The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Zero Hedge Lays It Down, Mead Sort Of Picks It Up

Posted on | January 31, 2013 | 17 Comments

by Smitty

For most of the past four or five years, I have spent the majority of my time studying the dominant forces that fuel the power structure that exists in these Unites States today, and indeed throughout the world.  My education began quite suddenly and unexpectedly in the middle of the last decade when I started understanding fiat money, Central Banking and the global monetary system.  Since then, I have expanded my understanding to mainstream media brainwashing, the military-industrial complex, the role of the political oligarchs in Washington D.C., the corruption of the food industry under the complicity of the FDA itself and much more.  The more I peered under the curtain, no matter what the industry, the clearer it became that the system had no chance of survival under its current form.  What’s worse, it became obvious that the very small 0.01% of the population that I call oligarchs (financial and political), who are actively gaming the system for their own pleasure, are well aware of the system’s terminal nature.  That’s why they are rapidly putting in place the police state grid.

That said, this article is not about the implementation of the surveillance state.  I cover that pretty much daily these days.  This post is more of a philosophical stream of consciousness; a guilty pleasure that I have not engaged in as of late.

Read the whole thing. I don’t disagree with the big picture being offered here. I also don’t thing the surveillance state is going to prove feasible. Walter Russell Mead, via Instapundit, enumerates seven trolls working for “the oligarchs” that the Middle Class must vanquish, and then he concludes:

Add to that the worries about federal deficits and debts (Troll 6) and the palpable unease about the financial system (Troll 7), and it’s easy to see why the middle class feels harassed and defensive.
These problems are real and they are serious; people are not wrong to worry. But attempts to perpetuate the blue model don’t help. Many of the seven trolls are the results of the high cost blue model approach to governance, the health system and higher education, and in any case the forces ripping the blue model apart are too strong and too deeply rooted in the way our economy works to be stopped.
Yet if the worries are real, the pessimism is excessive. The information revolution destroys jobs, but it also creates them, and we are already in the early stages of a jobs explosion. And as it proceeds, the information revolution is likely to propel the rise of a middle class that is more productive, better educated, more autonomous and more interested in and capable of civic leadership than the Fordist middle class of the late industrial age.

We need to distinguish between, say, entertainment industry jobs created because so many people can do their own media, as distinguished from economic activity pertaining to over-regulation.

I more or less agree with Mead’s assessment, but I don’t think he’s a big enough nerd to grasp some key points. Information is a fluid. Power (in both economic and political phases) is derived from controlling that information. Thus, we se an unholy alliance of a permanent political class using legislation to milk the stock market, and by extension, the people.

As I was noting earlier today, Senator Coburn is doing yeoman work identifying just the easy overlaps in our beloved Federal government. The amount of churn, legal action, and re-work triggered by

is astounding.

Actual reform will arrive in waves of decentralization. Sadly, I’m no longer sure that a purely political expression of the voter’s will at the ballot box is going to get it done. That information technology Mead touts has not overcome the human capacity to avoid paying attention.

No, I think that this lousy opening January to 2013 is only going to worsen as we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Woodrow “Effing” Wilson. It’s going to be a long eleven months getting through the rest of this lousy year, I reckon. God grant this country peace due to all the firepower out there.

*You ever start up a blog to test out a piece of software, write one post, forget about it, and then discover it 6.5 years later as the top return on a Google search? Scratch that. Too far-fetched. Never happens. No one would believe it.

Category: End The Fed

‘Shut Up!’ The Modern Monetary
Theorist Explained

Posted on | January 31, 2013 | 9 Comments

by Smitty

Essentially, there are four preconditions in Modern Monetary Theory:

  1. Money enters the economy through government spending, as the total amount of money is constrained not by gold but by the total output of the national economy;
  2. Government spending is speculative as it prints as much money as it needs to control production and, as a byproduct, employment, and spending beyond productive capacity leads to inflation;
  3. Taxes do not pay for expenditures but are instead a way to throttle private sector demand; and
  4. The government is the issuer of the currency, sovereign governments that issue their own currency are never insolvent, so debts essentially don’t matter.

I would submit we now meet those preconditions. With the Federal Reserve’s bond-buying program, beginning with Quantitative Easing “QE1? in November 2008, the US government is the de facto issuer of currency, as the Fed can, for the most part, purchase Treasury Bonds at will. The Federal Reserve is currently purchasing 61% of Bonds at auction, quickly approaching its 70% self-imposed limit, which was relaxed from 35% in 2010.

I would submit that the economic wreckage before you kinda shows that the capitalist/monetary theorist approaches are kinda like before/after chrystal meth pics.

Thus, until somebody articulates reform for the Federal Reserve, stand by for a steady stream of Hegelism. The private sector economy is the horse, the government is the cart. This Modern Monetary Theorist foolishness isn’t going to end well. But, hey, we’re celebrating the 100th anniversary of Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration, aren’t we?

via Mataconis

Category: End The Fed

If You Don’t Think ‘Jailbait Hookers’ Is Headline News, You Don’t Know News

Posted on | January 31, 2013 | 40 Comments

When the major news networks ignored the FBI raid on the Miami doctor who bankrolled Sen. Robert Menendez’s trips to the Dominican Republic, I was frankly stunned. No matter how liberal your bias may be, the allegation that Menendez was banging underage hookers during his Caribbean expeditions is irresistible as news.

There is nothing in mere politics than can equal the power of a sex scandal to make people pay attention.

And dude: Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee? It’s almost as good as a sex scandal with a congressman named Weiner.

So, how did the Senator — who was all about empowering women and youth — like his hookers? Of course, he liked ’em young and fresh:

In a little-noticed email published online Wednesday by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a young Dominican woman wrote nine months ago that she slept with 59-year-old New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez at a series of sex parties organized by Dr. Salomon Melgen, a longtime Menendez campaign donor.
“That Senator also likes the youngest and newest girls,” the woman wrote on April 21, 2002, according to an English translation provided to The Daily Caller by a native Spanish speaker.

Could anything possibly be more newsworthy than that? How about the Senator’s (allegedly) exotic tastes for foreign women?

Another email string has been released naming some of the prostitutes involved with Dr. Melgen and Senator Menendez. Of the 4 prostitutes named, 2 were Dominican, 1 Russian, and another Colombian.

Yes, the names — Geraldine, La Honey, Yaneisy and Svetlana — conjure images of an international sexual smorgasbord assembled for the Senator’s prurient pleasure by his Miami patron. And you want to tell me that’s not newsworthy? Turn in your press credentials, clean out your desk and find another line of work, because you clearly have no aptitude for the news business.

 

Category: Corruption, Crime, Dominican Republic, New Jersey, Scandal, Senate, Sex

What A Lucid Politician Sounds Like

Posted on | January 31, 2013 | 8 Comments

by Smitty

Senator Coburn states flatly that the debt ceiling hike is coming, unstoppably, describes the impending debt spiral. He the ventures into the output of the Department of Superfluous Redundancy Department.

I think Senator Coburn refers to the report linked here. What Senator Coburn doesn’t seem to understand is that homo bureaucratus is achieving its prime goal of bribing the people with their own money.

via One Bad Goatee

Category: Uncategorized

The Chicago Way

Posted on | January 31, 2013 | 21 Comments

Her name was Hadiya Pendleton and she was only 15 years old:

The city’s 42nd slaying is part of Chicago’s bloodiest January in more than a decade, following on the heels of 2012, which ended with more than 500 homicides for the first time since 2008. . . .
About three blocks from Hadiya’s school, she and a group of 10-12 young people, including members of her volleyball team, had taken refuge under a canopy at a park to avoid the rain Tuesday afternoon. A man climbed a fence behind the park, ran at the group and started shooting, and then jumped back over the fence and into a white Nissan. The group scattered, but Hadiya was shot once in the back and a teenage boy was shot in the leg.
Police said Hadiya had no arrest record and there was no indication she was a member of a gang or was the gunman’s target. In fact, McCarthy said there are no indications that anyone in the group was gang-affiliated. He said the police suspect that the gunman may be a member of a gang that considers the park its turf and that he mistook somebody in the group as someone from an encroaching rival gang.

Chicago has very stringent gun laws. What Chicago doesn’t have is economic opportunity, honest government or enough law-abiding citizens to keep the peace, so that neighborhoods are effectively ruled by gangs like the Satan’s Disciples and the Latin Kings, who terrorize and intimidate residents. Witnesses will not testify against the gangsters, and the police — to the extent that Chicago police are not entirely corrupt — are unable to apprehend or effectively prosecute these criminals.

Hadiya Pendleton was murdered about a mile from the $1.6 million-dollar home that Obama purchased in a corrupt deal with Tony Rezko.

This is the future of corruption and criminality — “The Chicago Way” — that Obama is bringing to America as a matter of policy.

Category: Chicago, Crime

LIVE AT FIVE: 01.31.13

Posted on | January 31, 2013 | 2 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
FBI Raids Menendez Donor’s Office

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ)

HHS IG also on scene; possible Medicaid/Medicare fraud by Dr. Melgen?
Senator Menendez Denies Prostitution Allegations

Georgia Declares State Of Emergency After Deadly Storms Sweep Through Midwest, Southern States
Two dead, dozens injured, thousands without power

Witnesses At Senate Hearing Tangle Over Background Checks
Feinstein whines that she’ll hold own hearing after gun supporter witnesses in the majority at yesterday’s hearing



POLITICS
Another Chicago Gun Control Success

Hadiya Pendleton, 15. RIP

Her death #42 in Chicago’s bloodiest January ever

Giffords Urges New Gun Laws At Hearing: “You Must Act”

Chuck Hagel’s Charm Offensive


Obama Tells Telemundo He Expects Gun, Immigration Bills In Six Months

Controversial DOJ Chief Criminal Lanny Breuer Leaving

Military Judge Rejects Defense Arguments In Fort Hood Shooter’s Court-Martial

FBI Raid On Doc’s Office More About Medicare Than Menendez?

Senator Barrasso Files Bill To Freeze NLRB Rules, Suspend Decisions



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Trades Near Four-Month High As Fed Continues Asset Purchases: NYMEX $97.89, Brent $115.07
Asian Shares Off Highs, Fed’s Stimulus Underpins Markets
U.S. Economy Closes In Fourth Quarter
Million-Dollar Home Sales Hit Five-Year Peak In California
Boeing Defends Dreamliner Batteries
Gold Rallies After Drop In U.S. GDP
Time, Inc. To Lay Off Six Percent Of Workforce
Treasuries Ease After Debt Auction
Facebook Moving Fast On Mobile, Spending Tons On Everything
Blackberry Maker Unveils New Line And New Name
Surface Pro Set To Launch At Best Buy NYC February 8
When Did Alicia Keys Break Up With Her iPhone?
Microsoft’s Dell Billions Have Windows 8 Strings Attached
Firefox To Block Content Based On Java, Reader, And Silverlight
Nintendo Makes Drastic Cut To Forecast
Google Sync Gets A Few More Months On WinPhones
Sex App Claims To Help You Mix Business With Pleasure
Valve Releases Steam Greenlight Update, Brings With It A Handful Of Improvements



SPORTS
Raptors Get Gay

Small forward Rudy Gay, formerly a Grizzly

Toronto acquires Memphis’ leading scorer and a center as part of three-team trade with Detroit

Nyets Humbled By Heat In 105-85 Blowout

Cullen Scores Two As Wild Hands Blackhawks Their First Loss

A-Rod Rents Out His $38 Million Miami Mansion

Clippers’ Deep Bench Decisive In 96-90 Whipping Of Timbermutts

Pierce Leads Celtics To 99-81 Thumping Of Kings

Tyson Chandler Scores 21 As Knicks Beat Magic

Gio Gonzalez Denies PED Use



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Kate Micucci Lands Role On “Big Bang Theory”

Kate Micucci and Kunal Nagyar

“Raising Hope” actress to play Raj’s love interest

Ron Jeremy In Hospital With Heart Aneurysm

Judge Lautner Tells LiLo: “I’m Glad To See You’re Feeling Better”

Rihanna Comes Clean About Chris Brown Romance

Tim McGraw: Why I Quit Drinking And Changed My Life

Miley Cyrus: Doing Yoga In A Bikini

Dr. Phil Dishes On Ronaiah Tuiasosopo Interview

The “Pulp Fiction” Oral History



FOREIGNERS
Former Porn Star Climbs CCP’s Political Ladder (Video)
Japan’s PM Abe Shrugs Off Global Criticism Over Latest Stimulus Steps
Israeli Airstrike Smashes Syrian Arms Convoy; U.S. Informed; SA-17s, SCUDs, Or Anti-Ship Missiles?
El Baradei Calls For Talks With Morsi, Military As Rioting Continues
French Troops Take Kidal, Last Jihadi Holdout
UN Appeals For More Aid, Halt To Syria Fighting
Masked “Black Bloc” A Mystery Factor In Egyptian Unrest
Zimbabwe Down To Its Last $217
Syrian Opposition Leader Open To Talks With Assad
Poisoning Feared In Deaths Of Malaysian Pygmy Elephants
Anti-Drug Pact Latest Casualty Of Soured U.S./Russian Relations



BLOGS & STUFF
Bryan Preston: Of Course Obama Goes Skeet Shooting All The Time – Meaning Twice
Right Scoop: Dishonest Dick Durbin Smears NRA At Hearing
Weekly Standard Blog: The Cost Of Obama’s Regulatory Explosion
AmSpecBlog: A Look At The Latest GDP Numbers
Pat Dollard: Israeli Airstrike Hit Building Holding Advanced Antitank Missiles Intended For Hezbollah
Israpundit: Strike Targeted Syrian Military Research Center
Marco Rubio: Applying Conservative Principles To Immigration
Stephen Kruiser: This Explains A Lot – Chicom Hackers Have Been Getting To NYT Computers For Four Months
Gateway Pundit: Administration Takes Steps To Implement Obamacare Mandate Tax
NRO Corner: “Starting Point” Meets Its Ending Point
Ed Driscoll: The Fundamental Things
Washington Free Beacon: Hagel Taught Anti-Israel Courses At Georgetown
Protein Wisdom: ZOMG!!! Hot Weather Causes Gun Violence!!
Laura Ingraham: Sen. Vitter Calls Rubio’s Immigration Plan “Amazingly Naive”
Lonely Conservative: Dems Still Blaming GOP For Dismal Economy


Category: Live at Five

Israeli Jets Hit Convoy in Syria; Also, People Are Mean to Matt Lewis on Twitter

Posted on | January 30, 2013 | 17 Comments

Big stories have been breaking all day:

So you’ll forgive me if I got so busy that I forgot to blog about the most important news today: Matt Lewis has given up on Twitter!

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment it happened — but at some point, Twitter became a dark place.
It’s a lot like the transformation of the 1960s. It started out being about free love, sharing ideas, and changing the world, but somehow we ended up being more about Altamont and Charles Manson.
Somewhere along the line, our optimism faded.
Once everyone was on Twitter, everyone’s problems were on Twitter. The early adopters might have been tech-utopians, but the succeeding waves were angry cynics and partisan cranks who used the technology to make the world even louder and worse than it was before Twitter.

Hmmm. This happened “at some point,” perhaps shortly after Lewis decided to call Michelle Malkin “execrable,” maybe?

Just a wild guess there.

What gets into people’s heads to make them do stupid stuff like that? Damned if I know. Of course, I’ve done stupid stuff before, but . . .

This is one of those things that defy explanation. It’s permissible to disagree with Michelle Malkin, but to lump her into the same category of odium with someone she hates? And then to write a Daily Caller item calling Ben Howe a troll? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Never mind your motives. How does it look? Petty and narcissistic, and also as if maybe you’re suffering from testosterone deficiency.

Maybe I’ve become so used to being dissed, snubbed, screwed over, backstabbed, stalked, harassed and defamed that I consider it routine. Maybe I should object to it more often than I do. But in the long run, you’re either on the team or you’re not, and if you’re going to be on the team, there are some irritations you just have to learn to put up with, as a necessary condition of membership. Meanwhile . . .

Israeli jets strike convoy along Syrian border
— CNN

SYRIA CONFIRMS ISRAELI JETS
BOMBED MILITARY SITE
— Associated Press

Arms Shipment Was Target as
Israel Bombed Syria, U.S. Says
— New York Times

This could actually be more important than “why we can’t have nice things,” but don’t tell that to Matt Lewis. You might hurt his feelings.

Category: Matt Lewis

Anonymous Spokesman Barrett Brown Is Sane Enough to Stand Trial, Judge Rules

Posted on | January 30, 2013 | 22 Comments

September 2012: Barrett Brown threatens an FBI agent in video

In September, Barrett Brown was arrested after a bizarre video meltdown in which he threatened to “destroy” an FBI agent. Brown is a former spokesman for the Anonymous hacking group, and his paranoid rant about HB Gary and alleged FBI informant Jennifer Emick was apparently inspired by an IRC chat with Neal Rauhauser. In October, Brown was indicted for threatening the FBI agent. In December, Brown was charged in connection with the LulzSec hacking of Stratfor. Last week, Brown was indicted against for an obstruction of justice charge.

Now facing as much as 100 years in prison on these charges, Brown appeared in federal court today in Dallas, Texas:

In a brief hearing this morning, United States District Judge Sam Lindsay found former self-proclaimed Anonymous spokesperson Barrett Brown mentally competent to stand trial. . . . At the same time, Brown was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to his newest charge, concealing evidence, for which he was indicted last week. . . .
In response to questions, Brown told the judge that he understood he was there in order for the court to determine his mental competency after a prison psychologist at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Worth recently issued a report recommending he be found competent. . . .
Brown told the judge that in Fort Worth he was “under the sporadic care of a psychologist,” after spending a week and a half under medical supervision while undergoing withdrawal from Suboxone, a drug used to treat opiate addiction. “I was addicted to Suboxone,” he told the judge.

Brown will face two separate trials, one in April and another in May, on the federal charges against him. More reporting from the Dallas Morning News and the Associated Press/KFDM.

In a brief phone conversation, Lee Stranahan — who attended today’s hearing in Dallas — told me that the question of competence was essentially uncontested by Brown’s public defender. Brown is reportedly being treated with Zoloft, an anti-depressant, and another drug, Risperidone, an anti-psychotic medication used to treat symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Is it possible that, while not contesting Brown’s current mental health condition as competent to stand trial, his attorney is prepared to argue that Brown was psychologically impaired at the time he recorded his threats against the FBI agent?

The video rant that led to Barrett Brown’s September arrest:

PREVIOUSLY:

 

Category: Barrett Brown, Conspiracy Theories, Crime
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