Mar 042023
 
 March 4, 2023  Posted by at 10:20 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,


Frans Hals Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer 1626

 

Worst-Ever Economic Crash Coming – Nouriel Roubini (RT)
Prepare For 10 Years Of Global Destruction (Egon von Greyerz)
Russian Mercenary Boss Says Bakhmut Effectively Surrounded (Az)
Wagner Chief Calls On Zelenskiy To Abandon ‘Encircled’ Bakhmut (G.)
EU Must Shift To Wartime Economy – Industry Commissioner (RT)
Beijing Calls US World’s ‘Primary Nuclear Threat’ (RT)
New Biden Cyber Strategy Takes Aim at China as ‘Most Persistent Threat’ (ET)
One Year Later in Ukraine: Washington and NATO Got It Very Wrong (Mises)
Power Shortages Coming Soon to America (ET)
WHO Wants Proof Behind US Claims Of Covid Origin (RT)
Blinken Lied About Exchange With Lavrov – Moscow (RT)
Russian Diplomats Mock US Official Over Country Name Gaffe (RT)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr Ponders Bid For 2024 White House Nomination (Fox)

 

 


57 people died in the March 1 Greek train disaster

 

 

Prighozin

 

 


“Any State can be recognized as a participant in hostilities if, in addition to supplying weapons, this State trains the personnel of the belligerent side to handle these weapons (the Briand–Kellogg Pact of 1928, the Budapest Resolution to the 1934 Pact).”

 

 

Flags cemetery

 

 

Kurten
https://twitter.com/i/status/1630325751395282957

 

 

 

 

Kucinich

 

 

 

 

Does Roubini have any credibility left?

Worst-Ever Economic Crash Coming – Nouriel Roubini (RT)

The world is facing the “perfect storm” of high inflation, rising interest rates and a recession in 2023, with people who are currently employed likely to be hit hardest by the crisis, famed economist and New York University professor Nouriel Roubini told Australia’s ABC on Thursday. One of the first economists to predict the financial crisis of 2008-09, Roubini has been warning now for months of a stagflationary debt crisis, which would combine the worst elements of 1970s stagflation and the 2008 debt crisis. “I do believe that a stagflationary crisis is going to emerge this year,” he said, pointing out that the debt ratio in advanced economies was only 100% of GDP in the 1970s while currently it is 420% of GDP, in private and public debt.

“So, in this case, if we have those shocks to, say, oil prices, not only do you get inflation, not only do you get recession and stagflation, but you get what I call a great stagflationary debt crisis, because with interest rates so high, then that [debt] ratio has become unsustainable,” he explained. Dubbed ‘Doctor Doom’ by Wall Street for his dire economic predictions, Roubini suggested that all of this would force the US Federal Reserve and other central banks to keep hiking interest rates until their economies fell into recession. “I think that the Fed funds rate will have to be certainly above 6% to achieve a 2% inflation target,” he said. “But if you raise interest rates to 6% then you’re going to have a real hard landing.”

According to the economist, this will precipitate a harsh correction in equity markets, bond yields going higher, credit spreads for private sector debt widening, and will eventually lead to severe financial distress. “That financial distress is going to make the recession more severe, and a more severe recession by having a contraction of income and output is going to increase the number of defaults by households, businesses, corporates, and even some financial institutions and some governments in poor countries that have serious debt problems,” Roubini warned. He also said that people who are currently employed would likely be hit hardest by the looming crisis, including those who kept their jobs. “Stagflation is the worst of all worlds for workers,” he stressed.

Read more …

“..the United States has acted more boldly to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, pursue, maintain and abuse hegemony, advance subversion and infiltration, and wilfully wage wars, bringing harm to the international community.”

Prepare For 10 Years Of Global Destruction (Egon von Greyerz)

The final stages of major economic cycles are always accompanied by the maximum amount of bad news as well as heinous events. This time is no different as the West is in the process of committing Harakiri (Seppuku). As Elon Musk said: “My mentality is that of a Samurai. I would rather commit Seppuku than fail.” Sadly, the problem for the West is that it is both committing Harakiri and failing. For at least half a century, the world has been in a process of self-destruction. As the decline accelerates, the next phase of 5-10 years will include major political, social, economic as well as wealth – destruction. What can be more heinous than a total economic and financial collapse accompanied by a potential World War III that at worst could destroy the world totally.

A recent article of mine discussed global fragility due to War, Debt and Energy Depletion. In this article I outline the major risks today, financial and geopolitical and also discuss the best way to protect against these risks. Physical Gold is of course the ultimate wealth preservation investment. The next major move up in gold is not far away. See further on. Biden’s recent visit to Ukraine and whistle stop tour of Europe confirmed that there is no desire to make peace but only war. More support of weapons and money from the US is forthcoming. And whatever the US dictates, Europe follows without considering the consequences. At the end of his Warsaw address Biden stated about Putin: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power”. Hmmm…. Hardly the talk of a peace maker.

China on the other hand is trying to act as peacemaker but their proposal last Friday was cold shouldered by the West. More importantly, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an important policy document this week which is a very strong attack on the US hegemony called: “US Hegemony and Its Perils”. The attack starts in the introduction: “Since becoming the world’s most powerful country after the two world wars and the Cold War, the United States has acted more boldly to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, pursue, maintain and abuse hegemony, advance subversion and infiltration, and wilfully wage wars, bringing harm to the international community. It then goes on in detail to attack all the areas of US Hegemony like: Political – Throwing its Weight Around, Military – Wanton Use of Force, Economic – Looting and Exploitation, Technological – Monopoly and Suppression, Cultural – Spreading False Narratives.

The document exemplifies in detail the hegemonic policies and attacks of the US. Although US politicians will totally reject its contents, it is difficult to argue with the facts put forward by China. As I mention regularly, I very much like America and its people but have difficulties accepting the policies of the Neocons who dominate US politics.

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It’s gone. But how do you admit it?

Russian Mercenary Boss Says Bakhmut Effectively Surrounded (Az)

Russian troops and mercenaries were closing off the last access routes to the besieged Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on Friday, on the cusp of Moscow’s first major victory in half a year after the bloodiest fighting of the war.
The head of Russia’s Wagner private army said the city, which has been blasted to ruins, was now almost completely surrounded, with only one route out left open for Ukraine’s troops. Reuters journalists west of the city saw Ukrainians digging new trenches for defensive positions there, while the commander of a Ukrainian drone unit inside the city for months said he had been ordered to withdraw.


Victory in Bakhmut, with a pre-war population of about 70,000, would give Russia the first major prize of a costly winter offensive after it called up hundreds of thousands of reservists last year. It says it would be a stepping stone to capturing the surrounding Donbas region, a major war aim. Ukraine, which recaptured swathes of territory in the second half of 2022 but whose forces have been on the defensive for three months, says the city has little strategic value but that the huge losses there could determine the course of the war. In a video filmed on a rooftop in an undisclosed location, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, dressed in a combat uniform, said he was calling on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to order the evacuation of Bakhmut to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.

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The Guardian says “..in the battles for Bakhmut its defenders had inflicted casualties on the Russian attackers at a ratio of 7:1..”

Wagner Chief Calls On Zelenskiy To Abandon ‘Encircled’ Bakhmut (G.)

The chief of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner has said his fighters have “practically encircled” Bakhmut, the eastern Ukraine city the Kremlin has been trying to seize for months. Only one road remains under Ukrainian control, Yevgeny Prigozhin added in a video posted online in which he called on the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to abandon the city. While the claims by the head of the mercenary group could not be confirmed, the situation in the embattled city appeared to be extremely precarious, amid evidence Ukraine was preparing extensive new defensive positions, including around the nearby city of Kramatorsk. Large amounts of military traffic were seen on nearby roads on Friday, and there were claims that several bridges near the city had been destroyed.

Video posted online showed the blowing up of a railway bridge over the Bakhmutka River to the east of the city, while other footage purported to show damage to a small road bridge. Russian shelling was seen hitting routes leading west out of Bakhmut, in what appears to be an attempt to block Ukrainian forces’ access in and out of the city. Amid mounting speculation that Ukraine’s defenders might be preparing to withdraw, Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of the national security and defence council of Ukraine, said that in the battles for Bakhmut its defenders had inflicted casualties on the Russian attackers at a ratio of 7:1. “It is difficult there, but keep in mind that every day our boys and girls send hundreds of them to where they are supposed to go, given that they came here to kill us,” Danilov said.

Volodymyr Nazarenko, a deputy commander in the National Guard of Ukraine, told Ukrainian NV Radio the situation was “critical”, with fighting going on “round the clock”. The commander of a Ukrainian drone unit active in Bakhmut, Robert Brovdi, who goes by the name “Madyar”, said in a video posted on social media that his unit had been ordered by the military to withdraw immediately. He said he had been fighting there for 110 days. On a visit to the western city of Lviv to see wounded soldiers recuperating in hospital, Zelenskiy thanked those who had been injured during the “heroic defence” of Bakhmut. Statements on social media issued by Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the Bakhmut area appeared to suggest they were holding their positions, although under intense pressure.

“Friends, at the moment there is no withdrawal of troops from Bakhmut,” said one soldier from the 93rd mechanised brigade on Twitter. “Fighting continues in all areas of the city, the 93rd stands and continues to perform the tasks assigned to it. The situation is actually complicated, but trust only official sources and do not panic.” In the video posted by Prigozhin, recorded on a building’s rooftop four miles north of Bakhmut, the Wagner chief claimed his forces were increasingly fighting against old men and children rather than the professional Ukrainian army. The footage showed what looked like three captured Ukrainians – an older man and two young boys – who looked frightened and asked to be allowed to go home. They appeared to be talking in what looked like a choreographed appearance under extreme stress.

Read more …

Much easier to further curtail your freedoms.

EU Must Shift To Wartime Economy – Industry Commissioner (RT)

The European Union’s industry chief has said the bloc will have to shift to a “wartime” economic model if it hopes to meet Kiev’s battlefield needs, with senior Ukrainian officials voicing hopes for a massive influx of shells from their foreign sponsors. Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton discussed plans to bolster arms and ammo shipments to Ukraine during a sit-down with the Financial Times, saying he is working with the EU’s foreign policy head Josep Borrell to expand industrial capacity in Europe, slash supply bottlenecks and pressure banks to boost their lending to facilitate military transfers to Kiev. “I believe it is time that the European defense industry moves to a wartime economy model to cater for our defense production needs,” he told the outlet on Friday, adding that he and Borrell are “fully determined to support the production ramp-up of the European defense industry to face the realities of a high-intensity conflict – starting with the question of ammunition.”

Though unnamed diplomats voiced their doubts to FT – with one asking “How are we going to pay for this?” – the efforts to speed deliveries to Kiev and replenish Europe’s own domestic stocks come after Ukrainian Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov pleaded with the bloc for 250,000 artillery shells per month, vastly outpacing any existing EU plan. In a letter to European defense chiefs on Friday, Reznikov spoke of the “crucial role” played by artillery on the battlefield, claiming Ukrainian troops burn through 110,000 155mm shells every few weeks. Ukrainian troops are “limited by the amount of available artillery shells” and need at least 356,400 rounds per month to “successfully execute” their tasks – or a whopping 594,000 shells monthly to use their artillery power to full capacity, Reznikov claimed.

According to the Times, Borrell is aiming at a “less ambitious” scheme, instead hoping to disperse €1 billion over “the next few months” to partially cover the bill for donated shells from allies. With costs soaring amid growing shortages on the continent, 155mm shells produced in Europe could run as much as €3,300 for a single round, a recent weapons contract inked between EU members suggests. Based on that estimate, the ammunition sought by Kiev could cost the bloc some €825,000,000 for just one month, though officials have yet to confirm any specific figures. It is hard to trace how many shells Ukraine has been getting from the armories of its European backers, but over the past year the United States alone sent “over 1,000,000 155mm artillery rounds,” according to the Pentagon’s latest data.

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Are they wrong?

Beijing Calls US World’s ‘Primary Nuclear Threat’ (RT)

The United States is the top “nuclear threat” in the world, China has said, accusing Washington of seeking to maintain “military hegemony” over other nations after US officials declared the need to reign in Beijing’s much smaller weapons program. Speaking to reporters for a press briefing on Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was asked to respond after a top security adviser to US President Joe Biden stated the White House must “invest China in work to diminish nuclear threats.” “Calling China a ‘nuclear threat’ is a convenient pretext for the US to expand its own nuclear arsenal and keep its military hegemony,” she said, insisting China has maintained a “prudent and responsible” nuclear policy, in stark contrast to Washington’s.

Following a foreign minister’s meeting in New Delhi earlier on Friday by the four-way QUAD alliance – consisting of the US, Japan, Australia and India – officials also issued a statement deeming the “use or threat of use” of nuclear weapons “inadmissible.” Though the remark was not explicitly aimed at Beijing, the QUAD grouping, at times dubbed an ‘Asian NATO,’ has frequently pointed to alleged threats posed by China in the Indo-Pacific region. “China has stated our position on QUAD on multiple occasions. We believe that state-to-state cooperation needs to be consistent with the trend of peace and development,” rather than about creating “exclusionary” regional alliances, Mao continued, going on to note the upcoming nuclear technology transfer from the US to Australia under the separate AUKUS pact.

“The US has also built small blocs reminiscent of the Cold War by bolstering extended deterrence and conducting nuclear submarine cooperation,” she said. Further steps for the trilateral AUKUS agreement, which also includes the UK, are set to be revealed later this month, with officials hoping for a “seamless transfer” of nuclear propulsion technology from Washington to Canberra. Beijing has previously slammed the deal for advancing “nuclear proliferation” around the world, given that Australia lacks its own domestic capability for the sensitive tech.

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“China in particular is threatening U.S. interests and dominating emerging technologies critical to global development with the intent of reshaping the world order..”

New Biden Cyber Strategy Takes Aim at China as ‘Most Persistent Threat’ (ET)

The Biden administration’s new cybersecurity strategy takes aim at China’s communist regime and other authoritarian powers for subverting the international order through malign cyberactivity. The 2023 National Cyber Strategy, released on March 2, says that communist China and other regimes are attempting to export their own forms of authoritarianism through the use of technology. “The governments of China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and other autocratic states with revisionist intent are aggressively using advanced cyber capabilities to pursue objectives that run counter to our interests and broadly accepted international norms,” the strategy states. “Their reckless disregard for the rule of law and human rights in cyberspace is threatening U.S. national security and economic prosperity.”

China in particular is threatening U.S. interests and dominating emerging technologies critical to global development with the intent of reshaping the world order, the document states. “[China] now presents the broadest, most active, and most persistent threat to both government and private sector networks and is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do so.” “Having successfully harnessed the Internet as the backbone of its surveillance state and influence capabilities, [China] is exporting its vision of digital authoritarianism, striving to shape the global Internet in its image and imperiling human rights beyond its borders.”

Given the threat posed by authoritarian powers like the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the strategy outlines an aggressive posture that the administration seeks to take to defend the United States and its interests from foreign interference. This new posture, according to the strategy, will integrate cyber, diplomatic, military, intelligence, law enforcement, and other capabilities to target threat actors and remove them from play. “The United States will use all instruments of national power to disrupt and dismantle threat actors whose actions threaten our interests,” the strategy states. “These efforts may integrate diplomatic, information, military (both kinetic and cyber), financial, intelligence, and law enforcement capabilities.”

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“..a whiff of Munich..”

One Year Later in Ukraine: Washington and NATO Got It Very Wrong (Mises)

It’s been a year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In spite of claims from the regime and its media allies that Russia was the next Third Reich and would soon roll through half of Europe, it turns out that was never even remotely true. In fact, things have unfolded more or less just like we predicted here at mises.org: the Russians aren’t even close to occupying any place in Europe beyond eastern Ukraine. It’s not Munich 1938. Economic sanctions have not crippled the Russian regime. Most of the world remains ambivalent on the conflict. The conflict will likely end with a negotiated settlement—contrary to what the Washington wants. The fact is that in spite of the United States’ and NATO efforts to turn Ukraine into World War III, the war in Ukraine remains a regional conflict.

It seems most of the world is uninterested in making sacrifices to carry out US policy in Ukraine and that many see the inherent hypocrisy behind US talk about respecting national sovereignty. There’s also an important lesson here about listening to the war maximalists who incessantly promote full-scale war as the “solution” to every international crisis. The US clearly wants to fight the war to the last Ukrainian, in what the US is packaging as a global crusade in the style of World War II. But, it seems now that more pragmatic thinkers—i.e., the French and the Germans—recognize that negotiations are the more humane solution. Within days of the Russian invasion, the Western global hegemonists got to work claiming the invasion was essentially a war of global conquest. For instance, Matthew Kroenig in Foreign Policy stated that Vladimir Putin had shown a clear interest in “resurrecting the former Russian Empire, and other vulnerable Eastern European countries—Poland, Romania, or the Baltic states—might be next.” Kroenig immediately concluded that the US’s military budget should be doubled.

Another writer insisted the Ukraine invasion contained “a whiff of Munich.” John Storey at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute claimed that “the forgotten lesson of Munich” had allowed “Putin is [to do] his best impression of German dictator Adolf Hitler.” Storey ominously asked, “Will the Baltic states and Eastern Europe be next?” dutifully repeating the party line that Russian tanks might soon roll into central Europe. Yet the “lesson of Munich”—which is invoked incessantly and certainly not “forgotten”—has never been appropriate for conceptualizing the war in Ukraine. That sort of thing has even led some pundits to proclaim that global nuclear war is “worth it.” The real lesson to be learned here, however, is the lesson of 1914: that we should not allow military alliances to lead major powers into overreactions that lead to global disasters. The “Munich” crowd wanted mass mobilization against Russia in early 2022. They didn’t get it, and thank goodness.

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“..the reserve margin could fall from 26 percent in 2023 to 15 percent by 2030 even in the best-case scenario..”

Power Shortages Coming Soon to America (ET)

Existing power plants are projected to retire at a faster pace than installations of new units, and dependence on renewable projects are threatening widespread power shortages, according to a new report by regional power transmission company PJM Interconnection. PJM analysis shows that 40 gigawatts (GW) of existing power generation is at risk of retirement by 2030, accounting for 21 percent of its current installed capacity. Meanwhile, 290 GW worth of new power supply is seeking to connect to PJM’s grid. But 94 percent of this power supply is made up of renewable energy projects that tend to only have a completion rate of 5 percent. This casts doubt on the ability of new power supply to replace old supply. PJM covers 13 eastern states and the District of Columbia.

PJM also forecasts power demand growth of 1.4 percent annually over the next decade. Certain individual zones might even show demand growth as high as 7 percent per year due to the expansion of clusters of data centers as well as overall electrification. The retirement of existing power generation combined with the growing demand for power will create a supply gap. According to the report, the pace of new power generation addition will likely be “insufficient” to fill this supply gap by 2030. As such, the completion rates of upcoming projects will have to “increase significantly” to maintain necessary reserve margins, it said. Reserve margin refers to the amount of unused available power capacity of an electric power system.

A reserve margin of 10 percent would mean that an entity has excess capacity amounting to 10 percent of peak demand. According to PJM projections, the reserve margin could fall from 26 percent in 2023 to 15 percent by 2030 even in the best-case scenario. Reserve margins are critical during times of adverse weather conditions and periods of high demand. A decline suggests less reliability of power. “The lopsided energy transition is resulting mainly from Biden’s energy policies and state mandates driving fossil fuel generation to shut down as renewable and storage projects are being developed. These are policy choices by political leaders and utilities are responding as directed,” stated a Mar. 2nd analysis of the PJM report by the Institute for Energy Research (IER).

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Not done enough damage yet?

WHO Wants Proof Behind US Claims Of Covid Origin (RT)

The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged the United States and every other country to release their intelligence on the beginnings of the coronavirus pandemic, cautioning against unsubstantiated speculations and “politicization” of the issue after Washington claimed the pathogen “likely” leaked from a Chinese laboratory. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke at length about the need to identify the ultimate starting point for the global health crisis during a media briefing on Friday, calling it a “scientific” and “moral imperative.” “If any country has information about the origins of the pandemic, it’s essential for that information to be shared with WHO and the international scientific community,” he said, noting he was in touch with Chinese officials on the matter as recently as a few weeks ago.

The agency’s Covid-19 technical lead – Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist – also stated that the WHO has reached out to Washington’s embassy in Switzerland for more information of Covid’s origins, after FBI Director Christopher Wray claimed the virus “most likely” escaped a Chinese lab in comments to Fox earlier this week, citing a bureau assessment that has not been made public. “It remains vital that that information is shared,” she said, adding that the US has so far not offered access to its data. Beijing has vocally denied suggestions the pathogen may have escaped from its high-security virology laboratory in the city of Wuhan – among the first sites Covid-19 was detected in late 2019 – with PRC officials dismissing the theory as an attempt to smear China.

Tedros went on to warn against “the continued politicization of the origins research,” saying that sparring between rival nations has turned the issue into a “geopolitical football, which only makes the task of identifying the origins more difficult. And that makes the world less safe.” Until there is greater transparency from world leaders on the question, he said “all hypotheses” on the origins of the virus “remain on the table.”

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They prefered the stoned basketball girl.

Blinken Lied About Exchange With Lavrov – Moscow (RT)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was lying when he claimed that he and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, discussed a jailed American citizen during a brief recent exchange, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow has said. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Blinken revealed that he and Lavrov “spoke briefly” on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in India. Among other things discussed with Lavrov, the American official said he had “raised the wrongful detention of Paul Whelan,” a former US Marine currently serving a 16-year prison term in Russia for espionage. “The United States has put forward a serious proposal. Moscow should accept it,” Blinken added.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denied those claims on Friday, saying she had asked Lavrov about the exchange with Blinken. The top Russian diplomat told her that his American counterpart had not brought up Whelan’s case, with Zakharova branding Blinken’s statement “lies” and an example of “astounding” behavior by the US government. Whelan is a Canadian-born former US Marine, who in 2020 was sentenced to a 16-year prison term in Russia for spying. He claimed he was framed while on a trip to the country. The administration of President Joe Biden has called on Russia to release Whelan, branding his sentence unfair.

The proposal to which Blinken referred matches those that Washington has previously made to Moscow, State Department spokesperson Ned Price claimed on Thursday. US officials reportedly tried to include Whelan in a prisoner exchange last year involving American WNBA player Brittney Griner and Russian businessman Viktor Bout, although the two sides ultimately freed just one convict each. Griner was serving a term for a drug crime in Russia, while Bout was imprisoned in the US on gun trafficking charges.

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“must be a foe of [the] United American Emirates and the British Confederation!”

Russian Diplomats Mock US Official Over Country Name Gaffe (RT)

Russian diplomats have poked fun at White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre after she made a mess of the country’s official name during a press briefing on Friday. Jean-Pierre made the gaffe while previewing the upcoming meeting between US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the White House. The press secretary said the leaders would discuss “our work together to address the challenges posed by the People’s Republic of Russia.” The country’s official name is the Russian Federation. According to the official transcript from the briefing, Jean-Pierre misspoke and was actually referring to the People’s Republic of China.


Nevertheless, the clip of Jean-Pierre’s blunder made its way to social media. Dmitry Polyansky, the deputy head of Russia’s mission to the UN, tweeted that the non-existent state “must be a foe of [the] United American Emirates and the British Confederation!” Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, shared the clip on her Telegram channel, writing “zombie apocalypse.” In March, Biden mixed up Ukraine with Russia during a conversation with historian Heather Cox Richardson. He claimed that President Vladimir Putin had decided “that he’s going to just invade Russia.” Biden later corrected himself. In a speech in November, Biden said “the war in Iraq” when referring to the Ukraine conflict, before correcting himself.

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They’ll eat him alive.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr Ponders Bid For 2024 White House Nomination (Fox)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is considering running for president in 2024, challenging President Biden for the Democratic nomination, and he says his wife approves. “I am thinking about it yes. I have passed the biggest hurdle, that my wife has greenlighted it,” Kennedy told a crowd in New Hampshire on Friday, according to reports. Kennedy’s wife, actress Cheryl Hines, was reportedly attending the speech at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, which for nearly a quarter-century has been a must stop in the Granite State for potential or actual White House contenders. Kennedy, the son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, describes himself as a lifelong Democrat and has faced criticism for his activism against the COVID-19 vaccine.

In his speech, he called the Democratic National Committee (DNC) decision to upset the presidential nominating calendar wrong, as it moves New Hampshire’s primary from the first place into the third. New Hampshire, which prides itself on its well-informed electorate and its emphasis on small-scale and grassroots retail politics, has for a century held the first primary in the race for the White House. While Republicans are making no changes to their presidential nominating calendar in the 2024 election cycle, the DNC last month voted overwhelmingly to approve a new top of the calendar, pushed by Biden, that upends the traditional schedule. New Hampshire will now vote second in the DNC’s calendar, along with Nevada, three days after South Carolina, under the new schedule.

Ahead of the DNC’s final approval of the schedule, Kennedy wrote an open letter to the committee, urging members to keep New Hampshire in the first spot because of the state’s long history advocating for civil rights and election transparency. The DNC changed the nominating calendar in an effort to reflect more diversity in the Democratic Party, but Kennedy said that New Hampshire already showcases the diversity in America. As a swing state, Kennedy said, New Hampshire’s “four electoral votes could decide the 2024 election.” “Most importantly, New Hampshire runs the most secure and transparent election in America. It should be a model for our country at a time when we need it most,” Kennedy wrote.

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Located in the de Young Museum’s Sculpture Garden in San Francisco, this statue’s head (depicting a crouching woman by the Japanese sculptor Tobari Kogan) is covered by a beehive — occupied by a live colony of bees

 

 

Rebirth

 

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle March 4 2023

Viewing 39 posts - 1 through 39 (of 39 total)
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  • #130465

    Frans Hals Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer 1626   • Worst-Ever Economic Crash Coming – Nouriel Roubini (RT) • Prepare For 10 Years Of Global
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle March 4 2023]

    #130466
    tboc
    Participant

    Today’s art header:
    from Wikipedia – “Someone looking into a mug refers to an old Dutch word for a glutton, greedy for more.”

    to my eye the image is of the faces of the foreign policy of the US and Nato, gluttons, intoxicated with hubris and greedy for more

    #130467
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “LA Elites Spend $150,000 for Protection Dogs as Crime Fears Worsen”

    One thing they won’t do: stop the gravy train or help people. Let me make it simple: if your neighbors have problems, you have problems. If they’re not safe and wealthy, you’re not safe or wealthy. As jb said, if you own it all what should you do when you come home? No. You PROTECT it. And you can best protect YOUR property by protecting their property. You know, like ‘08 foreclosures n stuff.

    Biden Vows to Ban So-Called Assault Weapons ‘Come Hell or High Water’

    Yeah, we need them in Ukraine. No, he doesn’t have the power. How do I know? The highest guns and murders are in Chicago, Baltimore, L.A… Oh-wait, AND there’s the 98% of rural red counties who won’t hand in a thing as NEITHER NY NOR CT did. AND an Amendment that needs to be passed by 2/3rds of the states, AND the people wouldn’t follow it, AND…

    Fly a kite.

    When they say this though, you know they’re just about to attack. I wonder what murder-spree this time?

    “US Beef Herd Drops To Lowest Since 1962 As Global Food Crisis Attack Intensifies” There you go.

    Attacks? “US Army Secretary Says US Preparing To Win Lose a War with China”

    “EPA Head Admits Kids Should Be Nowhere Near East Palestine Water”

    Because kids are entirely different physiologically alien beings, completely not mammals and not made of the same things — like meat — as adults. That’s just Science. Right? It’s Safe as water for Adults.

    Hunter Biden Linked to Chinese Military Firm Helping Russia Fight Ukraine”

    What? He’s linked TO MOSCOW. Directly. One hop. With a check stub. This is how if you don’t call on the first lie and crime and punish people, more immediately follows.

    Blinken Unveils $400 Million More in Arms with Ukraine Against the Ropes In Bakhmut”

    “It was unclear if it would send arms…” That’s because it’s not. Blinken bailing out the EUROPEAN BANKING SYSTEM. Which funds the WEF and is where these stupid ideas come from. Can’t get a good sense of the burn rate though, can we call it $1B/month?

    Tabletop games: They’ve got a PLAN. They’re SIGNALING. After the 6 weeks of meetings to decide when to meet, they met and PLANNED for 6 more weeks, then popped their heads up and said “6 more weeks of winter.”

    500 x 7 x 6 = 21,000 men die every 6 weeks.

    “Don’t run with scissor hands” That’s MISTER Spock. Doctor Spock is a pediatric.

    Roubini: I think at this point any of that matters only if the system stays together. They have lashed together all markets with all institutions, media, government, banks, shipping, production, housing, and $4 Quadrillion in unbacked derivatives. So it’s hard to imagine a release that will be orderly and long enough to trend.

    “Prepare for 10 Years of Global Destruction (Egon von Greyerz) “

    Armstrong and others say we’ll be 10 years in a 5GUW. “U” for “Unlimited” war. E.g. information and Economic. You can see that, unlike us, people are only barely realizing we’re in a war, so it’s only ‘just started’.

    Gold chart is the inverse of the parabolic chart. A 99% rise can always fall another 99%, slowly and evenly as before. The chart is the same for since 1980; that’s 40 years. Timing matters.

    While the claims by the head of the mercenary group could not be confirmed,”

    Yet the 7:1 ratio COULD be confirmed? Who’s confirming? We just present facts then disparage some, and pass others without comment? A: yes, because it’s not news; News is dead. It’s now all editorial opinion.

    “EU Must Shift to Wartime Economy – Industry Commissioner (RT) “

    Huh. But they’re not in the war, no one has declared war. They’re going to shift 20 nations to full rationing, wartime economy while they still are undecided about sending 10 trucks. For a war they’re not in. Got it!

    “Though unnamed diplomats voiced their doubts to FT – with one asking “How are we going to pay for this?”

    Again, “Money” is not the issue. You don’t drive and shoot “money”. You drive OIL and you shoot COPPER. In Europe those commodities some from Russia.

    “over the past year the United States alone sent “over 1,000,000 155mm artillery rounds,”

    The U.S. Military is now gutted in preparation for China. Physically, mentally, spiritually. Good thing they don’t matter and “The People” are the real army.

    New Biden Cyber Strategy Takes Aim at China as ‘Most Persistent Threat’ (ET)”

    Not a single thing in this article makes sense. BIDEN is the greatest threat to a US collapse and China takeover. The Federal Government is the top enforcer of “digital authoritarianism”. Our “interests”? What interests? Whose? My “interest” is in being left alone and 98% of U.S. counties agree with me.

    The US clearly wants to fight the war to the last Ukrainian,” They have.

    “more pragmatic thinkers—i.e., the French and the Germans—recognize that negotiations are the more humane solution.”

    You can’t. How will you get rid of the bad actors burrowed in worldwide? You need them to surface so you can identify and shoot them. We can’t let them slink away and come back again, the Iraq war, the Businessman’s Coup, back through time. They need to be erased.

    “Power Shortages Coming Soon to America (ET) “

    That’s why we have to have electric cars and no gas appliances. BAN those wood stoves, boys! It’s the 3rd century for me! Who’s down with medieval diseases? (California)

    WHO Wants Proof Behind US Claims of Covid Origin (RT) “

    This is after the same organization gave proof of a negative. That is: they’re not Science. They’re not even Rational. They are illogical, irrational, and therefore “Insane.”

    Whelan. Anyone know about this? I’d be shocked if he wasn’t a spy. Probably low-grade though.

    #130470

    A German walks into a bar and orders a fancy beer.
    The bartender tells him : “100 euros!”
    The German is shocked – “100 euros? yesterday it was only 10 euros !”
    “Well, today it is 100 euros.”
    – “But why 100, damn it?”
    Bar tender : “I’ll explain it,
    -10 euros is the beer,
    -10 to help Ukraine,
    -20 assistance to European countries who have imposed sanctions and are not members of the EU.
    -20 euros in aid to the UK, for successful implementation of sanctions against Russia.
    -Then 30 euros are sent to the Balkan countries as aid to buy furnace coal/keep their corrupt politicians.
    – and finally, 10 euros for a gas subsidy for the EU and fund to help maintain sanctions!”
    The German silently with internal anger took out the money and gave the bartender 100 euros.
    The bartender took them, entered in the cash register and gave him 10 euros back.
    German in disbelief : “Wait, you said 100 euros, right ? I gave you 100, why are you giving me back 10 euros?”
    “…..There is no beer.”

    #130471
    Just Some Randomer
    Participant

    “WHO Wants Proof Behind US Claims of Covid Origin (RT) “

    I’m sure Fauci kept the receipts.

    #130473
    zerosum
    Participant

    The Winning War Game
    Risk and benefits moves that leaves you with more than what you started out.
    (build instead of destroying)
    —————–
    Opinion

    PREPARE FOR 10 YEARS OF GLOBAL DESTRUCTION  


    PREPARE FOR 10 YEARS OF GLOBAL DESTRUCTION

    By Egon von Greyerz
    March 1, 2023
    “US Hegemony and Its Perils”
    https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjbxw/202302/t20230220_11027664.html

    Introduction

    I. Political Hegemony — Throwing Its Weight Around

    II. Military Hegemony — Wanton Use of Force

    III. Economic Hegemony — Looting and Exploitation

    IV. Technological Hegemony — Monopoly and Suppression

    V. Cultural Hegemony — Spreading False Narratives

    Conclusion
    The document exemplifies in detail the hegemonic policies and attacks of the US. Although US politicians will totally reject its contents, it is difficult to argue with the facts put forward by China.
    ——-
    Victory in Bakhmut
    Death & Destruction since 2014
    ————-
    155mm shells produced in Europe could run as much as €3,300 for a single round, a recent weapons contract inked between EU members suggests. Based on that estimate, the ammunition sought by Kiev could cost the bloc some €825,000,000 for just one month, though officials have yet to confirm any specific figures. It is hard to trace how many shells Ukraine has been getting from the armories of its European backers, but over the past year the United States alone sent “over 1,000,000 155mm artillery rounds,” according to the Pentagon’s latest data.
    ———
    (Opinion)
    • One Year Later in Ukraine: Washington and NATO Got It Very Wrong (Mises)
    https://mises.org/wire/one-year-later-ukraine-washington-and-nato-got-it-very-wrong

    in spite of the United States’ and NATO efforts to turn Ukraine into World War III, the war in Ukraine remains a regional conflict.
    It’s hard to see how the Russian regime poses an existential threat to even western Ukraine, let alone any other state in Europe. This helps illustrate how unnecessary the US is to the conflict. Russia poses no threat to the US—unless the US escalates to the point of nuclear war. If the Europeans feel threatened, they can easily defend themselves given the huge size of their economic bloc, relative to Russia. The Europeans have more than enough resources to “stand with Ukraine” however they wish to define that. Yes, that might require Europeans to give up a bit of their government pensions and enormous welfare states in order to fund their own military defense. But there’s absolutely no reason why American taxpayers need be on the hook to subsidize Europeans as they’re swilling cappuccinos on month-long vacations.

    ——————-
    Smart spending
    Use of two $400-600 missile to destroy a student toy balloon.
    Improve NORAN until it can detect incoming, too slow and too fas,t unidentified objects.
    ——————-

    #130474
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Covid Origin

    The Empire of Lies® is only now claiming that Covid came from Wuhan China to bolster the planned propaganda Avalanche of Lies® campaign against China.

    Pretty simple kindergarten level strategy by the Neocon-Handjob® puppet masters of the Pedo President mummy.

    Duh-mericans will buy the Pig in the Poke, don’t worry, primitive level propaganda works there like a charm.

    Eurotardistan® to Shift to ‘wartime’ footing

    Hahahahahaha!

    With a single 155mm shell costing (€3300) the same as a monthly mortgage payment on a really nice house!

    Eurotardistan® can’t master the ‘peacetime’ footing!

    How about the Hoof & Mouth economy footing!

    Hahahahaha!


    • Blinken Lied About Exchange With Lavrov

    Blinken is such a dunce, chasing Lavrov around the corridors begging ‘for a word kind sir’

    Hahahahaha!

    His pointed little head can’t fathom why an actual diplomat might not want to speak with him.

    .

    Blinken is the Turd in the diplomatic punch bowl. Go smoke some dope with basketball jones girl!

    Karine Jean-Pierre and The People’s Republic of Russia

    Pedo Joe’s press person doesn’t seem to know shit from shinola

    A Tip from the Pros

    #130475
    Doc Robinson
    Participant

    “Plan to incinerate soil from Ohio train derailment is ‘horrifying’, says expert”
    “Soil is being sent to a nearby incinerator with a history of clean air violations, raising fears the chemicals will be redistributed”

    Contaminated soil from the site around the East Palestine train wreck in Ohio is being sent to a nearby incinerator with a history of clean air violations, raising fears that the chemicals being removed from the ground will be redistributed across the region.

    The new plan is “horrifying”, said Kyla Bennett, a former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official… “Why on earth would you take this already dramatically overburdened community and ship this stuff a few miles away only to have it deposited right back where it came from?” Bennett asked…

    Some of the waste is being sent to incinerators around Ohio, while about 1.5m gallons of wastewater is being injected into wells deep into the Earth’s crust near Houston. Deep wells can leak waste into groundwater, and are thought to cause earthquakes.

    Meanwhile, some contaminated soil was shipped to a Michigan landfill with a history of discharging PFAS into a public sewer system.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/04/east-ohio-train-derailment-soil

    #130476
    Oroboros
    Participant

    The Empire of Lies® and it’s Phalanx of Neocon-Handjobs® labors mightily for that delicious Ice Cold Pitcher of Unipolarity

    Alas

    .

    #130477

    I expect the WHO is going to declare a “pandemic” of guns, and exercise its dainty powers to wrench them away from their lawful owners. The bad guys will get to keep theirs, of course.
    The WHO exacerbates. It does not ameliorate.

    In the New Empire of Chaos, we shall all grow fur. They’re working on the injection as I type. /s, sorta.

    #130478
    Oroboros
    Participant

    @ Ilargi

    Very funny joke, my beer came out my nose!

    #130479
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Woketard education

    .

    #130480
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Off Ed Dowd’s twitter

    A fine rant from OZ

    #130482
    kultsommer
    Participant

    Bland appearance of art work today has that unmistakable feel of an illustration that was flourishing in the mid years of the last century – decorating posters, magazines and the book covers.

    #130483
    greco
    Participant

    @Kultsommer
    Hals was a professional, that means, he worked for money. The more portraits he knocked out, the more money he made. Painters of his era had access to optical projection technology which eliminated the need for preliminary drawings. The painter could directly trace the projected image on his canvas and then fill in with paint, facilitating the rendering of difficult drapery and the placement of small details like buttons etc. The downside of tracing is that it results in a more mechanical look.

    #130484
    Noirette
    Participant

    Does Roubini have any credibility left?

    Not in France (for those paying attention.)

    He was interviewed twice recently by Thinkerview (sort of parallel media in depth interviews, which last as long as the parties participating want or can handle, no detail is left out.. some interviews last for 3 hours..)

    The interviewer, who is known as “Sky” / the site were obviously mystified at the hyper conventional narratives and BS from Roubini. They were at first really pleased to have him on!
    I only listened to 3/4 of the first, but that was enough.

    Roubini on Thinkerview, in F.

    https://bit.ly/3KXo3Of

    #130485
    kultsommer
    Participant

    @greco
    “Two Laughing Boys….” Hardly a worthy customers. As most of his other subjects.
    Over-toted fuzzy camera obscura had no ability of a “screen shot” as to catch momentarily expression on human face.
    However. Hals did produce work with enough “juice” in it to be deemed as “true art”, whatever that is but defined with “one knows when he sees it” (to use famous quote by the judge in 60’s describing porn).

    #130486
    Noirette
    Participant

    Covid origins:

    (from the US and collective poodlish West)

    Early 2020. Covid natural, Mother Nature, hooo, super dangerous, from bats to humans, nobody is to blame, it has a fancy name, zoonotic disease.

    Mid 2020 to 2021. Oh Oh! Bio labs around the world, they are mostly international and working on stuff, the Wuhan lab was in partnerhsip with France and was funded by the US.. No nothing can be said, made public…Nothing to see here, move on.. no lab origins exist…

    Early 2023.. Hmm Covid might have been engineered by China!

    These tales are all politically motivated and spewed out in function of narrative building and propaganda that have nothing to do with the actual ‘infections’, ‘covid origins’, etc.

    #130487
    Germ
    Participant

    The Death Vaxx:

    “Negative effective – promote illness and death from Covid – killed over 10 million people through side effects – prevented millions of fertilizations – induced millions of stillbirths – a pandemic of cowards (doctors) – a pandemic of severe illnesses and sudden unexpected deaths from heart attacks etc. – immuno-suppression”

    The modRNA genocide must finally end, now!

    TVASF

    #130488
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    Oroboros.

    Thanks for the ‘tell shit from Shinola’ explanation. Andrei Martyanov frequently describes senior US ‘defense’ persons as not being able to tell shit from Shinola.

    Around here we say such people couldn’t organise a piss-up (drinking session) in a brewery.

    That is equally true of local council officials.

    ‘Since most people struggle to govern themselves, the notion that governments can govern millions of people is preposterous.’

    Lie to them and bully them. Yes. Govern them. No.

    That is particularly true when the government consists of rapacious thieves, liars and fuckwits, whose only shared characteristics are sociopathy and cowardice.

    The notion that governments can wage war on the laws of mathematics and chemistry and physics and win is even more preposterous than the notion that any of them are competent at anything other than lying and stealing. And a lot of politicians and bureaucrats cannot even lie competently: some of us see straight through their lies, e.g. The Scorpion, when it was first thrust onto the unsuspecting populace, to lie to and bully the populace.

    The Scorpion ran once the going got tough and many of its lies were exposed. But it still has its snout in the feeding trough.

    Fortunately for the politicians and bureaucrats, the dumbing down processes carried out over many generations have been quite successful. Therefore, I doubt that there will be the kind of rapid mass awakening the Aussie guy predicted; more likely the masses will sit at home looking at blank screens, waiting for ‘normal service’ to be resumed -‘normal service being a gross aberration in the scheme of things- when things get really nasty, as they are bound to do.

    “A decade of destruction’.

    Hmm? Actually we [alive now] are products of many centuries of destruction. And the destruction will continue the entire system collapses, after which, who knows?

    ‘Things have to get worse before they get worse.’ -Lily Tomlin.

    I prefer to say, things will be made worse [by governments] before they are made worse [by governments].

    .

    #130490
    kultsommer
    Participant
    #130491
    kultsommer
    Participant

    Yep. It worked!

    #130493
    Oroboros
    Participant

    India greets 🇷🇺 Lavrov vs. India greets 🇩🇪 Baerbock

    Baerbock the Bimbo

    https://twitter.com/i/status/1631931118134910976

    #130494
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    One of the latest bits of lunacy is to shift German manufacturing capacity to the US, to manufacture weapons to send to Ukraine, as a way of circumventing the anti-war sentiment of Germans and circumvent the energy and resource difficulties Germany is experiencing.

    Neither Germany nor the US is at war with Russia, of course -just at war with the people living in Germany and the people living in the US -Airstrips Two and Six of Oceania working to defeat Eurasia under the guidance of Airstrip One because War is Peace.

    #130495
    chettt
    Participant

    RIM
    I love the artwork that you post daily. I often copy and download it to my personal files. I right click on the picture and choose “Save image as…”. Lately, when I download the artwork files, I get a message that warns me that the file “can’t be downloaded securely” and requires me to choose an extra step to “keep” the file. I can still save the file to my Artwork directory but it does seem like someone is trying to make “The Automatic Earth” website appear untrustworthy.

    #130496
    DarkMatter
    Participant

    Fauci Finger
    Taken yesterday.
    From Melissareinlively
    Look at that suppressed smile. The perks of being famous.

    #130497
    John Day
    Participant

    OUCH: “There is no beer.”

    Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.
    Blinken just lies about talking to Lavrov about American prisoner, just plain lies…

    Of course this is “the problem” for the DNC:
    “Most importantly, New Hampshire runs the most secure and transparent election in America. It should be a model for our country at a time when we need it most,” Kennedy wrote.

    There is a “third party” move underway. There is going to be some kind of convention in Austin. Tulsi Gabbard, Dennis Kucinich and others will be there.

    #130498
    Michael Reid
    Participant
    #130501
    Oroboros
    Participant

    The Structural Disintegration of Ukronaziland

    .

    In Russia, the 300,000 reservists called up last August have not yet even been deployed to the front lines

    #130502
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Note that the Ukronazi deaths are very close to the number wounded.

    Normally the number wounded is 3 or 4 wounded to one killed.

    The fact that Ukro killed to wounded is 1 to 1 means that and enormous number of Ukro wounded are not being given hardly any medical care, either because they can’t be evacuated or because they don’t even bother trying to help them and just let them die from there wounds on the battlefield.

    #130503
    SeaBirds
    Participant

    RFK

    Brave guy! We were taught when kids that Edward Kennedy would never run for President because he didn’t want to meet the fate of his elder brothers.
    Nevertheless, for those of us watching from afar, wouldn’t it be loverly if RFK could emerge to pull America up by its boot straps. As a kid of 11 yrs, I recall his father running for President, the charm and charisma, – and the tragedy of his murder. What if, what if he could lead America to a place where we could all say ‘let’s all love America again!’
    Whatever else he stands for, he certainly has a handle on the vaccine debacle.

    #130505
    WES
    Participant

    Oroboros:

    A few days ago I commented upon this 1 to 1 ratio too. I don’t think we can accept these CNN figures as completely truthful but they indirectly tell us something. Since when has CNN ever told the truth about anything?

    What we can accept is the Ukraine are sending young boys and old men to fight. We see videos of Ukrainian Nazis press ganging the young and old. If the Ukraine had any more 18 year to 60 year old men left they would be press ganging these instead. But they are not. Wonder why not? Maybe these Ukrainians are already dead? We also know recently wounded Ukrainians are being rushed back into service as soon as possible.

    Obviously the Ukrainians must be running short of “available” manpower. If they are, then it says casualty figures must be much higher than being admitted. I would guess well over a million, dead, wounded, captured, not to mention missing. I suspect the number of “missing” is rather staggering. Some of the missing are in hiding, while millions left years ago.

    Because the Ukrainians are fighting a WW1 style static trench/bunker war, they are taking tremendous casualties because the Russians are fighting a mobile type of war. I suspect most Ukrainians die without ever seeing a single Russian soldier.

    If we look at WW1 casualty figures verses WW2, we would see that about half the wounded died of their wounds. This is what an artillery war looks like. Few bullets wounds. Then add in Ukraine’s poor medical resources, not to mention Ukraine’s all too efficient organ harvesting.

    I would not be surprised if well over 500,000 Ukrainians have died so far with over 1,000,000 wounded.

    #130506
    WES
    Participant

    One very interesting thing that the Russians are doing is rounding up and identifying all of the Ukrainian dead. They provide coffins and return them to the Ukrainians. Besides being the right thing to do, it also forces the Ukrainian government to admit that a particular soldier has died. If the Ukrainian government doesn’t admit a particular Ukrainian soldier has died, the Ukrainian soldier’s family can go on the internet and find out from the Russians.

    The Ukrainian government is going to great lengths to avoid admitting a soldier died (labeled as missing), so as to avoid having to pay the dead soldier’s pension. I wonder where this money is going since the US is supposedly providing the Ukrainian government with sufficient funds to pay all of their pensioners. Never let a good war go to waste.

    #130507
    WES
    Participant

    Bukhmut is providing a rather interesting example of how the Russians fight urban warfare.

    If you look carefully, you will noticed the Russians have surrounded Bukhmut on 3 sides but have still left a small corridor open. All of the major roads have been nicely cut off leaving only a minor backroad open. This narrow opening has been open for quite a few weeks now. Not only that the Russians didn’t blow up any of the bridges either.

    The Russians, with fire control over the open escape route, are preventing the Ukrainians from leaving with any of their vehicles or heavy equipment.

    Recently the Ukrainians have blown up all of these bridges to try and trap their remaining troops still in Bukhmut, from being able to retreat. But the Russians are still allowing any Ukrainian soldier who want to retreat on foot, to do so, providing there are no Nazis to shoot them for retreating. Unfortunately there are Nazis there to do just that.

    You maybe wondering, why do the Russian keep doing this, town after town, and city after city. They always seem to leave a retreat path for the Ukrainian soldier’s. Are they not capable of closing the circle? Yes, they are quite capable of closing the cicle but deliberately choose not to close the circle until the enemy has retreated if they want to.

    This strategy stems from a post WW2 analysis of liberating over a 1,000 Russian towns and cities. It is far less costly and time consuming to leave a controlled path of retreat for the enemy than to trap them.

    #130508

    So I was wondering what a military medical countermeasure was and that led me to BARDA‘s website- the “portfolio” of companies benefitting from the Sarscov2 gravy train and I thought -wow. That’s a LOT of pigs at the trough.

    #130509
    Kimo
    Participant

    Never mind RFK jr, throw your weight behind John Kennedy!

    https://twitter.com/ICU1010/status/1631743447378919426?s=20

    #130510
    SeaBirds
    Participant

    @Noirette #130486

    Covid origins.

    All true, but these issues are also diversionary, when what should really be hitting people in the eye is GERM’s well placed following comment re ‘The Death Vaxx,’ – a topic to be skirted around by the propagandists.
    Noting also Peter Hitchins huffing and puffing in the Daily Mail re the UK covid leadership charade, the wrecking of the economy, shredding of liberties, the frenzy of superstition and terror, etc etc, but no mention whatever of SDS, the excess deaths, destruction of immune systems.

    #130511
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    A key successful policy in times of war is to seriously injure your opponent’s fighters but not kill them.

    The seriously injured become a major burden for your enemy, who, under normal circumstances, has devote a lot of resources to removing them from the battle zone and caring for them for months afterwards.

    We might guess that the UkoNazis kill Ukrainian soldiers who are seriously injured; hence the high dead-to-injured ratio.

    I got an unverified report today that dental appointments are hard to come by in the North Island because dentists have been recruited to identify corpses from the wild weather devastation: the fog of information/censorship war -one of many wars the fascists in control of Airstrip Five are engaged in against the general populace.

    Yesterday I conjectured with a friend that non-English-speakers would be brought in to carry out attacks on the populace or herd them into detention centres. Today I was told Italians have been brought in to do the job. Again, I cannot verify this but where there’s smoke there is usually…

    Very wintry weather today; 12oC and persistent heavy rain, leading to some surface flooding in low-lying areas despite the recent semi-drought accompanying temperatures well over 30oC. Antarctic air making its way into middle latitudes. Five layers today, including waterproof, for outside work.

    Meanwhile, the islands to the NW of Airstrip Five have been thoroughly pummeled by Kevin; 250,000 made homeless if recent reports are to be believed.

    Dangerous times, being made more dangerous by the day.

    #130551
    Noirette
    Participant

    SeaBirds, yes, — these are separate topics, but of course they are related. As for Hitchens, idk.

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