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, November 23, 2006

Soros Speaks, Europeans Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil


George Soros, one of the world's richest Hungarian-born US citizen-idiots has some "sage" advice for the EU.
"...the EU should "shelve" its planned constitution and instead take concrete steps to effectively promote a "global open society."
There he goes again with the "open society nonsense." It would be truly scary if Soros had his way and all the institutions of western civilization were thrown down and cast out in favor of Soros' utopia which would evolve by "trial and error." I shudder to think of the trials to be suffered due to the anarchy of errors; all brought on by the more intelligent and sophisticated elites such as George Soros. After nearly bankrupting several countries by forcing them to defend their currency which he had attacked, he has now turned his attentions to philanthropic and humanistic ventures such as human rights, gun control and anarchy. The man is a pirate and letting him speak at the European Policy Center is as imbecilic as letting the terrorist, Yasser Arafat address the UN General Assembly. Apparently, Mr. Soros has a problem with constitutions, having previously advocated for doing away with the US Constitution, he has now urged the Euros to trash theirs.
...shelve its proposed constitution, which was rejected in France and the Netherlands in referendums last year.

"The constitution may have been in any case an over-ambitious step," he said, adding that "I believe the debate on the constitution should be shelved."
It's true the EU Constitution is a monstrosity that should never have been born but Soros has ulterior motives.
"The world badly needs a more united Europe committed to a global open society," he stated, adding that the constitutional deadlock of the bloc "should not be used as pretext for inaction".
But, there is one point we can agree with Mr. Soros on and that is the subject of re emergent Russian authoritarianism. He warned the Euros of the dangers of becoming too intertwined with the Russians.
A stronger Europe is also necessary in the face of an authoritarian and power-playing Russia, he warned.

"I have bad news on Russia," he said, explaining that it "has emerged as an authoritarian state" using natural resources to "assert its power" by setting up shady joint ventures in energy with foreign firms.

Moscow "wants to control all institutions of democracy," he said highlighting attempts by the Kremlin to set up "government-organised non-governmental organisations."

"Faced with this, Europe has a problem and there is a reluctance to recognise that," he concluded.
No doubt upon hearing Soros' warning, the Euros adopted a "three monkeys" (see, hear and speak no evil) posture.

hattip: Brussels Journal

George Soros is a very wealthy man and a dangerous loon. Because of his wealth, he is given much more credibility and attention that he should ever deserve. In a sane world, he would be laughed out of a room. He has spent millions of dollars to promote his anarchic agenda.

Here's what I wrote about George Soros in a previous post at Observanda.

  • George Soros is working toward an "Open Society" where rights of the individual are safe guarded but shared values hold society together. Open society is a middle ground between extremes such as Communism, and nationalism and laissez-faire capitalism. He says that an open society improves the imperfect society by trial and error, insists on freedom of expression and protecting dissent.

  • An Open Society offers “limitless progress.” Open society must regard it's own shared values as a matter of debate and choice. The concept of “open society” must be the only absolute. Declaration of Independence should be revised so that instead of stating that “we hold these truths to be self-evident” it would acknowledge our fallibility. There is no ultimate truth; our beliefs are expressions of choice.

  • Laissez-faire incompatible with concept of open society and has effectively banished income or wealth redistribution

  • We have entered a period of disorder which laissez-faire is incapable of addressing.

  • Our sense of right and wrong is endangered by our preoccupation with success, as measured by money.

  • U.S. and UK laissez-faire policies prevented open society development of Russia as well as reform and reconstitution of the United Nations.

  • 86 comments:

    1. A Palestinian grandmother blew herself up in the Gaza Strip, lightly wounding three Israeli soldiers, in the first suicide attack claimed by Hamas in almost two years.
      The mother of nine and grandmother of 41 became the oldest Palestinian suicide bomber at the age of 57, approaching troops operating to curb daily rocket attacks, the army said.

      "Troops saw a woman approaching them in a suspicious manner and identified her carrying an explosive device," a spokeswoman said of the incident in the northern town of Jabaliya.

      "They then threw a stun grenade in her direction but she managed to blow herself up," the spokeswoman said, adding that three soldiers were lightly hurt.

      ReplyDelete
    2. "U.S. and UK laissez-faire policies prevented open society development of Russia as well as reform and reconstitution of the United Nations."

      That is a blatant contradiction, since laissez-faire policies are by definition hands-off policies that are unable to "prevent" something from happening.

      ReplyDelete
    3. WC

      That's a really good point, now that you got me thinking about it.

      This one paper on Chinese psychological warfare points out that a bit of writing can reconstitute a good thing as a bad thing. In the information age, what with easy ways of producing elaborate media, it seems many people never took to heart the adage warning them about everything they read.

      And there are terrible repercussions for that (loose change, Salafism, communism). It ultimately informs them of what is the best choice to make. The "information age" has reduced alot of information asymmetry that existed in economic transactions. I know in my own personal experience, I can't get myself to buy many things other than groceries at retail outlets, because the markup is just too high. Even with shipping, I can usually find cheaper if not better versions of anything I want.

      But where are the tools out thehre which balance political information in favor of the voter? Where are Senatorial "Feedback ratings?"

      I know Obama is annoying, but he's been one of the Senators pushing that database that hopes to track government spending, giving people better access to political information around us.

      All the intrigue that swirls around us is hard to understand, especially in a big picture sense. Just ponder what s system like that could be like and how that could shift power in a way that Amazon or Newegg has shifted power. I don't see Soros' stuff going anywhere, certainly not among anyone who is not desperate for his money.

      But there may be an interesting functionality in the offing for our society, a logical extension of that database: you choose where your tax dollars go. You don't want to fund medicare, put it into biofuel or put it into more comfortable underwear for the military.

      Makes me wonder how much people would want to give the money away to the Feds; probably want to keep alot of it local so you could reap something out of it.

      ReplyDelete
    4. Rat,

      Is that a 'possum on your head?

      ReplyDelete
    5. Yep, I think it's tator's cusin, but tator says he ain't kissin' it, no way.

      Any way, it's my "good" hat.

      ReplyDelete
    6. Litvinenko poisoning: the main players:

      Alexander Goldfarb

      Alex Goldfarb and Alexander Litvinenko met in a Russian prison. In the late 1990s, Mr Goldfarb was director of a George Soros-funded project to tackle TB in the Russian penal system.

      Boris Berezovsky

      Since arriving in the UK six years ago, Mr Litvinenko had been close to the man who was once one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in Russia, Boris Berezovsky. Mr Berezovsky, 60, is thought to own the north London house where Mr Litvinenko lived, and is said to have employed him as an adviser in the past.

      Lord Bell

      Another figure whose hand could be detected as the strange poisoning story unfolded was Lord Bell of Belgravia, the man who, as Tim Bell, came to be synonymous with the advertising campaigns that helped usher the Tories to power in 1979.

      Main Players

      ReplyDelete
    7. sam,
      It's vulpes,vulpes,(red fox) not possum, sorry. red coat,longer muzzle,ears..mostly coloration is the biggest give away, next muzzle,ears.
      but I have a "in" with the possum population so if you want a possum hat for a stocking stuffer. Possumtater is prepared to bust a cap on a few of his arch enemies...mostly cuckhold mates of some of his lady friends.
      But order early, they take time to cure or they stink like do do.

      ReplyDelete
    8. they stink like a jockstrap full of shrimp

      ReplyDelete
    9. I Love This Take it up with God, he said as he walked off with a cool (and legal) $88,000.00 of the Church's money.

      ReplyDelete
    10. Damn, all this time I thought it was that taco that smelled "fishy".

      ReplyDelete
    11. $75,000 came from the church, $13,000 from a rising market.

      The Church people were a bit taken aback, but they did "help" those "victims", to the tune of $88,000 USD. Now those folk will move on out, to new greener pastures. The Church folk will still be good folk, the N'Orleans scammers will still be scum.

      ReplyDelete
    12. Another couple of sinners in the hands of an angry god.

      ReplyDelete
    13. Now if they had scammed the money out of the '700 Club'...

      ReplyDelete
    14. Bob, Now that I've got you here; how does that corn subsidy work. Will $3.75 corn cause some of the subsidies to dissipate?

      ReplyDelete
    15. That Katrina scam made FoxNews this mornin sometime. Jeez, when Henry Waxman gets hold of Katrina Relief, the NYTimes will run out of ink.

      ReplyDelete
    16. I doubt it, Buddy. That Katrina Scammer sounded like a Democrat, to me.

      ReplyDelete
    17. Kind of in the "Soros" mode, you know, only, at a lower level.

      ReplyDelete
    18. Oh, fer sher--in spirit if not name.

      ReplyDelete
    19. Probably got his inspiration from William Jefferson.

      ReplyDelete
    20. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      ReplyDelete
    21. I do believe that there are still mobile homes stored in Arkansas, waitng for the next disaster.
      At least that was the last story I heard about them trailers.

      Though knowing Mike Brown as I do, if someone chose to "follow the money" ...

      From the running the Arabian Horse Association of America, poorly and with a lack of skills, busting its bank it with legal actions brought by disgruntled past members, to running Federal Disaster Relief. All because he was someones roommate in college.

      Maybe Mike was a Skull and Boner, as well. Frat boys united to mismanage America.

      ReplyDelete
    22. patronage--always does open an attack avenue, if the beneficiary stalls out.

      ReplyDelete
    23. Spent over $50,000 USD gettin' in a fight with that fellow and his friends, so I'm not an unbiased source.

      Money pretty much pissed away, but he and his left my area of operation and self declared responsibility. On to greener pastures, Mike Brown, did move to. Federal pastures, see how well he did there.

      Hope he rots in hell.

      ReplyDelete
    24. The Terrorists wasted three perfectly good suicide bombers, today. I guess they figured that by staging their big multiple attack on a Holiday that they'd get a big press coverage.

      They didn't understand that they picked the "one" holiday when no American gives a Rat's ass (nothing personal, Rat) what happens outside the country. I guess the head of their propaganda/PR Dept is trying to figure out, "What the Hell?"

      ReplyDelete
    25. Rat, I'm not meaning this in a snarky or condescending way, hones; I'm genuinely curious/ignorant. How do you screw up the "Arabian Horse Association?" I mean, it that really that big a business. Again, I'm not trying to be a wise-ass; it's just not one of those things you think about in "Big Money" Terms.

      ReplyDelete
    26. run up against the Saudis, didja, rat?

      ReplyDelete
    27. d'Rat,

      Saw George Galloway on the News the other day, wondered what he was up to:

      2006-11-16 Great White North
      George Galloway to speak to Syrian Social Nationalist Movement in Ottawa. Fascist Arab dictators’ favourite British MP George Galloway will be speaking on November 17 to Concordia University’s Syrian Students Association and on November 19, in Ottawa, to the Syrian Social Nationalist Movement on the occasion of its 74th anniversary which coincides with the 74th anniversary of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP).

      Neither is the party name’s echo of the National-Socialist Party (the Nazi Party) nor is its insignia’s evocation of the Nazi-hijacked swastika a coincidence. It was founded in 1932 by Antun Saadeh, a Christian journalist from Mount Lebanon inspired by contemporary European fascist movements.

      The secular party promotes the idea of a Greater Syria that would cover the territories of Syria proper, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian zones, and the Egyptian Sinai. Repressed since the mid-fifties, it joined the Baath-led National Progressive Front coalition in 2005 and has a bloody history of terrorist attacks.
      .
      .
      http://rantburg.com/poparticle.php?D=2006-11-16&HC=2&ID=172204

      And that sums up what the Christians in Lebanon are up to.

      ReplyDelete
    28. O/T..

      I've been reading VDH's latest offering(which I haven't even finished) but in it he's all over this person named Lind who apparently doesn't cotton to the USA much..Talk of "manifest destiny all the way to SE Asia" and world hegemony...

      Here's my question if anyone cares.
      After the Soviets cratered and we were the only superpower left on earth didn't we become easily characterized as seeking hegemony. We were de facto the last big guy standing. How could we have avoided being called that by smaller countries? No way that I can see. Doesn't seem like we sought it , it just occured when CCCP kaputed.
      hegemony - authority or influence. Usually used to refer to international affairs, to describe the dominance of a specific country, as in the nineteenth century was the period of British hegemony; the post-World war II era was one of U.S. and Soviet hegemony.
      Thoughts,who cares, dumb question,?

      ReplyDelete
    29. Rufus,
      I think Rat was saying that asshole Mike ran the Arabian Horse Assoc. inot the ground ,not him.

      He was the good guy who spent his hard earned money to castrated the motherfucker, who as I read it is now being housed in one of our finer federal dormatories...or did I miss it?

      ReplyDelete
    30. you know how to run somethine inot the ground
      inot
      inot
      every damn key board in this hose misspells that words

      ReplyDelete
    31. you oughtta get out of the hose, anyway, habu--someone will turn on the faucet and drown out your voice.

      ReplyDelete
    32. It's not "big Business", rufus.
      But it involves some major players and a lot of money. Millions, anyway.

      Our local club had about $1,000,000 USD in the bank, which is what it takes to turn on the Annual Show, in Scottsdale. The Show generates about a million in profit, which is given away to charities, and the bank remains more or less constant. That million became a "target" of scammers. Stacked Club elections, the mismanaging of the Election by the "old guard", etc. All in an effort to gain access to the money.

      Forged documentation for qualifing horses for the "big" National Show.
      A win there is worth a couple of hundred thousand to the horse owners, at a minimum.
      Mr Brown "assisted" in allowing an unqualified horse to show and win at the Nationals.

      At the top end it is a "lifestyle" choice that makes little economic sense.

      Most expensive Arabian I ever saw sold at auction went for over $20 Milion, but that was in the hey days, before the '85 tax changes.

      Lately a million is lofty.
      The bottom is still the slaughter yards.

      ReplyDelete
    33. That's not what the Falange are after is it, Mat--they were fighting against Syria in the Leb civil war, weren't they?

      ReplyDelete
    34. Yeah, I understood that part, Habu; I guess I'm just not appreciative of the Size (whatevr) of the Arabian Horse Business in the U.S.

      ReplyDelete
    35. this fellow could not be beaten in the Show Ring.
      They selectively prosecuted him, within the Association's structure and banned him from showing for a couple of years.
      He counter sued in Federal Court, bankrupting the Club. Mr Brown was the Head man of the Club. His friends, who took over the AZ Club, were the ones that forged the documentaition to enter their horse in the National Show. With Mr Brown covering up for them, when exposed by me and mine.

      Lots of local politics, and the Club is a nonProfit, which makes legal action against it difficult and expensive. We did win, but only in the moral sense. Still spent the green on fees that were nonrecoverable.

      ReplyDelete
    36. Are them Boggses part of the Hale Boggs clan, rat?

      ReplyDelete
    37. I think I'm getting the drift now, Rat. It's a fairly small (at least not large, by modern terms) business that was scammed by a fairly small grifter. Gotcha.

      ReplyDelete
    38. Then Mr Boggs went to Brazil alot, during his suspension, where he hooked up with some "new" money.

      He came out of it okay. So did we, really. Do it again if we had to.
      War or retreat.

      ReplyDelete
    39. Geamil Lahoud and Michel Aoun are both Syrian puppets. It's the Druze (Walid Jumblatt) and the Sunnis (Assassinated Rafik Hariri) that are anti Syrian.

      ReplyDelete
    40. And this Mike Brown of FEMA was one of the scammers.
      Well known in his world.

      ReplyDelete
    41. Do not know of a Hale Boggs, buddy.

      Just David and his brother, whose name escapes me at the moment.

      ReplyDelete
    42. Well, why didn't the "anti-Syrians" strike while the iron was hot, and Israel was kicking Hezbollah's ass out of the South, and go after them from the North, instead of sitting around and whining about the "Evil" Israelis?

      ReplyDelete
    43. Was it because they were afraid of getting some blood (of their own) on the Armani suits, and Gucci bags?

      ReplyDelete
    44. "controversial" Louisiana congressman, died mysteriously--link

      ReplyDelete
    45. In Scottsdale, rufus, the Barrett Car Auction uses our facility for his Annual Deal. The City built it for us, and he gets to pay for it.

      Quite the Deal, all around.

      But the facility, built on Federal land cost over $12 million to buildout. So it is kind of nice. It is now run by the City, after numerous attempts to "privitize" it. The City recently fired its high priced Manager, so now it just limps along, a couple of horse shows and a car auction filling the calendar. We've been there since before the beginning, know every rule as it applies to it's use, the Federals control it, in the end.

      ReplyDelete
    46. Aoun is the Christian leader who has been snuggling up to the Hez. Can't figure that one out.

      ReplyDelete
    47. No, the Midwest boys are not connected that way. That I would know, if it was.

      ReplyDelete
    48. You know, no one has ever proven to me that you can have a Democracy unless a lot of people are willing to "Fight" for it.

      It looks, to me, like Nasrallah is the only one in the country that's got any balls. I think we can "Support" the government till the cows come home, but unless some of them decide to get "down and dirty," it's a lost cause.

      ReplyDelete
    49. Looks to me like we might be heading back to that $1.35 level on the Euro. That "Conflicts" the French to no end. They know it's terrible for business, but their chauvinism silently pulls for it. It must be terrible to be French.

      ReplyDelete
    50. Buddy,

      They both allied with Hezzbollah, on Syrian orders probably. So even if the best scenario is applied, they're still compromised dhimmis.

      ReplyDelete
    51. That's gonna kill truffle sales in USA.

      ReplyDelete
    52. And, as if tourism wasn't going bad enough in Paris; plus, Mercedes, and BMW will open another couple of factories in the Carolinas.

      ReplyDelete
    53. And, of course, it puts one more nail in the coffin of Airbus.

      ReplyDelete
    54. Fed-Ex just wounded Airbus, terribly. Canceled what, ten Airbus deals?

      ReplyDelete
    55. What the heck was that?

      LOL

      ReplyDelete
    56. If Boeing had got caught doing half of what Airbus has got caught doing in the last month everybody, including the maintenance staff (janitors) would be in jail.

      ReplyDelete
    57. If the fed would just tune out Kudlow, and the Bear Stearns Bond Ghouls, give us a couple of cuts we could have one kick-ass economy for a couple of years.

      ReplyDelete
    58. The Airbus fix oughtta start in the marketing dept. "Bus"?

      ReplyDelete
    59. Yeah, Mat; Kudlow worked for Bear Stearns; they're a "Bond" house. They make a lot of money in a declining economy and increasing demand for bonds.

      They, of course, develop "talking points." The major one of these is that a declining dollar is inflationary, and require rate "Hikes" to combat the impending inflation. It's "Horseshit," of course.

      China is exporting "Deflation" by the Ship-load. If anything, lower interest rates would lower the demand for rents, which is about forty percent of the Core CPI. A couple of rate cuts right now would, almost certainly, bring inflation down, not increase it.

      ReplyDelete
    60. Anyway, the talking heads like Kudlow (especially Kudlow) have seem to have had an effect on Bernanke. He seemed primed to stop cutting at 4.75 or 5.0, but when Kudlow started pounding the table that we needed a higher FF Rate to "Combat" a weakening dollar Bernanke seemed to lift his foot off of the gas, and put it back on the brake.

      ReplyDelete
    61. All those contradictory inputs is why ya jus' gotta keep an eye on gold--even if it is the 21st century.

      ReplyDelete
    62. Kudlow's been arguing for rate cuts, at least on the couple of times I wasn't out of brains bored watching.

      ReplyDelete
    63. Yeah, gimmee one a those $1200.00 Bus Tickets, will ya?

      ReplyDelete
    64. The Socialists just can't help themselves; they're suckers for big splashy projects that ain't got a prayer of ever making a buck.

      ReplyDelete
    65. Buddy follows this stuff more closely than I do, but I think I'm right on this.

      ReplyDelete
    66. The thing is, Kudlow tends to be a big proponent of the particular theory of the last person who talked to him.

      I quit watching him a few months, ago. You watch though, he'll drop the "cut rate" tune when the Euro goes to $1.30.

      The "Strong Dollar" religion is beat into him pretty fairly, and he just can't get away from it. It's where he made his first coupla hundred thousand.

      ReplyDelete
    67. Kudlow got a little hawkish when the TIPS spread widened out--he was a little worried about inflation for a couple months there, earlier this year.

      ReplyDelete
    68. Florida real estate prices are collapsing and the economy's slowing, so rate cuts are coming, no matter how Kudlow may feel about it.

      ReplyDelete
    69. Larry gets excited about the direction, and not the level. When it looked like oil was going to God Knows Where, it was only natural for the tips to widen; but they never got out of line.

      Besides, anyone could see that they were driven by excess speculation, terrorism, and an inordinate weather premium. They weren't going to be effected one whit by a rate hike (unless they raised rates so high as to guarantee us a "Hard" Recession.

      ReplyDelete
    70. Yup--the Dollar is likely gonna get a little weaker. But, if there was a disorderly slide in the works, it would've happened already, most likely.

      ReplyDelete
    71. Let's hope you're right, Mat. The odds Probably Are on your side.

      ReplyDelete
    72. The Asians held us up too high, too long. We've got to have a little get-even. We really don't want to try to maintain a 6% + Trade Deficit, too long. That might be a little too high.

      ReplyDelete
    73. The "conundrum" has messed up a lot of the old spread analyses--the sheer volume of demand for treasuries keeps the yields down.

      ReplyDelete
    74. I don't understand the "Conundrum." You can get 1% higher yield on a ten year in the U.S. than you can in Europe. Where would you put your money if you were a Saudi?

      ReplyDelete
    75. NM. Got it:

      http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7038159/site/newsweek/

      ReplyDelete
    76. If you're a Chinaman you prop up your exports, and thus, your employment growth, every time you buy a U.S. Bond. Where else would you put your money?

      ReplyDelete
    77. I guess it referred more to the fact that raising the short end just flat would not push up the long end.

      ReplyDelete
    78. Let's face it Buddy, it's two different worlds. The world the fed plays in with it's fed funds rate and the world the money managers around the glove play in as they look for the best parking place for their money.

      We all looked at China, and said, "How in the hell are you going to have serious inflation with THAT out there?

      The Fed Staff's models are all Keynsian. They just can't adapt to, even accept as possible, the globalization, free market economies and trade that's going on in the world, today. I think Bernanke, in his little heart of hearts, gets it; but he's got serious competition from several of the other Fed Members like that idiot "Lacker" at the Richmond Fed.

      ReplyDelete
    79. My computer's dying. Bedtime for Bonzo. Had a Great Meal, and Baby won $1200.00 on an $18.00 poker tournament. I'm Thankful.

      Good Night, all. And good night to you too, P'Tater, wherever you are. Down at the Bog, I hope ;-)

      ReplyDelete
    80. That's true--if Fed would drop the "data-driven" and peg to a commodity basket, the thing'd be less oracular. But you can't argue the "soft-landing" that the brains were thinking was impossible. It is for sure the global capacity that won't let the old-style inflation wake up. Just wish the old you-know-who in the WH would get a little credit from the American voter.

      ReplyDelete
    81. Rufus--I ate too much turkey and fell asleep, somthing I never get enough of. Don't raise corn, but I imagine it is similar to wheat and barley, that is the payment is based on the average price of the commodity. I don't know if they figure that by the year, or every six months. Anyway if the price goes up, the amount to the grower goes down, as is happening now. If it goes up enough, no payment. Goes down, payment goes up, but only so far. There is an upper limit to what any one person can receive, I don't come anywhere near that. Farmers try to get around that by making every one in the family an owner,etc. There is a website by the USDA that shows every dime paid to anyone in the United States going back many years--you can find it if you look--under payments or something. It is interesting-some cities get payments, believe it or not, and other entities you wouldn't think of.

      ReplyDelete
    82. We are nearing that cut off now-if we haven't passed it.

      ReplyDelete