Figmund Sreud
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… via MoA:
Sergey Karaganov: «We are at war with the West. The European security order is illegitimate»
https://www.corriere.it/economia/aziende/22_aprile_08/we-are-at-war-with-the-west-the-european-security-order-is-illegitimate-c6b9fa5a-b6b7-11ec-b39d-8a197cc9b19a.shtmlRather than repeating what MoA already commented on, … here is a link to MoA:
The Reasons For And Dangers Behind The War In Ukraine
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/04/sane-voices-explaining-the-reasons-for-and-dangers-behind-the-war-in-ukraine.html#moreF.S.
Here we go, Alistair Crooke latest:
” … Machiavellian twist: By playing both sides of the equation: i.e. linking the rouble to gold, and then linking energy payments to the rouble, the Bank of Russia is fundamentally altering the entire working assumptions of the global trade system (i.e. by replacing nominal fiat dollars with a solid commodity-backed, currency).
But note, the Central Bank of Russia did two things of geo-strategic importance: It both added a pricing ‘floor’, and (less noticed), took another one away. The Bank added a floor to the price of gold – by promising to buy gold at a fixed rate.”
Through Ukraine’: Can the West Use the War to Stem Its Decline and the Shift to a New Global Monetary Order?
F.S.
OK, folks. This has been bothering me all day today: … Boris Johnson has been shown parading in Kiev with Zee,… outdoors – looked like a town square. I saw it all on Tee-Vee, last night/this morning. OK, fine! State visit, … but really? In a middle of a war zone? Who let him into Kiev, … who gave him a permission to fly in, … or roll in on train or such? Did he obtain a security and protection guarantee from and by Russians? Most puzzling, …
F.S.
Helmer:
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION OF 2022 – CAPITALISM IN ONE COUNTRYNote: it’s difficult to isolate one representative snip, … so no snips.
F.S.
@Michael Reid – Yes wow. Looking forward to the rest when available
Yes, … I’m looking towards the complete transcript, too. You see, … I fantasized on more than a couple of occasions to experience precisely this:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/lowres.cartoonstock.com/environmental-issues-nuclear_bomb-atom_bomb-nuclear_explosion-view-scenery-mgrn746_low.jpgMy sister owns a place almost like it, …her house is just 20 metres behind following cam, just across the road, no obstructions (city of Vancouver, BC. is located precisely at the middle of the cam view, just beyond horizon!)
http://www.pointholmesrecreation.ca/rampcam/Once I read the transcript – and analyze it further – draw the very final conclusion, think I will just move in with her. Get me a case of a bestest, finest, reddest wine, and spend the rest of my life on my sister’s porch! It will be a hoot, … with a flash and a bang!
Bestest,
F.S.
F.S.
Wow! Lavrov in his latest interview with Russian media – just one catchy statement for now:
Our special military operation is designed to put an end to the reckless expansion and reckless course towards complete domination by the United States and, under them, the remainder of Western countries on the world stage.
Wow! … just Wow!!!
F.S.
Note: someone soon will provide a whole translated transcript of the interview, I’m sure. Standby, …
This just maybe a hint to a question, ‘Where do the mercenary terrorists come from?’
The Dangerous Idea of a Well-Behaved War
The war in Ukraine resuscitated a certain dangerous fascination for war. Notions such as patriotism, democratic values, “the right side of history,” or a new fight for freedom are mobilized as imperatives for everyone to take a side in this war. It is not surprising then that a large number of so-called foreign fighters are willing to go to Ukraine to join one side or the other.
I met a few of them recently at the Poland-Ukraine border, where I was conducting interviews with a Norwegian film crew of soldiers and foreign fighters who were either entering or exiting the war zone.
Some of them actually never got to fight or be “recruited” as they lack military experience or proper motivation. It’s a mixed group of people, some of whom have spent years in the military, while others only did military service. Some have family at home waiting for them; others, no home to go back to. Some have strong ideological motivations; others are just willing to shoot at something or someone. There is also a big group of former soldiers who transitioned towards humanitarian work.
As we were crossing the border to get into Ukraine, a former U.S. soldier told me: “The reason why many retired or former soldiers moved to humanitarian work might easily be the need for excitement.” Once you leave the military, the closest activity that can take you to the “fun zone,” as another one said, referring to the war zone in Ukraine, is humanitarian work — or, in fact, a series of other businesses mushrooming in the proximity of war, including contractors and criminal activities.
“We are adrenaline junkies,” the former U.S. soldier said, although he now only wants to help civilians, something he sees as “a part of my process of healing.” What many of the foreign fighters have in common is the need to find a purpose in life. But what does this say of our societies if, to search for a meaningful life, thousands are willing to go to war?
F.S.
Following is one of the leading stories in Canada (CBC) right very this moment:
How a QAnon conspiracy theory about Ukraine bioweapons became mainstream disinformation
How a QAnon conspiracy theory about Ukraine bioweapons became mainstream disinformation.
More than a quarter of Americans polled at the end of March said they believe that the United States has been developing bioweapons in labs across Ukraine — a conspiracy conceived, crafted and amplified by QAnon and the Russian government.
Five weeks ago, that conspiracy theory was little more than a fringe belief. Today, it is an official stated reason for Russia’s brutal invasion. And it could be a sign of what President Vladimir Putin is plotting next. […]
…rest – text and vids at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ukraine-russia-bioweapons-theory-1.6412029– near mastery in art of propagandizing!
F.S.
@ Dr. John Day – I read that Wiki link on Galicia. This has gone on a looong time, hasn’t it?
———————————
Yes. Galicia region has been a cauldron of misery, … probably a worst example of. Wiki link is actually quite limited, … incomplete, edited out for whoever’s convenience.In fact, the whole Central Europe has been a centre of misery pretty well forever, … self-inflicted most often, but also courtesy of empires: Russian, Prussian, Austro-Hungarian. Mix in adventures of Tatars, Teutonic Knights, Mongols, Deluge ( Swedish).
The last millennium has been netherworld out there, …
… and ever since a standstill across the Elba River*) in 1945 the whole continent has to deal with Empire of Hate™
Best,
F.S.
*) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbe#/media/File:Elbe_basin.png
™) of Pepe Escobar.
Note for Canadian residents frequenting this blog:
Wow! What a nice gift to us Canadians, … er. rich Canadian residents with loose cash, from the non-financial, Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland, in her last Federal Budget! Details by Garth Turner, at one time MP in Canadian Prliament:
“… about the Tax-Free First Home Savings Account?
You will recall it was unveiled during the totally unnecessary 2021 federal election campaign which ended up giving us a Trudeau-Singh coalition administration. At that time the FHSA was earmarked only for people under 40, proving once again that ageism is perfectly fine for all the woke people who hate every other ‘ism.’
That’s gone now. Saner heads prevailed. The FHSA is open to anybody meeting these criteria:
Over 18
Canadian resident (you do not need to be a citizen or a PR)
Don’t currently own a home, and
Have not owned one at any time in the previous four calendar years (so when the accounts are available next year that will mean no real estate held since 2018)
And how does this thing work?Contributions to the FHSA are deductible from taxable income in the year they’re made, just like an RRSP. To that extent (like retirement plans) they favour people in higher-income brackets who can score a bigger tax refund. The money inside the FHSA can be invested in almost any financial asset (like other shelters) and all growth is untaxed – as with an RRSP.
The key feature is funds can be taken out of the plan free of tax (like an TFSA) even though contributors received a tax credit for putting them in. So taxpayers in general will subsidize those using a FHSA to buy an asset (real estate) which can grow in value over time and yield a tax-free capital gain. No, it’s not fair and renters should be pissed. But wait…
The annual contribution limit is $8,000 – or 30% more than you can put into a TFSA (also unfair) – but there’s a lifetime limit of $40,000. The FHSA is also a use-it-or-lose-it thing since unused contribution room doesn’t accumulate, and expires after 15 years. If the money hasn’t been used to buy a house by then, the account must be closed (but you walk away with 15 years of untaxed compound growth of assets and the tax reduction for having put $40,000 in over that time. Sweet.).
First-time homebuyers should note if they use a FHSA to make a down payment then cannot also utilize the RRSP Homebuyer’s Plan (which allows a couple to access $70,000 in retirement plan assets, then take 15 years to repay it). Also worth knowing is that money can be transferred from an existing RRSP into a FHSA as a ‘contribution in kind’. This is completely weird, since you get a tax break for putting money into the RRSP, collect another one when the funds are transferred to the FHSA, then the dough can be taken out to buy real estate with no tax. Wahoo.
So the FHSA is a fabulous tool for high-income renters who want an extra tax shelter allowing 15 years of aggressive ETF-based taxless growth, tax-free withdrawals, the ability to double up on tax deductions and significantly higher annual contribution limits. But for young first-time buyers, it’s a nothingburger. Most will opt for safe, interest-bearing assets inside the account since they cannot risk volatility with down payment money and it’s unlikely to pace even the most modest annual real estate appreciation.”
… fwiw,
F.S.
@zerosum – Why would our leaders allow doing these wars?
The answer is contained within the word itself, a verb. Think of Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, Yugoslavia, Marshal Josip Tito, … balkanization. Study the area’s economic and political history, read between the lines!
Further to that, look at continental Europe. Why would our leaders? For shortcut, start with ‘Early modern Europe:Renaissance’, all the way to today’s “Ukrainian Circus”. That’s why!
Wars are economically enormously profitable to a selected – affluent – crowds, … and consequences are simply downloaded onto vulgar masses ( … think Leo Strauss!). How cool is that?
Best,
F.S.
The whole Ukraine issue is over hypersonic missiles that can reach Moscow in less than four minutes.
___________________Nope! Escobar is not wrong with saying above, … but the issue is much, much grander, … and Pepe knows it!
Anyway, ever heard about balkanization of Russia? Yes, that is – by definition – the operating word for fragmentation of a larger region or state into smaller regions or statelets, …
… something like this:
https://www.deviantart.com/marketey/art/Balkanization-of-Russia-after-WW3-Allied-Victory-816447345It’s above,… or this instead? Hmmn, …
https://www.deviantart.com/dragonvanguard/art/Balkanized-USA-847769651F.S.
@zerosum: – apparently under pressure from the United States.
… banality of evil is unrelenting! And not “apparently”, either.
The U.S. is simply presuming that they are terrifyingly normal country, … you know, can do evil without being evil!
F.S.
@Dr. John Day:
Ukraine is not Afghanistan. – very, very true, but native western Ukrainians are not Ukrainians. They are a much, much different breed. Canadian non-financial Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister – all in one – is an example of one!
What should be done with Galicia? that’s a big question. – No idea. I wish my father was still around, … but I can convey here few of stories related to that since my father comes from the farthest SE corner of Poland (Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski), and he, in fact, served in Polish Military – just few years before 1939, in Lwòw, Galicia ( … part of Poland at that time), … plus he fought locally – from The Underground – Germans and the very special western Ukrainians from 1939, all the way up ‘till Red Army Front passed through on the way to Berlin (~1944, I think), and it was no fun! Hint: Germans used Nachtigall Battalion to do their dirtiest policing work. They are called now Azov Special Operations Detachment, so remain still to do the dirtiest work, … but just for a different master!
Let the other territories vote themselves in or out of “Ukraine”/Galicia? – perhaps, but understand that, that area of Europe has been mixed up ethnically in the ‘18 and ‘19 hundreds that are still very much in effect. See history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Galicia_(Eastern_Europe)
Best,
F.S.
Not sure if following was posted here earlier. Forgive me if it was, …
… so here it goes – perhaps again:
Manufactured Crisis: CIA trained the Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion and has chosen Ukraine as birthplace of new “Global White Supremacist” Terror Threat – by Whitney Webb, April 3, 2022
… snip:
Soon after Russia began military operations in Ukraine, Foreign Affairs – the media arm of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) – published an article entitled “The Coming Ukrainian Insurgency.”
The piece was authored by Douglas London, a self-described “retired Russian-speaking CIA operations officer who served in Central Asia and managed agency counterinsurgency operations.” He asserted in the article that “Putin will face a long, bloody insurgency that will spread across multiple borders” with the potential to create “widening unrest that could destabilize other countries in Russia’s orbit.”
Other notable statements made by London include his assertion that “the United States will invariably be a major and essential source of backing for a Ukrainian insurgency.”
Other notable statements made by London include his assertion that “the United States will invariably be a major and essential source of backing for a Ukrainian insurgency.”
He also states that “As the United States learned in Vietnam and Afghanistan, an insurgency that has reliable supply lines, ample reserves of fighters, and sanctuary over the border can sustain itself indefinitely, sap an occupying army’s will to fight, and exhaust political support for the occupation at home.”
London explicitly refers to models for this apparently imminent Ukrainian insurgency as the CIA-backed insurgencies in Afghanistan in the 1980s and the “moderate rebels” in Syria from 2011 to the present.
London isn’t alone in promoting these past CIA-backed insurgencies as a model for “covert” US aid to Ukraine. […]
My comment: All this stuff simply means that Russia – in order to survive as a sovereign state – must fight this whole Russia-NATO/USA war as quickly as possible, … and make it unequivocally victorious to boot!
Prime Minister [Dirty Socks] co-convenes the Stand Up for Ukraine event
Quote
“Today, we raised over $12.4 billion in pledges to continue supporting the Ukrainian people who have been displaced by Putin’s ongoing and unjustifiable war. Whether it’s food, water, shelter, or medical aid – we will continue to have your backs and provide the assistance you need at this time. We are also making it easier for Ukrainians fleeing the war to come to Canada. We are standing up for Ukraine.”
The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
Anyway, … Are you ready to be a Global Citizen?
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/Oh, get stuffed, you phlunkin’ Drama Teacher, you! [ https://angusreid.org/trudeau-tracker/ ]
F.S.
Vid recorded on April 7: … John J. Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago in conversation with American Committee for US-Russia Accord Board members Katrina vanden Heuvel, Ambassador Jack Matlock, Professor Nicolai Petro, and Professor Marlene Laruelle. Long. Bit more than one hour long.
My take of it all? I agree with Mearsheimer in part: Russians can not loose this war! It’s existential for them. As to the U.S., … Mearsheimer is technically wrong, the U.S. does not have to win, … or even to loose. The U.S. can just walk away from it all, back to its North American Island, … at least for a while. But the U.S. won’t! Period.
And so, Thucydides Trap, it is, … https://www.planetdeadly.com/human/incredible-nuclear-explosion-photos
… The End.
F.S.
Oh, there ain’t no rest for the wicked! This, for certain, will result in a nuclear war, … the very last war perhaps for a whole next millennium.
Finland & Sweden NATO Applications Could Be ‘Imminent” After Stoltenberg Hints At Fast-Tracking
Last weekend saw Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin signal a complete reversal of policy direction, saying that a “new security environment” in Europe brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means the country has to rethink its long-standing policy of neutrality toward the NATO bloc. “Russia is not the neighbor we thought it was,” she said of Moscow’s ongoing assault on Ukraine, calling it a “flagrant violation”. […]
F.S.
Just a short financial market comment – chart first:
https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=%24SPX&p=D&yr=1&mn=0&dy=0&id=p60367908649… it’s been ~ 65+ trading days that markets hit the max number last. For cartoon, seeS&P500 at 4,818.62 above.
Statistics indicate that if that max last number is not surpassed in 99 subsequent trading days, … chances for a major, major market crash becomes mighty high, … something in the order of 89% probability.
… hence the crash is nigh!
F.S.
It’s incredible hard to understand how those who most likely know fact, spin bullshit – few recent vids via mauldineconomics.com
Global Macro Update
https://www.mauldineconomics.com/landing/global-macro-update?itm_campaign=JM-481&itm_content=JM481O&itm_medium=ES&itm_source=mecF.S.
Kunstler on government servants:
“One thing for sure is that the elite colleges churn out thousands of certified bullshit artists every year — with no other skills — and many gravitate to the power centers national life, where they rise in the ranks spinning metaphysical simulacrums of their boss’s purviews — the Jen Psaki types, who ricochet between the DC political bunkers and boob tube news central. The less glib and physically unpresentable become mere “fact-checkers,” the network of casual liars who toil in the trenches of official unreality.”
F.S.
That reporter, Ken Dilanian, was (still most likely is) a CIA collaborator, … has been for a long time: c. 2014 article:
THE CIA’S MOP-UP MAN: L.A. TIMES REPORTER CLEARED STORIES WITH AGENCY BEFORE PUBLICATION
https://theintercept.com/2014/09/04/former-l-times-reporter-cleared-stories-cia-publication/Thucydides was a Realist. Yes, …“he was one of the founders of a pessimistic intellectual tradition that believes the world, like the one he endured, is inherently a cold, harsh, dangerous place in which power and its acquisition is paramount. In this world, interests diverge and clash, and cooperation is bound to be impermanent. There is no reliable authority above the fray. No-one can be certain of others’ intentions, which can change. This makes for a world of ultimate solitude. Ruthless self-help and prudent self-restraint are both imperative. To survive in it, polities must accept and work within its constraints.”
… an excellent read:
Thucydides was a Realist
Realism at its core is the capacity to look at the world without euphemism. In that spirit, Thucydides is a tonic to wishful thinking.
F.S.
… OK, above pic-link did not work so well, … maybe this will:
https://www.greaterfool.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/HUG.jpg?x77405
Canada’s most loving couple: … not financial Finance Minister Ms. Freeland hugs Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a news conference in Brampton, Ont., on March 28, 2022.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/resizer/JYw8EkHXp8fMyc7E0GLRMPkSUFQ=/600×0/filters:quality(80):format(jpeg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tgam/PB5UEGEM2NIORD6D67A4OXM46M.JPG
… almost cute.
F.S.
@Michael Reid: … I understand. Investing is not everyone’s cup of java, …
Anyway, Doug Casey, he just writes publicly for his own amusement. Tells you some good stuff which is theoretically true, but also a subject to the exceptions and hidden pitfalls.
As to US Treasuries, … yield popped this week to 52-week highs. Market is giving 77% odds the FED will hike rates further a half point (twice the normal increase) next month and do it again in June. Maybe even more then.
Foolish market, …one hike for sure, perhaps second one to continue to fight inflation. And then, … sudden realization that the market is diving (… and we can’t have that, can we?).
And so, at some point, the FED is going to step back in and reverse their monetary policy back to quantitive easing and lowering Fed Funds back to the zero bound. But, I’m just musing right now. Sorry, … forgive me.
Best,
F.S.
@Michael Reid
Right now, bonds are about the worst possible place to allocate your capital. They’re a triple threat to your financial future because of three things: inflation, creditworthiness, and interest rates. – Doug Casey.
Not quite true, … If you buy bonds and hold them for the interest, sure! But if you buy and trade US Treasury bond ETF, … like iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF [TLT] for example, … and treat it like a stock – trade it like stock – you can make pretty big bucks, … especially when the market is at the cusp a recession, … like right now! In fact, recession is here, it started. You just have to wait for confirming data that always lags, … fwiw.
F.S.
Interesting, … this perhaps is one of the first financial advise portal that plunged a bit deeper into the issue of US $, Russian ₽, … and gold. Mind you largely quite inadequately.
Summary:
We are not suggesting the dollar loses reserve status. But we do want you to consider that some countries now have more incentive to seek an alternative payments source to the dollar. Gold is not the only solution but a currency that has worked for millennia and is helping Russia today.
Will enemies of the U.S. stop using dollars? Highly doubtful. Will they possibly add gold to their reserves? Most likely.
Gold has been used in trade for over 5000 years, and we suspect its popularity will increase going forward.
We leave you with a recent headline from the IMF:
IMF WARNS RUSSIA SANCTIONS THREATEN TO CHIP AWAY AT DOLLAR DOMINANCE
Gold Or Rubles? A Pickle Worth Exploring
https://realinvestmentadvice.com/gold-or-rubles-a-pickle-worth-exploringF.S.
Neverending enthusiasm for more and more wars:
“[E]nthusiasm for war remains high, as if over 70 years of failed military interventions have not taught any meaningful lessons. Daily, news headlines tell us that the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Germany, Spain or some other Western power have decided to ship a new kind of “lethal weapons” to Ukraine. Billions of dollars have already been allocated by Western countries to contribute to the war in Ukraine. …
… Ukraine needs peace and security, not perpetual war that is designed to serve the strategic interests of certain countries or military alliances. Though military invasions must be wholly rejected, whether in Iraq or Ukraine, turning Ukraine into another convenient zone of perpetual geopolitical struggle between NATO and Russia is not the answer.
From Korea to Libya: On the Future of Ukraine and NATO’s Neverending Wars
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/04/05/korea-libya-future-ukraine-and-natos-neverending-warsF.S.
https://twitter.com/Miguel18011505/status/1510583834173382660
… well, if this US Major General was indeed arrested – and he was on the official duty, in Ukraine, … this probably will turn out to be a significant issue.
F.S.
… via Helmer:
A NEW WORLD ORDER IS ALREADY HERE
By R.K.Raghavan and Ajay Goyal, Mumbai*The decade of the 1990s was the only short period when a weak Russia was de facto ruled from within by US-appointed and supported politicians. Even then, the most pro-western Russian leader in history Boris Yeltsin famously told the United States that an eastward expansion of NATO would lead to a military confrontation. President Putin has repeated that refrain dozens of times over the past two decades he has been in power. This conflict has now come to be — it is impossible that the West will be pacified except in the realisation of openly expressed fantasies about the assassination or forceful removal of President Putin.
F.S.
John Helmer:
In this war, “[t]he Ukrainians were set up to be used as the means to bleed the Russian military while warfare on another level was conducted against the Russian state and people. The strategy was Siegfried/Festung at the front, economic sanctions and propaganda Blitzkrieg in the rear – which is part of the front anyway. The way Ukrainian forces have been deployed and employed displays their role in the wider war against Russia — that is going to end up costing them at least half of the country to no good end.”
HOW TO READ THE WAR IN REVERSE WITHOUT OUTSMARTING YOURSELF
F.S.
Alastair Crooke:
“… Russia’s Central Bank commitment sets in motion a dynamic to bring the Rouble back into balance with the current dollar price of gold on the open market. And ‘hey presto’, contrary to the European-U.S. effort to crash the exchange value of the rouble and cause a crisis, the rouble is already back at its pre-war level – and it is the dollar which has crashed (vs. the rouble).”
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2022/04/04/once-in-century-opportunity/
Delusional opinion by Niall Ferguson in bloomberg.com today. Worthy of a read, …
Seven Worst-Case Scenarios From the War in Ukraine
https://www.bloomberg.com › opinion › articles › niall-…
19 hours ago — Putting out the fire with gasoline? Photographer: Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images. By. Niall Ferguson.F.S.
Note: Im unable to provide an active link to above story, hence just simply copy and paste from a search engine ( … I just can’t capture anything from Bloomberg. Ever. Any hints?)
Rublegas is the commodity currency du jour and it isn’t nearly as complicated as NATO pretends. If Europe wants gas, all it needs to do is send its Euros to a Russian account inside Russia.
… anyway, Pepe Escobar explains all that:
‘Rublegas:’ the world’s new resource-based reserve currency
Prolific Pepe Escobar:
Meet the New, Resource-Based Global Reserve Currency
… yes, snip first:
We still don’t have all the facts, but a case can be made that after years of careful evaluation Putin opted to really go for broke and break the West’s back – using that trifecta (imminent blitzkrieg on Donbass; US bioweapon labs; Ukraine working on nuclear weapons) as the casus belli.
The freezing of foreign reserves had to have been forecasted, especially because the Russian Central Bank had been increasing its reserves of US Treasuries since November last year. Then there’s the serious possibility of Moscow being able to access “secret” offshore foreign reserves – a complex matrix built with Chinese insider help.
The sudden switch from dollars/euros to rubles was hardcore, Olympic-level geoeconomic judo. Putin enticed the collective West to unleash its demented hysteria sanction attack – and turned it against the opponent with a single, swift move.
And here we all are now trying to absorb so many in-synch game-changing developments following the weaponization of dollar assets: rupee-ruble with India, the Saudi petroyuan, co-badged Mir-UnionPay cards issued by Russian banks, the Russia-Iran SWIFT alternative, the EAEU-China project of an independent monetary/financial system.
Not to mention the master coup by the Russian Central Bank, pegging 1 gram of gold to 5,000 rubles – which is already around $60, and climbing.
Coupled with No Rubles No Gas, what we have here is energy de facto pegged to gold. The EU Chihuahuas and the Japanese colony will need to buy a lot of rubles in gold or buy a lot of gold to have their gas. And it gets better. Russia may re-peg the ruble to gold in the near future. Could go to 2,000 rubles, 1,000 rubles, even 500 rubles for a gram of gold.
Anyway, … germane: interesting interview with Simon Hunt (Dr. Copper). Seems like Escobar and Hunt frequent same smoky bars. Both conclude that a ‘new reality is being formed: the unipolar world is irrevocably becoming a thing of the past, a multipolar one is taking shape.’
Interview, … Part 1 today: https://youtu.be/yB5gW2rulx4
… part 2 will be available tomorrow.
F.S.
Here we go, from seekingalpha,com
Official White House response to ‘Putin’s Price Hike’ – SPR release, federal land fees
All about banksters financing environmental destruction: … Banking on Climate Chaos
https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org//wp-content/themes/bocc-2021/inc/bcc-data-2022/BOCC_2022_vSPREAD.pdf… and here is a Canadian angle, Canadian banksters contribution:
Out of the world’s 60 largest banks, here’s how Canadian financial institutions ranked:
-RBC came in at fifth with $48.4 billion in fossil fuel financing provided in 2021 and $251.2 billion since 2016;
-Scotiabank ranked ninth with $37.9 billion in 2021 and $186.4 billion since 2016;
– TD was 11th with $26.5 billion in 2021 and $175.8 billion since 2016;
-BMO was 15th with $23.5 billion in 2021 and $146.2 billion since 2016;
– CIBC was 20th with $27.7 billion in 2016 and $112.7 billion since 2016.(These numbers were converted from U.S. dollars used in the report to Canadian dollars, based on current exchange rates of US$0.80 to C$1.)
… yet, yet following is what Canada’s ”Socks” just proclaimed the other day:
Clean Air. Strong Economy
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bakx-carbon-price-ccfd-1.6402804… fwiw,
F.S.
… coffee time at MoA!
Anyway, nice collage of odds and sods today by ‘b’:
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/03/then-i-woke-up-and-saw-this-wtf.html#more
F.S.
That settles it! Russian President Putin ‘massively misjudged’ invasion of Ukraine, U.K. intelligence chief says the head of Britain’s GCHQ spy agency, Jeremy Fleming!
Jeremy said, among the other things he talked about, “new intelligence showed some Russian soldiers in Ukraine had refused to carry out orders, sabotaged their own equipment and accidentally shot down one of their own aircraft … and even though Putin’s advisers are afraid to tell him the truth, what’s going on and the extent of these misjudgments must be crystal clear to the regime,” So now, beside Jeremy, you know what British intelligence chief knows for sure.
Fleming said all above, and more in a speech at the Australian National University in Canberra last Thursday.
… got that?
F.S.
