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September 29, 2019
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2019-56

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:

Related:
A long way: Russian military reform – Part 3 – Offiziere.ch

Related:
The Mammoth Stress Test of British Democracy – Consortium News

Related:
The Pee Tape Is Real, but It’s Fake – Slate
Zelensky made a presentation at some conference. His opening powerpoint show was quite amusing.

—
Other issues:

The Privatisation of Espionage: What on Earth is MI6-Connected 'Citizens=Network' Up To? – Kit Klarenberg / Sputnik

Spanish security company spied on Julian Assange in London for the United States – El Pais
Julian Assange ‘subjected to every kind of torment’ in Belmarsh prison as he awaits extradition – Independent

Recommended read:
Ready, Fire, Aim: U.S. Interests in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria – Chas Freeman

An excellent portrait of Putin:
The Key to Understanding Vladimir Putin – National Interest

Use as open thread …

Posted by b on September 29, 2019 at 15:43 UTC | Permalink
Comments

Thanks c1ui – do you know why then the ‘no bankruptcy’ reg. just for this indebtedness? It seems particularly cruel with respect to young people, who would be targets for military induction.
Yes, karlof1 I join the others who were affected by the long line – maybe just those of us with inexpensive computers? We’ll forgive you if you mend your ways 😉

Posted by: juliania | Sep 30 2019 21:34 utc | 101

There are authors out there finding disturbing similarities amongst the current state of affairs at socioeconomic and political level in some European countries and even the US and the late Weimar Republic…
As certain strategist said once, years ago, “the seatbelts could prove ineffective”…I wondered then what was he trying to mean…so enigmatic he used to be…

Posted by: Elora Danan | Sep 30 2019 22:17 utc | 102

Elora Danan, Peter AU 1:
I suppose MEK needed to change their name and spruce up their image as Maryam Rajavi might be positioning herself as Iran’s answer to Juan Guaido: a self-proclaimed leader, even though she has never had to campaign publicly and face the Iranian electorate (who would most likely run after her with pitchforks).

Posted by: Jen | Sep 30 2019 22:20 utc | 103

Jen
Setting up an Iranian Guaido is very likely.
Trump uses hyperbole and red herrings as a conscious strategy, but his hatred of Iran and also socialism seems genuine. I think he genuinely believes the leaders of these countries to be corrupt, holding power through fear while enriching themselves. With this mindset he believes a deal on his terms can be achieved if enough pressure is applied.
I suspect we will go through a cuban crisis type moment in Trump’s attack on Iran when he finds pressure does not bring the desired results.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Sep 30 2019 23:17 utc | 104

@ karlof1 | 88
On Iran oil…..
Oh, and 8 more EU nations signed onto to instex for trading with Iran. Seems the false accusations and UNGA speeches had an effect.
1. But the identity of the nations was not released. Why not?
2. To date (reportedly) Instex only applies to medicine and food, not petroleum or its products . . .because the USG knows all and it sanctions all financial institutions and trading corporations “illicitly” involved.
3. So unless institutions are inclined to say “stick it” to the United Sanctions of America, Instex or any other scheme will fail.
4. What is Instex? Instex replaces SWIFT which is merely a messaging network used by banks and other financial institutions to quickly, accurately, and securely send and receive information, such as money transfer instructions.
5. The actual transfer of funds is done separately, and the USG knows all.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Oct 1 2019 0:45 utc | 105

news report
US special forces base, Italian army convoy attacked in Somalia
Depending upon the headline writer, the attacks were by militants, islamic extremists, jihadists, and (a mouthful) a Somali militant organization affiliated with al-Qaeda.
These attacks by the locals against the invaders has gone on for years. But hey, it pays well.
Reminds me of Mike Hastie:

One day while I was in a bunker in Vietnam, a sniper round went over my head. The person who fired that weapon was not a terrorist, a rebel, an extremist, or a so-called insurgent. The Vietnamese individual who tried to kill me was a citizen of Vietnam, who did not want me in his country. This truth escapes millions. –Mike Hastie, U.S. Army Medic, Vietnam 1970-71

Posted by: Don Bacon | Oct 1 2019 1:22 utc | 106

julianain @ 103–
Sorry, but the laptop I use is one of those inexpensive types–under $220, a Lenovo.
My aim was to move the energy part of the discussion regarding Saudi to the more general discussion about energy on this thread and to view it in a different overall context since energy, national development, global finance, and the impact of the Climate Crisis on all makes for a different discussion than just centering on Saudi intrigues. When scrutinized, it’s clear that China and Russia have a coherent, holistic set of policies taking all into consideration, as do a number of other nations as they’re all tied into the UN’s 2030 Development Goals, which are also a holistic set of policies; however, TrumpCo displays no coherent policy aside from unilateral anarchy/chaos on all fronts–Did Trump utter anything coherent in his UNGA speech aside from his uber-nationalism and associated hatred for various nations? Or was Trump merely exposing the fact that the Outlaw US Empire’s longstanding #1 goal of acquiring Full Spectrum Domination is no longer tenable and lies in tatters as exhibited by his fantastically nutty Trade War and associated attempts at Extraterritoriality everywhere you look? Aside from the vassals–EU, Occupied Palestine and 5-Eyes nations–what other nations would call the Outlaw US Empire a friend? Sure seems an odd way to go about building an isolationistic relationship with the rest of the world.
Anyway, the current international energy market is relatively good for both sellers and buyers as the price isn’t too high or too low–except when it comes to those trying to extract unconventional hydrocarbons, which is almost the unique province of the Outlaw US Empire. NatGas via Eurasian Pipelinistan will continue to beat the cost of LNG, although Russia’s policy includes a vertical presence in that market for the long term with its construction of LNG tankers with ice breaker capabilities powered by LNG. Many poured cold water on ROSATOM’s new ability to generate no nuclear waste–plus–its successful completion and testing of its portable nuclear power plant. But the seriousness of its international business activity cannot be ignored as it relegates Westinghouse and General Electric to bystanders. This page offers a summation of China’s energy policy past, present and future. India’s energy policy in contrast seems to be hindered by relying too heavily on advice from UK/US as can be discerned when reading this Wiki, and would be much further advanced if it had modeled China more closely. Yes, there’re many more nations in Eurasia, but I put the focus on what I felt is the three most important at the moment since they constitute the biggest players in terms of users and providers. So, it’s quite incomplete, which is why I’m closing with this link to the International Energy Agency’s 2018 World Energy Outlook, the most recent it has available. I chose it over the Outlaw US Empire’s Energy Information Agency as the latter has a proven track record of over-optimism and incorrect statistical citations that are often politically manipulated.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 1 2019 1:49 utc | 107

Don Bacon @108–
That news is indicative of the failing nature of the Outlaw US Empire’s policy of strangulating Iran–8 more generally vassal nations of the EU have chosen not to adhere to it–what coalition that might have existed is crumbling, and that can be extended to NATO.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 1 2019 1:55 utc | 108

Article 1 sec. 9, the emoluments clause.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
This is where the impeachment hearings should begin, IMO it’s a no-brainer…

Posted by: ben | Oct 1 2019 2:22 utc | 109

P. S.- Renting an entire floor of DJT’s tower by the Saudis might qualify.

Posted by: ben | Oct 1 2019 2:59 utc | 110

@William Gruff #82
I’m curious where you get such a ridiculously low number from.
The United States consumes a bit under 4 billion terawatt-hours per year, or 4 billion, billion kilowatt-hours.
There are 8760 hours per year, so that’s 456,000 kwh per hour for every second of the year.
Power has to be beamed somewhere – it can’t just be spread over the entire surface area of the United States. Even distributed to existing ‘reception stations’ still allows multiple satellites to refocus onto any specified location within line of sight.
And it is a lot of power.
The state of New York, for example consumes around 128 billion kwh from 40,000 peak MW generation capacity.
If even 10% of the New York electricity production came from satellite, we’re talking about 4 gigawatts of power.
For the whole US, generation capacity is 1.2 million megawatts; 10% would be 120 gigawatts.
120 gigawatts for 1 second is equivalent to 28,666 tons of TNT.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 1 2019 4:08 utc | 111

ie, for my post at 113;
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/foreign-counties-lease-trump-world-tower-emoluments-concerns-heighten

Posted by: ben | Oct 1 2019 4:29 utc | 112

@ Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Sep 30 2019 23:17 utc | 106
> Setting up an Iranian Guaido is very likely.
What with the original being such a rousing success and all…

Posted by: AshenLight | Oct 1 2019 5:11 utc | 113

@juliania: Read my message to you on a previous thread.

Posted by: S | Oct 1 2019 6:10 utc | 114

AshenLight 116
Trump’s hide is thick enough not let it bother him. Though Guaido cannot be considered a failure as yet. He serves the purpose of putting together a coalition of the willing. US generally put something on a pedestal for the various coalitions of the killing to gather around. Freedom fighters, opposition rightful president ect. Hadi, the well and truly out of date Yemen president is used for this purpose.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Oct 1 2019 6:19 utc | 115

So apparently conversations with Putin and MBS were also squirreled away in secret,classified coded vault.
Let me try to guess what’s in those conversations.
Putin: A little bird told me that Ukrainians can fabricate dirt on Biden using his son, but they’re holding back because they think a Biden Presidency will favor Ukraine. Maybe you can make offer they can’t refuse.
Trump: Sure, but we might need your expertise on the inside.
Hypothetical convo with MBS
Trump: We have conclusive proof you ordered hit, but listen, we don’t want revolution in KSA, we need you to keep pretending more freedom so we’ll make your mess go away.
MBS: How can I return the favor?
Trump: Help Bibi and me s cr ew the Palestinians, and keep buying lots of weapons. Together, we’re going to destroy Yemen, bankrupt Iran and make them heel.
MBS: Easy-peasy, done. Thanks for your support.

Posted by: Circe | Oct 1 2019 12:21 utc | 116

I see hasbara usurping West Bank territory are out in full force defending their benefactor Trump who has been making Israel great again. Expect them in increasing numbers.

Posted by: Circe | Oct 1 2019 12:47 utc | 117

c1ue | Oct 1 2019 4:08 utc | 112
‘120 gigawatts for 1 second is equivalent to 28,666 tons of TNT.’
1 ton(metric) TNT = ~4exp9 J -> 1.2exp11 (120exp9) / 4exp9 = ?

Posted by: Hmpf | Oct 1 2019 12:54 utc | 118

Some here will have read Engdahl’s essay about the Outlaw US Empire’s Shale Oil Ponzi Scheme that’s seen $$Billions invested but not one cent of profit declared despite the issuance of dividends by some of the involved companies. As I type, WTI’s trading at $54.70 and Brent is again under $60 at 59.69 with the price trend continuing downward despite fresh video evidence of the damage done to Saudi oil infrastructure—
Why? Two answers present themselves: Demand destruction; excessive oil market product inventory. Demand destruction has two components: greater energy use efficiency and slowing economic growth. Excess product inventory .. karlof1 @ 87.
hello karlof1. The answers quoted, 1st, demand destruction (2nd, glut i leave aside), is a very wide category that encompasses oil getting dusty on the shelf as Fairy dust Fusion – free energy for all! becomes all the rage – which is not happening, and won’t.
‘Slower economic growth’ basically boils down to ppl not being able to afford the price asked for their purposes, e.g. repairing infrastructure, setting up a new ice-cream factory, selling new super plastic webbing, etc. Why? Because paying the price will not allow them to ‘make a profit’ – their users / customers cannot afford the cost, the charges.
One also has to take into account that FF are v. highly subsidised, as dinosaur blood and fiery breath (oil, gas) is the grease that keeps the world economy chugging.
At some point, FF products, even with the taxpayer chipping in, Gvmts doling out support, and investors being fleeced, the whole mechanism grinds to a stuttering halt.
Here the last EU ‘competition’ scoreboard, see how cleverly they label ‘energy and environment’ support. (Food for the poor etc. is almost nothing in comparison.) Plus, the report does not include entries and a whole host of other stuff (externalities for ex.)
https://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/scoreboard/index_en.html

Posted by: Noirette | Oct 1 2019 16:03 utc | 119

I decided to watch the 8 hr livestream of the CSIS security forum with John Bolton, within 5 minutes of the start they said they had gathered some of the greatest thinkers in the world to discuss the best strategy for world peace and prosperity. As a reminder, their key speaker is John Bolton and the highlight of his speech was him calling for military strikes on North Korea – this is going to be one hell of a sh*tshow, pray for me…..

Posted by: Kadath | Oct 1 2019 16:31 utc | 120

@ kadath.. why torture yourself that way??

Posted by: james | Oct 1 2019 16:45 utc | 121

@juliana #102
I don’t have any specific inside knowledge, but it seems clear that the finance industry involved in student loans were able to push this through because students (along with really poor people) are some of the least aware demographics regarding their financial rights.
They’ve attempted this with many other areas – credit card debt, for example, but were defeated. So, IMO, it is more a case of where the scum won as opposed to any particular aspect of student lending.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 1 2019 17:09 utc | 122

Re:123 James,
Very simple, once in a while they let their masks slip and they mistakenly tell a tiny bit of Truth that you will never hear from the Mainstream media. I was actually watching the Council on Foreign livestream when Biden made his little slip up and admitted to extorting Ukraine into firing the prosecutor investigating his son. I had known about that allegation for years before, but I never imagined that Biden would be so stupid or reckless to admit it openly and now look what’s happened to him. Regarding this particular event, Bolton has already admitted a tiny but of truth that South Korean and Japanese relations are cratering and going to get worse (i.e. Japan’s asinine behaviour is driving China, North Korea and South Korea together and undermining US plans to use contain China with a newly re-armed Japan as the center piece in its’ new Hub strategy).

Posted by: Kadath | Oct 1 2019 17:15 utc | 123

@Hmph #120
Yep – made a mistake because I am doing this in my head, as opposed to a spreadsheet.
Still 28.667 tons of TNT per second is still enormously destructive.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 1 2019 17:16 utc | 124

It seems the SoftBank Vision fund is on a losing streak:
Wag failing after $300M Softbank investment.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 1 2019 17:18 utc | 125

but it seems clear that the finance industry involved in student loans were able to push this through because students (along with really poor people) are some of the least aware demographics regarding their financial rights.

@Posted by: c1ue | Oct 1 2019 17:09 utc | 124
And…in that…had nothing to do the fact that Trump put in charge of education that billionaire, Betty De Voos, sister of Erik Prince of mercenary fame…
In fact, students are some of the least aware demographics people regarding anything, especially nowadays excesively infantilized, deideologized, absorbed by social media ones…hence they are being targetted to promote fascism ( HK riotters, ecofascist movement…)
Awareness regarding financial rights, and any other right indeed, were before taught to the unaware by real unions and the real left…Hence the offensive at global level they were submitted to to wipe them out from the surface of Earth…and media…..

Posted by: Elora Danan | Oct 1 2019 17:28 utc | 126

Formerly T-Bear @86–
And greetings to you too! I stopped my line of ~~~ well before they’d have caused the page to expand, and I checked the page via the preview function and it looked dandy! As you know, I’m sensitive to your plight and wouldn’t do anything to aggravate it.
Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 30 2019 19:36 utc | 88
That’s bullshit. You didn’t do either.
I copied your #81 into an unmolested thread and PREVIEWed it.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Oct 1 2019 17:53 utc | 127

What Greta´s theater was really covering…and UNGA correspondents here never told us….
China and Russia veto Germany’s draft resolution on Syria

Posted by: Elora Danan | Oct 1 2019 18:14 utc | 128

@ Hoarsewhisperer | Oct 1 2019 17:53 utc | 129
Thanks Hoarsewhisperer, Karlof1 likely composed their commentary at another writing program, maybe even by voice and installed a page division which got copied to the commentary box here. If this holds water, then it wasn’t intentional but inadvertent. It was at the end of the first page so not a massive inconvenience to wade through after all. It happens when there is an unbroken string of alpha-numeric characters greater than the count of letters and spaces on a normal line, maybe 60 or 65 spaces long. Even this page has been widened somewhat above – look for red lines extending from one side border to the other and the responsible party is found, Karlof1’s ~’s did the same. Bet Karlof1 hadn’t expected the reaction they got. Again Thanks, I hadn’t thought to try your test though.

Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Oct 1 2019 18:38 utc | 129

According to the Saker site, Zelensky has just signed this (from inforussia.com):
Steinmeier formula
In late 2015, then German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier put forward a plan that later became known as the « Steinmeier formula ». The plan stipulates that a special status be granted to Donbass in accordance with the Minsk Agreements. In particular, the document envisages that Ukraine’s special law on local self-governance will take effect in certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions on a temporary basis on the day of local elections, becoming permanent after the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) issues a report on the vote’s results. The idea was endorsed at the Normandy Four meeting in Paris on October 2, 2015, and has been known as the Steinmeier formula since.
It is, as I understand it, what the Minsk group has been promoting for the areas of conflict in Ukraine.

Posted by: juliania | Oct 1 2019 20:35 utc | 130

Thanks to S – very kind of you, and an oldie like me appreciates it when tech-savvy
folk are helpful!

Posted by: juliania | Oct 1 2019 20:41 utc | 131

juliania @131
Some interesting background on resolution the issues that need solutions:
Ukraine without Borders: Should Obama Sanction the UN?
4-15-14

President Obama’s Executive Order dated March 6, 2014 is very clear. Any person or organization that threatens the territorial integrity of Ukraine, or questions the legitimacy of the governing junta in Kiev, constitutes a threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy and will be placed under sanctions.
The UN also came to a similarly clear position. It passed a resolution that “affirms commitment to the sovereignty, political independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.”
Where this becomes a problem is that, according to a statement from UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, Ukraine is missing borders.
Experts operating under the aegis of the UN Security Council came to the following conclusion about Ukraine’s borders: Within the framework of international law , it turns out that, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has not been properly registered as a state, according to the UN demarcation of its borders. According to the accepted contractual framework of the Russian Commonwealth, or Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the country remains on the limits of the administrative boundaries of the USSR, over which the UN has no legal jurisdiction. The EU currently backs this position. The only established borders are on the European side.
Is the U.S. going to sanction Ban ki-Moon? Will they drone the UN?
When the USSR broke up and Ukraine was preparing to declare its independence, Russia set the terms for that independence based on Ukraine’s membership within the CIS Treaty:
“On the whole, Yeltsin has been quite careful to avoid making statements which could evoke negative reaction in Kiev, but it is quite obvious that he has not welcomed Ukraine’s independence. Yeltsin has been quoted as saying that, “Russia reserves the right to review the borders with those republics that declared themselves independent.” [See ” Crimea and the Black Sea Fleet in Russian-Ukrainian Relations Discussion,” Paper 95-11, Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University . Also, Roman Solchanyk, “Ukraine: A Year of Transition,” RFE-RL Research Report, Vol. 1, No. 7 (February 14, 1992), p. 3.]
At the time, Russia’s treaty rights to review the borders of Ukraine applied to areas that were largely populated by ethnic Russians, including Crimea, Donbass, and northern Kazakhstan. In addition, Russia claimed the right to protect its diaspora population no matter where they were located in the world. [See Roman Solchanyk, “Crimea: Between Ukraine and Russia,” in Maria Drohobycky, ed., Crimea: Dynamics, Challenges, and Prospects (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1995), pp. 6-7.]
. . .
Understanding Borders
The process of establishing international borders starts with the treaties that bind the countries involved to their mutual recognition. In the case of Ukraine and Russia, those treaties include the original CIS Treaty and the Friendship Treaty.
Creation of the borders begins with the surveying and mathematical work needed to establish approximate locations. The next step is demarcation, which determines the locations of border markers and crossings. To be recognized internationally, the borders need to be registered and demarcated at the UN in accordance with internationally accepted standards and procedures. Lastly, the borders must be delineated–specified in the way you would see them on a map.
Inherent Problems
With respect to Ukraine’s borders, Wikipedia puts it this way: “Ukraine borders with seven countries: Poland , Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Russia , and Belarus. The total stretch of the Ukrainian border consists of 6,992.98 km (4,345.24 mi). In reality Ukraine does not have real established and ratified borders with Russia, Belarus, and Moldova (republics of the former Soviet Union ). The borders with other countries were “inherited” from the Soviet border patrol service, which was recreated [as the Ukrainian border patrol service] after the fall of the Soviet Union.”
The ambiguity inherent in Ukraine’s borders can be illustrated by its border agreement with Belarus, signed on May 13, 1997.
In its section on International Disputes, the CIA World Factbook states that, as of 2014, Russia’s 1997 boundary delimitation treaty with Belarus “remains unratified, due to unresolved financial claims [that have stalled] demarcation and [reduced] border security; [at the same time], the delimitation of the land boundary with Russia is complete [and] ppreparations for demarcation [are] underway.” Nevertheless, because of twenty years of negligence in establishing and demarcating borders, Belarus is still disputing its boundary with Russia and the issue remains a subject of negotiation.

Posted by: pogohere | Oct 1 2019 23:15 utc | 132

Russia prevents Israeli air strikes in Syria – Middle East …
https://www.jpost.com
Sep 14, 2019 – Israeli sources called Netanyahu’s quick Russian visit – to try and convince Putin to ignore Israel’s attacks in Syria – “a failure.”
—-
At the time, the significance of this and similar report was not clear. But it seems that for 20 days already Israel did not strike Syrian territory, although it attack PMUs in Iraq. There was also a report that in Al-Bukamal, Syrian town near Iraqi border were the Syrian-Iraq highway crossing was opened, “pro-Iranian” force was “shooting back” at Israeli aircraft, apparently using an Iranian anti-aircraft system.
If true, that is a big change in ME game. Many commenters bitterly criticized Russia (and Putin personally) for not preventing Israeli attacks. Actually, this was not easy, “layered defenses” have to achieve a certain level of wide distribution to be effective. But not easy does not mean beyond Russian-Syrian capabilities.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Oct 2 2019 2:14 utc | 133

China delenda est:
Steve Bannon’s Warning On China Trade War (w/ Kyle Bass)
8-21-19
54 min
Trump proved China is a paper tiger.
The Chinese lie.
The US wants a fair shake from China.
We, Bannon/Bass et al, are the good guys and we’re here to save you deplorables.
China is the party seeking regime change in the US and was the real meddler in 2016.
China wants to avoid kinetic warfare because the US can kick China’s ass
Deng was our kind of good guy
Xi represents the return of the cult of personality.
For the US, the S. China Sea used to be: we’re the US Navy, we did what we wanted when we wanted; now we’re the pussies
Give the Chinese 24 hours to clear all their installations off the S. China Sea artificial islands and if not we will remove them 1 second later.
The US is a Pacific power and coming home is not an option.
CHINA’S PERSPECTIVE
https://ggc-mauldin-images.s3.amazonaws.com/newsletters/images/Map_2_Enlarge_20170116_TWIG.jpg?v=1484598012436

Posted by: pogohere | Oct 2 2019 4:52 utc | 134

@juliania #132: Did it work? Tell me if you need further assistance with this.

Posted by: S | Oct 2 2019 5:39 utc | 135

Yesterday the Central Bank of Russia has published the composition of Russian FX reserves (March 31, 2018 → March 31, 2019, large changes marked by ▲▼):
Assets (in billions of dollars)
460.2 → 487.4
Assets by currency
Euro: 22.2% → 30.3% ▲
Dollar: 43.7% → 23.6% ▼
Gold: 17.2% → 18.2%
Yuan: 5.0% → 14.2% ▲
Pound: 7.9% → 6.6%
Other: 4.0% → 7.1%
Assets by country
Russia (gold): 17.2% → 18.2%
China: 4.7% → 13.4% ▲
Germany: 12.8% → 13.2%
France: 11.9% → 11.6%
Japan: 1.7% → 10.2% ▲
USA: 29.2% → 9.2% ▼
UK: 5.6% → 5.9%
Int. orgs.: 3.9% → 4.3%
Netherlands: 2.1% → 2.5%
Canada: 2.5% → 2.3%
Other: 8.3% → 9.3%

Posted by: S | Oct 2 2019 7:01 utc | 136

I am sorry S, I am not computer savvy – I appreciate your help but
I will navigate in a fashion, and right now I am concerned about
Ukraine. Would advise that matters are heightened there with
the post I put up earlier about the president’s decision to sign
the Minsk proposal – good news for the Donbass as I understand it
but the opposition is not happy. I do hope order can be restored
there. It’s scary.

Posted by: juliania | Oct 2 2019 12:31 utc | 137

Hoarsewhisperer @128–
I see you’ve called me an outright liar! I have my own sequence I follow when I post, and it ALWAYS includes using Preview to ensure any embedded links and HTML tags work properly, and I do so RELIGIOUSLY regardless! I shall remember your transgression and treat you accordingly.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 2 2019 15:30 utc | 138

@karlof1 #139
I’m sorry, but it’s your post #81 that stretches the first page. I’ve just checked it with a web inspector. Perhaps the preview function is malfunctioning and showing you that everything is okay when it’s not. To avoid this problem in the future, type “~ ~ ~ ~” (with spaces) instead of “~~~~”.
Anyway, if you folks just tell me what browsers you’re using, I can write detailed step-by-step instructions on how to fix the problem using “custom CSS”. The problem will be fixed once and for all, i.e. for all past and future posts with the stretching problem. I have already written such instructions for Safari on macOS here.

Posted by: S | Oct 2 2019 15:51 utc | 139

…
I shall remember your (Hw’s) transgression and treat you accordingly.
Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 2 2019 15:30 utc | 139
I don’t do Vendettas but it’ll be fun to see how one as accident-prone as your good self goes about it 🙂

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Oct 2 2019 16:21 utc | 140

S @140–
I guess I’ll just save my efforts for myself and cease posting here. Ta!

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 2 2019 17:19 utc | 141

@karlof1 #142: Why would you cease posting? Because you’ve accidentally made a wide post? I don’t blame you at all. If only @b listened to my advice and added that one line of CSS code I keep posting again and again, we wouldn’t be discussing this issue at all.

Posted by: S | Oct 2 2019 19:25 utc | 142

@ 139 to 143
Pray these decisions are prospective and allow for a night to sleep upon before casting in stone. Living where I do, many times I describe using english as deciding which of three different ways one can say something. Obviously some ways are better than others. Please consider some other, maybe more diplomatic avenues to voice one’s ideas and go take a siesta. Thanks in advance.

Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Oct 3 2019 7:28 utc | 143

karlof1 | Oct 2 2019 17:19 utc | 142
Formerly T-Bear | Oct 3 2019 7:28 utc | 144
One can only hope your (FTB) sage advice will be acted upon; Karlof1 would be sorely missed…

Posted by: V | Oct 3 2019 9:03 utc | 144

@karlof1: Dear karlof1, if what I wrote has offended you, I apologize. I only wanted to find out where the problem was and offer a solution. I value your posts on MoA very much. In fact, your input here is so great that I consider you the co-author of this blog. Please keep in mind that I’m not a native speaker. Perhaps, the tone I chose was impolite or cold. If that’s what happened, I assure that it was not my intention. Re-reading the thread, I can see that it might have looked to you as if I was joining Hoarsewhisperer in attacking you. Not at all. I don’t support Hoarsewhisperer’s rude remarks he/she made against you. I also don’t support Sasha’s recent unfair criticism of you. Again, my apologies, and I hope you reconsider.

Posted by: S | Oct 3 2019 16:54 utc | 145

S @145–
Your writing had nothing to do with my decision. You’re fine in my book. The culprit is Hoarsewhisperer and it knows it as it libeled me yet again and frankly I’ve had enough of having to deal with such behavior in light of the efforts I exert to share my findings here.
When a bully continuously appears at the bar you frequent and tries to pick a fight with you that can land you in jail and continually ruins your leisure, the solution is to find another bar where you can relax and enjoy your leisure without having to endure crap. And to be honest, there’s a ton of crap circulating at MoA. I began a blog long ago but never really utilized it. Now is the time to construct a new blog so I can exercise my writing and be my own bouncer. Once it’s up and running, I’ll return and let barflies know where I can be found. Yes, I’ll miss my interactions here, although I’ll lurk.
Again S, thanks for trying to aid b in making his blog work better. My decision is completely divorced from your writings. Like me, you were merely trying to help in your own way!

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 3 2019 17:53 utc | 146

@Elora Danan #126
Yes, it had nothing to do with Trump appointing DeVos.
Among other reasons, the bankruptcy changes occurred over a decade before Trump.
Secondly, DeVos’ money comes from marrying into Amway.
Student loan and charter school shenanigans represent future growth, not past.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 3 2019 18:12 utc | 147

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