Links

Sean Rakhimov, one of the first Hidden Pivot Seminar graduates, puts out a great newsletter geared to silver traders and investors. His latest assesses Global X Silver Miners (ARCX Symbol: SIL), an ETF.  Sean's due diligence is first-rate and he knows the silver market well. For a look at his "The Fear Trade Is In,"  click here.

California is on the verge of system failure, says this latest report from CTV news.  We would hasten to point out that the report implicitly shares Warren Buffet's dangerously stupid idea that the Federal Government will eventually have to rescue beleaguered cities, counties and states.  Where, one might ask, will a just-as-bankrupt Federal government get the money if the cities and states themselves cannot squeeze it from taxpayers?  Or would we purport to fix the U.S. economy with yet more printing-press dollars from heaven?

Some city and county employees and school districts are taking dramatic steps to try to solve their budget problems. The Sacramento County, Calif., sheriff's deputies union is using mobile billboards, mailers and radio and newspaper ads with vivid images and messages in a bid to avert more layoffs. The campaign includes a photo of a child with an adult's hand over its mouth and the words, "Your child could be at risk!" Another shows a masked man breaking through a door and asks, "Do you feel safe?" via Ads are latest weapon to scare off layoffs - USATODAY.com.

Our friend Erich Simon asked his scientist cousin in Germany what he thinks about the Gulf oil gusher.  Here is the cousin's interesting response: "The claim of several leakage sites has been around. The scientific method (and I can't deny my pedigree here) would be to say "show the data", which at the moment is unlikely to happen due to whatever degree of the incompetence <-> conspiracy continuum. Seriously, this is a very difficult situation. "Fractured seabed: wouldn't want to nuke the hole closed then..... "Peak Oil debunking? I know there are discussions between Peak Oil people vs. abiotic origin of and hence plentiful supply with oil. Fossil origin of oil means finite supply. Abiotic origin sounds nice, but if true will require extremely deep drilling = difficult = expensive = unclear whether it can supply oil at the economically required rate. Regardless of which side one takes in a fossil vs. abiotic origin debate, slowing growth or even decline of oil production by whatever mechanism (fossil oil running out, abiotic reserves too difficult to reach by drilling) has to be called Peak Oil. The debates are on whether the globe is at that tipping point. Personally I don't care too much about cheap talk of those combattants and them scoring discussion victories, but I just wonder whether we can afford to ignore the possibility of a bad outcome (i.e. Peak Oil in the strong sense) and not prepare for the coming crisi(e)s?   Even if there is an abiotic origin of oil, does one (for the time being) want to have the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? I think again an argument pushing for conservationism + preparedness. "Where the US government stands on these questions is obvious: with a military presence in the Middle East, so guess what they are

I linked two frightening article here yesterday, one of which was written by an organic chemist who said the Gulf gusher was producing large amounts of methane and other toxic gases.  The full article can be accessed by clicking here.   (The other discussed the dire implications of a fractured sea bed.)  Since I am trying to confirm all such stories independently, I sought comment from a friend's son, a PhD candidate at Caltech who teaches in the chemistry department.  Here is what he had to say: "I took a look at the links.  I should preface my statements by saying that my training does not provide me any knowledge in the area of underwater oil drilling.  As someone who works in science, however, there were many aspects of the articles in those links that seemed suspicious.  It seemed a bit conspiracy theoryish, alarmist, and suggestive of pseudoscience.  Many statements are simply made, without any attempt at justification via scientific evidence.  I can tell you that some of the chemistry-related statements in the first article were flat out wrong, and this makes me suspicious of the rest of it.  "The second article states that there is some massive attempt to conceal the truth about the nature of the leak, but it is unclear to me that this would even be advantageous to the supposed perpetrators of such an act, or that it would even be feasible given the number of people involved and the attention the situation has been given.  The note directly after the second article talks about the government's campaign against them is about as conspiracy theory as you can get.  "In summary, I would not trust any statements made in these articles one way or another.  Unfortunately, I don't know anyone at Caltech that knows about this topic.  Good luck with the

Auerbach Grayson's latest market report is out and it's pretty bullish. For a look at  'USA Beats England 1-1', click here.

As long as we're trying to lighten the mood around here, check out this howler from the New York Times.  It concerns how New York's legislature is about to let the state and municipalities borrow $6 billion to help them make their required annual payments to the state pension fund.  You'll never guess were they intend to get the money.  Click here  for the punch line.

Today's commentary is indeed grim, so let me offer something to lighten the heart:  a well-reasoned essay predicting that Obama will not finish his term -- that he will be forced to resign.  The author is Peter Ferrara, writing in The American Spectator, and you can access the article by clicking here.

Debka.com is reporting that the war in Afghanistan is about to end, although not with a victory for the U.S.  "The repercussions of the U.S. exit in these circumstances will impinge on American influence worldwide including the Middle East," Debka noted.  For the complete story, and for details of how Pakistan has helped turn the tide for the Taliban, click here.