Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
U.S. Iraq Withdrawal Limited Options / Politics / Iraq War
By: STRATFOR
It is August 2010, which is the month when the last U.S. combat troops are scheduled to leave Iraq. It is therefore time to take stock of the situation in Iraq, which has changed places with Afghanistan as the forgotten war. This is all the more important since 50,000 troops will remain in Iraq, and while they may not be considered combat troops, a great deal of combat power remains embedded with them. So we are far from the end of the war in Iraq. The question is whether the departure of the last combat units is a significant milestone and, if it is, what it signifies.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, August 16, 2010
Ron Paul on Washington's Idea of Fiscal Restraint / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
It has been months now since the new healthcare reform bill was passed into law. As is so typical, this massive piece of legislation was passed with a sense of urgency so acute that leadership declared America could not afford to wait until legislators, their staff and the general public had time to thoroughly read the bill.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, August 16, 2010
How can the U.S. Win the Afghan War By Killing Mainly Civilians? / Politics / Afghanistan
By: Pravda
The war in Afghanistan brings increasingly more losses, both for the soldiers of the international coalition, and for the civilian population.
In July, 45 soldiers from the international contingent, 33 of them Americans, have been killed in Afghanistan. In June, the loss amounted to 100 people, the worst month for 9 years of war. “We are experiencing the most difficult moment in the war,” Brigadier General Joseph Blotts, a representative of ISAF forces, said at a press conference.
Monday, August 16, 2010
U.S. Military is America's Only Major Jobs Program / Politics / Employment
By: Global_Research
Robert Reich writes: Over 1,400,000 Americans are now on active duty; another 833,000 are in the reserves, many full time. Another 1,600,000 Americans work in companies that supply the military with everything from weapons to utensils. (I’m not even including all the foreign contractors employing non-US citizens.)
Monday, August 16, 2010
Pakistan Floods Disaster and U.S. Humanitarian Warfare / Politics / Pakistan
By: Global_Research
Felicity Arbuthnot writes: .. to wade through slaughter ... and shut the gates of mercy on mankind." Thomas Gray (1716-1771.)
The scale of the disaster caused by the floods in Pakistan, is barely comprehensible. As Juan Cole has written, expressing near disbelief : "The submerged area of the country is as big as the United Kingdom, fourteen million Pakistanis are affected, two million are homeless." Six million need immediate relief, according to the UN., and thirty six thousand are suffering from acute diarrhoeal symptoms, with cholera already diagnosed. 1,600 are reported dead, with the number certain to multiply. Famine is a real possibility.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, August 16, 2010
Massive Widespread Economic Pain Across America / Politics / US Politics
By: Joel_S_Hirschhorn
the United States is not kaput it is certainly withering away even as a rich upper class enjoys all the things that money buys. There is massive, widespread economic pain inflicting a huge fraction of Americans who are unemployed, underemployed, relying on food stamps, losing their homes, and who are feeling totally insecure financially. This maintains sluggish consumer spending that makes necessary economic growth impossible.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, August 15, 2010
What Economic Crisis, Bank and Corporate Profits Soar! / Politics / US Politics
By: Global_Research
James Petras writes: While progressives and leftists write about the “crises of capitalism”, manufacturers, petroleum companies, bankers and most other major corporations on both sides of the Atlantic and Pacific coast are chuckling all the way to the bank.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, August 15, 2010
U.S. China Conflict, Moving From War of Words to Talk of War / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Rick_Rozoff
Relations between the U.S. and China have been steadily deteriorating since the beginning of the year when Washington confirmed the completion of a $6.4 billion arms deal with Taiwan and China suspended military-to-military ties with the U.S. in response.
In January the Chinese Defense Ministry announced the cessation of military exchanges between the two countries and the Foreign Ministry warned of enforcing sanctions against American companies involved with weapons sales to Taiwan.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, August 15, 2010
How to Thwart the Assassins of the American Dream / Politics / US Politics
By: Janet_Tavakoli
Arianna Huffington's new book, Third World America: How Our Politicians are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream, paints a grim picture of the State of the Union:
"Every day, Americans, faced with layoffs and tough economic times, are forced to use their credit cards to pay for essentials such as food, housing, and medical care -- the costs of which continue to escalate. But, as their debt rises, they find it harder to keep up with their payments. When they don't, banks, trying to offset losses in other areas, turn around, hike interest rates, and impose all manner of fees and penalties..." Third World America, (P. 77)
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, August 15, 2010
The Fed is Confused / Politics / Central Banks
By: Adam_Lass
The Federal Reserve has confused "changing nothing" for "doing nothing." The result? They are still the worst actor on Wall Street.
I was wrong.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Will the Pension Time Bomb Set Off a Crime Explosion? / Politics / Pensions & Retirement
By: Justice_Litle
When state and local budgets fall short, services are cut. That means critical services like police and fire and transport... and with the pension crisis looming, the unkindest cuts of all still lay ahead.
Diane Cunningham of Colorado Springs, Colo., no longer has a flat-screen television. She decided to sell it... so she could buy a shotgun.
Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, August 14, 2010
NATO Assists In Building New Iraq Middle East Proxy Army / Politics / Middle East
By: Rick_Rozoff
A North Atlantic Treaty Organization website recently posted an article by the commander of the NATO Training Mission – Iraq, American Lieutenant General Michael Barbero, entitled "NATO Training Mission – Iraq: Tactical Size...Strategic Impact" which reflected on the six-year-old but little known role of the Western military bloc in the Middle Eastern nation.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Social Insecurity / Politics / Social Issues
By: MISES
Paul Cwik writes: Oh joy, oh joy! It has finally arrived! You wouldn't believe how excited I was to receive a letter from the Social Security Administration. In the letter, they dutifully showed me how much taxable income I have ever made. (Is it me, or is there something really creepy about that?) They showed me how much I have paid in taxes and how much my employer also "paid." Then they showed me how much my payment would be if I retire at full retirement (67 years old — not 62 or 65 like you may have heard) and if I delay "collecting" until I turn 70.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Investing for Mexico’s Social and Economic Collapse / Politics / Mexico
By: Sean_Brodrick
There is a war next door, and our neighbor may be losing. I’m talking about Mexico’s ongoing battle with violent drug gangs. The northern parts of Mexico are becoming lawless, and the drug gangs are taking steps to set themselves up as de facto governments. This could have big implications for Mexico and for its oil production. And Mexico is our number 2 supplier of imported oil.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Algore's Big Green Climate Change Lies Are Imploding / Politics / Climate Change
By: LewRockwell
Alan Caruba writes: As World War Two wound down, in 1945 Italian partisans found Benito Mussolini and his girlfriend trying to flee to Switzerland. They shot both of them and then hung them by their heels in the Piazza Loreto in Milan. He had led the National Fascist Party and had been the 40th prime minister from 1922 until being deposed, jailed, and rescued by his pal Adolf Hitler.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Beware Friday the 13th, It's Wealth-looting Day / Politics / Taxes
By: Ron_Holland
Welcome to Friday the 13th. You may not know why Friday the 13th is considered such an unlucky day, but it's worth learning about for anyone who's concerned about protecting his assets, especially from high taxes and confiscation.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Unintended Consequences of Iran Trade Sanctions / Politics / Iran
By: J_M_Finegold_Catalan
As the Iranian government continues to resist American political pressure to abandon its nuclear program, the United States and her allies have once again turned to economic sanctions as a method of enforcing their will — or, at least, so they intend. On June 9, 2010, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1929, which, among other things, bans the sale of armaments and the provision of military training to the Iranian military, and prohibits travel for certain blacklisted Iranian citizens. Unsatisfied, the United States and the European Union intends to enact even tougher economic sanctions of their own in the near future. Even worse, these are only additions to sanctions that have existed since the Revolution of 1979.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Social Credit and the Tea Party Movement / Politics / US Politics
By: Christopher_Quigley
“The essential objective of Social Credit is to achieve an increase in purchasing power available to the
common citizenry so that the resources in a society are more fully distributed in general rather than
being controlled by a ruling banking elite which operates through a monopoly of credit.”
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Hezbollah, Radical but Rational / Politics / Middle East
By: STRATFOR
When we discuss threats along the U.S./Mexico border with sources and customers, or when we write an analysis on topics such as violence and improvised explosive devices along the border, a certain topic inevitably pops up: Hezbollah.
We frequently hear concerns from U.S. and Mexican government sources about the Iranian and Hezbollah network in Latin America. They fear that Iran would use Hezbollah to strike targets in the Western Hemisphere and even inside the United States if the United States or Israel were to conduct a military strike against Tehran’s nuclear program. Such concerns are expressed not only by our sources and are relayed not only to us. Nearly every time tensions increase between the United States and Iran, the media report that the Hezbollah threat to the United States is growing. Iran also has a vested interest in playing up the danger posed by Hezbollah and its other militant proxies as it tries to dissuade the United States and Israel from attacking its nuclear facilities.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The Big Things That Matter And The Little Things That Annoy / Politics / US Politics
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
I write about major problems: the collapsing US economy, wars based on lies and deception, the police state based on “the war on terror” and other fabrications such as those orchestrated by corrupt police and prosecutors, who boost their performance reports by convicting the innocent, and so on. America is a very distressing place. The fact that so many Americans are taken in by the lies told by “their” government makes America all the more depressing.