Jan 232023
 
 January 23, 2023  Posted by at 9:45 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,


Edward Hopper Folly Beach, Charleston, South Carolina 1929

 

Zelenskyy: 50 Tanks Will Not Solve Problem (Az.)
US Lawmaker Proposes ‘Just One’ Abrams Tank For Ukraine (RT)
Macron Comments On Heavy Tanks For Ukraine (RT)
Medvedev Predicts New Anti-US Military Alliance (RT)
AOC Heckled Over Ukraine Weapons (RT)
Moldova Fails To Remain Neutral In Global Proxy War – Ex-Leader (RT)
The Nord Stream Pipeline Could Be Repaired Within A Year (OP)
Immaculate Possession: Biden Defense is Fast Becoming Unsustainable (Turley)
Biden Family: The Delaware Sopranos (Newt Gingrich)
House Members To Press Secret Service About Biden’s Classified Records (JTN)
Biden Admin Finally Admits Mistake in Canceling Keystone XL Pipeline (RCE)
‘Succession’ Has Nothing On Davos: Elite Conclave Mulls Next Leader (Pol.eu)
Al Gore Amassed a $330 Million Climate Fortune by Terrifying Everyone (RedS)
Trump and DeSantis Both Leading Biden In Hypothetical 2024 Matchup (JTN)
WSJ Shreds Vaccine Makers, Biden Admin Over “Deceptive” Booster Campaign (ZH)

 

 

 

 

McCullough

 

 

 

 

Safety signal

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jourova

 

 

 

 

Why get them then?

“..they motivate our fighters to fight for their values. Because they see that the whole world is on your side..”

Zelenskyy: 50 Tanks Will Not Solve Problem (Az.)

Western tanks will not be able to solve the issue of Russian aggression completely, but will give additional motivation to the Ukrainian defenders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, Report informs. “When the Russian army with a thousand tanks is against us, 10, 20, or 50 tanks provided by the countries will not solve the problem. They do a very important job – they motivate our fighters to fight for their values. Because they see that the whole world is on your side,” Zelenskyy said.

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“..Even saying we’re gonna put Abrams tanks in, I think, would be enough for Germany to unleash [its Leopard tanks]”

US Lawmaker Proposes ‘Just One’ Abrams Tank For Ukraine (RT)

US Representative Michael McCaul has argued that announcing plans to provide America’s vaunted M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine – even if only one of the behemoths is actually shipped out – would leave Germany with no excuses to further delay sending its Leopard tanks to Kiev. “If we announced we were going to give Abrams tanks, just one… what I hear is that Germany is waiting for us to take the lead,” McCaul said on Sunday in an ABC News interview. “Then they would put Leopard tanks in.” The Texas Republican, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, added that such a tactic also would prompt Berlin to give its permission for other European countries that use the Leopard to give some of their tanks to Ukraine.

McCaul has been among the most hawkish Republicans in the House, vowing to continue providing weaponry for Ukraine to fight Russian forces, regardless of growing public opposition to the aid. He claimed that Kiev must be provided tanks and longer-range artillery urgently, to help repel an alleged imminent offensive by the Russians. Asked by ABC anchor Martha Raddatz whether just one Abrams tank would be sufficient to trigger Germany to provide more advanced weaponry to Ukraine, McCaul hinted that Washington could trick its ally.” Even saying we’re gonna put Abrams tanks in, I think, would be enough for Germany to unleash [its Leopard tanks]” McCaul also said Kiev needs longer-range artillery to strike targets in Crimea, dismissing the risks of enabling attacks on the peninsula, which Moscow considers to be sovereign Russian territory. Asked how Russian President Vladimir Putin might react, McCaul pointed to how Washington apparently got away with past escalations in aid, such as giving Ukraine HIMARS rocket launchers.

Senator Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, also called for sending battle tanks to Ukraine. “If it requires our sending some Abrams tanks in order to unlock getting the Leopard tanks from Germany, from Poland, from other allies, I would support that,” he told Raddatz. Media reports suggested that Berlin was unwilling to send its tanks unless the US made a similar commitment. Washington has so far refused to provide its Abrams tanks, arguing that they are very complex to operate and require extensive training. Key NATO nations failed to reach an agreement about sending the German-made battle tanks to Ukraine during a Friday meeting of Western military donors at the US Ramstein air base. However, on Sunday, Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock hinted that Berlin “would not stand in the way” if Poland decides to sends its own Leopards to Ukraine.

Gonzalo 2023.01.22 The Endgame—or Escalation?—of The War

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“..only “real and effective support” in the form of weaponry that Ukrainian forces can actually use on the battlefield without months or years of training..”

Macron Comments On Heavy Tanks For Ukraine (RT)

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reaffirmed their continued “unwavering support” for Ukraine for “as long as it takes” in a joint press conference on Sunday, but both said that any decision on supplying heavier arms must be reached jointly by all “friends” of Kiev. Macron said that “nothing is excluded” when asked about the possibility of sending Leclerc main battle tanks to Kiev, and confirmed he had “asked the Defense Ministry to work on it.” However, any final decision would have to be a “collective” call based on several considerations, he noted, according to AFP. France does not want the move to “weaken our own defense capabilities,” and at the same time is cautious of “escalating” the conflict.

Another concern is to provide only “real and effective support” in the form of weaponry that Ukrainian forces can actually use on the battlefield without months or years of training. Scholz dodged a similar question about Leopards, saying vaguely that Germany “will continue to act according to the concrete situation” and in close coordination with “important friends and allies.” “Germany is doing a lot, too… We have constantly expanded our deliveries with very effective weapons that are already available today,” the chancellor said. Last week, Politico reported that Paris was considering deliveries of Leclerc tanks in an effort to provide a joint framework to overcome Germany’s reluctance. Amid reports that Berlin was unwilling to send its tanks unless the US made a similar move, a US lawmaker proposed giving Ukraine a single Abrams tank to leave Berlin with no excuses for further delays.

Calls for Germany to supply Kiev with Leopards grew louder after the UK confirmed earlier this month that it would send 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine. Poland also announced that it would transfer a company of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, but the re-export of these tanks must be greenlit by Germany. On Sunday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock hinted that Berlin “would not stand in the way” if Poland makes the move. Baerbock noted that Warsaw has not yet reached out to Berlin on the matter. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the “importance of such supplies in terms of their ability to change something” on the battlefield should not be exaggerated.

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BRICS+.

Medvedev Predicts New Anti-US Military Alliance (RT)

The continuous flow of military aid to Kiev clearly shows that the collective West is seeking to “wear out or, preferably, destroy” Russia, the country’s former president, Dmitry Medvedev, remarked on Sunday. The effort, however, may ultimately backfire for the US and its allies, he believes. Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, made the comments in a social media post, days after a meeting at the US Ramstein air base in Germany at which Western powers pledged to continue supporting Kiev. “The meeting at Ramstein and the allocation of heavy weaponry to Kiev leave no doubt that our enemies will be trying to wear us out for an indefinite period of time, or, preferably, to destroy us,” the ex-president wrote.


However, the prolongation of the hostilities in Ukraine may ultimately lead to the emergence of a new military bloc that brings together nations “fed up with the Americans,” Medvedev suggested. “This has always happened in the history of mankind during long wars. And the US then will finally abandon old Europe and what remains of the unfortunate Ukrainians, and the world will return to an equilibrium once again,” the former leader said, warning, however, that it might be “too late” before this happens. Moscow has repeatedly urged the collective West to stop “pumping” Ukraine with weapons, maintaining that it would only prolong the hostilities rather than change the ultimate outcome. Top Russian officials have repeatedly characterized what is happening as a proxy war between Russia and the US-led NATO alliance rather than merely a conflict with Ukraine.

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Warmonger.

AOC Heckled Over Ukraine Weapons (RT)

US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) had an event in New York on Saturday disrupted by a group of demonstrators who rose to their feet and began singing a Latin hymn for peace. The protestors were voicing their objection to the self-professed progressive’s vote to send billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine. Holding signs reading “negotiation not annihilation” and “stop sending weapons to Ukraine,” the group sang ‘Dona Nobis Pacem’, a Latin hymn used in the Catholic mass that translates as ‘Give Us Peace’. “We always support everyone’s First Amendment rights here and everyone has the complete right to political expression,” Ocasio-Cortez responded, but only after the protesters had been removed from the premises by security.


A member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Ocasio-Cortez has voted against sending military aid to Saudi Arabia and abstained from voting on funding Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. However, she voted in May to provide Ukraine with $40 billion in military and economic aid, a decision that led a left-wing activist to accuse her of “voting to start a nuclear war” during a similar town hall in October. Despite giving a green light to such a massive arms fund, Ocasio-Cortez added her name to a letter by Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal in October urging President Joe Biden to “seriously explore all possible avenues, including direct engagement with Russia, to reduce harm and support Ukraine in achieving a peaceful settlement.” The letter, which was signed by 30 House Democrats, was retracted a day later and the pro-peace progressives stated that they backed Biden’s policy of indefinite military aid to Kiev.

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“Dodon said Sandu made her statement after meeting in Davos with Alexander Soros, son of Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros, “who brought her to power.”

Moldova Fails To Remain Neutral In Global Proxy War – Ex-Leader (RT)

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has put the former Soviet republic at risk of turning into “cannon fodder” in NATO’s proxy war with Russia by failing to remain neutral over the conflict in neighboring Ukraine, her predecessor said on Saturday. “Maia Sandu continues to draw Moldova into NATO – contrary to the neutrality prescribed in the Constitution and the will of the Moldovan people, who are categorically against joining this military structure,” ex-President Igor Dodon claimed in a Telegram post. He made his comments in response to Sandu’s statement on Friday that her government was seriously considering joining a “larger alliance” amid Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. Abandoning military neutrality would be “dangerous” for Moldova, said Dodon, who served as president from 2016 until Sandu defeated him in the country’s 2020 election.

The nation of just 2.6 million people consistently ranks among the poorest countries in Europe and has maintained a delicate peace with its breakaway Transnistria region since agreeing to a 1992 ceasefire, brokered by Moscow. Dodon said Sandu made her statement after meeting in Davos with Alexander Soros, son of Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros, “who brought her to power.” He added, “Obviously, Sandu is implementing his scenario in Moldova, and joining NATO is one of his points.” Although Moldova isn’t yet a member of NATO, it has cooperated with the Western military bloc, such as when it sent peacekeeping troops to Kosovo. Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu attended a NATO summit in Bucharest last November, marking the first time that Chisinau sent a representative to a meeting of the bloc.

At the time, Popescu reportedly said that joining NATO was out of the question because of the neutrality provision in Moldova’s Constitution. By apparently changing that stance, Sandu is “acting on the orders of overseas masters, against the interests of the country and the people, against the sovereignty, territorial integrity of Moldova,” Dodon said. “Our citizens want to maintain neutrality and peace, as evidenced by the results of numerous public opinion polls, and they will never agree to become cannon fodder for NATO in the fight against Russia.” Moscow has blamed NATO’s eastward expansion – contrary to promises made after the Cold War ended in 1991 – for undermining Russia’s security interests, helping to trigger the current conflict.

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Will it be?

The Nord Stream Pipeline Could Be Repaired Within A Year (OP)

The Nord Stream pipeline can be repaired within a year, but it’s unclear whether Germany would want to receive Russian natural gas at all, said Klaus-Dieter Maubach, the outgoing CEO at German energy giant Uniper, which was Russia’s top gas customer before Moscow cut off supply via Nord Stream. “The first question that needs answering: what’s the political will on a European level and in Berlin to bring Russian gas to Germany?” Maubach said at the annual Handelsblatt Energy summit on Tuesday, as carried by Reuters. Last summer, the German government bailed out Uniper as losses at the German company continued to mount after Russia slashed gas deliveries via Nord Stream in June, before cutting off supply in early September.

At the end of December, it was Uniper, the operator of the Wilhelmshaven import terminal, that welcomed the first tanker carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the newly opened LNG terminal, with the cargo arriving from the Calcasieu Pass export facility in the United States. Meanwhile, the investigation into the Nord Stream explosions at the end of September continues amid accusations from Russia that some Western intelligence services are “hiding something.” Sweden’s refusal to share information about the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines is “puzzling,” and withholding the results of the investigation means that “Swedish authorities are hiding something,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last week.

Traces of explosives were found near the sites of the explosions at the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, Sweden said in November, noting that the incident is “gross sabotage.” Nord Stream 2 was never put into operation after Germany axed the certification process following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia, for its part, shut down Nord Stream 1 indefinitely in early September, claiming an inability to repair gas turbines because of the Western sanctions.

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“..if any witness or forensic evidence shows that Biden came into contact with any of these documents over the last 10 years, this dubious defense will take on a far more sinister appearance..”

Immaculate Possession: Biden Defense is Fast Becoming Unsustainable (Turley)

In 1977, as senator from Delaware, Biden torpedoed President Jimmy Carter’s nominee for CIA director over his alleged mishandling of classified documents. As with the current scandal, Ted Sorensen was accused of having the documents for work on a book. The motive did not matter. Sen. Biden expressed his signature revulsion at the very thought of the possession. There was no evidence of ill intent, but Biden insisted that was not the issue. Biden argued that Sorensen could still be prosecuted under the Espionage Act and insisted the “real issue” during Sorensen’s confirmation hearing was “whether Mr. Sorensen intentionally took advantage of ambiguities in the law, or carelessly ignored the law.” After all, Biden continued, “If he did so, can he now bring the activities of the intelligence community within the strict limits of the law? We will expect that in the future of intelligence agencies. If that is to be the case, then we must hold the director – DCI – accountable as well.”

Notably, some of the recently discovered classified documents may have been from Biden’s time as a senator — over ten years ago. I have previously noted that Biden “has always been better at expressing revulsion than responsibility.” When it came to Sorensen, Biden could not imagine a rationalization for a nominee to excuse such mishandling of classified material, but as a president, “there is no there there.” Biden has continued to make the case against himself with remarkable determination. His defense that some documents were housed in his “locked garage with my Corvette” may go down as one of the most imbecilic statements in modern political history. He then followed up with his “no regrets” comments (and his assurance of “no there there”) just before more classified documents were found “there.”

While special counsel do not mind defendants making fools of themselves, they do not want to join them in such public spectacles. In this investigation, the Biden defense is looking increasingly implausible in his claim of no knowledge or responsibility. Indeed, if any witness or forensic evidence shows that Biden came into contact with any of these documents over the last 10 years, this dubious defense will take on a far more sinister appearance. It would establish not just intent and knowledge, but an effort to deceive the public and prosecutors. Yet, even after the latest batch was found, Biden and allies like Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., are continuing to maintain that “there is no there there.” These continuing denials now border on willful blindness and the public reaction is likely to echo the president’s favorite tagline: “Come on, man.”

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“..Hunter Biden, is like the ambitious-but-dull son who wants to inherit the family business but always screws up..”

Biden Family: The Delaware Sopranos (Newt Gingrich)

Watching HBO’s “the Sopranos” can really help you understand the Biden family. Between Hunter Biden’s laptop scandal, and the Bidens’ various shady private-equity schemes with foreign fraudsters, it’s not too hard to make the analogy. President Joe Biden is clearly the head of a family. He has repeatedly exploited his public offices to make money. His son, Hunter Biden, is like the ambitious-but-dull son who wants to inherit the family business but always screws up. Some of what the Bidens have done is clearly inappropriate. Even more of what they have done is an abuse of public office. Most of what they have done is simply secret. The best example of Bidens’ manipulation of the system for profit surrounds the Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania.

The center has given the Bidens remarkable access to Chinese Communist Party money. According to reports in the New York Post, the university, “raked in a total of $54.6 million from 2014 through June 2019 in donations from China, including $23.1 million in anonymous gifts starting in 2016.” As the paper reported, about $15.8 in anonymous Chinese gifts came after the Biden Center was announced in 2017. As soon as Biden left the White House as vice president, he was tapped to lead the center and given a professorship. Shortly after the center fully opened, another $14.5 million in anonymous Chinese gifts were delivered in May 2018. In another report about this flood of money, The Free Beacon said $61 million in Chinese donations went to the university from 2017 to 2020.

The numbers vary because there is virtually no public accountability or transparency about the money trail. It’s a given that Chinese sources aren’t going to share any information. And the University of Pennsylvania is simply refusing to obey the law and report the foreign donations. I worked with the Trump administration’s Department of Education on this for several years, and we simply could not get the University of Pennsylvania to open its books and explain where all the Chinese money was coming from. Consider that now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken was the manager of the Penn Biden Center. Several other Biden team members were paid by the University of Pennsylvania in the period between Joe Biden’s vice presidency and presidency. Meanwhile, in apparent appreciation for setting him up at the center, Joe Biden appointed former University President Amy Gutmann to be U.S. Ambassador to Germany. Similarly, David Cohen, the former chairman of the university’s board of trustees, is now the U.S. Ambassador to Canada.

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Who’s seen them?

House Members To Press Secret Service About Biden’s Classified Records (JTN)

Stonewalled by the White House, House investigators are turning their attention to the Secret Service in hopes of finding records showing who had access to the five tranches of classified records found in President Joe Biden’s Delaware home and Washington think tank office. House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said Sunday the latest discovery of documents by the FBI during a search Friday had escalated the scandal from simply a question of incompetence, especially since the home where many of the documents were found was frequented by Hunter Biden as he pursued significant business deals with communist China.

“This has all the pattern of an influence peddling scheme, and it also has the makings of a potential coverup,” Comer told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo. “… There’s a lot of connections with the CCP directly to both Hunter Biden, Hunter Biden’s Uncle Jim and Joe Biden.” The Biden administration has refused to provide any information about the classified documents, citing last week an ongoing special counsel probe into the discoveries of five tranches of classified documents at the Wilmington, Del., family home and the Penn Biden Center in Washington since Nov. 2. Comer said Sunday the distribution of the documents at multiple locations raised concerns.

“Does anyone believe that those classified documents, when they left the vice president’s office, they just took them to multiple locations all over the East Coast?” he asked. “It has the appearance that someone would have taken them and moved them around. I mean, this is very concerning.” Comer said his committee would be sending letters to the Secret Service on Monday for any records the presidential security agency has about who visited either location. “Hopefully, the Secret Service is going to work with us,” he said. “We’re requesting tomorrow formally any type of correspondence, any type of emails, any type of documentation that would help us determine who actually had access to those documents. And hopefully the Secret Service will work with us despite the fact that this White House is not.”

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“..oil’s share of energy production in the United States will only fall 8 percent in the next two decades, from 31 to 23 percent…”

Biden Admin Finally Admits Mistake in Canceling Keystone XL Pipeline (RCE)

At long last, the Biden administration is admitting what experts have always known: reckless energy policies have disastrous consequences. This time, the Department of Energy quietly released a report highlighting the positive economic benefits of developing the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada, an energy project canceled by President Biden in the hours following his inauguration. But the DOE’s report is a proverbial day late and a dollar short. The cancelation of the Keystone XL pipeline has already cost the United States thousands of jobs and billions in economic growth while families suffer under the weight of record high energy prices. It’s time for lawmakers to make American energy independence a top priority.

Released without a formal announcement, the DOE’s report points out that the pipeline would have created between 16,149 and 59,000 jobs and would have had an economic benefit of between $3.4 and 9.6 billion. That’s no small impact. Yet with one stroke of his pen, Biden slashed the project and instead focused his efforts on costly “green energy” goals. As a result of his executive action, 11,000 pipeline workers were promptly laid off and told to “go to work to make solar panels” instead. But Biden’s green energy efforts are bound to backfire sooner rather than later. That’s because today, more than 70 percent of the energy produced and consumed in America comes from oil, gas and coal. That’s not likely to substantially change anytime soon.

In fact, the International Energy Agency predicts that oil’s share of energy production in the United States will only fall 8 percent in the next two decades, from 31 to 23 percent. And that’s assuming a sustained commitment to green energy policies. The forecast spells bad news for the Biden White House. At his political peril, Biden ignores the lessons of Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush, who both lost elections due to spiked oil prices and accompanying recessions. Two years into sowing its Green New Deal policies, the administration is reaping a bitter harvest. Due to Biden’s folly, oil, natural gas and electricity prices have more than doubled in just a single year. Meanwhile, more than 28 percent of Americans abstained from purchasing food or medicine to pay an energy bill in 2021. And now, the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act includes wind and solar spending that will cost Americans $369 billion.

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“Klaus Schwab will stay in office until he dies..”

‘Succession’ Has Nothing On Davos: Elite Conclave Mulls Next Leader (Pol.eu)

It’s the political race everyone is afraid to talk about. For 52 years the World Economic Forum has been synonymous with its founder and executive chair Klaus Schwab, whose humble manner belies what many who know him describe as great ambition and boundless energy, even into his mid-80s. Schwab has grown WEF’s $6,000 startup capital in 1971 into a $390 million a year business, turning a once sleepy organization into the think tank world’s FIFA. Today, WEF’s annual meeting attracts more billionaires and CEOs than any other event on earth, and more political leaders than any gathering outside the United Nations General Assembly. So what (and who) comes after Klaus Schwab?

Schwab turns 85 in March, and it’s an open question whether he will pass the torch at all. Rupert Murdoch hasn’t. Warren Buffet hasn’t. In an era of active aging, why should Schwab? POLITICO spoke to 29 WEF corporate strategic partners, current and former WEF staffers, and members of the forum’s committees and communities. They all agree: Schwab tightly controls the succession discussion. Even those who know Schwab well profess little knowledge of his plans. Forum staffers have become used to Schwab putting a high-profile political figure in the frame for succession, only to see the idea disappear before it becomes a plan. Schwab has been reluctant to talk about succession, and has consistently refused to discuss a timetable.

Five of the people POLITICO spoke to said they suspect he will stay in the job until he dies, like the monarchs and popes his critics say he styles himself after. WEF insiders are typically unwilling to talk on-the-record about the organization’s post-Schwab future. All 29 people told POLITICO they feared being barred from WEF events, while others said even speaking anonymously could get them fired. WEF is registered as a non-profit, but it’s also a multi-generation family business. Schwab’s children Nicole and Olivier hold high-ranking positions in the organization, and his wife Hilde presides over a foundation and awards ceremony in Davos. WEF’s governing statutes give family members rights to board seats. In 2017 Schwab brought in Børge Brende, a former Norwegian foreign minister, to serve as WEF’s president, while Schwab himself remained executive chair. If some outsiders expected the then 79-year-old to ease into the shadows, they were wrong: Per WEF’s website, the organization’s 800-strong staff is still “led by Founder and Executive Chairman Professor Klaus Schwab.”

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“An Inconvenient Truth” amassed $49 million at the world box office and catapulted Al into the top ranks of climate hysterics, and he’s never looked back..”

Al Gore Amassed a $330 Million Climate Fortune by Terrifying Everyone (RedS)

Former Vice President and 2000 presidential election loser Al Gore has spent his post-political career warning anyone who will listen that the earth is in its death throes due to global warming (now called climate change because somehow that’s better). His 2006 documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” amassed $49 million at the world box office and catapulted Al into the top ranks of climate hysterics, and he’s never looked back, constantly jetting to meetings around the world to preach his truth. This week he’s at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, because of course he is. Is he doing this because he truly believes what he’s saying, or because he cares so very much about you? While we can’t read his mind, one thing we do know for sure: climate change has been very, very good to Al Gore.

Though he was worth approximately $1.7 million at the end of his vice presidency, he has now amassed an estimated $330 million fortune, owns houses in Virginia, California, and Tennessee, and receives a cool $2 million a month for a figurehead position at the Generation Investment Management green energy fund he founded with former Goldman Sachs Managing Director David W. Blood. There are only two conclusions I can come to upon learning this news—1) I should have been a climate activist. 2) Hunter Biden has nothing on this guy. If he’s so concerned about rising seas, why would Gore buy a huge oceanview mansion in flood-prone Montecito? One might ask the same question of former president Barack Obama, who dropped $12 million for a waterfront view on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.

Gore’s other property holdings are pretty sweet, too, according to Daily Mail:”Gore’s family has owned farming land in his native Tennessee for generations, while his mansion in Nashville is valued at $7.5 million, his waterfront villa in Montecito, where he counts Oprah as a neighbor [and don’t forget Prince Harry], is worth $13 million, his Virginia home is worth around $3 million as is his apartment in the St. Regis building in San Francisco.” Where did he get all this money? He has a stake in the aforementioned $36 billion Generation Investment Management fund, around $80 million worth of stock in companies such as Apple and Google, and a salary from Apple as a compensation committee member. He receives $200,000 a pop per public speaking engagement and also advises companies on “going green” for undisclosed (but presumably huge) fees.

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Trump still looks strong.

Trump and DeSantis Both Leading Biden In Hypothetical 2024 Matchup (JTN)

If the 2024 presidential election were held today, either of the two top presumed Republican contenders for their party’s nomination would defeat President Joe Biden, according to a new survey. Both former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would beat the current president if he chooses to run again, according to the Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll, which was released Friday. The survey polled 2,050 registered voters, 65% of whom said that Biden should not run again. Of those polled, 46% said they would support Trump with 41% for Biden and 13% uncertain at this time. This was the same 5-point margin that Trump led by in the December poll results.


If the GOP candidate is Gov. DeSantis, the poll shows him defeating Biden by a margin of 42% to 39%. News of the scandal regarding Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents appears to make little difference to those surveyed, comparing the two months’ results. While Trump remains the clear favorite for the Republican nomination, leading DeSantis by a 48% to 28% margin, the co-director of the poll is not convinced the lead will hold. “Trump is ahead but already has every vote he can get,” Mark Penn told The Hill. “DeSantis is the candidate of potential.” Other potential Republican candidates all registered in single digits, with Mike Pence at 7%, Nikki Haley at 3%, and Mike Pompeo at 1%.

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WSJ only took 3 years. Underwhelming.

WSJ Shreds Vaccine Makers, Biden Admin Over “Deceptive” Booster Campaign (ZH)

Wall Street Journal editorial board member Allysia Finley has taken a flamethrower to vaccine makers over their “deceptive” campaign for bivalent Covid boosters, and slams several federal agencies for taking “the unprecedented step of ordering vaccine makers to produce them and recommending them without data supporting their safety or efficacy.” “You might have heard a radio advertisement warning that if you’ve had Covid, you could get it again and experience even worse symptoms. The message, sponsored by the Health and Human Services Department, claims that updated bivalent vaccines will improve your protection. This is deceptive advertising. But the public-health establishment’s praise for the bivalent shots shouldn’t come as a surprise. -WSJ”

The narrative behind the campaign was simple; mRNA Covid shots could simply be ‘tweaked’ to to target new variants – in this case, the jabs were claimed to confer protection against BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants, along with the original Wuhan strain. To call this wishful thinking would be extremely generous. As Finley writes, three scientific problems have arisen. 1/ The virus is mutating much faster than vaccines can be updated. 2/ Vaccines have ‘hard wired’ our immune systems to respond to the original Wuhan strain, “so we churn out fewer antibodies that neutralize variants targeted by updated vaccines.” 3/ Antibody protection wanes after just a few months. Finley has brought receipts too…

Two studies in the New England Journal of Medicine this month showed that bivalent boosters increase neutralizing antibodies against the BA.4 and BA.5 variants, but not significantly more than the original boosters. In one study, antibody levels after the bivalent boosters were 11 times as high against the Wuhan variant as BA.5. The authors posit that immune imprinting “may pose a greater challenge than is currently appreciated for inducing robust immunity against SARS-CoV-2 variants.” This isn’t unique to Covid or mRNA vaccines, though boosters may amplify the effect. Our first exposure as children to the flu—whether by infection or vaccination—affects our future response to different strains. -WSJ”

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Actual Delta ad, 1973

 

 

Drive train

 

 

Lizard
https://twitter.com/i/status/1617145802702323712

 

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle January 23 2023

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 62 total)
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  • #126913

    Edward Hopper Folly Beach, Charleston, South Carolina 1929   • Zelenskyy: 50 Tanks Will Not Solve Problem (Az.) • US Lawmaker Proposes ‘Just One’
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle January 23 2023]

    #126914
    Germ
    Participant

    This is a terrific Ed Dowd interview:

    <iframe class=”rumble” width=”640″ height=”360″ src=”https://rumble.com/embed/v2415uc/?pub=4&#8243; frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

    TVASF

    Still can’t get the hang of this damn video sizing!

    #126916
    Germ
    Participant

    C U Next Tuesday!

    🤣☠️☠️🤣

    #126917
    Germ
    Participant

    TVASF

    #126918
    Germ
    Participant

    #126919
    Germ
    Participant

    TVASF

    #126920
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    Al Gore’s crime was not in highlighting Planetary Meltdown. His crime was to promote completely fake ‘solutions’ that made matters worse, and then go on to amass a personal fortune out of commercialisation of those fake ‘solutions’ that made matters worse.

    However, since he was a politician before becoming a scammer, we would expect nothing other than deception and fraud.

    Just wondering whether there is any difference between politician and scammer. There is much evidence they are the same thing.

    Here we are 20 years later, and everything has been made worse by politicians/scammers.

    How Inconvenient that Truth is.

    #126921
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Source of Covid Vax chart?

    I skim past, but that chart appears to say, even the generous view is wrong: 1) the Vaccine does not stop you from getting Covid, they already conceded that. Therefore it is not a “vaccine” in any normal use of the word. 2) It also doesn’t prevent the spread, they already conceded that as well.

    This takes out the last fig leaf, that you get a milder case. Because 3) vaxxed and unvaxxed are dying at a near-equal rate. And that’s only of Covid and not other things.

    Nevertheless it is recommended, nevertheless the attacks on non-vaxxers continue.

    “Take our vaccines, you scum: it doesn’t work!” Um…?

    ‘The time of the Wild West is over,’ EU’s Věra Jourová warns Elon Musk”

    Vera, if you don’t like it, build your own. Did I say that correctly?

    “…[the tanks] motivate our fighters to fight for their values.”

    They may. And that’s great. However, if it’s only to have a more thorough Ukrainian genocide, that’s not a good thing. Hey, I’m a fan of war and nationalism: shouldn’t you surrender, then pop up in guerrilla war for 500 years like Ireland? Because the complete annihilation of the population is not a war strategy.

    US Lawmaker Proposes ‘Just One’ Abrams Tank”

    Just the tip. Also demonstrating near-total lack of support in an attempt to kill all Slavs. Who can take these people seriously? If a comedian and his country take them seriously, isn’t it their own fault?

    “French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reaffirmed their continued “unwavering support” for Ukraine”

    As long as it doesn’t involve sending any weapons. P.S. the weapons are useless unless they send the full NATO manpower teams that are trained to use them, that is, thousands of soldiers. And they already have, in the form of Poles. The Poles are not into it, considering those shipped home in a bag as mercenaries, not worthy of a State funeral.

    Redacted had a pleasant Polish guest, his take was as expected, the Polish people aren’t into it. Like Poland is poor: who has money for this s—t? Also Poland and Ukraine don’t have good relations, although they were metaphorically described as siblings, which is fairly accurate. Galacia and Poland/Ukraine have been interwoven for centuries, I would totally see them taking out to Lviv or even up to Kiev. This guy said no. There is no credible talk on that, even among the jet-setting global class. Very surprising. He also added that their situation is like everywhere in the world. For example, Paris shooting the eyes out of rural women, and rural Illinois seceding from Chicago to return the favor. Everywhere seems to have a city class and walled enclave surrounded by armed, dangerous, poor, desperate, and disaffected masses who are very happy to become dangerous and deadly should that become helpful somehow. Poland is the same, shaking their heads at the senseless city morons who trample them.

    The effort, however, may ultimately backfire for the US and its allies, …the US then will finally abandon old Europe and what remains of the unfortunate Ukrainians, and the world will return to an equilibrium.” –Medvadev

    That is, because the Pentagon followed the war this way, the U.S. will no longer have the option of projecting power, Europe will be unable to use America as their paid Bully, Ukraine returns to Russia, and Empire ends. What’s not to like, those are the exact planks of the U.S. Populist platform majority approved by Americans. Yet this is an accident somehow?

    “Russia Holds Drills Focused on “Repelling Air Attacks” on Moscow”

    Expecting as Lira does, the only thing they’ve got and can get into the fields to double-down yet again are the West’s Sopwith Camels. The F-16 is a good plane, and they do get updated over time, but honestly, that’s 45 years old. Shouldn’t you retire from the service now and not hump a 100-pounder?

    If the West does it – and I hope they do in small measure, as constrained by the Generals – it will prove even the out of date S300 is enough to take every Western plane out of the sky. Nothing else will make the point, as a certain General says:

    “Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.

    “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness–these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens.

    “Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct…permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations and passionate attachments for others should be excluded, and that in place of them just and amicable feelings toward all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or an habitual fondness is in some degree a slave.

    “Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others,

    “and it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation) facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country without odium, sometimes even with popularity, …Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.

    It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world,” –Geo. Washington, Farewell Address.

    If we do foray into Russia, unless the Pentagon really does have a back door with Pentagon as I propose, and even if they do, we will pay firmly in reparations. Even if those reparations are merely political isolation.

    As Cait says “It’s like two people in a bar getting into a brawl that kills everyone in their city.

    The US empire is telling Moscow “I’m the craziest motherfucker around, I’ll keep ramping up the brinkmanship looking you right in the eye and daring you to use nukes,” while telling the rest of the world “I am the voice of sanity that you should all look to for leadership.”

    They’re not approaching the subject with anything like the gravity they would if they understood what’s happening and had seriously thought about what could be.”

    The West are not serious people. They are not men. They are children, infants, and clowns. War does not smile on such people.

    “The argument for nukes [MAD] is that the threat of their use wards off the large-scale conventional wars we saw in WWI and WWII, but that only works if the fear of their use deters conventional attacks.”

    However, clowns and infants are incapable of thought, and thus incapable of fear. The engineers have done their job well. They have no opposition at home right now except passive disinterest.

    “We always support everyone’s First Amendment rights here” … by having all people expressing themselves arrested and removed. –AOC P.S. then we slander them, falsely cry ‘murder!’ and name ourselves as a famous congressman as the powerless ‘victim’ and the voiceless, powerless protesters your racist oppressors. Classic.

    “contrary to the neutrality prescribed in the Constitution and the will of the Moldovan people, who are categorically against joining this military structure,”

    Just like America. And Poland. And Canada. And Germany. And…

    “Immaculate Possession: Biden Defense is Fast Becoming Unsustainable (Turley)”

    It wasn’t 6 documents. It was six BOXES of documents. Or maybe six storage units of documents, they didn’t specify. And they say this is Obama removing him for the fully-non-person talking-unit Harris. Then remove her after 2024 and put in VP Newsome. Yes, but something is terribly off about that whole plan I can’t put my finger on. My experience just says “No.” That is not happening as a face-level explanation, although I can’t argue against any of the points.

    He sells out to China for a mere $50 million? He’s a cheap man-whore. That’s like one house. How do you even enjoy it, looking over your shoulder? A: He doesn’t. It’s a compulsion. A mental illness. They comb the nation looking for such people to install.

    “Biden Admin Finally Admits Mistake in Canceling Keystone XL Pipeline (RCE)”

    “Finally admits mistake” is the headline here. Why? They won’t need it because although we have no electric cars, the weather is too cold in America and the distances too far, and there isn’t enough lithium if we tried, there will be no gas-powered cars by 2030, translation: tomorrow.

    Invest in used cars, as prices of used ICE’s are about to skyrocket. Again.

    ““Klaus Schwab will stay in office until he dies..”

    He’s not in “office”. That word has meaning. Especially not in “Office” if it’s a family dynasty that’s not even chosen, much less elected. And what $390M “business”? What do they sell? Us?

    “Al Gore Amassed a $330 Million Climate Fortune by Terrifying Everyone (RedS)”

    Third of a billion. I haven’t clicked on his speech, but apparently he was foaming at the mouth and shouting like Hitler. No one cares and it’s as funny as all the Hitler overdub videos.

    At $300 Million he hasn’t planted a single tree. In fact, he removed them to extend the tennis court.

    “WSJ Shreds Vaccine Makers, Biden Admin over “Deceptive” Booster Campaign (ZH)”

    Again, the headline is that they reported it. Why? Why can this suddenly be reported? Why can Biden’s docs get in the news all day now? It’s a setup.

    “Police Arrest 6 after Fiery Atlanta Riots, Mayor Confirms Antifa Used Explosives”

    Peacenik
    https://i.imgflip.com/4cy8fa.jpg

    “Police Say California Mass Shooting Suspect Is Asian Male, Still at Large”

    No comment, story still not in. “California Mass Shooter Fatally Shoots Himself” Wot a coincidence. And not related to police at all.

    #126922
    Germ
    Participant
    #126923
    oxymoron
    Participant

    Just the tip
    You are a funny fucker Dr D – are you writing for Tucker on the sly?

    Studying trees and natural building. The constant media of the last 3 years has been something hasn’t it but there is work to do.
    Sasha Latypova and El Gato are killing it out there though

    https://open.substack.com/pub/boriquagato/p/is-the-uk-health-regulator-disavowing?r=nv8me&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

    #126924
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @Afewknowthetruth

    You wrote, “However, since he [Al Gore] was a politician before becoming a scammer . . .”

    Isn’t that like saying Gore was a canine before becoming a dog?

    #126925
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    To be more linguistically and logically accurate (not to mention more nitpickingly OCD) , I should have written, “Isn’t that like saying Gore was a dog before becoming a canine?”

    #126926
    limeincoconut
    Participant

    Germ,

    Did a read on the Scottish report on baby deaths – re post 126922. Its definitely not due to something

    ” No clear link has been found with Covid infections in either mothers or babies, or an increase in premature births – all of which increase the risk of neonatal mortality.

    Chance variation is considered unlikely, but PHS suggested Covid-related staffing absences may have been a factor.

    Any link to Covid vaccines has been ruled out on the basis of international evidence demonstrating their safety in pregnancy, but PHS confirmed that it had not checked the vaccination status of any of the mothers affected.

    It stressed that there was no public health basis to do, and that such an analysis “whilst being uninformative for public health decision making, had the potential to be used to harm vaccine confidence”.

    #126927
    boilingfrog
    Participant

    I guess we should all be boycotting Delta, tearing down their terminals and such, because they were once sexist and misogynist, eh? /sarc

    (I’m not throwing THAT first stone, too busy trying to get the lig out of my eyeball!!)

    #126928
    John Day
    Participant

    Last night D Benton Smith wrote:
    “Until the bad guys become enlightened it is certain that they will seek ways of turning that transferred motion to their own nefarious ends in some new way (but toward the same ends). That’s why it is never a good idea to treat victory as final. It simply never is. Ya got to stay right on top of it and continue to find and direct that elusive energy to benevolent objectives.”

    The boomers won against the MIC, getting the US out of Vietnam, and then “lost the peace”, getting co-opted by paychecks to become compliant with whatever.

    #126929
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    I wonder where the perpetrators will try to hide when there are no more places to hide.

    #126930
    zerosum
    Participant

    enablers, scammer – Fauci, Zelenskyy

    Motivation/ incentive/stimulation/inspiration

    Out of lack of care/out of your ignorance/out of love/care/concern/power/money/fear/blackmail/lie

    —————-
    Defense/coverup
    Willful blindness, no knowledge, no responsibility, incompetence
    ——————-

    The narrative, (the lie), behind the campaign was simple; mRNA Covid shots could simply be ‘tweaked’ to target new variants – in this case, the jabs were claimed to confer protection against BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants, along with the original Wuhan strain.
    To call this wishful thinking would be extremely generous.

    ——————
    incapable of thought, and thus incapable of fear. The engineers have done their job well. They have no opposition at home right now except passive disinterest.

    —————-

    #126931
    Germ
    Participant

    Covid has just been one big grift for anybody remotely connected.

    Here’s the latest:

    Conservative health minister has big stake in Covid testing firm

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/23/conservative-health-minister-stake-covid-nick-markham-cignpost-investments

    #126932
    Dora
    Participant

    #126933

    I NEED A NEW BIKE!

    Golly, I love lizards. What a magnificent creature.

    Alliances once based upon a falsely given oath
    Ensures you’ll make an enemy of some uneasy friend.
    It comes to blows and guns are used and others fear you both-
    For history is written thus: such wars don’t ever end.

    #126934
    John Day
    Participant

    “Lagging Perceptions” blog post is up, but that just refers to the lost control narratives of the elites lagging the paradigm-shifts occurring in “common wisdom”.
    https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/lagging-perceptions

    #126935
    John Day
    Participant

    Good, the AI censorship filters appear to allow Substack links to upload today:

    We are seeing the mainstream media reposition to get ahead of the wave of public perception, as COVID-19 “vaccine” products are increasingly known to be killing and disabling people of all ages, including children and babies. Media need to re-establish credibility, and they will need to move their messaging closer to the truth until they are seen as useful sources of information by most people. This is happening now, ramping up. It is certain that social media is monitoring the response of the American public.
    WSJ Shreds Vaccine Makers, Biden Admin Over “Deceptive” Booster Campaign
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/wsj-shreds-vaccine-makers-biden-admin-over-deceptive-booster-campaign

    ​ ​GMC Blinks First: Regulator Declines to Investigate Dr Aseem Malhotra Over Vaccine Warnings in BBC Interview

    GMC Blinks First: Regulator Declines to Investigate Dr Aseem Malhotra Over Vaccine Warnings in BBC Interview

    ​ The continent of Africa is providing an awkward “control group” of mainly “unvaccinated” humans, who had low rates of illness and fatality, and appear to be over COVID, while heavily “vaccinated” populations have wave after wave of sickness and deaths.​ (The areas that used ivermectin did particularly well.)
    Africa Is Starkly Unvaccinated, And Starkly Unvanquished By COVID
    https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/africa-starkly-unvaccinated-and-starkly-unvanquished-covid

    ​ A “limited hangout” will be necessary to “clean up” the intelligence agencies, mainly the CIA and FBI, which are most visible.​ A “new Church Committee” is being set up in the (barely) Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which should perform this function in restoration-of-faith.
    How the CDC Became the Speech Police
    Secret internal Facebook emails reveal the feds’ campaign to pressure social media companies into banning COVID “misinformation.”

    How the CDC Became the Speech Police

    ​ Elon Musk’s father is quite worried that his son is making the kinds of enemies who get rid of problem-people, and he is doing that, but it looks to me like this is the new-replacement-policy, so he will be protected as he does so.​
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/musks-father-im-really-afraid-something-might-happen-elon

    #126936
    John Day
    Participant

    Paul Craig Roberts, a Reagan Administration cold-warrior, who remembers the previous incarnation of the United States, the one President Eisenhower saw slipping away already, discusses how the CIA gets rid of presidents. (It appears to me that “Joe Biden” is positioned to take-the-fall for COVID and Ukraine, maybe even “losing to China”, but this does not make him “troublesome”, just a convenient scapegoat. The depths of his corruption will be left unexamined.)
    ​ ​How Troublesome Presidents Are Disposed of
    ​ ​President John F. Kennedy was murdered by the CIA and US Joint Chiefs of Staff once he realized that the government he headed was not the real government. His predecessor President Eisenhower, a 5-star general, warned about the threat to democratic government posed by the military/industrial complex. President Kennedy intended to do something about it while the president still had some power, but he was struck down before he could do more than fire CIA Director Allen Dulles and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Lyman Lemnitzer. President Kennedy wasn’t able to get rid of General Lemnitzer, who transitioned to Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. Both Dulles and Lemnitzer are suspected of directing the plot against Kennedy’s life.
    ​ ​President Nixon was the best informed and best respected abroad president of any in US history. He kept in touch with foreign leaders and was well informed about historical and current events. But he also, like Kennedy and Trump, over estimated the power of the president.

    How Troublesome Presidents Are Disposed of

    ​ Moon of Alabama points out that Ukraine sending reinforcements to bolster (temporarily) the main Ukrainian defensive line in Bakhmut, has removed their soldiers from other positions along the long front with Russia. Russian forces are now testing Ukrainian defenses in the south, and are likely to also do this in the north soon, while still incessantly shelling the suffering Ukrainian draftees in Bakhmut. (Tanks won’t change this. A whole new NATO air-force would massively escalate the war.)
    ​ ​It is unlikely that any reserves he currently has are equipped, trained and battle ready. They will be too small to stop a fully mechanized Russian attack through the rather sparsely settled southwest of Donetzk province.
    ​ ​The aim of the Russian thrust in the south will not be to take cities like Zaporiziha. The aim is to bring the main transport routes, railways and roads, from west-Ukraine to the front in east Ukraine under Russian artillery fire. This will prevent not only the re-supply for the Ukrainian troops on the eastern front but also their exit from the front line. A 100 kilometer (60 miles) thrust to the north would mostly do that. A complementary thrust from the north towards south, which may or may not be coming, would finally close the cauldron.
    https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/01/ukraine-russian-army-activates-southern-front.html

    ​ ​Douglas Macgregor: Ukrainian Brigades Have Lost 70% Of Their Strength !! Russia Has Changed Strategy

    ​ ​Russo-Ukrainian War: The World Blood Pump​, Big Serge ​(Gradually, and then Suddenly​)
    ​ ​It has gradually become apparent that Russia is committed to a positional attritional war, as this maximizes the asymmetry of their advantage in ranged fires. There is an ongoing degradation of Ukraine’s warmaking ability which is allowing Russia to patiently maintain the current tempo, while it organizes its newly mobilized forces for offensive action in the coming year, setting the stage for cascading and unsustainable Ukrainian losses.​..
    [About changes in power structure in general.]
    ​..​Trotsky famously turned up at the foreign affairs ministry building one morning and simply announced that he was the new Foreign Minister. The employees laughed at him – who was he? how did he presume to be in charge? – but for Trotsky the point was to insinuate himself on a Schelling point. In the state of anarchy that began to spread in Russia, people naturally look for some obvious focal point of authority, and the Bolsheviks had cleverly positioned themselves as such by claiming control over the bureaucratic offices and titles. On the other side of the civil conflict, political opposition to the Bolsheviks clustered around Tsarist army officers, because they too were Schelling points, in that they already had titles and position within an existing hierarchy.
    ​ ​All of this is to say that in the event of a coup or state collapse, new governments are virtually never formed sui generis – they always arise from preexisting institutions and hierarchies. Why, when the Soviet Union fell, did political authority devolve to the Republics? Because these Republics were Schelling points – branches that one can grab for safety in a chaotic river.
    https://bigserge.substack.com/p/russo-ukrainian-war-the-world-blood

    #126937
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ This is a desperate and unsustainable ploy, whether it is a fake (probably) or extreme hubris (apparently), or both.
    ​Washington Has Resurrected the Threat of Nuclear Armageddon , Paul Craig Roberts

    Washington Has Resurrected the Threat of Nuclear Armageddon

    ​ ​Ex-Russian president predicts new anti-US military alliance
    The Ukraine crisis may lead to the founding of a bloc of countries “fed up” with Washington, Dmitry Medvedev says
    https://www.rt.com/russia/570312-medvedev-anti-us-alliance/

    ​ Pepe Escobar on defunding the empire:
    Global South: Gold-backed currencies to replace the US dollar
    ​ ​First: One of the key take aways from the World Economic Forum annual shindig in Davos, Switzerland is when Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan, on a panel on “Saudi Arabia’s Transformation,” made it clear that Riyadh “will consider trading in currencies other than the US dollar.”
    ​ ​So is the petroyuan finally at hand? Possibly, but Al-Jadaan wisely opted for careful hedging: “We enjoy a very strategic relationship with China and we enjoy that same strategic relationship with other nations including the US and we want to develop that with Europe and other countries.”
    ​ ​Second: The Central Banks of Iran and Russia are studying the adoption of a “stable coin” for foreign trade settlements, replacing the US dollar, the ruble and the rial. The crypto crowd is already up in arms, mulling the pros and cons of a gold-backed central bank digital currency (CBDC) for trade that will be in fact impervious to the weaponized US dollar…
    ​..Third: South Africa holds this year’s rotating BRICS presidency. And this year will mark the start of BRICS+ expansion, with candidates ranging from Algeria, Iran and Argentina to Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
    ​ ​South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor has just confirmed that the BRICS do want to find a way to bypass the US dollar and thus create “a fairer payment system not skewed toward wealthier countries.”
    ​ ​For years now, Yaroslav Lissovolik, head of the analytical department of Russian Sberbank’s corporate and investment business has been a proponent of closer BRICS integration and the adoption of a BRICS reserve currency

    Global South: Gold-backed currencies to replace the US dollar

    #126938
    John Day
    Participant

    Thanks Luc: (Spoiler: It’s the Rockefeller Foundation that took the lead long ago.)
    ​ ​Who is Behind the Great Food Reset?
    https://corbettreport.substack.com/p/who-is-behind-the-great-food-reset

    ​ ​Venezuela’s Seed Law Should be a Global Model
    ​ ​For peasant farmers, the battle over seed rights is critical to their livelihoods
    ​ ​The imposition of patented transgenic seeds onto rural communities has had a catastrophic impact on human livelihoods and biodiversity protection. In many countries, seeds have traditionally been the collective property of farmers—however, these farmers’ right to control their own seed supply is being attacked by corporate forces which have captured capitalist states around the world.
    ​ ​In 2010, the government of Colombia adopted Law 970 as part of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States government. Under the terms of the FTA, Bogotá gave legal monopoly to seeds produced by US and European corporations and forced Colombian farmers to only use certified seeds manufactured by these companies. Farmers who were caught saving seeds or planting unregistered seeds were subject to fines or jail time. These laws were a condition for Washington to agree to the FTA.
    ​ ​Law 970 not only precipitated a rise in food production prices, since farmers were forced to purchase seeds from companies like Monsanto rather than use communally shared seeds; it also caused the Colombian state to destroy food products grown from saved seeds. This occurred in 2011 in towns like Campo Alegre, where Colombian authorities raided the warehouse and trucks of rice farmers and destroyed 70 tonnes of rice that was not produced in accordance with Law 970.

    Venezuela’s Seed Law Should be a Global Model

    ​ Lies, murder, robbery and destruction in the name of virtue.​
    ​ ​Revealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest provider are worthless, analysis shows
    Investigation into Verra carbon standard finds most are ‘phantom credits’ and may worsen global heating
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/revealed-forest-carbon-offsets-biggest-provider-worthless-verra-aoe

    #126939
    Professorlocknload
    Participant

    ‘Trump and DeSantis to win vs. Biden?’

    Polling “Likely Voters” means nothing in this Brave New World. Producers of Mass Mail-in Ballots will decide everything.

    #126941
    phoenixvoice
    Participant

    https://news.yahoo.com/arizona-faces-existential-dilemma-import-160949296.html

    Personally, I believe that desalinization water piped to AZ is stupid. There are cases to be made for desalinization for areas located on the coasts…but AZ is land-locked. I think that the companies that might be involved in desalinization and a pipeline are salivating at the idea of the money to be made by building it and running it.

    Water from the Mississippi River is less stupid — pipeline only, no desalinization…but let’s think this through…including all of the toxic agricultural runoff that is already in that water, the engineering and pumping involved, the fact that it passes through multiple states which means they and the feds will be involved.

    The only truly practical idea I’ve seen floated thus far is connecting the various AZ canal systems — some canal systems have plenty of water while others don’t. Connecting the internal canal systems creates local resiliency within the state.

    As far as no “easy rides” for residential developers…that was the purpose behind the law that developments with over 6 homes have to have a 100 year water supply in the first place! The developers want to create the development, sell the homes, and sic the unwitting homeowners with a home that has no guaranteed access to water. At some point, the rubber hits the road — we make tough decisions or start brainstorming new ways to deal with the problem — and splitting homes into 5-home developments is not the type of creativity that I’m writing about. That is merely a loophole in the law that violates the law’s intent — homeowners with no access to fresh water.

    #126942
    zerosum
    Participant

    Isn’t there a saying about doing/repeating the same thing that doesn’t work.
    Maybe I got it wrong. It must be about success is repeating what works.
    Retired military experts are encouraging gov. know-nothing politician to demilitarize their own military and send it for destruction and recycling in Ukraine.
    Russian will welcome the moving/mobile target practice.
    “Close” counts in horse shoe, and artillery and missiles

    #126943
    zerosum
    Participant

    Don’t blame me.
    A rose is a rose by any name.
    (Long covid or vaccine)

    #126944
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    ‘I wonder where the perpetrators will try to hide when there are no more places to hide.’

    In barns on remote farms, dressed as farm workers, as per the last lot of fanatical fascists who tried to escape capture after their insane schemes caused carnage nearly 80 years ago.

    #126945
    zerosum
    Participant

    Is the fireplace a secured place for secret documents?

    #126946
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    It really is that old joke, but with a nasty addendum.

    Father: What do you want to be when you grow up?

    Son: I want to lead a life of crime and become incredibly rich but never go to prison.

    Father: So, you want to become a politician. How many people do you want to kill?

    Son: As many as I can.

    #126947
    Michael Reid
    Participant


    That’s why it is never a good idea to treat victory as final. It simply never is.
    Ya got to stay right on top of it and continue to find and direct that elusive energy to benevolent objectives.

    And that is why you keep your rifle pointed at the moose as you approach and shoot for the head if it moves.

    #126948
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    Excellent analysis from Brian on the failing weapons strategy with respect to Ukraine but, more importantly, the destabilisation of the region southwest of China via murder of Chinese engineers etc. and the funding of fake opposition by Airstrip Two.

    #126949
    Germ
    Participant

    #126950
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    Hiding from Opportunity

    Hiding from Opportunity

    #126951
    oxymoron
    Participant

    Until 2021 I had never heard of Myocarditis

    #126952

    Bloomberg TV: MICROSOFT INVESTS $10B IN CHATGPT MAKER OPENAI

    Where does chatgpt makes its money? I haven’t used it- does it advertise?

    #126953
    Oroboros
    Participant
    #126954
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

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