2022/12/23 16:30:01
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From his hospital bed a wrestlers statement; The worst mistake I ever made in my life was to say to my 6’4″ 320 pound “fully biological woman” wife.. “come at me bro”
– Mark the Midget –
Short rant.
Those who analyze the Russophobic Collective West understandably attribute a significant role in all this to: centuries of Russia hatred that goes so far back that one can quote Pushkin on it; greedy attention to Russia’s resources that should be “shared” more widely; neo-con ideology of stopping the rise (or even development) of any rival or peer; preparation for a larger fight with the PRC; and so on.
IMHO, the SMO and the conflict around Ukraine generally also takes away from the saving role of the Russian Armed Forces in helping the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR) to fend off a brutal Libya-like fate. Resources that could help disentangle the complicated situation in Syria aren’t available. I think at least one author has drawn attention to the US/NATO plans in Ukraine as “revenge” for spoiling the US “party” in Syria.
To me this would lead to the conclusion that a shorter SMO would make those resources more available. And that would be a good thing.
This aspect of world geo-politics ought to get more attention in terms of understanding the US/NATO motives in starting and prolonging the conflict in Ukraine.
End of rant.
troubles come to us
because we need to learn
a divine law
those who are able
to sever their attachments,
find true freedom
a grateful heart
ensures the gifts of life
keep coming
the miracle comes
after you’ve done all
you can possibly do
the last time we met;
if I cannot share this love,
then put out this fire!
The real man smiles at trouble,
gathers strength from distress,
and grows brave by reflection.
– Thomas Paine
Cat Stevens; Trouble
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2O3Se5024s
Trouble
Oh trouble set me free
I have seen your face
And it’s too much too much for me
Trouble
Oh trouble can’t you see
You’re eating my heart away
And there’s nothing much left of me
I’ve drunk your wine
You have made your world mine
So won’t you be fair
So won’t you be fair
I don’t want no more of you
So won’t you be kind to me
Just let me go where
I’ll have to go there
Trouble
Oh trouble move away
I have seen your face
And it’s too much for me today
Trouble
Oh trouble can’t you see
You have made me a wreck
Now won’t you leave me in my misery
I’ve seen your eyes
And I can see death’s disguise
Hangin’ on me
Hangin’ on me
I’m beat, I’m torn
Shattered and tossed and worn
Too shocking to see
Too shocking to see
Trouble
Oh trouble move from me
I have paid my debt
Now won’t you leave me in my misery
Trouble, trouble
please be kind,
I don’t want no fight
and I haven’t got a lot of time.
Yusuf; The Wind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXuq6XpoasE
I listen to the wind, to the wind of my soul
Where I’ll end up, well, I think only God really knows
I’ve sat upon the setting sun
But never, never, never, never
I never wanted water once
No never, never, never
I listen to my words but they fall far below
I let my music take me where my heart wants to go
I’ve swam upon the devil’s lake
But never, never, never, never
I’ll never make the same mistake
No, never, never, never
‘Morning has Broken’ – Nana Mouskouri
Lyrics : Cat Stevens, Eleonor Farjeon
https://youtu.be/K-w2TndI5TY
interesting stuff going on again in Texas, this is behind a paywall so I cut parts of it.
More than 1.5 million homes and businesses lost power, oil refineries in Texas cut gasoline and diesel production on equipment failures and heating and power prices surged on the losses. Oil and gas output from North Dakota to Texas suffered freeze-ins, cutting supplies.
Some 1 million barrels of daily refining capacity in the U.S. Gulf Coast was shut due to the bitterly cold temperatures. Affected plants included Motiva Enterprises’ Port Arthur, Texas, complex which can process more than 600,000 barrels of oil a day, making it the biggest refinery in the United States.
Sempra Infrastructure’s Cameron LNG plant in Louisiana said weather disrupted its production of liquefied natural gas without providing details. Crews at the 12 million tonne per year facility were trying to restore output, it said.
Freeze-ins – where ice crystals halt oil and gas production – this week trimmed production in North Dakota’s oilfields by 300,000 to 350,000 barrels per day, or a third of normal. In Texas’s Permian oilfield, the freeze led to more gas being withdrawn than was injected, said El Paso Natural Gas operator Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI.N).
New England’s bulk power supplier said it expected to have enough to supply demand, but elsewhere strong winds led to outages largely in the Southeast and Midwest; North Carolina counted more than 187,000 without power.
“Crews are restoring power but high winds are making repairs challenging at most of the 4,600 outage locations,” Duke Energy spokesman Jeff Brooks wrote on Twitter.
Heating oil and natural gas futures rose sharply in response to the cold. U.S. heating oil futures gained 4.1% while natural gas futures rose 1.7%.
In New England, gas for Friday at the Algonquin hub soared 361% to a near 11-month high of $30 mmBtu.
About half of the power generated in New England comes from gas-fired plants, but on the coldest days, power generators shift to burn more oil. According to grid operator New England ISO, power companies’ generation mix was at 17% from oil-fired plants as of midday Friday.
Gas output dropped about 6.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) over the past four days to a preliminary nine-month low of 92.4 bcfd on Friday as wells froze in Texas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
That is the biggest drop in output since the February 2021 freeze knocked out power for millions in Texas.
One billion cubic feet is enough gas to supply about 5 million U.S. homes for a day.
Interesting article
Massive Troop and Armor Movements Begin in Belarus – New Combat Designation: “K”
As of 7:12 AM EST here in the USA, troops in Belarus are now on the move toward Ukraine and their tanks and other vehicles bear a new combat group designation: “K”
Word coming out of the region suggests (but does not confirm) that a new invasion of Ukraine will commence on (western) Christmas Day, December 25-into-26.
It is worth noting — in that part of the world, people do not celebrate Christmas on December 25, they celebrate Orthodox Christmas in early January. So what is a solemn and holy day for us in the west, is not yet that same holy day for them.
Whether or not a secondary invasion will take place, it seems clear from images and information coming out of Belarus, that at least _something_ big seems to be taking place right now.
Convoys of military troops and armor are on the move. Whatever this is, could prove decisive in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine Special Military Operation.
It has been speculated for weeks that Russia had been massing troops in Belarus to launch a second offensive into Ukraine, in the areas near the Poland Border, so as to cut-off NATO supplies coming into Ukraine.
If these troops move southward from Belarus, they would enter northwestern Ukraine in perfect position to halt weapons shipments from Poland.
In a rather unusual early-morning statement, the Russian Ambassador to the USA said early Friday morning “The risk of a clash between Russia and the USA is now high.”
Why a statement like that would be issued so early in the morning is not yet clear. It is, however, unusual.
Here is an interesting set of videos from a mixed British and Russian married couple. They aren’t overly pro-Russian. But these videos are more positive and except for the last not actually about Russia. They all give a “feel” to areas that we hear a lot about ,but rarely get a chance to actually see what its like to be there. I thought they were worth a look:
Traveling to the Country Everyone is Trying to Leave.(Moldova)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrc1ihZ4Iac&ab_channel=MattandJulia
This “Country” is the Last Stronghold of the Soviet Union (Transnistria)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Psj2StH03GY&ab_channel=MattandJulia
Traveling to Russia’s Island in the middle of Europe (scary border) (Kaliningrad)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzlENE-1we8&t=2s&ab_channel=MattandJulia
A great interview with Scott Ritter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqxFiy7-PaU&ab_channel=Throughtheeyesof
For any Chinese zodiac animal enthisiasts, 2023 is the year of the rabit, quite a change from 2022’s Tiger Year, the energy may shift, is it possible? Who knows, but in ceain areas of human endeavout, it may well be, and far easier than Tiger energy…. Not meaning easier in terms of comfort, but easier to achieve the unexpected miracle of the good, Take note and prepare !
The hare is a type of rabbit, mysterious and wonderful, seen in its viisible shadow on the moon it represents the sacriice of Buddha, Chines legend spoke of this hair as constantly pounding herbs for the immortals…
I’ve never seen this, but know the circular beatten paths on arable land formed by them, and someone who has seen their ritual movements around them.
The Congress Speech Ms Elinsky gave but was not broadcast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah1dRwziTqs
Cheers M
No lack of electricity or other shortages this holiday season in Siberia:
Russia’s New Year’s Capital
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M29o1JGeL4&ab_channel=RussiaGuy
Just a quick note to wish a very happy Xmas to Andre, the team, the extraordinary contributing writers, and last but not least the wonderfully eclectic and extremely bright and informed commenters that make up this awesome site.
Downunder we are a day ahead of many of you guys… but not in all things!… LOL
Also, it seems like a crazy idea to try to morph a Xmas carol into a rock song… but I dunno it seems to work for this Ausy band ‘For King and Country’. I can hardly believe the incredible energy this band creates.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5zBF-zPXpU
And the other stunning video version… to me the beautiful 5-year-old son of one of the band steels this show…
https://www.20thecountdown.com/news/for-king-countrys-little-drummer-boy-video-released/
Cheers and warmest regards to all
Col
Apologies Mods… typo Andrei
5.30 pm here and just got dark, the few extra minutes of light are noticable…..
Merry Christmas to one and all….
…and a big thank you to Andrei and the Saker crew for providing this respite in a sea of madness…….
Cheers M
Christmas, the art of being you better than you can be you. Have a merry one.
Here’s wishing Andrei, the Mods, all the team, the contributing authors & and last, but not least, our Cafeistas a very Merry Christmas and good health & happiness for the 2023.
This site proves time and time again the importance of a network of informed, like-minded individuals to remain sane in an otherwise upside-down world.
As an overly cautious person I hate ‘counting my chickens before they hatch’ as the saying goes, but I think its pretty safe to say 2022 has witnessed that a geopolitical / geoeconomic critical mass has been reached in breaking the stranglehold of the Hegemon on the world.
Let us all hope and pray for an early resolution to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine on terms most favorable to Russia.
And God bless President Vladimir Putin. may this be the absolute last time that Russian blood has to be spilt to defend the Motherland.
P.S. Thanks for the vids Col from NZ, the Little Drummer Boy happens to be my fave Christmas carol.
Cheers,
All good Uncle Davey and I always enjoy your contributions.
I always thought Jose Feliciano did the best version of that song, but I think that title goes to ‘For King and Country” now.
Cheers
Col
It’s morning and sometimes my eyes mist over, Iread “I always enjoy your cornflakes”, me too….
The commentary by Brother Dave, David Collum, the chemist – this commentary part # one is a particularly find read… see Zerohedge…
Best! P
Thanks Mr P. very good stuff.
There’s a (1:20:09) vid also: Professor David Collum of Cornell University:
The Digital World and Rise of Authoritarianism https://youtu.be/ra0evafMzBQ
If Cafeistas have some spare time over the Xmas-NY break you may like to explore theauthoritarians.org
Heaps of eye popping stuff.
This is all very well known to the Elites and can be pulled out of their playbook at any appropriate time.
I still see the so-called Western “liberal democracies” heading towards fascist authoritarianism as the contradictions become clearer and clearer.
Cheers,
Reed the story, it wont let you down,
never get angry, nor even a frown.
But who is this? A new band in town,
yet some thing is wrong, there is no clown.
No clown ? Take the lead, I’ll follow. . .
Multipolarity:
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) an intergovernmental, political & economic union of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, & UAE oil exporters will trade oil and gas in yuan.
The petrodollar monopoly and Bretton Woods II are ending, as foretold in Riyadh.
Kathleen Tyson: https://www.pacemaker.global/commentary/bretton-woods-ii-ended-today
Biden has understood Russia cannot be defeated in Ukraine. He is getting a vague sense, perhaps, that Russia isn’t exactly seeing things in Ukraine as a binary of victory and defeat, but is gearing up for the long haul to sort out NATO once and for all. – former Indian diplomat, MKB
Ukraine war tolls death knell for NATO
https://www.indianpunchline.com/ukraine-war-tolls-death-knell-for-nato/
The hits at Russian AFB via “drone” seem to be understood to utilize civilian aircraft flights as masking radar and action by antiaircraft sites…which means somebody has designed a guidance gizmo that tracks an aircraft rather closely…perhaps a little radar to control the separation distance and an IR tracker to track an engine heat source aboard said civilian aircraft…I’m thinking close track…50 meters or so…and I’m probably only half right…given modern programmable stuff far above my old pay grade. Still, easy or not such a tactic will be easy to counter with aft looking IR and radar in tail of civilian aircraft. Aftlook radar is about as old as radar itself. aftlook IR is easy too. Meantime? Ground civilian traffic and lay on more trains? It would be nice if one of these (presumed to be specially adapted) diabolical machines were to be captured intact…which is imho, realistic.
I see the locals in Buffalo NY have gone a little funny in the head…no doubt that’s caused by climate change… (it snowed a little there, and naturally, by “racism” or some sort)
Collum’s commentary part # 2, which is focused on the 404 affair, is now “up” and “downloadable” in pdf – I have not yet read it…
Collum, of course, speaks of the past…but leaders speak of futures…thus some may react with nervous laughter https://theduran.locals.com/post/3264953/dmitriy-medvedev-before-the-new-year-everyone-likes-to-make-predictions-many-people-prac A list> (not my translation) 1. Increase in oil prices to $ 150 per barrel and gas prices to $5,000 per 1,000 cubic meters.
2. The return of the UK to the European Union.
3. The collapse of the European Union after the return of the UK and the abolition of the euro as the currency of the former EU.
4. The seizure by Poland and Hungary of the western regions of the former Ukraine.
5. The creation of the Fourth Reich on the basis of Germany and the satellites that joined it (Poland, the Baltic states, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, the Kiev Republic, etc. marginals).
6. The war between France and the Fourth Reich. The partition of Europe, including the new partition of Poland.
7. Separation of Northern Ireland from the Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and accession to the Republic of Ireland.
8. The Civil War in the USA, the separation of California and Texas into independent states. Creation of the union State of Texas and Mexico. The subsequent victory of Elon Musk during the US presidential election in some of the states assigned to the Republicans after the Civil War.
9. Transfer of all major stock exchanges and financial activity from the USA and Europe to Asia.
10. The collapse of the Bretton Woods financial system, including the collapse of the IMF and the World Bank. Abandoning the euro and the dollar as world reserve currencies. The return of the gold standard. Transition to the active use of digital fiat currencies.
Happy New Year to you, Anglo-Saxon friends and their happily grunting piggies!
https://t.me/medvedev_telegram/237
If Gospodin Medvedev’s prognostications are realized, I do wonder…will Jefferson break free from the grasp of vice and the fascist creeps in Sacramento… (searchterm “state of jefferson”) I must buy a flag…
Of course, given “R2P”…Jefferson may be invaded…who can say? But it does promise to be a “special” 2023, does it not?
Best! P
It is appearing that, as a society, we are no longer concerned, or able to be concerned, about maintaining a thing, until said thing(s) has/have quit working.
And I think there are just so many other things to worry about day to day, that to take the energy to prevent something from breaking down, is just not a priority anymore, there is no further room to advance in this direction.
So when people ask how did your country collapse, well it was slow at first, but then it suddenly happened all at once. Go figure.
The people can no longer listen to potential problems the tolerance limit has been reached, but once they surface, they can no longer be ignored.
A warm up is coming to all place that lost power and froze, if the reports are similar to the cumulative plumbing troubles now being reported in the south, not only are you going to be short on plumbers, the duration until the problem is resolved will test those same peoples nerves.
I expect a number of these events this coming winter as the reach of both hot and cold boundry increases each cycle.
Buckle and prep up, I think the time is near.