Rev. Graham: Obama seen as 'son of Islam'

By Becky Bratu, msnbc.com

Rev. Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham and a prominent evangelical leader in his own right, waded into contentious waters Tuesday when asked for his views on the religious beliefs of President Obama and the GOP hopefuls.

Graham, the CEO and president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, told a Morning Joe panel he couldn't say for certain that Obama is a Christian.

“You have to ask him. I cannot answer that question for anybody. All I know is I’m a sinner, and that God has forgiven me of my sins," Graham said. "You have to ask every person. He has said he’s a Christian, so I just have to assume that he is.”

But Graham also said he couldn't "categorically" say Obama wasn't a Muslim, in part, because Islam has gotten a "free pass" under Obama. Graham also said the Muslim world sees Obama as a "son of Islam," because the president's father and grandfather were Muslim.

According to Edina Lekovic, director of policy at the Muslim Public Affairs Council, being born in a Muslim family doesn't make one a Muslim. A person has to make an active choice to become a Muslim, Lekovic said.

Obama has said again and again that he is a Christian, both as a presidential candidate and as president.

“I’m a Christian by choice,” Obama told a group of New Mexico voters last September, answering a question from a member of the audience. He said he has embraced his faith even though growing up, “my family didn’t, frankly. They weren’t folks who went to church every week.”

In Chicago, Obama was a member of Trinity United Church of Christ for years, but he quit in May 2008 after videos of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s racially-divisive sermons surfaced on the Web.
“Our relations with Trinity have been strained by the divisive statements of Reverend Wright, which sharply conflict with our own views,” Obama and his wife Michelle wrote at the time.

The debate over the president's faith was brought up again on the campaign trail this Saturday, when Rick Santorum told a Tea Party crowd in Columbus, Ohio, that Obama's agenda is "not about you. It's not about you. It's not about your quality of life. It's not about your job. It's about some phony ideal, some phony theology. Oh, not a theology based on the Bible, a different theology, but no less a theology."

Related: Santorum defends 'theology' remark, Hitler inference; blames media
When pressed by reporters after Saturday's comments, the former Pennsylvania senator said he did not imply the president is not a Christian, but said the president was trumping religious freedoms.

Graham told the Morning Joe panel that he and Santorum share the same moral beliefs, and that he's confident Santorum is a fellow Christian.

"His values are so clear on moral issues, no question about it," he told the Morning Joe panel.
Graham spoke with a little less confidence about Gingrich's faith, and cast doubt on whether Romney's Mormonism is compatible with Christianity.

"I think Newt is a Christian, at least he told me he is," Graham said. He added that Romney's Mormon faith is not recognized as part of the Christian faith by most Christians, but he wouldn't give his own view.

Romney has stood by his faith, saying Mormonism's values are "as American as motherhood and apple pie."

"I believe in my Mormon faith," Romney said in a 2007 speech, "and I endeavor to live by it. My faith is the faith of my fathers. I'll be true to them and to my beliefs."

Obama to try and talk Netanyahu out of Iran strike after his advisers failed

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

After a high-ranking US delegation headed by White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon failed in three days of tough talks (Feb.18-20) to dissuade Israeli leaders to back off plans for a military strike against Iran’s nuclear sites, the White House invited Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for talks with President Barak Obama on March 5. He will try and break the stalemate which ended his advisers’ talks with Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz.

The defense minister, addressing his Independence Party later Monday praised Israel’s security relations with the US as very good and very important for a strong Israel. The dialogue between the two governments, he said, is marked by openness, mutual respect, understanding and attentiveness. At the same time, Barak hinted at discord by adding, “Both are sovereign nations which are ultimately responsible for their decisions in relation to themselves and their future.”

debkafile reported earlier Monday, Feb. 20:

White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon faced an acrimonious Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in two hours of stormy conversation in Jerusalem Sunday, Feb. 19, according to updates reaching senior US sources in Washington. The main bones of contention were Iran’s continuing enrichment of uranium and its ongoing relocation of production to underground sites.

Israeli officials declined to give out any information on the conversation. Some even refused to confirm it took place.

According to debkafile’s sources, Netanyahu accused the Obama administration of drawing Iran into resuming nuclear negotiations with world powers by an assurance that Tehran would be allowed to continue enriching uranium up to 5 percent in any quantity, provided it promised not to build an Iranian nuclear weapon. The prime minister charged that this permit contravened US administration guarantees to Israel on the nuclear issue and, moreover left Tehran free to upgrade its current 20 percent enrichment level to 90 percent weapons grade. This Israel cannot tolerate, said Netanyahu, so leaving its military option on the ready.

He warned the US National Security Adviser that no evidence whatsoever confirms Washington’s claim that Tehran intends suspending enrichment and other nuclear advances when negotiations begin. Quite the contrary: Even before the date was set, Iran started working at top speed to build up its bargaining chips by laying down major advances in its nuclear program as undisputed facts.

Tehran now claims to have progressed to self-reliance in the production of 20 percent-enriched uranium, the basis for the weapons grade fuel, in unlimited quantity. Once the talks are underway, Netanyahu maintained, there would be no stopping the Iranians without stalling the negotiating process. Going by past experience, Tehran would use dialogue as an extra fulcrum for its impetus toward weapon production without interruption.

Monday, Donilon and his delegation meet Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

The mission of this high-powered US delegation in Israel takes place to the accompanied of a resumed US media campaign for discouraging Israeli military action against Iran’s nuclear installations.

Sunday, Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs of Staff, offered this opinion to CNN: “Israel has the capability to strike Iran and delay the Iranians probably for a couple of years. But some of the targets are probably beyond their reach.”

Monday’s New York Times carried an assessment by “American defense officials and military analysts close to the Pentagon” under the caption, “Iran Raid Seen as a Huge Task for Israel Jets.” debkafile’s military sources report the main argument, dredged up from the past and long refuted, is that Israeli Air Force bombers cannot cover the distance to Iran without in-flight refueling.

That array of “analysts” apparently missed the CNN interview and therefore contradicted the assessment of America’s own top general that “Israel has the capability to strike Iran…”

Reality has meanwhile moved on. Four events in the last 24 hours no doubt figured large in the US delegation’s talks with Israeli leaders:

1. Monday, the IAEA sent to Tehran its second team of monitors this month for another attempt to gain access to nuclear facilities hitherto barred by the Iranians. The inspectors will also demand permission to interview scientists which according to a list drawn up at the agency’s Vienna headquarters hold key positions in their nuclear program.

2. The Russian Chief of Chaff Gen. Nikolai Makarov estimated that the attack on Iran would be “coordinated” by several governments and “a decision would be made by the summer.”

3. Moscow recalled Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kutznetsov from the Syrian port of Tartus to its home base at Severomorsk on the Kola Peninsula.

4. Turkey is beinding over backward to assure Iran that data collected by the US missile shield radar stationed at its Kurecik air base will not shared with Israel. It is especially anxious not to annoy Tehran after foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi announced that the resumed nuclear talks with the five Permanent Security Council members and German (P5+1) would be held in Istanbul.

However, the Iranians certainly know exactly what is going on after watching the recent joint US-Israeli radar test which demonstrated that Israel is fully integrated in the missile shield radar network and that the US radar station in the Israeli Negev interfaces with its station in Turkey and Israel’s Arrow missile Green Pine radar.

When he visited Ankara last week, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen assured his Turkish hosts that “Intelligence data collected within the missile defense system will not be shared with third countries. It will be shared with the allies within our alliance.”

His statement was quite accurate – except for the fact that the radar stations collecting the intelligence data are not controlled by NATO but by US military teams, both of which, including the Turkish-based radar, are integrated and coordinated with Israeli radar and missile interceptors.

Future Chrome Version May Choose Your Passwords, and Change Them When You’ve Been Hacked

By Jon Brodkin - Ars Technica

Google’s Chrome development team is working on a system to automatically generate passwords, which would help users secure their online identities with passwords that would be diversified across different sites, and are randomized and thus harder to guess. Detailed in developer documentation on the Chromium Project site, the system would detect account sign-up pages and “add a small UI element to the password field” giving the user the option of letting Chrome manage the password for them.

Initial versions of the system would create passwords on an individual basis, at the user’s request. But Google’s development team states that “At some point in the future it might also be possible for us to automatically change all of a user’s passwords when we realize that their account is hijacked.” The developer documentation notes that the feature would make Google “a higher value hijacking target,” than it already is, although “Google is already a high value target so this shouldn’t change much.”

Chrome can already store passwords, a common feature in modern browsers, and it syncs them across computers, with the passwords encrypted in transit and at rest in Google data centers. The idea of auto-generating passwords is not new, either. Password management software such as 1Password and LastPass can already generate passwords and automatically input them into web forms. But these tools cost money and require additional software downloads. Although it’s not clear when it will become available, Google’s scheme would make storing and generating passwords a pre-installed feature of the browser.

The first challenge noted by the Chrome development team is detecting sign-up pages, which is accomplished by looking for elements such as “an account name field and two password fields.” Next, the Chrome password generator must come up with a secure password that meets the site’s requirements—many sites require digits, special characters or certain lengths. Because the password generator may choose a password that doesn’t meet the site’s requirements, the user is given a chance to review the suggested password before selecting it.

“If they accept the prompt then we pop up a small box which is prepopulated with what we think is an acceptable random password,” the Chromium development document says. “The reason we don’t just choose a password for them is that many sites have requirements (e.g. must have one digit, must be alphanumeric, must be between 6 and 20 characters) some of which may be contradictory between sites. So we will choose a default generator that will work on most sites, but users may need to change our password if it doesn’t work.”

The Chromium team is still looking for a “way to authenticate to the browser to enable this feature,” and will have to find a workaround for sites that have autocomplete turned off.

“Any website that has autocomplete turned off will not be able to be protected,” the document states. “Going by current phishing attacks, this means that 40-70% of phishing pages can’t be protected against. Once this feature is rolled out we probably want to see if we can get around this problem. Maybe we can get users to re-authenticate to the browser before logging into such sites.”

How much do you trust Google?

Google is often criticized for invading users’ privacy, as the company makes much of its revenue by serving up personalized ads to users based on their web browsing habits and even the contents of their e-mail. However, the development of technology to generate more secure passwords seems like a good-faith effort to protect users from online attacks, and isn’t so far removed from the already-existing practice of browsers storing passwords.

Google’s password-generator will likely be appealing to many because of the sheer convenience of it. But users will have to decide for themselves just how much of their online activities they want to trust with Google.

In the long run, Chrome developers say the solution should be browser sign-in coupled with the OpenID authentication standard. However, “getting most sites on the Internet to use OpenID will take a while,” the Chrome team states. “In the meantime it would be nice to have a way to achieve the same affect of having the browser control authentication.” Since many people re-use passwords across sites, randomization will go a long way toward better security, making it harder for attackers to steal a user’s entire online identity.

Archaeologists bringing Jerusalem's ancient Roman city back to life

Excavations of the Roman city Aelia Capitolina, built on the ruins of Second Temple-period Jerusalem, have unearthed a few surprises.

By Nir Hasson

If you look at a map of the Old City of Jerusalem, you'll notice something odd. While the vast majority of the Old City's streets form a crowded casbah of winding alleyways, there are a few straight-as-a-ruler streets that bisect the city from north to south and east to west.

The best known of these straight roads are Beit Chabad and Hagai streets, exiting through the Damascus Gate; David Street, exiting the Jaffa Gate; and the Via Dolorosa.

Like the rest of the Old City's streets, these straight roads are narrow but, unlike the others, they preserve a historical skeleton of sorts that forms the basis of the Old City we know today. This skeleton was created, most archaeologists agree, not during Jewish, Christian or Muslim rule, but during the Roman period, when the city of Aelia Capitolina was built on the ruins of Jerusalem following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD.

Ironically, it is actually the streets of this imperial and pagan city - which supposedly left behind no cultural or spiritual heritage for modern Jerusalem - that have bequeathed to the city the skeleton structure that has survived to this day.

In the history of Jewish Jerusalem, Aelia Capitolina is the very embodiment of defeat and destruction - a reminder of the humiliation of the Second Temple's destruction, which erected a pagan temple in its place. This image has distanced Aelia Capitolina from the fathers of Israeli archaeology, who were naturally drawn to the ornate, Jewish city that preceded it. "No one concealed Aelia Capitolina, but we wanted to talk about the Second Temple," says Dr. Ofer Sion, of the Antiquities Authority. "Aelia Capitolina was an accursed city, a city from which we were banished. It was more idealistic to excavate the Second Temple."

Almost all of the archaeologists who study Aelia Capitolina call it "an elusive city." As opposed to the Jerusalem of Second Temple times that preceded it, Aelia Capitolina has not been entirely unearthed during the many excavations that have been performed in the city since 1967. The residents of Aelia Capitolina did not leave written texts like the works of Flavius Josephus during the Second Temple era or of Christian travelers in the following period.

It is known that the Roman city was established by Emperor Hadrian between 130 and 140 AD. After the Bar Kochba revolt of 135, Jews were forbidden to enter the city. Its most important inhabitants were the soldiers of the 10th Legion, who would remain encamped in Jerusalem for 200 years.

Salvage operations

Following the latest wave of excavations, which began in the mid-1990s, more and more archaeologists have become convinced that Aelia Capitolina was a much larger and more important city than was once thought, and its influence on the later development of modern Jerusalem was dramatic.

Aelia Capitolina has sprung to life in a significant way through no less than four extensive excavations that have taken place in the Old City area, and in a number of other digs in other parts of Jerusalem. Most of these digs have been rescue excavations by the Antiquities Authority, salvage digs carried out before new construction and development goes ahead. In a few more years, Aelia Capitolina could again be covered over by new buildings.

In the rear section of the Western Wall plaza, in the spot where the Western Wall Heritage Foundation intends to erect a large building that it calls "the Core House," Antiquities Authority researcher Shlomit Wexler-Bedolah discovered an ornate and broad Roman street, complete with shops on each side. This is the eastern cardo, along whose path Hagai Street would later be paved.

Three hundred meters to the south, another Antiquities Authority researcher, Dr. Doron Ben-Ami, discovered the place where the Roman street apparently ended. The corner of the street is adjacent to the Givati parking lot at the top of the Silwan valley - the spot where the Elad organization intends to build a large visitors center. In a large rescue excavation at this location in recent years, Ben-Ami exposed a large, fancy Roman villa unlike any other structure from its time in the entire country. He estimates that the villa he uncovered was the home of the regional governor or some other central authority.

In another excavation, in the tunnel under the Western Wall, Wexler-Bedolah and archaeologist Alexander Onn re-estimated the dating of a large bridge leading to the Temple Mount. As with other ancient monuments this too turned out to be of Roman origin and not from the Second Temple period. Another example is the Roman bathhouse and swimming pool discovered by Sion a year and a half ago. "It's a tremendous spa, a country club," Sion says, comparing the bathhouse to similar facilities found in other parts of the Roman Empire.

This increasing number of Roman-era discoveries strengthens the notion that the Temple Mount, even after its destruction, did not lie totally barren, but was used for pagan worship rites.

But not only the Old City and its immediate surroundings have turned up new findings from Aelia Capitolina. Excavations made a few years ago in the area near the Binyanei Ha'uma international convention center, carried out in preparation for the expansion of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, uncovered a large pottery-workers village that served as the legion's central clayware manufacturing plant. Along the route of Jerusalem's new light-rail, remains of a large water facility serving the legionnaires were discovered, and in the area of Shuafat, a Jewish settlement from the same period was discovered.

The latest excavations give archaeologists much greater insight into Aelia Capitolina than was possible even a decade earlier. Experts agree the city was planned extraordinarily well, based as it was on designs of other cities in the empire and according to orders that came directly from the emperor. It included broad streets, numerous and magnificent entrance gates, temples and infrastructure, and it even housed a new elite of army officers and free soldiers who turned Aelia Capitolina into a thriving city.

"When I began to study the history of the Roman city, it was a barren field," says Prof. Yoram Zafrir, one of Israel's most veteran archaeologists. "Today, it is clear that the basic structure of Jerusalem is that of Aelia Capitolina." Zafrir describes the process by which, after the Roman period, beasts of burden replaced wagons, the central government became weak and streets became "privatized." This process led to the city that we know today.

"Similarly to the British Mandate, which lasted just 31 years but had a significant impact on modern Jerusalem, from the perspective of architecture, the Roman period established a whole new, imperial language that still holds sway today," archaeologist Dr. Guy Stiebel concludes. Stiebel even notes the irony of history: "Aelia Capitolina effectively saved Jerusalem. It raised her once again onto the stage of history. She returned like a phoenix from the ashes."

Sprott's John Embry:“The Current Financial System Will Be Totally Destroyed“

by Tyler Durden

Sprott strategist John Embry has never been a fan of the existing financial system. Today, he makes that once again quite clear in this interview with Egon von Grayerz' Matterhorn Asset Management in which he says: "I think that the current financial system, as we know it, will be totally destroyed, probably sooner rather than later. The next system will require gold backing to have any legitimacy. This has happened many times in history." Needless to say, he proceeds to explain why a monetary system based on gold, one in which one, gasp, lives according to one's means, is better. Logically, he also explains why the status quo, whose insolvent welfare world has nearly a third of a quadrillion in the form of unfunded future liabilities, will never let this happen. Much more inside.

“The Current Financial System Will Be Totally Destroyed“

John Embry, the chief investment strategist at Sprott Asset Management, talks in this exclusive interview about the motives and the means of certain interests to prevent a free gold market; tells the reason why the gold price will remain high; shows the opportunities in silver; and explains: “Gold is about the furthest thing from a bubble that I can think of.“

 
An industry expert in precious metals, his experience as a portfolio management specialist spans more than 45 years: John Embry, the chief investment strategist at Sprott Asset Management. He began his investment career as a Stock Selection Analyst and Portfolio Manager at Great West Life. Mr. Embry then became a Vice President of Pension Investments for the entire firm. After 23 years with the firm, he became a Partner at United Bond and Share, the investment counseling firm acquired by Royal Bank in 1987. Afterwards he was named Vice-President, Equities and Portfolio Manager at RBC Global Investment Management, a $33 billion organization where he oversaw $5 billion in assets, including the Royal Canadian Equity Fund and the Royal Precious Metals Fund. In March 2003 Mr. Embry joined Sprott Asset Management with focus on the Sprott Gold and Precious Minerals Fund and the Sprott Strategic Offshore Gold Fund Ltd. He plays an instrumental role in the corporate and investment policy of the firm.

Mr. Embry, the perhaps best report I have ever read on the gold market was “Not Free, Not Fair: The Long-Term Manipulation of the Gold Price,” written by Andrew Hepburn and you. (1) I would like to talk with you at the beginning about the findings of that report. First of all, why do you think it is relevant whether the gold price is free or not?

John Embry: Thank you for the very generous compliment. It is essential that the gold market be free. It functions as the so called “canary in the coal mine” and its price should be allowed to reflect excesses in a pure fiat monetary system. The continued suppression of the gold price was a key factor in the many financial bubbles which have essentially wrecked the monetary system as we know it.

What has the evidence been that the gold market isn’t a free market?

John Embry: Our report which was written 7 ½ years ago revealed all sorts of chicanery in the gold market and we only used evidence which could be corroborated. Considerable additional evidence has piled up subsequently but two smoking guns are the repetitive counter intuitive price action and evidence of widespread clandestine leasing of western central bank gold.

Who are the ones that don’t like a free gold market and which objectives do they have in mind by preventing a free gold market?

John Embry: The western governments, their central banks and the allied bullion banks are the culprits. They view gold as a mortal enemy of the fiat currency system. Gold has been real money for centuries and every paper money system in history has ultimately collapsed. This drives them to continuously denigrate and manipulate gold.

Through which tools is the gold price “managed“?

John Embry: The worst damage occurs in the so-called paper gold market where derivatives, naked shorting, vicious margin hikes, etc. are employed to fleece the long side who don’t have as deep pockets. In addition, the western central banks have supplied the physical gold necessary to effect the plan through their leasing.

Recently, I was told by a former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Paul A. Volcker, that to his best knowledge “the U.S. has not intervened in the gold market for more than 40 years.“ (2) Do you think Mr. Volcker has the truth on his side?

John Embry: Mr. Volcker admitted that the U.S. had made a mistake by not intervening at one point in the gold market some 40 years, so to think that nothing has happened subsequently is extremely naïve. Technically he might be correct in the sense that swaps could have been employed and the intervention using U.S. gold could have been conducted by another party. Recently retired Fed Governor Kevin Warsh acknowledged U.S. gold swaps in correspondence with GATA just last year. (3)

Furthermore, Mr. Volcker seemed to suggest that central banks have some interest in the price of gold because of its effect on the currency markets. (4) What kind of relationship does exist between gold and the currency markets which are much bigger than the gold market?

John Embry: Very simple. Gold is a currency. Arguably it is the ultimate currency and the central bankers are acutely aware of this fact. Gold’s role as currency is once again coming to the fore and the central bankers hate that fact.

Are gold swap arrangements between central banks a) important for the “management“ of the gold price, and b) do they represent a means of intervention in the gold market?

John Embry: They are most certainly important because it allows central bankers to technically tell the truth because it is always another central bank that is utilizing the swapped gold to intervene in the market. It is a subterfuge.

Do you think the Western central banks have as much gold as they claim they have?

John Embry: I strongly suspect that they have materially less than they try to represent. The IMF permits a one line entry on their balance sheets which aggregates physical gold with gold receivables. That’s ridiculous and it is done to deceive analysts. For example, if the Americans had the 8,161 tonnes that they say they have, they would be delighted to submit to an outside audit and shut their detractors up. However, they stonewall all requests.

With its “QE to infinity“ program: would you say the Fed has exposed itself in a way as a hardcore goldbug entity?

John Embry: I believe they are fully aware of the extent to which they are debasing their money. We, the public, have to be the hardcore gold bugs to protect our wealth from their depredations.

It seems as if more and more gold is moving towards certain central banks and not away from them. Is this a solid assurance that the gold price will remain high?

John Embry: I believe so. The eastern central banks (China, Russia, et al) have accumulated a lot of dollars and realize they are at risk. Ergo, they buy gold. At the same time, I think the western central banks have run their inventories down to levels beyond which they won’t go. Thus, I think central banks collective gold buying will have a salutary impact on the price going forward.

In the event of another market meltdown, which seems rather likely, do you expect a sell-off in gold?

John Embry: There could be a minor sell-off just because there are so many algorhythyms influencing the market. It would be short lived because big money in the world now knows they need gold for protection.

Gold is in a bull market for ten years now. So an increasing number of people say it is in a bubble. Why would you say, in Gershwin’s words, “it ain’t necessarily so“?

John Embry: Gold’s price is directly related to the constant debasement of the currencies in which it is denominated. The creation of new paper money is dwarfing the amount of gold available. Gold is about the furthest thing from a bubble that I can think of.

What do you think in particular about Warren Buffett’s constant “Gold is in a bubble, I go for stocks“ talk? Does he serve here as an influential opinion maker in a specific role because he gets a lot of public attention? In other words: is he a fool or does he only act like a fool? (5)

John Embry: Warren Buffet sold out a long time ago. It’s too bad because he was a great stock picker once. Now he owns insurance companies, Wells Fargo and was a buyer of Goldman Sachs and G.E. in the global financial crisis. He is a member of the American establishment and has a lot to lose. He should have listened to his father Howard Buffett who was a U.S. Congressman and a true “hard money” advocate.

In your view, gold will gain in importance as a monetary asset in the years ahead, likely regaining an official role in the world’s financial system. Why do you think so?

John Embry: I think that the current financial system, as we know it, will be totally destroyed, probably sooner rather than later. The next system will require gold backing to have any legitimacy. This has happened many times in history.

The mining stocks both in gold and silver seem to me extremely undervalued. Do you agree?

John Embry: They are indeed, and they are being heavily manipulated by the same entities active in suppressing the gold price. In addition, many nefarious hedge funds now are active on the short side. The U.S. financial scene has become a total cesspool.

Are there key levels in the XAU and HUI that one should pay attention to as starting points of a mining stock rally?

John Embry: I tend to pay more attention to the HUI because it is the pure gold index. When the HUI takes out the 555 level with gusto, I think we are away to the races. However, this level is being aggressively defended by the bad guys. A higher gold price (through $2000 per oz.) will rectify this issue.

Why are you at Sprott Asset MGMT so very bullish related to silver?

John Embry: We think the supply-demand equation is ultimately better than even that of gold. New industrial and medical uses are exploding and because silver is “poor man’s gold,” investment demand for silver will go crazy when gold gets priced out of the average citizen’s capacity to buy. Given the small size of the market and very limited inventory, the price should go ballistic.

For your physical silver ETF you want to re-acquire physical silver in a big way. Do you think you could be pioneers (for other fund managers) in direct engagement with mines through direct and forward transactions, instead of going to the Comex? You certainly don’t want to “whoop” the silver price by your own buying, correct?

John Embry: I think that is a potential avenue particularly when the supply-demand equation gets progressively tighter in the future.

Is the silver market also subject of surreptitious interventions?

John Embry: Without question. In many ways it may be worse because it is a smaller market and J.P. Morgan Chase’s activities have been egregious. The fact that the CFTC has been investigating this for nearly four years without resolution is one of the great jokes of all time.

What is your information: to which extent the US silver ETFs are short and how many stocks of those have been used for covering future short contracts?

John Embry: I believe that they are but I can’t provide any information on the extent. When the very same organizations that have manipulated the market for years act as custodians for the ETF’s, it would be wise to be wary.

One highly interesting issue for me personally is the point in time when the Middle East countries will no longer sell their oil and natural gas for paper money. When do you think they will be paid for it with precious metals?

John Embry: I suspect this whole phenomenon could occur very quickly. When confidence in paper money is lost and I think we are rapidly approaching that moment, something like that would undoubtedly come to pass.

How do you think about the conflict around Iran viewed from a perspective of the petrodollar?

John Embry: The whole Iranian issue is very disturbing and I think the U.S ‘s motives might have more to do with the petrodollar than Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

One final question. IF the financial system goes under, one can expect massive supply shortfalls and disruptions in goods and services, particularly in the energy sector. Would you recommend to our readers to take precautions for such a scenario instead of hoping for the best outcome of the global financial crisis?

John Embry: Unfortunately yes. I am a great believer in cognitive dissonance. Most individuals don’t want to face the truth, particularly if it is very unpleasant. Those that do not suffer from this condition should take precautions because the world situation is presently very dangerous.

Thank you very much for taking your time, Mr. Embry!