@ Norwegian | Mar 15 2022 17:35 utc | 89

That is an extremely US centric analysis. European politics used to include some actual leaders, but since a couple of decades they are all puppets. E.g. Stoltenberg was a puppet PM that got promoted to NATO because of his quisling qualities.

Last I checked, the current EU assembly is basically just a collection of castrated representatives from around Europe forced to implement the policies of a largely unanswerable EU bureaucracy, where the bureaucracy takes its directions from Bilderberg, WEF, and many, many others.
The players are different, but the structure is precisely the same.
You’re lucky because you live in Norway–a large land with a relatively sparse population. That, more than anything else, is the reason I would offer for the sanity of your own and your Nordic brethren’s economic and foreign policies.
However, in the Assange case Sweden proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that the rule of law there, too, is just as pliable to Oligarch commands as that of any NATO or other “western” country.

Posted by: Pacifica Advocate | Mar 15 2022 17:51 utc | 103

It’s becoming tiresome to have to remove URL links because the software won’t post your comment with them included. Again, I’m removing the link so my comment goes through.
I’m reading Luongo’s blog essay on the currency development, and he says some interesting things:
“I know this opens up a massive can of philosophical worms. That’s exactly the point I’m trying to make. When civilization breaks down, legal claims tend towards zero value. Civilization breaks down through the systemic subversion of the agreed upon rules to the advantage of some at the expense of the other.
“And what bigger subversion of the rule, ‘thou shalt not steal’ could there be than a debt-based Ponzi scheme of inside money being used to suck up legal claims to most of the world’s valuable resources while actively suppressing the value of the competing outside money to defend people’s claims to it?
“This is what Poszar is implying when he says we’re moving away from inside money to outside money. Inside money is created through rules and laws, not markets. Outside money is created through labor, time and human ingenuity. It is tokenized human capital.
“This is the real implication of Poszar’s note that we are approaching a new Bretton-Woods where outside money will replace inside money as the reserve asset of the financial system.
“The West has stupidly picked a fight with the one country, Russia, that has the commodities needed to run the world and bring about this return to an outside money based system.
“Poszar rightly argues that the inside money system only works if commodities trade within tight spreads, ie. almost zero geographic arbitrage. This is another way of saying, this shit money is ,only worth using if everyone has confidence of the system because commodity prices are not under real systemic stress.
“It works because everyone still believes (wrongly) that the rules of civilization are mostly equitable and it’s possible to defend your property through its institutions.” [My Emphasis]
If you’re going to have a political-economy based on People Centered Development–uplifting and expanding the worth of Human Capital–then you’ll want a monetary system based on that Capital and the resources it extracts to enhance life–genuine net value, not artificial paper crap.

Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 15 2022 17:57 utc | 105

Western pro-Nazi MSM uses photos from Donetsk, where Zelensky’s ballistic missile with canister warhead killed more than 20 civlillians, and had to kill hundred (Ukrainian trolls in social nets managed to call “mothers of Donbass” to gather in the place and time of the pre-planned strike).
Nothing of this pro-Nazi MSM report, bad gladly re-use pictures from Donetsk as “Russian brutality” in Kiev or in Yavorov
https://aftershock.news/sites/default/files/u21540/%D0%A0%D0%90%D0%9A%D0%95%D0%A2%D0%90.jpg
https://aftershock.news/sites/default/files/u21540/%D0%9F%D0%9E%D0%94%D0%9E%D0%9B.jpg

Posted by: Arioch | Mar 15 2022 17:58 utc | 107

If we enter a financial system that is based on access to commodities, because the markets see the confiscation risks of the dollar, then this fact alone counters the sanctions enacted by the West against Russia, because the ruble is backed by the biggest commodity supplier on earth. Is it possible that this a reason why the ruble isnt crashing against the dollar, that markets are already reacting to the new reality?
Arne Hartmann | Mar 15 2022 17:22 utc | 87
Thanks. Exactly so. USD becomes less of a reserve currency. OVer the last days the ruble has recovered v. USD.
In 2015, Obama – like him or ignore him – in addressing the opponents of the Iran Deal said this:
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/08/05/remarks-president-iran-nuclear-deal

[.]We cannot dictate the foreign, economic and energy policies of every major power in the world.
In order to even try to do that, we would have to sanction, for example, some of the world’s largest banks.  We’d have to cut off countries like China from the American financial system.  And since they happen to be major purchasers of or our debt, such actions could trigger severe disruptions in our own economy and, by the way, raise questions internationally about the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency. [.]

Whatever. Was Biden his VP?

Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 15 2022 18:00 utc | 109

Oh well, nobody wanted to read that comment anyway.

Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 15 2022 18:02 utc | 111

Just stumbled upon this. Can’t speak to authenticity.
Seems that playing weekend warrior in Ukraine isn’t panning out as many had hoped. Sick fucks traveling afield to kill people for their own amusement should and will be buried under rubble or shot in the back.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1503737123261800452

Posted by: WastelandChic | Mar 15 2022 18:08 utc | 113

@JB | Mar 15 2022 17:19 utc | 83

I have reservations towards G Lira and consider his statements as just that.
I don’t know why he is Ukraine, how long he has actually been there, what he is really doing there, especially since he was initially mentioned as stuck there in a hotel.

He is married with an Ukrainian woman and has 2 kids. They live in Kharkov. No, he was not “Initially mentioned as stuck there in a hotel”, he participated (from Kharkov) in several Duran videos about the situation in Ukraine dating before Feb 24.

Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 15 2022 18:12 utc | 115

Posted by: Arioch | Mar 15 2022 17:21 utc | #86
The Justine Castro internet meme is amusing but false. His family first visited Cuba when Justin was 5 and his brother was a newborn. Here is Margaret’s recollection.
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/margaret-trudeau-fondly-remembers-1976-trip-to-cuba-and-the-charming-dictator-who-cuddled-her-baby

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Mar 15 2022 18:13 utc | 117

Norwegian | Mar 15 2022 18:12 utc | 111
Thank you for the clarification about why GLira is in Ukraine.
There was much confusion about him initially here.
All my reservations remain.

Posted by: JB | Mar 15 2022 18:19 utc | 119

live coverage from donbass shelling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAo7go-4l0g

Posted by: ld | Mar 15 2022 18:26 utc | 121

@Pacifica Advocate | Mar 15 2022 17:51 utc | 101

Last I checked, the current EU assembly is basically just a collection of castrated representatives from around Europe forced to implement the policies of a largely unanswerable EU bureaucracy, where the bureaucracy takes its directions from Bilderberg, WEF, and many, many others.

Yes. Puppets.

You’re lucky because you live in Norway–a large land with a relatively sparse population. That, more than anything else, is the reason I would offer for the sanity of your own and your Nordic brethren’s economic and foreign policies.

True, a small population with long traditions and many natural resources has been our strength. But it is being lost.

However, in the Assange case Sweden proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that the rule of law there, too, is just as pliable to Oligarch commands as that of any NATO or other “western” country.

Sweden is twice the size of Norway, but there are many similarities. After the assassination (CIA suspected) of Swedish PM Olof Palme in 1986, it became corrupted. After the assassination (usual suspects suspected) of Norwegian labour youth politicians in 2011, the corruption in Norway could no longer be denied.

Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 15 2022 18:28 utc | 123

Why would the US do this.
If they wanted to intervene they would have done it by now.
Posted by: Paul Cockshott | Mar 15 2022 18:19 utc | 114
Study history. In a major war, the Anglos and American’s will wait until the combatants have exhausted themselves and then enter the fight to mop up. They couldn’t care less about Ukrainians.
If Russia does not succeed in a couple of months, that is the scenario that will play out. Russia’s supply lines will be stretched and vulnerable. The false flag will be the pretext.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Mar 15 2022 18:32 utc | 125

@Pacifica Advocate #90
Let’s cut to the chase: you assert that the oligarchy is getting its way.
Is this way the incompetence we see?
That’s the core of the difference between what Lira and I are saying and what I – possibly erroneously – understood you to say.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 15 2022 18:37 utc | 127

@karlof1, I’ve been puzzled by all the analysis that Russia failed in the info war, including at saker and similar places. My Russian is terribly rusty but I can get by listening so I’ve been able to get a different take. What Russia is showing to the rest of the world is this whole thing being done by adults who take it seriously. The MoD briefings are straight business, simple declarations of fact and essentially no bragging. In fact, it has corrected rumors about taking areas. That’s what the rest of the world is seeing. They’re seeing care being taken to not destroy civilian infrastructure and the massive humanitarian operation Russia is running concurrently with a major military operation.
Saw a Ukrainian tik tok from a captured city, people walking in the square and the guy says it’s quiet and peaceful now. Shops have all the essentials and medicines; internet, phone, electricity and water work. ATMs work though sometimes not enough cash. (Which also means that the Ukrainian banking system is operational in Russian held places. Russians aren’t being greeted as liberators, but they are absolutely working hard to earn the trust of people caught in this conflict.

Posted by: Lex | Mar 15 2022 18:37 utc | 129

Germany is governed flunkies. Our Green minister for economy Habeck wants to tax those companies who bought energy for cheap before the Ukraine war that can profit from the rising prices now by selling the energy again. He labels them as “Kriegsgewinner” or war profiteers. In other words he wants to link future taxation to an event in the past (cheap energy). Additionally, he selectively only wants to tax specific companies as if they did something evil and were involved in the Russian planning. So remember, if you have an investment that tunrs out to be profitable, even if you couldnt plan it that way, you will be taxed in Germany. Yes, this is reality in Germany with the Greens in govt.
https://twitter.com/MKreutzfeldt/status/1503435288064176131

Posted by: Arne Hartmann | Mar 15 2022 18:42 utc | 131

I am reading “An Introduction to Antonio Gramsci” by George Hoare and Nathan Sperber. It is a fascinating book as they go through Gramsci’s thoughts, all written in tiny prison notebooks smuggled out by his wife while he spent the latter part of his life in Mussolini’s prison system. His understanding of how fascism takes hold in a society is very profound and illuminating.
One of the things he wrote about was the “progressive” education policies of the Italian fascist regime that mirror much of the “progressive” education policies of the present neoliberal era in the US and some other nations. He identifies them as being designed to dumb down the majority, while the minority elites still send their children to schools where those children are subject to the hard and repetitive work of building the skills and ways of thinking necessary for the later abilities to critique and form new political and intellectual constructs.
“Centrally, technical or professional teaching for children of working class or peasant backgrounds was included in the curriculum, and the ‘spontaneity’ of pupils was promoted at the expense of supposedly overly mechanical transmission of knowledge that had previously predominated. Somewhat paradoxically this fascist education policy could perhaps be perceived as progressive today, as it aimed to replace what it took to be formalism and theoretical aridity with communicative exchange between students and teachers … In a note titled ‘In Search of the Educational Principle’ Gramsci takes a stance opposite to that of the [educational] reforms. He asserts, rather, that the experience of elementary and secondary schooling by necessity includes a share of suffering for the child, since it requires the imposition of bodily and mental discipline to which there will initially be resistance. Despite their possible tediousness, Gramsci also sees in Latin and grammar a stepping stone towards the future capacity for free thinking, and considers the capacity for abstract thought made possible by these students may also be converted at a later date into tools that will allow the fusion of theory and practice” (page 41).
This is the truth that parents tend to know and our “educational reformers” try to gaslight against. It may help account for the utter docility of so many of the population in North America and much of Europe. It would also scramble the minds of “progressives” to be told that a hero of the left, Gramsci, was absolutely against what they were proposing – which are in fact a fascistic educational system for the working class designed to forestall the development of the very faculties required to operate as a truly free citizen.
https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Antonio-Gramsci-Thought-Legacy-ebook/dp/B0176HP6Y4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=D3TFXLAV7G04&keywords=an+introduction+to+gramsci&qid=1647370203&sprefix=an+introduction+to+gramsci%2Caps%2C79&sr=8-1

Posted by: Roger | Mar 15 2022 18:53 utc | 133

“that is a long and kind of dirty story, with many suspicions but little evidence
Arioch | Mar 15 2022 17:21 utc | 86
The topic should not be about Justin.
You went there I did not. So let me be clear on the connection to Cuba; his eulogy in praise of Fidel Castro and his admiration of tyrants – here below are some headlines from 2016 and 2018:
2016
Trudeau faces backlash after Castro tribute | CBC News
O Canada: Trudeau’s Castro tribute raises eyebrows – CNN
Justin Trudeau Criticized for Praising Fidel Castro as ‘Remarkable – NYTimes
Justin Trudeau draws criticism for praising Fidel Castro –  The Independent, UK
2018:
Canada MacLean’s, national Mag.
The Trudeau family’s love of tyrants
“Political blind spots are inevitable when you have warm thoughts for oppressors”
Fast forward, the stunt he pulled on the Freedom Convoy 2022 protesters. We await the decisions of the Federal Court on the several JCCF suits brought by former premier and existing premiers.
The precedent of the New Zealand (NZ) High Court, Feb. 24, 2022; in the case against Vaccine Mandates brought by NZ Police and Defense Force employees will be cited, submitted in the Plaintiffs’ List of Authorities.
NZ court ruled “Vaccine Mandates are a Breach of Rights”… and coercion is illegal.” Suspended officers ordered to be reinstated.

Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 15 2022 18:54 utc | 135

If we enter a financial system that is based on access to commodities, because the markets see the confiscation risks of the dollar, then this fact alone counters the sanctions enacted by the West against Russia, because the ruble is backed by the biggest commodity supplier on earth. Is it possible that this a reason why the ruble isnt crashing against the dollar, that markets are already reacting to the new reality?
Arne Hartmann | Mar 15 2022 17:22 utc | 87
Thanks. Exactly so. USD becomes less of a reserve currency. OVer the last days the ruble has recovered v. USD.
In 2015, Obama – like him or ignore him – in addressing the opponents of the Iran Deal said this:
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/08/05/remarks-president-iran-nuclear-deal
[.]We cannot dictate the foreign, economic and energy policies of every major power in the world.
In order to even try to do that, we would have to sanction, for example, some of the world’s largest banks. We’d have to cut off countries like China from the American financial system. And since they happen to be major purchasers of or our debt, such actions could trigger severe disruptions in our own economy and, by the way, raise questions internationally about the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency. [.]
Whatever. Was Biden his VP?
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 15 2022 18:00 utc | 105
No. Not exactly so at all. The reasons why the ruble has for the moment partially recovered against the dollar is twofold: Russia is pulling out all the stops in defending the Ruble, including jacking up interest rates to 20pc and introducing capital controls; the other reason is that the dollar, being the petrodollar, is pegged to the price of a barrel of oil, with a numerically inverse relationship: the higher the price of a barrel of oil, the less a dollar is worth.
Since this war theater started, both the dollar and the ruble have crashed in real terms, but the ruble has crashed significantly more, even with the monster interventions.
If you don’t realize that Russia is in a world of hurt, too, then you might go back and recheck your math.

Posted by: reante | Mar 15 2022 19:02 utc | 137

Brannagyn | Mar 15 2022 16:29 utc | 54

I guess he’s hoping that his status as sole Yankee on the ground, will boost his subscriber base.

Wrong! As he makes clear in other videos, he is Chilean. (With a Ukrainian passport.)

Posted by: foolisholdman | Mar 15 2022 19:08 utc | 139

Pushing any false flag at this point will just backfire toward western soft power and their morale.
The more horrible thing Russia “do” the more impotent will western people feel once their rage brings no action from their governments which either know it is fake/or they believe it but won’t do anything fearing Russian military retribution (nuclear war).
Sanctions and dehumanization of Russia is already complete, Russian side absolutely has no motive any more to fight for truth to come out in west.
So, this is just another ploy to castrate western population, while it won’t change anything geopoliticaly or militarily.

Posted by: Abe | Mar 15 2022 19:09 utc | 141

Abe | Mar 15 2022 19:09 utc | 138 ‘Sanctions and dehumanization of Russia is already complete,’
Nope. EU is still buying oil and gas from Russia. A decent false flag – lots of dead babies and stuff and the Euro twits will also cut that off.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 15 2022 19:21 utc | 143

US puppet Stoltenberg sabre rattling, probably in order to get Nato members to increase their military spending to keep the MIC happy.
Russia’s offensive on Ukraine has ushered in a “new security reality” in Europe, NATO Secretary General “Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Tuesday. Stoltenberg called for more weapons, more exercises, and “major increases in investment” to strengthen the pact’s European presence.”
“There are now hundreds of thousands of forces on heightened alert across the alliance,” Stoltenberg told a press conference in Brussels, referring to the 100,000 American troops on the ground in Europe, the 40,000 troops under direct NATO command on the continent, and the Patriot air defense systems currently en route to Poland from the US, and to Slovakia from Germany and the Netherlands.”
This military buildup, he said, “sends an unmistakable message: An attack on one ally will be met with a decisive response from the whole alliance.”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 15 2022 19:30 utc | 145

Some back-of-the envelope calculations about the Russian army achievements:
I’ll make a simple comparison with one of the NATO’s greatest failures before the Afghanistan retreat.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_2012_raid_on_Camp_Bastion
Firefight in an urban setting.
15 taliban fighters break near the hangars and the main runway. The cleaning took 4 (four!!!!!) hours. Involved 30 men on the ground with helicopters to cover them. Both sides could not use artillery.
Note that the taliban fighters didn’t have fortifications 🙂 or a lot of ammunition. Only what they could carry.
So some quick math: 4 hours to clean 10 decares (my assumption). 1 sq. kilometer = 1000 decares. So 400 hours for 1 sq.km. So 400/24 = 16,6(6) days for 1 sq.kilometer of urban area…
So Russian forces achievements looks more than impressive. I would like to watch how an “western experts” explain this factually.

Posted by: zloster | Mar 15 2022 19:35 utc | 147

media is odd in oz today, war porn is almost gone from tabloid press but still top story in finance press.
found this headline very funny, i don’t subscribe to the ruling class being stupid but empire sure looks like it is clutching at straws: Why China is unlikely to overtake the United States to become the biggest economy in the world (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-15/china-faces-significant-hurdles-to-become-biggest-global-economy/100912398 it isn’t worth reading except to understand zombie logic)

Posted by: Rae | Mar 15 2022 19:52 utc | 149

Posted by: Misotheist | Mar 15 2022 14:59 utc | 9
They need you at Common Dreams.

Posted by: Gene Poole | Mar 15 2022 20:03 utc | 151

Sad someone like b who is such a good analyst is featuring a lier. This guy is an outright lier if he was in kharkiv he would’ve been lynched by now

Posted by: A.z | Mar 15 2022 20:08 utc | 153

From Rt.com (I still have it with shaw as ISP) “US looks for ways to get heavy Soviet weaponry to Ukraine – media
The US is reportedly trying to provide S-300 air defense systems to Kiev after an arrangement with Polish planes has stalled”. I wonder how serious of a threat this would be. Assuming US coerce some country to bring them to the Ukrainian border , how are they going to proceed from there?
(PS: I tried posting this in the morning, bur it didn’t work, sorry if this has been mentioned already).

Posted by: Calgary Guy | Mar 15 2022 20:09 utc | 155

Paul Cockshott | Mar 15 2022 18:19 utc | 114

Why would the US do this.
If they wanted to intervene they would have done it by now.
They and the UK have made it clear that they think the risk is too great to intervene.
On the otherhand some faction in Ukraine might do it in a forlorn attempt to draw the US into the conflict.

The US is not united. There are factions inside the administration. Some want war and some (probably in the Pentagon) do not. The war party, presumably think that a FF could tip the balance their way.

Posted by: foolisholdman | Mar 15 2022 20:12 utc | 157

Here is a prediction – those three leaders heading to Kiev by train are bombed, even killed. More likely, the train is attacked but not really damaged, ie the leaders survive, but then, right before Zelinskey talks to Congress, there will have been this OUTRAGEOUS attack on NATO heads by the Russians!!! This might even trigger Article 5. Then the entire country of the USA and the world, gorged on outrage from this baseless attack on the three leaders, will hang on Zelinskey’s every word, after which Congress will take an authorization of force vote, right then, tomorrow, enabling Biden to basically wage war on Russia if he wishes. The false flag attack wont be chemicals but the train attack. Then when Biden heads for Europe next week, he is heading over there with a virtual declaration of war in his pockets. Maybe even some attacks in response to this murder attempt on the leaders, for example 27 MIGS to Ukraine.
Just imagine the energy and emotion tomorrow – all of Congress, Zelinskey, the attacked, maybe even murdered NATO leaders……
But just listen to the Chinese these past few days. The currency flip is happening. What if China decides right now to go into Taiwan? They probably won’t because it seems the Russians are steadily advancing and soon to cut off the Ukrainian forces in the Donbass, and have surrounded Kiev…ie, Putin has nearly met his objective, at which point he will stop. There are many on the West who are trying to amp this up before that happens – so, back to my prediction.

Posted by: Boomheist | Mar 15 2022 20:15 utc | 159

@ Boomheist | Mar 15 2022 20:15 utc | 154
that story is bullshit.. i would just ignore it.

Posted by: james | Mar 15 2022 20:17 utc | 161

also on cbc radio this morning, i heard boris the clown – uk leader, comparing russia to a drug pusher… they are pushing the oil and etc, and we ( the drug addicts- although he didn’t say this! ) have to get off of it…. i found the quote on national public radio here in canada, hilarious… maybe boris thinks if he can be a bozo clown like zelensky, he can get more traction in the uk public opinion polls… hard to know what he is thinking that that analogy…

Posted by: james | Mar 15 2022 20:30 utc | 163

Roger @135–
Thanks for your reply! Ukraine as Suez IMO doesn’t quite fit since one colonizer was telling two other colonizers I’m now Top Dog, so lay off. Rather, we have two nations that recently became independent that are collectively telling the last Brutish Outlaw Empire that it’s days are over and a new way that incorporates the best of the old way will now become paramount. If you’ve read the several joint statements made by Russia & China plus the speeches of Putin and Xi to the old order at Davos, then you’ll understand why I have that POV.
Back in December when Russia made its security proposals, I had no clue the Outlaw US Empire and its vassals would behave like Hitlerians, but they did; although now having done more study into the deep background of the situation, I’m no longer surprised. IMO, the core elements of the Putin Doctrine is what we’ll observe going forward, which as Karaganov wrote back on 16 Feb. entails “From constructive destruction to gathering,” the new international currency and institutions being a prime example as well as the demise of dysfunctional European institutions. Ukraine will be solved to Russia’s satisfaction and not before, and that might take several years of stewardship and reeducation of the polity. The diehards will die hard or migrate West, where they’ll become a problem for their parents. A few European nations will break with EU and NATO, which will begin their demise as institutions of control by the Empire. Geoeconomics will eventually do its work as Europe cannot survive without Eurasia’s resources. To remain allied with the sinking Outlaw US Empire is to invite stagnation, poverty and penury then rebellion. It must be recalled that the Euro is just as artificial as the dollar and will suffer a similar fate.
Eventually, I expect Ukraine to be rehabilitated. The only way the Outlaw US Empire can stop the current process is as I described back in December–to upend the card table while drawing its gun, which would seal its destruction.

Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 15 2022 20:30 utc | 165

Posted by: Arioch | Mar 15 2022 15:47 utc | 32
Get it in English from their Telegram channel, also the MoD channel.
t.me/MFARussia
t.me/mod_russia_en
Foreign Ministry statement (https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1804365) concerning personal sanctions on US senior officials and affiliated persons.

In response to a series of unprecedented sanctions that prohibit, among other things, entry to the United States for top officials of the Russian Federation, starting March 15, the Russian stop list includes, on the basis of reciprocity, President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, as well as several agency heads and other prominent US figures.
This step, taken as a response measure, is the inevitable result of the extreme Russophobic policy of the current US Administration, which, in a desperate attempt to maintain American hegemony, has abandoned any sense of decorum and placed its bets on the head-on containment of Russia.
However, we do not oppose maintaining official ties when it is in our national interests, and, if necessary, we will address the issues arising from the status of the black-listed individuals in order to organise high-level contacts.
The list of US citizens included in the stop list is as follows:
1. Joseph Robinette Biden;
2. Antony John Blinken;
3. Lloyd James Austin III;
4. Mark Alexander Milley;
5. Jacob Jeremiah Sullivan, National Security Advisor;
6. William Joseph Burns, Director of the CIA;
7. Jennifer Rene Psaki, White House Press Secretary;
8. Daleep Singh, Deputy National Security Advisor;
9. Samantha Jane Power, Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development;
10. Robert Hunter Biden, son of the US President;
11. Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, former US presidential candidate;
12. Adewale Adeyemo, US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury;
13. Reta Jo Lewis, President and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
More announcements will be made soon concerning the expansion of the sanctions list to include other top US officials, military leaders, lawmakers, business executives, experts and media personalities who promote Russophobia or contribute to inciting hatred of Russia or imposing restrictive measures.
These actions will be taken in harmony with the major decisions of the Government of the Russian Federation in finance, banking and other areas to protect the Russian economy and ensure its stable development.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 15 2022 20:40 utc | 167

@Norwegian,
I suppose Lira is referring to COVID. This has nothing to do with the nature of a society and how well it operates, other then revealing incompetence. The U.S. in 2019 was a basket case of corruption, war crimes, and mismanagement. It was also that way in 2018, 2017, and so on. Maybe 2019 was a good year in Chile. I daresay it wasn’t at least for America, the Middle East, the Congo, and Afghanistan.

Posted by: Edward | Mar 15 2022 20:43 utc | 169

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 15 2022 19:21 utc | 139
I don’t think so, most europeans still buying gas from Russia isn’t because DBT hasn’t been reached (dead babies threshold), but because eu is bunch of whores that would deal with devil himself it is in their interest, or self preservation is at stake.
That said, eu whores are now pushing back against US because they reached point of self preservation against their master, so it is a fun times now. But them being spineless whores means they will end up in middle ground, as enemies of both Russia and US, so their future and destiny will be to be vassals and slaves.

Posted by: Abe | Mar 15 2022 20:48 utc | 171

In case nobody has posted a link yet – Douglas MacGregor retired US military – tells it like it is – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFngc_8RiVc

Posted by: Aslangeo | Mar 15 2022 20:51 utc | 173

1. Joseph Robinette Biden;
3. Lloyd James Austin III;
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 15 2022 20:40 utc | 163
Americans notice though:
I would first note that president Biden is a junior, so they may have sanctioned his dad. May he rest in peace.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/russia-sanctions-biden-officials
We could say that we care not about american naming quirks, but we honored “Lloyd James Austin III” so for the purposes of that statement we did.
Then we actually misnamed POTUS.
Which might hint this decision was not pre-planned but actually was sudden, with o time to calmly iron out all little details.

Posted by: Arioch | Mar 15 2022 20:55 utc | 175

Gonzalo on another live stream today:
RexCast #22 | UKRAINE CRISIS: With Gonzalo Lira in Kharkiv

Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 15 2022 21:03 utc | 177

Of course Lira is right about incompetence. It is obvious. The decline in ability of Western leaders is significant. Now even if the puppet masters are more competent, the fact they select imbeciles indicates their standards are dropping. Do you really think that 50 years ago the UK would have had Boris or FFS Liz Truss. Would the USA have had Biden, Trump or Bush Jnr or even Reagan. It is blindingly obvious in Australia where our current PM would not have been allowed to serve the coffee to Menzies or even Fraser.
Even the spooks are falling in quality. The USA was never much good but the MI6 were and I suspect Mossad. Now all three are failing.

Posted by: watcher | Mar 15 2022 21:04 utc | 179

What if there was false flag incident and nobody came to the rescue of the Ukies? You know just more “sanctions from the depths of hell”! I am not convinced NATO wants to be humiliated militarily by Russia. We shall see.

Posted by: Chicago Bob | Mar 15 2022 21:08 utc | 181

One thing which is going mostly unnoticed is the massive humanitarian effort that Russia is engaging in inside and outside Ukraine, in pursuant of its political goal to not alienate the Ukrainian population by its military operation. Here is an example report of the Joint Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response in Ukraine.

Meeting of the Joint Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response in Ukraine
Since yesterday, the Russian Federation has been conducting an unprecedented humanitarian operation in Mariupol. At the same time, the civilians rescued yesterday and today confirm all the previously made assumptions about the nightmare and horrors that took place in this city.
The Ukrainian nationalists mined all the approaches to the city, blew up bridges, residential quarters of Mariupol, kindergartens and schools, medical institutions and other civilian infrastructure facilities were turned into strong points, ammunition depots, firing points, and Mariupol residents themselves were used as a human shield. At the same time, under the threat of death, all able-bodied residents were driven to the equipment of barricades, trenches and other engineering structures.
The inhumanity and ruthlessness of the agonizing Ukrainian neo-Nazis towards their own civilian population is fully confirmed by the so–called “festung” concept they borrowed from the fascists – “fortress cities”. The special tragedy of such tactics lies in the fact that the Nazis created all conditions for the mass destruction of civilians in order not to leave a single living witness to their monstrous crimes.
In addition, nationalist battalions and units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have disabled life support systems, housing, social and administrative infrastructure of the city, individual buildings and structures have actually been wiped off the face of the earth, shops have been looted, monuments and objects of historical heritage have been desecrated and cannot be restored.
All our previous appeals with persistent and diplomatic appeals to the Kiev authorities to allow the civilian population to go to safe areas were completely ignored.
Despite the complete unwillingness of official Kiev to protect the civilian population from terrorist attacks by crazed nationalists, as well as the complexity of the situation, aggravated by the actions of disparate armed gangs, the Russian Federation continues to fully fulfill its humanitarian obligations.
More than 450 tons of food, medicines and basic necessities have already been delivered to the civilians of Mariupol to provide humanitarian assistance, including 225 tons today. Mariupol residents are being evacuated safely through open humanitarian corridors from the unblocked city.
Starting at 10 a.m. today, exclusively for humanitarian purposes, the Russian Federation has already provided humanitarian corridors for the twelfth time in the Kiev, Chernigov, Sumy and Kharkov directions along one humanitarian corridor to the Russian Federation, and one more through the territories controlled by the Kiev authorities towards the western borders of Ukraine. The Russian Armed Forces strictly observe the imposed ceasefire.
Of the ten routes we have proposed, the Ukrainian authorities have agreed on only three, but at the same time, not a single humanitarian corridor to the Russian Federation has been confirmed by official Kiev again, which once again proves the indifference of the current government to its own people.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 15 2022 21:16 utc | 183

That’s what lamp posts are for.

Posted by: Ryan | Mar 15 2022 21:20 utc | 185

There once was a barfly karlof
Waging a one-man war against dot.gov
But lately he’s been opining
In posts he’s been signing
“Farewell: from Russia with love”

Posted by: Patroklos | Mar 15 2022 21:22 utc | 187

The workers allege the crates are supposed to carry food, medicines and other supplies to the civilian population by convoy from Poland, but they’re instead filled with, weapons, ammo and explosives.

Wasn’t that the plot to Gleaming The Cube?

Posted by: ljkenfal | Mar 15 2022 21:29 utc | 189

Roger @ 120
“I am sure that Gonzola Lira is a genuine fellow, but he does not possess the relevant knowledge and skills to talk about much that he is talking about. I watched a video where he tried to discuss matters financial and he was completely off base. He has in some cases been elevated to the point of incompetence, he should stick to his very interesting takes on Ukrainian society and the ongoing war. Mercouris should treat him as an on the ground observer, not some knowledgeable geopolitical analyst.”
A little snobbery-poo to add to the stew?
The two videos I watched here today struck me as a real guy talking in a real way and he is not wrong calling western leadership puppets and clowns nor talking about the threat of a false flag. But what do I know because I’m just an ordinary guy too.
btw, I appreciate many of Roger’s comments, this one not so much.

Posted by: simon crow | Mar 15 2022 21:41 utc | 191

Another good reason the Rubble is holding is Putin has now backed it with GOLD.
Posted by: Kim | Mar 15 2022 20:08 utc | 150
Unless you can present information to the contrary, he hasn’t backed the ruble with gold. All Russia can do at this point with its gold is use it as collateral for trade outside of the dollar system.
Economically we are a long way from returning to gold-backed currencies. The last time currency was legitimately backed by gold, oil was less than $5 a barrel. Global oil consumption will need to be a small fraction of what it is now before a gold standard returns.

Posted by: reante | Mar 15 2022 21:46 utc | 193

karlof1 | Mar 15 2022 16:39 utc | 60
Likklemore | 15 marzo 2022 17:14 ora | 81
Strangely, the news is only in Sputnik Armenia
https://ru.armeniasputnik.am/20220314/eaes-i-knr-razrabotayut-proekt-nezavisimoy-mezhdunarodnoy-valyutno-finansovoy-sistemy-39753506.html
The news appears also on a site in Kyrgyzstan which refers to a site in Kazakhstan
https://24.kg/english/227491_EAEU_and_China_to_draft_independent_monetary_and_financial_system/

Posted by: FZappa | Mar 15 2022 21:49 utc | 195

Posted by: JB | Mar 15 2022 17:19 utc | 83
“I don’t know why he is Ukraine, how long he has actually been there, what he is really doing there, especially since he was initially mentioned as stuck there in a hotel.”
He lives in Kharkiv IIRC. He was in the other town temporarily which is why he was stuck in a hotel. He left there and went back to Kharkiv by train.
“I take him as person who is on the ground and who can tell us about the state of affairs where he is. All else is his opinion.”
I agree. He does have contacts around Ukraine, however, so some of his opinions of what is going on in Ukraine are probably true. Beyond that, his political and social opinions carry no more weight than anyone else’s. I recognized that in the first video from him I watched a couple weeks ago.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 15 2022 21:49 utc | 197

The flag false is coming on the 18 the march 2022.whereas the flag of the black hand shall be lowered and flag of white raised by both sides.

Posted by: mcohen | Mar 15 2022 21:54 utc | 199