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Deposed Tunisian President Ben Ali Said To Have Fled Country With 1.5 Tons Of Gold
Not shares of AAPL, not freeze dried MREs, not shotguns shells, not even €45 million European pieces of linen in a suitcase... Gold. And one wonders why all the physical silver and gold is slowly but surely disappearing from the distributors: someone should really check the cargo hold of Lloyd's, Jamie's and Vikram's G-6 planes...and of course the extra cargo holds in the private helicopter squadron of that "other" Ben, elsewhere now known lovingly with the adjective of Blackhawk (f/k/a Helicopter).
From Le Monde (Google translated):
The family of ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia would have fled with 1.5 tons of gold. It is an assumption of the French secret services, who try to understand how the day ended on Friday 14 January, which saw the departure of President and his family and the downfall of his regime.
According to information gathered in Tunis, Leila Trabelsi , the president's wife allegedly went to the Bank of Tunisia to look for gold bars. The governor refused. M me Ben Ali had called her husband, who had also initially refused, then surrendered. She then flew to Dubai, according to French news before leaving for Jeddah. "It seems that the wife of Ben Ali is a party with gold" , said a senior French official. "1.5 tonnes gold, that makes 45 million euros" , translated source.
Mr. Ben Ali, he does not believe his fall as fast. For proof, according to Paris, he recorded a new speech, which has not had time to appear. He would not leave the country voluntarily but would have been impeached. The army and the chief of staff who refused to fire on the crowd, have, according to European intelligence services played a leading role in the removal of Mr. Ben Ali.
It seems at least one person was smart enough to take heed in the Fed's just declassified records on what the surging price of gold means for food price inflation... and for popular revolutions derived therefrom.
The mode of departure of Mr. Ben Ali has also uncertainties. He seems to have found in the airspace of Malta, without a flight plan determined, stating that he did not, in his hasty departure from Tunisia, a precise destination. An Italian source said that the aircraft would not receive permission to land on the island. According to another hypothesis, the deposed president had left by helicopter for Tunis Malta, where he recovered his plane.
At least we now know that following the upcoming banking kleptocracy's
exodus from the US, Malta may well be the newest destination location
for every stripper in a 50 miles radius of Manhattan.
And like that Tunisia's official gold holdings (as per the WGC) are down by 23%:
h/t Cate Long
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But he can't eat it.
yea but I bet the baggage handlers were pissed.
I can see it now... "how many bags sir?"
"just four, do you have a fork lift?"
gold: because its the international currency. plus gold can be used for untraceable bribes... just ask our representatives in washington about that one...
This is just like the Marcos's departure from the Phillipines, only with gold.
"This is just like the Marcos's departure from the Phillipines, only with shoes."
Fixed.
Greedy bullionsless stupid (arabic) monkey.
Check this out -- these gold-napping stunts have been going on for a long, long time. It's a wonder we still function as a country with DC being nothing but a rats' nest of marauders and pirates.
http://www.peterdavidbeter.com/docs/all/dbaltpcs.html
yea but I bet the baggage handlers were pissed.
Wrong. Think how much 'baggage' goes missing on US airlines. This is Tunisia we are talking about.
It was probably on pallets, and under heavy guard. Baggage handlers never saw one thing, nor did they want to see it.
All these countries hold gold to appease the Annanuki upon their return!
Dam aliens planning on stealing all our gold. I hope the mother ship doesn't have the towing capacity to take the silver too.
The Annunaki also like our women as well. That pic that Robot posted yesterday of that beauty with all that gold on her better start carrying around some alien contraceptives if she doesn't want to have a mutant human/annunaki spawn growing inside of her!
Actually, I believe Ben Ali could have avoided baggage-handling fees since just one carry-on bag might get the job done, as I believe 1.5 tons of gold would be a 16"-sided cube...
Pretty close. Gold weights 1204 lbs. per cubic foot, so 3,000 lbs (1.5 tons) is about 2.5 cubic feet. A standard gold bar weighs about 30 lbs, so 100 of them will also get the job done. Just buy an extra seat and leave Mrs. Ali in Jeddah.
The article spells ton as tonnes, as in a metric ton, which is 1,000 kilos, or 2,205 lbs.
That was funny!
hoser
3,000 pounds? Ain't easy to haul around.
Its probably gold plated tungsten bars......Duh !!!
That'll put the W in WTF?!
Bravo. That's some funny stuff. Chemgeek humor!
no no, the have the FED & US gov. markings on them...
Bars substitution can and will be done.
Yes, he can. Will take som time, though.
Gold is food additive E175.
http://www.food-info.net/uk/e/e175.htm
Dietary restrictions :
None, E175 can be consumed by all religious groups, vegans and vegetarians.
Thank god for that! I was afraid gold was unsuitable for vegans.
A lady at a Rotary luncheon was having trouble deciding between the pasta or chicken and a friend asked he why she'd consider the chicken at all as she's a vegan. To which vegan lady replied that she was only a part time vegan. And I pointed out that it was thus OK to have the pork rind sandwich as pigs eat vegetables and are thus vegetarians.
See the shit I have to put up with out here in California?
I was at a middling nice restaurant tonight. One corner of the menu had "Vegetarian and Light Fare." Included was the Bacon Cheeseburger Deluxe. Now that's MY kind of Vegetarian food!
Bacon Cheeseburger, the antidote to the Vegan scourge.
He's a piker.
He left over 5 tonnes behind.
*golf clap*
well played you witty son of a bitch.
Sounds like most of Tunisia has that problem. Eating that is.
Things HAVE changed. Saddamn Heusiin found in a hole with breifcases full of dollars. Now we find them with gold. Dollars fucked.
And just a few years ago rappers wanted to be paid in Euro (not dollars) and flashed them in music videos. Now it is gold... bitches!!!
Ha ha ha hah. Dumbassfucktards.
He's got more gold than Fort Knox for sure.
According to some estimates, half of the people on ZH have more than Fort Knox. 8-P
If the USA has 73.9% of its reserves held as gold and australia has 8.1% of gold held in its reserves, what has Australia got as "other" reserves that places its currency on par with the US? There are only 25million people in that country and yet their economy and currency is on par. Something seems out of kilter. Either the US has no gold and the market is discounting that, or the Australians have more gold than they are willing to admit. Maybe there are other reasons, but it just seems odd.
Perhaps the fact that everyone knows that the dollar is an options contract, and when time deterioration is taken into account, the dollar's value as a reserve asset (Australia and the world hold trillions) will eventually expire at zero. That should make the Aussie trump the USD (as a commodity backed currency). Deep storage bitches. Thae fact that it is not redeemable either, puts it in the same boat. The race to Zero is on. Does anyone know which currency option expires worthless first?
If the USA has 73.9% of its reserves held as gold and australia has 8.1% of gold held in its reserves, what has Australia got as "other" reserves that places its currency on par with the US?
It's not what Australia's got - it's what Australia hasn't got - an overinflated currency being further depreciated by a mad beardman.
+1 mad beardman
Oz has coal, diamonds, gold, minerals, NG...
Other Hard currencies - Coal Uranium bauxite Iron ore Gold in natural state Loads of LNG wheat sugar cotton oil and lots of empty land that no one knows WHF's under the surface.
Oh yeah - its such a good place they are trying to swim over the Timor sea to get all the Free Cheese.
That's a lot of moolah. Why wouldn't the Saudis want him!
Diamonds, emeralds and enriched uranium still the way to go though, on a weight basis.
It's hard to get the enriched stuff through customs, in my experience.
Besides customs..Isn't that lead lined suit you have to constantly wear with enriched uranium a real bugger??
One thing is for sure. No more adult beverages will be served for the duration of this stay there.
I'll give him $500 an ounce.
Take it or leave it....
i'll give him 5000 RMB an oz ..
take it or leave it....
i'll give him $100,000,000,000,000 ($100 trillion) Zimbabwe an ounce.
I'll nail his hands to a board, using maple leafs as washers, and take his fingers and thumbs down a quarter inch at a time with a meat cleaver until he gives it up...
Aahh....to steal from a thief. The torture is just an added bonus.
Why does this not surprise me?
And why can't that gold just be taken from him? Theres no love for him and it's not like he could walk around with that in his pocket.
Someone has to unload the plane.
That's the sound of freedom...that's the sound of GOLD!
CFTC sellout Commisioners Jill Sommers and Scott Omalia figure it is in the best interests of the country that JPMorgan continue to pillage the silver market, because otherwise, without Jamie's helicopter full of silver, like the Tunisian Presidents, then the economy will collapse.
Its difficult to understand I know, but they know things we dont, even if Sommer's only credentials are a BA from the Midwest, and working as an intern for Bob Dole.
Sommer probably gives amazing head.
Gold by the ton, Bitchez!!!
Guess he didn't listen to Rogers and convert it all to tankers full of rice!
It's harder to store a tanker of rice under your bed than a ton of gold.
He was originally heading to Dubai. The plane was so heavy, he ran out of fuel and had to land in Saudi. He and his gold will never be seen again.
smart man - not only does he know when to get the hell out of Dodge, he knows what to take with him
If I were him, I would have left the wife behind....
If my wife knew how to hook me 1.5 tons of gold I'd keep 'er. They say women can do it multiple times, you know.
"If I were him, I would have left the wife behind...."
I had that thought but didn't want to voice it - with 1.5 tons of gold he could purchase just about any trophy wife he wanted or maintain a revolving string of pretty bimbos
any trophy wife he wanted or maintain a revolving string of pretty bimbos
Hugh?
Dude, in Saudi he can lock the wife in a small dirty closet and bangall the skank, camels, goats and little boys his dark heart desires. He be in the Land-O'-Women be property, on par with worn shoe leather and used condoms.
#104 Harry Wanger 0.2 tonnes
WTF?!?
OK, you win. You made me go back and look.
I hope you are proud of yourself.
Nice. I checked too.
HAHAHAHAHA Beautiful.
I wonder which country will give him asylum.
Algeria?
california should.
Shows that the guy is a moron, burdening himself with such a barbarous, heavy, inedible relic. No wonder he got run outta town. Dumbshit.
Keep him away from congressmen. He's one of those unstable gold nuts.
I thought it was INERT gold nuts?
Resist the golden nuts joke...resist....I can't take it any more.
Brian Nut Sack OK then?
He can always divorce her.
BTW, Tyler... there's a difference beteween "ton" and "tonne."
Of course, you already knew that, didn't you....
yeah, cause 3307 pounds isn't really enough.
That's why he took the wife. She got the gold from the bank. She may not be much to look at, but she wasn't stupid.
He's every woman's dream.
So much for her utility.... but then again, she probably could make it on some vintage milf pages.
Just sayin'
I am at a loss: Canada is the home of world leading gold mining corporations (ABX, GG, etc.,) and it has only 3.4T of gold?
How can it happen?
What about Royal Canadian Mint? What do they use to mint Canadian Gold Maple Leafs coins? Copper?
.
Canada, like Australia, sold its gold stash.
http://tinyurl.com/4ftunm5
Can you link to Canada selling it's gold? I know that Paul Martin had this to say about the coming currency crisis - (and I'm wondering WHO was responsible for Canada selling it's gold, if it indeed did so):
Former Canadian Prime Minister: Give Up Your Sovereignty To Make The World Work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDdlY3vqmzg
Look at the chart Tyler provided. Canada is 79 on the list, below Tunisia, with a whopping 3 tonnes of gold. They are screwed.
Can you provide a link as to where the gold went, why it went, and when it went? Thanks!
Canada has sold its entire holding of 1023 tonnes, making it the only G7 nation that has no gold backing for its currency.
http://www.safehaven.com/article/1365/central-bank-gold-agreement-renewed
Canada can back CAD$ with about 250 billion barrels of crude.But,just in case...
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/79/220/Canadas_secret_Gold_Reserve.html
Canada has plenty of natural resources, which at some point will be more scarce than gold.
We got bills to pay and there's more gold where that came from as well.
Hockey pucks are the main physical purchase in Canada.
Followed 2nd by Gordon Lightfoot albums.
3rd is Molson
4th is doughnuts from Tim Hortons
You might consider the probability that the Canadian Government is LYING about how much gold they have.
If we can get them all to run to the caymans and charge them 5 lbs of gold for a tranny porn streaming. We'll set up studios and make "news reports" of rioting and murders while they are gone. Complete with interviews about how I wish the global economy had not collapsed it's so horrible right now. Make it an inside joke.
Set him up with a theater where he can screen Janet Napolitano advising people to report each other. BTW, who would you know to report as odd at Wal-Mart?
http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/?page_id=9798
(Sorry, had to do it.)
You dog! I got to the 8th page and couldn't take it any more. Where do you people come up with ideas for web pages???!!!! I need another gulp of the boxed stuff.
(thanks)
1.5 metric tons=52,911 ozs.
Now don't go confusing Tyler with metrics....
umm, are you insinuating something?
I'm not insinuating anything.
Instead I'm saying point-blank that there is a material difference between "ton" and "tonne."
Look it on the interwebz yourself.
It's too bad the headline-writer didn't do that first....
Perhaps you can guide us to where the corect use of ton/tonne is on YOUR website.
Jeezus goddamn fuckin christ shit on a stick, you people are thick.
A US ton is a US ton.
A metric tonne is a metric tonne.
Hint: They are not the same.
But don't let your insatiable man-crush of Tyler get in the way of that or anything....
What is the difference between the short ton, long ton, and metric ton.
www.onlineconversion.com/faq_09.htm
The British ton is the long ton, which is 2240 pounds, and the U.S. ton is the short ton which is 2000 pounds.
Both tons are actually defined in the same way. 1 ton is equal to 20 hundredweight. It is just the definition of the hundredweight that differs between countries. In the U.S. there are 100 pounds in the hundredweight, and in Britain there are 112 pounds in the hundredweight. This causes the actual weight of the ton to differ between countries.
To distinguish between the two tons, the smaller U.S. ton is called short, while the larger British ton is called long.
There is also an third type of ton called the metric ton, equal to 1000 kilograms, or approximately 2204 pounds. The metric ton is officially called tonne. The SI standard calls it tonne, but the U.S. Government recommends calling it metric ton.
(Tourettes?)
Sounds like the US hasn't adopted the metric system yet, but we're inching our way towards it.
(Ducking...)
Get over yourself....and your fetish with semantics
You're absolutely right.
I mean, what's a measly 306 pounds of gold among friends....
This shit is funny!
Don't any of you crazy fuckers have to go to work tomorrow?
This is what our leaders will do when we take the power back from them with a constitutional amendment. Read generally:
http://strikelawyer.wordpress.com
Which is why I keep saying don't get married to a gold standard. Buy gold hold gold but don't insist that it's the ONLY way out of this mess. Keep changing the rules on them just like they do to us.
Just wait until the United States collapses and Obama, Bennie, and his bankster co-conspriators leave the country in C-130's loaded with loot stolen from the citizens. As Bachman Turner Overdrive said "you ain't seen yet".
The army and the chief of staff who refused to fire on the crowd, have, according to European intelligence services played a leading role in the removal of Mr. Ben Ali.
Is this true or a position statement making it easier for a military takeover?
It's probably more of a statement about security and soldier psychology. You can endure war if you have a safe place to go home to and heal. Once you start shitting all over your home fort the paranoid schizophrenia gets you.
My uncle experienced this returning from vietnam. He's not a weasle he's a very caring indivdual who just got drafted and went to war. His first day home ended with his .45 to the head of a protestor who attacked him. He's gone on to rebel faithfully. He left accounting career when asked to do these bullshit enron accounting tricks.
The military will likely attack americans in a cohesive shocking manner but it will rapidly degrade into the paranoid schiozphrenia that it creates when soliders are faced with a situation that leaves commanders having personal helicopters and them having new boots and 210 rounds of ammunition and a hummer with shit gas mileage. The powers that be are only concerned with the here and now. They do not ask to what end. They do not wander too far away from any sort of conclusions that don't make them powerful. They replace foresight wtih pretending to see the future and then talk people into it.
They could all expect a fate similar to that of Adoph Eichmann if they did so.
smart guy
Read it and weep folks. 30% of that gold is mine. I got an email from him several months ago requesting assistance in moving the money out of Tunisia. All I had to do was send him my bank account info, wiring instructions, and a small fee to show I was acting in good faith.
I'm gonna be RICH!
Thats bullshit...he promised ME that 30%
No worries. I have similar arrangements with people in other countries, many of them royalty. I am thinking of creating a fund (well-diversified geographically) and would be willing to sell you the equivalent in shares at a substantial discount.
I would like to be your counter-party on this endeavor, I have an in at Goldman Sachs and they are very interested.
Can they get me a AAA rating on the senior tranche?
No, that'll be unrated. But how about a triple on the out of the money interest only zero principle expired equity option layer? I can get a nice private letter ruling on it for you.
Don't worry, there's more than enough 30% shares to go around. Just like with GLD!
+10 Well-played!
I didnt realize we have that much gold.
Rutrow......I've been found out.
I thought Blackhawk Ben had graduated to B-52 Ben
Interesting news fit for a spy novel.
However, here in the U.S., people could care less about gold.
Believe it or not, they are not even paying attention to stocks, either.
All they care about is:
- Which teams are to win the NFL playoffs and go to the Super Bowl
- Which teams are going to win in the March Madness NCAA tournament
- The eventual outcome of The Batchelor
- The number of pounds will Kim Kardashian lose this month
- Watching the next episode of Jersey Shore
- The launch of the next cool apps available for the new Tablets coming out this year
- Determining when Facebook will be able to start streaming Skype video calls
It is pretty much a lock that the sheeple will continue spending and living their merry lives, knowing that in the event of another "convulsion" in the financial markets or the economy, The Ben Bernank will do whatever is necessary to engage in "mop up" operations.
Want proof?
Just listen to Bob Brinker's monologue today, 8 minutes into the program.
http://vaca.bayradio.com/kgo_archives/01400.mp3
thank god your avatar's so hot.
I know lots of people here don't like Robo, but he is making a point that ZHers generally ought to agree with.
The number of junks that Robo and now, you accumulate speaks to the truth of your observation.
Why, when at times it seems that this entire ZH operation is posited on the assumption that the vast unwashed mass of voters are clueless,
Is it junkable to bring notice to the cluelessness?
The whole economic structure is built on nothing,
where do ZHers think the foundations of nothing are?
Well then you can go relax and watch tv. All is well.
Brinker's first caller had $2 million in Ca obligations, 40 percent of his net worth.
Brinker's advice, reduce that to less than 4 percent of NW due to risk of state default.. Caller was sobered and sounded like he would heed said advice. I wonder how many others are reducing their exposure to risky state's debt...
Americans also care about inflation in Paris.
I suspect a pound of fat lipoed from Kim and sold on e-bay might actually net more than EUR 45m.
fat lipoed from Kim...
Now, if Tyler can get his hands on that, what do you suppose THAT soap would go for on ebay?
she's about the quality of what's found in an average landfill
Do Not Under any Circumstances Mess with Jersey Shore.
"At least we now know that following the upcoming banking kleptocracy's exodus from the US, Malta may well be the newest destination location for every stripper in a 50 miles radius of Manhattan."
We need to send McBags undercover...to get the lay of the land ;-)
Take the gold. Leave the silver.
There is no silver.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/06/09/bernanke-puzzled-by-gold-rally/
The "ben bernanke" doesn't understand why people are buying gold, what a tool.
And your sitting on your hands .... It's a runner'
Robo chart spam...:)
dude, what happened to your EOD market commentaries, what is this shit you keep coming up with?? stop it
Never to happen in free, democratic, modern and progressive country.
It was probbaly religious fanatic, scared of hell for killing some pregnant woman and unarmed children.
Thanks God, our professionals mostly do not believe in God and make whatever they are told to do by Mammon's servants.
How come Australia has 79.9t while Canada has only 0.2t...?
Chinese say we need to have a spirit of cooperation about the dollar. This is while they are going balls to the wall, buying and manufacturing weapons of war.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870355160457608580380177609...
BEIJING—Chinese President Hu Jintao emphasized the need for cooperation with the U.S. in areas from new energy to space ahead of his visit to Washington this week, but he called the present U.S. dollar-dominated currency system a "product of the past" and highlighted moves to turn the yuan into a global currency.......
Unrelated Precious metals question: How long until a drop in spot translates to a drop in retailer's prices? apmex, scottsdale, bulliondirect all seem to be selling well above spot. Any suggestions on a good dealer? sorry for the tangent question.