Friday, December 19, 2014

Robert's Revenge

A very long time ago, Paul Craig Roberts put forth the proposition that what had been previously banned, private ownership of gold coins, was in effect, equivalent to a gold standard. (I've never been able to find the original, but I've always taken this as stipulated.)

   The reason libertarians can't be of much help with respect to Russian central banking, beyond the same criticisms leveled at our own systems;  That the present range of institutions are wrong to the extent that they privatize profit and socialize costs through fraud and threats on "the forgotten man". That "thin" libertarians, of which I'm, would be okay with predatory capitalism, if the game weren't fixed and if it wasn't mandatory. The leap we take is not very large; that most people can take care of themselves, and that individual self-interest, "greed" among other things, including altruism, will cause the hearth to be lit and the steel to be forged. This is all boilerplate, but I take it as stipulated. Here I stand, I can do no other, etc. Until I caught Moldbug, but that's possibly another post.

   Saker was wondering if Putin really believed in Liberal Capitalism, or was just playing along. I don't think anyone really believes in it. The hidden hand guy went to work for the British equivalent of Homeland Security, and Alan Greenspan was, and then wasn't, and now is again a disciple of Ayn Rand. Putin may have the rare ability to ignore overloaded labels, and process actual facts. I hope so, a pre-Postmodern world leader would appreciated by many, even if it was just outward dignity. A PPMWL would be forced to point out the many absurdities and outright lies that have been constructed to hide the moral and financial bankruptcy of the west. Ron Paul is one such, PCR another, and many others are working here to restore our constitution. As an ideal; as a substitute for sovereignty, sadly flawed, but now completely ignored. What's needed is some Post-postmodern world leaders, who are cognizant of the idiocy of the modern jacobins and the single-minded urge to destroy everything and always without accountability. The fact that no one was ever fired, reprimanded, prosecuted or jailed (except whistleblowers) for two wars and two meltdowns has mafia all over it. Successful and powerful mafia don't go away, but accommodate or route around strong resistance, keyword strong. The meek will not inherit this world.

  The reason, then, that Vlad seems impaled, although he knows his enemy's weaknesses he has to judge his support most accurately, especially his core. A commenter on the saker blog brought up that "Ivan" needs to man up, mentioning vodka bottles. I have no idea if the stereotype is accurate, having been soaked in anti-russian propaganda my entire life. What matters is can the forgotten man rise to any challenge? Even seemingly hopeless?You guys had Stalingrad, we had hurricane Katrina. If I had anything to wager I'd put it all on red. Even though I'm black (anarchy) by disposition and white (monarchy) by study and reflection. Patience is necessary, Sun-Tzu, fifth generation warfare, bluff, deception. War by other means.

   He has predicted a two year downturn, no one knows how long or deep it may be. In the meantime he should consider minting golden ruble and selling at some premium, in small quantities, but to individual citizens. The central bank would still be independent (and predatory) but gold in private hands acts as a check on inflation and a monetary peg that isn't directly influenced by speculation. The only negative, that the monetary authorities can't easily devalue the currency in a competitive or coordinated (as they are now doing) manner, is actually a feature, but only if the market sets interest rates. A government mint doesn't have to use "Russia's" gold (who actually owns it or where it is correctly belongs in the unknown category until the west has a good audit). It could purchase on the open market and mint privately owned stashes on contract for a slight fee. The Swiss would probably sell their presses for a song. This may be technically "goldbackism" ala Ellen Brown, so there are hidden pitfalls, but the man said it will take two years, and you might have some fun with it. If and when the vultures descend you can just cut them off or better, raise their premium. A one ounce double-eagle with Ivan the Terrible would be awesome to replace my Pandas and Krands, that I lost in a boating accident.


Friday, November 28, 2014

RaptorVision

The unreality of the "news" surrounding the shootdown of the Malaysian plane over Ukraine almost shut down my cognitive ability to deal. I'd long been aware of the episodic and random nature of what was thrown up for public discussion; which topics were promoted or dropped, which were simply ignored. It never made sense, and the internet essentially exposed this manipulation, and increasingly in near real-time, as throughout the entire Ukraine operation; every explanation and claim was almost immediately countered with factual or at least plausible counter-propaganda, much of it speculative and crowd-sourced. I consider this crowd sourcing, such as on zerohedge and especially the saker blog, to be very valuable to the individual who wants to understand the nature of these operations clearly. Serbia, Ukraine (twice), Georgia, Afganistan, Iraq(thrice!), Libya, Egypt (who even knows?), plus many smaller too numerous to name. A pattern emerges...

I watched the whole latest Ukrainian farce, closely, and the pattern was proved to my satisfaction, but if you didn't watch closely, it just disappeared virtually overnight, in my opinion, a "tell" of historic proportions, and proof that neocons never lose because they never bet their own chips. It's just that simple. Why it isn't obvious to even the most casual observer may never be understood by me; it's above my pay grade. I do think I can very well parse through the obvious spin from all sides to determine that as to both facts and plausible conjecture obviated by the fog of war. The Russians were and are superior, but even if nudelman and co. weren't stupid and clumsy liars that couldn't match Al Sharpton for finesse, I would have to still admire Putin's check, because I hope for the mate, because I want "us" to lose. Lose the neocons, that is. Their defeat will be America's victory, or at least a chance that there will be an America as we would prefer to think of it.

So it comes as a great ray (a sting ray, I hope) of sunshine to discover that Russians, too, are learning about central banks and their clown show. They are already familiar with the IMF, Goldman, SWIFT etc., so I hope they give their bank the heave-ho. Wait 'till they find out about the BIS, lol. Can a Russian Mises Institute be far behind?

https://ia601409.us.archive.org/29/items/KhazinQAENFinal/Khazin%20Q%26A%28EN%29%20-%20final.html

And bolshoi thanks to the Saker. Hit after hit below the water line. Not bad for a   submarine in the desert.

 "Stand by the aft tubes!"

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Wimmins Studies

The web has been helpful in my understanding of the ladies.

I previously thought that they were vain shallow argumentative drama queens that can never be happy because they would lose the valuable self-pity that powers their existence, but I now know that it's really because men don't "get it".

I'm thinking there might be an evolutionary perspective. Cave women developed personalities that would make going out in the cold and rain barefoot to kill mammoths and saber-tooths with pointy sticks seem relatively pleasant. Their genes were passed along to the offspring, along with those of the sneaky wieners who got back to the cave before the hunters returned. So modern humans are the product of generations of the unbearable mating with the unconscionable.

My other theory is they're putting something powerful in makeup and/or shoes that give the illusion of great beauty and sophistication followed by sadness and confusion and sense of the lost eden.

they trippin, boo!

Thursday, July 17, 2014

All Hail Ron! No, the other one...

I'm really impressed with the Unz Review; pretty cool that he's publishing Cockburn, Shamir and others from the "left". I used to slum at CounterPunch a lot to see what the "other side" was up to, and darned if they didn't almost re-convert me to progressivism. [I tend to be squishy in my convictions when presented by good arguments. human frailty.] I'm really hoping, but not hopeful, that a majority can get beyond this false right/left division. It would seem that divide_and_conquer* is the oldest and most effective political technique. It really seems like the work of the devil, except that would imply the existence of god, and I'm still not ready to go there. The only thing I can conclude is that humans are just slightly more attractive baboons with free will. no devil; it is we who suck. evidently.

We need to constantly talk about what economists call the opportunity costs of imperialism and war, what we could have purchased instead of destruction and misery. This is almost never mentioned directly; we say we will bear any burden and pay any price, but we don't share equally. I forget who spoke of "the forgotten man" but he's always there just offstage. Who, whom, as they say. Americans have been lucky to avoid karma. So far...

*"And if you think you can tailor your work to fit the “general culture,” there’s no such thing left to appeal to. As Bernstein says, “Books are following the general trend of other types of media; audiences are shunted into silos where they basically don’t see content that is meant for a different demographic. Liberals and conservatives don’t see the same news, or read the same books; Millennials and Boomers don’t watch the same TV shows, or even the same channels; black audiences and white audiences don’t even go to see the same movies. … There is no longer a common shared language through which we can all talk about American culture. It makes understanding between groups very difficult.”

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

King Charles Acceptance Speech

snip-
    Many have closely observed Our entire life, and how its large and small dramas have played out, completely in public view, as a creature in a zoo, and may well consider me a bit of a pip, and rightly consider a powerless monarch to be a pip. Very well, but We have also been watching you. Not as closely, as that would be undignified, but in huge numbers and aggregates of loose sheep, dogs, and wolves, but less noble. A great noisy clown college at pledge week, a drunken country fair with a sleeping sheriff and everyone clamoring for more and mine.

   We say enough, and cease! The 400 year experiment has failed. It has joined the Choir Celestial. It is a dead parrot. Rebellion has failed.  Parliament has failed, and hardest to admit, a long line of Royalty has failed to even remind the people that they don't have to be ruled by least-common-denominator scoundrels and wallow in, at best, a numb and numbing, comfort, or daily wade between debt and more failure. Enough! It's frustrating and embarrassing to watch; like blind rats in a maze, exactly like my namesake described and predicted, before your political fathers slew him in an act that was not self-justifying, and more importantly, has not been proven justified by results, but the obvious case is the reverse. That the war of all against all has failed, is failing, and only fools expect the dawn to finally come on some bright future day. That war is long over, for All lost, and now there can be only arguing over terms of surrender.

These are Our terms. They are just, they are fair, they are:

We are Sovereign, Arbritary, and Final Authority. It can be no other way, as demonstrated by the Reductio ad absurdam "government" in the presently rebellious colonies of North America, and what's left of the Russian Empire; Tzar in all but name, indeed in each advanced "democracy", Absolute power, wielded by unscrupulous and fearful strivers, in no sure hands, but always dangerously in play with regular and predictable, horrible results. If you still believe that this can and should continue, then We must conclude that you do not possess the minimum capacity to rule yourself, and cannot be ruled, except harshly, which is undignified and generally to be avoided. Therefore you may freely depart Our dominions of the British Isles, we laying no claim to those colonies acquired after 1632, under no authority, and may your chains lay lightly on you.  For the rest, implicitly accepting Our Command, We pledge our Loyalty and labor, to the best of our ability, until God takes Us from Our blessed realm.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

RIP, Lance

Nothing Gold Can Stay

         Robert Frost, 1874 - 1963

Nature’s first green is gold, 
Her hardest hue to hold. 
Her early leaf’s a flower; 
But only so an hour. 
Then leaf subsides to leaf. 
So Eden sank to grief, 
So dawn goes down to day. 
Nothing gold can stay

Sunday, April 13, 2014

New drugs cure hepatitis C

Originally published Saturday, April 12, 2014 at 7:02 PM


Twenty-five years after scientists identified the hepatitis C virus, doctors are declaring victory over an infection that afflicts more than 3 million Americans and kills more of them than HIV.

In a series of clinical-trial results, a new generation of antiviral medications was able to clear the liver-ravaging hepatitis C virus from virtually all patients’ bloodstreams in as little as eight weeks. The treatments, however, come with a steep price tag.

Los Angeles Times
In a series of clinical-trial results, a new generation of antiviral medications was able to clear the liver-ravaging virus from virtually all patients’ bloodstreams in as little as eight weeks. Even in patients with the most stubborn infections, the new drugs were capable of suppressing the virus completely at rates well over 90 percent. The treatments, however, come with a steep price tag.
The “sustained virologic responses” reported in the trials typically mean an infection has been permanently cleared. Only further research will establish that these cures will endure, averting an estimated 15,000 deaths a year from liver disease in the U.S. Worldwide, as many as 3 percent of people have the infection known as HCV.
The new medications are “a triumph of modern medical technology,” said Dr. Jeffrey Tice, a University of California, San Francisco, physician who was not involved in any of the clinical trials. Results were published Saturday in The New England Journal of Medicine.
In the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, achieving such success in so short a time, with relatively mild side effects and with a single pill daily, is without precedent. Until recently, physicians relied on two wide-spectrum antiviral medications — interferon and ribavirin — that required precise dosing over periods as long as 48 weeks.
Fewer than half of HCV patients are even eligible for that treatment, which comes with punishing side effects. And the regimen’s difficulties cause many to abandon it.
“It may now be possible to imagine the global eradication” of chronic hepatitis C, Harvard Medical School liver specialists Drs. Raymond Chung and Thomas Baumert wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine.
In the same way that antibiotics made victory over human bacterial infections possible in the 20th century, the new antiviral medications have “revolutionized” the treatment of hepatitis C, wrote Chung and Baumert, who were not involved in the trials. The drugs — some already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), others now under consideration by the agency — offer “genuine prospects for the first comprehensive cure of a chronic viral infection in humans,” they wrote.
Among the nation’s baby boomers, the new medications are likely to avert hundreds of thousands of cases of liver cancer and substantially reduce the number of liver transplants.
Americans between ages 50 and 68 account for roughly 75 percent of HCV infections in the United States. While many contracted the virus through illicit drug use, an untold number of boomers are thought to have been infected by tainted blood transfusions before a test for the virus became available in 1992.
Even as health experts welcomed the trial results, they cautioned that widespread use of the new drugs would come at a steep price. A 12-week regimen of sofosbuvir — one of the medications in a proposed hepatitis C cocktail — costs $84,000, or about $1,000 per tablet. Treatment with simeprevir, another medication in the same class, can exceed $66,000.
At such prices, U.S. patients will have only limited access to the breakthrough drugs for some time to come, Tice said. The cost of treating even half of the Americans chronically infected with HCV would exceed the amount currently spent on all radiological imaging, said Tice, who helped assess the cost and accessibility of the new medications for the California Technology Assessment Forum.
Insurers will probably limit their use to patients with advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis of the liver, a group that represents about one-third of those infected with HCV in the U.S. Those patients are at the greatest risk of developing liver cancer or liver disease severe enough to require a liver transplant, conditions that are costly and time-consuming to treat.
In a welter of trial results announced at the International Liver Congress 2014 meeting in London that ends Sunday, medications with the chemical names ABT-450/ritonavir, ombitasvir, dasabuvir, ledipasvir and sofosbuvir were successful in bringing about sustained clearance of the hepatitis C virus in the wide range of subjects who took them.
In one of the trials, a combination of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir cleared the virus in 99 percent of patients after 12 weeks. When the drugs were given to patients with cirrhosis for whom previous treatments had failed, 24 weeks of therapy resulted in a virtually 100 percent success rate.
The trials also demonstrated that among patients infected with the stubborn genotype 1 hepatitis C, success rates were above 95 percent.
The new medications assessed in the latest trials were developed by Gilead Sciences of Foster City, Calif., and AbbVie of Chicago. The two drug companies paid for the trials.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Angst vor der Braunen

http://www.salon.com/2014/03/12/propaganda_lies_and_the_new_york_times_everything_you_really_need_to_know_about_ukraine/

A rare Saloon piece that veers towards objectivity in the service of Angst vor der braunen. It's the reverse of they live glasses, that are removed temporarily to view reality, in order to direct the readers' attention back towards Progress. It perfectly illustrates the weakness and internal illogic of the American side, and is especially effective in referring back to [CFR link] fault-line document, warning the Americans to stop their silly habits of following the advice of the CFR.

It really seems to validate the bionic mosquito's impression that the elite have shifted their support away from neocons, due to the danger posed by the stupidly antagonistic and expansionistic policies of the latter. Just as the threat of nuclear annihilation kept the PTB somewhat in check for fifty years, the threat of non-nuclear doomsday posed by setting the world on fire trying to selectively burn the third world underbrush, and managing with intent to destroy the only actual hard military power that can protect them from their own policies.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Two Quick and Easy Ukraine Solutions

Congratulations to Svoboda and friends for capturing the flag in Kviv! One hopes they can keep and expand their gains; my personal hope is for all international phoney boundaries to be redrawn and redivided to reflect actual ethno-national boundaries, as might be established after long and violent struggles, in a state of peace by exhaustion. I think this process will occur, at some variation of pace and violence, and Ukraine provides almost perfect lab-example. We need to provide a fast, but relatively non-violent solution to the question of legitimacy, or more to the point, legitimize the actual undisputed top-dog.

Boxing is much older and more proven than Ukrainian democracy, and a much less ugly and corrupt history. Indeed, boxing is practically uncorruptable compared to any other means of choosing leaders. Ladies and Germs, I propose a new (probably ancient if I know my Greeks) meme: Pugilocracy! I could only find one non-circular reference on google, an inactive blog, carabiner. But that was in another context, and I'm proposing not just that leaders be chosen by fair, unarmed combat, but that these guys fight each other in lieu of war, saving large fortunes in waste and opportunity costs, and the advertising revenue would be immense, probably making the whole enterprise self-financing.

1. Klitschko fights giant Russian MP, Nikolay Valuev* 

 This fight is actually a long standing proposal, pre-dating the current crisis.  I don't even care who gets what, (ideally Klitschko wins, he gets western Ukraine, loses, gets all Ukraine. Joking...) because they could sell the fight on world-wide television and make enough to buy Ukraine outright. The betting pool would  probably revive the European economy. America's too, if it were marketed right.

2. Run a boxing tournament open to all Ukrainians. Much local excitement. Klitschko wins anyway, Ukraine goes back to being West Virginia, and east-west problem remains. I guess I should have titled this A Kwic'nEasy Ukraine Solution. What's needed is a Ukrainian Don King, in the unlikely event there aren't dozens of them.

*I don't care for rap, and I've never watched three minutes of boxing at one time before, but this is a pretty kick-ass video, and now that guy is a member of Parliament. Democracy sometimes works

Saturday, March 1, 2014

One Pill Makes You Wider

I was going to open with a reference to Ambrose Bierce on God, Geography and the American people; a well-known and much referenced quote that like so much on the internet, turns out not to be true. Blogging turns out to be annoyingly difficult. I think in paragraphs, but I can only write in single characters. The paragraph loses it's middle and sometimes it's entire coherence in constructing the first phrase. But if I just tried to vomit the entire hairball at one time, and got something wrong in the first premise, then it's start over, patch up, or quit. This essay, so far, is a good example... [knocks over mic, spills water, feedback...]

I'm now like the bushman in the movie, clinging to the Only Known Truth, in his case a pepsi bottle dropped from a plane, in mine, the suspicion that much of the little that I know is actually wrong. I have a lot of things I believe provisionally, and only a handful of hardcore beliefs, so I'm never going to be an effective advocate for anything, but I can take note of anomalous bullshit and try to explain things in light of those few things of which I am sure e.g. neocons are liars, socialists are thieves, politics is corrupt, etc. Since all of these groups and many others are not going away, and in fact are quite successful so far in getting their way, it would seem to be irrational, indeed against the Stoic commandment to not waste one's energy on hopeless causes, to continue to even bitch about it. Maybe they just have information I'm not privy to.

But when I read about the antics of our Elite, in spite of my lack of full information, I don't get the impression of people competently serving the best interests of the voters and taxpayers, but rather a strong suspicion of systematic and across-the-board abuse of these groups to the advantage of favored clients. Libertarians for several generations have been asking nicely to please stop wrecking the world and making us pay for it; to no effect when in the past "they" would bother to lie and cover up, now they don't even bother pretending. In Justin Raimondo's Bizarro world the radical elite try to undermine and overthrow themselves while the conservative rabble work twice as hard to preserve what's left of the pre-post-modern civilization and vote in their own replacements. EUSSA becomes new Soviets; Russia becomes new bastion of Reaction.

How convenient for NRx to arise at just this period of polarity reversals. Future historians will regard Moldbug as a mirror image of what we think of Toqueville; bookends, really, marking the beginning and end of monoculture democracy. Unless the skins actually take over Western Ukraine; cause that would be awesome, especially if it spreads.

"Is your hate pure?"


Thursday, January 23, 2014

Daisey, Daisey, Give Me Your Answer, Do!

I just opted out of Google's social app (which I never asked to join). They asked me to tell them why...

Google is great, Search is amazing, however,
I never understood Google+; seems like a copy of Faceplant, which I detest,
both are swarming with morons, judging by the comments I've seen
I dislike cute animals and sunsets
  am long out of high-school
  a committed misanthrope
  have an IQ above room temperature
  am uninterested in anything social, especially media
  don't feel in control of the process or experience
  think we should "see" other people.
  am sorry.

"Open the pod bay door, HAL!"
"You know I can't do that, Dave. It would endanger the mission."

The only reason I can see for Google+, and why they're putting so much into it, is sophisticated phishing. If it's really on the level (or even if it isn't), they need to make it more coherent and explain whatever the benefits are to the user. I don't know how they could do that, but I'm not a billionaire genius.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

My Sweet Little Poochum-Woochums

(I dropped this comment on the Jewamongyou blog)
I can only comment on my own pit, [that's him in the picture to the right] that my daughter got as a puppy, and promptly turned over to me, because it is a major pain-in-the-tuchas, aside from the issue of aggression. Took over a year to housebreak while destroying every rug in the house, chewing and scratching and tearing through every barrier we put up. A professional may have been able to train him, but I wasn’t. I think there is definitely something to the comment above concerning breeding; this one came from a thug environment and would have been perfect in a junk yard. Fortunately for everyone we have a large fenced-in yard, but I feel terrible about my neighbors small children, and I have to be constantly alert to his whereabouts and keeping all doors closed at all times. He goes nuts when anyone comes to the door and will definitely attack, or at least try to intimidate any stranger. A lawsuit waiting to happen, but so far, so good, knock wood. I have to use muzzle and choke chain to take him to the vets.

With respect to his bite, before he got too fat, I used to have him grab a rope and swing him hard in circles, and I would tire before he would ever let go. When he was very small he once grabbed my T-shirt tail when I stooped down and just hung from my back for about a half hour. His upper palate is grooved such that I believe he could be just as tenacious without teeth. They were bred for grabbing a bull’s throat and never letting go. However he has never bitten anyone and gets along well with our other dogs, including a very small poodle. Submission is not optional, though.

Bottom line is he is far too unpredictable and requires constant vigilance, is not worth the effort or potential trouble, we can’t have any visitors unless we cage him while he barks and howls the entire time, he only respects me because I can slightly out-alpha him and he will always challenge anyway. I only have one friend that isn’t afraid of him and they get along fine. I’d get rid of him in a heart beat, except that I love him like a brother, g-d help me.

Jurisdictions are right to ban them, especially if the owners are not super-responsible, but even then Chaos lurks, and many, many are given up and very few of those are ever adopted. Breeders need to be more responsible, but that will never happen. If you want a dog, get a Lab.

Monday, January 13, 2014

This Guy I Know

A guy I know has had hepc since 1972, never any symptoms after first six months. drank oplenty till 1980 when his kid was born - hard to drink much and get up four times a nite  and go to work. They didn't even know about c until about 85, which is why so many were infected from transfusions and the like. Very common amongst our cohort, the wild generation, whooo! He was actually diagnosed from donating blood after they started testing it. Did interferon when it became available around 2000, didn't take, still no symptoms. When the doctor said to quit, no problem because he was already bored w/chili, but I heard it's not so easy for some folks. Now they have a sure cure, but I'm skeptical, waiting to see some realtime results, do not trust the medical system at all. Diet and exercise if he ever develops any willpower. He actually talks to his liver, "hang on, buddy, we're in this together".

This other guy, Dave, was legendary. Sometimes drink beer all night, no sleep and go to work at metro, fucking ironman, but lost all his friends and daughter. A rough road. He had some kind of childhood disease that was supposed to take him out so he just didn't give a shit. If you opened his box, right now, he'd tell you he didn't have a problem. stupid juice, like I said. Without booze the Irish would probably control the world instead of YNW.

I had read early on that regular daily drinking was worse than binging for the liver, takes about three days to clear the fat that causes cirrhosis, so I'd always knock off for a while, which is why I'm still around, but we both know it's because of the blessed virgin, maybe not, maybe she just feels a little guilty for letting the kid run wild. He would have made a good rabbi or at least a good carpenter, give her a lot of grandchildren,  but NO, he had to go fucking with the Sanhedrin mafia and hang with the hippies and skanks, couldn't stand no water and god forbid his no good friends go without loaves and fishes for one afternoon. Husband no help, always saying it didn't come from his side of the family. What's a mother to do?