Holy shi'ite!

TEVA near bankruptcy!  Owes 36 billion dollars! We are putting all our hopes in the hands of one Dane, Mr Schultz.

Metamphetamine Pipe

The clip where we see Hillary Clinton fainting and being thrown to the van like a sack of potatoes was the pivotal moment when his candidacy died. I felt it immediately and wrote about it in my former blog. Now it appears that the Democratic Party felt the same but at that point it lacked the balls to present another candidate.

Now they say that the propaganda about her health (Parkinson) was "fake news" originated in the Russian Secret Service. The pic apparently shows a metamphetamine pipe. I never saw one and I cannot judge if it is "real". I do not know, she seemed really frail. If it was Russian propaganda, it certainly was very effective. The bottom line seems to be that her political program was irrelevant, her lack of vitality vs Trump's natural exuberance decided the issue. 

Quark fusion bomb

Prof Marek Karliner from Tel Aviv University calculated the energy released by the fusion of two quarks, and it is greater than the fusion of two hydrogen atoms (the H bomb). He says that the discovery has no military application.

The same was said of Einstein's theory a hundred years ago.  I give fifteen years till the first quark bomb explodes in space.

Kissi Penny Code

Bloomberg says that the total worth the crypto tokens has passed the 100 billion dollars. What do I think?

“I know that once upon a time, a coin was worth $5 if it had $5 worth of gold in it,” Blankfein said. “Now we have paper that is just backed by fiat ... maybe in the new world, something gets backed by consensus.” I think he is wrong, consensus i.e. public opinion, is fickle and cannot for the basis of a monetary system.

The crypto will start to be a serious currency the moment that a stable, reliable bank or a state will exchange the token for "real money" - dollars or better, gold. If a Swiss Bank announces that it will exchange bitcoins for cash dollars or gold coins at a certain rate, that rate will become a basis and people will be able to calculate the risk of variations. A futures market with enforceable contracts would also act to solidify the token.

A solid token would harm the world's government power to manage their currencies. I doubt if they will tolerate it. I also doubt if they can co-ordinate their actions to destroy it. Bottom line: I dont know.

P.S.: In itself, there is nothing exceptional that a block chain is considered money. I wanted to illustrate the concept with a Spartan iron bar money, but none could be found on the net. So the pic shows the kissi penny which was a bundle of small iron bars. One could buy a slave for 300 bundles.

Lykurgus dropped the iron money in vinegar to make it fragile and useless, yet ,most monies had some use. Post stamps were valued by collectors once, cowrie shell could be used in personal decoration. Spartan money was backed by the State. Bitcoins have no use, no one is collecting them, it is backed by nothing.  

Liquidity Fuels Stock Bubble

Every analyst and her cat are warning about the inflation of stock exchange prices. The phenomenon is caused by the availability of cheap money, which is channeled to the stock exchange, because it has shown the fastest growth of all alternatives. Never in human history has been such liquidity anywhere. Gold and silver were always very scarce.

What could cause a reversal of the trend? Higher interest rates? The American Government sucking off money from the economy to pay it debts? How long can this moneymaking machine be maintained? Now the blockchain money inundation is injecting even more liquidity into the economy.


 I would like to be more intelligent to solve this conundrum. Maybe I should drink more.


Ancient Greek drinking games.

“Genoeg is genoeg.”

This Monday was Black Monday in South Africa. No, it was not about Black Lives. The boers were protesting the killing of a white farmer and the daily danger of their lives in the countryside.

The government condemned the peaceful protest as "Racist".

I am not a Christian and do not get the meaning of their humble praying position. Are they asking for mercy? Does it work?

China bans crypto token trade

The central bank of China banned banks or financial institutions holding crypto\internet tokens. As much as 90 per cent of transactions worldwide still take place in the country, which also generates roughly one in every two new coins created through mining. On the US exchange Bitstamp, bitcoin currently trades at US$6,095, a record high, after surging 49.2 per cent over the past three months.

I think that the explosive growth of internet token trade and the success of many internet only banks like HUOBI (that exchange currencies and allow deposits, and are planning to provide credit and other financial services) has provoked panic among the state bankers. The token growth is too fast and too big. They would like to stop the world and have a break to think.

Why are people so anxious to possess tokens, that are no more than a digital certificate that they paid legal currency to buy them? Are bitcoins the modern version of tulip bulbs?