Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Healthcare Freedom or Healthcare Bureaucracy? / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
The U.S. Preventive Task Force caused quite a stir recently when they revised their recommendations on the frequency and age for women to get mammograms. Many have speculated on the timing for this government-funded report, with the Senate vote on health care looming, and cost estimates being watched closely. Just the hint that the government would risk women's health to cut costs is causing outrage on both sides of the aisle.
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Monday, November 30, 2009
The Simple Math of CO2 Reduction / Politics / Climate Change
By: Ronald_R_Cooke
Those who propose draconian measures to curb CO2 production need a math refresher course. Look at the projections. Assuming existing CO2 reduction policies are not changed, by 2030, human activity will account for about 3.3% of global CO2 production (NASA). By itself, the United States is projected to contribute 15.8% of world human emissions in 2030 (IEA/EIA). Therefore:
Monday, November 30, 2009
Ominous Signs Are Aligned, Not A Particularly Good Sign / Politics / Conspiracy Theory
By: Robert_Singer
Having trouble making sense out of the Recent Headlines:
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Is Doomsday Coming? Perhaps, but Not in 2012 [1]
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Survey: Nearly half of adults don't plan to get H1N1 vaccine
Monday, November 30, 2009
Ben Bernanke Pleads to Keep His Job as Fed Chairman / Politics / Central Banks
By: Mike_Shedlock
Ben Bernanke is on yet another self-serving mission to save his job. Please consider The right reform for the Fed an op-ed by Ben Bernanke in the Washington Post.
Here is Bernanke's entire article (in italics) with my comments interspersed in plain type. Most of my comments are made straight to Ben Bernanke, but they apply in general to all central bankers.
Monday, November 30, 2009
The Day Global Warming Stood Still / Politics / Climate Change
By: Mark_Sircus
From the mainstream press we read, “As scientists confirm the earth has not warmed at all in the past decade, others wonder how this could be and what it means for Copenhagen. It will be a very cold winter of discontent for the warm-mongers. The climate show-and-tell in Copenhagen next month will be nothing more than a meaningless carbon-emitting jaunt, unable to decide just whom to blame or how to divvy up the profitable spoils of climate change hysteria. [1]
Saturday, November 28, 2009
The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict / Politics / Iraq War
By: Submissions
In 2003 Donald Rumsfeld estimated a war with Iraq would cost $60 billion. Five years later, the cost of Iraq war operations is over 10 times that figure. So what's behind the ballooning dollar signs? Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilme's exhaustedly researched book, "The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict," breaks down the price tag, from current debts to the unseen costs we'll pay for years to come. In 2003 Donald Rumsfeld estimated a war with Iraq would cost $60 billion.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Big Government Socialist Beast and The Plague of Self-Delusion / Politics / US Politics
By: Tim_Case
"It has been proved, by indisputable evidence, that power is not the grand principle of union among the parts of a very extensive empire; and that when this principle is pushed beyond the degree necessary for rendering justice between man and man, it debases the character of individuals, and renders them less secure in their persons and property…" ~ James Winthrop, Antifederalist No. 11
I doubt there are many who have thought about the transitive verb, secure, used by James Winthrop in the quote above. Noah Webster’s, 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, says secure is to make certain; to put beyond hazard, then addresses secure in this context: "Liberty and fixed laws secure to every citizen due protection of person and property…"
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Saturday, November 28, 2009
When the Revolution Comes, Wear Your Dog Tags / Politics / US Politics
By: Michael_S_Rozeff
Wednesday morning the 25th at 9:45 a.m. meant a visit to Dr. Nick, the ophthalmologist. The office was peopled predominantly by seniors who looked near 80. Two in conversation admitted to being 78 and 79. I felt young. Still, that’s your future and not too far off. Make the most of your remaining time, I thought.
A sign was placed prominently on the desk in front of the receptionist:
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Friday, November 27, 2009
Fiat Currency Money Printing Leading to Decentralization and Operational Secession / Politics / US Politics
By: Gary_North
"To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle." ~ George Orwell
We are seeing the beginning of a social revolution. This revolution will spread to politics. It is happening under our noses.
A revolution involves five crucial elements: (1) a new view of sovereignty; (2) a new view of authority; (3) a new view of law; (4) a new view of sanctions; (5) a new view of the future. Any revolution that does not involve all five is more of a coup than a revolution: a substitution of new rulers for old, not a change in the system.
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Thursday, November 26, 2009
Are Ukraine Black Death Cases Result of IMF Loans? / Politics / Global Pandemic
By: F_William_Engdahl
The Ukraine Government has declared a state of emergency and medical examiners describe results of autopsies on dead patients in chilling terms that recall the Black Death descriptions from the Fourteenth Century in Venice. While everyone is calling it “Swine Flu” and the WHO using it to spread their panic and untested vaccines, there is strong evidence that the deaths—almost all from pulmonary conditions—are from a rising incidence of Tuberculosis (TB). Now a Cambridge University study shows that there is a close correlation between rise in TB and the severe austerity measures that go with IMF loans. Are the Ukraine ‘Black Death’ cases the result of Ukraine’s IMF loans?
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Gold, Freedom, and the Fed / Politics / Central Banks
By: LewRockwell
Jacob G. Hornberger writes: The following is a non-verbatim transcript of a speech I delivered on November 23, 2009, at the End the Fed rally in Philadelphia.
With the possible exception of the Internal Revenue Service, the federal agency that is the greatest threat to the financial well-being and freedom of the American people is the Federal Reserve. This is the agency that has the power to wipe you out. It can destroy all your savings and the value of your income. Worst of all, it can do all this secretly and surreptitiously.
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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Deepening Economic Crisis, Financing War at the Expense of Job Creation / Politics / Afghanistan
By: Washingtons_Blog
America is in the most severe unemployment crisis since - and perhaps including - the Great Depression.
And yet Obama, like Bush, has done virtually nothing to create more jobs. Instead, they both gave trillions to the biggest banks (who are not loaning it out to the little guy) and for waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
American Casino, An Edgy, Fast-paced Documentary on the Financial Meltdown / Politics / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Mike_Whitney
Andrew and Leslie Cockburn have produced the best movie of the year. American Casino tells the story of the financial crisis, which started with the meltdown in subprime lending and ended up triggering the deepest slump since the Great Depression.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Will Christmas Shopping Save the Economic Recovery as Black Friday Nears? / Politics / Economic Recovery
By: Danny_Schechter
Funny how, back in 1929, we had black Thursday and then Black Friday as the market crashed, plunging the country into a depression. Now we have every retailer in every mall in America on their knees praying for a prosperous black Friday this week.
Here’s the scenario as Thanksgiving rolls around.
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The Federal Reserve's Silver Lining / Politics / Central Banks
By: Dr_Jeff_Lewis
The central bank of the United States, the Federal Reserve, is under intense scrutiny for its unprecedented actions following the 2008 financial crisis. Amidst the carnage of the financial crisis and real estate crash, Congress has taken a fresh look at the actions of the Federal Reserve on the economy.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Banking Sector Bailouts the Biggest Tax Payer Rip-off of All Time / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Martin_D_Weiss
In the scenario I’m about to paint for you, the dialog is fictional, but all the facts and figures are real.
The time: 1 AM, November 23, 2011, exactly two years from now.
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Former Soviet States Battleground For Global Domination / Politics / New World Order
By: Rick_Rozoff
A Europe united under the EU and especially NATO is to be strong enough to contain, isolate and increasingly confront Russia as the central component of U.S. plans for control of Eurasia and the world, but cannot be allowed to conduct an independent foreign policy, particularly in regard to Russia and the Middle East. European NATO allies are to assist Washington in preventing the emergence of "the most dangerous scenario...a grand coalition of China, Russia, and perhaps Iran" such as has been adumbrated since in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Iran Sanctions and Strategy / Politics / US Politics
By: STRATFOR
The Iranian government has rejected, at least for the moment, a proposal from the P-5+1 to ship the majority of its low-enriched uranium abroad for further enrichment. The group is now considering the next step in the roadmap that it laid out last April. The next step was a new round of sanctions, this time meant to be crippling. The only crippling sanction available is to cut off the supply of gasoline, since Iran imports 35 percent of its refined gasoline products. That would theoretically cripple the Iranian economy and compel the Iranians to comply with U.S. demands over the nuclear issue.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Audit the Fed Attached as an Amendment / Politics / Central Banks
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
I was pleased last week when we won a vote in the Financial Services Committee to include language from the Audit the Fed bill HR1207 in the upcoming financial regulatory reform bill. As it stands now, if HR 3996 passes, because of this action, the Federal Reserve's entire balance sheet will be opened up to a GAO audit. We will at last have a chance to find out what happened to the trillions of dollars the Fed has been giving out.
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Monday, November 23, 2009
From Zombie Banks to Corporations to All of America / Politics / US Debt
By: James_Quinn
The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. Genesis 6