Oldtent Archives 2007 - 2008

Bill,
We now have a chance of electing another Ron Paul to congress. This time from Washington state’s 3rd Congressional District. His name is Michael Delavar (www.delavarforcongress.com). He just won the primary against a establishment neo-con, and will be on the general election ballot as a Republican against incumbent Democrat. His platform plank on Stopping inflation is awesome (see below):

Inflation
For more than a century, US currency was on a gold standard, which meant that citizens could redeem each dollar for a unit of gold. Beginning in 1913, a series of measures severed the connection between gold and the US dollar. Today, with Congressional approval, the Federal Reserve prints paper money at will, and this ‘fiat currency’ is not backed by gold (or any other commodity with real value). With an annual budget now in excess of $3 trillion, the US government relies heavily upon monetary inflation to cover its many budgetary shortfalls. But monetary inflation has serious, negative consequences.
As the Federal Reserve pumps ever increasing quantities of fiat currency into the economy (i.e. inflation), the purchasing power of the dollars earned and saved by Americans steadily erodes. Rising prices are the predictable consequence of monetary inflation, and we see the evidence all around us every day. Today, the US dollar has only 4% of the purchasing power it had in 1913. The ongoing destruction of the dollar is especially hard on the poor and those on a fixed income, such as retirees.
To combat the harm done by the Federal Reserve and monetary inflation, I pledge to:
1. Work to return the US to a system of sound money.
2. Oppose unconstitutional spending bills that encourage monetary inflation, such as bills that transfer US tax dollars to foreign governments (known as ‘foreign aid’).
3. Eliminate taxes on the buying and selling of gold and other precious metals. These taxes discourage Americans from purchasing precious metals to shelter their wealth and savings from the downward spiral of the dollar.

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Sudden death.  You just never know.

I served with Sgt. Mike Cottenden way back in the 80’s, when he and I were Master Corporals. He had trained me in many facets of the military as I rose through the ranks. His sudden death was a big shock to all who knew him. Way off topic for this site, but just a way for me to memorialize a great soldier. MadMike

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Reservist laid to rest.      Sgt. Michael Cottenden remembered for spirit, contributions  

Sgt. Mike Cottenden left the parade square on Thursday for the last time.  

It, along with the rest of the Tommy Holmes VC Memorial Armoury, was a place he had come to know very well in the past three decades as a member of the Grey and Simcoe Foresters.  

Many of his friends and loved ones were there to see him off. When he left, he did so on the shoulders of eight of those friends.  

“He was always there to lend a hand or to be that shoulder to lean on,” Master Cpl. Darren Reid said during Cottenden’s funeral service.  

“Rest in peace,” Reid concluded, his voice breaking, his eyes welling with tears. “You’ll be missed.”  

Sgt. Cottenden died on Sunday after the van he was driving was in a collision with another van at a rural intersection southwest of Meaford. He was 53. The driver of the other van has been charged by police in connection with the crash.  

Many of the hundreds of people who gathered for the service wept along with Reid, but they also smiled and laughed as they shared fond memories of Sgt. Cottenden. Reid elicited many of those smiles as he spoke of the sergeant’s unique vocabulary and his colourful personality.  

Capt. Francesca Scorsone, the military padre who led the service, told the assembly that although Sgt. Cottenden lived only until age 53, it was a fulfilling life and one that touched many others.  

“Mike knew how to live life. Mike lived life to its maximum,” she said. “We can be grateful that we knew him and that he blessed us with his presence.”  

Sgt. Craig Hood agreed. “In his short life, he accomplished so many things,” he said in an interview. “When you look at it that way, it was a very full life. He did a lot in a short amount of time.”  

Sgt. Cottenden joined the Grey and Simcoe Foresters in his hometown of Barrie in 1972. After moving to the Flesherton area several years later, he transferred to the regiment’s Owen Sound company  

“He was asked to come to Owen Sound because they needed NCOs and some leadership here and that’s where he stayed for the remainder of his time,” Hood said of the man who was referred to in 2006 by Lt. Col. Bill Adcock, then the regiment’s commanding officer, as its “elder statesman.”  

“I would consider him a pillar of the regiment. He was the guy that everybody of all ranks looked up to,” Hood said. “He was highly respected and he was the kind of guy that truly led by example.”  

His physical fitness was remarkable for someone of any age, let alone a man in his 50s. Hood recalled a forestry accident last October, a fall from a ladder that almost killed Sgt. Cottenden.  

“They weren’t sure he was going to walk again. A couple of weeks later he was walking. Three weeks later he was doing physical fitness training and cutting wood,” Hood marvelled.  

In 2006, Sgt. Cottenden, then 51, decided he wanted to serve in Afghanistan. He had trained countless soldiers who had gone overseas to various theatres, and he wanted to do his part in an active war zone — so much so that he voluntarily dropped two ranks.  

Hood said the only positions available at the time were for privates and corporals. The sergeant reverted to corporal as part of 1st Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment and got to Afghanistan, where he operated a light machine gun.  

Not surprisingly, Hood said, he made a good and lasting impression on everyone who met him. Many of those comrades were in attendance on Thursday.  

With the Foresters, Sgt. Cottenden specialized as an instructor in weaponry and vehicles. He also worked at ATC Meaford in range control, the inspection and maintenance of the centre’s firing ranges. That’s what he was doing on the overnight shift late Saturday and early Sunday.  

He was in his element performing tasks like that, Hood said, adding his friend could easily have qualified to be a commissioned officer if that’s what he had desired.  

“He never wanted to go higher than sergeant, because he always wanted to be in the fight. He wanted to be with the guys,” Hood said. “Some guys hit a certain age and move up the ranks and get easier jobs. Mike was never that guy.”  

Hood and Reid were among the eight men who carried Sgt. Cottenden’s casket, draped in the Canadian Forces Ensign, on and off the parade square as a piper played laments. A 10-person firing party fired three volleys. A bugler played “Last Post.” Soldiers of all ranks, from private to colonel, sat and mingled together with civilians.  

“It’s a true honour and a privilege to be able to say goodbye in this way,” Hood said.  

“He was a veteran, he was a soldier and I couldn’t think of a more fitting or appropriate send-off for a man like him.”  

Copyright © 2008 Owen Sound Sun Times

Why kill a snake to take to the emergency room? Rat snakes are great to have around-kill rodents of all types. We have 3 poisonous snakes in my area:copperheads, timber rattlers, and cottonmouths. All easy to ID. It was not the snakes fault it was in our house or that it bit me. I should have worn gloves.I was struck by a copperhead 20+ years ago-now that was a real pain! Do not think this one poisonous.

….as of 8:00 PM, EDT

JBI

If your around wild critters like that, maybe need to keep up on your tetnus shots. Gen. if a snake is poisonous it will have fangs. others don’t. If you do  see puncture marks or it burns, and don’t know what snake is contain or kill snake and take it with you for antivenom reasons. Mean while watch out for infection, it could have injected you with bacteria. Warm soaks and clean bandages everyday.

Moggy the hurricane is turning a bit. But they’re still out of target but will be close, less it turned more. May cause flooding they just recovered from, and here they just bought all that food.Irish, hope you kicked back some of it to those people for next time.lol Hope the electricity doesn’t go out but with those winds very possible. Looks like it’s gonna miss S. Florida now barley, hard to say where it will bounce. Hope it doesn’t pick up when hits the water again, and disapate to class one or two before it hits land.The people north of him should really be preparing as far.It’s gotta be really bad for people with upper respiratory conditions like asthma right now esp. if electricity goes out.

http://www.safehaven.com/article-11073.htm

now if I could get the rest of my stocks to move like this…..things would be golden.

Terror in the laundry room tonight. A 3′ snake in the laundry basket..Dani in panic mode..went to grab the critter and it managed to bite me. It was relegated to the great outdoors with a big sling. Sure hope it was’nt poisonous. Think it was a Rat Snake. The joys of living on the lake.

………There were two competing silver prices”

“These two silver prices were at loggerheads with each other. Every time the ‘real’ silver price began to rise, a ‘paper’ silver price would show up in large quantities and scare some of the holders of real silver to dump and run.

Silver miners and coin dealers with ‘real silver’ in inventory, instead of being organized, and using supply and demand to determine the price of silver, would look at a computer screen, check to see what ‘paper silver’ was doing and meekly accept that as the price at which to sell silver.

The Silver Users of America (SUA), is the only ‘user cartel’ in existence. (Cartels are usually comprised of suppliers – OPEC comes to mind). For years the SUA and their willing accomplices have been able to spook the people who deal in ‘real silver’ into coughing up silver at low prices, simply by dumping ‘paper silver’ onto the markets. While there are no manuals available detailing how they do this, we will have to make some assumptions based on observations regarding market action.

Here is my assumption: Assume that I am a member of the SUA, and it is in my interest to keep the price of silver as low as possible. Along with my fellow SUA members, I go about engaging half a dozen large bullion banks that are active in the futures markets. I mention to them that my fellow SUA members and I would like to cap a rally that has just driven silver to a new high.

Would it be possible, I ask them, as soon as we see that buying is drying up because of resistance at this new price, for you and your fellow bankers to start selling a large number of futures contracts and options using ‘paper silver’?

Let’s pick a time when there are not too many people active in the marketplace, and volume has slowed right down.

My fellow SUA members and I will do the same, and as soon as we create some momentum, the hedge funds will dump their ‘long’ contracts and join us, since they like to chase a trend. Then, the small and large investors who have bought silver on margin will have to sell, and they will also become our helpmates.

By any chance, do any of you bankers have an inside track to any of the central banks? It would be very helpful if one or more central banker could raise the value of the US dollar at the same time as we start our selling campaign.

It would also be very helpful if you people used your influence with the governing body at the various futures exchanges to tell them that what we are doing is simply ‘normal market behavior.’

If we all work together, then you and your fellow bankers will be able to buy back the contracts you sold high, at a lower price, and my fellow SUA members and I will be able to buy ‘real silver’ cheaply from the mining industry, since these people still have not figured out our game and have not yet banded together to form a suppliers cartel.

A funny thing happened last week. The SUA and its fellow travelers may have pushed ‘paper silver’ too low. Shortages in ‘real silver’ began to appear, and more and more people now are beginning to understand what is happening. My advice to those among you who think you are buying ‘real silver’ when you are trading ‘paper silver’ is this: Make sure you buy ‘real silver’ with the profits you make in ‘paper silver’, just in case it turns out there is a shortage of ‘real silver’ to back the ‘paper silver.

Featured is the daily silver chart. The blue arrows point to times when the silver price fell below the 200DMA (red line on the chart). Two years ago, at the seasonal low in September, price fell to 2% below the 200D. A year ago during the August seasonal low, price fell to 3.5% below the 200DMA. Last week during the presumed 2008 seasonal lows the price was pushed 37% below the 200D!! Think of this as the sellers of ‘paper silver’ having pushed a beach ball well below the surface of the water in a pool. Think of how rapidly the beach ball can rise when it is released, then go buy some ‘real silver’, just as I have been doing.

Notice the RSI at the top of the chart is already turning positive, and the MACD at the bottom of the chart is also ready to turn up again.

The positive aspect that is impressive about the rise in today’s silver price (Tuesday 08/26)), is the fact that the US dollar is also rising. In 2005, silver, gold and the US dollar all rose in tandem.

Therefore, a decoupling (separating the metals from the movements in the US dollar), would not be unique. The main driver for silver and gold is the fact that ‘real interest rates’ (T-bills less CPI) are currently negative. Whenever rates are negative, silver and gold usually rise, as money in bank accounts is punished.

This is ‘real silver’. It does not fold, crumple or burn, you cannot create it on a computer.”

by Peter Degraaf
August 26, 2008

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JBI

22,065,788 . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Interesting stuff. I just meant that in circa 3000 bc Thuban was the North star rather than Polaris due to the wobble in the earths axis and the shifting nature of pole stars over time, approx 26,000 yr cycle.

Alpha Draconis had not been in alignment for thousands of years…until about 2004 A.D.  Polaris in Greek means “Satan”.

Moggy

That seems to be a shortcut to the Tent.  <g>

I betcha that was a pleasurable experience.  

…and no accountability for their misconduct….why doesn’t that surprise me.

Cheers, ipso

Miss you guys. Come on back. Got a taco waitin’ for ya. Or at least post the url wherever your new tent may be.

Maya, hope the new gig is going well, and you and ment are enjoying those latte’s. I’ve never been to Seattle, time and money prohibitive for me, but the area has always been high on my wish lists of beautiful places to see. Someday…

Pictures I’ve seen of Olympic National Park, appear to me to be of one of the most stunningly gorgeous places on earth. I love lots of green and ample rain and what it does for the landscape.

Goldballoon, you need to make a photo stop there! You make me really want to buy a new camera too. Awesome job you do.