Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Saturday, March 25, 2017
London Terror Attack Red Herring, Real Issue is Age of Reason vs Religion / Politics / Religion
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The British mainstream media has been obsessed over the London terror attack with 24/7 coverage of what in reality was a miniscule pinprick event that the media has blown out of all proportions as though it has any significant baring on the lives of the British people or how the British state functions. Yes for those on the receiving end of the actions of this madman have had their lives devastated but for the rest the attack has virtually zero consequences beyond the anxiety inducing fear mongering relentless press coverage, where the reality is akin to one random road traffic accident, which annually claim some 2,000 lives in the UK, whilst deaths from terrorism average just 2 per year since 2010 to illustrate the point in disparity between media fear mongering vs reality.
Saturday, March 25, 2017
Will Washington Risk WW3 to Block an Emerging EU-Russia Superstate / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Mike_Whitney
The relentless demonization of Vladimir Putin is just one part of Washington’s multi-pronged strategy to roll-back Russian power in Central Asia and extinguish Putin’s dream of a “Greater Europe”. Along with the attempt to smear the Russian president as a “KGB thug” and “dictator”, the media has also alleged that Moscow intervened in the US presidential elections and that Russia is a serial aggressor that poses a growing threat to European and US national security. The media onslaught, which has greatly intensified since the election of Donald Trump in November 2016, has been accompanied by harsh economic sanctions, asymmetrical attacks on Russia’s markets and currency, the arming and training of Russian adversaries in Ukraine and Syria, the calculated suppression of oil prices, and a heavy-handed effort to sabotage Russia’s business relations in Europe. In short, Washington is doing everything in its power to prevent Russia and Europe from merging into the world’s biggest free trade zone that will be the center of global growth and prosperity for the next century.
Saturday, March 25, 2017
Unaccountable Military Industrial Complex Is Destroying America and the Rest Of The World Too / Politics / US Military
By: Jeff_Berwick
On Jan. 17, 1961, US President Eisenhower gave the nation a dire warning about what he described as a threat to democratic government. He called it the military-industrial complex.
He warned, "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist."
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Saturday, March 25, 2017
Police Body-Cam's - Be Careful What You Wish For / Politics / Police State
By: John_Rubino
After the recent deluge of videos showing police abusing and sometimes flat-out murdering more-or-less innocent citizens, the willingness of a growing number of cities to equip officers with video cameras has been hailed as a victory by civil libertarians.
But what if those cameras also extend the surveillance network exponentially? In the future, if a policeman is facing you, he might be filming you. From there, all it will take is real-time facial recognition technology, and Big Brother will be walking the streets with eyes wide open.
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Friday, March 24, 2017
A Walk Down the Dark Road of Bad Government / Politics / Social Issues
By: David_Galland
Dear Parader,
One of the most fascinating traits of the human herd is its willingness to be led off a cliff by political miscreants.
In modern history, we have two perfect examples to illustrate the point: Zimbabwe and Venezuela.
Accompanying me this morning is a song I first heard in the excellent movie, Hell or High Water starring Jeff Bridges and Chris Pine. If you haven’t seen it, I couldn’t recommend it more highly. The song is Dollar Bill Blues by Townes Van Zandt, and I have tacked some other songs of a somewhat similar genre onto it.
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Friday, March 24, 2017
Maps Of Past Empires That Can Tell Us About The Future / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: John_Mauldin
BY GEORGE FRIEDMAN AND JACOB SHAPIRO : Studying history has little practical utility in averting past outcomes. We are doomed to repeat history whether we know it or not.
The value in knowing history is not that one might prevent its recurrence. Its value is that it allows you to identify those things that don’t change and that shape events… no matter the year on the calendar.
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Friday, March 24, 2017
SNP Independent Scotland's Destiny With Economic Catastrophe, the English Subsidy - IndyRef2 / Politics / Scotland
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The SNP have declared there intension's for a second Scottish independence referendum barely 2 years on from the last 'once in a lifetime' referendum was as a consequence of the UK intending to LEAVE the European Union which includes exiting the EU Single Market.
Thursday, March 23, 2017
US Budget - There’s Almost Nothing Left To Cut / Politics / Government Spending
By: John_Mauldin
Every politician in every campaign talks about getting rid of government fraud and waste.
If we could only cut out all of that wasted spending, we would have money either to lower taxes or to spend on something more useful.
Except there is nothing to cut that is of any meaningful consequence.
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Thursday, March 23, 2017
Why The US Should Introduce VAT And Carbon Taxes Instead / Politics / Taxes
By: John_Mauldin
BY JOHN MAULDIN : Economists of pretty much every stripe will agree that a consumption tax has fewer negative effects than an income tax does. That’s because incentives matter.
If you want more of something, then tax it less; if you want less of something, tax it more. It’s about that simple.
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Thursday, March 23, 2017
Cutting US Income Taxes Will Blow Out The Budget / Politics / Taxes
By: John_Mauldin
BY JOHN MAULDIN : The cost of health care runs well over $1.1 trillion. Social Security is almost $1 trillion. Defense spending is $620 billion.
Entitlement programs for our nation’s seniors and low-income individuals and families run $550 billion. (That includes food stamps, disability, affordable housing, earned-income tax credits, childcare tax credits, and so on.)
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Thursday, March 23, 2017
Here’s Why Interstate Health Insurance Won’t Fix Obamacare / Trumpcare / Politics / Healthcare Sector
By: John_Mauldin
BY PATRICK WATSON : Congress has a new healthcare plan to replace Obamacare. It may go nowhere since many Republicans aren’t happy with it… and the problems it tries to solve will remain.
Worse, anything that gets past the House and Senate may not matter if insurers refuse to play in 2018. The big ones haven’t committed yet.
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Thursday, March 23, 2017
China’s Biggest Limitations Determine the Future of East Asia / Politics / China
By: John_Mauldin
BY GEORGE FRIEDMAN : As we wrote about in “China’s Strategy,” East Asia is split into four parts: The Pacific archipelago, the Chinese mainland, the Korean Peninsula, and Indochina. East Asia holds the second and third largest world economies: China and Japan. The relationship between them and the US define modern East Asian geopolitics.
Thursday, March 23, 2017
This is About So Much More Than Trump and Brexit / Politics / Religion
By: Harry_Dent
I’ve been writing a lot about what I see as the mega trend right now… and what will make this economic winter season different from the 1930s.We’re not just seeing a classic debt and financial asset bubble that will unravel into a deflationary depression, as occurred in the 1930s and many times throughout history.
We’re not just seeing a populist revolution, as we saw with Hitler and Mussolini in the 1930s and World War II, and as has occurred about every 84 years throughout history.
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Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Return of Sovereign France, Europe’s Changing Landscape / Politics / France
By: Dan_Steinbock
In France, President Hollande’s utter failure to foster broad consensus for structural reforms has paved the way for a contested election. While public debate focuses on Emmanuel Macron as the savior of France, the real story is that Marine Le Pen's agenda has shifted the French political landscape. Before TV debates, the French presidential election featured 3-4 viable candidates, which together accounted for 85-90 percent of the total vote. Until recently, the leader of the Front National, Marine Le Pen, and the centrist Emmanuel Macron, have garnered about 25 percent in the polls, followed by the center-right François Fillon (20%), and the socialist Benoît Hamon (15%).
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Wednesday, March 22, 2017
In Japan, Russia and China Find Common Ground / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: STRATFOR
For the first time in three years, Russia and Japan have revived an avenue of negotiation that had stalled in the face of enduring tension between the two nations. Foreign and defense ministers from both countries met in Tokyo on Monday to hold 2+2 talks on security issues in the Asia-Pacific region. As expected, Japan took the opportunity to question Russia's recent attempts to bolster its defenses on the southern Kuril Islands, to which Tokyo has long laid claim. Russia fired back with its own objections to Japan's desire to build up its ballistic missile defenses as North Korea pushes ahead with its nuclear program.
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Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Trump Watershed Budget / Politics / US Politics
By: BATR
You have never seen an attempt to change direction in the Federal juggernaut, as outlined in the Trump budget to revamp discretionary spending. Bob Adelmann of The New American provides an apt appraisal in Trump’s “Blueprint” Budget Is a Policy Statement; Real Budget to Follow. For a full reading of this framework review the White House document. OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, has delivered a bold variation from the normal accommodation to the political careerists and influence peddlers.
Monday, March 20, 2017
Obamacare Healthcare Repeal or Obamacare 2.0? / Politics / Healthcare Sector
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
This Thursday, the House of Representatives will vote on a Republican bill that supposedly repeals Obamacare. However, the bill retains Obamacare's most destructive features.
That is not to say this legislation is entirely without merit. For example, the bill expands the amount individuals can contribute to a health savings account (HSA). HSAs allow individuals to save money tax-free to pay for routine medical expenses. By restoring individuals' control over healthcare dollars, HSAs remove the distortions introduced in the healthcare market by government policies encouraging over-reliance on third-party payers.
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Monday, March 20, 2017
Why The Status Quo Is Under Increasing Attack By 'Populist People Power' / Politics / Social Issues
By: Gordon_T_Long
Protecting The Status Quo Is Failing
We need to fully appreciate yet another example of what the mainstream media doesn't yet get! The "People" increasingly don't see the system working for them anymore and have as consequence become much more willing to try something very different, possibly even extreme, depending on how serious their personal blight has become!
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Sunday, March 19, 2017
Scotland Independence Referendum 2.0? / Politics / Scotland
By: Stephen_Lendman
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Why the SNP WILL Destroy Scotland, Exit UK Single Market for EU - IndyRef2 / Politics / Scotland
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The SNP have declared that their primary reason for demanding a second Independence referendum barely 2 years on from the last 'once in a lifetime' referendum was as a consequence of the UK intending to LEAVE the European Union including exiting the EU Single Market.