Archive for the ‘economy’ Category

“Outlaw Money” in North Carolina

Posted: March 21, 2011 by datechguy in economy, oddities
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Episode 51 of the old Robin Hood TV series from the 50’s was called “Outlaw Money”. In the episode the Sheriff arranges for the arrest of the person in charge of minting coin for Nottingham and replaces it with his own man who mixes in base metal for silver coins while the Sheriff pockets the difference. Robin and his band hijack the new coin dies take them in the forest, and sheltering the old mintmaster provide silver mint their own coins and distribute them to the poor. When Friar Tuck is arrested for passing counterfeit money at the trial the mintmaster (disguised as the inspector from London) appears and notes that the “counterfeit” coins have the right amount of silver and the regulation coins do not, foiling the scheme.

I couldn’t help but remember that episode when reading this story:

The leader of a group that marketed a fake currency called Liberty Dollars in the Asheville area and elsewhere has been found guilty by a federal jury of conspiracy against the government in a case of “domestic terrorism.”

I found this interesting:

The silver medallions were produced by a private mint in Idaho on behalf of Evansville-based Liberty Services, which also issued paper notes the group said were backed by silver reserves.

During the raid, about a dozen agents seized nearly two tons of coins that featured the image of Ron Paul, a Texas congressman. They also took about 500 pounds of silver and 40 to 50 ounces of gold, as was paper currency and other metals.emphasis mine

Two quick thoughts, Ron Paul? Passing currency with the image of Ron Paul? Paul fans have always seemed a bit messianic about him but this is ridiculous.

Secondly, on the law I think the conviction is correct but describing his as a “terrorist” is a bit much.

Silver if I’m not mistaken is trading at $20 an ounce or so $160,000 in silver and gold is going around $1500 so say $750,000. So that means that this guy was actually putting his money where his mouth was backing this stuff.

It’s an odd thing when you have “counterfeit” money backed by actual precious metals while the US dollar is backed by…faith?

Ironically Paul has a hearing coming up on Bullion.

Captain Ed and Kaus get it

Posted: March 7, 2011 by datechguy in economy, politics
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In Wisconsin the word is that the absent senators are on their way back

Playing a game of political chicken, Democratic senators who fled Wisconsin to stymie restrictions on public-employee unions said Sunday they planned to come back from exile soon, betting that even though their return will allow the bill to pass, the curbs are so unpopular they’ll taint the state’s Republican governor and legislators.

Or maybe not:

Wisconsin Democrats who fled the state more than two weeks ago to block a vote on a Republican plan to limit public union collective bargaining said on Sunday they have no immediate plans to return.

Or perhaps maybe:

Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller (D-Monona) said in a letter sent out Monday that he wants to meet with Republicans “near the Wisconsin-Illinois border to formally resume serious discussions” on Walker’s budget repair bill

So they want to meet at the border, what is this the cold war? Ed Morrissey nails it:

I suspect that Walker will explain yet again that the state of Wisconsin already provides a forum for that discussion, and it’s not “near the Wisconsin-Illinois border.” It’s in Madison, which is where the Democratic legislators should have been all along if they wanted to take meetings.

Protesters or no all the visuals help the GOP. Walker can make his statements from the statehouse where is supposed to be. Every Democratic statement has to come from hotels or “undisclosed location”. Ed gets that as long as this keeps up Democrats look bad and Republicans (re-Walker) looks good.

I think that Kaus has it right:

To the extent a liberal MSM conspiracy helped produce and publicize those polls–and it can only be a limited extent since one of the polls is Rasmussen’s– did they inadvertently do Gov. Walker a favor by giving the Dems the PR cover they need to save face while they lose the actual legislative battle?

The problem for the dems it its too easy to understand the whole playing hooky angle. Even people who don’t follow politics get it.

I’m pretty sure how this is going to end, (they come back, bill is passed) I’m just not sure when, the decision however will not be made by the Wisconsin Senators, but by the democratic and union money that is currently backing them up.

Erick Erickson reminds us of just how short ten years…

Posted: March 7, 2011 by datechguy in economy
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…can be:

In the Atlanta area, where I am, gas prices are up $0.77 from where they were a year ago. It is worth noting that Democrats have been politicizing and blocking expanded oil drilling for quite some time. Consider this:

“Critics (of Arctic drilling), including Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., say the drilling plan would violate the nation’s last remaining pristine wilderness. Moreover, they charge, the oil would consist of a 6-month supply for the nation, and would not be ready for use by consumers for up to 10 years.”

That newspaper article was written April 2, 2001. For those of you in Rio Linda, that would be ten years ago.

To those of you who are paying between $3.50 and $5 a gallon this morning for gas do ya think that oil those fields would have produced not to mention the well-paying US jobs that come with it would be kinda handy right now?

Unclear on the concept…

Posted: March 7, 2011 by datechguy in economy, internet/free speech
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of Fascism and terrorism:

Make no mistake about it; this is a political attack on teachers for supporting democratic leaders who have stood up for education in our state. If passed, these fascist measures will silence the voice of teachers working to improve our schools, communities and our state.

and this:

“He has the power to stop this madness now,” House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner of Nashville said to loud shouts of approval at the teachers rally. “Governor Haslam, if you’re listening, please stop this terrorism against our teachers.”

Terrorism! (You know that a certain section of this crowd was, about three years ago, in the streets, marching and protesting that the Bush administration was over-hyping the threat of terrorism and complaining that the term “war on terror” was too broad and was an imprecise definition.)

One of the things I’ve noticed in interviewing people is that those who have actually lived under communism or fascism tend not to make these kind of statements, but leftism has as I’ve said before morphed into a quasi-religion where if you have the right beliefs are you counted among the righteous no matter how much money you take from murderous dictators.

All of this self-righteous posturing is all about being part of the suffering masses in the mind and has no relationship with actual reality:

The characteristic of Pains and Pleasures is that they are unmistakably real, and therefore, as far as they go, give the man who feels them a touchstone of reality. Thus if you had been trying to damn your man by the Romantic method—by making him a kind of Childe Harold or Werther submerged in self-pity for imaginary distresses—you would try to protect him at all costs from any real pain; because, of course, five minutes’ genuine toothache would reveal the romantic sorrows for the nonsense they were and unmask your whole stratagem.

I really thing that the left started to believe its own rhetoric during the Bush years and has never gotten over it. It’s going to take a really nasty piece of reality to shock them out of it.

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