As you read about all of the deadly shenanigans going on in Europe, I'd like everyone to keep one very important thing in mind. Absolutely none of this is being done for your benefit.
The Nordstream pipeline attack got amazingly little play in the US corporate media. It was overshadowed by the Hurricane Ian in Florida. Perfect timing.
I think you are right. They all belong to the same kind of people, and they do not belong to We The People. They are a class apart and have long lost connection to the plebs.
As an American, if there's credible evidence that my government was behind this, I'm going to pissed off like I've seldom been pissed off by my inept, corrupt, and war-mongering government.
This is literally a step too far. This war was totally unnecessary, benefits no one, and the Russians had a legitimate security interest in Ukraine not joining NATO in the first place. Europe is going to go into the deepest imaginable recession because of it, and that will change the world, likely for the worse.
Really, I'm so angry it's hard to type!
Kim G
Roma Sur, Mexico City
Where it's lovely living in a country that isn't meddling all over the world.
We have our eye 👁 to el Sur, worry not. The so called invasion north, which of course is invitation , will be discovered at the appropriate time. We’ll also discover all the shocking chaos in Mexico about the same time.
Our hand is discernible in the chaos. In San Francisco Sinola cartel is openly in partnership with the local idiot leftist brat DA, the literal spawn of terrorists. Boudin* by name.
I’d wager a sovereign he was introduced by the Feds, already quite chummy with El Chapo.
This is all very shocking. Shocked, shocked to discover this is going on!
Something must be done, and its all too obvious.
When we march South a third at least of our soldiers will be Hispanics, who have their own business with the admittedly tawdry bunch that runs Mexico.
In fairness Mexico’s long been a running sore, but it has real potential. I think you’ll discover that the safest shelter upon our approach will be the PEMEX terminals, after that the Maquiladoras factories. Do save an American Flag 🇺🇸 to hang from the Window when we’re marching. Its wise (warning, that display must be carefully timed. The Bedouin for instance keep one handy for every Army in the neighborhood. ).
This is how Empire’s work.
Don’t be angry, this choice was made by Wilson and FDR, we just have to play the hand we have...
*Boudin et al can never quite grasp who the real useful idiots are.
Make sure you tell everyone that, after you've been "chipped" and playing video games is your new "career." If you got the jab, you may not be here to type that, either. Good luck - I truly mean that.
It should be updated to GDE = Global Davos Empire, since America also now known as the USSA is controlled by the Demons of Davos. It was a silent coup, folks, throughout the Western World.
There are some serious arguments to made with this piece. Many of the accusations against "America" should be attributed to the far left, most of whom are influenced by Communism and the Davos/WEF crowd. Middle/conservative America does not fit into the GAE analysis.
The 'far left' in America was infiltrated and destroyed over 30 years ago. The reigning ideology is better described as neocon/neolib. They have adopted the language of the far left, but derive their power from the wealthiest .01%.
I don't deny the wealthy libs contribute, but the "far left" is alive and well in the USA. BLM and antifa are communist-ideolgy organizations. The founders of BLM brag about their training as communists and embrace the lifestyle - purchasing multiple $1MM+ homes while their white liberal sycophants beat up anyone who looks at them. Neocons are definitely part of the problem....no argument. Progressive libs/RINOs all have the same agenda - get rid of mainstream, centrist middle-class and blue collar Americans.
This is the Great Reset! We can't Build Back Better unless shit is destroyed.
Germany is complicit in their own destruction. They never should have put all their eggs in this basket. No matter who destroyed the pipelines, they were not getting gas from them this winter anyway. If they can't figure out it's no time for decommissioning nuke plants, then they have brought this on themselves and their people. Time to kick the bastards out and get real leadership in place.
True dat. Merkel was a huge detriment to Germany. Allowing the middle east invasion of western europe, refusing to accept energy independence and relying on the EU - massive mistakes.
What's incredible is how all of Germany's business leaders are going along with this. They seem fine with seeing the businesses they've spent their lives building up being destroyed.
Germany restored herself from WWI -- despite the crime that was the Versailles Treaty. Germany restored herself after WWII. Germany leads the world in many of the ways that actually matter -- and certain someones simply cannot have that. A certain group in 1933 declared that Germany must be destroyed. Given her resilience, here we are today with an intent to destroy her -- again -- and with her, all of Europe. 𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏.
> Germany restored herself from WWI -- despite the crime that was the Versailles Treaty.
Bluster aside, the Versailles treaty was much bigger on bluster and symbolic humiliation than things materially hurt Germany. For example, Germany's infamous reparations were defaulted on almost immediately.
Should have added the fact that the WEF "major cities" in the world seems to have Russia "missing." https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/10/cities-in-2035/ It's why Biden said that "China would own us by 2035" I'm sure.
The voluminous number of traitorous acts Biden has committed and yet, he's still here, speaks volumes. Sadly.
Remember, the Demented Pedo is not running the show. He is a useful tool doing what he's told, what's written on his flash cards and what the woman he calls a wife whispers in his ear. This is obama's 3rd term and all his cohorts are pulling the strings at the behest of THEIR handlers. He is in china's pocket as are several members of congress....
He's even ignoring the flash cards - walked away - wandered away just today. My guess that the "Politburo" is Obama holdovers, with Obama phoning it in. Obama hates Biden. HRC hates them both, so I don't think she's much of a factor.
Hadn't Russia already declared a "force majeure" which made all contracts null and void because the buyer (Germany) had become a belligerent and imposed sanctions on the seller (Russia) preventing the seller from honoring the contract?
Actually WWII started when UK & France declared war on Germany. Until then it was ‘just’ an incursion by Germany into a neighbouring Country in order to free and protect ethnic Germans. Sound familiar? There is a school of thought that maybe UK & France should have kept out of it. Ultimately Poland was ravaged then fell behind that Iron Curtain that split Europe from “Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic”. The FDR excluded Churchill, went behind his back and did a deal with Stalin. East Europe was a tradable commodity when it suited US interests… people should note. We just traded one maniac and evil regime for another even worse at vast cost in life and treasure, and started a war that apparently we are still fighting.
Hitler's megalomaniacal ambitions would have had him knocking on France and Britain's door soon enough. A few years later, a few more territories with productive capacity and recruits later, all taken with increasingly lame excuses. The war might have started in 1942, rather than 1939, and Germany might have got the bomb before the US.
That is very much the dilemma we have now. We don't know if Putin is cut from the same cloth. But he has a long history of carving bits off neighbours, to "protect" the ethnic Russians and has got used to us looking the other way. Will appeasing him, just a bite of eastern and southern Ukraine, OK? You promise to live Estonia alone, yes? Be a good world leader now?
We don't know.
Europe will likely trundle along with half-hearted support for Ukraine. German support might get slightly less half-hearted now. And Russia's southern neighbours may turn out to be what puts a stop to Putin's "Novorossiya" Lebensraum project.
Oh, bits and pieces stuck on by well meaning Soviet dictators.
None of which changes the point that invading other countries is a poor choice of means to solve your disputes. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is no more justified than the NATO action against Serbia or US involvement in Afghanistan.
I’d like to agree with you about invasion generally, but it raises a fair question: whom has been invading whom for the past 8 years?
By any historical or cultural metric, the Donbas has had far more connection to Moscow than to Kiev or its current puppetmasters in Brussels or DC.
Analogies to Serbia or Afghanistan seem to miss the mark by a wide margin. In neither example were the agressors seeking to protect populations culturally aligned with those regimes.
I agree with you that invading Ukraine as a result of a violent overthrow of its government is definitely never a way to go and should have never happened. Especially considering that the only motive for doing so was to attack and plunder a neighboring country, something we are witnessing right now, and immediately started with bombing a part of the invaded country that chose to stand up to the invasion. Ukrainians in Eastern Ukraine are simply fighting off the invaders that violently killed their people and children for eight years.
If it's a matter of your physical survival, it's justified. NATO involvement was a different matter, as there was never any physical threat to the perpetrators from either Serbia or Afghanistan. It's like saying you can never divorce even if your husband daily beats you and your children and threatens to kill you. Logic of an abuser. Of course, another option would be to overthrow the fascist government in Kyiv and stop the abuse and physical threat
"Hitler's megalomaniacal ambitions would have had him knocking on France and Britain's door soon enough."
What were Hitler's megalomaniacal ambitions? Owning a quarter of the earth like the BRITISH EMPIRE. Or maybe only owning a sixth of the world like the USSR did [after WWII].
I'm less sure than you are that Hitler would have meekly retired to his fireside and pipe having taken the Sudetenland, Alsace-Lorraine, and a sliver of Belgium.
Indeed, his actions having done so rather speak against your view of history.
You misunderstand my point. My point is then he would be in the same boat as the UK, USSR, France and US. What are your complaints that don't also apply to them?
Other than Crimea, prior to 2022 I cannot recall any other "carving of bits" by Putin to protect ethnic Russians. All USSR internal borders were very arbitrary, and USSR break-up should never have happened the way it did.
Well you have a very short, likely American, memory then. And have no idea where South Osettia or Abkhazia are. Or when they were invaded and occupied, in relation to major sporting events held in Russia.
USSR broke up along its formal USSR borders as drawn by its communist government. Many of these newly minted countries never existed before as independent states
The forced settlement on Germany after WWI resulted in the break up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and German territory being given to others, stranding ethnic Germans in newly established East European Countries. This gave Hitler his excuse to invade Czechoslovakia and Poland, much as the break up of the USSR stranding ethnic Russians in Ukraine has given Putin his excuse to invade. But let not history teach us any lessons, because as we all know history never repeats. The consistent factor is Western Europe & USA deciding what the Workd will be.
Except the Germans weren't crushed. The allies made a big show of humiliating and crushing the Germans but then didn't do much to actually crush it. This turned out to be the worst of both worlds: Germans were angered and wanted revenge and weren't weakened enough to stop them.
They won’t know what WWI was, as we have an entire political class of nitwits who are ahistoric. Elsewhere someone pointed out the pipeline is joint Russian-German owned. An attack on it would be an act of war. If Ukraine did it, it wouldn’t matter, so the reasoning went, because they were already at war with Russia. But wouldn’t it also be an attack and act of war against Germany?
It solves the German government's domestic problems and gives them a list of ready excuses for the next round of "energy lockdowns", tax rises, economic failure, etc.
If the US/NATO theory is correct (and looks most plausible right now), then it was done with a nod and a wink from Scholz.
What do the midterm elections even matter? GOP is in bed with the military-indutrial complex same as the Democrats and also fully in support of the proxy war with Russia. So even if they win, nothing will change with regards to the dire situation the world is in right now.
MAGA types are anti-NATO. Many GOP voters believe there would be no Russia/Ukraine war if Trump were President. Midterms won't change much, but political winds matter.
Thank you for the list. It is very short. It will be a bit longer after November. But replacing the Uniparty with America First Republicans may take a generation. That is why the movement needs to be bigger than just Trump.
In March, only three republicans voted against the onslaught of cash about to be unleashed on the Zelensky money laundering machine. Massie, Gosar and Rosendale.
So where's the GOP's big rallying call to the nation at this 5 minutes to midnight time? Their equivalent of the Gettysburg Address/I have a dream speech? I hear crickets. Except for "We hate Trump" or "We probably won't win the Senate". They really don't care.
One of the "nays" was Tommy Tuberville, who was on record at the time as voting no because he didn't like how it was structured, not the concept of aid to Ukraine.
I think Rand Paul held up the Ukraine gravy train for like a week. But 90% of congress is in favor of giving billions and billions of dollars "to Ukraine", including the democrats basically unanimously along with Bernie the Socialist, the Squad., and the vast majority of republicans.
That's one point that's stopping me to respond to thousands of 'contributions' requests a day. They are on the same page as libtards as far as the war is concerned
America First thinking says that Europe, a vastly rich and populated continent can defend itself. Russia, with a vastly smaller population and economy, is no match for Europe. Therefore, NATO should be funded by Europeans. The US, can remain a partner at a much lower participation rate. That is how I characterize what America First supporters think about NATO.
"Maga types" won't have any power. It's the creeps like McConnell and McCarthy who control how things roll in the GOP. The Midterms won't change that. We are way beyond elections.
With covid they gave the appearance of choice with republicans not pushing on lockdowns and shots, while democrats became the party of forced shots and endless biomedical emergency. With the Ukraine conflict, the military industrial complex has the government so locked up that politicians don't even pretend voters have a choice. The same situation is in Germany, with Baerbock saying the quiet part out loud when she said Germany will support the Ukraine no matter what the German public wants. And the irony of it all, as they claim we are fighting for democracy.
I think they genuinely think that they will survive any nuclear exchange. They will just hide away in their luxury bunkers and emerge to rule a brave new world.
You're probably right. The hubris of mankind is astonishing and usually has bad outcomes for the go-along-to-get-along crowd that by nature do not think for themselves.
How dare you denigrate the noble efforts of Gavrilo Princeps ? Who cared about Franz Ferdinand and Sophie? Didn’t the opinions of the Serbians count at all?
I'm originally from Serbia (though I no longer live there). Do you know there's a street in Belgrade (among other cities) named after Gavrilo Princip? True story:
Ryan Gardner: "Do these dipshits realize that WW1 was started over something of much less significance?!"
Excellent point. But I think the Europeans are so defenseless in the face of the United States (especially not that they have no cheap energy) that they (we) are simply not going to do anything about this. I mean, what are they going to do? But of course, the conflict between the United States and Russia could still massively escalate.
Europeans aren't at all defenceless in the face of the US. Nothing stops us from doing a deal with Russia and getting the oil back (when, of course, NS is repaired!!). Nothing, except our traitorous politicians.
Continental Europe cannot do anything unless it has an army of its own, not subservient to US/UK, and good luck with that. And then some security arrangement with Russia, as none are interested in turning their common space into a war zone. NATO seems useless in terms of protecting Europe.
Really? The United States just showed us that it's willing to blow up our infrastructure. You think they wouldn't do it again if they thought it was in their interests? And what is Europe going to do about it? Beg Mother Russia to defend us?
I want to thank you for yesterday's post. This news seemed very important to me when I read it Tuesday a.m., but it was just about nowhere on US legacy media. The exception was FoxNews "Tucker Carlson."
In fairness, there is that pesky hurricane threatening Florida, so there's a distraction.
But...the media silence and WASHINGTON silence was deafening. It really seemed few wanted to pay attention to this. At least, they don't want to acknowledge it until they can "spin" it.
I put nothing beyond the Biden Administration. It is sinking in the polls ahead of the November mid-term elections. I wonder if the administration is looking for something--anything!--that shows Biden is a strong, decisive, leader.
In fact, he's a demented fool--and historically wrong on all foreign policy. If the administration is responsible for this sabotage, it's another example of bone-headed muscle-flexing foreign policy.
I look at legacy websites--as much as I can stand. I expected TV news to pay more attention yesterday to Nordstream.
Again, in fairness, there's that hurricane. A lot of interest because everyone knows someone in Florida,. Plus half the US population hates DeSantis and wants to see him screw up. The other half of the population is cheering him on.
Why is no one telling the Germans to use the coal under their feet .They have enough coal to run their industry and stay warm .Black smoke is the sign of wealth..In Canada the smoke from forest fires is a sign ,that Canada has lots of trees ,a sign of wealth and that is not a Tatel- Tale .
As a child, I remember being bitterly disappointed when my parents explained that the Black Forest was mostly comprised of the towns we visited. I'd expected dark trees. They drove around to find some trees for me to look at.
It was a good introduction to European defense problems.
You might add the footage of President Biden in February, making clear that in the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine, the United States would ensure Nord Stream would cease to exist.
It's not a smoking gun, exactly. It's more like running into the crime scene a few hours beforehand, holding the calibre gun that did the shooting.
Question: If it turns out the USA did it, will the EU make good on its threat to impose consequences on the saboteurs?
Most of what Resident Grandpa Sniffy Hair Dementia says is repudiated or corrected by those in charge a few days later, so I don't know if he is the go-to person in terms of... well, anything.
However, random truth does tend of slide out of his pie hole occasionally.
The globalist leaders of the EU are already positioned to back the "blame Russia" narrative. They supposedly have the tools to squelch any dissent regarding the narrative and I would wager that any attempts to repair the pipeline will not be tolerated.
If you believe government/legacy media propaganda and hold NATO/U.S. blameless for not honoring the Minsk Agreement, implementing regime change in Ukraine, etc.
of course not, and they will ensure that it never publicly comes out that the usa did it.......it will be 'under investigation' for months or longer until everyone forgets about it.
Forgot about that. Though, to be fair to my memory, trying to keep track of US-CIA-FBI terror acts the past eighty years would require a quantum computer.
Well, the Americans are in the doghouse right now.
Covid was a bioweapon created and funded by the US government. NIH documents prove it.
So...considering that Fauci, the NIH, the CDC, and the FDA, are responsible for worldwide genocide and destruction of the world's economies, the least the US can do is apologize.
Note Anthony Blinken's non-denial. He merely said that confirming the act of sabotage would be in no one's interest.
"There are initial reports indicating that this may be the result of an attack or some kind of sabotage, but these are initial reports and we haven’t confirmed them yet. But if it is confirmed, that’s clearly in no one’s interest”
You got it!! Well done, well said, well played! This keeps them from getting anything as befits them. And the same expectations may be had for the fate of those who whored themselves to Iran, or who are planning to do so, I hopefully believe.
So Germans protest the sanctions which will leave them cold and broke this winter and suddenly NS1&2 are gone for good. Hmmm. I guess Germany taking those sanctions off would not help now. Qui bono?
So now we wait to see what "infrastructure" in the USA gets taken out as retaliation.
Russia. Over a decade ago, around 2010, there was an incident where some snipers took out a transformer station and blacked out big chunks of silicon valley. It was not random shooting. They knew exactly what parts of the facility to pick off and did exactly that with no misses.
This type of stuff ain't new. In the cold war, 1983/4?, a gas pipeline blew up in Siberia and yes it was the USA. Admitted and bragged about how that broke Russia. Goes on all the time.
Yes. Everything Biden has done since Jan 2021 has benefitted China. Destroying the US (meaning the Republic, not the Deep State) is the goal as the rest of the west completely defenceless against the Wanked Ego Facists after that.
Being ruled over and constantly lied to by hostile aliens scripting and staging events is entertaining, but I'm getting tired of the harm being inflicted as they grabble to retain power over us.
it is hard to believe this timing isn't intentional. the attack is a statement more than anything. that's why: no overt US denials, plenty of hinting at US involvement, no effort at misdirection, etc.
That would have been prime time for the US star wars anti-mis defense system that was being built there pointing toward Rus. As I mentioned in a previous post on this topic, slightly after this time (~2008?) NATO fighter jets were making daily circles over the capital in Denmark, with Rasmussen being NATO Secretary General. This was also the era of flu strains emerging from the Ukr. that were at that time discussed as being spread from US biolabs. So Sikorski's congratulating the pipeline is in line with this historic collaboration.
Of course the US/UK are responsible. After Meloni’s election on Monday “they” had to be scared shitless of the prospect that the populist movement might be gaining enough weight to be able to demand an end to sanctions. These people make me sick. There is literally **nothing** they won’t do to get what they want.
"In an unfortunate coincidence, the same outside vendor who serviced the cameras arrayed along the hallway of Epstein's cell also managed the satellites that were providing surveillance over the Baltic. All images were lost."
As you read about all of the deadly shenanigans going on in Europe, I'd like everyone to keep one very important thing in mind. Absolutely none of this is being done for your benefit.
Right on!!! Also- don't believe most of what you hear about this on mainstream media.
The Nordstream pipeline attack got amazingly little play in the US corporate media. It was overshadowed by the Hurricane Ian in Florida. Perfect timing.
Not a problem, as I don’t believe *anything* from Corporate Media (can’t call it mainstream any longer).
It's not even being done for the average American's benefit. Things are just getting worse over here. The GAE has to end.
Please get it right. "The [Evil Biden Regime (EBR)] has to end."
I did get it right. Biden, Trump, Obama, Bush, Clinton, Reagan.... All of them have played a part in this fucking disaster.
I think you are right. They all belong to the same kind of people, and they do not belong to We The People. They are a class apart and have long lost connection to the plebs.
As an American, if there's credible evidence that my government was behind this, I'm going to pissed off like I've seldom been pissed off by my inept, corrupt, and war-mongering government.
This is literally a step too far. This war was totally unnecessary, benefits no one, and the Russians had a legitimate security interest in Ukraine not joining NATO in the first place. Europe is going to go into the deepest imaginable recession because of it, and that will change the world, likely for the worse.
Really, I'm so angry it's hard to type!
Kim G
Roma Sur, Mexico City
Where it's lovely living in a country that isn't meddling all over the world.
Been thinking of moving there too, but right now I am in rural Georgia, which is quite a nice place to be. But things get worse, I might still do it!
We have our eye 👁 to el Sur, worry not. The so called invasion north, which of course is invitation , will be discovered at the appropriate time. We’ll also discover all the shocking chaos in Mexico about the same time.
Our hand is discernible in the chaos. In San Francisco Sinola cartel is openly in partnership with the local idiot leftist brat DA, the literal spawn of terrorists. Boudin* by name.
I’d wager a sovereign he was introduced by the Feds, already quite chummy with El Chapo.
This is all very shocking. Shocked, shocked to discover this is going on!
Something must be done, and its all too obvious.
When we march South a third at least of our soldiers will be Hispanics, who have their own business with the admittedly tawdry bunch that runs Mexico.
In fairness Mexico’s long been a running sore, but it has real potential. I think you’ll discover that the safest shelter upon our approach will be the PEMEX terminals, after that the Maquiladoras factories. Do save an American Flag 🇺🇸 to hang from the Window when we’re marching. Its wise (warning, that display must be carefully timed. The Bedouin for instance keep one handy for every Army in the neighborhood. ).
This is how Empire’s work.
Don’t be angry, this choice was made by Wilson and FDR, we just have to play the hand we have...
*Boudin et al can never quite grasp who the real useful idiots are.
We are not the same.
Disagree with you on Trump. NATO needs to be ended
He was definitely better, but he supported Israel, he supported NATO, he supported the vax. He was a neoliberal and he was far from perfect.
There is no disaster.
There is a change, that is all.
The Elites are trying very hard to start WWIII. I would call that a disaster.
Make sure you tell everyone that, after you've been "chipped" and playing video games is your new "career." If you got the jab, you may not be here to type that, either. Good luck - I truly mean that.
No, Biden is a placeholder.
A senile one at that.
It is 🇺🇸Empire, it destroyed the Republic , it consumes us.
We are enslaved already, the Euros are simply getting the Rust Belt treatment we’ve long suffered under.
Mattis and Milley, Vindaman forswore themselves for our Empire.
We cannot have both Empire and Republic, the price of Empire is our slavery.
I feel bad for Europe but I only care about my own, Americans.
Well said.
Hey, both won't the GOP winning the Midterms sort this out? That's what all my conservative civnat friends tell me.
Its a start but I am sure they will need consistent kicking to get action. McConnel and McCarthy must be forced from leadership
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/09/whodunnit-facts-related-to-the-sabotage-attack-on-the-nord-stream-pipelines.html
Brilliant break down thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this. Excellent. It prompts me to ask, "On what basis do we believe 𝒂𝒏𝒚 "official history" of 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈?
We don’t benefit at all, most of us end up in the Raytheon squid game too, just in a uniform
What does GAE stand for?
Global American Empire
It should be updated to GDE = Global Davos Empire, since America also now known as the USSA is controlled by the Demons of Davos. It was a silent coup, folks, throughout the Western World.
Yes, this is far more Davos than "American," at least as most typical Americans think. But it does seem very much the Davos-American crowd.
Thank you. I started seeing the acronym everywhere in the past two days. Had not come across it before.
It becomes more relevant everyday.
Serendipitously, Academic Agent made a Substack post describing the GAE today
https://forbiddentexts.substack.com/p/what-is-the-global-american-empire?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=677645&post_id=75420376&isFreemail=false&utm_medium=email
There are some serious arguments to made with this piece. Many of the accusations against "America" should be attributed to the far left, most of whom are influenced by Communism and the Davos/WEF crowd. Middle/conservative America does not fit into the GAE analysis.
The 'far left' in America was infiltrated and destroyed over 30 years ago. The reigning ideology is better described as neocon/neolib. They have adopted the language of the far left, but derive their power from the wealthiest .01%.
I don't deny the wealthy libs contribute, but the "far left" is alive and well in the USA. BLM and antifa are communist-ideolgy organizations. The founders of BLM brag about their training as communists and embrace the lifestyle - purchasing multiple $1MM+ homes while their white liberal sycophants beat up anyone who looks at them. Neocons are definitely part of the problem....no argument. Progressive libs/RINOs all have the same agenda - get rid of mainstream, centrist middle-class and blue collar Americans.
This is the Great Reset! We can't Build Back Better unless shit is destroyed.
Germany is complicit in their own destruction. They never should have put all their eggs in this basket. No matter who destroyed the pipelines, they were not getting gas from them this winter anyway. If they can't figure out it's no time for decommissioning nuke plants, then they have brought this on themselves and their people. Time to kick the bastards out and get real leadership in place.
Trump warned them and he was ridiculed ...
True dat. Merkel was a huge detriment to Germany. Allowing the middle east invasion of western europe, refusing to accept energy independence and relying on the EU - massive mistakes.
What's incredible is how all of Germany's business leaders are going along with this. They seem fine with seeing the businesses they've spent their lives building up being destroyed.
What could they do about it?
Germany restored herself from WWI -- despite the crime that was the Versailles Treaty. Germany restored herself after WWII. Germany leads the world in many of the ways that actually matter -- and certain someones simply cannot have that. A certain group in 1933 declared that Germany must be destroyed. Given her resilience, here we are today with an intent to destroy her -- again -- and with her, all of Europe. 𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏.
> Germany restored herself from WWI -- despite the crime that was the Versailles Treaty.
Bluster aside, the Versailles treaty was much bigger on bluster and symbolic humiliation than things materially hurt Germany. For example, Germany's infamous reparations were defaulted on almost immediately.
Clarity please on who the someones are?
Not much is, these daze.
My first immediate reaction was, "WEF wins" with this.
Should have added the fact that the WEF "major cities" in the world seems to have Russia "missing." https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/10/cities-in-2035/ It's why Biden said that "China would own us by 2035" I'm sure.
The voluminous number of traitorous acts Biden has committed and yet, he's still here, speaks volumes. Sadly.
Remember, the Demented Pedo is not running the show. He is a useful tool doing what he's told, what's written on his flash cards and what the woman he calls a wife whispers in his ear. This is obama's 3rd term and all his cohorts are pulling the strings at the behest of THEIR handlers. He is in china's pocket as are several members of congress....
He's even ignoring the flash cards - walked away - wandered away just today. My guess that the "Politburo" is Obama holdovers, with Obama phoning it in. Obama hates Biden. HRC hates them both, so I don't think she's much of a factor.
> allowing Gazprom to escape contractual requirements
That's seriously their angle? As if Gazprom gives a shit about contractual requirements after all the sanctions, asset/infrastructure seizures, etc.
"Oh but we might get sued" -- Literally Nobody at Gazprom
breaking a contract: bridge too far
blowing up underwater infrastructure off the Danish coast: totally fine
Now you're thinking like a defender of democracy™️
-->"the German and EU officials have promised to get to the bottom of this and threatened the saboteur with sanctions."
LOL!
My first thought was ‘they’re going to sanction the US? 🤣🤣
'xactly.
It's a lovely thought. But America needs a lot more than sanctions at this point.
No more Teslas or Chevys in Berlin?
They should get OJ Simpson to help them out. He's still looking for Nicole's murderer as well.
Oooo scary sanctions!!!!!🤣😂😂
Hadn't Russia already declared a "force majeure" which made all contracts null and void because the buyer (Germany) had become a belligerent and imposed sanctions on the seller (Russia) preventing the seller from honoring the contract?
You sound surprised, almost as if any of the 'explanations' for anything happening these days has made any sense lately...
Do these dipshits realize that WW1 was started over something of much less significance?!
they spend all their worrying about how WW2 started, is the problem
Actually WWII started when UK & France declared war on Germany. Until then it was ‘just’ an incursion by Germany into a neighbouring Country in order to free and protect ethnic Germans. Sound familiar? There is a school of thought that maybe UK & France should have kept out of it. Ultimately Poland was ravaged then fell behind that Iron Curtain that split Europe from “Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic”. The FDR excluded Churchill, went behind his back and did a deal with Stalin. East Europe was a tradable commodity when it suited US interests… people should note. We just traded one maniac and evil regime for another even worse at vast cost in life and treasure, and started a war that apparently we are still fighting.
Hitler's megalomaniacal ambitions would have had him knocking on France and Britain's door soon enough. A few years later, a few more territories with productive capacity and recruits later, all taken with increasingly lame excuses. The war might have started in 1942, rather than 1939, and Germany might have got the bomb before the US.
That is very much the dilemma we have now. We don't know if Putin is cut from the same cloth. But he has a long history of carving bits off neighbours, to "protect" the ethnic Russians and has got used to us looking the other way. Will appeasing him, just a bite of eastern and southern Ukraine, OK? You promise to live Estonia alone, yes? Be a good world leader now?
We don't know.
Europe will likely trundle along with half-hearted support for Ukraine. German support might get slightly less half-hearted now. And Russia's southern neighbours may turn out to be what puts a stop to Putin's "Novorossiya" Lebensraum project.
You might ask: how did Ukraine come to include the territorial borders presently assumed?
The answers might not comport with your current view of things.
Oh, bits and pieces stuck on by well meaning Soviet dictators.
None of which changes the point that invading other countries is a poor choice of means to solve your disputes. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is no more justified than the NATO action against Serbia or US involvement in Afghanistan.
I’d like to agree with you about invasion generally, but it raises a fair question: whom has been invading whom for the past 8 years?
By any historical or cultural metric, the Donbas has had far more connection to Moscow than to Kiev or its current puppetmasters in Brussels or DC.
Analogies to Serbia or Afghanistan seem to miss the mark by a wide margin. In neither example were the agressors seeking to protect populations culturally aligned with those regimes.
I agree with you that invading Ukraine as a result of a violent overthrow of its government is definitely never a way to go and should have never happened. Especially considering that the only motive for doing so was to attack and plunder a neighboring country, something we are witnessing right now, and immediately started with bombing a part of the invaded country that chose to stand up to the invasion. Ukrainians in Eastern Ukraine are simply fighting off the invaders that violently killed their people and children for eight years.
If it's a matter of your physical survival, it's justified. NATO involvement was a different matter, as there was never any physical threat to the perpetrators from either Serbia or Afghanistan. It's like saying you can never divorce even if your husband daily beats you and your children and threatens to kill you. Logic of an abuser. Of course, another option would be to overthrow the fascist government in Kyiv and stop the abuse and physical threat
Fascinating alternative history. Yet I must have missed him "carving bits of neighbours", except for Ukraine. Care to enlighten?
"Hitler's megalomaniacal ambitions would have had him knocking on France and Britain's door soon enough."
What were Hitler's megalomaniacal ambitions? Owning a quarter of the earth like the BRITISH EMPIRE. Or maybe only owning a sixth of the world like the USSR did [after WWII].
I'm less sure than you are that Hitler would have meekly retired to his fireside and pipe having taken the Sudetenland, Alsace-Lorraine, and a sliver of Belgium.
Indeed, his actions having done so rather speak against your view of history.
You misunderstand my point. My point is then he would be in the same boat as the UK, USSR, France and US. What are your complaints that don't also apply to them?
Other than Crimea, prior to 2022 I cannot recall any other "carving of bits" by Putin to protect ethnic Russians. All USSR internal borders were very arbitrary, and USSR break-up should never have happened the way it did.
Well you have a very short, likely American, memory then. And have no idea where South Osettia or Abkhazia are. Or when they were invaded and occupied, in relation to major sporting events held in Russia.
Anything to do with ethnic Russians? Abkhazia and South Osettia never joined Russia, do not see you point. Just throwing in the names here?
Georgia (South Ossetia, Abkhazia)? Transnistria?
never annexed to Russia
Significantly less arbitrary than most post-colonial borders.
USSR broke up along its formal USSR borders as drawn by its communist government. Many of these newly minted countries never existed before as independent states
Agree. Maybe if the Germans weren't unnecessarily crushed after WW1 then WW2 wouldn't have started?!
That's my opinion.
The forced settlement on Germany after WWI resulted in the break up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and German territory being given to others, stranding ethnic Germans in newly established East European Countries. This gave Hitler his excuse to invade Czechoslovakia and Poland, much as the break up of the USSR stranding ethnic Russians in Ukraine has given Putin his excuse to invade. But let not history teach us any lessons, because as we all know history never repeats. The consistent factor is Western Europe & USA deciding what the Workd will be.
8 years of heavy ordnance upon Russian speakers had nothing to do with it.
History doesn't repeat, it echoes.
Rhymes too
Couldn't agree more
The US has never crushed an opponent like they did the south after the Civil War. The effect of that is still a factor in American life today.
Agree
Except the Germans weren't crushed. The allies made a big show of humiliating and crushing the Germans but then didn't do much to actually crush it. This turned out to be the worst of both worlds: Germans were angered and wanted revenge and weren't weakened enough to stop them.
They won’t know what WWI was, as we have an entire political class of nitwits who are ahistoric. Elsewhere someone pointed out the pipeline is joint Russian-German owned. An attack on it would be an act of war. If Ukraine did it, it wouldn’t matter, so the reasoning went, because they were already at war with Russia. But wouldn’t it also be an attack and act of war against Germany?
It solves the German government's domestic problems and gives them a list of ready excuses for the next round of "energy lockdowns", tax rises, economic failure, etc.
If the US/NATO theory is correct (and looks most plausible right now), then it was done with a nod and a wink from Scholz.
BULLSEYE!!!
It could be an agreement between the US and Russia?
Both get what they want and Putin saves face.
There is plenty of precedence for parking lot deals like this.
Tom Clancy - call your publisher.
Oh. Lol. You're too good
Here's an example:
Molotov-Ribbentrop
Just in time for cancelling the US midterm election
What do the midterm elections even matter? GOP is in bed with the military-indutrial complex same as the Democrats and also fully in support of the proxy war with Russia. So even if they win, nothing will change with regards to the dire situation the world is in right now.
MAGA types are anti-NATO. Many GOP voters believe there would be no Russia/Ukraine war if Trump were President. Midterms won't change much, but political winds matter.
Which elected Republicans have spoken out against endless funding of Ukraine?
Madison Cawthorn, Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz. There are a few others.
Does voting against the funding count? Then there are about 10 senators and 50-ish House members.
Thank you for the list. It is very short. It will be a bit longer after November. But replacing the Uniparty with America First Republicans may take a generation. That is why the movement needs to be bigger than just Trump.
In March, only three republicans voted against the onslaught of cash about to be unleashed on the Zelensky money laundering machine. Massie, Gosar and Rosendale.
So where's the GOP's big rallying call to the nation at this 5 minutes to midnight time? Their equivalent of the Gettysburg Address/I have a dream speech? I hear crickets. Except for "We hate Trump" or "We probably won't win the Senate". They really don't care.
The recent $40 billion funding bill for Ukraine passed the Senate 86-11. All Nays were GOP.
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00191.htm#position
https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2022/09/16/how-a-republican-rift-on-ukraine-could-complicate-future-aid-packages/
One of the "nays" was Tommy Tuberville, who was on record at the time as voting no because he didn't like how it was structured, not the concept of aid to Ukraine.
I think Rand Paul held up the Ukraine gravy train for like a week. But 90% of congress is in favor of giving billions and billions of dollars "to Ukraine", including the democrats basically unanimously along with Bernie the Socialist, the Squad., and the vast majority of republicans.
It's because all get to dip in the gravy!
That's one point that's stopping me to respond to thousands of 'contributions' requests a day. They are on the same page as libtards as far as the war is concerned
America First thinking says that Europe, a vastly rich and populated continent can defend itself. Russia, with a vastly smaller population and economy, is no match for Europe. Therefore, NATO should be funded by Europeans. The US, can remain a partner at a much lower participation rate. That is how I characterize what America First supporters think about NATO.
"Maga types" won't have any power. It's the creeps like McConnell and McCarthy who control how things roll in the GOP. The Midterms won't change that. We are way beyond elections.
With covid they gave the appearance of choice with republicans not pushing on lockdowns and shots, while democrats became the party of forced shots and endless biomedical emergency. With the Ukraine conflict, the military industrial complex has the government so locked up that politicians don't even pretend voters have a choice. The same situation is in Germany, with Baerbock saying the quiet part out loud when she said Germany will support the Ukraine no matter what the German public wants. And the irony of it all, as they claim we are fighting for democracy.
Germans voted for the "alternativlos" parties...
The GOP can push to dewokify the military for starters.
"elections"
I'm sure LIBTARDS have something more 'important' to bring as reason. Just waiting for the two weeks window to open
Wouldn't surprise me at all
I think they genuinely think that they will survive any nuclear exchange. They will just hide away in their luxury bunkers and emerge to rule a brave new world.
You're probably right. The hubris of mankind is astonishing and usually has bad outcomes for the go-along-to-get-along crowd that by nature do not think for themselves.
How dare you denigrate the noble efforts of Gavrilo Princeps ? Who cared about Franz Ferdinand and Sophie? Didn’t the opinions of the Serbians count at all?
I'm originally from Serbia (though I no longer live there). Do you know there's a street in Belgrade (among other cities) named after Gavrilo Princip? True story:
https://www.planplus.rs/beograd/ulica/gavrila-principa/3271
(Gavrila Principa = of Gavrilo Princip, genitive case)
I thought nothing of it as a child, but as I grew up, I realized it was really messed up...
No. I do not think it was worth the devastation of WW1 or the sequela that caused WW2.
Neither do I think it was worth my grandfather's death.
Ryan Gardner: "Do these dipshits realize that WW1 was started over something of much less significance?!"
Excellent point. But I think the Europeans are so defenseless in the face of the United States (especially not that they have no cheap energy) that they (we) are simply not going to do anything about this. I mean, what are they going to do? But of course, the conflict between the United States and Russia could still massively escalate.
Agree
Europeans aren't at all defenceless in the face of the US. Nothing stops us from doing a deal with Russia and getting the oil back (when, of course, NS is repaired!!). Nothing, except our traitorous politicians.
Continental Europe cannot do anything unless it has an army of its own, not subservient to US/UK, and good luck with that. And then some security arrangement with Russia, as none are interested in turning their common space into a war zone. NATO seems useless in terms of protecting Europe.
Really? The United States just showed us that it's willing to blow up our infrastructure. You think they wouldn't do it again if they thought it was in their interests? And what is Europe going to do about it? Beg Mother Russia to defend us?
We shall see. I have to admit, I do side with your pessimism. The Europeans are asleep.
I want to thank you for yesterday's post. This news seemed very important to me when I read it Tuesday a.m., but it was just about nowhere on US legacy media. The exception was FoxNews "Tucker Carlson."
In fairness, there is that pesky hurricane threatening Florida, so there's a distraction.
But...the media silence and WASHINGTON silence was deafening. It really seemed few wanted to pay attention to this. At least, they don't want to acknowledge it until they can "spin" it.
I put nothing beyond the Biden Administration. It is sinking in the polls ahead of the November mid-term elections. I wonder if the administration is looking for something--anything!--that shows Biden is a strong, decisive, leader.
In fact, he's a demented fool--and historically wrong on all foreign policy. If the administration is responsible for this sabotage, it's another example of bone-headed muscle-flexing foreign policy.
You have this 99% right. You missed the final 1% by not stating this a criminal act against the people of Germany and Europe.
I wouldn't describe it as a criminal act. No, this is an act of war. And Europe (led by Germany) is trying very, very hard not to notice.
More than a criminal act, Joe. Robbing a supermarket is a criminal act. This was an act of war.
Do you read "legacy" media? Wapo:1 hurricane. 2. Nordstream sabotage. NYT: 1. Hurricane, 2. English Pound. 3. Nordstream Sabotage. WSJ: 1. British Pound, 2. Hurricane 3. Ukraine combat 4. Nordstream Sabotage.
I look at legacy websites--as much as I can stand. I expected TV news to pay more attention yesterday to Nordstream.
Again, in fairness, there's that hurricane. A lot of interest because everyone knows someone in Florida,. Plus half the US population hates DeSantis and wants to see him screw up. The other half of the population is cheering him on.
It's on the front page of the Wall Street Journal this morning.
Is that the sound of chainsaws I hear in the Black Forest?
Lol! Electric power chainsaws no doubt.
solar powered
Brought to the forest in EV's of course!
-------
What does a man with diarrhea and an EV have in common?
They both hope to make it home.
noooo
not for these people.
"Only the best"
Why is no one telling the Germans to use the coal under their feet .They have enough coal to run their industry and stay warm .Black smoke is the sign of wealth..In Canada the smoke from forest fires is a sign ,that Canada has lots of trees ,a sign of wealth and that is not a Tatel- Tale .
Maybe the Germans could ask the survivors of the Siege of Leningrad how they kept warm.
Or what they ate.
Who, who, not what.
Rats and then humans?
They’ll be reduced to good ol’ human-powered bucksaws by December.
As a child, I remember being bitterly disappointed when my parents explained that the Black Forest was mostly comprised of the towns we visited. I'd expected dark trees. They drove around to find some trees for me to look at.
It was a good introduction to European defense problems.
The black forest is a mountain range, there aren't that many towns. I live right next to it....
You might add the footage of President Biden in February, making clear that in the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine, the United States would ensure Nord Stream would cease to exist.
It's not a smoking gun, exactly. It's more like running into the crime scene a few hours beforehand, holding the calibre gun that did the shooting.
Question: If it turns out the USA did it, will the EU make good on its threat to impose consequences on the saboteurs?
i had a link to the Biden remarks in the last post, but it's also an important part of the picture here obviously
Most of what Resident Grandpa Sniffy Hair Dementia says is repudiated or corrected by those in charge a few days later, so I don't know if he is the go-to person in terms of... well, anything.
However, random truth does tend of slide out of his pie hole occasionally.
Biden tosses a big rock up and down while he says ”That's a nice window you've got there. It's be a shame if something should happen to it."
Victoria Nuland made a very similar statement.
Yes she did. In January I believe.
She's a real peach of a human. Remember this? https://time.com/5489/victoria-nuland-leaked-audio-ukraine-europe/
She's awful, and we're all paying for her obsession.
Condi Rice in 2014.
The globalist leaders of the EU are already positioned to back the "blame Russia" narrative. They supposedly have the tools to squelch any dissent regarding the narrative and I would wager that any attempts to repair the pipeline will not be tolerated.
"Russia made a war in Ukraine."
If you believe government/legacy media propaganda and hold NATO/U.S. blameless for not honoring the Minsk Agreement, implementing regime change in Ukraine, etc.
What part of Ukraine? I imagine that has some bearing on the situation.
I can vouch for the Belgians. That is the silliest country.
Both their French and Flemish is hysterical to listen to
of course not, and they will ensure that it never publicly comes out that the usa did it.......it will be 'under investigation' for months or longer until everyone forgets about it.
That sounds probable.
We could ban import of that watered-down swill you guys call beer? Or threaten to export fermented herring to you?
Graham Stull: "Question: If it turns out the USA did it, will the EU make good on its threat to impose consequences on the saboteurs?"
That is the question, isn't it? But what *can* Europe do?
The EU is an American colony at this point. They do everything the USA/NATO orders them to do. Geez, I am so so so angry…
Yup. That's exactly how I see it. There's just not an awful lot Europe (especially Germany) can do about this.
And Victoria Nuland. I saw the video of her saying something like it on Tucker Carlson this morning.
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1490792461979078662
Lol, no.
To understand how the US/CIA/FBI are corrupt, just look at how they covered up the crash of TWA 800 in 1996.
US Navy shot it down.
https://thenewamerican.com/confirmed-us-navy-shot-down-twa-800-families-file-suit/
Forgot about that. Though, to be fair to my memory, trying to keep track of US-CIA-FBI terror acts the past eighty years would require a quantum computer.
US are the baddies.
Afraid this is correct. Sane Americans apologize for our disgusting elite “leaders” ...
Well, the Americans are in the doghouse right now.
Covid was a bioweapon created and funded by the US government. NIH documents prove it.
So...considering that Fauci, the NIH, the CDC, and the FDA, are responsible for worldwide genocide and destruction of the world's economies, the least the US can do is apologize.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/04/breaking-dr-fauci-obama-admin-gave-wuhan-lab-3-7-million-top-dr-shi-zhengli-us-project-shut-sent-back-china/
It was created at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
Americans have guns...lots of them.
Madam;
The guns are silent.
That is worse than useless.
It is a provocation and justification for the other side to act, without consequences.
Here is what you women can do;
Release your men, with a promise of until death do you part.
As opposed to say, until divorce makes financial sense.
Note Anthony Blinken's non-denial. He merely said that confirming the act of sabotage would be in no one's interest.
"There are initial reports indicating that this may be the result of an attack or some kind of sabotage, but these are initial reports and we haven’t confirmed them yet. But if it is confirmed, that’s clearly in no one’s interest”
It is an interesting turn of phrase. So, was sabotage in no one's interest? Or was confirming sabotage in no one's interest? Hmmmm.
The point of the sabotage was so Germany gets less from cutting a deal with Russia.
You got it!! Well done, well said, well played! This keeps them from getting anything as befits them. And the same expectations may be had for the fate of those who whored themselves to Iran, or who are planning to do so, I hopefully believe.
Germany can't anything from cutting a deal with Russia. That was the point.
Good catch there, because the sabotage was obviously in someone's interest. I can see how confirming it might not be.
So Germans protest the sanctions which will leave them cold and broke this winter and suddenly NS1&2 are gone for good. Hmmm. I guess Germany taking those sanctions off would not help now. Qui bono?
So now we wait to see what "infrastructure" in the USA gets taken out as retaliation.
Power grid.
By whom? By the feckless Germans? Or do you expect Russia to strike?
Russia. Over a decade ago, around 2010, there was an incident where some snipers took out a transformer station and blacked out big chunks of silicon valley. It was not random shooting. They knew exactly what parts of the facility to pick off and did exactly that with no misses.
This type of stuff ain't new. In the cold war, 1983/4?, a gas pipeline blew up in Siberia and yes it was the USA. Admitted and bragged about how that broke Russia. Goes on all the time.
I expect the US to do a strike and blame the Russians.
Yes. Everything Biden has done since Jan 2021 has benefitted China. Destroying the US (meaning the Republic, not the Deep State) is the goal as the rest of the west completely defenceless against the Wanked Ego Facists after that.
No. If we vote GOP next month in America we’re in for Hell.
Cyberattack?
This is pure Deep State. And, just like Covid 19, we'll never quite get to the bottom of it.
Exactly!
Being ruled over and constantly lied to by hostile aliens scripting and staging events is entertaining, but I'm getting tired of the harm being inflicted as they grabble to retain power over us.
At least this time they left the elementary kids out of it.
What an amazing coincidence: Poland Celebrates New Pipeline the Moment Nord Stream Blown Up:
https://youtu.be/Z9ac6wDOOQ4
it is hard to believe this timing isn't intentional. the attack is a statement more than anything. that's why: no overt US denials, plenty of hinting at US involvement, no effort at misdirection, etc.
Speaking of Poland, Sikorski, who was mentioned at the beginning of this post, was Minister of National Defense from 2005–2007. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rados%C5%82aw_Sikorski)
That would have been prime time for the US star wars anti-mis defense system that was being built there pointing toward Rus. As I mentioned in a previous post on this topic, slightly after this time (~2008?) NATO fighter jets were making daily circles over the capital in Denmark, with Rasmussen being NATO Secretary General. This was also the era of flu strains emerging from the Ukr. that were at that time discussed as being spread from US biolabs. So Sikorski's congratulating the pipeline is in line with this historic collaboration.
Coincidence that the US Navy was doing exercises in that very area back in June.
https://seapowermagazine.org/baltops-22-a-perfect-opportunity-for-research-and-resting-new-technology/
Imagine! Thankfully nothing to see here ;p
Of course the US/UK are responsible. After Meloni’s election on Monday “they” had to be scared shitless of the prospect that the populist movement might be gaining enough weight to be able to demand an end to sanctions. These people make me sick. There is literally **nothing** they won’t do to get what they want.
Meloni already pledged her allegiance to Zelensky. It's all so tiresome.
Yeah but the other members of her coalition see things differently. If things get bad enough I have no doubt she would’ve changed her mind.
The timing with the Baltic Pipe coming online makes the mystery of it beyond parody.
NBC later tonight:
"In an unfortunate coincidence, the same outside vendor who serviced the cameras arrayed along the hallway of Epstein's cell also managed the satellites that were providing surveillance over the Baltic. All images were lost."