Jun 182022
 


Paul Ranson Apple tree with red fruit 1902

 

Putin Claims New World Order, Blasts The West For ‘Insane’ Sanctions (ABC/AP)
Putin Says Sanctions Cost EU $400BN, Warns Of Severe Fertilizer Shortage (ZH)
Biden Told Secretaries Of Defense And State To Tone It Down (NBC)
Two Awkward Biden Moments Draw Online Scrutiny (JTN)
Macron Bends to Pressure, Now Says Ukraine ‘Must Win’ War With Russia (Celente)
Pro-Ukrainian, but Anti-Nazi (Batiushka)
How Low Can You Go? (Jim Kunstler)
Last Tango in Washington? (Brenner)
The Ukrainian Endgame: An Imperfect Peace Is Better Than Endless War (Bandow)
US Drone Sale To Ukraine Hits Snag (R.)
Stephen Colbert Staffers At House Office Charged With Illegal Entry (Fox)
Hunter Biden’s ‘Troubling’ Connection With Big-Name Hollywood Lawyer Probed (ET)
Deflationary Tsunami On Deck: Tidal Wave Of Discounts And Crashing Prices (ZH)
Britain Orders Extradition Of Julian Assange To United States (ABC.au)

 

 

 

 

Never sick

 

 

 

 

Clare Daly

 

 

 

 

 

 

“..came to think of themselves as God’s own messengers on planet Earth..”

Putin Claims New World Order, Blasts The West For ‘Insane’ Sanctions (ABC/AP)

In one of Vladimir Putin’s most substantial addresses since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the Russian President used his nation’s pre-eminent investment conference as an opportunity to lash out against his Western enemies. After a lengthy denunciation of countries that he claims want to weaken the Russian state with “reckless and insane” sanctions, President Putin used the stage at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum to lambaste the United States. “[The United States] declared victory in the Cold War and later came to think of themselves as God’s own messengers on planet Earth,” he said. In his 73-minute speech, he also said Russia was taking its place in a New World Order in which rules would be set by “strong and sovereign states”.


After sending troops into Ukraine in February, Russia came under a wide array of international sanctions, with hundreds of foreign companies also suspending operations or pulling out of the country entirely. But Mr Putin said these attempts to damage the Russian economy “didn’t work”. “Russian enterprises and government authorities worked in a composed and professional manner,” he said. “We’re normalising the economic situation. We stabilised the financial markets, the banking system, the trade system.” While Russia’s projected inflation rate has fallen marginally, Mr Putin conceded that the current projected annual rate of 16.7 per cent is still too high. Mr Putin also vehemently defended his country’s actions in Ukraine, as Russia has contended that its neighbour posed a threat due its desire to join the NATO military alliance.

Putin Spief

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From the PR team: “We all know that Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective. We want them to live with us the European dream.”

Putin Says Sanctions Cost EU $400BN, Warns Of Severe Fertilizer Shortage (ZH)

Ukraine just got a big boost for its EU membership bid on Friday, with the 27-member nation bloc’s executive giving full support for its candidate status. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced for the first time that the commission recommends “that Ukraine is given candidate status. This is of course on the understanding that the country will carry out a number of further reforms.” She said further while speaking from Brussels, “In the view of the Commission, Ukraine has clearly demonstrated the country’s aspiration and the country’s determination to live up to European values and standards.”

Von der Leyen included further: “We all know that Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective. We want them to live with us the European dream.” “Yes, Ukraine should be welcomed as a candidate country — this is based on the understanding that good work has been done but important work also remains to be done,” von der Leyen said. The day prior, on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi traveled to Kiev by train where they delivered a unified and “strong signal of support” to Ukraine amid the Russian invasion. They publicly backed Ukraine’s path to the EU, urging “immediate EU candidate status.”

[..] Russian President Vladimir Putin in statements issued the same day as von der Leyen’s EU candidacy preliminary approval announcement stressed the growing ‘cost’ to Europe over its intransigent pro-Ukraine position and anti-Russia sanctions. He estimated that the European Union will incur “losses of at least $400 billion” due to its multiple waves of sanctions imposed on Moscow thus far. He once again rejected responsibility for the global economic downturn, stating instead that inflation, energy costs and food crisis are all linked to the West’s policies. He further predicted a potentially disastrous development for the global food supply, already under threat, according to news wires:

“Putin predicted the fertilizer shortage could push food prices even higher, adding that Russia could boost its exports of fertilizer and grain. He also claimed that “gloomy forecasts” about the state of the Russian economy did not come true and that his government has successfully stopped the rise of domestic inflation.”

Read more …

Back in April.

Biden Told Secretaries Of Defense And State To Tone It Down (NBC)

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken had taken off on separate flights from southeastern Poland after their risky, high-stakes visit to Kyiv when they were conferenced into a phone call from President Joe Biden. During their whirlwind April trip, Austin appeared to expand the U.S. goals in Ukraine, saying publicly that the administration wanted the Ukrainians to win the war against Russia, not just defend themselves, and that the U.S. hoped to weaken Russia to the extent that it could not launch another unprovoked invasion. Blinken had publicly aligned himself with the remarks. Now Biden wanted to discuss the mounting headlines that resulted. Biden thought the secretaries had gone too far, according to multiple administration officials familiar with the call.

On the previously unreported conference call, as Austin flew to Germany and Blinken to Washington, the president expressed concern that the comments could set unrealistic expectations and increase the risk of the U.S. getting into a direct conflict with Russia. He told them to tone it down, said the officials. “Biden was not happy when Blinken and Austin talked about winning in Ukraine,” one of them said. “He was not happy with the rhetoric.” The secretaries explained that Austin’s comments had been misconstrued, another senior administration official said. But the displeasure Biden initially conveyed during that phone call, the officials said, reflected his administration’s belief that despite Ukrainian forces’ unexpected successes early on, the war would ultimately head in the direction it is now in two months later: a protracted conflict in which Russia continues to make small and steady advances.

U.S. officials are increasingly concerned that the trajectory of the war in Ukraine is untenable and are quietly discussing whether President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should temper his hard-line public position that no territory will ever be ceded to Russia as part of an agreement to end the war, according to seven current U.S. officials, former U.S. officials and European officials. Some officials want Zelenskyy to “dial it back a little bit,” as one of them put it, when it comes to telegraphing his red lines on ending the war. But the issue is fraught given that Biden is adamant about the U.S. not pressuring the Ukrainians to take steps one way or another. His administration’s position has been that any decision about how and on what terms to end the war is for Ukraine to decide.

“We are not pressuring them to make concessions, as some Europeans are. We would never ask them to cede territory,” one U.S. official said. “We are planning for a long war. We intend to prepare the American people for that, and we are prepared to ask Congress for more money.”

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“A staggering 47% of responders “strongly” disapproved of his performance.”

Two Awkward Biden Moments Draw Online Scrutiny (JTN)

Amid reports of record low approval ratings for his performance in office, President Joe Biden drew online scrutiny for two awkward moments which have fueled renewed concerns over his fitness to lead. On Thursday, Biden offered somewhat blunt condolences for the passing of Jo-Ann Stores CFO Matt Susz, who died suddenly the day before. In a White House speech addressing efforts to curb inflation, Biden ripped international shipping companies but paused briefly to address the head of the company, saying “and by the way, my sympathies to your family of your CFO, who dropped dead very unexpectedly.”

The ungentle “dropped dead” description of Susz’s death, prompted a torrent of jokes and criticism with many Twitter users disapproving of Biden’s tone and word choice while others made references to oft-repeated concerns that the president may be experiencing mental deterioration. In a Friday episode, first lady Jill Biden abruptly yanked her husband away from reporters as he attempted to answer questions about rising inflation. The Bidens, and first cat Willow, were on their way to their home state of Delaware for the long weekend. “It should not be this high,” he said to reporters, per the New York Post. “They’re making exorbitant profits, number one. Number two, I’ve contacted them, my team has, to ask what their plans are and to give any suggestions they have.”

“Number three, I think we’re going to be in a position where we’re gonna,” he continued before his wife pulled him toward the plane, firmly stating “we gotta go!” The Friday episode also attracted a flurry of mockery, with commenters taking the first lady’s assertive role in the moment as evidence of the presidents “cognitive issues.” Others took issue with Biden’s routine departures from Washington to his home state. Biden’s approval rating stood at 39% on Friday, per a USA TODAY/Suffolk poll. A staggering 47% of responders “strongly” disapproved of his performance.

Biden oil

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“Any world leader who does not vow complete loyalty to Zelensky’s effort to win back every inch of his country is met by anger in the Western media..”

Macron Bends to Pressure, Now Says Ukraine ‘Must Win’ War With Russia (Celente)

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday passed the litmus test during a high-profile meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv when he told reporters that Ukraine must defeat Russia in its war. Macron was joined by Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The three took an 11′-hour train ride to Kyiv. They were also joined by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. “We saw a devastated city and traces of barbarism. And also the heroism of Ukrainian men and women who stopped the Russian army when it went to Kyiv. Ukraine is resisting. She must be able to win,” Macron said after a a tour of Irpin. The French president came bearing gifts. He promised Ukraine six massive truck-mounted artillery guns so “Ukraine alone can decide its fate.”

Any world leader who does not vow complete loyalty to Zelensky’s effort to win back every inch of his country is met by anger in the Western media that has become nothing more than mouthpieces for governments that hate Russia. Macron felt the wrath when he said, “We must not humiliate Russia so that the day when the fighting stops we can build an exit ramp through diplomatic means. I am convinced that it is France’s role to be a mediating power.” Dmitro Kuleba, the Ukrainian foreign minister, took to Twitter at the time and posted, “Calls to avoid humiliation of Russia can only humiliate France and every other country that would call for it.” Even after the visit by the four European leaders on Thursday, Ukrainian leaders still insisted on not giving up an inch of territory.

Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai told the Associated Press that the visit would not yield progress if the leaders ask Ukraine to sign a peace treaty with Russia that involves giving up territory. “I am sure that our president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is not going to make concessions and trade our territories. If someone wants to stop Russia by giving them territories, Germany has Bavaria, Italy has Tuscany, the French can concede Provence, for instance,” he said.


It’s the little people!

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Batiushka is an interesting writer. Here (s)he takes things a step further. Can we follow?

Pro-Ukrainian, but Anti-Nazi (Batiushka)

The problem has never been one of Ukrainians. The problem has always been that of the spiritual disease of Nazism. And that is what it is – a spiritual disease. Once the soul of the Ukraine has been liberated from this disease, in other words, once it has been denazified, a New Ukraine will be born. It may well take the form of a Protectorate centred around Kiev and speak a mixture of Ukrainian with Russian and Surzhyk (Ukrainian Russian). It will have secure borders and its people will be patriotic Ukrainians, not in some racist way that denigrates others, but in a positive way that respects others. Once freed of parasitic oligarchs and corruption, the naturally rich New Ukraine could have a brilliant future and take a positive part in the Concert of the Nations.

Once it has been understood that there is no problem with the Ukraine or Ukrainians, but only with Nazism, there may take place other Special Operations in other parts of the world. China may soon launch an Operation in Taiwan to free the ethnic Chinese there from the Nazism of its US-appointed elite. As for Russia, it has not yet finished the job in the Ukraine, where the task is constantly being extended because the Nazi West keeps sending long-range missiles and artillery to Kiev. As long as these weapons are in use, firing on Donetsk or anywhere else in liberated territory, the war will be extended and continue. Russia may physically have to liberate the whole country, mobilising more forces beyond the small expeditionary force it originally sent.

And then if Western aggression continues, it may have to launch other operations in Moldova and the Baltics in order to liberate those peoples too from NATO Nazism, from their corrupt US-appointed elites and EU exploitation. It may have to rebuild them, so that their peoples, economic refugees from corruption living now in Western Europe, can gratefully come home. Beyond that, as regards Western Europe in general, it too will surely one day find itself liberated one way or another from transatlantic tyranny and threats, safe under the Russian security and nuclear umbrella. Someone must defend Western Europe from the threats which for the moment are still coming from outside Afro-Eurasia, which is 86% of the world. Only Russia can do that. Russian troops once liberated Berlin and Paris. Will it have to happen again and maybe this time be extended to include Rome, Madrid and London?

Read more …

“..our Ukraine project “to weaken Russia” brought on an epochal shift in the balance of power to our enormous disadvantage.”

How Low Can You Go? (Jim Kunstler)

Lots of things are going south all at once: the stock markets and bond prices, Bitcoin is doing a vanishing act. The Colorado River reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, are so low that, by September, both water and electricity may run out for a vast region that includes Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Southern California. The housing market is tanking (suburbia’s business model is broken). Whole herds of beef cattle roll over and die out on the range. Fertilizer is scarce. Food processing plants get torched by the dozen. Shortages loom. The oil-and-gas industry is getting killed four ways: 1) our stupid Russia sanctions queered longstanding global distribution arrangements; 2) the industry is starved for capital; 3) depletion is seriously kicking in; and 4) “Joe Biden” and the knuckleheads running the EU countries are trying to kill it so as to usher in a Green New Deal that just doesn’t pencil-out.

The car dealers have no new cars on their lots, and pretty soon they’ll run out of decent used cars — which, these days, are often priced higher than the non-existent new cars. How’s that for a business model? Plus, the financially beaten-up middle-class can’t afford cars in either case, and increasingly can’t qualify for car loans. The airline industry reels with a sucking chest wound due to a pilot shortage (thanks to vaxx mandates) and the high cost of jet fuel. The trucking industry’s business model is also broken with diesel fuel over six dollars a gallon — the cost of delivery exceeds the value of the cargo. America runs on trucks and if they stop running, so does everything else. Replacement parts are growing scarce for every mechanical device in the land. It’s getting harder to fix anything that’s broken.

“Joe Biden’s” proxy war against Russia in Ukraine isn’t working out. It was flamboyantly stupid from the get-go. We deliberately broke the Minsk agreements for a cease-fire in the Donbas to goad the Russians into action. NATO didn’t have the troops or the political mojo to back up its US-inspired bluster. Our financial warfare blew back in our faces and actually benefited the Russian economy and its currency, the ruble. The billions of dollars in weapons we’re sending into the war are easily interdicted in transport, or else are getting loose in a world of non-state maniacs ranging from the Taliban to al Qaeda to drug cartels. Meanwhile, Russia steadfastly grinds out a victory on-the-ground that will leave it in control of the Black Sea and will reveal the USA’s lost capacity to impose its will around the world. In other words, our Ukraine project “to weaken Russia” brought on an epochal shift in the balance of power to our enormous disadvantage.

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“..you are stuck with the albatross of a truncated, bankrupt Ukraine hung around your neck.”

Last Tango in Washington? (Brenner)

Reality has a way of catching up to us. Sometimes it comes via a sudden shock — Sputnik or Tet. Sometimes it creeps up incrementally — as in Ukraine with each thousand round Russian artillery barrage and the steady rise of the ruble now 25 percent higher than at the onset of the crisis. Dim the lights, the party’s almost over. But that is not the end of the affair. Whatever the exact outcomes, there is no going back to the status quo ante — the world, especially Europe, has changed in fundamental respects. Moreover, it has changed in ways diametrically opposite to what was desired and anticipated. The West has been inhabiting a fanciful world that could exist only in our imaginations. Many remain stranded in that self-deluded mirage. The more that we have invested in that fantasy world, the harder we find it to exit and to make the adjustment — intellectual, emotional, behavioral.

[..] Necessity is the mother of invention — or so it is said. However, grasping what is “necessary” can be a very slippery business. An actual recasting of how one views a problematic situation normally is a last resort. Experience and history tell us that, as do behavioral experiments. The psychology of perceived necessity is complex. Adversity or threat in and of itself does not trigger improvisation. Even the survival instinct does not always spark innovation. Denial, then avoidance, are normally the first, sequential reactions when facing adversity in trying to reach an objective or to satisfy a recognized interest. A strong bias favors the reiteration of a standard repertoire of responses.

True innovation tends to occur only in extremis; and even then, behavioral change is more likely to begin with minor adjustments of established thinking and behavior at the margins rather than modification of core beliefs and patterns of action. Those truths underscore the American dilemma as the Ukraine venture turns sour on the battlefield and your enemy is faring far better than expected while your friends and allies are faring far worse. Russia has blunted everything thrown at them – to the shock of Western planners. Every assumption underpinning their scorched-earth assault on the Russian economy has proven mistaken. A dismal record of analytical error even by C.I.A. and think tank standards.

Off-the-charts forecasts on the country’s economy, and the global impact of sanctions, crippled Washington’s plan from the outset. Tactical initiatives of a military nature have proven equally futile; another 1,000 vintage Javelins with dead battery packs will not rescue the Ukrainian army in the Donbass. So, you are stuck with the albatross of a truncated, bankrupt Ukraine hung around your neck. There is nothing that you can do to cancel these givens — except a direct, perhaps suicidal test of force with Russia. Or, perhaps, a retaliatory challenge elsewhere. The latter is not readily available — for geographic reasons and because the West already has expended its arsenal of economic and political weaponry.

Read more …

Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and a former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan.

The Ukrainian Endgame: An Imperfect Peace Is Better Than Endless War (Bandow)

For good reason, then, Americans worry about deepening US involvement in the Russo-Ukrainian war. While it is unsurprising that Kyiv and its Washington factotums advocate going all in, even risking escalation of the conflict, doing so is not in this nation’s interests. Unfortunately, President Joe Biden’s recent article in the New York Time did little to ease public concerns. Especially his promise not to “pressure the Ukrainian government – in private or public – to make any territorial concessions.” The US and Europe should focus on ending, not winning, the war. The longer the conflict goes, the more it will devastate Ukraine and undermine the Ukrainian state. The economic harm to the allies and beyond also will grow, weakening support for Kyiv.


An American attempt to carry Ukraine to victory is more likely to encourage Putin to double down, perhaps even using nuclear weapons, than meekly yield. Washington’s goal should not be to save the Russian dictator from personal humiliation, which retired diplomat Dan Fried deemed “risible,” but to forestall Putin from engaging in dangerous escalation to prevent personal humiliation. Life is unfair, President Jimmy Carter once observed. That is especially true when it comes to international affairs. In a perfect world Ukraine would recover its territory, including that seized in 2014, collect reparations from Moscow, and frame Putin’s written apology for invading. However, none of these should be Washington’s objective. The US should promote a stable, peaceful settlement, one that keeps the Pandora’s Box of nuclear war closed.

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“..reviewed higher up the chain of command at the Pentagon..”

US Drone Sale To Ukraine Hits Snag (R.)

The Biden administration’s plan to sell four large, armable drones to Ukraine has been paused on the fear its sophisticated surveillance equipment might fall into enemy hands, according to two people familiar with the matter. The technical objection to the sale was raised during a deeper review by the Pentagon’s Defense Technology Security Administration charged with keeping high value technology safe from enemy hands. Previously the plan, which has been circulating since March, had been approved by the White House, three people said. The plan to sell Ukraine four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones that can be armed with Hellfire missiles for battlefield use against Russia was first reported by Reuters earlier in June.


The objection to the export of the drones arose due to concerns the radar and surveillance equipment on the drones could create a security risk for the United States if it fell into Russian hands. The sources said this consideration had been overlooked in the initial review but came up in meetings at the Pentagon late last week. “Technology security reviews are a standard practice for the transfer of U.S. defense articles to all international partners. All cases are reviewed individually on their own merit. Through the established process, national security concerns are elevated to the appropriate approving authority,” said Pentagon spokesperson Sue Gough. The decision on whether or not to continue with the deal is now being reviewed higher up the chain of command at the Pentagon, but the timing of any decision is uncertain, one of the people a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.

Read more …

Adam Schiff did it.

Stephen Colbert Staffers At House Office Charged With Illegal Entry (Fox)

The U.S. Capitol Police arrested a group of staffers with CBS’s “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” after they allegedly illegally entered a U.S. House of Representatives office building on Thursday night, Fox News has learned. The group of seven people were arrested in the Longworth House Office Building after being escorted out of the Jan. 6 committee hearing earlier in the day because they did not have proper press credentials, according to sources. The same group resurfaced later on Thursday night after the Capitol complex was closed to public visitors and Fox News is told that they took videos and pictures around the offices of two Republican members of Congress, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy R-Calif. and Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.

A senior source in the U.S House of Representatives told Fox News that seven individuals associated with Stephen Colbert’s show were arrested. The group was unescorted and charged with illegal entry to House office buildings after hours. Fox News is told that the “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” team applied to get press credentials for the Jan. 6 hearing, but the House Radio/TV Gallery rejected the request because they are not considered “news.” The issue didn’t go to the Radio/TV Correspondents Association, which usually handles credentialing. In addition to a regular Capitol Hill press pass, a special “overlay” is required for members of the press who want to be in the room for the Jan. 6 Committee hearings.


Members of Colbert’s team could have been in House office buildings if they were invited, which they were. Fox News is told that Colbert’s team conducted interviews earlier on Thursday with members of the Jan. 6 Committee, including Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. and Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla. They also interviewed Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass. [..] “On June 16, 2022, at approximately 8:30 p.m., U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) received a call for a disturbance in the Longworth House Office Building. Responding officers observed seven individuals, unescorted and without Congressional ID, in a sixth-floor hallway. The building was closed to visitors, and these individuals were determined to be a part of a group that had been directed by the USCP to leave the building earlier in the day,” the statement says. “They were charged with Unlawful Entry. This is an active criminal investigation, and may result in additional criminal charges after consultation with the U.S. Attorney.”

Tucker Colbert

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“We are investigating the domestic and international business dealings of President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, to determine whether these activities compromise U.S. national security and President Biden’s ability to lead with impartiality..”

Hunter Biden’s ‘Troubling’ Connection With Big-Name Hollywood Lawyer Probed (ET)

The ranking member of the House’s principal oversight committee has launched a probe into a Hollywood lawyer’s “sudden patronage” of Hunter Biden allegedly involving financial and pro-bono legal support. “We are investigating the domestic and international business dealings of President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, to determine whether these activities compromise U.S. national security and President Biden’s ability to lead with impartiality,” Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, wrote to Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris on behalf of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in a letter dated June 14.

“Your sudden patronage of the President’s son, enormous financial contributions to President Biden, and outsized role you are taking in defending against both congressional and criminal investigations raise serious concerns about whether you are providing in-kind contributions to President Biden’s re-election efforts,” Comer wrote. Morris is known for negotiating a $550 million licensing deal for the creators of “South Park” and has won a Tony award as a co-producer of the Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon.” His law firm has represented Hollywood celebrities including Chris Rock, Scarlett Johansson, and Matthew McConaughey. Comer’s letter came after a New York Times report in early May that alleged that Morris has taken on a “financier, confidant and would-be avenger” for the president’s son.

The latter is under federal investigation into his tax payments and alleged foreign deals with entities affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, Morris donated $2,800 to Joe Biden’s campaign “Biden for President” in October 2019, and a total of $55,000 in 2020 to the American Bridge 21st Century Political Action Committee, which supported Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. The New York Times reported that these donations occurred before Morris met and developed a relationship with the president’s son. According to Comer, the oversight committee Republicans are “particularly troubled” in seeing Morris’s alleged role in “attempting to personally shield Hunter Biden from congressional and criminal investigation.”

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You won’t know what hit you.

Deflationary Tsunami On Deck: Tidal Wave Of Discounts And Crashing Prices (ZH)

Three weeks ago, we showed readers what happens when the infamous “Bullwhip effect” reversal takes place by presenting the unprecedented surge in the “Inventory to Sales” ratio for a broad range of US retailers covering the furniture, home furnishings and appliances, building materials and garden equipment, and a category known as “other general merchandise,” which includes Walmart and Target. Since then, this ratio has only gotten even more extended, and as shown below it is now at the highest level since the bursting of the dot com bubble! What does this mean for retailers and the price of goods? Three weeks ago we said “Think: widespread inventory liquidations” and added…

To be sure, not every product will see its price cut: commodities, whose bullwhip effect take much longer to manifest itself, usually lasting several years in either direction, are only just starting to see their price cycle higher. However, other products – like those carried by the Walmarts and Targets of the world – are about to see a deflationary plunge the likes of which we have not seen since the global financial crisis as retailers commence a voluntary destocking wave the likes of which have not been seen in over a decade. Today both Wall Street and the mainstream media have caught up, with both predicting unprecedented deflationary price cuts in the coming weeks.

We start with Morgan Stanley’s bearish strategist Michael Wilson, who in his latest bearish weekly note (available to pro subs) focused on shrinking margins in general, and on retailer discounting in particular, and wrote that while there is a modest pick up in over sales, the far more concerning issue is that “inventory across the sector is up about 30% YOY and sales growth is up about 0% YOY translating to approximately 30% YOY of excess inventory” and while mark down/margin pressure did not hit in 1Q it should hit June/July. Indeed, “store checks show that aggressive discounting has already started as of the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Discounting pressure could accelerate through July.” And since more retailers are now discounting, “companies are having to offer even bigger discounts to compel consumers to buy, and it is a race to the bottom in margins in order to clear through inventory.”

It gets much worse, however, because courtesy of the delayed nature of the bullwhip effect, Morgan Stanley thinks it will be some time before retailers can cut back on forward inventory orders! Companies are no longer in a position to order 6 months in advance because of delays in the supply chain, and are currently working with about an 8 month lead time. Shockingly, this means decisions today to cut forward orders could begin to eliminate the inventory problem in 1Q23, but not likely before then.

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“The elected Prime Minister stated that it’s time for Julian to come home..”

Britain Orders Extradition Of Julian Assange To United States (ABC.au)

The British government has ordered the extradition of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to the United States, but WikiLeaks said it would appeal against the ruling. Home Secretary Priti Patel made the decision after Mr Assange was denied a Supreme Court appeal back in March. That case related to Mr Assange’s physical and mental health, and the US government won after offering assurances he would not be held in solitary confinement. The Home Office said in a statement: “The UK courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr Assange. “Nor have they found that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression, and that whilst in the US he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health.”

The decision is a big moment in Mr Assange’s years-long battle to avoid facing trial in the US — though not necessarily the end of the tale. The 50-year-old Australian still has 14 days to appeal against his extradition based on issues like freedom of speech, arguing the espionage charges against him are politically motivated. “Today is not the end of the fight. It is only the beginning of a new legal battle,” Mr Assange’s wife Stella said. Ms Assange also called for Australian Prime Minister Albanese to apply some pressure. “Our expectation as a family is the Australian government will do whatever it takes to get him home,” she said. The Australian federal government says it will continue to offer consular assistance to Mr Assange.


“We will continue to convey our expectations that Mr Assange is entitled to due process, humane and fair treatment, access to proper medical care, and access to his legal team,” said a joint statement released late on Friday night from Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus. “The Australian government has been clear in our view that Mr Assange’s case has dragged on for too long and that it should be brought to a close. “We will continue to express this view to the governments of the United Kingdom and [the] United States.” Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has labelled the decision by the UK government to green-light the extradition as an “outrageous betrayal of rule of law, media freedom and human rights”. “The elected Prime Minister stated that it’s time for Julian to come home,” Mr Wilkie said, “enough is enough, that he couldn’t see what was served by Julian remaining in prison.

Stella Moris

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Home Forums Debt Rattle June 18 2022

Viewing 36 posts - 1 through 36 (of 36 total)
  • Author
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  • #109922

    Paul Ranson Apple tree with red fruit 1902   • Putin Claims New World Order, Blasts The West For ‘Insane’ Sanctions (ABC/AP) • Putin Says Sanctio
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle June 18 2022]

    #109923
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Paul Ranson Apple tree with red fruit 1902

    A simple but and lovely painting…

    #109924
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    I believe there are a number of us with zero debt, low expenses, and enough cash to survive what’s predicted to happen financially…
    That Putin’s Russia is stronger than the U.S. on most all fronts is the irony of the decade/century…
    President Putin is the worlds pre-emanant leader, which most of the world’s governments seem to recognize…
    A new world order is, indeed, at hand…

    #109925
    Red
    Participant

    In 1998, the Brent crude price of a barrel of oil fell to 12.8 dollars – its lowest price since 1976. By 2000, it had risen to its highest price – $28.4 – since 1984, beginning the period of oil price volatility which has persisted to this day. After briefly falling back to $24.45 in 2001, the oil price began to rise remorselessly, reaching $54.45 in 2005 – the year global conventional oil production peaked and, coincidentally, the year the UK became a net importer of oil and gas.

    Literal insanity

    #109926
    Red
    Participant

    If it’s important to pay attention to changes in underlying environmental factors when comparing historical periods, then let’s return to our comparison of the 1970s with the 2020s and consider some numbers. Human population in 1970 stood at about 3.7 billion; today, it’s over twice that, and estimated by the UN to hit 8 billion this month. Global materials use in 1970 stood at less than 30 billion tons annually; today it’s over three times that level, at roughly 100 billion tons. Meanwhile, rising population and resource extraction have had serious impacts on nature. Since the 1970s, the population numbers of wild insects, birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles have declined by 60 to 70 percent on average. A recent study found “a significant decline in average fishery biomass in all observed regions, across all oceans and climate zones.” A third of the Earth’s topsoil has been lost since the 1970s. In short, from a biophysical, ecological point of view, we now inhabit a different world: in just 50 years, we have shifted from relative abundance to relative depletion and scarcity. There’s no reason to regard this shift as mostly the result of a repetitive cyclical process; rather, it makes more sense to think of it as the consequence of a one-time-only profusion of human population, innovation, and consumption enabled by a rapid influx of energy from fossil fuels. This can best be understood as a singular, self-limiting cycle—like a wildfire consuming all available fuel.

    The 1970s Again?

    #109927

    From RT, https://www.rt.com/russia/557365-weapons-kiev-losses-russia/.

    headline: Ukraine Reveals Huge Weapons Losses

    Ukraine has lost up to 50% of its heavy-weapons stock, including 400 tanks, a top commander, Volodymyr Karpenko, revealed earlier this week amid the ongoing Russian military offensive in his country. In an interview with National Defense Magazine, Karpenko said that “as a result of active combat,” equipment losses have amounted to 30-40%, sometimes up to 50%, compared to pre-conflict levels. So, we have lost approximately 50 percent. … Approximately 1,300 infantry fighting vehicles have been lost, 400 tanks, 700 artillery systems.

    [..] Russia has not revealed its more recent losses – neither of equipment, nor of personnel. Earlier this month, the head of the Russian Duma’s defense committee, Andrey Kartapolov, claimed that, due to changes in military strategy, the Russian Army has “practically ceased to lose people.” That is why, he said, the Defense Ministry has not updated information on the losses since March, when it reported 1,351 military personnel had been killed.

    #109928
    EoinW
    Participant

    The ruling elites in every western country ARE Nazis. They showed their true colours the moment they announced the first lockdown. No death camps yet – unless one considers all of eastern Ukraine to be a death camp(or Yemen or Gaza etc…) but it took the German Nazis a decade to start that. It even took them six years to start a war. NATO Nazis succeeded in less than two years.

    So relieved to see that healthy Canadians are now better than North Koreans – we’re allowed to leave our country…sort of…for now.

    #109929
    EoinW
    Participant

    How low indeed. Another great Kunstler piece.

    Is it possible to get Drag Queens to make house calls? Asking for a friend.

    After all, why should 6 year olds in the Faggot Factories get to have all the fun?

    #109930
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    Imagine if you will……

    The hair sniffing stumble-bum poop pants muppet “Joe Biden” aka Brandon, talking for 73 minutes in a row.

    Scary, right?

    The collective West is barking dog howling at the moon insane with no real leaders at all in any direction.

    .

    European Commission President Ursula von der Lies Again announced for the first time that the commission recommends “that Ukraine is given candidate status.

    .

    #109931
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Zelensky in drag as Norma Desmond

    Sweet!

    #109932
    Oroboros
    Participant

    #109933
    Dr. D
    Participant

    10 Year 3.5% and dropping down to test the breakout at 3.25%. Very standard, going higher. 30% in 30 years from now?

    “We all know that Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective. We want them to live with us the European dream.”

    No, only half of them wanted that. That’s why you ran the illegal coup, because their actually elected President chose the other team. Now they can live the Euro dream like Romania and Greece, dreaming one day, you too could make $25,000/year while Brussels makes $70,000. And they shut off the heat to your house and liquidate your ports.

    Because it’s a law and we don’t follow those, Ukraine also cannot join because of their financial position. Remember the fabulous, impossible lying Greece and Italy had to pay Goldman Sachs for in order to create the entirely false illusion they were remotely solvent? “The ruler is he who creates the exception.” And all my friends are exempt from the rules, and all my projects too. That’s what “Law” and “Rules” mean: anything I make up from hour to hour.

    “The European Union will incur “losses of at least $400 billion” due to its multiple waves of sanctions imposed on Moscow themselves.”

    Because they haven’t the brains of a sea slug and think “Money” is the “Thing”. Sure, sometimes that might be true, but when that $400Billion is your FOOD AND HEATING OIL, then the losses are 400 Million DEAD. It’s not a monetary loss, it’s a real one. But you’re an economist: just keep living in your fantasy world where everything you don’t like is an “Extraneous factor.” The kind “Nobody saw coming” except like the tech and housing bubbles hundreds of thousands of us on websites like this, writing letters and posting embarrassing articles to every leader.

    I’ve also seen guys point out that Russia didn’t do well, they’re in terrible shape with shortages and 18% inflation. Guys? WE have supply shortages and 18% inflation. Last time I was out, I think everything I saw was 20-30% increase except gas which had doubled.

    To everyone, it’s still 1991, or 1961, and they think that we’re a nation of huge industry, full employment, rising assets, all the kids buy a house at 20. They hate us for our awesomeness, you see.

    “Insuring Russia cannot swallow Ukraine…”

    And how are you going to stop them? You have done literally nothing but weaken your own people, nations, and militaries so far. IF hunger would work, that might be an option. But it patently won’t work, never has worked, no one can calculate a premise by which it would work, but like the Gilet Jeunes high gas and food prices WILL topple all the governments and put Putin in a far STRONGER position, where Lithuania will beg to be a Russian vassal state and ally. Comments on this, Mr. WaPo? Where Democracy Dies in Darkness, and you keep it dark enough to be absolutely sure?

    saying publicly that the administration wanted the Ukrainians to win the war against Russia”

    By sending them nothing, or nothing in time.

    “Ukrainian forces’ unexpected successes early on,”

    What successes were those? I keep hearing about it, and “Russian plans” “Russian losses” but no one can ever name Who What Where When Why. WHERE were they successful ever? HOW do you know? Because with 1/3rd of their country missing and lacking a military at all, they sure don’t look that successful to me. And that was “Early”? We’re only 100 days in. Right now is “early”. If you mean, “When the first shot was fired, Vlad missed because Sacha ducked” then sure, that one bullet was an “early success” with a 100% Russian failure rate. Is THAT what you mean?

    …Clue: they won’t say and never have. That means it didn’t happen, or they would be crowing “We shot down 110 Russian Migs” until the sun burns out. Oh wait: they DID say that, and it was false.

    “We are planning for a long war. We intend to prepare the American people for that, and we are prepared to ask Congress for more money.”

    So they’re willing to fight Russia to the last Nebraskan as well. “I know everyone else will be killed, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.” –Blackadder …Until the midterms.

    They’re making exorbitant profits, number one.”

    Check your math. If you sold widgets for 100c, and now you sell for 120c, THAT’S JUST BIDEN’S INFLATION. Also, that 20cents buys 20% less than last year, so it’s not as much profit. On the back end, it’s far more likely your input was 80c, for a 20c profit, BUT NOW IS 110c, for a 10c profit. Profit FELL, even as the money you’re getting paid in fell too.

    More likely you have this problem: You, being smart, raised immediately from 100 to 120. You also held your costs to 100 and are making the same 20c profit. Great! BUT SHIPPING ROSE 50%. On the shelves, your product is now not 120 like last year, but 150 (higher 120base + 50% addition in 20c shipping) You have no control over that!

    Next, because the price has risen 50%, SALES COLLAPSE. So sure you make 20% on all the THEORETICAL widgets you sold. BUT YOU’RE NOW SELLING 50% LESS. You factory has fixed costs, and despite a 20% increase in price to cover, you’re at a 50% drop in volume and have shrunk by 30%. Your factory will close and be repossessed, increasing shortages and raising inflation.

    Now this is just in concept, there are a lot of moving factors, but do you see the problem? And this is U.S. companies “Price gouging.” Those bad capitalists! Creating products people want! How Dare They! There are refineries that can’t run at 30% less volume, the machines don’t do that. It causes problems. Trucks don’t deliver 30% empty, they wait.

    If Inflation is “Too much money chasing too few goods” the government’s answer is to print $3 Trillion while SHUTTING DOWN THE ECONOMY. Then when inflation bites, to print $40 Billion more and shut down a pipeline.

    Okay, if we can’t Un-Print the money, and Inflation is “Too much money chasing too few goods” then it seems like our only solution is to…?

    Yes, CREATE MORE GOODS.

    Does “Government” do that? No. They are the #Opposite of creating value, they shut down baby formula factories for contamination that didn’t exist. They close perfectly working pipelines. Only BUSINESSES “Create” things, create goods that people want and need. In other words: YOU. Your work creates the things you use and need. Not them. As if I have to say that.

    They are – of course – doing the exact #Opposite. Adding MORE government, MORE spending, and stopping MORE production by any means they can find. But most especially adding uncertainty and constantly changing the rules (Windfall profits on the 20% inflation they themselves created) so that businesses can’t plan and operate. Then when their actions create more shortages, they can steal more stuff! It’s a perfect solution!

    “Macron Bends to Pressure, Now Says Ukraine ‘Must Win’ War with Russia (Celente)”

    Great! So Russia has to cease to exist now? I’m sure that will calm everything down. At least they’re being honest though: We, the West, are attacking Russia. We, the West, will never stop until one of us has collapsed. Got it! Planning those artillery purchases accordingly, while you plan drag queen hour.

    “Ukraine is resisting. She must be able to win,”

    WHY must she be able to? The CFR General Twitty said “Ukraine cannot win under any circumstances.” They must be able to because you WANTED that, and wished upon a star?

    Macron gave them six guns. Is that a joke? Or an insult? Maybe France only has six guns, which is why they’re sure the West can defeat Russia. Just kidding: he only PROMISED the guns. So they were six non-guns. The Vaporware of governments.

    “Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai told the Associated Press that the visit would not yield progress if the leaders ask Ukraine to sign a peace treaty with Russia that involves giving up territory.”

    Shouldn’t somebody inform Mr. Haidai that he no longer has a province? Like the six guns, he is now Governor of nothing. He’s a healthy fellow: shouldn’t he be at the front?

    “Pro-Ukrainian, but Anti-Nazi (Batiushka)”

    I get very worried when somebody says they’re “Liberating” me. Maximum Helping = Maximum death.

    “1,000 vintage Javelins with dead battery packs will not rescue the Ukrainian army”

    We didn’t care if they had dead battery packs; they’re made of depleted uranium. Do you have any idea how expensive it is to refit or dispose of them? Of COURSE the solution is to give them to somebody else, then “whatevah” as every slav is murdered. Killing Ukrainian “allies” solves two problems at once. In any case, they weren’t meant to explode. Or to win. Nobody cares, it was the last thing on their minds. The plan is Murder. The purpose of the murder is “more murder.”

    Who has the world’s largest warehouse of U.S. Javelins? Russia. Maybe they can sell them back to us. I hear somebody has $40B floating around.

    “The Ukrainian Endgame: An Imperfect Peace Is Better than Endless War (Bandow)”

    Maybe more if that war is 10,000 miles away for you and 0 miles for your enemy.

    “The longer the conflict goes, the more it will devastate Ukraine and undermine the Ukrainian state.”

    Yes, but as a normal person you seem unable to imagine that killing Ukrainians and destroying the state is the PLAN. That’s what they WANT. That is the Purpose. They are only happy when that is happening, and very mad when anything else happens.

    “Ukraine would recover its territory, including that seized in 2014,”

    Wow, “Antiwar.com” is pro war and anti self-determination. Just like the UN. Noted.

    “The Biden administration’s plan to sell four large, armable drones”

    Four. Is that a joke? And of course they DIDN’T sell them, it’s vaporware. And Ukraine didn’t BUY them: their payment is vaporware. Can somebody tell the truth around here and not just report things that DIDN’T happen, like the BBC article on the (non) existence of Cholera? So the headline here is “People Talked”. And didn’t do nuffin.

    Technology security reviews are a standard practice for the transfer of U.S. defense articles”

    I mean, yes, but this is why nothing can ever get done. Too busy following “process” and Zooming “committee”.

    “Stephen Colbert Staffers at House Office Charged with Illegal Entry (Fox)”

    Yes but is Colbert being held in solitary until the 2024 elections? Equal treatment under the law.

    “Deflationary Tsunami on Deck: Tidal Wave of Discounts and Crashing Prices (ZH)”

    I know they have their own overhead and cash flow problems but consider taking a page from the ‘70s: Inventory you don’t sell gets MORE valuable every day. The less you sell, the richer you get is the #Oppositeland created by upside-down money. They’re getting rid of their only asset going up while keeping the liabilities of heat and rent. P.S. “Stagflation” is impossible since the only Keynesian reason for inflation is never money-printing — heavens no! — but a red-hot economy. Did I get that right as we go into Stagflation yet again, no one notices, yet again, and no one is discredited and changes their models, yet again?

    “Britain Orders Extradition of Julian Assange to United States (ABC.au)”

    Thank God Britain hired women and minorities so they wouldn’t have these heartless, soulless obedience to the mindless state. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priti_Patel
    PatelPic

    She and Kamala bringing new love and humanity to government. Rounding up innocent people and sending them to jail for profit.

    Okay, again, what jurisdiction does the U.S. have over a non-citizen not on U.S. soil?

    “The Ruler is the person who decides the exception.” And all my enemies are guilty, all my friends are free. Otherwise, what’s the point really?

    “The @UAW has so much power that it can get the White House to exclude Tesla”

    The ruler sets the exception. That’s how you know who’s in charge. We have no principles, only power. The purpose of power is more power.

    “Red flag laws”

    Yes, we already have those, just like we already have background checks and you can’t buy machine guns. It’s called “Due Process”, where there is a complaint, an investigation, a warrant, an appearance in court, and a ruling. That’s been true since before the U.S. was a country.

    What THEY’RE talking about is A) Someone makes a accusation B) You are presumed guilty with no investigation, no warrants, no appearance, and no rulings, and they take both your rights and property which you can’t get back. The informant has no responsibility or consequences, and full anonymity, so obviously on day two the police themselves are the ones who call in “the tip.”

    Can we have a Red Flag Law to arrest and transfer the properties of people who misuse Red Flag laws? ‘Cause there’s a lot of that going around. Check “Divorce Court.”

    Police are so trustworthy on this that Civil Forfeiture by police is like 5x the cost of all burglaries combined. That is, you’re more likely to be robbed by police than anybody else. With a record like that, I’m sure we can trust them with disarming everyone in their own homes and not giving those $1k guns for their kids or nothin’.

    Global materials use in 1970 stood at less than 30 billion tons annually; today it’s over three times that level, at roughly 100 billion tons. …the 1970s, the population numbers of wild insects, birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles have declined by 60 to 70 percent on average. … A third of the Earth’s topsoil has been lost since the 1970s.”

    Pretty sure all these are totally false and pretty easy to prove. The problem being, 87.3% of all science is just made up to please their donors. Who would you trust?

    But you’re saying there are near-zero animals on earth. There is essentially no topsoil and therefore no crops are grown. …Um, I don’t think so? Maybe if you live in New Jersey?

    And what is the cause of this problem: 80 years of non-stop tax incentives SOLELY for growth. Non-stop tax penalties SOLELY for either production or for idle land. Non-stop money printing for the SOLE purpose of creating unnecessary production of unnecessary goods no one needed or could afford otherwise. The jet-people who created these rules and won’t change them are the same people releasing these numbers that say we should also kill all the humans to solve this problem. But never, EVER stop the 90:10 tax incentives for production and never, EVER stop printing fake money that causes useless and misery-making production. I think I can tell a scam when I see one.

    If I should EVER, in my whole life, see a single law that would allow an acre of idle land to be left alone and not immediately confiscated for being Idle and “non-productive” (i.e. “wild”) I will throw such a party you will be able to hear it from wherever you are. And it will bankrupt me. But I have nothing to fear since incentivizing land to be be “undeveloped”, wild, and natural will never happen. Or at least not so long as Davos, WEF, World Bank, the United States and the EU still exist in any form. Not so long as any of the scientists on any of these papers are still living in 6-digit flats at Oxford, as far from the natural world as it is possible to be on planet earth.

    Call me when anyone is serious about such things and can also stop lying. Don’t worry: that will never happen either. The telephones themselves will have gone out from national and economic collapse long before we attempt to admit and align to non-stimulus and non-production. We’ll just have to do it ourselves. Without such patent self-serving liars as “Scientists” and “Governments.”

    #109934
    zerosum
    Participant

    Remember the limbo?

    How Low Can You Go?


    How Low Can You Go?
    June 17, 2022
    A very good essay. A must read of the list of what is going wrong.
    1. “to weaken Russia”
    2. all the cover stories are falling apart.

    The new Disinfo Task Force, led by Veep Kamala Harris

    Add my list

    Whoever swallows up Ukraine will get indigestion.
    Too many broken windows to repair.
    Russia has emptied its warehouses and disposed of unwanted explosives, to make room for newer war materials.
    Governments politicians and workers help and protect the 1%
    ———-
    How Far Can Governments Reach?

    The British government has ordered the extradition of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to the United States,
    The 50-year-old Australian, Mr Assange’s years-long battle to avoid facing trial in the US
    ———–
    I’ll fix it.
    Ukraine Reveals Huge Weapons Losses to get more donations by claiming that they are paupers.
    ————-
    Who can misuse Red Flag laws?
    Trudeau – war measure act – seize bank accounts
    USA – Seize Russian yaucht
    Ukraine – don’t need no law – all civilians are combatants

    #109935
    John Day
    Participant

    @Formerly T-Bear from last night, commenting on “ersatz” phase of synthetic-“reality” (Cheney/Rove).
    I feel that a an actual “zeitgeist” (time-spirit) is different from the attempts to creat an ersatz “noble lie”, that zeitgeist is the antithesis of the “noble lie”. My feeling is that zeitgeist takes some very long naps, but that it is awake again, like in 1967.

    @VP Gary and pursuant to above comments on “ersatz” and “zeitgeist”. There is such a loss of control of the “official narrative” that it results in kangaroo-court 1/6/21 hearings having too much unapproved pro-Trump information to be shown to Americans. I think we need to keep respectfully and reliably presenting truth, and reasonable hypotheses, to the best of our abilities.
    People tell me that they appreciate my attempts.

    #109936
    zerosum
    Participant

    Deflationary Tsunami On Deck: A “Tidal Wave” Of Discounts And Crashing Prices

    “There are going to be discounts like you’ve never seen before.”

    That is nothing ….. wait until you need to settle grandmas estate ….. you will need to get a dumpster

    #109937
    morongobill
    Participant

    That Veritas video, I have heard the word “like” used so much in a conversation. Enough already.

    #109938
    Formerly T-Bear
    Participant

    John Day at 109935

    I had given you the best answer I could, twas insufficient by appearance. The truth you seek is a mirage, a deception but that is strictly your affair and the beauty of each having their own search to conduct whether successfully or not. All the best.

    #109939
    John Day
    Participant

    @Formerly T-Bear. No offense intended, and I asked no question of you, just trying to have a little whimsy with the comment about “economics being the discipline where the majority is always wrong.”

    I said: “I feel that an actual “zeitgeist” (time-spirit) is different from the attempts to creat an ersatz “noble lie”, that zeitgeist is the antithesis of the “noble lie”. My feeling is that zeitgeist takes some very long naps, but that it is awake again, like in 1967.

    You said: “The truth you seek is a mirage, a deception but that is strictly your affair and the beauty of each having their own search to conduct whether successfully or not.”

    From that I might presume that you have a materialistic worldview.
    Is that right or wrong?
    If we have different worldviews in this way, then we can make that clear.
    You have stated a conclusion that you reached as an absolute, without explaining assumptions or logical processes.

    #109940
    John Day
    Participant

    “New Work Order” blog post. no picture today…
    https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/new-work-order

    ​Vladimir Putin gave a speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum yesterday, about which we will hear more in coming days.​
    ​Unipolar Order Has Ended, West Headed For “Change Of Elites” As Russia Emerges Stronger
    ​..​He declared the end of the unipolar world as we know it, saying, “Over the past decades, new powerful centers have been formed on the planet […] each of them develops their own political system and public institutions, implements their own models of economic growth, and, of course, has the right to protect themselves, to ensure national sovereignty. We are talking about real processes, about truly revolutionary, tectonic changes in geopolitics, global economy, the technological sphere, in the entire system of international relations”.​..
    ​..Currently France holds the rotating EU presidency. It’s leader Macron said while in Kiev of EU candidacy status, “This status will be accompanied by a roadmap and will also involve taking into account the situation in the Balkans and the neighboring area, notably Moldova.”​ [Red-Flag Warning]​
    ​ ​While putting forward Mo​l​dova, absent was any mention of Georgia​ (which is not lining up hard against Russia, due to prior experiences) ​, which is not being considered, angering Georgian leaders who have lashed out at Brussels.​..
    ..Vladimir Putin in statements issued the same day as von der Leyen’s EU candidacy preliminary approval announcement stressed the growing ‘cost’ to Europe over its intransigent pro-Ukraine position and anti-Russia sanctions. He estimated that the European Union will incur “losses of at least $400 billion” due to its multiple waves of sanctions imposed on Moscow.
    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/eu-backs-ukraines-european-dream-putin-says-sanctions-cost-bloc-400bn-warns-fertilizer

    ​Transcript of Putin’s ​St. Petersburg International Economic Forum Plenary Session Address:

    President Putin: St Petersburg International Economic Forum Plenary session

    ​RT take on Putin’s keynote address: (The point is made that Europe has been colonized. A path out of that is implied.)
    ​New centers of power have emerged, the unipolar world order isn’t coming back, and the “colonial” way of thinking has failed, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday
    ​ “Truly revolutionary, tectonic changes in geopolitics, the global economy, in the technological sphere, in the entire system of international relations,” are “fundamental, pivotal and inexorable,” Putin said. “And It is a mistake to suggest that one can wait out the times of turbulent change and that things will return to normal; that everything will be as it was. It will not.”​ …​
    ​..​“The European Union has completely lost its political sovereignty, and its bureaucratic elites are dancing to someone else’s tune, accepting whatever they are told from above, causing harm to their own population and their own economy,”​ …​
    ​..​“Such a detachment from reality, from the demands of society, will inevitably lead to a surge of populism and the growth of radical movements, to serious social and economic changes, to degradation and, in the near future, to a change of elites​.​”
    ​..​ If there is famine in the world’s poorest countries, “this will be entirely on the conscience of the US administration and the European bureaucracy.”
    ​ ​Troubles with food supply have arisen over the past several years – not months – due to the “short-sighted actions of those who are accustomed to solving their problems at someone else’s expense,” distorting the trade flows by printing money in a sort of “predatory colonial policy,” Putin said.
    ​ ​Russia is ready to send food to Africa and the Middle East, where the threat of famine is most acute, but faces “logistical, financial, transport” obstacles imposed by the West​.​..
    ​..​“All the objectives of the special military operation will be unconditionally achieved,” Putin said…
    (Perhaps looking at Germany, France and Italy)​ ​“Truly sovereign states are always committed to equal partnerships,” while “those who are weak and dependent, as a rule, are busy looking for enemies, planting xenophobia, or finally losing their originality, independence, blindly following the overlord”
    https://www.rt.com/russia/557346-putin-spief-speech-takeaways/

    ​ ​Deputy Head of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev took to Telegram on Wednesday and conveyed his doubts about Ukraine still being around in two years.​ ​​He referred to a post saying that Ukraine “seeks to get LNG from its overseas sponsors under lend-lease and pay for it in two years,” because otherwise “it will just freeze” next winter. “The only question is, who says that Ukraine will still exist in two years?”
    https://tass.com/world/1465033

    #109941
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ Planned disruptive crisis, or just extreme incompetence? Sri Lankan crisis presents a chance for the “new-new-world-order” to perform an impressive rescue.
    Sri Lanka’s woes trace to depleted foreign currency reserves, ill-timed tax cuts, loss of tourism dollars and disruptions from the Covid-19 pandemic. In the agriculture sector, policy missteps have also played a role. In April 2021, the government, led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, banned synthetic fertilizer imports to push the country toward organic farming.
    But without adequate preparation, the plan backfired. Sri Lanka’s entire agricultural chain — around a third of the labor force and 8% of gross domestic product — faced disruptions. Export earnings from tea, a key revenue source, dried up…
    ..President Rajapaksa said the synthetic fertilizer ban was intended to increase the income of farmers by providing them with sustainable and cheaper alternatives. In a recent interview with Bloomberg News, he acknowledged problems with execution.
    “Our organic fertilizer manufacturers didn’t have the capacity, but I was not informed,” he said. “I didn’t get the support from people who were responsible.”
    Without a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, many worry that Sri Lanka could now go the way of Venezuela, with an essentially worthless currency causing hardship for years to come…
    ..The situation has turned desperate for poorer Sri Lankans. Amaraweera, the agriculture minister, has urged people to grow crops at home, saying it’s the only solution to the crisis. For the next three months, the government has given state employees Fridays off from work to tend to their gardens…
    ..Jayavardhana Pridarshani, a mother of four who lives in Hambantota, a stronghold of the ruling Rajapaksa dynasty, said her family used to eat fish or eggs daily. These days, they can only afford to have those items once a month. She said schools have stopped serving meals to students and fishermen rarely go out to sea because of fuel shortages, even though there’s an abundance of fish.
    “Children here, including mine, are suffering from fatigue and weakness,” she said, adding that a doctor had warned that those were symptoms of protein deficiency.
    https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/spiraling-food-crisis-hits-sri-lanka-as-farmers-abandon-fields-1.1780077

    Re-post of the story about Chinese health-pasports turning RED if you try to go to your bak to ask questions about why you can’t get your money.
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/chinese-banks-freeze-billions-deposits-officials-use-health-qr-code-bar-protestors

    This may have been a big part of the lockdown in Shanghai, to buy some time to sort through this.
    There’s a run on Chinese banks and it’s being ignored by the world
    https://www.asiamarkets.com/chinese-banks-run/

    #109942
    John Day
    Participant

    ​Moon of Alabama thinks the US/NATO needs to escalate the war narrative in a desperate bid to maintain control. This could be in Moldova’s ethnic-Russian-protectorate, Transnistria, or it could be in Syria. He thinks Iran would be too much of a risk as a theater of war.
    Ukraine – The U.S. Is Moving Towards Escalation
    The catastrophic economic consequences of the ‘western’ proxy war with Russia are setting in. As a result the high inflation, caused by supply side constrains due to sanctions and far too much spending, will ruin the middle classes of many countries.
    To those who did not wear blinders and who knew of the real economies of the ‘west’ and Russia this was very predictable and predicted:
    The U.S. is pushing its European ‘allies’ to commit economic suicide by sanctioning everything Russia. The U.S. should be more careful. It is one of the biggest buyers of Russian oil and its aircraft industry depends on titanium from Russia. Russia surely knows who is trying to hurt it the most and it surely knows how, and has the means to, hurt back.
    The hurt has not at all reached its peak. This winter will be very difficult for Europe. Poor countries are even worse off. Many will experience hunger crises and riots.
    https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/06/ukraine-the-us-is-on-the-road-towards-escalation.html#more

    ​ ​The Kiev authorities would very much like to open a military front in Transnistria, but such a development would be “the end of Moldova”, Russian Permanent Representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said this in an interview with TASS on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Wednesday.
    https://tass.com/politics/1465461

    Stir up something in Russia’s far east, perhaps? North Korea is right there, and those disputed islands that Japan and Russia both claim.
    ​ ​Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced Wednesday he plans to attend the upcoming NATO summit in Madrid later this month. Kishida blasted the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, accusing Moscow of violating the “order of the world” with its actions.
    ​ ​“I intend to make an appeal that changing the status quo unilaterally by force is unacceptable anywhere in the world and that security in Europe is inseparable from security in Indo-Pacific,” Kishida said during a news conference. “Russia’s invasion violates the peace and order of the world and can never be tolerated.”
    ​ ​While Kishida is set to become the first Japanese PM to ever attend a NATO summit, he won’t be the only leader from the Asia-Pacific region to join the event, the secretary general of the alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, revealed as he spoke ahead of a ministerial NATO meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.
    ​ ​“For the first time in our history we will invite our Asia-Pacific partners, the prime ministers of New Zealand, Australia, Japan and also the president of South Korea will participate in the NATO Summit, which is a strong demonstration of our close partnership with these like-minded countries in the Asia-Pacific.”
    https://www.rt.com/news/557202-japan-pm-nato-summit/

    #109945
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ Wigs sends this analysis of well organized information about US bioweapons labs in Ukraine, testing on mentally-ill Ukrainians, and widespread diseases, like hepatitis spreading in local populations.​ This is collected, organized and released through the Russian ministry of Defense.
    Russian Ministry of Defense Release on US Biological Activity in Ukraine 06/16/22
    https://bioclandestine.substack.com/p/russian-ministry-of-defense-release

    (Nobody will notice; they’re already crazy…)
    ​ ​Employees of the lab in the village of Sorokovka in Kharkov region tested highly active neuromodulators that caused irreversible damage to the central nervous system as part of the US military bio programme, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the head of the radiation, chemical and biological defense of the Russian Armed Forces, said.
    ​ ​Sorokovka hosted a branch of the Merefa laboratory, built at the expense of the Pentagon, he said. In Merefa, laboratory staff performed experiments on patients from psychiatric clinics in Kharkov.
    https://sputniknews.com/20220616/us-tested-neuromodulators-on-socially-vulnerable-ukrainians—russian-defense-ministry-1096382173.html

    #109946
    John Day
    Participant

    What, they’re Still Dying?​
    ​​ Fifth largest life insurance company in the US paid out 163% more for deaths of working people ages 18-64 in 2021 –
    Total claims/benefits up $6 BILLION
    ​ ​Company cites “non-pandemic-related morbidity” and “unusual claims adjustments” in explanation of losses from group life insurance business:
    Stock falling, replaces CEO
    https://crossroadsreport.substack.com/p/breaking-fifth-largest-life-insurance

    ​ Must-get-protection-from-lawsuits…
    FDA Risk-Benefit Analysis Hides ‘Bad Data’ on Moderna Shots for Kids
    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s risk-benefit document in connection with the Moderna mRNA shot in kids is dishonest, and evidence that the public health establishment has abandoned science, logic, reason, rationality, empathy, health and medicine.
    ​ ​The risks of COVID-19 are so low in the childhood population that there were ZERO severe cases of COVID-19 in either the treatment or the control group.​ (The study proved nothing, but was unanimously accepted with smiles/handshakes.)​
    ​ ​Therefore, the number needed to vaccinate, to prevent a single severe case of COVID-19 in the childhood population, is infinity. (Technically it’s undefined because you cannot divide by zero​.​)
    ​ ​The FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC guidance documents for how to write a risk-benefit assessment state that one must provide a number needed to treat, the absolute risk reduction, and the relative risk reduction.
    Moderna just skipped all that because the cartel makes its own rules.
    ​ ​Moderna is in a race against natural immunity. But natural immunity has already won because 74.2% of kids had natural immunity by February — so by now, the number is probably closer to 100%.​ ​https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/fda-eua-moderna-covid-vaccine-young-kids/?

    Moderna to Study Its COVID Vaccine in Babies as Young as 3 Months

    Moderna to Study Its COVID Vaccine in Babies as Young as 3 Months + More

    ​Jessica Rose Ph.D.
    I don’t think it’s Myocarditis, I think it’s injection-induced Cardiac Amyloidosis
    ​ ​I will be submitting this for peer-reviewed publication
    Cardiac Amyloidosis or Stiff Heart Syndrome is caused by deposits of abnormal proteins in the heart tissue. This results in the heart ceasing to function properly due to the replacement of normal heart muscle tissue with amyloids. Cardiac Amyloidosis is associated with thick heart walls and large atria. It can affect electrical conductivity resulting in arrhythmias and heart block .
    ​https://jessicar.substack.com/p/i-dont-think-its-myocarditis-i-think

    #109947
    John Day
    Participant

    Dr.D said: ‘Macron gave them six guns. Is that a joke? Or an insult? Maybe France only has six guns, which is why they’re sure the West can defeat Russia. Just kidding: he only PROMISED the guns. So they were six non-guns. The Vaporware of governments.”

    France was more resourceful and gave Ukraine a lot of destroyed cluster-bomblet ammunition for those guns, brought it back from the ether after destroying it under lawful treaty obligations, so it could be used on the civilians of Donetsk, which it has been.
    Now it is doubly destroyed.
    Double entry.
    Win coming and going…

    #109948
    Formerly T-Bear
    Participant

    John Day at 109939

    Formerly T-bear did not say:

    What followed was what I did say, using Zeitgeist = Spirit of the Age and enumerating a number of matters Ersatz = substitutes, fake as the adjective. It is entirely understandable why anyone would prefer some other Zeitgeist. Unfortunately that was not the subject of my efforts.

    Truth is a mirage, it can evaporate upon approach. Things are either true or not and are not fungible between those conditions. Once a great debate took place, whether stones fell from the sky. Those witnessing such asserted the truth that they did. Those not witnessing that event held the truth stones did not fall from the sky. Both sides assuredly held to their truth which once true facts were known, the truth evaporated for one set and was assured the other. That is what I referred to as the mirage of truth. Your definitions may differ.

    Some exception is taken to the necessity of subjugation to your classification – materialistic worldview, particularly when coupled with judgmental right or wrong, all on a presumption. Better you guess the answer.

    Trust the above will settle some of your troubles. Thanks

    #109949
    Kimo
    Participant

    Under capitalistic rules, an extraordinary deflation is on our doorstep. But….. as asset prices drop, as we have seen in the past few years, Blackrock or others will step in with government backing to buy up “undervalued” assets. Those selling will receive ever inflating dollars due to the bailout. You own nothing and will be, er, happy.
    Is there any place to hide? Even an underground economy will be “busted”, especially if you’re holding a smart phone. And what could be more indicative of criminal intent, than not owning a smartphone?

    #109951

    “Don’t let people know what you have in reserve.”
    Amen.
    If Siri or Alexa are listening, talk about the weather.
    Learn to encode. 😉

    It’s said loose lips can sink a ship.
    If yours is carrying gold,
    Don’t shoot your mouth off at the hip-
    Protect what’s in your hold.

    #109952
    Oroboros
    Participant

    The story the Western media whores will not tell is going to be the dozens of Empire of Lies bio-weapons labs in Ukraine were actually testing bio-weapons on the Ukraine population, especially ethnic Russians.

    War crimes don’t begin to cover the monstrosity of this act.

    The Zelensky fanbuttboy choir will try to spin it but the Ukronazis probably have Dr Mengele T-shirts and hats and tattoos celebrating it.

    .

    #109954
    Susmarie108
    Participant

    @Formerly T-Bear: “Truth is a mirage, it can evaporate upon approach.”

    It seems to me that the Truth is tangible unlike a belief which is a “mirage”. Belief is more than a mirage, it is a tool of manipulation/creation (for positive and negative purposes). When employed/deployed by the mind, with the help of the other centers of human intelligence (feeling/emotion and implementation/action) – belief can move into tangibility/reality.

    The concept of actively leveraging belief came to my direct attention in the 70’s (during high school). My dad gave me a copy of the book “Think and Grow Rich” . In it author Napoleon Hill says “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve”. Powerful stuff at the time, and “successful” people where all over it.

    Belief, faith, hope – are the slippery slope. Truth holds on firm ground until proven otherwise.

    Today’s selection Paul Ranson Apple tree with red fruit 1902 is a joy in color. The wispy trees and plants are inviting and playful. A lovely mirage.

    LOVE to All.

    #109956
    Veracious Poet
    Participant

    I think we need to keep respectfully and reliably presenting truth, and reasonable hypotheses, to the best of our abilities.

    Unfortunately, at least 50% of gen pop thinks they can achieve their CULTural dreams, speak truth to power, REAL reality be damned!

    I present, the mirage of truth:

    The Miss Universe organization is facing strong backlash for claiming that men can menstruate.

    This week, the Miss Universe organization pushed a message that biological males who transition to transgender women are capable of menstruation. The messaging was shared on the Miss Universe Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter – which have nearly 20 million followers in total.

    https://www.theblaze.com/news/miss-universe-trans-menstruation

    #109958
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Not much different than testing mRNA on babies, but with a spineless mass formation psychosis population of Sheeple livestock, perfectly understandable.

    Aything goes, Nothing matters.

    That will replace “Arbeit macht frei” over the gates of the New Concentration Camps.

    German philologist Lorenz Diefenbach in 1873 he wrote a novel called Arbeit macht frei.

    It was a beautiful story about finding a path to virtue through labor.

    Auschwitz : Infamous “Work Will Set You Free” Sign Stolen from Nazi Death Camp

    Must have gone to the Ukraine

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/auschwitz-photos-infamous-work-will-set-you-free-sign-stolen-from-nazi-death-camp/

    .

    #109960

    Replaced with “wolk makes you flee.”

    Sorry.

    #109961
    VietnamVet
    Participant

    Mark Shields, PBS’s pundit extraordinary, has died at 85. He was in my generation and he too served in the US military. I watched him from day one on PBS. I believed, until 2016, when it became obvious that Hillary Clinton wanted a war with Russia. She got it. He never changed. On both sides of the proxy world war, the propagandists still believe, despite being exact contradictions of each other. Truth and justice have disappeared. It has gotten to the point that a world war, illness, hunger, early death, inflation in energy costs, and deflation of store warehoused goods are inevitable because the cascading problems will never be addressed since the rich profiteering off everyone else is the only game left. Western democracies were dismantled. Public Health, Public Education and Public Safety all gone.

    #109973
    Formerly T-Bear
    Participant

    Susmarie108 at 109954

    You apparently did not read or comprehend what I wrote above at 109948. No mention of belief was made but had belief been mentioned it would have been categorised as either illusional or delusional in nature.

    My opinion is that your opinion expressed is inane foolish blather but somewhere there is a universal constitutional right involved to express one’s opinion. Trust this acknowledges your reply.

    #109992
    Susmarie108
    Participant

    @Formerly T-Bear:

    There was no mention of belief, and that was my point. It seems to me that many confuse belief with truth/fact; what is missing is discernment. Chasing beliefs can be positive and or negative, leading to illusion/delusion or some new awareness.

    You said truth is a mirage and I respectfully disagreed. Truth is truth. Belief is a mirage. Depends which “track” you are on.

    It seems we are saying the same thing just from different perspective.

    #109993
    Noirette
    Participant

    Good write up by Dr D. Kunstler was v. good. I only read him when recommended, so found this piece beeeter than other pieces I have read.

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