New Applications Online - Google and Microsoft

Interested in the new apps coming your way? Worth the trip.

Top 10 Windows Live apps

Top 10 Google apps

Web 2.0 blog

The Truth Will Out

Finally, somebody who gets it (Thank you Sidney Blumenthal at Salon). The neocons want chaos in the Middle East....


"By secretly providing NSA intelligence to Israel and undermining the hapless Condi Rice, hardliners in the Bush administration are trying to widen the Middle East conflict to Iran and Syria, not stop it." Read article.

We Wanta Answer!

From the comments on GoldisMoney.info by Hatha Sunahara:

"I have been following the Leo Wanta stories for several months now, There is something wrong with this story. The numbers are just too big. They boggle the imagination. I assume that the people who came up with this story are getting a major laugh at how the story is being repeated without comment (uncritically) by an ever larger number of 'alternative press' outlets. It's a hoax.

Here's why I think it's a hoax.The 'Gross Domestic Product' of the entire USA in 2004, according to the World Bank was $11.7 trillion. This is everything the entire United States produces. Leo Wanta supposedly has $27.5 trillion. That is a value two and a half times the entire output of the USA. The US government's National Debt is now at a level of $8.5 trillion. Our national debt is unimaginably large, but it is real. The total World Output, as estimated by the CIA is around $55.5 trillion (http://www.geohive.com/global/geo.ph...p2&xsl=ec_gdp2)

So, Leo Wanta is in charge of a fund that contains the value of roughly one half of all of humanity's output for a whole year, and this has been 'secret' for 25 years and has just emerged now? Please, give me a break. The suggestion in the Leo Wanta story is that Ronald Reagan funded it with $27.5 trillion. Where did Reagan get that money?

Ok, if it isn't in the form of money, then what is in this fund? US Treasury bonds? The max on that is 8.2 trillion. So where does this fund have the money invested? Is it in 'bank deposits'? Certainly not deposited in the USA--the last time M3 was published in March it was not $27.5 trillion. Could it be in foreign banks? Maybe, but not likely. Could it be in 'derivatives'? It's possible, but again not likely.

It seems that there is not enough money in the entire world to support this story. So what should we make of this story? My theory is this. Leo Wanta lives in the vacuum of M3. The $27.5 trillion figure is to support an explanation at some future date for why we are having hyperinflation. Ronald Reagan printed up all the excess money and deposited it with Leo Wanta, and now Leo wants to 'give it back'.

This much money is a bomb that will destroy the world's money system. Aren't there any economists out there who are not shills for the powers that be? This is a CIA psy op. Everyone on this forum should be on their guard about this story. Don't believe any of it until there is hard evidence. Read the stories. Too many obfuscations and gloss-overs. It's crapola. Won't save the dollar, won't even delay the crash. My advice? Buy gold."

We Wanta Our Money!

This truely fits the bill for Astounding News. Bush and Company are preventing the release of almost 5 trillion dollars to the US treasury of a $70 trillion fund started by Reagan to crush the Soviet Financial system. You'll be amazed at what our government does these days. Thank you Mr. Wanta!

The first video camera I owned, in 1968, was a black and white studio model. It weighed about 30 pounds. With the “digital revolution” of the 70’s-90's, I knew this was coming but was delighted when I finally found it at Sam’s Club for $70. Color. Wireless. Contains its own battery. 2.4 GHz. Range up to 400 ft. I'll let you know how it tests out.

YouTube Mining

We are uploading. YouTube is getting over 60,000 new videos per day, and the talent is beginning to bubble to the surface. The "Face Vidies" (starting to move a little beyond webcam) are getting big. We don't need American Idol anymore.


If you are good enough, you can get found

This is Terra Naomi. In addition to having a wonderful voice and writing amazing lyrics (see below), she knows how to market herself. If you are a performer or aspiring to be one, check out her efforts - myspace, blogs, fan forum, youtube channel, and a new one, eventful. She has the new business model down, and she has my complete admiration for both her artistry and her mastery of the new media.

CLOSE TO YOUR HEAD

TODAY IS A VERY SPECIAL DAY
IT FEELS LIKE THE BEGINNING
OF SOMETHING MORE

AND WE ARE STANDING ON THE EDGE
OF ALL THAT WE’VE IMAGINED
IN LIVES BEFORE

KEEP IT UP THE STARS ARE CLOSE TO YOUR HEAD NOW
IT’S MAGICAL TIMES THAT WE LIVE IN
KEEP IT UP THE STARS ARE CLOSE TO YOUR HEAD NOW
IT’S MAGIC I TELL YOU IT’S HAPPENING

MY FRIENDS THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE AIR
IT’S NOT IMAGINATION
I SEE IT EVERYWHERE

A STATE IMPOSSIBLE TO FEIGN
SUSPENDED ANIMATION
THIS HOPE THAT WE RETAIN

KEEP IT UP THE STARS ARE CLOSE TO YOUR HEAD NOW
IT’S MAGICAL TIMES THAT WE LIVE IN
KEEP IT UP THE STARS ARE CLOSE TO YOUR HEAD NOW
IT’S MAGIC I TELL YOU IT’S HAPPENING

DON’T BE AFRAID FOR US
IT’S NOT TOO LATE FOR US
TO TAKE IT MAKE IT INTO
SOMETHING
WE CAN SAVE US

KEEP IT UP THE STARS ARE CLOSE TO YOUR HEAD NOW
IT’S MAGICAL TIMES THAT WE LIVE IN
KEEP IT UP THE STARS ARE CLOSE TO YOUR HEAD NOW
IT’S MAGIC I TELL YOU IT’S HAPPENING

I'm Channeling a Magnetic Bottle

Did I mention that I'm building a small collection of the videos I've produced over at YouTube. Check it out.

A sample (they are not all this irritating).

Greedy Guts

(Wait, have I used that title before?)

My first "career" was in the scientific/academic world. After 10 years I became disgusted with the rotten inards of that branch of human edeavor, its internal politics run amok and its integrity long-since sold off for government/pharma funding. By its very nature it tries to leach off of the thirst that young (all) people have for knowledge. Disgusting.

When I ventured into the world of corporations, whoa boy, much worse, as the Wiskey and Gunpowder guys (an interesting free newsletter BTW) point out. I sure wish I could back date my own stock options - I coulda made a lotta money dat way - duh!

“Erik Lie, a University of Iowa business professor whose work helped fuel regulatory inquiries into backdating, is expected to release fresh research this weekend showing anomalies that suggest a huge cohort of companies may have played games with their options grants. In his new research paper, which analyzes options prices and share movements, Dr. Lie estimates that 29% of the nearly 8,000 firms studied had backdated or otherwise manipulated grants to top executives at some point between 1996-2005.

“The paper, authored by Dr. Lie and Randall Heron of Indiana University’s business school, examined almost 40,000 grants during that period. It found evidence of manipulation involving 23% of those grants between 1996-2002, when a new rule required executives to report grants within two business days of receiving them -- making backdating far more difficult to achieve. Afterward, the number of suspicious grants dropped in half.

“‘This scandal is much bigger than what we currently are seeing in the media -- though it looks pretty big in the media,’ Dr. Lie says.” (read more)

Smack, Smack, Talking Shit

When I saw the video clip of Bush at the G8, slouched over chairs, stuffing his face with food while talking like a buffoon, and chewing with his mouth open, it started me thinking again about the mental condition of our President.

Ruth Lopez at BuzzFlash nails it.

"This is not normal behavior. Watch him closely sometime when he's having trouble staying coherent and you can see his eyes come in and out of focus. He does it at the table when Blair is speaking to him and he's looking out across the room as he chomps open-mouthed on his food. This is a distinct change from Bush's speech and behavior at other times. In fact, radical variations in his behavior and speech can be seen by watching him when he is unscripted. Sometimes he's coherent, other times he looks like staying coherent long enough to get a sentence out is almost beyond him, (these are the times he seems to get mean-drunk angry when anyone dares to question him), and sometimes he is just off-the-wall bizarre."

For a humorous take on the situation, check out Ze Frank’s video blog below.




the show with zefrank

Here Come Da Judge

It's a good thing that our congress voted in those new bankruptcy rules requiring that all of these poor shlumps take classes. Does anyone remember the Resolution Trust Corporation? Look for great real estate bargins in 3 - 5 years (if we make it that long).

Hello Sino Car

I'm guessing that we'd better get used to this kind of news. Maybe we should also start using their name for their country, Sino, instead of ours, China. We can keep the name china for our dishes.

CHINA DRIVES AHEAD WITH GREEN CAR
Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - FreeMarketNews.com

China's Chaoyue (meaning to surpass) No. 3 fuel cell driven car from Shanghai received four gold medals during the Michelin Challenge Bibendum 2006 being held in Paris in June. The four categories of winning class A is in carbon dioxide emissions, emissions, noise and fuel efficiency. The car only consumes 1.03 kg of hydrogen for 100 kilometers. - Peoples Daily

"Starting in 2001, China has decided to put electric car research and development at the top of the agenda of the 10th five year plan key scientific and technological projects. Special attention has been given to manufacturing, researching and developing electric cars, hybrid fuel cars and fuel cell cars."

Click Here For The Full Story

Yakkity Mogambo

I look forward to reading (and listening to, at eRadio on www.fmnn.com) Mogambo Guru's rant every week more than I used to look forward to the Weekly Reader in 3rd grade. This guy, Richard Daughty, can make you laugh while you are learning (with plenty of links to back it up) that unless you take action now (buy gold and/or silver) you are going to lose your shirt and the box it came in.

May I suggest that if you have any interest in your own welfare, you too will track him down.

"Yakety Yak, Don't Talk Back" The Coasters

"From Freedom to Fascism" - Must See Movie Trailer

Take 14 minutes out of your busy day. Caution - you may become aware!

Cute Furry Little Parasite Containers

Imagine if you went to the doctor and he told you that you had a parasite living in your body. Imagine that this parasite could infect your brain and change your behavior. Suppose it could make you adore cats.

Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but the chances are high (30 to 80% depending on where you live) that you do have the parasite toxoplasma gondii, and there is now evidence that it has evolved into a host behavior- changing little devil. Rats infected with it lose their fear of cats. This allows the parasite to more easily get back to its main host, cats.

And it may change the behavior of humans as well. Some evidence suggests that it may make women more “sex-kitten” like and men more “scruffy”. It may even be related to schizophrenia, and can cause madness in those with severely weakened immune systems, like those dying of AIDS. Pregnant women may have severely brain-damaged babies if they become infected for the first time while pregnant.

Isn’t this a strong argument for not having cats as pets? Cat feces may be loaded with the parasite eggs. Shouldn’t you at least get that cat box out of your kitchen? Or maybe your cat wants you to keep it there.

Maybe Technology Can Come to the Rescue After All

When “Peak Oil” discussions were all the rage, I often read the argument that “technology would ride to the rescue” in getting us weaned from the ever-diminishing supply of fossil fuels. Yeah, thinks I, dream on.

But now I’ve read about a new application of known but little used technology separating water into – not just hydrogen and oxygen, but a third gas, sometimes called Brown’s gas, which has a different atomic makeup. We refer to water as H20 signifying that 2 hydrogen atoms have connected to an oxygen atom. We could call this water molecule H-O-H.

This Brown’s gas is apparently H-H-O, a slightly different arrangement having to do with the valence of the electrons. This gas has really interesting properties.

1. It can be used in place of acetylene gas for cutting metals. It adjust automatically to the temperature needed to melt the metal, and can be used to melt disparate metals together. Apparently this is big news in the welding world.

2. It can be used as a fuel additive and increase the mileage of any gasoline burning engine by up to 50%.

3. It can be created from water under the hood of your car (after adding the appropriate not too expensive kit) with electricity created when you run your car. Add an extra quart of water and take off with an increase of 50% in your fuel efficiency.

I know this sounds like one of those “run your car on nothing” schemes but from reading the literature I have to say it sounds real. See for yourself.

"Little Man in the Canoe" Not So Little After All - Clitoris Finally Revealed

(Caution – if human anatomy scares you, you might not want to read this article.)

When I was about 8 years old I had a burning desire to understand the female anatomy. Although somewhat successful in getting little girls to “show me theirs”, I still couldn’t figure it out. It just looked like a slit. The one book on sex in my parent’s home (provided I think by the Lutheran church) spoke of a man and a woman loving each other and “laying down together”. Not nearly enough. I wanted pictures.

The local public library was my only hope, but the children’s books were in one section and the “adult” books in another. The entrance into the adult section was near the front where the librarian could watch and make sure no children got to the good stuff. I discovered a back route through the stacks which could get me there undetected.

Finally, and with great anticipation, I got my hands on an adult anatomy book and saw a drawing of the female genitals in cross-section. There I learned that the clitoris was a little bud hidden by labial folds. Not really much information, but it was a start.

When I finally began to get access to actual living clits, it still seemed a mystery. The clitoris seemed to be in a strange position to bring about maximum stimulation during vaginal intercourse.

During the sixties, it was a “hot” topic. Writers spoke of two types of female orgasm, clitoral and vaginal. Much was made of a “G” spot, somewhere inside, which only served to “deepen” the mystery.

But now, the truly ASTOUNDING NEWS. The “little man” (shouldn’t it be called “the little woman?) is just the top of a larger organ: “Inside, it's a much larger structure that wraps around the vagina and the urethra. The external 'head' is attached to a 'body', two 'arms', and a mass of erectile tissue, called the bulbs - which, like the penis, swell with blood when aroused.” Ah ha! Finally, the answer!

Isn't it amazing how biased toward males scientific research has been over the years? Apparently most of the anatomical information about the clitoris was gleaned by men from cadavers, and the connections between the clitoral parts was not known until 1998, and still seems not to be common knowledge.

Other articles report the use of the MRI to more fully reveal the secrets: "The clitoral unit formed a brightly enhancing, wishbone-shaped structure lying just anterior to the inverted V of the bulbs, which surrounded the urethra and vagina. The urethral complex had a target-like appearance with layers that were discernible on T1 post-contrast images. The urethra, vagina and rectum formed a distinct complex within uniformly enhancing soft tissue." (Emphasis mine).

Although this picture does not depict the internal connections to the clitoral body (the bulbs, which are inside), it may clear up some of the mystery for the uninformed.

This post is for educational purposes only. The bulbs are in the vestibule.

And finally, for those wishing a more detailed and illustrated examination, click here. And, most astounding of all, "In fact, when considered in its entirety, the clitoris may even be bigger than the penis."

Dollars, Dollars, Everywhere, and Not a One Worth Squat

Recall the hullabaloo resulting from Iran's announcement last summer that they were going to start an Iranian oil bourse (exchange) to conduct oil trade in Euros instead of US Dollars.

Iraq had infamously done this before and had suffered invasion. The conquering US immediately reversed the Iraqi policy.

The fate of the Iranian oil bourse became unclear as deadlines passed and contradictory statements were made. The threat seemed to lose its potency and the issue faded back into the desert sands.

Now comes Bush's soul mate Putin ("I looked into his eyes and saw his soul" to paraphrase Bush the seer) with a similar concept and the power to pull it off.

It is critical to American hegemony for the USD to remain the petro-dollar. A petro-ruble or a petro-euro would not do. Although I have seen some discussion of how devastating this change would be for the US, the consensus seems to be that the War in Iraq was launched in part to prevent the potentially devastating demise of the petro-dollar.

But boy-howdy, it looks like that former KGB soul mate may be on his way to creating competition for the Almighty (world reserve currency) Dollar.

Mike Whitney reports:

"On May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin ignited a firestorm that is bound to sweep across the global economy. In his State of the Nation speech to parliament,, he announced that Russia was planning to make the ruble internationally convertible so that it could be used in oil and natural gas transactions. Presently, oil is denominated exclusively in dollars and sold through the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMX) or the London Petroleum Exchange (LPE) both owned by American investors. If Russia proceeds with its plan, the ruble will go nose to nose with the dollar on the open market sending several billions of surplus greenbacks back to the United States. This could potentially send the American economy into freefall; triggering a deep recession and an extended period of hyper-inflation.

Currently, the central banks around the world carry large stockpiles of dollars to use in their purchases of oil. This gives the US a virtual monopoly on oil transactions. It also forces reluctant nations to continue using the dollar even though it is currently underwritten by $8.4 trillion national debt.

Putin's plan is similar to that of Iran, which announced that it would open an oil-bourse (oil exchange) on Kish Island in two months. The bourse would allow oil transactions to be made in petro-euros, thus discarding the dollar. The Bush administration's belligerence has intensified considerably since Iran made its intentions clear. In fact, just yesterday, Secretary of State Condi Rice said that "security guarantees were not on the table" regardless of any Iranian commitment to stop enriching uranium. In other words, Washington will not provide Iran a non-aggression pact whether it follows UN Security Council guidelines or not.

Surely, this is a sign that Uncle Sam is on a fast-track to war. (Empahsis mine.)

The United States must protect its dollar-monopoly in the oil trade or it will lose the advantage of being the world's reserve currency. As the reserve currency, the US can maintain its towering $8.4 trillion national debt and $800 billion trade deficit without fear of soaring interest rates or hyper-inflation. Trillions of greenbacks are constantly circulating in oil transactions just as hundreds of billions are stockpiled in foreign banks. In effect, the Federal Reserve is issuing bad checks with every dollar printed on the assumption that they will never reach the bank for collection. So far, they've been right, and as the price of oil continues to skyrocket, the Fed just keeps cheerily printing more worthless paper sending it to the 4 corners of the earth. Regrettably, if Russia or Iran goes ahead with their conversion plan, then the bad checks will flood back to their source and precipitate a meltdown.

America's economic supremacy depends entirely on its ability to compel nations to make their energy acquisitions in greenbacks. If the flaccid dollar is not linked to the world's most vital resource, then banks will dump it overnight. This extortion-racket is the system we are defending in Iraq, not democracy. It is a huckster's scam designed to perpetuate American debt by forcing worthless currency on the developing world.

In a recent article by Dave Kimble, “Collapse of the petrodollar looming", the author provides the details of Russia’s importance to the world oil market.

“Russia's oil exports represent 15.2% of the world's export trade in oil, making it a much more significant player than Iran, with 5.8% of export volumes. Russia also produces 25.8% of the world's gas exports, while Iran is still only entering this market as an exporter. Venezuela has 5.4% of the export market.

Obviously, it is not in Russia’s interest to trade with its European partners in dollars any more than it would be for the US to trade with Canada in rubles. Putin can strengthen the Russian economy and improve Russia’s prestige in the world as an energy superpower by transitioning to rubles. But, will Washington allow him to succeed?

A growing number of nations are now focusing on the empire’s Achilles’ heel, the dollar. Venezuela, Russia, Norway and Iran are all threatening to move away from the greenback. Is this a spontaneous uprising or is it a new type of asymmetrical warfare?

Whatever it is, Washington is bound to be reeling from the affects. After all, war maybe possible with Iran or Venezuela, but what about Russia? Would Bush be stupid enough to risk nuclear Armageddon to protect the drooping dollar?

The administration is exploring all of its options and is developing a strategy to crush Putin’s rebellion. (This may explain why Newsweek editor and undeclared spokesman for the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Fareed Zacharia, asked his guest on this week’s “Foreign Exchange” whether he thought Putin could be “assassinated?!? Hmmm? I wonder if we’ll hear similar sentiments from Tom Friedman this week?)

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the secretive organization of 4,400 American elites from industry, finance, politics, media and the military (who operate the machinery of state behind the mask of democracy) has already issued a tersely worded attack on Putin (“Russia’ Wrong Direction; Manila Times) outlining what is expected for Russia to conform to American standards of conduct. The missive says that Russia is headed in “the wrong direction and that “a strategic partnership no longer seems possible. The article reiterates the usual canards that Putin is becoming more “authoritarian” and “presiding over the rollback of Russian democracy”. (No mention of flourishing democracy in Saudi Arabia or Uzbekistan?) The CFR cites Putin’s resistance to “US and NATO military access to Central Asian bases (which are a dagger put to Moscow’s throat) the banishing of Washington’s “regime change NGOs from operating freely in Russia (“Freedom Support Act funds) and Russia’s continued support for Iran’s “peaceful development of nuclear energy”.

America has never been a friend to Russia. It took full advantage of the confusion following the fall of the Soviet Union and used it to apply its neoliberal policies which destroyed the ruble, crushed the economy, and transferred the vast resources of the state to a handful of corrupt oligarchs. Putin single-handedly, put Russia back on solid footing; taking back Yukos from the venal Khordukovsky and addressing the pressing issues of unemployment and poverty-reduction. He is a fierce nationalist who enjoys a 72% approval rating and does not need the advice of the Bush administration or the CFR on the best path forward for his country.

The US has purposely strained relations with Russia by putting more military bases in Central Asia, feeding the turmoil in Chechnya, isolating Russia from its European neighbors, and directly intervening in its elections.

When the G-8 summit takes place next week, we should expect a full-throated attack from the corporate media on Putin as the latest incarnation of Adolph Hitler. Watch the fur fly as the forth estate descends on its newest victim like feral hounds to carrion. (Putin’s announcement that Russia would be converting to rubles HAS NOT APPEARED IN ANY WESTERN MEDIA. Like the Downing Street Memo, the firebombing of Falluja, or the “rigged 2004 elections, the western “free press scrupulously avoids any topic that may shed light on the real machinations of the US government)

Putin’s challenge to the dollar is the first salvo in a guerilla war that will end with the crash of the greenback and the restoration of parity among the nations of the world. It represents a tacit rejection of a system that requires coercion, torture and endless war to uphold its global dominance. When the dollar begins its inevitable decline, the global-economic paradigm will shift, the American war machine will grind to a halt, and the soldiers will come home. Maybe, then we can rebuild the republic according to the lost values of human rights and the rule of law. Putin’s plan is set to go into effect on July 1, 2006.


On a different topic:

I hope you've been taking advantage of the "correction" in the price of gold and silver to fortify your holdings. For you procrastinators, there is still time as the precious metals slowly climb back (and will soon surpass their former highs).

You Will Start Watching YouTube

Back in the '70's I used to teach film and video at the Western States Film Institute. I was always yakking about the coming digital revolution - that some day "real soon" people would be picking up their own cameras and creating meaningful content. That day has come. (I really didn't think it would take 30 years.)

YouTube.com has become the de facto repository for such efforts. Over 6000 videos are being uploaded there every day. Google tried with Google Video, but the interface (special viewer) and posting requirement were onerous. YouTube even went a step further and enabled embedding of linking code in other sites. Kinda viral, and very brilliant.

At first the YouTube postings were real lame. Soulful kids in front of their webcams being all emo and stuff. Weird dog clips. Hurtful boarder accidents. Lots of Japanese anime. Some pure junk.

But now creative good stuff is beginning to emerge. Remember the "desktop publishing" revolution that produced at ton of crap at first, then gave way to talent and creativity? This new "video publishing" revolution is going through the same unfolding.

Interesting features at YouTube include near instantaneous posting - without review. (Google's review took days.) The poster is responsible for the content and the copyright considerations. They also have a built-in rating system and view counter. Easy to find the good stuff that's bubbling to the surface. Professional producers and directors are using it for exposure. Even good ads make it to the top.

And this is no small audience. A recent comic vidi (my term for these short videos, borrowed from "A Clockwork Orange") entitled "The Evolution of Dance" has been viewed 25,325,048 times so far.

Recently I saw a broadcast TV executive make a bold prediction that "it would be a long time before people are watching TV on their computers." Harharhar. These guys are so dumb. Like the music "industry", they are stuck in yesterday while the streaming broadband internet leaves them behind.

YouTube is the embodiment of Web 2.0. User created content, viral distribution, no impediments to ease of use... just slick, damn slick.

I'll be "embedding" some of the better vidies that I find on this site, as a respite from the usual topics of gloom and doom. Hope you enjoy them.

This Really Works

You've probably been spammed more than once with bogus invitations to "make money on the internet - earn money online by taking surveys." Yeah, sure.

But, there is one that really works. I know because I've signed up and earned $108 so far. Not a huge amount, but nonetheless a steady stream. Once registered, and once you have taken their introductory survey, you will receive occasional invitations to take a particular survey. After answering a few qualify questions, you take a short (sometimes as much as 15 minutes) survey about telecommunications or other retail products. You will not be spammed as a result of your survey taking, and I've detected no misuse of email addresses or other bothersome side effects.

Some surveys will add $10 to your account. Others as little as $2 or as much as $50. Even if you do not qualify for a particular survey, you will be placed in a pool for a chance to receive a random "prize" of $10. An additional benefit is that if you sign up others, you continue to benefit when they complete surveys. For example, if you follow this link, and sign up, I will receive $2 every time you take a survey. You can do the same, add referrals, and make more money when they take surveys.

Soooo, try it out, and make money taking surveys online. For real.

Fresh Analysis of Peak Oil and Declining Dollar

Earth's Land Mass (turned on its side for emphasis)

Red dots = oil

Blue dots = gold

Does it seem strange to you that all of the oil is in one-half of the planet? Read Rob Kirby's astute analysis. It may stand you on your head.

Financial Advice Comes in Many Forms

Be sure to click on the MP3.

Thanks to FreeMarketNews.com

Continental United States

Remember my fantasy from the 1970’s that Canada, the USA and Mexico should form one big collection of States into The USNA? Well, others seem to be working on that idea. Check out the new vertical transcontinental highway which appears to be going to be built across your country. How many illegal aliens can you fit into an 18-wheel container?

Who Killed the Electric Car?

Oh yeah, I remember that.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/whokilledtheelectriccar/trailer/

Back in Time

Sometimes you have to repeat yourself.

Some of my friends, including the guy who said this blog was "nothing but bad news that I can't do anything about”, are now asking, "Okay, suppose you are right, what am I supposed to do?"

1. Start reading. Educate yourself with Google. Subscribe to newsletters and news feeds. I strongly recommend that you get “The Daily Reckoning”. I’ve been reading it for years and I think the contributors are very perceptive. I fact, I just signed up for Doug Casey’s newsletter on gold and silver investing.

2. Buy some CEF stock. This Canadian company does nothing but hold gold and silver. You own the stock, not the metal. Check its trend and buy if it dips.

3. Buy GLD stock. This is a fund that tracks the exact price of gold - each share = 1/10 of the price of an oz. of gold. Buy SLV stock - each share = 10 oz. of silver.

4. Buy some gold or silver Eagles – 1 oz coins produced by our Mint. Very beautiful. Go to your local coin dealer - in Denver that would be Rocky Mountain Coin on Broadway. If you don't have a local coin dealer you can do it all on the internet, phone and mail. Go to http://www.kitco.com/. Put them in a safe, or safe deposit box (but be mindful of the previous confiscations).

And speaking of educating yourself - start by clicking on the movie below - very easy to take explanation of how and why you are getting screwed every minute of every day (maybe that could explain your crankiness lately) by the so-called FED.

Eye of the Beast

Sometimes I just can't resist this stuff from NASA.

In the center of a swirling whirlpool of hot gas is likely a beast that has never been seen directly: a black hole. Studies of the bright light emitted by the swirling gas frequently indicate not only that a black hole is present, but also likely attributes. The gas surrounding GRO J1655-40, for example, has been found to display an unusual flickering at a rate of 450 times a second. Given a previous mass estimate for the central object of seven times the mass of our Sun, the rate of the fast flickering can be explained by a black hole that is rotating very rapidly. What physical mechanisms actually cause the flickering -- and a slower quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) -- in accretion disks surrounding black holes and neutron stars remains a topic of much research.

More Maher

If, like me, you suffer when the Bill Maher season ends on HBO, you will rejoice when you discover a new venue featuring new Maher - Amazon.com's Fishbowl - true Internet TV. (And to think, I just heard a TV executive say last night that it would be a long time before people started viewing TV on the Internet.) Go here and enjoy Bill's latest endeavor.

P.S. Don't be confused when the viewer restarts. Its another segment being downloaded.

United States of North America

Those of you who have read this blog from the beginning (harhar) may remember one of my first blogs, proposing that the US "convince" Canada and Mexico join their states with ours to expand the Republic.

Now I've run accross this report which reveals that this is the plan currently being followed by the three countries. Imagine my dismay when I finished reading the article and found it was written by one of the Swifties (Kerry attackers). Oh well, maybe I'm really a rightwingnut.

"What is the plan? Simple, erase the borders. The plan is contained in a "Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America" little noticed when President Bush and President Fox created it in March 2005:

In March 2005, the leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the United States adopted a Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), establishing ministerial-level working groups to address key security and economic issues facing North America and setting a short deadline for reporting progress back to their governments. President Bush described the significance of the SPP as putting forward a common commitment "to markets and democracy, freedom and trade, and mutual prosperity and security." (Read entire article ...)

Fire in the Theater

from www.politedissent.com

from Richard Benson

FMNN Market Trends Strategist Publisher

Benson's Economic and Market Trends

"In order to fully understand what is really happening on the central bank front, Larry Summers is worth listening to, now that he is free of all the politics at Harvard. Mr. Summers who served in a series of senior policy positions – most notably as the secretary of the treasury of the United States – specialized in the currency markets. Indeed, he was “the man” who successfully engineered foreign central bank gold sales to help hold the price of gold down and make the dollar look strong!

Mr. Summers is now urging the poorer, smaller countries with excess dollar reserves, “to do something with them”. Perhaps his advice is to sanction foreign aid, but I suspect he may be encouraging these smaller central banks to swap out of dollars early before the big banks do. This would preserve the real value of their foreign exchange reserves, and save the IMF a lot of money down the road for not having to bail them out.

Just remember, when someone yells fire in the movie theatre, you want to be sitting in the back row near the exit door, so you can get out before it’s too late. Larry Summers has just yelled “fire”.

The dollar is in grave danger because there are hundreds of billions of dollar assets funded by hedge funds that will be sold. Worldwide, central banks are beginning to buy fewer dollars at a time when the U.S. needs new buyers of dollar assets to fund our escalating trade deficit.

If America, as a matter of policy, is going to let the dollar go, there are many investments you must not own as an investor or saver: One investment is dollar-denominated bonds. A falling dollar is very inflationary. As inflation rises, it forces interest rates up so you’ll lose on the currency devaluation, as well. U.S. Stocks will fight the headwinds of inflation and may go up in dollar terms, but they will most likely not keep pace with inflation." (read entire article...)

Those Pesky Petrodollars Again

How much longer can the dollar reign supreme?
By Linda S. Heard
Online Journal Contributing Writer
May 25, 2006

Saddam Hussein stopped trading his oil for dollars before Iraq was invaded. Iran gets set to open a new oil bourse and futures market that will trade in euros, while Venezuela is said to be mulling over whether to follow suit.

Now Russia has joined the bandwagon. On May 10, President Vladimir Putin announced the creation of a Russian oil and gas bourse along with his intention to convert the ruble into a convertible currency that would be used for the trade.

Russia has recently swapped some of its dollar reserves for euros.

Together Iran, Venezuela and Russia corner some 25 percent of the export market in oil. If the three countries do away with the petrodollar, this could seriously buffet the US currency, forcing up interest rates, increasing the cost of imports in the US and contributing to an inflationary economy or a recession.

William Clark writing in the Energy Bulletin says, “What we are witnessing is a battle for oil currency supremacy. If Iran’s oil bourse becomes a successful alternative for international oil trades, it would challenge the hegemony currently enjoyed by the financial centers in both London (IPE) and New York (NYMEX) . . ."

At the same time, nations in this region have been exchanging percentages of their dollar reserves for other currencies.

In March, following the Dubai Ports World debacle, the UAE Central Bank said it was considering converting 10 percent of its dollar reserves to euros. Kuwait and Qatar have hinted that they might do the same.

The Commercial Bank of Syria has exchanged all its dollar devise for euros, following a call from Washington urging US banks to cease acting as correspondents for Syrian financial institutions, ostensibly because of money-laundering concerns.

Last month, Sweden cut the dollar share of its $21 billion foreign reserves from 37 percent down to 20 percent, causing the dollar to tumble almost 2 percent in one week.

Sweden’s central bank said the switch to euros was an effort to stabilize its foreign currency reserves and reduce volatile currencies.

Iran, Venezuela and Russia are hardly on warm terms with the US government and their proposed flight from dollars is thought to be partially if not wholly politically motivated. However, if the dollar value plunges as a result, then central banks around the world will be left with devalued reserves, and may have to start switching as well. Continue reading...

Skype and Freedom

Skype, the free and easy to use internet telephone, has announced that calling to non-Skype numbers (called SkypeOut) will also be free (for the US and Canada) until the end of 2006. This is amazing news. Download Skype from www.skype.com . You’ll need a headset with a microphone (cost about $30) to prevent feedback and give you excellent quality. Then start calling with your free long-distance internet phone. Whoopeeee!

My question: Are these calls also being monitored by the NSA? I don’t think so.

Another workaround: instead of using email, which is searched automatically by NSA for keywords, use your mic and headset to record mp3 (audio) files and attach these files to an email. They would have to be played to be searched for keywords. I don’t think the NSA has gotten to that yet either.

Google Echelon for your own edification. And please comment if you have any additional information.

Gold and Silver: Dips and Corrections

Another kind of dip!

This is some of the best advice I've seen. If you are not in the market, buy now. If you are already in, read on...

Corrections
By: Jason Hommel, Silver Stock Report

My portfolio of mostly silver stocks is down about 17% from its high last week on May 11th. And in that time, gold has dropped back from a high of about $720-$725 down to a high of $719 earlier today, and loads of so-called analysts are calling for a correction, or trying to describe this week's price action as a correction. Sigh. I've not been doing this for very long, only about 7 years now, and I've seen my own portfolio of silver stocks lose just about 50% three times now, on the way up to over 1000% gains. I never use stop losses--that's just a way to get kicked out at the bottom--which is a fool's game. I stay fully invested in the sector, rarely trade more than 10% of my portfolio in a month, and keep my cash to generally between 1-5% of my overall holdings. So, be patient, take heart, and stick with it; especially you newer investors.

Continue reading

NSA Phone Phlap

In all of the blognostication over the illegal NSA surveillance of our phones, I have yet to see one mention of the infamous NSA Echelon, which has been known about for years. This latest “revelation” is nothing more than part of what has been stardard operating procedure in the NSA Echelon project since the ‘70s. What gives?

See also CALEA.

Dollar in Meltdown Mode - IMF to Act?

Something big is coming this week. Maybe a whole bunch of big things: Rove indicted, dollar plummets, gold, silver, gold and silver, Iran, full NSA Echelon exposed, Bush's head explodes, who knows. But I feel it in my bones. Be alert - the world needs more lerts.

By way of GATA:

We are in meltdown mode,' said David Brown, chief European economist at Bear Stearns. 'It's all being whipped up into a bit of a selling frenzy. The dollar has a massive portfolio of negatives against it: it's the long-term problems of the trade deficit, and the government's budget deficit.'

Bloom warned that 'phase two' of a sell-off would cause turmoil in the equity markets, as on Friday, when both the Dow Jones and FTSE saw sharp losses. 'I'm expecting an increase in volatility and uncertainty across the board,' he said.

Brown added that the dollar's woes were likely to be exacerbated by central banks shifting their reserves towards other currencies, including the euro. 'Asian central banks have been buying fistfuls of dollars as the flipside of their massive current account surpluses. They're long dollars.'

He added that with the US current account deficit with the rest of the world worth 7 per cent (ed. note: 5% in any other country would be melting point) of its GDP in 2005, the White House and the Federal Reserve would probably be happy to watch the dollar decline. 'I don't think Washington's going to be concerned,' he said.

How High Will Gold and Silver Go?

As has happened in the past, when I do the research for a particular blog, I find material containing the information that I had planned to present that is better than I would have been written myself.

For example, read The Gold Price – A “Spike” Or Something Else? By: Julian D. W. Phillips, Gold Forecaster for extensive coverage of the question.

And then listen to this interview.

One of my main points is to compare the 1980 "spike" at $850 to today's $715 for gold. Remember, you have to adjust for the shrinking dollar.

From another analysis:

"Now let’s take a look at where we are with gold and its previous historic high. The high reached in gold was $850 an ounce seen in January 1980. Adjusted for inflation, that would correspond to $2088.90 for an ounce of gold today!

Gold in 1980 $850.00
In 2006 Dollars $2088.90

Let’s look at it from a reverse perspective. The recent (05/11/06) price of gold is $715.10 an ounce, which would correspond to $290.98 an ounce in 1980 adjusted dollars, nearly 66% below its previous peak.

Gold on 05/11/06 $715.10
In 1980 Dollars $290.98

If you listen to the interview, you'll might want to follow the advice given there... JUMP IN WITH BOTH FEET!!

Cheney Retires for "Health Reasons".

Oh wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. That hasn't happened - yet. What has happened is this report by Reuters that Fitzpatrick is going after Dick (Stentman) Cheney. Cheney's recent inability to stay awake may be related to the hardening of the arteries in his brain. That's not a joke. Really, see for yourself.

SLV, GLD, CEF or Physical Possession

Ok, you have finally started paying attention to the rising price of gold and silver. You didn’t listen (or if you did, please leave me a comment) a year ago when I was gently suggesting that you might consider these archaic metals as investment opportunities. Now your TV is telling you that gold and silver are hot. You are wondering if you have missed the boat.

My answer: No, not yet. You missed the first boat, but more are leaving daily. There is still time. But what should you do?

Before I get to that, let me make my usual disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. I have no special expertise. But I have spent the last two years reading what the experts were saying and researching investment opportunities they have suggested. You can search this site for references to gold and silver to review what I’ve reported. And, most importantly, I have followed my own advice and made money. You, of course, should do your own research and due diligence before you make any investment. I’m just reporting what I’ve found and what I’ve done. Perhaps you can benefit from reviewing this information.

I am not going to document everything I say in these articles. You know how to use Google.

First, understand the difference between money and currency. Gold and silver have served as real money for thousands of years. Currency is the paper we currently use. In the past, our currency has been based on gold and/or silver (as mandated in our Consitution). That is no longer true. Our paper is “fiat” currency, based on nothing more than belief. Its value is determined by 1) how many dollars are in existence, and 2) how much the world believes that the US of A is the best place to invest.

Currently, #1 is going way up, and #2 is going way down. The result is that the value of the dollar is decreasing, and we call this inflation.

Second, you should understand that all of the government data; CPI, inflation rate, employment rate, jobless claims, etc. is juiced data. All of the formulae from which these numbers are derived have been tinkered with by the government to the point that their relationship to reality is severely strained. We are currently being told that the inflation rate is around 3%. Real-world estimates are closer to 10%.

Sooo…the price of everything isn’t really going up as it seems, your dollars are just getting littler. Gold, silver, copper, platinum, palladium, and all other commodities seem to be going up in price because of these little dollars. To counter this effect, you must buy something that it not losing its value with your shrinking dollars. Real estate used to be a hedge against inflation, but it has been jacked too high at this point to be of use right now. (Unless you can sell it and convert the dollars.)

Another choice is to buy gold and/or silver. This is fairly easy to do these days. The popular choices are electronic trading funds (ETF), gold mining shares, CEF (a Canadian gold and silver holding company), or actual bullion (coins or bars).

Two ETFs are GLD (share price fixed at 1/10 an ounce of gold) and the newly-minted SLV (share price fixed at 10 ouces of silver). I've owned neither. I've heard it said that they are "not for the little investor". I don't see why.

I do not buy gold or silver mining company shares because there are too many confounding variables; are they hedged, do they have good management, are they located in dangerous countries, subject to dangerous environmental concerns, etc. You can make a lot of money here when junior companies are bought up by larger companies, but you have to be very knowledgeable, which I am not.

CEF is a Canadian company that baby-sits gold and silver. They seem tightly regulated. Sometimes you can see that the price of CEF lags the action in GLD and SLV.

Open yourself an online stock trading account (I use eTrade), transfer some money from your home bank account, and buy some shares. You’ll learn how to keep track of things, so you can buy and sell when it is advantageous to you. Or just leave it there, and don’t worry about it for a while.

Unfortunately you can't just forget about it, because if the dollar really crashes, as many predict it will, you will want to cash out of your stock account and convert to physical gold or silver. If you wait too long there may not be much available at a reasonable price.

Which brings us to the end game, physical gold or silver. There are many considerations but here are a few.

Gold coins (Eagles, Krugerrands, and Maple Leafs) are called bullion. The difference in price disappears when you sell as does the condition (mint or not), so buy the cheapest. Gold coins are a very compact medium for value, easily stored and protected. Today 14 one ounce coins are worth about $10,000.

In silver this would be about 577 coins, much bulkier and harder to store. But silver is up 61% this year compared to gold’s increase of 36%. Some of both?

There are other forms of physical to be considered: junk silver (1964 and older silver US coins), rounds (like coins but not stamped), and bars.

They are all really cool. The form they are in might become important if you were to actually use them as a medium of exchange.

Next article: How High Will They Go?

So Much for Holding Off on Silver

Yes, apparently the Buffet news did have an effect yesterday, but by this morning it had worn off and both silver and gold jumped out of bed with great enthusiasm. Although this is old news now, you can find further analysis here.

Hold Off on Buying Silver

My guess is that this news will send the price of silver down - temporarily.

Warren Buffett Sells the Family Silver
By Jon A. Nones07 May 2006 at 12:57 PM EDT

St. LOUIS (ResourceInvestor.com) -- With the market abuzz with anticipation of what Wall Street legend Warren Buffett intends to do with Berkshire Hathaway’s $40 billion in cash, a small, but perhaps very significant little bit of news may have been overshadowed.
At the company’s shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on Saturday, Chairman Warren Buffett announced that the company has divested its silver holdings.

David Morgan, author of “The Morgan Report,” sent a note to clients quoting an anonymous source at the Berkshire meeting who confirmed the sale.

According to the source, no sell price, date or addition data were given other than the announcement that the company not longer owned any silver.

The source said Buffett didn't really talk about silver other than he sold it, but said he would rather hold businesses that have earnings.

According to news sources today, Buffett told shareholders, “We had a lot of silver at one time but we don't have it now.”

In 1997, Buffett purchased an estimated 130 million ounces for delivery in 1998. In February 1998, the silver price jumped to a high of $7.81/oz, rallying 50% since mid-1997.

The CPM Group estimated earlier this year that Buffett still held somewhere between 100 and 129 million ounces.

Buffett said that Berkshire had not benefited from the particularly steep rise in silver prices.
“I bought it very early, I sold it very early. Other than that it was perfect,” he joked.

Silver hit a 23-year peak of $14.68 two weeks ago. On Friday, July silver futures closed at $13.89 an ounce.

Buffett said he detected speculative participation in the recent run up in prices, particularly metals.

“What the wise man does at beginning, the fool does in the end... any asset that has a big move based on fundamentals will attract speculators...,” he said, according to sources.

“Something like copper is speculative on both sides of the market, and responding more to speculative than fundamental forces,” he added.

However, it might important to note the timing of Barclays’ silver ETF iShares Silver Trust [AMEX:SLV], which just launched on April 28.Jason Hommel, Editor of “Silver Stock Report” previously told Resource Investor that “we just don’t know” where the silver will come from to back the ETF, and it is possible that Warren Buffett could be the supplier, which isn’t causing a shortage in the market.

Furthermore, the SEC seemed to easily dismiss the opposition by the Silver Users Association and comments from sources about the illiquidity of the silver market in its 32-page order.

Many analysts estimated that the ETF would need perhaps as much as 130 million ounces of silver to cover investment demand - the same amount Buffet originally bought in 1997.

Barclays’ Christine Hudacko could not be reached for comment.

Million Dollar Bash

I hear my friends talking incessantly about how prices are going up. And of course, they are. Despite the “Fed” talking about low “core” inflation at 2% - 3%, anyone who goes shopping on a regular basis knows that prices are up, up, up. Anything that had to travel to get to the store where you are buying it (everything) is being impacted by the double-whammy of increased fuel costs and “reality-based” inflation, which does include food and energy. Some estimates I’ve seen are as high as 12%. Is hyper-inflation next in our growing list of things you can’t stop worrying about? ‘Fraid so.

Because, you see, the dollar is going down. I don’t think people get it. Our dollar is not worth a “dollar” – some fixed amount of something somewhere – anywhere! Not gold, not silver, not anything. Its value is determined by 1. How many of them there are, and 2. How much everyone believes in their value, i.e., believes in the worth of the US of A. #1 is going way up and #2 way down.

BTW – this is something that is being done to us by predetermined policy – not by accident or force of nature.

An Indian friend told me a story his people have been telling for many years: a white man comes to the village and offers to pay $100 for a loaf of bread. No one is willing to sell.


Asia Is Getting Ready to Dump the Dollar Peg
By Andy Mukherjee, Columnist
Bloomberg News Service
Monday, May 8, 2006

Li Yong, China's vice minister for finance, said he had heard
a "rumor" that the U.S. dollar was headed for a 25 percent drop. If
the gossip was true, the consequences would be "shocking," he said.

Li's comment, which he made at a discussion on global financial
imbalances last week at the annual meeting of the Asian Development
Bank in the Indian city of Hyderabad, was aimed directly at fellow
panelist Tim Adams, the U.S. Treasury undersecretary of
international affairs.

The unspoken message was: "Don't try to talk the dollar down." And
Adams knew better than to ask, "Well, what are you going to do about
it?" The answer to that question has already begun taking shape:
Asia may be getting ready to fix its currencies to a local anchor,
dumping the region's unofficial dollar peg.

Even as they continue to pile up U.S. debt in their foreign-exchange
reserves to keep their currencies stable against the dollar, Asian
nations, China among them, are preparing for a scenario where the
dollar does indeed collapse under the weight of a record U.S.
current account deficit. (click title to read on ...)

Maybe...Maybe Not

So we have conflicting reports on not only whether Iran will open its oil bourse, but if they do, what the effect will be. My guess is that they will, but that the effect will be just another crack in the foundation of the USD, slowly adding to its continuing decline. After all, this is the only way the US can attempt to manage its massive debt position, all at the expense of the US middle class, of course.

By The Associated Press
via the Globe and Mail, Toronto
Friday, May 5, 2006

Iran -- Iran took a step on Friday toward establishing an oil market denominated in euros, a plan analysts described as highly unlikely to materialize but which in theory could have serious consequences for the U.S. economy.Iranian state-run television said the country's oil ministry granted a license for the euro-denominated market, an idea first floated back in 2004, though just who would trade on it remains unclear.If the market were to succeed, or if Iran simply demanded payment for its oil in euros, commodities experts said, it could lead central bankers around the world to convert some dollar reserves into euros, possibly causing a decline in the dollar's value.

Oil is currently denominated in dollars around the globe, whether through direct sales between producers and consumers or in trades made on markets in New York and London. But if one day the world's largest oil producers allowed, or, worse, demanded euros for their barrels, "it would be the financial equivalent of a nuclear strike," said A.G. Edwards commodities analyst Bill O'Grady. Click title to continue reading...

What Hyper-inflation Looks Like

"How Bad Is Inflation in Zimbabwe?

By MICHAEL WINES
Published: May 2, 2006

HARARE, Zimbabwe, April 25 — How bad is inflation in Zimbabwe? Well, consider this: at a supermarket near the center of this tatterdemalion capital, toilet paper costs $417.

No, not per roll. Four hundred seventeen Zimbabwean dollars is the value of a single two-ply sheet. A roll costs $145,750 — in American currency, about 69 cents.

The price of toilet paper, like everything else here, soars almost daily, spawning jokes about an impending better use for Zimbabwe's $500 bill, now the smallest in circulation.

But what is happening is no laughing matter. For untold numbers of Zimbabweans, toilet paper — and bread, margarine, meat, even the once ubiquitous morning cup of tea — have become unimaginable luxuries. All are casualties of the hyperinflation that is roaring toward 1,000 percent a year, a rate usually seen only in war zones."

Zimbabwe's solution to the problem? The same as ours - print more money.

Iranian Bourse Back from "Poof"

By way of GATA...

From Islamic Republic News Agency
via Payvand.com
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
http://www.payvand.com/news/06/apr/1231.html

TEHRAN -- Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said on Wednesday that the establishment of an oil stock exchange is in its final stage and the bourse will be launched in Iran in the next week. He told reporters, upon arrival from Qatar, where he attended the 10th General Assembly of the International Energy Agency and consultations with OPEC member states, that registration of the oil stock exchange is under way and the entity will operate after being approved by by Council of Stock Exchanges.

He rejected a statement attributed to him that the oil stock exchange will bring to the U.S. economy down, and said, "I don't know who has speculated that. I've not talked about the U.S. economy."

Asked about the conference on energy in Doha, he said that more than 60 countries and 30 oil companies and consultants took part. Vaziri Hamaneh said that serious discussions of various issues were held, including the security of supply and demand, the security of investment in energy, and environmental issues.

"The best method for security of demand in the oil sector is that consumers should be given the opportunity to enter into partnership with the suppliers in investment in the oil industry," he said. He said that the conference called for diversifying energy resources and cooperation of the developed states with the countries possessing oil and gas resources.

Asked about the oil price rise, Vaziri-Hamaneh said that the oil price is being influenced by political situations, whereas it should be freed from political impacts, and economic and technical fundamentals should determine the oil price. "As long as political impacts dominate the oil market, price hikes will continue," he concluded.

----------------------------------------------------

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THIS JUST IN

I wish I had seen this before the close today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
silverstockreport.com Newsletter
Silver ETF Approved!
April 27th, 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver set to explode in price
-- SEC clears Barclays iShares Silver Trust
-- Launch of Barclays' Silver ETF Imminent
-- Hundred-Year Long Trend of Low Silver Prices is Ending

Valued Subcriber!

The SEC has Cleared the Barclays Silver ETF (Exchange Traded Fund). The ETF will allow investors to buy silver as easily as they buy stocks, and the trading symbol on the AMEX should be SLV, and could start trading as early as tomorrow, or by the end of next week.

Interestingly, Barclays has only deposited 1.5 million ounces of silver with their bullion custodian, not the 130 million ounces that was anticipated. Thus, the significant silver buying has not yet started, and is still to come, especially as the large pension funds with hundreds of billions of dollars start buying. Most of the large funds cannot buy silver unless it is in the form of an ETF, and the ETF was built to enable these funds to buy silver. If even 1% of just one of the largest funds is invested into the Silver ETF, it would be over $2 billion, which, at $13/oz., is over 153 million ounces of silver, which is far more silver than is available at the NYMEX, the large commodity exchange in New York.


SEC clears Barclays iShares Silver Trust
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday that the registration statement for Barclays Global Investors' iShares Silver Trust was declared effective, removing the final regulatory obstacle to trading in the innovative fund.
"The registration statement for the iShares Silver Trust was declared effective at 10 a.m.," SEC spokesman John Nester said.

News: SEC clears Barclays iShares Silver Trust


Launch of Barclays' Silver ETF Imminent
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Jon A. Nones 25 Apr 2006 at 07:07 PM EDT St. LOUIS (ResourceInvestor.com) -- It’s been more than a month since Barclays’ silver ETF iShares Silver Trust “cleared the last regulatory hurdle” at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prior to final approval. But with yesterday’s public statement by the SEC, it now appears the announcement of a launch date is imminent. According to a regulatory filing yesterday, Barclays has deposited 1.5 million ounces of silver with JPMorgan Chase Bank in London to back 150,000 shares of its ETF with each representing 10 ounces of silver.
Barclays intends to offer to the public these 150,000 iShares at a per-iShare offering price that will vary depending on the price of silver and the trading price of the iShares on the AMEX at the time of the offer. The ETF is slated to trade on the American Stock Exchange under the ticker “SLV.” According to the SEC, the approximate date of the ETF’s “sale to the public” will be “as soon as practicable after this Registration Statement becomes effective.”

Article: Launch of Barclays' Silver ETF Imminent


Hundred-Year Long Trend of Low Silver Prices is Ending
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SilverStockReport.com says that the silver market is not driven by day to day news, but rather, by a trend that is over 100 years long, the trend of demonitization, which started with the introduction of the gold standard, and the end of the use of silver as money. With renewed investor demand through the ETF, silver is being saved as a store of wealth again.
The other long term trend is silver's use in the age of electronics, which is a 60 year long trend that started around the end of World War II. This trend, with the industrilization of China and India, is only accelerating. Silver has been consumed by industry, and there is very little silver left over for any investment demand. Silver prices are sure to go up, up and up some more, probably for decades to come.

Subscribe now to the Silver Stock Report!



Jason Hommel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: j@silverstockreport.com
web: http://silverstockreport.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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Ha Ha Ha America (Click here for movie)

Remember when China was called Communist China? Well, its still Communist, but we just call it China now.

They won the war when we weren't looking. That's why we call it China now.

"Dear Mr. President" by Pink & the Indigo Girls (Click to listen)

Can't Wait

Neil Young has completed a CD entitled "Living with War". Written in 3 days, and recorded in 9, it appears to be poised to rally the anti-war folks to a new level when it is released.

Remember "Ohio" (4 dead in O-hi-O)? I can't wait to hear "Impeach the President" on this new CD. I'll be sure to let you know when it comes out.

And BTW, Neil has a blog.

This is a Dip

Buy more now.

Hu Knew?

I'll just pretend to be listening.

I'm not listening to you either.
I don't have to.

Note to self: Quit buying Treasury Notes from these fools.

No Longer Astounded

I hate to admit it, but I can’t find anything Astounding to bring you today. However, this is really good, even if it’s not Astounding (or true). From Martin Random at somethingawful.com

"These are some facts I have witnessed and learned through my employment. Take it at face value, believe it or don't believe it, because I'm not providing corroborating pictures, details, or evidence beyond my own testimony.

Homeland security buys in bulk and at great premium millions of dollars of useless personal appliances from China, such as rice cookers, nose hair trimmers, massage wands, and heating pads, boxes them up, and buries them in railroad shipping containers in the Arizona desert for no reason whatsoever other than to spend its budget and prevent sub-agencies from getting the funds. I suspect that the money goes to a middleman in order to secretly siphon funds into foreign organizations which we can't support over the table, but this is just me trying to find a justification for this massive and intentional government waste.

Donald Rumsfeld needs to wear iced underwear because of some medical condition, and he has his secret service detail hold his spares. He was recently getting uncontrollable long-term erections and had to change up his medical treatments. The underwear and the erections is why he uses a standing desk, not because he is some super-man. He also wears nylon stockings, not because he's gay, but to control some vascular problem with his legs which causes him intense pain.

President Bush uses anti-depressant medication, a lot of it, at a stupendous dosage, and he is hiding it from the American public. This is the real reason he stopped drinking. Because of the dosage, he is also impotent.

Tom Ridge carries 20 credit cards with him at all times, each one with a very low limit. I have never heard of him using one, ever, but he has them. He also wears his socks inside-out, and will flip the fuck out and walk strangely if he is forced to wear them properly, because it drives him crazy. All of his socks must be laundered right side in and then turned inside out before they are returned to him. He gave specific instructions about handling his food, and not allowing his vegetables to touch any other food item on the plate. His utensils must be steamed over boiling water. He will not eat soup which hasn't been boiled within the past 20 minutes or which he has not prepared himself. If any of these rules are violated, he flies into a rage, turns beet red, and will not eat a single thing. He has his personal attendants confirm over and over that the food is as he likes it. He also shaves his forearms and hands because he can't stand the idea of body hair on his arms. He demands that his bedsheets are bleach white and changed fresh every night and he sleeps in a separate bed in a big, tight, body-length nylon sleeve, with a fan blowing over him at full power. He is terrified of animals which have fur or hair longer than one inch, and will not go near curly hair of any kind, even on people. At one time he ran from his office and demanded that someone look under everything for a rodent which did not and could not exist, then he had the entire place wiped down with disinfectant and vacuumed twice. While this was done he couldn't even bear to look at the door, or come within 20 feet of his office. He was in hysterics.

President Bush, when dining at the white-house, does not eat any item of food which has not been first sniffed by a trained dog before being prepared. Think about that.

Word among the staff is that Cheney was drunk when he shot that lawyer, and secluded himself for a day to sober up and avoid felony firearms charges. I don't have any direct information on this because the guys with him at the time are not talking. This is totally unconfirmed, but I think it is plausible.

Dick Cheney has chronic gum problems and his breath smells like shit as a result. He is also a CLOSE TALKER. He keeps a small bottle of diluted hydrogen peroxide which he rinses with every hour on the hour, and he swallows it instead of spitting. He also picks his nose vigorously (violently) and hums loudly and tunelessly to himself while taking shits.

There is a sealed room in the whitehouse which once held a half-ton block of cheese for about 30 years.

The White house is planting its own men among the press agents at press conferences.

The white house lawn is mowed every other day by the same man humming the same tune.

Despite all of this craziness, there is nothing strange whatsoever about Condoleeza Rice. She is completely balanced and normal, if slightly robotic in her personal demeanor. She smells very nice at all times. She does, however, constantly check her investments online from her office when she thinks that nobody is looking, and she has slept at her desk on multiple occasions.

There is an administrative law judge who sits in an office in a building near the white-house, earns around 200k per year and has a secretary, and he does nothing except sit, read, and listen to classical music all day. His secretary likewise does nothing. He gets meals taken to him from the White-house kitchen, and is so lonely that he latches on to whoever gets sent and talks to them for hours about the korean war. His family is all dead and his secretary hates him. In a drawer in his desk he has an old revolver, which he got in there somehow despite that he shouldn't have been able to bring it in. I think he will shoot himself one day.

The "undisclosed location" is usually a local police officer training ground or state trooper college. Shh."

How Soon We Forget

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Deception Reaches New Heights – Troops Being Pulled Back To Feign Success

Excerpt from:

The Tethered Goat Strategy

Sidney Blumenthal
Thursday April 6, 2006
The Guardian

....

"The Bush administration's preferred response to increasing disintegration is to act as if it has a strategy that is succeeding. "More delusion as a solution in the absence of a solution," said a senior state department official. Under the pretence that Iraq is being pacified, the military is partially withdrawing from hostile towns in the countryside and parts of Baghdad. By reducing the number of soldiers, the administration can claim its policy is working going into the midterm elections. But the jobs the military doesn't want to perform are being sloughed off on state department "provisional reconstruction teams" (PRTs) led by foreign service officers. The rationale is that they will win Iraqi hearts-and-minds by organising civil functions.

The Pentagon has informed the state department it will not provide security for these officials and that mercenaries should be hired for protection instead. Internal state department documents listing the PRT jobs, dated March 30, reveal that the vast majority of them remain unfilled by volunteers. So the professionals are being forced to take the assignments in which "they can't do what they are being asked to do", as a senior department official told me.

Foreign service officers, as a rule, are self-abnegating in serving any administration. The state department's Intelligence and Research Bureau was correct in its scepticism before the war about Saddam Hussein's possession of WMDs, but was ignored. The department was correct in its assessment in its 17-volume Future of Iraq project about the immense effort required for reconstruction after the war, but it was disregarded. Now its reports from Iraq are correct, but their authors are being punished. Foreign service officers are to be sent out like tethered goats to the killing fields. When these misbegotten projects inevitably fail, the department will be blamed. Passive resistance to these assignments reflects anticipation of impending disaster, including the likely murder of diplomats."

Read the entire article...

Iran's Oil Bourse Goes Poof

Iranian Oil Bourse Is History...But Oil's Still Dangerous For Dollar
by Kathy Lien & Boris Schlossberg, editors of The Money Trader.


"On March 21st Iran was scheduled to launch the world's first oil trading exchange that would have set prices in euros rather than dollars. Many analysts feared this would have spelled disaster for the greenback since oil is the world's most popular commodity and requires most nations to hold vast reserves of dollars in order to purchase it. If oil were to be suddenly settled in euros, the global need to hoard dollars would diminish considerably, eliminating one of the key supports for the US dollar in the currency market.

The doomsday scenario did not come to pass, as Iran failed to construct the necessary infrastructure for a successful launch of the exchange. It is still insisting on opening a Persian Gulf oil bourse with the southern Iranian island Kish as its base of operations according to a report by Iranian state- television on Saturday.

'The issue has already been agreed upon and the oil ministry has been instructed to open this bourse in the Persian Gulf island of Kish,' Economic and Finance Minister Davoud Danesh-Jafari said. However, at this point, the issue of an Iranian oil exchange to challenge the New York and London markets appears to be more of a P.R. stunt rather than a viable competitive threat.

Even if the Iranians managed to open up for trading, the key question remains: who would trade with them? Given the recent antagonistic rhetoric of the country's political leaders, many investors would likely shun the bourse for fear of not having their trades honored. Successful financial markets require trust and cooperation and Iran's antagonistic actions over the past several months (especially their insistence on developing nuclear capabilities) have engendered little goodwill in the world community. But dollar bulls should not be so quick to breathe a sigh of relief.... "

Now Here's a Clever Idea

Kill 90% of the world's population with the Ebola virus, and then we have a sustainable planet.

"Professor Pianka said the Earth as we know it will not survive without drastic measures. Then, and without presenting any data to justify this number, he asserted that the only feasible solution to saving the Earth is to reduce the population to 10 percent of the present number.

He then showed solutions for reducing the world's population in the form of a slide depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. War and famine would not do, he explained. Instead, disease offered the most efficient and fastest way to kill the billions that must soon die if the population crisis is to be solved.

Pianka then displayed a slide showing rows of human skulls, one of which had red lights flashing from its eye sockets.

AIDS is not an efficient killer, he explained, because it is too slow. His favorite candidate for eliminating 90 percent of the world's population is airborne Ebola ( Ebola Reston ), because it is both highly lethal and it kills in days, instead of years. However, Professor Pianka did not mention that Ebola victims die a slow and torturous death as the virus initiates a cascade of biological calamities inside the victim that eventually liquefy the internal organs.

After praising the Ebola virus for its efficiency at killing, Pianka paused, leaned over the lectern, looked at us and carefully said, “We've got airborne 90 percent mortality in humans. Killing humans. Think about that.”

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Even Better

A while back I insisted that you watch "9/11 Revisited" which was the best I had seen. Now there is an even better one. I know you've had enough, and with the current flood of information about our Imperial President and his crew, you propably have a barf bag near your TV.

But to understand where we are now, you must go back, back to the stolen election of 2000, the coup that empowered the current warmongers, and back to 9/11, their kickoff for the whole "One Superpower" takeover of the world.

There is now no lingering doubt...

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