On The Upcoming Putin Speech And Announcements

September 20, 2022

Moscow has made a decision how to proceed in the proxy war with NATO in the Ukraine.

We do not yet know what the decision is.

The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin will hold a TV speech at 8 pm Moscow time (17:00 UTC) followed by an announcement by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

In July Putin has held a press conference or speech where he said with regards to Ukraine something like: "We haven't even started yet."

It may be that Russia will do that now.

That a decision had been made was noticeable.

Yesterday the parliaments of the Luhansk and Donetz People's Republics suddenly requested their government to immediately launch referendums about the republics accession to the Russian Federation. Today Denis Pushilin, the head of of the DNR government, announced that a referendum will be held on September 23 to 27.

Also yesterday the Russian parliament introduced amendments to the Russian Criminal Code which will increase the prison penalties for 'voluntary surrender', 'looting', 'non-fulfillment of military orders' during a time of mobilization, martial law and war. Companies who reject to produce for the military will also be penalized. The amendments passed their second reading in parliament today and will become law after a third reading.

If the LNR and DPR vote to become part of Russia, and if Russia accepts it, any attack of them will be an act of war against Russia. The 'Special Military Operation', which Russia is currently proceeding with, would thus change into something way more serious. Russia could declare the conflict to be a war. It could then use conscripts in war functions, mobilize reserves and use its full arsenal against the Ukraine. Potentially also against those who support it with weapons and other war material.

I find this whole seemingly hasty process atypical for Putin's usual way.

My hunch is that Russia received information over some weapon systems the U.S. is secretly providing to the Ukraine. This could be missiles with several hundred kilometer range or other types of weapons that could seriously threaten Russia's towns and cities.

If so, Russia has to do something now to end the war before its becomes more than a nuisance for Russia and its people. Ending means of course by winning it.

Training up a mobilization force takes about three months. It would put it on the front in the mid of winter, a season during which Russian forces can operate quite well.

Posted by b on September 20, 2022 at 16:32 UTC | Permalink

Comments

WTFUD | Sep 21 2022 8:26 utc | 299
I can relate to that pov.

Posted by: SeanAU | Sep 21 2022 8:37 utc | 301

WTFUD | Sep 21 2022 8:34 utc | 301
!! great joke !!-

Posted by: Gerrard White | Sep 21 2022 8:38 utc | 302

But you do the same ! @302
Wrong. I have not thrown any ad hominem abuse or personal criticisms at anyone here, nor told other people “how” or “what” they should write about. I suggest you reconsider your judgments.

Posted by: SeanAU | Sep 21 2022 8:43 utc | 303

Posted by: SeanAU | Sep 21 2022 8:12 utc | 292
Fully agree. It is not incompetence in Russia, just a belief that the west and Ukraine would be rational. My take goes like this:
1. In December 2021, Russia sent its ultimatums, hoping, possibly expecting that sanity would prevail. Russia gets to keep Crimea, the two Donbas provinces get a degree of autonomy, no more killing in the Donbass, Ukraine gets to keep the Donbass, Ukraine is neutral, Russia gets a degree of security. win/win. Sanity did not prevail. February 24 happened, I suspect because Russia got wind of a planned attack by NATO.
2. Then comes recognition of the two breakaway states and the SMO, with a bit of a mass shock and awe. this was designed to force a peace treaty which would give Ukraine and Russia much of what they wanted, but would mean independence for the two Donbas states- possibly on more limited borders. There was great hope at first. Unbelievably this too did not work and Europe and the rest put on sanctions and persuaded Z not to negotiate. This forced a regrouping and a rethink.
3. The SMO morphed into a hard slog, with lots happening. Some successes, some failures. Economic winning for Russia. I think again Russia thought that the need for gas would swing Europe and hence NATO. It is hard to believe that Germany would commit harikiri, and I suspect that the rational Russians really cannot quite believe it. After all there had been good relations with most German leaders, until Scholtz. NATO keeps sending weapons and the security of Russia is in real threat.
4. World events keep moving, and China emerges as another hot spot. Very, very reluctantly Putin and others have accepted that the war must escalate. I do not think it is what Putin wanted, because of the risk of nuclear war. However it is what it is and that is where we now are. One can only hope that winter may bring Europe to its senses, but i am not optimistic.

Posted by: watcher | Sep 21 2022 8:56 utc | 304

SeanAU | Sep 21 2022 8:43 utc | 306
Your degree of panick all is lost woe is me hair on fire is
I regret to have to inform you
Commonly taken to be the job description of trolls and propagandists, in particular what are called ‘concern’ trolls
Otherwise one is supposed to keep to a reasonable degree of stable reasonable comments – as one commentor here calls it ‘evidence and reason’
The hysterics are indulged in for the acting out neo Nazis and the Zelenskys – often contrasted with the reserved rational and calm faced speeches of President Putin – and this hysteria is often analysed as fake and produced only for commercial gain
You would not, perhaps, wish to be assimilated with them
This is a degree of association you would wish to avoid – if only because even if there are always those who might be able to suggest answers to calm your fears, many people will be put off by their excessive repetition and highly strung expression, and decline to give you the infrmation you want, because, according to you, destruction is awlays nigh…no hope etc

Posted by: Gerrard White | Sep 21 2022 9:04 utc | 305

Gerrard White | Sep 21 2022 9:04 utc | 308
I’ll try one last time. If you Gerrard have an issue with any of the info, ideas, conjectures, conclusions and opinions I have posted at SeanAU | Sep 21 2022 8:12 utc | 292, then by all means go for it.
Argue your case, feel free to criticize either my sources, factoids, opinions or conclusions and present your own ideas/opinions of what is regarding the TOPIC of my post which was The DONBASS and Putins actions since Dec 2021 in light of the new Mobilization and in hindsight.
My opinion is that a number of miscalculations, errors and failures have occurred. My opinion is that Putin’s (Russian leaderships) predictions of what would unfold from Feb 2002 thru end Sept have failed to appear.
They got it wrong. Badly wrong and now they are REACTING to those errors/failures. If you have a counter opinion/comment about that then put up or shut up my dear friend.
But Gerrard, I am not the Topic. So far all you have done is grabbed a bucket of shit and thrown it at the wall.
Sorry, but I am not interested in that kind of discussion with you or anyone. Thank you. Have a nice day, have at it, whatever.

Posted by: SeanAU | Sep 21 2022 9:21 utc | 306

Gerrard White says:
you despair the next you exult….
many have asked you and told you…
the hysterical hattie….
do not launch any infections….
Your degree of panick ….
The hysterics ….
analysed as fake and produced only for commercial gain….
your fears….
excessive repetition and highly strung expression….
Are unqualified opinionated delusional dunning-kruger garbage, and cognitive dissonant judgemental crap that is so far off-base and wrong it’s past the solar systems outer planets!
Like I said, it’s just a bucket of shit being thrown at a wall. You can do better. But when in a hole best to stop digging first. Good day to you but I’m not playing.

Posted by: SeanAU | Sep 21 2022 9:36 utc | 307

Posted by: watcher | Sep 21 2022 8:56 utc | 307
Thanks for the reply, a good summary, I see it that way too.
“I suspect that the rational Russians really cannot quite believe it. After all there had been good relations with most German leaders, until Scholtz”
Makes sense, and seems so true, German will really miss Merkle for a long time. Still she didn’t manage to push through the Minsk accords, but it’s not all on her head either. I do not know but suspect the USA has been waiting for her to move along before beginning this military debacle – Scholtz and hos coalition are manily “green horns”and way out of their depth – or appear to be. I no expect on German politics.
Thanks again for the feedback Watcher, cheers. Fingers crossed hey.

Posted by: SeanAU | Sep 21 2022 9:43 utc | 308

sorry typo/auto-correct …. I am no expert on German politics …

Posted by: SeanAU | Sep 21 2022 9:44 utc | 309

Reply to: William Gruff | Sep 20 2022 16:52

“Denazification is not optional. Since NATO has chosen to go full
Nazi, denazification now also means deNATOfication“

Seconded. The ultimate goal is De-NATOfication of THE PLANET.
Or, still better, De-NATO_USA_nazification of the planet.
Hint of it was clearly stated in Russia’s (first) ultimatum to NATO-US
from DEC 2021:
(1) Withdrawal of NATO to it’s borders in 1997;
(2) Removal of all US nuclear weapons from (Western) Europe.
Yesterday Russia escalated this process just one notch higher.

Posted by: LongCovid | Sep 21 2022 9:47 utc | 310

SeanAU | Sep 21 2022 9:21 utc | 309
Your posts consist of endless speculations about that which the RF intended and in what timeframe and why, and how, now all of a sudden as it were, they have realised their mistakes and seek to correct them
« They got it badly wrong etc, my best guess, etc »
This might pass if you posted this set of opinions once – but you go on and with variations and variants, again all speculative, ditto your homegrown solutions
You are writing as if a would be military expert from, I take it, very far away, and with little direct knowledge of the events on the ground, I take it you do not read Russian and have no live sources etc etc
In other words your tactical and strategic advice to the RF is very ill informed amateur, but written in capital letters exclamation marks, strident
Many of those commentors whose opinions and reporting are followed/admired have not only sources, military experience, russian language etc – but a reasonable tone of voice which always emphasises two basic points
–No one knows the RF plans for war – President Putin has always expressed very limited goals for the SMO and emphasised it’s nature as not war but as a special operation :
and
–PP has also stressed that this is a major turning point in history and that the US and the now the EU have effectively declared war on Russia
I’ll not go to the trouble of providing you with links to the Kremlin website – but you can read all this there
If you think that anyone will take seriously your statements that The RF did not better anticipate how this operation would develop than you are able to point out to them, I would say that you are misguided
President Putin does not go to the lengths of providing a timescale, nor make comparisons by reference, say, to the Afghan debâcle, but he discusses events in such terms
This war is, very probably a 10 year war or at least a many year war – it is the opinion of those often cited experts I refer to above, the RF has long been preparing for this many year war, and is in much better shape than the USEU, on the evidence so far, to weather this :Putin has said as much himself
You, par contre et au contraire, are in a very great rush to get it done – this attitude applies to the Ukies to the Ynaks and to the EU, but not to the RF (not the CCP, not the Iranians etc)
Your attitude is thus the attitude of the enemies of the RF, but expressed with an apparent concern pity and the need to take care of the RF
So rethink where your interests and loyalties lie : if with the RF learn to express yourself accordingly, and I mean better : if with the fiveyes keep on worrying concerning and lamenting
PS the bucket of shit thing is worthy of Zelensky, bravo!

Posted by: Gerrard White | Sep 21 2022 10:01 utc | 311

Gerrard White | Sep 21 2022 8:19 utc | 294
re Erdogan.
Exactly.
CM of Berlin | Sep 21 2022 7:30 utc | 284
“……best to assume that Turkey simply does what Erdogan sees fit is to the benefit of Turkey,”
Exactly. That’s exactly his motivation. What’s best for Turkey (and his family enterprises)….he’s very like Biden/Trump/Bush 1+2/Clinton B Clinton H, in that regard..
The US expects to have vassals that subvert their interests to that of the US (eg Germany/EU right now).
Hungary, which is showing a bit of self preservation, is similarly being denigrated.
Turkey puts the geography into geo-politics. It is simultaneously East and West.
It wanted to be more “western”, but after half a century as a spurned suitor, it’s decided its interests now lie in the East.
Germany and EU now can only seethe, they have nothing to offer… Turkey has gas this winter…. And next, and next, because the Sultan bartered and bargained and withstood an attack on the currency to keep Turkey as independent as reasonably possible ….
Turkey is NATO, and it has some s400 as an insurance policy against NATO…

Posted by: Melaleuca | Sep 21 2022 10:09 utc | 312

watcher | Sep 21 2022 8:56 utc | 307
Good comment m8.
Yep. To what you’ve said.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Sep 21 2022 10:16 utc | 313

Ok. Since it’s mostly Aussies here at the bar at this hour, on the eve of a pointless public holiday….
WTF???
Australian Central Bank says it’s lost all its money on bonds…but don’t panic…. They’ll just print more?????????
https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1572494077790240774?cxt=HHwWjIC-4YjCz9IrAAAA
They are just printing fake money to buy bonds, then lose it.

Australia’s central bank on Wednesday said its equity had been wiped out by losses suffered on pandemic-era bond buying.
But its ability to create money meant it was not insolvent and would continue as normal.

Australia’s central bank has equity wiped out by billions in bond losses

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s central bank on Wednesday said its equity had been wiped out by losses suffered on pandemic-era bond buying, but its ability to create money meant it was not insolvent and would continue as normal.
Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Deputy Governor Michele Bullock said the bank had taken a mark-to-market valuation loss on its bond holdings of A$44.9 billion ($30.02 billion) in 2021/22.
The bonds were accumulated under a A$300 billion emergency stimulus programme that ran from November 2020 to February 2022.
The losses eclipsed underlying earnings of A$8.2 billion and left the central bank with an accounting loss of A$36.7 billion. It also ate up all the RBA’s reserve funds, leaving it with a negative net equity position of A$12.4 billion.
Bullock noted that while this would bankrupt a normal commercial entity, the RBA’s liabilities are guaranteed by the government.
“Furthermore, since it has the ability to create money, the Bank can continue to meet its obligations as they become due and so it is not insolvent,” said Bullock.
“The negative equity position will, therefore, not affect the ability of the Reserve Bank to do its job.”
The RBA intends to hold the bonds until maturity and likely make a profit at that time, so offsetting the valuation losses.
Bullock noted other central banks around the world would be facing similar losses on their emergency stimulus programmes, though many did mark their assets to market like the RBA.
In July, the Swiss National Bank reported a first-half loss of 95.2 billion Swiss francs, the biggest since the central bank was founded in 1907.
The RBA also faces ongoing financial losses on its bond holdings which it estimates could range from A$35 billion to as much as A$58 billion out to 2033 when the last of the bonds mature.
As a result, the RBA expects to retain any future profits to rebuild its capital position and thus does not expect to pay any dividend to the government for a number of years, said Bullock.
That also means the RBA would not require a cash injection from the government, as happened in 2013 when the bank suffered valuation losses on its foreign currency reserves.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers earlier said he agreed with the RBA’s position and argued the bond buying programme had played a key part in helping the economy through the pandemic.
Chalmers recently set up an independent inquiry into the RBA’s policy framework, Board structure and communications.

($1 USD = 1.4954 Australian dollars)[for how long?????]

Posted by: Melaleuca | Sep 21 2022 10:28 utc | 314

Wow Mel
I had no idea. Not sure what it means really, but !!!!!!
Yes there are quite a few of us Aussies here. We have almost no where else to go. We no longer have any newspapers just Murdoch scandal sheets and the Guardian is a total sell out.

Posted by: watcher | Sep 21 2022 10:34 utc | 315

Posted by: Gerrard White | Sep 21 2022 10:01 utc | 314
Top

Posted by: Mo3 | Sep 21 2022 10:38 utc | 316

Melaleuca | Sep 21 2022 10:09 utc | 315
« « Turkey puts the geography into geo-politics. It is simultaneously East and West.
It wanted to be more “western”, but after half a century as a spurned suitor, it’s decided its interests now lie in the East. » »
Exacrtly – just like Russia – and this is why theyv are able to deal with eachother to mutual benefit, as the other one dimension figures and ideologues are unable to
To those who cry traitor or whatever when Erdogan says he wants back Crimea, well you’d have to be Russian to understand just what he does and does not mean the horror reactions from some of saints on the side of heaven is absurd
Like why does Australia cravenly submit to US neo colonisation, play act as attack poodle ? Hard to understand

Posted by: Gerrard White | Sep 21 2022 10:44 utc | 317

watcher #307
Agreed, sounds about right. However imo the RF anticipated intractable westie ignorance but had to set out its initial play to prove the point. I believe the RF are sticklers for protocol and process. Maddening sometimes as the westies are sticklers for deception and dishonesty.
After months of destruction, I expect the Ukes will take a flogging unseen in some time and utterly incomprehensible in their view.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Sep 21 2022 10:59 utc | 318

….Australia’s central bank has equity wiped out by billions in bond losses…..
Won’t be the last CB
(BTW – my bad a few hours ago on the German press reporting of VPP’s speech)

Posted by: Exile | Sep 21 2022 11:01 utc | 319

Astonishing that this Talking Head actually got to talk…..
2min22sec.
He managed to state shelling of ZapNPP was done by Ukraine. Host looked shocked but didn’t cut him off or shut him down….
FORMER UK AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA: ‘Significant step up in rhetoric’

Vid: https://twitter.com/The_Real_Fly/status/1572479537962971136?cxt=HHwWgMDTzd7zyNIrAAAA
Haha. The transcript doesn’t have the ZapNPP comments. And. The vid is missing. Haha.

This is a significant escalation’, says former British ambassador to Russia
Sir Tony Brenton, the former UK ambassador to Russia, told Sky News that Vladimir Putin’s partial mobilisation is a “pretty significant escalation” of the Ukrainian war.
He says: “Russia so far has been fighting this war with one hand tied behind its back, they refused to mobilise because Putin was worried about the effect on Russian public opinion.
“What Putin has now announced is the mobilisation which he’s been refusing to do since the war began.
“He has now accepted the advice of his military and has come back to the nuclear threat in the context of alleged nuclear threats from the West.
“Now, I don’t know whether he believes that or not, but it is obviously a very significant step up in the rhetoric that is going on.”
Sir Tony added that “in the eyes of the Russian public” what has so far been described to them as a “military operation” is now edging closer to a war.

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-latest-news-putins-forces-clearly-in-panic-russia-12541713

Posted by: Melaleuca | Sep 21 2022 11:02 utc | 320

Melaleuca #317

Treasurer Jim Chalmers earlier said he agreed with the RBA’s position and argued the bond buying programme had played a key part in helping the economy through the pandemic.
Chalmers recently set up an independent inquiry into the RBA’s policy framework, Board structure and communications.

What did not help Australia through the pandemic was the ceaseless abuse of our biggest trade partner, China, by the morrison happy clapper guvment. Sad to hear a Labor PM babbling the same anti China mantra.
watcher:
Australian Independent at times strives to be a journal of repute and occasional dissent.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Sep 21 2022 11:06 utc | 321

Ukraine bio weapons sashed in pentagon labs get a mention.
https://www-anti–spiegel-ru.translate.goog/2022/treffen-im-rahmen-der-biowaffenkonvention-usa-beantworten-keine-fragen/?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en
Biological Weapons Convention meeting: US not answering questions
“In early September, Russia organized a meeting of the signatories to the Biological Weapons Convention to inform the world about the US biological weapons programs in Ukraine. The USA did not answer any of the questions asked.”

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Sep 21 2022 11:12 utc | 322

Posted again without the anti-spiegel.ru link
Biological Weapons Convention meeting: US not answering questions
“In early September, Russia organized a meeting of the signatories to the Biological Weapons Convention to inform the world about the US biological weapons programs in Ukraine. The USA did not answer any of the questions asked.”
Take a peek its worth the read.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Sep 21 2022 11:14 utc | 323

watcher | Sep 21 2022 10:34 utc | 318
“……Had no idea…”
I think that’s the idea….. from what I can work out….released by Reuters at
5:52 PM · Sep 21, 2022
At knocking off time ahead of a pointless public holiday that many are extending to make a loooong weekend….
By Monday…. It’s old news.
Hoping Michael Hudson imself can swing by and explain wt-actul-F it means….beyond ouch and shit and we’re going dowwwwn.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Sep 21 2022 11:23 utc | 324

Posted by: Melaleuca | Sep 21 2022 11:23 utc | 326
yes perfect timing to release bad news. it is also just before the AFL Grand Final, so Melbourne has a four day weekend now.
What an absurd public holiday. Even more absurd than the almost holiday of Hawky’s Australia Cup.

Posted by: watcher | Sep 21 2022 11:45 utc | 325

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Sep 21 2022 11:06 utc | 324
I do not know that one. The Saturday Paper is reasonable.
Also of course (links here already even by B I think) John Menadue’s site Pearls and Irritations- especially good on China. For non Australians – or anyone under 60, John Menadue is no back room unknown, and was extremely influential during the time of Whitlam and later.

Posted by: watcher | Sep 21 2022 11:50 utc | 326

@k 251
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, flies like a duck and acts like a dick, it must be superman.

Posted by: Hermit | Sep 21 2022 17:29 utc | 327

252: “Some ancient cultures strove to follow the sun westward thinking life would be better.”
Not quite: when the indo-europeans/aryans/iranians emigrated out of their original caspian steppes, some went east and south, but they got stuck in Persia, India, Xinkiang.
But those waves who went east with their iron swords and chariots instead grew rich with land and loot, and so they kept going ever westwards with their chariots and iron swords. Eventually after a first go by the vikings, the anglo-saxons got to conquer the eastern coast of north America, and still kept going west with their chariots and swords, or rather their wagons and rifles.
The biggest long term problem with the USA is that it is has run out of “frontier”, that is of rich native lands to loot, and frankly Hawai’i was not much.

Posted by: Blissex | Sep 21 2022 19:57 utc | 328

280: «What did colonialism morph into? Now it’s just bribes, coups, proxy wars»
That’s the thing that most people don’t quite realize: empires don’t have to be colonial, where subjugated areas are governed directly by the imperial power, they can be “suzerain”, where the imperial power exercises indirect control by delegating government of subjugated areas to the local “comprador” elites it controls.
The spanish empire was almost entirely colonial, the english empire was part colonial and part suzerain (a large part of India was nominally governed by their traditional dynasties, under english “political resident” guidance), the USA empire is almost entirely suzerain.

Posted by: Blissex | Sep 21 2022 19:58 utc | 329

292: “The facts are (clear in hindsight) the Russian had insufficient forces to maintain a defensive positions across 1,000+ klm front and to simultaneously maintain adequate control and management of the territory already taken and ensure supply lines to the front.”
But neither can the Ukrainians do that. So both ukrainian and RF forces could have done and can do sudden advances in most parts of a fuzzy frontline, but had so far avoided doing so because they would be strategically and even tactically pointless, and probably suicidal (extending supply lines and putting themselves at huge risk of being flanked).
The ukrainian plunge towards Izyum is rather irrational from a purely military point of view, and that is why it has succeeded so far, it was unexpected on that account.
One obvious reasons why the ukrainians have done so because their USA/UK/EU “sponsors” badly need “good news” from the front to persuade their “home front” that huge inflation and fuel shortages are worth bearing because soon _elensky’s army will win, and it would be terrible to let them fail now.
The other reason I guess is that it is likely that the ukrainian army and population will not be able to survive this winter as organized entities, because of lack of fuel, winter clothing, food, and this is the last attempt they can do to at least cause damage to the Donbas republics and the RF forces that support them, probably out of spite.

Posted by: Blissex | Sep 21 2022 19:59 utc | 330

320: “Like why does Australia cravenly submit to US neo colonisation, play act as attack poodle ?”
It is actually very easy to understand: in WW2 the “yellow hordes” got as far as the Darwin Strait, and the English Empire withdrew from the scene (fall of Singapore!) could not defend the australian suburban dwellers from those “yellow hordes”, so Australia turned for “protection” to the USA; just as the al-Sauds did, and England and France and Korea-south did too.

Posted by: Blissex | Sep 21 2022 20:01 utc | 331

Nothing bother me more then Western hipocrisy and the double standards. US, NATO and EU countries violated with impunity international law and have no moral standing to lecture anybody on the subject . Furthermore Russia has all the rights to act as it does and I hope that will bloody the NATO nose in Ukraine , while I feel sorry that too many people die for the Western misguided policies.

Posted by: Andrei from Romania | Sep 21 2022 21:30 utc | 332

The US violated all signed agreements throughout their history and can never be trusted , nor by adversaries and even more by their friends who most likely will be betrayed sooner or later . All Latin America people hate the US and for good reasons and fairly soon Zelensky and brain washed ukrainians will find out what it means to be american ally . I just wonder are the Kiev boys all idiots or all scum or both . Maybe someone can enlighten me !

Posted by: Andrei from Romania | Sep 21 2022 21:51 utc | 333

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Sep 21 2022 11:06 utc | 324
+1 for The Independent. Some great material to be found there.
Cheers!

Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Sep 22 2022 8:16 utc | 334

Posted by: Blissex | Sep 21 2022 19:58 utc | 331
Thank you for your comments.
I do think (hope) that history will see this era of trans-national, privately-owned, rentier-based, conflict, extraction, and plunder, as some archaic anomaly that is the subject of acedemic fascination and incredulity.
Australia is quite depressing in it’s incipient and cowardly toadying to the US/UK/EU/IS axis. Endless bowing to the lords of private capital.

Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Sep 22 2022 8:45 utc | 335

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