Jul 122022
 
 July 12, 2022  Posted by at 9:34 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,


Pablo Picasso Portrait of woman in wheelchair 1936

 

Defiant Schroeder Will Keep Talking To Putin (RT)
Why Biden Is Putting Us In Danger (Shellenberger)
July Shutdown Of Nord Stream Pipeline Has The EU Worried (ZH)
U.S. China Policy Is Heading Towards Disaster (NI)
z Macron Ordered To Resign, Faces Urgent Probe After ‘Betraying France’ (Exp.)
Uber Paid Academics Six-figure Sums For Research To Feed To The Media (G.)
The ECB Must Follow Its Mandate (Lacalle)
Officials Pressured EU Regulators to Rush Authorization of Pfizer Vax (CHD)
Doctor Files $5M Defamation Lawsuit Against News MedPage Today (AFN)
It’s Not Working (Jim Kunstler)

 

 


Giant constrictor snake squeezing Copenhagen citybus as part of a campaign for the city zoo

 

 

SARs

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wise man.

Defiant Schroeder Will Keep Talking To Putin (RT)

A diplomatic solution to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine is the only thing that can effectively alleviate the suffering of civilians, the former German chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, has told Germany’s FAZ newspaper, adding that he would continue to use every opportunity to talk to the Russian president Vladimir Putin. The former chancellor, who was earlier forced to leave his position at the board of the Russian oil giant Rosneft amid pressure from the European Parliament lawmakers, is now facing potential expulsion from his Social Democratic Party (SPD) at home. His perceived close relations with Moscow are cited as one of the reasons why the party considers his behavior “damaging” to its image, according to FAZ.

Schroeder himself, however, believes that the idea of isolating Russia politically is flawed. “I will not give up on… opportunities to talk to President [Vladimir] Putin,” Schroeder told FAZ in an interview published on Sunday. Russia is “interested in a negotiated solution,”the former chancellor asserted as he blamed Kiev for the stalled talks with Moscow. Schroeder, who sought to act as a mediator between Kiev and Moscow in early March, said that Ukrainians did not want any commitments “written down.” Such a position made any “serious” talks impossible at that stage of the negotiations, he added. The former chancellor also demonstrated little understanding for the West’s focus on supplying Ukraine with arms. “I don’t believe in a military solution.

The war can only be ended through diplomatic negotiations,” he told FAZ, adding that lives of the military on both sides can be spared and the suffering of the civilian population in Ukraine alleviated only through a diplomatic solution. When asked if he thinks that the western weapons deliveries contribute to a stronger negotiating position for Ukraine, Schroeder reiterated that all the nations, including “those not directly involved in this conflict,” should “work together to find a diplomatic solution”instead. He also criticized Lithuania over restricting the movement of goods to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, again saying that “all sides” bear responsibility for ensuring that “this conflict does not escalate further.”

The interview comes ahead of an SPD committee meeting next week that will discuss the former chancellor’s potential expulsion from the party. The politician’s lawyer told FAZ, however, that there is no sufficient legal basis for such a move. In June, Schroeder said he would still remain a Social Democrat, even if kicked out of the SPD.

Read more …

“U.S. oil refineries are operating at 94% capacity..”

Why Biden Is Putting Us In Danger (Shellenberger)

On Friday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended the Biden Administration’s policy of sending American oil to China and other nations. “When it comes to the oil, it is something that oil companies decide… The Department of Energy can’t dictate what oil companies do with the oil they purchase or where they ship it to sell.” But the United States Department of Energy (DOE) does decide to whom it will sell oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). “A total of 16 companies responded to this notice, submitting 126 bids for evaluation,” noted DOE. A dozen won contracts. One was Unipec America, the trading arm of Sinopec, the China Petrochemical Corporation, which is wholly owned by the Chinese government.

There is no evidence that DOE went out of its way to sell American oil to Unipec, and little reason to believe that the U.S. could have refined that oil into gasoline, diesel, and other products had it remained in the U.S. After all, U.S. oil refineries are operating at 94% capacity. The DOE sold the oil to the highest bidders. And it was a coordinated release with international partners, including China, which also released oil from it strategic reserves. Indeed, Bloomberg and others oil market analysts predicted back in November that some U.S. SPR oil would go to China and India. But the reason our refineries are at maximum capacity is because Biden revoked a permit for a massive refinery expansion in the U.S. Virgin Islands in March and halted its operations entirely in May.

And where the U.S. released 50 million barrels of oil in 2021 and 180 million barrels of oil in 2022 so far, China has only released 7.4 million barrels of oil, which is just a half day’s consumption. Is that because China is oil-poor? No. It has equal-sized petroleum reserves to the U.S. In fact, despite promises in November and again in January to release oil from its reserves, China has instead been increasing its reserves. And there is no evidence that any non-Chinese firms, much less American firms, bought any of its released reserve oil, which undercuts the Biden Administration’s claim that the SPR release was being reciprocated. But the real drama is about to start. Today, Russia cut off all natural gas flowing through the main pipeline to Europe as part of routine maintenance.

Russia is contractually committed to turning the gas back on 10 days later, but many analysts, heads of state, and government officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t turn the gas back on in 10 days. Why? So he can increase prices, increase Russia’s energy revenues, and pressure Europe to stop supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia. France’s economy minister yesterday called a complete cut-off “the most likely” scenario. The consequences of a full Russian gas embargo would be devastating. German industries are already “in danger of permanently collapsing,” warned the head of Germany’s trade unions. Britain has warned that, in order to protect its own citizens, it may cut off natural gas supplies to Europe. If Putin cuts off the gas, Europe would be forced to ration energy, and bail-out both electric utilities and energy-intensive companies.

Read more …

A mess of its own making.

July Shutdown Of Nord Stream Pipeline Has The EU Worried (ZH)

It’s a dynamic which some in the alternative media have been warning about for months – While the establishment claimed that Russia would be crushed under the weight of NATO sanctions, others have suggested that Russia could hurt the west more (specifically Europe) by implementing sanctions of their own. While mainstream governments and journalists argued about how fast NATO should implement restrictions on Russian oil and gas, none of them seemed to consider the possibility that Putin would cut off energy exports himself. This is the problem with instituting foreign policy and engaging in geopolitics using a “cancel culture” mentality; it leads to childish thinking and a lack of foresight. You can’t “cancel” a nation if you are dependent on them for 40% of your energy needs.

Anyone with moderate industry knowledge in oil and gas could have seen this coming. Europe is now on “high alert” as the Nordtream 1 pipeline to Germany has lost 60% of its natural gas transfers as Russia pressures Canada for the return of a massive turbine being held in Canada for repairs. Canada has lifted sanctions in response and allowed the shipment of the turbine back to Russia, showing that the Kremlin does indeed have economic leverage over NATO countries. Even more concerning is that the pipeline will be undergoing an extended shutdown due to “maintenance” until July 21st. Some officials in Europe believe this shutdown may be a precursor (a beta test) to a total block of Russian gas to the EU, and they are probably right.

Speaking at the economic forum Les Rencontres Économiques, French Minister Bruno Le Maire said: ‘Let’s get ready for a total shutdown of the Russian gas supply…This is the most likely event.’ He added ‘We should not take Vladimir Putin’s threats lightly.’ It’s important to remember that Europe is not only dependent on oil and gas imports for heating, it is also dependent on them for electricity and many other needs. The middle of summer does not seem like the worst time to face heating shortages, but the overall effect of energy loss would drag the EU economy down into panic. Will the gas supply return after July 21? Probably, but this shutdown indicates that the Kremlin may be sending a message that they could end Europe’s economic stability anytime they want. The closer we get to winter, the more pressure will be applied, no doubt.


Visible pipeline flows.

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“Breaking China Apart”

U.S. China Policy Is Heading Towards Disaster (NI)

The unity, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of China are translated into the sanctity of its borders which includes “red lines” like Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and the South China Sea (out of fourteen neighbors, China has signed boundary agreements with twelve, barring India and Bhutan). Then, China’s “peaceful rise” is viewed as a natural evolution, even a sense of an historical entitlement, that China has finally “arrived” on the international stage. This was first publicly alluded to by President Xi, during his speech on October 18, 2017, at the 19th CCP Congress. Referring to “the world witnessing once in a century changes,” Xi remarked that China has become “a great power in the world,” playing “an important role in the history of humankind … it is time for us to take center stage in the world.”

Among “core interests” is the primacy of the CCP as China’s center of gravity pivotal to the country’s unity, stability, and prosperity, because, for Xi and his close associates, there is the conviction that anything like Gorbachev’s glasnost would be a recipe for disaster and could even lead to the breakup of China. As the inheritors of the “Middle Kingdom” which built a Great Wall to defend China from foreign intruders, the CCP leadership is well aware that existing fault lines can be susceptible to manipulation to China’s detriment. I was struck by the fact that, unlike Americans, who tend to have short memories and shifting relationships with foreign countries, Chinese take the long view, with a keen sense of history.

A few years ago, during a meeting with a top Chinese “thinking” policy maker, while discussing U.S. “designs against China,” he politely passed on an old op-ed of the New York Times written by Leslie Gelb on November 13, 1991, around the time when the Soviet Union was disintegrating. Interestingly titled, “Breaking China Apart,” Gelb’s piece matter-of-factly discussed the United States resorting to the “ultimate sanction — a threat to the territorial integrity of the Middle Kingdom — if Beijing leaders continue to defy new standards of world behavior…” Alarmingly, Gelb continued in the New York Times, if “Chinese actions go far beyond the pale. Americans and others may take extraordinary measures, including kindling separatism, to stop them. Beijing’s leaders will be making a terrible mistake to think otherwise.” It is thus no accident that China often views unrest in Xinjiang, Tibet, or Hong Kong or talk of Taiwan as some sort of a U.S.-supported state policy of “kindling separatism.”

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“It is not a president who governs France but a lobby!”

Macron Ordered To Resign, Faces Urgent Probe After ‘Betraying France’ (Exp.)

The French President backed the development of Uber in France singing a deal when he was economy minister between 2014 to 2016. The findings, leaked after an investigation based on 124,000 confidential internal Uber documents, prompted calls for Mr Macron to resign. Les Patriotes leader Florian Philippot said: “Macron must resign! He betrays France, its companies, the State, justice, the people! Out!” He added: “If after the #UberFiles the oppositions don’t vote ‘no confidence’ today, I don’t know what they need! “Be responsible and vote it! Put the Macronie down!” Echoing his comments, National Rally MEP Jordan Bardella said: “It was common knowledge, the #UberFiles demonstrate it once again.

“Despite the permanent ‘at the same time’, Emmanuel Macron’s career has a consistency, a common thread: to serve private interests, often foreign, before national interests.” Left MEP Manon Aubry also blasted the French leader. She said: “Revelations on a secret deal between Macron and Uber. “We also better understand the role played by France in blocking any European regulation of platforms! “It is not a president who governs France but a lobby!” Debout La France leader Nicolas Dupont-Aignan echoed: “Emmanuel Macron, loyal supporter of Uber. “Minister of the Economy, he was already betraying France by defending the interests of an American company!”

According to the investigation, the French leader signed a deal with Uber to “make France work for Uber so that Uber can work in and for France”. Mr Macron also promised “a drastic simplification of the legal requirements” to obtain a ride-sharing licence. Uber also secretly lobbied ministers to influence London’s transport policy, it has been reported. Leaked documents show lobbyists for the ride-sharing app company met then-chancellor George Osborne and other ministers, according to the BBC. The “undeclared” meetings took place after Boris Johnson, as Mayor of London, had promised to launch a review that could have limited Uber’s expansion in the capital. The meeting with Mr Osborne took place at a private dinner in the US state of California, where Uber is based.

An internal Uber email stated that this was better than a meeting in London because “this is a much more private affair with no hanger-on officials or staffers”, the BBC reported. Other meetings were held between Uber lobbyists and current or former ministers including Priti Patel, Sajid Javid, Matt Hancock and Michael Gove, according to the corporation. Mr Johnson ultimately abandoned his review, and Uber was able to increase its number of drivers in London.

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It’s the Monsanto model.

Uber Paid Academics Six-figure Sums For Research To Feed To The Media (G.)

Uber paid high-profile academics in Europe and the US hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce reports that could be used as part of the company’s lobbying campaign. The Uber files, a cache of thousands of confidential documents leaked to the Guardian, reveal lucrative deals with several leading academics who were paid to publish research on the benefits of its economic model. The reports were commissioned as Uber wrestled with regulators in key cities around the world. University economists were targeted in France and Germany where enforcement by the authorities was increasingly fierce in 2014-15. One report by a French academic, who asked for a €100,000 consultancy fee, was cited in a 2016 Financial Times report as evidence that Uber was a “route out of the French banlieues”, delighting Uber executives.

Using techniques common in party political campaigns, Uber targeted academics and thinktanks to help it construct a positive narrative, namely that it created well-paid jobs that drivers liked, delivered cheap transport to consumers and boosted productivity. Documents show how its lobbyists planned to use academic research as part of a production line of political ammunition that could be fed to politicians and the media. The aim was to use the research to increase pressure for changing the rules Uber was evading. While Uber’s involvement in reports was mentioned, leaked files expose how it wanted to use academics’ work and their reputations to further its aims, and how much it was prepared to pay them. In France, the €100,000 consultancy arrangement was negotiated with a rising star of university economics, Prof Augustin Landier of the Toulouse School of Economics.

Landier agreed to produce a report that he described in emails to Uber’s policy and communications team as “actionable for direct PR to prove Uber’s positive economic role”. Landier proposed collaborating with David Thesmar, another high-profile professor from France’s top business school, École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris (HEC). In discussions in February 2015, Uber executives noted that although the price was high, it was worth it, especially if they worked on the report’s messages “to ensure it’s not presented in a potentially negative light”.

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“The balance of the ECB is 69.5% of the GDP of the eurozone, when that of the Federal Reserve is 37% of the GDP of the US and the Bank of England’s is 39% of the UK GDP.”

The ECB Must Follow Its Mandate (Lacalle)

The European Central Bank should be hugely concerned about two pieces of news. The euro is on the verge of parity with the US dollar and has accumulated a drop of 17% since 2021, more than 35% since 2008. On the other hand, inflation in the eurozone reached 8.6% in June, 5% excluding the energy and food components. Inflation in more than six eurozone countries, including Spain, is already in double digits with core CPI at multi-decade highs. Meanwhile, in Switzerland, June inflation was 3.4% with core at 1.9%. Switzerland relies on imports for gas, commodities, and supply chains as much as its neighbors, but it has not engaged in massive printing of its currency.

The euro is the greatest monetary success of the last 150 years, and it cannot be jeopardized by risking the independence of the European Central Bank. It is an elevated risk and those of us who want it to remain a reserve currency and a success are concerned. The balance of the ECB is 69.5% of the GDP of the eurozone, when that of the Federal Reserve is 37% of the GDP of the US and the Bank of England’s is 39% of the UK GDP. However, the euro is not the world’s reserve currency. The US Federal Reserve is the only central bank that pays attention to the global demand for US dollars and despite this, it has also made the enormous mistake of expanding money supply well above demand and, thereby, triggering inflation.

Let us not forget that prices do not go up all at once for the same amount of currency issued. One or two prices may rise for exogenous reasons, but not all rise unless the purchasing power of the currency is destroyed by printing without control. As Frank Shostak reminds, inflation is money supply growth, not prices denominated in money. A weak euro and rising inflation are extremely worrying factors because in June 2021 the increase in broad money supply (M3) in the eurozone was 8.3% annualized, with M1 (currency in circulation and overnight deposits) increasing by 11.8%. In other words, the increase in money supply (M3) was still 16% higher than during the so-called “Draghi bazooka”. In May 2022 it is still growing above 5.6% with GDP rebounding a mere 2.6% (consensus estimates).

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“The political fall-out seems to be too high, even if the ‘technical level’ … could defend such a delay..”

Officials Pressured EU Regulators to Rush Authorization of Pfizer Vax (CHD)

A Nov. 16, 2020, email from Marco Cavaleri, then head of the EMA’s biological health threats and vaccines strategy, stated that “[Alex] Azar and US GOV [sic]” had “pushed hard” to “rush into EUA [Emergency Use Authorization].” Azar at the time was secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA. In a Nov. 19, 2020, email, Noel Wathion, then deputy executive director of the EMA, referenced a “TC” — shorthand for teleconference — “with the commissioner,” referring to European Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen. During the call, which Wathion described as “rather tense, at times even a bit unpleasant,” von der Leyen warned the EMA what might happen “if the expectations are not being met” to quickly issue a CMA [Conditional Marketing Authorization] for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, “irrespective if such expectations are realistic or not.”

In the same email, Wathion wrote: “The political fall-out seems to be too high, even if the ‘technical level’ … could defend such a delay in order to make the outcome of the scientific review as robust as possible. … “Although we know that whatever we do (speeding up the process to align as much as possible with the ‘approval’ timing by FDA/MHRA [Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency] versus taking the time needed to have robust assurance in particular as regards CMC [Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls guidelines] and safety) EMA will have a very big challenge addressing questions and criticism from various parties … in case of a delay of several weeks.” The “various parties” Wathion referenced included the European Commission, the European Parliament, the media and the general public.

Wathion went on to argue that “CMC, responsibility and accountability are certainly elements to be considered in my view.” In a later email, dated Nov. 22, 2020, Wathion further revealed the pressure the agency was facing to issue a CMA for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, writing: “The likelihood that FDA (and also MHRA) will issue an EUA before a CMA is granted is extremely high. So we have to prepare for this.” However, Wathion expressed concerns in the same email that such preparation might come at the expense of a proper scientific assessment of the Pfizer vaccine. “We are speeding up as much as possible but we also need to make sure that our scientific assessment is as robust as possible,” Wathion wrote.

Read more …

Nuremberg 2.0. A code, not a trial.

Doctor Files $5M Defamation Lawsuit Against News MedPage Today (AFN)

America’s Frontline Doctors member Dr. Bret Barker, DNP, FNP, RN is suing MedPage Today and its Director of Enterprise & Investigative Reporting Kristina Fiore for defamation after Fiore wrote an article Dr. Barker says is riddled with disinformation. Dr. Barker is author of Sold Out Souls:Sars2-COVID-19, Simple Truths Ignored and CEO of Nuremberg 2.0, an organization dedicated to medical accountability and holding responsible medical professionals who harm the public in the name of COVID-19. In May, Fiore penned an article titled, “Should Doctors Worry About ‘Nuremberg 2.0?’ — It’s a ‘completely misleading application of the concepts of the Nuremberg trials.’”

Fiore first led readers to believe that Nuremberg 2.0 is about the Nuremberg trials and not the Nuremberg Code, which was developed in response to the medical experimentation perpetrated by the Nazis as revealed in the Nuremberg trials. The Code contains 10 tenets dedicated to human safety and dignity, the first of which is that “the voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential.” In fact, Fiore writes about an individual who made a public comment at the California State Assembly against bill AB-2098, which would allow medical professionals to be punished for challenging the COVID-19 narrative. As Fiore wrote: “’I oppose this bill,’ he started, ‘and anybody who supports this bill will be held accountable under Nuremberg codes. Be warned.’”

But despite the outright reference to the Nuremberg Codes, Fiore said the word, which is “thrown around by the right wing,” refers to the Nuremberg trials. “These days, it’s mostly referred to as ‘Nuremberg 2.0,’ to invoke a second coming of the trials,” she wrote. Fiore then shared how one science professor in Canada said “he’s received many threats referencing Nuremberg 2.0” She proceeded to re-invoke the California State Assembly incident and name Dr. Bret Barker, making it seem as though Dr. Barker was the individual who made the public comment, when the doctor was not even there. She wrote that “the speaker at the California State Assembly hearing didn’t identify himself” and then went on to name Dr. Bret Barker as the CEO.

Third, Fiore led readers to believe that Nuremberg 2.0 is a medical terrorist organization “which essentially calls for doctors (and others) to be killed for providing COVID shots and other supposed pandemic crimes.” She also suggested that Nuremberg 2.0 members want to “execute” those who promote the COVID-19 vaccine, like in the Nuremberg trials. The week after Fiore wrote her piece, Dr. Barker filed a lawsuit against both MedPage Today and Fiore herself, seeking compensatory damages of $5 million for “long-term permanent damage to my personal life and reputation,” and punitive damages of $1 million. The complaint also mentions that Fiore did not reach out to Dr. Barker for a statement before publishing the story online and in emails to the publication’s 150,000 subscriber base. The story reached Dr. Barkers colleagues “and those who may have influence on my licensure and ability to work.”

Read more …

Green ain’t cheap.

It’s Not Working (Jim Kunstler)

Many people, I’m sure, assume that the more solar units feeding the grid, the better. Strangely, not so. Electric companies work much better when the production and flow of current is absolutely predictable and under their control — like, when they decide to fire up the natgas on generator number three or tune down the hydro turbines. It’s much harder to run the system with little dribs and drabs of electricity trickling in from hither and yon. But alt-energy is good PR for the government, so they do whatever they can to promote or even compel its use. I got a whopping folio of tax breaks and subsidies from the state and federal government when I decided to put solar electric on my house in 2013, though it finally still cost a lot: $35-K.

I had intimations of living through a chaotic period of history, and the decision was consistent with my general theory of history, which is that things happen because they seem like a good idea at the time. Getting a home solar electric rig seemed like a good idea. So, last week, after considerable hassle with my solar company setting up an appointment for a techie to visit and evaluate the problem here, the guy came up (at $150-an-hour) and informed me that my charge controller was shot. The charge controller processes all those chaotic watts coming from the solar panels on the roof into an orderly parade of electrons. He also told me that my back-up batteries — for running critical loads like the well-pump during grid outages — were at the end of their design life. Subtext: you have to get new batteries.

There are four big ones in a cabinet under the blown charge controller and the inverter (for turning direct current into alternating current that is the standard for running things). The techie had some bad news, though. New building codes forbid his company from replacing the kind of batteries I have, which are standard “sealed cell” lead-acid batteries. Some bullshit about off-gassing flammable fumes. Now the government requires lithium batteries, which would cost me sixteen-thousand dollars ($16-K) more to replace than new lead-acid batteries.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle July 12 2022

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 41 total)
  • Author
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  • #111384

    Pablo Picasso Portrait of woman in wheelchair 1936   • Defiant Schroeder Will Keep Talking To Putin (RT) • Why Biden Is Putting Us In Danger (She
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle July 12 2022]

    #111385
    Neal
    Participant

    Enjoyed reading Kunstler with his honesty about his silly choice in 2013. Doubt there will be similar admissions of dumb green choices by most governments.
    One thing I have noticed is that 40+ years ago it was not uncommon for people to install solar hot water systems. Cheap, no need for rare earth unrecyclable silicon etc. But all the governments here (Australia) do is push, promote and subsidise solar electric generation that isn’t nearly as green as solar hot water. Is it the same in whatever country you are in?

    #111386
    Dr D Rich
    Participant

    Dnp

    #111387
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Fox Video: “Whah, whah whah. Reeeee!”

    Congressmen: “They are doing nothing.” Huhwhut? YOU are supposed to do something. YOU. Impeach the President. Cut off all funding to the FBI, or everyone in the whole Federal government. Call a 30-state cooperation strike. You’ll get their attention real fast. GOP: “Yes but then I’d take back my power, not complain, and be responsible!” STFU. And you wonder why I don’t complain about Republicans. I might if they ever did anything. “Mr. Speaker, exactly how big a majority do we need before we do what the American people sent us here for?” — 1994, to Gingrich. Wasn’t passed then, nor a single day including now.

    Actually, AOC also said this last week. “You need to hold me to account; it helps us get things done.” What? Like when you said it was “Violence” (literally) to hold you to account on “Force the Vote” (M4A)? That’s WHY they elected you. Now not only do we need to elect you, but watch, call you to get you out of bed every morning, and make you not vote for Pelosi every day? No, that’s YOUR job. Our job was getting you there. She’s like “Yeah, but we have no power.” As a CONGRESSWOMAN? From NY CITY? …Same as the Republicans. No matter what position you put them in, one, some, or all, they somehow never have any power to enact anything. …Gee, maybe you should have told me there’s nothing you can do and will have no power before I donated and voted. I coulda had dinner with that $30 bucks which would have been something.

    The DNC’s call on this, after 50 years of not following the rules and passing Roe? “Get out and vote! We need a donation now more than ever!” Whyyyyyyyyyy? You haven’t done anything for the last 50 years we did AND showed up for Bernie by the millions. You paid for war with no health care in a pandemic.

    “Russia is contractually committed to turning the gas back on 10 days later,”

    Hahahahaaha! You so funny. “Contractually obligated”. Or else what? You’ll steal our bank accounts? Send the Ukrainian Army?

    “July Shutdown of Nord Stream Pipeline Has the EU Worried (ZH)”

    Like I said, because it only shows up later they’re too stupid to realize without that gas running, storage can’t be filled. Every day Canada stalled meant five thousand more German homes will go dark. But there’s nothing you can go to make morons take life seriously. Not even hanging them from lichtmasts.

    “Uber Paid Academics Six-figure Sums for Research to Feed to the Media (G.)”

    Where did Uber get the money? Or BlackRock? 0% Fed loans for insiders. Jim’s Taxi gets zero, 20% interest for him. This is why so long as the money is corrupt nothing can get done. Free money makes idiots and thieves succeed and good working people fail. Otherwise, what’s the point?

    Note: this is “Science”, social science, but still. Follow the Science which follows the money (which follows monopoly banks).

    “The Euro is the greatest monetary success of the last 150 years, and it cannot be jeopardized by risking the independence of the European Central Bank”

    Hahahaaha! You are kidding, right? The Euro was a failure from get-go. First the EU couldn’t be legally passed anywhere. Second, everybody knew before 1999 that it had structural failure that would collapse. Armstrong details this, and yes it is the issuance of nation-specific debts it’s dying on this very minute. Along with the “EuroDollars”, a running demonstration of failure. And the ECB is “Independent” from what? From the will of the people? From their national economic good? So who are they NOT “Independent” from? The banks? The State-Merger fascist insider monopoly corporations?

    And the risk of having built it, getting rid of national currencies, national sovereignties, and national safety valves will be proven to be 100x worse than not having it.

    It could have been done well done, but it wasn’t. Obvious from day 1, playing out now, which is very quickly in geopolitical terms. God save us from the Utopians. Making earth a living hell.

    “Doctor Files $5M Defamation Lawsuit Against News MedPage Today (AFN)”

    Video of Kory on same thing: https://usawatchdog.com/guilty-are-now-hiding-humanitarian-catastrophe-dr-pierre-kory/

    Outlines the process better. The Med Board, etc is in violation of all their own rules. If there is “Disinformation” it requires that the Board then provide the correct information to the Doctor – I mean, obviously. As Science and medicine is always 100% in flux with differing opinions, if you want to go on, you can face the Board, a council of doctors, and make your opposing medical argument to them. That’s how medicine advances – again, OBVIOUSLY. None of this has happened nor ever will. Science has stopped and all we have now is belief and dogma.

    “The fact that the physical market for crude oil (bullish) doesn’t seem to match the futures market (bearish) suggests there is a serious disconnect between the two.”

    This is for yesterday, since they are trying to keep all prices artificially low, there is instead a break and therefore shortages.

    Elon must buy Twitter! He must, MUST I say! If he doesn’t buy me and root out the leftists, we leftists will Suuuuueeeeee!!!

    Meanwhile, Twitter collapses. So Trump can buy it through his recent stock trust offering. Okay, if you insist.

    Now that Twitter is the one suing Elon, HE GETS DISCOVERY. Unlimited fishing trip, forever until they fold. That’s why he just posted “Chuckmate.”

    “Chinese Bank Run Turns Violent after Angry Crowd Storms Bank of China Branch over Frozen Deposits”

    Chinese banking and finance is collapsing. They are a wreck. That’s what the lockdowns are for. Same as here.

    So is California. Newsome is using taxpayer money, with a 14% State tax rate, to pay for ads in Florida begging citizens to come back. Um?

    “The US promised this month to supply Kiev with four additional HIMARS launchers, bringing the total number sent to Ukraine to 12. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov called them a “game-changer”

    Four whole guns? Be still my heart. You’re right: four guns will DEFINITELY stop the entire Russian army.

    Pretty sure that picture was a German float parade, a few years ago. I think it was Cameron in his bum. It probably had the Trump float a little before the God-Emperor float in Italy.

    “wake me up when the bread lines are here are as long as the ones I saw on TV in 1956.”

    Like the mile-long car lines for months in Texas during CV? They’re still universal here, you know.

    “China Credit Growth Explodes to 4th Highest Ever in June… It’s Still Not Enough”

    China is in trouble. It’s an interesting trouble, but it’s there. Not like WE don’t have the same problem, our economies being Siamese twins. They are using lockdowns to deal (as are we, actually, or even possibly ATM outages) but China has a long history I don’t fully understand about this. I believe they can keep it up for some time, decades perhaps, but it won’t do them much good. They are losing the Mandate of Heaven, what we would call “Consent of the Governed” here. If people psychologically stop believing and set up alternative connections, eventually they will be undermined. History says they will fracture and break away since there are the “Han” running roughshod and then there are like 30 other relevant ethnic groups. We’ll see since it won’t be fast.

    At the same time, the big forces remain: China needs food. The U.S. is nearly the only exporter. The U.S. can re-make manufacturing from the mine face down, but China cannot re-make food production, or at least hasn’t tried. Maybe they should import some Dutch. If we call it “food nanotech” would they take it seriously?

    And the U.S., the only exporter, might not export much. The fields are planted, etc, but with a stiff shortage of both fertilizer and pesticides, yields will drop noticeably. The planting/harvesting charts can all be thrown out — nobody knows. And that’s even if we have diesel, parts, and drying propane at harvest. You export on the margins, doing yourself first. If we have a 20% margin over our own needs, it’s easy to drop 15% or 25% on yields.

    Actually a bit dangerous, since if the USDA says “X planting = Y yields” the market, people, and government will all be suddenly and utterly blindsided at harvest. Or I could be, if things go well. Point is, no visibility, but someone taped a picture of a clean open road on the windshield.

    This was interesting: “CNN: “What do you say to those families that say, ‘listen, we can’t afford to pay $4.85 a gallon for months, if not years?’”
    “This is about the future of the Liberal World Order and we have to stand firm.”

    Who’s this “We”??? Was it “We” when you stole my house and gave it as a bonus to the banks for MERS fraud?

    Then quotes Kissinger’s Book “World Order”. Boy they sure hide this stuff well! There sure are some kooks out there believing weird stuff! …That this doesn’t exist when it’s printed regularly. On CNN. Since George H. Bush.

    What is it with “World Order”? Well, with humans you have the opposite: “World Messiness”. That’s how we always act. And if you’re not human, or mentally ill, that drives you crazy. Wouldn’t “Order” be better? Work better? Make at least some kind of sense? Get more done? Stop wasting resources left and right? I mean duh, not asking the world here.

    Short answer: no. A good example is IBM’s Token Ring system. It’s the internet, where when a computer wants to talk on the network, it gets a “token” – the magic feather – and can talk for its turn before handing the token to the next computer who talks without interruption and so on. Very simple, very efficient. One problem: it doesn’t work at all, ever. The slightest issue with any computer either clutches the token or doesn’t pass it. No other computer can talk. The whole company shuts down, or at least that floor.

    Compare with “Ethernet,” supposed to be a wireless protocol but used even on wired lines. In Eth, it’s like a beehive. Everyone shouts at once. As much and as fast as they can. Everyone shouts chaotically, everyone moves chaotically, some guy’s stuck in the corner repeating the same packet 10,000 times for 6 years and nobody cares. Exactly the same as the Mainframe vs PC system. After 50 years of this, and other metaphors in the hundreds of years before you’d think they’d learn, but no. Because: Mental Illness. It’s like a version of “People OCD.” There is no order in humankind, but there SHOULD be, so when the humans do what humans do, and don’t make much sense or order, the only way to establish that order and get some rest is to KILL THEM ALL. Or the “Disorderly” ones, which is most of them. This is “Government” but especially Socialist-style ones, because they attempt a far greater involvement and overreach. Only then can I finally rest. Only then can there be peace, as Hillary said.

    “So too, the elite class that lords over the Westphalian System (known in our time as “globalism”), will not go easily into that good night. Via technocratic authoritarianism, promulgated under harmless sounding platitudes (“recalibrating” your rights, “reset” the system, “re-imagining” your future), it will cause immeasurable harm and destruction, only to ultimately fail for the sole reason of trying to shoehorn outdated modes of organization (top-down force of the state) on a new, incompatible reality (decentralized networks secured by public-key cryptography).”

    “…These machinations include these incessant and frantic rebranding exercises. The aspiration behind all of these labels is that they are trying to condition into your psyche, as if it were objective fact, that the natural order of things is that they get to set the rules and we get to follow them. However the growing perception among the public, is that with every policy failure and each rebranding iteration, these elites are conceding that they are, in fact, losing control, losing relevance”

    https://bombthrower.com/rebranding-elitism-calling-the-liberal-world-order-for-what-it-is/

    Yes, the Kunstler thing is the perfect example of the problem. And him falling for it anyway is the perfect picture of the mental hazard. Because, if not, what then? Do nothing but buy a wood stove and drink tea for 30 yeas of the worldwide collapse? Yes, probably, and that’s chilling to realize.

    You could look at it the other way: we are going BACK. We are becoming “Conservative”, in a certain sense, not exactly socially, not exactly economically, but also yes becoming conservative in both of them. That is, in 1951, you would have led a simple life, with a simple car. There were only four wrenches. There were two types of bread. There was nowhere to go, and you generally never left to spend money, nor did Sears Catalog leave boxes every morning. Got up in the quiet, had Chok-o-Nuts coffee, went to work, came home in the quiet again, raked the coal boiler and played Spades at the kitchen booth table, one light on in the whole house and a wind-up Westclock. You own 5 shirts and only two pairs of shoes.

    In other words, we didn’t make $35k just to lose $35k. That was for gamblers and chumps. We just never had it, never used it, therefore “conserved” 100% of zero trouble, zero input. Life had only work and time. Things happen only by slow effort, there being no “money” to rocket ahead and shortwire everything. School, profit, promotion, purchases: nothing but slow savings, slow effort to slow measured reward. And if things get disrupted, it all falls to pieces. Relationships, jobs, locations. Therefore nobody’s re-choosing what name or gender they are today. It would get in the way and distract from getting useful things done.

    Try that today, people would think you are bona-fide, I N S A N E. They’d cut you out in days and steal your kids in weeks. If one circuit board broke and you didn’t have hot water, the Sheriff would take you out in chains for your own good. World Order, you see.

    #111388
    Mister Roboto
    Participant

    Well, the price of copper is continuing its gradual decline. As of writing this comment, it is at $3.38 a pound. If and when it gets down to three even, that will be the sure sign that the “sugar-buzz” created by pandemic-related emergency government spending is over and done with. If it keeps falling after that, then Katy bar the door.

    #111389
    Germ
    Participant

    WHAT KIND OF ADVERSE EVENTS ARE BEING REPORTED IN AUSTRALIA FOR KIDS AGED 5 TO 11?

    Holy fuck!

    Not “sore arms”…that’s for sure
    https://github.com/AccAEN/AccessibleAdverseEventNotification/blob/main/data/DAEN_webscrape_ageselectedlist_5-11.txt

    ☠️☠️☠️

    #111390
    Germ
    Participant
    #111391
    Germ
    Participant

    🎵 Summertime 🎶 – 🎵And the living is easy! 🎶

    “Ambulance service in ‘critical’ condition as whistleblower reveals ‘worst June ever’ ”

    https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ambulance-service-critical-condition-whistleblower-27445725

    ☠️☠️☠️

    #111392
    Germ
    Participant

    “IF”? What’s with this “If”?

    The NHS will collapse.

    WINTER IS COMING!

    “Britain could swing back to its ‘protect the NHS’ Covid policy if the latest spike in cases and hospital admissions impedes on the health service’s ability to treat other conditions

    Covid restrictions could RETURN to ‘protect the NHS’ ”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11002951/Return-mandatory-masks-Curbs-come-virus-impacts-backlog-health-minister-says.html

    ☠️☠️☠️

    #111393
    Germ
    Participant

    WINTER is coming!
    For the VAXXED !!

    “Why Australia’s record flu surge is a bleak omen for the NHS”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/why-australias-record-flu-surge-bleak-omen-nhs/

    ☠️☠️☠️

    #111394
    Germ
    Participant

    “Hospital Admissions Hit 6 Month Highs as 95+% Fully Vaxxed Australia Battles New COVID Wave”

    https://rumble.com/v1bvd1x-hospital-admissions-hit-6-month-highs-as-95-fully-vaxxed-australia-battles-.html

    #111395
    Germ
    Participant

    The narrative is slowly, but surely, crumbling.

    “How Many Mistakes Does an Expert Have to Make Before They Are No Longer an Expert?”

    How Many Mistakes Does an Expert Have to Make Before They Are No Longer an Expert?

    ☠☠☠

    #111396
    Germ
    Participant

    Follow the thread for a real laugh-a-thon!

    https://twitter.com/DrTessaT/status/1512589399728353287

    🤡☠️🤡

    #111397
    Germ
    Participant

    This does not go far enough – I think they should also be required to wear explosive neck collars to be sure they comply with quarantine.

    “Covid-19: Hong Kong to enact China-style health code system; electronic bracelets for those in home isolation”

    Covid-19: Hong Kong to enact China-style health code system; electronic bracelets for those in home isolation

    ☠️☠️☠️

    #111398
    Germ
    Participant

    Absolute must watch –

    “It’s all nonsense”

    https://metatron.substack.com/p/why-dont-the-vaccines-work

    ☠️☠️☠️

    #111399
    Germ
    Participant

    If all you have is a hammer …. VAXX! VAXX! VAXX!

    ☠️☠️☠️

    ” …I think there could be a case to offer vaccine to everyone attending an STD clinic.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/11/efforts-to-curb-uk-monkeypox-outbreak-inadequate-warn-experts-whistleblower-claim-helpline

    #111400
    Germ
    Participant

    Natural Immunity 97 Percent Effective Against Severe COVID-19 After 14 Months:

    Study: Natural immunity after a person’s first infection “remains very strong, with no evidence for waning, irrespective of variant, for over 14 months.”

    https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.07.06.22277306v1 🤣🤡🤡🤣

    #111401
    Germ
    Participant

    “…because staff sickness”

    Hahahaha!! Get boosted!! Get Covid!!

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jul/11/nhs-staffing-crisis-doctors-forced-work-overnight-shifts-last-minute ☠☠☠

    “The system is broken, utterly and completely broken, and the public needs to be made aware of this.”

    #111402
    zerosum
    Participant

    A rose is a rose by any name
    Inflation, shortages, gouging, supply & demand, hoarding, depression, controlled/uncontrolled, good/bad, success/failure,

    Today, Russia cut off all natural gas flowing through the main pipeline to Europe as part of routine maintenance.

    Russia is contractually committed to turning the gas back on 10 days later, but many analysts, heads of state, and government officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t turn the gas back on in 10 days. Why? So he can increase prices, increase Russia’s energy revenues, and pressure Europe to stop supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia. France’s economy minister yesterday called a complete cut-off “the most likely” scenario. The consequences of a full Russian gas embargo would be devastating. German industries are already “in danger of permanently collapsing,” warned the head of Germany’s trade unions. Britain has warned that, in order to protect its own citizens, it may cut off natural gas supplies to Europe. If Putin cuts off the gas, Europe would be forced to ration energy, and bail-out both electric utilities and energy-intensive companies.

    Read more …
    ———–
    • The ECB Must Follow Its Mandate (Lacalle)
    inflation is money supply growth
    ———-

    #111403
    TAE Summary
    Participant

    * Etymology of “Expert”: from “Ex” meaning “Has-been” and “Spurt” meaning “A drip under pressure”

    * The Biden Way: When all you have is a stammer every problem looks like a fail

    * An injected vaxx to protect your respiratory system is like painting the inside of your house to protect the siding

    * Game of Thrones Quotes
    – Winter is coming
    – A lion doesn’t concern itself with the opinion of sheep
    – Words are wind
    – Stick ‘em with the pointy end
    – Chaos isn’t a pit, it’s a ladder
    – Any man who must say “I am King” is no true King
    – There are no heroes…in life, the monsters win
    – If you think this is a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention

    * When you have got natural immunity
    You face Covid waves with impunity
    Don’t mention this, though
    To vaxxed friends you know
    The truth will cause instant disunity

    #111404
    Mister Roboto
    Participant

    I had a hard time understanding all the economics detailed in this most recent post on the “Consciousness of Sheep” blog, but what I could understand sounds consistent with my understanding of what has been transpiring since the Great Financial Collapse of late 2008.

    #111405
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    explosive neck collars to ensure they comply with quarantine

    People have forgotten how to live

    Fuck the fear. Seize life. We all die in the end.

    #111406
    phoenixvoice
    Participant

    Kunstler’s solar fiasco

    Most of the time, “backwards compatibility” and being able to slip something new into a system that is older is ideal. Hence, if we have to bid the incandescent light goodbye, it is nice to simply slip LED bulbs into incandescent fixtures. However, if we are going to step down in our use of electricity, the facts of the matter is that most of the electrical items in our homes run off of direct current and not alternating current, and the AC has to be changed to DC for each item. Think: computer, laptop, smartphone, television, aquarium pump, all of those LED bulbs, exercise bicycle, etc. Many items could be powered either way — an electric drill is AC, while a cordless drill is DC, and DC refrigerators can be purchased.

    Much of the fragility in K’s complex solar system is due to the requirement to convert the DC power off of the solar panels to AC for the home…which is then largely converted back to DC!

    Someday, spouse and I are going to rebuild the 16’ 1973 camping trailer. It will include solar PV. I plan to wire it primarily for DC 12 volt and 5 volt, with a small inverter for rare moments when AC is needed, and perhaps a lead as well for laptop charging. Someday, we plan to build an off-grid home, also with solar PV. That, as well, I plan to wire for DC voltages with a few AC outlets. I don’t personally have the know how, but it is my understanding that stepping down DC to specific voltages is not wildly difficult. Imagine — LEDs that actually last a long time (unlike these crappy LED bulbs), and not needing to keep replacing device chargers and power supplies!

    #111407
    ezlxa1949
    Participant

    We’re all trapped inside the universe and no-one gets out alive.

    #111408
    phoenixvoice
    Participant

    UK ambulance problems…
    …Will someone explain to me why the folks don’t just take their ailing family members in their own vehicles or in a taxi to the nearest hospital?

    #111409

    I want to free the world to see
    What’s going down
    But they don’t get it.

    I want to shake the world awake
    And scream “Fear not!
    Or you’ll regret it!”

    Fear fear.

    #111410
    Veracious Poet
    Participant

    #111411
    Veracious Poet
    Participant

    #111412
    willem
    Participant

    Military Summary channel today reported near the end of the program that the Ukrainians SOLD one of their US-provided HIMARS missile launchers to the Russians for $800K, plus another $300K for the missiles.

    https://rumble.com/v1c1d1r-ukraine.-military-summary-and-analysis-12.07.2022.html

    #111413
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Chuckmate

    .

    Oh Chuck, you devil you.

    .

    #111414
    Oroboros
    Participant
    #111415
    Dr. D
    Participant

    I mean, if you’re having a heart attack or stroke: ambulance. But this is one screw up makes another — all easily fixed. IF you arrive in an ambulance (And you’re too poor so ain’t paying anyway) THEN someone will come out and see you. If you drive in you wait six (or sixteen) hours and die on the floor. If there is like here anyway.

    It’s not that hard to staff so the one doesn’t encourage the other and saves money, directing resources to their best application. An ambulance is not a taxi, which the true low-lifes call if they want to hit the bars near the hospital. No joke. And I pay for it.

    Covid restrictions could RETURN to ‘protect the NHS’ ”

    OMG does it end? Because they worked so well the last two years? They are creators of mental illness: wash your hands and say two Hail Marys and one “We’ll All Go Together When We Go”, then click you boots together three times and not notice every single obedient sciency nation is wildly worse than darkest Africa.

    “How Many Mistakes Does an Expert Have to Make Before They Are No Longer an Expert?”

    There’s no such number.

    Next up for non-science: Ninja Covid! A Covid you don’t know you have! And. Why. Would. I. Care. Then?

    Same with Shiff’s vaccine. If it works, I’m happy for him. Then he’s safe from me and I’m safe from him. 924 days of non-science illogic word soup and counting.

    If all you have is a hammer …. VAXX! VAXX! VAXX!

    More like, if all you have is fish, hammer hammer hammer!

    PS the Vaccine is illegal. We have had viable therapeutics for years perhaps.

    Natural Immunity 97 Percent Effective Against Severe COVID-19 After 14 Months”

    Not only that but everybody’s had it. THEY said it was contagious, didn’t they? So if it’s contagious, who hasn’t had it? Omicron? So approaching 100% immunity. Why vax? And why it still around?

    #111416
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Twitter -Twatter shares drop to $34 per.

    Why would Musk want to pay $54?

    Not to mention that snot Bots make up the majority of Twits database ‘customers’

    In the Empire of Lies, lying about the size of your customer base is an actual Religion.

    LiesLiesLiesLiesLiesLies

    It’s what’s for dinner in the USSA.

    The Land of Lies

    All day, everyday, year round until the all the cock roaches die and the Sun burns out.

    I hope Musk drops Twitter -Twatter shares to $2 per share to reflect their actual customer base.

    .

    #111417
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Javelins Selling Like Hotcakes On Albanian Blackmarket – Thanks Joe!

    Hahahahaha!

    Empire of Lies military bling gets sold almost immediately after arriving in Ukronaziland.

    France’s super duper howitzers got sold to the Russians for $120K. What a bargain! They cost a couple million!

    The Duran (with Lira) had Dima who runs the Military Summary Channel on today and asked him what the Empire of Lies feared the most from sending HIMAR systems to the Ukronazi and Dima said the USSA were very worried that the thugs and thieves of the Ukro military would sell the HIMARS to Russia!

    https://rumble.com/v1bzbvn-sitrep-ukraine-wmilitary-summary-and-gonzalo-lira-live.html

    Hahahahaha!

    Too Late on that one ladies!

    #111419
    Oroboros
    Participant

    And….

    Guess What Russia Just Captured – Thanks Biden! Hint: Starts With An M – Ends With 777

    https://rumble.com/v1bzbvn-sitrep-ukraine-wmilitary-summary-and-gonzalo-lira-live.html

    #111420
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    It is what it is. It is good to have a laugh

    #111421
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    #111422
    Michael Reid
    Participant
    #111423
    John Day
    Participant

    @VP Gary, from last night: Sorry you are having the 7-10 day version of COVID.
    The unvaccinated people who I refer to having 2-5 days of illness have already had COVID once.
    When I had Delta for New Years, it was 2 weeks of aching with 2 days of feeling normal around the 5th day of taking ivermectin-based treatment.
    I stopped at day 5 after feeling normal a day, mowing for 4 hours and so on, but then after a couple of days off treatment, it was BAACK and I couldn’t knock it down as well, so I just had a weak of aches, mild fevers and resting a lot.
    Everybody’s mileage may vary, but the stats I’m seeing also support longer courses and days later viral clearing among the vaccinated, especially the boosted.

    #111424
    John Day
    Participant

    Thanks Mr. Roboto. That’s an excellent econmic analysis of where the ($US) money is inflated and where it is deflated, and how that is working.

    A flaw seldom mentioned


    There is mention of the BRICS bypass systemd being worked on, but just mention.
    It really looks like all of the Marshall-Plan countries might get stripped away from the dollar this time around, and then, the dollar should join that system , too.
    What else would serve?
    The current financial elites should discover growing black-eyed peas in their gardens.
    It’d do ’em good, and help ’em be “regular”.

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