Pirate Poop

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Here are some useful items that caught my Pirate eye this week. Enjoy!

When the Taxman Freezes Your Bank Account

Credit Agricole: Start Hoarding Gold

Earth to sheeple'Hello?'Testing 1, 2, 3'Is anyone out there?

The Next Major Stop for Gold, $875

Vanguard Closes VGPMX to New Investors

You snooze, you lose. Total return is 64% in 12 months.

Palladium

It's up 15% since I bought mine ten days ago.

Productivity Declines for First Time in Five Years

All is well!

Chavez Warns U.S. Over Refineries

Got energy? VGENX's 12-month total return is 54%.

Regulators Concerned Over Risky Lending Practices

Say it isn't so!

Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe

'The new Z$50,000 note is not enough to buy a bottle of beer or a newspaper.'

Berlin and Bundesbank at Odds Over Gold Sales

Stand By for Higher Interest Rates

And everything that goes along with them.

Structural Deficit is a Dollar Killer

Real Estate Tremors

Default notices are rising in California. No, really?

These Houses Can Take a Lickin'

Architects are creating housing that could survive the next devastating disaster.

Iran Vows Enrichment After U.N. Referral

World War V is the abyss before us. (WW III = Cold War, WW IV = GWOT.)

World's Fastest Indian

ARGH! Can't wait to see this film.

Lord of War

A short course in global politics, not a chick flick, but recommended.

Alternative Fuel by DH

I'm nearing completion on my newest tax-saving project. I purchased two diesel Volkswagen Jettas, an '82 and an '86. Both were running, but they needed some TLC to make them road worthy. I've got the '86 up and running like a top. My plan is to run waste vegetable oil in them any time the temperature stays above 30 degrees F. The oil I get for free from the cafeteria at school.

There are several ways to go about it. To run straight vege oil, a conversion is necessary to preheat the oil to lower its viscosity enough to go through the injection system. The method I am going to employ involves mixing 85% vege oil with 10%K1 kerosene (available in bulk at Fleet Farm with no road tax added) and 5% regular unleaded gasoline.

The concoction is good to 30 deg. F with no conversion necessary on the car. It is way easier than making biofuel from the oil, and it saves the trouble of converting the vehicle.

The only road tax paid is on the 5% regular unleaded gasoline. Several additives are helpful, but not necessary'mostly to keep the injection system clean, and the oil from gelling in cooler weather.

With the cost of filtering the vege oil and all of the additives, the total cost is under 45 cents/gal. A very small part of it is going to be used to build bridges to nowhere in Alaska, or pay for snowmobile trails that never see a snowmobile'like around here this winter!

Scanning the Horizon by JCN

Pirates constantly scan the horizon, looking for changes in the environment. This has been a week in which much has changed.

We have a new Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank. A good Pirate will spend a few hours online researching him since he can reach very deeply into the pockets of every man, woman, and child on the planet. The power of the President is nothing when compared to the power of the Chairman of the FED . He is a true alchemist who can create or destroy fortunes and futures with ease. Still, one can benefit.

We have a new Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, appointed for life. He will be deciding law for a long time and the best we can hope for is that he does not want to create law the way the FED creates money . . . out of thin air, a very bad habit of judges these days. Still, one can benefit.

We have a very divided legislature, as seen during the President's State of the Union address, and we have an election this year. Promises for everyone will be the order of the day, and better yet, someone else will get to pay for it . . . but not you. Do not believe a single word of any of it. Also, watch out for those who are totally without redeeming value. They will be the ones who offer blame, but no real ideas. Everything you hear you will hear again and you have heard it all before. Still, one can benefit.

The Baby Boomers recently started turning 60. This is not a personal problem just for them, the ramifications of those birthdays will effect you more and for much longer into the future than for them. Still, one can benefit.

The President is now officially a lame duck. Who cares? Why Pirates don't'and should not'give a damn about who is in the White House will be a separate lesson.

News flash to all anti-war activists: Iran is trying to build or obtain a nuclear bomb; if they do, they will use it no matter what you do to appease them. Your homework assignment: read the Quran; if you don't read it, you will remain clueless. Nothing you say will have any truth in it, it will just be feeling and emotions . . . two things that Pirates keep in very short supply. Still, one can benefit.