Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Boko Haram Kidnappings an Excuse to Invade Another Oil-rich Muslim Country? / Politics / US Military
By: LewRockwell
We are told that a radical Islamic group called Boko Haram has kidnapped schoolgirls in Nigeria. This classic good-vs.-evil tale pits crazed Muslim extremists against adorable innocent children. The whole world demands the rescue of the girls, and deplores the evils of “radical Islam.”
It is a terrific story – the stuff Hollywood films are made of. But is it true?
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
FATCA Causing Chaos Worldwide For Americans / Politics / Taxes
By: Jeff_Berwick
The Illegitimate Revenue Agency (IRS) has just announced that the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) has been postponed from July 1, 2014 until January 1, 2016.
This is good news in many ways for both those with assets that they wish to internationalize as well as for the dollar and US banking system itself but in many ways the damage has already been done.
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Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Dr Dre Forgot THIS When He Claimed To Be Hip Hops First Billionaire / Politics / Social Issues
By: Jeff_Berwick
In his 1996 hit song "Been There, Done That," Dr. Dre rapped, "I ain't got no time to wait around for illuminati, I gotta make a billion before the year 2-G." Whether or not you believe in the so-called "illuminati," Dr. Dre was hinting at an underlying urgency he felt to strike it rich in a big way before society went down the drain. 14 years after the year 2000 and his last album, Dr. Dre has struck it big again. But is he a billionaire?
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
The US Dollar’s Fragile Reserve Currency Status / Politics / US Federal Reserve Bank
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
Is the Fed “tapering”? Did the Fed really cut its bond purchases during the three month period November 2013 through January 2014? Apparently not if foreign holders of Treasuries are unloading them.
From November 2013 through January 2014 Belgium with a GDP of $480 billion purchased $141.2 billion of US Treasury bonds.
Somehow Belgium came up with enough money to allocate during a 3-month period 29 percent of its annual GDP to the purchase of US Treasury bonds.
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Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Flash Boys - Wall Street Has Always Been Corrupt Or About To Be Corrupted / Politics / Market Manipulation
By: James_Quinn
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”― Upton Sinclair – I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked
“The U.S. financial markets had always been either corrupt or about to be corrupted.” - Michael Lewis, Flash Boys
I finished reading Michael Lewis’ Flash Boys take-down of Wall Street banks, hedge funds, government regulators and high frequency traders last week when I had spare time created by a weeklong denial of service attack on my website. It appears to me technology is being utilized more frequently as a mechanism for malevolence rather than a mechanism for good. The smartest guys in the room are figuring out ways to steal you blind in the financial markets, pilfer your personal information, spy on your electronic communications, and censor your right to free speech by taking away your ability to communicate freely on the internet. After reading Lewis’ maddening tome and experiencing the frustration of an attack that reached 50 million hits per day on my website, I’m reminded of two quotes from the brilliant dystopian visionary Aldous Huxley.
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Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Puerto Rico’s Stunning New Tax Advantages / Politics / Taxes
By: Casey_Research
By Nick Giambruno, Senior Editor, International Man
Chances are that you have heard something about the stunning new laws in Puerto Rico that give unbelievable tax benefits for mainland Americans who move to the island. Benefits that are so incredible that many at first thought they were simply too good to be true… but they most certainly are not.
With strategies that purport to legally allow US citizens to avoid having to pay taxes, the first thing that usually comes to mind is some sort of cockamamie scheme. This is because the US government is no slouch when it comes to shaking down its citizens. It’s mind-boggling expenditures necessitate this. It would be dangerously foolish in the extreme to think you could slip one past them.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
The Mythology of the U.S. Supreme Court / Politics / US Politics
By: MISES
Ryan W. McMaken writes: The Supreme Court’s recent decision on prayer at government meetingsreminds me that Supreme Court “season” is upon us, and for the next two months or so, we can expect to see the court decide on a variety of cases that can have profound impacts on the lives of citizens and non-citizens alike. The court’s decision in Town of Greece vs. Galloway has produced a lot of commentary on both sides, with much discussion about the dynamics between justices, and how Justice Kennedy must have been in a pro-prayer mood that day, since his decisions appear to be made on a variety of unknowable whims.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
American Crimes Against Humanity / Politics / US Politics
By: Raul_I_Meijer
Every people has the right to self-determination, but only if it pleases a bunch of self-elected overlords and if it serves their purpose. How else can we interpret the fact that the Donetsk self-organized referendum was rejected by the West and even labeled criminal by the Kiev government that in turn is labeled criminal in Donetsk, all of whom say the May 25 across-Ukraine election is the real and legal thing, as the Donetsk region has already vowed to boycott that election? You can have a referendum to separate yourself from Ukraine, but only under Ukraine law. That is, the law of a government that has threatened to ban your language from being used where you live and that has been put in place, and maintained there, by armed groups that are shooting at you, must decide your right to self-determination.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Third World America - U.S. Suburbs Become Ghettos / Politics / Social Issues
By: John_Rubino
Not so long ago, a reasonably-presentable American could live an hour outside of a city and commute in for a government or banking job, thus getting the best of both worlds: city-level wages and a 3,000 square foot house with a big yard for the kids.
But then municipal governments ran out of money and started laying off, while banks, traumatized by their 2009 near-death experience, cut back on mortgage and consumer lending and fired the related staff. The only other jobs available were in service industries like food and retail that paid next to nothing and didn’t offer benefits.
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Monday, May 12, 2014
Done Deal For Independent East Ukraine / Politics / Ukraine Civil War
By: Andrew_McKillop
Novorossiya Starts in Crimea
In interview with CBS, May 11, former US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates firstly said that Russia's annexation of Crimea was “a done deal” and that “there’s nothing we can do to change the situation.” He openly questioned what the real motives of Vladimir Putin in eastern Ukraine may be. Gates said: “I’m not sure he knows at this point, other than to....protecting the Russians and making sure the Ukraine ultimately leans back toward Russia”. For Gates the done deal in Crimea can easily morph into eastern Ukraine becoming a Russian satrape. He said. “I don’t think he’ll rest until there’s a pro-Russian government in Kiev or a federated Ukraine where the eastern part of the country, for all practical purposes, looks to Russia.”
Monday, May 12, 2014
Ukraine Separatists Ask Putin to Annex Donetsk Following Referendum; Sanctions Hypocrisy / Politics / Ukraine Civil War
By: Mike_Shedlock
Separatists in Donetsk claim a turnout of 74.9% in a referendum on self-determination with 89.7% voting in favor of self-rule.
Ukraine says turnout was 32%. I suspect the truth is somewhere in between but that's a pretty wide gap. Even 32% turnout seems respectable given the circumstances.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Russian Borderlands: The View from Azerbaijan / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: STRATFOR
I arrive in Azerbaijan as the country celebrates Victory Day, the day successor states of the former Soviet Union celebrate the defeat of Germany in World War II. No one knows how many Soviet citizens died in that war -- perhaps 22 million. The number is staggering and represents both the incompetence and magnificence of Russia, which led the Soviets in war. Any understanding of Russia that speaks of one without the other is flawed.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Ron Paul Asks - What Does The US Government Want in Ukraine? / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
In several eastern Ukrainian towns over the past week, the military opened fire on its own citizens. Dozens may have been killed in the violence. Although the US government generally condemns a country's use of military force against its own population, especially if they are unarmed protesters, this time the US administration blamed the victims. After as many as 20 unarmed protesters were killed on the May 9th holiday in Ukraine, the State Department spokesman said "we condemn the outbreak of violence caused by pro-Russia separatists."
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Monday, May 12, 2014
Disarming Putin's Energy Weapon / Politics / Energy Resources
By: Andrew_McKillop
Never Give Up
Writing in the UK 'Independent', 9 May, Oliver Wright said: “Britain is drawing up plans with the US and other European countries to disarm the threat of President Vladimir Putin using Russian gas and oil supplies as a weapon against Ukraine and its East European neighbours”.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
U.S. State Department Bashing Putin’s Diplomatic Proposal / Politics / US Politics
By: Stephen_Lendman
It bears repeating what other articles stressed. Putin represents responsible geopolitical leadership. Obama is polar opposite.
Responses to Putin’s diplomatic proposal didn’t surprise. According to State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki:
“(W)e need to see more from President Putin than simply calling for (Eastern Ukrainian referendums) to be postponed.”
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Czar Putin Mission Accomplished in Crimea Puts up Ukraine Smoke and Mirrors / Politics / Russia
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Czar Putin after overseeing his goostepping troops in Red Square flew to Sevastopol, Crimea to undertake his own Bush-esk 'Mission Accomplished' boat ride to inspect the newly annexed territory to the Russian Empire.
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Saturday, May 10, 2014
Putin's Flaky Ritual Of May 8th / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Andrew_McKillop
Putin Celebrates VE Day His Own Way
What are dubbed the “western allies” of the USA – Great Britain, France and Germany – joined with the US, or at least with Obama, to celebrate the total defeat of Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945. This is called VE Day for Victory Europe Day - but Vladimir Putin wasn't there.
He went to Crimea to celebrate the Russian version of VE Day, which is May 9. This drew stern editorials in the glove puppet media and howls of protest from Obama, Cameron, Hollande and Merkel. All four of them - including Merkel.
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Friday, May 09, 2014
Odessa False Flag - Pathetic U.S. Media Coverage / Politics / Ukraine Civil War
By: Mike_Whitney
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“Not under foreign skies Nor under foreign wings protected - I shared all this with my own people There, where misfortune had abandoned us.”– “Requiem” – Anna Akhmatova
Friday, May 09, 2014
We’re Not Doing Very Well, Are We? / Politics / Social Issues
By: Raul_I_Meijer
We’re not doing very well overall, are we? We’re always busy chasing something, but we don’t know what it is we’re chasing, and we don’t even know why we’re doing it. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you what they really want is to be happy, but you just know they don’t know how to get there. So they all grab onto stuff, material things, which are much easier to handle than some non-tangible idea or ideal, but exactly because material things are so much easier, they don’t make them happy. One wooden toy under a Christmas tree 100 years ago made a kid then happier than 25 plastic toys do today, and it’s no wonder, and we all sort of understand why that is, but we don’t stop to reflect on it.
Thursday, May 08, 2014
U.S. Gangster State – Where Is America’s Democracy? / Politics / US Politics
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
Anyone who looks carefully behind the veil of words cannot find democracy in America. For years I have been writing that the US government is no longer accountable to law or to the people (see, for example, my book, How America Was Lost). The Constitution has been set aside, and the executive branch is degenerating into Caesarism.