Animal Planet Mines New Territory With 'Ice Cold Gold'

Animal Planet continues to expand its programming with Ice Cold Gold, which follows eight miners hoping to strike it rich in an unexplored area of Greenland under harsh conditions.

The six-part series, which debuts at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Sunday, is part of the network's effort to add original series that showcase the second half of its name in addition to its stable of shows about animals.



"It's certainly more of a concentration on the 'Planet' part of our brand name," says Melinda Toporoff, who executive produces Ice Cold Gold for Animal Planet, which has found success with such animals-aren't-the-focus shows as Finding Bigfoot and Tanked and has Treehouse Masters coming up May 31. "You really see nature, in this case, as an unpredictable beast in and of itself. It's obviously not a literal take on an animal, but they were dealing with the elements and how unpredictable they were."  >>MORE (Hollywoodreporter.com)

'Bering Sea Gold' cameraman: Scott Meisterheim is an 'angry drunk'

Italian Job: Ton of Gold Hidden in Car

When one obviously panicked family looking to get out of harms way before contagion spreads and financial Armageddon takes hold attempted to cross into Switzerland, customs agents on the border found much more than they expected.

After questioning the family and inspecting their vehicle police reportedly found one ton of gold hidden in the floor boards.The nearly $50 million in gold was promptly seized by authorities.

But because taking one’s life savings is never enough for government goons whose job is to consider anyone with a pulse a criminal suspect or terrorist, the former owner of the gold is now being investigated by police for money laundering...MORE >>(lewrockwell.com)

Four Reasons You Shouldn't Buy Bitcoins

Timothy B. Lee 4/03/2013 Forbes.com

Discussion of the digital currency known as Bitcoin is divided into two camps. People who understand the currency well tend to be enthusiastic boosters. Those who are citical of Bitcoin tend not to understand the currency very well and, as a consequence, their criticisms tend to be superficial, misguided, or just plain wrong.

That’s unfortunate because Bitcoin does have some real weaknesses. The lack of knowledgeable critics has created an echo chamber effect that I worry may produce (or may have already produced) a bubble. I’m generally a Bitcoin fan (and, full disclosure, I own some Bitcoins), but in the interest of balance, here are four reasons you should think twice before buying Bitcoins.

Losses. Traditional financial products have strong consumer protections. If someone makes a fraudulent transaction with your credit card or your bank goes belly-up, there are laws in place to limit consumer losses. Bitcoin has no such safety net. If your Bitcoins are lost or stolen, there’s no intermediary with the power to make you whole... >>MORE (Forbes.com)

Bitcoin Hacked: Price Stumbles After Buying Frenzy

Matt Clinch 4 Apr 2013 CNBC

Online currency bitcoin had 20 percent knocked off its price overnight on Thursday as one of its major exchanges became the victim of a hacking attack leading to a sell-off in the virtual currency after reaching an all-time high.

 Uncertainty over other currencies, turmoil in Cyprus and media interest are just some of the reasons commentators are citing for the 360 percent rise in bitcoin prices over the last month. The frenzied interest in bitcoins piled over onto the social media site Twitter and led to a spike in Google searches on the topic.

 (Read More: CNBC-What Is Bitcoin?)

 But by Thursday morning bitcoin prices had fallen to $132 from Wednesday's record price of $147.

 The most popular bitcoin exchange, Tokyo-based Mt.Gox announced overnight that it had been the victim of a hacking attack after experiencing a severe lag with its systems. The complications meant the price quickly sank to below $115 before regaining ground to $130 by 6.00 a.m. London time on Thursday, according to Bitcoincharts.com.... >>MORE(CNBC.com) Bitcoin Wikipedia photo:CASASCIUS

How Roosevelt Secretly Ended the Gold Standard

Eric Rauchway Bloomberg.com Mar 21, 2013

On March 4, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt became president for the first time, promising an “adequate but sound” currency. The next day, a Sunday, he closed the nation’s banks. “We are now off the gold standard,” he privately declared to a group of advisers. Goldbugs in the president’s circle immediately began prophesying doom. One of his aides, Lewis Douglas, proclaimed “the end of Western civilization.”

How Roosevelt took this fateful step has been the subject of debate among historians, many of whom believe that the president flailed his way through his first weeks in office, and only gradually came to the decision to take the country off gold that April. But the evidence suggests that Roosevelt intended to do so from Day One for very specific reasons, although he delayed letting the rest of the country in on his plans.

Minutes after FDR had made his unsettling private disclosure, a secretary told him that reporters were clamoring to know if the U.S. had left the gold standard. “Tell them to ask a banker,” Roosevelt said. He clearly did not yet wish to say the truth publicly. First, he needed depositors to return the gold they had withdrawn in panic in the weeks preceding his inauguration.

By Tuesday, Americans had begun to bring gold in large quantities back to the banks. Perhaps they were shamed by the president’s identifying hoarding as the source of the panic, or maybe they feared prosecution under new penalties, including a tax on hoarding, then being discussed in Washington as ways of ensuring that gold came back to the Treasury. The Federal Reserve announced that it had the names of those who had taken out gold... >>MORE(Bloomberg.com)

Hear Franklin D Roosevelt Fireside Banking Chat March 12, 1933

'Bering Sea Gold' Finale Sneak Peek: John Bunce's Death Impacts the Edge's Crew

by Kimberly Nordyke 3/29/2013 Hollywood Reporter.com

Captain Zeke Tenhoff faces the end of gold mining season without his friend and fellow dredger.

In Friday's season finale, the dredgers break through Nome's frozen harbor for one last shot at finding treasure... >>MORE+Video (hollywoodreporter)

Supreme Court: Ruling against gold miners stands

 Monday, March 18, 2013 GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has let stand a ruling that makes it tougher for small-time gold miners to work their claims...
>>MORE>(Seattlepi.com)