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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (67704)11/27/2004 9:53:09 AM
From: Wharf Rat  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 89467
 
"An interesting thing to point out is that when a missile or torpedo explodes, as much as 1400 ounces of silver is vaporized."

The Great Silver Heist

Johnny Silver Bear

I founded the Silver Bear Cafe in the spring of 2002 for the purpose of raising the awareness of everyone I could, concerning the importance and value of precious metals to our liberties, our freedoms and our American way of life. As the editor of the Silver Bear Cafe, I find myself continually "telling Noah about the flood", as our membership is made up, generally, of "community members." By community, I mean the relatively small group of contrarians that frequents web sites such as "the Bear" and sites of a like nature such as Silver Investor, Financial Sense Online, 321 Gold, Gold-Eagle, and many others of the same ilk. These "community members" are generally already in tune with the causes and effects of the downward economic spiral we find ourselves in. Still, I find myself driven to "spread the word" and extend my reach to include "Joe Six Pack" on Main Street, USA.

The subjects I personally editorialize are concerned with the wholesale attack on our freedom and liberty, the theft of our assets through inflation, and the socialistic mind set of the puppet masters, who are bound and determined to destroy the Republic. Unfortunately, "Joe Six Pack" hasn't got a clue.

I constantly attempt to refrain from the discussion of politics in my examinations, as I view the left-right debate as a contrived distraction. The more important issue is the battle being waged by collectivists against individualists, which can be more easily understood by grasping the "Y axis" rather than the "X axis". On the "Y axis", totalitarianism occupies the top extreme and libertarianism occupies the bottom. For a graphic explanation of this concept, please follow this link and take the test.

If you have been paying the least bit of attention to the underlying theme of my rants you would also realize that I consider the "Dark Side" to be made up of institutional wealth in the hands of multinational corporations, the various banking cartels, and "Old Money" elitists that were not responsible for creating the wealth but rather are simply endowed with the ability to wield the power that comes with such wealth. These factions are, IMO, grossly abusing their powers and, as a result, selling out America. They are disrupting the course of natural evolution.

For instance, the natural process of food production has been altered through the genetic manipulation of seeds. This process renders the seeds with unnatural characteristics. This is primarily done, not to improve the various strains, but rather to enable the manipulators to patent the strains and control them in the market place for profit. The same thing is occurring in the pharmaceutical industries where known herbal remedies, which are free to all, are genetically altered, in order to sell them. The consequences of these alterations on the human body are dismissed as superfluous and unimportant.

The profit motive pervades every action of the "Dark Side." Don't get me wrong. I am as much of a capitalist as any good, patriotic American should be. I do not believe, however, that my profit should come from the detriment and suffering of others. Altruism plays no part in the "Dark Side's" agenda. World domination through economic control is their goal.

The technology of the "Dark Side" owned media has reached the point where it has achieved the power of creating realities for the people that are distorted and unnatural. As corporations merge, so that they control more and more of the technology and want to use more advertising to create false needs, the costs of basic human survival will continue to escalate.

Most imperative is the "Dark Side's" obsession with increasing government power and surveillance. Citing a need to combat drug dealers and terrorists, the government has infringed more and more on the liberties of the citizen. Through Patriot Acts I & II, the Bill of Rights has been effectively dismantled. Get ready for Patriot Act III. Cash transactions are being restricted and the Internet fully monitored. The next step will be forcing the move to a cashless society, controlled by a central authority. All we need is electronic credit money, devoid of all checks and balances, and a system by which we can all be tracked on a 24/7 basis, cradle to grave, and the central banker conspiracy will be complete. This growth toward a central, spiritless governmental authority in a high tech, virtual world, divorced from natural processes, where food, water, and the routines of living have been commoditized and distorted, marks the beginning of the end, of the world as we know it, for everyone.

Which brings me to the topic of precious metals. Who among us believes that, along with all the other economic malfeasance, the price of precious metals has not been manipulated? The evidence is staggering, but the motives of the manipulators have not been exposed cohesively enough for "Joe six pack" to understand. "Joe" still rolls his eyes back and wonders why anyone would consider the possibility that there are forces, behind the scenes, controlling high levels of government in our country that are not working in "We the People's" best interest. Drawing on some of the research of Charles Savoie, I would like to attempt to bring these motives into the light of day. I want to concentrate on silver.

In an attempt to continue to purvey the "big picture" in the silver market, here are some interesting facts for your consideration.

Silver is as important a strategic commodity as oil. The need for a supply of silver in times of war is so essential, that a shortage of the metal could pose dire and direct consequences to continued well being of our country. With the evolution of technology, silver has become so intrinsically important, that a lack of it will adversely affect America's national security. Meanwhile, as a result of the collusion between industrial users, central bankers, the Commodity Futures Trade Commission, (CFTC), the Chicago Board of Trade, (CBOT), and government regulators, spanning the past fifty years, inventories have all but disappeared.

How and why have our silver reserves been so radically depleted? The major causal factor for the growing scarcity of silver in the United States is an organization called the Silver Users Association, (SUA). This group was founded in 1947 for the sole purpose of controlling the price of silver, and has since manned a small army of lobbyists. These lobbyists represent some of the biggest corporations in the country. As the industrial uses for silver are quite diverse, so are the types of companies that engage the services of the SUA. It is their job to lobby politicians and persuade them to suppress, depress, repress, oppress, or do what ever it takes to maintain a grip on the price of silver. The SUA co-ordinates campaign contributions between association members and complicit politicians in return for quasi-legal legislation designed to keep the price down. It does not matter to them whether the means of suppression are legal or illegal, so long as the price does not rise.

The chief purpose of the Silver Users Association, when it was formed 54 years ago, was to lobby and convince the US Government to dispose of its immense stockpile of silver, as much as 4 billion ounces of silver, at as favorable a price as possible. Of course, when I say "favorable", I'm talking about as low a price as possible to the members of the SUA. The prices were decidedly "unfavorable" to the owners of that silver, the citizens of the United States. But, in any event, the SUA was successful beyond imagination. In my opinion they conspired to hold down prices and that's an anti-trust violation. The SUA achieved an almost impossible feat. They made off with the world's largest known stockpile of silver. Let's see - the US Government had billions of ounces of silver the year the SUA was formed, and 54 years later, the US announced it would have no silver left this year. That is truly remarkable. And the best part (or worst part, if you are a regular citizen) is that the SUA got a real "steal" of a price on that silver, roughly one dollar an ounce. Slick and successful would be mild words when judging the accomplishments of the Silver Users Association. So would price fixing. - Taken from Ted Butler's 2001 essay entitled"Silver Users, Silver Abusers"

SUA members include corporations like Eastman Kodak and Polaroid who use great quantities of silver for the production of film. Obviously, the price of silver plays an important role in their bottom lines and it is of great advantage to keep the price of silver as low as possible. Other clients include Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, General Dynamics, American Superconductor, and Intermagnetics General who use even greater quantities of silver for the production of super conducting cables, missiles and torpedoes. All companies that produce electrical components for use in weapons, high tech aircraft, fighting vehicles, ships, communication devices, almost everything that has to do with the war machine, depend heavily on silver.

An interesting thing to point out is that when a missile or torpedo explodes, as much as 1400 ounces of silver is vaporized. This is one of the industrial reasons why the above ground stockpiles of silver have already been depleted to the point of scarcity. The artificial capping of the price of any commodity is not unlike the insertion of a huge cork in a volcano. This can result in nothing less than the massive explosion of its price in the immediate future.

Members of the SUA also include Union Carbide, Dow Chemical, Du Pont, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan Chase. Why would Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase be members of an organization whose sole purpose is to suppress the price of silver? Well, from a central banker's standpoint, a worldwide recognition of the superiority of silver, as money, over their "funny money" would be a disastrous occurrence. Am I singing to the choir here?

The Federal government, apparently to make the paper dollar appear worth more than it is, allows artificial price depressive tactics aimed at silver and gold---Constitutional money. When Federal regulators default on their duties, it is up to state officials including you to take action. If anyone attempted to sell short 22 times the number of Ford Motor shares in existence, the SEC would lock that person up for 200 years. Yet, in silver, the CFTC allows such insanity. Such insanely huge and totally un backed short positions cannot help but have the effect of smashing the price to the ground, a situation on the COMEX complained about by high-ranking Mexican and Peruvian government officials as far back as 1971 (see New York Times, June 10, 1971, page 67, and June 21, 1971, page 42). Producers are cheated of fair prices for this commodity, and thousands are out of work because of this and central bank silver "leasing." Taken from a letter written by Charles Savoie to Drew Edmondson, the Oklahoma State Attorney General, and September 29th, 2003.

Again let me state, the radical depletion of our country's strategic silver reserve and the incessant, illegal action of the naked COMEX shorts who routinely sell 22 times more silver than is available for delivery is illegal, abhorrent, and reprehensible.

Common gambling, so-called, was a crime. The gambling of the exchanges was legitimate and legalized, and the men who thus gambled with the resources of the nation were esteemed as highly respectable and responsible leaders of the community. For a penniless man to sell anything he did not own, or which was not in existence, was held as a heinous crime and was severely punished by a long prison term. Gustavus Myers in History of the Great American Fortunes (1907) page 303

This demented and evil activity has served two purposes:

First, it has unjustly enriched large, soulless corporations, renegade COMEX traders, and central bankers. This unjust enrichment has contributed greatly to their wealth and power.

Second, to greatly diminish America's ability to continue to defend itself because of its growing reliance on imported silver.

The regulators, politicians, corporations, traders, administrators, bankers, financiers, sole less opportunists and scallywags that have been complicit in the activities of the SUA are guilty of no less than treason, and should be dealt with accordingly.

Borrowing again from the research of Charles Savoie the following excerpt was taken from his recent essay, War and Silver

"Today not a missile goes aloft from Cape Canaveral, not a jet plane from Idlewild that does not contain some silver. A good 25,000,000 or more ounces of silver are used each year in the U.S. in the form of solders and brazing alloys in refrigerators and air conditioners, electric appliances, aircraft and rockets. About 19,000,000 ounces are estimated to go into electric contacts in appliances and electronic equipment. More than 1,000,000 ounces are consumed in ceramic colors and pigments. About 1,500,000 ounces are used in making silver-zinc batteries for jet aircraft, missiles and portable TVs and silver-cadmium batteries for portable equipment. Silver goes into such miscellaneous products as mirrors, pharmaceuticals, dental alloys, plating of fine copper wires, medical and scientific instruments. In certain high temperature applications, as in space vehicles, silver is ideal. Research is finding new uses every year. During World War II new brazing alloys of silver were developed by Handy & Harman. The automobile, the airplane and the telephone all call for the use of silver in their structure. The demand for silver in high temperature applications in guided missiles, jet and rocket aircraft has soared."

"Silver is a noble and versatile metal. It resists corrosion and so is ideal for chemical vessels and the lining of metal cans. Silver nitrate is used in hair dyeing and making indelible inks. Extremely ductile, a gram of silver may be drawn out into a wire 180 meters long. Malleable, silver may be beaten into a leaf 0.00025 millimeters thin. In making phonograph records, a thin deposit of silver is employed in making the matrix." - Economist Herbert Bratter, writing in The Commercial & Financial Chronicle, December 10, 1959, page 2422.

Remember, it's not just the U.S. that needs silver, it's also everyone that we are fighting, or will be fighting soon, that needs it just as badly as we do. The collusion, between the bankers, industrial users represented by the SUA, and the government, has left us in an extremely uncomfortable situation. This collusion was motivated solely for the profit of everyone involved, politicians included, much to the detriment of every other American citizen. There are, and have been anti-trust laws in place that should have precluded this collusion, but the laws were systematically ignored. Placing themselves above the law, in this manner, goes against every tenet of justice and fair play in the book. When the stinky stuff finally hits the mix master, it's not going to be pretty.

There were some folks who realized the nature of the SUA conspiracy as long ago as the early 1950s, but it wasn't until the 1970s that anyone stepped up to the plate and tried to do anything about it.

In 1970 the price of silver was at $1.50/oz. The Hunt brothers, Bunker and Herbert, of Texas oil fame, were both acutely aware of the wholesale theft of the Nation's silver stockpile that had been taking place through the actions of the SUA. (For an in-depth examination of the Hunt brother's attempt to corner the world silver market, see H.L. Hunt's Boys and the Circle K Cowboys by Larry LaBorde.) When Nixon removed the dollar from the last vestiges of the gold standard in 1971, the brothers also realized that the New York Eastern banking establishment, led by the Rockefellers, was now free to work its diabolical monetary magic. Through the insidious contrivance called inflation, they could effectively transfer a portion of the Hunt's oil fortune into their coffers. The brothers started buying silver.

Over the next nine years, as the Hunt's predicted inflation accelerated and racked the economy, Bunker and Herbert continued to use silver to hedge their assets with a vengeance. By the accumulation of more and more silver, they effectively protected their family's property and, single-handedly remonetized the white metal. Throughout the world people began to remember that real wealth consists of real assets, not paper money, and that real assets include gold and silver.

In the summer of 1979 the SUA and their cronies in the COMEX and the CBOT, along with their co-conspirators at the CFTC, (a governmental regulatory bureau), started to panic. Obviously, the world's recognition of the monetary realities of precious metals was an untenable threat to the central bankers, and their "funny money". The elevated price of silver would also seriously impair the ability of the SUA to continue to swindle "We the PeopleÓ out of our Nation's strategic silver reserve. But the main reason for their panic was that many members of the COMEX and CBOT had illegal financial interests in the silver market through their substantial silver short positions and were facing financial ruin. It should be apparent to everyone that these financial interests would obviously constitute insider trading and should have brought on a slew of indictments from the Justice Department.

Rather than to allow the Hunts to legally wipe out their short positions, they illegally changed the rules. The CFTC promptly backed up the rule change. Even after illegally changing the margin requirements on futures contracts, the market, fueled by the Hunts momentum, continued to go against them so the COMEX illegally suspending trading in silver. They would only accept liquidation orders. Then, through their continued selling of massive quantities of silver that they did not have, (naked short selling), they finally managed to, once again, artificially bring the price under control.

The "Dark Side" owned media was quick to let "Joe Six Pack" know that the whole debacle was simply a one sided manipulation attempted by a couple of greedy Texas oilmen. In reality, the shorts and the Eastern establishment had just as much, if not more, at stake than the Hunts. The final result was that the Hunt's would be fleeced for about $3.5 billion, and the world would once again be safe for the SUA, the central bankers, and the corrupt politicians to ply their trade.

And ply their trade is just what they have done. The central bankers, through their control of the Fed, in collusion with the Treasury Department, have diluted the value of Federal Reserve notes, (FRNs), to the point that the Russians, Chinese, Japanese, and Indians have begun dumping U.S. dollars and U.S. Treasury paper with abandon.

These countries make up the single largest bloc of U.S. bond speculators in the world. As I have mentioned many times before, the FED may set short-term interest rates, but bond speculators set long-term rates.

The liquidation of the U.S. currency holdings could cause the collapse of our economy. Please do not take what I just stated lightly. The FED, in collusion with the U.S. Treasury Department, has inflated the worldwide credit bubble to such an obscene extent that they have left our economy defenseless against the forced repatriation of our own dollars. We can't possibly absorb that much liquidity without first suffering the throes of hyperinflation. As a result, all four countries have us over a barrel. They will demand some major concessions, in the near future, if they are to refrain from cashing in their chips too fast.

How did we get in this predicament? Where did our system of checks and balances break down? What constitutional subjugation's took place that could of allowed us to arrive at this juncture? When I began researching this essay my initial idea was to pose a solution. We have since gone through a national election, the results of which have come under extreme scrutiny. Discrepancies in electronic vote tabulation have surfaced, throwing the whole process in doubt. I am now convinced that, at most, a survival strategy, rather that a solution, may exist. I would implore you to consider how we got to where we are today.

Those of you that are familiar with my rants are already aware of my frustration with the present state of our democracy. In fact I have received numerous emails admonishing my depiction of a society that has been conditioned to vote for a free lunch.

So, in an attempt to clarify my feelings concerning our democratic system I will elucidate.

There are two fatal flaws in our current system. Curiously, they would seem to be offsetting on the surface, but upon closer examination they emanate from the same collective mind set. If these two flaws could be remedied, our Constitutional way of life could be preserved. Unfortunately, the underlying causes have been so ingrained in the system, that their effects are probably irreversible.

The first flaw was initiated by FDR, (see one of my previous essays, The Patriotic and Moral Imperative for Owning Gold and Silver), when he started handing out taxpayer money and thereby created "the dole". Since then politicians have refined their ability to use taxpayer money to buy votes until it has evolved into a catastrophically successful ploy to redistribute the wealth of, and as a result decimate, America's middle class. If "We the People" demanded that a law was enacted that would prohibit anyone from voting, in a national election, so long as they remained "on the dole", (OTD), half of the problems with our "bastardized democracy" would immediately go away. If the people couldn't vote for a hand out, politicians couldn't simply pander a handout in return for a vote, which is essentially all they do now.

I'm not simply talking about welfare recipients, although they make up a significant portion of those who should not be eligible. I'm talking anyone who is OTD. Any receiver of any Federal support should not be eligible to vote. The Constitution provided no Federal support for anyone, period. This would include grant recipients, those who receive Federal entitlements, farmers receiving subsidies, employees of any Federally subsidized business, even employees of companies benefiting from trade sanctions. Taken to the extreme, we should un-entitle Federal employees including members of the Armed Forces, Congress, Federal Law Enforcement, Treasury Department, Justice department, and the Judicial Branch. You see, each one of these persons harbors a personal agenda and is apt to vote for whoever promises him/her more. When you're OTD, staying OTD is job one. Have you noticed the most important thing for a politician to accomplish while in office these days, is to get re-elected. That's the problem with the "Free Lunch" mind set. There is no such thing.

The second flaw concerns the passing down of institutional wealth. The "Dark Side" is peopled with old money. The patriarchs that initially created the wealth were probably deserving of the power that came with it. Their wealth came as a result of their courage, intellect, creativity, ambition and perhaps even ruthlessness. Their progeny, on the other hand, are not deserving. In fact, it is the unentitled wielders of this "institutional wealth" that, to a large degree, make up the controllers of the Fabian Socialists. These are the people that pull the strings behind the scenes in Government, and whose main goals include world domination. It is vanity and narcissistic nepotism that can motivate an individual to suppose that his offspring are more capable of directing the course of humanity than anyone else. This is total hooey. Rather than maintaining some altruistic vision for the future, these, "I didn't do anything that would make me qualified to rule the world other than I was born into it" elitists are generally far less qualified, having never been confronted with the need for mustering of the courage required to create the wealth in the first place. The system, as it stands, provides for the perpetration of a monarchial power structure that should have been abandoned with our first revolution 228 years ago, but wasn't.

I do not suggest that the heirs of a fortune should not be able to reap the benefits of their parents successes, but rather that they be restricted from misusing the power that comes with the institutional wealth their parents amassed. How about a system where you could leave your children $50,000,000.00 each. That ought to be enough to get them started in this cold, hard world. If they can't get by on that much, they surely aren't qualified to handle any more. I suggest that if a person has more in his estate than enough to leave his spouse and each of his children $50,000,000 when he/she goes to the happy hunting grounds, (or where ever he/she goes), that it should be directed toward the renewal of our country's infrastructure, its roads and bridges. Its water purification and delivery systems. There is a myriad of directions that the wealth could be directed that would not constitute a socialistic trend, but rather a positive evolution to a better standard of life for all Americans.

With the elimination of people OTD affecting the outcome of an election, and the restriction of the passing of institutional wealth, which effectively provides for the support of a monarchial system, the American System of Democracy could be an efficient and just system. Until these changes are made it will not be.

The second solution has nothing to do with politics. It is basically a passive, covert action, relying on each of us as individuals, (magic word; individuals.) This is a solution that has the potential to change the world.

Start purchasing silver bullion. Then buy some more. Community members, increase your holdings. Rather than just two brothers from Texas doing all the work, and consequently being an easy target, let's all become involved. Besides enriching ourselves through the exercise of buying and owning silver, we can passively wrest the control of the silver market out of the hands of the "Dark Side" and back into the hands of the people. This can bring about some very important changes, in one way, that will really make a difference. As the price of bullion subsequently rises, more and more people will begin to see Federal Reserve Notes for what they really are; fake money, and recognize and appreciate precious metals for what the really are; real money. If nothing else, it might make wars more expensive to fight. The downside risk is minimal compared to the upside potential.

Oh, and by the way, for all you "Joe Six Packs" out there, a $10 bill you got in 2002 currently has the buying power of $6.50, (a loss of $3.50), while an ounce of silver you could have procured, at the same time, for $5.00, is currently worth $8.50, (a gain of $3.50). But the real deal is the two ounces of silver that you could have purchased for that 2002 $10 bill that would currently worth $17.00. That's a 70% increase on the original $10 but a whopping 250% profit when you compare holding the FRN to holding the silver. Hey, it's a no brainer, (and that's a good thing considering the level of brain power utilized by the average sheeple.) Most importantly, the price of silver, IMO, is about to "go to the moon."

Its not what you don't know that will screw you up, it's what you know that is wrong. The spin you hear from the mainstream media is intended to mislead you. Open your eyes and face the future. If you leave your head in the sand and ignore it, you are only leaving your butt exposed for the world to kick. This all may sound like gloom and doom, but when you get a handle on what is going to happen, you will have a future filled with opportunity. Fortune favors the Informed.



Kenneth Parsons, aka Johnny Silver Bear, is an IT professional in Garland, Texas and the President of Silver Bear Communications, Inc.
gold-eagle.com



To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (67704)11/27/2004 3:12:04 PM
From: stockman_scott  Respond to of 89467
 
Legendary venture capitalist looks ahead

By Alorie Gilbert
News.com
Story last modified Sat Nov 27 04:00:00 PST 2004

news.com.com

Some think of Don Valentine as the grandfather of Silicon Valley venture capital.

Since founding Sequoia Capital in 1972, he's helped nurture some of the Valley's biggest successes, including Apple Computer, Cisco Systems, Electronic Arts and Oracle. In all Sequoia, which now manages a $3 billion fund, has helped start and finance more than 500 companies.

Valentine's impressive instincts for good business plans once earned him the title of "the man with the golden gut" from Forbes magazine. But he's not immune to the occasional stinkers: Sequoia has also backed dot-com duds Webvan and eToys.

Nevertheless, Valentine is feared and revered among entrepreneurs pitching their ideas on Palo Alto, Calif.'s famed Sand Hill Road. And for good reason. Valentine could also be called the man with the sharp tongue among those he dislikes. Valentine recently spoke with CNET News.com about the past, present and future of Silicon Valley.

Which technology or company is most overhyped at the moment?
Nanotech anything, probably in part because of the huge amount of technology press coverage of what is sort of a lab fascination with the chemical process. People don't talk about particular applications, like making Pentium chips 50 times faster or curing diabetes.

So it's the media's fault?
The press has become fascinated with the concept and the scientists and investors and all the peep show surrounding the phenomenon. They have been interviewed to death. If there is an application for nanotechnology, it's going to be the later part of our lifetimes. You have this huge amount of press coverage and no market problem that needs solving.

What new Internet trend most fascinates you now?
I think the first phase of the Internet is established. We think of it here as the Internet, phase two.

What is phase two?
To us, it's merely the reality phase of something that happens that's overhyped, like nanotech. Now we're really into solid applications, problem solving and business. Look at how much advertising is moving to the Web portals. It's a reconstitution of the way Madison Avenue needs to play best.

The biggest thing that is making the Internet and all those things more interesting is broadband. It makes the Internet an even more powerful platform in which to buy and sell things--as a media platform and a market. To me it's an issue of patience. (Cisco CEO) John Chambers was talking recently about broadband and indicated that the U.S. is 15th in the world at implementing it.

Should people be alarmed by that statistic?
Possibly, for national pride reasons. Or for business-efficiency reasons. I really think it's sort of embarrassing for South Korea to have an intrinsically greater disposition in broadband than California.

What is the computer industry's greatest challenge in the next three to five years?
If you look at the personal-computing industry, only a fraction of the world has participated in this arena. I think it's a huge, huge unit market. Companies like Dell, Microsoft and Intel--they're the primary members of that environment. It's an unfortunate situation that only Intel and Microsoft really make money. The rest, with Dell as an exception, don't make any money. I think the challenge for Intel and Microsoft is to find some other platform in which to grow, other than the personal computer.

What do you make of the upheaval in the business-software industry, of Oracle's hostile bid for PeopleSoft, and of so many other players merging or struggling? Is it changing the way venture capitalists approach and think about startups in this market?
Things constantly evolve in capabilities and directions that didn't exist before. Why would software be any different? There will always be new ideas that large entrenched companies don't think of.

What about the claim by (Oracle CEO) Larry Ellison that the industry will consolidate around a few big players, namely Oracle, Microsoft, IBM and SAP?
I'm in the Marc Andreesen camp against the Larry Ellison-Hasso Plattner camp. If you look at their offerings, neither has a flagship product in the customer relationship management market--10 years later. So I think they are like all big companies, filled and riddled with not-invented-here. They are unable to recognize innovation and they are very late to do what they claim they're going to do. DiCarta, iMany--there are all these small, flourishing companies started in late '90s that are doing fine, thank you very much. That said, Oracle is interesting and one of my favorite companies.

Why?
Because we financed it and made a lot of money. But also, I'm a great admirer of the kind of raw-boned entrepreneur that Larry Ellison is. He is willing to speak out even if he's wrong occasionally.

Are you adjusting your expectations at all for some of the software companies you've invested in, such as Aceva, diCarta and Traiana?
We will continue to start software companies in categories like the one diCarta is in that are differentiated. The whole thrust of our conviction is that the future is an evolutionary future. New applications are going to emerge and customers will want to do new things.

What about Germany's SAP? It seems to dominate the global market.
It's an interesting company, located intellectually in central Germany. It has the historic flexibility of the Teutonic character. They do it their way, and the customer has to do it and buy it the way they make it. They are a "do it my way or forget it" company and the prices are astronomically high. They're hard to do business with, and when in doubt they deal in FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt). SAP is the noisiest non-participant in the business.

However, the founders are largely out of that company. It will be interesting to see how or if they change with those guys gone. The same with Microsoft when Gates and Ballmer are gone.

Which technology CEO do you most respect?
Steve Jobs. Steve has managed to simultaneously run two entirely dissimilar companies--Pixar, and he is also running the resurging Apple Computer. I've long been a great admirer of his.

Which company or technology is most underrated but has or will have a huge influence?
I've always been mystified by the critically important disc drive industry, without which the PC is a useless device. You have to be brilliant in electronics, you have to be brilliant in magnetics and you have to be brilliant in mechanics to get all that memory capacity in a very little place and do it for next to nothing. That market has never been rewarded financially for its brilliance. Yet the contribution is huge. Cell phones, handheld products, PCs...they all go nowhere without that fundamental storage capability.

Has anyone learned any lessons from the dot-com bubble?
We should look at the people in the public markets. They never learn the lesson. The game is rigged in their favor. But yes, there was a flaw in the companies people financed. Will we make mistakes again? Yes. But we'll make different mistakes. The people that started all those dot-com companies? That's over. Most people will remember not to make that mistake again.

I got to Silicon Valley in 1959. Nothing is revolutionary; it's evolutionary. Look the sequence of Intel microprocessors. It's all predictable. The nature of silicon and software and storage go hand in hand. In the case of software, you just have to be more clever about the nature of the application. So all these things kind of tick along, feeding off each other.

Copyright ©1995-2004 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.



To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (67704)11/27/2004 3:36:59 PM
From: stockman_scott  Respond to of 89467
 
Dollar's Dip shows Greenspan in denial

thestreet.com



To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (67704)11/27/2004 4:05:51 PM
From: stockman_scott  Respond to of 89467
 
What The Dollar's Collapse Will Mean To The World

_____________________________

By Bruce Porteous

11-26-04

Over the last few days, there has been a number of articles in the media about the steady decline of the $US against the Euro. While many economists have forecasted the possiblity of the dollar declining against the Euro for sometime, most do not comprehend the significance of this. Some believe that the decline of the dollar against the currencies of American's trading partners will help correct the USA's trade deficit, and the dollar will stop falling when the trade imbalance is corrected. However, the evidence is that the opposite is happening - the $US has declined 40% against the Euro over the last 2 years, and during this time America's trade deficit has continues to deteriorate.

There is now nothing the USA can do to prevent the collapse of its currency, and its economy. It has no reserves to support its value, and has the most indebted country in the world, is dependant of the credit from America's former enemies. Over the last couple of days, both Russia and China have said they will be switching their considerable dollar reserves into Euro. This will only hasten the lack of confidence in the dollar, creating a global lack of confidence in the currency, and setting into free-fall. It will soon bring about the total collapse of the dollar, and the American economy.

The collapse of the dollar will throw the world into a global depression. Those nations with large external debts will not be able to trade sufficiently to earn the income to service their debts, and will slide into bankruptcy. The economies of New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the UK will also totally collapse, as a result of their indebtedness and not being able to service their borrowings. It will result in the Anglo-Saxon nations facing abject poverty, our people facing starvation, and a total break-down in society. Crime will become rampant. Law and order will cease to exist. Disease will become widespread.

The Asian economies, which have depended upon American trade, will also be severely affected. However, they will recover after a period, but only after considerable political and economic turmoil.

The EU will be in a much better position to survive the coming economic chaos. An influx of capital into the Euro zone by those selling dollars will provide the funding for rebuilding the economies of the new United States of Europe. However, the collapse of the $US will still severely affect the already depressed German and French economies. The resulting economic turmoil will create the need for the acceptance of a strong EU leader, who will be able to make the necessary political and economic reforms to enable Europe revive their economies. Those nations that accept the new EU Constitution will come under the control of this new leader, creating Europe as the world's new Super Power.

The Euro will become the world's only reserve currency, creating the means for the new United States of Europe to become the dominant economic power in the world. The new Europe will be able to dictate the terms on how the global economy should be run. They will take over the administration of America and Britain, placing the Anglo-Saxon people in bondage for repayment of their debts.

Americans do not appear to comprehend the bitterness that has grown around the world as a result of their illegal invasion of Iraq. While once Europeans looked up to, and admired America; today it is held in utter contempt for its arrogance and warmongering. Anti-European comments in the American media have only added to this hostility towards the US. America's attempt to impose its version of government on the world, its hypocrisy in claiming to be the moral leader of the world, while flooding the media with degenerate filth and garbage, has bought upon it disgust and contempt that few Americans can comprehend.

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