A week of accidents, breakdowns, and wildfires

[Bill Bonner’s Diary]( A Week of Accidents, Breakdowns, and Wildfires By Bill Bonner Friday, August 14, 2020 – Week 22 of the Quarantine [Bill Bonner] SAN MARTIN, ARGENTINA – It’s been a busy week here in the Calchaquí Valley. Herewith, an update… An Argentine saddle is not like the western, American version. It is not a simple, one-piece statement, but more like a compound sentence, with dependent clauses and several modifiers. It begins with a cover of heavy cotton duck placed on the horse’s back. Then, there are two, or sometimes three, saddle blankets of heavy woolen weave. On top of them is placed the saddle cradle, made either of wood or a composite, and supported by a metal frame. The saddle is then cinched up, but not with a buckle, as in the U.S. Instead, the leather strap is looped two or three times between the saddle and the girth and then tucked under the rider. On top of the cradle are put one or two sheepskins to pad the hard saddle; these also are held in place by another, lighter cinch, similarly wrapped a couple of times and then placed, along with the girth strap, under the saddle pads. Nothing is tied or buckled. This means you have to stop from time to time to tighten your cinches… or you and your saddle will fall off. Recommended Link [Urgent: This amazing opportunity could disappear ANY MOMENT]( [ad_img]( For a limited time, you could take advantage of a unique opportunity I discovered during my 14-year career on Wall Street… Something I call the “billionaire bump.” The only catch is that you must act RIGHT NOW (this opportunity could disappear at any moment). [Details here]( - Nothing Broken On Saturday, our old foreman, Jorge, had come to visit. He wanted to see the farm and the cattle. So we saddled up… Jorge rode one of the farm horses, a stallion. Your editor was on another of them, a gelding. And Elizabeth was on her new yegua (mare). [image]Elizabeth and the yegua before the horse disgraced herself Elizabeth had only ridden her mare – a “paint,” as they say in the West, white and brown, and formerly used as a polo pony – a couple of times. The two of them looked good, but they didn’t know each other very well. And the mare was acting funny. Frisky, or “hot.” Jorge got down and adjusted the mare’s bridle, thinking that might be bothering her. Then, we continued. Typically, horses settle down when they are with a group. But scarcely had we entered the pasture when we heard a commotion behind us. Turning around, we saw Elizabeth fly through the air over the mare’s head. She fell hard on her back as the mare took off as if she were crazy. We jumped down and ran to Elizabeth. Her face was distorted… ashen. She had had the wind knocked out of her; she was gasping for breath. We helped her to her knees so she could hunch over and breathe, hoping there were no bones broken. Three years ago, she had a similar accident. She broke some little bones in her back and spent a month in bed. Inez and Pablo, two of the ranch hands, must have seen the mare racing across the field. In a few minutes, they were on the scene, running towards us. Jorge caught the yegua and took charge of the horses. By the time Inez got there, Elizabeth was beginning to recover. She was still gasping for air, but more calmly. “Can you walk?” we asked. “I don’t know.” Then… “You know… I’ve taken a lot of falls. But as I get older, the costs go up.” We helped her to her feet. Inez took her arm and led her back to the house. Jorge and your editor got back on our horses and continued our tour. Later, Elizabeth was sore… but mobile. Nothing was broken. [The FINAL Wave of 5G Millionaires Starts Any Day Now.]( Breakdown On Sunday, we took a drive to see an old winery ([mentioned in these pages earlier this week](. On the return journey, it was the truck that was acting up. It didn’t seem to want to go into 4 x 4, which was essential for crossing the river. Fiddling with it, finally, the dashboard light told us that the 4-wheel drive had been activated… And so, we entered the water. Right away, something didn’t seem right. The engine wasn’t revving up like it usually did. And then, midway across the river, the truck came to a halt and sank into the mud, its rear wheels spinning. “Your front wheels aren’t turning,” Jorge noticed, his head leaning out the window. That Toyota truck has been so reliable, we were surprised and disappointed. But there we were… stuck in the middle of the river. We called back to the farm office. With any luck, someone who knew how to drive a tractor would be there. There are seven guys on the payroll. But most don’t drive. Fortunately, Ojito came to the rescue. He is a heavy drinker. By Sunday afternoon, even at the wheel of a tractor, he could be a danger to himself and others. After a while, we heard the big, red Massey Ferguson on the road behind us. Ojito was in the driver’s seat. We took off our shoes and rolled up our pants. Water rushed in as we opened the door. Getting out quickly, we closed the door and hooked the chain to the steel ring at the front of the truck and then to the back of the tractor. The tractor pulled the truck out easily. We thanked Ojito… and continued on our way. Yesterday, the truck headed back to the dealer for repair. Recommended Link [Jeff Clark Will Show You How To Double Your Money Using the “FLIP” Formula]( [ad_img]( Hi, Jeff Clark here. During this extraordinary time, you’d be CRAZY to dive into the market without a plan… Which is why I’d like to share my “FLIP Trades” formula with you. Watch my short presentation below and I’ll show you: - How You Could Make as Much as $5,800, $12,900… Or even $18,750 using my “FLIP Trades” Formula… - How to Spot the ‘Pressure Point’ That Signals When a Trade Is Ready to “FLIP” and Potentially Return 100%, 258%, or Even 1,000%, or More… - PLUS… How You Could Have Made $6,200 From My Last “FLIP Trade” Prediction (And Why Today Is the Perfect Time to Start FLIP Trading) If you’re interested, I urge you… Click below to WATCH my PRESENTATION. It’s streaming now for a limited time only. – Jeff [Find out More About How to Start FLIP Trading Today]( - Property Limits “That’s not what you think it is.” Our neighbor, Ramón, knows our property better than we do. He was born in the house we restored and now live in. We were telling him about our visit to the far end of the farm. Or what we took for the far end. To the south of the house, there are four large fields… and then a few small fields, about 10 acres or less. It takes about 45 minutes on a horse to get to the end of it… which we took to be the limit of the property. “There’s a whole ‘nuther area,” explained Ramon. “Probably a few thousand acres of wasteland… with maybe 30 acres that used to be irrigated. There’s a whole separate canal.” Property lines are not always well defined here. An old title may say, “to the watershed”… or to “where [another property] begins.” Or nothing at all. We’ve never understood, for example, how far our property ran along the bank of the river. Or how far it goes out in the desert to the east. So, yesterday, we went to find out. Unlikely and Alone We rode out to the edge of the part we knew, what we took to be the border with an adjoining property. Then, following Ramón’s instructions, we just kept going… beyond the abandoned fields, up and over the arroyos (dry creeks) and rainy-season washes. It almost never rains here, but when it does, the water can flush down hard, leaving deep gullies. We were riding parallel to the river, about half a mile up from the riverbed itself. We went through three deep arroyos and then, after about another half-hour, came to an abandoned goat pen… and a broken-down house. [image]A tumbled-down house From there, the trees and bushes became strangely dense. We had just crossed miles of desert. How come there were so many trees? Where did the water come from? The underbrush was so thick, we could scarcely get through. And when we finally pushed our way into a clearing, we were surprised to find it green… and lush with grass. There was a spring, and water pooled up in several places. It seemed implausible; on this side of the river, there is almost 100 miles of nothing but dry sand and barren rock. But there it was, like an honest man running for Congress, pure and clean, unlikely and alone. Our horse moved closer to have a drink and was suddenly sinking into the soft ground. He panicked and jumped back. Then, we made our way along the edge of the swampy ground down to the river. From there, we were able to circle back up to an open field. [This Revolutionary Tech IS the #1 Investment of the Century.]( Abandoned Fields There, on the edge of the river, was a corral, which seemed to be still in use. Squatters must be crossing the river to graze their animals on our land. And up in the field were five rangy cows, lying under a tree. We continued our expedition by following the old irrigation canal (the property has not been used for at least 30 years) down to another arroyo. These dry river beds are a problem for irrigation systems. The canals often need to cross the arroyos. But most often, they wash away or fill up with sand as soon as it rains, so it must be re-dug after each rainy system. [image]An abandoned field On the other side of the arroyo, the canal had been mostly obliterated by rain or wind. Still, we could see where it used to be… a line of tough algarrobo trees, some of them now dead, marked a now-faint ditch. Not far away was another abandoned house. There were once many more people living in the valley than there are now. They were subsistence farmers, living on goats, corn, onions, wheat, potatoes, and not much more. While there are still a few of them left, most have moved to the towns… or at least to the other side of the river, where there is electricity… and where they have access to schools, shops, and clinics, even when the river is high. The field on this side of the arroyo was about the same size – about 10 or 15 acres – but it seemed to have been abandoned for a longer time. The trees along the old irrigation canal were in worse shape… and there were more tumbleweeds and other bushes growing in the middle of the field itself. We continued to the end. There, we discovered a strange, round building, like an igloo made of adobe bricks. Maybe it had been a storage shed. [image]A storage room? It was built into a hill that also seemed to mark the end of our property. Beyond it, the sharp rocks of the Apacheta mountain chain came right down to the river. It would be impossible to go much further. But it was now about 5 in the evening. It was time to turn back. We had just enough time to get back before dark. Recommended Link [2020 Prediction – Your Retirement Fortune Is About To Change…]( [image]( Investing legend Teeka Tiwari has a huge prediction about a unique income opportunity for 2020… Teeka’s already helped thousands of people move the needle on their financial station in life. Now, he’s back with a shocking, new discovery about an investment that can turn $100 into an extraordinary retirement income stream of $9,161… $23,798… $49,520… and even $85,487. It’s a [totally new way of collecting “royalty” income from the tech sector](. “Tech Royalties” combine the huge, steady payouts of a royalty investment… With the explosive gains happening in technology. Teeka predicts this could be the single best income investment he’s discovered in his 30-year career. [Go here]( -- Wildfire Riding back, as the sun dipped behind the mountain, we noticed an orange light on the opposite river bank. [image]Fire across the river The blaze, even from our vantage point on this side, was impressive. This time of year, when it hasn’t rained for six months, wildfires are a big danger. Typically, the locals are burning trash or clearing brush when the wind comes up… and the fire gets away from them. It then burns until it burns itself out. There is no way to “fight” a fire and nothing to fight it with. And with the wind blowing in strong gusts, it would be suicide to try. We called over to the other side of the river. “What’s going on?” “Oh… it’s nothing,” came the nonchalant voice of our foreman. “They were burning out the canal to clean it. It looks like it’s out of control.” “Aren’t you worried that it will burn over to the cornfield and get to our barn?” “No… there’s a big field between them… We just cleared it because we’re going to plant oats. The fire won’t get across.” We went to bed at about 11. The flames were still lighting up the night sky. This morning, the area is still smoking. But the wildfire has not gone far from where it began. Regards, [signature] Bill --------------------------------------------------------------- Like what you’re reading? Send your thoughts to [feedback@rogueeconomics.com](mailto:feedback@rogueeconomics.com?subject=“A Week of Accidents, Breakdowns, and Wildfires). --------------------------------------------------------------- FEATURED READS [Jobless Claims Fall as Unemployment Benefits Expire](. unemployment claims have dropped below 1 million for the first time in months, on the heels of the expiration of benefit payments. Now economists suggest what [Bill has said all along]( When people make more money sitting at home, they won’t have any incentive to go back to work… [Here’s How High Gold Could Go]( know that the gold price rises when crises happen… when investors pile into real, hard assets. And there have been multiple crises so far in 2020. What does this mean for gold? Casey Research analyst Andrey Dashkov shares his prediction… MAILBAG A dear reader is disappointed in Thursday’s Diary, “[Nothing Is Off the Menu]( It was a meandering of fantasy land instead of cutting to the chase. Trump will not do those things you wish as he has an election to win. The chairman of the Federal Reserve has a boardroom of private wealth that runs this. Who he must listen to, like a president, is a puppet front man. Power, more wealth, and control of the masses are what they are after. By killing cash, small businesses, and the personal freedoms written in the Constitution, they will get it. – Lisa L. Other dear readers offer their thoughts on Wednesday’s missive, “[Get Out Your Forks and Knives!]( While I always enjoy our Dear Editor's musings, I felt his comments bordered on the simplistic. He feels the solution to all our economic woes is the abolition of funny money, while his leftist counterpart, Chris Hedges, just needs to “eat the rich.” Both, of course, have strong points. The situation for the poor 99% is abysmal, and rightfully should be unacceptable. Remember the 1969 comment by 1,200 economists (including John Kenneth Galbraith and Paul Samuelson) about the value of a basic income plan? They wrote: "The country will not have met its responsibility until everyone in the nation is assured an income no less than the officially recognized definition of poverty." But to fund that requires either going further into debt (although eliminating all the web of social welfare programs would go a long way to reducing the cost). And trying to steal more from the 1% has never worked, as their lawyers teach them to avoid the taxes and they move their wealth beyond the greedy grasp of government. Anyway, if you eat the rich, what or who replaces them as the source of wealth creation to tax? – Nick A. Mr. Bonner, you mentioned the unemployment rate, questioning the official rate. America’s Bureau of Labor Statistics showed 167 million jobs prior to COVID-19. It opened a new category, employed-absent, to keep the rate below 30%. As of now, fewer than 40% of working age Americans hold a living wage job. You are not the first to question official data, but you're the first I've seen who was on the right track. – Michael M. Will killing cash and small businesses get government the power they want? Is it simplistic to imply that the U.S.’ financial troubles would end with the abolition of money-printing, like Nick says? Write us atfeedback@rogueeconomics.com. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT… [Judge Pirro’s Latest Interview Is Going VIRAL]( One of the top news anchors in America just went on camera to expose a huge story. When word spreads about what she’s uncovered – it could trigger an equally huge move in the stock market. If you haven’t seen her interview… which details a sector of the market that could soar 37x in the months ahead, [click this link]( to watch it now. [Click here to watch it.]( [image]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Get Instant Access Click to read these free reports and automatically sign up for daily research. [image]( [How You Can Start Profiting From Maganomics Today]( [image]( [How to Make A Fortune From Legal Cannabis]( [image]( [Trading Basics: Two Building Blocks Every Trader MUST Know]( [Rogue Economincs]( Rogue Economics 55 NE 5th Avenue, Delray Beach, FL 33483 [www.rogueeconomics.com]( [Share]( [FACEBOOK]( [Tweet]( [TWITTER]( To ensure our emails continue reaching your inbox, please [add our email address]( to your address book. This editorial email containing advertisements was sent to {EMAIL} because you subscribed to this service. To stop receiving these emails, click [here](. Rogue Economics welcomes your feedback and questions. But please note: The law prohibits us from giving personalized advice. To contact Customer Service, call toll free Domestic/International: 1-800-681-1765, Mon–Fri, 9am–7pm ET, or email us [here](mailto:memberservices@rogueeconomics.com). © 2020 Rogue Economics. All rights reserved. Any reproduction, copying, or redistribution of our content, in whole or in part, is prohibited without written permission from Rogue Economics. [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Use](