Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Khodorkovsky's trip to the slammer, Justice Has Prevailed / Politics / Russia
By: Mike_Whitney
Vladimir Putin summed it up best when he said, "A thief should sit in jail." Right on. It doesn't matter if he is the richest man in the country or not. If he's done the crime, he's got to do the time. It's that simple.
On Wednesday, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of Yukos Oil was sentenced to 14 years in prison for embezzling and money laundering. Heads of state, human rights organisations, business leaders, and the entire western media have all protested on Khodorkovsky's behalf, but to no avail. Khodorkovsky will stay in prison where he belongs. Justice has prevailed.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Britain's Swine Flu Epidemic Feeds on Coalition Government Spending Cuts / Politics / NHS
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The long dreaded swine flu epidemic is starting to sweep across Britain resulting in NHS critical care hospital beds filling up and some 40 deaths to date of which 36 are as a consequence of H1N1 Swine Flu. The coalition government had cut Labours Swine flu prevention advertising campaign as well as other measures that were directly aimed at preventing a swine flu epidemic.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, December 30, 2010
The Truth is We’re Freakin’ Finished / Politics / US Politics
By: Mac_Slavo
While Bob from Drinking With Bob may be a little bit emotionally driven he does a pretty good job of getting his point across. In the following video Bob rants about the failing public services sector in New York and points out what many of us already know:
Thursday, December 30, 2010
The Federal Reserve: Stupid Bank Robbers or Robber “Hood” Barons: A Psychohistory Analysis / Politics / Central Banks
By: Katherine_Smith
The Federal Reserve (or “Fed”) is a “hot topic” on the Internet. However, it is my belief that I am the only one, who writes: “The Federal Reserve isn’t evil because they print our money and make us (the U.S. Taxpayers) pay interest on it. They are evil because, until October 2008, the Fed gave us a no-limit credit card that we used to buy houses, cars, RVs, TVs and DVDs—the “stuff” which, according to the GEO4, a massive United Nations Report, put the planet at the unknown points of no return.” [1] Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
We Can’t Let China Sway Our Energy Decisions / Politics / China
By: Barry_Elias
First U.S. Treasury bonds, now dysprosium.
China owns nearly $1 trillion of U.S. debt (approximately 7 percent of the nearly $14 trillion total). China also retains roughly $2.5 trillion in foreign-currency reserves, nearly all in U.S. dollars. They lend money to us so we can purchase their exports, which are more competitively priced than ours.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
U.S. State Budget Crisis: Deadbeat States Need to Stop Spending, Start Mending / Politics / US Debt
By: Money_Morning
Kerri Shannon writes:
State governments are broke, and things are going to get worse before they get better - a whole lot worse.
Look at California. It's facing a $19 billion budget deficit next year and had to raise tuition in the state university system by 32% to try and collect revenue.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
1984 - 2011: Dissent Is What Rescues Democracy / Politics / US Politics
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
"Dissent is what rescues democracy from a quiet death behind closed doors."
--Lewis H. Lapham
The year 2011 will bring Americans a larger and more intrusive police state, more unemployment and home foreclosures, no economic recovery, more disregard by the US government of US law, international law, the Constitution, and truth, more suspicion and distrust from allies, more hostility from the rest of the world, and new heights of media sycophancy.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
North Korean Dear Leader Calls for Holy War / Politics / South Korea
By: LewRockwell
Christmas or no Christmas, the Korean Peninsula is boiling once again, with threats flying thicker than the winter snow along North Korea’s icy Yalu River.
Last week, North Korea threatened a nuclear "holy war" against South Korea. The North Korean "Dear Leader," Kim Jong-il, has repeatedly vowed to "liberate" South Korea, which he calls an American colony.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
The Death Tax and Barney Frank / Politics / Taxes
By: LewRockwell
Stephen Cox writes: Yesterday I watched one of my favorite movies, The Bishop’s Wife (1947). It’s the story of . . . well, never mind; I don’t want to reveal the plot. Anyway, at the end of the movie, the bishop (David Niven) gives a brief Christmas sermon, in which he says that the best presents are "loving kindness, warm hearts, and the stretched out hand of tolerance – all the shining gifts that make peace on earth."
Monday, December 27, 2010
Social Security is Not 'Insurance' / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Perhaps the biggest media story of 2010 was the influence of Tea Party voters on the congressional landscape. The new congress comes to Capitol Hill with a mandate to end profligate spending and restore fiscal sanity, we are told. But when the House and Senate convene in January, the newly elected members will face tremendous pressure to maintain spending levels for entitlement programs. Even the most modest proposals to trim Social Security or Medicare spending will be met with howls of indignation and threats of voter revolt. Legislators who propose any kind of means testing or increased retirement ages can expect angry visits from senior citizen lobbyists ready to fund a candidate back home who supports the status quo.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, December 27, 2010
Mainstream Press Journalism of Appeasement, Corruption, Smoke and Mirrors / Politics / Mainstream Media
By: David_DeGraw
Here’s a brief summation of my recent reporting: If we continue to let our politicians and wealthy members of society live in comfort, free from the consequences of their actions, we are complicit in our own demise.
Our country is so overrun with corruption, we cannot remain passive and expect things to get any better.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, December 26, 2010
A Spectre is Still Haunting Europe... / Politics / Euro-Zone
By: Ashvin_Pandurangi
But this time it's not necessarily Communism, or any other label used by humans to conveniently understand their complex forms of socioeconomic organization. It's the spectre of an unrelenting reality, emerging from the depths of history, with no plans to follow but its own. What exactly, then, is reality and why does it have its own plans? These are not easy questions to answer, but many brilliant minds have had much to write and say on the topic. It may be safe to say with near certainty that, if nothing else, reality is constantly evolving and always lingering in the furthest boundaries of our comprehension.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Why is the West Sacrificing Lives in Afghanistan to Protect Chinese Investments? / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Global_Research
Michael Skinner writes: Many of the Canadian military, police, and civilian personnel who risk their lives in Afghanistan truly believe they are fighting a just war of good against evil. But America's and Britain's claims that the unsanctioned unilateral invasion of Afghanistan, which began the Global War on Terror, was justified by the terrorist attacks of 9/11 are as credible as claims the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian terrorist justified Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia to begin WWI.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Ernst & Young Charged with Collusion in Lehman's Fraud / Politics / Credit Crisis 2010
By: Barry_Grey
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a civil suit Tuesday in the state’s Supreme Court charging the giant accounting firm Ernst & Young with complicity in massive fraud committed by Lehman Brothers in the months leading up to the investment bank’s September 2008 collapse.
In a statement, Cuomo said that Lehman used an accounting gimmick that “was a house of cards business model designed to hide billions in liabilities in the years before Lehman collapsed.” He continued, “Just as troubling, a global accounting firm, tasked with auditing Lehman’s financial statements, helped hide this crucial information from the investing public.”
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, December 26, 2010
I Like Ebeneezer Scrooge, A Revisionist Look at Dickens / Politics / Social Issues
By: Butler_Shaffer
My interest in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol began one Christmas eve when, as a small child, my parents turned on network radio to listen to what, even then, had become a classic Christmas eve festivity: Lionel Barrymore’s presentation of the Dickens story.
Radio was a medium that required the imagination to paint scenes far more colorful, and to concoct monsters far scarier, than anything motion pictures or television have ever been able to present. With radio, the listener was the stage designer, costumer, and location director.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, December 26, 2010
The Economic Lessons of Bethlehem and Christmas / Politics / Social Issues
By: LewRockwell
At the heart of the Christmas story rests some important lessons concerning free enterprise, government, and the role of wealth in society.
Let's begin with one of the most famous phrases: "There's no room at the inn." This phrase is often invoked as if it were a cruel and heartless dismissal of the tired travelers Joseph and Mary. Many renditions of the story conjure up images of the couple going from inn to inn only to have the owner barking at them to go away and slamming the door.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, December 26, 2010
NHS Hospitals Productivity Falls For a Decade by 1.4% Per Year Despite 70% Budget Increase / Politics / NHS
By: Submissions
NAO writes: Hospital productivity has fallen over the last ten years, according to the National Audit Office. Over the period since the ‘NHS Plan’ in 2000 there have been significant increases in hospital funding, to deliver improvements in the patient care, and designed in part to increase productivity. Hospitals have used their increased resources to deliver against national priorities, but they need to provide more leadership, management and clinical engagement to optimise the use of additional resources and deliver value for money.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Economics Is Simple But The Fat Cats Want You to Think It's Complicated So That You Won't Demand Change / Politics / Economic Theory
By: Washingtons_Blog
Economics and finance seem like complicated topics, and so many people "leave it to the experts".
However, these topics are actually simple, and if people hear a clear explanation, they will be able to form an opinion about our current economy and the government's response to economic challenges.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, December 24, 2010
Global Economic Crisis Triggers Debt Driven Suicides in India / Politics / Global Debt Crisis
By: Global_Research
Kavaljit Singh writes: The recent suicides by over 60 poor borrowers in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh have brought the operations of microfinance institutions (MFIs) under public scrutiny. It is well documented by both print and electronic media that these debt-driven suicides were due to coercive methods of loan recovery used by commercial MFIs. The commercial MFIs operate as profit-making non-banking financial corporations (NBFCs) in India.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Bernanke Is Untouchable, Except by Ron Paul and the Internet / Politics / Central Banks
By: Gary_North
Ben Bernanke has an overwhelming majority on the Federal Reserve System's Open Market Committee (FOMC), which meets every six weeks to set Federal Reserve policy. There is only one dissenter, Thomas Hoenig, who consistently votes against any expansion of the FOMC's asset purchases, meaning any expansion of the FED's balance sheet: the monetary base. The vote is consistently 10 to 1.