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R.E. McMaster

Some facts and figures about the Gold we got

Submitted by Roanman on Tue, 01/17/2012 - 07:54

 

The following calculations were compiled or figured by R.E. Mcmaster.

I haven't checked them, but probably will to the extent I'm able to this evening.

It mostly feels about right.

 

There are $30 trillion in currencies worldwide.

All the gold ever mined would fit in a 62.3 ft. cube.

All the gold ever collected, panned and mined since the time of Jesus is worth approximately $7 trillion at today's price.

There are 158,000 tonnes of gold above ground, 86% of which is held by central banks, investors, and jewelry owners.

This means there are 4.8 billion ounces of gold above ground globally, of which 2.1 billion ounces, 43% is in jewelry, religious and art items, official reserves of 1 billion ounces, industrial use of 530 million ounces, and 1.1 billion ounces in private hands.

The market cap of all gold that is above ground, including central bank reserves (30,717 tonnes as to 10/11), is equal to only 1.4% of global financial assets. Combined central bank gold reserves rose in 2009 by 425.4 metric tons to 30,116.9 tons, an increase of $13.3 billion (2009 average prices), the first increase since 1988.

Central banks hold 18% of all the world’s gold ever mined.

 

Reading in the middle of the night

Submitted by Roanman on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 08:30

 

Most days our serious reading begins with McMaster Online which unfortunately offers neither free content nor the occasional means to pilfer, as it is completely hidden away behind their paywall.

All three quotes below were offered within R.E. McMaster's daily newsletter.

We may well live to regret having said this, but McMaster Online is one of the three of four sites we take that we don't even ask how much it's costing us.

We would have probably stumbled across the other two quotes sooner or later anyway as we haunt both Zero Hedge and Casey's Daily Dispatch on a regular basis.

Anyway, the McMaster quote below links up to his homepage, the next two quotes will link you up to the specific piece from which it was taken.

 

The US is attempting to do financially to Switzerland what it did militarily to Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, and supported clandestinely in the Arab Spring countries by Clinton.

Most people are unaware that Switzerland is the only country in Western civilization that does not have the modern rendition of the "divine right of kings", which is Hegel's "the state is god walking on earth"  top-down form of government.  Instead, the Swiss have a constitutional confederation of 26 sovereign cantons, where the governmental power lies, not in the centralized government.

The Swiss balance of power is between the three distinct different languages and cultures of the German, French and Italian speaking cantons. Moreover, the Swiss can reverse anything their central government does through a referendum system.

For a nation without any natural resources, is it any accident that the Swiss consistently express the greatest satisfaction with their lives, as well as one of the world's highest per capita incomes? Not in the least. The best politics and economics are run at the local level, not at the parasitic bureaucratic federal level. And certainly not with an empire.  R.E. McMaster

 

"The specific path of our lives is very much in our control. Yet most people don't give the matter much thought at all, and therefore are blown here and there like dried leaves in the wind.

And even when people do take the time to reflect on the scripts of their lives, they tend to resist plot lines that move them outside of the rut of the status quo. For instance, provided you were looking to live an interesting and fulfilling life - and who doesn't want that? - it's only logical to look to the lives of others who have lived successfully to guide in your script-making. The examples of people who have lived truly fascinating and wonderful lives are abundant in the history books, and even among contemporaries who live life large and lively. Yet most people find it impossible to envision such a life for themselves. Instead, they dismiss such people as overachievers and exceptions while resolving themselves to hunkering down in a ditch of their own making, hoping against hope to muddle through until the passage of time fills the ditch in, with them in it...

Put another way, most people cast themselves as walk-on characters even in their own lives, and not as the lead."  David Galland, Casey's Daily Dispatch, 09-23-11

 

As previously disclosed, we really like Zero Hedge and especially like Tyler Durden who is really, probably 6-8 different guys all of whom would probably, really give up their left testicle to indeed look like Tyler Durden.

It is frequently a difficult read as it is not a jargon free zone.

It is also a colossal pain in the ass to subscribe to as they clearly, sincerely don't care if you subscribe or don't.

Having said that, someone from around here is hanging around there every day.

 

"...the transition of America from a government 'on behalf of the people' to one 'in control of the people' catalyzed, as Bill Buckler, put it simply, by one simple event: the confiscation of America's gold, and the ushering in of the welfare (or 'promise') state, the same welfare state that now is supported by a system that no matter how hard one denies, is nothing but a ponzi scheme.

...just like in the time of FDR, for whom the creation of a 'mild' inflation was a prime prerogative to offset the depressionary deflation gripping the land, the moment for a brazen gold revaluation by none other than the US government has arrived. Unfortunately, it likely also means that any scheme in which the government opens a buy/sell gold window at a substantially higher price point, will mean that very soon, either by guile or by force, the US government will once again be the prime and sole owner of all the gold.

As Coxe says, 'The gold bugs have long proclaimed their own version of the Golden Rule: “He who has the gold makes the rules." By that standard, Barack Obama could become the leader of the world overnight.'... in summary, Coxe's point is that the time for a government 'LBO' of the gold market, one in which every last ounce is extracted from the skittish public, in exchange for pseudo-equivalent assets such as gold-backed bonds, has arrived. The only question is what the acquisition price of the risk-free alternative to fiat would be, and hence how much higher will investors push the price in anticipation of the inevitable 25% take out premium. Once the public realizes that this is the endgame, and that the buyer of only resort will be none other than Uncle Sam... then look out above.

As for the context of Executive Order 6102.2, Coxe notes: 'When nearly all OECD economies are running huge deficits at a time of near-zero interest rates, and nearly all governments are looking for ways to raise revenues without imposing economy-unfriendly taxes, why don't the big holders revalue their gold to, say, $2,200 an ounce and declare themselves willing sellers at that price—in bars or in bonds backed by gold—and willing buyers at, say, $2,000? Roosevelt revalued gold from $20.67 an ounce to $35 and declared that the US was a buyer and seller at that price. He also made it illegal for US citizens to own gold. By the end of the Depression, most of the world's visible gold reserves were in Fort Knox.'

Most importantly, Coxe observes that 'now is a good time to lock in the gold bull market by monetizing the nation's holdings through various strategies and vehicles forty years after Nixon uncapped gold and 78 years after Roosevelt boosted it 70%. Why don't the governments bring out their gold and use it to back their bonds? Obama should, in our view, try to find one non-Keynesian economist who understands gold to advise him. We’re sure he could get an old-fashioned scholar from the University of Chicago to help him out if he made a few calls.'" - Tyler Durden, www.ZeroHedge.com, 09-22-11

 

Most people aren't aware of the fact that I used to look a great deal like Tyler Durden ... before the operation.

 

To quote Chris Wood quoting Ron Paul and R.E. MacMaster not quoting anybody.

Submitted by Roanman on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 12:01

 

"Once you take the mental leap to recognize markets are self-regulating and the economy itself would not erupt into chaos absent government regulation, it’s easy to see other huge problems with today’s regulatory system that are so often overlooked.

Glossing over the fact that the system is clearly unconstitutional, two biggies are that heavy regulation favors big business at the expense of small business and the moral hazard created by the blind trust people put in regulations and regulators.

On these matters I’d like to quote Dr. Ron Paul:

 

"'It is important to understand that regulators are not omniscient.

 It is not feasible for them to anticipate every possible thing that could go wrong with whatever industry or activity they are regulating.

They are making their best guesses when formulating rules.

It is often difficult for those being regulated to understand the many complex rules they are expected to follow.

Very wealthy corporations hire attorneys who may discover a myriad of loopholes to exploit and render the spirit of the regulations null and void.

For this reason, heavy regulation favors big business against those small businesses who cannot afford high-priced attorneys.'"

 

"'The other problem is the trust that people blindly put in regulations, and the moral hazard this creates.

Too many people trust government regulators so completely that they abdicate their own common sense to these government bureaucrats.

They trust that if something violates no law, it must be safe.

How many scams have 'It’s perfectly legal' as a hypnotic selling point, luring in the gullible?

Many people did not understand the financial house of cards that are derivatives, but since they were legal and promised a great return, people invested.

It is much the same in any area rife with government involvement.

Many feel that just because their children are getting good grades at a government school, they are getting a good education.

After all, they are passing the government-mandated litmus test.

But, this does not guarantee educational excellence.

Neither is it always the case that a child who does NOT achieve good marks in school is going to be unsuccessful in life.

Is your drinking water safe, just because the government says it is?

Is the internet going to magically become safer for your children if the government approves regulations on it?

I would caution any parent against believing this would be the case.

Nothing should take the place of your own common sense and due diligence.'"

Chris Wood, Casey's Daily Dispatch, 08-26-10

 

Bureaucrats by their very nature are not risk takers nor creative in an entrepreneurial way.

This means they are attempting to regulate something and someone they do not understand, plus are at core alien to in a basic psychological way.

Plus, bureaucrats tend to crisis manage, not anticipate, sell out to special interests, and overreact, in addition to being security oriented, self-protective and building their self- and financial- worth in a parasitic bureaucratic empire.

I am increasingly viewing centralized civil government bureaucracy the same way I view a virus in a computer.

The older the bureaucracy, the more layers in the bureaucracy, the more people in the bureaucracy, the richer the bureaucracy, the more widespread the bureaucracy is geographically, the great the likelihood the bureaucracy is a virulent virus that encourages immaturity and irresponsibility among the general population.

Renown author M. Scott Peck referred to bureaucrats as "people of the lie".

Bureaucrats have no moral conscience or accountability when in the bureaucracy, like the order-obeying Nazi soldiers in Hitler's death camps, like the bureaucrats that operate the MQ-9 Reapers out of the safe and sterile environment of the Pentagon, killing 10 civilians for every suspected "terrorist", and then driving blissfully home to coach their little girl's 10-year old US softball team.

"Bureaucracy is the greatest collective manifestation of human evil."

R.E. MacMaster 9/9/2010

 

R.E. McMaster has a question and a thought for Mother's Day

Submitted by Roanman on Mon, 05/10/2010 - 06:11

 

I have a question:

How does all this massive amount of legislation, hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of pages, which common sense tells us takes months if not years to draft, magically appear overnight right after a crisis, like the Patriot Acts, Obamacare, and the new onerous financial regulations?

Gosh, a skeptic would think that such is crafted well ahead of time behind the scene.

Plus, no politician has or takes the time to read all this legislation.

The politicians blindly just vote.

Is it like the sheeple are being deliberated herded toward the slaughter works, a place that is clearly contrary to their own best interest long-term?

The Gaia, Mother Earth, New Age, collectivist philosophy of the ruling elite is that “humanity is dandruff that needs to be cleansed from the scalp of Mother Earth.”

The masses in Euroland, the US, the UK, Japan and China are starting to seriously question the legitimacy of their political leadership.

Such historically has preceded an economic and politically distracting war.

Historically, mankind gets into trouble when it buys into the earth-based collectivist philosophy as opposed to the Creator-based individualistic philosophy.

So, love your real mother this Mother’s Day!

The Powers That Be (PTB) are fast running out of slick rhetoric, empty promises, zero interest rates, and endless bailouts for their cronies.

Our concern should be that next comes inflation, more tyrannical controls, loss of freedom, and war.

Desperate men, addicted to power, do desperate things.

 
 Cheerfull bastard ain't he.
 

To quote R.E. McMaster and Ricky Ricardo

Submitted by Roanman on Wed, 04/21/2010 - 07:08

 

"Goldman and a hedge fund client put together a ball of sub-prime junk designed to fail and then bet against it.

Goldman also took out insurance on those same mortgage backed securities from AIG, the same AIG taxpayers bailed out to the tune of $180 billion.

Goldman was paid a total of nearly $13 billion from AIG at the direction of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner."

 

 

 

Debating on a Saturday Morning

Submitted by Roanman on Sat, 12/12/2009 - 07:58

 

The Inconvenient Truth?

Overpopulation 

 

“The ‘inconvenient truth’ overhanging the UN's Copenhagen conference is not that the climate is warming or cooling, but that humans are overpopulating the world.

A planetary law, such as China's one-child policy, is the only way to reverse the disastrous global birthrate currently, which is one million births every four days.

The world's other species, vegetation, resources, oceans, arable land, water supplies and atmosphere are being destroyed and pushed out of existence as a result of humanity's soaring reproduction rate.

Ironically, China, despite its dirty coal plants, is the world's leader in terms of fashioning policy to combat environmental degradation, thanks to its one-child-only edict.

“The intelligence behind this is the following:

“ -If only one child per female was born as of now, the world's population would drop from its current 6.5 billion to 5.5 billion by 2050, according to a study done for scientific academy Vienna Institute of Demography.

“By 2075, there would be 3.43 billion humans on the planet. This would have immediate positive effects on the world's forests, other species, the oceans, atmospheric quality and living standards.

“Doing nothing, by contrast, will result in an unsustainable population of nine billion by 2050. Humans are the only rational animals but have yet to prove it. Medical and other scientific advances have benefited by delivering lower infant mortality rates as well as longevity. Both are welcome, but humankind has not yet recalibrated its behavior to account for the fact that the world can only accommodate so many people, especially if billions get indoor plumbing and cars.

“The fix is simple. It's dramatic. And yet the world's leaders don't even have this on their agenda in Copenhagen. Instead there will be photo ops, posturing, optics, blah-blah-blah about climate science and climate fraud, announcements of giant wind farms, then cap-and-trade subsidies.

“None will work unless a China one-child policy is imposed. Unfortunately, there are powerful opponents. Leaders of the world's big fundamentalist religions preach in favor of procreation and fiercely oppose birth control. And most political leaders in emerging economies perpetuate a disastrous Catch-22: Many children (i. e. sons) stave off hardship in the absence of a social safety net or economic development, which, in turn, prevents protections or development.

“China has proven that birth restriction is smart policy. Its middle class grows, all its citizens have housing, health care, education and food, and the one out of five human beings who live there are not overpopulating the planet.

“For those who balk at the notion that governments should control family sizes, just wait until the growing human population turns twice as much pastureland into desert as is now the case, or when the Amazon is gone, the elephants disappear for good and wars erupt over water, scarce resources and spatial needs.

“The point is that Copenhagen's talking points are beside the point. The only fix is if all countries drastically reduce their populations, clean up their messes and impose mandatory conservation measures.”

Diane Francis (Mother of Two) www.FinancialPost.com, 12-08-09 

 

R.E. McMaster responds


I saw this coming a mile away on the heels of this global warming and carbon footprint farce being held in Copenhagen.


This is the epitome of government as god.


Back to pagan child sacrifice.


Molek would be pleased.


And euthanasia for the old?


At what age? 72, 75, 78, 80, 82?


“Die with dignity and noble sacrifice for the planet and mankind” would be the rallying cry.


…Sadly, except for committed Christians/Catholics, the effeminate wimpy establishment religious crowd will whine and simply roll over on this one, too.


But you know who this really offends, who this is a direct war against?


The Muslims, who comprise the fastest growing population in the world with the highest birth rates.


…This one-child-per-family idea, if it becomes global public policy, will guarantee a Islamic jihad against the Copenhagen government coalition, and that means a global jihad, Islam vs. everyone else.


…Come to think of it, isn’t that pretty close to what we have already?


…There are at core only two parts of the economic equation: land and labor.


With stifling omnipresent government regulations and people nearly all herded into cities (historically slave centers), coupled with comprehensive high tech monitoring and a amoral technologically armed military and disarmed population, control of people/labor today is a given.


This is already a “Prison Planet”. (Slaves in the Old South and under Pharaoh in Egypt were only taxed 10%-20%.)

People live with the illusion of freedom, like a gold fish does swimming around a bowl with the Powers That Be watching.


So, the “Climategate” scam is the next piece of the great land grab heist by governments to control it all, both pieces of the economic equation, both land and labor
.


Then, the governing elite, these human gods, can begin to whittle away at the “dandruff on the scalp of Mother Earth”, “we the people”, in a “Just Say No” to children policy.


This is the religion of the Gaia, Mother Earth, environmentalists’ crowd. Government is, after all, always the enactment of someone’s religious ideas into laws that specify the rules of human action/interaction – economics.


…China was the camel’s nose under the tent. China as the next great world empire, with its one-child-per-family policy, will increasingly dictate global policy.


...Why isn’t militant Islam waging a jihad against China?


…If Copenhagen was consistent to its earth-saving beliefs, it would implement this population control measure to solve the so-called climate crisis; it would also declare Islam to be the primary enemy of “Mother Earth”.


…It all comes down to which philosophical position one holds as ultimate. Either “The earth was made for man” (with good stewardship a priority), or “Man was made for the earth”, …either a primary supernatural or a natural perspective respectively, one or the other, no middle ground.


Man either effectively worships the Creator or the creation. The latter is clearly the global establishment's position.


…Mankind being mankind, human nature being unchanged, history being history, this comprehensive growing global upheaval has the risk of ending in plague (probably human engineered) and a horrific global population reducing war, the “Mother Of All Wars”. …

 

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