Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
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...
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Fast Moving Events in Pakistan - Emergency Law, the Second Coup by Musharraf / Politics / Pakistan
By: Stephen_Lendman
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan was established in August,1947 when its majority Muslim population separated from British-controlled India and became a sovereign state. Since then, the country has been plagued by wars, political instability, and a series of military coups as it continues stumbling unsuccessfully toward democracy. Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Ben Bernanke Gets a Lesson on Inflation From Ron Paul / Politics / Inflation
By: Mario_Innecco
Representative and Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul questioning Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke about the debasement of the dollar at the JEC in Congress on November 8th, 2007 Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
MACRO MUSINGS: Argentina's New Peronist President, US to Follow? - Tres Mujeres / Politics / Argentina
By: Justice_Litle
Nothing is built on stone. All is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone.
– Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer
CRISTINA! CRISTINA! CRISTINA! the headlines chanted. On October 28th, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner became Argentina's newly elected President. She did so with the blessing of her husband, Nestor Kirchner… who also happens to be Argentina's outgoing President.
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Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Most Would Pay Higher Energy Bills To Address Climate Change, Suggests Global Poll / Politics / Climate Change
By: BBC
Most people say they are ready to make personal sacrifices, including paying more for their energy, to help address climate change, according to a BBC World Service poll of 22,000 people in 21 countries.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, November 01, 2007
United States Plans For War With Iran - Analysis of Geopolitical Risks / Politics / Iran
By: John_Mauldin
This week in our Special Outside the Box, George Friedman of Stratfor addresses what many believe to be the looming war with Iran, the potential wars' strategic futility, the underlying geopolitical implications, and the inherent threats that abound on account of Iran's defensive measures and offensive capabilities; the latter consisting of terrorist organizations that can harm US interests, be they domestic or foreign. Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, October 29, 2007
The Bank of the South: An Alternative to IMF and World Bank Dominance / Politics / Global Financial System
By: Stephen_Lendman
In July, 2004, the IMF and World Bank commemorated the 60th anniversary of their founding at Bretton Woods, NH to provide a financial framework of assistance for the postwar world after the expected defeat of Germany and Japan. With breathtaking hypocrisy, an October, 2004 Development Committee Communique stated: "As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Bretton Woods Institutions....we recommit ourselves to supporting efforts by developing countries to pursue sustainable growth, sound macroeconomic policies, debt sustainability, open trade, job creation, poverty reduction and good governance." Phew.Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, October 28, 2007
No Plan, No Peace – The Inside Story Of Iraq's Descent Into Chaos - BBC1 Documentary 10.15pm - 28th Oct 07 / Politics / Iraq War
By: BBC
For the first time on British television, John Ware looks at what became of the Bush-Blair dream of turning Iraq into a stable, democratic, human rights-respecting showcase for the Middle East.
The programme asks how the American and British Governments undertook the biggest occupation of a foreign country in modern times without a coherent plan.
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Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Rightwing columnists stuff up labour market reform debate / Politics / Social Issues
By: Gerard_Jackson
What gives with our so-called rightwing columnists? John Buchanan from the University of Sydney's Workplace Research Centre wrote, along with another lefty, a seriously flawed study on the alleged detrimental effects of government legislation that loosened our labour markets. So what did our intrepid conservative columnists do? They mocked Buchanan and his co-author and sneered at their politics. In brief, they attacked the man instead of the argument.Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
UK Government Report Gives Annual £6 billion Positive Spin To Migrant Workers / Politics / Immigration
By: Nadeem_Walayat
A new report from the governments Migration Impact Forum (Treasury and Home Office departments) concludes that migrant workers contribute to the British Economy to the tune of £6 billion pounds a year. Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, October 15, 2007
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Model is Flawed / Politics / Climate Change
By: Brian_Bloom
- Al Gore and the IPCC were awarded the Nobel Prize “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change .”
- A High Court judge in the UK highlighted "nine scientific errors" in Al Gore's documentary.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Burma Regime Change - The Geopolitical Stakes of the Saffron Revolution / Politics / Asian Economies
By: F_William_Engdahl
There are facts and then there are facts. Take the case of the recent mass protests in Burma or Myanmar depending on which name you prefer to call the former British colony. First it's a fact which few will argue that the present military dictatorship of the reclusive General Than Shwe is right up there when it comes to world-class tyrannies. It's also a fact that Burma enjoys one of the world's lowest general living standards. Partly as a result of the ill-conceived 100% to 500% price hikes in gasoline and other fuels in August, inflation, the nominal trigger for the mass protests led by Saffron-robed Buddhist monks, is unofficially estimated to have risen by 35%. Ironically the demand to establish “market” energy prices came from the IMF and World Bank. Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Global Warming - The Impact of Rising Sea Levels / Politics / Climate Change
By: Ian_Brockwell
With sea levels reaching a critical point, governments around the world have decided to implement a plan that is designed to save as many people as possible.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, October 11, 2007
The Geopolitical Foundations of Blackwater in Iraq / Politics / Iraq War
By: John_Mauldin
This week in the Special Outside the Box, good friend George Friedman addresses the lax governance and control of Blackwater, a private security firm recently embroiled in the accusation of firing upon Iraqi civilians without provocation. George shows us that private security contractors' working beside the military is not a recent mode of operation but rather one that has long been employed by the US military. Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Blackwater Accused of Murdering Innocent Iraqi Civilians / Politics / Iraq War
By: Anwaar_Hussain
So what are these Blackwater operatives? Peace keepers, law enforcers or dogs of war, armed goons? Or are they the new Stasi ?Read full article... Read full article...