Give your heart on this day of remembrance.

Is Memorial Day a Hardware sale?
A good price on a garden pail ?
Did my buddies give their limbs, lives, and sinew
For chicken, steaks, and barbecue ?
For The Coward to place a wreath on sacred ground,
While my comrades are crippled and wheelchair bound
Did my buddies die in that living green hell.
For endless rows of cars to sell ?
For drunks, accidents and long traffic jams,
Did my buddies perish in Vietnam . So while young men drool over the Memorial Day Queen
I ll remember my buddies!
The Living,
The Dead ,
The In - Between.

DONE are the toils and the wearisome
marches,
Done is the summons of bugle and drum.
Softly and sweetly the sky overarches,
Sheltering a land where Rebellion is dumb.
Dark were the days of the country's derange-
ment,
Sad were the hours when the conflict was on,
But through the gloom of fraternal estrangement
God sent his light, and we welcome the dawn.
O'er the expanse of our mighty dominions,
Sweeping away to the uttermost parts,
Peace, the wide-flying, on untiring pinions,
Bringeth her message of joy to our hearts.
Ah, but this joy which our minds cannot measure,
What did it cost for our fathers to gain!
Bought at the price of the heart's dearest treasure,
Born out of travail and sorrow and pain;
Born in the battle where fleet Death was flying,
Slaying with saber-stroke bloody and fell;
Born where the heroes and martyrs were dying,
Torn by the fury of bullet and shell.
Ah, but the day is past: silent the rattle,
And the confusion that followed the fight.
Peace to the heroes who died in the battle,
Martyrs to truth and the crowning of Right!
Out of the blood of a conflict fraternal,
Out of the dust and the dimness of death,
Burst into blossoms of glory eternal
Flowers that sweeten the world with their
breath.
Flowers of charity, peace, and devotion
Bloom in the hearts that are empty of strife;
Love that is boundless and broad as the ocean
Leaps into beauty and fullness of life.
So, with the singing of paeans and chorals,
And with the flag flashing high in the sun,
Place on the graves of our heroes the laurels
Which their unfaltering valor has won!
So give thanks my friends to the American soldiers who died or got wounded so that you can live the life you are living.
Truely Yours, Big Daddy Cash

PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE IT COUNTS

Since the U.S. Paper Dollar is losing its value and is destined to be worthless paper I am diversifying my savings and putting them in commodities that will hold and most likely increase in value. Silver and Gold is a likely solution. At present I am researching all alternatives. Here I have compiled a few rules that you should follow if you decide to put your money in silver. These rules are found in "The Global-Investor Book of Investing Rules". The back cover reads, "For the first time, the tactics, strategies and insights relied on by 150 of the world's most respected financial experts are revealed in a concise, digestible form.
Rule #1 - When all else fails, there is silver.
No one likes to be a prophet of doom, but the simple truth is that silver is the world's money of last resort. Should a severe economic collapse occur, leaving paper assets worthless, silver will be primary currency for purchase of goods and services. (Gold will be a store of major wealth, but will be priced too high for day-to-day use.) Thus, every investor should own some physical silver-and store a portion of it where it's accessible in an emergency.
Many times we are asked what is the best form of silver to purchase. Our answer has been to consistently begin with old silver coins, known as "junk silver" in the trade. Although, we do not see a time where you would have to rely upon silver coinage for daily expenses it has proven useful in the past.
When our offices were in Los Angeles during the mid 1970's and the first Oil Embargo took place, two private gas station owners set up pumps that would accept payment in silver coinage. We point this out simply to let our readers know that the Free Market can provide some very interesting solutions during difficult times.
Finally, it must be remember that the one financial fact that history bears out is simply all paper currencies eventually fail.
Rule#2- Start small- keep it simple.
Too many investors, upon deciding to beef up the metals portion of their portfolio, buy too much physical silver at once-and in the wrong forms. Beginning metals investors should concentrate on pure bullion bars or coins, in smaller sizes, looking to pay a minimum premium over the actual metal value. Avoid commemorative coins, decorative items, jewelry and other collectibles, all of which carry large premiums and have limited resale markets.
I have consistently advocated that all metals investors begin with a physical position before making any other type of precious metals investment. Certainly, mining stocks offer leverage and can at times multiply your wealth substantially it is only by starting with the sure thing, real metal that you build a foundation of wealth.
Rule#3 Boost the buying power of your dollars with mining shares.
If you are a typical investor, you cannot expect to be an expert on silver and the silver market- but you can invest in the people who are. Once you have established a core holding of physical silver, leverage both your knowledge and your buying power by purchasing the stocks of mining companies. These shares are highly responsive to changes in silver prices, frequently producing much higher percentage returns than the metal itself.
This rule is one that many silver investors know quite well and the joys of watching your mining stock outperform the increase in bullion prices by a factor of two or three to one is exciting. However, leverage works in both directions and when the price of the precious metals fall back the mining shares fall back hard. This is normal market behavior and should be anticipated by the savvy metals investor.
Again, mining shares analysis is difficult and in the speculative area nearly impossible. Because of this fact, it is important to do your own homework carefully. Also you can subscribe to a service that provides insights into this area. It is the nature of investing that you cannot be 100% accurate. In today's market it is more important than ever to be careful and use proper money management.
If you do not wish to put in the study required to succeed in this area of investing, I suggest you consider a gold mutual fund. Unfortunately, there is not a silver mutual fund at this time.
Rule # 4 - Dollar - cost average to lower your costs - and increase your discipline.
Dollar-cost averaging is an ideal way to implement Rule 2. By making same-dollar purchases at regular time intervals, you wind up buying more metal when prices are low and less when they are high. This approach helps you develop discipline, erasing the "trader' mentality that infects many market participants and instead fostering an "investment" philosophy. Dollar-cost averaging also eases some of the sting when prices move against you, allowing you to view the downturn as an improved buying opportunity rather than a disappointing loss.
It is human nature to want to be precise in all our affairs, but in the real world of competing against others for the one thing most of us think about daily--- Money-- a mature approach is necessary. Getting in at the exact bottom and out at the exact top is an amateurs approach. In a bull market "dollar cost averaging is a wise approach.
However I want to caution you that averaging down in a speculative mining company can be very dangerous. I normally do not advise doing so. However, in a top tier company or gold mutual fund this is acceptable in most cases as long as the bull market is intact.
Rule #5 = Do not get a raw deal from your dealer.
Because of the specialized nature of the physical metals markets, selection of a well established dealer with a quality reputation is essential. A good dealer will provide timely executation of your trades at fair prices with reasonable fees. Note, as well, that the lowest price is not necessarily the best price. In the past, some dealers who squeezed their price margins too low in order to attract clients were unable to make delivery, leaving those clients holding the bag.
This unfortunately is an area that prevents many people from purchasing precious metals in the first place. People are leery of dealing with someone over the phone and sending them money, and then waiting for their precious metals to show up. It is very rare that something goes wrong and almost all dealers are reputable. However, as in most aspects of life the occasional fraud does appear.
It has been our experience that most questionable dealers are fairly easy to spot by simply using common sense. Also, we must mention that fraudulent schemes normally appear near the end of the cycle which is not for another five years or so in our view.
Years ago as we were nearing the peak in gold and silver, a nation wide campaign was started in all the major newspapers in the U.S. and the Headline read "Buy Gold and Silver Below Spot"
Now, this is simply impossible and anyone with a shred of common sense would have stayed clear of such a "dealer" , but since some people seek that special deal many customers were taken to the cleaners as this company filed bankruptcy.
Again, we want to point out our special coin report doing actual transactions with several different dealers in the U.S. the small price of this report could save you time, money and heartache.