Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Monday, July 11, 2011
South Africa’s Cancer Of Corruption And ‘Culture Of Concealment’ / Politics / Africa
By: Danny_Schechter
DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA: Twenty one years after Nelson Mandela walked free, corruption has become the issue du jour in South Africa.
Even president Jacob Zuma who narrowly slithered out of a corruption trial before his election is blasting corruption in the ranks of the African National Congress which came to power as the morally superior alternative to an apartheid regime that shamelessly used the wealth it controlled to benefit Afrikaners and deprive the black majority of services.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Mounting U.S. Public Debt Prompting Looting of Pensions, Social Security and Medicare / Politics / US Debt
By: Bob_Chapman
Government debt will be in the vicinity of $1.5 trillion this year. Ever since May 16th short-term debt has been frozen at about $14.3 trillion. Up until May 16th the year-to-debt fiscal debt was $783.135 billion. That means if no August 2nd agreement is reach, $275 billion will be needed up to August 2nd, a total of about $700 billion will be needed by 9/30/11, the end of the fiscal year.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
U.S. Committing Imperial Suicide / Politics / US Politics
By: Bill_Bonner
We always take my car ‘cause it’s never been beat.
And we ain’t missed yet with the girls we meet. ~ The Beach Boys
We are sitting in our favorite café in Paris…listening to the Beach Boys and reflecting on the decline of the US Empire. Back in the ’60s, the Beach Boys celebrated a country that was young, growing, optimistic…and a winner. Now, what we see is the whole kit-and-kaboodle of life in the US giving way to desperation, delusion and an irresistible impulse to commit imperial suicide. The economy turns sour. The military becomes malignant. Households are corrupt, bankrupt and dependent. Even the churches sing their hallelujahs to Caesar now.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, July 10, 2011
The Coming U.S. Federal Collapse / Politics / US Politics
By: LewRockwell
As Gary North has noted, the great 21st century default of the U.S. government has already started, with the raiding of federal pension funds to stay solvent a few months ago. We may recall the 2000 presidential election, when Al Gore spoke favorably about creating a social security "lockbox," even as Social Security "taxes" had been treated for years as a core part of the federal budget, simple annual "income" for the state.
Saturday, July 09, 2011
Murdoch Heads for a Fall / Politics / Mainstream Media
By: Mike_Whitney
Boy, this is about as sleazy as it gets....
Imagine that your 13-year old daughter has been kidnapped and you have no idea where she is. So you frantically call her cell phone over and over clinging to the faint hope that she might still be alive. And, then, a miracle happens; you notice that messages on her phone have been deleted signalling that she's still alive but unable to call back.
Friday, July 08, 2011
U.S. Debt Ceiling Negotiations, Don't be Fooled by Political Posturing / Politics / US Debt
By: Peter_Schiff
As attention focuses intently on the negotiations to raise the debt ceiling, House Republicans have made a great show of drawing a line in the fiscal sand. They claim that they will not vote for any deal that includes tax increases to narrow the budget deficit. But we all know how the game works in Washington. With the 2012 elections looming the Republican bluster is merely a bargaining chip that they will quickly toss into the pot when they sense a political victory. In fact there are signs that such a compromise is already underway.
Friday, July 08, 2011
Egypt vs IMF: Time to Debt Default? / Politics / Global Debt Crisis
By: Eric_Walberg
The financial flip-flop of Egypt’s revolutionary government, first requesting and then declining a $3 billion dollar IMF loan, highlights Egypt’s hard choices at this point in the revolution, but is a good sign.
It is no secret that Egypt has put all its faith in the US and Western international institutions since the days of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, contracting a huge foreign debt, a process that was increasingly corrupt, despite being careful watched over by those very agencies. This debt is financed by foreign banks, and must be repaid in dollars -- with interest. If much of the money they create and then “lend” is siphoned off into Swiss bank accounts, that is Egypt’s problem. No one is trying to charge the people who gave Mubarak or his henchmen their money and then let them re-deposit it with them, but it takes two to tango.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 08, 2011
Despite Fukushima, Russia's Nuclear Industry is Open for Business / Politics / Nuclear Power
By: OilPrice_Com
Japan's 11 March catastrophe at its six-reactor Daichi Fukushima nuclear power complex has had global repercussions, hardly surprising given the trillions of dollars invested in civilian nuclear energy over the last five decades. Ironically, just a year ago the nuclear power industry saw itself on the verge of a renaissance, with worldwide concerns about global warming causing many to reconsider the merits of nuclear energy, which produces no greenhouse gases.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 08, 2011
Tax Rises Could Save the U.S. Economy From Debt Default Bankruptcy / Politics / Taxes
By: Money_Morning
Martin Hutchinson writes:
As the debt-ceiling debate escalates, U.S President Barack Obama says federal tax increases are necessary to close the U.S. budget deficit.
Although Republicans then said that tax hikes were "off the table," this statement is reminiscent of a toddler who threatens to hold his breath until he turns blue if you make him eat spinach.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 08, 2011
Economy, Markets, Energy Supplies and Geopolitics Feels Like its 1979 / Politics / US Politics
By: Andrew_McKillop
It feels like 1979 all over again: the US, European and Japanese economies are in the doldrums, gold and oil prices are high and rising, friendly Middle East and Arab dictators are falling. In the White House things are also in flashback: the charismatic new Democrat preaching clean energy and climate catastrophe mantras is as unsuccessful as Jimmy Carter at winning the public around. Can Obama succeed where Carter did not?
Friday, July 08, 2011
Piracy: A Growing Global Menace / Politics / Global Economy
By: OilPrice_Com
Over the last few years, thanks largely to Hollywood's "pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, maritime buccaneers have acquired a highly romantic image.
The reality of modern piracy is far removed from the images peddled by Tinseltown. In the most recent nautical attack, Somali pirates on 6 July attacked the 900-foot Brillante Virtuoso, which was carrying over 141,000 tons of fuel oil from Ukraine to Qingdao, China, 20 miles off the Yemeni port of Aden. The vessel's 26 crew members abandoned ship after the attackers fired an RPG round into their sleeping quarters.
Friday, July 08, 2011
The Political Tide Against the Ratings Agencies / Politics / Credit Crisis 2011
By: Aftab_Singh
The bane of our pseudo-capitalistic system is the blatant double standard that is upheld with respect to prices. If the money prices of things go up, that’s ok, and the saint behind this wholesome circumstance is typically elevated to greatness. However, if the money prices of things go down, there’s got to be a bad guy somewhere — and boy does he get hanged, drawn and quartered in the town square.
Thursday, July 07, 2011
Militarization of the Arctic / Politics / Arctic Resources
By: Rick_Rozoff
Canada has announced that they will be conducting large-scale exercises in the Arctic. NATO also announced claims on the Arctic. What can you say about the militarization of the Arctic?
Thursday, July 07, 2011
War on Terror is a $6 Trillion Racket, Exceeding Total Cost of WWII / Politics / US Politics
By: David_DeGraw
When Obama launched his re-election propaganda campaign to trick the American public into thinking that he intends to end the Af-Pak War, he said that the “War on Terror” has cost $1 trillion over the past decade. While that is a staggering amount of money, he was being deceitful once again.
Thursday, July 07, 2011
America Can Restore Liberty With Three Short Laws / Politics / US Politics
By: Money_Morning
Let us assume that at some point in the future, Congress will pass and the President will sign three bills. These three laws would strip power from the United States government on a scale inconceivable even to the Tea Party's hard core members. They would be very short laws.
Read full article... Read full article...The United States Government hereby abolishes the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and all subsequent laws relating to that Act.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Banks Playing the Credit Rating Theatre Game / Politics / Credit Crisis 2011
By: Videos
Ratigan, Eliot Spitzer and comedian Sherrod Small play a game of credit rating theater. There is extreme truth in this little bit of comedic fiction, including the fact that absolutely nothing has changed. Pass this one to a friend. This clip is phenomenal.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Jamie Dimon, Mr. JP Morgan as Treasury Secretary? / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Jeff_Lewis
While news of Timothy Geithner’s exit from the Administration as Treasury Secretary reverberates throughout the political spectrum, Jamie Dimon, CEO of investment bank JP Morgan, is quickly becoming the new leader in the race for this unelected position.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Murdoch Press Sinks to New Depths of Depravity, Hacking the Phones of Murdered School Girls / Politics / Mainstream Media
By: Nadeem_Walayat
There is a cancerous growth at the heart of British journalism and it emanates out of the Murdoch Press / News International that as unfolding revelations show permeates the whole print mainstream press.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
20 Warning Signs Of A Global Doomsday / Politics / Global Economy
By: EconMatters
Worries rries of a Lehman-like financial crisis spreading through Europe and the world has made Greece talk of the market lately. Not to let Greece dominate the spotlight, the U.S. debt ceiling debate is also getting to be as traumatic since a failure to raise the debt ceiling could mean imminent default and credit downgrades for the United States sovereign debt.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
How to Save the U.S. Labor Movement / Politics / US Politics
By: Shamus_Cooke
The first step in saving the labor movement is recognizing that it needs saving. Sadly, many union leaders -- including Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO -- refuse to accept this reality, choosing instead to dismiss the current threats against labor unions as "exaggerated,” or limited to this or that Republican politician. In fact, the labor movement -- especially public sector unions -- is facing nationwide attacks by Democrats and Republicans alike.