Interesting finance blog.
http://www.urbansurvival.com/blog/
Taxing Gold Concept
In Thursday’s report, I posited the possibility that the government - this fall when the screws get tightened on us - might cobble up a register and tax scheme for gold to accomplish the main reason for confiscation: Elimination of a competing money/monetary system to protect the broken paper asset franchise.
Reader in the UK sends this:
“Great blog George,
I read with interest about registering gold. Research here in the UK has shown that registering anything with the government is in fact a transfer of ownership to the government. You become the keeper of said item that has been registered and you are now subject to their rules and regulations or even confiscation!
Example here in the UK you buy a car you have to register it with the DVLA, you get a document back saying that you are the registered keeper of the vehicle NOT the owner.
Solution bury that gold in a hole in the ground until you need it…”
Shovel’s in hand: “Just hope I can remember where…oh-oh…could be an expensive ’senior moment here…. hmmm, now where did I….”
N-95 Works
A good reply from a reader to the article linked earlier this week on N-95 masks from our consulting PhD Microbiologist:
“Hi George,
The chap whose page you linked to today just seems like someone trying to make a buck by scaring people.
He claims the N95 is virtually useless. He states that Biohazard level 4 workers don’t wear N95 masks. True, but H1N1 is not a biohazard level 4 organism. It is a Biohazard Level 3 organism last I heard. And, for Level 3 labs, the guidelines DO recommend N95 masks: http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/swineflu/Laboratorybioriskmanagement.pdf
The writer in question stated: “N95 masks, you see, have but one purpose: To prevent the wearer from infecting others…. Thus, if the wearer sneezes, coughs, drools, spits or talks excitedly, his or her infected fluids will be trapped in the mask and will not infect others….N95 masks have virtually no ability to protect the wearer from other people’s airborne germs.”
The N95 masks ARE used for the purpose he states. But the single “one purpose” he claims? Totally bogus. If a person HAD suspected influenza & was coughing & sneezing up a storm, a doctor or nurse would wear the mask to help protect themselves & not just protect the patient. Also, how do we feel about active TB? The N95 masks ARE the masks worn by a health care provider when they enter a room where a person has suspected or known actively contagious TB. So, contrary to the claim N95 masks ARE worn by health care workers to do more than just protect the patient.
So what if it isn’t 100% effective? We don’t always demand 100% or nothing. I dare say there are plenty of women who don’t overly fret that the birth control pill they take may only be 92% effective (at the low end). I use the N95 masks in my Biohazard Level 2 lab. It is overkill, but I use them anyway. When they are not fitted properly over the nose my glasses quickly fog-up. When they are fitted properly I have worn the mask for 4 hours straight with no fogging. Contrary to the writer’s claims, they are quite a bit better than nothing. Which is better: inhaling 100% of some persons viral-laden sneeze mist head on, or inhaling 1-10% of it indirectly, where it is forced to slow down & has to pass through a leak around the cheek or chin? I’ll play the odds thank you. The other point is that respiratory droplets are only one route of infection. Surface contact with “something” and then getting side-tracked (forgetting to wash the hands firs) and rubbing our nose or eyes is just as bad; maybe worse.
Sorry for the rant, but fear-mongering by supposed “experts” who twist words around and make incorrect, or at the very least misleading, statements irritates me. Especially if it is a) self-aggrandizing for their ego or b) so they can make a buck off the misleading fear they generate.
Yup. Figured that ’something’ is better than ‘nothing’ in this stuff.
On the Reading List
“Undermining Democracy: 21st Century Authoritarians” which this study by Freedom House, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Radio Free Asia identify as China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and Venezuela. Seems to me the list could be a little longer when we’re talking about authoritarian countries, you know? Like the kind that put troops in almost 150 countries maybe to enforce their paradigm?
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Send comments to george@ure.net
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The harsh reality is that the technology and materials do not exist to capture sub 5 micron particles and still allow sufficient air to maintain life; old age is overrated anyway.