SOTT Focus:


Calculator

SOTT Focus: Signs Economic Commentary for 12 December 2005

Gold closed at 532.00 dollars an ounce on Friday, up 4.6% from the week before. The dollar closed at 0.8466 euros for the week, down 0.8% from 0.8534 at the previous Friday's close. That put the euro at 1.1812 dollars, compared to 1.1718 the previous week. Gold in euros would be 450.39 euros an ounce, up 3.8% from 433.86 at the close of the week before. Oil closed at 59.76 dollars an ounce, up 0.7% from 59.32 the Friday before. Oil in euros would be 50.59 euros a barrel, compared to 50.62 the previous week. The gold/oil ratio was 8.90 at Friday's close, up 3.9% from 8.57 the week before. The yield on the ten-year U.S. Treasury note was 4.53%, up two basis points from 4.51 the previous week. In the U.S. stock market, the Dow closed at 10,778.58, down 0.9% from 10,877.51 the Friday before. The NASDAQ closed at 2,256.73, down 0.7% from 2,273.37 at the previous week's close.

It's happening. Much of what we've been predicting for the past year seems to be taking place. The housing bubble has popped, gold and other precious metals are shooting up in price as those with money are rushing to seek shelter.

SOTT Logo Radio

SOTT Focus: SOTT Podcast: The Psychopath Next Door

SOTT Podcast Logo
The Signs of the Times editors invite Laura Knight-Jadczyk back to continue their discussion of Pyschopathology. Two weeks ago we discussed Psychopathology in general terms. One week ago we refined our discussion and looked at evidence of the hand of the psychopath in the world of global politics and big business. This week, we get a little more personal, and discuss "the psychopath next door".

Running Time: 00:41:46

Download: MP3


Magnify

SOTT Focus: Israel's 14 yr old bomber stunt backfires

In March 2004 16 year old would-be Palestinian suicide bomber, Husam Abdu, was arrested at the Hawara Israeli check point in the occupied West Bank. At the time, the incident was presented to the world as evidence of the "evil" that the Israeli government was confronting, yet BBC reporter Orla Guerin's description of the affair as "Israel's cynical manipulation of a Palestinian youngster for propaganda purposes" was much more accurate.

Heart

SOTT Focus: Where have all the Heroes Gone?

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate...Returning violence for violence multiples violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Calculator

SOTT Focus: Signs Economic Commentary for 5 December 2005

Gold closed at 508.40 dollars an ounce on Friday, breaking the $500 barrier and closing up 2.3 percent, after rising 2.2 percent the week before. The dollar closed at 0.8534 euros for the week, down 0.2% from 0.8547 at the previous Friday’s close. The euro, in turn, closed at 1.1718 up from 1.1700 the week before. Gold in euros, then would be 433.86 an ounce, up 2.1% from 424.87 the week before. Oil closed at 59.32 dollars a barrel, up 2.2% from 58.03 at the previous Friday’s close. Oil in euros would be 50.62 euros a barrel, up 2.1% from 49.60 the week before. The gold/oil ratio would be 8.57 at Friday’s close, unchanged from the Friday before. In the U.S. stock market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 10,877.51 on Friday, down 0.5% from 10,931.62 at the previous Friday’s close. The NASDAQ closed at 2,273.37 up 0.5% from 2,263.01 the week before. The yield on the ten-year U.S. Treasury note was 4.51%, up seven basis points from 4.44 the week before.

SOTT Logo Radio

SOTT Focus: SOTT Podcast: The 6% Solution

SOTT Podcast Logo
Discussion on the methods and tactics of the psychopaths in power. Although full-blown psychopaths constitute only a tiny fraction of the global population, many experts in the field of psychology - including Dr. Andrew Lobaczewski, author of Political Ponerology - tell us that the psychopath can and does influence a much larger percentage of the people to act in a "pseudo-psychopathic" fashion. Combined with the psychopaths themselves, this group is estimated to be 6% of the population. This week, we discuss the techniques and plans of this 6% of humanity. How do they control and influence the rest of us? How do they use war to further their goals? And how will their plans ultimately affect each and every one of us on the Big Blue Marble?

Running Time: 00:36:27

Download: MP3


Bulb

SOTT Focus: On Radiometric Dating

The Secret History of the World
© SOTT.net
Excerpted from The Secret History of the World.

The most widely used method for determining the age of fossils is to date them by the “known age” of the rock strata in which they are found. At the same time, the most widely used method for determining the age of the rock strata is to date them by the “known age” of the fossils they contain. In this “circular dating” method, all ages are based on uniformitarian assumptions about the date and order in which fossilized plants and animals are believed to have evolved.

Most people are surprised to learn that there is, in fact, no way to directly determine the age of any fossil or rock. The so called “absolute” methods of dating (radiometric methods) actually only measure the present ratios of radioactive isotopes and their decay products in suitable specimens - not their age. These measured ratios are then extrapolated to an “age” determination.

The problem with all radiometric “clocks” is that their accuracy critically depends on several starting assumptions, which are largely unknowable. To date a specimen by radiometric means, one must first know the starting amount of the parent isotope at the beginning of the specimen's existence. Second, one must be certain that there were no daughter isotopes in the beginning. Third, one must be certain that neither parent nor daughter isotopes have ever been added or removed from the specimen. Fourth, one must be certain that the decay rate of parent isotope to daughter isotope has always been the same. That one or more of these assumptions are often invalid is obvious from the published radiometric “dates” (to say nothing of “rejected” dates) found in the literature.

Comment: So, when scientists say "footprints are too old to be human," that is a subjective opinion.


Calculator

SOTT Focus: Signs Economic Commentary for 28 November 2005

Gold closed at $497.10 an ounce on Friday, up 2.2% from $486.40 at the previous week’s close. The dollar closed at 0.8547 euros, up 0.6% from 0.8495 the week before. The euro closed at 1.1700 dollars compared to $1.1772 at the end of the previous week. Gold in euros, then, would be 424.87 euros an ounce, up 2.8% from 413.18 euros the Friday before. Oil closed at $58.03 a barrel, up 1.4% from $57.21 at the end of the previous week. Oil in euros would be 49.60 a barrel, up 2.1% from 48.60 the week before. The gold/oil ratio closed at 8.57 up 0.8% from 8.50 at the end of the previous week. The yield on the ten-year U.S. Treasury note closed at 4.44%, down six basis points from 4.50 the Friday before. In U.S. stocks, the Dow closed at 10,931.62, up 1.5% from the previous week’s 10,766.33. The NASDAQ closed at 2,263.01, up 2.5% from 2,227.07 the Friday before.

SOTT Logo Radio

SOTT Focus: SOTT Podcast: Cults

SOTT Podcast Logo
Discussion on the origins, history, and effects of cults with guest Laura Knight-Jadczyk. In recent times, it seems everyone loves to label any group that disagrees with mainstream views as a "cult". We decided to take an in-depth look at the history of various cults, as well as the word itself. How is it that such a simple word can evoke such horrid emotional reactions from people when the US government itself doesn't even have a formal definition for "cult"? With Laura Knight-Jadczyk and the groundbreaking work of Dr. Andrew M. Lobaczewski, we delve into an analysis of the real cults in the world today that no one seems to even notice - even though these groups fit the generally accepted definition quite well. This is one podcast you don't want to miss!!

Running Time: 00:47:37

Download: MP3


Cult

SOTT Focus: Cult-ivating Terror

Excerpted from SOTT Essay: Cult-ivating Terror: A brief analysis of the origins and effects of the cult phenomena in modern society


[...] One religious professor in 1994 well summarized the popular perspectives concerning the identification of "cults" in an online posting, shortly after the tragedy at Waco, that deserves some consideration: