At the end of the Cold War, the American empire was at the height of its global influence and power. The verdict of history was that it had the best economy, the best military and the best political culture. Thirty years on and no one looks at the American economic model with envy. China is viewed as having the best economy. While the military has amazing weaponry, its culture is looked upon as increasingly bizarre. Of course, the political culture has become coarse and unstable.
The sharp decline in the competence of the Global American Empire is where the decline is most evident. The place to start is the blunders in the Bush years, where they miscalculated at every step in the crusade against Islam. One can argue about whether they should have anticipated the 9/11 attacks, but the response was poorly conceived and poorly executed. Like a sports team that takes a far weaker opponent lightly, the empire survived the encounter with Islam. It did not win.
The Obama years brought new failures. The administration started with the goal of resetting relations with Russia, which had been soured by the behavior of the Bush administration in the Russo-Georgian war. They sent Hillary Clinton to cackle with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The Obama administration ended with Hillary Clinton’s election team manufacturing a smear campaign and conspiracy theory around the now famous Russian collusion hoax.
The Trump years were mostly filled with noise, but the fact that Trump was president at all suggested the competence of the empire was cratering. The system left to the current ruling class was supposed to prevent both Clinton and Trump. Worse yet, when the system failed and Trump was selected, the people in charge engaged in a four year tantrum rather than making the best of it. For his part, Trump spent his four years giving the Israel lobby a blank check.
The Biden regime has ushered in a new era of bungling. The exit from Afghanistan was never going to be smooth, but it had to be done. This was known in the Trump years but the system refused to cooperate with Trump. A competent system would have let the hated orange man own the ugly exit. Instead, they left it to Biden and then proceeded to find ways to blunder no one thought possible. The sight of Afghan herdsman sitting in abandoned Blackhawk helicopters was a poignant symbol.
Now we have the Ukraine debacle, which threatens global stability. This crisis is a long time coming so it is not all the fault of the Biden administration. The Empire has been trying to encircle and destabilize Russia since the Bush years. The overthrow of the Ukrainian government by the Obama people and the installation of a puppet government was just one step in a long process. Biden does own the attempted coup in Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Ukraine is a complicated place with a tragic history. That history has mostly been defined by great armies marching through its territory. Modern Ukraine is the product of the communists committing genocide, then the Nazis committing genocide then the communist returning to impose three generations of communism. Since the end of the Cold War, Ukraine has been defined by corruption and a massive brain-drain as its people head for the rest of Europe.
Ukraine is the counter to the old De Maistre aphorism about government. He said that every country has the government it deserves. This has always been interpreted in the West to mean bad government is the fault of the people. This is not how De Maistre meant it, but even if he did, Ukraine shows the idiocy of that sentiment. No people deserve the governance Ukraine has received over the last century. It is proof that government is a ruling class tool of control.
It is the corruption that has come to define American policy with regards to both Russia and Ukraine recently. Senior members of the political elite have had family members put on the payroll of Ukrainian oligarch. The most famous of which is the drug-addled son of President Biden, who was put on the board of Burisma Holdings, the energy conglomerate owned by Ukrainian oligarch Mykola Zlochevsky. Ukraine has been buying a lot of influence in Washington this way.
Now we have the Russian military moving into Ukraine on the pretext of protecting both the large Russian population in Ukraine and the two breakaway republics in the east of Ukraine. This could have been avoided if the Global American Empire had recognized the reality of the situation. They could have hashed out a deal with Putin on the issues at the heart of the crisis. Instead, we got months of bizarre hysteria that only served to undermine peaceful solutions.
The fate of Ukraine is not particularly important. What matters in this crisis is the display of staggering incompetence by the empire. They managed to turn what should have been a minor diplomatic matter on the fringe of Europe into a global crisis. The result is soaring energy prices in a time when the global economy is still staggering from two years of incompetent Covid polices. We have double digit inflation now. Just wait until massive spikes in energy prices hit the system.
The incompetence does not end here. We are now seeing a parade of experts from the imperial chattering class compare Ukraine to the Sudetenland, Putin to Hitler and Biden to Neville Chamberlain. Some are just yesterday men looking for one last grift before they exit the stage. Most are people locked into a blinkered mindset bounded by their ignorance and self-regard. To people with any knowledge of the issue, they sound like idiots because they clearly do not know what they do not know.
Much of this public relations campaign is aimed at shifting the focus from the failure of American foreign policy. The Russia hawks blaming Biden is a way of shifting the blame from the permanent foreign policy establishment. That too is another example of the incompetence of the system. Instead of learning from their error, they are shifting the blame to a convenient target, so they can continue in error. Thirty years of failure since the end of the Cold War has taught them nothing.
Put side the armchair diplomacy and what we are seeing is the world slowly adjusting to the reality of the Global American Empire. It is the sick man of world politics and the world knows it. Putin easily outmaneuvered the empire on this issue. The Europeans made sure to not make any enemies on the Russian side. The empire is left with talking tough from a distance. This is what the end of empire looks like. The question now is just how quickly it reaches its inevitable conclusion.
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I have a serious question; where in all this does Putins Eurasianism and Eurasian believe come to play a role?
One thing that struck me as odd with this Lavrov in press conference using the idea that the destruction of Russian culture in Donbass, its church and its traditions were a thing they did not want to stand by and see this happen to those it considers its own people.
The western journalists just can’t seem to get the point as this is a built in feature of the termites in the west, as you tell from their questions which all start from an emotional proposition about their feelings, rather than the situational facts.
It would be interesting if one of the side effects of this is that it acts like an Asch experiment and people start to realize that actually it is OK to push back on this stuff and take a stand, which is why I think a lot of civnats seem to be resisting the usual “OUR DEMOCRACY” conditioning, even if they can’t really articulate why it feels justified in an emotional sense.
It is my impression Ukraine and the three Baltic countries are treating ethnic Russians very poorly. Of course, the three Baltics have an argument that Russians should have moved across the border when the USSR fell. And maybe Ukraine’s borders should have been drawn more according to ethnic lines and less just copy pasting the USSR’s internal borders when they didn’t practically matter anyway.
It’s always fun to run one of those animated maps that shows the “borders” of the region over 1000 years. Even the last 100. Makes Sykes-Picoult look like a stroke of brilliance (/sarc off). Another bit you don’t see on the news is anything about Stalin’s forced ethnic relocations in the 20s/30s that ensured an ethnic mish mash in every region
Forgot to mention that pushing Russia out of energy Eurodollars pushes them into Chinese digital petroyuan-
Meltdown 2.0?
Russia’s oil will go where Russia’s oil goes. There’s plenty of 3rd world countries which will take it at a discount. And China itself will probably like to set up a “Federal Reserve Oil” system like the U.S. has in the hundreds of thousands of barrels. The only issue with drilling oil is do they have the refineries to process it? Maybe Angola does; I’d have to do some research on this. You can be sure the Kremlin mapped this all out before they took a single imaginary Russian boot and put it in Ukraine’s east.
Since everybody is doing a deep dive on Ukraine, here is my 2 cents.
Putin likely green-lighted this op after the Soros-funded failed color revolution coup attempt in Kazakhstan and he accurately reasoned that this kind of mischief would continue until someone wacked Soros’ peepee pretty hard. And therein is an important lesson for all of us to take to heart. When the tanks started rolling in Donbas, lots of Gulfstreams started their takeoff roll in airports all around Kiev. The Soros affiliated oligarchs did the emergent behavior shuffle and got out of Dodge just ahead of the posse.
What most people don’t know is that Ukraine is rich in natural resources and these oligarchs were skimming $billions from the rape-theft of these resources, while kicking back $millions to the local politicos and the Biden Crime Family. Putin put a stop to that and that is what Trump meant when he said it was genius. If it can work in Ukraine, it can work right here in River City.
Excellent. Like with the Karzai brothers, they’re all getting money to run.
As MelBlanc pointed out yesterday, the most significant difference of our age: kings back then couldn’t just fly off to somewhere else!
I know its becoming too difficult not to notice, but I just caught a clip of a Fox report on the people leaving Kiev by car.
They introduced the piece as a lead in about “one man who was staying behind to help his fellow Ukranians”.
Ok – I thought.
Then they introduced the guy – Schlomo Rosilio the CEO of Hatzalah Emergency Response Organization in Kiev who is billed as “Ukraine resident”.
Made me howl with laughter.
I really can’t work out of they were aware of the optics or it somehow was an attempt not to have some blond Ukranian on the show, or something else.
You think they could have found some Ukranian guy to interview.
Funny stuff.
Zman, you underestimate the power of the Biden.
Now everybody and their dog is is saying “Keev” or “Keef”.
!Idea!
Let’s tell the journos an authentic Ukrainian accent would pronounce it, “Queef”
I WANT A HUNDRED NEWSCASTERS REPEATING THE ARMY OF QUEEF
OT, but not really:
Daily life in the G.A.E. White single father, restaurant server, shot in the face by two black women for missing a $3 hamburger on their order.
Explain to me why I should sacrifice my life, limbs, and paycheck for a country where this kind of thing is a daily occurrence? What a nightmare of an existence. And we’re the bad guys says the regime.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/server-shot-in-the-face-by-twin-sisters-over-missing-dollar3-hamburger-recalls-panic-im-probably-gonna-die-here/ar-AAUdBuJ
Has BLM bailed them out yet?
I’m guessing the main reason GloboHomo is concerned about Ukraine is that its government is full of Ukrainians. You know, hopelessly corrupt jokers… who happen to have all kinds of juicy dirt on all kinds of big important people. How’s Victoria Nuland’s opsec, do you think? She’s been Our Gal in Kiev for going on 30 years now. Think she’s got a few papers in her safe that might cause consternation if published? And we all know about The Big Guy and his 10%… and we know this because that’s the level of security in Ukraine.
Something tells me that, if you were to examine the bank accounts of all the warmongers in the AINO Media right now, you’d find some interesting routing numbers on some rather large checks.
Something tells me Vlad also sent some Spetsnaz teams into some key locations, but even if he didn’t, who knows what kind of juicy stuff advancing Russian forces might find? Sure would be a shame if that ended up on the news somehow. Yep, that would be a damn shame.
Putin is putting an end to the ridiculous grifting op in Ukraine.
Word is that he’s hitting several US-backed bio-labs in Ukraine. The Russian thermobaric weapons should fry up their gain-of-function research real good.
Apparently the Chechen special battalion is in Ukraine to go after the Azov bunch.
Good times, good times!
State actors use blackmail as leverage behind the scenes.
The public will never see the “good stuff”.
Unfortunately.
Remember MH-17? Wouldn’t that be a shame if the Russians stormed the headquarter of the Ukrainian intelligence service and found some really juicy stuff?
I mean I’m sure they’ve known what really happened for a long time and didn’t say anything because they still thought they could reach a deal with the West, but now? Why hold anything back now?
It’s interesting how a man can grow to hate another man for abstract reasons. Just another day he may be tossing a football around with him, calling “go long!” for the other man’s kids to run for the football. And then one day your ideas raise a wall between you two, a no-man’s-land, and only death remains.
Even in the Great Age of Religions (700-1200, Christianity x Islam) you’d expect a little hand’s out caring. But no. That was about the worst of time to reach out and touch base. What do you see? A field of mist drifting foggy tendrils between tombstones that go back to the beginnings of the stonecarver’s art. The HEIGHT and DEPTH of his art. Oh well.
A friend of mine in Russia just sent me this link. It’s Putin’s address to the Russian people a few minutes ago:
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67843
You KNOW Putin was thinking of Reagan’s “the bombing starts in five minutes”, because, five minutes after his speech this morning, the bombing began.
And, before his meeting with XI, Putin played “Oh, Canada” on the piano
******
(They only targeted military infrastructure, no civilians- unlike our overlords.)
Kiev, literally: “More kneepads!”
No, really. They need them for their shooters.
****
Fun fact: China has bought 11,000 square kilometres of Ukrainian farmland.
When Putin pushes out the moneychangers, Xi is free to open a northern leg of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Israel, India, and Japan refuse to condemn Russia. What kind of future, really, can the GAE offer them?
“Israel, India, and Japan refuse to condemn Russia. What kind of future, really, can the GAE offer them?”
VERY interesting. To ask the question is to answer it.
Also, while his and his family’s personal corruption plays the largest role, I think Biden is pulling punches precisely because of the dirt and kompromat on him and treasonous assclowns like Nuland. Good. Whatever it takes. The secondary reason is everyone smells failure and collapse coming from the same place.
“The Empire has been trying to encircle and destabilize Russia since the Bush years.”
It started with Clinton and his war on the Serbs, The real target there was Russia.
Putin wanted Russia to join NATO and was rebuffed.
For true, Bile! The Clintons bombed Serbian Catholics, tore Yugoslavia apart, and brought Afghans to join the Albanian gang, to defend democracy- because Russia asked to join that “democracy”.
Serbians are Orthodox.
This is going to be very dangerous. Stock up on food and other stuff now. Reportedly, the US will launch cyberattacks on Russia. Which will lead as they acknowledge to retaliation: shut down pipelines, no power grid, no air traffic control, no rail system, etc. As well as banking systems down.
I think Brandon’s handlers want this. They want to crash the system so they can cite an emergency impose martial law, arrest all Republican office-seekers, freeze all Trump voters bank accounts, fire them, just rule by force and decree. You can see this with the usual suspects: Cenk Ugyhur and so on calling for imprisonment of Tucker Carlson, Trump, Trump voters as “White Supremacists allied to Putin.”
Its all domestic, risk-free politics to them. Air cover provided by an allied press, corporate leaders and NGOs and bureaucrats egging them on or making the calls. The risk is that Putin is a hard man not a soy-boy and not impressed with media calling people racists, or such. He might escalate and has hinted at nuclear strikes. He might do it if he sees a once in a lifetime opportunity if the US is fully engaged in the War Against Whitey or is sufficiently threatened by “contractors” which seems the next US step after cyberattacks.
But yes, get cash out now and buy supplies. Power might be out for months or a year. Its not a closed West only system anymore. Putin and Xi are playing in the Woke Playground. Like teenagers among toddlers.
Overstated as usual, but true enough. If someone doesn’t have canned goods, ample fuel, and stores of water after the last two freaking years, they probably are beyond help.
Yes, it is overstate4d, but only in one or two places.
There is no reason to worry about martial law. It’s just not enforceable except in small areas of major cities. Otherwise not. You can’t enforce martial law on an unwilling population, especially one that’s as heavily armed as ours is. Mr Global knows that.
Martial law–like *any* law enforcement NAS to be LOCAL. And for your local sheriff to suppress the people of his county in March and then ask them to re-elect him in November is a non-starter.
And the Feds don’t have anybody to do the enforcing.
You can google up a few things to see why martial law is a non-starter. The TOTAL number of MEN available from ALL uniformed services. The total number of MEN form ALL sheriff’s departments and police EVERYWHERE. Etc. Anything you can think of that they could all on to enforce martial law.
Then google the number of square miles in the Continental US. Then do the division. They just do NOT have the power to enforce martial law outside of small areas in a few major cities.
Drones? High-tech stuff? here’s the thing about that: Anything the mind of man can conceive, the mind of man can find a way around or over or through. These are not gods we are talking about.
How much of Afghanistan were they able to subdue and keep under martial law? Viet Nam? Iraq?
It’s just not practicable. And they know that. That’s why they solicited people’s active cooperation in placing themselves under house arrest for two years. If they plan or expect to suppress the population across the continent, they will have to get the population to do the work voluntarily, and I think they’ve used up the people’s willingness already.
Not overstated. The whole point of Martial Law is to suspend elections and rule directly avoiding a wipeout of epic proportions. Local Law enforcement won’t matter as the National Guard will be called out. And recalcitrant governors like DeSantis will be simply replaced. That’s the whole point. Its Davo’s Dream Squared. Its why Biden picked a fight with Putin. He wants this.
This has already been LARPed and gamed out ad nauseum in the Atlantic, the Nation, the NYT, WaPo, etc. Cenk Uyghur and the rest are calling White people Putin White Supremacists etc. so it fits right in. And yes Biden can freeze/seize your bank account. Why wouldn’t he or realistically President Jill? For these people every thing is about partisan political advantage and there is “zero risk” of poking Putin in the ribs. Which I think there is substantial risk — hence the likelihood of Putin retaliating with power outages in Russia due to cyber attacks with total power destruction of the grid here. The step transformers used to send power down the line to substations from generating plants have basically no replacement so cyber attacks can take the grid down for years in some places. And I have no faith that most/all of the remaining military will refuse to enthusiastically deploy to hunt down White Nationalists embracing racist tropes such as Freedom and Liberty. If Trudeau can pick a fight with Truckers to wreck his banking system (and he has) over trivial matters such as timing of vax mandates and quarantines then there is no limit to the stakes at the Biden Stupid Casino.
You just can’t underestimate their stupidity. They put a freak show weirdo in charge of nuclear waste disposal. Another in charge of transportation.
Whiskey’s thoughts are mine. Their organs are signaling bank and cyber attacks against the right wing dissidents, and they’ll blame Russia.
I need $500 per day for fuel. So does the convoy.
90% of us use fleet fuel cards to fuel; Comdata and EFS are the Visa and Mastercard of fuel cards.
If they wanted to shut a convoy down tomorrow, they’d stage plausibly deniable DDOS attacks on Comdata/ EFS.
I, and they, might need some fat envelopes of cash…just in case.
(Yup, I’ve had to do that before. I even have fake plates, and a printer- just in case.)
if all this doesn’t happen will you stop commenting here?
The population of the United States is 330 million, of which the rural population is 60 million. There are approximately 1.4 million active duty armed forces, 0.8 million reserves, and 0.7 million full time law enforcement officers. Assuming that all LEOs and military can be used full time to police the population (i.e. no one quits in protest, all the troops are brought home, etc.), the martial law force will be outnumbered approximately 110:1 in general, and 20:1 in rural areas. Practically speaking, there will be no force of law in rural areas because there are too many people over too large a terrain to feasibly control. If the government wants dictatorial powers, it will need to use “carrots” or economic threats to control.
The only real shortage I experienced was Toilet Paper month (which strangely got ignored by the mass media).
Suppression is no worse than it was under Trump. If anything riots have subsided and restrictions loosened since.
Everything else about shortages was completely not true to a mild inconvenience. Not saying it can’t happen but this is rain dancing every day and claiming you have the favor of the gods when it rains. It is like the every year is it, for the economic crash people from before.
Morning Joe (MSNBC) had a segment explaining that the right wing are Putin sympathizers.
Then an FBI bozo came on to declare that they’ll go after all the dirty Russian money in the US, because it’s held by…Putin sympathizers.
Please, do pull cash.
There remains a slight chance of a spillover effect from the maneuvers taking place currently. A pocket of Russian troops and helicopters on encursion from the east could accidentally run into a recon American special forces unit that is advising the Ukrainians from the West. But what are the chances of that?
“But what are the chances of that?”
We don’t know. But we DO know that the hologram in the White House ordered ALL Americans out of the Ukraine week before last.
And that’s all we know.
This morning: “If you can make it to the border, Poland will let you in…without a covid test!!”
Catxman, I read that again…holy schmidt. Good morning, Vietnam!
Ukraine is a mess. Completely controlled by a small clique of billionaire oligarchs, almost none of who are members of one of the main ethnic groups (Jews, strange muslims). Country is insanely corrupt. Even lower level jobs are clannishly managed. Young people work as immigrants abroad, seeing no prospects in their country.
The population is old. The people left in Ukraine are old. They have a birth rate that would be considered bad among the 99% urban countries. A population that rural not having children, what else is there to say.
Ukraine is not a mono ethno state. It is a motley country. In Galicia you have an intensely Russophobic mix of Neo National Socialists and Europhiles (proto wokes). The middle of the country and majority of the population is made up of Ukrainians, some natively speaking Ukrainian and others Russian, and their sympathies broadly follow those linguistic allegiances, though they are largely ambivalent and indifferent to the power struggle for control of the country (they are after all the not having kids and emigrating). In the east you have ethnic Russians (different from Russian speaking Ukrainians), Cossacks, and muslim tatars. All of these groups have their own dynamics within the country.
And then you have Azov, Ukraine’s little Catch-22 soaking up so much media attention. The National Socialists are the on the ground hard reality. Azov is willing to fight. They unlike most of the Ukrainian army aren’t just there to do time get paid and avoid as much trouble as possible. The shitlibs going berserk in Ukraine, trying to get Azov banned. They aren’t willing to pick up rifles and do patrols. They work in cushy NGO jobs and politics. So Ukraine had to keep Azov (for now). But it gave Russia an excellent propaganda angle to go with. And it hit a sensitive spot in the west. The brain dead boomer lib who watches NBC can ignore Azov, easy cognitive dissonance for them. But the ideologically pure younger Redditors are all bent out of shape over this. They hate Azov and want them dead so much that they have to respond to the rhetorical what about Azov bait. It would be immoral not to make it clear a thousand and one times if they have to after all. And they are cheering on both the death of Ukrainian forces and the defeat of Russia, quite a knot.
“And they are cheering on both the death of Ukrainian forces and the defeat of Russia, quite a knot.”
Excellent post. Very informative.
The left and even their Dem guests are tying themselves in knots pretending not to understand that “de-Nazification” means the Azov Battalion. Are the AB the legbreakers for the Soros puppet regime?
Azov are willing cannon fodder in a country that needs bodies to fight.
Azov thinks that these moments of tension between RU and Ukr where the pro EU side is in control are their only chance to organize and make something of themselves. Essentially keep growing… then one in a million black swan event , then they take control from the Pro Eu oligarchs and Ukraine is national socialist.
Its is logical, I can’t claim it is stupid on their end. Its either do nothing/cease to exist as an ideology or what they are doing now. What they are underestimating is how closely they are being monitored and how brutally they will be annihilated once the EU oligarchs no longer need them in the field.
Ah. The Azov are Kurds, then…or Chechens, or Northern Alliance, or MEK, etc. Useful.
Catxman’s “military advisors” looks more and more likely for the forseeable future, it seems.
Totally surprised by Russia’s move, and strangely ‘annoyed’ by it. But, Globohomo is the boss of Western governments, and Globohomo is the cathedral of perversions. If this means no more tutti frutti flags in Kiev that’s hardly a bad result, for the locals.
Listen. Putin is far more closely aligned with the DR than any major western leader including Trump. Je suis Putiniste.
Insofar as we do not know Putin to be the mortal enemy of everything the DR stands for, unlike every Western leader, indisputably true.
TBH, I think the Canadian/American freedom convoys are far more important than who plants potatoes in Eastern Ukraine this spring.
They’re both important. The grassroots stuff here is of immediate importance. The waxing of Russia is important for the longue duree.
Ukraine is hugely important to US domestic politics.
Look at how many veteran DC pols were running epic grifting scams in that country and using it as an excuse to distract from everything they’re doing to damage the US.
They were trying to get the next generation of scams up and running, but it looks like Putin is going to put a stop to that.
I’m afraid the American convoys are another Jan 6th setup, a photo op for the midterms.
That’s how provincial our self-centered overlords are.
****
(I missed the 2/23 sendoff, caught in an Arizona hellstorm blizzard. It was FIVE FRICKIN’ DEGREES in the desert mountains west of Barstow this morning, fer chrissakes!)
Satan lost big today.
As in the Great Satan?
I think I know why my first reaction to the Russian invasion was dismay; until Putin rolled in his tanks, all the US warnings about an imminent invasion made Globohomo look like delusional morons. Suddenly they looked prescient and competent. By invading Putin made the worst people in DC look like they knew what they were talking about.
I can’t really get a feel for the long term consequences here.
It seem strange that everyone knows that the Ukraine is a massive money laundering scheme, has had a civil war going o 8 years and is being used by NATO to push up to Russia;s borders.
Yet the US and all of Europe is happy to impose massive sanctions and hype themselves into a confrontation over something minor globally speaking.
Maybe the Ukraine is more important for Globo than it appears in some way?
The policies also seem made for the media drama, rather than any serious diplomacy, which is dangerous in itself as we saw from the coof.
The Russians must think, its like trying to negotiate with some college women’s group.
I have zero doubt that the cloud people are about to have a mess of their dirty laundry aired. Ukraine has been a multibillion dollar slush fund for the PMC for 8 years; Brandon’s whelp smoking crack rock while getting anally rammed by hookers is the least of it, I’m sure. Imagine if the PRC had raided Epstein island instead of friendly amenable authorities. Those smoke plumes in the videos arent russian bombings, those are burn furnaces at the western NGOs destroying every bit of evidence they can.
Not Sudetenland but Poland, 1939. Corrupt elite thinks it can jerk around both sides until it can get the best “deal” for itself, not the country. One side loses patience.
Superb summary that unfortunately other than on these hallowed screens, few will note, much less comprehend. Meantime:
Ben Laden (where ever he is) manages to smile as he realizes he actually did win the victory over the infidel USA after all
W. Bush – snickers whilst droning about ‘axis of evil, new world order, world safe for democracy’
H Clinton – looking for her reset button
B Clinton – where ‘da Ukrainian women
Obama – this not who we are – but I still got my cash
Biden – what day is it?
NATO – I gonna’ get my daddy to beat you up
Putin – LMFAO
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/23/opinion/putin-ukraine.html
Here is former secretary of state Madeline Albright writing a wonderful example of NeoCon fluff about how the next war needs to be with Russia.
While Ms. Albright states that strong U.S. allies are on nearly every continent, she forgets Nations have interests, not friends.
This statement is easily proven by anyone who examined the State Department messages disseminated by Wikileaks years ago. The cajoling, bribing and arm-twisting required to convince “allies” of America to go along with our bidding was but a mere glance behind the curtain of actual diplomatic relations we enjoy with so-called allies. At the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, NATO countries numbered 16. That number is now over 30 and rising. Assurances and promises were made to not increase the eastward expansion of NATO towards Russia’s borders, yet this has continued almost unabated.
Cloaking the U.S. Hegemon for global supremacy in flowery language and hollow ideals about democracy does not change the fact that Russia will react in her own interest and security.
I always picture ole Madelaine holding a Pez dispenser, popping Iraq children into her mouth.
Excellent video!
This stuff concerns me. As others noted, this fits perfectly in the globalist playbook by skyrocketing inflation (at a faster rate than current) and risking supply routes. I also worry because most of our leaders are deluded actors – Johnny Depp, but instead of becoming Jack Sparrow in a wine infused delirium, they fancy themselves Churchill’s and FDR’s.
People on this board often post about whether politicians believe the crap they shovel or if it is simply a way of signaling adherence to the hive (a la yesterday or day before post). I think one aspect that is often neglected is the vanity and pride that puffs them up when, for example, Trudeau gets to stand up there and make bold affirmations about saving Canada from an existential threat. He believes it because it flatters his ego and let’s him play the role of the mythologized figures he was told to emulate. The speech is theatrical because they are players. For now, I will leave out the concept of the playwrite (see my first paragraph).
But what concerns me is that their fantasy realm impedes their ability to understand pushback because, in their tailored fantasy realm afforded by their life of luxury, no one ever challenged their optics on the world; the optics that make them the star of a great existential struggle. They fantasize about the struggle, as most Americans do (just see Covid reactions), but they have never experienced the terror of real struggle.
This is my way of saying their judgment is so perverted, that the knowableness of how situations like this escalate is terrifying. But perhaps the biggest horror is that our leaders will be “men” who view it all as a performance, one like the way love is treated in Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” – “you leave them laughing when you go.” It’s all a game for them. It’s all on screens. They get to Monday morning quarterback with all the insulation of a Monday morning quarterback. At least Churchill saw war and saw hard times. These pukes do not. That scares me.
I forgot to include my favorite quotation. My wife, who came from a tough country, said to me on our second date, “You cannot imagine the suffering. And that is a good thing. But you cannot imagine the suffering.” This lesson has always stuck with me.
I agree.
The other issue with scripts is that requires a pre-written response to continue the narrative.
I think that is partly why they end up in rage if you or Putin, or whoever won’t read the lines they have written already for them.
They can’t continue the rehearsed in front of the mirror statesman bit if people keep derailing them with unexpected responses.
Nice point. I completely agree. Don’t step on my fantasy.
I don’t actually disagree.
I think that is why they ignore the actual responses and just get the media to fill in the ones they had written and then carry on with the act anyway.
Its just easier to be the star that way and they can be ready for their closeup with Mr Demille,
” … and they can be ready for their closeup with Mr Demille,”
Norma? Is that you?
@infant.
Yep. The west is a corpse floating facedown in the swimming pool, while the dissidents narrate via flashbacks the decline of the liberal elite as crazed has beens rattling around in the left over wealth from pre-war assets, smothered in heavy makeup, delusionally waiting for their last closeup.
This seems appropo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_62psgsTqE&ab_channel=TheFilmArchives
Americathon from 1979
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Ukraine is a dying, wanna-be Globohomo country with extremely low birth rates and a huge emigration rate. It will soon be an empty nation filled with old grannies and early-life section oligarchs.
Here in Canada my opinion of the Ukrainian “community” is pretty low. Lots of them here. They’re one of the few white communities that gets painted in a positive light – ‘see, we don’t hate white people look at this Ukrainian’. Ukrainians LARP as nationalists and are “scared” by the invasion, but notice that none of them bother to go back and actually live in or improve their homeland.
They also love to race mix. At least 80% of the white girls you see with an alien male are of a Ukrainian background. Ukrainian males love Chinese girls for some reason. They seem to be the epitome of Globohomo midwits with an inferiority complex trying to prove how smart they are. They’ve always caused problems here even in the 1900s when they immigrated to Alberta.
My opinion of Ukrainians is that they need a Nationalist and Christian “authoritarian” regime to keep them in line. They are European and Christian so I don’t wish to see any casualties but they are nothing but a nuisance here and a failed state over there. Trudeau’s #2 psycho Freeland is also Ukrainian. There’s also the whole early life aspect which seems to be descendants of Bolsheviks who are fixated on Ukraine.
I want Ukraine and its gov crushed, (except for the Western provinces) and Putin’s martial law imposed. They are nothing but vehicles for Globohomo pirates at the moment.
they aren’t white, they are slavic. with a big helping on mongoloid dna.
I reckon that they have some Tartar taint.
I don’t care about this divisive “who is white” crap. Ukrainians are European Christians.
They’re also Globohomo midwits in a dying country and it would benefit everybody for them to be taken over by a proper nation.
Bullshit. They’re overwhelmingly white. They look white, they’re Christians, and unlike the Finkels, they don’t work against the interest of whites.
DNA don’t lie.
when you wish upon a star…
I’d wager the average Slav has less than 10 percent Asiatic DNA, quite possibly less than five percent.
von Hungus, why do you hate Charles Bronson?
I’m doing the digital nomad thing, currently working from a pleasant city in one of the Baltic states. It irritates me to no end that the MSM keeps saying that Putin would probably invade the Baltic states. The locals here are terrified by reading that crap. Since January I keeping hearing them talk about having proper bomb shelters and enough canned food. Today the hysteria really kicked off.
The Baltic states are solidly in the EU. Old Vlad the Impaler isn’t going to invade them. Not gonna happen. I even get relatives telling me to come home. This is what happens when you eat MSM, it rots your brain.
Taiwan in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .
And lest he be sidelined, or ignored
Hey Kim Jong Un – it’s party time!!
And don’t forget . . . In Iran, ayatollahs gonna ayatollah.
*Trudeau announcing dictatorship*
Xi on phone: “Bro, you seeing this?”
Putin, answering phone: “And they call us dictators”
Xi: “Hold on, got another call”
Kim, on phone: “BROOO….”
Prior to all this f-ckery in Ukraine I was positioning myself to do exactly what you are doing right now. Depending on whether any of that MSM hysteria is true, then of course that plan may change.
I hope it is not true and Putin doesn’t have his eye on restoring empire as well.
That being said, if you don’t mind sharing which Baltic state? And have you been to any others? How are you liking it compared to the US? I am just now after many years of being unpersoned & obliterated by the police state in a position to make this move. I’m curious to hear from anyone that has followed this path if you don’t mind sharing. If you don’t want to that is cool too there is plenty of resource out there about it now.
It’s hard to say about Putin’s potential revanchist plans long term. I just don’t see Russia seizing a full EU member state any time soon. Especially not ones where the majority of the population is non-Russian speaking, as the Baltic states are. I just struggle to see it. Global decline of the west is a trend though.
I chose Latvia, moved here a year ago. I was in western Europe previously but came to escape the rent prices. I really like the city where I am. I haven’t yet visited the other two Baltic states, but everyone tells me they have nicer capitals. They shove a Q-tip up your skull with Soviet enthusiasm every time you cross a border, coming and going, so I haven’t traveled. All three states (last I checked) have very strict covid policies. All the fun stuff is closed and you need to have the jab for what little isn’t closed. I didn’t get one, so I have to order groceries in. The current end date for this is the 28th of this month, there’s been many end dates.
Other than all that crap, it’s great. I’m not on a local salary though. I wouldn’t recommend that. The Latvians are friendly and direct, almost rude sometimes, very pro-EU. I like them, they are no nonsense people. 99% white. It’s a clean and orderly place, not counting the ex-soviet apartment block wastelands where the Russians leftovers still live. Would I recommend here more than another part of the world? I don’t know, I like it for now. The beer is excellent.
The languages are stupifyingly difficult.
As a DR, you’d probably find Latvia the most congenial of the three. It’s a bit more traditional that Estonia.
Russia has its eyes on the historical Russian territories of Ukraine and Byelorus. They’re not interested in the Stans or the Baltics, although if they chose to return to Russia of their own free will, Russian might welcome them back. This is about the reconstitution of historical Russia, not the creation of a multiethnic empire.
Even I know from sunny Southern California that he won’t invade the Baltic States
People are just stupid.
Caveat: he won’t invade the Baltic states unless this thing spins out of control in a regional / world war
And that seems to be a big issue.
TPTB are so used to running screaming fits in front of the camera as a foreign policy, that they seem to have lost sight that when you are dealing with an actual opposition, rather than say the GOP, there could actually be consequences.
Putin isn’t Mitch McConnell and the RINOS.
The problem is that the “foreign policy” of the United States has been privatized by a small cabal of globalists and the MIC. This fact is finally dawning on our Griller brothers and sisters. The Vindman/Trump Ukraine impeachment episode blatantly displayed this to the world, but in all the Trump kerfuffle the impact was lost on the normies. Until then, could the average Griller ever have imagined that the Deep State could run its own foreign policy totally independently of the President and completely without any oversight or control?
If we’re going to run a privatized foreign policy, at least they should list it on the NYSE and let us all buy shares in it.
We are reaching a strange simultaneous combination of peak arrogance, hubris and incompetence.
“If we’re going to run a privatized foreign policy, at least they should list it on the NYSE and let us all buy shares in it.”
Too many great lines in the comments to count today, fellows.
Just imagine in the future when people are looking at the photos of the “players” in this conflict and then you get a glimpse of Boris Johnson with his ridiculous hairstyle
That right there will tell everyone everything they need to know and that the west was run by clowns
“Now we have the Ukraine debacle, which threatens global stability.”
I used to wonder why WWI was fought. I mean, it resulted in Europe being turned on its head and millions dead. For what? Some dinky Slavic country that nobody gave a shit about? Of course, the academic version (which is always head-up-the-ass speak) is that there were treaties in place which “guaranteed” that the countries involved would respond a certain way, and once the militaries mobilized, the die was cast. The real reason was the debt accumulated by the European powers. They had spent billions on their standing armies. If we have learned anything from fiat currencies, you have to continue to borrow money into existence to keep the treadmill going. So what if millions of young men were killed and billions of dollars of property and military hardware were destroyed. Borrow some more paper to rebuild! Plus, the added advantage of bankrupting Germany which was poised to be the next European number 1, something Britain and international finance would never allow. Fast forward to 2022. The real rulers of the world want another war, complete with tax supported military destruction that requires more borrowing, and rebuilding costs that require more borrowing. The only question remains is will they get their way or is a realignment of power occurring? The Ukraine doesn’t “threaten global stability” because the object of those that rule is global instability for the masses. Ignoring the Ukraine will “threaten global instability”. But, not to fear! They’ll continue to control the world. There just may be a change in who the lead actors are in the Kabuki theater of politics.
Read Docherty’s and Macgregor’s “Hidden History: The Secret Origins of the First World War,” Mainstream Publishing Co., Edinburgh (2013). What’s happening today in Ukraine is likely just a continuation of August 1914.
Yes, yes! The Expansion Treadmill.
Destroy, rebuild, destroy, rebuild, riding an endless rollercoaster.
Finally! A sensible explanation for WW1. Moneychangers, as always, exhausting the seed corn.
This is as concise and clear-headed a summation of our decline as you will find anywhere. It is brutal honesty that no one in the mainstream media would touch with a ten-foot pole. But it is not enough. Our circumstances are too dire and we cannot remain on the sidelines forever.
At a minimum, we (as sane Americans) should be openly reviling our corrupt federal government as evil because they have hard-earned that degree of hatred. For those willing to get the fat ass off the couch, now is the time to become “sand in the gears” of the managerial state. In ways small and large, make the lives of these apparatchiks a living Hell whenever possible. Money is tight I know, but you can send the Stasi a very clear message by buying more firearms and ammunition, and every practice range in the US should be standing room only. Flood the internet with photos of your personal arsenal sans face shot. Last, boycott the mid-term elections because this will get us to collapse in the fastest and least painful fashion available. Pretending that newly elected RINOs are going to save the day is just plain masochistic.
After the Holodomor, the Nazis too committed genocide in Ukraine (against the locals, that is)? That’s news too me.
So far, I was under the impression that, sure, they rounded up, deported and killed those Jews resident in Ukraine they could get a hold of, but were generally friendly with the friendly and collaborative Ukrainians. After all, there must be a reason why the Ukrainians = Nazis slur resonates in Russia and with Russians.
Then again, I may not know my history very well. Please enlighten me if I’m mistaken.
Pratt: From what I recall of my undergrad Russian history classes (grad school focused much more on foreign/economic policy), the Ukrainians (real Ukranians, not the Guice) initially welcomed the Germans as saviors after their starvation at the hands of Stalin. The German troops’ brutality soon killed off that good will and led to a cycle of serious partisan resistance and German occupier retribution.
3g4me: My guess is that your Russian history textbook was Nicholas Valentine Riasanovsky’s A History of Russia.
Liberty Mike: That was the base text, yes, but my comment is based more on memory of lectures. I believe the professor was highly considered in the field, although had biases as do we all.
Babi Yar alone. Yes, I know it says it is a “holocaust” event. Keep reading. At most, 1/5th of the 150,000 were Jews. That is using official numbers, so you can imagine the proportion is probably quite different in reality.
Several Ukrainian villages were wiped out as well – My Lai kind of stuff.
And now we have Joe Biden outraged about who is Putin to declare Lugansk and Donetsk separate countries. Has it occurred to anyone that someone took on the same authority to declare Israel a country? Empire hypocrisy has no boundaries.
Or even to declare, oh, I dunno, the USA an independent country.
The Twins (as people are now calling the Luhansk and Donetsk people’s republics) have been recognized by Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Syria.
I’m waiting to see whether (and when) other Big League states grant recognition. Like India and Brazil. That might give us an idea about the reach of the Yankee Empire. Can India and Brazil go their own way on this issue? Can other countries? Which ones?
China probably has to hang back on this one b/c we have “breakaway” provinces and, with the Taiwan Thing, they will probably keep quiet for the present anyway.
Is there anything valuable enough in the Ukraine to get Chinese investment there? Sustainable development there with Chinese money?
Is this the birth of a multipolar world?
It’s been quite a week.
China doesn’t need ukraine when it has siberia. you need to read more…
Siberia isn’t called the breadbasket, but yeah, they eye siberia, kazakhstan, and I can see a Chinese Arc…
Stepan Bandera, the guy the Azovs revere as hero (they actually erected statues of him), was a Ukrainian collaborating with the Nazis, a Nazi himself. He and his boys wiped out entire villages in Galicia, the western part of the Ukraine, that had been part of Poland for a long time and where a lot of Poles still lived.
Poland still remembers this, and yet they allowed the Nazi battalions to train in their country before the Maidan. Really crazy times.
Hey, Major General Globohomo!
I’m like, totally patriotic and stuff, and I hate Russia too!! Unfortunately I’m not vaccinated, so I can’t get on a plane! Luckily, diversity is our strength (and the future of our country) so I’m letting Tyrone and pregnant transgender women have my spot! Give em hell!! Sending my moral support from back home.
B125: Comment of the day. I’m sharing that.
Send kneepads!
Support our, umm, boys over there
When the Russians decapitate the Ukranian govt., they should announce that they “found a cache of documents related to Hunter Biden and his business dealings, and can now understand why the U.S. was so adamantly in the corder of Ukraine.” And just leave that hanging there, forever, to be used in domestic consumption of American politics.
JR Wirth: While simultaneously making sure it all gets published by Wikileaks or something similar. Loyal citizen of the regime that I am, I want to know.
” … announce that they “found a cache of documents related to Hunter Biden and his business dealings, … .”
I like the way you think. That’s a damned good idea.
Nah, they should go ahead and criminally indict and then convict in absentia everyone they can tie to the shady money-shuffling that Ukraine has been for 8 years, including Brandon. Then every time the US Imperial Gov makes some decree, Czar Putin can respond, “oh, the country governed by a convicted criminal as someyhing to say?”
The US is bizarre. Stolen election instead of a coup, the vaxx instead of starvation, real estate opportunities in flyover country instead of collapse, globalization instead of oligarchical looting. Is clown world proof the vestiges of the American system sort of kinda still work?
No other regime has had unlimited credit at its disposal during its decline.
Excellent point. Incredible reality-distorting power money has, right?
“No other regime has had unlimited credit at its disposal during its decline.”
Which means this decline and crash will be one for the ages.
As the millennials say…epic.
Still…Painter’s on to something…
Nice!
“Quit’cher bitchin’, boy! You are above ground!”
Notice also that Putin mentioned he’s going to find the people (Nationalists goaded by CIA) who were responsible for torching that building full of people (during Obama’s bungling). That’s presumably what he was up to yesterday in Odessa.
It gives me no pleasure to say that the US is now the greatest force in world instability. When the rest of the world sees what’s painfully obvious at us at home, there are countless scores other countries will feel free to start settling.
“That’s presumably what he was up to yesterday in Odessa.”
Of course! I had forgotten that. He was very specific about that in his address to the Russian people earlier this week.
Well remembered! Good call!
The US is like some methed up Tranny stumbling about in a bar with a machine gun shouting incoherent isms at the punters and threatening to blow them away if they won’t say hes a real woman.
I *would* say that I’d hafta sleep on that mental image, but the nightmares probably won’t allow that.
Nice turns of phrase though! A kind of literary insult, along the lines of “Madam, if I were your wife, I would drink it!”
That was such a great line.
I hope it was true.
I would just like to point out that this is a real, honest to god, verbatim headline on Fox’s website right now: “A Path of Evil”: Russia invades Ukraine in largest European attack since WWII.
If that doesn’t convince you to sprint down to the recruiting office and sign up for the duration, man, I just don’t know what to tell you. You love ‘Murrica, don’t you son? Sure, sure, Brandon hates you and wants your people dead, but dammit son, since World War TWO! ‘Murrica!!!
Exactly. Add to this that in less than a year two nations received billions for a military that collapsed when the wind picked up. Even obtuse people realize The Big Guy and others in D.C. pocketed their ten percent.
There literally is no support left for the Imperial government.
I’m not fighting for a country that doesn’t even put my people in TV commercials.
I look at politicians these days and realize that the vast majority of them have never taken a punch to the face.
A condition shortly to be remedied, I devoutly hope. Punched with a mace, I might add…
I doubt what Russia is doing in Ukraine measures up to what Blackistan did to Serbia.
Kosovo more or less was the template Putin followed.
The evil! Russia refused terror bomb civilians, but instead asked the soldiers to go home to their families.
“Path of Evil.” Oh my God. Are there any grown-ups at Fox? There are so many experts to give historical context to this, and the best they can do is throw out the E-word. The “Path of Evil” is actually the road to the archives which hold evidence of Hunter and Joe’s shenanigans, which I pray Putin will expose.
“the best they can do is throw out the E-word.”
Controlled media has a limited vocabulary they can use for the sheeple. “Evil” is definitely one of the best. “Democracy”, “Racism”, “White Supremacy” and “Diversity” are others. They evoke a calculated response in those that don’t think but have been indoctrinated in the Faith. The dictionary of 1984 becomes ever smaller.
“Evil” is definitely one of the best. “Democracy”, “Racism”, “White Supremacy” and “Diversity” are others.
And for Heaven’s sake, don’t forget “OUR DEMOCRACY.”
I nominate “Inclusion”. Especially beloved of CNN.
I started out flipping between Fox News and RT to try to get a good dose of propaganda from both sides, but eventually settled on RT. If I’m going to watch propaganda, I’m gonna watch propaganda from the side that’s going to win. Fox News was nithing but ” ‘Murica must defend democracy derpa- derp- derp!” interspersed with MyPillow ads. RT has been demonitized so at least there’s no ads. Plus the talking heads on Fox have adopted the Cool Kids of the State Department’s habit of calling the capitol of Ukraine “Keeeeeev.” The talking heads on RT still call it Kiev. (Kee- Yev)
“I would just like to point out that this is a real, honest to god, verbatim headline on Fox’s website right now: … .”
In February 2020, before we knew what was going on, FOX put this up on screen:
“STUDY: 86% of Coronavirus cases undetected.”
VERBATIM
The biggest takeaway for me is the Ruling Class, which has not had any skin in the game since ’45 and barely even then, will not risk any discomfort to themselves. The working classes, who have been persecuted and hounded, cannot be whipped up into a frenzy by Lee Greewood and ‘muh flag.
When China retakes Taiwan, it is game, set, match because it will be plain to all that D.C. already is a PRC province. Watch for other parts of the country to continue to distance from the (former) Imperial Capitol.
I was reading that Kamala was flown to a bunker in Wyoming
Lolololol
I ain’t cleaning it up afterwards. And i don’t want to know what went on inside it
Well, doing duty in a missile silo means you take what you can get. Megan Fox isn’t going to visit the bunker.
But will Willie Brown?
Breaking News
The Gay Pride parade in Kiev Ukraine has been canceled for 2022.
The white American Appalachian’s and midlanders have provided the soldiers in the trenches for the American experiment since the beginning.
Years of pain killers and fentanyl being distributed to them and constant badgering them about being “ white supremest’s “ along with January 6th and Canada to wake them up a little to just how much they are hated will not bode well for Globo Homo building any kind of military resistance to Russia or China.
The You Go Girls and the vibrants can handle this I am certain.
Which is why an enlistment contract is the only labor contract where it is against the law to break the contract.
In the context of our struggle: Чем хуже, тем лучше
Hopefully the Spetsnaz have grabbed Biden Jr’s Ukrainian contacts by now, if they haven’t already fled to Israel.
I’m sure the Russkies have plenty of documentation of the Bidens and Romneys and whoever skimming off the billions in military contracts that went to the second army in less than six months that fell apart immediately when push came to shove. This domestic corruption, to me, is the biggest story although it will go unreported if Twitter is as brave in throwing Putin off its platform as it was in getting rid of Trump.
Lots of American-made AK74s up on auction sites within the last 12 hours for some reason; they all say “never fired, only dropped once.” Idk what that means…
What was it Austin Millbarge told his Soviet counterpart? меньше знаешь – крепче спишь?
By ’empire’ you surely mean ‘sphere of influence’.
And by ‘ruling elite’ you surely mean ‘influencing elite’.
Very significant differences.
:Please elaborate
I wonder how Russians on the ground feel about this whole episode? Are they as fully behind the government as the average Westerner would think? Over here, the papers are full of the usual scaremongering; it seems an attempt to gee up support for ‘action’.
Certainly, from my perspective and the people I interact with, even questionable people think that war is a bad idea. It doesn’t seem that saying we’re “defending our values” (tranny rights, fag rights, black rights, hate wights &c) is good enough even for them. Sentiment around me is very unsupportive of the UK government in this regard, and it seems to be coming from all quarters. It’s like all Western governments are now fully onboard the calamity train, and each stop is just a bigger and grander station.
Add into this the heady mix of multiculturalism, and you’ve got a ‘nation’ that will struggle to unify anybody. I doubt Ola the Nigerian swindler gives two hoots, neither Chang as he catches the fifteenth rat of the day in his eatery, Abdul is probably just focusing on his own thing too. And even ‘caring’ and ‘nice’ British seem to think this whole thing unnecessary.
A full blown war would really widen those multicultural cracks…
The ordinary Russians I know “on the ground” (in Russia) DO support Mr Putin 100%. The only opposition he has is from the “integrationists/Atlanticists” in his gov’t and out.
You kinda of could see that with Kamala in Munich
Here is a woman who has zero blood ties to Europe, and she was trying to manufacture a sense of caring and concern for Europe’s wellbeing. It it was hollow and insincere, and it was obvious. She doesn’t give a shit about Europe or Europeans any more than I care about what happens in Bangladesh.
This is going to come home to roost. All of these non whites in America and Canada are not going to be successful defenders of anything European, and they aren’t going to care.
Well said! (But call her “Karamela.” That’s what she looks like, and that’s why she was chosen.)
It like they took a real diplomat negotiation and inserted a POC in the remake.
I live in Helsinki (Finland). Some Russians here are their version of shitlibs who rage at anything that Putin does but they are very atypical (after all they moved out of Russia).
For the most part Russians are pretty apathetic about Putin and he has had some very unpopular policies in recent years (like the pension reform) but they are fervently behind him on this.
It’s really the opposite of how Western propaganda paints things. We get told that Russians worship the personality cult of Putin but nothing could be further from the truth. Russians are extremely cynical about politicians and something like the Trump MAGA phenomenon or the Obama cult can’t happen in Russia. It’s impossible to get a critical mass of Russians to genuinely believe in a leader, not after the likes of Gorbachev, Yeltsin and the whole of the 1990s.
Everyone knows Putin is a crook but he maintains power by doing something popular every couple of years before returning to letting his friends loot the country. Going hard against Ukraine is one of the popular moves. Again Western propaganda gives us the opposite story – if Russians actually revolted against Putin it would be because he hasn’t invaded Ukraine hard enough.
” … letting his friends loot the country.”
Thanks for that bit of info. First time I’ve read that. Good to know.
” One can argue about whether they should have anticipated the 9/11 attacks. . .”
You feigning ignorance?
“the response was poorly conceived and poorly executed. . .”
The point of US wars is to win them? It’s the money, winning or losing is irrelevant.
The money pocketed by the Romneys and Bidens, Milleys and Austins, Soros’ and Bloombergs, is the biggest story here. Remember, this is the second army in less than six months that received billions from the United States taxpayers that imploded immediately when push came to shove.
The West has no strong men anymore.
Xi of the CCP went through considerable hardship as his parents were horribly abused during the cultural revolution. He himself was sent to the country to be a dirt farmer for years. Clawed his way up to the top and said “Never again.”
Putin much the same. Watched his empire collapse around him and his country’s resources be raped by every western politician and company who knew whom to pay off. Clawed his way to the top and said “Never again.”.
These are not nice men.
But for 70 years the US has been shielded from many boneheaded decisions because of the international banking institutions they created to favor them post-WWII; for 30 years after the Cold War ended, the US was able to wage wars and drop bombs without any seeming consequences for the men in charge.
Europe (with the exception of Merkel, whom I hated, but knew how to crack a whip and her history in East Germany made her a hard woman) has much the same problems. Arguably worse, as the US protection umbrella has shielded them from basic national questions like “guns or butter?”
Strong men do indeed come from hard times; I fear some very, very hard times are ahead for the US.
“Strong men do indeed come from hard times; I fear some very, very hard times are ahead for the US.”
without a doubt it’s fucked, after empire phase is over, all u’ll have left is a bunch of weak & inclusive zoomers & millenials surrounded by welfare monkeys who have no knowledge of maintaining the infrastructure.
Countryside will do ok, but cities will enter loot mode till nothing is left, I guess it all depends on how the army will react to the situation, how they’ll ration food & all that.
“I guess it all depends on how the army will react to the situation, how they’ll ration food & all that.”
Will there be a government? And if so, will it be able to collect taxes and disburse funds? If they can, will anybody accept the “money”?
Those are the questions.
” . . . weak and inclusive zoomers & millenials surrounded by welfare monkeys . . .”
And that just screams an America ripe for invasion.
Well, military invasion. We have and since the ’80s have had the other kind.
Just like a woman to not understand what every male (in charge of an army capable of invading CONUS) knows: dont stick your delicate bits in crazy. No one is sending more than “thoughts and prayers” here any time soon.
i’m of the opinion situation will escalate, there’s too much pressure on washington to act cause they know china is watching.
I don’t think usa will try to invade russia or anything like that, but they’ll probably send troops to kill some russian soldiers, they have to show off somehow, posturing is very important to washington.
germany can’t open nord stream 2 right now cause america puts too much pressure on them, but when that happens the empire will be officially over, kinda hard to be world dictator when everyone is doing their own thing.
Hunter is essentially a hostage at this point
I hope the Russians reveal everything about that shady sumbitch and his wannabe gangster dad
Go Vladdy ! Restore some integrity and honesty and morality to this godforsaken shithole we’ve become
” … but they’ll probably send troops to kill some russian soldiers, they have to show off somehow, posturing is very important to washington.”
The Hologram in the White House has sent 1000 “troops” to Poland and 1000 to Romania. And about three weeks ago, he announced that “by Spring” there would be 8000 US “troops” in “Eastern Europe.”
Those quotes are quotes. That’s how specific he has been.
So it’s clearly just setting the stage for their propaganda narrative. A total of 10,000 “troops” in “Eastern Europe” is b/c they know that nobody will bother to find out anything specific and take the trouble to make comparisons between Putin’s troop strength and the length of his supply lines and all the logistics. They know that the “press” will spew forth their propaganda 24/7. So it’s just to set the stage for their propaganda narrative.
There is *nothing* they can do, and they know it, but they don’t care b/c it’s a smoke screen for something else. Their climate-change/population-reduction schemes is my guess.
Go to a normie comment thread somewhere–Breitbart–and read the comment threads.
Normie is incensed at Putin’s “aggression.” And the propaganda is only just getting started.
Normie sees “Path of Evil” emblazoned on the FoxNews screen and that’s all he needs to know.
I guess “Cross of Iron” was already taken.
“Normie sees “Path of Evil” emblazoned on the FoxNews screen and that’s all he needs to know.”
Sad, ain’t it! Pathetic.
I just want to see that look on European faces when we announce a complete withdrawal of US forces.
The GAE has one last weapon: the dollar. The question is whether they’ll use it.
Putin has been preparing for nearly a decade for this exact situation – showing what a true leader does. He’s been hoarding Euros, yuan and gold as well as his giant stockpile of dollars. Russia isn’t Iran.
Russia also provides half of Europe’s oil and gas. Is the US going to sanction Germany and France if they continue to buy Russian oil and gas to heat their homes, fuel their factories and fill their cars?
It’s a big risk to (seriously) use the dollar against him. First, if it fails, the GAE is truly over. Second, even if it works, it will accelerate the rest of the world’s desire to break free of the dollar system. Also, as in any war, other countries will get a first hand view of choke points, vulnerabilities and how to fight back.
As Z wrote, this is just another day ending in “y.” When Xi retakes Taiwan, probably peacefully because China owns D.C. now, the dollar’s status as reserve currency probably becomes untenable.
Yep, what’s the point of anyone continuing on with the dollar as the reserve currency if the conditions that allowed it to become so are no longer there
Maybe they let it linger on for a sense of continuity and because America agrees to some quietly humiliating conditions hidden from us. Maybe we sell them Alaska or Hawaii.
Yeah, but it had to happen. You can’t go spitting in mother nature’s face for too long as America has and not have there be consequences. You can’t go around pushing homosexuality and abortions and tranny stuff and continue to be strong.
Mother Nature always wins
But this could also mean that lots of blacks and browns return to their home countries now that daddy sugar is no more. That would be a great silver lining I could live with as we rebuild.
Falcone: The blacks, browns, and yellows won’t leave until they can live better back home than they can amidst the looting here. That’s not yet the case.
Do remember that, while the children of wealthy Chinese party officials may flee to safety in Europe, most of the Han here are of peasant stock and they are in no hurry to return to their ancestral villages.
When/if our antiquated and overburdened electrical grid starts seriously shaking, or the plumbing stops working, then some will start considering it – although that’s the norm in their home countries as well. When POX criminal predations start spreading and cops intervene to prevent self defense by the foreign born, that too will escalate things.
No one truly believes America is the ‘land of success’ or ‘opportunity’ any more, unless that is taken to mean the opportunity to get rich off of scamming Whitey and his government. That’s why they come here, and as long as there remains White money and White women and White resources to steal, then here they’ll stay.
Have to disagree a tiny bit here. Some of these vibrants will have hard assets they can take home and live like kings. The question is whether they can get them there. Those in parts of the country with brutal winters will split when the electricity goes out. Also, urban food shortages may become a thing and all the looting and stealing in the world will net only appliances if that hits high gear.
Know where it will be good for a White person to live when this shakes out? Canada. The Upper Midwest. New England, upstate New York. Hell, if it gets bad enough, anywhere north of the Gulf Coast.
The Wall will get built then.
To keep them in.
Dang it 3g4me, you rained on my parade 😜
But more seriously, I could be highly motivated to get in on any rebuilding effort if it’s with white people only.
I’m just going to dream a little bit and that perhaps a war effort encourages many non whites to leave or else face death fighting for daddy sugar.
no flea leaves a live dog – karlfucious
Reply to Jack: I don’t think we’re really in much disagreement. Those with the money and assets, who can return home with those assets and live well (i.e. if the local electric, water, and security situation is not noticeably worse than the US at that point) will return home. The vast majority, however, will remain to parasite off the few remaining Whites.
The one area where I disagree is re a wall being built to keep them in. Who will build it? Why would they care, at that point?
Check out the amount of remittances sent by immigrants and visa holders (legal and illegal) to their “home countries” each year. It’s staggering. For them this country is nothing more than a resource to be exploited. Both parties are totally on board.
” … what’s the point of anyone continuing on with the dollar … .”
The US dollar has never been canceled. The US dollar is the world’s most stable currency. (I know, I know.)
Gobs of money have been flowing into the US dollar out of Canada this week b/c the US dollar is seen as the most reliable currency there is.
AND (brace yourself) because the US is seen as the safer jurisdiction. And it is.
But yes, you are right, eventually the dollar will be dropped, but at present, there’s no alternative out there.
Counterintuitive, but there it is.
The dollar remains the safe asset to the world and will be the reserve currency for sometime. That said, it’s hard for a currency to stay on top when the country issuing it is no longer the top economic power. Sooner or later, its dominance will be eroded.
There’s also the fact that much of the world is getting tired of living under the thumb of the dollar.
Infant: You sound like my husband there. I keep wondering why on earth anyone still trusts the dollar (or the US stock market) over more tangible assets, but he answers me much as you just did – as bad as it is, it’s the only thing out there right now.
To wit: Euro down to 1.10 to the greenback as of 2/24/22
” . . . the dollar’s reserve status becomes untenable.”
Quite. As if the Russians and Chinese aren’t going to go for the jugular at the first opportunity.
Thinking they won’t press their advantage to the fullest extent is like thinking Dominion voting machines and fraudulent mail-in ballots won’t be a big factor in 2022 and 2024.
“Is the US going to sanction Germany and France if they continue to buy Russian oil and gas to heat their homes, fuel their factories and fill their cars?”
France gets about 80% of their electricity from nuclear. They went to that back in the 1970s after the “Arab Oil Embargo.”
But yeah, you’re right, and Russia has also gotten rid of 100% of their US debt instruments. And Putin tells us that the sanctions up until now have strengthened the Russian economy b/c it made them more self-reliant and–who knows?–it makes sense.
And after the enormous sums withdrawn from Canadian banks this week, sanctions against Russia will only disturb international cash flows further (and who can tell how or how much?), which is downright stupid. It’ll just make a bad situation worse, which could be what Putin has in mind, at least partly. But somebody on today’s thread reminded me of how the Ukro-nazis (as they are called) burned those Russians alive in Odessa–when?–7 or 8 yrs ago. So there’s that debt to collect, too.
That’s true about France, but Europe still needs Russian gas.
Also, as you mention, Russian has been working to make itself more self-reliant and/or reliant on countries besides the U.S., i.e. China, who won’t mess with them.
But harsh sanctions, especially using the SWIFT system, would hurt. However, it just shows the world what a bully the United States has become and would accelerate the push to create a monetary/banking/trade system that isn’t completely reliant on the dollar.
Btw, I was wrong to say that the dollar is the only weapon of the United States. We have a blue-water navy that can stop China’s trade in a heartbeat. But that’s just shy of nuclear-level aggression so not sure that the US would ever do that, especially since China is the biggest trade partner to much of the world so the US would hurting them as well.
“Btw, I was wrong to say that the dollar is the only weapon of the United States.”
No sweat. We all do it. It’s just an internet comment thread. The best one there is, it’s true, but still.
And you are right about our blue-water navy. And, you know, somebody on some comment thread just yesterday or Tuesday, was saying something about this Ukraine/Russia thing going back to Alfred Mahan’s blockbuster book before the First World War about the effect of sea power on world history, and referring to the Eurasian landmass power theory vs naval power, and Capt. Mahan’s analysis, etc. Odd, though, when you think about how much has changed but how little things have changed in the last 100 years.
“But harsh sanctions, especially using the SWIFT system, would hurt.”
OMG! It boggles the mind. And the heck of it is that WE CAN’T BE SURE what our insane “leaders” might do!
But if they are stupid enough to roll the dice on SWIFT, then … I don’t even know what to say.
We ought to be able to be SURE that they wouldn’t roll the dice on that, but we can’t. But that could blow up the whole world. And maybe that’s what they mean to do. But wreck the payments system, and you wreck the distribution systems, and that would be … well, bad.
Yeah, I don’t even know what to say. SWIFT.
O.M.G.
Not to mention our leadership is 100% owned by the chicoms.
“Is the US going to sanction Germany and France if they continue to buy Russian oil and gas to heat their homes, fuel their factories and fill their cars? Trudeau has showed how wild our “leaders” are capable of becoming when they feel threatened/offended. They’d probably like to de-bank every French and German household!
Nothing can stop Nordstream2 from flowing, eventually. Surely DC didn’t believe they could keep the EU dependent on tankers shipping US liquid gas from Houston to Rotterdam forever. Trump gave it a good shot.
I have a hunch Putin had good intelligence on the Odessa crew – hard to say if they were executed on sight, or if he will have them tried.
Even with the worthless leadership of this (former) country, it’s hard to fathom them wanting to get into a shooting war with Russia, but I guess never say never. The military can intimidate most countries, but not them. I further can’t imagine there’ll be any popular support for any significant action – hell, most people couldn’t find Ukraine on a map. Then again, most probably couldn’t find Serbia on a map in 1914 – well maybe they could as the education system actually taught relevant things back then. However, most wouldn’t have figured a no account country would be the spark that ignited WW1. Hopefully, this won’t be the spark that ignites WW3. Further, it looks like there a el mucho domestic problems building, and war with Russia over a place most couldn’t give two s**** about probably won’t override those local problems. I can’t see the martial ardor of Americans getting too wound up over this.
With a soft power regime like us, I don’t see any success with a military adventure where 30+% of the population will root against their own country’s military, and these are the working class people that the empire counts on.
With Iraq, there were mass demonstrations on the left, but still mass support among the general population. Within 5 years, we’ve created a culture that has a large population that either outright hates the military, or insists on making it so woke it’s incapable of it’s strategic missions, and it’s only going to get worse.
Tell me about it
This regime has ben bullying us mercilessly, and they think we don’t want to see it get its comeuppance?
They deserve everything they get. Let their beloved blacks protect them.
The bill has come due for 1/6 and like outrages, including most especially deindustrialization. D.C. will become Fort Apache the Bronx more and more as the land around it withdraws right along with the rest of the world.
Chet: The Daily Mail this morning featured a headline, amidst the screaming one about “Putin INVADES!!!!!” showing American troops moved from Italy into Latvia (yet another place we have no business being militarily). The photo accompanying the headline featuring the portly and posturing officers made me laugh. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10547275/First-contingent-800-American-troops-arrives-Russias-doorstep-Baltics.html
@3g:
There ya go! The Hologram in the White House is sending–wait for it–800 “troops.”
Eight hundred.
It’s 200 more than “the six hundred,” granted. But if the 800 are stupid enough to charge the same people that the 600 charged, well, I ask you!
Anyway, sending 800 “troops” (whatever that means–are they MILPO clerk/typists? Infantry? Airborne? Cooks? Some of them HAVE to be) to THREE countries? What the heck?
It’s just to set the propaganda stage: “Biden is standing up to Putin!” Or ” … to Russian aggression!”
Grrrr …
Looks like mid-term electioneering to me. Anyway, 800 “troops” is not a serious measure. It’s to set the propaganda stage.
This is the first time since 1979 that a major power OTHER than the US has invaded another country (Soviet-Afghan War).
Many are seeing/feeling first hand what the rest of the world thinks and experiences when the US blows the crap out of dozens of countries for decades on the flimsiest of pretenses.
It’s bully behavior; which is exactly what the world thinks of the US; the insane exporting of our deranged and degenerate culture doesn’t help.
Occurred to me that the US has always had the implicit threat that Putin is using now. Essentially: “You’re going to let us conventionally bomb you as much as we like, destroy your economy, starve your civilians, and if you retaliate in any serious way via strikes on our homeland, we will nuke you into oblivion.”
Putin went toward explicit yesterday and intimated if D.C. interfered all options were on the table, including nukes.
The big takeaway here is the Ruling Class, which has had much skin in the game since 1945, and barely then, will not sacrifice anything and the working class it has hounded and persecuted no longer supports military adventurism. We could see a sudden and rapid collapse of the GAE if, as is likely, Xi absorbs Taiwan (probably diplomatically) later this year. D.C. wil not do a damned thing since it is owned outright by the PRC.
*has not had much skin in the game
“Then again, most probably couldn’t find Serbia on a map in 1914 – well maybe they could as the education system actually taught relevant things back then. However, most wouldn’t have figured a no account country would be the spark that ignited WW1.”
Glad you pointed that out. You know, the flash point in 1914 Serbia *and* in the Ukraine yesterday was exactly the same: nationalism.
Funny, ain’t it! Falcone is right when he says Nature will win out. Nationalism is natural.
Force injecting your military with poison, then starting WWIII. The complete destruction of America seems to be the endgame.
I want to comment on the Russian population in Ukraine.
I know there are mixed opinions among the dissident right about attempts to revisit history and understand the motives of various parties (such as national socialists in Germany). But this is an excellent opportunity to really reflect on why things happen and how so very very wrong the western allies have been for the last 75 years or so.
Germany sailed into Austria and Czechoslovakia among other places with applause from the locals largely because the locals were Germans. EUROPE at the time was a hodge-lodge of political boundaries that had been redrawn in an attempt to weaken the German people. It was a silly denial of the realities of blood and soil nationalism.
I’m no geopolitical expert, but it seems to me that the Russian population of Ukraine is probably cheering right now. And I don’t blame them.
I’m not trying to rehabilitate anyone here. But truth is truth.
Yes it appears that the results of the “American experiment” are finally coming into focus. Will the cloud people learn to “trust the science” this time? (X)doubt
“I’m no geopolitical expert”
I shouldn’t worry about that, neither are our ‘leaders’.
Both regions declared themselves independent 8 years ago.
Its just now Russia decided to recognize them, as it seems they got fed up of the failure to do anything but loot the country and ship stingers in by the US and its allies.
I’m surprised by the Russian invasion. I though the whole thing was a figment of the Biden regime’s imagination. I guess they’re not completely delusional after all.
Biden’s handlers pushed Putin into this. All they had to do was accept that Ukraine would be neutral, like Finland was during the Cold War.
The US would never allow Canada or Mexico to join a military alliance directed at us. Why would we expect Russia to allow such a thing?
The Biden regime is delusional if they thought that they could push around Putin in area that the Russians consider to be a life or death region.
“The US would never allow Canada or Mexico to join a military alliance directed at us. Why would we expect Russia to allow such a thing?”
“If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see further into the future.”
Madeleine Albright
The US would never allow Canada or Mexico to join a military alliance directed at us
–At “them” you mean, they couldn’t care less about forces
aligned against us.
What Mexico has been allowed to do to the US is far worse than any military skirmish. All because of the cheap labor lobby and their bought-and-paid-for elected officials.
It’s the Cuban missed crisis in reverse. Except back then, the Soviet rulers were wise enough to back off before things went hot.
Our “leaders” our too stupid other than to double-down.
I think your analysis is a little overwrought.
Russia reasserting dominance in Ukraine (which has been controlled by the Russian empire for centuries) is akin to Roman domination of Mesopotamia reverting to Persian Control. A sign of weakness in the former. But not foreshadowing it’s imminent demise.
And wasn’t Kiev the first Russian capital? Back when–9th century? 10th? Before Moscow even existed, I *think*.
Anybody remember?
The area referred to as present day Ukraine was at some point Viking, Mongol, Polish-Lithuanian Empire, Ottoman, etc. Every present day country has a similar history.
I’m still confused as to why Ukraine politicos threw their lot in with the tranny brigade. Sure they’re the official sock puppets of the regime, but it seems like some sense of self-preservation would have kicked in at some point, probably when Biden made a guy wearing a dress an admiral if nothing else.
Check out the “early life” section of their Wiki.
This is why it is so hard to discuss the root causes of these world events without brushing up against the JQ. The destruction and suffering of the people has nothing at all to do with the “self-preservation” of the ruling class.
One of the themes of this blog is that the ruling class of pretty much all western nations have no empathy for or connection to the “dirt people” who make up the bulk of their populations. However, if you look closely in many cases the divide is not just philosophical but religious and ethnic as well. Our governments truly are occupied by a hostile foreign nation.
Citizen: This struck me as the one glaring omission in Zman’s otherwise excellent essay. There is a significant difference between Ukranians and triple-parentheses Ukranians and the history there matters, particularly when one adds in all of GAE’s own special people in the government and business elite.
“I’m still confused as to why Ukraine politicos threw their lot in with the tranny brigade.”
It was the Tranny Brigade that overthrew the legitimate, elected gov’t of the Ukraine in 2014 and put the current crowd in power.
And b/c the Tranny Brigade launders their dirty money in the Ukraine.
And b/c of (((ancient hatreds))) of Russia. (((Zelinsky))) the current president has the total support of the (((neocons))) in Washington.
And b/c the Crime Syndicate that is “our” gov’t wants the profits from force-selling American natural gas to Germany.
Infant: Excellent, but don’t forget the additional bonus of the resultant skyrocketing price of that natural gas and the lack and cost thereof to dirt Americans, furthering their impoverishment. Destruction of the middle and working class along with poking Putin and lining the elites’ pockets = win/win.
@3g:
Roger that. It’s a sticky and interlocking complex of “stuff.” Trying to get a handle on it is like trying to climb out of a vat of cotton candy.
I haven’t seen such a parade of NeoCon and Guice hacks since the Iraq War. The “Narrative” is entirely Guice. What a disgrace.
High energy prices, climate change, and population reduction.
” […] That is, they are not actually planning on achieving their so-called zero carbon sustainability objectives, yet, are predictably creating a food shortage with increased prices and further centralisation of food production, by bankrupting small farmers.
“Again, we see a contingent to the Green New Deal plan, when looked at more closely, is not a feasible plan, that is, there will be a breakdown before it ever reaches its proposed objectives.
“Perhaps that was the point all along… .”
http://thesaker.is/the-eus-fit-for-55-farm-to-fork-and-the-freezing-of-nord-stream-2-a-mass-sacrifice-to-the-gods/
The fact that is a completely stupid plan doesn’t make it not-true unfortunately. I’ve seen more well-grounded super-villain schemes in James Bond movies.
Yep. It feels like we are living in a James Bond movie b/c there really *is* a cabal of evil people trying to take over the world. The Climate Change religion is *apparently* going to be the “reason” they use to commit these breathtaking crimes.
We make fun of that, but it is *very* serious, just as you have pointed out. These are evil people.
It’s the MBA mindset: “But Excel said this would work!!!’
While i agree with most of this post, do not see china as having the “best” economy. And per capita income figures are on my side of that argument. Having said that, the US economy is in the process of cratering, thanks to Biden and co. Maybe that is the true impetus for all the thrashing about on all sides – the global system is sick and dying.
Do not see how biden’s masters can leave him in office, now that he has maneuvered the world to the brink of a hot war. The video of him grinning like a carny geek, and picking his teeth, has to be unsettling to even the most devoted cadres. Pinning it all on Mr Potato head (and removing him from office) gives everyone a way to back down without loss of face.
Xi must be itching to make a move on Taiwan, and put Biden under an unendurable amount of pressure. Which IMO would result in the US going nuclear in response.
> Which IMO would result in the US going nuclear in response.
Trump would have already done something insane by now, like that time he murdered the Iranian general. Our hope right now is that D.C. is so inept and addled by the Bureaucracy all they can agree on are some sanctions.
Remind me again how many wars Trump started in office? Why even bring him up, now? Why stop at Trump, why not start prattling on about McKinley and the USS Maine…
It’s the devoted leftist narrative. Everything from the day Trump was born is now Trump’s fault.
Depends on what the sanctions might be.
Most of the sanctions that have been mentioned (publicly, anyway) would disrupt international cash flows, and with the staggering amount of money that people have withdrawn from Canadian banks this week, messing with international cash flows just b/c “they” are in a snit is a pretty stupid idea, which all but guarantees that that is precisely what they will do.
“Good Lord, deliver us.”
Infant: Re destabilization of Canada’s banking system, came across a link this morning to a post at Conservative TreeHouse (a cuckservative hub where I’ve been banned for years) with an interesting conclusion. They’re saying the WEF had chosen Canada for the rollout of digital identity in North America, and the freezing of bank accounts and resultant run on the banks gave away the scope of governmental control too early. Thus the rollback of Turdo’s Executive order and perhaps thus the distraction of increasing pressure on Putin and his calling of said bluff.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/02/23/boom-trudeau-reversal-motive-surfaces-canadian-banking-association-was-approved-by-world-economic-forum-to-lead-the-digital-id-creation/
And further re banks, saw a handful of comments at various youtube channels yesterday where people were claiming limits on withdrawals from banks in the US. Anyone else hear of this (other than the standard one of more than $10k) ? In addition to increasing the cost of gas and everything else, ought we consider our ‘leaders’ adventure in Ukraine a signal to further draw-down our US bank accounts?
@ 3g:
” … Conservative TreeHouse (a cuckservative hub where I’ve been banned for years) … .”
A badge of honor, dear lady! A badge of honor! Wear it proudly!
You know, I read that story on Zero Hedge last year some time. Cold weather, I think, but last year.
Somebody had posted (at ZH) what he said was a transcript of a meeting of the Premier of Ontario with his highest-ranking bureaucrats from throughout the province. And what you have just reported was the subject of that meeting.
And when several of the bureaucrats balked and demanded reasons for the instructions they were being given, the Premiere told them that those were their orders and to get on with carrying them out. The meeting thereupon dissolved into a shouting match, according to this “transcript.”
The gist of the “instructions” was that ALL debts were to be cancelled in exchange for surrendering ALL private property. Including CLOTHING. And that there would be internal passports. And that rural areas would be depopulated by forcing rural-dwellers into “stack-em-and-pack-em” “sustainable” cities. (And I think “walkable” also described those “sustainable cities”)
And that everyone was to be injected with the “vaccines” and that CAMPS had been built to house refuseniks. And so on.
So this is now the second time I’ve read this same thing. You know, now I look back on that evening when I read that, I *think* that I was directed to the Zero Hedge link from the comment thread at The Corbett Report. Not that it matters, but my memory is kicking in now.
Anyway, Trudeau and his deputy–what is it–Friedland”? Something like that, BOTH of them are “graduates” of Schwab’s Young Leaders Forum or whatever it’s called. They are Schwab’s eyes, ears, and hands in Ottawa.
So, yeah, I figure this is probably true. It fits the facts (that we know of), and it is the sort of thing these people would do.
But Catherine Austin Fitts pointed out some months ago how crudely and clumsily the Chinkypox rollout was, and she said last year that it would fail, and she was right.
And that *may* be why (((they))) have engineered this Ukraine thing. The way they have (mis)handled the whole thing is remarkable. It’s easy to chalk it up to their stupidity and arrogance and the distance from reality in which their little lives take place, but looked at another way, it appears that they have deliberately precipitated this crisis for some purpose, even if it was only to direct the attention of the masses away from the collapsing chinkypox “crisis.”
And about your husband saying what I said up-thread about the Yankee dollar being the only game in town for the present: Your husband it a Prince Among Men!
And if you look at yesterday’s thread, you’ll see where I posted a couple of things last night–probably after everybody else had left the page for the night–that I had heard from what I regard as a reliable source that the Russian Embassy was contacting (some) Russians living in the States and telling them that they should leave the States within a week, and that they should take with them enough CASH to complete the trip to wherever they were going in case of (quoting now) “interruptions in banking.”
And you will remember how Putin had said some weeks ago that if the West pushed him to it, there would be “technological” responses from Russia.
That’s all I know, and no way to evaluate it, really. Except that I trust the source I heard that from, for what that may be worth. I’m taking common-sense steps.,
If Putin has stockpiled all the gold some claim he has, he can laugh at sanctions as the world’s economies collapse.
I’m trying to think – aren’t any sanctions with teeth Biden might impose also going to hurt Soros & Co? Help me out here.
“I’m trying to think – aren’t any sanctions with teeth Biden might impose also going to hurt … .?
Soros & Co., will have been given whatever amount of lead-time they need to escape whatever “teeth” they put into their sanctions. They will have placed their ForEx bets and all that. They will do very well, but they are touched by your concern for their welfare.
And it depends on what “teeth” they are yammering about. I have read (more than once) mention of SWIFT–the international banking settlement payment system. Society for International Financial Telecommunications, I *think* is what SWIFT means.
If they eff with THAT, they could blow up the whole world in short order. It depends on what is going on that we don’t know about. On what is motivating them. All we can do is watch the lunatics–at the remove of the popular press and the internet–and try to figure out what they are up to. And, of course, it’s hard to get inside a lunatic’s head.
They might be ready to blow up the world. Or they might be grasping at straws in a panic as their evil plan blows up in their faces. All we can do is talk with one another and try to figure it out.
You pays your money and you takes your chances.
Society for Worldwide Interbank Telecommunications. SWIFT.
3g:. Slight quibble, you’re perfectly free to withdraw more than 10K cash, your bank just has to report it as a Large Currency Transaction. And your friendly banker might ask about it.
But speaking of currency – I see reports that the operators of the barely animated cabbage we call Joe Biden are threatening Putin with cyber attacks. This is crazy, we are much more vulnerable to hacks than Russia, and our resilience in general is pathetic.
The above is the explanation I plan to give to my friendly banker when I come in to withdraw a reportable amount of cash later today.
China is an interesting topic economically. You can find numbers that argue their economy is not as strong as people think. Your per capita income is a good example. Their per capita income levels are worse than the USSR had at the waning points of their system. There are many making cogent arguments that China’s economic system is at the point of near collapse. However, you look at the fact that they literally supply almost everything to the rest of the world, and it’s hard not to see economic strength in that. You could legitimately make the argument to me that they are on the brink of collapse or global hegemony and I’d believe either one.
Per capita. as in spread over 1.4B people? Not really relevant. They have as many people in the industrial urban sector as the US. They manufacture and produce. We simply navel are and manipulate money.
I think this a key point, Compsci. Along with the ability to mine and refine as many important raw materials that are required to sustain your society. This can then be bolstered by a military force that can project power to all places it needs to.
Not sure where China stands on those two.
Perhaps, but that’s just one example/statistic on that side of the argument. The other significant argument is that many Chinese companies are massive shell games that are building massively subpar products (if anything at all) and promising big things with no intention of ever delivering. The Evergrande collapse is likely the tip of the iceberg over there. When you dig in and look specifically at their real estate market, it’s an absolute mess. It’s even worse than here.
Corruption in China is rampant, too. My brother-in-law was building a factory in China but he quit that job b/c every time he went over there and met the Chinese bigwigs, they kept trying to bribe him. And when he would demand answers about their use of inferior materials and so on, they would tell him straight up that they had used X%age of the construction budget on bribes–they HAD to–and that they didn’t have enough money left over to buy what my bro-in-law had told them to buy. Finally, he began to be fearful for his life b/c he refused to go along with “business as usual” in China.
I remember when we saw that Wuhan lab on TV one evening, and I said, “look as the rubber seals on those refrigerator doors! They’re shoddy and they don’t seal the doors!”
And he said, “That’s the result of their bribery-as-regular-business culture.”
He learned to despise them, and not only for their dishonesty. Says they’re just nasty people. Revolting habits.
Per capita income figures are deceiving to a degree
I know in Italy for example they are much lower, or used to be when I was younger, but people there had pretty much the same lives as Americans. They had houses, cars, took vacations, ate well.
But if I had to guess, in America that added income may mean you get an extra toy that people don’t have in Italy, say a jet ski or a fancier truck, because that’s where that excess income ends up. I don’t think it has any relation to a rudimentary western standard of living. It just means you have more money to waste after the bills are paid. But that in itself can be fun so not knocking it.
The last two years have demonstrated that the way we measure economic activity is seriously flawed. The lockdowns and movement restrictions pulled a significant percentage of people out of the work force. Probably a higher percentage overall than happened in the Great Depression of the early 30s. And pretty much nothing happened. No mass starvation, no mass evictions, no mass dislocations.
Yeah but a lot of that is because no one could be evicted
Where the pain is is with landlords and owners of rental properties. So beneath the surface and underreported are lots of small property owners getting screwed. That has yet to bubble up into the public consciousness
There are other “hidden” areas of financial pain I’m sure that hide the extent of the economic dislocation and hardship
We just aren’t aware of them yet
“81 million” voters would celebrate the pain of landlords and owners of rental property.
Ha! It just occurred to me. “81 million” is the new “6 million.”
And we get all of these figures to compare nations from THE MOST RELIABLE SOURCES EVER! Like the NYT, CIA, and US Dept of State. Arguing about per capita GDP is arguing about meaningless metrics; even if the entire concept wasn’t poppycock, all reports of those metrics are using numbers that are as legit as a $3 bill.
Display::Gell-Mann amnesia.
“Do not see how biden’s masters can leave him in office” Does anyone have a proposed scenario that results in someone even halfway competent installed as executive while maintaining the appearance of honoring the constitution? I forget how the depth chart goes once past option 2 and 3 and neither of those nullities are viable options.
“Does anyone have a proposed scenario that results in someone even halfway competent installed as executive while maintaining the appearance of honoring the constitution”
(1) Biden is removed under–what is it?–25th Amendment? Illness, unable to function. Whatever it is.
(2) Karamela become President.
(3) President Karamela appoints Hillary Clinton VP.
(4). Karamela leaves office in some way–doesn’t matter how or why. Health. Incompetence. Death. Anything will do.
(5) Hillary is President. She appoints O’Bama VP.
That is totally Constitutional and it has happened before.
Agnew resigns 1974. Nixon appoints Gerald Ford VP. Nixon resigns. Ford becomes president. Ford appoints Nelson Rockefeller VP. We had an unelected president *and* VP.
And it was universally accepted.
That makes sense and something like that is coming I bet. It was a different country back then though.
Xi must be itching to make a move on Taiwan, and put Biden under an unendurable amount of pressure.
Xi will probably unveil some secret merger agreement with Taiwan that was negotiated while everyone was looking elsewhere. Possibly he will snap his fingers and order a decapitation strike resulting in Taiwanese leadership that immediately merges with China.
Which IMO would result in the US going nuclear in response.
I only see that happening if the US Navy gets involved and a supercarrier is sunk.
That event would shock the smooth-brained grill and chill normies so hard that they would immediately begin foaming at the mouth in support of nuclear war.
“Sanctions” should be the new “thoughts and prayers”. As in, stale and meaningless.
“Hey buddy you’d better not sleep with my wife, or else I’ll impose sanctions!”
“Hey urban black male, you’d better not push me onto the subway, or I’ll ask city hall to impose sanctions on you!”
Hans Blix threatens Kim with an angry letter from the UN.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPSvIz9NDs
“Sanctions” should be the new “thoughts and prayers”.
That’s priceless, Marko.
It also is a variation of Michelle Obama writing on her paw, “BRING BACK OUR GIRLS!” after the Nigerian Islamists kidnapped Christian sex slaves.
This is our life now. One inept stumble after another whether it be geopolitically or on the home front. Psaki said this is defending our values. I guess those values are the globohomo ones, we have no other.
Now I see that Putin said he is fighting nazis. Borrowing from the enemies playbook, well played sir. Now all Vladdy has to do in the war of words with world leaders is to just add ‘phobe’ suffix to all his descriptions of them for the win.
Look for Putin to lure Biden into a summit meeting, and thoroughly revealing the extent of Biden’s dementia. Biden’s handlers know that such an invitation is a trap, but if they refuse, Putin can say “I want to talk, but biden prefers fighting”.
Shame Biden shat all over the military with his vax mandates.
Slavophobia?
Anti-slavite?
Get the feeling Putin did his first maneuver at the breakaway territories to get feelers as to the West’s response. When it was lackluster and bumbling, he decided to go for broke.
I didn’t think Russia would go all-in, so taking a massive L there. This shows that Russia has enough allies that he can completely forego the West and cozy up with Asia. Thinking there are a multitude of secret agreements with China that are going to completely change the geo-political game. At this point even cutting them from Swift might be an empty threat.
A great moment for China to make it’s move on Taiwan.
And then on to Africa, where they have already established a strong foothold. The darkest continent already provides a third of China’s oil and 20% of its cotton. Africa holds half the world’s manganese, an essential ingredient for steel production, and the DRC possesses half the world’s cobalt, without which, globohomo’s carbon-free utopia dissolves into rainbow flavored kool-aid waterboarding.
There are high purity manganese nodules littering the ocean floors, but international treaties prevent any country from scooping them up. Since they’re in internnational waters, the “ownership” hasn’t been negotiated; expect the “poor” countries of the world to claim that they have ownership rights, whether they get involved in the mining of the nodules or not.
I agree. I did not think Russia would go for the whole thing, but I tend to underestimate the incompetnace of our rulers. I did not think they were serious about making Baghdad into Athens either. I’m never cynical enough, it seems.
Oh I think you are cynical enough :P. What is going on now is beyond cynicism, it is Thanatos incarnate, ascendant and unimpeded. None of the major world powers are going to emerge with their positions enhanced. The smart play (for Xi and Putin) would have been to let Biden and co utterly destroy the US, and then take what they wanted without firing a shot. Why they are rushing into the vortex, now, is the big question.
The West operates on cynicism. The East operates on the strong man. What we are seeing now is the ascendancy of strong man, and which country can boast the strongest man. Putin is currently the world’s alpha. Now it’s Xi’s turn.
If I were to guess, it’s pride. Putin and Xi are not young men either. Putin is 69 and Xi is 68. I know it the American political system this is a spring chicken, but they are fast approaching their life expectancy. Both have openly stated, and insiders have stated, that they feel they have moral duties to accomplish for their countries before they exit this world. Putin sees it as his moral duty to correct the staggering losses incurred at the conclusion of the cold war. The US verbally agreed to not expand NATO into former Soviet states, and then finked on the deal, but Russia was too weak to do anything about it. So they watched all their neighbors turn to the US for some of that globohomo cash. Xi believes it’s his moral duty to finally reunite China with Taiwan.
Both leaders realize that they are strong and have the moral fortitude to withstand globohomo propaganda. There are no guarantees that successors will be as capable. In fact, very rarely in history are great leaders followed by another great leader.
Speaking of globohomo, Putin is probably the world’s biggest proponent of “the patriarchy” – or at least the world’s most visible one, at any rate. Which is why American progressives hate him so virulently – just mention his name and watch Hillary or any firebreathing “feminist” lose their minds. It’s not a stretch to say America’s entire left are FEMEN fellow travellers. Putin is of course fully aware of the globohomo rot destroying Western Civ, so in a way, to the globohomo mind, this is going to seem like an extension of the culture war.
The Greek: Excellent and insightful comment.
HIllary is breathing fire, except when the Kremlin is paying Bill Clinton hundreds of thousands of dollars to “speak”, laundered through a favored Russian bank.
This is supposed to be news, but I remember it well. At the end of the Cold War, Putin approached Clinton about joining NATO, and obviously got turned down cold.
One interesting happening in Syria was when Putin ordered some mercenaries to attack an entrenched American position. It seemed that Vlad figured he could get a two-fer: a probe attack to check the enemies defenses without using his own troops, and, wiping out the mercenaries (which they were) so that he wouldn’t have to pay them.
Although Putin is cast as a master schemer, that’s only in comparison to his super lackluster competition. A more critical assessment shows a man prone to violent, petty actions.
those mercenaries were Russian nationals, too.
Some Putin fans on here, so I’ll also point out his mad-capped assassination plots on dissidents beyond his borders (again, it’s not like he’s protecting an ideology, just his ego), but the die was set in my mind when he burned up that TV station early in his reign. He couldn’t just shut it down, he had to have some weird arson plot to put it out of business.
Again, that is the FNG times we live in, in which such a petty tyrant of the world’s largest gas station can be the International king maker (not to mention that he’s the best leader the Russians have ever had).
The only reason for moving now is maybe P&X sense normie waking up a bit. Even so, a small carrot would probably have normie hitting the snooze button. Fortunately/unfortunately (depending on pov) our leadership class is too stupid, evil or both to even give him that.
Same here. I was certain that Putin would not invade the Ukraine “proper” (if I may call it that.)
On the other hand, I still don’t expect anything even approaching an occupation. The financial burden on the Russian state would be ruinous. But that’s why I was convinced that he would not “invade.”
What I’m expecting now (yeah, why not keep making wrong guesses?) is a “surgical” operation–in and out fast. For what purpose? No idea.
Next!
if you use chess as a metaphor, then ukraine is a pawn feint; the real target is a more valuable piece. my inner machiavelli says this is about drawing xi into a fatal move.
“my inner machiavelli says this is about drawing xi into a fatal move.”
Okay, I’ll bite. What is he going for? Or did you just mean it in a “general” way? Intriguing idea, though. I’ve tried to keep up with it, but things have been happening fast and furious. Anyway, what are you thinking of?
IP: China is an existential threat to Russia, in a way the US is not. Read up on what the Mongols did to the Rus; it left an indelible mark. By drawing Xi and Biden into a hot war (while Russia backs off) he kills two birds with one stone. Ever play the board game Risk?
Could be (I don’t think we will lift a finger to help Taiwan). At any rate, the current Russia-China friendly relationship is about as stable as the Stalin-Hitler buddy movie.
If Putin decides to go really whole hog, e.g. taking the culturally Western/Catholic formerly Polish/Habsburg western Ukraine with Lvov, then we really got a serious situation.
BTW, the Brooklyn Lubavitch have yeshivas in western Ukraine .. Mukachevo.
“If Putin decides to go really whole hog, e.g. taking the culturally Western/Catholic formerly Polish/Habsburg western Ukraine with Lvov, then we really got a serious situation.”
Yeah, but I don’t think Russia has the financial or manpower reserves to outright occupy territory that way. It would be ruinous for the Russian state unless he has figured out some way to make somebody else pay for his occupation of territory. Maybe the Donald has explained how he got Mexico to pay for the wall.
The more I learn about the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, the more I think the “democracy” of Athens were jerks and got exactly what they deserved.
Too bad so many people had to be slaughtered first over a 30 year period.
There are rumors that China has got daggers out for Taiwan. Perhaps a double-invasion by the new Best Friends in Asia?
What was that line in the Godfather, ‘going to the mattresses’, I believe. You know, every ten years or so this crap has to happen. Restructuring or solidifying positions.
China-Russia Pact, perhaps?
Shades of the Soviet-German Pact that carved up Poland in 1939.
Didn’t the logic of supporting the breakaway regions make this mandatory? If you do the incursion to support these regions, that makes Ukrainian admittance to NATO considerably more likely, and much sooner. Ukraine in NATO is the much larger problem the Russians are trying to solve, yeah?
Just about every country on the planet, with the exception of Yiddistan, will be freer and better off when the Empire collapses.
The current established elites of many countries will find that it does not apply to them, however.