Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Flight MH17 - What You're Not Being Told

From StormCloudsGathering

Hong Kong, Singapore Popping Housing Bubbles

HKG property prices are up 288% since 2003. Gold is up 270% since 2003 (in USD, and the HKG dollar is linked to the USD). But with gold there is no land rates or water bills and the flexibility to sell (and buy) any percentage amount whenever you like with immediate payment - can't do that with property.

Ask The Expert - Eric Sprott

From Sprott Money

Keiser Report: Casino Gulag

From RT

Published on Jul 29, 2014

In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert the nouns, like ‘poor,’ who want to be known as verbs, like ‘can’t make ends meet,’ and the thieving verbs (i.e., ‘defrauding investors,’ ‘manipulating markets’) who want to be called nouns, like ‘wealth creator.’

In the second half, Max interviews Liam Halligan about his recent Spectator cover story, “The Next Crash: We could be on the brink of another financial crisis.” They look at derivatives, leverage, GDP and more.

Simon Black - Making sense of Ukraine – Boots-on-the-Ground Report

http://www.sovereignman.com/podcast/013-making-sense-of-ukraine-boots-on-the-ground-report-14788/
click on image to access podcast

Breaking News: Some Bullshit Happening Somewhere

From The Onion

Quote of the Week


Gold Fix and Argentina Default

From Kitco NEWS

Jim Grant - "Gold is the ultimate inoculation against the harebrained doctrine of modern central bankers"

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Richard Daughty interviewed on how we are all Freaking Doomed

Richard Daughty is interviewed on the Dan Cofall Show. Listen to the interview here (interview date 15 July 2014).

A New Peaceful, Tranquil Mogambo?

The odd genius of Richard Daughty

July 28, 2014
By: The Mogambo Guru

I now belatedly realize, with crystal clarity, that being an “inert carbon blob” is a reachable goal for me. Thus, ‘tis my new plan for my remaining retirement years, since it has no age restrictions, takes no effort, and has zero cost, but, happily, does involve a lot of TV and tasty snacks.

I am re-evaluating such things now, now that my wonderful plans to be a rich champion golfer/ rich movie star/ rich love god/ rich living legend/ rich international playboy are all in utter ruins, thanks to a profound lack of any discernable talent, looks, intelligence, money or actual effort on my part.

Now that I am starting to accept my fate, I am much more serenely Buddha-like, and less concerned that the Federal Reserve and the federal government have been proven to be corrupt, treacherous liars colluding to continually deficit-spend a trillion dollars per year, using nefarious, slimy and heretofore illegal secret tactics made legal under a cancerous expansion of the Exchange Stabilization Fund, in order to desperately prevent any losses (“deflation”) in debt instruments, equity shares or housing prices, because that is where everybody’s money is. Nowadays, I am much more calm about things, as shown by my seeming nonchalance at the evil Federal Reserve increasing Total Fed Credit by another $14 billion last week, and $12 billion the week before that, or how the monetary base jumped to over $4 trillion last week, a mighty rise of $114 billion in, as I said, One Freaking Week (OFW)....read on

Martin Armstrong interviewed on Financial Survival Network

Martin discusses equity and gold markets, and the influence of cycles. Listen to the FSN interview here

SGTReport on MH17

From SGTreport.com

Bull Market in AK-47s - Buying frenzy sparked by sanctions against Russia

Oh the irony, US imposes sanctions against the Russian manufacturer of the Kalashnikov rifle and Americans rush out to buy the last few left on the shelves. Just like JFK did with Cuban cigars prior to sanctions on Cuba.

From RT America



Monday, July 28, 2014

Paul Craig Roberts - 'US 'proof' so unprofessional - social media propaganda'

From RT

Published on Jul 28, 2014

The US State Department has released satellite images via email which it says act as “evidence” that Russia is firing rockets at Ukrainian troops across the border. READ MORE http://on.rt.com/rl57kp

GoldSeek Radio with James Turk, Stephen Leeb and Eric Sprott

From GoldSeek.com Radio

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Keiser Report: Dumb Money

From RT

Published on Jul 26, 2014

In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert with a double header discussing the ‘dumb money’ piling into markets just as the Spectator’s cover story reads: “The Next Crash: We could be on the brink of another financial crisis.” Max and Stacy read through the piece in shock at the obvious signs of misallocation of wealth while chasing dumb bubbles - including a P/E ratio now at 25.6 compared to a historic norm of 16.5. In the second half, they examine more misallocation of wealth as the US spends an additional $1 trillion annually on healthcare compared to if they spent the same percentage of GDP as the next most expensive country, the Netherlands. While overspending by $1 trillion, the energy grid has the most blackouts of any developed nation and yet less than half a trillion could replace the dumb, old grid with a smart, new one.

Paul Craig Roberts - Does Russia (And Humanity) Have A Future?

Essay link

Europe is complicit in its own demise

Paul Craig Roberts

The Russian government has finally realized that it has no Western “partners,” and is complaining bitterly about the propagandistic lies and disinformation issued without any evidence whatsoever against the Russian government by Washington, its European vassals, and presstitute media.

Perhaps the Russian government thought that only Iraq, Libya, Syria, China, and Edward Snowden would be subjected to Washington’s lies and demonization.

It was obvious enough that Russia would be next.

The Russian government and Europe need to look beyond Washington’s propaganda, because the reality is much worst.

NATO commander General Breedlove and Senate bill 2277 clearly indicate that Washington is organizing itself and Europe for war against Russia (see my previously posted column).

Europe is reluctant to agree with Washington to put Ukraine in NATO. Europeans understand that if Washington or its stooges in Kiev cause a war with Russia Europe will be the first casualty. Washington finds its vassals’ noncompliance tiresome. Remember Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland’s “fuck the EU.” And that is just what Washington is about to do.

The US Senate’s Russian Aggression Prevention Act, about which I reported in my previous column, does even more mischief than I reported. If the bill passes, which it likely will, Washington becomes empowered to bypass NATO and to grant the status of “allied nation” to Ukraine independently of NATO membership. By so doing, Washington can send troops to Ukraine and thereby commit NATO to a war with Russia.

Notice how quickly Washington escalated the orchestrated Ukrainian “crisis” without any evidence into “Russian aggression.” Overnight we have the NATO commander and US senators taking actions against “Russian aggression” of which no one has seen any evidence.

With Iraq, Libya, and Syria, Washington learned that Washington could act on the basis of baldfaced lies. No one, not Great Britain, not France, not Germany, not Italy, not the Netherlands, not Canada, not Australia, not Mexico, not New Zealand, not Israel, nor Japan, nor S. Korea, nor Taiwan, nor (substitute your selection) stepped forward to hold Washington accountable for its blatant lies and war crimes. The UN even accepted the package of blatant and obviously transparent lies that Colin Powell delivered to the UN. Everything Powell said had already been refuted by the UN’s own weapons inspectors. Yet the UN pussies gave the go-ahead for a devastating war.

The only conclusion is that all the whores were paid off. The whores can always count on Washington paying them off. For money the whores are selling out civilization to Washington’s war, which likely will be nuclear and terminate life on earth. The whores’ money will incinerate with them.

It is hardly surprising that Washington now targets Russia. The world has given Washington carte blanche to do as it pleases. We have now had three administrations of US war criminals welcomed and honored wherever the war criminals go. The other governments in the world continue to desire invitations to the White House as indications of their worth. To be received by war criminals has become the highest honor.

Even the president of China comes to Washington to receive acceptance by the Evil Empire.

The world did not notice Washington’s war crimes against Serbia and didn’t puke when Washington then put the Serbian president, who had tried to prevent his country from being torn apart by Washington, on trial as a war criminal.

The world has made no effort to hold Washington responsible for its destruction of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and now Syria and Gaza. The world has not demanded that Washington stop murdering people in Pakistan and Yemen, countries with which Washington is not at war. The world looks the other way as Washington creates the US Africa Command. The world looks the other way as Washington sends deadly weapons to Israel with which to murder women and children in the Gaza Ghetto. Washington passes Senate and House Resolutions cheering on the Israeli murder of Palestinians.

Washington is accustomed to its free pass, granted by the world, to murder and to lie, and now is using it against Russia.

Russian President Putin’s bet that by responding to Washington’s aggression in Ukraine in an unprovocative and reasonable manner would demonstrate to Europe that Russia was not the source of the problem has not payed off. European countries are captive nations. They are incapable of thinking and acting for themselves. They bend to Washington’s will. Essentially, Europe is a nonentity that follows Washington’s orders.

If the Russian government hopes to prevent war with Washington, which is likely to be the final war for life on earth, the Russian government needs to act now and end the problem in Ukraine by accepting the separatist provinces’ request to be reunited with Russia. Once S.2277 passes, Russia cannot retrieve the situation without confronting militarily the US, because Ukraine will have been declared an American ally.

Putin’s bet was reasonable and responsible, but Europe has failed him. If Putin does not use Russian power to bring an end to the problem with which Washington has presented him in Ukraine while he still can, Washington’s next step will be to unleash its hundreds of NGOs inside Russia to denounce Putin as a traitor for abandoning the Russian populations in the former Russian provinces that Soviet leaders thoughtlessly attached to Ukraine.

The problem with being a leader is that you inherit festering problems left by previous leaders. Putin has the problems bequeathed by Yeltsin. Yeltsin was a disaster for Russia. Yeltsin was Washington’s puppet. It is not certain that Russia will survive Yeltsin’s mistakes.

If Washington has its way, Russia will survive only as an American puppet state.

In a previous column I described the article in Foreign Affairs, the journal of the Washington foreign policy community, that makes a case that the US has such strategic advantage over Russia at this time that a “window of opportunity” exists for the US to remove Russia as a restraint on US hegemony with a preemptive nuclear attack.

It is almost certain that Obama is being told that President John F. Kennedy had this window of opportunity and did not use it, and that Obama must not let the opportunity pass a second time.

As Steven Starr explained in a guest column, there are no winners of nuclear war. Even if the US escapes retaliatory strikes, everyone will die regardless.

The view in Washington of the neoconservatives, who control the Obama regime, is that nuclear war is winnable. No expert opinion supports their assumption, but the neocons, not the experts, are in power.

The American people are out to lunch. They have no comprehension of their likely fate. Americans are an uninformed people distracted by their mounting personal and financial problems. If Europeans are aware, they have decided to live for the moment on Washington’s money.

What life is faced with is a drive for hegemony on the part of Washington and ignorant unconcern on the part of the rest of the world.

Americans, worked into a lather about Washington’s unfunded liabilities and the viability of their future Social Security pension, won’t be alive to collect it.

Weekend Chillout - Tacky

With all the tacky news headlines around this week I thought it only fitting to have some more Weird Al.

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Saturday, July 26, 2014

SD Metals and Markets with Tekoa Da Silva

From SilverDoctors

The Globalists Asymmetric Warfare Tactics Could Trigger Nuclear War

From TheAlexJonesChannel

Published on Jul 25, 2014

David Knight conducts an extensive interview with Paul Craig Roberts an insider and global affairs expert. He covers in detail the tactics employed through the current conflict in Ukraine. He identifies the key players, their intentions and the likely outcomes of this deadly game.

Ukraine update

From Al Jazeera English

 

Australia Ranked Second in the 2014 Human Development Report

From the report (link)

2014 Human Development Report

Entitled Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience, the Report provides a fresh perspective on vulnerability and proposes ways to strengthen resilience. Persistent vulnerability threatens human development. And unless it is systematically tackled by policies and social norms, progress will be neither equitable nor sustainable.

Levels in human development continues to rise – yet the pace has slowed for all regions and progress has been highly uneven. The lower human development groups appear to be improving at a higher rate – grounds for optimism that the gap between higher and lower human development groups is narrowing.

In the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific region, and Latin America and the Caribbean, average annual growth rate in HDI dropped by about half over 2008–2013 compared to 2000–2008. Threats such as financial crises, fluctuations in food prices, natural disasters and violent conflict significantly impede progress.....read more


Get REAL: Silver

From MaxKeiserTV

Published on Jul 25, 2014

Jan Skoyles presents a Get REAL special on silver. She talks to Mark O'Byrne of Goldcore.com about how the industrial and precious metal will do.

Greg Hunter - Ukraine Crisis Intensifies, Israel Violence Spreads

From Greg Hunter

Thursday, July 24, 2014

A guy walks into a bar

From The New Yorker magazine

So a guy walks into a bar one day and he can’t believe his eyes. There, in the corner, there’s this one-foot-tall man, in a little tuxedo, playing a tiny grand piano.

So the guy asks the bartender, “Where’d he come from?”

And the bartender’s, like, “There’s a genie in the men’s room who grants wishes.”

So the guy runs into the men’s room and, sure enough, there’s this genie. And the genie’s, like, “Your wish is my command.” So the guy’s, like, “O.K., I wish for world peace.” And there’s this big cloud of smoke—and then the room fills up with geese.

So the guy walks out of the men’s room and he’s, like, “Hey, bartender, I think your genie might be hard of hearing.”

And the bartender’s, like, “No kidding. You think I wished for a twelve-inch pianist?”......read on

Ron Paul Redux

A classic interview with Ron Paul. Possibly the greatest tragedy to befall the US in the last 10 years was preventing Dr Paul becoming President.

From whygoldandsilver   uploaded on Aug 16, 2011

Keiser Report: Goldfish Cryptocurrency

From RT

Published on Jul 22, 2014

In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert remember George W. Bush in 2008 saying Wall Street got drunk, needs to sober up and stop playing with fancy financial instruments as today those 'fancy financial instruments' go downmarket with subprime loans on used automobiles. In the second half, Max interviews Jan Skoyles, CEO of the Real Asset Company, about bitcoin, silver and gold and the new service of offering gold on the blockchain!

Quote of the Week

In the real world the smartest people are those who make mistakes and learn from them. In school the smartest people don’t make mistakes ~ Robert Kiyosaki

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Major ground collapse at Zimbabwe’s biggest platinum mine

From mineweb.com

Article link

London (Mineweb) -

After South Africa and Russia , Zimbabwe is the world’s third largest platinum producer, and its annual output will have received a serious dent with a mine collapse at what is believed to be the country's largest platinum mine by output, Zimplats' Bimha, which will cut its production in half for over a year while steps are taken to restore operations.

Thankfully there was no loss of life or major equipment in the collapse which was, according to a statement by Zimplats’ parent company, Impala Platinum, triggered by the accelerated deterioration of ground conditions associated with a major shear zone - the Mutambara Shear- that cuts through half of the mining area.

The fault was first identified in 2011 but has become more problematic over the last year both along the declines and within the stoping footprint of the Bimha Mine. A number of initiatives to address regional ground stability and employee safety have been undertaken during this period. Despite these efforts, significant and accelerated ground deterioration was observed from May this year, leading to a decision to abandon and permanently close approximately half of the Bimha mining footprint in areas where major falls of ground have occurred. There had obviously been a significant deterioration since the company reported in the first quarter that long term stabilisation of the areas affected by the Mutambara Shear had progressed well in the quarter “with the full rehabilitation of the area expected to be completed by the end of the financial year.” The latest statement now says it will take 15 months before normal operations can be resumed at Bimha – a loss of 45,000 ounces a year in the meantime.

With annual output of around 90,000 ounces of platinum a year, worth a gross US$130 million at current prices, Bimha is Zimplats’ largest source of mined platinum, and Zimplats is Zimbabwe’s largest producer.Impala notes that Zimplats was expected to reach an annual output level of 270,000 ounces of platinum in 2015 as the Phase 2 expansion project completed its ramp up. Due to the Bimha collapse, this target has now had to be postponed to some time in 2016.
The global platinum market is, according to analysts, facing a huge deficit this year, primarily due to the impact of the South African strikes. While Bimha’s lost output only amounts to less than 1% of world platinum production it will still further add to the potential squeeze on supplies anticipated by many over the next 12 months.

Alasdair Macleod after chat with SGTReport

From SGTreport.com

Paul Craig Roberts - Guilt By Insinuation

How American propaganda works

Article link

Paul Craig Roberts

Why hasn’t Washington joined Russian President Putin in calling for an objective, non-politicized international investigation by experts of the case of the Malaysian jetliner?

The Russian government continues to release facts, including satellite photos showing the presence of Ukrainian Buk anti-aircraft missiles in locations from which the airliner could have been brought down by the missile system and documentation that a Ukrainian SU-25 fighter jet rapidly approached the Malaysian airliner prior to its downing. The head of the Operations Directorate of Russian military headquarters said at a Moscow press conference today (July 21) that the presence of the Ukrainian military jet is confirmed by the Rostov monitoring center.

The Russian Defense Ministry pointed out that at the moment of destruction of MH-17 an American satellite was flying over the area. The Russian government urges Washington to make available the photos and data captured by the satellite.

President Putin has repeatedly stressed that the investigation of MH-17 requires “a fully representative group of experts to be working at the site under the guidance of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).” Putin’s call for an independent expert examination by ICAO does not sound like a person with anything to hide.

Turning to Washington Putin stated: “In the meantime, no one [not even the “exceptional nation”] has the right to use this tragedy to achieve their narrowly selfish political goals.”

Putin reminded Washington: “We repeatedly called upon all conflicting sides to stop the bloodshed immediately and to sit down at the negotiating table. I can say with confidence that if military operations were not resumed [by Kiev] on June 28 in eastern Ukraine, this tragedy wouldn’t have happened.”

What is the American response?

Lies and insinuations.

Yesterday (July 20) the US Secretary of State, John Kerry confirmed that pro-Russian separatists were involved in the downing of the Malaysian airliner and said that it was “pretty clear” that Russia was involved. Here are Kerry’s words: “It’s pretty clear that this is a system that was transferred from Russia into the hands of separatists. We know with confidence, with confidence, that the Ukrainians did not have such a system anywhere near the vicinity at that point and time, so it obviously points a very clear finger at the separatists.”

Kerry’s statement is just another of the endless lies told by US secretaries of state in the 21st century. Who can forget Colin Powell’s package of lies delivered to the UN about Saddam Hussein’s “weapons of mass destruction” or Kerry’s lie repeated endlessly that Assad “used chemical weapons against his own people” or the endless lies about “Iranian nukes”?

Remember that Kerry on a number of occasions stated that the US had proof that Assad crossed the “red line” by using chemical weapons. However, Kerry was never able to back up his statements with evidence. The US had no evidence to give the British prime minister whose effort to have Parliament approve Britain’s participation with Washington in a military attack on Syria was voted down. Parliament told the prime minister, “no evidence, no war.”

Again here is Kerry declaring “confidence” in statements that are directly contradicted by the Russian satellite photos and endless eye witnesses on the ground.

Why doesn’t Washington release its photos from its satellite?

The answer is for the same reason that Washington will not release all the videos it confiscated and that it claims prove that a hijacked 9/11 airliner hit the Pentagon. The videos do not support Washington’s claim, and the US satellite photos do not support Kerry’s claim.

The UN weapons inspectors on the ground in Iraq reported that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. However, the fact did not support Washington’s propaganda and was ignored. Washington started a highly destructive war based on nothing but Washington’s intentional lie.

The International Atomic Energy Commission’s inspectors on the ground in Iran and all 16 US intelligence agencies reported that Iran had no nuclear weapons program. However, the fact was inconsistent with Washington’s agenda and was ignored by both the US government and the presstitute media.

We are witnessing the same thing right now with the assertions in the absence of evidence that Russia is responsible for the downing of the Malaysian airliner.

Not every member of the US government is as reckless as Kerry and John McCain. In place of direct lies, many US officials use insinuations.

US Senator Diane Feinstein is the perfect example. Interviewed on the presstitute TV station CNN, Feinstein said: “The issue is where is Putin? I would say, ‘Putin, you have to man up. You should talk to the world. You should say, if this is a mistake, which I hope it was, say it.’”

Putin has been talking to the world nonstop calling for an expert non-politicized investigation, and Feinstein is asking Putin why he is hiding behind silence. We know you did it, Feinstein insinuates, so just tell us whether you meant to or whether it was an accident.

The way the entire Western news cycle was orchestrated with blame instantly being placed on Russia long in advance of real information suggests that the downing of the airliner was a Washington operation. It is, of course, possible that the well-trained presstitute media needed no orchestration from Washington in order to lay the blame on Russia. On the other hand, some of the news performances seem too scripted not to have been prepared in advance.

We also have the advanced preparation of the youtube video that purports to show a Russian general and Ukrainian separatists discussing having mistakenly downed a civilian airliner. As I pointed out earlier, this video is twice damned. It was ready in advance and by implicating the Russian military, it overlooked that the Russian military can tell the difference between a civilian airliner and a military airplane. The existence of the video itself implies that there was a plot to down the airliner and blame Russia.

I have seen reports that the Russian anti-aircraft missile system, as a safety device, is capable of contacting aircraft transponders in order to verify the type of aircraft. If the reports are correct and if the transponders from MH-17 are found, they might record the contact.

I have seen reports that Ukrainian air control changed the route of MH-17 and directed it to fly over the conflict area. The transponders should also indicate whether this is correct. If so, there clearly is at least circumstantial evidence that this was an intentional act on the part of Kiev, an act which would have required Washington’s blessing.

There are other reports that there is a divergence between the Ukrainian military and the unofficial militias formed by the right-wing Ukrainian extremists who apparently were the first to attack the separatists. It is possible that Washington used the extremists to plot the airliner’s destruction in order to blame Russia and use the accusations to pressure the EU to go along with Washington’s unilateral sanctions against Russia. We do know that Washington is desperate to break up the growing economic and political ties between Russia and Europe.

If it was a plot to down an airliner, any safety device on the missile system could have been turned off so as to give no warning or leave any telltale sign. That could be the reason a Ukrainian fighter was sent to inspect the airliner. Possibly the real target was Putin’s airliner and incompetence in implementing the plot resulted in the destruction of a civilian airliner.

As there are a number of possible explanations, let’s keep open minds and resist Washington’s propaganda until facts and evidence are in. In the very least Washington is guilty of using the incident to blame Russia in advance of the evidence. All Washington has shown us so far are accusations and insinuations. If that is all Washington continues to show us, we will know where the blame resides.

In the meantime, remember the story of the boy who cried “wolf!” He lied so many times that when the wolf did come, no one believed him. Will this be Washington’s ultimate fate?

Instead of declaring war on Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, and Syria, why did Washington hide behind lies? If Washington wants war with Iran, Russia, and China, why not simply declare war? The reason that the US Constitution requires war to begin with a declaration of war by Congress is to prevent the executive branch from orchestrating wars in order to further hidden agendas. By abdicating its constitutional responsibility, the US Congress is complicit in the executive branch’s war crimes. By approving Israel’s premeditated murder of Palestinians, the US government is complicit in Israel’s war crimes.

Ask yourself this question: Would the world be a safer place with less death, destruction and displaced peoples and more truth and justice if the United States and Israel did not exist?

Gold Yields Fall To The Lowest Levels Ever


Another brilliant report from SRSrocco

Takeaway points:

The top five gold miners’ average yield declined another 5% in 2013. Average yield fell from 1.26 grams per ton (g/t) in 2012 to 1.20 g/t in 2013.

Newmont Mining:

2005 Waste Rock/Production Ratio = 52 metric tons/ gold oz

2013 Waste Rock/Production Ratio = 113 metric tons/ gold oz

2005 Newmont consumed 19 gallons of diesel in its operations to produce one ounce of gold. 

By 2012, this increased to a staggering 31 gallons per ounce…. a 63% increase in seven years.

———————————

Link: http://srsroccoreport.com/top-gold-miners-yields-fall-to-the-lowest-level-ever/top-gold-miners-yields-fall-to-the-lowest-level-ever/

With the results for 2013 finally in, the top gold miners average yield fell to the lowest level ever.  This is a surprising development considering that the average price of gold dropped to a low of $1,411 in 2013.  Normally when the price of gold falls, gold miners switch to higher grades to remain profitable.

However, the top five gold miners’ average yield declined another 5% in 2013.  If we look at the chart below, the top five gold miners (Barrick, Newmont, AngloGold, Goldfields* & Goldcorp) average yield fell from 1.26 grams per ton (g/t) in 2012 to 1.20 g/t in 2013.

(*Note:  GoldFields spun-off three mines into a new company called Sibanye Gold in 2012.  The data below includes both companies listed as GoldFields.)

Top 5 Gold Production & Average Yield 2005-2013

Furthermore, the average gold yield for the group declined from 1.68 g/t in 2005 to 1.20 g/t in 2013.  Which means these miners lost 0.48 g/t in just eight years… a 29% decline.  That might not sound like a lot, but if we do the math… it’s a substantial loss.

Read more

US Dollar Dying by a Thousand Cuts - China signs currency swap worth 150 billion yuan with Switzerland

From reuters.com

Article link

(Reuters) - China signed a bilateral currency swap agreement worth 150 billion yuan ($24.17 billion) with the Swiss central bank, which can invest up to 15 billion yuan in China's bond market.

The three-year swap, signed on Monday, will "provide liquidity support for bilateral economic and trade exchanges and help maintain financial stability," the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement on its website, www.pbc.gov.cn.

The swap deal will provide liquidity support for development of the offshore yuan market in Switzerland and will be extended if needed, the PBOC said.

Read more

Simon Black - Echoes of 1914

http://www.sovereignman.com/podcast/podcast-012-echoes-of-1914-14708/

Click on image to access podcast

Monday, July 21, 2014

Greg Hunter interviews Egon von Greyerz

From Greg Hunter

Rob Kirby- Significant Advances in Gold & Silver Prices within 3 Months

From Greg Hunter

For Lovers of Foil and Aliens

The Truth Is Out There - but who would have thought Weird Al Yankovic would have found it? Pure genius, if you don't laugh out loud at this video you haven't been following this blog long enough.

From CollegeHumor

Gold, oil prices likely to stay on uptrend

Sun 20 Jul 14 | 07:31 PM ET
Juerg Kiener, MD & CIO of Swiss Asia Capital, says geopolitical tensions may be here to stay for the time being and hence, prices for gold and oil are unlikely to ease.

New Gold Diggers Have Sights Set on France

July 21 (Bloomberg) –- After several decades, France wants to restart its mining industry. The French economy Minister is studying a dozen applications for exploration permits. Bloomberg's Caroline Connan met with the company who received the first exploration licenses in mainland France in more than two decades.

 

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Truth About Markets

Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert with the Truth About Markets. Discussing fading empires, the return of the cold war and the crash of MH17.

Weekend Chillout - A Love Divine

This was a terrible week for many around the world. Thought we could do with some Saskwatch to take our minds off it for a few minutes.

Why would anyone blindly shoot down a plane flying overhead?

Maybe because the plane was flying over a war zone in which the Ukrainian air force had bombed this village, less than 20km away (1sec flying time of a Boeing 777), just two days earlier.



Upper gold star is the MH17 crash site, the lower star the site of Ukrainian aerial bombing


SD Metals and Markets with GATA Chairman Bill Murphy

From SilverDoctors

Friday, July 18, 2014

Jim Rickards - The significance of a BRICS development bank


Australian PM on the Loss of MH17

At least 27 on board MH17 were Australian nationals.


Malaysia MH17 crash scene: Militia and witness reports

From RT

 

James Turk - Returning to Gold: Money in the 21st Century

From Symposium Events

(Interview conducted 11 July 2014) James Turk, Founder & Director of GoldMoney and co-author of "The Money Bubble - What to do before it pops", and keynote speaker at the 7th Gold Investment Symposium being held in Sydney, 8-9 October 2014.

In the interview, James talks with Symposium's Managing Director Kerry Stevenson about his book, believers of gold vs non-believers, how to educate people about what money is and its role, his views on the Chinese and their strategy, as well as what investors will take away from his presentation.

The title of James Turks' presentation at this year's Gold Investment Symposium is "Returning to Gold: Money in the 21st Century".

The Gold Investment Symposium is Australia's leading precious metals summit. To find out more and to register, visit http://symposium.net.au/gold

Gold Price Spikes on Reports of a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 Shot Down over Ukraine

Breaking News:

Reportedly Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that plane "Kuala Lumpur -Amsterdam" went off the radar in Donetsk oblast, possibly shot down"

Follow story via Twitter here and here


Thursday, July 17, 2014

Australia Finally Rids Itself of the Carbon Tax

After four years of the Carbon Tax crushing Australian heavy industry, resulting in jobs going offshore where the same if not more CO2 was released, finally some sanity has returned. Whether you believe in man-made climate change the idea that slugging an economy that produces only 2% of the world's GDP was going to make any difference to global CO2 emissions was ludicrous.  

From ABC News (Australia)



Australia's Indian Ocean neighbours action on reducing the burning of fossil fuels.

Eric Sprott and Gold Price and Manipulation

Eric Sprott discusses this weeks price drop in gold and market manipulation in the face of ongoing historic demand levels. Listen to the KWN interview here

We Deserve More of the Truth of 911

From RepThomasMassie

Published on Jul 11, 2014
Rep. Massie speaks at Press Conference Regarding 9/11 Documents

Monday, July 14, 2014

Flight 77 and The Pentagon

Interesting summary of the issues surrounding the Boeing 757 that was claimed to have hit the Pentagon on 911. I used to work for an airline and spent some time up close to large twin engined planes like the 757 in the hanger and I feel convinced the incredibly large and dense engines and enormous wingspan could not have fitted in the entry hole as shown. Personally I think the building was hit by a cruise missile based on the size of the hole and depth of the penetration of the damage. Also the fact that the plane/missile hit the exact spot in the building  where the missing $2.3 Trillion that Donald Rumsfeld mentioned on September 10, 2001 was being investigated, this is way too much of a coincidence for my liking.




Washington’s Arrogance Will Destroy Its Empire

Washington reeks of the stench of evil

Paul Craig Roberts



Article link

Alone among the governments in the world, Washington requires sovereign governments to follow Washington’s laws even when Washington’s laws contradict the laws of sovereign countries.

The examples are endless. For example, Washington forced Switzerland to violate and to repeal Switzerland’s historic bank secrecy laws. Washington executes citizens of other countries, as well as its own citizens, without due process of law. Washington violates the sovereignty of other countries and murders the countries’ citizens with drones, bombs, and special forces teams. Washington kidnaps abroad citizens of other countries and either brings them to the US to be tried under US law or sends them to another country to be tortured in secret torture centers. Washington tells banks in other countries with whom they can do business and when the banks disobey, Washington blackmails them into compliance or imposes fines that threaten their existence. Last week Washington forced a French bank to pay Washington $9 billion dollars or be banned from its US operations, because the bank financed trade with countries disapproved by Washington.

Washington issues ultimatums to sovereign nations to do as they are told or “be bombed into the stone age.”

Washington violates diplomatic immunity and forces down the planes of presidents of sovereign countries to be illegally searched.

Washington ordered its UK vassal to violate the laws and conventions governing political asylum and to refuse free passage to Julian Assange to Ecuador.

Washington ordered Russia to violate its laws and to hand over Edward Snowden.

Russia is strong enough to refuse to comply with Washington’s orders.

So what did Washington do?

The city upon the hill, the light unto the world, the “indispensable, exceptional government,” kidnapped Roman Seleznyov, the son of a Russian MP, in a foreign country, the Republic of the Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. Seleznyov was seized by Washington as he boarded a flight to Moscow and was spirited away on a private plane to US controlled territory where he was arrested on bogus fraud charges.

The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Washington of kidnapping a Russian citizen in “a new hostile move by Washington” against the Russian people.

There is no doubt whatsoever that Seleznyov’s kidnapping is illegal–as is everything Washington has done since the Clinton regime. Seleznyov’s father, a member of the Russian legislative body, believes that Washington kidnapped his son in order to exchange him for Edward Snowden.

Seleznyov was immediately, without any evidence, charged with imaginary offenses amounting to 30 years in prison. The fascist head of Homeland Security declared that the completely illegal action by the Washington Gestapo is an “important arrest” that “sends a clear message” that “the long arm of justice–and this Department–will continue to disrupt and dismantle sophisticated criminal organizations.”

The US Secret Service declared the Russian MP’s son to be “one of the world’s most prolific traffickers of stolen financial information.”

What utter bullshit!

As the entire world now knows, the greatest thief of financial information is Washington’s National Stasi Agency. Washington’s Stasi Agency has stolen for the benefit of US corporations that make generous political contributions financial information from companies in Brazil, Germany, France, China, Japan, indeed, everywhere. Washington’s Stasi have even stolen the Chancellor of Germany’s private cell phone conversations.

The world was stupid to trust American information systems which serve as spy devices. Anyone who purchases an American brand name computer, or relies on American Internet services, can know for a fact that Washington’s National Stasi Agency has complete information about them. The other governments thought that they had a free ride on US capital investment, but what this free ride meant was that no government and no population had proprietary information and secrets.

The US National Stasi Agency can blackmail the entire population of the world.

According to the neoconservatives, the right to spy on the world is the right of the “indispensable” people, as represented by the “exceptional government” in Washington.

The world is stupid in many other ways in the trust misplaced in Washington. NGOs funded by Washington operate in many countries and serve as Washington’s Fifth Columns. Washington can call out its NGOs into the streets to challenge and overthrow non-cooperating governments or to create for Washington propaganda against targeted governments, as Washington did when it called out its Russian NGOs to protest in the Russian streets that Putin stole the election. These NGOs are proud of the blood that they have, or soon will have, on their hands. It shows that they are important agents of the Empire.

With a captive Western media and European governments plus Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, S. Korea and the Philippines, Washington can brazen out its lies and false charges. “Saddam Hussein has weapons of Mass Destruction.” No one has been punished for this costly lie. “Assad of Syria used chemical weapons against his own people.” No one has been punished for this costly lie. “Russia invaded Ukraine.” No one has been punished for this costly lie. “Edward Snowden is a Chinese/Russian/someone’s spy and a traitor to boot for telling Americans about the illegal actions of their government.” No one has been punished for this lie. “Julian Assange is a spy for making leaked documents of Washington’s crimes available on the Internet.” No one has been punished for this lie.

Every American opposed to Wall Street’s and Washington’s hegemony has been declared to be persona non grata. Such Americans are “domestic extremists,” who are now the focus of the Gestapo Homeland Security, a well armed military force, in contravention of the Posse Comitatus Act. Homeland Security is an illegal and unconstitutional force directed at the American people. The sheeple American people are forced to pay for it as their homes are foreclosed and those that aren’t foreclosed are invaded by goon thug SWAT teams.

Environmentalists are in the way of capitalist profits, and the capitalists rule, not the environmentalists. Environmentalists are “domestic extremists.”

War protesters are investigated as “agents of foreign powers.”

People concerned with the fate of animals and the decline of species due to habitat destruction by greedy, short-term motivated corporations, are on the list of “domestic extremists.”

The Supreme Court is owned by the private interest groups who have bought our government. The US Supreme Court is the great enemy of the US Constitution.

Law is misused to send millions of innocents, especially the young, and Americans whose violations are inconsequential to prison in order to support the revenue needs of the privatized prison system and the career needs of prosecutors.

It is difficult to imagine a country as wrong as the US, where government serves not the people but a tiny handful of the one percent, a government incapable of delivering any kind of justice, a government that if it uttered truth would destroy itself.

Washington reeks of evil. And the world is beginning to realize it.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Stephen Leeb on China Solar and Silver

My favourite commodities analyst Stephen Leeb discusses the huge ramp up in the solar panel rollout in China and the potential it has for physical silver demand. Listen to KWN interview here

USA Watchdog - Israel-Hamas War and Portugal Bank Default

From Greg Hunter

SD Metals and Markets - Silver to $25 in July

From SilverDoctors

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Don't You Let Anyone Tell You Silver Investing is Not Worth the Effort

I have often mentioned on this blog that silver has been valued for at least 6,000 years. But rarely do I come across a photo alluding to that fact. The photo below shows a 2,000 year old Roman water wheel used to pump water out of an underground mineshaft at the Atalaya Silver Mine, Rio Tinto, Spain.


Atalaya Silver Mine as seen from Google Maps

Weekend Chillout - Southern Stars and Rising Sun

In recognition of the Australia Japan free trade deal signed this week I thought some classic JPop was in order. The following music video is from Olivia Lufkin, a friend of a friend of mine. She is no longer a pop star but can be followed on twitter here

Tip: For those followers who don't understand Japanese don't worry half this song is in English (somewhat like Olivia).

Friday, July 11, 2014

NSA spying in Germany creates anti-Americanism earthquake

From RT

Published on Jul 11, 2014

The top CIA officer in Germany has been ordered out of the country. Berlin has responded angrily after two German officials in a week were allegedly revealed to be American spies. Diani Barreto of Wau-Holland Foundation says the news creates a political earthquake in the country.

Jeff Berwick on Objectivist Girl Live: Losing Independence with the Gold Standard

From TheDollarVigilante

Published on Jul 7, 2014 Jeff is interviewed by Lauren Rumpler of Objectivist Girl Live, topics include: The gold standard, effects of removing the gold standard, stock market bubbles, money printing, economic instability, dollar losing value, inflation, increasing government power, US dollar now a hot potato, Bitcoin cannot be inflated!

Boom Bust - Chris Martenson looks at Future growth & Jinyoung Englund on Bitcoin

From Boom Bust

Keiser Report: Time to Fake US Manufacturing?

From RT

Published on Jul 10, 2014 In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the fact that when falling off a cliff, it is only the last few feet that hurt. They apply this to the collapsing US economy where they're going to fake manufacturing till they one day make it, but Max suggests that, just as you cannot taper a ponzi scheme, you cannot recalculate your way out of economic collapse.

In the second half, Max interviews former CIA case officer and co-creator of the Marine Corps Intelligence Center, Robert David Steele, who has authored a new book, The Open Source Everything Manifesto: Transparency, Truth and Trust. They discuss anarchy, panarchy, true cost economics and Max asks whether crowd-sourced answers to national intelligence questions will be met with a military-style response similar to what happened to Kim Dotcom.

Obama Supports ISIS, 911 and The IMF's MAGIC Number 7

From SGTreport.com

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Marc Faber - Global economy not supporting valuations


Australia Jobless Rate Rises to 6.0%

July 10 (Bloomberg) –- Bloomberg’s Dan Petrie reports on Australia’s unemployment rate returning to an 11-year high and what it means for the country’s. He speaks to Rishaad Salamat on Bloomberg Television’s “On The Move.”

John Rubino - Social Unrest Guaranteed

From Greg Hunter

Islamic State Group a True Black Swan

From Greg Hunter

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Ukraine Recaptures Sloviansk: Russian Roulette

From VICE News

Published on Jul 8, 2014 Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News

On July 5, the eastern Ukrainian town of Sloviansk was recaptured by the Ukrainian military, driving out pro-Russia rebels and ending their three-month occupation. VICE News correspondent Simon Ostrovsky travels back to Sloviansk and visits the cell in which he was held for days by those rebels in April. The city is in shambles and residents are struggling to find food and water despite a considerable humanitarian effort. The pro-Russia rebels have retreated to Donetsk, but the Ukrainian government is determined to pursue its anti-terror operation until there are no rebels left.

Keiser Report: Empire of Fictional Cash

From RT

Published on Jul 8, 2014

In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss exorbitant privilege that is the dollar hegemony which offers nothing on the upside and only subjugation and humiliation on the downside. And despite having an empire of fictional money, the US appears to still have gone bankrupt on these fictional debts. But all that is to change as European companies, like Total, and officials, like the Bank of France governor, fight back suggesting an end to US dollar transactions on international trade.

In the second half, Max interviews Arjen Kamphuis about his new and free digital manual The Infosecurity Handbook For Journalists and about driving the cost of NSA spying from the current 0.08 cents per person per day to $10,000 per person per day - thus, driving them out of business.

The Fall of Iraq - What You Aren't Being Told

From StormCloudsGathering

The NDAA Explained

From StormCloudsGathering

Australia and Japan Sign Free Trade Agreement


Press Release from The Australian Trade Minister

Link to release

Today Australia signed a historic Economic Partnership Agreement (JAEPA) with Japan, our second-biggest trading partner with two-way trade worth over $70 billion.

Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb said the agreement will leverage Australia’s strengths to drive economic growth and job creation.

More than 97 per cent of Australia’s exports to Japan will receive preferential access or enter duty-free when the Agreement is fully implemented.

“This is the most ambitious trade deal Japan has ever concluded with anyone and affords Australia major concessions across a range of areas, most notably services and agriculture, an area of traditional sensitivity for the Japanese,” Mr Robb said.

“JAEPA represents a strong outcome for Australian beef our biggest agricultural export to Japan, as well as for fruit, vegetables, nuts, wine, seafood, processed food and other commodities, with many tariffs eliminated on entry into force,” Mr Robb said.

The Australian Government will continue to push for additional outcomes through scheduled renegotiations for key agricultural products under JAEPA, and in other negotiating fora, including in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.

Effectively 100 per cent of Australia’s resources, energy and manufacturing exports will also benefit from tariff-free entry into Japan under this agreement.

JAEPA also guarantees access to the Japanese market for a range of services where Australia has an enviable reputation, including financial, legal, education and telecommunications services. Australian suppliers will also be guaranteed non-discriminatory access to the lucrative Japanese government procurement market.

“Australian consumers will also benefit from cheaper Japanese cars and parts, and a range of household items including white goods and electronics through the elimination of tariffs,” Mr Robb said.

Japanese made components used in Australian production and manufacturing will also become more affordable which will aid our competitiveness. Cheaper Japanese imports improve consumer buying power and enhance our standards of living.”

JAEPA will afford private Japanese investment in non-sensitive areas a new screening threshold of $1.078 billion, up from $248 million.

“This agreement also sends a strong signal to Japanese investors that we both welcome their capital and are open for business, which is most important given Australia is a country that has always relied on foreign investment to develop our commerce, infrastructure and standards of living,” Mr Robb said.

JAEPA will enter into force after the completion of domestic legal and parliamentary processes by both countries, including consideration by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties.

The full text of the agreement is now publicly available online at: www.dfat.gov.au/fta/jaepa/

Monday, July 7, 2014

Mike Maloney: The Dollar As We Know It Will Be Gone Within 6 Years

From ChrisMartensondotcom

Harry Dent and Alex Jones discuss the coming Crash

From TheAlexJonesChannel

Published on Jul 2, 2014

Alex is joined by Economic forecaster Harry S. Dent, Jr. joins the show to explain why another housing crisis is looming which could lead to a sharp downturn in real estate and stock prices around the world. The extra chapter to Harry's book that is discussed can be here

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Savers Sacrificed to the Bankers


Compared this to Gold in USD with averaged returns of 14% over the same period.


Saturday, July 5, 2014

Weekend Chillout - Hey Ya!

This week the US FACTA rules came into place so now 77,000 banks and financial institutions, in 70 countries around the world have to shout "Hey Ya!" to the IRS on their US clients (if there are any left). Ironic that in the same week Americans celebrated being "free"

Americans won't wake up until the Dollar Collapses

From SGTreport.com

Metals and Markets - $1.5 Quadrillion Derivatives Collapse in 2015?

From SilverDoctors

Published on Jul 4, 2014 Marshall Swing joins The Doc & Eric Dubin this week.

Friday, July 4, 2014

Happy 4th of July

To all my US followers, Aussies do love you, but also do love having a laugh at your expense.

Note: Not many Aussies know why we celebrate Australia Day either.

From Mark Dice

Jim Willie and Paul Craig Roberts interviewed on Caravan To Midnight

From John B. Wells

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Quote of the Week


Rick Rule on Gold and the Federal Reserve

From Wall Street Daily


India to Swap Gold Reserves to the Bank Of England

At a time when many concerned citizens around he world are calling for Central Bank disclosure of their holdings, auditing and repatriation, some from the Bank of England, news emerges that India, that country who's people actually understand gold, are going to sell their treasure for a receipt from the Bank of England - utter madness!

As to the spurious arguement detailed below that Indian gold is "old" - well all gold is old, actually even atom of gold on the surface of the earth is billions of years old! So the Indian gold cannot be any older than the gold they are swapping it for in the Bank of England. Also as to the purity, well the standard LBMA 400oz bars stored at the BoE aren't 999.9 either. Anyway regardless of their purity they could be sold just as easily. Say the Indian bars are 90% pure well obviously their value is 90% of a 999.9 pure bar - simples!

One wonders who were the financiers behind the recent election of the Modi government to prompt such counter intuitive move.

From reuters.com

Article link

MUMBAI, July 2 (Reuters) - India's central bank said on Wednesday it has sought quotes from banks to swap gold in its own vaults for international-standard gold, aiming to improve the management of its reserves.

The Reserve Bank of India said the operation would "standardise the gold available with RBI in India with respect to international standards" and the gold acquired would be delivered to its overseas custodian, the Bank of England.

By holding gold reserves in London, the RBI would gain flexibility to mobilise them if needed to defend the currency. It shipped some of its gold holdings to Britain in 1991 as part of a series of emergency measures to tackle a financial crisis.

Under the leadership of Governor Raghuram Rajan, appointed last year, the RBI has sought to modernise its market operations and improve the management of gold and foreign currency reserves that are worth a total of around $315 billion.

According to the World Gold Council, India holds the 11th-largest gold reserves of 557 tonnes. At current market prices, they would be worth nearly $24 billion. It was not immediately clear how much of that would be swapped.

The Economic Times reported earlier that the RBI had sounded out bankers on a plan to swap some of the old, relatively impure, gold that has been lying in its own vaults since before independence in 1947.

Read more