Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
European Union Challenged from Right and Left / Politics / European Union
By: John_Browne
The heinous ISIS attack in Paris is a game changer in Europe. In addition to the horrific amount of individual casualties, the attack has also threatened severe damage to the long term survivability of the European Union as a political entity. Based on the unpopularity and unfeasibility of immigration controls under the EU's Schengen Plan, the events have opened up the Union to renewed attacks from the right, just as its support from the left is crumbling as a result of opposition to EU-mandated fiscal austerity. This two-front onslaught may be too much for the Union to endure.
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Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Paris Terror Attacks, Death Pangs of a Dying Religion, and Impact on BrExit EU Referendum / Politics / ISIS Islamic State
By: Nadeem_Walayat
It's 4 full days since 8 Islamic State terrorists went on a bloody rampage in 6 separate locations across Paris, with the latest death toll put at 129 killed and with some 55 people critically ill in intensive care. Whilst the people of Paris and France have been in a state of shock, grieving at the magnitude of the death toll, remembering and paying tribute to all those who were killed, Hollande's government has already launched its first retaliatory strikes against ISIS, dropping 20 bombs Monday night alone on the Syrian city of Raqqa, and vowing to destroy Daesh / Islamic State.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
CFPB - Another U.S. Government Agency Running Wild / Politics / Government Intervention
By: Rodney_Johnson
Everybody likes to get money back from the government. Now there’s a new way to cash in on Uncle Sam.But like many government programs, this one has a few issues.
If you bought a car in the last few years, you might get a check from the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau(CFPB), as long as you live in the right (or I guess, the wrong) neighborhood and have a certain-sounding last name.
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Monday, November 16, 2015
Ominous Parallels: The Roman Empire, The European Union, And Mass Migration / Politics / Immigration
By: John_Rubino
This weekend’s Paris attacks, occurring in the middle of one of history’s largest mass-migrations, has the feel of uncharted territory. But it’s actually an eerie echo of something that happened nearly two thousand years ago in more-or-less the same place.
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Monday, November 16, 2015
Paris Terror Attack and What Should Be Done / Politics / War on Terror
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
The horrific attacks in Paris on Friday have, predictably, led to much over-reaction and demands that we do more of the exact things that radicalize people and make them want to attack us. The French military wasted no time bombing Syria in retaliation for the attacks, though it is not known where exactly the attackers were from. Thousands of ISIS fighters in Syria are not Syrian, but came to Syria to overthrow the Assad government from a number of foreign countries -- including from France and the US.
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Monday, November 16, 2015
Israel's New War on Palestine / Politics / Palestine
By: Stephen_Lendman
Israel’s war on Palestine rages into its 7th week, extrajudicial assassinations occurring virtually daily, thousands of Palestinians wounded from live fire and other military assaults, over 1,000 civilians imprisoned for political reasons, including children and women.
Sunday saw no letup. Unrestrained Israeli brutality continued. With world attention on Paris, Netanyahu’s terror war rages almost unnoticed - two Qalandiya refugee camp Palestinians the latest victims, gunned down in cold blood during a raid to demolish an alleged attacker’s home.
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Sunday, November 15, 2015
No, the U.S. Military Has Not Withered Away Under Obama / Politics / US Military
By: MISES
Ryan McMaken writes: It is common to see articles and columns in the Conservative media claiming that President Obama is engaging in “historic defense cuts.” There are claims that not in decades has the military ever endured such budget slashing. “Romney blasts Obama over military cutbacks” one headline blares.
Upon closer examination of these claims, one notes that the authors are careful to never mention actual dollar amounts in context, or any meaningful historical context beyond single recent year-over-year comparisons.
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Sunday, November 15, 2015
Grandmaster Putin Beats Uncle Sam at His Own Game / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Mike_Whitney
Imagine that you despised your brother-in-law and wanted to kill him. But you didn’t have the guts to do it yourself so you hired a hit-man to do the job for you.
Would you still be guilty of murder?
You’re darn right, you would be. So let’s apply this same rule to US foreign policy: Would it be just as wrong to invade a country, kill its people and topple its government with militants that you funded, armed and trained as it would be with your own US troops?
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Sunday, November 15, 2015
After Paris Terror Attacks, France Contemplates a Reckoning / Politics / France
By: STRATFOR
Details are still emerging as to precisely who was responsible for the Nov. 13 Paris attacks. Sorting through the jumble of misinformation and disinformation will be challenging for French authorities, and for outside observers such as Stratfor.
While the Islamic State has claimed credit for the attack, it is still uncertain to what degree the Islamic State core organization was responsible for planning, funding or directing it. It is not clear whether the attackers were grassroots operatives encouraged by the organization like Paris Kosher Deli gunman Ahmed Coulibaly, if the operatives were professional terrorist cadres dispatched by the core group or if the attack was some combination of the two.
Analysis
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Paris Attacks = President Marine Le Pen AND Massive Euro Devaluation / Politics / France
By: John_Rubino
Earlier today, articles started appearing about the rise of France’s right wing, anti-immigration National Front party in recent polls. This wasn’t a surprise given the ascendancy of formerly fringe political movements in most European states. See, for instance, Portugal Is Potentially A Very Big Deal.
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Saturday, November 14, 2015
Paris Terror Attacks, Islamic State Attempting to Spark Civil War in France / Politics / France
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Last night 8 Islamic State terrorists went on a highly co-ordinated pre-planned rampage across France's capital city Paris, the latest death toll is put at 127 killed and probably many more injured. Though the toll could have been many times higher if the terrorists had succeeded in gaining entry to France's national football stadium full of 70,000 fans whoalong with the French President Hollande were watching a friendly football match between France and Germany.
Saturday, November 14, 2015
RED ALERT: Paris Terror Attacks - What to Expect Next / Politics / ISIS Islamic State
By: STRATFOR
Update (6:00 CST): According to French media reports, French security forces have stormed and secured the Bataclan theater. The attackers apparently used grenades inside the main concert hall, Aujourd'hui Paris reported Nov. 13. Details are still emerging.
As many as 60 people died Nov. 13 in multiple terrorist attacks throughout Paris. At least five gunmen – likely jihadists judging from witness's accounts – conducted the attacks.
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Friday, November 13, 2015
Why Black Friday Needs to be a National Holiday / Politics / Shopping
By: Walter_Brasch
At one time, people placed carved pumpkins with a candle inside on their front porches to announce the beginning of the Halloween season.
And then it became a contest. First, best Halloween pumpkin. And then who could decorate their trees and hedges with the best fake cobwebs, followed by fake witches in trees.
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Friday, November 13, 2015
Africa Population Explosion - Why Europe's Migrant Crisis is Going to Get A Lot Worse - Video / Politics / Africa
By: Nadeem_Walayat
What's lost in the midst of this year’s migration crisis of as many as 1 million migrants heading for Europe's shores, near five times the number for 2014, is the consequences of the REAL MEGA-TREND, that is not just of the war in Syria but the fact that Africa (both North and South) is undergoing a population explosion, that is literally manifesting in an exponential trend, one of MORE than doubling of Africa's population every 40 years that looks set to make today's migrant crisis look like a picnic when compared against the several of millions per year that will be arriving on Europe’s borders within a few short years as the global population graph based on UN data illustrates.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
UK BrExit Referendum as European Union Faces Migration Catastrophe / Politics / UK EU Referendum
By: Nadeem_Walayat
This week David Cameron kick started his negotiations with the European Union to head off the risk of a Referendum vote to leave the European Union due to be held some time during 2017. The latest opinion polls put the LEAVE camp in the minority on 39%, however faced with continuing out of control immigration could by referendum day bring the vote closer to a 50/50 knife edge result.
By most accounts David Cameron's demands in his letter to to Donald Tusk (President of the European Council) are pretty weak, most of which are designed to be achieved in what amounts to a pantomime act for an gullible electorate to swallow.
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Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Israel Detaining and Imprisoning Palestinian Children for Political Reasons / Politics / Israel
By: Stephen_Lendman
Israel doesn’t just violate inviolable international laws. It smashes, tramples on and ignores them, writing its own rules, setting its own standards, doing whatever it pleases, consistently justifying the unjustifiable - longstanding rogue state practice.
It treats children like adults, already abducting, detaining and imprisoning them for political reasons.
America and Israel are the only two nations incarcerating young children for life without parole (LWOP). It’s a 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) signatory, mandating protection for their rights, safety and welfare - “without discrimination of any kind,” regardless of “race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status," including their "right to life…survival (and) development.”
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Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Social Security The Long Slow Default / Politics / Government Spending
By: MISES
Kirby R. Cundiff writes: When an investor buys an annuity or another retirement product from an insurance or mutual fund company, the contract is constant and enforceable through the United States court system. When a United States taxpayer is forced to pay for a government backed retirement system such as the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program (OASDI) — also known as Social Security — the “contract” can be, and is, changed on a regular basis by the United States government, and those changes are generally not to the benefit of the taxpayer.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
The American Way of Endless Wars / Politics / US Politics
By: Stephen_Lendman
America is addicted to endless direct and proxy wars of aggression. Peace is anathema, social justice discarded to devote national resources to warmaking and militarizing the homeland.
Washington’s criminal class is bipartisan. Duopoly power rules, one party with two wings, serving monied interests exclusively, not a single identifiable administration, congressional or top-level judicial profile in courage, all in lockstep with what makes America the most feared and hated of all nations.
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Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Portugal Government Resignation Is Potentially A Very Big Deal / Politics / Euro-Zone
By: John_Rubino
Portugal has entered a phase change, with potentially huge ramifications.
After handing a parliamentary majority to a coalition of leftist (i.e., anti-austerity, anti-euro, anti-NATO) parties, and then trying to prevent them forming a government, the country now looks likely to stand back and let it happen. Here’s an update from today’s Wall Street Journal:
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Monday, November 09, 2015
Does the Bell Toll for the Fed? / Politics / US Federal Reserve Bank
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Last week Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hinted that the Federal Reserve Board will increase interest rates at the board's December meeting. The positive jobs report that was released following Yellen's remarks caused many observers to say that the Federal Reserve's first interest rate increase in almost a decade is practically inevitable.
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