Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
America´s Shadow Class War and the 2010 Congressional Elections / Politics / US Congressional Elections
By: Global_Research
E.J. Dionne writes: The 2010 election is turning into a class war. The wealthy and the powerful started it.
This is a strange development. President Obama, after all, has been working overtime to save capitalism. Wall Street is doing just fine and the rich are getting richer again. The financial reform bill passed by Congress was moderate, not radical.
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Tuesday, October 12, 2010
BCCI Operations. Inside the Global Banking Intelligence Complex / Politics / Global Financial System
By: David_DeGraw
To get a more complete understanding of our current crisis, we need to look at the history of events that led up to it. We need to peer deeply into the inner workings of the Global Banking Intelligence Complex. Without acknowledging and exposing the covert forces that are aligned against us, we will not be able to effectively overcome them.
In the past I have shied away from going too deeply into the details of the intelligence world out of fear of being written off and dismissed as a conspiracy theorist. If I hadn’t spent the majority of the past 20 years investigating global financial intelligence operations, I certainly wouldn’t believe half of this myself. Given the severity of our current crisis and the imminent devastating implications, I now realize that I must go deeper into covert activities than I publicly ever have. The information I am about to report is very well-sourced and documented, and needs to be covered before we can proceed to exposing present operations.
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Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Will 2011 be Another Stagnant Year for Cost of Living Adjusted Social Security Checks? / Politics / Inflation
By: Nilus_Mattive
In just a few days, the Social Security Administration is going to let retirees know how much their checks will go up next year. Or, in this case, how their checks aren’t going to go up at all.
If you were collecting this year, that’s going to sound painfully familiar because you heard the same thing last October!
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Tuesday, October 12, 2010
NATO's Lack of a Strategic Concept / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: STRATFOR
Twenty-eight heads of state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will meet in Lisbon on Nov. 20 to approve a new “Strategic Concept,” the alliance’s mission statement for the next decade. This will be NATO’s third Strategic Concept since the Cold War ended. The last two came in 1991 — as the Soviet Union was collapsing — and 1999 — as NATO intervened in Yugoslavia, undertaking its first serious military engagement.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, October 11, 2010
A Spooked U.S. Economy in October / Politics / US Economy
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Last week we received worse than expected unemployment numbers, challenging recent claims that the recession has come and gone. Also, as the economy continues to suffer the after effects of the Federal Reserve-created bubbles of the last decade, there is renewed interest in gold. Fears that the Federal Reserve will pump even more money into the system had caused the price of gold to reach new highs.
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Monday, October 11, 2010
The Fed's Political Interference Must Be Stopped, A letter to Senator Scott Brown / Politics / US Politics
By: Fred_Sheehan
The Honorable Scott Brown
Dear Senator Brown:
I am a constituent who would like to help. My father sent you my book, Panderer to Power: The Untold Story of How Alan Greenspan Enriched Wall Street and Left a Legacy of Recession. You wrote my father a thank you note, for which I am thankful. None of the other 20 or so senators and congressmen to whom we mailed my book sent an acknowledgement.
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Monday, October 11, 2010
The Killing and Reviving of the American Dream / Politics / US Politics
By: LewRockwell
USA Today loves to run lifestyle features that purport to show how we are living, what we are doing, what we like and what we don't like – premised on a collectivist assumption that all our preferences can be tracked and characterized with these aggregate claims.
Most of the time, these features are silly. It's not really true that we are all listening to Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, or tweeting what we had for breakfast.
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Monday, October 11, 2010
The Middle Class Caught in a Pincer Movement / Politics / US Politics
By: James_Quinn
A MODEST PROPOSAL
My understanding of our economic system has changed over the last couple years. I've come to the conclusion that the middle class of this country has been caught in a pincer movement by two armies. My definition of the Middle Class is households making between $50,000 and $150,000 per year. The Free Shit Army is attacking us on the left. The middle class has been the backbone of the country, doing the heavy lifting in this country. They get up every morning and trudge off to work to support their families. The Free Shit Army sleeps in. They have chosen to not educate themselves in order to advance in our society.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
How Russia Avoided Civil War 17 Years Ago / Politics / Russia
By: Pravda
On October 3 and 4 Russia remembered the tragic events of the fall of 1993. Mourning rallies and marches in many cities of Russia commemorated the perished defenders of the Supreme Council. In the capital alone, the ceremonies were attended by nearly a thousand people. Was there an alternative to the armed confrontation between the supporters of Boris Yeltsin and the defenders of the legitimately elected Parliament? Was it possible to avoid the tragic outcome? Ruslan Khasbulatov, the chairman of the Supreme Council, discussed it in an interview with Pravda.ru.
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Hungary Toxic Sludge Catastrophe Reminiscent of BP Gulf Oil Spill Disaster / Politics / Environmental Issues
By: Dr_Tom_Termotto
Here’s the top headline on Yahoo! News on Thursday, October 7, 2010 regarding the Toxic Sludge Disaster in Hungary:
Scientists say heavy metal in sludge not dangerous (AP)
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Saturday, October 09, 2010
China Furious at The Nobel Peace Prize Award / Politics / China
By: Static_Chaos
Jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for "two decades of non-violent struggle for human rights". China is totally livid and called the award "an obscenity" as reported by Reuters.
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Friday, October 08, 2010
The Biggest Fraud in the History of the Capital Markets / Politics / Credit Crisis 2010
By: Janet_Tavakoli
Ezra Klein: What’s happening here? Why are we suddenly faced with a crisis that wasn’t apparent two weeks ago?
Janet Tavakoli: This is the biggest fraud in the history of the capital markets. And it’s not something that happened last week. It happened when these loans were originated, in some cases years ago. Loans have representations and warranties that have to be met.
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Friday, October 08, 2010
Op-ed Warriors Defend the TARP Tax Payer Bank Bailout / Politics / Mainstream Media
By: Christopher_Westley
Confession time: I still read newspapers the old-fashioned way, meaning the way my father and grandfather did, on paper, frequently at the kitchen table, and to the smell of a hot, Honduran coffee.
Friday, October 08, 2010
America’s Third World Economy / Politics / Social Issues
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
For a number of years I reported on the monthly nonfarm payroll jobs data. The data did not support the praises economists were singing to the “New Economy.” The “New Economy” consisted, allegedly, of financial services, innovation, and high-tech services.
This economy was taking the place of the old “dirty fingernail” economy of industry and manufacturing. Education would retrain the workforce, and we would move on to a higher level of prosperity.
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Friday, October 08, 2010
IMF Calls for Huge New Round of Bank Bailouts / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Washingtons_Blog
The IMF is calling for a huge new round of bank bailouts.
As the Telegraph noted yesterday:
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Friday, October 08, 2010
Financial Crisis Continues to take its toll on the Obama Administration / Politics / US Politics
By: Danny_Schechter
Regardless of his actions, the financial crisis continues to take its toll on the Obama administration.
WASHINGTON DC: (Al Jazeera) With the midterm election less than a month away and the economic crisis unabated, the Obama Administration may be at a crossroads.
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Friday, October 08, 2010
Are U.S. States the Next Federal Bailout? / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Jim_Farrish
In an interview with Meredith Whitney of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group on Bloomberg last week, she stated, some states are a ticking time bomb. She published a detailed report rating the finances of the 15 largest U.S. states. California has one of the largest deficits that exists relative to their budget gap by size, but it has a real estate problem as well with a large amount of foreclosures. Florida has a bigger issue relative to foreclosures and real estate. The drain on tax receipts in Florida due to the foreclosure issue could cripple the states budget similar to California’s in the coming year. The bottom line of the report is the U.S. government may face a bailout for states within the next 12 months. This is not good news for taxpayers.
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Friday, October 08, 2010
Spain's Social Democracy Under Economic Pressure / Politics / Euro-Zone
By: Pravda
The general strike on September 29 against the labor reform decided by the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is the opening of a probably hectic social season. The government has promised to submit a new bill to Congress before the end of the year intended to increase from 65 to 67 the legal age of retirement and extend the period of computation for determining the amount of the pension, from the previous 15 years of work into the last 20 ...
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Friday, October 08, 2010
Russia Fears China's Growing Economic Power / Politics / China Economy
By: Pravda
China takes the first place in the world in terms of economic growth. However, analysts say this trend is caused by injections of cheap financing to stimulate the economy of this country. Collapse of the "China bubble" brings a threat of the collapse of commodity prices. This is an extremely adverse impact, particularly for Russia.
Friday, October 08, 2010
SEC Failure to Regulate Mortgage Backed Securities Resulted in Ponzi Scheme Fraud / Politics / Market Regulation
By: Mike_Shedlock
The problems associated with a clogged foreclosure system continue to mount. Foreclosures in 23 states have been halted by major banks after allegations surfaced of various illegal practices.