Blaming China Will Not Restore U.S. Standing
The Trump administration seeks to blame 'someone' for its messed up response to the Covid-19 pandemic. After first lauding China for its fight against the epidemic it started to bash it. A phonecall between Xi and Trump shut that down for a while. It was then the WHO which was blamed. After the Trump administration de-funded it there was little left to do. So it is now back to China.
The Trump administration is pressing its intelligence services to find or make up evidence that China is guilty of releasing the virus:
Senior Trump administration officials have pushed American spy agencies to hunt for evidence to support an unsubstantiated theory that a government laboratory in Wuhan, China, was the origin of the coronavirus outbreak, according to current and former American officials. The effort comes as President Trump escalates a public campaign to blame China for the pandemic.
...
Most intelligence agencies remain skeptical that conclusive evidence of a link to a lab can be found, and scientists who have studied the genetics of the coronavirus say that the overwhelming probability is that it leapt from animal to human in a nonlaboratory setting, as was the case with H.I.V., Ebola and SARS.
...
A former intelligence official described senior aides’ repeated emphasis of the lab theory as “conclusion shopping,” a disparaging term among analysts that has echoes of the Bush administration’s 2002 push for assessments saying that Iraq had weapons of mass of destruction and links to Al Qaeda, perhaps the most notorious example of the politicization of intelligence.
The intelligence folks were so concerned about the pressure that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence published a statement which says that it believes that the virus was a natural development and that it does not know if the outbreak occurred due to a natural contact or due to a lab accident.
The chance of a natural contact is of course infinitely higher than that of a lab accident:
The odds were astronomical against a lab release as opposed to an event in nature, said Kristian G. Andersen, the lead author of the paper published in Nature Medicine and a specialist in infectious disease at the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California.
The SARS-CoV viruses originally developed in bats but are unlikely to have jumped from there to humans. Some researchers have noticed that raccoon dogs are known to carry bat sourced coronaviruses and that they have the specific ACE2 receptors that would have allowed the SARS-CoV-19 virus, as well as the original SARS virus, to use them as an intermediate hosts.
bigger
Raccoon dogs are bread in Japan and China for their fur. The largest farms breeding raccoon dogs in China are said to be in Hubei province where the outbreak occurred. A wide screening for viruses in the raccoon dogs on those farms could establish a potential natural chain.
But the administrations is not interested in the natural source of the virus. It is already thinking about how it can 'punish' China:
Senior officials across multiple government agencies are expected to meet Thursday to begin mapping out a strategy for seeking retaliatory measures against China, two people with knowledge of the meeting said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to disclose the planning. Officials in American intelligence agencies are also involved in the effort.President Trump has fumed to aides and others in recent days about China, blaming the country for withholding information about the virus, and has discussed enacting dramatic measures that would probably lead to retaliation by Beijing, these people said.
...
In private, Trump and aides have discussed stripping China of its “sovereign immunity,” aiming to enable the U.S. government or victims to sue China for damages. George Sorial, who formerly served as a top executive at the Trump Organization and is involved in a class-action lawsuit against China, told The Washington Post he and senior White House officials have discussed limiting China’s sovereign immunity. Legal experts say an attempt to limit China’s sovereign immunity would be extremely difficult to accomplish and may require congressional legislation.Some administration officials have also discussed having the United States cancel part of its debt obligations to China, two people with knowledge of internal conversations said. It was not known if the president has backed this idea.
Both ideas are as nuts as Joe Biden's anti-China antics. If the U.S. denies 'sovereign immunity' to China dozens of countries will use the precedence to do the same with regards to the U.S. In December 1944 during the firebombing of Wuhan the U.S. killed more than 40.000 Chinese people. How will it pay for that? Should the rest of the world sue the U.S. for the up to 575,000 global death and the economic damage the H1N1 swine flu pandemic caused since 2009? That pandemic was was first detected in southern California. No U.S. financial asset in China or elsewhere would be safe from being confiscated to compensate for that and other damage U.S. neglect and wars have caused.
The defaulting on U.S. sovereign debt can likewise not be done selectively. It would be the end of the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency.
Yesterday Trump contradicted his intelligence services when he claimed that he had seen evidence that the virus came from a laboratory:
Asked if he had seen anything giving him a high degree of confidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the source of the outbreak, Trump replied, "Yes, I have."He refused to give details.
...
However, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo indicated he had not seen definitive evidence."We don't know precisely where it began," he said.
Meanwhile the Chinese news agency Xinhua published an funny animation video that empathizes and mocks the contradictions of U.S. statements about the pandemic. Every warning that China had offered from early on was originally rejected by the Trump administration:
China: We discovered a new virus.
America: So what?China: It's Dangerous
America: It's only a FluChina: Wear a Mask
America: Don't wear a Mask
...
An economic conflict or even a physical war against China (and its ally Russia) is one the U.S. can not win. The U.S. must stop blaming China for exposing the fraud of 'American exceptionalism'. The U.S. has done that itself. It is not even Trump who is guilty of it as the relative decline of U.S. statesmanship and capabilities has developed over decades and independent of party policy preferences.
It will require some self reflection to counter that decline. Unfortunately neither side of the aisle seems willing to engage in it.
Posted by b on May 1, 2020 at 11:52 UTC | Permalink
next page »- But the WHO was very "un-critical" on China. To be honest, I am NOT surprised because I heard many stories how the United Nations is rife with corruption.
Posted by: Willy2 | May 1 2020 12:35 utc | 2
Thanks B.
Just stunning how SST cowardly follows the Trump line on this obvious WMD propaganda meme, and even calling those years longs readers who argue against this BS "chinese trolls".
The Colonel exposed himself either as a science-immune idiot, or a coward who swims with the stream.
Posted by: DontBelieveEitherPr. | May 1 2020 12:43 utc | 3
@Willy2 #3
What part of them WHO can criticized ? They did everything they could to stop the spread within their country.
Posted by: Lucci | May 1 2020 12:49 utc | 4
Waiting to see now Pompeo pull out some cartoons at the UNSC... US statesmanship doesn't exist anymore
Posted by: North Patagonia | May 1 2020 12:57 utc | 5
Spy vs Spy
For brevity, I always post that our IC (Intelligence Community) is masterful in shaping U.S. public opinion and causing problems for targeted countries but terrible in collecting and analyzing Intel that would benefit the U.S. The truth of course, is more complicated.
There is a remnant that is doing their jobs properly but is shut out from higher level offices. But I cannot give long disclaimers at the start of my posts, (I'm not talking about the men and women ...) where 50 words later I finally start to make my point. It's boring, sounds insincere, and defensive.
This is yet another effective defense mechanism that protects the troublemakers in our IC bureaucracy.
1. The person trying to tell the truth is forced to defend, 'Communist China' (Tom Cotton thinks that is one word), Russia, or Iran and to the U.S. public this is toxic.
2. These rogues get to use the remaining good people as human shields.
3. They know their customers, it gives the politicians a way to turn themselves into wartime leaders rather than having to answer for their shortcomings.
Someday it just won't matter anymore. We will have deceived ourselves for so long that we have squandered so much of our power that no one will pay attention to us.
Posted by: Christian J Chuba | May 1 2020 13:17 utc | 7
Newsweek reports that the NIH gave the Wuhan lab $7 million to experimentally manipulate bat coronaviruses to make them better able to infect humans. The project started in 2014 and was renewed in 2019 and just canceled on April 24.
If true, there exists proof. Since the project was illegal weapon research it sure looks like Sam suborned Chine in a classical set-up...known to cops world-wide, but generally used to create token crime by the lower classes so as to enhance copshop records of stopping (gasp!) crime...
I see Clown of Orange saying that he can "suspend" Chinese sovereign immunity. He's retarded. They can kick murkin azz any time. Keep it up and they may.
You know, Officer Bunf pull ya over about a "tail-light" and then threatens you and tries to trick you into "lying to a cop", or "find dope" or whatever.
To do it to Chine is a breath-taking con, global in scope.
Sorta like Flynn getting set up by the fbi.
Posted by: Walter | May 1 2020 13:32 utc | 8
> The chance of a natural contact is of course infinitely higher than that of a lab accident
No. The epidemic originated right by a lab. doing pathogenic coronavirus research, and disastrous
accidents have occurred before. See Pascall, Nomikou, PLoS Biology, 2020 (just out) describing
an outbreak of Bluetooth virus in cattle. The paper gives other examples of virus outbreaks almost
certainly caused by accidents.
My view is that "gain of function" research is crazy, but it was going on both in China and the US, and
COVID-19 was an accident waiting to happen.
Posted by: Nick | May 1 2020 13:39 utc | 9
Canada's National Post reported yesterday that Canada's early COVID-19 cases came from the US, not China. Therefore...
Posted by: Anonymous | May 1 2020 13:42 utc | 10
Intelligence is a rare commodity in American politics and diplomacy even more elusive so the consequences of malicious rumours are never weighed nor assessed. The American public are easily enough fooled being constantly fed a racist diet, especially Sinophobia, Russophopia and Iranophobia and the drumbeats for war, financial or military, are easily banged to raise the public's blood pressure....but what about the consequences? America can win neither, even with he assistance of a few vassal states. What happens if, and when, normal service is resumed? If they managed to succeed with any of their hair-brained ideas, what are the consequences for American companies in China, rare earth minerals, the IT industries etc etc. Guard your words wisely for they can never be retracted.
Posted by: Séamus Ó Néill | May 1 2020 13:46 utc | 11
Nick | May 1 2020 13:39 utc | 11 "All BSL-4 labs leak" Dr. Francis Boyle
Who and how do maintenance guys change the filters?
How about those ducts?
Of course they all leak. And of course they are all illegal. Most are US sponsored...
Who began using germs on China (Japan) and who rehabilitated the Japanese criminals and paid them to help the US do it to China in Korea and China?
Posted by: Walter | May 1 2020 13:50 utc | 12
In pandemic blame distribution Fauci and the CDC top should get mayor shares.
In financial crash blame distribution the New York FED with its top 5 controller / bail-out receiver banks have big parts. It still holds the world's other Central Banks hostage through its reserves and trade in U$ dollars only meme.
In the intelligence area it is not very different: also that branch of the US Deep State failed.
A multipolar world is getting closer..
Posted by: Antonym | May 1 2020 14:03 utc | 13
The jaw-dropping stupidity of the Trump administration regarding the COVID-19 pandemic is truly mind numbing. There is an old dictum that states that there is no such thing as 'military intelligence.' To that I add there is no such thing as 'intelligence' in Washington DC either, or the Trump White House for that matter. If you try to look for it, you will only find hacks, flacks, quacks and certifiable jerks. You would do better to waste your time and money looking for the Loch Ness Monster, Big Foot, or the Tooth Fairy. The prospect that Trump could get anther four years as president is depressing indeed. All that would be left is divine intervention, and I don't think that is any more likely than finding the aforementioned mythical creatures.
Posted by: GeorgeV | May 1 2020 14:04 utc | 14
@2 Willy2: "But the WHO was very "un-critical" on China."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK368395/
"Because of the critical consequences of delayed or non-reporting, WHO CHEPR should create a mechanism to hold accountable countries that try to suppress or delay reporting. Countries that share information quickly should be lauded and supported"
The WHO we effusive in their praise of China because THAT'S WHAT HOW THE WEST HAD ORDERED THEM TO BEHAVE.
You try to cover up an outbreak? Then the WHO should break your balls.
You own up quickly? The WHO should tell you what a swell guy you are.
Posted by: Yeah, Right | May 1 2020 14:06 utc | 15
Yeah, Right's commentary about Western influence on the WHO is important for a better understanding of the issues raised by this post.
!!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | May 1 2020 14:08 utc | 16
hello b,
Dont underestimate fukus's satanic brilliance. !
CV19
One stone kills how many birds ?
*Controlled demolition of economy
check
*De-coupling from China
work still in progress, cant fault them for trying.
*Greatest heist of the century,
Gengzi compensation mark 2
New eight nations alliance demand reparation from China.
work in progress
*Global Chinese exclusion Act,
Chinese , Singaporeans, from teens, students to grandma, abused/taunted/assaulted in FUKUS, OZ, CANADA....did I miss anything in NZ ?
hMMM, THE [[[five liars]]]
**Outta Africa !!
NIgeria following the Eight nations alliance to sue China in ICJ.
Tazania, SA, Kenya...follows OZ's lead to nullify/renege on BRI contracts, demanding reparation as well.
It seems only yesterday that USA is the most hated country on earth, with one fell swoop, [[[they]]] turn the table on China.
They dont call IT THE GREAT SATAN
for nuthin !
Posted by: denk | May 1 2020 14:19 utc | 17
@4 DontBelieveEitherPr. "Just stunning how SST cowardly follows the Trump line on this obvious WMD propaganda meme, and even calling those years longs readers who argue against this BS "chinese trolls"."
I was one who was so accused.
My favourite was walrus declaring that I could not be an Aussie because I was polite to him!
Laughable. It didn't seem to occur to walrus that Lang looks for the slightest excuse to ban people, and impoliteness is by far
the quickest route to that fate. Plus I am a polite Australian. It happens.
PL: "You are a controlled agent with guidance."
Well, there ya' go: that was Lang applying his decades of experience in spook-spotting, and all he managed to come up with was two mistakes in one sentence.
Maybe I'm also under his bed, waving a red flag. Better check before hitting the sack, Pat.
SST is full of opinionated old farts who can not distinguish between "opinion" and "fact".
Posted by: Yeah, Right | May 1 2020 14:20 utc | 18
Wall Street tumbles as US threatens China with tariffs
"Decoupling" - the fascist idea that was stillborn (a.k.a. the right-wing version of Eurocommunism).
--//--
Both ideas are as nuts as [...]
Those ideas are not nuts: the USA, as the world's financial superpower, can indeed, overnight, strip China of all its international assets in money-form through various mechanism (mainly, freezing assets in USD and annulling its debt with China). That would be a devastating blow to China, and would probably destroy it or, at least, throw it back some decades. China wouldn't be able to retaliate because the USA is the "world's cop", has the monopoly of violence in world trade.
The problem is that the same asset that allows the USA to do that is, at the same time, the liability that impels it to not do that: the USA is the world's financial superpower. Being the world's financial superpower means you are, by definition, dependable on the rest of the world to produce all the goods you need for consumption and, thus, to leverage your fiat currency. Observe that, every time Trump threatens a serious retaliation against China, Wall Street takes a significant hit. That's the case because China is the world's industrial superpower - America's "other half".
For example, let's say the USA annuls its debt with China. Ok, that would devastate China, but that would also devastate the world's productive chain. Also, China would stop buying American debt in the future (because that's how it works in the world of finance), which would weaken the USD's solvency.
Theoretically, one could argue the USA could "sacrifice China", and relocate all the productive chain to the rest of the world minus China (e.g. nuke China, nothing more happens in China for the next 300,000 years). The problem with this is that the USA is a capitalist nation, and capitalism needs crescent accumulation to survive. Annihilating China would be a minus on capitalism's account, since people are capital (variable capital). You would be sacrificing 1.5 billion people, 1.5 heads in variable capital. That would also throw capitalism back to the stone age. And we know that capitalism is the true essence of the USA - not the idea of the nation itself.
The key here is understanding that we live, first and foremost, in a capitalist world. Nations are just the administrative units of capitalism, not vice-versa. The USA is an avatar of capitalism, not vice-versa. The only reason the American people believes capitalism serves the USA (and not vice versa) is because of alienation of labor and fetishism of the commodity, where they are daily fed with a commodity version of nationalism.
b writes: 'The defaulting on U.S. sovereign debt can likewise not be done selectively. It would be the end of the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency.'
I am afraid that just the threat of defaulting might be enough to destroy the dollar's status as a reserve currency.
Would China want to continue holding U.S. Treasury securities after the threats that have already been made. And now would be an ideal time for China (and everybody else who feel threatened by the U.S.) to dump their U.S. Treasury securities as the FED is their buying up everything available to prevent interest rates and the dollar from rising.
I think that the damage may already be done.
Posted by: dh-mtl | May 1 2020 14:26 utc | 20
GeorgeV
I think there is very good intelligence in the US. so much data is collected and there are many analysts to go over the data and present their forecasts. The World Factbook is an example of collected intelligence made available to the unwashed masses.
what you are thinking is that this information should be used to your benefit. that is where it goes wrong. the big players are able to access and exploit that mass of data and use it to their benefit.
Billmon used to say that this is a feature, not a bug.
Posted by: dan of steele | May 1 2020 14:32 utc | 21
TBH, Trump's wacky threats to default on U.S. debt held by China or to attack China's sovereign immunity are way worse than Biden's unfeasible empty bluster of sending CDC inspectors to march into China and investigate Wuhan's labs, and you know, I can't stand Biden.
The truth is that what bothers both of them most is that the U.S., the richest country in the world, was exposed as incompetent with a healthcare system pathetically under-resourced and under-stocked, and a governance totally unprepared, on par with Italy or worse since Italy doesn't own the world's wealth and genius like the U.S. does (except of course for Italy's unparalleled artistic treasure).
Trump, being the quintessential ugly American prototype is having a tantrum cause he can't nuke Coronavirus into extinction while his poll numbers are in decline. Power is all that matters to him.
America finally found an enemy its vast, money-guzzling arsenal and propaganda machine can't destroy and is proving it's no better than any other country but worse than many. So far, Germany, no surprise there, stands out as pretty effective. I give it a B, so far. Everyone else gets a C, Italy a D and U.S. F, except for California B-.
But this is not the bottom yet, so I reserve the right modify grades. Let's see who handles the 2nd wave and monumental economic fallout best. Cause we're still sleep walking and not yet woke to reality.
Don't spend precious funds on a Covid re-opening party, cause your gonna need them when the real shet starts.
Posted by: Circe | May 1 2020 14:47 utc | 22
B cherry-picks quotes from the NYT article he links to and adds his own hyperbole (infinitely higher?). With this he insults his loyal readers' intelligence.
Posted by: s | May 1 2020 14:16 utc | 19
They make a great team, MOA and NYTimes, in these latter days of 'old world'.
Did you notice how NYTimes uses the word "Spies" whereas the same "Spies" are "intelligence officials" when dishing out their 'information'? That immediately struck me when I saw that headline the other day.
Assuming that the contenders over the future of our lives are not mappable to coherent national entities. My guess is there is a tug of war in every nation right now over this balatant attempt to bring on the world government online, finally.
(And we could intelligently discuss the pros and cons of this One World Government position, but alas we're to be treated to more Blue/Red, East/West, "Capitalist"/"Soclialist" ladida.
Posted by: concerned | May 1 2020 14:48 utc | 23
I hear some dirty peasants are getting uppity with a strike today.
they better not disrupt drive-thru latte production for remote working supporters of Democrats.
I want these dirty peasants to remember what's important during this time of economic uncertainty,
and that's minimizing human contact, so I wrote a simple poem that is so simple even a stupid warehouse worker
toiling in a Bezos death trap will understand it.
do not touch
no handshake
do not hug
or contact make
be suspicious
of every cough
take your temp
accept your loss
do not question
it came from bats
do not wonder
about the math
stay inside
lock the door
the devil’s details
you must ignore
Posted by: Circe | May 1 2020 14:47 utc | 25
Some people just want to get "Berned" again and again. Bernie, and now Bernhard, oh dear.
I certainly "feel the Bern" as an MOA reader.
so lets parse Circe's latest misunderstanding:
"But this is not the bottom yet, so I reserve the right modify grades. Let's see who handles the 2nd wave and monumental economic fallout best. Cause we're still sleep walking and not yet woke to reality."
This assumes the original decision ("by EXPERTS!!!!") to shut down society was in fact sane, reasonable, and absolutely required.
However some "experts" disagree. But we can discount these dissenters since they have, as our own Bern-Man says, "financial interests".
Does Lolita Express flying Bill Gates and various "EXPERTS!!!!" have any "financial interests" by any chance?
How about "Power interests"? Or is that "conspirational thought" that must be removed via a visit to the nearest Center For Mental Normalcy (comming soon dears)?
Posted by: concerned | May 1 2020 15:01 utc | 25
s @19
"Not precluded" are also a Fort Detrick origin and contagion taken to Wuhan by the US military, staying at a hotel where most of the first cluster of patients was identified. So why wouldn't you always mention both in the same breath?
Posted by: Piero Colombo | May 1 2020 15:08 utc | 26
Reading the comments it never stops to amaze me , how fairly intelligent people can be easily misled. It was North Korea ( they will unite ) ,Iran , now China. All theatrics. Do not get distracted by words, but watch what is really happening.
I bet most of the troops from around the world ARE COMING HOME. No battles, no casualties. Besides you have to raise some hell to detract from the real problem of BANKRUPT US of A like Russia was not long ago. Russia collapsed like a house of cards because their currency was not the reserve currency of the world, which they could print to no end. Now Pres. Trump is facing the music of a collapse , he has to detract.
Why no one is writing about it ?
Posted by: Friar Ockham | May 1 2020 15:11 utc | 27
JASTA (Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act)
JASTA is a law passed by the United States Congress that narrows the scope of the legal doctrine of foreign sovereign immunity. It amends the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act in regards to civil claims against a foreign state for injuries, death, or damages from an act of international terrorism.
... JASTA authorizes federal courts to exercise subject matter jurisdiction over any foreign state's support for acts of international terrorism against a U.S. national or property regardless of whether such state is designated as a state sponsor of terrorism.
However,
However, USA has acted to hinder a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia:
Attorney General Barr Refuses to Release 9/11 Documents to Families of the Victims
!!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | May 1 2020 15:13 utc | 28
Ten questions the US needs to answer
https://www.facebook.com/PeoplesDaily/posts/3243339602384501
Posted by: md | May 1 2020 15:34 utc | 29
Challenge for all readers: Identify the obvious paid trolls in this thread and do not respond to them. You can easily tell who they are as they are carrying water for the establishment and trying to promote its Sinophobic narrative.
With my personal duty out of the way of attacking the trolls and hopefully driving them back under the bridges from whence they came, I would like to ask if there is any way to "strip a country of its sovereign immunity" without a war? I mean, isn't that the whole point of wars? To eliminate or protect a nation's sovereignty? Isn't trying to eliminate another country's sovereignty by just passing a law kinda like trying to simplify math by passing a law to make π=3 ? If you want your sovereignty-stripping law to have any meaning, then you have to enforce it, and that enforcement will look a whole lot like a war, regardless of what you want to call it.
Unlike Americans the Chinese are not stupid. They have long known of the approach of the obligatory scene of the Thucydides Trap and have been preparing for it as best they can (which happens to be some quite good preparations). We are fortunate that the inevitable war will not be fought on American soil, as China doesn't want America and that's not how the Thucydides Trap works, but it also will not be fought on Chinese soil. That last will be a huge disappointment for psychotic American "patriots" who love nothing more than inflicting shockingly awful "collateral damage" on the civilian populations of their perceived adversaries.
Martial fisticuffs will soon commence in the South China Sea where there will be disappointingly few civilians for the hysterically psychotic Americans to murder. A straight up military to military slugfest with little national infrastructure for the Americans to "accidentally" destroy.
I'll let the empire's trolls in on a little secret: The Chinese can lose every single ship they send to the "Battle of the Xisha Islands" and still win the war. That's because industrial capacity is important in a major war.
Posted by: William Gruff | May 1 2020 15:48 utc | 30
Those ideas are not nuts: the USA, as the world's financial superpower, can indeed, overnight, strip China of all its international assets in money-form through various mechanism (mainly, freezing assets in USD and annulling its debt with China). That would be a devastating blow to China, and would probably destroy it or, at least, throw it back some decades. China wouldn't be able to retaliate because the USA is the "world's cop", has the monopoly of violence in world trade. <-- vk
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 1 2020 15:54 utc | 31
Just as i said many times, it is Trump driving US hostility and escalation in the world, and not only those around him.
He is the biggest US imperialist for the last 30 years.
A racist white man goes crazy the moment he understands he does not have the "biggest dick" anymore, and is humiliated due to that, since this wasn't supposed to happen to the people who ruled the world for 500 years.
What will happen is that american white male right wingers will start going crazy. Lashing out in hatred against the world, after understanding they are no longer "number 1", and that their fate will not be pretty.
You should expect US right wingers to go crazy as the US further declines. These people thought they would rule the world. Instead they started to decline. This wasn't supposed to happen to such superior people.
US elite will simply go crazy as the "best country in the world" loses its power.
Expect anglo craziness, outbursts of hate and hysteria. The US elite will become a mental institution. If not for nukes, they would have started a world war already.
Posted by: Passer by | May 1 2020 15:58 utc | 32
Wrong click, let me finish. US companies do have assets in China, and China could confiscate them all, facilities, intellectual property, everything. From that point on, all other countries have to use Chinese banking to trade with China, and American banking to trade with USA. China has a lock on many products and commodities, and is an indispensable customer for a lot of industries in many countries. The net effects would be a pain for China, but it would break unitary banking system controlled by USA with the help of obedient allies.
Lots of American corporations would be huge losers. In short, it is not going to happen, who is the ruling class here?
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 1 2020 16:01 utc | 33
thanks b.. that news agency Xinhua's animation is quite funny and appropriate...
i liked walters comment of the intel community trying to do to china what it did to flynn isn't gonna work.. good comparison there...
i would also like to draw attention to yeah, rights comments at the end of the previous thread which @17 jackrabbit has highlighted on this thread.. thanks yeah, right..
sst is quite a pathetic place at this point with the china-hate fest going on full steam.. oh well... apparently you are a chinese troll if you offer an alternative viewpoint..
Posted by: james | May 1 2020 16:07 utc | 34
Stop being silly, Piotr Berman @35. Sure, America can quit the game, take its paper that the score was being kept on and go home, but China has the ball, bat, gloves, bases, the field, the dugouts, the backstop, the bleachers, and even the peanut concession stand. The game will go on. No matter what America tries to do China will still dominate global trade in manufactured goods.
Posted by: William Gruff | May 1 2020 16:14 utc | 35
@ ben.. good point.... these atrocities need to be shut down asap...
Posted by: james | May 1 2020 16:17 utc | 36
Piotr Berman @37
Ah, you were going to contest the point @35. Apologies.
It is always useful to keep one's eye on productive capacity. Pieces of paper are transient and fleeting. Productive capacity? Not so easy to relocate.
Posted by: William Gruff | May 1 2020 16:28 utc | 37
@Willy2, post 3
Which countries are represented on the WHO board of governors/committees? Take a look with any search engine.
@ s 19; @ concerned 26
Obvious you do not like the Menu and Wine List. Why are you here?
======
IMHO, if this Newsweek article date April 28, 2020, is credible, then Trump and cohorts should tread carefully:
Dr. Fauci Backed Controversial Wuhan Lab With Millions Of U.S. Dollars For Risky Coronavirus Research[just] last year, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the organization led by Dr. Fauci, funded scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and other institutions for work on gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses.
In 2019, with the backing of NIAID, the National Institutes of Health committed $3.7 million over six years for research that included some gain-of-function work. The program followed another $3.7 million, 5-year project for collecting and studying bat coronaviruses, which ended in 2019, bringing the total to $7.4 million.
Many scientists have criticized gain of function research, which involves manipulating viruses in the lab to explore their potential for infecting humans, because it creates a risk of starting a pandemic from accidental release.[.]
Dr. Fauci did not respond to Newsweek's requests for comment. NIH responded with a statement that said in part: "Most emerging human viruses come from wildlife, and these represent a significant threat to public health and biosecurity in the US and globally, as demonstrated by the SARS epidemic of 2002-03, and the current COVID-19 pandemic.... scientific research indicates that there is no evidence that suggests the virus was created in a laboratory."[.]
NIH gave a non-denial, avoidance denial. Congressmen were on Foxnews attacking the funding. Where there is a whiff of smoke?
Additional articles on U.S. funding:
NPR
FoxNews
NationalInterest cites Pompeo on Foxnews defending the funding. Also, UK papers repeat U.S. funding.
Posted by: Likklemore | May 1 2020 16:32 utc | 38
concerned @ 33 says:
So we have all members of the so-called Security Council as active BioWeapon proliferators
yes, our security council, as well as being the principal peddlers of all the other homicidal weapons systems wreaking havoc in the Milky Way.
Posted by: john | May 1 2020 16:33 utc | 39
When ever the US government speaks on such issues. Refer them here... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unethical_human_experimentation_in_the_United_States
Posted by: stevelaudig | May 1 2020 16:37 utc | 40
"Ach Mein lieber Augustin -- Wer kann es sein?"
Or:
"Was kann der Siegismund dafür dass er so sch¨n ist?
Was kann der Sigismund, der Siegismund dabei?"
.
A ---- is just a ----, but do remember this:
The two suppusisions of laboratory design and wildlife origins ar not mutually exclusive.
.
An interesting aside: notice the vehemence of the attacks against the "Moon of Alabama" from the websites "Colbert Report" and in both "Straight Line Logic" as well as the "Nonguardian". That says it all.
Posted by: JoveBove/區司 | May 1 2020 16:43 utc | 41
Raccoon dog (RD) (as a Covid-19 vector via their ACE2 receptor-> nCoV spike protein binding affinity? Not likely, as RDs are felids.
Here in the US I'd be much more worried about PIGS being crypto-zoonotic vectors (asymptomatic animal sources of ncov virus). Especially in the light of the fact that most of our domestic "Wet Markets", AKA Pork meat packing factories are getting shut down right now due to high rates (40-50%) of employee COVID infections HERE
based on this accepted peer reviewed paper (from lines 247-250):
https://jvi.asm.org/content/jvi/early/2020/01/23/JVI.00127-20.full.pdf
" Pigs, ferrets, cats and non-human primates contain largely favorable 2019-nCoV-contacting residues in their ACE2, and hence may serve as animal models or intermediate hosts for 2019-nCoV.
Posted by: gm | May 1 2020 17:10 utc | 42
@ Posted by: gm | May 1 2020 17:10 utc | 48
Oops, I meant to say RDs are canids
Posted by: gm | May 1 2020 17:14 utc | 43
Sino-American corporate partnership kerfuffle (military intel black op level/manufacturer distribulor reciever levels of structure),
Or, whatever the 'news dudes' keep sayin'...
There was one Level 4 Lab that had a leak. Fort Detrick.
It was shut from Aug to April.
Could be a cover story.
"We were shut down. It couldn't be us. Look over there---Wuhan is operational. It was probably, likely, and 16 Intel Agencies (using Open Sources) say so."
You buy the Wuhan Lab story? If it had a leak, the staff would be fired and the place would have been shut down, sealed and probably ground into dust by now. It hasn't missed an hour of operation.
And if it had leaked, the staff's families and building mates would have been infected. Easy for 16 Intel Agencies to check by now.
The fact is there are no facts related to the Wuhan Level 4 Lab. None. Not even gossip. Only Senator Tom Cotton and Fox News who couldn't find Wuhan in a map of China, much less proof of a leak of virus.
Fabrication of a story for the gullible . . . fiction from Langley with a Foreword from the DNI.
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ODNI News Release No. 11-20
April 30, 2020
Intelligence Community Statement on Origins of COVID-19
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Office of the Director of National Intelligence today issued the following Intelligence Community (IC) statement:
“The entire Intelligence Community has been consistently providing critical support to U.S. policymakers and those responding to the COVID-19 virus, which originated in China. The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified.
“As we do in all crises, the Community’s experts respond by surging resources and producing critical intelligence on issues vital to U.S. national security. The IC will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.”
###
Posted by: Red Ryder | May 1 2020 17:45 utc | 45
If the "intelligence" agents work harder, may be they can find the Iraqi WMD weapons in Wuhan labs, right?
OK, I am confused. If that happens, which country should they invade, China or Iraq?
Posted by: d dan | May 1 2020 17:48 utc | 46
Donnie Murdo is a complete fool. The mere fact that the US has gone so far off the rails on this makes me suspect that this is like other instances of the US accusing some other country of some chicanery that the US has, in fact, also done - namely a blatant move at misdirection in an effort to hide our guilt. Issues with Ft. Dietrich come to mind. With so many groups, countries, and organizations that actually possess expertise in epidemiology, no doubt we'll have a decent shot at finding out where this started. That said, unless the US is guilty of unleashing this virus, I doubt that it was done deliberately because not many countries are stupid enough to conduct biological warfare outside of the US which has used it.
"Punishing" China for this supposed transgression is even funnier. The US has been conducting lawfare for some time now. Of course, it's always US law and the lynch pin is the need for US dollars that the world has since they've allowed the US $ to become the lingua franca of the financial world. That lynch pin is starting to come out as the US continues to use the US$ as a weapon. Donnie Murdo should keep a weather eye open. Germany and a couple of other countries have refused to join Pompous' coalition of the vassals....
Posted by: Jeff | May 1 2020 17:51 utc | 47
This is such an obvious and shabby deflection that any opposition party worth its name should be able use it to prove that not only has the admin failed at containing the virus but is now trying to cover their asses by raising global tensions and dismantling global health infrastructure.
Of course the Democrats won't do this, they'll go along and pathetically try and outdo Trump.
Can't believe people are taking the Trump admin at face value on this. Interesting that no matter how much we'll have people tell us "don't trust the US government" as soon as the government starts attacking China all of the critical thinking flies out the window.
Posted by: OHH | May 1 2020 18:09 utc | 48
"Office of the Director of National Intelligence published a statement"
I'd be extremely cautious to depend or build upon that statement. Esp. since it claims off hand that "the virus originated in China". Oh? -- Since when has that been established positively.
Posted by: bjd | May 1 2020 18:14 utc | 49
World Health Organization (WHO)
1May 2020
Media briefing on COVID-19
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk-y4scDdBk
Sorrie OT
Important report WHO meeting with EU
Posted by: JC | May 1 2020 18:17 utc | 50
SST is totally wigged out by Trump's falling poll numbers, and so are fighting rearguard action to prop up the chances for a second term and so continuing struggle against "the Borg". But the anti-China agitprop relies on rumours easily contradicted by open-source information. So shoot the messenger and denounce the bearers of bad news as foreign agents.
Problem being: you cannot set out to convince people a foreign state committed a deliberate act of biological terrorism without also offering a severe measure of revenge. Lang rhetorically addressed this by musing the USA would put China "on notice" and ramp up covert actions, but how does this satiate the desire for severe measures? It doesn't, and that is why biological terrorism rumours are dangerous and irresponsible things to spread, particularly in a devastated-by-the-virus USA where fascist psychopaths like Tom Cotton enjoy Fox News megaphones.
Posted by: jayc | May 1 2020 18:18 utc | 51
jayc - pat has totally lost it... i few weeks ago b made a post at sst saying much same and of course he was attacked for saying such... it seems to me everything in the usa breaks down into which side you are on - trumps or dems and etc. etc... objectivity is thrown out the window in order to maintain allegiance to a particular political persuasion..
Posted by: james | May 1 2020 18:21 utc | 52
Pleonexia is a concept I introduced into a discussion of a similar topic about 2 or so years ago on this board as being at the root for the decline and fall of the Outlaw US Empire. Here's what Wiki says about it at the link:
"Pleonexia, sometimes called pleonexy, originating from the Greek πλεονεξία, is a philosophical concept which roughly corresponds to greed, covetousness, or avarice, and is strictly defined as 'the insatiable desire to have what rightfully belongs to others', suggesting what Ritenbaugh describes as 'ruthless self-seeking and an arrogant assumption that others and things exist for one's own benefit'" [My Emphasis]
That trait's shared by all Imperialist nations all of which arose based on the same Greco-Roman foundations or learned those traits from them as in the case of the Japanese. Indeed, that such traits aren't recognized speaks to the illiteracy of those rising to or placed in leadership positions as they seem to be totally unaware of the numerous lessons within Greek and Roman literature/culture--lessons known by the Founders and others 250 years ago when to be considered educated you had to know Greek, Latin, and their classical literature. As Walter says, it's a Greek Tragedy; but the play began in the last quarter of the 19th Century as has also been written about.
Those running the Outlaw US Empire seem oblivious to the wall they're about to run the nation into, or we might say it's a cliff that will take the nation into the abyss. The G-20 determined last year that a new global currency to conduct commerce was required to replace the dollar. A short discussion and linking of articles occurred on that topic yesterday between me and Likklemore. Bevin insisted we discuss the failure of Capitalism and what needs to come next as its replacement. I've advocated the need for a steady-state socialist system as the new global political-economy. As I reported, a prominent Singaporean in promoting his newest book wrote in The Economist that the advent of the pandemic marks the start of the Asian Century thanks to the gross Moral Failure of the West and the Outlaw US Empire as its lead nation.
How does a group of people get cured of Pleonexia? It's likely way too late for the current crop of oligarchs; but what of their heirs who were presumably schooled in similar fashion to their elders, and their progeny? I'm with Hudson in that their wealth must be written down close to zero, and the new system emplaced will not allow a repetition. Meanwhile, someone needs to get busy writing about the current Tragedy such that future generations can learn its lessons so they're not repeated.
: karlof1 | May 1 2020 18:22 utc | 63 Dude, a related word> "coethes" (an irresistible urge", if I recall)
Otherwise, yeah, what you said.
The "cure" is a really nasty process. There's a story about coyotes...what happens when Rancher shoots 'em...and revolution.
Posted by: Walter | May 1 2020 18:35 utc | 55
That WHO basically fucked up because of Western pressure more than because of China is obvious. Just look at the most recent idiocy they promoted: masks are useless. China would never claim that - both because they rely massively on them and because they produce and sell a lot of them. On the other hand, Western governments who were asleep at the wheel and never bothered to store or produce facemasks were desperately trying to convince their sheep flock, I mean, people, that they were all good, managed the crisis as best as anyone could, and that there wasn't any shortage of masks because these weren't useful to begin with.
Case closed.
And for the eternal record of universal history: China's dictatorship obviously cared more about its people than self-claimed democratic governments. Let that sink in for a minute.
Posted by: Clueless Joe | May 1 2020 18:36 utc | 56
Posted by: Clueless Joe | May 1 2020 18:36 utc | 66
That WHO basically fucked up because of Western pressure more than because of China is obvious.
I don't think WHO fucked up. Western countries simply did not have an appetite to do any measures until the pain was high enough.
Posted by: hopehely | May 1 2020 18:57 utc | 57
Clueless Joe @66 & Walter @65--
Some weeks ago I mentioned a psychological analytical device known as the Franklin Reality Model that allows anyone to see what an entity's system of beliefs are via its behavior provided they know how the Model operates. It's used in sentencing programs aimed at reducing recidivism but can be used in any environment and within any culture. I mention this because the Outlaw US Empire and the West say they share similar beliefs but those beliefs are seldom displayed by their actions, which in turn reveal their actual beliefs. Joe in his comment painted an excellent picture since the Model calls what he illustrated as appearing in the Belief Window: China cares for its people; the USA does not. Only the unbiased will see that picture window properly. And IMO, that's all that's required to bring about the fall of any government as it abdicates its fundamental purpose by neglecting to care for all its people. The Constitution says We The People must "provide for the common defence" as part of the basic goals of government. That goal's been a failure for quite a long time; it's failure however was never more apparent to more people than now. And a smart politician can win a huge amount of votes by making that the foundation of his/her campaign.
: karlof1 | May 1 2020 19:02 utc | 69 "any smart..." yes indeed! it is so.
Nevertheless can there be consensus under propaganda and police rule? What would that mean? Of course it devolves to curated "civil conflict"...and at some point yes Russia and Chine develop influence in the process...which is I expect highly regional.
Yeah nobody's buy the game..and after that...
It's already going on.
Posted by: Walter | May 1 2020 19:20 utc | 59
They need a Fake Cold War. To implement all the changes they want to make on a global scale, a natural once in a century infection is not enough. Gates has already warned that he thinks the next Pandemic might be a biological attack from another country. Also, the MIC wants a piece of the action since DARPA and USAMID have funded many of these GOF studies on viruses
This also works for China as all authoritarian states use nationalism and external threats to unite the people.
Interesting times ahead. Digital ID (delivered via vaccine) cashless society, digital currency tied in with your social credit score for guaranteed income (Gates/Microsoft has the patent), personal health and social monitoring drones locked in to the RFID tag in your ID chip. The vaccines for the lower classes might include sperm antigens to create anti-sperm antibodies to sterilize . Initially those with antibodies to covid19 will not require the experimental vaccines and the elite will all produce antibody certificates for themselves. The vaccines will expedite the demise of the elderly which they will blame on covid. Covid actually means corona virus id . The 19 indicated these will be annual vaccines since the virus will mutate. The effects of the newly rolled out 5G will be blamed on a mutated strain of covid.
Also, as the increase in new viruses and pandemics (SARS, bird flu, swine flu, zika, ebola, covid) will be blamed on global warming (and not mad scientists synthesizing viruses with gain of function with government funding so that Big Pharma can develop new products and share the profits with government and academic scientists- a public-private-academic partnership), then they can roll out the green economy for global health security, bringing down living standards and reducing consumption . This will be monitored and controlled with 5G/IoT and a carbon credit quota tied to your social credit limit which locks spending when your monthly quota is reached. Say good bye to a juicy steak. Most will be unaffordable for most due to its high carbon credit cost. Marijuana will be cheap and affordable since most people wont work having been replaced by AI/Robots and people must be kept high.
A synthesis of Brave New World and 1984. Basically a 66 year old project set out in the first Bilderberg meeting in 1954.
They have spent 20 years preparing for this particular event so wont need to start this from scratch. Like the Patriots Act much of it has already been scripted.
Most people seem willing to accept it. Some welcome it. All you can do is enjoy the show, at least while you can. Old men like myself are living on borrowed time. I will miss much of what is to come , but thats probably not a bad thing.
The train has arrived. Agenda 2030. Sustainable Development. Public-Private Partnerships. Thank you for traveling on the Green Gate Express . Please remove your clothes for disinfection and head for the showers on the right.
Posted by: Pft | May 1 2020 19:34 utc | 60
"Our future has been designed and all top players are in agreement. "
Who are these 'top players'? What interests do they have in common?
I might as well ask "Do they live on this planet?"
None of the several assertions that"we know" is accurate. None of these things is known. And most of them, these for example:
("We know, based on published facts, that just like the West bootstrapped CCP's China from 3rd world status to industrial powerhouse by willingly transferring IP, know-how, actual tech, and markets. And then not even a generation later, the same West and CCP have a kabuki show about "stealing secrets", "not respecting IP", blah blah blah.
"We now also know, based on published facts, that the West trained Chinese scientists, transfered know-how, and bootstrapped CCP's Biological Warfare capabilities. And now the jokers are playing games of "who dunnit?".")
are complete rubbish.
Posted by: bevin | May 1 2020 19:40 utc | 61
fascist psychopaths like Tom Cotton enjoy Fox News megaphones.
Posted by: jayc | May 1 2020 18:18 utc | 61
Like Tom Cotton...and Steve Bannon...who is also there...and you have that Trump pass his nights watching that channel...
Posted by: H.Schmatz | May 1 2020 19:52 utc | 62
concerned
Great handle concerned. Nine posts is less than five hours. I think you've made your disruption now fuck off because your exposed to many of the seasoned posters here. You say you'll be leaving soon; but you'll be pretty easy to spot when you come back with a new name. You're obviously new and unseasoned. Better go back to troll school as you still have a lot to learn about your new vocation.
Posted by: Juannie | May 1 2020 19:54 utc | 63
@Posted by: Pft | May 1 2020 19:34 utc | 72
I do not know how old you are, but as things accelerate in such a way, may be you should not discard unexpected developments....
I am reading and hearing a lot of people, no only here, and many sound so discouraging, like Daniel Estulin, one does not know what to think or which side all those people are....
He says that the worst part of what is happening with this pandemic and consequent economic meltdown, is that, for example, comparing it with the fall of the USSR, whose effects, quite worsened, he equates with those we will be suffering not so long from here, is that now there is no alternative model....
And I would say, why not? Just it is necessary to not lose the ability to dream...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55vZvYdjX70
Posted by: H.Schmatz | May 1 2020 20:01 utc | 64
Posted by: Pft | May 1 2020 19:34 utc | 72
"This also works for China as all authoritarian states use nationalism and external threats to unite the people."
This also works for China as ALL STATES use nationalism and external threats to unite the people. I would quote Hermann Göring, but everyone here at the saloon knows it all to well.
Posted by: One Too Many | May 1 2020 20:02 utc | 65
@ Posted by: Clueless Joe | May 1 2020 18:36 utc | 66
WHO didn't "fuck up". It was never a powerful institution to begin with - it's one of those vanilla expansions of the UN. They don't have power to take over national governments (as the IMF does) and govern in their places.
What happened was that the WHO traveled to China to see what was going on and what they would do if the CCP wasn't being able to do what it needed to do. That was February 1st.
Circumstantial evidence shows that the WHO's president was ready to declare a pandemic while on the plane (the USG, apparently, pressuring him to do it right after he landed on China). To his positive surprise, China already was implementing a quarantine that far exceeded the WHO's own protocols. He left China visibly satisfied - in fact, so satisfied that he postponed his pandemic declaration for circa two weeks. We now know he was overly optimistic - as the virus had traveled to the rest of the world much earlier.
The thing with pandemics is they are black swan events. We know that one appears every circa 100 years, but we never know if a given epidemic will be "the next one". We only know when it is more or less too late.
On December 31, China reported to the WHO over the new pneumonia.
The WHO passed on the news to the world's health ministers, and on January 3, the head of the CDC called his Chinese counterpart, who did not try to hide his grave concern, to the point of bursting into tears.
The famous January 14 "no human to human transmission" WHO tweet was effectively canceled on the same day in a press conference of Dr. de Kerkhove, sitting next to Dr. Tedros chief of WHO. She said that there was some h to h transmission. Our Dear Leaders are trying to blame the WHO for their deadly inaction until March.
For detail on this issue, you can check at www.covirDr.com in article under title "Under-house-arrest France has 1000 times worse corona death rates than free Taiwan. NYC, 3000 times worse than Hong Kong."
Posted by: mattjanovic | May 1 2020 20:17 utc | 67
"The defaulting on U.S. sovereign debt can likewise not be done selectively. It would be the end of the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency."
It isn't 'debt'. It's Treasury Bonds that can only be exchanged for US dollars. In no world would the Chinese get rid of them, because it's free money for them.
And the status of the dollar as global reserve currency isn't going anywhere, unless China decides to just stop exporting things to the US. That would be a very surprising move, considering their entire economy is built on being the world's factory.
Posted by: Benjamin | May 1 2020 20:29 utc | 68
For those of you that live in USA I have a question:
Everybody in your country seems to be OK with dozens or hundreds of people with AK-47 and AR-15 sorrounding the state parliaments in some places, do you consider this as normal?, cause when I see this I started to think that the burning of the Reichstag could not be far away...
With warriorbandism is how Dark Ages start
Posted by: DFC | May 1 2020 20:30 utc | 69
The thing with pandemics is they are black swan events. We know that one appears every circa 100 years, but we never know if a given epidemic will be "the next one". We only know when it is more or less too late.
You are using a term popularized by N Taleb incorrectly. He explicitly stated that this was NOT a black swan event. But what does he know...
In addition to all the pandemic drills and seeming foreknowledge by the intelligence community, there exists footage on the web of Dr. Fauci at the beginning of Trump's term clearly stating that he was SURE that there would be a pandemic during the next four years. But what does he know...
Posted by: Lucille Crystal Ball | May 1 2020 20:35 utc | 70
karlof1 @ 63
Firstly, I enjoy your commentaries; unfortunate I have not had the opportunity to catch up on last morsels of our discussion from yesterday. On Flood watch.
" I'm with Hudson in that their wealth must be written down close to zero, "[.]
Lean on patience. Eventually, they'll encounter the 11th commandment - the moral failure as you framed so well:
the 11th states: The Greedy shall not be fed.
Especially for those whose wealth are in the "Markets" "Real Estate" and Exotics.
COVID-19 is the catalyst. Egon von Greyerz, Matterhorn Assets, Switzerland endorses: "The collapse of the global financial system was well underway before COVID -19. And as with the Great Depression of 1930s, anticipate a decline of 90%. The next five years is not about winning but surviving."
The FEDs and other Central Bankers are working 24/7 to avoid the Greatest Depression 2.0. They will not succeed.
I can't see the elites being bunkered down for 4 years surrounded by the hordes of unemployed topping +30% and a Second-Quarter GDP -38%. Shadowstats May 1, 2020 Bulletin 1433.
The canaries are the Bankruptcy filings: Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Ave, J.C.Penny, Chesapeake Energy.
And, Chevron, Exxon- the top two U.S. producers just announced their plan for combined global shut-ins of 800,000 barrels per day in response to plunging crude prices and fuel demand.
Both companies on Friday outlined deep cuts in investments in the Permian shale basin, the top U.S. oilfield where growth in recent years made America the world’s top oil producer and a net exporter for the first time in decades. They each announced global shut-ins of up to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) this quarter due to lockdowns to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Exxon and Chevron have been rapidly sidelining Permian drilling equipment since the market started crashing in March. U.S. crude prices have plunged nearly 70% this year, and traded in negative territory on April 20 for the first time ever.[;]
The shale oil sector bankruptcies. Wells Fargo has a tale to tell.
Sitting inside the credit-resolution group, where Wells Fargo handles struggling borrowers, the team includes many bankers who previously worked with the same oil and gas producers in its investment bank.
They work alongside bankruptcy specialists who have been reassigned to focus exclusively on energy to help Wells Fargo wade through the expected flood of restructurings.
“It’s a bloodbath,” said one person with knowledge of the bank’s oil and gas portfolio, who was not authorized to speak publicly.[.]
Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) are considered to be the two largest lenders to U.S. energy companies. Citigroup Inc (C.N) had the largest energy loan book of any U.S. bank at the end of 2019 because of its international business.[.]
As of the end of March, Wells Fargo had $14.3 billion of oil and gas loans outstanding, according to filings.[.]
Calling Mr. Powell on the red phone please. The president is on Twitter. The CODE: Print.
Posted by: Likklemore | May 1 2020 20:43 utc | 71
Posted by: Benjamin | May 1 2020 20:29 utc | 80
Most of China's economy is oriented towards domestic consumption. A "world factory", btw, does not mean a country dependent on US exports. Because China is the world's largest trading partner, and not the US. China's biggest export destination is Asia, with Europe being in second place.
China is preparing a digital currency to bypass the dollar.
And, btw, JPMorgan estimates a decline in the US dollar usage as the share of the US in the world economy is declining, and to continue to decline up to 2050 - 2060, with its public debt reaching huge proportions.
Something that can be observed in real time, as the dollar's share in world's reserves and international transactions is declining.
Posted by: Passer by | May 1 2020 20:47 utc | 72
@ Posted by: Benjamin | May 1 2020 20:29 utc | 80
From what Trump's insinuating, it's not paying back the bonds (with, in last resort, printed USD), but literally annulling the debt, erasing them from the books like if they've never existed.
We don't know how much China has in US Treasury bonds - we only know they are the main holders (above Japan, which had at its peak some USD 1 trillion). Some rogue estimates put China's position at the USD 3 trn magnitude. That would be a lot of Chinese accumulated wealth wiped out overnight.
But China is building up its financial power. BRI is the main endeavor, but we have AIIB (which is a prototype at best, since its funds are also in USD), its financial architecture build up (Shenzhen, Shanghai etc.), bilateral swap deals (specially with Russia, Ruble-Renminbi) and the modernization and expansion of its already existing domestic financial infrastructure. There was also a mini-rush to the Chinese bonds during these last two weeks. Reality is the ultimate teacher: nobody who matters in the West seem to be complaining about China's official economic data now, as they're buying Chinese bonds as never before.
@Lucille Crystal Ball
I am a U.S. person for a while in Europe. European friends of the liberal/radical persuasion have horror for firearms. I find firearms very practical.
I doubt that any murderous economic-political regime may be abolished without the formation of warrior bands. Any democratically elected revolutionary government, if it lacks support of warrior bands, is soon destroyed, as Arbenz, Mossadeq, Allende, and others learned
Posted by: mattjanovic | May 1 2020 20:50 utc | 74
Lucille Crystal Ball @82
You are correct - he has said he wishes that those people - who call the pandemic a black swan - would read his book. Because the pandemic is a white swan.I pointed this out to the same person on an earlier blog. Maybe this time it will have an effect.
Posted by: spudski | May 1 2020 20:51 utc | 75
DFC @81--
Yesterday when I linked to the event at Lansing, Michigan, I commented that those there had no idea what they were doing as they were protesting the wrong thing at the wrong place. Instead, they ought to be occupying the US Treasury building in DC and the NY Fed Bank in NYC to stop the fraudulent dissemination of $$Trillions to Wall Street criminals masked as bankers, hedge fund mangers and the like as those locations are where the MAJOR crimes are occurring as I type this comment. Their behavior casts them as ignorant and perhaps worse as they're being led into an assault on their own interests while doing nothing to genuinely defend their wellbeing and that of their kin and progeny. Such stupidity's been ongoing since 1980-81 when it arose during Reagan's campaign and continued afterward. That it's being directed/channeled is clear, just as who was financing the Tea Party rubes was clear--It's the same criminals doing the looting in DC and NYC.
Given the state of politics within the Outlaw US Empire, such behavior is unfortunately normal to a certain degree. If it was a gang of Occupy Wall Street Protesters, the reaction by the forces of coercion would've been vastly different and very violent. Such is the state of Machiavellianism within as it's worked for many decades dividing and ruling. With such impediments, attaining the mass solidarity required to affect the Sea-change required is made extremely difficult, which is why you observe that nothing's been done for the masses while many things have been done to further their exploitation.
Yeah, I saw that. Seems to be a slow learner. Earnest, but overly dogmatic...
Posted by: Lucille Crystal Ball | May 1 2020 20:57 utc | 77
Posted by: Lucille Crystal Ball | May 1 2020 20:35 utc | 82
You are using a term popularized by N Taleb incorrectly. He explicitly stated that this was NOT a black swan event. But what does he know...
True that, he even called this white swan event. But I think that nobody expected the outbreak of such magnitude in Italy. That was a surprise for everybody, and actually a main generator of a pandemic, with sidekick of Iran not to forget.
Take Finland and Russia for example. They both handled those early cases brought by Chinese tourists and visitors well. However, what got them was their infected citizens returning from Italy a month later.
Even Italy, they were actually quite expectant right from the start and scooped those infected Chinese tourists with no problem. But they got blindsided from Germany.
Posted by: hopehely | May 1 2020 20:59 utc | 78
William Gruff | May 1 2020 15:48 utc | 33
The object of a fullout war is to eliminate the enemy's ability to make war.
In other words, destroying his industrial base is also a fundamental aim. As would be destroying his finance and social cohesion. Eliminating just the troops does not win a war in itself, unless there are "boots on the ground" to stop any reorganisation, and the imposition of a new "favourable" societal code.
So I reckon that one aim of the "US v the others" is to also reduce Chinese manufacturing and thwart any extraneous or BRI aims that would expand their influence.
For me we are already in a full war situation, but the means used include parallel agressions. (Not only military. Shooting is only a part of it.)
Posted by: Stonebird | May 1 2020 21:17 utc | 79
Thanks to Walter | 10 for the Newsweek recommendation!
It took me a while to find the article though. Here it is, in case anyone else wants to read it: Millions of Dollars for Risky Coronavirus Research.
Walter, you say "Since the project was illegal weapon research it sure looks like Sam suborned Chine in a classical set-up..."
I'm not sure about the weapon part, but I absolutely agree with the rest. Chinese scientists and authorities were dumb to conduct this kind of research in a city like Wuhan, and at the whim of American money. Talking about 'statesmanship'! From the way this research was advertised (by Dr. Fauci) and from it's scope (extremely dangerous, yet very limited in later applicability) I get the impression the US just wanted to outsource the dangerous bits and use the results for later, more crucial yet less dangerous research. Like a colonial power would do with a 3rd-world country, and the Chinese haplessly accepted.
To think of it, doing gain-of-function on wild-caught viruses that are basically still unchartered territory, in a city of some million people, right on Central Square. Like there wasn't the arctic, or the desert, or disused oil rigs! Just dumb.
Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | May 1 2020 21:18 utc | 80
Scotch Bingeington #92
Are you referencing this USA/China research program?
In 2015, American researchers and Chinese Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers collaborated to transform an animal coronavirus into one that can attack humans. Scientists from prestigious American universities and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) worked directly with the two coauthor researchers from Wuhan Institute of Virology, Xing-Yi Ge and Zhengli-Li Shi. Funding was provided by the Chinese and US governments. The team succeeded in modifying a bat coronavirus to make it capable of infecting humans.The research was published in December 2015 in the prestigious British journal, Nature Medicine (volume 21, pages1508–1513). The paper by Vineet D. Menachery et al., “A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence” is available here as a PDF as well as on-line.
Footnotes to the scientific paper disclose that the research was funded by both the Chinese and US Governments, including grants from the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Disease.
Footnotes also document that the two Chinese researchers were active in their own laboratories as part of this coronavirus project.
So what lab were the USA scientists active in? Where is 'their' lab?
The quoute above is from:
A Special Report by Peter R. Breggin, MD
www.breggin.com
(607)-272-5328
April 15, 2020
Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 1 2020 22:26 utc | 81
Analysis and viewpoint scenarios: COVID-19 prepare for the next 2 years
Part 1:"The Future of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons from Pandemic Influenza" by CIDRAP, University Minnesota.
cited by Sputniknews.
Posted by: Likklemore | May 1 2020 22:30 utc | 82
@ Posted by: Lucille Crystal Ball | May 1 2020 20:35 utc | 82
Ok, in pure terminological terms, a pandemic is not a black swan event as such - we know pandemics happen, and we know that they do so every circa 100 years.
What I mean is we don't know exactly when and where the next pandemic will happen (only that it will). For example: the COVID-19 pandemic happened 101 year after the last one (1918), and not 100 years. In past centuries there was a pandemic that happened only 70 years after the previous one (and not 100). I don't need to mention here that it is impossible to give an exact date the next pandemic will happen, let alone the exact place and the exact individual (patient zero).
The WHO doesn't have the power to make sovereign nations to invest and make available a given healthcare infrastructure in wait just for the next pandemic. For it to have real effectiveness in a pandemic scenario (as to really thwart a pandemic before it became a pandemic), it would have to be able to essentially predict the future (foresee who will be the next patient zero, when and where). It doesn't have such capacity.
The despicable thing about this pandemic is that, approaching the 100th anniversary of the Spanish Flu, all the Western governments and most Eastern governments initiated a systematic demolition of their respective healthcare systems through de-funding and privatization. Let's remember the 2010s were the decade of Austerity in the First World (symbolized by the 2008 crisis and the election of PM David Cameron, who popularized the term in the mainstream), but Third World countries were doing that since the mid-1970s. Even vaunted Germany has much more cases and deaths than China, which was caught by surprise as it was ground zero.
Likklemore #94
University of Minnesota? They know of these things:
Paper cited at interview with Professor Boyle Feb 22 2020
2010 study - Increase of function research
Participants:
China/ Wuhan, Australia/ CSIRO, USA/ Univ Minnesota Medical School
Paper at springer: here
From Abstract:
The results show that ACE2s of Myotis daubentoni and Rhinolophus sinicus support viral entry mediated by the SARS-CoV S protein, albeit with different efficiency in comparison to that of the human ACE2. Further, the alteration of several key residues either decreased or enhanced bat ACE2 receptor efficiency, as predicted from a structural modeling study of the different bat ACE2 molecules.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 1 2020 22:45 utc | 84
The Covid-19 pandemic is just the conduit for ramping up this next level of Cold War 2.0, The China Edition. It would have happened anyway, even without the virus outbreak. It’s been in the pipeline since Obama’s “Pivot to Asia.”
Pentagon war planners are on record saying they are eager to focus on “Great Power Competition” (i.e. against China and Russia) and want to disentangle themselves from the Middle East and fighting ragtag bands of guerrillas and insurgents. The United States and its stupid “allies” can’t stand the idea of a multipolar world where “the west” is one power bloc among many and independent nationhood, and cooperation, is valued higher than the apocalyptic zero sum competition they keep pushing on everyone.
Posted by: Daniel | May 1 2020 23:01 utc | 85
Intelligence can either create problems or solve problems, whereas Wisdom can avoid them.
Wisdom is something totally lacking within the US government.
Posted by: Dick | May 1 2020 23:08 utc | 86
"Raccoon dog" is actually something else I think but maybe I'm wrong, instead I think it would be the slightly different animal the Japanese call Tanuki (the Chinese surely also have their own specific name for it in Chinese). Would be kind of funny with their (at least in Japan, not sure if the same is true in China) historic folkloric/mythological reputation as shapeshifters and troublemakers/rascals :)
Sorry if anyone has already said this.
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | May 1 2020 23:26 utc | 87
The reciprocal question: What would it take to restore USA's standing?
First, since the Outlaw US Empire has no stated Industrial Policy we can review we must instead look at past performance as shown by real GDP. We can see the 5 main bubbles inflated then deflated then reinflated by Neoliberal policy since it roared into force with Reagan. In real terms, the economy has shrunk in its productive power to where it was in 1982, and the new figures will push that back further in time to when Nixon went off gold in 1971. Thus the change from putting money directly into the economy via traditional Keynesian methods prior to 1971 to the siphoning of money out of the economy into the hands of Wall Street as per Neoliberal doctrine afterwards, all nicely explained in realtime by Michael Hudson in his first edition of Super Imperialism. IMO, we can see that Neoliberalism is a complete and utter failure when it comes to providing equitable economic growth, and as a policy it must be terminated forthwith.
Second, if we resume traditional Industrial Capitalism by first eliminating the Fed, writing down all federal, consumer, state, local, and some corporate debt, instituting universal healthcare, and then inject money into the economy for businesses and people to use, we'll have an opportunity to jumpstart the economy since by greatly lowering the cost of doing business the workforce and businesses will become more competitive and cause some of the lost supply chains to relocate. Also implicit in this plan is the vast reduction in the USA's overseas empire and its military and security apparat. The USA will for the first time become a Normal Nation.
Third, during their resumption, workplaces must be democratized along the lines suggested by Richard Wolff, which will initiate the long process of growing a socialist economic structure to prepare for the following realities: The finite nature of the planet and our current environmental crisis of Overshoot which are interrelated. The Age of Growth will end as a necessity, and the Steady-State Age will commence--there's no other rational, logical choice: Gaia's dictating to us and we really have no choice.
Eventually, the USA will find itself amidst 180+ moderately prosperous nations it must share the planet's wealth with in a neighborly manner. IMO, nuances there will be, but broadly there's no other Moral of Just way to proceed if humanity's to have a fighting chance during the 22nd Century and beyond.
{"The defaulting on U.S. sovereign debt can likewise not be done selectively. It would be the end of the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency."
It isn't 'debt'. It's Treasury Bonds that can only be exchanged for US dollars. In no world would the Chinese get rid of them, because it's free money for them."}
Posted by: Benjamin | May 1 2020 20:29 utc | 80
You are either dreaming or sporting us. Tell that to Sen. Graham who proposed defaulting on UST-trillions held by China, Sec.of Treasury Mnuchin, Apple and the Chinese. China did not produce any goods in exchange?
Oh and let's add Saudis the trillion of USTs recycled payment for oil.
By your metric, It's free money for them? Such exceptional thinking.
Guess you are unaware of the consequences for Americans should foreigners stop buying and/or recycling payments into USTs. Aka financing your lifestyle.
= = = = = = = =
Got it. The Federal Reserve fellows have expressed out loud, their worry -
'Depression Risk' -
the prospect of an economic depression if both the shutdown goes on too long and the reopening is not handled well." Oh, how nice, assuring they will print to Infinity
In separate comments on Friday, the heads of three Fed regional banks said the aggressive efforts already taken to keep companies and firms afloat are only the start of what will be required to get the economy back to normal, with worker retraining, retooled social safety nets, and other steps needed once the health crisis eases.[.]“We need to be working on the economy’s recovery rate” after the crisis, said Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, noting that companies may be operating less efficiently under social distancing rules, business investment may be hampered by eroded confidence, and workers may pull back from the labor market as they rethink how to care for children and aging parents in an era when day care facilities and nursing homes pose higher risks.[.]
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan expressed similar concerns that the path out of the crisis may be both slow and complex.Not only will the unemployment rate spike to catastrophic levels as high as 20% in the coming months, for example, but it will likely remain high until the end of the year or longer, Kaplan said in an interview on Fox Business Network.“We’re going to need stimulus going into the rest of the year and into next year so we grow faster, so we work down this unemployment rate.”
‘DEPRESSION RISK’
The Fed this week restated a pledge to keep interest rates low and continue offering trillions of dollars in credit across the economy as long as is needed to keep it stable during the fight against a pandemic.[...]
the 12 piglets just gave us a pre-alert..with all intent the USD is on a fast track to its demise." No wonder the president of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) has called for a new super-sovereign currency. LINK
Posted by: Likklemore | May 2 2020 0:01 utc | 89
William Gruff | May 1 2020 15:48 utc | 33
Posted by: Stonebird | May 1 2020 21:17 utc | 91
Well said and also paid Trolls.
Thanks
Posted by: JC | May 2 2020 0:02 utc | 90
About ferrets and racoon dogs. Ferrets are a species of weasels, and rural China has plenty of them (confusingly named Siberian Weasel, but with subspecies all ever eastern Asia). Thus everything could happen in nature, as in the case of previous globe-trotting viruses.
Concerning "lab theory". However speculative, it can be investigated. Biological research requires maintaining lab books of experiments, and in the case of genetic manipulation, they must have electronic records of the genomes that were manipulated. However, USA has extremely bad record of making outrageous demands and concocting unbelievable theories to reject plain evidence. Who remembers mobile bioweapon labs roaming Iraq in trailers? China could accept opening records under reciprocal agreement: if USA opens records of their biological labs too. As we know, there is a theory of COVID-19 originating in an American lab. And we know American attitude to opening their books.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 2 2020 0:04 utc | 91
Likklemore #94
That paper you referenced is dodgy and a propaganda job. quote:
When severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)—the virus that causes COVID-19—first emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, even the most experienced international public health experts did not anticipate that it would rapidly spread to create the worst global public health crisis in over 100 years. By January 2020, a few public health officials began sounding the alarm, but it wasn’t until March 11, 2020, that the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic.
It smears WHO with an entirely fictitious date
Here is extract from WHO timeline:
22- 23 January 2020
The WHO Director- General convened an Emergency Committee (EC) under the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) to assess whether the outbreak constituted a public health emergency of international concern. The independent members from around the world could not reach a consensus based on the evidence available at the time. They asked to be reconvened within 10 days after receiving more information.
Deceptive bigoted nonsense. Hiding facts of notification behind a smokescreen of the word 'declared'. Those authors are not fit to lead in science.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 2 2020 0:04 utc | 92
Trump was foolish in agreeing to that reporter's question because it was deliberately framed that question using the phrase "high degree of confidence".
That is a phrase used in US intelligence reports to indicate that the statement is not only true, it is DEMONSTRABLY true i.e. the three-letter-agency not only believes this to be true, it also has persuasive evidence to back that up.
By agreeing to that question Trump (I suspect unwittingly) is claiming to be in possession of just such an intelligence report.
And maybe he has, in which case he was foolish to let the cat out of the bag. Such a revelation should be left to the time of his choosing for max bang-for-buck, rather than blurted out at a press conference.
But I think it is far more likely that he DOESN'T possess such a report, and therefore CAN'T back up his claim, and will need to put in more and more damage control as he comes under pressure to release something he doesn't have.
And all so unnecessary.
An experienced politician would have immediately spotted the trap that the reporter set, and responded with a dead-bat.
Something like:
CANNY REPORTER: "Have you seen anything at this point that gives you a high degree of confidence that the [Wuhan lab] was the origin?"
EXPERIENCED POLITICIAN: "I've seen evidence"
That's how you do it, Donald. It's the difference between him leading you by the nose, and you leading him by the nose.
Posted by: Yeah, Right | May 2 2020 0:12 utc | 93
Posted by: vk | May 1 2020 20:10 utc | 78
Hat off vk, That's exactly how I feel about Covid-19. Been faithfully watching WHO daily briefing and posts here MoF. But, can't remember when WHO changed to Mon-Wed-Fri only.
Thanks
Posted by: JC | May 2 2020 0:14 utc | 94
Posted by: Yeah, Right | May 2 2020 0:12 utc | 105
Excellent analysis regardless, Trump boasted many times he's smarts and intelligent during many of his daily press briefing to me that stoopid idiot unfit to be president and anyone voted for him are equally stoopid!
Especially asking his staff injection disinfectants and sunlight inside the body?
Posted by: JC | May 2 2020 0:28 utc | 95
Likklemore @101--
Thanks mucho for that news and link. It wasn't unanticipated whatsoever by many. The negative side now admitted, I decided to focus on the opposite thanks to bevin's suggestion from yesterday. I expanded on my @100 and posted it as an article at my VK Space. It's just a sketch and might grow. The big problem of course is how to get it done to stave off the worst effects. Our Governor addressed the state late this afternoon about her reopening plan, which I'll need to read fully before providing any comment beyond the obvious ease for our very rural counties with zero cases to the difficulty faced by our metro regions. Responsible behavior's still a requirement, so we'll see soon enough.
Piero Colombo#28 and Red Ryder #52
I posted on this earlier but it failed to emerge. So once again
Fort Detrick was closed for some mighty serious reasons. It leaked like a sieve.
A few years back its waste water sterilisation plant was destroyed by a flood! Yes it was within flood reach of a major storm. So they installed a new technology system that never attained its sterilisation capacity before discharging into a sewer somewhere in Maryland. ! That and some extraordinary negligent human behaviour and design problems forced the CDC to shut it down after detecting waste water leaks and other information.
The CDC shut down a top level Military Laboratory in the USA!
Here is August 7 2019 report.
January 23 2020: report with specific reasons
This is a BSL 4 lab in the middle of a highly populated zone in the USA and it demonstrably incompetent. USA engineering fail
Remember Fukushima reactors - GE design, emergency power plant to drive reactor coolant motors located on the ground. Wiped out instantly in tsunami. USA engineering and design.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 2 2020 0:37 utc | 97
Daniel May1 23:01
The Covid-19 pandemic is just the conduit for ramping up this next level of Cold War 2.0, The China Edition. It would have happened anyway, even without the virus outbreak. It’s been in the pipeline since Obama’s “Pivot to Asia.”
Yeah. It accomplishes this so well that if the EMPIRE didn't actually do it, we should ask WHY NOT?
And I'd once again caution about focusing on China. This virus is a great weapon against the aging leadership of Iran as well as speeding up "decoupling" with China.
!!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | May 2 2020 1:06 utc | 98
karlof1 @May1 23:38 What would it take to restore USA's standing?
I think there's an intermediate question that has to been asked before the question of how to restore USA: Can the Western power-elite be convinced to not hold us hostage to their dreams of global domination? If not, then the Empire will not reform before a calamity like depression or war.
!!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | May 2 2020 1:24 utc | 99
Chris Martenson just put a new YT covering NIH/NIAID (Fauci's agency) sponsored (~$7 million) bat coronavirus gain of function research carried out jointly by US and Chinese investigators affiliated with Wuhan (and other?) Inst.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6y8dlhoMpo (starts ~minute 6:00)
Covers revelations in
a 04/28/20 Newsweek report.
- explores ties of key US investigators funded to tune of $ millions of NIH dollars over the past 6+ years, including Dr. Peter Daszak, President of EcoHealth Alliance NGO (probably a germ warfare research CIA/military cutout dating back to 1971 Vietnam era, originally called the "Wildlife Trust")
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EcoHealth_Alliance
- Strong implications that something about Fauci's involvement in the whole covid business smells; either he might have serious conflicts of interest, is compromised, or is a useful idiot controlled by invisible actors.
Altogether, the Newsweek article might be first signs that things are starting to unwind and be exposed by people in US power structure about the true engineered origins of n-cov virus.
Posted by: gm | May 2 2020 1:40 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
Blaming China Will Not Restore U.S. Standing
Of course, not, but will made a good story to start a war on China...or, at least, steal its assests...
"NATO is preparing to surround China by applying the Theory of Containment"
Of course, I do not swallow for a minute Meyssan´s continuous theory, since 2016 election, on Trump´s innocence, he is the Commander in Chief, for God´s sake!
Beware of "consultants"....
https://twitter.com/elajedrecista_/status/1255512907103776770
Posted by: H.Schmatz | May 1 2020 12:20 utc | 1