Thursday, June 24, 2010

Public Opinion Poll

The G20 Summit is this weekend in Toronto.




But that is not what this post is about.

A pivotal time for me has arrived out of nowhere. Isn't it crazy how time flies? We all know time flies because it whooshes overhead unnoticed every day. Yet when we fly, say in seat 38b with that fat man reclining in front of us, time moves very slowly. That's because time is up there flying with us.

ANOTHER (THOUGHTS!) lasted 11 months, from 10/97 to 9/98. FOA's Gold Trail was almost 22 months, from 2/00 until 12/01. FOFOA has now been here a full 22 months, officially surpassing the duration of each of those fine archives. While I am certainly nowhere near the league of those guys, I think I am now qualified to empathize with them. Mine is an empathy that cannot be shared with anyone who has not walked in the same shoes, or at least footprints, so to speak.

So here is a little "inside information" about me for those of you that care. I have been unemployed since I began this blog. I am living under a self-imposed austerity regime financed only by my personal savings and a very small income from gracious readers like you that have supported this blog through donations. Thank you all!

But this month a string of unexpected costs have come up. So unfortunately I must conduct this poll. Here is the question:

Is my time more valuable here sharing my Thoughts, or flipping burgers to protect my savings? Please answer A or B:

A) Here

B) McDonald's

To answer A, please click the donation button below and cast the desired weight of your vote. For B, don't do anything.






I will publish the poll results (without names) once the sample has reached a representative size. Thank you all very much for visiting FOFOA... and would you like any fries with that?

Sincerely,
FOFOA

32 comments:

myanmarinvestor said...

Any way other than Paypal? I get this (from their inept and incompetent lawyers who couldn't be bothered to read the sanctions rules):

Error 3028. You have accessed your account from a sanctioned country. Per international sanctions regulations, you are not authorized to access the PayPal system. For more information about your PayPal account status, contact complianceverifications@paypal.com.

FOFOA said...

Hello Fletcher,

Email me at fofoamail@gmail.com and I'll send you an "absentee ballot" (P.O. box).

Thank you!
FOFOA

Martijn said...

FOFOA,

The BIS have put lots of their reports online.

Here it is.

Saul said...

20 Bennybucks from me, and I don't part with money easily. C'mon all - think about what you have learnt here... and dig deep!

MatrixSentry said...

Here. Donation made. Thanks for the enlightening prose, well worth the donation.

MystryBox said...

Forget donations. You've got an established blog that will be easy to start a revenue stream on. Google "AdSense" or some other ad system and and you'll quickly be making an income stream off the blog on a regular basis that will make it worth your while to post regularly (a win for everyone). Since you're on Blogger it's practically automatic with AdSense... you just have to turn it on.

miked said...

At least now I know FOFOA is not Ben Bernanke :))

Unknown said...

You've go my vote! I have to say I'm addicted to your blog. I can't always get the comments thingy to work, though. :-)

Greyfox "It's the Debt, Stupid" said...

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch, (TANSTAAFL).

TANSTAAFL demonstrates opportunity cost.: To get one thing that we like (FOFOA posts), we may need to give up another thing that we like (money/support). Making decisions requires trading off one goal against another.

"Nothing in life is truly "free". There is always some sort of cost involved, (time, effort, research, annoyance/Shelby).

Come on guys, up the ante.

http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/f/free_lunch.asp

Flore said...

you sure can put me on the list...

Your message FOFOA is crystalclear...your writings honest... that deserves a reward..

It's unvaluable information you are providing... so people should try to put a number onto that..and put it onto your account.. That's meritocracy (hope i spell this right).


No donation from me.. but a reward.. a reward for a friend... !!

After we have the gold revaluation...people should once again think about you and do the appropriate thing... i sure will...

Greyfox "It's the Debt, Stupid" said...

miked said...
"At least now I know FOFOA is not Ben Bernanke"

Miked, good one, classical. I retrieve every negative thought that I might have had about you at one time.
As for myself, I did not realize FOFOA had such a famous "Uncle Burt" as a movie star.

Robert Mix said...

Absentee ballot on the way to the best gold blogger around (but Fekete is very good too).

And Y said...

If it weren't for FO/FO/A I would not have the confidence I do in storing my excess wealth in gold. FOFOA's articles are insightful and open. That he hasn't yet established an income stream from this blog is a huge testament to his true intent, which is sharing his THOUGHTS with those that will hear.

I've PayPal-ed the first half of my donation. The second half, a gram of gold, is redeemable by FOFOA when an ounce is worth $10k, the lowest probable value for gold in his estimations.

MetalStack said...

Just donated $50, thanks for all of the hard work.

Indenture said...

If you have been reading FOFOA for over a year it should be morally mandatory to donate.

Unknown said...

FOFOA,

I love your blog as much as anyone, but you are going to have to get a job my friend.

I don't see how you can survive on $20 and $30 donations from people.

I know you put a lot of effort and time into what you write - and combined with your intelligence - that's why your blog is so good and so valuable.

Reality being what it is - namely that you have to eat and pay the rent - something inside me tells me that you may have to stop blogging.

I hope I'm wrong, but I'm fully aware of the position your in.

Maybe you can marry a rich girl and all your financial needs will be solved? Hahaha

Best wishes,

Robert Campbell

J said...

I voted yes. This is the best website on the internet and I don't think we have time for a FOFOFOA to step up and take your place.

I also agree with Mystrybox and think that you should put some ads up on your site

miked said...

Words are cheap Patrick

costata said...

FOFOA,

Count me in.

Your work deserves support.

Wendy said...

FOFOA,

Thank you so much for asking. You are indeed a beacon in the night, so to speak. I just finished reading a post from Nov 09, in the comments a poster asserted that most of those reading your blog were of the 5% that had wealth to “invest” and basically didn’t represent perhaps average joe sixpack. This, frankly, shocked me. I thought about it and realized that, public opinion, even here, is that if one has any ability to think and rationalize “outside the box” , and perhaps host a blog on the internet, then they must be of the benevolent gazillionaires. WOW!! Thanks for dispelling that myth (among others)

I can easily see that you have spent thousands of hours consulting, writing and responding without ever expecting remuneration for your “work”, and work it has been.

Another said that even those of small wealth can walk in the foot steps of giants. Well, I am one of “miniscule wealth “, relatively speaking, I am “Josephine sixpack”, I can see, I can deduce, I can ask and I can learn!

Thanks again for all your efforts. Thanks also to Another, FOA and SirEnder.

Kindest Regards,
Wendy

nickz said...

i read the comments above and mostly laugh.... $20 bucks???? Folks - as John Mac would say, "you can't be serious??!!".

Ante up folks. FOFOA's product is unique and his wisdom is of a uniquely rare variety.

I'm in for $500.

Z

Ruben de Vries said...

Donation added, keep up doing this great stuff.

This is most certainly better then that of Prof Fekete, who appear to be stuck on his real bill doctrine, confusing that freegold will drive out fractional reserve money, which means there won't be a need for implementing the real bill doctrine.

Saul said...

Mickz, I know what you mean, and if you've got it, go nuts. For the rest of us, we give what we can, you know? A little and often works well too.

Jimmpy said...

I do have a request FOFOA. If your name ever turns out to be "Jon Nadler". I want my money back. :-) Anyway may you live long and prosper

Mr. Mandelbrot said...

I want you to know that I will now be making recurring donations as if this was a subscription site. The thrill I receive when I go to this site (almost every day) and see that you have posted something new is well worth paying for. Please keep them coming!!

dojufitz said...

Why isn't anyone at the G20 meetings talking about Gold as something to consider?

Anonymous said...

dojufitz, if they did talk about Gold openly then their bluff would be called and people would know that Gold is Money and Fiat is currency.

They'd loose all their power, they better not talk about this and maintain the status quo at any cost.

ebikeguru said...

$100 downpayment and I hope to add more monthly as we go forwards.... but don't bet the farm on it as times are hard here too!!

I would wager there is something you could find in between doing burgers and nothing, but having seen the US job destruction happening this last 18 months, I would imagine that even burger jobs are tough to get without a Doctorate in Food Science on your CV??!!

Best of luck in your job/income mission.

Cheers,

sutski

And Y said...

I guess these "unexpected costs" were a vacation!

costata said...

Andy,

I wouldn't bet on that.

Greyfox "It's the Debt, Stupid" said...

Andy,
Over time and after reading the archives you get a "feel" for the character of the writer. There has been much work, effort, research spent on these archives with little to none ROI (return on investment) of time. Not that I believe this was the motive (ROI). Kindly not cast negative dispersions until you have the experience/knowledge of having read all the archives of FOFOA/FOA/A.

FOFOA has earned a vacation, actually several vacations if he could afford it, however from the "feel", nature, and purpose of his writings that is not the case.

Unknown said...

I vote yes! ($L$) Thank you so much for all the invaluable information that you have posted over the last 22 months... I Have followed you for the last year...

God Bless you and Keep you!

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