Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Sunday, August 29, 2021
CENTRALIZATION, BLOCKCHAIN and DECENTRALIZATION / Politics / BlockChain
By: Raymond_Matison
Brief history of centralization
One important but mostly uncomplimentary history of man is recorded through his activities in war. Thousands of years ago large marauding bands of tribesmen descended on small communities or villages pillaging or killing its inhabitants. As centuries of time passed, small communities coalesced to become larger villages, some of which eventually expanded and grew to become city states or petty kingdoms.
In 480 B.C. Xerxes invaded Greek city states, but after taking Athens had to retreat. As William McNeil, author of his magnificent book “The Rise of the West” states: “free men organized into city-states need fear no military danger from without”. This early centralization of men and weapons protected cities from conquest at that time. The concept of certain centralization and its benefits became acknowledged and gained momentum over future centuries. In the seventeenth century, after the 30 year war, new legal principles for states and sovereignty were established in 1648. Under the new Westphalian system, states would exist with agreed-upon borders as each state’s sovereignty was recognized by others. This became another historical benchmark for increasing centralization.
Over the next several centuries, the so called industrial revolution with its centralization of production and factories provided heretofore unforeseen job and income opportunities for the general populace, further rapidly accelerating growth of cities and population movement from rural to urban areas. Increased production and worker incomes spurred sales providing useful products to the masses, and profits creating a dramatic centralization of wealth and power for these owners of productive facilities.
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Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Biden’s Infrastructure Bill Part of Green New Deal, Jacks Up Debt / Politics / Infrastructure
By: MoneyMetals
As the U.S. Senate moves closer to passing a trillion-dollar spending bill that includes some infrastructure priorities, critics are warning that the public is being taken for a ride.
President Joe Biden and his allies in Congress have actually claimed that the new spending won’t add to the national debt or increase pressures on inflation. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pitched the package as an investment in the economy.
It’s certainly true that much of the nation’s infrastructure is badly in need of upgrades. Roads, bridges, pipes, and airports across the country are in poor shape.
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Monday, August 02, 2021
From vaccine inequality to economic apartheid / Politics / Coronavirus 2021
By: Dan_Steinbock
Thanks to the containment failures of Covid-19 and the resultant new variants, coupled with vaccine inequality, global prospects are overshadowed by economic apartheid – the polarization between the West and poorer countries.Today, sub-Saharan Africa is in the grip of a third wave, parts of Latin America continue to see high levels of new deaths, and concerns remain about the Covid-19 situation in parts of South and Southeast Asia.
In Africa, the highly infectious Delta variant of coronavirus is spreading like a wildfire. Infection numbers have soared for 1.5 months with 224,000 new cases being recorded every week. Due to the low degree of testing, detection and vaccination, real numbers are much higher than official estimates.
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Thursday, July 29, 2021
WEALTH INEQUALITY WASN'T BY HAPPENSTANCE! / Politics / Social Issues
By: Gordon_T_Long
Global sovereign debt has been expanding at historic rates with the US Debt quickly now approaching $30T with the US Debt Ceiling moratorium ending Saturday July 31st. Overlay this with a $3.5T US budget reconciliation bill presently on the floor of congress (which along with other planned expenditures will total over $5T) policy setters are soon going to have to ask whether this spending is actually helping or hindering? Maybe just as important a question is who has been winning or losing during this era of exploding debt?
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Thursday, July 29, 2021
New set of Priorities needed for Unstoppable Global Warming / Politics / Climate Change
By: Richard_Mills
Heads of state gathered on Dec. 12, 2015, for the 21st conference of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). When the Paris agreement, as it came to be known, came into effect on Nov. 4, 2016, 196 countries agreed to try and limit the warming of the Earth by 2 degrees Celsius, and preferably 1.5 degrees C, compared to pre-industrial levels, by mid-century.
The 2-degree threshold is often used by researchers as a target in efforts to slow climate change, including a recent report by Wood Mackenzie entitled ‘Champagne supercycle: Taking the fizz out of the commodity price boom’.
In the report, the Scotland-based consultancy says another commodities supercycle is on the horizon, but it will be different from any that have come before:
Fossil fuels won’t be in the vanguard and the winners will be the industrial metals needed to electrify society — cobalt, lithium, copper, nickel, and aluminium.
Under Wood Mackenzie’s Accelerated Energy Transition-2 (AET-2) scenario, which is consistent with limiting the rise in global temperatures since pre-industrial times to 2 °C, 360 million tonnes (Mt) of aluminium, 90 Mt of copper, and 30 Mt of nickel will feed the energy transition over the next 20 years. This level of additional metal presents obvious challenges for producers and consumers alike.
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Sunday, July 25, 2021
Indian Delta Variant INFECTED! How infectious, Deadly, Do Vaccines Work? Avoid the PCR Test? / Politics / Coronavirus 2021
By: N_Walayat
We managed to dodge the covid bullet for a good 18 months but no ,more as at least one person is INFECTED with the Indian DELTA Variant! Here's what it's like to get infected from the first Lateral flow test on. What to expect, how to limit the spread to other members of the household without going over board and whether one should get the PCR test given that as soon as you do your life is taken out of your hands and you are told what you MUST do! Then there are the school drama queens that make up the rules as they go along! And above all find out if the vaccines work against the Indian delta variant if not or it's off to the local hospital for a ventilator holiday.
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Saturday, July 24, 2021
Biden’s Dangerous Inflation Denials / Politics / Inflation
By: MoneyMetals
This week he superficially addressed the problem by admitting the obvious – that prices have been rising rapidly this year – while denying that the inflation surge represents anything out of the ordinary.
“Some folks have raised worries that this could be a sign of persistent inflation, but that’s not our view,” Biden said. “Our experts believe and the data shows that most of the price increases we’ve seen [were] expected and expected to be temporary.”
Trust the experts! After all, when have they been wrong about anything…besides wars and pandemics?
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Friday, July 23, 2021
The Government Is Culpable for America’s Retirement Crisis / Politics / Pensions & Retirement
By: MoneyMetals
America faces a retirement crisis.
The chairman of the world’s largest asset management firm is sounding the alarm. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink told CNBC last week that he sees a “silent crisis of retirement.”
Fink cited ultra-low interest rates, combining with elevated inflation rates, as steadily diminishing the real value of retirement savings.
“People are going to have to, unfortunately, whether they like it or not…work longer because they’re not earning the same returns on their savings,” he said.
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Wednesday, July 14, 2021
Massive Solar Storm to Hit Earth 2025, Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) Danger and Protection Solutions / Politics / Solar Storm
By: N_Walayat
So the inevitable pandemic in our lifetime that most of the world including the whole of Europe and North America were totally unprepared that had moronic government scientists spouting in the early months that the general public should not wear masks which was due to lack of PPE stock, whilst prime ministers and presidents laughed it off as something that would magically disappear before Easter, instead has had a severe economic and social impact on all of our lives this past year. However given the fast materialisation of vaccines should soon start diminishing in significance of future impact.
So what else is out there lurking in the near mists of time about to have en equal if not greater impact on our everyday lives?
Asteroid impact? Inevitable yes, for instance Apopthis (named after the Egyptian snake god of chaos) is due for a very close rendezvous with Earth in April 2029, which is one of thousands that cross Earths orbit, but the range of probabilities span decades to tens of thousands of years, so not something that can be assumed to be definitely imminent in terms of a catastrophic impact.
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Monday, July 12, 2021
Global Catastrophe Worse than Pandemic to Hit 2025, Solar Coronal Mass Ejection Super Storm Black Swan / Politics / CMS
By: Nadeem_Walayat
So the inevitable pandemic in our lifetime that most of the world including the whole of Europe and North America were totally unprepared that had moronic government scientists spouting in the early months that the general public should not wear masks which was due to lack of PPE stock, whilst prime ministers and presidents laughed it off as something that would magically disappear before Easter, instead has had a severe economic and social impact on all of our lives this past year. However given the fast materialisation of vaccines should soon start diminishing in significance of future impact.
So what else is out there lurking in the near mists of time about to have en equal if not greater impact on our everyday lives?
Asteroid impact? Inevitable yes, for instance Apopthis (named after the Egyptian snake god of chaos) is due for a very close rendezvous with Earth in April 2029, which is one of thousands that cross Earths orbit, but the range of probabilities span decades to tens of thousands of years, so not something that can be assumed to be definitely imminent in terms of a catastrophic impact.
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Monday, July 12, 2021
England V Italy - Euro 2020 Final - Fans React To Losing On Penalty Shootout - UEFA 2021 / Politics / Social Issues
By: N_Walayat
England ALWAYS lose at Penalties and so it was for the finals of the Euro 2020, 2021. This is how the penalty shootout went down in our house as the inevitable happened.
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Friday, June 04, 2021
THERE ARE NO SOLUTIONS When the Media is the VIRUS / Politics / Coronavirus 2021
By: James_Quinn
“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. …We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. …In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons…who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.” – Edward Bernays – Propaganda – 1928
“For the first time in its history, Western Civilization is in danger of being destroyed internally by a corrupt, criminal ruling cabal which is centered around the Rockefeller interests, which include elements from the Morgan, Brown, Rothschild, Du Pont, Harriman, Kuhn-Loeb, and other groupings as well. This junta took control of the political, financial, and cultural life of America in the first two decades of the twentieth century.” – Carroll Quigley – Tragedy & Hope – 1966
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Friday, May 28, 2021
Covid India Black Mold Epidemic / Politics / Coronavirus 2021
By: N_Walayat
The Indian strain is fast becoming dominant in the UK which has the government implementing plans for a third booster dose later this year. Meanwhile India is seeing a new emerging nightmare consequence of covid-19 - black mold disease, an opportunist fungal disease which is related to high blood sugar levels i.e. diabetes which is at epidemic levels in India that now the black mold disease is capitalising upon due to immune system impaired covid-19 infections. Black Mold KILLs tissue and if untreated has a fatality rate of 94%! Far in excess of covid-19! Though it can be treated in the early stages with anti-fungal's but if left unchecked would require expensive specialist treatment i.e. surgical intervention to remove the dead tissue.
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Thursday, May 20, 2021
Coronavirus was a Test and we FAILED / Politics / Coronavirus 2021
By: James_Quinn
“The Truth, when you finally chase it down, is almost always far worse than your darkest visions and fears.” ~ Hunter S. Thompson
I think Hunter S. Thompson is being proven right by revelations becoming obvious daily. I’m a natural skeptic, so I rarely believe anything I’m told without verifying facts, analyzing data and understanding the motivation of those making declarations and assertions. For most of my life I thought I generally understood how the world worked.
Doubts about my understanding began to creep into my mind between 2000 and 2008, as I watched my government cover-up the truth about 9-11, use it to institute an Orwellian surveillance state through the Patriot Act, invade Iraq based upon a false narrative of WMD and links to 9/11, and watching those controlling the Federal Reserve create the dot.com bubble and follow it up with a housing bubble – all done to benefit Wall Street banks, billionaires, connected politicians, and Deep State apparatchiks.
The national debt was $5.6 trillion in 2000, the budget was as close to balanced as it had been in decades, the defense budget ($300 billion) was at decades low as there was no major conflicts in the world, and term limits were still a legitimately discussed election issue. If someone was told on January 1, 2000 that in 2021 the national debt was going to hit $30 trillion, with annual deficits of $3 to $4 trillion, a defense budget of $750 billion as war looms on the near-term horizon, and all semblance of governing through legislation to benefit the citizenry had dissipated, they would have laughed, accused you of being a conspiracy nutjob, and said the nation would be a hyperinflationary banana republic with 50% interest rates if any of that came to pass. The truth is always far worse than your darkest visions and fears.
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Thursday, May 13, 2021
Coronavius Covid-19 in Italy in August 2019! / Politics / Coronavirus 2021
By: Nadeem_Walayat
An open source peer reviewed study in Italy states that anti-bodies for covid-19 were detected in blood samples in Italy as early as September 2019!
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Thursday, May 13, 2021
India Covid Apocalypse Heralds Catastrophe for Pakistan and Bangladesh / Politics / Coronavirus Depression
By: Nadeem_Walayat
India's covid-19 double mutant B.1.617 apocalypse continues with the actual numbers of deaths and infections many times the official numbers of 400,000 infected and 3,500 deaths per day as we witness the collapse of India's healthcare system. that could see the number of total number of deaths exceed 2 million before the end of May, with the peak seeing as many as 100,000 deaths per day. Meanwhile indian politicians live in an alternative universe, making announcements that all indians over the age of 18 now being eligible for the vaccines, despite the fact that most of the vaccination centres have closed due to lack of vaccines which means only 10% of Indians (higher castes) have had 1 dose and 1.5% 2 doses. If those in charge of India had any sense of intelligence then they would be focused on vaccinating the most vulnerable i.e. the over 45's and not opening up vaccinations to all adults (higher castes)! Instead of which India's government is primarily focused on peddling misinformation in trying to hide the magnitude of the catastrophe underway which includes instructing twitter to delete tweets critical of their mismanagement of the pandemic.
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Sunday, May 09, 2021
Breaking US Trade Embargo with Cuba - Build 7 Computers in 14 Hours Before Ship Sales Challenge / Politics / Social Issues
By: N_Walayat
Breaking US Trade Embargo with Cuba
When I was tasked with building 7 desktop computers in 14 hours to ship to Cuba, can I do it before the ship sales?
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Monday, May 03, 2021
India Covid-19 Apocalypse Heralds Catastrophe for Pakistan & Bangladesh, Covid in Italy August 2019! / Politics / Coronavirus 2021
By: Nadeem_Walayat
India's covid-19 double mutant B.1.617 apocalypse continues with the actual numbers of deaths and infections many times the official numbers of 400,000 infected and 3,500 deaths per day as we witness the collapse of India's healthcare system. that could see the number of total number of deaths exceed 2 million before the end of May. Meanwhile indian politicians live in an alternative universe, making announcements that all indians over the age of 18 now being eligible for the vaccines, despite the fact that most of the vaccination centres have closed due to lack of vaccines which means only 10% of Indians have had 1 dose and 1.5% 2 doses. If those in charge of India had any sense of intelligence then they would be focused on vaccinating the most vulnerable i.e. the over 45's and not opening up vaccinations to all adults! Instead of which Indian's government is primarily focused on peddling misinformation in trying to hide the magnitude of the catastrophe underway which includes instructing twitter to delete tweets critical of their mismanagement of the pandemic.
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Saturday, May 01, 2021
INDIA COVID APOCALYPSE / Politics / Coronavirus 2021
By: N_Walayat
There is no point focusing on India's official covid stats of cases and deaths per day as they under report the extent of the covid apocalypse by several orders of magnitude form at least X2 to as much as X10 i.e. it is highly probable that as many as 25,000 people are dying per DAY! Courtesy of super spreader events such as the Hindu Kum Mala festival and mass election gatherings both of which STILL CONTINUE despite the apocalypse. This illustrates what happens when morons are in charge of the government, which Brit's and Americans will know too well, given the catastrophic early response to the virus during 2020. Though India did have the benefit of hindsight, for they dodged a bullet during 2020, so had TIME, nearly a whole YEAR to prepare themselves for probable second and third waves, instead the Indian government did NOTHING, hence the catastrophe that looks set to continue to worsen for several more weeks. Which means India's actual death toll could easily exceed 1 million and maybe 2 million.
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Thursday, April 29, 2021
King Zuckerberg Tech Companies to Set up their own Governments! / Politics / Tech Stocks
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Aldus Huxley's Brave New world is taking another step towards becoming reality. What's the ultimate way tech companies can only be accountable to themselves? by making ALL of the rules, and I am not talking about congressmen and senators on their payrolls but companies becoming sovereign governments!
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