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Agora
Financial Reserve - Open Until June 30
A few weeks ago, a young woman, we'll call her 'Jane', was traveling
from Vancouver, British Columbia to meet with us at the DR HQ in Baltimore
to discuss our upcoming documentary.
Thing is, flying from Vancouver to Baltimore is pretty pricey and Jane
had been traveling a good bit in recent weeks. So, to save some money, she
opted to cross the U.S. border via a shuttle bus to take a flight from
Seattle to Baltimore, a much cheaper option.
While this seemed like a no-brainer at the time, Jane soon came to
regret this decision. Being the only Canadian on a bus packed with
American tourists, the U.S. border patrol asked to look through her bag.
Jane complied. Then they informed her that they needed to go through her
day-planner and her laptop. Confused, but knowing she had nothing to hide,
Jane agreed.
The U.S. border patrol then held her in their custody and interrogated
her for hours. Apparently they had found some suspicious items in her
carry-on. No, not a gun...or scissors...or even a lighter. What they found
was - gasp! - three hotel keys in the pockets of her bag.
To make a long story short, the geniuses working the border patrol
decided, based on their "evidence", (the hotel keys, various names of
hotels that she could stay at in Baltimore, and names and phone numbers of
male contacts in her day planner) they could only come to one conclusion:
she was obviously a prostitute.
They eventually googled her and found that Jane had been telling the
truth - that she's a film producer that travels a lot and doesn't always
remember to return hotel keys. Two hours later, Jane was free, armed with
a tale of American bureaucracy at its finest.
While it's a sadly amusing story, it is one that touches on a bigger
problem that we are facing in America right now: we are slowly losing our
civil liberties to things like the Patriot Act and more recently, the
"Real ID Act of 2005."
This past Thursday, the House approved this set of rules that will
force states to issue every adult American citizen an electronic ID card.
The bill was approved by a 261-161 vote.
"Passed without congressional debate as a rider tucked into the 2005
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, the Global War on
Terror and Tsunami Relief," reports Detroit's Metro Times, "the act seeks
to have states drastically overhaul procedures for issuing drivers'
licenses by increasing the amount of documentation required to prove
citizenship or legal residency and boosting the personal information
contained on each card, including the addition of biometric identifiers
such as fingerprints or retinal scans."
As if that wasn't creepy enough, University of Washington School of Law
professor Anita Ramasastry reported in a column for CNN.com, such tags
emit radio frequency signals that would "allow the government to track the
movement of our cards and us."
"Private businesses," Ramasastry adds, "may be able to use remote
scanners to read RFID tags too, and add to the digital dossiers they may
already be compiling. If different merchants combine their data - you can
imagine the sorts of profiles that will develop. And unlike with a grocery
store checkout, we may have no idea the scan is even occurring; no
telltale beep will alert us."
What's next? Microchips implanted in our brains so that Big Brother
read our minds along with the ability to listen to our phone calls, read
our emails, and know where we are at all times.
More to come...
Short Fuse
The Daily Reckoning
P.S. Another thing worth considering as far as the national ID
card goes is the cost. The Congressional Budget Office says that by 2010
the country's collective DMVs will pay about $100 million to implement
Real ID systems...and many experts say this estimate is ridiculously low.
Ah, something else to add to our ever growing list of expenses.
Consider this - every hour of every single day, the United States racks
up another $80 million of debt. A year ago, the annual deficits already
hit $7 trillion, according to the U.S. comptroller. That's roughly $24,000
the government owes for every American man, woman and child. Read the full
report here:
Getting Poorer - Without Even Knowing It
Demise of the Dollar...and why it's great for your investments
by
Addison Wiggin
This acclaimed book spent over a week in the #1 slot on Amazon's
bestseller list - knocking Harry Potter to number two. It then showed up
on Barnes and Noble's bestseller list and debuted on The Wall Street
Journal's Business bestseller list last week at #8!
The only logical next step was for the book to get on the New York
Times bestseller list...which it and sat strongly at #5!
The Demise of the Dollar examines the reasons for the dollar's slide -
including the nation's historic trade deficit, the euro, government
spending habits, globalization, and other international factors - and
offers an up-close look at the Federal Reserve's attempts to "manage" the
dollar's value.
To purchase your copy at a 40% discount, see here:
The Demise of the Dollar
THIS WEEK in THE DAILY RECKONING: Miss an issue of The Daily
Reckoning this week? Never fear, we have them all catalogued for you,
below...
The Way of All Cash, Part II 06/02/06
by Bill Bonner
"In 2003, the economy grew at a rate even India would be proud of:
8.4%. The cafes are filling up. Prices are rising. The country would
probably prosper, if the Perónistas would just leave it alone."
http://dailyreckoning.com/Issues/2006/DRUS060206.html
The U.S. Consumption Bias 06/01/06
by Dr. Kurt
Richebächer
"The present U.S. economic recovery has never gained the traction that
it needs for self-sustaining economic growth with commensurate employment
and income growth."
http://dailyreckoning.com/Issues/2006/DRUS060106.html
Shifting Demand and Wealth 05/31/06
by Dr. Marc Faber
"The opening of China and of other countries has permanently shifted
the demand curve for consumer goods and services (for example,
transportation) to the right and along with it the demand for industrial
commodities and energy."
http://dailyreckoning.com/Issues/2006/DRUS053106.html
Dealing With the Dollar 05/30/06
by Dan Denning
"Foreign governments will pay lower rates as the relative risks between
their bonds and American bonds narrow. In other words, American bonds will
be recognized as risky. The dollar will fall."
http://dailyreckoning.com/Issues/2006/DRUS053006.html
As American As Housing and Health Care 05/29/06
by The Mogambo
Guru
"Wonders never cease...the ever-cryptic former Fed chief recently said
something easily understood by the average person. Find out what Greenspan
said that has the Mogambo in such a tizzy, below..."
http://dailyreckoning.com/Issues/2006/DR052906.html
FLOTSAM AND JETSAM:
It's the end of a short trading week, but certainly not a dull one,
that's for sure. Looks like the "demise of the dollar" and gold's
continued rise are fairly secure after today's disappointing jobs report.
My good friend and currency trading expert Kathy Lien explains:
"For yet another month, analysts overforecasted the number of jobs
created by the U.S. economy. This time, however, by 95,000 jobs! In the
month of May, the number of jobs created was a mere 75,000, compared with
the market's forecast for 170,000. This is an abysmal number and really
puts into question whether the Federal Reserve will pause in June.
"In addition, given the fact that we are now entering the U.S. midterm
elections, the pressure on the Fed to pause will not only be economic, but
political as well, with many players fearing that the Fed has overshot its
tightening policy. Rate hike expectations were already hovering near 50%,
and today's horrendous number will likely drive it even lower. To make
things even worse, average hourly wages came in a paltry 0.1 %, weekly
hours dipped from the previous month and the already disappointing number
for the month of April was revised even lower.
"Furthermore, it means that consumer confidence going forward could
begin to slide even further, impacting already slowing retail sales, which
was the primary driver of economic growth. No matter which way you cut it,
this is a bad number and negative for the dollar. It also paves the way
for an easy move to 1.30.
"Kindest regards, Kathy Lien, FXCM"
Thanks, Kathy. She is one sharp cookie, indeed. Let me tell you, when I
have a currency question, I turn to the experts. It's important as a
trader to always know your limitations, much like a doctor or lawyer. You
don't hire a tax attorney to handle your murder indictment, and you don't
go to the podiatrist for brain surgery. Hopefully, you don't ever need
either one.
These professionals go to each other for advice, and often that's what
traders do too -- at least the smart ones.
[Ed. Note: Kevin is busy getting prepared for the upcoming Agora
Financial Wealth Symposium conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Kevin will be speaking for his third year in a row, along with big names
like Steve Forbes, Dr. Mark Skousen and of course, Bill Bonner.
If you attend only one event all year, this is the one. And on top of
all the great investment advice, you will be in one of the most amazing
places on Earth, Vancouver. I urge you to act fast and reserve your spot.
Space is very limited and this event always sells out early.
For more information, click here:
The Agora Financial Wealth Symposium - July 25-28,
2006
