Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

I can only get around the paywall on my phone but this is a great story in the WSJ about the 200 technicians at Chernobyl who are being forced at gunpoint to keep everything running.

None have been allowed to leave since the Russians took control nearly 3 weeks ago. Once in a while they are allowed a 1 minute phone call to their families (all phones were confiscated early on) and there's one daily team call to a supervisory office. They're allowed to get in a little sleep when they can but otherwise, they have been on the job for nearly 500 hours straight.

Inside Chernobyl, 200 Exhausted Staff Toil Round the Clock at Russian Gunpoint - WSJ

[CGVT]

FWIW Oil is under $100 a barrel

[froot loops]

So far the Trump and the GOP have escaped the devastating sanctions by Putin.

[THE_WIZARD_]

FWIW Oil is under $100 a barrel

WOOHOO!

[Dr. Strangelove]

Something to keep in mind if there's headlines about covid deaths spiking in Hong Kong. The % of the elderly that are vaccinated there is shockingly low, only about a third of those over 80. That's compared to almost 90% in the US among people over 65. On top of that those who ARE vaccinated have mostly taken the lousy Chinese-developed Sinovac vaccine

[Jeff Buchanan]

The COVID Nancys are at it again and DSL's advice about reports of COVID cases and deaths should be contextualized is sound. There's no question, IMO, that as far as pandemics are defined, the current one is over and has been for over a month. Regional outbreak's, like Hong Kong's for example, are going to occur and will have identifiable and rectifiable causes. China, that embarked on a zero-COVID strategy from the gitgo is paying a price for that and reportedly Xi is reassessing that approach and working on a more reasonable approach than costly lock-downs

The world is putting WHO's foot dragging on declaring SRAS-2 endemic on the back burner. Australia is fully opening it's boarder and perhaps more tellingly, allowing cruise ships to return after the start of the debacle involving that industry occurred 2 years ago right there in Sydney. States and cities are dropping pandemic mandates and the Senate just passed a bill that would end all mitigation measures in transportation means and facilities that support them (e.g., masks on airplanes and terminals). The current mandate was just extended to April 15th and this Senate bill is not likely to go anywhere but it symbolizes the realty of where we are with COVID19.

Hasn't stopped the COVID Nancys though. Sub-variants of Omicron are being discovered and according to news reports these discoveries and that there is a surge in the presence of all types of SARS2 related viruses in waste water is proof that we're still in a pandemic that we should fear, keep your distance and wear a mask. Have you heard about "Deltacron?" It's a recombinant (meaning recombined) version of of the Delta and Omicron variants. It is believed to have arisen from persons who became infected with both the Delta and Omicron versions of SARS2 and then recombined in vivo. Just read a scientific study on Deltacron that prompted me to make this post. There is such a thing but the emerging research suggests these recombinant SARS2 viruses are fragile and are not expected to have much of a chance to cause a new wave of infections - you won't hear that important point in the MSM or on Social media.

[THE_WIZARD_]

...

[Jeff Buchanan]

International Court of Justice (ICJ), the legal body of the UN, ruled in favor of Ukraine's request before it to order Russia to cease its invasion of Ukraine ..... as Putin goes pffft. The ruling was 13-2 against Russia with the Russian and Chinese judges dissenting.

Before the ruling, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan met with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a surprise meeting. The pair discussed the court’s ongoing investigation into possible war crimes in the country. While the ICJ can hold states responsible, the International Criminal Court could prosecute individuals.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-united-nations-netherlands-the-hague-e135b9bb3ba785607694c843e18b6f3b?user_email=c1f04330e9c0a57c8aa70f2b5f07e60e0aee1aca0314f908ce7c6cf8856b9cc9&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Russia%20Ukraine%20March%2016&utm_term=Morning%20Wire%20Subscribers

[Dr. Strangelove]

I hear talks are going reasonably well but then Putin delivers a nice rant about cleansing the country of traitors and fifth columnists. "Spit them out like flies!"

[Dr. Strangelove]

Possibly hundreds of civilians dead in this one attack today.

[Jeff Buchanan]

It is being reported that Ukrainian forces today are actively counter-attacking Russian positions in the suburbs of Kiev. We'll see in the coming days how this goes as military analysis will come out within 48h.

Ukrainian aircraft conducted bombing runs yesterday as part of the operation continuing today at Kherson International Airport and Air Base. Privately owned overhead satellite imagery shows considerable damage to Russian aircraft parked there along with storage and hanger facilities likely being used for Russian fuel, parts and ordnance resupply efforts.

That Ukrainian aircraft were able to enter the airspace overhead Kherson Airport and bomb it without suffering any losses - and these would have been quickly reported by the Russians - demonstrates that (1) Russian forces really do not have control of many of the areas they claim to have it (the south is a different story from Kiev). (2) The level of incompetence being demonstrated by the Russian military is startling. You cannot claim you have control of terrain when you don't control the airspace above it. It's a fucking airfield FFS. Once you have troops on the ground there, you set up a perimeter and assemble a credible air defense system. It's not hard if you actually are in control. It's not hard if you have commanders that know what they are doing and NCOs and snuffys that are following orders. Clearly, Russian forces are not in control and may not even have control within their own fighting units (IMO).

[Dr. Strangelove]

The first rate hike is here (just 25 basis points) and the market drops immediately like 400 points

Has to be all algo trade right? Like what human would've waited to the exact moment of the hike to sell off?

[Mike]

You assume it’s humans.

[THE_WIZARD_]

"...I'm only human...of flesh and blood...I'm made..."

"...I'm not a man...or machine...I'm just something in between....whoa whoa....whoa....whoa..."

[THE_WIZARD_]

..