Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Putin's Rebuilt Russia Prepares for US Missile Defense Flash point 2008 / Politics / Russia
By: Mike_Whitney
It's been a lot of hard work, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has finally achieved his goal. He's cleaned up the mess left behind by Yeltsin, put together a strong and thriving economy, and restored Russia to a place of honor among the community of nations. His legacy has already been written. He's the man who rebuilt Russia. The last thing he wants now, is a pointless confrontation with the United States. But how can it be avoided? He understands Washington's long-range plans for Russia and he is taking necessary steps to preempt them. He is familiar with the heavyweights of US foreign policy, like Zbigniew Brzezinski, and has undoubtedly read his master-plan for Central Asia, “The Grand Chessboard”. Brzezinski's recent article in Foreign Affairs, (A publication of the Council on Foreign Relations) “A Geostrategy for Eurasia” summarizes his views on America's future involvement in the region: Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, December 17, 2007
Ron Paul on the Importance of Fiscal Responsibility in US Government / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
As the year draws to a close, the battle over spending in Washington is heating up. The Democrats want to expand government healthcare, while the President has vetoed the second attempt to expand SCHIP.The latest version of the State Children's Health Insurance Program would have expanded the entitlement program and raised taxes, just as the earlier version did and the President showed fiscal restraint with his veto.
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Saturday, December 15, 2007
Iran - Bombed if you do, Bombed if you Don't / Politics / Iran
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
The latest National Intelligence Estimate has been greeted by a mixture of relief and alarm. As I have been saying all along, Iran indeed poses no quantifiable imminent nuclear threat to us or her neighbors. It is with much alarm, however, that we see the administration continue to ratchet up the war rhetoric as if nothing has changed.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
NHS - Staggering Scale of Money Wasted / Politics / NHS
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Can Gerry Robinson Fix the NHS?
Gerry Robinson the management guru returns to see if his management reforms implemented a a year ago at a large district hospital in the North of England have taken root and managed to fix the NHS.
Patients continue to lose confidence in the wake of lack of competency in the NHS ability to manage resources resulting in little more than 30p of output for every extra £1 spent on the NHS.
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Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Bush Lack of Intelligence over Nuclear Iran - Oil Deciding Factor / Politics / Iran
By: David_Vaughn
Are you ready to go to war in Iran ? That has been a popular topic for quite some time. It has been believed that Iran is building the capacity to produce nuclear weapons. Can't have that. They'll have to be knocked out with conventional weapons and bunker busters. This subject of possible war has brought on so great speculation both pro and con.Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Why Austrailia's Trade Unions Sponsored Work Study is Worthless / Politics / Austrailia
By: Gerard_Jackson
The aim of Buchanan and Woonay's Australia at Work study is to persuade people that free labour markets drive down real wage rates because labour lacks the power to defend itself against capitalists. Yet every single critic of this so-called study missed this vital point. What we got were conservative economic illiterates like Janet Albrechtsen, Andrew Bolt and Imre Saluszinsky (all of whom are from the Murdoch stable) engaging in ad hominem attacks instead of dealing with Buchanan and Woonroy's underlying assumption that free labour markets are exploitive.Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Iran Nuclear Intelligence; Now Off the Hook or On the Hook? / Politics / Iran
By: Anwaar_Hussain
The bolt from the blue called the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran, which was released on Monday the 3rd of December, reported “with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program ‘because of international pressure'.”
The NIE, in reality, is a final acknowledgement, and a sort of culmination, of a long trail of track-2 diplomacy and intel gathering that the US State department and intelligence agencies have been conducting, and misconducting, with their Iranian counterparts for some time now.
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Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Kasparov Cries - Putin is the New Stalin / Politics / Russia
By: Mike_Whitney
Garry Kasparov should give up politics and do what he does best; stand-up comedy.Watching Kasparov traipse around Moscow with his basket of sour grapes and his entourage of western media-stooges is like watching "Mr. Bean's Excellent Kremlin Adventure"---a particularly lame performance in a dismal B-rated burlesque. It's painful to watch.
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Monday, December 03, 2007
United Russia Victory – Putin Determined to Protect Russias Resources / Politics / Russia
By: Ian_Brockwell
At the time of writing this article the parliamentary elections in Russia were still some hours away, but it is most likely that “United Russia” will win by a landslide (probably receiving in excess of 63 percent of the votes).
President Putin, who heads the United Russia list of candidates, has been accused of abusing his authority and taking an unfair advantage by obtaining more exposure on the state channels, and breaking up opposition rallies.
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Sunday, December 02, 2007
Putin's Party to Win Russian Election with a Landslide / Politics / Russia
By: Mike_Whitney
Is Vladimir Putin the Worlds Most Popular Leader?
On Sunday, Russians will vote in their country's parliamentary elections. The results are a foregone conclusion. Putin's party, United Russia, is expected to win in a landslide. The only question is whether the margin of victory will exceed 70%. If it does, then Putin will continue to be the most powerful player in Russian politics even after he steps down from office next year.
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Friday, November 30, 2007
Afghanistan - A Crude Oil War Of Revenge / Politics / Energy Resources
By: Mike_Whitney
The United States is on its way to losing the war in Afghanistan. The eventual defeat will be political not military. Public sentiment is shifting in Europe. The people have had enough. They want to get out. When European troops withdrawal from Afghanistan; NATO will gradually unravel and the Transatlantic Alliance will collapse. That will be a disaster for America. The US will again be isolated by two great oceans. But not by choice. America's days as an empire will be over.Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Labour Market Economics Sank the Howard Government / Politics / Austrailia
By: Gerard_Jackson
Although it is probably correct to point to rising interest rates and Howard?s admission that he would resign if re-elected as contributing to his defeat, it is still very likely that an autopsy will reveal that the principle cause of the Liberal Government?s demise was its grotesque mishandling of labour market reform. Trying to explain to Liberal politicians what was needed to successfully sell the benefits of free labour markets was an impossible task.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, November 26, 2007
Russian "Elected” Government and Dictatorship, What's the difference? / Politics / Russia
By: Ian_Brockwell
Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion, was arrested by Russian authorities on Saturday for helping to lead an unsanctioned procession of at least 1,500 people (against Russian President Vladimir Putin), he was sentenced to five days in prison.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Coup D'Etat Rumblings in Venezuela / Politics / Venezuela
By: Stephen_Lendman
The Bush administration tried and failed three prior times to oust Hugo Chavez since its first aborted two-day coup attempt in April, 2002. Through FOIA requests, lawyer, activist and author Eva Golinger uncovered top secret CIA documents of US involvement that included an intricate financing scheme involving the quasi-governmental agency, National Endowment of Democracy (NED), and US Agency for International Development (USAID). The documents also showed the White House, State Department and National Security Agency had full knowledge of the scheme, had to have approved it, and there's little doubt of CIA involvement as it's always part of this kind of dirty business. What's worrying now is what went on then may be happening again in what looks like a prelude to a fourth made-in-Washington attempt to oust the Venezuelan leader that must be monitored closely as events develop.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Pentagon Iraq War Cover-up - Actual US Casualties Over 15,000! / Politics / Iraq War
By: Mike_Whitney
The Pentagon has been concealing the true number of American casualties in the Iraq War. The real number exceeds 15,000 and CBS News can prove it.
CBS's Investigative Unit wanted to do a report on the number of suicides in the military and “submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Defense”. After 4 months they received a document which showed--that between 1995 and 2007--there were 2,200 suicides among “active duty” soldiers.
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Monday, November 19, 2007
Ron Paul on the True Cost of US Government Tax and Spending / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Congressman Charlie Rangel recently unveiled a tax plan that Republicans estimate would raise taxes by $3.5 trillion over 10 years. Democrats questioned the math.
Now, the Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee have released a report on the total costs of the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan , including "hidden costs" such as interest on the money we're borrowing, and long term healthcare for vets. The bill comes to $3.5 trillion. Republicans are, of course, questioning the math on this item.
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Sunday, November 18, 2007
The Grand Delusion of Electing the Democrats in 2008 / Politics / US Politics
By: Joel_S_Hirschhorn
With an endless, futile and costly Iraq war, a stinking economy and most Americans seeing the country on the wrong track, the greatest national group delusion is that electing Democrats in 2008 is what the country needs.Keith Olbermann was praised when he called the Bush presidency a criminal conspiracy. That missed the larger truth. The whole two-party political system is a criminal conspiracy hiding behind illusion induced delusion.
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Sunday, November 18, 2007
Regime Change in Pakistan - Princess Bhutto's Return / Politics / Pakistan
By: Mike_Whitney
It doesn't take a genius to figure out why the crooked Princess Ferragamo--Benazir Bhutto—has returned to Pakistan . Bhutto's been traipsing all over Washington trying to garner support from think-tank heavies and establishment powerbrokers to help her stage a political come-back in Islamabad. She even hired a high-powered public relations firm to polish her image so the media wouldn't focus too much attention on her past transgressions. Allegations of money laundering and corruption have haunted Bhutto ever since she was driven from office in 1996. Last month, General Musharraf cut a deal with Bhutto which freed her from the prospect of criminal prosecution and allowed her to return home. The arrangement ignored the judicial system entirely. The $1.5 billion that she and her husband allegedly “received in a variety of criminal enterprises” has simply disappeared down the memory hole. Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
US in Economic and Political Crisis - Time For Plan B? / Politics / US Politics
By: Richard_C_Cook
Strange events are taking place in the U.S.
By August 2007, a lot of very smart people were reading the tea leaves, convinced that the upper echelons of the U.S. government had their own hidden reasons for forecasting an event even more heinous than the attacks of September 11, 2001. President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, and Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff had been hinting that another 9/11 could be coming.
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Sunday, November 11, 2007
Yellowstone “Supervolcano” Eruption Soon? / Politics / Climate Change
By: Ian_Brockwell
According to the National Geographic, the Yellowstone caldera has been rising at a rate of approximately 3 inches every year since the middle of 2004, three times faster than any previous measurements.Read full article... Read full article...