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February 20, 2022
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2022-015

> What Biden and Blinken fail to understand is that Russia is in total control of the narrative and timeline of the current crisis. <

—
Other issues:

Use as open thread …

Posted by b on February 20, 2022 at 14:46 UTC | Permalink
Comments

perhaps the overwhelming criminality of the Irish Mob and the Jewish Mob and the Italian Mob and the Chinese Tongs in earlier days plays a part in people realizing that races and ethnic groups are not inherently criminal.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Feb 21 2022 12:55 utc | 201

or maybe the overwhelming criminality of US cops is becoming apparent to more people.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Feb 21 2022 12:57 utc | 202

DNR has just officially requested military assistance from Russia.
Now is the cue for the Ukrainian Army to attack a radio station so Russia can start shooting back at 5:45…

Posted by: Malchik Ralf | Feb 21 2022 13:06 utc | 203

@ Republic of Scotland #55:
“what do Australians think about China?”
Shanghai has a bigger population than all of Australia.
That is one thing they need to keep in mind at all times.

Posted by: Malchik Ralf | Feb 21 2022 13:09 utc | 204

How many doses of asthma spray were this time delivered to the Norwegian Olympic Team?
Posted by: v | Feb 21 2022 10:12 utc | 187
Is a team of athletes of whom the majority use asthma medication or inhalers on a regular basis actually representative of the people of their nation?
Posted by: Jen | Feb 21 2022 10:57 utc | 190
No. … Valid question though.
Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 21 2022 12:02 utc | 198
I have the same interest as Norwegian in the Olympics, none. But I disagree that Jen’s question is valid.
The question is specious, as is the question of v @187.
A read of Jen’s 2nd link @190 quotes former Olympic physician Dr. Thor-Øistein Endsjø: “The main reason I do not have any contradictions is that there are many studies that show that these medicines used on a healthy exerciser do not give any benefits. Asthma medicine, for example, to a cross-country runner, may at best bring this practitioner to where he or she normally is. You do not get any better.”[my emphasis]
In other words they are not performance enhancing!
Jen’s question is also pejorative in implying that the majority of Norwegian athletes actually use that medication.
How much was unused would be of interest.
The norsk word for jealous is ‘sjalu’. It’s pronounced almost like ‘shallow’, which is what this whole bit is.

Posted by: waynorinorway | Feb 21 2022 13:28 utc | 205

Posted by: circumspect | Feb 21 2022 2:38 utc | 121
You are right about the short term contracts and spot prices but you are wrong (at least for Northern Europe) on winter temperatures. It’s been an average global warming rain not snow winter.

Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Feb 21 2022 13:34 utc | 206

To Patroklos, Jen, AU1, Malchik Ralf, and anyone else who I’ve missed in response to my comments on Australia, many thanks, its much appreciated.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Feb 21 2022 13:40 utc | 207

Used to be hesitant about refering to the jabs as clot shots, but it’s apt.
100% Fauci. And dropping
Three jabs and an aids test
Sterilisation
Embalmers are reporting strange clots and deaths are in the rise. Stay safe all

Posted by: Some Random Passerby | Feb 21 2022 13:42 utc | 208

https://t.me/intelslava/19366
Intel Slava is posting furiously with current info. Attacks on Russian border posts and inside territory of Russia are ongoing. This will not continue.
I don’t know anything about who writes this intel. There are some older rants there that are queasy to say the least. If you don’t like the words watch the video. Right now too much is happening to spend time on rants.
Malchik Ralf above is up to date.

Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 21 2022 13:53 utc | 209

At the brownshirt. Ya a fully vaxed person is an antivax tin foil hatter. Thanks for letting tbe bar know loud and clear whos the the tin foil hatter.

Posted by: Tannenhouser | Feb 21 2022 14:34 utc | 210

There’s a move that must be crossing some heads right now.
Kiev authorities keep repeating that they’re not calling for any attacks.
Everybody says they still want a diplomatic solution.
Moscow could ask from Kiev: disown these militias and foreign-led units as terrorists, we get rid of them, then we forget about everything since it was the work of rogue malicious actors.
It’d be a long shot, sure, but why not.

Posted by: Misotheist | Feb 21 2022 14:43 utc | 211

Security Council of the RF live. Some serious decission might be taken.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3pYbzFrnQU

Posted by: Paco | Feb 21 2022 14:47 utc | 212

A bit superficial this interpretation by Scott Ritter that Putin controls the narrative. AFAIK the people controlling the narrative are on our side. Russia has a lot of control over the facts on the ground which is not the same thing, and that control is not complete either since Ukraine can escalate in the Donbas.
The option for Russia to intervene is not attractive at all. It will lead to sanction and cancelling of Nordstream because even when there is justification in internatinoal law, our side controls the narrative and that is enough.

Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Feb 21 2022 14:48 utc | 213

There will be no War, and no Russian withdrawal this side of Biden’s SOTU Address on Tuesday March 1 – next week.
Why reward Biden et al for all of this “sh#tfu^#ery”.
If I was Putin I surely wouldn’t.
I would stall out and see what Biden had to say in his SOTU and then do as much as possible to embarrass him in the days after it.

Posted by: Julian | Feb 21 2022 14:52 utc | 214

re: US tank sale to Poland
WASHINGTON — The State Department has approved an estimated $6 billion sale of M1 Abrams tanks and other equipment to Poland as tensions on the eastern flank of Europe remain high over Russian aggression aimed at Ukraine. . .here
Why not?
Poland has received more than $225 billion from the European Union since it joined in 2004. It is slated to get nearly that much again in grants and loans during the current budget ending in 2027, plus another $47 billion as part of Europe’s Covid recovery program. . . .here

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 21 2022 14:54 utc | 215

Tiyzemfloot @ 213
Should Russia change facts on the ground the entire situation is completely changed. Status quo ante will be forgotten. Russia takes an easy victory and no one will care what the yapping dogs at NYT have to say. Which is why this could go nuclear.

Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 21 2022 14:56 utc | 216

The US support for Ukraine is “ironclad” and “unwavering,” but that doesn’t include putting US troops “in harms way.”
…from Military Times:

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the United States will do its due diligence to protect American troops should Russia again invade Ukraine.
“I think our troops will be fine,” Austin told ABC News in an interview on “This Week” that aired Sunday morning. “We will be very diligent in terms of thinking through the range of possibilities and putting the right things in place to ensure that we’ve done everything we can to protect our troops.”. .here

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 21 2022 15:00 utc | 217

Wait, did I write
“ Trying to provoke Russia to go to war is something else. That they will, but I don’t think it will work unless they can get regular Ukrainian troops to attack the country. Which would make the whole operation quite meaningless, because an invasion under those circumstances would be legitimate.”
and did they just…
Shit, this is starting to look ugly!

Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Feb 21 2022 15:05 utc | 218

I am searching the comments and find no mention of
Russia has captured a Ukrainian POW
as his military unit entered Russian territory

Posted by: librul | Feb 21 2022 15:08 utc | 219

The option for Russia to intervene is not attractive at all. It will lead to sanction and cancelling of Nordstream because even when there is justification in internatinoal law, our side controls the narrative and that is enough.
Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Feb 21 2022 14:48 utc | 213
Nordstream is a sideshow. Russia is developing domestic uses for NG, notably, nitrogen fertilizers and aluminum, while Europe cuts the production because producers dependent on spot prices of NG are forced to curtail. In about two years, Russia can re-orient export to LNG deliverable anywhere and a pipeline to China with roughly same capacity as Northstream II. EU has a choice of “increasing dependency” or loosing a part of its industry, and the dependency on products.
That said, Russian approach is extremely conservative on budget side. It is only the last year that Russia committed itself to integrating Donbass in its economy, which includes equalizing the salaries in the budget sphere with nearby Russian regions (schools, health care, law enforcement etc.), and Donbass industry with Russian market (quick growth of employment and salaries, investments, production). Word-wide shortage of steel increased the value of Donbass factories and workforce by a large factor. Observe prior large investments in Crimea that cemented Russian sentiments there.
In short, Russian model is to absorb territory, even if not de iure, only when it can make the people there happy and on the budget that will not be resented by Russian population. Incorporating a much wider swath of Ukraine than now is absolutely against that strategy and mentality, however pro-Russian those regions may be. So, would there be any war, I do not expect anything beyond taking control of the remaining parts of Lugansk and Donetsk regions, the population there is particularly unhappy with Kiev rule, often in the form of “military-administrative local governments”, i.e. outright occupation, and which would remove many military and economic threats from Donbass (e.g. much shorter front line, well separated from large cities, and self-sufficiency in water). In the aftermath, diplomatically, the Minsk deal would be still in the table.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Feb 21 2022 15:13 utc | 220

@Jen #190
I don’t think any Olympic athlete is “representative” of their nation except in the symbolic sense.
It is like saying a professional American football player is representative of Americans – no, they’re genetic freaks then trained up to a ridiculous degree.
The inhaler thing is obviously a performance enhancer – real or imagined.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 21 2022 15:23 utc | 221

Russia defends its border.
“Russia’s armed forces have reported that its troops opened fire on a “Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group” that attempted to cross into the country, killing five servicemen and destroying their vehicles.”
https://www.rt.com/russia/550119-moscow-claims-five-ukrainian-soldiers-killed/

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Feb 21 2022 15:24 utc | 222

On Tass (and RT and Sputnik as well, without links just to not polute the post):
Donetsk and Lugansk leaders ask Putin to recognize republics’ independence
Link to Tass notice
The Duma has voted for the recognition, already. Will it come? And CSTO would step in after that?

Posted by: C Khosta y Alzamendi | Feb 21 2022 15:25 utc | 223

@waynorinorway #205
Asthma inhalers won’t have an effect long term; equally it is completely believable they would not benefit a regular, non-asthmatic person in normal life.
However, to assume they provide no benefit to an Olympic athlete in a race is an assumption too far.
An Olympic athlete is performing to their maximum potential. We have all seen where these athletes are gasping for air at the end of races. Much as with an asthmatic – they are not getting enough air in response to their bodies’ needs.
Is it so impossible to believe that a bronchial dilator – which enables greater airflow into the lungs by suppressing muscle contractions in air vessels in the lungs – would provide no benefit?
The one thing we can know for sure is that these athletes test their performance repeatedly as they train; why again would they be using an allowable medication if their own performance results show no difference?

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 21 2022 15:29 utc | 224

All speakers are for recognition of LDNR. Putin said that a decision will be taken TODAY. Amazing, live and to the point.

Posted by: Paco | Feb 21 2022 15:30 utc | 225

Russian intelligence (SVR) said that – according to its reliable data – the secret services of the West are secretly recruiting militants to be sent to the Donbass, priority is given to those with experience in combat operations in the Middle East, Karabakh and the Balkans, the CIA and the British MI-6 are most active.
According to the SVR, such work is carried out primarily in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo – for participation in a punitive operation in the Donbass, they offer from $2,000 to $3,000 per month, at least 1,000 people responded to the offer.
+
A meeting of the Security Council of the Russian Federation on the situation in Donbass and Ukraine has just ended.
Top officials unanimously spoke in favor of recognizing the independence of the DPR & LPR.
Summing up, Putin said that the decision would be made today.

Posted by: alaff | Feb 21 2022 15:32 utc | 226

Nice of the Nazis to voluntarily cross into Russia in order to let the Russians take care of them 🙂

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Feb 21 2022 15:35 utc | 227

What’s being discussed now in the Russian MSM is if the recognition of the republics is going to be on their present borders or their official borders including the occupied territories by Ukraine. Looks like war.

Posted by: Paco | Feb 21 2022 15:37 utc | 228

CDC data is crap, plus additional commentary – nakedcapitalism

[IM Doc comment on NC]When America first found out about AIDS – it was from the MMWR – Mortality & Morbidity Weekly Report – that has been published by the CDC for decades. This was also the tabulation source during the AIDS crisis of all of the other issues going on from PCP pneumonia to toxoplasma of the brain to all the cancers going on in AIDS patients. The CDC was all over it. The same can be said of ZIKA, West Nile Virus, and countless others. Our CDC was the envy of the world. They worked in total transparency and published all their numbers very quickly.
It is important to note how vitally important that information was for clinicians on the ground during AIDS. It gave us some kind of perspective on problems, their prevalence, and sharing treatment ideas.
This has been one of the most notable failures of the CDC this time – the MMWR may as well be parrot cage liner. They have not been sharing complete information from the beginning about hospitalizations, deaths, vaccine issues, you name it.
For those of us who are veterans – it has been a striking difference. And the tragedy is Dr. Walensky was so vocal early on about how she was going to work on getting the statistics and epidemiologic wings of the CDC up to their former glory.
…
[GM comment on NC]
How many vaccinated people are dying is a closely guarded secret at the federal level, and only a few states are releasing that information locally.
I met someone recently who works in the tech world doing quite advanced stuff, and he genuinely thought that 99% of the people who are dying are unvaccinated.
In reality for very recent time periods (i.e. deep into the Omicron wave) I have only seen numbers for Israel, UK, WA, and MA and the majority of people dying now, 50% to 80%, are in fact vaccinated.
But even quite highly educated people who are not following things closely are completely delusional about the situation.
…
How many vaccinated people are dying is a closely guarded secret at the federal level, and only a few states are releasing that information locally.
I met someone recently who works in the tech world doing quite advanced stuff, and he genuinely thought that 99% of the people who are dying are unvaccinated.
In reality for very recent time periods (i.e. deep into the Omicron wave) I have only seen numbers for Israel, UK, WA, and MA and the majority of people dying now, 50% to 80%, are in fact vaccinated.
But even quite highly educated people who are not following things closely are completely delusional about the situation.
…
The UK itself peaked at the equivalent of 1500 dead a day in the US and 80% of those were vaccinated, so even if vaccination in the US had been at comparable levels, the US would have had over 1000 vaccinated dying every day.

Hear hear. The vaccines do provide some protection from hospitalization and/or death from COVID, but vaccinated people are still dying – plenty of them.
The vax protection is relative, and large numbers still means large numbers of people dying.
I reiterate what I have been saying since March 2020: the problem with having “medical experts” dictate policy is that these medical experts neither have the mandate nor the expertise to make value judgements regarding economic, social value, legal, or any other judgements outside of medicine.
COVID is here to stay – it was NEVER going to be eradicated unless the entire human world was China.
Determination of the policies we live under, going forward, needed to be transparent and evolutionary; what we have received instead is ideological and rigid.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 21 2022 15:40 utc | 229

@Piotr Berman #220
Fertilizer is not an infinite growth potential market.
You are completely incorrect in saying NS2 doesn’t matter.
NS2 matters because it going online means Germany is serious about continuing to engage with Russia on economic matters.
I personally think NS2 is not an existential issue for either Germany or Russia – but I also strongly believe that NS2 is a far greater benefit to Germany than to Russia. The reality is that Russia has the insatiable East Asia market to serve for the foreseeable future.
Japan is a mature market but needs natural gas.
China is a rapidly enriching economy with enormous energy needs.
India, Vietnam, Thailand etc are also growing.
Russia can and will serve China; but Russia also benefits from not being too dependent on China to buy its energy, as well as benefits from having a Europe along its western border that isn’t steered from fanatic Polish/Baltic/US perspectives.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 21 2022 15:46 utc | 230

The Russian security council discussion was carefully choreographed to yield a strong consensus and give Putin the backing to recognize Donbass’ independence and send in peacekeepers.
This is actually the best option politically for Zelensky. He doesn’t have to accept autonomy and look weak, but also nobody expects him to start a hopeless war with Russia.
It’s interesting to see how outraged the collective West will be and whether they will go ahead with a sanctions Armageddon, or if they will have a more muted response, since this is not exactly an invasion.
The bigger question is if there will still be space for negotiation on the European security framework and whether Russia increases or not it’s security long term by de facto annexing Donbass.

Posted by: s | Feb 21 2022 15:54 utc | 231

Well there’s another escalation. Putin advised to recognize Donetsk and Lugansk republics on their pre-2014 borders – so including cities like Slovyansk, Mariupol and Kramatorsk that are currently under Ukrainian control.
So in other words, Ukraine has already invaded those Sovereign Regions and must be expelled by force…
Come, all you Putinversteher, this is your moment of glory in justifying this act of selfless patriotic heroism on his part!!! Tell us again how the Ukrainians are all Fascist/Zionist Banderite stooges and warmongers!!!

Posted by: Malchik Ralf | Feb 21 2022 15:55 utc | 232

Seems clear now that after the Duma voted to recognize the ethnic Russian region, and that sentiment was widely echoed by the Russian security council meeting, and the leaders of the Donetsk and Lugansk asking for that recognition, and military aid, and Putin making the decision ‘imminently’ leads one to suspect this fast-moving situation is about to move a bit faster.
It is also dismaying how many yokels still believe whatever it is their criminal governments and vassals in the media tell them.

Posted by: gottlieb | Feb 21 2022 16:00 utc | 233

Posted by: Malchik Ralf | Feb 21 2022 15:55 utc | 232

Come, all you Putinversteher, this is your moment of glory in justifying this act of selfless patriotic heroism on his part!!! Tell us again how the Ukrainians are all Fascist/Zionist Banderite stooges and warmongers!!!

This is a fair response in warning to the Ukrainians threatening to go nuclear:

MUNICH, February 19. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has said he has instructed the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to call a summit conference of the Budapest Memorandum’s signatories.
“I have instructed the Foreign Ministry to convene a summit of the countries – signatories to the Budapest Memorandum. If it fails to take place or refuses to give Ukraine security guarantees, Kiev will recognize it as well as the clauses signed in 1994 as null and void,” Zelensky told the Munich Security Conference.
The Budapest Memorandum was signed on December 5, 1994 by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Britain and the United States. Under the treaty Ukraine agreed to eliminate its nuclear arsenal, while Russia, the United States and Britain guaranteed Kiev’s security.
(https://tass.com/world/1406455)

Escalation for escalation – fair, don’t you think? Moreover, also quite restrained, given the threat is of a nuclear related tone.
I know another (western) superpower that wouldn’t waste much time bombing the living hell out any country making such overt threats to nuclearise …

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Feb 21 2022 16:04 utc | 234

c1ue @ 221 said”The inhaler thing is obviously a performance enhancer – real or imagined.”
In some “imagined” can morph into real.
c1ue @ 224; EXACTLY!!! good post…..

Posted by: vetinLA | Feb 21 2022 16:08 utc | 235

My take on some of the basics of this issue. As always I could be wrong of course.
Maybe it’s important to realize than the reason Russia (and all other piped gas suppliers since the long-term prices are always cheaper than the spot prices) prefers long-term contracts isn’t political but practical.
Turning production on and off on a whim of the market (or worse; scheduling future demands of production capacity such as infrastructure and people, all on a whim) is costly and economically insecure ending up with overcapacity and wasted capital.
For comparison there are zero piped gas lines from Norway to Europe (or anywhere) due to geography making it so “worthless” it wouldn’t end up any cheaper than LNG ships. Same from the US or anywhere else across the Atlantic over to Europe; simply not worth it.
As for West Asia and North Africa there are so many countries to cross the cost of transit becomes an issue in addition to all the US bombing happening on a regular basis.
That leaves Russia as the only sensible/economical large scale supplier of natural gas for most of Europe.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Feb 21 2022 16:18 utc | 236

Iran must be wondering how Ukraine can openly call for nukes without Israelis assassinating scientists oh wait, Ukraine and Israel are the same thing!

Posted by: Jezabeel | Feb 21 2022 16:21 utc | 237

Posted by: Jezabeel | Feb 21 2022 16:21 utc | 237
It’s acceptable as long as you’re a member of the tribe:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy#Early_life

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Feb 21 2022 16:27 utc | 238

Posted by: s | Feb 21 2022 15:54 utc | 231
I tuned in by chance and had the impression of witnessing history in the making. I don’t think it was the right decision by Kiev, if they are able to take any which is doubtful, granting autonomy to Donbass and other non Ukrainian regions would have kept the integrity of the country, now the situation goes to a new escalation with the question of the Donbass borders plus the intransigence in recognizing the regional differences will only increase the alienation of other regions where minority rights have been suppressed, after all regional autonomy is common in Europe. Ukraine is doomed. Concerning sanctions, Mishustin said that they’ll hurt but they are prepared, we in Europe will pay the price as the foolish new German FM stated during the Munich sabbath.

Posted by: Paco | Feb 21 2022 16:27 utc | 239

c1ue229. Honesty, honesty about what was happening/not happening and most push back doesn’t happen. Most of us aren’t interested in the Alice in wonderland scenario where we are expected to believe numerous impossible things by noon. The insane unhealthy respect for authority that deserves none, and fear are the main problems imo.

Posted by: Tannenhouser | Feb 21 2022 16:32 utc | 240

There is precedent for the recognition of the two republics. If Kosovo can become independent and be recognised on the basis of “remedial secession” or on a sui generis-basis, why not? The purveyors of the “rules based international order” will not like it if somebody else starts playing by their rules.

Posted by: E | Feb 21 2022 16:48 utc | 241

further to my astrological comment @24, it seems the set up in early april is more foreboding then not… the mars-saturn conjunction happens then.. i won’t go into the details, but if any war is going to happen – this is the time frame of concern… cheers..

Posted by: james | Feb 21 2022 16:50 utc | 242

I should add to my comment at 241. One can argue that the republics became independent in 2014 or that they will become independent upon recognition (depending which theory one prefers), but recognition would make it legally possible for the republics to ask for assistance and get it legally.

Posted by: E | Feb 21 2022 16:53 utc | 243

Forgetting the grand scheme a moment. Donbas cannot go long without power and water. It is evident that Donbas was completely unprepared and unprotected. It is evident the Ukraine army, or whoever fights for them, has more capability than expected. It absolutely will not matter that the front is now the Russian border and that the border has been overstepped. Russian aggression is the only possible story for Western media. If there were an entire tank divisions on Russian soil the only possible MSM story is Russian aggression. There is no response Russia can make that is not Russian aggression.
So what do they have to lose?

Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 21 2022 16:55 utc | 244

Ukraine made a mistake in giving up its nukes in exchange for guarantees of security. No other nation is likely to make that mistake again…

Posted by: Malchik Ralf | Feb 21 2022 17:00 utc | 245

@ oldhippie 244
the only possible MSM story is Russian aggression
All the US threat chatter has been about invasion, not aggression.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 21 2022 17:01 utc | 246

Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 21 2022 16:55 utc | 244
Those were the arguments of the Security Council, no matter what we do they’ll keep the narrative so we might as well go for it. The prime minister Mishustin said that they’ve been preparing for quite a while, import substitution and other measures. Unfortunately I don’t think Europe is prepared, if things get real messy fuel is going to be dearer than gold, economies will tank.

Posted by: Paco | Feb 21 2022 17:01 utc | 247

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Feb 21 2022 16:04 utc | 234
A regional treaty with security guaranties signed by all concerned parties? Sounds like something straight out of the Moscow play book if you ask me. (Or rather: if you ask mr Nyt Wapo.)

Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Feb 21 2022 17:05 utc | 248

Posted by: Malchik Ralf | Feb 21 2022 17:00 utc | 245
Sure they made a mistake, they would’ve sold them to anybody interested just like the sold the first carrier to China and missile technology to North Korea. Besides, Ukraine has proven unable to keep any of the Soviet enterprises alive, like Antonov the builder of the biggest and best transport planes on earth, what makes you or them think that the nukes were theirs? They were Soviet, and Russia is the legal heir of the Soviet Union, including its debts that she duly paid.

Posted by: Paco | Feb 21 2022 17:07 utc | 249

@236 sunny runny burger
http://images.energy365dino.co.uk/standard/123892_56c92db59c3d44f0a4b8.jpg

Posted by: ptb | Feb 21 2022 17:07 utc | 250

@234 Arch Bungle
re: Ukraine threaten to re-develop nukes
I guess that’s what theye call the “jumping the shark” moment.
Incredible…

Posted by: ptb | Feb 21 2022 17:10 utc | 251

The Catastrophe of Canada
https://youtu.be/5efyUt5YDU0
Rex Murphy joins Jordan Peterson to discuss the most recent actions by Justin Trudeau’s government.

Posted by: John Gilberts | Feb 21 2022 17:13 utc | 252

Posted by: Malchik Ralf | Feb 21 2022 17:00 utc | 245

Ukraine made a mistake in giving up its nukes in exchange for guarantees of security [EDIT] *from the Americans*. No other nation is likely to make that mistake again…

Fixed, to my taste.

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Feb 21 2022 17:14 utc | 253

Hard to see how Russia has not been out-maneuvered here. By forcing Russia to recognize the breakaway regions, the US will cast them as having invaded Ukraine; this will happen as soon as these regions request and are offered aid by Russia. This will cause the whole panoply of sanctions to come out, will effectively isolate Russia from Europe, and will bring the European states back into heel. It has the added benefit of ensuring that no political solution to the Ukraine ever takes place, and of ensuring that what remains of Ukraine will be friendly to US interests going forward, which will serve to further destabilize the region to RUssia’s detriment.
What am I getting wrong?

Posted by: WJ | Feb 21 2022 17:17 utc | 254

@Sunny Runny Burger | Feb 21 2022 16:18 utc | 236

For comparison there are zero piped gas lines from Norway to Europe (or anywhere) due to geography making it so “worthless” it wouldn’t end up any cheaper than LNG ships. Same from the US or anywhere else across the Atlantic over to Europe; simply not worth it.

Maybe you should check with facts.

Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 21 2022 17:18 utc | 255

Norwegian @152
You didn’t edit my post: You revised it. You added words that I didn’t say. I understand your point that revising copy can lead to words being put in a poster’s mouth that change the poster’s intent. That would not happen if only deletions were made to posts. As chb pointed out at #89, editing can require a lot of work. However, in limited situations where a prolific commentator, who often adds a different point of view to a discussion, includes objectionable material, editing the post could be worth the extra work.

Posted by: Chas | Feb 21 2022 17:20 utc | 256

However, to assume they provide no benefit to an Olympic athlete in a race is an assumption too far.
…why again would they be using an allowable medication if their own performance results show no difference?
Posted by: c1ue | Feb 21 2022 15:29 utc | 224
1. If they are using an allowable medication, what’s the problem?
2. If there is a benefit and it is allowed, why are others not doing it?
(btw, It’s not my claim, it’s the claim of Dr. Endsjø. He said many studies show there is no benefit. If someone can show
he is wrong then fine, but that will only bring them back to my 2nd question.)
Norway’s athletes have been excelling in the Winter Olympics and international winter sports since
Dr. Seuss was in the 1st grade. It’s not because they use asthma meds.

Posted by: waynorinorway | Feb 21 2022 17:21 utc | 257

@Sunny Runny Burger | Feb 21 2022 16:18 utc | 236
https://www.norskpetroleum.no/?attachment_id=20690

Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 21 2022 17:22 utc | 258

@ WJ | Feb 21 2022 17:17 utc | 254
do you think the usa is interested in a political solution? i think that is one thing you are getting wrong… when one party is unwilling to look for agreement, but instead wants to use a pawn ( ukraine) to go for checkmate, the only chance for any change here is for the pawn to recognize it is being used in a bigger game at play.. even then it will be hard… the usa wants to take down russia and is intent on it’s path… a political solution is the least of its interests… a political solution was drafted after 2014 for this – the minsk agreement… but it is an unsatisfactory agreement for the west and the neo-nazis pushing for war within ukraine…. they could go for honouring the minsk agreement, but instead opt to supply weapons to these people, while getting the cia and etc to train them too… so, i don’t see any easy answer here when one party – the west – is intent on destroying any good will or respect for for people generally and the people of these eastern areas of ukraine in particular.. this ought to be obvious to any unbiased observer..

Posted by: james | Feb 21 2022 17:28 utc | 259

Ma Laoshi | Feb 21 2022 12:28 utc | 199
Amazing how much can happen when one pops out to do a bit of shopping !
Nukes, dirty ones at that; I am afraid that Zelenskys’ call for Ukraine to be capable of making nukes (they already have the means to deliver them) has really let the cat out of the bag. The consequences of a dirty bomb go well beyond borders, which means all Europe gets the fallout.
*
Example. Tchernobyl; The radioactive cloud went North as far as Sweden (subject to confirmation), and then proceeded southwards again. The highest radioactivity recorded in France was in Clairvaux-les-lacs. (JU). We (in Switzerland at the time) were ordered to avoid Milk, milk products and mushrooms, which collected strontium etc. Bread was consumed parcimoniously.
Fallout; I lost two friends I was working with in Geneva, to violent cancer, in a period of days and weeks, not months or years. One perfectly healthy cyclist who went into the Jura regularly and another under chemotherapy, both died very rapidly.
The increase in cancer related deaths in all Europe were estimated to increase by 9%. (It may have been in overall deaths – as no further statistics were generally made available.)
***
A study on site related cancer deaths from pollution (there is a clear link between them) was published once and withdrawn rapidly (Same period. This was before the internet was generally available, so it was on paper only.)
****
The number of nukes in Europe is not known but some idea can be got from that period and subsequent additions. (ie Germany nine – Belgium five, most in Italy etc.) There were 57 nukes taken out of Incirlik at the time of the coup against Erdogan. A reputed 13-14 were added to Germanys stock (= 23 min.). Some of the rest went northwards to…. Norway? Sweden? -. Since then the US has sent 8 approx. B-52’s to Europe/UK and Poland. Were they armed?
PS. The Polish Authorities do not have the “right” to inspect or visit US bases. Which is one of the situations the Russian object to.
****
Upset at the Russian frontier;
My bet is that they will send in a “peacekeeping” force first. The difficult choice of Donbass becoming ALL Rus or “again part of Ukieland” will be made later depending on the reactions seen. The Peacekeeping forces will be marked with a Z (which has been seen recently, I presume, to avoid “friendly fire” accidents from drones in the case of further hostilities.)

Posted by: Stonebird | Feb 21 2022 17:28 utc | 260

So then we have established that America, in order to be fair, must either help defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity or return its nukes?
Sounds like the most reasonable thing in the world right now…

Posted by: Malchik Ralf | Feb 21 2022 17:29 utc | 261

don’t anyone tell Peter Hitchens that the Pentagon has solar panels on it. It might confuse him. he probably thinks that superbowl flyovers means Murka really, really loves loves loves its troops. though how anyone can get more confused than saying without irony, “Nato protected Germany from Russia.”
and can i recommend a certain Village People video to Peter? imagine how he’d have absolutely nothing to say today on this topic if the US Navy had adopted “In the Navy” as its song, back when. nothing else about the killing machine would have changed, but we wouldn’t be having these idiotic discussions about how the military hearts fags because of desperate and pathetic PR campaigns they run to appeal to today’s autistic, diabetic youth. and Peter? Sparta was all in for Big Gay. funny how the fascistic, fetishistic worship of the conquering heroic impenetrable, ie male, body is, you know, totally gay. don’t tell Donald Trump. don’t tell Tom Brady.

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Feb 21 2022 17:30 utc | 262

James @259,
No, I do not believe the US is interested in any political solution. Things are as you state them, I believe. But do you think that Putin foresaw that he would be forced into a formal recognition of the LDNR as it looks like he will be? I believe he really did hope to use diplomatic pressure to force Ukraine to implement Minsk in some way. From my perspective, the recognition of LDNR was not something Putin wanted to have to do. Did he foresee that he would have to do it? Did the Russian plans game this all out, or did the force of the Ukrainian attack on the LDNR take Russia by surprise? These are the questions I’m interested in, lamentably.

Posted by: WJ | Feb 21 2022 17:38 utc | 263

WJ | Feb 21 2022 17:17 utc | 254
Reverse sanctions. China is starting to use these. The latest are two us companies (one being Raytheon) being sanctioned for selling arms to Taiwan.
Expect more.
It will be asymetrical war-law-fare.

Posted by: Stonebird | Feb 21 2022 17:39 utc | 264

Posted by: WJ | Feb 21 2022 17:17 utc | 254

By forcing Russia to recognize the breakaway regions, the US will cast them as having invaded Ukraine; … What am I getting wrong?

Quite a lot, in fact. The US will cast Russia as whatever it wants at any time it wishes and it’s lackeys will religiously sing along to the narrative hymn sheet.
So, recognising the republics has nothing to do with it.
There is nothing Russia can do to change the narrative in the west in it’s own favour, the past decade has proven that without a shadow of a doubt.

This will cause the whole panoply of sanctions to come out, will effectively isolate Russia from Europe, a …

Have you learned nothing in the last 50 years about US sanctions? They never draw down! Sanctions are the only lever of power left to the US on the current world stage so the US will exercise them every time it fields even a little insecure. When all you have is a hammer …
Putin acknowledged as much this week so it seems Russia has finally come to the realisation that appeasement of the Americans in the hope of sanctions relief is futile.
What Russia can do is create facts on the ground, and instead of messing about with “narrative reality” begin to change “actual reality”, by making actual strategic changes on the ground. Recognising the breakaway republic has three very practical and necessary benefits:
– Protecting ethnic Russians, particularly a young population of Russians who will shortly contribute to the Russian labour force.
– Gaining approval in the eyes of Russian citizens who sympathise with their brethren in the breakaway republics
– Shoring up a buffer region to protect Russia’s borders from further NATO expansion.
A fourth potential benefit:
– If the republics are recognised they will at least obtain some level of legitimacy in the minds of at least a portion of the international community of nations (I mean the real “International Community” here, not FUKUS and their post-colonial lackeys). This will reduce the impact of the coming media war when Russian forces do decide to enter those regions in large numbers: They won’t be “sneaking in through the backdoor” but rather entering a region which is to some degree recognised as independent from Ukraine.f
The precedent for this last point is Ossetia and Abkhazia following Georgia 2008. Nobody bats an eyelid these days about Russian forces in Ossetia, which demonstrates how effective this strategy is.
Moreover, it sends the message to the American Empire that he is serious, without engaging in direct warfare.
The elites running the West can sit back and study this new reality Putin has created. In the meantime Putin will move on to create new realities for them to study and that’s how the game will proceed …

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Feb 21 2022 17:39 utc | 265

Julian | Feb 21 2022 14:52 utc | 214
>>I would stall out and see what Biden had to say in his SOTU and
>>then do as much as possible to embarrass him in the days after it.
–and that’s why Russia isn’t sitting at the big boys’ table. Forever fretting what their bullies think of them, instead of formulating a national interest and acting on it. All this of course mightily rewards the bullies, who can’t believe their luck that it works every. single. time. The Euros in particular are engaging in a pathetic bluff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7Q4fM5y_1I
At least, that’s how it’s been up to now. If Russia wants to be a playa in European security, then this is the time to show you’re ready and provide security to the LDNR residents. Everybody and I mean everybody has had it with Ukie shenanigans; a show of force is exactly what’s needed to drive home that you can go too far bullying Russia.
——————————–
@Paco | Feb 21 2022 15:30 utc | 225
>>All speakers are for recognition of LDNR. Putin said that a
>>decision will be taken TODAY. Amazing, live and to the point.
This re: that RF Security Council meeting? Clearly RF wouldn’t put their internal disagreements and hesitations on display for their adversaries. If it’s televised live, that’s just a way to lend gravitas to a decision that’s already been taken, foremost to bring their own population along.
—————————————-
@Malchik Ralf | Feb 21 2022 17:00 utc | 245
>>Ukraine made a mistake in giving up its nukes in exchange for
>>guarantees of security.
Nobody would’ve allowed them statehood with boom boom still in their possession, least of all the West. The past eight years have shown why. The Budapest Memorandum worked just fine until a violent Western(-backed) coup killed it.
Posted by:

Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Feb 21 2022 17:45 utc | 266

@ WJ | Feb 21 2022 17:38 utc | 263…
you ask good questions! i believe russia reached a point of no return with the west a few years ago… i think they had held up hope that the west would do the honourable thing and respect the treaties and etc. etc.. at this point, i suspect they know full well that the west will not honour anything that interferes with their overriding agenda which is to ”screw” russia…. so, i am hopeful that putin and the russian leadership could see this coming.. but i am only speculating as no one is going to know for sure here on moa!
i believe another poster – blue dottaral or tuyenfoot shared this link earlier from craig murray, but it is very relevant here and worth sharing again…
Ukraine: Where to Find the Truth in Enormous Detail

Posted by: james | Feb 21 2022 17:45 utc | 267

Arch Bungle @265,
Thank you. This is quite helpful. Do you think Russia knew that they would have to recognize LDNR from the beginning? Did they always know that the US would force the issue by attacking the republics with such force? It is clear that this was always the US’s goal–hence the prior week of priming the domestic audience with claims of Russia concocting false flags, making fake videos, etc., all of which was cover for the US instigated shelling and invasion of LDNR.

Posted by: WJ | Feb 21 2022 17:46 utc | 268

Stonebird @ 260
An atomic bomb can be made with 3 kilos of fissionable. A civilian reactor will have tons of fuel, hundreds of tons of spent fuel and high level waste. The civilian reactor is far more dangerous in terms of the outcomes you note. Current designs for atomic bombs maximize blast and reduce radiation. You still don’t want to be near either.
Ukraine was the center of the Soviet nuclear industry. They still have a substantial fleet of large civilian reactors. Russia would have good reason to take charge of Chernobyl (two reactors still operating) and Zaporozhye (largest installation on the planet). I would suspect most of the engineers who knew much have aged out or emigrated. FSB should want to know rather than suspect. They probably do.
All Ukrainian and nearly all reactors anywhere are superannuated and past due for decommissioning. Which no one knows how to do.

Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 21 2022 17:47 utc | 269

@ Blue Dotterel | Feb 21 2022 8:21 utc | 179… thanks for drawing my attention to the craig murray article.. i highly recommend others read it – see @ 267 – same link.

Posted by: james | Feb 21 2022 17:48 utc | 270

@ Arch Bungle | Feb 21 2022 17:39 utc | 265… thanks! well said! you said that much better then me!

Posted by: james | Feb 21 2022 17:50 utc | 271

Posted by: WJ | Feb 21 2022 17:46 utc | 268

Do you think Russia knew that they would have to recognize LDNR from the beginning?

Absolutely. The discussions around this have been going on in the Duma for years already and pressure to recognise the republics has been rising in the Russian media. For diplomatic reasons Putin (probably on the advice of Lavrov) has been pushing back on this until recently, probably to give the Russian economy time to stabilise and adapt to the massive sanctions imposed over the last decade. Now that the Russian economy has *somewhat* decoupled itself from severe dependence on the West, Putin probably realises this card is available to play.

Did they always know that the US would force the issue by attacking the republics with such force?

They’ve had many precedents to work with and I’d assume the Russians are observant students of the US style of provocation.
Georgia 2008 and before that Chechnya stand as obvious examples Putin would have paid particular attention to.
I suppose this is one benefit of having someone like Putin on the Russian “throne” for so long – the capability to remember, integrate and apply precedent as well as continue with long term strategic evolution …

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Feb 21 2022 17:58 utc | 272

another day in China, another no one dying from covid, while the brites in the West accept mass death. life spans are plummeting, the school and healthcare systems are collapsing, all b/c of something that is fake, hyped. barely enforced restrictions are being dismantled at the exact same time we are at Cuban Missile crisis levels of manufactured war hysteria.
but it’s the virus that’s fake. as the capitalist gov’ts do what they’ve done since day one, lie about how severe the virus is.
“the worst return to laughter” Lear.

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Feb 21 2022 18:00 utc | 273

So the Queen is now officially a horse and is being dewormed
https://mobile.twitter.com/CaldronPool/status/1495738643180568577

Posted by: DG | Feb 21 2022 18:06 utc | 274

Posted by: tucenz | Feb 21 2022 8:37 utc | 181
When it comes to ANZAC I see our destinies and character converge. Especially when the chups are down.

Posted by: Patroklos | Feb 21 2022 18:06 utc | 275

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Feb 21 2022 17:39 utc | 265

The elites running the West can sit back and study this new reality Putin has created. In the meantime Putin will move on to create new realities for them to study and that’s how the game will proceed …

Carl Rove must feel like a student again…

Posted by: hopehely | Feb 21 2022 18:08 utc | 276

@Malchik Ralf | Feb 21 2022 15:55 utc | 232
>>justifying this act of selfless patriotic heroism on his part!!!
>>Tell us again how the Ukrainians are all Fascist
OK I’ll bite. Though on my terms, meaning that not all Ukies are necessarily described by the Big Words you throw around; just the ones engaged in ethnic cleansing and shelling of LDNR, which the OSCE seems to have noticed rather better than you. And especially the ones ordering, funding, and profiting from it.
Now these forces must lose, and be seen to lose, or these shellings will become some demented yearly Ukie spring break. You are familiar with the concept of punishment? Get caught shoplifting, and you won’t have to merely return the loot to its shelf, or you’d be free to try again after lunch. At least, that’s how civilized countries do it; the US made an exception if the hoodlums are of the right vibrant color, and look what it’s doing to their cities.

Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Feb 21 2022 18:09 utc | 277

@Merlin2 | Feb 21 2022 11:42 utc | 195
Why is Eileen Gu American? Should all foreign borned American athletes be considered representatives of the nation that they are born in？The speed skater Sandor Liu is biracial as well. But he chose to represent Hungary, his mother’s country. You don’t see the Chinese people make any fuss out of this. Americans are simply sick and insecured.

Posted by: cindy6 | Feb 21 2022 18:15 utc | 278

@273
another day in China w/o dying of covid …. that would be the Chinese mainland, excluding HK. Which makes a telling contrast in a way

Posted by: ptb | Feb 21 2022 18:20 utc | 279

oldhippie | Feb 21 2022 17:47 utc | 269
“All Ukrainian and nearly all reactors anywhere are superannuated and past due for decommissioning. Which no one knows how to do.”
Ahh, cold comfort for my superannuated heart. ……(!)
**
“An atomic bomb can be made with 3 kilos of fissionable.”
This is the problem, as some in the US military may have decided that using atomic tactical bombs is feasable. They have dial-up or down bombs with variable forces. – However, places like Fallujah and the after effects from DU (Depleted Uranium) munitions don’t go away except in the minds of those who are not nearby.
Ukraine is not only 404, but a nuclear time bomb. The fear of many reasonable people has been if nuclear weapons, or now nuclear reactors, should fall into the hands of “terrorists”. Does a nut like zelensky qualify?
****
PS. there was a remarkable mushroom cloud in Iraq, that was put down to a BIG bomb or the explosion of an arms dump, at about the same time.
***
PS. Nearly all French reactors are built on their borders. Some countries have made sure to place them on Geologically unstable fault lines. What could go wrong?

Posted by: Stonebird | Feb 21 2022 18:20 utc | 280

Here’s an interesting question I’ve not yet heard anyone ask:
Could it be that the entire circus around Ukraine and the Donbas has been manufactured by the US in order to achieve American objectives in Syria?
Could it be that the Americans are purposely escalating the situation in Ukraine in order to gain leverage for another grand bargain: “Give us Syria, and we will give you Ukraine” … ?
Watch the signs …

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Feb 21 2022 18:23 utc | 281

Stonebird @ 280
Yes.
In other news Putin just went on TV to announce Russia recognizes Donetsk and Lugansk as independent republics.

Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 21 2022 18:27 utc | 282

What am I getting wrong?
Posted by: WJ | Feb 21 2022 17:17 utc | 254
Your basic mistake is that you assume that what US says goes. Most countries don’t care anymore. And if you say sanctions, I say diesel.
Yet another foreign policy disaster by team Biden. Do you think they will learn from this one that the nineties are over?
Nah…

Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Feb 21 2022 18:38 utc | 283

@Kukulkan
Over two years into this and most people still don’t know about long-covid. Stop focusing on just the death rates. There is no ‘learning to live’ with a disease that leaves 10% or more of the people it infects with long-term damage, and where this damage has no relation to ever having developed symptoms.

Posted by: Ben | Feb 21 2022 18:39 utc | 284

@Ma Laoshi | Feb 21 2022 8:00 utc | 173
“Bottom line, group-think goes a looong way” Yes I agree that is a big factor in the ‘chorus’ effect.
What that does not entirely address is the simultaneous repetition of very specific, i.e. word for word text. Somebody is definitely circulating ‘talking points’.
Group think is definitely a backdrop, but cannot initiate simultaneity in phenomena, unless the proponents are psychic! LoL

Posted by: Spinworthy | Feb 21 2022 18:46 utc | 285

Posted by: Ben | Feb 21 2022 18:39 utc | 284
I was infected in March 2020. Still on full time sick leave. Thanks for mentioning us.

Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Feb 21 2022 18:53 utc | 286

Thank you for the corrections about Norwegian gas pipelines.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Feb 21 2022 18:57 utc | 287

@WJ | Feb 21 2022 17:17 utc | 254
>>Hard to see how Russia has not been out-maneuvered here. […]
>>What am I getting wrong?
Yes, Russia is now taking the decisions it desperately hoped to avoid; they’re not the winner here. But “outmaveuvered”? Only when you or someone else can convincingly tell us how they could’ve played it smarter. The Euros have chosen to live in the reality which Anglo media create for them. oldhippie gets it; more pointedly, so does the Kremlin. Russia can retreat behind the Urals, or bring the hammer down and show why you don’t mess with the Bear. Narrative is only all-powerful as long as all parties are bound by its spell.
Let’s not forget, that atm say RU-GER trade exceeds pre-Maidan levels. The Euros talk the talk, but they’ve never stopped watching their own wallets. Yes this week will be SHTF, but who is to say that six months from now it won’t be the same?

Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Feb 21 2022 18:59 utc | 288

Posted by: james | Feb 21 2022 17:50 utc | 271
Thanks. I forgot to mention the implications for Zelensky, not that I’m sure how that’s relevant but it seems Russia has essentially decided the results of the next Ukrainian election …

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Feb 21 2022 18:59 utc | 289

@ Ma Laoshi 232
agreed, there are some fascist fuckers in Ukraine. But this rather casual regard for established national borders, and now Putin’s speeches in which he tells us that Ukraine is not a valid state to begin with are truly disturbing developments.

Posted by: Malchik Ralf | Feb 21 2022 19:21 utc | 290

@Spinworthy | Feb 21 2022 18:46 utc | 285
>>Group think is definitely a backdrop, but cannot initiate
>>simultaneity in phenomena
I may be one generation too old to know how things work today, but is that even true? The cool kids follow each other on Twitter; they follow Downing St. By the time they start writing their article, the general mood has been set.
And I question your portrayal of the media landscape as myriad voices: almost everything comes though the Big Three news agencies. Of those, Reuters is completely controlled and the others differ only in degree. Then in the next stage of the pipe, MSM is in the hands of a small gaggle of billionaires.
And sometimes, we see behind the curtain. When Hillary collapsed at that 9/11 gig, the DNC scrambled to distribute the talking point: “HRC attended with pneumonia–she powered through, because that’s what women do” (which if true would confirm that the old cow lost it, but I digress). Then that got parroted across the board, without disclosing that it was a DNC quote. Does this illustrate what you asked about?

Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Feb 21 2022 19:35 utc | 291

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 21 2022 8:16 utc | 176
Thanks for the Anoushka Shankar musical interlude. Ravi would be proud:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h4dI2pW8vg
It has encouraged me to practice on my East Arnhem Land didgeridoo, circa 1970, with original oche paint.
Did you notice the location of the lithium in The Donetsk Republic?
Mining that deposit would require a Ukrainian military attack.
“The two deposits, discovered and subsequently explored in the 1980s and 1990s, are located in Shevchenkivske in the Donetsk region and in Dobra in the Kirovograd region of western Ukraine. Both sites are said to be “under-explored” according to modern methods and “contain significant expected resources”, according to a statement by the Australian company, who have so far made a name for themselves in Europe mainly as the owner and operator of a lithium mining project in Wolfsberg in Carinthia, Austria. A “phased acquisition” of the two deposits has now been agreed, with the transaction expected to close in November 2022.”
https://www.electrive.com/2021/11/08/european-lithium-secures-ukranian-lithium-deposits/
https://europeanlithium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/211103-Announcement-Millstone-transaction.pdf
“…Millstone representative Mykhailo Zhernov will be appointed to EUR’s board upon completing the first tranche of the placement, with a further director to be appointed following acquiring Petro Consulting…”
“…Zhernov has a track record of 20 years in the financial sector of Ukraine, CIS, Central and Eastern Europe.
He currently serves as the managing partner at Millstone & Co Investment Company, a private investment company specialising in investment, asset and capital management in Central and Eastern Europe..”
“…The Shevchenkivske project has an exploration target ranging from 11.0 to 14.0 million tonnes at 1.2 to 1.3 % lithium oxide…”
https://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/965217/european-lithium-ukraine-expansion-brings-105mt-of-well-advanced-targets-and-a-5-million-upfront-placement-from-vendor-965217.html
There are huge sums of money involved in this sovereign risk project.
https://smallcaps.com.au/director-transactions/
Just who is attacking whom and why may now be more easily explained.

Posted by: Paul | Feb 21 2022 19:43 utc | 292

Posted by: Paul | Feb 21 2022 19:43 utc | 292
Oops, link above failed.
M Zhernov recently threw some more money at the lithium project:
27/1/22 EUR European Lithium M. Zhernov ↑$2,500,479
Of course the MSM isn’t connecting the dots.

Posted by: Paul | Feb 21 2022 20:01 utc | 293

@Tannenhouser #240
I’m not really sure what you’re trying to say.
If you’re deriding the Western government actions and response to COVID, I share that – but it isn’t because I think COVID is no big deal.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 21 2022 20:11 utc | 294

@Malchik Ralf | Feb 21 2022 19:21 utc | 290
>>Putin’s speeches in which he tells us that Ukraine is not a valid
>>state to begin with
It’s… a point of view–particularly one promoted by the Ukies themselves. When China politely reminded Kiev about billions in outstanding debt, the Maidan junta just laughed it off: “Try to get it back from Yanukovich, this has nothing to do with us.” This supports the viewpoint that Ukraine died eight years ago when its democracy was overthrown. It’s a different place now: Banderistan; Nulandistan. Main problem is that Ukraine was never properly buried, so its corpse has started to smell. This is possibly getting rectified now.

Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Feb 21 2022 20:11 utc | 295

Yes, Paul, it’s hard to say what it is about the Australian Army that makes it formidable. There’s a quiet unassuming professionalism …
Posted by: Patroklos | Feb 21 2022 6:00 utc | 160
Until today, I could not understand how Australians finished the riots in Solomon Islands so quickly.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Feb 21 2022 20:16 utc | 296

Ben | Feb 21 2022 18:39 utc | 284

Over two years into this and most people still don’t know about long-covid.

I presume that if someone developed long-Covid they would notice. So I think my comment stands.
Over two years into this and there’s bugger-all research into who is most likely to develop long-Covid, what the risk factors are, and what forms of early intervention are most effective at alleviating it. Just vaccine mandates, which aren’t working as advertised.
Our symbol-manipulating elites have encountered a problem that doesn’t seem amenable to being fixed by redefining words, demonising those they don’t like, and narrative control. As Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism is wont to say: Quelle Surprise!
What part of “focus on the most at-risk groups” did you misunderstand?

Posted by: Kukulkan | Feb 21 2022 20:22 utc | 297

@waynorinorway #257
Let’s break down your reasoning:
1) You said

If they are using an allowable medication, what’s the problem?

So in other words, so long as any cheating method is not specifically prohibited, it is fine?
I disagree. In particular – you are taking the same line as illegal drug customizers: oh this meth isn’t really meth because it has a different chemical structure by 1 or 2 components as we synthesized.
2)

If there is a benefit and it is allowed, why are others not doing it?

There can be many reasons including that the “asthma inhalers” aren’t just straight bronchial dilators; that other nations aren’t willing to break the spirit of “no performance enhancing drugs”; that other nations don’t believe that they would get the exceptions with Norway/Sweden/etc do; that other nations athletes just don’t train the way needed to make best use of said inhalers for one or more of the above reasons.
3)

(btw, It’s not my claim, it’s the claim of Dr. Endsjø. He said many studies show there is no benefit. If someone can show he is wrong then fine, but that will only bring them back to my 2nd question.)

Dr. Endsjø is citing “studies” – are any of these studies specifically to see if peak performance in a short term athletic event, with or without top athletes, is benefited by asthma inhalers?
A standard scam by the unscrupulous is to take totally unrelated studies such as studies of asthmatic and non-asthmatic students walking around to show “nothing to see here”, or choosing participants carefully, or any number of ways to skew results. I personally have enormous doubt that there are any studies specifically to see if there is a short term, peak physical performance benefit to using an asthma inhaler. The studies are to see if there are medium and long term benefits and/or negative effects – there is no reason for anyone to do a study for a 1 race impact of an asthma inhaler.

Norway’s athletes have been excelling in the Winter Olympics and international winter sports since
Dr. Seuss was in the 1st grade. It’s not because they use asthma meds.

Past performance doesn’t equate to future performance.
While bronchial inhalers were not invented until 1950 – it doesn’t mean that Norwegian athletes weren’t (or were) cheating before then. After all, the use of steroids in East Germany was rampant starting in the 1960s; baseball players in the US used all manner of performance enhancing drugs in the 1910s and 1920s including amphetamines, cocaine etc etc.
So really, while I don’t think Norway is East Germany – at the same time it is more than a little odd that the Norway Olympic team – all 84 of them – need 6000 inhalers.
I am curious as to why you don’t consider this odd either? Other than nationalism, of course.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 21 2022 20:27 utc | 298

@Spinworthy #285
I’ve already postulated a method: Twitter.
The PMCs – media and more – all subscribe to the same feeds and follow the same people (and each other).
It isn’t hard to see how a specific meme analyzed – the “best response” is hashed out and the result gets transferred at the speed of the internet to the entire group.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 21 2022 20:39 utc | 299

@Ma Laoshi | Feb 21 2022 19:35 utc | 291
This phenomenon was happing before Twitter and instant messaging were ever a thing. I recall examples shortly post 9-11 when anti-terrorist legislation was being implemented in several different countries around the world and both the several legislators (in different parts of the world) and their respective media were essentially reading from an identical script verbatim.
Again none of this can be attributed to instant messaging, synchronicity or groupthink. Such occurrences are statistically anything but coincidental.
As you point out the MSM is essentially a very limited membership information/propaganda cartel at this stage.

Posted by: Spinworthy | Feb 21 2022 20:39 utc | 300

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