Fukushima

Check out this video from Potrblog on the radioactive rain in St. Louis from the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Let's put this together. We've created an energy source that was supposed to be inexpensive in dollars terms. One downside is that the energy source produces toxic waste that lasts for human purposes forever. Another downside is that if the energy source gets into the atmosphere the toxic effects can spread widely. Plutonium toxicity effects the genetic makeup of the victims so future generations as well the current population. Plutonium has a half life of 24,000 years, basically forever.

Nuclear plants as we've seen are complex systems. The space shuttle, a fighter jet, deep water oil wells and nuclear plants are examples of complex systems. Even my xbox is a complicated system but the relative consequences of failure of each one of these systems are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Think about the consequences of nuclear failure, potential eternal poisoning of the land, generational sickness, basically eternal damnation of some land mass and it's population. Should we reconsider the cost benefit analysis of these complex systems? If the odds of failure are a million-to-one but the consequences are so grave then is it worth the risk? As we've seen, the odds of failure increase as the complexity of the system rises. It is virtually impossible for governments and corporations to measure the current economic benefit of these complex systems in comparison with the potentially catastrophic generational devastation caused by failure.

Controlled Demolition

Walked by the old YMCA in downtown Houston this morning. It's coming down to make room for something big and modern certainly. The 10 story building was dwarfed by the old Enron buildings and the Continental Tower across the street.

As the backhoes and sledge hammers chipped away at the building I couldn't help wonder why they didn't utilize the newest in controlled demolition techniques. Just pour some diesel fuel or kerosene on a big steel I-beam in the middle of the building, light it up and after a day or so it will collapse into it's own footprint in the basement no mess no fuss.

Ridiculous right?

Silver Bull Revisited

The CME pulled the plug on the silver bull raising margin requirements five times in order to slow the great rise in prices. Silver having dropped 20-25% in 5 days looks to have stabilized for the short term though certainly we should expect increased volatility and potential downside in the near future.

Curiously nothing has changed in the fundamental picture. Bernanke will still be printing up money and purchasing treasury debt next year. Deficits and debt are on the rise, the "debt ceiling" will be lifted shortly and the value of everyone's dollar will continue to be diluted. Where to put the hard earned savings so that they can't be stolen and melted into the public till? Better spread it around because it's getting more volatile by the day. When oil drops $10 in a day? Stay safe.

OBL Changed Our Way of Life

Reading Martin Armstrong this Sunday morning in my easy chair. His latest article on how Osama Bin Laden changed America hits a sore spot. It's not so much that OBL changed America as American power changed and was looking for an excuse to enact that change in its totalitarian form on the people as a means of control and profit. OBL was most probably a CIA asset.

Armstrong relates that loss of privacy and freedom today to the events that set off the American Revolution drawing specific parallels and reminding us of our history. He has suffered first hand the loss of many of the personal liberties that he has described, been in the American Gulag and come out the other side.

Armstrong is an economist, a trader/money manager, historian, computer scientist. Read and learn.

Silver Bull

Silver is printing 47.75 and Eagles are offered at $51.05 on Nucleo. I'm not sure how long this move is going to continue. For certain there will be a pullback but every time you hedge or trade against this type of market you're going to be wrong. Silver is up $1.00 per day. Sprott talks about physical shortages. The big four or five short positions must be getting killed adding to the squeeze. Fundamentals and monetary events are in support but at what point does the hot money blink and get out? Seems there is a lot of cash on the sidelines waiting for a pullback. Sure it's anecdotal internet chatter but for certain a lot of traders haven't jumped on the bus yet.

When does gold kick in to high gear? I think that's entirely dependent on how the fed handles QE3. When QE2 ends they will have to keep purchasing treasuries to keep rates from going up. All this stress in the commodity market is pointing to a big dislocating event in which case correlations go out the window. Let me know what you think and good luck!

Real Housewives of Wall Street

The Real Housewives of Wall Street

Why is the Federal Reserve forking over $220 million in bailout money to the wives of two Morgan Stanley bigwigs?

Rolling Stone

Interesting that this story has just died. I'm pretty busy at work and don't watch mainstream media but I haven't heard any of this in casual conversation. This type of off-the-chart fraud and deception against the taxpayers makes you wonder what you're working for. Anyone trying to get by with $4.00 gas prices and 50% food inflation has to begin to wonder why doesn't the fed give some of that money back to the taxpayers.

The scope and breadth of the fraud and criminality is overwhelming. The fact that nobody has been prosecuted underlines the incestuous relationship between government and corporations. Commercial prisons are filled to the brim with petty criminals but print up a few trillion dollars and hand it out to your corporate buddies, hey that's saving the economy.

Considering Posting Again

I haven't posted here in a long time but have started another family blog. This one is like trying to reconnect with an old friend. You might be a little embarrassed that you haven't called in so long but once you connect it's like no time has passed. Fortunately this is a one way street and it's all up to me! I spend so much time reading great blogs but am usually too busy to get too cranked up about it like I used too. My concerns remain largely the same but have grown sharper and more focused over time. A lot has happened in the world since 2008. Each headline event seems to be more outrageous than the next. Each theft more bold. Each loss of liberty more troubling. Each natural disaster more terrible. It's easy to become numb to it and tune it out, stick your head in the sand. The reality of daily life hardly changes. Prices rise, pay does not. Debt is issued, the dollar declines. Mainstream media has lost almost the last shred of credibility. I can't listen to NPR, Fox, CNN, NBC, anything really without a critical ear to the slant and motivation of the propaganda. Mainstream is Pravda. Real news is Russia Today! That has changed. People are waking up slowly. More are getting the general understanding that they are being robbed but without a specific understand of how it is happening. Blame falls on this group or that group. My team will fix it. Haven't we seen enought to know that it's all one team against the people? The implied differences in the last two administrations have just not come to pass. The next one keeps the same agenda only the face changes. Justice is beyond imagination. I'm interested in protecting the family, securing some future, breaking the myth. Help out where you can, join the conversation.