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Gold Bulls - "Clawing the Sky" as prices fall


drbubb

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Consider what really matters.

 

Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,

A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse---and Thou

Beside me singing in the Wilderness---

And Wilderness is Paradise enow.

 

.

 

both (your previous 'ditty') & this one were very calming I found methinkshe. :)

 

haven't spoken to you for a while.......I forget now, are we friend or foe ?

 

friend iirc. ;)

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How do we tell it wasn't just a jammy guess?

"I do. What does Trantor mean to you?"

Everyone seemed to be asking his opinion of Trantor. Gaal felt incapable of response beyond the bare word, "Glorious."

"You say that without thinking. What of psychohistory?"

"I haven't thought of applying it to the problem."

"Before you are done with me, young man, you will learn to apply psychohistory to all problems as a matter of course. -Observe." Seldon removed his calculator pad from the pouch at his belt. Men said he kept one beneath his pillow for use in moments of wakefulness. Its gray, glossy finish was slightly worn by use. Seldon's nimble fingers, spotted now with age, played along the files and rows of buttons that filled its surface. Red symbols glowed out from the upper tier.

He said, "That represents the condition of the Empire at present."

He waited.

Gaal said finally, "Surely that is not a complete representation."

"No, not complete," said Seldon. "I am glad you do not accept my word blindly. However, this is an approximation which will serve to demonstrate the proposition. Will you accept that?"

"Subject to my later verification of the derivation of the function, yes." Gaal was carefully avoiding a possible trap.

"Good. Add to this the known probability of Imperial assassination, viceregal revolt, the contemporary recurrence of periods of economic depression, the declining rate of planetary explorations, the. . ."

He proceeded. As each item was mentioned, new symbols sprang to life at his touch, and melted into the basic function which expanded and changed.

Gaal stopped him only once. "I don't see the validity of that set-transformation."

Seldon repeated it more slowly.

Gaal said, "But that is done by way of a forbidden sociooperation."

"Good. You are quick, but not yet quick enough. It is not forbidden in this connection. Let me do it by expansions."

The procedure was much longer and at its end, Gaal said, humbly, "Yes, I see now."

Finally, Seldon stopped. "This is Trantor three centuries from now. How do you interpret that? Eh?" He put his head to one side and waited.

Gaal said, unbelievingly, "Total destruction! But - but that is impossible. Trantor has never been -"

Seldon was filled with the intense excitement of a man whose body only had grown old. "Come, come. You saw how the result was arrived at. Put it into words. Forget the symbolism for a moment."

Gaal said, "As Trantor becomes more specialized, it be comes more vulnerable, less able to defend itself. Further, as it becomes more and more the administrative center of Empire, it becomes a greater prize. As the Imperial succession becomes more and more uncertain, and the feuds among the great families more rampant, social responsibility disappears. "

"Enough. And what of the numerical probability of total destruction within three centuries?"

"I couldn't tell."

"Surely you can perform a field-differentiation?"

Gaal felt himself under pressure. He was not offered the calculator pad. It was held a foot from his eyes. He calculated furiously and felt his forehead grow slick with sweat.

He said, "About 85%?"

"Not bad," said Seldon, thrusting out a lower lip, "but not good. The actual figure is 92.5%."

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I've been unable to post all day but have followed proceedings with increasing levels of disbelief.

 

I must say, there has been a quite inordinate amount of bickering and a level of hysteria that is truly comical.

 

This correction was entirely expected (despite some posters being under the impression that nobody ever expected it!) - I myself have been waiting for more than a month (and posting about it).

 

As I said yesterday, I hate to think what the hysteria will be like when gold is $2000+ and we are getting swings of $100s a day.

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I've been unable to post all day but have followed proceedings with increasing levels of disbelief.

 

I must say, there has been a quite inordinate amount of bickering and a level of hysteria that is truly comical.

 

This correction was entirely expected (despite some posters being under the impression that nobody ever expected it!) - I myself have been waiting for more than a month (and posting about it).

 

As I said yesterday, I hate to think what the hysteria will be like when gold is $2000+ and we are getting swings of $100s a day.

 

I'm buying now with my recently acquired funds.

I'm going to celebrate my new buy with a festive avatar

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I've been unable to post all day but have followed proceedings with increasing levels of disbelief.

 

I must say, there has been a quite inordinate amount of bickering and a level of hysteria that is truly comical.

 

This correction was entirely expected (despite some posters being under the impression that nobody ever expected it!) - I myself have been waiting for more than a month (and posting about it).

 

As I said yesterday, I hate to think what the hysteria will be like when gold is $2000+ and we are getting swings of $100s a day.

 

Agreed Errol you have been consistantly posting that but i thought and still do think that your whish for a return to $1000 is not going to happen but the true test of time will be the judge.

 

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I am sure it was a meaningful reply for you but not for me ;)

 

 

Agreed. If possible, Msparks can you dumb down your posts for thickies like me.

A lot of your stuff tends to go completely over my head!

Its a quote from Isaac Asimov's Sci-Fi book "Foundation", of the Foundation series.

 

Its the closest I could get to a short answer that bore some kind of truth, without writing a novel of my own.

 

 

 

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Its a quote from Isaac Asimov's Sci-Fi book "Foundation", of the Foundation series.

Its the closest I could get to a short answer that bore some kind of truth, without writing a novel of my own.

 

Gaal said, "As Trantor becomes more specialized, it be comes more vulnerable, less able to defend itself. Further, as it becomes more and more the administrative center of Empire, it becomes a greater prize. As the Imperial succession becomes more and more uncertain, and the feuds among the great families more rampant, social responsibility disappears. "

"Enough. And what of the numerical probability of total destruction within three centuries?"

 

And they expected to get there without a Peak Energy crisis !

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Gaal said, "As Trantor becomes more specialized, it be comes more vulnerable, less able to defend itself. Further, as it becomes more and more the administrative center of Empire, it becomes a greater prize. As the Imperial succession becomes more and more uncertain, and the feuds among the great families more rampant, social responsibility disappears. "

"Enough. And what of the numerical probability of total destruction within three centuries?"

 

And they expected to get there without a Peak Energy crisis !

 

Bubb, I have asked you twice how those German property purchases of 2007 are going (that consortium thingy you had going), but you must have missed bioth questions as you haven't responded.

 

iirc it was 4 German properties wasn't it ?

 

it's just that with you being a loaded professional & me being a skint amateur, I was wondering if your 'buy at the top-ish' property strategy was working ok for you ?

iirc, you have sold some of your hong kong stuff at a profit (handy that ;) ) & still have 2 to off load ?

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