Sojka's Call

This blog brings up many economic and political issues that are easy to construe as evil. And, figuring out what we can do in the face of seemingly insurmountable oppression and power that negatively affects our lives is why many of us continue to wrestle with understanding what is going on in the government and economy. What if the answer to these problems was already answered hundreds of years ago? How could anyone know what we would be dealing with now? The Chinese civilization is possibly the oldest surviving civilization on earth. They have been dealing with the issues of oppression by a ruling elite for a long time. So, while the specifics may be different now, the issue is the same. In an article posted on IMOS , a modern-day recluse summarizes the philosophical differences of Confucianism and Taoism. I like his analogy of viewing the two as the yin and yang of historical China. The genius of historical China rests in the oscillation between Confucian and Taoism, betw...

The following is an article from the John Maudlin website on the current political and economic deadlock in the US specifically, but, that is gripping most of the western world. It is most likely too much for most people to think about since it will take longer than 5 minutes to read and digest. The comments on Maudlin's website are interesting as well. With a couple exceptions, the comments posted so far about the article display the very gridlock gripping our country that the book attempts to find a way through. Are the entrenched thought patterns most people have so comfortable that trying something new on for just a few minutes becomes painful enough that they must lash out emotionally? Personally, I found the discussion about inductive and deductive reasoning very interesting. After working 30+ years in manufacturing plants mostly at an engineering and management level, i saw the problems of using data to solve problems. Over and over, in lengthy meetings, people would sh...

Because British and American politics are intertwined. Elections in the USA and Britain have forecasted electoral sentiment in the other country many times. I will not go into the historical precedents for my statements and leave that to you, dear reader. The recent British election shows a fractured electorate and no clear majority. Does this sound familiar? The only difference in the US is a real third party has not emerged like the Liberal Democrats in the UK. Voter discontent in the US could show up in gains for the Tea Party, Libertarians, and Independents, though those groups, with exception of the Independents are too small and not cohesive. The Independents are just that without any platform, leaders, or unifying force or issue so they cannot hold any kind of power in the US. Should be an interesting mid-term election and look for the power-elite controlled media to keep painting any group other than the Dems or Pubs as fringe crazies who cannot govern.

According to Stephen Leeb and a couple other blogs I checked out, Byron Wien has been pretty accurate with his forecasts. For example, he predicted Obama's Presidency before the Iowa Caucuses. I would not bet the farm on his prognostications, but, he should be considered seriously along with other sources you trust and your own analysis. His US economy forecast for the beginning of the year fits my contrarian hunch at this time - everyone I know is so negative about the economy they must be wrong! Blackstone Group's Byron Wien Announces Top Ten Surprises for 2010 2010-01-04 18:08:56 - Byron R. Wien, Vice Chairman, Blackstone Advisory Services, today issued his list of the Ten Surprises for 2010. This is the 25th year Byron has given his predictions of a number of economic, financial market and political surprises for the coming year. He started the tradition in 1986 when he was the Chief U.S. Investment Strategist at Morgan Stanley. Byron joined The Blackstone Group in Septe...

Here are a series of three videos by Ron Paul primarily concerned with the US economy.  He provides some history on The Great Depression. Less than 20 minutes of your time to watch these videos by maybe the only politician left who espouses conservative values. The third video also speaks to our personal liberties and the limitations being unconstitutionally implemented in the name of terrorism. He offers recommendations on economic, foreign, and monetary policies at the end of Part III. He also talks about what needs to be done to restore our personal liberties. Many people believe it is too late - I hope Ron Paul's message is listened to and his ideas implemented very soon. Part I Part II Part III

More data and opinion on the rise of Independents in the US. The Republicans have completely marginalized their party and Democrats are doing their best continuing the giveaways to Wall Street. Look for another mainstream politician besides Lieberman to go Independent. I believe Lieberman is too much of a neocon to be viable, but, someone with charisma will emerge. Too bad Ron Paul will never capture the attention of America. ================================================================================== Timothy Egan - A New York Times Blog November 11, 2009, 9:30 pm The Betrayal ST. LOUIS – So long as Budweiser, the King of Beers, was enthroned in this pleasant and nobly resilient middle American city, the blows of corporate condescension from the other giants who abandoned the Gateway Arch could be endured. But then, last year, came a kidney punch that still hurts: Anheuser-Busch, which had survived Prohibition and the micro-brew craze, was sold to a Belgian brewer. Bud was no...

Is the war in Afghanistan all about who controls the drug trade? Recent news portrays a war on drugs that is one-sided to say the least. It is not too hard to see a portrait of the entire war as one to help out the war lords who fought the Soviets. Those same war lords then fell on hard times during the Talibans rule when the drug trade in Afghanistan was almost eliminated and was certainly by any measure the lowest in recent history. See World Bank report for statistics.... http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,contentMDK:21133060~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:223547,00.html Now the US military is targeting only Taliban drug trade. Why not target all drug trade? The couple recent articles in the NY Times underscores a policy by the US government that seems to support the view that the US is involved in promoting the drug trade. What do you think? August 10, 2009 U.S. to Hunt Down Afghan Drug Lords Tied to Taliban By JAMES RISEN WASHINGTON — Fi...