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American Survival Newsletter:
Combining the World of Finance, Health & Politics
7/10/15

American Gold

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Edited by Alfred Adask
Friday, July 10, AD 2015
 
MARKETS
 
Between Friday, July 3, AD 2015 and 
Friday, July 10, AD 2015, the bid prices for:

Gold fell 0.3 % from $1,165.90 to $1,162.80

Silver fell 0.4 % from $15.68 to $15.62

Platinum fell 4.9 % from $1,085 to $1,032

Palladium fell 6.1 % from $691 to $649

DJIA rose 0.2 % from 17,730.11 to 17,760.41

NASDAQ fell 0.2 % from 5,009.21 to 4,997.70

NYSE fell 0.1 % from 10,864.80 to 10,853.90

US Dollar Index fell0.3 % from 96.09 to 95.78

Crude Oil fell 6.5 % from $56.50 to $52.81


 

 
 

"Only buy something that you'd be perfectly happy to hold
if the market shut down for 10 years." --Warren Buffett 

"If the markets shut down for 10 years, what investment would you dare to hold-- 
other than gold"? --Alfred Adask

A Metal Whose Time Has Come

 

by Alfred Adask

 

Back in the 1990s I published a magazine called the "AntiShyster" that catered to people interested in legal reform and "patriot" issues.  As a result of that publication, for over a decade, I had an opportunity to observe almost every fundamental concept and strategy embraced by members of the "patriot" community.

One persistent patriot focus was the monetary system in general and our fiat currency, in particular.  After much study (and sometimes much greed) a number of "patriot" gurus concluded that if government could make a fiat currency, then it must be legal for you and I to do the same. Based on that conclusion, some gurus would teach you how to make homemade money orders.  Others advocated homemade "comptroller warrants" to pay your bills.

Initially, these homemade monetary instruments were only intended to pay taxes and fines to the government.  I didn't advocate that use, but I didn't object to it, either.

Inevitably, as these homemade monetary instruments became more popular, advocates started using them to buy a new pickup trucks and bass boats from ordinary Americans.  Doing so was fraud and the perpetrators often went to prison.  If I'd been on the jury, I would've sentenced those con-artists to prison, too.

* Whether the "research" behind these patriot proposals was sound or silly, over a period of about three years in the early 1990s, I learned one, big, fundamental lesson
You and your friends can conspire to assassinate the President and the government might come after you and it might not (Presidents are disposable; you can screw them in or out of the White House like light bulbs)-but you screw with the fiat money system and the government will jump on you with both feet and you will go to prison.
It may be that some of the less successful gurus who advocated homemade monetary devices didn't go to prison, but I didn't hear of any. It might take the government a couple of years to catch up with you, but if you successfully advocated making homemade money orders, etc., you were going to prison.

What I learned from seeing the government's virulent prosecution of anyone who advocated making your own monetary devices is that "fiat money" is the financial and political system's "heart of darkness".  The government might sacrifice all else, but it would defend the fiat dollar violently and, figuratively speaking, to the death.

*  I doubt that a virulent defense of the money system is a recent phenomenon. The Christ spent several years teaching and healing without causing as much concern among the Pharisees or Rome as he caused by chasing the money-changers out of the Temple.

I can't say that the Christ's assault on the money-changers was the primary secular reason that he was ultimately crucified.  But I can say that the Christ's assault on the money-changers and later crucifixion are at least coincidentally consistent with the "rule" I discerned in the 1990s:  mess with money system and you're going down.

*  In A.D. 2001, Bernard von NotHaus invited me to participate in the promotion of a new constitutional money system based on silver "medallions" (not "coins") that could be used as money. His proposed monetary system didn't involve "homemade comptroller warrants" etc. that were made out of paper.  He proposed that people in the patriot community start doing business and paying their bills with the silver "medallions" that he was minting.

It was a nice idea. Von NotHaus seemed like a nice man.  So far as I know, his proposed monetary system was legal, constitutional and devoid of fraudulent intent.

I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole.

As I said, I'd learned in the early 1990s that if you mess with the fiat monetary system, you'd best plan on going to prison.  Von NotHaus was messing with the monetary system.  Not wanting to go to prison, I didn't want to join him. I thanked von NotHaus for his invitation and got as far away from him as I could. I knew he was headed for the slammer.

I expected government to scoop him up within a few months. I was much surprised that the government didn't raid von NotHaus until A.D. 2007-when about a dozen federal agents seized nearly two tons of "medallions" that featured the image of Texas congressman Ron Paul.  They also took about 500 pounds of silver and 40 to 50 ounces of gold.

Von NotHaus wasn't arrested until A.D. 2009.  The fact that it took the government most of a decade to arrest von NotHaus is probably testimony to the legality of his "Liberty Dollar" program.  If he'd actually been doing something illegal, they would've arrested him much sooner.

But, the fact remained that regardless of whether von NotHaus was acting legally or illegally, he was messing with the fiat monetary system, so, under the fundamental rule of modern American government, he had to go to prison.

In A.D. 2011, he was convicted on several charges including counterfeiting and "domestic terrorism".  (He was no more of a "domestic terrorist" than Captain Kangaroo.  But, as I said, government is virulent in its defense of the fiat dollar.)

After appeals, he was sentenced in A.D. 2014 to six months' house arrest and three years' probation.  I'm still amazed that his sentence was so lenient.  Six months house arrest? I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd been sentenced to 20 years.  However, even though his actual sentence was almost trivial, von NotHaus will have spent a decade of his life fighting the government for the "crime" of minting silver "medallions" that could be used as money.  Ten years fighting is a price few of us can afford to pay.

Despite von NotHaus' short sentence, the fundamental rule of American politics (mess with the fiat monetary system and go to prison) still seemed to remain intact.  Ok-maybe you wouldn't necessarily go to prison, but you'd still probably be ruined.

For those who doubt the validity of the "rule" I'd discovered, consider the fates of Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Libya's Muammar Gaddafi:

* In A.D. 2001 Hussein started selling Iraqi crude oil for euros rather than "petro-dollars". He thereby threatened the fiat dollar's international hegemony. In A.D. 2003, the US military invaded Iraq under the pretext of seeking "Weapons of Mass Destruction"-which were never found. No matter. The US military subsequently killed over 100,000 Iraqis and destroyed the Iraqi nation and economy. Saddam Hussein was captured, tried under some pretext or another and hanged by the neck until dead in A.D. 2006.

I have no doubt that the A.D. 2003 invasion of Iraq and the subsequent death of Hussein were based on the US government's determination to protect the fiat dollar at any cost.

* In A.D. 2010, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi announced plans to establish a new, single currency that would serve all of the nations of Africa. That new currency would be backed by gold.

In A.D. 2011, a purported "civil war" erupted in Libya that ultimately caused Gaddafi to be captured and killed by inserting a large knife up his rectum.

To understand Gaddafi's death, you need to recall that Gaddafi had overthrown the existing government of Libya in A.D. 1969 when Libya was the poorest country in all of Africa. Under Gaddafi's leadership, by the time of the "civil war" in 2011, Libya had become the single wealthiest nation in Africa. Given that incredible improvement in the Libyan people's standard of living in just over 40 years, what are the chances that a legitimate "civil war" erupted in Libya?

I have no doubt that the A.D. 2011 Libyan "civil war" and Gaddafi's subsequent assassination were inspired by the Powers That Be to send another reminder that anyone who threatens the world's fiat monetary system-and especially the fiat dollar-would be quickly dispatched to Hell.

The "rule" against messing with the fiat dollar wasn't merely applicable in the US-it is enforced globally.

*  Then, last month, the government of The State of Texas passed a new law authorizing the establishment of the Texas Gold Bullion Depository and the "repatriation" of $1 billion in Texas gold from the New York Federal Reserve's vault to the nascent Texas Depository.

More, this new Bullion Depository would allow ordinary men and women to deposit gold into their own Depository accounts and use that gold to pay their bills to others who had similar accounts. (see, Texas Gold Bullion Depository Implications)

Holy mackerel!  Texas is on the verge or reinstating a constitutional, gold-based monetary system!

I'm shocked (shocked, I tell you!), and I'm amazed . . . and delighted.

I'm also concerned that, under the "fundamental rule" (those who mess with the fiat money system go to prison or the grave), Texas Governor Greg Abbott might get himself shot by a "lone gunman". 

Texas is no chump, but it is violating what I've viewed as the ultimate rule.  Texas is messing with the fiat dollar.  If the examples of Hussein and Gaddafi are to be believed, that shouldn't be allowed.

I was amazed that Texas would dare to do so.

I've also been expecting to see retribution against Governor Abbott or other proponents of the Gold Bullion Depository bill when the "rule" is enforced by the Federal Reserve, the federal government or a lone gunman.

All by itself, the Texas Gold Bullion Depository story strikes me as one of the most important developments of A.D. 2015. If nothing else happens for the rest of this year, that's one extraordinary story.

*  But. Only two weeks after Texas legalized its Gold Bullion Depository-China announced that the Shanghai Gold Exchange is planning to establish:

". . . a new physical gold price mechanism by the end of the year that will compete with London and the U.S. Comex.  Expected to be denominated in Yuan, this new gold price platform comes less than 10 days after China became the first Asian country invited to be a part of the London gold fix, and unlike the U.S. Comex, will deal in direct physical gold sales rather than in paper futures and derivative contracts."

"When the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) opened in 2014, it set out to usurp the West's control over gold and their pricing of gold through the paper markets. And in less than a year, the SGE has created the world's largest gold fund, and is now ready to take over pricing and price discovery for the monetary metal. In fact, sources claim that right now premiums on large sales of gold bullion are ranging as high as $600 over the current paper spot price."

Ohh-Em-Gee!  Ohh-Em-Gee!! 

If China is going to set the price of physical gold "by the end of the year," that means that within six months, the London gold fix and Comex will no longer be able to completely manipulate the global price of physical gold with paper-gold debt-instruments.   Within the next five months, the price of physical gold should increase dramatically and the value of the paper dollar will be correspondingly reduced.

Reportedly, gold in large quantities is already selling at the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) for $600/ounce more than the price of "paper gold" seen on Comex and the London Gold Fix.  That's over 50% higher than the current price of paper gold that we have from the New York and London.

Fifty percent!

Already!

That means that while a ton of paper gold sells for $1,200 per ounce in the US, a ton of physical gold is already selling for $1,800 per ounce in China.  How long before that price for tons in China applies to the price for kilos and then to ounces in the US?  How long before that $600/ounce premium moves from China to the US?

If physical gold in China is already priced 50% higher than paper gold in the US, what do you think will happen to the price of physical gold once the SGE's new "price mechanism" actually goes into effect in the next few months?

I won't argue that the price of physical gold will double by the end of this year.  But it could.

I will argue that, if the SGE is allowed to set the physical price of gold before the end of A.D. 2015, the current price of physical gold will quite probably double by the 4th of July in A.D. 2016.

If China sets the price of physical gold, they'll be letting the genii out of the bottle, the toothpaste out of the tube.  For the past decade, the price of gold has been suppressed like a beach ball held underwater in a pool. If China is allowed to set the price of physical gold, that price is about to be released and come shooting up out of the water like an SLBM (Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile)!

If you have any plans to buy your spouse a gold watch or gold necklace for Christmas, you'd better buy it now because you might not be able to afford it by the first of next December.

The prospect of seeing the price of physical gold determined by a free market in China rather than a manipulated "paper-gold" market in New York is exciting.  Inspirational.

* Despite my glee about gold, I'm beginning to wonder if the primary rule ("protect the fiat dollar at any cost") is still in effect.  Texas is about to set up a Gold Bullion Depository.  China is about to establish a market price for physical gold.  All that's great for gold but poses a mortal threat to fiat dollars.

Will the federal government allow Texas and China to threaten the almighty fiat dollar?  Or, are we about to see some sort of extraordinary reaction from the feds against Texas and, in the unlikely extreme, war against China?

I'm not predicting that the US will go to war with China to prevent the SGE from setting the price of physical gold so high that the dollar is inflated, devalued and perhaps even hyper-inflated into oblivion.  But I am predicting that if the US doesn't do something dramatic, and soon, to regain control over the price of physical gold, then over the course of the next twelve months, the purchasing power of the fiat dollar will suffer its biggest loss in your and my lifetimes.

*  And then-just two weeks after the Texas and Chinese announcements-Mish Shedlock announced on his Global Economic Analysis website that it would soon be possible to buy, sell and store gold through a product called "BitGold". Your physical gold would be stored in a Brink's facility and could, ultimately, be used to buy and sell with a debit card.

The BitGold product is not for me.  According to the Shedlock article, BitGold is only for "US residents" and "residents of US territories".  I've been a student of the law for over 30 years and I'm extremely wary of the terms "US," "resident" and "territory" and will not voluntarily associate myself with those labels. (I prefer the terms "The United States of America," "people," and States of the Union")

Therefore, BitGold is not for me.

Even so, BitGold is big.  It makes von NotHaus' attempts to restore constitutional money look trivial.  BitGold is allegedly backed by $40 million-$21 million of which came in just the last month or so.  This isn't crowdfunding.  This is big money coming in from investors who are at least multi-millionaires and expect BitGold to generate big profits.

BitGold is more than an intriguing concept.  It's probably the single biggest private threat to the fiat dollar since the Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market back in A.D. 1979.

BitGold has financial backing.  It will almost certainly attract significant public support.  In doing so, BitGold will threaten the power and dominance of the fiat monetary system.

BitGold won't destroy the fiat dollar, but it will degrade it-and it will open the door for similar products which will also work to degrade the fiat dollar.

But what about the primary "rule" that those who mess with the fiat monetary system, go to prison?   Has that rule been suspended?  Overturned?  Abandoned?  If not, will BitGold be able to evade that rule?

We'll see. But, for now, I'm skeptical about BitGold's survivability.  I'd bet that there's a 30% probability that BitGold will be indicted, charged, etc. under some pretext by the feds.

* I doubt that the federal government can stop the Shanghai Gold Exchange from setting the price of physical gold without going to war. I doubt that our government really wants war with China.

Texas isn't a foreign country, but it's as close to being one as any other State in the Union.  The feds might be able to slow construction of the Texas Gold Bullion Depository, but I doubt that they can stop it.

BitGold is another matter.  BitGold is private. There's no foreign government or state government involved to any significant degree.  There's just a handful of rich guys who may have a little more money than they know what to do with and apparently don't know the "rule" (those who mess with fiat monetary system go to prison).

If the feds are going to enforce the "rule," BitGold is the most likely target.

On the other hand, if the feds aren't going to enforce the rule, the fiat dollar is dead.

Regardless of whether BitGold's principals get fabulously wealthy or sent to the pen, they're setting an example that will be copied and probably improved on by other groups of entrepreneurs who have $100 million or even $500 million to invest.  (Maybe they'll even let members of the "people of The United States of America" participate-not just "US residents".)

My point is that BitGold is the third big leaf in the breeze that-win, lose or draw-is pointing towards the restoration of physical gold as money within the United States.    Physical gold may not soon become "the money" in the sense of being "the only money" in the US.  But it seems probable that physical gold is about to be recognized as "a money"-in the sense of being a legal, viable, recognized alternative to fiat dollars.

All of which bodes ill for the fiat dollar.

*  In just the one month of June, I've seen Texas announce plans to build a Texas Gold Bullion Depository, China announce that it would soon set the price of physical gold, and BitGold announce plans to set up a system for buying, selling, and, ultimately, paying your debts with physical gold in the US.

If the "ultimate rule" I've described is real, and I saw just one of those three events take place in a year, I'd say gold was making great progress.  Seeing all three of those announcements in less than a month is too fast for me to grasp and may be too fast for government to resist.

Whether that "rule" actually exists is debatable. Whether there'll be any attempt to enforce the "rule" is debatable.  The feds might give it one last try, but I suspect that everyone involved knows that the fiat dollar game is just about over.

I'm hearing the "clickety-click" of dominoes that aren't just falling, but falling faster and faster.

It's not just the number of events impacting gold that are impressive.  It's the velocity at which those events they are occurring.   If the "rule" was ever real, then something has broken.  Something fundamental has changed.  The Fed/fed "system" is on the verge of losing control of the price of physical gold. If so, gold is breaking free.

The next six to twelve months may constitute the ride of our lives.  That ride will be exciting but it won't necessarily be fun. It could be scary.

I think gold is a metal whose time has finally come . . .or, in the alternative, Texas and/or China and/or BitGold are headed for big trouble.

The decline of US power?

 

Nick Bryant
New York correspondent

 

Standing on the Washington Mall at the turn of the new millennium, it was impossible not to be struck by America's power and global pre-eminence.

Victory in the Cold War made it the hegemon in a unipolar world.

 

Few argued when the 20th Century was dubbed the "American Century", a term first coined in the early 1940s when the country was still overcoming its isolationist instincts.

Even the New Year's fireworks, which illuminated the obelisk of the Washington Monument in a way that made it resemble a giant number one, projected the country's supremacy as the world's sole superpower.

 

Over the past 15 years, America's fortunes have changed with dizzying speed.

 

First came the tremors: the dot-com bust and a disputed presidential election in 2000. Then came the massive convulsions: the destruction of the Twin Towers in 2001 and the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

 

Long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have exacted an enormous blood price - the lives of 6,852 American military personnel - not to mention immense financial expense, estimated to be as high as $6 trillion (Ł3.9tn).


The detention centre at Guantanamo Bay has undermined American ideals, just as the NSA and Wikileaks spying scandals have undercut American diplomacy.

 

George W Bush, a president with a Manichean worldview, was widely seen as over-eager to project America's military might, without adequately considering the long-term consequences.

 

Barack Obama, who campaigned in 2008 on a platform of extricating America from its unpopular and exhausting wars, has drawn criticism for disengaging too much.

 

Under both presidents - the first an impulsive unilateralist, the second an instinctive multilateralist content sometimes to lead from behind - America's global standing has been diminished.

Lost fear factor

Polls regularly show that Americans recognise that their country's international standing has waned.


Among the young, this trendline has fallen sharply. Only 15% of 18-29-year-olds believe that America is the "greatest country in the world", according to Pew, down from 27% in 2011.

Tellingly, however, there has been no great public outcry.

No longer is there much appetite for America playing its long-standing role of global policeman, even in the face of the rise of the group calling itself Islamic State.

The cost, human and financial, is considered too great. Americans increasingly think that other countries should share the burden.

 

Obama, while continuing to trumpet "American exceptionalism", regularly prefaces remarks on foreign affairs by acknowledging the limits of US power, again with little public outcry.

 

America's reluctance to launch new military actions has also had a major bearing on the nuclear negotiations with Iran

The upshot is that the United States is no longer so keen to exert leadership in an increasingly messy world.

Yet one of the reasons why the world has become so disorderly is because America is no longer so active in imposing order.

Over the course of this century Washington has lost its fear factor.

Ignoring the White House


World leaders nowadays seem prepared to provoke the wrath of the White House, confident that it will never rain down on them.

 

It explains why the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, after unleashing chemical weapons against his people, continues to bombard them with barrel bombs.

 

Why Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea, and also offered a safe haven for the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

And also why Benjamin Netanyahu thumbed his nose at the Obama administration, by accepting an invitation from the Republican congressional leadership to address a joint session of Congress, a platform he used to lambast the Iran nuclear deal.

 

Assad's flouting of American warnings is especially noteworthy.

In killing so many civilians with chemical weapons, he flagrantly crossed the "red line" imposed by Obama, but escaped punishment.

 

The president was unwilling to carry through on an explicit threat, in what was the biggest foreign policy climbdown of his presidency and also one of the most significant in the past 50 years.

 

Even supporters of Barack Obama believe he made a fatal strategic mistake, because it demonstrated endless flexibility and a lack of American resolve.

Needless to say, despots around the world took note.

 

Weak hand

America's reluctance to launch new military actions has also had a major bearing on the nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Tehran has managed to extract notable concessions, such as the ongoing ability to enrich uranium, hitherto ruled out by the Americans.

 

Obama recognizes intellectually that he could do far more in terms of massaging the egos of world leaders, but cannot quite bring himself to do so.

 

It has played a weak hand strongly, because it knows that America has what the foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman calls "an empty holster".

Nor is it just America's enemies who no longer fear the White House to the extent they once did.

 

In recent months, two close allies, Britain and Australia, have defied the Obama administration by joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

By signing up to the AIIB, they are effectively endorsing Beijing's effort to establish financial rivals to the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), which are dominated by America.

 

Ambiguous language

By seeking improved commercial and diplomatic relations with China, Britain and Australia are also hedging.

They suspect that America will not be the dominant Pacific military power indefinitely, nor the world's foremost economic powerhouse.

 

Other American allies would complain that the "dependability factor" has also gone.

Israel feels badly let down by the Obama administration over the Iran deal, and relations between Benjamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama are poisonous.

 

The president, by using deliberately ambiguous language, has even signalled that his administration might end its traditional protection of Israel at the United Nations.

Like Israel, Saudi Arabia has been enraged by the prospective nuclear deal with the Iranians.

 

Riyadh also knows that America is no longer so dependent on its oil, the cornerstone of the relationship since the end of World War Two.

 

Egypt was angered in 2012 when Obama said Cairo was neither an ally nor an enemy.

Later, the State Department issued an embarrassing correction, and reinstated Cairo as a "major non-Nato ally."

 

No massaging

Maybe Obama's Egyptian error, and the slight it conveyed, was truly a Freudian slip.

After all, he hasn't invested the same energy nurturing alliances as his predecessors. The detached air that has been a hallmark of his presidency also extends to foreign affairs.

 

America's diplomacy has also been complicated by the dysfunction and hyper-partisanship in Washington

 

Here, I gather, Obama recognizes intellectually that he could do far more in terms of massaging the egos of world leaders, but cannot quite bring himself to do so.

Indeed, a common complaint is that the Obama administration has prioritised normalising relations with its one-time enemies, Iran and Cuba, at the expense of fostering longstanding friendships.

Realising that America is no longer so supportive, and no longer so engaged in the Middle East, the Saudis have recently taken military action of their own in Yemen.

There's also been a warming of relations between Riyadh and Moscow.

And Egypt launched airstrikes in February against the Islamic State group in Libya.

America's standing in the Middle East has unquestionably waned, along with its ability to shape events.

 

Unexpected stats

More surprising has been its slippage in Africa, Obama's ancestral home, and Asia, the focus of his much vaunted pivot.

 

In Asia, America's median approval rating in 2014, as measured by Gallup, was 39%, a 6% drop since 2011.

In Africa, the median approval went down to 59%, the lowest since polling began, despite Obama hosting the US-Africa Leaders' Summit in Washington in August, last year.

It even dropped in Kenya, his father's birthplace.

 

America's diplomacy has also been complicated by the dysfunction and hyper-partisanship in Washington.

Republican lawmakers actively sought to derail the Iran nuclear deal by sending a letter to the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

 

President or Congress?

House speaker John Boehner invited Netanyahu to address Congress, knowing it would infuriate the White House.

 

Democrats with reservations about free trade have tried to sabotage the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the biggest trade deal since Nafta.

 

There's also been strong congressional opposition to one of the big plays of Obama's second term, the rapprochement with Cuba.

 

Should countries listen to the president or Congress?

America cannot even lay claim any more to its great, uncontested boast since 1872, of being the world's largest economy.

 

The IMF now estimates that China's economy is fractionally bigger.

 

Yet it would be a mistake to exaggerate the downsizing of American influence.

 

US military spending continues to dwarf its rivals, and up until last year amounted to more than the next 10 countries combined.

 

In 2014, America spent $731bn, compared to China's $143bn.

 

Even though China's economy is now larger, America's per capita spending power is in a different league - $53,000 to $11,868.

 

Though America is contending with the rise of the rest - China, India, Brazil, Germany and Russia - it has not yet been overtaken by emergent rivals.

 

Indeed, there are foreign policy thinkers here who predict that America will preserve its pre-eminence for at least another 20 years.

 

Yet the unipolar moment ushered in by the fall of the Berlin Wall has proved to be just that: momentary.

Moreover, hopes of a new world order following the collapse of the Soviet Union have given way to widespread pessimism about the spread, even the contagion, of global disorder.

 

Gone are the certainties of America's Cold War thinking, when the containment of communism governed its international actions.

 

Gone are the doctrines that gave US foreign policy such a rigid frame, throughout the Cold War and in the aftermath of 9/11.

 

Gone, too, is the notion that every fight is an American fight and along with it a redefinition of what constitutes the US national interest.

 

Barack Obama has instead advocated pragmatism and diplomatic dexterity, trying to steer a path between America being overextended and undercommitted.

 

Maybe the overriding challenge for US diplomacy over the next 20 years is to strike the proper balance.

HEALTH

Minerals Matter

 

by Herbalist Wendy Wilson

 

 

We hear a lot about how important protein, vitamins and antioxidants are to our health. Sometimes we hear about how important minerals are. Without the proper minerals we can experience imbalances and malfunction anywhere in our body. The cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, muscular, skeletal, immune, hormonal and nervous system all rely on minerals to function. One major important fact to remember is if you intend to beef up your minerals be aware that they like to work synergistically with other minerals and nutrients. When minerals are taken in supplement mega doses we can create an imbalance and deficiencies. A good example of a mineral imbalance is psychological malfunction which affect neurotransmitters and hormones. One major way to deplete your minerals other than a poor diet is relying on prescription medication. Let's take a look at how we can improve our overall wellbeing with organic minerals.

 

DRUGS & MINERALS

As mentioned, prescription drugs can deplete the system of important minerals which support the metabolism. Before you know it you can have a myriad of health problems such as leaky gut or depression. Drugs are not meant to be used long-term or we run the risk of mineral depletion and mal-absorption issues. Here is an example of what can happen when using drugs:

 

"After my life-threatening accident, the prescription drugs that saved my life almost took it, and left me with multiple chemical sensitivities, leaky gut syndrome, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. Whenever I consumed a mineral or calcium replacement my right eye would "flutter" or "twitch" to the point where it caused me great concern-not to mention the annoyance. I had developed mal-absorption from a damaged intestinal tract caused by leaky gut syndrome, clinically known as intestinal permeability. My body was not able to utilize the supplements and was storing them in unsafe amounts-also contributing to excruciating leg cramps and widespread muscle pain." Gloria Gilbčre, ND

 

"The truth is that every medication, including over-the-counter drugs, depletes your body of specific, vital nutrients." Hyla Cass, MD and author of Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutrition.

 

According to Dr. Cass, the mainstream drugs most Americans take that cause significant nutrient depletion are; blood pressure medications (Beta blockers), diuretics, drugs for congestive heart failure, cholesterol (statin) drugs, antacids (acid blockers proton pump inhibitors), antihistamines, diabetic drugs, antidepressants, hormone replacement drugs, and antibiotics. 

 

NERVOUS SYSTEM MINERALS

Minerals assist the central nervous system in relaying signals and improving conductivity of signals throughout the body. When patients on chemotherapy experience "brain fog" it must be due to the massive mineral depletion and blocked mineral absorption from the treatment. Without the proper mineral content there is a blockage between the minerals, electrolytes and the electrical charge in the nervous system for proper never impulses.

 

"Minerals are the spark plugs of life because they are required to activate hundreds of enzyme reactions within the body. Plants manufacture vitamins and minerals are taken from the soil." Dr. David Watts

 

THE BIG FOUR

The minerals most of us are familiar with are calcium, phosphorus, potassium and sodium. Our bodies require that we maintain several pounds of these minerals for proper function.

Calcium - calcium is necessary for bone health of course and for all connective tissue; tendons, ligaments, muscle and skin. Calcium helps to transmit nerve impulses and muscle cramps can occur when there is a lack of adequate calcium. Organic calcium will also help with the absorption of other nutrients, with blood clots and help the heart muscle. Some diets can push up the phosphorus level too high and prevent normal calcium levels. To prevent that problem avoid soda (elevates phosphorus levels), diets with lots of meats and food additives or preservatives.

Phosphorus - we find in our bones, teeth, blood as well as our cells. Our body must have phosphorus to carry out many metabolism functions such as dealing with fat, protein and carbohydrates. This all works out to supplying the body with the proper energy and the regulating and storage of nutrition for muscles, hormones and nerve impulses. Without phosphorus your body has a difficult time using B vitamins properly and maintaining the proper pH.

Counter regulating - the calcium and phosphorus need to be in a healthy balance and they influence each other. If you analyze bone material you will find the ratio is two parts calcium and one part phosphorus. Vegetables and herbs which have these elements will be in perfect balance. An imbalance of these two minerals creates weak bones.

Potassium & Sodium- is necessary to help prevent a buildup of waste material in the system. It also helps to control acids and protect the pH level. Processed foods have been stripped away many of the nutrients to extend the shelf life. Unfortunately devitalized foods do not extend your life. The body requires ten times more potassium than sodium and chemical supplements usually don't provide proper nutrient ratios. If we are low in potassium or sodium we can have edema or dehydration, heart failure, fatigue, weak immunity, brittle bones, high blood pressure, muscle pain, weakness and cancer.

 

ENERGY MINERALS

The body must have a minimum of these three minerals in order for the body to feel energized; zinc, selenium and iodine. These three have a role to play in securing a healthy functioning thyroid gland. If you have an abundance of these minerals there is very little need for caffeine or energy drinks.

 

GENERAL GUIDE

There are too many junk supplements on the market to mention but you will know if your supplement is not working because there are some familiar symptoms of mineral deficiency such as; concentration problems, memory problems, muscle cramps, allergies, chemical sensitivities, frequent colds and flu and improper muscle movement. When you do organ cleansing it will be important to refortify the body with a whole food supplement as you can lose some vitamin and mineral content with your cleanse to remove toxins.

 

WHOLE IS BEST

When you get your minerals in whole foods or whole food supplements you will be getting a 100% bioavailable substance - a proper balance. Some call this the "whole food matrix" of nutrition. With your whole food sources you will also get the proper percentage of other nutrients such as; magnesium, copper, zinc, iron, chromium, selenium, silicon and boron to name a few. This means you will not require mega doses in order to acquire proper mineral balance in the system. The chemical mineral supplements made with petro chemicals or isolated nutrients are recommended to be used in mega doses to try to mimic the action of the organic minerals. However, the organic, whole-food versions will also have the other minerals and nutrients for absorption and proper utilization which the chemical mineral supplements cannot provide. The risk will be high that when using chemical supplements a mineral imbalance will be quickly achieved. 

 

WHERE TO GO?

People are bombarded with advertising for many supplement products and it can be work to find the right ones. If the product is made from organic foods and are not chemical derivatives (isolated nutrients) then you'll do much better with these. They will have the other uptake nutrients found with the original mineral source. You'll be amazed at the difference because your body responds very quickly to whole food nutrition. I found that eating organic foods makes a big difference. If I add whole food supplements I can feel a bigger difference. Call Apothecary Herbs and ask about their Body Foundation Food (plant powder mix) full of minerals, vitamins, amino acids and proteins found naturally in these plants. Also ask about their Calcium plant liquid, Heart formula and Celtic Sea salt (sun dried with 84 natural micro minerals). Call now to order 866-229-3663, International 704-885-0277 http://www.thepowerherbs.com, if you're serious about herbs you need Apothecary Herbs. Check out their new "herb coupons button" and save. 

 

Sources:

http://wellandgood.com/2012/03/08/three-must-have-minerals-for-more-energy/

http://nutritionreview.org/2013/04/practical-guide-avoiding-drug-induced-nutrient-depletion/

http://www.totalhealthmagazine.com/Vitamins-and-Supplements/Minerals-The-Body-s-Electrical-System.html

 

COMING UP ON HERB TALK LIVE

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 at Apothecary Herbs www.thepowerherbs.com

 

 

MORE HERB SECRETS IN THE POWER HERBS e-BOOK. By popular demand The Power Herbs e-book is available with symptom/herb reference guide, information on organ cleansing and how to make your own herbal tinctures plus a whole lot more. Go to http://www.thepowerherbs.com/Books-And-Newsletters/The-Power-Herbs-e-Book-cleansing-immune-boosting.html and click on Books. You must have email to order and receive the e-book a PDF version of The Power Herb book for just $14.99. At this time, we do not offer this title in hard copy. COMING SOON, THIS BOOK IN KINDLE AND IPAD FORMATS.


 

 

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Try Dandelion Root Tincture for inflammation, blood purification, respiratory infections, digestion and cancer protection at http://www.thepowerherbs.com/herb/Dandelion-Inflammation-Blood-Purifier.html

 

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