The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: billt on May 12, 2011, 04:13:20 PM
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/05/12/ron-paul-ordered-bin-laden-raid/
Why does this guy keep doing $h!t like this? Bill T.
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I'll never understand this guy. I don't entirely disagree with his libertarian philosophy but on this subject he's just wrong!
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/05/12/ron-paul-ordered-bin-laden-raid/
Why does this guy keep doing $h!t like this? Bill T.
Because he is bat sh!t crazy and a fanatic? Look, don't get me wrong, I've met the man on more than few occasions in Tx.. He showed up at my church to do some outreach programs in his district, which is close to Austin. He's a great guy, very smart and affable. I agree with most of his platform. But he has drunk so much Ayn Rand Kool-aid that he doesn't understand the real world. He thinks compromising principles is selling out, not just adjusting to unpleasant realities. Returning to the gold standard? Withdrawing ALL US troops from overseas? The list goes on. He doesn't get that what's nice in theory doesn't work in practice. That's good in a Congressman. Its a voice of conscience. But its a damn disaster in a President who actually has to deal with real life consequences.
The guy never had a chance to be elected anyway. Now, this boneheaded remark about respecting another nation's soveriegnty over our national interest will keep him from even elevating the debate like he did last time. Its too bad. We need more guys like him out there in the public square, we just shouldn't make them POTUS.
FQ13 who would have shot Bin Laden in the Pope's bedroom if that's what it took.
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I agree with both of you. I'm so sick and tired of this total a$$hat. I've tried like hell to understand his positions, and give him every benefit of the doubt. But I swear to God this guy would be a total train wreck if he ever did get elected, which he won't. And they have the audacity to talk about Trump and his remarks. Give me a break! Bill T.
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And yet Ronnie boy is constantly held up as the poster boy for libertarianism. One of the key libertarian - or is it Libertarian? - positions is to sever all foreign relations, aid, bases, and everything else that smacks of us being involved with "them".
Sad, isn't it? Paul and Romney are currently the 2 GOP leaders, and between this and Mitt's defense of his pre-bho-care bho-care program in MA, we're still stuck with the both of them. >:( WTH? ? ? ?
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That's what I thought when I read this.
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And yet Ronnie boy is constantly held up as the poster boy for libertarianism. One of the key libertarian - or is it Libertarian? - positions is to sever all foreign relations, aid, bases, and everything else that smacks of us being involved with "them".
Sad, isn't it? Paul and Romney are currently the 2 GOP leaders, and between this and Mitt's defense of his pre-bho-care bho-care program in MA, we're still stuck with the both of them. >:( WTH? ? ? ?
Libertian (capital L) is the party, libertarian (small l) is the philosophy. (They are two different animals as the party is sadly a joke. The philosophy of libertarianism is what founded the country. :-[).Thing is, Paul does represent one wing of libertarianism which is Randian Objectivism (note the name of his son). Its a bigger movement than that. Even here he is somewhat contradictory, as he is anti-choice which is rare, but not unheard of, in libertarian circles. The same can be said of his FP. A lot of us are pragmatists in this area and realize that isolationism doesn't work. We just look at Vietnam, Panama, Beirut, Kosovo, Bosnia, Iraq and Libya and wonder what was worth a single American life or tax dollar. We support NATO, but don't want to foot the whole bill. Its a philosophy with different camps, most of us falling into a more traditional classical liberal (again, small l) position. But Paul is on the Taliban wing of the movement.
FQ13
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Because he is bat sh!t crazy and a fanatic?.....But he has drunk so much Ayn Rand Kool-aid that he doesn't understand the real world. ......Returning to the gold standard? Withdrawing ALL US troops from overseas?............
All right. I have to step in here and stop you. I understand his ill-timed but correct point; so let's put it this way: Would you like it if the Mexican government flew their special forces into our country, raided, and killed a group of people they had a problem with? Ever hear of national sovereignty? Or is your position kind of like its OK for me to piss in your pool but don't you piss in mine? Quaker, we will reap what we sow; so don't bitch when foreign troops land on our soil to administer their president's foreign policy.
And for the gold standard, it worked for 180 years. What cost $1.00 in 1913 now will cost you $22.57 in 2011. So tell me how has the Federal Reserve and Nixon's policy worked out for us?
Withdrawing troops from overseas? What's wrong with that? We didn't have anywhere near the problems we have today until we started doing England's bidding in the late 19th century and it has progressed from there. I know. I know. You're going to tell me about South Korea and the middle east oil. But I will ask you why do you support American tax payers propping up the social welfare states of France, Germany, Italy, and Spain with our military in that region? You do realize their military spending is artificially low due to our presence, right?
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All right. I have to step in here and stop you. I understand his ill-timed but correct point; so let's put it this way: Would you like it if the Mexican government flew their special forces into our country, raided, and killed a group of people they had a problem with? Ever hear of national sovereignty? Or is your position kind of like its OK for me to piss in your pool but don't you piss in mine? Quaker, we will reap what we sow; so don't bitch when foreign troops land on our soil to administer their president's foreign policy.
I'm using bold to distinguish my post from yours, not to shout. As to the above, pretty much yes. FP boils down to power. If (and I suspect its already hapened with a wink and a nod over the last decade) Mexican operatives hit one of their cartel leaders in the US, that's the way it works. We hit a guy in Italy, they bitched, but lived with it. IR is governed by rules, but those are made by those who have power.To quote "The Book of Common Prayer": As it was in the begining, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. :-\
Withdrawing troops from overseas? What's wrong with that? We didn't have anywhere near the problems we have today until we started doing England's bidding in the late 19th century and it has progressed from there. I know. I know. You're going to tell me about South Korea and the middle east oil. But I will ask you why do you support American tax payers propping up the social welfare states of France, Germany, Italy, and Spain with our military in that region? You do realize their military spending is artificially low due to our presence, right?
I thought I addressed the issue of not carrying our NATO allies, or Japan. As for the rest of it, it's a dangerous world and we live in it. We can't trust our allies to support us unless its in their interests. The lame coalition forces and ROEs in Iraq and Afghanistan (the UK mostly excepted) speak volumes to that. We can't withdraw from all of our overseas bases. That said, we can sure scale down. Paul though doesn't do things by half. He also doesn't realize that too much of a good thing can in and of it self be a bad thing, particularly when the cost of screwing up is measured in body bags. Just my .02.
FQ13
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There is NO way he would make it through the primaries. He doesn't play with the "establishment"
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Would you like it if the Mexican government flew their special forces into our country, raided, and killed a group of people they had a problem with?
If we were harboring and protecting a terrorist that killed 3,000 innocent Mexican civilians, I would expect them to. Remember it's called a WAR on terror for a reason. It's not about kissing ass. I'm all broken up over Pakistan's "sovereignty". When you deal from both sides of the deck, you should learn to expect this sort of thing. As Bush said, "You're either with us or against us!" Pakistan has made their choice. Now they can live with it. We already are, quite comfortably. Bill T.
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Just a quick jump in the pool...
Fullauto has succinctly stated his cogent opinion. I can find nothing therein to promote any argument.
My daddy taught me there's two kind of fellows you never argue with. Them that's right. And them that's got a hogleg strapped on their hip.
Now, I don't know the status of Fullauto's hogleg, but the man is certainly right!
FWIW,
Crusader
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If we were harboring and protecting a terrorist that killed 3,000 innocent Mexican civilians, I would expect them to. Remember it's called a WAR on terror for a reason. It's not about kissing ass. I'm all broken up over Pakistan's "sovereignty". When you deal from both sides of the deck, you should learn to expect this sort of thing. As Bush said, "You're either with us or against us!" Pakistan has made their choice. Now they can live with it. We already are, quite comfortably. Bill T.
Don't misunderstand me, Bill, I'm glad he's dead! And I'm glad our guys got him. But, and this is huge, how we got him is very important. If their government gave us the green light (which I really think they did but we'll never know the truth on that one) that is one thing. But if we go in unannounced and unwelcome that is a completely different thing.
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Don't misunderstand me, Bill, I'm glad he's dead! And I'm glad our guys got him. But, and this is huge, how we got him is very important. If their government gave us the green light (which I really think they did but we'll never know the truth on that one) that is one thing. But if we go in unannounced and unwelcome that is a completely different thing.
No it isn't. We are the biggest kid on the block, why should we take crap from the little punks who couldn't accomplish half what we have in 10 times the time ? Screw those little shitholes, they shaft us every chance they get, then come begging with their hand out .
This is something I completely agree with Trump on, The Soviet union had it right when they invaded Germany, They took "Reparations", they disassembled factories, they hauled off power plants, they even sent trainloads of brick, from the rubble piles, all to be used in rebuilding the Soviet Union. We should be hauling tanker loads of free oil out of Iraq, We should be confiscating the Haitian coffee crop.
TANSTAAFL.
There ain't no such thing as a free lunch, for us why should these little pissants expect one from us ?
As for Ron Paul, another loser like Romney who couldn't even beat a RINO like McCain.
If you wouldn't put a retread on your car, only an asshole would put one on the ballet.
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CR, my brother, normally I agree with you on whatever you post. Here, however, we have to diverge. FA ain't right for a bunch of reasons.
1. Gold standard - no, it did not work for 180 years. True, it worked well for a while, but the price has been manipulated for more than a century, most notably with the formation of the Federal Reserve (which in fact is neither) and especially when FDR made ownership illegal, confiscated it at something like $20+ an ounce, and when he had collected most of it, thereupon announced its value was now magically raised to $36 an ounce - creating a huge windfall for the gummint - where the price lay for decades. regardless of world demand. Complete manipulation.
2. Gold standard redux - From what I have read and heard, the amount of gold we would need to actually base the US dollar on gold has never been mined in the history of this world. Therefore, the dollar would have to be seriously revalued - which needs to be done anyhow - and that alone would cause major economic upheavals. And this will never happen, as it would mean the dollar would have to be revalued to the "good", whereas world powers and big shots are actively trying to destroy the dollar.
3. Withdrawing troops - maybe. However, the G2 (intelligence) we get by being involved abroad helps keep us safe here. It was a massive intelligence failure due - in part - to the klintoon administration's refusal to let various gummint agencies share data and follow up jointly on leads, architected by our likely next head of the FBI, Jamie Gorelick, that created a huge gap in our intelligence gathering and processing, and thereby leading to 9/11. In this day and age, isolationism will get you dead.
4. Isolationism - in this, I may have to agree with FQ (feh, yuck, ptooey - oh, right, broken clock syndrome, that works) in that Paul is blinded by a "perfect" adherence to Ayn Rand's Objectivity and has forgotten 2 points:
- politics is the art of the possible; and
- war is politics by other means (TY von Clausewitz)
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Ron Paul has always had an isolationist foriegn policy. He blamed the US (local Houston radio program in 2007) for provoking the 9-11 attacks, calling it a "blow back" reaction to our support of Israel and intervention in middle eastern affairs in general. On economics/spending he's right on, but one trick ponies don't make good presidents.
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But if we go in unannounced and unwelcome that is a completely different thing.
It's all we could have done with events leading up to this point. The Pakistanis cannot be trusted. We've informed them before that we were going after him, and they tipped him off. If you play both sides of the fence, this is what happens. Now they're crying about it and making threatening statements. What did they expect? You can't have it both ways. Even the Pakistanis should be smart enough to realize that. Bill T.
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No it isn't. Screw those little shitholes, they shaft us every chance they get, then come begging with their hand out .
This is something I completely agree with Trump on, The Soviet union had it right when they invaded Germany, They took "Reparations", they disassembled factories, they hauled off power plants, they even sent trainloads of brick, from the rubble piles, all to be used in rebuilding the Soviet Union. We should be hauling tanker loads of free oil out of Iraq, We should be confiscating the Haitian coffee crop. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch, for us why should these little pissants expect one from us ? As for Ron Paul, another loser like Romney who couldn't even beat a RINO like McCain.
If you wouldn't put a retread on your car, only an asshole would put one on the ballet.
+100 ! I couldn't agree more! Bill T.
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http://patriotupdate.com/6936/ron-paul-sell-the-gold-in-fort-knox
Now this crackpot wants to sell off all of the gold in Fort Knox to pay down the debt. Real smart. Sell off what little we have of a national treasure, that won't even make a dent in the National Debt. At $1,496.00 an ounce there is $220 billion dollars of gold in Fort Knox. We currently owe $14+ TRILLION. Will someone get this clown a calculator! Bill T.
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That plan would also make it somewhat tricky to return to the gold standard. Unless of course we are going to have federal employees wearing Uncle Sam outfits twirling sgns saying "We Buy Gold' on every street corner. ::)
FQ13 who firmly agrees with BilT here.
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That plan would also make it somewhat tricky to return to the gold standard. Unless of course we are going to have federal employees wearing Uncle Sam outfits twirling sgns saying "We Buy Gold' on every street corner. ::)
FQ13 who firmly agrees with BilT here.
There isn't enough gold mined since the dawn of time to return us to the "Gold Standard". You can't drive a Lexus if you work at Taco Bell. Bill T.
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There isn't enough gold mined since the dawn of time to return us to the "Gold Standard". You can't drive a Lexus if you work at Taco Bell. Bill T.
Even if we contracted or currency supply several thousand percent to do it, no one else could. What are the gold standard guys thinking? Its just not a possibility. And OBTW, what about the industrial uses for gold and silver? ::) I don't understand how folks take this stuff seriously. The closest you're going to get is some sort of "commodity basket" standard and that has issues as well.
FQ13
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Even if we contracted or currency supply several thousand percent to do it, no one else could. What are the gold standard guys thinking? Its just not a possibility. And OBTW, what about the industrial uses for gold and silver? ::) I don't understand how folks take this stuff seriously. The closest you're going to get is some sort of "commodity basket" standard and that has issues as well.
FQ13
Well this just begs the question of why don't we audit the gold we have at Fort Knox? One hasn't been done since Eisenhower was in office. So let's do one and find out who is right.
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This whole conversation re' gold or silver standards for money is moot. Look up Bancor and the IMF. The failure of the dollar, euro, yuan, and all of the other fiat currencies is taking us straight to the bancor. The bancor may be based on something, but the dollar never will be again.
You think this sex charge against the Frog who heads the IMF is a happenstance? Someone wanted him out, and he is going. We may someday find out why, maybe.
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Full Auto is about 40 years behind the curve. The National Gold reserve (The stuff in Ft Knox ) was auctioned off back in the 70's when Nixon re-legalized the private ownership of gold .
This whole conversation re' gold or silver standards for money is moot. Look up Bancor and the IMF. The failure of the dollar, euro, yuan, and all of the other fiat currencies is taking us straight to the bancor. The bancor may be based on something, but the dollar never will be again.
You think this sex charge against the Frog who heads the IMF is a happenstance? Someone wanted him out, and he is going. We may someday find out why, maybe.
Yeah, starting with the maid who's mouth he stuck "kermit" in. She wanted him out.
You knew SOMEONE would go there ;D
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Tom is right. What makes more sense? A conspiracy theory among the global banking elite, or a rich entitled A hole who thought he could rape a maid and get away with it? I mean c'mon. MAYBE it was a setup, but Occam's razor (and life experience) tells us that a guy who isn't used to being told no and deciding he can get away with anything is the most likely scenario. Just sayin'.
FQ13
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Full Auto is about 40 years behind the curve. The National Gold reserve (The stuff in Ft Knox ) was auctioned off back in the 70's when Nixon re-legalized the private ownership of gold .
Yeah, starting with the maid who's mouth he stuck "kermit" in. She wanted him out.
You knew SOMEONE would go there ;D
Tom and Quaker,
You two don't know what you're talking about here. You just cribbed that from Wikipedia or some other internet source but there has never been any official accounting done since the 1950's.
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Loosen the Tin foil FA. I remember watching the news when they did it.
They bragged about how fast Americans snapped it up.
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The National Gold reserve (The stuff in Ft Knox ) was auctioned off back in the 70's when Nixon re-legalized the private ownership of gold.
Well this just begs the question of why don't we audit the gold we have at Fort Knox? One hasn't been done since Eisenhower was in office. So let's do one and find out who is right.
http://www.numismaticnews.net/article/Gold_all_there_when_Ft_Knox_opened_doors/
It was visited in 1974 by US Congressmen and the press. Gerald Ford was President. Phillip Crane was my Congressman back then when I was living in Illinois. He was at Fort Knox as one of the visitors that were allowed inside. I met him at a "Town Hall" type meeting shortly afterward, and asked him about it. He said there was no doubt the gold was there. He physically held it, and said he was awestruck by the amount, and how heavy it was. Bill T.
Recognizing Rep. Philip M Crane, R-Ill., I asked him why he had suggested a tour of Knox.
“I suggested it because of rampant rumors that significant portions of our gold reserves were gone,” he replied.
“I suggested it to William Simon [Secretary of the Treasury] because, if coupled with an audit, would serve to help gain confidence in the monetary system.
“I’ll be satisfied with the audit,” he said, noting that there was a previous one in 1953, just after President Eisenhower took office.
Crane noted he had held one of the 400-ounce brick (approximately 27 pounds) and noted its worth of $65,000 on the free market.
“Exciting” was the way he put it. “It was impressive how much value can be found in such a small package,” he remarked.
Today, the value of the same bullion cube is worth over $360,000.
(http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/billt460/FortKnoxGold.jpg)
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http://www.numismaticnews.net/article/Gold_all_there_when_Ft_Knox_opened_doors/
It was visited in 1974 by US Congressmen and the press. Gerald Ford was President. Phillip Crane was my Congressman back then when I was living in Illinois. He was at Fort Knox as one of the visitors that were allowed inside. I met him at a "Town Hall" type meeting shortly afterward, and asked him about it. He said there was no doubt the gold was there. He physically held it, and said he was awestruck by the amount, and how heavy it was. Bill T.
(http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/billt460/FortKnoxGold.jpg)
Bill,
Thanks for the article as it is very interesting. I have been to the New York Federal Reserve and looked at the gold in their vault and I can tell you there is no way of knowing how much they should have just by looking at it. Looking at it aint the same as physically counting it and reconciling against records.
I know the article is talking about events that happened in 1974, but I believe the IMF actually has the largest horde of gold today.....
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http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_gold_has_been_mined_in_human_history
It's hard to believe, but if all the gold ever mined was weighed, it would amount to between 140,000 and 160,000 tons. That would be a cube of approximately 62 feet on a side. A cubic inch of gold weighs 11.06 oz. Bill T.
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http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_gold_has_been_mined_in_human_history
It's hard to believe, but if all the gold ever mined was weighed, it would amount to between 140,000 and 160,000 tons. That would be a cube of approximately 62 feet on a side. A cubic inch of gold weighs 11.06 oz. Bill T.
Not to argue but that is from wiki.answers after all. And the question is like asking how many trees have been cut down throughout human history.
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Actually FA that number has been floating around for at least 30 years.
And historians have a surprisingly good idea of gold out put over the centuries.
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The questionis why are we having this discussion? Why fetishize gold? Its a commodity like any other. No different than tin or rubber or coal. Its value was based on the fact that its shiny and rare. In short, its perceived or market value, not any intrinsic value. Its really no different than paper money, except that there is a finite amount of it. Now, that finite amount is grossly inadequate to cover the dailey transactions of a global economy. Ultimately all currency, whether its paper, wampum or gold bars is based on its utility and and perceived value. Gold is not adequate. We have two choices. Either deal with fiat currencies and treat them the same way we do stocks and bonds, or go with some substitute for gold. Either way we will never escape the fact that money is worth exactly what someone is willing to trade you for it. Its ALL perceived value. The search for an absolute value is a fool's errand.
FQ13
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Gold, Silver, and other commodities have value in themselves. Metal coinage replaced straight barter because it was easily transported, could be worked into more or less uniform weights and did not spoil.
I thought you studied history ? This is pretty basic. Paper has no where near the value it is supposed to represent since it can not be used for anything else except wiping your ass.
Gold and Silver CERTIFICATES had value because they could be redeemed for metal of that value.
Federal Reserve notes have no actual value except that assigned them by a bunch of lying incompetents .
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Gold, Silver, and other commodities have value in themselves. Metal coinage replaced straight barter because it was easily transported, could be worked into more or less uniform weights and did not spoil.
I thought you studied history ? This is pretty basic. Paper has no where near the value it is supposed to represent since it can not be used for anything else except wiping your ass.
Gold and Silver CERTIFICATES had value because they could be redeemed for metal of that value.
Federal Reserve notes have no actual value except that assigned them by a bunch of lying incompetents .
And what use is a gold coin the size of a quarter except that someone decided it was worth $500 or $10,000 depending on its rarity? Look Tom, this is a key point. Let me remind you of Gresham's Law. Long version is this: "Between two currencies of equal market value, the one with the least intrinsic value will prevail". Short version is this: "Bad money drives out good".
Look at our own economy. No one wants cash. They want visa or direct deposit because the handling charges are cheaper. Hell, UT gave you a discount on tuition if you paid by visa over the phone or online as they didn't have to pay to have someone open the envelope and take the check to the bank. Gold is intrinsically as useless as paper unless you want it for industrial purposes. Ask yourself this. Three weeks into a disaster, would you trade a gun, bottled water, or food for gold any quicker than you would for a fistfull of $100 bills? Hell no. Money, all money, represents a store of value. How MUCH value that currency represents depends entirely on its perceived utility to the buyer. Think of all money as poker chips. The blue is worth more than the red because we aree that its so. How much is a blue worth? Ask me at the point that you want to cash it in on something of actual value.
FQ13
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Think of all money as poker chips. The blue is worth more than the red because we aree that its so. How much is a blue worth? Ask me at the point that you want to cash it in on something of actual value.
FQ13
Not really a good comparison. A poker chip is only as good as the casino who issued it. Yes, in Vegas, Reno, and Atlantic City, casinos will redeem each others chips out of common courtesy, and because it keeps people gambling and spending where otherwise they wouldn't. But try to buy a gallon of paint at the Home Depot 8 blocks from the strip with a $20.00 chip from the Stardust, and they'll tell you to take a hike. It's basically worthless out of it's domain.
Gold is recognized as a Worldwide standard of value because of it's rarity, along with the fact so little of it has existed in the world at any given point in time. Much the same with Silver, Platinum, and other rare heavy metals. Paper and poker chips can also be easily counterfeited, not so with gold and silver. The entire profession of assaying is based on that. Bill T.
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FQ, you really are an idiot.
The Law is a special case of the usual effects of price controls by government: in this case, the government’s artificial fixing of an exchange rate between two or more moneys creates a shortage of the artificially under-valued money and a surplus of the over-valued money.
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Back to Ft. Knox for a second. I remember when Crane and the others went through (I was living in Illinois then myself). What strikes me now is one simple fact. Years ago, this was allegedly the process at Ft. Knox: Gold never leaves (or rather, is never supposed to leave) Ft. Knox. Ever. When a nation submitted certificates (dollars backed by gold then silver), an amount of gold was moved from one room or area to another to transfer the wealth. When Crane and the others were allowed into Ft. Knox, they were simply shown the rooms (some of the rooms?) so who knows whose gold they were looking at? That is why there is need of an audit, to (a) confirm that gold bars are in fact still there, and (b) which ones, if any, are still ours (i.e., belong to the US).
Back to the FQ-bashing already in progress! ;D Someone pass me the popcorn, please?
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When Crane and the others were allowed into Ft. Knox, they were simply shown the rooms (some of the rooms?) so who knows whose gold they were looking at?
Every gold ingot stored at Fort Knox is stamped so identifying it. We do not store foreign gold there. During World War II we did store the Crown Jewels of England as a favor to Churchill, to prevent the Nazi's from stealing them. There was also a report that the Constitution was also stored there during the same time frame. Bill T.
(http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/billt460/FtKnoxGoldIngot.jpg)
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The History Channel had a good 2 hour show all about Fort Knox called, "Fort Knox Secrets Revealed". This is a short 4 minute clip from it.
http://www.history.com/videos/fort-knox-secrets-revealed#fort-knox-secrets-revealed
http://www.history.com/videos/fort-knox-secrets-revealed#fort-knox-worker-reveals-all
They rerun it from time to time. They interview a guy who landed a job there to help count (audit), every gold bar there back in the 70's. Every single one is stamped and serial numbered. They also talk about all of the security upgrades that have taken place over the years. The landscape has also been changed. Trees removed, etc. If you ever get a chance to catch it, it's worth watching. Bill T.
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On my way to work but I just wanted to make clear that I believe there is gold in Ft. Knox it's just how much, and to Path's point, whose gold is there is the question for me. I posed the same question at the New York Fed and was answered with icy stares.
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Every gold ingot stored at Fort Knox is stamped so identifying it. We do not store foreign gold there. During World War II we did store the Crown Jewels of England as a favor to Churchill, to prevent the Nazi's from stealing them. There was also a report that the Constitution was also stored there during the same time frame. Bill T.
(http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/billt460/FtKnoxGoldIngot.jpg)
The US "owns" the gold in Ft. Knox as in we have physical possession of however much is there. My point was that - at one time anyhow - ownership was "logical" in that bars were moved around within the vaults based on net exchanges between countries. The process may have changed since then, I'm sure physical bars are no longer shuffled - all that happens on computers. Maybe the "ownership" was always on ledgers and the moving of bars was a public show for some reason. Who really knows. And that is the point - an audit, a real audit, will identify what we have, who really "owns" the metal "commodity" we have all agreed is valuable. All except FQ that is. He's still on cowrie shells I would guess . . . ;)
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It's my understanding, and anyone can do the research to prove otherwise, that we have gold reserves all over the US. I recall that several billion dollars were stored beneath the World Trade Center, Chase Manhattan Bank in NYC, San Fransisco, etc.... I would guess that only a handful of folks actually know that amount that's secreted away....Fort Knox is just one repository for the shiny stuff..
For Y2K, the treasury printed an over abundance of paper currency just in case the SHTF after the year 2000, (even though the new millennium didn't start until Jan 1, 2001...the bothersome Gregorian calender and all)...and stored it all of the US as a precaution.