The MoA Week In Review – OT 2022-25 (NOT Ukraine)

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March 13, 2022

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:

(Another week of all out Ukraine. I'd love to write on other stuff, but it is the world moving story of these day.)

Mar 7 – To Punish Russia The 'Liberal Order' Attempts To Suicide Itself
Mar 9 – The Sanction Backlash Will Push The 'West' To Accept Russia's Demands
Related:
– Boomerang Sanctions – Ghassan Kadi / Saker
– The American Empire self-destructs. – Michael Hudson
– ‘This Is What Liberal War Fever Looks Like’ – Alastair Crooke / SCF
– Is the West Laissez-Faire About Economic Warfare? – Esfandyar Batmanghelidj / War on the Rocks
– The Great Decoupling: How Western Sanctions Are Pushing Moscow East – Scott Ritter / Energy Intelligence

Mar 8 – Disarming Ukraine – Day 13 – Lies Do Not Win Wars
Mar 10 – Disarming Ukraine Day 15: A Curious Hospital Bombing And 'No-Fly Zone' Pressure
Related:
– A Russian antiwar view on things – Yasha Levin
– Asking Questions About Ukrainian Biolabs – American Conservative
– Twitter is censoring reporting on Ukrainian Nazis on the pretext of "abusive behavior" – Asa Winstanley

Mar 11 – Challenge-Response – How Russia Is Countering 'Western' Moves Against It
Related:
– The Americans Want a Long War – Gilbert Doctorow
– The Biden administration’s terrifying gamble – Responsible Statecraft
– Russia's “Special Military Operation:” Why it Went Wrong – Agitpapa
– Day Sixteen of the Russian-Ukrainian War: Changing Realities, Changing Mood – Gilbert Doctorow
– Eastern Ukraine has almost completely fallen, but Putin now needs a peace, fast – Intellinews
– John Mearsheimer on why the West is principally responsible for the Ukrainian crisis – The Economist
– Zelensky, Hunter Biden — and Their Sugar Daddy, Kolomoisky (vid) – Gonzalo Lira

—
Other issues:

Media:

Youtube has banned RT. You can still watch it on Odysee and Rumble.
Also removed by YT and now on Rumble: Oliver Stone: Revealing Ukraine and Ukraine on Fire
The US And Ukraine Have Every Reason To Lie About The War – Caitlin Johnstone

Iran:

Iran nuclear talks on hold as US gets cold feet – Middle East Eye
Iran ‘temporarily suspends’ direct talks with Saudi Arabia – Al Jazeerah
Iranian Precise Missile Attacks on Israeli Secret Places in Erbil video

Covid-19:

The Epidemic of Covid Complacency – Eric Topol
How Did This Many Deaths Become Normal? – Atlantic
Covid has slipped from the headlines – but with restrictions eased, cases are rising – Guardian

Use as open thread …

Posted by b on March 13, 2022 at 12:52 UTC | Permalink

Comments

Reading over the turcoplier blog, the comments are so incredible!!!!
The chronology of topics speaks for itself and how the narratives evolve.
For all his faults, Donald Trump had the right idea about NATO
January 18, 2022
Putin’s real goal is to keep Ukraine out of NATO, Lang said, and the U.S. should accede to that request. In the Cold War we wouldn’t have let the Warsaw Pact set up in Canada or Mexico; we should accept that Putin has the same fears, Lang said.
“I don’t think any of the fools who are messing around there understand what the stakes are,” he said. “Here we’re messing with a thermonuclear power.”
—
Why does the UK want war with Russia?
Posted on January 23, 2022
Still trying to punch above their weight? Still trying to manipulate the policy and actions of the US? pl
—
The Guns of February? Are we really that mad?
Posted on January 24, 2022
These madmen are hiding in the shadows of meetings at places like Camp David and among the web of networks of post imperial angst driven idiots in Britain’s fantasy world of IO and conspiracy. pl
—
“China will impede vital US strategy to stop Ukraine-Russia conflict: Former defense official”
Posted on January 30, 2022
Well, well. They huffed and they puffed, and they evidently can’t blow the house down with sanctions. They don’t know that in The Swamp?
What we have succeeded in doing is erasing Russia’s age-old hostility to The Yellow Peril. How clever we are as well as the infernals in the British establishment. pl
—
“Headline: Politicians and people are polls apart on Ukraine” Mulshine
Posted on February 3, 2022
Putin has two goals, said Lang. One is to keep the Ukrainians from marching into Luhansk and Donetsk. Key to that is keeping Ukraine from joining NATO. Putin has made it clear to the West that the Russians won’t let NATO absorb Ukraine without a fight, Lang said. “And once the Russians start to fight, they really fight,” said Lang, who saw his share of fighting in Vietnam. So why get them started? I’ve yet to hear a good reason
—
Zelensky says he does not know what DC is talking about.
Posted on February 13, 2022
This is all BS. Zelensky is being treated as a pawn in an imperial game of chess that is being played poorly by the Biden global socialists and Borg creatures at the State Department, etc..
—
Does anyone know what is going on in SE Ukraine?
Posted on February 18, 2022
The Bidenistas are pushing opposing views. Who knows the truth of this? Not I. pl
—
Looks like the Ukies are doing most of the shelling
Posted on February 19, 2022
If you look at the equipment list of the Ukraine Army below you will see that they have a lot of heavy stuff. I am inclines to think that party or parties perhaps unknown in the Ukraine Army see what they think is an opportunity to pacify the rebel provinces. IMO this is a deluded idea. pl
—
OK Joe, where is the war? Show me the war.
Posted on February 20, 2022
And then there was all that BS about starving, oppressed Cubans. Strangely enough they could not be found when American troops arrived in the island. In fact, they existed in the minds of Cuban nationalist revolutionaries.
—
Surprise! It isn’t “just history” for Putin.
Posted on February 22, 2022
IMO that depends on whether or not the Anglo-Americans are now willing to talk seriously about Russian national security. If we are not he may well decide to advance to the limits of Russian ethnic habitation in Ukraine. pl
—
Is DoD briefing retired media talking head generals and colonels again?
Posted on February 23, 2022
After watching the vacillating performance of talking head generals on TeeVee over the Ukraine matter, the question arises as to whether or not they are being “pumped up” by the Pentagon on a regular basis.
***************!!!!!!
Putin’s address to the nation
Posted on February 24, 2022
I got this one wrong. It seems clear from this speech and the Russian operations ongoing that Putin is intent upon eliminating the present government of Ukraine and replacing it with one that favors a close relationship with Moscow and perhaps eventually … pl
The situation and some possible courses of action …
Posted on February 26, 2022
the president (as CinC of the armed forces) to make a “finding” for covert action against a de facto enemy.
We can supply the Ukraine with much needed equipment and associated training
We have a lot of perfectly usable combat and supply aircraft that are scheduled to be sent to the desert bone-yard as part of force modernization. F-15s, F-16s, A-10s, etc.
Russian unrest grows against Putin as soldiers angry at being ‘sent to kill or be killed’
Posted on February 27, 2022
Why has Putin done this. Several possibilities;
He has become mentally unbalanced and desperate. This is the most worrisome possibility.
He actually fears a NATO attack on “Holy Russia.” This seems unlikely.
He sees that the great mass of Americans is terrified of any mention of nuclear weapons. I am informed that the GRU reads Turcopolier.com pl
A Russian/Chechen defeat?
Posted on February 27, 2022
The Daily Mail report claimed that every soldier in the Chechen force was given a deck of cards displaying pictures of Ukrainian officials the Kremlin had deemed high valuable targets, a tool infamously deployed by the United States while hunting down targets in Iraq
“Airspace over Ukraine still being contested …”
Posted on February 28, 2022
The question arose here of whether or not there would be a Ukrainian Air Force that foreign volunteers could reinforce.
“How Russia’s vast military convoy was ambushed on the road to Kyiv” Telegraph
Posted on March 1, 2022
This convoy is a great mistake on the part of the Russian Army. The level of their incompetence has to be seen to be believed.
Why is the Russian Air Force so ineffective?
Posted on March 1, 2022
More ineptitude. “It ain’t over ’til the fat lady sings.”
Biden, the SOTU and Ukraine
Posted on March 2, 2022
I reached the conclusion that he has already approved and signed one or more “findings” for covert action support to Ukraine in her struggle against Russian invasion
First Victories of the Ukrainian Army
Posted on March 3, 2022
SouthFront is uniformly pro-Russian so this piece is unusual. pl
“Ukraine will ultimately win the irregular war with Russia” Brandon Webb
Posted on March 4, 2022
What it is that Putin thinks he is doing messing around in the space around Kiyiv remains a mystery to me. It remains true that the size force available to him up there is inadequate for the task of subjugating a city the size of Kiyiv unless the Ukraine government decides to meekly surrender. That seems unlikely.
“Russian tanks stuck in the mud ‘an example of poor planning’ for Ukraine invasion” Telegraph
Posted on March 5, 2022
These really look like mostly trucks to me. pl
We wuz lied to. Really? What a surprise!
Posted on March 7, 2022
Lying to troops going into battle is a really bad idea. When disillusion shows up, they become unreliable like this officer. Officers in the Russian Army have beards?
Second Russian general killed
Posted on March 8, 2022
Well, nothing so improves troop morale as a general killed in the front line. It shows that the brass hats are sharing the risk.
“… Russia-Ukraine latest news: 3,000 newborn babies ‘lack medicine and food’ in besieged Mariupol.”
Posted on March 9, 2022
I was sure that Germany would object to flying Polish jets from German soil into combat in Ukraine, and so it is. pl
The Russian Army is still trying to encircle Kiyiv
Posted on March 10, 2022
Well, pilgrims, that is not a “huge column.” The “several tanks” are easy meat for the Javelins, RPGs and other goodies,
“… Russian forces are too stretched and exhausted…”
Posted on March 11, 2022
What the hell do they teach in Russian staff and war colleges? pl
” … the pleas of Russia’s captured pilots.”
Posted on March 12, 2022
The Rooshians are a mess. Why they would have used poor quality troop units for a job like this is a mystery. pl

Posted by: unknwonUnknowns | Mar 13 2022 13:02 utc | 1

It is already in the news: At Least 66 Ukrainian Army Servicemen And Foreigners Were Killed And Wounded Near Lviv https://southfront.org/at-least-66-ukrainian-army-servicemen-and-foreigners-were-killed-and-wounded-near-lviv/

Posted by: Crouchingtiger | Mar 13 2022 13:11 utc | 2

Dudes, this post has the name – “(NOT Ukraine)”

Posted by: Arioch | Mar 13 2022 13:15 utc | 3

unknwonUnknowns | Mar 13 2022 13:02 utc | 1
Why do you post that fuckwits ramblings here?
b, a not Ukraine thread but nearly every link has to do with with Russia and ukraine.
Russia posted something on goods and raw materials not to be exported or imported the other day but sanctions are soon to announced. That will be interesting as Putin said US/UK sanctions amounted to war.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 13 2022 13:18 utc | 4

Dudes, this post has the name – “(NOT Ukraine)”
Posted by: Arioch | Mar 13 2022 13:15 utc | 3
Ahahahahahahahahahah
Everything is ukraine on this cursed day

Posted by: Misotheist | Mar 13 2022 13:19 utc | 5

The no-confidence vote of Pakistan PM Imran Khan is heating up, with geopolitical actors and consequences.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1679747/smokers-corner-the-desperation-of-khan

Posted by: too scents | Mar 13 2022 13:23 utc | 6

Yannick Jadot, Grünen candidate for the French presidency has found a way to defend “democracy in Ukraine”.
« When a dictatorship invades a democratic European country (!) », he said, you have to stop buying Russian fossil fuels because « it kills democracy in Ukraine, it kills the climate. »
Obviously, this requires sacrifices: « At some point, if to save democracy in Europe, you have to turn your washing machine on at night rather than at 6 pm, I think that this is perhaps the price we should be prepared to pay to save democracy in Ukraine and the women and men who are fighting in the streets and who are being bombed by Putin. »
https://tinyurl.com/5frnzezs
Another ecologist from the same gang (EELV – Europe Écologie les Verts), Sandrine Rousseau, who usually is the laughing stock of whole France for her wokespeak, proposed that the population should lower the heating by 2°C (3.6°F):

“Of course we can” do without Russian gas, she said, laying down “two conditions to achieve this”.
“The first is to ask the population to make an effort because today we have reserves that allow us to last until June in France, and so it would be enough to reduce our heating levels and our gas consumption levels by two degrees to ensure that we can last until the end of the summer,” she said. “And then we’ll see about next season,” she added.

https://tinyurl.com/5da26vmf

Posted by: Leuk | Mar 13 2022 13:27 utc | 7

(Not Ukraine) so – no longer the borderlands:) I suspect a permanent fix to what throughout history has been the border lands of Russia and Poland.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 13 2022 13:28 utc | 8

#1 concerning Pat Lang. Excellent Middle East Analysis but terrible on everything else.
Actually believes we are going to space. Old Pat and his buddy TTG, well they lost in Vietnam and are still bitter.

Posted by: Anon123 | Mar 13 2022 13:49 utc | 9

hmm the site said my email was invalid (?) but now I can post.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Mar 13 2022 13:52 utc | 10

Pat Lang is still bitter the south lost the civil war.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Mar 13 2022 13:57 utc | 11

We probably all saw the 40 year record inflation in the US last week: 7.9%
But this is actually misleading. Interest rates in 1982 were not near 0%.
Why This Is The Most Reckless Fed Ever – wolfstreet

This blowout of inflation has resulted in hourly earnings falling behind CPI inflation for the 11th month in a row, compared to the prior year, starting in April 2021.
In other words, “real” earnings declined for the 11th month in a row, thanks to the Fed’s raging inflation – despite big wage increases and the tightest labor market in our generation. Inflation hits those people the hardest that make their living from actual work, rather than those who are sitting on a pile of assets.

There is also an excellent graph of the “CPI-U” vs. effective Fed Funds rate showing how the present situation is literally unprecedented:
Wolf Street CPU vs. EFFR
And note that the Fed has NEVER raised the Fed funds rate more than 1% at a single hike. Even if the Fed were to do so in every single scheduled Fed meeting from this month onward, it would not be until nearly 2023 to get EFFR to anything close to the Fed Funds rate. (Fed meetings are roughly every 2 months)
As it is, the 0.25% (most likely next time, atm) to 0.5% increases will not get the EFFR anywhere near inflation until mid to late 2023 – and that assumes inflation doesn’t accelerate more.
In reality, the inflationary effects of Biden’s sanctions on Russia won’t show up until next month’s report and for months after that.
I’ve noted, several times, reports from “regular people” even in MSM that they’re making more than ever, but are worse off financially…
Get ready for a rough ride, folks. This time around will make the 1970s look mild.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 14:04 utc | 12

https://twitter.com/ArtyomLukin/status/1502081170955243521

Yuanization of Russia is advancing apace. In February, just hundreds of yuan transactions a day were registered at the Moscow exchange. Now it’s around fifty thousand a day.
https://kommersant.ru/doc/5250569

It will be very interesting how Russia coordinates the reopening of its Markets with the announcement/phasing of the counter-sanctions. Huge opportunity for trading on inside information.

Posted by: too scents | Mar 13 2022 14:12 utc | 13

Biden-appointed Surgeon General of the United States asking the public to provide info on “misinformation”
Rat Out Your Doctor

The purpose of the RFI is described as being to help the authorities understand the effect of pandemic “misinformation” on such areas as “health decisions and outcomes, direct and indirect costs, trust in the healthcare system and providers, and healthcare worker morale and safety. It is also intended to help them ascertain its impact on “access to trusted and credible health information, particularly during a public health emergency” and on “lifesaving health decisions such as an individual’s likelihood to vaccinate, and to “prepare for and respond to future public health crises.”
The RFI, which covers a period extending from January 2020 to the present, applies to general search engines, content sharing platforms, social media platforms, e-commerce platforms, crowd-sourced platforms, and instant messaging systems, and includes “research, case studies, data sets, images, data visualizations, interviews, and personal testimonies.”
The request also notes that Health and Human Services “will consider the usability, applicability, and rigor of submissions in response to this RFI and share learnings from these responses with the public, and that “public comments and submissions will also be made available to the public and can be used for research purposes.” For more information, Max Lesko, Murthy’s chief of staff, whose signature appears on the document, provides his phone number along with a special email address containing the words COVIDMisinfo.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 14:12 utc | 14

Posted by: Leuk | Mar 13 2022 13:27 utc | 7
Lol democracy my ass
A typical ukroborg argument: neo-nancys only have between 1% and 2% of the vote!
Alright, bitch, then why do they have security posts all over the Banderreich hierarchy.

Posted by: Misotheist | Mar 13 2022 14:13 utc | 15

I’ve left the conversation at MoA because it’s pointless to talk to people who are basically just talking to them self.
But a shout out to b for the collection of articles, I’m looking forward to reading them!

Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Mar 13 2022 14:13 utc | 16

Jörgen Hassler
Modus operandi. Apart from that,good riddance to bad rubbish.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 13 2022 14:20 utc | 17

in an earlier thread, a barfly recommended Cynthia Chung’s piece. indeed a great read.
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2022/03/11/germany-stockholm-syndrome-and-the-firing-of-valery-gergiev/

Posted by: mastameta | Mar 13 2022 14:24 utc | 18

More “heroic Ukrainian resisters”:
PBS interviews heroic Ukrainian with Bandera pic in background – TheScrum substack
Patrick Lawrence noting Alan MacLeod’s tweet with this great catch

The other day PBS Newshour ran an interview with one Artem Semenikhin, in which the small-town mayor was lionized for standing up to Russian soldiers. In the background, as the ever-alert Alan MacLeod points out, was a portrait of Stepan Bandera, the savage Russophobe, anti–Semite, and leader of Ukrainian Nazis.
…
What did PBS do about this careless oversight? It blurred the Bandera portrait and broadcast the interview with its Ukrainian hero. American journalism at its zenith.

Original Alan MacLeod tweet with PBS video

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 14:25 utc | 19

lol the entire list of articles is about Ukraine . . .

Posted by: Perimetr | Mar 13 2022 14:45 utc | 20

Telegram sputniknews channel and Sputnik news website blocked in Canada.
Freedom of expression? The west is showing what it really is: a hypocrite! The west values? Empty word.
Is the west afraid of losing its citizens with Russian channels telling another disturbing truth. I guess it shows that the west is losing the war and is desperate to prevent it’s citizens to see it. An act of shameful cowardness.

Posted by: Virgile | Mar 13 2022 14:46 utc | 21

Ruh-Roh
“Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has issued a stern warning to Israel following a retaliatory missile strike on the “strategic center of Zionist conspiracy and evil” in the northern Iraqi Kurdistan city of Erbil.”
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/03/13/678473/Iran-IRGC-Missile-Attack-Israel-Erbil

Posted by: gottlieb | Mar 13 2022 14:47 utc | 22

More “chip shortage” from Gizmodo
Ukrainian Neon – gizmodo

Neon is critically important to semiconductor chip manufacturing, and nearly half of the world’s semiconductor-grade neon originates from these two suppliers, Ingas and Cryoin, Reuters notes.
Reuters estimates the two firms produce between 45% and 54% of the specific type of neon needed to manufacture semiconductor chips. Under normal circumstances, Ingas pumps out 15,000 to 20,000 cubic meters of neon per month, with about 75% of that going directly into the chip industry. Global neon production reaches 540 metric tons per year, according to market research firm Techcet. While Cryoin halted operations on the day of the invasion, Ingas had managed to maintain production as Russian forces invaded, but it eventually halted operations this week due to the escalating conflict. That conflict hit close to home for Ingas on Wednesday when Russia’s military reportedly bombarded a maternity hospital in Mariupol, the city where Ingas is based, according to the World Health Organization.
Those disruptions pose a dire threat to an industry that just began its path to recovery from two years of pandemic-related supply chain shortages. Shocks from those have led to production delays of everything from Ford F-150s to Apple electronics just about everything in between.

This is the usual crap analysis.
The primary cause of the chip shortage is legacy chips, not the leading edge. The leading edge does have problems due to consumption increases induced by COVID and insufficient capital spending, but the vast majority of shortages are in the legacy chips.
The legacy chips are made at legacy factories. While consumption is also an issue there, the legacy side already had structural issues due to both financial (the legacy factories are fully depreciated and so make creating new production for these chips highly uneconomic) and economic (the sticking of legacy chips into nonsense ranging from toasters to lightbulbs has enormously accelerated demand).

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 14:55 utc | 23

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 14:55 utc | 24
There is a significant shortage in chips for the automobile industry that are automotive grade and support modern communication protocols, as well as chips for driver surveillance and low power near field communication.
Specifically in audio, entertainment and automobile domains Asahi Kasei Microdevices had a fire in their production facility that has caused massive shortages. https://www.converge.com/resources/news/supply-chain-disruption-news-akm-factory-fire/
Furthermore there are industry wide shortages of ceramic materials and solvents used in handling and packaging. See MLCC shortage as an example.

Posted by: too scents | Mar 13 2022 15:21 utc | 24

BNE assessment of Ukraine situation
The factual parts look ok to me.
The “prediction” part – no idea since I didn’t see the prediction before 2/24.
The analysis part: bad.
The author conflates UN vote with actual sanctions. There are not the same thing at all. The reality is that only the Five Eyes+Japan+EU are sanctioning – and even then, it is uneven.
The author also presumes that the economic sanction response from the US/EU was both unanticipated and of greater impact than it really is. Which is not to say the impact isn’t significant – it is that the impact on Russia is far less than the self-imposed impact on the sanctioners.
The political analysis is also very suspect.
But a viewpoint worth considering.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 15:24 utc | 25

The bne analysis is overall rather okay. I have thought about it indeed, what are the strategic choices for Putin.
The major game-changers would be capture of Mariupol and destruction/surrender of the Eastern armies. If the Russians can achieve this it will strengthen Putin’s hand considerably. However it is clear that to reach for Western Ukraine Putin would need to send a whole another group of armies or BTGs, the current force is clearly not enough.
So the choice is to go all-in once again, or to stop at the Dniepr and force a kind of compromise. Trouble being that it would leave open the question of Odessa and it would be a strategic stalemate.
We’ll see clearer in a week.

Posted by: Micron | Mar 13 2022 15:35 utc | 26

c1ue
Where are leading edge chips required? My impression is that leading edge chips mean small and the main demand is yuppie smart phones.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 13 2022 15:38 utc | 27

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 14:55 utc | 24
Why would production in a fully depreciated for tax purposes factory be uneconomical?

Posted by: RJB | Mar 13 2022 15:43 utc | 28

Just a short little tidbit about the economic side of our civilization war
After food and water are identified as near money, so are resources used to build things like metals. Organizations around the world using resources in their business go to great lengths to insure a stable supply of raw materials.
Enter in the cult of private finance that uses the tools of risk abatement to manipulate and control raw material inventories and sources……the hedge funds and their finance backers….
So, last week the London Metal Exchange (LME) in Hong Kong suspended the trading of nickel because the Western money mafia had taken aim at a large China investor position in nickel and the Chinese government has now gotten involved in negotiating the unwinding of this financial weapon…..stay tuned
We can get back into the whole discussion about the merits/demerits of shorting but the bottom line is that the world of private financial manipulation/control is being challenged by sovereign nations like China and Russia. Its part of the civilization war we are in about what are the acceptable tenets of the social contract that currently has a private cult running the lifeblood of finance in the West and most of the world…….I am happy that others don’t like that arrangement because I don’t either.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 13 2022 15:47 utc | 29

Speaking of freedom of expression, I remember a time, years ago, when lived in Spain and I have this memory of reading different points of view in the newspaper, El Pais as I recall (dimly).
Question: Does any one live in an area where one can read different viewpoints in a newspaper, as opposed to the monotones we get served in the U.S.?

Posted by: Don Bacon | Mar 13 2022 15:49 utc | 30

@too scents #25
The vast majority of chips in an automobile are literally 8 and 16 bit microcontrollers. These started out for emissions controls but have morphed into a range of other functions.
“Automotive grade” – that meant something 25 years ago, not really clear what it means today. 25 years ago, it took 4 years for a car maker to proof out a new electronics system for a car.
I am 100% sure that is no longer true.
As for Asahi – they are precisely one of the legacy producers. That fab was likely built in the 1990s…

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 15:52 utc | 31

Ukraine doesnt have a strong national identity yet, thus they dont stick together like other countries against an outside foe. Ukraine was created on the remnants of the Russian Empire by the USSR. Its quite fluid, if and when a community breaks away and forms a new national identity. But Ukraine isnt there yet. So I expect that most Ukrainians will live under their new Russian rulers like they did after the 2014 coup that tried to impose All Ukrainian nationalism on them.
Why did the US try to force this West Ukrainian identity on all of the country? Because Western Ukraine has a disctict different identity and can easily be rallied against Russia. All Ukrainian nationalism coming from that part has the genocide of Poles and Jews at its core. Ukraine only for Ukrainians without ppl with different identities, yet nobody in the West cared. By putting those guys in central posititions of govt and society, especially the younger generation was about be lost for Russia. The language law would have done its work over time. Russia can still rely on the older ppl whose identity was formed by the USSR. In this way, had Russia waited for 10-15 more years, the transformation of Ukraine would have been permanent.

Posted by: Arne Hartmann | Mar 13 2022 15:52 utc | 32

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 15:52 utc | 32
It is very clear what automotive grade means. Look at a spec sheet sometimes.
Microcontrollers have embedded interfaces. That is the sauce that makes them juicy. Otherwise they’d be all the same.

Posted by: too scents | Mar 13 2022 15:56 utc | 33

@Peter AU1 #28
Leading edge chips are used for:
1) High end laptops and PCs – specifically the CPUs and graphics cards. 2nd This is the biggest part of the market. The CPUs and graphics cards are proprietary but the computer systems aren’t.
2) Cloud compute blade servers. 3rd largest but fastest growing.
3) Digital portion of cell phones, but these are highly proprietary anyway so is not exactly true. This is the biggest part of the market but cell phones are largely vertically integrated (Apple, Samsung) so this is misleading.
4) Some specialized systems like backplane DSPs and what not, but this is a very small market in absolute terms.
Note I don’t even mention blockchain miners. While there is some overlap in the video card space – the vast majority of mining is done by specialized ASIC rigs which don’t overlap the general semiconductor chip space at all.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 15:57 utc | 34

comment1 was meant to highlight when the propaganda “memo” was issued!
upto feb 23 PL comments were generally ok, stating do not poke the bear. on feb 23 it all changed overnight and the hyperbole went into frenzy. Looks like he finally got the memo. that was the point of the comment. I hear the ‘no ukrain’, my bad.

Posted by: unknownUnknowns | Mar 13 2022 16:06 utc | 35

@RJB #29
A 1990s era fab that is fully depreciated – its only costs are inputs, labor and maintenance.
To increase the capacity in the legacy chip space: you would have to build a new fab.
This means you have capital cost – either opportunity cost of capital or interest cost on the loans for capital to build it.
You also have costs to locate, get permitted, construct, buy new semiconductor machinery, set up new supply lines, set up the utilities (huge inputs of electricity and water, huge outputs of somewhat to highly poisonous waste), manpower plus training for same, experts to set up and then run the fab, test run the new production line, create the technology package for prospective customers, sell the product, the list goes on and on and on.
Put another way: a legacy fab’s output these days for a 16 bit microcontroller is priced at less than $0.50.
I have seen estimates that the same device, from a newly constructed fab of equivalent capability, would cost $1.50 – and would need to see that price sustained for 15 years or more in order to be worth building.
I didn’t look into these models very closely but they are definitely ballpark.
I think you can see the problem: what capitalist in his right mind is going to sink billions into building a fab that will produce chips that are 3 times as expensive as what is already on the market?
Nation-states have different priorities – so a few will be built.
But these may not matter. If the trend continues for “smart” whatevers, the handful of new fabs isn’t going to meet the ongoing ramp in demand – this demand existing because the chips were cheap and plentiful.
But if the chips ARE NOT cheap and plentiful – it will be interesting to see if the “smartening” will slow down or stop.
Which in turn makes the above capitalist’s dilemma even worse…

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 16:08 utc | 36

@too scents #34
Do you work in the semiconductor industry? Have you actually designed and/or manufactured chips of any type, much less “automotive grade”?
I have.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 16:09 utc | 37

so you think somebody pressured Lang? possible

Posted by: pretzelattack | Mar 13 2022 16:11 utc | 38

Back in the day I did work for Harris under an ARPA contract.
Now I design my own stuff as a hobby. You seem unaware of the analog domain, among other things.

Posted by: too scents | Mar 13 2022 16:14 utc | 39

thanks b!
i can’t keep up!!! i am not even trying anymore.. it is all moving too fast… i want off the ”news” merri go round… i see some great links here too… thanks!

Posted by: james | Mar 13 2022 16:26 utc | 40

@james I have the same sentiment.

Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Mar 13 2022 16:41 utc | 41

@pretzelattack
“so you think somebody pressured Lang? possible”
his post on feb 23 was to ridicule the DOD lineup of generals on MSM.
On feb 24 his somment was, “I got all this wrong” and from there the hyper bole goes into frenzy. Can only assume, someone read him the riot act. just follow his post headings and comments day by day. seems rather obvious.

Posted by: unknwonUnknowns | Mar 13 2022 16:50 utc | 42

@ 1 said;”For all his faults, Donald Trump had the right idea about NATO.”
Agreed, keeping in mind that,”a broken clock is right, twice a day.”

Posted by: vetinLA | Mar 13 2022 16:58 utc | 43

@too scents #40
Great! So you can elucidate the differences between 1995 era automotive design requirements, as well as automotive customer acceptance processes vs. today. I know the former, I don’t know the latter.
As for analog: I never did much analog design but I did a lot of analog work ranging from Spice model development to parasitic resistance to hot electron and OPC analysis.
I also supported fast Spice analysis software for Motorola, Intel, Analog Devices, Broadcom, and a bunch of other companies.
But I guess I am not “aware” of the analog domain…

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 17:01 utc | 44

Posted by: james | Mar 13 2022 17:02 utc | 45

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 17:01 utc | 45
I’ve also worked for Kearfott, Fairchild and FLIR. Harris was radar. The fab we were taping chips for was … special. 8″ wafers were big. Our die sizes were ~800mm2. Non Von Neumann architecture.
Check out AKM’s analog to digital converters that are now unavailable. That is my hobby domain ==> https://www.akm.com/eu/en/products/audio/audio-adc/ak5572en/

Posted by: too scents | Mar 13 2022 17:21 utc | 46

who was it commented here, “the US has only one policy: arson”? the US will gladly ruin Europe to try to maintain its supremacy. Europe of course includes Britain.
all this tough talk from the US. it’s really disgusting. at this moment, the only possible damage to the US power structure in Ukraine is monetary loss (barring nuclear exchange). the US has zero skin in the game.
who is David and who is Goliath? i use this example because of its simplicity. It’s not “David vs Goliath”. It’s “David vs Goliath and his shield bearer.” Goliath is actually “two people”, someone else takes the blows for him. the Ukraine and all of Europe is the “shield bearer” for the US, who will not bat an eyelash at the deaths of millions of Europeans, Russians or anyone else.

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Mar 13 2022 17:21 utc | 47

@too scents #47
Very cool.
One of the areas I was peripherally responsible for, was the design services group in NC that used to be the Westinghouse fab team.
They have good stories…

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 17:35 utc | 48

most people don’t think that it’s the “welfare queens” who run society, because welfare recipients aren’t in charge of anything.
why is Israel different? how is it that the country depending on everything coming from the US is running the ship? how is it that this weak, sickly apartheid terror and death state is emcee of the “greatest show on earth”?
they are not different. the people surviving on disability payments are not in charge of anything, whatever their use as a PR operation and forward operating base.

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Mar 13 2022 17:46 utc | 49

rjb1.5 | Mar 13 2022 17:46 utc | 50
it is kind of confusing to see commenters posting about the nazis in ukraine and in the next comment read someone else (gottlieb, e.g.) blaming “the Jews” for everything. thus my comment about Israel. same thing applies to “the jews”.

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Mar 13 2022 17:51 utc | 50

I was beginning to think that the “Agitpapa”‘s article was informative until I clicked on the link about the supposed house-arrest of the Russian officials and saw that the source of that information was the British Daily Mail! If that kind of source is where Agitpapa find information. I have wasted my time reading his piece.

Posted by: Steve | Mar 13 2022 17:57 utc | 51

Every time I check MoA there’s 100+ more comments… it’s all getting just a little too much, and yet I can’t not look. Everything else has gone to shit. “Weeks when decades happen”, yep.
@psychohistorian—you always did say “the shitshow continues until it doesn’t”. This could be it.

Posted by: Patroklos | Mar 13 2022 18:31 utc | 52

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 14:55 utc | 24
Gizmodo? LOL. It’s like Archie comic books for the aging Gen X set Richard Craniums. All muffin tops, skin tight jeans and 8$ Starbucks Lattes. Vapid from the shoulders up.

Posted by: Bruce Lee Marvin Gay | Mar 13 2022 18:36 utc | 53

My limited experience with the chip industry suggests that both c1ue and too scents have good points in their argument.
I get the point about fully-depreciated facilities, because the savings on income taxes from the Depreciation scam is accounted in financial and investment planning. Without that, actual cash-in-hand is seriously reduced.
I’ll throw in a question about chip production: what does the apparent – or suggested – shortage of neon gas portend?

Posted by: Paul Spencer | Mar 13 2022 18:44 utc | 54

in an earlier thread, a barfly recommended Cynthia Chung’s piece. indeed a great read.
Posted by: mastameta | Mar 13 2022 14:24 utc | 19
while “+1”-ing is a stupid way to pollute conversations, i ahve to plea guilty and to do just that. Dunno how factuakky correct it was, but great read it is.

Posted by: Arioch | Mar 13 2022 18:47 utc | 55

Open thread? LOL. Censored for no reason. The MODS are dopes with no sense of humor

Posted by: Berndt Braincell | Mar 13 2022 18:58 utc | 56

@ Arioch | Mar 13 2022 18:47 utc | 56
a few of us did that with a post by S on the previous thread @ 98… i think it helps others to take a closer look at certain posts fwiw…

Posted by: james | Mar 13 2022 18:59 utc | 57

Responding to
”
@psychohistorian—you always did say “the shitshow continues until it doesn’t”. This could be it.
Posted by: Patroklos | Mar 13 2022 18:31 utc | 53
”
Yes, I think we are in a very interesting time of humanity.
One one side you have a shit show movie with the cult of “producers” hiding behind the curtain of faith and deception
On the other side you have leaders of peoples/nations trying to carve out a multipolar world in contrast to the top/bottom shit show of the past centuries in the West.
All the proxy wars are coming home to roost.
I read that Iran is outright claiming responsibility for the bombing of Occupied Palestine tools
Those spouting here that Russia will stop in Ukraine and not enforce its demands of a neutral Poland are deluded….this is for all the marbles, as they say
If the US President signs recent legislation that says future maps must show Taiwan as not part of China will mean that the US is abrogating its previous commitment to one China and I expect to see the response to be decisive.
The shit show continues until it doesn’t and I sense the sphincter tightening….grin

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 13 2022 19:07 utc | 58

@ Paul Spencer | Mar 13 2022 18:44 utc | 55 who asked
”
I’ll throw in a question about chip production: what does the apparent – or suggested – shortage of neon gas portend?
”
I posit a reasonable answer to your question is in the link below
https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/11/ukraine_neon_supplies/

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 13 2022 19:13 utc | 59

Latin America– BRI
Latin American countriess are shifting massively to BRI and the U.S. elites are throwing a hissy fit. Watch this 3 min. video of angry Republican congresswoman demanding answers from a back-pedalling, woke democrat, encapsulating our current ungovernable status: the Empire is collapsing and no one knows why. I guess that’s at least a step…
https://kawsachunnews.com/latin-america-is-rejecting-u-s-assistance

Posted by: migueljose | Mar 13 2022 19:14 utc | 60

shortage of neon gas portend?
Posted by: Paul Spencer | Mar 13 2022 18:44 utc | 55
—
Neon is used in ion beam induced etching. https://www.google.com/search?q=gas+field+microscope

Posted by: too scents | Mar 13 2022 19:15 utc | 61

Berndt Braincell | Mar 13 2022 18:58 utc | 57
no one is censoring your comment. this is not the NYT. did you try more than once? try typing into notepad, refreshing the MoA screen, and then cutting and pasting your comment. the MoA page times out after a short while.
or you can believe that your deep thoughts are being censored. whatev.

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Mar 13 2022 19:34 utc | 62

it’s all getting just a little too much, and yet I can’t not look
Posted by: Patroklos | Mar 13 2022 18:31 utc | 53
fear is the mind flayer. constant anxiety is central to their game – doesn’t matter how intellectual you think you are, our minds simply don’t work well under prolonged stress. i think you should try to force yourself not to look for most of each day. plant some veggies. go for a walk.

Posted by: Rae | Mar 13 2022 19:40 utc | 63

I don’t trust Lang to be honest in any event, but it does seem like he was pressured.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Mar 13 2022 19:40 utc | 64

A question –
“How familiar are Germans with VV Putin speaking to them directly in Deutsche?”
I know several hundred angry and drunk ones were when they marched to the Soviet outpost at the former Rudolf Steiner Center for Anthroposophy, Dresden, when the Wall was coming down.
And he was persuasive.
https://gulfnews.com/lifestyle/in-dresden-putin-is-more-than-a-fading-memory-1.2187888

Posted by: tucenz | Mar 13 2022 19:58 utc | 65

Posted by: tucenz | Mar 13 2022 19:58 utc | 66

“The lock on my account happened literally instantly as I posted the tweet — I got an email notice right away. This is the reason I suspect it must have been an automated ban.” https://asawinstanley.substack.com/p/twitter-is-censoring-reporting-on?s=r
Seemed to me an indication of somebody or bodies — with both profile and tweets with replies open — simply waiting for my next tweet. In my case permanently stuck on a page demanding a phone number even though there’s never been a number associated with my account. In my case no reply to the appeal even after seven days.
Postscript.
“Triggered by what, I have not been told.”
🇵🇸 That ought to do it.”NPR’s Ari Shapiro speaks with Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of site integrity, about social media disinformation related to elections — and what his platform is doing about it.” https://www.npr.org/2020/03/02/811338220/twitter-head-of-site-integrity-on-fighting-election-disinformation
Why does everything Zianuses touch turn to excrement?

Posted by: Laurence | Mar 13 2022 22:23 utc | 67

rjb1.5 @50. Pee tapes and other ransoms ala epstien and maxwell

Posted by: Tannenhouser | Mar 13 2022 22:39 utc | 68

I read Yasha Levin’s piece on the prospective grief for the ordinary Russians. My take (ala Saker) is that Russia has been divided between ‘Atlantic-Integrationists’ and ‘Eurasian-Soverignists’; the argument being ‘it’d be far easier just to give in and be dominated by the Atlanticist world, why try and re-orientate the country towards Asia? (not a natural fit)’. That would certainly suit the cosmopolitan educated elites and the oligarchic class. However Russia already had a period of Atlantic Integration in the 1990’s, which was a disaster for alot if not most ordinary Russians in terms of health, longevity etc. Its obvious that Atlantic Integration would lead to the further extension of neo-liberalism into Russian affair. Neoliberalism (aka oligarchism) is present in Russia as a legacy of the Yelstin constitution and Western restructuring: it means greater inequality and hollowing out of public services and less general societal welfare (as is proceeding apace in West). These would be just the practical economic results of going the Atlantic-Integration route. Added to that the national humiliation at having to swallow LGBT+ legislation, seeing the nation’s young beautiful women flee abroad to find wealthy husbands (a common thing twenty years ago) etc; Orthodox and Slavic culture bending to Western norms etc. Added to that, any heterogenous economist can diagnose that the Western neoliberal economy is a hollowed out house of cards waiting to implode, with no real new value being created and existing value being extracted by the elite. It was quite likely that Russia could have joined the West early in Putin’s term, but this was on offer only as a supplicant, not at the top table occupied by US, UK Fr, Ger, Japan, etc. And it might well have been taken but for the high-handedness of the West; which in the long term would have sucked Russia into the neo-liberal plughole we in the West are in. It seems this war could spell a significant rupture in the world economy, leading possibly to a (forced) withdrawal of Russia from the financial institutions and economic modus operandi that the West has used to extract enormous wealth not just from Russia but from the whole developing world. An decisive escape from neoliberalism and the dollar standard is now possible whereas before is wasn’t. I’m sure all these factors are in the mix in Kremlin decision-making, and mightn’t be apparent on the ground in Russia.

Posted by: Goeffrey | Mar 13 2022 23:13 utc | 69

@Paul Spencer #55
Neon is used in the etching phase.
For each layer on silicon, photoresist is used to block out the various portions used for wires, transistors etc.
Lasers are then used to remove the photoresist <-- this is the neon usage phase. It is a key step - actually, a step repeated dozens of times per wafer processed. Any real neon shortage will affect the industry as follows: the high end guys - the top fabs at TSMC and a handful of other places - will outbid the low end fabs for the neon because they are producing high ASP items. So the legacy chip shortages might get worse but I sincerely doubt the high end will suffer.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 23:46 utc | 70

@ Goeffrey | Mar 13 2022 23:13 utc | 70
thanks for your overview on yasha levines article… i thought it was a pretty shitty article myself, which has as it’s focus ->”what do the Russians get form this?” ( war ), but in a very narrow sense… it neglects looking at the bigger picture, which is understandable i suppose.. i think your description of it all is much better, and as you say – the reason for the kremlin decision making might not be apparent on the ground in russia… people like simple solution to complicated problems.. yashas example of the usa invading mexico is just so far removed from the geo political reality facing russia here, it also reflects why i think the article is shitty and yasha probably doesn’t have much of an audience…

Posted by: james | Mar 14 2022 0:09 utc | 71

“Washington will not negotiate any exemptions from the Ukraine-related sanctions for Russia in order to save the Iranian nuclear deal, The Wall Street Journal has reported, citing a senior State Department official.” https://sputniknews.com/20220313/us-ready-to-sacrifice-iranian-nuclear-deal-to-keep-anti-russian-sanctions-in-place-report-says-1093828765.html
Not surprised.
`US National Security Adviser’: Beijing Will Face Consequences If It Helps Moscow Dodge Sanctions https://sputniknews.com/20220313/us-national-security-adviser-beijing-will-face-consequences-if-it-helps-moscow-dodge-sanctions-1093837483.html
Impotent rage.

Posted by: Laurence | Mar 14 2022 0:39 utc | 72

rjb1.5 @ 51
hilarious stuff!

Posted by: gottlieb | Mar 14 2022 1:09 utc | 73

Flashback Sunday
21:49 GMT 17.11.2020 Joe Biden Pledges ‘Deep Commitment’ to Israel in Call With PM Netanyahu https://sputniknews.com/20201117/joe-biden-pledges-deep-commitment-to-israel-in-call-with-pm-netanyahu–1081195813.html
27 August 2021, 8:44 pm At first meeting, Biden pledges to Bennett that Iran will ‘never’ get nukes https://www.timesofisrael.com/at-first-meeting-biden-pledges-to-bennett-that-iran-will-never-get-nukes/

Posted by: Laurence | Mar 14 2022 1:52 utc | 74

Right now I’m disappointed that a poster who travels with her jew hating (not anti-zionist which most of us are, but actual racist beliefs) off-sider, has returned here.
I’m ignoring the posts of the principal unless/until her posts begin to promote the non-existent virtues of a particular amerikan political party. Mid-term elections are gonna be happening in amerika this year and if this poster follows previous form she will carry on all radical until the mob she supports reveal themselves to be the corrupt liars many know them to be, then she will start her ‘lesser evil’ nonsense and berate any followers she may have picked up from her faux radical stance into supporting her preferred flavour of elite, that is consumerism driven by resource theft & war-mongering, as the lesser evil when is is obvious to any critical thinker, that this gang’s actions of oppressing the very humans they claim to want to protect, in fact makes them the greater evil.
The jew hater is I suspect actually a plant by the zionist arm of that half of the amerikan empire party, this poster’s job is to make anything that is a well argued anti-zionist opinion posted here, ignorable by the already propagandised because it is demonstrable that MoA has published some judeophobic posts.
All in all an ugly pair of arseholes but one IMO, to be ignored until they begin their shameless spruiking, then they need to be dealt with by rationally exposing the falsehoods they try to promote, name calling or simple contradiction will only advantage their blatantly corrupt stances.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Mar 14 2022 1:59 utc | 75

@ Laurence | Mar 14 2022 1:52 utc | 75 commenting about Occupied Palestine
Just like folks don’t think that Russia will eliminate the NATO military threat from Poland and China will never respond to empire provocation about Taiwan, many take Occupied Palestine for granted in spite of ongoing world wide condemnation.
I don’t see the current Russia/Ukraine dustup as isolated from the more global challenges to ongoing empire domination. That empire domination is necessary for Occupied Palestine to continue to exist. Empire domination is ending, to some degree, and ongoing support for Occupied Palestine will end with it.
Bennett’s theatrics around Russia/Ukraine negotiations was a deluded attempt to give a lipstick patina of relevance to the genocidal regime….Fail except for Western optics.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 14 2022 2:11 utc | 76

https://kawsachunnews.com/latin-america-is-rejecting-u-s-assistance
Posted by: migueljose | Mar 13 2022 19:14 utc | 61
Excellent article – thank you!
I was particularly impressed by the Olympic-level display of self-unawareness by Congressional Representative Lisa McClain, who puzzled why “…Congress attempted to counteract China’s Belt and Roadway (sic) initiatives in 2018, the Build Act.
…there seems to be little interest by the underdeveloped nations to utilize the US Build Act over China. Why do you think these nations have been so hesitant to utilize the US…to help fund their initiatives?
… we provide assistance and they don’t want it. So, is that really the issue or is there something I’m missing?”
Perhaps what she’s missing is any appreciation of the past two centuries of US-Latin American relations.

Posted by: farm ecologist | Mar 14 2022 2:15 utc | 77

@72 james | Mar 14 2022 0:09 utc – the bigger picture
Here are two collateral pieces you may enjoy to round out that bigger picture:
The Great Russian Restoration I: The Purge of the Liberal Media and Rumblings of Economic Nationalization
The author is discussing what’s happening inside of Russia, and why it took this long for the state to begin to purge its 5th column. It’s war now, and war opportunities and imperatives apply.
Also, Rostislav Ishchenko provides a dead-sober analysis of why Russia couldn’t take this action any sooner than it has, for example in 2014. It didn’t because it couldn’t, and if it had, what we see now is what would have turned the effort to disaster 8 years ago:
Rostislav Ishchenko on the war in the Ukraine
Phase 1 is completing at its own measured pace, and then Phase 2 of this action, the denazification, will be run by the new government, with Russian backing. So the only question outstanding at present is if Zelensky is capable of being that new government – freed of Nazi dominance by Russian security – or if we have to find a new guy. It’s all in Russia’s court to play.
As to the time it takes, this is not a factor, it’s of zero consequence. Russia has crossed the Rubicon and there’s no going back. If it takes 3-5-10 years, long after most people will have tired of the lack of action (like Syria), Russia will stand, and NATO will be at the 1997 borders – or we’ll all be dead, and the threads will mercifully be quiet.

Posted by: Grieved | Mar 14 2022 3:03 utc | 78

@ Debsisdead | Mar 14 2022 1:59 utc | 76
thanks debs… some of us are paying attention..
@ farm ecologist | Mar 14 2022 2:15 utc | 78
ditto your conclusion.. thanks migueljose and farm ecologist…

Posted by: james | Mar 14 2022 3:08 utc | 79

I have been criticized here for making predictions but if james can tell us that early April portends potential significance then I can say with comfort that the weeks leading up to that time frame should be a period for some sort of record books.
We are headed into world-wide financial lockup. I posit that before the period james predicts it won’t just be the Russian markets that are offline.
Will the market for nickel be opened back up on the corrupt LME? I posit that China does not approve of the Western hedge fund folk and the private finance skirts they hide under. Maybe this is not the place and time but soon there will be actions against the money for nothing folk, IMO
What is empire to do if they can’t get the energy needs of their military met and disruptions occur?
I don’t think the Western public is willing to sacrifice shit for aggression against China or Russia, in spite of the ongoing vomitorium of propaganda encouraging endurance of pain and suffering….especially after the Covid lies/crimes against humanity that will not go back in the bottle.
I somehow see a chorus of challenges to empire internally and from every corner of our world in the next few weeks.
I am not sure of the outcome but the smell of the shit show is rising everywhere.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 14 2022 3:11 utc | 80

What’s that smell?
“the Covid lies/crimes against humanity|

Posted by: Laurence | Mar 14 2022 4:02 utc | 81

Ever heard of a ‘gift’ that come with an
ultimatum …..only from FUS,
~~Take it or leave it~~
Take it or you’d be sorry !
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202202/1253002.shtml

Posted by: denk | Mar 14 2022 5:15 utc | 82

The American Conservative article contains this sentence:

The Defense Threat Reduction Office (DTRO), a subagency of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), an offspring of the Manhattan Project, is responsible for a number of programs in Ukraine, one of which is the Biological Threat Reduction Program.

This asserted relationship between the DTRA and the Manhattan Project is very interesting. There was nothing defencive about the Manhattan Project – it was very specifically a offensive project to develop atomic/nuclear weapons and deploy them against Japan and Russia. Even before the end of the second world war and before Hiroshima and Nagasaki there were very specific and highly developed plans to totally annihilate Russia using hundreds* of nuclear bombs. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was specifically intended as a scientific experiment to measure the effects on the population – that research in itself is a war crime quite apart from the deliberate targetting of civilian populations. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were specifically chosen because they had received little conventional bombing, in order to get a “cleaner” scientific result on the effects. The attacks were also specifically envisaged as an overt warning to the Soviet Union – then still officially a military ally in the war against Hitler.
* I think maybe the number before Japan was 103 bombs or 153 or something; by a few years later it was over a thousand. A specific list of over 1000 named Russian cities targetted for first strike annihilation using nuclear bombs was later declassified and is available on the internet. The plan was to annihilate Russia before she could develop her first nuclear weapon. Note that these numbers are from memory and may be incorrect. Also note that once Russia had developed her own nuclear weapons, she stockpiled the princely number of about 3 or 5 (again from memory) – on the assumption that that was enough as a deterrant and nobody would be so mad as to use them – yet the US intention from the start was specifically to use them.
Therefore the assertion that DTRA is an offspring of the Manhattan Project is of considerable interest if true. Can this claim be verified? Does anybody know anything about it?
Not that it would be the tiniest bit surprising in view of the US documented history of protecting the Japanese and German biowarfare researchers and war criminals, and their documented use of bio warfare during the Korean War both in Korea and in China, etc etc etc. Nevertheless it is an important part of the jigsaw and is suggestive of intention, if true. Also the Manhattan Project was a collaboration with the UK, which itself is of interest. There is abundant evidence of collaboration between the US and UK on the development of bio warfare weapons.

Posted by: BM | Mar 14 2022 7:15 utc | 83

re denk | Mar 14 2022 5:15 utc | 82
Thanks for that. As someone who lives in a small nation (by population & land area) I frequently wish that those in larger populations grasped the pressure that the amerikan war machine places us under. Because the stakes Of the MCC (Millennium Challenge Compact) look to be so small, ie whether or not Nepal gets a subsidised by amerika hydro-electric system versus whether Nepal is forced to allow direct interference it is governance, few non-Nepalese are paying attention, when this seemingly innocuous hydro scheme is directly analogous with Nato expansion in europe.
The MCC is a thin end of a wedge designed to force Nepal to act as a threatening base for amerika against China.
What? – you imagined that Nepal’s close proximity to China was merely coincidental? That amerika’s inability to get Pakistan fully onboard with the amerikan empire’s need to buttress both Russia & China has nothing to do with their (amerika’s) first step towards subjugating Nepal, a nation whose working class population fervently support socialism ?
If amerika cannot arm-twist Pakistan or rape Afghanistan into providing a ‘base’ for amerikan interference in China’s northern border, now that India has revealed its indifference to siding against Russia/China alliance, they are basically screwed.
India has likely stood as far aside from the Uke blue as much as they are permitted because picking a side is prolly gonna be lose:lose whilst saying nowt, if possible, is the only failsafe stance.
Given that citizens of other neighbours (Pakistan, Nepal & China) profess an incompatible view to amerika’s, a view supported by skeptical Indians, we must consider this article on the issue. These protagonists (India, China, Pakistan, Nepal) have had organised societies living cheek by jowl for millennia, none of them are going to be scammed as Ukraine has been, into believing that the amerikan empire is capable, much less has the desire to truly support any one of them should amerika’s demands put one of them offside with the others. That in turn indicates that amerika will fail in its attempt to conflict with China on two vastly separated geographic fronts.
amerikan support known to be both iniquitous and temporary (generally runs for only just as long as amerika needs – after that the supporting nation is tossed to one side), of course Nepalese leaders are looking for something more stable long term, as just & fairly balanced alliances always are.
I doubt that even the most venal, corrupt Nepalese, or even for that matter, Indian politician, will fail to see that the other three nations are gonna be their neighbours long after the amerikan empire is done and dusted, as the englanders say.
@ james | Mar 14 2022 3:08 utc | 79:
Thanks appreciate what you say, you’re correct of course, but I do worry about the short attention span of too many humans.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Mar 14 2022 7:39 utc | 84

So it looks like Venezuela will be making a deal with the US, to sell it some oil, in exchange for recognizing Maduro as legitimate president, as well as respecting Venezuela’s sovereignty.
I hope there are other, more tangible, benefits to Venzuela, in the deal they’ll make. Like quitting the sanctions and giving them back their gold.
https://www.rt.com/russia/551785-venezuela-russia-ally-oil-us/
I hope Venezuela doesn’t end up getting screwed.

Posted by: Featherless | Mar 14 2022 8:01 utc | 85

“Automotive grade” – that meant something 25 years ago, not really clear what it means today. 25 years ago, it took 4 years for a car maker to proof out a new electronics system for a car.
I am 100% sure that is no longer true.
Posted by: c1ue | Mar 13 2022 15:52 utc | 32
My impression is that the “automotive grade” refers specifically to the signal-hostile environment, i.e. the engine. Therefore these chips are far more robust in their operation compared to non-automotive grades. That environment might be quantitatively cleaner today than 25 years ago, but is it likely to be qualitatively so different, I would be somewhat surprised?
(Disclosure – I have no industry experience of this field unlike you and too scents, I make no pretences otherwise.)

Posted by: BM | Mar 14 2022 8:04 utc | 86

Debsisdead | Mar 14 2022 7:39 utc | 84
If its a ‘free ‘ gift, why are Nepalese rioting in the streets, why does it take so long for the govn to consider, only caving in and ratified it on the deadline 28-2-22…. after the proconsul from Washington threatened dire consequences ? [1]
Here’s a clue.,
SOFA
IPS [Indo Pacific Strategy]
Sri Langka, OTOH, has rejected the ‘gift’ outright.
MCC , the ‘infra structure grant’, is nothing less than FUKUS stealth colonisation.
In a nutshell,
The ‘beneficiary’ are expected to legalise FUKUS Extra territorial right in their own country.
The gory detail
[2]
[1]
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/02/24/nepl-f24.html
[2]
https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2020/10/09/why-sri-lanka-must-reject-mcc/

Posted by: denk | Mar 14 2022 8:39 utc | 87

Gonzalo Lira has news for the USA.
It is not good news.
He explains the detail well and places the blame on the Clinton Globalisation fanaticism and few recent ‘accidents’.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Mar 14 2022 9:01 utc | 88

re denk | Mar 14 2022 8:39 utc | 87
I doubt anyone in Nepal considers the MCC to be a ‘free gift’ – the tiny minority who support the MCC only do so for the personal advantage which selling out their nation will endow them with. The rest of Nepalese see this for what it is, an attempt by amerika to trap Nepal into going against the interests of a close and supportive neighbour, ie China.
Personally I cannot see the MCC being ratified – if it does opposition towards it by ordinary decent Nepalese, will reach critical mass long before amerika manages to bribe, blackmail or otherwise suborn enough Nepalese citizens to keep the Act in place long term.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Mar 14 2022 9:17 utc | 89

re denk | Mar 14 2022 8:39 utc | 87
Where TF did you get the idea that I promoted the MCC in Nepal as a free gift? Everything I posted was the opposite, that apart from a handful of stupid self interested types in Nepal, everyone else will see this for what it is; that is a last ditch attempt by amerika to force Nepal into shooting themselves in the foot by advancing the interests of here today, gone tomorrow amerikans ahead of neighbours who would never forget nor forgive Nepal selling a neighbour out for some nefarious and probably non-existent reward.
I suggest you read what I posted in #84 again, this time properly.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Mar 14 2022 9:29 utc | 90

Debsisdead | Mar 14 2022 9:29 utc | 89
Thats was a rhetorical question not directed at you.
I should’ve phrased it another way to avoid such
misunderstanding 🙁

Posted by: denk | Mar 14 2022 9:46 utc | 91

No worries my fault. It is sad that so few humans consider the way that amerika bullies small tryin to be independent nations whose only crime is to exist too close to somewhere/something amerika wants to steal.
I understand the reservations so many have about ‘world government’ yet until nations unify in solidarity against greed-headed warmongers such as amerika it isn’t gonna be possible to show bullies the door.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Mar 14 2022 10:56 utc | 92

Why doesn’t MOA allow discussions of the Talmudic / AshkeNAZI / Khazaria connection to the problems infecting the world?

Posted by: Elohim Kosher Bar | Mar 14 2022 11:33 utc | 93

Russia’s “Special Military Operation:” Why it Went Wrong by Agitpapa in the above list is a gem. Nothing is to be gain by refusing to admit the obvious Russian failures, which will be overshadowed by the Western economic suicide that it is committing in its mental derangement which it would like to ascribe to the “Slavic soul”.

Posted by: Jonathan W | Mar 14 2022 12:17 utc | 94

I’ve left the conversation at MoA because it’s pointless to talk to people who are basically just talking to them self.
But a shout out to b for the collection of articles, I’m looking forward to reading them!
Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Mar 13 2022 14:13 utc | 17

Hello Jörgen,
I asked you a question a while ago. Next time you drop in for a drive by, perhaps you could respond, viz:
Jörgen, how do you feel about your head of state swearing an oath of allegiance to a foreign despot? He did that in 1983, almost forty years ago. Thirty-nine years of uninterupted service by Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden
And do you think it is possible that your head of state, as titular supremo of the Swedish justice system, and in cahoots with the Sovereign of the Order of the Garter, might have had something to do with the Swedish treachery towards Julian Assange?
Your thoughts please.

Posted by: John Cleary | Mar 14 2022 13:23 utc | 95

Our host still keeps on getting everything covid wrong.

Posted by: DG | Mar 14 2022 13:51 utc | 96

As I wrote elsewhere on the day of the invasion this is the worst case scenario. Neither Ukraine nor Russia can now backdown and it seems hard to see how they can bilaterally negotiate an acceptable truce given that outside it’s conflict with the US, Ukraine itself did nothing to warrant this action and has historically almost been a colonised state by Russia. And both sides have hope to think the ‘facts on the ground’ military will enhance their positions for later negotiations. It’s a loss for everyone. (Even the Americans, though the neocons don’t care because the neocons don’t care what happens to American outside it being able to continue being Israel’s golem)
Meanwhile, the US will continue their doubling down and attitude of desiring complete capitulation or regime change as if Russia doesn’t have thousands of ICBMs and won’t budge an inch or do anything diplomatic. Instead the forces inside the state department and white house who desire to turn Ukraine into Afghanistan on the Dneiper will be the most cohesive and psychopathic and will have their way, particularly with the media and low information progressive liberals who have mentally and emotionally conflated Trump and Putin and effectively become neocons on Russia running cover for them.
And the US will be quite content to leave this going for as long as possible, 10, 20 years or more if they can. They don’t care, they don’t think there are any consequences for them.
As always, the Americans break someplace, the Europeans pay for it with money and permanent refugee mass migration from the broken somewhere.

Posted by: Altai | Mar 14 2022 14:17 utc | 97

China announces existence of another NSA bug, “Exclusive: China captures powerful US NSA cyberspy tool: ‘Trojan horse’ controls global equipment”, targeting Unix/Linux computer systems:
“China captured a spy tool deployed by the US National Security Agency, which is capable of lurking in a victim’s computer to access sensitive information and was found to have controlled global internet equipment and stole large amounts of users’ information, according to a report the Global Times obtained from the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center exclusively on Monday.
“According to the report, the Trojan horse, ‘NOPEN,’ is a remote control tool for Unix/Linux computer systems. It is mainly used for stealing files, accessing systems, redirecting network communication, and viewing a target device’s information.
“Through technical analysis, the center believes that the ‘NOPEN’ Trojan horse is characterized by complex technology, comprehensive functions and strong concealment, which can fit a variety of processor architectures and operating systems. It can also collaborate with other cyber weapons and is a typical tool used for cyber espionage.
“The report came after the NSA was exposed to have been launching cyberattacks against 47 countries and regions for a decade, with Chinese government departments, high-tech companies and military-related institutes among the key targets. Under the surveillance of the NSA, the privacy and sensitive information of hundreds of millions of people around the world were exposed, like ‘running around naked’.”
It appears the world needs to develop its own internet and OS so a massive Fire Wall can be erected to enclose the Outlaw US Empire since it desires the censoring of truthful information.

Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 14 2022 14:35 utc | 98

It appears the software won’t allow Global Times links to be embedded. Here’s my comment without the link. Ironic it’s about a new cyberbug:
China announces existence of another NSA bug targeting Unix/Linux computer systems:
“China captured a spy tool deployed by the US National Security Agency, which is capable of lurking in a victim’s computer to access sensitive information and was found to have controlled global internet equipment and stole large amounts of users’ information, according to a report the Global Times obtained from the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center exclusively on Monday.
“According to the report, the Trojan horse, ‘NOPEN,’ is a remote control tool for Unix/Linux computer systems. It is mainly used for stealing files, accessing systems, redirecting network communication, and viewing a target device’s information.
“Through technical analysis, the center believes that the ‘NOPEN’ Trojan horse is characterized by complex technology, comprehensive functions and strong concealment, which can fit a variety of processor architectures and operating systems. It can also collaborate with other cyber weapons and is a typical tool used for cyber espionage.
“The report came after the NSA was exposed to have been launching cyberattacks against 47 countries and regions for a decade, with Chinese government departments, high-tech companies and military-related institutes among the key targets. Under the surveillance of the NSA, the privacy and sensitive information of hundreds of millions of people around the world were exposed, like ‘running around naked’.”
It appears the world needs to develop its own internet and OS so a massive Fire Wall can be erected to enclose the Outlaw US Empire since it desires the censoring of truthful information.

Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 14 2022 14:39 utc | 99

Confirmed, yet another bug in the software, b.

Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 14 2022 14:40 utc | 100

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