Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Monday, June 06, 2016
Germany May Be a Bigger Threat to the European Union than Brexit / Politics / European Union
By: John_Mauldin
Two polls were recently released that call the European Union in question.
A poll in Italy reported that the Five Star Movement (a populist political party that wants to hold a referendum on whether Italy should remain in the European Union) was the most popular political party in the country ahead of local elections scheduled for next month.
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Monday, June 06, 2016
You Are Here, the Next Fourth Turning, No More Room to Increase Leverage / Politics / Social Issues
By: James_Quinn
The next Fourth Turning is due to begin shortly after the new millennium, midway through the Oh-Oh decade. Around the year 2005, a sudden spark will catalyze a Crisis mood. Remnants of the old social order will disintegrate. Political and economic trust will implode. Real hardship will beset the land, with severe distress that could involve questions of class, race, nation and empire. The very survival of the nation will feel at stake. Sometime before the year 2025, America will pass through a great gate in history, commensurate with the American Revolution, Civil War, and twin emergencies of the Great Depression and World War II." - Strauss & Howe - The Fourth Turning
Sunday, June 05, 2016
Muhammad Ali - Did The Greatest American Alive Just Die? / Politics / Social Issues
By: Raul_I_Meijer
“Boxing legend dies”, is what most headlines say. And the news was first reported on sports pages, though it did soon move to frontpages, fast.
Muhammad Ali was so much more than a boxing legend. So much more that to mention boxing first doesn’t do him justice. Ali was first and foremost a very brave and intelligent man, who changed America for the better. Or should we say: changed Americans?
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Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Here’s Where the TSA Got This One Wrong / Politics / US Politics
By: Rodney_Johnson
My wife hates to fly. It’s not the planes that bother her, although she’s no fan of turbulence. It’s the security process. There’s something about passing through a low-level X-ray machine that can see through your clothes that gives her the willies. Who can blame her?And then there’s the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) agents themselves. Why is it that six or seven seem to be just hanging out while three of them work one security machine, as 200 people wait in line?
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Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Here’s How Greece’s Bailout Falls Short / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Rodney_Johnson
If you lent a guy money and he failed to pay you back, would you lend to him a second time? How about a third time?
That’s exactly what’s going on in Europe.
The European Central Bank (ECB), European Commission (EC), and the IMF – the three entities collectively known as the Troika – bailed out Greece in 2010… then again in 2012.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Alan Greenspan Warns That Venezuelan Style Martial Law Will Soon Come To The US / Politics / US Politics
By: Jeff_Berwick
It seems barely a day passes now without some big name person warning of imminent collapse. The latest is Alan Greenspan.
In an interview on Thursday he told Fox News that Venezuela is now under martial law and that “America is next.” He said that what was happening in Venezuela was inevitably going to take place in the US.
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Monday, May 30, 2016
Long Live the Flags of Dixie! / Politics / US Politics
By: Antonius_Aquinas
On May 19, the House of Reprehensibles passed a proposal that would essentially ban the display of Confederate flags from national cemeteries. The amendment was added to a Veteran Affairs spending bill.
Not surprisingly, House Speaker Paul Ryan allowed the measure to be voted upon in hopes of not disrupting the appropriations process. Yes, by all means Paul, the redistribution of taxpayers’ confiscated wealth should take precedent over a draconian attempt to eradicate a heroic symbol of the country’s past. Hopefully, Ryan will be ousted this November as both Speaker and Congressman for not only his consistent sell out to Obummer and the Democrats on the budget, but his lack of understanding and appreciation of what is arguably the most important period of American history.
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Monday, May 30, 2016
This Is Not The America My Parents Immigrated To In 1957 / Politics / US Politics
By: James_Quinn
Not that I remember what America was like in 1957, as I was not yet five years old. Years later, when I was old enough to understand, they told me their story. Briefly, it goes like this.
Dad was born in Romania (Czernowitz in Northern Bulovina), but he identified (haha) as German because, well, his dad was German, his mom was German, they spoke German and kept German customs, and lived in a German community so, applying the “quacking duck” theory, that’s what he was. Mom was born in Yugoslavia (now, Slovenia), but she identified as German for the same reasons as dad did. The Nazi regime would refer to folks such as my parents as “Volksdeutsche” —- being German as a people or race, regardless of citizenship. More on that here.
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Sunday, May 29, 2016
Retaking Raqqa From the Islamic State / Politics / ISIS Islamic State
By: STRATFOR
The battle for Raqqa, the Islamic State's self-declared capital in Syria, has begun. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are advancing toward the city, engaging the jihadist group in the villages of al-Hisha, Tal Samen and Mutamshirij along the way. Because of Raqqa's strategic importance, the Islamic State will do everything in its power to keep the city within its grasp. Driving the militants from their stronghold will not be easy or cheap, but if the SDF is successful, it will greatly accelerate the Islamic State's defeat in Syria.
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Memorial Day Crocodile Tears from Those Who Create Wars / Politics / US Politics
By: Walter_Brasch
A few million Americans may be thinking about it, but won’t be celebrating Memorial Day. For them, there’s not much to celebrate or to remember.
They’re the low-wage employees who may have to work all three days, without overtime; about three million workers earn the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Many work 30 to 35 hours a week, just low enough that their employers don’t have to pay for insurance, holidays, or sick leave. The corporate CEOs, of course, will be enjoying the long weekend at their alternate vacation homes in the mountains, or along the coasts, or at off-shore islands where they have found banks willing to hide their money and avoid U.S. taxes.
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Wargaming North Korea - Assessing the Threat / Politics / North Korea
By: STRATFOR
Editor's Note: This is the first installment of a five-part series examining the measures that could be taken to inhibit North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The purpose of this series is not to consider political rhetoric or noninvasive means of coercion, such as sanctions. Rather, we are exploring the military options, however remote, that are open to the United States and its allies, along with the expected retaliatory response from Pyongyang. Part two of this series looks at what targets would need to be struck to derail the North Korean nuclear program.
Few countries intrigue and perplex like the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Isolated by choice from the ebbs and flows of the international system, North Korea is an island of its own making. It is often painted as a weak, fearsome lunatic with delusions of grandeur and aspirations to become a nuclear power, but the truth is a little more complicated. Despite outward appearances, Pyongyang is not reckless in its ambition. Nor does it foolhardily invite destruction. It walks a fine line, hoping to quietly attain a credible nuclear deterrent without inciting world powers to take decisive action.
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Thursday, May 26, 2016
Hard Times and False Mainstream Media Narratives / Politics / Mainstream Media
By: James_Quinn
The mainstream media mouthpieces for the establishment peddle false narratives, disingenuous storylines, and outright propaganda to keep the ignorant masses confused, oblivious to reality, misinformed, and passively submissive to the opinions of highly paid “experts” and captured fiscal authorities. The existing social order likes things just as they are.
They reap ill-gotten riches, wield unchecked power, and control the minds of the masses. They are the invisible government consciously manipulating the minds, habits and opinions of the multitudes in order to dominate society, control the levers of government, and accumulate obscene levels of wealth through manipulation of the currency and domination of the banking and corporate interests.
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Thursday, May 26, 2016
Does the Alternative Media Still Exist? With Graham Mehl / Politics / Mainstream Media
By: Andy_Sutton
Going in, we readily admit this is likely not to be a popular read with many folks. However, to adapt the famous saying of Patrick Henry, the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of tyrants and patriots. We use the saying purely in a metaphorical fashion in this instance. In our article, you can substitute the patriot’s blood with the carcasses of those who at first championed liberty, but now have become what they most despised. History is replete with examples of men both big and small of championing a cause only to end up right back where they started – only this time they’re looking at themselves in the mirror.
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Will The Swiss Guarantee 75,000 CHF For Every Family? / Politics / Social Issues
By: GoldSilverWorlds
The Swiss public will have to approve or reject a change in the constitution that would allow for an Unconditional Basic Income (UBI), or a preset, monthly minimum income to be paid out by the government to every adult and child in the country if their income falls below a specific threshold. Even though details of this proposal have been few and far between, the most commonly cited amount of this guaranteed income would be 2,500 Swiss Francs for adults and 625 francs for children. The architects of the proposal stress that this government-guaranteed payment, unlike the current benefit programs, will be entirely “no questions asked”, i.e. it will not be means-tested and it will apply for every person legally living in Switzerland.
Monday, May 23, 2016
Venezuela Descends Into Chaos... Europe and US Next? / Politics / Venezuela
By: Jeff_Berwick
It has been less than two months since I visited Caracas, Venezuela. While things were already very bad when I was there, they are now worse.
Power shortages have deepened (and this in an oil rich country!); food is becoming scarce (some people have resorted to eating dogs and cats); people lie on concrete slabs in hospitals without medicine (if you thought medical care was bad, just wait until it’s free!); and riots and looting are growing worse.
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Sunday, May 22, 2016
Avoiding a War in Space / Politics / New World Order
By: STRATFOR
Space is becoming more congested, contested and competitive. Since the Soviet Union put the first satellite, Sputnik I, into space in 1957, no nation has deliberately destroyed another's satellite in orbit. But there is a growing possibility that battles may soon be waged in space.
Although the militarization of space started long ago, a number of technological developments and tests over the past decade show that the race toward its weaponization is accelerating. Driven by Washington's dominance of and strategic dependence on space, U.S. rivals are working to develop and deploy anti-satellite weapons (widely known as ASATs). The technology, which began to be developed during the Cold War, has become an area of intense competition for the world's most capable militaries over the past decade.
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Saturday, May 21, 2016
EgyptAir Flight MS804 - Why is the Jihadist World Silent? / Politics / War on Terror
By: STRATFOR
As the investigation into the crash of EgyptAir Flight 804 continues and searchers begin to find evidence, the jihadist world has been strangely silent. Air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft early May 19 and we are now nearly outside the timeframe in which jihadist groups have ordinarily taken credit for attacks. The one obvious explanation for this is that a catastrophic mechanical or electrical failure brought down the aircraft rather than a bomb, but given all of the indications that point to an attack, it is worth exploring the lack of a claim of responsibility and what that means for attributing the cause of the crash.
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Friday, May 20, 2016
Terrorist Attack Likely Downed EgyptAir Flight 804 / Politics / ISIS Islamic State
By: Stephen_Lendman
At 11:09 PM local time Wednesday, Flight MS804 with 66 passengers and crew en route from Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport to Cairo went missing over the Mediterranean Sea.
French President Francois Hollande said the plane “went down and is lost.” It’s too early to know if what happened was technical failure or terrorism, the latter most likely.
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Thursday, May 19, 2016
Senate Passes Bill Letting 9/11 Victims Sue Saudi Arabia / Politics / US Politics
By: Stephen_Lendman
The despotic Saudi regime is guilty of many high crimes. 9/11 isn’t one of them, the mother of all false flags, Washington responsible, perhaps complicit with Israel’s Mossad.
Bin Laden and Riyadh had nothing to do with what happened. Osama was dying in a Pakistani hospital at the time, expiring months later from natural causes.
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Monday, May 16, 2016
Defense Bill Coming This Week: A Boost for War and Tyranny / Politics / US Military
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
For many of us concerned with liberty, the letters "NDAA" have come to symbolize Washington's ongoing effort to undermine the US Constitution in the pursuit of constant war overseas. It was the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2012 that introduced into law the idea that American citizens could be indefinitely detained without warrant or charge if a government bureaucrat decides they had assisted al-Qaeda or "associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States." No charges, no trial, just disappeared Americans.
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