Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Obama Preparing to Attack Iran / Politics / US Politics
By: Global_Research
Webster G. Tarpley writes: After about two and a half years during which the danger of war between the United States and Iran was at a relatively low level, this threat is now rapidly increasing. A pattern of political and diplomatic events, military deployments, and media chatter now indicates that Anglo-American ruling circles, acting through the troubled Obama administration, are currently gearing up for a campaign of bombing against Iran, combined with special forces incursions designed to stir up rebellions among the non-Persian nationalities of the Islamic Republic. Naturally, the probability of a new fake Gulf of Tonkin incident or false flag terror attack staged by the Anglo-American war party and attributed to Iran or its proxies is also growing rapidly.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
U.S. Taxpayers the Largest Source of Taliban Revenue / Politics / US Politics
By: Global_Research
David Swanson writes: This coming week, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on $33 billion for war. A majority of Americans opposes this, but a sizable minority of Americans supports it. No one who supports it can be aware of any of the following six facts.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
NATO Pulls Pakistan Into Its Global Network / Politics / Pakistan
By: Rick_Rozoff
In four months the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will hold a summit in Lisbon, Portugal. The host country was one of the 12 nations that founded the United States-dominated military bloc 61 years ago.
The rival grouping that was created six years after NATO's formation and its expansion into Turkey and Greece in 1952 and the Federal Republic of Germany in 1955, the Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact), formally dissolved itself almost twenty years ago.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
BP Abandoning the Capped Gulf Oil Well, What Could Possibly Go Wrong? / Politics / Environmental Issues
By: Washingtons_Blog
BP will leave the cap on the oil well while it vacates the area for a number of days to avoid the coming tropical storm.
What could possibly go wrong?
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Saturday, July 24, 2010
Shadow Banking Makes A Comeback / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Mike_Whitney
Credit conditions are improving for speculators and bubblemakers, but they continue to worsen for households, consumers and small businesses. An article in the Wall Street Journal confirms that the Fed's efforts to revive the so-called shadow banking system is showing signs of progress. Financial intermediaries have been taking advantage of low rates and easy terms to fund corporate bonds, stocks and mortgage-backed securities. Thus, the reflating of high-risk financial assets has resumed, thanks to the Fed's crisis-engendering monetary policy and extraordinary rescue operations. Here's an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal:
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Green Jobs from the Government Not Gonna Happen / Politics / Employment
By: Richard_Daughty
"Green Jobs Don't Exist in a Free Market" was the headline for Tom DeWeese, writing at NewsWithViews.com, which is exactly right; the only jobs that exist in a free market are those supplying real demand for, as an example, hamburgers, pizza, fried chicken and tacos, which has resulted in fast-food restaurants supplying them to be located on, seemingly, every other block in the Whole Freaking Country (WFC).
Friday, July 23, 2010
The Strategic Ramifications of a US-Led Withdrawal from Afghanistan / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: OilPrice_Com
The United States and the NATO allies are preparing to disengage and soon withdraw from Afghanistan and even the most vocal advocates of the "long-term commitment" do not anticipate more than five years of active US and NATO involvement. All the local key players — in Kabul, Islamabad, and countless tribal and localized foci of power — are cognizant and are already maneuvering and posturing to deal with the new reality.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 23, 2010
Rating Agencies Hold SEC Hostage / Politics / Market Regulation
By: Brady_Willett
Less than 24-hours after President Obama signed the historic Wall Street Reform bill into law the SEC suspended the rule that makes the rating agencies more accountable for their ratings. According to the Wall Street Journal, as recently as June 30 the rating agencies thought that the provision for increased accountability had been omitted. They were wrong:
Friday, July 23, 2010
Signing Financial Reform Is Signing Up For A New Struggle To Make It Real / Politics / Market Regulation
By: Danny_Schechter
With eleven pens for souvenirs, President Obama signed the financial reform bill in a rare celebratory moment. Significantly, the ceremony did not take place in the Oval Office but up the block at the Ronald Reagan building perhaps to signal recalcitrant Republicans that this is a cause they should sign on to.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Death of the Postindustrial Dream / Politics / Economic Theory
By: Ian_Fletcher
Remember postindustrialism? Not long ago, this catchphrase was supposed to define America’s future: no more grubby hard industries, just a clean bright world of services and high technology. Its most succinct formulation is as follows:
Manufacturing is old hat and America is moving on to better things.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Dean Baker: Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform Was Doomed From the Start / Politics / Market Regulation
By: Jesse
I thought this interview with Dean Baker was interesting. I obviously do not agree with everything that he says, especially regarding the deficits and the attitude of the markets towards them. The US markets are far removed from being efficient mechanisms of capital allocation these days, and as such are unreliable indicators of just about everything except the latest trading fads and speculative excess.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Securing Uganda’s Oil Industry From Terrorist Attacks / Politics / Crude Oil
By: OilPrice_Com
Although the Ugandan government can boost the security of its fledgling oil industry from future terrorist attacks that may scare away certain investors, Africa analysts doubt violence replicating the twin bombs that struck during the World Cup final is likely.
Somali militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for explosions that tore through the capital Kampala July 11 and killed more than 70 people.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Cutting the Budget Deficit Undermines Social Security, Medicare and Depresses Purchasing Power / Politics / Economic Austerity
By: Global_Research
Kevin Zeese writes: The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is sounding the alarm around deficit spending. It is using exaggerated rhetoric to heighten deficit fear at a time when more spending is needed.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Russia’s Geo-political Natural Gas Game in Iran / Politics / Natural Gas
By: Submissions
Maninder Singh Batra writes: Since the reignition of the Great Game in Central Asia,Caspian sea and the middle east for control over oil and gas reserves,Russia and USA have been jockeying for control in these zones ,by any means whether covert or overt means such as bribery, colored revolutions, false flag operations and even outright war .
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Puzzling Collapse Of Earth's Upper Atmosphere / Politics / Climate Change
By: Global_Research
Dr. Tony Phillips writes: NASA-funded researchers are monitoring a big event in our planet's atmosphere. High above Earth's surface where the atmosphere meets space, a rarefied layer of gas called "the thermosphere" recently collapsed and now is rebounding again.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
BP's Scheme to Swindle the "Small People" / Politics / US Politics
By: Global_Research
Dahr Jamail writes: Clint Guidry, the Louisiana shrimp harvester representative on the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force created by executive order of Gov. Bobby Jindal, has called BP "liars" and "killers."
Gulf Coast fishermen and others with lost income claims against BP are outraged by a recent announcement that the $20 billion government-administered claim fund will subtract money they earn by working on the cleanup effort from any future damage claims against BP. This move, according to lawyers in Louisiana working on behalf of Louisiana fishermen and others affected by the BP oil disaster, contradicts an earlier BP statement in which the company promised it would do no such thing.
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The Soviet NY Times Our Own Lying Pravda / Politics / Mainstream Media
By: William_Anderson
There are many myths about the current political scene, although one never would know it from reading the New York Times, and especially its editorial pages. For example, Paul Krugman continues to insist that Herbert Hoover followed the "liquidationist" advice of his treasury secretary, Andrew Mellon, and followed an "austerity" path. However, as Murray N. Rothbard noted in his classic America’s Great Depression, Hoover intervened in the economy at levels never seen before in U.S. History.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
2010 Mid-year forecast by David Urban / Politics / US Politics
By: David_Urban
Political and Economic Commentary - Six months into 2010 and everything is unfolding much as planned. That is not a lack of confidence but rather this unpredictable market is acting as it should act given the economic and political crosscurrents pulling the markets in a volatile and sideways pattern.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Large Scale Government Economic Stimulus, Why Not Another World War? / Politics / Economic Stimulus
By: Peter_Schiff
There is overwhelming agreement among economists that the Second World War was responsible for decisively ending the Great Depression. When asked why the wars in Iran and Afghanistan are failing to make the same impact today, they often claim that the current conflicts are simply too small to be economically significant.
Monday, July 19, 2010
When There is No Rule of Law / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Last week ended with some promising news on finally stopping the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, the administration still seems to believe that shutting down working oil wells is a higher priority than effectively dealing with the broken one. They are again issuing a moratorium on off-shore drilling, while maintaining a de facto ban on new permits even for shallow water drilling, which they previously stated would be unaffected. The courts have twice declared this unconstitutional, over 70 percent of the people see this as unreasonable, yet the administration seems determined to simply end off-shore drilling, at least for those producers that cannot afford to sit idle for an unknown period of time until the ban is lifted.
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