EU Commission, U.S. Submit To Reality
Me stating the very obvious on Feb 28:
All energy consumption in the U.S. and EU will now come at a premium price. This will push the EU and the U.S. into a recession. As Russia will increase the prices for exports of goods in which it has market power - gas, oil, wheat, potassium, titanium, aluminum, palladium, neon etc - the rise in inflation all around the world will become significant.
...
On February 4 Russia and China declared a multipolar world in which they are two partnering poles that will counter the American one. Russia's move into the Ukraine is a demonstration of that.It also shows that the U.S. is unwilling to give up its supremacist urges without a large fight. But while the U.S. over the last 20 years has spent its money to mess up the Middle East, Russia and China have used the time to prepare for the larger conflict. They have spent more brain time on the issue than the U.S. has.
The Europeans should have acknowledged that instead of helping the U.S. to keep up its self-image of a unipolar power.
It will take some time for the new economic realities to settle in. They will likely change the current view of Europe's real strategic interests.
I admit that it has been amusing me to watch the process predicted above through the ever evolving headlines:
Europe Rejects Putin’s Demand for Natural Gas Payments in Rubles - Mar 24, 2022, Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) -- European Union leaders rejected Vladimir Putin’s demand to pay for natural gas in rubles ...
EU payment in roubles for Russian gas would violate sanctions regime - document - Apr 14, 2022, Reuters
BRUSSELS, April 14 (Reuters) - Payment for Russian gas in roubles by European Union buyers would break the EU's sanctions regime against Moscow, an internal European Commission note said.
EU Sees Way to Pay for Russian Gas Without Breaching Sanctions - Apr 22, 2022, Reuters
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU companies may be able to work around Russia's demand to receive gas payments in roubles without breaching sanctions if they pay in euros or dollars which are then converted into the Russian currency, the European Commission said on Friday.
Even the U.S. had to submit to reality:
Yellen warns European ban on Russian energy could harm economies - Apr 21, 2022, rfi / AFP
Washington (AFP) – A European ban on Russian oil and gas imports could have unintended economic consequences, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday.Major European countries including Germany have faced calls to stop buying energy from Russia and starve its economy of revenue in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine, which has sent more than five million people fleeing.
Speaking to reporters following a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Finance Minister Sergiy Marchenko in Washington, Yellen said such a ban could ultimately cause more harm than good.
...
A European energy ban would raise global oil prices "and, counterintuitively, it could actually have very little negative impact on Russia, because although Russia might export less, its price it gets for its exports would go up."Referring to a proposed ban, Yellen said, "if we could figure out a way to do that without harming the entire globe through higher energy prices, that would be ideal."
Folks like Yellen, and the disgraceful President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Lying, are paid way more than I will ever receive for my work through reader donations here (a big thanks for those btw!). Still they and their very ignorant but highly paid consultants took weeks to understand the most basic realities of life.
bigger
Note: You are not entitled to receive freebies just because you claim to be 'woke', are deeply Russophobic, or can distinguish the taste of twenty different wines served at various receptions in Brussels.
Get used to it.
Posted by b on April 23, 2022 at 4:43 UTC | Permalink
next page »I note the Ukraganda has stopped babbling about Russia running out of food, fuel, and ammunition in ten days and is now babbling about a war that will go on for years.
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Apr 23 2022 5:09 utc | 2
German annual producer price inflation topped 30% in March, the country's Federal Statistics Office said on Wednesday. That's its highest level since the agency began collecting data 73 years ago.
30% inflation in one month and it has just started.
Posted by: circumspect | Apr 23 2022 5:12 utc | 3
EU Death Trap
Ukraine is one of us and we want them in EU, Ursula von der Leyen tells Euronews
Country Watch Ukraine #146 on Corruption Perception Index (2016)
The only plausible path to keep the pressure on Russia while not crippling the global economy is to get oil prices down (WaPo opinion)
OPEC: Disputes with Biden administration mean Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are likely to drive hard bargain
White House faces oil standoff with Saudi Arabia and UAE as prices soar
"It will be very hard [to reach consent on embargoing Russian oil deliveries or raising tariffs, because some member states have already announced they would veto any collective decision," Josep Borrell told Le Figaro in the interview yesterday.
NATO+ are grieving the failure of their cunning plan to weaken Russia and have accordingly recently left stage 3, i.e. bargaining (we can still buy gas with Euros). They have passed through denial (Russia is losing), anger (look what horrid Russia did) and are just entering depression (Russia may win, what can we do?), which will probably last a while before final acceptance.
It seems to me that they are at a different stage of grief regarding the arrival of the multi-polar world of which they will not have control over, where they are still in denial (fingers in ears - la, la, la - complete ignorance).
Posted by: NotEinstein | Apr 23 2022 5:38 utc | 5
Posted by: Oui | Apr 23 2022 5:12 utc | 4
EU Death Trap
Ukraine is one of us and we want them in EU, Ursula von der Leyen tells Euronews
Given the way the EU treats Greece I can only imagine how a basket case like Ukraine would be treated.
I suppose they will join the P.I.G.S ... P.I.U.G.S ?
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 23 2022 5:38 utc | 6
A theory:
Every nation needs it's poor, uneducated and pacified underclass.
In the case of Europe, they are now discovering that a nation of well paid, comfortable, well educated people leaves no peasant underclass to do the dirty jobs that the "uplifted masses" are too squeamish to dirty their hands with, like manual labour ... and breeding.
Without such a "peasant underclass" the EU nations need to resort to immigrants, culturally and perhaps ideologically alien taint to their national and biological gene pool.
Ukraine might perhaps offer a solution to this even in the event it is utterly destroyed and dismantled by Russia: Millions of poor, perhaps somewhat less well educated and ostensibly European immigrants pouring in to do the "dirty" jobs the European elites have no capacity to do.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 23 2022 5:47 utc | 7
If gas/energy prices (which in turn increase inflation) keep rising in the US Democrats are going to lose many seats in the mid-terms.
Democrats’ path to saving their narrow Senate majority comes down to defending four states this fall. And in all of them, President Joe Biden is underwater in the polls.Biden’s drag on swing-state incumbents is emerging as a pivotal factor in the midterm Senate elections, where the loss of just one Democratic-held seat in November could put Republicans in control.
Biden’s dismal poll numbers imperil Dem Senate control - POLITICO
Posted by: Down South | Apr 23 2022 5:59 utc | 8
Posted by: Down South | Apr 23 2022 5:59 utc | 8
Biden’s dismal poll numbers imperil Dem Senate control - POLITICO
Sadly, whichever cheek gets spanked it's the same ass that sits upon the throne.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 23 2022 6:05 utc | 9
@ Peter AU1, previous thread
Thanks on clearing up where the name "Donbas" came from. If I would have thought a bit harder on it and actually fired up the synapses of my more youth reading of WWII history, I would have realized it was an acronym for "Donets Basin". Than again, 90% of the world's population would have no idea where the Donets Basin is without putting it in their search browser and let the machine tell them...
Posted by: DakotaRog | Apr 23 2022 6:11 utc | 10
The sanctions from hell. Russian currency topping the charts and trade surplus topping the charts. I guess the woke woke up.
DakotaRog | Apr 23 2022 6:11 utc | 10
No probs. I was confused on it too seeing it spelled both ways and for whatever reason looked it up.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 23 2022 6:43 utc | 11
' Get used to it' or Suck it up Blowhards
The poisoned dwarf, that is, Yellen actions lately are a huge tell that US.gov have reached breaking point; all the toys (sanctions) have been thrown out of the pram. Butt-hurt and sleepless in Seattle.
Posted by: WTFUD | Apr 23 2022 6:53 utc | 12
Current propaganda headlines in our government owned tabloid.
"Vladimir Putin's nightmare scenario looks more likely as Finland and Sweden consider NATO membership"
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-23/putin-russia-what-will-happen-if-finland-and-sweden-join-nato/100998040
....
Like the sanctions from hell these woke women will be taking their countries into a self imposed nightmare that may well end in a bright flash..
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 23 2022 7:05 utc | 13
Someone should start an EU deathwatch. Previously, I thought that the EU would be doing well to read the next century. Now I think it will be doing extremely well to reach 2050. Whatever the case, the EU is clearly an institution that has not worked, is not working, and will not work. It's over.
It will take a long time for the intellectual 'elite' to face up to this fact though, and hopeless pointless pan-European institutions can stagger on for decades or even centuries before reaching their inevitable end (cf the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Holy Roman Empire).
I'm less sure of this (it's less flawed) but it's also possible the UN is doomed, long term. The fact that its headquarters is in New York, the decaying imperial financial capital, is not a good sign. Certainly, it's increasingly starting to look like the League of Nations.
Posted by: Hidari | Apr 23 2022 7:07 utc | 14
bloomberg reports today even israel is dumping usa dollar debt to expand into china remimbi. lol the special friend appears more like a parasitic whore, we all knew anyway. appears that they have seen that the empire is nearly sucked dry and time to jump ship.
Posted by: pablozz | Apr 23 2022 7:17 utc | 16
Posted by: pablozz | Apr 23 2022 7:17 utc | 16
... like a parasitic whore, we all knew anyway. appears that they have seen that the empire is nearly sucked dry and time to jump ship.
Except this time, there will be no AIPAC in their prospective new 'host' and they'll find themselves dealing with the Han who, far more than the Anglo-Saxon, will prove to be a truly cunning clan ...
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 23 2022 7:22 utc | 17
Misleading title, this is what has been said:
A European Commission spokesperson said companies should stick to the currency agreed in their contracts with Gazprom - 97% of which are in euros or dollars.
Posted by: murgen23 | Apr 23 2022 7:54 utc | 18
@15
Napoleon, Nazis, NATO = N3
All part of the same criminal cartel, financed by the same Bankers.
Posted by: WTFUD | Apr 23 2022 8:04 utc | 19
There was a lot of talk previously on the possible methods the West might use to supply weapons to Ukraine.
From IntelSlava
🇺🇦🇷🇺⚡️There is an accumulation of military power of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Nikolaev and Zaporozhye directions in order to try to make counteroffensives on the positions of the Russian Federation.The problem is that the delivery of weapons is very difficult, so far it only happens by rail, mixing freight trains with passenger trains in order to insure against air strikes on the train.
Posted by: Down South | Apr 23 2022 8:06 utc | 20
I've just read Ursula von der Leyen's wiki-bio. She is a real freeloader, a mediocre no-one who was born into wealth and who has good connections. And people like her are leading us here in Europe. Truly disappointing.
Posted by: nyolci | Apr 23 2022 8:26 utc | 21
Hello from Japan, the land of slaves.
For us, it is always foggy outside the island.
Is our master about to be replaced?
Oh dear.
Posted by: sam | Apr 23 2022 9:09 utc | 22
Sadly, whichever cheek gets spanked it's the same ass that sits upon the throne.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 23 2022 6:05 utc | 9
heh i'm going to steal that.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Apr 23 2022 9:36 utc | 23
Apologies if already posted (Italian translation):
FROM OUR CORRESPONDING BERLIN Two schools of thought are confronted in the Kremlin on what to do in Ukraine . The hardliners are pushing for an all -out war , which after the Donbass, points to Odessa and the rest of the South to open a corridor to Transnistria, the Russian-speaking territory that has rebelled against Moldova. The others try to persuade Vladimir Putin to end the game with a decisive victory in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, and then impose their own terms of peace on Kiev . Dmitry Suslov tells Corriere della Sera ...
Posted by: anon2020 | Apr 23 2022 9:43 utc | 24
Breaking the "glass ceiling" and having equal participation in politics and the benefits that's going to bring with less testosterone driven decisions and more empathy!
Yeah it's working out well for Europe.
_Like the sanctions from hell these woke women will be taking their countries into a self imposed nightmare that may well end in a bright flash.."
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 23 2022 7:05 utc | 13
Posted by: Jpc | Apr 23 2022 9:46 utc | 25
Like the sanctions from hell these woke women will be taking their countries into a self imposed nightmare that may well end in a bright flash..
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 23 2022 7:05 utc | 13
We experienced it twice. That flash is very warm.
Posted by: sam | Apr 23 2022 9:50 utc | 26
VonDerLying and her side kick Borrell, what a couple of circus freaks. The imbecile Bordel as he is known in Russian channels insists that the solution is military, I wonder when is he going to grab his gun. That's what the best democracy offers, a bunch of privileged degenerates ready to "pay the price", they never drove to a gas station to fill 'er up.
Posted by: Paco | Apr 23 2022 9:52 utc | 27
As a western social science graduate, I spent many hours sifting through National Endowment for Democracy and other funding in Ukraine, where it was going, what it was going for, the reason behind it over the past few months
It is my conclusion that the US, since 2014, systematically were shaping Ukrainian national identity to use them as angry anti-Russian troops for a war against Russia. I believe this war has been brewing for eight years, intentionally mind you, from the US side. Ukrainians have fell victim to what is the biggest social experiment in history.
Posted by: KS | Apr 23 2022 9:52 utc | 28
In few months time, when Europe can no longer hold the pressure from people due to rising in prices, and pressure from the big cooperates that produce the real economy like big manufactures, deep cracks in the European wall will start to surface, deep enough to make Europe wants to walk towards Russia for negotiations. But when the US sees that Europe has no choice but to negotiate, that’s when the US will say hold on, it is the US who will do the negotiations, not Europe, and they will walk for that … let’s hope for such a scenario.
Posted by: Man | Apr 23 2022 9:52 utc | 29
London (CNN Business) The price of goods leaving German factories has passed an eye-watering milestone. German annual producer price inflation topped 30% in March, the country's Federal Statistics Office said on Wednesday. That's its highest level since the agency began collecting data 73 years ago...
Posted by: Sammy | Apr 23 2022 9:53 utc | 30
As Gonzalo Lira says (great news that he is alive!!) these politictians act like children. I have been wondering on the past whether there were some great evil minds in the background that made sure only stupid puppets were allowed to get into political positions, but is seems facts tell a different story: The situation in the west has become so chaotic that only morons are aspiring to leadership positions, so all we get are intellectual children.
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 23 2022 9:56 utc | 31
@NotEinstein | Apr 23 2022 5:38 utc | 5
NATO+ are grieving the failure of their cunning plan to weaken Russia and have accordingly recently left stage 3, i.e. bargaining (we can still buy gas with Euros). They have passed through denial (Russia is losing), anger (look what horrid Russia did) and are just entering depression (Russia may win, what can we do?), which will probably last a while before final acceptance.That is an excellent observation! I hope it is correct because it opens a path to a new normalization instead of what has seemed like a free fall into the abyss.
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 23 2022 10:01 utc | 32
Western hegemony and the relentless push towards Russian borders by Nato will cause hardship for Europeans over the coming years, yet Western civilians (most of them, not all) don't realise that they are being brainwashed into thinking that the coming plummet in living standards is down to Russia when in reality its down to their own governments actions.
We must also spare a thought for the knock on effects of Western hegemony and its assault on Russia and China, for the Third World countries and their citizens who are already on the verge of disaster, Western/Nato aggression now countered by Russia and China will surely tip them over into a humanitarian crisis.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 23 2022 10:04 utc | 33
@Arch Bungle | Apr 23 2022 5:38 utc | 6
Given the way the EU treats Greece I can only imagine how a basket case like Ukraine would be treated.EU is a tool of oppression (civilian branch of NATO is you like) and will act like that as long as it has the power to do so. However, in the present situation I think a valid question is "how long will the EU remain relevant?". We have potential political crises coming up in Germany, France, UK and probably many other places and I am guessing this system will not hold very long.
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 23 2022 10:07 utc | 34
A update on the Moskva, no mention of where the missing 27 crew members are, or if they were found safe and well.
"As a result of a fire on April 13, the Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva was seriously damaged due to a detonation of ammunition, Russia's Ministry of Defense outlined on Friday. One serviceman died and another 27 crew members went missing, and attempts by the crew to put out the fire were not successful, the statement added."
https://www.rt.com/russia/554362-sunken-warships-crew-losses/
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 23 2022 10:10 utc | 35
Meanwhile Canada has revealed it sent 4 new howitzers to Ukraine along with ammo from it's own military stocks. This is just crazy. Canada is sending it's own military equipment to Ukraine.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ukraine-m777-howitzer-russia-heavy-artillery-1.6427762
Posted by: Altai | Apr 23 2022 10:14 utc | 36
@Hidari | Apr 23 2022 7:07 utc | 14
Someone should start an EU deathwatchIndeed, this is a key topic. Everybody talks about Ukraine becoming an EU member, but in reality what we are looking at is EU becoming Ukraine, and that means destruction.
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 23 2022 10:26 utc | 37
B -- ".... it has been amusing me to watch the process predicted above through the ever evolving headlines...."
I agree it is so very amusing because the so-called leaders from the West love to speak as if they are in charge, as if they hold all the cards, all the power, all the escalation-dominance, as if they speak from a position of strength ( that ugly trade mark phrase of blinkin' blink'n again ), when in reality, they are all bare-naked, transparently, hopelessly, out-classed, out-thought, out-played by Russia, China, Iran, and now, India. They do not see their weak position while they so loudly lecture others. Perhaps they do see, but hope that nobody could see through them.
And so, they shout into the wind, "We must not ALLOW Russia to win in Ukraine" or, "We must STOP China's friendship pact with the Solomon Islands."
Alas, they can ignore reality, but not its consequences.
Which makes it so delightful to watch them squirm when reality comes a-calling.
Watch for their next squirming manouvre when they ever so grudgingly admit that Mariupol is indeed in full Russian control... as in "Yes, but Russia does not have FULL control, do they?"
Posted by: kiwiklown | Apr 23 2022 10:29 utc | 38
@et Al | Apr 23 2022 7:16 utc | 15
Napoleon, Nazis & NATO (N3).They've all failed.
Somewhere (can't remember where) I read about a new Russian joke that went something like this:
Napoleon sent an invitation to visit Paris.
Nazis sent an invitation to visit Berlin.
NATOs invitation to visit Brussels has been received.
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 23 2022 10:32 utc | 39
@Paco | Apr 23 2022 9:52 utc | 27
VonDerLying and her side kick Borrell, what a couple of circus freaks. The imbecile Bordel as he is known in Russian channels insists that the solution is military, I wonder when is he going to grab his gun.Well, the facts on the ground indicate very strongly that he is right. The solution is military, only not the solution he was looking for.
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 23 2022 10:38 utc | 40
Russia MoD have put out a warning on the possibility of a major false flag. Its quite long and lists a number of possibilities.
https://telegra.ph/Brifing-o-podgotovke-SSHA-i-NATO-k-provokacii-s-obvineniem-Rossijskoj-Federacii-v-primenenii-yadernogo-himicheskogo-ili-biologic-04-23
Against this background, the US State Department positively reviewed the transfer of up to 400 thousand sets of personal protective equipment, 390 NBC reconnaissance devices and 15 STRYKER reconnaissance vehicles to Ukraine, which was previously approved by Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Jenkins.......The high probability of staging the use of chemical weapons is confirmed by the supply of antidotes of toxic substances to Ukraine. Only in 2022, at the request of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, more than 220 thousand ampoules of atropine were delivered from the United States. This fact testifies to the purposeful preparation of provocations with toxic substances of nerve action.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 23 2022 10:43 utc | 41
@KS | Apr 23 2022 9:52 utc | 28
I believe this war has been brewing for eight years, intentionally mind you, from the US side. Ukrainians have fell victim to what is the biggest social experiment in history.If you mean 8 years of shelling and 14000 dead is a 'brewing' war and a 'social experiment', please allow me to disagree. This has been a violent war of genocide since 2014. What has become clear is that it is not just a war against the people of Donbass, but most of all turning Ukraine into an 'anti-Russia' on behalf of the US, where the US literally wages war for world hegemony to the last Ukrainian.
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 23 2022 10:47 utc | 42
@Man | Apr 23 2022 9:52 utc | 29
But when the US sees that Europe has no choice but to negotiate, that’s when the US will say hold on, it is the US who will do the negotiations, not Europe, and they will walk for that … let’s hope for such a scenario.The Russians have long since declared the US agreement incapable. Who would do negotiations on US behalf? Biden? Harris? Nuland? Blinken? Sullivan?
Russia has turned east, and for very good reasons.
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 23 2022 10:52 utc | 43
@39 Norwegian
I remember seeing it on SmoothieX12's comment section as an inside joke from Russian military:
Napoleon came here and invited us to visit Paris, and so we did.
Hitler also came here and invited us to visit Berlin, and so we did.
NATO still haven't invited us to visit London, but we will accept the invitation!
I'm retelling it from memory, would be happy to be corrected :)
Posted by: Ricardo Ramirezzz | Apr 23 2022 10:59 utc | 44
[...] are paid way more than I will ever receive for my work through reader donations here (a big thanks for those btw!).How can one donate here though? I'd really love to, but I can't find any information on the site
Posted by: Barnabas | Apr 23 2022 11:09 utc | 45
Norwegian | Apr 23 2022 9:56 utc | 31
.....The situation in the west has become so chaotic that only morons are aspiring to leadership positions, so all we get are intellectual children.
In my opinion, far too many westerners have a greed driven focus and world-view, so are chasing supposed wealth but only achieving numbers in bank accounts and trinkets, doing whatever is necessary to get more, more, more. The capitalist casino is the trap they fall into and get stuck anchored by their 'riches'. That leaves the less driven climber types that can chase power by getting into politics as a career. How many of the leaders in the west have had any meaningful life experience that has given them real, in-depth knowledge and grounding onto which to build a robust sociopolitical understanding? In my opinion, Xi and Putin are head and shoulders above because of this important fact. It seems to me that career politicians are the easiest to corrupt and manipulate as a result.
Posted by: NotEinstein | Apr 23 2022 11:24 utc | 46
@Ricardo Ramirezzz | Apr 23 2022 10:59 utc | 43
That might be it, your memory could very well be better than mine, I was retelling from memory too :-)
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 23 2022 11:25 utc | 47
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 23 2022 10:47 utc | 41
@KS | Apr 23 2022 9:52 utc | 28
I believe this war has been brewing for eight years ...', please allow me to disagree. This has been a violent war of genocide since 2014.
I'm beginning to think that this war has been brewing for a lot longer than that. Without descending to reductio ad absurdum I think it's not too much of a stretch to say that the events we're witnessing in Ukraine are perhaps the final battles of WW2 ...
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 23 2022 11:26 utc | 48
Posted by: pretzelattack | Apr 23 2022 9:36 utc | 23
heh i'm going to steal that.
You're welcome, that being the sole product of my day's productivity!
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 23 2022 11:28 utc | 49
@Arch Bungle | Apr 23 2022 11:26 utc | 47
It is a question of definition, but the 'Orange Revolution' in ~2007 points to a history pre-2014. The current situation most definitely looks like Russia's second Patriotic War from WWII so I can understand your argument as well.
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 23 2022 11:30 utc | 50
Posted by: KS | Apr 23 2022 9:52 utc | 28
I believe this war has been brewing for eight years, intentionally mind you, from the US side. Ukrainians have fell victim to what is the biggest social experiment in history.
Nope. IMHO, the biggest and longest such experiment was the 12 years of Nazi regime in Germany, 1933–45: brainwashing, conformity, constructed hatred against Untermenschen of all flocks and colors, and a propaganda machinery only surpassed by today's western media, ending in Generalmobilmachung, armament and mobilization of the general public.
The biggest alone in sense of a global scale is c19 pandemic and the related brainwashing (social distancing, "rules" never to be questioned, conformity, constructed hatred against non-conformists and proclaiming a "new normal"), still ongoing in some countries, since 2020. Oh, we almost forgot — the propaganda proves quite effective, huh?
Then only in the long shadows of these two and on place 3 I'd place the transformation of the Ukraine since 2014, started with the bang of "Freedom! Wellbeing!! Democracy!!!1", now slowly dying with a whimper. Looks like all the billions and billions of dollars still aren't enough, but on the bright side that means that money can't buy hearts and minds when the rubber hits the road.
Posted by: Nervous German | Apr 23 2022 11:30 utc | 51
There's a revolving door between "The State Department" and the CIA. This is how a guy like Blinken "serves" in government for thirty years. He turns up over and over again in every Democratic Admin.
Blinken's wife, different last name, handles Biden directly.
Posted by: Chaka Khagan | Apr 23 2022 11:38 utc | 52
Posted by: Barnabas | Apr 23 2022 11:09 utc | 44
The latest call for support was posted in January
Posted by: Omovic | Apr 23 2022 11:43 utc | 53
@KS 28
> It is my conclusion that the US, since 2014, systematically were shaping Ukrainian national identity to use them
Influence on Ukraine is a long-term project by the powers that shaped US hegemony after WWII:
On May 5, 1952, Allen Dulles, then Assistant Director of the CIA wrote a letter to Mackey stating (14):
“In connection with future Agency operations of the first importance, it is urgently necessary that subject [Mykola Lebed] be able to travel in Western Europe. Before [he] undertakes such travel, however, this Agency must…assure his re-entry into the United States without investigation or incident which would attract undue attentions to his activities.”
Posted by: saki | Apr 23 2022 11:45 utc | 54
Meanwhile Canada has revealed it sent 4 new howitzers to Ukraine along with ammo from it's own military stocks. This is just crazy. Canada is sending it's own military equipment to Ukraine.
Virtually all the NATO states are sending their weapon & ammo stocks to Ukraine.
Once there, Russia either destroys them, or blows them up.
Meanwhile, one of the largest Ukrainian armouries, 65th arsenal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Balakliya, containing hundreds of tons of ammo was abandoned by the Ukies, and left to the Russians to use.
INDY
Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Apr 23 2022 12:06 utc | 55
"May you live in interesting times"
We haven't seen anything yet Sammy!
"London (CNN Business) The price of goods leaving German factories has passed an eye-watering milestone. German annual producer price inflation topped 30% in March, the country's Federal Statistics Office said on Wednesday. That's its highest level since the agency began collecting data 73 years ago..."
Posted by: Sammy | Apr 23 2022 9:53 utc | 30
Posted by: Jpc | Apr 23 2022 12:18 utc | 56
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 23 2022 10:04 utc | 33
Poorest (most indebted) countries of the Global South should default their Dollar debt if they want Russian wheat and Chinese money.
Posted by: Milos | Apr 23 2022 12:21 utc | 57
It is no stretch to imagine the us empire deciding to first attack the weaker party of the russ china duo…. Success against russia would both remove its military strength , and the flow of resources china must have. My only doubt the us empire is smart enough to adopt such logic, is the mind freaking lack of intelligence in losing its industrial power to china in the first place. Need anyone be reminded, the us made china a super power, and bankrupted itself in the same move.
Posted by: James j | Apr 23 2022 12:44 utc | 58
It has been around 24hrs and yet there has not been any mention of Gazprombank being lifted from the Sanction list by British MSM, specifically the BBC.
Posted by: Sundial | Apr 23 2022 12:46 utc | 59
If memory serves, the opening moves in this conflict were when EU governments tried to shift natural gas purchases from long term contracts to the spot market. Now, of course, it's the spot market where the price is shooting up out of sight. Rather than a united consumers cartel, the EU are a group scrambling to meet their minimum needs.
Shutting down Nordstream 2 may have been the American Empire proving they could bully where they wished. It also showed who was expendable in the Empire's rampage.
Posted by: jhill | Apr 23 2022 12:51 utc | 60
I've watched a few Scott Ritter interviews and he is very good because he always seems to introduce a different aspect. In this one, if you go forward to about 23 minutes in he is asked why western media is telling everyone that Ukraine is winning when he has just explained that the opposite is true ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6HI_26aU-c&list=PLSkhJUibfm-ZPH46HTRIq5epeE79Znb6v&index=7
I've watched it three times now and it seems to me he avoids the question, presumably because an honest answer would be too damning.
Or have I misunderstood?
Posted by: Stevelancs | Apr 23 2022 13:09 utc | 61
Posted by: James j | Apr 23 2022 12:44 utc | 57
It is no stretch to imagine the us empire deciding to first attack the weaker party of the russ china duo…. Success against russia would both remove its military strength , and the flow of resources china must have.
Assuming your proposed attack does not terminate in a nuclear exchange, and by some miracle the US manages to keep it conventional:
The problem with attacking even a weaker power is that the stronger must make sure it is substantially more powerful, or it will incur damage and resource drain that will make it vulnerable to the other competitor powers around it.
This is how it has been on the African Savannah for time immemorial, this is why even the lion will think twice before attacking a weaker animal, for it may win but be weakened and in it's weakness become prey.
As below, so above as in the small, so in the large.
Should the US engage itself with Russia, even if it should prevail, it will not survive in a condition to take on China.
Once the realisation kicks in that it has lost superpower status it will only have two choices: Submit to the new Global Superpower, or attempt to destroy it using the only remaining force it has left: Nuclear weapons
... and we all know where that leads.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 23 2022 13:13 utc | 62
@ anon2020 | Apr 23 2022 9:43 utc | 24
This is behind a paywall. Looks very interesting. Could you post the full text? Dmitri Suslov is quite a thoughtful guy, in my experience.
Posted by: Susan | Apr 23 2022 13:23 utc | 63
@Susan | Apr 23 2022 13:23 utc | 62
No real paywall there. Just press the "Continue without agreeing" button :-) I translated it with Yandex just fine.
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 23 2022 13:38 utc | 64
They believe they are in the business of "making people think what they are told to think, when they decide it is the correct time for them to think that way". When it is time to change thinking, they will let people know.
Hmmmmmm ............wonder how long this delusion can last before the laws of unintended consequences, random occurrence and chaos take control.
The "control" they think they wield over reality is an illusion.
Posted by: James Cook | Apr 23 2022 13:46 utc | 65
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 23 2022 13:38 utc | 63
Thanks! (I couldn't read it in Italian!) But now, for some reason, the paywall has vanished.
Posted by: Susan | Apr 23 2022 13:47 utc | 66
Any verifiable news on the whereabouts of US Lieutenant General Roger Cloutier?
I know its officially denied that he is missing, and Never Believe Anything Until It Is Officially Denied ... so therefore. The Azofstal contents remains a mystery, so if possible it would be nice to be able eliminate one possibility. But it seems things have become very quiet around this NATO commander? Or have I missed something?
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 23 2022 13:50 utc | 67
@Stevelancs | Apr 23 2022 13:09 utc | 60
A lot of the time i find Scott gives people too much credit. He assumes the people behind "the curtain" playing wizard of oz are reasonably competent and intelligent (ish) enough to be aware of the consequence of their own actions over the mid to long term. Something I'm sure you'll agree isn't necessarily true.
Posted by: S.O. | Apr 23 2022 13:56 utc | 68
Some British propaganda and analysis
Operation Z – The Death Throes of an Imperial Delusion - RUSI, April 22, 2022Image caption: "A Russian soldier walks amid the rubble
in Mariupol’s eastern side, 15 April 2022.
Courtesy of SOPA Images / Alamy"
The British use special filters on photographs to make everything from Russia and China look gloomy. In all photos and videos on Russian channels Mariupol looks stunningly beautiful, even in its totally destroyed state.
Reminder: Some time ago Western video bloggers from China complained that BBC falsified their footage by adding a "gloom" filter to it. BBC corrected the screenshot, but never acknowledged their mistake.
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Apr 23 2022 14:01 utc | 69
Here are some interesting maps of Ukrainian politics,language and possible land, Rail corridor to Crimea
https://t.me/NewResistance/7777?single
https://t.me/NewResistance/7776
https://t.me/NewResistance/7771
Posted by: Kim | Apr 23 2022 14:23 utc | 70
Posted by: Hidari | Apr 23 2022 7:07 utc | 14
Whatever the case, the EU is clearly an institution that has not worked, is not working, and will not work. It's over.
It will take a long time for the intellectual 'elite' to face up to this fact though.. It's also possible the UN is doomed, long term. The fact that its headquarters is in New York, the decaying imperial financial capital, is not a good sign. Certainly, it's increasingly starting to look like the League of Nations.
"
Going broke will accelerate the acceptance process. Some nations will have compelling reasons to believe they can do much better by breaking free of the leash.
Time to move the UN to Moscow, a fairly central location on the Eurasian continent in a country which is probably going to be the Central Kingdom of the emerging new Eurasian civilization?
Posted by: Scorpion | Apr 23 2022 14:30 utc | 71
Donats Basin -> Donbas
DakotaRog | Apr 23 2022 6:11 utc | 10
is an example portmanteau: a word (morpheme) combining the sounds and spelling of two others such as motel (‘motor’+‘hotel’) or brunch (‘breakfast’+‘lunch’)
An acroynum is a symbolic term formed from the initial letter of each of words in a compound expression such as FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition), NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization)/OTAN (Organisation du Traité de l'Atlantique Nord), USA (United States)/EE.UU. (Estados Unidos) and UE(Union Européenne).
To render acronyms in lower-case letters form is a predictably, annoying British custom on several levels of communication.
Posted by: sln2002 | Apr 23 2022 14:34 utc | 72
Posted by: Man | Apr 23 2022 9:52 utc | 29
"
In few months time, when Europe can no longer hold the pressure from people due to rising in prices, and pressure from the big cooperates that produce the real economy like big manufactures, deep cracks in the European wall will start to surface, deep enough to make Europe wants to walk towards Russia for negotiations. But when the US sees that Europe has no choice but to negotiate, that’s when the US will say hold on, it is the US who will do the negotiations, not Europe, and they will walk for that … let’s hope for such a scenario.
"
Pure speculation: can't help but wonder if witnessing state after state following 'the invasion' hoisting the Russian flag over their newly independent capitols after internationally monitored referenda are not going to flutter millions of European hearts a little as they imagine doing the same thing in their own countries.
Quite possibly, the big negotiations are not going to be between US and Russia or EU and Russia but first between EU governments and their own populations and secondly EU government with EU nations and third individual EU nations with Russia and lastly EU with US as they finally request them to please stick to their own continent and buzz off!
Germany is key. Will they finally shrug off decades of abuse, grow up and declare independence?
Posted by: Scorpion | Apr 23 2022 14:42 utc | 74
After fruitless centuries - from Peter the Great and his wistful gaze Westwards from Saint Petersburg to Vladimir Putin who vainly advocated a single market from Lisbon to Vladivostok - Russia has woken up from its European dream and smelt the Asian coffee.
It's a powerful blend, brewing from the volcanic foothills of Sumatra across Asean to the emerging coffee culture of mainland China.
When Moscow brings its beans into the mix, it will be the most powerful economic potion of all the millennia so far; all roads will lead to Cafe Eurasia as its scent drifts through BRI and EAEU.
Some statistics: the US economy was 16 times the size of China three decades ago; today it is just 1.5x, and in less than 10 years, Beijing will outrank in absolute terms.
The Japanese economy was 8x the size of the 10-nation Asean, combined, 20 years ago; today it is 1.5x.
Asean will also be larger than Japan by the end of the decade.
The economic integration of China and Asean, who are already each other's largest trading partners, is likely to create a bloc that will prosper within its own dynamics. The Western (G7) size of the global pie will shrink to projected 29 per cent by 2026, from half just 50 years ago.
Herr Scholz in Germany can't smell the aroma since he may have a blocked nose ( or other parts), sadly; it is said that when America sneezes, the world catches a cold and that rule still applies for now, though for fewer people.
The unfortunate conflict in The Ukraine has erupted partly to draw Russia away from the work-in-progress Eurasian coffee club. But, given the path of the war, Moscow will yearn much less - or even no more - for a table at the cafes of Vienna or Paris.
Even Dimitry Medvedev has taken to quoting Sunzi ( Sun Tzu) and not Clausewitz, or even Miyamoto Musashi!
PS: Maybe Herr Scholz should imbibe a cup of Turkish coffee and have its ground read. It's a quirky Turkish practice, but it could tell Germany where its future lies. Who knows?
Posted by: LittleWhiteCabbage | Apr 23 2022 14:53 utc | 75
I couldn't help laughing as I watch the somersaults of the collective West vis-a-vis their determination to punish Russia. Whatever they do however the damage has been done. Scarcity of essential goods and increase in price are already in the West.
Posted by: Steve | Apr 23 2022 15:01 utc | 76
There are no evil geniuses pulling the strings. If there were, the west would be prepared. The gas storage sites in Europe would have been kept full, new ones would have been added. Even considering the possible plan that Ukraine would fully control all of the Donbas and develop the fields with fracking to supply Europe. That wouldn’t be immediate. The same goes for which sanctions were applied and how/when they were employed. There was no real plan for it.
There are evil people in the west pulling strings, but they’re not geniuses. Mostly they’re just incompetent ideologues who have failed upwards. They focus on personal achievement and wealth with only a short term vision. Because they’ve never faced consequences they don’t believe in consequences. Because they’ve always been told they’re the smartest, they came to believe it and refuse to respect anyone else.
At the political level, “leaders” are not informed through study or rigorous intelligence analysis. Decisions are made on what TV and newspapers say and the decisions are crafted for media presentation. Western politics has become a media game; so the leaders are trained to it like Pavlovian response. And that’s how intelligence agencies can guide leadership behavior. Get it printed in the NYT and politicians will respond it.
The whole thing is sclerotic and degenerate. A handful of people are acting primarily for their own vanity and/or personal wealth. No grand conspiracy necessary, just incompetents who believe themselves geniuses and greed.
Posted by: Lex | Apr 23 2022 15:03 utc | 77
in re: REUTERS "EU Sees Way to Pay for Russian Gas Without Breaching Sanctions - Apr 22, 2022"
Yesterday, unlike REUTERS, Sputnik posted a link to the EC advisory document, "Gas Imports, Frequently Asked Questions as of April 21, 2022," and I read it (5 questions, 2 pp, explanation of how, in reality, interbank foreign exchange has been processed since, let's say, the big Bretton Woods float was signed and sealed. Which is indeed a hilarous acknowledgement following 2 months dissembling about the legal/illegality of shifting the cost of EUR:RUB from RU producers back to EU buyers.
I would post it here, but guess what? It's 404 today!
One truly silly "rules-based" proposition in the doc, intended to rationalize, I suppose, EC sanction policy change was this: assuming that processing time to complete any FX trade vary, EUR payment for RU gas deposited into the buyer's Gazprom account may be considered a loan. From which LENDER to which BORROWER was no where specified in that EC doc -OR- any Kremilin EO, CBR advisory that I've read since 6 March 2022.
lol
Posted by: sln2002 | Apr 23 2022 15:12 utc | 78
Hopeless pointless pan-European institutions can stagger on for decades or even centuries before reaching their inevitable end (cf the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Holy Roman Empire).
Posted by: Hidari | Apr 23 2022 7:07 utc | 14
"Complex systems usually operate in failure-mode."
_Systemantics_
Posted by: John Kennard | Apr 23 2022 15:40 utc | 79
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 23 2022 7:22 utc | 17
you beat me to it, excellent observation!
Posted by: Oso | Apr 23 2022 15:42 utc | 80
This might be regarded as off-topic perhaps but it is lurking in the background of everything these days, namely the seeming determination of some in the United States to bring the country to the point of collapse. Dunno who, dunno why but it seems incontrovertible that's it's happening. Last year one of only two HCQ factories was burned down (in Taiwan). Then they changed the trucker permit rules in California so that only a fraction of previous trucks were allowed to pick up cargo in L.A. airport (this important factoid being rarely reported). Now we have a President trotting out with a readout about upcoming food shortages at the same time that food processing plants are suddenly burning down. In other words, we are witnessed a period of controlled economic and societal demolition.
This is part of what is happening in the asymmetrically waged world war. I believe that the Eurasian campaign right now is principally directed at collapsing the US-EU alliance along with breaking the back of the already enfeebled Republic In Name Only (Dis)United States. That being the case, I cannot help but wonder if first Obama and now Biden (who is on record already for being on the take in Ukraine and China with Obama's FBI chief Mueller having been involved in Russia-uranium shenanigans) are part of a coordinated world wide conspiracy of which the Ukraine war is merely a small, if dramatically kinetic, part.
"Well, something odd and concerning has been happening ever since the Biden Administration made their ominous prediction. Over the past month, there has been a mysterious wave of destruction hitting the US food processing infrastructure that has seen “over a dozen” food production facilities destroyed completely or rendered inoperable.
This week alone there were TWO – yes two – separate incidents where a plane crashed into food processing plants, one in Idaho on April 13th, and the other in Georgia on the 21st at the General Mills Processing Facility.
In addition to the plane crashes, there have been numerous other incidents this month, including several fires and a sudden boiler explosion. The timing of this string of disastrous events has many people wondering what in the heck is going on?"
Posted by: Scorpion | Apr 23 2022 15:43 utc | 81
Hey b, you misspelled that reptile's name, here is the correct spelling: Ursula fonda Lyin'
also b wrote:
Note: You are not entitled to receive freebies just because you claim to be 'woke', are deeply Russophobic, or can distinguish the taste of twenty different wines served at various receptions in Brussels.
Hold on, don't forget that you also need a nose for the magic white powder! And regularly attend the special parties, with little servants (and one way mirrors..) All hail GLADIO!
PS: does anyone know more about the provenance of this video snippet: https://twitter.com/Kay_Elelu/status/1517725314964725760 ?
Is it the real guy or an elaborate hoax?
Posted by: Lurk | Apr 23 2022 15:54 utc | 82
@ Stevelancs | Apr 23 2022 13:09 utc | 60
Scott Ritter is asked why western media is telling everyone that Ukraine is winning when he has just explained that the opposite is true ...it seems to me he avoids the question,
I think he did answer. He said that US, and pretty well the rest of the anglosphere's media have "no" Russian expertise. Therefore various interest groups can feed them crap and they will regurgitate it. It is the interest of these interest groups to prolong the débâcle and so they feed the MSM with often incredibly unbelievable stories and they get published.
Also it appears that many US military commentators are unable to realize that Russia deliberately is not following a "Shock and Awe" strategy and are completely misinterpreting any number of Russian moves. A lot of them seem to think the RF Armed Forces are still in the pitiful state it was in the mid-1990's. I keep seeing comments about the "conscript" Russian Army. The last figures I have seen from 2010, said that ~2/3 of the personnel are regulars.
Posted by: jrkrideau | Apr 23 2022 16:00 utc | 83
Posted by: sam | Apr 23 2022 9:50 utc | 26
Like the sanctions from hell these woke women will be taking their countries into a self imposed nightmare that may well end in a bright flash..
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 23 2022 7:05 utc | 13
We experienced it twice. That flash is very warm.
Posted by: sam | Apr 23 2022 9:50 utc | 26
Sam, as an American, I'm sorry that we gratuitously dropped nuclear bombs on Japan. I appreciate very much the gallows humor of your comment here.
Posted by: Boomhauer | Apr 23 2022 16:04 utc | 84
@KS #28 It is my conclusion that the US, since 2014, systematically were shaping Ukrainian national identity to use them as angry anti-Russian troops for a war against Russia. I believe this war has been brewing for eight years, intentionally mind you, from the US side. Ukrainians have fell victim to what is the biggest social experiment in history.
Posted by: KS | Apr 23 2022 9:52 utc | 28
I believe you are spot on KS. This is a US-sponsored psyop on the globe.
Posted by: Boomhauer | Apr 23 2022 16:09 utc | 85
@25: Jpc | Apr 23 2022 9:46 utc
They "broke the glass ceiling" and now the rain is pouring in.
Posted by: bottle | Apr 23 2022 16:15 utc | 86
It just crossed my mind:
It is now the Muslim holy month of Ramadaan, where odd hours of sleep, fasting and eating apply.
I wonder how Kadhyrov's men are enduring under these conditions, or are the Islamic rules suspended during war?
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 23 2022 16:30 utc | 87
https://t.me/salovnarezku/1975
A video of Puppet Elenskyy in a Zoom conference with a credit card on the table next to what appears to be cocaine powder.
Posted by: Sundial | Apr 23 2022 16:38 utc | 88
https://t.me/salovnarezku/1951
Image showing the Russian's supply convoy with full alphabet painted on the front. Russian's are trolling the West.
Posted by: Sundial | Apr 23 2022 16:42 utc | 89
EU governments tried to shift natural gas purchases from long term contracts to the spot market.
Posted by: jhill | Apr 23 2022 12:51 utc | 59
Indeed. That "move" simply was rhetorical. First, to conflate fixed (future) price contractual terms of RU delivery to EU27 agents and open market, or variable (spot) price mechanisms of delivery to any and all participants; second, to establish public antipathy in westworld that, despite RU continuous supply by Nord Stream 1 and DE having arbitrarily revoked Nord Stream 2 operation under contract, RU (public and private) is an unreliable counterparty in any agreement under any conditions--such as the interim period in which anonymous EC agents attempted to secure "alternative" supplies from sundry producers at a price and volume comparable to futures contracts with RU; third, to derogate responsibility for and enforcement of direct and indirect NATO penalties on free trade worldwide.
Enter the bogus LNG armada from bogus USA "net exporter" to Europe--under contract which is ... obscure;
Enter bogus solicitations for OPEC(+ minus RU) to sell its USD-denominated "spare capacity";
Enter bogus EU "embargo" rhetoric--whereby the EC ("price taker") some how stops RU gas and oil production and withholds RU exports not only to EU27 but open market, thus transforming EU27 importers into a OPEC-ish "price maker"; and
Enter freakonomics rhetoric--whereby an EU "import ban" (zero Russian oil and gas consumption by 2023) produces worldwide "energy" shortage and premium pricing instead of commensurate volume of RU energy diverted to sale worldwide and USD- or EUR- or RUB-denominated "discount" pricing. Janetsplainin "rules-based" embargo freakonomics to skeptical G7 observers who haven't condemned PUTIN'S WAR.
"Europe clearly needs to reduce its dependence on Russia with respect to energy, but we need to be careful when we think about a complete European ban on, say, oil imports," Yellen said.
[...]
"That would clearly raise global oil prices, it would have a damaging impact on Europe and on other parts of the world, and, counterintuitively, it could actually have very little negative impact on Russia, because although Russia might export less [to the EU], the price it gets for its exports[, of say, oil] would go up," Yellen said.
Posted by: sln2002 | Apr 23 2022 16:43 utc | 90
@2
No, I haven't seen any let up in reports on the Russian army having supply problems.
Posted by: Inkan1969 | Apr 23 2022 16:46 utc | 91
‘’ The Russians have long since declared the US agreement incapable. Who would do negotiations on US behalf? Biden? Harris? Nuland? Blinken? Sullivan?’’
It’s Probably going to be Under-Laid and Bedroll.
Posted by: Abc | Apr 23 2022 16:49 utc | 92
Germany is key. Will they finally shrug off decades of abuse, grow up and declare independence?
Posted by: Scorpion | Apr 23 2022 14:42 utc | 73
I do not recall who said it, "wer Berlin hat - hat Deutschland, wer Deutschland hat - hat Europa, wer Europa hat - hat die ganze Welt"
(who had Berlin, has Germany, who has Germany has Europe, who has Europe, has the whole world)
That sounds very eurocentric, or if you will, racist. But that is what I have heard.
Posted by: fanto | Apr 23 2022 16:55 utc | 93
Mamma mia!!!
Tomorrow George Galloway will interview Imran Khan @ 7PM GMT +1.
Guest participant: Gonzalo Lira.
https://t.me/georgegalloway/579
The second season of the end of the world is becoming too juicy to bear.
Posted by: Ricardo Ramirezzz | Apr 23 2022 17:04 utc | 94
Posted by: Ricardo Ramirezzz | Apr 23 2022 17:04 utc | 93
The second season of the end of the world is becoming too juicy to bear.
I know right! I'm just waiting for the part where Marshal Zukhov is resurrected to lead the forces of the Neo-Soviet Federation!
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 23 2022 17:11 utc | 95
fanto | Apr 23 2022 16:55 utc | 92
„wer Berlin hat - hat Deutschland, wer Deutschland hat - hat Europa, wer Europa hat - hat die ganze Welt"
An outdated old gossip. First they finished off tiny shy plants of liberal democracy with the arrival of Helmut Kohl who flagshipped the turn to neoliberal-postdemocratic politics.Later they took out the brain of the majority with this Corona-Fake and killed the science with scienticism. It affected ca. 70% of the population. Now they convinced a majority that economical and then political suicide is kind of charming. As Heinrich Heine had stated:
Denk ich an Deutschland in der Nacht
dann bin ich um den Schlaf gebracht.
The only hope at present is: what really happens they do not tell in the news.
Posted by: Hausmeister | Apr 23 2022 17:13 utc | 96
@ b
EU Commission, U.S. Submit To Reality
I see what you did there. She should change her birth certificate.
Folks like Yellen, and the disgraceful President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Lying, are paid way more than I will ever receive for my work through reader donations here (a big thanks for those btw!)
Donations? You are worthy more than can be told.
Energy, eh? Some countries gasoline regular is now $6.50 gallon and rising every 3 days. No relief in sight as the dumbwits doubles down. In fact, we should prepare for the crisis unfolding next 9 months, deep recession coupled with shortages of food and basics:
US-NATO Sanctions and the Coming Global Diesel Fuel Disaster
http://www.williamengdahl.com/englishNEO11Apr2022.php
[Those] sanctions including cutting SWIFT interbank access for key Russian banks and some of the most severe sanctions ever imposed, are hardly having an impact on the military actions in Ukraine. What many overlook is the fact that they are increasingly impacting the economies of the West, especially the EU and USA. A closer look at the state of the global supply of diesel fuel is alarming. But Western sanctions planners at the US Treasury and the EU know fully well what they are doing. And it bodes ill for the world economy.While most of us rarely think about diesel fuel as anything other than a pollutant, in fact it is essential to the entire world economy in a way few energy sources are. The director general of Fuels Europe, part of the European Petroleum Refiners Association, stated recently, “… there is a clear link between diesel and GDP, because almost everything that goes into and out of a factory goes using diesel.”
In 2020 Russia was the world’s second largest exporter of diesel fuel behind USA, shipping more than 1 million barrels daily. Most of it, some 70%, went to the EU and Turkey. France was the largest importer, followed by Germany and UK. In France some 76% of all road vehicles—cars, trucks—use diesel.The EU diesel demand is far higher than in the US as most cars also use the more economical and efficient diesel fuel.
In the first week of April the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proudly announced new sanctions against Russian energy that would begin with a ban on coal. The EU is the largest importer of Russian coal. Oil and gas she said would follow at a later date. That foolish move will merely boost costs of energy, already at record high, for most of the EU, as it will force oil and gas prices far higher.
Diesel engines have the highest engine efficiency of conventional motors. They are based on the principle of compression developed in 1897 by Rudolf Diesel. Because of their greater efficiency and greater mileage per gallon, diesel fuels almost all freight truck motors. It fuels most all farm equipment from tractors to harvesting machines.
It is widely used in the EU, almost 50% for auto fuel as it is far more fuel efficient than gasoline engines. It is used in most all heavy mining machines such as Caterpillar earth movers. It is used in construction equipment. Diesel engines have replaced steam engines on all non-electrified railroads in the world, especially freight trains. Diesel is used in some electric power generation and in most all heavy military vehicles.A global shortage in diesel fuel, temporary or longer-term, is therefore a catastrophic event. Goods cannot be moved from container ports to inland destinations. Without diesel fuel trucks cannot deliver food to the supermarket, or anything else for that matter. The entire supply chain is frozen. And there is no possibility to substitute gasoline in a diesel engine without ruining the engine.
[..]
Posted by: Likklemore | Apr 23 2022 17:17 utc | 97
@ sln2002, #71
My goal is to learn at least one new thing a day, thanks for helping me out fairly early on the clock!
Posted by: DakotaRog | Apr 23 2022 18:05 utc | 99
Nobody in the U.S. claims to be "woke" outside of a very small number of humanities and African American studies professors and students. It's a pejorative courtesy of the right in American politics. Black people used to use the word to refer to Whites who have an understanding of American and African American history or were raised around Black people and are comfortable with the various cultural norms. It amazes me how much traction such a formerly so obscure term has received not only in the U.S. but throughout Europe.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 23 2022 18:12 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
Oil price going up is benefit to Russia. No matter what else.
A global conflict raises oil price. You can explain these basics to kid and he/she will get it right away.
And Russia can feed itself too. No problem.
The idiots that say Russia will collapse soon or will revolt vs Putin are no better than a meth addict saying he will straighten up by themselves.
You just gotta pat them on the backside and say "ok buddy"
Posted by: Comandante | Apr 23 2022 5:01 utc | 1