Is America’s Economy Being Sovietized?

The foundation of the Soviet model of trade and investment was centralization under the guise of “universal public ownership”. The entire goal of communism in general was not to give more social and political power to the people, but to extinguish alternative options and focus power into the hands of a select few. The process used to reach this end result can vary, but the goal always remains the same. In most cases, such centralization begins with economic hegemony, and it is in our fiscal structure that we have the means to see the future. Sovietization in our financial life will inevitably lead to sovietization in our political life.

Does the U.S. economy’s path resemble the Soviet template exactly? No. And I’m sure the very suggestion will make the average unaware free market evangelical froth at the mouth. However, as I plan to show, the parallels in our fundamentals are disturbing; the reality is that true free markets in America died a long time ago.

Russia Wary of Deeper Nuclear Arms Cuts

The Kremlin is quite horrible at being truthful, as every other week a news piece comes out mentioning Russian military advancement gains and superiority over their American counterparts. Here are a few examples:

• Russia pursues hypersonic weapon research
• Medvedev Says Russian Rearmament On Level With WWII
• US Missile Shield No Threat to Russia – Deputy PM
• Putin Builds Space-Weapon Deterrent as Russia Target Mars, Moon
• Russian Deployment of Missile Defenses Hidden in Plain Sight
• Silent sub: Russian noiseless Borei class nuclear submarine immersed

Further information can be found while using the Global Geopolitics search feature, or under the following tags: Soviet Union; Military Technology; Nuclear Weapons & Proliferation.

It seems they’re still selling New Lies for Old — and sadly America has been taking the bait since the 60′s.

Russia’s top military officer on Thursday voiced skepticism about deeper nuclear arms cuts, saying they should require parallel reductions in non-nuclear precision weapons.

The statement by chief of Russia’s military General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, appeared to signal the Kremlin’s reluctance to negotiate a new nuclear arms deal with Washington.

Tokyo, Seoul hold ‘ugly’ nuclear option

Should Japan choose to go nuclear, it would only be a matter of months before an ICBM can be deployed. The technology, delivery systems and the material are all there. South Korea would likely have some roadblocks going nuclear, but shouldn’t be too far behind with help from neighbors who have the same security needs.

North Korea’s nuclear weapons program is undermining regional stability in Northeast Asia, with the present crisis on the Korean Peninsula again prompting the neighboring states into seriously reconsidering their national security policies. This is particularly the case for Japan, against which North Korea has deployed, or so it is widely believed, approximately 200 Nodong missiles.

US Lawmakers Try to Block Sharing Missile Defense Data with Russia

Republican US lawmakers are taking steps to bar the United States from sharing classified missile defense technology information with Russia, draft legislation that was amended in the US Congress Wednesday shows.

Syrians reported attacking the Israelis on daily basis along Golan Heights

Western diplomatic sources said Israeli and Syrian forces were battling on a nearly daily basis along the Golan Heights. They said the fighting often began with Syrian Army or proxy attacks on Israel Army outposts and vehicles.

China Expands Its Sphere in the South Pacific

China is once again working to expand its reach in the South China Sea. Its latest target is the Philippines. Recently China sailed a warship, two surveillance vessels and fishing boats into an area occupied by the Philippines’ military, causing an outcry from Philippine officials on Tuesday. While this small conglomerate of ships may pose little immediate threat, this is just the latest step in China’s expansion in the Pacific.

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While this intrusion prompted Filipino President Benigno Aquino iii to announce plans to upgrade the country’s aging navy, China isn’t planning to wait around for that; it has already been busy making its presence felt in the island region. China is said to have recently been constructing military structures in the Union Bank, a group of islands that are also within the territorial boundaries of the Philippines as defined by unclos. China has also established itself on a number of other islands in the region, including Mischief Reef and Subi Reef.

CIA Source: 4th Shoe About to Drop

In a very short period of time three scandals have rocked the Obama administration — Benghazi, the IRS, and the illegal seizure of AP reporters’ phone calls. The real truth, though, is that four scandals now beset the administration since there was no resolution to Fast and Furious due to Justice Department stonewalling.

But in spite of the fact that the mainstream media totally ignores Fast and Furious, which would make four scandals if the truth were important to elected officials and the mainstream media, a CIA official has told a Drudge Report editor that a fourth shoe is about to drop, make that the 5th shoe in the correct count, that has Obama political operatives at the White House literally shaking in their boots.

China Space Program Ramping Up Capabilities, Pentagon Says

To ‘blind and deafen’ the enemy would be to use what the Chinese call ‘shashou jiang’, or what we’d call in English: ‘assassin’s mace‘ — something America today loves to complacently ignore.

China’s growing space prowess shows no signs of slowing, the U.S. Department of Defense said in its annual report to Congress on military and security developments involving the People’s Republic of China.

The Pentagon has been carefully monitoring China’s space activities, and pointed out that last year, the country conducted a total of 18 space launches and expanded its space-based intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, navigation, meteorological and communications satellite constellations. 

Some US Utilities Say They’re Under Constant Cyber Attack

Several power utilities say they face a barrage of cyber attacks on their critical systems, a report by two Democratic lawmakers found echoing warnings from the Obama administration that foreign hackers were trying to bring down the U.S. power grid.

‘Naive’ to Think Gold Isn’t Manipulated Too, Fund Manager John Butler Says

Gold and silver didn’t even begin to seriously sell off until about fifteen minutes afterthe big dollar index rally was done, so to pin yesterday’s precious metal price action on the currencies is laughable.

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One of the other reasons that the sell-offs in the metal are hitting the shares so hard, is that mutual funds are feeling the effects of massive redemptions…and they have to sell whether they want to or not.  The markets are very illiquid…and this just makes matters worse.

But the one big question you should be asking yourself is this…”Who is buying all these shares that the precious metals investors are selling in such a panic?“  Think about it.  Somebody is…and whoever they are [and I have my suspicions] they have infinitely deep pockets…and are the very definition of “strong hands”.

Financial Markets Are at Risk of a ‘Big Data’ Crash

Regulators and investors are struggling to meet the challenges posed by high-frequency trading. This ultra-fast, computerized segment of finance now accounts for most trades. HFT also contributed to the “flash crash,” the sudden, vertiginous fall in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in May 2010, according to U.S. regulators. However, the HFT of today is very different to that of three years ago. This is because of “big data.”

Revenge of the Bear: Russia Strikes Back in Syria

President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation has drawn a line in the sand over Syria, the government of which he is determined to protect from overthrow. Not since the end of the Cold War in 1991 has the Russian Bear asserted itself so forcefully beyond its borders in support of claims on great power status. In essence, Russia is attempting to play the role in Syria that France did in Algeria in the 1990s, of supporting the military government against rebels, many of them linked to political Islam. France and its allies prevailed, at the cost of some 150,000 dead. Can Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad pull off the same sort of victory?

Even as Damascus pushes back against the rebels militarily, Putin has swung into action on the international and regional stages. The Russian government persuaded U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to support an international conference aimed at a negotiated settlement. Putin upbraided Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his country’s air attacks on Damascus. Moscow is sending sophisticated anti-aircraft batteries, anti-submarine missiles and other munitions to beleaguered Assad, and has just announced that 12 Russian warships will patrol the Mediterranean. The Russian actions have raised alarums [sic] in Tel Aviv and Washington, even as they have been praised in Damascus and Tehran.