COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, September 02, 2010

Robert Shiller Interview


44 comments:

  1. Pakistan military abandons US trips after being ‘mistaken for terrorists’ (waaa!)

    Bush Out-Polls Obama in Ohio 50%-42%. "Miss Me Yet???" Apparently So.....

    Dick Morris says from the moment George Washington took office until BHO, the US borrowed $9 trillion. But BHO alone has borrowed $3.5 trillion, so far.

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  2. As Mr Shiller said, relentless negativity creates negative results.

    400,000 illegals will have been expelled from the US by the end of September, using existing laws and enhanced enforcement of those laws by the Federals.

    Yet the drumbeat of negativity remains. Contrary to the reality of the results that have sprung from the change in Administration in the 2008 election.

    The stereotype more conducive to the political needs of the foes of the Obama Administrations than facts on the ground would allow.

    That is seen here in AZ, where crime rates are lower than ever, but fear has been amplified, for political advantage.

    That can be seen in Israel, where the PA has, according to the IDF, been instrumental in maintaining an environment that will not sustain terrorism. Meanwhile some spiritual leaders in Israel call for genocide and murder against those very same Palestinians, the leader of the PA specifically.

    It is, as Mr Shiller said, what leads to negative expectations, the rejection of realities.
    Both on the up and down sides.

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  3. The same was said, Ms T, at the mountain of debt that accumulated during the tenure of Ronald Wilson Reagan.

    In those days though, it was not the GOP that was harping.

    The idea that the US should fight foreign wars on credit card debt, embraced by "conservatives" just three years ago. Those same "conservatives" discouraging and disparaging of raising taxes, to even historical levels, in an attempt to cover the Federal debts.

    With no calls from the "conservatives" to cut back on the excessive military spending or the expansive foreign footprint that the US military maintains.

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  4. US expenditures on the military, greater than the rest of the world, both friend and foe, combined.

    That would have to be, by any rational economic measure, considered excessive.

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  5. Republicans, and Bankers.

    You can always count on them to make a dire situation, worse.

    What will the Pubs do when they get control of Congress? Continue beating up on Obama, and trying to "talk down" the economy?

    Probably, to do otherwise they would have to love the Country, more than they love their jobs; and we know that's not true.

    On another Doomer note: Der Spiegel has unearthed a "leaked" report from a German Military think tank warning of the impending disaster of "Peaking Oil." Leaked Report on Peak Oil

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  6. Rat lies as usual...

    He states: Meanwhile some spiritual leaders in Israel call for genocide and murder against those very same Palestinians, the leader of the PA specifically.


    Actually what the Shas Leader SAID WAS: Shas. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef denounced the upcoming direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians in Washington this week and was quoted by Israel Army Radio as saying of the Palestinian President, "Abu Mazen and all these evil people should perish from this world... God should strike them with a plague, them and these Palestinians."

    Notice how Rat distorts? The Shas leader calls for G-d to issue a PLAGUE...

    To any readers that visit this blog....

    Rat is a Jew hating, Zionist hating, Israel hating prick.

    he lies, he distorts and he Jew baits.

    He is also a self confessed murderer in Central America, claiming that since he did not get arrested, what he did (like his cousins in hamas) was legal.

    Rat also advocates taking the law into his own hands...

    I, like the Shas Rabbi pray for G-d to strike the evil people of the world like Rat to perish, may he and his seed disappear forever...

    I am not advocating murder or genocide (something Rat does for the Jewish people all the time), I am advocating the G-d of Israel to punish Rat for his black hearted, evil ways...

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  7. When other political leaders in the Israeli Knesset call it an avocation of genocide, I believe them.

    More than I would believe what is written by a disgruntled candy man from Ohio, in the Story of "o".

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  8. ...interesting interview...not a number cited save unemployment...Hmm...

    Dr. Schiller knows well the number of houses currently in the REO pipeline, one hopes. How did it become his job to play cheerleader for terminally sick Federal polices? He kept coming back to an amorphous position of selective denial - if we don't get too much into the numbers, things will improve.

    It is fair to say, I believe, that in many parts of the country, the recession has never truly ended. That these parts of the country have been the leaders in growth over the decades exacerbates the troubles. And given the government's tendency to retroactively revise data downward, I am uncertain that it has ended anywhere. Therefore, this talk of double dip makes no sense in the face of a plague like course of events.

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  9. Mother of 4 terrorists
    serving 18 life sentences for murder
    honored by Palestinian Authority

    by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

    "The Palestinian mother is a central partner in the struggle...
    It is she who gave birth to the fighters, and she deserves
    that we bow to her in salute and in honor."

    Those were the words of the Palestinian Authority's Minister for Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Karake, when he honored a Palestinian woman by awarding her "the Shield of Resoluteness and Giving."

    She received this honor because she is the mother of four sons who are serving a total of 18 life sentences in Israeli prisons. They all killed Israeli civilians in terror attacks.

    The Minister also "praised the Abu Hamid family as a model of willpower and of the struggle for the independence of Palestine" when he visited the family with a ministry delegation, human rights organizations and released prisoners, the official PA daily newspaper reported.

    The four sons are serving life sentences for the following crimes:

    Nasser Abu Hamid - 7 life sentences + 50 years - commander in Fatah's military wing the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Ramallah. Convicted of killing seven Israeli civilians and 12 attempted murders.

    Nasr Abu Hamid - 5 life sentences - Member of terror faction of Fatah, Tanzim, and convicted of involvement in two terror attacks and arms dealing.

    Sharif Abu Hamid- 4 life sentences - a member in one of the brothers' units carrying out terror attacks against civilians and soldiers. Accompanied a suicide bomber to his attack in March 2002.

    Muhammad Abu Hamid - 2 life sentences + 30 years - involvement in terror attacks.

    Minister Karake also chose this week to visit the home of the suicide terrorist Ayyat Al-Akhras who in 2002 entered a Jerusalem supermarket and detonated a bomb murdering two Israelis and killing herself. The minister's visit took place on the occasion of the Palestinian "National Day for Returning the Bodies of Palestinian and Arab Shahids and MIA's."

    The mother who received the award for having four terrorist sons was described as "Khansa of Palestine," which is a reference to Al-Khansa, a woman from the earliest period of Islam who sent her four sons to battle and rejoiced when they all died as Martyrs. Calling the Palestinian mother by this name reinforces the message that seeking death as a Martyr is a worthy and honorable goal and that parents should proudly sacrifice their children.

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  10. WiO,

    Re: alleged genocide by Israel

    You have to expect DR to miss the roles of cause and effect. As you say, no one called for the IDF to irradicate the Palestinian mafia. Now, that sort of call would have been worrisome and wrong. However, if G-d removes them by means of a plague (as He did the besieging Assyrians),well, G-d's will.

    When I checked the news this morning, Netanyahu was still Prime Minister. He is in DC attempting to negotiate a settlement with Abbas. G-d's role went unreported.

    For the sake of everyone's sanity, can we let the guy rave unanswered? Who cares what he has to say?

    Best

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  11. desert rat said...
    When other political leaders in the Israeli Knesset call it an avocation of genocide, I believe them.
    More than I would believe what is written by a disgruntled candy man from Ohio, in the Story of "o".


    Notice the come back folks?

    Doesnt actually address the specific point that he DISTORTED AND LIED about "spiritual leaders calling for murder and genocide"

    Rather points at my happiness level and my obsession for Wonka Bars....

    In the end the fact remains,,,

    Rat distorts and lies about ANYTHING to do with Israel, Zionism and Jews.

    It has NOTHING to do with me...

    Rat hates Jews...

    It's a pattern repeated on a hourly basis...

    I just pointed out this AM, his unprovoked LIES and DISTORTIONS

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  12. WiO,

    Re: multiple life sentences

    There should be only one life sentence: The one served for several minutes at the end of a rope. As long as these gentlemen live, they will be used to bargain.

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  13. “She had no idea how bad the economic collapse would be. She still doesn't understand exactly why it was so bad. The response to the collapse was inadequate. And she doesn't have much of an idea about how to fix things…

    “But the problem is not that Romer did a quantitative analysis; the problem is that the quantitative analysis was wrong. Inevitably, this meant that, as she acknowledged, "the turnaround has been insufficient."…

    “The valedictory was becoming more of an elegy. At the end of the depressing forum, the moderator read a question submitted by a member of the audience: "You seem like you'd be a lot of fun at parties. Are you?"…

    Obama’s Economist, Christina Romer, serves up dismal news at her farewell luncheon

    These are the same folks who will give us Obamacare.

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  14. From the JPost, a member of the Israeli Knesset calls for the criminal prosecution of Rabbi Yosef:

    Balad Party chairman MK Jamal Zahalka on Sunday demanded that Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein open a criminal investigation against Yosef, on the grounds that incitement and racism cannot not be protected by freedom of speech, but are rather criminal acts that should bear penal sanctions.

    “Yosef’s remarks are not an expression of opinion, but a criminal act that should be punished. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is not an insignificant personality, but a religious leader whose adjudications and speeches are heeded by hundreds of thousands, and are tantamount to permission to kill Palestinians as such,” Zahalka said.

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  15. Yep, there are many in Israel that see Rabbi Yosef as an impediment to peace. See him as an inciter of hate and bigotry. An advocate of genocide. Even those in elected positions within the Israeli Knesset take that position.

    So it is written.

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  16. Rabbi Yosef, an Iraqi by birth, has a long history of incitement to genocide.

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  17. MK Ahmed Tibi (UAL-Ta'al) also condemned Rabbi Yosef's comments and claimed that the rabbi became a spreader of hate a long time ago.

    MK = Member Knesset, for those that do not recognize the acronym.

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  18. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu rushed on Sunday evening to distance himself and his government from Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s death wish for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian people, after the flood of angry Palestinian reactions to the comments.

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  19. Naturally, I am not suggesting that Americans of Jewish descent should conceal their ethnic identity. I am urging those for whom Judaism is a link to the eternal values of Sinai, to wake up and realize how other Americans increasingly perceive us. Furthermore we ought to recognize that this unwholesome perception of Jews is the result of anti-Semitism perpetrated by Jews rather than by non-Jews. It would seem that Isaiah's twenty-eight hundred year old prophecy to the Jewish people has come true today - "Those that destroy you and those that wreck you go forth from thee." (Isaiah 49:17)

    By now, some Jewish readers will be cringing. You might be cursing me for making public the role of Jews in debasing the culture. Perhaps you subscribe to the notion that nobody has noticed. I sympathize and want you to know that I write about it only for the purpose of trying to solve the problem. Make no mistake, it is a problem, and the solution lies not in attempting to defame the critics, but in stepping forward to criticize the defamers. Indeed, if we Jews do not ourselves condemn the wrong that our brethren do, others with less sympathy eventually will do so.


    Jews Have Debased American & Jewish Culture
    By Rabbi Daniel Lapin

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  20. Staying on topic, Pat Caddell has some somber news for the Dems of November - find a day job.

    Caddell has been the Casandra of the Democrat party since his days as a Carter pollster. He is one of the few straight up guys in American media.

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  21. desert rat said...
    When other political leaders in the Israeli Knesset call it an avocation of genocide, I believe them.
    More than I would believe what is written by a disgruntled candy man from Ohio, in the Story of "o".


    Notice the come back folks?

    Doesnt actually address the specific point that he DISTORTED AND LIED about "spiritual leaders calling for murder and genocide"

    Rather points at my happiness level and my obsession for Wonka Bars....

    In the end the fact remains,,,










    That was actually funny.

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  22. You have to love it...

    Rat advocates that Israel is a RUSSIAN colony on the Med...

    Then He quotes out of CONTEXT and meaning the words of an IRAQI born Jew, Driven from his home to Israel...

    AND now quotes a political party, Balad Party, that is at odds with Israel being a state...

    What freedoms!

    So much for all the myths Rat used to quote about Israel being a Russian colony...

    Sounds like Israel is a vibrant democracy...

    and just because a MK says anything doesnt make it gospel...

    aint it amazing that there are arabs that serve as MK's?

    Hell there were even MK's that were on the flotilla!

    Rat's relatives, the Hamas, seek the genocide of all of Israel by active murder.. (Rat never says anything bad about his relatives)

    The Rabbi from Shas? Wants G-d to have a PLAGUE.

    lol

    SO just to RECAP recently..

    Whereas Rat used to say Israel was not a real country, but a country club fro russians

    He now says that Israel is a normal nation of the world with all rights any other nation has....

    He now admits that Jerusalem was and is a Jewish city...

    He now admits that Israel is a pluralistic democracy

    He even admits that there are Arabs and Jews (Jews from Arab countries) that are part of the government..

    What a blessed day..

    Israel IS...

    What a freakin great nation Israel IS

    Thanks Rat for proving to the world how wonderful israel IS....

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  23. Dr. Ahmad Tibi (Arabic: أحمد الطيبي‎, Hebrew: אחמד טיבי‎, sometimes spelt Ahmed Tibi, born 19 December 1958) is an Arab-Israeli politician and leader of the Arab nationalist party in Israel, Ta'al (the Arab Movement for Renewal). He currently serves as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset.[1] He was elected on a joint ticket with the United Arab List to serve in Israel's parliament, the Knesset. He describes himself as Arab-Palestinian in nationality, and Israeli in citizenship.
    Tibi is also a trained physician and graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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  24. Make no mistake, it is a problem, and the solution lies not in attempting to defame the critics, but in stepping forward to criticize the defamers. Indeed, if we Jews do not ourselves condemn the wrong that our brethren do, others with less sympathy eventually will do so.

    Rabbi Daniel Lapin

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  25. ...the U.S. Department of Justice has changed its website. Gone are the colorful red, white and blue U.S. flag decorations on the page, replaced by stark black and white. And at the top of the page, is a rather interesting quote:

    "The common law is the will of mankind, issuing from the life of the people."

    Catchy, huh? Just one tiny little (too small to be relevant obviously) point -- the quote is from C. Wilfred Jenks, who in the 1930's was a leading proponent of the "international law" movement, which had as its goal to impose a global common law and which backed ‘global workers' rights.'

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  26. WiO,

    I think you will find much of what he says fascinating.

    Not only does he point out problems, he offers ideas for solving those problems. No lashon hora for Daniel Lapin.

    Did I mention that he is also one very funny guy.

    Think about getting some of his CDs. They will keep your attention even after repeated listening.

    rabbidaniellapin.com

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  27. Now Rat posts what a Rabbi says...

    LOL

    Getting funnier by the HOUR!

    Rat for all the reading and studying, when are you going to convert...

    Such an obsession with Jews, Zionsim and Israel..

    Hell you might actually even VISIT there for once in your life....

    It says alot about someone who has never even BEEN to Israel, who is not Jewish, to post on an hourly basis about all things Jewish, Zionism and Israel...

    Israel sits on less than 1/650th of the middle east... Less than .1/1000th of the world's land mass....

    Jews nukber about 11 million out of 3.3 BILLION in the world and yet Rat turns much of his free time to us...

    WOW are we special or what....

    Now I understand MY obsession with all things Jewish, Zionism and Israel, after all I am ONE OF THEM....

    I have been there...

    I have relatives that live there (and not from russia)

    Now aint it strange the level of reading and posting Rat does about all things Jewish, Zionism and Israel?

    maybe he had a old flame that dissed him that was one of us...

    maybe he tried to become a Jew and got turned down repeatedly to become a Jew and still is pissed..

    who know what drives the gollum of AZ....

    Inquiring minds really dont want to know, but it's fun to speculate....

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  28. Make no mistake, it is a problem, and the solution lies not in attempting to defame the critics, but in stepping forward to criticize the defamers. Indeed, if we Jews do not ourselves condemn the wrong that our brethren do, others with less sympathy eventually will do so.

    Rabbi Daniel Lapin

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  29. desert rat said...
    Make no mistake, it is a problem, and the solution lies not in attempting to defame the critics, but in stepping forward to criticize the defamers. Indeed, if we Jews do not ourselves condemn the wrong that our brethren do, others with less sympathy eventually will do so.

    Rabbi Daniel Lapin


    Except he wasnt saying that about Jew hating, hamas supporting people such as yourself

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  30. Hey Rat, sound familiar?

    When I speak to government leaders, decision makers and these purported human rights activists, they tell me that if Israel would only "cease and desist in being an occupying power", then that would obviate the need for Israeli opposition groups. I respond by telling them that this is nonsense and haters will always come up with new reasons to hate Jews.

    So, if you are a "trendy" anti-Zionist (what about the old-fashioned sort?), or non-Zionist, or a Zionist who supports an academic boycott of Israel because of the Occupation, you are ipso facto an anti-Semite.

    --
    Rasmussen: Washington Senate: Rossi (R) 48% Murray (D) 46%

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  31. Israeli actors boycott theatres in settlements

    Sun Aug 29, 2010

    JERUSALEM, Aug 29 (Reuters) - A group of Israeli actors and playwrights has refused to perform in West Bank settlements just days before U.S.-sponsored peace negotiations start over the occupied territory where Palestinians want a state.

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  32. All of these Jewish folks that are accused of being founts of anti-Judaism, by their fellow practitioners of Judaism, quite interesting to this American.

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  33. Well, since comment #2, a whole-hearted effort has been made to turn this thread on its head.

    ...looks like its working :( ...got other things to do...

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  34. Wait, allen, I have some more hoops!

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  35. Shit, I just looked; I Don't Have a clean tie.

    What now?

    :)

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  36. We will sell ties.

    Whit and I decided we needed to clean this place up.

    The "Israel this" vs. "the Israel that" is just plain boring.

    Further changes are coming.

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  37. No more drinks till the afternoon, what the hell?

    That was interesting, Allen. I recall Mat mentioning the Kurds at times. I would hope it would work out.

    It's gotten colder here at night. I sleep with an open sleeping bag underneath, and open sleeping bag on top, none of this sheets and blankie stuff, with the window open for the cat to jump in and out. Last night she landed right on my head. My skunk seems to be back as well, spraying around once in a while, I'm used to it, don't mind it much at all.

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  38. heh, the Prince wants to 'Plastinate' Zsa Zsa

    Even I think that's going a little too far.

    Unless we could set her up over there in the corner of the Elephant Bar.

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  39. Why not just make it a "Religion-free" Bar?

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  40. Maybe a limit of four or five posts per person on any thread would help. Though that has disadvantages too.

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  41. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  42. Religion free is fine with me.

    We had that week that was to go without a mention of religion, part of a truce, they lasted two days.

    Pay to play?

    Kill it off, that seems a waste.

    Limit the posts, a poor idea, at best.

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