Well then, look what we have here:
Biden’s call with Ukrainian President ‘did not go well’

A call between US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday “did not go well,” a senior Ukrainian official told CNN, amid disagreements over the “risk levels” of a Russian attack.
The White House, however, disputed the official’s account, warning that anonymous sources were “leaking falsehoods.” They did state that Biden warned Zelensky an imminent invasion is a “distinct possibility”.
..
Zelensky, however, restated his position that the threat from Russia remains “dangerous but ambiguous,” and it is not certain that an attack will take place”
..
Zelensky urged his American counterpart to “calm down the messaging,” warning of the economic impact of panic, according to the official. He also said Ukrainian intelligence sees the threat differently.
The Ukrainian leader pointed to a recent breakthrough in negotiations with Russia in Paris, saying that he hoped a ceasefire agreement with rebels in eastern Ukraine would be maintained.

The January invasion will now be a February invasion…
Maybe.
I wonder who could possibly benefit from such distractions at a time when British police are investigating the British Prime Minster’s behaviour during Covid lockdowns, and when the US President is staring at a shambolic foreign policy ahead of the November mid-terms. I wonder..

Posted by: Pat Bateman | Jan 28 2022 11:10 utc | 304

John Cleary #298

This is the last chance for Europe. Does the continent possess any honour and integrity whatsoever?

They have been Sturgeoned then, I take it.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 28 2022 11:18 utc | 306

waynorinorway #296
Eating cambium layer of trees is a good resort in a famine I guess. But you might want to be very sure of its tannin content or the typical famine outcome will include yourself. In my younger days I have tended a herd of goats and they are good at ringbarking many fruit trees in their rush to consume cambium but they never went for the pines so I assume it is worth some precautionary investigation.
I will stick to a wide variety of trees that are typical human cultivars plus the small green growing things like ginger and turmeric.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 28 2022 11:59 utc | 308

Could the Democrats kill two birds?
SCOTUS vacancy
Kamala Harris unpopular as VP
Posted by: intp1 | Jan 28 2022 12:44 utc | 305
I think they are thinking about it. She ticks all the boxes, and can be “relied on”,

Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 28 2022 12:49 utc | 310

I was strolling about in metallicman and found a proposal for Russia to retaliate against every congress critter that backed santions. See this gem:
Banning the companies that support American Congressmen
Yesterday the idea was floated to ban any US company which financed a US congress rep that votes for sanctions against Russia, for 5 years from the Russian market.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 28 2022 10:57 utc | 299
No, the Russians (and the Chinese) should say the we have far too many monopolies, and they will only do business with our smaller competitive companies in the future, until we have a healthier and more diverse Capitalist economy.
That will drive them nuts.
Boycotting anything belonging to Kroger, Kock, Gates, Pelosi, Bush etc. is of course a good idea too, and still completely legal.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 28 2022 13:03 utc | 312

Ketanji Brown Jackson emerges as frontrunner for vacant US Supreme Court seat ==> https://www.ft.com/content/13512622-8e1f-42c4-bcec-12cee115d560
Posted by: too scents | Jan 28 2022 13:08 utc | 309
Yeah, the question is how comfy are they with President Harris? I don’t know myself. If the question of her fitness to replace Joe was not on the table we would not ask the question. I think there will be other “front-runners” until a choice is made; and Harris looks like a long shot to me.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 28 2022 13:22 utc | 314

@intp1 #305
@Bemildred #306
Saagar and Krystal on Breaking Points put it best: the idea is stupid because it would be transparently obvious that Biden is ditching Kamala.
That doesn’t even go into the issue of Kamala’s qualifications as a judge. She was a prosecutor but has zero experience as a judge – they are very different jobs. The same can be said for most of the “short list” of candidates put up, although there are 1 or 2 who both have a (short) experience as judges and are actually progressive.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 28 2022 13:32 utc | 316

@too scents #309
@Bemildred #310
Ms. Jackson’s background: Harvard, Harvard Law school. Black woman but more likely a scion of the American oligarchy.
But Krystal says she has actually acted in anti-corporate ways in the past – so that just means she won’t get confirmed…

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 28 2022 13:40 utc | 318

This is the MIC at work
Army Infantry Squad Vehicle Problems

The OT&E report goes on to detail substantial deficiencies in the ISV during combat situations, from the vehicle’s relative lack of ballistic armor to the fact that, due to its design, “personal weapons were not easily accessible on the move, degrading the ability of the squad to quickly react to enemy actions and ambushes,” according to the OT&E report.
…
This is the second devastatingly critical assessment of the ISV handed down by the Pentagon’s weapons tester in a row. The January 2020 OT&E report noted that, with a lack of an underbody and ballistic survivability requirement, the ISV “will be susceptible to enemy threats and actions” — and the soldiers inside will remain basically helpless to respond.
…
Despite these issues, the Army appears to be plowing ahead with its procurement and fielding of the ISV. The service awarded GM Defense a $214.3 million contract in June 2020 to manufacture 649 ISVs for soldiers and, eventually, support the potential production of up to 2,065 vehicles over eight years with additional authorization.

The initial order above amounts to … $330,000 per vehicle. If you go to the link and look at it, the vehicle looks basically like a stripped down mini SUV.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 28 2022 13:48 utc | 320

@too scents #309
@Bemildred #310
Ms. Jackson’s background: Harvard, Harvard Law school. Black woman but more likely a scion of the American oligarchy.
But Krystal says she has actually acted in anti-corporate ways in the past – so that just means she won’t get confirmed…
Posted by: c1ue | Jan 28 2022 13:40 utc | 314
She sounds like the best one could hope for, not another white male bureaucrat.
I doubt it will make any difference, whatever they do about Breyer. It is not like he was some Knight of the Left or advocate for the people. A decent judge would be nice, but not likely, as you say.
But replacing Joe is looking more urgent, and I don’t see anybody, and I sure don’t see Harris. Which was my interest here really.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 28 2022 14:05 utc | 322

Some evidence that Harris Kupperman’s ESG thesis is correct:
Are Activist Investors To Blame For High Oil Prices on Oilprice.com

Citing an Evercore ISI study, Eberhart noted that private oil companies in the shale patch were planning on boosting their capital spending by as much as 42 percent, while public companies were going to raise their expenditure by half that. In fairness, they are still planning to increase capital spending. However, it may not all be spent on new oil production.
The European supermajors are a good example as well. Pressure on the oil industry in Europe is a lot stronger than it is in the U.S., and it comes from more directions. As a result, BP, Shell, and TotalEnergies are not only expanding into low-carbon energy but also planning to slash their oil and gas production substantially to make their shareholders—and governments—happy.

To recap: Harris Kupperman’s thesis was that the ESG movement was causing Western oil majors to severely underinvest in new oil exploration. This in turn would enable a supply crunch, which in turn would drive oil (and other energy) prices higher. That’s why he’s put a lot of money in 2023-2025 oil derivative collars aimed at $100/barrel profit point.
Note also ESG is hardly “activist” – it is literally like Moody’s and other bond rating agencies prior to 2008: bureaucratic, corporatist crap which only public companies care about.
Bloomberg had a great article on MSCI – the promulgator of ESG rating:
What is ESG Investing? MSCI ratings focus on the corporate bottom line

No single company is more critical to Wall Street’s new profit engine than MSCI, which dominates a foundational yet unregulated piece of the business: producing ratings on corporate “environmental, social, and governance” practices. BlackRock and other investment salesmen use these ESG ratings, as they’re called, to justify a “sustainable” label on stock and bond funds. For a significant number of investors, it’s a powerful attraction.
Yet there’s virtually no connection between MSCI’s “better world” marketing and its methodology. That’s because the ratings don’t measure a company’s impact on the Earth and society. In fact, they gauge the opposite: the potential impact of the world on the company and its shareholders. MSCI doesn’t dispute this characterization. It defends its methodology as the most financially relevant for the companies it rates.
This critical feature of the ESG system, which flips the very notion of sustainable investing on its head for many investors, can be seen repeatedly in thousands of pages of MSCI’s rating reports. Bloomberg Businessweek analyzed every ESG rating upgrade that MSCI awarded to companies in the S&P 500 from January 2020 through June of this year, as a record amount of cash flowed into ESG funds. In all, the review included 155 S&P 500 companies and their upgrades.
The most striking feature of the system is how rarely a company’s record on climate change seems to get in the way of its climb up the ESG ladder—or even to factor at all. McDonald’s Corp., one of the world’s largest beef purchasers, generated more greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 than Portugal or Hungary, because of the company’s supply chain. McDonald’s produced 54 million tons of emissions that year, an increase of about 7% in four years. Yet on April 23, MSCI gave McDonald’s a ratings upgrade, citing the company’s environmental practices. MSCI did this after dropping carbon emissions from any consideration in the calculation of McDonald’s rating. Why? Because MSCI determined that climate change neither poses a risk nor offers “opportunities” to the company’s bottom line.
MSCI then recalculated McDonald’s environmental score to give it credit for mitigating “risks associated with packaging material and waste” relative to its peers. That included McDonald’s installation of recycling bins at an unspecified number of locations in France and the U.K.—countries where the company faces potential sanctions or regulations if it doesn’t recycle. In this assessment, as in all others, MSCI was looking only at whether environmental issues had the potential to harm the company. Any mitigation of risks to the planet was incidental. McDonald’s declined to comment on its ESG rating from MSCI.

There’s a reason why government authorities, even the heavily regulatorily captured ones like the SEC, are scrutinizing at ESG ratings.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 28 2022 15:15 utc | 324

There are gossips about hedge funds managers turning against Pfizer.
People even talk about Pfizer being the new Enron.
Link
As I commented a while ago: Boeing 737 MAX oversight failure on steroids.

Posted by: pppp | Jan 28 2022 15:24 utc | 326

I see Germany is now being summoned for correction. It will be interesting to learn the results of that conversation.

Posted by: thecelticwithinme | Jan 28 2022 15:40 utc | 328

@Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 28 2022 0:58 utc | 256
Loved that story!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-army-veteran-from-wisconsin-tries-to-evacuate-family-from-ukraine/ar-AATdGzT?ocid=BingNewsSearch
Chuckle.
The MSM, however, gets a “Russia!, Russia!!, Russia!!!” fear porn story.
What is really behind this story?
Ostensibly, an American woman is trying to get a visa for her new Ukrainian husband.
Her job with Microsoft, she says, had moved her from the US to Ukraine.
Now, she is crying wolf to get the process sped up.

“Naturkach and her family are under the threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a military invasion.
“It’s just a very scary situation because apart from his soldiers and his army, there’s a lot of people in Ukraine who are pro-Russia as well and you never know where they are,” she said.

Beyond all that, how shocked would we be to learn that this is really one of those fake marriage schemes?
She gets a fee to enter marriage and he gets to move to the US.

Posted by: librul | Jan 28 2022 15:43 utc | 330

Posted by: waynorinorway | Jan 28 2022 9:58 utc | 296
Thank you for the link! I noticed that the open thread has generated huge numbers while the followup on the Ryanair is only in the 30s which indicates a number of points regarding the power of this blog:
b’s technical and intelligence background and skills are more than impressive.
b’s use of Open threads allow for a parallel process which opens the floodgates of information, ideas and perspectives from a large number of people around the world, most of whom share a similar worldview to generate a lively and informative discussion. Contributions of posters are equally if not more impressive than b’s original threads which trigger the synergy and inspiration that touches all of us barflies.
Waynorinorway, your link adds another dimension seldom mentioned here: food. Natural food. free food. What we put into our bodies is very personal, involves our appetites/addictions as well as our needs; relates to our perception of our social status and how others perceive us. I would encourage barflies to talk about food in the open threads, knowing that it is a journey into another labyrinth which is loaded with emotion and potential for disagreement but, essential as we continue facing challenges to our life support system.
Uncle Tungsten, let us know how your avocado trees are doing. And I’ll let you all know how my experiment with pine needle tea goes!

Posted by: migueljose | Jan 28 2022 15:46 utc | 332

again, on the supreme court pick: identity politics is both a symptom and catalyst for a nation’s cultural disintegration. the irony is that the overt message is about overcoming differences, while differences are all thst it accentuates. when manifest destiny has run its course, and imperial expansion is no longer on the horizon, all that’s left is identity politics.

Posted by: mastameta | Jan 28 2022 16:06 utc | 334

@Norwegian #321
The higher gas prices weren’t caused by Gazprom; they are largely caused by Europe’s energy practices ranging from massive investment in unreliable energy sources like solar PV and wind to shutting down all of Germany’s nuclear plants.
But let’s look at just how much revenue Gazprom could generate from natural gas through Nord Stream 2.
Gazprom report on natural gas sales – gazprom.com

Over the course of 2020, the Gazprom Group sold 219 billion cubic meters of gas to countries outside the former Soviet Union (including both exports from Russia and sales of gas purchased by the Group abroad). The net revenue from gas sales (net of excise tax and customs duties) totaled RUB 1,811.6 billion.
In 2020, Russian gas exports to Europe (under contracts of Gazprom Export) amounted to 174.9 billion cubic meters.

If we use say, 74 rubles to the dollar, that’s $24.48B in overall revenue. Sales to Europe are 174.9/219 = $19.55B
$19.55B/174.9bcm = $111 per 1000 cubic meters
Nord Stream 2 capacity is 55 bcm, so Gazprom would generate $6.1B revenue per year, at the 2020 prices from above, if NS2 were operational and at full capacity. No brainer, right?
But of course, this isn’t the actual business equation. Russia can transit gas already via other channels, principally the Ukraine.
Ukraine charges $2.66 per 1000m3 per 100 km.
source: Can Ukraine Do Without Russian Gas Transit Fees on dw.com
Actual numbers: $2B revenue for ~55.5bcm
So the 55 bcm which NS2 can send directly to Germany would cost around $2 billion just in transit fees through Ukraine.
Is that worth a $5.5M investment plus operating costs for NS2? Seems like a no brainer, particularly since there is also significant geopolitical risk with Ukraine.
Of course, all of the above was calculated using average 2020 prices.
Prices in December went over $2100 per 1000m3 at one point, and price right now is over $1000 per 1000m3.
Obviously full year 2022 is not going to see an average natural gas price of $1000 per 1000m3. If we look at 2018 and 2019, peak winter prices were roughly 25% higher than summer (and were around $250 per 1000m3).
So here are the NS2 (max capacity) revenues for various possible full year 2022 gas price per 1000m3:
$850: $46.75B
$650: $35.75B
$450: $24.75B
Note that even at $450 average for full year 2022, Gazprom would generate more revenue from NS2 than it got for its entire worldwide operations in 2020.
This is the reason why – even should the US cut off Russia from Swift somehow (Swift is Belgian), Europe would likely find a way to pay anyhow. Russia supplies 40% to 50% of Europe’s entire natural gas consumption – the above prices would look far worse without Russian supply.
Note also this is very possibly why the American Russia haters are panicking.
High natural gas and oil prices mean not only Russia becomes A LOT richer, it also means Russia has won the economic war via sanctions etc started in 2014.
Russia used the sanctions to build up its internal production capacity, has built stronger energy and other ties with China and will now have more energy revenue than it has seen in a long, long time (2007-ish).
For example, did you know that Russia is now the world’s largest wheat exporter? This on top of being the largest oil exporter, the 3rd largest steel exporter, the largest softwood lumber exporter, 2nd largest copper exporter etc etc.
Russia’s trade surplus in 2020 was $92B; 2021 is going to probably double that.
To compare, the US’ trade deficit was $678.8B in 2020. Adjusted for population, the comparables on trade is -$296B (US) vs. +$92B (RU) in 2020.
For 2021, the comparable is going to be around $-371B (US) vs. $180B+ (RU).
As you can see, even with the exorbitant privilege of the USD, this is pretty stark a comparison.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 28 2022 16:15 utc | 336

Next installment of Robert Whiting up on Asia Times
Adventures of US Electronic Spooks

The output from the signal analysis was collated with the data gleaned from photo analysis and combined with other on-the-ground intelligence to produce air intelligence studies. If war broke out, the pilots of our B-52 bombers would have to know how to enter and maneuver through enemy territory without being detected, for long enough to unleash their bombs.
…
That we were violating the sovereign air space of other countries and then denying, at the highest levels, that we were doing it was something that nobody I knew lay awake at night worrying about. China, Russia and North Korea were communist nations. And communists were the enemy. Those were the times we lived in. And that was the life we had chosen.

As you can see from the 1st excerpt above, the numerous and repeated violations of other nations’ airspace were at least partly for offensive reasons, not defense.
This was also interesting – talked about in a previous article

For the high-altitude flights, the Lockheed U-2 aircraft was used. The U-2 planes had been piloted by American civilians and flown out of Atsugi until 1960 when American U-2 pilot Gary Powers went down over Russia and was taken prisoner. After that, all U-2 flights were flown out of Taipei by Republic of China pilots.

American civilians = CIA contractors?
And we see the use of cutouts: Taiwan pilots.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 28 2022 16:24 utc | 338

Posted by: migueljose | Jan 28 2022 15:46 utc | 328
Thank you, migueljose, for your encouragement and wise words about b’s stewardship here. We have all benefited from his knowledge and viewpoint on international affairs, and it is only fitting we pay him back as best we can.
I have a great love for my postage stamp garden here in the US high mountain west. The soil is poor and gravelly so drainage is not an issue. I compost madly to compensate and it has been trial and error as far as what will grow – veggies do best container grown, and because winters are cold my sunroom gets crowded with said containers – or it used to. Presently I have geraniums in bloom facing south, many succulents,dwarf kale very happy on the cold windowsill and chard in a long tub facing south. It’s a distance to grocery stores so greens are more important than anything else for ongoing vittles wintertime.
My last of many small employments (I’m retired) was at a plant nursery – low pay but plenty of freebies in ‘orphans’ that were not saleable. I grabbed lots of those! And I purchased a few fruit trees that have given me not only fruit when the seasons complied but seedlings for more trees – I crowd in as many as I can, even using some as bordering espaliers around the pathways. As I said, it’s a tiny garden, lots in it though.
Better stop there! 😉

Posted by: juliania | Jan 28 2022 16:54 utc | 340

c1ue @311
Yes, but what you say is too simplistic. Gazprom have paid for the pipeline but they got financing (loans) for 50% of the project. Gazprom didn’t need the financing but it wanted to involve western “partners”. Gazprom has to repay those loans. So 100% of the cost of Nordstream 2 is bourne by Gazprom.
Nordstream 2 is built by “Nord Stream 2 AG” a subsidiary of Gazprom. “Nord Stream 2 AG” has only 1 shareholder which is Gazprom.
Gazprom sought financial investors and the companies you mentioned provide 50% of the costs of the project which will have to be repaid by Gazprom. But what are the terms for servicing these loans? That is not transparent (unless you can enlighten me). There is this extract that indicates that it may be tricky for Gazprom to avoid servicing the financing provided:
Nord Stream 2: Who wins, who loses?
There is only one shareholder of NS2, Gazprom. So, how would NS2’s suspension hurt the energy giant?
“In as much as it would increase the cost, yes,” Mikulska said. “The financing partners — ENGIE, OMV, Shell, Uniper and Wintershall Dea — should be fine as long as Gazprom adheres to the financing terms.”
However, there is an interesting twist, she added. “If Gazprom defaults on its payments, according to the financing agreement, the companies can take over the share of the company.”
But, this is all tangential to my main points @275 which is:
“However, Russia hasn’t lost any money on NS2 because the rise in wholesale gas prices more than covers the cost of NS2. Russia would actually be making less money if NS2 was operating.
“But none of that is relevant. The loss of NS2 would be important to Russia because it would mean that Germany/Europe is allied with the US in containing and encircling Russia and China.
The most important thing that German/European people can do is insist on the opening of NS2 and the flow of cheap Russian gas.”

Posted by: ADKC | Jan 28 2022 17:20 utc | 342

Meanwhile, other news is being produced. Global Times has two important articles linked at the bottom of this Infographic detailing its space exploration plans. One of the articles links to the 5th edition of a White Paper detailing China’s space accomplishments over the past 5 years. A plethora of information is provided, one nugget being that the planned joint lunar research base Russia and Chine will construct is to be located at the lunar South Pole. There will also be an effort by both Russia and China to establish a new UN-based set of rules for space exploration:
“The white paper also states that in the next five years, China will hone its space environment governance capability, strengthen the protection of its space activities, assets and other interests by boosting capacity in disaster backup and information protection, address vulnerabilities, and increase survivability.
“At the same time, China will seek to actively participate in the formulation of international rules on outer space under the framework of the United Nations, and jointly work with other countries to address the challenges of ensuring long-term sustainability of outer space activities. Researching plans on building a near-Earth object defense system, and increasing the capacity of near-Earth object monitoring, cataloguing, early warning and response is also on the schedule.
“Analysts said such plans are of great necessity, and China’s efforts will not only make contributions to the opposition of the militarization of space, but also safeguard the safety of humanity as a whole.
“It is time to deal with space debris and traffic chaos, and China has experienced increasing challenges in recent years, as it builds satellite infrastructure and a space station, they said.
“China could lead the designing of laws in the space sector at the United Nations, hopefully making it a UN resolution to protect all, Song Zhongping, a space observer and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Friday.”
Needless to say, the Outlaw US Empire will oppose any such efforts to restrict its actions. A code of conduct will certainly be required by the time construction begins on the ILRS–International Lunar Research Station–its completion date target being 2035.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 28 2022 17:53 utc | 344

Bill 3739
A worthwhile longish read … 87 footnotes.

Summary
All in all, the story of bill 3739 excellently illustrates Ukraine’s post-euromaidan economic world. This is a situation where the EU nations dictate a destructively liberal economic policy, to the benefit of EU producers and workers, overriding the protests even of significant sections of the domestic Ukrainian economic and political elite. Historically, such situations have been named colonialist, and I see no reason to refuse the use of such a term in the case of modern Ukraine. I would call the situation colonial to distinguish it from the general situation prevailing in the world capitalist system, which is economic imperialism, where poor nations remain poor through the organic mechanisms of the global market, even despite the attempts of the state to improve the situation[86]. A colonial situation maximally intensifies the imperialist economic exploitation of the colonized nation.

https://eventsinukraine.substack.com/p/bill-3739

Posted by: too scents | Jan 28 2022 18:46 utc | 346

John Cleary #298

This is the last chance for Europe. Does the continent possess any honour and integrity whatsoever?

They have been Sturgeoned then, I take it.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 28 2022 11:18 utc | 302

uncle, that comment has gone. Now it might be that it was an overflow when comments in moderation were added back, but I don’t know. I DO know that the heat is now highest in Germany, so whatever b does is ok with me.
But I must find out. Here is the gist of my comment.
…….
uncle, it is much worse than that.
The Russians have framed this as a battle between good and evil. A matter of morality.
For Europe it is the final chance.
The European Commission is hopelessly corrupt; the European Parliament is hopelessly corrupt; the European Court of Human Rights is hopelessly corrupt (as I can personally prove beyond any doubt); the Council of Europe, which supervises the ECHR, is hopelessly corrupt; the Organisation for Seecurity Co-operation in Europe is hopelessly corrupt.
This is the last chance for Europe. Does the continent possess any honour and integrity whatsoever?

Posted by: John Cleary | Jan 28 2022 19:32 utc | 348

Well now:
Yemen: UAE-backed Giants Brigades begin withdrawing from Shabwah

Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 28 2022 20:18 utc | 350

mastameta #327
Thank you for the link on the China satellite clean up. It is good to see one nation taking responsibility for its defunct satellites. But the hyper negative tone of the report was so infuriating – the ugliness of those USA morons always trying to besmirch other nations achievements.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 28 2022 21:05 utc | 352

Posted by: juliania | Jan 28 2022 16:54 utc | 340
Thank you for your kind words. I wish you the best on your garden and food production. One of my aunts lived in the mountains outside Westcliffe, Colorado (8,000 ft) for 25 years, loved every day but growing food was a challenge. She finally gave up on tomatoes. One of her children, my cousin, lives in Salida, Colorado (7,000 ft.) on 5 acres and has a 30 ft. diameter dome greenhouse. He grows lots of food, peas are the only thing he has now.

Posted by: migueljose | Jan 29 2022 3:46 utc | 354

psychohistorian
The facist cabal now in control of Australia would buy dildos at a million dollars a pop if they thought that would fuck china or US/UK told them to do so. When the clowns started loud mouthing about China, China stopped buying some of our exports. It is also setting up the infrastructure to dump the rest of our exports. In the meantime, stuff like coal that China has stopped buying from us, they are now buying from US. Hold your enemy close as the saying goes. China pulls away from the US it will survive whereas US… But back to oz apart from handing our export dollars over to US, many billions are now promised and flowing to the US MIC.
Our biggest threat is US and they will loot this place, then if push comes to shove with China they will just run back home and we’re left to deal with some justifiably very pissed of Chinese.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 29 2022 6:34 utc | 356

Cia working with a drug smuggler to oust Maduro but he gets done smuggling drugs into the US. That place have got to get their act together if they want to rule the world.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-29/alleged-maduro-co-conspirator-says-cia-knew-about-coup-plans/100790342

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 29 2022 8:01 utc | 358

Debsisdead |

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 29 2022 8:10 utc | 360

One wonders about a society that can’t be bothered to paint its bridges.
Pittsburgh ==> https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dvj4NduWsAAdPmz?format=jpg

Posted by: too scents | Jan 29 2022 8:24 utc | 362

Thanks Debs, good to see you here. We’ve had our spats but I agree on the many good posters.

Posted by: jonku | Jan 29 2022 8:41 utc | 364

debs
From your past posts I have gained an impression which may be incorrect of a person who has walked his talk. My time the the aboriginal people of the Kimberly very much changed how I viewed other cultures. You talked about skins and so forth. For that reason I am always interested in your posts, often being the only one to respond, even though it may be just on points I don’t agree with.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 29 2022 9:12 utc | 366

Fake vaccine cards
Fake vaccine cards are everywhere. It’s a public health nightmare.
All I can say is: ha ha ha.
This is entirely an outcome of shambolic American government.
And to be fair, it is almost certainly too late to do anything about this – does anyone really think the vaccination data from the start is reliable or even still existent?
I sure don’t.
Anyway, this is all crying over spilled milk. Let ‘er rip is in full swing, and we’re now going to be faced with the flip side of shambolic American government: if you weren’t vaccinated but got COVID and recovered, do you still need to show proof of vaccination?
Real countries with real governments have programs to address that – the US doesn’t have diddly squat, including in the so-called better COVID governed states like NY or CA, and this can entirely be ascribed to the utterly wrong “vax or nothing” policy under Biden.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 29 2022 18:38 utc | 368

Rhania Kalek on the strangulation of Cuba.
Pub Jan 29. 1hr.13 utoob.

Breakthrough News was on the ground in Havana, Cuba where Rania Khalek spoke with Johana Tablada, General Deputy Director of US affairs at the Cuban Foreign Ministry.
They discussed the US blockade hampering the country’s development, how socialism makes Cuba’s survival possible, why Cuba has such a strong anti-imperialist foreign policy, how Cuba sees the recent left victories across Latin America, Cuba’s vaccine leadership, “Havana Syndrome,” how Cuba’s medical brigades connect to an internationalist foreign policy, its growing relationships with Iran & China, and more.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 30 2022 3:33 utc | 370

Posted by: lex talionis | Jan 27 2022 21:58 utc | 211
From the wikipedia page you posted:
“the further east the Einsatzgruppen travelled, the less likely the residents were to be prompted into murdering their Jewish neighbours.[74]”
Heavens to Murgatroid, don’t tell me ‘The Russians’ were more civilised the further they got away from the Nazi sphere of influence. Surprised that it hasn’t already been edited off the page by apparatchiks of the US MIC.

Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Jan 30 2022 3:47 utc | 372

https://ifamericansknew.org/

Posted by: Joe | Jan 30 2022 6:12 utc | 374

Re: my previous post #369
Fed Could Use 1/2 point increases if needed – FT.com paywalled
So in other words, we’re going to see 4 or 5 (present expectations) 0.25% increases. The Fed Prime Rate needs to at least equal inflation – that mean a 3.75% or greater increase. That’s 15-0.25% increases.
But in order to actually do anything in time for the 2022 elections – rates have to be higher. And it seems the Fed isn’t going to do that unless this statement is a feint (which they have NOT been doing under Powell).
Given all this: I still stand by my view that the Fed will crash the stock market AND fail to tame inflation.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 30 2022 14:41 utc | 376

Supply chain fun
Los Angeles port volumes down

Import volumes to Southern California ports continue to deteriorate, underscoring just how severe the supply chain crisis remains, despite public relations spin to the contrary.
Los Angeles disclosed on Thursday that it handled just 385,251 twenty-foot equivalent units of import cargo in December. That’s down 16% year-on-year and down 18% from December 2018, pre-pandemic.
December marked the fourth month in a row that Los Angeles’ imports fell versus the preceding month; imports were down 4.5% from November and 17.6% from October. December imports were the lowest since June 2020, a month when ocean carriers were canceling sailings to America due to lockdown-depressed demand.
Los Angeles’ December export performance was even worse: Exports were down 41% year on year to 70,872 TEUs, the lowest monthly tally since October 2002, almost two decades ago.
…
Long Beach handled 358,687 TEUs of imports in December, down 12% year on year and down 1% from November, marking the second straight month of declines.
…
Combined LA/LB imports totaled 743,938 TEUs in December, down another 3% from November and 13% from October. Combined LA/LB imports haven’t been this low since June 2020.
…
[from the sub-header] December imports to LA -16% y/y, exports -41%, empties +11%, total volume -10.5%

Yeah, this is going to resolve itself soon…not

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 30 2022 15:02 utc | 378