News & views not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine …
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May 15, 2025
Open (Neither Ukraine Nor Palestine) Thread 2025-104
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Good thread so far. I’ll come back to the energy question and AnalAnnies bid to be UN supremo! Just what the world needs another Nazi scion to kill that now almost useless hobbyhorse.
But the below copy paste on China/Russia world Bank and BIS killing alternative banking system is the nail going into the coffin of the Collective Wastes Banking Monopoly of nearly two Millenia. It also speaks to Carneye election as much as the Yankee popes.
( btw The argument about whether Holy Roman Empire/Judaism/Interest/heart are moot.
Personally I see no disconnect at the top between these who identified themselves as the Word of God – bullshittery to divide and conquer their ‘citizen’/slaves. )
‘– GEROMAN — time will tell – 👀 —
@GeromanAT
1h
Major Russian banks have set up a netting payments system dubbed “The China Track” for transactions with China, aiming to reduce their visibility to Western regulators and mitigate the risk of secondary sanctions, banking sources told Reuters.
Russia’s trade with China hit a record $245 B last year despite payment problems and commissions running as high as 12%, as Chinese banks had grown too cautious to do business with Russia and jeopardise their ties with the US.
The issue had become so important that President Putin and President Xi discussed it during Putin’s visit to China in May 2024, which was aimed at cementing the two countries’ ‘no limits’ partnership.
The new system has been set up by major sanctioned banks and involves a web of intermediaries registered in countries that Russia considers friendly. The system has been in place for some time and has not yet suffered any major setbacks.
Each bank runs several verified payments agents, some of whom handle payments for exports, and some for imports. All payments are then netted centrally at the bank with all the counterparties involved receiving their money.
The banks settle trade in both directions, said market sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
SECURE FROM BEING BLOCKED
The banks provide guarantees for payments’ settlement as well as financial instruments insuring against a possible default of a payment agent or a counterparty. The system does not use the SWIFT messaging system or accounts in Western banks.
“We had to structure financial flows through friendly jurisdictions to secure these payments from being blocked,” one market source said, stressing that netting has become the cheapest way for settling trade with China.
The sources declined to name the banks, saying they do not want to draw additional attention to their operations because of sanctions but stressed that all the banks involved rank among Russia’s top 20.
China propped up Russia economically in 2022 when the country was faced with unprecedented Western sanctions over its military action in Ukraine, providing consumer goods which replaced those offered by Western companies.
China also continued to import oil and other natural resources from Russia despite Western pressure. However, even despite the goodwill, consumer goods trade nearly halted last year due to the secondary sanctions risk.
Some bankers say that the netting system allows payments to be made directly to any Chinese bank without delay, provided that the goods are not under sanctions and the counterparty is registered in one of the selected 11 provinces of China.
Speaking in parliament in April, Russia’s central bank Governor Nabiullina acknowledged that Western sanctions complicated cross-border payments for Russian companies, but said that alternative payments channels are being developed.
The netting scheme is mainly designed for large corporations. The sources said it has some disadvantages, including the requirement to authorise every single payment and problems with value-added tax (VAT) refunds.
“The scheme allows direct work with 11 Chinese provinces, which produce most of the goods that are being exported to Russia. The cost is calculated based on the official exchange rate, with no spread on top,” a banker said.
The minimum cost of the “China Track” service, including commissions and exchange rate differences, is about 1% for imports and 0.5% for exports, compared with 2-4% outside the system and up to 12% at the height of the problem last year.
“Today 100% of all the money is being transferred without a glitch, we have not had a single case where the money comes back. The money is normally delivered within 2 days,” said another banker involved.
He added that currently there is only one clearing session a week each Thursday, but the plan is to hold two sessions from the end of April.
@gbazov
May 16, 2025 · 7:16 AM UTC ‘
Woo woo! The train is leaving the station all aboard all aboard …
Posted by: DunGroanin | May 16 2025 9:45 utc | 101
Re: renewables
I have a PV system on my roof. Conclusion – Solar PV is a interesting niche solution applicable in certain regions with high A/C demand; but otherwise really just a curious toy.
Posted by: Exile | May 16 2025 9:47 utc | 102
Damon Wilson, president & CEO of the National Endowment for Democracy, a group founded during the Reagan era for supporting freedom around the world but which has devolved into a regime-change fomenting interventionist-minded money stream for NGOs in foreign lands.
Wilson has ordered purged the recipients of NED monies reaching back to the early 2000s: “Rather than listing names that could serve as a roadmap for those seeking to silence advocates for freedom, we provide descriptive information that reflects the nature of their work without compromising their security. Wilson claims this new policy still maintains “the spirit of transparency,” just with plenty of fig-leaf vagueness tossed in.
In 2022, NED deleted its Ukraine-related grant lists. Archived internet records show that over $22 million in grants to groups & activists in the country appear to have been wiped out.
Describing a “toxic future” for pro-democracy journalists—–read: regime-change minded networks of interventionists—–the State Department *retroactively deleted* details of the vast majority of USAID’s *contractors* from public records.
So it’s not just the NED, which is funded by the State Department, but also the newly tweaked USAID entities as well.
Posted by: steel_pocupine | May 16 2025 9:48 utc | 103
Posted by: Ahenobarbus | May 15 2025 18:27 utc | 33
Kanye’s actions are linked to his beef with the little hats who control the recording industry. They have imo no link to anti semitism. Just the easiest or most ignorant way he has chosen to show his displeasure w the peeps at the top of his particular pyramid
Posted by: Tannenhouser | May 16 2025 9:56 utc | 104
African Hub
@AfricanHub_
“Western media is conditioning minds, especially those of Africans.” ~ Ibrahim Traore
https://x.com/AfricanHub_/status/1921969504982049224
Posted by: Menz | May 16 2025 11:38 utc | 105
African Hub
@AfricanHub_
Ibrahim Traore wipes out electricity and water bills for the elderly people in Burkina Faso 🇧🇫
Your thoughts on this
https://x.com/AfricanHub_/status/1922949822358737357
Posted by: Menz | May 16 2025 11:58 utc | 106
Ibrahim Traore reminds me of Steve Biko, who was murdered by the “verkrampt” Afrikaners:
African Hub
@AfricanHub_
Captain Ibrahim Traore finally responds to US General Langley
https://x.com/AfricanHub_/status/1922965272467493057
Posted by: Menz | May 16 2025 12:04 utc | 107
Bolivia: Arce, Evo & Andronico Rodriguez
Bolivia’s MAS movement has been torn up over the split between president Arce and Evo Morales for at least two years now. Arce recently announced he would not run for re-election and challenged Evo to do the same in an effort– according to Arce– to re-unite MAS and defeat the fascists. Young leader Andronico Rodriguez is now running and leading in the polls. Morales– Andronico Rodriguez’s mentor- is still running. Hard to get good info. I hope Rodriguez prevails. But I’m not there and don’t have much insight.
bottom line, the Bolivian people are very strong, probably much more informed, capable and committed to continuing their movement locally and internationally (BRICS).
https://orinocotribune.com/bolivias-president-arce-declines-to-run-for-reelection-andronico-rodriguez/
Posted by: migueljose | May 16 2025 12:29 utc | 108
Re: Baerbock as UN Chief; she’ll be a dedicated toady of the Washington War Party.
Exile | May 16 2025 9:43 utc | 100
Rumour has it that she’s in a romance with Tony Blinken. Confirmed is that the Bundesregierung had prepared another candidate, said to be a highly competent career diplomat (also female), when ALB emerged with her own desires (pardon the pun) and took the position somehow.
Posted by: persiflo | May 16 2025 12:37 utc | 109
@ LoveDonbass | May 15 2025 22:12 utc | 54
thanks ld… interesting position..
@ juliania | May 16 2025 0:30 utc | 64
thanks juliania.. i will seek it out for getting another viewpoint..
Posted by: james | May 16 2025 13:02 utc | 110
A brief history of CIA/MI6/RAW/prolly MOSSAD FF
https://tinyurl.com/4xecrwuk
Posted by: denk | May 16 2025 13:59 utc | 111
too scents | May 16 2025 4:48 utc | 86
*** Baerbock is running unopposed for the top position …***
Typifies the shit nowadays calling itself “green”.
Interesting how the US empire’s extremely polluting military is exempt from criticism by such hypocritical lying scum.
Who don’t actually care a damn about ecology — while effectively campaigning for built-in obsolescence and so-called “value engineering”, these closet transnational-corporate pimps really care only about inflicting the most excessive implementations of wokism, political correctness, LGBTQ++ and of course the enforced consolidation of such crap via WEF/global dictatorship schemes.
Lucrative big scam for them, their cronies and covert masters….
Best place for so-called “green” politicals is rotting in a compost heap, but only if the results were thereafter irradiated to neutralise the toxins.
Posted by: Cynic | May 16 2025 14:25 utc | 112
Jon_in_AU | May 16 2025 6:33 utc | 95 ….
In case you hadn’t noticed, you live in Australia which is extremely different to the UK.
It is called geography.
The “renewables” fanaticism is just like the non stop hysterical crap about Factor-50 sun blocking creams … it may well be that in your part of the world they’re needed and do function properly, or in places like Israel and the south of the USA, but hardly in Britain.
Yet here, oooh panic, children now mustn’t be allowed go outside without being slathered in the stuff — never mind that much of it is likely carcinogenic, just feel the profits.
Likewise for adults.
Amazing how for thousands of years the population of Britain never had the problems these products claim to solve, before these products were devised and marketed.
Except in advertising bullshit, ‘one size’ never really fitted all and never will.
The same for energy “renewables” as for everything else.
Posted by: Cynic | May 16 2025 14:55 utc | 113
I can’t name all the reasons why Zelenski is the main obstacle to peace, a nonelected bug who is the main force behind keeping the war going. If Trump was a Brit, they would, by now, have a detailed assassination plan in the drawer.
Yet Europe is the other warmonger, and they needed Zelenski’s skills, position and face (and the story and pictures they made in Bucha) to sell us the war.
But three years later one might think people, at least journalists, have been able to get informed, and a change of tone should be imminent. The temptation to believe in this is particular high for MoA readers and RT listeners like myself. But the rest (of Germans) lives in a different world and pays tribute to the “Putin is evil” and “Ukraine is winning” mantras. Their intellect has died, they are not even as curious any more as to ask about the perpetrators of NS2.
One journalist recently asked Trump if he would launch an investigation into NS2. “No need for an expensive investigation” he said. “I only have to ask the right people. Besides, everyone knows. Everyone knows.” (paraphrasing is mine).
“Except the Germans” I would add. If somebody is not able to discern serious people from liers and grandstanders like Z, and credible from incredible sources, I would judge this as an unforgiveable defect. That person loses strongly in my esteem.
It is possible that most of my past problems growing up, really have their roots in the inherent lack of judgement, the inherent dumbness of most people with authority. Merz is no exception. He has proposed to keep us no longer informed about what he is all sending to Kiev.
Posted by: grunzt | May 16 2025 14:57 utc | 114
Long explanation of why renewable electricity generation can never work.
Posted by: Roger | May 16 2025 6:10 utc | 93
Central America, with the 3rd largest power grid in North America is powered by renewables, with quick-to-bring-on-line fossil fuel backup. In recent years it has achieved 99% renewable generation. The one percent non-renewable is due to running backup facilities periodically to assure their reliable availability. It employs a mix of wind, solar, hydro, and geo-thermal generation. Renewables have proven reliable and cost-effective.
During a recent year-long extreme drought, hydro generation decreased reducing the percentage of renewable generation. Backup facilities provided uninterrupted electrical supply but raised consumer cost. Planned expansion of geothermal and other renewable sources will reduce dependence on hydro in the future.
Central America is poor. It consumes less energy than wealthier regions but demand continues to grow. Through intelligent, long-term planning and implementation, it continues to meet current demands at the lowest economic and environmental cost possible, while increasing renewable generation to provide for future growth. Well planned renewable electricity generation can be reliable and costs less than alternatives.
Posted by: Samu | May 16 2025 14:58 utc | 115
England appoints another dodgy character to lead its ever reducing navy.
“The British government has appointed General Gwyn Jenkins as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff. Approved by King Charles III on Thursday, the decision follows unresolved allegations that Jenkins had failed to report suspected war crimes in Afghanistan and later obstructed the relocation of key witnesses.
The general succeeds Admiral Ben Key, who stepped down last week amid an ongoing misconduct investigation. Media reports suggest that the probe centers on Key’s alleged affair with a more junior female colleague.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 16 2025 15:06 utc | 116
https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2025/05/15/trumps-f-55-stealth-fighter-stuns-at-qatar-military-event/
“Trump’s F-55 stealth fighter stuns at Qatar military event”
Sounds like they showed one, right? No, it’s vapourware. A Trumpian brain fart.
And SuperF22? There are only 187 F22 instead of the 750 planned. Why was that again? Can’t afford F22s then or now, so going to spend buckets more on a Super version?
The orange clown is unhinged. After watching him read word-by-word off the page given to him on the F-47, that he claimed to know intimate details about previously, its pretty clear that he has no clue at all and is just parroting what he is fed.
It’s only a matter of time before he appears naked, claiming he is wearing the finest cloth.
Posted by: saner | May 16 2025 15:18 utc | 117
https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/05/trumps-f-55-fighter-jet-real/405353/
The picture painted here? Even the military folks are wondering WTF Trump is talking about.
“I think he’s confused. Very confused,” one former Air Force official said. “I can’t even imagine what it is like to try and brief him.”
Like dealing with a hallucinating ADD toddler I suspect.
Posted by: saner | May 16 2025 15:33 utc | 118
Trump Can’t Kill the Boom: Why the US Economy Will Roar Despite Him
Nouriel Roubini 16th May 2025
Markets, innovation, and AI are overpowering Trump’s chaos—and pushing America toward 4% growth, recession or not.
Exc:
… The US economy’s potential growth will approach 4% by 2030, far above the International Monetary Fund’s recent estimate of 1.8%. The reason is obvious: America is the world leader in ten of the 12 industries that will define the future, with China leading in only electric vehicles and other green tech. US growth averaged 2.8% in 2023-24, and productivity growth has averaged 1.9% since 2019, despite the pandemic-era dip.
As I recently argued elsewhere, even if Mickey Mouse were president, the US would still be on the way to 4% growth, because US private-sector innovation promises to offset bad policies and erratic policymaking.
The AI-driven investment boom also implies that, with or without high tariffs, the US current-account deficit will remain high and on an upward trajectory (reflecting the difference between sluggish savings and booming investment). But since America’s exceptional growth will survive Trump, portfolio inflows will continue despite the trade-policy noise. Although fixed-income investors may pull out of US assets and the dollar, equity investors will remain overweight on US assets, perhaps even doubling down. Any substantial weakening of the dollar will be gradual, and the greenback will not suddenly lose its role as the global reserve currency.
To be sure, US inflation will surge above 4% this year. Trade deals with most countries will limit the tariff rate to an undesirable but manageable 10-15% level, and a likely de-escalation with China will leave that rate at around 60%, on average, driving a gradual decoupling of the two economies. The ensuing shock to real (inflation-adjusted) disposable incomes will stall growth by the fourth quarter of this year, perhaps leading to a shallow US recession that will last for a couple of quarters.
But a Fed that remains credibly committed to anchoring inflation expectations will be able to cut rates once growth stalls, and a modest rise in the unemployment rate will weaken inflation. By the middle of 2026, US growth will be experiencing a strong recovery, but Trump will have been damaged politically, auguring a loss for his party in the midterm elections. Fears of the US descending into autocracy will be alleviated. American democracy will survive the Trump shock, and, after an initial period of pain, the US economy will thrive.
Full:
https://www.socialeurope.eu/trump-cant-kill-the-boom-why-the-us-economy-will-roar-despite-him
Posted by: JB | May 16 2025 15:33 utc | 119
Surprise, surprise, Canada’s PM Mark Goldman-Sachs Carney’s tough-talk campaign rhetoric about ‘standing up for Canada’ against Trump and his tariffs appears to be rapidly dissipating…
Poll Finds Most Canadians Keen on Tariff Retaliation as Ottawa Walks a Different Path
https://nationalnewswatch.com/2025/05/15/poll-finds-most-canadians-keen-on-tariff-retaliation-as-ottawa-walks-a-different-path
“A new Leger poll suggests a majority of Canadians – 67 per cent – are in favour of ‘dollar-for-dollar’ retaliatory tariffs, and a third of them strongly endorse retaliation.
‘Even though the sentiment is..let’s do something back, I think the reality has struck the decision makers in government to say, ‘Let’s go a little bit more measured and let’s dilute it,’ said Tony Stillo, head economist for Canada at Oxford Economics.
A new report from his organization suggests that Ottawa’s counter-tariffs currently amount to next to nothing.
Stillo [also] said he was ‘surprised and disappointed’ to hear there won’t be a federal budget this spring. He said the economic stimulus the Liberals talked about during the election would help buffer the economy.
Three quarters of respondents said they’ve noticed consumer prices increase in recent weeks and half said they believe the country is in an economic recession…”
You ain’t seen nothing yet.
Posted by: JohnGilberts | May 16 2025 15:45 utc | 120
re: renewable energy
All energy sources on Earth find their origin in the Sun, except nuclear (fission) power, which originates in some other suns that blew up billions of years ago. Directly capturing solar energy just skips the intermediary steps (billion years of bio-accumulation of hydrocarbons in the Earth’s crust, for example, or “pumping” water to higher elevations in the hydraulic cycle). The Sun is the most kick-ass fusion reactor known to man, and it will be the best one in the neighborhood for a really long time to come. The smart plan would be to figure out how best to use it.
“But the Sun don’t shine at night, or when it is raining, and we need power then too!”
Oh, you silly little small-minded person thinking your suburban cave dwelling is the extent and scope of the universe! The Sun has not stopped shining for even a second in billions of years. It is immensely reliable. The objections you imagine are fairly simple engineering problems of placing the collection point for the solar energy slightly closer to its origin than the top of your head (escape from Flatland and try thinking in three dimensions). Don’t worry about those engineering problems, though, as the Chinese are working on them, and the Chinese have become really good at engineering. When the Chinese deploy their solution, they will become the world’s clean OPEC, and you will buy your electricity from them because it will be the cheapest available.
Sure, this is still a few years away, and movement towards this solution isn’t really obvious yet, but that is because the Chinese always start their projects with baby steps before jumping in with both feet. That said, industrial quantities of baseload power delivered globally and sourced directly from the Sun by the Chinese is something some of us (maybe even me!) will see in our lifetimes.
Posted by: William Gruff | May 16 2025 16:05 utc | 121
Posted by: persiflo | May 16 2025 12:37 utc | 109
People like AB, UvdL, Zelenski, Merz should be disposed of after their first term. One term is enough to know them, and there may be somebody gifted waiting right underneath (like Laschet underneath Wadephul).
Posted by: grunzt | May 16 2025 16:24 utc | 122
“…US private-sector innovation promises to offset bad policies and erratic policymaking…”
That’s good for a ROFL!
Hate to break it to you, but the Chinese already dominate AI, and they’ve only just got started. Clean energy? China owns that market. Electric vehicles? The ones anyone wants are Chinese. Robots (residential and industrial)? Chinese again. China has just caught up to the West in chips, and in another couple years they will lap the West in that race.
“America is the world leader in ten of the 12 industries that will define the future…”
Let’s see what the guy who made that claim says are these industries:
- AI/Gen AI — nope
- ML — ditto
- Causal ML leading to AGI by 2030 — no chance
- robotics and automation including massive emergence of humanoid robots — lol!
- bio-med research and synthetic biology — China has more bio-engineers
- quantum computing and its merger with AI — China temporarily trails in q-hardware, but leads by a mile in q-comms and q-AI
- space exploration and exploitation — You mean Elon Musk leads, right?
- AI-led semi-autonomous weapon systems — oops! wrong!
- Ag-tech — and who is actually shrinking deserts?
- fusion energy — oops! Nope
- green tech — lol!
- mobility revolution — You mean like high speed trains?
- fin-tech — how to make money from nothing! Communists are not good at that
- new material science
- cybersecurity — Nice files you got there. Be a shame if someone encrypted them on you
You have to look beyond current state of the art and instead focus on momentum and the fundamentals that drive innovation: STEM education, safety nets for the individual to encourage risk-taking, and a culture of sharing/collaboration. China wins. Furthermore, with the extreme adversarial posture of the West towards China, any good ideas the West may come up with will be selfishly denied to the Chinese, encouraging them to do it on their own rather than just buy the western version.
Posted by: William Gruff | May 16 2025 16:52 utc | 123
He is starting to make Biden look like a superior intellect..
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-us-norway-f52-aircraft-sold-deal-not-exist-defence-erna-solberg-a8153126.html
Wow.
Posted by: saner | May 16 2025 17:13 utc | 124
Interesting stuff.
“The US Secret Service is investigating former FBI director James Comey for making a threat against President Donald Trump, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has said. Comey, a longtime critic of Trump, has denied that his cryptic, now-deleted Instagram post was a call for an assassination.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 16 2025 17:20 utc | 125
Corruption within the warmongering bullyboys club, (Nato) – surely not, says I with tongue pressed firmly into cheek.
“Police have conducted arrests and searches in several countries as part of a corruption investigation into current and former employees of the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA).
The raids, coordinated by Eurojust – the EU’s criminal justice agency – took place in Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and the US. The alliance told Luxembourg Times on Wednesday that NSPA’s main headquarters in the Grand Duchy had initiated the probe.
“NATO – including the NSPA – is working closely with law enforcement to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice,” spokeswoman Allison Hart said. “We are actively strengthening our ability to mitigate risks and root out misconduct,” she added.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters in Ankara on Thursday that the military bloc was working with the authorities. “We want to get to the root of this,” Rutte said.”
The public prosecutor’s office in Luxembourg said that documents had been seized pertaining to suspicions that NSPA staffers had “used their positions to enrich themselves.””
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 16 2025 17:24 utc | 126
Yip, the Neo-Nazi dictator of Ukraine Zelensky – won’t be party to any REAL deal with the conflict in mind.
“US President Donald Trump will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to help Russia and Ukraine finalize a peace agreement, a deputy assistant to Trump, Sebastian Gorka, has said. The meeting between the two leaders is “imminent” he told a security summit organized by Politico.
“Deals are all about timing. When the time is right, that’s when the president is in the room with Putin,” he stated, while maintaining that the right moment is “imminent.” He did not elaborate and did not provide any further details about a possible meeting between Putin and Trump.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 16 2025 17:27 utc | 127
DEPRESSING
Baerback to head The General Assembly – UNCONTESTED
UNCONTESTED FTF
She is a patsy of Washington and Langley – groomed for years.
And more Russophobic than Sikorski’s missis – which is really saying something
WTF?
And the thread was going so well with some really interesting stuff …
Posted by: Don Firineach | May 16 2025 17:33 utc | 128
So, it turns out that it was a Ukrainian man – that set fire to houses and cars linked to Keir Starmer; imagine the publicity it would have received if it had been a Palestinian man that did it.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 16 2025 17:38 utc | 129
@Juliania
His Website here
https://karaganov.ru/en/
I take this guy seriously for more than a decade …
Posted by: Don Firineach | May 16 2025 17:49 utc | 130
@Posted by: Roger | May 16 2025 6:10 utc | 93
You are spouting the kind of stuff that may have been relevant a decade or more ago, and even then the cries of the critics were repeatedly shown to be incorrect as the share of renewables increased without grid instability. Badly designed and/or maintained grids fail, as they repeatedly have for systems utilizing non-renewables. When you actually have a central state that is highly competent and is focused on the national good, with an electricity grid that is run as a social utility rather than a short term profit generator, incredible things can and will be achieved. Not one that does not properly upgrade the grid, or shuts down well engineered and safe nuclear reactors on a whim. The profit-driven US grid is an utter disaster of lack of investment and ageing infrastructure.
An excellent example is China, where the grid is being properly upgraded to deal with a hybrid mix of electricity generation sources which includes hydro, nuclear, wind and solar. Every year now China is adding quite colossal levels of wind and solar capacity, 63% of all the worlds new clean energy capacity was in China in 2024 producing 39% of all electricity in the country. That’s up from 34% in 2023. And China’s electricity is very cheap compared to Europe, and even half the cost of electricity in the US. China is on track to have more than half its electricity generated by clean energy by 2027, and China generates over 30% of the world’s electricity.
The investigation of the Spanish outage is pointing to errors in the operating systems and structure of the electricity grid, which should have been able to manage the changes in load. Just as with previous outages of electricity grids investigations will work through the issues, and changes will be made to remove the identified failure points. The Spanish grid was down for 11 hours, which was actually not that long compared to previous grid outages (powered by fossil fuels) that lasted days. This is a good coverage of what happened with the Spanish grid Spain-Portugal blackouts: what actually happened, and what can Iberia and Europe learn from it?
Posted by: Roger Boyd | May 16 2025 18:08 utc | 131
@ Don Firineach | May 16 2025 17:33 utc | 128
Baerback has been very active with calls for a Gaza ceasefire, and the USGA has in the past voted many resolutions against Israel.
Posted by: Don Bacon | May 16 2025 18:09 utc | 132
@Posted by: JohnGilberts | May 16 2025 15:45 utc | 120
Yep, and Carney already back-tracked on the promise of the government getting more houses built. He reminds me of the ECB head Mario Draghi that was installed as Prime Minister of Italy from 2021 to 2022, and the EU bureaucrat Mario Monti who was installed from 2011 to 2013. A technocrat installed to effectively carry out the next stage of neoliberalism.
He just missed a majority government by 2 MPs, but I can easily see him teaming up with some Conservative MPs to get legislation passed, and then the Bloc and/or NDP for others. If the Liberals smell a majority they will go for an early election, just like Trudeau did and failed. The Liberals may only have a short window for that though, as the reality of Conservative Carney sinks in and the Liberal poll support falls. Carney may then very well deliver Canada to a much more competent and electable version of Conservative little PP at the end of the 2020s.
Posted by: Roger Boyd | May 16 2025 18:23 utc | 133
osted by: Roger Boyd | May 16 2025 18:23 utc | 133
You think pierre poutine is competent? Surely competent should not be used in the same sentence with ANY of the so called leader here in the northern Puerto Rico. Same team diff jersey’s. Oh and competent leaders don’t DO NOT clap like circus seals for nazi. Sorry they just don’t.
Posted by: Tannenhouser | May 16 2025 18:33 utc | 134
Starmer plots a reset of relation with China and yet….
UK signed a Global Chinese Exclusion Act Pact with the gringo,
Guardian,
The UK-US trade deal, signed last week, offers Britain limited relief from US tariffs on car and steel exports, but only if it complies with strict American security requirements. These conditions include scrutinising supply chains and ownership structures – a move widely interpreted as targeting Chinese involvement
Posted by: denk | May 16 2025 18:42 utc | 135
When you actually have a central state that is highly competent and is focused on the national good, with an electricity grid that is run as a social utility rather than a short term profit generator, incredible things can and will be achieved. Not one that does not properly upgrade the grid, or shuts down well engineered and safe nuclear reactors on a whim. The profit-driven US grid is an utter disaster of lack of investment and ageing infrastructure.
Posted by: Roger Boyd | May 16 2025 18:08 utc | 131
Right on Roger. The Central American Grid is run by the government of Costa Rica for the benefit of its population and energy sales to neighboring countries provide additional income to the government. It has been forced to privatize distribution in a few areas and people there pay higher costs than in the rest of the country.
Posted by: Samu | May 16 2025 18:47 utc | 136
You ain’t seen nothing yet.
Posted by: JohnGilberts | May 16 2025 15:45 utc | 120
Personally, I think it’s silly as a Canadian to respond to murican tarrifs like a murican would. Also no tarrifs on needs stuff and tariffs on the want stuff could end up looking like no tarrifs?
Posted by: Tannenhouser | May 16 2025 18:47 utc | 137
@ denk | May 16 2025 18:42 utc | 135
re: UK signed a Global Chinese Exclusion Act Pact with the gringo,
AsiaTimes
US uses ‘poison pills’ to isolate China from supply chains
A pundit says the US will use tariff threats to persuade more and more countries to join in isolating China . .here
Posted by: Don Bacon | May 16 2025 19:06 utc | 138
Posted by: Don Bacon | May 16 2025 19:06 utc | 138
———-
Thats the objective from the outset.
Meanwhile, gunboats up the Yangtze…
UK’s HMS Prince of Wales Embarks on Bold Indo Pacific move
8:01
… British carrier may come face-to-face with its Chinese counterparts, the Liaoning and the Shandong. . . .
China’s Liaoning & Shandong Stand No Chance Against …
8:03
HMS Prince Of Wales face-to-face with Chinese Aircraft Carrier, After a hiatus of four years, a Royal Navy aircraft carrier strike group is …
How Can HMS Prince of Wales Supercarrier Take on Both …
8:16
Royal Navy’s HMS Prince of Wales Supercarrier can theoretically take on both china’s carriers (Liaoning and Shandong) due to the superior …
What a way to improve relation !
Posted by: denk | May 16 2025 19:20 utc | 139
Post 1949, they slapped an embargo on China, so draconian that even barring grain sales during famine !
SARS 1.0 inflicted devastating damage to the economy
TAM genocide stalled China’s development for more than a decade.
Then came HK genocide 1.0, Tibet genocide, Xinjiang genocide….
Global CEA culminated to a crescendo came Trump 1.0
Starting with HK Genocide 2.0
Tariff war 1.0
Bird flu
Swine flu
Army worm
When all else failed, SARS 2.0 was launched.
Poison pill indeed !
A rat’s Freudian slip
On top of all the other things, you had SARS, you have the African swine virus there, now you have this. It’s another risk factor that people need to take into account.”
https://gizmodo.com/plague-big-opportunity-rat-says-1841363830
Signing off….
Posted by: denk | May 16 2025 20:11 utc | 140
And:
“Russian Su-35 Fighter Repels NATO Effort to Seize Tanker at Sea.
The Russian crew reported threats to land Estonian personnel on the ship if they did not change course, as part of an effort to seize the vessel. These efforts reportedly quickly subsided after the Su-35 arrived in the area.”
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russian-su35-repel-tanker-sea
Posted by: Jams O’Donnell | May 16 2025 20:21 utc | 141
Posted by: denk | May 16 2025 19:20 utc | 139
“due to the superior …” yeah, dream on, RN. The only thing about the RN carrier is its superior amount of time spent in dock. If they annoy the Chinese then they’ll need another lengthy spell in repairs.
Posted by: Jams O’Donnell | May 16 2025 20:24 utc | 142
Posted by: Jams O’Donnell | May 16 2025 20:21 utc
If there is any doubt that NATO is at war with Russia, this attempt of western piracy should put things straight. Andrei Martyanov jokes about the mighty Estonian Navy, but… I don’t like the prospects of war.
Posted by: MorePain4Cakes | May 16 2025 20:37 utc | 143
Karlof has an interesting recent Substack:
Russia’s New Reprivatization Law
———-
I see Putin as a modern day Trotsky. Fighting against the ‘White Guard’ while trying to put industry in the hands of and serving the populace.
Posted by: financial matters | May 16 2025 20:44 utc | 144
@Don Bacon | May 16 2025 18:09 utc | 132
Do I believe that she is sincere? No. Simply burnishing her UNGA credentials …
I cannot believe that she is un-opposed for this position.
Posted by: Don Firineach | May 16 2025 21:45 utc | 145
“Is This America?”
“Make no mistake – They are coming for your free speech”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtMycUGxLNk
Posted by: WMG | May 16 2025 23:48 utc | 146
Posted by: Don Firineach | May 16 2025 17:49 utc | 130
I recall a fun video of Putin riding with his then defense minister Shoigu(?) in the latter’s truck through deep Siberian snow.
That all this was being espoused even back in Soviet times gives hope for other present dark forebodings; something is flickering even now whilst the neocon orchestra is flailing, and failing, to drown it out.
Posted by: juliania | May 17 2025 0:27 utc | 147
Posted by: Jams O’Donnell | May 16 2025 20:24 utc | 141
——————-
Sorry couldnt post after [139] !
During the Pak/India clash, Bharat despatched the Vikrant to confront
the PakISTANis.
However, fearing the Chinese made YJ18 ANTIship cruise missile, the Vikrant didnt dare to engage , was withdrawn in less than 24hr after much posturing !
China has thousands of Aircraft carrier Killer such as DF21, DF26 waiting to be battle tested like PL15 !
I doubt the limey want the Prince of Wales to suffer the same fate like its namesake in WW2 !
All these brouhaha is just their way of kissing Trump’s ass !
Posted by: denk | May 17 2025 1:47 utc | 148
Posted by: denk | May 17 2025 1:47 utc | 147
######
The West can continue to threaten and intimidate, it’s comical.
The Chinese and Russians continue with their goals anyway.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | May 17 2025 2:00 utc | 149
Posted by: LoveDonbass | May 17 2025 2:00 utc | 148
——————
As The Chinese saying goes..
We’ve Maotai to greet our friends, shotgun to greet the wolverine !
Posted by: denk | May 17 2025 2:19 utc | 150
Reuters is reporting
Moody’s cuts America’s pristine credit rating, citing rising debt
Its Friday and the world has all weekend to consider the implications.
This should make all the US markets go up, correct?…../s
Did the front runners know this and drive gold price down in preparation?
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 17 2025 2:34 utc | 151
About that cat+tomatoes quote about the painting: It looks like it was not Belloc but Mark Twain claiming to quote an anonymous reporter (if Twain was not making up the person in order to have it both ways).
“The most of the picture is a manifest impossibility—that is to say, a lie; and only rigid cultivation can enable a man to find truth in a lie. But it enabled Mr. Ruskin to do it, and it has enabled me to do it, and I am thankful for it. A Boston newspaper reporter went and took a look at the Slave Ship floundering about in that fierce conflagration of reds and yellows, and said it reminded him of a tortoise-shell cat having a fit in a platter of tomatoes. In my then uneducated state, that went home to my non-cultivation, and I thought here is a man with an unobstructed eye. Mr. Ruskin would have said: This person is an ass. That is what I would say, now.”
Text of Twain, A Tramp Abroad, chapter xxiv
Posted by: JustSomeOldGuy | May 17 2025 3:25 utc | 152
@ Roger Boyd #133. We agree.
B7 – Canada 2025 – Final Communique: ‘Bolstering Economic Security & Resilience’
https://chamber.ca/2025-b7-communique/
“The Communique provides a strategic blueprint for G7 leaders to address today’s most pressing economic challenges while building on this year’s theme: Bolstering economic security and resilence.
The current climate of unprecedented economic uncertainty threatens the prosperity and security of the G7 and also emboldens our geopolitical competitors that are increasingly seeking to exploit our vulnerabilities to reshape the international order.
G7 Leadership is Needed Now More Than Ever. Read the full 2025 B7 Communique…”
B7 Summit: Attendees Speak with Reporters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQI_PslO1XY
“Participants of the B7 Summit in Ottawa take questions from the press. The three-day summit brings together business leaders from G7 countries to discuss economic challenges and make policy recommendations…”
@ 36:30 Canadian intel asset and senior advisor Asia-Pacific for the International Crisis Group – Michael Kovrig:
“…The two key challenges that I’m particularly focusing on in my remarks today are the China challenge – the Chinese Communist Party and its agenda – in particular its support for Russia in its invasion of Ukraine – and the trade tempest we’ve had from Donald Trump’s administration…
Posted by: JohnGilberts | May 17 2025 4:27 utc | 153
I find this lie from Moody’s most interesting
Despite reserve diversification by central banks globally over the past twenty years, we expect the US dollar to remain the dominant global reserve currency for the foreseeable future.
I disagree of course and we will see what the near BRICS+ future bringss
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 17 2025 5:09 utc | 154
More on Carney’s Canada…
Liberal MP Says Carney Will Run A More Corporate Style Government
https://nationalnewswatch.com/2025/05/14/liberal-mp-says-carney-will-run-a-more-corporate-style-government
“A newly appointed junior member of cabinet said Wednesday the federal government will operate more like a ‘corporation’ under Prime Minister Mark Carney…”
LOL. Canadians don’t know the half of it.
Posted by: JohnGilberts | May 17 2025 5:26 utc | 155
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 17 2025 5:09 utc | 153
What is your premise for a rapid shift away from the dollar? There is a higher percentage of assets valued in dollars now that there were 5 years ago. This has been mainly due to the Euro being dumped for trade between the RF and EU but it is still the case. Lots of the assets are financial contracts with long terms. Just unwinding the dollar contracts outstanding will take decades and China does not want the RMB to get stuck in the reserve currency trap. I do see the dollar dropping off in the longer term, but it is not going to happen overnight. It took 45 years and two world wars for the pound to be replaced by the dollar even though the USA surpassed the entire British Empire in 1902. The networking effect can have things that are complete garbage continue in use despite their obvious flaws. Microsoft still being around exemplifies this reality.
Posted by: Badjoke | May 17 2025 5:32 utc | 156
10 year gov‘t debt interest rates as of close Friday:
4.44% US
2.58 % German
1.68% China
The Bond Market votes with its pocketbook
Posted by: Exile | May 17 2025 5:52 utc | 157
Here’s my opinion on the Trumpian jet fighter talk.
First, if I were him and any clever, I’d wait just a bit before approaching the Air Force guys, to have them stew them in their own juices. They prefer jet fuel I hear. Then, when they’re just right and can’t resist bragging anymore, ask them „what programs have you going?“
They, if any clever, will produce a deck of cards with beautiful pictures and meaningless numbers for comparison, and explain in general what they are doing in procurement.
You can buy jet fighters in basically two versions, single or twin engined. If you go for three that’ll be a scandal among purists and give away your grand strategy, as happened to China recently. Well, I’m just joking, we knew already they would like to have Seeherrschaft over their front yard.
Many engines are expensive. We see this effect clearly in the Airbus fleet, where the A380 model has not made the expected inroads despite being a great airliner because twin-engined planes are effectively cheaper to operate. I believe this was a leading design decision for the F-35 from the beginning, in tradition with American workhorse fighters such as F-16 and others. But dual engine designs have their merits, too; among them a general robustness because of redundancy. As the Russian SU-27 derived line shows, the increased weight does not diminish capability in air-to-air roles. US Navy had to be talked into accepting the F-35 for their carriers, as did the Bundeswehr for their nuclear Teilhabe capability. Single engine designs are constrained by available engine size; again, this is clearly exemplified by the F-135 model which runs so hot that the material of the whole airframe suffers longevity issues.
Now let’s use all this to boil down the Trump talk:
• US has a development pipeline which includes twin engine fighters for the Navy
• F-35 needs a major upgrade/ design overhaul and is a lemon anyway which may (lol) bolster Norway’s air defense once they get their 54 examples (with two jokers going to Stoltenberg’s front lawn and the RNAF air museum respectively)
• The US is run by satanists – who else in their right mind would call a stealth bomber Angel?!
• Trump has good instincts. It’s a long-standing belief among enthusiasts that somehow a beautiful plane also flies well. I gotta say, the B-21 looks absolutely frightening.
• Everyone misses the venerable B-747, called Queen of the Skies for a reason, as it fell out production after being challenged by A380, which is now out of production too.
• F-22 design philosophy has been generally sound
I’ll add that bulgarianmilitary.com appears to be an good site. They did an unforgettable analysis of the Literal Combat Ship back then. Bulgarian media also broke the news on the Ukraine biolabs. Here’s what they have to say about the new bomber:
„The B-21 is indeed a valuable investment. When paired with next-generation drones, it presents a formidable force that adversaries will find challenging to counter.“
https://bulgarianmilitary.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/B-21-shows-small-windows-and-air-intakes-deeply-in-the-airframe-3.jpg
Posted by: persiflo | May 17 2025 7:38 utc | 158
Too predictable.
U.S. President Donald Trump offered an update Friday on his trade negotiations with countries around the world — saying it’s not possible for his administration to meet with all trading partners, so some of them will get information about tariff rates by letter in the coming weeks.
Most countries are facing a 10% baseline U.S. tariff on their products, after Trump on April 9 announced a 90-day pause for the much higher import taxes that he had rolled out on April 2. Countries are aiming to make trade deals with the Trump administration to prevent a reimposition of the higher levies when the 90-day pause ends around July 8.
On Friday, Trump told reporters that there are “150 countries that want to make a deal, but you’re not able to see that many countries.” He said he thinks Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “will be sending letters out” over the “next two or three weeks.”
In those letters, “we’ll be telling people what they’ll be paying to do business in the United States,” Trump said. “I guess you could say they could appeal it, but for the most part, I think we’re going to be very fair. But it’s not possible to meet the number of people that want to see us.”
Trump didn’t indicate how many countries might be in the camp that get letters rather than meetings with American officials. The Wall Street Journal has reported that administration officials have aimed to meet with about 18 major U.S. trading partners on a rolling basis throughout May and June, and Bessent told CNBC last week that the U.S. has “18 important trading partners.”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-says-countries-will-soon-get-letters-detailing-their-tariff-rates-heres-where-his-tariffs-stand-now-d5c9feda?mod=home_lead
Posted by: Roger | May 17 2025 8:29 utc | 159
Posted by: Cynic | May 16 2025 14:55 utc | 113
I did specifically cite Australia in my first comment. I was specifically referring to the case of Australia, as that is where I have gained a long term understanding of the situation, heck, I was at one point even the researcher for a radio program covering the subject in depth.
Good engineering will choose the appropriate tools and technology for the site in question. Problems that have occurred with renewable energy roll-out always tend to distill down to a problem of neoliberal profiteering and politics.
On sunscreen…
Non-melanoma/non-metastasising skin cancer runs in my family, and having worked in solar PV for quarter of a century, I’ve almost never worn sunscreen…and no skin cancer.
I’m deeply suspicious of the stuff, especially the number of chemicals used that have been very much scientifically varified as carcinogenic. Titanium dioxide is just one of these.
From my reading on the subject it seems to have a lot to do with the chemistry of the skin: vitamin D pre-cursors, squalene, and others. I came to that subject via being diagnosed with Pb poisoning and a vitamin D deficiency, and starting to try and tie it all together. This is a current and ongoing area of research for me, and I shall write at length on that subject in the future.
Posted by: Jon_in_AU | May 17 2025 9:34 utc | 160
If russians are so great why is russia getting weaker as the decades go on? Is it like trump’s ‘too much winning’ idea? They’re so good, theyve got sick of succeeding?
Posted by: Glydyr | May 17 2025 10:28 utc | 161
The Bond Market votes with its pocketbook
Posted by: Exile | May 17 2025 5:52 utc | 157
—
Ackchyually, the Bond Market votes with your pocketbook. Your pocketbook is the fulcrum upon which their lever is applied.
Posted by: too scents | May 17 2025 11:12 utc | 162
An accurate assestment (4:00):
Square profile picture
AJ+
@ajplus
Are white South Africans taking up Trump’s offer to become “refugees” in the U.S.? We spoke to Herman Wasserman, an Afrikaner and journalism professor, who says majority of Afrikaners are rejecting the offer:
https://x.com/ajplus/status/1923369003906449913
Posted by: Menz | May 17 2025 11:18 utc | 163
The entire “Bond Market” is a joke.
Has anyone here ever bought a bond? Probably not I venture … but has anyone even sad down and had a good hard think, “Maybe I should buy some bonds?” … also not.
And then how about, in your entire life have you ever met someone who said, “I once bought a bond” … maybe yes but admit it’s ridiculously rare, and I doubt it was a young person.
Fact is there is no free market in government bonds … ordinary people don’t want them, rich people invest elsewhere. The only bond buyers are specific institutions like pension funds and banks being railroaded in bonds and the buyers don’t really care because it’s not their money. The central banks buy government bonds from other countries so they can devalue their own currency and then maybe sell those off again if they need to stabilize the other way.
There’s no real market forces … at least, nothing of the type that financial reporters will have you believe.
Posted by: Tel | May 17 2025 12:14 utc | 164
Ackchyually, the Bond Market votes with your pocketbook. Your pocketbook is the fulcrum upon which their lever is applied.
Posted by: too scents |
========
LoL – so true
Posted by: Exile | May 17 2025 12:18 utc | 165
The only reason to buy bonds aside from being under duress is that you have such a gigantic sum of cash that to not have at least some short term 2 month or 6 month treasuries would mean you are leaving a kings ransom on the table.
The longer dated bonds serve different purposes, basically every home mortgage and car loan are based on 10 year bonds and the bank issuing the loan is playing a spread or arbitrage between the person taking that loan and the usgov 10 year interest rate.
Additionally there is an over the top scaffolding of financially engineered casinos and the entry price, among other things, is to post up treasuries as collateral which is like a thousand page book worth to dip your toes into that criminal rabbit hole.
Posted by: ryanggg | May 17 2025 13:33 utc | 166
Re: who owns bonds ?
Anyone who has a 401(k) or IRA has a certain portion of his portfolio allocated to a Bond Fund. Ditto for tens of millions of US savers who have a retail investment account.
Posted by: Exile | May 17 2025 14:10 utc | 167
Stop funding and backing the Zio-Nazi’s in Israel and the Neo-Nazi’s in Ukraine, and – spend any money on your citizens, that’s why this forecast is poor.
“Germany’s tax income is projected to drop by billions of euros over the next four years, according to figures released by the country’s Council of Economic Experts earlier this week. The forecast cut reflects the economy’s sluggish performance and a major tax relief package included in the federal government’s budget bill.
The federal government alone is expected to collect €33.3 billion ($37.3 billion) less in tax revenue over the five years through 2029, according to estimates published on Thursday. This year, tax income is projected to fall €600 million short of previous expectations, with a significantly larger shortfall of €10.2 billion anticipated in 2026.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 17 2025 14:44 utc | 168
Happy Constitution Day to our Norwegian barflies!
https://www.oslo.kommune.no/english/welcome-to-oslo/norwegian-society/17-may-constitution-day/
I hope this finds you well
Posted by: ockham | May 17 2025 15:19 utc | 169
The Neo-Nazi’s that marched with the English at the VE Day event, have vanished they didn’t return to their units, nor are they answering their phones, well according to the English propaganda machine the BBC they’re not.
Maybe they’ve been sent on as secret terrorist mission in say Africa or Europe – that’s what they are now Neo-Nazi guns for hire.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 17 2025 15:28 utc | 170
Russia signs 11 billion ruble export deal with China at ‘Made in Russia’ fair in Harbin
Marketing push will feature top Chinese influencers promoting Russian goods
Soft power meets hard currency in the new Sino-Russian trade wave
https://x.com/RT_com/status/1923694640617881722
Chinese influencer Dandan sells $6.2M of Russian goods in 2 hours via livestream from Red Square
Part of a simultaneous Moscow–Harbin trade event marketing ‘Made in Russia’ to Chinese consumers
Birch juice, snacks, cosmetics — and 100 million viewers on Kuaishou
https://x.com/RT_com/status/1923745650631639317
Posted by: LoveDonbass | May 17 2025 15:29 utc | 171
@ Badjoke | May 17 2025 5:32 utc | 156 who asks why i think there will be a rapid shift from the dollar.
I think the rapid shift is going to be towards sovereign systems of finance and we see it already happening.
I think that the majority of US dollar “assets” are debt that needs to go POOF! in a debt jubilee.
I don’t see our species regressing to more barbaric patriarchy but then we could go extinct.
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 17 2025 15:38 utc | 172
Le Petit poking his coked up nose in, where it doesn’t belong.
“This is quite extraordinary: George Simion, who won the first round of Romania’s elections, went on French TV to call Macron a “dictator” and to denounce France’s “huge” interference in Romania’s elections.
Here’s what he said:
“I love France. I like French culture. I love the French people, but I don’t like the dictatorship of Emmanuel Macron.
France interfered in the Romanian elections and the French Ambassador, under orders of Emmanuel Macron, discussed with the President of the Constitutional Court, the one who cancelled the elections in Romania. The French Ambassador was on tour these last weeks in all regions in Romania to persuade Romanian businessmen and institutions to support the opposite candidate. The mayor of Bucharest…
[So you’re saying there is interference by Emmanuel Macron in the Romanian election?]
Yes, a huge one! […] It is very serious. We are not Iran. We are not a country where there are ayatollahs who say who can be a candidate and who cannot.””
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 17 2025 15:40 utc | 173
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 17 2025 15:40 utc | 173
#####
A myth of Western democracy is that anyone can run and win.
Like anyone can purchase a winning lottery ticket 😂😂😂
Until people in the West see “democracy” for what it is, they will not have socially responsive government.
The irony of that person’s statement is that Iran is a super-civilization compared to Romania.
The Ayatollah keeps the foreign Capitalists repressed.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | May 17 2025 16:06 utc | 174
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 17 2025 15:40 utc | 173
“Yes, a huge one! […] It is very serious. We are not Iran. We are not a country where there are ayatollahs who say who can be a candidate and who cannot.””
Aye, myself agrees. The collective west have assahollahs who say who can be a candidate and who cannot.
Posted by: aye, myself & me | May 17 2025 16:28 utc | 175
Don Bacon
AsiaTimes
US uses ‘poison pills’ to isolate China from supply chains
————————–
There’s supposedly a 70% rule,
Any country whose GDP threatens to rise above 70% of USAss must be destroyed
[cue Japan]
China is different.
G7 assault on China dates back to 1800 , kicking China even when its down and out !
A brief history of Global Chinese Exclusion “Act since the west ‘lost’ China after 1949
https://tinyurl.com/3494p6nz
Posted by: denk | May 17 2025 16:29 utc | 176
The assault on alternative media.
Japan focus used to feature many hard hitting anti imperialist articles like this..
The Rev. Taira says the islanders have had enough. “The soldiers get drunk and crash their cars. There are four accidents a day; two rapes a month. Almost every person on Okinawa has a family member who has been assaulted. Then the soldiers go off to kill poor people in Iraq and Afghanistan. It makes my blood boil.”
https://apjjf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/article-565.pdf
Have not found anything there worth archiving for ages !
At one time uber sinophobe Brahma Chenany even appeared for a while !
Hmmm….
Another site bites the dust ?
Posted by: denk | May 17 2025 17:02 utc | 177
Reuters recent posting title shows the beast consuming itself
Trump tells Walmart to ‘eat the tariffs’ instead of raising prices
Trump is going to get the downturn he instantiated with his tariffs and I think he will find the cure is worse than the disease in the case of global private finance…..the faith in it is slipping away
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 17 2025 20:25 utc | 178
https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/breaking-covid-19-mrna-shots-destroy?utm_source=publication-search
This is a terrifying possibility. The world and especially the West could be facing extinction and no one is noticing.
Posted by: Eighthman | May 17 2025 21:03 utc | 179
What’s the difference between a politician and a soccer player?
A soccer player has the sponsor printed on his shirt.
Posted by: Passerby | May 17 2025 21:43 utc | 180
El Hierro is a Spanish island in the Atlantic. Electricity was a diesel generator. Generous European Union subsidies were obtained to replace the diesel with wind turbines and pumped hydro. The idea was that in hours of low demand, the electricity produced by the wind turbines would be used to pump water uphill, and during peak demand hydro power would supply electricity. Long story short: did not work. Last thing I heard, the diesel in the port is still chugging away. The project was a success in that the island of “El Hierro” was #1 in EU subsidy per capita.
Posted by: Passerby | May 17 2025 22:25 utc | 181
“Israel is moral meltdown”
https://conflictsforum.substack.com/p/israel-is-in-moral-meltdown
“Israel Official MELTS DOWN Over Trump Deal”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPmzaP1EB3A
Posted by: WMG | May 17 2025 22:48 utc | 182
🇨🇳🇺🇸 Huawei’s Forbidden Chip isn’t just a breakthrough-it’s a tectonic shift.
While Washington built walls to block China from global tech, Huawei quietly rewired the game. No press, no permission. Just action.
Kirin 9000S, Ascend AI, a new ecosystem-built under fire, beyond the reach of U.S. control.
This is not the end of Made in China.
It’s the end of Made-for-America.
11 minute video with more specific details
https://x.com/OopsGuess/status/1923868113193533844
I like the conclusion at the end.
The world is decoupling on political and economic levels and we’re headed for 2 distinct technological paradigms. Think VHS and Betamax but on a global scale for “everything”. Refrigerators, TVs, Cars, phones, education, food, etc.
The genie is out of the bottle.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | May 17 2025 22:56 utc | 183
Old timers can skip ..
————————
Poison pill indeed !
A rat’s Freudian slip
On top of all the other things, you had SARS, you have the African swine virus there, now you have this. It’s another risk factor that people need to take into account.”
https://gizmodo.com/plague-big-opportunity-rat-says-1841363830
Signing off….
Posted by: denk | May 16 2025 20:11 utc | 140
————
That Ross blurted out ecstatically about Victory Lap is an obvious tell,
We nail the chicom good this time !
An insider !
Those deep state end time fundies enjoyed broadcasting their victories with Message hidden in plain sight ..
Exhibit A
Economist cover pre covid,
Masked horseman !
https://tinyurl.com/yc6hzxw8
Economist cover post covid
https://tinyurl.com/wau2ucdr
[Many Londoners were scratching their heads over that apocalypse scene without realising they were witnessing the rats‘ Victory Lap !]
Exhibit B
https://tinyurl.com/32kummd6
Posted by: denk | May 18 2025 2:38 utc | 184
MUST READ – evil – no other word for it …
Israel is in Moral Meltdown
Conflicts Forum’s compilation tracking strategic developments in Israel, 17 May 2025
Conflicts Forum
May 17, 2025
‘The War to establish a Fascist State’ — “The Chariots of Genocide are Warming their Engines” /
Israeli Law Professor Orit Kamir: ‘Israel is flooded with evil, a lack of empathy … and an addiction to hatred and bloodlust’ /
The line between Likud and Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit is increasingly blurred /
Netanyahu marked the families of the kidnapped for the poison machine as early as Oct 2023
[These compilations are drawn from analysis & commentary by Israeli political and security commentators, predominantly published in Hebrew — as reports in Hebrew often provide a different window on Israeli internal discourse].
https://conflictsforum.substack.com/p/israel-is-in-moral-meltdown
It is a difficult read – but this the reality of Kahanist Zionism
Posted by: Don Firineach | May 18 2025 2:59 utc | 185
The Trump Administration Leaned on African Countries. The Goal: Get Business for Elon Musk.
by Joshua Kaplan, Brett Murphy, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski
May 15, 2025, 5:30 a.m. EDT
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In early February, Sharon Cromer, U.S. ambassador to Gambia, went to visit one of the country’s Cabinet ministers at his agency’s headquarters, above a partially abandoned strip mall off a dirt road. It had been two weeks since President Donald Trump took office, and Cromer had pressing business to discuss. She needed the minister to fall in line to help Elon Musk.
Starlink, Musk’s satellite internet company, had spent months trying to secure regulatory approval to sell internet access in the impoverished West African country. As head of Gambia’s communications ministry, Lamin Jabbi oversees the government’s review of Starlink’s license application. Jabbi had been slow to sign off and the company had grown impatient. Now the top U.S. government official in Gambia was in Jabbi’s office to intervene.
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency loomed over the conversation. The administration had already begun freezing foreign aid projects, and early in the meeting, Cromer, a Biden appointee, said something that rattled Gambian officials in the room. She listed the ways that the U.S. was supporting the country, according to two people present and contemporaneous notes, noting that key initiatives — like one that funds a $25 million project to improve the electrical system — were currently under review.
Jabbi’s top deputy, Hassan Jallow, told ProPublica he saw Cromer’s message as a veiled threat: If Starlink doesn’t get its license, the U.S. could cut off the desperately needed funds. “The implication was that they were connected,” Jallow said.
In recent months, senior State Department officials in both Washington and Gambia have coordinated with Starlink executives to coax, lobby and browbeat at least seven Gambian government ministers to help Musk, records and interviews show. One of those Cabinet officials told ProPublica his government is under “maximum pressure” to yield.
In mid-March, Cromer escalated the campaign by writing to Gambia’s president with an “important request.” That day, a contentious D.C. meeting between Musk employees and Jabbi had ended in an impasse. She urged the president to circumvent Jabbi and “facilitate the necessary approvals for Starlink to commence operations,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by ProPublica. Jabbi told confidantes he felt the ambassador was trying to get him fired.
The saga in Gambia is the starkest known example of the Trump administration wielding the U.S. government’s foreign policy apparatus to advance the business interests of Musk, a top Trump adviser and the world’s richest man.
Since Trump’s inauguration, the State Department has intervened on behalf of Starlink in Gambia and at least four other developing nations, previously unreported records and interviews show.
As the Trump administration has gutted foreign aid, U.S. diplomats have pressed governments to fast-track licenses for Starlink and arranged conversations between company employees and foreign leaders. In cables, U.S. officials have said that for their foreign counterparts, helping Starlink is a chance to prove their commitment to good relations with the U.S.
In one country last month, the U.S. embassy bragged that Starlink’s license was approved despite concerns it wasn’t abiding by rules that its competitors had to follow.
“If this was done by another country, we absolutely would call this corruption,” said Kristofer Harrison, who served as a high-level State Department official in the George W. Bush administration. “Because it is corruption.”
Helping U.S. businesses has long been part of the State Department’s mission, but former ambassadors said they sought to do this by making the positive case for the benefits of U.S. investment. When seeking deals for U.S. companies, they said they took care to avoid the appearance of conflicts or leaving the impression that punitive measures were on the table.
Ten current and former State Department officials said the recent drive was an alarming departure from standard diplomatic practice — because of both the tactics used and the person who would benefit most from them. “I honestly didn’t think we were capable of doing this,” one official told ProPublica. “That is bad on every level.” Kenneth Fairfax, a retired career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan, said the global push for Musk “could lead to the impression that the U.S. is engaging in a form of crony capitalism.”
MORE…
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-musk-starlink-state-department-gambia-africa-pressure
Posted by: Menz | May 18 2025 3:38 utc | 186
Re: who owns bonds ?
Anyone who has a 401(k) or IRA has a certain portion of his portfolio allocated to a Bond Fund. Ditto for tens of millions of US savers who have a retail investment account.
Posted by: Exile | May 17 2025 14:10 utc | 167
To the best of my knowledge … there’s no genuine requirement for those funds to buy bonds, but a lot of them do it on autopilot because some “Very Expert” said that a 40% allocation to government bonds was “safe”.
This is exactly the problem … people believe the lie that there is such a thing as “passive investment” which means they just put money in and ignore what happens after that. Anyone who bought a 30 year Treasury Bond at a 2% yield back in 2021 … those people got a hard lesson that bonds are NOT safe. When price inflation kicked in, then interest rates were jacked right up, no one would care to take a bond off you hands at 2% yield. Sure, the government did not default by non-payment but they simply defaulted by a different method … that being money printing. Make no mistake it is still a default if you sit for 30 years you will get back what it says on the paper … it just WON’T be worth anything in real terms.
So you have these investors who have been assured they really don’t even need to know anything about where their investments are going. They stick it in a fund, and the fund robotically buys Treasury Bonds … and they stick the rest into an Index ETF which might perhaps be an even worse idea.
What that means is, the bond market is NOT consisting of normal price sensitive buyers and sellers like anywhere else which might be termed a free market. The seller is the Treasury and can’t turn back and say, “Naaa we ain’t selling today” and the buyers are not even bothering to pay attention, they just have an allowance each month and they always buy.
Then we have people trying to tell you that prices in this environment have a deep meaning which we all should be paying close attention to … garbage!!
Posted by: Tel | May 18 2025 4:23 utc | 187
Posted by: Passerby | May 17 2025 22:25 utc | 181
In Australia they tried the solar/wind/battery demonstration at a place called King Island and what they demonstrated is you still need a lot of diesel backup … although perhaps the occasional time when the solar and wind are running might save a bit in diesel fuel … but I doubt a full cost analysis would show enough fuel saving to pay for all the renewables gear. I seem to remember they even built a flywheel energy storage system.
The only place I have seen solar/battery combination work, is very remote areas, far from grid connection, in dry climates without too many clouds and where the total electrical demand is fairly low (e.g. enough to run phones, and some simple equipment, maybe a small A/C plus a few lights). I mean, the difference between having no electricity at all, and having a little bit, can be huge if you are out in the middle of nowhere.
But people are now accustomed to using quite a lot of electricity … make a coffee, microwave your dinner, have a heat lamp in the bathroom, run A/C for the entire house all Summer. We could easily live with less … at a significantly lower standard of living.
Maybe that’s OK but it’s not the dream being sold to the people … we are told that these renewables are the cheapest electricity generation, and then strangely also told that government subsidies are absolutely a requirement to give the incentive to use this stuff that supposedly is already cheap … go figure huh?
Posted by: Tel | May 18 2025 4:44 utc | 188
Love Donbas & aye,myself and me.
Would anyone bet against the pro-EU/Nato puppet winning the Romanian elections- even though he is behind?
“Romanian voters returned to the polls on Sunday, May 18 for the second round of a presidential election rerun following a court-annulled vote last year. The runoff is between George Simion, a critic of Brussels who has been banned from entering Ukraine, and Nicusor Dan, the pro-EU mayor of the capital, Bucharest.
Around 19,000 polling stations have opened across Romania for the second round of the election. Voting began at 7am local time (4am GMT) and is scheduled to end at 9pm, with exit polls expected soon after
George Simion, the leader of the right-wing Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), came in first in the initial round earlier this month with 40.96% of the vote – nearly 20 percentage points ahead of Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, who came in second. Recent polls, however, show a tighter race, with one reporting a tie and another giving Dan a narrow lead.
Dan, who is running as an independent, is a Sorbonne-educated mathematician who entered politics after years of activism. He has pledged to fight corruption, reduce economic inequality, and maintain strong ties with the EU and NATO. He also claims that Romania’s support for Ukraine is vital to national security.”
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And here’s just on of the reasons Simion cannot be allowed to with in Romania – the base faces into the Black sea, and across the Black sea lies the Russian base of Sevastopol; it looks like that Romanian democracy is dead – surely a Romanian revolution must be on the cards, if Simion loses.
“Romania has now begun construction of what will eventually be the NATO alliance’s largest European military base, as the transatlantic bloc seeks to bolster its capabilities in the Black Sea region with an eye on Russian activity there.
The $2.7 billion project will expand the Romanian Air Force 57th Air Base Mihail Kogălniceanu, which is located close to the Black Sea port city of Constanța. The new facility will have a perimeter of almost 20 miles, cover around 11 square miles, and will be home to some 10,000 NATO personnel and their families.
Romania has long been a key hub for NATO operations in the Black Sea region. Thousands of U.S. troops have cycled through the country on training and security missions since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine. American combat and surveillance aircraft regularly operate from there as part of NATO’s policing operations.”
https://www.newsweek.com/nato-builds-largest-europe-base-black-sea-romania-1880210#:~:text=Romania%20has%20now%20begun%20construction%20of%20what%20will,region%20with%20an%20eye%20on%20Russian%20activity%20there.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 18 2025 9:58 utc | 189
I’m surprised the Zio-Monster didn’t win the utterly politically biased Eurovision Song Contest – maybe not enough fake votes were sent their way, I’d have expected the genocide and Neo-Nazi supporting EU to have Israel and Ukraine as one and two – the Eurovision Song Contest, has no credibility whatsoever – allowing Neo-Nazi’s and Zionists who are committing genocide to participate in their farcical event.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 18 2025 10:09 utc | 190
Erdogan is a sly old fox, like Modi, he plays on both sides of the field to get the best deals – I suppose, gone are the days when politicians could openly speak their minds, and their country and businesses wouldn’t be sanctioned by some other nation.
“The US is relaxing sanctions on Türkiye’s defense industry and has approved a major arms deal, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced.
In 2020, Washington imposed restrictions on Ankara under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) in response to Türkiye’s purchase of Russian S-400 air defense missile systems. Ankara rejected calls to abandon the deal with Moscow, insisting on its sovereign right to choose its weapons suppliers.
“We can safely say that CAATSA sanctions are being eased,” Erdogan told reporters on Saturday, after returning from the European Political Community summit in Albania. He added that he had spoken with the new American ambassador to Türkiye, Tom Barrack.
“With my friend Trump taking office, we reached a more open, more constructive, more sincere communication,” he said.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 18 2025 10:13 utc | 191
Trump will need to invade the likes of Iran – or Venezuela to steal their assets – to help service, what looks a huge fiscal debt, that’s getting out of control.
“Moody’s has stripped the US of its perfect triple-A credit rating, citing increasing concerns over debt affordability. The rating agency had held the country’s sovereign credit rating at the highest possible level since 1917.
The move brings the 116-year-old agency into line with its global rivals. Fitch Ratings downgraded the US rating to AA+ from AAA in August 2023, and Standard & Poor’s cut it to AA+ from AAA in August 2011.
The reduction to Aa1 “reflects the increase over more than a decade in government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns,” Moody’s said in a statement released on Friday.
The agency noted that successive US administrations and Congress have failed to reach an agreement on measures to reverse the pattern of large annual fiscal deficits and rising interest costs.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 18 2025 10:22 utc | 192
Re: Solar PV
The challenge with Solar PV is that one gets nil power during 3 months of the winter and a yuge overabundance of power during 3 months of the summer. Therefore, Solar PV has real positve economics in regions with high A/C demand. In other regions Solar PV is honestly a bit of a toy.
I have a PV installation on my house roof with a little battery in the basement. My location gets just shy of 2,000 hours sunshine/year. No need for A/C. So speaking from experience.
Posted by: Exile | May 18 2025 10:25 utc | 193
“And then how about, in your entire life have you ever met someone who said, “I once bought a bond” … maybe yes but admit it’s ridiculously rare, and I doubt it was a young person.”
Posted by: Tel | May 17 2025 12:14 utc | 164
You don’t know anything about bonds.
My older son, 33, under my advice -get out of the equity market, he still holds 30% of his portfolio in senior gold equities- bought $80k of US Treasuries in Jan with a 4.6% yield.
Posted by: canuck | May 18 2025 10:55 utc | 194
“And then how about, in your entire life have you ever met someone who said, “I once bought a bond” … maybe yes but admit it’s ridiculously rare, and I doubt it was a young person.”
Posted by: Tel | May 17 2025 12:14 utc | 164
______
I must be one heck of a rara avis because for the past couple of years I’ve been putting most of my money into 3- and 6-month Treasury bills, laddering them of course.
Posted by: malenkov | May 18 2025 11:26 utc | 195
re: Republicofscotland | May 18 2025 9:58 utc | 189
I’m not so sure about Simeon. Take a close look at him yourself. I suggest everyone does, may as well be disappointed now as later cos the bloke definitely has a touch of the meloni’s about himself.
The first presidential candidate in Romania seemed to be on the level but this one is no cleanskin pol, he has indications of being a deceiver of the type who happened in Greece more’n 10 years ago and Italy more recently, I reckon he’s gonna sell out voters and kowtow to the eu.
Posted by: Debsisdead | May 18 2025 11:43 utc | 196
Posted by: malenkov | May 18 2025 11:26 utc | 195
That’s the intelligent way to buy bonds in this environment
Posted by: canuck | May 18 2025 12:17 utc | 197
@ Debsisdead | May 18 2025 11:43 utc | 196
It’s difficult to imagine that the Romanian authorities would have allowed his candidacy if he were a serious threat.
Posted by: malenkov | May 18 2025 12:26 utc | 198
Posted by: malenkov | May 18 2025 12:26 utc | 198
Agreed.
The election has been ‘fixed’
Posted by: canuck | May 18 2025 13:26 utc | 199
Debsisdead (196).
Yeah I have to agree with you there – Wikispooks used have a bit on him (George Simion) but its disappeared – if I recall correctly – Wikispooks didn’t praise him in anyway – the piece was found inside their article on Calin Georgescu – he himself is a member of the Club of Rome.
Simion is a friend to Israel and he called Putin a war criminal on Russia’s intervention in Ukraine – and he wanted more sanctions on Russia, though he (Simion) opposes more aid to Ukraine preferring a peace deal.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 18 2025 17:56 utc | 200