A few days back I noticed an advertisement for Goldline on the Montreal Gazette\'s website, and I became infuriated.

Here’s what I fired off to whoever’s in-charge of their web site. As of today, Monday the 7th, there’s still no response (not really expecting one either); judge for yourself:

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Hello –

I just noticed Goldline adverts on the Gazette website.

Who thought this was a good idea?

Goldline is a scam currently being investigating for fraudulent practices and misleading investors. Not only is there a US federal investigation, but one in California as well.

The value of an ounce of gold has risen steadily since 2001, but between 1980 and 2000 fell from 2400$/ troy ounce to 400$. Goldline profits by getting people to invest in gold as a kind of safe-bet for a world in crisis. Don’t believe me? – watch Glenn Beck and see how he sells the idea of Goldline, one of his principle backers. He presents gold as the only sound investment in a world on the brink of apocalypse. Its no different than those idiots selling ’emergency seed banks’ (which don’t work either).

The fact is that this is yet another scheme designed to bilk stupid people out of their money. The Gazette should be more sensitive to this.

I’m asking you to please take these advertisements down – the sooner the better. People have the right to invest as they feel, but it is beyond appalling that the Gazette would seek advertising revenue from such an unscrupulous company as this. Moreover, it associates the Gazette with such pillars of journalistic integrity as the aforementioned Mr. Beck.

You can do better.

To profit from a scam like this is inexcusable.

Regards,

Taylor C. Noakes

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There are other issues with Goldline – ie: exactly what is the gold content of these coins? And how inflated is the price of a minted coin as compared to an equal weight of un-minted gold? Moreover, are these coins legal tender? What use are round gold disks if they haven’t been minted by a federal mint and guaranteed by a federal reserve? They have no value, unless you happen to have purchased an excessive amount of coins, have some kind of smelter and can convince people to believe in the same scam you’ve fallen for. It’s a Ponzi scheme and Beck’s a televangelist Maddoff! That this is presented as some kind of wealth-guarantor for a prospective Mad Max type post-Apocalypse scenario ought to be nothing more than absurd, but the fact that people are actually buying into this crap is stupefying, horrifying even. If this was on SNL I’d probably be laughing, but the reality is that a dangerous lunatic not only has excessive political power in the United States, he’s bilking people out of their money too. In other words, how different is a guy like Glenn Beck from a guy like Jim Jones?

And do we as citizens in a free society have an ethical responsibility to stop people who live in a state of bondage, physical or mental, from drinking the Kool-Aid?