Weekly Book Recommendation:What Has Government Done to Our Money? Case for the 100 Percent Gold Dollar
Gold, The Fed, Bear Stearns, Bailouts
Date: March 16th, 2008, Filed under Gold Investment
It’s been a long while since my last update, mostly because life has become increasingly busy. My church printing co-op is growing leaps and bounds, my consulting business is still showing growth, and travel has taken a lot out of me. I’m putting about 70 hours a week into preparing for a fall in future income, and it is paying dividends today.
The gold market continues to shock me, but not because I feel it is in bubble mode. When the stock market was in bubble mode, everyone and their mother was talking stocks — including friends of mine who were not really able to invest. When the bubble moved to housing, those same people were talking houses. No one I know talks about gold, except those who have listened to me for the past 5 years or so. I know of many people who cashed in their gold holdings in 2007, selling with a 250-400% profit over a half decade. Good for them.
Read this entire article at the gold investment site.
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The Dada 2007 International Adventurcation, Part I
Date: January 5th, 2008, Filed under Travel
Mumbai, India
By A.B. Dada
—
I arrived back in Mumbai, India yesterday evening around 7pm India time (it’s 11.5 hours ahead of CST). My trip so far has been nothing short of fantastic, one of the best trips of my life, period.
It all started on December 24, Christmas Eve. Blondie and I hopped on a United 767 from Chicago’s O’hare to Paris, France (Charles De Gaulle airport). The flight was mostly on time, arriving just a few minutes late. United’s flight was decent, especially since we upgraded to Economy Plus seating. We’re business class fans, but we’re trying to be tighter on our spending due to the fear of a larger recession than even this contrarian expects.
Paris, as always, is a gorgeous town. If you visit, beware of the hawkers who come into the airport offering taxi services — they’re a rip off. We had maybe 10 hawkers bug us for a cab, but when we received our luggage and went outside, many official cabs are out there. The trip from CDG to Paris downtown wasn’t as bad as I had expected — about 40 Euros for a 40 minute trip. The dollar has declined so much in 5 years that this 40 Euro trip went from around US$30 5 years ago to US$60 now, without a change in the Euro price. Ugh.
Our hotel in Paris, France is my best kept secret about Paris that I will share. Only 1 block from the historic Arc d’Triomphe is a hotel that even the cabbies aren’t aware of: Hotel Du Bois. It’s on an alley street called Rue du Dome, but it really is on Victor Hugo Road. The hotel is tiny, with a gorgeous interior. It’s a half staircase up to get to the front door, and it’s VERY easy to miss. The cost? About 120 Euros a night at Christmas time. They have about 20 rooms, all with private showers, a great steam heating system, and a clean environment. Breakfast is continental style, and 14 euros more per person. It’s an old-fashioned hotel, but it’s perfect for those wanting to see Paris. 10 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower, 3 minute walk from the Arc d’Triomphe, 2 minutes from the Champs d’Elysees. Seriously, there is no better hotel for tourists. You won’t be unhappy.
Our 2 day visit to Paris was about one thing: acclimating to the time change. Paris is 7 hours ahead of Chicago, and about halfway to India. I recommend a short 1 or 2 day stop in the first leg of the trip to get used to the time zone change. We did some shopping (but not much, the dollar is wasted), drank copious amounts of coffee at a cafe on the Champ d’Elysees, and spent many hours in a wonderful bar/restaurant called Sir Winston’s, just 2 blocks from Hotel Du Bois. Food, clothing, energy, gas and anything important or unimportant is outrageously expensive here in Paris, based on US dollars. The dollar has plummeted so much that even cabbies won’t accept the dollar for travel, something unheard of for the last 80 years!
We left Hotel Du Bois for CDG airport on December 27th. Our trip to Mumbai, India is on my favorite airline: Emirates. Emirates First Class (which we did not take) has an actual ROOM for each chair, which reclines flat. You get total privacy. Coach is just fine, though. The service is amazing, with about 20-22 flight attendants on staff. They also have 2 managers (men) who manage each section. The seats are comfortable, and they have a fantastic interactive TV system: you can pause, restart, and pick from 500 channels of TV and movies. The movies are brand new, and you can watch them as you want. There is also a video game system that lets you interact with others. Radio is also available on demand, as is a huge catalog of CDs to listen to, again all on demand. The food is amazing, as well.
When you sleep, the overhead lights change colors through the rainbow to aid in your sleep. It definitely works. The duty free catalog onboard the flight is reasonable in price, unlike most airlines. I can’t imagine flying any other airline unless Emirates didn’t go to the destination. They’re expanding their market even further in 2008, which is exciting to international travelers.
Our Paris to Mumbai flight had a stop in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. As many readers know, I love Dubai. I considered moving there for a contract, and regret not doing so as it would have paid 200% more than expected. It’s a free market zone, with almost no taxes, regulations, restrictions, or controls. The city is booming, beyond belief. I saw Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Pagans in the airport in Dubai. The food was great, and cheap, too. The duty free shops are just amazing, with prices rivaling wholesale cost in America. The flight from Paris was about 8 hours, and our layover was only 3 hours, so we didn’t take in much of the airport, as we continued on Emirates, bound for Mumbai in only 3 more hours. The Dubai stop is a great chance to stretch your legs. One nice thing about Emirates is that they offer travelers an option to book a 2 day stop, with visa, on any trip through Dubai. For around $90 a day you get breakfast and a hotel, and the option is generally available on any trip through Dubai. We passed, as we had our plans booked every day in Mumbai.
The last 3 hour leg to Mumbai was also excellent, with a huge breakfast and more interactive television and video games. I watched about 5 Simpsons episodes (as well as the Simpsons movie) on-demand, and paused it whenever I needed to walk or hit the water closet.
Mumbai Airport is not the most modern airport in the world. In fact, it feels like something out of the 50s. Dirty, crowded, smelly, air conditioning not working, but it’s what is expected of one of the most populace cities in the world, with a government that taxes much, but gives little. The rest of this multi-part article will cover greater details on the trip so far, and how it finished.
We stayed 4 days in Mumbai, then took a fast flight to Goa, which is Paradise on Earth. 20km of beaches, Portuguese style living, siestas for 2 hours each day in the afternoon. We returned from Goa for 2 more days in Mumbai, another stop in Dubai for 3 hours, then 2 more days in Paris. Our arrival will be Tuesday/Wednesday in Chicago.
Full Reserve Banking and Home Mortgages
Date: December 19th, 2007, Filed under Full Reserve Banking
One question I hear often about full reserve banking is how a bank would supply capital (money) for a person borrowing a mortgage, or a loan towards buying a house. Since the bank can only loan out money that is deposited, and untouched, by others, some people see a problem in depositing money that is tied up for 30 years. Hopefully this article explains how such a system would work, and why it would be better than the current fractional reserve banking and central banking system.
Read the rest of this article at the full reserve banking site.
Mitt Romney and Legal Money Laundering and Legal Tax Loopholes
Date: December 17th, 2007, Filed under Sling the Mud
Supposed business leader Mitt Romney may not be the money marvel and budgeting genius that his supporters make him out to me. After reading the LA Times today, it seems that he may have mastered one thing: knowing about government’s tax loopholes, and taking advantage of them. I own corporations myself, and there are many legimate ways to save on taxes. I only use the moral ones, though.
The LA Times article alleges the following: “But aides to the Republican presidential hopeful and former colleagues acknowledged that the tax-friendly jurisdictions helped attract billions of additional investment dollars to Romney’s former company, Bain Capital, and thus boosted profits for Romney and his partners.”
Read the rest of this article at the Sling the Mud site.
Mike Huckabee and Pardons for Payment
Date: December 17th, 2007, Filed under Sling the Mud
Slinging the Mud at Mike Huckabee is becoming easier than ordering a value meal at McDonald’s. Every day that passes, there’s new news on more terrible activities in the supposed pastor’s past. Make note not of the words of a Christian, but of their actions. Judge them not, but do remember that politicians that perform deeds contrary to their words do not change. Don’t give Huckabee the reward of Presidency, or even support, if the man has a past like he alledgely does.
Today’s Huckabee mud slinging covers one pardon out of 1000 that he gave, this one over a 4-time drunk driver. From the National Review: “The question is if there was there a connection between his wife Glenda Fields’s five-figure political donations and Huckabee’s action. On April 14, 2004, then-Gov. Huckabee commuted the sentence of Mr. Fields — then a four-time driving-while-intoxicated offender — granting him early release from prison. Fields, a resident of the western Arkansas town of Van Buren, was a habitual offender. He had already been convicted of DWIs in 1996, 1998, and 2000, but his 2001 felony-DWI conviction resulted in the maximum six-year prison sentence and a $5,000 fine.”
Read the rest of this article at Sling the Mud
Let “them” bring the war over here.
Date: December 17th, 2007, Filed under Anarcho-capitalism, Ron Paul
At a church I was making a delivery at this weekend, an assistant pastor mentioned to me that he’s hearing more and more about Ron Paul, but still hates his foreign policy. He asked me the status quo neoconservative question: “Don’t you think it’s wiser to take the war over there than to bring the war over here?”
My answer was: “No. Bring the war over here.”
He was shocked. Literally floored. With his mouth agape, and before he could respond, I told him I’d post a blog post for him, and him alone, but share it with the public. I think it’s a worthy post to share with others, because it opens up a realistic eye to this so-called war, and the definition of “them.”
Read the rest of this article at the anarcho-capitalism site.
Recent News
Mike Huckabee, Accepting “Gifts”
Date: December 17th, 2007, Filed under Sling the Mud
According to a December 14th, 2007 Politico.com article:
Mike Huckabee accepted more than 90 gifts from 21 Arkansans he appointed to state posts during his decade as governor, a Politico analysis of state public records found.
Since he set his sights on the White House, those supporters, their families and their companies have kept on giving. They contributed nearly $161,000 to a pre-presidential campaign account and Huckabee’s official campaign committee since late last year, according to state and federal campaign finance records.
Gifts are something someone gives with no intention of getting anything back in return. A gift is usually given within family, but it is also common for friends to give gifts for celebratory reasons. Employers give gifts as a thank you for a job well done.
Read the rest of this article at Sling the Mud.
Ron Paul Tea Party Rally @ Fanueil Hall.
Date: December 16th, 2007, Filed under Ron Paul
The video file is still uploading to my server! I hope it finishes in the next 45 minutes. As of 9:14PM CST, about 27% of the file is on my server. If you’re watching right now, it may stop at a certain point until the rest uploads. Please bear with us, there’s a lot of traffic out there. While you’re waiting, how about giving an extra $11 to Dr. Paul right now, so we can blow Hillary’s supposed one-day record tonight? We’re $1m short of her supposed record with 2 hours remaining. We’re taking in $309k per hour right now, so we’re $200k per hour short. That’s less than $10 total per person who donated so far today. Buck up, soldiers!
Thanks to Scott @ Liberty League PAC for putting the call out for more server bandwidth. Note that G.U.N. is not affiliated with Liberty League PAC, we are merely offering web bandwidth and hosting space to help him through a high use night and maybe week!
The California Budget: Fiscal Emergency?
Date: December 15th, 2007, Filed under Anarcho-capitalism
The news this morning is covering Governor Schwarzenegger’s call for a fiscal emergency in California, due to a possible budget shortfall of $14 billion. When I tried to visit the State of California’s budget website, it was down. It’s big news, from a big State.
But is California in financial trouble? Growing foreclosures pushing as much as a 200% growth year over year, shrinking wages, rampant Federal Reserve monetary inflation, and continued consumer overspending may give people the idea that California is in trouble, but that’s just not true. The people of California are not experiencing a fiscal emergency, the government is.
I call repeatedly for people to understand that you are not your government, and they are not you. What defines you in an economic sense is merely those around you who you pay for products or services, or who pays you for products or services. That defines an economy: the billions of quick interactions that exchange products/services for money.
Read the rest of this article at the anarcho-capitalism site.
The idiocy of the HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit)
Date: December 13th, 2007, Filed under Housing Bubble
This article is going to infuriate quite a few people I know. I’m not a fan of the HELOC, or what some call the Home ATM. A HELOC, or the Home Equity Line Of Credit, allows you to take a loan out against the equity you’ve built in your home. HELOCs have been very popular even without equity built through paying down a loan, just due to the Federal-Reserve created inflationary pressures that have caused housing prices to rise — giving people more equity in a home than they actually earned by paying their mortgages. Of course, many of these equity values are now falling, leaving some people with mortgages and secondary loans (HELOCs) that are valued over the current value of the home.
First of all, I do believe the HELOC can be useful for a few things: investing in a new business, paying down high interest debt permanently, and emergencies (health or other). HELOCs are terrible ideas for those who want to use the money to buy a new car, take a vacation, or spend on frivolous and unnecessary consumer goods. Let’s look at why that is.
Read this entire article at the housing bubble site
What if no one can afford to live there?
Date: December 13th, 2007, Filed under Housing Bubble
A reader, Jen, posted a comment on a previous posted titled Housing Prices always go up — not really. Her insightful comment was as follows:
Very sound advice, but according to your rules, only about two percent of the country can afford to live in Southern California. In Sherman Oaks, where I live, the average income is about $62,000; the average price of a home is over $500,000. Since apartments in the area rent for about $2,500 a month for a 1100sqft 2-bedroom, it’s hard not to see the appeal of paying about $3,500 in a mortgage for a home the same size. Of course, that mortgage is about 75-85 percent of a family’s income. In order to “afford” even a tiny house or studio apartment in most SoCal neighborhoods, one would have to be bringing home about $200,000 per year.
Read the rest of this article at the housing bubble site.
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