polifrog
I know very little regarding photo editing so I reserve judgment, however I have grown to respect tickerguy...
Update:
This link via Fred Gregory.
http://israelinsider.net/profiles/blogs/purported-birth-certificate
out
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Bob Schieffer - Viewing America Through the Lens of Race...
polifrog
When an individual charges racism where the is none, the charge of racism becomes an act of racism itself.
Bob Schieffer - Racist.
out
When an individual charges racism where the is none, the charge of racism becomes an act of racism itself.
Bob Schieffer - Racist.
out
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Obama's Birther Moment...
polifrog
Joe Sherlock:
Not so much the Most Interesting Man in the World as the Most Disingenuous Man in the World...
out
Joe Sherlock:
On Wednesday morning, the White House finally released an image of the putative birth certificate. Obama remarked sullenly, "We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We've got better stuff to do." Then, after unsuccessfully looking for his five-iron for an upcoming golf game, he flew off to Chicago with wife Michelle to do an Oprah interview. Afterwards, he jetted off to New York City for still another campaign fundraiser. You can't make this stuff up, folks.
Not so much the Most Interesting Man in the World as the Most Disingenuous Man in the World...
out
Tavis Smiley - Viewing America Through the Lens of Race...
polifrog
When an individual charges racism where the is none, the charge of racism becomes an act of racism itself.
Tavis Smiley ... Racist.
out
When an individual charges racism where the is none, the charge of racism becomes an act of racism itself.
Tavis Smiley ... Racist.
out
David Brooks - Hammering Hippies...
polifrog
Just one of the many structural issues David Brooks references in his list on American rot:
How such a a worthless, selfish and damaging generation was created by the Greatest Generation will likely always be a mystery.
out
Just one of the many structural issues David Brooks references in his list on American rot:
There are structural problems in the welfare state as baby boomers spend lavishly on themselves and impose horrendous costs on future generations.
How such a a worthless, selfish and damaging generation was created by the Greatest Generation will likely always be a mystery.
out
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Phony Anti-War Movements do not Equate to the Tea Party...
polifrog
Megan McArdle:
She references Scott McLemee:
I do not believe this comparison to the Tea Party is accurate. Although there will likely be some reduction in Tea Party enthusiasm the next election cycle, there will not be the wholesale abandonment of the movement.
The antiwar movement got its modern start in reaction to the Vietnam War, but today has devolved into less of a grass roots movement than the appearance of a grass roots movement commonly known as astroturfing. The antiwar movement has become a tool in the hands of the Democrat Party by which they reattain during wartime conservative presidents. The evidence of this is the vanishing act we have witnessed since the election of Barack Obama. Neither war in Iraq or Afghanistan has ended as promised and, in fact, a new war has begun in Libya under Obama yet the antiwar movement is nonexistent. It seems only to have legs under conservative presidents. The antiwar movement as it existed during the Vietnam War no longer exists today.
To be sure, there were those who truly believe in the antiwar message. Cindy Sheehan comes to mind. She is still doing her thing today despite the absence of the astroturfed support she received years ago under Bush. I am not sure of she used the astroturfing or if the astroturfed anti(Bush)war movement used her, but I respect her for continued albeit misplaced commitment.
In looking at the Tea Party no evidence of astroturfing, can be found, Pelosi's comments not with standing. The Tea Party was and remains a real organic grass roots movement that did not and does not derive its support from currently entrenched political elites looking to further their political or media careers. In fact, the Tea Party has had a record of attacking both Democrats and Republicans for their profligate spending and lack if respect for the Constitution. Bush was no favorite of the Tea Party, neither was the conservative congress under portions of Bush's two terms in office. And frequently the Conservative Party found itself on the defensive in last summer's primaries as Tea Partiers had Conservatives across the nation on the run. Just as frequently Tea Party candidates found themselves in the cross-hairs entrenched conservative-media elites; even Rush took the nearly the whole of last summer to come around to the Tea Party. No love was lost between Conservatives and Tea Partiers as the Tea Party sought to change Conservatism in Washington DC.
The dynamics between the Antiwar movement and the Tea Party movement could not be more different. One is an aged movement infected with a self preservation mentality in which power and money flows from above to the movement in an attempt to give the appearance of an energetic movement only when politically expedient while in the other power flows from the citizenry to affect change on a reluctant governing body.
out
Megan McArdle:
Have you noticed all the huge antiwar demonstrations in the last twelve months? Yeah, me neither. It turns out that a lot of the energy for the movement seems to have been provided by Democrats who are a lot less worried about wars conducted by Democratic presidents.
She references Scott McLemee:
"As long as voters remain highly polarized along party lines," he responded by e-mail, "self-identified Democrats are unlikely to protest against Obama's policies, even if they disagree with some of them strongly. A sudden end to the era of partisan polarization seems highly unlikely. So I would say that it is a very good bet that Obama will not confront large left-wing demonstrations. Of course, LBJ faced large left-wing demonstrations, but the party system was not polarized back then in the way that it is today."
The same dynamics apply to the Tea Party: "Our analysis implies that the Tea Party will have a lower degree of organization and success in 2012 than it did in 2010. Because the Republicans won the House and made gains in the Senate, Tea Party activists feel much less threatened today than they did a year ago. So, while the Tea Party will obviously be around in 2012 -- and it will likely factor into the Republican presidential contest -- our analysis suggests that the Tea Party will not generate the same level of enthusiasm next year as it did last year."
I do not believe this comparison to the Tea Party is accurate. Although there will likely be some reduction in Tea Party enthusiasm the next election cycle, there will not be the wholesale abandonment of the movement.
The antiwar movement got its modern start in reaction to the Vietnam War, but today has devolved into less of a grass roots movement than the appearance of a grass roots movement commonly known as astroturfing. The antiwar movement has become a tool in the hands of the Democrat Party by which they reattain during wartime conservative presidents. The evidence of this is the vanishing act we have witnessed since the election of Barack Obama. Neither war in Iraq or Afghanistan has ended as promised and, in fact, a new war has begun in Libya under Obama yet the antiwar movement is nonexistent. It seems only to have legs under conservative presidents. The antiwar movement as it existed during the Vietnam War no longer exists today.
To be sure, there were those who truly believe in the antiwar message. Cindy Sheehan comes to mind. She is still doing her thing today despite the absence of the astroturfed support she received years ago under Bush. I am not sure of she used the astroturfing or if the astroturfed anti(Bush)war movement used her, but I respect her for continued albeit misplaced commitment.
In looking at the Tea Party no evidence of astroturfing, can be found, Pelosi's comments not with standing. The Tea Party was and remains a real organic grass roots movement that did not and does not derive its support from currently entrenched political elites looking to further their political or media careers. In fact, the Tea Party has had a record of attacking both Democrats and Republicans for their profligate spending and lack if respect for the Constitution. Bush was no favorite of the Tea Party, neither was the conservative congress under portions of Bush's two terms in office. And frequently the Conservative Party found itself on the defensive in last summer's primaries as Tea Partiers had Conservatives across the nation on the run. Just as frequently Tea Party candidates found themselves in the cross-hairs entrenched conservative-media elites; even Rush took the nearly the whole of last summer to come around to the Tea Party. No love was lost between Conservatives and Tea Partiers as the Tea Party sought to change Conservatism in Washington DC.
The dynamics between the Antiwar movement and the Tea Party movement could not be more different. One is an aged movement infected with a self preservation mentality in which power and money flows from above to the movement in an attempt to give the appearance of an energetic movement only when politically expedient while in the other power flows from the citizenry to affect change on a reluctant governing body.
out
Monday, April 25, 2011
Liberty in Sync With Econnomics - Ron Paul Runs...
polifrog
In some good anti-Keynesian news Ron Paul is running:
This is a man who's sense of liberty and understanding of economics are in sync, a statement that can be made of no proponent of Keynesian Theory.
Additionally, while the democratization of the Middle East is important, it is less important then ending the Keynesian theft of prosperity and liberty.
out
In some good anti-Keynesian news Ron Paul is running:
Sources close to Paul, who is in his 12th term in the House, said he will unveil an exploratory presidential committee, a key step in gearing up for a White House race. He will also unveil the campaign’s leadership team in Iowa, where the first votes of the presidential election will be cast in caucuses next year.
This is a man who's sense of liberty and understanding of economics are in sync, a statement that can be made of no proponent of Keynesian Theory.
Additionally, while the democratization of the Middle East is important, it is less important then ending the Keynesian theft of prosperity and liberty.
out
Don't Panic!!!
polifrog
Michael A Walsh...
Keynesian Theory has lengthened 3 depressions, of course depressions aren't called depressions anymore. The current one in the US is referred to as the Great Recession while the other in Japan was called the 10 Year Recession but is now referred to as the more illuminating 20 Year Recession, as Japan seems mired in a seemingly endless economic nightmare of stimulus spending from which the nation is unable to awake.
What do the Great Depression, The Great Recession, and the 20 Year Recession have in common? The answer is that they all employed the failure that is Keynesian Theory.
Thieving from the future, while comforting today, yields a diminished tomorrow.
out
Michael A Walsh...
Already, we're hearing that action is urgent. If the limit isn't raised again at once, we face possible default on our sovereign obligations, a ruined currency . . . Somebody do something, quick!Hold on. This is no time to panic. Instead, it's a time for sober, serious reflection, tough judgments and hard choices. Too bad there's nobody in Washington who seems up to the task.
Because panicking is exactly what we've been doing ever since the fall of 2008, when the housing bubble burst, Lehman Bros. collapsed, and Washington handed America the bailout of insurance giant AIG and the rest of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program -- followed soon after by the $787 billion stimulus program and the de facto federal takeover of GM and Chrysler.
Wall Street's fantasy finance (a joint production with Washington), which divorced "financial instruments" from any real-world concept of value, destroyed the housing market and seriously damaged the country, but Congress and President Bush were right there to bail them out, and this morning the stock market is sitting pretty at 12,506. Wall Street got theirs, while Main Street still suffers.
Keynesian Theory has lengthened 3 depressions, of course depressions aren't called depressions anymore. The current one in the US is referred to as the Great Recession while the other in Japan was called the 10 Year Recession but is now referred to as the more illuminating 20 Year Recession, as Japan seems mired in a seemingly endless economic nightmare of stimulus spending from which the nation is unable to awake.
What do the Great Depression, The Great Recession, and the 20 Year Recession have in common? The answer is that they all employed the failure that is Keynesian Theory.
Thieving from the future, while comforting today, yields a diminished tomorrow.
out
Ron Paul's Liberty Defined...
polifrog
I have not read Liberty Defined yet, but I have read some excerpts via Whiskey and Gunpowder.
I particularly like this quote on Keynesianism:
out
I have not read Liberty Defined yet, but I have read some excerpts via Whiskey and Gunpowder.
I particularly like this quote on Keynesianism:
“…Something did change with the publication of The General Theory. Keynes gave the governments of the world a seemingly scientific rationale for doing what governments wanted to do anyway.”The rationalization for spending and growth at all levels of governance gifted to government by Keynesian Theory is deplorable. As I have argued previously the result is that:
Over almost a century Bastardized Keynesian Theory has become the Wmap of public spending policy; it has become the dark energy behind our ever expanding national debt, and is at the heart of our current economic malaise.It is a shame that there are men who make their living off the defense of such policy.
out
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Keynes' Diminished Western World...
polifrog
Via Instapundit:
It takes decades of theft from the future to kill a productive capitalist society but the beauty of Keynesian Theory may have managed what Communism could not.
A sloppy disingenuous thank you to John Maynard Keynes from polifrog:
out
Via Instapundit:
“‘Daddy, is it really true that people used to fly to the Moon when you were a boy?’ It shook me, because that’s how a Dark Age begins.”
It takes decades of theft from the future to kill a productive capitalist society but the beauty of Keynesian Theory may have managed what Communism could not.
A sloppy disingenuous thank you to John Maynard Keynes from polifrog:
out
A Chinese US Debt Dump?
polifrog
For those of you not in the know there have not been enough buyers of US debt at current interest rates. In an effort to keep interest rates down the Federal Reserve has been buying US debt off the private market with "printed" dollars (in quotes as the dollars only exist as data) for more than the US government sells it for. This creates an appetite for US debt in the private markets thus keeping interest rates on US debt lower than they would otherwise be. In recent months the Federal Reserve has been clearing the private market at the rate of 70% of new debt issuance. In effect the Federal Reserve is buying 70% of new debt issuance.
The Fed hopes to eventually pass the baton of support to a healthier economy, but the economy has continued to lag growing ever more dependent on government support.
QE is a sign of US fiscal weakness.
Fewer and fewer see US debt as a good store of value. Europe, battling its own debt problems is a poor market for US debt, while Japan is caught between demographic issues, a 20 Keynesian born recession, and most recently the massive costs associated with earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters has become a poor market for US debt as well.
Now in the wake of Obama's spend more budget proposal which makes self imposed American austerity an unlikely course China has joined S&P in viewing the US as a poorer investment. It seems China may not only cease buying US debt, but eventually dump 66% of their US debt.
Our congress' inability to reconcile the fiscal incoherence between its desire to spend and its ability to raise taxes has turned to debt to cover the difference and in so doing has laid its neck across the Chinese fiscal chopping block.
Schemes on dreams -- A poor choice.
Via Zero Hedge:
out
For those of you not in the know there have not been enough buyers of US debt at current interest rates. In an effort to keep interest rates down the Federal Reserve has been buying US debt off the private market with "printed" dollars (in quotes as the dollars only exist as data) for more than the US government sells it for. This creates an appetite for US debt in the private markets thus keeping interest rates on US debt lower than they would otherwise be. In recent months the Federal Reserve has been clearing the private market at the rate of 70% of new debt issuance. In effect the Federal Reserve is buying 70% of new debt issuance.
The Fed hopes to eventually pass the baton of support to a healthier economy, but the economy has continued to lag growing ever more dependent on government support.
QE is a sign of US fiscal weakness.
Fewer and fewer see US debt as a good store of value. Europe, battling its own debt problems is a poor market for US debt, while Japan is caught between demographic issues, a 20 Keynesian born recession, and most recently the massive costs associated with earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters has become a poor market for US debt as well.
Now in the wake of Obama's spend more budget proposal which makes self imposed American austerity an unlikely course China has joined S&P in viewing the US as a poorer investment. It seems China may not only cease buying US debt, but eventually dump 66% of their US debt.
Our congress' inability to reconcile the fiscal incoherence between its desire to spend and its ability to raise taxes has turned to debt to cover the difference and in so doing has laid its neck across the Chinese fiscal chopping block.
Schemes on dreams -- A poor choice.
Via Zero Hedge:
China appears to be getting ready to cut its USD reserves by roughly the amount of dollars that was recently printed by the Fed, or $2 trilion or so. And to think that this comes just as news that the Japanese pension fund will soon be dumping who knows what. So, once again, how about that "end of QE" again?From Xinhua:
China's foreign exchange reserves increased by 197.4 billion U.S. dollars in the first three months of this year to 3.04 trillion U.S. dollars by the end of March.
Xia Bin, a member of the monetary policy committee of the central bank, said on Tuesday that 1 trillion U.S. dollars would be sufficient. He added that China should invest its foreign exchange reserves more strategically, using them to acquire resources and technology needed for the real economy.
out
Friday, April 22, 2011
Does Boeing Have the Right to Run Boeing...
polifrog
The fiction of collective bargaining rights seems to be of greater importance than the reality of a viable job producing corporation in a world of increasing competition in the airline production sector.
out
The fiction of collective bargaining rights seems to be of greater importance than the reality of a viable job producing corporation in a world of increasing competition in the airline production sector.
“Boeing’s decision to build a 787 assembly line in South Carolina sent a message that Boeing workers would suffer financial harm for exercising their collective bargaining rights,” said the union’s vice president, Rich Michalski.
out
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Rep. Brad Miller - Shifting Responsibility for Bad Debt from Private Banks to the Public Balance Sheet...
polifrog
When you hear Brad Miller pretending that he cares about you and the deleterious effects of predatory lending by financial institutions, stop and consider Miller's predatory shifting of the responsibility for bank speculation from Private Banks to the public balance sheet... you and me.
Miller claims to protect the US citizenry yet saddles us and our children and their children with $13 trillion in someone else's debt.
Brad Miller helped do to the US citizenry what has been done to the citizenry of Ireland...
Irish "debt emigration wakes" are held daily ... Where would Americans emigrate??
Brad Miller is not the friend of the NC citizenry but the friend of dead beat debtor banks.
out
When you hear Brad Miller pretending that he cares about you and the deleterious effects of predatory lending by financial institutions, stop and consider Miller's predatory shifting of the responsibility for bank speculation from Private Banks to the public balance sheet... you and me.
Miller claims to protect the US citizenry yet saddles us and our children and their children with $13 trillion in someone else's debt.
Brad Miller helped do to the US citizenry what has been done to the citizenry of Ireland...
Irish "debt emigration wakes" are held daily ... Where would Americans emigrate??
Brad Miller is not the friend of the NC citizenry but the friend of dead beat debtor banks.
out
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Presidential Dithering...
polifrog
Through inaction Obama is choosing to follow the Euro/Socialist economic plan toward stagnation....
out
Through inaction Obama is choosing to follow the Euro/Socialist economic plan toward stagnation....
out
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Living the Unpleasant Truth and Promoting the Lie...
polifrog
Will there ever be a moment that our president is not deliberately politically divisive or promoting himself and his policies as something other than what they have obviously been? I doubt it. This is a president sadly dependent on the uneducated masses of the government schooled who don't compare his actions to his words.
Steve Hayes
Rhetorical Divisions
out
Will there ever be a moment that our president is not deliberately politically divisive or promoting himself and his policies as something other than what they have obviously been? I doubt it. This is a president sadly dependent on the uneducated masses of the government schooled who don't compare his actions to his words.
Steve Hayes
Rhetorical Divisions
out
Friday, April 15, 2011
Silly Establishment Conservative Narratives...
polifrog
Via NRO ...
out
Via NRO ...
The narrative is that Republicans couldn’t have done better on the CR because
- they only control the House;
- the media would’ve blamed them for the shutdown; and
- such blame would hamstring their political ability to get greater cuts and reforms in the FY 2012 budget.
So now, having gotten the sideshow of the CR behind them, Republicans supposedly can concentrate on securing the big cuts in FY 2012. Or so the narrative goes.
Precisely how well will that work? How has Republican bargaining leverage now changed for the better going into the next round of negotiations?
- Will Republicans now control both houses and the presidency?
- Will the media not blame the Republicans for any future shutdowns?
- How credible will any future Republican threats be now that Democrats have seen Republicans blink — particularly when they blinked when the political stakes arguably were much lower?
out
Inflation Explained...
polifrog
Doctorates in economics make for fairly good walking dictionaries, though.
And how about a graph of the failure that has been brought upon us via the implementation of Keynesian Theory. Any economic policy that not only calls for but results in declining dynamism should be questioned.
In a world where cartoon bears are the most reliable source of information anything is possible.
Doctorates in economics make for fairly good walking dictionaries, though.
And how about a graph of the failure that has been brought upon us via the implementation of Keynesian Theory. Any economic policy that not only calls for but results in declining dynamism should be questioned.
out
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Yesterday Krugman attempted to diminish the dispersed power of the consumer in an attempt to argue for its theft.
Being a consumer allows all of us acting in concert to price goods based on their demand and need.
This is a collective power over the economy that we all share. It is also a power that is lost when handed off to a third party.
Krugman diminishes the importance of this power with references to mundane daily transactions in an attempt to argue that the power of being a consumer is worthy of little consideration and that it should be passed to an advisory board of health-care experts. He is wrong to do so.
To understand how wrong Krugman is one must understand the incentive structure behind his suggested ménage à trois.
First, Kugman demotes health-care recipients from consumers with influence to business costs with no influence. How? By removing them as the source of the health-care industry's income. From the health-care industry's perspective providing health-care to individuals becomes an expense rather than a service. From the perspective of the health-care consumer their health-care is diminished as it becomes an expense to be minimized.
Second, Krugman shifts the obligation the health-care industry once had to consumers to a new consumer ... the federal government. Where once the health-care industry kissed the ass of consumers for their dollars, under Krugman that same industry would kiss the ass of the federal government. Under Krugman the health-industry's new service is that of kowtowing to government, its source of income. From the health-care industry's perspective providing health-care to individuals becomes an expense rather than a service.
Third, Kugman sets the government up as the primary beneficiary in the health-care system. The government would receive the dispersed power and influence of the consumer over 1/6 of the US economy. The health-care industry would receive what the health-care advisory board is willing to pay and the health-care consumers would become no more than a business cost to be minimized.
Krugman, by first diminishing the dispersed power of consumerism among the many as if to say, 'you aren't loosing anything, trust me', then goes on to argue for an unholy alliance between government and health-care, an alliance similar to what we have been saddled with between financial institutions and government, in which the dispersed power of consumerism becomes a focused power in the hands of the few and in which the people least served are those promised the most.
It is a wicked thing to argue for thieving from the many to benefit the few as Krugman does.
Update:
House of Eratosthenes:
out