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Worship, Terry Mattingly, Social Issues, Sex, Scriptures, Same-sex Marriage, Pope Francis, Politics, People, Marriage & Family, LGBTQ, Journalism, Evangelicals, Episcopalians, Church & State
Remember James Davison Hunter and 'Culture Wars'? Pete Buttigieg fits right into that picture
A long, long time ago — the 10th anniversary of my national "On Religion column" — I wrote a tribute to the trailblazing work of sociologist James Davison Hunter of the University of Virginia. How long ago was that? Well, today is the 31st anniversary of my first syndicated column hitting the wires.
Hunter is best known as the author of "Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America." This book, more than any other, has influenced my work as a religion-beat columnist.
The words "culture wars" are used all the time by people who clearly have never read Hunter's book. His thesis is that the old doctrinal, horizontal, denomination divisions in American life have been replaced by a vertical fault line that is much more basic, cutting into almost all religious pews and pulpits.
Hang in there with me. I am working my way to the rapid emergence of South Bend (Ind.) Mayor Pete Buttigieg as a White House candidate, in part because of his ability to unite Democrats on the religious and non-religious left. I wrote about that the other day ("Who says journalists hate religion? USA Today welcomes liberal Christian faith of Pete Buttigieg") and "Crossroads" host Todd Wilken and I returned to that topic in this week's podcast. (Click here to tune that in or head over to iTunes and sign up.)
But back to Hunter and the religious schism in modern America's foundation:
The old dividing lines centered on issues such as the person of Jesus Christ, church tradition and the Protestant Reformation. But these new interfaith coalitions were fighting about something even more basic — the nature of truth and moral authority.
Two years later, Hunter began writing "Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America," in which he declared that America now contains two basic world views, which he called "orthodox" and "progressive." The orthodox believe it's possible to follow transcendent, revealed truths. Progressives disagree and put their trust in personal experience, even if that requires them to "resymbolize historic faiths according to the prevailing assumptions of contemporary life."
So, what was the big quote from Buttigieg that sent a Barack-Obama-style thrill up the legs of legions of journalists and inspired waves of news coverage?
Here it is again, care of USA Today:
"It's hard to face the truth that there were times in my life when, if you had shown me exactly what it was inside me that made me gay, I would have cut it out with a knife," he said. "If you had offered me a pill to make me straight, I would've swallowed it before you had time to give me a sip of water."
Fortunately, there was no knife and no pill, Buttigieg said. Because then he would not have met his husband, Chasten, who has made him a better person, he said — and their marriage has moved him closer to God. The message many gay people get that there's something wrong with them, he continued, "is a message that puts you at war not only with yourself, but with your maker."
"That's the thing that I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand," Buttigieg said of the vice president, who has opposed same-sex marriage. "That if you have a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator."
What does this have to do with Hunter and, thus, with the state of American politics?
Buttigieg is sharp, sharp, sharp and totally at home talking about his religious faith, as a Christian liberal who began life as a Catholic and has enthusiastically switched over to The Episcopal Church. I'd bet the moon and the stars that he is well aware that his main arguments — theologically speaking — are not with the "Mike Pences of this world" but with, oh, Pope Frances, the Catholic Catechism and 2,000 years of basic Christian doctrines about marriage and sexuality.
Ah, but that's all a matter of "revealed," "transcendent" ancient doctrines backed with centuries of truth claims linked to the Holy Spirit, the nature of church, the Bible, the ecumenical councils, etc. That's the "orthodox" camp.
What is the heart of the Buttigieg message?
That would be his own life, his own experience, his own revelations that trump old doctrines. He has a story to tell and it's his story. That is the fervent heart of the "progressive" world, the large chunk of our national life that I have for years called "Oprah America."
Check out these passages in a New York Times report on Buttigieg's faith appeal, a feature that is — trigger warning: incoming compliment — surprisingly complicated and sort-of balanced. The headline: "Pete Buttigieg, Gay and Christian, Challenges Religious Right on Their Own Turf."
Yes, I know. Is the Catholic Catechism the "Religious Right"? How about Global South Christians in Asia and Africa? Never mind. Let's continue, with this key summary passage:
Though many conservatives were initially reluctant to engage Mr. Buttigieg because they feared it would only add to his growing stature as a 2020 contender, they jumped on his latest comments. Some suggested he was attacking the vice president to further raise his profile. Others challenged Mr. Buttigieg's understanding of Christianity and accused him of smearing the religious convictions of the very people he wants to win over.
A devoted Episcopalian who fluidly quotes Scripture and married his husband, Chasten, in a church service last year, Mr. Buttigieg is making the argument that marriage is a "moral issue." In a speech on Sunday to the Victory Fund, a group that supports gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender politicians, he said his relationship had made him "more compassionate, more understanding, more self-aware and more decent."
He then directly addressed Mr. Pence, as one man of faith talking to another: "And yes, Mr. Vice President, it has moved me closer to God."
Why argue with Pence?
That's a simple question: That allows Buttigieg to scratch at the festering wound called Donald Trump, a train wreck of a man — at the level of personal ethics and morality — who is drives lots of evangelicals crazy (including some who reluctantly voted for him).
So, whenever Buttigieg says "Pence," think "people who compromise on their faith to back You Know Who."
Here's another interesting chunk of the Times piece.
Mr. Buttigieg has provoked a mixture of concern, derision and faint admiration from conservatives. Some built him up early as an undeniable but stealth force in the race. Rush Limbaugh warned his listeners that someone as articulate, personal and seemingly reasonable as Mr. Buttigieg would be a strong opponent. Ben Shapiro, the writer and podcast host, argued that he was the candidate who could most likely beat Mr. Trump. "Really. He's not crazy, he's from the Rust Belt, he served in Afghanistan," Mr. Shapiro wrote on Twitter.
But this week provided a moment of clarity on the right, and the backlash was a reminder of how galvanizing religion and homosexuality can be when evangelicals and other conservatives of faith are convinced that their values are under attack. This sentiment, which was stoked by Mr. Trump and his allies in the Christian right in 2016, was a major factor in the president's huge margins with white evangelicals.
Wait for it.
Eighty-one percent voted for him, compared with 16 percent for Hillary Clinton.
Oh my gosh, where have we heard that simplistic statistic before?
Oh well, whatever, never mind. It's safe to say that this news story has legs.
Enjoy the podcast.
Tagged: Pete Buttigieg, Donald Trump, The New York Times, Mike Pence, James Davison Hunter, 81 percent, scripture, Culture Wars, Catholic Catechism, Oprah
Newer PostIs it me or does this NYT story on anti-abortion movie 'Unplanned' contain a lot of extra qualifiers?
Older PostFriday Five: Pope emeritus news, Beto O'Rourke's holy dirt, Israel's election, religious press awards


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U.S. MILITARY AND VACCINE HISTORY
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Smallpox in the Revolution
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
Smallpox in the Revolution Inoculation in the Continental Army U.S. Yellow Fever Commission Smallpox in the French Army Smallpox in the Austrian Army Smallpox in the Austrian Army
Military research programs throughout history have made significant contributions to medicine and, in particular, to vaccine development. These efforts have been driven primarily by the effects of infectious disease on military conflicts: smallpox devastated the Continental Army in 1776, as well as troops on both sides of the United States Civil War; typhoid fever was common among soldiers in the Spanish American War. More person-days were lost among U.S. soldiers in malaria-endemic regions to malaria than to bullets throughout the entire 20th century; indeed, malaria continues to sap military strength into the current century.
To respond to these diseases and the many others that threaten both soldiers and the public, military forces have devoted significant time and effort toward public health methods and medical research.
https://www.historyofvaccines.org/index.php/content/articles/us-military-and-vaccine-history
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Оскар Собаньский (; ,  — ) — польский кинокритик.

Окончил филологический факультет Варшавского университета. Дебютировал как журналист в общественно-культурном журнале Poprostu (1955—1957). В 1958—1960 гг. работал в звукозаписывающей Студии обработки фильмов в Варшаве. В 1967—1972 гг. заведовал отделом в журнале Союза кинематографистов ПНР Magazyn Filmowy, затем в журнале Film. Автор ряда обзорных книг о польском кинематографе, в том числе «Актёры старые, актёры новые» (; 1972) и справочника «Польское игровое кино, 1945—1985» (; 1987), включающего и ряд сведений по более ранним карьерам ведущих актёров и режиссёров. Помимо кинематографа увлекался путешествиями, написал ряд путеводителей (главным образом, в соавторстве с Яниной Палецкой), в том числе «Тортилья у Санчо Пансы: испанская кухня» (; 1977), «Малый путеводитель по Испании» (; 1982), «Лиссабонская азбука» (; 1985).

Примечания

Ссылки
 Оскар Собаньский на сайте Польского союза кинематографистов

Кинокритики Польши

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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No technique of cinema is as royal and as risky as the Long Take—audacious in its promise of unified time and space, terrifying in what that might imply. Inspired by the films of Hungarian auteur Bela Tarr, famous for his long take, and the novels and screenplays of Tarr's great collaborator László Krasznahorkai, Janice Lee's Damnation is both an ekphrasis and confession, an obsessive response, a poetic meditation and mirror on time; time that ruthlessly pulls forward with our endurance; time unleashed from chronology and prediction; time which resides in a dank, drunk, sordid hiss of relentless static. As declared in Tarr's film Damnation, "All stories are about disintegration."
Praise for Damnation:
"That a film or a series of films is inspirative of a literary work of the most poetic and sophisticated kind is a rare phenomenon. Janice Lee's book is the meeting point of two sensitivities of the finest. One is for the most desperate conditions of life in its objectivity, the other is for the most sublime, even divine spiritual reflection of this life. Lee's Damnation is a beautiful variation on these themes that are at the depth of every film of Béla Tarr." – András Bálint Kovács, Author of The Cinema of Béla Tarr: The Circle Closes
"Damnation is a crucial node in contemporary ekphrasis, an inspired contribution to the art of slow seeing, and a document of cinematic obsession. Here Janice Lee conjures an alien, allegorical world that hovers just next to ours, a world which both repels and invites our visitation. She seeds her scenes with countless knockout sentences, whose lush music complicates her project's austerity." – Maggie Nelson, Author of Bluets and The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning
"Like its image of a furtive Holy Book that drives its bearers mad, Janice Lee's Damnation hovers with remarkable grace between the sublime states of faith and terror. The graceful immediacy with which she navigates frame after frame of struggling humans caught up in the veils of darkness, thunder and silence, and moral duty bears resemblance to Saramago's The Cave or McCarthy's Child of God, though perhaps even more haunted, stripped to bone. "Anything that God takes part in is the most horrific thing you've ever imagined," she writes, and then holds the reader in that vast anticipation, with mesmerizing results."- Blake Butler, Author of Scorch Atlas and There Is No Year
Janice Lee
Penny-Ante Editions, 2013


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Сро́сты — село в Егорьевском районе Алтайского края России. Административный центр Сростинского сельсовета.

География
Село Сросты находится возле озера Горькое-Перешеечное. Рельеф — равнинный.

 Климат
Климат резко континентальный. Средняя температура января −12,5°C, июля +18°C. Атмосферных осадков — 362 мм. Село располагается вблизи озера и на восточной кромке реликтового ленточного бора, это способствует смягчению климата.

Озеро Горькое–Перешеечное находится на том месте, где когда‐то  была долина древнего стока реки Барнаулки в одноименном ленточном бору. Его вода представляет собой водоем с богатым набором минералов и обилием разных видов рыб.

 Уличная сеть
В селе 14 улиц и один переулок.

История
Основано в 1825 году. В 1928 году состояло из 657 хозяйств, основное население — русские. Центр Сростинского сельсовета Рубцовского района Рубцовского округа Сибирского края. В 1931 году в селе было 805 хозяйств, оно входило в сельсовет Рубцовского района в качестве административного центра.

Основание села Сросты связано с развитием горной промышленности Алтая и началом строительства Локтевского завода на излучине (локте) реки Алей. Жители села Сросты занимались заготовкой древесного угля для Локтевского завода (Алтайский горный округ) по выплавке меди. Впоследствии на заводе выплавляли серебро и свинец (1783 год). Первое упоминание о населенном пункте относится к 1852 году. Возле кромки Барнаульского бора были основаны два населенных пункта: избушка Сростинского лесосека (ныне село Сросты Егорьевского района) и казарма Коростелёвского лесосека (Первые Коростели Угловского района).

Горнозаводские рабочие и «урочные служители» заготавливали древесный уголь и лес для Локтевского завода. Рабочие горного завода находились в пожизненной и потомственной зависимости от заводской администрации, без разрешения чиновников они не могли даже жениться. Работали по 12 часов в сутки, жалование было небольшим. Любое неподчинение влекло наказание в виде розог, шпицрутенов, кнутов, заключения в тюрьмы и исправительные казармы. Легенды о каторжниках, которые жили при заводе, до наших дней сохранились в виде рассказов старожилов.

Население

Инфраструктура
В селе есть фермеры и КФК («Нива», «Надежда», «Авангард» и другие), предприниматели в области сельского хозяйства и торговли (СПК «Агромех», ООО «Хлебороб»). В селе в начале 90-х годов организовано и успешно работает КФК «Наука» по разведению племенного скота, созданное Валерием Аброновым (глава района с 2013 года). Работают детский садик «Берёзка», МОУ «Сростинская СОШ», КГБПОУ «Егорьевский лицей профессионального образования», филиал районной библиотеки, ФАП и почта.

Туризм
За последнее десятилетие на берегах озера построена достаточно развитая туристическая инфраструктура. Число туристов ежегодно прибывает, их число в летнее время превышает население района.

Примечания

Населённые пункты Егорьевского района (Алтайский край)


Change is sometimes good and sometimes necessary. But the change process can be very painful.
Before the disappearance of the End Call button, when you wish to terminate a conversation due to whatever reasons, all you'd have to do is to remove the phone from your ears and quickly press the End Call Button. Whether that person is a telemarketer, an angry spouse or a made-you-angry spouse, when you pressed that button, the call is over.
If the same situation happens nowadays, you'd have to remove the phone from your ears, wait for at least half a second for the proximity sensor to work its magic to turn the screen back on. No matter how rushed you are, you must refrain from touching any other keys as you might screen-locked the phone or exit the dial pad mode. Once the screen has turned back on and displayed the End Call button, you can finally locate that virtual End Call button and press it once. At the same time, the End Call button toggled and became the Call button. If you have lost your cool and pressed on the same position once more, you'd end up calling the same person again!
There are certainly other examples. Let's hope that manufacturer would come up with solutions to ease our pain in the process of change.


In my post What to Consider before Using Free Getty Images one of the many caveats I outlined was the lack of responsive support in Getty's iframe code. Of all the issues I raised, this one is actually pretty easy to get around.
While the other points still preclude me from readily using Getty image embeds, I recognize its value to clients and want to be able to allow them to use these images without fear of breaking the responsive sites we've coded. I also wanted a solution that won't require my clients to do any extra work, such as embedding HTML wrappers, adding classes or IDs, inline script, or generally mucking about in code.
If you've read at least a few of my last 15 years of writing, you might know I have a general aversion to scripted solutions and generally start trying with a CSS solution. At first glance, there is an example dating back five years at A List Apart that I thought might work, Creating Intrinsic Ratios for Video .
Another post tackled other embeds (Vimeo, Slideshare) in 2011 using the same technique expanded just a bit. Five years on and a new article popped up (just a couple weeks ago, Making Embedded Content Work In Responsive Design ) that is targeting more third-party embeds (calendars, Google Maps), but leans on the A List Apart technique — and by leans on I mean just uses it outright but for more services.
The A List Apart solution and its variations don't work for two reasons: 1) they violate my requirement of not making my authors create HTML and 2) they rely on knowing the ratios. Every Getty image can have its own aspect ratio that I can't expect my authors to calculate.
The Getty embed has another factor not accounted for in these other solutions — regardless of the image aspect ratio, there is always a credit box below the image at a seemingly fixed height. This bar will always occupy that height, so scaling the image's height based directly on its width ends up leaving an ugly vertical white bar on the right of the image. This precludes any simple ratio as a solution.
I made a demo to show my solution (does not open in a new window).
The Getty iframe has no unique ID or class to make it easy to identify on the page, nor any other unique attributes, with the exception of the src attribute. So I loop through all iframes on the page and only grab those with the Getty URL.
I then get the iframe's width and height attributes, subtracting 69 from the latter, and calculate the ratio. From there I scale the iframe to 100% width and then get its new pixel width to feed to the ratio to calculate what its new height should be, finally adding 69 to it.
In my example page, I call the function at the bottom of the page and also in an onload in the body. There are better ways to do this, but given all the variations that are already out there (and that you may already employ), I leave it to you to figure out the best approach to handle for users who resize windows or rotate their phone/tablet.
What is compelling to me about this solution is that my clients (site authors) don't need to worry about adding or modifying any HTML on the page (most don't know HTML anyway), let alone CSS or script. When they paste the embed code, it should just work.
// Get all the iframes on the page.
// Height in pixels of the Getty credits/share bar at the time of this writing.
// Check to see if it's a Getty embed using the only attribute that's unique, the src.
// Get the current ratio after excluding the credit bar.
// Set the iframe to fill the container width.
// Set the iframe height to correspond to the ratio, adding back the credit bar height.
There are probably ways to optimize my code or factors I did not consider. If you see something wrong or that could be improved, leave a comment.
After the dust-up with Getty licensing (charging) for a photographer's public domain images (and her $1 billion suit to which Getty has issued a statement), I came back to make sure Getty embeds still work. They do, but with more layout quirks than before.


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Gender Summit London
The 15th Gender Summit will take place in London on 18–19 June 2018. The lead partner is the Science and Engineering South Consortium, a group of outstanding universities in London and in the South of the United Kingdom. Other partners include major research institutions in the UK and in Europe.
The theme of GS15 is United in Science and through Science. This theme was chosen to reflect the need to: 1) enhance the rapport between different actors and stakeholders in science endeavours (especially post-Brexit) built on shared commitment to gender equality and scientific excellence; 2) advance research for societal challenges with the required sensitivity to local needs and contexts; and 3) advance development and application of cross-disciplinary methods of sex/gender analysis, for example were basic biology, environment and socio-economic conditions interact to impact on outcomes.
The GS15 programme will discuss a range of new and persistent issues: Why cell's sex matters? How do sex/gender-related risks impact on life-course? How to improve statistical indicators of gender equality in research? What progress has been achieved in changing research cultures and working conditions so that women and men can participate on equal terms? What actions are needed to ensure fair, systematic, and gender bias-free scientific peer review? How to produce the "best gender research" for the targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals? How will Brexit change Europe's research landscape and collaborative networks?


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Talent hunters mean business
Zhang Yuwei on 2011-07-27
Firms recruiting top students will be an area of intense competition between China and the US, reports Zhang Yuwei in New York.
Li Yang, a PhD marketing student at Columbia Business School in New York, faces a tough choice when he graduates next year – whether to stay in the United States or return to China to look for a job.
"Several years ago, the answer would have been simple. Of course, I'd prefer to stay in the US maybe long enough to enjoy some immigration benefits. But now China offers equally competitive opportunities for overseas returnees, which many will consider and accept," said Li, 28, who has been studying in the US for more than six years.
In 2008, the government launched the Thousand Talents Program to improve China's capacity for innovation in the next five to 10 years. It hopes to boost the recruitment of talented people who are willing to return to China for top salaries.
A follow-up initiative, the Thousand Young Talents Program, was set up last year to recruit about 2,000 jobseekers from abroad over the next five years to work in the natural sciences and engineering.
Under the National Medium- and Long-term Talent Development Plan (2010-20) released in June, the government will adopt favorable policies in taxation, insurance, housing, children and spouse settlement, career development, research projects, and government awards for high-caliber overseas Chinese who are willing to work in China.
Li is encouraged by the programs. "More Chinese students and young professionals around me are considering returning to China. The program is a good start and it shows the government has recognized the role these overseas returnees can play.
"There is not much difference between China and the US in terms of employment opportunities now," he said. "That's where it makes the choice difficult."
More Chinese students have returned home in recent years – 134,800 from the US last year, a 25 percent increase from 2009, according to the Chinese Ministry of Education. While many returned because of the difficulty in obtaining a non-immigrant work visa, it is thought that the better employment prospects in China also played a role.
Shaun Rein, managing director at China Market Research in Shanghai, said most of the people his firm hired in the past two years had gone abroad for business school and returned to China.
Some are benefiting from favorable policies set up by the government, Rein said. "This is a very positive development for China. We need these top-flight students to return home."
Keeping the foreigners
The United States, meanwhile, is trying to keep the foreigners. Speaking in El Paso, Texas, in May, President Barack Obama said an overhaul of US immigration laws is needed to secure highly skilled and high-tech foreign talent.
"So we don't want the next Intel or the next Google to be created in China or India," he said. "We want those companies and jobs to take root here."
In May, the Obama administration extended the Optional Practical Training program to allow students graduating from programs in several dozen additional disciplines, including soil microbiology, pharmaceuticals and medical informatics, to be able to find a job or work up to 29 months (instead of 12) after graduation. The move was intended to address the shortages of scientists and technology experts in some high-tech sectors.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said recently, at a Council on Foreign Relations event in Washington, that "the one thing" that can spur job growth is to encourage more legal immigration to the US.
He said the changes should include allowing foreign graduates from US universities to obtain green cards (permanent residency), ending caps on visas for highly skilled workers, and setting green card limits based on the country's economic needs, not an immigrant's family ties. About 15 percent of all green cards go to employees and their dependents, while the rest go largely to immigrants, families and relatives, Bloomberg said.
Last year more than 70,000 Chinese applicants obtained permanent residency in the US, placing second behind Mexican applicants, according to the US Department of Homeland Security.
"That American dream cannot survive if we keep telling the dreamers to go elsewhere," Bloomberg said. "It's what I call national suicide – and that's not hyperbole."
Immigration limits
Groups that favor tighter immigration restrictions think the US already has a system that allows 8 million foreign workers to hold jobs when nearly 14 million Americans are unemployed in a slow-growing economy. Republicans, in general, support a tighter immigration policy to preserve more jobs for Americans.
A recent Gallup survey showed that Americans continue to show a slight preference for lower immigration levels over maintaining current levels, while a much smaller percentage favors increased immigration.
Li does not agree, saying immigrants have contributed so much to the United States, historically an immigration country. "It makes sense to make the immigration policies more friendly to foreign workers. The thing is, how can (the US) attract more Chinese students to stay when more opportunities are rising at home?"
Li changed his major from biomedical engineering to marketing, a field he said is much more open in China because of a large number of domestic companies' branding needs. Meanwhile, many US companies are cutting back on marketing and advertising budgets and on personnel to save costs.
What companies want
The reality in China now is that talented people, especially those who have a foreign education, are in high demand at both Chinese and foreign multinational companies.
New Corporate Executive Board research indicates that many Chinese are increasingly interested in working for domestic rather than Western companies because of China's economic growth and compelling career opportunities.
"Our Western multinational clients are increasingly concerned about their ability to attract and retain highly skilled Chinese talent," said Conrad Schmidt, executive director of the board's Corporate Leadership Council.
Rein, from China Market Research, said the majority of the Fortune 500 companies his firm interviewed said their biggest obstacle to growth in China was recruiting and retaining talent. Rein, who is bullish on China's economy for the next decade, is concerned about the weak talent pool in the country.
"The university system here does not train people to think analytically enough for a global business world," he said. "Many students realize this so they travel to the US, UK and Australia to study.
"Fifteen years ago, many Chinese who studied abroad stayed abroad because the opportunities in China were limited. However, many are now starting to return to China because this is where the great growth is and job opportunities abound."
Culture shock, he said, is a new hurdle these returnees are facing because they have spent so much time abroad. "China has changed so much in the last 10 years that many who went abroad are basically seeing a different country."
The major challenge for Li, if he chooses to return to China, would be the high living standard in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing, where he prefers to live.
"But it is just like if you live in cities like New York," he said. "True, housing in China is a big issue, with the rising prices. But I am not able to get a house here in the US anyway if I choose to stay."
Fang Zheng, 23, from Chicago University doesn't see a promising employment picture for students like him, with a major in applied math.
"I think the job market for my major in the US is better than it is in China," he said. "The US needs science and high-tech graduates, and it has a more transparent system and more opportunities in that field."
Fang is looking into getting a green card when he lands a job after graduating, and he said about 80 percent of the Chinese students around him have the same idea.
"I prefer the lifestyle here," he said. "After spending several years in the US, if I return, I will have to spend more time in adjusting myself to the new environment."
Li Aoxue and Qin Zhongwei contributed to this report.
Source: China Daily
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On Friday, April 12th and Monday, April 15th, the price of gold plunged over $200. It appears that the Powers That Be (PTB) intentionally orchestrated the "April Plunge" in order to break gold investors' psychological back. If that was the intent, the "Plunge" failed miserably. Confidence in gold increased. Global demand exploded as buyers reportedly outnumbered sellers by as much as 50 to 1.
Perhaps the biggest blow to the PTB was the growing awareness that the prices of "paper gold" (gold futures contracts) and of physical gold were not identical. We heard reports of physical gold being sold for $30 "premiums" over the price of paper gold in some places, and even $300 "premiums" in Japan. These increased prices for physical gold weren't simply "premiums"—they were evidence that a basic presumption on which paper-gold markets have previously relied (that the price of paper gold was and would always be equivalent to the price of physical gold) had been refuted.
In retrospect, it seems so obvious that the prices of paper and physical gold should be different, that we're left to wonder How did we ever come to believe that the two prices were equivalent in the first place?
The answer to that mystery is redemption.
As long as paper gold (futures contracts) could be purchased with paper dollars but redeemed with physical gold, paper gold (futures contracts) were "good as (physical) gold" and their prices were thought to be identical. But once evidence began to mount that paper gold could not be redeemed with physical gold, their prices began to diverge.
What'll you have? Gold or paper? Liberty or fascism?
As everyone may know, we've used currencies other than gold or silver throughout history. Sometimes we used jugs of corn liquor as "money"; sometimes buckskins; and sometimes pieces of paper. Most of these currencies worked well-enough–except for paper.
The reason is that you can "spin" paper currencies out of thin air, but you can't "spin" tangible products (like jugs of liquor, buckskins or gold and silver) out of thin air. All of the tangible currencies–including barter systems–have to be produced by actual work. Given that the world's bankers have no intention or capacity for doing real work, they view all tangible currencies as anathema. They want a paper (or digital) currency that they can "spin out of thin air" with nothing more than their signature.
Easily understood video. Implication: If you're going to eat meat, you should also eat garlic.
An IRS Commissioner is grilled by a Congressman. This "Comisar" may be great at "just following orders," but I doubt that he could bluff very well at poker. It's just kinda funny to watch this guy "tell the truth". He's ridiculous.
It's even more ridiculous that he'll probably get away with telling such obvious lies–presumably, while he's under oath.
Over the years, I've read Business Insider with respect. Their articles always seemed insightful, well-written and authoritative. However, after the "April Plunge" (April 12th & 15th) in the price of gold, Business Insider published an article which openly celebrated the plunge in gold's price and struck me as largely nonsensical.
Absolutely true. The difference between investing in physical gold and investing in paper stocks, paper bonds, paper gold or even paper cash isn't like the difference between investing in GM or IBM. The difference between investing in physical gold and any other paper debt-instrument is as profound as the ideological difference between the Muslim and Christian faiths. The clash between physical gold and paper debt instruments (between actual payments and mere promises to pay) is the financial equivalent of a holy war. No compromise is possible. In the end, there can be only one.