Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Friday, December 25, 2009
The Economic Crisis Ends 2009, the Political Crisis Begins 2010 / Politics / Recession 2008 - 2010
By: Shamus_Cooke
First Iceland, then Ireland, now Greece. Much of Europe is mired in inescapable debt and bankrupt nations, the result of crashing banks, bank bailouts, and soaring unemployment. The U.S. and U.K. watch from a distance, knowing their turn is next.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Selling You with Baseball Legends and the Buffett Name / Politics / Mainstream Media
By: Mike_Stathis
I come across silly articles everyday by guys with no idea what they are doing. Their goal is to sell ads and subscriptions to their newsletter, or to get you to hand them your money so they can send it to some "money manager."
The most common and effective tactic is to use Warren Buffet's name in the title of these pieces because the herd mentality thinks that what Buffett does or likes actually matters to individual investors.
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Thursday, December 24, 2009
Faber Says Watch US vs. China Great Powers Game Play During 2010 / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: LewRockwell
Dr Faber, in the September issue of the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report you said that the future will be a total disaster with a collapse of our capitalistic system as we know it. Three months later do you still stand by that assessment or did you underestimate the power of the governments to shore up the global economy?
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Obama's Role in the Militarization of Mexico, Interview with Laura Carlsen / Politics / Mexico
By: Mike_Whitney
"Militarization is not the way to deal with Mexico's political crisis." Laura Carlsen
Mike Whitney--- Will you explain what Plan Mexico is and how it relates to the North American Free Trade Agreement? (NAFTA)
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Global Warming and Human Cooling / Politics / Climate Change
By: Pravda
Scholars of UFRJ, USP, UNICAMP, and Embrapa (Brazil) sent a warning: if the conditions of the current economic model continue, by the end of this century the Amazon will suffer a 40% loss of forest cover in the area south-southeast-east, which will turn into savannah. The Amazon River will reduce its flow up to 30%, the Parana River by 53% and the Sao Francisco River will wane 70%.
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Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Another Natural Gas War Between Russia and E.U. In 2010 / Politics / Natural Gas
By: Pravda
Russia and the European Union signed a memorandum on the mechanism of early warning in the energy sphere. The document was signed by Russian Minister of Energy Sergei Shmatko and European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs. This is the way for the EU and Russia to prepare for possible winter issues with the transit of gas through Ukraine. The document is expected to be discussed by the heads of the two parties at the RF-EU Summit to be held in Stockholm on November 18.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Intellectually Bankrupt Mainstream Press Awards Bernanke Person of the Year / Politics / Mainstream Media
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Bernanke in large part the architect of the financial crisis has now been awarded the prize of "Person of the Year" by Time Magazine. The award amounts to the icing on the cake for what has transpired over the past 12 months that has witnessed academic clueless economists in the mainstream press flailing in all directions in an attempt to be all things to all people.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Bernanke, Time’s Person of the Year Drives the Debt Crisis Spiral / Politics / Recession 2008 - 2010
By: Claus_Vogt
Fed President Ben Bernanke has been named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2009. However, in looking back at former People of the Year it becomes crystal clear that this title doesn’t necessarily mean that the honored person has done something good for the world …
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
U.S. 2 Million Troop, $1 Trillion Death Machine / Politics / US Politics
By: Rick_Rozoff
With a census of slightly over 300 million in a world of almost seven billion people, the U.S. accounts for over 40 percent of officially acknowledged worldwide government military spending with a population that is only 4 percent of that of the earth's. A 10-1 disparity.
In addition to its 1,445,000 active duty service members, the Pentagon can and does call upon 1.2 million National Guard and other reserve components. As many as 30% of troops that have served in Afghanistan and Iraq are mobilized reservists. The Army National Guard has activated over 400,000 soldiers since the war in Afghanistan began and in March of 2009 approximately 125,000 National Guard and other reserve personnel were on active duty.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Dr. Keynes's U.S. Health Care Prescription / Politics / US Politics
By: Gary_North
"Health care in lead as stocks surge" ~ MarketWatch
This December 21, 2009 headline marks what I regard as the triumph of Keynesian dogma in the American equity markets. I can think of no headline in the last 30 years that better illustrates the triumph of Paul Samuelson, whose health care expenses finally ceased last week.
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Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Obamas Healthcare Reform Spells Disaster for Americans (Part 1) / Politics / US Politics
By: Mike_Stathis
First, I want to point out that this article should by no means encourage support for the Republican Party. If you are not already aware, both parties deliver essentially the same results when it comes to issues that matter most to the people, such as the case with free trade and healthcare, while fooling you to think they represent opposing positions.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Obama and Democrats Drop the Health Care Bomb on American's / Politics / US Politics
By: Peter_Schiff
As business owners undergo the yearly ritual of passing through eye-popping health insurance premium increases to their employees, it's easy to understand why any attempt at health insurance reform would be met with some degree of hope. Unfortunately, President Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress are about to take a very bad system and make it unimaginably worse.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Bernanke Man of the Year, Are We Missing Something? / Politics / Central Banks
By: Casey_Research
Olivier Garret writes: Ben Bernanke is a dubious choice to be named “Person of the Year” by Time magazine. While Time’s Managing Editor Richard Stengel credits him with recognizing early and reacting appropriately to the ongoing financial crisis, in reality, he was wrong time and again with both his predictions and his remedies. Just remember these gems:
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Peak Climate And New Energy / Politics / Climate Change
By: Andrew_McKillop
Exit Global Warming
"Hockey sticks in the air!" well summarises the Copenhagen Climate summit debacle, as some world leaders, especially Obama and the 'European climate triumvirate' of Brown, Sarkozy and Merkel wrestled a face-saving, non-binding and vague agreement from the wreckage. This hard-won gesture, as of Saturday December 19, brings Brazil, China, India, South Africa and about 20 other states into a nice statement of principle affirming their collective wish that world average temperatures should not rise by more than 2°C in a flexibly defined long-term period, stretching to about 2040.
Monday, December 21, 2009
The Long Decline of the U.S. Economy / Politics / Recession 2008 - 2010
By: John_Kozy
The official position on the cause of the current financial downturn is that it was caused by the reckless practices of financial institutions and the failure of regulatory bodies, and it is likely that these were the proximate causes, but they were not the ultimate cause. Americans, unfortunately, are rarely willing to search for ultimate causes or do anything about them when they are found.
Monday, December 21, 2009
A New Era for Humanity Has Begun / Politics / Social Issues
By: Richard_C_Cook
A new era for the human race has clearly begun. When I compare the state of people’s awareness today with what it was just a few years ago, remarkable changes are taking place.
People are finally waking up to the fact that the world of big money, big media, and big business is taking them absolutely nowhere except into degradation, alienation, and slavery.
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Monday, December 21, 2009
Obama's Planned 400% Excise Rip Off Tax / Politics / US Politics
By: Michael_S_Rozeff
The Wall Street Journal brings more bad news. A headline reads "Lawmakers Weigh a Wall Street Tax." The first mention of this was in October. The proposal has not died as Congress seeks new ways to finance its profligate spending. Both houses are considering legislation.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Afghanistan, World's Longest War Has Only Just Begun / Politics / Afghanistan
By: Rick_Rozoff
The higher number of Defense Department contractors, 160,000, added to over 100,000 troops - with the likely prospect of both numbers climbing yet more - will result in over a quarter of a million U.S. personnel serving under the Pentagon and NATO. The latter has 42,000 non-U.S. troops fighting under its command currently and pledges of 8,000 more to date, with thousands in addition to be conscripted after the London conference on Afghanistan next month.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Why Copenhagen COP15 Failed / Politics / Climate Change
By: Shamus_Cooke
To anybody interested in the future of the earth’s climate, the conclusion of the Copenhagen conference represents either colossal disappointment or profound rage. The financial pledges— if honored— that rich nations made to poor nations will do nothing to combat global warming. The few climate related agreements that were made were of zero substance, especially when compared to what the situation demanded.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Ebeneezer Scrooge Hero Not Villain / Politics / Social Issues
By: Butler_Shaffer
My interest in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol began one Christmas eve when, as a small child, my parents turned on network radio to listen to what, even then, had become a classic Christmas eve festivity: Lionel Barrymore's presentation of the Dickens story.
Radio was a medium that required the imagination to paint scenes far more colorful, and to concoct monsters far scarier, than anything motion pictures or television have ever been able to present. With radio, the listener was the stage designer, costumer, and location director.
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