Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Sunday, December 02, 2012
Our Collapsing Economy and Currency / Politics / US Politics
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
Is the “fiscal cliff” real or just another hoax? The answer is that the fiscal cliff is real, but it is a result, not a cause. The hoax is the way the fiscal cliff is being used.
The fiscal cliff is the result of the inability to close the federal budget deficit. The budget deficit cannot be closed because large numbers of US middle class jobs and the GDP and tax base associated with them have been moved offshore, thus reducing federal revenues. The fiscal cliff cannot be closed because of the unfunded liabilities of eleven years of US-initiated wars against a half dozen Muslim countries--wars that have benefitted only the profits of the military/security complex and the territorial ambitions of Israel. The budget deficit cannot be closed, because economic policy is focused only on saving banks that wrongful financial deregulation allowed to speculate, to merge, and to become too big to fail, thus requiring public subsidies that vastly dwarf the totality of US welfare spending.
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Sunday, December 02, 2012
Let's Hold Hands and Jump Off the Fiscal Cliff / Politics / US Politics
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes:
"I saw my problems and I'll see the light
"We got a lovin' thing, we gotta feed it right
"There ain't no danger we can go too far
"We start believin' now that we can be who we are.
"Grease is the word..."
Saturday, December 01, 2012
US Fiscal Cliff Talks Target the Working Class / Politics / US Politics
By: Barry_Grey
As the deadline for the so-called “fiscal cliff” grows nearer, the indications mount that, behind the smokescreen of deficit talks and media hype, the artificial fiscal emergency is the starting point of a process for making deep structural cuts in basic social programs that previously would have been considered politically impossible.
Saturday, December 01, 2012
Nasa's Martian Boondoggles / Politics / Government Spending
By: Gary_North
There was a recent mini-flap over life on Mars. Some CalTech scientist said that something big is about to be announced about life on Mars. But NASA says it's not true. You can read about this here.
Here is the accompanying explanation.
Read full article... Read full article...The Mars Science Laboratory Project and its Curiosity rover are less than four months into a two-year prime mission to investigate whether conditions in Mars' Gale Crater may have been favorable for microbial life.
Saturday, December 01, 2012
The TSA, War, Corruption, Cuba, Karama / Politics / Social Issues
By: Casey_Research
Doug Casey Interviewed by Louis James, Editor, International Speculator : Dear Reader,
Before we get to this week's conversation, I am very pleased to announce that Doug Casey has just published a new book, featuring some of our best conversations: priceless takes on a wide variety of subjects, including the TSA, war, corruption, Cuba, and your health. Many of the subjects covered in this publication and the book – like the one Doug and I discuss below – are the result of questions from readers. The book, Doug's first in many years, is called Totally Incorrect, and is a convenient way to share Doug's singly unique and insightful perspective with others.
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Friday, November 30, 2012
Is the World Really Flat? / Politics / Fiat Currency
By: Andy_Sutton
One of the really bad things about a period of crisis, especially when there is a vacuum in terms of real convictions, is that the void tends to be filled with anything and everything. I’m going to devote this week to some of the more absurd comments and theories that have emerged as they pertain to the whole idea of a fiscal cliff, and yet another debt ceiling battle in Washington. However, before we cover the absurdities and get to the ‘fun’ stuff, we need properly arrange the facts.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Why Loose Money Bernanke Could Learn a Thing or Two From Shrewd Mark Carney / Politics / Central Banks
By: Money_Morning
Martin Hutchinson writes:
Now that President Barack Obama has been reelected, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's easy money policies may well be with us for the next four years.
And even if Obama replaces Bernanke when his term ends in January 2014, he's likely to choose another soft-money acolyte like Fed Vice-chairman Janet Yellen to lead the Fed.
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Friday, November 30, 2012
The Internet Just Became a Dangerous Place, as Governments Try to Seize Control / Politics / Internet
By: Jeff_Berwick
The Internet is more dangerous than ever before… and not because of “child porn” or Craigslist personal ads… it is because of governments. Within that sinister cabal of governments known as the United Nations, control-crazy members like China, Russia and the Arab countries, are trying to seize control of the free flow of information. As reported in the Wall Street Journal:
Friday, November 30, 2012
The US Is Now a Police State / Politics / US Politics
By: Casey_Research
Louis: Doug, after conversations like the one we had last week, we often get letters from angry readers who accuse you of hating America, disloyalty, and perhaps even treason. These people don't know or understand what I do about you – that you love the idea that was America. It's the United State it has become for which you have nothing but contempt. Perhaps we should try to explain this to them?
Friday, November 30, 2012
Sinister Implications of the Cashless Society / Politics / Fiat Currency
By: Patrick_Henningsen
Among the long list of items bundled by consensus reality merchants under the banner of ‘conspiracy theory’, is a world without cash – where technocrats rule over the populace, and everything and anything is exchanged via plastic and RFID chips.
In this sterile and controlled Orwellian hi-tech society, the idea of cash being passed from hand to hand would be as archaic as the thought of carrying around a rucksack of tally sticks today.
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Thursday, November 29, 2012
Large Scale Quantum Entanglement, Atom Smasher Creates New Kind of 'Spooky' Matter / Politics / Science
By: DK_Matai
High speed collisions between sub-atomic particles inside the Large Hadron Collider atom smasher appear to have unexpectedly created what looks like a new form of matter! Every time we look deeply at the macro- or micro- universe with the idea that it is under constant construction and holds wonders beyond human imagining... we find them. Scientists may have accidentally discovered a new type of "Spooky" matter in which particles seemingly interact at a distance without any direct connection with each other. This new kind of matter is called "Colour-Glass Condensate" and it is a liquid-like wave of "Gluons" which are elementary particles related to the strong force that glues quarks together inside protons and neutrons. The elusive Higgs boson dubbed the "God Particle" was also discovered earlier this year at the same facilities within the European Organisation for Nuclear Research or CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
U.S. Fiscal Cliff, Politicians Playing Chicken / Politics / Taxes
By: Bloomberg
Bloomberg Television's Trish Regan sat down with four of the nation's brightest business minds to discuss their solutions for avoiding the fiscal cliff:
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Former Treasury Secretary LARRY SUMMERS
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Kynikos Associates President JIM CHANOS
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Cantor Fitzgerald CEO HOWARD LUTNICK
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Former Army General WESLEY CLARK
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Republican Traitors / Politics / US Politics
By: LewRockwell
Andrew P. Napolitano writes: When President Obama won re-election last month by a larger margin than even his most fervent supporters had expected, though with fewer popular votes than he received in 2008, most commentators initially opined that not much had changed in Washington. The president would remain in the White House for another four years, the Democrats would keep control of the Senate, and the House would stay in Republican hands. Most Republicans re-elected to both houses of Congress had publicly pledged not to vote to raise taxes under any circumstances. And most of those Republicans have adhered to that promise – until now.
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Thursday, November 29, 2012
How Government 'Works' / Politics / Government Intervention
By: Bill_Bonner
There are many theories to explain government. Most are nothing but scams, justifications, and puffery. One tries to put something over on the common man…the other claims it was for his own good…and the third pretends that he’d be lost without it. Most are not really ‘theories’ at all…but prescriptions, blueprints for creating the kind of government the ‘theorist’ would like to have. Not surprisingly, the blueprints flatter his intellect and engage his imagination.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Obama's Economic War on Women, The Free Market Punishes Discrimination / Politics / Economic Theory
By: MISES
With the re-election of President Barack Obama, it is increasingly evident that the tax eaters outnumber the taxpayers in America. From food stamps to free cell phones, President Obama has achieved significant political success by putting more and more Americans on the government dole. During his recent re-election bid, this effort included considerable pandering to women voters.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Mark Carney, A Streetwise Hercules at the Bank of England / Politics / Central Banks
By: Ben_Traynor
Mark Carney's been hired to bang bankers' heads together...
WHERE have all good men gone
And where are all the gods?
Where's the streetwise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need.
I need a hero.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Catalonia Votes For Independence From Spain, Mainstream Press Lies As Usual / Politics / Spain
By: Ron_Holland
"Secession is a deeply American principle. This country was born through secession." ~ Ron Paul
On Sunday, pro-independence voters in Catalonia captured almost two-thirds of the regional parliament. While the establishment press attempts to hide the secession victory by mentioning that the largest pro-independence party lost parliamentary seats, this, too, was a major victory for independence forces.
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Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Fascism To Islamofascism And Back / Politics / Religion
By: Andrew_McKillop
The New Oxford American Dictionary defines "Islamofascism" as "controversial", which firstly implies that it does have one or two meanings. It goes on to say how the term arose, possibly in the 1990s, probably coined by journalists covering the emerging War on Terror in its 1990s mold. The post-2001 mold, or George W Bush initiative had rather predictable results. Reaction to being designated "terrorist" notably included violent reaction. Terror begat terror. The run-up to 9 / 11 needed a long list of "Islamic terror attacks" through the 1990s.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Is it FAIR to Tax the Rich out of Business? / Politics / Taxes
By: BATR
In a caustic political environment that marks the rich to pay higher taxes because of their inordinate incomes, the outlook for a growing economy diminishes. The argument that well capitalized commercial enterprise owners provide the bulk of the small business jobs is well established. Certainly, not every proprietor is wealthy. On the contrary, many if not most employers struggle to meet their payroll. Even so, the political hysteria to raise the top rates stares directly into the eyes of every wageworker with the prospects of joining the unemployment lines.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Anti-Business US Government Puts a Stop to Intrade Making US Customers Happy / Politics / US Politics
By: Jeff_Berwick
Reports have been swirling around about the death of another business at the hands of a US government agency. While those reports weren't totally true, as usual, the US Government has squashed any attempt by unfree US citizens to do what they want. Intrade is still alive and kicking (although it probably wouldn't be if it was based in the US), minus its US customers...for now anyway. As of December 23, 2012, all US accounts with Intrade will be suspended thanks to the meddling of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).