Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends

The analysis published under this topic are as follows.

Sunday, December 09, 2012

Doha Climate Talks: End Of An Expensive Sideshow / Politics / Climate Change

By: Andrew_McKillop

SETTING THE TONE
Playing the impatient master of ceremonies tired with the behaviour of delegates late in the night of 7 December, the Doha climate conference's director, Qatar's vice-PM and member of the al-Attiya "family firm" which runs the mini-emirate with maxi-gas resources, Abdullah al-Attiya, thumped his fists on the table. He then ran a video clip to the music track of the World War II Italian left-wing and communist resistance song "Bella Ciao". Some musicologists say this song is in fact only the Yiddish swing music number "Koilen", first written and played in 1919 by Mishka Ziganoff.

Sunday, December 09, 2012

America’s National Security Vulnerabilities / Politics / US Politics

By: Submissions

Raymond Matison writes: Article I, Section 7 of our Constitution states that “Congress shall … provide for the general Defence …”.  At its root, our national security requires for Armed Forces to keep the United States from being invaded by foreign military forces that would harm America and its citizens.  According to Wikipedia, the “objective of National Security Strategy is to create a stable situation in the world”.  Admittedly, this is a very broad concept in relation to just providing for general defense.  Therefore, the very term national security has a meaning that changes with the preferences of the president and other elected and appointed officials then in office.  It follows also from this definition that America’s involvement in the affairs of other sovereign countries in the world is dependent on the perceived level of stability sought by the then leaders in charge.  Finally, this definition implies that for the purposes of our National Security Strategy, we will take unilateral actions that may be contrary to the interests and desires of other sovereign nations. 

Sunday, December 09, 2012

46 Trillion Reasons To Evolve Society Right Now / Politics / Social Issues

By: David_DeGraw

Due to technological advancements,over the past 35 years there has been an explosion in production, distribution, profits and wealth creation. Most of that wealth increase has gone to only one-hundredth of one percent of the population, to the modern day aristocracy. In the United States, the 400 richest people now have as much wealth as 185 million people combined, nearly 60% of the entire population. US millionaire households have at least $46 trillion in wealth, yet only one-tenth of one percent of the population makes one million dollars a year.

Sunday, December 09, 2012

The New Serfdom, Lord Obama Owns You / Politics / US Politics

By: LewRockwell

Anne Wortham writes: In President Obama's much-discussed speech in Roanoke, Virginia, among his remarks on the source of success was his assertion that

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business – you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.[1]

Sunday, December 09, 2012

The Federal Reserve Is Socialism's Insidious Tool / Politics / Central Banks

By: Money_Morning

Shah Gilani writes: If you think for one second that the Federal Reserve System is a Godsend that backstops America's banks and our economy in times of trouble, you'd be right for that one second.

But if you take any time to learn how the Fed really works and in whose interest they operate, you'd make yourself sick for a long, long time.

Saturday, December 08, 2012

2012 Doomsday Psychology, Millions of Chinese, Russians and Americans Believe the End of the World Is Nigh / Politics / Social Issues

By: DK_Matai

Panic buying of candles and essentials has accelerated not only in China and Russia, but there has been a simultaneous explosion in the sale of survival equipment, food, fuel and emergency shelters in America in preparation for the Mayan calendar's long count deadline:  December 21st, 2012.  The precise mechanism for the Armageddon to manifest remains vague, ranging from:

Saturday, December 08, 2012

U.S. Looming Pensions Crisis: State Budgets Soon to Be Under Siege / Politics / Pensions & Retirement

By: John_Mauldin

In 2003, I was writing about the unfunded liabilities of state and local pensions. It was part of Bull’s Eye Investing, which came out in 2004. I caught some flak for being so pessimistic about the potential problems. Quoting:

Unless steps are taken soon, it is possible we can see shortfalls approaching $1 trillion–$2 trillion in state-sponsored pension funds within 10 years. A deficit of this size on the state level can truly be called a crisis. A tax increase or other adjustments to fund this will be a large drag on the economy.

Saturday, December 08, 2012

Identity Politics and Political Correctness / Politics / US Politics

By: Casey_Research

L: Doug, I hear that a friend of yours, Indian activist Russell Means, has passed away. He was an unusual and interesting character. Are you up to talking about it?

Doug: Yes. You know, I've gotten into the habit of doing obituaries in recent years in The Casey Report – but generally of people I don't like. I know that's considered improper, because you're not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but –

Friday, December 07, 2012

IMF Capital Controls Danger for Emerging Market Investors / Politics / Emerging Markets

By: Money_Morning

Martin Hutchinson writes: The IMF is up to no good again.

On Monday they released a new report on international capital flows which relaxed its opposition to exchange controls.

Friday, December 07, 2012

Fiscal Cliff Means 50% Tax Rates for the Middle Class / Politics / Taxes

By: Money_Morning

Keith Fitz-Gerald writes: If I didn't know any better, I'd think there's a small but growing group of people in Washington who think it would actually be good if we temporarily went over the fiscal cliff.

I say that because I am seeing a smattering of articles recently suggesting that somehow going over the cliff "won't be all that bad" or that we're "really just talking about cuts that need to happen in the first place."

Friday, December 07, 2012

Starbucks £23 Million Tax Dodge Facts, Offers £10 million Donation per year for 2 years / Politics / Taxes

By: Nadeem_Walayat

Starbucks is feeling the heat as the general public is seeing through the smoke and mirrors of its publicity machine's assertions that it effectively makes no profits in the UK when the reality is that Starbucks for well over a decade has been transferring its profits abroad to the likes of the Bermuda tax haven and instead reporting losses, giving it an unfair advantage over smaller competing UK coffee houses who do pay an infinitely greater amount of tax on profits.

Thursday, December 06, 2012

Are American's Having Enough Babies to Stop Turning Japanese? / Politics / Demographics

By: Money_Morning

Keith Fitz-Gerald writes: A new study by The Pew Research Center shows that the birth rate in the United States has dropped to the lowest level since 1920, when reliable statistics were first made available.

The birth rate dropped precipitously last year to only 63.2 per 1,000 women of childbearing age (which is defined as 15 to 44 years of age). That is half of what it was in 1957 at its peak.

Thursday, December 06, 2012

The Battle for Damascus, Assad's Last Stand / Politics / Syria

By: STRATFOR

The battle for Damascus is raging with increasing intensity while rebels continue to make substantial advances in Syria's north and east. Every new air base, city or town that falls to the rebels further underlines that Bashar al Assad's writ over the country is shrinking. It is no longer possible to accurately depict al Assad as the ruler of Syria. At this point, he is merely the head of a large and powerful armed force, albeit one that still controls a significant portion of the country.

Thursday, December 06, 2012

Neoliberal Terror / Politics / US Politics

By: Andrew_McKillop

What is neoliberal terror? In a recent on-line article ('Hurricane Sandy in the Age of Disposability and Neoliberal Terror') Henry Giroux claimed that firstly hurricane Katrina, then hurricane Sandy imprinted their "haunting images of the abandoned, desperate and vulnerable", "and for a moment imposed themselves on the collective conscience of Americans".

Thursday, December 06, 2012

Is the U.S. Fiscal Cliff the Result of Psychopath Leaders? / Politics / US Politics

By: Brian_Bloom

In the early hours of this morning – at 3:00 am to be precise – I was lying in bed thinking about how the world got to this point in its history, and I started thinking about the synchronicity of the French Revolution, the American Revolution and the Industrial revolution that began to emerge in England.

“Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” were all about human rights – the right to be given equal opportunity to apply one’s skills without living under a crippling tax burden under the French King Louis XVI. Quote from Wikipedia: “Amidst a fiscal crisis [1789] , the common people of France were increasingly angered by the incompetency of King Louis XVI and the continued indifference and decadence of the nobility.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution )

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Is U.S. State Secession a Right? / Politics / US Politics

By: David_Gordon

Grant defeated Lee, the Confederacy crumbled, and the idea of secession disappeared forever, or at least that's what the conventional wisdom says. Secession is no historical irrelevance. Quite the contrary, the topic is integral to classical liberalism. Indeed, the right of secession follows at once from the basic rights defended by classical liberalism. As even Macaulay's schoolboy knows, classical liberalism begins with the principle of self-ownership: each person is the rightful owner of his or her own body. Together with this right, according to classical liberals from Locke to Rothbard, goes the right to appropriate unowned property.

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

California Dreaming: Bankruptcy, Pensions and Taxes / Politics / US Debt

By: BATR

The California Public Employees' Retirement System lives in the rarified air where financial magic somehow materializes to pay for their irrational exuberant pensions. When the drug high is over, the real world requires a harsh penalty for ebullient irresponsibility. The Chicago Tribune reports:

"San Bernardino, a city of 210,000 about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, filed for bankruptcy protection on August 1. Since then, it has halted its bi-weekly, $1.2 million payment to Calpers, saying it wants to defer any payments to the fund until fiscal year 2013-2014. Calpers says the city is already $6.9 million in arrears since August 1.

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

CIA and Pentagon Fusion Revolutionizes Modern US Covert Action Complex / Politics / US Politics

By: Jeff_Berwick

Justin O’Connell writes: The Pentagon will expand its spy network over five years to rival the CIA in size, according to US officials, as it constructs the thus far classified Defense Clandestine Service or DCS. The project will “transform” the Defense Intelligence Agency from a Cold War, multiple-war agency to include increased operations against Islamists in Africa, North Korea-Iran weapons transfers, and Chinese military modernization that is now underway. Once completed, the DIA will have approximately 1,600 so-called “collectors” the world over who will be “closely aligned” with the CIA and elite military commando units. As the Washington Post notes, “an unprecedented total for an agency whose presence abroad numbered in the triple digits in recent years.”

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Obama Tells Goldman Fiscal Cliff Deal is Just a Matter of Maths / Politics / US Politics

By: Bloomberg

Bloomberg TV's Julianna Goldman spoke with President Obama today to discuss the fiscal cliff and his efforts to compromise with Republican leaders. In a lengthy interview in the Map Room of the White House, President Obama told Goldman that he is willing to make further cuts in entitlements, but insists that Republicans accept higher tax rates for top earners in the US. "It's just a matter of math."

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Ukraine Crushed in $1.1bn Fake Russian Natural Gas Deal / Politics / Natural Gas

By: OilPrice_Com

Certainly the folks at Gazprom are having a good snicker, reveling in the mockery that has been made of what should have been a landmark Ukraine-Spain gas deal that would have loosened Russia's gas grip on Kiev.

Everyone wondered how Russia would respond to Ukraine's attempt at gas independence. But this is what happens when you mess with Gazprom.