Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

I think both Upton and Meijer have said they’re considering running but neither has a chance in hell of winning the primary.

[THE_WIZARD_]

DSL...did you know the first major computer worm was written and launched by a Cornell student? So basically you are just another Cornell worm...

[Da Geezer]

Where does the EU’s gas come from? - Consilium (europa.eu)

In April 2022 we exported 5.78 bcm of natural gas to Europe. The April nat gas price was about $5.3. The value of 1 bcm is the market price times 36.7 million. So in April 1 bcm was worth about $194,000,000.

So the total value of our exported gas to Europe last April was about $1.1 BILLION. For one month.

The war in Ukraine doesn't account for ALL those sales but our exports to Europe in 2022 were more than double what we exported in 2021.

So when considering the costs of supporting Ukraine let's consider the upsides as well.

What a parochial way of looking at the issue. WSJ has a good article on Europe's surprising willingness to arm Ukraine, but its reluctance to give up the climate religion:

From WSJ:

Perhaps we were all slightly unfair to Europe. In the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago, many observers had low expectations for how politicians and voters on the Continent would respond to the first war of its kind in nearly 80 years. Europeans have actually begun absorbing one of the two great lessons from this disaster. Unfortunately, they’re strenuously resisting the other.

Focusing first on the positive, the war has caused Europeans (mostly) to internalize that they do indeed inhabit a dangerous world—and, more to the point, a dangerous neighborhood.

Americans shouldn’t underestimate how shocking a new war on European soil has been to Western Europeans, let alone such a war perpetrated by a power with which they were accustomed to doing profitable business. The shock isn’t only the war, but its brutality. It’s likely that historians will come to view the release in April of photographic evidence of Russian war crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha as a key moment. So too with reports that Russian bombs targeted seemingly any apartment block or hospital they could find.

It’s no use noting that Europeans should have known better about the ends and means of Vladimir Putin’s regime. The reality is that despite the evidence of Chechnya and Georgia, to cite only two examples, they didn’t.

But now they are starting to. The dawning realization has manifested itself in a growing willingness to supply Ukraine with weapons even at the cost of antagonizing Mr. Putin, in Swedish and Finnish determination to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in Berlin’s promise to expand German military spending, in Europe’s newfound wariness of repeating in China the strategic and commercial mistakes it made with Russia.

And yet. It understates the problem to suggest Europe’s prior lack of interest in strategy and defense arose only because the Continent foolishly bought into end-of-history malarkey after the fall of the Soviet Union. A more practical motivation was that the end of history happens to be cheap: Resources once devoted to defending Europe from the vicissitudes of “history” could instead be diverted to social projects.

European voters and politicians over the past year began the difficult task of deciding what they might be willing to do for their own and their neighbors’ defense. But they haven’t seriously discussed the far trickier question of what they are prepared not to do—in terms of social-welfare projects, green-energy boondoggles or the like—to pay for it. Expect this argument to become fiercer, and the sense of purpose less sure, as rising interest rates trigger acute fiscal strains.

Speaking of energy boondoggles, that is the lesson Europe absolutely refuses to learn: Green energy is incompatible with energy security, which makes it incompatible with national or continental security.

I know, I know—disruption of the supply of energy imports from Russia is supposed to have highlighted the necessity of developing wind and solar (and now hydrogen) as a local alternative. Except that these energy sources are more costly and less stable than fossil-fuel or nuclear workhorses. They are worse for the environment once one considers the mess made while mining and refining the rare-earth minerals that go into renewable tech. And since China controls much of the global supply chain for those minerals, green energy merely replicates in Asia the form of energy dependence Europe now loudly bemoans regarding Russia.

A serious European leader would point out that energy security that holds advanced economies hostage to the weather and Beijing is no security at all. Such a leader would instead make the case for exploiting European sources of shale gas that could power an economy such as Germany’s for decades, or nuclear. Someone might even point out that rare-earth deposits exist in Europe and tapping them is a central component of any wind-and-solar plan worth taking seriously.

Alas, European leaders are proving deeply unserious. A year ago in this space, I hinted that one post-Ukraine bellwether would be whether Berlin could make its peace at long last with nuclear energy. It hasn’t, despite a panicked decision in the autumn to extend the service of its three remaining reactors a little longer.

There is some ground for optimism to the extent that now Europe’s energy neuroses at least are controversial in a way they weren’t before. A pro-nuclear coalition in Germany slowly is finding its voice, and a tentative debate about shale-gas fracking has begun in that country as well.

From the Ukraine war’s earliest days one suspected Europe’s problem wouldn’t be ignorance of the dangers facing it, but rather a refusal to address them. The surprise of the past year has been that this refusal persists even as Europe—and not just Ukraine—pays the price for the Continent’s perverse willingness to go dark before it gets smart.

[crashcourse]

so theres some peer reviewed studies out there supposed being published soon that miscarriage rate is 17x higher with covid shot then with the flu shot

that cant be good--supposed to be published in march. if verifiied and covered up by fauci he needs to fry

and sidney powel has been cleared by texas judge of any wrongdoing regaridng her 4 election fraud cases.



and lets not forget our buddy sam bankman who looks like he donated more then soros to the 2022 elections for the dems all at the expense of people who thought they were investing in their future

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried faces new criminal charges (cnbc.com)

what do vince foster, jeffrey epstein and mark middleton have in common?

yeah nobody would ever stoop to trying to rig elections

off on a golf trip -hopefully hit them straight and win some money

[Jeff Buchanan]

What a parochial way of looking at the issue. WSJ has a good article on Europe's surprising willingness to arm Ukraine, but its reluctance to give up the climate religion:.....

DSL's point was that the sale by the US of LNG to the EU is providing a huge boost to profits of the US companies doing the selling. I would assume he believes there is some level of off-set to the billions being spent to aid Ukraine.

Now the worst of the progs would wonder how those huge profits are being equitably distributed without racial bias to average man. Well, if you're a socialist, that's a problem. If you're capitalist, it's not. Capital markets work just fine, IMO. Individual risk taking and merit based elevation in they type of work available to you and, therefore, income is properly rewarded. That's not the case with socialism. Citizens can sit on thier assess and get income from redistributive tax policies for just being alive.

The WSJ article is definitely spot on with respect to the EU's inability to recognize that green energy will never fully replace energy derived from fossil fuels and importantly, for reasons the WSJ article spells out, by neglecting nuclear and fossil fuel based energy, the EU is replacing the dangerous dependency on Russian energy sources with China that controls access to the rare-earth metals that are fundamental to building green systems for energy production ...... from dumb to dumber.

[Dr. Strangelove]

What a parochial way of looking at the issue. WSJ has a good article on Europe's surprising willingness to arm Ukraine, but its reluctance to give up the climate religion:.....

DSL's point was that the sale by the US of LNG to the EU is providing a huge boost to profits of the US companies doing the selling. I would assume he believes there is some level of off-set to the billions being spent to aid Ukraine.

Yes, I was trying to point out that we aren't just burning money in Ukraine. We're making significantly more money off natural gas sales than we were before the war. The majority of what we send is equipment and weapons that were going to need replacement here anyways. Not the palettes of cash in the anti-war imaginations.

Is that a cynical angle of the war? Yeah, but the anti-war folks keep demanding to know what WE get out of it. The people opposed to aidiing Ukraine are morally wrong but they're wrong about the finances of it too to a big extent.

[Jeff Buchanan]

A ‘people’s court’ has endorsed an indictment against Russian president Vladimir Putin for the crime of aggression and called for his arrest. After a week of hearings in The Hague, a panel of three international legal experts issued the order and called on the international community “to take every step necessary to ensure that a court with legal powers issues an indictment against president Vladimir Putin and takes appropriate measures to arrest the perpetrator and put him on trial in an official Ukraine tribunal as soon as possible,” the AP reports.

Not that this is going phase Putin nor is it remotely possible authorities are going to enter his Kremlin office or residence, handcuff him and lead him to this "court with legal powers to issue and indictment." But in the court of diplomatic and public opinion, this hasn't been a good day for Putin or the Russian armed forces. He's hiding out having made no speeches or appearances to celebrate a year of war in Ukraine today. He apparently continues to cling to the belief that Russia, under his leadership, can outlast Ukraine and the support its getting from the west and he will ultimately prevail in his conquest of Ukraine. He might but his chances of doing that in the face of pretty much global support for the restoration of Ukraine's internationally recognized borders are rapidly decreasing.

In related news, the Chinese are pushing a piece plan and negotiations. I've read the basics. It's nothing new except in the typically inscrutable Chinese way, it suggests that Russia may not be pursuing a pathway that will achieve the results it is seeking. That's a bit of a shift in policy. Also not new, China tells Putin, don't use nukes. For all intent and purpose the war in Ukraine could be correctly categorized as a stalemate. I think Xi sees it this way and may be urging Putin to back off.

Read a NYTs opinion piece today that suggests the war in Ukraine and how it might end has similarities with the Korean war of the early 50s. Stalin was backing a North Korean government's wish to unify the Korean peninsula under a Communist government. After Mao green lighted it, thinking the US would not get involved, the North invaded the south quickly capturing Seoul. The US did respond supporting S Korean troops, drove NK forces out of Seol and back inside NK borders. At this point, Chinese forces rolled into the fray and a standoff or stalemate ensued creating the environment for the armistice that emerged dividing the two Koreas - which incidentally are still technically at war. But peace was obtained. The author of the NYT article noted that if you look at how vibrant Seoul is and how strong the SK economy is today due to this peace, parallels can be drawn about Ukraine's potential to prosper if peace is obtained.

The author leaves out two obvious issues: (1) If the two sides agree to a ceasefire in place, you can bet that the west and Ukraine cannot count on anything Putin signs or says he will do in any armistice. He'll continue on his path of destabilizing or outright invading the "frontier countries" of RUssia. (2) Russia has already occupied the agricultural heart of Ukraine's economy, blocked it from access to Black Sea ports and by doing so rendered a strong Ukrainian economy unattainable. My view is that an armistice is possible but only on the terms Zelenski has clearly stated - Russian withdrawal from all of occupied Ukraine.

[Jeff Buchanan]

There are reports from Ukrainian city administrators of Donetsk and Mariupol - they still conduct official Ukrainian business involving these occupied cities remotely - that Donetsk CIty is being shelled by the Ukrainians and that there are loud explosions and reports of Russian troops and equipment being killed/destroyed in Mariupol. Donetsk City, once thought to be out of range of Ukrainian artillery fires, now appears to be in range of the M-777 Howitzers using GPS guided rounds with a 35km/25 mile range. These rounds are likely to have just recently been delivered to Ukraine and have made it to the eastern front.

Mariupol is over 100km from the western borders of Donetsk Oblast. The number of explosions in Mariupol are two numerous for this to be sabotage or special forces operations. It is more likely Ukraine is in possession of and is using ballistic missiles with the kind of range to target Mariupol - potentially farther eastward into Russia as well. There is a Ukrainian developed system (Grom) that may have been fitted with US/Raytheon AMRAM missiles (50 to 200km range) or it could be NSAMS - the joint US-Norwegian air defense system that also uses AMRAM - both being fired in the ground to ground mode. The current versions of AMRAM are highly accurate.

Russian forces N of Bakhmut - the shell of what's left of it - are making incremental territorial advances that are continuing to create this pincer movement to encircle Bakhmut. They have crossed and now control the north to south highway leading into Bakhmut that is a Ukrainian GLOC. The southern pincer, originating from east of Vuldehar is not making progress and the southern to northern highway into Bakhmut is still controlled by Ukraine. Both advances, the one from the vicinity of Vuldehar a catastrophic loss for the Russians trying to seize it. are being accomplished by infantry charges without armor and very limited and ineffective artillery support. Ukraine released video shows their soldiers using ancient Bofors automatic antiaircraft guns. These fire 140 rounds per minute and are mowing down unprotected Russian soldiers trying to advance. The Russian human wave tactic is madness in the face of dug in Ukrainian defenders firing huge amounts of rapid fire ammunition from whatever barrels are available, e.g. the upgraded Bofors AA system first used in the 1930s! Ukrainian armed forces seem to be willing to confront the human waves, taking losses themselves but nothing like the Russians are enduring taking losses themselves but severely attriting the Russian forces in return. Sources are saying 20:1 or worse.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Did you know he's gay?

[lineygoblue]

"Dilbert" is the next victim of cancel culture.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/laid-off-newspapers-drop-office-cartoon-dilbert-over-creators-racial-remarks

IMO, I don't think Adams said anything more inflamatory than a standard Sharpton funeral eulogy. But then, I'm a bigot because I'm white.

[Dr. Strangelove]

If you call black people a “hate group” and your business then suffers negative consequences, you haven’t been cancelled. You’re just an asshole.

Dude’s a millionaire and quasi celebrity. They made a tv show based off his characters. The term “cancelled” really should never apply to people like that. If your income is based upon being a popular entertainer, don’t be an unpopular dickhead and then whine like a pathetic bitch that everyone should keep paying you and reading your comic strip that stopped having anything new to say in 1999.

[Mike]

The poll cited in the article raises an eyebrow, tho. 47% think (or aren’t sure) that’s it’s not “OK to be white”. I’m confused as to how anyone has an option.

[Dr. Strangelove]

One, it’s a junk Rasmussen poll, so who cares. They haven’t been reputable since the Rasmussens got forced out of their own company. It’s now the go-to polling agency for conservatives who want all their beliefs validated.

Two, I still don’t care. Do half of black people hate me as a white person? I live in the Columbus area and encounter black folks daily. I’ve never felt hated or been mistreated by a black person in my entire life, including when I managed a bunch of them in downtown Cleveland. So should I trust this shitty poll or my actual life experience?

Anyways, if Scott Adams takes a hit to his wallet for calling blacks a hate group and advising whites to move to all white neighborhoods, good. Anyone demanding I sympathize with him can fuck off.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I’m a rich, middle-aged-to-elderly white man with conservative politics. I draw a comic strip for a living. I trashed all black folks and told white people to stop having anything to do with them. Now I’m experiencing negative reviews on my website and people don’t want to throw money at me anymore, despite the fact I’m obviously entitled to it. waaaaa life ain’t fair. I’m a victim, I’m in pain.

Fuck, guys, I’m here to tell you my tolerance of your middle aged bellyaching over stupid shit is at near-zero. I lost my dad and my grandma two weeks apart in January. Two weeks, two funerals. Asking me to feel sorry for this pathetic piece of shit millionaire cuz he’s losing income after attacking all black people…..yeah. I’ve got even less patience for this crap than I used to have, which wasn’t much.

[Da Geezer]

well, it IS the progressives who want to reinstitute segregation in colleges.

Wear "Black Lives Matter" on a t-shirt and you are a good card-carrying progressive.

Wear "All Lives Matter" on a t-shirt and you are a racist.