Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Friday, June 05, 2015
Why ISIS Just Grabbed the Resource More Essential Than Oil / Politics / Water Sector
By: ...
MoneyMorning.com 
Dr. Kent Moors writes: When we think of the resources under threat when it comes to the conflict in Iraq, crude oil is usually the first that comes to mind.
But ISIS just brought another resource back into play… one that has been a cause of dispute for centuries.
Oil may be the driver of the Iraqi central budget and economy, but there is something else even more essential to the people who live there.
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Thursday, June 04, 2015
How Islamic State Victories Shape the Syrian Civil War / Politics / ISIS Islamic State
By: STRATFOR
Forecast
- The Islamic State will prioritize the defense of its core supply lines, used to provide equipment and much-needed recruits.
- The Islamic State will continue to demonstrate considerable flexibility in its offensive operations.
- The Syrian government and rebel forces will have to increasingly devote their attention and resources to fighting the Islamic State, rather than prioritizing battles with each other.
Thursday, June 04, 2015
The Evolution Of The Oil Weapon / Politics / Crude Oil
By: OilPrice_Com
In the age of derivatives, swaps, and electronic money transfers, a new form of warfare has emerged: financial warfare. Recently, the US has passed sanctions on countries such as Syria, Venezuela, and North Korea , but the majority of energy related sanctions passed have been targeted at Iran and Russia.
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Tuesday, June 02, 2015
US Senate’s Patriot Act Betrayal / Politics / US Politics
By: BATR
Watching the DC establishment respond to Senator Rand Paul’s efforts to sunset important aspects of the Patriot Act is like peeling back the skin of a decaying onion to expose the rot. Members of the Senate all take an oath to defend and protect the U.S. Constitution. Well those “public servants” who are doing their perfected “Potomac Two Step” would have the public believe that next week’s vote on some version of the House passed USA Freedom Act will halt the NSA from their systematic violation of 4th Amendment protections.
Monday, June 01, 2015
Export-Import Bank is Welfare for the One Percent / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
This month Congress will consider whether to renew the charter of the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank). Ex-Im Bank is a New Deal-era federal program that uses taxpayer funds to subsidize the exports of American businesses. Foreign businesses, including state-owned corporations, also benefit from Ex-Im Bank. One country that has benefited from $1.5 billion of Ex-Im Bank loans is Russia. Venezuela, Pakistan, and China have also benefited from Ex-Im Bank loans.
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Sunday, May 31, 2015
Alexis Tsipras: The Bell Tolls for Europe / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: ...
MoneyMorning.com This is a letter From Greek PM Alexis Tsipras in today’s Le Monde. I have little to add, his eloquence needs few comments at this moment. One thing is certain: the negotiations will never be the same. And neither will Europe.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
We Need Actual Free Trade, Not the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) / Politics / US Politics
By: MISES
Ryan W. McMaken writes: Brendan Nyhan at The New York Times seems to be under the impression that the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) has something to do with free trade. Nyhan writes that the TPP
Read full article... Read full article...is the latest step in a decades-long trend toward liberalizing trade — a somewhat mysterious development given that many Americans are skeptical of freer trade.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
A Nation of Millennial Entitlements / Politics / Social Issues
By: Walter_Brasch
A student sued her college because she failed a nursing class. Twice.
She said she suffered psychological problems. Those problems included anxiety, depression, and poor concentration skills.
The college had agreed to allow her to retake the final examination last summer.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Pivot Insanity Risking Nuclear War - Why is Obama Goading China? / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Mike_Whitney
US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter is willing to risk a war with China in order to defend “freedom of navigation” in the South China Sea. Speaking in Honolulu, Hawaii on Wednesday, Carter issued his “most forceful” warning yet, demanding “an immediate and lasting halt to land reclamation” by China in the disputed Spratly Islands.
Carter said: “There should be no mistake: The United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, as we do all around the world.” He also added that the United States intended to remain “the principal security power in the Asia-Pacific for decades to come.”
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Friday, May 29, 2015
How Rich Countries Get Rich - Freedom, Global Poverty, and the Failure of Foreign Aid / Politics / Social Issues
By: MISES
Andrew Syrios writes: Andrew Syrios writes: ity to refer to Honduras as a “modern day libertarian dystopia.” As the author states, “Eliminate all taxes, privatize everything, load a country up with guns and oppose all public expenditures, you end up with Honduras.” A country where “the police ride around in pickup trucks with machine guns, but they aren’t there to protect most people. ... For individual protection there’s an army of private, armed security guards.”
Thursday, May 28, 2015
George Soros Warns of “Third World War” / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: GoldCore
- War “inevitable” if U.S. meddles in South China Sea – Global Times
- Senior NATO official warns that “we’ll probably be at war this summer”
- Soros warns of ‘New World Order’ and war with China
- Soros warns could be “on the threshold of a Third World War”
- Many countries in Pacific lay claim to strategically important and mineral rich islands
- Tensions between U.S. and China and Russia escalating
- War would have many facets including cyber-warfare and currency wars
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Adjustable Government Economic Data - What is Residual Seasonality? / Politics / Propaganda
By: Michael_Pento
At the beginning of every quarter Wall Street places its overly optimistic GDP forecasts on parade. And by the end of the quarter, those same carnival barkers line up a myriad of excuses as to why the numbers fell short. Port strikes, a stronger dollar and snowier winters (caused by global warming?) are among their current favorites.
But the anemic data in the first quarter of 2015, followed by the not so much better data in the first month and a half of Q2, has rattled the optimism of not only the usual Wall Street cheerleaders, but even many at the Federal Reserve.
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Tuesday, May 26, 2015
The Bait-and-Switch Behind Economic Populism / Politics / Economic Theory
By: MISES
Nicolás Cachanosky writes: Argentina will hold elections this year, and a number of provinces will be electing governors. Buenos Aires, the capital city, is holding elections for mayor, and Mauricio Macri, who is stepping down as mayor, is a favorite to become the next president. Toward the end of the year, a presidential election will be held and Cristina Kirchner, after two consecutive mandates, will have to step down because she cannot be re-elected.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
A Geopolitical Net Assessment of Europe / Politics / European Union
By: STRATFOR
Last week I began this series with a Net Assessment of the World, in which I focused on the growing destabilization of the Eurasian land mass. This week I continue the series, which will ultimately analyze each region in detail, with an analysis of Europe. I start here, rather than in the Middle East, because while the increasing successes of the Islamic State are significant, the region itself is secondary to Europe in the broader perspective. The Middle East matters, but Europe is as economically productive as the United States and, for the past 500 years, has been the force that has reshaped the world. The Middle East matters a great deal; European crises can destabilize the world. What happens between Greece and Germany, for example, can have consequences in multiple directions. Therefore, since we have to start somewhere, let me start with Europe.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
U.S. Congressional Sellout on TPP Fast Track / Politics / US Politics
By: BATR
There is a simple reason why the Congress is held is such ill repute. Leadership in both parties are total agents for the Plutocrats that have systematically destroyed our economy with their globalist corporatist model that results in national impoverishment. The only startling pattern to this bipartisan betrayal is that the public continues to accept their excruciating fraud with only a whimper of discontent. BATR has covered the TPP Fast Track issue intensively. The most consistent observation is that the public, in this sinking economy, has ignored the impact that will accelerate, as the leaks from this secretive agreement become known.
Monday, May 25, 2015
What Memorial Day Do You Honor? / Politics / US Politics
By: BATR
Many accounts will praise the sacrifices and deeds of those who fought in the American wars. Some versions will emotionally express their thanks and respect, while others will list their heroic actions. There is another viewpoint that seldom gets the attention that it deserves. Simply put, what is the true reason that all this blood was shed and the meaning of continued torment that follows, when the guns are silenced? Some will say, we just need to revere those who served. Others may dare to ask, why and what for?
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Sunday, May 24, 2015
Rethinking Edward Snowden: Unwitting Enabler of the Corporate-Libertarian-Technocratic State? / Politics / US Politics
By: Michael_T_Bucci
Simply, I think the conundrum of enigmatic Edward Snowden is beginning to offer glimpses that somewhat validate an early and tentative hypothesis of mine. I supported his actions and even called him another "Paul Revere" (of sorts), a "hero"; but I also suspected his political philosophy would shape an outcome altogether undemocratic and oligarchic. Having voted for an unidentified 3rd party candidate in 2008; Ron Paul in 2012; and is now supporting Rand Paul, Snowden is promoting capitalistic/libertarian movements. Such movements, often wrapped in the flag of the "Republic", singing anthems to "Liberty" and demonizing central government, are enterprises - including those created around Snowden (e.g., Glenn Greenwald) - that exploit anti-government sentiments while whitewashing, even omitting the dangers neoliberalism poses; denouncing government surveillance but silent about the corporate side of the totalitarian state.
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Saturday, May 23, 2015
Is Greece Still A Country If Someone Else Owns Its Assets? / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: John_Rubino
This story isn’t actually about Greece, but it begins there.
After the country went functionally bankrupt a few years ago, the solutions proposed by its creditors (mostly European banks and governments) included the impoverishment of its current citizens through cutbacks in wages and pensions, the impoverishment of its future citizens through the borrowing of even more money from the IMF and European Central Bank, and the sale of major state-owned assets to foreign companies to raise cash with which to make upcoming loan payments.
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Friday, May 22, 2015
Time To Get Real About China / Politics / China
By: Raul_I_Meijer
The present Chinese leadership appears to be trying to gain (regain?) more -if not full- control over the country’s economic system, while at the same time (re-)boosting the growth it has lost in recent years.
President Xi Jinping, prime minister Li Keqiang and all of their subservient leaders – there are 1000′s of those in a 1.4 million citizens country- apparently think this can be done. Yours truly doubts it.
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Friday, May 22, 2015
The Great Un-Participation / Politics / Social Issues
By: Dr_Jeff_Lewis
“If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ―George S. Patton, Jr.
“Without any censorship, in the West, fashionable trends of thought and ideas are carefully separated from those which are not fashionable; nothing is forbidden, but what is not fashionable will hardly ever find its way into periodicals or books or be heard in colleges. Legally, your researchers are free, but they are conditioned by the fashion of the day.”
―Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn