Feb 222022
 
 February 22, 2022  Posted by at 9:51 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , ,


Salvador Dali Portrait of Gala with Two Lamb Chops Balanced on Her Shoulder 1933

 

“Joe Biden” Wins World War Three (Kunstler)
How the United States Has Provoked the Ukraine Crisis (Cathey)
Putin Recognizes Donbass Independence as Violence Soars (Lauria)
What Accounts for Putin’s Assertiveness on Ukraine? (Ray McGovern)
How Much The EU Has Destabilised Ukraine (Nuttall)
Donbas or Ottawa? The Dizzying Spiral of Government Violence! (Daniel McAdams)
The Neoliberal War On Dissent In The West (Greenwald)
In The Age Of COVID, We’re Reminded An Unjust Law Is No Law At All (McMaken)
Future UK Covid Waves Will Be Treated With Drugs Not Restrictions (Peston)
The Demise of Restaurants (Ugo Bardi)

 

 

 

 

Australia true Covid stats
https://twitter.com/i/status/1495853869242494983

 

 

 

 

Not okay

 

 

Rogan Maajid Nawaz decentralization

 

 

Canada Military
https://twitter.com/i/status/1495749143142322180

 

 

“His Democratic Party is looking everyday more and more like some hell-borne spawn of Satan bent on wrecking what’s left of the old USA.”

“Joe Biden” Wins World War Three (Kunstler)

Enter Monsieur Macron of France. After two years of antagonizing his countrymen with lockdowns and put-downs, he needs a boost for the national election forthcoming in April. So, he has heroically sued Mr. Putin of Russia for a Ukraine “ceasefire.” Note: the Russians haven’t fired. Anyway, that opened the way for a proposed “summit” meeting between “Joe Biden” and Mr. Putin — when the Russians feel like it. They’re playing it a little coy for the moment, letting the West twist slowly, slowly in the wind. If a summit does happen, what will the two summiteers talk about? Mr. Putin will reiterate that the US and NATO made a solemn promise (in writing) to not expand NATO along Russia’s borderland in 1990 when the Soviet Union fell apart, and y’all reneged on that… and now it stops with Ukraine… really… got it?

“Joe Biden” will not have a coherent response. Maybe he’ll want to talk ice cream flavors or dogs. He is, as the Russians say, not negotiation-worthy, though he can be trotted out for photo ops. But “Joe Biden” needs a big win so he can brag on something in his State of the Union address. His Democratic Party is looking everyday more and more like some hell-borne spawn of Satan bent on wrecking what’s left of the old USA. Everything they’ve done since 2016 has degraded the life of the nation — weaponizing the “Intel Community,” queering a national election, besetting the people with race-and-gender mindfuckery, and inflicting the deadly “vaccines” on the population to “fix” the Fauci-created Covid-19 crisis. Never has the country seen a president so obviously incompetent and unpopular. The people backstage running him like an animatronic automaton are in a panic.

By default, then, the summit meeting will be game-set-and-match, Mr. Putin, only both parties will pretend that it’s some kind of moral victory for “JB,” while Russia gets exactly the terms it seeks: Nord Stream-2 will be completed and Germany will get natgas; there will be no additional stupid sanctions and get rid of the old ones; and the US will close up its CIA shop in Kiev and quit all the pointless antagonism. There will be peace in that corner of the world. And then, on cue, the West’s financial system will implode.

Yes, that’s what is actually going on in the background. That roar you hear is bad credit whooshing out of the banks. It looks like we’re going to get both a ripping inflation and a collapse of equities and assets all at once — with a side-dish of disappearing livelihoods, vaporizing pensions, and sinking standards-of-living. One surmises that all the meshugas over Ukraine was designed as a distraction from the financial disorders now at hand. The news media has faithfully played the Ukraine story to the max while ignoring the growing disarray in North America.

The Toronto Star barely even reported today on the weekend dispersion of truckers in Ottawa — like it never happened… a kind of national hallucination. The big rigs are gone from the streets around Parliament Hill, but one suspects the action isn’t over. Mr. Trudeau’s stupid vaxx mandates are still in place and every passing day more is known about their inefficacy and ghastly after-effects. Nor has the national legislature of Canada voted, as required, in support of the Emergencies Act — meaning that the financial punishments inflicted on the truckers and their supporters was arguably illegal.

Read more …

“..a conflict, into which the US and NATO can pour support and implement various measures, economic and financial and, eventually, military against Russia, while blaming the Kremlin for starting it.”

How the United States Has Provoked the Ukraine Crisis (Cathey)

The very simple conclusion that may be drawn from what is occurring is this: our foreign policy elites–Neoconservatives and their zealous followers in both the GOP and the Democratic Party–see Russia as a major obstacle in the continuing process of imposing economic and political control over countries which have heretofore not acceded to their hegemony (i.e., Russia and Hungary). Using NATO as a strategic shell and Ukraine as its frontline player, the Neocon/globalist combine seeks to:

(1) prevent an economic disaster for the US of a functioning Nord Stream II pipeline, which would give Germany and potentially other European countries, a climb off ramp from economic domination by the US (journalist Mike Whitney has written conclusively on this topic in the Eurasia Review); and (2) eventually impose politically a pliant government in Moscow, which has become the chief stumbling block in preventing Neocon globalist hegemony and the realization of “the Great Reset.” Russia, like Hungary, has expelled CIA-infested and Soros-sponsored NGOs which in many locations around the world have incited “color revolutions” to install favorable client governments.

More concretely, the Biden administration and US foreign policy establishment (with congressional Republicans in tow) are accusing Russia of “false flag” operations, or more specifically, accusing the pro-Russian secessionists in Lugansk and Donetsk republics of violent attacks against Ukraine (on civilians, schools, all the usual claimed targets), while in fact it is elements of the Ukrainian military, with American encouragement and technical “advisors” embedded, who are responsible for the shelling and the attacks across the cease-fire line. This is one more example of disinformation strategy, projecting onto the Russians what we are actually guilty of.

Just listen to the braindead Biden essentially mouthing this propaganda line. If warfare breaks out it will be because the US State Department and our agents have impelled the Ukrainians to launch such “false flag” actions, literally forcing the Russians to react and thus producing a conflict, into which the US and NATO can pour support and implement various measures, economic and financial and, eventually, military against Russia, while blaming the Kremlin for starting it.

Read more …

“The president of France and the Federal Chancellor of Germany expressed their disappointment with this development. At the same time, they indicated their readiness to continue contacts.”

Putin Recognizes Donbass Independence as Violence Soars (Lauria)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognized the independence from Ukraine of two breakaway provinces in Donbass as violence in the region continues to escalate. In Monday evening televised remarks after signing decrees recognizing the independence of Lugansk and Donetsk, Putin denounced the government of Ukraine as “puppets” of the United States. He said: “As for those who captured and are holding on to power in Kiev, we demand that they immediately cease military action. If not, the complete responsibility for the possibility of a continuation of bloodshed will be fully and wholly on the conscience of the regime ruling the territory of Ukraine.” After Putin had spoken by phone earlier on Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday, the Kremlin issued this statement:

“The president of Russia said that he intended to sign the relevant decree in the near future. The president of France and the Federal Chancellor of Germany expressed their disappointment with this development. At the same time, they indicated their readiness to continue contacts.” The Duma last week passed a resolution recommending that Putin recognize the provinces’ independence from Ukraine. Putin had resisted for eight years recognizing the independence of the self-declared republics of Lugansk and Donetsk in the Donbass, insisting instead that Kiev implement the 2014-15 Minsk agreements that would have given autonomy to the provinces, while they remained within Ukrainian territory. The decision by Putin effectively declares that the Minsk process is over.

It does not mean at this point, however, that the people of Lugansk and Donetsk are ready to hold a referendum to join Russia or that Moscow is interested in making them part of Russia, as happened in Crimea in 2014. The two provinces declared independence after the 2014 U.S.-backed coup in Kiev that overthrew democratically-elected President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the violent capital to the Donbass, his base of support, exactly eight years ago today, on Feb. 21, 2014. On the next day Parliament, with only opposition leaders present, impeached him. After anti-Russian language laws were passed by the coup government, hand-picked before the coup by the United States, and after neo-Nazis burned dozens of people alive in a building in Odessa on May 3, 2014, both Lugansk and Donetsk declared independence nine days later on May 12.

The coup government launched a civil war against the separatists, whom they called “terrorists.” In essence the Donbass was defending their democratic rights to vote, as a majority of the region voted for Yanukovych, in an election certified by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In the eight years since, as many as 14,000 people have been killed in the fighting. The violence from that continuing conflict has soared since Thursday with thousands of ceasefire violations and explosions in and around Lugansk and Donetsk reported by OSCE monitors on the ground.


Putin speech Feb 21

Read more …

Xi.

What Accounts for Putin’s Assertiveness on Ukraine? (Ray McGovern)

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s well choreographed decision yesterday to recognize the independence of the pro-Russian Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk points to two key realities: (1) Putin despairs of persuading U.S. allies, Germany and France, to press Ukraine to honor its commitments under the Minsk accords that provide for regional autonomy as well as a ceasefire; and (2) Putin feels assured of very strong backing from China (as long as he is not stupid enough to invade Ukraine). What about this China factor? Why do Western pundits/savants pay so little heed to this game-changer? It should not require my half-century of studying/reporting on Russia-China relations to notice that China and Russia have never been so strategically close as now. Putin and Xi have done their part to demonstrate that. Why cannot most Western pundits and savants see it and recognize the implications?

There are, happily, notable exceptions – for example, Edward Wong’s Bond Between China and Russia Alarms US and Europe Amid Ukraine Crisis. Wong writes of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s speech on Feb. 21 in Munich: “It was the latest instance of what Western officials say is China taking a bold new swing at the United States and its allies by wading into European security issues to explicitly back Russia.” Wong includes quotes from a PR person, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, and a true expert on China, former prime minister of Australia Kevin Rudd. Kirby: “China’s support for Russia is deeply alarming, and, frankly, even more destabilizing to the security situation in Europe.” Rudd: “China’s explicitly pro-Russian position on European security is new and significant and quite a radical departure from the past.”

Kevin Rudd is right, of course; and it’s nice to know that the Pentagon, too, is aware. Crazed as the generals and admirals have long shown themselves to be, it is questionable whether even they would want to risk war on two fronts with major adversaries – for another star on their shoulder. I recall Amb. Chas Freeman telling me last December, “It is clear that the Sino-Russian entente is expanding under the pressure of US threats to both. Nothing will happen on either Taiwan or Ukraine without coordination between Beijing and Moscow.

That nothing will happen on either Ukraine or Taiwan without coordination between Beijing and Moscow seems to be key to understanding why Putin is feeling his oats. Yesterday, Chas further reminded me that “China agrees with Russia that the US global sphere of influence needs rollback. It does not agree that Ukraine should be invaded, occupied, or annexed. Ironically, China is this century’s citadel of Westphalianism.

Read more …

“..after more than a year of protracted negotiations, Yanukovych refused to sign the agreement in November 2013, which set off a chain of events that eventually led to his downfall.”

How Much The EU Has Destabilised Ukraine (Nuttall)

Eight years ago, a democratically elected president was removed from office by protesters waving European Union flags. Viktor Yanukovych had been elected as president of Ukraine in 2010 to serve a five-year term. His time in office was, however, brought to an abrupt end when he was removed for his refusal to sign an association agreement with the EU. The first decade of the 20th century was a golden period for the EU. The euro currency had been launched, the bloc was expanding, and Eurosceptic movements in its existing member states had barely got off the ground. The federalist ideologues in Brussels confidently believed that this was to be the EU’s century, and nothing could prevent it from accruing more powers and expanding further eastwards.

After the accession of central European countries and the Baltic states, Ukraine was the next logical step –highlighted by a vote in the European Parliament in 2005, which floated the possibility of Ukraine eventually joining the bloc. As a consequence, EU cash was poured into Ukraine as a precursor to eventual accession. The first step towards this eventuality was a deepening of economic ties, and to this end an association agreement was initiated in 2012. However, after more than a year of protracted negotiations, Yanukovych refused to sign the agreement in November 2013, which set off a chain of events that eventually led to his downfall.

[..] Now Yanukovych may have been a bad president, but that is not really the point. He was elected to serve a five-year term, and if the electors wanted rid of him, and it seems a sizeable number did, then they could have waited another year and voted him out of office. That is, after all, how democracy works. Nevertheless, with Yanukovych out of the way, the Ukrainian government signed the association agreement with the EU in March 2014. The EU proudly holds itself up as a defender of democracy – although anyone who understands how it really works knows what a contradiction this is – so you would assume that Brussels would have roundly denounced these ugly scenes in Kiev. But no, EU chiefs instead acted as enthusiastic cheerleaders.

Read more …

“Even insane San Francisco is in the process of eliminating its mandates, yet somehow Justin Trudeau’s Canada is willing to literally go to war with its own people..”

Donbas or Ottawa? The Dizzying Spiral of Government Violence! (Daniel McAdams)

Will the Russians attack? Well, they’ve been clear for years: a Kiev attack on three-quarters of a million Russian citizens in eastern Ukraine – who because of a Washington coup found themselves ruled by a government that came to power illegitimately – will be met with a Russian military response. In the breathless world of the braindead media hacks, the world began yesterday. But actually we are seeing a situation similar to 2008 in South Ossetia, where Russian passport holders (and Russian OSCE monitors) found themselves under attack by Georgia. The result was lightening fast, effective, and limited. Russia could have held and “regime-changed” Tbilisi. They did not. They made their point and left.

Even the US government-funded RFE had to admit that yes, in fact, it was Georgia that started the hostilities…and Russia that ended them. Will Russia come to the aid of Donbas? Yes. They are not trying to hide it. They’ve been saying it for years . The renowned historian and international relations theoretician Edward Luttwak – never accused of being a political partisan – put it best on Twitter: “The latest IC forecast: war is imminent and Russian forces will rely on exceptionally intense artillery bombardments, of Kiev too. That implies a reckless-gambler Putin, willing to make Ukrainians hate Russia & Russians forever. Neither is congruent with Putin’s record so far.”

This is the difference between astute analysts and the cardboard cut-outs who populate the media. People of intellectual substance like Luttwak are not in the business to grind an axe. They analyze past behavior and seek the truth. Sadly these days we are stuck with the former, with the latter being rarities. Meanwhile in Canada, a liberal Western democracy has declared war – literally – on its own peaceful citizens who have gathered to oppose the absurd continuation of Covid-related mandates. Even insane San Francisco is in the process of eliminating its mandates, yet somehow Justin Trudeau’s Canada is willing to literally go to war with its own people to keep them in place.

What is funny about Canada (and this is also true of the US and many “Western” liberal democracies), is that they are very happy to preach to the rest of the world that peaceful protests must be allowed while literally at the same time brutally cracking down on same protests in their own countries. As in the late Soviet era, the hypocrisy is impossible to ignore. The regime disintegrates under the weight of its own contradictions.

Read more …

“The term “dissent,” in Western democracies, connotes legitimacy, so that label must be denied them.”

The Neoliberal War On Dissent In The West (Greenwald)

This last decade of history is crucial to understand the dissent-eliminating framework that has been constructed and implemented in the West. This framework has culminated, thus far, with the stunning multi-pronged attacks on Canadian truckers by the Trudeau government. But it has been a long time in the making, and it is inevitable that it will find still-more extreme expressions. It is, after all, based in the central recognition that there is mass, widespread anger and even hatred toward the neoliberal ruling class throughout the West. Trump, Brexit and the rise of far-right parties in places where their empowerment was previously unthinkable — including Germany and France — is unmistakable proof of that. Rather than sacrifice some of the benefits of inequality that have generated much of that rage or placate or appease it with symbolic concessions, Western neoliberal elites have instead opted for force, a system that crushes all forms of dissent as soon as they emerge in anything resembling an effective, meaningful or potent form.

So many of the controversies over the last decade, often analyzed in isolation, have been devoted to this goal. The pervasive surveillance systems constructed by the West — revealed during the Snowden reporting but only partially reined in at best since then — are crucial tools, as surveillance powers always are, for monitoring and thus stifling dissent. We have now arrived at the point where the U.S. Government and its security state is officially and explicitly clear that it regards the greatest national security threat not as a foreign power such as China or Russia, and not as non-state actors such as Al Qaeda or ISIS, but rather “domestic extremists.” For years, this has been the unyielding message of the DHS, FBI, CIA, NSA and DOJ: our primary enemies are not foreign but are our fellow citizens who have embraced ideologies we regard as extremist.

This new escalation of repression depends upon a narrative framework. Those who harbor dissenting ideologies — and particularly those who do not embrace that dissent passively but instead take action to advocate, promote and spread it — are not merely dissenters. The term “dissent,” in Western democracies, connotes legitimacy, so that label must be denied them. They are instead domestic extremists, domestic terrorists, seditionists, traitors, insurrections. Applying terms of criminality renders justifiable any subsequent acts of repression: we are trained to accept that core liberties are forfeited upon the commission of crimes.

Read more …

“..when it comes to protests and other acts of which the regime approves, legality is never an issue.”

In The Age Of COVID, We’re Reminded An Unjust Law Is No Law At All (McMaken)

We could contrast the rhetoric surrounding the trucker protest with that of the Black Lives Matter protests. In the case of the BLM protests, illegal acts were downplayed and ignored, with one obvious riot labeled a “mostly peaceful” protest. when it comes to protests and other acts of which the regime approves, legality is never an issue. The regimes of the world, of course, like to use legality as a standard for judging human behavior because the regimes make the laws. Whether or not the laws actually have anything to do with human rights, private property, or just basic common sense is another matter entirely. Thus history is replete with pointless, immoral, and destructive laws. Slavery has been lawful throughout much of human history. Temporary slavery—known as military conscription—is still employed by many regimes.

In the US, the imprisonment of peaceful American citizens of Japanese descent was perfectly lawful under the US regime during World War II. Today, employers can face ruinous sanctions for hiring a worker who lacks the proper immigration paperwork. Worldwide, people can be jailed in many jurisdictions for years for the “crime” of possessing an illegal plant. During covid, the reality of arbitrary law came very much to the fore when unelected health bureaucrats and lone elected executives began ruling by decree. They closed businesses, shut people up in their homes, and imposed vaccine and mask mandates. Those who refuse to comply—and businesses who refuse to enforce these edicts—are condemned as lawbreakers and subject to punishment.

All of these legal provisions, acts, and sanctions represent mockeries of basic natural rights rather than protections of them. The notion that laws can be perversions of true justice has long been obvious to many. In fact, the disconnect between morality and legality is a fundamental aspect of Western civilization. The basic notion is very old, but the idea’s endurance in the West was reinforced by the fact that Christianity began as an illegal religion and early Christians were often considered to be criminals deserving of the death penalty. It should be no surprise, then, that Saint Augustine declared an unjust law to be no law at all and compared kings to pirates: the decrees of pirates, of course, are not worthy of obedience or reverence. And if kings are like pirates, kingly decrees are of equal respectability. This same tradition fueled Saint Thomas Aquinas’s support for regicide (in certain cases). Needless to say, regicide has been always and everywhere declared illegal by the would-be targets.

Yet, unfortunately, declaring something to be “illegal” remains an effective slur. There is no shortage of people who proudly consider themselves to be blind supporters of “law and order” and who insist “lawbreakers” are axiomatically in the wrong. Their simple-minded refrain is “if you don’t like the law, change it” and many of these people naïvely believe that acts of legislators and regulators somehow reflect “the will of the people” or some sort of moral law. The opposite is often the reality. We could contrast the rhetoric surrounding the trucker protest with that of the Black Lives Matter protests. In the case of the BLM protests, illegal acts were downplayed and ignored, with one obvious riot labeled a “mostly peaceful” protest. when it comes to protests and other acts of which the regime approves, legality is never an issue.

Read more …

“..paxlovid and molnupiravir.” Count your blessings.

Future UK Covid Waves Will Be Treated With Drugs Not Restrictions (Peston)

The core of the strategy to deal with another frightening Covid-19 wave will be pharmaceutical and medical interventions rather than lockdowns and restrictions on our lives, the PM will announce this afternoon. But this means laying in stocks of antivirals like paxlovid and molnupiravir, to protect the vulnerable, and that will cost money. And a second source of cost is a testing and surveillance system to catch a new wave early enough to distribute the antivirals. Which is also far from cheap. Hence the dispute this morning between the Treasury and the Deptartment of Health and Social Care. The Treasury seems to have won and Sajid Javid will “reprioritise” from within his existing budget.

A government source confirmed: “A minimum level of response needs to be maintained so that we have the ability to rapidly scale up and deal with future waves through pharmaceutical interventions rather than restrictions – as we did with Omicron.” UPDATE: To keep us safe, and to keep the economy open, there has to be fairly extensive Covid testing, surveillance and genome sequencing regime. Without it, we wouldn’t know if a new and dangerous strain were here, till too late to contain it with antivirals and booster vaccines As I said earlier, this monitoring regime – plus the perceived imperative of maintaining adequate stocks of antivirals – is pricey.

Over the weekend the row between the Department of Health and the Treasury has not been about new money to pay for it, though it was before, but has been a dispute about whether this Covid insurance policy was necessary at all. The Health Secretary Sajid Javid wanted it. Sunak was sceptical. In the end, Javid won this argument and will pay for it by cutting other programmes.

Read more …

“the twin impact of depletion and pollution is pushing the Western economy back to what it was a couple of hundred years ago.”

The Demise of Restaurants (Ugo Bardi)

As I said, restaurants have always been a typical middle-class thing. They appeared together with the European middle class, and they are following its destiny. During the past few decades, the middle class has been gradually pushed back into the fold of the lower class. The restaurant business could not avoid being affected by the trend. The tradition of eating out is still alive in the West, but the resources for doing that are not there anymore for a middle class that’s struggling to survive, and failing at that. On their side, the rich don’t eat at restaurants, at least not at the same kind of restaurants that the deplorables can afford. For the very rich and politically exposed persons (PEPs), appearing at a restaurant without an armed escort would be dangerous (*). They have their private cooks and exclusive places. And they socialize with each other throwing expensive parties at their homes. A habit that we find in ancient history, even in Roman times and earlier.

You may have seen the picture of Bill Gates supposedly standing in line waiting for his turn for a burger. It is surprising that many Westerners seem to believe in this kind of cheap PR stunts. In the old Soviet Union, if Leonid Brezhnev had diffused a picture of himself standing in line to buy shoes, people would have laughed themselves to death. But it is known that Westerners are sensitive to propaganda. In any case, the current Western elites are acting just like the Soviet elites of old. They don’t care about what the commoners eat, although they are worried that starving them may lead them to revolt. So, they tend to allow a basic supply of food, but they consider restaurants (and the associated tourism) as a waste of resources. They much prefer to funnel the surplus produced by the economy into their own pockets rather than having it dissipated by the commoners.

They can use several methods to obtain this result: lockdown worked nicely, but could not be imposed forever. Other methods were later used to make the restaurant experience unpleasant for the customers. Different factors reinforced each other. One result of the financial strain is that the quality of the food and of the service is going down (I can testify that myself). Finally, the QR code is the perfect method to keep the deplorables out. It is a more sophisticated and tuneable tool than the old written menu. So, Western restaurants are in the crosshair and it is unlikely that they will survive, at least in the form we are used to seeing them. It is not so much because the PTB are evil — they are no more evil than most categories. It is mostly because the economic contraction coming from the twin impact of depletion and pollution is pushing the Western economy back to what it was a couple of hundred years ago.


a Sumerian QR code to assign rations of beer. Some things never change, some things always return.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crowther

 

 

Support the Automatic Earth in virustime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

 

Home Forums Debt Rattle February 22 2022

Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 167 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #102499
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    And there’s my cue: far north, snow, reindeer!, a beautiful pale woman singing wordlessly: youtube’s algorithms have, as usual, read my magically-thinking mind and told me when to dive into the mystery page of narrative fiction.

    #102500
    Dr D Rich
    Participant

    D says:
    “Still haven’t had time to research the exact Nunchuk software method, but if it’s anything like the others, it rolls all participants’ wallets into a ball, and using the software, anonymizes them, then on demand spits out the amounts they owned before based on their authentication (password). When wallets exit, they land in a new BTC wallet address. Therefore, anonymous. Unless someone were to input and output the exact same amount at the same time, someone was wiretapping them (they are), and also crack the encryption in more or less real time.

    If they want you, they’ll just hack your home PC and phone. Put on a keystroke recorder, or just arrest you for no reason, hold you in solitary for contempt like many others. Hit you over the head with a $2 spanner. So how anonymous do you practically need to be? If every transaction has to go State-level in real time, that’s a giant obstacle, and one they’re not overcoming at the moment”

    They; The Gov’t; The NSA; The Shadowbrokers all have been “there” 5-7 years ago.
    EternalBlue exploit, WannaCry, WannaMine etc.
    Supposedly undetectable.
    I suppose the NSA simply made coin on that first pump n dump to BTC $20,000 circa 2017-18 by using the exploits to hijack any computer as crypto mining rig, so they say.

    #102501
    Figmund Sreud
    Participant

    Medvedev — ‘Welcome to the brave new world where Europeans pay €2,000 for gas’

    Following actions by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to halt the approval process for Nord Stream 2, former Russian President and current Deputy Chair of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev had this to say:

    Nord Stream 2 recently reached mechanical completion, but has yet to begin flowing gas from Russia to Germany, as the pipeline’s approval has been hung up in the German certification process. For Russia to sustain current levels of gas exports to Europe, either Nord Stream 2 needs to start production, or pipelines in Ukraine need to remain operational. Western leaders have consistently indicated that sanctions should not impact Russian energy exports, and Russia has yet to indicate they will reduce export volumes. However, today’s comments from Medvedev could indicate a change in tack.

    Natural gas prices are often quoted in USD / mmbtu; converting €2,000 / bcm would suggest prices of ~$63/mmtbu. Having hit those levels in recent months, European gas prices currently sit at ~$25/mmbtu. Whether Mr. Medvedev’s comments lead to a change in gas policy remains to be seen; however, with Russia firmly in control of Europe’s energy markets, it’s worth keeping an eye on comments of this nature as the situation in Ukraine develops.

    Ironically, Gazprom (OTCPK:OGZPY) would be a major beneficiary of lower volumes but much higher European natural gas prices. As would LNG producers like Shell (NYSE:SHEL), Cheniere (NYSE:LNG), and Exxon (NYSE:XOM). In addition to domestic suppliers, like Equinor (NYSE:EQNR), Vermillion (NYSE:VET) and NRT (NYSE:NRT). Shell shared its bullish view on the medium term outlook for gas markets Monday, with no indication that Russian supply reductions would be needed to sustain elevated prices.

    https://seekingalpha.com/news/3802477-medvedev-welcome-to-the-brave-new-world-where-europeans-pay-2000-for-gas?mailingid=26789660&messageid=2900&serial=26789660.24736&utm_campaign=rta-stock-news&utm_content=link-1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=seeking_alpha&utm_term=26789660.24736

    F.S.

    Note: That seekingalpha.com article may not work since sometimes articles are behind a paywall and Sometimes not, … hence a big, big snip above.

    #102502
    Noirette
    Participant

    Ukraine. Putin finally made a move! Planned long ago, or along a if, A, then B, perhaps, C, if not D, etc. If X, then Y, possibly nothing, etc.

    The Putin Groupies are over the Moon! (I’m a fan of Lavrov, that man has the patience of a Saint.) Putin’s popularity in RF will rise, it sagged somewhat lately.

    So the RF recognizes DLPR as independent states. Heh, I remember reading a few months back that top officials of these Republics were accepted as members of *United Russia* (top party in Russia, recent pres. Medvedev, Shoigu) that was a sign of something but heh what?

    So where the borders will be has to be decided. Who will recognize the DLPR next? Presumably they will become members of the CSTO (which is more of a non-aggro-pact than a military alliance imho.), so that contributes. However, being ‘recognized’ is in some cases not condusive to autonomy, sovereignity, peace, and legit self-defence: Palestine is reco. as a country by almost all, exceptions, N. America, Aus… / … and most of Europe.

    Putin sends troops in / as ready to go as “Peace Keepers.” The evacuation procedures of women + children weren’t clear to me, as I posted before, so who knows, so now what, will that be abandoned? The assured / possible / upcoming / whatever presence of more massive R military will, hopefully, put a halt to Kiev shelling, incursions, etc.

    As NATO, the EU, the USuk, have openly stated they will not go to war for Urkaine against Russia (+ Ukr will not be admitted to the EU) while ‘giving full support’ to Ukr. in the shape of financing, arms sales, aka racketeering, attempting to buy assets, etc. Kiev has no avenue to move forward.

    >> : One interpretation of the US-uk/5 eyes hysteria about Russia invading Ukr. was not just the usual RUSSIA BAD hype, clarioned by the MSM, encouraged by the MIC, etc. but a way of justifying backing off. To avoid confrontation, the spiel may be:

    R did not invade Ukr. – it did some diplo moves, taking territory, dastardly! shocking!, but it is not an INVASION, it stops there, more or less.

    See for ex.

    Putin’s move on Donestk, Lugansk is illegal but falls short of new ‘invasion’

    #102503
    phoenixvoice
    Participant

    @ Eoin

    I would think that how it is in AZ, USA for paying bills would be comparable to Canada. I have converted to cash in the past 6 months because I was forced to take on debt I couldn’t repay in a family law case, my bank account can legally be frozen due to creditor law suits, etc.

    Yes, it can be done. To pay my city water/garbage bill I stop in at my local Chase bank branch, as the city banks with Chase. The electric bill I can pay at the grocery store for a $1.50 fee, and I can get money orders there to mail in. I’m self employed and so far, from the research I’ve done, it looks like my corporation’s bank account will not be frozen in my situation. I had been writing myself physical paychecks…now I pay myself in cash. I use cash to purchase Amazon gift cards, and I can use prepaid Visa cards for anything else I need from online. Everything else I got to locally and pick up. One pizza place allows me to order on the app, and pay with cash when I pick up; for another I have to call in my order.

    It is less convenient, but completely doable.

    #102504
    phoenixvoice
    Participant

    Re John Day
    “ They say it was a human error to show pictures of ivermectin with other potential COVID treatments that the Queen of England might be taking.”
    Right.
    See, it was legit, but the person doing the story didn’t read the fine print to realize that Stromectol *IS* the dreaded horse dewormer. So, yeah, “human error.”

    #102505
    deflationista
    Participant

    This one really should divide those with basic critical thinking skills from those without.

    #102506
    BoomerDoomer2
    Participant

    Bosco- re: 5g: Here in Spokane the 5g equipment is located at the top of power poles and can be found about every 4-5 blocks in certain areas. The equipment is brown and resembles large speakers. Very Orwellian. A DuckDuckGo search for 5g coverage maps indicates that 5g is available just about everywhere here in Spokane.

    Re obituaries: A friend of mine wrote his own before he died: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/spokesman/name/dandelion-treecraft-obituary?id=6655234
    He also scheduled and attended his own wake in the weeks/months before he died. A good time was had by all.

    #102507
    John Day
    Participant

    If you get little circuits to form in developing humans, maybe the nervous systems can be taught to form around them.
    Just a thought for Dr.D…

    #102508
    John Day
    Participant

    @Phoenixvoice: The article says that they just put a photo of “potential treatments”.
    Nothing is confirmed about Her Majesty’s medical treatment.

    #102509
    John Day
    Participant

    And thanks for doing the cash-economy homework, Sister Phoenix…

    #102510
    John Day
    Participant

    Another homestead picture of winter tree work escapades: https://www.johndayblog.com/2022/02/two-new-countries.html

    Russia recognized the Donetsk and Luhansk Republics yesterday, after being asked to do so for 8 years. (It is not perfectly clear what borders are recognized, which likely include areas currently held militarily by the Ukrainian army.) Right now, Russia will enforce a cease-fire in the areas.
    What next? NATO/Ukraine/EU moves…

    The Saker had this:
    ​ ​The first thing which I want to point out is that this was a very carefully orchestrated event, and I don’t just mean today’s live meetings and signing. For those of us who follow Russian politics very closely there can be no doubts that all this was prepared long BEFORE the Russian ultimatum to the West.
    ​ ​This is “the plan” which Putin once openly referred to.
    ​ ​Let me make this clear: this recognition should NOT, repeat, NOT, be seen in isolation. It is just ONE PHASE in a PROCESS which began at least a year ago, or more, and there is much more to come.
    ​ ​Next, that must be repeated again, this is NOT about the LDNR, the Donbass or even the Ukraine, this is about a new security architecture on Europe and, therefore, on our entire planet.
    ​ ​This means that Russia expected exactly the reaction she eventually got (western politicians are fantastically predictable, being both ignorant, stupid and arrogant) and that gave her a legal basis to take the current action (call it R2P, or moral duty, or genocide prevention or whatever else you wish).​..
    ​.​..Let it be clearly told: whatever sanctions the West now agrees upon will be what they would have done in any case.​..
    …I want to mention four specific threats made by Putin today​…​
    Those responsible for the massacre in Odessa will be punished by Russia.
    Putin is demanding an immediate cessation of the shelling and shooting along the LOC.
    Russia will physically prevent the Ukraine from US/NATO deploying offensive weapons to threaten Russia.
    Russia will show Banderastan how to organize a *real* “decommunization” (after indicating that the Ukraine was created by the CPSU).

    Russia recognition of the LDNR – a few initial thoughts

    ​Moon of Alabama has more insights/updates and perspective:
    The German chancellor Olaf Scholz has halted the certification of the Nordstream II pipeline that is supposed to bring natural gas from Russia to Germany. That means higher energy prices for Germany and higher inflation… It is political harakiri and will therefore most likely be reversed.
    I find it likely that the sudden increase of artillery explosions from 80 per day to over 1,200 per day over the last week had an effect on the timing of Putin’s decision.

    https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/02/some-bits-on-ukraine.html#more

    ​ ​The Duma last week passed a resolution recommending that Putin recognize the provinces’ independence from Ukraine.
    Putin had resisted for eight years recognizing the independence of the self-declared republics of Lugansk and Donetsk in the Donbass, insisting instead that Kiev implement the 2014-15 Minsk agreements that would have given autonomy to the provinces, while they remained within Ukrainian territory.
    ​ ​The decision by Putin effectively declares that the Minsk process is over.
    It does not mean at this point, however, that the people of Lugansk and Donetsk are ready to hold a referendum to join Russia or that Moscow is interested in making them part of Russia, as happened in Crimea in 2014.

    Putin Recognizes Donbass Independence as Violence Soars

    ​Belarus next?​ China eventually? It might be awkward for China, since so many parts of “China” would prefer independence, like they had before.
    Syria backs Russian recognition of east Ukraine breakaway regions
    Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad says Syrian government ‘will cooperate’ with the two Moscow-backed separatist-held regions.
    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/22/syria-backs-russian-recognition-east-ukraine-breakaway-regions

    #102511
    John Day
    Participant

    This was a divided Parliament. Some spoke with conviction of the rights being abolished by decree.
    ​ ​OTTAWA, Feb 21 (Reuters) – Canada’s parliament on Monday backed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to invoke rarely-used emergency powers to end pandemic-related protests that have blocked streets in the capital Ottawa for more than three weeks.
    ​ ​The Emergencies Act was approved in parliament by 185 to 151, with the minority Liberal government getting support from left-leaning New Democrats.
    The special measures, announced by Trudeau a week ago, have been deemed unnecessary and an abuse of power by some opposition politicians.
    https://www.reuters.com/world/canadas-trudeau-calls-national-healing-after-truckers-blockade-over-covid-curbs-2022-02-21/

    ​WEF Young Global Leaders are fulfilling yesterday’s promise-of-tomorrow, TODAY, for the multinational public-private-partnership!
    From “Canada, with the usual long list of successful grads, still instrumental in ongoing advances: Thanks Red.
    ​ ​The purpose from the beginning has been to “identify and advance a future-oriented global agenda, focusing on issues at the intersection of the public and private sectors.”
    ​ ​Public–Private Partnerships is one of the cornerstones of the World Economic Forum philosophy. That is, a merger between state and large companies (also known as corporativism) with the aim of solving global problems of in a more “effective” way. The choice of leaders clearly reflects this aspiration.
    ​ ​The Young Global Leaders group was initially instructed to identify the major challenges of the 21st century. These included peace, the environment, education, technology and health – areas which these upcoming leaders could exploit politically, economically, and culturally in the new millennium.

    World Economic Forum’s “Young Global Leaders” Revealed

    ​TODAY!
    ​Pluto returns to America Today, after last visiting in 1776.
    Nothing says a cosmic rebirth like enigmatic Pluto, the power-hungry dwarf planet that symbolizes transformation and renewal. According to the stars, the United States is finally getting a spiritual makeover with its first-ever Pluto Return on Feb. 22, 2022. Astrologically, a Pluto return is when the heavenly body returns to the same position in a birth chart where it was when the chart began. It happens around every 248 years, meaning this is the Pluto return in the United States since the country was founded in 1776.
    “Pluto rules death and rebirth, influencing the end and beginning of new karmic cycles. It also rules things like interpersonal skills, power struggles, and shows the source of your personal power. This planet is the portal through which your spiritual and shadow energy is transformed and released into the exterior world,” astrologer Lauren Ash tells Bustle.
    https://www.bustle.com/life/united-states-pluto-return-2022-meaning-dates-predictions

    #102512
    deflationista
    Participant

    We can do a basic test, equivalent to washing our hands.

    1) What’s the source? Is it a reliable media organisation? Is it backed up by other reliable sources?

    2) How likely is the fact? The less likely, the greater the burden of evidence.

    3) Is there anything out there suggesting it’s fake? Rather than looking for evidence to support our beliefs, can we search for evidence against our beliefs?

    4) Can we emotionally accept our belief might be wrong?

    https://www.philosophyforlife.org/blog/conspirituality-on-the-overlap-between-spirituality-and-conspiracy-theories

    #102513
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    Two tiny “Ukrainian” neighborhoods (Rus to the core in reality) just got turned into sovereign nations who have mutual defense treaties with Russia. Game over. Biden was bamboozled by noise into thinking he was in a he was in a major chess match . . . and consequently got his ass kicked with a checkers move .

    #102514
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    Noirette is my fave geopoli analyst overall. I almost always learn a new way of addressing the issues from her.

    #102515
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    Businesses wanting to be paid might not appreciate losing so many monthly payments because some PM won’t accept the reality outside his carnival mirror. Things like general strikes greatly benefit from the business community attaining resistant solidarity. They’re natural broadcast nodes/chain links.

    Ok. Back to Santa, currently explaining ancient myths to the narrator.

    #102516
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    BoomerDoomer2: what a beautiful eulogy, and fun! Say hello to the Satellite Diner for me, and The Cottage on the rare days one gets there early enough to get the biscuits’n’gravy while the gravy is still fresh.

    I used to live on 37th and Grand, a little white house that was in dire need of a paint job sand new windows and looked a bit like the Blair Witch Crack House before we moved.

    #102517
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    One wonders who is currently ghost-writing for deflationista, or if he stopped taking downers. Definite upgrade in prose/content.

    #102518
    deflationista
    Participant

    This is a new low. Even for “Dr.” Pierre Kory. Grifters have to keep the grift alive.

    “There’s no money in ivermectin”

    Here is a link to “Dr.” Pierre Kory’s telehealth grift site:

    Post-Vaccine Syndrome Visit

    #102519
    boscohorowitz
    Participant
    #102520
    those darned kids
    Participant

    wormtongue*: that’s funny coming from somebody who cites such honest brokers as:

    fifa
    nytimes
    bloomberg
    time
    ottawa police!?
    npr
    cnn
    eric feigl-ding?!?

    * brought to you by: Pfizer

    #102521
    phoenixvoice
    Participant

    2 things that I find myself wondering….

    1. Will we ever see or hear from the arrested Ottawa Freedom Convoy leaders again?
    2. Were the bulk of the “police” who disbanded the Ottowa protest not Canadian? I would very much like corroboration — one guy on a video on Twitter and a photo of a UN plane is conjecture, not evidence…but it is very plausible.

    #102522
    FinalGravity
    Participant

    Gravity is a double algorithm.

    #102524
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @deflationista

    No big surprise that your new patron saint ( Jules Evans) is an ardent atheist who equates all non-materialist thought with mental illness. By his standard, Einstein, Planck and Maxwell were delusional. And if that weren’t bad enough you regurgitate his 5 step program for reaching faulty conclusions. If anyone wants to FULLY eradicate the capacity for logical thought processing, Jules Evans is your man.

    But still, gotta admit that your pitch IS getting slicker. Might even say slimey.

    #102525
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    There’s grifters, and there’s the lying sots who pretend that one grifter proves a broad universal point involving tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of professionals, and hundreds, even thousands of millions of folks in general.

    And there’s this: A Double Algorithm

    #102526
    deflationista
    Participant

    new patron saint

    Jesus. I posted a fucking article, because it was interesting and applied to this forum.

    I didn’t even know the name of the author until you mentioned it. But you think he is my “new patron saint”.

    If your assumptions about me are indicative of how you process information that’s not an endorsement of your critical thinking.

    #102527
    Mr. House
    Participant

    “This is a new low. Even for “Dr.” Pierre Kory. Grifters have to keep the grift alive. ”

    So what do you call 0% interest rates and QE? Or do they only lie when it comes to finance? Personally i believe they lie anytime it has to do with power, which these days is 100%.

    #102528
    Mr. House
    Participant

    FYI still don’t know anyone my age who has died from or with covid. We did just lose another class mate to heroin

    #102529
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @deflationista

    Why bother to assume something that’s in such plain sight for all to see? Specifically : that you are misguided and wrong to the point of being proactively evil . That isn’t really very much information to process, either. Just is what it is. Like doggy poo on a sidewalk.

    I will make one assumption, however. I assume that you will eventually get over it.

    #102531
    those darned kids
    Participant
    #102532
    Figmund Sreud
    Participant

    … no fan of Sock, this fellow!

    #102533
    Oroboros
    Participant

    The day Russia’s patience ran out

    Good summary

    The day Russia’s patience ran out

    .

    #102534
    slimyalligator
    Participant

    F. S. Thanks for the video.
    I’m sure the names of the MP’s voting to extend the war powers act are being written down on paper for the future. Too bad their house burned down while on vacation eh?

    #102535
    Argon
    Participant

    “But the C.D.C. has been routinely collecting information since the Covid vaccines were first rolled out last year, according to a federal official familiar with the effort. The agency has been reluctant to make those figures public, the official said, because they might be misinterpreted as the vaccines being ineffective.” New York Times

    This sums the whole discussion. Public health agencies do not publish the information if its against their narrative. So, they have the data, which show that ‘the vaccines’ are ineffective, and they don’t publish the data, because if they did, people would think ineffective ‘vaccines’ vaccines are ineffective. Usage of the word misinterpret here is nice, is the dictionary meaning for the word misinterpret as follows: ‘to make conclusions which are against the official narrative, even if the conclusion is right’ ?

    Of course we could start debating what is meant by ineffective, but there’s no point, I think ineffective is too positive term here, should use term like useless.

    Most propably its same with the side effects. They have the data. They know. I might want to use poker terms here, they are pot committed on lies.

    #102536
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    “The badly informed new German chancellor inadvertently helped to resolve the situation by saying that the idea of a Ukrainian-caused genocide in the Donbass is ridiculous. Given the history of the region, the public spectacle of a German leader using the words “genocide” and “ridiculous” in the same sentence made the moment pregnant with possibilities.”

    Gotta love Orlov the analyst and writer. I’ll cut him some slack because he’s endured a LOT of ridicule and hostile abuse over the years for making sense that people don’t want to hear. Tends to thin a man’s skin. IN fact, I quite understand sympathize with his putting up a bitter shrill exterior. If I endured the ridicule he has, I would to.

    But I would not invest in it, and would not use it as an excuse to be dishonest and dismiss people. A defensive shield should not be proactive in defense of itself: that’s why it’s a defensive shield. An offensive shield is just an excuse to be ignored or, if that is unavailable, get your ass kicked through your goal posts.

    ***

    The Saker’s new book has a very good cover:

    bko

    #102537
    phoenixvoice
    Participant

    Just spent 2 hours at the home of a client who has CNN on the TV non-stop.
    I spent 2 hours listening to CNN beat the drums of war.
    Rather unpleasant.

    #102538
    zerosum
    Participant

    phoenixvoice

    Fox is doing the same by putting on their “generals”

    #102539
    oxymoron
    Participant

    Today’s mantra as I set down to work and struggle with a lifetime’s sense of failure:

    I can neither justify nor exonerate my life, nor is there adequate atonement I can make. But I CAN try and act in a manner congruent with my true ideals.

    Woah Robin you just described my routine

    #102540
    phoenixvoice
    Participant

    @ defl
    Problem:
    “ Is it a reliable media organisation? ”
    Somehow I suspect that there is not a lot of agreement about whether or not a media organization is “reliable.”
    In my experience, ALL of the legacy media organizations are unreliable in giving me the truth, and reliable to give me the latest propaganda, fulfilling the desires of their corporate masters. Every once in a while, a legacy media organization surprises me and publishes something that isn’t pure propaganda.

Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 167 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.