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This early James Taylor, with Carole King on piano, is dedicated to old and new friends at the Northern California pup meetup from this afternoon.
We struggled bravely thru an enormous amount of appetizers, entrees, and desserts including one which we dubbed The TRex:
Thanks especially to the wonderful Suzanne who shared her redwoods, her creek, and Token, the cutest dog in the world with us.
The firepups:
Mary McCurnin
punaise
Teddy
spurious
newtonusr
egregious
newspaperbrat
writer/musician Sahra
and the one, the only, Freeway Blogger: scarlet p.
241 Comments
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eGregious!!!
hi egregious!
Late Late Nite! Par-Tey!
NoCal pups rule!!
:::singing::: you’ve got a friend
We rocked!
Mary! Glad you’re home safe!
Loo Hoo. @ 4
wow, high praise from a socal – thanks loohoo – you gonna be able to come to the january meetup (assuming the place doesn’t sell by then)
he-nah, he-nah!
(hey! SoCal pups can also rule! but we failed to make a movie!)
Mary McCurnin @ 6
and ate and rocked some more – mary, newton was taking MOVIES and posted them to utube
Hey!
To friends, old and new, wishing you all much happiness.
texas firepups posted a million pics and had a pair of donkeys at the party!
Dang I like that James Taylor.
Suzanne @ 10
Famous. We are going to be frickin famous!!!!
newton you gotta post the utube movies on this thread too
Nite, everyone. See ya tomorrow.
OMG you had the FREEWAYBLOGGER?!?!
Scarlet P. you are my hero!
egregious @ 11
Cheers! Love your laugh, egregious!
Suzanne @ 5
My office door is closed and locked, and I too, am singing…
Smgumby @ 17
Funny, too.
I’m hoping newt can get a still from YouTube #1 so we can get names with faces. Did anyone else take pictures?
Smgumby @ 17
(buffing fingernails on bazoom)
yes, scarlet p came (with signs)
teehee. a lone voice from the base has shown up in Rove’s comment column at Newsweek.
******
Posted By: nomeski @ 11/18/2007 12:14:17 AM
Comment: well,well karla rove at it again or shall i call him Elmer FUDD. Haven’t you done enough damage to the GOP. WHAT A LEGACY! Shame on you rover.
Posted By: nomeski @ 11/18/2007 12:27:34 AM
Comment: remember the alomo that is your south carolina primary where you on drydock a great GOP CANDIDATE. GO TO it MR ELEMER FUDD. shame on you, karla rove, again and againnnnnnn!!!!!!!!
Posted By: nomeski @ 11/18/2007 12:38:00 AM
Comment: mr karla rove question ???? can you say ”Wascally Wabbit. ” as ELMER FUDD DID…….Dont sink the GOP AGAIN, please.
*********
(ndfg heads out to kitchen to look for popcorn)
Suzanne @ 15
will do…
1
2
isn’t it funny how you are looking at a bunch of faces you do not recognize at the meetups, but you still just know each other? I dunno – “recognized the voice” comes to mind as a way to describe it…
great party movies!
Loo Hoo. @ 21
Hi Loo Hoo!
last frame, left to right…
punaise
spurious
MaryMc
newtonusr (holding Token)
newspaperbrat
egregious
suzanne
teddy
newdealfarmgrrrlll @ 23
that’s hilarious! I wonder how long they will stay posted? poor little karl isn’t getting any support? at all?!?
selise @ 26
selise, they were accidents. I had the camera in movie mode. They were as candid as it gets.
LooHoo – oo! I just read about the brawl over signs at the big dem meeting…
well, if they don’t want the fight, then they need to find a way to be better Democrats.
newtonusr @ 29
that’s what makes them so special!
Congrats on such a great SoCal meeting — thanks for sharing, and share MORE on UTube or here please.
OldCoastie @ 30
what did the sign say?
oc, this is EPU’d from last thread
*****
Posted By: Georgus101 @ 11/18/2007 12:19:35 AM
Comment: These comments are proof Newsweek is a liberal rag. Nothing but liberal comments. What a bunch of kool-aid drinkers.
******
this is Rove’s only support so far. Kinda reminds me of an athletic supporter *snap!*
from the last thread:
Loo Hoo. @ 285
OldCoastie @ 30
Were these DiFi signs?
OldCoastie @ 35
was eden injured when assaulted by john?
What would Freud say about the TRex cookie?
Mommybrain @ 36
Apparently, the sign said, “Courage Campaign”… the people who put the up censure petition…
Good night egregious!
Eureka Springs @ 38
It looks a little firm?
Eureka Springs @ 38
LOL!
Eureka Springs @ 38
Eat it
i’m getting jealous. I’ll have to get in touch with Biodun and see if we can get a upper midwest Firepup meetup going. He started a FireDogLake Minnesota group on fb. I know there’s gotta be more than 4 of us around!
sounds like it was a shoving match, Suzanne… no mention of injury.
sleep well, eg
Eureka Springs @ 38
Bite me
Eureka Springs @ 38
i waiting for a ruling before i eat mine – don’t wanna get in trouble by starting at the head or the tail.
I know about that wrestling over somethin’ stupid… when that kid tried to yank the clipboard outta my hands, it really flipped my stubborn switch – I wasn’t about to let go…
I don’t know what that is but its pretty primal.
Suzanne @ 46
Thanks for everything Suzanne. It was wonderful to see you.
OT: Every Sunday from 11:00 to 1:00 PST, Ian Masters streams live from KPFK interviews with experts on current topics of interst to the progressive community: tomorrow’s lineup.
Here’s the story from Julia Rosen of the Courage Campaign on the censure.
OldCoastie @ 49
And what a real American patriot does without hesitation! (((((OldCoastie)))))
California Penal Code Section 242 states:
A battery is any willful and unlawful use of force or violence upon the person of another.
(((eg)))
Ca. fire documents conflict with reports (AP)
from Yahoo! News
In this photo supplied by Greenpeace, Greenpeace activists on a rubber boat buzz the ‘Front Driver’, cargo ship, some 15 miles off the coast of Valencia on the closing day of the 27th Plenary of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in Valencia, Saturday Nov. 17, 2007. Greenpeace claims the ship is carrying 153,000 tonnes of coal destined for the Spanish port of Tarragona. Greenpeace banner reads ‘burning coal destroys the climate’. (AP Photo/Greenpeace, Pedro Armestre)AP – Several aircraft were able to fly in strong winds on the first full day of last month’s Southern California firestorms, contradicting officials’ earlier claims that the weather had grounded virtually all aircraft, according to documents released Saturday.
OhOldCoastie @ 49
Oh, I got to jump in here. My organizing career at a factory was ended once by grabbing a petition from the hand of a supervisor, who had taken it from a worker I was trying to get to sign it. There was a hilarious NLRB hearing where the security head of the place, who witnessed this testified as somewhat of an expert witness, as well as an interested party. Seems he had had a show busness career where he snatched flying arrows from the air. He told the jedge I snatched that petition right quick.
selise @ 33
It said The California Coalition to Censure the Senator. And Julia kept reposting the number of people signing the petition. It was up to about 34,000.
there – fixed it.
newdealfarmgrrrlll @ 44
Phoenix Woman and Balrog.
Loo Hoo. @ 58
i guess somebody thought that 34,000 dfh don’t know their place
nite ‘pups. gonna try to get some sleep…
selise – tell me that the “zipped” v-card is expandable by Windoze users…
John Hanna sounds like an authoritarian
prickperson.selise @ 61
i guess somebody thought that 34,000 dfh don’t know their place
what’s dfh? I come up with Defense Family Housing and Dynamic Frequency Hopping.
on the advice of counsel:
I don’t know nuttin’ about nuttin’
Loo Hoo, were those your comments in the Rove comments section? If so, thank you!
jc inOR @ 65
difihaters
Dirty Fucking Hippies.
Night Selise and EG.
punaise @ 66
Dude!
newdealfarmgrrrlll @ 67
Yes. Left some at Markos’ too.
I’m gonna bail early tonight too. I usually get up at the crack of noon but that was when the party started today. I had so much fun meeting all the pups – some known to me already like eg, newspaperbrat, and spurious. it was a great mix of old and new faces but it felt like family today at the little cottage by the creek in the redwoods.
and i must say, the sight of us all out front, holding scarlet p’s impeach sigh certainly appears to have upped my status at the compound. guess a republican cop can fit in with santa cruz hippies.
newtonusr @ 70
yes indude
Loo Hoo. @ 69
Nasty bad dirty fucking hippies.
Punaise! Tell us something we don’t already know about today’s meet-up!
‘night Suzanne – great party even if we were there only in spirit.
Suz – that was great fun – thanks for hosting!
sleep well to all the tired ones!
OldCoastie @ 9
We’ll have to take care of that next time ;-)
pun, it was so good i’m thinking another one in january – after new years.
Mary McCurnin @ 68
Well I’m glad. I thought this was going to be a slur of the Clampets, who have also moved to Anaheim.
punaise @ 66
Punaise!
Suzanne @ 72
Cool Suz! Did Scarlot leave you the sign to post with pride? Night.
Loo Hoo. @ 75
well, I’d have to read through the comments first, but…
1) had to convince my wife this wasn’t some sort of cult meeting
2) forgot to show off the collector’s item firedoglake.blogspot.com T-shirt that I was wearing
pb, I’m looking into it…
;-)
now, if we were all very ambitious, we’d put together a CA gathering somewhere on the central coast so No and So could meet up…
newtonusr @ 63
i think so (can’t test it myself), but i read that outlook can’t use a single vcard with multiple contacts – so i changed it to a folder with 101 vcards in it (one for each senator and one for the toll free numbers that katymine found)…
if anyone can test it for me, that would be very helpful. when we’re pretty confident it’s working, we can spread the word to share it with whoever is helping lobby congress.
Loo Hoo. @ 71
i didn’t see your handle in that column – doesn’t seem to be refreshing correctly, hmm. time to clear my cache.
hey VG – you were there in spirit I’m sure
peanutbutter @ 79
My place. Early March.
punaise @ 84
nooooooooooooo
typing in my sleep now…
punaise @ 84
And, Punaise, I bet you forgot to tell the story about how you found the $20 bill on the sidewalk and contributed to proceeds to FDL/BA.
Is my memory correct, as least vaguely, as to that episode?
i’ve always wanted to see an fdl blogspot tshirt and you forgot to show us it pun?
dang
night selise
link for senate vcards
selise @ 86
No Outlook here. Will get it and try mañana.
punaise @ 88
I very much hope so, in that some of my absolute fave firepups were there, including you, who I have known for a very very long time via FDL.
Suzanne @ 93
I think I showed it to spurious…
my bad for not disrobing
selise @ 96
TY!
VG – I had forgotten about that – except it was a real $100 bill!
ok, really leaving this time… pun, looking forward to you disrobing next time – do you think that will help convince the lovely mrs. punaise that we are not a cult?
selise @ 96
It works! Nice!
TexBetsy @ 56
There’s no such thing as “clean coal.” Coal is mostly carbon: the only way to get energy from carbon is by oxidizing it, i.e., turing it into greenhouse gas (CO2).
Someday we may have economic ways to sequester CO2 underground. Until then, we must using fossil fuel, and expecially coal.
OldCoastie @ 85
True. That would still be Monterey. We could get a room with two queens and put up Peanut Butter, Demi, you and Mommybrain. A sleeping bag works for me!
Suzanne @ 101
prolly not advisable, huh? bonne nuit!…to Suz
Niters selise. Thanks for leading by doing for I must tear myself away from da lake too and get some sleep.
Heading to SF early in the morning to join the fan base of 75-year-old Michael Grbich, the Oakland-based painter at the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge to cheer the artist on his celebratory tap dancing his way across the GGBridge from the Marin County north end. Be there or be Square!
Best weekend evah! Saturday pup meetup at Casa Suz in the Redwoods and celebratory tap dancing on the GGBridge. Happy weekend to all you dear intrepid late late niters!
newdealfarmgrrrlll @ 87
Could be the server was overloaded with Kossacks. Didn’t seem like there was much expertise on the part of Newsweek for this online business!
Blue America Cult
selise @ 91
Somebody ought to write a song…
punaise @ 100
Oh wow! I got the denomination wrong! I knew you found a bill on the sidewalk. But, I only find pennies, so the idea that it was a $100 bill was way past my memory. I was trying to recall the denomination. I guessed at the amount, knowing that $20 would have been pretty amazing for me. Then again, I have found plenty of watches in my time. My fave is the pink cinderella watch I found on a beach in Maine. Not that would have done much to help the FDL cause. ;)
g’nite Suzanne & other leaving tired pups. Glad the meetup was a success! (i’d have been surprised if it wasn’t)
have fun tap watching, npb…
punaise @ 100
Dang! I just find quarters. Can I like, hang around you for a day or so? ;-)
No Outlook here. Will get it and try mañana.
How’d you do that n? enyaaa
punaise @ 112
Do you think he will still have to pay the toll?
saw “Lions for Lambs” tonight, came out rather depressed.
Loo Hoo. @ 107
bet you’re right about an overload. cleaned cache, had to reopen safari, still only a few comments which suprised me. Makes sense that the Kossacks would have flooded into the place.
selise @ 96
(((SELISE))) Man-oh-howdy!
newtonusr @ 102
excellent! thanks for testing it for me and for figuring out how i needed to post it (zip file rock!).
more testers welcome… and needed.
looks like we’re going to have lobbying th senate on fisa. it would be great if we could fill up their voice mail boxes and their fax in boxes while the senate is on recess… i’m expect christy will have some contact projects for us next week.
hopefully the vcard contact info will help us make lots of calls and faxes.
peanutbutter @ 113
it was a one-time deal, alas…
Hey gang. I’ve been doing demo all day and so 1) I’m pooped and 2) I need a nice hot bath. And in any case I wanna finish up The Shock Doctrine for tomorrow…!
sleep well pb
anyway, I’m off to de-cult-ivate
g’night, FDLers
nite peanutbutter!
Night NPB!
night pun
punaise @ 116
punaise- alas, that seems to be the tenor of the times. Huge roller coaster effect. We get up, and then we are hit down hard. Hard times, in that respect, imo.
good night npb. a pleasure!
egregious! Good to see you on the front page where you belong ;) I’m trying to keep your alma mater warm but it’s getting harder as the calendar keeps marching on (it snowed out here the other day)
Cayuga’s waters say hi, etc. ;)
-aj
nite punaise
im now looking for that shirt on ebay…
peanutbutter @ 121
A little light reading before you nod off.
Loo Hoo. @ 125
((((((Loo Hoo!)))))
Loo Hoo and any one else who might be persuaded to test the vcards – please let me know any changes or additions that would be helpful… at some point i plan to do the same thing for the house of representatives. so speak up now (or at least before i start the reps) if you have any preferences, suggestions etc.
That’s it for me tonight. Great party. Good night everybody!
Hey andrew j. Hope you’re doing well.
nite egr!
UNLV Waived Fee For CNN Debate
from Huff Po by The Huffington Post News Editors
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas really did pull out all the stops for CNN this week — including waiving the cost of renting the Cox Pavilion.
University officials said Friday that the publicity gained from the event more than compensated for the estimated $60,000 the university might have charged for use of the facility.
Night PB and Punaise (and anyone else konking out).
Me to bed also. These folks wore me out having fun today.
now i really got to go, or i’ll be sleeping on my key board… *g*
night, pb…
nite mary
see you in the east in about 3 weeks!
About 30 new news & blog posts since this morning. Y’all read and I’ll sleep.
Night all!
yikes. my body is saying must. find. bed. G’night Pups!
selise, it works really well. Bless you, sweetie!
Is everyone asleep?
i’m moving that way loo hoo
Loo Hoo. @ 146
almost…
yup – eyelids are at half mast…
g’night, pups.
Loo Hoo. @ 146
No chance! Hey, you guys down there (:-)) have some catching up to do. Inadvertent movies!
nite ndfg
nite OC. brave stuff
newtonusr @ 151
I have not been following along with all of the comments. But newt, are you referring to OC’s reports on the petition scam? Thanks to her head’s up, I have been reading about this. The repug’s will stop at nothing!!!!
Valley Girl @ 152
I am. OC’s a force.
newtonusr @ 153
Yes! It’s too late for me to give links, but the story is def. getting traction.
It’s been in the papers, too VG and Newtonusr. This from Calitics.
I am so proud of old coastie!
Loo Hoo. @ 156
Same. Thought there was something about her when we met. But grit comes to mind right now.
Any chance the illegal use of petition names will stick to Issa?
Sunny, there’s this:
The latest Republican dirty trick (and it’s a doozy): Read this investigative piece from Los Angeles Downtown News detailing how Republicans are offering free food to the homeless in exchange for their signatures to get the GOP “steal the state” initiative on the June ballot. Talk about slime . . . and illegal slime at that.
Issa’s meddling again, jumps into the state Electoral College fray: Thanks in part to the bankroll of a local congressman, California’s Electoral College reform initiative is back. Given up for dead by many political observers when its original backers withdrew support in September, the deep pockets of Vista Republican Darrell Issa have helped revive the initiative that would change the way California’s electoral votes are apportioned. But now some observers are wondering if Issa’s ventured into illegal activity.
Where do you all meet? I would love to meet all the firepups in the area!!! Sanity I need it!
Jooj
newtonusr @ 24
Okay, those were totally postmodern.
What a great day! Bear Creek FirePups MeetUp photos on Late Nite Sunday Thread, folks, I promise.
g’nite all….
Timely post!!! I just saw James Taylor in concert in Reno last night. Wow, what a great show. FIVE ENCORES.
nite teddy. a blast was had by all
newtonusr, what did you guys talk about all afternoon? What did you eat? Music? Come on, buddy, spill!
Loo Hoo
Thanks for 159 link. Off to read.
Your comments are now visible at Newsweek. They are indeed having problems – lots of dupes.
Good going w/the people think he’s that crazy bit – it’s memorable.
Loo Hoo. @ 164
Politics was lightly touched on, at least in my chats with various folks. Mainly, just a group of like-minded people getting to know each other. There were no solutions, but a lot of consensus.
Chicken wings.
Dolma, tremendous humous, other goodies care of Teddy.
Veggies, wraps, lots of fresh fruit, and sweets all over the place.
Music was KPIG playing in the background, but later we listened to Sahra Baker’s CD. She attended and she is good…
Last post before the Bookers really kicks in…
Here’s the next shoe to drop:
Citi do a Whitney on UBS – “A major reversal of fortune”
Which leads to the outcome I’ve been predicting:
Gavekal’s four scenarios for what lies ahead
“It” is much closer now. The “tell” was when Kristol wrote his Lieberman for VP article:
Say It’s So, Joe
Vice President Lieberman?
(sorry, out of links)
Our stereo bit the dust. I”m having withdrawal symptoms from listening to my favorite cds. Lucinda Willams is a goddess.
Hey, gang!
Back from meeting a really interesting person who knows more about the history of Whittier Alaska than anyone else alive. He also is one of the top scale model railroad builders in the country. Amazing evening.
neokneme @ 167
So what are you going to do with your money?
Sunny, the commenters on Kos’ Newsweek article were saying that Bush would leave the troops in Iraq without provisions if the dems cut off the money. Maybe the dems are thinking along those lines too, and that’s why they haven’t acted until (perhaps) now.
If our president (small p in this case) is so batsh*t crazy that he would leave 270,000 Americans in Iraq without provisions rather than to bring them home, he would be the most treasonous individual in the history of the world. If it even got next door to that scenario, he would certainly be charged with war crimes along with all of his advisor and hauled out of the White House in shackles. He wouldn’t dare.
I’d like to pay off debts, if I could.
ET, good for you! Are these electric trains the size you would put under the Christmas tree?
Loo Hoo. @ 173
They’re HO gauge, which is too small for little kids. He’s completing a set of Alaska Railroad box cars for a California collector. The real ones were modified back in the 1970s for hauling big light loads like foam insulation and pampers and toilet paper pallets. They were so detailed and accurate, even under a magnifying glass. He only gets $150 per car for these. They’re works of art.
Crocodile tears…
Letter from the attorney of the State Dept IG to Waxman, asking for the IG to be excused from testimony about his brother’s ‘lil Blackwater conflict of interest problem:
“There is no legitimate purpose to be gained by publicly pitting two brothers against each other,” Barbara Van Gelder wrote”
Umm.. yeah. What? he’s trying to get out of testimony purely on the basis that it’s un-Christian of our party to require him to tattle on his brother or vice versa?
Wow, ET. That sounds really cool! You live the most interesting life. Never a dull moment, huh?
blub, I’m sorry for the Baltimore brothers. Tissues all around.
Loo Hoo. @ 177
I just find it an amazingly poignant statement about just how far the rethugs have fallen and how they’ve come to take it for granted that they can get away with pretty much any sh*te imagineable, that a lawyer could even think that such an excuse might get their client off…
Loo Hoo. @ 170
Alternative Energy in countries like Europe that support Alt Energy. Why because I can’t see any scenerio where Bush wins in Iraq and the price of oil goes down. High oil prices make Alternative energy cometitive in price.
Gold at $800 is nothing gold would have to go up to $2,200 an ounce to get where it was in the 80s.
The price of gold went down last time because the Fed raised interest rates. So until Ben Bernake grows a spine and starts raising rates I think gold is a good play.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Disp…..tnews&;
If we get cheaper oil somehow then sell the Alternative energy. If Ben gets a spine which is not likly until a Democrat gets the Presidency then sell the gold.
Ask yourself what and why something is likly to happen and who can proffit off it. Then ask yourself what could happen to make my scenerio wrong. Who are the players? What do they want and what are they willing to do to get it? Also what is the nature of the terrain/chess board they play on? Who is likly to cheat how and why, if its even possible.
World without tears-Lucinda Willaim-seems fitting (imo) this time of nigh.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.c…..ion=market news& Hope this link works.
Rising gold price may be harbinger of hard times
Web posted at: 11/16/2007 8:46:28
Source ::: The Peninsula / By Tom Petruno
Bull markets are supposed to make investors feel good. But the latest surge in the price of gold has an aura of dread about it. The yellow metal is nearing a lofty $850 an ounce, a height not seen for 28 years.
That has triggered some primal fears on Wall Street. If investors are turning back to one of the most ancient forms of money, one implication is that they’re losing faith in the modern financial system.
Indeed, the higher gold goes, 55-year-old Bill Roberts of Westchester, California, says he can’t help but see a deepening message of doom. The dollar is sinking, banks are reeling from soaring mortgage defaults and the stock market is tumbling anew, with the Dow Jones index slumping 552 points last week.
With that backdrop, Roberts says he’s happy that he has most of his investment portfolio in shares of gold-mining firms. “I see gold as one of the things that can save a small investor like me,” said Roberts, a retired attorney. He predicts the metal’s price could jump above $2,000 an ounce.
Many veteran precious-metal investors, however, prefer not to play the apocalyptic panic card to promote gold these days. “It brings up the ‘gold-bug’ image: old guys in threadbare suits, with wild tufts of hair, jingling Krugerrands in their pockets,” says Thomas Winmill, who manages the New York-based Midas Fund, which owns mining stocks.
Winmill wants the metal to be viewed simply as another element of a diversified investment portfolio — not a haven for the End Times. Even so, gold’s rally in recent months to 1980s levels is bringing back some awful memories of that era: galloping inflation, double-digit interest rates, a collapsing dollar and a general mood of despair about America’s future.
In New York, gold closed at $832.50 an ounce, down $2.70 for the day but up $27 for the week. The price is closing in on the record high of $850 set in January 1980. Adjusted for inflation, the metal is far from the old peak. It would have to rise to about $2,200 in today’s dollars to match it, according to the World Gold Council, a mining-industry-funded group.
Gold has been in a mostly steady uptrend since 2000, when it sold for about $275 an ounce at year’s end. Its advance has coincided with a boom in commodity prices in general, as demand for raw materials has soared in burgeoning economies such as China and India. Rising consumer wealth in those and other emerging markets also has stoked consumption of precious metals. More than two-thirds of gold demand worldwide is for jewelry. Many mainstream investors paid little mind to gold in the past few years, as the stock market continued to rally and rising home prices underpinned consumers’ net worth.
But in the past three months the metal’s hot streak has stood out against a deteriorating outlook for the US financial system and economy. Record oil prices are triggering fear of higher inflation. And the dollar’s value is plunging — a casualty, some experts say, of global investors’ dimming view of the United States’ economic prospects amid a horrendous national housing bust.
“The markets’ statement is that the US has lost its way,” said Allen Sinai, head of Decision Economics Inc. in New York. So gold, experts say, is back in the role it has played for thousands of years: A store of value, a way to preserve wealth, and a hedge against financial calamity.
Robert Fazio, an executive at Santa Monica, California-based gold coin dealer Goldline International, says many customers who are coming in to buy coins such as the US government-minted American Eagle mention their concern about the dollar’s plummeting purchasing power worldwide.
“The hot buttons are the falling dollar and the lack of faith in the dollar,” he said. “It’s definitely waking people up.” But as gold rockets, investors who were there for the metal’s last bull market are reminded how fast it was over once the price began to rise almost vertically.
Gold’s spike above $800 lasted all of a couple of days in mid-January 1980. By the end of that year the price was back below $600. Then began a 20-year period of mostly falling prices. By mid-1999 an ounce of gold went for about $250 — a 70 per cent loss to someone who bought at the 1980 high and held on.
What quashed the last gold bull market was action by Federal Reserve in 1979 to dramatically raise interest rates, dealing a fatal blow to the inflation mentality of that era. Once the US economy began to recover in the early ‘80s, stock and bond markets boomed and investors found better places for their money.
That continued in the 1990s. And the world’s central banks added to the downward pressure on gold by periodically selling off some of their massive reserves. Gold went from laggard investment to bad joke.
The long bear market left many longtime fans of the metal chastened, said George Milling-Stanley, chief analyst at the World Gold Council in New York. That was particularly true for gold bugs in the end-is-near camp, he said. “They cried wolf for 20 years. People learned to ignore them,” Milling-Stanley said. Winmill, the Midas Fund manager, says any number of forces could trigger a plunge in gold’s price this time around. A pullback in oil prices could easily do it, he said.
So could a sharp rise in interest rates if the Federal Reserve and other central banks decided that the inflation threat warranted tighter credit, Winmill said. A turnaround in the dollar’s slide, for whatever reason, also could cool gold fever in a hurry, he said.
Larry Heim, who has been running a gold investment-advisory business from Portland, Ore., since the early 1970s, says his client base has doubled in the past year.
But Heim, who predicts that gold will reach about $3,400 in this run-up, says he doesn’t tell his investors that the metal’s bull market will last indefinitely. “It’s not the right thing to own forever. It will be the right thing to own for the next few years though,” he said.
Yet many individual investors say they still can’t bring themselves to add gold to their portfolios, either in the form of coins or through mutual funds that own the metal or mining stocks. “To make money on your investments in the long run, I think you need to own a piece of a growing economy,” said Byron Angel, 54, of Tacoma, Washington. “To me this means buying the stocks of companies that are leading the growth of the economy.” Sorry I couldn’t get a link to work for somer eason on this story.
Loo Hoo. @ 177
’sides.. what do they have to worry about? A presidential pardon and a presidential medal of honor are practically guaranteed.
Here you go, Ironranger!
Things Come Undone, I don’t understand the gold thing. (Though I wish I’d bought when it was much lower so I could sell it now!) It is now over $800. per ounce. $12,800 per pound. Makes me crazy thinking about it. What would you really do with a pound of gold? Try to sell it I guess.
neokneme @ 167 I think scenerio 3 and then 2 are the most likly to happen. I just don’t see Ben growing a spine when all the Bushies want another rate cut.
“Scenario 3: The Fed ultimately cut rates, but this fails to rejuvenate the system and get growth going again. This would likely mean stagflation. As such, gold and other commodities would do well, while stocks and the US$ would struggle. Excluding bonds, this is increasingly what the market is pricing in today.”
Ah yes, loohoo. thanks angel.
That’s exactly where I was, lost in Lucinda.
We must get a new sound system.
We need a new radio/cd player. Ours that died played 10 cds at a time. Any recommends what we should buy?
ironranger, I haven’t checked on sound systems for a while. I’d check the consumer reports.
I usually end up at Costco!
Uncertain, scary times. A local crotchety old lady in her late 90’s said a couple of years ago on living through the depression that she sees a much, mich worse depression ahead. She is a very opinionated old woman but someone who has been very accurate on nature, weather. etc predictions. She may be cranky but I pay attention to people like that. They may not be easy to be around but I don’t discount their forecasts when their track record has been so accurate.
Loo Hoo. @ 185
Buy a big goldmining stock to be safe or a 5 star rated gold fund to be even safer do not get B shares do not get locked in for a few years.
I’m in a less than 5 star fund with 3 years until I can get out without tax consequences never buy B shares.
Let the proffits be reinvested back into the stock. I think we have a few bad years ahead of us where gold will make money even if Hilary Gets Rubin and Reich back in charge of the economy.
Which is actualy something positive she should be talking about.
Gold makes money when people think the dollar will fall in value like its doing now. Gold makes money when the American interest rates are low. If intrest rates go up or the value of the dollar goes up then be prepared to sell.
I think Ben will cut rates next year at least once. But if hedgefunds and banks start to fail the Fed might raise intrest rates. Then sell!
But I doubt helicopter Ben will raise rates, he has stated that he would pour money into the finanical system with a helicopter if we have a credit crisis, but by doing that he would devalue the dollar more.
Unfortunately, the nearest costco is about 250 miles away. I just don’t know what brand is the best way to go.
Wind energy is more efficent than solar if you want a clean Alternative energy pick.
Ethanol in Brazil works at current oil prices, Ethanol in America works with government handouts and causes higher food prices. I’m not sure on Biodiesal.
Solar does make money just not as much as wind.
ironranger @ 191
Check out this Bose system. They are so small that you wouldn’t believe the speakers could sound so good. 30 day money back guarantee.
I wish the White House press corp would ask Dana if we have any plans to go into Pakistan and take out their Nuclear Weapons and Missles.
If she says yes she embarrasses Bush and leaves open the question of just how strong is Al Quieda in Pakistan.
If she says no then we ask how can we talk about invading Iran who doesn’t even have Nuclear weapons yet.
When Pakistan is under emergency rule and too afraid to send their army after Al Quieda, heck Pakistan is so afraid of Al Quieda they won’t even let us send our army in there after Ossama.
Plus if Pakistan does fall then Dana’s No answer will make Bush look even more unprepared for reality…if that is possible.
In other words this is a trap question there is no good answer.
Loohoo:
Excellent suggestion. I was looking at Bose. Thanks. Now to persuade spouse. He is not into finding variety in music, still goes back to the 60’s, old standbys (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but not that interested in exploring on his own. He seems to really like what I choose, asks me who is the artist is, etc.
The English leave and the causality rate goes down in the south. The Mahdi army declares a cease fire and causality rates go down further.
But all the MSM can talk about is how the SURGE is working. Yet no new benchmarks for progress in Iraq have been met. I thought the SURGE was suppose to give the Iraqi’s room to achieve the benchmarks stablise their country and then allow us to leave.
But watching Pat Buchannon talk on the news I heard nothing about benchmarks.
Nope causalities are up for the year but down since the SURGE started seems to be the new GOP talking point.
The SURGE is working Bush has redefined failure upward again by changing what progress means.
Down is Up, White is Black, Benchmarks are forgotten statistical games are being played by SURGE planner Petraeus to take credit for the actions of the English and the Mahdi army which last I checked were beyound his control.
Can anyone here name a single new benchmark that has been achieved since the succsesful SURGE started!
If less causalities is the definition of the succses of the SURGE then lets bring all the troops home and have a Victory/ NOBODY ELSE IS GOING TO DIE PARTY!
Loo Hoo. @ 118
((Selise)) for coming from far to join the meetup of the Next Hurrah in Boston.
No redwoods–tallest thing around were the lights at Fenway that were seemingly lit for the occasion–and no home cooked food, but same kind of spirit as at the FDL meetup.
Details, BSRH! What did you guys discuss, eat, drink??? How long did you get to be there? Isn’t Marcy a doll? (I got to have lunch with her in Chicago one day at Yearly Kos.) She wouldn’t remember me, but it was so cool. What a wonderful human being, huh?
Who all was there?
OT and personal. It’s not a computer crisis but it is weird and would love to hear anyone explain the following. Not to worry about solving it. I have access to an IT person later in the day.
My laptop at home (which had not left the house) just booted up minus many but not all of its icons and shortcuts for my most used program and folders, Mozilla and taskbar, its Favorites, and my automatic logon info for this site.
Data all there.
Got a mesage asking me if I wanted my desktop to be cleared of least used icons but it was my most used that were already gone
Shut cover before shut down was complete and it stayed that way on battery for 10 hours.
Could a. my incompetence be the cause or should I suspect some b. malfeasance or c. cruel irony as one topic at the Next Hurrah meet-up was the question of whether all these laptop losses with crucial i.d. data were the result either of a. or b.?
Any ideas pups on what happened. I’ll be back later, after cathchng an extra hour of shuteye.
I want as in the fairy tale the allow the toolbarmakers elves to put everything back magically.
Will check in for answeres if there is any.
Thanks in advance.
Loo Hoo. @ 199
Thanks Loo Hoo for asking and yes agree on all things said about Marcy and add some more.
“Just the facts, Mam,” right now, as explained @200 I am going back to bed.
Next Hurrahnicks: Pfred, BSRH, Selise, ElizabethinMA, Gmoke of Daily Kos, Marcy and relevant significant others and friends.
Occasion, conference at Boston College on “No News is Bad News. Marcy will have blogged about it by now, I bet.
So a good morning// good night.
Good morning. Anyone around?
Just finished Rich’s version of Regan/Fox/Kerik/Guiliani. he does his usual good job with it, but IMHO its yet another IOKIYAR.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11…..ref=slogin
I can’t sleep, eCHAN. What does IOKIYAR mean?
Loo Hoo. @ 203
It’s OK If You’re A Republican, a key acronym for the state of partisanship in the MSM & elsewhere.
Sorry you can’t sleep. I’m just putting on the coffee. I’ll let you know when it’s ready if you want to stay up.
ironranger @ 168
Our stereo bit the dust. I”m having withdrawal symptoms from listening to my favorite cds. Lucinda Willams is a goddess.
mornin’ all – or in my case it’s really, really late.
In case it should happen to come up in casual conversation today, you can quote me that insomnia sucks.
But since Lucinda was mentioned, I found a new YouTube I really like (I was really looking for Alejandro Escovedo, but – hey, twice as nice)….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc2M2xRBqjo
edit: I suggest turning it up a bit… it always makes my neighbors happy, especially at this time of the mornin’.
Oooo. An angry Chris Hedges op-ed in Philly Inquirer leads to WJ call-in Q: Is America in decline?
Crap. did I leave a tag open?
Good Morning!
ON WASHINGTON JOURNAL
Sunday, November 18
7:30am – Ron Brownstein, Atlantic Media, Political Director
9am – Stephen Morrison, Center for Strategic & International Studies, Director of the Africa Program
9:30am – Dan Blumenthal, U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission, Vice Chair
Morning Elliott!
Morning, everyone; oatmeal’s on the stove – raisins and brown sugar with the bowls and spoons on the counter.
Anyone doing anything exciting today? DH and I are doing a little jaunt to Corning to the museum.
Good morning jayt and Toby,
I’ve got leaf raking on the menu, not many but enough to get me outside
I remember going to that museum as a kid, I enjoyed it but I like that stuff.
Elliott @ 211
Elliott – we have far too many leaves still on the trees up here in Upstate NY — on my travels over the last week, I’d say we are still 50% on the trees. If we have a major snow event,we are going to have some damage, poles and lines down, etc. I’m hoping for a big wind storm before that happens though.
Elliott @ 212
I was taken on a class trip when I was in the sixth grade – it was teeny then in comparison to what it is now. The collection is wonderful; they do great exhibits all the time, and my husband has taken several classes there — if you can do it with glass, they teach classes in doing it there.
Brownstein’s a scum. When asked a simple Q: when did hyperpartisanship begin, instead of answering Newt Gingrich, he gave a monologue on the history of politics since WWII.
we are only just past peak here, too. Strange fall.
eCAHN, I wasn’t exactly thinking scum, but now that you mention it, his opinions imo are scummy lol
Oh, & now Brownstein sez it’s up to the Ds to solve the divisions. IMO, it’s up to the Ds to destroy the partisan Rs. Then the country can move forward.
New acronym: EIDF (Everything Is D’s Fault)
Mornin’ all!
eCAHNomics @ 218
correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t the problem that the Republicans stopped working with the Dems and won’t now. I am so sick of them whining about how the Democrats are so partisan, when that’s their whole game plan.
Love the TRex cookie! Looks ferocious. LOL
Toby Wollin @ 210
I have an entirely full day of doing nuthin’
penciledpenned in. Colts game at 1:00 – Nascar race to be Tivo’d, and eventually I’ll probably fall asleep since I didn’t get around to it last night.Leaves? Hah, I laugh at leaves (hey, there are some advantages to living in an apartment)…
Does anyone know about or have experience with this organization: Any Soldier
Elliott @ 220
Ding Ding Ding
jayt@222
You may be interested to have pointed out that racecar is a palindrome, if you missed my irrelevant piece of information yesterday.
eCAHNomics @ 225
jayt@222
You may be interested to have pointed out that racecar is a palindrome, if you missed my irrelevant piece of information yesterday.
Actually, I did see that, and that was my new thing learned for the day. lol. thanks!
My favorite story of the day: U.S. helps Pak secure nukes. Like how? Helping them fly around the country on little fairy wings?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11…..?ref=world
eCAHNomics @ 227
$100 million spent on this SECRET program? WTF!!! Let me guess…Musharraf, Busharraf, and Osamarraf are sitting down together in this secret meeting to learn how to point nukes at Iran? Hey, could be! Ole Georgie is learning a lot these days from Musharraf and we all know how badly Busharraf wants another war before he leaves office and how Osamarraf (if alive) wants more cover & protection! Spit.
eCAHNomics @ 225
palindrome
twolf1 @ 229
That’s disgusting. I’m a cat person & I abhor dressing up and animal in a costume. If humans want to humiliate themselves, it’s their choice. But animals have wonderful fur coats that are perfectly sufficient. /rant
eCAHNomics @ 230
I’m pretty sure that’s photoshopped.
twolf1 @ 231
phew. reverse the rant.
eCAHN, I think the taco was photoshopped onto a naturally grouchy cat.
morning!
Sunday Talking Head Thread upstairs…
Is the hotel really on fire at 4am? is the question one asks while reaching for pants, car keys, and computer bag, along with perhaps some grumbling about the general unfairness of it all.
Quite the scene downstairs with maybe a hundred people in various stages of disarray and bewilderment. After quite it while the fire department announces it was a false alarm and everybody can go back to sleep. Ha!
So this naturally leads to other questions. What is the closest place I can get coffee? [gas station, Sand Hill Road.] Wonder what else is open at 4:30 in the morning here? [absolutely nothing.] Is that a raccoon crossing the road? [yes]
Didn’t envision this was how I would spend my first night, or half night, in my new unfurnished place in Menlo Park, but why not. With wifi, heat, nice carpet, and above all no fire alarm, it seemed just the place to go.
Had to laugh because one of my questions for this trip is what did the place look like at night. Was it dark enough to be able to sleep, what color were the streetlights, what time does the sun come up. Problem solved!
And just to add that little kick of the universe, when I got to my new place the smoke detector was chirping every two minutes. Used my one lovely chair to reach the ceiling and hush this interruption of the night quiet.
Now, my dear friends, good morning.
Good morning, pups. It’s MoDo, Friedman and Rich in the Times today. MoDo watched the debate and she says with so much at stake, Hillary Clinton used her voice, gaze and body language to such punishing effect that Barack Obama looked as if he had been brought to heel. This week MoDo has Hillary all tricked out as a dominatrix. Mr. Friedman thinks that in engaging Iran, Barack Obama’s gift for outreach would be more effective with a Dick Cheney standing over his shoulder, quietly pounding a baseball bat into his palm. Mr. Rich says that with the filing of a lawsuit by a vengeful eyewitness who was fired from her job, the Rudy Giuliani story may just have gained its own reincarnation of Linda Tripp.
http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/
The coffee, tea and hot chocolate are all ready, and I’ve got waffles this morning. Have a great Sunday.
Sorry I mnissed the party…
thanks for the tunes!
Are you aware how much that firepup looks like a beaver?
I’m glad you had a great meetup. I’ve been all beavers all the time here, having meetings, rallying the troops and organizing a revolution. The current headline is that I’m officially on the subcommittee of the city council to consider allowing them to stay, they have had national press and every news station has been at the dam, and a documentary filmaker spent friday with me as part of his work on urban wildlife. So I guess no wonder that looks like a beaver to me. We are all beavers now!
Anyway, apparently this whole thinking globally acting locally can be powerful…I credit all the good influence I got here, which convinced me that regular people can care about things and take action.
Thanks Scarlet. Thanks everyone!
Things Come Undone @ 186
I agree about the rate cuts — I see rate cuts nearly to zero. Otherwise, scenario 2.
America needs to repay her debts. Cheaper dollars make that easier. So do lower interest rates. Demand deflation takes care of the inflation.
Just like Japan.
Learn from Japan and Have a Plan
Plus, the political change(s) will alter the financial climate from my point of view.