8 April 2022WIP Here is a negative review of a positive developmenthttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2022/04/06/ultra-remainers-mobilising-prepare-ground-rejoining-eu/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhrhttps://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/european-union-unveils-new-strategy-become-global-power"European Union Unveils New Strategy to Become a Global Powerby Soeren Kern • April 3, 2022 at 5:00 amThe goal is "strategic autonomy" — the ability for the EU to act independently of, and as a counterweight to, the United States and the North...
Thursday, 7 April 2022
ROTATOR CUFF AND CHARACTER
7 April 2022Sunday, day 0Tomorrow is Friday, day 5 after the operation on my shoulder, which was last Sunday. That op. put me into a light trauma, a kind of post traumatic shock syndrome someone said to me. Monday, day 1So Monday I was quite disoriented. Some friends noticed this and rallied round, asking me questions about the experience and getting me to talk; for those here in CM, offering practical help as the shock of a six hour operation was one thing, but in practical terms, I've only got one arm! Just try to imagine that!!Tuesday,...
Friday, 1 April 2022
PUTIN'S PLANS
1 April 2022As to Russia's goals. Looking at a map, the trouble for Russia geographically, is that its western border opens smoothly onto the plains of Eastern Europe and there are those gateways that give access to invaders.So a Russian leader would like to plug the gaps with neutral buffer states, all the way from from Estonia to Bulgaria included.That's the dream. Perhaps from the Baltics, or Finland even, down to Ukraine and Moldovia. The minimum a Russian leader would want is what Biden referred to, in the first of his many gaffes,...
Wednesday, 30 March 2022
LESSONS FROM UKRAINE
30 March 2022After a month of fighting, the flow of refugees and cities trashed, has the peace process now started? It seems so. Has the bombartment stopped? What will the troops do during the months of negotiation? It looks like we will get a "Minsk-3" that strangely ressembles what Zelensky's predecessor signed up for, but the Ukrainian govt didn't like because it gave some autonomy to the Russian East. Kiev preferred to lob missiles into Donbas and chase out the Russian expats.After a month, and now a pause, we can collect our thoughts together.The...
Monday, 28 March 2022
IS UKRAINE IN RUSSIA?
28 March 2022Putin thinks so. In an unscripted speech in Poland this last week, Mr Biden said of Putin: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”Yes well, how embarrasing, in a senior moment, Biden
forgot he was the POTUS and let slip America's true intention, regime
change wherever converting the world's autocracies into democracies and
oppression turns to human rights.
Or put it another way, eliminate the competition and stay on top, Master of the World, forever.
We all know this...
LANNA DANCE "FUSION"
27 April 2022It was quite a challenging show. It started off easy, traditional Lanna dance, albeit in a scrap yard.Then it started. First a series of motifs, numbered instructions such as "dance while eating", "while doing the housework" ...I began to feel uncomfortable.She started pulling clouds of sequins out of her bosom. And the stage was obscured in flutters of dollar bills.I got the message, but heavier were to come.She began machine-gunning her two sisters sitting peacefully on the coach. And thus began a long long dance, the three of them....
Friday, 25 March 2022
HERE IS WHERE THE NEXT CRISIS WILL START
25 March 2022After the last sub-prime crisis and 15 years of QE, Brexit dislocation from UK's main market, climate change and the Energy Transition away from fossil fuels, Covid and yet more very serious business disruption, now war in Europe with sanctions ejecting the world's only full-spectrum commodity and agri producer ... where will the next crisis come from? Many have savings in stock markets. There seems to be a growing problem in the credit markets. If you look at household and corporate debt, by region (US, Euroland and China),...
KALININGRAD
25 March 2022We hear nothing of Kaliningrad (formerly Prussian Konigsberg). This "exclave" was included in the German Empire in 1871 and then as part of the WW2 settlement, Konigsberg was given to Russia and renamed.In March 1999, Poland joined NATO and the Baltic States followed in 2004. This left K high and dry outside Russia, enclave turned exclave. The map shows this strange situation very clearly.If you take a look at the map you'll notice three things of great strategic importance: - how K is on the Baltic sea, with Russia's ice-free...
Thursday, 24 March 2022
ANOTHER EPIC AMERICAN DISASTER
25 March 2022 I have been pushing the peace line in these
columns for a couple of years. Until, I would say, this week, 99% of
comment has been from football-hooligan types and CSA has been treated
to abuse and called a Russian troll.
Sense is starting to filter through. There are really
only two arguments. One is the justice angle, as evidenced for example in this youtube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzgPJeYZaOUThe other is America's record as it...
DEALING WITH WESTERN PROPAGANDA
24 March 2022https://youtu.be/11q9dir2Nts"There is a faction that has a geopolitical strategy that is happy to drain Russia of power and if it comes at the expense of Ukraine, they're OK doing that". The "faction" is the blob, which returned, having got rid of Trump. Hilary Clinton is making the same case as them, that's all. I notice that it is purely tactical / operational, the how-to of bleeding Russia dry - you never get into the why, except that Putin invaded a so-so sovereign country, true but that's the tail end of a story going...
Wednesday, 23 March 2022
FRANCE WONT BE QUITTING RUSSIA
22 March 2022https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabetta15% of the world's natural gas and 80% of Russia's are found here. This is the Yamal LNG project, opened by Putin on 8 Dec 2017. It is an LNG plant, a port, a railway, an airport, and residential. It's a JV between Novatek, which Total owns 20%, China's CNPC another 20% so they wont be best pleased either, and the Russian govt.There is also Artic-2, opened in 2018 with Macron attending.TotalEnergies is the fourth largest company in the CAC40. This project is a huge part of their accounts....
