Gold Rush Season Number Two....

Well, on one hand, the networks are making a ton of money off these shows from advertising revenue and it's only fair that the people involved get a decent cut of the profits. On the other hand, though, knowing that the people involved are making all that money kind of removes all the drama inherent to the shows. These shows are, after all, about people trying (and often failing) to make money.

Yes my bad MPC, I said Hisotry channel. A@E, True TV, discovery, history, or even nat geo, are all basically the same thing anymore. Everyone has sold out to the SCRIPTED reality devil, lol....

Last nite episode was dead air. Like I really wanna watch Fredd an his crew take an pass that ridiculous BS red tape (we want our cut), saftey course. What a bunch of BS. No one cares that they are trying to provide for their family's, pay bills morgae etc., they only care bout regulations. Oh well, if it were not for the square LOSER positons out there in the world, the hall monititors/safety patrol would have no way to make a living after they graduate public school, lol....

You could jam a piece a coal up that inspectors backside, and you would have nice multi karat diamond in about an hour, just like lens crafters.....

It would be one thing MPC, if I had seen someone get injured in the shows history, which I have not. The old man and his grand son's mine has been running for over 25 years with no injury, kind of makes me think they had a good feel for what they were doing. The inspector said at one point, there is no barricade here, to prevent you from falling down this hill of dirt. O.K., seeing as how anyone has made it this far here on EARTH, do they really need a barricade to tell them that..."Hey this is a dangerous ledge, if you go over it, you may get seriously hurt, or even die." Common sense, does that really need to be regulated, lol....

Look at those loads of idiots on the AX men show, now there is some safety issues, lol. Shelby the swampman Stanga, how would you like to be his hired hand an get on that jet boat, not this guy. I literally busted out laughing when he took out another new hand/victim on the first episode of this new season. Before they could even get to the first log, that crazy swamp man was runnin so fast, he slid on a patch of swamp grass and put that jet boat right in the side of a huge tree. Putting his new assistants arm right through the windshield and he had a huge gash under his elbow, that was cut clean to the bone, via a serious flesh wound. Now then, I don't see any red tape groups like MHSA out there shutting there operations down....

Coatzey, the red headed hot head punk runnin the show up in Canada, he is totally nuts. He was yellin at his chainsaw guy last night walking down taking off limbs, and he got him so rattled, that he did not see the machine swing around to get another log, and he lost his balance an the chainsaw fell on his leg. Fortunately his finger came off the gas button like a second, before he sliced into his leg. Coatz even apologized and took fool blame, as he knows he almost got somebody seriously hurt. Which kind of goes against his job as the boss, via his number one goal is NOT production in my estimation, but make sure none of his crew gets hurt.....

Hey great info Captain, nothing tells the story more accurate, then that chart you posted....

One thing that caught my eye right off the top, is the number of deaths decrease every year leading up to 2006-7, minus there being 7 fewer deaths in the 2001-5 time frame....

Deaths are gonna happen if you go out to Alaska or the great wild beyond. Did any one see that most recent Brad Metzlers about that area around Alaska, where many ships an boats just disappears from the world without a trace....

There is this scene with a native American who tells this story of a most taboo subject most would never even talk about, and the name of the so called evil spirit I feel real comfortable not even mentioning his name. Supposedly he draws you to him into the woods, and then takes you from this Earth and stealing you soul, forever in-slaving your soul forever....

The point, strange things happen in Alaska an the great open wilderness, and dying as a worker in dangerous jobs which the list goes on an on in Canada an Alaska, that this story has relevance....

The part of the story that made the hair on your neck stand up, is they have had so many people just disappear without a trace, that their own conscious perhaps has created this folk legend to make sense of it all....

The old native American told the story about how the entity would take the form of something that brought you comfort. Your grand mother for example was making stew inside, yet you as a young boy playing along the pond sees your grandmother standing by the forests edge, calling you her way as she needs help. Then, once lured deep into the woods as he chases, the boy disappears to never be seen again....

Now then back to reality, at the shows end the member of his team who did the interview was still enamored by that old story, and the drawing sense of the CALLING mystique that the great UN-known (or Alaska in his reference)shall we calls it brings with it. So, if you wanna track off into the wilderness an be a gold miner, you have to take into account no mater how many safety regulations you put in place, people are always gonna meet with UN-timely accidents or just fade away....

Lastly, only certain types of adventures go to places like that, as if they were drawn some how by some force they just can't see, mooooooohahahahahahahahahhaha, lol....

Yeah, my first thought with the chart is that we have less people working in coal and other forms of mining, and the processes are more mechanical and automated. It's like having a chart the depicts the number of elevator operator injuries over the decades, and it conveniently forgets to mention that most buildings have automated elevators now.

Some census data on the number of people employed in the mining industry in the US (source):

1920 - 1,180,000
1925 - 1,065,000
1930 - 1,009,000
1935 - 897,000
1940 - 925,000
1945 - 836,000
1950 - 901,000
1955 - 792,000
1960 - 712,000
1965 - 632,000
1970 - 622,000

If we want to get more exact, we could go with injuries and fatalities per man-hour worked, since miners a century ago worked longer hours, but I think this gives a clear enough picture.

So Dakota Fred ended up pulling like 80 an 1/2 oz. of gold and he gave his son his 10% cut or just over 8 oz., which translates at today's prices at just over 14 grand. Decent take for a short season of hard mining work....

Fred cleared 48 grand after cost, and still walked with about 72 oz. worth about 128 grand, but of course 80 of that went to labor, fuel, an cost....

The Hoffman's did really good up in the Klondike 93 1/2 oz. of gold....

The team split was about 8 grand each. They didn't get rich, but they took home some profit for their first ever paydays, so not bad in their 2nd season....