A phenomenal day yesterday weatherwise! The temperature hit 85°. Warm, but not warm. The cool breeze coming in off the ocean kept things comfortable.
Another terrific Key West Lou Legal Hour yesterday morning. Everything seemed of interest to everyone. If any topic drew a bit more comment following the show, it was the two topics concerning the Dubai royal family in London and a 1787 gold coin recently auctioned for $7.4 million.
The Dubai royal family was in London this past week. The number of persons making up the family I do not know. However, the royal family sent one of their aides to a bank to pick up some spending money.Fifty pound notes. Amounted to $3 million American money. The aide was robbed as he left the bank. He was caught about three hours later. The money was being used by the royal family as pocket money/spending money during their London trip.
The auction involved a rare 1787 gold coin. It brought $7.4 million. A financial institution in New York City, a bank, bought the coin. The bank’s name was not disclosed.
The point I was making was that the two biggest ripoff generators in recent years affecting the American public were involved. Oil producers and a bank. The royal family requiring $3 million pocket money for a London vacation. A bank with so much extra money that it invests $7.4 million in a rare gold coin.
Something is wrong with the system! The rich get richer. Poor poorer. The incidents reported sort of like spitting in some one’s face.
It was gym time again yesterday. Courtney Aman my trainer. This was my third gym visit. Each session has been more strenuous than the previous one. I could feel it yesterday. Certain parts of my body ached and burned during the process. I can feel it this morning also. However, I am happy with the whole situation. I’m thrilled to be working out! Monday we start with boxing. I am excited. Yes, Louis boxes!
Then to Don’s Place for a glass of water. Don and David there. Chatted briefly with them. Roger sitting outside. Had a drink (diet soda) with Roger.
Book wrote for about three hours later in the afternoon. Slow and steady. The words came easily.
I did something different last night. Instead of running into town to do the Chart Room or hustling over to Hogfish, I went to Geiger Key. First time in four years. It is 5 miles up US one from my home. At the Shell station and Big Kmart grocery store, make a right and drive about 2 miles down a somewhat desolate road. There to the left in the woods sitting on a watery cove is Geiger Key.
The people who own Hogfish purchased Geiger Key about two years ago. I assumed some work had been done. The place previously was pretty run down. Improvements had been made.
I never liked Geiger Key. I can’t tell you why. It was a shack in the middle of nowhere and the people not friendly. Dark. The lighting sucked.
The place has been fixed up. Including better lighting.
The people at Geiger Key have always been interesting. Before and now. They are an entity unto themselves. I knew no one then and knew no one now. These people live on Geiger Key. Are sort of geographically snobbish. Geiger is rather large by the way. The residents live in homes, trailers and some on boats. They know each other. I was a stranger.
I enjoyed my meal. Same quality as Hogfish. Even got to talk to some of the other customers.
Big night tonight! Syracuse/North Carolina State basketball. 6:30. I will be at the Sports Page Bar watching. Syracuse should win. Syracuse is presently ranked # 1 nationally. I know it is early in the season. But # 1 at any time is good.
Bond rallies were a big thing during World War II. The US government raised money by selling bonds. $18.75 bought a person a bond which could be redeemed in 10 years for $25. People bought these bonds like crazy. Not only was it a way to save, it was also showing support for the war effort. My parents had a ton of such bonds. My grand father had many, also. I can recall when I started practicing law in the early 1960s, every time I was retained in an estate matter, US savings bonds from World War II were part of the estate.
The bond rallies generally involved some famous or prominent person coming to Utica to entertain or talk.
I have a specific recollection of the Andrew Sisters coming to Utica. For those of you who may not know, they were three top notch female singers. Extremely popular during and following the War.
A stage was set up in front of the Savings Bank in Utica. For at least two blocks around, the sidewalks and streets were packed with people listening to the Andrew Sisters singing and promoting the sale of war bonds.
The war effort required metal. All kinds of metal. People were donating any kind of metal they could find in their homes or their businesses.
The Savings Bank of Utica was a proud local bank. In front, it had a huge metal chain. A linked chain. But different. The links were at least 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick. The day the Andrew Sisters were there, the links were removed. The announcement was made that the chain was being donated to the war effort.
That is how it was then.
Enjoy your day!
Amusing about the "oil"? Every President — D and R — since I can remember from Nixon on has promised to make the USA energy independent. Which logically would imply that OPEC would get less of our money. But, demonstrating that politicians and bureaucrats would rather talk than do, the USA, despite having a "department of energy", ain't independent.
With respect to gold — I believe that the "little people" have been screwed royally by FDR's gold seizure (i.e., gold was removed from the money supply). This allowed the banking cartel, the "Federal" Reserve System, to inflate the money supply and destroy the value. It allowed Presidents, politicians, and bureaucrats to spend without concern. Guns and butter. Warfare / Welfare state. Without the check of having to get money from the taxpayers. And, we all fell for the ruse. Ron Paul in one of the debates had a killer line that went like "three silver dimes bought a gallon of gas in the late Sixties, today those same three dimes will buy more than a gallon. It's not that gas has become more expensive, but the money is worth less." Absolutely true! I remember buying gas at 25¢ a gallon while getting a free glass, trading stamps, and my windshield cleaned. Argh!
My point is that the poor, the working stiff, the pensioner are screwed by inflation.
(And, when they don't like the numbers, the bureaucrats exclude energy, food, or whatever other inconvenient component they feel like. Pat us on the head and tell us "move along. nothing to see here.")
Occupy had many flaws, but I think what they could NOT express cogently was "we'ze gettin' screwed". They were just "occupying" the wrong place. Wall Street as a symbol for crony capitalism wasn't the root. It was the politicians of both parties that are the problem.
And the TRUE ROOT of the problem is faith-based fiat money. From time immemorial, the little guy has been by the "King" debasing the monetary unit.
(Go to the Smithsonian and see the French Franc over decades. From the gold hockey puck of Louis 1 to the paper thin collar button of Louis 17. That's a visual problem statement. Cant do it with a paper dollar, but we know that between 1970 and 2010, it lost 98% of its purchasing power. That's why there's no penny candy any more.)
"We, The Sheeple" are SOOOOO dumb!