Mar 162023
 
 March 16, 2023  Posted by at 9:46 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,


Pable Picasso Le Pengouin 1907

 

Credit Suisse Borrows $54BN From SNB: “Pre-emptively Strengthen Liquidity” (ZH)
EU Shrugs Off Silicon Valley Bank Collapse (Pol.eu)
Pentagon Calls Moscow Over Drone Incident (RT)
US Drones Have No Business Near Russia – Ambassador (RT)
Drone Incident Confirms US Involvement In Ukraine Conflict – Russia (RT)
Moscow Responds To Lindsey Graham Threat (RT)
Attack On Russian Plane In Neutral Airspace A Declaration Of War – Antonov (TASS)
Antonov Expressed Russia’s Concerns Over US Activities At State Dept (TASS)
China Comments On ‘Ukrainian Theory’ Of Nord Stream Sabotage (RT)
Explosive Devices Found At Russian Pipeline – Transneft (RT)
Ukraine Wants To Legalize Controversial Hacker Brigade (RT)
How Russian Identity Was Wiped Out In What Is Now Western Ukraine (Plotnikov)
The Tyrants Are Passing State Laws to Push CBDCs (Thomas Renz)
GOP Candidates: Pay Attention DC (Denninger)
Which Biden Family Member Got Cut Of $3M CCP-Linked Wire? (ZH)

 

 

 

 

 

 

RFK Haines
https://twitter.com/i/status/1635831142124339200

 

 

RFK Fauci

 

 

 

 

Tucker weapons

 

 

Bosi

 

 

Macgregor

 

 

Russian warriors

 

 

 

 

Credit Suisse is labeled systemically important, aka too big to fail. On Wall Street. But as ZH notes this loan does nothing to halt the depositor flight that made the loan necessary. What happens if someone decides to take the other side of the bet, like Soros did with the Bank of England?

Credit Suisse Borrows $54BN From SNB: “Pre-emptively Strengthen Liquidity” (ZH)

Update (21:00ET): And so, the “bailout” arrives just a few hours before the Europe open, Credit Suisse said it’s planning to borrow from the Swiss National Bank up to CHF50 billion ($54 billion) under a covered loan facility which is “fully collateralized by high quality assets”. It wasn’t immediately clear what high quality assets CS has left to pledge but in a time of BTFP, we are confident they found something. The bank also announced offers by Credit Suisse International to repurchase certain OpCo senior debt securities for cash of up to about CHF3 billion, which will help the bank pick up a few pennies in bond discount, even as it faces tens of billions in deposit flight.

So to summarize: Credit Suisse effectively just took out a priming DIP loan, pledging its last remaining assets with the SNB, to shore up some $54BN in emergency liquidity, probably how much the bank has seen in deposit outflows. It will be very interesting on what terms those assets were pledged. Another way of saying it, is that this is a last-ditch liquidity infusion, and all it does is prevent forced asset liquidations (a la SVB). Meanwhile it does nothing to halt the depositor flight because once trust is broken, it rarely returns. The news sent Euro Stoxx 50 futures 2% higher, and pushed Emini S&P futures to session highs of 3946; 2Year yields moved up by about 20bps to 4.00% before fading the move.

That said don’t hold your breath for some breathtaking surge: once the market sees though this rescue for what it is – yet another temporary stop gap measure – it will demand much more, especially after the ECB hikes rates tomorrow which this “band-aid bailout” will allow the Central Bank to do, in the process guaranteeing an even bigger bailout down the line.

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“..acting as if there’s no crisis can sometimes be all part of the game to reassure the markets..”

EU Shrugs Off Silicon Valley Bank Collapse (Pol.eu)

The failure over the weekend of America’s Silicon Valley Bank, which had assets of $200 billion, has prompted fears of wider meltdown, with share prices plummeting and U.S. agencies scrambling to contain the fallout and prevent runs on other lenders. In the European Union, it’s very definitely seen as something that’s happening to other people. “At the EU level, there is very limited presence of Silicon Valley Bank,” Valdis Dombrovskis, executive vice president of the European Commission, said Tuesday. “We are in touch with the relevant competent authorities, but we don’t expect much of a spillover effect.” His was just the latest in a series of chilled-out comments from leading EU figures as they looked on while the financial blowup raged.

“I don’t see any risk of contagion,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Monday. “We are monitoring the situation but there is no specific alert.” EU bank stocks slumped 5.84 percent on Monday in response to the demise of SVB — but rallied on Tuesday, closing back up 2.46 percent. Aside from the immediate risks of contagion, the big question is whether SVB is an idiosyncratic event or a sign of broader ailments at banks. European leaders are firmly playing things down, stressing the difficulties were unique. “The problems arise from the specific business model of the Silicon Valley Bank, and the picture here in Europe is very different,” said Paschal Donohoe, president of the Eurogroup, the gathering of eurozone finance ministers, after their latest meeting on Monday.

Of course, acting as if there’s no crisis can sometimes be all part of the game to reassure the markets. So when the EU says “nothing to see here,” those in the know — particularly those who lived through the financial turmoil a decade and a half ago — may wonder whether actually they’re just hoping that if they say it loudly enough it will become true.

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It’s good that they talk. They should do more of that. Much more.

Pentagon Calls Moscow Over Drone Incident (RT)

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reached out to his Russian counterpart, Sergey Shoigu, on Wednesday, for the first time in months, to discuss the incident in which an American spy drone went down in the Black Sea waters off Crimea. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Shoigu told Austin that the incident was caused by the Americans violating the airspace restriction declared by Russia, with all the proper international notifications in place. Shoigu called US drone flights off the Russian coast “provocative in nature” and risked an escalation of tensions in the Black Sea. While Russia does not desire such a development, it will “continue to respond proportionately to all provocations,” Shoigu said. He added that the two nuclear powers “must act as responsibly as possible,” which includes keeping a military channel open to discuss any crisis.

Speaking at a Pentagon press briefing, Austin confirmed that he made the call, and said it was “important that great powers be models of transparency and communication.” However, he insisted the US would “continue to fly and to operate wherever international law allows.” The last time Shoigu and Austin spoke was in October 2022, according to AP. The top military officers also had a phone call about the matter, with US General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reaching out to his Russian counterpart, General Valery Gerasimov. On Tuesday, the US European Command claimed that two Russian Su-27 jets conducted an “an unsafe and unprofessional intercept” of a MQ-9 Reaper drone, which was conducting an intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance (ISR) mission in international waters over the Black Sea.

According to the US military, one of the planes struck the drone’s propeller, causing the operators to ditch the UAV into the water. The Russian Defense Ministry, however, said that at no point did any of the interceptors make contact with the drone, or use their on-board weapons. The UAV stalled and crashed after executing an abrupt maneuver, Moscow said. Russian ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said he told the State Department that US drones have no business so close to the Russian border. The drone was reportedly just 60 kilometers off the coast of Crimea when it crashed.

The US has flown drones and other surveillance aircraft near the Russian border for over a year, providing intelligence and targeting information to the Ukrainian government – along with weapons, ammunition and money – while insisting it is not a party to the conflict. Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, said on Wednesday that the drone incident was “yet another confirmation” the US was directly involved.

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Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov is the de facto spokesperson for Moscow on the issue.

US Drones Have No Business Near Russia – Ambassador (RT)

Moscow regards Tuesday’s incident in which an American drone crashed in the Black Sea as a provocation, Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said after being summoned to the State Department in Washington. Antonov met with Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried, who protested the “unsafe and unprofessional intercept” of the drone that resulted in its loss. “We consider this incident a provocation,” Antonov told reporters after the meeting. He said he told Donfried that US drones, planes and ships had no business being that close to Russian borders. “Could you imagine what the reaction of the US media or the Pentagon would be, if such a drone would appear near New York or San Francisco?” he asked.

Antonov described the talks with Donfried as “constructive” and said both sides shared their concerns. The US and Russia need to be “extremely cautious” how they act, given the current situation in Eastern Europe, he added. He also told Donfried that Moscow is seeking “pragmatic relations” and not conflict with the US. According to the US military, two Russian Su-27 interceptors flew dangerously close to the MQ-9 Reaper drone on Tuesday morning, spilling fuel on the drone and at one point damaging its propeller, causing the UAV to crash. The drone, they said, was on a peaceful surveillance mission in international waters. In response, the Russian Defense Ministry said the UAV stalled after executing drastic maneuvers, and that the interceptors “did not come into contact with the UAV.”

Antonov had pointed out that the drone was of a type that can carry multiple missiles and bombs. The MQ-9 was developed as a “hunter-killer” variant of the MQ-1 Predator. The US has flown drones and surveillance planes near the Russian border for over a year, providing intelligence and targeting information to the Ukrainian government – along with weapons, ammunition and money – while insisting it is not a party to the conflict. The exact location of the incident was not provided by either government. Russian media have reported that the Reaper’s last location was about 60 kilometers southwest of the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

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“..Russian fighters did not use any airborne weapons and did not come into contact with the drone..”

Drone Incident Confirms US Involvement In Ukraine Conflict – Russia (RT)

Moscow will attempt to recover the wreckage of the American MQ-9 Reaper drone that fell into the Black Sea on Tuesday, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, has announced. Speaking live on a Russian federal channel on Wednesday, the official admitted that he doesn’t know if it will be possible to get to the remains of the UAV but stressed that it was important to make an effort to find and study the wreckage. Patrushev also added that “Americans keep saying that they are not participating in the hostilities” in Ukraine and that this latest incident with the drone is “yet another confirmation that [the US] are directly involved” in the ongoing military conflict.

The secretary’s statement comes after Washington’s European Command (EUCOM) reported that one of its MQ-9 Reaper drones was brought down over the Black Sea on Tuesday morning as a result of “unsafe and unprofessional” actions by two Russian Su-27 fighter jets. The Pentagon insists that one of the Russian interceptors had “struck the propeller” of the drone while it was conducting a reconnaissance mission in international airspace. The Russian Defense Ministry has denied claims that its planes came into contact with the American drone, but reported that Aerospace Forces had recorded the flight of an American UAV over the Black Sea towards the Russian border and dispatched two interceptors to investigate.

The ministry noted that the aircraft was flying with transponders turned off and in violation of the temporary air borders established around the ongoing military operation area in Ukraine. At some point, “as a result of sharp maneuvers” the drone went into “uncontrolled flight” and crashed into the sea, the ministry reported, noting that Russian fighters did not use any airborne weapons and did not come into contact with the drone. US National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby has since stated that the US is taking all the necessary measures to ensure that the remains of the MQ-9 Reaper drone do not fall into anyone else’s hands.

“It’s the United States’ property. We obviously don’t want to see anybody getting their hands on it beyond us,” Kirby told CNN. However, he also admitted that he’s not sure if the US will be able to recover the aircraft, because it fell into “very very deep water” in the Black Sea. “We’re still assessing whether there can be any kind of recovery effort. There may not be.”

Lavrov
https://twitter.com/i/status/1636060425417629697

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“it is not the Russian pilots who should be called out,” but rather American politicians, “who are inciting the start of an apocalyptic conflict.”

Moscow Responds To Lindsey Graham Threat (RT)

Russia’s ambassador to the US has accused Senator Lindsey Graham of provoking “dangerous escalation” between the two countries, after the senior lawmaker urged the Pentagon to fire on Russian fighter jets. Asked about Graham’s comments on Wednesday, Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said the senator’s call to shoot down Russian aircraft went “far beyond common sense” and risked all-out war between the world’s largest nuclear powers. “This is by no means the first attempt by the notorious lawmaker to provoke a dangerous escalation in the US-Russian relations. A year ago he urged our citizens to make an assassination attempt on the president of Russia,” he said. “Does Senator Graham really believe that a direct military clash with Russia is in the interests of the voters who entrusted him with their lives and livelihood?” “Is the Capitol willing to put American citizens and the international community at risk of a full-scale nuclear war? Give us an answer, distinguished Senator!”

Graham appeared on Fox News earlier on Wednesday to discuss a recent close encounter between Russian fighter jets and a US MQ-9 Reaper drone near Crimea, calling for a tough response from President Joe Biden after the UAV was sent plunging into the Black Sea. “What would Ronald Reagan do right now? He would start shooting Russian planes down, if they were threatening our assets,” Graham told the outlet, referring to the US leader who served at the height of Cold War brinkmanship with the Soviet Union. While US officials claimed one of the Russian planes collided with the drone and caused it to crash, the Russian Defense Ministry said the unmanned vehicle went down after stalling, and never came into contact with another aircraft. Antonov went on to argue that Moscow “did everything possible to prevent this kind of incident,” including informing the international community “in good time about the boundaries of the temporary airspace regime” established in the area.

While the ambassador said it is a “shame for the Pentagon to lose an expensive piece of equipment,” he insisted “it is not the Russian pilots who should be called out,” but rather American politicians, “who are inciting the start of an apocalyptic conflict.” Washington has flown drones and surveillance craft near the Russian border on a near-constant basis over the last year, providing intelligence – along with weapons, ammunition and money – to the Ukrainian government even as it insists it is not a party to the conflict. The exact location of this week’s drone encounter was not confirmed by either government, though Russian news outlets have reported that the Reaper’s last location was about 60 kilometers (37 miles) southwest of the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

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“Russia did everything possible to prevent this kind of incident – it informed the international community in good time about the boundaries of the temporary airspace regime established for the special military operation.”

Attack On Russian Plane In Neutral Airspace A Declaration Of War – Antonov (TASS)

A deliberate attack on a Russian aircraft in neutral airspace would be an open declaration of war against the largest nuclear power, Moscow is not seeking confrontation, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said on Wednesday. “Some lawmakers’ calls go far beyond common sense,” he said, commenting on US Senator Lindsey Graham’s (from South Karolina) threats to shoot down Russian planes approaching US aircraft in international airspace. “The Russian Ministry of Defense has explained in detail the reasons and course of actions of Russian pilots during yesterday’s incident over the Black Sea. I repeat, for those who have not gathered themselves to look at the situation objectively: our fighters did not come into contact with the American UAV,” he said, commenting on the loss of a MQ-9 American drone. “Russia did everything possible to prevent this kind of incident – it informed the international community in good time about the boundaries of the temporary airspace regime established for the special military operation.”

“Of course, it is a shame for the Pentagon to lose expensive piece of equipment. But in this case, the US military should redirect accusations of unprofessional actions back to themselves,” he noted. “As for the aforementioned senator, this is by no means the first attempt by the notorious lawmaker to provoke a dangerous escalation in the US-Russian relations. A year ago he urged our citizens to make an assassination attempt on the president of Russia. Does Senator Graham really believe that a direct military clash with Russia is in the interests of the voters who entrusted him with their lives and livelihood?” the Russian ambassador noted. “A deliberate attack on a Russian aircraft in neutral airspace is not just a crime under international law, but an open declaration of war against the largest nuclear power. An armed conflict between Russia and the United States would be radically different from the proxy war the Americans are waging remotely against us in Ukraine,” Antonov warned. “Is the Capitol willing to put American citizens and the international community at risk of a full-scale nuclear war? Give us an answer, distinguished Senator!”

“It is not the Russian pilots who should be called out, but American politicians who are inciting the start of an apocalyptic conflict. We do not seek a conflict with a nuclear power. We continue to maintain contacts, including through the Defense Ministry, to prevent unintentional incidents. I wish US politicians had the same attitude toward relations with Russia,” the Russian diplomat stressed. According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, Russian airspace control systems detected an American MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle flying near the Crimean Peninsula on Tuesday. The drone flew with its transponders turned off, violating a temporary boundary established for the special military operation, communicated to all users of international airspace, and published in accordance with international standards.

Russia’s top brass added that as a result of sharp maneuvering, the drone went into uncontrolled flight before losing altitude and crashing into the Black Sea. The ministry stressed that Russian fighter jets had not used on-board weapons, nor had they come into contact with the unmanned aerial vehicle, and returned safely to their home airfield. According to the US European Command, one of the two Russian Su-27 warplanes hit the drone’s propeller to make it crash into the Black Sea. MQ-9 Reaper is a modular reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicle engineered by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. It is equipped with a turboprop engine and can develop a speed of more than 400 kilometer per hour. The maximal flight duration is 24 hours. The drone is capable of carrying air-to-surface and air-to-air missiles, and laser-guided bombs.

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More talk. Also good.

Antonov Expressed Russia’s Concerns Over US Activities At State Dept (TASS)

Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov disclosed that he discussed Russia’s concerns regarding various aspects of Washington’s activities during the meeting in the US Department of State after the incident involving a US drone in the Black Sea. “Yesterday, I was invited to the Department of State, where I had a 30-minute conversation with Assistant Secretary of State [for European and Eurasian Affairs] Karen Donfried. Notably, we talked for 15 minutes about this particular story, and 15 more minutes – about Russia’s concerns regarding various aspects of activities of the United States of America,” he said on Russian TV Wednesday. According to Antonov, the conversation was calm. “It felt like my colleague simply read out a document that she had before her eyes,” he noted.


The envoy underscored that he categorically rejected all accusations of the American side towards the Russian Armed Forces. Previously, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the Russian Aerospace Forces detected a US MQ-9 drone flying near the Crimean Peninsula. The drone was reportedly flying with its transponder turned off and “in violation of the boundaries of the temporary airspace use area, defined in order to carry out the special military operation, which has been conveyed to all airspace users and published in accordance to the international norms.” The Defense Ministry added that the drone’s abrupt maneuvering caused it to lose control, lose altitude and crash into the water. Russian jet fighters did not use its weapons and did not collide with the drone, and successfully returned to their bases, the Ministry said.

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“We have noted that some Western media have been mysteriously quiet after Hersh reported that the US was behind the Nord Stream blast. But now these media are unusually simultaneous in making their voice heard. How would the US account for such abnormality?”

China Comments On ‘Ukrainian Theory’ Of Nord Stream Sabotage (RT)

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin found it unusual that major outlets in the West uncritically embraced the claim by unnamed US officials that a “pro-Ukrainian group” was responsible for the bombing of Nord Stream natural gas pipelines. At the press briefing on Wednesday, Wang described the pipelines as “vital cross-border infrastructure projects,” whose destruction had a “serious impact on the global energy market and ecological environment.” China wants “an objective, impartial and professional investigation” into the bombing and those responsible held to account, the sooner the better, he added.

Asked to comment on the so-called “Ukrainian theory,” first put forth by anonymous US officials in the New York Times last week, Wang noted the sudden change of behavior by Western media, after they spent a month ignoring the report by journalist Seymour Hersh that blamed the US and Norway. “We have noted that some Western media have been mysteriously quiet after Hersh reported that the US was behind the Nord Stream blast. But now these media are unusually simultaneous in making their voice heard. How would the US account for such abnormality? Is there anything hidden behind the scene?” Wang said. Nord Stream 1 and 2, pipelines built under the Baltic Sea to carry Russian natural gas to Germany and onward to Western Europe, were damaged in a series of explosions in September 2022.

In early February, Hersh published a report detailing how Washington had the pipelines destroyed, describing how US divers planted the explosives and a Norwegian airplane sent the detonation signal. The US government denied all accusations, labeling Hersh’s report “utterly false and complete fiction,” while Russia and China called for an independent and transparent investigation. The Times report quoted unnamed US officials who suggested that the saboteurs were “most likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals, or some combination of the two,” citing unspecified new intelligence. The anonymous officials insisted no US or British nationals were involved, and that there was no evidence President Vladimir Zelensky or any other Ukrainian official directed the attack, either. Kiev has officially denied any responsibility for the Nord Stream blasts.

When he was shown the Times article during an interview, Hersh laughed and asked “Are they that stupid?” referring to the outlet’s anonymous sources. Nonetheless, the story was dutifully repeated by all major Western outlets. Russian president Vladimir Putin was likewise unconvinced. During an interview with Rossiya-1 on Tuesday, he dismissed as “complete nonsense” the notion that non-state actors could be behind the complex act of sabotage. The attacks could have only been “carried out by specialists, and supported by the entire power of a state possessing certain technologies,” he said.

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Not Nord Stream, but Druzhba. “..the devices were found in destroyed plastic cases of “non-industrial production” with a striking warhead in the form of steel balls..”:

Explosive Devices Found At Russian Pipeline – Transneft (RT)

Workers at the Russian oil pipeline transport company Transneft have reportedly found several explosive devices at the Novozybkov oil-pumping station of its Druzhba pipeline in the Bryansk region near Ukraine, according to company spokesperson Igor Demin. Speaking to TASS, he stated that on Tuesday evening and on Wednesday morning, the devices were found in destroyed plastic cases of “non-industrial production” with a striking warhead in the form of steel balls. “Presumably, the destruction of the cases occurred after hitting the ground when falling from drones,” Demin suggested. He added that on Wednesday afternoon another explosive device was seen being dropped from a UAV, “likely similar to the other two [devices].”

At the same time, the Transneft representative pointed out that the Novozybkov pumping station had not been in operation throughout 2023 and that its reserve tanks are empty. Demin added that, given the steel balls found in the explosives, the perpetrators of the sabotage likely did not intend to destroy the facility but instead wanted to kill members of the civilian personnel working at the Druzhba station.The spokesperson noted that an investigation is currently underway and that nobody at the Novozybkov facility had been injured. The Druzhba (Friendship) oil pipeline is one of the longest in the world and connects eastern parts of Russia to several points in Europe, including Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and Germany. However, the pipeline has repeatedly come under attack from Kiev’s forces since Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine.

The last attack was reported on February 1, when Demin stated that a missile had landed on the territory of the Novozybkov station but ultimately failed to cause any damage or to injure any of the workers. On February 3, another attack was reported by media outlet Mash, but Transneft said it had no information on the alleged incident and that the pipeline was working normally. The pipeline segment that is apparently being targeted by Ukraine is located some 39 kilometers from the border with Russia and leads in the direction of Belarus, where it branches off into two sections, one going to Germany and Poland and the other to Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and the Czech Republic.

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Maybe they can take the place of the Orthodox church.

Ukraine Wants To Legalize Controversial Hacker Brigade (RT)

Ukraine is drafting a law to legalize its controversial hacker brigade, turning an international pro-Ukrainian “hacktivist” group into a “cyber-reserve” military unit, Newsweek confirmed with a state official in an article published on Tuesday. Secretary of Ukraine’s National Coordination Center for Cybersecurity Natalia Tkachuk told Newsweek that a law regulating the “creation and functioning of cyber forces” was being fast tracked at the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. She added that this new law would be the “basis for building the state’s cyber defense capabilities, engaging cyber volunteers in these activities, and creating a cyber reserve.” Kiev currently has a volunteer hacker brigade called ‘the IT Army of Ukraine’, which it wants to take out of the legal gray area and incorporate into the armed forces in an official capacity.

The IT Army calls itself a “worldwide IT community” that represents President Vladimir Zelensky’s team and is “the supreme power in Ukraine, capable [of blocking] over 800 targets simultaneously.” They invite anyone with a phone to join and help launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on Russian online services, where they flood the sites with internet traffic and cause an outage. The group has claimed responsibility for crashing various Russian sites, including bringing down media websites during Vladimir Putin’s State of the Nation address last month. The IT Army has also been criticized for targeting civilian facilities, including hospitals, in their attacks, according to Newsweek. The report claims that a representative of the group has welcomed the decision to legalize their efforts, even if it meant dissolving the existing IT Army to transform into an official army unit.

This comes as Russia and Belarus signed a new digital safety agreement earlier this month to “increase the protection of the information infrastructure” and “combat destructive influences on the information resources” of the two states. At the same time, many Western outlets are issuing warnings on alleged Russian cyber warfare. Most recently, CNN said on Wednesday that Russian hackers were targeting European military and transport organizations, citing a Microsoft report. Similarly, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told Funke media group last month that Moscow’s hackers were a “massive danger” to Berlin.

Orthodox

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A gruesome history piece.

How Russian Identity Was Wiped Out In What Is Now Western Ukraine (Plotnikov)

Galicia, a historical region in the West of Ukraine, is currently the center of the country’s nationalist movement. However, things were once very different. A little over a hundred years ago, representatives of opposing Russophile and pro-Ukrainian political movements competed for the loyalty of the local Ruthenian population, also known as Rusyns. Galicia’s Russophiles welcomed the beginning of the First World War as a step toward an anticipated reunion with Russia. However the Ukrainian movement remained loyal to Austria-Hungary. With the help of the latter, Vienna killed off the Rusyn intelligentsia, which it considered a “fifth column”. To accomplish this, the Hapsburgs set up concentration camps. What happened next amounted to a genocide.

By the start of the First World War, the Russophile movement in Galicia was experiencing tough times. As a result of the “divide and rule” policy implemented by the Austrians, the movement suffered a split. The oldest and most respected organizations ended up in the hands of pro-Austrian leaders who advocated Ukrainian, not Rusyn, identity. After the army of the Russian Empire crossed the border on August 18, 1914, and launched an offensive in Galicia, mass repressions swept through the region. People fell victim to the rage of the Austrian authorities over trifling matters – like possessing Russian literature, being a member of a Russian society, having a Russian education, or just sympathizing with Saint Petersburg. In some cases, people were arrested just for calling themselves Russians. Prisons were full of “enemies of the state” and “dangerous Moscow agents”, and the streets were lined with gallows.

“Those suspected of ‘Russophilia’ were hung on these trees in front of the windows. People were hung right on the trees. They would hang there for a day, then would be taken off and others would take their place… ” recounted one of the peasants in the Gorodetsky district. The repressions primarily affected the intelligentsia and Orthodox priests, most of whom completed spiritual studies in the Russian Empire. Repressions against the intelligentsia were followed by those against the general public. Anyone who was thought to sympathize with Russia or Russian culture became a suspect. This included people who had once visited Russia, read Russian newspapers, or were just known as “Russophiles.” Military courts worked around the clock and a simplified procedure of legal proceedings was introduced for cases of suspected treason.

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Renz spreads his wings beyond COVID.

The Tyrants Are Passing State Laws to Push CBDCs (Thomas Renz)

For those that are living under a rock (or that have more interesting things to do than follow monetary policy) CBDC stands for Central Bank Digital Currency and it, along with gene therapy jabs, stands as the greatest threat to freedom on the planet. Digital currency is completely trackable and completely controllable. This means that the government and any corporation with the proper access will be able to know exactly how you spend every digital penny of your money. It also means that the government (or possibly global governments or global corporations) would have the ability to control what you spend your money on. Spend too much on gas they take some of your money for emitting too many greenhouse gases. Want to buy a gun… forget it.

If you think this sounds terrible you are not alone, nearly no one wants this. That means it is quite literally politically impossible to legislate CBDC into existence at the moment. Despite that, the control available to the many tyrants at the WEF, CCP, etc. is too tempting to resist so they are doing everything possible to leverage their control over the crooks like Biden and the many ignorant elected officials in our government to make it a reality. So, the question is, how are they doing it?

If COVID taught us anything it was that an emergency, real or faked, facilitates a lot of things that would never happen otherwise. The tyrants know this and are in the process of creating financial emergencies that will allow them to argue that there is no alternative but to implement CBDCs. The Biden Administration is implementing policy after policy that devalues the American dollar by limiting Americas ability to mine its own resources or produce its own goods while printing endless money. This will (or more likely is) facilitate an economic collapse. Meanwhile, WEF/CCP partner groups like Black Rock and Vanguard are leveraging their positions as major stakeholders in small and midsized banks to force the banks to accept terrible ESG and other risky investments that will, when combined with the inflation/devalued dollar and scarce resources, result in their collapse. This is an obvious thing to anyone that truly understands the inner-workings of banking (I ran a credit union for a number of years, was a compliance expert, and was involved in a number of national-level groups/projects).

Along with the effort to collapse the dollar and our banking system, the tyrants are also pushing legislation that can allow CBDCs to exist legally and without competition. This is being done in a VERY sneaky way because of the massive political opposition to anything CBDC-related. At this point, the major focus is on passing state-level legislation – particularly in a number of key RED states. Bills are being pushed that appear innocuous but are written to create a check-mate situation when CBDCs come into play. That way these red states won’t be able to oppose it.

BBC vaxx doc

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“That’s madness, and in a world of nuclear hellfire madness can indeed lead to you glowing in the dark..”

GOP Candidates: Pay Attention DC (Denninger)

Yes, Russia may be a nation with a modest GDP that exports black goo to the world in order to stay alive but it is a nation with a modest GDP that exports black goo and happens to have many thousands of nuclear devices on the business end of missiles and torpedoes both on land and sea. If sufficiently threatened with political extinction I would expect them to use those rather than die in peace and if you don’t you’re more than a bit crazy. Those (like Pence) who think Russia is the schoolyard bully who threatens but doesn’t have a pistol under his jacket are even more-insane. He knows the weapons are real, of course, as does everyone else, and for anyone to believe that a sovereign nation will simply fold to an outside influence rather than use whatever they have when facing their own political extinction due to said outside influence is to be imbued with a God Complex that should, in a Representative Republic, be an instant and permanent disqualifier from any high office in this land.


Why? Because if you believe this then you must acquiesce under the principle of “All humans are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights” to extend to those other nations and if it is our place to tell them what is “acceptable” in a government and remove by force those who deem not to be then the exact same principle applies to those other nations. In other words if you hold this principle then you are endorsing Putin assassinating not just the present government (all of said government, including Congress, the Justices of the Supreme Court and the Executive) but also yourself ex-ante before the election! Oh this “right”, which you arrogate to yourself and the United States, does not just extend to Putin. It also extends to Xi, never mind every other leader of every other nation. That’s madness, and in a world of nuclear hellfire madness can indeed lead to you glowing in the dark. We would be wise to reject that with finality.

Read more …

I’m getting curious: just how careless did the family become? There are 5 of them, and they all like money. I would like to know more, though, about the “two individuals tied to the Chinese Communist Party”. What ties?

Which Biden Family Member Got Cut Of $3M CCP-Linked Wire? (ZH)

Washington DC is abuzz with speculation over which Biden family member got a cut of a $3 million wire transfer to Hunter Biden associate John “Rob” Walker, just weeks after Joe Biden was no longer Vice President in 2017.According to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) – who last week said that evidence of CCP money flowing to the Biden family was “as bad as we thought,” – revealed that bank records obtained via a subpoena have implicated a “new Biden family member” in the ongoing investigation into the first family’s finances. Comer told Fox News that Walker received a $3 million wire from two individuals tied to the Chinese Communist Party, which he then divvied up between Biden family members.

“The very next day after that wire was received, the Walker account started transferring money into three different Biden family members’ accounts, including a new Biden family member that’s never before been identified as someone being involved in the influence-peddling scheme,” Comer told host Sean Hannity (as part of several recent interviews on the network). According to Comer, GOP investigators are curious about what work Biden family members performed in exchange for the money Walker disbursed. Comer added that the $3 million wire transfer was “just the first wire that we’ve actually been able to obtain bank records on. There are many, many more.”

“The media says, ‘Well, this is a Hunter Biden investigation.’ This is an investigation of Joe Biden. And we’re investigating the Biden family and again, after this new batch of information, it expands,” Comer told “America’s Newsroom.” “There are more family members involved in this than just the president’s son. And what they’ve said in the media, ‘Oh, this was for business.’ We can’t identify any business. It appears it went into their personal account,” Comer continued, adding that he thinks that the Biden family was running an influence-peddling operation as unregistered foreign agents. “In his 2020 book, “Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite,” investigative journalist Peter Schweizer highlighted four Biden family members in addition to Hunter who have apparently profited off their family name, as well as the connections Joe Biden has made during his nearly 50 years in politics.

Schweizer highlighted first brother James Biden’s work with HillStone International, a subsidiary of construction management firm Hill International. James Biden, according to Schweizer, joined the firm as an executive vice president just three weeks after HillStone International president Kevin Justice visited the White House in November 2010 and met with an adviser to then-Vice President Joe Biden.” -NY Post So, everything they accused the Trump family of doing?

Read more …

 

 

 

 


A little-known feature of Russia is that it has an extensive inland waterway system, known as the Unified Deep Water System of European Russia. The system links the Baltic, Black, Azov, White and Caspian seas together. Russian warships and submarines, up to a certain class (kilo-class for submarines), can theoretically access the Black Sea via this system, bypassing Turkey and the Montreux Convention.

 

 

Gates Epstein

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hawk

 

 

Sleepy friends
https://twitter.com/i/status/1635999489684127746

 

 

 

 

Support the Automatic Earth in virustime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

 

 

 

 

 

Home Forums Debt Rattle March 16 2023

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 67 total)
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  • #131355

    Pable Picasso Le Pengouin 1907   • Credit Suisse Borrows $54BN From SNB: “Pre-emptively Strengthen Liquidity” (ZH) • EU Shrugs Off Silicon Valley
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle March 16 2023]

    #131356
    Germ
    Participant

    This is the face of utter idiocy and ignorance . And you just know she’s death-vaxxed.

    Tilda Swinton, who had COVID multiple times, bravely declares that she’s not wearing a mask anymore

    “… Swinton has now joined a list of heroic celebrities (including Woody Harrelson recently) who have bravely declared that we should all just decide that the pandemic is over because we’re tired of it, ….”

    https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tilda-swinton-had-covid-multiple-201300471.html

    Brave? Heroic? Excuse me while I vomit.

    For these death-vaxxed fools. the funny thing is …. the pandemic and the repeat infections will never never be over.
    Their future is one of repeated illness and disease.

    They bought the ticket, they’re taking the ride.

    Fuck ’em (excuse my poor bedside manner)

    TVASF

    #131357
    Dr. D
    Participant

    I wonder how long they held Credit Suisse off. We knew it was dead last month when JPow bailed them out.

    Yes, SIVB is a takedown. Why and by who is the question.

    No bail out SVB, then all the others? No. They have to: remember, now they have lashed all things to the ONE thing. Any failure is now ALL failures. Welcome to Hell, idiots. But there’s still time to throw Bernank and Yellen in prison.

    Newsom bails himself out. He was neck-deep in SVB.

    Wild

    Now as reliable as Time’s Man of the Year or the Nobel Peace Prize.

    https://www.oftwominds.com/blogmar23/banks-economy3-23.html
    A more personable explanation of the same events. Bringing it back to us and why we’re crazed and struggling.

    Kiev Independent.

    Again, their concern is their Feeeeelz. How do the Russians Feel? How are our signals? Do we need to rewrite a book or attack another statue or something?

    “Credit Suisse is labeled systemically important, aka too big to fail”

    Yes, but what does the U.S. Federal Reserve have to do with it? Do we bail all banks worldwide? How about Russian and Chinese banks? Nigerian banks? Ohio? Omaha? No?

    So you’re saying “We only bail our friends.” “Socialism for me, Capitalism for thee.”

    ““I don’t see any risk of contagion,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Monday.”

    Well, that confirms it. And really? Credit Suisse is down and what? It’s just a small local bank? Uh-huh.

    “imagine Washington’s reaction”

    As infants and narcissists, they are incapable of imagining being in the shoes of others. This is literally like saying “Blah blah blah blah blah, Fluffy” to them. Reality for thee and not for me. Save your breath. You’d get about as far explaining to that man in the ward that a dragon doesn’t really live in the keyhole. That is: nowhere. You’ll only get attacked.

    That’s madness, and in a world of nuclear hellfire madness can indeed lead to you glowing in the dark.”

    Yes but they ARE mad, insane, and believe dragons like in their ear-hole and Putin is under their bed. Everything and everyone is in on the vast conspiracy. Putin both controls all elections and gets Joe Biden elected. Yes, Insane. ‘Round the bend. Foaming at the mouth, barking at the moon, “danger to themselves and others” madness.

    ““We’re still assessing whether there can be any kind of recovery effort.”

    Well, let’s see: we have no ships in the Black Sea. Probably not.

    Ukraine Wants to Legalize Controversial Hacker Brigade (RT) “

    Let’s see: are these the guys that keep the kill list on children? Or were they the “CrowdStrike” guys that “proved” Hunter’s laptop was fake and that Russia cybered the DNC emails? I always trust my security and antivirus to E. European hackers. That’s just common sense.

    How Russian Identity Was Wiped Out In What Is Now Western Ukraine (Plotnikov) “

    They’ve been after Russia always, for 200 years in a row. Why?

    The Tyrants Are Passing State Laws to Push CBDCs (Thomas Renz) “

    And failing. States are also passing laws outlawing the laws. Gold is tax free in many states now, and some are outlawing CBDCs and forcing acceptance of cash.

    Are we at a new high for gold? Yes, of course no one mentioned it. Wouldn’t want anyone buying the way up or anything. Silver: still a zero.

    Charts and charts: https://www.macrotrends.net/1333/historical-gold-prices-100-year-chart
    $2621 in 1980 inflation-adjusted.
    $2058 in 2020 actual.
    We’re at $1950-ish today.

    Silver is at a nose-bleed, never-in-history +80:1 ratio. And has been near there for YEARS. In 2020, 110:1 ratio.
    https://www.macrotrends.net/1470/historical-silver-prices-100-year-chart
    Silver leaves the ground at a 16:1 ratio or so and has no stocks. 10x out of whack, minimum. (Longer than you can remain solvent”)

    All-time high $140 Inflation-adjusted, 1980.
    Presently $20-ish.

    How can I put this: Dow:Silver ratio is 40:1 at the 1980 high. Trends at like, 250:1?
    Right now the level is almost 2,000:1 Again, warning it’s been over 1,000 since 1994. –You know, when Larry Summers wrote that paper about breaking the gold price to hide inflation and get Bill elected?? Yeah, that one.

    Benton I don’t really grasp it. Is bribery not a bad thing? Do we believe in sovereignty and therefore doing what is good for our people? Whatever “us” is? China bribing us is now a good thing? Not a bad thing? And NY? The whole point was to ask: “Hey, I thought these Jews run the world! And here they don’t even run New York, one of their most powerful centers. What gives?” So…what gives? Your argument is, they run all Banking, even down to tiny transfers from 2nd tier banks – where the whole board and everybody else transferred a day before too that’s WHY there was a run – and yet somehow they don’t run NYC, their 2nd largest center? Also 90% killed in Israel where they definitely run things.

    What gives? Sounds a lot like they’re taking it in the teeth like the rest of us.

    Or is it really my way? All Mafia are Italians, or nearly so; yet all Italians are not the Mafia. Isn’t that easier?

    #131358
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Pablo Picasso Le Pengouin 1907

    Just 2 lines…

    #131359
    Red
    Participant

    The disinformation service, Bloomberg, takes the lead. Bloomberg points its finger at Donald Trump and “Trump era deregulation.” In Bloomberg’s rewriting of history, Trump is responsible because he signed a bill passed by Democrats and Republicans that allowed mid-sized banks to “skirt some of the strictest post-financial crisis regulations.” So, where was the federal reserve? Where were the bank regulators? Bloomberg doesn’t say.

    Presidents don’t write financial legislation. Financial legislation that the Federal Reserve and the SEC don’t approve doesn’t get passed. A third world immigrant-invader, Ro Khanna, who somehow represents in Congress Silicon Valley says: “Congress must come together to reverse the deregulation policies that were put in place under Trump.”

    What utter total BS.

    Silicon Valley Bank failed because in 1999 the Clinton regime signed the repeal of the Glass-Steagall act and because the Dodd-Frank Act allows failing banks to seize the deposits of depositors in order to have a bail-in instead of a bail-out. The foolish legislation causes depositors to withdraw their deposits on any sign of bank trouble.

    https://www.globalresearch.ca/cover-up-begins/5812024

    #131360
    Just Some Randomer
    Participant

    Sorry @Red – you appear to have missed the essential point of the matter which is ‘Orange Man Bad’.

    Once you internalise that starting premise, everything will make sense.

    #131362
    Red
    Participant

    @just-some-randomer: Orange Man Bad, Putin bad, Xi bad, Orban bad, the list goes on. I believe the essential premise may be “it wasn’t us”. Or “look over there” just not here. I’m trying to stand outside and look in, easier said than done, without doubt. The financial system as it stands is a ponzi scheme and as such cannot be tapered, it’s grow or collapse. CBDC’s are nothing more than a new type of fiat to be used to keep the scheme running a little longer. They look good to TPTB but have a fatal flaw bigger than the current physical fiat in circulation and that is the dependance on a stable grid to function, already losing trust in some parts. The claims that the current financial system has put on the future physical production of goods cannot be met. A re-valuation of everything isn’t far off. The system has played itself into a corner and I believe it is only a few moves from finding itself in a self imposed checkmate. Something wicked this way comes. What say you?

    #131364
    Red
    Participant

    I’m a bit surprised is not the wars fault.

    SOFIA, BULGARIA — Oilseeds production in Bulgaria will stay flat at 2.4 million tonnes in marketing year 2022-23 despite 8% more area harvested than the previous season due to lower yields from summer heat and drought, according to a Global Agricultural Information Network report from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture.

    The rapeseed crop for 2022-23 is projected at 299,250 tonnes, 20% lower than 2021-22, while sunflower production grew to 2.077 million tonnes, about 4% above the previous season.

    Bulgaria has become the top European Union (EU) importer of price-competitive sunflower seeds from Ukraine with a 40% share in total EU imports and also increased its crush. Bulgaria currently leads with 66% of total EU exports of sunflower meal and 47% of EU exports of sunflower oil.

    Farmers, however, have expressed concerns that the imported sunflower is depressing local prices. FAS Post Sofia’s early forecast for marketing year 2023-24 is for higher oilseeds production if the weather cooperates and depleted soil moisture reserves are recovered in the spring.

    “Overall, marketing year 2022-23 precipitation to date is significantly lower than in the previous marketing year,” FAS said. “Although rapeseed has developed well so far, there is a serious risk about the spring development when the water needs of the crop will increase. In addition, there is a risk for the spring planting conditions for sunflower if there are not sufficient rainfalls in March-April to recover low soil moisture reserves.”

    https://www.world-grain.com/articles/18235-drought-stymies-bulgaria-oilseeds-yields

    Related Articles
    Bulgaria corn crop hampered by drought
    EU crop monitoring service projects lower yields
    Bulgaria wheat, barley crop suffers dryness
    Dryness could lower Argentina’s wheat yields by 50%
    Bulgaria sees decline in grains output

    #131366
    aspnaz
    Participant

    The IT Army calls itself a “worldwide IT community” that represents President Vladimir Zelensky’s team and is “the supreme power in Ukraine, capable [of blocking] over 800 targets simultaneously.

    Known outside Ukraine as the CIA and its bitches.

    #131368
    zerosum
    Participant

    Democracy – Expensive Entertainment – Freedom to Chose – Happy Days are Here Again

    Catch a Chinese Balloon or Catch a USA Spie Drone

    Hide the Numbers – War, Covid, Bank, Biden,

    Blame someone else – Russia, China
    ———–

    Who is the judge/God?
    “All humans are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights”

    No Interference – regime change – no more my way or the highway – no meddling – live and let live – no more bulling.
    https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=248310

    ———–

    #131369
    Just Some Randomer
    Participant

    @Red :- I can’t disagree with any of that. Checkmate indeed – a predicament rather than a problem. As I see it, the chain of events that leads to the end/reset of the financial system began when cheap energy became a thing of the past and the creation of sufficient wealth to maintain our consumer society was no longer possible.

    Personally, I have been reasonably active of late buying any durable goods/tools/equipment that I think will be needed over the coming years, as I strongly suspect they will not be available at any kind of reasonable exchange rate for Fiats in the near future – if indeed they are available at all.

    CBDCs are as much a distraction to the real world of currencies as windmills are to the real world of energy generation. A techno-utopian ‘Fix’ that cannot possibly work but gives those who support them some hope to cling onto.

    #131370
    aspnaz
    Participant

    “Those suspected of ‘Russophilia’ were hung on these trees in front of the windows. People were hung right on the trees. They would hang there for a day, then would be taken off and others would take their place… ”

    Humanity is evil. Why are Ukraine’s Nazis not able to formulate their own direction in life, why are they following the failed leaders of the past, like Stephan Bandera? Because they enjoy violence, they want a life overflowing with violence, the target is irrelevant, they just want to be beating someone.

    An intelligent person will realise that they have one chance on this earth and so they need to do their own thing. For the Bandera Nazis and the Pentagon Nazis this means beating up people, torturing people, threatening people, assassinating people. They see this as the life they want to lead, to be top dog showing the world who is boss.

    Not everyone is like you which is why there have been mercenaries on this planet for a very long time. The thugs out there are in huge numbers, they love the opportunity to kill people and they will come into their own more and more as society in the west disintegrates.

    #131371
    Red
    Participant

    Trembling me thinks? Perhaps even shaking!

    The fresh losses came after the chairman of the bank’s top shareholder, Saudi National Bank, ruled out investing any more into the bank in a Bloomberg interview on Wednesday. The Saudi bank has just under a 10% stake in Credit Suisse, and crossing that threshold would subject it to new rules.

    On Tuesday, Credit Suisse said in its annual report that it had material weaknesses in financial controls. Credit Suisse has lost money for five straight quarters, and its wealthy clients in the fourth quarter withdrew about $100 billion from the bank.
    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/credit-suisse-shares-tumble-to-new-record-low-94e15e2

    “Rarely seen level” yeah sure. I think you mean “rarely exposed”.
    Bloomberg) — The cost of insuring the bonds of Credit Suisse Group AG against default in the near-term is approaching a rarely-seen level that typically signals serious investor concerns.
    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/credit-suisse-default-swaps-18-093144418.html

    “The status quo is no longer an option” for embattled bank Credit Suisse, according to a JPMorgan, and the most likely endgame is a takeover by bank UBS.
    The investment bank said in a note to investors Thursday that “ongoing market confidence issues” in Credit Suisse — rather than its capital position — had led to a record 24% fall in the lender’s stock Wednesday.
    Credit Suisse said it would accept a 50 billion Swiss Francs ($53.7 billion) loan from the Swiss National Bank Thursday to help stay afloat, but JP Morgan said that liquidity injection may not be enough.
    “We see a resolution scenario as most unlikely in our view and more likely… a takeover as the most likely scenario especially by UBS,” JPMorgan said.
    https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/15/credit-suisse-shares-slide-after-saudi-backer-rules-out-further-assistance.html

    https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/15/credit-suisse-shares-slide-after-saudi-backer-rules-out-further-assistance.html

    #131372
    aspnaz
    Participant

    I am visiting Taipei, Taiwan, again for a few days. Today I saw a queue for eggs and asked a friend, a restaurant owner, what was going on. She told me that there is a shortage of eggs and that people are expecting a food crisis in the next few months due to climate change, the cause of the egg shortage is just the beginning. Oh dear.

    You have to understand that Taiwan is a “western” country when it comes to political games. CNN is the most frequently quoted western news media over here, they play endless CNN clips on local news. The Taiwan government has apparently decided to go along with the WEF culling of chickens. They have been culling chickens for bird flu – sounds very familiar – but this is a very suspicious act in Taiwan as there has been a meat-import ban in Taiwan for a number of years. Nobody is allowed to import meat, certainly not live meat, unless that meat is inspected by the government and the importer is licensed. Many have taken this to be just another Taiwanese monopoly, a way for the well connected to fleece the population, in the same way as Taiwan only has a single importer and distributor of liquor … totally corrupt. Returning to bird flu, you have to wonder how the birds in Taiwan managed to catch bird flu when meat and live animals cannot be imported. Were they poisoned by CIA agents? If so, will the Taiwanese government discover this or will they continue in their usual ignorance? You can just taste the corruption.

    #131373
    Red
    Participant

    @just-some-randomer prudent moves for sure. I spent most of my early years in the garden of my paternal grandfather and the winters in the basement workshop of his, where he made everything from lobster traps to wheelbarrows to shaping handles for his tools, garden and others. I spent hours turning the water stone wheel by hand as he sharpened everything from knives and axes to his scythe, which he used to mow the small orchard and old ruff pasture land around the place. I’m presently constructing a smithy shop,( I know nothing about smithing) to learn how to metal smith without electricity. If all goes well should be working by fall. My grandfather was born in 1892 and passed in 1984. He had very bad cataracts but did all of the above up until his late eighties.

    #131374
    aspnaz
    Participant

    Talking of egg shortages in Taiwan: China has a never-ending supply of eggs, we never run short and the shops are full of great eggs. Must be something in the western water, or it is Bill Gates’ Beyond Eggs killing birds through corruption, which seems to be the Bill Gates way.

    #131375
    Germ
    Participant

    @ Red – “CBDC’s are nothing more than a new type of fiat to be used to keep the scheme running a little longer.”

    You couldn’t be more wrong:

    Central Bank Digital Currency Is the Endgame – Part 1

    #131376
    Red
    Participant

    One more and I’ll shut up:

    When Biden, Yellen, and the rest of the Wall Street protection team tell you the banking system is safe and they have it under control, they are lying, just as I said fifteen years ago.

    https://www.theburningplatform.com/2023/03/15/is-the-u-s-banking-system-safe-15-years-later/

    #131377
    Germ
    Participant

    Was there anybody NOT injured by this rat juice?

    ☠️☠️☠️

    TVASF

    #131378
    Red
    Participant

    @germ I could definitely be more wrong and have on many an occasion.

    #131379
    zerosum
    Participant

    Reflection
    Europeans will have to go to Russia even for turnips – Putin

    “It’s not Iran, Russia, China, or North Korea that poses a threat to America, but the US government’s $31 trillion debt” – US Senator Roger Marshall

    The Armed Forces of Ukraine have been destroying civil infrastructures/house in Donbass the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, since 2014

    The American drone MQ-9 was found at a depth of 900 meters. Above it is the duty of the ships of the Black Sea Fleet, so as not to let anyone to the place of the fall. The issue of raising it is being resolved.

    The Black Sea Fleet has a vessel that is capable of doing this – the legendary “Commune” built in 1913. Repeatedly rebuilt and having a huge track record of underwater work (including the lifting of several submarines, as well as aircraft and ships), it has deep-sea vehicles capable of operating at a depth of up to 1 km

    #131381
    WES
    Participant

    The US has released an edited video of the two Russian Su-27s dumping vodka on the poor little drone. The US says the second Su-27 hit one of the drone’s props.

    However, notice that the drone remains stable in flight, the drone is turning to try and avoid drinking the offered vodka, and then notice the bent prop blade is bent forward in the same direction as it is rotating.

    If the second Su-27 had hit the prop it would have been bent backwards in the other direction. The only way for the prop blade to be bent forward, the way it is, would likely be from hitting some liquid vodka.

    So the Russians didn’t make contact with the drone nor did they use any weapons either! The drone simply couldn’t drink vodka and fly at the same time!

    #131382
    Germ
    Participant

    Maddness!


    TVASF

    #131383
    Germ
    Participant

    He’s a Mafia Don


    TVASF

    #131384
    Germ
    Participant

    Page 22 and 23 of the UK “Daily Express” today.

    ☠️☠️☠️

    TVASF

    #131385
    Germ
    Participant

    Compensation denied to hundreds of Covid vaccine victims suffering ‘severe’ side effects

    “Dr Tom Merritt, part of the Oxford University team who developed the AstraZeneca vaccine, admits some who had the jab were “collateral damage to the bigger scheme”. He added: “Some tragically died, a number had their lives changed forever. They believed in vaccines, now they don’t.”

    https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/1746755/Covid-jab-victims-fight-for-compensation

    COLLATERAL DAMAGE!!

    ☠️☠️☠️

    TVASF

    #131386
    [email protected]
    Participant

    Germ, Red, re: feasibliity or longevity of CBDCs, see Tim Watkins’ article.
    https://consciousnessofsheep.co.uk/2023/02/08/cbdc-bait-and-switch/, evaluating the issue solely from the UK perspective.

    “If the CBDC really were just a digital replacement for cash, it would use far less energy even than the current card payment systems. But there’s the rub, the technocrats behind the CBDCs have no intention of simply issuing them like cash and then allowing us to transact with them in the same way we do now. Rather, there are going to be hidden layers of digital control built into the system . . .

    “The trouble is that the more of that digital surveillance and programmability is built into the system, the more the energy and resource consumption profile begins to look like Bitcoin rather than Mastercard. . . . But – assuming the proportion of transactions is similar across the world – under a fully-functional CBDC system, these 98 percent or so of all transactions would be digital and would require similar energy and hardware costs to those currently incurred by Bitcoin. That is, instead of the 144TWh per year used by Bitcoin, CBDCs would consume some 7,056TWh – more than three times the UK’s total 2019 energy consumption of 2,185TWh… In an increasingly energy-constrained global economy, it should – but likely won’t – be clear that programmable CBDCs are a non-starter… a solution looking for a problem to solve indeed!”

    #131387
    Mr. House
    Participant

    @Jsnyder

    Yes the energy requirements would be insane, if we still had 7 or 8 billion people on the planet. What if that is reduced to say a billion? Unfeasible then?

    #131388
    Just Some Randomer
    Participant

    @Mr. House – definitely not feasible. The economies of scale that make the infrastructure of the internet affordable for us would be lost. As Gail Tverberg points out occasionally, it’s only because so many people are watching Youtube videos of cats and sharing the cost of maintaining the infrastructure that we can use the internet for online banking at reasonable cost.

    Same applies to most of the things we enjoy if the global population is dramatically reduced. Without so many people paying taxes to maintain roads or buying the cars that giant factories can turn out so efficiently in massive quantities and so on, the whole thing becomes unaffordable for everyone.

    #131389
    zerosum
    Participant

    POOF, the magic dragon
    Access to CBDC requires access to electrical energy and the associated infrastructures.

    #131390
    Germ
    Participant

    Shut him up!

    TVASF

    #131392
    zerosum
    Participant

    It’s too funny, US spending 2x $400k missiles to shoot down a $50 balloon, and Russians spend $50 of fuel to dump and down a $50 million drone.

    #131393
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    Everybody is running around warning everybody else that if we don’t do something right now then something really really bad might happen. As if really bad somethings haven’t been falling down around our ears for the past 7 years. The corrupt system that made those bad things has been totally rotten for a lot longer than that, of course, but the actual, physical, REAL and tangibly injurious “really bad things” have been flamboyantly falling down around our ears for at least 7 years. (CIA operatives working from inside the Whitehouse to depower and dethrone a sitting President IS a rather “really bad thing” and that specific bad thing most definitely fell down more than 7 years ago.

    My point is simple. The collapse is not imminent. It is not mere days, weeks or at best months into our future. It is years and decades into our PAST. Critical mass was reached when we were children. The detonator was fired when we were adolescent students. The chain reaction initiated when we were young workers, and it has been in progress ever since. What makes present conditions so attention grabbing and “newsworthy” is only that the expanding wave front of the nuclear explosion is just now reaching our collective consciousness.

    From this point forward the numerous revelations, crises and casualties will increase at a rate that exceeds human input capabilities. In other words, “really bad things” ( and great things, too!) will be happening and multiplying so rapidly that we literally will not be able to keep up with it all except in the most generalized summary fashion.

    Take heart from the fact that the Good Guys have not been sitting on their hands all this time, either. Their work is primarily where most of the counter-fight has been coming from. They have seen it coming for decades as well, and have amassed a body of documented information and capability that is staggering in range and scope. Alternative media is not an accident.

    FOR EXAMPLE, check out the genocide lawsuit just filed in Utah [at https://prosecutenow.io ]
    which had to have been preceded by hundreds of thousands of hours of expensive top level lab work to compile, because that’s the only way such information can be acquired. I don’t see any shortcuts in virulogical biochemistry. It’s pretty self-evident that massive high IQ technical grunt work is the only way that it can be done.

    If you do nothing else today, listen to Dr. Flemming’s summary (on the https://prosecutenow.io site) of the facts supporting the lawsuit. I bet that it will make your day.

    #131394
    Mr. House
    Participant

    But isn’t it unaffordable now?

    #131395
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    The projected over-the-top energy consumption of ubiquitous CBDC use sure looks like a game stopper before the game even starts.

    But there is another flaw that not only “would be” a game stopper, it already IS NOW a game stopper, and one that is a LOT closer to being immediate rather than long term.

    That flaw is the literally IMPOSSIBLE logistics of rolling out such an ambitious project as a whole & complete operational sufficiently integrated system to almost everybody almost all at once. Can’t be done. The software and procedural policies alone would take many years to integration into the legacy system of buying stuff and getting a receipts that are legally useful. Sure, it COULD eventually be hammered out, but we’re talking many many years to get it working at all, not a measly few months.

    Big Tech Big Communications giants knew for decades that computers and telephones would have to be converged and integrated eventually, so they started early and worked hard at it. But even then, how long did it actually take before internet capable smart phones were in everybody’s pockets? Around 30 years is all, and that was at “warp speed”. Pulling off that sort of transition of paradigm with MONEY is a much MUCH bigger job, and don’t forget that the whole damned thing has be made “people useable” on a level of simplicity of use level that it could be easy peasy routine even for educationally and intellectually way-below-average people. It can’t just be for brainy techy types. If money itself is going to be transmogrified into CBDC then that means ALL money.

    Nope, Ain’t gonna be a happening thing . . . . although I’m just as certain that those suicidal morons are going to keep on trying until it (or it’s victims) kills them.

    #131397
    Dr D Rich
    Participant

    @Dr. D

    By they in they’re you mean (((they))) who can’t be named on Raúl’s blog, right? Or maybe you’re saying because ((they))) also mistreat and steal from ((their own people)) that they are just like the rest us….people in glass house so on so forth.

    D said: “Sounds a lot like they’re taking it in the teeth like the rest of us”

    Wait? Because deBlasio spoke harshly to the scofflaw Hasidics who defied the critical ublic health prescriptions against a pandemic that Taleb and Fauci was gonna kill a “Fibonacci number” of humans, you conclude…
    “yet somehow they don’t run NYC, their 2nd largest center.”
    That “2nd largest center” label doesn’t by itself convey the scale and scope of “their” running the show.
    I mean, I don’t see “them” here running Johnstown, Seward, New Florence or Nanty Glo.
    Yeah, Nanty Glo, look that one up.

    Bribing isn’t bad? Let fat man Desantis adopt that strawman casus belli for his presidential platform War on China plank. Bribing is bad enough to go to war while the Navy, Army and VA bribe loyalty out of servicemen and Veterans through disability evaluations AS the money is channeled through Lockheed’s aircraft maintenance division named QTC.
    How’s that for loosening of associations!

    #131398
    WES
    Participant

    Regarding programmable CBDCs using too much energy. I am calling bullsh*t on this!

    I hate to pop your CBDC energy bubble but if a programmable “world wide” CBDC only requires 3 times the UK’s electrical consumption, then your masters will deem it to be a cheaper way for them to obtain total control of you, than their current systems for only being able to partly control you. Your masters see this as dam cheap!

    Look at China’s social credit system for a reality check. That system requires a lot of energy to run but that has not stopped the CCP one bit! They like it so much that they have even bigger plans!

    This false narrative that a programmable CBDC requires too much energy to run, is just to get you to stop worrying about CBDCs, while they quetly implement it, until it is too late for you to stop it. (Look at number of US states that have already passed CBDC laws.)

    Even if the CBDC system requires that much energy, your masters will force you to pay for the extra energy by forcing you to use less energy somewhere else!

    Once they have this degree of control over you, your masters will never give it up!

    #131399
    Red
    Participant

    CBDC’s = much larger black market, currency yet to be decided. Energy be damned.

    #131400
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    Eurasia 47; Oceania 3.

    If you were betting on a win or a draw, ‘wrong bet’.

    Ponzi forever’…..until it’s not.

    Project Fourteenth Century underway: most are totally unprepared.

    Far worse to come before Project Industrial Civilisation fails.

    #131401
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    Dan, the event organizer, is noticing a few things, including class action law suits.

    The Panic is Out There

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