El libro que yo nunca escribí - Long Overdue -

Corría el infausto año 2001 cuando tuve la suerte y el placer de conocer a Enrique Freire, co-autor, junto con Frank G. Rubio, del libro 'Protocolos para un Apocalipsis'. Enseguida nos reconocimos mutuamente como se reconocen dos seres humanos fingiendo no ser tales para así poder sobrevivir entre los escombros de un mundo invadido por una marea de vainas doppelgänger extraterrestres.

 

Fue en 2001 precisamente cuando 'Protocolos para un Apocalipsis' comenzó a gestarse en la mente de sus autores, aunque no vería la luz hasta unos 10 años más tarde, que es cuando yo tuve noticia de su publicación.

 

Desde aquella fecha fue que me comprometí a escribir una reseña sobre el libro, no se siendo culpa de la calidad de éste ultimo, sino de la capacidad procrastinadora del autor de estas líneas, que éstas hayan tenido que esperar hasta ahora para ver la luz. De hecho es justamente lo contrario: una prueba de la vigencia y actualidad de la obra: Sandy Hook, reciente atentado de la marathon de Boston, ataques a la soberanía de Siria, amenazas de y a Corea del norte, Crisis económica crónica, no son más que cenizas de la deflagración mundial mordazmente descrita por Frank G. Rubio y Enrique Freire. Es gracias a su vigencia, precisamente, que pueda reseñarlo ahora, con tanto retraso pero sin más sonrojo que el causado por mi propia dejadez.

 

Pero no solo eso. Muchos me habéis pedido y/o sugerido, a lo largo de comentarios en varias entradas, que escriba un libro y yo os aseguro, sin descartar del todo la posibilidad de que algún día me decida a ello, que si lo hiciera,  jamás alcanzaría la calidad, profundidad y estilo de 'Protocolos para un Apocalipsis', y eso sería sin alejarme ni un milímetro de la misma línea de pensamiento de sus autores.

Para los que estén interesados en adquirir un ejemplar pulsad aquí.

Extraído de "El País"

Apple, diez problemas y una única solución

http://tecnologia.elpais.com/tecnologia/2013/04/19/actualidad/1366392032_817315.html

 

8. O popular o exclusivo Apple siempre ganó dinero. Ese no es el problema. Ganaba incluso cuando solo vendía un ordenador al 3% del mercado. Su triple revolución (iPod-iPhone-iPad) le sumó al estrellato tecnológico, que ya poseía, el del consumo. Fue la primera compañía mundial por su valor en bolsa. También consiguió la popularidad mundial; pero una mayoría nunca puede pensar diferente, como dice su eslogan. La diferencia, por principio, tiene que ser minoritaria. No se puede pretender a la vez poseer popularidad y exclusividad. O masa o élite. Hay que elegir uno de los dos caminos. Es muy difícil manejar las dos líneas a la vez, como lo intenta Armani y Armani Basic. Quizás sin quererlo, el banco de inversión JP Morgan ha encontrado la solución. El único que ha dado un informe favorable sobre Apple en las últimas semanas, señala que la empresa tiene tanto dinero en la caja que podría montar otra Apple. ¡Ummmm! ¿Quizás una Apple Eco?

"Real Estate never goes down", lol, like a golden Déjà vu...

But sure, listen to the other idiots, Alex Jones et alii; take the advice from the very agents that promoted the housing bubble and then wait to see what happens next. There is no free meal, there are no fucking shortcuts. When will you learn, you idiots, GOLD is NOT SCARCE, IT WAS MADE LOOK LIKE IT WAS SCARCE.


Breaking news for you, goldfingers!

(Reuters) - The price of gold bullion tumbled another $125 per ounce on Monday in its biggest-ever daily loss, as investors liquidated bullish bets en masse after months of disappointment over the performance of the precious metal.
In percentage terms, Monday's 9 percent loss would be the biggest since 1983 and was almost double the loss on Friday. Commodities fell across the board, but few as hard as gold, which hit a two-year low, and silver which plunged 11 percent.

Bullion's collapse caught many veteran investors, who see gold as portfolio protection against inflation and other market risks, by surprise. Monday's drop eclipsed the rout on January 22, 1980, a day after gold hit its then-record $850 on global panic over oil-led inflation due to Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and the Iranian revolution.

There have been no sudden changes in the macro economic argument for gold in the last week, although numerous factors have kept gold from rising this year while investments like U.S. stocks took off.

While last week's news that the Central bank of Cyprus might sell gold reserves to finance its European Union bank bailout did trigger a rush for the exits when bullion slid below the pivotal $1,500 an ounce threshold, few saw it likely to usher in a round of other official disposals.

"The pressure from proposed sale of Cyprus gold is one of the factors, and once one of them start they all run from the hen house," said Robert Richardson, senior account executive and trading officer at Canadian broker-dealer W.D. Latimer Co. Ltd.

The big question is whether gold has entered a lasting bear market after 12 years of consecutive yearly gains. Gold hit the lowest price since February 2011 and has now almost halved its rally since the 2008 economic crisis, leaving the metal around $550 below its record high of $1,920.30 set in September 2011.

It is down 30 percent from that high well in excess of the 20 percent considered a bear market milestone.

Recent signs that Fed officials appeared to be nearing a decision to start winding down their bond purchases to end stimulus contributed to the negative tone for gold, even though inflation has failed to materialize as feared during its rounds of post-financial crisis quantitative easing.

Spot gold dropped as low as $1,336.04 an ounce before recovering slightly to $1,347.29 by 4:31 p.m. EST (1931 GMT), down 8.9 percent, its biggest single percentage fall since 1983.

U.S. futures for June delivery settled down $140.30 at $1,361.10. Trading volume hit a record high exceeding 700,000 lots, almost quadruple the 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed.

Gold recouped losses a bit when news of two explosions hit the Boston Marathon late Monday afternoon, killing at least two people and injuring 23. The metal, however, fell further in late trade.

The exodus from bullion hit broader commodity and financial markets. U.S. stocks posted their worst day since November due in part to losses in commodity-related stocks. But Monday's selloff in the Dow Jones industrial stock average came days after stock indexes hit record highs.

Disappointing Chinese economic data earlier on Monday simply gave investors another excuse to slash holdings as U.S. equities and other key industrial commodities including oil and copper fell.

FUND LIQUIDATION WEIGHS

Liquidation came from all quarters, including exchange-traded funds, speculators and even physical bullion owners in China and India, the world's largest bullion markets, said David Govett, head of precious metals at Marex Spectron in London.

"This is a market that has only got one thing on its mind ... get me out," he said.

Plummeting prices took their toll on shares of gold mining companies, as Canada's Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO), the world's biggest gold producer, slid 10 percent.

On Monday, hedge fund manager John Burbank, a long-time investor in gold, said the recent sharp selloff in bullion came as a surprise to many investors as some economic improvement and declining commodity prices took their toll.

Investors cut exposure to gold, with total holdings at the world's major bullion gold-backed exchange-traded-funds falling to their lowest since early 2012.

Traders also cited liquidation by prominent hedge funds in gold exchange traded funds, especially the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD.P), which was one of the most-active trading U.S. stocks. The gold ETF posted a record monthly outflow in February.

Paulson & Co, run by billionaire financier John Paulson and by far the biggest shareholder in SPDR Gold, told clients earlier this month its gold fund suffered double-digit losses during the first quarter.

The reversal of yen carry trades, in which investors borrowed cheaply in the Japanese currency to reinvest the money in higher yield assets, also led to some gold selling as the yen rebounded from a four-year low against the dollar.

Jewelers in New York slashed prices and shoppers sought out potential bargains.

Retail investors scooped up gold coins at lower prices, Ray Nessim, CEO of major U.S. coin dealer Manfra, Tordella & Brookes told Reuters.

Among other precious metals, silver was down 11.8 percent to $22.81 an ounce. Palladium dropped 7.8 percent to $652.72, while platinum was down 6 percent at $1,396.24, on the verge of entering a bear market, or 20 percent off from its recent high set earlier this year. 4:31 PM EST LAST/ NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT

SETTLE CHNG CHNG VOL US Gold JUN 1361.10-140.30 -9.3 1335.10 1495.00 657,904 US Silver MAY 23.361 -2.970 -11.3 22.535 26.045 192,837 US Plat JUL 1424.80 -71.10 -4.8 1397.10 1488.00 27,448 US Pall JUN 667.00 -42.10 -5.9 652.45 709.85 13,637

Gold 1347.29-131.06 -8.9 1338.26 1495.16 Silver 22.810 -3.040 -11.8 22.600 26.080 Platinum 1396.24 -88.76 -6.0 1400.50 1485.50 Palladium 652.72 -55.28 -7.8 655.77 704.00

TOTAL MARKET VOLUME 30-D ATM VOLATILITY

CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG CURRENT CHG US Gold 704,637 184,473 173,074 23.7 6.06 US Silver 227,619 45,433 52,451 25.97 5.30 US Platinum 27,819 15,029 11,876 19.53 5.21 US Palladium 13,690 4,727 5,261

(Additional report by Lewa Pardomuan and Manolo Serapio Jn in Singapore; editing by Alden Bentley)

"So perfect you'd hardly think they were made by humans" lol!

A Universe made for and by men. Your subjective brain is preventing you from understanding a simple fact, the fact that dimensions are irrelevant; there is no big the same as there is no small. A computer can generate a quasi-infinite space which it will eventually populate with simulated living beings. Whether you believe that a mere human was able to trick you into this "Matrix" of deception, is also irrelevant. All complaints must be forwarded to your creator, the "Great" Wizard of Oz, the Big Brother, the All-Seeing Eye, Hashem, The Architect, and so on and so forth, for He is the one who devised you as a sheep and He did such thing purely for his own amusement. The joke is on you, matey!