Monthly Archives: July 2010

A hypothesis that I love is that aggregates are “smarter”* than their constituents–be they economic markets, political structures, social networks, ecosystems, fluids or thermodynamic systems. This can be obvious such as the case in science wherein a total system is more than the sum of its parts. However, it’s especially subtle and mysterious when it comes to human affairs (because we, the constituents, are embedded in the system) leading to the following implications:
1) Markets are smarter than people.
2) Social success does not follow directly from personal giftedness.
(*later I’d love to get into a discussion about what intelligence is and how relevant it is to anything really significant, but I digress)

Along these lines we find Thomas Sowell’s excellent article (which RC posted in his article roundup). It’s so good that everyone should see it firsthand, so I’m re-posting the stand alone text.
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My fellow conservatives:
In a reply the other day I said, lets write a song about democrats. So let’s create a children’s song titled “The DEMOCRAT Anthem.”

I started with D and Rudolph Carrera answered with E.

D is for double standards: our flags wave proudly in the westerly breeze…
E is for enemy: They willingly side with idiots and cretins rather than the sane.
M is for Machiavelli: mendacious mutterings with ease. . .
O is for outrage: A never-ending mantra that fills their waking and their dreams
C
R
A
T

We also need to critique it, suggest modifications and otherwise make it really good, funny and stinging.

THEN…once we’re done, the first person to get a group of kids (preschool through 2nd grade) to sing it wins—so keep it clean folks

P.s. If you are actually a democrat (or any other symPATHETIC bleeding heart / pinko / rainbow / Obamanista leftist type), feel free to organize a Republican song…but in order to maintain the spirit of healthy political animosity, please don’t try to influence this one.

In short, Stein says No Way, No How and I believe him. I think he’s one of the sharpest minds in America today. (Therefore his movie, “Expelled,” has been effectively banned from public schools and dismissed unseen throughout academia!)

Briefly, Stein observed that of the unemployed he knows, many have poor work habits and difficult personalities. At the moment I’m unemployed, and I’d have to concede that shoe fits me pretty well. But I’m unemployed more by choice than bad luck. Most of us are if you really dig–we’re not willing to take ANY job.
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Last night I acted just like the obsessive, narcissistic model I once was from years back. The event that triggered the act was a night out with my former “bikini caddy,” as he still likes to be titled. The “Joe and Moe Show” was off to a location that we use to frequent often back in the day. That location was a nightclub. Nightclubs use to be the site for many modelesque events such as beauty contests, fashion shows, etc. Of course, the event last night was for something much more mundane than a bikini contest or lingerie fashion show that once was the order of the day.

I first met the “Joe” part of the show while being a beauty contest for the Ms. English Leather Contest. I won first place incidentally. I remember asking Mr. Joe during an intersession from the pageant what he thought my chances were of winning the contest and how he thought I stacked up against the competition. He was so smitten with me, he gave me just the answer I was looking for, “No one in the room compares to you darling.” I was a young thing and was not use to such devotion from an adoring fan. From that point on, Joe and I became inseparable companions. He went with me on auditions for acting parts, was my regular bikini caddy, and my confident for things model from that point on.
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The amazingly viral story of the NAACP, the TEA party, conservative bloggers, and one hapless USDA official continues unabated. The continued drama of Shirley Sherrod was incredibly interesting with literally everyone getting involved in the act. I was riveted the entire day. Every blogger not medically comatose in their basement weighed in today even as the white house frantically back pedaled in regards to firing her, the NAACP squirmed, the Right mumbled a couple of apologies for being a bit hasty in their early judgement of her and then continued to laugh at the stumbling, bumbling, and far more racist Left, and those who had started the entire blogosphere whirlwind started to reap a bit of what they sowed. Sherrod Blames NAACP For Firing while the NAACP pretty much blamed everyone but themselves for the hasty condemnation of their once honored guest. And the Obama administration still looks stupid. Andrew Breitbart (correctly) states it is really about the NAACP, not Sherrod and any “racist” remarks she did or did not make. He has also stated that he, despite the accusations, did not edit the videos but published them in the exact form that he received them. Which of course begs the question as to who he received them from and who edited them originally. Like layers of an onion.
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In a political world filled with people who lie and fail to keep their promises Crist is right up there as a slimy, gender confused, despicable politician and person. Pandering to whatever part of the political spectrum that might pave the way to power is pathetic to people of principle. He’s a RINO of the worst sort and conservative and TEA party primary voters were right to reject him; no matter how the general election turns out. People like him need to be the past for the GOP, not the future. There must no longer be a tolerance for wishy-washy politicians who care nothing about principle, ideology, or issues but only in advancing their own personal ladder-climbing ambitions. Those who would say or do anything to get elected are a perpetual stain on the American political landscape.

A Liberated Charlie Crist

It’s confession time; the Beast overuses dashes. Maybe it’s just a function of the way he thinks, but every time there’s a pause in the rhythm of a sentence he’s composing, his treacherous fat fingertips invariably hit the dash key.

The Beast is prone to other writing sins; he loves passive voice. But that’s easy to fix; the sentence goes up in passive, then it gets redone in active. The Beast knows it’s wrong and he knows the solution.  But dashes – what the hell do you do with them?

The epiphany hit this week: the Beast uses dashes because he’s afraid of semicolons! Who isn’t?

So the Beast googled “semicolon” and found this great site by The Oatmeal (click on the link to view):
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Get yours today…

Obama BS Removal Kit

BP Would Be Barred From U.S. Leases in Measure Sent to House

I was going to reply to Dave’s Quote with this, but I think it makes a better post unto itself.

Wayne Allyn Root’s “Overwhelm The System” article is not to be missed. Really. Read it now at Obama’s Agenda

I’ll wait.
.
.
.
Annoyed yet? Seriously, this is important!

If Root’s correct and Obama intends to crash America, then what’s the right and dutiful response of anyone who’s ever sworn a federal oath? Each has sworn, in part, “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” The irony here is palpable–it’s a genuine dilemma–and I’d can only conclude our old adversary Communism is its author.

Theoretically, at least, what would an oath-bound defender do when faced with an enemy who occupies his nation’s highest executive or judicial office? Here’s an even harder one: in a republic such as ours, what happens when the majority of the people are clearly enemies of the constitution? Who’s to say who is or isn’t an enemy?

While this mustn’t be construed as a call to action, it certainly is a very real call to meaningful dialogue and debate.

May God bless America in His wisdom, mercy and righteousness because I can’t think of any human solution to this mess.

To all of those favoring a government-sponsored cleanup program, I offer the attached article for consideration.

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601010&sid=aHiuqfH7aJBw

No matter which side of the fence you support on this issue, you are likely minimally in favor of stemming the flow of oil into the Gulf. BP is currently taking its direction from Washington and, while BP is prepared to stop the flow now, Washington says it wants more time to study. And, I don’t doubt it, because our representatives are not the experts here.

Why is BP jumping over backwards to appease Washington? It’s a brilliant plan, really. The liability shifted to Washington increases exponentially in direct correlation to Washington’s involvement. When everyone is in the courts over the next several years, BP will have an ace in the hole… “We were prepared to stem the flow long before we did, but were directed by the U.S. to wait”, they will say.

President Obama is really going to “make them pay”, isn’t he?  But, who exactly is “them” these days? 

Keep in mind that when Washington is on the hook, that means the taxpayers are on the hook.  In the end, will the residents in the Gulf region be compensating themselves for the damages incurred by this disaster?  Wouldn’t that, in itself, be an even greater tragedy?  I’m afraid the answer is “yes” to both.

Today is primary day for Rick Barber. We’ll see if such ads worked for or against him. Definitely entertaining to say the least.

Bill Wilson’s adroit insight on our world economic outlook.

partial excerpt 

One item that stands out in last week’s World Economic Outlook produced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), besides the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) likely to grow far slower than projected by the Obama Administration, is the seemingly remarkable pace that emerging and developing economies are growing.

So, after years of flooding the U.S. with its products and soaking American capital as the U.S. diminished its manufacturing capacity, and purchasing U.S. debt, China looks like it is about to pivot. However, the American intelligentsia and power elite are so narcissistic and self-involved with more “stimulus” and deficit-spending, they cannot see the forest for the trees.

China is prepared for any downturn. Are we? No. We’re not. While the threat of a U.S. credit downgrade looms as soon as 2018 and the economy teeters, the White House Office of Management and Budget projects the U.S. will incur $10.6 trillion in new debt (likely) amid robust growth for the next ten years (unlikely).

Read some good commentary about this video at Big Government…

Maybe they’ll be an acoustic cut some day; wouldn’t that be neato groovy?

UPDATE: here’s the extended version, which actually feature a super cool piano solo around 1:45 and a great guitar riff at 2:35.
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Hi gang, if you have a few minutes, take a look at Illusions of Opportunity By JOHN E. SCHWARZ and share what you think.

[Honesty (AKA Hate Speech) Warning--Continue reading at your own peril!!!]

Lately I’ve been a bit surprised to see America’s intellectuals at once troubled by where our nation is going while simultaneously being the force driving us away from our core values. It’s like they’re saying, “Welcome to Nowhere Land where everyone is entitled to OUR rarefied, ivory tower opinions (because they are obviously too stupid to form opinions of their own).”

Of course they would probably lay the mess at the feet of the TEA Party since they’re sure their formula: “more taxes and fewer freedoms” best answers every societal problem.

Now I don’t care for these people, but this is very foul.

Via HotAir.com

Update II: My apologies.  This looks like a confirmed hoax.  I don’t delete posts, but I have changed the headline and will offer this as an apology for not getting independent confirmation.  My wife asked why anyone would want to do that, but I imagine someone’s getting a sick chuckle over this.

Anyway, best of health to you, Senator Lautenberg (and Leahy and Feinstein and …)

Ed Morriseyis a great guy and made sure to say he screwed up.  But he was emailed via the Senators email.  That is the problem and other “emails” are going around.  Be aware.

Now this is a great example of:

A. why we should continue to praise Islamic regimes for their past and present great achievements to society, culture, the sciences and the arts and

B. why the USA definitely needs a Ministry of Culture.
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As we celebrate Independence Day, I, perhaps like many others today, find myself pondering its significance. While many may be thinking back to the 1770s and the great many personal sacrifices and contributions American families made at the time toward the establishment of the United States, I have found my thoughts to be rooted in present times and, at the core, the seemingly ongoing trend away from independence.
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Have a safe, memorable and inspirational Independence Day.

This is my first post, hopefully it will encourage a lively discussion!

As a teacher, I often find myself reminding students that the old ways, while not always as good as the new ways, were sometimes just as good, often more insightful and occasionally just plain better.  For example, lately mom has had a terrible time garaging her Prius using the pricey laser pointer system my brother-in-law bought her.  Oddly, the co-linear hanging tennis balls I’d installed at her old house never failed to line up a perfect approach.  Now we’re discovering that the Russian sleeper agents were still using the old standards of espionage like invisible ink, shortwave radio, and transposition ciphers to great effect.
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You can now post directly to the blog by voice from any phone.  Nice feature.  Click here for more details.

The Declaration of Independence

” We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

~ With these memorable words, Thomas Jefferson, at the age of 33, laid the cornerstone of the United States of America.

The story isn’t anyway near as good as the headline, but:

A man faces charges after an unusual incident at a local library. 52-year-old Darrell Bess was taken into custody yesterday, naked, armed with knives and several pounds of stolen cheese.
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The money chart, this shows who Goldman’s key derivative counterparties were as of June 2008. While oddly enough AIG is not on this chart (potentially as this is pro forma for the bailout), it shows just what a great web of interconnected synthetic exposure derivatives create. As of this snapshot, Goldman had $20 trillion in notional counterparty exposure. This number has since ballooned. It also shows that the collapse of any individual actor in this maze would very likely result in the collapse of the entire financial system. While we do not know whether the notional depicted is gross or net, we are comfortable that the $2 trillion in Interest Rate Product counterparty exposure between Goldman and JPM and RBS (for example) would be sufficient to blow up either of these parties should the interest rate complex move violently in a direction and amplitude presumed impossible by either firm’s VaR models.

Goldman Sachs is the market.  It’s no wonder they don’t report any losing days on their trading desk.

Goldman knows full well just how every single bank and hedge fund is positioned, and can easily make prop trading decision based simply on counterparty exposure (Goldman tracks every single trade inception, transfer and novation with all its counterparties to know up to the minute who owns what). Welcome to completely legal frontrunning.

via Explaining Derivatives, And Goldman’s Dominance Thereof, In Four Simple Charts | zero hedge.