Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Revolutions When US Presidents Are Soft: Might Egypt Be Like Iran? / Politics / Middle East
By: Andrew_Butter
There is a lot in common between the Iranian Revolution and the current almost revolution in Egypt that is being played out.
In both cases there was a huge popular uprising against a corrupt, brutal, venal and un-democratic government who relied heavily on police, secret police, and torture, to stay in power, headed up by self admiring despots.
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Monday, January 31, 2011
The Egyptian Intifada, Mubarak's Time Is Up / Politics / Middle East
By: Mike_Whitney
Stocks plunged on Friday following a fifth day of protests in Cairo. Oil shot up more than $3 per barrel as investors grew nervous about potential disruptions to supply. The Dow Jones tumbled 166 points by day's end.
The Israeli embassy has been shut down in Egypt's capital and it's diplomatic staff has been flown to Tel Aviv (allegedly) disguised as tourists.. The Star of David has been lowered and is no longer visible anywhere in Cairo.
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Monday, January 31, 2011
Facebook, Twitter, and the Arab Revolutions / Politics / Middle East
By: Gary_North
The dictator of Tunisia was overthrown in less than one month after being in power for 23 years. There is no question about how opponents of his regime were able to topple it. Two words describe it: Facebook, Twitter. These two social networking sites enabled protesters to take to the streets, organize the opposition, recruit new protesters, and overcome the police force and the military.
Monday, January 31, 2011
American Eulogy / Politics / US Politics
By: James_Quinn
The Founding Fathers described the kind of country they were shaping on July 4, 1776 with the most well known sentence in the English language:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. - Declaration of Independence
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Monday, January 31, 2011
Egypt, Economic Crisis Driving Political Protests Sparked In Part By US Financial Speculation / Politics / Middle East
By: Danny_Schechter
This is an upstairs/downstairs story that takes us from the peak of a Western mountaintop for the wealthy to spreading mass despair in the valleys of the Third World poor.
It is about how the solutions for the world financial crisis that the Ceos and Big pols are massaging in a posh conference center in snowy Davos Switzerland have turned into a global economic catastrophe in the streets of Cairo, the current ground zero of a certain to spread wave of international unrest.
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Sunday, January 30, 2011
Egyptian Military Attempting to Retain Control / Politics / Middle East
By: STRATFOR
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak remains the lifeblood of the demonstrators, who still number in the tens of thousands in downtown Cairo and in other major cities, albeit on a lesser scale. After being overwhelmed in the Jan. 28 Day of Rage protests, Egypt’s internal security forces — with the anti-riot paramilitaries of the Central Security Forces (CSF) at the forefront — were glaringly absent from the streets Jan. 29. They were replaced with rows of tanks and armored personnel carriers carrying regular army soldiers. Unlike their CSF counterparts, the demonstrators demanding Mubarak’s exit from the political scene largely welcomed the soldiers. Despite Mubarak’s refusal to step down Jan. 28, the public’s positive perception of the military, seen as the only real gateway to a post-Mubarak Egypt, remained. It is unclear how long this perception will hold, especially as Egyptians are growing frustrated with the rising level of insecurity in the country and the army’s limits in patrolling the streets.Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Egypt: Cue the Dirty Tricks, False Flags To Discredit Pro-Democracy Movement / Politics / Middle East
By: Finian_Cunningham
The looting of Cairo’s world-famous Egyptian Museum over the weekend seems to have engendered the desired news headlines.
‘Looters smash ancient treasures’, ‘Looters decapitate mummies’, ‘Looters rip off heads of artifacts’ etc., read a rash of headlines, following the apparent breaking into the country’s national museum, which is said to house the world’s biggest of Pharaonic antiquities.
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Sunday, January 30, 2011
Egypt: Washington Has Finger on the Trigger for More Bloodshed / Politics / Middle East
By: Finian_Cunningham
Egypt’s capital Cairo and other major cities across the country are increasingly looking like battlefields as president Hosni Mubarak tries to tighten his grip on power in the face of nationwide protests calling for his abdication.
Reports of more than 50 civilians killed and more than 1,000 injured over night in police and army violence did not deter ten of thousands of people defying the now nightly curfew and secret arrests. Nor did that deter huge crowds from amassing on central streets of Cairo and Alexandria the following the day, which revealed the charred remains of government buildings, armoured cars and other debris, evidencing fierce clashes between armed forces and demonstrators,
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Sunday, January 30, 2011
US Backed Repression in Egypt is Insight for American Public / Politics / Middle East
By: Finian_Cunningham
As thousands more Egyptian citizens take to the streets in anti-government protests, the country is in danger of witnessing a bloodbath – at the behest of Washington.
Defying a ban on public demonstrations by the government of President Hosni Mubarak, tens of thousands of Egyptians have for the fourth consecutive day rallied on the streets of the capital Cairo and other major cities calling for his abdication. Inspired by the mass uprising in neigbouring Tunisia earlier this month, which forced its president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into exile, the protesters in Egypt are likewise demanding Mubarak and his government to quit.
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Friday, January 28, 2011
Ireland’s Bailout Scandal, EFSF Funds to Cost Irish Taxpayer 9% Per Annum / Politics / Credit Crisis 2011
By: Christopher_Quigley
“Frankfurt – European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) today placed its inaugural bond for an amount of €5 billion as part of the EU/IMF financial support package agreed for Ireland. The issuance spread was fixed at mid-swap plus 6 basis points. This implies borrowing costs for EFSF of 2.89%. Investor interest was exceptionally strong, a record breaking order book of €44.5 billion from more than 500 investors. Investor demand came from around the world and from all types of institutions. Very strong demand came from Asia. The Government of Japan purchased over 20% of the issue, reflecting its early commitment with the intention of contributing to European financial stability.
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Friday, January 28, 2011
Riots in Egypt over Food Prices and Unemployment, Blood on Bernanke's Hands / Politics / Social Issues
By: Mike_Shedlock
Violence in Egypt continues unabated in spite of President Hosni Mubarak's plea for calm. Demonstrators threw firebombs and chanted "Down with Hosni Mubarak, down with the tyrant." Police responded with teargas and bullets.
Protesters are angry over poverty, rising food prices, state food subsidies, unemployment, and social conditions.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Inflation to Help the Less Fortunate? / Politics / Inflation
By: Richard_Daughty
I almost didn't read the essay by Gary Gibson, the managing editor of the Whiskey & Gunpowder newsletter, because he was talking about Paul Krugman, whom Mr. Gibson refers to as "cheerleader of the state," and for whom I have a much, much lower opinion, probably because of my envy of his career success despite being, as far as I can tell, a complete failure in predicting the bursting messes we are in, or ever warning against them as they were building, when it was obvious to the Austrian economists all along.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Obama State of the Union Pie in the Sky Speech / Politics / US Politics
By: John_Browne
Following the huge gains made by Republicans in the midterm elections, it was widely expected that President Obama would use the State of the Union address to signal a major policy shift toward the center of the political spectrum. On the surface, at least, he appeared to do just that, hinting that he took budget management very seriously and that Americans should be prepared for shared sacrifice. However, as the final applause still echoed in the House chamber, many astute pundits were left trying to make sense of the many contradictory policy prescriptions the President proffered.
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Friday, January 28, 2011
Stocks and and Price of Butter / Politics / Inflation
By: Fred_Sheehan
"We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again." ~ President Barack Obama, State of the Union speech, January 25, 2011
Maybe President Obama was at a loss to validate the rousing economy in his State of the Union address. Whatever the reason, this was a strange appeal to the American people. An even stranger validation of Wall Street's prowess was expressed last week by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke.
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Thursday, January 27, 2011
U.S. Debt Crisis, Stay Ahead of the Curve by Moving / Politics / US Debt
By: Gary_North
A growing minority of the American public is beginning to catch on to the meaning of the Federal government's deficits and the Federal Reserve's QE2. The voters did not understand QE1 in October 2008.
We are beginning to see videos lampooning tax rates. This humor is spreading to Europe. Some choice ones are here.
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Energy Security, Why Europe Should Pay Attention to Algeria / Politics / Energy Resources
By: Marin_Katusa
Marin Katusa, Chief Energy Strategist, Casey Research writes: Tunisia's uprising has democracy watchers wondering if the instability will spill over into neighboring North African countries, but really that instability is already there. In the first week of the year, Algeria experienced violent protests after the government hiked prices for staple foods like milk, sugar, oil, and flour. Some 800 people were injured in several days of rioting, prompting President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to cut costs on some foods and lower import duties on others. The rioters went home, but odds are they will return to the streets when prices rise again.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Obama's State of the Union Rhetoric: Denying the Crisis, Ignoring the Lessons of History / Politics / US Politics
By: Global_Research
Kevin Zeese writes: Members of the corporate political duopoly switched seats and sat next to each other making it even harder to tell the corporate welfare party from the crony capitalist party. Sadly, the spokespersons for both failed to learn the lessons of history and as a result the American economy will continue to falter with U.S. militarism continuing to expand.
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Obama Fails to Address Inflation in State of the Union / Politics / Inflation
By: Submissions
President Obama's State of the Union address last night did not make one single mention of inflation, when it is the belief of NIA that massive price inflation (especially food inflation) will become America's top crisis by the end of this calendar year. Obama's speech also failed to mention the Federal Reserve, the Federal Funds Rate being held near 0% for over two years, and the Fed's latest round of $600 billion in quantitative easing. Unless Obama addresses our nation's fiat currency system, nothing else he says has any meaning at all.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Obama's Corporate State of the Union Address / Politics / US Politics
By: Shamus_Cooke
Finally, Obama will be delivering real change. But not the kind envisaged by those who voted for him. Rather, Obama's revolutionary change builds upon the foundations laid by Reagan, who drastically altered American society by promoting the corporate sector at the expense of working people.
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Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Why Free Trade Can’t Abolish International Economic Rivalry / Politics / US Politics
By: Ian_Fletcher
A recent article criticizing my work contained this multi-faceted gem of fallacies:“Even a dumb lawyer like me can see that modern global supply chains have made "a world of ruthless economic rivalry" a thing of the distant past, and that trade (i.e., voluntary, mutually beneficial exchanges) has never, ever been a zero sum game. (This, by the way, is the entirety of Fletcher's "economic argument" in his eight HuffPo paragraphs.)”Read full article... Read full article...