Hey read again. If you mine and sell for goods (say gold) you are fine. You just cannot mine and sell into USD directly. You could also mine and convert into LTC, for example. Then sell the LTC or the gold.
No, you cannot. If you convert BTC to LTC to USD in the US, then you are considered a 'money exchanger'. From now on, only centralized companies are allowed to handle Bitcoin exchanges. Such a company does not exist in the US. Or perhaps only CoinLab?
No, he's right. BTC to LTC is not virtual to real, but virtual to virtual. In fact, I think the BTC-to-gold is more risky, since gold could be considered a 'real currency or equivalent' since it's a commodity with highly liquid markets to/from USD. BTC-to-USD is clearly in violation here, though.