An ancient English prophecy regarding Ukraine:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
Four-score Men and Four-score more,
Could not make Humpty Dumpty
where he was before.

-- Juvenile Amusements (Samuel Arnold, 1797)

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Mar 6 2022 12:35 utc | 1

The EU bigwigs, we're not at war with Russia.

(Charles Michel) European Council President.

"The chief of the EU’s top political body confirmed that the EU pledged €500 million ($547 million) in military aid to Kiev, €450 million ($492 million) of which will go to buying weapons."

Yes the EU is at war with Russia it just hasn't declared it yet.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 6 2022 13:02 utc | 2

Dmitri Orlov on Humpty Dumpty

Posted by: par4 | Mar 6 2022 13:04 utc | 3

Anytime who takes one look at the map cannot fail to see that Ukranazistan is finished. You don't even need the photos and videos of incinerated Ukrainian armour and scattered corpses which are all that is left of entire brigades to know it's over. So the only question is, why the hell is the regime not agreeing to the best possible terms for a negotiated surrender? Zelensky himself is of course for a certainty not in Kiev, probably not even in Lvov, and is in any case just a rubber stamp, but don't his own cabal who are so trapped on Kiev see the writing on the wall? If what's left of the Verkhovna Rada assembles to impeach Zelensky (just as it did Yanukovych) Russia will certainly help the process along. So what are they waiting for?

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Mar 6 2022 13:18 utc | 4

In India, the upper middle class idiots who blindly support the Ukranazi coup regime are busy blaming *Russia* for their kids being stuck in Ukranazistan, where some have been taken hostage by the Ukranazis in Kharkov and others beaten back by Ukranazi border guards at the Polish and Tomanian frontiers. And they're obsessing delusionally about these kids, to the extent that the average Indian citizen who has enough trouble making ends meet has become utterly disgusted with them. At the same time, Modi's "balancing act" where he's tacitly siding with Russia is really a course correction after 3 decades of Indian regimes rolling over to appease America, and since most Indians are reflexively pro Russia this has gone down not too badly here to say the least.

By the way on Twitter I saw some Brit moaning about the sudden increase in petrol and heating oil prices and wondering "what was going on". The nitwit really cannot comprehend that picking a fight with Russia might affect his cost of living.

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Mar 6 2022 13:21 utc | 5

Lurk | Mar 6 2022 12:58 utc | 2

The threat from the US military command inside NATO HQ became aggressive from 2007 forward - read about Gen. Breedlove and Ivo Daalder: making Russia a Pariah state. From US presidential transition January 2020 Trump to Biden on forward, the situation in Kyiv worsened by the day (Maidan in 2014 Pyatt/Nuland).

In December were some Azov neo-Nazis honored as national heroes by Zelensky and his glorious reception in Munich with more threats to Russia sealed his case. The refusal by EU/NATO to give a response of some substance and the White House to even consider the value of Russia’s 🇷🇺 grievances, set the date to change events by military means. Indeed a needless war provoked by the West. This is the end of the EU-27 — great stupidity.

My latest : Assassins on the Potomac River

Posted by: Oui | Mar 6 2022 13:33 utc | 6

@ Biswapriya Purkayast

India is on track to be the largest energy consumer in the and world just signed an oil supply agreenment with Russia on Dec 6th., that is why they abstain from UN votes

The US is planning to sanction India but for India the choice is simple, they do not have the infrasture for overpriced US LNG so freeze & starve and kiss their development goodbye or put up with sanctions

I don't believe any regime in India would survive hundreds of millions freezing/starving to death because someone gets paid off to cancel the oil agreement

Posted by: abee | Mar 6 2022 13:41 utc | 7

@Oui | Mar 6 2022 13:33 utc | 7

That still does not answer the question: why did Russia not attempt to rally an official UN intervention in the Ukraine before going in on its own accord? Imagery of tanks and guns give propagandists in the west an easy job. Had the gravity of the debate been centered on images of dead children in the Donbass and the nazi parafernalia so abundantly on display in other parts of the Ukraine, it would have been much harder to spin into "muh putin satan!"

Posted by: Lurk | Mar 6 2022 13:42 utc | 8

Posted by: Lurk | Mar 6 2022 13:42 utc | 9

That still does not answer the question: why did Russia not attempt to rally an official UN intervention in the Ukraine before going in on its own accord?

This would very likely have been vetoed by France, the US and UK.
For the same reason there is no UN peacekeeping force in Gaza or the West Bank - they're not wanted there by the PTB.

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Mar 6 2022 13:50 utc | 9

That NYT article on “necessary mythmaking” is very revealing. One of the experts quoted explains that lies are important when “lives are at stake”.
“Safe and effective “. LOL
Also, if you read to the end of that article, they will link you to another where they explain that any pro-russian sentiment in the usa is tied to “Qanon influencers”

Posted by: Platero | Mar 6 2022 14:11 utc | 10

Putin cured covid!!!

Dear MOA,

Why don't you talk about the just released Pfizer docs and the increasing covid death shots that are and will continue to occur in the near future instead of the obvious forced Al-CIA-Duh misdirection narrative?

Anti-Propagandist

Posted by: Anti-Propgandist | Mar 6 2022 14:31 utc | 11

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Mar 6 2022 13:18 utc | 5

Given the number of persons shot dead recently, I surmise that the neo-Nazis shoot anyone who even thinks about negotiating. Ukraine won't surrender until some Ukrainian military forces get the hint and overpower their "Political Czars".

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 6 2022 14:32 utc | 12

@Lurk #2
For surprise.
A UN Security Council vote would have certainly given the Ukrainian Armed Forces at least 2 weeks to prepare.
As it was, while it *may* be true that portions of the Russian government and military were surprised - it is 100% true that the US, EU and Ukrainian Armed Forces were surprised.
Let's not forget that it wasn't just breakthroughs from Crimea and Belarus in the first day of the "military operation", it was also a breakthrough of the front lines in Donetsk by the LDPR armed forces.
We'll never know, but it seems likely such a breakthrough would have been far more difficult if total surprise had not been achieved.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 6 2022 14:57 utc | 13

Its interesting how the invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated how pathetic Russia's army is. I thought they were a powerful nation but it turns out they are very weak.

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Mar 6 2022 15:16 utc | 14

Re: Bhadrakumar
Indeed - the ramifications of the Central Bank of Russia asset seizures will resonate for years.
I have also pointed out the potential risks if private contracts like the depository receipt system are abrogated.

But ultimately, "its the economy, stupid".

Latest average gas prices in the US:

Current Avg. $4.009

Yesterday Avg. $3.922

Week Ago Avg. $3.604

Month Ago Avg. $3.439

Year Ago Avg. $2.760

US average gas prices were $3.61 on Monday, 2/28 - an over 10% increase in under a week.
The $4.11 record price established in 2008 may be broken as early as this coming week, and the $5/gallon predictions are proliferating.

The impact of these price increases: directly on US consumer finances and indirectly via goods prices due to transportation, cannot be underestimated.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 6 2022 15:20 utc | 15

@c1ue | Mar 6 2022 14:57 utc | 13 - in the other (wrong) thread

@Lurk #2
For surprise.
A UN Security Council vote would have certainly given the Ukrainian Armed Forces at least 2 weeks to prepare.
As it was, while it *may* be true that portions of the Russian government and military were surprised - it is 100% true that the US, EU and Ukrainian Armed Forces were surprised.
Let's not forget that it wasn't just breakthroughs from Crimea and Belarus in the first day of the "military operation", it was also a breakthrough of the front lines in Donetsk by the LDPR armed forces.
We'll never know, but it seems likely such a breakthrough would have been far more difficult if total surprise had not been achieved.

What says that there could not have a similar surprise if an attempt had been made to establish an UN intervention? Would not such an attempt have suggested that Russia would not be prepared to act unilaterally?

Posted by: Lurk | Mar 6 2022 15:25 utc | 16

Dammit still posted that in the wrong thread. sorry, b.

Posted by: Lurk | Mar 6 2022 15:27 utc | 17

Comment from another site re: gas prices:

Ha! You should see the price on the pump when I finish putting 200 gal. of #2 Diesel in the big truck. It’s more than the property tax is on my Indiana home paid every 6 months and in fact more than ANY monthly bill I pay other than a mortgage I’m still paying off.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 6 2022 15:45 utc | 18

"Yesterday I was scheduled to appear in panel discussions of that war hosted by two of India’s best known news providers, Times Now and the India Today Group. I was unlucky on both."

Unlucky? Or maybe silencing a rational, well spoken, unashamed Russia supporter like Gilbert Doctorow? being cut off once for technical problems and twice due to editorial changes on Indian media...

Call me cynical, but perhaps his bad luck refers more to how, despite popular hashtags in support of Russia, there are still significant pro Western forces influencing decisions in India.

Posted by: Et Tu | Mar 6 2022 15:55 utc | 19

French-Canadian politics, continued from my comments in the previous non-Ukraine thread. There I posted an oped from today’s La Presse, which compared Yemen with Ukraine. Suggestion perhaps being that Quebec would prefer to reach out to refugees from that war instead of this one. Next, we have this:

Québec Green Party leader faces backlash after calling Putin’s demands reasonable
https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/quebec-green-party-leader-faces-backlash-after-calling-russia-s-demands-reasonable-1.5807325

(And he re-tweets from RT! Gasp!!)

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Mar 6 2022 15:55 utc | 20

Rats are multiplying in DC - of all species...

The Rat Problem In Washington DC Is So Bad 2 People Got Hantavirus

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 6 2022 16:12 utc | 21

You're all traitors.

Posted by: uncle sam | Mar 6 2022 16:23 utc | 22

Its hard b to report about the bigger picture and not be referencing what is going on at record pace....grin

Below is a quote from a ZH piece that describes how Russia is responding in the financial war

"
So in an innovative attempt to circumvent this eventuality, on Saturday Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing companies to pay foreign creditors in rubles, even though we doubt any of Russia's foreign creditors have any interest in being paid in rubles which have lost 50% of their value in the past week.

The decree establishes temporary rules for sovereign and corporate debtors to make payments to creditors from “countries that engage in hostile activities” against Russia, its companies and citizens. The government will prepare a list of such countries within two days.

According to Saturday’s decree on servicing foreign-held debt, payments will be considered executed if they are carried out in rubles at the central bank’s official rate.
"

The claims being made about the relative value of this or that during this war are only useful for propaganda and nothing else.

I posit the next couple of weeks in the financial war are going to be hard to comprehend by us at the bottom because we will not be privy to the levers being moved behind the scene....we are dealing here with a bigger show than the UN and it is all based on FAITH in what someone says is the acceptable structure of finance and the intrinsic value/ownership of everything.

Birthing an alternative China/Russia axis financial structure and the tools to support it is only part of the challenge. The other is the interface to the other side of the bipolar world.

As soon as risk assessment becomes obviously broken the markets will freeze, there will be banking holidays and TPTB will explain to the masses the solutions agreed to internationally (assuming that occurs which will be seminal, in and of itself)....should be interesting.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 6 2022 16:27 utc | 23

Uncle Sam @ 22

Actually you're the one guilty of treason uncle sam for selling the country out to banksters, war mongers and for-profit, hi-tech totalitarians.

Posted by: gottlieb | Mar 6 2022 16:33 utc | 24

This is the NOT Ukraine thread.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Mar 6 2022 16:56 utc | 25

thanks b... some excellent articles today from you... much appreciated... i have read 3 or 4 of them already! enjoy the day folks..

Posted by: james | Mar 6 2022 17:04 utc | 26

The WaPo article on the developing insurgency strategy read in concert with “On the Cusp of an Economic Singularity” reflects a steady slide into disaster which does recall the lurch into WW1. While it appears as chaos theory writ large and beyond the control of even those in leadership positions, it comes down to a single policy position:

“As early as last December, some U.S. officials saw signs that the Ukrainian military was preparing for an eventual resistance, even as Zelensky downplayed the threat of invasion.”

i.e. the simple alternative of implementing the Minsk Accords and seriously addressing Russia’s stated regional security issues could have prevented both the invasion and the attendant global financial meltdown, but those logical moves were apparently never considered or advocates for such were marginalized. No one with public influence has stated this obvious point.

“If Russian and Ukrainian negotiators… reach some settlement, that will likely diminish the momentum for an insurgency and support for it”

So there will be no settlement until the government-in-exile is declared in Poland.

Gasoline almost $2/litre in Canada, food prices noticeably about 10% higher than a few weeks ago. But the predictable meltdown of the larger financial architecture will lead where? Some crowing in the press today that VISA and other credit agencies have left Russia behind - but are these agencies even going to exist anywhere a year from now? I don’’t see anyone in the west’s leadership cadre capable of foresight or navigation in heavy seas… our countries could rapidly flip into authoritarian structures.

Posted by: jayc | Mar 6 2022 17:57 utc | 27

When the situation involves hundreds of millions of people, it's not really about personalities, or politics, or even cultures, so much as it's biology and physics at work.
For example, to culture, good and bad are some cosmic conflict between the forces of righteousness and evil, while in nature they are the basic biological binary of beneficial and detrimental. What is good for the fox, is bad for the chicken.
This is because communities need to function as a larger organism, especially in times of stress. Our supposed individual autonomy be damned. That is why the immune response will kick in far more overwhelmingly against any internal dissent, than actual force against an external danger.
Government, as the executive and regulatory function, is effectively the central nervous system of the community, whether it's organized hierarchically, or more integral and feedback generated. This dynamic is generally centripetal, as it focuses the efforts of the group.
Money and banking are analogous to blood and the circulation system, as they organize the flow of energy and resources around the community. As such, when run for the good of the community, it is centrifugal, in pushing energy out to the extremities. Though as it functions within a group of semiautonomous individuals, this dynamic will become corrupted and direct these flows to preferred, rather than in effective directions.
The functional fallacy of democracy is that it becomes difficult for those elected to plan much beyond the current election cycle, so real power tends to gravitate towards banking interests and those they favor.
Which is not to say we need to go back toward private government, ie, monarchies, but begin to acknowledge the need and functionality of banking as a public utility. It took a couple hundred years to get beyond monarchies and only the machine gun, in World War 1, actually finished them. So breaking the grip of private banking won't be much easier, though they are certainly making the need obvious, as they cook their own golden goose.

Posted by: John Merryman | Mar 6 2022 18:00 utc | 28

legal strategies (legaltech?) enabling the use of binding arbitration costs to hurt large companies

Nibbled To Death By Ducks - pluralistic.net [Cory Doctorow]

The proliferation of arbitration has rapidly eliminated the very idea of civil justice for individuals wronged by companies, with private arbitration increasingly replacing courts. For a while there, it seemed like our rights had been eliminated by a conspiracy to insert binding arbitration into every contract, terms of service and business onboarding.

But then some clever lawyers noticed a critical flaw in the arbitration scam. Businesses have to pay the arbitrator, and that costs thousands of dollars per claim. If these lawyers could figure out how to streamline the arbitration process and file thousands of claims, they could cost businesses far more in fees than they'd ever have to pay in a class action settlement. Then the businesses would cry uncle and release their workers or customers from the binding arbitration and give them a day in court.

The first serious success for this tactic came in California, where Uber drivers had been forced into arbitration to recover hundreds of millions in wages that Uber had stolen for them. When Uber found itself facing thousands of arbitration claims, it surrendered and paid the drivers $146m.

...

Last spring, Amazon removed arbitration from its Alexa terms of service, as a way of escaping thousands of claims over its deceptive sharing of Alexa audio with third parties:

...

For decades, Intuit bribed and bullied the IRS to keep it from automatically sending Americans pre-completed tax forms.

Inside TurboTax 20 year fight to stop Americans from filing their taxes for free - Propublica

This is a routine practice in most other high-income nations. After all, the tax authority knows how much you've earned, it knows how much you've had deducted, and it knows the tax code. Every year, you get a pre-completed form. If it looks right to you, you sign it and you're done. If you want to hire an accountant, you can do that too.

By blocking free tax prep, Intuit secured billions in revenue for its Turbotax division. But for some reason, taxpayers consistently refused to accept that their own interests should take a back-seat to Intuit's shareholders and kept pressuring the IRS to send out pre-completed tax forms for free.

To keep this at bay, Intuit teamed up with the other oligarchs in the tax-prep industry to create a program called "FreeFile" that would offer free tax prep to the majority of Americans.

But there was a catch.

They made it nearly impossible to use.

No matter how hard you tried, you it was effectively impossible to actually get a FreeFile filing. Intuit pulled out all the stops – they created programs with nearly identical names that weren't free. They bought Google ads for "Freefile" that redirected you to these expensive, name-alike programs. If you did stumble into a FreeFile workflow, they'd bombard you with fraudulent messages implying that you weren't eligible to use the service. If you ignored that, they'd let you spend hours inputting your tax data, then present you with an error message saying you couldn't go any further without paying.

This was fraud. Outright fraud. Even the FTC says so:

Pluralistic article on FTC and Intuit

But, of course, everyone who got sucked into this fraud vortex clicked through a binding arbitration waiver, and lost the right to sue, and the right to join a class action to recover the billions that Intuit had stolen from them.

Enter mass arbitration. The law firm of Keller Lenkner has made a name for itself by using mass arbitration to bring companies like Postmates and Doordash to their knees on behalf of workers who'd had their wages stolen. Now they're taking on Intuit.

Intuit faces tens of millions of free in legal battle over consumer fraud

Writing for Propublica, Justin Elliott (who broke this story and has followed it relentlessly) tells us that more than 100,000 Intuit customers have sought arbitration over FreeFile. Intuit's already tried to staunch the bleeding by offering a $40m settlement, but the judge said no. The company had told its customers they had to arbitrate, so it was on the hook for arbitration.

Elliott calculates the potential bill for arbitration fees at $175m, plus any settlements and plaintiffs' lawyers fees the arbitrators award.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 6 2022 18:10 utc | 29

@ jayc | Mar 6 2022 17:57 utc | 27 ... same here regarding the prices on vancouver island... apparently it is over 2$ a litre in vancouver right now..

regarding visa and mastercard no longer in russia - union-pay is chinese based and apparently what the russian banks are switching to at present..

see link - https://t.me/disclosetv/7225

Posted by: james | Mar 6 2022 19:35 utc | 30

Thanks b. Your site is a space of sanity. We are in the equivalent of the July crisis and nothing will be the same again.

It would be interesting to study reactions to the conflict by age group. My guess is that older Gen X (born 1965-75) would be the most likely to be sympathetic to Russia, followed younger Gen X (born 1975-80). Boomers (1945-60) and millennials (1985-2000) are more susceptible to the fairy-tales, the former because they grew up afraid of Russia, the latter because they have no interest in historical context and view the world through CGI and comics.

Massive over-generalisation I know, so happy to be argued with.

Posted by: Patroklos | Mar 6 2022 20:04 utc | 31

NZ is in a "perfect economic storm." Petrol NZ$3 per litre.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2022/03/leading-economist-says-omicron-peak-and-ukraine-war-will-see-inflation-rise-to-its-worst-in-decades.html

Posted by: Paul | Mar 6 2022 21:54 utc | 32

@23 psychohistorian | Mar 6 2022 16:27 utc

Yes, the economic fallout from all this is what interests me the most, actually - I count on Russia to further its police action successfully, but it will take some time. The sheer ignorance of the west in terms of how its economies work is almost stunning to see. It's amazing how little these people can see beyond the tip of their nose.

As you know from living in the US, the economy is the only thing the populace really cares about - and understandably, since people are essentially left on their own resources for survival, and only money can assure that in the US.

Bhadrakumar's article linked by b is a good one - he writes how the US Administration may have to accept Iranian oil in an attempt to stop gasoline prices from their current (and future) surge. Biden gets humiliated either way - but again, the economy is the most important thing. I suppose it will be a political bloodbath come the mid-term elections.

It's all going to be fascinating to watch, even as we suffer through it all. The changes in the balance of power and trade in the process of being enacted are immense. And if we see the ascendancy of Glazyev over the Russian central bank (someone wrote about that recently - Helmer I think), we might even see a sovereign currency there.

Posted by: Grieved | Mar 6 2022 21:58 utc | 33

And with threads being choked, I've found it a good time to surf all the pandemic sources - still catching up there, so nothing concrete to offer at the moment. The CDC data is being analyzed by many, and commented on.

I don't believe it will go away or be swept under the carpet. The doctors are just too angry at seeing their complete vindication and the needless deaths. Lawsuits are already happening, and there are more coming.

Posted by: Grieved | Mar 6 2022 22:08 utc | 34

@ Grieved | Mar 6 2022 22:08 utc | 34 with the COVID follow up.....I look forward to your ongoing reports of the Covid lies outing

In your previous comment to me about global finance, I think that Russia has no choice but to become finance sovereign like China, Iran, Cuba, etc. I think we will see the birth of an alternative financial system from the BIS/SWIFT one. Of course, the God of Mammon cult will try and kill it from the start and any interface between the two will define our future world.

All that said, there is the chance for a complete collapse of the God of Mammon cult and/or only a short period of time in bipolar mode before multipolar takes dominance.....it very well may be that the China/Russia axis births and establishes itself and their example provides the impetus for God of Mammon demise.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 6 2022 22:29 utc | 35

This is the NOT Ukraine thread.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Mar 6 2022 16:56 utc | 25

We are all ukraine in this blessed day!

Everything is ukraine!

You're the victims of a putin psyop!!

😂

AH HA HA HA HA Sorry, just kidding.

Glory to the Heroes... of Donbass!!!

Posted by: Misotheist | Mar 6 2022 22:30 utc | 36

One last thing here. It may seem like a Ukraine topic but I think it has wider application.

Russia as we know is currently analyzing the destruction orders given to the bio-labs in Ukraine, and has said it will publish them.

It seems to me that the world at large needs to become conscious of bio-warfare and bio-terror, and this may be the start of that. One can only hope, and try to spread the word. Somehow the world has to stop the US and Israeli crazies (and governments in general), allied with the pharma corporations and the oligarchs, and all with their love of germ warfare - the cheap and effective way to enslave or kill the global population.

I think we now live in the age of biological oppression. There are so many dots that could possibly be connected this year, as the pandemic bureaucrats walk back their petty tyrannies, or double down on them, and as information becomes better known about the horrors produced by artificial, corporate healthcare.

If the people of the world ever come to believe in their own minds that the pandemic was created in a lab - in the same way, say, that people accept JFK was hit in a conspiracy, and that Epstein didn't commit suicide - then we may be establishing the fertile public ground to begin to find ways to reveal, punish and truly prohibit state-sponsored bio-terrorism.

I tend to think it's a major issue that will only get worse, and that the world will need to address.

Posted by: Grieved | Mar 6 2022 22:41 utc | 37

@Grieved | Mar 6 2022 22:41 utc | 37

WHAT?!? Are you seriously suggesting that COVID is EVALI? Featuring Ralph Baric & Ft. Detrick?

Naahhhh.... gotta be kiddin' me. Right... right?

Posted by: Lurk | Mar 6 2022 23:20 utc | 38

@John Merryman | Mar 6 2022 18:00 utc | 28

Government, as the executive and regulatory function, is effectively the central nervous system of the community, whether it's organized hierarchically, or more integral and feedback generated. This dynamic is generally centripetal, as it focuses the efforts of the group.

That would indicate that our "communities" are suffering from brain cancer or dementia

Money and banking are analogous to blood and the circulation system, as they organize the flow of energy and resources around the community. As such, when run for the good of the community, it is centrifugal, in pushing energy out to the extremities. Though as it functions within a group of semiautonomous individuals, this dynamic will become corrupted and direct these flows to preferred, rather than in effective directions.

Admittedly, I hate biologist metaphors because of the traditions of "Volkskörper" and "gesundes Volksempfinden" but so what. If finance is the "blood" of the transactions inside a "community" (vulgo state or socioeconomic region), our demented brain is driving it to embolism and cardial arrest.

Posted by: aquadraht | Mar 7 2022 0:03 utc | 39

RE: Uncle Schmuel | Mar 6 2022 16:23 utc | 22

Do not listen to Uncle Schmuel, he is 245 years old and demented from the dementia.

Posted by: William Haught | Mar 7 2022 0:38 utc | 40

I am catching up with news and am reading two related US stories

In one story it seems that the US Senate has passed legislation ending the National Emergency Declaration. It now goes to the House where it will likely fail and Biden has already said he would veto it were it to pass.

In story two we have the US People's Convoy that is now circling DC twice in their estimated 30 mile long convoy and will do so every day until the convoy's demands are met. A convoy organizer is quoted as follows
"
Sunday "is a show of just how big we are and just how serious we are," the convoy organizer said. He said the group wants an immediate end to the national emergency declaration in response to the virus pandemic more than two years ago.

"We're going to be a huge pain," Brase said. He noted that other convoys are en route and will join them.

"We're trying to work with our local law enforcement communities because we want them to understand that we are law-abiding citizens that are just exercising our rights to this protest," he said. But "every day is going to elevate what we do."

"We want to show the American people how large we are." Brase said. "And we want to show our congressional leaders that we're serious and we are here to negotiate. We are here to talk. We are law-abiding. We are peaceful. We don't want to shut anything down, and we're not coming downtown."
"

Just one of the side circus rings these days, not the major one anymore

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 7 2022 0:54 utc | 41

Aquadraht,
Actually it's the religion driving it off the edge.
Logically a spiritual absolute would be the essence of sentience, from which we rise, not an ideal of wisdom and judgement, from which we fell. Ideals are not absolutes and assuming them to be tends to enable the most fanatical.
Remember democracy and republicanism originated in pantheistic cultures, as that was how the Ancients analogized multiple cultures interacting, ie, multiculturalism. Monotheism equates to monoculture. One people, one rule, one god. Remember the formative experience for Judaism was forty years isolated in the desert.
The Romans adopted Christianity as the state religion to validate the Empire and bury remnants of the Republic. Basically it was to validate rule from the Big Guy on top, so monarchy became the default political system for the next 1500 years. When the West went back to more populist systems, it required separation of church and state, culture and civics. Multipolarity and absolutism don't mix.
So, yes, the only thing we have that actually holds society together is the money.

Posted by: john Merryman | Mar 7 2022 1:22 utc | 42

psychohistorian | Mar 7 2022 0:54 utc | 41

Fuel cost may become a problem for the US convoy in the coming days and weeks though as all prices rise in the US there will be a lot more pissed off public.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 7 2022 1:33 utc | 43

@ john Merryman | Mar 7 2022 1:22 utc | 42 in response to Aquadraht wrote

"
So, yes, the only thing we have that actually holds society together is the money.
"

Yes, money is the lifeblood of interactive societies.

It is the "agreed upon" token of value used in exchange. I put "agreed upon" in quotes because that process is currently proscribed by the God of Mammon cult and not sovereign nations in support of its citizens.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 7 2022 1:36 utc | 44

I have had some uncharistic reactions from some friends I would normally regard as mildly progressive and fair minded on most issues. Except Palestine of course.

I emailed the FAIR link below and received these reactions:

https://fair.org/home/calling-russias-attack-unprovoked-lets-us-off-the-hook/

Reaction from US Vietnam vet:

"You are political! This is like saying we were provoked because of the threat of communism and might have had the right to take over Vietnam . What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Hate to say it but you are not just an observer! And your politics seems to always slant towards anti western ways of life! Trump likes Putin also and because of your freedoms both of you are not being rounded up!! We have done things for each other but on this shit looks like we're on different sides and vaccinations! I am done debating both thanks! No more sites please even if they come from Americans that I would probably like to shoot and get it over with!"

Previous reaction:
"Don't you have any thanks for any of your freedoms ? Nobody is knocking on your door because of your point of view! However as this present situation grows I sincerely believe it will involve taking sides I know where I stand even though the society I live in has some fucked up things it looks better than other present day choices!!!! Cheers"
My reply:

"...I will throw up the next time I hear a 'western' Anglo/Zionist Captive Nation politician talk about "our freedoms, our values" and "human rights." I can think for myself I don't need them to tell me how well off I am and how 'good' they are..."

Reaction from Australian friend:

"I'm starting to think Putin is just another Stable Genius."

On the Jimmy Dore Show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mffCvWZujWA

"more conspiracies Paul, and like all good conspiracies they have a grain of truth to them"

It seems to me that holding a dissenting non MSM opinion is a 'conspiracy theory'
or I am against "our freedoms." I have been ordered to pick a side and that side is the Anglo/Zionist war criminal cabal which is anathema to me.

Posted by: Paul | Mar 7 2022 1:55 utc | 45

psychohistorian,

That's the problem, it's not supposed to be. It's a medium, but it's become the massage.
Econ 101 says it's both medium of exchange and store of value, but one is dynamic, while the other is static. Blood is a medium, fat is a store. Roads are a medium, parking lots are a store. The hallway is a medium, the hall closet is a store.
It's a contract that we have come to treat as a commodity. As a contract, the asset is backed by the debt, so to store the asset, sufficient debt has to be generated.
Besides all the positive feedback pulling the asset to the center of society and negative feedback pushing the debt to the edges, for which the Ancients devised debt jubilees as a circuit breaker, in our current reality the debtor of last resort has become the government. The elephant in the room is the financial markets could not function, without the government siphoning up trillions in surplus investment money. The secret sauce of capitalism is public debt backing private wealth.
Much is made of the military industrial complex, but the reality is it's the trophy wife of the banks, while the politicians and press are merely prostitutes. It gets all the toys and wars it wants and no one can point out it's clueless about that whole grand strategy thingie, since the politicians are only hired to bend over, not think.
The reality is that as a medium, money is a quintessential public utility, like roads. It's functionality is in its fungibility, so we own it like we own the section of road we are on, or the air and water flowing through our bodies. It's not our picture on it, we don't hold the copyrights and are not responsible for its value, like a personal check.
We are linear, goal oriented creatures in a cyclical, circular, reciprocal, feedback generated reality.

Posted by: John Merryman | Mar 7 2022 2:58 utc | 46

Here's an illustration of how discussion of the pandemic, and the revelation of the true facts behind it, are not only NOT over, but are getting more coherent.

Tess Lawrie, MD is also a world-leading statistical analyst, and her meta-analysis of 63 trials and studies last year showed ground-breaking proof that ivermectin was responsible for saving lives, treating and preventing Covid, and crushing epidemics in countries and locales around the world.

In January 2021 she had an impassioned zoom call with Dr. Andrew Hill, who had been commissioned by WHO to study and report on ivermectin effectiveness. Hill was for several preceding months a big fan of ivermectin, but his ultimate report was co-authored, and spoke against ivermectin.

Tess Lawrie called him and urged him to change his conclusion. He admitted that there were other voices in his conclusion. She failed to persuade him to "tell the truth." His report was cited by all institutions moving forward as a reason not to approve the drug as a treatment - and with no recognized existing treatment, the experimental jab was given Emergency Use Authorization.

~~

Now Lawrie appears in a 20-minute, professionally produced film that replays that crucial time in our history, with new footage of her today, interleaved with her original, recorded zoom call with Andrew Hill.

I highly recommend watching this film, and sharing wherever you can:

“Who Is Influencing You?” | Ivermectin Cover-Up | Dr. Tess Lawrie’s Zoom Call With Dr. Andrew Hill [19 min]

~~

The film is both a testament of facts for history to record, and a direct plea made now, to Andrew Hill, to come forward as a whistleblower and reveal the forces that compelled him to turn against his previous enthusiasm, and to disparage ivermectin.

It's actually quite heart-breaking, utterly poignant. I knew about the call between Lawrie and Hill, and I had seen clips from it in other video interviews with Lawrie, but that didn't capture the intensity of the situation. This film does justice to this pivotal moment, when doctors were desperately working to save lives, and Hill betrayed their cause.

And it leaves one wondering how much Tess Lawrie may have tortured herself for failing to influence Andrew Hill. But the film shows how hard she tried, and how no one could have done any better. The forces at work were very powerful, as the film shows.

~~

So this is a film for history, for the true record.

My point is that the old narrative is crumbling, as we know, leaving only tyranny in its stead. But concurrently, the true story is also coming out, with a finish and conclusiveness to it that history can readily catalog, and that persons who may have open minds can refer to for future education.

Posted by: Grieved | Mar 7 2022 3:04 utc | 47

Casualties @ Must Reads, The Fog Somewhere & Nazis.

"Unfortunately, observation is blurred and selective. We are poo —…‡

... the Ukrainian militants were placing weapons in residential buildings and firing on Russian units in the ho"—…

... Far from being the defenders of the status quo, the United States used its moment of unfettered power to artificially accelerate the historic trends towards liberal democracy that it believe" ‡

Posted by: Laurence | Mar 7 2022 3:10 utc | 48

It seems to me that holding a dissenting non MSM opinion is a 'conspiracy theory'...
Posted by: Paul | Mar 7 2022 1:55 utc | 45

Actually it's simply the result of critical thinking. I could also just say that it's the result of simple thinking
as it doesn't take much other than honest enquiry to see. But that is difficult for the long-conditioned exceptional ones.
Yeah it's hard to maintain good relations with MSM pablum feeders. I'm a US Viet Vet who cancels the one you quoted and I think
any vet who was there and still thinks that was about freedom or protecting their country is afraid to admit they got used. Like
Good Will Hunting though, once you realize it wasn't your fault you are free to see all the Big Lies.

Funny, but just now I'm reminded of the ol' domino theory. Maybe the Zionists will be one of the dominoes to fall after the Ukronazis.
One can maintain hope!

Posted by: waynorinorway | Mar 7 2022 5:24 utc | 49

Posted by: waynorinorway | Mar 7 2022 5:24 utc | 49

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Perhaps I didn't explain myself properly. I did say their responses were uncharacteristic. My vet friend was not under the impression he was in Vietnam on some humanitarian mission or saving the US. He was pissed off about being conscripted. He knew he was being used and misused.

I think they both can see it's the beginning of the end of US hegemony and while I welcome that they are afraid to take that leap into the unknown. I suppose they think I should get behind the team no matter how dirty they play. There is a psychological process in play.

The term 'conspiracy theory' has lost its currency as it is used to defame and ridicule any dissenters.

Empires have traditionally crumbled at the periphery. The Bandit State, the shitty little country far away, will not be missed except by crackpots and ugly people.

Posted by: Paul | Mar 7 2022 6:36 utc | 50

b, thank you for the always insightful Week in Review. So I’m reading War, Conflict and the Enemies of Truth, and I happen across the section that highlights changing French fries to freedom fries. And then Brenner writes this:

“Perhaps, those feelings were strengthened by the excesses of the American “War On Terror” in which the Europeans were accomplices in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen. In addition to the provision of tangible aid, every NATO government was an accomplice in the rendition program, in one way or another – with the sole exception of France.”

I’m wondering if we should question the veracity of this statement, as well as the exclusion of Libya from the above list? I’d also suggest we should challenge the veracity of this statement:

“Americans pride themselves on their independence, individualism, and autonomy as citizens. “Don’t tread on me! Don’t mess with Texas! I’m from Missouri! Prove it!” Once upon a time, there may have been a semblance of truth to this. There no longer is.”

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Mar 7 2022 9:49 utc | 51

WTI is $123 right now. Brent is over $125.
If the US is supposed to go into recession with oil over $125 - we're basically there.

Gas prices today (3/6/22):

Current Avg. $4.065

Yesterday Avg. $4.009

Week Ago Avg. $3.610

Month Ago Avg. $3.441

Year Ago Avg. $2.768

The global gas price average is now $3.70
It was $1.95 on December 1, 2021

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 7 2022 11:17 utc | 52

I paid 3.60 per gallon for regular yesterday, the premium was 4.10. I dont know how expensive it is going to get, but prices are going up daily around here (I'm in Texas).

Posted by: pretzelattack | Mar 7 2022 12:02 utc | 53

@pretzelattack #53
All of the credible gasoline analysts I watch are saying $5/gallon national average gas is coming - when the winter to summer formulation occurs. The summer formulations are inherently more expensive plus the changeover always results in shortages.
So $4.50/gallon in Texas is very possible.
I am so very happy I don't have (or need) a car, but that is 100% not realistic in Texas or most of the US, for that matter.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 7 2022 12:21 utc | 54

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/03/nasa-inspector-general-says-sls-costs-are-unsustainable/

NASA is unsustainable, and in part - because of that very Boeing

Posted by: Arioch | Mar 7 2022 13:09 utc | 55

What is a favorite cover-up stratagem?

Incompetence. Bad data, faulty intelligence, lack of communication...

The CCU - Covid Cover-up - is imminent.
Aaaand...what will they roll out?
You guessed it.

They want everyone to move on and forget what they pulled.

Posted by: librul | Mar 7 2022 13:51 utc | 56

Those who have not seen the list of adverse reactions to the shot from Pfizer's own documents will perhaps be surprized to note that there are about 240 listed events under the letter "A" alone.

https://johnplatinumgoss.com/2022/03/06/so-now-you-know-what-they-did-not-want-you-to-know-about-the-pfizer-shots/

Posted by: John Goss | Mar 7 2022 15:40 utc | 57

@57 John Goss

Thank you for putting that massive list into bullet form.

I guess you've seen the Naked Capitalism article that was linked here a few days ago:
Pfizer February 2021 “Post Marketing” Vaccine Side Effects Tally Raises Alarms

The frequent commenter IM Doc was quoted in the article extensively, and this is a part that ponders the meaning of these huge numbers:

I can think of 2 possible things going on here –

1) The list of ASE from the previous phases of research really are this overwhelming.

2) Pfizer knew they had lots of side effects and just wanted “to put it all out there” in an attempt to cover their ass. They may have done this because of the warp speed emergency manner in which this was done – ie – we have not had time to fully assess risk – therefore we are going to just be a sponge and take in everything.

There may be other reasons I have not thought of. Whatever the case – I have never seen anything like this in my life.

But the really damning parts are these tables – where very elevated numbers of patients are having these problems.

I have seen any number of CHEMOTHERAPY agents with less problems than this in my life.

And we have to weigh risk and benefits even in these trials. If for example a novel CHEMO agent was saving 30% but killing 5% – it would likely be approved with LARGE BLACK BOX WARNINGS.

This agent – however – is not chemotherapy. It is a vaccine to be given out to everyone. It has been screamed from the rooftops for the people to hear that it was 100% safe. Any and all discussion in the media and social media of any problems has been squelched and those stating these things called quacks. It had a benefit of an absolute risk reduction of infection of 0.2%. And here we are with all these side effects. In huge numbers

~~

Thank you also for picking out those reported effects that concern infants, babies, unborn and mothers. Although the NC article author, Yves Smith, thinks that some commentators have wrongly cited pregnancy cases, when the report makes no specific selection of this category - what your selection shows is that this category can be observed.

Example, your selection of "Venous thrombosis in pregnancy" in your list. I looked at the original Pfizer report (that you also link to), and sure enough, it lists "Venous thrombosis in pregnancy".

So it takes a little sifting, as you have done, and the red flag alarms become a deluge.

~~

I also guess you noted the Tess Lawrie film I linked above @47. I again highly recommend watching it for everyone interested in the forensic deconstruction of this massive financial scam.

Thank you for your efforts.

Posted by: Grieved | Mar 7 2022 16:31 utc | 58

I think the Financial Rapture must be occurring:

The Federalist is talking about preventing inflation from hurting America's Working and Middle Classes

Fighting America’s inflation problem and long-run economic rot starts at the Federal Reserve. A massive house cleaning is in order.

Of course the Fed should fight inflation now, but the Fed should have been fighting inflation last year when it was already affecting working Americans, before wage pressures started to increase. Today, the Fed finds itself between a rock and a hard place—it must reduce inflation but reducing inflation will likely cause financial assets to fall.

Here, the Fed must carefully prioritize stable prices before the oligarchic urge to support financial assets.[<-- Reads like Jacobin, no?] Even if a crash occurs, the Federal Reserve needs to stand firm and reduce the massive pro-wealthy interventions in the market it has pursued over the last 34 years.

Beyond this, force the Fed to focus on asset price inflation and too much credit creation, not just a one-sided view of protecting financial assets from falling, wage pressures, and consumer price inflation. The next Republican president must appoint outsiders to the Fed and consider fundamental reforms of its practices.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 7 2022 17:09 utc | 59

@Grieved | Mar 7 2022 3:04 utc | 47

So this is a film for history, for the true record.

My point is that the old narrative is crumbling, as we know, leaving only tyranny in its stead. But concurrently, the true story is also coming out, with a finish and conclusiveness to it that history can readily catalog, and that persons who may have open minds can refer to for future education.

Thank you for nudging me to see this film. To tell you the truth, this topic is so horrible to me that I guess I have become 10 years older in 2 years. Based on my personal background (not from anything related to medicine) I know something was terribly wrong already in March 2020 and I said so in this blog a few weeks later. Since then I have been so horrified by the abuse of science and extreme criminality of the authorities that it is very difficult to put down into words. Please note there are many aspects to this and we may even have different views on what has been going on. My personal view is that I require to see the evidence that the supposed numbers of deaths are in fact what is claimed. Nobody have ever shown me such evidence. It may exist, but I have not seen it. I do not accept such claims at face value from people who are obviously lying about related topics and at the same time make huge profits.

This film takes the position that the deaths are real and that the problem is that a known medicine could have prevented a large amount of deaths. In itself this is deadly serious, because it starts from the official position that the pandemic was real and effective medicine was suppressed in order to inject the whole population with something unknown, but with at least one certain effect: Someone would get very rich. We know now that there are other effects also...

I suspect this crime against humanity does not stop there. I still demand to see the evidence that there was a problem in the first place.

Thank you again for linking to this film, I hope it will make people start to ask questions and demand accountability. The responsible must be tried and punished based on law, including the Nuremberg Code.

The Nuremberg Code (1947)
Permissible Medical Experiments

The great weight of the evidence before us to effect that certain types of medical experiments on human beings, when kept within reasonably well-defined bounds, conform to the ethics of the medical profession generally. The protagonists of the practice of human experimentation justify their views on the basis that such experiments yield results for the good of society that are unprocurable by other methods or means of study. All agree, however, that certain basic principles must be observed in order to satisfy moral, ethical and legal concepts:

1. The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, overreaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened decision. This latter element requires that before the acceptance of an affirmative decision by the experimental subject there should be made known to him the nature, duration, and purpose of the experiment; the method and means by which it is to be conducted; all inconveniences and hazards reasonably to be expected; and the effects upon his health or person which may possibly come from his participation in the experiment.

The duty and responsibility for ascertaining the quality of the consent rests upon each individual who initiates, directs, or engages in the experiment. It is a personal duty and responsibility which may not be delegated to another with impunity.

2. The experiment should be such as to yield fruitful results for the good of society, unprocurable by other methods or means of study, and not random and unnecessary in nature.

3. The experiment should be so designed and based on the results of animal experimentation and a knowledge of the natural history of the disease or other problem under study that the anticipated results justify the performance of the experiment.

4. The experiment should be so conducted as to avoid all unnecessary physical and mental suffering and injury.

5. No experiment should be conducted where there is an a priori reason to believe that death or disabling injury will occur; except, perhaps, in those experiments where the experimental physicians also serve as subjects.

6. The degree of risk to be taken should never exceed that determined by the humanitarian importance of the problem to be solved by the experiment.

7. Proper preparations should be made and adequate facilities provided to protect the experimental subject against even remote possibilities of injury, disability or death.

8. The experiment should be conducted only by scientifically qualified persons. The highest degree of skill and care should be required through all stages of the experiment of those who conduct or engage in the experiment.

9. During the course of the experiment the human subject should be at liberty to bring the experiment to an end if he has reached the physical or mental state where continuation of the experiment seems to him to be impossible.

10 During the course of the experiment the scientist in charge must be prepared to terminate the experiment at any stage, if he has probable cause to believe, in the exercise of the good faith, superior skill and careful judgment required of him, that a continuation of the experiment is likely to result in injury, disability, or death to the experimental subject.

Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 7 2022 18:03 utc | 60

Western media always forgets to mention the Nazis! And there's nothing Neo needing that prepension. In fact, Ukrainian Nazism is a historically traditional abomination. Genuine and nothing new.
The controlled media out of ethical control is one hell of an enabler, or if you will, also fascistic. Here and now.

Posted by: elmagnosr | Mar 8 2022 1:52 utc | 61

In Australia, [Queensland & NSW] there are more floods, more deaths and more rain falling, with more rain predicted. Not enough army manpower. The damage bill is multi billion $.

https://iview.abc.net.au/channel/news

Posted by: Paul | Mar 8 2022 2:22 utc | 62

Here is a better link to ABC iView 24 hour News. ABC have changed their website with more complications they call 'features.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOTiJkg1voo

Posted by: Paul | Mar 8 2022 2:39 utc | 63

Rats are multiplying in DC - of all species...
The Rat Problem In Washington DC Is So Bad 2 People Got Hantavirus
Posted by: c1ue | Mar 6 2022 16:12 utc | 21

Sorry C1ue, you are not making sense, to me at least. Isn't Washington DC the place where rats are supposed to be, it is the capital city of the USA after all?

But if you are suggesting the rats should be bricked up in the Congress and White House and prevented from having physical contact with other 2-legged Americans, then yes, I would agree.

Posted by: BM | Mar 8 2022 7:11 utc | 64

Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov warned on Friday that western companies, including energy firms, that are ditching Russia will be considered pushing their Russian subsidiaries to “deliberate bankruptcy,” which under Russian law draws criminal prosecution.

Ha ha ha - I suspect Russia is lining that up as the mechanism by which they will nationalise Western oil investments, using criminal conviction in the courts and confiscation of the investment used to try to induce "deliberate bankruptcy" as both penalty for the crime and eneblement of remedy (switch to Russian government investment) to prevent the bankruptcy. Then when the bankruptcy does not occur, that does not constitute evidence that the judgement was incorrect. Something somewhere along those lines.

Posted by: BM | Mar 8 2022 7:28 utc | 65

Biswapriya Purkayast 14 -

Hey Bis, when will you get back from your holiday on Planet Faraway...? Soon? You'll be able to observe the capabilities of the Russian military on this planet then.

Posted by: Rhisiart Gwilym | Mar 8 2022 9:30 utc | 66

Sometimes Canadian fake news outlet the Beaverton just says everything. (Fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian… to the last…)

“Roll up the Rim is back and so is the threat of nuclear winter!”
https://www.thebeaverton.com/2022/03/roll-up-the-rim-is-back-and-so-is-the-threat-of-nuclear-winter/

“The contest runs for a limited time only”, McNeese continued, “ending either on April 3rd 2022 or when Putin finally pushes that big, red, button”.

“Report: if Ukraine was really run by Nazis, Russia would have just signed pact carving up Europe with them”
https://mobile.twitter.com/thebeaverton/status/1500905531283750913

(All satire aside, on an unrelated topic, history does tend to repeat itself doesn’t it?)

New this morning from La Presse — Putin recruits Syrian mercenaries, all eyes turn to the Arctic, former Quebec premier Jean Charest to run for leadership of the Conservative party. (I’m not sure what that means. He’s not far-right though.)

Éditorial- La transition énergétique malgré la guerre
https://www.lapresse.ca/debats/editoriaux/2022-03-08/la-transition-energetique-malgre-la-guerre.php

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Mar 8 2022 10:58 utc | 67

Gasoline prices in the US continue their relentless March:
3/8/22 prices from AAA

Current Avg. $4.173

Yesterday Avg. $4.065

Week Ago Avg. $3.619

Month Ago Avg. $3.455

Year Ago Avg. $2.774

Sunday saw a jump of "only" $0.06, but today the $0.11 jump has officially broken the 2008 record high for gasoline prices of $4.114

It seems we will see a literal doubling of Trump era prices by summer.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 8 2022 13:26 utc | 68

Egypt in trouble: Russia Ukraine War Turning Egypt Food Crisis Into Existential Threat

Cairo relies on large volumes of heavily subsidized imports to ensure sufficient as well as affordable supplies of bread and vegetable oil for its 105 million citizens. Securing those supplies has led Egypt to become the world's largest importer of wheat and among the world's top 10 importers of sunflower oil. In 2021, Cairo was already facing down food inflation levels not seen since the Arab Spring civil unrest a decade earlier that toppled the government of former President Hosni Mubarak. After eight years of working assiduously to put Egypt's economic house back in order, the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi is now similarly vulnerable to skyrocketing food costs that are reaching budget-breaking levels.

The Russia-Ukraine war catapulted prices to unsustainable levels for Egypt, increasing the price of wheat by an additional 44% and that of sunflower oil by 32% virtually overnight. Even more troublesome, the war also threatens Egypt's physical supply itself since 85% of its wheat comes from Russia and Ukraine, as does 73% of its sunflower oil. With activity at Ukraine's ports at a complete standstill, Egypt already needs to find alternative suppliers.

Dominoes teetering...

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 8 2022 13:39 utc | 69

More volatility in the metals market, from Stockhead:

It looks like Chile is one step closer to nationalising its vast mineral reserves after approving a motion by the environmental committee targeting large-scale mining of copper, lithium and gold.

The country hosts around 8 million tonnes of lithium, a substantial amount more than Australia’s 2.7 million tonnes, Argentina’s 2 million tonnes and China’s 1 million tonnes.

The proposal is yet to be approval by two thirds of the full assembly to become part of Chile’s new charter – which will be put to the nation in a national referendum later this year.

But it’s a move that could spook private investors.

Chile already owns all the underlying mineral rights, and with this new proposal could revoke concessions near glaciers and indigenous lands, as well as requiring projects from before 1993 would need to submit to environmental evaluation within three years.

Posted by: Paul | Mar 9 2022 6:32 utc | 70

US gasoline prices continuing unprecedented jump

Current Avg. $4.252

Yesterday Avg. $4.173

Week Ago Avg. $3.656

Month Ago Avg. $3.469

Year Ago Avg. $2.796

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 9 2022 12:07 utc | 71

Posted by: uncle sam | Mar 6 2022 16:23 utc | 22

Unk, does this mean I can't sign up? :-(

Posted by: Gene Poole | Mar 9 2022 15:02 utc | 72

Thought I’d start of this morning (here in Montreal) by posting three recent YouTube videos from Canada’s Global News. Each video is about 2 minutes.

Pressure is on for Canada to contribute more militarily (media reports with the familiar “Canada is isolated” meme; expert advice that announcing we’re joining the ABM defence and purchasing F-35s would really show Russia something… how tough and non-isolated we are or something)

Russia demands US explain support of alleged bio-warfare labs in Ukraine
https://youtu.be/J12LBopI2YM

Of note - speaking of memes or perceptions… Russia protects Canada from US, UK & Europe so talk of Russia being run by a ruthless dictator goes over well here. Not so with China - note the Chinese flag in the video (that’ll get the folks scared)

Trudeau meets the troops in Latvia with Stoltenberg and Latvia’s PM
https://youtu.be/vjctPTVZOpY

Another perception — that Europe drags us into things against our interests and we’re stuck politically. This video might reinforce that perception.

Sydney floods: thousands evacuate
https://youtu.be/DpCqXSgwtmg

OK, everyday Anglo Canadians (non Franco) are going to think we should totally help out Australia before immersing ourselves in this European/Russian/Ukrainian conflict.

My two cents worth.

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Mar 10 2022 12:44 utc | 73

One more: La Presse draws a map. (Of Russian advance in Ukraine, remember we are right next door to them). First time I’ve noticed them do this. Bringing more of the reality of the war to readers maybe?

https://www.lapresse.ca/international/europe/2022-03-10/guerre-en-ukraine/des-bombardements-malgre-la-treve.php

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Mar 10 2022 13:14 utc | 74