Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Obama Administration Drops Criminal Investigation of Goldman Sachs / Politics / Banksters
By: Barry_Grey
The US Justice Department announced Thursday evening it was ending a one-year criminal investigation and would not file charges against the giant Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs or any of its employees.
In April 2011, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a voluminous report on the role of major banks, federal regulators and credit rating firms in the collapse of the subprime mortgage market and ensuing financial crash of September 2008.
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Saturday, August 11, 2012
London 2012 and The Real Ancient Olympic Games Gold Medal Winners / Politics / Social Issues
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Whilst virtually everyone is aware that the Olympics are an ancient Greek sporting festival, however many people may not know is that the Olympics were a religious festival held in the honour of the king of the gods, Zeus, held every 4 years that continued for over 1,100 years and which was focused on 10 main events (men only) held over a 4 day period.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
London Loses Money on the Olympics / Politics / UK Politics
By: Pravda
The Olympics in London turned into a loss for many segments of the urban business. The Games attracted not as many fans as expected and scared away thousands of "non-sporting" tourists on whose money the Londoners counted. Hoteliers, retailers, as well as numerous museums and other cultural institutions have suffered losses.
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Saturday, August 11, 2012
The Seductive Promises of Counterfeit CULTures / Politics / Social Issues
By: Ashvin_Pandurangi
The word "counterfeit" is defined as "an imitation intended to be passed off fraudulently or deceptively as genuine". Some counterfeits are bad and easily detectable, while others are very convincing. I would argue that the structures of modern society have evolved into almost indistinguishable counterfeits. Of course, in terms of the economic and political cultures of human societies, there must be a genuine model encompassing virtuous qualities of humanity for there to be a counterfeit of that model. So what is the genuine model?
Saturday, August 11, 2012
NASA Sends a Golf Cart to Mars / Politics / US Politics
By: LewRockwell
Bernard Grover writes: All the hype and hyperbole surrounding the Curiosity rover landing on Mars is really quite humorous. Terms like "biggest", "best", "most ambitious", and "powerful" have been landing with thuds as resounding as the rover itself. Frankly, it all calls for a little reality check, which we love to do around here.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Crackpot Economists Don't Know How to End the Fed / Politics / Central Banks
By: Gary_North
It would be very easy to end the Federal Reserve System. Congress would write the following bill. The President would sign it.
- The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and all subsequent amendments to that Act are hereby revoked.
- The gold that belongs to the United States government, and which is kept on deposit with the Federal Reserve System, is hereby transferred to account of the United States Treasury.
Friday, August 10, 2012
President Obama in January 2009 and Now / Politics / US Politics
By: Ian_R_Campbell
Why Read: To test the contemporaneous views I expressed four years ago, to observe similarities and differences then and now, and to determine if you agree with my current views.
Friday, August 10, 2012
The Decline of Empire: 'Why America Failed' / Politics / US Politics
By: Jesse
To say that Morris Berman has a 'dark vision' to share is an understatement.
I think his view is legitimate, but only if you look at one somewhat narrow aspect of the American character, and ignore all the rest. It seems to be singularly focused to the point of distortion by a depressive fatalism.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Eurodystopia: A Future Divided / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Raul_I_Meijer
Just about everyone will recognize the family name. Fewer will be familiar with the man behind it. But Alfred (Freddy) Heineken was an interesting man regardless. Starting in 1941, he took over the family firm founded by his grandfather, bought back shares and never looked back. Freddy built the Heineken brand into one of the best marketed ones in the world for any product, and today, 10 years after his death, it is still in the very top of world breweries.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Reality Check - U.S. Supporting Al-Qaeda in Syria, Did the CIA Create Al-Qaeda? / Politics / Al-Qeeda
By: Videos
Ben Swann of Cincinnati's local Fox station goes where the MSM would neither dare nor understand. In this 'Reality Check' segment he takes a look at how the US government created Al Qaeda. Indeed, in today's Middle East turmoil it's fighting Al Qaeda in some countries while supporting them in others. Take note of Hillary's confirmation and explanation of how that all started.
Thursday, August 09, 2012
The Dispossessed Majority / Politics / Social Issues
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
The bumper sticker on the beat-up pickup truck read: “Friends don’t let friends vote Democrat.”
The driver was obviously not affluent. Yet, despite all the news about mega-trillion dollar bankster bailouts, mega-million dollar bonuses for financial crooks, and unimaginable compensation packages for corporate CEOs who have moved middle class jobs out of America, something made the down-and-out pickup truck driver associate with the political party of the super-rich.
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Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Lawyers and Banks Offer Full Range of Criminal Services to the Elite / Politics / Banksters
By: Jesse
There is a two-tiered system of rules, with Liberty and Justice for some.
If you knew how routinely it is marketed, and understood the full extent of it, you would be surprised and angry at the cynical injustice of those who consider that only the 'little people' should bear the burdens for their country and the consequences of their actions.
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Central Bankers, The Not So Super Hero's / Politics / Central Banks
By: Peter_Schiff
The past week provided clear lessons not just in how central bankers have a limited ability to positively influence the economy but also how they are limited in their capacity to deliver the shortsighted policy actions that investors currently crave. The developments should provide new reasons for investors and economy watchers to abandon their faith in central bankers as super heroes capable of saving the economy.
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Bernanke’s Pursuit of Happiness / Politics / Central Banks
By: Jan_Skoyles
Yesterday Bernanke, in a pre-recorded speech to a conference in Cambridge, MA, extolled the virtues of happiness economics.
Let’s be honest, there was little point in him singing the praises of his own area of economics, that’s fallen flat on its face.
Across the developed world the damages from the fiat money system become greater every day. Governments and central bankers are the ones to thanks for widening levels of poverty and inequality. The majority of our daily lives are affected by decisions made from us drawn from economic studies and statistics. But now the most sacred thing to all of us – our happiness – is something the most powerful government on earth would like to get their hands on.
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Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Euro to Beat U.S. Dollar? Draghi’s Genius / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Axel_Merk
Investors have not woken up to it, but last week may have been a game changer. European Central Bank (ECB) President Draghi took tail risks out of the Eurozone, while at the same time forcing closer fiscal integration. He did it all while keeping the ECB out of some political minefields. It's pure genius. The initial market reaction suggested he might have lost a battle, not realizing that he is winning the war.
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Ron Paul - U.S. Moving Towards War in Syria / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Last week the House passed yet another bill placing sanctions on Iran and Syria, bringing us closer to another war in the Middle East. We are told that ever harsher sanctions finally will force the targeted nations to bend to our will. Yet the ineffectiveness of previous sanctions teaches us nothing; in truth sanctions lead to war more than they prevent war.
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Monday, August 06, 2012
Mario Draghi Distracts Investors With Just Promises To Save the Euro / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: John_Browne
In the last week of July, ECB President Mario Draghi attracted investor interest worldwide by saying that he would do "whatever it takes" to solve the Eurozone crisis and, in the process, save the euro. Markets rallied as investors concluded that Mr. Draghi could only be referring to the financial heroine of quantitative easing (QE) and the transfer of toxic Eurozone sovereign debt assets from troubled private banks to EU taxpayers. This mini rally built on momentum that had previously been fueled by belief that Fed Chairman Bernanke would imminently announce a further round of QE in the United States.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, August 06, 2012
Obamacare Hidden Taxes Will Cost You More Than You Think / Politics / US Politics
By: Money_Morning
David Zeiler writes:
The bill for Obamacare is on its way, and guess what? It's addressed to you.
You see, all those great benefits included in the Affordable Care Act don't come cheap, which is why the new healthcare law includes a barrage of new "Obamacare taxes."
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Monday, August 06, 2012
U.S. China Conflict, We're Not Saber Rattling, We're Simply Connecting the Dots / Politics / New Cold War
By: Money_Morning
William Patalon III writes:
I love it when our readers take the time to drop us a note. It's tells me they're not only reading but actually care enough to be engaged.
A Money Morning subscriber named Peter M. is one of those folks.
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Monday, August 06, 2012
U.S. Says Iran Violates International Obligations, What Are International Obligations? / Politics / US Politics
By: Danny_Schechter
What are “international obligations? Does the United States have to uphold them along with other counties? Does Washington even know they are defined as “obligations owed by states to the international community as a whole, intended to protect and promote the basic values and common interests of all.” By this very definition, no one state can decide what’s best for all.
When the United States stepped up its sanctions on Iran last past week, it cited Iran’s failure to adhere to its “international obligations.” There was, of course, no reference to domestic politics where President Obama, under attack from adversary Mitt Romney, criticized his failure to stop Iran’s nuclear program.
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