When you've lost Angelina Jolie...

Maybe there is hope for America.

US Magazine: Angelina Jolie not an Obama Fan

"She hates him," a source close to the U.N. goodwill ambassador, 34, tells the new issue of Us Weekly (on newsstands now).

"She's into education and rehabilitation and thinks Obama is all about welfare and handouts. She thinks Obama is really a socialist in disguise," adds the source.

...

she thinks Obama is all smoke and mirrors," the source says.

If Angelina Jolie can spot it why can't the intelligentsia?

*Welcome Instapundit Readers* I haven't been as active lately as I should be due to school and such but please flip through some of the archives if nothing else you can laugh at my ignorance while watching Russian and Polish pop music videos.

When I have time I also do a round-up of posts from blogs loosely associated with Ace of Spades (the Moronosphere) that might turn you on to some new bloggers.

Oh, wgile you are here please join in on my George Soros conspiracy theory

Glenn Beck, Hyperinflation and the fall of the Weimar Republic

I have stated many times that I don't like Glenn Beck. One of the reasons I don't like him is his constant alarmism in predicting the fall of the US and destruction of the Constitution. He was at it again today discussing hyperinflation with a caller and he stated "read your history, look at the Weimar Republic, hyper-inflation brought it down and lead to the rise of National Socialism".

Maybe Beck should read his history.

Hyperinflation in Germany ran between 1921 and 1923. It was caused by the allies insisting on payment of the $132,000,000,000 in reparations in gold or foreign currency even though the Gold Mark at that time was stable at about 60 to 1 USD. Payments of $2,000,000,000 + 26% of the value of German exports were to be paid annually. When Germany couldn't meet the payments the French occupied the Ruhr and the mark went into free-fall. Even so the Germans were able to perform a monetary reset and stop the inflation by 1923. The Weimar Republic lasted another 10 years.

Of course that doesn't fit in with Beck's narrative (or that of the people like the Daily Pundit or The Classic Liberal) who are invested in doom and gloom scenarios.

You want to be preapred for emergencies? Great, but knock of the world is ending BS.

A Helmund Awakening?

I have said a number of times both here and on other blogs that the success of the Iraq surge can be replicated in Afghanistan. Usually I am shouted down, but last night I was discussing the issue with my sister-in-laws brother, who has served a number of tours there most recently commanding 100 Afghans as a CTT trainer, and he and I are in agreement. Afghanistan is winnable but one of the things that needs to happen is an Anbar style awakening. Imagine my surprise when I saw this article this morning:

Anti-Taliban militias arise in Afghanistan

U.S. and Afghan officials have begun helping a number of anti-Taliban militias that have independently taken up arms against insurgents in several parts of Afghanistan, prompting hopes of a large-scale tribal rebellion against the Taliban.

Obviously it is too early to declare this a success and say victory is imminent but it is a hopeful sign and if the additional troops Gen. McChrystal has requested are added to the mix I think we may get back on track.

I think I am going to switch Kuru Lounge over to wordpress

There are some major advantages - automatic trackbacks for one thing. just have to figure out how to do the import.

I have been saying for years that George Soros is up to something nefarious

Now some other people are picking up on it:

At some point it would be nice if there was a decent amount of transparency around what Soros is doing; if he genuinely believes in open societies, he ought to lead it, but since he doesn't - perhaps a decent journalistic project would be to connect the dots and create a map of his involvement in US and foreign affairs.

My hackles go up not only because of the notion that a reclusive, ideological billionaire has decided to reshape the American polity, but because that billionaire makes his billions in part by investing based on changes in international markets - which are in turn effected by national and international politics.

source

I am positive but can't prove that George Soros is behind the current economic collapse in the US. Here is how I see it:

• Soros hated George W. Bush.


• "The Ownership Society" was a major portion of Bush's policy agenda.


• Soros recognized that the housing market was becoming speculative and that it would be easy to cause a collapse by causing a rise in inflation which would would force the fed to raise interest rates. This would cause many of the ARM mortgages to rise and begin forcing people into foreclosure.


• He did this by running up the price of oil through speculation


• at least one economist agrees with me that oil prices were the driving force behind the recession


• I believe like many (most) others Soros underestimated the damage that would be caused by Credit Default Swaps. He was expecting a minor recessions, enough to help the liberals secure power, and we ended up with the "Great Recession".

like I said I can't prove this but I would love to see some digging by the media.

h/t

Something has gone horribly wrong with your life

when 7/11 cashiers comment that you look "wrung out"

I just had that happen. Really I am just damn tired got up early to get breakfast and try and get ahead in some reading and coupled with a cold I guess I don't look spectacular.

It's been a busy week

2 midterms and a paper but my devotion is such that I have made it back for Rule 5 Sunday.

This week we have Russian Popstar Anna Semenovitch:





and musical accompaniment by some weird Russian music video

It figures

I was sick as a dog last night and all day today but now that it is time to go to bed I feel fine and probably won't be able to sleep.

Around the Moronosphere 11/2/09

Washington Post via Memeorandum - Why American health care costs so much -

There is a simple explanation for why American health care costs so much more than health care in any other country: because we pay so much more for each unit of care. As Halvorson explained, and academics and consultancies have repeatedly confirmed, if you leave everything else the same -- the volume of procedures, the days we spend in the hospital, the number of surgeries we need -- but plug in the prices Canadians pay, our health-care spending falls by about 50 percent.

In other countries, governments set the rates that will be paid for different treatments and drugs, even when private insurers are doing the actual purchasing. In our country, the government doesn't set those rates for private insurers, which is why the prices paid by Medicare, as you'll see on some of these graphs, are much lower than those paid by private insurers.

I have heard it argued that this proves the market doesn't work when Health Care is involved, but really doesn't this prove that it does? At the point that people (or insurance companies) begin to refuse to pay then prices will begin to come down. It's like charging $8.00 for a beer at a baseball game. If now one buys then the price will come down. Some believe that because consumers are a "captive marke"t that keeps the free market from taking hold. I think that anytime there is an artificially inflated price there is an opportunity for a motivated entrepreneur to move in and undercut prices. Lets be honest most minor illness could be treated by somebody with training equivalent to a Navy Independent Duty Corpsman or a Paramedic. The medical establishment has a vested interest in preventing that. That is an avenue of competition that is blocked artificially. If it was opened and every Walmart had a small clinic with an IDC in it then the cost of medical care would plummet.

Hot Air - Neil Cavuto goes after Sheperd Smith - About time.

Ace and Betsy - The Golden State isn't worth it - Normally I would credit one or the other but I like this story so much both get credit.

Texas has usurped the leadership position that, decades ago, belonged to California. Today California is in decline, likely irreversibly so. William Voegeli draws the sad but instructive comparison in the Los Angeles Times:

In America's federal system, some states, such as California, offer residents a "package deal" that bundles numerous and ambitious public benefits with the high taxes needed to pay for them. Other states, such as Texas, offer packages combining modest benefits and low taxes. These alternatives, of course, define the basic argument between liberals and conservatives over what it means to get the size and scope of government right. ...

California and Texas are not perfect representatives of the alternative deals, but they come close. Overall, the Census Bureau's latest data show that state and local government expenditures for all purposes in 2005-06 were 46.8% higher in California than in Texas: $10,070 per person compared with $6,858. ...

But those higher taxes in California must be going somewhere. Why aren't they benefiting those many thousands of citizens who are leaving the state for greener pastures?

In what respects, then, does California "excel"? California's state and local government employees were the best compensated in America, according to the Census Bureau data for 2006. And the latest posting on the website of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility shows 9,223 former civil servants and educators receiving pensions worth more than $100,000 a year from California's public retirement funds. The "dues" paid by taxpayers in order to belong to Club California purchase benefits that, increasingly, are enjoyed by the staff instead of the members.

And just think California is the model for the nation.

Working on a paper this morning

I will try and get the moronosphere round-up online sometime this afternoon.

Around the Moronosphere 11/1/09 - In which it is revealed scientifically that I am a dumbass and I prove it by questioning the NEA

Ace steps in it with Dede's Farewell I understand exactly what he is saying and agree completely. Many of his readers apparently disagree vociferously.

Dilbert - Experience is just another word for losing hope.

Doubleplusundead - Awesome local television - Jeebus, at this point we just need to legalize marijuana and get it over with.

JustOneMinute - If only reviewers read the books they review -

...Yet while Rand took to wearing a dollar-sign pin to advertise her love of capitalism, Heller makes clear that the author had no real affection for dollars themselves. Giving up her royalties to preserve her vision is something that no genuine capitalist, and few popular novelists, would have done.

Hmm - is Steve Jobs a capitalist, and what is his view on compromising his vision for a few extra bucks? Never mind. More to the point, has Mr. Kirsch the vaguest familiarity with "The Fountainhead", Ms. Rand's earlier book whose protagonist, Howard Roark, was always refusing to compromise his vision in exchange for a bit of business? As to Atlas Shrugs, it is replete with characters who are similarly uncompromising and non-businesslike (as Kirsch understands it).

Stop the ACLU - Another conservatives are stupid accusation - People have told me all my life I am a dumb-ass. Now there is scientific proof

Conservatism and cognitive ability

Lazar Stankov

Abstract

Conservatism and cognitive ability are negatively correlated. The evidence is based on 1254 community college students and 1600 foreign students seeking entry to United States’ universities. At the individual level of analysis, conservatism scores correlate negatively with SAT, Vocabulary, and Analogy test scores. At the national level of analysis, conservatism scores correlate negatively with measures of education (e.g., gross enrollment at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels) and performance on mathematics and reading assessments from the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) project. They also correlate with components of the Failed States Index and several other measures of economic and political development of nations. Conservatism scores have higher correlations with economic and political measures than estimated IQ scores.

Jason Richwine discusses problems with the conclusion of this study here

Bring the Heat Bring the Stupid - Load Heat Kelly Ripa edition

Nice Deb - National Education Association Website Promotes Saul Alinsky’s Books For Teachers -

Saul Alinsky, who was a labor and civil-rights activist from the 1910’s until he died in 1972, has written here a guidebook for those who are out to change things.

Hey teachers - how a bout a little less time spent on social change and a little more on bringing up math and science scores. Is that really so much to ask? You want a world free of hunger and full of justice. Educate the little shits so we have engineers who can build what we need for that world, and politicians who can understand basic economics. How's that for some radical thinking.



The Other McCain has the weekly Rule 5 round-up