Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Obama, Let Them Eat Food Stamps / Politics / US Politics
By: Jeff_Berwick
Wendy McElroy writes: Early immigrants fled Europe to America because the New World offered a glistening promise: the classless society. It was not a society without rich and poor because freedom always produces an inequality of results. It was a society in which people were equal under fair laws and they could move fluidly from one class to another. The North American dream said people could rise by merit and hard work into economic independence and become the rulers of their own lives.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Ukraine Broke, Bruised And Battered / Politics / Eastern Europe
By: Raul_I_Meijer
There’s a lot more to the Ukraine situation than meets the eye. The country was already on the verge of bankruptcy before the protests started three months ago, and seems dead set on default now. Russia seemed willing to help, but the protests against Yanukovych are protests against Putin too. Moreover, Russian banks have substantial holdings of Ukrainian bonds.
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Friday, February 21, 2014
While Ukraine Burns, Syria Cools - Sapping the Bedrock of Shaky Nations / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Andrew_McKillop
Bindar bin Sultan Replaced
Saudi Arabia has sidelined its veteran intelligence chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, as leader of the kingdom's efforts to recruit, arm, fund and direct Syrian rebels. He was replaced last week by two other, and different Saudi princes, Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, King Abdullah's son and head of the Saudi National Guard, and the likely key future decider on Syria in Riyadh, KSA's Interior minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef,
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Friday, February 21, 2014
Don’t Believe the Headlines, Big Banks are Still Screwing You / Politics / Banksters
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes:When it comes to big banks’ bad behavior and the fines they pay to settle “allegations” — which are actually civil charges and which would be criminal charges if applied to any other business or in any parallel universe — things aren’t even close to what they seem.
Sure the headlines scream victory, at least monetary victory, for some ripped-off consumers, some hard-charging regulators, and our vaunted (NOT) Justice Department.
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Friday, February 21, 2014
Ukraine 2014, Britain 2016, Scottish Independence Could Trigger Balkanisation of UK / Politics / UK Politics
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Peaceful demonstrations in Ukraine's capital city Kiev, of barely a few days ago are fast descending into the chaos towards outright civil war as Ukraine is literally tearing itself apart as several regions in the north-west such as Lviv declare independence, whilst the south-east stands behind its democratically elected President.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
The Shocking Deals Behind Bankster Fines, The Real Reason No One Goes to Jail / Politics / Banksters
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes: Headline news about banks settling charges for violating rules, regulations, and laws - and announcements of the fines they agree to pay - appears every day...
Rarely - if ever - do they reveal how much money is really being paid or where it's going...
They also seldom explain what kinds of settlements are reached...
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Thursday, February 20, 2014
Ukraine Crisis - Protesters in Lviv Raise the Stakes / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: STRATFOR
As the standoff in Independence Square continues in Kiev, the western part of Ukraine has added a more serious element to the country's internal struggle. On Wednesday, several administration buildings were taken over by protesters in the west, including in Khmelnytskyi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Uzhhorod and Ternopil. Meanwhile, demonstrators from an opposition group called People's Rada in Lviv, the largest and most important city in the west, said on Wednesday that they want to declare independence from Ukraine.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Democracy and Government Spending: Extend and Pretend / Politics / Government Spending
By: MISES
Gregory Bresiger writes: Over the past 80 years or so governments have been expected to provide more and more social services. That means bigger and bigger bills for the taxpayers of this generation and generations unborn. Since governments almost constantly run in the red, they often resemble cocaine addicts desperately looking for the next fix. The fix, in the case of governments, is the perpetual need for more money, no matter how much wealth the engine of a strong economy may be generating.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Putin And The Flash Mob Empire / Politics / Russia
By: Andrew_McKillop
Going For Gold
Writing in 'Wall Street Journal' 14 February, Walter Russel Mead, a former senior adviser on US foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, claimed that Vladimir Putin is engaged in a “death-defying geopolitical gamble (that) is the hottest game in town”. Mead said Putin's gamble “has more twists and turns than a bobsled race, more fancy footwork than a figure-skating final, and more dips and flips than a mogul run”.
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Tuesday, February 18, 2014
The American Public's Indifference to Foreign Affairs / Politics / US Politics
By: STRATFOR
Last week, several events took place that were important to their respective regions and potentially to the world. Russian government officials suggested turning Ukraine into a federation, following weeks of renewed demonstrations in Kiev. The Venezuelan government was confronted with violent and deadly protests. Kazakhstan experienced a financial crisis that could have destabilized the economies of Central Asia. Russia and Egypt inked a significant arms deal. Right-wing groups in Europe continued their political gains.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Usurious Returns on Phantom Money: The Credit Card Gravy Train / Politics / Credit Cards & Scoring
By: Ellen_Brown
The credit card business is now the banking industry’s biggest cash cow, and it’s largely due to lucrative hidden fees.
You pay off your credit card balance every month, thinking you are taking advantage of the “interest-free grace period” and getting free credit. You may even use your credit card when you could have used cash, just to get the free frequent flier or cash-back rewards. But those popular features are misleading. Even when the balance is paid on time every month, credit card use imposes a huge hidden cost on users—hidden because the cost is deducted from what the merchant receives, then passed on to you in the form of higher prices.
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Monday, February 17, 2014
At The Fed, The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same / Politics / US Federal Reserve Bank
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen testified before Congress for the first time since replacing Ben Bernanke at the beginning of the month. Her testimony confirmed what many of us suspected, that interventionist Keynesian policies at the Federal Reserve are well-entrenched and far from over. Mrs. Yellen practically bent over backwards to reassure Wall Street that the Fed would continue its accommodative monetary policy well into any new economic recovery. The same monetary policy that got us into this mess will remain in place until the next crisis hits.
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Sunday, February 16, 2014
Obama, Hollande and Other Climate Change Liars / Politics / Climate Change
By: Andrew_McKillop
Flat Earthers Agree
In a June 2013 address at Georgetown University, Barack Obama derogatorily referred to deniers of global warming, climate change and bad weather as “members of a Flat Earth Society." The same month, the UK-based Flat Earth Society's president Daniel Shenton told 'Business Insider' that he personally believes “the evidence available does support the position that climate change is at least partly influenced by human industrialisation.". He also said he wasn't amused by Obama using his Flat Earth Society as an example of backward thinking, and suggested Obama should criticize organizations like the American Enterprise Institute, which violently disputes that either global warming or climate change are real, but does not take a firm position on bad weather.
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Sunday, February 16, 2014
The Merger of State and Commerce / Politics / US Politics
By: Stephen_Merrill
The Leviathan’s Thumb
Many observers of the US economy have come to the realization there are now few truly free markets left within 21st Century Western capitalism.
It seems all investments today are controlled to unfair advantage in some large way by the governments and financial firms operating the markets, especially the market in money itself. The newly-invented powers of the central banks to buy anything, to fund any bailout, can reach into any area of the economy, either to grant large favors or to inflict great pain, typically with the cooperation of the too-big-to-jail banks that own the Federal Reserve and its policies.
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Friday, February 14, 2014
SNP Independent Scotland Sterling Sharing Trojan Horse to Plunder British Pound / Politics / UK Politics
By: Nadeem_Walayat
UK politicians of all three major parties surprised everyone by unequivocally rejecting the SNP's cunning plan to effectively permanently park a Trojan Horse outside the Bank of England on Scottish Independence day that would effectively allow Scotland to go on an spending binge on a sterling credit card by printing debt without the consequences of currency panic that normally would result in very high if not hyperinflation, but instead like a cancer seek to consume its English host over a number of years as the policy of sterling sharing sucks the financial life blood out of the British Pound.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
U.S. Caught Red Handed Attempting to Topple Ukraine's Democratically-Elected President / Politics / US Politics
By: Mike_Whitney
“In the latest debacle for the US State Department and the Obama Administration, US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was caught on tape micro-managing Ukraine opposition party strategies with US Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt. That the Ukraine regime-change operation is to some degree being directed from Washington can no longer be denied….The taped conversation demonstrates in clear detail that while Secretary of State John Kerry decries any foreign meddling in Ukraine’s internal affairs, his State Department is virtually managing the entire process.”– Daniel McAdams, “‘F**k the EU’: Tape Reveals US Runs Ukraine Opposition“, Ron Paul Institute
Thursday, February 13, 2014
The Iranian Navy's Symbolic Show of Force in the Atlantic / Politics / Iran
By: STRATFOR
Tehran announced Feb. 8 that it had dispatched a frigate and a supply ship to the North Atlantic Ocean, where they will approach U.S. maritime borders. This is not the first time the Iranians have announced their intent to deploy naval vessels close to the United States. Iran made two such declarations in 2011 but never followed through.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Women on Wall Street Have Gone Backwards / Politics / Social Issues
By: Bloomberg
Sallie Krawcheck, owner of 85 Broads and former Bank of America and Citigroup executive, spoke with Bloomberg Television's Stephanie Ruhle and Matt Miller today about women in executive roles and Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen's congressional testimony yesterday.
On women in banking, Krawcheck said: "it's not that we have even gone sideways as we have in corporate America, we've gone backwards."
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Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the US Courts / Politics / Intelligence Agencies
By: MISES
Ben O'Neill writes: Many commentators following the NSA scandals have been eagerly awaiting the recommendations of the US government task force on the matter, and the proposed reforms to be implemented by President Obama to bring the spy agency under control. If you’re interested in this kind of thing, you can watch the president’s recent speech and nod your head approvingly when he talks about the“tradition of limited government” in the United States, and the constitutional limits his government is at pains to respect. Oh, and just for good measure, while you’re listening to this magnificent oration being replayed to you on YouTube, the NSA will be recording your internet browser history, or possibly even hacking your computer.[1] If you decide to click on the “like” or “dislike” buttons at the bottom of the video, that little nugget of political information can be added to their “metadata” archives, along with the rest of your internet activities. In fact, in the 42 minutes it will take you to watch the president’s speech, the NSA will have hoovered up around 40 million records of internet browsing from around the world.[2] Perhaps yours will be among them.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Obamacare as a Jobs Killer / Politics / US Politics
By: BATR
Economic illiteracy is a hallmark of most political policies. The prime example of this principle is the idiocy out of the Obama administration that maintains that the Affordable Care Act is favorable to job seekers. The ranks of progressive euphoria reporting on the joys of Obamacare want to spin the latest Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) analysis as favorable. As these imbeciles push out their demented dreams for a neo Great Society, the facts of trade and industry need to be buried in order to institute the total welfare state.
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