Welcome to Saturday's Potluck - 2-26-2022

Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 6:02am

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Pablo Picasso

It appears one of my favorite authors on contemporary and historical relationships between nations is no longer publishing new articles at Asia Times. Authors change homes and the website appears to be changing its editorial tone. Pepe Escobar is publishing new work is at The Cradle in addition to other sites.

My surprise was when performing a quick check on Wikipedia bio for information on how long he had published at Asia Times (answer 2003) and found this notice at the top of the page -

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Why cancel this month? Possibly not sufficiently pro USA team? Inspires one to think and learn a little history and philosophy sometimes?

________

Anyway his archives are located at The Unz Review. Found them helpful to better understand Asia and current dynamics. Language can be flowerful. His a newest piece can be found at The Cradle or The Unz Review.

From the Black Sea to the East Med, Don't Poke the Russian Bear

From a dramatic meeting of the Russian Security Council to a history lesson delivered by President Putin and the subsequent birth of the Baby Twins – the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk – all the way to their appeal to President Putin to intervene militarily to expel the NATO-backed Ukrainian bombing-and-shelling forces from Donbass, it was a seamless process.

The (nuclear) straw that (nearly) broke the Bear’s back – and forced its paws to pounce – was Zelensky the Comedian, back from the Russophobia-drenched Munich Security Conference where he was hailed like a Messiah, saying that the 1994 Budapest memorandum should be revised and Ukraine should be nuclear-rearmed.

That would be the equivalent of a nuclear Mexico south of the Hegemon.

Putin immediately turned Responsibility to Protect (R2P) upside down: an American concept invented to launch wars in MENA (remember Libya?) was retrofitted to stop a slow-motion genocide in Donbass.

First came the recognition of the Baby Twins – Putin’s most important foreign policy decision since going to Syria in 2015. That was the preamble for the next game-changer: a “special military operation (…) aimed at demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine”, as Putin defined it.

________

What is on your mind today? (Responses to Covid questions and dialog to be conducted at The Dose diary)

edited - broken link

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Submitted by QMS on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 6:45am

I found your link of The Cradle non-working, but found this instead ..

https://www.thecradle.co/News

This from Pepe at The UNZ Review ..

Moscow has not deviated for a moment from its Sun Tzu approach – while detailing all demands and all red lines many times over. The Dem combo remote-controlling the senile President of the United States by earpiece/teleprompter was never accused of being the brightest bulbs in the room – any room.

I have also found that recently RT is blocked (just me?)

https://www.rt.com/news/

The US State Department’s cyber attack group “Anonymous” publicly claimed credit for taking the site offline.

Australia has suspended Russia Today's broadcasting, the channel announced on Telegram.

but Sputnik is still working for now ..

https://sputniknews.com

Zelensky Has Fled Kiev for Lvov, Russian State Duma Speaker Says

~
~

In a world where Germany and Russia are friends and trading partners, there is no need for US military bases, no need for expensive US-made weapons and missile systems, and no need for NATO. There’s also no need to transact energy deals in US Dollars or to stockpile US Treasuries to balance accounts. Transactions between business partners can be conducted in their own currencies which is bound to precipitate a sharp decline in the value of the dollar and a dramatic shift in economic power. This is why the Biden administration opposes Nord Stream. It’s not just a pipeline, it’s a window into the future; a future in which Europe and Asia are drawn closer together into a massive free trade zone that increases their mutual power and prosperity while leaving the US on the outside looking in.

https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/the-crisis-in-ukraine-is-not-about-ukraine-...

Thanks for the OT!

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Submitted by Lookout on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 8:59am
Lookout's picture

@QMS

https://www.rt.com/

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by QMS on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 9:54am

@Lookout

Thanks!

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Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 10:22am
studentofearth's picture

@QMS changes during the day. Sometimes normal, sometimes my internet provider provides "assistance" to find an appropriate site and just this moment attempting to view an article at RT asked to verify not a robot via hCaptcha.

Lots of cyber games going on and will probably get worse.

(thanks for the link tip - fixed)

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by NYCVG on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 11:06am

@QMS and then, instead of my bookmark, I typed in RT.com and that worked.

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Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 1:32pm
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@QMS

But it has been just fine today. It just posted an article on our bombing Somalia. Glad you posted Sputnik. It’s hopefully more honest in its reporting. Lots of videos showing what is happening in Ukraine.

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Submitted by Lookout on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 9:01am
Lookout's picture

and had to be silenced. But he can still be found...
https://www.strategic-culture.org/contributors/pepe-escobar/
Julian is of course the most shameful example of being silenced.

The mask has come off...but does anyone notice TPTB are naked?

Is it too late into the reset to right our course?

I'm glad to have a garden, cause the future doesn't look pretty no matter how we respond.

Hope all is well on your homestead. Thanks for the OT!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 11:01am
studentofearth's picture

@Lookout the actual laws currently agreed to in the public space and in treaties has been identified by both journalists. The direct attack on Julian by manipulating other sovereign nations shows immense power behind the curtain. The actual persons or organization is elusive. It jumps around a bit. Maybe other nations are closer to the truth. I have my doubts the actual players will be known in my lifetime.

Pepe is good at spotting and predicting patterns. Many times I am uncomfortable with the information and connections presented in his writings. It is not in my nature to bury my head in the sand so I continue reading current and past writings.

from earlier this month at Strategic Culture

The Year of the Tiger Starts With a Sino-Russian Bang

Crucially, China fully supports Russian demands for security guarantees in Europe, and fully agrees that the security of one state cannot be ensured by inflicting damage on another state.

This is as serious as it gets: the US/NATO combo are bent on smashing two crucial treaties that directly concern European security, and they think they can get away with it because there is less than zero discussion about the content and its implications across NATOstan media.

Western public opinion remains absolutely clueless. The only narrative, hammered 24/7, is “Russian aggression” – by the way duly emphasized in NATO’s non-response “response”.
...
Metaphorically, this may turn out to be the Year of two – sanctioned – Black Water Tigers, one Chinese, one Siberian. They will be harassed non-stop by the headless eagle, blind to its own irreversible decay and always resorting to the serial Hail Mary passes of the only “policy” it knows.

The ultimate danger – especially for the European minions – is that the headless eagle will never let go of its former “indispensable” status without provoking another devastating war. In European soil. Still the tigers persist: in Beijing, before the Games commence, they will be taking yet another step to irreversibly bury the “rules-based international order”.

Homestead is doing fine. Last week during the warm weather fantasies of planting vegetables and flowers kept flitting thorough my head. Did buy a few frost sensitive flower bulbs to plant, which of course did not get done. Poor time management or strategic brilliance. The ground is frozen again with the coldest week of the winter so far.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by NYCVG on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 11:12am

@Lookout @Lookout are invaluable right now. he explains what is happening with Turkey and the US asking for Turkey to block passage from the Baltic Sea to the Eastern Mediterranean via The Dardenelles.And how it is largely irrelevant because Tartus and Latakia on the Syrian coast hold all the Russian assets it will need.

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Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 1:35pm
snoopydawg's picture

@Lookout

I don’t remember the details for why but Biden doesn’t like what they have been writing about. The journalists were threatened with $3,000 fines and other threats.

Hey see my sigline

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Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 10:44am

https://thehill.com/policy/international/russia/595965-liquor-stores-in-...

In addition to official government sanctions, bars and liquor stores across the U.S. and Canada are attempting to economically hurt Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine by refusing to sell Russian vodka and other Russian liquor.

“Ontario joins Canada’s allies in condemning the Russian government’s act of aggression against the Ukrainian people, and will direct the [Liquor Control Board of Ontario] to withdraw all products produced in Russia from store shelves,” Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy tweeted, adding the hashtag #StandwithUkraine.

“The people of Ontario will always stand against tyranny and oppression,” Bethlenfalvy later added.

Liquor stores and bars in the U.S. have also boycotted the sale of Russian-made liquor.

Jamie Stratton, manager of the Jacob Liquor Exchange in Wichita, Kan., told The Hill that his store removed more than 100 bottles of Russian vodka from its shelves, referring to it as a “tiny sanction.”

He also noted that the store plans on displaying Ukrainian vodka more prominently.

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Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 12:12pm
studentofearth's picture

@humphrey must not realize his employer has probably already paid for the vodka. To impact Russia the funds for purchase would have to been at the importer stage of the supply chain to potentially prevent funds from reaching Russia. Maybe he considers it an advertising cost towards publicity or if sincere he is displaying financial ignorance.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 11:00am

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Submitted by NYCVG on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 11:16am

@humphrey have to agree to kick Russia out of SWIFT.

So far China and India are Nays.

Victor Orban of Hungary---to the immense delight of the US media, has said he is an Yay.

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Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 11:22am
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busted, goes to https://caucus99percent.com/content/thecradle.co/ which returns page not found. If you then search for the Cradle, some searcvh engines give you some horseshit twitfeed (https://twitter.com/TheCradleMedia) which, once you scroll a tiny bit, locks your browsser tab and window with a demand that you log in or create an account, which seems to be standard twitfeed blackmail.

Real Cradle is at https://thecradle.co or, its news section is at
https://media.thecradle.co/wp-content/uploads/.

As you note, Pepe is also at Unz Review

Looks like Uncle Hegemon got it's claws into Asia Times or something.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 12:13pm

undertook to antagonize the Russians has come to an end.

Edited to add this additional information:

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Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 1:41pm
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@humphrey

cutting the water to Crimea isn’t it? The number of examples of the hypocrisy over Russia’s actions compared to ours is just staggering. And most Americans won’t even know about it.

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Submitted by NYCVG on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 1:53pm

@humphrey Depriving a territory from having fresh water is inhumane. To say the least.

Siege. Blockades. War by another name.

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Submitted by on the cusp on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 12:09pm

I hate war. Not that this one had a snowball's chance in hell of being prevented.
I wish for a speedy conclusion.
I had no idea about the bioweapons labs in the Ukraine. I also had no idea the dam that was destroyed was purposefully built to keep water from getting to Crimea.
I appreciate the information being brought to the site.
This is the time for me and mine to get serious about a garden. I have lots of room for a big one.
I do not trust supply chains or a real resistance to price gouging. The last time I bought a 20 pack of diet Coke, it was $7.88. Yesterday, it was $11.36. My brother said some item he paid $6.00 for routinely, now costs $9.00.
It is dangerous in the US to be poor.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 12:20pm

Azov Battalion.

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Submitted by Wally on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 12:18pm
Wally's picture

@humphrey

False equivalence.

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Submitted by Lookout on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 1:20pm
Lookout's picture

@Wally
if you have doubts.
Ukraine nazis.png

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by Wally on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 2:55pm
Wally's picture

@Lookout

Who suggests otherwise?

Putin supports right wing movements all over to destablize countries.

There are nazbols in those two breakaway regions of the oblasts of Luhansk and Donetsk.

There are a lot of neo-nazis in France.

There are neo-nazis in the US.

Are you American?

Catch my drift?

What's your point?

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Submitted by QMS on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 2:44pm

@Wally

battalions working for the benefit of the puppet regime in Ukraine?
There is quite a bit of evidence to the contrary. The US/NATO allies
have been known to use shady organizations in their efforts to enact
geopolitical changes all over the globe to their benefit.
How do you balance those facts?

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Submitted by Wally on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 2:54pm
Wally's picture

@QMS

Are you totally incapable of comprehending any of my posts?

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Submitted by JtC on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 3:10pm

@Wally
you know the rules here.

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Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 3:16pm

@Wally

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Submitted by Wally on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 3:34pm
Wally's picture

@humphrey

. . . and I agree.

I was at demos against the Vietnam War, against the assault on Chile and many more demos too numerous to mention.

Some of us also oppose Russian imperialism and military intervention, too.

Weren't we both Bernie supporters?

You probably don't much like his position, either. I'd suggest mine is to the left of his.

Looks like Pepe's prediction that Kiev would fall by Friday has flopped.

Even more enlightening is the video here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/26/how-ukrainian-defiance-has...

Do the Russian soldiers know where they are going? What they are expected to do? Are they really willing to slaughter their Ukrainian brothers when street fighting starts? Body bags just like in Afghanistan.

The Blitzkrieg Flop!
[video:https://youtu.be/268C3N2dDYk]

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Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 4:24pm
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@Wally as the potential erasure of a journalist's page from Wikipedia within a short time of an apparent separation with long standing publishing outlet. There has been no hint of scandal or misrepresentation of facts in his reporting.

Do I learn a lot from him? Yes. Most of the articles he writes have multiple links for further explanation of concepts I might not been exposed to before or have limited understanding. If no links can do the research on my own. I don't have to agree with his analysis to enjoy the writing and expand my knowledge base.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
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Submitted by Wally on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 4:56pm
Wally's picture

@studentofearth

I read his tweets and articles all the time, thus know about his prediction several days ago which was my point.

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Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 5:16pm
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@Wally consider most of it click bait and takes considerable time each day to keep current. Generally wait for the deeper bits of information in articles and periodic checking in comments at sites I respect.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
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Submitted by NYCVG on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 1:54pm

@humphrey

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Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 12:23pm

It is common knowledge that there are many Nazi sympathizers in the Ukraine including the Azov Battalion.

Have a nice day.

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Submitted by Wally on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 3:00pm
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@humphrey

Please don't deflect.

Where does it say in that Israeli missive that Israelis should join the Azov Battalion.

False equivalence is one thing. Now you are fighting a strawman of your own making.

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Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 12:27pm

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Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 1:26pm
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Meanwhile America’s illegal acts continue wherever the hell it wants them to. Did congress declare war in Somalia? I missed that memo.

The US Africa Command has claimed a Tuesday airstrike in Somalia, declaring the drone attack had targeted “al-Shabaab terrorists,” accusing them of “attacking partner forces in a remote location near Duduble,” around 64 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of the capital, Mogadishu.

Further details were not given in the statement, which added that AFRICOM “take[s] great measures to prevent civilian casualties,” unlike the “indiscriminate attacks that al-Shabaab regularly conducts against the civilian population.” The militant group and others like it, the statement released on Wednesday reiterated, “present long-term threats to the US and regional interests.”

While AFRICOM’s statement regarding the airstrike claims “no civilians were injured or killed as a result of this airstrike,” the fifth such bombing officially conducted under the authority of current US President Joe Biden, such preliminary casualty statements are frequently revised upon later analysis. This occurred most recently during the last days of the US military’s departure from Afghanistan, when the alleged killing of an “ISIS-K facilitator” by airstrike in Kabul on August 29 – two days before the Americans had promised to leave the country – unraveled into the murder of 10 civilians, including seven children. The alleged “facilitator” turned out to be an innocent employee of an American aid organization.

While the Pentagon called the airstrike an “honest mistake,” US media reported that none of the people involved in the strike would be punished.

Somalia has been under US bombardment for 15 years under the 2001 Authorization of Use for Military Force doctrine, a controversial resolution passed in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks that justifies interference wherever there can be said to be terrorist groups that could potentially have “planned, authorized, committed, or aided” the attacks. However, the full list of groups the US is currently fighting (or authorized to fight) is classified.

The Somali airstrike was met with little international attention until later in the week, when a handful of anti-war figures sought to point out the silence in the wake of the strike.

Hey Mr. Pope where is your outrage over this? Or our continuing support for Saudi Arabia's genocide in Yemen? Or that we are still in Iraq? Hey remember when we destroyed Libya on false pretenses? Or our 2 decade long invasion of Afghanistan? Or, or…

But where are the international cries for sanctions against America? And of the NATO countries helping us with those acts?

Posting this video of Aaron and Jimmy on Russia. Aaron says that Russia could have stopped exports before they decided on military action in Ukraine. Would that have stopped Biden’s arming Ukraine or just delayed the military action? Discuss.

https://rumble.com/vvwwtu-media-lies-about-ukrainerussia-debunked.html?m...

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Submitted by QMS on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 2:10pm

@snoopydawg

Is most all of that military hardware is going to Russia via absorption.
And the war piggies in congress want to give them another $600M
worth of war toys to make their donors more happy. Crazy.

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Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 4:33pm
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@QMS

Just like we just gave China lots of military equipment in Afghanistan along with a very nice base for their operations after we bugged out on short notice. Oh yeah. I’m just supposed to give Biden kudos for getting out of there regardless of how sloppy it was. Or blame Trump for making the deal in the first place. Funny though how the pope and the rest of the world isn’t screaming human rights abuses for stealing Afghanistan money and letting women and children starve there. Selective outrage again.

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Submitted by NYCVG on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 5:10pm

@snoopydawg For Thee and Me.

You know this Snoop. But it is infuriating every time it comes up.

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Submitted by QMS on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 1:28pm

has to stop somewhere, otherwise the empire dream of world domination will go on
unchecked, and we will all we be less secure because of it. This has become the pivotal
point of the Ukraine conflict. My guess is NATO is going to go all-in on this fight, for if
they do not come out on top, their importance will go by the wayside. Along with the
FUKUS/IS conglomerate. This also hinges on Germany allowing a direct exchange with
Russia without NATO/IMF/WEF interference. That's a big stretch.

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Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 2:00pm

@QMS

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Submitted by QMS on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 2:13pm

@humphrey

I do hope this Chancellor realizes the financial impact on the population of 'his' country?

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Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 1:41pm

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Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 5:01pm
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@humphrey

14C4F362-E58B-45FC-BCB4-ACE8E02558F3.jpeg
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Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 1:50pm

an agenda.

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Submitted by Wally on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 2:13pm
Wally's picture

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Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 2:30pm

@Wally @Wally

The war in the Ukraine should never have happened except for the determination of the US and its puppets for it to occur.

Edited to add:

There neocons are ecstatic and the MIC keeps lining its pockets with cash.

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Submitted by Wally on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 2:30pm
Wally's picture

@humphrey

Listen to him closely.

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Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 2:32pm

@Wally

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Submitted by Wally on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 2:57pm
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@humphrey

Try listening to the entire clip.

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Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 5:33pm
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@Wally

ETA he was in charge of the Maiden square massacre where people either burned to death or were shot by snipers if they tried to escape. Nice guy Zelensky is working with don’t you think?

It’s interesting how you returned to the site just as the conflict broke out after being gone how long?

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Submitted by Wally on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 5:47pm
Wally's picture

@snoopydawg

It's stoopid politrix on Zelinskiy's part. I'm not fond of fascists.

It's certainly not funny that I'm feeling particularly helpless and vulnerable right now and I'm expressing myself in what I consider a safe, albeit sometimes rough and ready space -- especially because I have pacifist friends in Kiew who are big on Simone Weil-like moral resistance who are pretty darn left, who certainly are the antithesis of Nazis, and feel they have no choice but to stay in the city as a matter of honor. I'm scared shitless for them.

Oh well, I guess I'll find another outlet since it seems I'm making some folks feel too uncomfortable. Maybe I'll get a puppy if my wife lets me. Plus I get really irked by strawman attacks.

Love ya platonically Snoopy, ever since the days I started reading your Bernie missives at that other place so long ago.

Hang on Snoopy, Snoopy hang on.
[video:https://youtu.be/hZr6ov1SUZg]

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Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 5:53pm
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@Wally

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Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 4:09pm
studentofearth's picture

@Wally to be continue with Minsk Protocols. Definitely not a foreign affairs expert. So maybe you can provide an explanation about the situation which keeps bugging me. Russia participation does not seem to be a requirement fulfill the Minsk Protocols. Could Ukraine work independently with the leadership in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to fulfill the protocols?

I believe another part of Russia's reasoning for the current actions is NATO continuing expansion to the east towards Russia. Mike Wallace does not seen to address those concerns. Wouldn't that issue require talks with the United States who are not a party in the Minsk Protocols?

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Submitted by QMS on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 5:05pm

@studentofearth

If Russia is not a part of the Minsk Protocols, it would seem the onus is on Ukraine.
And, as the US is not part of that agreement, we are only outsiders as well, with much
less vested interest than Russia. Strange that Ukraine has refused to enact the Minsk
agreements, which would have prevented this morass. Perhaps it not to late for them to
save face and return to the negotiating table?

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Submitted by Wally on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 5:35pm
Wally's picture

@studentofearth

I assume you mean the Minsk accords but it seems all that legal stuff was thrown out the window given the invasion and any chance for peace has to start anew. I'm not hopeful.

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Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 2:24pm

Temperature is in Celsius.

https://www.userwalls.com/n/ukraine-naftogaz-shuts-shebelinsky-oil-refin...

Ukraine's state energy firm Naftogaz said on Saturday it had evacuated all staff from its Shebelinsky oil refinery located in the eastern Kharkiv region and suspended operations at the plant due to risk from hostilities.

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Submitted by NYCVG on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 5:22pm

@humphrey @humphrey @humphrey @humphrey @humphrey @humphrey

Celsius----------- Fahrenheit

10 degrees--- 50 degrees

0 degrees--- 25-----more or less.

Many entities are cutting Russia off from SWIFT as I'm writing this. I imagine Russia has prepared for this.

The EU, as I've written before must be a unanimous vote, so that is unlikely.

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4 users have voted.
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NYCVG

Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 2:36pm

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Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 3:32pm

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Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 3:49pm

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Submitted by QMS on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 4:06pm

@humphrey

for the war profiteers
the countries out of the cash loop probably would rather not see
nuclear armageddon.

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Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 4:36pm

isn't in for a prolonged cold spell.

It figures as I recently came across that Ursula von der Leyen previously was the German Defence Minister.

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Submitted by Wally on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 5:06pm
Wally's picture

Russia just got a SWIFT kick in the ass, including from Germany:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/feb/26/russia-ukraine-latest...

Did Putin really think he could get away with no reprisals? He should have contented himself with the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Will he really order an attack on Kiev after surrounding it and risk bloody street fighting? And then an intensive guerilla insurgency campaign that is already being funded by the west?

Afghanistan Redux? That didn't end well for the USSR and it won't end well for Putin.

I used to think he was a pretty cunning guy. Now I don't even think that.

STOP THE MILITARY MADNESS NOW!

What's so funny about Peace, Love and Understanding?

[video:https://youtu.be/eJ1ZQ99pKbY]

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Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 5:35pm
studentofearth's picture

@Wally hard. Rely on the US economy for my economic security - this just adds to the concerns. China and Russia have been working on alternatives for several years. I don't think our government have alternatives in place to cushion a change in dollar hegemony for the average citizen.

China’s SWIFT alternative may undercut US sanctions
China’s Cross-Border International Payments System could give Russia a lifeline and accelerate de-dollarization

China’s Cross-Border International Payments System (CIPS), founded in 2015, is still under development and includes only 80 foreign banks. But there is no reason in principle that CIPS can’t substitute for SWIFT. And if Russia successfully shifts its trade payments out of the dollar system, the blow to American prestige and power would be enormous.
...
Russia also has developed an interbank messaging system, which now covers about 20% of domestic financial payments.

China’s yuan has advantages and disadvantages as a dollar substitute. It has gained about 8% against the US dollar since the Covid recession began in early 2020.

China’s consumer inflation rate stands around 1% year-on-year vs. 7.5% in the US, and the yuan to some extent has acted as a hedge against dollar inflation, as I wrote on February 17.

Day three of an armed conflict is too early to be gloating. People on the ground are suffering, lives destroyed and futures unknown. Peace, Love and Understanding is not a tagline.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by Wally on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 5:56pm
Wally's picture

@studentofearth

I have friends in Kiev, not Nazis by the way.

I'm afraidI'm using my sardonic and sarcastic sense of humor to mask my real fears

I realize that Putin is going to get riled up by the SWIFT kick and this is going to be one big circle jerk and we're all going to suffer.

It sucks.

I lived through the Cuban missile crisis and this is the most freaked out I've been since then.

So it goes.

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Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 6:11pm
studentofearth's picture

@Wally been in some tough medical situations where gallows humor got everyone through their shifts. Anyone listening in could easily assume we did not care, in reality cared too much.

Not knowing what is happening to someone you care about and unable to help is the hardest.

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2 users have voted.
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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 5:44pm

get much much worse.

Many of the pundits in the MSM are not informing the public but misleading them.

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Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 6:37pm
studentofearth's picture

@humphrey If the situation varies there is a set of multiple choice responses - A, B, C or D. All original thinkers and problem solvers have been purged on the path up the promotional ladder. Most are probably unaware of their thinking deficit and historical professional responsibilities.

We will need to take each day at a time, gather and share information to prepare possible actions for our individual situations.

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5 users have voted.
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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by mimi on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 7:06pm
mimi's picture

Because c99p is hosted by RT (if I understand this correctly), does that mean we can't say anything critical about Russia or Putin?

So, does that mean, if we do, we are putains for NATO?
.
What is better, to be a putain for NATO or a putain for Putin?.

My mother asked me that in my dreams last night. I said to be a putain is always bad, no matter whose putain you are.

She said I should stay a virgin. I found her suggestion quite reasonable.. Smile

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Submitted by QMS on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 7:52pm

@mimi

are you choking? RT is not our host here. Put-on is not a choice but a symbol.
Glad your mama weighed-in tho. Dreams are funny that way.

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Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 8:56pm
studentofearth's picture

@mimi Pardon my French.
 Dream messages are best left to the interpretation of the Dreamer.

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3 users have voted.
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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by mimi on Sun, 02/27/2022 - 7:29am
mimi's picture

@studentofearth @QMS
putain into English is whore and the translation of whore into Germany is Hure.

No matter in which language you think, the meaning stays the same, someone, who sleeps with an asshole for the sake of monetary profit or to get protection from the bigger asshole than the asshole you are a whore to.

Otherwise I don't understand anything.

I am not in your club, and if I try to get something out of it by watchin from the outside as an outsider, I feel I am sitting in the back row, where all the dim dumbshit folks try to understand the bright inside experts.

If I am choking? Yes, my gout has entered my brain, it hurts. Where once may have been a brain, there is now nothing but pain.

If I got on someones nerves and hurt their feelings, I apologize. This shit can happen.

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Submitted by QMS on Sun, 02/27/2022 - 7:40am

@mimi

my bad. I was using a wordplay there.
choking = joking

as an aside, wondering why Germany decided to give
stinger missiles to Ukraine (or sell) in any case?

thanks

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Submitted by mimi on Mon, 02/28/2022 - 4:31pm
mimi's picture

@QMS @QMS
This was an overly emotioal comment and answer. I guess we don't watch or listen to the same media. That might be the reason of why I can't take it anymore. But I didn#t mean to offend. Sorry.

If not, why not? if yes, what would you do to avoid having bombs falling in your frontyard?

Have you been forced to drop bombs in someone's frontyard? Or shoot at civilians in a war, because that's what soldiers have to do per contract? Killing civilians who are supposedly your enemy, because some fucking idiot declared those were the enemy in a war theatre?

How am I supposed to understand your word play? Choking, I thought you meant if someone is
strangling me to enforce me talking that much noncsense. Wordplays dont work cross culturally or across languages.

I could strangle myself though, if that helps... /s

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Submitted by mimi on Mon, 02/28/2022 - 4:35pm
mimi's picture

@QMS
the Ukrainian Neo- Nazis.
Are you happy now?

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Submitted by QMS on Mon, 02/28/2022 - 4:41pm

@mimi

between Western and Eastern Europe.
But it seems that is not to be the case.
Not meant to offend, just projecting.
Nevermore word plays, promise.

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Submitted by mimi on Mon, 02/28/2022 - 4:53pm
mimi's picture

@QMS
Germans are not magicians and I don't know of any incidence where the few who tried to do that (Merkel for example), were applauded for her efforts. No, she was critized for it.

This war would not have developed under Merkel.

It really gets too confusing for me to continue commenting. Nothing bad intended or meant

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Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 7:45pm

be one.

It certainly made me laugh.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/595996-biden-says-he-hopes-h...

Biden said in an interview broadcast on Saturday that he hopes his legacy“is that I restored the soul of this country.”

“I hope my legacy is that I was able to restore some decency and honor to the office; I was able to bring the middle class back to a place where they had real opportunity, given an even chance to succeed; and I was able to reconstruct our alliances, which had been frayed so badly, internationally, and that I was able to bring people together,”Biden said during the interview. “Bring the politics of America together.”

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Submitted by QMS on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 7:56pm

@humphrey

gives you an indication of how far flung his brain has flown
he believes he has brought the people together? Ha ha ha!

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Submitted by QMS on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 7:53pm

never mind

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Submitted by humphrey on Sat, 02/26/2022 - 8:41pm

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