Let's see. The same deep state/globalist ghoul who fostered the color revolution in Ukraine in 2014 and installed a puppet government admitted yesterday that we have "bio-research" (bioweapons) labs in Ukraine and we MUST stop the Russians from getting their hands on the "research". Not one single mention of why the United States would have "bio-research" facilities in a non-ally country, pretending to be a "democracy" while acting like a dictatorship. Imagine if Russia placed "bio-research" facilities in Mexico and covered it up. Why do we put up with these idiots? They only thing they do well is to destroy, murder & maim. It would seem that the rest of the world is waking up to this reality. When will we? Alex, you can dismiss this as "conspiracy theory nonsense", but avoiding reality won't make it any less real.
Right on. I love Alex, dearly. But lets get serious here. I have friends in and around Russia. Russia is still on the gold standard. They still make most everything in Russia. They are more prepared that the rest of the world for getting shut down. Why would Russians shoot Ukraine citizens next day after making a deal to let them leave? Why would they shoot M, W and children, too? Why would they hit one unused silo at the nuke site they were claiming to have surrounded? Their missile weaponry and tank weapons are quite good. And the approved American Ukraine President is now a hero because the same socialist agendized media says he is a hero.
We should be totally pissed that American criminal security and our other agencies not worthy of being called security are blocking RT and other news sources in fear just like we hear Russia is doing. (I used a back door and the dark web to watch RT.)
All we are seeing is the 2020 World Economic Council brag about the new definition of peace and how to use the beast mark and meta data against Russia (one of the few that still fights just a bit against world domination). If Putin really is pro WEC (or playing along) he did just what they said he would do 2 years ago at their world meeting.
No, I'm sick of hearing the NSA-CIA term conspiracy theory even in jest. It's given us Californication, Russia Russia, a dead and deadly fake news, costly press, (all our major newspapers are owned by global cash paying terrorists), at least 20 anti-American perverts and widow-makers now rule DC, a hands off election rigging digital system, some of the most transhumanist acting CEO types on the alien-free planet and the list the exceeds to space and time continuum. As I was saying, I love Alex.
Also, let's consider the potentially obvious. Russia hasn't destroyed Ukraine, not because they can't, but because they don't want to. They know that the West can do little to nothing about their invasion, so time is on their side. So they continue to execute on their objectives, namely destroying Ukraine's military facilities, and gaining control of the country. This makes sense if you believe them when they say that they consider Ukraine to be part of Russia. Why would you destroy part of yourself?
Meanwhile, they are facing down a country which spent weeks warning of this invasion, and which is only now just barely getting a bill through congress to provide weapons to the Ukrainians. That's the brilliance of the leadership in Washington, and it appears to be largely mirrored around the west. How exactly do they propose to get those weapons past the Russians to the Ukrainians? Further indicating clownworld, apparently the Poles decided to ship old MIG fighters to Ramstein without telling the USA, or at least anyone in a senior leadership position.
All the Russians have to do to unleash global economic havoc would be to embargo all of their exports. Without Russian oil, gas, and minerals, the west would have a massive recession. Yet the West doesn't even seem to have considered this as a possiblity.
Meanwhile, Biden had the power to prevent this war: simply affirm that Ukraine would never be part of NATO. Done! Pretending the Russians don't have legitimate security concerns is simply willful ignorance.
It seems clear now that Washington wanted Russia to invade Ukraine (otherwise the policy decisions make no sense). The national security state needs an enemy and China is out (they have bought off our ruling class), so Russia is it. This mess is already a disaster which could turn into a catastrophe.
Democrat party is evil and Putin is evil. All are thieves. Russia can not destroy Ukraine using only conventional weapons. Just like it could not destroy Afghanistan. Russia military is dreck. It can murder a lot of civilians though.
Both parties are evil. I really wish that were not true. When Mittens decided to impeach Trump for exposing the Ukraine truth, believe me the Republican establishment was cheering. They may despise Trump more than democrats. They never wanted to drain the swamp. Both parties are the swamp.
I’m not sure it matters to Putin that the Ukraine is destroyed. He doesn’t want NATO on his borders, he’s been very clear about that. He doesn’t need to preserve a culture or population to achieve his goals.
I think somewhat. He tried to take it lightly, but since he can't, he is taking the gloves off. His needs override whatever happens to Ukraine in order to achieve his goals.
Like I have replied to Alex before..virus gonna virus! Just go write about ConVid! Until you understand the Donbas region, the shelling the ethnic Russians in the area have put up with. The Minsk Agreements, the Budapest Agreement, the 2014 Obama coup, just go write about “virus gonna virus”
You haven't figured out we are being lied to about everything yet? There are foreign journos saying it's the Ukraine military who are bombing their own people and you know better?
🤷🏻♂️ Your belief system will never let you see anything other than what the MSM is showing you. And you will say the same about me. Correct? Have you ever looked over there, while they are getting you to look here? I don’t claim to know everything, one thing I have learned, especially over the last two years…if Soros, Biden, Obama, Trudeau, MSM, are picking this side you better run to or at least look into the other side!! Here is where “your truth” comes into play. I don’t believe in “know your truth” there is only “The Truth” and “they” seem to lie lie lie like a sidewalk!!
Ya. And I think the oil thing and what is - or is not being done here with oil/gas is to intentionally speed the crash of our economy/dollar. What other possible explanation could there be. Go. Watch. Soros speech to Hoover institute a few weeks ago. Bone. Chilling.
There's no Russia anymore. Putin sold it to Xi and China is in charge there. Russia is nothing but extension of North Korea. No wonder that Putin chose his bunker that is closer to China. He is not Zelensky. Putin is not kind of leader who would die fighting for the freedom of his nation. He prepared his escape route.
Are there any Conspiracy Theories left? Seems like every one comes true if one waits long enough. Conspiracy Theorists should be concerned that they'll be unemployed soon, nothing left to pontificate about.
This one only lasted a week. I don't know if the globalists are just incompetent idiots or there are wheels within wheels, but so far I'm running out of popcorn
I totally agree with you. In addition the deep state has been using Ukraine as a piggy bank for years now. We send them aid and in exchange, they hire someone's child (Biden, Pelosi, Schumer) to do a job, that they are completely unqualified for and give them an exorbitant wage. I love that video of Biden bragging about getting the state prosecutor fired:
Oh Alex, Alex, Alex, where did we go wrong? I guess you can take Alex out of the New York Times, but you can’t take all of the NYT out of Alex. The same pack of liars and misfits using the same playbook brought us Russia-Russia, 2 or 3 (I lost count) sham impeachments, Iran nuclear deal, Pandemic, Climate Change, WMD, the list is nearly endless, and now Ukraine-Ukraine. Bryce Mitchell for President!!
Let’s not forget Zelensky has hidden money offshore for himself, along with all the other Ukrainian Oligarchs. Pandora Papers. You can read about it in the Guardian. Why would Americans spend a dime on this conflict?
What happens is that each political side likes their own liars. So corruption continues. We should ask Mittens about those bio labs. He and the Biden’s and Kerry’s know much about Ukraine corruption. What I mean is that money flows from US to Ukraine to these politician kids and then US is urged by these kids to fund Ukraine even more. Circular corruption.
I would argue that those fighting for Ukraine belong to a Fascist group that is well known. So this may be a war between communists and fascists.
Thanks for that link Robert! That pretty much reveals WHY Putin HAD TO start destroying these dangerous and illegal labs.....which were apparently set up outside of international laws and regulations. Wanna setup a bioweapons lab but your government can't legally fund it? No problem...COME TO BEAUTIFUL UKRAINE
And Zelensky is hardly a hero although he is to be pitied for having been duped by US- NATO and threatened by the neo-Nazi battalions. His is not a good place. But it puzzles me how Alex can get so much right re Covid Pandemia and yet be so biased and blinded by the MIC and neocon warmongers.
The country is messed up and full of Nazis because they are angry at the fast talking Oligarchs that took their money and moved to Park ave and Beverly Hills. They should’ve invested back into Ukraine. Who are the idiots that put biological weapons in such an unstable country?
I knew the bio-labs were a thing when a fact-check appeared on Feb 25th about them. I never believe any new conspiracy theory until it has first been fact-checked. :)
My other half sent me some material about that the other week, and I was suspicious. One had a map showing multiple lab locations in the Ukraine. I was, like, uh, why would a country the size of Texas have so many? "I need more information," I said.
Now, don't need anything more than the Nuland admission.
Lord knows what the Dr. Mengeles, Collins & Fauci, and the DOD were funding there!
Of course, if we had a functioning media the last seven years, we might know such things.
the ones that have existed for decades and not clandestine research? ... BTW russian disinfo retread ? Making an innocuous situation and pretending it matters. You are being had
That is why Nuland (a woman who laid the groundwork to overthrow the democratically elected government in Ukrainia) is so worried about them coming into Russian hands.
I have no dog in this fight. They are all lying but not the reason you think. Ukraine is a hot bed of corruption. Putin has always made his plans known. Go back to 2008, and start from there on the history of Ukraine and Russia. Frankly I don't give a damn. Our country is being turned into a shit hole on purpose. I refuse to jump up and down over what's happening between Ukraine and Russia. Am I heartless? No. This is all one big shit show created by our feckless corrupt leaders. The media and our government would love to see us protesting in the streets about Ukraine while ignoring what's happening to Americans.
Yep. Absolutely no more interest (by media on the left or right) in the hundreds of thousands of young men coming across our southern border - for jobs? Guess again...
If we eliminated the regulations on our US production, and even exported to other countries in an effort to eliminate buying oil from the global dictatorship regimes, we wouldn't have to pay $6 or $5 or $4/gallon. And we'd still be able to support Ukraine!
Yes, and yesterday Kamala and Pete Buttcheeks was telling Americans how wonderful it would be to have electric cars, buses etc. etc. They could care less about Ukraine. I will buy a horse and buggy before I buy a 50,000 plus electric car.
As an electrician I have been installing lots of those lately here in the peoples republic of california. Fifty amps 240volts minimum. Some people need to upgrade their electrical service to handle the additional load.
Most certainly correct. Here (Albuquerque) citizens complain about new electric substations that muck with the view. Those are required as neighborhoods arrive to require more power delivery. Those wires above us are sized for a given amount of service along with the various transformers. Some neighborhoods are already not able to do solar buybacks because of capacity limitations. Adding my capacity for EV charging won't make things easier. Everything in life has a cost, even when it's 'free'.
All the fine print they don't tell you before it's too late!!! Imagine the electric grid constantly shutting down and then nobody can charge their electric cars ...totally plausible!
New 200 amp service approx 2500. Emergency whole house backup generator approx 10k. I have done projects involving both at once. Usually in the gated communities. :)
"We tried to get China to deter Russia. China ignored us." Wrong - we tried to get China to help and they gave our intelligence to Russia to help them!
Bingo. Didn't realize you said it first. But then again Alex said the other day he has no problems sending his countrymen to war. He or his children will not be attending, thank you.
No, he tried to get NATO to start WWIII. Putin's red line is Ukraine joining NATO. Everyone knew this going in. He invaded right after Kamala called for Ukraine to be part of NATO.
I feel the same. She and Biden are both so terrible I don't even know what scenario to wish for. All we can hope for is that the Dems lose both House and Senate in the midterms, so both become no more than figureheads. What a world.
"Putin's red line is Ukraine joining NATO" - Yeah, that's what the news tells us. I suspect it's much more complicated beyond those sound bites. For all I know it's from a bit of pique at his troops being pushed around in the Donbas by some citizens there tired of the Russian abuses. A mini-war has been going on there for a very long time, even well before 2008/14. When his huge troop buildup didn't make them behave, he had to do something to save face.
Imagine a useless organization that before Trump, most of its members were not funding it (Germany) at the percentage agreed based on their GDP, it was American taxpayers.
Leave him alone or you are no better than you accuse him of being. We are indeed thankful for the hard work he has done and if he has blind spots so be it. We all do. No one is perfect. I mean. We call him out. But let’s not stoop to the level we accuse of. And certainly let’s not create in each other - or become the monsters we seek to destroy. That is how the us went bad.
well thanks Bash...cause man - James went after me - for going after you..and I ate his lunch...You took it as I meant it...and I meant what I said to him...I'm not a Kool-aid drinker...I think we have to see Alex for what he is...opinionated...yes...strong enough to fight against the grain...as are all of us...and critical thinkers who are opinionated and strong are gonna have opposing views and come up against it sometimes...and ya - sometimes Alex may look like he's off our wagon...but if we dismiss him out of hand - we are no better and we - we may look just as off the wagon to one another given one conversation or another...at any given moment - aren't we just as likely in this crazy world to slip in to our own form of cancel culture...we had just found in this little forum the ONE thing we agreed on...ya...we critical thinkers have to stick together...not turn on one another. That's all I meant. Thanks for understanding that...as for James - we shall see...I might have attacked a little back...eh..or the scrappy 10 year old with her hands on her hips did anyway...
One thing with the internet and these message boards is that people are quick to temper, quick to anger, quick to insult. I think its because we see the written word as one with more intent, more permanent than the spoken one. You can misspeak, or talk shit, but once you type it out and hit send, there is an accountability that people expect. I am not sure why that is, 90% of the messages and posts that I write are just whatever is in my head in that moment and I rarely re-read or re-write. Especially not in the comments like here.
So, in response, I try to be charitable when someone is critical of something i say. I would say the process is a bit hit or miss haha
oh my word...if you only knew me...I speak truth to power...we can speak truth to power..but not dismiss him entirely...which is what it sounds like you are doing...and that is NOT what we do here...we speak truth and disagree...but not wait for our subscription to run out and take our toys and go home and throw accusations...Ya - I'm a Kool-aid drinker...see...the name calling...geesh...are you sure you aren't one of THEM? hmmm...I might or might not be younger than you but I'm a feisty little yankie chick raised in the very over-polite south - with an attitude that almost always gets me in trouble b/c I have Always spoken truth to power - even when that power is older than me and it might be deemed disrespectful...so - let's just take a step back...I think you did the exact same thing just now...we all do it...that is my point and it's a double edged sword this "NOT DRINKING THE KOO-AID" thing... you can't have th balls to speak up all the time and not over step and piss people off and believe your own propaganda sometimes...and I'd say - maybe you dont'know what that feels like - but this exchange proves that you do...so - let's go back to my original point...and realize that on this here forum - we are a lot more a like that different...Yep - CALL ALEX out - Tell him he has his head completely up his ass on the Ivermectin thing and I told him straight on that one - and that he was turning into the people he has fought against and was blind as a bat to it...I call him out - not that he reads all this...as if...But if you can't acknowledge that it's the cost of doing business with strong opinionated people - like yourself...that we ALL will do this sometime...well...you aren't drinking the kool-aid - you just lack self-awareness.
hmm...There are some great books on emotional intelligence I can recommend...but really - I think our community of strong minded - strongly opinionated...critical thinkers here is good and we can push and pull and all - but we shouldn't take our toys and go home and name call or we are just like the people we came here to investigate and stand against. ( said with her Hands on Hips...with a big HMPH! from her inner 10 year old girl!)
An interesting corollary is that the comments on berensons stack get hostile quick, whereas there's a lot more charity and goodwill on the others I follow. I find that unsurprising considering how caustic he is, that his community reflects that. I'm just waiting to run the clock out on my subscription at this point
Yeah, but that's no different from Americans fighting an invading aggressor because we "want to be free", despite the fact that we have a wholly-illegitimate, America-hating administration trying to destroy America and doing its level best to enslave America for the past year-plus, along with tyrannical Democrat chief executives who've been doing it for *two* years.
We'd still fight an invader. For America, *not* for its government. I suspect the Ukes are doing likewise, for similar reasons.
Yes, it is a complicated issue. Imagine you are a Canadian. Russia invades you. You give your blood and, at the end, you get more Trudeau trying to inject you and freezing your bank accounts.
I like your reasoning. But here is where it may differ.
Using Canada as an example, once upon a time, General De Gaulle came to Canada and said, "Vive le Quebec Libre". That inspired the Quebec separatist movement and one or two acts of kinetic terrorism, (the rest, apparently, having been done by the RCMP to justify the War Measures Act, now called the Emergency Measures Act) Then Canada went inmto high gear to win hearts and minds to win French Canadians in Quebec back to the national cause.
Ok...
Now imagine that instead, Canada went into Quebec with the army and started wiping out civilians at random and knocking over homes and firing heavy machine guns into homes and otherwise killing and disenfranchising French Canadians in all walks of life.
My Ukrainian friend would agree with Alex here. I have yet to form a viewpoint on what is happening over there so I am relying heavily on a very trusted colleague who is Ukrainian and whose brother, nephews, cousins etc are all there on the Western side. My friend grew up under the USSR, conscripted into the Russian army, is now American. He has also said that the Eastern russian-speaking Ukraine has become anti Russian over the last few years. That the 2014 coup ousted a corrupt politician that attacked the citizens. And that the Ukrainians are fighting hard. …Anecdotal but thought I’d share.
A good article with multiple viewpoints from normal Ukrainians is here: https://bariweiss.substack.com/. It is always good to try to understand how the 'common people' see things on the ground, in my opinion.
A point I think valid. The Donbas was not sufficiently intimidated by all those troops at the border and the mini-war was going badly for Russia, so Russia made it bigger. The Donbas has been an issue for many, many years.
The reality of the situation is Russia has to air and nuclear strength to have completely eliminated Ukraine from the map if they so chose. They have chosen not to. You, and everyone else, have no idea why.
Every single thing you just said about the war is conjecture based on your interpretation of battling propaganda coming out of Kiev, Russia and the US. MSNBC is playing screens FROM A VIDEO GAME and calling it war footage but you’re SURE the Ukraine’s “fighting really hard” is why this is dragging out?
You need to take a step back, rejoin team reality, and START ASKING the “but then why…” questions that finally lead you to the truth on covid.
I have no idea what’s going on in Ukraine because it’s all bullshit being funneled to us … but neither do you and the fact you aren’t asking and instead pretending you know what’s happening is embarrassing.
But yes, we can all agree Biden also has no idea what’s going on or why, despite having literally installed the puppet regime in Ukraine
Pretty sure you could go ask Ukrainian Americans (or where you are from) who have family there. They will confirm Ukrainians are fighting hard. What makes you so sure Russia could take over Ukraine already without firing Nukes.
I'm not arguing they aren't fighting hard. In fact, it's almost a statistical impossibility that some of them aren't fighting very hard. Just like people did get very bad COVID, just like they had very bad Flu's before that. The point is, those are the trees... and when we live in the trees we completely miss the forest. Russia has the second largest air force in the world, and, even if we accept all Ukrainian propaganda it doesn't appear they're using it, almost at all. Asking the "why's" on these things is the only way we get to the truth. Saying this war is "dragging out" (did Putin announce a timeline upon which it had to end?!?) BECAUSE "Ukraine is fighting hard and the Russian military is inept" just can't be the entire truth, because it leaves out the entire piece about Russia not using their single greatest advantage over Ukraine. And that's my point. Alex is, yet again, being a journalist who knows things rather than asks things. "It aint what you don't know that kills, it's what you know for sure that just ain't so..." I don't know why Russia hasn't "already won this war," or if they were supposed or what "winning" even means to them, but I know for sure the answer isn't "Ukraine fight hard, Russia military dumb"
Wrong about what? It's almost a certainty I was wrong about something I wrote... But specifically what does that mean? Wrong - meaning Alex is right and literally ONLY those two things are responsible for them not "winning" (again, without anyone defining what winning actually means in this case...) this war already? I'm honestly not sure, but I know it would have to start with Putin defining exactly what winning means, which I feel like he's pretty unlikely to do for fear of it not happening and him losing face. Only US leadership is dumb enough to make mistakes like that...
Ah, you might want to check the full time traitor V. Nuland’s response to the part time traitor Rubio’s question yesterday about those ‘bio labs’ during Senate hearing. Looks to me like an orchestra Ted effort to get ahead of a story. Just sayin…
Oh, and BTW, you of all people should know that yesterday’s conspiracy theory seems to continue to find a way to be todays news. Just sayin…
If it isn’t about biolabs or some of the “conspiracy theories” what was the motivation behind Russia’s invasion? It wasn’t because Putin wants to rebuild the old Soviet Union. I think you’re being short-sighted here, Alex. We learned from Covid that if there is a narrative in the media, it’s likely the opposite or something totally different. You helped us to realize this.
How do you know that it’s not because Putin wants to rebuild the Soviet Union? Russian politics toward the former republics (in particular their treatment of Russian speakers in these countries) has been indicative of the contrary for many years. And I am saying this as someone who is from the region and has been following the geopolitical maneuvers for years. But I agree with Alex on the ridiculousness of the mainstream narrative on American leadership. It would be funny if people were not dying there in combat and while simply trying to go on with their lives.
I know that because he doesn’t have the military to do so and because he knows that the rest of the world wouldn’t allow that kind of take-over. I wish that this wasn’t happening (the loss of life is abhorrent). I agree and would love it if we had honest reporters and investigative journalists we could trust for actual news!
Don't worry. Sometime close enough to the midterms, Biden will secretly agree to not instal NATO or NATO facilities into Ukraine or Russia's borders, Russia will withdraw from all except the Crimea and Donbas, and Biden will claim we averted WW3.
Oil is is only partly "fungible." There are differences in grade. US refineries require heavy crude to balance out the extremely light crude obtained through fracking. Decades ago, we got that heavier crude from Venezuela, but the last four Presidential administrations decided to punish Venezuela for its "socialist" policies, steal Venezuelan assets and have Venezuelan diplomats arrested by lackey states and extradited to the US to be prosecuted on trumped up charges. Instead of importing Venezuelan heavy crude, the US has shifted to other sources, mainly Russian heavy crude. The grade of heavy crude required by US refineries is not particularly common outside Russia (and Venezuela). Thus, both Democrat and Republican Presidents have increased US dependence on Russian crude, while insulting and incrementally threatening Russia's security.
Alex is apparently ignorant of the real reason for Russia's slow progress in its de-militarization, de-Nazification of Ukraine. Russia does not make war on civilian populations with "shock and awe." They are loath to create enemies, so their plan is to isolate Ukrainian cities and confine the Ukrainian military to cauldrons cut off from their supplies of ammunition and fuel. It will take some time before civilians (and even deserting Ukrainian troops) can be evacuated from the cities and before the Ukrainian military runs out of ammunition. It's a slow process. It has nothing to do with the "brave resistance" of Ukrainians.
Of course Alex does not want to hear about biolabs or the near 14,000 civilians in Donbass who were killed by Ukrainian shells during the last eight years, much less how the US encouraged its puppet Zelensky to step up its attack on Donbass, insist he was going to "liberate" Crimea and create a stockpile of nuclear weapons with which to threaten Russia. All that would generate an uncomfortable cognitive dissonance for someone who actually believes in Empire and only recently learned how evil the little corner of Empire involved with pharmaceuticals is. Alex is thus incapable of seeing that, because the entire narrative of the scamdemic has unraveled and globalists are in danger of losing their grip on the US, they needed the distraction of war and a new existential threat to re-focus the attention of useful idiots away from themselves and onto a scapegoat. That's why Biden did everything humanly possible to encourage Zelensky's aggression against Donbass, refusal to implement Minsk and threaten Russia with nuclear weapons and an eventual war with NATO over Crimea. This post by Alex is truly pathetic.
I confess I've admired Putin for years. His older brothers died during the siege of Leningrad, so his parents told him of the horrors of war. He saw how Yeltsin's corruption, encouraged by Western neoliberals, hurt average Russians like his parents. He has done his best to avoid both war and corruption. He is supported enthusiastically by 2/3 of the Russian people.
Thanks for the correction. I originally thought only one died during the siege, but recently read that two had died, which was apparently incorrect. Was it only the oldest brother who died and the middle was born and died shortly after the war?
"There are differences in grade. US refineries require heavy crude to balance out the extremely light crude obtained through fracking." - Suggest this needs rework. Light is the preferred input because it's easiest to refine into fuels. Heavy requires more effort to make fuels and many refiners can't process it because of the extra processing. Heavy is used mainly for asphalt so is still needed in some quantity.
Suggest you do a little more research. Many US refineries require BOTH, as the light is too light and needs a bit of the heavier grade to produce gasoline. That's why I indicated the need to "balance."
Saying required is a bit much. The Cushing, OK areas is nearly exclusive WTI mainly for light fuels light gas. No heavy going there, too expensive to ship. Early refiners had no access to heavy but produced without any mix. Since refining heavy crude is more expensive often light crude gets added but the real issue lies with plant investment for heavy is more than investment for light. Canada & Venezuela oil requires those more expensive plants. But heavy is cheaper than light. All the refineries for heavy are more specialized converting for heavy costs $M100's. As long as heavy sells at a discount the profits are there.
OK, writing, "US refineries require..." was ambiguous. I could have meant "all" or I could have meant "some" or "many." The problem is not with the word "require" but the absence of "Many" in the original post. You agree that converting those "many" refineries would be very expensive.
The bottom line is that if many refineries need heavy crude and can not readily be converted to only lighter grades, then when heavy crude becomes restricted, you've just reduced supply and the price of gasoline must necessarily rise. As I wrote initially, "Oil is is [sic] only partly 'fungible'." It was pretty damned stupid of our elites to alienate the two largest producers of a commodity upon which the US people depend, unless of course they don't care about the US people but only about their elite power and privilege.
I love how we keep hearing "The EU and NATO are in lock step with us [U.S.A.] on fighting back against the invasion of Ukraine" even though the U.S. hasn't led a single step throughout this entire debacle (is there any other word that better describes the Brandon-Harris admin thus far?)
Add to that, the fact that Europe - most notably Germany - has repeatedly said there's no way in hell they'll give up importing Russian energy. I get it: they've "greened" themselves into an energy coffin corner and only Putin's BTUs can keep them from having a mass die-off. Problem is, Trump warned them about this exact scenario during his U.N. speech and the German delegation was LOLing the whole time. Now we hear from incredible intellectual luminaries like Whoopie Goldberg that all of this is Trump's fault! It's all so tiring...
The (green) German minister of economics insisted yesterday(!) he's still going to turn of the last 3 remaining nuclear power plants at the end of the year. He said he is now busy developing a "plan", which probably involves more wind turbines.
Unfortunately, I currently appear to have to live in Germany. But at least I've got large amounts heating oil, firewood, food stockpiles and a brand new powerful diesel generator...
France is building MORE nuclear power plants, has some of the best energy prices in the EU, and Germany still doubles down on "green" energy? I'm so glad you're pretty much self-sufficient energy-wise, 'cause it looks like more bitter winters are ahead for the rest of your countrymen. SIGH...
So, Generalissimo Berenson, what’s the “right” number of days to “take” Ukraine? Does Russia even aspire to occupy all of Ukraine? Since you don’t know the target, how can you conclude that it’s taking all too long?
The people of Ukraine have not been served well by their government. Putin is obviously a nasty guy, and the Ukrainian government and NATO backed that nasty guy into a corner. The people of Ukraine are now paying the price for that. And as always happens in war, all combatants are now trying to manipulate public opinion through war propaganda:
Reminder The Uni-Party is passing another Omnibus Bill and in it "Ukraine is getting $10 Billion. We some how need to try to stop this. IMO American taxpayers are funding our own Demise, Sadly. In the meantime they are pretending Covid is over, Biden vetoed the bill the senate passed about revoking, the Emergency Powers Act. We are living in Crazy times. IMO I dont think we know the truth about what is going on in the Ukraine. If they really want to destroy Russia and help the Western European countries, we open the Keystone XL Pipeline and start Fracking again.
The Under Secretary of the Department of State just admitted yesterday to biological research labs in Ukraine. You are parroting dead talking points with that one, very disappointing.
Let's see. The same deep state/globalist ghoul who fostered the color revolution in Ukraine in 2014 and installed a puppet government admitted yesterday that we have "bio-research" (bioweapons) labs in Ukraine and we MUST stop the Russians from getting their hands on the "research". Not one single mention of why the United States would have "bio-research" facilities in a non-ally country, pretending to be a "democracy" while acting like a dictatorship. Imagine if Russia placed "bio-research" facilities in Mexico and covered it up. Why do we put up with these idiots? They only thing they do well is to destroy, murder & maim. It would seem that the rest of the world is waking up to this reality. When will we? Alex, you can dismiss this as "conspiracy theory nonsense", but avoiding reality won't make it any less real.
Right on. I love Alex, dearly. But lets get serious here. I have friends in and around Russia. Russia is still on the gold standard. They still make most everything in Russia. They are more prepared that the rest of the world for getting shut down. Why would Russians shoot Ukraine citizens next day after making a deal to let them leave? Why would they shoot M, W and children, too? Why would they hit one unused silo at the nuke site they were claiming to have surrounded? Their missile weaponry and tank weapons are quite good. And the approved American Ukraine President is now a hero because the same socialist agendized media says he is a hero.
We should be totally pissed that American criminal security and our other agencies not worthy of being called security are blocking RT and other news sources in fear just like we hear Russia is doing. (I used a back door and the dark web to watch RT.)
All we are seeing is the 2020 World Economic Council brag about the new definition of peace and how to use the beast mark and meta data against Russia (one of the few that still fights just a bit against world domination). If Putin really is pro WEC (or playing along) he did just what they said he would do 2 years ago at their world meeting.
No, I'm sick of hearing the NSA-CIA term conspiracy theory even in jest. It's given us Californication, Russia Russia, a dead and deadly fake news, costly press, (all our major newspapers are owned by global cash paying terrorists), at least 20 anti-American perverts and widow-makers now rule DC, a hands off election rigging digital system, some of the most transhumanist acting CEO types on the alien-free planet and the list the exceeds to space and time continuum. As I was saying, I love Alex.
Also, let's consider the potentially obvious. Russia hasn't destroyed Ukraine, not because they can't, but because they don't want to. They know that the West can do little to nothing about their invasion, so time is on their side. So they continue to execute on their objectives, namely destroying Ukraine's military facilities, and gaining control of the country. This makes sense if you believe them when they say that they consider Ukraine to be part of Russia. Why would you destroy part of yourself?
Meanwhile, they are facing down a country which spent weeks warning of this invasion, and which is only now just barely getting a bill through congress to provide weapons to the Ukrainians. That's the brilliance of the leadership in Washington, and it appears to be largely mirrored around the west. How exactly do they propose to get those weapons past the Russians to the Ukrainians? Further indicating clownworld, apparently the Poles decided to ship old MIG fighters to Ramstein without telling the USA, or at least anyone in a senior leadership position.
All the Russians have to do to unleash global economic havoc would be to embargo all of their exports. Without Russian oil, gas, and minerals, the west would have a massive recession. Yet the West doesn't even seem to have considered this as a possiblity.
Meanwhile, Biden had the power to prevent this war: simply affirm that Ukraine would never be part of NATO. Done! Pretending the Russians don't have legitimate security concerns is simply willful ignorance.
So who's more evil? Biden or Putin?
It seems clear now that Washington wanted Russia to invade Ukraine (otherwise the policy decisions make no sense). The national security state needs an enemy and China is out (they have bought off our ruling class), so Russia is it. This mess is already a disaster which could turn into a catastrophe.
Bozo Biden
Democrat party is evil and Putin is evil. All are thieves. Russia can not destroy Ukraine using only conventional weapons. Just like it could not destroy Afghanistan. Russia military is dreck. It can murder a lot of civilians though.
Both parties are evil. I really wish that were not true. When Mittens decided to impeach Trump for exposing the Ukraine truth, believe me the Republican establishment was cheering. They may despise Trump more than democrats. They never wanted to drain the swamp. Both parties are the swamp.
Yup. I totally agree. The Uniparty always comes together to defend the swamp and to take civil liberties from Americans.
Like. Button not working AGAIN. There are no good guys here.
Try refreshing the webaddress. It helps with likes for a while, but it does take you back to the top of the comments 😖
I’m not sure it matters to Putin that the Ukraine is destroyed. He doesn’t want NATO on his borders, he’s been very clear about that. He doesn’t need to preserve a culture or population to achieve his goals.
I think somewhat. He tried to take it lightly, but since he can't, he is taking the gloves off. His needs override whatever happens to Ukraine in order to achieve his goals.
Wow! Superbly written! Thank you!
Like I have replied to Alex before..virus gonna virus! Just go write about ConVid! Until you understand the Donbas region, the shelling the ethnic Russians in the area have put up with. The Minsk Agreements, the Budapest Agreement, the 2014 Obama coup, just go write about “virus gonna virus”
Shelling of ethnic Russians is pure Putin's bull$hit.
14,000 dead people including children disagree
Can't confirm that number, but aggressors have to pay.
You haven't figured out we are being lied to about everything yet? There are foreign journos saying it's the Ukraine military who are bombing their own people and you know better?
Yea..the Russians shelling of Ukrainians is pure Zelensky, West bull$hit. 🤙🏻
Parroting?
🤷🏻♂️ Your belief system will never let you see anything other than what the MSM is showing you. And you will say the same about me. Correct? Have you ever looked over there, while they are getting you to look here? I don’t claim to know everything, one thing I have learned, especially over the last two years…if Soros, Biden, Obama, Trudeau, MSM, are picking this side you better run to or at least look into the other side!! Here is where “your truth” comes into play. I don’t believe in “know your truth” there is only “The Truth” and “they” seem to lie lie lie like a sidewalk!!
Jerry Smith you are right on.
What is RT?
Russia Today... US website showing Russia perspective to many of our fake news stories. Fun to watch and does get the brain doing homework.
RT measured just the news. Agree! Our press is pure poison for the future of our country! Worse possibly than the corrupt uniparty in DC.
Take a look at Tass.com for another perspective.
Russia Today
Surprisingly, still on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/RT_com
Right. Silence Covid skeptics, keep murderous mullahs and Putin.
Still available here in Mexico City via a U.S. laptop. www.rt.com
Ya. And I think the oil thing and what is - or is not being done here with oil/gas is to intentionally speed the crash of our economy/dollar. What other possible explanation could there be. Go. Watch. Soros speech to Hoover institute a few weeks ago. Bone. Chilling.
There's no Russia anymore. Putin sold it to Xi and China is in charge there. Russia is nothing but extension of North Korea. No wonder that Putin chose his bunker that is closer to China. He is not Zelensky. Putin is not kind of leader who would die fighting for the freedom of his nation. He prepared his escape route.
Brilliant
Are there any Conspiracy Theories left? Seems like every one comes true if one waits long enough. Conspiracy Theorists should be concerned that they'll be unemployed soon, nothing left to pontificate about.
Soooo, you are telling me there is still a chance we actually have Lizard People roaming the earth?
Actually, don't answer that question, after these last two years, I'm not sure I am ready for the answer.
That’s why our title has changed to Conspiracy Analysts.
Lol. I mean. I. Cant. Even. Lol. ROFL.
This one only lasted a week. I don't know if the globalists are just incompetent idiots or there are wheels within wheels, but so far I'm running out of popcorn
Truth is the new Tattoo often well hidden and ready for a relationship to show it.
I totally agree with you. In addition the deep state has been using Ukraine as a piggy bank for years now. We send them aid and in exchange, they hire someone's child (Biden, Pelosi, Schumer) to do a job, that they are completely unqualified for and give them an exorbitant wage. I love that video of Biden bragging about getting the state prosecutor fired:
https://youtu.be/UXA--dj2-CY
Conspiracy theories are the new truths.
The wealth and good will that generations of our forefathers fought and worked for has been stolen and squandered by parasites & looters.
That was quite an admission Nuland made. This should be very disturbing to even a half wit.
Her body language was very very nervous. What are they hiding?
I finally saw her yesterday on TV. Sweet looking woman, soft voice. Beware!
Yes - there is way more to this.
Perhaps we could find an ex NYT Science Editor to poke around a bit.
Alex is basically skunked here re the bio labs https://citizenfreepress.com/breaking/victoria-nuland-mentions-ukraine-biological-research-facilities/
Yep, you called it. Alex! Are you paying attention to what all your paying customers have written? Some of these folks are pretty damn sharp!
Its really remarkable. The commenters here are a lesson in forming parallel systems. Kudos commenters!
I like how they are worried that they might "fall into Russian hands". Apparently they only read the first half of the conspiracy theory?
🧐🤨😖😡🥸
Alex really is just another MSM “reporter” full of whiny complaints. Some ppl are still doing great work, though https://twitter.com/alexandrosm/status/1501322587225276425?s=21
Right, bitching about being kicked off twitter 🤣
In his world (and many others), if you ignore the reality enough, it’s like a bad dream, it will just go away.
Fantastic response! Thank you!
Oh Alex, Alex, Alex, where did we go wrong? I guess you can take Alex out of the New York Times, but you can’t take all of the NYT out of Alex. The same pack of liars and misfits using the same playbook brought us Russia-Russia, 2 or 3 (I lost count) sham impeachments, Iran nuclear deal, Pandemic, Climate Change, WMD, the list is nearly endless, and now Ukraine-Ukraine. Bryce Mitchell for President!!
What you going to do? They gave the deplorables substack. A place to vent out of public view.
As for who are the Good Guys and who are the Bad I will leave you with this. https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2019/05/03/enter-joe-biden-stage-left/
And globally the demonic progressives are trying to foist the Great Reset on the world when what we really need is the Nineveh Reset!
Let’s not forget Zelensky has hidden money offshore for himself, along with all the other Ukrainian Oligarchs. Pandora Papers. You can read about it in the Guardian. Why would Americans spend a dime on this conflict?
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/paul_valery_390403
What happens is that each political side likes their own liars. So corruption continues. We should ask Mittens about those bio labs. He and the Biden’s and Kerry’s know much about Ukraine corruption. What I mean is that money flows from US to Ukraine to these politician kids and then US is urged by these kids to fund Ukraine even more. Circular corruption.
I would argue that those fighting for Ukraine belong to a Fascist group that is well known. So this may be a war between communists and fascists.
Maybe that’s where Fauci went.
Run, Tony, run!!!
What he said.
https://rumble.com/vwv0f3-victoria-nuland-admits-ukraine-has-biological-research-facilities.html
Thanks for that link Robert! That pretty much reveals WHY Putin HAD TO start destroying these dangerous and illegal labs.....which were apparently set up outside of international laws and regulations. Wanna setup a bioweapons lab but your government can't legally fund it? No problem...COME TO BEAUTIFUL UKRAINE
Yeah, there ARE bioweapon labs in Ukraine. https://greenwald.substack.com/p/victoria-nuland-ukraine-has-biological?r=degj&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
And Zelensky is hardly a hero although he is to be pitied for having been duped by US- NATO and threatened by the neo-Nazi battalions. His is not a good place. But it puzzles me how Alex can get so much right re Covid Pandemia and yet be so biased and blinded by the MIC and neocon warmongers.
The country is messed up and full of Nazis because they are angry at the fast talking Oligarchs that took their money and moved to Park ave and Beverly Hills. They should’ve invested back into Ukraine. Who are the idiots that put biological weapons in such an unstable country?
I think Alex likes to poke a stick to get a reaction.
Biolabs? You mean the secret ones that Victoria Nuland admitted to yesterday could fall into Russian hands…
I knew the bio-labs were a thing when a fact-check appeared on Feb 25th about them. I never believe any new conspiracy theory until it has first been fact-checked. :)
So true David. The more fact checks generally the more accurate the ‘disinformation’ actually is.
My other half sent me some material about that the other week, and I was suspicious. One had a map showing multiple lab locations in the Ukraine. I was, like, uh, why would a country the size of Texas have so many? "I need more information," I said.
Now, don't need anything more than the Nuland admission.
Lord knows what the Dr. Mengeles, Collins & Fauci, and the DOD were funding there!
Of course, if we had a functioning media the last seven years, we might know such things.
Reckon that’s actually why they have faucci in witness protection? Or Gittmo? Lol
Best comment ever. My exact rationale!
I wonder where Fauci is.......shredding documents in Ukraine?
🤣🤣
Double masked no doubt!!
Good one!
Even better, the Biden/Kerry fams have an equity stake in the Urkraine bio labs. This is getting interesting.
Sauce? I assumed they were doing illegal weapons research for the dod
Any articles you can point to? Would love to read about that
Putin probably thought a war to get rid of WMD was ok after the US invasion of Iraq.
Even if it was fake news!
the ones that have existed for decades and not clandestine research? ... BTW russian disinfo retread ? Making an innocuous situation and pretending it matters. You are being had
https://apnews.com/article/public-health-north-america-health-ap-top-news-in-state-wire-0cf158200e674f41bd3026133e5e043d
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-46157507
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/10/04/russia-claims-us-is-running-a-secret-bio-weapons-lab-in-georgia/
That is why Nuland (a woman who laid the groundwork to overthrow the democratically elected government in Ukrainia) is so worried about them coming into Russian hands.
And probably why they are funded and operated by the DOD.. and why they immediately tried to eliminate evidence of their existence.
Works so “good” with Soros.
Oh my! You don't know! Rubio admitted this in his questioning of Nuland.
Exhaustive analysis by the Archbishop. I learned a lot.
https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/5881-on-the-russia-ukraine-crisis-a-message-from-abp-vigano-former-apostolic-nuncio-to-the-u-s
And what about the list of our infrastructure targets that Brandon gave Putin last year?
https://twitter.com/JordanSchachtel/status/1501543754439794691?s=20&t=TlCSAl22MswvdjZFgfytog
I have no dog in this fight. They are all lying but not the reason you think. Ukraine is a hot bed of corruption. Putin has always made his plans known. Go back to 2008, and start from there on the history of Ukraine and Russia. Frankly I don't give a damn. Our country is being turned into a shit hole on purpose. I refuse to jump up and down over what's happening between Ukraine and Russia. Am I heartless? No. This is all one big shit show created by our feckless corrupt leaders. The media and our government would love to see us protesting in the streets about Ukraine while ignoring what's happening to Americans.
Spot on!!
100%
Bingo.
Yep. Absolutely no more interest (by media on the left or right) in the hundreds of thousands of young men coming across our southern border - for jobs? Guess again...
You got it.
I'm OK with paying $5/gallon for gas because it's not yet $6/gallon.
If we eliminated the regulations on our US production, and even exported to other countries in an effort to eliminate buying oil from the global dictatorship regimes, we wouldn't have to pay $6 or $5 or $4/gallon. And we'd still be able to support Ukraine!
This^^^
Unfortunately, you are not part of our cabal congress.
Yes, and yesterday Kamala and Pete Buttcheeks was telling Americans how wonderful it would be to have electric cars, buses etc. etc. They could care less about Ukraine. I will buy a horse and buggy before I buy a 50,000 plus electric car.
Here's a question no one is asking about electric cars...
So, suppose you have a charging outlet in your garage, to charge the EV...
What does THAT do to your household electric bill?
As an electrician I have been installing lots of those lately here in the peoples republic of california. Fifty amps 240volts minimum. Some people need to upgrade their electrical service to handle the additional load.
From what I've read, it would be impossible to have a drastic increase in EV use without an absolutely massive overhaul of the electrical grid.
Most certainly correct. Here (Albuquerque) citizens complain about new electric substations that muck with the view. Those are required as neighborhoods arrive to require more power delivery. Those wires above us are sized for a given amount of service along with the various transformers. Some neighborhoods are already not able to do solar buybacks because of capacity limitations. Adding my capacity for EV charging won't make things easier. Everything in life has a cost, even when it's 'free'.
Yup. More unintended consequences. Like where are we going to dispose all the used solar panels? It's not like they bio degrade into mulch.
All the fine print they don't tell you before it's too late!!! Imagine the electric grid constantly shutting down and then nobody can charge their electric cars ...totally plausible!
And electricity is often generated by coal.
Yep. This is certainly the way to go! (Not.)
And overhaul the grid is probably what they have in mind. Y'know? "Build Back Better?"
Yeah. Right.
How many of those have also added solar panels with some on-site storage?
lots
In California? Wow! Aren't there "brown-outs" there--like in the summer?
How much does it cost to upgrade electric service?
I can see the money really adding up.
New 200 amp service approx 2500. Emergency whole house backup generator approx 10k. I have done projects involving both at once. Usually in the gated communities. :)
So how good for the environment are batteries and their disposal?
Not so good, as far as I've heard.
How about "Sorry"?
So where is all that extra gas money going anyway?
Yep!
"We tried to get China to deter Russia. China ignored us." Wrong - we tried to get China to help and they gave our intelligence to Russia to help them!
Bingo. Didn't realize you said it first. But then again Alex said the other day he has no problems sending his countrymen to war. He or his children will not be attending, thank you.
Zelenskyy is starting to lean in Putin's direction; He sees how useless NATO is. Useless.
No, he tried to get NATO to start WWIII. Putin's red line is Ukraine joining NATO. Everyone knew this going in. He invaded right after Kamala called for Ukraine to be part of NATO.
What a loathsome, idiotic, dangerous embarrassment that woman is.
She frightens me. One heartbeat away.
God help us.
I feel the same. She and Biden are both so terrible I don't even know what scenario to wish for. All we can hope for is that the Dems lose both House and Senate in the midterms, so both become no more than figureheads. What a world.
Good point!
"Putin's red line is Ukraine joining NATO" - Yeah, that's what the news tells us. I suspect it's much more complicated beyond those sound bites. For all I know it's from a bit of pique at his troops being pushed around in the Donbas by some citizens there tired of the Russian abuses. A mini-war has been going on there for a very long time, even well before 2008/14. When his huge troop buildup didn't make them behave, he had to do something to save face.
Imagine a useless organization that before Trump, most of its members were not funding it (Germany) at the percentage agreed based on their GDP, it was American taxpayers.
NATO is good for gritting and that’s about it.
That's a distinction without a difference. The relevant point, the context, is China rebuffed us.
And what are we doing crying to China for help and dumping intelligence on Russia in their laps? Treason.
"the fact the Ukrainians have fought like hell. Good for them; they want to be free."
NO. They want to be slaves of their own leaders, instead of being slaves of other leaders.
More Berenson Bullshit. This stack deteriorates by the day.
Leave him alone or you are no better than you accuse him of being. We are indeed thankful for the hard work he has done and if he has blind spots so be it. We all do. No one is perfect. I mean. We call him out. But let’s not stoop to the level we accuse of. And certainly let’s not create in each other - or become the monsters we seek to destroy. That is how the us went bad.
I try to be better when I can. All the best,
well thanks Bash...cause man - James went after me - for going after you..and I ate his lunch...You took it as I meant it...and I meant what I said to him...I'm not a Kool-aid drinker...I think we have to see Alex for what he is...opinionated...yes...strong enough to fight against the grain...as are all of us...and critical thinkers who are opinionated and strong are gonna have opposing views and come up against it sometimes...and ya - sometimes Alex may look like he's off our wagon...but if we dismiss him out of hand - we are no better and we - we may look just as off the wagon to one another given one conversation or another...at any given moment - aren't we just as likely in this crazy world to slip in to our own form of cancel culture...we had just found in this little forum the ONE thing we agreed on...ya...we critical thinkers have to stick together...not turn on one another. That's all I meant. Thanks for understanding that...as for James - we shall see...I might have attacked a little back...eh..or the scrappy 10 year old with her hands on her hips did anyway...
Cathie,
One thing with the internet and these message boards is that people are quick to temper, quick to anger, quick to insult. I think its because we see the written word as one with more intent, more permanent than the spoken one. You can misspeak, or talk shit, but once you type it out and hit send, there is an accountability that people expect. I am not sure why that is, 90% of the messages and posts that I write are just whatever is in my head in that moment and I rarely re-read or re-write. Especially not in the comments like here.
So, in response, I try to be charitable when someone is critical of something i say. I would say the process is a bit hit or miss haha
oh my word...if you only knew me...I speak truth to power...we can speak truth to power..but not dismiss him entirely...which is what it sounds like you are doing...and that is NOT what we do here...we speak truth and disagree...but not wait for our subscription to run out and take our toys and go home and throw accusations...Ya - I'm a Kool-aid drinker...see...the name calling...geesh...are you sure you aren't one of THEM? hmmm...I might or might not be younger than you but I'm a feisty little yankie chick raised in the very over-polite south - with an attitude that almost always gets me in trouble b/c I have Always spoken truth to power - even when that power is older than me and it might be deemed disrespectful...so - let's just take a step back...I think you did the exact same thing just now...we all do it...that is my point and it's a double edged sword this "NOT DRINKING THE KOO-AID" thing... you can't have th balls to speak up all the time and not over step and piss people off and believe your own propaganda sometimes...and I'd say - maybe you dont'know what that feels like - but this exchange proves that you do...so - let's go back to my original point...and realize that on this here forum - we are a lot more a like that different...Yep - CALL ALEX out - Tell him he has his head completely up his ass on the Ivermectin thing and I told him straight on that one - and that he was turning into the people he has fought against and was blind as a bat to it...I call him out - not that he reads all this...as if...But if you can't acknowledge that it's the cost of doing business with strong opinionated people - like yourself...that we ALL will do this sometime...well...you aren't drinking the kool-aid - you just lack self-awareness.
hmm...There are some great books on emotional intelligence I can recommend...but really - I think our community of strong minded - strongly opinionated...critical thinkers here is good and we can push and pull and all - but we shouldn't take our toys and go home and name call or we are just like the people we came here to investigate and stand against. ( said with her Hands on Hips...with a big HMPH! from her inner 10 year old girl!)
An interesting corollary is that the comments on berensons stack get hostile quick, whereas there's a lot more charity and goodwill on the others I follow. I find that unsurprising considering how caustic he is, that his community reflects that. I'm just waiting to run the clock out on my subscription at this point
Yeah, but that's no different from Americans fighting an invading aggressor because we "want to be free", despite the fact that we have a wholly-illegitimate, America-hating administration trying to destroy America and doing its level best to enslave America for the past year-plus, along with tyrannical Democrat chief executives who've been doing it for *two* years.
We'd still fight an invader. For America, *not* for its government. I suspect the Ukes are doing likewise, for similar reasons.
Yes, it is a complicated issue. Imagine you are a Canadian. Russia invades you. You give your blood and, at the end, you get more Trudeau trying to inject you and freezing your bank accounts.
"...and, at the end, unlike the Americans who stopped short of going to Baghdad in 1991, we go to Ottawa and finish the job."
I like your reasoning. But here is where it may differ.
Using Canada as an example, once upon a time, General De Gaulle came to Canada and said, "Vive le Quebec Libre". That inspired the Quebec separatist movement and one or two acts of kinetic terrorism, (the rest, apparently, having been done by the RCMP to justify the War Measures Act, now called the Emergency Measures Act) Then Canada went inmto high gear to win hearts and minds to win French Canadians in Quebec back to the national cause.
Ok...
Now imagine that instead, Canada went into Quebec with the army and started wiping out civilians at random and knocking over homes and firing heavy machine guns into homes and otherwise killing and disenfranchising French Canadians in all walks of life.
Then France went in to protect them.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=rairfoundation/bsbwalym&utm_source=studio
My Ukrainian friend would agree with Alex here. I have yet to form a viewpoint on what is happening over there so I am relying heavily on a very trusted colleague who is Ukrainian and whose brother, nephews, cousins etc are all there on the Western side. My friend grew up under the USSR, conscripted into the Russian army, is now American. He has also said that the Eastern russian-speaking Ukraine has become anti Russian over the last few years. That the 2014 coup ousted a corrupt politician that attacked the citizens. And that the Ukrainians are fighting hard. …Anecdotal but thought I’d share.
A good article with multiple viewpoints from normal Ukrainians is here: https://bariweiss.substack.com/. It is always good to try to understand how the 'common people' see things on the ground, in my opinion.
A point I think valid. The Donbas was not sufficiently intimidated by all those troops at the border and the mini-war was going badly for Russia, so Russia made it bigger. The Donbas has been an issue for many, many years.
Check the history of the Donbas. The following clip is Russian propaganda, but that doesn't make it not true.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=rairfoundation/bsbwalym&utm_source=studio
The reality of the situation is Russia has to air and nuclear strength to have completely eliminated Ukraine from the map if they so chose. They have chosen not to. You, and everyone else, have no idea why.
Every single thing you just said about the war is conjecture based on your interpretation of battling propaganda coming out of Kiev, Russia and the US. MSNBC is playing screens FROM A VIDEO GAME and calling it war footage but you’re SURE the Ukraine’s “fighting really hard” is why this is dragging out?
You need to take a step back, rejoin team reality, and START ASKING the “but then why…” questions that finally lead you to the truth on covid.
I have no idea what’s going on in Ukraine because it’s all bullshit being funneled to us … but neither do you and the fact you aren’t asking and instead pretending you know what’s happening is embarrassing.
But yes, we can all agree Biden also has no idea what’s going on or why, despite having literally installed the puppet regime in Ukraine
Pretty sure you could go ask Ukrainian Americans (or where you are from) who have family there. They will confirm Ukrainians are fighting hard. What makes you so sure Russia could take over Ukraine already without firing Nukes.
I'm not arguing they aren't fighting hard. In fact, it's almost a statistical impossibility that some of them aren't fighting very hard. Just like people did get very bad COVID, just like they had very bad Flu's before that. The point is, those are the trees... and when we live in the trees we completely miss the forest. Russia has the second largest air force in the world, and, even if we accept all Ukrainian propaganda it doesn't appear they're using it, almost at all. Asking the "why's" on these things is the only way we get to the truth. Saying this war is "dragging out" (did Putin announce a timeline upon which it had to end?!?) BECAUSE "Ukraine is fighting hard and the Russian military is inept" just can't be the entire truth, because it leaves out the entire piece about Russia not using their single greatest advantage over Ukraine. And that's my point. Alex is, yet again, being a journalist who knows things rather than asks things. "It aint what you don't know that kills, it's what you know for sure that just ain't so..." I don't know why Russia hasn't "already won this war," or if they were supposed or what "winning" even means to them, but I know for sure the answer isn't "Ukraine fight hard, Russia military dumb"
What if you are wrong? What would you need to see to change your mind? What if you aren’t seeing the forest? How would you know?
Wrong about what? It's almost a certainty I was wrong about something I wrote... But specifically what does that mean? Wrong - meaning Alex is right and literally ONLY those two things are responsible for them not "winning" (again, without anyone defining what winning actually means in this case...) this war already? I'm honestly not sure, but I know it would have to start with Putin defining exactly what winning means, which I feel like he's pretty unlikely to do for fear of it not happening and him losing face. Only US leadership is dumb enough to make mistakes like that...
Ah, you might want to check the full time traitor V. Nuland’s response to the part time traitor Rubio’s question yesterday about those ‘bio labs’ during Senate hearing. Looks to me like an orchestra Ted effort to get ahead of a story. Just sayin…
Oh, and BTW, you of all people should know that yesterday’s conspiracy theory seems to continue to find a way to be todays news. Just sayin…
If it isn’t about biolabs or some of the “conspiracy theories” what was the motivation behind Russia’s invasion? It wasn’t because Putin wants to rebuild the old Soviet Union. I think you’re being short-sighted here, Alex. We learned from Covid that if there is a narrative in the media, it’s likely the opposite or something totally different. You helped us to realize this.
How do you know that it’s not because Putin wants to rebuild the Soviet Union? Russian politics toward the former republics (in particular their treatment of Russian speakers in these countries) has been indicative of the contrary for many years. And I am saying this as someone who is from the region and has been following the geopolitical maneuvers for years. But I agree with Alex on the ridiculousness of the mainstream narrative on American leadership. It would be funny if people were not dying there in combat and while simply trying to go on with their lives.
Ukraine in NATO was his red line. We pushed it. Also, we have biolabs with nasty pathogens in Eastern Ukraine.
The gloablists need a war to distract/make us afraid after covid petered out. The threat of a nuclear war is even better.
The shills in Congress want to send 14 billion to Ukraine. Bets on how much they get back?
$13.5 billion
I know that because he doesn’t have the military to do so and because he knows that the rest of the world wouldn’t allow that kind of take-over. I wish that this wasn’t happening (the loss of life is abhorrent). I agree and would love it if we had honest reporters and investigative journalists we could trust for actual news!
Don't worry. Sometime close enough to the midterms, Biden will secretly agree to not instal NATO or NATO facilities into Ukraine or Russia's borders, Russia will withdraw from all except the Crimea and Donbas, and Biden will claim we averted WW3.
Aaaaand Scene.
Actually I think that happened yesterday. We should know by Monday.
But….China. Taiwan - ya. They will be opening up that can momentarily. Fear not.
Oil is is only partly "fungible." There are differences in grade. US refineries require heavy crude to balance out the extremely light crude obtained through fracking. Decades ago, we got that heavier crude from Venezuela, but the last four Presidential administrations decided to punish Venezuela for its "socialist" policies, steal Venezuelan assets and have Venezuelan diplomats arrested by lackey states and extradited to the US to be prosecuted on trumped up charges. Instead of importing Venezuelan heavy crude, the US has shifted to other sources, mainly Russian heavy crude. The grade of heavy crude required by US refineries is not particularly common outside Russia (and Venezuela). Thus, both Democrat and Republican Presidents have increased US dependence on Russian crude, while insulting and incrementally threatening Russia's security.
Alex is apparently ignorant of the real reason for Russia's slow progress in its de-militarization, de-Nazification of Ukraine. Russia does not make war on civilian populations with "shock and awe." They are loath to create enemies, so their plan is to isolate Ukrainian cities and confine the Ukrainian military to cauldrons cut off from their supplies of ammunition and fuel. It will take some time before civilians (and even deserting Ukrainian troops) can be evacuated from the cities and before the Ukrainian military runs out of ammunition. It's a slow process. It has nothing to do with the "brave resistance" of Ukrainians.
Of course Alex does not want to hear about biolabs or the near 14,000 civilians in Donbass who were killed by Ukrainian shells during the last eight years, much less how the US encouraged its puppet Zelensky to step up its attack on Donbass, insist he was going to "liberate" Crimea and create a stockpile of nuclear weapons with which to threaten Russia. All that would generate an uncomfortable cognitive dissonance for someone who actually believes in Empire and only recently learned how evil the little corner of Empire involved with pharmaceuticals is. Alex is thus incapable of seeing that, because the entire narrative of the scamdemic has unraveled and globalists are in danger of losing their grip on the US, they needed the distraction of war and a new existential threat to re-focus the attention of useful idiots away from themselves and onto a scapegoat. That's why Biden did everything humanly possible to encourage Zelensky's aggression against Donbass, refusal to implement Minsk and threaten Russia with nuclear weapons and an eventual war with NATO over Crimea. This post by Alex is truly pathetic.
You pretty much nailed it…which, of course, means you are a Putin apologist & a Russian asset.
I confess I've admired Putin for years. His older brothers died during the siege of Leningrad, so his parents told him of the horrors of war. He saw how Yeltsin's corruption, encouraged by Western neoliberals, hurt average Russians like his parents. He has done his best to avoid both war and corruption. He is supported enthusiastically by 2/3 of the Russian people.
Only one of his older brothers died of diphtheria during the siege of Leningrad; the other died in infancy.
Thanks for the correction. I originally thought only one died during the siege, but recently read that two had died, which was apparently incorrect. Was it only the oldest brother who died and the middle was born and died shortly after the war?
"There are differences in grade. US refineries require heavy crude to balance out the extremely light crude obtained through fracking." - Suggest this needs rework. Light is the preferred input because it's easiest to refine into fuels. Heavy requires more effort to make fuels and many refiners can't process it because of the extra processing. Heavy is used mainly for asphalt so is still needed in some quantity.
Suggest you do a little more research. Many US refineries require BOTH, as the light is too light and needs a bit of the heavier grade to produce gasoline. That's why I indicated the need to "balance."
Saying required is a bit much. The Cushing, OK areas is nearly exclusive WTI mainly for light fuels light gas. No heavy going there, too expensive to ship. Early refiners had no access to heavy but produced without any mix. Since refining heavy crude is more expensive often light crude gets added but the real issue lies with plant investment for heavy is more than investment for light. Canada & Venezuela oil requires those more expensive plants. But heavy is cheaper than light. All the refineries for heavy are more specialized converting for heavy costs $M100's. As long as heavy sells at a discount the profits are there.
OK, writing, "US refineries require..." was ambiguous. I could have meant "all" or I could have meant "some" or "many." The problem is not with the word "require" but the absence of "Many" in the original post. You agree that converting those "many" refineries would be very expensive.
The bottom line is that if many refineries need heavy crude and can not readily be converted to only lighter grades, then when heavy crude becomes restricted, you've just reduced supply and the price of gasoline must necessarily rise. As I wrote initially, "Oil is is [sic] only partly 'fungible'." It was pretty damned stupid of our elites to alienate the two largest producers of a commodity upon which the US people depend, unless of course they don't care about the US people but only about their elite power and privilege.
I love how we keep hearing "The EU and NATO are in lock step with us [U.S.A.] on fighting back against the invasion of Ukraine" even though the U.S. hasn't led a single step throughout this entire debacle (is there any other word that better describes the Brandon-Harris admin thus far?)
Add to that, the fact that Europe - most notably Germany - has repeatedly said there's no way in hell they'll give up importing Russian energy. I get it: they've "greened" themselves into an energy coffin corner and only Putin's BTUs can keep them from having a mass die-off. Problem is, Trump warned them about this exact scenario during his U.N. speech and the German delegation was LOLing the whole time. Now we hear from incredible intellectual luminaries like Whoopie Goldberg that all of this is Trump's fault! It's all so tiring...
The (green) German minister of economics insisted yesterday(!) he's still going to turn of the last 3 remaining nuclear power plants at the end of the year. He said he is now busy developing a "plan", which probably involves more wind turbines.
Unfortunately, I currently appear to have to live in Germany. But at least I've got large amounts heating oil, firewood, food stockpiles and a brand new powerful diesel generator...
France is building MORE nuclear power plants, has some of the best energy prices in the EU, and Germany still doubles down on "green" energy? I'm so glad you're pretty much self-sufficient energy-wise, 'cause it looks like more bitter winters are ahead for the rest of your countrymen. SIGH...
So, Generalissimo Berenson, what’s the “right” number of days to “take” Ukraine? Does Russia even aspire to occupy all of Ukraine? Since you don’t know the target, how can you conclude that it’s taking all too long?
The internet generation thinks wars last days.
The people of Ukraine have not been served well by their government. Putin is obviously a nasty guy, and the Ukrainian government and NATO backed that nasty guy into a corner. The people of Ukraine are now paying the price for that. And as always happens in war, all combatants are now trying to manipulate public opinion through war propaganda:
https://jeffcuttler.substack.com/p/war-propaganda?s=w
They will end up neutral with a ton of war damage. They could have been neutral from the start and avoided all the damage and death.
Yep
Reminder The Uni-Party is passing another Omnibus Bill and in it "Ukraine is getting $10 Billion. We some how need to try to stop this. IMO American taxpayers are funding our own Demise, Sadly. In the meantime they are pretending Covid is over, Biden vetoed the bill the senate passed about revoking, the Emergency Powers Act. We are living in Crazy times. IMO I dont think we know the truth about what is going on in the Ukraine. If they really want to destroy Russia and help the Western European countries, we open the Keystone XL Pipeline and start Fracking again.
Three weeks ago: We need $30 billion for covid!
Last week: Actually it's only $22.5 billion! But also $10 billion for Ukraine.
Yes, $30B after the $1.9T a year ago. WTF!
Covid had to go away for the midterms. No more printing money, so….hi-ho! Hi-ho! It’s off to war we go…or at least the taxpayer money goes.
The Under Secretary of the Department of State just admitted yesterday to biological research labs in Ukraine. You are parroting dead talking points with that one, very disappointing.
I think there is a lot more to the U.S. bio labs existing throughout Ukraine. If Putin is going in to destroy them, I don't blame him.