Source: Facebook

  • ARROGANCE TO INCOMPETENCE: “AN AMATEUR ON PAR WITH JIMMY CARTER” —“Having been

    ARROGANCE TO INCOMPETENCE: “AN AMATEUR ON PAR WITH JIMMY CARTER”

    —“Having been president for more than five years, we can now render some reasonable and informed judgments about Mr. Obama, including this one: he is an amateur on par with Jimmy Carter. And to see the crude and brutish Putin run circles around Obama—on negotiations over nuclear weapons, on granting asylum to Edward Snowden, on convincing Obama to undercut our allies in Poland and the Czech Republic, on establishing ties with Egypt, on strengthening the murderous Syrian regime, and now invading Crimea and threatening the rest of Ukraine—is painful for any American to witness. As House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers put it, “Putin is playing chess and I think we are playing marbles, and I don’t think it’s even close.” —


    Source date (UTC): 2014-03-05 19:49:00 UTC

  • ARE MORAL PEOPLE IN THE MEDIA AFTER ALL Second anchor quits rather than report P

    http://digg.com/video/video-rt-anchor-quits-on-airTHERE ARE MORAL PEOPLE IN THE MEDIA AFTER ALL

    Second anchor quits rather than report Putin’s propaganda.


    Source date (UTC): 2014-03-05 17:56:00 UTC

  • WITHOUT FORCE IS LIKE MUSIC WITHOUT INSTRUMENTS” Morris on Ukraine

    http://www.dickmorris.com/the-lessons-of-ukraine-dick-morris-tv-lunch-alert/?utm_source=dmreports&utm_medium=dmreports&utm_campaign=dmreports”DIPLOMACY WITHOUT FORCE IS LIKE MUSIC WITHOUT INSTRUMENTS”

    Morris on Ukraine.


    Source date (UTC): 2014-03-05 16:44:00 UTC

  • Curt, I have read this guy on and off since the 1990’s on the investment side. H

    Curt, I have read this guy on and off since the 1990’s on the investment side. His models were spot on for the end of the 2000 market, tech bust and, later, economic declines when he was at Princeton Economics. However, he went to jail in a murky case where he, along with Republic Bank, was accused by the SEC of misdeeds against the Japanese. He fought it as his own attorney (claiming Republic was blaming him for their losses) and lost and is now out. I cannot figure out now if he is a genius or completely delusional. However, I think you will enjoy this piece he just published.


    Source date (UTC): 2014-03-05 14:57:00 UTC

  • Descriptive High Trust Ethics of Northern Europeans The intra-family system of o

    Descriptive High Trust Ethics of Northern Europeans

    The intra-family system of outbred North Sea Europeans contains these rules:

    0) Private property

    1) Voluntary Exchange

    2) Symmetry and Warranty*

    3) Prohibition on Externality*

    4) Requirement for Value Added*

    5) Prohibition on familial Rents and Free Riding.

    6) Prohibition on Socialization of Losses and Privatization of Gains

    These additional properties forbid the use of ‘cunning’ in exchange itself, and force all cunning in production, and distribution.

    Furthermore in propertarianism, I have added political constraints on contracts (ad laws):

    7) Requirement for operational language (as a prevention for obscurantism. Which means propertarian language must be used for contracts and law)

    8) Requirement for Calculability ( prohibition on pooling and laundering – this is a complex topic.)

    9) The right of exclusion (ostracization).

    These last three topics are the complex matters I have had to wrestle with in Propertarianism. Primarily as a defense against the Continentals, the Culture of Critique, the Postmoderns, and their philosophical heirs. All of whom have adopted the technique of obscurantism from monotheistic religion, and modernized it for advocacy of the state. Unfortunately, the Culture of Critique, Postmodernists, and the Continentals have mastered the art of obscurantism, and as such we must require operational language, and calculability of contracts, as does science, as a means of prohibiting use of obscurant language as means of obtaining discounts (theft).

    High Trust Is A Prohibition On Discounts

    These rules prohibit discounts. The only reason to eschew violence and engage in exchange is if ALL discounts are prohibited from the market, and therefore, by consequence, all improvements are in the construction and distribution of goods, and NOT in the verbal means of selling those goods.

    As Such, All Conflict Is Pressed Into The Market

    Not the market for words, but the market for goods and services. And since the only possible means of competing is innovation in production and distribution, then such societies will innovate in production and distribution faster than all others. So not only do such rules that place a prohibition on both violence, theft, and discounts foster peace and prosperity, it fosters innovation, and trust.

    As Such,

    1. Property is the result of the partial suppression of discounts,

    2) Private property is the result of full suppression of discounts

    3) Trust is the RESULT of total Suppression of Discounts.

    As Such, A Common Law System Can Function

    Where a homogenous set of property rights exist, and *ALL* discounts are violations of property rights, demand for intervention is limited to disputes over property via common law courts. Without homogeneity of property rights, and wherever all discounts are not suppressed, then demand for the State increases, since commensurability of discounts is logically impossible. (This is profound if you grasp it.) In other words, under rothbardian ethics, the common law is not possible. Under aristocratic ethics, it is possible.

    Any Science Requires Means of Commensurability

    As such Propetarianism provides us with the previously unmet promise of praxeology by changing the theory of human behavior from a deductive a priori form of rationalism, to an empirically descriptive science of all human behavior whose units of measure are property, and whose truths and falsehoods are involuntary transfers via discounts.

    Praxeology: (Action, Property, Calculation and Incentives), supplies us with a science of human action, if we treat property as DESCRIPTIVE rather than NORMATIVE.

    1) Reason renders words and concepts commensurable.

    2) Numbers render countable objects commensurable

    3) Measurements render relations commensurable

    4) Physics renders physical causes commensurable.

    5) Money renders goods and services commensurable

    6) Property renders cooperation (ethics, morals, politics) commensurable


    Source date (UTC): 2014-03-04 18:23:00 UTC

  • (advice: feed her chocolate.)

    (advice: feed her chocolate.)


    Source date (UTC): 2014-03-04 16:26:00 UTC

  • Productive day and I haven’t even pushed the ‘submit’ button on three other essa

    Productive day and I haven’t even pushed the ‘submit’ button on three other essays, one of which I’m really thrilled with. Some days are good days, and some are not.


    Source date (UTC): 2014-03-04 15:29:00 UTC

  • “DEEP STATE” STRATEGY TOWARD RUSSIA (by charles hugh smith) (see curt’s commenta

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Geographical_Pivot_of_HistoryAMERICAN “DEEP STATE” STRATEGY TOWARD RUSSIA

    (by charles hugh smith) (see curt’s commentary for libertarians at bottom)

    –“

    1) Frustrate Moscow’s ambitions to dominate Eurasia. The operative strategic analyses employed are MacKinder’s World-Island Theory as subsequently and heavily modified by modern hydro-carbon fuel economics: The Geographical Pivot of History.

    2) Continue to improve the EU’s Central European position with respect to its hydrocarbon fuel supplies. The Neocons were already deeply worried about the growth of NATO dependence on Gazprom and the eastern pipelines in the mid-1980s. This has been on their radar for decades.

    The overall objective is to destroy Putin’s capacity to set marginal natural gas prices in Europe. If pipelines under the Baltic and Black Seas are feasible so are pipelines under the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to France, and from the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean to Greece and southeastern Europe. Add some LPG terminals and European shale gas operations and this is achieved.

    There may be a third goal in trying to set an example for domestic Russian opponents, which exist in great numbers. I think it’s more likely the Russian Federation’s Deep State will find another leader first.

    “—

    CURT’S COMMENTARY FOR LIBERTARIANS

    We should never fool ourselves into thinking that the neocon’s are stupid. I write aristocratic libertarian philosophy, but with a distinctly mercantile bias. Conservative aristocrats do not have this mercantile bias but a MORAL bias in favor of security. Conservatives see risk abatement the way we see opportunity. It is genetic. It will never change. We are all different breeds of ants. Conservatives are the warriors.

    The aristocratic, paternal, moral, secure vision, is not a stupid one. It’s an alternative allocation of capital. We want it for our consumption. The progressives want tit for lower class consumption and upper class status. And the conservatives want it as ‘stores’.

    Conservatives think geopolitically. This is but one example of the long running imperial theme of the anglo conservatives.

    if it isn’t clear, I don’t really mind if they do this kind of thing. I only mind that I get the choice to do something I prefer. After all, unlike conservatives, libertarians are info-vores and novelty hunters. And I want to be able to chase my ant-intuitions just like I am happy to let them chase theirs.


    Source date (UTC): 2014-03-04 15:12:00 UTC

  • CHARLES HUGH SMITH ON THE NET EFFECT: RUSSIA’S LOSS OF MARKET (Smith is one of t

    CHARLES HUGH SMITH ON THE NET EFFECT: RUSSIA’S LOSS OF MARKET

    (Smith is one of the few analysts I look up to. He finds the demographic and economic reasons for everything.)

    “The net effect will be the same as that of china’s strategic abuse of rare-earth metals, (and russias 2009 abuse of gas markets): rare earth metals are not rare or from china now, and the rest of the world has developed alternatives to Russian oil and gas.”

    The world does not operate by empires any longer. It operates by economic cooperation and coordination.

    I want a strong Russia. I’d love a new Russian empire. But only if it suppresses corruption as a means of ENTICING membership, rather than using VIOLENCE and DECEPTION as a means of forcing it.

    (I’m telling you. Putin was f_king STUPID as hell. )

    The only reason Russia is not as poor as Ukraine is oil and gas. An the producer just killed it’s market. Set us back 50 freaking years. What a moron. For nothing. FOr nothing at all. All he had to be was HONEST and say “hey, we got a lot here, and we’re not losing it” so please tolerate our strategic interests not being taken by NATO.”

    Apologize profusely. But just say the truth. It would have been FINE. He’d have INCREASED his world political capital rather than ruining all he’s worked for.

    At least he restored 10% of the value of the Ukrainian currency.


    Source date (UTC): 2014-03-04 14:58:00 UTC

  • PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND MORAL PROFILING Just realized that I have to add a

    PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND MORAL PROFILING

    Just realized that I have to add a bit of psychology to Propertarianism. Right now I address the different moral biases as reproductive strategies. And I think that’s a baked cake. I also addressed the IQ over 105 issue. I also addressed the Pareto distribution (Power Curve) problem.

    But I haven’t addressed the Solipsism – Autism issue. And I haven’t addressed their opposite: the ability to CORRECTLY empathize with various world views. And I think propertarianism allows us to do that pretty concretely.

    Now, I can’t often read facial expressions well (mild face blindness). And my range of emotion is probably narrower (although amplified). But I can understand almost any feelings that are verbally articulated. So maybe this gives me a little advantage. I simply can’t intuit all that much unless I work at it. So I got good at working at it. (Probably because I still want to be accepted just as much as any other person does.)

    MORAL PROFILING RATHER THAN PERSONALITY PROFILING

    We used to take personality tests. And I think those are useful. But since MOST OF OUR BEHAVIOR is MORAL, and our moral actions more active, then we should TEST FOR MORAL COMPASS not so much as test for personality.

    Personality matters WITHIN your moral compass, and sure, your personality influences your choice of moral compass, but if the truth be told, I would rather understand your moral (and political) interests if I debate with you. And I would rather understand your personality if I have to WORK with you. Those are two different things.

    PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY

    Owen Flanagan (FB: owen.flanagan), who is still my favorite ethicist proposed a list of questions that any philosophical psychology should answer. I have, I think, successfully answered all his questions in Propertarianism. It was a good test to subject my work to. And his challenge was priceless in that regard.

    I think that both the study of Morals by Haidt, and the study of cognitive biases by Kahneman have settled the biological, and evolutionary biological, causes. I think I have done the job of completing ethics pretty thoroughly. I might have (although I’m not sure) settled the problem of epistemology as well by solving ethics. Although it’s a bit hard for others to grasp right now that we may be morally accountable for our spoken words.

    But we are still plagued by universalism – “one-ness” from consent, rather than one-ness from cooperation. Both the anglo enlightenment, “aristocracy of everyone” and the continental enlightenment “priesthood of everyone” or french “proletariat of everyone”. Whereas, under the monarchies, there was no ‘everyone’. There were many tribes. And that was a better political model than “seizing government to make an ‘everyone’”.

    I’m going to see what I can find on mixing personality profiles and moral profiles. That ought to be interesting.


    Source date (UTC): 2014-03-04 14:45:00 UTC