I know this is way off topic, however...

I have just had a report from family in Russia that pension payments have been halted, many people are not being paid at work but are still working with the hope that one day they will be paid! And that there are increasing shortages of even basic food products because merchants can't borrow or pay for new supplies, and there is very high inflation.

There is talk on the street of the government declaring a national state of emergecny.

My understanding of history is that when people can't buy food, the state is in danger. As such, they take upon themselves extraordinary powers, and it gets very dangerous very quickly. I wonder what the cascading effects could be, globally, if Russia disintegrates. Does this increase the risk of war? I think that Russia could start a war just to distract people, and give them someone to blame. Perhaps they may be encouraged to blame the west?

Maybe Tom Clancy will crank out a new book.

THis has nothing to do with tyhee, and probably nothing to do with gold except that it could feed into more people, particularly in Europe, wanting to hold liquid cash (gold) that is not a liability of any country....

I think things are getting very very serious out there.

SKELEG