Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Sunday, February 09, 2014
Russia Sochi Olympic's Terrorist Attack Threat, Who is Behind the Caucasus Terrorists? / Politics / Russia
By: Michel_Chossudovsky
In the weeks leading up to the Sochi Winter Olympics, the Western Media has released a dribble of “trustworthy reports” examining “the likelihood” of a terrorist attack at the height of the Olympic games.
In late January, the British government warned “that more terrorist attacks in Russia (following the Volgograd attack in December) are “very likely to occur before or during the Winter Olympics in Sochi”. (BBC, January 27, 2014).
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Sunday, February 09, 2014
The Eastern Europe Question Goes Viral / Politics / Eastern Europe
By: Andrew_McKillop
Before The Storm
One of our major problems is there is no such thing as “the eastern question” today. It was pre-1914 thinking – and concern – about the coming break-up of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires and what that would do to the European “powderkeg of the Balkans”. The highly-related “Balkans question” of pre-1914 concerned when, rather than if the jigsaw puzzle and powderkeg would explode, and what type of World War would ensue in the scrabble for territory. Today we effectively have a pan-Asian question, but due to compartmentalized thinking it is ignored or sidelined. This new eastern question is much bigger than the pre-1914 version – in fact globalized - and at least as dangerous.
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Saturday, February 08, 2014
The View From Madrid - Spain Running Away From Reality / Politics / Spain
By: Fred_Sheehan
Fernando del Pino writes "Independent views on Spain, Europe and the big picture of politics and money" one of the few realistic appraisals written from Europe today. Running Away from Reality is anathema to the nomenclatura since its untroubled disposition runs faster and faster from the encroaching reality. To read more of his essays, his website is http://www.fpcs.es
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Friday, February 07, 2014
Non-Farm Friday – Is America Working? / Politics / Employment
By: PhilStockWorld
I F'ing give up!!!
I try my best to make people aware of the ridiculous BS that goes on behind the scenes in the halls of power. I try to help people understand the way Big Business manipulates our Government, the same way the Banksters and Billionaires manipulate the markets. In short – we explore the dark side of Capitalism as having a realistic outlook helps us make better trading decisions.
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Friday, February 07, 2014
Post-Lehman Financial Crisis Era Coming to an End / Politics / Credit Crisis 2014
By: Alasdair_Macleod
When Lehman collapsed in 2008, the world stopped while the Fed implemented its plan to rescue America's banks and the world's financial system. This was achieved by making unlimited money available to the banks, and the stimulus has continued subsequently through quantitative easing. The post-Lehman era has therefore been one of unprecedented and coincidental expansion of narrowly defined money supply in all five major currencies, the fifth being the Chinese renminbi which has seen additional expansion of bank credit as well.
Friday, February 07, 2014
How Central Banks Cause Income Inequality / Politics / Central Banks
By: Frank_Hollenbeck
The gap between the rich and poor continues to grow. The wealthiest 1 percent held 8 percent of the economic pie in 1975 but now hold over 20 percent. This is a striking change from the 1950s and 1960s when their share of all incomes was slightly over 10 percent. A study by Emmanuel Saez found that between 2009 and 2012 the real incomes of the top 1 percent jumped 31.4 percent. The richest 10 percent now receive 50.5 percent of all incomes, the largest share since data was first recorded in 1917. The wealthiest are becoming disproportionally wealthier at an ever increasing rate.
Friday, February 07, 2014
Farm Bill 2014: The Food Insecurity Bill / Politics / Food Crisis
By: Michael_T_Bucci
As part of a package of agricultural legislation, Congress and the President have passed what should be called "the food insecurity bill" that will cut $8.7 billion in food assistance (SNAP or food stamps) over the next decade. The bill will cause an estimated 850,000 low-income households in sixteen states (including Maine) to lose an average $90 in monthly benefits, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, following an approximately $11 billion cut to SNAP benefits on November 1 of last year. Since 2007 and the beginning of the Great Recession, food stamp enrollment has surged from about 26.3 million people to 47.6 million last year, according to Agriculture Department figures.
Wednesday, February 05, 2014
No Bid Government Contracts / Politics / Government Spending
By: BATR
Corporatocracy is distinctly the dominate practice when it comes to doing business with the federal government. The once embryonic relationships between favored companies and agency bureaucrats, have germinated into distinctive hybrid organisms. Grafting into self-generating species resistant and virtually immune from pest control methods can be found in every area of government expenditures. The big daddy of cozy dealing is that preverbal military-industrial-security complex.
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
Ben Bernanke’s Legacy: A Weak and Mediocre U.S. Economy / Politics / US Federal Reserve Bank
By: MISES
John P. Cochran writes: As Chairman Bernanke’s reign at the Fed comes to an end, the Wall Street Journal provides its assessment of “The Bernanke Legacy.” Overall the Journal does a reasonable job on both Greenspan and Bernanke, especially compared to the “effusive praise from the usual suspects; supporters of monetary central planning. The Journal argues when accessing Bernanke’s performance it is appropriate to review Bernanke’s performance “before, during, and after the financial panic.”
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
How Obama Destroyed National Security and Made Uranium Investors a Fortune / Politics / Uranium
By: Marin_Katusa
With Valentine's Day coming up fast and furious, I wanted to take a moment to give heartfelt thanks to one of my personal heroes this year—the man who single-handedly destroyed US national security and will give smart uranium investors a lot to be grateful for in the coming months. This letter is addressed to him.
Dear President Obama (may I call you Barry?),
I'm writing this letter to you in sincere appreciation and heartfelt gratitude for your achievements regarding national security and the uranium sector.
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Tuesday, February 04, 2014
Pension Promises Go Unfulfilled / Politics / Pensions & Retirement
By: Don_Miller
I don't know which is worse: realizing you cannot keep a promise you made to someone important to you, or being the person who relied on the promise when you grasp that it is not going to be kept.
In 1973, I was 33 years old and just starting a public-speaking career. The National Speakers Association asked me to join, and I became a charter member. Our first president, the late Bill Gove, was a terrific speaker and also a great salesman—one of the top life insurance salesmen in the country for many years.
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Tuesday, February 04, 2014
A More Assertive German Foreign Policy / Politics / Germany
By: STRATFOR
By George Friedman and Marc Lanthemann: The Ukrainian crisis is important in itself, but the behavior it has elicited from Germany is perhaps more important. Berlin directly challenged Ukraine's elected president for refusing to tighten relations with the European Union and for mistreating Ukrainians who protested his decision. In challenging President Viktor Yanukovich, Berlin also challenged Russia, a reflection of Germany's recent brazen foreign policy.
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
Government Schools Common Core Indoctrination / Politics / Education
By: BATR
Over the last half century, the public school establishment in America has achieved enormous results, if the intention was to dumb down the population. The term public is archaic, since the current age promotes an internationalist interdependency culture, where the state defines institutional roles and sanctions accepted standards. The public plays virtually no effective role in this process. For this reason the proper term to use is government indoctrination centers. Bringing back the McGuffey Readers as the alternative to the state syllabus of common core is a step in the right direction.Our Dysfunctional Public Education Is No Accident essay lays out the correct standard.
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
Harvard Economist Pulling His Money From Bank Of America / Politics / Credit Crisis 2014
By: EWI
An excerpt from a new article by Terry Burnham, a former Harvard economics professor.
EWI's president Bob Prechter has been warning about the safety of the U.S. banking system for a while.
Enjoy this excerpt from a new article by Terry Burnham, a former Harvard economics professor, author of "Mean Genes" and "Mean Markets and Lizard Brains", who spoke at last year's Socionomics Summit in Atlanta.
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Monday, February 03, 2014
Behavioral Economics and Irrational Voters / Politics / Social Issues
By: MISES
Julian Adorney writes: The rise of behavioral economics has long been seen by statists as a body blow to libertarianism. By arguing that people are irrational consumers who are easily manipulated, behavioral economics seems to argue for state intervention to save us from ourselves. In his best-seller Predictably Irrational, behavioral economist Dan Ariely claims that irrational consumers invalidate arguments in favor of the free market, namely those that ague that free consumer choice leads to the most efficient and productive economy. Since consumers are irrational, Ariely claims, we need the government to step in and regulate the economy.
Monday, February 03, 2014
Inside the Bankster Settlements: Where All the Money Is Going / Politics / Banksters
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes: Everyone wants to know where the billions of dollars big banks have forked over to bank regulators, the SEC, the CFTC, the FERC, and the Department of Justice ends up.
But, before I can tell you who's paid out what, the infractions they committed, and where that money ends up, I want to give you information that's critical in assessing your bank and your investments...
Just who is it that's looking out for your money?
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Monday, February 03, 2014
The Real State of the Union / Politics / US Economy
By: Andy_Sutton
Before anyone gets all bent out of shape, this is NOT going to be a political essay. To restate my position on the issue of politics, I couldn’t care less what group or party anyone belongs to, but rather, about how they do the job they were entrusted with doing. In my lifetime we’ve had but a few lawmakers who truly did their jobs with the trust and stewardship of their constituents in mind. That group grows fewer as we egress from the former America into this brave new world of offshoring, economic microcephalism, and blatant malfeasance.
Monday, February 03, 2014
Ron Paul on America's and the Continuing Al-Qaeda Threat / Politics / Al-Qeeda
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Appearing last week before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified that he could not say the threat from al-Qaeda is any less today than it was ten years ago. It was a shocking admission. Does he mean that the trillions of dollars spent fighting the war on terrorism have resulted in no gains? That those who urged us to give up some of our liberties to gain security have, as Benjamin Franklin warned, lost both?
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Sunday, February 02, 2014
Who Wants Ukraine? / Politics / Eastern Europe
By: Andrew_McKillop
Stalin and Krushchev Wanted Ukraine
For most Europeans, Ukraine is a gas transport corridor for bringing overpriced Russian gas to Europe and Ukraine either overcharges Gazprom for gas transit fees, or does not pay Gazprom for the gas it takes for national consumption. This Russian-Ukrainian gas game occasionally tips into gas embargoes hitting consumers further down the line. As a geopolitical bargaining chip, conversely, Ukraine had considerable import and weight during the Cold War period which ended in 1989-91. Russia relatively quickly withdrew “nearly all” its nuclear-tipped missiles, atomic warheads and nuclear military equipment and component inventories from Ukraine, in the 1990s.
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Sunday, February 02, 2014
Israel’s Secret Nuclear Weapons Program / Politics / Israel
By: Stephen_Lendman
It’s an open secret. It’s been known for years. Mainstream media suppress it. They pretend none exists.
It’s real. It’s menacing. Imagine ignoring what threatens humanity. Imagine pretending Iran’s peaceful nuclear program does so. Imagine risking regional or global war by doing it.
London’s Guardian is an establishment broadsheet. It’s usually conformist. Once in a while it’s not.
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