Biden's Fearmongers About A Russian Nuclear Threat That No One Has Made

The Biden administration is spewing ridiculous fear mongering propaganda:

Kaitlan Collins @kaitlancollins - 0:35 UTC · Oct 7, 2022

Wow. Biden at a Dem fundraiser tonight: “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis.” He says Putin is “not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical,” nuclear or biological weapons because his military is underperforming.

Biden continued with the blunt warnings: “I don't think there's any such thing as the ability to easily (use) a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon.” (These 👀 quotes from pooler @tparti)

Biden going MUCH further than his officials have, from the National Security Council to the Pentagon. They have said they take Russia's threats seriously, but haven't seen any changes in its nuclear posture. Biden invokes Armageddon and says Putin should be taken seriously.

A copy of the pool report can be seen here. It quotes Biden as saying: "[Putin] is not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons because his military is you might say is significantly underperforming."

Fact is that Putin has not talked about the "potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons." Not. At. All.

On September 21 Putin announced a partial mobilization of reservists. In his TV speech he mentioned nuclear weapons only with regards to  'Western' threats of using them:

Cont. reading: Biden's Fearmongers About A Russian Nuclear Threat That No One Has Made

Ukraine Open Thread 2022-167

Only for news & views directly related to the Ukraine conflict.

Please stick to the topic.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Open (NOT Ukraine) Thread 2022-166

News & views NOT related to the Ukraine conflict ...

EU Pushes For More Sanctions Which Will Come Back To Bite It

On February 22, two days before Russian troops entered the Ukraine, the U.S. and the EU put reams of sanctions onto Russia. They also confiscated some $300 billion of Russia's reserves that were invested in the 'west'. The sanctions had been negotiated between the EU and the U.S. and prepared for over several months.

The idea was to bankrupt Russia within a few weeks. The deluded people behind those sanctions had no idea how big and sanctions proved Russia's economy really is. The sanctions failed to influence Russia in any way but their consequences led to a shortfall of energy in Europe and increased the already high inflation rates. Inflation in Russia is sinking and its general economic numbers are good. The now higher energy prices generate sufficient additional income to completely finance its war efforts.

A sane actor would conclude that the sanctions were a mistake and that lifting them would help Europe more than it would help Russia. But no, the U.S. and European pseudo elites are no longer able to act in a sane manner. They are instead doubling down with the most crazy sanction scheme one has ever heard of:

Cont. reading: EU Pushes For More Sanctions Which Will Come Back To Bite It

Media Hide Fascist Ideology Of Ukrainian Militia Which Visit Congress

'Western' media continue to denazify Ukraine by pretending that the Nazi formations in that country, which they had long decried, are now a harmless collection of celebrities.

One could follow those changes along various pieces in the New York Times:

Mar 15 2019:

On his flak jacket was a symbol commonly used by the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary organization.

Feb 11 2020:

Defenders of the Ukrainian Azov Battalion, which the F.B.I. calls “a paramilitary unit” notorious for its “association with neo-Nazi ideology,” accuse us of being part of a Kremlin campaign to “demonize” the group.

Mar 17 2022:

Facebook last week said it was making an exception to its anti-extremism policies to allow praise for Ukraine’s far-right Azov Battalion military unit, “strictly in the context of defending Ukraine, or in their role as part of the Ukraine National Guard.”

Apr 29 2022:

These scenes are from videos shared online in recent days by the Azov regiment, a unit in the Ukrainian military, which says they were taken in the mazelike bunkers beneath the sprawling Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine.

As I had written previously:

What was once "a Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary organization" which even the FBI said is notorious for its “association with neo-Nazi ideology” was first relabeled as merely "far right" before it became a normal "unit in the Ukrainian military".

Today the New York Times topped that evolution by turning a Ukrainian government press release into a tear dripping story about the reunion of freed Azov losers with their families:

Released Azov commanders have an emotional reunion with family members in Turkey.

Cont. reading: Media Hide Fascist Ideology Of Ukrainian Militia Which Visit Congress

Ukraine - What Explains The Recent Russian Retreats?

Over the last months Ukraine has launched a counteroffensive against Russian positions in the Kharkov region. The attack against thin Russian forces was quite successful but has cost the Ukrainian army several thousand men and irreplaceable hardware. That does not seem to matter for Kiev.

Several reasons for the success were given. The Russian forces in the area were even smaller than people had thought and the Ukraine was willing to push every reserve it had through the Russian defense lines. The Russian artillery was equally thin and could not use enough area weapons like multiple rocket launcher systems to stop the storming Ukrainian forces.

In consequence the Ukraine took a quite large share of land. Most st of these was thinly inhabited rural areas. Even the city of Lyman which the Russian gave up on had less than 30,000 pre-war inhabitants.

Kharkov region October 4

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Kharkov region September 1

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But another Ukrainian counteroffensive lets me doubt the explanations given for the area losses near Kharkov.

Cont. reading: Ukraine - What Explains The Recent Russian Retreats?

The Expected Financial Crash Is Finally Here

When two experienced economy and finance analysts, who both correctly predicted the derivative crisis of 2008, again warn of an imminent crash one better listens up.

Today Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism writes about the now Inevitable Financial Crisis:

For months, I have been confident that Europe would suffer a financial crisis and a depression, as in a real economy catastrophe accompanied by a market crash. It might not be that severe and lasting as 1929, but the breadth would mean there would not be 1987 quick bounceback nor a 2008 derivatives crisis concentrated at the heart of the banking system. Even though that looked like financial near-death experience, the same factors that made it more acute in many respects also made it easier for the officialdom to identify and shore up the key institutions that took hits below the water line.

The short version of what follows is things are looking even worse now, and on multiple fronts.
...
Below we’ll discuss the rapidly accelerating real economy crisis, which is exacerbated by central bank tightening as pretty much the only line of defense against inflation that is almost entirely the result of a multi-fronted supply shock.¹ Needless to say, the Fed raising interest rates (which Bernanke recognized as necessary in 2014 to tame bubbly asset prices but then lost his nerve) does nothing to get more chips from China or magically cure Covid-afflicted staffers so they can show up at work. But it will whack all sorts of speculators and financial firms who have wrong-footed their interest rate positions.

And it also seemed apparent that the US would be pulled into the maelstrom, perhaps not as far, but contagion, supply chain dependencies, and the importance of Europe as a customer would assure the US would suffer too.

The second warning comes from 'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini:

Cont. reading: The Expected Financial Crash Is Finally Here

Ukraine Open Thread 2022-165

Only for news & views directly related to the Ukraine conflict.

Please stick to the topic.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Ukraine Open Thread 2022-164

Only for news & views directly related to the Ukraine conflict.

Please stick to the topic.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

The MoA Week In Review - (Not Ukraine) OT 2022-163

Last week's posts on Moon of Alabama:

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• Sep 26 - The U.S. Is Winning Its War On Europe's Industries And People
• Sep 27 - The War On Germany Just Entered Its Hot Phase
• Sep 28 - Whodunnit? - Facts Related to The Sabotage Attack On The Nord Stream Pipelines
  Related:
  - US military aircraft circled Nord Stream incident site in September - Al Maydeen
  - ‘Naked Fear’: A Pipeline Attack Fans Anxiety in a German Village - NY Times
  - Don’t let Nord Stream leaks precipitate Russia-Ukraine conflict - Global Times
  - Attack on Nord Stream kills prospects for dialogue in Ukraine - Indian Punchline
  - Blatantly Obvious Who Gains From Nord Stream Sabotage - Strategic Culture
  - DIANA JOHNSTONE: Omerta in the Gangster War - Consortiumnews
  - Michael Hudson on The Euro Without Germany - Naked Capitalism
  - Europe’s descent into deindustrialisation - Spectator
  - Nord Stream explosions are a ‘tremendous opportunity’ – US - Azerbaycan24

> The US views the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines as a “tremendous opportunity” to wean the continent off of Russian energy, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on Friday. With winter approaching, Blinken said that the US wants Europe to decrease its fuel use. <

Beguiling the traitors:

Secretary Antony Blinken @SecBlinken - 15:59 UTC · Sep 29, 2022

Congratulations to my friend and German Foreign Minister @ABaerbock on being named to @TIME Magazine’s 2022 #TIME100 Next List. Thank you for your steadfast support for democracy, freedom, and human rights during challenging times.
2022 TIME100 Next: Annalena Baerbock

• Sep 29 - Liz Truss Is Already The Bad Prime Minister Everyone Expected Her To Be
  Related:
  - Conservative Party Conference. Is the Truss Government capable of engaging with the real world? - Conservative Home(!)
  - UK Cost-of-living Protests As Tories Defend Contentious Tax-cut Plans - Barron's
  - For Liz Truss, the only way is up (or out) - Politico
  - Even Biden Noticed That Truss is Stupid - Andrew Cockburn
  - You Can Feel the Fear’: U.K. Borrowers Face Up to a Broken Mortgage Market - NY Times
  - How Britain’s Labour Party Became a Criminal Conspiracy Against its Members - Mintpressnews
  - Revealed: the secret British plan to keep Italy’s communists from power - Guardian

• Sep 30 - Ukraine - Four Oblasts Join Russia
• Oct  1 - Putin's Remarks On Europe
  Related:
  - Tallinn postcard: Feels like a big war is coming - Yasha Levine
  - Escalating sanctions against Russia shows Europe’s loss of strategic autonomy, brewing irrationality - Global Times
  - Russian oil exports are still booming and EU is still reliant on Russia - Helenic Shipping News
  - Putin annexations mean US-Russian talks more critical than ever - Responsible Statecraft
  - The Erosion and Undermining of the Transatlantic Relationship - Valdai Club
  - Façade of public unity conceals underlying tensions within NATO - The Hill
  - Vladimir Putin speaks at the accession ceremony - Gilbert Doctorow

> However, I would maintain that with this speech the Russians have both the Chinese and the Indians by the tail, not the other way around. There is no way that either of these great powers can walk away from Russia without losing all credibility in the Global South as champions of a multipolar world and challengers to the rapacious collective West. <

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Other issues:

Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review - (Not Ukraine) OT 2022-163