Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Thursday, August 04, 2016
Venezuela in Chaos With Work Camps and 1,000% Inflation – Coming Soon to the West? / Politics / Venezuela
We’re keeping track of Venezuela and have written about its deepening disaster numerous times, including HERE. In fact, I personally visited a few months ago to see the disaster with my own eyes.
Every time we look at this poor country, things are getting worse. The rate of price inflation is soaring toward 1,000 percent, with looting and shortages of critical necessities such as medicine and food. Hyperinflation is well underway. June monthly figures put inflation around 22%, with inflation at 488% for the year but I know from personal experience that the government numbers, as with all governments, are heavily lied about.
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Thursday, August 04, 2016
Why the Failed Coup in Turkey Will Bring Down the European Union / Politics / European Union
Dear Parade-Goer,
As I am still in Argentina running around like a llama chased by a puma, it’s my great pleasure to turn the bulk of this week’s missive to new team member Stephen McBride.
You may remember Stephen from his excellent work on our exposé on the machinations of George Soros.
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Monday, August 01, 2016
Why Should The IMF Care About Its Credibility? / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
The IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) issued a report a few days ago entitled ‘The IMF and the Crises in Greece, Ireland, and Portugal’. It is so damning for managing director Christine Lagarde and her closest associates, that it’s hard to see, certainly at first blush, how they could all keep their jobs. But don’t be surprised if that is exactly what will happen.
Because organizations like the IMF don’t care much, if at all, about accountability. Their leaders think they are close to untouchable, at least as long as they have the ‘blessing’ of those whose interests they serve. Which in case of the IMF means the world’s major banks and the governments of the richest nations (who also serve the same banks’ interests). And if these don’t like the course set out, a scandal with a chambermaid is easily staged.
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Monday, August 01, 2016
The Failed Coup Will Help Turkey Become a Major Power / Politics / Turkey
GEORGE FRIEDMAN writes: In my book The Next 100 Years, I argued that Turkey is going to become a major regional power. Recent events would seem at odds with this view. But in fact, they confirm it.
Emerging as a regional power puts great pressure on a nation. The shift in external reality causes internal shifts as well. This is what we see in Turkey: a clash between rival factions with diverse visions, a coup of some sort, and for now, a dictatorship.
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Saturday, July 30, 2016
Mainstream Media - The Blind Leading the Clueless / Politics / Mainstream Media
Jeff Thomas writes: Most of us watch television. In part, we seek to be entertained, but, additionally, we often seek to be enlightened as to “what’s going on.” In a difficult era like the present one, in which some of the most prominent countries are experiencing the onset of an economic crisis, virtual cartoon characters are competing as choices in political contests, governments are becoming increasingly rapacious and a police state is developing rapidly, it’s not surprising if the average person questions, “What on earth are they thinking?”Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 29, 2016
How to Profit From These Massive, Brexit-Induced Trends / Politics / BrExit
By Justin Spittler
Editor's note: Yesterday, Casey Research founder Doug Casey shared his thoughts on the Brexit.
Today, in part two, he lays out the major trends the Brexit will accelerate…and explains how you can set yourself up to profit from them…
This has the makings of a classic speculative opportunity—one where politically caused distortions are liquidated and prices readjust. But a word of caution. It’s going to take place within the context of the Greater Depression. And, as Richard Russell, who lived through the last depression, observed: In a depression, nobody wins. The winner is just the person who loses the least.
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Friday, July 29, 2016
Doug Casey on “Brexit” / Politics / BrExit
By Justin Spittler:
Editor's note: It's been a month since "Brexit"…the historic event that wiped out more than $3 trillion from the global stock market in two days.<
But what happens now?
Today, Casey Research founder Doug Casey breaks down what the decision means for Britain…and how it foreshadows some big changes in the world at large.
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Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Russia’s UN Envoy Blasts US Mass Murder in Syria / Politics / US Military
All US wars kill many more civilians than combatants - the ugly truth Washington wants suppressed. America considers everyone in war theaters legitimate targets while claiming otherwise.
Since summer 2014, US warplanes illegally bombed Syrian and Iraqi targets on the phony pretext of combating terrorism, killing unknown numbers of civilians, hundreds, maybe thousands - all the while disingenuously claiming to go all-out to avoid so-called collateral damage.
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Monday, July 25, 2016
Hubris, Instability and Entertainment - The Only Thing That Grows Is Debt / Politics / Government Spending
John McDonnell, UK Shadow Chancellor of the Treasury (at least it sounds important) appealed to his -Labour- party on Sunday morning TV to “stop trying to destroy the party”, and of course I’m thinking NO, please don’t stop, keep at it, it’s so much fun. When you watch a building collapse, you want it to go all the way, not stop somewhere in the middle and get patched up with band-aids.
It’s alright, let it crumble, it’s had its day. And if it’s any consolation, you’re not alone. Nor is that some freak coincidence. ‘Labour’-like parties (the ‘formerly left’) all over the world are disintegrating. Which is no surprise; they haven’t represented laborers for decades. They’ve become the left wing -and even that mostly in name only- of a monotone bland centrist political blob.
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Monday, July 25, 2016
Terrorism Fuels Nationalism and Deglobalization of the World / Politics / GeoPolitics
BY PATRICK WATSON : The weaponized truck attack in Nice, France has terrorism fear on the rise once again. The incidents seem to be more frequent, and the death tolls are rising. People are afraid, and they want it to stop.
Don’t hold your breath, says George Friedman of Geopolitical Futures. The top geopolitics expert says all the options are bad. And, the wrong responses could make the problem even worse.
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Monday, July 25, 2016
Why We’re Ungovernable - Violence Goes Random / Politics / Social Issues
This series is based on the premise that debt works the same way for countries as it does for individuals and families: When you borrow too much your life spins out of control. For national and multi-national entities that means elections become unpredictable, economies function erratically, and public policies become more ad hoc and less effective.
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Sunday, July 24, 2016
Russia: Tensions, Turmoil, and Western Hubris / Politics / Russia
"The 3 Big Stories NOT Being Covered – PART 1” With Graham Mehl. Anyone who has read this publication for any length of time knows that topics range from mainstream to the totally uncovered stories. As we look out not just across the economic landscape, but across the world in general, we are seeing an alarming increase of serious situations that are receiving little or no coverage at all from the western media. Thankfully there are hundreds if not thousands of reliable people who chip in with analysis and stories of their own on some of these topics.
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Saturday, July 23, 2016
Basic Income in The Time of Crisis / Politics / Social Issues
Basic income is a topic I’ve been thinking about for a while, and while I won’t get anywhere near a comprehensive overview -there are too many uncertainties and untested ideas-, I’m going to try to paint a first chapter in a work of progress. Or, a thought experiment, for me and others.
Of course I’ve read a lot of and about other people’s ideas on the topic, and I’m sure there are many more out there that I haven’t seen yet, but I’m afraid to say that about all of those I did read tend to fall into the same ‘trap’. That is, they project their ideas, which are widely varying, onto -or close to- the economy (economies) and society (societies) as they are today.
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Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Fracking Bombs In Your Neighborhood / Politics / Fracking
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Missing ’28 Pages’ of the 9/11 Report Released into Blitzkrieg of World Events / Politics / Iraq War
We have been massive and outspoken proponents that 9/11 was an inside job since our inception in 2010. Five or more years ago that was a fairly extreme stance. We’d often get people calling us “crazy,” but I’m used to it.
In the last few years, however, it appears that anyone who has a decent internet connection and has looked into the details of what happened on September 11, 2001, probably agrees with our stance.
For the last few years this has caused an outcry that the “missing 28 pages” from the 9/11 Report be released. Eventually, as the pressure increased, we became confident the pages would be released and began to wonder about the timing.
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Monday, July 18, 2016
Erdogan Might Have Known about the Coup but Didn’t Prevent It on Purpose / Politics / Turkey
A coup has to be carefully planned for many weeks. It requires endless meetings and preparation. Many thousands of troops, tanks, helicopters, and all the rest, must suddenly appear in the streets and take over.
And all of this planning has to take place in complete secrecy. Without the element of surprise, there is no coup.
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Monday, July 18, 2016
Cop Shootings - America Resembles Gunfight at the OK Corral / Politics / Social Issues
Hollywood is now real life. Instead of good v. bad guys shoot ‘em ups, it’s killer cops against people of color, mostly unarmed Black youths, victims of racist injustice.
Do five Dallas police officers lethally shot days earlier, another 10 wounded and now three Baton Rouge cops killed, seven others wounded on Sunday indicate victims are beginning to retaliate - or perhaps as one of my readers suggests a “gov’t covert ops designed to foment race war.”
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Sunday, July 17, 2016
Erdogan Reign of Terror Following Failed Coup Plot / Politics / Turkey
He’s back in Ankara, military forces loyal to his regime crushing remnants of Friday’s rebellion. His first order of business is solidifying power, eliminating opposition and hardening dictatorial rule. It's just beginning.
Security forces retook control of state-run broadcaster TRT after rebels seized it. Turkish Airlines resumed flights to and from Istanbul’s Ataturk airport after suspending them yesterday. Various international airlines halted their own as a precaution.
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Saturday, July 16, 2016
Attempted Military Coup in Turkey / Politics / Turkey
Turkey is no stranger to military coups, three occurring in the post-Ottoman era, the last one in September 1980 before the July 15 attempted takeover.
It continued overnight. Events are fast moving. Reports indicate scores killed, many others injured, numerous arrests made by regime authorities. They remain in power - martial law and a curfew imposed.
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Thursday, July 14, 2016
When Will They Learn? / Politics / Social Issues
Jeff Thomas writes: It will be no surprise to readers to say that collectivism is growing in the Western World. It matters little whether we refer to it as socialism, communism, Marxism, Fabianism, totalitarianism or any of its other names, the collectivist ideal is on the rise.
British conservatives worry over the extreme collectivist speeches of the new Labour leader,Jeremy Corbyn, who is far more to the left of the former leader, Ed Miliband, yet often fail to notice that Tory leaders are also becoming more collectivist in their rhetoric. Certainly the incoming Prime Minister, Theresa May, is further to the left than, say, Margaret Thatcher, yet we Britons often fail to notice that both of the primary parties are moving further to the left.
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