Used Magazines

$80 for used AK 30 round magazines.

Demand vs Supply with a little bit of scarcity thrown in to muck things up.

Iowahawk has a few ideas of what will happen after the default

Among his ideas:

Beltway policy experts begin living by own wits; after 45 minutes there are no survivors.

Sesame Street descends into Mad Maxian anarchy; Oscar the Grouch fashions shivs out the letter J and the number 4

Find more at Default, Dear Brutus, Is Not In Our Stars, But In Ourselves

Sunday (not so) funnies, 7/17/11

And a BTR commissioned cartoon:


Bernanke's plan is called Quantitative Easing, which is now into phase three because the first two worked so well.

The term quantitative easing (QE) describes a form of monetary policy used by central banks to increase the supply of money in an economy when the bank interest rate, discount rate and/or interbank interest rate are either at, or close to, zero.

What Is Quantitative Easing?

For another explanation:



I always thought increasing the money supply devalued the dollar, as a result causing more dollars to be needed to purchase the same goods and services. AKA inflation.

But then I received A's in my college economics classes.

And unlike our current Treasury secretary, I pay my taxes.

Silver and Gold update, 4/17/11

After posting a couple of cartoons regarding the economy earlier, I thought I would throw out a post about an inflationary marker, commodities.

April 15, 2011...Five months ago...

At Patriot Trading Group (No gratuity received or implied for this link.)

Silver up over 130% and gold up over 27% in five months.

Where are we headed, folks?

I've read several postings regarding gold and silver lately and while true that you "can't eat gold," it can also be said that one cannot eat lead despite the gangster phrase. An article at The Survivalist Blog supports the thought of bartering ammunition. But as an investment, in retrospect it would have been wise to pick up rolls of silver back in November (or earlier).

Regardless of the argument, gold and silver are good indicators of how our monetary policy is out of whack and rigged against the last guy holding that Federal Reserve Note. Inflation is a "tax" on the value that your dollar can be exchanged for goods or services.

Advice from someone much wiser than I could ever hope to be:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust does corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Mathew 6:19-21, New King James version.

On either side of one's religiousity (or none) the Sermon on the Mount and the Book of proverbs can offer sound advice. What this tells me is that there are things more important than gold, silver, lead or steel. Family, friends and neighbors come to mind.

If you think about it, if the levy breaks and the flood waters have risen and surrounded your house and it's about to be swept away, would you rather have invested in 100 lbs of silver, 10,000 rds of 30-30 Win, or a 16ft Crestliner with a 35hp Evinrude?

Who knows where the economy will turn in the next 5 months or five years. Wall Street and Washington can't figure it out, but they will rig it so they win. And then, who will be the loser?

The pessimist hides, the optimist hopes and the pragmatist gets armed.

Sunday (not so) funnies, 4/17/11

http://www.investors.com/EditorialCartoons/Cartoon.aspx?id=569066


http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/stevebreen/2011/04/15/86634

One possible future?

Over at GunRights4US is a post from about a month ago of a fictional but plausible scenario of the economic collapse of the almighty dollar.

The chapters to-date are at A frightening future for our nation posted at The Tree of Liberty boards.

It's sobering because it very well could come true. I remember arguing against some of the emergency provisions that Bush put in place with conservative supporters many times and the typical response was "He'll never use them, that's just for emergencies." When explaining what a liberal like Clinton (and now Obama) would do with that power, they shrugged it off. They aren't shrugging now.

Update: In the comments, Sofa from Coordinated Illumination reports that all the episodes are at
The Day the Dollar Died Series Thanks

Senator Tom Harkin is a financial genius

Harkin and rep Braley have decided they want to tax financial transactions over $100,000 because the deficit is so high. Not that they should have thought about the deficit before voting for bailouts, "stimulus" bills, etc. Bill would tax stock deals over $100,000

U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley and Sen. Tom Harkin, both Democrats, are proposing a quarter-percent tax on all stock deals valued at more than $100,000. The bill would generate an estimated $100 billion or more annually, Harkin said.

If you change jobs and move your 401K to another plan, could you be hit with a tax? If the answer is yes, then you are a Wall Street fat-cat and Harkin wants your money, you rich capitalist bastard.

Harkin said Wall Street could afford the tax. He also stressed its revenue-generating capacity.

"I don't look upon it as any kind of way of punishment or anything like that," Harkin said. "I mean, we're just looking for revenue. We're looking for ways of getting out of this hole we're in."

Maybe if you hadn't dug the hole to begin with...

A similar tax was in effect for almost 50 years during the previous century, and it was doubled during the 1930s, Harkin said.

And that worked out real well, didn't it? The depression lasted another 10 years until WWII.

Brownells' after Thanksgiving sale

Shop at Brownells

Go to brownells.com this weekend and use Coupon Code CYB to get 10% off any order over $150! The special savings run through midnight, on “Cyber-Monday”, November 30...

Shop Black Rifle Friday at Brownells.com

Brownells is the world’s largest supplier of firearm parts, gunsmithing tools, reloading equipment and accessories. Stocking more than 30,000 items, the company supplies armorers, gunsmiths, and shooters worldwide. All of their products are backed by a 100% satisfaction, unconditional, lifetime guarantee. For more information, or to place an order, call 800-741-0015 or visit Brownells.com

A few miles to Montezuma, Iowa.

Gold above $1150

On 11/6, I posted that gold was just under $1100/oz. Now 16 days later, it's above $1160. What is driving the spot price? An inflationary monetary policy? A devaluation of our currency?

Gold and silver are good indicators of the value of our Federal Reserve Notes. Unlike stocks, their value will never be zero.

Found at Patriot Trading Group

Gold approaches $1100/oz

Gold steadies just below $1,100

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gold was modestly higher Thursday, as stocks rallied and investors took a step back following the precious metal's recent push near $1,100 an ounce.

December gold rose $2 to $1,089.30 an ounce after jumping as high as $1,093 an ounce earlier in the session.

Makes one think.