Sep 052022
 
 September 5, 2022  Posted by at 8:41 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , ,


Marc Chagall Blue lovers 1914

 

‘Better To Negotiate Now Than Later’ For Ukraine, Retired US General Says (RT)
West And Russia Will Eventually Strike A Deal – Kremlin (RT)
Russia Is Unreliable Energy Partner – Germany (RT)
Germany Announces €65 Billion Inflation Relief Package Amid Energy Crisis (F24)
Greece Unfazed By European Energy Concerns (K.)
Greek Power Subsidy Cap As Of 2023 (K.)
Turkey Likely To Face Bankruptcy, Report Claims (K.)
Full Gas Storage Not Enough For EU To Last Through Winter – Reuters (RT)
UK Police Preparing For Unrest This Winter – Times (RT)
Kiev Spreading ‘Propaganda By Fear’ – French Ex-presidential Candidate (RT)
Mayor Of Antwerp: ‘Belgium Is Bankrupt, We Are The New Greece’ (AD)
The Truth About Carbon-Based Fuels (Denninger)
Biden’s Use of the Marines Violated Federal Policies and Regulations (Turley)
‘Never Seen’ Before: Embalmers Find Numerous Long, Fibrous Clots (ET)

 

 

Euro declines below 99 US cents for the first time in two decades.


Europe wholesale natural gas price up 30% just this morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

George Webb $12 million a month to Zelensky

 

 


Note the date

 

 

Cologne

 

 

 

 

 

 

This should be in the MSM, not just RT. This guy is a hawk, but sees the west cannot win.

‘Better To Negotiate Now Than Later’ For Ukraine, Retired US General Says (RT)

Sustaining the conflict in Ukraine is becoming increasingly difficult for NATO, so Kiev must think about negotiating with Moscow, retired US Army brigadier general Mark T. Kimmitt has said in an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal. Washington’s latest military aid package to Kiev last month included “older and less advanced”systems, which “may indicate that battlefield consumption rates have outpaced production to a point where excess inventories provided to Ukraine are nearly exhausted,” Kimmitt pointed out in his article on Thursday. Dealing with “dwindling stocks of leading-edge weapon systems” in NATO countries would likely mean a prolonged conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Such a scenario could result in “more pressure from supporting nations, sustained inflation, less heating gas, and falling popular support” in the West, he wrote.

Kimmitt, who served as assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs in 2008-09, suggested four ways to speed up the resolution of the conflict, which has now been underway for six months. The first option is to “dig deeper” into NATO stockpiles and send arms to Kiev that have so far been withheld by members due to their own national defense requirements, the retired general suggested. That’s something EU countries may be willing to do as it’s “better to use these weapons in Kherson than Krakow,” he added. The US and its European allies could also try ramping up production of the systems that are required by the Zelensky government, Kimmitt said, acknowledging that such a move would unlikely have an immediate effect on the situation on the ground.

The third option is “to step up the conflict” by providing Ukraine with longer-range systems, such as ATACM missiles, F-16 jets, and Patriots, and “broaden the rules of engagement to attack targets in Crimea and possibly Russia,” he wrote. However, the retired general warned that such escalation would definitely face a “response from Moscow” and create the risk of conflict spilling into Europe. The final available solution, according to Kimmitt, is for Ukraine to “push for an interim diplomatic resolution without (or with) territorial concessions.” “There is little incentive to negotiate” at the moment, but Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky “must recognize that diminishing resupplies would have a disastrous effect on his army, not merely for battlefield operations but for the message of declining outside support it would send to the people of Ukraine,” he insisted. “Beginning the diplomatic resolution would be distasteful, and perhaps seen as defeatist, but as there is little chance of climbing out of the current morass, it may be better to negotiate now than later,” the retired general said.

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“Russia has acquired “priceless experience” of dealing with the West in recent years and will use it to “conduct dialogue… in such a way that our interests are by no means hurt.”

West And Russia Will Eventually Strike A Deal – Kremlin (RT)

The crisis between Russia and the West will inevitably be resolved at the negotiating table, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He warned, however, that Moscow will be ready to defend its interests when that moment arrives. Western nations “have made too many mistakes and will have to pay for them,” he said on the Rossiya 1 TV Channel. “Any confrontation is followed by détente and any crisis situation is resolved at the negotiating table… this is what will happen this time as well,” the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said, adding that it’s unlikely to occur “soon.” When such talks materialise, Moscow will not hesitate to defend its interests, Peskov added. Russia has acquired “priceless experience” of dealing with the West in recent years and will use it to “conduct dialogue… in such a way that our interests are by no means hurt.”


The Kremlin official listed what he sees as Western errors, citing Germany’s “horrible”decision to send weapons to Ukraine for use against Russian soldiers. He also criticized European nations for supporting a government that allows “Nazis” to openly demonstrate their symbols and stage torchlit processions, calling it “no less horrible.” Peskov also blamed the energy crisis in Europe on “absurd” decisions by European politicians, who have refused to service equipment sold by Western firms to Gazprom. The Russian state energy giant “spent decades” earning its reputation of a reliable natural gas supplier, and has so far done nothing to tarnish it, the Kremlin spokesman claimed. “This is not Gazprom’s fault, this is fault of those politicians, who have taken the decision on sanctions,” he said, referring to the Russian company’s recent decision to indefinitely suspend gas transit through its Nord Stream pipeline, due to technical issues.

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In Germany, the world is upside down. Isn’t there a Brothers Grimm story about that?

Kim Dotcom:
“How to end the war in Ukraine. Germany can end the war in Ukraine single-handedly. The US cannot afford a proxy war with Russia if Germany backs out of sanctions against Russia. Let’s be honest: Russia is not a threat to Germany. It wants good relations with Europe.”

Russia Is Unreliable Energy Partner – Germany (RT)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz claimed on Sunday that Russia cannot be considered a reliable energy supplier, and accused Moscow of breaching its contractual obligations. Speaking at a news conference with party leaders from the Greens and pro-business FDP, he said Moscow was always a reliable energy partner “even during the Cold War,” but that the rule no longer applies. According to the chancellor, the impact of the Ukraine conflict and related sanctions is being keenly felt in Germany, but Berlin will continue to support Kiev against Russia. Scholz expects Germany to pass through a rough period, but expressed his confidence that the nation will cope with the energy crunch during the upcoming winter season.

Germany is grappling with natural gas supply problems via Nord Stream 1, which has been entirely shut down since August 31. The natural gas pipeline under the Baltic was operating at 40% of capacity from June onwards, providing some 67 million cubic meters per day. The initial supply reduction occurred due to the delayed return of gas turbines after scheduled maintenance in Canada, resulting from Ottawa’s sanctions against Russia. In July, supplies through the pipeline dropped to 20%, as the remaining turbines required an overhaul. Earlier this week, supplies were entirely halted for a scheduled three-day maintenance break, and Gazprom later announced an indefinite shutdown, after an engine oil leak was found in the turbine.

Several EU politicians have accused Moscow of using gas exports as a geopolitical weapon, a claim denied by the Kremlin. Earlier this week, Moscow said only Western sanctions are preventing Nord Stream 1 from working at full capacity. This comes after repeated warnings from Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller that sanctions would obstruct Siemens Energy from carrying out maintenance of the pipeline’s equipment.

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“The latest agreement, which brings total relief to almost 100 billion euros since the start of the Ukraine war, was hammered out overnight into Sunday by Germany’s three-way ruling coalition..”

It’s not enough. Go talk to Putin..

Germany Announces €65 Billion Inflation Relief Package Amid Energy Crisis (F24)

The German government on Sunday unveiled a new multi-billion euro plan to help households cope with soaring prices, and said it was eyeing windfall profits from energy companies to help fund the relief. German businesses and consumers are feeling the pain from sky-high energy prices, as Europe’s biggest economy seeks to extricate itself from reliance from Russian supplies in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Rapid measures to prepare for the coming cold season will ensure that Germany would “get through this winter,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at the unveiling of the €65 billion package. The latest agreement, which brings total relief to almost 100 billion euros since the start of the Ukraine war, was hammered out overnight into Sunday by Germany’s three-way ruling coalition of Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens, and the liberal FDP.

Among the headline measures are one-off payments to millions of vulnerable pensioners and a plan to skim off energy firms’ windfall profits. The government’s latest relief package came two days after Russian energy giant Gazprom said it would not restart gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Saturday as planned after a three-day maintenance. The government had made “timely decisions” to avoid a winter crisis, Scholz said, including filling gas stores and restarting coal power plants. But preventative measures, including a drive to reduce consumption, have done little to break a sharp increase in household bills.

The latest announcement follows two previous relief packages totalling 30 billion euros, which included a reduction in the tax on petrol and a popular heavily subsidised public transport ticket. But with the expiration of many of those measures at the end of August and consumer prices soaring, the government has been under pressure to provide new support. Inflation rose again to 7.9 percent in August, after falling for two straight months thanks to previous government relief measures. The take-off in energy prices is expected to push inflation in Germany to around 10 percent by the end of the year, its highest rate in decades.

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“..12 billion euros (or 6% of GDP) will be spent on power subsidies this year..”

Greece Unfazed By European Energy Concerns (K.)

Most of Europe is bracing for a tough winter. The war continues to rage in Ukraine and the Kremlin has transformed it into an energy weapon aimed at sinking European economies into recession and creating political upheaval, to Russia’s benefit. New, more transmissible variants of the coronavirus are expected to bring a resurgence of the pandemic and climate change is exacerbating the energy crisis, testing Europe’s mostly aged infrastructure and standing in the way of emissions reduction targets. These factors together paint a rather bleak picture of what the new normal looks like – and to top it all off, the European Commission is a deer caught in the headlights.

President Emmanuel Macron has told the French to prepare for sacrifices (for many these will be greater than for others) and called on his ministers not to succumb to the sirens of populism. Berlin has introduced a radical energy savings plan with cutbacks in private consumption and is reintroducing mandatory testing and masks as of October 1 to manage the pandemic. And concern about the recession – which is a threat to even the most advanced economies – is widespread. Greece appears to be the exception to all this. The messages it is sending is that it is protected from all sides, its economy is booming and Covid-19 is no longer a real problem. Greece, according to this relaxed narrative, is fine, and everything is under control. This is far from true, however. There’s a lot of care being given to subsidies, but the attitude is relaxed where everything else – the big and important issues – is concerned.

Take, for example, the government’s policy on energy: 12 billion euros (or 6% of GDP) will be spent on power subsidies this year, €2 billion of which will come from the budget; everyone will benefit, rich and poor, main residences and holiday homes. No effort is being made to contain electricity consumption, which is simply the right thing to do right now, given that natural gas supplies – and, as a result, power production capabilities – are far from guaranteed. Nothing is being done to bolster transportation and distribution networks either, even though energy from renewable sources can be produced but not adequately transported and what transport networks we do have leak 17% of their load in the process – double the European average.

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Next year, you’re on your own…

Greek Power Subsidy Cap As Of 2023 (K.)

The government plans to put an end to the high state subsidies in 2023 that have up to now covered between 85% and 94% of the electricity rate hikes. As there are no resources to keep subsidizing such high energy costs for households and businesses the government will change the mix of support measures. With the coverage of up to 94% of the increases, some households reached the point of zero bills, while others also secured small refunds. It is impossible to continue such a policy in 2023, government sources say, as the same fiscal conditions will not exist. Inevitably, the government will have to proceed to subsidy cuts, as the budget cannot sustain such spending for such a long period of time.

Alternate Finance Minister Thodoros Skylakakis told Skai Radio on Friday that in 2023 Greece should replace gas (which has very high rates) with other fuels, save energy, and protect the most vulnerable households and businesses. According to sources, the government seems to reject income criteria at this stage as it is an imperfect tool and socially unfair for employees and pensioners, given that tax evasion and concealment of taxable material are on the rise. However, a ceiling on electricity consumption will be considered, as it is no longer in the interest of households to use electricity for heating, given that oil is now significantly cheaper. As Skylakakis mentioned, today gas costs as if oil were at 500 euros per barrel, or gasoline at €6-7 per liter.

The exorbitant rates of natural gas are passed on to electricity bills, since 30-40% of electricity is produced from gas. Based on the above, the margins are frighteningly tight for 2023. According to initial calculations, the surplus from taxes will reach €1.5 billion next year, but this amount will have to finance other previously announced measures, such as the abolition of the solidarity levy for civil servants and pensioners, which entails some €470 million. At the same time, pensioners will get their first raise after many years.

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Elections in 9 months. This is where Erdogan’s most dangerous.

Turkey Likely To Face Bankruptcy, Report Claims (K.)

Turkey’s economy is on the verge of bankruptcy, according to a report submitted by economic experts to opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reports. The report was prepared with the involvement of officials of Kilicdaroglu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), Hurriyet says. The report says the difficulty in paying off Turkey’s debt will emerge after the presidential and parliamentary elections, set for June 2023 and claims it is quite likely that payments will be stopped. “Because of the chaos the present government will leave behind, the new government faces the risk of failure in its economic policy,” the report says. The report also says that the Turkish state will have difficulty in paying wages and pensions. The report’s authors say that the support of foreign banks and other financial institutions is necessary for Turkey to avoid bankruptcy.

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“To cope with this crisis situation, demand reduction will be even more important than storage..”

Full Gas Storage Not Enough For EU To Last Through Winter – Reuters (RT)

Fully-stocked gas storage facilities may not be sufficient to sustain European countries during the upcoming heating season, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing analysts. According to Aurora Energy Research’s calculations, the bloc’s storages can only provide enough gas for up to 90 days of average demand. Modeling by data intelligence firm ICIS also shows that the region’s reserves may run dry by March. Analysts therefore agree that gas consumption should be slashed in order to avoid shortages. “To cope with this crisis situation, demand reduction will be even more important than storage,” Simone Tagliapietra, a senior fellow at the Bruegel think-tank, was cited as saying.


ICIS data shows that, if consumption is reduced 15% below the five-year average each month, the bloc may still have 45% of gas reserves left come spring if Russia continues supplying gas to the region at its current volumes, and 26% if Russia stops deliveries in October. Moreover, the EU’s failure to save gas this winter would affect next year’s storage levels. According to the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies, if Russia cuts gas flows and EU depletes its storages during the upcoming heating season, next year’s storages will be emptied as early as November, before the heating season is even in full swing. “The storage is the safety net, but a very significant demand reduction is what we need as a priority in this crisis,” Matthias Buck, Europe director for Agora Energiewende, told the news outlet.

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All police forces are.

UK Police Preparing For Unrest This Winter – Times (RT)

UK police fear a sharp rise in certain categories of crime and a risk of civil unrest this winter amid a cost of living and energy crisis, the Sunday Times reports, citing a leaked national strategy paper. The document compiled by police chiefs warns that “economic turmoil and financial instability”may lead to an increase in offenses such as shoplifting, burglary, vehicle theft, online fraud and blackmail. More children are likely to join drug gangs and more women may become subject to sexual exploitation. Contingency planning is reportedly underway to deal with the possible fallout from the cost of living crisis. “Prolonged and painful economic pressure”could create a risk of “greater civil unrest,”similar to the London riots of 2011, the paper is quoted as saying.

Police themselves may also be affected. “Greater financial vulnerability may expose some staff to higher risk of corruption, especially among those who fall into significant debt or financial difficulties,” the paper said. The gloomy forecast was revealed the day before the UK finds out the name of its new prime minister. Both candidates, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former chancellor Rishi Sunak, have pledged to take decisive action to address soaring energy costs. While Sunak has promised targeted support for the poorest in society, frontrunner Truss has not revealed the details of her strategy. Civil servants have been busy with contingency planning. According to the Financial Times, Whitehall officials are now compiling stocks of carbon paper to reproduce documents in a worst-case scenario of winter blackouts.

The Daily Mail has reported that this winter could see people told not to cook until after 8pm and not to use washing machines or dishwashers between 2pm and 8pm as part of energy rationing. Pubs may be ordered to close at 9pm and schools could switch to three-days weeks. The energy crisis in Europe has been exacerbated by sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine conflict and a decrease in Russian natural gas supplies. While the UK is not directly dependent on Moscow for fuel, it is still suffering. The typical annual household fuel bill is expected to rise to around £3,500 from October, three times higher than last year. According to the Bank of England’s latest report, inflation will soar to 13% in October and from the fourth quarter of this year, the UK is projected to enter recession.

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A rare sane voice.

“Ukrainian propaganda” should be stopped “under the aegis of the UN and media organizations.”

Kiev Spreading ‘Propaganda By Fear’ – French Ex-presidential Candidate (RT)

A former presidential candidate in France has accused Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky of using ‘war propaganda’ as a tool to obstruct the peace process. Veteran politician Segolene Royal also called on the UN and media associations to fight against such tactics. Royal’s suggestion, that some of the “war crimes” Kiev blames on Russian troops were part of ‘propaganda,’ has made her a target for widespread criticism. Speaking to BFMTV earlier this week, Royal said that “everyone knows that there is war propaganda by fear.” As an example, she cited the alleged shelling of a maternity hospital in Mariupol – the story which made headlines in Western media in early March. Zelensky blamed Russia for the incident that, as local authorities claimed, killed three people, including a child.

The Russian military denied targeting the medical facility and insisted the whole thing was a “completely staged provocation” by the Ukrainian side. “You can imagine that if there had been any victim, any baby with blood, in the age of cell phones we would have seen [their photos],” Royal stressed. The authenticity of the photos presented by Kiev as proof of the claimed Russian attack were questioned by many online. Marianna Vyshemirskaya, one of the pregnant women featured in the images that appeared on the front pages of many major outlets, later claimed that there had been no Russian airstrike on the hospital. She insisted that she told AP journalists about this, but they decided not to mention it in their reportage. Royal, who used to be a long-term partner of France’s former president Francois Hollande, also commented on the events of April in the town of Bucha near Kiev, after which Zelensky claimed that negotiations with Russia became impossible.

Ukrainian authorities accused the Russian forces of multiple atrocities against civilians in the town, including the rape of children. Moscow firmly denied the allegations of war crimes, insisting it was “yet another provocation” by Kiev. “The stories of child rape for seven hours under the eyes of the parents: but it’s monstrous to go and spread things like that only to interrupt the peace process,” the veteran French politician stated, without elaborating She also claimed that Zelensky used accounts of alleged torture of Ukrainian soldiers by Russian troops – which Moscow also vehemently denies – not only to impede any peace process but also to “remobilize” troops. She argued that as “there’s been enough horror of war and casualties” and that “Ukrainian propaganda” should be stopped “under the aegis of the UN and media organizations.” s

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Google translate.

“Fantastic profits are now being made from renewable energy. The billions are pouring into Paris. Europe can change that by saying: “You get a price that is still profitable, but we skim everything between that and the market price.”

Mayor Of Antwerp: ‘Belgium Is Bankrupt, We Are The New Greece’ (AD)

The mayor of Antwerp, Bart De Wever, says Belgium is bankrupt. “We are the new Greece,” he says on Belgian television. “This is of course not a crisis that Putin has caused, but that Europe has brought on itself by phasing out its own primary energy production this century.” “In America people are not in this shit. They have done the opposite of what we have done. They are now exporters of oil and gas, but they certainly weren’t twenty years ago. Climate standards are not of much use if all your companies go to America and China to produce, then you are bankrupt and the climate is not yet saved. This is the green dogmatics. People should start realizing this,” says De Wever in the Flemish current affairs program De Zevende Dag.

“Oil, gas and coal were no longer allowed. No investments were allowed in reserves. Germany does not have a single LNG terminal (a terminal for liquefied natural gas, ed.). The dumbest countries, Germany and Belgium, have phased out nuclear energy in parallel. We have pushed away all energy sources, making ourselves dependent on Putin. Now we hang on to it.” “The biggest power tool has to come from Europe. Von der Leyen is on the right track when she says that non-gas-related energy production must be decoupled from price. Fantastic profits are now being made from renewable energy. The billions are pouring into Paris. Europe can change that by saying: “You get a price that is still profitable, but we skim everything between that and the market price.” That would mean an injection of billions and billions for our country, which you can then give to the consumer.”

We could once have made a lot of profit with the nuclear power plants, now those assets are being given away The previous government, of which De Wever’s party was part, decided that the Belgian nuclear centers Tihange 2 and Doel 3 should close. “It’s a purple-green law. We now have a purple-green government. That is a recipe for catastrophe.” Yet he co-approved that law. “I was lonely then. Elio Di Rupo (ex-Prime Minister of Belgium, ed.) then exclaimed in parliament: “On which planet do the N-VA live, given that they are in favor of nuclear energy?” I cannot be caught not being consistent in positions . I have been defending nuclear energy since the 1980s.” Prime Minister Alexander De Croo says the country is “in an economic war situation”. “Everything has to be on the table,” it sounds.

According to De Croo, the nuclear power plants can only be restarted within five years. Arranging the necessary permits takes a lot of time. De Wever thinks that reaction is ‘a bit late’. “As beggars, we must now appear in Paris. We could once have made a lot of profit with the nuclear power plants, now those assets are being given away. I think it is a bit cheap that people now realize that it is not all that simple.” According to De Wever, it is time ‘for bitter truths’. “This country is bankrupt,” it sounds. “Look at our debt, government spending and deficit. It is worse than in Southern Europe. That has to do with policy. This government has done nothing about it. I have said before that in the next economic shock we will be the new Greece. Unfortunately that is now. Mr De Croo can say a lot, but he can’t do anything. There are no buffers.” s“Especially in the coming budget discussion, it will have to be looked at exactly what can be done”, continues De Wever. “We have many energy-intensive companies in Flanders. They are very vulnerable. In the port of Antwerp, certain factories in the petrochemical port are already shut down.”

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“..our progress as human beings from a standard of living perspective is entirely the result of our exploitation of carbon-based fuels..”

The Truth About Carbon-Based Fuels (Denninger)

Carbon-based fuels are the reason for modern society. Carbon-based fuels have been responsible for lifting every single area of the world out of privation and dependence on the whims of weather and vagaries of wandering consumers of vegetable material (otherwise known as “meat”) one region at a time — without exception. As the use of carbon-based fuels has been further-refined (e.g. from trees to coal to oil to natural gas) the lift in living standards has been dramatically increased, again without exception anywhere in the world. Not one single subset of society has ever moved forward on any other basis in human history. Ever. To obtain nuclear power, for example, one must exploit carbon-based fuels.

You need them to dig up the rock, separate the uranium, isotopically separate the U-235 from the U-238, produce the zirconium cladding for fuel pins (which also requires digging up rock in size and processing said earth), producing the steel for the containment building and pressure vessel, welding it all together, producing all the copper wiring (more digging, smelting, etc.) for the control systems and more. Not one single scintilla of harnessed nuclear energy would have ever been produced without carbon-based fuels. Indeed, without carbon-based fuels the smelting of the lead required for the first reactor pile shielding would have been impossible. To obtain lithium for a battery you must also exploit carbon-based fuels. One half-million pounds of earth must be dug out of the ground and processed to produce one such battery. This is before a single watt-hour of energy goes into it — that’s just to produce the empty pack.

When it wears out, and all things do, you must do that again. We do not use carbon-based fuels because we’re pigs. We use them because they are wildly less-expensive, easy to package, emit enormous amounts of energy for their mass and volume by comparison to all other means of energy storage other than nuclear, are thus easy to transport to where they’re needed compared against all others and can be stored without material degradation for significant periods of time. That means they’re both reliable and have predictable cost structures and the alternatives are not. Without predictable cost structures nobody can produce anything that has a lead time because there’s no way to price it on a forward basis and nobody will buy anything for delivery in the future if they do not know the price.

Whether we like to admit it or not, our progress as human beings from a standard of living perspective is entirely the result of our exploitation of carbon-based fuels. To reduce or replace them with something that has lower density, is more-difficult transport (or is even impossible to transport or store), is higher cost or has unpredictable reliability and forward cost will directly and ratably destroy our standard of living by the difference in contribution that carbon-fuels make and that which is not made up by a stable, reliable and cost-predictable alternative.s

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“..made the President look like he was giving a stump speech from Dante’s Inferno. Indeed, it almost had that High Chancellor Adam Sutler look from V for Vendetta..”

Biden’s Use of the Marines Violated Federal Policies and Regulations (Turley)

President Joe Biden’s speech in Philadelphia has produced sharply different responses from the media. On CNN, it was praised as a rallying cry for patriots. On conservatives sites, it was denounced as hateful and divisive. For many of us, however, the optics was a glaring distraction with the intense red background and prominently placed Marines framing the President. The use of the Marines and the Marine band raised concerns given the clearly political purpose of the speech. Indeed, the networks did not view the speech as an address to the nation and refused to give the White House primetime slots. While White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre assured the media that “it’s not a political speech,” it was unabashedly political from calls to get the vote out to direct attacks on “MAGA Republicans” and Donald Trump.

That again raised the legal questions over the use of the Marines in such a speech. Even CNN flagged the concern over the use of the Marines and CNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins stated the obvious that “it was a very political speech.” The optics of the speech instantly became a source of Internet chatter with the weird red background that made the President look like he was giving a stump speech from Dante’s Inferno. Indeed, it almost had that High Chancellor Adam Sutler look from V for Vendetta. (The comparison ultimately did not end with just the optics. Sutler warned his inner circle that “every day…brings us closer to November” and “I want this country to realize that we stand on the edge of oblivion. I want every man, woman and child to understand how close we are to chaos…to remember why they need us!”).

However, it was the use of the Marine guards that most stood out — framing the President as he declared Trump supporters to be a threat to democracy . Biden denounced “MAGA Republicans” thirteen times as well as repeated references to his past and possible future political opponent, Donald Trump. The speech was obviously political, as noted by CNN’s Collins, as a “full frontal attack” on his political opponents. The United States has long drawn a line between the work of federal employees in public service and the use of such employees for political purposes. The Hatch Act was passed in 1939 to curtail the political activities of civilian federal employees. The Marine Corps expressly forbids personnel from being used or participating in such political events.

“Active duty members will not engage in partisan political activities, and all military personnel will avoid the inference that their political activities imply or appear to imply DoD sponsorship, approval, or endorsement of a political candidate, campaign, or cause.” The other services have also drawn a bright line against such appearances. Army officials, for example, stress that their rules bar such involvement because “actual or perceived partisanship could undermine the legitimacy of the military profession and department.” In Department of Defense Directive 1344.10 the long list of prohibited involvement in political events include: “Attend partisan political events as an official representative of the Armed Forces, except as a member of a joint Armed Forces color guard at the opening ceremonies of the national conventions of the Republican, Democratic, or other political parties recognized by the Federal Elections Committee or as otherwise authorized by the Secretary concerned.”

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Not even human?!

‘Never Seen’ Before: Embalmers Find Numerous Long, Fibrous Clots (ET)

Mike Adams, who runs an ISO-17025 accredited lab in Texas, analyzed clots in August and found them to be lacking iron, potassium, magnesium, and zinc. Adams’s lab uses inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, usually testing food for metals, pesticides, and glyphosate. “We have tested one of the clots from embalmer Richard Hirschman, via ICP-MS. Also tested side by side, live human blood from an unvaccinated person,” Adams told The Epoch Times. He found that the clots are lacking key elements present in healthy human blood, such as iron, potassium, and magnesium, suggesting that they are formed from something other than blood.

Adams is joining analytic forces with more doctors and plan to invest out of their own pocket in equipment in order to further determine their composition and probable causation. The string-like structures differ in size, but the longest can be as long as a human leg and the thickest can be as thick as a pinky finger. Richard Hirschman, a licensed funeral director and embalmer in Alabama, recalled that he has been in the trade since the tragedy of 9/11. “Prior to 2020, 2021, we probably would see somewhere between 5 to 10 percent of the bodies that we would embalm [having] blood clots,” Hirschman told The Epoch Times. “We are familiar with what blood clots are, and we’ve had to deal with them over time,” he said. He says that now, 50 percent to 70 percent of the bodies he sees have clots.

“For me to embalm a body without any clots, kind of like how it was in the day, prior to all of this stuff … It’s rare,” Hirschman said. “The exception is to embalm a body without clots,” he noted. [..] “Notice that the key elemental markers of human blood such as iron are missing in the clot (which is just at 4.4 percent of blood). Similar story with magnesium, potassium, and zinc. These are clear markers for human blood. Live human blood will always have high iron, or the person would be dead. These clots have almost no iron, nor magnesium, etc.,” Adams told The Epoch Times. Wade Hamilton, a cardiologist who is familiar with clots, told The Epoch Times: “The fact that the magnesium, potassium, and iron are very low in the samples could suggest that they are not the usual post-mortem clots, that in fact there was no blood flow in these vessels.

These structures raise but do not totally answer some interesting questions.” “The combination of the low electrolytes and the novel very strong string-like structures suggests that these areas where the string-like structures are seen in the blood vessels did not receive circulation. They are not ‘normal’ post-mortem findings according to experienced embalmers bent on obtaining total body vascular access from one site, which because of the unusual ‘clots,’ they were unable to do,” he added.

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Koko

 

 

 

 

 

 


the third-tallest and second-heaviest living bird, the cassowary, during its breeding season, lays bright green or pale green-blue eggs

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle September 5 2022

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  • #115189

    Marc Chagall Blue lovers 1914   • ‘Better To Negotiate Now Than Later’ For Ukraine, Retired US General Says (RT) • West And Russia Will Eventuall
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle September 5 2022]

    #115190

    Well, we have our normal Comments format back. What happened yesterday happened once before, and I have no idea why. It looks like it reverts to a simpler format, but that’s just my guess. I see it more often the moment after I press Publish, but then a Refresh does the trick.

    #115191
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    Here’s a very good summation of how the 0.1% mind-control up to 95% of the general populace.

    It takes real grit (and perhaps some conditioning by mentors, and maybe some genetic factors) to resist the group-acceptance training and authority-figure training.

    ‘5 Psychological Experiments That Explain The Modern World

    BY TYLER DURDEN

    MONDAY, SEP 05, 2022 – 02:30 PM

    Authored by Kit Knightly via Off-Guardian.org,

    The world is a confusing place. People do things that don’t make any sense, think things that aren’t supported by facts, endure things they do not need to endure, and viciously attack those who try to bring these things to their attention…..’

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/5-psychological-experiments-explain-modern-world

    #115192
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Sun
    https://sinfest.xyz/btphp/comics/2022-09-04.jpg
    Mon
    https://sinfest.xyz/btphp/comics/2022-09-05.jpg

    I’m hearing Europe remains la-de-da about winter, even with £10,000 electric bills. Is this because each and every individual European has to get one of these bills before it becomes real to them, and not even then?

    Suspect this may be the lifelong absence of consequences, as even now, they just say “The Government” will use “Social Measures” and…save everyone. With money? Not so far. With money plus no gas? I guess we’ll burn the money then? Wheelbarrows full. But I can’t make them take it seriously. Why should they? They’ve never had natural consequences for the actions since birth. What good is “power” if you have to take the consequences of your actions anyway? Making someone else pay is practically the definition of power.

    Again, aside from Carter saying, Inflation is many mysterious things interacting in mysterious ways, inflation is “too much money chasing too few goods.” So therefore, we need to reduce the money – which nobody approves of – or to create a LOT more goods. $6 Trillion, minimum? And in this case, a very specific good, gas, which they don’t have the geological formations for, or not as we understand.

    Since they are attacking production as if it were battlefield nukes dropped on every street in England, inflation is likely to do what?

    Careful, however, as generally we fight the last war. An all-fiat currency is a debt currency. Defaulting on debt is destruction of currency, hyper-deflation and these halves will turn fast. But I suspect the default first.

    “Germany Announces €65 Billion Inflation Relief Package Amid Energy Crisis (F24)”

    What the Actual…? MONEY is not GAS. What “Relief” are you talking about? We can pay your bills or forgive the public’s debt, but we cannot put heat in your houses. You will die. Debt-free, but dead. Congratulations!

    Glenn Greenwald: with all government and institutions united into one form, the existence of a second party is a threat to democracy.

    “battlefield consumption rates have outpaced production to a point where excess inventories provided to Ukraine are nearly exhausted,” Kimmitt

    Russia hasn’t gotten started. Hasn’t mobilized yet. Why does this level General pipe up right now? Why are they willing to run the editorial? Because Russia is done with the front lines. They are at the point where they can drive to Poland unopposed by anything. Odessa and Kiev exist, but you just siege them. There is no army, it’s over. And General SupidPants doesn’t care about that: they just killed every slav in Ukraine for nothing. Yay genocide! But the sudden loss of the whole nation will have a psychological shock on their weird lies and fake propaganda and deal a big blow to their single control mechanism throughout the West.

    If as a smarter man, Kissinger, told them to negotiate last month and probably keep the lines East of Dnipr, and not break Nato and therefore break the control narrative, the markets, and the governments.

    But heck, if they’re willing to sit in the dark, is there any level of fail that can break it? Einstein was right.

    “German Chancellor Olaf Scholz claimed on Sunday that Russia cannot be considered a reliable energy supplier,” …while Siemens refuses to fix their own turbines.

    “Several EU politicians have accused Moscow of using gas exports as a geopolitical weapon,” …while stealing $600B and refusing to pay for self-same gas. Oh and shelling the Russian army with Nato weapons, targeted by U.S. satellites.

    “ ‘Greece’ Unfazed by European Energy Concerns (K.)”

    Really? Who is this “Greece” person? The government? The government is not the people. The land is not the government. The businesses are not the people. The army is not the country. All these parts are different subsets of the superset “Greece.” Let me guess: by “Greece” you mean a few hundred politicos and their donor (owners?) class of billionaires. And not a single Greek citizen under €30k Euro income.

    I guess like here nothing will make them realize it except to live through it. They are very fazed. Why don’t you go ask the people in the soup kitchen whether they’re fazed or not? 15 years later.

    “Turkey Likely to Face Bankruptcy, Report Claims (K.)”

    They are, but they’ve been saying this for decades. Who are the holders of Turkish Debt? Italy if I remember, but that was years ago. This is like Germany who thinks idiotically they are rich in Tier II that Europe will never pay them. Like Italy. Who is about to elect an Italeave government.

    Full Gas Storage Not Enough for EU to Last through Winter – Reuters (RT)”

    Then write in the article all things that contradict their headline and premise. Ex: is winter longer than 3 months in Spain but not in Maine? This is of course why they have destroyed all small business continent-wide and have become North Korea. To save a little gas when it won’t matter anyway as they can’t get any more. I mean if you hadn’t noticed from Britain’s cameras they have intended to become North Korea since Orwell wrote in 1949. They beta-tested the new form in China, as expected. Now they are rolling in universal totalitarianism in Europe. Stay home or be shot. Or were the bullhorns in public parks, when each quaranteam were already safely 20 yards apart not a clue?

    Do you not know abused spouses and abusers? THERE IS NO LEVEL OF COMPLIANCE that can work. They can NEVER leave you alone. Ever. Abuse is their life, their essence, their reason for being.

    “UK Police Preparing For Unrest This Winter – Times (RT)”

    Klausinator wrote years ago “The people will be angrier”. Gee, how did he know that because they intended to take every possible action in their power to create anger? Like 1984, they expect your neighbors to rat on you, and they will. There’s a new app to have your friends arrested.

    !!! “The mayor of Antwerp, Bart De Wever, says Belgium is bankrupt. “We are the new Greece,” he says on Belgian television. “This is of course not a crisis that Putin has caused, but that Europe has brought on itself” !!!

    Holy (!!!) Can he live the week? This is the sort of “realizing” I was looking for, I guess. Sadly, even if the entire population followed, it is only the first step toward action. Which the engineers know, they merely need to delay your response long enough that most of you are killed.

    “nuclear power plants can only be restarted within five years. Arranging the necessary permits takes a lot of time.”

    Wtf? The “Permit” takes no time: here’s a letter of national security signed by the President and all Parliament. The REALITY takes time, but the permit takes none. That Europe says this shows who they are. What will take time now is: You have no oil, gas, steel, parts, equipment, or food to build the plant with. Good luck pounding the nuke plant out with your bare hands.

    Denninger: This is interesting, but the standard of living and material excess don’t have much in common at this point. They say “Oh it’s GDP,” “Oh it’s standard of living” when people have never been more unhappy in all recorded time. We very clearly have the LOWEST standard of living since records were kept, possibly since the Middle Ages, because the people are the most unhappy. Unhappiness is the same whether you have a new TV or not: it’s terrible. Empty, lonely, vacuous, miserable lives, where children – and everybody else – are killing themselves. Amid $1000 new iPhones. #Winning!

    Plant a Tree, people.

    He’s not entirely wrong, but it closes the door for people to live in tents like summer camp, do what they like, swim in rivers, be human, and free. Materially, that may be hard, but personally, they are likely to be wildly happier. And it takes less oil – or none – at a time when we don’t have any, thanks to them shutting down every well and pipeline on purpose. Living well despite that is the best revenge.

    “Whether we like to admit it or not, our progress as human beings from a standard of living perspective is entirely the result of our exploitation of carbon-based fuels.”

    Okay. But we’re wasting 9/10ths of that. Do things as they were in 1910 — and people thought the standard of living was suddenly Space Age – and you’ll have twice as much energy to apply to whatever new social and tech direction you wish to go. Make a $1000 phone that lasts two years, and a $40,000 car with no parts available, and not so much. The Model A is still running. The 1939 Farmalls are on their FIRST piston replacement sleeves. You can fix one with tools that will fit in a canvas roll.

    So what did your $40,000 buy you but non-stop trouble? A vehicle that won’t roll? I call that LOWER standard of living, not higher, when you go to your car and it won’t work for 6 weeks waiting on parts and your marriage breaks up and you lose the kids to the pressure. Are people just really bad at logic?

    Finland? Er, bad time to talk about how smart they are when they’ve shut off their own gas and are sitting in the dark without bread. Maybe it went the other way: in school, the rich idiots have contaminated the sensible commoners instead. America is similar: the more we follow the smart people the dumber we get.

    Poor Koko. We don’t need to fix earth. Earth is fixing us. If we helped and “fixed” it, imaging how badly we would f’ it up.

    #115193
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    Turley’s note, “The United States has long drawn a line between the work of federal employees in public service and the use of such employees for political purposes.”

    I was wondering about that, also, when I saw a clip the other day of a different Biden “stump speech” that had uniformed police officers behind him. I understand the police can support whomever they choose, but didn’t think they could do that when in uniform?

    Am I all wet on that?

    PS … I rarely go back and read the previous day’s comments. Glad I read last night’s comment, though. Lots of great advice on staying warm. 🙂 Thank you!!

    #115194
    FrankJ
    Participant

    Germany Announces €65 Billion Inflation Relief Package Amid Energy Crisis (F24)

    I’m suffering from morbid obesity, but from this day Im starting a 10.000KCal/day obesity relief diet.

    #115195
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Deflation:

    M2
    https://www.jsmineset.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/image002-43.jpg

    I bet velocity remains flaccid as well.

    #115198
    Redneck
    Participant

    YYAAAAAWWNNNNN…wake up if there is any new…s.

    #115199
    Red
    Participant

    From Denninger:
    “What do you think happens when a local pub sees its power bill rise to 500% of its former level all at once? That’s more than said small pub makes and they either shut down immediately or go broke three months later. The only sane thing to do is immediately close because for every additional day you stay open you lose more money. If you think this is just the local pub that will happen to you’re wrong.”

    If it costs more to go to work than you would lose by not going than don’t go as it will take a bit longer to go broke.

    Dr.D: “They’ve never had natural consequences for the actions since birth.”

    It was baked in three or more decades ago once everyone got a medal! Everyone wins, all become losers.

    #115200
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    Yesterday AFKTT posted a video about constructing expensive new housing that people cannot afford. I watched it (1.5 speed, goes faster and you can still grasp everything the guy says).

    Our problem here in upstate NY is a bit different, but the same concept. We have a boatload of large, expensive houses …. 5000-6000+ sq ft w/5-6 bathrooms …that sit on the market for ages and unless they have a highly desirable attribute, the price keeps dropping and they don’t sell. This has been going on for years.

    On the other hand, small ranch houses that haven’t been updated at all since the 1960s/70s … literally have bidding wars. The realtor will post the listing, pics, etc., about 10 days in advance of when the house is open for showing, then within 24 hours of opening for showings will have multiple offers over the listing price.

    People don’t want large, costly to heat/maintain houses (not to mention our property tax rate here is sky high) … unfortunately, that’s all that was constructed over the past several decades.

    Hello market, meet consumer. 😉 Big disconnect.

    #115201
    oxymoron
    Participant

    Desmet on Info Wars… the Biden speech is getting us closer to crayballs. The masses are NOT freaked out by this direction.
    On a personal note my brother and his family were up for the weekend and I now have an ominous feeling.

    He is my little brother and has always been kind and funny toward me and I know he loves me, but the othering and overt anger, judgement and tone toward me threw me right off balance.
    It was a moment for me and I am still trying to unpack it but I really can’t shake that sense the mass is shifting under us now and I worry for times ahead.
    Both he and his wife could literally see nothing wrong with Bidens speech as well. They said it sounded really reasonable and Americans who supported Trump probably deserve to be attacked.

    I’m digging deep on my Jesus thoughts for calm and God etc.

    I feel they are gonna come in handy.

    #115202
    Formerly T-Bear
    Participant

    Looks like Liz Truss will be the new British P.M.

    No better hands to sink that ‘ship of state’ (after seven decades of Royal inanity anaesthetising loss of empire). Need change the Atlas maps to the Celtic Islands, The smell of British corruption does not suit the other good folk residing there.

    #115203
    Red
    Participant

    You have heard me say it over and over again. What we are witnessing right now reminds me so much of 2008, and we all remember what happened in the fall of 2008. That doesn’t mean that this new crisis will unfold exactly the same way that the last one did. Ultimately, every economic downturn is unique. But the fact that we are seeing so many parallels between what is transpiring now and what transpired 14 years ago should deeply alarm all of us. We appear to be on the precipice of another economic crash, and all of the “solutions” that our leaders give us just seem to make things even worse.

    Hopefully someone out there can find a way to pull a miracle out of a hat and a worst case scenario can be averted.

    But I wouldn’t count on that happening. The following are 12 numbers that show that we are getting dangerously close to an economic crash as the fall of 2022 approaches…

    12 Numbers That Show That We Are Getting Dangerously Close To An Economic Crash As The Fall Of 2022 Approaches

    #115204
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    Ahhh … oxy … best at this point to leave politics out of the family conversations, sad to say. It has gotten too polarized. It’s interesting that Biden’s speech is a talking point in Aus. What’s up with that?

    Biden’s speech was wrong, just plain wrong, by any American standard, and that’s the rub. I don’t care what the twits are tweeting or CNN is spouting … aside from that insular group, even Dems know deep down it was wrong. Bosco pointed out it would push more people against the Biden admin and Bosco was right. I’m literally considering purchasing a MAGA hat and wearing it, here in NY.

    Sorry about your brother. 🙁

    #115205
    Red
    Participant

    Some criticism of Truss here:

    Simply put: If Truss fails to deliver a coherent strategy for the economy in the next few days – the UK risks an even steeper decline in sterling, an unravelling Gilts market (UK Government Bonds) and the undermining of the third leg of the Virtuous Sovereign Trinity; the political and economic strength that’s underlain the UK’s hard and soft power since the 17th Century.

    The signs are not good. I suspect her goodie bag is empty.

    Truss is not a communicator. Neither was Thatcher. Truss is not Thatcher.

    Truss has refused to be interviewed one-on-one through the latter stages of the Tory leadership campaign. She finally had to face the music yesterday on the new Laura Kuenssberg BBC Sunday Morning Brekdrek Sunday Politics vehicle yesterday.

    I have watched pine logs after a personality by-pass come out a difficult interview in better shape.

    It was a train-wreck – she answered nothing. She looked tired and haggered. She was a rabbit caught in the headlights, which is not a good look ahead of the most difficult and critical week in UK politics. More:

    Liz Truss has 5 days to avert a confidence crisis in the UK

    Like everyone else I could be wrong in assuming Liz Truss will be prime minister (PM), but I will take that risk. So what are the risks in that forthcoming premiership? They are numerous. They’re all deeply troubling.

    At its core the most troubling issue that we face is that Liz Truss is simply not a credible politician. She says nothing, commits to nothing, has never delivered an identifiable policy of consequence, and is clearly driven by dogma. Her indifference to redistribution proves that.

    It would be easy to say that we have already got used to this. Johnson was an obvious disaster, after all. But this is not the same. Truss is as vacuous, although more dogmatic. But she also lacks two things Johnson had.

    The first of these is charisma. Johnson had this in my opinion and that of most people. I think, as many will agree, that Truss lacks charisma. Second, unlike Johnson she becomes PM without the obvious support of most of her MPs. More:

    Truss does not care

    #115206
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    oxy, RE: Desmet on infowars. I cannot recommend highly enough Desmet’s interview on Tucker Carlson Today. It was, hands down, the best Desmet I’ve seen. I’ve watched it 3 times already. Tucker Carlson Today is on Fox Nation, a paid subscription … but … if you go to tuckercarlson.com there is an offer for 30 days free access. I think that works in other countries, too? Do the 30 days free, watch Desmet. Absolutely incredible interview.

    #115207
    Formerly T-Bear
    Participant

    But she also lacks two things Johnson had.

    Those might be two living brain cells to rub together to keep warm. That’s Liz(zard) for you.
    Remember Julian?

    #115208
    zerosum
    Participant

    it is time ‘for bitter truths’.
    You can’t “follow the money”

    1. windfall profits for energy companies
    2. Relief packages
    3. Euro declines below 99 US cents
    4. Europe wholesale natural gas price up 30%
    5. Breaking down Ukraine – let’s start with Zelensky’s $35M mansion in Sunny Isles, FL built by Kolomoisky and Pinchuk. $1.3B in the bank!!
    6. Military inventory purchases
    7. Redefine bankruptcy – Bankruptcy is a legal process under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (“the “BIA”) that is intended to provide financial assistance in the form of relief for individuals, corporations, partnerships, and some types of trusts with overwhelming debt
    • Mayor Of Antwerp: ‘Belgium Is Bankrupt, We Are The New Greece’ (AD)

    ———-
    High costs of energy results in demand reduction and/or windfall profits and/or pain/bankruptcy and/or unrest/black markets
    • UK Police Preparing For Unrest This Winter – Times (RT)

    ———-
    Here is what really matters …. Follow the cause/money …
    clots are lacking key elements present in healthy human blood, such as iron, potassium, and magnesium, suggesting that they are formed from something other than blood.

    #115209
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Dedicated to Eurotardistan’s plucky nature vis-à-vis Russian gas

    .

    #115210
    zerosum
    Participant

    Shooting yourself in the (missing) brain
    https://www.rt.com/news/562205-kremlin-nord-stream-gas-sanctions/
    Main gas pipeline to EU will be closed until sanctions lifted – Kremlin

    https://www.rt.com/news/562202-citizens-belgium-warns-citizens/
    EU country warns citizens of ten ‘difficult winters’ ahead

    #115211
    Red
    Participant

    Here again, take the same principle and apply it to most other aspects of American public life and you’ll see the same thing endlessly repeated. Nor was any other outcome ever likely. University-trained experts, after all, are no more immune from the temptations of arrogance, corruption, and faddishness than the rest of us. Give them the opportunity to form a self-selecting, self-regulating, and self-aggrandizing coterie that runs important elements of society, without effective oversight from any outside source, and they’re going to make a world-class botch job out of it—as indeed they have done.

    And now? It’s only in the imagination of the clerisy that the clerisy is indispensible. Especially here in the United States, where our era of global empire is rapidly waning and retooling our government and society to get by on much less wealth is an imperative, the privileges and salaries of the clerisy are low-hanging fruit for the first rounds of government cutbacks. It’s not hard to imagine a president in the near future, for example, noting that the Council of Economic Advisers has offered consistently bad advice to presidents since it was founded, and sending its inmates out to find honest work somewhere else, or noting with equal clarity that the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and most federal spending on science have become slush funds supporting educated failures and could be terminated without undue inconvenience to anyone but those battening on them. This list could be extended at great length without any great difficulty. It may well be so extended, to rousing cheers from everyone outside the narrowing circles of the clerisy, in the very near future.

    Once again, a hundred years ago university-trained experts didn’t have the kind of wealth, status, and influence they’ve had in the recent past. It may take quite a bit less than a hundred years for them to revert to the condition they had in 1922. Fail badly enough and you forfeit your grip on power—and no, if that happens, it doesn’t matter how loudly you insist that people can’t possibly get by without you, they’re not going to listen. If the blowback from the failure of the Covid vaccines turns out to be bad enough, a loss of status may be the least that the clerisy has to worry about in the years ahead. Still, we’ll just have to wait and see.

    The Great Rehash, Part Four: A Hill to Die On

    #115212
    Red
    Participant

    How can the country that imprisons a higher percentage of its population than any other in the world be a democracy?

    How can the country that (along with its UK vassal-nation) has been imprisoning for over a decade now in a super-max prison a global hero of democracy, Julian Assange, without his ever having been tried and convicted in any court in any nation, be a democracy?

    How can the country that deceived its own people into invading and destroying Iraq in 2003 — a nation that never threatened nor posed any danger to the United States — be a democracy?

    How can the country that secretly started planning in 2011 and then culminated in 2014 the coup overthrowing the neutralist Government of Ukraine and installed instead there a rabidly anti-Russian one, be a democracy?

    How can the country that even its own military alliance, NATO’s, own affiliated polling has shown to have a population that widely believes its Government to be a dictatorship be a democracy?

    What more can be said about this? Only that if America really IS a dictatorship, then — since NO dictatorship CALLS itself one — the ‘news’-media in that country WON’T publicize the fact that it IS such a thing, but will instead always declare that this regime is instead a democracy, and thereby continue to spread the regime’s (the dictatorial Government’s) lie about itself.

    What is the significance of this lie? It is enormously significant, and here is WHY:

    https://www.greanvillepost.com/2022/09/04/the-american-century-is-over-because/

    #115213
    phoenixvoice
    Participant

    @ Redneck
    Just read your retelling of the conversation with hospital staff before cataract surgery. LMAO.
    That has got to be one of the best ways to break a mass formation…truth that is also humorous.

    The soaring energy costs in Europe has me worried. What if even a fraction of that happens here? I can’t afford skyrocketing energy costs.

    #115214
    Susmarie108
    Participant

    Koko…smart.

    LOVE you Koko.

    LOVE to All the rest of you too.

    #115215
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    Red: America isn’t a democracy. Just sayin’ … 😉

    #115216
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    Have seen comments here and there from people thinking that maybe the Biden PR people didn’t realize how that set would come across. Uh, no. For crying out loud, people practice a wedding the day before it happens. You think the PR folks didn’t check out the lighting, etc, in advance? At least once? Twice maybe?? Seriously. Get a grip. Fully intentional.

    Why Biden’s speech was just plain wrong. The bee might be satire but, unfortunately, too often it hits close to the truth.

    https://babylonbee.com/news/biden-explains-we-can-only-come-together-as-a-nation-by-exterminating-the-republican-half

    #115217
    Red
    Participant

    upstateNYer: Only too aware, nor are any of the vassal states especially those consisting of the “Five Eyes” designation. Have been bitching about this since the eighties, too few understand this.

    #115218
    HerrWerner
    Participant

    @oxymoron Wishing peace and blessings on your family. There are vast swathes of topics I can no longer discuss with loved ones. I had a long and detailed exchange with my sister about the vexxes last year. Neither of us convinced the other. Siblings, identical raising, similar backgrounds, one of us is no longer any good at critical thinking, but both of us think we are. I don’t understand it but there’s a wall between us now. No matter how close we are on other things we can’t talk like we used to.

    I hope you’re right about homes @UpstateNYer, sounds good to me! 1930’s-70’s homes also occupy some prime spots – proximity to town, shorter supply lines and utilities. Those old homes – not the best-insulated, but smaller and can maintain them with hand tools, build-quality’s no worse than the slapped-together mcmansions of now. We live in such a 70’s place now. I hope it sells when the time comes, haha

    The Mrs. Frau Werner and I are looking at places to semi-retire to. I don’t expect us to ever retire fully like our parents could, cost of living won’t allow. We’re not in a hurry, have some savings (for now!) waiting for the right place right price. We have a wide range that appeals to us, but what we aren’t looking for is a modern 5000+ sq footer in the exurbs. A lot of owners don’t know it yet, that but those are destined to be the new slums, or abandoned, or stripped for materials and fuel. Or turned into multi-generational home/workshop/homesteader arrangements by legal/illegal immigrants that still know how to make those work.

    #115219
    kultsommer
    Participant

    While ago, I do recall a “public meeting” where adjacent affluent community successfully shielded, even though I truly understand why, their local public school from accepting riff-raff kids of the area that clearly belonged that school.
    School that my son went to had to accept them and it was turned into zoo. We decided to pull him out and place into private Christian school, with the noticeable
    felt burn of the tuition fee. Now, the “affluent” got their public school as a private playground. Generous and most likely inflated tax deductible donations in equipment and materials were pouring in, not to mention personal presence and help from do-nothing moms of the community. Things like that and especially crash of 2008 opened my eyes to what this country is all about.
    Tuition-free education that is limited to those who could pass a rigorous acceptance exam is different than unlimited open-door barn for those who could pay via inflated student loans or dad’s open check-book, but viewed as un-American, so Finland-no-Finland caption above means shit to them.

    #115220
    kultsommer
    Participant

    Just noticed that erased the sentence that defines my last paragraph and is aimed to “final-career-call education.
    Aside from pointing to the affluent’s: “I work hard for my money, blah, blah…” that is obviously not entirely true.

    #115221
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    Mandatory public education is the most powerful (and therefore corruptible) means of mass formation in existence, altho another ten years pof kids raised by handroids should blur that line into more of the same old mental mush. School IS the box outside of which we struggle to think.

    Schoolin….

    #115222
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    Herr: the small homes here that have bidding wars are SMALL – like 1100-1200 sq ft or less ranches or similar to that. As long as they’re not in urban environments, they’re prime. I don’t imagine it’s just here. Times have changed over the past 5+ years. Long gone is the boom that took place pre-2008 … people can’t afford those big homes anymore. Btw, have 2 family members who work in high-end construction. They were ridiculously busy leading up to 2008. Could literally pick/choose their work, taking Friday afternoons off and no builders would question it cause they needed the help. That’s not happening anymore. One of those family members is now working in high[er] end renovation. People are keeping their modest homes and making them work by finishing basements, upgrading bathrooms, etc. He’s booked through the end of the year and turning away work.

    Red: “Only too aware … Have been bitching about this since the eighties, too few understand this.”

    lol. Figured you were smarter than that based on your comments – thanks for clarifying. 😉

    Kultsommer: “Tuition-free education that is limited to those who could pass a rigorous acceptance exam is different than unlimited open-door barn …”

    That is well stated. Interesting point of view. Thank you.

    #115223
    Red
    Participant

    The following are a few excerpts from world grain, link at bottom, the cognitive dissonance though out are no longer amazing to myself. Experts!?

    First one, I’d suggest it is fourth and put the WEF first.

    The World Economic Forum announced that biodiversity loss is the third greatest threat facing humanity, behind weapons of mass destruction and state collapse. Since the 1900s, 75% of plant genetic diversity has been lost as farmers worldwide have swapped local varieties for genetically uniform, high-yielding varieties and today just 12 crops and five animal species provide 75% of the food we produce. This loss of agricultural diversity has contributed to climate change, ecosystem destruction and hunger.

    Passing through more scribble this pops out and fails to mention that for every degree C increase the atmosphere will hold 7% more moisture. Water is by far the greatest warming gas in the atmosphere and the atmosphere isn’t even, it’s lumpy. More intense rain fall records on the way. Also to have a global mean average at 3C would mean the central continents would be 7-10C higher to offset the cooler air over seventy percent of the globe that is water, too hot for grains.

    Adaptation capability vary greatly across countries. The World Resources Institute estimated in 2022 that the cost for adaptation and residual damage to major crops on a global basis would amount to $63 billion under a 1.5°C increase in temperature, $80 billion under a 2°C scenario, and to $128 billion under a 3°C scenario.

    After the coming collapse in the global finance sector I have to ask what financial resilience?

    Britsch points to a measure of comparison: “current policies presently in place around the world are projected to result in about 2.7°C warming,” according to Climate Action Tracker. On a country-by-country basis, developed economies will be able to adapt much more to the physical impact of climate change, given a more developed insurance sector, better infrastructure and economic and financial resilience.

    Three key takeaways
    1. Climate change will increasingly negatively impact agricultural production of all agricultural crops, and there is growing evidence that breadbaskets are going to fail.
    2. There is a vicious circle of climate change and land use — as climate change impacts production, we will need more land to produce food.
    3. Climate change and disruption is already affecting harvests, and more severe disruption will follow.

    The whole thing seems to be just more priming to accept the narritives presently being put forward concerning agriculture and fossil fuels in general. YOU WILL HAVE LESS AND BE GRATEFUL.

    #115224
    Bill7
    Participant

    It was interesting to see this on a fairly mainstream site that I subscribe to: a video by Dr. Jessica Rose on the “vaccines”. I have not watched it yet
    because my ISP will not cooperate right
    now, but will later.

    https://startingstrength.com/video/vaccine-facts-with-dr-jessica-rose-starting-strength-radio-176

    #115226
    Bill7
    Participant

    I think the Big Picture of what’s really going on is basically going unreported, or misreported in matters of emphasis.

    Wondering what’s going in Ukraine, myself.

    #115227
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    Bill7, you aren’t the only one wondering what’s really going on in Ukraine. I keep wondering why people (leaders, actors, etc., etc.) are flying in and out of there like it’s a vaca to Cabo San Lucas. Then I watched the video AFKTT posted of that youngster’s podcast where he showed an online video of people dancing at a nightclub in Kiev. Wth?

    #115228
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    Good news for a change – Europe taking some initial steps to pull back on transitioning children. Very good article.

    https://nypost.com/2022/09/03/gender-affirming-care-for-transgender-kids-will-backfire-experts/?utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_medium=SocialFlow&utm_campaign=SocialFlow

    #115229
    Bishko
    Participant

    “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”

    ― Alexander Fraser Tytler

    Better get planting….

    #115230
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    Although they are both in the business of selling items for people to wear on their tootsies, the makers of shoes and the makers of socks are not direct competitors in the foot covering market. Indeed the opposite is true, because success of the shoe biz actively contributes to the success of the socks racket, and vice versa. It also tends to be great news for all of those people who have feet because they consequently get more, better and affordable shoes and socks to choose from in a thriving market.

    However, when the only maker of shoes is also be the only maker of socks then everybody with feet had better use those feet to run, because the price rise and quality drop of both items is going to get so out of control that it will snatch both items right off of their children’s feet, leaving customers and kids barefoot and poor.

    There’s a significant difference between Monopoly the board game and monopoly the government of and actual world. Dismantling such a monolithic contraption is a dirty, risky, dangerous job . . . but someone’s got to do it. That would be us, I think.

    #115231
    Dora
    Participant

    Klaus’s dream?

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