Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
G20, Colossus and The Forbin Project / Politics / US Politics
By: Michael_S_Rozeff
The G20 Toronto Summit declaration reminds me of nothing so much as a science-fiction movie made in 1970 called Colossus: The Forbin Project.
The United States builds an impregnable computer system to control its nuclear weapons. As soon as it is activated, it senses a similar Russian system and demands a link – or else it will detonate a nuclear warhead. Once it gains this link, the two computers exchange information. The combination takes over control. It cannot be disconnected without unleashing nuclear catastrophe.
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Thursday, July 01, 2010
The Dismantling of a Suspected Russian Intelligence Operation / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: STRATFOR
The U.S. Department of Justice announced June 28 that an FBI counterintelligence investigation had resulted in the arrest on June 27 of 10 individuals suspected of acting as undeclared agents of a foreign country, in this case, Russia. Eight of the individuals were also accused of money laundering. On June 28, five of the defendants appeared before a federal magistrate in U.S. District Court in Manhattan while three others went before a federal magistrate in Alexandria, Va., and two more went before a U.S. magistrate in Boston. An 11th person named in the criminal complaint was arrested in Cyprus on June 29, posted bail and is currently at large.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
BP and the "End Times"? / Politics / Environmental Issues
By: Kevin_Geary
I am not much into "the End Times" prediction, as so many have been predicted in the past and obviously have failed to materialise, but the BP Oil catastrophe in the Gulf has given me some pause to think about some well-known world predictions of the end of times, all of which have proven remarkably enduring.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Donkey of the Month: Lady Gaga, President Obama, BP's Tony Hayward or New York Governor (David A Paterson) / Politics / US Politics
By: JD_Rosendahl
Welcome to my monthly rant about people acting like bad little boys and girls in, or reported as such, in the month of June 2010. The month was a busy month of men and women acting strange, outrageous, insane and just plain stupid. There were several candidates on the bubble who didn't make the elite eight, but somehow, I expect they will take another run at "Donkey of the Month" in the near future. Here are my elite eight candidates:
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Changing Attitudes on the Value of an Education / Politics / Social Issues
By: Mike_Shedlock
In response to Teenagers Scared Over Plight of their Parents; Attitudes - Bernanke's Biggest, Most Futile Fight which was based on a comment on my blog by someone using the name "Nancy Drew", please consider this response from "Projammer"
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Thursday, July 01, 2010
BP Gulf Oil Spill Questions and Answers / Politics / Environmental Issues
By: Submissions
Victor Chan Wai-To writes: The 2010 Mexican oil spill is one of the largest offshore spills in history. Just a month after it occured, billions of dollars are lost and lives of millions of people are destroyed. Below is a summary on the incident, expressed in a Q&A format, which gives an up-to-date estimation of the economic destruction brought by the incident at the time of writing (early July 2010).
Thursday, July 01, 2010
The Economy Is Sinking, Confidence Is Down Along With The Stock Market. Is A Depression Coming? / Politics / US Politics
By: Danny_Schechter
The FBI arrests 1200 Americans for mortgage fraud in the largest crackdown of its kind in history. There is no media focus on the companies that securitized and insured their toxic loans. This white-collar crime sweep is, at best, a one-day story with most of the reports carried by local outlets.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Ben Bernanke’s Missing Puzzle Pieces / Politics / Central Banks
By: Graham_Summers
The “Man Who Saved the World,” Ben Bernanke delivered a truly incredible speech last week, stating that he was “puzzled” by the recent rise in Gold. A few of his more startling comments are below:
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
War on Journalism / Politics / US Politics
By: Submissions
John Pilger, award-winning investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker. He began his career in journalism nearly half a century ago and has written close to a dozen books and made over fifty documentaries. He lives in London but is in the United States working on a forthcoming documentary about what he calls "the war on the media." It’s called The War You Don’t See.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Gulf Oil Spill Methane Release and Mass Extinction Events, How Bad Could It Get? / Politics / Environmental Issues
By: Washingtons_Blog
Tremendous quantities of methane are being emitted by the Gulf oil spill. The methane could kill all life in large areas of the Gulf.
However, rumors being spread widely around the Web claiming that the methane could bring on a doomsday catastrophe are not credible.
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Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Stimulus or Austerity, The People vs. the Banks / Politics / Global Economy
By: Shamus_Cooke
The most powerful nations in the world met recently at the G-20 in Toronto and managed to agree on only one thing of significance: the need to reduce deficits, “half by 2013.” Implied by the statement is the need to lower deficits via “austerity,” meaning eliminating or reducing social programs.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
The G-20 Power Grab Accelerates / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Gary_North
The G-8 meeting (Friday and Saturday) and the G-20 meeting (Saturday and Sunday) that were held in Canada provided the world's major political leaders a forum to promise the usual grab-bag of goodies that governments are clearly incapable of providing: (1) economic growth, meaning no double-dip recession; (2) austerity spending programs that are politically sustainable; (3) reductions in deficit spending by 50%, no later than 2013; (4) a percentage increase in GDP to match any increase in debt by 2016. Yet few if any of the leaders who promised all this will be in office in 2016. There is no way that they can assure the public that they can deliver any of these benefits.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The 30-Year War in Afghanistan / Politics / Afghanistan
By: STRATFOR
The Afghan War is the longest war in U.S. history. It began in 1980 and continues to rage. It began under Democrats but has been fought under both Republican and Democratic administrations, making it truly a bipartisan war. The conflict is an odd obsession of U.S. foreign policy, one that never goes away and never seems to end. As the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal reminds us, the Afghan War is now in its fourth phase.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Why Petraeus Won't Salvage The Afghan War / Politics / US Politics
By: Submissions
Gareth Porter writes: As Gen. David Petraeus prepares for his next command, his supporters are hoping he can rescue a failing war for the second time in just a few years. But both the dire state of the war effort in Afghanistan and his approach to taking command in Iraq in early 2007 suggest that Petraeus will not try to replicate an apparent -- and temporary -- success that he knows was at least in part the result of fortuitous circumstances in Iraq. Instead he will maneuver to avoid having to go down with what increasingly appears to be a failed counterinsurgency war.
Monday, June 28, 2010
The U.S. Military Can Waste Money Too / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
This past week various news events once again made it abundantly clear that our foreign policy is an abject failure. Unfortunately, in spite of this the administration is determined to stay on this destructive course, despite any past promises to change it. For Afghanistan especially, if ever there was an opportunity to admit shortcomings and change strategies along with leaders, this past week was it.
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Monday, June 28, 2010
The Truth about North Korea, Contradictory Evidence About Cheonan Ship Sinking / Politics / North Korea
By: Pravda
An exclusive Pravda.Ru interview with: Alejandro Cao de Benos, Special Delegate, Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, Government of the DPR of Korea, President of the Korean Friendship Association (KFA)
In the interest of peace and mutual understanding, counteracting misinformation and propaganda and a commitment to seeing all nations made to equally adhere to international law, the following interview is being presented for Pravda readers.
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Monday, June 28, 2010
"I Don't Talk To Republicans!" and a little about PR, media, propaganda and the digital Skinner Box / Politics / US Politics
By: Michael_T_Bucci
A long time resident here confided, "I don't talk to Republicans!" In this all-white Northern New England town, this excludes many people and the obvious question becomes 'why not'? "I once owned an advertising business in Manhattan," she explained slowly, "they call it a boutique if your gross is under $100M, and I exchanged this business, my co-op, my Smith Barney account, Lexus and American Express card for a cat, a collection of hand-me-down furniture and a free trip to the supermarket once a week, if my monthly food stamp allowance isn't drained." What happened? I asked.
Monday, June 28, 2010
The Reality Behind the McChrystal Interview Fall-Out / Politics / US Politics
By: Walter_Brasch
For a few days last week, the harpies of the extreme right assaulted the president of the United States for first considering, and then firing Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of allied forces in Afghanistan.Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, June 27, 2010
The Final End of the Hydrocarbon Fuel Paradigm / Politics / Environmental Issues
By: T_Anthony_Michael
Dr. Tom Termotto writes: These are the realities on the ground (undersea floor), in the water (Gulf of Mexico & Seven Seas), and in the air (atmosphere) in the wake of the Oil & Gas Industry operations around the globe, as it has operated for well over 100 years. For illustration purposes let’s just focus on the northern Gulf Coast of Mexico, since that is where Mother Earth has directed our collective attention. We can do this quickly by consulting the following map of the oil and gas platforms that were in operation throughout the Gulf of Mexico in 2006 (per Wikipedia).
Sunday, June 27, 2010
UK Public Sector Workers Literally Wasting Tax Payer's Money Sitting Idle / Politics / Government Spending
By: Mike_Shedlock
Sheldon a former public sector worker in the UK writes ...