Tungsten-Filled 1 Kilo Gold Bar Found In The UK

Source: ZeroHedge
Date: 03/24/2012 16:50 -0400
by: Tyler Durden

Photos of the cropped bars:

1000g Gold bar cut showing inserted tungsten rods	Two halves of the cropped bar:

The last time a story of Tungsten-filled gold appeared on the scene was just two years ago, and involved a 500 gram bar of gold full of tungsten, at the W.C. Heraeus foundry, the world's largest metal refiner and fabricator. It also became known that said "gold" bar originated from an unnamed bank. It is now time to rekindle the Tungsten Spirits with a report from ABC Bullion of Australia, which provides photographic evidence of a new gold bar that has been drilled out and filled with tungsten rods, this time not in Germany but in an unnamed city in the UK, where it was intercepted by a scrap metals dealer, and was supplied with its original certificate. The reason the bar attracted attention is that it was 2 grams underweight. Upon cropping it was uncovered that about 30-40% of the bar weight was tungsten. So two documented incidents in two years: isolated? Or indication of the same phenomonenon of precious metal debasement that marked the declining phase of the Roman empire. Only then it was relatively public for anyone who cared to find out on their own. Now, with the bulk of popular physical gold held in top secret, private warehouses around the world, where it allegedly backs the balance sheets of the world's central banks, yet nobody can confirm its existence, nor audit the actual gold content, it is understandable why increasingly more are wondering: just how much gold is there? And alongside that - while gold, (or is it GLD?), can be rehypothecated, can one do the same with tungsten?
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Matt Taibbi Discusses BofA Fraud/Bailouts and Resignation of GS Exec Greg Smith

Source: Democracy Now
Date: 3/22/2012

Description

In his new article, "Bank of America: Too Crooked to Fail," Rolling Stone reporter Matt Taibbi chronicles the remarkable history of the rise of Bank of America -- an institution he says has defrauded "everyone from investors and insurers to homeowners and the unemployed." Taibbi describes how the Bush and Obama administrations have repeatedly propped up the financial institution, which received a $45 billion taxpayer bailout in 2008. Bank of America has also received billions in what could be described as shadow bailouts. The bank now owns more than 12 percent of the nation's bank deposits and 17 percent of all home mortgages.

Also discussed is Goldman Sach's history of denigrating its own clients, as recently highlighted by former Goldman executive Greg Smith's explosive resignation letter in the New York Times. Decrying what he called Goldman's "toxic" culture, Smith said bosses at the firm called their clients "muppets" and strove to maximize profits at the expense of client interests, adding: "It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off." Goldman Sachs is now reportedly scanning internal emails for the term "muppet" and other evidence that employees referred to clients in derogatory ways. Taibbi argues it is naive to think there was ever a "golden era" when Goldman Sachs was a great financial institution.

Albert Einstein's complete archives to be posted online

Source: Associated Press via UK Guardian
Date: Monday 19 March 2012 16.22 EDT

Hebrew University releases initial 2,000 documents including unseen letters, postcards and research notes 

Albert Einstein archives offer a fuller portrait of the man behind the scientific genius. Photograph: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

Albert Einstein's complete archives – from personal correspondence with half a dozen lovers to notebooks scribbled with his groundbreaking research – are going online for the first time.
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"The Black Swan" author, mathematician and hedge fund trade Nassim Taleb supports Ron Paul

Source: CNBC
Date: 3/13/2012

Mathematician, trader, hedge fund manager and professor Nassim Taleb, author of the best seller The Black Swan despite being politically agnostic, supports Ron Paul because of his economic policies and anti-war stance.

“THE COMING COLLAPSE OF THE PETRODOLLAR SYSTEM” BY JERRY ROBINSON

Source: Follow the Money
by: Jerry Robinson

[Editor's Note: Learn about a key aspect of our economic system that perhaps is not emphasized enough in its importance.  After the collapse of the Bretton Woods agreement and the gold standard, a scheme to prop up the U.S. dollar was devised and sold to the Arab nations by the Nixon administration.  In 1973 Henry Kissinger was sent over to negotiate this deal with the Saudis in which it was agreed that Saudi Arabia would trade her oil only in US dollars.  In return the Saudis received weapons and protection from the United States.  The OPEC nations by 1975 had followed suit...]

FOR THE DETAILS, READ JERRY ROBINSON'S POWERFUL NEW ARTICLE SERIES HERE

ARTICLE 1: Preparing for the Collapse of the Petrodollar System

ARTICLE 2: The Rise of the Petrodollar System

ARTICLE 3: The Petrodollar Wars: The Iraq Petrodollar Connection

ARTICLE 4: The Petrodollar Wars: The Afghanistan War and the "New" Great Game