Mar 172023
 


Vincent van Gogh Corridor In The Asylum 1889

 

Ukraine’s Death by Proxy (Chris Hedges)
‘Serious Military Developments’ Are Coming In Ukraine Conflict – Envoy (RT)
West Warns Ukraine Not To Blow ‘Last Ditch Effort’ – NYT (RT)
Kiev’s Plan For Counteroffensive Revealed In Media Report (RT)
In Ukraine, US Focused On Delivering Weapons, Not Diplomacy – Blinken (TASS)
Moscow Spooked NATO From Going All In For Ukraine – John Bolton (RT)
US Estimates ‘Upwards’ Of 100,000 Ukrainian Soldiers Killed – Politico (RT)
Kiev Has No Plans To Leave Bakhmut – DPR Head (TASS)
Russia May Question UN Secretariat Impartiality On Ukraine – Zakharova (TASS)
Label ‘Unfriendly Countries’ More About Elites Than Countries – Putin (TASS)
Desperate West Will Turn To Russia For Turnips – Putin (RT)
Dutch Farmers’ Protest Party Scores Big Election Win, Shaking Up Senate (R.)
Hallie Biden Revealed As ‘New’ Biden Family Member Who Got China Cash (NYP)
The Looming Quadrillion Dollar Derivatives Tsunami (Ellen Brown)
Big Banks Inject $30 Billion Unsecured Deposit In First Republic Bank (ZH)

 

 

 

 

Tucker Macgregor

 

 

 

 

RFK
https://twitter.com/i/status/1634345437560750080
https://twitter.com/i/status/1636441610022993950

 

 

 

 

Paul Keating

 

 

 

 

Woody Allen?
https://twitter.com/i/status/1636104589299658763

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best I’ve read from Hedges in a while.

“There will come a time when the Ukrainians, like the Kurds, will become expendable. They will disappear, as many others before them have, from our national discourse and our consciousness..”

Ukraine’s Death by Proxy (Chris Hedges)

There are many ways for a state to project power and weaken adversaries, but proxy wars are one of the most cynical. Proxy wars devour the countries they purport to defend. They entice nations or insurgents to fight for geopolitical goals that are ultimately not in their interest. The war in Ukraine has little to do with Ukrainian freedom and a lot to do with degrading the Russian military and weakening Vladimir Putin’s grip on power. And when Ukraine looks headed for defeat, or the war reaches a stalemate, Ukraine will be sacrificed like many other states, in what one of the founding members of the CIA, Miles Copeland Jr., referred to as the “Game of Nations” and “the amorality of power politics.”

Should Russia prevail in Ukraine, should Putin not be removed from power, the U.S. will have not only cemented into place a potent alliance between Russia and China, but ensured an antagonism with Russia that will come back to haunt us. The flood of billions of dollars of weapons into Ukraine, the use of U.S. intelligence to kill Russian generals and sink the battleship Moskva, the blowing up of the Nord Stream pipelines and the more than 2,500 U.S. sanctions targeting Russia, will not be forgotten by Moscow. “In a sense, blowback is simply another way of saying that a nation reaps what it sows,” [Chalmers] Johnson writes,“Although people usually know what they have sown, our national experience of blowback is seldom imagined in such terms because so much of what the managers of the American empire have sown has been kept secret.”

Those supported in proxy wars, including the Ukrainians, often have little chance of victory. Sophisticated weapons such as the M1 Abrams tanks are largely useless if those operating them have not spent months and years being trained. Prior to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982, the Soviet bloc provided Palestinian fighters with heavy weapons, including tanks, anti-aircraft missiles and artillery. The lack of training made those weapons ineffective against Israeli air power, artillery and mechanized units. The U.S. knows time is running out for Ukraine. It knows that high-tech weapons will not be mastered in time to blunt a sustained Russian offensive. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned in January that Ukraine has “a window of opportunity here, between now and the spring.” “That’s not a long time,” he added.

Victory, however, is not the point. The point is maximum destruction. Even if Ukraine is forced in defeat to negotiate with Russia and concede territory for peace, as well as accept status as a neutral nation, Washington will have achieved its primary goal of weakening Russia’s military capacity and isolating Putin from Europe. [..] There will come a time when the Ukrainians, like the Kurds, will become expendable. They will disappear, as many others before them have, from our national discourse and our consciousness. They will nurse for generations their betrayal and suffering. The American empire will move on to use others, perhaps the “heroic” people of Taiwan, to further its futile quest for global hegemony. China is the big prize for our Dr. Strangeloves. They will pile up even more corpses and flirt with nuclear war to curtail China’s growing economic and military power. This is an old and predictable game. It leaves in its wake nations in ruins and millions of people dead and displaced. It fuels the hubris and self-delusion of the mandarins in Washington who refuse to accept the emergence of a multipolar world. If left unchecked, this “game of nations” may get us all killed.

Assad
https://twitter.com/i/status/1636308180497055744

Read more …

“The Ukrainians are willing to show they are capable of a counter-offensive and do not want “any damage to their image..”

‘Serious Military Developments’ Are Coming In Ukraine Conflict – Envoy (RT)

Ukraine is being plagued by mounting military problems which do not bode well for its fortunes on the battlefield, Russia’s deputy permanent representative to the UN said on Wednesday. Speaking to American journalist Kim Iversen, Dmitry Polyanskiy was asked where he thought the Ukraine conflict was heading, with one possible scenario being NATO’s direct involvement. The diplomat said Moscow would prefer to avoid such an outcome, as a stand-off between the US-led military bloc and Russia “would be dangerous for the whole world.” However, he claimed that the “Ukrainian troops are now in a very poor situation,”pointing to evidence that they “are really suffering heavy losses”. “The new conscripts are being used as cannon fodder after two-three days of training,” the senior diplomat claimed.

In his view, the “regime” of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky “has become hostage of its own policy and of its promises to Western countries that it is capable of winning militarily over Russia” if it is being supplied with weapons. The Ukrainians are willing to show they are capable of a counter-offensive and do not want “any damage to their image,” which is why the situation around the key Donbass city of Artyomovsk, known as Bakhmut in Ukraine, “is really very bad” for the country, Polyanskiy said. “There are a lot of [Ukrainian] troops that are on the brink of being encircled. Casualties are immense,” the diplomat continued, suggesting that Kiev is throwing in troops “just to support the prestige” of Zelensky and his promises to the West. “The weather conditions are also not in favor of the Ukrainian army, because they can’t use heavy machines for their tasks. So I think we are on the eve of quite serious military developments there, not in favor of Ukraine,”Polyanskiy concluded.

The fight for Artyomovsk, a major foothold and logistics hub for Kiev’s forces, has been raging for months now, with Moscow’s troops recently capturing several villages around the strategic city. Earlier this month, Wagner Private Military Company chief Evgeny Prigozhin claimed that Russian forces were in full control of the eastern part of Artyomovsk. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has described this battle as “one of the hardest.” On Wednesday, he promised to reinforce the city. Both sides recognize the strategic importance of the city in the Donetsk People’s Republic. Last week, Russian Defense Minister Sergy Shoigu said control over Artyomovsk would allow Moscow’s forces “further offensive actions deep” into Ukrainian defenses, a statement which was largely echoed by Zelensky himself.

Read more …

Delusion:

“Some US and EU officials now worry that Ukraine is using up “thousands” of shells a day in the battle for Artyomovsk, at a pace that is “unsustainable” and “could jeopardize a planned springtime campaign” that Kiev’s western sponsors “hope will prove decisive..”

West Warns Ukraine Not To Blow ‘Last Ditch Effort’ – NYT (RT)

A New York Times story on Thursday suggested that the US and its allies are running out of ammunition they can supply to Ukraine, while Kiev is using up the troops and shells that will be needed for a planned spring offensive to fight for Artyomovsk instead. Called Bakhmut by the Kiev authorities, Artyomovsk is now almost entirely surrounded by Russian forces. Ukrainian troops attempting to hold the town are running out of ammunition, the Times reported, with one brigade commander complaining of a “catastrophic shortage” of artillery shells. Some US and EU officials now worry that Ukraine is using up “thousands” of shells a day in the battle for Artyomovsk, at a pace that is “unsustainable” and “could jeopardize a planned springtime campaign” that Kiev’s western sponsors “hope will prove decisive,” according to the Times.

The Pentagon has reportedly even “raised concerns” with Kiev about this, warning Ukraine about “wasting ammunition.” The US and its allies “did not stockpile weaponry in anticipation of supplying an artillery war,” the outlet noted. A “secret British task force” is trying to track down and buy Soviet-caliber ammunition from around the world. The US and NATO have managed to put together some shells, but they are supposed to be used in the upcoming offensive. One Pentagon official described the push as a “last-ditch effort,” because the West does not have enough ammunition to keep up with Ukrainian expenditures. NATO’s own stocks are “critically low” and it will take “many months” for efforts to boost production to have an effect, again according to the Times. Without artillery, the paper explained, “hundreds” of new tanks and armored vehicles that the West is sending Ukraine will have a “limited” effect.

The anonymous officials who spoke to the Times also claimed that Ukrainian casualties have been so severe, with “more than 100,000” troops wounded or killed so far, that Kiev must decide whether to hold onto Artyomovsk or save soldiers for the “one meaningful opportunity this year” to go on the offensive. Though the US has tried to downplay the significance of Artyomovsk, President Vladimir Zelensky has decided to hold the town at seemingly all cost, declaring there is no part of Ukraine that can be abandoned. The only logic of “expending so much blood and ammo” on the town would be to “drain Russia of resources and prevent its troops from heading farther west,” Camille Grand, NATO’s former assistant secretary general for defense investment and now a defense expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told the Times. “The alternative is that they got dragged into a situation that, in the long term, plays in Russia’s favor and now it’s difficult to get out of it.”

Read more …

No troops, no ammo.

Kiev’s Plan For Counteroffensive Revealed In Media Report (RT)

Washington expects Kiev to launch a counterattack against Russian troops in May, using the weapons that NATO countries have been sending to Ukraine, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed US officials. US military aid packages “going back four or five months have been geared toward what Ukraine needs for this counteroffensive,” one source cited by the outlet said on condition of anonymity. Kiev is preparing the operation even as its manpower and resources are being drained, Politico reports, by its continued clinging to the Donbass city of Artyomovsk, which it calls Bakhmut. The city, which senior US officials assessed has only symbolic significance, became the scene of some of the most intensive fighting between Russia and Ukraine this year.

While both sides reportedly suffered significant casualties fighting for Artyomovsk, Kiev lost some of its most experienced troops, Politico said. US officials have suggested that Ukraine should pull out of the city, which President Vladimir Zelensky declared a fortress. With the advice unheeded, America is now urging Ukrainian troops to conserve artillery munitions, the report explained. According to the outlet, Kiev is yet to settle on a strategy for its counteroffensive. One scenario involving a push across the Dnieper River near the city of Kherson is “not realistic,” US officials believe, since Ukraine does not have the manpower for an amphibious operation of that kind. The second one would require advancing from the north in an attempt to cut off Russian troops from Crimea.

The US has been stressing that it was up to Zelensky and the Ukrainian leadership to decide how exactly they would conduct a military operation. But senior American generals hosted Ukrainian officials in Wiesbaden, Germany this month to help them with wargaming the upcoming operation, Politico’s report notes. There has also been an effort to train Ukrainian troops in NATO tactics to replenish battlefield losses. Russia believes that the Ukrainian conflict is a US proxy war against it, with Ukrainian soldiers serving as cannon fodder. Moscow said Washington prevented Kiev from signing a peace agreement with Russia in the first months of the conflict, telling Zelensky to continue fighting instead.

Read more …

Not willing to admit defeat.

In Ukraine, US Focused On Delivering Weapons, Not Diplomacy – Blinken (TASS)

At present, the United States prefers providing weapons and military equipment to the Kiev government over reconciliation-themed diplomatic contacts with Russia, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday. In Blinken’s opinion, “there has to be a just and durable peace” in Ukraine. “Just in the sense that it reflects the principles of the United Nations Charter. If it’s a peace that allows Russia to keep all the territory seized by force, that’s not justice,” the secretary of state said. He also explained that by ‘durable,’ he implied “that no one wants to see Russia repeat this a year or two or three years later.”

“With those principles in mind, every day we are looking for ways to see if we can bring the war to an end. I see no evidence that right now Russia is interested in a diplomatic resolution and negotiation that would end this war,” Blinken told reporters during his visit to Niger’s capital Niamey. “And so the quickest way to end it is to continue to support Ukraine so that it is strong on the battlefield <…> so that hopefully, at some point, Mr. Putin recognizes the reality that this has to stop, that he’s not going to succeed. And he’s prepared for diplomacy and for negotiation. When that day comes we’ll be the first to engage to try to end things. But as I said, in this moment, at least, I don’t see any evidence of that,” he said.

The US top diplomat is now on an African tour that includes Ethiopia and Niger. His press conference was broadcast live via the Department of State’s official YouTube channel. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier that Moscow was still ready for negotiations on Ukraine. He said Russia will listen to the West’s proposals if it suggests discussing ways to ease tensions that take Moscow’s interests into account. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine-themed negotiations should be conducted with Washington in the first place.

Read more …

Bolton will claim that NATO lost because they didn’t go all in.

Moscow Spooked NATO From Going All In For Ukraine – John Bolton (RT)

Russia intimidated NATO nations, stopping them from giving Ukraine the weapons it needed and allowing it to attack any targets it wanted, including key European infrastructure, US arch-hawk John Bolton has claimed. That must change, he added, urging President Joe Biden to change his policies. “[Russian President] Vladimir Putin has masterfully deterred NATO from responding robustly enough to end the conflict promptly and victoriously. Time to solve this problem is growing short,” Bolton wrote in an opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. The former national security adviser to President Donald Trump blamed Biden for failing to aim for “ambiguous goals” and claimed his “fear of Russian escalation” had led to a military gridlock in Ukraine.

The current president “barely tried” to prevent the Russian military operation, Bolton argued, before criticizing the reported limitations imposed by Washington in terms of which targets Kiev can attack with the weapons it gets from the West. “NATO pressures Ukraine not to strike inside Russia, and to spare key assets like Nord Stream, whereas the Kremlin can strike anywhere within Ukraine,” he wrote. Nord Stream comprises two undersea gas pipelines, which were built to deliver Russian natural gas directly to Germany. They were blown up in September. Bolton mentioned claims in the Western press, which said US intelligence suspected that a “pro-Ukrainian group” not connected with any government had carried out the sophisticated operation. Even if Kiev ordered the attack, he said, it should not impact the level of support it gets.

According to Bolton, debates in NATO on whether to deliver longer-range ATACMS missiles or F-16 fighter jets to Kiev “reflect a disjointed strategy” and harm Ukraine’s war effort. He said it was clear to him that “fears of Russian escalation are unwarranted.” Bolton is a lifelong advocate for using US hard power against other nations, including nuclear powers Russia and China. US political observers suggest that he may seek the Republican nomination for president in the 2024 election. Fox News host Tucker Carlson included him on a list of GOP candidates to whom he sent a questionnaire on the Ukraine conflict to get them on record. One question was whether the US should support regime change in Russia. Bolton failed to respond, Carlson said during his show on Monday.

Scott Ritter Loses It Over Lindsey Graham’s Mindless Warmongering

Read more …

“..Washington and Brussels can only guess the extent of Ukraine’s losses, as Kiev keeps this information secret even from its Western backers, who have provided it with billions of dollars’ worth of weapons..”

US Estimates ‘Upwards’ Of 100,000 Ukrainian Soldiers Killed – Politico (RT)

US officials estimate that more than 100,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed since the outbreak of the conflict with Russia last February, Politico has reported, without disclosing its sources. Washington is concerned by Kiev’s lack of ammunition, air defenses and experienced soldiers in the run-up to a major Ukrainian offensive expected later in spring, the US news website said in a report on Wednesday. “Upwards of 100,000 Ukrainian forces have died in the year-long war, US officials estimate, including the most experienced soldiers,” Politico wrote. “Many of these losses are taking place in Bakhmut,” it added. The city, which Russia calls Artyomovsk, is a key Ukrainian stronghold and logistics hub in the People’s Republic of Donetsk.

Russian forces have been advancing on Artyomovsk since August last year, and, according to Wagner Private Military Company chief Evgeny Prigozhin, have now almost fully encircled the city and taken control of its eastern part. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has repeatedly insisted that he will not surrender Artyomovsk, despite reports of tensions with US officials, who have allegedly urged Kiev to withdraw and cut its losses. Earlier this week, Zelensky again said that that the defense of the key city would be reinforced. On Monday, the Washington Post reported: “US and European officials have estimated that as many as 120,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the start of Russia’s invasion early last year.”

Politico pointed out that Washington and Brussels can only guess the extent of Ukraine’s losses, as Kiev keeps this information secret even from its Western backers, who have provided it with billions of dollars’ worth of weapons. Speaking after Wednesday’s virtual meeting of the multinational Ukraine Defense Contact Group, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, “Ukraine doesn’t have any time to waste.” “We have to deliver swiftly and fully on our promised commitments” to Kiev, including supplies of “armored capabilities,” training for Ukrainian troops, spare parts and other things, he urged.

Last week, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced that Ukraine has lost at least 11,000 troops during the fighting in February. The number of killed and wounded on the Ukrainian side had risen by more than 40% since January when it stood at 6,500, he added. “The support of the Kiev regime by NATO countries doesn’t lead to the success of the Ukrainian troops on the battlefield. On the contrary, there is a significant increase in losses among the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the minister said. Shoigu last provided an estimate of Ukraine’s casualties in the conflict back in September. At the time, he said that they amounted to more than 100,000, with at least 61,000 troops killed and almost 50,000 wounded.

Read more …

One road is still open.

Kiev Has No Plans To Leave Bakhmut – DPR Head (TASS)

Kiev has no plans to withdraw troops from the city of Artyomovsk (called Bakhmut in Ukraine) even though it is facing issues with ammunition supplies, Acting Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said on Thursday. “As for Artyomovsk, the situation remains difficult and complicated. I mean that we don’t see any signs of the enemy planning to simply withdraw troops,” he told the Rossiya-24 TV channel. Pushilin added, however, that “it’s extremely difficult to supply ammunition and food or bring in any reinforcements” along the only road that is now “under even tighter fire control by the Wagner PMC.” The Donetsk leader also said that fighting had moved to the industrial zone, with battles taking place both in the southern and northern parts of the city. According to Pushilin, Ukraine has amassed forces in the city of Chasov Yar.


Artyomovsk, located in the Kiev-controlled part of the Donetsk People’s Republic, is an important transport hub in terms of Ukrainian military supplies. Heavy fighting is raging in the area. According to the latest reports, all paved roads to the city have either been cut off or have come under fire control by Russian artillery, while the spring mud season is seriously impeding the delivery of ammunition and reserves to the entrenched Ukrainian forces. Founder of the Wagner Private Military Company Yevgeny Prigozhin said on March 11 that Russian forces were about 1.2 kilometers from the city’s administrative center.

Read more …

“If you cannot give a comment after the monks made a direct appeal to the international community in several languages, Stephane, then you should probably admit being biased..”

Russia May Question UN Secretariat Impartiality On Ukraine – Zakharova (TASS)

The United Nations Secretariat needs to be more balanced in how it treats information with regard to the Ukraine issue, otherwise Russia will question its impartiality at a session of the General Assembly’s Committee on Information, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram on Thursday. Earlier, the UN secretary general’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that the Secretariat was unable to comment on the Ukrainian authorities’ demand that monks affiliated with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church leave the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra monastery. “If you cannot give a comment after the monks made a direct appeal to the international community in several languages, Stephane, then you should probably admit being biased in order not to frame the United Nations because it means either a complete loss of qualifications or that there is a political agenda in place. Regularly saying that you don’t know anything about developments in Ukraine, while your chief visits Kiev on a regular basis (the last trip taking place as recently as March 8), means causing distrust in the UN and its Secretariat,” Zakharova pointed out.


On March 10, an eviction notice from the acting director general of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Historical and Cultural Reserve (subordinate to the Ukrainian Culture Ministry) was published on the monastery’s website, stating that monks affiliated with the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church must leave the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra by March 29, when the current lease expires. According to the document, a working group that identified a violation of the lease terms had been created by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s decree. Father Superior of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Metropolitan Pavel said on March 13 that the monks would not comply with the order to leave the monastery. On March 14, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sent letters to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Bujar Osmani, urging them to demand that Kiev stop its arbitrariness against the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Dujarric said in response to a TASS request for comment on Lavrov’s letter that the UN chief believed every country should ensure religious freedom and protect religious sites.

Read more …

“..the political systems in many countries “often bring people to prominence who have a rather low level of education and general cultural awareness..”

Label ‘Unfriendly Countries’ More About Elites Than Countries – Putin (TASS)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has termed the phrase ‘unfriendly countries’ inexact and incorrect, because it is not so much the countries themselves but rather their elites or leaders that are unfriendly. “The phrase ‘unfriendly countries’ has entered the public consciousness and into common usage here. But, it does not accurately reflect existing realities. You could say that it doesn’t reflect the reality at all, because what we have are unfriendly elites in a certain number of countries, unfriendly rulers,” Putin stated at the congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) on Thursday.


He lamented the fact that the political systems in many countries “often bring people to prominence who have a rather low level of education and general cultural awareness; at times they do not understand what they say and do.” “The result, as is well known, is clear for all to see. Their activities are detrimental to their own people and to their own businesses,” the president stressed.

Read more …

“According to Putin, well-timed investment decisions today will pay off a hundredfold tomorrow..”

Desperate West Will Turn To Russia For Turnips – Putin (RT)

The Russian economy is now developing in a new way, with GDP expected to grow as soon as the second quarter of this year, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. Speaking at a plenary session of the Congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) in Moscow, Putin said the country has managed to fully compensate for the loss of access to Western markets. According to the head of state, Russia’s foreign trade grew by more than 8% last year, while last year’s trade surplus hit $332 billion. The president noted that former European partners are trying “to convince everyone of the imminent collapse of the Russian economy,” even though EU inflation rates are higher.

Inflation in Russia is expected at around 4%, while retail growth is projected to reach 5% in April, thanks to a stable labor market, lower inflation and higher wages, according to the president. “A year ago, Western governments twisted the arms of their companies, forcing some of them, many of them, to leave the Russian market, then foreign analysts predicted a depression and a decline in the consumer sector for us, promised empty store shelves, a massive shortage of goods, and the failure of the service sector,” the Russian leader said.

However, according to Putin, life took a different turn, with Western countries now urging their people to eat turnips instead of fruit and vegetables. “Turnips are a good product, but you will probably have to turn to us [Russia] for turnips too, because our crop level still significantly exceeds those of our neighbors in Europe,” he joked. The Russian president also urged Russia’s billionaires to invest in new technology, production facilities and enterprises to help overcome what he called Western attempts to destroy the national economy. According to Putin, well-timed investment decisions today will pay off a hundredfold tomorrow.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1636536713664143360

Read more …

They won all 11 provinces. Next, do Caada.

Dutch Farmers’ Protest Party Scores Big Election Win, Shaking Up Senate (R.)

A farmers’ protest party shook up the political landscape in the Netherlands on Wednesday, emerging as the big winner in provincial elections that determine the make-up of the Senate. The BBB or BoerBurgerBeweging (Farmer-Citizen Movement) party rode a wave of protests against the government’s environmental policies and looked set to have won more Senate seats than Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative VVD party. A first exit poll projected BBB won 15 of a total of 75 seats in the Senate, which has the power to block legislation agreed in the Lower House of parliament, with the VVD dropping from 12 to 10 seats. The meteoric rise of BBB is a major blow for Rutte’s governing coalition, casting doubt over its aim to drastically cut nitrogen pollution on farms, the single issue upon which BBB was founded in 2019.

“Nobody can ignore us any longer,” BBB leader Caroline van der Plas told broadcaster Radio 1. “Voters have spoken out very clearly against this government’s policies.” The government aims to cut nitrogen emissions in half by 2030, as relatively large numbers of livestock and heavy use of fertilizers have led to levels of nitrogen oxides in the soil and water that violate European Union regulations. The nitrogen problem has crippled construction in the Netherlands as environmental groups have won a string of court cases ordering the government to limit the emissions and preserve nature, before new building permits can be granted. The BBB says the problem has been exaggerated and that proposed solutions are unfairly balanced against farmers, leading to the closure of many farms and food production shortages.

Rutte’s government has not had a Senate majority since the previous provincial elections in 2019 and must negotiate deals with mostly left-wing opponents. The two most cooperative parties, Labour and GreenLeft, looked set to have held on to their seats, keeping their combined group at a par with BBB and possibly enough to maintain support for Rutte’s policies. BBB won a single Lower House seat in 2021, but its popularity has surged on the back of growing distrust of the government and anger over issues such as immigration. Rutte’s government, in its fourth consecutive term since 2010, has dropped to a 20% approval rating, its lowest in a decade.

Read more …

Why do we get a new leak every day from Comer? What’s the use?

Hallie Biden Revealed As ‘New’ Biden Family Member Who Got China Cash (NYP)

President Biden’s daughter-in-law Hallie is the mysterious “new” Biden family member who got paid Chinese cash in 2017, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer revealed exclusively to The Post Thursday. Comer said the payments to first son Hunter Biden’s sister-in-law-turned-former lover were revealed in subpoenaed bank records. The records show Hallie Biden received $35,000 over two transfers in 2017 from Biden family associate Rob Walker, who got $3 million on March 1, 2017, from State Energy HK Limited, a firm affiliated with CEFC China Energy. President Biden, who allegedly was the “big guy” mentioned in communications about the same Chinese venture, dined at Hallie Biden’s residence last Friday during his regular weekend trip home to Delaware.

It’s unclear if they discussed the looming bombshell, which Comer (R-Ky.) publicly teased Monday night on Fox News’ “Hannity.” One transfer to Hallie from Robinson Walker LLC was for $25,000 on March 20, 2017, Comer’s staff wrote in a Thursday morning memo to committee members. Another $10,000 was transferred on Feb. 13 — raising “many questions” according to a committee aide because it came shortly before, rather than after, the $3 million haul. The information creates an unexpected new avenue for investigation — and the memo notes the bank records don’t include the first names of all Biden family recipients, meaning there may be others involved, in addition to Hunter Biden and first brother James Biden.

Hallie Biden is the widow of Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer in 2015, and the mother of two of the president’s grandchildren, Natalie and Robert Hunter. She dated the president’s other son, Hunter, from around 2016 to 2019, a timeframe that included the Chinese dealings. “Democrats described our subpoena as providing nothing more than records for Papa John’s and Starbucks, but they failed to mention the records we’ve received documenting the Biden family’s business schemes,” Comer told The Post, referring to committee ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin’s disclosure of the subpoenas this week. “Over the course of several years, members of the Biden family and their companies received over $1.3 million in payments from accounts related to their associate, Rob Walker,” Comer said.

“Most of this money came as a result of a wire from a Chinese energy company and went not only to Hunter and James Biden but also to Hallie Biden and an unknown ‘Biden.’” Comer added, “It is unclear what services were provided to obtain this exorbitant amount of money.” More than a third of the $3 million that Walker’s firm received was forwarded to Biden family associate James Gilliar and “almost the exact same amount,” $1,065,000, was distributed among Biden family members over three months, the committee memo says.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1636549045509406721

Read more …

“They are sold as insurance against risk, which is passed off to the counterparty to the bet. But the risk is still there..”

The Looming Quadrillion Dollar Derivatives Tsunami (Ellen Brown)

In 2002, mega-investor Warren Buffett wrote that derivatives were “financial weapons of mass destruction.” At that time, their total “notional” value (the value of the underlying assets from which the “derivatives” were “derived”) was estimated at $56 trillion. Investopedia reported in May 2022 that the derivatives bubble had reached an estimated $600 trillion according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and that the total is often estimated at over $1 quadrillion. No one knows for sure, because most of the trades are done privately.

As of the third quarter of 2022, according to the “Quarterly Report on Bank Trading and Derivatives Activities” of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the federal bank regulator), a total of 1,211 insured U.S. national and state commercial banks and savings associations held derivatives, but 88.6% of these were concentrated in only four large banks: J.P. Morgan Chase ($54.3 trillion), Goldman Sachs ($51 trillion), Citibank ($46 trillion), Bank of America ($21.6 trillion), followed by Wells Fargo ($12.2 trillion). Unlike in 2008-09, when the big derivative concerns were mortgage-backed securities and credit default swaps, today the largest and riskiest category is interest rate products.

The original purpose of derivatives was to help farmers and other producers manage the risks of dramatic changes in the markets for raw materials. But in recent times they have exploded into powerful vehicles for leveraged speculation (borrowing to gamble). In their basic form, derivatives are just bets – a giant casino in which players hedge against a variety of changes in market conditions (interest rates, exchange rates, defaults, etc.). They are sold as insurance against risk, which is passed off to the counterparty to the bet. But the risk is still there, and if the counterparty can’t pay, both parties lose. In “systemically important” situations, the government winds up footing the bill.

Like at a race track, players can bet although they have no interest in the underlying asset (the horse). This has allowed derivative bets to grow to many times global GDP and has added another element of risk: if you don’t own the barn on which you are betting, the temptation is there to burn down the barn to get the insurance. The financial entities taking these bets typically hedge by betting both ways, and they are highly interconnected. If counterparties don’t get paid, they can’t pay their own counterparties, and the whole system can go down very quickly, a systemic risk called “the domino effect.”

That is why insolvent SIFIs had to be bailed out in the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007-09, first with $700 billion of taxpayer money and then by the Federal Reserve with “quantitative easing.” Derivatives were at the heart of that crisis. Lehman Brothers was one of the derivative entities with bets across the system. So was insurance company AIG, which managed to survive due to a whopping $182 billion bailout from the U.S. Treasury; but Lehman was considered too weakly collateralized to salvage. It went down, and the Great Recession followed.

Read more …

They cover for each other. That’s the best the US can do in 2023. Feel lucky, punk?

Big Banks Inject $30 Billion Unsecured Deposit In First Republic Bank (ZH)

The following statement was released by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen, Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. Powell, FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg and Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu. “Today, 11 banks announced $30 billion in deposits into First Republic Bank. This show of support by a group of large banks is most welcome, and demonstrates the resilience of the banking system.” This bailout is very similar to the 1998 bailout of LTCM when fourteen banks and brokerage firms invested $3.6 billion in Long-Term Capital Management L.P. (LTCM) to prevent the firm’s imminent collapse; the bailout was orchestrated by – but did not involve – Fed funding. That said, LTCM was a hedge fund, and was not a direct competitor.

Rickards: This Is The Biggest Bailout In History

The bailout is also very different to what happened when Bear Stearns collapsed, as the Big Banks again tried, but refused to save Bear in 2008. And now they have agreed to inject $30BN in the form of unsecured deposits in First Republic, effectively backstopping the entire capital structure and making the equity money good, because they have explicitly guaranteed that no matter how bad the deposit run is, they will keep the bank funded (using deposits that just a few days ago may have been parked at First Republic). The next question: why did the banks agree to this? Was it guilt that banks such as SIVB and SBNY collapsed because of their actions/behind the scenes negotiations with regulators?


We don’t know, but Wall Street is hardly known for being a good Samaritan, and if given the choice, banks would have opted to wait until the bankruptcy and pick choice assets for pennies on the dollar. As one might expect, First Republic executives are relieved and expressed their thanks: “We would like to share our deep appreciation for Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of New York Mellon, PNC Bank, State Street, Truist, and U.S. Bank. Their collective support strengthens our liquidity position, reflects the ongoing quality of our business, and is a vote of confidence for First Republic and the entire U.S. banking system”

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Big Suit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lyrebird

 

 

Tarsier

 

 

Mancini – Moon River

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Home Forums Debt Rattle March 17 2023

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 74 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #131443

    Vincent van Gogh Corridor In The Asylum 1889   • Ukraine’s Death by Proxy (Chris Hedges) • ‘Serious Military Developments’ Are Coming In Ukraine
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle March 17 2023]

    #131444
    chooch
    Participant

    Regarding First Republic, I saw this chart and naturally your eyes are drawn to the bottom right, but what was caused reserves to spike up on 1/20 (both large and small banks) and the jump in reserves for MMF (money market funds?) on the 21st. Just curious.

    frb

    #131445
    chooch
    Participant

    Looks like the image didn’t post, Here is a link to the tweet that was in the last article that Raul linked.

    #131446
    boilingfrog
    Participant

    The view from Foreign Affairs magazine, FYI:

    The Russia That Might Have Been
    How Moscow Squandered Its Power and Influence. By Alexander Gabuev
    March 13, 2023

    “In the 12 months since Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine, the war has turned into an accelerating disaster for Russia. Although Ukrainians are the primary victims of the Kremlin’s unprovoked aggression, the war has already left hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers dead or wounded. Unprecedented Western sanctions have squeezed the Russian economy, and Moscow’s large-scale mobilization and wartime crackdown on civil society have caused hundreds of thousands of the country’s high-skilled workers to flee abroad. Yet the greatest long-term cost of the war to Russia may be in permanently foreclosing the promise of Russia occupying a peaceful and prosperous place in the twenty-first-century world order.”

    #131447
    chooch
    Participant

    The chart is plotted against years. Covid. My bad.

    #131448
    CoolRunnerII
    Participant

    There is something fishy about the Australian birth number graph.

    Just looking at it, it looks like a registration lag issue. That the graph was compiled before all the numbers were added to the database.

    Statistista sais the birth numbers for Australia were the highest in the last decade in 2021. at about 315.000.

    https://www.statista.com/statistics/607878/australia-number-of-births/

    #131449
    John Day
    Participant

    Durn, you beat me to the Ellen Brown… Derivatives Bomb Ticking https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/derivative-bomb-ticking

    Michael Hudson says a lot in this interview with ben Norton, with full transcript. A quick overview. Thanks Christine.
    Today’s banking crisis stems from the “fixes” of 2008-2009, when the correction in asset-prices, like mortgages and mortgage-backed securities, was prevented. The Fed bought all of the trash at face value and held it, then lowered interest rates and kept buying trash, in order to inflate asset prices up to the price they paid for the trash. This was the opposite of what Obama had promised, writing-down mortgages and mortgage payments.
    The progression of this reached the point where inflation finally hit the level of consumer prices. It was no longer contained in financial assets, so the stock “solution” was to squeeze the economy to force unemployment up nd wages down, which has been the “solution” so long that many people find some other way to live than work for sub-living wages.
    Now, with interest rates rising, which was inevitable, bond values are falling, and the stock bubble is threatened, as there is a shortage of cheap borrowed money to borroow to bid up asset prices. There are more details about Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate, and the types of customers they each served.
    Structurally, there is no way out of a financial crisis at this point, because of the actions of 2008-2009, which prevented financial speculators from realizing losses, blew the bubbles bigger, and have locked in the inevitable reset.

    Michael Hudson Talks to Ben Norton About SVB and Bank Failures

    Ellen Brown has this about The Looming Quadrillion Dollar Derivatives Tsunami.
    SVB was the 16th largest bank in the country and its bankruptcy was the second largest in U.S. history, following Washington Mutual in 2008. Despite its size, SVB was not a “systemically important financial institution” (SIFI) as defined in the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires insolvent SIFIs to “bail in” the money of their creditors to recapitalize themselves.
    ​ ​Technically, the cutoff for SIFIs is $250 billion in assets. However, the reason they are called “systemically important” is not their asset size but the fact that their failure could bring down the whole financial system. That designation comes chiefly from their exposure to derivatives, the global casino that is so highly interconnected that it is a “house of cards.” Pull out one card and the whole house collapses. SVB held $27.7 billion in derivatives​..​
    ​..​As of the third quarter of 2022, according to the “Quarterly Report on Bank Trading and Derivatives Activities” of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the federal bank regulator), a total of 1,211 insured U.S. national and state commercial banks and savings associations held derivatives, but 88.6% of these were concentrated in only four large banks: J.P. Morgan Chase ($54.3 trillion), Goldman Sachs ($51 trillion), Citibank ($46 trillion), Bank of America ($21.6 trillion), followed by Wells Fargo ($12.2 trillion). A full list is here. Unlike in 2008-09, when the big derivative concerns were mortgage-backed securities and credit default swaps, today the largest and riskiest category is interest rate products.
    ​ ​The original purpose of derivatives was to help farmers and other producers manage the risks of dramatic changes in the markets for raw materials. But in recent times they have exploded into powerful vehicles for leveraged speculation (borrowing to gamble). In their basic form, derivatives are just bets – a giant casino in which players hedge against a variety of changes in market conditions (interest rates, exchange rates, defaults, etc.). They are sold as insurance against risk, which is passed off to the counterparty to the bet. But the risk is still there, and if the counterparty can’t pay, both parties lose. In “systemically important” situations, the government winds up footing the bill.
    ​ ​Like at a race track, players can bet although they have no interest in the underlying asset (the horse). This has allowed derivative bets to grow to many times global GDP and has added another element of risk: if you don’t own the barn on which you are betting, the temptation is there to burn down the barn to get the insurance. The financial entities taking these bets typically hedge by betting both ways, and they are highly interconnected. If counterparties don’t get paid, they can’t pay their own counterparties, and the whole system can go down very quickly, a systemic risk called “the domino effect.”
    ​ ​That is why insolvent SIFIs had to be bailed out in the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007-09, first with $700 billion of taxpayer money and then by the Federal Reserve with “quantitative easing.” Derivatives were at the heart of that crisis. Lehman Brothers was one of the derivative entities with bets across the system. So was insurance company AIG…
    ..Derivatives are largely a creation of the “shadow banking” system, a group of financial intermediaries that facilitates the creation of credit globally but whose members are not subject to regulatory oversight. The shadow banking system also includes unregulated activities by regulated institutions…
    ..According to a December 2022 report by the BIS, $80 trillion in foreign exchange derivatives that are off-balance-sheet (documented only in the footnotes of bank reports) are about to reset (roll over at higher interest rates). Financial commentator George Gammon discusses the threat this poses in a podcast he calls, “BIS Warns of 2023 Black Swan – A Derivatives Time Bomb.”
    ​ ​Another time bomb in the news is Credit Suisse, a giant Swiss derivatives bank that was hit with an $88 billion run on its deposits by large institutional investors late in 2022. The bank was bailed out by the Swiss National Bank…
    ..Interest rate derivatives are particularly vulnerable in today’s high interest rate environment. From March 2022 to February 2023, the prime rate (the rate banks charge their best customers) shot up from 3.5% to 7.75%, a radical jump. Market analyst Stephanie Pomboy calls it an “interest rate shock.” It won’t really hit the market until variable-rate contracts reset, but $1 trillion in U.S. corporate contracts are due to reset this year, another trillion next year, and another trillion the year after that.
    ​ ​A few bank bankruptcies are manageable, but an interest rate shock to the massive derivatives market could take down the whole economy…
    ..Lev Menand, author of The Fed Unbound, is an Associate Professor at Columbia Law School who has worked at the New York Fed and the U.S. Treasury. Addressing the problem of the out-of-control unregulated shadow banking system, he stated in a July 2022 interview with The Hill, “I think that one of the great possible reforms is the public banking movement and the replication of successful public bank enterprises that we have now in some places, or that we’ve had in the past.”
    ​ ​Certainly, for our local government deposits, public banks are an important solution. State and local governments typically have far more than $250,000 deposited in SIFI banks, but local legislators consider them protected because they are “collateralized.” In California, for example, banks taking state deposits must back them with collateral equal to 110% of the deposits themselves. The problem is that derivative and repo claimants with “supra-priority” can wipe out the entirety of a bankrupt bank’s collateral before other “secured” depositors have access to it.​..
    ​..​The current financial system is fragile, volatile and vulnerable to systemic shocks. It is due for a reset, but we need to ensure that the system is changed in a way that works for the people whose labor and credit support it…
    The Looming Quadrillion Dollar Derivatives Tsunami

    ​ Such public-minded corporate citizens!​ They are pitching in $30 billion to show their support for “the little guys “that “are critical to the health and functioning of our financial system”. [it’s not because they fear “the domino effect”. Don’t be so cynical.]
    Action by the largest U.S. banks reflects their confidence in the country’s banking system and helps ensure First Republic has the liquidity to continue serving its customers.
    ​ ​Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo announced today they are each making a $5 billion uninsured deposit into First Republic Bank.
    Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are each making an uninsured deposit of $2.5 billion​. (Well, that is the Big-5 derivative banks there.)​
    BNY-Mellon, PNC Bank, State Street, Truist and U.S. Bank are each making an uninsured deposit of $1 billion, for a total deposit from the eleven banks of $30 billion.
    ​ ​This action by America’s largest banks reflects their confidence in First Republic and in banks of all sizes, and it demonstrates their overall commitment to helping banks serve their customers and communities.
    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/first-republic-bank-shares-crash-exploring-strategic-options

    #131450
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ Consciousness of Sheep says the current global financial reset will be worse than the 1970s for developed countries, and will be further worsened by the not-yet-unveiled BRICS currency, rumored to be based on gold and commodities.​
    ​ ​According to Pilkington, were this BRICS currency to emerge – and western leaders’ actions make it likely sooner rather than later – we can expect roughly a 33 percent devaluation of the western currencies… something which would result in what can only be described as hyper-stagflation, with prices of imports – including essentials like food and fuel – rising beyond the reach of all but the wealthiest westerners, even as that mountain of unrepayable debt comes tumbling down so rapidly that it will render most of what we still consider repayable bad as well.

    Bigger than you can imagine

    ​ Sergey Glazyev is a Russian economist with the kind of clear nderstanding of currency flows that Michael Hudson has and John Maynard Keynes had. He has long been frustrated that the Russian central bank comports itself in the same manner as western central banks. if his advice had been taken, Russia would not have had $300 billion of national assets frozen. He is the cheif economist working out the BRICS currency.​ Pepe Escobar interviewed him recently.
    ​ ​What Glazyev repeatedly emphasized is that as long as there’s no reform of the Russian Central Bank, any serious discussion about a new Global South-adopted currency faces insurmountable odds. The Chinese, heavily interlinked with the global financial system, may start having new ideas now that Xi Jinping, on the record, and unprecedentedly, has defined the US-provoked Hybrid War against China for what it is, and has named names: it’s an American operation.
    ​ ​What seems to be crystal clear is that the path toward a new financial system designed essentially by Russia-China, and adopted by vast swathes of the Global South, will remain long, rocky, and extremely challenging. The discussions inside the EAEU and with the Chinese may extrapolate to the SCO and even towards BRICS+. But all will depend on political will and political capital jointly deployed by the Russia-China strategic partnership.
    ​ ​That’s why Xi’s visit to Moscow next week is so crucial. The leadership of both Moscow and Beijing, in sync, now seems to be fully aware of the two-front Hybrid War deployed by Washington.
    ​ ​This means their peer competitor strategic partnership – the ultimate anathema for the US-led Empire – can only prosper if they jointly deploy a complete set of measures: from instances of soft power to deepening trade and commerce in their own currencies, a basket of currencies, and a new reserve currency that is not hostage to the Bretton Woods system legitimizing western finance capitalism.
    https://thecradle.co/article-view/22457/interviews

    Greek War News site says Russia has located the MQ9 Reaper drone at the bottom of the Black Sea with underwater drones and has positioned a specialized ship above it to recover it. The US has released a video clip of Russian Su 27 fighter(s) making 2 runs and dumping jet fuel, which caused propeller damage after the second run, though the drone camera footage shown did not show the drone to be grossly unstable at that point.
    The Pentagon has claimed that a Russian fighter clipped the propeller with a wingtip, which Russia specifically denies.
    It is likely that Russian pilots were trying to get the drone to turn around, to stop flying towards Crimea.
    The $65 million Reaper drone happens to have fallen very close to Russia’s South Stream pipeline.

    Ναυτικό αποκλεισμό επέβαλλαν οι Ρώσοι: Υποβρύχιο ρομπότ εντόπισε το αμερικανικό drone MQ-9 Reaper σε βάθος 900 μέτρων κοντά στη Σεβαστούπολη (upd)

    ​ ​The hidden security clauses of the Iran-Saudi deal
    Although the Beijing statement primarily addresses issues related to diplomatic rapprochement, Iranian-Saudi understandings appear to have been brokered mainly around security imperatives. Supporters of each side will likely claim their country fared better in the agreement, but a deeper look shows a healthy balance in the deal terms, with each party receiving assurances that the other will not tamper with its security.
    While Iran has never declared a desire to undermine Saudi Arabia’s security, some of its regional allies have made no secret of their intentions in this regard. In addition, MbS has publicly declared his intention to take the fight inside Iran, which Saudi intelligence services have been doing in recent years, specifically by supporting and financing armed dissident and separatist organizations that Iran classifies as terrorist groups.
    The security priorities of this agreement should have been easy to spot in Beijing last week. After all, the deal was struck between the National Security Councils of Saudi Arabia and Iran, and included the participation of intelligence services from both countries. Present in the Iranian delegation were officers from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and from the intelligence arms of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
    On a slightly separate note related to regional security — but not part of the Beijing Agreement — sources involved in negotiations confirmed to The Cradle that, during talks, the Saudi delegation stressed Riyadh’s commitment to the 2002 Arab peace initiative; refusing normalization with Tel Aviv before the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital. What is perhaps most remarkable, and illustrates the determination by the parties to strike a deal without the influence of spoilers, is that Iranian and Saudi intelligence delegations met in the Chinese capital for five days without Israeli intel being aware of the fact. It is perhaps yet another testament that China — unlike the US — understands how to get a deal done in these shifting times.
    https://thecradle.co/article-view/22445/exclusive-the-hidden-security-clauses-of-the-iran-saudi-deal

    Moscow rolls out the red carpet for Syrian President Basher al Assad
    The statement also noted that Wednesday is the “anniversary of the conflict” which started 12 years ago in March 2011. Assad emerged victorious especially with Russia’s help, given the the Russian military intervention at the invitation of the Syrian leader in 2015…
    According to details of Assad’s red carpet arrival in Moscow:
    Assad was received by Putin’s special representative for the Middle East, Mikhail Bogdanov, at Moscow’s Vnukovo international airport.
    Prior to a deadly Feb. 6 earthquake that killed 50,000 people in Turkey and Syria, Russia had been mediating talks between the two quake-hit countries.
    Turkish representatives are expected to be present for events related to Assad’s visit, with The Associated Press detailing that “The Syrian, Turkish and Russian deputy foreign ministers as well as a senior adviser to their Iranian counterpart are also set to hold talks Wednesday and Thursday in Moscow to discuss ‘counterterrorism efforts’ in Syria.”
    Given Assad and the Syrian Army have emerged victorious after over a decade of fighting, which also on multiple occasions saw the US bomb government-held cities and areas, including the capital, even Turkey appears to be warming to the idea of rapprochement. Both sides want US troops out of northeast Syria as well. President Erdogan has in particular bristled at Washington’s training and support given to Syrian Kurdish groups aligned with the outlawed PKK.
    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/putin-rolls-out-red-carpet-assad-rare-moscow-visit

    After Mideast (West Asian) leaders meeting this week, Putin and Xi will make some joint announcement next week in Moscow. China seeks to maintain good relations with both Russia and Ukraine. Xi will speak to Zelensky remotely after meeting with Putin. China can offer a lot of carrot to Ukraine, not just stick. Ukraine is pivotal to pan-Eurasian “New Silk Road” trade, which China is very much promoting.

    #131451
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ German Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach has hedged his official position in an interview.
    ​In 2021 he claimed in a Tweet that COVID-19 ‘vaccines’ had no side-effects. Remarkably, his current admission is, “That was an exaggeration that I once made in an ill-considered Tweet. It did not represent my true position.“! It is egregious that a federal Minister of Health is admitting this AFTER coercing most people to get the shots and claiming everyone gave fully informed consent. After a desperate attempt to backpedal, all while looking incredibly uncomfortable, Lauterbach was called out by the interviewer for repeatedly promoting his message that the shots were “more or less free of side-effects”.
    ​ ​The interviewer to Lauterbach:
    “So, you’ve always given the impression that side-effects aren’t really a thing.“
    ​ ​With respect to severe COVID-19 ‘vaccine’-induced injuries, Lauterbach stated:
    “I’ve always been aware of the numbers. They have re​main​ed relatively stable. …1:10,000: some may say that’s a lot, and some may say it’s not that much.“
    https://viralimmunologist.substack.com/p/bombshell-from-germanys-federal-minister

    ​ This report is all that I can find about the February 22 crash of an airplane at Clinton Airport in Arkansas, with a crew of chemical analysis experts headed to Ohio.​
    ​ ​This third part in an investigative series on the Ohio train derailing examines the mysterious plane crash in Little Rock, Arkansas, that killed five employees with the environmental laboratory contracted by Norfolk Southern for field studies of the chemical residues left from the EPA-ordered burn-trench disposal at East Palestine. The highly suspicious downing of a Beechcraft twin-prop plane, owned and operated by the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health (CTEH), which has been revamped with a bright young team following its 2002 takeover by Irvine-based Montrose from the founding toxicologist, who had been widely criticized for laxity in favoring corporate polluters.
    ​ ​Despite exaggerated local media reports of strong winds at noon on Wednesday, February 22, the weather conditions posed no threat to flying, which raises serious questions of why the company-owned plane crashed within a minute of clearing Runway 18 at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport. The irregularities surrounding the air-crash included an official cover-up of the actual crash location inside a 3M industrial complex, suspension of phone reception at Little Rock 911 and blatant disinformation by the Gannett newspaper group on the ill-fated Beechcraft’s destination.
    ​ ​Thus far, a review of that midair blast along with the registered flight destination suggests that the CTEH team was targeted for elimination under the pervasive Biden cover-up of chemical warfare agents in the tanker cars destined for secret use in Ukraine, which instead derailed at East Palestine, Ohio. Crashing a short distance from takeoff, the Beech BE20, an upgraded Beechcraft 200 Super King Air, which has an excellent reputation for flight performance and air safety, was blown to shreds midair before its fiery nose-dive into a 3M factory warehouse on the north end of the complex, barely averting a highway pile-up on Route 440, the link road between I-40 and I-30.​..​
    ​..​Just prior to noon on Wednesday, February 22, toxic site inspectors Micah Kendrick, Kyle Bennett, Gunter Beaty, and Glenmarkus Walker boarded the CTEH-owned twin-engine Beech BE20 (a 9-passenger business version of a Beechcraft 200 Super King Air) at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas. Earlier predictions of light rainfall had not materialized and winds from the southwest were subsiding to below 40 mph. On takeoff from Runway 18, which is reserved for small aircraft, pilot Sean Sweeney planned to keep the plane climbing toward the south, into the wind, with the aim of circling leftward over the Arkansas River onto a northeasterly flight path toward Ohio with the added advantage of a tailwind. All systems were go, there was no cause for concern at takeoff.
    ​ ​After clearing the runway, at the start of ascent along a straight line and immediately after crossing the Highway 40 bypass (which connects I-40 with I-30), less than a mile from takeoff, the BE20 was suddenly blown to bits by a powerful explosion. The fragmenting plane nose-dived toward the rear of the 3M industrial complex, crashing through the roof of a large warehouse with truck-loading docks. A pillar of black smoke from burning aircraft fuel rose into the gray sky, and was caught on video by a nearby weather helicopter. The steep fast dive allowed no time for a bail-out by the passengers or pilot, who were likely killed in the powerful blast or within a few seconds after being crushed on impact.
    ​ ​Phone calls to 911 went unanswered over the next hour.
    ​ ​Meanwhile, as an emergency crew closed off the 3M grounds and hosed the flames, another team from an as-yet identified agency set up a fake crash-site farther south in a junkyard, hauling pieces of wreckage to that decoy site for reporters to snapsho​o​t.
    https://rense.com/general97/arkansas-plane-crash-linked-to-ohio-trains-chem-weapons-for-ukraine.php

    ​ Forests draw water towards themselves in atmospheric flows, and it drops on them.
    This is described here, with link to scholarly paper. Thanks Ugo Bardi.​
    ​ ​The Forest: a Holobiont that Creates Rain
    https://theproudholobionts.blogspot.com/2023/03/the-forest-holobiont-that-creates-rain.html

    sealing decking

    #131452
    John Day
    Participant

    Chhooch wrote: “I saw this chart and naturally your eyes are drawn to the bottom right, but what was caused reserves to spike up on 1/20 (both large and small banks) and the jump in reserves for MMF (money market funds?) on the 21st. Just curious.”

    Te graphs show reserves % assets, so reserves as a percent of assets went up.
    My guessis that assets (Treasuries, bonds, etc.) got sold, making the ratio of reserves to assets rise, by lowering assets.

    #131453
    John Day
    Participant

    Sigh, Spam blocker won’t let me fix typos from old keypad.

    #131454
    Oroboros
    Participant

    I thought the video of the carnivorous Horsfield’s tarsier was Fauci about to count all the money he made murdering people with the Clotshot

    .

    #131455
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Joe-tard and Jill-tard were told to wake up the bear

    .

    #131456
    Oroboros
    Participant

    The Ukronazis are close to annihilation at Artemivsk

    Good judgement comes from experience

    Experience comes from poor judgement

    .

    #131457
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “Fed Announces Launch of ‘FedNow’ Real-Time Payment System,”

    I’m sorry Mr. Powell, I’m afraid you are promoting misinformation and conspiracy theories. Don’t you know there are no CBDCs? They sure are in a hurry since they attacked and took out SIVB.

    We counter attacked and took out Credit Suisse, already in receivership. Europe somehow appears stronger right now, unexpected…

    Big Banks Agree To Historic $30 Billion Unsecured Deposit Injection In First Republic Bank”

    Saudi refused Suisse though… Gee I wonder if that’s because 5 years ago they stole all their gold and left an IOU in the empty vault…

    “As Bank Crisis Looms, Biden’s Aggressive Focus On Firearms Is Suspicious”

    Ya think? Since the answer is “Come make me” guns are relevant here. Sadly THEY are the ones making them relevant. “Government is FORCE. It is FIRE…” which is why we should use it to run everything, especially health care! And Day Care! Violence and Destruction are right up their alley, right?

    “”This Is Sheer Idiocy”: Capital Gains Tax Can Exceed 100 Percent Under Biden Proposal”

    Perhaps that is why? Anyone with Capital Gains are their Apparatichiks and Manager-enforcers. If you steal 110% of their goodies, I think you’ve lost the rest of your base. Billionaires robbing the Millionaires.

    “FDIC Demands Signature Bank Buyers Stop All Crypto Business: Report”

    Russia says they’re very happy to be insulated from the Western Banking collapse. The FDIC here is making sure Crypto will be well-insulated from the FDIC’s collapse here shortly. Thanks!

    “Protests Erupt After France’s Macron Bypasses Parliament To Pass Pension Reform”

    Democracy is so passe’. And no need to outlaw all other parties like Ze did: in France they are all cooperating with tyranny already…

    White House Responds To Poland Sending Jets To Ukraine”

    “Game Changer”
    … which means it’s not. Poland is the 1st country, but they already had 20k? 50K? Troops there, and it’s their pilots, so…

    …Don’t think Russia doesn’t know it. This may be why Turkey can get Finland into NATO, or Russia allows it: NATO is about to cease to exist and be a giant embarrassment to Finland.

    Target Shutters Downtown Philly Location Citing “Declining Performance”

    That Black Representative from California said “Reparations are they only thing that can stop black people from stealing things.” That is, by constantly paying them off with extortion. …Nope, I don’t think I can come up with a more racist thing anyone can say with their mouths. Yet this is considered “good form, old chum” in the grand old state of Blue. Philly, same thing. Odd how every place Blue has every worst problem they rail against. Must be the fault of Jimmy John and his stupid red hat in Kentucky that Chicago, Baltimore, and Philadelphia are smoldering craters. Yes, that’s it!

    Victory, however, is not the point. The point is maximum destruction”

    Yes, but not of Russia. They have erased Ukraine as a national people.

    West Warns Ukraine Not To Blow ‘Last Ditch Effort’ – NYT (RT) “

    Sure is good to be the laptop class, sending memos from your nice warm office, or in your pajamas at home. Sean Penn, Lindsay Graham, AOC all want to help, so, so much. I’ll give them a plane ticket!

    Oh so it’s DIFFERENT? You’re the Very Important People and are much too valuable to be shot in a frozen building? SO ARE THEY. If anything, your cowardice and narcissism makes you LESS valuable. Here’s a helmet. Hope you last the first 10 minutes.

    Pentagon…Pfffft! “I wrote it right here on this spreadsheet that Ukrainians shouldn’t die…”

    “Russia intimidated NATO nations, stopping them from giving Ukraine the weapons it needed” – Bolton

    Kind of, yeah. It’s called “Full-scale WWIII and worldwide nuclear Armageddon”, you might have heard of it.

    “Scott Ritter Loses It Over Lindsey Graham’s Mindless Warmongering”

    I think Spetznaz should parachute in, give Graham a revolver, and let them fight it out in his house. If he wins, he’s defeated “Russia”, or at least those valuable soldiers, right? We’re only offering him a fair chance at the very thing he demands. The Pay-per-View can help fund Ukraine. I see no downside when this is what he believes.

    “US Estimates ‘Upwards’ Of 100,000 Ukrainian Soldiers Killed – Politico (RT) “

    Getting there. It may be 3x that by now. 300,000 men. Although some may be Poles and other Mercs.

    “Kiev Has No Plans To Leave Bakhmut – DPR Head (TASS) “

    That is their prerogative. The Russians will accommodate them.

    “Desperate West Will Turn To Russia For Turnips – Putin (RT) “

    I’m sorry to say he will be correct. Or did you think fighting a war with no food and no energy would end another way? Because you changed your avatar and got a rainbow flag?

    Dutch Farmers’ Protest Party Scores Big Election Win, Shaking Up Senate (R.) “

    What a relief. And they’re not fooling around. They may not know government but they are NOT going to sell out in 6 months like AOC, The Greens or so many others.

    “The records show Hallie Biden received $35,000 over two transfers in 2017 f… from State Energy HK Limited, a firm affiliated with CEFC China Energy.”

    I’m sure she’s good for it. She’s probably an expert in playing video games or something, more expert than Hunter in either Russian or Energy. P.S. that’s a year’s salary in one go. Note all profit as the rest of us have living expenses during that year of life and therefore “make” sub $10k of it.

    Anyway, they’re timing the Biden releases with the Biden bank crash. Too bad they can’t include Obama, who approved the whole thing.

    they have explicitly guaranteed that no matter how bad the deposit run is, they will keep the bank funded”

    Or how corrupt (Epstein, Biden) or how failing, or how wasteful, or poorly run. And another thing: regardless of how criminal we must never, ever allow free competition. YOU can’t just start your own bank. And the Treasury/FDIC/SEC just said you’re not allowed in Crypto. (UNLESS it is as corrupt with deep money-laundering oceans as FTX was) Don’t you know No Bankruptcy, No law, No consequences, and No competition is Capitalism?

    Once
    https://i.imgflip.com/1vntyc.png

    Starbucks: This guy is English, in America it’s even easier. It says right on the note “This Note is for ALL debts public and private” and is REQUIRED to be accepted by law. That’s how it was installed in the first place. You can – and many have – sue Starbucks Pro Se and tie them up with about 150 million lawsuits that cost us nothing. And probably get a pleasant class action settlement. Nobody does though, which is disappointing as it’s really the easiest, quietest, and most profitable way to bring the system to a halt in 12 hours.

    Apparently everyone has forgotten but THAT WAS THE POINT of the Civil Rights movement and the Buses, either the boycott (they go bankrupt) or the arrests (they have no facilities and go bankrupt). Now they whine and call a whaaaaaaambulance when they ARE arrested and create civil rights because: Civil Rights is all just painless, pointless Virtue Signaling, doncha know? If “Revolution” costs a nickel or inconveniences me for an hour, we won’t do it. Now excuse me I have to post my new Avatar flag for “the Latest Thing”.

    Foreign Affairs: I guess we’re winning then. Let’s keep going on! Man that’s awesome. If I could plant such a story, I would.

    “Blown to Bits”. In Clinton Arkansas airport. I do not find that suspicious at all. A bomb takes out a civilian aircraft practically every day for no reason whatsoever. Probably not even worth mentioning or investigating.

    #131458
    zerosum
    Participant

    Illusion of Winning
    Logic – If you are not for me, then you must be against me

    Empty cupboards, destruction and rubble everywhere, empty store shelves, a massive shortage of goods, and the failure of the service sector
    Snowballs melting, ground turning to mud
    No supplies, no ammunition, no food, and no more soldiers
    Reapers of death still riding
    Stench of death
    No plan for peace

    • Kiev Has No Plans To Leave Bakhmut – DPR Head (TASS)
    ———–
    Betting both ways – derivatives

    The original purpose of derivatives was to help farmers and other producers manage the risks of dramatic changes in the markets for raw materials. But in recent times they have exploded into powerful vehicles for leveraged speculation (borrowing to gamble). In their basic form, derivatives are just bets – a giant casino in which players hedge against a variety of changes in market conditions (interest rates, exchange rates, defaults, etc.). They are sold as insurance against risk, which is passed off to the counterparty to the bet. But the risk is still there, and if the counterparty can’t pay, both parties lose. In “systemically important” situations, the government winds up footing the bill.
    That is why insolvent SIFIs had to be bailed out in the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007-09, first with $700 billion of taxpayer money and then by the Federal Reserve with “quantitative easing.” Derivatives were at the heart of that crisis. Lehman Brothers was one of the derivative entities with bets across the system. So was insurance company AIG, which managed to survive due to a whopping $182 billion bailout from the U.S. Treasury; but Lehman was considered too weakly collateralized to salvage. It went down, and the Great Recession followed.

    ———-
    Repetition needed for learning

    Bailout – a vote of confidence for First Republic and the entire U.S. banking system

    First Republic executives are relieved and expressed their thanks: “We would like to share our deep appreciation for Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of New York Mellon, PNC Bank, State Street, Truist, and U.S. Bank.
    ———-

    #131459
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @JohnDay
    Every photo you’ve posted of your various and many construction/renovation projects remind me of me. We don’t tackle the work flow exactly the same way (your approach appears to be way more sequential and efficiently linear than mine). And we don’t organize tools the same way (your job site always looks tidy, with just the tools-in-use for the job at hand, whereas mine looks chaotic to everyone but me because I like to see every tool and material I will eventually need all visible at once), But the end product looks just like mine. Elegant simplicity, the beauty inherent in utility, with little or no non-essential adornment, almost Shaker Style in the aesthetics department. Two very different paths to an almost identical end. Which I suppose just goes to show you to be some kinda genius.

    #131461
    zerosum
    Participant

    Puzzle
    How? … many people find some other way to live than work for sub-living wages.
    How? …. “job site always looks tidy,” Maybe, because woman behind the scene. …. 🙂

    #131462
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Russian Army Quaking In Its Boots After Latest US Army Bootcamp Video

    Lindsay Graham publicly shamed into joining up, first day of Basic, go get’ em killer!

    Hahahahaha!

    Loaded for bear

    I’m sure the Wagner hardcores are impressed

    #131463

    I get an “age sensitive” warning on the tucker/macgregor bit, so here is a place to view it without having to sign in to twitter.

    #131464
    zerosum
    Participant

    MONEY JOKE
    Slovakia expects to receive compensation in the amount of $900 million for the supply of MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, which includes the cost of military equipment from the United States in the amount of $ 700 million. This was stated by the Acting Minister of Defense of the Republic.

    “We are talking about the total amount of compensation in the amount of $900 million,” Slovak Radio quoted him as saying on Friday. – The Republic should receive funds from the [special fund] The European Union, and also received an offer from the United States to transfer [Slovakia] military equipment, the cost of which is approximately $ 700 million.”

    Earlier, the Slovak Cabinet of Ministers decided to transfer to Kiev 13 MiG-29 fighters, decommissioned by the National Air Force at the end of August.

    The transfer of aircraft to Ukraine, according to Nad, will take several weeks. At the moment, Bratislava is negotiating about this with Kiev and the allied states. “For security reasons, we will not inform about this in advance,” the minister added, specifying that at the moment the fighters are in Slovakia.

    #131465
    anticlimactic
    Participant

    NATO DIRECT

    If NATO became directly involved in Ukraine AND if there was any attack on Russian soil or on Russian ships then ALL NATO countries become fair targets.

    I read that the new NATO headquarters in Brussels cost a billion dollars – shame if anything happened to it. [Not really!]

    It would escalate rapidly. The only question would be who would fire the first nuclear missile.

    #131466
    tboc
    Participant

    “You know the nearer your destination
    The more you’re slip slidin’ away” – Paul Simon

    Breaking News: The News is Broken

    obviously the British guy hasn’t seen the Woody Harrelson vid about shepharding your expenditures. Big Bucks for tea, paid with cash, that’ll show em

    no one seems to be asking what the people of the south thought would be the result of strip mining the entire US economy the way the garment industry was strip mined from their homes

    “Home of the brave, land of the free
    I don’t wanna be mistreated by no bourgeoisie
    Lord, in a bourgeois town
    Uhm, the bourgeois town
    I got the bourgeois blues, I’m
    Gonna spread the news all around” Huddie Ledbetter,Alan Lomax

    #131467
    Oroboros
    Participant

    When the Russian fighter jocks sprayed fuel on the Grim Reaper Peace & Love drone, symbolically they were pissing on the Empire of Lies® head, and telling them, “It’s rain!”

    Hahahahahahaha!

    The Russians have already scooped up the wreckage of this $100,000,000 boondoogle ‘weapon’

    Made for profit, not performance.

    Scott Ritter just added a detail about the fuel dump

    He said the K-1 fuel pissed on the Grim Reaper by the happy go lucky Russian jet jocks coated it’s propellers, put them out of balance, distorted them, and put it into the Death Spiral.

    Sweet

    The Empire of Lies can’t run a railroad infrastructure, Duhmerica, no trophy for you!

    Here is the level of competence, worth a watch.

    #131468
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @zerosum

    “Behind every great carpenter there is a woman with high standards.”

    #131469
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Hey, the train track clusterfuck was in Arkansa

    #131470
    zerosum
    Participant

    Playing with bingchat
    Sent me to
    https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-automatic-earth/
    CONSPIRACY-PSEUDOSCIENCE
    Sources in the Conspiracy-Pseudoscience category may publish unverifiable information that is not always supported by evidence. These sources may be untrustworthy for credible/verifiable information; therefore, fact-checking and further investigation is recommended on a per article basis when obtaining information from these sources. See all Conspiracy-Pseudoscience sources.

    Overall, we rate The Automatic Earth Right Biased and a pseudoscience website based on the promotion of misinformation and pseudoscience during the covid-19 pandemic.
    Detailed Report
    Bias Rating: RIGHT-PSEUDOSCIENCE
    Factual Reporting: LOW
    Country: USA (44/180 Press Freedom)
    Media Type: Website
    Traffic/Popularity: Minimal Traffic
    MBFC Credibility Rating: LOW CREDIBILITY
    Analysis / Bias
    The Automatic Earth publishes original blog posts with loaded wording such as this Institutionalization on Steroids. This story reports negatively on mask-wearing, Anthony Fauci, and vaccines as it relates to Covid-19. In other words, it is promoting pseudoscience. In fact, most recent stories promote pseudoscience and/or conspiracy theories related to anti-vaccination propaganda related to Covid-19, such as The Ethics of Child Vaccinations.
    The blog also links to external articles that read like a who’s who of conspiracy and questionable sources such as RT, ZeroHedge, The National Pulse, and the OffGuardian. In general, The Automatic Earth is an unreliable site that lacks transparency and promotes anti-vaccine pseudoscience and conspiracy theories.

    Overall, we rate The Automatic Earth Right Biased and a pseudoscience website based on the promotion of misinformation and pseudoscience during the covid-19 pandemic. (D. Van Zandt 6/3/2017) Updated (6/16/2021)

    #131471
    Oroboros
    Participant

    So after a year of Total Lies, the Collective West Mediawhores are having to admit that Ukronaziland’s performance isn’t all buttercups and unicorn farts.

    There’s a crack in the Ukronaziland, that’s how the lighting gets in.

    .

    #131472
    zerosum
    Participant

    bingchat

    Searching for: Biden family china income

    Generating answers for you…

    According to a recent report by the House Oversight Committee, it appears that the Biden family allegedly received millions from a Chinese company1. Breitbart News senior contributor Peter Schweizer also revealed that while Joe Biden was vice president of the United States and continuing when he became president, his family received some $31 million from Chinese individuals who are linked to the highest levels of Chinese intelligence2.
    Learn more:
    1. rsbnetwork.com
    2. breitbart.com
    3. nypost.com
    4. abcactionnews.com
    5. nypost.com

    #131473
    zerosum
    Participant

    Link …..
    5. https://nypost.com/2022/01/27/chinese-elite-have-paid-some-31m-to-hunter-and-the-bidens/
    Chinese elite have paid some $31 million to Hunter and the Bidens
    By Peter Schweizer

    #131474
    Dora
    Participant

    Matt Tiabbi new twitter files.

    #131475
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Too big to fail Credit Suisse

    The Duran kicks Credit Swisse up the road

    The Swiss Central Bank has nationalized Credit Swisse

    The Saudi lifted the lid, looked in, really didn’t like what it saw, and declined to help

    That is not a vote of confidence

    Confidence is the only thing holding up the Eurotard banking system

    Credit Swisse was at $580 billion or so

    That’s a lot of Swiss cheese and watches

    The bailout by the Swiss Central Bank was $54 billion. Holy crap, that’s almost 10% of their cap.

    Run for your life

    .
    Sacrifice
    One of Us will be the Dinner
    One of Us wil be the Diner

    Bon Appétit!

    But the real crisis is not enough money for Ukronaziland.

    Seig Heil

    .

    #131476
    Oroboros
    Participant

    #131477
    Oroboros
    Participant

    The Empire of Lies® illegally occupying NE Syria and stealing the oil is despicable and cowardly enough but this takes the cake

    From Gonzalo’s Twitter feed

    “I wouldn’t put it past them. American soldiers in Syria are essentially pirates and brigands.”

    https://twitter.com/PeImeniPusha/status/1636493703694155776/photo/2

    #131478
    morongobill
    Participant

    Ritter really called out Graham. As I wrote in a comment at Moon of Alabama, in the old days of the Confederacy they would duel over this, someone would die. My money would be on Ritter.

    #131479
    zerosum
    Participant

    Today …. payday …. the system got saved….. buried in QE money
    Move on …. nothing to see ….

    #131480

    On guns in the US: callers on CSPAN- (including gun owners) seemed ready to accept “diagnosed mental illness” as a way to block gun ownership. I would urge everyone to recognize that “diagnosed mental illness” is the slipperiest of slopes. How many Americans take/took SSRIs? How many use benzodiazepines? How many have seen a counselor for depression, marriage issues, or any other thing out there?
    This is what they’ll try, and The WHO will abet it as they see a “pandemic” of gun violence in the US. And if you use your gun to protect your right to having one, you are obviously crazy, right?

    #131481
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #131482
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Hey, it’s a World War, very few rules

    #131483

    I don’t own a gun. I am bewildered about buying one. Shotgun? Rifle? Pistol? Cheapest, easiest to obtain ammunition?
    I haven’t even shot a gun. (Except BB, pellet, disc, and squirt guns.)

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 74 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.