Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
Underground Shadow Commerce is the Real Economy / Politics / Social Issues
By: BATR
As the deadline for filing yearly income taxes is rapidly approaching, businesses especially hard pressed to make a profit in a depressed economy struggle with their tax compliance. Reporting legitimate deductions and costs is the easy part. When you are losing money, disclosing a diminished income stream based upon lower margins, is not a difficult decision. Nevertheless, small enterprises burdened with government regulation costs and tax obligations, often are unable to conduct business and retain a net return. Self-proprietorships frequently are so scared that many look to the cash underground economy to hide income earnings.
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
French President Dismisses Government, Calls In The 'Blairites' / Politics / France
By: Andrew_McKillop
Tony Blair To The Rescue
French president François Hollande dismissed his Prime Minister and cabinet on Monday following his Parti Socialiste's massive loss of power, symbolized by PS mayors and councillors being voted out in 155 large cities, following the 23 and 30 March local elections. Key PS “bastions”, where in some cases Hollande's party has held uninterrupted power for 100 years, such as Limoges, fell with other bastions such as “red” Toulouse and Angers. The supposed xenophobic and unconstitutional, racist and Nazi-leaning Front National of Marine Le Pen made huge gains.
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Wednesday, April 02, 2014
Janet Yellen Is Destined To Be The Best Fed Chairman Of All Time / Politics / US Federal Reserve Bank
By: Jeff_Berwick
Janet Yellen has only been Chairman of the Federal Reserve for less than two months and I am already convinced that she is the best thing to happen since Barack O'Bomber was first elected and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
There are a number of reasons for that.
First, as we can see by her speech yesterday she is going to be a laugh riot. And, secondly, all of her actions will undoubtedly, indisuptably destroy the dollar... And, of course, we dollar vigilantes have prime seats and are positioned to profit from that inevitability. We thought Helicopter Ben was a literal gold mine but Janet Yellen will easily surpass him as a great source of mockery and profitability.
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Wednesday, April 02, 2014
The U.S. Budget Box & Containing Debt and Deficit Craziness / Politics / US Debt
By: DeviantInvestor
Imagine that the US government is, euphemistically speaking, locked in a box created by deficits, debts, and decisions. There are six sides to the box - each an exit. We can describe them as:
Tuesday, April 01, 2014
FiTs And Starts For The Solar Economy / Politics / Solar Energy
By: Andrew_McKillop
Nadeem Walayat Explains in his most recent article on the follies of UK government attempts to “go low carbon” and self righteously pretend it is Saving the Planet from global warming catastrophe, Nadeem Walayat explained what solar feed-in tariffs really mean. Under the former New Labour regime paying FITs of 44 GBP pence or about 70 US cents per kilowatthour for Home Solar producers, pricing their electricity output at 1120 US dollars per barrel equivalent of energy (1600 kWh per barrel), they would have every reason to do the following.
Tuesday, April 01, 2014
Russia and the United States Negotiate the Future of Ukraine / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: STRATFOR
During the Cold War, U.S. secretaries of state and Soviet foreign ministers routinely negotiated the outcome of crises and the fate of countries. It has been a long time since such talks have occurred, but last week a feeling of deja vu overcame me. Americans and Russians negotiated over everyone's head to find a way to defuse the crisis in Ukraine and, in the course of that, shape its fate.
Tuesday, April 01, 2014
Across Europe Secession Movements Intensify / Politics / European Union
By: BATR
All the attention over the epoch vote by Crimean’s to leave the Ukraine makes for a timely review of other separatist factions that are seeking a similar resolution. The List of active separatist movements in Europe is exhaustive. The immediate impression is that a pervasive discontent, shared by legions of subjects, who want independence and self-determination, will be hard to derail. When European autocratic and aristocrats ruled, the only option was revolution. Today the descendants of the old regimes still wheeled power under the guise of democratically elected authorities. However, separatist sentiment does not mean the same to every splinter group.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Ukraine Capital Controls and 200% Inflation But Still In Better Shape Than US! / Politics / US Debt
By: Jeff_Berwick
In a TV address to a torn nation, Ukraine's PM Yatsenyuk first implied heating prices would rise incrementally, and then later confirmed a plan to increase prices 100% in the next two years (and nearly 200% by 2017) as the cost of imported Russian gas is expected to rise to $500 from the current $84.
Monday, March 31, 2014
French Local Elections Prove France Is Ungovernable / Politics / France
By: Andrew_McKillop
Turnout Low - Interest in Democracy Even Lower
French media made a brave attempt following the second and final round of local elections, 30 March, to paint a picture of a “moderate recovery” in voter interest. In fact the countrywide turnout to vote was around 53% on 30 March compared with 52% on 23 March, according to the French Interior Ministry. Many large cities were plagued by turnouts in some districts of as low as 16% of registered voters bothering to vote. In other words, 84% of voters did not vote.
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Monday, March 31, 2014
How to Avoid the Obamacare Penalty / Politics / US Politics
By: LewRockwell
Laurence M. Vance writes: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), also called the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but better known as simply Obamacare, is a collection of new taxes masquerading as a healthcare law.
Obamacare institutes new taxes on indoor tanning services, drug companies, medical device manufacturers, comprehensive health insurance plans, and health insurers. It increases the employee share of the Medicare tax (currently 1.45 percent) to 2.35 percent on that portion of income that is more than $200,000 for individuals or $250,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly. It also adds a new 3.8 percent Medicare tax on investment income that will apply to the lesser of one’s net investment income or the amount of adjusted gross income in excess of applicable thresholds.
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Monday, March 31, 2014
Ron Paul - Aid to Ukraine Is a Bad Deal For All / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Last week Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill approving a billion dollars in aid to Ukraine and more sanctions on Russia. The bill will likely receive the president's signature within days. If you think this is the last time US citizens will have their money sent to Ukraine, you should think again. This is only the beginning.
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Sunday, March 30, 2014
Debunking The Gutting Of U.S. Military Storyline / Politics / US Military
By: James_Quinn
“War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.” – General Smedley Butler – War is a Racket
I peruse a number of websites everyday as I look for interesting articles to post or reference in one of my articles. I agree with many conservative leaning websites when it comes to economic issues, but when it comes to war mongering and flag waving, I go my own way. Any site that supports our empire building and excessive spending on war is not a conservative website. You can’t act in a fiscally responsible sustainable manner without dismantling our war machine and taking on the military industrial complex. You’re a faux fiscal conservative if you think we can continue to spend $800 billion per year on war with no financial implications. The entire Federal budget was $800 billion in 1983.
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Sunday, March 30, 2014
The U.S. Empire vs. Eurasia / Politics / US Politics
By: Michael_S_Rozeff
The U.S. and its puppets, especially the E.U. and Nato, have been trying to weaken the rebuilding Russian empire as much as possible to contain it, while maintaining the U.S. Global Empire.
This has become a vital, crucial goal because of the rapid growth of Chinese power and the ever closer Alliance of Russia, China, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Central Asia, Pakistan, etc.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
What If the Crimeans Changed Their Minds? / Politics / Eastern Europe
By: Michael_S_Rozeff
It’s easier to raise questions than it is to answer them. My brief answers are merely indicative of a direction an answer might take, but I’d expect many possible more elaborate answers.
If tomorrow the Crimeans changed their minds and decided to join Ukraine, would Russia’s owners and operators let them?
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Ron Paul, Richard Cobden, and the Risks of Opposing War / Politics / US Politics
By: MISES
Ryan McMaken writes: Since at least as early as the eighteen century, classical liberalism, and its modern variant libertarianism, have opposed warfare except in cases of obvious self-defense. We see this anti-war position clearly among the anti-federalists of eighteenth-century America (who opposed all standing armies) and more famously within George Washington’s Farewell Address. Thomas Jefferson frequently inveighed against war, although in moves typical for Jefferson, he acted against his own professed ideology on a number of occasions.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
The Fed is Beginning to Freak Out About Bubbles / Politics / US Federal Reserve Bank
By: Graham_Summers
As we noted earlier this week, the Fed is growing increasingly concerned of a bubble forming in the financial markets. Previously we noted that Janet Yellen was concerned about another bubble forming.
Now St Louis Fed President James Bullard is saying the same thing.
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Sunday, March 30, 2014
Death Cross For European Energy / Politics / Energy Resources
By: Andrew_McKillop
Play With the Toy Until its Breaks
Commentators have begun to focus on the “moving average” of European energy demand – always downward – as the moving average of European energy prices always rises. They easily conclude this is a death cross caused by the always-unrealistic energy policy and programs of the European Union. Making this more deadly, the “bearish outlook” for future energy supply in Europe is hard-baked into the policy mix and kept that way by political grandstanding and corporate inertia.
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Saturday, March 29, 2014
Advanced Naval Military Tech And China's Blue Water Challenge / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Andrew_McKillop
The BRICs and the West
The possibly sanctions-frozen sale by France to Russia of two high tech Mistral-class “invasion platform” fighting ships enabling simultaneous military electronic and physical assault, and regional subversion and sabotage by helicopter-dropped special forces in the attack region exhibits one key dilemma for political deciders.
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Friday, March 28, 2014
It’s Gut-Check Time for America / Politics / Social Issues
By: Andy_Sutton
When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one…. We’re sure that almost all of you will recognize the beginning of this historic document. Notice its title; it was a declaration. Could just as easily have been called an affirmation. But it merely stated in words what was already reality. For all of Jefferson’s wisdom, his most popular piece was merely a restatement of fact. That it needed to be restated was the problem. In today’s world – on so many levels, we have this type of ersatz freedom rather than the real thing. We’re not independent. We’re not really free in any sense of the word. But because we can hop on a plane and, after having ourselves and our companions treated like cattle, fly off to Disney World, we think we’re free.
Friday, March 28, 2014
Cold War Atavism – Skewed Clues For An Uncertain Future / Politics / New Cold War
By: Andrew_McKillop
Skeuomorphic Culture
According to ethnologists and anthropologists who specialize in the subsector of primitive and ethnic technology, that is pre-modern non-western technology, a skeuomorph is a part or whole of a design or an artefact made to resemble a previous and different material or technique. Ancient potters who had moved up to wheel-throwing and kiln baking continued designing and making wooden-like or woven rope-like handles on their solid, one-piece wares. A simple example for Western culture's technological and cultural skeuomorphism are estate wagon cars with light-colored plastic “wooden” framing, or garden chairs made of extruded aluminium with PVC seats, which are produced with “screws and tenon joints” for the fake-wooden chair parts, and printed “handwoven raffia-style” plastic seats and chair backs. Coloring of the aluminium and plastic to mask their real nature, can include elaborate tinted and printed wood grain effects.
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