Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Thursday, February 03, 2011
The Federal Crisis Inquiry Commission Missed the Money / Politics / Credit Crisis 2011
By: Fred_Sheehan
The Federal Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) had as much chance of satisfying the public as the Warren Commission did of closing the debate on the Kennedy assassination. The FCIC published its report on January 27, 2011. This was the "Final Report of the National Commission on the Causes of the Financial and Economic Crisis in the United States." The FCIC itself could not come to a conclusion. The Democrats wrote for the majority, the Republicans for the minority, and a think-tank fellow motored off on a tangent of his own.
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Wednesday, February 02, 2011
U.S. Chickens Come Home to Roost in Egypt / Politics / Middle East
By: Global_Research
Marjorie Cohn writes: Barack Obama, like his predecessors, has supported Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to the tune of $1.3 billion annually, mostly in military aid. In return, Egypt minds U.S. interests in the Middle East, notably providing a buffer between Israel and the rest of the Arab world. Egypt collaborates with Israel to isolate Gaza with a punishing blockade, to the consternation of Arabs throughout the Middle East. The United States could not have fought its wars in Iraq without Egypt’s logistical support.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
U.S. Police State Decades in the Making / Politics / US Politics
By: Global_Research
David Swanson writes: Andrew Kolin's new book "State Power and Democracy: Before and During the Presidency of George W. Bush" actually begins with the war for independence and continues into the Obama years. A 231-page monotone recounting of endless facts, it doesn't pick up with Bush the Lesser until page 137. Kolin chronicles a gradual slide into an imperial presidency that really got going after World War II. Along the way he chronicles the damage done to the forces of resistance, making a compelling case that our movements for peace and justice are weak in part because of the extreme repression of recent decades.
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Tuesday, February 01, 2011
A People's Uprising Against the Empire / Politics / Social Issues
By: LewRockwell
Those of the young generation, people too young to remember the collapse of Soviet bloc and other socialist states in 1989 and 1990, are fortunate to be living through another thrilling example of a seemingly impenetrable state edifice reduced to impotence when faced with crowds demanding freedom, peace, and justice.
There is surely no greater event than this. To see it instills in us a sense of hope that the longing for freedom that beats in the heart of every human being can be realized in our time.
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Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Financial Crisis Inquiry, Another "Whitewash" for Wall Street / Politics / Credit Crisis 2011
By: Mike_Whitney
Maybe "whitewash" is too harsh of a term to apply to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission's (FCIC) report, but it certainly doesn't break any new ground. Nor does it achieve its real purpose, which is to figure out what triggered the financial meltdown and (hopefully) restore confidence in the system. It fails on both counts, and it's not hard to see why. The investigative panel was clearly instructed to point out the dangers of insufficient regulation rather than focus on the massive incidents of fraud that were perpetrated by the bankers and other financial kingpins. It's a clever way of blaming the system instead of the people who were responsible.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Revolutions When US Presidents Are Soft: Might Egypt Be Like Iran? / Politics / Middle East
By: Andrew_Butter
There is a lot in common between the Iranian Revolution and the current almost revolution in Egypt that is being played out.
In both cases there was a huge popular uprising against a corrupt, brutal, venal and un-democratic government who relied heavily on police, secret police, and torture, to stay in power, headed up by self admiring despots.
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Monday, January 31, 2011
The Egyptian Intifada, Mubarak's Time Is Up / Politics / Middle East
By: Mike_Whitney
Stocks plunged on Friday following a fifth day of protests in Cairo. Oil shot up more than $3 per barrel as investors grew nervous about potential disruptions to supply. The Dow Jones tumbled 166 points by day's end.
The Israeli embassy has been shut down in Egypt's capital and it's diplomatic staff has been flown to Tel Aviv (allegedly) disguised as tourists.. The Star of David has been lowered and is no longer visible anywhere in Cairo.
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Monday, January 31, 2011
Facebook, Twitter, and the Arab Revolutions / Politics / Middle East
By: Gary_North
The dictator of Tunisia was overthrown in less than one month after being in power for 23 years. There is no question about how opponents of his regime were able to topple it. Two words describe it: Facebook, Twitter. These two social networking sites enabled protesters to take to the streets, organize the opposition, recruit new protesters, and overcome the police force and the military.
Monday, January 31, 2011
American Eulogy / Politics / US Politics
By: James_Quinn
The Founding Fathers described the kind of country they were shaping on July 4, 1776 with the most well known sentence in the English language:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. - Declaration of Independence
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Monday, January 31, 2011
Egypt, Economic Crisis Driving Political Protests Sparked In Part By US Financial Speculation / Politics / Middle East
By: Danny_Schechter
This is an upstairs/downstairs story that takes us from the peak of a Western mountaintop for the wealthy to spreading mass despair in the valleys of the Third World poor.
It is about how the solutions for the world financial crisis that the Ceos and Big pols are massaging in a posh conference center in snowy Davos Switzerland have turned into a global economic catastrophe in the streets of Cairo, the current ground zero of a certain to spread wave of international unrest.
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Sunday, January 30, 2011
Egyptian Military Attempting to Retain Control / Politics / Middle East
By: STRATFOR
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak remains the lifeblood of the demonstrators, who still number in the tens of thousands in downtown Cairo and in other major cities, albeit on a lesser scale. After being overwhelmed in the Jan. 28 Day of Rage protests, Egypt’s internal security forces — with the anti-riot paramilitaries of the Central Security Forces (CSF) at the forefront — were glaringly absent from the streets Jan. 29. They were replaced with rows of tanks and armored personnel carriers carrying regular army soldiers. Unlike their CSF counterparts, the demonstrators demanding Mubarak’s exit from the political scene largely welcomed the soldiers. Despite Mubarak’s refusal to step down Jan. 28, the public’s positive perception of the military, seen as the only real gateway to a post-Mubarak Egypt, remained. It is unclear how long this perception will hold, especially as Egyptians are growing frustrated with the rising level of insecurity in the country and the army’s limits in patrolling the streets.Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Egypt: Cue the Dirty Tricks, False Flags To Discredit Pro-Democracy Movement / Politics / Middle East
By: Finian_Cunningham
The looting of Cairo’s world-famous Egyptian Museum over the weekend seems to have engendered the desired news headlines.
‘Looters smash ancient treasures’, ‘Looters decapitate mummies’, ‘Looters rip off heads of artifacts’ etc., read a rash of headlines, following the apparent breaking into the country’s national museum, which is said to house the world’s biggest of Pharaonic antiquities.
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Sunday, January 30, 2011
Egypt: Washington Has Finger on the Trigger for More Bloodshed / Politics / Middle East
By: Finian_Cunningham
Egypt’s capital Cairo and other major cities across the country are increasingly looking like battlefields as president Hosni Mubarak tries to tighten his grip on power in the face of nationwide protests calling for his abdication.
Reports of more than 50 civilians killed and more than 1,000 injured over night in police and army violence did not deter ten of thousands of people defying the now nightly curfew and secret arrests. Nor did that deter huge crowds from amassing on central streets of Cairo and Alexandria the following the day, which revealed the charred remains of government buildings, armoured cars and other debris, evidencing fierce clashes between armed forces and demonstrators,
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Sunday, January 30, 2011
US Backed Repression in Egypt is Insight for American Public / Politics / Middle East
By: Finian_Cunningham
As thousands more Egyptian citizens take to the streets in anti-government protests, the country is in danger of witnessing a bloodbath – at the behest of Washington.
Defying a ban on public demonstrations by the government of President Hosni Mubarak, tens of thousands of Egyptians have for the fourth consecutive day rallied on the streets of the capital Cairo and other major cities calling for his abdication. Inspired by the mass uprising in neigbouring Tunisia earlier this month, which forced its president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into exile, the protesters in Egypt are likewise demanding Mubarak and his government to quit.
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Friday, January 28, 2011
Ireland’s Bailout Scandal, EFSF Funds to Cost Irish Taxpayer 9% Per Annum / Politics / Credit Crisis 2011
By: Christopher_Quigley
“Frankfurt – European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) today placed its inaugural bond for an amount of €5 billion as part of the EU/IMF financial support package agreed for Ireland. The issuance spread was fixed at mid-swap plus 6 basis points. This implies borrowing costs for EFSF of 2.89%. Investor interest was exceptionally strong, a record breaking order book of €44.5 billion from more than 500 investors. Investor demand came from around the world and from all types of institutions. Very strong demand came from Asia. The Government of Japan purchased over 20% of the issue, reflecting its early commitment with the intention of contributing to European financial stability.
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Friday, January 28, 2011
Riots in Egypt over Food Prices and Unemployment, Blood on Bernanke's Hands / Politics / Social Issues
By: Mike_Shedlock
Violence in Egypt continues unabated in spite of President Hosni Mubarak's plea for calm. Demonstrators threw firebombs and chanted "Down with Hosni Mubarak, down with the tyrant." Police responded with teargas and bullets.
Protesters are angry over poverty, rising food prices, state food subsidies, unemployment, and social conditions.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Inflation to Help the Less Fortunate? / Politics / Inflation
By: Richard_Daughty
I almost didn't read the essay by Gary Gibson, the managing editor of the Whiskey & Gunpowder newsletter, because he was talking about Paul Krugman, whom Mr. Gibson refers to as "cheerleader of the state," and for whom I have a much, much lower opinion, probably because of my envy of his career success despite being, as far as I can tell, a complete failure in predicting the bursting messes we are in, or ever warning against them as they were building, when it was obvious to the Austrian economists all along.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Obama State of the Union Pie in the Sky Speech / Politics / US Politics
By: John_Browne
Following the huge gains made by Republicans in the midterm elections, it was widely expected that President Obama would use the State of the Union address to signal a major policy shift toward the center of the political spectrum. On the surface, at least, he appeared to do just that, hinting that he took budget management very seriously and that Americans should be prepared for shared sacrifice. However, as the final applause still echoed in the House chamber, many astute pundits were left trying to make sense of the many contradictory policy prescriptions the President proffered.
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Friday, January 28, 2011
Stocks and and Price of Butter / Politics / Inflation
By: Fred_Sheehan
"We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again." ~ President Barack Obama, State of the Union speech, January 25, 2011
Maybe President Obama was at a loss to validate the rousing economy in his State of the Union address. Whatever the reason, this was a strange appeal to the American people. An even stranger validation of Wall Street's prowess was expressed last week by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke.
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Thursday, January 27, 2011
U.S. Debt Crisis, Stay Ahead of the Curve by Moving / Politics / US Debt
By: Gary_North
A growing minority of the American public is beginning to catch on to the meaning of the Federal government's deficits and the Federal Reserve's QE2. The voters did not understand QE1 in October 2008.
We are beginning to see videos lampooning tax rates. This humor is spreading to Europe. Some choice ones are here.
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