The crashing of the US.......most interesting

[Chris Ryser]

Rumors of "Amero coins"

In August 2007, rumors and conspiracy theories began circulating across the Internet regarding alleged United States Treasury issued "Amero" coins.
The inspiration behind these rumors may have the posting of images of medallions created by coin designer Daniel Carr.[3] Carr, who designed the Maine, New York and Rhode Island statehood quarters of 2001, sells medals and tokens of his own design on his commercial website, "Designs Computed" (also known as "DC Coin"). Among his designs were three fantasy issues of an "Amero" coin, with the legend "Union of North America" on the back, with his company's logo, a stylized "DC", in small type.[4] Concerning his "Amero" designs, he mentions on his website:

"My goal with these coins is not to endorse a Union of North America or a common "Amero" currency. I fully support the United States Constitution, and I would not welcome (in any form) a diminishment of its provisions. I expect that these coins will help make more people aware of the issue and the possible ramifications. I leave it up to others to decide if they are in favor of, or against a North American Union. And I encourage citizens to voice their approval or disapproval of government plans that impact them."[8]

Unauthorized postings of images taken from his website have been reposted widely across the Internet, often being used as supposed "proof" of the Amero coinage. Notably, Internet radio talk show host Hal Turner ran a full article on the "Amero coin", claiming to have arranged for a United States Government minted "Amero" to be smuggled out of the Treasury Department by an employee of that organization.[9]
Following Turner's assertions of federal minting of Ameros, a web site marketing the curio coins released a statement debunking Turner's claims of a government cover up regarding Daniel Carr's Amero products.[10] The debunking website Snopes also ran a further debunking of Turner's claims, stating "Neither the U.S. Mint nor the U.S. Treasury has a hand in creating these 'Ameros'. These coins are merely collectibles offered to the buying public by a private company in the business of manufacturing such curiosities."[11]

See at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amero

[medkoinc]

very interesting ... but what does that have to do with anything????

Mina

[Chris Ryser]

very interesting ... but what does that have to do with anything????
Mina

Actually to enlighten you.................if the dollar is in the dumps like 40% less value over the last 12 month................all imported products will become more expensive for starters. Your frames, your lenses, your instruments. Your gasoline is one of the best examples just about $ 100 a barrel of oil instead of $ 60.00

Does this make more sense ????????????????

[medkoinc]

Actually to enlighten you.................if the dollar is in the dumps like 40% less value over the last 12 month................all imported products will become more expensive for starters. Your frames, your lenses, your instruments. Your gasoline is one of the best examples just about $ 100 a barrel of oil instead of $ 60.00

Does this make more sense ????????????????

I understand the impact of the dollar decreasing in value.....

its the part about the Amero Coin i was talking about... its very interesting... but what does it have to do with anything...

Mina

[Chris Ryser]

its the part about the Amero Coin i was talking about... its very interesting... but what does it have to do with anything...
Mina

there is talk that in case the US dollar would make a total collapse.........a common currency should be initiated between Mexico......the USA............ and Canada.
Similar to Europe with the Euro it could be named Amero

[chip anderson]

Could we be crashing because we have gotten too lazy to work. So much of our society seems to think that if they get "education" the will be able to earn a living without actuall workin, especially doing anything manual and actually producing anything. Another large part of society seems to think that if they don't get "education" they can sit around that the government will take care of them.
Who the hell is doing the work anymore?

Chip

Have you noticed how many responses on this board say stuff like: "We don't work Saturday, actually we are closed Wednesday and Friday afternoon too." How many ophthalmologist you can't get to see in less than six weeks (we know they aren't that busy doing surgery alone)? We just gettin lazy.

I remember Henry Ford drawing a lot of flack when at the end of the great depression he said" "People have just decided to go back to work."

[For-Life]

Well Chip, I would not call getting an education lazy. My work life is a piece of cake compared to my University education.

I agree that it is laziness though. The American economy was built on innovation. Now all I see is people being complacent with what is there. We look at GM that lost $39 Billion in its third quarter. We could blame people on not buying domestic, we could blame kids for going to school, we could blame Democrats for high taxes, but the fact is GM is producing junk compared to the competition.

Same with this whole global warming thing. I find it surprising that such a powerful nation like the US is not taking advantage of it. Research and Development versus just shutting things down is the way to go. Could be profitable.

The thing we have to remember is China, India, Indonesia, Mexico is now taking a lot of manufacturing jobs, so we have to do things they are not doing. Companies are not going to produce things in the US at a cost of $10 per unit when they can do it in Indian for $1 per unit.

[chip anderson]

Precisely my point, we are not doing our own work. We would much rather let the Indians, or the Chinese, or the Mexicans (or chicanos, or Spainish or whatever they call themselves this week) do it for us. If we do actually do any work we want so much money in salary and benefits and expend so little of our own energy (thats not my job diescription) that no wonder we are tanking.

When we get an "education" 75% of our energy is spent drinking beer and socializing (how many "students" attend every class?), a huge amount of our studies are devoted to useless sop courses that have no application to our work, or our future social life for that matter. In Memphis you can now get a Phd. in "Elvis Studies." How much of our lives will actually make use of studies in phylosophy, medieval flute playing, etc.

Not so with other countries, if you study phyics, you attend classes and study physics, If you study autorepair or welding, this is what most of your curriculum will be centered on.

Chip

[For-Life]

Precisely my point, we are not doing our own work. We would much rather let the Indians, or the Chinese, or the Mexicans (or chicanos, or Spainish or whatever they call themselves this week) do it for us. If we do actually do any work we want so much money in salary and benefits and expend so little of our own energy (thats not my job diescription) that no wonder we are tanking.

Yes, but even if we did encourage more tradeswork (which I think we should do), we could never pay the wages that they do in China. We can lower the taxes to 0, we can pay minimum wage, and no benefits, and still not be able to get those manufacturing jobs back. It is the evolution of society, and we must adapt.

When we get an "education" 75% of our energy is spent drinking beer and socializing (how many "students" attend every class?), a huge amount of our studies are devoted to useless sop courses that have no application to our work, or our future social life for that matter. In Memphis you can now get a Phd. in "Elvis Studies." How much of our lives will actually make use of studies in phylosophy, medieval flute playing, etc.

Actually Chip, the drinking is untrue. Yes, a lot of students drink hard, but they also study hard. Here is what actually happens. You do have students who fool around. These ones generally take two years to get through First Year, and then during second year they are forced out. They then get minimum wage paying jobs somewhere else. The ones who take courses that do not provide practical knowledge tend to do the same thing upon graduation. So by your argument, they are going into the jobs that you want them to and creating demand for them.

In second year the serious students step up, and third and forth year produces true students who end up being real leaders.

[Chris Ryser]

Ashraf Laidi, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said a dollar drop to 110 yen and possibly beyond is likely early next week and predicted dollar selling will pick up even more steam if forthcoming U.S. retail sales data disappoints

See at:http://www.reuters.com/article/hotSt...9?pageNumber=1

[Fezz]

All of this gloom and doom gets me thinking. Maybe I should look up family north of the border before the caca hits the oscillating blades. A few places come to mind for setting up roots.


Hmm, lets see, which is better?

St. Catherines, Ontario-close to the border, but congested.

or

Landrienne(Abitibi?) Quebec-Bush country, beautiful, Indians as neighbors.


I guess my American dollars would go much further in Landrienne!


:cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:

[Barry Santini]

Yes, but even if we did encourage more tradeswork (which I think we should do), we could never pay the wages that they do in China. We can lower the taxes to 0, we can pay minimum wage, and no benefits, and still not be able to get those manufacturing jobs back. It is the evolution of society, and we must adapt.

I disagree. For what we decide to spend on "lattes" alone, we can afford much better. It *can* be gotten back. All it takes is a willingness to get lean and real!

Barry

[For-Life]

I got a question. You want the American worker to make less, but it is also expected in the US that he or she prepares himself with private health care. Oxymoron?

[Chris Ryser]

Landrienne(Abitibi?) Quebec-Bush country, beautiful, Indians as neighbors.

It's the "les Laurentien" or the Laurentians................

but why the heck you want to live in Bush country, your are already living in Bush county :D:bbg:

[Johns]

I agree that it is laziness though. The American economy was built on innovation.





The thing we have to remember is China, India, Indonesia, Mexico is now taking a lot of manufacturing jobs, so we have to do things they are not doing. Companies are not going to produce things in the US at a cost of $10 per unit when they can do it in Indian for $1 per unit.

Nothing I love more than a bunch of Canadians say that our economy is tanking because we're lazy. The only thing I love more, is when one of them boasts on how much money he's making off of our government. (thints for the US millitary anyone?)

The thing to remember is this: We sent jobs away, but we did not send away the EPA, OSHA, our strict labor laws, and all the other policies which allow India to produce at such low rates. I don't see the Chinese and the Indian governments wasting time on passing maternity leave acts for fathers and other such nonsense...

[For-Life]

Nothing I love more than a bunch of Canadians say that our economy is tanking because we're lazy. The only thing I love more, is when one of them boasts on how much money he's making off of our government. (thints for the US millitary anyone?)

The thing to remember is this: We sent jobs away, but we did not send away the EPA, OSHA, our strict labor laws, and all the other policies which allow India to produce at such low rates. I don't see the Chinese and the Indian governments wasting time on passing maternity leave acts for fathers and other such nonsense...

I was just agreeing with Chip. My nationality should not matter in that regard.

The point I was making was that you guys have lost these jobs. So has Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, ect. It is time to adapt and change our ways of thinking. This industry is lost, so we should go after another one.

[DocInChina]

The thing to remember is this: We sent jobs away, but we did not send away the EPA, OSHA, our strict labor laws, and all the other policies which allow India to produce at such low rates. I don't see the Chinese and the Indian governments wasting time on passing maternity leave acts for fathers and other such nonsense...

John hit the nail on the head. This difference is what allowed other countries to get a foothold and take over the manufacturing sector for many products.

What has been happening in China over the past several years though is encouraging. The government requires environmental reports, environmental compliance, workers benefits, increased minimum wage, standardized work hours, etc. The problem is not the Chinese governments desire to implement new guidelines for manufacturing as well as worker's rights. The problem is enforcement. There are not enough government officials able to police all the factories and companies.

As I have said before, it will just take time for China to close the holes in their compliance system. I have seen the dramatic changes here over the past 10 years and know that China is determined to improve the environment as well as workers lives.

I really hope the US can get through this current economic dilemma fast. It seems like every economic downturn I remember ran concurrent with bad debt from banks and credit card companies.

Doc

[Chris Ryser]

World stocks hit 8-week low
Mon Nov 12, 2007 4:10am EST

By Natsuko Waki
LONDON (Reuters) - World stocks hit 8-week lows while the yen surged to 18-month peaks versus the dollar on Monday as fears about credit-related losses at financial firms prompted investors to reduce bets on risky trades.
Fresh concerns about further losses linked to the fallout in the U.S. subprime mortgage sector deepened over the weekend after Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) would take a new $1 billion hit to results this week.

see whole story at: http://www.reuters.com/article/hotSt...15927320071112


US Dollar has dropped 3.88 % in China this morning.

[DocInChina]

US Dollar has dropped 3.88 % in China this morning.

Slight correction to this information:

The Hong Kong Stock exchange (called the Hang Seng) dropped 3.88% today, not the USD to RMB.

[Chris Ryser]

It's a week before Black Friday, but stock futures have taken on a bit of that color. It could be that Wall Street's just tired of the red that showed up loud and clear in the losses of recent days.

Still, the backdrop isn't pretty, and options expirations are likely to add more than a touch of volatility.

Starbucks poured hot water on the market late yesterday when it reported its first quarterly drop ever in traffic at its U.S. coffee shops. The reasoning seems to be that we're in really bad shape if people are cutting back on their mocha lattes.

Dollar falls after industrial output data

Fri Nov 16, 2007 9:28am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar fell against the euro on Friday after a report showed U.S. industrial production in October had the biggest drop since January, fueling fears of a further economic slowdown.
The euro rose to a session high of $1.4672, up from $1.4650, where it was shortly prior to the report.
The dollar tumbled to a low of 1.1166 Swiss francs, the lowest since April 1995, according to Reuters data.

See the whole story at:http://www.reuters.com/article/hotSt...56328520071116

[chip anderson]

Chris: What's with all this U.S. bashing. Do you want us to fail? Do the Canadians hate us too? What gives?

We aren't going to move to Canada in droves, it's cold there. Even the folks that felt discriminated againt in the South and move to Chicago for jobs moved back to Mississippi as it was too cold there.


Chip

[For-Life]

I do not think Chris is trying to bash the US. I think he is just trying to open up minds.

[Johns]

Chris: What's with all this U.S. bashing. Do you want us to fail? Do the Canadians hate us too? What gives?
Chip

I don't think Chris wants you to fail, but I did note that he no longer lists Florida as his location, only Canada.

Fair Weathered?:D

[Chris Ryser]

I don't think Chris wants you to fail, but I did note that he no longer lists Florida as his location, only Canada.

Fair Weathered?:D

Heck...........Just bought some decent winter gloves yesterday.........ther are 5 huge Maple trees in my backyard where the leaves are now finally starting to come down since night temperature have gone to freezing. Now I wont get cold fingers blowing the leaves.

Will change location after Thanksgiving as traffic is wild in the US next week.

Chris: What's with all this U.S. bashing. Do you want us to fail? Do the Canadians hate us too? What gives?

This is not US bashing...........it is directing your attention to facts that nobody seems to care about in the optical trade..........its all merry go along as always.

Canadians do not hate you, but realize that if the US gets sick, Canada will get even sicker and that is a historical fact.

Canadian export manufacturers that sold their products in Canadian dollars are now feeling the pinch of suddenly being 40% more expensive than a year ago.

And the ones that export in US Dollars suddenly realize that they are giving 40% more discount than 12 month ago.

The only good thing right now is that Canadians will flock to Florida this winter and buy condos and houses that have drastically dropped in price, with Can dollars that have gained 40% versus the US dollar which results in a good double discount.

Maybe yesterday's move by the US Congress to deny further big time war funding is a start for a turnaround.

[chip anderson]

Condos in Florida are very cheap at present. My brother who lives in Mami says that some new ones that were price over one million were marked down and then place on sale for less than half price. No takers.

Chip