Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Tuesday, January 06, 2015
Saudi Arabia Faces Challenges in 2015 / Politics / Saudi Arabia
By: STRATFOR
Michael Nayebi-Oskoui writes: The Middle East is one of the most volatile regions in the world — it is no stranger to upheaval. The 2009 uprisings in Iran and the brinksmanship of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government were followed by the chaos of the Arab Spring, the spillover of the Syrian conflict into Iraq and a potential realignment of the U.S.-Iranian relationship. Unlike recent years, however, 2015 is likely to see regional Sunni Arab interests realign toward a broader acceptance of moderate political Islam. The region is emerging from the uncertainty of the past half-decade, and the foundations of its future are taking shape. This process will not be neat or orderly, but changes are clearly taking place surrounding the Syrian and Libyan conflicts, as well as the region's anticipation of a strengthened Iran.
Tuesday, January 06, 2015
Catholic Church New World Order Pope - Frankie the Fake / Politics / Religion
By: BATR
The Catholic Church has a long history, for good and bad, that has shaped the political fortunes of Western Civilization for over two millenniums. From the conversion of the Roman Empire under Constantine to the pagan ridden culture of feast days and devotions to the Great East–West Schism of the 11th century, the “Church” has invited skepticism and criticism while the spiritual teachings of Jesus Christ took a back seat to the temporal lust for power and dominion. Throughout the turmoil of the Common Era, scholarship and core doctrine professed a profound belief in the teachings in the Gospels, the promise of salvation and the sanctity of individual life.
Monday, January 05, 2015
Transiting to the Next Paradigm. How do we do it, Tom Paine? / Politics / Social Issues
By: Michael_T_Bucci
It seemed to me as far back (or as recently) as 2003 when DSL first arrived in this rural area of Northern New England and two years after blanket dragnet surveillance by NSA became clandestine state policy, that the prospect for the development of a "technological totalitarianism" in American society seemed assured. Even the most savvy and intelligent winced at my words when they didn't openly condescend. Today, it is here and I estimate 90%+ of the American population know about it and 90%+ care little about it. Acquiescence by the "great silent majority" enables it and gives sanction to our ever-expanding political suppression, oppression and to the myriad forms of unConstitutional governance that have emanate from the "war on terror". Wince at my words, but don't blame oppressors entirely; also include the people.
Sunday, January 04, 2015
Oil, Power and Psychopaths / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Raul_I_Meijer
Iran has a – very – long running dispute with the US about its nuclear technology. The US wants Assad (Bashar Al-Assad) out of Syria, while Iran and Russia support Assad (Russia’s sole proper base in the Middle East), who’s an Alawite (a Shi-ite branch), a people historically persecuted by Sunni’s. ISIS (or Daesh in the region) is Sunni. So are the Saudi’s. Iran is Shi’ite. Bahrain is ruled by Sunni but has a majority Shi’ite population. And I could go on for a while. A long while.
All this plays into the oil game, the falling oil prices. Blaming OPEC for the recent price fall is seeing the world from a child’s perspective. OPEC and its major voteholder, Saudi Arabia, are no more to blame for the plunge than the US, Russia or other non-OPEC producers. Everybody produces as if there’s no tomorrow, and the Saudi’s have merely concluded that their only choice is to do the same. It’s a race to the bottom.
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Saturday, January 03, 2015
Did the U.S. and the Saudis Conspire to Push Down Oil Prices? / Politics / Crude Oil
By: Mike_Whitney
Are falling oil prices part of a US-Saudi plan to inflict economic damage on Russia, Iran and Venezuela?
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro seems to think so. In a recent interview that appeared in Reuters, Maduro said he thought the United States and Saudi Arabia wanted to drive down oil prices “to harm Russia.”
Bolivian President Evo Morales agrees with Maduro and told journalists at RT that: “The reduction in oil prices was provoked by the US as an attack on the economies of Venezuela and Russia. In the face of such economic and political attacks, the nations must be united.”
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Saturday, January 03, 2015
The Meaning of Your Life is Other People / Politics / Social Issues
By: Raul_I_Meijer
In his 1944 play Huis Clos (loosely yet officially translated as No Exit, or Closed Door), French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre said: “L’enfer, c’est les autres.” Or: Hell is (the) other people. Which can be very true. And Sartre makes his point in a masterful way. He describes a group of people locked up together with no escape, and for eternity, who have a bitter go at each other. Something we all recognize. People can be a nuisance, and even drive one as far as suicide.
Saturday, January 03, 2015
Washington D.C. “Watchdog” Finally Bares Its Teeth / Politics / Market Regulation
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes: It’s 2015, and things are changing, especially on Wall Street. I just know it.
For example, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally figured out that high-frequency traders (HFT) have an advantage over most other investors and traders
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Friday, January 02, 2015
Where Have All the Statesmen Gone? / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Marin_Katusa
One of the most striking things about the Colder War—as I explore in my new book of the same name—has been the contrast between the peevish tone of the West’s leaders compared to the more grown-up and statesmanlike approach that Putin is taking in international affairs.
Western leaders and their unquestioning media propagandists appear to believe that diplomatic relations are some kind of reward for good behavior. But it’s actually more important to establish a constructive dialogue with your enemies or rivals than your friends, because that’s where you need to find common ground. Indeed, it’s been the basis for diplomacy since time immemorial.
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Friday, January 02, 2015
Why Is It Impossible For Palestine To Be An Independent State / Politics / Middle East
By: Andrew_McKillop
Why Is It Impossible?
The first answer is that it is not impossible. The economic reasons for that are pretty
conclusive and simple. Decades of sanctions and unfavorable trading relations with and through
Israel, and Egypt during the Mubarak era, has forced Gaza to make do and mend. To be a very
efficient micro-economy, with its own offshore natural gas reserves. Eastern Palestine, as we
can call it, with its ultra symbolic capital Jerusalem is another subject, economically.
Thursday, January 01, 2015
Bluff of the Day: Germany Warns Greece on Euro Bailouts / Politics / Euro-Zone
By: Mike_Shedlock
In the obvious bluff of the day, Euro zone No Longer Obliged to Rescue Greece, Merkel Ally Says.
Actually, the eurozone was never obliged to rescue Greece, and in fact did not rescue Greece. Rather the EU and Troika rescued European banks holding Greek bonds.
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Thursday, January 01, 2015
2014 in 5 Narratives - 2014 in 5 Narratives - Ukraine, EU, Oil, North Korea and U.S Dollar / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Raul_I_Meijer
Let’s see, how do we close this year in a proper manner? I already wrote that 2014 for me has been The Year Propaganda Came Of Age. Likewise, looking forward, I said that The Biggest Economic Story Going Into 2015 Is Not Oil. Moreover, I talked about things that need to be done next year in Things To Do In 2015 When You’re Not Yet Dead.
So what else is left? I thought I’d make a list of narratives that painted the past year, and look at what’s real about them versus what we’re being told they are about. Nothing comprehensive about them, mind you, just train of thought.
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Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Bail-In Normalization / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Andy_Sutton
When the bail-in first ripped through Cyprus in the first part of 2013, I wrote a series of articles about the topic and examined some documents from the Bank for International Settlements, the FDIC and Bank of England regarding treatment of depositors and their funds. To sum it up as we begin the latest chapter in what will no doubt morph into the biggest swindle ever to impact humankind, let’s recap what exactly the bail-in is.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Why Are We Still Using A ‘Second-Rate’ Calendar System ‘Imposed By A Pope Over 400 Years Ago’? / Politics / Religion
By: Steve_H_Hanke
If Canadian-born astrophysicist Richard Conn Henry were in charge, New Year’s Eve would have been four days ago.
Under the intricately designed Hanke-Henry calendar (slogan, “It stays exactly the same, year after year!”), the day we’ve known for centuries as New Year’s Day would actually be Jan. 5.
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Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Russia's SWIFT Settlement Alternative / Politics / Russia
By: BATR
The SWIFT System is an integral part of a communication process that assists payment and clearing of financial transactions. The Corporate-to-Bank site defines it in the following manner and provides several examples of Payment, Clearing and Settlement Systems.
“The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, Societe Cooperative a Responsabilite Limitee (limited co-operative society) (“SWIFT”) is a member-owned co-operative. SWIFT provides a telecommunication platform for the exchange of standardized financial messages between financial institutions and corporations. SWIFT is neither a payment system nor a settlement system though the SWIFT messaging standard is used in many payment and settlement systems. SWIFT’s customers include banks, market infrastructures, broker-dealers, corporates, custodians, and investment managers. SWIFT is subject to oversight by the central banks of the Group of Ten countries.”
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Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Top Five Geopolitical Events in 2014 / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: STRATFOR
George Friedman writes: 'Tis the season to make lists, and a list shall be made. We tend to see each year as extraordinary, and in some senses, each year is. But in a broader sense, 2014 was merely another year in a long chain of human triumph and misery. Wars have been waged, marvelous things have been invented, disease has broken out, and people have fallen in love. Nonetheless, lists are called for, and this is my list of the five most important events of 2014.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
U.S. Cops Can Enforce Non-Existent Laws With Impunity / Politics / US Politics
By: Jeff_Berwick
Wendy McElroy writes: Ignorance of the law is an excuse...if you are a cop. American police no longer need to know what the law says or to enforce it correctly. They can implement a non-existent law with impunity even if it results in the apparent violation of constitutional rights. This may have been apparent to many as a police practice but now it is now officially the law of the land. On December 15, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled on Heien v. North Carolina.
Monday, December 29, 2014
For Students To "Give Back," Add Real Value / Politics / Social Issues
By: MISES
Peter St. Onge writes: A recent article in the left-leaning Independent argued that student volunteers are useless. In one project putting UK college students to work building a local school, the work was so awful that local Ugandan masons "dismantled the structurally unsound work [the students] had done — relaying bricks and resetting timbers whilst the students slept."
"Giving back" is big these days, but how can we know if we’re really making a contribution, or if we, like those students, are just tourists who need cleaning up after.
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Monday, December 29, 2014
What Went Wrong In 2015 / Politics / Social Issues
By: Andrew_McKillop
What Went Wrong in '14?
In some ways this could as easily be 1914 as 2014 War-fascination and phobia was so high in 2014 that in several countries, in Europe and also the USA, Canada, Australia and others the production of books, films, TV documentaries and panel discussions, leading press articles and political speeches relating to the 1914-1918 war were everywhere. But just as the Clash of Empires theme was found diificult or wanting to explain the war, even if the vidgame version of empires clashing is a moneyspinner. the economic causes of WWar I were also found wanting, despite all the effort trying to cobble them together and prove them. By the 1920s and above all the 1930s, J. M. Keynes had made the economic causes and consequences of the war one of his major writing projects. And in 2014 it was possible to find at least a few major similarities between the causes of the 1929 crash and its follow-on Great Depression, and the flyblown world since 2008.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Climate Change - What If The World Can’t Cut Its Carbon Emissions? / Politics / Climate Change
By: Raul_I_Meijer
Roger Andrews: Many people, including more than a few prominent politicians, accept that global warming must be limited to no more than two degrees C above the pre-industrial mean, or a little more than one degree C above where we are now, to avoid dangerous interference with the Earth’s climate. Let’s assume these people are right, that the 2C threshold really does represent the climatic equivalent of a cliff and that bad things will happen if we drive off it.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Things To Do In 2015 When You’re Not Yet Dead / Politics / Social Issues
By: Raul_I_Meijer
America has managed to construct an entirely one-dimensional political system. There’s no discernible difference left between left and right, other than in spin language pre-cooked for the sole purpose of faking the concept of elections. There’s very right and ultra right. America is living proof that once money is allowed into politics, the accumulation of it, and of the power it can buy, will and eventually must fully control a democratic system, which in the process, of necessity, suffocates and dies a painful death.