James Cameron Bugs Out to New Zealand
A lot of fringier characters than me are saying this means that the “elites” know that “TEOTWAWKI” is just around the corner. I don’t know about that but Cameron is a noted liberal whose movie Avatar was an anti-military, anti-Capitalist screed so one would think he’d be willing to stick out the Obama years and “share the wealth” so to speak. Or maybe return to his native Canada.
Truth is a lot of investors (like Jim Rogers and Marc Faber) have been talking about farmland is the best investment in the future. Couple that with the increasing violence from Occupy Wall Street and only a fool would keep living in his mansion in city like Los Angles which is dependent on disappearing agriculture and populated with “gimmes” who are already turning the places into war zones and calling for more violence. Cameron doesn’t “know” anything – he’s just a hypocrite who doesn’t want to live in the America he helped create.
From the AP:
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Hollywood director James Cameron is planning to move onto a New Zealand farm.
Cameron has successfully applied to buy 1,067 hectares (2,636 acres) of farmland in New Zealand. In an application filed with the New Zealand Overseas Investment Office, Cameron says he and his family “intend to reside indefinitely in New Zealand and are acquiring the property to reside on and operate as a working farm.”
Cameron, a Canadian, directed two of Hollywood’s most successful films, “Titanic” and “Avatar.” He could not be immediately contacted by The Associated Press Thursday, but it’s believed he will move to New Zealand this year to film the sequel to “Avatar.”
The rural properties are about a 90-minute drive from Wellington, home to Weta Digital, which won an Oscar for its visual effects work on the first “Avatar” movie.
Keep this story in mind when someone tells you you’re an idiot for stocking up food. Rich liberals can buy their own farms and try to be self-reliant and everyone applauds, the common man who does is a nut.
New Jersey Attempting to Ban Ammunition
From the NRA-ILA:
On Monday, January 30, the New Jersey Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee is scheduled to consider Assembly Bill 588 and Assembly Bill 1013. The hearing will be held at 2:00 p.m. in Committee Room 16, 4th Floor, State House Annex in Trenton.
Sponsored by Assemblyman L. Grace Spencer (D-29), A588 is cleverly disguised as police safety legislation aimed at armor piercing ammunition (which is already prohibited under federal and state law). The measure actually opens the door to a sweeping ammunition ban by an unelected public official by executive fiat. Common hunting, target, and self-defense ammunition would be subject to ban, along with BB’s, airgun pellets, and non-metallic ammunition like plastic airsoft pellets, if the Attorney General decides that they pose a threat to the safety and well being of law enforcement.
Although the bill only mentions handgun ammunition, it is in fact not limited to handgun ammunition, and would apply to all rifle ammunition for which a handgun is ever made. As an increasing number of gun manufacturers make handgun models that shoot rifle caliber ammunition, the line between “handgun” vs. “rifle” ammunition has become blurred, and the New Jersey State Police have already begun treating rifle ammunition in this category as if it were handgun ammunition for regulatory purposes. As long as a handgun exists that shoots a particular caliber of rifle ammunition, New Jersey treats that ammunition as if it were handgun ammunition.
The Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee is also scheduled to consider A1013 which is sponsored by Assemblyman Charles Mainor (D-31). A1013 would criminalize the use of a defaced or stolen firearm that is used to injure a police officer and enhances penalties for defacing a firearm. One provision of this police safety legislation significantly increases the penalties relating to “defaced” firearms. Because of New Jersey’s longstanding poorly crafted definition of “defaced” firearms, it is possible that refinishing a firearm, or long-term damage from rust or scratches from ordinary wear and tear, could be deemed “defacement” subjecting honest gun owners to lengthy prison sentences, even though identifying information on the firearm is still legible.
All you Chris Christie supporters should be watching his reaction on this. The NRA wants you to start making phone calls to your representatives but frankly it’s too late for New Jersey. Leave. Getting out of the North East was the best decision I ever made.
S&P Warns of New Downgrade for United States
Via Palmetto Finance:
Concerns over the size of United States debt reared their head once again as ratings agency Standard & Poor’s warned that health care costs for a number of highly-rated Group of 20 countries, including the U.S., could hurt growth prospects and harm their sovereign creditworthiness from the middle of this decade.
S&P downgraded the United States credit rating for the first time ever in August of last year.
“Governments’ fiscal burdens will increase significantly over the coming decade, with the highest deterioration in public finances likely to occur in Europe and other advanced G-20 economies, such as Japan and the U.S.,” S&P said in a statement on Tuesday.
Health care costs for a typical advanced economy will stand at 11.1 percent of gross domestic product by 2050, up from 6.3 percent of GDP in 2010, S&P said.
“Population aging will lead to profound changes in economic growth prospects for countries around the world as governments work to build budgets to face ever greater age-related spending needs,” said Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Marko Mrsnik in the statement.
The August downgrade of the United States rating was an embarrassment to the country, but fears that the move would hurt investors’ confidence in the country proved unfounded.
The only reason the downgrade didn’t hurt us more was the implosion of Europe which made people flee to U.S. Debt for safety. But a couple of more downgrades and no one will be able argue that buying our debt is safe.
Cattle Herd at Lowest Levels Since 1958!
I hope you like pork and chicken, because beef is about to get a lot more expensive:
The cattle herd in the U.S. may be the smallest since 1958, when McDonald’s Corp. had just 79 hamburger restaurants, signaling tighter beef supplies and higher costs for companies including Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN)
Ranchers held 91.24 million head of cattle as of Jan. 1, down 1.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. That would be the smallest since Dwight Eisenhower was president. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is set to release its herd report at 3 p.m. in Washington.
A record drought in Texas last year and rising feed costs prompted ranchers to cull herds, even as beef exports surged from the U.S., the world’s largest producer. Cattle futures are up 15 percent since the end of June, reaching a record seven times this month, and the Livestock Marketing Information Center says retail-beef prices that reached an all-time high on an annual basis in 2011 will keep rising through next year.
“The drought certainly was the game changer of 2011,” Jim Robb, the director of the Livestock Marketing Information Center, a Denver-based researcher, said in a telephone interview. “Feedstuffs were record-high costs. The herd on a national basis declined.”
Cattle futures rallied to $1.29675 a pound on Jan. 25 on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the highest for a most-active contract since the commodity began trading on the CME in 1964. Prices may reach $1.399, said David Kruse, the president CommStock Investments Inc., a commodity broker in Royal, Iowa.
That’s good news if you’re a rancher, not so much if you like a burger on occasion. Beef prices were up significantly last year and will continue to increase this year according to the report. More troubling, breeding stock is also decreasing:
The herd of beef cows held for breeding probably shrank to 30.05 million head as of Jan. 1, the lowest since 1962, according to the average of 10 estimates in the Bloomberg survey. The calf crop should be smaller than last year, marking the 17th consecutive year of declines, said Ron Plain, a livestock economist at the University of Missouri at Columbia.
“Fewer calves being born means ultimately fewer cattle will be slaughtered,” Plain, who has studied the industry for three decades, said in a telephone interview. “That means the tight beef supply is going to get tighter as we go through 2012 and 2013 and 2014.”
Once the herd starts to expand, it will take more than two years before beef supplies increase, Plain said. Calves have nine-month gestation periods and take about 20 months to reach slaughter weight, he said.
In other words we’re looking at four or five more years of steady increases in beef prices at the very least. Learning some preservation techniques (and buying a deep freezer) sounds like a great idea if you haven’t already. It is indeed possible to can beef by the way and other preservation methods will save you money in the long run. Learn them now before it’s too late.