Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Optimism Bias: What Keeps Us Alive Today Will Kill Us Tomorrow / Politics / Social Issues
By: Raul_I_Meijer
Definition of a lie: any not entirely accurate representation of the world as we perceive it; what's not spoken can be as crucial as what is.
So yeah, people lie. They, we, all do. Some of us understand the extent to which this is true better than others, but that's probably just because we haven't all spent equal time wondering when it was we first started doing it. Let alone why. Interesting questions. After the fact, it's blindingly obvious why we would want to lie: accomplished liars get to mate faster and more often. Which still is the purpose of life, even though it may not be terribly fashionable to phrase it that way these days.
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Saturday, November 17, 2012
Targeting Civilians: Israel's Specialty / Politics / Israel
By: Stephen_Lendman
Bullies choose easy adversaries to pummel. Equal fights are shunned. It's the same in schoolyards or battlefields.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Israel Military Implements Gaza War, Phase1 of Iran Nuclear Attack Plan / Politics / Middle East
By: Nadeem_Walayat
It is no news that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been preparing the world for an attack against Iran all year, as illustrated by the PM's September visit and speech at the UN (Netanyahu Warns of Attack on Iran). In a continuation of the propaganda war, Channel 4 recently aired a fly on the wall documentary into the suggested thought processes that the Israeli Government, Military and Intelligence agencies were going through during September 2012 as they war gamed the consequences of a unilateral attack against Iran's air defence, missile and nuclear infrastructure, and how the aftermath could play out in terms of world reaction and Iranian military response.
Friday, November 16, 2012
What is the “fiscal cliff”? / Politics / Government Spending
By: Global_Research
Patrick Martin writes: The term “fiscal cliff,” first used by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last February, refers to the simultaneous expiration of tax cuts and imposition of spending cuts on January 1, 2013.
The American media has seized on the term “fiscal cliff” and promoted it, in part, to suggest that measures which would otherwise be enormously popular—ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy or cutting military spending—are threatening, even dangerous.
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Friday, November 16, 2012
What to Expect If We Go Over the Fiscal Cliff? / Politics / Taxes
By: Money_Morning
Keith Fitz-Gerald writes:
I'm on the road this week in Las Vegas and Los Angeles and receiving lots of great questions as usual from your fellow Money Morning subscribers.
Here's a few that really caught my attention. Not surprisingly, one of the biggies deals with the fiscal cliff.
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Friday, November 16, 2012
A United Europe? / Politics / US Politics
By: Jeff_Berwick
Alexander Jousse writes: Since the start of the European debt crisis, there has been some growing opposition to the idea of a united Europe. Well, this had to stop, so the best thing would be to label anyone against Europe as neo-Nazi holocaust denier. End of argument. Since the Nobel Mass Murderer Peace Prize was given to the EU, anyone who is against the EU is obviously against peace and the institutions that have worked so tirelessly to prevent the reincarnation of Hitler. If you are against peace in Europe, then you are obviously a pro-Hitler Nazi who loves war and gas chambers; then whatever you say can be comfortably ignored.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
China's New Leadership: Progressive, Not Conservative / Politics / China
By: Axel_Merk
Hu's defeat vs. Jiang's victory
We disagree with media reports that China's new Politburo Standing Committee is dominated by relatively conservative members. What we see is a complete defeat of current President Hu's CCLY clique and a victory of retired President Jiang's Shanghai clique. In recent days, Jiang's unusually frequent and high-profile public appearances suggest he is still highly influencing policy making and senior official appointments.
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Thursday, November 15, 2012
Do You Need Institutional 'Weapons' to Defend Against Wealthy Capitalists? / Politics / US Politics
By: Jeff_Berwick
Ed Bugos writes: The anarcho-capitalist movement appears to be tweaking the interest of the young leftist movement, which historically represents the radical side of the political spectrum. Maybe the time has come for "revolutionary politics." In his 1969 essay, "The Death of Politics", Karl Hess concluded that the world was not yet ready to realize that the social problem involved a choice not between different parties but rather politics and freedom:
"Radical and revolutionary movements seek not to revise but to revoke. The target of revocation should be obvious. The target is politics itself."
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Thursday, November 15, 2012
Ron Paul's Farewell Speech to Congress / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
This may well be the last time I speak on the House Floor. At the end of the year I’ll leave Congress after 23 years in office over a 36-year period. My goals in 1976 were the same as they are today: promote peace and prosperity by a strict adherence to the principles of individual liberty.
It was my opinion, that the course the U.S. embarked on in the latter part of the 20th Century would bring us a major financial crisis and engulf us in a foreign policy that would overextend us and undermine our national security.
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Wednesday, November 14, 2012
U.S. States Secession Petitions: Good PR But Bad Politics / Politics / US Politics
By: Ron_Holland
Tens of thousands of Americans are now petitioning the White House wanting to withdraw from the union. Although peoples and regions around the world are in the process of withdrawing from debt laden, failed central governments including Scotland, Venice, Catalonia, Bavaria, Flanders and others, it won't be as easy here in the USA. While the US petitions generate great PR for the legal right of secession, this is not the way a state or people legally withdraw from the US union.
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Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Why Government and Central Bank Regime of Financial Repression Will Fail / Politics / Central Banks
By: Ron_Hera
Excessive leverage and risk in the financial system, e.g., using customer funds to speculate, never ends well. Stock market crashes, bank and investment firm failures or economic recessions are all potential consequences. Following the failure of the United States to regulate over the counter (OTC) derivatives and the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, U.S. banks became the largest financial business entities in history. The U.S. real estate bubble, sub-prime lending and mortgage backed securities (MBS), along with unregulated OTC derivatives, then lead to bank insolvencies, a historic stock market crash and a near collapse of the global financial system.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Taxmageddon Holding Hands While Jumping Off the Fiscal Cliff / Politics / Taxes
By: BATR
The rapid approach of the Thelma & Louise bipartisan plunge into the financial abyss is upon us. It is simply unbelievable, that the prospects of rational tax salvation by the end of the year, measured by every statement coming out of the Washington political cabal, will materialize. Extending the current tax rates from automatic rescission on January 1, 2013, as a stopgap method for an enactment of a lasting political rapprochement, is the best that might occur. The net effect will be a perspicacious downturn in economic activity, a new round of layoffs, rising permanent unemployment and a plunge in consumer confidence. Wall Street will make hay by shorting the market while placing blame on the uncompromising hacks that refuse to cut a deal.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Should the Republican Party Be Saved? / Politics / US Politics
By: LewRockwell
Clyde Wilson writes: Since the election there has been much discussion of the future of the Republican party. Can it ever again win a national election, or is it doomed to permanent minority status? The most common response has been that the party must "reach out" (i.e., compete in the offer of bribes) to the exploding Hispanic population. Rather neatly and deceitfully avoiding the obvious fact that Republican sponsorship of mass immigration is the cause of their minority status.
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Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Obama Retirement Care / Politics / US Politics
By: Jeff_Berwick
Wendy McElroy writes: How long will starving governments keep their itchy fingers off your private pension funds? Only as long as they can't get away with it. And governments are literally getting away with murder these days. Why not your pension money, too?
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Tuesday, November 13, 2012
IMF and Eurogroup Fall out Over Greece Debt to GDP Ratio Reduction Timing / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Ian_R_Campbell
An article today reports on an apparent disagreement that arose last night between Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the Eurogroup of Finance Ministers, and Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. Mr. Juncker is reported as having said that Greece will be given two additional years - to 2022 from 2020 - to meet its debt reduction target of 120% of GDP. Ms. Lagarde is reported as having taken exception to this saying she and Mr. Juncker "clearly have different views" on Greek debt.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
The Petraeus Affair / Politics / US Politics
By: Barry_Grey
According to the official story surrounding the sudden resignation of Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus, the departure of the former commander of US and allied forces first in Iraq and then in Afghanistan was the result of a personal moral lapse, unrelated to political or intelligence issues.
As the Washington Post, quoting a “senior intelligence official,” wrote on Sunday, “This is a very personal matter, not a matter of intelligence.”
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Monday, November 12, 2012
How Dangerous Is Genetically Modified Food? / Politics / GM Foods
By: Alex_Daley
Alex Daley, Chief Technology Investment Strategist writes: Last month, a group of Australian scientists published a warning to the citizens of the country and of the world who collectively gobble up some $34 billion annually of its agricultural exports. The warning concerned the safety of a new type of wheat.
As Australia's number-one export, a $6-billion annual industry, and the most-consumed grain locally, wheat is of the utmost importance to the country. A serious safety risk from wheat – a mad wheat disease of sorts – would have disastrous effects for the country and for its customers.
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Monday, November 12, 2012
Ron Paul In Praise of Price Gouging / Politics / Economic Theory
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
As the northeastern United States continues to recover from Hurricane Sandy, we hear the usual outcry against individuals and companies who dare to charge market prices for goods such as gasoline. The normal market response of rising prices in the wake of a natural disaster and resulting supply disruptions is redefined as "price gouging." The government claims that price gouging is the charging of ruinous or exploitative prices for goods in short supply in the wake of a disaster and is a heinous crime But does this reflect economic reality, or merely political posturing to capitalize on raw emotions?
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Monday, November 12, 2012
Hurricane Sandy Super Storm Lessons, Be Better Prepared for the Next Time / Politics / Social Issues
By: Nicole_Foss
Superstorm Sandy has been a devastating experience for many, and will continue to be so for a long time to come. Much of the damage will take weeks or months to repair, and some may take years. A myriad long battles with insurance companies are a given, as the available funds are unlikely to match the damage and there will be many arguments as to what is covered. The impacts are widespread, but unevenly distributed, as the repairs will be. Like Katrina before it, Sandy will be a defining event in the lives of many people.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
From Obama the Stealth Republican a Grand Bargain Betrayal is Coming / Politics / US Politics
By: Stephen_Lendman
Obama's economic record includes nearly 25 million unemployed, around 23% of working age Americans without jobs, poverty, homelessness, and hunger at record levels or close to it, and the greatest wealth disparity in US history.
Privileged elites benefitted enormously on his watch. They'll get plenty more ahead. Others are enduring protracted hard times. Bipartisan complicity calls for making things worse, not better. Huge budget cuts loom. Social programs will be hit hardest. More on that below.