- A Spanish precious metals trading company bought the world's largest gold coin for 3.27 million euros ($4.02 million), its exact material worth, from the estate of an insolvent investment firm at a rare auction in Vienna on Friday.

The 100-kg (220.5 lb) piece, one of only five Canadian $1 million Maple Leaf coins the Royal Canadian Mint has ever produced, was snapped up immediately in a written bid from ORO direct, a gold trading company based in Madrid"

6.20.10    How the Sun Sounds

This is awesome:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7840201/Music-of-the-sun-recorded-by-scientists.html

Reminds me of a couple of grateful dead shows, the middle part, from my misspent youth.

6.20.10    The Oil Spill

National Response Center names all federalized spills. For platform spills under MMS jurisdiction they simple assign a code and date to the particular block where the lease is booked in MMS system.
 

There are dozens of examples of spills named Mississippi Canyon Spill OCS-XXXX or similar. They all follow the same nomenclature.
 

The unofficial spill name is:

Mississippi Canyon 252/ Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Spill

The official report will have a number very similar to:

Mississippi Canyon 252/ Deepwater Horizon OCS G 32306-XXXXXX 

The last six digits are to keep it straight in the USCG/NRC oracle database.  Currently the database query is not functioning.

The actual NRC report has now been completely scrubbed from the web AFAI can tell.  

However, I have seen it once.

Here is what the NRC spill report looks like

http://www.nrc.uscg.mil/reports/rwservlet?standard_web+inc_seq=645559

Here is one of the block exploration plans:

http://www.gomr.mms.gov/PI/PDFImages/PLANS/29/29977.pdf

6.20.10    Woulfe mining co, received operations permit last week

only western mining firm operating on Korean peninsula. Rare minerals and proximity to China.

http://www.woulfemining.com/s/Home.asp

a winning plan???
 

6.20.10    Apollo and Linear Gold to Combine Companies

What other nuggets does the Apollo Gold Management team provide in their special circular that they hand delivered to me regarding the deal?:

Apollo crows about their flagship mine, the Black Fox. Sure, like they're going to brag about the disastrous results at both Florida Canyon and Montana Tunnels?

Right, what great examples of management malfeasance.

[Ok, one could make the case that the highwall instability at the Florida Canyon property was not their fault, that due diligence of a geologist could not uncover this 'differing site condition', fine. But what about the lousy safety record and other operation problems?]

What about the continued inability to produce at Montana Tunnels?

Not a good thing when the highest ranked search query for the Montana Tunnels project produces this:

http://meic.org/mining/new_mines/montana_tunnels

Seriously, why not a search query that shows:

- "Montana Tunnels exceeds production, creating new jobs", or
- "Montana Tunnels receives environmental and safety record", or - at a bare minimum,
- "Montana Tunnels meets production levels".

Is THAT too much to ask? For this management team, the answer proves a sad if resounding YES, too much to ask...

Instead, the only reference to the mine is by a hit firm that doesn't even understand the current ownership regime. Don't know who to address the complaint letter to? Hey, so how are those negotiations going?

Might make one wonder if they are actually intent at all on correcting a real situation on the ground, or disseminating the typical anti-mining pro-taxation claptrap scripted by a hidden/controlling organization. Nah, couldn't be... Just another case where folks spend hundreds of hours developing a website and can't figure out basic material facts.

Of course the Black Fox property is a great resource (even if the last drilling results were a little disappointing; somewhat offset by better drilling figures at the Linear Box property), that's the ONLY reason I hold the stock.

All of their production property and Linear's most promising projects, are now in the most mining friendly country - Canada. [Ontario and Saskatchewan] South America, USA and Australia have all made incredibly poor decisions regarding federal 'management' (e.g. taxation and outright nationalization/distribution) of their mining sector.

Canada retains its historic support that has allowed the industry to thrive up north. A wise and strategic play, IMO. Canada is one of the eight nations (along with Russia and Norway) poised quite right to gain from increased mineral exploration and extraction from the North Pole. [Russia has eight ice-breakers, USA has two, and one of those is under repair for the next 48 months!]

Ok, both Apollo and Linear has promising properties in Mexico, but neither of those are even in the pre-feasibility stage yet.

Black Fox has over 32 million tons of reserves grading about 2.0 grams/ton.

Explanation of Mining exploration and production stages:
http://www.coinmine.com/Mining/Mining.htm

The real story, naturally, is that the Apollo board and management has run the company into the ground, underfinanced, under capitalized and in massive debt.

Circular Page 51 provides a great insight into capitalization rates as measured against gold equivalent resources - the Adjusted Market Capitalization (AMC).

From this table one looks at the great job that other firms such as Minefinders and Alexis Minerals have done to marshall gold reserves on a shoestring.

Apollo has the gold reserves, and even a producing mine. The problem is they are out just about out of cash and deeply in debt.

Hence enter Linear. Linear has two things Apollo does not: cash and a decent management team.

The main reason that Apollo need Linear is that the firm realizes that shareholders have grown impatient (including your truly) and are not currently predisposed to forking out more dough in shelf offerings and the like. So Linear can immediately alleviate the current cash flow issues. Apollo points out the dream that only, if only, they had the Linear cash - then the future is rosy gold indeed. Point in fact, page 27 in the circular is the Selected Unaudited Pro Forma Consolidated Financial Statement ('fantasy numbers land').

Should they actually meet that target - a profit instead of unending parade of quarterly cash abortions - then the marriage will prove a success indeed. Proof will be in the pudding - producing children (the baby mines in N. Canada and Mexico.)

And while on Linear, what is up with their parent corporation name formed to hold the Box Mine property? 7153945? For real? Were all the seven-digit prime numbers already taken? Even worse, the moniker is ALREADY taken! Some goof has a perfume with that unit number. Personally, the US patent number with the same digit configuration holds my main interest. Alas, why do I have to come up with the great mining marketing angles...

My bright shining star appears early on in the script, page 14. The Apollo board, namely, realizes it has screwed the pooch for the last time and will finally bring in someone with a better track record (shoe store, lemonade stand, whatever - anything will be better at this point!) R. David Russell - the Apollo CEO/President will finally, if belatedly, find the exit door. The new management team should find better direction, and hopefully thrive, under the new CEO Wade Dawe (currently head of Linear).

Summary
Like all modern management teams, they are projecting out just a few short quarters. Mercury takes the long view and sees incredibly potential down the road for the under explore and under producing Goldfields Region in extreme northern part of Saskatchewan. The aptly names Uranium City serves as the mining town in the region.

Heavy equipment for the Goldfields region, and the Linear Box mine in particular, are brought in by barge. Mercury highly approves. In fact, I bought my house in a city that previously relied on water transportation and believe that water transportation will again regain the popularity and obvious utility that has reigned for millennia. The age of short haul petro-powered routes is playing out, as all rich fantasy veins eventually do.

Of course exploration and production has been hampered in the region for decades due to terrifically horrible weather and remoteness. Nevertheless, the future glide path is just that, extreme arctic exploration and production. Canada at large, and this new Brigus Gold Corporation (gag) are positioning themselves primely for that glorious golden future.

Perhaps Apollo management saved their very best card for last after all.
 

6.18.10   CDE shuts down the Martha Mine, Argentina

"BUENOS AIRES (Dow Jones)--Idaho-based Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp. (CDE) has tapped out its Martha silver and gold mine in Argentina and plans to shut the site down while it considers further exploration or a sale."

Oh yeah, plenty of buyers lining up for a shuttered mine, played out of assets, with environmental/social liabilities yet untapped!
 

 hey, whadya know, Mirasol Resources broke $25K in volume today!

6.18.10    Tom O'Brien was decidedly bearish on Gold

and has been for a few days; states gold will be down next week.

He points out that this rise has been on declining volume, a triple top, and based on fear.

I agree on the first point; second remains to be seen (a triple top is, after all, a failure of a double top) and completely disagree on the third point.

This market has had complacency creep in.

VIX has declined all the way to the 200 DMA today.
 

6.17.10    Apollo Gold (AGT) about to change their name to Brigus Gold?

Are you friggin kidding me?!?

They're going to dump a great name like Apollo Gold for Brigus?

Geez, how many different ways can this management team screw up???

6.18.10    Apollo and Linear Gold to combine companies

What other nuggets does the Apollo Gold Management team provide in their special circular that they hand delivered to me regarding the deal?:

Apollo crows about their flagship mine, the Black Fox.  Sure, like they're going to brag about the disastrous results at both Florida Canyon and Montana Tunnels?  Right, what great examples of management malfeasance.  [Ok, one could make the case that the highwall instability at the Florida Canyon property was not their fault, that due diligence of a geologist could not uncover this 'differing site condition', fine.  But what about the lousy safety record and other operation problems?]

What about the continued inability to produce at Montana Tunnels?

Not a good thing when the highest ranked search query for the Montana Tunnels project produces this:

http://meic.org/mining/new_mines/montana_tunnels

Seriously, why not a search query that shows:

- "Montana Tunnels exceeds production, creating new jobs", or

- "Montana Tunnels receives environmental and safety record", or - at a bare minimum,

- "Montana Tunnels  meets production levels".

Is THAT too much to ask?  For this management team, the answer proves a sad if resounding YES, too much to ask...

Instead, the only reference to the mine is by a hit firm that doesn't even understand the current ownership regime. Don't know who to address the complaint letter to? Hey, so how are those negotiations going? Might make one wonder if they are actually intent at all on correcting a real situation on the ground, or disseminating the typical anti-mining pro-taxation claptrap scripted by a hidden/controlling organization.  Nah, couldn't be... Just another case where folks spend hundreds of hours developing a website and can't figure out basic material facts.

 Of course the Black Fox property is a great resource (even if the last drilling results were a little disappointing; somewhat offset by better drilling figures at the Linear Box property), that's the ONLY reason I hold the stock.  All of their production property and Linear's most promising projects, are now in the most mining friendly country - Canada. [Ontario and Saskatchewan]  South America, USA and Australia have all made incredibly poor decisions regarding federal 'management' (e.g. taxation and outright nationalization/distribution) of their mining sector.

Canada retains its historic support that has allowed the industry to thrive up north.  A wise and strategic play, IMO.  Canada is one of the eight nations (along with Russia and Norway) poised quite right to gain from increased  mineral exploration and extraction from the North Pole.  [Russia has eight ice-breakers, USA has two, and one of those is under repair for the next 48 months!]

Ok, both Apollo and Linear has promising properties in Mexico, but neither of those are even in the pre-feasibility stage yet.

Black Fox has over 32 million tons of reserves grading about 2.0 grams/ton.

Explanation of Mining exploration and production stages:

http://www.coinmine.com/Mining/Mining.htm

The real story, naturally, is that the Apollo board and management has run the company into the ground, underfinanced, under capitalized and in massive debt.

Circular Page 51 provides a great insight into capitalization rates as measured against gold equivalent resources - the Adjusted Market Capitalization (AMC).

From this table one looks at the great job that other firms such as Minefinders and Alexis Minerals have done to marshall gold reserves on a shoestring.

Apollo has the gold reserves, and even a producing mine.  The problem is they are out just about out of cash and deeply in debt.

Hence enter Linear.  Linear has two things Apollo does not: cash and a decent management team.

The main reason that Apollo need Linear is that the firm realizes that shareholders have grown impatient (including your truly) and are not currently predisposed to forking out more dough in shelf offerings and the like.  So Linear can immediately alleviate the current cash flow issues.  Apollo points out the dream that only, if only, they had the Linear cash - then the future is rosy gold indeed.  Point in fact,  page 27 in the circular is the Selected Unaudited Pro Forma Consolidated Financial Statement ('fantasy numbers land').  Should they actually meet that target - a profit instead of unending parade of quarterly cash abortions - then the marriage will prove a success indeed.  Proof will be in the pudding - producing children (the baby mines in N. Canada and Mexico.)

And while on Linear, what is up with their parent corporation name formed to hold the Box Mine property?  7153945? For real? Were all the seven-digit prime numbers already taken?  Even worse, the moniker is ALREADY taken! Some goof has a perfume with that unit number.  Personally, the US patent number with the same digit configuration holds my main interest. Alas, why do I have to come up with the great mining marketing angles...

My bright shining star appears early on in the script, page 14.  The Apollo board, namely, realizes it has screwed the pooch for the last time and will finally bring in someone with a better track record (shoe store, lemonade stand, whatever - anything will be better at this point!)  R. David Russell - the Apollo CEO/President will finally, if belatedly, find the exit door. The new management team should find better direction, and hopefully thrive, under the new CEO Wade Dawe (currently head of Linear).

Summary

Like all modern management teams, they are projecting out just a few short quarters.  Mercury takes the long view and sees incredibly potential down the road for the under explore and under producing Goldfields Region in extreme northern part of Saskatchewan.  The aptly names Uranium City serves as the mining town in the region.  Heavy equipment for the Goldfields region, and the Linear Box mine in particular, are brought in by barge.  Mercury highly approves.  In fact, I bought my house in a city that previously relied on water transportation and believe that water transportation will again regain the popularity and obvious utility that has reigned for millennia. The age of short haul petro-powered routes is playing out, as all rich fantasy veins eventually do.

Of course exploration and production has been hampered in the region for decades due to terrifically horrible weather and remoteness.  Nevertheless, the future glide path is just that, extreme arctic exploration and production.  Canada at large, and this new Brigus Gold Corporation (gag) are positioning themselves primely for that glorious golden future. 

Perhaps Apollo management saved their very best card for last after all.

6.15.10    Obama's Oil Spill Speech: Another Major Problem

His credibility is shattered and now his self confidence has evaporated; a truly dismal performance.  I never wanted the guy to succeed in his agenda (I love political stalemate) but I never wanted him to fail this miserably either.  The country will be profoundly worse off with another three years of this Nero at the helm.

6.15.10    Daniela Cambone vs Alexa Steele

For the Kitco cheesecake correspondent bake-off!

Alexa Flashes the golden smile and pulls hard ahead out of the trading pit gate but Daniela lands a CEO interview and the RACE IS ON!

Good summer show Bart…

6.14.10    I have but One Comment on Last Week's Primary US Elections

The one criminal/career-politician I have hounded most, Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons (Rep.) lost his seat (following episodes of divorce, cheating, multiple assault reports, mis-conduct ad nausea).   All of this occurred against a macabre background - Nevada's worst economic collapse since the 1880's.

By the way, it is incredibly rare for a sitting governor to lose his own primary party election.  But Jimmy deserved it.  I have pointed out his rather large and obvious dark side, criminality, negligence, sociopath and other assorted qualities since the first time I met him - when he ran for a lowly office in 1988.

To bad it took the good citizenry of Nevada 22 years to figure it out, the damage has been near incalculable.

6.13.10    Bilderburger 2010

http://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/meeting_2010_2.html

6.12.10    Understand this is a Good Fundamentals Database

Daily Graphs by IBD

http://www.dailygraphs.com/

Please do write with any comments on the product, good or bad.

6.11.10    Source for some good precious metals widgets:

http://www.monex.com/resources/

6.8.10    Precious Metal Profiling

Our last 4 sales on ebay of 1,000 Mercury Dime lots:

- Marketing Executive, Large Expensive House, Wilmington, De

- Flower Farm, Washington State

- Insurance Executive, Connecticut

- Unknown career, Large House On Lake Michigan 

The buyers aren't right wing survivalists.  These are savvy business executives who have a pulse on the US economy and the bottom line.

6.8.10    Silver/Gold Ratio Reaches new Historic Levels

Just because the silver/gold price ratio is out of whack doesn't mean it will change any time soon unless the FUNDAMENTALS for such change. At one point the Ag/Au ratio was 16:1, now almost 70:1.
 

We got lucky and turned some platinum profits into cheap silver a couple years ago. But generally, I think it is easier said than done.

Like right now, what is the better buy, Ag or Au?

Au has better strength. It has HAD better strength for most of the past decade. Reversion to the mean is a great long term concept but a tough short term trading strategy.

What, EXACTLY, prevents the ratio from going to 100:1?

Unless some country monetizes silver again, which looks unlikely now, why will the spread in the ratio now suddenly reverse course? Just b.c. you want it to and placed your bets accordingly?

The only thing that I see might change is another country decides to take on the pharmaceutical cartel and allow silver to again become ubiquitous in medical applications. But, I won't hold either my breath or investment dollars until that wind changes direction...

6.6.10    How to Start in Coins as an Investment

(this is how I got started):

1. Begin with junk coins, bags of 100 or 1000 mercury dimes or walker halves, for example (focus on a series or two so your education hours are not watered down too much).

2. Now, your ‘investment’ is just the junk silver cost.  The downside is limited to a) fluctuation of bullion price.  Bullion has been in a 10-year uptrend.  This could end at any time, but there is still an intrinsic value nevertheless; and b) the spread, about 3-4%.  Hence, your downside risk is limited.

3. Look at EVERY ONE of the 100 or 1,000 or 10,000coins. Figure out which dates are more rare, learn the varieties in each date, understand the minting/coinage/metallurgy issues that influence/create varieties.

4. Now you have begun to learn the art of ‘cherry picking’.  Many of these varieties may sell at a premium in higher grades.  These, along side the better dates/mintmarks you pulled from the junk lots, provide upside to the investment WITH NO ADDITIONAL RISK, just an input of time (which creates another dividend called ‘education’).

5. When you have competency in one series, then expand your coin universe to other niches.

Most of all, have fun!

6.4.10    The New Jobs Numbers are Abysmal

Almost 95% of new jobs are Census jobs (and many of them are cooked up)

Yet dear leader is sufficiently alienated enough to declare this a victory, an economy that can only produce drones which spy into your personal like fits his vision of social progress.

6.3.10    How to Get Rid of Mold

This will be a growing problem as more of the crappy chinese wallboard blooms and festers.

The only way to kill mold in porous surfaces is by alternating ultra-violet (UV) and Ozone (O3) disinfecting treatments with Borax treatments.   The UV and O3 will kill mold while the borax surface treatment will prevent the mold colonies from expanding.   Reason you need to alternate the UV and O3 treatments is because the success is highly dependent on pH of the porous surface.   Hence, some treatments will be more successful than others which requires repetition and alternating disinfecting. 

BE CAREFUL, Borax is toxic and PETS like the taste.  (You may not be able to use this treatment).  The borax is a mold inhibitor and is used to prevent spread of colonies which can successfully spore.

Sometimes the best method to deal with a mold infestation is to move and ensure the new place is dehumidified.

Good news - you can kill mold colonies.

The bad news is that some mold SPORES are effectively good as eternal (you won’t kill 'em all).

When they opened pharohs tomb, dormant mold spores in there for millennia began to bloom with moisture from new air entering the tomb.

My suggestion for your consideration is throw away anything you can, and focus alternating UV/O3 disinfection only on what you really need to save. Keep everything segregated in airtight plastic so you can begin to isolate spores.  When you recognize something won’t clean up, probably too many spores – throw it away to prevent the spores from infecting what you might be able to actually clean.

[NOTE: There are some applications where you can either burn (full combustion) or deep freeze dry (with complete dewatering/desiccation) but this is effectively impractical for a household situation.]

[NOTE: You can kill spores with strong solvents, but these will basically destroy any porous surface except maybe some jewelry and other metals.  Even rocks such as limestone and marbles and karsts are rather soluble/porous].

Furthermore, you need a really effective air purifier, not just a HEPA fan.  The cleaner MUST have at a minimum a GAC/ activated carbon component AND a UV lamp AND HEPA and most preferably an Ionizer.

6.1.10    We closed our short position on BP today. 

(Sold the news). Had a really nice run!

Today’s action on BP was based on POLITICAL grandstanding and populism, and not much else.  Moratorium on drilling, ‘get those responsible investigation’, blah blah blah window dressing for those that still believe there is a difference in the political parties.

For those trying to conduct FUNDAMENTAL or TECHNICAL analysis on this stock, good luck with that. There is a new field of stock price analysis called POLITICAL analysis. Frankly, the political populism, cronyism and cult of pull trumps the real numbers.  That’s the downside when you, as a country, move away from rule of law.

Anyway, a bit on political stock analysis:

Politician Buy/Sell Indicator

http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_08/summers052710.html

Furthermore, much of the price action no longer is driven by the old standards of Price/Earnings PE/Growth, etc. because HUMANS no LONGER make the trades, computers do most the volume nowadays.

High frequency trading volume

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-frequency_trading

Anyone entering BP last week was a sucker trade, see how the price bounced right off the 13 Day EMA.  Momentum (political) play here trumps FA and TA.

What is actually most worrisome is the decline in stocks THROUGHOUT the sector; those not affected by the moratorium. Apache (APA:NYSE) is a great example. Look at the juicy fundamentals and technical’s on THAT bird. Wooo.  Setting up a potentially nice buy here if you can get in a little cheaper, hopefully upper $70’s.  Look for support near $75 (a complete Fibonacci 50% retracement of the move from the lows in last July to the high last month).  Look at the 300 D EMA as major resistance.  Probably will find major resistance around 98$, which is where the 20D EMA sliced the 300D EMA support and where the 50D EMA will test the 300D EMA.

Yes, even the Political pivot points will eventually face the math.  Of course, pivot points are nothing more than societal constructs themselves (now adopted by mechanized trading platforms).

Funny stuff!

5.30.10    Remember the Heroes

Many heroes never wore a uniform.

5.30.10    Dispersant Used in Gulf: Corexit

http://www.epa.gov/oem/content/ncp/products/corex952.htm

The PLUME is there because the DISPERSANTS are working as designed.

How Do Dispersants Work?

How do oil and water mix? Not very well.  However, I be you have used some 'Italian' salad dressing (water soluble vinegar and non-water-soluble oil).  Note that due to specific gravity, the oil floats on the vinegar (or water).

Before using the dressing, you shake well.

This physical action DOES NOT:

- change the composition of the dressing;

- change the chemical characteristics of vegetable oil or vinegar (including the specific gravity)

Thy physical action DOES 'disperse', or spread around the heterogenous mixture more evenly within a closed system.  So now, instead of all the oil at the top, the homogenous oil sheen has been broken up into droplets, surrounded by vinegar.  Same concept with oil (a series of hydrocarbons of various lenghts from CH4 to CH 28, more or less) in water (ocean).

Dispersants work by creating emulsions.  An emulsion is a a suspension of one liquid in another. You can suspend solvents in a water when separated by differences in cohesion constants.  This is what the dispersant does. The corexit surrounds and dispels clumps of oil initially (and individual oil molecules eventually) and forces them apart. This is intended to create more surface area around each individual oil molecule. When the oil molecules are separated from each other, and surrounded by water, then the microbes (bugs) will eat the oil molecule as food.  True!

Nalco produces Corexit

The exact formulation is a trade secret, but the product is simply a combination of SOLVENTS and SURFACTANTS

The solvents will ABSORB hydrocarbons while the SURFACTANTS will ADSORB (a different work, note the d) hydrocarbons.

A solvent, another hydrocarbon chain, will absorb other hydrocarbons into on homogenous (sort of) mixture.

You know surfactants more commonly as 'soap'.  The surfactant surrounds (absorb) each individual oil molecule and SEPARATES it from all of it's other oil molecule friends.

A surfactant has a hydrophilic (water-seeking) chemical chain on one end of the compound and an oleophilic (oil-seeking) compound on the other end.  This allows each compound to stack upon each other like aligned magnets.   One end of the compound is attracted to the other.  Water works this way, too.  The surface tension between individual water molecules determines the  exact orientation of the water body.   Surfactants grab the oil molecule by the arm and the water molecule by the leg, keeping each separate like a parent referee breaking up a fight by two kids acting like kids.  It is the difference in surface tension (which can be manipulated) that changes the compounds orientation to each other (degree of separation)

The DISPERSANT WORKS and CREATES the 'PLUME' by design.  Oil molecules are physically separated from each other so that the microbes will begin to break them down.

A microbe is the smallest being that can be measured (so far) that has the required suite of chemicals necessary to conduct and replicate all life processes.  These microbes, no more than one-micron in size (and some smaller) possess the necessary enzymes to break down oil and other organic matter

If you have understood that so far, keep reading:

Absorption means that the one substance has fully entered (internal phase) into another.  Really, it is a physical process whereby one molecule 'sticks' to another.

The dispersant absorbs through the functions of colloid chemistry. A colloid is simply a homogeous  mixture of two liquid state compounds. 

The salad dressing started out at heterogeneous, oil floated on water.  By shaking up the bottle, you are using PHYSICAL energy to drive apart the layers, creating a now homogenous mixture of two separate compounds.  Colloids are physically separated compounds evenly spread throughout another liquid compound.  The dispersant actually drives these small units of oil away from each other, further down in the water column, creating the 'plume'.

The dispersant's surfactant chemical and physical properties are father aided (actually, dwarfed by) the oceans chemical and physical properties.  As this great energy drives apart the medium from each other, in a continuous phase, you now have another degree of separated colloids knows as a DISPERSED medium.

The ocean constantly churns the water column through advective and chemical processes.  In turn, this also drives apart the oil compounds.  This is a good thing.  The surfactants will eventually break apart.  Since the lighter hydrocarbon compounds (e.g. benzene) are now gone (they break off the molecule more easily and were also adsorbed by the solvents) and the oils will eventually combine again, through physical mixing and churning, into tar balls.  These balls then can by mechanically removed off a beach surface. 

That is basically how it works folks.

(for my fellow remedial scientists - yes, I know - some implications were presented for the lay person)

Hope this helps.

5.30.10    NALCO (ticker symbol: NLC)

Try to drive the snow back to virgin, it is inorexably contaminated by chemicals.  Dioxin is present throughout the world in parts per trillion, should one believe the literature.

POLITICS drive the equities. The decisions and policy determine which group of favored criminals benefit from public policy.

Look at that NLC chart.  Variable as a teenage girl.  You can plot the highs and lows DIRECTLY to the way the political winds blew regarding should/could dispersants be used on the oil spill.

We might like to think that WE control our economic fate in the equity markets by knowledge, discipline, slight, diligence, and sheer determination.

That was true when the equity market existed, unimpaired.   Now, just a casino.  Right or wrong.  (Computer driven trade on AMEX now exceeds investor-placed orders).

One can make the case with five hundred other ticker symbols plotted against the political vagaries.

Thankfully, some markets are larger than political machinations (Presidents Working Group on Markets - The "Plunger Team" established after the 1987 crash to prop up the stock market).

One can still build true equity in tangible assets and real estate via diligence, ingenuity and sweat.

5.29.10    Twitter Trends Map

http://trendsmap.com/

5.29.10    For the Hardcore Doom and Gloomers of which I am not one)

A minor treatise

Why do the hardcore doom and gloomers never allow that the collapse may not be universal, and that there may be pockets of collapse, and beneficiaries elsewhere.

Fact is there are very few ubiquitous collapses in written history.  For example, plague/middle ages in Europe benefitted Arabic cultures.  Collapse of Ottoman Empire benefitted central Europe.  Etc.

Sure Roman empire collapsed. SO WHAT! Italy has had over 40 governments since end WWII.  Rome has only improved, STILL one of the most vibrant/alive/relevant cities for 2,000 years running.

Now, you could say the last MAJOR collapse wiped out written history before 9,000 b.c

For instance, Plato wrote of the destruction of Atlantis by her technology used unwisely (and he was not a fiction writer elsewhere).

Nevertheless, where is your cognizance that even the Americans have begun to awake in the past several years?

-          Most US was dead asleep during the ‘good’ years of Reagan/bush1/Clinton. Now MANY understand the existence of the shadow government. Look at the outrage against the major parties, even by those who still support such. Look at the rise of the independents, etc

-          What about the neo-survival movement, back to basics, frugality, belt-tightening, green energy demand?  People do change, sometimes for the better.

-           What the doomers consider ‘paper-overing’ by the Powers That Be, throurgh mass printing of fiat to stave off economic collapse, may in fact be eclipsed by a change in mindset by the populace. Folks are creative and adaptable. That has been the history I have read.

Fact is, our country is on better footing now in many respects than we were 5, 10, 20, or 20 years ago.

I am in better shape now than ever before, there are many others on similar tangents.

Why deny the pockets of improvement?

[p.s. boiling weeds takes a lot of energy. That energy better served by stocking away PROTEIN, which is what becomes real scarce real quick-like.]

5.28.10    Is the Mississippi Canyon Oil Disaster a Biblical Event?

http://sites.google.com/site/gulfcrisisobservations/

Kinda interesting...

After careful consideration, I've come to the conclusion that if we blow the nuke at the well, it will solve one problem. If we blow the nuke in DC it will solve MORE THAN ONE PROBLEM.

Of course, other problems will be created either way, but so what. That is the beauty of a 180 day event horizon used by our world leaders.

eom

5.28.10    Oil Spill Portfolio

The numbered bullets were my thoughts/suggestions/ideas for the oil spill play on May3rd.  Commentary below the bullets written today.

1. Invest in Dawn (Proctor Gamble -PG)

PG went immediately up, but came back to where is was on May 3.

2. BP is down 15%.  Buy the bad news? Haliburton/WEL also immediate plays.

BP is now down just 10%, and half of that was on today's action alone.

3. Who will SUPPLY the FOOD for all the cleanup crews on the south coast? Get a part of that.

SYY is flat, MCD is down 5%, YUM is up about 5%.  This was against the backdrop of the worst May equity performance in several decades.

4. Increased government and BP contracts for the typical hazmat response firms, especially those in SE USA.

VE is down 5%, CLH up 5%

5. Will Price of Oil go up or down? What about the substitutes? Make a play on both the underlying substituted commodity (e.g. play nat gas via ETF UNG) or buy the solar/nuclear equipment manufacturers.

UNG up 8%

6. Consultants will get a payday heyday.  Both the big firms that do env response design (URS, TTEK, Bechtel, CH2M etc)

URS down 9%, TTEK is flat, of course Bechtel and CH2M are privately held, but the industry ETF: FLM is flat.

7. Who makes the booms, pads, pigs, nitrile gloves, scrubbers and other gear (hint Dupont makes TYVEK! )

 Just a few ideas for your further rumination…

Dupont (DD) is up about 8%.

Overall, not bad performances within what has otherwise been a very poor equity market this month.

5.23.10    More Stock Buy/Sell Ideas

LHCG @30.31

Veolia (VE) is a BUY @ 25.97

[As of last week there is only one Class-I Hazardous waste Facility left in the State of California). Beginning last year there were three left. In 1986 there were 23!

JUST ONE LEFT! VE (facility in S. Oregon) will be a beneficiary of the quagmire (until waste management pays off whatever politician sunk the permit at Kettlemen City). American Ecology in Beatty, Nv another beneficiary]

Northern Tiger Resources NTR-V @ .20

Buy Siemens (SI) on pullback

SELL Half Position of AEM and MFB

Sell all GFI

5.19.10    Went Long LLEN under $9.50

Lots of hot money chasers and traders pumped this dolly full of hot air when it was trading at 12 and 13 just a couple weeks ago.

Now I'll begin to buy what they're selling scared.

And I'll share a secret with you posted NOWHERE else.

Chinese just signed financing on an Iron Ore deposit in middle Nevada several days ago.  They will build a $50 million dollar mine where currently there is, literally, nothing.  In fact, their Title I design requires power infrastructure that doesn't even yet exist.  True that.

5.19.10    Alexa Steele podcast on Kco

Looks like she had a rough night.  

Do believe the periwinkle blouse means neutral rhodium whilst the left leg crossed over the right one means go long GLD with a 3% stop. 

However, possibly mixed signals here.

Must do a more in depth study...

5.19.10            Bought back GLD in Coverdell#1
What a difference a day makes!
More pull to 1165 than 1315, but interesting enough to take a seat at the ring.

5.18.10    Sold GLD in Coverdell Account #1

@119.21

Had bought this position @ 733 do believe.

Either the seasonal begin to kick in (with metals headed lower),
or i will have to get back in

still long boatloads (ok, mini-subs) GDX, HUI, SLV 15 miners in trading and Roth accts.

 AND, just bought DBA.

5.18.10    And yes, the oil spill certainly will affect US gold production…

… in ways not currently ascertained. The MMS sister agency, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), plays a major permitting role in most all US mining precious metal operations.  Don’t think for a moment that the scrutiny currently heaped on MMS graft fraud and waste won’t result in more ‘regulations to protect the earth’.  Should each of these operations now require an Environmental Impact Statement instead of the current Env. Assessment under NEPA, costs will rise significantly for US mining operations.

Moreover, the psychological impact of the spill, and the clockwork  pol refrain to increase a revenue tax so the resource extracting sector ‘pays its fair share’ will only underscore serious efforts in Australia and Nevada to dramatically increase miner’s revenue. 

Of course, instead of complaining about the gold vs non gold post ratio, you could have posted something useful regarding the sector.  There is always that opportunity.

5.14.10    Continued Fraud, Waste, and Abuse at the Minerals Management Service

The administration rubber stamps drilling permits, sometimes allowing drilling before the permit is even done. 

So says the NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/us/14agency.html

Gee, that is exactly what the internal investigation found LAST YEAR. Guess what the administration did then?

NOTHING!!!

5.14.10    Nobody ever makes the point, so allow me:

The 1980 spike in Price of Gold (POG) was the first leg.

Something I NEVER see anyone mention is thus:

The rise from $35 in 1971 to 2nd Primary Wave Low in 1999 (at $255) is basically an order of magnitude move in 30 years.

The previous time required for prices to move an order of magnitude in the gold as money era (as measured by price of hourly wages, homes and automobiles, primarily) was 40 years. (1930 to 1970).

So, it took 40 years for the price of stuff to move up 10x.  It took 30 years for the next 10x move (a house cost 30k in 1970 cost 300 in 2000; a car cost 3k in 1970 cost 30k in 2000).

Very well could happen, the next order of magnitude will only take 20 years.

2000 to 2020.

Here is a comparison of the most recent large bull markets over the past 30 years:

http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-putting-the-gold-rally-in-context-with-prior-secular-bull-markets-2010-5

Note two very important items within those bar charts:

1. The gold bull described above (1971 to 1980) is not even mentioned, and

2. The Bond bull is the ONLY one that hasn't crashed (YET!)

5.14.10    Sold Half of B2Gold Today

Around 1.73. Stock chart looking crappy.

5.13.10    1^st hand account of BP blowout

http://www.rigzone.com//news/article.asp?a_id=92765

5.12.10    Went long QID

...this morning. Timed it well, through luck and circumstance.

5.11.10    Head of Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (NDEP), Allen Biaggi, retires

30 Years worth.  Nice guy, known for being respectful and full of integrity. Rather young still, wonder why he wants out now??...??

http://www.dcnr.nv.gov/2010/03/biaggi-announces-retirement/

NDEP functions as one of the major permitting bodies for new and existing mines in the State of Nevada.

Here is a list of the minimum permits required for new, operational or abandoned mines:

http://minerals.state.nv.us/forms/mining/SPL6_StAndFedPermitsRequired_200907_V2.pdf

Fact is, it can take up to a year for some of these permits to work their way through the state and public processes.

Better timeframes require the permittee understand the process, the basic resources, the environmental and safety aspects of mining operations, the issues of concern that arise from resource 'taking', the socio-economic factors impacted by resource development, the technical aspects of mining development and operation, and the permitting and public review process.  Few are those that can handle every one of these regulatory slices.

The most effective and efficient timeline requires that each of these separate permits be phases such that they aid and assist, rather than hinder, each other.

Any one of the permitting requirements can take on a life of their own, full of idiosyncrasies and challenges and quests none can imagine upon inception.

Your property might be a great resource, but if the minerals lie within ancestral homelands, as does Mount Tenabo, the fight could drag on long, expansive and expensive.

http://intercontinentalcry.org/court-denies-injunction-to-protect-mt-tenabo/

Your resource may have previously been considered economically viable, but how will that change due to new state grabs into the miners purse bags through increased mining revenue taxations?

http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Nevada_Mining_Tax_Measure_(2010)

5.7.10    Even an English Teacher can figure out Real Economics:

"Tomatoes and Cheap Labor

CHEAP TOMATOES?

This should make everyone think, be you Democrat, Republican or Independent

From a California school teacher - - -

"As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal
immigration, there are some things that you should be aware of:

I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language* department at a large *second language??
southern California high school which is designated a Title 1 school, should be the only
meaning that its students average lower socioeconomic and income levels. language
Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens ,
Huntington Park , etc., where these students are protesting, are also Title
1 schools.

Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch program. When I say
free breakfast, I'm not talking a glass of milk and roll -- but a full
breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a Marriott
proud. The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it
being dumped in the trash uneaten.

I estimate that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least
moderately overweight. About 75% or more DO have cell phones. The school
also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls (some as
young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to
arange for babysitters or having family watch their kids.

I was ordered to spend $700,000 on my department or risk losing
funding for the upcoming year even though there was little need for anything
my budget was already substantial. I ended up buying new computers for the
computer learning center, half of which, one month later, have been carved
with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and
grateful to have a free education in America ..

I have had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers
whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students, here in the
country less then 3 months, who raised so much hell with the female teachers
calling them "Putas" (whores) and throwing things, that the teachers were in
tears.

Free medical, free education, free food, free day care etc., etc, etc. Is
it any wonder they feel entitled to not only be in this country but to
demand rights, privileges and entitlements?

To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute
to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper and they
like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal
immigration and see the TRUE costs.

Higher insurance, medical facilities closing, higher medical costs, more
crime, lower standards of education in our schools, overcrowding, new
diseases etc., etc, etc. For me, I'll pay more for tomatoes.

Americans, We need to wake up.

It does, however, have everything to do with culture: It involves an
American third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts
children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15 and that refuses
to assimilate, and an American culture that has become so weak and worried
about "political correctness" that we don't have the will to do anything
about it.

CHEAP LABOR? Isn't that what the whole immigration issue is about?

Business doesn't want to pay a decent wage.

Consumers don't want expensive produce.

Government will tell you Americans don't want the jobs.

But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase "cheap labor" is a myth, a
farce, and a lie. There is no such thing as "cheap labor."

Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children. He takes
a job for $5.00 or 6.00/hour. At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no
income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return, he
gets an "earned income credit" of up to $3,200 free.

He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent.

He qualifies for food stamps.

He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care.

His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school.

He requires bilingual teachers and books.

He qualifies for relief from high energy bills.

If they are, or become, aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for SSI. If
qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicaid. All of this is at (our)
taxpayer's expense.

He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners
insurance.

Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material.

He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour in
benefits.

Working Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6..00/hour left after paying their bills and his.

Cheap labor? YEAH RIGHT!"

5.6.10    Turns out, not only are the anthropogenic global warming fanatics wrong,

there is now a clinical diagnosis for their compulsive, erratic and obsessive behaviors:

http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/psychiatry-congress/5/47523

5.5.10    The Collapse of Our Nation

i.e. Obamacare

Read it and weep...

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h3590enr.txt.pdf

5.5.10    Biggest Oil Spill ever will Destroy Wildlife Refuges and National Parks

Meanwhile, the head honchos for both national parks and wildlife refuges had better things to do then prepare the coast for an environmental onslaught.

They went river rafting, down the Grand Canyon.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/05/while-oil-slick-spread-interior-department-chief-of-staff-rafted-with-wife-in-grand-canyon-.html

And when that started to look in REAALLLY bad taste, even for lifer pols, the taxpayers paid the helicopter to pick them off the river and deposit them back into the limelight!

Good job guys!

5.4.10    Crestmont Research goes on a limb,

predicts a minimum of 0.50 bbp increase in fed funds rates within 6 mos!

http://www.crestmontresearch.com
 

5.4.10    BLM Nevada to put over 100 geothermal parcels on the auction block.

Live registered bids.

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/nv/minerals/geothermal.Par.68856.File.dat/GEOSalenotice%20finalz%20NOTICE.pdf

5.3.10    DOI pulls BP Safety and Environmental Record

That's right, the MMS (part of DOI) had planned on presenting BP a safety and environmental award this week!

Actually, the deep sea oil extraction sector HAS had a very good safety and environmental record over the past 30 years. Safety record rates are tracked by hours lost time per hours worked. The DEPARTMENT of INTERIOR has an INCREDIBLY POOR safety and environmental record. This DOI safety lost time record has historically been one of the worst in the administration, with safety losses MULTIPLES higher than the industries it regulates.

Try a little research before denigrating the honest men and women making a living supplying the petro and minerals you demand as an integral part of your daily life.

5.3.10    Remember this one, an oldy moldy, all the way from a WHOLE YEAR AGO?

MASSIVE FRAUD, THEFT, WASTE AND ABUSE AT DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE.

http://blogs.federaltimes.com/federal-times-blog/2009/01/28/salazar-to-visit-mms/

Ah, nothing to see here folks, just the bureaucrat/criminal class trading SEX and DRUGS for Mineral Leases and then MISSAPPEARING (Theft) the money for personal benefit.

You know, the ones 'regulating' BP operations in the Gulf.

Yep, we sure got a good deal on THAT one?

You know how many MMS folks were fired for this, by either administration?

Guess....

Here is comes....

000 ZERO 000 SERO 000 CERRO 000 ZERO 000 NADA 000 NILCH 000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

But don't worry, Salazar and cronies are RIGHT on TOP of the spills response, and getting paid by the hour, overtime, on your account.

Look what a great job they've done so far!

5.3.10    How to Make Money on the Oil Spill...

So, what ARE YOU GOING TO DO to get a piece of the pie?

Based on experience from the last oil spill in San Francisco Bay (Cosco Busan), there will be LOTS OF EASY money flowing from the admin and BP in the gulf.

What is your plan to siphon a bit off the top?

1. Invest in Dawn (the BEST oil spill dispersant, anywhere)

No, that is often a guess of the newbies.  The reality is that Proctor and Gamble are a VERY large consolidated materials conglomerate. Soap is a small piece of their pie. Moreover, there is ALWAYS an oil spill somewhere – so the actual amount of soap produced is not as you might think.  However, makers of ALTERNATIVE cleanup/remediation technoliges often get a shot in the arm.  One example last time was makers of cleanup absorbents made out of human and other animal hair (it actually works pretty well).

2. BP is down 15%.  Buy the bad news? Haliburton/WEL also immediate plays.

3. Who will SUPPLY the FOOD for all the cleanup crews on the south coast? Get a part of that.

4. Increased government and BP contracts for the typical hazmat response firms, especially those in SE USA.

5. Will Price of Oil go up or down? What about the substitutes? Make a play on both the underlying substituted commodity (e.g. play nat gas via ETF UNG) or buy the solar/nuclear equipment manufacturers.

6. Consultants will get a payday heyday.  Both the big firms that do env response design (URS, TT, Bechtel, CH2M etc)

7. Who makes the booms, pads, pigs, nitrile gloves, scrubbers and other gear (hint Dupont makes TYVEK! )

 Just a few ideas for your further rumination…

5.3.10    Oooh, oil spill recovery. THE ADMINISTRATION FINALLY CAME UP WITH A REAL JOBS PLAN!!!

5.3.10    Most folks in type-before-you-get-a-degree-or-understand-basic-principles-of-the-subject land

talking about the spill have no clue what they are blogging about.

The reality is you CAN plug a deep hole. BP will need to drill a series of wells (not just one that you hear in the corporate schmedia) that will tie into the existing tap.

Pressure is a function of volume. Increase the capacity of the delivery vessels and the volume decreases. At some point - though BP doesn't know it at the moment - the pressure will decrease to the point they can cap the well, via insertion of heavier than oil/water weighting agents (barium cement, for example) and blockers (layers of various urethane foams and plastic plates).
 

2.10    Essential Toolbox Contents

This is a great list, well a start...

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2009/02/17/12-essential-tools-for-a-toolbox/

...for beginners, anyway.

AND some very wise posts in this thread.

Please allow me to note:

Only one person mentioned a welder!! (semi-genius)

Only one person mentioned a puller!! (semi-genius)

Only one person mentioned solder !! (semi-genius)

[Solder now in the US cannot have lead. The new stuff doesn't really work]

NOBODY mentioned:

Basin wrench

Tap and Die set!!!

Drill bit sharpener

Hand Drill!!! (what will you do without power, eh?)

Drill bit extender

Deburrer

Pipe cutter

Metal detector

Metal (paint) scrapers

Rasp!!

hydraulic or scissors (or both) Jack

Block and tackle

House jack (seriously, you may need to lift a wall, or portion thereof, to repair a foundation)

...and I won't even start on about machine shop tools.

I have been gathering up tools for five years now at auctions, garage sales and estate sales.  (I started basic house rehab on the side).  Above are really rather basic and essential tools, nothing fancy.

Essentially, there is very little quality stuff made in north america anymore.  Almost anything I have bought from Asia in the past 10 years has been absolute garbage in fancy plastic packaging and a colorful label.

Thankfully for me I live in a town where the very old military base shut down.  The government workers would often steal tools, entire shops actually, and bring them home.  As the old men die off their foolish heirs sell the tools at a song.   Most of these tools made in Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit in the 1920s - 1940s STILL work.  I literally have broken 'tools' recently bought at Home Depot, Harbor Freight, Sears etc that have broke upon first usage!  Some of the older tools I have I don't know their usage, and I still can't find anyone who knows.  I have PERSONALLY witnessed 10 different men try to repair a boiler made in the 1960s.  Not only are decent tools getting scarce, but the *industrial knowledge* base in now fading.

Wish I had better news here. The bright side is some industrial arts co-ops are starting to form, to teach these lost crafts/arts.

Bottom line: Stock up NOW.  Some of these tools are starting to become rare, and even basic tools of high quality are getting scarce in some series.

5.1.10    2010 NorCal Coin Shows

http://home.earthlink.net/~beedon/calshows.htm

5.1.10    Makes Sense to Me

From one who voted for the Arizona legislation, why and how and who:

I'm Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen. I want to explain SB 1070 which I voted for and was just signed by Governor Jan Brewer. Rancher Rob Krantz was murdered by the drug cartel on his ranch a month ago. I participated in a senate hearing two weeks ago on the border violence, here is just some of the highlights from those who testified.

The people who live within 60 to 80 miles of the Arizona/Mexico Border have for years been terrorized and have pleaded for help to stop the daily invasion of humans who cross their property . One Rancher testified that 300 to 1200 people a DAY come across his ranch vandalizing his property, stealing his vehicles and property, cutting down his fences, and leaving trash. In the last two years he has found 17 dead bodies and two Koran bibles.

Another rancher testified that daily drugs are brought across his ranch in a military operation. A point man with a machine gun goes in front, 1/2 mile behind are the guards fully armed, 1/2 mile behind them are the drugs, behind the drugs 1/2 mile are more guards. These people are violent and they will kill anyone who gets in the way. This was not the only rancher we heard that day that talked about the drug trains.

One man told of two illegal's who came upon his property one shot in the back and the other in the arm by the drug runners who had forced them to carry the drugs and then shot them. Daily they listen to gun fire during the night it is not safe to leave his family alone on the ranch and they can't leave the ranch for fear of nothing being left when they come back.

The border patrol is not on the border. They have set up 60 miles away with check points that do nothing to stop the invasion. They are not allowed to use force in stopping anyone who is entering. They run around chasing them, if they get their hands on them then they can take them back across the border.

Federal prisons have over 35% illegal's and 20% of Arizona prisons are filled with illegal's. In the last few years 80% of our law enforcement that have been killed or wounded have been by an illegal.

The majority of people coming now are people we need to be worried about. The ranchers told us that they have seen a change in the people coming they are not just those who are looking for work and a better life.

The Federal Government has refused for years to do anything to help the border states. We have been over run and once they are here we have the burden of funding state services that they use. Education cost have been over a billion dollars. The healthcare cost billions of dollars. Our State is broke, $3.5 billion deficit and we have many serious decisions to make. One is that we do not have the money to care for any who are not here legally. It has to stop.


The border can be secured. We have the technology we have the ability to stop this invasion. We must know who is coming and they must come in an organized manner legally so that we can assimilate them into our population and protect the sovereignty of our country. We are a nation of laws. We have a responsibility to protect our citizens and to protect the integrity of our country and the government which we live under.

I would give amnesty today to many, but here is the problem, we dare not do this until the Border is secure. It will do no good to forgive them because thousands will come behind them and we will be over run to the point that there will no longer be the United States of America but a North American Union of open borders. I ask you what form of government will we live under?

How long will it be before we will be just like Mexico, Canada or any of the other Central American or South American countries? We have already lost our language, everything must be printed in Spanish also. We have already lost our history it is no longer taught in our schools. And we have lost our borders.

The leftist media has distorted what SB 1070 will do. It is not going to set up a Nazi Germany. Are you kidding. The ACLU and the leftist courts will do everything to protect those who are here illegally, but it was an effort to try and stop illegal's from setting up businesses, and employment, and receiving state services and give the ability to local law enforcement when there is probable cause like a traffic stop to determine if they are here legally. Federal law is very clear if you are here on a visa you must have your papers on you at all times. That is the law. In Arizona all you need to show you are a legal citizen is a driver license, MVD identification card, Native American Card, or a Military ID. This is what you need to vote, get a hunting license, etc.. So nothing new has been added to this law. No one is going to be stopped walking down the street etc... The Socialist who are in power in DC are angry because we dare try and do something and that something the Socialist wants us to do is just let them come. They want the "Transformation" to continue.

Maybe it is too late to save America. Maybe we are not worthy of freedom anymore. But as an elected official I must try to do what I can to protect our Constitutional Republic. Living in America is not a right just because you can walk across the border. Being an American is a responsibility and it comes by respecting and upholding the Constitution the law of our land which says what you must do to be a citizen of this country. Freedom is not free.

4.30.10    May Day, May Day

Obama appoints Janet Yellen to Fed Board of Governors.  She had been on the San Francisco Fed for years.  Her main accomplishment there was to oversee the complete collapse of the economies of Nevada and California.  Great job Janet, time for a promotion in the administration!!

4.30.10    hell, at least bush visited NOLA during Katrina

"nice job brownie!"
 

remember that one?
 

(Bush patting the incompetent bureaucrat on the back as the city drowned with fraud and disaster).

He should still be cleaning mold out of the 9th ward, would there be justice.

4.30.10    Major Environmental and Economic DISASTER

One of the Largest Oil Spills in Gulf Coast History.

Caused by an EXPLOSION of UNKNOWN reason.

But nope, not errorism, nope. Only white 'militia' and tea partiers and Muslims on airplanes are terrorist!!

During Cosco Busan in 2007, the coast guard swore up and down that 480 gallons leaked. They didn't change their story until the next morning, when they said it was over 50,000 gallons. The Coast Guard actually TURNED DOWN mutual aid request from Port of San Francisco emergency vessels during the first (critical) two hours of the spill.  The original Incident Commander WALKED OFF THE JOB!  The Rapid Response Team WAS GETTING BOMBED IN LAS VEGAS at the time and waltzed back.

You know how many govt officials were arrested, reprimanded or docked pay?

ZERO!

4.30.10    Don't worry, the government will send a team out to determine how the well and platform failed/blew up

in the gulf of Mexico.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/30/93216/obama-wont-back-off-drilling-plans.html

Hope they don't send the same one that 'investigated' WTC7, government-produced anthrax sent to the senate, flight 93, and the destruction of the banking system...

It's OK, I think OJ still has that crew on retainer looking for Nicole's 'real killer'

4.30.10    The Genesis Lake EIS has provisions for activities planned out until the year 2350.

240 years from now.  Our country isn't even that old.  The geologists and planners think out centuries.

The politicians think out until the next budget fight or election cycle, whichever is closer (nevermore than 12 months away). 

4.30.10    BLM, Elko District, Currently has three Environmental Impact Statements

Under public review for expansion of gold operations in the county.

http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/elko_field_office.html

Good stuff!

4.30.10    Bank robbery foisted by man with concealed weapon

http://www.rgj.com/article/20100430/NEWS/100430013

Gee, how come AP/MSN/CBSwestinghouse/NBC/ABCcapcities didn't break the story, much less carry the news...

4.30.10    Uh huh. Oil up another buck

But the geothermal and nat gas sells off…

4.30.10    As anyone who has participated on an oil spill response already knows...

There is no glory, press, or funding for actually PREVENTING the oil from hitting the shore.

The reality is the administrations NEEDS the oil to hit the land, so there is an ecological disaster, so that

...the camera crews are there in force

...the politicians have a nice photo op for grandstanding

...the government agencies get more pull in demanding 'additional federal funds' to prevent the next disaster

... the local agencies get 'cleanup' and 'restoration' monies

That's the way it works, from one who has been there.

4.29.10    Even Bill Clinton is a gold bug.

Just before the two minute mark billy goat lets the state secret slip: our country has been swimming around the toilet bowl since going off honest money.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/56731.html

No honest money = no honest politicians.

The power produces an aphrodisiac that requires constant higher doses. These doses are available only for the kingmakers, and they demand complete fealty and service.

Today the current puppet -in-chief enacted an executive directive lowering the flag, at some sites, for some two-bit political whore, now discarded.

He should have honored this honorable american who woke up, albeit late: John Farmer

From Publishers Weekly
 

"(John) Farmer, senior counsel to the 9/11 Commission, updates the commission's report in this thorough and bipartisan analysis. Drawing on newly declassified records and recent investigative reports from the departments of defense and transportation, the author concludes that the failure to detect and prevent the attack lay in the [bureaucratic] nature of modern government. ... Farmer faults the disconnect between decision-makers and operational employees, concluding that leadership was irrelevant on 9/11 and the official version of events was almost entirely, and inexplicably, untrue. ..."

 

4.28.10    Today, an inside day on the S&P 500

Means range bound action until it breaks either way.

4.25.10    Buckminster Fuller - One of America's Greatest Philosopher-Scientists

Should be mandatory reading for every american:
 

http://reactor-core.org/grunch-of-giants.html

4.24.10    Worth a Read, How Phases of the Moon affect Human Behaviors, including Investing and Stock Markets

http://lunar.behaviouralfinance.net/

4.23.10    What the new Financial Regulations mean

Goldman Sachs already has Obama working for them.

Now they want you to fund their risk mitigation division.

True story!

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/Goldman-rallies-for-Obama-in-Wall-Street-_reform_-90957879.html

Reality is we don't need new regulations, we need someone to enforce the multiple and myriad regulations on the books.

Problem here is the corrupt politicians don't have the spine and the administration is so corrupt that the 'regulators' spend more time surfing the internet for porn than they do building cases for prosecution.

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2010/04/23/2010-04-23_porn_among_daily_duties_of_top_sec_honchos_sez_report.html

NONE of those abusers was fired! Government efficiency on your behalf - prime example.

Quick, can you name 10 high profile prosecutions by the SEC over the past decade? How about ONE?

Nope, but I bet you heard about Elliot Spitzer...

So, now to turn that prime example of government efficiency to the healthcare fraud:

http://www.rgj.com/article/20100423/NEWS12/100423007/1004/news01/Report-says-Obama-s-health-care-will-cover-more-cost-more

4.21.10    The New Federal Reserve Note

http://www.newmoney.gov/newmoney/Default.aspx

Note the 'gold' 100 imprint.  The fed know that confidence in their fiat ponzi scheme is plummeting, so they grasp onto whatever shred of respectability and stability they think they can get past the public.  But the public ain't buying it anymore...

4.21.10    The World's Top Five Holders of GLD - the Gold mimic Exchange Traded Fund

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10731326/1/gold-etf-investors-influence-gold-price.html

4.21.10    Quadra Produces almost 50Million Ounces of Copper in ONE QUARTER.

Takes the entire state of Nv to produce that much gold in ONE YEAR.

http://miningquarterly.com/articles/2010/04/20/news/doc4bcde66480808503835317.txt

The most interesting part of the article is the last two paragraphs (by then most folks stop reading?)

Quadra working with Chinese Military to develop copper deposits.

So that they can develop ware materiel to use against us after we stop paying on our debt...

4.18.10    Gasoline costs up 41% over the year.   

But the March Consumer Price Index reports no inflation!

4.18.10    More Geothermal Investment in Northern Nevada

Vulcan Energy from Oregon invests in Fernley property:

http://www.rgj.com/article/20100418/NEWS/4180368

4.15.10    Tax Day

Is it going to the causes YOU support?

Sure, roads and bridges - right.

For every dollar spent on a  bridge, over $350 is spent on endless war, now lasting twice as long as WWII!

4.15.10    More on Hawaii Land Prices

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2010/04/08/local_news/local03.txt

Not even the decent parcels are selling.

4.13.10    Interesting Read

http://intheknow7.wordpress.com/2010/03/25/kissinger-palin-mengele-how-deep-does-the-rabbit-hole-go-monarch-mind-control-global-management-team-pt-1/

The videos of Meade and Spears go a little beyond infortainment...

4.12.10    BLM Trying to Decide/Public Meeting on American Flat Mill, Virginia City

The largest concrete mill (precious metals) in the US.

http://miningquarterly.com/articles/2010/04/12/news/doc4bc34cd5ce697901918622.txt

This was always a great place for a party. Take a mushroom and walk along the exposed walls 50 feet off the ground!

Ah the stupidity of youth.  A better shade of gold than the stupidity of middle age!

The Interior Department (BLM) received a cash infusion via the 'stimulus bull' to 'properly abandon' the many adits, mills, holes left scattered throughout the desert.

4.8.10    Chuck Prince and Bob Rubin dog and pony show.

These parasites were televised presenting their schtick to congress this week.  Fact is, the televised event of their indictment, public hearings and prosecution for fraud and treason would have provided the only meaningful inquiry.

While the plebes were disinformed by the 'news media' regarding the geometry of Monica's stained dress, Bob Rubin engineered the repeal of Glass Steagal Act - which directly contributed to the meltdown of the banking sector.

Further, he recommended that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac insure the packaged dreck foisted as Mortgage Backed Securities (alter to be known as Collateralized Debt Obligations; later to be called "Toxic Assets", now called packaged foistable dreck.

Moreover, after he did the dirty work for the clinton regime Bob was then hired as the 'risk advisor' for Citibank.  So what did Bob do?  Why, he recommended that Citibank tank on even MORE risk on JUNK mortgage bundles (now known as toxic assets) pushed by the new brokerage-banking houses (thanks to Graham/Leach/Rubin/Clinton). 

AIG, for it's part meanwhile, was writing insurance UNCAPITALIZED insurance against these assets ('synthetics').  This insurance was in place specifically to bailout the small banks that bet the wrong way on the mortgage pools.  What actually happened is that the meaningless insurance was put in place so that Goldman Sachs could SHORT the mortgage market ('credit default swaps').  GS was betting that the loans they were underwriting (the mortgage you were taking out on your dream house) were going to DEFAULT.

Goldman was right, your mortgage and financial health COLLAPSED.  And it was all engineered to happen by the same people who engineered the scheme.

Rubin and his friends should be doing life with our parole.

Who actually took accountability for the mortgage meltdown: NOBODY.

Who actually went to jail for the worst financial fraud scheme in written history: NOBODY

Think of the next time you get pulled over for a traffic ticket of fined for some b.s. bureaucratic infraction 

4.8.10    Great interview this morning by Bloomberg Radio this morning with Roger Lowenstein. 

Roger authored “The End Of Wall Street" and explained the financial crimes committed by wall street and the criminal senators with 'oversight'.

4.7.10    Chinese Coin Counterfeiting

Here is a good series of pics about a Chinese counterfeit coinage ring:

http://coins.about.com/od/worldcoins/ig/Chinese-Counterfeiting-Ring/

I've never once purchased something from China that wasn't a compete piece of crap...

Sure, America's morals are in decline and her fortunes are falling as a result.

But China?  Not like they've ever really had much going for them in the past 5,000 years.

Now they are in peak production, and cheap crap is the legacy they'll leave behind (for a shelf like of a few years anyway)

4.4.10    Nevada vs. Delaware LLC

Nevada still has no income taxes, but they are raising fees and taxes elsewhere.  For example there is now a $200 dollar fee on Nevada LLCs for a ‘business license’, on top of the previous filing fee.

Personally, I think Nevada is now cutting their throat.  All those folks that bought on the dream of a Nv LLC to somehow protect their businesses will eventually even migrate moreso to the better Delaware LLC.

Delaware series LLC is better than Nv LLC b.c. you can  safely hold more than one property in just one LLC, all protected from each other  Each  separate property is an individual series. They function similar to a subsidiary within other corporate formations. . 

In addition Nv is now considering taxing labor costs on services

Apparently Texas is now doing the same thing.

No free lunch.

 Especially when they regulate the soil, water and air; oversee what is organic and not; administer the poison and sewage poured on the crop; regulate the transportation of the food; inspect the packing plants; regulate the kitchen, oversee the staff serving the food, tax the business serving the meal; and then charge for the pleasure of tanking in some nourishment. 

The bureaucracy will eventually consume all oxygen in the room until we kill the parasite…

4.3.10    Remember the push for the 'Know Your Customer Act"

The one where they wanted to track every one of your financial transactions?

Well, what we really need is a "Know your Banker Act".

The one where you can track the criminals running the show.

Here's a start for you:

Troubled Banks

http://bankimplode.com/list/troubledbanks.htm

4.1.10    Looking for a technology to vacuum medium grained sand, sandstone parent.

We want to vacuum dredge (super sucker) in a four inch cone, if possible, up to depths of 20 feet and using sampling core of 15 feet; conducting metals analysis at two foot intervals.

Please do forward your latest field example report.

Most obliged.

4.1.10    Nevada Mining Tax increase on the fast track

http://miningquarterly.com/articles/2010/03/31/news/doc4bb3d3fcdb82b494628343.txt

When they start to amend your constitution to change the wording from a MAXIMUM tax rate to a MINIMUM tax rate, be afraid.

Be very afraid!

4.1.10    This is terrible! One of my favorite bars in the great state of Nv, CLOSED.

http://www.rgj.com/article/20100331/NEWS/100331054

Any of you who sat at the watering hole once held tight by Frank and boys, amid antler encrusted ceiling with a view over the deep blue azure knows exactly of what I bespeak.

4.1.10    The bestest most newest Gold Bug for our Viewing Pleasure

Forget Nadler at Kitco, we pegged his shill gig rightly.

The more important piece for analysis is one lovely Alex Stiele:

http://www.kitco.com/Exclusive-News/

Sure, she doesn't actually say ANYTHING in her four-second treatises, but it is HOW she says it that corrals my interest.

3.31.10    PCGS, the largest coin grading company, releases their super-hyped Secure-Shield product.

(Collectors Universe is the parent company)

Yawn.  Methinks PCGS just jumped the shark.

3.29.10    Iamgold Corp Started At Neutral By HSBC Securities 
Mar 29, 2010 08:42:36 (ET) - (END) Dow Jones Newswires

Now, how is it that a securities firm has enough interest to begin following a firm, but not enough interest to proffer an opinion on the companies fortunes one way or another?

hmm.... 

3.27.10    In 1923 the Bank of Nevada Savings and Trust Company

Paid 5% interest every 6 months on a 1,500 deposit.  The firm was established by mining magnate George Wingfield (still the company president in 1923) and was well capitalized at $140,.000.  At the time and in addition to healthy interest rates of return, banks would still send out Anniversary Greetings or Christmas cards to express grateful sentiment to all beneficent supporters.

Now, instead of thanking supporters, they rape 'consumers'.

3.27.10    Martin Armstrong's Latest

http://www.martinarmstrong.org/files/From-the-Hole-5-3-23-10.pdf

3.26.10    Went Short Japanese Yen

Sold GDX

3.26.10    Aetna Poses quarterly loss

But the big story is they were actually able to open a mine in California!

http://miningquarterly.com/articles/2010/03/26/news/doc4baceafc39fd8866389201.txt

3.26.10    Nice list of Geology Software

And they don't even have Runge, Netpath, Surfer, Vulcan etc...

http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/pubweb/~sainieid/software/software_list.shtml

3.26.10    Tungsten exposure causes leukemia?

interesting article and comments:

http://www.rgj.com/article/20100325/NEWS/100325041/Tungsten-remains-at-center-of-cancer-cluster-probe

3.26.10    California to Legalize Marijuana via ballot

About time (err, 50 years late actually).

Next ballot initiative in 2011 will overturn Prop 13. That will drive the boomer parasites to suck off another state medical system and allow the working families to finally buy housing at the historic 1.5 annual income ratio.

3.26.10    EUR/Germany/Greece SNAFU

Well, Yalta Conference was just about 65 years ago.  At the time the three big dicks, US/GB/Russia were arguing  about Greece. Russia said, go ahead US, you take em.  US said, no, you go ahead and take them, please. So, US/Russia foisted the bastard stepchild on GreatBritain/Germany. Stroke of genius, really.

 GB’s descent into totalitarian irrelevancy surprises many.  Germany is THE economic engine of Europe, as it has been for the better part of 400 years.  The problem NOW, is that Germany cannot escape its own shadow of the past 90 years. In the latest chapter of fetid  greek corruption Germany SHOULD have stepped up to the plate, at claimed EUR as their charge –sphere of control. Instead, they spoke out only for their own fadderland. This played right into the US/Russia ballgame of the past 65 years. Germany will accrue the debt and shoulder the spoils in gilted guilt.

 Major strategic misplay. And this amid a background of seriously shrinking GB and Israel. Germany had the ring in their grasp and settled for silver yet again; copper if it really wants.

 3.25.10    Trust Us, We the Regulators are to Keep YOU Honest

Chair of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board allegedly failed to disclose her husband is a lobbyist for water dischargers.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/03/22/90846/water-regulator-failed-to-disclose.html

3.24.10    Great Basin Mining Watch Attempts once again to Destroy Nevada Mining Industry

They are rather like acorn. Fail, go bankrupt, get booted and simply fold up chairs, change name, and re-appear with the same old agenda.

Like a fungus.

http://www.rgj.com/article/20100323/NEWS07/100323052

3.24.10    Great Financial Sector Heat Map

http://finviz.com/map3d.ashx

3.24.10    Why did Forced Health Registration Legislation Take so Long?

According to ranking member Dingell, it took that long to build an administrative platform meant to 'Control the People'.

Of course, that has been the goal all along, this and every other legislation passed in the past 100 years. 

3.23.10    Bought UNG at @7.46

Right AT a 52 week 50% retracement; down 25% from when I last sold.

In that same time period the geothermal producers (ORA, HTM) are also down sharply, again about 25%.

Against that decline in gas and geothermal price of oil is up 4 or 5%.

Beware of trying to catch a falling knife and all that...no major wager, majeure. Just a minor liner, miner.

Some of the discrepancy between nat gas, oil and geothermal lies squarely with next major US senate action: pass the Carbon Credit Scam.

Perhaps time to sell healthcare sector (which rose early yesterday against other sectors falling in price, and anchored the rise higher in DOW), because the certainty (sort of) in the medical/health care sector is now IN?  And the paired trade is sell the utilities and buy air monitoring equipment until that fix is IN?

3.23.10    Read and Understand

3.23.10    Against massive public outcry and bi-partisan opposition

Herr Obamao signs 'healthcare'

As predicted, they had to sign something - a piece of junk lined with mirrors.  Frankly, not much will change for me.

What actually happens?

- Those with absolutely nothing, no education, no ability or common sense, and infinitesimal odds of making something of theirselves (i.e. 'democrats) get 'free health care'.   That is, they must pay up to 2% of their gross income or face a penalty up to $2,000.  What actually happens is that they will pay the fine up until it is time to deliver a child out of wedlock and/or they face massive health care issues. AT that point they will sign up for the 'free program' and dump the system as soon as they are treated and/or give birth.

The quality of 'health care' they receive will increasingly become sub-standard, as better care is forced (and has been for some time) outside the system.

The state of Massachusetts has recently show the above examples to a tee.

Don't worry, there is something in there for 'republicans' too. The IRS will expand by a full army Division of tax 'collectors' to put your health data in a database, onto the 'Health ID card' which you must carry, and exert for tribute to the state. All under the 'penalty of law'.  Thankfully the IRS has always employed the bottom of the barrel.  The local office here has one Wackenhut guard, in his 60's, blind and near deaf.  Frankly, we would rather see the local group of incompetents live their live to their dreams. Ultimately they turn against each other any way - the demonstrated threat.

3.21.10    Good Article on Structural Unemployment

The 'Jobs' are not coming back, ever.

Of course, the article is only good and not great, because it flat out lies about the reasons for structural unemployment. Namely, this has all been engineered by your 'leaders' so that the poor will eventually tire of the 'ills of capitalism' and choose something else altogether - one world government.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/03/how-a-new-jobless-era-will-transform-america/7919/

The "Health Care Bill" and other garbage in the wings, viruses yet to be unfurled, will ensure that!

Time to rethink...many things.

3.20.10    Red Chip radio, interview of John Nadler of Kitco.com by Brad Klein.

Nadler calls the 'equilibrium price' in Price of Gold between 680-880.

He says the current 'price premium' is fear based.

Three years of fear?

Why stop now; outbreak of hope on the horizon?

3.17.10    Back from a couple weeks in HI. 

 State budget and private economy an absolute shambles from what I could tell/saw/was informed.  And I had believed IL/CA/NV/AL/PA were in trouble. 

 HI drought getting worse, not better. On top of that the state is actually getting involved in wastewater issues. HI has developed quite a bit more water regulation in just the last three years. Of course, the state is in it just for the check; not like there is much groundwater to actually regulate. The state would butcher water management anyway.  For proof, look at how poorly the natural resources have been managed by the state/homelands on Kahoolawe over the past couple hundred years (and the isles of Nihoa and Necker over the past 5000 years). 

 An enterprising sort of folk with a PE could make decent coinage by arbitraging the Underground Injection Control regulations against the state’s promulgation thereof.  HI has reciprocity on PE (engineer) stamps with other states.  $350 for a site visit, another $350 for a couple page stamped report. Two hours or so all-in.  Makes for some surfing time.

 During the whole trip Not Once did I hear a shred of financial radio.  No local radio at all – just import of the most base mass media over the airwaves.  Found HI local TV quite GOOD, but again nothing on the financial realm.

 Still, I was amazed how cheap property now is on Hawaii, Molokai and Maui.  None of that will help the local economy in the medium term. Long term how will the Isles develop a production-based local economy? Better hope the price of shipping across the ocean stays low; guess that’s an economic plan.  And of course, the new “Homeland” government should also streamline everything. (insert smiley winky face).

Though personally I imagine they will take the easy way out and allow gambling. Why produce anything (except more bad law and politicians) when you can coax the Asians to leave a few quid on the table!?!

 Maui does have a Winery

http://mauiwine.com/whites.html

 Of course, they must import about 80% of their grapes from California (they only have 25 acres of vineyard).

 Personally, I found their white’s from Pineapple a little sweet for my taste, though the blanc was serviceable. 

 And of course, Maui also had an Internment Camp

It’s just that very few of them ever heard about it.  You won’t see it mentioned by many reports on the subject by ‘the experts’.

http://en.allexperts.com/e/j/ja/japanese_american_internment.htm

But a few still remember the Internment Camp that was outside Pa'ia (Ha’iku plantation).  Even a smaller subset know that the Japanese actually fired on Maui in WWII.  Mama’s used to have a newspaper report of the incident posted on the bathroom wall but apparently the local Japanese historical revisionists were successful in removing such yellow press affronts.

 Maui doesn’t have a coin store that I could tell.  JM Coins out of Vancouver does appear to have a retail outlet to move local rocks to the tourist trade plying Lahaina.  The local paper dealer only had maps, no financial ephemera whatsoever. (HI financial paper is quite hard to come by in volume. The Hawaii’n are more vocal than literate and the paper suffers mightily from the black mold over time.  Best paper dealer in the Sandwich chain is on Kau’ai.

Had hoped to have a better scoping report this time around. (looked at land on Maui, Hawaii and Molokai), just wasn’t meant to be.

 I did find the Maui folks friendlier this time, not sure how that happened.  Suppose a decent depression helps dive away the hubris a bit. This time was able to drive along the coast from Kihei (last time the road was closed at Kipahulu). Frightenly beautiful and not near as crowded as the other roads.

 Overall a nice trip for the enjoyment and relaxation, just not as productive as I had hoped.  Perhaps anathema??? 

3.17.10    Colorado Ski Trip

Should’ve stayed local for the ski trip. Colorado snow was poor to moderate, though we did have some minor fresh powder.  Vail/Beaver Creek was crowded and conditions were poor.  Of course, locally Tahoe has had a banner year, some of the best snow on the continent from all sources, along with Utah.  You saw the misery Banff/Vancouver endured this year. Taos had been near dry. 

As a point in fact had a great afternoon on Ski Spooner outside Leadville. Better snow than vail and few people clogging the decent runs. Locals in Leadville set me up with the best rental equipment I ever had (right now I am down to just three pairs of cross country skis).

Had hoped to write up a blurb on the National Mining Museum in Leadville. Perhaps some year. WORTH THE TRIP, nuff said for today.

Pretty down too, did not expect to see the painted ladies (Victorian Houses, folks; other ladies moved on to ply their trade in Denver). Denver Mint tour also interesting, worth the time alone for the propaganda spewed by Treasury. Quite entertaining, actually. But SAVE YOUR DOLLARS for the SF Mint Next month; Scott is organizing another coin show at the Old SF Mint; the one last fall was a fan favorite, hence the redux.

Unfortunately the very bad drought on the Colorado Plateau will continue.   Colorado River will sink even lower, raising water and power costs on the west coast.  But even that lower river opens new possibilities. Believe one can now hike into the Hopi fortress from the Tanner trail. I understand this was not previously possible (and certainly did not appear easy when I went down the trail last March; even then the river was only 13,000 CFS – was 39,000 CFS ten years ago). 

Few months ago a water man from Hawai’I went down the length of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon STANDING on a long (paddle) board. First time this has been done in written history (okay, 300 years). The guy dedicated the journal to the fight for water rights by the indigenous everywhere.

Water, lock yours up NOW…

3.17.10    Metal.com

Just recently sold for $165,000

3.17.10    Regal Gold Coins

In our experience they've done everything the told us they would do.

http://www.regalgoldcoins.com/ Buy Gold Coins

For those considering a Rollover IRA might be worth giving them a call.

Great website too...

3.16.10    Very (really) Basic (beginning) Intro to Counterfeit Coin Detection - The Date:

http://www.ngccoin.com/news/viewarticle.aspx?NewsletterNewsArticleID=736

 In a related note, NGC (mercury’s preferred Coin Conservation Company) opens a Grading Office in Hong Kong. Now they can get the counterfeit slabs made using LOCAL examples…

3.17.10    Of course, the Chinese now counterfeiting Hawaiin Coinage

Do yourself a favor and peruse:

Hawaiian Coins, Token and Paper Money.  Maurice M. Gould & Kenneth Bressett. 1960 45 pgs

 …Before dropping a dime.

 3.16.10    Whoever Asked About Stained Currency,

Not easy to remove.  If the gunk is on the surface, you can use various treatments repeating solvent applications and steaming.  If the problem is truly a stain, you have a chemical issue.

Should the stain be very recent, the best choice is to freeze dry the paper (do not have the paper in the liquid phase whatsoever).  Use dry Ice (nitrogen) in a vacuum to enduce sublimation in the paper  (water in the paper goes form solid-state to vapor-state without every becoming a liquid.

There are more expensive freeze dry chambers that can be utilized but if the currency is actually worth something, suggest using one of the tope ‘conservation’ firms to slab/authenticate the piece.

 ON PAPER RESTORATION

 Perhaps you've entertained the idea of learning the ways of paper restoration and curation.  Here are a few subjects that would come in very helpful:

 Math (geometry and algebra)

Botany

Chemistry 1a

Chemistry 1b

Chemistry 1c

Atmospheric Science

Brief Organic

Metallurgy

Physical Chemistry or BioChemistry

Textiles, Dyes and Fabrics

Printing

LASER

Paper Artistry

Should obtaining a four year science degree not appear in your likely life path, you could simply focus on fixing a problem without necessarily understanding all the chemistry and physics underlying the problem.  For your edification here are but a few sample problems you will likely encounter with collectible paper:

Removal from facing, backings

Deacidification

pH adjustment

Removal of foxing and acid staining

Retouching

Alkaline and metal salt application 

Tape Removal

Stain removal

Hole, Rip and Tear Repair (Joining)

Archival Patches and Backing

Laser Use

Flood and Fire water damage

Paper Restoration Machinery

http://www.hua-stroefer.de/ge/g12/manchinery.pdf

Paper Restoration with LASER

http://www.artconservation.nl/content/doc/Final%20report%20section%206.pdf

Proper Paper Care 

Oils

Eucalyptus oil. Widely available in California and Australia; carried by some department and hardware stores.

Peanut butter to remove labels.

On nonporous surfaces (glossy paper, etc.) consider Neutrogena Sesame Body Oil.

Avon Skin So Soft is another product that removes certain gummy glues well.

Olive oil, especially for use on metal.

Solvents

WD40 removes labels off of metal well. Hairspray will remove many stickers.  As with all solvents, can leave a stain. 

Goof-Off works well on sticky paper backings. The same manufacturer also makes a product which removes labels from glass called Painters Pal. 

Citrus is an acidic solvent. Citrus based products such as  Goo Gone work well removing paper from wood.  This product is combustible.

Acetone has its applications, but it's such a highly flammable material that only specialists should use it. 

Tape

United Label [Unitedlabel.com] makes a product called "At-Tack" which feels like oil but won't leave residue.

Bestine can be found in art supply stores. Although both finicky and expensive, practice  will provide applications that prove very useful.  (Labels off newspapers, etc.) Use cotton, such a Q-tip to apply.

Scotch tape: Put over the unwanted sticker, press firmly, remove quickly.

A Good View on Paper Document Restoration Philosophy:

http://www.coxrail.com/restoration.htm

3.16.10 What’s up in Gulf of Aden?

Didn’t you hear that chick on CoasttoCoastAm two nights ago? She explained very carefully that HAARP accidentally opened a hole in the ozone layer and is letting in dark energy 4th dimensional beings in the general area! Explains everything!

She laid out a couple other nuggets, but don’t want to ruin the suspense in case you planned on listening to the podcast…

2.26.10    MERS Gets Neutered?

LANDMARK DECISION PROMISES MASSIVE RELIEF FOR HOMEOWNERS AND TROUBLE FOR BANKS
For OpEdNews: Ellen Brown - Writer

A landmark ruling in a recent Kansas Supreme Court case may have given millions of distressed homeowners the legal wedge they need to avoid foreclosure. In Landmark National Bank v. Kesler, 2009 Kan. LEXIS 834, the Kansas Supreme Court held that a nominee company called MERS has no right or standing to bring an action for foreclosure. MERS is an acronym for Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, a private company that registers mortgages electronically and tracks changes in ownership. The significance of the holding is that if MERS has no standing to foreclose, then nobody has standing to foreclose " on 60 million mortgages. That is the number of American mortgages currently reported to be held by MERS. Over half of all new U.S. residential mortgage loans are registered with MERS and recorded in its name. Holdings of the Kansas Supreme Court are not binding on the rest of the country, but they are dicta of which other courts take note; and the reasoning behind the decision is sound.

The rest at: http://www.opednews.com/articles/LANDMARK-DECISION-PROMISES-by-Ellen-Brown-090921-894.html
 

2.23.10    Canadian Premier Leaves Canada and Seeks Health Care in US

Pretty funny, and accurate.

Canadian Press. Tara Brautigam. 2.22.10

2.22.10    Let me google that for you.

The company finally comes out with a semi-useful app (the only one I've used so far):

http://lmgtfy.com/

2.23.10    As much as I love piling on...

Even I can't believe Toyota practiced their craft so poorly as to not put out a manufacturer bulleting rather than a forced position requiring another recall, this time of the Avalon.  Are there ANY Toyotas not recalled in the past 24 months?

2.17.10    Great Site that Documents Inflations Past

http://goldnews.bullionvault.com/inflation_history_Zimbabwe_USA_101620073

The big one hasn't yet hit, get prepared now...

(and the big one may well be an even worse spell of deflation than we have just experienced!)

2.14.10    Global Warming Fracas Continues to Unravel

IPCC Pushed Known Falsehoods as part of their propaganda campaign:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/7231386/African-crops-yield-another-catastrophe-for-the-IPCC.html
 

Supposed Data that showed Anthropogenic Global Warming in now 'Lost'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1250872/Climategate-U-turn-Astonishment-scientist-centre-global-warming-email-row-admits-data-organised.html

2.14.10 mmmmm

Chocolate covered strawberries!

2.12.10    Nevada Geothermal Sector

Ram Power, of Reno, signs 20 year production deal with NV Energy.

http://www.rgj.com/article/20100210/BIZ/100210037/1071/NV-Energy-inks-power-purchase-agreement

Valuation in micro cap power companies must take into consideration their upline contracts. Just Wednesday NV energy announced a 20-year agreement with Ram Power Corporation of Reno, Nv. Now that adds stability to a revenue stream!  Anybody give you a 20 year guarantee lately?

One cannot conduct valuation only on production potential. A revenue is only as good as the forward looking P/E ratio.

That said, I am long Ormat and HTM.

2.9.10    Major Ruling to Shake up 60 Years of Nevada Water Rights

http://www.rgj.com/article/201002070920/NEWS07/100207004

And, a Decent Overview of the California Water War taking Shape

http://www.callawyer.com/story.cfm?eid=907321&evid=1

Even operation of the pumps is matter of federal oversight:

http://aquafornia.com/archives/20165

What a mess.  At least we have had a decent water year; that will stave off anarchy for another 24 months...

2.9.10    As the Nevada Economy Plummets

The scavengers look to grab whatever is left - Mining Tax Increase battle coming up next.

http://www.elkodaily.com/articles/2010/02/10/news/breaking_news/doc4b72e7531f384506353990.txt

All the fools that moved to Vegas in the last 6 years will vote in the tax, and won't stop until the last sector of the last industry leaves the state.

2.8.10    Toyota Finally cops to the garbage called a Prius

Acknowledges brake failures; a week after I posted about it here!

2.8.10    What the Grocery Store Looks Like After Three days

without deliveries

http://foodies.blogs.starnewsonline.com/12274/grocery-crisis-in-d-c/?tc=ar

Virginia, 2010 snow storm.

THAT PICTURE is the reason why you NEED to prepare now!

2.8.10    And the Press reports NOTHING

About the Large Scale Financial meetings between international bankers and Treasury Secretaries that have occurred in Switzerland and Australia over the past couple weeks. These meetings are developing the financial New World Order.  

2.4.10    Head Start Impact Study Final Report

The largest program in our public education proves a complete unmitigated disaster and waste of resources.  And none of the major new outlets will even urn the story!

http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2010/0121_head_start_whitehurst.aspx

2.3.10    Give money to family?

1^st They probably don’t really need it; and would rather take your money instead of actually work a second job/sell something/garage sale/pawn.

2^nd They probably don’t deserve it.  Did they already pawn/sell everything? Really, everything? Did they spend 85 hours last week trying to gain some extra income? I doubt it.  So that leaves CHARITY.

Charity does start at home.

But first go look at the children burn hospital in Galveston or Fresno or the children’s cancer unit at your local hospital.

And then figure out which family could really use a break...

2.3.10    Toyota Blows Another

Rising customer complaints about the brakes:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8495132.stm

You've gotta love the Toyota QA/QC department.  They're not having problems with the windshield wipers, or radio, or dome headlight.

Nope, the accelerator sticks and the brakes fail!

1.30.10    Compressed natural gas (CNG) DOES work for large scale transport

The largest civilian organization fleet in the US, the United States Postal Service, ran a fleet of almost 215,000 vehicles predominantly on CNG from 1979 through 1996. At that time they began phasing CNG out b.c.:
 

1) Gas was cheap
2) b.c. gas was cheap, the public and other commercial users began moving away from CNG.
3) the economy of scale was lost,
4) 2 of the 3 domestic manufactures of conversion kits closed up shop

Then the fools called Congress forced the ethanol production scam.

Now, the USPS is looking to re-tool the fleet back to variable or fixed alternative fuels.

Lessons learned from the previous 15 year operational history are that CNG does work and has about the same efficiency, cost and scale parameters as gasoline or diesel.
 

The major drawbacks of CNG are:

1. Increased flammability of the fuel and associated risks
2. Ford never quite perfected the upper end of the engine regarding suitability for transfer FROM gasoline to CNG. Service costs as a result remained high.

Right now Ford is producing some of the best cars on the planet, with a very strong management team.  Last I researched Nissan was the best overall car manufacturer but Ford was just a hair behind, in second place. (Toyota was no longer even in the top 5).

Ford only NOW should be up to the challenge to produce sound retrofit kits and/or CNG cars off the assembly line.

Those are operational facts.

1.27.10    Guess What Else is Prohibited

Getting your money out of Money Market Funds:

http://www.zerohedge.com/

1.27.10    State of the Union Address: Had me in Stitches

Funniest charade I've seen in quite some time!  My favorite part was when he said he would double US exports within five years!(*)

(* Subject to 'National Security Concerns)

That's right, NATIONAL SECURITY (crony contracts) trumps bilateral trade - you heard it straight from the horses ass.

In other words, see my post two below where the US Treasury Department is REFUSING INVESTMENT IN US MINES as a matter of policy.

And then they panned on the fugly-soul commissar.  Hey did you hear about how the guy working for TSA who planted white powder on an innocent bystander last week 'as a joke' was brought up on charges?

No,  Me neither...

1.27.10    Thousand of Toyota Car Customers Left Holding the Bag and in the Dark

http://wcbstv.com/consumer/toyota.recall.dealerships.2.1453416.html

Frankly, I am surprised how many tools actually still buy Toyota.  Just a cursory amount of decent research will show that this brand peaked years ago, and has been riding on outdated sense of quality ever since.   I don't plan on ever buying another one given the fiascos we had with our last one - a true piece of junk.

The last two cars we have purchased have been Nissan.  They have both been EXCELLENT cars, no problems at all. Our due diligence had us looking at Ford as a second choice, for both cars. Ford was just a little lower than Nissan when we looked in 2002 and 2006.  I have been looking again and hope to by a Ford next.  My favorite care so far was a Ford.

1.27.10    Toyota is also shutting down a US plant, ramping up this week

The NUMMI plant was a joint venture with that other giant of waste -GM. Large employer in Fremont, Ca. Drove by last Saturday and the place was on skeleton staff. This week they held an advance canning session captured on you tube. Showed ignorance on all sides.

Oh well, lost another major factory. No biggie. Kids today who become FEDERAL POLICE will not have to pay back their college loans according to dear leader this evening.

Who needs a factor job? Not nearly green/national security enough...

1.25.10    BIG PROBLEM in US Mining

Nobody is carrying this story, so I will...

There is not much domestic capital or credit available to small and midcap US mining companies. It takes large amounts of money to fund a company that has explored and discovered economic mining deposits and turn those deposits into a producing property. Mills and processing units require large amounts of power, water and CASH.

The Chinese have actively been buying up property in Nevada and have recently begun to fund producers.

One such line of credit was extended by the Chinese, to the tune of almost $300M USD, to the firm First Gold.

http://firstgoldcorp.com/default.asp

However, the US Treasury Department has DENIED the investment transaction based upon UNSPECIFIED ‘National Security’ concerns.

Nevada is in the midst of a depression (not a recession) based upon dozens of economic statistics and elementary analysis. Nevada needs increased employment and a decent tax base. The US needs to minimize its trade deficit with CHINA. One way to do this is to accept their cash (return of US Treasuries) to develop POWER and MINING Infrastructure. In turn the state and the US will be able to export physical gold to the highest bidder (which has been the Chinese for the past several years).

Do not allow domestic enemies in the US Treasury to derail domestic infrastructure and manufacturing.

Senator Harry Reid’s office is aware of this negative development but NEEDS TO HEAR from You.

Further, the Nevada Lieutenant Governor, Brian Krolicki, has worked to reverse this block against domestic gold production.  He is the one who signed the Memorandum of Agreement with the Chinese.

Brian also announced a Run against Harry Reid. At that point the Nevada Attorney general started an ’investigation’ against B. Krolicki. Of course the empty parade could only carry on for so long, and the NV AG has dropped the charade.

However, the damage has been done. The UST has not released the block against First Gold line of credit offered by the Chinese.

Let your UST representative and your Majority Leader, Senator Harry Reid, know that this unilateral action by the Treasury department is not supported by the citizenry.
 

1.24.10    Video of Market Street Streetcar, San Francisco, 1906 - couple days before the earthquake

Great video!

http://www.flixxy.com/san-francisco-1905-historical-footage.htm

1.23.10    San Jose Coin Show Today

San Jose Coin Club did a GREAT JOB with this show.

They heard the comments on the poor fairgrounds locale and did something to address the concerns.

T'was a nice location, albeit a little tight space-wise. When I arrived around 12:30 the walkways were packed and was hard to move around. Also, bourse manager – PLEASE put a little longer ramp over the electric wire bundles, a few older folks were obviously tripping over such.

Word was that though traffic was good, the dollars weren’t quite jumping out of pockets – not completely surprising. Met a new (to me) dealer from Saint Louis, Mark Reid; nice guy with some nice stuff I picked up at a great price (financial paper).

Also spent some time at Mac’s collectibles. Had never bought from them before and enjoyed the pleasant transaction with Dale. Other nice interactions and transactions, as always with Locke, Griffin, Braga and some of the other N.Cal regulars.

More positive props for Sal Falcone.  A great asset to the community; tried to convince a couple of us browsing his table to set up tables of our own next time (not that we could get a spot); so he offered consignment.  On top of that he remembered a coin (ok, a token) he sold me last time he now wants to buy back HIGHER. Now THAT doesn’t happen every day (at least to me).

[oh, Insert shameless plug here for next San Francisco Mint show in April].

One thing I did notice different this show versus all last year was reluctance to take some gold bullion I had in trade. Seems that folks who snapped up every fractional piece and salivated while doing so Last Year, now don’t want more bullion (and this after a healthy $1,000 correction which makes it more affordable.

Go figure...
 

1.23.10    Loss of American Factories

Stark reality

per Richard McCormack

Since 2001, the country has lost 42,400 factories, including 36 percent of factories that employ more than 1,000 workers (which declined from 1,479 to 947), and 38 percent of factories that employ between 500 and 999 employees (from 3,198 to 1,972). An additional 90,000 manufacturing companies are now at risk of going out of business.

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_plight_of_american_manufacturing

1.23.10    Obama Opens his Mouth on US Economy

His 'plans' send the stock market down large three days in a row...

1.23.10    Today 800$/oz USDollar is average production cost.

This serves as the floor, just like $250 USD was double floor.

Ca mines may be impacted by revision of California NPDES permit (clean water act); construction Notice of Intent.

Pretty onerous can of worms, that one, shifting responsibility from certified contractor to company official (prelude to a regulatory sector assault IMO)
 

1.23.10    Cartier Resources. 

Explorer/Property play, worth a very small speculative gamble on pullback to @ 0.22 (if it gets there) CDN IMO.

http://simulator.investopedia.com/stocks/c.ecr

10M CDN microcap; burn rate 40k winter to 160 k summer.

Not yet discussed anywhere...

1.23.10    Stillwater (SWC) Looks Stinky

Still overbought, MACD peaked, long way down to 50 Day EMA@10.25; sell volume declining but STILL over average volumes (three days running).

1.22.10    Bought HL @5.32

1.21.10    Important article - How the Fed Robbed the Middle Class Blind

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/scandal-albert-edwards-alleges-central-banks-were-complicit-robbing-middle-classes

1.19.10    Nice to see 1 Million Massachusetts Citizens piss on Teddy's Grave

A befitting tribute of legacy.  My sense is the guy who stopped leaving flowers and cognac at Edgar Allan Poe's grave after almost 50 years will start leaving the voting results and a Boston Globe Headline "Health Care Dead" on teddychappy's grave...

1.17.09    Went to the local Coin Store today

Shelves were rather bare.  Nobody buying OR selling coins.

Folks are holding out, keeping what they absolutely must and jettisoning the junk.

I picked up a little gold.

Been averaging up for 10 solid years now.  Still don't have enough, and gold still looks cheap.

Go figure.

1.17.10    Great to see 1million Mass citizens

piss on teddy's grave - a befitting tribute of legacy.

My sense is the guy who stopped leaving roses and cognac on Poe's grave will start leaving the voting results and Boston Globe headline "HealthCare Dead" on teddychappy's grave.

at least a start...
 

1.12.10    Today – There is No Federal Estate Tax

The Estate Tax Expired January 1^st.

Previously, there had been a 3.5 Million (7) United States Dollar (USD) exemption, per person, per estate.  So, if you and your wife have a 7 M estate (in a community property state), then you HAD 3.5M exempted from federal estate tax and she had 3.5M exempted so long as you had a properly drafted bypass (A=B) trust.  What actually had been the best strategy is that upon your death 3.5 million goes into the Bypass (B) portion of the estate, left for the benefit of your children.  Your wife then controls Part A of the trust, living on that 3.5 million (which, in turn, can be passed along to heirs).  Money above and beyond was taxable up to a maximum rate of 45%.

As of TODAY there is NO USDollar exemption.  You can die with 100M USD and not pay any tax.  However, don’t put antifreeze in papa’s oatmeal just yet.  There is very little likelihood that a US congress dedicated to lowering your standard of living will not provide some goofy ‘fix’ that reaches back retroactively.  The reality is when Congress is in session they will concoct whatever is best for their lobbyist friends; anything is possible, and the worse case scenario is the most probable. That is why there is an entire industry devoted to ‘tax preparation. The regulations were designed such that YOU must pay money to an industry to ‘properly file’ your taxes. That industry, in turn, provides kickbacks to the same crooks who write the impossible regulations.

As currently stands in regulation for 2011, according to existing regulations, the exemption will go to 1 Million (closer to 1.3M with fine print [step up in basis adjustments]) with a top cap of 55%.

Even more troubling is the sunset of previous guidance regarding step up in estate basis.  A complete mess brought to you by the same fools so actively working behind closed doors to ‘FIX’ health care for YOU!

In other words the rich get richer.

So:

-          Do you have more than 1.3M USD in assets?

-          Do you have an existing bypass trust

If so, time to fork over more ‘crooked congress tax’.

Bottom line: Do you have any money?

Good...

Give it to your masters (or don’t let them know you have any).

1.11.10    Are you converting an IRA into a ROTH IRA ('ROTH Conversion), maybe?

Maybe not a bad idea, maybe... 

(Or: Why the stock markets may face a major retraction in the next 24 months).

If you are converting 100k, for example, from a traditional IRA (and assuming relatively stable income history and claimed deductions) then that 100k is taxable.  However, the regulations are such that not all that 100k will hit your return this year as taxable income.  Some of that taxable income will be rolled back into 2011 and 2012.  Half is added to the 2011 income and the other half (50k in this example) hits the 2012 income return.  So, for those close to the 25% marginal income rate, this is an opportunity to minimize your taxable income for two years on part of that taxable income (the converted traditional IRA).

One potential drawback:

That 100k, in this example, rolled from the Traditional into the ROTH IRA is now fully characterized as 100k ROTH money.  What if, between now and the end of 2011 (or 2012), the 100k that you put into the ROTH IRA was entered into stock market (or bonds or whatever) and the stock market tanks?  Well what happens is this: Your account may go down in value, lets say down by 30% (such as was the case for may in 2008) and now your account is only worth 70k. How3ever, you still will have to pay taxes on that fully characterized 100k, even though you only have 70kleft!

Not far fetched at all, in fact you only need to go back 10 years to see that this was EXACTLY THE CASE with the last Traditional to ROTH window in 1998.  (At that time you could spread the rollover over four tax years).  Folks that ran 100k after the go-go stock market runup in the 1990s lost, in some cases, 40k in the 2000 NASDAQ crash.  So, they had to pay income tax on phantom gains.

Same as it was last couple years with folks who enacted short sales on their real estate.  Some folks could no longer make their mortgage payment on a 300k mortgage when the house was now only worth 200k. The bank accepts a short sale at 200k, and the IRS hit them with a bill for taxable income of 100k.

The law of unintended consequences.

Or, as some have pointed out: Just another scam engineered to separate you form you money and force your pawnage onto the largesse of the nanny state..

There is a strategic move here, file a tax extension so that you can push back your filing until the middle of October, after you have another six month window into stock market performance.

1.11.10    IRS Commissioner Does not understand IRS Code, uses Tax Preparer

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/75119-irs-commissioner-doesnt-file-his-own-taxes

The goal of any regulation is to make it so suspect, so complex, that the average person cannot understand. This provides the option for the bureaucracy to randomly charge anybody they choose (and not charge their allies).  I call this it the Tyranny of Random Enforcement.

Of course the Commissioner does not understand the IRS code, for that matter, neither does any most of his staff.

Depending which source you believe, the IRS interprets their own regulations incorrectly between 20% and 48% of the time:

http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa222.html

More penetrating, is the admission (only when caught) by the IRS Commissioners Boss, Mr. Tim Geitner (US Treasury Department head), that he did not pay required IRS tax.  Hey, why pay it if you cannot understand it?  Great precept (and a great precedent, Mr. Geitner).

In fact, do believe that precedent was developed by Hammurabi and followed by most courts of flaw on this planet for the last several hundred years.

Time to follow his lead?

1.10.10    Treasure Hunters Mega Show Gold Coast Jan. 22-30 1,000. Las Vegas, N.V

1.10.10    Gold, Peace and Prosperity

Written by the Hon. Ron Paul, M.D.

True more today than yesterday...

1.9.10    The euro ain't what it used to be (the 'never was')

Romanian family throws out shoes full of cash

(gypsies play w/ gypsies)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article/comments/view?f=/n/a/2010/01/06/international/i054759S16.DTL

and as usual, the comments are better than the story...

1.9.10    One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

Wasn't that long ago that gas, oil and mineral explorers would hit hot water on exploration wells.  They would cap it, move on, declaring a loss.

Now companies are coming in LOOKING for those hot water sources.

Be careful what you declare a loss.

Blue Mountain Geo-Thermal drilling a success

http://pangea.stanford.edu/ERE/pdf/IGAstandard/SGW/2008/melosh.pdf

Of course, there have been a lot of folks dumping land around Blue Mountain and Eugene Mountains in the last 18 months, as low as $250 acre.  Sand dunes and rock, mostly.

Get out under another pumper's cover, eh?

1.9.10    New Long Canyon results - AuEx hits one

"Fronteer Development Group on Wednesday announced new step-out drilling results show the strongest high-grade, oxide gold mineralization encountered to date at Long Canyon in Elko County.
 

AuEx stated that an updated resource estimate for Long Canyon is expected at the end of the first quarter, using results of the 2009 drilling campaign.

Vancouver-based Fronteer has an exploration office and warehouse in Elko and has two other advanced exploration projects in Nevada, Northumberland and Sandman.

Reno-based AuEx is also involved with Agnico-Eagle in another exploration project in the Pequop Mountains and with NuLegacy Gold at Wood Hills west of the Pequops, and has other exploration projects in the state."  — By Adella Harding
 

1.9.10    Pumpers: silver and silver miners

the lesser gurus and pontificators been pushing lil sister silver into this run.

'undervalued compared to gold'
'over performing in this correction vis a vis gold'

dumping the lesser quality onto the greater quantify of masses, while they rotate into white metals.

the smart money rotating out of white metals into water and energy production, conveyance and rights business.

MEANS of PRODUCTION.

same as it ever was...

1.9.10    This beautiful work of art is worth 8 minutes of your life.

pay attention at the beginning...

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=vOhf3OvRXKg

YouTube - Kseniya Simonova's Amazing Sand Drawing

1.9.10   GG muscles out ABX on El Morro.

Nice to see the majors begin to outbid each otherover existing properties.

They are investing forward. Miners can only develop certain properties. Unlike real estate where you can always develop some crap housing suburb over a garbage dump, fill, in the boonies etc.

Look for the energy transmission research, development and operations sector to boom over the next ten years.
 

Along those lines, environmental document out regarding El Paso energy proposal for a 1.5$ Billion pipeline to transport nat gas from Wyoming to Nv and Or.

My understanding is that per capita, Wy is actually the fastest growing state right now.  Will be interesting to see if the 10 census bears that out...

Indeed, the smart ones with a little cash are buying up real estate.

The smarter ones are buying up transmission providers.

The connected ones are swapping lesser parcels of land for those in Right of Way of future transmission lines.

The smartest ones have already bought out the water rights associated with those parcels (e.g. Nevada has a five year abandonment period).

The corrupt ones already had water rights 'given' to them via legislative fiat decree.

You can lookup your favorite N. American minor water rights here:

http://water.nv.gov/Water%20Rights/permitdb/permitdb_disclaimer.cfm?CFID=380493&CFTOKEN=33978264

It all comes out in the rinse and spin cycles, watch it go around...
 

1.9.10    A hearse delivering a body to a funeral caught fire Friday afternoon

when sparks from a front tire flattened in a collision sparked a blaze.

The driver was later arrested on suspicion of driving drunk.

http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_14156296

And you didn't think undertakers had a sense of humor!

1.8.10    Very happy w/ NGD and IAG

They both have developed good properties and turned into efficient and smart mid-tier producers. 

Exactly the sweet spot of the smart market (wild speculation notwithstanding).

1.8.10    Bought ORA @ 37.00

Triple bottom support short term.  Up 2% after hours (don't know why). Have not been in the stock for over 1 year (I prefer HTM).

Longer term, possibly in wave IV (down) with more downside to come.; long term trend support is all the down in the mid 20's.

Each of the previous two wave IV primaries have penetrated the 200 day EMA to the downside.

1.8.10    What the full body scanner Actually shows, vs. what the govt says it shows:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/46711.html

And you aren't outraged?

1.5.10    Must Reads

Some great stuff...

http://www.martinarmstrong.org/files/The-Decline-of-the-West-Has-Western-Society-Come-to-an-End-12-09.pdf

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2010/01/class-warfare.html

1.3.10    Don't Give up the Good Fight

Pharting against the wind – I don’t think so!

Prohibition

In early/mid 1980’s I and a few like minded souls campaigned against marijuana prohibition.  Partly b.c. I was a smoker (but knew I would eventually quit, which I mostly have) but MORESO b.c. I saw the ‘rules’ on prohibition allowed the govt to confiscate cars, houses and other assets for simple possession – an use those assts against the citizens.

I saw the song Reagan and the Rubes used ‘Just Say No’ to further the police state and limit personal freedom and responsibility.  AT the time, in Nevada, ANY measurable amount of THC was a FELONY.  The Reno PD would PLANT on someone to get a conviction/confiscate property.

At this point, the DA will no longer prosecute for possession. The NV vote for medical Marijuana was VERY close last time; prohibition will likely end next vote.

The tide turned.

I knew what I was up against at the time.  Myself and a very small band persevered, the tide turned, now victory is at hand.

Precious Metals

In the late 1990’s I, and a few like minded souls, pushed for gold as honest money and a method for preservation of property and liberty. Most provided blank stares, a few scoffed (especially during the most-recent housing ‘boom’).  Now the  people, in numbers not seen in generations, are turning to precious metals.

A Prepared Populace

Few years ago I, and a very small band of fellows, began pushing personal and community preparation (gold, guns, grub and WATER). Most laughed. Now the trend is known as the Prepper’s, having acolytes in every community.  In some stores WalMart has a preparation section. Folks are planting gardens, stocking away ammo, and otherwise PROVIDING for a COMMON DEFENSE against Domestic Enemies.

An Honest Electorate

I’ve been hounding the current Governor of Nv for 23 years now.  Few listened in the 80’s and believed what they needed. Now the fool is pilloried on all fronts. The populace learned the hard way, but they indeed are learning. Walked door to door for the Libertarians beginning in 1988.  Fact of the matter is R. Paul WON the Nv Caucus in 2008.

Citizenry are now nearing the point of putting his son in Congress, and near-honest men as Schiff.

Every tide has undercurrents and back eddies.

If you THINK you don’t make a difference, you probably don’t…

1.3.10    Of course, we’ve lost a few…

As of two weeks ago, there are no more slot machines in Northern Nevada that pay in silver dollars.  They pulled the last just before Christmas, had been losing $ with every payout.  As recently as 2002 there was a slot machine that paid bonus in gold coin (American Eagles)

1.3.10    A Sustainable Economy

Is a local economy.

New Balance still makes shoes in the US (some models)

1.2.10    The Spanish Established Potosi, Bolivia, to Mine Surrounding Silver Ores

By the time Potosi was only just 30 years old, it was the third largest city in the world, after London and Paris, supposedly.

1.2.10    Why Chertoff pushes the scanner

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/31/AR2009123101746.html

(Hint: He will make a buck off your half-naked grandmother cowering apostate in front of the security goons)

http://gawker.com/5437499/why-is-michael-chertoff-so-excited-about-full+body-scanners

Just imagine the garbage that 'big sis' will push once they shove aside her fat incompetent ass...

1.1.10    What Does Martin Armstrong Believe the year will hold?

http://www.contrahour.com/ItsJustTimeMartinArmstrong.pdf

Interesting as his March 2009 date basically served as the bottom pivot in the US equity markets. Reverse polarity?

1.10.10    Brimelow's report on worst 11 newsletter performances of 2009:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bottom-10-ok-11-letters-of-2009-2009-12-24

12.29.09    New Study: Percentage of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere has not increased in 160 years

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091230184221.htm

12.29.09    Interesting Blog

http://solari.com/blog/?p=2058

12.29.09    According to Plan: The Council of Rome

http://www.amazon.com/First-Global-Revolution-Report-Council/dp/0671711075

Things have mostly gone according to plan, if not exactly on schedule in 2009, as the Powers that be have designed:

-      Limits on population

-      A created ‘environmental problem’ which requires global governance

-      Enslavement of your children via unpayable US debt

-      A contrived reduction in the standard of living for western countries

12.29.09    Why the Cover up over the Christmas Day attempted bombing of flight 253?

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/12/flight_253_passenger_kurt_hask.html

So many distractions and evasions according to standard spin doctors and misinformation outlets - basically more cover for another clear false flag operation.

1. Why the discussion on CIA or TSA and NOT a discussion on the firm that supplies the security check at AMSTERDAM?

ICTS is that security firm historically responsible for security at Schiphol Airport . You know, the one that put the bomber son of a banker on the plane without a proper Visa:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091231/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_yemen_us_airliner_attack

So who is ICTS?

This article from 2003...
" AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2003 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD.  ICTS International NV has formed a partnership agreement with ICTS Europe Holdings BV, an unaffiliated company, to provide security services at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. The partnership - named ICTS Netherlands Airport Services - has been awarded two contracts. From:

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-96464654.html

2. BTW, ICTS was also responsible for security on the WTC flight.  What a coincidence!

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10001555/1/icts-ran-logan-checkpoint-from-which-one-of-the-hijacked-jets-that-crashed-into-nycs-twin-tower-departed.html

(Gee, you ever wonder why NOT ONE of the ‘mainstream’ news media printed this little fact? Nah, me neither…)

Funny this - Norman Mineta, former Secretary of Transportaion (and one of the lucky ones in the bunker with 'shooter' Cheney on 911).

http://www.ictseurope.com/press-releases/Press%20Release%20ICTS%20Europe%20Supervisory%20Board%20July%202009%20English.pdf
 

3.Napolitano’s first reaction is to confirm that the ‘system worked’.  Only later has she backtracked and covered up her original utterance.

Obviously a false sense of terror, repeatable false flag operations, and a cramp down on the citizen’s right to peacefully assemble and travel is exactly what the ‘system’ is designed to do.  Why?

Because it allows her to… 

4. Put in place (previously developed plans just waiting for a ‘trigger event’) to:

- Emplace full body scans

- Prevent citizens from moving about an air cabin to use the bathroom

- Expand the ‘no fly’ database, including more of your personal information (at your time and expense) to ‘prevent this from ever happening again’;

- Enhanced inspections at security checkpoints

- Increased pat-downs

- Increased bag searches

- More explosive detection canine teams

- More air marshals

- More behavioral detection officers; and of course

- Allow full body and cavity search on their personal whim

Which goes without saying:

- Allow Obama to state he will review the system so that “it can be strengthened”

Question: None of the existing measures worked. So why expand a fatally flawed system

Answer: The system is not designed to protect you, rather there are other drivers.

Desire to test that thesis?

Simply research the number of methods and materials that can cause an explosion aboard an airline that are not on a trained dog sniffers list and cannot be identified via a scanner.

There are many…

12.29.09    Bought GDX 

12.28.09    On the so-called 'financial transaction tax'

The increasingly common economically illiterate political foot soldiers increase the volume on their drone drumming for a financial transaction tax.

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/dec2009/gb20091221_709165.htm?campaign_id=rss_topStories

Of course, the seeds for such a tax transaction are already law.  They were sewn in the TARP bill. Why do you suppose so many banks are now falling over themselves to pay back the TARP funds?  Namely, they want out of the system, having just now read the fine print.  The idiots clamoring for the tax do no possess enough financial acumen to even comprehend what is already law!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125512957855977163.html

A bill has already been introduced in the house to expand the tax sphere:

http://www.greencompany.com/blog/index.php?postid=15

Basically, the rubes are doing everything they can to destroy the country.  First they destroyed the family farm in the 1970s and 1980's via environmental and tax regulations, pushing ownership of American food production into a handful of bioengineering and chemical manufacturing firms.  Then the forced the industrial economy out of the states with further draconian environmental regulations and 'free trade'. The only think left is the service industry, and government. Guess which will be the last one standing?

12.22.09    Peak Oil a problem? nah.

The larger problem facing geologists is that they were preceded by astronomers,

whose convention considers oxygen, silica, and almost everything else, a metal.
 

12.22.09    The Census Long Form.

 An acquaintance just received their long form in the mail and noted that failure to reply, or giving wrong answers, was a $5,000 fine.

 Why would you let the bureaucracy outsmart you? That is, why on earth would you feel bound to provide self-reported numbers that are 100% accurate?  One third of your responses could be near true, another third half-truths and the other third completely made up about your neighbor.

 Census does very little real data verification.  Very few qualified people work at Commerce Department.

 Here’s how it was explained to me when I worked for Commerce on the 2000 census.

 The manager told the surveyors that their function was to simply ask the questions and write down what the respondent said, without question or editorial. In other words, if someone responded “white”, even if they looked like Richard Pryor, than you checked the white box.

 Of course that manager, and everyone else I have met that worked for Commerce, regularly lied to the pint I never felt any of them could discern the truth, much less tried.

 My experience was that most the ‘data’ was made up in advance to support various political aims, and the actual census was just a formality.

 Now it worse than ever, given that bureaucracies tend toward corruption over time.

 They ALREADY have all that information on you and are using YOUR labor to either

A)    Qa/Qc their database, or

B)    Incriminate yourself.

 Let me ask you something.

 You ever pull your CLUE or APLUS score?

 Ever check to see what Intelius or ChoicPoint has on you?

And that’s just for starters...

How many people have you ever read about, much less heard of, much less actually known - that were successfully prosecuted by the Dept of Commerce for fibbing on a cenus form?

Remember, laws (codified regs and EOs) aren't made to be followed.

They are made to be selectively enforced, set an example and scare the rest.

Don't get scared.

Other wise - YES. The Dept of Commerce needs to be re-arranged, improved (dismantled).

Ask Ron Brown how it worked for him!

12.22.09    You Hear it and Think it True

Doesn’t mean it will always be true.

“You can only see two things from space” and “There were more trees 100 years ago” were both true statements at one time, the early 1980s, but are no longer true today.

Things change.

For instance, we have more satellites in space with better technology (cameras, imagery software).  More things are now visible. More has been built, also.

Trees are a little more complicated.  

In 1980 the statement was more likely true b.c. there was a HIGHER INTENSITY of USE in 1880 than in 1910.  The slopes of the Cascades and Sierra were practically deforested in many counties to support mining, railroading, city building and other industrial pursuits of the Manifest Destiny being fulfilled during the period of reconstruction and US industrialization between 1865 and 1895.

The modern practices of reforestation were not in place in 1880, but were in place this century.

So, there probably were more trees in 1910 than in 1880, the level of intensity dropped incredibly during those years, and has flatlined since. Which actually means there probably are NOTE  more trees now than 100 years, ago.

Furthermore, number of trees is not a great measure/metric/indicator.  You can’t compare different ordered forests with each other.  First generation growth is not the same as mature old growth.  And fact is, neither of those likely support a higher diversity than a middle aged forest.  More on Intensity of Use here:

http://phe.rockefeller.edu/Foresters_Lever/

12.22.09    We all have something to lose