Global economic situation for liveaboard cruising yachties

From the incarcerated economist!

GATA are a touch loony, they are right in some respects but they constantly load both barrels and point them at their feet.... rabid is the term for them. Their obsession with manipulation clouds every issue surrounding gold. I urge anyone reading them to employ all of their critical faculties lest the uber bulls lead you into a brick wall at high speed. Not that they make a habit of it

 

Each person has their own choice. That's what's great about US. So, banks and pals have to brainwash you first, then make you believe you need to do what they want you to do. So, do what Rene Descartes did (famous philospher), go meditate all their BS out of your head until your mind is clear. I think therefore I exist, some may know this. Start thinking. First thought ... why do banks want your money? I think we all answered that. Next, what is your benefit by depositing your cash in the bank? Maybe security and free checking? That's about it. Many think they need to deposit in banks so they can borrow money when they need it. Questionable. Most of the time people borrow too much for wrong things and buy things at the wrong prices (too high). This is what I do. I never keep more than I need in bank to pay some bills. I usually deposit just enough to pay something off and virtually no extras. I think my current bank account balance is $15 or so. That's about how much banks can lend using my money. Instead, there is a much safer and better place to keep your money - brokerage account. I use Ameritrade for years. You account is insured like ... up to $25 million, not $100,000 like banks, although banks raised FDIC insurance to $250,000. You can use brokerage debit card for purchases like a bank card, so it's very convenient. The best part is that you can use your money to trade stocks, bonds, options, funds, whatever ... it can make YOU money instead of letting only banks make money from you. And all that money sitting in Ameritrade ... they can provide with plenty of margin when you want to load up on some stock about to take off. Be sure it will take off first. Put some stop limit orders just in case it goes down or buy some options to cover your a.. Anyway, that seems much more beneficial to me than keeping cash in the banks. Just as safe, even safer. There are no bank fees for using brokerage. You get checks also. It just makes more sense to me. You can put your money to work for you if you know what you are doing. If you don't ... there are other investment options for you. I always do something with cash, I never let it just sit there. You get good service at Ameritrade, too. Banks are arrogant. If you must use a bank, I suggest a small community type of bank. They have better service and they are not large enough to screw people over like big banks do every day. Your account is still insured to same amount as in a big bank.

 

Here is another (good) story out of Thailand. This native Thai guy with US citizenship opens hotel, 2 townhouses, 1 minute walking in Karon from where UK guy in my previous story lost his hotel to his true love. So, this Thai guy made his cash in US and came to Thailand. His Thai wife was a regular south Thai lady, not lady bar, but I think just as greedy. She would complain to me how nothing is in her name. This Thai guy is smart .... He's almost never there, his wife does all the work ... almost for free? He opened a bar, but no bargirls. Just a place to relax on a first floor of townhouse, the other first floor of townhouse was tour/taxi business owned by him. All normal and profitable businesses. If Thai guy dies, his will and everything he owns which includes cash from US as well is left .... to his daughter. Not Thai mom. I am not even sure if he properly married his Thai wife with signing papers. I think she has no rights. Only maybe as a guardian? So, if she takes off, she gets nothing. And he can get new wife in one second. Plus he gets all the power and status as owner in charge. No issues at all. That's how you supposed to do business in Thailand. I did not c him too much, because I think he was busy with his mistresses ....

 

Is The U.S. Economy Being Tanked By Mistake or By Intent?

The government wants Americans to believe the greatest economic collapse in history was the result of ineptness and mistakes yet still have confidence in their financial institutions.

Should American bankers be let off the hook because they self-declare, before an investigational panel, that the failure of their newly invented risk swaps and other highly leveraged investment schemes was simply due to "mistakes"? Not malfeasance – just every-day mistakes? Bankers just fell asleep at the helm at a critical juncture in American history. Is that what we are being led to believe?

Oh well, it’s just 18 million American homes that now lay empty in the wake of unprecedented foreclosures, and the bankers have collected obscene bonuses for reckless lending of their depositors’ money. It’s like the captain and crew of a ship saying, not to worry, twenty-percent of the passengers were lost overboard, but this was due to unavoidable mistakes, and then being rewarded with bonuses when they reach port.

Continued Here

Gold And Silver: Why They Are Important, And Why They Are Often Manipulated

For decades, gold and silver investors have been warning the masses about the catastrophic weaknesses inherent in fiat currencies; currencies backed by nothing but empty promises and printed out of thin air ad nauseam by Central Banks. Precious metals, they said, were the only safe form of currency because they were finite, and could not be duplicated, meaning they could not be inflated to worthlessness. Until recently, these warnings have gone almost completely ignored by the general public.

Continued Here

 

Thanks ZED, an interesting read, which leaves me more aware, but less comfortable...

Maybe I spent too much time in the remote regions of Melanesia, for this 'ancient piece of ****', a far simpler existence, as I yearn to slow down and enjoy... watching coconuts fall to the ground...

 

Armstrong's story is interesting and kinda scary if taken at face value. He has a fascination for history and cycles, IMO it is intriguing stuff. Been watching him for quite a while now, he has a few claims to fame and is becoming somewhat of a cult figure in the goldbug world. FWIW.

 

Did I understand correctly, that he suggests that the AU$ may fall a bit to mid year and strengthen to be par plus sometime to 2012? - I will watch with curious interest...

Latest GATA emails
http://www.gata.org/node/8258 "Bernanke vote shakier as more Democrats defect" - -
http://www.gata.org/node/8259 "Silver Summit co-sponsors Phoenix conference with Murphy roast"
http://www.theaureport.com/pub/na/3555 "Mickey Fulp on Precious Metals after the "Decade of the Aughts""
http://www.theaureport.com/pub/na/3543 "What's Driving the Gold & Silver Prices Now?"
http://www.theaureport.com/pub/na/3547 "Paper Gold Cannot Produce Bullion"

Something to ponder - any comments?
If US$ and other foreign exchange rates and commodity prices are manipulated savagely, does that make the chartists analysis just so much ******** or is there some mysterious connection that still holds true for their analysis? (or are the chartists given false data from the manipulators), so their "forecasts" hold some level of reliability...

 

I read the pdf, but failed to see any relevance. The guy is delusional, like every right winger. He thinks that the government imploded because they had adopted marxism...

Denial is rife in conservative lines. Their system is down and fatally injured and they still blame someone else. No one to recognise the true course of events:

Capitalism imploded because it is the shittiest system around. It goes down every 5 to 7 years in average. Then the richest pigs buy everything for cheap and get richer while the rest 99% gets poorer.

This time the **** hit the roof so bad they realised there's no way out. In panic they rushed to the real economic science looking for answer how to fix their failed utopia.

And, of course, only Marxism has the answer. Except that now it is a lot too late. There's no way out of this hole. Marxism is not "designed" to fix capitalism so that it can continue. Once you fix capitalism it is GONE and socialism take place.

Out with the utopia, "free democratic capitalism", "free trade", "free flow of capital", "global integration" and what else is the daily mantra of those utopian idiots who think that capitalism can grow indefinitely.

If a country is not in charge of its economic affairs, and in free trade, global economy where Nestle and Kraft control 90% of the world's food industry for example, that is impossible - then the country, any country, is doomed to fail and be sold off for small change.

Just look at Haiti. Cubans have sent 400 doctors, usanians have sent 10 000 soldiers...

And who is blocking the distribution of the medical supplies? The usanian soldiers.

The more Haitians die (currently 20 000, yes 20 thousands) a day, according to that ihundu-usanian doctor/reporter on Haiti, the more free land will usanian govt claim later.

In capitalism there's always payd-day. No help is for free.

And the corporations will then confiscate the whole country due to debt, adn there will be no Haitians to claim it anyway, usa will absorb them into the mainland to facilitate the takeover.

After all, they are still looking for a Cuba replacement to build burdels and casinos.

And the stupid conservatives still blame socialism for their own financial catastrophy. The failure happened under the capitalism stupids!!!

 

We don't need it. We have Nevada.

 

Mr Takedepeedo,

Democracy and capitalism are different things, in many ways they fundamentally oppose.

Like I said before, you can't even define capitalism...

Marxism yey!, more government that is what we need, more bureaucracy with more power, mores rules, less freedom.... yep that will work. Worked everywhere its been tried!

I think that Marx was just working through an inferiority complex....

Have you noticed that almost all failures we are talking of have had their roots in government? Have you noticed that government is the one that skews the playing field invariably creating competitive advantage where none really exists? Have you noticed government blames everyone else for crisis of its own creating? Have you noticed government gains power by selling solutions? Never waste a good crisis is a political maxim, in lew of a good one you can always make one! Have you noticed that all flavours of government manage to do this?

Capitalisms does not exist in this world today, you are tilting at windmills, fighting ghosts and ironically shooting at the very concepts you espouse. Its fascinatingly convoluted, such is the human mind. You appear to be working though a number of issues, you and your other personality facets, possibly rooted in some sort of life failure and definitely in denial of life's realities. I will swing by again in a few months and see if you are still dribbling along here. CYA!

 

masrapido, the failed states of all colours have (individuals with) some good ideas, and if some (people) collectively, know not the difference between a banker and a conman but are consistent in identifying that trait/person and that use is visible to others, who cares... Some have this 'need', to apply and apportion blame to others as they are pure and blameless (as in a political agenda)... That is easily recognised and identified - - sometimes it may be done deliberately to be more acceptable to the (mindset of the) targeted reader... propaganda is an art (that I can appreciate, but not good at use)... The core ideas and (some) concepts may be useful and hold broad merit (discriminate, identify and absorb those that may be appropriate)... That is what I look for in my quest for an understanding of where all this is heading and how (slow or) fast... I am still near the bottom of a huge learning curve, hampered by short term memory losses, but thankfully retain reasonable big-picture analytical facilities for an old *******...

 

In all this interesting talk about economics, i think it is extremely important to not lose sight of the fact that economics is a subset of environment.

I think this is one of the best questions posed recently in this thread.
It is a known that the money masters create boom and bust cycles for their own enrichment regularly. However when the fractional reserve banking system , or money as debt system , (or the most monstrous ponzi scheme ever construed - Ever) runs out of resources to fuel it's necessary by design perpetual growth demands, one wonders whether or not the money masters have already thought of some equally diabolical scheme for the downside- or are they still so arrogant and ignorant as to really believe that this can go on forever?




This vid is more a reminder than anything else. (excerpt from the end of suburbia)

 

I also would like to see if we can introduce into the conversing more specifically oriented to boating themes.

Examples;
How might entry into ports be affected by upcoming events?
How might one find a way of earning one's keep whilst cruising in the future scenarios?
How might large scale wars affect one's freedom to cruise?
What will sailing the world look like in a declining petroleum world?
What about safety in said coming world (piracy and ways to defend oneslf etc)?

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And now for a real nugget;

The Oil Drum | Fractal Adaptive Cycles in Natural and Human Systems

 

I am sure I have mentioned most of the live-aboard revenue options before and nil offerings...
point 1... Covered in my build recently and is very subjective (depends on cruise region and nationality of crew and boat, to local knowledge and so on)... http://www.thecoastalpassage.com/destinations.html and http://www.noonsite.com/
point 2... as those that have a good little earner that most anyone could do are keeping that to themselves... otherwise - - published writers, web design, tools of trade (diesel-mechanic, grp work, sailmaking etc) 'island trading' if one has residency & work permits in a region, buy a resort a farm a business (all offshore)...
point3... No single answer, apart from "duck and cover" too many contingencies to contemplate - - Many destinations are very difficult in regards to firearms, could even extend to confiscation/destruction of your boat - legal or otherwise... Know what the policies are where you are headed and don't tempt fate... http://www.thecoastalpassage.com/pirates.html
point 4... make your own decisions on a scarce and expensive oil world and keep it to yourself... will liquid ammonia work? and http://www.dieselveg.com/conversion info.htm
point 5... AVOID THOSE AREAS AT ALL COSTS, keep yourself aware of trouble spots, be ready to run very fast or talk yourself out of difficulty very effectively - - see point 3 link...


http://www.caseyresearch.com/displayCdd.php?id=325 "You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet!" - - - - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWVcTHBVwkM