Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Tuesday, May 20, 2014
The General Theory Of Unknowing / Politics / Economic Theory
The Project
I am presently developing and testing the several hypotheses structuring this theory, which at present is only at the descriptive, not predictive stage. I am actively seeking research collaborators and funding to continue the works needed to achieve a defined theory with possible predictive capabilities. The theory concerns a wide range of disciplines, ranging from semantics, information and general systems theory, to economics and finance, political science, geopolitical and military studies, sociology, ethics and philosophy, social anthropology, and the general history of western civilization. Other disciplines are certainly concerned, notably the theory of governance and government.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Balcerowicz’s Polish Big Bang versus Ukraine / Politics / Economic Theory
On May 21, 2014, Leszek Balcerowicz will receive the 2014 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty during a dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. The prestigious annual award by the Cato Institute carries with it a well-deserved check for $250,000.
For those who might have forgotten the accomplishments of my long-time friend, allow me to suggest that, in Balcerowicz’s case, a picture is literally worth a thousand words.
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Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Russia Borderlands: Room for Maneuvering in Hungary / Politics / Eastern Europe
I am writing this from Budapest, the city in which I was born. I went to the United States so young that all my memories of Hungary were acquired later in life or through my family, whose memories bridged both world wars and the Cold War, all with their attendant horrors. My own deepest memory of Hungary comes from my parents' living room in the Bronx. My older sister was married in November 1956. There was an uprising against the Soviets at the same time, and many of our family members were still there. After the wedding, we returned home and saw the early newspapers and reports on television. My parents discovered that some of the heaviest fighting between the revolutionaries and Soviets had taken place on the street where my aunts lived. A joyous marriage, followed by another catastrophe -- the contrast between America and Hungary. That night, my father asked no one in particular, "Does it ever end?" The answer is no, not here. Which is why I am back in Budapest.
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Monday, May 19, 2014
Smoking Gun From The U.S. Federal Reserve - Murder Of The Middle Class / Politics / Social Issues
“Although low inflation is generally good, inflation that is too low can pose risks to the economy – especially when the economy is struggling.” - Ben Bernanke
“The true measure of a career is to be able to be content, even proud, that you succeeded through your own endeavors without leaving a trail of casualties in your wake.” – Alan Greenspan
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Sunday, May 18, 2014
Operation American Spring Fails To Restore the Republic / Politics / US Politics
Christopher Cantwell writes: Suppose I said to you “Let’s get 10-30 million people to go down to Washington DC and force Barack Obama out of office!” What would you say? Might sound like a great idea at first, until you realize that I lack the capacity to organize millions of people to travel to the nation’s capitol on a workday. Especially when I predict people will wind up dead and in prison, it’s not exactly the most appealing thing for people to hire babysitters for.
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Saturday, May 17, 2014
How the Free Market Ends Discrimination / Politics / Economic Theory
When Branch Rickey integrated major league baseball in 1947 by hiring the great Jackie Robinson to play first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers, he did not do so because he was forced into it by any “civil rights” law. The federal civil rights laws at that point were almost twenty years into the future. Nor was he motivated by a sudden enlightenment on the issue of race. As the president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Rickey was paid to make the Dodgers as profitable as possible. In order to do that, he had to recruit and develop the best baseball players he could find, regardless of skin color or anything else. He succeeded immediately with the hiring of Robinson, as the Dodgers went to the World Series in that year, in no small part due to the efforts of Jackie Robinson.
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Saturday, May 17, 2014
How Edward Snowden Strengthened the NSA / Politics / Intelligence Agencies
It has been a year since Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the NSA.
I appreciate what Snowden did. His decision to leak the stolen documents has done the conservative movement an enormous favor. It has blown to smithereens the greatest single myth of conservatism: “If the American people knew about this, there would be an uprising.” No, there wouldn’t.
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Saturday, May 17, 2014
Mainstream Press Amazingly Deceptive Headline on U.S. Debt / Politics / Mainstream Media
Reporters and their editors (and the corporations that employ them) have the power to shape readers’ perceptions by, for instance, choosing what fact to put first in a story or which expert to quote in what context. But the most powerful tool is the simplest: the headline. Because many people read only that, and many others have their perception of an article shaped by the first words they see, this sentence fragment is frequently as important as everything that comes after.
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Friday, May 16, 2014
The Fall of Mainstream Media - When Propaganda Fails, Humanity Awakens... / Politics / Mainstream Media
It doesn't happen often, but The New York Times (NYT) has truthfully reported on something recently.
On what did it report? Well, on itself, and how alarmed it is due to its own increasing irrelevance in the face of new sources of information.
NYT is well-aware of the "New Media," as a 96-page internal report, sent to top executives last month, makes clear. Obtained by Buzzfeed, the report "paints a dark picture of a newsroom struggling more dramatically than is immediately visible to adjust to the digital world, a newsroom that is hampered primarily by its own storied culture."
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Friday, May 16, 2014
Europe Imitates The Fall Of The Roman Empire / Politics / European Union
In essence, it’s really simple. We’ve seen over the last few days that the European Union is a federation of sovereign countries whose leadership has been found painfully – if not criminally – lacking in democratic principles, and several leaders of member states have been accomplices, on more than one occasion, in assaults on elected fellow leaders. That should say enough, and there is no doubt that down the line it will. It’s now a question of how do we get here from there, of how will Brussels be dismantled.
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Thursday, May 15, 2014
High Tide for the U.S. Dollar: Revenge of the Sith / Politics / US Dollar
I have certainly considered this scenario many times, of how the dollar regime might evolve, and the one discussed below remains one possible outcome.
There is an intense international discussion going on about the future of the international currency system, and relations in general. I have referred to this generally as the 'currency wars' for some time.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Are Russia and China About To Announce The End Of The US Dollar Era? / Politics / US Dollar
Countries all over the world are meeting for a purpose that concerns you greatly, whether or not you're American: disuse of the US dollar.
Since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis the end of the US dollar seems closer than ever. In move-after-move, Russia and China have become closer allies. There are numerous examples of this. For brevity's sake, two recent examples catch the eye. Gazprom issued bonds in the Chinese Yuan and Russia and China also signed a gas deal. There are many more examples. 40 central banks have even placed bets on the yuan as the future reserve currency.
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Thursday, May 15, 2014
U.S. Mainstream Media Ignores Putin’s Peace Plan / Politics / GeoPolitics
“Let me repeat again, that in Russia’s view, the blame for the crisis in Ukraine lies with those who organized the coup d’etat in Kiev on February 22-23… But whatever the case, we must look for a way to solve the situation as it is today….And, as I said, what is needed is direct, full-fledged and equal dialogue between the Kiev authorities and the representatives of people in southeast Ukraine….I don’t know whether a Geneva-2 round of talks.. is realistic. (But) I believe that if we want to find a long-term solution to the crisis, there must be an open, honest and equal dialogue . That is our only option.” -Russian President Vladimir Putin, press statement, OCSE meeting, Moscow, May 7, 2014
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Thursday, May 15, 2014
Boko Haram Kidnappings an Excuse to Invade Another Oil-rich Muslim Country? / Politics / US Military
We are told that a radical Islamic group called Boko Haram has kidnapped schoolgirls in Nigeria. This classic good-vs.-evil tale pits crazed Muslim extremists against adorable innocent children. The whole world demands the rescue of the girls, and deplores the evils of “radical Islam.”
It is a terrific story – the stuff Hollywood films are made of. But is it true?
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
FATCA Causing Chaos Worldwide For Americans / Politics / Taxes
The Illegitimate Revenue Agency (IRS) has just announced that the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) has been postponed from July 1, 2014 until January 1, 2016.
This is good news in many ways for both those with assets that they wish to internationalize as well as for the dollar and US banking system itself but in many ways the damage has already been done.
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Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Dr Dre Forgot THIS When He Claimed To Be Hip Hops First Billionaire / Politics / Social Issues
In his 1996 hit song "Been There, Done That," Dr. Dre rapped, "I ain't got no time to wait around for illuminati, I gotta make a billion before the year 2-G." Whether or not you believe in the so-called "illuminati," Dr. Dre was hinting at an underlying urgency he felt to strike it rich in a big way before society went down the drain. 14 years after the year 2000 and his last album, Dr. Dre has struck it big again. But is he a billionaire?
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Wednesday, May 14, 2014
The US Dollar’s Fragile Reserve Currency Status / Politics / US Federal Reserve Bank
Is the Fed “tapering”? Did the Fed really cut its bond purchases during the three month period November 2013 through January 2014? Apparently not if foreign holders of Treasuries are unloading them.
From November 2013 through January 2014 Belgium with a GDP of $480 billion purchased $141.2 billion of US Treasury bonds.
Somehow Belgium came up with enough money to allocate during a 3-month period 29 percent of its annual GDP to the purchase of US Treasury bonds.
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Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Flash Boys - Wall Street Has Always Been Corrupt Or About To Be Corrupted / Politics / Market Manipulation
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”― Upton Sinclair – I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked
“The U.S. financial markets had always been either corrupt or about to be corrupted.” - Michael Lewis, Flash Boys
I finished reading Michael Lewis’ Flash Boys take-down of Wall Street banks, hedge funds, government regulators and high frequency traders last week when I had spare time created by a weeklong denial of service attack on my website. It appears to me technology is being utilized more frequently as a mechanism for malevolence rather than a mechanism for good. The smartest guys in the room are figuring out ways to steal you blind in the financial markets, pilfer your personal information, spy on your electronic communications, and censor your right to free speech by taking away your ability to communicate freely on the internet. After reading Lewis’ maddening tome and experiencing the frustration of an attack that reached 50 million hits per day on my website, I’m reminded of two quotes from the brilliant dystopian visionary Aldous Huxley.
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Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Puerto Rico’s Stunning New Tax Advantages / Politics / Taxes
By Nick Giambruno, Senior Editor, International Man
Chances are that you have heard something about the stunning new laws in Puerto Rico that give unbelievable tax benefits for mainland Americans who move to the island. Benefits that are so incredible that many at first thought they were simply too good to be true… but they most certainly are not.
With strategies that purport to legally allow US citizens to avoid having to pay taxes, the first thing that usually comes to mind is some sort of cockamamie scheme. This is because the US government is no slouch when it comes to shaking down its citizens. It’s mind-boggling expenditures necessitate this. It would be dangerously foolish in the extreme to think you could slip one past them.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
The Mythology of the U.S. Supreme Court / Politics / US Politics
Ryan W. McMaken writes: The Supreme Court’s recent decision on prayer at government meetingsreminds me that Supreme Court “season” is upon us, and for the next two months or so, we can expect to see the court decide on a variety of cases that can have profound impacts on the lives of citizens and non-citizens alike. The court’s decision in Town of Greece vs. Galloway has produced a lot of commentary on both sides, with much discussion about the dynamics between justices, and how Justice Kennedy must have been in a pro-prayer mood that day, since his decisions appear to be made on a variety of unknowable whims.
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