The only published footage of the damage to the Nord Stream pipelines, featured on my Nord Stream Conspiracy Thread, turns out to come from Expressen, a Swedish newspaper. Their reporters hired undersea drone operators and took a boat out to the site of the explosions off the island of Bornholm. There, they found a sizeable crater and 50 metres of missing pipeline. That this is how the images should have made their way to us, rather than through any official path, speaks volumes about the eagerness of Swedish authorities to suppress this story.
These are not people but monsters. Only monsters would force experimental drugs upon children and have others’ lives restricted, as well as pitting people against other people. Pure evil driven by lunacy and the thirst for power.
Psychopath parasite creeps. Makes one think they live in such decadence with obscene levels of stolen wealth, that they are suffering from Caligula Syndrome.
Most people are unserious...These officials don't realize they are expendable too..But in the US, when people don't have enough to eat or heat their homes, it will get very serious, very fast..
I'm not sure "unserious" is the right word....maybe clueless is better? Unaware? It just seems like a lot of people simply are not connecting any dots at all.
Starting with the elderly, as they are the first to suffer from freezing in the dark. And then working down the age latter. It's all by design it seems.
Don't worry, it's all fine. I see Marks & Spencer have changed the spelling of 'Kiev' on their Chicken Kiev packaging so once Putin sees what he's up against he is bound to fold.
Women are more equal than men in most western countries .And what is the worry in Europe about getting cold.? Did not global warming solve that problem quite some time ago ?.Are we now required to worry about European cooling.? In Canada in the meantime we where put on notice that come winter, we will be lucky to survive the terror our masterminds will provide for us .The world we live in has changed forever ,we will never go back to where we came from. Forcing injections on every one ,may come in the form of not being allowed to buy food without first accepting deadly shots .
The whole conflict has taken on a surreal and bizarre tone. Reading western media its more or less: Russia on the ropes, army incompetent, Ukraine ascendant, and all the various detailed nonsense of how the various Wunderwaffe has absolutely demolished the Russians. Casualties are astronomical, losses are astronomical.. And the Russian economy is a mess, the Russian army is a mess, mobilization is a mess, I mean I can just go on and on and on
Then you can listen to Ritter, Macgregor, Mercouris, and subscribe to the many different telegram channels from the Russian side, and you may as well be living in an alternate universe. One which also does not quite add up; because if the Russians were winning, well, why aren't they winning? Or is it just an ugly slugfest where the only truth is that tens of thousands of men and boys - who could have been me or you or any one of us - continue to die unnecessarily. None of it makes sense and nobody is telling the truth, this is clear. Listening to the heads of NATO, EU, US, UK, Ukr talk, it honestly just reminds me of the dark days of Covid where the virus/Russia was going to be "defeated at all costs"
As for the energy crisis, I read that gas prices have dropped, there are tankers waiting to unload off the coast of spain (why? waiting for higer prices or because of lack of unloading space), and the weather has been unseasonably mild.
The Nordstream attack for me was the moment a negotiated peace was taken off the table. Yet it seems nobody is interested in that anyway so, whatever.
The Russians are doing a lot less well than they hoped, but they have the ability to escalate very substantially. My understanding is that they're waiting for the ground to freeze before they start the fall/winter offensive for real. As for Ukraine: the only way they can escalate is by dragging the rest of us into WWIII. That, incidentally, is what Mr. Zelensky is trying to do, and if the rest of us are stupid enough, he'll succeed.
This is playing out somewhat like the American War Between the States. The South initially fought ferociously and bravely and knocked the Union back on its heels. But eventually manufacturing, logistics and sheer numbers won out. I pray as the tanks begin advancing in January, that cooler heads prevail and a settlement of some kind can be negotiated. But it doesn't feel that way. The husk in the White House will do whatever he's told, probably by the Vinman brothers. LOL
And we see the Russians now facing issues related to logistic pipeline failures. It takes time to evade sanctions. They can't fix their broken stuff and have run down stockpiles of fancy weapons. Leaving stuff on the battlefield for Ukraine's use is a breakdown in discipline during a retreat.
Russia is not Libya ,the largest land mass on earth ,with natural resources second to none . During the second world war the soviets moved and build industry on the other side of the Ural mountains ,No doubt it is still there and very secure , in a non nuclear war .No one can win a nuclear war, even I know with a O. I .Q. I'm not so sure if Biden knows that .
I saw a Russia expert talk about that on Bannon's show. She said Putin's replacement will likely be a hard core nationalist, much more authoritarian & aggressive than Putin.
No one bothered to ask what a post Hussein Iraq would look like either, we just took him out and let the chips fall where they may. And look how that turned out.
Imagine a post Putin Russia collapsing into similar inter-insurgencies, this time with nuclear warheads? No thank you.
Why would it be in the Russians best interest to replace Putin ? He is a more competent leader than any in the west . He waited 8 years before he started to defend Russian borders . The Americans did not wait 8 years to defend against soviet missals in Cuba .If anything needs replacing it should be the criminal Cabal threatening not only Russia but all of us, as we should know by now .
Defend Russia's borders which were never at risk? Nobody has ever invaded Russia in modern times and succeeded. People will fight like heel for their own tribe. But I can agree that Putin's record has been good so wonder why he invaded.
I think they're utterly clueless as to that. And it's interesting, too. The point we're at, Putin must have a lot of secret enemies in the higher ranks of the army and secret service - sure, he'll have weeded out obvious enemies in the last couple of decades, but nobody wants to go down with a ship their boss has sunk. One would expect a coup by now.
It is indeed, but that has little to do with internal dissent in Russia, which must exist among the nomenclatura. German economic suicide is German economic suicide, utterly self-inflicted, nothing to to with Russia.
Yes, the total silence about so many dying people in the Ukraine is astonishing. I think I haven't read about Ukrainian casualties for at least three months now. If Russian soldiers would die in great numbers I am sure we will hear about it; that we don't just means that they aren't.
One can learn a lot from Western media how the conflict goes, you just have to be aware of these three rules:
- for the Ukrainian army, only successes will be reported
- for the Russian army, only losses will be reported
- if there is a big Ukrainian offensive, keep up with it in the media for a few days. If it is never mentioned again, it was a loss. Kherson is a good example.
As for the gas prices: in the last months, Germany has filled its tanks at all costs. Which of course meant that cost skyrocketed.
Now there is temporary no room for storage, and sellers have to pay for storing it, so they just want to get rid of it. Once the heating season begins, prices will rise sharply again.
The same happened with oil in 2021.
Meanwhile the World Food Programme report the following, which is also never mentioned in our press:
“Since this conflict began, soaring food, fuel and fertilizer costs have driven an additional 70 million people closer to starvation,” WFP Executive Director David Beasley said recently. “What was a wave of hunger is now a tsunami of hunger.”
Today, a record 345 million people in 82 countries face acute hunger or worse—up from 282 million at the start of this year. "
Russia will win in the end. Or get what they wanted; preventing Ukraine from getting a NATO seat. And they'll reclaim the land that this whole dispute started over.
This is exactly what Zelensky and Putin were negotiating before the Warhawk's interceded.
Then the Western governments and the media will declare victory and say we prevented Putin's encroachment on Europe.
In the end the only benefits will inure to the Western Oligarchy and the military-industrial complex.
I agree except for the last sentence: it may turn out that the Western military is revealed as not very strong anymore. Russia is going head to head with a quasi-NATO army, which has been building its defensive position for almost a decade. The West is giving its best weapons, possibly direct military help, and everything it has economically.
Yes, Russia seems to take it quite handily.
In the end the BRICS and OPEC states will asked themselves why they should be afraid of the USA, and the West in generally. Why not turn the tables and see us cower and whine for mercy, for energy, for food.
The USA will probably deal with the loss of its hegemony very well and focus on itself again. Possibly a renaissance of US strength in a few decades?
But Europe? Particularly Germany, where Eugyppius is (and I as well): we were so proud of our great democracy, our morals, our renewable energy. The world loved us and took us a shining example.
We really think that here.
We will find out that te world loved our money, and despised everything else about us.
I guess you're right unless this gets escalated to the point that there's is actual US military intervention.
People here can not say no to foreign wars. It took over 15 years for people to find out that Iraq/Afghanistan were not in their best interest. It is just an assumption that any causes that we intervene in are righteous. Most Americans have not traveled outside our country so they don't know any difference.
I am an American; I can tell you first hand that "patriotism" is used against the populace as a way for the Oligarchs and the government to consolidate power and to transfer wealth.
There seems to be a part of the American elite hellbound to total war, but at least you have also elites much against it. In this the wallstreet guys are on our side. The are ok to exploit the populace, but in the end they want a working economy with some wealth for all. Something that resembles the old US.
We see that in the open opposition to the crazies by people like Dimon from JPM or Elon Musk.
These people still see reality as it is. They know that the US military cannot win over the Russians, let alone the Chinese, and see war as too much of a risk.
Hopefully the elections in November will give them more political power.
Europe has much less of an internal opposition. Our economic power rest in many smaller companies; the CEOs of these companies are much too small to wield any political power. This is why Europe can sacrifice its economy for morals; something the US will not do.
That makes sense. The main reasons I visit this board is is because I like to learn what's happening across the pond and what people who live their think about current issues.
"The West is giving its best weapons" - not yet. But it has cleared the shelves of some somewhat obsolete stuff. The longer range HIMARS has not been provided and certain guns have software modified to limit them. Those modifications actually delay shipments from the US. They turn operational gear into export versions.
But the western armies are composed of good looking girls ,with some kind men leading them . Hubby is at home looking after the babies watching mommy on TEE VEE in a hand to hand fight with the Russian bear .The girls will notice that the Ruskies are real men and will be happy to be taken prisoner by them .
The over leveraged financial system is nearing collapse, and the oligarchs may view the looting of Russia as necessary for system survival. Beyond the military industrial complex grifting, this might be a reason the west seems so desperate to escalate.
You are not modern , the iphone is called IPOT . if you buy the latest one you can even boil your potatoes in that pot . My wife is already angry at me for using hers for making my mashed potatoes in it .
US car lots are sitting full of aging new cars that can't be moved off because they're waiting on chips of some sort. There are actually postcards coming in mailboxes asking people if they could please sell their old cars for ridiculously high prices.
If you look at the math it actually makes sense to lease a car for a year and then sell it back to the dealer. People are actually making money this way.
The world is truly upside down.
The fact is, is that our "leaders" have sold us out for their benefit.
The question is; when do ordinary people figure that out?
So if all the gas and oil tanks are full in Germany there is no problem .The only problem would be if Germany runs out of paper to print money for expensive fuel to pay for it .Here in Canada there was concern that money printing will wipe out all the trees [ forests ] So the mighty leaders decided to print money out of plastic from returned .coca cola bottles .
In Canada you have many resources though. Eventually you will come to your senses, and have a good economy and currency. In the next decade the currencies supported by energy and raw materials will shine.
Thank you Andreas for telling me ,there may be something wrong with my senses
I will keep an eye on it .The currencies are made out of plastic in Canada they don't shine much .The only currency that would shine is currency made from Gold .
How about this guy being prescient about our current state of affairs. He was talking about wars, but this could apply to covid or climate change as well.
“The great foe of democracy now and in the near future is plutocracy. Every year that passes brings out this antagonism more distinctly.
It is to be the social war of the twentieth century. In that war militarism, expansion and imperialism will all favor plutocracy.
In the first place, war and expansion will favor jobbery, both in the dependencies and at home.
In the second place, they will take away the attention of the people from what the plutocrats are doing.
In the third place, they will cause large expenditures of the people’s money, the return for which will not go into the treasury, but into the hands of a few schemers.
In the fourth place, they will call for a large public debt and taxes, and these things especially tend to make men unequal, because any social burdens bear more heavily on the weak than on the strong, and so make the weak weaker and the strong stronger.
Therefore expansion and imperialism are a grand onslaught on democracy.”
I paid attention to Ritter long enough to be reminded of his sordid history. With that reminder I can discount everything he says. And like most here I can also reject the binary conventional wisdom.
Ya I mean Mercouris was disbarred.. macgregor I dont know his story. Still, something doesn't make sense. Nothing adds up. I wonder if the fog of war was this thick during ww2
I assumed that he had crossed some powerful people, and they retaliated with a sting operation. Normal MO, like with the fake rape allegations against Assange.
I don't find Ritter, McGregor, The Duran to be right wing at all and listen to them and many others regularly. Realpolitik. Realistic. Mercouris describes himself as an old school liberal. Me too.
Russia has been careful thus far to protect civilians and achieve targeted goals, and have been open to peace deals, including essentially reaffirming violated Minsk 1 and Minsk 2 agreements. But that wasn't in the neocon agenda, and the hatred of Russia that is driving the opposition. Political scientist Dr. John Mearsheimer has many lectures and presentations going back a decade warning of the escalation and its roots. As have a number of others. This was no surprise or black swan. There is deep corruption, nazi threads, evil oligarchs, Hunter Biden shenanigans, and a fair number of biological weapons labs to hide, and that is driving the drums of war. Investigative journalist George Webb has been on those stories for years so much so that he was able to predict much of the focus and location of conflicts since the SMO in Ukraine began in February, particularly Mariupol and what was being hidden there in what on the face of it was a complex steel plant.
I agree with many analysts worldwide about the view that Russia and Putin gave the collective West an opportunity to show their hand, their real motivations while starting out minimally and cautious in the SMO. It is portrayed by the West as weakness and losing. Instead the West lost opportunities for peace as almost occurred in April with negotations in Turkey, nixed by Boris Johnson. Not that the collective West really involves the average citizen in making decisons, they are told what to believe with flag icons on Twitter.
I agree with Eugyppius, the Nordstream attack and the Crimea bridge are now a gloves off moment, even though Putin offered one more time to bring gas to Germany as one of the pipes in Nordstream 2 appeared capable of repair. But this was refused by the EU.
It is frightening, and I try to comprehend what must be happening in Europe now for the winter, but also about some of the amazing industrial companies that will be killed off soon for good in that region.
In the cold war the Americans made a Luft Bruecke to Berlin to safe it .Why not make a Luft Bruecke from the Texas gas fields to the German industries delivering L.N.G. to safe it ? Nothing should be spared to show the Ruskies who is boss .
Thanks for clarifying. Many of us have spent considerable time delving into a variety of information sources to figure out what the hell is going on! And it is a daily endeavor.
This is what happens when a country has an environmental policy in place of an energy policy, decides that locking down society for a run of the mill respiratory illness is the best of all possible responses, and prints money like it's going out of fashion. It's like having a bunch of toddlers in charge, except that would be an insult to toddlers.
I'd prefer my odds better if actual toddlers were given hand grenades.
IMO the real problem is a populace who has been conditioned on what to think, instead of how to think.
Covid, wars, modern monetary theory and climate change are prima facia evidence of such.
The "collective good" is a shortcut to subsumption of the individual. Funny how that always leads to consolidation of power to the few and the transfer of wealth from the many to the hands of these very same plutocrats.
As long as a populace unquestionably looks to government for their well-being and safety they are sitting ducks for propaganda.
Indeed, they'll fashion chains to their own ankles.
"Collective good" can also be expressed as "the good of the collective", which, as you state, stands directly opposite the good of the individual. They cannot coexist.
I do believe though that a diverse society of individuals and subgroups can successfully function so long as they all share some fundamental common goals, the first of which should be that no individual should ever be made to bow to either society or any other individual. Sort of how America used to largely -- if not perfectly -- function.
In the immortal words of Rodney King, "Why can't we call just get along?" Why not? Because there is no political capital to be gained from harmony, only in suffering. And there are the chains on your -- our -- ankles. No joy for you.
Well said. I could not agree more. Pretty sure that Obama deliberately threw out the baby with the bath water. IMO we were about 95% of the way there. But as you say, it was not politically expedient to foster any sort of common goals.
The only stable emotion is hate. That's why it's employed. And unfortunately there is money to be made in stoking discord.
Obama most certainly set us upon this course of divide and separate. Though as incompetent as this current maladministration is, it has done more damage in the past 2 years than O did in his 8. The acceleration is almost logarithmic.
The downside for them is that the Left is beginning to eat itself in its struggle for woke purity. With any luck they will burn themselves out. In two weeks we'll have a pretty good clue if has begun.
Why are we screwing up the whole world over fucking corrupt Ukraine. Zelensky needs to be ignored, he is a spoiled child that demands and demands and our stupid politicians just entertain him. Before this pretend photo op war nobody cared about them besides showing them up as a prime example for corruption. It is time to move on and focus on fixing our issues and ignore Ukraine like everybody did before, like during the krimea conflict. Russia should take it all, as we don't want them in the eu or Nato.
I read that the US only has diesel fuel for a few more weeks. Almost all transport is over the road. I wonder what is going to happen after that? Horse and buggy?
In the USA, there may be a giant increase in the number of Amish. Of course, it will be difficult to obtain fertilizer if China, Russia, and Belarus refuse to supply the needed components.
It will be a lot better to use the horse droppings. Well composted horse manure is the best you can get. 100 years ago there was no chemical fertilizer. Back to nature. Back to a garden. Done with the useless grass that 1. is a monoculture 2. needs lots of fertilizer, spray etc. 3. needs a lawn mower. Better to grow veggies instead. Will also keep you from starving ! Grass is only good for cows and goats and the likes !
In this most deadly serious of times, we a led by deeply unserious people.
it is very painful.
These are not people but monsters. Only monsters would force experimental drugs upon children and have others’ lives restricted, as well as pitting people against other people. Pure evil driven by lunacy and the thirst for power.
Psychopath parasite creeps. Makes one think they live in such decadence with obscene levels of stolen wealth, that they are suffering from Caligula Syndrome.
Caligua deserved the end he got. It was his own Praetorian guards that got him.
Unfortunately, the current ruling Psychos are spread out on giant estates in Europe and America. I doubt they even meet in person, or rarely do so.
At least Caligula could blame his degeneracy, psychosis, and psychopathy on lead poisoning. Today's psychopaths don't have that luxury, lol.
Oh I disagree Mr. Holliday, they are deathly serious… Jut not in the way you’d like
Things seem to be progressing along THEIR plans. Nothing is by accident.
In their own minds, indeed they are.
Exactly, the last paragraph of the story is precisely why things are the way they are.
But I thought that stronk independent wahmen didn't need no man.
In Germany if there is no fuel for cooking ,will the German Haus Frau die out .? They always made the best Sauerkraut,with pigs nose cooked in it .
No, they’re seriously culling the herd. They’re not leading, they are culling.
We the cattle are unserious.
Most people are unserious...These officials don't realize they are expendable too..But in the US, when people don't have enough to eat or heat their homes, it will get very serious, very fast..
No, I’m here, I’m American.
No fight in my countrymen.
A Dream.
Freedom’s Fine if it’s Free.
If not, no.
Survival? That would have to be compelled at bayonet point too.
Donner Party scaled Continental size.
Without leadership they are sheep, and no leadership seen.
And Canada... pfffft.
I live in a country with no culture and resolve to protect itself, and would rather enjoy the being Zionified by unseemly legislation.
I'm not sure "unserious" is the right word....maybe clueless is better? Unaware? It just seems like a lot of people simply are not connecting any dots at all.
Starting with the elderly, as they are the first to suffer from freezing in the dark. And then working down the age latter. It's all by design it seems.
Not only unserious, Doc, but people who are cognitively impaired it would appear and living in their own heads to the exclusion of reality...
Indeed. It has been horrifying to behold such madness.
You are being very, very polite there, my friend.
Don't worry, it's all fine. I see Marks & Spencer have changed the spelling of 'Kiev' on their Chicken Kiev packaging so once Putin sees what he's up against he is bound to fold.
They've also stopped selling duvets stuffed with Muscovy Duck Down!!
Mmm. Chicken Kiev.
German women just need to identify as men, hey presto, they’re fine in the cold.
We post menopausal women may be best adapted!
Take that, Evil Menopause Fairy, there IS some good in you after all! :-)
😉🤗
👍😂
LOLOLOL
Women are more equal than men in most western countries .And what is the worry in Europe about getting cold.? Did not global warming solve that problem quite some time ago ?.Are we now required to worry about European cooling.? In Canada in the meantime we where put on notice that come winter, we will be lucky to survive the terror our masterminds will provide for us .The world we live in has changed forever ,we will never go back to where we came from. Forcing injections on every one ,may come in the form of not being allowed to buy food without first accepting deadly shots .
The death squad comes to your door at least try and kill one of them.
Since all rhetoric is that we the untermenschen have nothing left to lose, make sure the orcs lose something.
There is more of us than them, and attrition has a funny way of recalibrating evil resolve.
Don't many already?
(I have some German in my DNA, so this is not culture-bashing)
Beat me to it!
The whole conflict has taken on a surreal and bizarre tone. Reading western media its more or less: Russia on the ropes, army incompetent, Ukraine ascendant, and all the various detailed nonsense of how the various Wunderwaffe has absolutely demolished the Russians. Casualties are astronomical, losses are astronomical.. And the Russian economy is a mess, the Russian army is a mess, mobilization is a mess, I mean I can just go on and on and on
Then you can listen to Ritter, Macgregor, Mercouris, and subscribe to the many different telegram channels from the Russian side, and you may as well be living in an alternate universe. One which also does not quite add up; because if the Russians were winning, well, why aren't they winning? Or is it just an ugly slugfest where the only truth is that tens of thousands of men and boys - who could have been me or you or any one of us - continue to die unnecessarily. None of it makes sense and nobody is telling the truth, this is clear. Listening to the heads of NATO, EU, US, UK, Ukr talk, it honestly just reminds me of the dark days of Covid where the virus/Russia was going to be "defeated at all costs"
As for the energy crisis, I read that gas prices have dropped, there are tankers waiting to unload off the coast of spain (why? waiting for higer prices or because of lack of unloading space), and the weather has been unseasonably mild.
The Nordstream attack for me was the moment a negotiated peace was taken off the table. Yet it seems nobody is interested in that anyway so, whatever.
The Russians are doing a lot less well than they hoped, but they have the ability to escalate very substantially. My understanding is that they're waiting for the ground to freeze before they start the fall/winter offensive for real. As for Ukraine: the only way they can escalate is by dragging the rest of us into WWIII. That, incidentally, is what Mr. Zelensky is trying to do, and if the rest of us are stupid enough, he'll succeed.
Zelensky could sell ocean front property in the desert and many would buy it .
This is playing out somewhat like the American War Between the States. The South initially fought ferociously and bravely and knocked the Union back on its heels. But eventually manufacturing, logistics and sheer numbers won out. I pray as the tanks begin advancing in January, that cooler heads prevail and a settlement of some kind can be negotiated. But it doesn't feel that way. The husk in the White House will do whatever he's told, probably by the Vinman brothers. LOL
And we see the Russians now facing issues related to logistic pipeline failures. It takes time to evade sanctions. They can't fix their broken stuff and have run down stockpiles of fancy weapons. Leaving stuff on the battlefield for Ukraine's use is a breakdown in discipline during a retreat.
Very interesting comparison. It didn't occur to me to compare it to that particular war.
The most frustrating thing to me is that not ONE journalist (and 95% of the populace) has asked the most obvious question:
What does a post Putin Russia look like?
We know what a post-Khadafi Libya looks like-slave markets and endless civil war. Clinton and the Cheneys must be so proud.
Russia is not Libya ,the largest land mass on earth ,with natural resources second to none . During the second world war the soviets moved and build industry on the other side of the Ural mountains ,No doubt it is still there and very secure , in a non nuclear war .No one can win a nuclear war, even I know with a O. I .Q. I'm not so sure if Biden knows that .
I saw a Russia expert talk about that on Bannon's show. She said Putin's replacement will likely be a hard core nationalist, much more authoritarian & aggressive than Putin.
There you go.
It's pretty much history 101, right?
The only time dictatorships cease is when it collapses on its own weight (USSR) or the people take the state by force.
Usually it gets worse in a vacuum, because at that point, power has to be completely consolidated or the nation will lose its sovereignty.
Because of that the people will get behind the next dictator.
No one bothered to ask what a post Hussein Iraq would look like either, we just took him out and let the chips fall where they may. And look how that turned out.
Imagine a post Putin Russia collapsing into similar inter-insurgencies, this time with nuclear warheads? No thank you.
Why would it be in the Russians best interest to replace Putin ? He is a more competent leader than any in the west . He waited 8 years before he started to defend Russian borders . The Americans did not wait 8 years to defend against soviet missals in Cuba .If anything needs replacing it should be the criminal Cabal threatening not only Russia but all of us, as we should know by now .
Defend Russia's borders which were never at risk? Nobody has ever invaded Russia in modern times and succeeded. People will fight like heel for their own tribe. But I can agree that Putin's record has been good so wonder why he invaded.
It is not my intend [[job ] to educate you .You either know or you don't .What 's at stake is very different from what you think .
Exactly!
I keep waiting for someone to put out information about what is really going on in Russia, what the Russian people themselves know and think.
This fellow has a blog and he lives in Russia.
https://gilbertdoctorow.com/author/gilbertdoctorow/
Many who can are leaving. That ought to be a message.
We might be waiting awhile for that.
I think they're utterly clueless as to that. And it's interesting, too. The point we're at, Putin must have a lot of secret enemies in the higher ranks of the army and secret service - sure, he'll have weeded out obvious enemies in the last couple of decades, but nobody wants to go down with a ship their boss has sunk. One would expect a coup by now.
It is indeed, but that has little to do with internal dissent in Russia, which must exist among the nomenclatura. German economic suicide is German economic suicide, utterly self-inflicted, nothing to to with Russia.
???
It takes a special kind of chutzpa to ask Germany to finance one's war by donating 500 million euros a month, I must say.
Yes, the total silence about so many dying people in the Ukraine is astonishing. I think I haven't read about Ukrainian casualties for at least three months now. If Russian soldiers would die in great numbers I am sure we will hear about it; that we don't just means that they aren't.
One can learn a lot from Western media how the conflict goes, you just have to be aware of these three rules:
- for the Ukrainian army, only successes will be reported
- for the Russian army, only losses will be reported
- if there is a big Ukrainian offensive, keep up with it in the media for a few days. If it is never mentioned again, it was a loss. Kherson is a good example.
As for the gas prices: in the last months, Germany has filled its tanks at all costs. Which of course meant that cost skyrocketed.
Now there is temporary no room for storage, and sellers have to pay for storing it, so they just want to get rid of it. Once the heating season begins, prices will rise sharply again.
The same happened with oil in 2021.
Meanwhile the World Food Programme report the following, which is also never mentioned in our press:
“Since this conflict began, soaring food, fuel and fertilizer costs have driven an additional 70 million people closer to starvation,” WFP Executive Director David Beasley said recently. “What was a wave of hunger is now a tsunami of hunger.”
Today, a record 345 million people in 82 countries face acute hunger or worse—up from 282 million at the start of this year. "
Russia will win in the end. Or get what they wanted; preventing Ukraine from getting a NATO seat. And they'll reclaim the land that this whole dispute started over.
This is exactly what Zelensky and Putin were negotiating before the Warhawk's interceded.
Then the Western governments and the media will declare victory and say we prevented Putin's encroachment on Europe.
In the end the only benefits will inure to the Western Oligarchy and the military-industrial complex.
I agree except for the last sentence: it may turn out that the Western military is revealed as not very strong anymore. Russia is going head to head with a quasi-NATO army, which has been building its defensive position for almost a decade. The West is giving its best weapons, possibly direct military help, and everything it has economically.
Yes, Russia seems to take it quite handily.
In the end the BRICS and OPEC states will asked themselves why they should be afraid of the USA, and the West in generally. Why not turn the tables and see us cower and whine for mercy, for energy, for food.
The USA will probably deal with the loss of its hegemony very well and focus on itself again. Possibly a renaissance of US strength in a few decades?
But Europe? Particularly Germany, where Eugyppius is (and I as well): we were so proud of our great democracy, our morals, our renewable energy. The world loved us and took us a shining example.
We really think that here.
We will find out that te world loved our money, and despised everything else about us.
I guess you're right unless this gets escalated to the point that there's is actual US military intervention.
People here can not say no to foreign wars. It took over 15 years for people to find out that Iraq/Afghanistan were not in their best interest. It is just an assumption that any causes that we intervene in are righteous. Most Americans have not traveled outside our country so they don't know any difference.
I am an American; I can tell you first hand that "patriotism" is used against the populace as a way for the Oligarchs and the government to consolidate power and to transfer wealth.
There seems to be a part of the American elite hellbound to total war, but at least you have also elites much against it. In this the wallstreet guys are on our side. The are ok to exploit the populace, but in the end they want a working economy with some wealth for all. Something that resembles the old US.
We see that in the open opposition to the crazies by people like Dimon from JPM or Elon Musk.
These people still see reality as it is. They know that the US military cannot win over the Russians, let alone the Chinese, and see war as too much of a risk.
Hopefully the elections in November will give them more political power.
Europe has much less of an internal opposition. Our economic power rest in many smaller companies; the CEOs of these companies are much too small to wield any political power. This is why Europe can sacrifice its economy for morals; something the US will not do.
That makes sense. The main reasons I visit this board is is because I like to learn what's happening across the pond and what people who live their think about current issues.
Well, and eugyppius is wicked smart...
"The West is giving its best weapons" - not yet. But it has cleared the shelves of some somewhat obsolete stuff. The longer range HIMARS has not been provided and certain guns have software modified to limit them. Those modifications actually delay shipments from the US. They turn operational gear into export versions.
But the western armies are composed of good looking girls ,with some kind men leading them . Hubby is at home looking after the babies watching mommy on TEE VEE in a hand to hand fight with the Russian bear .The girls will notice that the Ruskies are real men and will be happy to be taken prisoner by them .
The over leveraged financial system is nearing collapse, and the oligarchs may view the looting of Russia as necessary for system survival. Beyond the military industrial complex grifting, this might be a reason the west seems so desperate to escalate.
just so. agree!
Regarding the last point on food, I'm reminded of a post by Kairon: https://mercurial.substack.com/p/the-secret-chinese-company-eating
" The Chin. gov. is currently holding: 65% of the world’s maize, 61% of the world’s rice, 51% of the world’s wheat ...."
And 80% of basic medical supplies and frontline pharmaceuticals - as well as nearly 60% of rare earth materials.
I betcha Western societies would invite China into their backyards if they had to give up their cell phones.
If we thought the virus-psychosis was bad...just wait until people can't get their latest iphone.
You are not modern , the iphone is called IPOT . if you buy the latest one you can even boil your potatoes in that pot . My wife is already angry at me for using hers for making my mashed potatoes in it .
Well, at least if you have a cell phone you'll be able to look for all the places without food or heat.
Or maybe you could use your cellphone to generate energy?
If you write something ,than write something I can understand
US car lots are sitting full of aging new cars that can't be moved off because they're waiting on chips of some sort. There are actually postcards coming in mailboxes asking people if they could please sell their old cars for ridiculously high prices.
Crazy right?
If you look at the math it actually makes sense to lease a car for a year and then sell it back to the dealer. People are actually making money this way.
The world is truly upside down.
The fact is, is that our "leaders" have sold us out for their benefit.
The question is; when do ordinary people figure that out?
Maybe it's when it shows up at their front door?
No, not when it shows up at their front door....when it's inside their house and in their bedrooms. Maybe then....possibly.
So if all the gas and oil tanks are full in Germany there is no problem .The only problem would be if Germany runs out of paper to print money for expensive fuel to pay for it .Here in Canada there was concern that money printing will wipe out all the trees [ forests ] So the mighty leaders decided to print money out of plastic from returned .coca cola bottles .
In Canada you have many resources though. Eventually you will come to your senses, and have a good economy and currency. In the next decade the currencies supported by energy and raw materials will shine.
Thank you Andreas for telling me ,there may be something wrong with my senses
I will keep an eye on it .The currencies are made out of plastic in Canada they don't shine much .The only currency that would shine is currency made from Gold .
The currency does not matter that much. It is just a medium of exchange. A good currency will not heal a bad society.
Once the society or it elites decides it has to debase itself, it will do so with every currency.
Even the society decides it needs to be productive and oriented to the future, it will use a fitting currency for that purpose.
How about this guy being prescient about our current state of affairs. He was talking about wars, but this could apply to covid or climate change as well.
“The great foe of democracy now and in the near future is plutocracy. Every year that passes brings out this antagonism more distinctly.
It is to be the social war of the twentieth century. In that war militarism, expansion and imperialism will all favor plutocracy.
In the first place, war and expansion will favor jobbery, both in the dependencies and at home.
In the second place, they will take away the attention of the people from what the plutocrats are doing.
In the third place, they will cause large expenditures of the people’s money, the return for which will not go into the treasury, but into the hands of a few schemers.
In the fourth place, they will call for a large public debt and taxes, and these things especially tend to make men unequal, because any social burdens bear more heavily on the weak than on the strong, and so make the weak weaker and the strong stronger.
Therefore expansion and imperialism are a grand onslaught on democracy.”
- William Graham Sumner
California is not the blueprint for Amerika, Ukraine is.
I paid attention to Ritter long enough to be reminded of his sordid history. With that reminder I can discount everything he says. And like most here I can also reject the binary conventional wisdom.
Ya I mean Mercouris was disbarred.. macgregor I dont know his story. Still, something doesn't make sense. Nothing adds up. I wonder if the fog of war was this thick during ww2
I assumed that he had crossed some powerful people, and they retaliated with a sting operation. Normal MO, like with the fake rape allegations against Assange.
I don't find Ritter, McGregor, The Duran to be right wing at all and listen to them and many others regularly. Realpolitik. Realistic. Mercouris describes himself as an old school liberal. Me too.
Russia has been careful thus far to protect civilians and achieve targeted goals, and have been open to peace deals, including essentially reaffirming violated Minsk 1 and Minsk 2 agreements. But that wasn't in the neocon agenda, and the hatred of Russia that is driving the opposition. Political scientist Dr. John Mearsheimer has many lectures and presentations going back a decade warning of the escalation and its roots. As have a number of others. This was no surprise or black swan. There is deep corruption, nazi threads, evil oligarchs, Hunter Biden shenanigans, and a fair number of biological weapons labs to hide, and that is driving the drums of war. Investigative journalist George Webb has been on those stories for years so much so that he was able to predict much of the focus and location of conflicts since the SMO in Ukraine began in February, particularly Mariupol and what was being hidden there in what on the face of it was a complex steel plant.
I agree with many analysts worldwide about the view that Russia and Putin gave the collective West an opportunity to show their hand, their real motivations while starting out minimally and cautious in the SMO. It is portrayed by the West as weakness and losing. Instead the West lost opportunities for peace as almost occurred in April with negotations in Turkey, nixed by Boris Johnson. Not that the collective West really involves the average citizen in making decisons, they are told what to believe with flag icons on Twitter.
I agree with Eugyppius, the Nordstream attack and the Crimea bridge are now a gloves off moment, even though Putin offered one more time to bring gas to Germany as one of the pipes in Nordstream 2 appeared capable of repair. But this was refused by the EU.
It is frightening, and I try to comprehend what must be happening in Europe now for the winter, but also about some of the amazing industrial companies that will be killed off soon for good in that region.
In the cold war the Americans made a Luft Bruecke to Berlin to safe it .Why not make a Luft Bruecke from the Texas gas fields to the German industries delivering L.N.G. to safe it ? Nothing should be spared to show the Ruskies who is boss .
The U$A is not the boss anymore.
You would be better off joining the Ukrop Mercenary Brigade than commenting.
Waste of air.
Thanks for clarifying. Many of us have spent considerable time delving into a variety of information sources to figure out what the hell is going on! And it is a daily endeavor.
This is what happens when a country has an environmental policy in place of an energy policy, decides that locking down society for a run of the mill respiratory illness is the best of all possible responses, and prints money like it's going out of fashion. It's like having a bunch of toddlers in charge, except that would be an insult to toddlers.
I'd prefer my odds better if actual toddlers were given hand grenades.
IMO the real problem is a populace who has been conditioned on what to think, instead of how to think.
Covid, wars, modern monetary theory and climate change are prima facia evidence of such.
The "collective good" is a shortcut to subsumption of the individual. Funny how that always leads to consolidation of power to the few and the transfer of wealth from the many to the hands of these very same plutocrats.
As long as a populace unquestionably looks to government for their well-being and safety they are sitting ducks for propaganda.
Indeed, they'll fashion chains to their own ankles.
"Collective good" can also be expressed as "the good of the collective", which, as you state, stands directly opposite the good of the individual. They cannot coexist.
I do believe though that a diverse society of individuals and subgroups can successfully function so long as they all share some fundamental common goals, the first of which should be that no individual should ever be made to bow to either society or any other individual. Sort of how America used to largely -- if not perfectly -- function.
In the immortal words of Rodney King, "Why can't we call just get along?" Why not? Because there is no political capital to be gained from harmony, only in suffering. And there are the chains on your -- our -- ankles. No joy for you.
Well said. I could not agree more. Pretty sure that Obama deliberately threw out the baby with the bath water. IMO we were about 95% of the way there. But as you say, it was not politically expedient to foster any sort of common goals.
The only stable emotion is hate. That's why it's employed. And unfortunately there is money to be made in stoking discord.
Obama most certainly set us upon this course of divide and separate. Though as incompetent as this current maladministration is, it has done more damage in the past 2 years than O did in his 8. The acceleration is almost logarithmic.
The downside for them is that the Left is beginning to eat itself in its struggle for woke purity. With any luck they will burn themselves out. In two weeks we'll have a pretty good clue if has begun.
Agree and I hope you're right.
Well said. I couldn't agree more.
Why are we screwing up the whole world over fucking corrupt Ukraine. Zelensky needs to be ignored, he is a spoiled child that demands and demands and our stupid politicians just entertain him. Before this pretend photo op war nobody cared about them besides showing them up as a prime example for corruption. It is time to move on and focus on fixing our issues and ignore Ukraine like everybody did before, like during the krimea conflict. Russia should take it all, as we don't want them in the eu or Nato.
I’m pretty sure that everything Zelensky says is piped straight into his earpiece from NATO or UK/American minders.
No need for that he is an entertainer and needs no help in that regard ,only the money and weapons from us to play his game .
I read that the US only has diesel fuel for a few more weeks. Almost all transport is over the road. I wonder what is going to happen after that? Horse and buggy?
Not to mention that a rail strike is imminent after the midterms ~ Joebama asked the union to hold off until after the election.
In the USA, there may be a giant increase in the number of Amish. Of course, it will be difficult to obtain fertilizer if China, Russia, and Belarus refuse to supply the needed components.
It will be a lot better to use the horse droppings. Well composted horse manure is the best you can get. 100 years ago there was no chemical fertilizer. Back to nature. Back to a garden. Done with the useless grass that 1. is a monoculture 2. needs lots of fertilizer, spray etc. 3. needs a lawn mower. Better to grow veggies instead. Will also keep you from starving ! Grass is only good for cows and goats and the likes !