Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Sunday, January 06, 2013
Ponzi Finance - Ponzi Wealth / Politics / Banksters
WHAT GOES UP, GOES DOWN
Offically released on Jan 1, 2013 the Boston Consulting Group's "shock report" by Daniel Stelter and his colleagus on what 3 decades of Ponzi finance has done to real wealth in the developed-OECD group of countries has been available since mid-December but not widely commented. The title says it all: "Ending the Era of Ponzi Finance"
Sunday, January 06, 2013
Ron Paul on Fiscal Cliff Deal Hypocrite Republicans / Politics / US Politics
Here is a post on Facebook a couple days ago that is worth a read in entirety. I will post the entire article along with a few thoughts.
We Are Already Over the Fiscal Cliff by Ron Paul
Read full article... Read full article...Despite claims that the Administration and Congress saved America from the fiscal cliff with an early morning vote today, the fact is that government spending has already pushed Americans over the cliff. Only serious reductions in federal spending will stop the cliff dive from ending in a crash landing, yet the events of this past month show that most elected officials remain committed to expanding the welfare-warfare state.
Sunday, January 06, 2013
The Mayans Have Competition, Mutant War Future / Politics / Social Issues
Mayans believed that robot-like warriors, linked to their alphabet soup of sombre and deadly gods with names like Yum Cimil and Ah Puke (sic), were prowling on dark nights and inauspicious days: about 9 out of 10 days and nights, that is. In the USA of today, bionic warfare is rapidly emerging from the shadows of the imagination and with it, the fear of robot soldiers. Under a gripping photo of a US Army soldier testing the Lockheed Martin HULCE or HUman Load Carrier Exoskeleton, 'Wired Magazine', on January 1st, told its readers they have a mutant future coming - defined as a robot military future.
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Saturday, January 05, 2013
Rick Santelli Is Right, the Democrats are the Lunatics! / Politics / Government Spending
Today on CNBC during the coverage of the monthly employment report, Rick Santelli pointed out that there is some absurdity in calling the Republicans “lunatics” when they are the only responsible voice in Washington right now trying to call attention to the out of control government spending in the overall context of an unsustainable federal deficit while the Democrats are running the country into the ground with even additional spending programs that the government has to borrow more money to fund.
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Friday, January 04, 2013
U.S. Treasury Bond Market's Last Pillar Crumbles / Politics / US Bonds
With the return of Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party to power in Japan, the market for US Treasuries may be losing its last external pillar of support. Re-elected on September 26th, Abe has quickly set a course for limitless inflation, saying Japan must "free itself from deflation and the strong yen." This is significant to the global economy as Japan is the largest foreign power left with a strong appetite for US Treasuries. If this demand falters, the Fed may be the only remaining buyer of new Treasury issuance.
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Friday, January 04, 2013
Congress Avoids the Fiscal Cliff by Selling Us Down the River / Politics / US Politics
With the possible exception of the New York Times' editorial board (and the cast of The Jersey Shore), everyone on the planet understood that the United States Government needs to cut spending, increase taxes, or both. Instead, after months of political posturing and hand wringing, the Federal Government has just delivered the exact opposite, a deal that increases spending and decreases taxes. The move lays bare the emptiness of budget legislation, which can be dismantled far easier than it can be constructed.
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Thursday, January 03, 2013
Cold Hard Truth About the Fiscal Cliff Deal / Politics / US Debt
Martin Hutchinson writes: In the end, a last-minute deal emerged. Just like that, the fiscal cliff crisis was averted.
In the waning hours of New Year's Day, Congress voted to avoid a large package of tax increases, along with some modest spending cuts.
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Thursday, January 03, 2013
Europe 2013 - A Year of Decision / Politics / European Union
The end of the year always prompts questions about what the most important issue of the next year may be. It's a simplistic question, since every year sees many things happen and for each of us a different one might be important. But it is still worth considering what single issue could cause the world to change course. In my view, the most important place to watch in 2013 is Europe.
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Thursday, January 03, 2013
Fiscal Cliff Averted, But Debt Ceiling Looms / Politics / US Debt
Happy new year to all!
We host an open house each January 1. Breakfast is served starting at 9, lunch at 1, and cauldrons of homemade soup at 5:30. By 8, hopefully, the assembled multitude is hale, hearty, and ready to live up to their New Year’s resolutions.
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Wednesday, January 02, 2013
Fiscal Cliff Deal Averts Disaster… But Now What? / Politics / Taxes
Keith Fitz-Gerald writes: [Singapore] - It's late Tuesday evening and I'm about to go on air with CNBC Asia in Singapore regarding the impact of the Fiscal Cliff bill which passed minutes ago after Republican leaders decided not to try and tack on amendments nor engage in further bickering.
Passed by a 257 to 167 vote, the bill is now headed to the White House and a draft may even be on the President's desk by the time you read this.
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Wednesday, January 02, 2013
Obedience To Authority, Should We Trust The Government? / Politics / Propaganda
Mother, do you think they'll drop the bomb?
Mother, do you think they'll like this song?
Mother, do you think they'll try to break my balls?
Ooh ah,
Mother, should I build the wall?
Mother, should I run for president?
Mother, should I trust the government?
Mother, will they put me in the firing line?
Ooh ah,
Is it just a waste of time?
Pink Floyd - Mother
The lyrics to Mother had both a literal and figurative meaning for Roger Waters. He was literally describing his overprotective single mother (his father was killed in World War II) building walls to protect him from the outside world. The figurative meaning is Big Mother sending its boys off to war and using fear to control and manipulate the masses. At the time he wrote this song in 1979, the Soviet Union was thought to be at its peak of power and the Berlin Wall represented a boundary between good and evil. Nuclear war was still a looming fear. Waters has always had a dim view of totalitarian states and institutions (English schools). Having seen his Wall Tour performance this past summer at Citizens Bank Park with a diverse crowd of 40,000, ranging in age from senior citizens to teenagers, it seems this song has gained new meaning. He sang a duet with himself from 1980 projected on the Wall and when he sang the lyric, “Mother, should I trust the government?” the entire stadium responded in unison – NO!!! This revealed a truth that is not permitted to be discussed by the corporate mainstream media acting as a mouthpiece for the ruling class. A growing legion of citizens in this country does not trust the government. This is very perceptive on their part. ily:'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; ">
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Wednesday, January 02, 2013
Fiscal Cliff Deal and the U.S. Economy Swan Dive of 2013 / Politics / US Economy
Hold your breath, the race to the bottom is ready to escalate. The consequence of the corporate consumerism economy has reached the tipping point. The old rules that mainstream spending will dig the way back to prosperity are permanently dead. The one sure implication that is indisputable is that taxes are set to rise at unprecedented levels. With Obamacare revenue obligations coming into effect, the latest phase of centralized medical socialism spreads like a virus. Under such circumstances, how can the patient regain their health?
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Wednesday, January 02, 2013
Gerard Depardieu Escapes Envy-driven, Socialist French 75% Tax / Politics / Taxes
When Socialist President Francois Hollande took office, he swiftly made good on his pledge to raise the top tax rate on Frenchmen who earn a million euros a year – to 75 percent.
The regime would now confiscate three of four dollars that the most successful Frenchmen earned. Paris also imposes a wealth tax on assets worth more than $1.7 million.
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Wednesday, January 02, 2013
Limits to Economic Growth, Humanity Is Still on the Way to Destroying Itself / Politics / Social Issues
Quote Of The Year. And The Next. I came upon this quote a few weeks ago in an interview that Der Spiegel had with Dennis Meadows, co-author of the Limits to Growth report published by the Club of Rome 40 years ago. Yes, the report that has been much maligned and later largely rehabilitated. But that's not my topic here, and neither is Meadows himself. It's the quote, and it pretty much hasn’t left me alone since I read it.
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
Politicians - Egocentricism vs Social Conscience / Politics / Social Issues
Most politicians will tell you the reason they entered politics was that they saw an opportunity to make a difference in the way their constituency was being run. The evidence suggests otherwise. In short, the evidence suggests that politicians are, by and large, egocentric, megalomaniacal and some may even be categorized as psychopaths (in the medical sense as opposed to the horror movie sense – see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSDIT55KeKc ).
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Tuesday, January 01, 2013
The Global Warming Circus, Not It's Called Global Weirding / Politics / Climate Change
ITS THE CLIMATE, STUPID
The art, not science of global warming has turned and twisted a lot since its early-2000's heydays during which the most outrageous charlatanism could bring big conference and meeting cash payoffs for stars of Climate Doom, such as Al Gore, James Lovelock, James Hansen and a gaggle of small-time hopefuls playing the same music, such as 'Whole Earth Catalog' inventor Stewart Brand. Oh yes, this was an epochal challenge for Humanity and we have to spend. Buy my latest book!
Monday, December 31, 2012
New Years Resolution​To Restore the West / Politics / Social Issues
By any political, cultural or economic measure the nations of the West are in total decline. The historic virtues of hard work, free-market thinking and a common cultural integrity as well as religious and historical principles are gone. They have been subverted and replaced by an emphasis on rampant materialism and a consumer driven society that exceeds 70 percent of GNP in addition to private and public debt. Furthermore, a kind of parasitism has laid claim to Western culture by which sports stars, politicians, media darlings and financial scam artists get recognition and exorbitant incomes while real workers find their incomes falling and promised benefits curtailed.
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Monday, December 31, 2012
Ron Paul's New Year's Resolutions for Congress / Politics / US Politics
to consider. For the sake of liberty, peace, and prosperity I certainly hope more members of Congress consider the strict libertarian constitutional approach to government in 2013.
In just a few days, Congress will solemnly swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic. They should reread Article 1 Section 8 and the Bill of Rights before taking such a serious oath. Most legislation violates key provisions of the Constitution in very basic ways, and if members can't bring themselves to say no in the face of pressure from special interests, they have broken trust with their constituents and violated their oaths. Congress does not exist to serve special interests, it exists to protect the rule of law.
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Monday, December 31, 2012
Another Genius Mortgage Idea From Washington That Is Going to Cost You / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
Shah Gilani writes: Now here's another good idea from the geniuses that ruin, I mean run, our country.
The Obamarama administration really wants to help homeowners whose homes aren't worth what they borrowed to buy them. In other words, they are "underwater."
A lot of the loans to homeowners that are underwater are owned outright or, at a minimum, insured (more often both) by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored (which means taxpayer saddled) enterprises that the government had to take over when in 2008 they lost on their trillion-dollar bets that home prices would go up forever. Geniuses!
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Monday, December 31, 2012
Preppers, Patriots and Pirates / Politics / US Politics
Now that the prospects of a second Obama administration are hitting home, the pace of a rapid deterioration are confronting all thinking Americans. The radical transformation that is centrally planned for the economy and authoritarianism administrated by the statists that are part of the most tyrannical regime in memory, is taking place before our eyes. Falling off the cliff is more like descending into the abyss of martial law contrived to eliminate the last remnants of independent citizens. Advocating for civil liberties is treated as a criminal act and the gun culture is looked upon as the preview of a terrorist cell.
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