Interview with U.S. Gold's Rob McEwen: 'Gold Will Start Shining Again'

One of the most knowledgeable insiders of the gold industry is Rob McEwen is always worth paying attention to. In this interview he considers the prospects and predicaments of the juniors and he considers gold's ultimate price in a bull market.


http://seekingalpha.com/article/92344-interview-with-u-s-gold-s-rob-mcewen-gold-will-start-shining-again

GSE Woes and More Fed Easing Ahead by Frank Barbera

In one of the best articles of its kind Barbera explains how rising unemployment figures reveal how the US and the West are already in recession and how they are probably well on their way to a major depression. He goes on to reveal the differences between CDOs and CDS and their relationship with clarity and insight and he demonstrates how when significant CDOs go belly up the results will cause a systemic catastrophy for the US financial system and its main representative, the Dollar. In short, it's a enlightening read.

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/barbera/2008/0819.html

"Who Knows Where The Time Goes" by Sandy Denny

This has nothing to do with any of the courses. Yet while memories of times past and where time has gone were in mind I thought I'd post the late Sandy Denny's song about this topic which she penned herself. She was the talented lead singer of Fairport Convention for a while and died far too young.

"Sir Patrick Spens" a traditional ballad by Fairport Convention

If I will not go down the Chaucer route this year for A2 English the alternative is pre 17th century poetry from the second half the Edexcel Anthologies. And I think it would make a refreshing change to do that this year. I need a change from "The Merchant's Tale".

This author of this ancient Scottish ballad like all medieval balladeers was anonymous. Fairport Convention were a popular folk band who played it in gigs in the early 70s. It can also be found on some of their albums. Here's a decent rendition of it from a Fairport gig in 1970, in the days of Flower Power when many young people did not give a hoot about worldly things and conventional representations of power. Ahhhhhh!

Still, Fairport's version of the ballad is slightly different to other versions. However that is to be expected as the ballad form allowed itself to be contracted, elongated and altered through time

Sit back and enjoy a lost classic that's now "far out"!

"I Remember, I Remember" by Thomas Hood

As the new term approaches I thought I'd prepare a little by placing a few expressive performances of poems for my incoming students who will study them for their AS Literature. This poem is selected by the Exam Board (Edexcel) from the class text: The Oxford Anthology of English Poetry Volume II: Blake to Heaney, ed. John Wain (Oxford, 2003) ISBN-10019280422

The Exam Board places this poem under the theme of home for the poetry element of Unit 1, Explorations of prose and poetry. Of course the related themes are: innocence and experience ,age and youth, and life and death, are also significant when exploring the theme of home. Perhaps faith too is another theme related to the rest

Eleanor Bron's reading is nicely expressive and well pitched.

Get out Of Gold?

Here's an interesting article in which new points are made, especially about China.

http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index.php?a=18540

Power Teaching again with Chris Biffle teaching Aristotle

Chris Biffle again teaching Aristotle's four causes.

Power Teaching by Chris Biffle

Chris Biffle's Power Teaching is definitely worth a go. After all, in teaching variety IS the spice of life. And he is right - teachers talk far too much, me included! This looks barking mad but I bet it's really effective. I'm sure it would go with concept maps etc. and all kinds of new topics and material.

Stage two of the gold bull market is just beginning: caused by currency devaluation

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/ambrose_evans-pritchard/blog/2008/08/12/stage_two_of_the_gold_bull_market_is_just_beginning

The Infinite Mind in Second Life with Kurt Vonnegut (an interview)

Kurt Vonnegut, who died in April 2007 was one of the best American writers of the second half of the 20th century. His playful, light prose overlay thoughtful themes and ideas that were relevant for people's lives then and now. For instance, Vonnegut's explores "pretence" in a variety of ways in his short stories. His view of pretence was also articulated in his novel Mother Night "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be."

I spent several hours during my week in Turkey reading Vonnegut's stories and they played on my mind for some time afterwards. Surprisingly, Vonnegut, a self-confessed Luddite, who only used computers as word processors and who did not carry a mobile phone, gave one of his last interviews on Second Life. Perhaps this is not so surprising as Vonnegut has written several works of science fiction so his willingness to experiment was always there. Kurt's comments on the importance of following an art around 24-26 minutes in are very interesting. However, the interview as a whole is suffused with Vonnegut's humour, wisdom and wit.

If you've never read Vonnegut before try any of his short stories or the novels, Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse 5 or Breakfast of Champions.

Minefields in LatAm: Dodging Political Pitfalls

This is a useful article for anyone who needs to monitor their mining investments in South America. The comments on Artentina's Santa Cruz and Patagonia Gold's potential for proving up their resources in the Chabut are must-reads.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/89123-minefields-in-latam-dodging-political-pitfalls