Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Fraudulent Fractional Reserve Banking Operations Means That There are No Safe Banks / Politics / Credit Crisis 2011
By: Gary_North
Occasionally, we see an official attempt at a serious discussion of what Federal Reserve System economists would like the public to believe is safe banking. This means safe fractional reserve banking. This means fraudulent safe banking. This means fantasy banking.
All fractional reserve banking rests on a legal promise: you can get your money out at any time. Yet the money that you deposit is loaned out by the bank. This means that your money is gone. Then how can you withdraw it at any time? Only if (1) the money is loaned out on a "repay instantly on demand" basis, or (2) hardly anyone will demand withdrawal at the same time. The bank will pay you out of its tiny slush fund for withdrawals. The first option assumes that the debtor is always in a position to repay at any time, which is of course ludicrous for most corporate and business borrowers. They will not agree to such terms. The second option is equally ludicrous during a banking crisis.
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Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Bernanke's Self-Serving Bold-Faced Lies / Politics / Central Banks
By: Mike_Shedlock
Inquiring minds are reading Bernanke's blatantly self-serving speech including some bold lies regarding the U.S. Economic Outlook.
I can condense Bernanke's speech down to a single paragraph. An interesting set of word cloud images follows this summation.
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Tuesday, June 07, 2011
The Republicrats One-Party Police State / Politics / US Politics
By: Jack_D_Douglas
Many years ago I listened to a detailed discussion by Ralph Nader and his team of legal advisors at a Book Fair on C-Span about why they had no chance of winning a presidential election. Simply put, they could not legally get on the ballots in enough states even with their immense teams of lawyers because the Republicans and Democrats had cooperated in passing a mass of complex, variable laws that created endless loopholes and obstructions at the state levels to make sure that no outsider like Ross Perot, even with billions of dollars, could ever again get on enough state ballots to win at the presidential level. I already knew that in general, but it was good to have such insider experience confirming my findings over the years.
Monday, June 06, 2011
Will Washington Foment War Between China and India? / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
What is Washington’s solution for the rising power of China?
The answer might be to involve China in a nuclear war with India.
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Monday, June 06, 2011
Personal Secession – The Moral Way to Freedom / Politics / US Politics
By: Michael_S_Rozeff
Certain people and groups in California want to ban male circumcision, and they are getting measures placed on local ballots for voting.
In Louisiana, there is some sort of law about the teaching of the creation of man in the public schools that has people who dislike that law all riled up and seeking repeal.
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Monday, June 06, 2011
College for Dummies, How to Escape Debt Bondage and Actually Learn Something / Politics / Student Finances
By: Gary_North
This week, I spoke to a group of about 150 high school and college students. Most of them were products of home schooling. This is the ideal audience for my presentation on the way to beat the collegiate rip-off: a B.A. from an accredited university or college for $11,000 to $15,000, total.
Sunday, June 05, 2011
War is Good For Wall Street / Politics / US Politics
By: Washingtons_Blog
I've repeatedly pointed out that Wall Street executives are incentivized to lie, cheat and steal. So - of course - they will continue to lie, cheat and steal.
I've repeatedly noted that Wall Street owns the politicians:
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Sunday, June 05, 2011
Europe Replacing Economic Democracy with Financial Oligarchy / Politics / Euro-Zone
By: Michael_Hudson
Soon after the Socialist Party won Greece’s national elections in autumn 2009, it became apparent that the government’s finances were in a shambles. In May 2010, French President Nicolas Sarkozy took the lead in rounding up €120bn ($180 billion) from European governments to subsidize Greece’s unprogressive tax system that had led its government into debt – which Wall Street banks had helped conceal with Enron-style accounting.
Sunday, June 05, 2011
The Horrid Consequences of Business, Humanity at the Crossroads / Politics / Social Issues
By: John_Kozy
What's known as the economy has not only had horrid consequences, it is ultimately unsustainable. In two centuries, it has turned human beings into beasts of burden and their rulers into mere teamsters, it has polluted the Earth, extinguished uncounted species and exterminated millions of people, it has denuded forests, melted glaciers, and is in the process of depleting un-renewable natural resources. Someday, no natural resources will be available for industrial processing, and this economy's assets will turn to dusted rust.
Sunday, June 05, 2011
Freak-a-nomics and the United States of McDonalds / Politics / US Economy
By: Patrick_Henningsen
This is one of those Freak-a-nomic statistics that, if you were in government, you wouldn’t ever want it to be released to the public, especially during a protracted recession like we are currently witnessing in the US. No would want to admit that the Golden Arches are holding up the American economy.
Sunday, June 05, 2011
Bureau of Labor Statistics Playing Old Maid / Politics / Economic Statistics
By: Fred_Sheehan
When my youngest sister was four-years-old, we taught her how to play Old Maid. She learned quickly but played the game like - a four-year-old. When she was dealt the Old Maid, her little thumb would push it a couple of inches above the others in her hand. She did this with a giggle since her maneuver was tricking us (in her 4-year-old mind) into taking the Old Maid. She succeeded; someone would remove it from her hand so that she could say: "Ha, Ha, you have the Old Maid!"
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Friday, June 03, 2011
Global Implications of Offshore Oil Dispute in South China Sea / Politics / Oil Companies
By: OilPrice_Com
The world's unceasing quest for new oil deposits has combined with offshore technology to impel many countries to investigate their offshore resources in their "exclusive economic zone," (EEZ) defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Part V, Article 55 as extending 200 nautical miles from a nation's coastline.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, June 03, 2011
Too Big to Fail, HBO Financial Crisis Propaganda / Politics / Mainstream Media
By: Videos
HBO's fairy tale propaganda piece on the Financial Crisis, masking the truth of Investment Banks engaged in massive fraud aided by central banks, goes a long way towards explaining why the population remains so docile despite the magnitude of the financial crimes that continue to be committed against them (the tax payers).
Friday, June 03, 2011
U.S. Cyber-War False-Flag Attacks / Politics / US Politics
By: Jack_D_Douglas
The U.S. and almost all nations today in our age of mass societies and Big Media Propaganda whip up war-lust among their people before attacking other nations.
The Nazis were masters of false-flag attacks, such as dressing up dead men in Polish uniforms and planting them on German soil and then screaming "Poland Is invading Germany!," which Poland would have done only if they had gone totally insane because it was obvious that Germany could annihilate them quickly, as it did after the false-flag attacks whipped the German people up for war [though probably not as much as the Nazis hoped to do].
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Friday, June 03, 2011
U.S. Debt Ceiling Debate is Just Politicial Theatre / Politics / US Debt
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
Although the financial press speculates about a downgrade of the US government’s credit rating and default if political impasse prevents the debt ceiling from being raised in time, I doubt anyone really believes that the debt ceiling will not be raised. It is just all a part of the political theater of the next couple of months.
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Friday, June 03, 2011
Welcome to the Soviet States of America 2011 / Politics / US Politics
By: Mike_Whitney
This must be what it was like in Russia before the Soviet Union collapsed. The government's so crooked that nothing works right, the infrastructure's in a shambles, millions of people are scraping by on government handouts, and everyone's on a permanent downer. Welcome to the Soviet States of America 2011.
Thursday, June 02, 2011
Wall Street's Role in Narco Trafficking, The War on Drugs is a Fraud / Politics / US Politics
By: Mike_Whitney
Imagine what your reaction would be if the Mexican government agreed to pay Barack Obama $1.4 billion to deploy US troops and armored vehicles to New York, Los Angeles and Chicago to conduct military operations, set up check points, and engage in fire-fights that end up killing 35,000 US civilians on the streets of American cities.
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Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Fed Sugar Daddy Providing Free Money to the Banks / Politics / US Debt
By: James_Quinn
“Now remember, when things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. 'Cause if you lose your head and you give up then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is.” – Josey Wales – Outlaw Josey Wales
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
European Union, A Flawed Foundation, But Brilliant Strategy? / Politics / Euro-Zone
By: Gordon_T_Long
It was the perception of getting something of value without any meaningful sacrifice that initially fostered the EU Monetary Union. Though the countries of Europe were fiercely nationalistic they were willing to surrender minor sovereign powers only if it was going to prove advantageous to them. They were certainly unwilling to relinquish sufficient sovereignty to create the requisite political union required for its success.
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Debit Card Interchange Fees and the Politics of Lobbying / Politics / Credit Crisis 2011
By: Fred_Sheehan
Legislation to modify debit-card interchange fees cannot compete with celebrity gossip. Yet, exhausted carcasses are carried on stretchers from the senate office buildings. The Huffington Post explained: "A full 118 ex-government officials and aides are currently registered to lobby on behalf of banks in the fee fight... Retailers have signed up at least 124 revolving-door lobbyists.... The flood fills the hallways with lobbyists and deluges the airwaves with ads. For weeks, Washington's Metro system has been papered with... ads on trains and station walls."