The secrets that death holds will never be known by the living.
And why should they be?
When we are born we have no memory of where we came from. Everything in a newborn's universe is brand spanking new to that unique life.
However, looked at from another perspective, all the atoms which comprise that new life are atoms that have been in existence since shortly after the Big Bang. In other words, every life is composed of component parts that are eternal; from bits
and pieces that have been around for as long as the universe itself.
So when we die our eternal atoms get recycled. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The slate gets wiped clean.
And why shouldn't it be?
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Check your conscience at the door.
There is a reason military defection and suicides are at an all-time high. No, it is not tour durations, although it doesn't help anyone's morale to be redeployed over and over to a foreign wasteland.
The reason is far more basic. Our soldiers are not being entirely successful in turning their consciences over to their sergeants. Just like in Vietnam, thousands of innocent lives are being disrupted and ended in a war whose beginnings were contrived in a web of lies by madmen like Cheney and Rumsfeld.
Men of good conscience have questions.
Once a soldier sees in an upfront and personal way the damage and destruction of war some soul searching is inevitable. If a soldier ends up personally responsible for the deaths of women, children, and other noncombatant casualties, what residue of conscience that remains intact and wasn't completely replaced with the "just following orders" mindset begins like acid to erode and corrode the soul. Vitally important questions like “why are we really here and doing this?” slip around the official blarney smokescreen and into your consciousness. Seeing the fear and helplessness in the eyes of rural peasants, whose lives are being turned upside down and ended for reasons which can't make sense to any sane person, works in the soul like leukemia in blood.
And it should. The taking of someone's life is as personal as it gets in life. If you are not absolutely truly positively beyond a shadow of a doubt certain that ending someone's existence is necessary, you should not do it; possibly not even then. You can not in clear conscience, years later as you replay the scene over and over in your mind, ease your sense of guilt by telling yourself, "I was just following orders."
When you face your maker, I can guarantee you your sergeant will not be standing by to take your rap for you.
The reason is far more basic. Our soldiers are not being entirely successful in turning their consciences over to their sergeants. Just like in Vietnam, thousands of innocent lives are being disrupted and ended in a war whose beginnings were contrived in a web of lies by madmen like Cheney and Rumsfeld.
Men of good conscience have questions.
Once a soldier sees in an upfront and personal way the damage and destruction of war some soul searching is inevitable. If a soldier ends up personally responsible for the deaths of women, children, and other noncombatant casualties, what residue of conscience that remains intact and wasn't completely replaced with the "just following orders" mindset begins like acid to erode and corrode the soul. Vitally important questions like “why are we really here and doing this?” slip around the official blarney smokescreen and into your consciousness. Seeing the fear and helplessness in the eyes of rural peasants, whose lives are being turned upside down and ended for reasons which can't make sense to any sane person, works in the soul like leukemia in blood.
And it should. The taking of someone's life is as personal as it gets in life. If you are not absolutely truly positively beyond a shadow of a doubt certain that ending someone's existence is necessary, you should not do it; possibly not even then. You can not in clear conscience, years later as you replay the scene over and over in your mind, ease your sense of guilt by telling yourself, "I was just following orders."
When you face your maker, I can guarantee you your sergeant will not be standing by to take your rap for you.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Doing the limbo with the precious metals ratio
Historically speaking the price of gold has had a 30X1 price relationship with silver. Now it is currently trading for about 46X as much but recently was trading much higher However, the ratio has been plummeting, so how low can the gold to silver ratio go?
Could it ever return to its historical average of 30:1?
If so, we'd have to see one of the following occur:
* Gold would need to plummet to less than $1000/oz., with silver remaining stable at around $30.00/oz.
* Or, silver would need to gain another 50% to over $45.00/oz., while gold holds
steady at $1400.00/oz.
* In perhaps the most likely scenario, gold would need to see some retrenchment
combined with continued strength in silver.
The idea of gold plummeting back below $1000 without affecting silver or silver doubling to $45 with gold holding steady is pretty unlikely. However, there is some support for the possibility we might see silver prices decoupling from gold's coattails. Back when gold broke the $1,000 mark for the first time, in March 2008, silver was trading about $20/oz, or 50X1.
Today's disparity in price could indicate silver may be undervalued at the moment by historical standards.
In addition, silver's fundamentals are improving. With around 50 percent of silver demand coming from industrial applications such as batteries, electrical switches and other components, analysts have predicted that as the economy recovers so will demand, thus pushing silver prices even higher.
The biggest trick of all, if you play the spread, is to avoid trading a quarter for two dimes! The best and safest way to play is with Hecla Mining, ticker HL. If precious metals stay at these levels this company's profits will explode!
Could it ever return to its historical average of 30:1?
If so, we'd have to see one of the following occur:
* Gold would need to plummet to less than $1000/oz., with silver remaining stable at around $30.00/oz.
* Or, silver would need to gain another 50% to over $45.00/oz., while gold holds
steady at $1400.00/oz.
* In perhaps the most likely scenario, gold would need to see some retrenchment
combined with continued strength in silver.
The idea of gold plummeting back below $1000 without affecting silver or silver doubling to $45 with gold holding steady is pretty unlikely. However, there is some support for the possibility we might see silver prices decoupling from gold's coattails. Back when gold broke the $1,000 mark for the first time, in March 2008, silver was trading about $20/oz, or 50X1.
Today's disparity in price could indicate silver may be undervalued at the moment by historical standards.
In addition, silver's fundamentals are improving. With around 50 percent of silver demand coming from industrial applications such as batteries, electrical switches and other components, analysts have predicted that as the economy recovers so will demand, thus pushing silver prices even higher.
The biggest trick of all, if you play the spread, is to avoid trading a quarter for two dimes! The best and safest way to play is with Hecla Mining, ticker HL. If precious metals stay at these levels this company's profits will explode!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Heads up home gamers.
If you missed the incredible run up in shares of Ford, Newcastle or Hecla mining, among hundreds of others, you have another chance to grab the gold ring.
A new segment in computer hardware/software is about to explode. I'm talking about computer security, and in particular encryption technology. Encryption is now available with the purchase of software operating systems like Windows 7.
With this new technology everything printed to your hard drives or storage devices is encrypted with the latest impenetrable code specific to your machine.
Also anything streaming into your machine, like e-mail or social network sites for example, would also be encrypted.
Networks for universities and businesses, hospitals, insurance data banks, and banks in general will all be secure, or at least more secure, from hackers than ever before. Some have already begun to use this technology.
Where they are getting this technology is from a little-known company called Wave Systems. WAVX will soon be licensing this technology all over the globe,
not just to Microsoft.
The company has seen its revenues and earnings grow at a 50% clip year-over-year and they are just getting started. Earnings are poised to explode. If you are building for the future, grab your surfboard and catch the WAVE.
Here is what Yahoo Business has to say:
“Interest in data protection has been growing as the incidents of data breach have escalated. Legislation in many jurisdictions now requires tough penalties, as well as public disclosure, when personally identifiable information is mishandled.
That's led many SMBs and enterprises to explore implementing full disk encryption. With the much-publicized launch of Microsoft Windows 7 operating system (OS), many are examining the full disk encryption feature that comes standard on Ultimate and Enterprise editions of the popular new OS. By providing full-volume encryption, BitLocker ensures that any file saved on a computer's drive is encrypted automatically.”
If you are interested here is a direct link:http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Wave-Introduces-Wave-iw-1079303132.html?x=0&.v=1
A new segment in computer hardware/software is about to explode. I'm talking about computer security, and in particular encryption technology. Encryption is now available with the purchase of software operating systems like Windows 7.
With this new technology everything printed to your hard drives or storage devices is encrypted with the latest impenetrable code specific to your machine.
Also anything streaming into your machine, like e-mail or social network sites for example, would also be encrypted.
Networks for universities and businesses, hospitals, insurance data banks, and banks in general will all be secure, or at least more secure, from hackers than ever before. Some have already begun to use this technology.
Where they are getting this technology is from a little-known company called Wave Systems. WAVX will soon be licensing this technology all over the globe,
not just to Microsoft.
The company has seen its revenues and earnings grow at a 50% clip year-over-year and they are just getting started. Earnings are poised to explode. If you are building for the future, grab your surfboard and catch the WAVE.
Here is what Yahoo Business has to say:
“Interest in data protection has been growing as the incidents of data breach have escalated. Legislation in many jurisdictions now requires tough penalties, as well as public disclosure, when personally identifiable information is mishandled.
That's led many SMBs and enterprises to explore implementing full disk encryption. With the much-publicized launch of Microsoft Windows 7 operating system (OS), many are examining the full disk encryption feature that comes standard on Ultimate and Enterprise editions of the popular new OS. By providing full-volume encryption, BitLocker ensures that any file saved on a computer's drive is encrypted automatically.”
If you are interested here is a direct link:http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Wave-Introduces-Wave-iw-1079303132.html?x=0&.v=1
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
We will get high speed rail eventually.
Hopefully soon!
At the moment this fantastic people movin revolution and product moving evolution has been side railed in the once good USofA. Here is a glimpse of what we are missing out on right this minute by delaying the reconstruction and upgrading of our infrastructure.
With high-speed rail we could move up and down either coast in under 10 hours. Talk about a boost to travel and the tourism industry! We could go from side to side across the middle flats of our country in about the same amount of time. Chicago residents could visit the MardiGras in a pleasant day's ride, and so could San Francisco and Miami residents; all of the above trips on the safe and cheap.
Anywhere within a 250 mile radius of Washington, DC. would be only an hour away. Talk about a boon to rural real estate in those neighborhoods!
So what are we waiting for? Why do we still spend money on worthless wars when we could do so much more for ourselves and the world by investing that money in our own country? As the US goes so goes the world doesn't have to be long gone and forgotten.
According to T. Boone Pickens we may have a national energy policy before the lame ducks leave Congress. I doubt it, but we'll see.
Unless our national energy plan calls for massive infrastructure spending in the transportation area, and of course in reducing energy dependence on foreign oil, we will do very little to improve our future, or create any jobs. Without a bunch of unskilled jobs for unskilled labor our unemployment situation won't improve.
The people around the nation were heard during the midterms. However, the "throw the incumbents out" plan of attack only works if the newbies in Congress are not already bought and paid for. With the judicial system making things ever easier for deep pockets to buy elections that ideal is becoming less and less likely.
“Once burned, twice shy” should be the rallying cry of the future. Politicians better beware. They won't be able to count on misinformation or stupidity to help them get away with murder forever.
At the moment this fantastic people movin revolution and product moving evolution has been side railed in the once good USofA. Here is a glimpse of what we are missing out on right this minute by delaying the reconstruction and upgrading of our infrastructure.
With high-speed rail we could move up and down either coast in under 10 hours. Talk about a boost to travel and the tourism industry! We could go from side to side across the middle flats of our country in about the same amount of time. Chicago residents could visit the MardiGras in a pleasant day's ride, and so could San Francisco and Miami residents; all of the above trips on the safe and cheap.
Anywhere within a 250 mile radius of Washington, DC. would be only an hour away. Talk about a boon to rural real estate in those neighborhoods!
So what are we waiting for? Why do we still spend money on worthless wars when we could do so much more for ourselves and the world by investing that money in our own country? As the US goes so goes the world doesn't have to be long gone and forgotten.
According to T. Boone Pickens we may have a national energy policy before the lame ducks leave Congress. I doubt it, but we'll see.
Unless our national energy plan calls for massive infrastructure spending in the transportation area, and of course in reducing energy dependence on foreign oil, we will do very little to improve our future, or create any jobs. Without a bunch of unskilled jobs for unskilled labor our unemployment situation won't improve.
The people around the nation were heard during the midterms. However, the "throw the incumbents out" plan of attack only works if the newbies in Congress are not already bought and paid for. With the judicial system making things ever easier for deep pockets to buy elections that ideal is becoming less and less likely.
“Once burned, twice shy” should be the rallying cry of the future. Politicians better beware. They won't be able to count on misinformation or stupidity to help them get away with murder forever.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Is there a double left in the price of gold or silver?
Is there a double left in the price of gold or silver?
The answer is a matter of simple arithmetic believes
one USA producer. David Garafalo, president and
CEO of Hudbay Minerals, who recently relisted his
minerals mining company on the New York exchange,
(HBM) figures it this way. He equates conditions
today to those at the beginning of the 70s decade.
At the end of that decade gold reached an all-time
high of $850 an ounce.
On an inflation-adjusted basis that would put the
value of gold today north of $2400 per ounce. So
according to David Garafalo the price of gold still
has a great deal of catching up to do.
For those looking to capitalize on the gold rush
but don't want to own the metal itself, owning a
mining stock is a great way to participate. My
favorite pick is Hecla Mining (stock ticker HL).
If you're still getting back to even, get on board
the fast boat here.
If you Google Hecla Mining they have a great video
link which captures the fervor Associated with the
precious metals mining group today.
Warmest regards, Bob Parmelee
The answer is a matter of simple arithmetic believes
one USA producer. David Garafalo, president and
CEO of Hudbay Minerals, who recently relisted his
minerals mining company on the New York exchange,
(HBM) figures it this way. He equates conditions
today to those at the beginning of the 70s decade.
At the end of that decade gold reached an all-time
high of $850 an ounce.
On an inflation-adjusted basis that would put the
value of gold today north of $2400 per ounce. So
according to David Garafalo the price of gold still
has a great deal of catching up to do.
For those looking to capitalize on the gold rush
but don't want to own the metal itself, owning a
mining stock is a great way to participate. My
favorite pick is Hecla Mining (stock ticker HL).
If you're still getting back to even, get on board
the fast boat here.
If you Google Hecla Mining they have a great video
link which captures the fervor Associated with the
precious metals mining group today.
Warmest regards, Bob Parmelee
Thursday, November 4, 2010
It's us (USA) against the world now.
Recent moves by the FED are guaranteed to cause the dollar to continue to decline against foreign currencies. A declining dollar guarantees that prices
of commodity-based assets and other asset classes like stocks are going up.
This policy will stimulate our economy but eventually, say over the next couple of years, this will spark countermeasures by countries whose exports get hurt by the steadily increasing value of their currencies and hence higher export prices.
There are advantages to being the largest economy in the world. One of those is the ability to force other countries to accept our economic policies simply because they must trade with the USA to survive and grow. But we had better take advantage while we still can. This may be our last chance to flex our economic muscles before China holds the whip and we’re doing the genuflecting.
If we come to our senses and quit blowing the nation's resources on the bloodiest military decade since the Vietnam era we may hang onto the benefits this current FED policy gives us relative to the rest of the world.
Here is what happened.
Centuries ago marauding militaries cost their home treasuries a small fraction of the bounty they generated by planting their country's flag on someone else's soil. After the conquering heroes secured the land the invading countries "businessmen" moved in to exploit the resources of the vanquished land. The damage done to the host country and its people were largely ignored or kept under the radar, politically speaking. In other words, the spoils of war far outweighed the cost.
Today things are different. Hiding under the radar is less and less feasible so political capital is at risk on these military adventures, as Barack Obama is finding out. At the very least, in order to survive world opinion, we are forced to repair the damage our military causes while wasting our resources on useless offensives. Chasing long dead terrorists as an excuse for war is growing old.
Worse, as recent history has proven, we don't even get any spoils to speak of.
So we need to quit this medieval crap. Being as bloodthirsty as the Khan may be fun for the nation but we can't afford it anymore. It is time to try civilized behavior for a change. Buying people's love and affection is just so darned cheaper than killing them that we need to take mass murder off the table.
of commodity-based assets and other asset classes like stocks are going up.
This policy will stimulate our economy but eventually, say over the next couple of years, this will spark countermeasures by countries whose exports get hurt by the steadily increasing value of their currencies and hence higher export prices.
There are advantages to being the largest economy in the world. One of those is the ability to force other countries to accept our economic policies simply because they must trade with the USA to survive and grow. But we had better take advantage while we still can. This may be our last chance to flex our economic muscles before China holds the whip and we’re doing the genuflecting.
If we come to our senses and quit blowing the nation's resources on the bloodiest military decade since the Vietnam era we may hang onto the benefits this current FED policy gives us relative to the rest of the world.
Here is what happened.
Centuries ago marauding militaries cost their home treasuries a small fraction of the bounty they generated by planting their country's flag on someone else's soil. After the conquering heroes secured the land the invading countries "businessmen" moved in to exploit the resources of the vanquished land. The damage done to the host country and its people were largely ignored or kept under the radar, politically speaking. In other words, the spoils of war far outweighed the cost.
Today things are different. Hiding under the radar is less and less feasible so political capital is at risk on these military adventures, as Barack Obama is finding out. At the very least, in order to survive world opinion, we are forced to repair the damage our military causes while wasting our resources on useless offensives. Chasing long dead terrorists as an excuse for war is growing old.
Worse, as recent history has proven, we don't even get any spoils to speak of.
So we need to quit this medieval crap. Being as bloodthirsty as the Khan may be fun for the nation but we can't afford it anymore. It is time to try civilized behavior for a change. Buying people's love and affection is just so darned cheaper than killing them that we need to take mass murder off the table.
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