Jul 232022
 
 July 23, 2022  Posted by at 8:31 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,


Salvador Dali Mme. Reese 1931

 

Deal Between Ukraine And Russia Aims To Ease Global Food Crisis (NYT)
Servant of the Corrupt (Gonzalez)
Russia About To Run Out Of Steam In Ukraine – MI6 Chief (BBC)
Western Currencies Will Fail (Vilches)
IEA Chief: Europe Must Cut Gas Usage 20% To Survive Winter (OP)
EU Debates Revised Plan To Reduce Gas Use After Opposition (R.)
Triple/Quadruple Vaccinated Account For 91% Of All UK Covid Deaths (DE)
Unvaccinated Fans Can Attend the U.S. Open. Why Can’t Novak Djokovic? (NW)
The State of Banks in China (Balding)
Trump ’25: A Radical Plan For Trump’s Second Term (Axios)
Liz Cheney Said Trump Family and Aides Have Now Publicly “Confessed” (Turley)
People, Get Ready (Jim Kunstler)

 

 

 

 

“Everybody that has an mRNA injection will die in 3 to 5 years.”

 

 

 

 

“If the research done on rats is applicable to humans we will see massive infertility in the next 5 years followed by death via various organ system failure and/or cancers.”

 

 

 

 

Bannon
https://twitter.com/i/status/1550527743565053953

 

 

 

 

Conflicting info.

Deal Between Ukraine And Russia Aims To Ease Global Food Crisis (NYT)

Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul on Friday to free more than 20 million metric tons of grain stuck in blockaded Black Sea ports in Ukraine, a deal aimed at bringing down soaring grain prices and alleviating a mounting global hunger crisis. The breakthrough comes after months of talks and was brokered with the help of the United Nations and Turkey. The agreement provides a method for exporting Ukrainian grain through Turkey, and it comes after the United Nations gave Russia assurances that it can export its grain and fertilizers. If the agreement holds, it could help ease catastrophic food shortages that worsened when Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Ukraine is one of the world’s breadbaskets, and the invasion reverberated across the global economy, aggravating a growing food crisis, contributing to famine in Africa and threatening political unrest in some countries.

“This agreement did not come easy,” António Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, said at the signing ceremony, calling the deal a “beacon in the Black Sea.” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s willingness to block food exports to gain international leverage has led to some of the gravest global consequences of Moscow’s attack on Ukraine, undermining a global food distribution network that was already strained by pandemic-related disruptions and climate change. Senior U.N. officials said that the first shipments of grain out of Odesa, Ukraine, and neighboring ports were only weeks away and would quickly bring 5 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain and other foodstuffs to the world market each month. That would also free up storage space in Ukraine’s silos for freshly harvested grain, the officials said.

Ukraine and Russia have agreed on very little since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began Feb. 24. Peace talks held in Belarus that month and in March went nowhere, largely because Russia insisted on a change of government in Kyiv, Ukraine. Later in March, talks in Turkey were also ultimately fruitless. Negotiators have been able to reach agreements on prisoner exchanges and on the evacuation of a steel plant in Mariupol where hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians were holed up for 80 days. But Friday’s pact was the first time that representatives from the warring countries have publicly signed an agreement.

“It’s a big step forward,” said Stephen E. Flynn, founding director of the Global Resilience Institute at Northeastern University, crediting the Turks with an “elegant approach.” But he warned that it will be difficult to speedily deliver food to where it is most needed. The mechanics of transporting grain through the Black Sea under wartime conditions with little or no trust between the warring sides are extremely complex. “It will not move quickly,” he said.

Read more …

“It might be hard to believe now, but revelations from documents in the Pandora Papers [..] sent Zelensky reeling last year, threatening to end his political career.”

Servant of the Corrupt (Gonzalez)

In February 2021, by order of President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine shut down three domestic television channels, accusing them of spreading Russian “propaganda.” Three months later, Zelenksky arrested Viktor Medvedchuk, who was at the time leading the second-biggest party in Ukraine’s national parliament, the pro-Russia and Eurosceptic Opposition Platform for Life (OPZZh). Zelensky didn’t have trouble incinerating vaunted democratic norms well-before Russia crossed the Rubicon into Ukraine this year. So it was no surprise when he did it again amid the war in late March, invoking emergency powers under martial law to nationalize TV channels and ban 11 opposition parties, including OPZZh — all supposedly done in the name of combatting Russian misinformation and Russian sympathizers, even though OPZZh’s then-chairman, Yuriy Boyko, denounced the war and called for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.

Zelensky, however, wouldn’t miss another opportunity to clip the wings of political opposition in his country, certainly not now that Western media rationalizes and glorifies his every move. The portrait of the Ukraine president as a democratic paragon whitewashes the real Zelensky and conceals a vast web of corruption and international skullduggery of which Ukraine is situated in the center. Understanding the real Zelensky, requires seeing him as a creation of Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. He is, in truth, a puppet of intrigue. It might be hard to believe now, but revelations from documents in the Pandora Papers — millions of files from offshore service providers leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and shared with partners around the world — sent Zelensky reeling last year, threatening to end his political career. Though the actor-turned-politico campaigned as an anti-corruption reformer, the Pandora Papers showed him to be just as crooked as his predecessors.

Of more than 300 politicians and public officials, including several current and former national leaders, in more than 91 countries and territories to whom the documents were linked, Ukraine was home to more secret offshore holdings than any other, including Russia. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which contributed to the investigation, found that just before Zelensky was elected president, “he gifted his stake in a key offshore company, the British Virgin Islands-registered Maltex Multicapital Corp., to his business partner — soon to be his top presidential aide. And in spite of giving up his shares, the documents show that an arrangement was soon made that would allow the offshore to keep paying dividends to a company that now belongs to his wife.”

Read more …

Spooks never lie.

Russia About To Run Out Of Steam In Ukraine – MI6 Chief (BBC)

Russia will struggle to maintain its military campaign and Ukraine may be able to hit back, the head of Britain’s foreign intelligence service says. MI6 chief Richard Moore said Russia had seen “epic fails” in its initial goals; removing Ukraine’s president, capturing Kyiv and sowing disunity in the West. He was speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, in a rare public appearance. He called the invasion “the most egregious naked act of aggression… in Europe since the Second World War.” He said recent Russian gains were “tiny” and that Russia was “about to run out of steam”. “Our assessment is that the Russians will increasingly find it difficult to find manpower and materiel over the next few weeks,” Mr Moore told the conference in Colorado. “They will have to pause in some way and that will give the Ukrainians the opportunity to strike back.”

That view may be seen as optimistic and Ukraine’s ability to counter-attack may well depend on greater supplies of Western weaponry, which its officials say has often been too slow in arriving. The MI6 chief said some kind of battlefield success would be an “important reminder to the rest of Europe that this is a winnable campaign” – particularly ahead of a winter which was likely to see pressure on gas supplies. “We are in for a tough time,” he said. A further reason to maintain support to help the Ukrainians win, or “at least negotiate from a position of significant strength”, he said, was because China’s leader Xi Jinping was “watching like a hawk”.

[..] On China, he said MI6 had “never had any illusions whatsoever about Communist China”. He revealed MI6 now devoted more effort to China than to any other single subject – the effort in this field having just moved past that devoted to counter-terrorism. He said it was “too early to tell” what lessons China would draw from Putin’s actions in Ukraine, but there were lots of signs officials in Beijing were going into overdrive to work out what they thought. “It is quite difficult to read at the moment,” he said. He said it was “important” to remind China’s leadership of how an invasion of Taiwan could go wrong. He said China’s leadership underestimated US resolve and power and this might lead them to miscalculate. “I don’t think it is inevitable,” he said when asked about a major conflict.

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“Russia does not need, care to have, or find a valid use for dollars or euros which are strictly Western nonsense, not Russia’s..”

Western Currencies Will Fail (Vilches)

As Prof. Michael Hudson has repeatedly explained, printing humongous ´money´ specially for the FIRE rentier sector (Finance Insurance Real Estate) and beyond anyone else has tremendously increased Western GDPs… but did not increase at all its effective, real-life tangible products and services economy that would benefit flesh & blood human beings. The GDP formula and its 4 terms by themselves are clear evidence of such a problem. So today Western central banks have painted themselves into a far away “false GDP” corner with no effective tools, space, or time left to maneuver with or issue yet “new” forward guidance (lip service) for their “financial policies” to change such outcome.

Per multi-billionaire and Bill Gates’ partner Warren Buffett — a.k.a. the ´Omaha Oracle´ — derivatives are a weapon of Financial Mass Destruction which today would sum up a notional sum exceeding USD $ 2 quadrillion. Of these, the central bank-induced and managed “paper gold chimera” could be as high as 30%. Flat-footed as they now are, central bankers can thus awkwardly run around in circles, but they can’t ever effectively hide. They might still be kings for a little while longer but they wear no clothes. And so back to the 2022 world, Russia now says “it´s our products so you pay in our Rubles, okay?” Why euros or dollars? The West plain robs them anyways, so Russia cannot give away something for nothing. Russia does not need, care to have, or find a valid use for dollars or euros which are strictly Western nonsense, not Russia’s.

This includes oil + nat-gas + LNG + refined products + wheat + everything else. And the Chinese may also start gradually doing something equivalent until a new, stable, fairer, BRICS-non-NATO monetary system is developed, installed, and accepted. How the transition will unfold is not yet very clear other than that it´d probably be a bumpy road and that it will take time. Of course, physical gold would work as perfect money so recall that the Global South has plenty of gold — and highly valuable silver — buried deep in the ground but still environmentally recoverable with adequate mining practices. This might turn out to be a game-changer both for these Global South regions of the world and for the Russian and Chinese investments to be made especially if the countries in question belong to BRICS and/or the BRI – Belt and Road Initiative.

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No, Europe must make peace.

IEA Chief: Europe Must Cut Gas Usage 20% To Survive Winter (OP)

After calling on all member states to reduce gas consumption by 15% in the face of the threat of a complete Russian gas cutoff, the IEA says the European Union will need to cut even more in order to get through the winter. “Even if there is no single accident… #Europe still needs to reduce its gas consumption about 20% compared to today in order to have safe and normal winter months,” IEA chief Fatih Birol said, issuing what he called a “red alert” for energy markets. The short-term issue with the Nord Stream 1 pipeline may have been resolved, Birol told CNN, but “it’s too early to be happy about this”. The amount Europe is receiving now from Russia is only about one-third of what it was receiving prior to the force majeure, and the IEA chief warned that even that reduced flow “can be cut anytime”.

After a 10-day pause for regular maintenance, Russian gas flows via Nord Stream resumed on Thursday morning, with orders for gas set at around 40% of Nord Stream’s capacity, the level from before the maintenance after Russia slashed flows in mid-June. Flows early on Thursday were at around 21.5 GWh, compared to 30GWh prior to the start of maintenance on July 11th, and compared to 70 GWh before Russia reduced supplies by 60% on June 13th. On Wednesday, the European Commission unveiled measures for the bloc to conserve gas to pre-empt a Russian cutoff, asking member states to reduce consumption by 15% until next spring.

According to Birol, this won’t be enough to ensure a smooth winter for Europe, and there is no alternative to consumption reductions. Even assuming that the current Russian gas flow is maintained, and considering all the LNG Europe is getting from the United States and elsewhere, plus other natural gas sources, and even if there are no accidents that hamper supply, Europe still needs to reduce more, starting now, Birol said. There is not enough gas around the world for Europe to rely on, the IAE chief said, and there is no choice but to reduce consumption to avoid shortages and rationing this winter.

Read more …

Whistled back.

EU Debates Revised Plan To Reduce Gas Use After Opposition (R.)

European envoys debated revisions on Friday to a proposal by the EU executive that all bloc members cut natural gas use to prepare for potential Russian supply cuts, hoping for a compromise by next week after some governments, including in Greece, balked at the plan. The European Commission proposed on Wednesday that all EU countries should cut their gas use from August to March by 15%. The target would initially be voluntary, but would become mandatory if the Commission declared an emergency. But from the outset, the proposal met criticism from a range of countries. Spain, Portugal and Greece are among the most openly hostile, while diplomats say Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands and Poland also have reservations about giving the Commission the power to order cuts.

Under a proposal put forward by the Czech Republic, which holds the rotating EU presidency, EU governments would have to approve any proposal by the Commission to make the cuts mandatory, EU diplomats said. The revised text would also cut the time period for which the system would apply from two years to one, to emphasize the emergency nature of the measure. Some countries complain that a uniform 15% cut would inflict more pain than necessary on householders in some parts of the bloc, to protect gas-hungry industrial users in other regions. Envoys will discuss possible further revisions on Monday before energy ministers meet for an emergency session designed to forge an agreement. “It’s not just fine-tuning. There is still more work to be done,” an EU diplomat said.

Spanish Energy Minister Teresa Ribera said in a letter to the Commission on Friday that Spain shared the final goal of the EU executive’s proposals, but believed there were more effective measures than a uniform and mandatory gas demand cut. “It is essential that the European response to this situation not be perceived as unfair and economically damaging for our citizens and industry,” she wrote, adding Spain was committed to engage constructively. The Commission said on Friday the need for gas consumption cuts was clear and that an energy issue could quickly become a broader economic problem. “It’s based on the fact that there is a serious risk of cut-off of supply of gas from Russia and we need to prepare for this eventuality,” a spokesperson said. “This is not the first time that we are having fierce debates…. on crucial subjects.”

Read more …

And not because that many people went for the boosters.

Triple/Quadruple Vaccinated Account For 91% Of All UK Covid Deaths (DE)

In January, the vaccinated accounted for 85% of Covid-19 deaths, whilst the unvaccinated accounted for 15%. By March, the vaccinated accounted for 93% of Covid-19 deaths, whilst the vaccinated accounted for just 7%. And by May, the vaccinated accounted for 94% of Covid-19 deaths, whilst the vaccinated accounted for just 6%. Many people may believe that this is simply because, according to data published by the UK Health Security Agency, 50% of the population of England refused the third jab, and those vaccinated deaths are among the double vaccinated and partly vaccinated. But unfortunately, those people are wrong.

[..] Overall, there were 15,113 Covid-19 deaths by 31st May 2022, and a shocking 13,666 of those deaths were among the vaccinated population. But what’s even more shocking than this is that 12,442 of those deaths were among the triple/quadruple vaccinated population. This means the triple/quadruple vaccinated population have accounted for a frightening 91% of all Covid-19 deaths among the vaccinated since the beginning of 2022.

Read more …

Because he’s a symbol for failed policies.

Unvaccinated Fans Can Attend the U.S. Open. Why Can’t Novak Djokovic? (NW)

While Djokovic’s absence undoubtedly would be bad for the game, it also makes no sense from the standpoint of public health. First, it’s noteworthy that Djokovic had COVID-19 in December. Many sporting organizations—including the NCAA—recognize prior infection as a form of immunization, and rightly so. An abundance of scientific evidence shows that natural immunity offers as much protection as vaccination alone, if not more. A recent Cornell University-led study, for example, found that people with prior infection saw “little decline in protection even a year after their prior infection.” Their level of protection was higher than that of people who had received two Pfizer shots and a booster. Importantly, the study found that both vaccines and natural immunity offer “strong and durable protection” against COVID-related hospitalization and death.

These findings and others point to a simple reality: both natural immunity and vaccination offer significant protection against COVID, especially against a severe symptomatic reaction. Second, it’s worth noting that spectators are allowed to attend the Open regardless of their vaccination status. “At this time, ticket holders will not be required to show proof of COVID vaccination for admission into the US Open,” the event’s official website states. In other words, fans can attend the U.S. Open even if they haven’t had the shot—but the world’s greatest tennis star will not be able to set foot in the country. How we arrived here is not a mystery. Vaccination has become one of the most partisan and politicized issues in the world today.

People around the world (not just Americans) were divided over vaccines—not over whether they should be available or even whether they are safe and effective, but over whether it was okay to force people to take them. Coerced vaccination was always problematic because it violates a basic human right: bodily autonomy. But in light of abundant research showing the strength and durability of natural immunity, vaccine mandates don’t just look morally dubious; they look senseless. This helps explain why efforts to coerce vaccination are failing all around the world.

Tucker Harvey Risch

Read more …

“Chinese banks have significantly less capital to absorb losses and less cash on hand for withdrawal by depositors.”

The State of Banks in China (Balding)

The state of banks in China dominates concerns about the economy and global growth. With pictures of angry crowds outside banks and tanks on the street in one city to quell discontent about being unable to withdraw funds, it bears asking what the true state of Chinese banks is. Officially, Chinese banks are in fine shape. Nonperforming loans are low and are disposed of in a controlled manner. Banks remain comfortably within their regulatory limits of loan growth, and deposits continue to rise. However, as with all things China, a look behind the official statistics gives cause for concern. First, loan classifications in China fail to capture the true level of risk of defaults. Loan classification in China is notoriously pliable, so Chinese banks can set standards for loans being classified as nonperforming that would not pass regulatory scrutiny in other countries, a fact they openly acknowledge.

While an interest payment in most jurisdictions that was overdue by 90 days would change the classification, some Chinese banks have said they do not change the classification of the loan to doubtful until “the operations of the borrower have been suspended for at least half a year.” The cessation of a company’s operations would make any outstanding loans dubious. Second, Chinese banks are highly leveraged and short on capital. The weighted reserve rate for all banks in China is now just 8.4 percent of all capital. This is a drop from over 21 percent a decade ago. This means Chinese banks have significantly less capital to absorb losses and less cash on hand for withdrawal by depositors. These reserve figures are the official numbers, so even small changes to the bad loan numbers, an issue as just noted is highly suspect, can rapidly make that 8.4 percent even smaller.

Third, banks are facing a wave of stressed borrowers right as their capital is at historic lows, and they have been fudging the data for some time. Local governments have seen revenue plunge from lower economic activity from COVID-19 and real estate. The property sector, which is responsible for around 30 percent of GDP, is under enormous pressure, with buyers and developers alike feeling the pressure. In other words, right when banks need that capital most, they have the lowest capital levels in years. The bad news is that the choices available to Beijing are limited due to the years of pushing rapid expansion in fiscal and monetary policy to support growth. Recapitalizing the banks would require vast sums of money that would require significant inflation or devaluation of the Chinese yuan against the U.S. dollar.

Read more …

Drain the Deep State.

Trump ’25: A Radical Plan For Trump’s Second Term (Axios)

Former President Trump’s top allies are preparing to radically reshape the federal government if he is re-elected, purging potentially thousands of civil servants and filling career posts with loyalists to him and his “America First” ideology, people involved in the discussions tell Axios. The impact could go well beyond typical conservative targets such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Internal Revenue Service. Trump allies are working on plans that would potentially strip layers at the Justice Department — including the FBI, and reaching into national security, intelligence, the State Department and the Pentagon, sources close to the former president say. During his presidency, Trump often complained about what he called “the deep state.”

The heart of the plan is derived from an executive order known as “Schedule F,” developed and refined in secret over most of the second half of Trump’s term and launched 13 days before the 2020 election. The reporting for this series draws on extensive interviews over a period of more than three months with more than two dozen people close to the former president, and others who have firsthand knowledge of the work underway to prepare for a potential second term. Most spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive planning and avoid Trump’s ire. As Trump publicly flirts with a 2024 comeback campaign, this planning is quietly flourishing from Mar-a-Lago to Washington — with his blessing but without the knowledge of some people in his orbit. Trump remains distracted by his obsession with contesting the 2020 election results.

But he has endorsed the work of several groups to prime an administration-in-waiting. Personnel and action plans would be executed in the first 100 days of a second term starting on Jan. 20, 2025. Their work could accelerate controversial policy and enforcement changes, but also enable revenge tours against real or perceived enemies, and potentially insulate the president and allies from investigation or prosecution. They intend to stack thousands of mid-level staff jobs. Well-funded groups are already developing lists of candidates selected often for their animus against the system — in line with Trump’s long-running obsession with draining “the swamp.” This includes building extensive databases of people vetted as being committed to Trump and his agenda.

The preparations are far more advanced and ambitious than previously reported. What is happening now is an inversion of the slapdash and virtually non-existent infrastructure surrounding Trump ahead of his 2017 presidential transition. These groups are operating on multiple fronts: shaping policies, identifying top lieutenants, curating an alternative labor force of unprecedented scale, and preparing for legal challenges and defenses that might go before Trump-friendly judges, all the way to a 6-3 Supreme Court.

Trump
https://twitter.com/i/status/1550704392315310080

Read more …

“Can a President who is willing to make the choices Donald Trump made during the violence of January 6 ever be trusted with any position of authority in our great nation again?”

Cheney’s losing bigtime in the polls. Trump is not.

Liz Cheney Said Trump Family and Aides Have Now Publicly “Confessed” (Turley)

Cheney ended the hearing this week by calling for more officials to come forward and noting that Trump family members and former officials have now come forward with their own public “confessions.” As with past hearings, the summation included a direct call by Cheney for voters to oppose Donald Trump in the coming election: “Can a President who is willing to make the choices Donald Trump made during the violence of January 6 ever be trusted with any position of authority in our great nation again?” It is the type of pitch that is as unnecessary as it is counterproductive. Many voters tuned out the hearings weeks ago due to the absence of any balance in the presentation of evidence. To add direct political pitches only reduces the audience further. The result is that it is left telling largely Democratically aligned voters not to vote for Trump.

Tucker Bannon
https://twitter.com/i/status/1550645124824186887

The alternative was to secure a larger audience by allowing more balance. It would not have altered the power of these accounts. It would have simply added greater credibility to the proceedings. It could have changed minds rather than just reaffirm preexisting views. Instead, once again, the Committee simply edited out conflicting evidence. For example, the Committee again edited out the line of Trump where he said “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.” That line does not exonerate the former president. However, it is illustrative of the Committee’s refusal to hold these hearings for investigative rather than persuasive purposes.

What was particularly bizarre was Cheney’s effort to dismiss the need for any opposing views in the hearings. In one of the most counterintuitive and forced claims, Cheney said that such balance would not have made a difference: “And for those of you who seem to think the evidence would be different if Republican Leader McCarthy had not withdrawn his nominees from this committee, let me ask you this. Do you really think Bill Barr is such a delicate flower that he would wilt under cross-examination? Pat Cipollone, Eric Herschmann, Jeff Rosen, Richard Donoghue?” No one is suggesting that Barr would have changed his testimony. Rather, the argument is that there were questions not being asked for the witnesses and evidence not being presented. For example, when the two former members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers testified, members carefully avoided a host of countervailing questions, including any direct contacts with Trump or the White House.

However, it was the true confessions moment that stood out in the closing summation. Cheney said that more people will be called to come forward. She then added: “The case against Donald Trump in these hearings is not made by witnesses who were his political enemies. It is instead a series of confessions by Donald Trump’s own appointees, his own friends, his own campaign officials, people who worked for him for years, and his own family. They have come forward. And they have told the American people the truth.”

Dick Morris

Read more …

“We enter the new frontier of the Green New Deal and Build Back Better. In other words, the USA completely collapses.”

People, Get Ready (Jim Kunstler)

My political fantasy du jour: Thus, Kamala accedes to greatness! She must then appoint a new vice-president. That would be… wait for it… California governor Gavin Newsom — who else? (He was recently captured on video skulking into a back door of the West Wing while “Joe Biden” was out-of-town schmoozing up the honchos of Saudi Arabia.) Gov. Newsom is easily confirmed in the House and narrowly in the Senate when Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski vote with the Party of Chaos. Kamala soon resigns, citing “anxiety problems.” Now president, Mr. Newsom proceeds to accelerate the wrecking of the old USA along the lines of his recent work in California. All D.C. gas stations are ordered shut to promote the transition to renewables. The D.C. Mall is declared the National Homeless Camp….

I called it a fantasy, but this may be their only move left as the nation utterly loses its patience with the “Joe Biden” fiasco and the escalating disorders of Western Civ take us into August. The mid-term election must be revamped at all costs, they’ll say, “to save our democracy.” A new pandemic is declared in early October, complete with lockdowns, while Google partners with Facebook to roll out a new vote-by-phone app. By some miracle, then, the Democrats add thirty more seats to their house majority and five in the Senate. We enter the new frontier of the Green New Deal and Build Back Better. In other words, the USA completely collapses.

A dark scenario, I confess, but doesn’t that seem exactly where things are going? An epic crackup is upon us. Every place in the world is primed for meltdown, and a few lands in the periphery are already sinking. Sri Lanka is broke and out of gas after being set up as a WEF / Schwabenklaus low-carbon eco-state experiment. Panama is in revolt over extreme government corruption, food scarcity, and the after-effects of an especially severe two-year-long Covid lockdown that the rest of the world hardly heard about — perhaps because China has operational control over the vital Panama Canal and the CCP has operational control over the World Health Organization, which set up Panama as a lockdown lab project.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

 

Vicky Spit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle July 23 2022

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 45 total)
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  • #111996

    Salvador Dali Mme. Reese 1931   • Deal Between Ukraine And Russia Aims To Ease Global Food Crisis (NYT) • Servant of the Corrupt (Gonzalez) • Rus
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle July 23 2022]

    #111997
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Ya know; I played all the notes; and sang all the words; but never quite learned the song…
    ISB…

    #111998
    Neal
    Participant

    The 2 quadrillion of derivatives mentioned above. People cannot visualise that amount of money.
    People can visualise 10 grand however as a nice sum of cash. Then they see a million as a fortune, an amount they will never hold except in their fantasy of winning a lottery. Totally life changing.
    But to get to 2 quadrillion they need to put a 100 million in a pallet, then load a truck with 20 pallets. Then they need more trucks. A million truckloads of cash. Park those trucks bumper to bumper and they would reach from LA to NY and back to LA and back to NY. If anything goes wrong and counterparty risk collapses even a bit of that 2 quadrillion then goodbye to anyone getting their money.

    #111999
    oxymoron
    Participant

    Yeah the art. I’m in the middle on that one. I studied art and learned to appreciate the European movements and was very fond of a few – the impressionists are everyones’ bag but I liked Hundertvasser and Miro alot too.

    I will say however that it generally is a tight band of Whitey’s that get to show their skills and culture.

    There is a whole big wide world of brown dude art that I would like to see more of but don’t need it here.

    Here in Oz we have unbelievable and staggering art from Central Australia that’s been going on right through ice ages that took everyone out up north so maybe it is, in fact the white fullas ‘time to shine’ 🙂 Shine short and bright is good too I guess.

    Picasso may have been a bit of a dick but he worked very hard and produced wonderful work but like Bill Gates and myself, he was born under a scorpio sun so there is that…

    #112000
    oxymoron
    Participant
    #112001
    Veracious Poet
    Participant

    Political strategist Dick Morris outlines five reasons why Trump will run and win in 2024. @DickMorrisTweet pic.twitter.com/dhtVw4KsJ9

    — Dinesh D’Souza (@DineshDSouza) July 21, 2022



    #112002
    Dr. D
    Participant

    The 22’s fail us this month. Or so far as I can see in the news.

    Biden is going to step down though. I hope they can keep their story straight as to why. Is is Covid or is it Cancer? Say hello to President Kamala. Then Hillary or Newsome as VP and a day later Kamala has an accident.

    “What do you get when you cross Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton?”
    “Found unresponsive in your cell.”

    But she has a melanin vagina, that means she’s morally superior. …To a bunch of racists. The rest of us normal Americans would like to promote on merit, someone competent instead.

    “After calling on all member states to reduce gas consumption by 15% in the face of the threat of a complete Russian gas cutoff, the IEA says the European Union will need to cut even more in order to get through the winter.

    As I said, a lie. A Birx, if you will, a specific type of lie. It’s where you just make s—t up out of thin air to get things started – “15 Days to Stop the Spread” – when really you mean “I want to lock down everyone, and everything, everywhere, forever, then go to my beach house across the country and have a huge family dinner”. So here.
    “Hey Jacques! How many percent do you think the Europeans won’t hang us for on sight?”
    “Oh, about 15%, I wouldn’t go any higher.”
    “15% it is, old chum.”
    “Starting the bid at 15 15 here do I hear 16? 16, yes I have 16 is there 20? Do I have 20?…”
    .

    Why not? Apparently after a lifetime of being f’d in exactly the same way, no one can catch on when Daddy’s hovering over your bed again.

    “Russia reduced supplies by 60% on June 13th”

    So really 60% needs to be your opening number, lacking The Birx.

    We’ll be sitting here in nicely heated houses with the electric on. Thanks for volunteering for this war of intentional suicide. It’s reduced the competition nicely. And to think: last time was actually had to GO to Europe and BOMB every other factory on earth to get this done. If only we had put Bernays in charge then instead!

    “You’ve come a long way, baby!” Coughing yourself to a pointless, unnecessary end broke in a cold apartment. F Yeah! ‘Merica!

    “Triple/Quadruple Vaccinated Account for 91% of All UK Covid Deaths (DE)”

    Speaking of volunteering for mass death due to good advertising.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Taste_of_Armageddon
    “Anan 7 explains that the war is conducted as a computer simulation… The crew are thereby expected to report to Eminiar’s [own] disintegration chambers for [voluntary] execution” – Star Trek, 1967

    …The premise is, they disintegrated their OWN people, rather than having a war, because it’s far more “civilized”. We’re not barbarians after all. You wouldn’t want Quaglino’s bombed; where would the rich eat?

    And they’re just as mad at us for not jumping into the vaporizers as they were at that barbarian Captain Kirk.

    “Trump ’25: A Radical Plan for Trump’s Second Term (Axios)”

    And? Why didn’t he do this the first time? Congress was the uniparty, run by backstabbing Rinos with tiny horns. And? So why would anything change? The DNC is presently funding the campaigns of every J6, Q-Anon GOP candidate to the tune of a Million apiece, to get them on the ticket.

    Um, Docktor? I thought Liz Cheney and the other Democrats said all those candidates were racist, misogynistic violent insurrectionists who needed to be hung at dawn? A: Don’t ask me, this is literally what the whole DNC party is doing with their money right now: expelling RINOs and putting in people who will call committees, investigate, and arrest Fauci and Hunter in the first week, then move on to impeaching Biden for it. Giving them a million a piece in a critical election.

    Btw, please donate to the Democratic Party. Roe is under attack, we haven’t done a single thing about that yet, we don’t have anything on the schedule to do anything later, but your $30 is just so important to us, so we can help promote 30 more Margery Taylor Greenes instead of M4A and a living wage, and this is the fourth time we’ve asked you today…

    …No joke, this is literally what is happening right now. So if you’re an ACTUAL Democrat, and ACTUAL Progressive, where are you supposed to donate and vote?

    But hey, that’s what the Republicans had as a situation for the last 40 years, so it’s no surprise they caught up. “Closing the Collapse Gap”

    #112003
    John Day
    Participant

    “According to Birol, this won’t be enough to ensure a smooth winter for Europe, and there is no alternative to consumption reduction.”

    EXCEPT RETURINING PUMP TURBINE AND OPENING NORDSTREAM 2

    “Even assuming that the current Russian gas flow is maintained, and considering all the LNG Europe is getting from the United States and elsewhere, plus other natural gas sources, and even if there are no accidents that hamper supply, Europe still needs to reduce more, starting now, Birol said.”

    #112004
    Red
    Participant

    Neal another way to look at two “quadrillion” Is one dollar per second 24/7 for ….drum roll…. approximately 65 million years. So back to the last great extinction, kinda fitting really.

    #112005
    John Day
    Participant

    Oooh, nice image, Oxymoron.

    #112006
    Red
    Participant

    “The breakthrough comes after months of talks and was brokered with the help of the United Nations ”

    They are not agreement capable end of.

    #112007
    zerosum
    Participant

    Simplifying life
    Russia,Russia,Russia, is causing the food crisis (lies)

    • Deal Between Ukraine And Russia Aims To Ease Global Food Crisis (NYT)
    ———-
    Russia,Russia,Russia, is causing heat wave (lies)
    ———–
    Russia,Russia,Russia, is causing stupidity ignorance, dementia, blindness (lies)
    • IEA Chief: Europe Must Cut Gas Usage 20% To Survive Winter (OP)
    • Triple/Quadruple Vaccinated Account For 91% Of All UK Covid Deaths (DE)
    The 2 quadrillion of derivatives
    Finally, derivatives are usually leveraged instruments, and using leverage cuts both ways. While it can increase the rate of return, it also makes losses mount more quickly. (Making a bet with money that you don’t have)
    https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/derivative.asp
    ————
    Misfits and minorities are the ones who are not followers/supporters of the lies

    ———–

    #112008

    Saw earlier today somewhere that the turbine is now stuck in Cologne. And the Germans blame that on Russia not letting it into the country. Why would they not, though? As you’ve seen, I started re-including RT articles in the aggregator, it’s just too valuable not to. And I catch myself thinking that I trust RT way more than MSM. Not 100%, but way more. Anyways, once the turbine is “freed”, it will take another 7-10 days (by barge, train?!) to reach its destination.

    #112009
    Formerly T-Bear
    Participant

    RT has this headline:

    Liz Truss claims to be an ‘insurgent’

    https://www.rt.com/news/559503-truss-candidate-plans-interview/

    Try “insqertgent”; Gent is the fabricator of her dildo. Britain deserves the Liz(ard) Truss becoming their PM, it will bury any and all remaining good repute so deep it will never be found. One great way to end the reign of the queen and her miserable family including Randy Andy. Not once in her long reign has E II been seen to delay, divert or stay the disintegration of her patrimony, but E II was always seen to be pleasant. God save the queen, no one else can.

    #112010
    Oroboros
    Participant

    I’m not sure if this was from Idiocracy

    At least it’s not bugs

    .

    #112011
    Formerly T-Bear
    Participant

    R.I.M. at 112008

    IIRC on RT the other day, Russia was asking for all the paperwork for the turbine (to clear customs?) from Siemens be forwarded asap as needed for the technical description of the turbine and the repair work done and to verify its origins and chain of custody. (no link).

    #112012
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @RaulIlargiMeijer

    A pity the Rhine water levels are too low for loaded barges, and the rail line trains need Russian oil and gas in order to run. But fear not! Germany (on orders from the US/UK via Nato ) is soldiering on anyway, secure in the philosophic strategy of “Don’t worry, we’ll think of something !”

    #112013
    John Day
    Participant

    Critical Russian pipeline components have been covertly and strategically sabotaged by the west before, quite successfully under Bush/Reagan, massive damage…

    #112014
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    The aspect that still stuns me almost to disbelief ( and I’ve always thought my self to be quite cynical) is that German leaders can turn the gas back on any damn minute they want to , but are willing to CRUSH and kill their own citizens just to make a few more billions in counterfeit bucks that are hyperinflating as we speak now that Russia and its BRICS club have won the fight.

    What a revolting dog’s breakfast of an old world order.

    #112015
    Noirette
    Participant

    Re. top post… servant of the corrupt.

    Kolomoisky. Like many Ukr. oligarchs, he has several passports. Ukr. legislation reportedly forbids double nationality, see for ex punishment today of those applying for, or accepting, a Russian passport, see below.

    But not… Triple! 🙂 !

    He has Ukrainian, Israeli, and a Schengen Zone passport (Cyprus), plus a B-permit – somewhat lower than the US ‘green card’ – for Switz, he is officially domiciled in Switz. Permit was obtained thru the ‘family re-grouping’ laws, as his wife and children live in Switz. One of his daughters, for ex. is Swiss. He owns a high class flat in Geneva – and a kind of Chateau..In France.. which is where the family spends most of its time. Kolomoisky has had quite a lot of legal battles on Swiss ground, these have all been instigated outside of CH, and have been dismissed, cancelled, etc. I don’t know all the details, link (in F, just one ex.)

    https://bit.ly/3PR1oSQ

    But since he has reduced his financial investements / stakes in CH.

    Here some news about his sister, 2019, eng, note, fam-i-ly ties:

    https://bit.ly/3z5D7Si

    Here some problems she ran across in 2022, eng.

    https://bit.ly/3ztPXLN

    russian passports in Ukr (reg MSM, July):

    https://bit.ly/3PRRPTA https://bit.ly/3BdzcFU

    All this is quite standard, Zelensky is just a junior member of this kind of club. He was probably co-opted because of new-face zing – not too old – actor qualities – not anti Russian – corrupt and malleable. By… Kolomoisky.

    #112016
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    Putin rejects the globalist model and I support that.

    Putin speaks of a fairer world order he sees and is working towards as the way forward for civilization.

    When Putin refers to the “golden billion” he means the population of the western world.


    ASI forum Strong Ideas for a New Time
    Vladimir Putin attended the plenary session of the forum Strong Ideas for a New Time organised by the autonomous non-profit organisation Agency for Strategic Initiatives, established to promote new projects.

    July 20, 202216:40 Moscow

    President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends,

    I would like to begin by saying that I am very happy to be with you today.

    Through you, I would like to greet and thank all those who have submitted their proposals to the forum Strong Ideas for a New Time, to thank the team of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives for organising the forum, and to express appreciation for the work of our regions, which have contributed to the implementation of the ideas presented at the first ASI forum, held in late 2020.

    It is obvious that there is growing demand for the mechanism proposed by ASI for identifying, selecting and supporting civil projects and initiatives. As we were walking here with Svetlana Chupsheva, she said that, regrettably, an all-embracing and effective mechanism for selecting projects had not yet been created at the state level. But it is good that ASI is doing something like this. We will make increasingly broad use of this practice.

    This mechanism is fully consonant with the tasks of our internal development and the time when truly revolutionary transformations are gaining momentum and getting stronger. These enormous changes are irreversible, of course. National and global processes are underway to develop the fundamentals and principles of a harmonious, fairer and more community-focused and safe world order as an alternative to the existing world order, or the unipolar world order in which we lived, and which, because of its nature, is definitely becoming a brake on the development of our civilisation.

    The model of total domination by the so-called golden billion is unfair. Why should this golden billion, which is only part of the global population, dominate everyone else and enforce its rules of conduct that are based on the illusion of exceptionalism? It divides the world into first and second-class people and is therefore essentially racist and neo-colonial. The underlying globalist and pseudo-liberal ideology is becoming increasingly more like totalitarianism and is restraining creative endeavour and free historical creation.

    One gets the impression that the West is simply unable to offer the world a model for the future of its own. Indeed, it was no accident that the golden billion attained its gold and achieved quite a lot, but it got there not because it implemented certain concepts. It mainly got to where it is by robbing other peoples in Asia and Africa. That is how it was. India was robbed for an extensive period of time. This is why the elite of the golden billion are terrified of other global development centres potentially coming up with their own development alternatives.

    No matter how much the West and the supranational elite strive to preserve the existing order, a new era and a new stage in world history are coming. Only genuinely sovereign states are in a position to ensure a high growth dynamic and become a role model for others in terms of standards of living and quality of life, the protection of traditional values and high humanistic ideals, and development models where an individual is not a means, but the ultimate goal.

    Sovereignty is about freedom of national development, and thus, the development of every individual. It is about the technological, cultural, intellectual and educational solvency of a state – that is what it is. No doubt, responsible, active and nationally minded and nationally oriented civil society is the most important component of sovereignty.

    I am convinced that in order to be strong, independent and competitive, we need to improve the mechanisms for people to participate in the country’s life and to make them more open and fairer. That includes mechanisms for direct democracy and people’s involvement in addressing the critical problems facing society and the public.

    The way forward is to rely on our people’s creative potential, to team up with you and people like you who are not with us today. How many thousands participated, did you say?

    http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69039

    #112017
    Noirette
    Participant

    This link tallies: Who is still buying fossil fuels froms Russia?

    From Feb. 24, the invasion of Ukr., to June 4, 2022.

    Such stats. (which I believe to be roughly correct) show that much of the posturing of pols and MSM hyped rubbish and lies has absolutely nothing to do with what is really going on.

    Who’s Still Buying Fossil Fuels From Russia?

    Recall also that with ‘sanctions’ there are all kinds of shenanigans by various actors, Corps, countries, buying under X contracts, to sell, under Y contracts, to make some profit, and/or/plus to hide or obscure the Russian Provenance. What crazy hypocrisy by the now so-called “Collective West”..

    #112019
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    I am very impressed with Alexander Mercouris.

    Putin has become exasperated with the Europeans and the trade with them is likely irretrievable. Oil and gas exports from Russia are no longer going to flow west but will flow east to Asia instead. They are allowing the pain dial on Europe to crank up. They are going to allow the Europeans to do most of the damage to themselves.

    #112020
    Oroboros
    Participant

    A Fair World Order is what I want for Christmas.

    Go Putin, I wish the collective West had an actual Leader anywhere.

    The multipolar world reintroduces a balance of power.

    But, like a see-saw, a give and take has to be worked out and learn in a spirit of mutual respect.

    .

    #112023
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Eurotardistan® is going to have a Lethal Learning Curve© (LLC) going forward.

    It’s problems are self inflicted.

    And blaming RussiaRussiaRussia is like selling ‘the dog ate my homework’ to your high school teacher.

    It’s a hard sell.

    Russia did it.

    .

    #112024
    Oroboros
    Participant

    The hubris of the Collective West knows no bounds at this point in history.

    It has a ‘let them eat cake’ psychosis built into it’s DNA.

    If the “Golden Billion” was a building contractor, this would be it’s idea of a handicap entrance ramp for the less fortunate.

    .

    #112025
    TAE Summary
    Participant

    * The Daily Covid
    – Everyone who had been vaccinated will die within 3 to 5 years: Dumbdown, Clotshoot, Dieoff
    – 70% in the UK are vaccinated and 91% of those dying are vaccinated
    Death/Vaccinated Ratio: 91/70 = 1.3
    Death/Unvaccinated Ratio: 9/30 = 0.3
    Death/V-UnV Ratios Ratio: 1.3/0.3 = 4.3
    – New Zealand Covid deaths surging; Just imagine how bad they’d be without vaccination and masking!
    – The unvaccinated are facing a winter of severe illness and death. But which winter? And whose deaths?

    * The Economy
    – The Euro has lost 20% of its value against the dollar but 35% of its value against the Ruble
    – Europe must reduce gas usage by 20%. Applying Murphy’s Law and the Pareto Principle this will reduce their productivity by 80%.
    – Industry and manufacturing in America were just the scaffolding which is now being removed to reveal the true building which is the Financial-Educational-Military-Medical-Governmental-Post-Industrial-Complex
    – Gold never faileth: but whether there be currencies, they shall fail; whether there be bonds, they shall cease; whether there be derivatives, they shall vanish away.

    * Politics
    – Schedule F: Undermine my presidency once, shame on you. Undermine my presidency twice? You can’t get undermined again.
    – A nation gets the leader it deserves. Apparently the US deserves Biden, Trump, Clinton, Harris or Newsom. Uggh
    – The Gangrene New Deal: Cut of the energy supply to the country and watch it get infected and rot as the nation dies of untreated sepsis

    * Etymology of the Day: Amazon: in folk etymology long derived from a- “without” + mazos “breast;” hence the story that the Amazons cut or burned off one breast so they could draw bowstrings more efficiently.

    #112026
    kultsommer
    Participant

    @oroboros. Image is most likely of late retrofit and may serve the function with the help of two persons. BTW, building contractor is not in charge of concept and design drawings. He just “builds sh*t”.

    Jim K’s brilliant writing is full of unfunded optimism about justice delivered. Goes great with the few glasses of wine.
    Number of comments are laced with and can not have enough of “stupid Davos crowd”.

    Dali paints photo-realistic paintings that that does not look like photo-realistic, if you get my drift. Enigmatic cloud figures,
    one coming to her and other running away?

    #112027
    willem
    Participant

    This “missile attack” on Odesa coming right on the heels of yesterday’s grain shipping agreement between Russia and Ukraine is interesting. The Russians deny involvement. The BBC, as usual, reports it as an “evil Russia” story:

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62276392.amp

    #112028
    willem
    Participant

    Gonzalo Lira thinks the US is going to assassinate Zelensky, based on an offhand comment made yesterday at the Aspen Institute by Antony Blinken:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mactoSForFY

    #112029
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Lira is now saying confidently that he thinks the Empire of Lies is about to assasinate Zelensky and try to blame it on RussiaRussiaRussia.

    He says that Jake the Fake Sullivan jst said he fears for Zelensky’s life.

    Lira says that is the checkered flag that the empire of Lies is DONE with their nazi buttboy cause he is now a Big Liablity.

    Dead men speak no tales.

    The logic is sound.

    We shall see.

    A dead Zelensky is a martyr.

    A live Zelensky could Spill the Beans®

    Saint Zelensky, Patron Saint of Corruption

    He can join Saint Mattis of Quantico, Patron Saint of Chaos

    .

    #112030
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Meanwhile the Empire of Lies has bought an electric Hummer for the battlefield because nothing instills fear in your enemy real Virtue Signaling Green Nazi Clusterfucks.

    Ah, the Hummer

    https://www.foxnews.com/auto/u-s-army-bought-electric-hummer

    You shouldn’t name a combat vehicle after a Blowjob.

    Nobody is afraid of that.

    .

    #112031

    Smith- I liked your “no business, no money” post from yesterday.
    The art: that portrait is dreck. I hope Dali got a ton of money from her for it.

    #112032

    WHO? declares monkey pox a global health concern.
    Now I’m terrafried. Oh, wait. That was the heat wave.
    I have a niece who worked on monkey pox way back when. With a guy named Hruby.(?) I’ll have to give her a call.

    #112033

    This song is from “Bespoke Songs, Lost Dogs, Detours & Rendezvous”, and album of covers of Elvis Costello songs.

    “Dirty Rotten Shame”

    I recall the good old days
    But thankfully, they’ve gone
    Now the ponies all are broken nags
    That stumble as they groan
    And throw the jockeys from their throne
    When there are pitches left to dodge
    And lions left to tame
    But it’s nothing but a dirty rotten shame
    It’s a dirty rotten shame
    That when you’re frivolous and strong
    It isn’t youth, its fearlessness
    That has been wasted on the young
    The cruel are in the cradle
    And the bishop’s in the bag
    It’s nothing but a dirty rotten shame

    (Not the complete song. It’s been going through my head all day.)

    #112034
    Formerly T-Bear
    Participant

    Headline from RT:

    Biden aide reveals how US plans to battle gasoline prices

    https://www.rt.com/business/559508-biden-aide-reveals-oil-plan/

    Let me guess, it will be biblical: With the jawbone of an ass, probably the one occupying the WH.

    #112035
    toolate
    Participant

    Long time lurker here.
    Also frequent reader at Naked Capitalism.
    I was not aware of the ownership of NC belonging to Aurora Capital who count as clients lots of powerful corporations nor of the owners longstanding work with McKinsey etc.

    Anyone find that odd?

    #112036
    Rover
    Participant

    NC has disclosed it’s bona fides since I first started reading it after the GFC of 2008…. they’ve always let it’s readers know when soliciting financial support. It seems to have changed it’s perspective since COVID came into to the world

    #112037
    oxymoron
    Participant

    I’m stating the obvious here but the golden billion don’t deserve to have energy slaves in the ‘developing’ world but I am cautious about Putin’s speech because I feel like when intra-elite competition ramps up there is misery plenty to go around.
    China and Russia are ‘good guys’ because they are putting breaks on Western dominance but there are always costs and the ‘rights and freedoms of the individual’ Putin is going on about could turn out to be a bunch of horse shit.

    #112038
    John Day
    Participant

    Hi Oxymoron: We all need a lot of “energy-slaves” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_slave#:~:text=In%201940%2C%20these%20energy%20slaves,human%20holds%2038%20energy%20slaves.
    Bucky Fuller came up with the notion. A gallon of Gasoline for a lawnmower is already 10 energy slaves or something.
    The average American has hundreds or thousands of energy slaves.

    Energy Slaves: every American has somewhere between 200 and 8,000 energy slaves


    Fewer , tapering down, is the best we can do if we want to stay alive, I think.

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